14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"You interfered," Hawk Moth said facing him in the shadowy lair.

"I didn't think she'd show up." Chat felt the need to explain himself though he knew it was pointless.

"She always shows up."

"But it'd been so long, and—"

His father slammed the end of his cane down. "You interfered!"

Chat winced, but then he considered how his father had used his feelings for Marinette to test him. He clenched his hands and leaned forward. "Why would you even akumatize Nathaniel when you know I care for her?"

"Your loyalty should be to me. Not some silly girl."

"She's not silly."

Gabriel breathed out hard, turned from him, and walked to the large window. "This is pointless. You're pointless."

"I'm still committed to getting mom back."

"Words are cheap." His voice was back to its usual cold, detached manner.

Chat's pulse thundered in his ears. "I've given everything to you."

"Not everything," his father said under his breath.

"People hate me now, and I've lost my partner."

"Tack on having a fickle son, and then we'll be even."

Chat had never wanted to hit him before. But, right now, it took every ounce of control to not grab his staff and charge. Spinning on his heel, he left the room before he acted on the impulse.

oOoOo

"Adrien!" Marinette jumped off the couch and ran to him as he entered the apartment. She stopped halfway there.

With his lowered brows and lips pressed into a thin line, he looked upset. No. Murderous. But then he glanced at her and his face softened.

"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling a tad awkward standing in the middle of the room. The TV played in the background. She'd been watching the news, waiting for Adrien to come home.

He tossed his keys in the bowl. "I should be asking you that question."

"I'm fine." She waved away his concern. "You weren't part of the group brought to the chapel and then you weren't here when I came home and I...got a little worried."

A smile slowly spread across his face. "You were worried about me?"

"Of course. You're my friend."

His smile dropped. "Well, I'm fine. One of those goons tried to get me, but I was able to hold him off until he disappeared."

"Oh. That's good." Now that the pleasantries were over, she wasn't sure what else to say. 'By the way, I broke up with my technical boyfriend because I love you,' seemed a bit too much.

He took a breath and walked to her. "Alya said you broke up with..."

She tensed, not ready to explain why if he asked, but he was no longer looking at her. "Adrien?"

Gaze fixed on the TV, he walked toward it. "Is this from tonight?"

"Yeah. They're using Alya's recording." Alya had been thrilled when the various news stations contacted her, hoping this would be her in for investigative journalism.

Walking to his side, she noticed a blush spreading across his cheeks. That was odd. The screen showed Chat clinging to Nathaniel, telling the redhead how much he loved him. "What's wrong?"

He wouldn't look at her. "Chat Noir really did that? The footage hasn't been altered?"

"Well...yeah, he did, but he was under the Evillustrator's love magic."

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "He kissed him?" Adrien squeaked.

"Many times." Marinette couldn't hold back a chuckle. It had been pretty funny.

He groaned and sat on the coffee table, still watching the screen. "This is so embarrassing." He looked at her and added, "For Chat. Because of, you know, his image."

"I'm surprised you care what people think of him."

"I don't." He smoothed his face, but then Chat started crying and Adrien shot to his feet. "What?! No. This has to be fake."

She wasn't certain if she should laugh at his reaction or ask questions. Laughter won out. She covered her mouth with a hand to hold most of it back.

His gaze leveled on her. "It's not funny."

She shook her head and tried harder to not let her merriment show. "Not funny at all."

"It isn't."

"I know."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm being serious."

"Me too."

He stared a moment longer at her, then grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "It isn't funny."

She nodded. "You're right. It was all done against his will. And it would've been me acting like that if it wasn't for him."

His outrage vanished like a snuffed out flame. He blinked at her in surprise.

"I wanted to thank him, but he left before I could even check on him." She hoped he was okay. If Adrien was acting like this, then Chat had to be reeling.

"You wanted to check on him?"

"Of course. He saved me." She tucked back her hair and looked away from his intense gaze.

"You really are the kindest person I know."

Her cheeks heated, and she tried to brush away the compliment. "Anyone would thank their rescuer. It's not so much as kind as just having good manners."

"Then I should tell your parents they did a fantastic job raising you," he teased.

Her parents. She smacked a hand to her face. "I can't believe I almost forgot about that. The dinner is tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I completely forgot to tell you. Can you still do it?"

Glancing to the side, he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I think so."

"Great. I'll call and tell them." She ran to the stairs. Her phone was in her bedroom. But then she stopped on the bottom step. "I'm glad you weren't affected by what happened to me and Nathaniel."

He chuckled. "I'm glad you didn't end up as his love slave."

If she had, she would've been stuck like that forever. "Yeah. Me too."

"Goodnight, Marinette."

She tried not to smile at the sound of her name on his lips. "You too."

oOoOo

Adrien walked up the stairs to ask Marinette when they were meeting her parents for dinner. He'd been unable to remember if she'd given him an actual time. Last night had been a doozy. A day he hoped to forget entirely.

Her bedroom door was open. Barely. Well, more like not latched shut. But surely she'd have it fully closed if she wanted privacy. He lifted a hand to knock, but paused. Maybe she was still asleep. The whole Evillustrator fiasco had probably worn her out.

He eased open the door, not wanting to wake her in case she really was sleeping, and his legs locked into place.

She stood facing away from him, wrapping her hair in a towel and twisting it atop her head. Another towel was draped around her hips, exposing smooth curves, lean muscles, and an expanse of creamy skin that was mared with bruises. So many bruises. Big and small, old and new. The ones on her ribs looked the worst. He didn't know how the fragile bones there weren't shattered beneath such a ghastly sight.

His whole body erupted in a tapestry of emotions that produced violent sensations: nausea, a thudding heart, tense muscles. Empathy was a thread that weaved its way through him. But anger was the most dominant emotion. White hot anger. It welled up in him like an active volcano. He couldn't breathe. All he saw were patches of black and blue, green and yellow.

He charged into her room. "What happened to you?"

She flinched and grabbed her shirt to cover her chest, though her back was still to him. "Adrien," she gasped in alarm.

"There's bruises all over you." He squeezed his hands into fists. "Who did this to you?"

She stood as still as a mannequin.

"Was it Nathaniel?" He had to swallow his fury, lest she think the vitriol was directed at her. "Have you been covering for him this entire time?"

She spun to him. "I've told you a million times, no."

Black and blue, green and yellow. He couldn't blink the colors away. They were burned into his retinas, fanning the rage consuming him.

No one should touch her that way. No one.

"Then who?" he asked.

Her gaze bounced around the room before settling on him. "No one. I'm just really clum—"

"Enough lies, Marinette." He stepped toward her and she stepped back, clenching her shirt tighter to her. "Those are not random bruises." From all his years of fighting, he knew each of those spots were designed to inflict pain.

"You're right."

He breathed out. Finally. "Who is it?" He wanted a name, so he could tear the person limb from limb.

"No. It's not like that." She shifted on her feet. "I've been taking self-defense classes."

"You've been taking self-defense classes?" It just seemed odd. He couldn't see her beating up on people. "It looks more like you've joined a fight club."

"This place is intense. No holding back. Because if you hold back during training, you'll hold back in a fight. And. And that's bad...in a life or death situation." She looked anywhere but at him. "And I bruise easily. Not enough omega-3 or something. Plus, I'm not very good at it. Obviously. Which is why I've been keeping it a secret."

All of her words swam around in his head, not fully making sense. "Not enough Omega-3?"

She nodded.

He rubbed his forehead. Marinette had been taking some kind of hardcore self-defense class. Because she felt unsafe. His heart thudded offbeat. Because he—Chat Noir—had changed sides. In a way, it was his fault. "I'm sorry."

Her head tilted to the side. "For what?"

"I'm." He looked around him for something to say and realized he was practically standing on her while she wore only a towel. Stepping back, he said, "I'm sorry for barging in here and for making you tell me your secret."

As if she realized it too, her cheeks lit up like a Christmas light. "I guess it had to be told eventually. You've noticed too many bruises anyway."

Continuing his retreat to the door, he nodded. "I'm glad I know. I hated thinking someone was hurting you." Granted, he still had his doubts, and he was definitely going to check out this place.

He turned to leave, but remembering why he'd come here to begin with, he stopped. "When is dinner with your parents exactly?"

She told him the time and he escaped before his eyes accidentally drifted lower than her face. She may have been covered, but the sight was still one to behold.

oOoOo

"Lying always leads to more complications," Tikki said after Adrien had left.

"I couldn't exactly tell him that I'm Ladybug and that fighting Chat Noir is what's causing all the bruises."

The kwami reluctantly nodded. "What are you going to do now?"

Marinette threw on a shirt. "Not lie."

"You're going to sign up for classes?"

"I don't see what else I can do."

"But after all these years, you're going to be good even without the suit. People might ask questions."

"I'll come up with something."

"Do you even have time to take classes?"

"I'll make time."

"But—"

Tying on her shoes, she sighed and looked up at the kwami hovering in front of her. "I'm doing the best I can here, Tikki."

The kwami flew to her face and hugged her nose. "Just be cautious, okay."

She smiled. "I always am."

Tikki didn't look assured as she flew into Marinette's purse.

Adrien was in the kitchen, so she popped her head in. "I have to run an errand. I'll meet you at my parents' place, okay?"

He lowered a glass from his lips and leaned against the counter. "It's fine if you're really going to go take a class. You don't have to keep it a secret anymore."

"I know. But I just need to pick up some things I'm running low on."

Setting the glass down, he paused, then said, "Maybe I can go take a class with you one day."

Her sudden laugh came out panicked. "No. No. It's embarrassing enough as it is. I don't need an audience."

His face fell.

"But maybe one day." She needed to stuff a sock in her mouth before she invited him on one of her patrols. "I'll see you later."

Before she could leave, he ran out into the living room saying, "Wait."

With one hand on the door, she faced him.

"If you ever need to talk about what happened last night, you can come to me. I know breakups aren't easy."

Her insides melted like butter in a hot pan. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him, pinning his arms to his sides. "Thank you. That's really sweet of you to say."

Pulling back, she found him blinking in surprise and, realizing she'd probably crossed a line, she hurried back to the door. She cleared her throat, said goodbye, and left the apartment.

"Friends hug. That wasn't too weird, right?"

Tikki poked her head out of her purse and shrugged.

Marinette groaned and stepped into the elevator.

oOoOo

Adrien stood dumbfounded in the living room. Marinette wasn't a casual toucher, yet she hugged him as easily as if they did it everyday. He wished they did.

"Do you think she likes me, Plagg?"

His kwami had zipped out of his pocket as soon as Marinette had left. "I don't have a clue about you humans. You're all so strange. Everyone has access to Camembert and yet no one eats it." He shook his head. "Such odd creatures."

"Now that she's not with Nathaniel, should I ask her out?"

"Do we have any Camembert?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, still staring at the door. "You're right. I should wait. I don't want to be the rebound guy."

AN - not a major chapter, but I'm setting up things to come. I have so much planned for this story. Argh!

Seventeen comments for the last chapter! I'm so happy everyone liked it. I was worried it would be too different from what might have been expected.

To the guest asking about my posting schedule, i make it a point to update every Friday and, now that I can write more, another random day, depending on when the chapter is completed.

Today is my sister's birthday! Btw, she was tickled pink by all the comments too.

Thanks everyone!

Update: edited