Tattoos ➳ 𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓐𝓤

Epiphany at the ball II

It had been a long night already. Adrien and his peers had been in the ballroom for almost over an hour and a half now. There were so many students, it was difficult for the boy to spot anyone else from his class. He went to turn to Nino yet ended up bumping into a smaller girl, about half the size of him. 

"A-Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to hit you. Uhm, can we- I mean, do you want to dance?" she said to Adrien, twiddling her thumbs nervously. Adrien leant down, an apologetic look on his face. 

"Sorry, but I think I'm all danced out for tonight," he sincerely said, raising his hands to politely decline. As bad as he felt, he didn't think he could accept another dance request. His ankles were practically broken at this point. So the boy with the shiny blonde hair and emerald green eyes sat upon a silky lounge, just on the outskirts of the dance floor. He leant forward and rested his head on his hands, zoning out as he watched partners dance. 

Maybe I do want to dance. Just not with a person I don't know, he considered. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. He dragged his hands down his face, mildly frustrated but not sure as to why. Gah, where did that come from? I'm too tired for dancing now anyway. He sat back upright, but to his surprise, the commotion and synchronized movements of the dance floor became one whole blur. In the distance, through the spins of expensive dresses and the waltzing of partners, Marinette stood out like a luminescent beacon to the boy. As though Marinette was the only thing he could see amongst the dissolving world around him. The boy found himself in a trance, he was quick to rise, without notice, and pressed through the crowd in search of the angel. His eyes completely locked on Marinette, and only Marinette. Though he was pushed and shoved left and right by other dancers, he did not falter, he did not blink, he stayed focused to not lose her. Adrien picked up the pace, his hand out practically reaching for her. However, as dancers suddenly blocked his field of view, he lost sight of her. By the time the dancers had crossed his path and left the clearing open once more, Adrien found Marinette to be gone. Almost as though she was never there to begin with. 

At the stage, Adrien was out of breath and in disbelief with what had happened. He rubbed his eyes in confusion and hung his head low as he dragged his feet off the dance floor feeling unexplainably miserable, but unsure as to why. He looked up scanning the room once more, eventually finding Nino instead. Once again, he hurried over.

"Bro, there you are! Why did you ditch me like that? I've been forced to eat this fancy tuna all by myself," Nino said contently as he placed two more in his mouth. "You good? You're lookin' a little puzzled," Nino pressed on. Adrien shook it out of his system and put a smile on his face.

"It's nothing. Don't worry. Uhm, but by any chance..." the boy hesitated, confused why he found himself doing so. He decided to continue. "Have you seen Marinette? Wasn't she on the dance floor a moment ago?"

"Don't think so dude. I've been looking for our mates in there- but no one, why?" Nino proclaimed. 

"Never mind. I'm going to the restroom, be right back," Adrien said, trudging his way around the building to find it. 

⥈

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? For the last time, I said no," Marinette warned, starting to get annoyed.

"Aw, why not girly? Just for a second, c'mon," a males voice slurred, it's volume echoing down the empty, narrow hallway. 

Adrien heard voices coming from around the corner, one of the agitated voices faintly familiar sounding. He followed the sign that pointed to the restroom, those muffled and faint voices becoming louder and louder with each step.