Princess

d o u z e

Marinette awoke to find herself sprawled uncomfortably in her bed, with her makeup smeared but on her face, still in the previous day's clothes and with a stained bandage tied around her wrist. Pushing herself to a sitting position, she groaned at a throbbing headache that pulsed in her ears and sighted a figure lying on her sofa bed.
"Chat Noir?" She croaked, wincing at the horrid taste in her mouth. Had she not brushed her teeth that night?
Stella heard a voice and stirred, before fully waking and rising from the uncomfortable sofa bed.
"Marinette, are you feeling better now?"
Marinette blinked and rubbed her eyes, accidentally further smudging her mascara. "You're not Chat Noir."
"Well done, Sherlock." Stella snapped teasingly. "Do you want a cup of tea?"
Marinette nodded eagerly. "I'm going to get washed first. Okay?"
Stella smiled, stood up and hugged her friend tightly. "I'll see you in twenty minutes. Oh- Alya's coming over later. Do you want her to try the dress?"
"Yeah. It's ugly though."
"It's great, Marinette."
Marinette laughed a little, before standing and walking into her shower. She glanced in the mirror and frowned, taking a face wipe and wiping of the brunt of her makeup. She quickly followed this up with makeup remover and cleanser, but she almost didn't bother, feeling no real reason to bother. Once her face was clean, she pulled off her clothes and stood in her underwear, looking at her wrist. She had no real recollection of the previous night, but assumed it couldn't have been good. She carefully unwrapped the bandage and tugged off the dressing. She took a flannel and dampened it before gently coaxing the dried blood from her wrist. Unfortunately, this began to open up the wound once more. She rummaged in the cabinet for an anti-bacterial wipe and rubbed that over her wrist as well. Slowly, most of the blood began to shift. Sighing, she switched the water on and allowed it to heat up before stepping inside and immersing herself in the pouring water.
She rubbed shampoo through her hair, hissing as bubbles fell onto her cuts. The water was soothing, but soap stung like hell. As she continued to was the grime from her uncomfortable night off of her body, her eyes alighted on her shaving razor.
"No, Marinette." She muttered to herself. "Don't do it."
She continued to was herself, more reluctantly, but her eyes kept drifting back.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to shave my legs." She reasoned with herself. She shut off the water and began to shave carelessly, not caring as the blade nicked her skin. A few minutes in, she began to realise what she was doing and swore. She poured a jug of clean water over her legs and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel.
She wiped her face and sighed, horrified as beads of crimson on her skin. She pulled out a box of plasters and began sticking them over each individual wound. Once they were all covered and secure, she wrapped the towel around her torso and re-entered her room to peer into her wardrobe.
She pulled out a short, high waisted tartan skirt, lace trimmed socks, a burnt amber cropped turtleneck and brown suede ankle boots. She pulled her hair into a quick bun, tying a red ribbon around the hair, before applying a full face of makeup. As she left the room, she glanced in the mirror and allowed herself a small smile. It was rather impressive, really, how quickly she had applied foundation, concealer, colour correction, contour, highlight, powder, blush, bronzer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara and liquid lipstick. Always look for the good things, no matter how small they are.
She skipped down the stairs, her good mood a stark contrast to her depression of the previous night. "Morning." She grinned at Stella.
"Morning." Her friend replied, handing her a steaming cup of tea. "Careful, it's hot. Your dad dropped off some new pastries, I'm heating them up if that's okay."
"Great." Marinette smiled. "How are you?"
"Fine. I was planning to see Alya today, but if you'd prefer, we can have her over." Stella said as she bustled around the kitchen.
"Oh, I don't mind. How are the two of you, anyway?" Marinette teased, raising an eyebrow and batting her eyelids slyly.
Stella blushed, which surprised Marinette a little- a lot- Stella never blushed!
"We're fine."
"Are you- you know?"
"Not officially. To be honest, I think Nino likes her."
"Nino likes everyone. He likes you. And he totally likes Alya. They dated for a bit in tenth grade, but she split it up."
Stella pondered this for a while. "She did, did she?"
"Yup." Marinette winked, placing her empty cup on the side and quickly stuffed the last of the croissant in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she continued talking. "I need her to try on the dress and I doubt you trust me to keep making Chloe's dress." She laughed a little.
"I trust you to make a dress, I don't necessarily study you to make it without hurting yourself." Stella replied honestly. "But we can work on that. How is is coming along?"
"Eh."
"It looks wonderful? I look forward to its completion."

{hello again! I have had many, many requests to update over the last week, for good reason. This chapter isn't great, I don't think, but at least it's progress.
Quite honestly, I think Marinette's mood follows mine somewhat, so if the story takes a dark turn again, sorry, that's my fault...
Most of you won't know this, but I have several Instagram accounts and I make edits. Would you be interested in seeing some?
Love, Ella x}