Gamer Girl (Cat Noir x reader x Nathaniel)

Chapter 17

Spending hours in Marinette's room was suffocating but also a breath of fresh air. In the confines of her pink walls and girly possessions you were being treated like a human being. Marinette and you were nowhere close to being good friends but the both of you had might be getting there. She sat next to you, careful not to invade your privacy but also not to make it seem like she didn't want you there. You could see that she was making an effort and you casually ignored the way she wrung her hands in anxiety, though you were feeling just as tense as she was. As Marinette talked to you with a gentle voice like someone trying to coax an animal out of hiding, only stopping occasionally to try and gauge your expression or to lick her lips nervously. But no matter how many times she stammered or repeated her sentences, you listened to what she had to say intently, maybe for the choice to listen or maybe because you didn't have the right to argue with someone who was treating you like an equal.

Staring at your hands was what seemed right, you couldn't bear to look at her soft blue eyes after what she told you. She wouldn't look at you either, she was instead looking at the rose shade of her wallpaper. Her room reminded yourself of a classic princess, those who wore frilly dresses and had cute little animal sidekicks. Marinette was the definition of the girl who had it all and you were the good-hearted girl turned wrong. The perfect children's story. But this wasn't a tall-tale or a fantastic fable where the protagonist and antagonist ended up joining together to fight for the greater good. You had already turned over a new leaf but it was clear that no one other than the girl with shimmering blue-bell eyes would believe you.

Marinette had given you her sympathy since you changed back but the both you would never be able to forget this crack in your relationship, though you were never that close before. The past few events, oddly enough had got them closer together, even though things had not started out too well in the first place. It was definitely peculiar, but Marinette and you could see that you were like the two poles of a magnet, different, sure but in the end, you were attracted to each other.

As the both of you walked back to school to salvage something out of the rest of the day, you though that with Nathaniel and Marinette, you could maybe, just maybe, put your life together and to try and make the best of it. But when Adrien had slammed you against your locker, both hands holding the collar of your shirt, a fierce and almost crazy look in his eye, you realized that nothing would ever be the same again.

"(Y/N), tell me where you put the ring. Now!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Adrien, I swear I don't know where it is!" You cried out, watching as his stone-cold face didn't change, "Don't lie to me!" He barked.

"I-I don't know!" "(Y/N), we could do this all day, so you better tell me now!"

"Is this really the kind of person you are?!" You said in disbelief, "Are you really the kind of person who needs superhuman abilities for an ego-boost?! Or do you actually care about people? Because if this I what you're really like, then I'm glad that GG took the ring from you!"

Grunting, Adrien threw you away from the locker, resting both his arms on the lockers.

"Every memory before GG seems like it was never mine, I don't really know who I am now or who I was, but I do remember that Chat Noir was chivalrous, cheeky and brave and whether or not he loved me, he made me feel loved," You said, wiping a few tears away, "And I know he would never hurt me. He knew he could be a hero without that dumb ring! He wanted to help people, not hurt them! You always helped people, Adrien! You always put saving people at the top, but now? Is that ring really so important to you? I was so close to never coming back to my own life, Marinette and Nathaniel risked anything they could to get me back, like a true hero."

The skin around your collarbone and shoulder blades where Adrien had grabbed you and slammed you against the cold metal was stinging and you could tell they would turn purple by the next morning. You stood up, letting the last of your tears slip away and licking your dry lips, "But it's nice to see where your priorities lie."

Gently rubbing the red skin, you walked away, as Adrien slid to the floor, heart flooding of emotions he couldn't explain.