I'm Always Lucky With My Bad Luck

Paranoia

Marinette couldn't stop fidgeting. Her foot bounced up and down, her hand fumbled with her pen and her eyebrow twitched.

"That should be your last cup," Alya told her earlier that morning.

Marinette didn't listen instead she continued on drinking caffeine. Her fifth cup rested on the edge of her desk. She breathed in shakily.

A whole bubble of anxiety surrounded her. If you got too close, you instantly felt what she felt. Which was paranoia. The whole week she was getting more restless. Marinette barely got any sleep, each time she closed her eyes she saw another akuma of her past. From the most dangerous ones to the petty ones who had a crappy morning.

After she walked down memory lane there were no more enemies to remember. Only one stuck with her. The Commander, her worst battle she ever fought, was always in her head. Every thump she heard, she thought it was an explosion. Every click, a gun and every shout, a cry for help.

She twitched and grabbed her bag everytime she thought he was back.

"Okay, what happened in class?" Alya asked. Marinette shot her eyes to Alya.

"What?"

"Something happened?" Alya stated. "You're all jumpy and stuff. Relax." Marinette nodded with tight lips.

"Yep."

"Boo!" Adrien grabbed Marinette's shoulders from behind. The smaller girl turned with her elbow ready to hit him in the chin but he grabbed her elbow before she could even hit him.

"Marinette?" He asked in a worried toned. She gasped and slowly lowered her arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Ya-yeah...Um, I think we have drama." Marinette walked past him, leaving him behind.

"Is she okay?" Adrien asked Alya. She plooped herself on the bench behind them.

"To be honest, no." Adrien took a seat next to her, he had a feeling that it was going to be a long talk. "She's barely sleeping or eating... I think she has nightmare, I hear her screaming sometimes." She sighed. "And she's always jumpy." Alya told him.

"Well, lack of sleep can do that to 'ya." Adrien shrugged. But he didn't think that it was the only reason.

"Remember last weekend? We went to that diner and she was acting weird?"

"Yeah?" Adrien asked. Alya paused.

"...I don't think it's a sleeping thing." Alya licked her lips.

She didn't believe her friend was just sleep deprived. Alya was scared for her friend, Marinette's been through a lot. It took her a while to get over Adrien and then her grandma died. Grief counselling helped a bit but she recovered all by herself. And now Alya was scared the blue-haired girl was going down the rabbit hole again. Maybe Marinette was finally breaking, slowly but surely.

Adrien patted her on the back.

"She'll be fine." Alya looked at him and the blonde boy offered her a smile. "She's Marinette."

Despite Marinette's jumpy behaviour rehearsal wasn't what Adrien expected. Marinette could recite the lines perfectly, never forgot her parts and did everything right.

Of course, rehearsal went well, it was Marinette. But after going over the lines, after class, after school. She was back to that behaviour.

The one with the scared looks and the constantly moving limbs. The behaviour that had Marinette's friends worried for her.