The Power I Possess - A Miraculous Ladybug Adrienette Fanfiction [ON HOLD]

E I G H T

160 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds until explosion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you want to talk about it?" The first thing Nathaniel uttered softly when the couple entered his quaint apartment.

It was neat, organised, save the canvas and paintbrushes that were placed in the corner of the room, a white sheet splayed over the wall and floor. Marinette walked cautiously to the humble setup. Peering at the art-piece, she laid her eyes on a man and a woman, standing on the edge of a deck, facing an open, serene lake.

Their bodies seemed to be in itching motion, wanting to hold each other, but unsure that the body warmth would ignite a fire, forcing them to jerk apart.

At the image, fresh tears sprung under Marinette's lid, and her lips began to tremble. The painting reminded her of him. But not the bad thoughts, but all the childish, playful ones.

The times they had spent together materialised in her mind, one by one. Flitting by, ill-mannered or not, the complete lack of regret in their immature antics. The immense emotion that went into each, purely grounded on the development of their relationship.

But it seemed to reduce to nothing. The hole in her heart widened as she reminisced. However, before she could collapse into a fir of despair and tears, Nathaniel had dropped his grocery bags with a soft almost audible thud , and rushed to her side, planting warm hands on her shoulders and gently turning her to face him. Marinette diverted her gaze away from his to rather watch the floor intently, silently pleading it to swallow her up.

But one of his hands slid further from her shoulder, taking its position under her chin, fitting their perfectly and tilting her head up to his.

"Hey," He said softly, his eyes softening from its previous hard, determined form, "you don't have to. I'm not forcing you. But," he gazed at her hopefully, "when you're ready, it would mean the best if you could open up." Marinette's lips calmed and she blinked rising tears away, seeing only one thing when she looked up to him; an amazing, patient friend.

Slowly, she nodded , Nathaniel's hands slipping off to his sides and allowing her to dig the heels of her fingers into her eyes, successfully drying any remaining tears. Nathaniel silently travelled back to the grocery bags and off loaded them onto the kitchen counter. Marinette stood there, uncomfortable and uncertain of what to do or say next. Gratefully, Nathaniel spoke again, but he didn't necessarily ask the most tremendous thing.

"Did-did he hurt you?" His voice wavered with uncertainty and - in a manner - disbelief.

Marinette's eye snapped to meet his with a sudden fierce glare, Her fears had retired, a raging stormy sea replacing the pleasant blue-bells. Nathaniel's own eyes largened, realising the accusing manner in which he spoke and stuttered to correct himself.

"I - I mean, of course not! But, uh if you...you had any run ins or...or previous arguments then maybe-"

He stopped himself short, because she had spoke for the first time since they had arrived at his apartment.

"No," her voice cutting through like a knife through a block of solid ice. "He didn't, he didn't lay a hand on me," there was a pause of deliberation, "When are you free tomorrow?" She referred to his internship as an artists apprentice from Monday's to Thursday's.

The question appeared to slam him back onto solid ground and his whole body jerked in reply, "I've got a lunch hour at twelve a-and I'm home by four-thirty," he struggled to not mutter a 'ma'am' at her firm demanding voice.

"Good, I'll see you at Starbucks, for lunch," her voice became sincere, "I'll answer your questions," she handed in him a kind smile that he returned with a grateful one. "Are you going to eat?" Nathaniel moved to the fridge, thankful that her demeanour had pleasingly changed. "I've got leftover pizza." Marinette's stomach grumbled in approval at the suggestion. "Pizza is just fine," she spoke its words, dropping into a barstool at the kitchen island.

They ate in comfortable silence, pleased with the promise of a rendenzvous to answer much desired questions they had lined up for one another. Afterwards, Nathaniel showed Marinette to a guest room, where she would sleep. A blessing for good sleep and a kind smile later, Nathaniel and Marinette were settled into their separate rooms.

She slept, for the first time in a while, peacefully, the stress running down in cold droplets of sweat off of her body, her breathing slowing, minimising in strength and falling into a serene dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, my dear miraculers!

Vote

Comment

and

Share

Have a great day/night!

~Heather~