Miraculous Story

Part 21

Adrien arrived to school early the next day. He wanted to make sure that he was there when Marinette showed up. She had been so upset the night before, he wanted to see her again as soon as possible. Alya and Nino were surprised to see him there so early. "Just couldn't wait to see Marinette," he explained as they started talking.

Adrien's face dropped when it was time to go to class. "She probably overslept again," Ayla said to him as they took their seats. Adrien wasn't so sure.

Marinette walked in a minute later as Miss Bustier starting teaching. She kept her head down, but Adrien could see that she was upset. She didn't look at anyone or say anything when she sat at her desk.

At the end of class, Marinette quickly got up and left the room. Adrien tried to catch up with her in the hallway but she had disappeared.

The same thing happened during chemistry and their other subjects. Marinette showed up to class at the last second and left as soon as possible.

"What's going on with Marinette?" Alya finally asked Adrien while they waited for their history class to begin. "She's barely said one word all day."

"I have no idea, and she hasn't given me a chance to talk to her," he replied.

"You guys didn't get into a fight, did you?" Nino asked.

"No, nothing happened. I don't understand why she's so upset."

"Maybe she got in trouble with her parents?" Alya suggested.

"Or maybe someone said something to her about you two dating?" Nino asked.

Adrien's eyes went wide. "I bet that's it!" he said, turning to Nino. "Someone probably said something horrible to her, and that's why she's avoiding me. Because she doesn't want to tell me and make me upset."

"Oh, poor Marinette," Alya said. "No wonder she's been acting so strange."

At that moment the bell rang and Marinette walked into the room. She sat in her seat, keeping her head down. Adrien looked at her but she wouldn't look up. As class went on, he noticed that Marinette seemed to be getting more and more upset. Her face was paling and tears were welling up in her eyes. By the end of class, Marinette had covered her face with her hands.

When the final bell rang, Adrien expected her to get up and leave quickly, just like she had been doing all day. But this time she didn't. She stayed sitting in her seat, her hands covering her face. After a minute, Marinette stood up and looked at Adrien.

"Adrien," she said, holding back tears, "can we go outside and talk?"

"Of course, Marinette," he replied, moving towards her to hug her.

She stepped back. She looked over at Alya and Nino watching them. "I... think we need to go outside."

Adrien nodded. "Okay."

************************************

It was a beautiful sunny day. Laughter filled the air as the students made their way out of the building. Adrien's bodyguard was waiting for him by the car like normal, but today Nathalie was with him.

Marinette wasn't surprised to see Nathalie by the car when she went outside. In fact, she had been counting on it. There was no going back now.

Stopping on the front steps, Marinette turned and looked up at Adrien. "Ad... Adrien... forgive me, but we're just not right for each other." A tear fell down her face.

Adrien's mouth fell open. He moved towards her, reaching out to grab her hand. She moved away from him again. "What are you talking about? Of course we are, we love each other!"

"No," Marinette said. "I... don't love you... anymore." She turned around as another tear fell. She ran down the steps and off towards her house, passing Gorilla and Nathalie.

Adrien froze for a second. This couldn't be happening. He shook his head and started running after her, tears filling his eyes. "Marinette!" he called.

He tried running past Gorilla and Nathalie but they both moved over, blocking his path. Adrien looked up at his bodyguard. "Please, let me through. It can't end like this. It can't end at all. I love her. I beg you, please."

"Adrien, get in the car," Nathalie commanded.

Adrien kept looking at Gorilla with tears streaming down his face. Gorilla shook his head sadly. He put his hand on Adrien's shoulder, spun him around and guided him to the car.

Once he was in the backseat, Nathalie pulled out her phone and pressed a button. "Everything's all set," she said. Then she disconnected and climbed into the front seat.

************************************

Marinette ran home and sank to the floor once she was inside the living room. She covered her face with her hands and cried. Tikki and Plagg, who had been in her purse, floated over to her.

"Adrien will be fine," Plagg said. "You did what you had to do. Now his father will know that you two broke up and he can keep going to school."

"He'll forgive you, Marinette," Tikki added. "We just have to wait a little while until things calm down."

"I know, I know," Marinette said, wiping her face. "I just hate hurting him like that. He must be so upset..."

Marinette's mother walked into the room. Tikki and Plagg quickly disappeared into her purse. Upon seeing her daughter crying on the floor, Sabine immediately rushed over to her.

"Sweetie, what happened?" she asked, kneeling down.

"It... it's Adrien," Marinette said. "We... broke up."

"Oh Marinette, I'm so sorry," Sabine said, hugging her daughter. "You two seemed so happy together." She hugged her tighter as Marinette sobbed into her shoulder. "I understand, sweetie. Breakups are tough. I wish I could take the pain away for you," Sabine said.

The two remained on the floor, with Sabine consoling her daughter. Neither of them noticed the black butterfly fluttering in through the window.

It wasn't until the Akuma flew up to them that Sabine saw it. "No!" she yelled, pushing Marinette away. The butterfly melted on contact with the pink flower in Sabine's hair, turning it purple. Her eyes glazed over as a voice spoke to her.

"Baohu Ren, my name is Hawkmoth..."

"Maman!" Marinette cried out, moving back to her mother. "Don't listen to him, you can fight it!"

Sabine didn't respond. She continued staring straight ahead. With a stifled cry, Marinette got up and ran to her room.

"This is all my fault," she choked out as Tikki and Plagg appeared again. "The Akuma was after me!"

"Marinette, there's nothing we can do about that now. We need Ladybug and Chat Noir to save your mother," Tikki said.

Marinette shook her head. "No, we can't give the Miraculous back to Adrien yet. It's too dangerous. We'll need to get someone else to help us," she said, looking over to where the Miracle Box was hidden.