I Knew It Was You [COMPLETE]

7. Trust

"Okay, here you go," Marinette said, handing him an ice pack. He was on her chaise lounge, propped up on pillows and held a plate of croissants. Talk about being in heaven.

"Thanks Princess," he said, taking it from her. She turned around and made her way to her computer, furiously typing away. From where he was sitting, he saw pictures of famous painters. Oh, this must be the Renaissance essay, he thought to himself, that isn't due for a week though.

"Whatcha doing there Princess? Hope you're not too busy," he said, feeling his old confidence coming back. At least the stammering stopped. 
"It's an essay, thought I'd do it while I have free time," she said.
"What keeps you busy then?"
"Oh you know, my website, bakery orders, homework and stuff. I spend too much time designing that I don't do anything else." She placed her hands on her knees and stared at her mannequin. Cat looked at the dress...a coral blue full-length evening gown. Was that the silk she was looking for that day?

A silence wavered over them and Cat exhaled. I'll just tell her now...she's right here.
"Hey Marinette...can-can I trust you?" he said, looking at her carefully.
She looked at him, puzzled by the sudden seriousness and went over to settle down next him on the chaise. "Of course," she said, a concerned face taking over her, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," he started, "You see, there's this girl who I use to be really good friends with and we haven't been talking for a while now." He sneaked quick glance at Marinette, who was looking at him with a curious gaze but there wasn't a hint of judgement on her face. He continued, "A-And well, I value our friendship a lot, but now...well, for a while now actually, we haven't had a proper conversation. I-I just don't know why w-we drifted apart and it sucks because she means a lot to me..."

Marinette smiled reassuring, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever it is Cat, I'm sure she isn't doing this to hurt you," she said, "I'm sure she'll understand if you just talk to her."
Cat looked at her, blue eyes boring onto him. "You really think so?"
She took a deep breath and nodded, taking her hand off his shoulder to tuck away a strand of her hair. "Actually, I've been drifting away from my friends as well," she admitted, "I've been so busy with the website and designs that I don't remember the last time I had a full conversation with them either."

 She shrugged and  blinked rapidly, immediately straightening up. "Uh okay um, wow I'm sorry about that," she said, rubbing her elbow. Before Cat could reassure her or ask her what was wrong, she walked over to her desktop and said, "Hey, would like to see my website? Um that is, if you could walk over here or uh well, okay never mind, I'll just show you from here or-"

"I'd love to see it," he said, slowly getting up. The pain wasn't as bad as before (thanks to the kwami's quick healing powers), but Marinette quickly rushed over, muttering 'careful' and seating him next to her. He had to admit, he was enjoying the attention. 

He watched the excitement on her face as she explained how her friends helped make and update her website, all of them contributing in their own ways. Cat already knew about everyone- Juleka, Alya, Rose, Mylène's dad- but he's never heard it directly from Marinette. Her eyes crinkled, her hands were constantly animated and she never stopped smiling, something he realized he had been missing. She clicked through pictures, but as they went back further down the timeline, her smile died down. Suddenly she stopped at a picture of Adrien and Juleka, from the first ever shoot for her website, and her smile vanished. 

Cat noticed and pretended not to. "Oh, um hey, I-I know this guy, I've- uh -saved him a couple of times," he said, trying to read her face. She smiled sadly and said, "Hmm yeah, Adrien's a popular model, you must've heard of him. He's in my class...he's also one of the friends I drifted apart from." She looked down at her lap, a finger on her knee cap, unaware of Cat's eyes on her.

It was his turn to console her now. "Hey," he said bending down to meet her eyes and placing his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure it'll be alright if you talk to him." Marinette looked at him, relying for confirmation. He smiled confidently at her, hoping she gets the reassurance she needs, a sense of conviction. Instead, she looked down, unsmiling, and blinked fast, her eyelashes suddenly wet with tears. If he wasn't so focused on the fact that she was crying, maybe he would notice his heart rate matching her rapid blinking. Or how he held his breath when she stopped smiling.

"Marinette, what's wrong?" he said moving closer to her, trying to uncover her face which was buried in her hands.
"Can I trust you Cat?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"Of course, you can. Tell me what's wrong Princess."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, turning to a catastrophic sob, a child-like wail that surprised him. "Marinette..." he said, pulling her into a hug. She felt so small in his arms, her body shaking as she cried into his chest. She was breaking down completely and he wished he could make it stop. What could possibly be bothering her this much?

"I-I just can't do this anymore," she said between breaths.
"It's okay, it's okay...please don't cry, Princess..." he said. She kept her head down but her sobs were dying down into soft sniffles. He stroked her hair and pulled her face up, wiping away a tear without letting his claws hurt her. 

She finally looked at him, her eyes bloodshot and unblinking and straightened up her composure. Cat too noticed and took his hands back, not meeting her eyes.
"I'm sorry about that, I uh, guess didn't know I held so much back," she said, her nose a little stuffy from the crying. Cute, he thought, is it red? Wait, what? Why did I think that?

"Ahaha, don't worry, I'm glad you trusted me because that's what friends do right? A-And we're good friends right? 'Cuz I trusted you and everything- NOT that I wouldn't, be-because I'm sure anyone would, 'cuz you know, you're a really good friend and I want be an equally good friend 'cuz you're really caring- OF COURSE YOU'RE CARING, not that that's uh something that uh...um..okay- jus-just, don't worry okay?" 

Twenty long, awkward seconds passed.
And then suddenly it was filled with laughter. Marinette's laughter.