Marinette
"Of all the times I show up sober, you chastise me for the one time I don't?"
He shook his head, grabbing her hand and walking over to the door of the building. He positioned her around the corner, and sighed.
"Give me the Ladybug miraculous, so I can do the job and go."
"No, Tiki is mine."
He growled, and she frowned. Why was he in such a bad mood?
"I don't have time for this. Hand over the damn earrings or you can do this by yourself. I have somewhere to be."
She looked down at the ground, tears pooling in her eyes. He was mad at her.
"Tiki spots off."
She muttered, taking off the earrings. Tiki sighed in relief when Marinette handed her the earrings. She sank down to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs.
"Tiki spots on. Stay here, and I'll be right back. Stay out of sight."
She heard him leave, and she let the tears fall freely. Why couldn't she have just one night to herself? One night to be normal? She had never tried to before, she never cared enough to try. But the one time she did, this happened? She could hear him call for the lucky charm, and she closed her eyes. He would have been a better Ladybug, even if he is a guy. Her stomach started churning, and she tried to calm down. She couldn't stand Chat being mad at her though.
"I'm sorry."
She whispered, wiping her eyes. She had been a horrible Ladybug. But she was going to do better. She could be better. She didn't have to go to college. She could devote her time to being a hero.
"Miraculous Ladybug!"
She heard him shout, and she closed her eyes. She wouldn't do this again. Anything could have happened. If Chat hadn't have been there, who knows how long it would have taken to defeat the acuma. Or if she would have even been able to do it. She heard Chat land on the roof, and he stopped just at the corner, not passing it.
"I'm sorry for snapping. There's just someone that needs me right now."
He whispered, and Tiki brought the earrings back to her. His phone rang, and she flinched at the sound.
"Hello?"
She couldn't hear the other side of the phone, but it didn't sound good.
"What the fuck do you mean, you lost her? How could you lose her? She could barely walk by herself!"
"Is everything okay?"
She whispered, and he didn't respond.
"Look for Alya and Nino, let them know shes missing and start looking for her. I'm on my way back."
Uh-oh. They had lost Marinette. They were looking for her. He hung up, and she stood, leaning heavily against the wall.
"Do you need help getting home?"
This time he was talking to her, and she shook her head.
"No, no I can manage."
"Plagg, claws out. Ladybug, if you can, call me when you get home."
"Okay."
She whispered weakly, putting the earrings back on. She heard him leave, and shook her head, making her way to a fire escape. No way in hell was she even going to attempt to use her yo-yo to get down. Not like this.
"Marinette are you alright?"
Tiki asked, hiding in her hair.
"No. I'm the worst Ladybug."
She replied, slowly descending the several stories of stairs.
"You are not. I've seen how stressful it can be, and some of the other's handled it worse than you have. You're just stressed out."
Marinette felt her foot slide from under her, and she landed on her ass.
"Marinette, why don't you just call someone to come get you? This is dangerous."
Tiki whispered, and Marinette shook her head. She could make it down a set of stairs by herself. She didn't need any help. Besides, her phone wasn't in her pocket. Did she leave it at the party? Oh well. Instead of picking herself back up, she chose to slide down, step by step, probably ruining her pants.
"I don't have my phone Tiki."
"Then let's find the nearest pay phone."
She could do that. She pulled herself up, leaning against the rail as she all but tripped down the last flight of stairs. She steadied herself, before wandering down the sidewalk.
"Help me look Tiki."
She couldn't get her gaze to focus, and her feet seemed to go wherever they wanted. She kept stumbling towards the road, thankfully there wasn't any traffic.
"Marinette, you're stumbling too much, you're going to draw attention."
"Thanks for that super duper helpful update Tiki. I really appreciate that."
Marinette stopped, holding her stomach.
"What's wrong?"
"I...uh I don't feel too good."
She whispered, stumbling into the opening of an alley. She doubled over and started puking, barely able to hold herself up. It seemed neverending, and she sobbed between each time. This was awful. People actually did this shit for fun?
"Hey are you okay?"
She felt Tiki cling to her neck, and she glanced behind her. A man in his late forties stood there, smoking a cigarette. Great. A stranger, in a dark alley, and she was so drunk she could barely stand.
"I can't find a pay phone."
She sobbed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Take a deep breath darling. What's the number?"
He took out his phone, and she felt a wave of relief crash through her. But who should she call? Definitely not her parents. She didn't have Chat's number memorized, and Alya had been drinking too. She closed her eyes, and her mouth repeated a number she knew by heart. Adrien's. The man typed it in, and she turned away from him, another wave of puking hitting her. She heard him talking to him, and giving him directions. This guy must be a guardian angel.
"Hey, kid. I'm gonna stay with you until your ride gets here."
She nodded, and thanked him through her tears. This night could have gotten alot worse, if he hadn't been a good person. She felt empty, and she moved away from the puke littering the alley, sliding down the wall. Her legs ached from walking. She couldn't seem to stop crying. The guy was still on the phone, and he knelt down next to her.
"It's okay. He's on his way."
She nodded, trying to wipe away her unrelenting tears. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, but she didn't have a choice. She needed help.
"I'm sorry."
She whispered, and he shook his head.
"Don't apologize to me. Everyone goes through stuff like this."
She felt guilty. She had ruined everyone's night. This stranger, Adrien's, Chat's, probably everyone at the party that had been worried about her.
"Thank you for being so nice to me."
It sounded stupid, but she meant it. If it had been the wrong person, she didn't even want to think about what could have happened.
"I got a kid about your age. I hope if my daughter ever ends up in a similar situation, that she'll be treated the same way. You should be more careful."
Her tears started again, and she leaned her head back against the brick.
"I'm tired of being so careful. And tired. I just want to be normal."
The man smiled, and patted her on the arm.
"Things may seem really hard right now, but I'm sure in the morning you'll find that the world isn't so heavy."
She pulled her knees to her chest, crying harder. How would he know how heavy the world was? He didn't have to carry it on his shoulders all the time.
"I'm Grant. And your name is Marinette, right? You feel like you're at rock bottom?"
She nodded, and he sat down on the dirty ground next to her.
"The great thing about rock bottom, is you've got choices. You can either stay there, and explore the bottom, or you can put on your big girl britches and climb back up. Sure, you may slip and slide back down a few times. But you can always regain that ground you lost."
"What are you? A therapist?"
He chuckled, and she hated herself for how rude that probably sounded.
"A psychologist actually. You're pretty lucky you bumped into me and not some bum."
"Agreed."
They both looked up as Adrien's car parked in front of the alley, and he got out.
"Come on Marinette. Let's get you home."
Grant murmered, and he stood up as Adrien crouched next to her.
"You scared the fuck out of me."
She looked over at him, and had to focus to get him to stay still. He looked exhausted.
"You look sleepy."
He shook his head, standing up and turning to Grant.
"Thank you so much."
"It's no trouble. She's uh, been getting sick."
Adrien looked down at her, and she felt herself smile at him. He didn't smile back, and she could feel her eyes prickling again.
"Don't cry."
She said it out loud, and Adrien leaned down, pulling her into a standing position.
"Come on. Stand up with me."
She leaned heavily against him, sighing loudly. Her body was so tired.
"Do I have to?"
He shook his head, and Grant moved to her other side. Adrien shifted her, and they put her arms over their shoulders, lifting her up. Her head rolled, and she stared at her feet.
"I'm not touching the ground."
"You're fine, we've got you."
She heard Grant, and she shook her head.
"I think... I'm gonna be... sick."
They immediately stopped, and Grant quickly stepped away, leaving Adrien to hold her up. She started puking again, and this time her tears came from embarrassment. She was puking. In front of Adrien. Why did this have to happen to her? Why hadn't she listened, when Alya asked her to slow down?
"You got her?"
"Yeah, I've got her."
"I'm right here."
She snapped, before dryheaving. She was empty. So why was she still trying to puke?
"Please stop."
She whispered, and Adrien held her tighter, pulling her pigtails back behind her shoulders.
"Are you okay?"
"I think I'm dying."
She dryheaved again, and it finally stopped. Adrien maneuvered her around the puddle, and she started crying again. Why was she still crying? Grant grabbed her arm again, and they hauled her to the passenger door.
"I want to lay down."
She mumbled, and Adrien opened the car door.
"Not until you stop puking."
"I wouldn't mention that, unless you want her to do it again."
She gagged in response, and they both paused, waiting to see if she got sick again. Luckily she didn't, and they got her into the passenger seat. Adrien reached in and buckled her seatbelt, before handing her a plastic bag.
"Puke in this, or out the window."
"How romantic."
She tried to focus on opening the bag, just in case. He closed her door, and he and Grant talked for what felt like forever, before he got in the driver's seat.
"How in the hell did you get so far from the party?"
She started to close her eyes, but when he started driving she found that that made her want to get sick again.
"I jumped from building to building."
He glanced at her, before turning back to the road.
"I swear to god that better have been a joke. If I find out you were actually on top of a building I'm going to have Alya beat your ass."
"Do it yourself coward."
She snapped, and her head started to roll again. There was something on her shirt. Puke. Gross. She pulled the seatbelt from over her arm, and tugged off the shirt.
"That was dus- disgusing. Dis-gus-ting."
She pronounced it slowly, and he looked over at her.
"Marinette put your fucking shirt back on."
"It was dirty."
She whined, and she tossed it into the back seat. He pulled over, and she frowned at him.
"You're mad at me."
Her voice cracked, and he shook his head.
"No. I'm not."
He got out, and she tried to hold back the tears when he walked around and opened her door.
"I'm sorry, please don't make me walk."
He reached in and unbuckled her seatbelt, taking off his white over shirt.
"Oh, sexy time."
He grinned, and made her put her arms into the sleeves, pulling it around her. He knelt down in front of her, working on the buttons. She started trying to help him, and he kept having to push her hands away.
"Okay. Now take off the other one."
He laughed out loud, and she smiled.
"Not a chance princess."
He buckled her seatbelt, and she leaned back, sighing. It sounded so funny when he called her that.
DRINK RESPONSIBLY DUDES.