Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic- Adrien Agreste: Marinette's Bully

aftermath

(TW: TALK OF SELF HARM)

(MARINETTE POV)

Chat ran after that. He got up, still shaking and with tears running down his face, and ran. Out the door and off to god knows where. Maybe to go home or grieve or whatever. Frankly, I was in too much pain to care.

After he left, it was like a dam broke loose and everyone started moving again. Volpina and Anti-Bug transformed back to normal and fell to the floor, completely passed out. Sealias and Tigris immediately ran to me after their opponents fell, concern evident on their faces.

"Mari, it's alright. We're gonna get you out of here." Tigris said softly as she picked me up. "Al is still at your house right?"

Al? Oh right. Alexander was still staying at my house. I let out a small groan. How was I supposed to keep all of this hidden now?

"Yeah, he's still there. If you drop me off by my balcony, I can figure the rest out." Talking hurt like hell, each word sending a stabbing pain to my ribs but I forced the words out.

"No. Absolutely not. I'm sorry, Marinette but he's going to have to help you. You're in no state to take care of yourself and I have to go back and help Sealias after this. Please tell me you haven't just been taking care of your own injuries up until now." Tigris looked down at me pointedly. Crap. That was exactly what I had been doing.

Tigris groaned but moved on. "Fine. We'll talk about that later. Now hold on." With that, she started making her way out of the building and over to my house. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop as I used all of my remaining strength to cling to her.

Much too soon for my liking, we were there. Tigris jumped through the balcony and into my room, softly laying me down on my bed before she called out for Al.

"Huh? Mari, did you bring Jess over?" Al's voice came closer as he spoke. I mentally prepared myself for his reaction as the doorknob slowly opened. "When did-" He froze as he opened the door. Judging by his face, I assume we made quite the sight. I mean to be fair, it's not every day you walk into your roommate bleeding onto her bed with a superhero at her side.

"Alright, Marinette, good luck explaining. I gotta head out now. Al, please help her out!" And just like that, Tigris leaped out and left the two of us alone.

"Jesus Christ," Al breathed out and rushed over. "Okay, I know a bit about First-Aid but nothing near this. Uh. First thing to do is to clean the wounds. Yeah, clean the wounds. Then wrap them. And painkillers! We need painkillers." Al kept muttering to himself as he checked over my injuries. When he was done, I pointed over at the very well-stocked first aid kit I kept in the corner of my room.

Al nodded and immediately set to work. First, coaxing me into swallowing a couple of the strongest painkillers I owned before starting the process of cleaning the wounds. After that though, my memory went hazy. The mixture of the painkillers and the exhaustion making my eyes feel heavy. I didn't even try to stop them from closing. Finally, I could rest.

-----

The first thing I processed when I finally woke up again was ouch. A majority of the pain had subsided since the last time I was conscious but it still hurt like an absolute bitch. Slowly, I opened up my eyes up to look around me. I was still laying in my bed but my jacket was off and one of my pant legs looked to have been hacked off with a pair of scissors in order to get to the wound. There were fresh bandages on my arm and leg and an icepack was pressed up against my ribs. Huh. This was a huge upgrade compared to the shabby first aid I did to myself a majorty of the time.

"Oh, Marinette, thank god you're awake." I looked up at the noise. Al. He was sitting in a chair a couple of feet away from me, a tired but relieved look on his face at the sight of me.

I opened my mouth to speak but immediately realized how thirsty I was. "Water." I croaked out, wincing at how dry my throat was. 

Al shot up, "Oh yea. You must be so thirsty. You were out for over half a day." He handed me a glass from my bedside table which I started drinking immediately.

It was quiet for a minute or two as I finished the cup. Then, "We have..." Al started slowly, "a lot to talk about..."

"I...Uhm...Got...Mugged?" I said weakly, reaching for an excuse. Al shot me an unimpressed look. "Look, can we not talk about it now? I know I'm asking for a lot but I...I can't." Can't tell Al I'm Ladybug. Can't taint the image of her. Ladybug was everything I was not. A persona to put on and act like I was strong and perfect and then to switch back to just being Marinette again. Ladybug wouldn't have gotten these injuries. Ladybug wouldn't be bullied at school. Ladybug wouldn't be sitting here now, weak and confused.

Al seemed to sense my desperation and thankfully let that part slide. "If you won't tell me how you ended up like this, can you at least explain these?" Al looked down at me. I was confused for a moment before I followed his eyes and my blood ran cold. My jacket was off. My bare arms were completely visible, showing every single cut I had inflicted on myself.

Al deserved an explanation for this, at least. And so I took a deep breath and started explaining. I told him about the fight with Chloe. The crush I used to have on Adrien and what he had seen. The constant bullying and harassment that followed and the pain I'd been through. I told him how I'd turned to a sharp knife when there was nothing else.

"It hurts. Al, it hurts so much when you're in love with a person that hates you that much. Hearing that kind of stuff all day..." I trailed off for a second before continuing, "It makes you believe it. And then you end up like this." After I had finished, I stared numbly at my hands, refusing to make eye contact.

But before I knew it, I was being pulled into a gentle hug.

"I'm going to kill Adrien. Mari, you are wonderful and if he couldn't see that, he's an idiot."

I pulled away, shaking my head. "No. He was just confused. He...He didn't see it right. And he apologized. I forgave him. It's fine."

Al sat back down. "Mari, he hurt you. He could have asked if he had seen it wrong. He could have been angry and not hurt you. He could have talked to you. But he made the choice to bully you. He needs to spend a lot of time begging for your forgiveness before he is ever worthy of someone like you." I opened my mouth to try and defend him again but closed it after a moment. There was nothing I could say. Al sighed, "Look, I'm going to go head to sleep now since I've been staying up to make sure you're okay. But think about what I've said. Goodnight Mari." And with that, he got up and left.

I sat there in silence, unsure of what to do now. I grabbed my phone from my bedside table. Twenty-three missed calls and forty missed messages. I winced and set it back down. Huh. Sounds like a problem for future Marinette.

I turned and laid my head back down on the pillow. Might as well go back to sleep then. Then, right out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw a familiar feline silhouette by my window. But before I could look at it any longer, my eyes slipped shut and I fell asleep.

(A/N: i am not at all caught up with the show and haven't seen it in years, so if I get anything wrong, please tell me. also, let me know if you'd rather me rewrite the first bit of the story too to match my current writing- I'll still leave this edition up but make an entire new book - or just leave it as is. i hope you are all enjoying my current writing style as much you liked my old one! and lastly, my upload schedule will be every other day)