Forgotten

Chapter 10

With thoughts of Marinette in his head, Adrien smuggled the box of croissants into Chloe's hospital room that afternoon. Just as he had hoped, she had smiled at the gift and had even asked questions about Marinette and the other people at school, but Adrien hadn't been expecting Chloe to refer to Marinette as his girlfriend. Chloe couldn't even remember Marinette, but she was already asking questions that made Adrien's heart flutter weirdly.

Even when he denied it, Chloe gave him a confused look. "If she isn't your girlfriend, then why is she the only one that gave you something to bring here? And she gave it to you rather than sending it straight here. Sounds pretty romantic to me."

"No, it's nothing like that. She's just the class president and cares for everyone. Marinette would do the same for all of her friends, and she agreed to help you get used to school again once you come back. You've been in the same class as her for a few years now." He didn't feel the need to mention that they didn't exactly like each other before the collapse, but Chloe didn't notice that he was leaving anything out. Thankfully.

"Okay." Chloe knew she would find the truth out eventually, even if she had to wait to get back to school to meet Marinette herself. Well, not meet, because they already knew each other. But Chloe didn't remember anything about her life before, so it was almost like a blank slate, turning over a new leaf. Hopefully.

Chloe really couldn't remember anything about what happened before she woke up in the hospital, which meant she didn't know how she used to act towards other people. Had she been as nice as Adrien said Marinette was or had she been completely different? The more she thought about the time before the accident, the more she felt like she had done something wrong. A pit was forming in her stomach, but she had no idea how to fix it. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything. I don't know how much I'll be able to answer, though."

"Was I a bad person before the collapse?"

That threw Adrien, immensely so. He couldn't lie to Chloe about what kind of person she had been, he was already uncomfortable with lying to her about the collapse, but at the same time, he couldn't just tell her that she had been mean to everyone she knew. Neither was a good option, but this was Chloe's chance at a new beginning, so he couldn't let her fall back into her old personality if she seemed to be nicer. "You had said a few things that were mean to people recently, but you were planning an apology party to make amends."

Good enough. Half a truth and half not so much. Chloe had been saying some things that were pretty mean, but it hadn't just been over the days before the accident. And Chloe had been planning an apology party but whether she was actually being genuine about it was yet to be seen. For now, at least, Adrien could try and influence Chloe into being a better person. Hopefully.

No. He had to be optimistic if nothing else. When Chloe got back to school, and it was when, not if, she would be around people like Marinette, Rose, and Mylene, who were all some of the nicest and most optimist people he knew. If Chloe picked up even half their kindness by being around them, she would be the polar opposite of the old Chloe they had all once known.

"Is there a way I can have the party? You said I was just planning it, did something go wrong?" Then it clicked for Chloe. Adrien had said recently, which meant she had probably been planning the party around the time of the collapse. "Never mind."

"You could ask Father, he might let you reschedule after you're better." Adrien didn't know if he should have said that. Sure, Gabriel was actually trying to put an effort in to be a better parent, but Adrien didn't know how long that was going to last, or if he would actually let Chloe have the party since he wouldn't have heard anything about it.