A burning desire - Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction

Chapter 4

« Cat Noir? »

Adrien bit his lips and nodded with guilty air.

The seconds passed and Marinette began to understand what was going on, « Since when? » she asked with a cold voice.

« Mari... »

She raised her tone: « Since when? »

« I don't... I don't know exactly... more than a year. »

Marinette felt her throat tighten and her heart tear in her chest. She shook her head as her eyes darken with anger. She caught Adrien's hands still placed against her hips and roughly removed them from her body before moving away from him.

« Listen, it's complicated, I... »

« No, it's very simple. »

She caught the first item of clothing which was lying on the floor and threw it to the other side of the room when noticing it was Adrien's shirt. Eventually, she snagged a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her body. With her hands shaking and her heart beating rapidly, she snatched up underwear, shorts and tee-shirt from the wardrobe before going to the bathroom.

Adrien, after having put on jogging pants, hastened towards her and put his hands on her shoulders to stop her, « Mari, can we talk, please? »

His green eyes had lost their glow which she loved so much and the guilty look he was wearing was making her want to hug him. But the rage brewing inside her was bigger.

« I expected just one thing from you, Adrien, » she whispered, her eyes anchored on his, « The truth. And you couldn't even give me that, so don't count on me to listen to you. »

Hurt by the hardness of her voice, he didn't hold her back when she escaped from his grip and dived into the bathroom.

Marinette let her tears flood her eyes the instant she closed the door. Pressing her hand against her mouth, she burst into tears, externalizing all the emotions she had kept bottled up within herself for a long time. For way too long.

She felt betrayed by her best friend, her partner, the one she loved more than anyone. And she felt stupid to not havenoticed anything while he knew during all this time.

Her body shook with her sobs as Marinette slid under the shower, letting her tears meld with the water which was flowing along her skin.

Adrien sat waiting at the edge of the bed with his head lowered. One of his legs animatedly jumped even with his shaking hands laid against his thighs.

Marinette's sentence was repeating on a loop in his mind until it hurt his head. He absolutely wanted to clear this up with her, to explain to her the how and the why, and apologize.

He owed her real excuses, real explanations, he was totally conscious of that.

The moment the bathroom door opened he suddenly stood up. Marinette exited without giving him a glance. Her hair was amassed in a high ponytail, exposing her swollen and red eyes. She was wearing a red tank top, decorated with buttons on the front, and black shorts which emphasized the narrowness of her waist. Her fruity perfume tickled Adrien's nostrils as she coldly walked by him.

He wasn't able to take his eyes off of her. Analyzing her features, her tensed jaw, her frowning eyebrows and the hurt in her eyes, « Marinette... I'm really sorry. »

His voice was overflowing with sincerity, but she still didn't look at him.

« I wanted to tell you, really... »