Enemies With Benefits

Chapter 30: Graduation

"I can't believe my little baby is already graduating high school!" Sabine said, Tom wiped a tear from his eye. "And you look so beautiful..." he said. Marinette blushed in embarrassment. "T-thanks papa." Sabine pulled herself together, "Now, where's Adrien? I want to invite him to have dinner with us after the party."

Marinette smiled, "He's talking with his father..." marinette said nervously, glancing back at Adrien near the entrance of the high school.

"Please father? It's graduation. I want to be with my friends before we all go off to college." Adrien insisted, his father staring at him through the tablet Nathalie was holding. "Fine but that means your photo shoot is rescheduled for tomorrow, and you'll need to study your lessons double the time."

Adrien sighed, "That's fine."

Gabriel nodded and the tablet screen went black. Nathalie got inside the car and Adrien looked down. His fists clenched as his eyes nearly dwelled with tears. He didn't know why... it just hurt. He was a straight A student, top of his fencing class, modeled for his fathers company and made it to the billboards, and that's all his father had to say to him?

He could hear the family behind him tell their daughter they were so proud of her...

That's all he ever wanted. He was just so used to disappointment...

"Adrien! My parents headed back to the bakery to finish the last designs on the graduation cake... They wanted you to stay after the party for dinner." Marinette's hand slid down his arm and clasped into his. He smiled softly, looking down at her. She immediately noticed the gloss in his green eyes.

"A-Adrien... are you okay?" She gasped slightly as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. "I'm just so lucky to have you Marinette..." he said, a tear sliding down his cheek. "You're my everything..." he said softly. Marinette rubbed his back soothingly, "Hey... it'll be okay Adrien."

He nodded, shaking slightly. She smiled and cupped his cheek, placing a lingering kiss to his lips. "Come on, you shouldn't be sad on graduation. I know exactly what will cheer you up." She said, he looked down at her with slight curiosity. She immediately placed a lingering kiss to his lips.

A small blush crawling across his cheeks as he closed his eyes and pulled her closer. "Now, let's go find Alya and Nino. They have their graduation party too but we can make plans with them for later this week." Marinette said and Adrien nodded.

It took them a little while to find Alya and Nino, plus Alya's mom insisted on taking a ton of graduation pictures.

"I just wanted to ask if you guys wanted to meet up sometime this week?" Marinette asked and Alya hugged her, "Of course girl, there's no way I'm not seeing you a hundred times before we all go off to college." Adrien and Nino both looked at each other before joining the group hug.

"Alright, I'll text you the deets later." Alya said and grabbed Nino's hand, "See you guys later!" Adrien and Marinette said as Nino waved, "Bye dudes!"

Marinette jumped, alarmed to hear the fire truck ambulance which seemed to be very close by. Marinette looked up at Adrien with a worried expression. They both went outside of the school, wondering where it came from.

Marinette gasped, "MOM! DAD!" She said dropping her things and running to the bakery, her home was on fire. Adrien immediately chased after her, his eyes widened as his heart began hammering in his chest. What the hell happened?

***

Kagami kept her head low as she walked closer to the dupain-bakery. Everything... everything she had felt... heartbreak, loss, jealousy, anger... was because of Marinette. She was going to return the favor. She was going to make her pay.

Her eyes glossed over the scene, seeing if any people were around. Most of the crowd was at the highschool because of graduation. Kagami slipped her hoodie down, grabbing the lighter hidden in her pocket. She opened the door getting a "Welcome." From Marinette's parents, rolling her eyes.

They tended to the few other customers that were there and then she flipped the switch to the lighter. She frowned, anger balling of inside of her as she tossed the lighter onto the floor near the curtain where it would easily catch fire. She then calmly exited the building, a small smirk spreading across her lips as she left.

Marinette was going to pay.

***

There were a few caution signs surrounding the bakery, as Marinette stopped to slid beneath them. Adrien grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest, "Marinette stop, there's nothing you can do right now!" He said and she looked up at him, tears in her eyes, "Adrien let me go!"

"No! You're just going to hurt yourself-"

"My parents are in there, Adrien! Let me go!" She screamed as she hit his chest with her fist. He didn't let her go, Marinette's parents treated him like he was their own, they meant a lot to him too... but all he could do was hope that they were okay... If Marinette went in there she was only going to get herself hurt.

"LET GO!" She screamed, the glass inside the bakery breaking and releasing more fire. "NO!" Marinette screamed, the tears sliding down her face as she kicked and screamed. Adrien just cried, his eyes widened as he stared at the fire that lit the bakery. The firefighters tried their best to put it out. The water that hit some of the fire causing more smoke.

The screams Marinette let out were faint, the fire crackling was louder... the building beginning to crumble as a few medics tended to the rescued customers.

Adrien had suddenly loosened his hold on her, thinking about too much. That was when Marinette ran into the bakery. A few firefighters running in after her as Adrien immediately took off after her. Then he was pulled back by several police officers, trying to reach Marinette again... to hold Marinette again...

His mind racing with thoughts as the second floor of the bakery... came tumbling down.

Somewhere near by, Kagami smiled a little. Seeing the tears sliding down Marinette's face satisfied her. Seeing her run into the fire made her even more satisfied. She closed her eyes, feeling like she had accomplished something. She put her hands in her pockets, and began to walk away.

She took Adrien away from her, and now... she had taken everything away from Marinette Dupain-Cheng.