Trust Takes Moments to Break, But Time to Create

10-Felix

I actually told her about Mother. 

I can't believe it. 

I never thought I would tell anyone about my feelings regarding her, but I did. 

And I don't have a clue why. 

It hurts slightly, to talk about her, but at the same time, it's rejuvenating. I have never spoken about her since the disappearance, and it has been hard to keep all emotions bottled up so strictly as I have. It's odd. All these years I have had no problems restricting all components of myself and true thoughts from appearing on my physical features and yet, this one girl has been able to sneak past my defenses so easily. Sneaking into my dorm after patrol, I collapse only to hear a muffled scream from Marinette's dormitory making me sit up abruptly and rushing over to the door. Dread courses through my stomach as I knock quickly on the door. "Marinette?" From the sounds, I can only assume few things are rushed around. 

She is hiding something from me. 

The what, I am not sure. 

Even if I am exhausted...

I sure as hell am going to find out. She opens the door just enough to poke her head outside her dormitory. There are bags under her eyes, similar to mine, and she looks a little out of her element. 

"Yes?" I'm about to speak when I notice the blood stain on her shirt. My eyes widen, what the hell happened? "I thought the wound was clean." 

"They ripped."

"What were you doing that would rip your stitches?" She bites the inside of her cheek. 

"I tripped and fell, the impact of my body hitting the floor did it." I give her a raised eyebrow. "Are you often clumsy?" She nods sheepishly. I can tell that she is not lying at the moment. I nod, processing the information. There is still something she's hiding, but I silently look back at the bloodstain before returning my gaze quickly to her face. "Was the muffled scream from you redoing the stitches?" She nods again, looking back into her room. 

"I was cleaning the wound after stitching it again. I had a rag in my mouth to muffle the scream. It always hurts horribly even if I am used to the pain." Her eyes immediately widen in horror, and I know she didn't mean to say that. "How many times have you..." she abruptly turns away, cutting off the inevitable questioning. 

"Goodnight Felix." Then, she slams the door in my face. I feel myself fuming a little. She slammed the door in my face! But at the same time, I understand. I've done the same thing at times to avoid conversation. She said that my coward twin did something, that she doesn't trust my family, and I really don't blame her. Gabriel and Adrien are hard enough to deal with, and after the whole situation with her parents...

Something is up. Even if I am exhausted, I cannot help comparing the similarities between Marinette and Ladybug. A multitude of common things come together in my head. 

Stitches in the same area.

The similar appearances.

The similar sounding voice. 

Marinette saying that she is used to the pain of stitching herself up.

Ladybug telling me that due to her injuries over the years, she has stitched herself up more times than she can count. 

The timing of me catching her stitching herself up, it has always been after a patrol or akuma attack.

The similar distrust of other people from bad experiences.

It's almost as if... 

I look back to the closed door before turning back to my own dormitory, closing the door behind me, allowing Plagg to come out. 

"What are you thinking kid?" I look at my kwami. "Plagg, what if... Marinette is Ladybug?" 

"Marinette? The baker's daughter? I highly doubt that! There are too many differences in their personality!" I look back at the direction of the door, at the end of the shared bathroom. "Maybe,  however, I still wish to keep an eye on her. She seems to be trustworthy to help me figure out Gabriel's intentions."

"She still doesn't seem to trust you kid." I nod, thinking through my options. "I just have to earn that trust from her then." Plagg rolls his eyes, eating a piece of Camenbert. 

"How exactly do you plan on doing that kid?" I shake my head, confused on the matter myself. "We will come up with a plan tomorrow. We need to get some sleep before deciding anything." Plagg flies over to his little hidden sleeping place while I get ready to sleep, plunging into the familiar darkness as soon as my head hits the soft pillow.