Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Second Moonlark (a KOTLC/MLB crossover)

Chapter Twelve: Marinette

Marinette had noticed that Adrien had distanced himself from everyone the past couple days now. It had been exactly one week since Keefe arrived, as Adrien had said he'd arrived from San Diego about a day before they met.

But Adrien looked like he was falling apart.

He had started wearing earbuds whenever he could, barely spoke to anyone anymore, the dark circles under his eyes growing larger by the day, like he was trying to turn into a raccoon. He never even tried to crack a weak smile anymore, and Marinette often found herself looking up to see Adrien staring at either her or Keefe. Both of them had begun to feel unnerved by it.

Which was probably why both of them had started spending time together for the past three days. They often would just take walks around the city after school, with Marinette showing Keefe her favorite spots in Paris. Keefe, of course, was now getting addicted to macarons. Sometimes, the two of them would push stuff to the sides and just lay on her balcony on top of a large blanket, watching the many different colors of the sunset, eating snack foods and talking about their drawing tips. Keefe had gotten more confident in speaking, but he still spoke slowly, like he was trying to choose the right words. But still, she began to learn about Sophie Elizabeth Foster. Mostly about his major crush on her. And sometimes, when the sun went down, they would try and make patterns in the stars.

Marinette didn't know why, but she always loved those afternoons, even if they'd only happen a couple of times. Especially with all the problems going on lately, especially with Adrien.

But it was the third night that things began to get a little weird.

"How long will this last?" Keefe asked.

Marinette paused for a second, watching the stars streak across the night sky.

"What do you mean?" she asked, sitting up and trying to push down her pigtails, which had stuck up from lying there for an hour.

"I mean, how long is this gonna last before things begin to fall apart?" Keefe asked, but she saw him pale for a second but kept going. "Because you never know, someone may come in and ruin everything."

Marinette didn't know what he was talking about, but she let him keep talking.

"My mom... uh... did some stuff that I wish she didn't," Keefe sighed, sitting up too. "And the... club... she's in, it's not exactly the best. I can't even remember everything about what she had me do when I was younger. But she'd played the part of the better parent... sorta. I remember one time when they left me alone at... well... some city, I forgot where... and they didn't realize they left me by the fountain until it was the end of the day, and when my father forgot me, my mom gave a weak apology."

Marinette didn't know how to respond.

"I'm so sorry," she finally croaked out. "I had no idea."

"I think you're the second person to know about that memory," Keefe let out a weak smirk.

But Marinette couldn't help realizing that she'd seen that smirk somewhere else...

Like on Cat Noir.

The sameness was incredible to her. her.

But she also knew she needed to find a way to cheer Keefe up. She could see the pain and sadness crossing his face.

And across the street, she could see a very familiar ice-cream cart.

"I've got an idea," Marinette said.

"Marinette!" Andre exclaimed. "And who's the fellow?"

"Uh, this is Keefe," Marinette said. "We're just friends."