Warped Reality

Chapter Five

Warning. Lots of alcohol mentioned? Not sure if that warrants a warning, but there ya go.

Marinette

"I'm sorry." She whispered, because she was.

She was utterly embarrassed, grateful, and horrified all at once. She had never seen her father act like that. It had scared her. The only time she had ever seen her father raise his voice like that, had been times he was protecting or defending her. It had not once been directed at her.

"You shouldn't be." He sighed, stepping over a notebook she had left in the floor from this morning.

She blinked away her tears, focusing on cramming a few shirts into her bookbag.

"When did he... start drinking?"

"When mom left." She stated flatly, because she was suprised he didn't know.

Lila seemed to know more about her life than she did at this point.

"Oh." He mumbled, and she grabbed a few pairs of pants, not even looking at them as she did.

She focused on getting everything she could think of, which included hunting down a toothbrush she prayed was hers. She struggled to zip the bag shut, her heart breaking. Everything in this Marinette's life was falling apart, and she had just made things worse for the poor girl.

"Your mom seems nice." She murmered, pushing the wad of clothes tighter, until the zipper finally gave way and the bag closed.

"She is."

Marinette grabbed the bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"Want to help me do something?"

He immediately nodded, and she sucked in a breath. It was embarrassing, but it was something that needed to be done. She lifted the bed spread, and pointed under it.

"I need to pour all of these out."

He tilted his head, before crouching and looking under the bed. The color drained from his face, and he reached under it, pulling out the note. He was quiet as he read it, before he looked up at her.

"Jeez Marinette... I'm sorry."

"If you'll start pouring those out in the sink I'll look and try to grab any more."

He nodded, and she left her bedroom, heading straight to her father's. She flicked on the light, gasping at what she saw. Bottles covered the floor. Thankfully, pretty much all of them looked empty. She carefully stepped to the bed, pulling back the covers. There was a bottle next to the pillows, along with a picture of her mother. She almost hated this version of her. Why would she just leave? She grabbed the bottle,  before turning to the nightstand. It was filled with mini bottles, some empty some full. She tossed out the empty ones, pulling out the drawer to carry it. She moved over to the dresser, pulling out countless bottles, her heart breaking all over again. Had the other Marinette done this before? She couldn't remember if she had. She met back up with Adrien, who was uncapping bottles and setting them upside down in the sink to drain. She set the drawer down, wordlessly doing the same. She dumped out a few, before she started checking the cabinets above the countertop. She found a few stray ones, setting them down next to the sink.

"I... I know we're supposed to hate each other... but maybe we could pretend to like each other for a while?" Adrien asked softly, and she glanced back at him as she opened the fridge.

More bottles. She sighed, leaning her head against the wall as she raked her gaze over the various types. She would have to spend hours going through the apartment to find all of them.