MIRACULOUS ADRIENETTE - The Christmas Party

Chapter 1

A Christmas Party

All are invited

Wine for Mums and Dads

Let's celebrate this very best of days!

Adrian stared at the board, trying his best to stop the bile rising in the back of his throat. In the back of his mind, he could vaguely hear the rest of his class wittering away like parrots, Nino chattering merrily in his ear.

Because there was a pang inside him, like an old wound reopening once more, as he realised the time of year he dreaded had rolled around again.

It wasn't that he hadn't received due warning – the classroom itself was screaming it at him, in the bauble-hung monitor and multiple Santa hats being worn, in his December calendar with its ever-increasing number, in the view outside of a heavy grey sky that could only mean snow. But now it was so blatantly in front of him, and unlike the shop displays and Christmas trees he hurried past - impossible to ignore.

"Now class, I know you're excited – but there's a lot of preparation that goes into a party like this. We have five days, and a lot to do!"

The words barely registered. 

"We'll be working on the decorations today, and be making the food closer to the time."

Why did she?

The question echoed around his head, again and again, as the class chattered and Nino talked and on his shoulder, a tiny tap -

Adrian did the only thing he could.

He ran.

...ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Bursting out of the school gates, Adrien almost transformed mid-run, and jumped onto the rooftops. He was panting, but didn't allow himself one moment of rest, because then the thoughts would come back, in droves, like a swarm of angry bees, and strike him down dead.

He hadn't meant to run. Hadn't planned it. But when the pain came... All he wanted to do was destroy.

And maybe, if he'd stayed, the destroyed might have been a person.

"No." He slashed at a chimney to stop himself, and it smashed instantly, the crack of terracotta shocking – but irresistibly delicious. The impact had released a tiny amount of the poison inside, and it felt so, so good.

He stared for one more second at the hole he'd created in the roof, dark and impenetrable amongst the bright lights of the city all around. 

He thought of the stupid smiles on his classmate's faces, and he thought of the party, just another opportunity for his father to decline the invite. They would be making the decorations now, he supposed; the perfect Christmas picture.

All he wanted to do was destroy...

...ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Marinette should have known she'd fuck it up.

As the door slammed shut behind Adrien, Alya blinked at her, not sure what she'd done to manage that.

"Woah..." Nino took the cap from Alya as she passed it back without looking, and Marinette wanted to fall through the floor as Ms Bustier told the class not to worry. A moment later, she'd gone to alert the headmaster.

Maybe it was her secret talent; she thought, the number of people she'd had a hand in akumatising flashing through her head at lightning speed.

A bolt of fear ran through her as she imagined that happening to Adrian. Him under the thumb of hawkmoth... Having to fight him. She wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt, the thought of having hurt him that bad...

"Hey – it wasn't anything you did, ok girl?" An arm rested on her shoulder, and she leant into it, breathing in Alya's comforting bubble gum scent, knowing that her friend was right. It couldn't have been her... She'd just tapped his shoulder, light as she could.

That look on his face – of pure and utter hatred.

Marinette shook her head. There wasn't any use dissecting the situation further - she knew she was prone to overthinking. Her nails, bitten to the quick and shaking, were evidence enough.

She knew if she wanted to paint them nice colours she should stop – but even as Ms Bustier resumed her role of making sure they all didn't cut of their hands with craft knives, and her own decoration begun to require attention, her fingers found their way to her mouth again.

Everything had been going well for her that morning, too.

It was December; every morning was good at the bakery. She awoke with her stomach growling, the delicious aromas of baked croissants and gingerbread, strudel and apple wafting through the floorboards and tempting her downstairs. Out her window, Marinette had seen the dark skyline of Paris, the sky a deep, umbral purple, velvet against the gold of city lights. She'd jumped out of bed, and reached out her hand to the frosty glass, a little shiver going through her as she touched the cloudy cold.

She loved Christmas. She loved the feeling of anticipation as the numbers climbed higher, she loved the feeling of warm drinks in cold air, and she loved the sight of every person wrapped up within an inch of their life, like a thousand blue and red penguins.

So full of warmth, when she'd sat down at her desk that crisp morning, and her class ran in, laughing and joshing and saying hello – she'd made up her mind to do it.

"I'm going to ask Adrien to get hot chocolate with me!"

She had been fizzing, bursting with possibility. That was the day.

"Girl – if you do, I'll eat Nino's hat." Alya grinned back at her, unwrapping a lindt bunny. She played with it on the desk, making it inch closer to the mouse trap they'd put on every desk.

"Hey!" Nino leaned forward, halting the bunny in its progress. "Don't. Touch. The. Hat."

Alya had raised an eyebrow, pushed his face back, and turned to Marinette. "Seriously though – go get him, girl."

Marinette closed her eyes at the memory, trying to live inside that past Marinette, letting that glow of short-lived hope calm her beating heart. 

But when she opened them, her heart was still beating quickly, and her mind spinning itself into knots. Why did she have to do that? Why did she try at all to be close to him, when it was always destined to fail?

"Girl, aren't you meant to be the creative one?" Alya raised her eyebrows as Marinette looked down and saw her square of untouched felt. The decoration wouldn't make itself...

"Sewer's block." She sighed, and stared out of the window, where it had started to snow. The flakes were small and sparse, but when she blurred her eyes, they all merged into one, until all she could see was black and blue.

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First chapter! Yup, this is going to be multi pov :) I've never actually tried it out before, but it's a lot of fun writing in different voices, and a challenge to get right... I'm also currently obsessed with Christmas lofi; if you have any suggestions of songs for upcoming chapters, just comment and I'll check it out!

Other things to comment about:

- Why do you think Adrien hates Christmas so much?

- Have you ever been to a Christmas party? Was it fun? Boring? Stressful? Tell all!

- Why are the text dividers mice??

Be back on Sunday for the next update bugaboos,

Esther Xx

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