Time

10 - Monkey-Boy

"Marinette?" Adrien croaked out.

"Hmm?" Marinette asked.

She'd been having the most delightful R rated dream... Marinette's eyes flew open and she stumbled to catch her words. "Adrien! Right! Hi!" She said, eyes wide as she spoke too loudly.

"Hi, Marinette. No need to be so loud. It's.... four in the morning." Adrien reminded.

"Oh, would you look at that." Marinette said, calm despite knowing she would hate herself for losing this sleep in the morning.

But she was willing to do anything for Adrien. She'd move the moon if he asked her to.

Because she was his best friend.

"So." Adrien sighed, snapping Marinette from her thoughts.

"Oh! Yes! Wait. Adrien, are you okay?" She asked.

"What?" Adrien asked. How did she know?

"It's four AM. What's going on?" Marinette asked.

"Oh. Guess I should have waited until morning."

"Don't dance around the subject, monkey-boy." Adrien grit his teeth.

He hated the name, but Marinette had decreed him "monkey-boy" after he spent an entire day, in Marinette's words, "dancing around for your father". Anything that was relevant to dancing and Adrien at once brought up the name.

"I'm not."

"Then tell me."

Adrien was silent for a moment. "No."

"Alright. I'll sit here while you think of what to say or to not say." Marinette said, shifting to a sitting position.

"That's the thing, Mari. I don't want to say anything." Adrien said.

Marinette understood at once. There were few things Adrien didn't discuss with Marinette, and one was the nightmares he suffered through constantly.

"Okay." Marinette said, shrugging even thought Adrien couldn't see her.

She picked up a book and idly flipped through it, listening to Adrien's soft breathing. Absently, Marinette starting to hum.

She didn't know it, but Adrien was listening very closely.

She was humming Clair de Lune, a song that Adrien's mother had played to him numerous times.

And then Adrien was running. Clutching his phone tightly to his ear, he raced down the hall, turning a corner sharply to reach his mother's grand piano. When he opened the door, Adrien almost broke down in tears. The piano sat, untouched. Dust covered every surface, and the air was heavy with it. Biting his lip, Adrien felt tears well in his eyes before he slid onto the bench.

With trembling hands, Adrien pulled the cover off the keys and reached over to lift the top board. A piece of yellowed sheet music drifted to the ground as Adrien switched his phone to speaker. Idly, he felt tears streaming down his cheeks.

At first, his fingers slammed, unpracticed, into the keys. And then he was hitting the keys with expert strokes, feeling every note in his body. Where the song was meant to be played soft, Adrien could hear Marinette on the line, her voice cracking as she hummed out the tune.

Faintly, he could hear her moving around.

Adrien's mouth opened, poised to wail, but nothing came out.

Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and struggled to stop crying. Like the tears sliding down his cheeks, Adrien couldn't stop playing. He hit crescendos with pain that he had refused to remember for so long.

He finished once, but Adrien didn't stop. He played into another round, opening his eyes.

Marinette slid onto the bench next to him. She stared at nothing, eyes tired and frowning.

Neither of them said anything. The music was playing between them, and that was all that either needed. At one point, Adrien wasn't sure when, Marinette started to played along him, an accompaniment he had never heard before.

It was simple, just a few notes hit at different octaves and only required one hand. Adrien had never known Marinette could play piano.

This time, when Adrien finished, silence consumed the space.

A moment later, Adrien was crying into Marinette's shoulder. She embraced him and rested her head on his shoulder, shedding tears of her own. I'll never understand. Marinette thought.

Adrien was shaking, guttural cries ripping from his throat. "It's okay." Marinette whispered when she found her voice.

"I left it. I left her piano for so long, Marinette. It's covered in dust. Look at me! I haven't played on any piano in years." Adrien said.

"It's alright." Marinette said, firmly.

"How'd you get in?" Adrien asked then.

"Spare key?" Marinette tried.

Adrien was quiet. "I figured out your pass codes."

"I didn't know you could play." Adrien said.

"I can't. I just know how things sound. And you must've played fifteen times. I was bound to pick something up." Marinette joked lightly.

Adrien let out a weak laugh. Pulling back, he looked at Marinette. "Why are you crying?" Adrien asked.

Marinette looked to the side. "It's just so beautiful. And I can't understand any of the pain you poured into it." She admitted.

"You should hear my mother play. It's so colorful when she does." Adrien said.

"I can't wait to." Marinette replied.

"Neither can I."

---

AN

----

Well. I found a pretty song, mixed it with my emotions, and you get this load of sadness.

Quick, stop me before I write something that's even worse.

Actually, no, don't do that.

And I'd like to apologize for not replying to comments. I can barely post chapters. I'm trying my best.
.... long story short, I can barely deal right now. Comments aren't one of my biggest priorities right now.
I'm trying.

So, sorry for my "lack" of apparent care. I want to thank you for your support. It means the world to me, and if you can just keep that up, it helps me in one part of my life.

So, sincerely, thank you.

You probably have no clue how much your quirky, sweet, and downright hilarious comments affect me.

Thanks.

Love, 

          Your number one fan, Dolly.