Who Am I?

Chapter 12: People Change People

"Why are you waiting on the roof?" Chat inquired, "you'll get a cold".

Marinette wasn't waiting. If you had a roof that was surrounded by the night sky, wouldn't you take advantage of it? Marinette used to look up at the stars and make wishes. These days, there aren't many stars. She know's it's from air and light pollution but, Marinette can't help thinking,

"Have the gods given up on me?" She whispers, avoiding eye contact. Chat looks at her, wondering what in the world Marinette had to feel hopeless about. "I remember seeing Orion's Belt one night, I went to brag to my dad about how smart I was to recognize a constellation" She continues to look up at the sky with an emotionless face. The only lights she sees now are the lights of Paris. Sure, she's lucky to live in such a beautiful city, but because of the lights, the sky ends up looking like an empty abyss.

Is this what it's like to be in a black hole?

"The moon looks sad" Chat stares into the sky as well. It's a crescent moon tonight. Crescent moons have always reminded herself of Cheshire the cat. Ironically, she now has a cat of her own now.

"Maybe that's because it's all alone" She finally looks over at Chat, it's his time to ignore her. When he looks away, Marinette notices something on his face. Maybe it was the moon's lighting, or maybe the gods haven't forgotten about her. "What's on your face?" Marinette places her hand on his cold cheeks. And that's when the realization hits her square in the face.

"It's not-" He jerks away, like a cat getting hit by water.

"Why do you have make-up on?"

Chat tries to turn away, but it's too late. She see's it. And she's struck with a sense of disbelief.

"That's not from a battle, why do you have a bruise on your face?" She's panicking. The type of panicking one would do when their pop tart gets caught on fire or if a shelf randomly fell off one's wall.

"It's nothing-"

"Who's hurting you..." He notices the inflections in her voice and has an instant feeling of regret. "I'm done pretending that nothing's wrong, you have to tell me"

Chat hates this. He hates that his secret could be revealed right now. He hates that all his walls could be broken with these simple words. He hates the look on her face right now. Is it disappointment? Concern? Chat didn't know. He just knew that he didn't like it. Her nose scrunched when she laughed and her eyes glistened when she was excited. This wasn't it. This isn't what Chat wants to see. "I'm sorry"

"Then tell me" she was persistent as ever. Her tone was serious and demanding but, her eyes were pleading.

"You'll believe me"

"I swear on it"

Chat looks at her. He really looks at her. This is it. Someone cares. Just like his mother. "Abuse isn't just a movie thing," He says, "I would know".

Not even for a second did Marinette doubt him. It all made sense. He was always running from something. Her house was his haven for escape. How did she not make the connections? He had all the signs. Marinette's eyes become blurry with a feeling of heaviness.

"I'm so sorry" She whimpers, using her hoodie sleeve to wipe the potential tears in her eyes. She was an easy crier. Physical pain didn't bother her because she tripped a lot and was Ladybug but, the mental pain hit her hard. When she was stressed she cried. When she was lonely she cried. Even when she watched La La Land she cried. The montage and the music at the end...Oh, getting off topic.

Chat wrapped his arms around her petite body, passing on his warmth to her. "I'm sorry" He mumbles into her ears "for causing you to make such a face".

The dull night was suddenly zephyr as Marinette says "Then tell me who you are". Chat's not surprised. He knew this would happen. He played it over and over in his head. Adrien Agreste, Adrien Agreste, Adrien Agreste.

"I don't know anymore" He pulls himself away from her "Who am I?".

It was a question he didn't realize he had till now. Was he Adrien; a well mannered and altogether flawless son? Was he Chat; a hero with a puerile personality? Or was he just a monster?

"Hmmm..." Marinette tapped her chin with her pointer finger, trying to light up the mood. "I think you are whoever you choose to be" She rested her hand on his shoulder. How could just a minor touch make Chat feel so relieved? This girl really has him smitten. "People change people but only you can decide who you are".

With those words, he felt a sense of hope. Could he really choose his fate? His future? Because if he can...

"I am who I wanna be when I'm with you," Chat says, "I am a victim of my father's abuse but he is not who's changed me" A with that revealed, he disappears into the night. He's done running away from everything.

Father...I will face you for real this time.

"Thank you Chat Noir!"

Word Count: 883

Author's Note:

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY.

WHEN THE NAME OF THE BOOK IS PUT INTO THE STORY YOU KNOW SH*TS GONNA HAPPEN.

So I got some inspiration from one of Anna Akana's YT video when she said that you have more control over your life then anyone else. Or something like that.
And "I am who I wanna be when I'm with you" is a line I got from some fanart that was based on A Cinderella Story.
The whole sha-bang about the night sky is from my own journal. So that part is real besides that I didn't have someone else to talk to. That's the good thing about writing stories, you get to pretend that someone understands you.

Once my brother set a pop tart on fire once and my dad had to use a spatula to throw it into the sink. We stopped buying pop tarts...
My shelf fell off and I was sitting under it so I almost died.

Also I'm not sure if I used the semicolon correctly??? I'm trying to use better vocabulary and advanced grammar and punctuation. I think I've been playing it too safe with my style of writing. I want to become a writer when I grow up so I need to improve more.

Sorry I'm rambling a lot. Gosh I'm so lonelyyyyyyyyyyyy I need human interactionnnnnn. 

But, if you're not human I'm still totally down to hang.

Kiwii