A Series of Events

16

It has been a couple of weeks since Marinette was admitted into the hospital. The initial pleasure from the pain medication had worn off, so now Marinette was in 24/7 pain in some form. Her parents visited every morning, noon, and evening. Marinette had texted Alya, but she hadn't texted back yet. Adrien stayed every single day. It started becoming such a habit, that Nino just brought him the homework for the entire week each Monday. Caroline had moved a cot into her room so Adrien could sleep there, and the only time Adrien left was to go out and grab real food, and to do laundry at home and bring another weeks worth of clothing. The manor was running normally again, and Nathalie was dealing with Gabriel. It didn't look like Gabriel would get out of jail for another 5 years, but Nathalie has been slowly decreasing the time. But Adrien didn't worry about what was happening. He just worried on keeping Marinette happy, since she had been very depressed. The two were working on their homework, when someone knocked at the door.

"Come in." Marinette said.

Caroline walked into the room, but she only pocked her head in.

"Are you okay with a visitor?" She asked. Marinette thought.

"As long as it's not a reporter." She said. Caroline smiled and opened the door. In walked Alya with all her school stuff. It seemed she had walked here right after school ended.

"Alya." Marinette smiled. She hadn't heard from her in awhile, and was glad to see she came. But Alya wasn't smiling. She looked more neutral than ever.

"I think I'll leave all alone for a bit. Press the call button if you need me." She reminded before leaving.

"Hey Alya. Nice seeing you here." Adrien said awkwardly. Alya quickly nodded.

She hadn't spoken the entire time, but she finally conveyed the words.

"Are you feeling better Marinette? I heard from Nino that you'll be out in a week or maybe two." She said.

"I feel better energy wise. The pain is still there constantly. But it's not as bad as I thought it would be." Marinette told her.

"How come it took you so long to come?" Adrien asked. It caught Alya off guard. "Because I asked Nino ask if you would come days ago, and Marinette has been texting and calling. But you haven't replied since." The atmosphere turned a little darker, more like an interrogation. Adrien also had a neutral expression. He almost looked a little mad.

"Alright fine. I could make up some bullshit excuse but I won't. I can't do that." Alya turned to Marinette. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked plain and simple.

"You've got to understand, Alya. I couldn't tell you. I didn't even tell Adrien at the time. I kept it a secret for two years to make sure that no one would get hurt if I was ever interrogated. Even though it didn't make much of a difference this time, if I had known Adrien's identity, I would have told him to make him stop. I'm glad that if it were a more secret event, I wouldn't endanger anyone." She explained. "It was for protection. I was under surveillance, and I couldn't let anyone know."

Alya nodded. "I am your best friend though. We tell each other things. I would never have uttered a word about it, and I wouldn't have acted differently just because I knew who you were."

"Marinette trusts you with everything she has. No matter how much trust Marinette had in you, she just couldn't tell you. It came with the job. No one who's a civilian knows. Technically, she and I could have told each other a lot earlier. But she didn't even want me to know in case she or I got in trouble. Protection, not trust." Adrien repeated. Alya understood now.

"So I guess you never told Nino as well?" She asked. Adrien shook his head.

"Although he seems to be taking it well. He comes every Monday to give us homework, and occasionally he brings my laundry to the manor. He hasn't asked me why I kept it a secret, but I guess he already knows."

"Well I'm glad you two are both okay. I'm sorry it took me so long to come. I just felt so weird about this. And... I'm sorry." Alya apologized. She ran over to Marinette and aggressively kissed her forehead since she couldn't hug her.

"I forgive you Alya. I understand. But next time, at least send me a morning text." Marinette smiled.

"Is there going to be a next time?" Alya asked hopefully, although her spirits were dulled when she saw their reaction to that.

"Even if our work wasn't done, we can't continue once the world knows." Marinette said sadly. She was still tore up about it. She was going to miss Tikki so much.

"I'm sorry guys. That must be hard for you." Alya said quietly. She felt very awkward and out of place. Her phone beeped, and she looked at it.

"I'm sorry but I have to go. I'm grounded and I'm nearly past my curfew." She told them. She patted Marinette's head, and gave Adrien a hug. Something she hadn't actually done before.

"Bye Alya." Marinette waved.

"Bye you two." She waved back as she closed the door.

Adrien walked over to her and rubbed her hand.

"Don't worry about it Marinette. Remember what Alex said. We'll meet them more in the future. And that can mean anything." He pointed out.

Marinette sniffled a little. She pushed up her own regulated pain reliever system. The pain got to her more when she was sad.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."