Heartbroken Hero

Chapter 13

Marinette teetered back and forth on her toes as she tried to explain to her parents why she wasn't in her room. Obviously, she couldn't tell them she was Ladybug. That would put both of her parents in extreme danger, so that was out of the question.

It looked like Marinette had to do the one thing she hated the most: lie.

"Well, I..." Marinette mumbled, picturing her balcony and the ground below it. She was going to tell her parents that she jumped off it to meet up with Alya at the movies, but her balcony was way too high off the ground for her to make it down without breaking a few bones.

Sabine raised an eyebrow, her feet tapping on the floor. The disappointed gaze on her face then softened. "We really don't want to ground you again, sweetie. Please tell us the truth."

Marinette's heartbeat quickened, her mind flashing to the only other person that was with her that day. Sorry kitty, she briefly thought before she opened her mouth to speak."I went somewhere with Chat Noir."

"You... what?" Sabine gasped, her eyes widening.

Tom stood up straight, raising an eyebrow of his own. "The superhero?" he voiced in disbelief.

"Yes," Marinette sighed, falling deeper into the lie.

"How? W-why?" Sabine continued, slowly spiraling into a hopeless abyss. She wanted to know why her daughter was supposedly out with a superhero and if she got into any danger along the way.

"I was feeling lonely and needed some company," Marinette mumbled, twiddling her fingers.

"Call Alya then! Not some superhero!" Sabine raised her voice, pacing back and forth across the floor. "We don't know their real identities, Marinette. What if..."

"He isn't like that!" Marinette exclaimed defensively before Sabine said exactly what she thought she was going to say. Her heart shattered as she counteracted her mothers' statement with the continuous lie. "I didn't call Alya because she couldn't have gotten me out from my balcony. Only Chat Noir could."

Tom furrowed his brows. "This is not acceptable, Marinette. What if Chat Noir attracted the likes of some supervillain and then you would be caught in the middle of their fight?"

"But he didn't, and I'm fine," Marinette sighed. She felt horrible for making her parents slowly dislike Chat Noir. "Please, don't act like this. Chat Noir is actually a really good person."

Sabine took a seat on the couch, wrapping her mind around the entire situation. Her head was spinning. "Marinette, I'm sorry, but he is a superhero. His job is to protect Paris, not to whisk you off whenever you feel like leaving."

Marinette widened her eyes, realizing her mothers' words sounded exactly like her own. Even though the scenario was made up, Sabine had a point. Chat Noir was a superhero and so was Ladybug. She was foolish to ever think it could be something more...

Wait, what?

Marinette inexplicably felt her eyes water as she thought about the situation even more. Was she developing feelings for Chat Noir? It wouldn't be a surprise considering her love life with Adrien was absolutely crushed. Then again, even if Marinette had feelings for Chat Noir, it could never work.

They were superheroes and they had jobs to do. They didn't have time to fall in love. In fact, the more Marinette thought about, these words were the exact same ones she used to reject Chat Noir as Ladybug.

And Marinette never thought she would have to give the same talk to herself.

Sabine stood up from the couch and approached Marinette. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I don't want you to be out with Chat Noir anymore. His job is too dangerous for you to be around him."