All The Bright Places

The Party

(Unedited)

Marinette's POV

I woke up the next morning, the sun shining through the balcony door that was left open. I guess I'd fallen asleep at my desk while waiting for Chat.
I lifted my head and made my chair roll back to the other side of the room where my phone was.

*8 New Messages From: Alya Césaire*
I groaned seeing the notifications on my screen. She messaged me at 3:42am. That must've been after I'd fallen asleep?

Alya:
Girl! Adrien messaged me!

He wanted to know if you were coming to the party and I told him you were

This is awesome, right?!

Marinette!!

Oh yeah, Juleka is having a party tomorrow... or, later today and there's going to be food, karaoke, music, and all that stuff!

You HAVE to come!

Wait...

Oh shoot! Are you asleep? Sorry, girl. Call me in the morning? <3

I groaned, seeing the messages on my phone. I hadn't really talked to Alya in a while, I've just been ignoring her messages and calls so I felt bad about not wanting to go. But... Adrien would be there.
No! You don't like Adrien anymore, Mari!!
I mumbled to myself, feeling my cheeks heat up. I've been distant with everyone so the least I could do is see them, right?
I mentally cursed myself, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I didn't want to disappoint Alya and I definitely didn't want to disappoint Adrien. I mean, I knew they didn't care if I showed up anyways. But still... that little speck of hope that they did care was in the back of my mind.
What if Lila is wrong?
What if they do actually care about me?
I shook my head, trying to clear all of the thoughts that were clouding there.

*Ding*

Alya:
Sorry to bother again girl, I just wanted you to know that it starts at 2:00pm. Just in case you wanted to show up. We would love to see you, you know?

I sighed in defeat and went to the bathroom. "Fine." I mumbled under my breath, "you win." as if she could hear me.
I pulled my shirt off and stared down at the cuts on my arms. Most were scabbing over, others were nearly gone. Just faint little scars that reminded me of my past mistakes. Oh, how it was hard not to just...
My hand landed on the small drawer that was connected onto the sink. I knew what was there. I never moved it.
Maybe just... one wouldn't hurt, right? I deserved it anyways for how I made Chat feel. He was upset with me and I'm upset with myself. So, that's an excuse, right?

"Promise me something, Princess? Promise me that you will tell me next time before you... hurt yourself. Please?"

I put my hands over my face, remembering what Chat told me before.
Another thought came to mind,
If he doesn't find out, it doesn't matter because he won't know about it.
I yanked open the drawer, seeing the familiar shiny silver blade. I deserve this, because I hurt Chat. The only person that really only seemed to care.
But he has to care. He's a superhero. It's his job.
The realization hit once again. He was doing this because he had to.
I lifted the blade until it was touching my forearm. The idea was to cut higher so it would be harder for him to notice.
I pushed the blade down until little specks of blood forced their way out around it.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Eight. That was enough, right? I looked down at the eight cuts with a sad expression. I put the blade back and wrapped my arm with more bandages.
That should do it.
I forced a smile and went to find some clothes which ended up to be a long sleeve light pink shirt, a matching skirt, tights, ankle boots and to top it off, a light jacket. It was still cold, after all. I tied my hair up into pigtails and grabbed my purse. Staring at myself in the mirror, I smiled. At least they thought to invite me.

I checked the time and it was already 1:00pm. I figured I could go ahead and get an early start. I closed the front bakery door, locking it behind me since my parents weren't there. The streets were already filling with people.
I made my way down the streets of Paris, glancing around nervously. I wasn't sure how they would react when they saw me. What if they didn't actually want me there?
More negative thoughts filled my mind until Juleka's place came into view. I could see the small stage they had already set up as well as what appeared to be a food stand. It still amazed me how they could fit all of these things on a house boat.
I slowly dragged my feet the closer I got. I could see a few people already there, including Alya. I wondered if it was too late to go back and I almost turned away when I heard,
"You came!!"
Alya ran up, giving me a big hug. "I've missed you!"

"Y-yeah, I missed you guys too. I'm sorry for staying so... distant" I frowned, looking down at my feet.

"Girl, don't worry about it. I can tell you've been going through things I just wish you would come to me more. You know we're here for you"

"I know I just... I don't want to be a burden."

She smiled and put her arm around my neck.
"You're never a burden, Mari"
And with that, she pulled me along to the boat. Everything was almost set up and a few of my classmates came by asking how I was.
I just played it off as if I was okay.

"Good afternoon, Marinette" A hand rested on my shoulder making me jump a little. I turned around and looked up at the dark haired boy.

"Luka! Hi!" I smiled widely, a soft blush crossing over my cheeks.

"I haven't seen you in a while, how has everything been going?"

I looked down, not wanting to lie but not wanting to tell the truth either. I knew I could trust Luka, probably just as much as I could trust Chat Noir.

"W-Well..."

"You don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable."
Luka smiled and softly squeezed my shoulder. I smiled in return.

"Thanks, I wish I could tell you but... it's a lot, Luka. Not only do I not want to put my problems on other people but..."

"Marinette, it's okay. You don't have to explain. We can just have a good time and rid your mind of these intrusive thoughts, yes?"

Intrusive thoughts... am I that easy to read? Or... maybe it's just Luka. He's almost an expert at reading people and their emotions. He's so sweet.

"Y-yeah. A good time sounds nice." I smiled nervously, giving him a shy look.

"Cool, here." He slid the guitar he had around his neck off and onto mine instead. "Here, sit down and I'll teach you a few chords before everyone else gets here. If... that's okay of course."

"Mhm!" I nodded happily, sitting down on the chair he motioned to me.
He stood behind me, leaning over my shoulders. He showed me where to put my fingers and how to properly hold it.
I haven't been this happy in a while... I thought to myself.

————————————
Oh no.
Do you guys smell that?
No, it's not Plagg's Camembert.
It smells like... jealousy.
hehehehe

Update came a little earlier than expected!

I've FINALLY finished updating and editing previous chapters! They are super different than before so if you haven't re-read them, I'd definitely recommend doing that so it won't cause confusion. I've pretty much re-written ALL of them. Thanks for being so patient guys. <3