Happenstance {Oneshots}

Umbrellas (Felinette)

An epiphany strikes Marinette on a rainy day.

Or

Marinette moves on, cries, but luckily enough has a knight with too much hair gel.

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She saw him as he stood idly in front of immense double doors, silent as he counted the drops of water that charged at the ground. Deja vu pierced through her chest like an arrow at the sight of his regard, twisting her heart with the pain of familiar nostalgia. Her palms ached, her lips quivered - cold, trembling fists tightened around the umbrella handle. The scene felt too familiar; too uncanny.

He looked so lonely.

Marinette stared at him from her spot, pensive. Adrien, by all accounts, looked absolutely normal - his posture was straight as the days before; his clothes were identical to yesterday and his passive countenance was the same as it always had been. But then why, she thought, why does he seem so different?

Marinette never thought of Adrien as a lonely person, what with the attention and admiration he always recieved in class. And never in Marinette's whole career of lovelorn pining, had Adrien ever changed a single thing about himself. Not his hair, not his style of clothing, and not even his model-perfect complexion.

It didn't occur to her until she saw his eyes.

His skin was unmarred by blemishes; untainted by wicked marks since the day she fell in love. But those eyes... Dear lord, those beautiful green eyes that drove her over the edge every time she saw them. Those eyes that nudged her to fall into tragedy on that faithful day in the rain. Those eyes that she once coveted to the point of a toxic obsession,- that drove her mad with envy whenever someone else wanted them for their own. Those eyes - no, Adrien's eyes were morose under his hair. Disturbingly distant as he stared at the raindrops that fell on damp concrete. His eyes revealed the grotesque scars she never bothered to notice before, throbbing red and infected with every emotional anguish he had endured.

Oh, how she had been so cruel.

Marinette hated many things in life - she hated many things about herself. She hated being so clumsy and worrying the people she loved with the purple bruises that spontaneously bloomed on her skin. She hated how she always took it upon herself to deal with responsibilities that were never hers to begin with. She despised being a damn liar to her friends and family, even if it was for the sake of secret identities.

And most especially, she loathed being so selfish when it came to her desire for Adrien Agreste.

How many times had she sabotaged other people to preserve a love that never existed? How many people did she betray, regardless of their innocence? There were far too many to count - too many people she had hurt. She had been the catalyst of far too many cursed butterflies - had been a vessel of the toxicity she sought so hard to eradicate. It lit her up with dangerous hellfire and devoured her from the inside out.

Marinette was burning.

It burned. It scorched. It punished. It hurt. Her hands felt heavy with blood. Cruel voices whispered betrayal into her ear, accusations of crimes that Marinette couldn't deny. And suddenly, her conscience weighed heavy on her shoulders.

She couldn't go on like this.

She was a horrible friend in the countless times she ditched preplanned events just to stalk Adrien. She was an insensitive classmate when she seized opportunities that her friends deserved a lot more. She had been a terrible lover when she prioritized her happiness over Adrien's smile. Unjust, naïve, and obsessive. Marinette almost laughed, How did I ever hope that he would be happy with me?