One Miraculous Circus

Chapter 5

Adrien and Marinette walked back to her house and Adrien skipped his shift to help her. Marinette's mind was blank and she didn't want to think about the fact that she just lost her whole family.

"I have to pack and move. I can't stay in the current house, not alone. I don't even have a job," Marinette rambled, focusing on anything except her family.

"Mari, you don't have to focus on that now. Just take a break, okay," Adrien muttered as he wrapped an arm around Marinette and held her close. Marinette leant her head on his shoulder and continued to stare into space as Adrien guided her home.

When they got to hers, the police were waiting for them. Adrien helped Marinette through every question the police shot at them and kept her calm as she had to deal with the bomb that was just dropped on her.

Marinette was in shock and was not in the place to deal with everything right now and Adrien noticed this. He took her inside to sleep and managed to convince the police to leave and come back tomorrow when she wasn't so overwhelmed.

"Come on, Mari. Let's just get you into bed," Adrien whispered to her as he took her to her room.

They sat down on her double bed and Marinette immediately crawled under the covers and pulled her legs to her chest. She lied there, wrapped in her blankets as tears poured down her face and hit the white sheet beneath her.

"They're gone, Adrien. My mum. My dad. My grandma. They're gone and I didn't even get to say goodbye. I can never talk to them again," Marinette croaked and Adrien ran his hands through her hair.

"It's going to be okay eventually, Mari. It'll take a while but Nino, Alya, Kagami and I are going to be here for you through everything. You can always rely on us," Adrien muttered as he wiped the tears from Marinette's pale cheeks.

Marinette's eyes fluttered shut but tears still glistened on her thick eyelashes. Adrien looked over her and for a minute felt a fraction of the pain she was feeling as he wished his friend could be happy and with her family once more.

"I'm sorry ma. I'm sorry pa. I miss you," Marinette muttered as she stirred in her sleep and Adrien's heart shattered slightly.

"Goodnight, Mari."

The next day Marinette woke up to Adrien on the floor beside her bed. He was sat up leaning against the wall obviously waiting for her to wake up.

"What are you still doing here, Adrien? Surely your dad wouldn't be okay with this," she said, somehow worrying about others despite everything that she was going through.

"Don't worry about me. My dad is in New York and my mum is more lenient. I told her I was at Nino's. How are you feeling about everything?" he asked, standing up and sitting on the end of her bed.

Marinette sat up and leant against her headboard, her blotchy face visible, "I mean not great. Truthfully, absolutely terrible but I think I can deal with the police and the social workers today. They'll be a good distraction I guess."

"That's great, Mari. I'll be by your side the whole time, okay?"

"Adrien, you don't have to stay. It's school today and I would really appreciate it if you told the others what happened. I can't bring myself to do it," Marinette said as she fiddled with her bedsheets.

"Of course, I'll talk to everyone about what happened. The police are coming back at noon. It'll all be better soon, I promise."

Adrien stood up, grabbed his bags and went to school in the same clothes he did yesterday. He had no time to change and was more focused on helping out Marinette than what other people were saying. He could already hear his father yelling at him for the newborn rumours when he got home but he didn't care. At that moment, Adrien could only think of Marinette.

Marinette dragged herself out of bed that morning after she heard the front door slam but didn't have the motivation to change from her sweatpants. Her hair stayed messy and she opened the door with a raw face from all the crying she endured the night before.

The whole day of questions and answers were a blur but there was one part she remembered vividly, where was she going to live? As she was 18 years old, it was recommended she live with a relative. They recommended she go live with an auntie or uncle but because of her age, she could choose to live alone. Living alone would mean moving into a new, smaller apartment and getting a job so she can afford to pay rent and this fact was the one she chose to focus on instead of replaying the phone call as she had done for the whole day.

The school was a whole different story than Marinette's house but still just as chaotic. Adrien ran into school late with his blonde hair sticking up in all different directions and the same outfit from the day before. People assumed he had slept with Marinette or stayed over - which he did but not for the reason they thought. He could hear people whispering about them as he ran to class and the future screaming of his dad just got louder, like a ringing in his ears.

Adrien's main aim of the day was to talk to the others about what had happened to Marinette and what she was going through but it turns out the news did that for him. When he got into his first class, everyone was already talking about the major crash that killed Mari's family and was too busy to notice the state Adrien was in. He ran up to Nino, Kagami and Alya to ask what they had heard and they were already heading his way when he got inside.

"Adrien, it's the story on every news station and in every newspaper. It was a horrible crash, the whole car crushed. You were with Marinette yesterday so were you there when, you know, she was told?" Alya inquired as she scanned Adrien's attire, "Why are you dressed in the same clothes as yesterday?" she added.

Adrien signed, "I stayed at Marinette's last night. I was there with her when she got the call so I walked her home and dealt with the police and asked if they could come today instead. She was extremely overwhelmed yesterday but she said she could deal with it today, or at least use it as a distraction. I woke up late so had no chance to change, hence the same outfit and messed up hair."

You could sense the sadness and sympathy in the air. "We'll all go to Marinette's after school today. I think she needs some support right now," Nino added in and everyone nodded in agreement.

After a long day of school for the group and an even longer day with the police for Marinette, they all made their way to hers to give her comfort in her time of need. Marinette also needed to use this visit for her own benefit. She remembered Adrien mentioning that there was a job free at the circus and needed to know what it was. She didn't want to focus on what had just happened so was using anything she could find to distract herself but deep down, she knew she'd have to face her grief eventually.

That job could be perfect for her, she just needed more information. She was hoping getting a job immediately and moving as soon as possible would distract her from the spreading wildfire that was her life. Staying in her old house was only bringing back happy memories that caused more pain. She would walk into the kitchen and think of all the days they baked cakes together and laughter filled the room and she would sit in the living room and turn the tv on, only to have to turn it off because she would find something funny and go to tell her mum but see no one next to her. As well as feeling hurt by these memories, she also felt closer to them the more she remembered them for not just their deaths. The more she saw them as the people who made her smile and not just the people she didn't have anymore, the more her pain began to ease as if the memories of those she loved was slowly patching up the cracks in her heart.