One Miraculous Circus

Chapter 6

The doorbell rang which woke Mari up with a shock. She had fallen asleep after what felt like years with the police, but she slowly got up from the bed and didn't bother fixing her messed up hair as she slumped down the stairs. She unlocked the door and swung it open, relieved when it revealed her friends and not more police with an absurd amount of questions.

"Hey guys!" she called, faking a happy and jolly voice. 

"Hey. How have you been?" Alya asked with a sad head tilt. 

"Stop with the sympathetic head tilt. I get it a thousand times a day already," Marinette sighed while waving them inside and Alya giggled slightly as she followed.

They all watched the girl, knowing that this act she was putting on was fake. You could tell she had been crying all day and was close to breaking at any moment just by looking at her. Her eyes were still bloodshot and glossy and her face blotchy red and raw.

 Everyone walked in and sat down on the couch in the packed-up living room. Boxes lay scattered around and the sofas were covered in plastic. 

"So, you're moving out soon?" Kagami asked while looking around at all the packing, everything was in cardboard boxes and wrapped in clear plastic or bubble wrap.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to move in with my aunt. I wasn't going to move out so quickly but I miss them so much and going through everything and seeing their old stuff, although it hurt made me feel closer to them again," she muttered with a smile as she fiddled with her necklace, her mum's old necklace.

*Earlier today*

After sneaking past the selection of people that hovered around her house, she jogged down the pathway and pushed open the glass door that brought her into her comfort place. The bell rang and bounced off each wall of the beautiful bakery.

 "Hey, Marinette. How are you, sweetie?" Claire asked with the same head tilt she had been getting all day.

 "I'm as good as I can be in a situation like this," Marinette responded while taking the for-rent poster from the window, "I have a favour to ask you... is the apartment still free?"

 Claire walked over to her and rubbed her arm, "Yes, it is sweetie. Do you need a place to stay?" 

When Claire said that, Marinette couldn't hold it in anymore and warm tears streamed down her red face. Mari told Claire everything, about how she felt, about how she was going to live alone and about how she was acting okay when she really wasn't. She was being forced to move on too quickly by the police and social workers but went along with it because she was too broken to fight back and it broke her even more that she was already being forced to leave it all behind.

 "Honey... it's going to be okay. It's only a small apartment and I can lower the rent a bit. It's also decorated already. If you want to move in there it's yours," Claire said. They were sat down at a table drinking hot chocolates at this point and Claire reached out and held Marinette's hand, "I will keep you safe. You're like a daughter to me, I'd do anything for you."

Mari thought back to her previous conversation with Claire before turning back to her friends, ultimately deciding not to tell them about how she was going to live alone and continue with her aunt story, "She lives close so I won't be moving schools or anything but she wants me to pay rent so I need to get a job." 

"There's a job free at the circus! It's an acrobat," Adrien mentioned and Marinette's face lit up.

 "I might just go for an interview with that one. I mean, I do gymnastics after all," Marinette responded, laughing an obviously forced laugh as she spoke. 

Everyone spoke for hours before leaving Marinette's house, but Adrien stayed behind for a few extra minutes. 

"Marinette," he said and Marinette turned towards him, "If you need anyone to talk to I'm here for you, okay? You don't have to put on a fake face around us." 

Marinette gave a weak smile, she felt like crying but held the tears back, "Thank you."

Days, weeks and months passed by and Marinette was still staying at home, wrapped in her duvet most of the time but as each day passed she began finding herself moving from her bedroom to the living room. From spending every waking second in the house to going outside more often. From avoiding everything that reminded her of her family, to packing up the house ready to move in her spare time. Her friends began to come over more often, holding her in their arms as she ranted about everything. The one thing she felt she could never tell them about was the fact that she was living alone.

Pity. One of the things Marinette despised most, and she knew that's what she'd receive from her friends if she opened up. She knew her friends would offer her a place to stay but she didn't want to bother them. This would be one of the biggest secrets she'd ever have to keep from them but she knew she had to. She knew if she chose to move in with a friend she'd struggle even more. She wouldn't keep it a secret for too long though, just long enough that her friends wouldn't take pity on her.

Claire shut the cafe for the day when the moving day arrived and was helping her pack her stuff into the van, "I'm so happy you're moving into the apartment, Marinette. You've already seen inside but I'll make sure to show you the back entrance, so you don't have to always walk through the bakery."

Marinette giggled and put the final box on the van. "All done!" she shouted excitedly, clapping her hands together.

She looked up at the house she spent her childhood in, and her excitement immediately weakened.

Claire walked over and put her arm around Marinette's shoulders and squeezed her into a side hug, "It'll be okay honey. Living somewhere new will help you, I promise."

Claire and Marinette had just finished putting the boxes into the new apartment and were sat together in the bakery. Marinette was waiting for school to finally finish so she could meet up with her friends in the park like she used to, she hadn't managed to bring herself to go since her family passed.

They were just sitting, eating cake and drinking hot chocolate, when Marinette faintly heard the school bell. She had been slowly recovering after the passing of her family and wanted to start getting back into a routine again. She pushed away from the table and stood up, apologising for leaving so quickly as she rushed out the door and ran down the pathway.

The recognisable smell of the trees returned to her nose and the noise of children's laughter as they slid down the slide and kicked a football around the grass returned to her ears. She was going back to the park for the first time in weeks. She had flashbacks to the day she was told about her family and as she walked down the path she could see a faint image of her and Adrien huddled on the ground, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head to remove it. She never wanted to forget her family and she knew it'd always hurt that they weren't around anymore. Everywhere she went she thought of them and her heart yearned for them to be beside her again but she was moving out, seeing her friends again, getting a job and just about ready to return into her old routine, even if her parents weren't there to help her along the way...