Moving on with the Bully (Book 2 of the Bullied Series)

Chapter 5

Marinette's POV

We ditched--something I had never done--the rest of the day. Adrien needed the day off, so we walked around the city. We went through the Lourve, to the Eiffel Tower, and walked along the Seine. It would have been a great day if I hadn't been so worried about Adrien. He gripped my hand so tight as we walked, but he didn't say a word. Even after we got into the car he didn't say anything. I grew even more anxious by the second.

When we arrived the house, Adrien grabbed my hand and guided me upstairs to my room. Once we got there, he slammed the door behind us.

I started to ask, "What are you—?"

But before I could finish, he threw my black sequins dress at me. I caught it as it hit my chest. I looked at it before looking back up at the blonde boy in front of me.

"We're going to a party tonight," he told me. "I need to get my mind off of...everything."

I would have argued, but I was curious to see what a high school party was like in person. I nodded to him as he left my room. I collapsed onto the bed. How was I going to help Adrien?

Adrien's POV

We arrived at the party thirty minutes after it started. Once we got there, everybody greeted me. I was the party guy after all. Marinette stood shyly by my side. I felt bad for dragging her here, but I needed out of the house. I wanted no reminders of my past, my father, Lila and Chloe, or anything else. What better way to forget than drowning in your sorrows?

As we stood in the entrance preparing to enter the party, somebody called out Marinette's name. Our heads whipped toward a coffee table surrounded by 3 couches and teens. Sitting on the first couch was Kim, Max, and Ivan. There were four people I didn't recognize on the second couch. On the third couch sat my best friend, Nino, and his girlfriend, Alya. Alya was looking in Marinette's direction and waving at her.

"Do you know each other?" I asked Mari without taking my eyes off of Ayla and my bro.

Marinette waved back to the brunette while telling me, "She and I have known each other since elementary school. She is super nice to me. She ate lunch with me in the janitors closet sometimes."

That sounded like Alya. For the year she has been dating Nino, she has been very nice to me even though she can be kind of bossy. Nino really loves her, so I am nice to her.

"Come over here, girl," Ayla yelled over the party music.

Marinette took a deep breath and walked over to the crowd; I followed closely behind. Marinette sat down next to Alya, and I sat next to Marinette. I put an arm around Mari's shoulders to prevent my shoulder pressing into her uncomfortably.

Alya took a sip of her drink. "Your timing is perfect because we were about to play a game!"

"What game?" Marinette asked with a cock of her eyebrow.

"It's called straight face," Alya explained. "Everybody writes down something funny on a piece of paper. Once it's your turn, you'll take a random piece of paper and read it out loud. If you manage to keep a straight face, you win that round; if you laugh or even crack a smile, you have to take a sip of you drink."

Ayla handed Mari a red solo cup. The blue haired girl looked at it as if it were a ticking time bomb.

Ayla, sensing Mari was uncomfortable, said, "You can play and just drink water or something. It doesn't have to be a drinking game if you don't want to drink."

"No, it's okay," Marinette smiled politely. She took a small sip of her drink and her entire face shriveled up in disgust. I laughed lightly at her reaction. I had probably made the same face the first time I drank.

Everybody grabbed a strip of paper from the middle of the coffee table and started writing down phrases. I wrote three even though I opted out of playing. Since Mari was going to drink, I had to stay sober and watch her. Once we were all finished, Nino suggested Ayla go first since she came up with the game. The brunette girl picked a piece of paper and opened it.

"I am Ladybug, a magical super hero who uses a yo-yo as her weapon," Alya read out loud with a blank face. "That was nothing!"

Since she won, it was now Marinette's turn. She grabbed a strip of paper from the middle. She sat back before opening the folded paper.

"Adrien has a third nipple on his left ass cheek," Marinette read and burst out laughing in the middle.

"You know what that means?!" Alya said in a sing-song voice.

"Drink! Drink! Drink!" The teens around us started chanting.

Peer pressure got the best of her and Marinette took a swig of the alcoholic beverage. She made a face as if she had ate something sour again.

LE TIME SKIP

After about six more rounds, Marinette didn't even need to read the paper before she burst out laughing.  I guess she's a silly drunk.

The game disbanded once it was obvious Marinette had lost. The group went to the dance floor, but Marinette went up the stairs. I followed closely behind her.

"Where do you think you're going, little missy?" I asked in a playful tone.

"Bathroom," she sniffled. Was she crying?

We got to the stair's landing, and I stopped Marinette by grabbing her wrist lightly. I spun her toward me to see her porcelain cheeks were wet.

"What's wrong, Mari?" I asked with worry laced in my voice.

At that, she dropped to her knees and started bawling into her hands. She sobbed audibly as I lowered myself down to her side. I rubbed her back soothingly.

She hiccuped, "Chloe and Lila are such meanies. They're the worst. I hate them. Lila is such a stupid, stupid liar. I don't like liars at all. Are Chloe's boobs even real?"

I laughed at the last thing she said. No, no they are not.

"My parents are meanies too," she started and I stopped laughing. "They hurt me. They hurt me a lot. They would punch me. They would also kick me. They cut me a few times which hurt."

I didn't know how to respond to what she said, so I continued to rub her back.

"And then there's you," she started. Oh, shit. This was going to be painful. "Adrien, you bullied me for over six years. Six years is a super duper long time. That's more years than most ladybugs live. You bullied me and hurt me for so long, and yet...and yet...I love you."

I abruptly stopped making circles in her back.

"What did you just say...?"

She sighed and yelled, "I love you, Adrien. I love you. A lot. Like I really love you." She smiled brightly at me, and then her smile faltered.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Mhmm," she assured me. "The room is just spinning slightly." With that, she passed out in my arms.

I sat there in awe. She had just admitted her feelings to me. Wow. She had also had her first drinks of alcohol and passed out. It definitely won't be fun for her tomorrow morning.

I picked her up and walked to my car. I realized that I hadn't had a drop of beer or wine tonight and I still managed to forget about my shitty life. Marinette had helped me forget. Now the only thing that occupied my mind was her confession.