Chapter Text
It hurt.
It hurt a lot.
Marinette didn’t know what to do. After another confrontation with Leo —the boy she had been at odds with since she saw him near Adrien— she realized just how wrong she had been about him.
All the time, she had been jealous of their relationship. She thought Leo would become someone important to Adrien and that he would replace her. She imagined the worst: that Adrien would be attracted to Leo and they’d become a couple. So she got in the way of their relationship again, this time as Marinette and not as Ladybug, to stop their friendship from growing into something deeper.
But all she did was get Leo akumatized again.
Again.
And she didn’t know how to deal with that.
She buried her face between her knees, eyes full of tears, trying to ignore Tikki’s words. She couldn’t listen to her. She couldn’t hear her say that she had done the right thing, or that it was Leo’s fault for getting akumatized.
She couldn’t hear her say that Leo was bad.
Leo was just a boy. A boy who lied, yes, but Marinette didn’t know anything about him. She didn’t know anything about his parents, or about his life. She didn’t know if something had happened to make him lie. She hadn’t even stopped to wonder if his life had been difficult.
She had only been against him... because she was jealous.
Because he got close to Adrien and she thought that would ruin her chances of becoming Adrien’s girlfriend.
She dug her nails into her arms, and looked up when Tikki gently touched her hands. Her eyes accidentally landed on a picture of Adrien lying on the floor. It was a photo Marinette had taken at the park when he was distracted during a photo shoot.
She grabbed the photo, and her hands trembled. That was the cause of all her problems. Her jealousy. Her crush on Adrien.
"Marinette?" Tikki looked at her, confused.
Marinette looked at the board she had hung on the wall. It was covered with pictures of Adrien. Photos she had taken when he wasn’t looking, or cut out from fashion magazines. She used to look at that board longingly, but in that moment she only felt... disgusted.
She tore the picture of Adrien in her hands in half and threw the pieces into the trash.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry… Leo."
* * *
The next day, she was greeted at Francois Dupont by Alya with a hug, but Marinette could barely react. Her arms just hung by her sides, unmoving, not returning Alya’s hug. It didn’t feel warm like it used to. It felt cold. It felt… wrong.
Her friend didn’t need to hug her. Not after she had led Leo to be akumatized again. Not after all the times she had criticized Claude and turned against classmates just for having a “close” relationship with Adrien.
After Alya got away from her, Marinette gave her a weak smile and the two of them walked to class.
When they arrived, the first person Marinette saw was Claude. He looked at her with a smug smile, as if he was ready to tease her. She quickly looked away, not noticing Claude’s confused expression.
And then she saw him.
Leo.
Looking at her from his seat, silently.
Marinette froze for a few seconds. She didn’t know how to react. She just stood there, unable to speak. She couldn’t even manage to greet Adrien, who was waving at her with a little smile.
Alya put a hand on her shoulder to make her react, but Marinette just pulled away and ran out of the class. She couldn’t deal with Leo, or Claude. Not like this. Not when all she wanted was to cry and apologize.
She ran into the girls’ bathroom and locked herself in a stall, covering her eyes with her hands. She couldn’t let the tears fall.
When the urge to cry dissapeared, she got out of the bathroom silently, though her hands were still trembling.
Not ten seconds had passed before she felt someone grab her arm and pull her into an empty classroom. She was immediately pushed against the wall, making her let out a soft whimper. She looked up, and she saw Leo in front of her, frowning.
“You… You really are the most irritating girl I’ve ever met.”
Leo gripped Marinette’s shoulders tightly.
“Seriously, is it that hard for you to stay out of others’ business?” he scowled. “Is it that hard for you to stop screwing up every one of my plans? At first I didn’t care about you… and then you had to get jealous and ruin everything.” He clicked his tongue. “You do realize I never would’ve hated you if you hadn’t tried to destroy my reputation, right?”
Marinette just stared at him silently, his words repeating in her head.
"You had to get jealous and ruin everything."
She felt a lump in her throat.
It hurt.
Not because Leo was lying— but because, for once, he wasn’t.
She had lost count of how many akumatizations she had caused just because of her jealousy. Leo had been akumatized three times, and every time, it had been her fault, whether it was because of Marinette or Ladybug.
Because she couldn’t feel something for Adrien without taking it too far.
She tried to hold back a sob so she wouldn’t cry in front of Leo, but a sob escaped before she could stop it.
“Shit.”
“What?” Leo let go of her shoulders in surprise. “Are you… crying?”
“No,” Marinette said, her voice cracking. Her lips trembled. “I’m not…” The moment she looked into Leo’s eyes, she let out another sob and she collapsed to the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I was stupid. You’re right, I ruined everything. And I’m sorry. I just…”
Leo stood there for a second, unsure of what to do. A part of him felt satisfied. Marinette was crying, she looked weak, and it would’ve been the perfect moment for Hawk Moth to akumatize her. But another part of him couldn’t stop thinking about the way she curled up on the floor, the way she hugged herself so tightly.
Damn it.
Without thinking, he sat down next to Marinette, leaving a little space between them. But when he heard her sob again, he bit his lower lip and moved closer until their shoulders touched.
Marinette flinched, as if she hadn’t expected the contact. As if Leo scared her. Shit. Leo thought he’d regret what he was about to do, but he couldn’t just leave her like this.
He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.
“What are you…?” Marinette tried to suppress a sob. “Why are you…?”
“I’m only doing this because I don’t want you to keep crying. Be grateful I’m not making fun of you.”
And she did. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Leo’s shoulder. She kept crying until there were no tears left, until the guilt inside her had faded a little.
“I’m sorry,” she heard herself say again, her voice trembling.
And for the first time, Leo wondered if he wanted to keep being enemies with Marinette.
He wondered…
If he ever wanted to see her cry again.