DAY TEN; BET #2: Playing Alone Again

|FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE FESTIVAL|

The chilly night air elicited a small shudder from (M/n)'s lanky body as he hugged his arms tighter to his chest. He was nervous. He didn't want to preform if Adrien wasn't beside him--it felt wrong. (M/n) shook the thoughts away with another shudder raking down his spine. He was piled up with a black-colored hoodie and grey sweatpants with some simple black slip-on shoes. 

He had been out for a few hours just walking around to clear his thoughts--although it was clear that it wasn't working in the slightest. 

Frustrated and cold, (M/n) kicked away a pebble in front of him. A sigh soon left his lips right as a whistle echoed out beside him.

"Who hurt you today?" The sound of Marinette's voice made the boy jump up in surprise as he whipped his head around to look at Ladybug, her brilliant red-colored suit was illuminated by the warm light of the street lamp looming over them. 

"Jesus...Mari, don't sneak up on me like that." (M/n) hissed, he ran his hand down his face in mock anger before he smiled and leaned on the railing that the girl was standing on. She hopped down beside him and they looked up at the stars in silence. 

"You seemed mad Yesterday.." Ladybug voiced, concern lacing her words as she glanced up at the teen beside her. 

(M/n) huffed and crossed his arms before frowning. 

"I like Adrien more than I thought I did.." he offered a strained smile to which he got the girl to roll her eyes. 

"You never really know how much you like someone until someone else opens up your eyes to your actions--if that makes any sense.." the girl let out a nervous giggle before lightly tapping her fist against the boy's right shoulder, "I'm probably not the best one to talk to when it comes to love confessions, why not talk to Chat? You two are close--right?" 

The mention of the model's superhero name made (M/n)'s eyes go wide as he laughed out in response as he fiddled with his hoodie sleeve. 

"Yeah, right--he's...He's just some dumb kid that doesn't know when to stop." (M/n) forced out a fake laugh, pushing himself off the railing and continued to walk down the sidewalk. He looked over his shoulder towards the black-haired hero and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm gonna head home," he waved her off before turning back and walking faster. 

Before the girl could stop him, he had already disappeared down an alleyway to a shortcut to his house. 

Ladybug pursed her lips before making her way back to the meet-up spot that she and Chat had chosen. It had been a while since she's heard a pick-up line from the boy but thought nothing of it other than that it was much better this way. Still, it made her curious. 

The black-haired hero shook the thought away before landing on top of the flat roof top of a museum, Chat Noir was already there--patiently waiting for her with a distant look crossing his features. He hadn't noticed the girl until she had called out to him not too long after she had landed. 

"I won't be able to do patrol in about three days..my school is preparing for the festival." Ladybug offered a light smile to which the boy smiled back and nodded. 

"I was about to say the same thing," he chuckled, "I'm nervous.." he pandered out loud. Ladybug frowned at the sudden thought. 

"I never pegged you as someone who would be nervous about a Festival," she teases, but her teasing tone drifted off into something more concerned when she noticed the expression the boy was holding. 

His eyes were creased with tension and his eyebrows were knitted together accompanied by a deep frown that laced his features. Her words died in her throat, pausing to let the boy speak instead. When he hesitated, she smiled and brought her hand up onto his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"I won't make fun of you for being nervous, Chat," Ladybug whispered. 

Chat nodded slowly before letting out a deep breath and plopping down onto the ground as he messed with his baton. Ladybug was reminded of (M/n) in a sense--their actions were similar in a way. 

The blond-haired hero gnawed on the inside of his cheek before he let out a groan. 

"I love someone else! I mean--I love you, Ladybug, but not Romantically anymore. I'm only a burden to you during battles when I constantly shouted about my love for you. I'm sorry about that--" The hero ran his fingers through his messy hair, exposing his human ears for a second before letting it fall back into place. 

"I love them and I only just realized it---but this entire time--I've..I've been rejecting them because I didn't want to love them. I didn't want these feelings for them," Chat paused, exhaling deeply to calm down a smile lifting onto his face, "But now I know what I want to do..thanks to Plagg, of course," Chat chuckled and gazed at the City lights below them. 

Ladybug felt speechless but grateful that Chat had moved on from her. 

"I'm..I'm glad that you feel open to me with this, It means a lot, Chat." She rubbed his back with another assured grin before standing up from her sitting position from beside the blond and stretched her arms above her head. 

"You said that you've rejected them before, right? That means that they still like you! So you can confess!" Ladybug tugged the boy up to his feet and hugged him tightly before pulling away again and sending him an encouraging grin. 

"You can do this!" 

--

Adrien gulped as he adjusted the collar of his costume, they were working on the scenes of the actual play before they put it all together with the piano music in the background of the main ball scene. They were really going out this year. 

The blond's eyes drifted over to the tall Japanese teenager, the boy was finally wearing the armor that the girls had made for him. It was spray-painted a metallic silver and scratched up to demonstrate that it had been damaged through some act of fighting. Of course, (M/n) looked great--to him, at least. 

His (h/c)-colored hair had been slicked back with the help of Alya and Marinette. 

His glasses were replaced with contacts for the time being but his sharp gaze never left the ground even while they were rehearsing. 

Adrien voiced his lines but they eventually had to redo the part because both (M/n) and Adrien were distracted and came into the part too early or too late. Marinette sent a pitiful gaze towards the (h/c)-haired teen once they had gone on break before making her way over to the tired teen. 

It was obvious that he didn't want to be there at all. 

Especially with the awkward tension between him and Adrien--not to mention the pounding in his chest due to the conversation that he and the black-haired girl had. (M/n) peered at the girl with a hum, it was quiet but it grabbed the sixteen-year-old's attention. 

"Do you want anything sweet to eat?" she questioned, her eyes darting up to meet the exhausted (e/c) irises that glinted with appreciation. 

"Yes, please.." (M/n) leaned down and hugged the girl, slumping onto her petite form to which she groaned at his heavy torso leaning on her. 

Not long after their break, (M/n) ventured out of the auditorium and made his way to the music room. The piano was still there, it was dusty and the keyboard cover was open to expose the white and black porcelain that reflected off the sunlight that drenched the room from the windows. 

The lanky teen let his body guide him to the piano, stripping off the armor to leave him in the black turtleneck he had underneath and his black slacks. He carefully placed the armor down on the table near the graceful instrument, making his way to dust off the small specks on the glossy surface of the piano top, (M/n) ran his fingers over the bone of the piano.

He gently pressed his fingers into the keys, playing something that he had preformed for a show back when he was Fifteen-years-old. 

|Play Song at the top|

His eyes fluttered shut as he let his hands take care of creating the soft melody, his left arm burned but ignored it and shakily played the left chorus as his right hand danced around the keys. 

His eyes felt hot as they watered, he reminisced about his life before moving to Paris, he was a sad, broken man who wanted nothing more than to see the effects of the afterlife. Of course, when he moved here, it had taken him a while to warm up to others and get over his constant anxiety of pleasing others. 

He'd grown up to 'suck-up' to people older than him to get on their good side--eventually it turned into a fear of not being good enough to help them rather than himself. 

(M/n)'s movements got faster as he rushed the middle only to stand up and slam his right hand down onto the keys as he crumbled to the ground. His left arm felt unbearably hot and scorched right through the muscle as it tensed and trembled. 

Why am I forcing myself to do this? 

(M/n)'s inner question left unanswered as he held his hand to his chest and rested his back on the wall beneath the window. The light reached to his knees as he stretched out his legs to get comfortable. Avoiding any harsh movements as to not irritate his lava-inducing shoulder and wrist. 

All I'm doing is playing by myself...it's what I'm used to.

(M/n) fought back tears as he leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes tightly to ease the dizzying pain. 

So why does it feel so unsatisfying..?