Chat's POV

Did... did I just see that correctly?

Out of instinct, I quickly look over at Ladybug. She stands there with her mouth wide open, and her face as pale as a ghost. I hear an inaudible noise slip out from her lips from disbelief. She doesn't move. I rush over to her and pick her up. I realize we have to get out of here, so I carry her in my arms as we dash across the city. I feel her body shaking against mine. She wraps her arms around my neck and I hear her quiet sobs in my ear. She's trembling.

We reach my place and I hop through my window. I quickly slip into my room and lie Ladybug on my bed. I de-transform and lie in the bed with her. We sit in silence. I watch as tears fall down her cheek and leave stains on my pillow case. Her eyes are blank, and her face holds no expression, yet she continues to cry. I watch as her earrings beep and she de-transforms. I wait for her to say something, but she doesn't.

"Do... do you want to talk about it?" I whisper.

She doesn't even seem to recognize that I just asked her a question. She isn't reacting to anything. I watch as her breaths slowly go in and out. I sigh and stand up, planning to go wash my face in the bathroom, but I feel someone grab my hand. I turn around, and see Mari giving me a terrified look.

"Don't leave me," she whispers.

I smile and climb back into bed with her. "Don't worry, I never will."

I tuck myself under the sheets along with her. I cuddle up close to Mari and pull her into my grasp. I wrap my arms around her and run my hands through her hair. In return, she hugs me and I feel her squeeze. Her tears slowly turn into sobs. I rub her back as she cries into my shoulder.

After several minutes she starts to go quiet.

"Mari, are you good?" I carefully ask.

She looks back up at me with red eyes. "Adrien..."

"Yes?"

"She trusted me."

I stay quiet.

"She trusted me, Adrien. Alya told me she believed in me, and I let her down. Those were her last words: she trusted me."

I do nothing. I don't know what to say.

"I'm a failure," I hear her whisper. "I'm useless, un-wanted, dead weight."

"E-excuse me?" I gasp.

"YOU WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT ME!" She screams with tears exploding off her face.

"MARINETTE!" I yell, jumping ontop of her. "DON'T SAY THOSE THINGS!"

I rub a tear off her cheek.

"You were the one who told me that nothing was permanent, right?! Then we'll fix this too!" I scream, praying that she would believe me.

I watch her through my blond bangs dangling in front of her face. Her eyes slowly regain her unique sparkle in them. Her face fills with sorrow, but then hope. She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me.

She pulls away, and smiles a sad smile. "Thank you, Adrien. I'm so glad I met you."

I get off her and smile too. "Me too, Marinette."

~

Marinette returns back to my room after taking a much deserved shower. Steam pours out of the bathroom and quickly fills my cold room. She slips into one of my shirts, and keeps her hair in a towel.

"Feeling better, princess?" I ask.

She nods, and sits on the opposite end of the couch that I'm on.

"What do you think is wrong with Luka?" She mutters.

I tilt my head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She holds herself and leans back into the couch, looking out my window. "The real Luka wouldn't act like this. And I don't think it's because of the vampire traits either, because you don't act all reckless and emotional like him."

I ponder for a little while but then a lightbulb appears above my head. "I got it! Let's just look at the security footage before today and see if we see anything odd happen!"

"You can do that?!" She gasps.

"Not me, but my dad. There's a lot of things he can do. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a super villain, to be honest," I joke.

She giggles, and follows me as I walk over to my pc. I slide into the office chair, and she leans over my shoulder standing up. I pull up the Paris security webpage, and login though my dad's account. He's apart of the security group that watches over Paris for akumas, but I don't know why he would need to use it. I quickly find the camera that watches over Luka's area and login to it, then re-wind it back to yesterday.

"Look!" Marinette says, pointing at the screen. "He's climbing up a building!"

I nod, and we switch cameras to the one on the top of a different building, facing where Luka was standing. We watch him carefully.

"It looks like he was looking for akumas," I suggest.

"He was! Yesterday was his night to patrol, remember?" Mari explains. "We were at the Eiffel Tower during this time."

I nod. We wait a little bit. I'm about to skip ahead in time when suddenly he sits down on the roof of the building.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Mari asks.

I zoom in, and feel a pit form in my stomach. "He was crying."

Marinette gasps. "Y-you don't think..."

We wait, intensely staring at the computer screen. I notice something in the corner. I zoom in closer to find out what it is, but when the camera focuses, my heart drops.

"Marinette, that's an akuma."

"No!" She gasps. "He couldn't! Luka's so calm and collected! He wouldn't let Hawkmoth control him!"

I hold my breath as we watch the black butterfly flutter closer and closer to our partner. Once he realizes there's an akuma on his back, he scrambles away until there's no more roof to back away on. He looks back, terrified, but he's to late. The akuma akumatizes him. He struggles for a while, but as soon as Hawkmoth tells him something, he agrees. We watch as he transforms. He looks identical to himself, but his hair is all black, and his eye become dark.

I quickly exit the tab.

I stare at the blank computer screen.

"I can't believe it," I whisper in pure shock. "Why? Why did our friend get akumatized?!"

Mari stays frozen. "It's because of me."

"What?" I ask, standing up.

She backs away from me, holding herself in her arms.

"I rejected him for you."

"No, Mari! This isn't your fault!"

She shakes her head. "Yes, it is. I chose you, and he was hurt over it."

"That doesn't make it your fault though. You got to rightfully choose."

"You're not listening to me, Adrien," she argues, tensely.

"How did he react when you left him in his room?" I ask.

"He was... sad. It was right after he drank my blood and you walked in. He thought we were dating, but we weren't. I... I slapped him."

"You slapped him?" I ask, shocked.

"Well, yeah! He was acting as if I was an object!"

I smile. "Good for you!"

"No!" She yells. "He didn't mean it! I hurt him when he didn't even deserve it!"

"He spoke for you! Of course he deserved it!"

She looks at me in disbelief. "I'm so disappointed in you, Adrien. Why are you treating him like this? He's your close friend!"

"Like what, Mari?! He literally lied! What matters is you chose me!"

She gasps and stumbles backwards. "So this is an argument between you guys."

"What? No!" I argue.

"You were arguing over me!" She says in realization. "You just wanted me and didn't care to see how it would affect your friend!"

I throw my hands up in the air. "No, Mari! It's not like that -"

"- I have to go see him." She interrupts.

"What, are you kidding me?" I say, in urgency. "He's a vampire, he could kill you."

"I am going to go see him, in person, by myself, without Tikki, so he doesn't feel threatened. I'll reason with him."

I stomp my foot. "Fine, then I'm going with you."

The sky outside my bedroom grows dark. The wind starts to blow. Thunderclouds rumble in the distance.

"No, you're the reason why he's so upset. You chased after me and didn't care about how he would feel. You're the last person he would want to see."

"I'll just be there to protect you, Mari!" I explain.

"You don't need to protect me," she says, backing away, looking at the ground.

"Princess, this is a death mission! I'll never see you again!" I yell, tears forming.

Wind blows through my open window and sweeps up papers on the ground. It sends a ripple through my shirt she's wearing. She looks back up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I know."

I blink and take a step back, in pure shock. "Is this how little you think of me?! You're ready to run away from me just like that?!"

She shakes her head, un-sure of her decision.

"I can't lose you, princess!" I reason.

Lightning strikes in the background, which lights up the room for a split second before returning to dark.

"He's too powerful as a vampire! Please, we can think of a better way!" I scream, reaching my hand out for her.

"It isn't up for debate, Adrien!" She sobs. "This is for Paris! He's a deadly vampire! I can't let anyone else die because of me!"

"Marinette!" I beg.

She unclips her earrings and holds them in her fist. The wind suddenly rushes in my room, and she opens her fist sending the earrings across the room. I hear a loud clink and I feel anger running through my veins.

"Marinette, I don't want to lose you! PLEASE!" I scream, holding onto my chest.

She looks at me with a empty stare. "Fine. Make a choice then. Saving Paris, or me."

Thunder strikes and I see Marinette's face light up. Her face is filled with determination, but there are tears falling down from her face. Hot, angry tears stream down my cheek too. We stand like that, with dark tension forming between us. I have to make a choice that would change my mind forever.

"Fine." I say, my voice cracking from pain. "LEAVE."

I see her eyes open wide and fill with sorrow, but she quickly turns away.

I feel my heart pound against my chest. "I hope I never see you again. Get the fuck out of my sight."

She stays quiet, and starts to walk away with the stormy wind running though her dark blue hair.

My eyes turn a dark red and I feel my vangs grow. I turn away, and furiously walk back to my bed. I collapse and watch as my shoulders shake. I look and my trembling hands, and before I realize it, I whip around to see her, but she's gone. I dash to the window and peer down into the streets. I see her trudging through the upcoming storm, and regret fills my body. She's going to go face the vampire. Alone.

"LADYBUG WOULDN'T DO THIS!" I shout, anger and pain filling the air.

She hears me, but she doesn't turn around.

I gasp and slump against the window. I stressfully pull on my hair and collapse onto my knees. I slam my fist into the ground I scream from pain. I clutch my heart. My chest aches. I uncontrollably shake and grasp onto my shoulders. This happened so fast. I want the pain to stop. My heart feels rotten. The argument I just had with Mari replays over and over again in my head, until I finally come to terms with what just happened.

I just broke up with Marinette.