I don't own anything

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

Why did everything have to be so hard? Well, it wasn't that bad, but to Marinette, it was getting there. There were a couple more akumas lately and a significant loss of sleep. Which meant that she had absolutely no tolerance for anything whatsoever, which was shown at school.

"Mon Dieu, Marinette! Why is it that every time I see you, you get worse?" Chloe snarked. "It's probably because your parents make you stay up late and help them with the trash food that they constantly feed you." Normally, Marinette would snark back with an equally sarcastic remark. Normally, Marinette would brush every word off. Normally, but this time, it stung. Her tear ducts started to sting, her vision blurred, and she realized tears had started to fall. Marinette didn't want them to, though. Why was she even crying? Chloe wasn't any different than before, but this time, she felt the insult. It hurt deep inside her, it touched her heart, and it was at that moment that Marinette felt something wrong. She knew she wasn't getting enough sleep, she knew she spent too much time fighting, and she knew that she was staying up too late. But she was okay, she told herself.

"What the hell, Chloe?" Alya barked. "That was rude and uncalled for! Why don't you just go back to your servant?"

"Why do you even know who you're talking to? You can't make me do anything!" Chloe stated as she stomped off.

"And Marinette," Alya started," why the hell would you let her push you around like that? You're usually more resilient than this." To which Marinette shrugged in reply, knowing she couldn't tell Alya the truth.

"Okay, Girl, just tell me if you're having trouble with anything. Got it?"

Marinette nodded, not wanting to upset her friend.

But of course, Ladybug was needed, so this process was repeated. Multiple times. No sleep, more Ladybug, more lies, etc. School became her naptime.

"Marinette! Are you feeling well, or are you just bored?" Mrs. Bustier called. Marinette's head snapped up from its position on her arms.

" M' sorry, Ma'am, I'm not feeling well," Marinette interrupted her explanation with a yawn. "Not much sleep," she slurred. Mrs. Bustier's eyes softened at the quiet girl. She began writing up a note.

"Marinette, why don't you head down to the nurse's office and sleep this period. I'm sure you'll be able to get your assignment later." Mrs. Bustier commented as Marinette collected her things and thanked her teacher.

After about 45 minutes of sleep, which didn't sound like much but was all that was needed, Marinette headed to lunch.

"Hey look! Here comes the teacher's pet! Why don't we all give it up for Marinette and her wonderful acting skills!" Chloe broke in. Marinette, still pretty out of it, barely registered the mean girl's words.

"Chloe, could you knock it off for a while? Marinette obviously looks tired, give her a break, alright?" Adrien countered as Chloe pouted and stormed off to Sabrina. "Are you alright, Marinette?" But Marinette, who literally gathers stars in her eyes at the sight of Adrien, gave the barest acknowledgment to her beloved crush speaking to her. Instead, she gave a yawn and a curt nod. "Come on, let's go sit with Alya and Nino," Adrien said as he led Marinette away.

Everything was okay for the rest of the school day. Chloe stopped bothering Marinette that day to please her 'Adrikins.' But more trouble starting brewing at home.

"Marinette, sweetie, put your things in your room and come here please," Sabine cautioned. This would have been the first red flag to Marinette if she had really registered the words, which she didn't. Her parents rarely called family meetings.

Marinette made her way to the chair, sitting across from her parents on the couch.

"Marinette, your father and I have received the opportunity to make more money with our bakery. We will be away for about a week, but we won't leave unless you are up for taking care of the house and maybe even the bakery," Sabine said. Marinette saw her mother's and father's faces light up. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She couldn't keep the happiness from her parents, the sparkle that was already in their eyes, and the hope that their daughter would be okay with it. Marinette knew that if she said no, her parents would immediately decline the opportunity and stay with her. She was Ladybug for God's sakes! She was already leading a double life! She didn't have to do this, it was her choice! ... But then again, it wasn't. This wasn't for her to decide. Her parents were already bubbling with joy, they were smiling so wide that Marinette thought their mouths were going to split, they were… excited. Marinette was overwhelmed with guilt. Who cares who she was? This was her family! How could she possibly consider even taking this joy away from them?! So it was settled.

"Of course, Mom! This is an amazing opportunity! How could I say no?!" Marinette finally said with a strained smile.

"Marinette, sweetie, thank you so much! Your father and I will leave early tomorrow morning, probably before you wake up. I can't believe we ended up with such a great daughter!" Marinette fought to keep her smile up as her mother continued to talk.

How could she not say no? Jesus Christ, why did Marinette have to be so god damn nice? Oh wait, she knew why. She loved her parents more than anything. She loved them with all her heart and her soul. With every action she did, she did out of love. But love makes life hard.

Her parents had left on Saturday morning, which meant that she didn't have to worry about going to school, just the bakery. And school work, and akumas, and patrol. It had only been a day and the world seemed to spin under Marinette's feet.

She hadn't smiled in 4 days. Not that Marinette had noticed. Her friends had, though. Alya. Nino. Adrien. All of her classmates. They all felt it. They felt the gut-wrenching pull at their heartstrings because Marinette, the light of the class, hadn't smiled in 4 days. And they didn't know why. And it absolutely killed them to watch, to hope to see some kind of smirk, a smile, anything to heal her classmate's hearts. But there was no smile. There was no laughter, no sparkle in Marinette's eyes, and no passion in her voice. And they still didn't know why.

Marinette didn't know how long she could keep this mask up. She tried to keep positive, to keep going, but there was so much to do. Her parents called every night and Marinette made sure to plaster a smile on her face so her parents wouldn't worry. She knew that as soon as her parents felt something was wrong, they would head straight home and miss the opportunity to expand their bakery, their passion. But it should only be three more days. Her parents would come back and everything would go back to normal. Well as normal as it could be with Marinette being Ladybug and all.

On Thursday, 5 days since Marinette's parents had left, Alya decided to take matters into her own hands. She hadn't seen her best friend smile in five days and even Chloe was missing it! So Alya had decided to walk Marinette to school, send her texts to check up on her through the day, and Alya even took Marinette out to lunch with Nino and Adrien! But her attempts were fruitless. There wasn't even so much as the tiniest bit of upward curve in Marinette's lips. Try as anyone might, there was still nothing. So it was time to confront Marinette about it.

"Marinette!" Alya yelled to her friend. " Can we go to the park today? We could study together since Ms. Mendeleiev insisted we take a test tomorrow and give us a mountain of homework."

Marinette, who was a little more than slightly frazzled as she was getting no more than 4 hours of sleep on a good day, shook her head. "I can't, Alya. I'm helping out at the bakery today." Marinette hadn't told anyone that her parents were gone at the moment. She was going to! She really was...but then she noticed how her friends were fussing about her. How Marinette looked like she needed more sleep, how she was later to class than usual, but Marinette was fine! She didn't want her friends to worry about her even more because she knew she was okay! Sure, Marinette knew she probably didn't get enough sleep, but she couldn't let her parents down! She couldn't let Paris down!

"Marinette, I'm sure your parents can handle themselves. Just come to the park with me, it will be fun!" Alya insisted. She was getting a little frustrated as to why Marinette wouldn't just tell her what was going on. Her best friend would run into class, looking like she had just rolled out of bed, with dark circles under her eyes that just wouldn't go away. Alya was more than worried.

"No, Alya, I'm going home to help them. I told them...I promised them I would," Marinette was almost pleading at this point. She was trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. She couldn't let her friends worry! She quickly pushed passed Alya in an attempt to get home before she started weeping.

"Marinette! Wait!" Alya exclaimed. But Marinette was already running, and Alya knew she wasn't going to catch her.

The world spun underneath Marinette as she ran home. She was trying not to cry, she didn't want to cry. Superheroes weren't supposed to cry. They were supposed to be strong! They were supposed to be fearless! But all Marinette wanted right now was freedom. Freedom she thought as she ran into her house. Freedom she thought as she collapsed onto her bed. But her thoughts…. were interrupted by a buzz. Her parents wanted to talk.

"Marinette, you should really tell them that you don't think you can handle this on your own," Tikki remarked.

" I can't, Tikki, this bakery is their passion and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. And it makes them happy," Marinette explained. She dried her eyes and made sure they were no longer red. She dimmed her lights so her parents wouldn't see the dark circles under her eyes and sent an okay back to her parents. She answered the FaceTime call that came right after.

"Marinette! How are you?!" Came her father's boisterous yell. Even Marinette's father's antics couldn't bring a real smile to her face, not that she noticed of course.

"I'm fine, Papa, how are you and Mom?" Marinette replied as she tried to keep the tiredness out of her voice. Oh! And she had patrol tonight! Her first one with Chat Noir since her parents left. Of course, Marinette did see him during fights as Hawkmoth has insisted on creating new akumas almost every night, but each fight lacked the usual banter. Marinette was so focused on trying to stay awake, trying to keep calm, and trying to keep everyone safe, that she forgot to even acknowledge her partner. And of course, Chat Noir noticed this (this was his love we are talking about!) and try as he might to pry the truth from her, she never budged. Not that there was much time to talk anyways see as Marinette would leave as soon as the fight was over.

"Oh, we're fine, darling. What about the bakery? Are you holding up alright?" her mother questioned.

"Of course, Mom! The bakery is fine, I just miss you guys," Marinette supplied as she tried to keep the fake smile up.

"That's wonderful to hear! And of course we miss you, too, but we also had something to discuss," Sabine said slowly. " We were wondering, if you are alright with it, if we could stay a couple more days to continue figuring out how to expand our bakery," Sabine finished, looking at her daughter hopefully.

"How many more days would you be gone?" Marinette all but whispered.

" Probably just an extra 5 days," Her father supplied. 'Oh god,' Marinette thought 'I only had two days left! Now they'll be gone for another week!' But she knew she couldn't say no. Even though Marinette wanted nothing more than to just say no, to cry out and to tell her parents how hard things have become, how little sleep she was getting, but she knew she couldn't as soon as she saw her parents face. It was the exact same as the night before her parents had left. When they expected… no, they hoped that their daughter would agree. And she did then and she was going to now.

"Well, what do you expect me to say? No? Of course you should stay!" Marinette exclaimed with fake excitement.

" Oh, thank you, sweetie! We've got to go now, but know that we love and miss you!" Her dad replied.

"Love you, too," came her strained reply. And just like that, the call was over. Marinette collapsed onto her bed and sobbed. Deep, heart-wrenching sobs that made even Tikki want to cry. Her chosen was lying on her bed, eyes red and puffy, crying a river. No, Marinette was crying a whole hurricane. Every pent up emotion came out of her eyes and didn't stop. She tried and tried and tried to make it stop but the dam had broken. Heroes don't cry Heroes don't cry Heroes don't cryHeroesdon'tcryheroesdon'tcryHEROESDON'T CRY! And she stopped. But Marinette didn't feel any better. They say time heals all wounds but hers kept getting bigger. Instead of helping herself, though, Marinette dried her eyes and waited just long enough for them to lose their redness. She had patrol, after all. It would make her feel better, she assured herself.

It didn't. If anything, it made her feel worse. Marinette knew how much Paris needed Ladybug, but Marinette didn't understand just how much she needed to be Marinette.

The patrol was anything but eventful. She and Chat Noir had met up at the Eiffel Tower and set off on their courses without a word. Chat knew that something was wrong with his Lady, but she wouldn't open up. She barely talked to him and she wouldn't smile. As soon as they met up again, Chat tried to pry the truth from her.

"My Lady, what has been worrying your pretty little heart for this long? This cat can only take so much," Chat inquired. He knew that Ladybug was extremely stressed out and was trying not to scare her off.

"Nothing, Chat, it's not your problem," came the curt reply

"Yeah, well, you could share and then I could maybe help you through whatever this is. It has obviously taken its toll on you, My Lady, and I'm not afraid to admit that it worries me," Chat countered. "I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need your help. Hell, I don't need anyone's help! Stay out of something that doesn't concern you!" Ladybug snarled. She heard the little voice in the back of her head that said that Chat didn't deserve this, but it felt so good. It felt good to finally just yell and relieve some of the pent up emotions.

"Ok, fine! You want to argue? Let's argue. I don't know what has been going on in your normal life, but it is killing me! And you know what's worse?! You won't accept any fucking help! Jesus Christ who or what has fucked you up so emotionally and mentally that you've just completely just shut down?! You don't talk to me anymore and you just keep pushing away! You refuse to open up to those who care about you!" Chat retorted.

"Well, I'm sorry that I can't live up to everyone's expectations! I'm sorry that I haven't been the best partner! I'm sorry that I'm such a mess and that everyone who tries to help I push away, and and I'm just sorry that I'm su- such a terrible h- hero!" Ladybug broke down in agonized sobs. She finally broke. "I'm ...I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Oh, My Lady, I didn't know. I shouldn't have yelled. You don't have anything to apologize for. Please, just… just let me help. Let others help." Chat finished and wrapped Ladybug up in a comforting hug. She continued to weep on his shoulder, but that was fine. He would be there to help.

"Th- thank you fo- for forgiving me. I've been a jerk!" Ladybug cried. She leaned out of the hug and sat next to Chat. "I've just been so overwhelmed with everything that I've had going on along with being a superhero. I've had to take over my parent's shop while they were away. They've been gone for 5 days already and are going to be gone for another 7! And I haven't told anybody about it…" At this, Chat's eyes widened to a hilarious size. "I meant to, I promise!" Ladybug consoled, "I kind of just… lost track of everything that I had to do. I had to be a hero, then a student, a good daughter, a good friend, and then a hero all over again. I just… have been so overwhelmed," She finished.

"Why don't I take patrol the next couple of times until your parents are home and you have gotten enough sleep. Don't even try to deny the sleep one… the dark circles around your eyes are something your mask can't hide," Chat advised.

"You don't have to do that, Chat. You won't get as much sleep then," Ladybug remarked.

"It's something I want to do, though. Let me help you this way. I don't know who you are actually, so this is the only way I can help. Let me...please."

"Fine, but as soon as my parents are home, I'm joining you again!"

"Deal! Also, I would advise you ask your friends for help, I'm sure they have noticed something in the last 5 days and would love for you to open up to them," Chat encouraged.

"I guess I could so that, too. Some help would be nice. And thank you, Chat. You really helped me." Confessed Ladybug as she pulled Chat in for one more hug. "I'll see you soon," she promised.

Marinette arrived early at school the next day. She was going to take Chat's advice and ask for some help.

Adrien arrived first. 'His father must make him,' Marinette thought. Adrien immediately noticed sitting on the steps. Glad that she might finally be getting better from whatever she was going through, he made his way over to her.

"Hey, Marinette! How are you?" Adrien asked, polite as ever. The sight of Marinette at school gave him hope, but the dark circles that lingered under her eyes constantly diminished it somewhat.

"I'm fine, Adrien, just a little tired," Marinette was, in truth, tired. She was on patrol last night and did get to bed at a decent time, but a night's worth of mediocre sleep wasn't going to fix anything. It also, apparently, was not enough to make her care that her crush was talking to her.

Alya and Nino came together, walking with their fingers intertwined. Upon seeing Marinette at school early (with Adrien no less! They both shipped them), they basically ran over to her.

"Girl, what are you doing here so early?" Alya immediately asked.

"There's actually something I wanted to tell you…" Marinette began. "Sooooo ...myparentshavebeengonefor6daysandIhavehadtotakecareofthebakeryalongwitheverythingelse."

"Ok, I'm just gonna say this for everyone...what?" asked Nino.

"Um… my parents have been gone for 6 days and I have had to take care of the bakery along with everything else. They will be coming back in 6 more days, though." Marinette supplied. "Oh, whatever… I have actually been just so overwhelmed with everything and I want to apologize for acting so weird and I need help."

"MARINETTE!" all three friends shouted so loud that said girl in question flinched so hard she almost fell over.

"Marinette, you don't have to apologize. If we had known that you had been going through all that, we would have immediately helped," Adrien said gently.

"Yeah, girl, why didn't you come and tell us?!" continued Alya.

"I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to burden you guys," muttered Marinette.

"Well, guess who's coming over for the next week to help! I also require pastries," Nino remarked, earning a laugh from Marinette. All friends froze just to savor it. The first laugh from Marinette in a week!

"Of course, Nino. You will be the taste tester." Marinette assured him with a smile. "Now, I'm here early and I'm not going to waste this opportunity. Let's go inside."

As the group walked through the classroom door, everyone already in turned to see their own miniature sun shining. The light of the class was smiling and not even Chloe had the heart to say anything.

Alright, what's up! I know it's been a while, but I kind of lost inspiration after the lost this story the first time. But I finished it and made it longer than I normally do. So uh, I hope you liked it! See ya later, Stars!