Hey everyone! First things first, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for not uploading this yesterday. It's just that my computer has been acting really weird for these past few days. So I'm going to try to get that fixed. Secondly, I have a Beta now! So I'm really glad and thankful for that! I totally recommend you check them out (The link is at the bottom of this chapter)! The third thing I'm going to say is that since it is the week of the 4th of July, I will be out of town, and that means that I don't know when I'll have the next chapter done. But I promise I'll have it done as soon as I can. So be prepared for me randomly posting the 4th chapter. And the last thing I have to say is thank you all so much! I have over 2,000 views, which is something I never imagined was possible! So thank you all for all of the support!

Chapter 3: Staying

Marinette sat on her floor, her back pressed up against her chaise. She stared at the floor, completely still. Tikki had been sitting on the chaise, watching Marinette worriedly. Tikki knew that Marinette was strong and had a positive outlook on life… mostly. But this; Tikki had seen Marinette sad before, but never like this. Marinette had been sitting there for three hours and had barely moved. And it was honestly scaring Tikki. This was a bit extensive. But Tikki wouldn't leave her side. She wouldn't let her chosen be akumatized. Tikki scanned the room, looking for any sign of movement from any akuma trying to take advantage of Marinette. But for now, it looked as if Marinette was holding herself together. But the silence… It made Tikki very anxious. Marinette, who usually talked to the kwami about everything, was completely silent. And Tikki knew that that couldn't be good.

Marinette had not talked, moved, acknowledged anything, or really shown any sign of life in over 3 hours. And considering the fact that Tikki barely knew what was happening, this was concerning. Tikki had overheard everything, but… well, she didn't exactly see anything. She couldn't see what Adrien did to cause Marinette to react like that. At first, Tikki thought that it might have been because of Adrien asking Marinette if she was lying. She thought that maybe Marinette hadn't been prepared for that question and didn't know how to respond. But the more that Tikki thought about that option, the more she realized that that probably wasn't what had happened.

Marinette was determined to not let Adrien discover her crush on him like this, but she was even more determined to stay friends with him, no matter what. She had run through many scenarios that could occur if she managed to bump into him. And she ran through these scenarios for 2 hours before she went to bed the night before, so that she would be completely prepared if she did manage to be confronted by him. Tikki even vaguely remembered Marinette going through the "What if he thinks I'm lying?" scenario. So, she should have been prepared for that question, which meant that this wasn't what had actually happened.

Tikki had thought about what else it could have been, while Marinette had sat on her floor, motionlessly. And as 3 hours had passed of Tikki scanning for Akumas, and Marinette staying completely still, Tikki had received more than enough time to think about the answer to her question. And now, 3 hours later, she did believe it was simply because of the question "Are you lying?". But not because of the original reason that she thought it was. Now, several hours later, she replayed the scene in her mind, realizing something crucial. Throughout the conversation, everything had stayed consistent, except for during when Adrien had asked Marinette if she was lying. When Adrien said those three words, his inflection had changed. Drastically.

And as Tikki looked back on those 5 seconds, she realized that Marinette had likely linked Adrien to his alter ego. And Tikki could only guess that she now knew who Chat Noir was. Tikki desperately wanted to ask Marinette if that was the case or not, but she didn't know how. She also didn't know how Marinette was really handling all of this. Tikki gathered her thoughts to speak, deciding that she wouldn't ask Marinette if she knew who Chat was… Not yet at least. She would first ask Marinette if she was okay. After all; that was the more important question. Tikki took a deep breath, and started to speak, when she was interrupted by Marinette's phone.

Marinette didn't react. Tikki flew over to Marinette's phone to see who was calling. It was Alya. Tikki smiled. Alya'd be able to cheer Marinette up! Yet Marinette continued to stare at her hands. Tikki frowned, then picked the phone up in her tiny hands, placing it directly beside Marinette. Yet the girl didn't react. She instead stayed completely motionless, void of all emotion, all the life drained from her eyes. It was as if she was in some sort of trance.

Tikki had to do something. "Uh, Marinette…?" Tikki said, barely over a whisper. She looked into Marinette's eyes, which suddenly refocused on the Kwami. Tikki backed up out of surprise due to the sudden change. Tikki smiled at Marinette, but was only met with silence in return. "Marinette, your phone-" Tikki started. But she was suddenly stopped by Marinette staring at the kwami, hatred in her eyes. But no; It wasn't just hatred. Marinette's eyes were just… cold. Cold and dull and staring into Tikki's with a burning anger. "Marinette… it was Alya" Tikki whispered. Marinette's hands balled into fists. For the first time, Tikki felt slightly afraid that Marinette might do something uncalled for.

At this point, the phone had stopped ringing. Tikki summoned up all her courage and asked one final question. "Marinette, are you okay?" "I'm fine." Marinette responded, her voice flat. Tikki knew immediately that Marinette was lying; Marinette was NOT fine. Marinette was emotionally unstable. For now, at least. And Tikki didn't dare say anything else, as she would rather not be the target of all that bottled up emotion.

Tikki watched as the colors in the room changed, as the sun began to set. But yet again, everything seemed blurred to her, as the only thing she was focused on right now was Marinette's safety. She honestly didn't know how Marinette was right now. She didn't even know if Marinette was getting better or worse. The kwami just had to hope that Marinette wasn't getting worse. She didn't know how much more either of them could take.

Chat Noir jumped from rooftop to rooftop, sprinting. He felt his feet thump against the rough surface of the rooftops. He felt the wind pushing against his face. He felt his heart beating rapidly. He felt the freedom he now had as he jumped to the next rooftop. But he couldn't focus on that; he had to get to Marinette. That was what he had to focus on. And he could just feel that he barely had any time to waste.

He slowed his pace as he neared Marinette's balcony. None of her lights were on. Was she asleep? He doubted it; The sun had barely set 15 minutes ago. And it was only 7:00. Something seemed… off… about the darkness in Marinette's room. He had never seen her room shrouded in darkness like that. It almost seemed as if it wasn't her room at all. He cautiously approached, and placed his hand on the window. He listened for anything that could indicate that Marinette was completely recovered from earlier. But he heard nothing, which filled him with dread. He peered into Marinette's window, hoping that the lights were off because she was asleep. Her bed was below him, but as he saw that she wasn't there, he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

If she wasn't asleep, then why were her lights off? Maybe she wasn't in her room at all. Maybe she was somewhere else in her house. But it wouldn't be wrong of him to check and make sure that she was actually okay. He needed to see that she was actually okay. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got akumatized because of him.

He knocked on the window; No response. He knocked again, this time louder. Silence. That was all he heard. He slowly opened the window, then jumped down onto Marinette's bed. He looked around her room, seeing nothing as his eyes adjusted. But he suddenly saw a flicker of movement; Marinette. She was staring at the floor, now completely still. He was glad that she was okay, but at the same time, this wasn't like Marinette. She wasn't okay.

"Marinette?" He whispered. No response. "Marinette…" He said a bit louder this time. No response. He could see that she was breathing. That was good. He carefully crawled down her ladder, then stared at her for a second. "Hey… Marinette…" He said softly. She suddenly looked straight into his eyes, as if she were expecting him to come. "Hey Mari- ""Go away." She said, her voice emotionless. "Marinette I'm here to help you… I just- ""I said leave." She said, her voice laced with anger. Chat sighed.

He crept closer to her, than reached out his hand to grab her shoulder reassuringly. But to his surprise, she slapped it away. With some force, he might add. He pulled his hand back and stared at the girl in front of him. What exactly did he do earlier to make her this mad? "Hey, Marinette," He said, his voice suddenly more serious. She stared at him with a burning anger. "Marinette, I'm not leaving you until I know you're okay!" "I'm fine." She said between clenched teeth. "You're not" Chat said, staring back at her. He reached out his hand again, but she slapped it back a second time.

"Leave me alone, Chat Noir!" She growled, jumping to her feet. He did the same, quickly gaining his balance. He wasn't leaving until he was sure she wouldn't get akumatized. "Marinette, no. I'm not letting you become Hawkmoth's prey." He took one step toward her, but she swung her fist toward him. He dodged this attack but stared into her eyes. Those eyes, which had once been filled with life, were now glossed over, and he saw nothing but a hollow shell of the Marinette he knew. That meant one thing for him; he needed to get the real Marinette back.

He wasn't paying attention. She had backed him into her work desk. She stopped, mere inches away from his face, then pointed toward her balcony window. "Out." She muttered under her breath. "Mari- ""Get OUT!" She screeched. He didn't have a choice. He walked to her ladder and started climbing up it when he noticed a tear roll down her cheek. Now he knew he wasn't leaving. More tears followed the first one, and he watched her put her hands over her face from the corner of his eyes. That's it; He was staying.

He jumped down off the ladder and prepared himself for another outburst from her as he reached his hand out and placed it on one of her hands, which was covering her face. Nothing. She didn't react in any way. Yet he was still expecting it. But he was not expecting Marinette to tear her hands away from her face and immediately pull Chat into a tight hug, sobbing uncontrollably. He stood in shock for a second, then pulled Marinette closer. He didn't expect this turn of events, yet they had all happened. Somehow.

And there he stood, his arms wrapped around her, holding the girl tightly, Marinette uncontrollably crying into his shoulder.

u/9767474/ (The link to my beta's profile)