Falling From Grace ~ A Miraculous Ladybug fic

Chapter 13

Marinette

"She's such a bitch." He spat the words, and it honestly surprised her.

In all the time she had known him, she had never heard him speak badly about another person. He had taken her to a bathroom, hidden away from any prying eyes at the party, one that she never should have come to.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, twisting the wad of her dress around so she could grab it, and once she did, he quickly turned away.

She stepped up to one of the mirrors, slowly releasing the wadded up ball. It had ripped all the way from the neckline to the waist, even splitting some of the skirt. Tears streamed down her face at the horrible sight, at hours of work that had been destroyed in mere seconds. She would eventually fix it, but it would take too long to do it here. How was she supposed to get back to the mansion in this state?

"Mari?"

She didn't answer, holding back sobs as she yanked her hair down, some of the pins falling. There was no way she could fix it enough to leave. She was screwed. Maybe... she bunched the dress up at her waist, using the hair tie to hold it in place. She walked over to him, staring at his back. She would never be able to thank him enough for how quickly he had reacted. She wouldn't even be able to say it right now anyway.

"I need your jacket."

She finally managed to get the words out, and an onslaught of sobs escaped soon after. He pulled it off quickly, holding it out behind him, and she grabbed it, tugging it on. It was too big to button, so she'd have to settle for wrapping it around her.

"Can I look?"

She didn't want him to. She looked horrible. Her makeup was running, the suit jacket and makeshift skirt didn't even match and now her hair was a mess on top of that. Instead of answering she hugged his back, hoping it would convey just how grateful she was. He slowly turned, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tightly.

"This is all my fault."

No, no it was definitely that horrid witch Chloe's fault.

"Why don't we get you home?"

"Oh god."

"What?"

He pulled back, and she looked up at him, her face paling. The photographers. They were outside. They'd assume...

"The paparazzi."

"Right." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

"We can sneak out the back entrance?"

She nodded, and he bent down, picking up the hair pins she had carelessly dropped.

"It really was a beautiful dress Marinette. You're so talented."

She gave him a watery smile, wishing this night had never happened. Wishing Adrien hadn't invited her. Wishing she had met with Chat Noir instead, to work on their relationship problems. They had patrol tonight. But this is what she got for pretending to be normal. She deserved it. He stood, slipping the pins into the suit pocket.

"Come on. Let's get you home."

The fled though a back exit of the hotel, and he started to pull out his phone. But the thought of anyone else seeing her like this was mortifying.

"I'm just going to walk."

"What?"

"I'll walk."

"It's the middle of the night. I can have my driver-"