Everything seemed a little more different now to Alya and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the fact that Nino was pulling away from her, or maybe it was because for the first time in her life she was feeling alone and yet she didn't understand it. She had her friends, an amazing boyfriend and the start of a promising career. 

She had everything as girl her age would want and yet there was something always bugging her at the back of her mind, always nagging at her. It had only grown within the past few weeks, and for the first time in a while Alya was questioning things she hadn't second guessed before. In fact, she wasn't the only one and maybe that was why Nino was pulling away from her.

The past few weeks the two of them had always seemed to get into some type of argument that revolved usually around one of two things, Lila or Marinette. It started one day with Chloe defending Marinette's name and continued when Adrien no longer had anything to say against Chloe. It continued when Nino started to get annoyed with Lila being around and she just wasn't sure what to do anymore. 

It also didn't help Alya's self confidence when Nino kept mentioning Marinette, especially knowing how Nino used to have a crush on the baker's daughter before they started dating. Only Marinette was no longer in class or in Paris, so why was he bringing her up and defending her name so fiercely? It pissed her off and hurt Alya all at once,  and yet deep down she knew that a part of her couldn't help but understand. 

She had pushed Marinette away, and as much as she tried to justify her reasons- she just wasn't sure. Marinette had never been a mean girl, not until she had met Lila. That's where their friendship turned sour, as Nino liked to point out. 

"I don't understand why you're protecting her name this passionately-"

"You're right Alya, you don't understand. You aren't the one who grew up with Marinette, who knew her better than anyone else. Only Kim can say that he did. Not you. You barely knew her for two years, and the minute Lila came waltzing in it's like you lost yourself. You acted like you knew who Marinette was and forgot who she was the second Lila said her first lie. Maybe the truth is you never knew Marinette." 

Nino's words had struck her deeply, because Alya had thought she knew Marinette. She was able to confidently say she knew Marinette like the back of her hand, but now she wasn't sure. What was Marinette's favorite food? What made Marinette angry? Sad? Happy? What got her into designing? 

Alya could no longer claim she knew Marinette, and Chloe would not let her say anything when she was around to have her own say. When Lila was there, it was only worse. Alya had noticed that Adrien moved away from her, Lila and Nino. The blond model had moved closer to the back with Chloe, but not quite near her. In fact, Adrien never hung out anymore and wished she knew the real reason why. 

"Hey bestie!" Lila's voice snapped Alya out of her thought process, bringing her back to the reality of herself sitting outside a coffee shop waiting for Lila. Her supposed best friend. 

"Can I ask you something?" Alya asks, looking up at Lila who was inspecting at her nails. 

"Of course! What's up?" 

Alya looked at Lila, taking in how confidently she stood there, almost a little smug. It was a look she had even since Marinette left Paris, almost as if she won. It was a silly thought, but a thought that was put there multiple times. When did Lila stop talking about Marinette? The there girl still did time to time, and it didn't make since too Alya since Marinette caused so much issues for Lila. Plus Marinette hadn't been in contact with no one, even blocking them all on social medias and apparently her cell phone contact list. 

Still Chloe had ripped a new on to Alya, deep enough to get her thinking why it might be true. 

"It's funny how quick you are to eat up Lila's words as soon as she vomits them out of mouth. Nearly as fast as she can make up a lie on the spot, Césaire." Chloe sneered her way one morning. 

"What are you even talking about Chloe?" Alya muttered, rolling her eyes in annoyance. 

Chloe gave an unamused look, "You're really stupid if you think Marinette could do that type of thing, to even be that type of person."

"And you would know?" Alya raised an eyebrow. "I was her best friend-"

"Was. That's the key word right there." Chloe cut her of sharply, "Now you definitely don't know her. Yet think really hard, from before Lila and ask yourself was Marinette a jealous person then? Maybe you should ask Lila why she hates Marinette so much."

"Why do you hate Marinette so much?" Alya finally managed to get out, watching Lila and how she would react. The question felt weird to ask her friend, but she could see a shift in Lila's eyes. There was surprised and a flare of anger before it settled back down into her cheerful eyes she had before.

"Hate Marinette?" Lila asked, and the tone of voice was a little too sweet. 

It was the type of sweet seen in movies that a person used to get what they wanted. A manipulative sweet that meant nothing goof from someone who meant equally less good. It was a tone Lila used a lot, and a tone Alya chose to ignore and call something else. In Lila's brown eyes there was a flare of angry emotion, and it caused Alya to want to find Marinette and ask her about everything all over again.

"I can't hate Marinette!" Lila laughed, waving her hand away. "After all jealousy is something we can't control! It's human nature."

"Ask yourself was Marinette a jealous person then?"

The answer was no, Marinette was never a jealous person until Lila. She had given up so much for their class and friends. Still Alya couldn't accept this truth, she needed more proof. And this time she planned to get it. 

..........

Peter Parker never expected a cute Parisan girl to enter his life and unknowingly make it complicated. He knew he once had a crush on MJ, but the feelings Marinette has been able to bring out of him the past few weeks was unknown and it was strong. Yet as much as he thought they were friends and that they were getting closer, he knew there was a part of her she kept locked away from everyone to see. 

Yet he couldn't judge her, not when he would have to reply late to text messages because of neighborhood Spider-Man duties. He had a part of himself kept away from her, and it was getting increasingly difficult to keep that hidden the more she came over. Aunt May enjoyed Marinette's presence in the apartment, where she helped cook dinner and bake. 

Luckily when something came up Spider-Man wise, Aunt May did her best to distract Marinette from his leaving. He would come back to them doing a puzzle, or watching a movie that would help Marinette improve her english. Sometimes it was Marinette telling his Aunt how much she missed her parents, despite her face timing them everyday when she could with the time difference.

"You could go and visit them sweetheart." Aunt May would tell Marinette, who would give a sad smile. 

"It's not that easy." Marinette tells her, looking towards the window. "It's more complicated than that."

Aunt May had scrunched her eyebrows together, "What makes you say that?"

"It's expensive." Marinette forced a laugh, and easily switched then topic back to the movie they were watching. 

Peter could never find anything out the the ordinary when he would search Paris up, just that the traveling rate was indeed ridiculously expensive. Expensive enough to turn away tourist for sure, and maybe discourage a cute designer from visiting her home. Yet over time he noticed how very little she ever spoke about her home in Paris. Yes she told him, Ned and MJ that she had some issues in school and with her classmates that caused a rift in her life. She told him more in private that it caused a depression to take root and it was best to leave for a while, and luckily enough she had been chosen for a design internship here in New York.

As Aunt May would call it, his Peter tingle told him that is wasn't the whole truth. There was more to the story, to Marinette's story but at the same time he couldn't really ask her or make her tell him. Aunt May had always told him that sometimes people needed space to figure things out, and sometimes friends just needed someone to be there without asking questions. The one thing Peter knew Marinette needed was a friend, and he didn't want to let her down there. 

"Peter!" Aunt May called, "Marinette's here!" 

If there was one thing Peter knew, was that Aunt May loved Marinette more than him sometimes. Not that he blamed her. There was sometime about Marinette that drew people in, her creativity brought life to the world, and she was unbelievably good with talking to others. A natural people please, as Mr. Stark would say.  

Tony Stark was another factor that most people tried to befriend him for, it was also why a lot of the time people left him out of school functions. He was too different, and his only friends were really Ned and MJ. Ned was the only one besides Aunt May who knew about his secret, along with Tony Stark. Yet when Marinette had found out who he internshiped for, that day she wasn't even phased and continued on with conversation with the three of them.

It made her uniquely different then many people.

"Coming!" Peter called, pulling a shirt over his shoulder and nearly tripping over the hallways rug in his haste to the door to greet Marinette.

"You didn't even brush your hair." Aunt May says, shaking her head.

Marinette laughed, "It's okay May, he can at least get away with it." She gave him a look as she added, "For now at least." 

Watching as Aunt May ushered Marinette in and how they fell into conversation about their days, it was a sense of normalcy he felt like he rarely got now a days. He loved the small projects he did with Mr. Stark, he loved being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that helped daily with crime. He experienced a big fight with the Avengers, the Civil War. His life was full of excitement, but he knew at the same time he missed out of being a normal teenager.

These moments in time he got to spend with his friends, with Marinette and his aunt without a worry in the world came lesser and lesser. Sometimes he worried that it would drive Marinette away, but his Aunt May would pacify him and tell him everything would work out. He believed her of course, because his Aunt was rarely wrong. That woman was scary, and knew for a fact she could scare Tony Stark as well. 

"How is the design world going?" Aunt May asks, closing the apartment door. 

Marinette smiled at her, "It's good. Audrey told me that a client is coming in tomorrow to meet with me. Apparently this client wants to commission me for a piece. My bet is a suit."

"That's good!" Both Peter and May say in union.

"You have been working yourself hard." May says, shooing her and Peter away. "Which is why you two need to go hang out like normal teens while I make dinner."

Peter chuckled, because there his aunt went again. Making sure he had these normal moments when she could. He knew sometimes she felt helpless that she couldn't help more, but this was enough. Knowing she would go out of her way for him to have some of this time to be normal. He was grateful.

"Want to help me build a lego Star Wars ships?" He asks her, already grabbing the box as they entered his room. 

"You want me to help you make a lego Star Wars ship?" Marinette repeated, eyebrow raised as she looked at Peter with questioning eyes by the door frame. 

"Yes." He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You like to make things, don't you?"

Marinette gave him a laugh, "Make things and building things are two different things dork. I usually sew and draw, not create lego sets."

"Do you like puzzles?"

Marinette thought back to all the akuma's she's faced, how she had to piece together plans to defeat the akuma. Was that any different than a puzzle?  Were they the same thing? Maybe they were in some way. 

"Sometimes." Marinette says, picking up the directions of the lego space ship. This was a lot of pieces, and patience it looked like. "Wouldn't Ned like to do this with you? He'd be more helpful I feel like, rather than me. Plus he's seen these movies."

Peter whirled around to look at her, "Have you not seen Star Wars?"

Marinette scratched the back of her neck, "Is it bad if I say no?"

"Seriously?" 

"Seriously." Marinette nodded, because with akumas, designing for other people and Ladybug duties- she never had the time. Not for movies, not for normal things like lego sets. The more time she spent here in this particular apartment, the more she realized how much she missed back home in a normal life. 

Homework, reading, and all the little things that made life worth everything was different for her. She lived for other reasons, to serve and protect. When that really took over her life, she wasn't sure but now that she had a taste of the hero life she knew she couldn't go back to a normal life that was standard for people. It wasn't her anymore to do so. 

"In that case, want to watch the first one today?" Peter asks, "Or we can have a movie night an binge watch them."

"Movie night?" Marinette repeated, unsure exactly what he meant by that, but she felt the familiar warmth in her cheeks.

Peter nodded, "You can stay over one of these nights so we can watch them all. May won't mind, and you'll have access to limitless caffeine."

He knew her weakness, and she knew that. They both knew the she ran off caffine and that was too hard to resisit. Though the thought of staying over? It made the warmth on her cheeks flare to life full force. 

"Are you sure your aunt would be okay with that?" Marinette asks, unsure about it. 

"She wouldn't mind. We're friends after all." Peter says, and it was like salt in the wound. 

She's just a friend.

Yes, Marinette was forever cursed to stay in the friend zone. Swallowing that down, she nodded her head. If he wanted her here, to show her movies and get acquainted with pop culture- then she wouldn't say no. 

"Okay, that sounds good. Just let me know when." She gives a smile, then refocuses on the box in his hands. "So are we going to build this or not, Parker?"

"Let's get to building, Dupain-Cheng." Peter grins, spilling the box of legos on his bedroom floor. 

Time flew by fast, it always did when Peter was in Marinette's presence. There was nothing he could want to be doing more, not even working on his suit with Tony Stark. The way Marinette was concentrating was cute, how she got this focused look and how she was really trying to work this lego set out. They had gotten a little over half way done, with Aunt May popping in and dropping food off seeing the determined look of the designer in the room. 

It was cute really. 

About three and a half hour later, Marinette's phone dinged with a text- but both her and Peter ignored it as they bickered over who was a better lego builder. They ate there food as it got cold, but not forgotten. Smiles on their faces and they laughed at jokes, sometimes even throwing a few legos at each other. Her phone buzzed again, was ignored again but the name that popped up was Chloe. 

Need to talk in person later, please. -Chloe xoxo

...............

The last thing Marinette had expected her day to go was to take a trip to Paris, but when Chloe had texted her that she needed to speak in person, well Marinette had no choice but to come home in a portal. She would admit that she avoided this very moment for as long as she could, but the honest fact was that she simply had to face the issue at hand. She needed to face her past, her fears and most of all- regain control of her free range emotions. 

Paris at night was always beautiful to Marinette, and maybe it was the way the city lit up or how clear the night skies were most of the times. Tonight though, the skies were over casted with the promise of rain. For a moment she thought back to how she would sit in her room and design while listening to rain fall onto her balcony. 

Her days that were once filled with making things for her old classmates and trying to kept up with the hero life. How she fell from grace with everyone else, and the depression that over took her. She left Paris, and she met Peter. His smile, it automatically brought a smile to her face and she couldn't help but feel at ease.

"M'Lady?" A tentative voice asked from behind her, and it brought a soft smile onto her lips. How many times had he called her that? When did she start to miss it?

Marinette had needed to see him, her partner. She needed to talk to him in person and act like a good partner., She left him without a word, essentially abandoning him with no information and a message of good luck via Chloe as Honey Bee. It wasn't fair to keep him in the dark anymore, it never was to begin with. Yet that had never been her choice, but this was a conversation she couldn't avoid any longer- and it was a conversation Chat Noir deserved. 

"Hi Kitty." She says, turning to face her partner. Even though she had been away for a little bit, nothing had changed about her partner. His hair was still blonde, and shaggy. His height was the same as well as his form, but his green eyes were unsure. 

"When did you get back?" 

"I'm not staying very long." Ladybug admits, watching as his ears fall flat. "I just needed to talk to you about some things."

Chat Noir could always tell when something bothered his Lady (sometimes he prided himself on it), and he would like to say he knew her. Yet in this moment as she looked at him with uncertainty, it made him rethink if he knew her at all. 

"I know Master Fu keeps things from you, and in turn I do as well." She admits, looking back over the city. "I can't tell you everything yet, and that's because I don't understand it all myself. Part of the reason I had to leave was for the miraculous. Specifically my miraculous."

"Part?"

"I'm going to be the next Guardian, so I am doing training for that." She gave him a sad smile, "I'm emotionally compromised, Kitty. I'm a liability if I stay here, which is why Honey Bee is in full effect as a holder of the miraculous."

Chat's face filled with concern, "Why are you emotionally compromised?"

Looking into those green eyes, she felt the urge to admit everything to him. She wanted to tell him the full story, give names and finally let him in. He was her partner, he was the one she was supposed to trust for these things. Those nights he had spend on her balcony with her, not even knowing who she really was as a civilian. The sense of peace he once brought her then wasn't there now. She couldn't tell him anything in detail without the possibility of compromising her identity next.

"Things happened in my civilian life that led to certain outcomes. It was agreed that my well being would be better away for a little bit. To help me heal emotionally and mentally." She tells him that much, letting him in a little bit. "I know it hasn't been the same Chat, but I've come too close too many times for comfort. If I was akumatized.."

"It's game over." Chat finished, his eyes