When a liar gets you left behind

Chapter 17: An Unexpected Turn of Events

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C H L O E

    It had been a couple of hours since Marinette's had texted her and Adrien.

And Chloe was definitely not worried about her little MariBug. She refused to even think of the possibility. She hadn't worried about anyone but herself for all the years she had had the misfortune of being brought up in this annoying area—well, besides Adrien, anyway.

She still didn't understand how Marinette forgave her, just thinking about some of the things that she had inflicted upon the sweet girl made her flinch from just how terrible they were. She was glad she had never considered physically hurting her Maribug, because that was one of the things Chloe wouldn't forgive anyone for.

(Excluding last week when Adrien was trying to swat a spider off her face and ended up slapping her.)

When Marinette forgave her, she realized just how forgiving Mari was. She had learned a lot more things about Mari in their friendship.

One of her biggest flaws was that she allowed people in the class to walk over her, when Chloe brought this up to her, Marinette had simply shrugged and stated that she didn't need to bring attention to herself. When Chloe pushed further, she explained how nobody listened to her anyway, and how Miss Bustier told her it wasn't okay to speak rudely of her classmates.

Chloe had discovered just how little self-love Marinette had for herself. She never had someone pay enough attention to her to realize this. While her parents loved Marinette, Chloe had never failed to notice just how independent Marinette was, and if he had to guess, it was probably because of how busy her parents normally were.

When Chloe saw how much pain was in Marinette's eyes, she saw the shell of the brave girl she knew. She saw just how much each insult truly affected Marinette, how each glare from a former friend slowly destroyed any self-love Marinette had left. She realized just how close to breaking Marinette was.

Chloe had learned that no matter how strong someone was, they always had a breaking point.

That was the day something changed in Chloe, she had already been trying hard to be better. But when she saw Marinette in that state, when she saw how much she truly concealed from everyone, that was when she felt herself change. It had felt like a rubber-band snapped in her. Marinette had been her wake-up call.

Now, it was up to Chloe to help build her back up, she had played a part in hurting her, so she felt like fixing her was something she had to do. Chloe had taken Marinette in under her wing, and, if Chloe thought about it, she considered her family. Marinette was like the sister she never had.

Adrien was someone Chloe had taken up as well, she was trying harder and harder each day to play the role a mother would for him, but she didn't know how good she was doing, as she didn't have much experience herself. Her relationship with her mother had only recently improved a few years ago, and that was because of Marinette.

Adrien was a part of her small family. Something she had created by accident. And it was, by far, one of her greatest accomplishments.

Chloe eyebrows furrowed, perhaps she was slightly worried.

Chloe put her phone away when the bell rang.

"You do know a watched phone never rings, right?" Adrien's voice snapped her concentration in two.

"Oh, hush, how long have you even been here?" Chloe changed the subject quickly, slightly annoyed that she had been caught.

"A few minutes," He answered with a raised eyebrow. "Are you worried about Marinette?