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They sit in silence, Marinette with her eyes rimmed red, face buried in her knees, hands wrapped around them as she hugs them to her chest, and Alya... Alya just watches, hands fidgeting nervously in her lap. She sees the way her skin was white where her fingers are digging into her arms, and she wants, so much, to reach across and pry them away and pull her into a hug. Her best friend is a shell of the girl she knew and it's killing her not knowing what was going on. Because as much as Marinette's been denying it, Alya knows that something is going on.
It is unlike her her best friend to lie - and Alya knows when she does, because her voice got all squeaky, and her eyes would widen; very endearing most times - this much. It is unlike her to skip out on dates; she knows because Juleka's told her. Another surprising turn of events, because she had to find out from Juleka. Alya had been happy that Marinette was giving Luka a real shot and that he made her happy. She knows he did because the last time they'd all been out, her eyes had not dimmed at the sight of Adrien. She'd been happy.
Alya just wanted her friend to be happy.
But she had said her piece.
"Marinette, I know something's wrong. I want to be there for you, but I can't if you won't let me," she had pled.
Marinette had looked away. "I... I have to do this alone. I'm sorry."
"M, you know I'm here for you..."
"Of course, Al. Of course I do."
"Please don't push me away."
"I... I'm not-"
"Can you at least, please, not deny that?" Alya had asked hotly, ignoring Marinette's flinch, and continuing despite the way her heart had cracked at the way Marinette deflated further; she hadn't thought that was possible. "Can you respect our friendship enough for that? Because Marinette, I love you. I hate seeing you like this, I know something's eating you up from the inside, it's killing you and I can see it, please, M, talk to me! I can't... I don't want to lose you."
"You-You won't lose me!" Marinette had said, eyes wide with alarm.
Alya had sighed and looked away. "It feels like I am."
Marinette had burst into tears then, and Alya had held her till her cries softened to sniffles. Then Marinette had pulled away, and Alya had looked at her imploringly. Marinette's face had crumpled, and she pulled away further to sit as far from Alya as she could in that chaise - Alya had tried not to take it personally - before tucking her face between her knees to sniffle quietly, and here they are...
So Alya just sits there, hoping with every fibre of being that Marinette says something. Seconds tick by, and Alya's phone chimes. Marinette doesn't move. Alya sighs and stands up, walking over to where Marinette's curled up. Hesitantly, she lays a hand on her head, patting her gently in a way that usually had her leaning into her palm with a giggle. She opens her mouth to make one last plea, but instead she sighs. "I guess I'll see you around, M."
As she starts to walk away, Marinette catches her wrist. "Don't leave me," she says, her voice so small that her heart breaks and she starts to ponder the weight of that statement. Without even a beat of silence, Marinette continues. "I'm Ladybug."
Startled, Alya looks back to see an unmistakeably ladybug-like looking kwami curled into the crook of Marinette's neck, her big blue eyes sad, as she gives Alya a small wave. Marinette still isn't looking up, her head down as she stares into the valley of her knees.
Stunned, Alya doesn't know what to say. It does not take her more than a second to process it though, and she has questions of course, a billion of them, but now is not the time because Marinette is crying, looking so small and defeated, and sad and not even looking at her in the wake of what Alya considered to be an Earth-shattering confession. And just like that she's back in business to being a best friend.
So she drops onto the chaise anyway, in front of Marinette. Giving into her instinct from earlier, she gently pries her hands away from her knees, nudging them apart with her elbow, unable to help her lips from twitching as Marinette resists harder and harder mumbling a quiet "Nooooooo...!"
"Marinette, stop using your super strength against me!" chides Alya.
Marinette stiffens and looks up at Alya sheepishly, finally loosening up as she relaxes her knees. Alya takes advantage and throws herself at her hugging her tightly, feeling tears rise to her eyes as she feels the tension drain from Marinette's shoulders. Marinette clings to her like a lifeline, tears seeping into the crook of Alya's neck. "I'm sorry," she whispers.
"Don't be," Alya says. "I'm sorry I pushed. I- Well, I know how much you care about secret identities."
"I hate them though," mutters Marinette.
Alya sighs. "I'm sure you do."
They stay like that until Marinette draws back, sniffling. "Sorry, I got your shirt all snotty."
"It's not the first time, girl," snorts Alya.
Marinette giggles waterily, as Alya throws an arm around her shoulder and hugs her to her side. "I'm glad you told me," says Alya quietly.
"It... It feels a lot better than I thought it would," Marinette admits.
"And that's all I wanted," says Alya. "Aren't you glad I'm pushy?"
Marinette chuckles. "In moderate quantities, I suppose."
"Mhmm, sure."
Alya sleeps over that night and Marinette sleeps better than she has in days.
Marinette knows not everything is magically fixed, but it felt good to have someone in her corner through all of this. Bunnyx has not appeared yet, so Marinette likes to think that maybe this was the right decision after all.