Edited.

Marinette's P.O.V

"Mari?"

I jerked up. Alya and Nino were staring at me. "What is it?"

"You've been staring at the table for the past few minutes," Alya pointed out. "I had to move your books away so you wouldn't burn a hole right through them."

I chuckled. "Sorry. I'm just...thinking about stuff."

"Maybe you should be thinking about sleeping, dudette," Nino said. "You look like you have two black eyes."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I haven't been getting much sleep, I guess." That was true. With akumas and Nathaniel, I got about three minutes of sleep, give or take two minutes, most of which were spent by Nathaniel's side.

And then Chat and Adrien...

I jumped as Alya smacked her hand against the table. "That's it! We're going." She stood up and made her way to the door.

"What?" I asked in befuddlement. "But...school hasn't even started yet!"

She paused, and then turned around, sitting down beside me with a blank expression.

"After school," she said flatly, and Nino proceeded to fall off his chair laughing, then unconvincingly shrouded it in a cough as Alya glared at him.

I shook my head and giggled as Miss Bustier entered the class.

----------

"H-hey! Where're we going?" I exclaimed as Alya dragged both me and Nino out of school. I pulled away and stumbled backward, and guess who I crashed into.

"Wah! Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

"Oh, no."

Chloe dusted herself off, sighing. "You couldn't see me coming?"

"S-sorry, I just-"

"Just..." She sighed again. "Forget it. I can't waste my time on you."

I watched as she walked away, hugging herself tightly, when she bumped into Ivan. He stared at her for a second, and then shoved her away from him.

"H-hey, I didn't bump into you!" He said frantically, obviously not wanting to be at the receiving end of one of Chloe's rants.

Instead, much to Ivan's surprise as well as the rest of ours, Chloe burst into tears, sinking to the ground ungracefully.

Ivan's pupils shrunk to blots. "Uh, I'm sorry, I-"

"N-no, it-it's not you, it's-" she sobbed. "I just-I j-just n-need-"

"Hey," I said, suddenly finding myself beside her. "What's wrong?"

She yanked away from me, saw my surpised expression, and turned on the waterworks again. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

"It's alright," I said. "C'mon, let's get you up." I helped her stand up and we walked back over to Nino and Alya.

"Y-you really don't have to d-do this," Chloe whimpered. "I'm just...I just don't feel too good..."

"Well, we could take you to your house," I suggested, but when I noticed Nino and Alya's mortified looks, I frowned. "Well, just me, anyways."

She shook her head. "No, I...I just want to...go away from everything for a bit."

I got an idea at that. "How about you come along with us?" I asked her. "We're going somewhere too."

Both Nino and Alya blinked. "What?" They asked in unison.

"No way," she said, her good old meanness starting to show. "I can't be seen with you three."

"Welp, she said it, so let's go," Nino said, heading in the opposite direction. Alya followed. I could understand their reactions; Chloe wasn't the nicest person. But I felt helpful today.

"Hey!" I said, shooting them a glare. They let out simultaneous groans and I looked back at Chloe.

"You don't want to follow us, right?"

"No, I don't."

"But you don't want to go home?"

"No..."

"And you want to go somewhere far?"

"Well, yeah, but..." she hiccuped. "I'm just-"

"Hey, whatever you're going through, I'm sure we can help out." I gave her a small smile, even though I couldn't believe I was doing this. "So what do you say?"

My friends shook their heads violently, and I glared. Chloe kept silent, pondering. And then she sighed.

"I guess I can come."

"Great!" I said. "Now, guys, lead the way."

With a befuddled look from Nino and a facepalm from Alya, the four of us headed off to wherever Alya was taking us. After a couple of minutes of walking, we reached the train station.

"Alya?" I asked. "Where are we going? Really."

"I know a place," was all she said.

So we got on a train, with Nino and Alya in a two-seat compartment, and Chloe and I in another.

So yeah, it was obviously awkward.

After about twenty-seven eternities of silence, she sighed. "I don't know why I agreed to this."

"To cheer you up," I offered, and she stared at me intensely.

"And why would you want to cheer me up?" She asked in a deadpan tone. I kept silent, because that answer would take some serious thinking.

Why did I ask Chloe to come along with us? I mean, she was quite literally a spawn of the devil - though no one would tell her that, obviously - and she hated me. If our roles were reversed, she'd definitely leave me in a state of hysteria.

And then it hit me.

"Because we both miss Adrien," I said softly.

Shestared at me for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "You miss Adrien?"

"Uh...yeah. I do." I shrugged. "A lot of people do. He's an amazing person. Of course I miss him."

"Then why does this whole thing feel awkward?" she asked, and I chuckled a bit.

"Isn't it obvious?" I said. "We're not friends. People who aren't friends don't go around sitting in the same compartment on trains."

She contemplated that for a bit before shrugging. "I guess you're right."

And then we were silent again, for lack of anything to say. Once I realized that neither of us were capable of starting an interesting conversation, I stared out of my window and watched the streets as they rapidly moved past. The clouds were a dark grey.

Great. When we get there it'll be pouring.

I looked over to Chloe and saw her staring at the clouds, a hint of a smile on her face.

"You like the rain?" I asked her, making her jump. She twirled her hair with her finger, eyeing me cautiously.

"What do you care?"

"Whoa. Jeez, I was just asking." Feeling offended, I looked back out the window with a frown.

There was silence once again. We passed by a couple of small buildings, and the rain began to fall. It pelted against the windows, and I closed my eyes at the soothing sound.

After a while of this, she spoke.

"I like it."

"What?" I opened my eyes. She was looking out of her window with a somewhat wistful expression.

"The rain," she said. "I've always liked it. When I was little I used to sneak out of the house on rainy days and splash in puddles barefoot." She chuckled. "I'd always get a cold. My father would scold me for hours."

I stared at her quizzically. "But...if you like the rain, then why do you always get all moody when it rains at school? And you always make Sabrina hold your umbrella and bite her head off if a raindrop splashes on you. I mean, she doesn't complain or anything, but-" I winced quietly.

Too much, Mari. Too much.

"You know what? I really don't know," she said, staring out of her window. Her eyes narrowed as if she was thinking hard about something. "I really, really don't know. I guess...it just...happens?" her face suddenly fell. "Hey, Marinette...can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do I really...shout at Sabrina that much?"

I wanted to tape my lips shut. She had heard my words.

Why are you an idiot, Mari?

"Uh...I...I guess so?" I realized what I said and cleared my throat. "Uh, I mean, well...I don't know. You...kinda shout at everyone."

"O-kay. And...Sabrina...does she ever...complain about it?"

That sounded a little insensitive to me, but I realized I had been insensitive to Chloe for basically the whole train ride. I thought about it.

"Well...there was this one time that...I saw Sabrina come out of the girls' bathroom and..." I suddenly felt like it would be terrible to say it.

"What?" she pressed, and I sighed, remembering when Sabrina caught sight of me watching her and scurried away, keeping her head down, but she wasn't fast enough.

"She...uh..." I swallowed and took a deep breath. "Her eyes were really red."

She stared at me for a long time, her expression blank. I cursed my loose tongue. After a while of awkward staring, she looked out the window, but not fast enough. I saw the tear slip down her cheek.

Somehow, that lone tear was a million times worse than the crying at school.

"I used to think Adrien got tired of me," she whispered so softly I almost didn't hear her. "He'd always take me outside during rainy days and we'd both get sick together." She chuckled again. "We started going out less and less, and I just thought he was trying to get me to stop getting sick all the time. Then one day..."

She closed her eyes, trying to control her now-ragged breathing. "He just said he didn't want to anymore, and I thought...m-maybe he was getting tired of me. And...and it turns out that I was right. Just...it wasn't because he didn't want to hang out, but because...I'm an insufferable brat."

I had to admit, it was a little surprising to hear Chloe call herself that, and even more to hear her use the word insufferable. I gave a sigh at her downcast expression, and how she tried to hold back the tears swimming in her eyes.

"You know what, Marinette? I just...realized something." Her expression was blank again, as if she had just figured out everything there was to figure out.

"What?" I asked her, and she smiled mirthlessly. And again, that smile was ten times worse than her crying before.

"I'm a terrible person," she said, and then suddenly she gave a quiet sob, and her face crumpled. She buried her nose in her sleeve and looked away, and in that moment I didn't see Chloe Bourgeois, high school queen and overdramatic mayor-child.

What I saw was what made me stand up from my seat and settle down beside her, wrap my arm around her shoulder and pat her on the back as she cried. It was something that befuddled me, but something I understood more than anything else.

I saw myself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adrien's P.O.V

"Whatcha' thinking about?"

I looked up from my food and stared at Bridgette blankly. "What?"

"I was asking what was bothering you, since you haven't been listening to what I've been saying for the past ten minutes."

"Huh? Wait, I was listening!" I said.

She narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "Doubtful."

"I was!"

"Ehhh..."

We had a staring contest for a few moments before my conscience won out and I looked away. "Fine, I wasn't. I just...have a lot of things on my mind."

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"More like a whole pound."

She chuckled. "Okay, don't tell me. But could you at least fill me in on what happened five days ago?"

"What do you mean?"

"That guy who came over to see you," she said. "Was he your dad? You got really crazy back there."

"Oh." I lowered my gaze back to the brownish mush they had given us for lunch. It was so terrible even Bridgette didn't eat hers, and that was saying something.

After the fight with my father and Marinette's visit going terribly awry, I was forced into taking soporific medication that made me black out for eleven hours at least. After the torture of oversleeping had ended, I went back to my normal routine.

That was today.

"Well?"

"Yeah, he's my dad. He's just...not much of a dad."

"Oh, c'mon, it can't be that bad. I mean, yeah, parents have slip-ups, but they can't be overly harmful," she said, and I looked at her seriously.

"You don't know my father," I deadpanned, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"No I don't, but I do know that whatever he did to you was probably on a miniscule scale. We're teenagers, Adrien. We're angsty." she said. "What? Did he have a fight with your mom or something?"

Thump.

I shoved the table away from me, my chair screeching against the floor, and stood up abruptly.

I think we can both agree that this girl is an idiot.

"I said," I growled. "You don't know my father."

I turned around and headed for my room, ignoring the stares of the other patients and some of the nurses.

Well handled, Adrien, Chaos said as I shut the door of my room. But I could have handled it better.

"Shut up," I sighed. "Where's Plagg?"

"Beats me," he answered, taking on his physical form. His sharp teeth glinted at me as he grinned maniacally. He turned to the paper on the wall and his grin turned into a grimace. "Almost time for afternoon sessions. My least favourite time of the day."

"At least that means you'll shut up."

"My silence will not stop you from appearing insane, Adrien."

"Appearing insane is better than being insane, Chaos." I said his name with vigour; it was just enough to incense him.

"Stop calling me that godforsaken name," he hissed, and I smirked.

"A godforsaken name for a godforsaken being," I said, and his grimace turned into a full-on scowl.

"Bear in mind that I am the only reason you have managed to stay in here for so long and not have portrayed any signs of a poor mentality yet," he said softly. "Think of that before calling me such names."

I snorted. "You really think I'm not capable of staying sane in here? I managed it for this long, even when you're dormant."

"I can still control you in my dormancy. Why do you think that you were so calm on your first day here? How you were so unbothered by the fact that you are in an insane asylum? How you managed to make a friend in these circumstances?"

"I think I did it myself," I said. "I'd prefer that idea to thinking that some repulsive figment of my imagination is the sole reason behind it."

At those words, figment of my imagination, Chaos seemed to bristle with fury. His teeth seemed to grow longer and sharper, and his back arched as if to pounce. And then he relaxed, as if thinking against it. His grin grew extremely wide-devious and sadistic.

"How about we make a bet, Agreste?" he asked slowly. "I leave your consciousness for a full day. If you manage to go through an entire twenty-four hours without asking for my help, then I will relinquish my hold over you permanently."

I smiled at the very thought of that kind of freedom. "And if I lose?"

His grin grew wider, meanacing. "Then I take control of your body...completely."

My eyebrows furrowed. "You can do that?"

"There are a lot of things I can do that you don't know about, Adrien." he held out a black hand. "Do we have a deal?"

I stared at it, extremely suspicious. This was Chaos we were talking about; he could easily still take full control of my mind even if I won. He was conniving like that. The very idea of making a deal with him was foolhardy.

But the chance that my head would be mine alone again was enticing, I had to admit. All it would take was one day. One silent, calm day, just like all the others.

Twenty-four hours wasn't that long, was it?

My fingers closed around his hand in a firm handshake. His white holes for eyes narrowed and he looked like he was going to grin until his face cracked open.

"We have a deal," I said.

He suddenly dissapated, leaving me alone in the room, and I heard his voice in my head, soft and soothing, and almost final:

Good luck, Agreste.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word Count: 2719.

FINALLY IT HAPPENED.

It took so long to update because ear infections and life, and my birthday was in early November, so it all got pretty hectic. I made this chapter really long because birthday specials, and I'm already started on the next chapter, but exams are starting here and I have to pass school, however tedious.

Happy New Month! And Thanksgiving, even though I'm super late.