┌── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┐

October 7th

└── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┘

When Marinette woke, the mood of the room immediately told her it wasn't her own, neither the bakery or the Agreste mansion. For a few seconds, before she gathered her bearings, she'd thought it was just any other night. She'd awoken from a nap and could smell the croissants and cookies her parents were baking for the next day from up the stairs. Even though they had a kitchen in the actual shop, her father was always making them in their personal kitchen as well. This time, however, there was no warm scent of baking pastries. Maybe if she took in a big whiff, she could have smelled a bit of-

Alcohol.

I drank alcohol.

It wasn't a dream. It happened.

She wasn't in her room. She wasn't at her house. Sitting up quickly, Marinette threw herself forward. This sudden action made her groan out loud and hold her head steady as her ears began to ring. If it wasn't so dark in the room she was in, her vision would have been shaky. Scared, she called out to the darkness.

"Hello?"

As if she was part of a horror movie, she cleared her throat and felt around the bed. Where was she? How did she get-

The lights flickered on and a tired looking Alya appeared in the doorway. Both girls squinted and groaned loudly at the lights. It took a few seconds but soon Marinette recgonized the bed she was in as her best friend's, not hers. The redhead standing at the door had a glum expression on her face. She looked as if she had been woken up from a long nap. Her hair was matted to one side and yesterdays makeup was smeared along her face. It was only when Marinette looked down, that she realized her best friend had been sleeping on the floor.

"Alya?"

"Yes. Yes, it's me. Alya Cesaire. The greatest friend in the fucking world. Now go back to sleep." Reaching over to turn off the light switch, Alya gasped as the door flew open and hit her, causing her to fly forward and fall face first into the blankets on the floor. Ella and Etta squealed loudly.

"Alya! Alya!" The two little girls ran inside, one of them wrapping their arms around their sister's leg and the other trying to climb up on the bed.

The redhead screeched inhumanely and pounced up off the floor to chase the two kids out. Wrapping her arms around one, and dragging the other out by the collar of her shirt, Alya screamed at them.

"GET OUT!"

Marinette covered her ears and pulled her knees to her chest. If they kept yelling like that, she'd-

Slamming the door shut, Alya leaned her body against it. It was evident the girl didn't want to be disturbed.

"I guess we should get up now." She said, after a few seconds of silence.

Marinette blinked, her eyes still adjusting to the light. "What the hell happened?" She groaned, head pounding.

"We can talk about it over food. I'm fucking hungry, get up."

But you just told me to go back to sleep.

The dark-haired girl had no energy to argue with her best friend. Instead, she swung her legs over the bed, holding the blankets firmly between her fingers. She was afraid if she stood up at that moment, she'd pass out on the spot.

"Do you need help getting up?"

"I'm f-fine." Marinette stuttered, slowly pushing herself on her feet.

"Are you sure? I'm used to being hungover. This is nothing compared to the first time I drank."

"Hehe, yeah."

Alya paused at the tone of her friend's voice. "Girl.. was this the first time you-" Moving her hands in an awkward motion, the redhead was afraid to bring up the matter of alcohol.

"I mean, kinda. I have had a little bit before but I usually can't stand the taste. I don't know why I drank last night, or what happened or-"

"We don't have to get into it now. All I'm going to say is the stuff you drank was really good, that's why we both got so hammered." Pulling her shirt off, Alya threw on a new one and went through her clothes to find something for Marinette to wear. Mari looked down at her outfit and groaned at the sight of her pretty black costume all wrinkled and reeking of alcohol... and, something else.

"Is that... chlorine?"

"Yeah... You might want to shower." Alya pulled a pair of skinny jeans over her hips and winced as she tried to button them. She gave up relatively quick, accepting the fact her pants weren't going to button after a night of stuffing her face with food. Reaching down and grabbing a pair of socks out of the drawer, Alya waited for her best friend to make her way into the bathroom. After placing a change of clothes outside the door, she made her way downstairs.

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

Marinette yawned as she trudged down the stairs. Surprisingly, Ella and Etta were outside playing peacefully in the autumn leaves. Alya was sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal while her mother stood at the stove cooking grilled cheese.

"I hope you like grilled cheese, Marinette. I have to head to work soon. Alya didn't want to wait. If you don't either, please help yourself to our cupboard." The woman smiled at the dark-haired girl and Marinette had to bite her lip to keep from apologizing profusely. She sat down across from her best friend and reached for the Cheerios, all while eyeing the woman from behind.

A few minutes later, Marinette gave up and opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm so so so so so so so sorry-" The girl rambled, the words bursting from her lips, "This is so embarrassing and I'm so very sorry you've had to see us like this-" Alya glared at Marinette before ducking her head out of the way when her mom looked over. Sighing, the woman pulled the last sandwich off the pan and placed it on a paper plate.

"I was young once too, you know?"

But-

"Thats not an excuse!"

"Marinette-" Alya hissed, her face a bright red. It seemed that the girl was due for an ass whooping later- especially if Mari continued to speak.

"Alya, Marinette-" Mrs. Cesiare handed both plates over to the girls, who immediately dug in at the sight of food.

"I will forget about this-this one time, as long as it doesn't happen again before you reach adulthood. You know how your parents feel about alcohol." Alya didn't respond at the comment aimed toward her as she stuffed her face with the gooey goodness that was her mother's grilled cheese.

"Of course, Mrs. Cesaire." Marinette smiled up at her. Taking a moment to think, she bit her lip and giggled awkwardly, "Do you think you can maybe, not tell my mother about this?"

"Now, let's not get crazy." Kicking Marinette under the table, Alya motioned the zipping of her lips. Getting the message, Marinette stopped talking. Mrs. Cesaire grabbed her keys from off the counter as she made her way to the front door.

"Nora is upstairs in her room. If you leave, make sure Ella and Etta come inside. And remember, I'll be home from work around 8 PM today. Your father will be home earlier-"

The rest of Alya's mother's words were drowned out by Marinette's loud voice. "OH MY GOD!" Standing up and placing the majority of her sandwich back down on her plate, Marinette reached behind her to pull her wet hair up into a bun. She looked down at what she was wearing before peering over at Alya. Her best friend was taking a drink of her juice after nearly choking at the sudden yell.

"I'm GONNA BE LATE!"

"Late?" Alya asked as the front door closed and Alya's mother made her way to her car.

"I-I... Adrien has a shoot today-" Eyeing her bag that was on the counter, Marinette was suddenly happy that Alya left her belongings out in the open. "I need to be at the studio in-"

"2 hours ago..." Her voice trailing, Marinette frowned at the sight of the clock. It was nearly noon. Adrien's shoot started at 11:00. If she could just...

I could just go as Ladybug!

"I need to get there now. I'll see you later-" Rushing over, Marinette hugged her best friend before nearly tripping over her own two feet.

"Woah-"

"You can't go like this-" Alya shook her head. "You literally look, sound, and smell like death. Even after a shower. Girl, you can't go like this!"

Marinette needed to hurry, but now that she thought about it, going like this was a bad idea. Not to mention, she didn't even know if Tikki was well enough to transform her and... after a night of whatever that was, her kwami was probably sicker. Perhaps, she should just stay with Alya for the day... But, Adrien was probably worried sick. She didn't go home the night before, so... how did she even look to him and his father at the moment?

"But... I promised Adrien..."

"And what did he do to for you last night?"

Marinette paused as her clouded memories rang through her head. She couldn't remember much, but she could still remember-

It was fragmented, but there. Spilling a drink on her dress, arguing, Lila, the pool. How the disjointed images fit together were behind her, but at least she had some idea..

"I...Can you tell me what happened?"

Alya sighed before shifting in her chair and pushing her plate away. "Then let's talk."

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

Tear after tear fell on the table in front of her as Marinette let out a sob.

"I can't believe... I can't believe-"

"I know, I know..." Alya consoled her best friend.

"And I fell in the pool? And yelled at Lila? And- I shoved my face in the punch bowl!?"

Alya hesitated. "Yes, yes you did, Mari."

"Oh, god... and the things I said to him."

"I'm surprised you can remember the conversations you had. You may be the first person I've met that has gotten that wasted and was still able to remember her night relatively clearly."

Just another sign of how much I love Adrien.

"I just can't remember anything really after seeing him kiss Lila." Her voice dropped and a tear rolled down her nose as she leaned forward. She felt nauseous and the sight of Lila in her brain made her want to vomit. How could she embarrass herself like that? What in the world made her drink like that? The taste of the blue punch couldn't have been that mesmerizing, right?

"He's a dick." Alya suddenly stated, causing Marinette's cries to come to a halt. All the redhead had to do was think of the fact that Cole was the one that saved Marinette and it made her want to punch Agreste square in the jaw. It was his chance, and he blew it.

"And Cole... Cole saved me. I can't believe Cole saved me."

"Well believe it."

"Where was Adrien? Did he see me like this?"

Alya looked away. "Yes, he did."

"He-"

"He could have jumped in after you. But he didn't."

Marinette frowned. "W-What? He watched me get mouth to mouth from Cole?"

Oh god-

"Something like that." Alya shook the thought of Brielle and Lila from her head, both who were all over Adrien at the party. She wanted to believe that Adrien's intentions were good, but it was hard when she literally saw him stand there as Marinette plunged into the water. It should have been him coming to the rescue, not Marinette's new friend who was clearly interested in being more than that. And what was up with the way Cole and Lila looked at each other? Did Marinette remember that?

There were too many thoughts going through her head at once and Alya sighed to shake them from her brain. "Look, why don't you go find your phone in my room and we'll check your messages. You can text Adrien and say you're okay. I'm sure he's worried sick.'

"Yeah." Marinette sighed, not sure how to feel about what happened anymore.

"Then, if you want, I can ask Nora to drive you to the mansion."

"I don't know..." Marinette kind of just wanted to go sleep in her bed right now. But...

The only thing on her mind other than Adrien and Lila was Tikki. Being home was her safe bet. Maybe she could sell some croissants today to get her mind off of all the drama?

"I can go with you if you want."

"To the shoot?"

"I mean yeah. Or if you want to go somewhere else, that's fine too."

Marinette smiled. "Thanks, Alya."

"No problem, hun. Let's just do what we got to do."

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

A/N: Hey boo! This is a bit of a short chapter, but eh. Thank you so much for staying with me through this god awful book. I love you all!

Song Choice: Undrunk By Fletcher
Even though Marinette didn't call her ex like the song says, I feel like the song represents how stupid Marinette feels for her drunken behavior.

Word Count: 2234

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