They say that love is many simple things, but it's also complex, nuanced and painful from time-to-time. Loving someone is no guarantee that they will return that love, and decades spent together is no guarantee that forever will actually manifest. Sometimes, the people we fall in love with find themselves falling in love with someone else. What do we do when their hearts start to wander? 

Adrien's mind was wondering once again, reaching to foreign philosophical ideals that he knew wouldn't ease the hollowness.

The depression- it had been eating him up. The world no longer seemed magical. The sky no longer seemed limitless. The chirping of the birds was no longer music to his ears. It was very dark in Adrien's soul. Not from the practical point of view, but from his mental state. The tears wanted to roll down, but they were too stubborn. They just wouldn't come. His face wanted to grimace and contort into a painful expression, but the fake smile that had been plastered for years seemed to have frozen in place.  

As never-ending months passed, Adrien never got used to the sight of Marinette with Luka. The way she would bake and sing and laugh with Adrien was only a faded memory, those happy moments now spent with Luka. 

After all, you never know how much you love someone until you watch them love someone else

But it wasn't just the fact she was with someone else that displeased Adrien. It was the fact that Luka kept her all to himself. Adrien hadn't even properly looked into Marinettes face from that painful evening many months ago, Luka whisking her away whenever Adrien got close.

How he longed to see those bluebell eyes he loved so much.

So one Sunday morning, when Adrien walked past the dining room and saw Marinette setting the table, his instincts took hold of him and he approached her, pushing her down by her shoulders until they were both sitting on chairs. He kept his hands on her shoulders while he looked at her face, for the first time in months.

But instead of joy, he felt confused. And then concerned.

For a pair of shining violet eyes stared back at him intently. 

But what was even more worrisome was what he had seen deep in her eyes. A figure wrapped in thorns, fear from the shadowy figure clouding the iris of the venomous purple.  

Adrien released Marinette, before stumbling out of the room and up into his bedroom. 

For the eyes were the window to the soul, was it not?

To be continued...