17- Camera Flashes

Marinette's POV

"Adrien, I think I know who's sending the texts."

His eyes widen. "What? Who?"

My hands shake as a speak. "You remember that photoshoot we did a few months ago? That guy who took pictures of me?" Realization falls on Adrien's face. After he was arrested, we learned his name: Drew Deville. "It has to be him. Right?"

"Marinette, I was only kind of joking when I made that comment," Adrien reminds me. "I wasn't serious."

"But what if it is him?" I show him my phone, breath shaking. "We saw on the news that he lost his job after what happened. Drew Deville was on his way to becoming a CEO. This could be revenge!"

Adrien grabs my hand. "Marinette, you can't feel guilty for what happened to him. He lost his job because of the poor choices he made. Are you sure it's him?"

"I don't know," I admit, shrugging. "I don't know for sure. But there's a bad feeling in my gut I can't ignore."

"How would we even prove it's him though?" Adrien takes my phone, rereading the text messages. "We could find someone to trace the messages, like in those crime shows. Maybe Officer Roger can do something."

I nod, leaning back against the couch. "It wouldn't hurt to try. I just don't want to get another text." Crying now, I cover my face with my hands and sob into my jacket sleeves. "Sorry. It seems all I can do anymore is cry."

"Crying's healthy." Adrien scoots closer, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I look over at him. "It's supposed to clear your skin."

I laugh at his lame attempt to cheer my up and rest my head on his shoulder, sighing. "You always have a way with words, Adrien."

"It's a gift."

"Do you wanna go on a walk?" I find myself asking, standing up. "Get some fresh air."

"Sure." Adrien grabs my hand and leads me downstairs. "But my bodyguard will have to come." I nod, understanding. I want him to. Adrien calls for him and we leave, heading towards the park.

My bakery comes into view and I stop. I haven't seen my parents in over a month. I miss them so much.

Adrien notices and says, "It'll be okay if we stop by, Marinette."

"Are you sure?" I whisper, scared. "Hawkmoth surprised us today with Stormy Weather. What if he's watching us right now and sees me visiting my parents? He could trap or kidnap them and—"

Adrien tugs on my arm, dragging me down the street, and we rush inside the bakery. "I promise everything will be fine."

Mom and Dad stand behind the counter and when they finally notice us, they start screaming. "Ahh! Marinette!" They run over and before I can react, they hug me tight, my feet lifting off the ground. Oh, I missed this so much. Smiling, I hug them back, and close my eyes. I never want to leave. I want to come home.

"Mom, Dad..." A tear runs down my cheek as my parents set me down. "I'm so sorry I haven't been able to visit! I've been so busy with... Mr. Agreste's internship... but I missed you both so much!"

"No, you're like a grownup now, honey!" Mom says grinning from ear to ear. "I'm just so glad you're finally living out your dream. That's all your father and I want for you, is to be happy."

Dad rubs my head, messing up my bed hair. "How's that internship coming around? Any new cool designs yet?"

"Uh..."

Adrien steps forward. "Yes! But it's a secret. My father is a very private person and prefers his work to be the same until it's ready. It creates a certain mystery around the brand that attracts all the right people."

"Oh, I'm so excited." Dad looks back and forth between Adrien and I. "Promise to save your mom and I front row tickets to the next fashion show?"

Adrien and I both nod.

"Before you go!" Dad starts running around the bakery, in and out of the kitchen, preparing two to-go boxes for us, filled to the brim with pastries and treats. "It wouldn't be right if I left you two leave without something to enjoy." Dad hands a box to Adrien's bodyguard, too. He grunts and I swear I see a smile sneak on his face.

"Thanks, Mr. Dupain." Adrien smiles as he eats a cookie.

I hug my parents one last time. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! I'll video chat you guys after dinner later."

"Bye, sweetie!" Mom shouts, waving as we walk out of the bakery. "I'm so proud of you, Marinette!"

"Now I feel really bad for lying," I mumble to Adrien as we enter the park. "My parents are 'so proud of me' and I'm nothing but a liar and a disappointment."

"Don't say that, Marinette." Adrien bites into a donut. "You're gonna design my father's next fashion line. That's not lying at all."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "The internship?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's lying." Adrien shakes his head. "But they would understand if they knew what was going on."

"Yeah, I know..." I stare down at my feet as we walk. "I just don't want them to ever be disappointed in me."

"Hey! Marinette! Adrien!" I look up to see Rose calling me over. She's with Juleka, Alya, Nino, Alix, and Kim. "Come hang with us! We're getting ice cream!"

Adrien grabs my hand and we jog over to our friends. "Anyone want any treats? We just picked them up from Marinette's bakery."

"Yes!" Kim and Alix shout at the same time.

Our friends rush over and start devouring the pastries and soon enough, we're left with two empty boxes. Adrien's bodyguard turns away, wrapping a protective arm around his.

"So, what are you guys doing out and about?" Alya asks, breaking a cookie in half and sharing with me.

"Just going on a walk." I finish the last bite. We walk side by side with the group. Adrien walks a few feet ahead talking with Nino. "You should have called me when you were making plans with everyone. I would have met you here."

Alya side eyes me. "Girl, what are you talking about? I did. I sent you a text."

"You did?" I ask, confused. "I didn't see it." Pulling my phone out, I unlock it, and everything in me freezes.

Unknown: See how close I can get? Wonder how much closer I can get next time...

I tap on the attached image, a close-up picture of me walking with Alya down the street. What the hell? They were only about ten feet behind me when they took this. How did I not notice? Looking around, I start panicking, trying to find anyone that looks suspicious. "D-Did you see anyone behind us?" I ask Alya, walking away from the group. Adrien and Nino stop and turn around. "Was there anyone?"

"Marinette, what are you talking about?" Alya starts following me. "Marinette! Talk to me! What's wrong?"

"I don't see anyone!" I scream, spinning in circles. "Where are you?!"

Adrien jogs over, gripping an arm on my shoulder as he forces me to face him. "Marinette! Marinette, what happened? What's going on?"

"Adrien, there's another text," I whisper, handing him my phone. "And they sent a picture this time. Look how close they were!"

His eyes widen. "What?" He glances behind me, starting to look around the city.

"They were so close, Adrien." Tears fill my eyes. "W-What if we hadn't ran into Alya and the others? Would he have tried something?"

"Does anyone want to explain to me what is going on?!" Alya shouts, looking between me and Adrien. She stares at the phone before ripping it from Adrien's hand. She gasps. "Marinette! What is this? Who sent this to you?"

I shake my head, choking out, "I-I don't know! I don't know who it is!"

"What do you mean you don't know who it is?" Alya repeats, facing me. "Are you saying some stranger is sending you weird texts?" I nod and fear falls on her face. "How long has this been happening?"

"Since this morning," Adrien and I admit.

"What?" Nino asks, jumping in the conversation. "And you haven't said anything until now?"

"I was scared!" I yell, squeezing my hands together. I take in a deep breath. "I'm absolutely terrified, okay? Adrien and I were figuring something out—"

Alya smacks my phone against my chest. "I'm your best friend, Mari! You are supposed to tell me these things! I'm supposed to protect you from this kind of stuff. First, you don't tell me about your new relationship with Adrien, and now you don't tell me about this. What happened? We tell each other everything!"

"Alya, there is so much more going on than you know!" I shout, shaking my head as I start crying. "So don't judge before you have all the facts."

"Yeah, I do have all the facts. When were you going to tell me that you moved in with Adrien?" Alya asks, adjusting her glasses. My eyes widen. "But how would I know that? You didn't tell me. Lila did."

"What?" Adrien asks, shocked. "How does Lila know?"

"So, it's true!" Alya says, laughing. "I can't believe it. Lila was right."

"Right about what?" I say, disgusted by the mention of her name.

"I thought Lila was just messing with me or something," Alya starts, crossing her arms over her chest. "But she came to talk to me in the locker room a few days ago, telling me how she was worried about our friendship because you weren't around anymore. Missing school, spending all your time with Adrien, refusing to go with our friends to the movies. Then she goes and tells me that you moved in with Adrien. Dating is one thing, but moving in with him? Marinette, that's a little too obsessive, even for you."

My eyes widen. I'd been controlling myself when it came to Adrien's schedule. I realized a while ago that my behavior was wrong and stalker-ish. I've changed. I've grown since then, but Adrien doesn't need to know who I was before. I don't know what he'd think of me and I don't want anything to ruin our friendship, especially not now. "Alya..."

"What, are you going to tell me I'm wrong?" Alya gets in my face, angry. "Everyone knew how crazy you were when it came to Adrien! I mean, everyone! Knowing and memorizing his schedule, down to the tiniest detail of everything: school, fencing, piano lessons. You had posters of him all over your room for months before you two even started dating! Did you know that Adrien?" She turns and looks at him. There's a small frown on his face. "No. You didn't because you are the most dense person I've ever met."

"Why would you believe anything Lila says, Alya?" She turns her attention back to me. "She's just trying to drive us apart!"

"Really? So none of it is true, right?" Alya asks. "You're not living with Adrien? You're not avoiding your friends? It's all lies?"

No. It's the truth. She just doesn't understand! "I-It is true, but—"

"But what?" Alya interrupts. "You're my best friend, Marinette. Or were. But you know I can't stand liars. Or secrets."

"Alya—" I reach for her hand as she turns around and walks off. "Alya!"

"Just give me some space, Marinette," She whispers as she grabs Nino's hand and drags him away.

"Ugh!" I scream, stomping my foot on the ground. "I told you this would happen, Adrien! I knew she would react like this!"

"Why don't you just tell her?" Adrien asks. "Alya's trustworthy."

"Because it's not safe!" My lungs burn from all my screaming and I have to stop to catch my breath. I heave in and out, trying not to faint. "A-All I wanna do is protect my friends and family, but in the process of doing so, I'm losing everyone I care about." I close my eyes tight as I start crying. "Hawkmoth has ruined everything! I can't see my parents anymore without the fear of them becoming targets. I can't even go to school or hang out with my friends because he could go after them, too! Adrien, you don't know what he's like. I saw him in person, in my bedroom. He is willing to do anything, everything, to get those miraculous. And he'd hurt everyone I love to do so. How can I explain that to them? How can I explain that the reason I'm isolating myself is to protect them? That, even though I'm ignoring everyone and pushing people out of my life, it means I love them? And now, with this stupid Psycho Stalker, I can't even walk down the street to get ice cream, with or without a bodyguard!"

"Okay. Marinette! Breathe!" Adrien stands in front of me, arms on both shoulders, and stares tensely into my eyes. "In. Out. In. Out. I need you to calm down, okay?"

I nod slowly, breathing along with him, and my heart stops pounding so hard. "I don't know what to do, Adrien."

"We're going to figure it out, but right now we should go home." Adrien keeps an arm around my shoulder as bodyguard follows us back to his house.

As we cross a street, I notice a black car parked near a streetlight. I catch a glimpse of a camera lens and I stop walking. A flash shines and disappears. "Adrien," I whisper, nudging his side. "Look! Over there. Someone's parked there. I saw a camera flash."

"What?" Adrien follows where I'm pointing. Another camera flash comes. His hands ball into fists and he starts walking over. "That's it!"

"Adrien!" I start chasing after him. "Hey, wait up! You don't know who's in there!"

"I don't care!" Adrien throws himself in front of the car as they try to speed off. The tires screech against the pavement as the car comes to a halt. That's weird. You'd think they would've hit Adrien to get him out of the way. "Get out of the car, you coward!" He starts slapping the hood. "Get out!"

"Adrien!"

He storms over to the driver's side, trying the handle, but it's locked. "Really? It's gonna be like this? Get out!"

Nothing I say is getting through to him. "Adrien, please! Calm down."

Adrien ignores my words as he starts punching the driver's window. The glass shatters after the third punch and he reaches inside to unlock the door. He grabs the driver by his collar and drags him out, throwing him on the ground. He goes to throw another punch, but suddenly stops. "What the hell? Mayor Bourgeois?"