Chapter Text
The first thing Marinette thought when she woke up and reached blindly to silence her alarm was that it was going to be another day at school without Adrien.
Those didn't happen often and they always felt strange. They had started school together and had always been joined at the hip, as their teachers loved joking. As they grew up and Adrien had to miss classes because of photo shoots, he always made sure that it wasn't a whole day. And afterwards, they always wrote their homework together.
On a regular day, he'd call her to make sure that she didn't sleep through her alarm because he knew just how many times she hit snooze. It was something her mother greatly appreciated.
But now he had been gone for two weeks. He was in China with his parents as part of their latest attempts to help with his mother's illness. Marinette wished she could have gone with them and maybe visit her great uncle in the process. But she also understood that this was not a vacation for them. At least she could help Adrien catch up with school when he was back.
What was different about this day though was that Adrien was coming home! She couldn't help smiling when she realised that the wait was almost over. She might have to wait one more day to see him but he was probably already on a plane to France. So it wasn't long now.
Hopefully, he would have good news when he got back. Marinette loved Emilie and had shared Adrien's worries about her deteriorating health. She had always welcomed Marinette in her home with open arms, embracing her son's friend and never once questioning their close bond. She also kept in touch with Marinette's parents and never minded Adrien spending time at their house. His father was more reserved and too busy in general, but Emilie made the mansion feel warm and sunny and Marinette loved spending time there.
But of course, this had changed after she fell ill. Marinette would often bring her sweets and well wishes from her parents but now she and Adrien had to keep quiet as they wrote their homework and entertained themselves after that. With time, they had started gravitating towards the bakery as their preferred spot for common activities. Not that it mattered much where they were, because Adrien was still worried about his mother and his usually sunny disposition was permanently dimmed.
If Emilie got better, Adrien would feel better too and Marinette would have her play pal back. Of course, at 13 he was much more than a play pal. He felt like a part of her and she really wanted him to be happy again.
She wanted the best for him and his family. She couldn't wait to have them back. Hopefully soon.
***
Adrien didn't go back to school. Not on the next day, not in the weeks after. Instead of finding the help she needed and getting better, Emilie took a turn for the worse. Adrien never left her side. Not for school, not even to spend time with Marinette. Instead, his father's assistant, Nathalie, helped him keep up with his classes.
He called Marinette daily and gave her updates, although there wasn't much to say. He was beyond worried and Marinette's heart broke every time she heard the hopelessness in his voice. She wanted to do something to help him but there wasn't anything she could think of. She gave up on trying to make him laugh when he could barely muster any enthusiasm to talk at all.
The days felt gloomy and inexplicably long. Marinette longed for the happy times when she had had her best friend next to her at school and his mother was waiting for them with a smile afterwards.
She was afraid to think about the future, because it looked too uncertain right now, so she found solace in the memories. She would occasionally find something that reminded her of Adrien - a forgotten shirt, a note scribbled in his barely readable writing on a discarded piece of paper - and would snap a photo of it to send to him. She hoped that it made him feel missed.
Talking to him was no longer something she looked forward to. Instead, she expected bad news every time he called her. To the point that when they came, she was barely surprised. It was Adrien's sobs on the other end of the line that alerted her that it was really bad.
"Adrien," she said gently, just to give him a sign that she was listening. It took him more than a minute to get any words out.
"She's gone, Marinette... she's gone!"
***
The funeral was on a cold and rainy day. Marinette felt out of place in the sophisticated crowd that looked stoic in the face of grief. Except for Adrien. He cried in her arms in spite of his father's disapproving glances. She held him and prayed with all her heart that this helped Adrien not to feel as alone as she knew he did. Her own eyes were full of tears that she tried very hard to swallow.
She grieved for the golden-haired woman who had raised such a kind and gentle boy. She had always been nothing but good to her. Marinette knew that his home would never be the same again without her there. Her heart also broke for her friend who had suffered such a crushing loss. No one deserved this, but him most of all.
A part of her was determined to help Adrien through this. To be there for him. After all, he hadn't lost her. She could never replace his mother but she could at least make him feel loved. But another one, a part that trembled with fear in spite of the sadness, was scared that she might not have the chance.
While she still could, she held him in her arms as he sobbed his heart out and tried to shield him from the coldness everywhere around them.
Their lives had been changed already but after that day, nothing was ever the same. Adrien had to grow up really fast, the carefree and happy childhood lost forever. And Marinette almost lost her best friend.