XY doesn't know how long he's been holding Marinette. He's never seen anyone break down like this before. Especially not in front of him.

He didn't know what to do.

XY was not the best at interacting with people. But this was Marinette. So he had to try.

He held her a bit tighter.

If the moment wasn't so serious, he would've teased her about the height difference.

XY was a whole head taller than Marinette. Her face was buried at his chest. His shirt was probably damp due to all the tears she's spilled.

XY led Marinette to her bed and made her sit down.

Her eyes were red, tears were still falling down her face. She wasn't moving.

Just looking at her made his heart break.

XY squeezed her hand in reassurance, hoping that it'll remind Marinette that he's there for her. "Mari," the nickname just slipped. "Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

There was a brief silence. All XY could hear was sniffling.

XY saw another tear roll down her cheek. "Okay," she whispered. "Just give me a minute."

Marinette took a deep breath. XY assumed that it was because she wanted to get herself together before saying anything.

"I just feel like everyone expects me to be this perfect person and I just-." Marinette's voice cracked, "I just can't."

XY looked at Marinette, his hand not leaving hers as he tried to figure out what to say. "No one's perfect. And the people who expect you to be perfect are just being unreasonable." XY felt her eyes on him. "It's forcing you to have all this unnecessary stress." XY knew he was being hypocritical. Telling her not to feel pressured just because people expect her to be this perfect person. Not to mention that it was easier said than done. "You know, it'll help if you talk to someone."

"Take your own advice." Marinette glanced at their intertwined hands, "Plus, I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

XY was relieved that she seemed a bit better now. Her teasing remarks were back, "So, what else has been bothering you?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow, her eyes were still red. "What makes you think that there's more?"

"Do I need to remind you about the fact that you told me that you were going to use a blowtorch to burn Adrien Agreste?"

Marinette's eyes grew wide. "I did not say that I was going to burn him! I said that I was going to burn his posters with my friend."

XY waved her off, glad that his remark made her forget that she was crying a few minutes ago. "Same thing."

"Not really."

"Just tell me what he did that hurt you so much." XY paused before adding a "Please?"

"Fine." Marinette stood up. "But it's a long story. So I'll get us some snacks." XY opened his mouth, "You are not going to pay."

"But I-"

Marinette glared at him. "You are a guest. And as a host thingy, I have to provide you with free food."

"Fine," XY muttered. "I guess this is one argument I can't win."

As XY waited for Marinette to come back up, he got struck with a sudden realization. He was there for her. He helped her feel better.

See that dad, I'm not useless after all.

XY didn't know what Adrien Agreste did to Marinette. But he knew that Adrien had something to do with the breakdown she had a few minutes ago.

Just the thought of Adrien pressuring Marinette to feel like she had to be this perfect person made XY clench his fists.

Shouldn't Adrien know better than to ask someone that?

Adrien grew up in the spotlight. He should know better than to pressure someone to feel like they have to be perfect all the time.

So why?

XY clenched his jaw. He had hoped that going to public school would make Adrien a better person. He should've known better.

Adrien Agreste was the exact same person he was years ago.

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

Marinette didn't know what to expect when she opened the trapdoor to her room.

She didn't expect Xavier to be going through her designs.

She completely forgot that she left them out in the open like that. Ever since Lila made her threat towards her. Marinette made sure to never leave her designs out in the open like that.

That meant that Marinette never brought them to school with her.

Instead, Marinette brought something different with her. A sketchbook that looked exactly like the one that contained her designs. Lila wouldn't even notice the difference.

As Marinette stared at the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a little scared.

What if he hated her designs?

What if he hated her?

If he hated her, then she wouldn't have someone to talk to anymore. She would be all alone again.

"Marinette!" Xavier noticed her just standing near the trapdoor and furrowed his brows. "Do you need help?"

Marinette let out a squeak. "You're fine! I mean, I'm fine." Marinette let out a weak laugh. "Don't worry. I got this."

Xavier turned back to her designs.

Marinette was ready for him to tell her that he hated them and that she had no talent. She was prepared for him to yell at her. Prepared to hear about how he wasted his time. Marinette was ready for all the hurtful things that he might say to her.

When Xavier opened his mouth, Marinette let her guard up. "These are really good."

Marinette blinked. She thought that she heard him wrong. "What?" she asked.

"I said that your designs are really good," he repeated.

"Really?" Marinette questioned. "You don't hate them?"

Xavier gave her a surprised look. "Why would I hate your designs? You are one of the most talented designers right now." XY grabbed a croissant from Marinette. "Your designs are amazing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Marinette didn't trust herself to talk. So she nodded. Thinking that he thought that highly of her made her smile.

Without even thinking, she gave him a hug.

Xavier staggered back a few steps. His eyes widened in surprise when he found out what was happening.

Marinette felt her cheeks go red as she let go of the hug. "I'm sorry." she stammered. "I was just so happy and giving you a hug ju-"

Xavier cut her off. "It's fine Mari," He used the nickname he gave her! Marinette felt her cheeks heat up even more. She probably looked like a tomato right now. "Just don't be surprised when I hug you out of nowhere next time."

The thought of Xavier hugging her out of nowhere made Marinette feel giddy. Hoping her face wasn't as red, she looked up at him. "Are you ready to hear about why I want to burn Adrien Agreste?"

Xavier smirked at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Thought you'd never ask"

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

He was ready to kill everyone at that stupid school.

Starting with a model and a liar.

Then, he'll murder the principal.

He would start a résumé after that. Maybe people will even pay him to kill their enemy or something like that.

XY couldn't believe that a principal would expel someone without having a proper investigation. Not to mention that finding a knock-off necklace at a locker isn't even a good enough reason. Hell, the lockers didn't even have locks.

Now that XY thought about it, Marinette went to the same school as the mayor's daughter. From what he heard about her, she was a brat. So he guessed it would make sense that the principal would be a doormat.

"You should report this to the school board."

Marinette looked at him as if a Pikachu used a thunderbolt on her. "What?"

"You were bullied for four years at that school. You got wrongfully expelled. Then you get threatened?" XY was furiously pacing back and forth around her room. "You need to report this."

"Chloe's been acting better though." Marinette tried to protest.

XY stopped and lowered his voice, giving it a dangerous tone. "Who cares if she's changed. She still hurt you. And you're still hurting." He pointed out.

"My friend-"

"Your friends believe that liar." XY pointed out. "They might not physically hurt you, but they will mentally." He took a deep breath. "Marinette, I think you need to talk to your two friends," He stopped trying to remember their names.

"Alya and Nino," Marinette supplied.

"I think you need to talk to your friends, Alya and Nino, about this." He stopped pacing around the room. "From what you told me, they believe you." Marinette nodded. "About everything? Even the situation with Adrien?"

"About everything," Marinette confirmed. "Even with the situation about Adrien."

XY let out a sigh. "At least you're not alone in this." He sat down next to her. "I'm surprised they believe you with the Adrien thing though. From what I heard, you guys and Adrien were close."

XY had seen the articles about Adrien's group of friends. Marinette probably noticed all the articles talking about her and Adrien's relationship. The media has been watching the blue-nette for a while now.

Maybe that's why that liar felt threatened by Marinette. He couldn't help but smirk. Lila Rossi was jealous.

Marinette got the attention of Gabriel Agreste without him knowing that she was even friends with his son. She turned down an internship with the Style Queen. Someone who is even harder to impress, for the sake of letting her daughter have a good relationship with her mom.

It also didn't help that Marinette was absolutely gorgeous.

No one should be able to look that good in pigtails.

"Xavier?" XY turned his attention back to Marinette. "Okay, good. You're paying attention again. I kinda lost you for a minute."

XY widened his eyes and scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah," he said sheepishly. "I was thinking about something."

He was thinking about her, but she didn't need to know that.

"As I was saying," Marinette continued before grabbing a macaroon. "I was surprised that Alya and Nino believed me too with the Adrien situation." Marinette swallowed the macaroon. "But she actually overheard one of the conversations Adrien and I had."

"Oh," XY began. "How did she react?"

"She was ready to kill him," Marinette admitted. "She also caught everything on her phone."

XY had a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Please tell me she still has it."

"Uhm, yeah. I think she does."

"Good," XY knew that if that recording somehow got leaked to the press, then Adrien could kiss the so-called-sunshine facade of his goodbye.

"And that's the story," Marinette muttered.

"Okay, just so I know everything, I'm doing a quick recap. Is that alright?"

Marinette nodded. "Go ahead."

"So, before Adrien and Alya came to your school, Chloe bullied you for four years and no one did anything."

Marinette interrupted him. "Nino tried to defend me."

"Except Nino," XY added. "But other than him, the teachers, the principal, and your classmates didn't do anything?"

Marinette nodded. "No. They didn't help me."

"I'm gonna go and assume that the principal of that dumb school was scared of the fact that Chloe's father was the mayor." When XY saw that Marinette wasn't going to reply, he knew he was right. If Marinette let him, he would destroy everyone that ever hurt her. "Okay, then fast forward to earlier this year. Alya stood up against Chloe and she helped you gain confidence."

"Keep going," Marinette mumbled when XY was waiting for her to reply.

"Then, you got a crush on Adrien," He paused, then teasingly said. "Because he let you borrow his umbrella in the rain?"

"A hot guy was letting me borrow his umbrella because he didn't want to see me soaked. That's a good reason to develop a crush towards someone." Marinette retorted.

"Fair enough." XY teased. "So let's say I give you an umbrella-"

Marinette's eyes grew wide and XY could see her starting to blush. "We're doing a recap." Marinette managed to say. "Keep going."

"Fine. So you start to like him, then boom. The Lila girl comes in. You try to convince everyone that she's lying and no one believes you at first. Then she comes back and threatens you in the bathroom. This is around the time Alya and Nino realize that nothing adds up."

"Then, Adrien confronts me about taking the high road. I agreed with him for a little bit, then she got me expelled. I didn't know why Lila decided to make up a lying disease, but I had a feeling that Adrien had something to do with it." Marinette added. "I asked him about it and he admitted that he had something to do with it."

XY could see that Marinette didn't wanna talk about the next part so he continued. "When you told him that you guys should reveal her lies now, he screamed and told you no. Then he went on a rant about taking the high road and how he didn't want her to get akumatized."

Marinette let out a bitter laugh. "And that was the conversation that Alya overheard and how I slowly stopped liking him." Marinette continued to rant to him. "I just can't believe I didn't see this coming. You know? I knew I never had a chance with him, I mean, I'm just me." Before XY could argue against that, Marinette continued. "But I should've known that he was manipulating all of us. When you really think about it, nothing adds up."

"I know," XY mumbled the next part. "He fooled everyone."

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

Marinette had no idea how their conversation went from planning a photoshoot to spilling their guts out with each other.

"When we were younger, he used to be my best friend," Xavier admitted.

Marinette was shocked. She knew that Xavier didn't like Adrien, but she assumed that it was just a celebrity thing. "Keep going," she whispered.

Marinette noticed that his smile was a bit tight, "You know how his mom's an actor?" Marinette nodded. "Well, she taught him a bit. And he was good at it. Crazy good."

Marinette knew where Xavier was going with this, but she needed to hear it.

If he admitted it, then the theories going around Marinette's head would make sense. "Keep going," Marinette repeated, "Please."

"He started to use it to manipulate people." XY continued. "In public, he would pretend to be this innocent kid who could do no wrong. And of course, the press ate it all up." Xavier clenched his fists, "But whenever no one was around. He was the exact opposite. And the worst part is that his parents would encourage his behavior." He met Marinette's eyes before glaring at a poster of Adrien. "There's something wrong with that family."

Marinette nodded. She couldn't help but agree. She checked her phone. "You have about 30 minutes before you have to go home."

"Wait, already?" Xavier checked his phone to make sure, "How long have we been talking?"

Marinette shrugged, "Like four hours?"

"Oh!" His voice was a bit disappointed. "Before I forget though, thanks again for agreeing to design the outfits for me."

"It's no problem." Marinette stated, "Consider it payback for helping me with everything."

"But still, thank you."

Marinette remembered that she needed to hear the demo so that she has an idea of what the outfits are supposed to look like. "Did you bring a demo with you, by any chance?" Marinette asked.

Xavier wouldn't meet her gaze. Marinette noticed that his cheeks were a bit red though. "Yeah." he mumbled.

He handed her a small clear, rectangular box. "Thank you!" Marinette gushed. "We still have time, so we can listen to it together if you want."

"I... -Uhm."

Marinette looked at him with her big blue eyes. "Please?" she begged.

Xavier sighed, "Fine."

Marinette set it up so that they can both hear it. When the music began to play, Marinette sat down and closed her eyes.

She surprisingly liked it.

It was good. Really good.

She opened one eye and asked him, "What was your inspiration? This-" she gestured to the song, "This is really good."

"Oh, um. Thank you."

Marinette raised her eyebrow. "So what's your inspiration?"

Xavier couldn't look at her. "Oh, it was uhm-" He glanced around the room trying to find an answer. But when his eyes met hers, he couldn't bring himself to lie. "You," he murmured. "You were my inspiration."

2,766 words