Day 25 of Jasonette July: Wherever You Will Go
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
Marinette stared down at her phone, a blush spreading from her chest into every part of her body. Was she on fire? She felt like she was on fire. Was Jason talking about her? These videos had to be doctored somehow. Why on earth had Conner sent these to her? And the voice notes weren’t much better, though at least she couldn’t see the faraway look on Jason’s face when she listened to them
“Is everything alright, Marinette?” Tikki asked as she floated around her holder’s head. Marinette blinked and looked up at the pocket-sized god in bewilderment.
“I- Did you hear that? Like, did I just imagine the videos on my phone or did Jason really just say that he’s ‘goin’ to lock that shit down’?” Marinette asked, blinking again and reopening the video on her phone. He hadn’t used a name, hadn’t said he was talking about her explicitly…but who else could he have been talking about? With the amount of time they spent together and the amount of time when he wasn’t with her spent as Red Hood, how could he possibly have time for someone else? And Conner had just sent them to her with a cheeky ‘Thought you should know’. What else could that possibly mean?
“He most definitely did say that,” Tikki confirmed, making Marinette’s face burn even hotter. “Is that a problem, Marinette? You’ve been spending a lot of time together, it would hardly be a surprise if he fell in love.”
“Love-?” Marinette choked at that, feeling like she was going to faint. Did Jason love her? He couldn’t. They were casual! Sure, they saw each other nearly every day…and ate meals together…and cuddled… “Oh my god, Tikki, I’m in love with him.”
“If you say so,” Tikki shrugged, coming down to settle in the crook of Marinette’s neck. “I, personally, think you should call him and find out what that was all about because he was very obviously inebriated. And unaware that he was being recorded.”
“You want me to have that conversation over the phone?” Marinette demanded. “No. No no no, this conversation needs to be in person so that if he is in love with me I can jump him then and there. Crap, he sent that message about going and getting breakfast near his place, do you think he’s still there?”
“Why don’t you message him and find out?”
“Because then I’ll chicken out! Come on, I bet we can find him really quickly, he likes to take his time with breakfast when he eats out.”
Moving quickly, she checked her reflection and spent an agonising few extra minutes adding a little lip gloss and making sure her hair was straight before grabbing her bag and darting out of the apartment before she could lose her nerve. Tikki was right, they spent so much time together, there was nothing to be anxious about! They were going to talk, decide that they should be exclusive instead of casual - what a joke, as if she’d been with anyone else this entire time, she was pretty sure they were already exclusive - and then she was going to drag him back to his place to celebrate their new relationship. Lots.
She was almost to the diner when the door banged open and she saw her target step out into the dingy sunlight. Her whole body fizzed with anticipation that turned to static when a tall, gorgeous woman followed him out and pulled him into a side hug that he didn’t dodge away from. No, he was clearly comfortable with this woman and didn’t mind the public nature of her affection.
Her feet were now rooted to the floor, horror flooding her as she watched the pair walk in the other direction. She swallowed, hard, and tried not to hyperventilate as pieces fell into place. Thought you should know…Conner was warning her that the end was coming. That Jason had found someone else and was head over heels for her. God, he was talking about marriage.
And now her mind couldn’t help but point out all the differences she could see between them. This woman was tall, dark skinned with fiery hair and a curvaceous body. Hell, if Marinette wasn’t horribly infatuated with Jason she would be more than willing to entertain a woman like that too. She looked like someone who could keep up with Jason’s other life too, something Jason probably wanted and needed.
“Marinette, what are we doing?” Tikki said from within her hair where the kwami had apparently relocated during Marinette’s despair.
“Going back to the apartment and either drinking until I pass out or designing until I can’t see anymore,” Marinette said, the weight of her realisations sitting on her chest. “Let’s go.”
_ _ _
It didn’t take long for her to realise she needed to message Jason so he didn’t just show up at her apartment. She knew that it was over but she didn’t know if she could handle having to hear him say it now that she knew how she felt. She would rather relive the torment of being ignored by Adrien for months on end while pretending they were the perfect couple than hear Jason say that he’d found someone.
So she took a deep breath and replied to his text as cheerily as she could. She leaned hard on the excuse that she was designing for someone who needed them to stay private, so she couldn’t have him over because she’d be breaching the contract. Would Jagged and Penny have understood? Of course. Would Jason have leaked the designs? Never. But it didn’t change the fact that it was a convenient way to create some distance between them.
Then she sent a ‘thanks for the warning’ text to Conner and buried herself in her work. She opened the message from Jason when it came in, dread seeping back into her every thought but it only said that he would text again soon. She debated sending one back that would absolve him of needing to but ultimately decided that leaving it was the safest way out. No doubt he wanted to tell her all about the woman he now had and she wasn’t stupid enough to think she could survive that.
When she hit a stopping point with the design - stupid opening hours of fabric stores, didn’t they know she needed to be occupied?? - she turned to a bottle of wine instead. Tikki watched her get progressively more drunk and tried to encourage her to drink water as she lamented her woes and sobbed about how stupid she’d been.
“I don’t even have time to come to terms with losing him,” she cried, cuddling a cushion close. “I already know who he chose to take my place and she’s- she’s- god, she’s so much better than me. He really traded up so I can’t even be happy that he’s missing out!”
When she finally cried herself to sleep she was curled up on the sofa, not having wanted to move to the bed. Beds were for smart people that were emotionally mature and didn’t ruin the one good thing that had come from dumping Adrien and leaving France.
