And I Know Bein' Reckless And Young, Is Not How The Damage Gets Done (Part 2)
(A/N: It's still not done yet, but here's another part while I try to finish. Hoping to keep this no more than 3, maybe 4 parts, since it is becoming quite long. Longer than I initially thought it would be. Thanks to everyone who liked and left really nice comments on the last post - it really means a lot to me! Hope you all can stick around and see what I have in store!)
Pairing(s): Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Synopsis: A few months into their new relationship, Marc and Nathaniel have become utterly and ridiculously obsessed with each other. However, someone seeks to unravel the wonderful thing they have and ruin their lives with some of their buried secrets, testing their relationship and their patience all in one.
Content Warning(s): This work contains the following:
-Bullying
-Homophobia/Past homophobia
-Exploitation and blackmail
-Violations of privacy/privacy laws
-Stalking/Mentions of stalking
-Threats of outing a closeted queer character
-Swearing
-Out of character moments and writing
-Canon-typical incompetence from the adults and other characters
-Just really incompetent writing honestly
Marc didn’t remember when or how he ended up at Marinette’s place.
One minute, Nelson was confronting him outside of the boy’s bathroom with photos of him and Nathaniel and some texts from a few of his old classmates about him and his ex; the next, he was being escorted up to Marinette’s room with leftover danishes and tea.
He felt bad for intruding on her and Zoe’s study session, but he couldn’t stop himself from collapsing into a puddle of tears on Marinette’s little couch. He felt especially guilt-ridden after he finally managed to get his story out through all of his blubbering and ended up leaving Zoe fuming and pacing the room.
“Those fucking dickheads!” she exclaimed, slapping her pencil case off of Marinette’s desk as she spun around for her fifth lap of stomping back and forth. “I can’t believe they would stoop so low! Actually, you know what? I can believe it, because it’s fucking Ray!”
Zoe let out another aggravated yell. It made Marc shake, and he couldn’t help but hug his knees tighter to his chest. He slowly started to rock back and forth in a futile attempt to soothe himself. He dragged his sleeve across his wet face, but more tears ran down as a shuddering breath escaped him.
“H-He said i-if we didn’t help them –” he sniffled loudly. “ - And if we didn’t break up, they’d hurt Zoe and the others, and they’d, they’d leak the photos and, and send them to Nath’s parents…”
“That fucking sicko!” Zoe exclaimed.
“Zoe!” Marinette scolded, crouching down next to Marc and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Marc. We’re not going to let them do this to you, or Nate, or anybody else! We…We can go to the Principal – and Sabrina’s dad!”
Zoe scoffed, loud and bitter. “Oh, please. Ray could drag around a corpse right in front of their eyes, and they wouldn’t bat an eye! Shit, they’d probably find a way to blame Marc and Nath for it.”
Marc clamped a hand over his mouth to stop the broken sob that erupted from his throat. A tidal wave of shame crashed over him, and it was already trying to pull him deep under.
It was naive of him to have so much hope; to believe that Paris would be any different than his life back in the country, and it was stupid of him to think he could ever be happy with Nathaniel without…
Without it coming back to bite him…
He thought he was being careful and safe when he purged every last one of his old social media accounts and made new ones, being extra sure to keep everything private and block every single one of his old classmates that popped up in his recommendations.
He was so sure that none of them would’ve given a shit about him after he left. And he was certain that Maël wouldn’t want anything to do with him or anything surrounding him –
But that was just wishful thinking on his part.
“What am I supposed to do?” Marc hid his face in his hands. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. And I don’t want to break up Nath either – I love him!”
“We know,” Marinette said, rubbing circles into Marc’s back. “We’re sorry that you guys couldn’t tell us on your time…What they’re doing is cruel, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they don’t get away with this.”
Marinette wrapped her arms around Marc and pulled him close to her chest for a hug. Zoe, after exhaling most of her fury through her nose, came to Marc’s other side and did the same, tucking his head underneath her chin.
They sat like this for what felt like forever, with Marc quietly sobbing into Marinette’s shirt while the girls held him tight.
A soft knocking came to Marinette’s door. The trio’s heads perked up, and Marc could see that only a handful of minutes had passed instead of the hours he assumed he’d lost.
“Marinette,” her mother called. “You have another visitor!”
“Now’s not really a good time, Mom,” Marinette said back.
“I don’t know – I really think you should come down and see who it is.”
Marinette’s face scrunched up in confusion and mild annoyance. She stood and walked to the little trapdoor. She threw it open, and a head of bright ginger hair and freckles popped up into the room. Marinette fell back on her hands with a yelp.
“Nate!” Marinette exclaimed.
“Is Marc here? I thought I saw him come this way…” he asked, his head whipping around the room until he locked eyes with Marc. His face lit up. “Marc!”
Nathaniel shot up into the room and scrambled across the floor – almost like he was a feral animal. He lunged at Marc and pulled him into his embrace. Marc, in turn, grabbed at his shirt and overalls with a white-knuckle grip, as if letting his fingers go slack for a single second meant he would lose his partner forever.
“Natty…,” Marc whimpered, burying his face in the crook of Nathaniel’s neck. “I-It’s awful. I-I’m sorry –”
“No, no. You don’t have to be sorry for anything. We’re gonna figure this out, okay?”
“How?”
“We’ll go back to school, find those stupid cameras, and take them to the cops! Or, leave them out for Ladybug, or one of the Miraculars to find so they can deal with them!”
Zoe shot up from her spot on the floor, excited.
“Yeah -Yeah! Let’s do that! Mari, you and Alya are pretty close with Ladybug, right? Why don’t you call her up and have her come by to help? She can even come with us to the police station – then Roger’ll have to listen to us and do something about this!”
Marc’s head perked up. The shame and guilt that had been trying to drown him slowly started to recede, but just as quickly as it started to recede, it rolled back in when he saw the hesitance on Marinette’s face. She went stiff.
“I-I don’t know, guys. How do we know that Ray and the others haven’t already taken the cameras down? Or deleted the photos from their phones and moved them somewhere else?”
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Zoe said. “If we’re wrong, we’ll figure something else out! Let’s just go to the school, do a quick sweep, and if we don’t find anything, then we call Ladybug!”
Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but Zoe was already getting her things and heading for the door. Nathaniel held out a hand to Marc.
“Let’s give it a shot, yeah? Figure it out together,” he said, with a small and hopeful smile starting to tug at the corner of his mouth.
Marc hesitantly reached for his partner’s hand. Maël’s voice poked at him from the back of his mind.
‘Why don’t you tell him about us, Marc? Why don’t you tell him what you did?’
Marc’s hand trembled, and he recoiled. Nathaniel’s brows arched in surprise.
“Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked slowly.
Marc swallowed hard. He forced his hand to grab Nathaniel’s despite his vicious shaking, and he made his head nod and his lips curl into the most convincing smile he could muster.
“Y-yeah,” Marc finally choked out. His mouth was dry as a desert. “Just…Just feeling a lot right now.”
Nathaniel nodded in understanding. “I know. All of this is a lot. But there’s hope. Ray hasn’t won yet. He always overestimates the success of his own plans. We just gotta find out where he’s hiding those cameras.”
Nathaniel squeezed Marc’s hand. Marc gave a half-hearted squeeze in return. Nathaniel pulled him to his feet and gathered their things, moving to follow Zoe out of the room. Marinette let out an exasperated sigh but followed behind the others.
“Mom! We’ll be back!” she called as they descended the stairs and started walking out the door.
Guilt gripped Marc again, digging its claws deeper into his chest.
If they knew what Nelson was lording over him, if they knew the ‘truth’ about him, would they still want to help him? Would Nathaniel still proudly hold his hand and march into battle with him if he found out about Maël and everything that happened back then?
Would Nath still love him after he realized what a ‘perverted coward’ he was? The one they tried to make him out to be?
Marc shook his head and tried to banish the thought from his mind.
Nathaniel and the others wouldn’t have to reevaluate anything; they wouldn’t have to see the messy mosaic that was Marc’s past because Marc would make sure they would never hear a single word about any of it.
They were going to stop Ray and his posse before they ever got the chance to ruin the beautiful and real thing he was building with Nathaniel.
He refused to let them ruin his relationships with the lies that tried to drown him so long ago.
˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
The butterfly house always closed an hour after school let out on Thursdays, so it was no surprise when the group arrived to find the doors locked and an additional electronic padlock holding it shut.
“Do you see anything that might look like a camera in there?” Zoe asked, arms crossed over her chest as her eyes scanned the greenery beyond the iron-wrought bars.
Marinette stood on her tiptoes to get a better view of the inside. Her head bobbed up and down, and she squinted her eyes as hard as she could as she searched the inside.
“Nothing from here,” she replied with a sigh.
“I thought I heard one when I was leaving down the stairs,” Nathaniel said, pointing toward the staircase with his thumb. “I can check around there.”
“And Marc and Mari can check the rest of the hallway,” Zoe said. Her eyes remained on the inside of the butterfly house. “I’ll keep looking around here and see if I find anything.”
“You sure, Zo? One of us can help you out. It’s fine with us…”
Zoe waved them off, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this covered. You guys go on ahead! We don’t have a lot of time here!”
The other three exchanged hesitant glances as Zoe went around the butterfly house in search of a camera, or perhaps another way inside.
Marinette turned her attention to Marc, nudging his side and beckoning him to come close. Nathaniel leaned in close as well.
“You take the left, and I’ll take the right,” she whispered. “Just so I can keep a close eye on her.”
Both boys nodded in agreement. The group dispersed to their self-assigned spots on the floor. Marinette stayed close to the right side, where Zoe started to linger. Nathaniel immediately went for the staircase while Marc stayed to the left side of the outer hallways, searching along the walls and the ceiling for even the smallest hint of a secret camera or recording device. Maybe the glint of a lens, or even an impression made in the dust built up in the corner to let him know that something was there and watching them.
But his eyes couldn’t help but drift back to Zoe as she pulled on the bars of the door in search of a weak spot.
He knew Zoe and Ray had a history of some kind that went back to her time living in New York. He wasn’t sure how bad things were – she didn’t like to go into detail about her life before Paris, and Ray was an especially sore spot she didn’t want to pick at unless she had to.
No one ever pushed. Marc most definitely did not try to pry any secrets out of her; with the amount of secrets he was holding close to his chest, he didn’t really have the right to go and look at his friends’.
But something was…off with Zoe. The boiling rage that seemed stuck to her and burned hotter than his and Nathaniel’s combined, the red-tinted tunnel vision that refused to leave without something to crush within her fist and plop it down on Principal Damocles’ doorstep, the newfound aggression…
Maybe he was just way too much of a passive doormat. Maybe everything that Ray had done just hadn’t hit him yet, and he was simply coasting on this feeling of superficial sadness until the other shoe finally dropped, but…
The person fluttering around the corner of his vision wasn’t the Zoe Lee he had come to know. It wasn’t the girl with the funky shoes who seldom swore and didn’t seem to have a single wrathful bone in her body –
Or, maybe it was. Maybe it was the part of her from New York and all the years she had to deal with Ray and his revolving door of cronies unlocking that box, sparking a long simmering rage that was sleeping inside of her –
…Maybe he was blowing this all out of proportion.
He turned back around to continue to search for evidence. He got on his knees and searched the floor. When he didn’t find anything there, he continued to feel around the walls and search the ceiling. He checked the elevator shaft, hanging off the bars and dangerously close to the long drop right under him.
His heart thumped hard against his ribcage and drummed loudly in his ears. His eyes traveled up and down, scanning the intricate iron-work patterns, yet once again coming up empty-handed.
He quickly swung his legs back over to the safety of the fourth floor with a defeated sigh. He turned towards the staircase and caught a glimpse of Nathaniel, scrutinizing the top left corner of the wall at the very bottom of the first set of stairs. He walked over to the staircase, descended the stairs, and came up behind Nathaniel.
He was still too busy scowling at nothing to notice Marc inching closer behind him.
Marc smirked playfully. He leaned forward, pursed his lips, and blew a puff of air to the nape of Nathaniel’s neck. Nathaniel shivered and jumped with a yelp. He spun around; Marc couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
Nathaniel huffed. His cheeks were a bright red, but there were also the inklings of a smile trying to pull at the corners of his lips.
“Not. Funny,” Nathaniel said, struggling to remain deadpan.
Marc giggled into his hand. “Sorry, sorry! I just thought you could use a break…”
Nathaniel sighed. His face fell back into a frown.
“There’s nothing here. I know I heard something when I left, I swear! But I can’t find anything! He’s been here – I know he has! I swear to God –”
“Hey, hey –” Marc cupped Nathaniel’s face in his hands and guided his face to meet his eyes. “Breathe…It’s like you said; Ray’s been caught doing this stuff before. Even if we don’t find anything here, we might find a clue somewhere else…”
Nathaniel hummed, mumbling to himself. “Yeah…I hope so.”
Marc’s smile grew tight. ‘I hope so, too…’
“Hey, I…I need to tell you something.”
Marc’s stomach flipped, and his heart skyrocketed into his throat. The voices crept back into his ears.
‘He knows.’
‘He knows what you did.’
‘He knows you’re just a pervert…’
Marc forced his head to nod. His stomach clenched as he tried to force the simple word out of his mouth.
“Okay.”
Nathaniel grabbed both of Marc’s clammy hands and held them up and close to his lips.
“You mean a lot to me. You mean way too much to me to let go of what we have just because some blonde douche bag said so.”
Marc’s brows arched in surprise.
“No matter what happens – no matter what Ray or anyone else does, or tries to do – I’m not leaving you for anything.”
“But, Nath – he’s gonna tell your parents. He’s gonna tell your mom –”
“I don’t care!” Nathaniel exclaimed, though, by the tremble of his hands and his voice, he cared a lot. “If she has a problem with it, she can sit and fucking rotate! This – you and me, together – it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. When I’m with you, it feels like…Like I can finally be myself, you know? And I feel safe with you, and happy with you! Like genuinely happy!”
Marc’s stomach twisted into taut ropes. He wanted to fall into Nathaniel’s arms and cry about how much he adored being with Nathaniel. How their partnership, their friendship, and now their new relationship dug him out of a dark hole he got buried in. How being with Nathaniel – as dramatic as it might have sounded – made him believe in love again. Made him believe that he could be loved by someone the way Nathaniel loved him…
But his secrets said otherwise, and his lies were right behind him, holding the shovel and waiting to put him 6 feet back under.
“N-Nate –”
“Marc, you… You mean a lot to me and I…I –”
“What are you boys doing up here?”
Marc and Nathaniel whipped their heads to the right of the landing just as Principal Damocles, Ms. Mendeleiev, and the devil himself rounded the corner to ascend the next set of stairs. Ray already had a shit-eating smirk on his face, and Nathaniel couldn’t stop his face from twisting into a scowl.
“You–”
“Boys, what’s going on here?” Principal Damocles asked, taking a step forward. “You know the butterfly house is closed at this time.”
“It’s as I said – they’re trying to break in to engage in their weird little ‘escapades’”, Ray said, still smirking and staring both Marc and Nathaniel dead on.
Ms. Mendeleiev shot Ray a look of disgust before turning her attention back to Marc, noticeably tenser than usual. Her brows knitted tightly together, as slightly pleading with Marc for it all to be the lie they knew it was.
Marc immediately shook his head. “No! That’s not true at all!”
“Whatever Ray told you is a lie!” Nathaniel exclaimed, pointing to the boy in question. Ray remained unfazed. “We’re only here because he’s been trying to blackmail us!”
“I haven’t the slightest clue as to what you could mean –”
“Oh, cut the crap! We know what you’re trying to do, and we know you came back here and took down the cameras!”
“Cameras? What cameras?” Damocles questioned, turning to Ray.
Ray threw his hands up. “Once again – I have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about.”
“He’s lying!” Nathaniel shouted, taking a step forward.
“Nath, calm down –”
A loud thunk and a metallic clang echoed from up the stairs. Everyone whipped around. Ms. Mendeleiev and Principal Damocles pushed past the others to investigate. The boys followed suit.
“What happened?” They heard Marinette exclaim, panicked.
“I-I don’t know!” Zoe stammered. “I just grabbed it, and it fell apart in my hands, I –”
“What is the meaning of this?!”
The boys could barely see over Damocles' broad shoulders. Once they managed to muscle through the two teachers, Marc’s heart fell into the pit of his stomach, and his mouth gaped open like a fish out of water. So did Nathaniel’s.
Zoe was on her knees. The electric padlock that was on the door had been reduced to pieces in her hands, bits of shrapnel scattered across the floor in front of her. Her eyes were wide and frantic, darting from person to person until they landed on Ray – where they darkened with rage. Tears started to prick at the corners of her eyes. Marinette crept out from the far corner, slowly turning her head to face with equal shock and panic.
“Zoe, what –”
“Wait, no! I didn’t –”
“Wooow, Zoe,” Ray said, pushing past the others and walking right up to her. “Guess you haven’t changed much since New York. Though I’ve gotta say – this is a new low, even for you. I mean – dragging your friends along to destroy school property. How sad…”
“That’s enough, Ray!” Ms. Mendeleiev exclaimed, her voice tight and teetering on the edge of a shout. “You’re not helping!”
“Miss Lee, I need you and your friends to come with me to my office. Immediately,” Damocles said, stepping forward. “We’ll be contacting your parents to get this issue sorted –”
“Wait!” Zoe shot up from her spot on the floor. “They had nothing to do with this! It was my fault!”
Marc whipped his head at Zoe. “Wait, no – that’s not true!”
“It is true!” Zoe shot him a look. “It was all my fault! I dragged them into this. They didn’t want to, but I made them come with me! They didn’t do anything wrong! Please, don’t punish them –”
“Ms. Lee.” Damocles raised a hand to stop her from speaking further. “While I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to defend your friends – there are still questions to be answered, and I need someone here to give me a clear idea of what happened here today. Now, if you would all follow me, please.”
Ray rolled his eyes, but he still couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he happily followed behind Damocles down the stairs. He couldn’t weasel his way out of this one, not if he wanted to keep up with his crappy, unassuming do-gooder schtick to save face.
Zoe slowly shuffled after them. She kept her eyes down at her colorful sneakers.
From that alone, Marc knew that it was all over.
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