55. Day 4 Part 10

The two angry teenagers stomped into the art room together a few inches apart, with Chloe slamming the door behind her with such ferocity it made all the paper mache masks hanging on the wall shake. Apparently, in the year below Chloe's, the class had been doing an essay on face symmetry and having their features preserved for posterity in the gooey substance.

If the heiress had been present during that whole mucky process, then her current features after the mache had set might have come out resembling something from a horror film, so aghast was she at having to spend the last chunk of the day with this 'lame' artist when she could be looking for her kwami instead. It was true that she was trying to make up for her past misdemeanors to all and sundry… but Nathanael? This would be perhaps her most difficult task yet.

Not only had the redhead refused to apologise for absolutely trashing her room during his short-lived stint as the 'Evillustrator', she also found him completely inscrutable as a normal person, too. All he ever did was sit in his chair, doodling those dumb drawings of everything around him, like her expensive bracelet (now removed by Zzubo, funny that she didn't miss it) or a certain crummy baker's daughter. She'd absolutely no idea what to say or even how to approach him to kickstart things, so for now she just looked away, hoping against hope that he'd make the first move to form a connection, no matter how tenuous.

Oddly enough though, despite the fact that Nathanael was as quiet as Ivan and Juleka had been before him, he seemed to be taking an awful amount of interest in her, although he did his utmost not to show it. The artist kept glancing up quickly between scribbling breaks, rapidly making broad strokes with his pencil as if his life depended on him finishing quickly. It was all very strange, and despite Chloe's practiced indifference, she couldn't help but be intrigued.

So, completely without invitation and with her boredom almost reaching catatonic levels, she hopped off her chair and strolled briskly over to where he was seated. Her presence was not exactly welcomed by Nathanael, who quickly covered up his sketchpad upon her arrival and gazed upwards with annoyance at her unsolicited intrusion on his project.

"H-Hey what do you think you're doing?! I-It's not even finished yet…" The redhead had a determined philosophy to never unveil a 'work of art' before it was concluded. "B-Besides, why would I want to show you anyway? A-All you'll do is laugh and make fun of me again…"

A flash of guilt momentarily passed through Chloe's mind, as she recalled how her callous comments over Nathanael's drawn superhero poses with Maritrash had led to his akumatisation in the first place. But just as she was about to take a step back, she happened to glance a sneak peek of the budding artist's latest work from beneath his cloistered hands, that made her eyes open wide and her teeth clench.

"Give me that!" An irate Chloe went to snatch at Nathanael's pad, almost wrenching it from him completely due to the unexpectedness of her sudden move. The redhead just managed to cling at the last minute, and the minor tussle quickly escalated into a tug-of-war between artist and philistine, complete with shouted remarks.

"Who do you think you are?! That's my life's work in there! Take your grubby mitts off of it! You'll smudge the ink and graphite!" Nathanael was not best pleased at the potential theft of the majority of his recent catalogue.

"Pff! I don't see any of your chicken scratchings ending up in the Louvre somehow! Also, you know damn well why I can't allow you to continue!" Chloe was back to her abrasive best, utterly mortified by what she thought she'd glanced for an instant on the redhead's paper.

"Why do you always have to be like this?! So rude and full of yourself. And you wonder why you don't have any friends. Why Adrien carries on trying to stick up for you, I don't know…" Nathanael was not usually the outspoken sort, but in the heat of the moment he couldn't help but speak his mind.

Chloe was slightly taken aback both at the bluntness of the criticism and it's unlikely source, also because she now secretly acknowledged that every single word of his tirade was absolutely right. Nevertheless, she wasn't about to allow herself be upstaged by this doodling loner. "Y-yeah, w-well at least I actually go out and meet people in the sunshine. I bet you just sit at home in your parent's dank basement all day, scribbling away on some tacky drawings no-one else gives a hoot about! Face it, Nathanael… you might have some talent, but as long as you're a fully paid-up member of the Hermit's Association, you're always going to be a miserable recluse!"

A feeling of smug satisfaction began to appear on Chloe's face as the full impact of her 'devastating' critique began to sink in, but the reason behind Nathanael's look of surprise wasn't because of the harsher aspects of the heiress's little rant at all. "Y-You t-think… I-I have talent?!" He stuttered, as though the merest hint of a compliment from the stuck-up blonde was a world-ending moment.

In fact, so shocked was the redhead at Chloe's unprecedented praise, he dropped his end of the sketchpad there and then, leaving the heiress stumbling backwards at the sudden loss of pressure. Seeking to avoid a nasty fall, she swiftly grabbed a table to halt her inevitable descent, resulting in the pad being unceremoniously dumped onto the floor.

The item landed on its centre pages right next to Chloe, allowing the heiress a full view of most of Nathanael's recent portfolio. A strangled gurgle escaped the redhead's throat as he witnessed the heiress begin to stare intently at his precious artwork, but there was nothing he could do now. The cat was out of the bag, the genie was out of the bottle… he was just going to have to live with the bloody consequences. Ouch...

...For pictured on the two A4 size pieces of paper were many, many images of Chloe herself, just like the one she'd spotted a few minutes earlier which had set her off. Some were only half-finished, others were partially coloured in. Some were inspired by everyday activities around school, others were of quieter moments, when the heiress hadn't even realised she was being scrutinised. The level of detail was amazing, down to every last strand of honey-blonde hair, and each frown mark on her forehead as she yelled at Sabrina for some perceived misdeed. The artist had obviously taken a lot of time over them, and Chloe was so mesmerised she didn't even react when a visibly jittery Nathanael crept across to join her.

"M-My favourite ones are w-where you're s-smiling g-genuinely. I-I just wish you'd do it more often…" The redhead stammered nervously, as if all of his life's secrets were poured out in front of him. Some might say they were.

He picked up the pad and flicked through the pages, pointing out various scenes committed to paper mostly from memory. Greeting Adrien on his first day at public school… celebrating with her father after being saved from Stoneheart's clutches… hugging Ladybug after yet another successful de-akumatisation… and the brief upturn in her lips after gifting Sabrina a new friendship bracelet. The same one I plan to s-smash l-later…

"T-That one's my favourite…" Nathanael pointed to the split-second moment Chloe felt joy at doing something for someone else for a change. "Y-You might think no-one else noticed it, but I did. I-It's when I finally figured out, n-no matter how much you try to hide it, t-there is some good in you. P-Perhaps one day, y-you'll stop being as fake as you are now, a-and learn to be yourself. B-Believe me, a-an artist knows when their subject is putting on an act, a-and you've been playing one ever since I first met you. D-Don't get me wrong, i-it's a very good one, b-but even the best performer shows a crack or two now and then, a-and the day after you returned from being Antibug I think I captured one such rare moment…"

"B-But why?" Chloe screeched in confusion, interrupting him mid-sentence. Great, now I'm back to crying again. From now on, I'm not leaving the hotel without any tissues. "I-I was awful. I-I was selfish. I-I don't deserve someone of your skill to lavish me with such attention. I mean, it is kinda creepy… but even so, you're going to grow up to be a professional artist. You're going to have people from all over the world paying you hundreds of euros to do their portraits for them. W-Why waste your pencil and pen on a spoiled brat like me?!"

Almost rendered speechless at Chloe's thorough evisceration of her own character, Nathanael struggled to answer that. "W-Well… y-you s-see…."

"Yes?"

"H-How c-can I-I p-put t-this, C-Chloe… I-I've had this strange thought in my head for a while, t-that as much as I want it to go away, i-it won't…"

"Are you trying to tell me you're a psychopathic stalker. Nathanael? Are you the one I sometimes see from my bedroom window at night, standing under a lamppost whistling ominously?!"

"N-No! N-No! N-Nothing like that Chloe, I-I swear! I-It's just… i-it's not something I ever expected to feel for this particular person. I-In fact, s-she's like the last girl I ever thought I'd ever have these kind of f-feelings f-for…"

"If you're describing your unfathomable crush on that loser Marinette, then relax, I already know about it. Remember, that whole I-want-to-kill-you thing? Giant hairdryers and stilettos chasing me? Don't worry, I've long since forgotten about that. What that doesn't explain though, is your somewhat unhealthy yet slightly flattering habit of filling almost an entire sketchpad of my fine visage. Care to explain, Nathanael?"

"W-Well C-Chloe… y-you s-see... a-about that 'crush' on Marinette. I-I kind of gave up on her a while ago, I-I mean everyone with a brain can see her and Adrien are meant for each other…"

"I resent the implication I don't have a brain, but whatever. Do go on."

"T-That's when I began to notice someone else, someone who I'd never really taken a proper look at before. S-She acts horrible and nasty to everyone, but I know she has a softer side, and I should know… I've done plenty of 'research'. S-She's also intelligent, strong-willed, pretty, witty… but if I told anyone I liked her, they'd think I was insane. T-That's why I simply observe her from a distance, hoping that one day maybe, just maybe, she'll emerge from her self-imposed cocoon and become as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside…"

"No offense Nath, but that has to be the corniest load of old guff I've ever heard. No girl in their right mind would fall for that kind of sappy nonsense. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

"W-Well, coming from you Chloe, I guess my mission is a failure then. I-I might as well burn this entire pad now, for my dreams are destined to never be fulfilled. M-Most of all though, I'm sad because I'll never get to see if I can make the girl I like smile every day, just like the one in my favourite picture…"

"Huh, wouldn't that be a shame. Listen Nath, I can give you some dating advice, but considering all my failed attempts with Adrien, I'm probably not the best person to ask. At least I won't have to embarrass myself in front of him anymore though, because that phase of my life is officially over. We're friends, nothing more. I'm just glad I finally figured that out, before I made a total fool of myself pursuing a dead-end relationship..."

"W-Wait. W-What was that you said before about disapproving of him and Marinette then, Chloe?"

"I might not want his ring on my finger now Nath, but as a concerned friend I certainly have a right to take an interest in his lovelife. And I know for a fact that a prize catch like Adrikins can do so much better than a tiddler like Marinette. If I was him, I throw her to the sharks and try some better bait later. Basically, clumsy fishing metaphors aside, what I'm trying to say is he can see whoever he likes, but nothing's going to stop me from giving him some 'constructive' advice along the way."

"W-Well at least that narrows down my competition, but seeing as you've just made it crystal clear you're not interested… oops."

Chloe's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a shocking revelation. The rusty old cogs in her brain had finally finished turning, and everything became as clear as day at long, long last. The pictures… his description… the way he's l-looking a-at m-me n-now...

"Oh. Ooh. Oooh…" These were the only words to leave her lips, before the room started spinning and she fainted dead away.

Still, at least someone was there to catch her.

…..

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yep, sorry everyone… I had to give into temptation. The ship has already officially sailed, could all passengers please be seated now before the main voyage commences. Toot Toot.

Also, mucho apologies to anyone waiting for an update or a reply to their PM, I'm so busy these days I barely have enough time for this story that I absolutely love writing and reading comments about. Please stick with your captain, and I promise the journey will be well worth it. Bye for now! *INTERCOM FRAZZLES OUT*