"Let's go Plagg, we're leaving." Says an irritated Adrien, stuffing random things into a bag. Things like extra clothing and hygiene objects, also his phone which he doesn't go anywhere without.
The small black kwami who had been taking a nap, slowly opened his green eyes, blinking to clear his vision.
"Wha-? But why?" Says Plagg, letting out a yawn. Adrien glanced over at him in frustration, he was done with this house.
"Because I can't handle this house anymore, my father neglects me, Natalie isn't much of a motherly figure, nor will she ever be, and I'm tired of these stupid modelling gigs. I'm running away, and you're coming with me no matter what."
Plagg finally woke up fully and floated beside Adrien, watching the boy continue to pack up items. He was fully committed.
"But Adrien, what about Ladybug? You're gonna leave her to fight alone? Your true love? You'll never be able to tell her your feelings." Says Plagg, trying to knock some sense into the upset boy.
Adrien stopped packing and stared down at the bag, wondering if this was a good idea. He pushed away his doubts and zipped up the bag. He threw it over his shoulder and stared at Plagg, who stared back at him with concern. Adrien sighed.
"I'm sorry Plagg, I have to do this though. And I'm not leaving Ladybug, I'll always be there for her as Chat Noir, it's just- Adrien won't be." He says sadly, Plagg's ears tilt slightly down and he nods, Adrien nodding back.
"Good, then let's go. I want to leave Paris before dawn."
"That might be harder than you expect. Look outside." Says Plagg, turned towards the large window in the bedroom. Adrien turns to look and realizes Plagg was right. It was like a blizzard out there, he almost forgot it was the middle of winter.
"Well, I guess we're gonna have to just go through the storm."
The two of them left the bedroom and crept down the hall, being sure to not wake anyone up. It was almost 2 in the morning and Plagg was almost falling asleep on Adrien's shoulder, who had a winter coat on and was just about to leave the house. Adrien slowly opened the front door and cringed as a gust of cold air rushed in.
"Man, it's cold.." Mutters Adrien under his breath. Plagg looks up at his face to see if there was any sign of doubt but all he could see was determination. They both braced themselves for the cold and left the house, walking quickly down the front steps and down the street.
"Now we just need to get out of Paris," Says Adrien, already feeling his fingers freezing up.
"Adrien, if you start to get too cold, you can transform into Chat Noir and get out of Paris faster." Suggest Plagg, tucking for warmth under Adrien's winter jacket.
"I might consider that."
The two continued to traveled down the street, barely any cars passing by, and the ones that did were probably wondering what a boy was doing outside in the cold at this hour. After moments of silence, and a lot of shivering, Plagg finally spoke under the jacket.
"Hey Adrien?"
"Y-yeah?" Replies Adrien, shivering. It had gotten much colder and he could barely even feel his fingers. His teeth were chattering and his hands were shaking. Plagg hated seeing him like this.
"Where are we going?" Asks Plagg, trying to get a conversation flowing.
"Anywhere but here, probably travel north to Lillie and try to cross over to Belgium."
"You want to go to Belgium!? But Adrien, what about protecting France, let alone Paris? That's why I chose you to be Chat Noir, leaving the country would ruin that entire chance." Explains Plagg, not liking the idea of running away even more now. Adrien let out a sigh, the cold exposing his breath.
"I suppose you're right..." Says Adrien, still shivering. After a moment of thinking, Adrien finally spoke again. "Fine, we'll stay in France but I'm still going to Lillie, I just can't stay in Paris any longer."
Plagg sighs, facing defeat. He slumps down farther into the jacket and doesn't say another word. He was too cold and too tired to argue with Adrien at the moment.
After five minutes of walking, Adrien finally couldn't take it any longer. His legs were completely numb as well as his fingers and ears and his breath was getting shallow and slow from exhaustion. He had to stop and rest somewhere, but where? He spun around and noticed a building near the park.
A bakery.
"Do you think Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng would mind me crashing in their shop for the night?" Adrien asked, mostly to Plagg who ignored him.
Adrien walked up to the door and jiggled the handle, it was locked. There was only one way in then...
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien calls out, Plagg gets sucked into his ring and he transforms into the hero Chat Noir. Chat jumps onto the building and climbs to the roof, his limbs still trembling from the cold. He slowly opened the roof door into a bedroom and as quiet as he could, sneaked inside. A breeze of freezing air swept inside and he heard a muffled groan. He froze in his spot. He turned on his night vision and he realized he was in Marinette's bedroom. He facepalmed.
"I knew that!" He harshly whispered to himself, he had forgotten this was Marinette's room. She rolled over in her bed and yawned. She was still asleep.
Chat slowly climbed down the small steps onto the floor and looked at his surroundings, her desk with the computer sat next to him. He stared at it for a moment, recalling memories from when Adrien was over her playing video games with Marinette. He smiled slightly. He took a step forward and his heart stopped when a floorboard creaked.
"Huh?" Says Marinette quietly, waking up. Chat panicked, his heart began to race and his mind froze. He couldn't move, he couldn't even breathe.
Marinette sat up in her bed slowly and rubbed her eye with her fist tiredly.
"Who's there?" She asks, still half asleep. Suddenly her eyes widen when she sees Chat's glowing eyes in the dark, staring at her intensely. She almost screamed. Instead she grabbed the closer thing to her, which was a hard cover book, and held it in her hand, prepared to throw it at him. He flinched.
"No, no, please! Marinette, it's me, Chat Noir!" He quietly pleaded, holding out his hands for cover. She stared at him for a moment, then slowly put the book down. She turned on her bedside lamp and light brightened up the room, revealing Chat.
"At least you're not akumatized..." Mutters Marinette, staring at Chat. He didn't hear her. "What are you doing in my room?" She asks, trying to keep her voice down to not wake her parents.
"I'm sorry, I had to. You're room was the only way in and if I didn't, I would've turned into a Cat-Popsicle out there." He says, adding the cat pun. Marinette didn't look the slightest bit amused.
"What are you doing out this late- or should I say early- -anyway?" She says, looking at her clock. Almost 3 o'clock in the morning.
"Um... I was, uh, patrolling?" He says, he was a terrible liar. He was better at it when he wasn't freezing his tail off. His fingers ached from defrosting, causing him to cringe slightly at the pain.
"Chat. Tell me the truth." She says, getting out of bed. He sighs and lets his arms hang beside him.
"Alright fine... I ran away from my home. I'm planning to go to Lillie and possibly leave France." He explains to her, not wanting to look into her eyes. He felt ashamed for saying that, even to her.
She processed his words, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"You want to leave Paris!?" She shouts in a hushed whisper, Chat stares down at the floor, avoiding eye contact. He was acting like a dog that was just caught doing something bad. His ears hanging down to his head and his eyes low and sad.
"What about Ladybug? You're just gonna leave her?" Says Marinette, totally surprised and upset at the same time.
Chat felt his eyes begin to water, running away was harder for his mind than it was for his body. And right now, his emotions were overflowing.
"I-I'm... I n-never wanted t-to leave h-her... I-I'm just- I'm..." He stutters, his words filled with sadness. Tears ran down his face and he stared down at the ground. He let out a small sob, finally giving up on holding back. "I-I'm sorry . . . I-I just can't do this a-anymore . . ."
Chat covers his teary eyes with his hands and continues to cry quietly.
"Chat . . ." He heard Marinette say softly, the concern and pity in her voice as clear as day.
"No one even loves me . . . My own father neglects me! He probably doesn't even know when my birthday is unless his assistant tells him . . . No one loves me... Not even Ladybug..." Cries Chat, not caring anymore about keeping his family life a secret. He had to get all of this off his chest or else he wouldn't gotten so overwhelmed it would lead to sickness.
"No wonder I'm bad luck..." He mutters, more tears spilling from his gorgeous green eyes.
Suddenly he gets pulled into an embrace, his eyes widen at the sudden action. Marinette's arms were around his neck and she held him tightly.
"Chat... I'm sorry that you have such a bad life at home, but I promise you, a lot of people love you. Even Ladybug . . . I love you Chat." She says still hugging him tightly. He lets her words sink in and he starts to cry again, he wraps his arms tightly around her and cries on her shoulder.
"You can stay here for the night Chat, but you have to make sure my parents don't find out." Marinette says, a small smile crossing her lips. She was glad to help out Chat when he needed it most. After a few minutes of him crying, he finally calmed down.
"Thank you, Princess." He says, still hugging her. They both smile and Marinette pulls away, letting Chat Noir wipe his glossy eyes.
"Better?" She asks, Chat nods. "Good, um, you can sleep over on the lounge bed, I'll get you a blanket." She says and quickly runs to her closet and grabs a soft black and red blanket, carrying it over to where Chat was sitting down. She hands it to him and he keeps it in his hands, staring down at it blankly.
"Thank you Marinette, you're a great friend." Says Chat, smiling slightly. Marinette smiles back and waves a hand at him.
"It's nothing, but we might have a small problem," Says Marinette, Chat tilts his head slightly with an eyebrow raised.
"What's that?"
"Well, in the morning you'll transform back..." She says trailing off, Chat just shakes his head.
"I'll take that risk. I trust you Marinette, I know I can change back in front of you without you telling the whole city about it. Right, Princess?" He says, winking playfully. She smiles, and nods.
"Right. Now get to sleep, thankfully I don't has school tomorrow so you're actually lucky for once." She jokes, he let's out a short laugh and lays on the piece of furniture, pulling the blanket over his cold body. Marinette slowly walked back to her bed and got back in, she laid her head on her pillow for a minute, her eyes still wide awake while she listened to Chat. His slow and soft breathing was somewhat calming.
"Bonne Nuit, Chat Noir." Says Marinette in French.
"Sweet dreams Marinette." Replies Chat, smiling as he closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.