This is another fanfiction I had in the works! This is a planned two shot. For anyone reading Storytellers and Realizations, I'm hoping to add some more chapters sometime in the future. As always, please feel free to provide any constructive criticism I can use to improve my writing!
Ch 1: Cats Cry
Crying is painful, oh so painful. The weight of the world on your shoulders, the crushing suffocation it causes. Sometimes it's too much to even think about.
Adrien loves and appreciates the vibrant parts of his life for sure. His friends, fencing, and the freedom of being Chat Noir were splashes of color in stark relief to the cold way of life that his "home" offered. Adrien was truly happy most of the time, even though he constantly dreaded returning to the tomb-like silence of his house.
But sometimes, the loneliness always creeping in the hazy corners of his mind seep into his consciousness like a cold fog. He couldn't name what it felt like when it happened, he could only describe it like icy water. It was full of his doubts and insecurities, and he could feel it drip down his spine, flood his veins, and make his eyes water.
Adrien always knew when a breakdown was going to happen, he could never prevent them. The pattern was pretty set in stone: his loneliness only caught up with him in the deepest hours of night, after many hours of only solitude to keep him company.
When the poisonous ice water of his loneliness finally fell out of his eyes, they turned into burning tears. But by the time that happened, he was already far, far away from his house, the cause of his despair. He would transform and take off into the dark night.
The wind whipping past his face and the thrill of running and jumping over the rooftops of his city on these nights never gave him the same happiness as it would on a normal day. His watery eyes would blur his vision and his breathing would be ragged and erratic. It would take an eternity to finally get to his secret hiding place.
Tonight, he stands on the roof of an innocuous building on a quiet street, one he always uses for alone time. Chat picked this place because it was outside the normal routine that he and Ladybug used for patrol. He doubted she would ever find him here, and he didn't know what would happen if she did.
It only takes moments for his watery eyes and sniffling nose to turn into crying; the kind that stems only from the deepest of sorrows. He stumbles into the chimney to support himself before the wave of his breakdown crashes over him as he lands in a heap on the ground.
He cries. For what exactly, he doesn't know.
It's just an amalgamation of everything wrong with his life. He doesn't know how long he is there, he just feels how his aching heart pumps with the poisoned ice water of his thoughts and how his tears run over his mask and scald his cheeks. He is spinning, spiraling down, unable to think, unable to get out. A void.
Then, through the void, a timid, "Chat?"
He didn't realize how his sorrow had pulled him so deep under that he felt that he was at the bottom of a murky ocean. But open hearing her voice, the ice forming around his heart shatters and he feels like he had been pulled him up from the ocean floor into light.
Chat looks up to see his blurred savior. His angel dressed in red and black. He cannot speak, but his eyes speak for him. Ladybug sees them swimming in pain. He wipes away fresh tears to focus on her worried face.
Chat wants to feel embarrassed, but he is too numb. Instead, terror grips him as he sits before her in his most raw form. What if she leaves? What if she pretends that she never saw him tonight?
Then, she steps forward and sinks to the ground to meet him eye to eye.
He tries so hard to stop crying. He wants to be strong for his Lady, but it only takes seconds for Ladybug to break him again. She reaches out to cup his face in her gloved hands. "Chat. Look at me. Listen. It's ok to cry. Everyone needs to cry."
With those simple words, Chat's lips quiver into a watery smile before dissolving into crying again. He leans into her touch, rubbing the side of his face into her hands in thanks.
She sighs slightly.
"You know that you can always call me when you're down. We all have our dark days and it's nice to have someone there for you."
Chat looks her in the eye again, her blue pools filled to the brim with compassion, and fell in love with her all over again. When he spoke, his voice was wobbly. "I'd never want to bother you my Lady."
Ladybug changes position slightly, settling herself down next to him against the chimney. She reaches across her body to take her left hand in his before speaking again. "I would never, ever be bothered, especially when you're in a bad place. Contrary to popular belief, I do care. It pains me to see you hurting like this, especially all by yourself."
He can see the truthfulness written on her face.
She could see the relief through his tear soaked mask.
"Chat, you will always have me. Take as long as you need to cry it out, because I'll be here the whole time."
Ladybug takes her right hand and sweeps his bangs away from his face. She leans forward and places a chaste kiss on his forehead. He leans onto her and buries his face into her shoulder. Chat smells her comforting scent, a mix vanilla and fruit. Her hand strokes through his blonde locks, ready to support him in his dark place. They sit in wordless silence, letting Chat spill his sorrow.
He cries. For what exactly, he still doesn't know.
There are lots of things wrong with his life. But he knows he has someone on his side, who's seen him at his best and his worst.
He was still hurting, but the cold sorrow running through him was slowly being ebbed away by the warmth of his Lady. Her care for Chat combined with her comforting body heat warmed his cold soul.
Crying is painful, but having his Lady made it a little easier to get through. And for that Chat was grateful.