Chapter 10

"YEAHHH!" the musician screamed, finishing up his fifth song of the night. The audience cheered with delight and began preparing for the next song he was about to play.

Jagged wiped the sweat off of his forehead, having worked up a lot from the intense performance. He plucked the microphone from his stand and looked out to the audience. "ARE YOU ALL READY FOR MORE!"

The audience roared, the hype quickly building. Jagged was about to start the next song but the blond man in the VIP area caught his eye, causing him to smirk. "EVERYONE! WE GOT A SPECIAL GUEST IN OUR AUDIENCE TONIGHT!"

"Oh no." Adrien stated, realizing that his fear was coming true. He looked around for an escape route but he was surrounded by unmovable bodies. He was stuck there and had to accept the fate that was about to befall upon him.

"What's wrong Adrien?" Marinette asked, placing her hand on his arm.

Suddenly, the spotlight shined on the couple and they immediately became the center of attention. Adrien looked up to the rocker on stage and waved. "Hey there… Jagged."

"You know Jagged Stone?!" Marinette asked with a large gasp. Adrien nodded to her question and began developing an awkward smile.

"COME ON UP HERE ON STAGE BUDDY, YOU KNOW YOU BELONG UP HERE!"

The people in front of Adrien moved to the side, clearing a path for him to the stage. He gulped, realizing he was trapped. He had no choice but to comply to the request seeing as everyone expected him to.

He walked forward and climbed up on stage. He half expected Marinette to join him, but she was being polite and stayed back to watch, with jealousy circulating throughout her.

Adrien approached closer to Jagged, whom immediately wrapped his arm around the boy's neck and clutched him close to his body. "DUDES! I OWE MY WHOLE CAREER TO THIS GUY! I WOULDN'T BE HERE TO THIS DAY IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM!"

The crowd erupted with cheers towards Adrien, who could only wave as a response.

"YEAH, THAT'S IT, GIVE IT UP TO THIS GUY! EVERYONE, SHOWER YOUR LOVE TO CH-"

"Adrien!" the blond interrupted, grabbing the microphone from Jagged's hands. "Adrien Agreste, that's my name."

"Adrien! Adrien!" the crowd cheered, with Marinette being the loudest supporter towards him.

Jagged looked down at him with confusion but shrugged. He released his hold on him and began taking the guitar off from his body. "OUR BOY ADRIEN HERE IS KILLER ON GUITAR! AS A SPECIAL TREAT FOR YOU ALL, I'M GOING TO LET HIM PLAY THE NEXT SONG!"

Jagged tried to offer his guitar to him, but Adrien politely declined. He felt bad that the audience was booing him because of his refusal, so he grabbed the microphone and looked out to the audience. "I'd love to play a song for you all, but I'm here with a special someone tonight! Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I want this night to be about her, and not me!"

The audience awed simultaneously just as the spotlight found its way back to shine on the lady in question. Blush once again covered her face, feeling flattered and embarrassed by all the attention she was getting.

"THEN IN THAT CASE!" Jagged said as he stole the microphone back. "THIS NEXT SONG GOES OUT TO YOU MS. MARINETTE!"

Jagged began strumming on his guitar, starting up his next song. However, he leaned close to Adrien just before the blond began taking his leave. "Hey kid, come see me backstage after the show."

Adrien nodded and hopped down back into the audience, joining back up with his friend. She immediately grabbed his hands and jumped up and down in excitement. "Adrien! I can't believe you know Jagged Stone!"

"Ha ha, yeah…" Adrien began rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he chuckled. "Jagged and I go way back. I umm… I gave him some advice on his career and appeared in one of his music videos."

Marinette's eyes went wide with shock as she had a sudden realization. "Oh! That must be where I knew your face from then!"

Adrien tensed up, unsure of how to respond. He remembered that when her and "Adrien" first met, she was fretting over trying to remember where she saw his face from. Her assumption was wrong, but he didn't want to deny the claim and blow his cover so he just smiled and nodded stiffly. "Sure."

Marinette turned back to face the stage and saw that Jagged Stone was still rocking on his guitar. She smiled and turned to Adrien once again, this time leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his body. "Thank you for helping make that song dedication happen."

He returned the embrace and began patting her back. "It's no problem Marinette."

The two of them held each other longer than what most normal hugs would last. Both of them had the same feelings of longing for each other flowing inside of them, but the thoughts of the promises they both made prevented them from taking things further than that.

"Come in!" Jagged called out, responding to the knocks on the door to his dressing room. The doorknob turned and the door swung open, revealing the blond boy from earlier on in the night that Jagged had invited over.

"Hello Great King of Rock." Adrien greeted as he closed the door behind him.

"Ah, you remembered the nickname from the deal. Smart man." Jagged complimented. "But that was only with your father, feel free to call me whatever you want."

"Thank you."

"Have a seat." Adrien complied to the man's request, taking the seat that was directly in front of the rocker. A large reptile suddenly came out from the back of the dressing room and perched itself on the pillow that was beside Jagged's couch and conveniently underneath Jagged's hand. He began scratching the crocodile's head, making it quite content and satisfied.

"Make yourself more comfortable if you want."

Adrien grimaced at the suggestion. He was already comfortable as he was, but he knew that's not what the rocker meant. Dark shadows completely surrounded his body, changing his appearance to that close of his real form. The only things that he was missing was his pointed horns and red eyes, but the black leather suit and eyemask with matching cat ears was enough for Jagged.

"So, what brings you to this city?" he asked, making casual conversation with the demon.

"Same as you I suppose." Chat responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"Work, gotcha." Jagged winked at the cat-like demon, causing him to feel awkward. "So, how long have I got left?"

Chat looked to his side, unable to look Jagged in the eyes as he answered. "A little less than five years."

"Still a good chunk of time." Jagged looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "Urgh… you know, it's a shame I'll never be able to hold any comeback concerts. Just take ten years off and come back with a bang with a world tour."

Chat didn't respond, not that he didn't want to but he couldn't. Normally he'd try and make light of the situation like Jagged was but he had a lot on his mind that was weighing on him, and talking business like this didn't help him any.

"So, who was that cutie in the audience?"

"Oh, her? She's…" Chat paused and thought about the words he'd say next. "… a client."

"A client?" Jagged raised an eyebrow at those words and stopped petting his crocodile.

"Yeah. Or, well, soon-to-be client is more accurate to say. She got tangled up with our affairs a while back and-"

"Come here for a second Chat."

Chat was rather off taken by the request, but complied with it and approached the rocker. Much to his surprise, Jagged leaned forward and grabbed him by his collar, glaring into his eyes. "Listen to me here demon, I know full well what you demons have to do but taking the soul of an innocent young woman is where I draw the line!"

The crocodile began to growl, staring intently at Chat as if he were its next meal.

"The only reason why I haven't fed you to Fang yet is because you helped me out when I was making that deal with your father and managed to get my life extended so I can rock more. But so help me, if I ever see you around that girl ever again, I'll personally send you back to where you came from, even if I have to go with you before my time's up. Understood?"

Chat sighed. This type of threat was nothing new to him, he had been threatened by the very same thing from Marinette once. However, thanks to the other stuff that he was going through, it was just another thing to add to his list of things that were affecting him.

"Understood." he finally replied. Jagged smirked and let go of him. "Good, now get outta here."

Chat didn't need to be told twice. Without wasting a moment, he departed the star's room, leaving him to his crocodile and what was left of his life.

He sighed as he shut the door behind him, looking down at the floor tiles underneath of him. He began thinking about everything that's happened up until this point. Everyone's been on his case since Day 1 and it was becoming emotionally unbearable for him. He didn't like being treated like a demon, even though he was one. Marinette was the only one that treated him differently, like he was just some other person. That's what attracted him to her in the first place. However, it seemed like that no matter how hard he tries, others will just keep reminding him of who he really is and to try and tear him away from her.

He sighed once more and made his way to the exit. He stood in front of the double doors to the outside and pondered his thoughts. He began to mumble, "Maybe it would be better if I wasn't in her life anymore."

Author's Note: This was the real reason why Adrien was reluctant to go to the concert with Marinette~ And now y'all see why ouo