Numbness was all Chloe could feel at the moment.
She was feeling empty and numb. No emotion was able to surpass her concious mind.
She had just started to slowly, very slowly get better.
And now, the enitre progress was done for.
All because her father couldn't wait it out.
It had been quite early in the morning, when Natalie knocked on the door and announced that Butler Jean was standing downstairs, on the order of Mr Bourgeios to get his daughter to come back home again, as she had apparently been staying long enough over at Adrien's and he didn't see any necessity in letting her stay any longer.
He wanted her to be in the hotel, he said.
And even though Adrien tried his best to get his own father to talk to Mr Bourgeios about rethinking his intention without giving anything away about why specifically Chloe didn't, actually couldn't, stay there, it had no use.
Mr Agreste was of the opinion that no one should question a father's request considering his child. He didn't want to interfere with his plans or upbringing of his own daughter.
So, Chloe was left with no other choice than accept what her father expected of her. She went back up to Adrien's room to grab the few things she had had on her when she arrived - her phone and clothes from the day. At the moment, she was wearing a borrowed hoodie from Adrien, which may have been way too baggy on her but it was comfortable and it was the only source of safety she was able to keep on her way back to the hotel. Her home which was actually the embodiment of a hellhole momentarily. She connected it with only bad things right now. She couldn't think of the good times, the only memories riding at the top of her head were those of Thomas and his actions on her.
She spent the rest of the day, hiding in her room, buried in blankets on her bed, hugging a pillow and staring blankly at the wall.
The hours ticked by without her moving a muscle.
Her father checked on her a few times, trying to find out what was going on but she was staying mute, not giving away a word.
After a few minutes of absolute silence, he always gave up again and left her alone again.
The first time something actually made her move up and out of bed was when Ladybug appeared in front of her window and lightly knocked on it.
Chloe jumped out of bed and opened it up to let the superhero in. She directly asked what was going on.
''I can't get you out of here but I still want to make sure you're safe, even though you're not at Adrien's anymore. What happened before should never ever happen again. So, I'm giving you this.'', she said and held up her hand in which she was holding something. Chloe opened her own hand and Ladybug dropped a tiny metal plate with a red button, protected by a loose lid, into it. ''If you open the lid and push the button, Chat Noir and I will be alerted immediately. And we will be there as soon as possible to stop what's happening from happening. Just let your window stay open at all times so we can get in to help.''
Chloe stared at the little button in admiration a few solid seconds.
''I- Thank you.'', she whispered, touched by the gesture, touched by the fact they actually cared enough about her to go to these measures of making sure they were able to protect her from Thomas' wrath.
Ladybug smiled and nodded.
''But how did you even know I'm not at Adrien's anymore?'', Chloe questioned.
''He informed us about it. Or more so, he called Chat Noir who then contacted me and together we worked to find a solution. We came with up with that. Marinette also helped.'', Ladybug said, trying to catch bonus points with Chloe for her 'normal girl' alter ego.
''I don't know what to say...''
''You don't have to say anything. Of course, we're helping out. I gotta go now. But you know now how to get out attention when you run into troubles with him again. Just don't take advantage of it.''
''I won't, don't worry. I can't take any risks of having you stop helping me. Then I wouldn't have anyone.'', she said quietly, adverting her eyes.
Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder. ''There's always someone out there willing to help. It's often the most unexpected people. But remember: Good things come to good people. If you start being nicer to others, they'll be very willing to help, I'm sure of it. I mean, I know now why you're so on offense all the time. It's self protection. I get it. But sometimes you gotta take the risk of trusting something.''
''You're right. I will try to think of it in the future.''
Ladybug smiled, gave a nod and waved goodbye before throwing her yoyo and swinging out into the night.
Chloe stayed back, looking back down at the small thing in her hands, which was giving her such an immense boost of hope. Hope, something she didn't feel in a seemingly endless time.
Next chapter is going to be the last one! :O
Thanks to everyone for sticking along, I'm happy this fanfic is getting appreaciated :)