Adrien didn't know what to do.
He had almost died , he was soaking wet, and his friends were expecting him shortly. Shivering, coughing, and still mentally in shock, he found a Leroy Merlin store and headed inside, knowing that he would find the bathroom interior section and that there would be towels. People stared at him as he walked past, given the state of his clothes and his hair, but Adrien couldn't care less.
He found a stack of towels on the shelf and slipped into a men's bathroom. There were no stalls, just a singular, dimly-lit bathroom. He locked the door and gazed at his reflection in the mirror. He certainly looked like he had just almost died. If it weren't for Ladybug, he would be nothing but an empty shell of a person lying at the bottom of the Seine at this very moment.
Adrien tried to breathe in and out, attempting to calm himself down and feel normal again. His stomach was churning and his heart was racing, but at least it was beating , he thought.
The light flickered and he saw Plagg floating beside him. It was a rare sight, but Plagg genuinely looked concerned.
"You okay, kid?" Plagg asked, his raspy voice sounding softer than usual.
"No," Adrien managed to say, feeling his hands trembling. His entire body was shaking slightly and his breaths became shorter and quicker. Adrien wondered if he was about to have a panic attack—it certainly seemed that way.
"Listen, you're fine. You're safe now," Plagg reminded him. Adrien tried to cling to those words, trying to forget the traumatic events that had occurred shortly before. He exhaled deeply one more time before picking up a towel and ruffling his hair with it. He slowly began to dry himself off.
Adrien's phone buzzed in his pocket, still completely dry along with his civilian clothes due to the fact that he had been transformed. It was only Adrien himself that was wet, because his dumb suit wasn't nearly as waterproof as he thought it was.
Adrien checked his phone and saw that it was his father. It wasn't often that Adrien felt enraged, but he had never hated his father more than in this moment. It wasn't his stupid, selfish deadlines, it wasn't his constant disapproval and lack of concern for his own son, or even his 'genius' plan of forcing him into a life of crime—no, it was the fact that this Akuma had nearly gotten him killed.
He blocked his father's number without a second thought along with the Gorilla's and Nathalie's, which he would have resorted to after a while. Adrien didn't care if he was breaking a million of his father's rules, because he was the last person Adrien wanted to talk to right now. His father had most likely found out about what happened by now, and Adrien hoped that he felt as guilty as possible.
Adrien had managed to calm himself down considerably by the time he climbed the ladder that led to Marinette's room. He could already hear a commotion going on. Alya was showing Marinette a video on her phone, and she was practically shouting during her commentary.
"—She just leaps in without a second thought! Just like that! And here, watch—she's gonna do CPR on him, and he survives. And then they just awkwardly talk to each each other and leave, though you can't hear what they're saying at all," Alya explained breathlessly.
Adrien suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he realized what they were talking about. He didn't want to relive this anymore. He just wanted to forget. And to make matters worse, Alya seemed to have recorded the whole thing.
"Adrien! Dude, you just missed it—did you hear about what happened?" Nino asked as soon as Adrien was back.
"Yeah," Adrien responded, careful not to project any sort of emotion into his words. "I was outside. Of course I heard."
"Where were you?" Marinette asked.
"I just...went into a few stores. I needed to clear my head. Father mentioned something to me and I was upset, but it's fine now." Adrien was surprised at how believable his lies kept becoming. Then he noticed how damp Marinette's hair was. "Why is your hair wet?" he asked, trying to detract from questions about himself.,
"Because she was taking a shower ," Alya snickered. "Can you believe it? I mean, who decides to take a shower when there's a literal Chat Noir versus Ladybug showdown happening just a few blocks away? Nino and I went to go see. But that rescue—it was epic . Right Nino?"
"Yeah, it was. I mean, it's awesome how Ladybug just saved Chat Noir like that even though they hate each other. She's even more heroic than I thought she was," Nino said.
Adrien felt even more humiliated. But knowing Alya, she had most certainly done what he was worried about.
"Alya, did you upload that video onto the Ladyblog?" Adrien asked nonchalantly. He didn't even know why he bothered to ask. Of course she did. Chances were that by tomorrow this would even make it to national news, and the Ladyblog would be getting more hits than ever before.
"I did, do you want to see it?" Alya responded.
"No," Adrien said simply, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He felt sick. Not only was it bad enough that he had almost died, which was undisputably the most terrifying thing had ever experienced in his life, but the whole word could now sit back and watch him as he suffered, instead focusing on how selfless and heroic Ladybug was. By tomorrow, everyone will have seen it. To make matters worse, he couldn't even ask Alya to take it down without raising suspicion or making it sound like he was defending the most hated person in Paris.
Feeling miserable and experiencing a dull ache throughout his entire body, Adrien sat down next to Marinette on the small pink couch and instinctively leaned his head onto her shoulder. She was so warm. And so perfect. But once again, the guilt was consuming him deep from the inside. Intangible voices shouted at him from within his mind, accusing him of being a liar and someone undeserving of her love.
After a long evening of watching movies, cracking jokes, playing video games and intense games of "would you rather," the four friends were getting ready for bed. Marinette couldn't help but notice that Adrien seemed oddly quiet for the remainder of the day. She remembered him mentioning something about his Dad earlier today, so Marinette figured that this was probably the case. Gabriel had a way of being a storm cloud in Adrien's life.
Marinette tried her best to cheer him up, but she could tell it wasn't working. He still smiled and laughed, but Marinette had a feeling that it was all fake. Adrien was a model, after all, he could fake his emotions better than anyone.
She also knew better than anyone what Adrien's fake modeling smile looked like, mostly because she used to shamelessly stalk his work last year. Marinette had seen pictures from practically every photoshoot he had ever been in. But as she got to know him, Marinette found out what his real smile looked like. It was goofy and wider and much more adorable.
And right now, she was seeing nothing other than the fake modeling smile. It was frustrating.
Adrien was wearing Nino's pajamas and kept thanking him over and over again for letting him borrow his clothes. He had thanked him so much to the point where Nino got annoyed and told him to shut up.
As everyone was taking turns using the bathroom and shuffling around to get things from their bags (minus Adrien, who just so happened not to bring one,) Marinette heard the trap door open. Sabine entered the room with a very serious expression on her face.
Adrien, Nino, Alya and Marinette watched the short but nonetheless intimidating woman in anticipation. Her gaze was even more threatening towards the boys.
"It seems you're all getting ready for bed," Sabine began. "Now, onto sleeping arrangements: I understand that this is a mixed-gender sleepover. And while I trust all of you to behave yourselves, there are certain measures I would like to be taken. Alya, you will get to sleep in Marinette's bunk. Marinette, you will sleep on the couch. The boys will sleep on the floor. Every one of you is to remain in your designated sleeping area. Understand?" Sabine demanded.
Marinette was mortified. She she should have expected her mother to do something like this, such as making a big deal out of sleeping arrangements. The other three nodded in agreement, though the discomfort was still evident on their faces.
Sabine then smiled sweetly. "Glad that's sorted! Good night lovelies!"
After she was gone, Marinette didn't waste a second to apologize. "I'm so sorry about that guys, my mom is just...well, you know," she tried to explain.
Nino laughed. "Don't sweat it, my mom is the same."
As instructed, they each settled into their designated spots. Marinette turned off the lights before laying down on her couch, then pulled a blanket over herself. She could see a light coming from her own bed, chuckling slightly as she realized that Alya was probably on her phone. Just beside her couch was Adrien, who was in a comfortably warm sleeping bag on the floor. Marinette's house never had a shortage of sleeping bags—her cousins from China and southern France visited often.
A few minutes later she heard the trap door open with a slow creak, indicating that Sabine was most likely checking in on them. Marinette and the others feigned sleep—well, Nino not so much. She could hear his light but authentic snores.
Marinette stared at the ceiling of her room, her eyes drifting towards the dark outline of the trap door that led to her balcony. She panicked a little as she thought about the potential of a visit from Chat Noir. Her friends would definitely hear, and there was no way she could explain why someone—especially Chat Noir— was knocking on her trap door at night.
Hopefully, she wouldn't have to see him or talk to him tonight. And although she hated herself for admitting it, a small part of her wondered if he was feeling okay after nearly drowning today.
Adrien woke up with a sudden jolt. He blinked confusedly for a couple of moments, not knowing why it wasn't morning and why he was on the floor of a strange and remarkably pink bedroom. Then he suddenly remembered what he was doing here.
His nightmare was already starting to fade away. But he did remember the key elements—he was drowning again. There was water everywhere. He was in an enclosed room filled with water, and there was a gushing waterfall pouring in from the ceiling. There was no escape, and Ladybug had been watching him, comfortably perched atop a ledge near the ceiling. She didn't listen to his desperate pleas for help and stared at him blankly as he struggled.
He sighed in frustration, angry at himself for still being so mentally shaken after what had happened. Adrien thought he was stronger than this. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but he suddenly felt too awake.
Adrien's stomach grumbled. Well, this was inconvenient. Waking up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack was never an issue when he was at home, but he certainly couldn't just get up and raid Marinette's kitchen like that.
He heard Marinette turn onto her side and adjust her blanket. Adrien sat up slowly, peering over at her and seeing that she was still very much awake.
"Marinette," he whispered as quietly as he could. Adrien was pretty sure that Nino and Alya were still asleep.
Marinette sat up slightly and turned towards him. "You're awake?" she whispered back.
"I am now," he responded, still barely speaking above a whisper.
"Are you hungry?" she asked. Adrien wondered if she could read minds, because this question filled him with an immense amount of relief.
"Yeah."
Marinette got up slowly from the couch, then motioned for Adrien to follow her. He got up as well, trying to make as little noise as possible. She carefully pulled open the trapdoor so that it wouldn't make any noise, and they both climbed down. She led him towards the kitchen, and Adrien's stomach grumbled once more.
"Are you sure your parents won't hear us?" Adrien asked quietly.
"No, it's fine, their bedroom is nowhere near the kitchen," Marinette responded, no longer whispering and talking at a more normal volume. "Cookies and milk?"
"I would love that," he responded, rubbing his temples. He was suddenly aware that his hair probably looked like a mess. Marinette, on the other hand, still looked beautiful, and he didn't think it was fair.
Marinette poured them both a glass of milk and opened a bag of cookies that her parents had made themselves. Adrien thought they tasted better than any cookies he could ever find at the grocery store.
They both sat down across from each other at the countertop in the middle of the kitchen. Marinette had opened the kitchen light but dimmed it just enough for them to see and not attract attention.
"Why were you still awake?" Adrien asked, taking a bite of his cookie.
"I wasn't awake the whole night," Marinette admitted. "I had a nightmare so I woke up. Couldn't go back to sleep, then I got hungry."
"Same with me," Adrien said.
They ate in comfortable silence for a while until Marinette spoke up. "Are you feeling okay? You seemed a little off today. Well, I mean, now that would be yesterday…"
"I'm fine," Adrien lied. "Just...stuff with my dad. Nothing unusual." At least that part was true."I'm sorry to hear that," Marinette said sincerely. She took a sip of her milk. "If it makes you feel any better, my parents aren't very happy with me either. My grades suck."
"But you're so smart," Adrien responded with surprise. "How can that be?"
"I just have a lot on my mind," she said, biting her lip slightly.
"I can relate, Princess," Adrien said with a light sigh. Then he froze at the sudden realization of what he had just said. Had he really just…?
Marinette stared at him with her eyes wide. Adrien quickly scrambled in his mind to fix the damage. How could he have let that slip? Granted, he was tired but he was also stupid .
"Oh, uh—sorry, do you not like that? I won't call you that if you don't want me to…" Adrien explained quickly. "I mean, lots of people call their girlfriends that and I just...I don't know…"
Marinette's expression softened a little. "It's fine, Adrien, I don't mind," she smiled.
That's a lie, you hate it when I call you that , Adrien's inner Chat thought with a scowl.
"So…" Marinette said, tapping on her now empty glass of milk and biting her lip. She then glanced at Adrien and seemed to hesitate.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Adrien said with a raised eyebrow. There was clearly something on her mind.
"Well, not exactly...I mean, I do want to tell you things...but there's something I want to ask you first," Marinette said, sighing.
"Shoot," Adrien responded.
"Okay," Marinette said, pausing before speaking again. "This might sound weird and out of the blue...but do you remember the video Alya showed us this afternoon?"
"Of course," Adrien said flatly, trying not to express his feelings regarding that particular event.
"Do you think Ladybug did the right thing?" she asked.
Adrien didn't respond. He simply stared at the countertop, then looked back at Marinette. The guilt was eating away at him once more.
"Yes," he responded simply.
"I think so too," Marinette said, much to Adrien's relief. "He might be awful in every way possible, but he didn't deserve to die." Adrien didn't know how he might have handled it if Marinette had even subtly suggested that Chat Noir deserved to die. Not that he expected her to, anyway, but Adrien was sure there were plenty of Parisians who would have felt indifferent and perhaps even relieved if he had.
"I mean...maybe there's more to him than people think…" Marinette reasoned. "There's no arguing the fact that he's a menace and criminal, but he's got to have a reason for what he does. For all we know, someone could be forcing him to do bad things…"
Adrien felt a sudden surge of hope. After all this time feeling insecure about Marinette's hatred towards Chat, he was overjoyed that Marinette was rethinking her feelings. Perhaps his near-death experience had elicited some pity within her.
"Are you really defending public enemy number one?" Adrien asked slyly. "May I ask why?"
Marinette stared at the countertop, avoiding his gaze. Then she sighed. "Look, Adrien, there's something I need to tell you. Something...I haven't told anyone."
Adrien's heart picked up pace. "Oh? And what would that be?"
"I'm...kind of acquainted with Chat Noir. He visits me at night sometimes, and I've spent some time with him, just talking."
Adrien felt nervous and guilty all at the same time. "Wow, Marinette, I didn't expect you to have such a questionable taste in friends," he responded, feeling absolutely terrible. Oh, if only she knew…
"He's not my friend ," Marinette said quickly. "Honestly, I only put up with him at first because I wanted to see if I could find out enough information about him to discover who he really is. I just wanted to help the city...and I thought maybe, if I could trick him somehow, I could get him arrested…"
Adrien felt betrayed. He had suspected Marinette's intentions at the beginning—he wasn't stupid , after all—but he had genuinely began to think that Marinette was warming up to Chat. He didn't know how to feel about this.
"I mean, that's what I intended at first, but then I got to know him," she continued. "And I thought that maybe I could convince him to change his ways instead."
"I don't think he ever would, at least not until he gets what he wants," Adrien said simply. This conversation was getting too ironic and too guilt-ridden for him to handle.
"That makes sense," Marinette said. "I just...I feel bad. Drowning is so traumatic. And now everybody on the internet is going to see it happen, and that just doesn't seem fair or right. But somehow I feel like I'm not allowed to feel bad for him, you know?'
Adrien had never felt more affectionate towards Marinette than right now. He just wanted to wrap her up into a big, warm hug and sob into her shoulder because she understood . Nobody cared about Chat Noir or how he felt about all of this except for her. Because that's who Marinette was—somehow, despite all odds, she had managed to set aside her dislike for Chat and showed sympathy anyway. He was more grateful than she would ever know.
"You're amazing, Marinette," Adrien said, watching as she looked taken aback. "I've never met anyone who cares as much as you do."
She blushed. "Thanks, I guess. I don't know what else to say that."
"You don't have to say anything else, I just wanted to let you know," Adrien said, standing up. "And I know it's the middle of the night, but could I have some cheese?"
"Cheese?" Marinette said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, camembert, if you have it," Adrien said, cursing at Plagg in his head.
"We don't have camembert, but I think we might have some brie cheese," Marinette said. "Hold on, I'll go get it." She headed off towards the other kitchen, the one used exclusively for the bakery.
Marinette stepped into the bakery kitchen, closing the door behind her as she opened the lights. Adrien had made a very strange request, but she knew he loved cheese. For all she knew, perhaps eating cheese late at night was just a weird quirk of his.
Tikki flew out from the pocket of her pajamas, looking very frantic. Marinette was annoyed at the fact that she had flown into her pocket the moment she realized that she and Adrien were going to be alone together. Tikki had barely slept and was on high alert, mostly because of the fact that Adrien was around.
"Tikki, why did you follow me downstairs?" Marinette said, frowning at the fairy. "I know you don't like Adrien, but this is ridiculous!"
"Cheese," Tikki squeaked breathlessly. "He asked for camembert, didn't he? Of course he asked for camembert! I knew it! I could practically smell it coming off of him! And let me tell you, I could recognize that smell anywhere…"
"Why are you freaking out so much?" Marinette said, searching through the fridge, getting continuously more annoyed by Tikki's strange behavior whenever it came to Adrien. "Maybe you're just hungry. I'll get you some more cookies."
"No!" Tikki said. "I...oh, Marinette, if only I could tell you! But there's so many rules I have to live by…"
"What are you trying to say, Tikki? So you don't like him because of the way he smells ?" Marinette asked, her eyes narrowed.
"No," Tikki said, her voice conveying pity towards Marinette. "I don't like him because he's going to break your heart."
A/N: Sorry for the really late update! November has been a really rough month...it's been hard for me to keep it together to be honest. Life sucks but you just roll with it, you know? Anyway, don't forget to leave a comment and a kudo! I can't handle the irony and the tension any longer, so the reveal will happen in the chapter after the next. I'm going to try to update quickly so you won't have to wait as long. Thanks for reading! :)
-Y