Chapter 20: A Million Miles Away
The past week had been one of the most stressful of Adrien's life. He hadn't realized just how much effort it would take to fulfill what he'd sworn to his father. Ignoring someone who was intent on making you break the silence was a lot of work, and his father tried everything he could to make it happen. The man would show up in the middle of meals, attempt to ambush Adrien with questions when he thought his son's guard was down, and try to force conversations both when they were surrounded by people and when they were completely alone.
Adrien refused to give in.
What was even more wearing was that Lila was still hanging around, also intent on getting his attention and trying to get him alone, but Adrien was having none of it. She'd pushed him too far at the party and the blonde was done. Every time she tried to speak to him, Adrien walked away or turned the conversation to anyone else that happened to be nearby. If she caught him alone, he firmly said no to anything she said or suggested and then left, even if she was still talking. Needless to say, she was as pleased with him as his father was now.
He wondered absently as he twirled his pencil, not even pretending to be doing the math exercises that Natalie had assigned him, when they'd start wagering against each other to see which of them could break him first. The thought sent a smile flitting across his face for a moment before he looked back down at the textbook in front of him.
What depressed him most about his current situation was the fact that he'd been unable to contact any of his friends since the night of the party, when his phone had been confiscated. He regretted not having memorized any of their phone numbers now, because even if he got into his father's office with the landline, he had no number to call.
He had seen Alya and Nino outside several times in the first few days of his house arrest, but despite all of their efforts, Gorilla had managed to put Adrien in the limo every time before they got close enough to speak. He desperately missed his friends and the loneliness was even more crushing now than it had been before he'd met them and knew that he had been lonely at all.
What worried him the most was the idea that an akuma would attack and he wouldn't be able to get away from Gorilla to transform. His bodyguard stuck to him like a burr whenever he left the mansion any more, going so far as to sit in on Adrien's fencing lessons to do nothing but stare at his charge until he was done.
"Adrien."
He didn't look up from his textbook. He didn't flinch, didn't move a muscle, just pretended to keep studying. Then, he turned his attention to the next math problem. He heard his father's disgusted huff and then footsteps came into the room, stopping not far behind him.
A folder was slapped down on the desk next to him and Adrien ignored it's existence.
"Care to explain these?"
Silence. Then a growl from his father as the man flicked the folder open and spilled the photos the folder contained across Adrien's desk, effectively covering his math book and papers. They were pictures from his last two photoshoots. He'd been as good as his word and not done a single thing, even though he'd been forced to show up for them.
"What is this rubbish?" His father demanded. "Refusing to pose? Sitting like a statue? And what is this… yawning?"
Adrien emulated his picture, letting a huge yawn escape him as he brushed the photos away and found his mouse and keyboard under them all. He navigated the the LadyBlog as he tuned out the ear full his father was giving him for wasting the valuable time of the photographer and assistants and how much money the photoshoots had cost, which was money down the drain now.
Suddenly, the mouse was ripped from his grasp as his father loomed over him. Adrien refused to look up as Gabriel continued to berate him for his childish behavior and started in on foolish he was being, holding a petty grudge for so long.
Adrien swiveled his chair away and stood, heading for the bathroom and closing the door in his father's still-ranting face. Inside, the blonde sighed heavily and slumped against the door.
Plagg slipped out of Adrien's shirt and floated up to glare at the door silently, looking as though he had a few choice things of his own he wanted to say to Gabriel, but not wanting to be accidentally overheard and reveal himself.
It was several long minutes later before Gabriel was heard to leave and Adrien sighed in relief, but didn't move yet. His father might have just made it sound that way. After waiting several more minutes and hearing nothing, Adrien stuck his head back out and saw that his father really was gone.
"How long are you gonna keep this up, kid?" Plagg asked, zooming back to where he'd been dozing on Adrien's bed before Gabriel had so rudely burst in.
"As long as it takes."
"Ugh," the kwami groaned, burying himself in the covers. "You humans and your drama. Life would be so much easier if you'd all just learn to love cheese. Speaking of which..."
Adrien shook his head, unable to help the little grin that tugged at his lips.
"You can wait till dinner, like everyone else."
A whine came from the direction of the kwami, though Adrien couldn't see him any more for the blankets and sheets, and the blonde went back to his desk.
He decided he was going to focus on one of the few bright spots left in his life at the moment and began pondering what Marinette might have for him to eat tonight, smiling to himself as he pictured her, sitting next to him on her balcony and describing how to make some sort of pastry or sweet. It made the intervening hours between the afternoon and evening pass a bit more quickly, knowing he might get to see her tonight.
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Chat tapped on Marinette's window and saw her sit up as her lips formed his name. He grinned, pointing up and she nodded with a small smile of her own. He hopped up onto her balcony and waited. Ten minutes passed, then another five, and Chat began to worry that maybe she'd forgotten he was up here? Or maybe one of her parents had come up after he'd left the window and she was busy talking to them? He was just about ready to go peek in her window again, when the trapdoor popped open and she appeared with a plate of tarts.
"Give a girl a hand?" She said, holding out the plate.
He jumped from where he'd been sitting on the railing and took the plate from her before holding out his free hand to help pull her up. She took it and climbed easily out of the trapdoor.
"Thanks," she said with a grin.
"Any time, princess," he replied, giving the hand he was still holding a kiss.
She rolled her eyes and looked away as she took her hand back, but Chat could see the slight blush and grin on her face. Deciding to give her some space, he turned his attention to the plate in his hands and sniffed.
"Raspberry and lemon?"
Marinette, who had turned her attention to spreading out a blanket for them, looked back at him, still grinning.
"Yes. I was thinking you might be by tonight so I made them special for you. You said you thought raspberry tarts were the best, right?"
"Mhm, and you claim the lemon ones are the best," Chat replied, taking a seat and putting the plate down between them. "So you combined them?"
"Yep! Raspberry and lemon work wonderfully together, you know."
"Do they? Hm. I guess I'll have to find out for myself."
He took a bite of one of the tarts and sighed in pleasure.
"Alright, princess, you're right. The combination is the best."
"Of course I'm right," she replied cheekily, and he laughed.
"Far be it from me to debate the master on her own subject."
Marinette nodded sagely.
"Smart boy." She plucked a tart from the plate for herself and leaned back. "So, how have you been?"
The smile slipped from Chat's face at the question and Marinette almost regretted asking it. He shrugged and then sighed heavily.
"Not great. I'm basically under house arrest right now. I haven't said a word to my father since our fight. He thinks I'm being childish, but I'm just following up on what I told him I'd do."
"And what was that?"
"Nothing." He looked over at her. "I told him I would do nothing. I won't participate in anything he insists I have to do and I won't speak to him or acknowledge his existence."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
Chat finished his tart and plucked another from the plate. The little baker didn't like seeing that look of despondency on her friend's face and pondered for several moments on how to cheer him up.
"Have you ever imagined what it'd be like to take off, and never look back?" Marinette asked, watching Chat's face closely.
He let out a huff of air.
"Only ever hour of every day."
Then he paused, looking thoughtful, before a mischievous grin touched his lips.
"What's stopping us?"
Marinette raised an eyebrow when the superhero looked over at her, a twinkle in his eyes. Alright, she'd play along, if it would get his mind off his troubles at home for a while.
"I don't know, Chat. What's stopping us?"
He grinned.
"Nothing! Nothing's stopping us."
He gestured grandly out over Paris.
"We'll join a caravan tonight,
Count on the stars to be our guides.
We'll simply vanish out of sight,
Go where the dessert road decides."
Marinette laughed.
"A caravan across the dessert? Why not just take a bus to Belgium or a boat to the UK?"
Chat scoffed.
"So mundane! If I'm leaving, I'm going in style!"
"And caravans are 'in style'?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Obviously.''
"And you're an expert on what's 'in style' I suppose?" Marinette challenged with raised eyebrows.
Chat leaned back, putting a hand to his heart.
"Princess! Do you have so little faith in your knight?"
Marinette laughed and Chat grinned, happy to hear the sound. He leaned forward again.
"There won't be any obligations."
"Or fathers to obey?"
Marinette suggested with a little grin as she pushed her shoulder into his playfully.
"Exactly!" He said, bumping her back before jumping to his feet as he got more excited about the notion.
"'Cause we'll be a million miles away,
Leave everything behind.
When you choose to loose yourself,
Who knows what you might find."
Chat turned back to her with a cheeky grin and leaned down to boop her nose as he went on.
"And once the journeys done,
You'll have some faith in me."
Marinette rolled her eyes even as she returned his grin.
"After a million miles or so," he added.
"We might feel like we're free."
Chat's demeanor suddenly became more serious again and he turned to lean on the railing. Marinette stood and joined him. Giving him a sidelong look, she turned her gaze to the stars and said thoughtfully,
"Maybe we'll travel on the sea."
His grin was quick to return, happy to be pulled out of his darker thoughts.
"I'll tend the sails, and you can steer."
"Watch the waves roll on endlessly,"
Marinette continued.
"And the horizon disappear,"
Chat finished for her.
She leaned her shoulder into his once more and he responded with a bit of pressure of his own.
"We'll leave all thoughts about the future,
'Till some future day," she said quietly.
"'Cause we'll be a million miles away.
Leave everything behind
And once the journey's done,
It won't seem quite so far.
After a million miles or so,
We'll find out who we are."
Chat smirked.
"Are you trying to say you want to know who I really am, purrrincess?" He winked and leaned in. "You know I can't tell you that."
Marinette snorted and flicked his nose.
"That's not what I meant, kitty, and you know it."
His smirk changed back into a grin and his whole body relaxed as he stretched out over the railing and starred at Marinette.
"Would you really come with me if I left?"
She watched him thoughtfully and replied completely straight-faced after a moment.
"I could be purrrsuaded."
Chat felt his heart jump in his chest as he jaw dropped. She'd made a cat pun. She'd seriously made a cat pun. Could she be any more perfect?
Marinette laughed at Chat's dumbfounded expression and poked his chin.
"Planning to catch flies?" She teased.
He closed his mouth immediately and shook his head, smiling again. Chat put his hands on his hips and leaned toward her.
"But, really? You could be purrrsuaded?
Follow wherever the wind starts blowing?"
"The kind of a life people dream of knowing,"
she responded with a nod.
Chat found he truly liked the idea of running away with this amazing girl. If he didn't have a duty to protect Paris, he just might have done exactly that right that very moment. Instead, he gestured out to the horizon grandly.
"We'll never turn back,
Just keep on going.
Vanishing from view,
Becoming someone new."
As she smiled at him, Chat thought he could have lived for years on nothing but that look.
"I don't think you need to be anyone new," she said quietly and he felt a slight blush creep onto his cheeks as she starred up at him.
She was so close, leaning against him, seeming perfectly content to be by his side. He felt his heart swell.
We'll be a million miles away,
Leave everything behind.
When you choose to loose yourself,
Who knows what you might find.
Chat bent down slightly as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers with a soft sigh.
"Chat?" She whispered, her voice so quiet that if he'd been any further away he wouldn't have heard it.
"Yes, princess?" He asked, just as softly as he opened his eyes.
He heard her sharp intake of breath as their eyes met and he was lost for several long moments in the blue depths of her gaze.
Chat's bright green eyes had caught her off guard and sent Marinette's heart hammering in her chest. But why? He was so close. He'd been this close plenty of times when she was Ladybug. Why was she suddenly… suddenly feeling as though… she wanted to be even closer?
The thought made her breath hitch and she swallowed hard. She had no idea any more of what she'd been about to say to him and couldn't seem to make her brain communicate with her mouth to say anything at all.
And once the journeys done,
We'll have no need to roam.
A rumble shook the whole of Paris, as though a small earthquake had hit, and the two pulled away from each other as they turned to look. From Marinette's balcony they couldn't see the cause, but it was a fair bet that the earthquake was no feat of nature.
Chat frowned for a moment before turning back to the little baker.
"Looks like duty calls."
She nodded, but as he pulled out his baton, she caught his arm and he looked back over his shoulder at her.
"Be careful."
He gave her a surprisingly sweet smile, took the hand on his arm, and kissed it.
"Anything for you, princess."
And then he was gone. Marinette starred after him for a moment, feeling her face flushing as her heart pounded.
"Marinette?" Prodded Tikki as her Chosen remained frozen in place.
The little baker shook herself, slapping her cheeks a few times, and then nodded, her face determined.
"Right. Think about it later. There's work to do. Tikki, spots on!"
After a million miles or so,
We might find out we're home.
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A/N: ::shades eyes and looks to the horizon:: Plot ahoy! Lol. I was having great debates with myself over whether or not to include this song, which is why my update is a little late this weekend.
Also, just a PSA, there won't be an update next weekend as I'll be out of town and without internet, but I'll have an update back on schedule the weekend after. Sorry to leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger like this!
The song is "A Million Miles Away" from Aladdin the musical.
Love you all and I'll see you in a couple of weeks! Till next chapter!