Marinette woke up feeling sore and with something pulling softly at her cheek. She muttered for five more minutes and tucked her head on her arms, hiding her face from whatever wanted to wake her up.
''Ah!'' She opened her eyes to the pain of her hair being pulled.
''Sorry Marinette! But you need to wake up!'' Said Tikki, letting go of the three strands of hair she picked to make her suffer on a sunday morning. Why was she bothering her so early? And why was she not in her…bed.
She looked at the boy sleeping in front of him in awe, remembering last night's events just barely. She felt a mix of pride for her finally figuring out her new powers and worry for her boyfriend, who was still not healed completely. Not even close.
''Marinette, you have a meeting in an hour!'' Stressed Tikki, blocking her view. The reunion! The plan! She thought. In an hour? But that was supposed to happen at 4PM, how long did they sleep?!
''Adrien'' She whispered, shaking his shoulder softly so she didn't provoke any unnecessary pain. The boy flinched a bit, making her feel guilty, but he needed to wake up, she couldn't just leave him there. It was already a miracle her parents haven't bothered to check on her yet. She even missed lunch, the rumble on her stomach made that clear.
The model was so hard to wake up, he started mumbling incoherent things instead of opening his eyes. She didn't want to shake him too hard for fear of hurting him, but when he started murmuring in Chinese she decided enough was enough.
''Ouch!'' He jolted awake, much like she did just minutes ago. As soon as he opened his eyes and saw Marinette, whatever grumpiness over being woken up like that passed.
''Mari?'' He said in confusion, and she felt so relieved to see that he was ok. She remembers vaguely trying to wake him up last night after healing him a bit, but then she passed out from overusing her new powers.
''Hey sleepy cat'' She greeted him, smiling warmly. He returned the expression until he flinched again, then tried to grab his chest with his right arm and things just got worse from there. His arm was still broken, she realized with sadness.
''We have our team meeting in an hour kitty, it's 4PM'' She whispered as she got closer to him and hovered her hands above the broken arm he was too afraid to touch with his other one. She started casting that pink light again when he grabbed her wrist with his good hand and stopped her.
''No! You need to be there too, this will make you fall asleep again!'' He protested, rotating his whole torso away from her hands, pink shine on them vanishing as the contact was lost.
''But-'' She was about to counter his argument when Tikki interrupted her.
''He's right! Nevermind that meeting, using this power too much too soon is not safe Marinette!'' Warned the kwami, serious. The argument must have woken Plagg up, because the tiny cat hovered over to the couple and stood on Adriens shoulder, still sleepy.
''Good morning'' He said, completely unaware of his surroundings.
''It's 4PM'' Deadpanned the tiny bug, earning a chuckle from the heroes.
Marinette noticed how Adrien tried to hide how much it hurt to even laugh, but she bit her lip and promised herself she would try to heal him after the meeting. She needed to practice this new ability anyways, she thought looking at her hands.
''Alright, I'll go freshen up to the bathroom then um…'' She started saying after getting up, but then noticed how bloodied Adrien's clothes looked . He couldn't go out like this. The boy noticed her staring because he did the same as soon as he managed to sit up on the bed.
''Not my best look'' He joked with a half smile.
''Can you transform?'' She hopelessly asked, wincing at the mere thought.
''Absolutely not'' Said Plagg, still on his wielders shoulders. Adrien looked like he wanted to protest but then took a better look at the tiny cat and decided not to. If the kwami was not floating around demanding cheese, it could only mean he was not up for the task yet. He must have used so much energy trying to shield Chat Noir from the worst damage.
''And you can't transform either, Marinette'' Tikki said, ruining her only easy fix left. She groaned, facepalming in frustration. The four of them stared at each other in silence for a couple seconds, the moment interrupted when now both Marinette and Adrien's stomachs protested almost in sync. They both blushed and then chuckled a nervous laugh.
''This is so ridiculous'' Said the heroine, opening the lid on the floor of her room that lead downstairs.
''Where are you going?'' Asked the model, still not moving from the bed.
''Gonna bring some breakfast, I can't think when I'm hungry'' She responded as she closed the lid over her head.
Adrien would have liked to just wait patiently sitting on Marinette's bed, but he just couldn't. This was all his fault, his mess to fix, again. He let out a defeated sigh as he heard Marinette's steps reach the bottom of the stairs.
''Don't beat yourself too hard, kid'' Commented Plagg, still lounging lazily on his shoulder. ''You got enough of that with yesterday's excursion'' Of course he couldn't just be nice. Adrien rolled his eyes.
''That golem… Why didn't my cataclysm affect it, Plagg?'' He asked and the little cat shrugged.
''That girl was terrified of you, that monster was probably made taking your powers into account'' He said, not sounding very interested in the fact that what was effectively pure destruction didn't even make the sentimonster go berserk. He had a little moment of panic thinking he lost his abilities when he remembered he used it a second time that fight, when he destroyed the floor to escape.
''I used my powers twice, then I didn't detransform for the hour it took me to reach Marinette's balcony, how is that possible?''
''Why do you think I'm so tired now, huh?'' The kwami complained, and even though it was not really an answer, it kind of made sense to the model. Adults could keep their transformations up after using their powers, and he somehow managed to use his twice. The fact that it took a heavy toll on his kwami was probably due to him not being a real grown up yet, but he would get there. He cringed when his brain decided to call this process ´´miraculous puberty´´ . Why Adrien, just why, he scolded himself.
He was too busy into his own thoughts to notice that it wasn't just one pair of steps coming up the stairs to the room, but three. Not like he could have moved fast enough to hide anyways.
The lid opened and Marinette poked her head, red from shame.
''Umm'' She started saying, but then her father finished opening the entrance to her room and busted in.
''Adrien! breakfast?'' The huge man announced, not really expecting an answer as he set up a tray filled with delicious looking food on the floor, followed by Sabine brining a couple pillows so they could sit on them around the feast.
''Oh dear, you still look pretty battered up, is your arm okay?'' Asked the woman, approaching Adrien with a worried looking expression.
''I'm- um… Mari?'' He looked at the girl in question, who was nervously playing with her hands as she started at her parents. She noticed his distress and snapped out of her own a bit.
''They know'' She whispered, making sure he could read her lips as she pointed at the older couple. Adrien winced.
''Yeah yeah, we thought today would be a good time to finally Chat'' Said Tom, winking at Adrien as he said that last word. The model let out a nervous little laugh while Marinette reacted as she usually did when it came to puns, by facepalming.
''Can I have this one?'' Asked Plagg, no longer in his wielders shoulders nor hiding from the parents, but sitting comfortably on the tray and pointing at a wheel of cheese.
''Plagg!'' Three voices at the same time scolded the little cat, who just smirked. Marinette, Adrien and Tikki then looked at the parents to catch their reactions at seeing two little creatures that floated and spoke on their daughters room.
''All yours!'' Said Tom, letting out a barking laugh as he sat down on his pillow. Sabine was a bit more surprised at being on the presence of little gods, however. She had her hands covering her mouth as she looked between Plagg and Tikki.
The red kwami noticed and floated in front of the woman. ''Hello, my name is Tikki'' She presented herself politely. That calmed Sabine down, who smiled in awe at the creature.
''Nice to meet you, Tikki'' She said.
Marinette looked ready to disappear, and honestly Adrien wasn't feeling any better, but he decided to follow the course of the situation and started lifting himself up from the bed to grab some food. As soon as he tried that, he regretted it, however, as a sudden wave of pain crossed his whole body, specially his back, making him almost fall on the floor if it wasn't because his lady noticed in time and held him in place.
''You shouldn't move'' She said, all her embarrassment replaced by worry.
''I'm okay'' He whispered, and he noticed Marinette wasn't the only one that moved to help him. Tom was in the middle of standing up himself when the girl caught him, the burly man still watching his cautious steps as the girl helped him sit down on one of the pillows.
Soon after, the four humans and two mystical creatures sat around the feast in the middle of the room.
''This is awkward'' Stated Plagg as he looked at everyone's faces, munching on his cheese already.
''When… How did you find out?'' Asked Marinette looking at her parents, suddenly shy.
''About you being Ladybug? a couple months ago. About your boyfriend being Chat Noir? just this morning, when we came to wake you up with a surprise breakfast and found our daughter sleeping on the floor next to him, blood everywhere'' Said Tom very seriously. Adrien didn't think the man could be particularly scary, even after the whole Weredad incident, but now he was quite intimidated. He gulped and decided to just stare at the food.
''We thought about calling a hospital, but after checking your vitals were okay we made the hard choice of letting you sleep the whole day, instead'' Said Sabine, less stern than her husband but still in full adult mode. Marinette looked at her mother with gratefulness on her eyes.
''I'm still not sure it was the right call, but your mother insisted'' Said the baker, staring at Adrien's injuries.
''It was! I mean he is still pretty banged up, but the worst has passed and our identities must remain a secret!'' Said Marinette in her usual word vomit that she did when she was nervous.
When Adrien was nervous, however, his mouth got dry. So he was quiet while the family started talking about what you would expect when such a secret came out. The parents assured their daughter that they wouldn't have kept her secret if they didn't approve of her extra-curricular activities. Sabine explained how worried she was at the beginning each time there was an Akuma attack, but that they both got used to it in time. Then when the news of Hawkmoth being defeated were announced, they relaxed a lot more.
Marinette asked them if they ever planned on telling her that they knew, this time Tom answering. The older couple wanted to make it a special occasion and tell her, but then Adrien was suddenly her boyfriend and they got a little bit distracted, specially with the new couple being together almost all of their free time. And then, today's reveal.
''This that you two do… I didn't really see how dangerous it is until this morning'' Said Tom, joviality vanishing again. Adrien felt the man's gaze on his and he couldn't hold it, so he looked at the food again. They had been eating while Marinette's parents told their story, but the boy hadn't grabbed anything yet, too nervous and ashamed to move.
''But we have to'' Said Marinette, sounding so much like Ladybug that Adrien snapped his head up and looked at his girlfriend as she glared at her parents. ''No one else can do this but Adrien and I''
The older couple looked surprised at her words at first, but then they both smiled at their daughter.
''We know'' Said Sabine, reaching Marinette to hug her. It was in that moment that the girl locked gazes with Adrien, finally noticing how quiet he had been this whole time.
''Are you ok, Kitty?'' She asked tenderly. Adrien didn't really want the attention of the whole family right now, but it's what he got as soon as his lady mentioned his name.
''You haven't eaten a thing! Are you sure you don't want a hospital?'' Said the girls father, grabbing the model's empty plate and filling it with food.
Adrien shook his head, then couldn't contain a groan as the movement made his head swim.
''You should go back to bed, at least. We have a guest room downstairs where you can rest the remaining of the day'' Offered Sabine, but both heroes knew that was not an option.
''I'm ok… It's just '' The boy wasn't sure how to put his thoughts into words ''I started this whole mess… I antagonized Lila and attacked her in her house and then got beaten by her monster and ruined Marinette's bed and now we are going to be late to the meeting and…'' He couldn't continue his ramble because sobs interrupted him, then he couldn't hold his tears anymore and he hid his face with his hands.
''Oh Adrien…'' Murmured Marinette as she softly hugged him, giving him a shoulder to cry on. The pain was horrible, but the embrace felt like a panacea against everything. His bruises, his cuts, his broken arm, his guilt.
The moment was over when his lady let go of him, and he noticed as she smiled that she looked tired again. Oh.
''Did you see that?'' Asked Sabine looking at her husband. The man just nodded. They must be referring to the pink light that their daughter emitted when she used her powers to heal him again.
''Marinette! I told you not to overuse that power!'' Scolded Tikki, floating between them.
''I'm okay Tikki, he needs to be able to at least get up today'' She excused herself, cheeky grin on her face. Adrien finally let himself smile a little as he nodded.
''Speaking of'' Said the designer, as she grabbed her phone from her desk then quickly typed something.
''I just told the others we will be a bit late'' She explained.
Tom and Sabine started gathering the plates (Except for Adrien's, to his relief) and the pillows.
''We can talk about this more later, Adrien, if you need clothes I can bring something for you'' Said Tom before leaving the room. The boy nodded, grateful.
When they were on their own again, Marinette sighed.
''I'm sorry, I just went downstairs to grab food as I said I would but they were waiting for me with that bomb…'' She started explaining, but the blond boy stopped her by putting a finger on her mouth.
''Not your fault'' He whispered and enjoyed how red the girls face got at the sudden contact. As if she just didn't hug him minutes ago, then let him cry on her shoulder.
''Not yours either'' She said. The anger on the girls eyes took him by surprise. ''Lila is not going to get away with this''
Adrien wasn't sure he liked how vengeful Marinette sounded as she said that last part. Sure, that girl deserved some kind of punishment and he'd be happy to deliver it, but they were still heroes. His guilty feelings returned as he realized that he put the love of his life in this position.
The only thing left to do for him was making sure Marinette didn't do anything she would regret.