Chapter 3

Sharing her pawblems

Adrien made his way to class, and, to his surprise, found Marinette already at her seat, head resting on the desk, eyes half closed. He had seen Nino and Alya on his way in, they had been sitting together talking, and Adrien figured he should leave the couple be until they made their way to class. As he made his way to his seat, he saw that Marinette looked even more tired than yesterday, if that was even possible. "Another late night Marinette?" He tried to sound playful, but couldn't fully hide the concern in his voice.

"Hmmm…? Oh, uh, y-yeah. Among other things, I- I was thinking, that uh, ma-maybe I could, uh, maybe I could use a little h-help." She was sitting up now, but was looking down at her desk, hiding the pink forming on her checks.

"You already know I'll do anything I can to help." Adrien smiled at her, but his smile on the inside was much bigger. He was thrilled to hear Marinette willing to accept some help. He hadn't realized it until now, but since New York, he'd spent almost no time with the girl, and before he discovered she had such a big workload, Adrien thought maybe he had done something to cause Marinette to avoid him. Now, since he had no photo shoots in the near future, and his dad was away on business, he'd probably be able to convince Nathalie to let him out to help Marinette, or if need be, sneak out.

Marinette looked up, the pink on her cheeks turning red, as her eyes widened a little. "B-but, wait! You don't even know what it is you'd be helping with! It's-It's probably not, uh, not what you think. I'll understand if you say no…" She looked back down at the desk again.

Adrien let out a little laugh. He thought about how much she does for everyone else and how thoughtful she was. "Marinette, you're a wonderful person. I'm sure that no matter what it is you're asking for help with, it's something I'd be more than glad to help you with."

Marinette looked back up, a soft smile on her face. "Alright. I-" Alya and Nino walked into class, waving at their friends. "I'll tell you about it at lunch, Alya and Nino too."

As Alya took her seat, Nino gave Adrien a fist bump and sat down next to him. "So? What was that about dude?" Nino had a knowing smile, and flicked his eyes towards Marinette as he playfully grilled his best friend.

Adrien was still oblivious to any hidden meanings. "Marinette was telling me that she thought some help might be a good idea. She'll tell us all more at lunch."

Now that he knew that Marinette was open to accepting help, Adrien was able to relax, and focus more on class today. He was still a little curious about what it was Marinette was doing though. What could have her up so late every night?

When the bell rang for lunch, the four of them found a quiet place to talk and eat lunch. "Alright girl, spill!" Alya had been trying to get her best friend to spill the beans about what happened between her and Adrien all morning. She was not waiting any longer. "C'mon Marinette! What happened before Nino and I got to class!"

Marinette, looking very flustered, turned to Alya. "If you'll stop bugging me, that's what I want to tell you all about!" She took a deep breath, composing herself.

Alya, already impatient, couldn't wait any longer. "Marinette, you're killin' me! Tell us already!" Alya had a huge grin on her face, excited to finally get filled in on what happened.

"Ok!" Marinette chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm. "Ok. Well, you see, I, um, I've been uh, I've been having, um, having, niiiii-trochargedworkload! Yeah! A nitro charged workload! I have too much stuff to do! Clothes people asked me to make, studying, helping in the bakery, I just have too much to do, and not enough time! That's it, that's my problem, nothing else!" As she tried to explain what was overwhelming her, Marinette seemed to get more and more uneasy, until she let out a nervous laugh when she finished.

Now Adrien wasn't the best at reading people, but he was pretty sure Marinette wasn't going to say nitro charged. He had no doubt she still had a monstrous workload, but something else was bothering her and he was going to figure it out and help. Until then, he just had to settle for what she told them.

Alya let out a good-natured laugh. "Marinette! When are you gonna learn not to bite off more than you could chew? Sometimes you gotta think about yourself first girl!

"I know Alya, it's just- I didn't realize how much work I had piled up." She looked at the group hopefully. "Would any of you be able to help me out this weekend?"

"I already promised Lila that I would help her write a story for one of her charities, but I can definitely come by on Sunday to help out"

"Thanks Alya." Marinette sounded thankful, but her face was a little forlorn.

Alya turned to Nino, "What about you? You free this weekend?"

"Sorry dude, my parents are taking off for the weekend. It's their anniversary, so I'm stuck at home watching Chris. What about you Adrien? You said you were free this weekend right? Old man out of town, and no photo shoots?"

"Yeah Nino." Adrien turned and smiled at Marinette. "I could come over tomorrow and help you study if you want."

Marinette turned beet red. "Y-Yeah, sure, tomorrow, you're coming over, tomorrow, to my place, with me, to study, you, studying, with me, at my place." As she continued, she managed to get even redder.

"Ok, that sounds great! Text me tonight what you want to work on tomorrow. Is 11 an ok time for me to get there?"

"Yeah, 11 i-is popcorn-I mean perfect! I'll meet you there!" Her eyes widened after she heard what she just said. "I mean of course I'll meet you there, I live there." She let out a nervous laugh.

"Great! I'll see you then!" Adrien smiled at Marinette, then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

The four of them made their way back to their class. As the rest of the school day went by, Adrien found himself able to focus on class more, not as worried about Marinette now that he knew what was troubling her, and how he could help. But there was still something tickling the back of his brain, telling him there was more. More that Marinette was struggling with, more that she wasn't telling them. He resolved to visit Marinette that night as Chat Noir, after fencing practice. With any luck, he might have some more luck getting Marinette to talk to him as a superhero.

"Hnaahh!" Kagami lunged at him, scoring another point. "Adrien, you are distracted. Set your thoughts aside, and focus. It is only worth beating you if you are giving it your all."

Adrien tried to clear his head. "Sorry Kagami." Despite being able to focus on school earlier, the feeling that Marinette was hiding some of her troubles was pestering him just enough to keep him off his game while fencing. And Kagami made sure to let him know that with each hit she landed.

Practice ended, and the two of them got cleaned up and gathered their things. "What is bothering you?" Kagami sat him down, with what looked like worry on her face, but sometimes it was hard for Adrien to tell. "There is something troubling you. You are worried about someone."

Adrien smiled at his girlfriend. She was pretty good at reading him, and now was no different. "Yeah. Marinette has a lot she's trying to do at once, but I don't think she's letting on just how much she's trying to deal with. I think she's hiding something. I don't want to make her uncomfortable, but if it's affecting everything else in her life, I want to help."

He looked at Kagami, who in turn, stared back at him, like she was calculating something. "You really care for Marinette." She paused, looking like she was trying to make a decision. "I think we should go back to being just friends Adrien."

Woah. This came out of nowhere. Adrien was shocked, but the fact that he wasn't hurt, told him she was probably right.

"I still think that you were made for me, but I can see now that there is someone else who was made for you. While I know it is not your fault, I never seem to have your full attention when we are together, and if we kept on like that, it would make for an unbalanced relationship, and one of us would get hurt. And I don't want that." She gazed into his eyes, as if trying to read his thoughts. "Marinette is lucky to have a friend like you. I hope we can continue to be friends after this."

Adrien still wasn't sure how to feel, other than shocked. Had he done something wrong? The way Kagami had put it, he didn't think so. He wasn't hurt that she broke up with him, but something about it made him feel, something. He didn't know what it was that he felt, but he didn't like it.

"Um, ok." What was he supposed to say? He'd never been broken up with before, much less even had a romantic relationship. He didn't even know how he felt about it. "We can still be friends, if that's what you want."

She smiled, a genuine one, one that he had rarely seen. "I'm glad you think so. It might become, uncomfortable, seeing each other at fencing practice otherwise." Her phone buzzed, grabbing her attention. "That is my driver. It's time for me to go." She leaned over to give Adrien a awkward hug. "I'm sorry things turned out this way, but I think it is for the best, for both of us, in the long run. See you at practice on Monday."

Adrien needed to clear his head a little. As soon as he got home from fencing practice, he went back out as Chat Noir. Running and jumping across the rooftops of Paris always emptied his head. Shortly after heading out, he spotted a mugger, but he quickly dealt with them by tripping them with his baton. After flagging down an officer, he returned the wallet to the man it belonged to, and returned to his frolicking across the rooftops.

Quicker than he would have liked, it was time to meet up with Ladybug before patrol. Chat made his way to the Eiffel Tower. He was a little bit early, so he extended his baton to sit in some trusses, like a pull-up bar, and hung upside-down by his legs. He was hoping that if he let the blood rush to his head, there wouldn't be any room for the thoughts he was presently trying to avoid. He ended up thinking about how he felt about Kagami and Marinette anyways, but accompanied by the red face and dizziness that came with hanging upside-down. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about Kagami breaking up with him when Ladybug showed up.

"What are up to now Chat?" She walked on over to Chat until she was standing under him, looking up at him with a puzzled expression.

"Why hello m'lady! I was just hanging around, waiting fur you." He retracted his baton, dropping down next to Ladybug, his smile dropping with him. "I'm sorry, that was bad, even for me. I was just thinking about some stuff." Chat walked over to the railing, and looked out over the city. "A friend of mine is trying to juggle a lot of responsibilities on their own, and while they have asked for help, I think they're still keeping a bigger issue bottled up."

Ladybug walked over to her partner, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know we can't share too much about our lives Chat. But if you're worried about them, tell them. Be forward with them. Tell them you've noticed that something else is bothering them. I know some of my problems would be solved if I said what I thought without overthinking things. After that though, you have to let them make their choice. You can't make them ask for help, but you can let them know you're there for them."

Chat Noir turned and smiled at Ladybug. There was no romance in this smile. It was soft, letting her know he appreciated her advice. "Thanks." He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it. When he raised his head, his usual devil-may-care grin was back. "Now let's go pawtrol the city m'lady."

The two of them finished patrol pretty quickly. It was an uneventful patrol. After they finished, they said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways. But seeing as it was a Friday night, and it wasn't all that late yet to begin with, Chat Noir figured he wouldn't be intruding too much if he stopped by Marinette's place to see how she was doing.

He made his way over to the bakery, and found that her lights were still on. He lept over to her roof, making sure to make some noise as he landed to announce his presence. He waited a few seconds, then crouched down and rapped his hand on the hatch leading to Marinette's room. Chat heard some movement and the door quickly opened.

"Chat Noir, what are you doing here?" She tried to smile, but she was clearly distressed.

"Don't worry Marinette, I'm not here because there's an akuma nearby, I just thought I'd stop by and see how you were feline." He smiled when he saw her shoulders relax at the fact there was no akuma.

"Oh. Um, well…" She glanced around, looking unsure. Finally, "Ok. Do you want to come in? You probably just finished a patrol. If you're hungry, I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich, you can have half if you want." She moved away from the hatch, motioning for Chat Noir to come in. As Chat climbed down, Marinette pulled out the chair from her desk for Chat to sit on. "Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to get a second plate, I'll be right back." She made her way to the door before turning back around. "Would you like a glass of water too?"

"That would be purrrfect, thank you." He flashed her a cocky smile, and she gave him an amused grin in return, before heading to her kitchen. As he waited, Chat began spinning in the chair. When Marinette got back, he stopped spinning and grinned at her, "Marinette, you look wobbly."

Marinette smiled and shook her head. "Silly Chat." She walked over to him and handed him his cup of water. "Here you go." She sat down on the stairs leading to her bed, then broke her sandwich in half, putting half of it on the second plate, handing that to Chat as well.

"Thank you." Chat accepted the plate, and the two of them ate in silence.

Marinette seemed to be doing fine, but when Chat Noir first arrived, she looked uneasy. And he still felt she was hiding a bigger problem than what she said at school. He finished his sandwich, then waited until she was done with her's before breaking the silence.

"So, are you still holding up the world?"

Marinette looked up at him, eyes wide. "What? Oh, no, just most of it." She let out a little chuckle that quickly trailed off.

"Marinette, did you talk to your friends? Have you asked for help?"

"…yeah, I told them how much I've been trying to do. I have plans to study with a, a friend, tomorrow…" She looked down at her feet.

Chat leaned forward towards her. "But…?"

Marinette looked at him and sighed. "But… I didn't tell them everything…" She looked back down. "I was too embarrassed to tell them what was really bothering me…"

Chat sat up. He had been right, there was something else. And she looked pretty troubled by it. "I don't want to push you, but why didn't you tell your friends?"

"It would sound silly, and there isn't anything they could do to help anyway…"

"Would it help to tell me? You don't have to, if you don't want to though."

She stole a glance up at him. Her whole body was tense. She wrung her hands. She glanced up at him again. Then she relaxed a small bit, and sucked in a breath. "Ok… I've been having nightmares, and trouble sleeping at night… I know it sounds childish, but I don't know what to do… I can't just go up to my friends and say, 'Hey guys, I'm perpetually tired now because I have scary nightmares and I can't sleep, and there's nothing you can do to help.'" She sighed again.

Chat Noir sat back in his seat. "Hey, there's nothing silly about having nightmares. If they're causing you problems, then they're serious. I'm sure we can figure out something to help you."

"Chat." Marinette looked up, straight into Chat Noir's eyes. "Why do you want to help me so badly?"

"Because you're my friend Marinette."

"But why? Why me?" Her breathing got heavier, her words quiet, but jagged.

"That's easy, you're a wonderful person Marinette. You've helped me fight akumas, you're smart, and caring." Chat Noir grew more serious. "And you don't treat me differently because I'm a superhero. I don't have a lot of friends, or a lot of time to spend with them. So knowing that I can turn into a superhero, and talk to you, and help you, it means a lot. And it hurts when I see you struggling and I can't help you. Because then I feel like I'm not that great of a friend."

Marinette's eyes were like saucers. "Oh…" She sat there, looking at him. Neither knew what to say after that.

"Well, Chat, if you're really serious about helping, you can say no if it's too weird, but, could you stay here until I fall asleep? I know it's odd, but I trust you, and it might help with my nightmares…" She squirmed on the stairs as she told Chat her request.

Chat blinked a few times, then smiled. "Sure, I think I could do that."

Author's Note

I think I wrote too much. Hopefully all this makes sense. Also hopefully, I can continue to be inspired to write this much. I have most of the stuff I want to write planned out, I just have to connect the dots and fill in the details.

If I don't upload it now, I'm gonna keep fussing over it and it'll never see the light of day.

Let me know if you spot any mistakes, have any questions, or anything else!