CHAPTER 16: Rolling in the deep.

It was only a few long minutes later that Chat Noir reached the Manor, a bit nauseous and still heavily under the effects of alcohol. He came in through the window of his room, tripping over the edge and fell down noisily onto the floor. He stood up, waving insults, and pulling his suit with shaking hands.

His feline ears moved, capturing the noise of the shower's water which was running in the bathroom. He stepped towards the room, opening the door and slipping inside as discreetly as could, being the feline of which he was wearing the name.

He silently approached the Italian shower, his gaze landing directly on Marinette's bare back. He swallowed being face to face with this seductive vision and, hypnotized, let his eyes roam for a moment on her body. Her wet hair fell to the middle of her perfectly carved back, the water slowly flowing over her alabaster skin, leaving little pearls of water here and there. His feline vision then focused on a drop and his gaze followed its path carefully. The droplet was born on her shoulder and perched along her graceful and bewitching curves. It drifted to the hollow of her waist, then sat for a moment on her hip before cascading along her right buttock and thigh, finally ending its run on the tiling.

He could have sworn to have heard the distinctive splash of this pearl of water burst on the wet ground. The sound of this tiny aquatic explosion brought him out of his lethargy, bringing him back to a completely different reality: the naked young woman standing in front of him.

Chat Noir felt his suit become uncomfortably tight below the belt. His actions suddenly went into autopilot and guided by the desire that overwhelmed him, he slid behind Marinette. He placed his gloved and shaking hands gently and delicately on her hips, and felt the young woman winced under his touch. He then placed his chin on her shoulder, whispering into the hollow of her ear to reassure her.

"The cat is back home, m'Lady..." he whispered, his lips caressing the damp skin of her neck.

Immersed under the hot water with Marinette, the feline raised his hands on his girlfriend's body, undertaking exciting and seductive caresses. His gloved fingers travelling slowly from the generous curve of her hips to the hollow of her waist. His claws came to touch the sensitive skin on the side of her breasts and he felt her body stiffen.

When she turned in his arms to face him, she seemed to be about to say something, but Chat Noir couldn't contain the desire. He couldn't fight the urge to place his lips against hers in a hungry kiss. One of his hands pressed Marinette's damp cheek, while the other closed on the firm, curved roundness of one of her breasts. She jumped at this very intimate and sudden proximity, and he felt her mouth leave his, breaking the kiss. She stepped back, her hands firmly laying on the feline's torso trying to keep him slightly at bay.

"Adrien, you... you smell like alcohol. I don't think that's a good idea in your condition," she protested worriedly.

But soon she found her back pressed against the tiles, Chat Noir pushing his pelvis against her lower belly. His feline irises dilated by desire plunged deep into Marinette's large bluebell eyes. Eyes filled with love and compassion, but also with apprehension, uncertainty and worry.

"I am very sorry, mon Chaton, it's for your own good," she said, putting her hand on the water controller and setting the temperature at its coldest.

Shocked, Chat Noir took a step back, letting out a high-pitched cry and Marinette quickly came out of the shower where she abandoned the young man, completely surprised and petrified.

He was breathing quickly and heavily due to the intensity of the events. He lowered his head, the cold shower running down his hair, his face and neck, almost instantly taking him out of his state of intoxication but also out of his state of extreme excitement. From the corner of his eye, he could see Marinette wrapping herself in a towel and disappearing from sight.

"Claws in," he murmured, his mind a little bit blurry.

"AAAAAARGH!" screamed the little kwami cat while appearing directly under the cold water.

Plagg flew quickly out of sight, growling and whistling insults. "Now I feel drunk, but I'm also gonna catch pneumonia! I'm not paid enough for this!" he grumbled, somewhere in the bathroom.

"Plagg, don't be stupid, you can't catch pneumonia," replied Tikki, in an annoyed voice.

Something about ruined and wet Camembert, was the last thing Adrien heard, before the bathroom door closed. Presumably, he was now alone, paralyzed, soaked, and deeply shaken by his own behavior.

With his heart humming fast and his breath heavy, he closed his eyes. She just pushed him away. It was there... What he was so afraid of... He had rushed her again... He had lost control again... He was trying to earn her forgiveness, to forget what he had done to her in the Sentiworld. Her moans of pain with every stroke of his pelvis, her face tense with suffering when his claws had sunk into her hips, her blood on her thigh when he had finished fulfilling his irrepressible and primal need...

And now this... he had come home drunk, his mind and his actions uninhibited by alcohol.

For a moment he felt invulnerable, invincible and all-powerful. But all that was disillusionment. A frivolity, a fantasy, a chimera...

The truth was that he had behaved in a totally indecent, selfish and self-centered way. Totally opposite to his usually optimistic and generous character. He felt changed and different since he had returned to the real world and it frightened him. He was afraid of becoming so unstable and outsized, so capricious and individualistic. But what terrified him the most, his greatest fear, his nightmare: It was to hurt and make Marinette suffer. An ability in which he seemed to excel in recent days, to his great dismay...

Marinette dried herself then put on her pajamas under Tikki's worried and sorrowful gaze.

"Don't worry, Tikki. It was a difficult day for Adrien…" she explained calmly.

"I don't think you should take it so innocently, Marinette... It was unconscious and dangerous from him. He could have injured himself or a civilian, fallen from a roof or worse... When you are Ladybug and Chat Noir, you must be in full possession of your concentration and reflexes," protested the young woman's kwami.

"I know... I'm as upset as you are about his recklessness. I'm sure he will think twice about it in the future. Let's forget it for tonight, okay?"

Tikki nodded reluctantly, resigning herself to questioning her holder's decision. Suddenly, Plagg came hovering between her two, visibly alarmed.

"Marinette, he's still under the cold shower!" he went crazy.

"What?" she was surprised.

"I think you broke him. He hasn't moved an inch since you left the bathroom," said Plagg.

"I just wanted to make him react, I thought he would get out of the cold shower quickly, not that he would stay there," she replied, rushing into the bathroom.

She entered the room and quickly grabbed towels, then she slipped her arm in the shower and cut off the water supply. Adrien hadn't made a single movement. He was tetanized, wet from head to toe, and completely out of breath. She quickly wrapped his head in one of the towels and rubbed his hair to dry it.

"I'm so sorry, Adrien. It was to help you come to your senses. I didn't want to harm or hurt you," she whispered in a voice of repentance.

"Marinette, I think you'd better help him to undress and take off his wet clothes if you want to avoid him having hypothermia," advised Tikki.

With shaking hands, Marinette quickly unbuttoned Adrien's shirt. She gave him a worried look because he wasn't moving and kept his gaze fixed in the void. Then, not waiting for him to help her, she unfastened his belt and removed his trousers.

She swallowed, then slowly passed her fingers under the rubber band of his boxer. Immediately, she felt him tremble violently at her contact and he put his hands on Marinette's to stop her, then shaking his head to protest.

Her bluebell eyes rose to him, crossing his emerald gaze filled with panic and apprehension. She could feel all his distress and it was tightening her heart painfully.

She turned around and grabbed another large towel in which she wrapped Adrien's body. Then she gave him the support of her body to help him walk and they came out of the shower.

But as they were about to leave the bathroom, Adrien suddenly pulled out of Marinette's arms and rushed towards the toilet. He knelt quickly and unfortunately began to vomit.

Behind him, Marinette gently caressed his back. He raised his head a few minutes later, while Plagg hovered in front of him, his paws crossed on his chest with a severe expression. "I tried to tell you it was a bad idea... but I see that my precious advice just ends up throwing in the toilet..." said his kwami.

"Plagg !" protested Tikki. "That's not a good moment to be sarcastic!"

Marinette glared at the two kwamis, who quickly left the room.

Slowly, she approached Adrien a little more to inquire about his condition. When he was ready to get up, she helped him and they left the bathroom.

"Get warm in the bed, I'll bring you some underwear and dry pajamas," Marinette whispered in a soft voice.

While Adrien slipped under the sheets, Marinette took out some boxers, a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt from his dressing room. She handed him the clothes and saw the young man remove his wet boxers under the blanket to put on the dry underwear. He put on the black and comfortable trousers that she'd prepared for him, then the black tee-shirt, before curling once again under the heat of the sheets.

The young woman quickly turned off the lights and joined Adrien in bed. The latter still hadn't said a word since his exit from the shower and gazed at the ceiling, his eyes absent and distraught.

She put a hand gently on the boy's cheek and noted with relief that his skin had warmed up well. They'd avoided a disaster there that could have had serious consequences.

Slowly, she drew him into her arms, wrapping him in her body warmth. Adrien's head rested on her chest and, with tenderness, she caressed his soft blonde hair.

No more than five minutes passed, before she felt her boyfriend's body completely relax against hers. She could hear, but also feel against her chest, his breath being slow, deep and steady.

She tilted her head slightly and was able to discern his closed eyelids, relaxed features and slightly open mouth. This image made her smile briefly, because the concern she felt quickly returned to chase her.

Marinette wasn't the only one who worried about Adrien. Plagg approached her slowly, installing himself on the pillow just next to her face so that he could talk to her discreetly.

"I'm worried about him... I tried to bring him back to reason, but he removed his Miraculous and I couldn't do anything to prevent it," murmured the kwami.

"He's given up his Miraculous?!" Marinette exclaimed, offended. Perhaps a little too loudly since she heard a slight groan escape from Adrien's mouth.

She remained silent for a moment, always playing with his blonde hair to bring him a feeling of calm. Then she turned her head slightly towards the little kwami cat. "When? Why?" she asked quietly.

"Very shortly after arriving at the bar. I tried to tell him it was a bad idea and that he'd better go home…" he said, visibly sad. "He didn't really give up on me, but he made me disappear for the evening. He wanted to be alone…" Plagg added, his ears down.

"But he finally transformed himself to come back here... for God's sake, but what went through his head? It was very dangerous to jump on the rooftops completely drunk," she protested.

"I was against this stupid idea. But again, I couldn't do anything... That's why I'm worried. There's something wrong... He's acerbic, sullen, and acting too impulsively: It's not like him," lamented Plagg, overwhelmed.

"I think we should give him some time to recover from the events, don't you think?"

"You are too naive," he said. "For years Ladybug, which means you, Marinette, and I, we were the only people he could be himself with and trust fully. I think we are, from the beginning, the most family-like he has. We are his family," added the kwami, looking deeply serious.

Marinette listened attentively to the kwami cat, her eyes filling with tears as he confessed these confidences to her.

"Now he doesn't trust us anymore. He has turned his back on himself, refusing our help and support. If he keeps everything for himself... I'm afraid it will consume him from the inside until there's only ashes left inside an empty shell."

"And it's all my fault... It's not me who pays the consequences of the wish I've made, but him... It was my choice but Adrien is the one who suffers from the collateral damage... It's unfair!" Marinette protested, her voice torn.

Tikki, who had been silent and discreet until now, slowly approached her holder and her kwami companion.

"I know that's not what we wanted for Adrien, but what's done is done, so let's just try to consider the positive side of this bad situation," said the ladybug kwami.

"The positive side?" Marinette repeated, surprised and incredulous.

"Yes, we must be optimistic, even when the situation seems hopeless. Adrien is not alone. We are here for him, and we will not give up. We all pay the price of the wish together. You, as much as Adrien, Marinette. Like I told you: your relationship will be under strain and the lesson to learn is that we have to stand together and support each other to be able to face this situation," explained Tikki calmly.

"But if Adrien refuses our help-..."

"Even if he refuses to do so, we will still help him. I won't lose him again," said Plagg, interrupting Marinette's pessimistic speech. "I may have sunk Atlantis, but I refuse to let sink the best Chat Noir I have ever had. We will keep an eye on him, support and help him to become what he once was. You are strong, Ladybug, but it's nothing compared to him!" added the kwami cat, determined.

"With you two and with our help, we will overcome the consequences of the wish. I'm sure of it, Marinette. You are not Ladybug and Chat Noir by chance. Your heart is good and you're both persevering. Together we will succeed," added Tikki, confident.

"We will do it and we will get there," said Marinette, a burst of infallible will in the eye.

Nestled against Adrien, the young woman fell asleep, her heart a little lighter and her mind much clearer and more resolute.

Ten days later...

Marinette locked herself in the bathroom and dipped her hand in her bag to get the contents out. Soon, her little ladybug companion also came out, immediately giving her a reassuring look.

"Marinette, calm down, you're shaking."

"It's easy to say Tikki! It's not you who's two days late and who may be pregnant!"

"Shht! I thought you didn't want Adrien to know until you got the result... If you keep panicking and screaming like that, he'll know before you even pee on that pink thing."

"This pink thing is a pregnancy test, Tikki," explained Marinette nervously as she lowered her panties and sat on the toilet.

Tikki silently observed Marinette twist to place the test between her thighs.

"Tikki, I can't pee if you stare at me like that!"

"Are you sure you really have to do this? Just because I'm the Goddess of creation doesn't mean that you will get pregnant the first time, Marinette. You and Adrien only had sex once."

"Without any protection! Better to be safe than sorry, Tikki," Marinette insisted.

"Okay, go ahead," said the little ladybug, turning her back to her.

Silence settled in the room until Marinette flushed the toilet.

"Well, we just have to wait three minutes to get the result."

Tikki turned to her again. "You know Marinette, I really like babies. I'm the Goddess of creation and, as such, I'm completely in favor of my chosens creating life with their Chat Noir…"

"Tikki!" Marinette protested strongly.

"However, you and Adrien are still too young to become parents. So, next time, try to be careful and use one of those horrible latex things to protect yourself. Not that it works every time, I warn you. I'm a very good fertility booster and…"

"It's okay, Tikki, we'll stop there. We'll be careful from now on," Marinette promised.

She gave her kwami a gratifying smile and then took the test with her hands shaking and turned it over to inquire about the result.

"Negative!" she exclaimed, relieved.

Two weeks had passed, two weeks that had not been entirely restless.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had met several times at the police station to give their testimonies that would allow the trial of Gabriel and Nathalie to take place. They had also been received by Mayor Bourgeois to be decorated with a Medal of Honor for acts of courage and dedication. A distinction rewarding them for risking their lives to protect Paris and its citizens.

Adrien and Marinette had also met for a meal with her parents. The evening had gone well, even if explaining part of the events once again had been painful for Adrien. Fortunately, Sabine and Tom were very understanding. They'd let the young man open himself to them, and hadn't asked any questions, just waiting for the explanations to come from him and Marinette. They were aware of the difficulty this ordeal had been for their daughter, and especially her boyfriend.

An ordeal from which they were not yet released. Because even though the last two weeks seemed to have gone by without major problems, Marinette was forced to see that Adrien continued to close himself off more and more. He didn't speak a lot and increasingly avoided the physical contacts she initiated but he continued to certify to her, despite everything, that he was fine. He was in complete denial of his own malaise and when she tried to talk about it, Adrien would just cut the discussion short.

Marinette had finally suggested to him to take an appointment with a psychotherapist. So, if he didn't want to confess to her, he would still have a trusted and competent person to talk with. But Adrien flatly refused, again claiming that it wasn't necessary and that everything was fine.

So, determined to get her boyfriend out of his torments, Marinette decided to take him to their friends for a calm and relaxed evening. She'd made sure to keep it secret until the last moment and against all expectations, Adrien hadn't protested and seemed rather delighted to see Alya and Nino again.

She was a little surprised when he refused to transform to reach their friends' apartment by going through the rooftops. She thought that he might enjoy this feeling of freedom and that it would help his body and mind to escape for a while.

Unfortunately, she'd noticed with sadness that he hadn't transformed a lot in the past few weeks: wearing Chat Noir's costume, only when it was essential. Like for their appointments at the police station or with the Mayor. He even managed to dodge an interview with TVi, which Ladybug had conducted on her own, wondering that it might simply be too much for his partner.

It was by car and thanks to Gaston that they joined their friends and now arrived at their destination. "Don't worry about us, Gaston. If it is too late, we will return on foot or by taxi. See you tomorrow," she greeted the bodyguard.

A few minutes later, they climbed the stairs to the studio shared by their friends. Alya quickly opened the door to the couple, and then crushed them both in an 'almost too warm' embrace.

"Alya, we are too young to die," said Marinette, her voice strangled.

The redheaded woman suddenly stepped away with a huge smile on her face. "Sorry, I'm so glad to see you two," she exclaimed with great enthusiasm. "Come in, Nino is in the kitchen," she added, stepping aside to let them pass.

Nino greeted them joyfully, taking Marinette in his arms and sharing a friendly hug with Adrien. He then handed each one a beer, a blonde beer for Adrien, and a fruity one for Marinette, as well as for his own girlfriend.

Alya invited them to come to the living room and sit comfortably. The fourth of them quickly engaged the conversation in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

To be continued...

Next chapter saturday : When the cat's away...

I Promise it's almost the end of Adrien's suffering... I know the fandom love him, and we all know that he deserves a happy ending and I totally agree with that ! He will soon have it in this story, really soon...

If you like this story, please, leave a comment. It's always really motivating for the author.