Sup everybody, I'm back!

This chapter is shorter then I had planned originally. I decided to cut the aftermath of the incident into this chapter and then the next (mostly because I haven't updated this in longer than I would have liked and I at least had this part done, so I figured I'd just post this now for u guys).

Thanks for all the favs, follows, and nice reviews after just 1 chapter.

In a flash of green, Plagg burst out of his miraculous, leaving Adrien standing on the sidewalk of the empty street. Adrien leaned his back against the outside wall of the school. Before Plagg could ask for his cheese, he watched his holder lean his head back against the stone and slide down the wall until he was sitting on the ground.

A horrible sob ripped from his throat and fat tears—bigger than the ones he cried earlier—poured from his eyes and down his cheeks. With his legs bent up in front of him, Adrien rested his arms on the tops of his knees and hid his face in them.

Plagg looked at him sadly before flying over to him and landing on his shoulder.

"Okay kid, calm down. Deep breathes," the kwami said, trying to comfort his holder. He reached up with his tiny paw hand and patted the crying boy's neck.

Adrien's back and shoulders shook with sobs for another minute before slightly lifting his head. "I… m-my fault… Mar-Marinette…" he managed to choke out in between sobs.

"Hey, it was not your fault," Plagg told him. He recalled his holder getting angry and slamming his fist on that stone with his powers. He heard what that creepy girl was saying about them. Akumatized or not—how dare she. "That girl, mocking us. Saying black cats are nothing but bad luck. Humph!" Plagg grumbled to himself, sitting down in a huff. Another miserable sob from his young holder snapped Plagg's attention back to him. "Adrien, it was an accident," he said to him.

Adrien raised his head further, resting his chin on top of his arms. "But… I-I hurt her." Adrien sniffled before raising one hand to wipe his wet cheeks. "I destroyed the-the archway-" he uttered, covering his eyes with his hand as another sob overcame him.

"Okay, fine! It's true, you destroyed the archway," Plagg said, exasperated. "But there's usually more to accidents like these," he said more gently.

Adrien turned his head and looked at his kwami with a raised brow. "W-what do you mean?"

Plagg flew from the young model's shoulder and floated in front of him, a few inches from his face. "Didn't you tell her and the other kids to make for the door and go outside where they would be safe? She shouldn't have still been in the courtyard, let alone standing under that arch," he explained. "And of course, that akuma was making you mad. You weren't thinking straight when to touched that stone, and your friend Pigtails was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Adrien sniffled as he thought about that. Plagg did have a point. He did tell her to leave the school. Why did she stay? Why didn't she go outside? If she had, she wouldn't have gotten hit by any of that rubble. "Look kid, all I'm saying is that it wasn't all your fault. There's some blame to share. So don't go giving it all to yourself," Plagg told him. True, Adrien did do what he did, but Plagg didn't want the poor kid to place that much guilt on himself.

The weight of all that guilt on top of one person will definitely crush them flat.

Adrien sniffled again as he wiped his eyes. "I guess," he muttered reluctantly. He still felt incredibly guilty, but he at least listened to his kwami and considered his words.

"There you go," Plagg smiled, glad his holder was finally calming down a bit. "Now may I please have my cheese now?" he asked as politely as he could. He comforted his upset holder, succeeded in calming him down well enough—it was okay for him to request his well-earned cheese after a transformation. He even said 'please.'

Adrien straighten himself up, as well as his legs, before reaching into his white over shirt and pulled out a piece of camembert and offered it to the hungry cat kwami.

As Plagg feasted on his precious, stinky cheese, Adrien continued to think about what he had said.

True, that akuma did aggravate and taunt him. And Marinette shouldn't have stayed in the courtyard where it was dangerous. But he still felt responsible.

It might not have been all his fault, but he still hurt Marinette.

He should have seen she was still in the courtyard. And he defiantly shouldn't have hit the stone handrail with his powers. It was a stupid, anger-induced move that he didn't mean to do. That cataclysm was meant for the floorboards under Miss Fortune's feet. Instead, he let her 'mean words' get to him, he lost his temper, and he destroyed the archway.

The sound of a siren, which Adrien had been hearing off in the distance even since he left the courtyard, was getting louder and louder and longer he sat there. Until finally, it was so loud, he was sure he was just around the corner from it.

The ambulance… Marinette!

Adrien stood up, hastily wiping his eyes with the backs of his wrists, trying to dry away his tears as fast as he could. Plagg, who had just shoved the last bit of his cheese into his mouth, found himself being grabbed by his holder and shoved back into his over-shirt.

His cheeks dry but still very red, Adrien ran down the sidewalk to the front of the school. When he rounded the corner, he stopped at the sight of the ambulance parked on the road. All his classmates and friends were standing in front of the school's steps, watching two paramedics look over Marinette, who they had laid out on a stretcher.

Standing just behind one of the paramedics were Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng. The two parents held each other, looking more worried than he or his friends.

And he didn't blame them. Their only daughter was hurt badly. How badly? No one knew for sure yet.

The next thing he knew, the blonde model was running over to his best friend, who stood with his arm around his crying girlfriend at the closest end of the group.

"Dude, where did you go?" Nino asked his best bud when he noticed him.

"I was- uhh…" Adrien tried to explain but his attention was too focused on the paramedics attending to Marinette in front of them to come up with an excuse. "W-what happened?" he asked. Whatever his future excuse for not being there during the attack was, he wasn't supposed to already know what had happened to their sweet, bluenette friend.

"Marinette's hurt," Alya said, her voice shaky. Both Nino and Adrien looked over to the auburn-haired girl with tear stains all over her cheeks. "Chat Noir was fighting an akuma and the archway above the school's entrance collapsed," she said, not taking her eyes off her best friend on the stretcher before them. "I-I saw her still standing in the courtyard. I was yelling at her to come out with the rest of us, but… she just wouldn't." Fresh tears erupted from her eyes as she finished her sentence. Nino pulled her in for a comforting side-hug as she covered her face in her hands, his own eyes starting to mist over.

Adrien continued to watch as the paramedics finally started lifting Marinette into the ambulance.

Why Marinette? Why didn't you just save yourself and stay away?

After getting their patient settled in the back, Tom started to climb in after them. Just before Sabine could climb in too, she turned around and looked back at all of her daughter's classmates.

"You're all welcome to come to the hospital and visit Marinette," she said to them. She knew they were all worried about her little girl. Plus, it would help make Marinette feel better if she knew all her friends were there too.

There were a few 'thanks yous' from everyone before the kind woman gave them all a sad smile and climbed into the ambulance too. When she was in, one of the paramedics closed the doors and they drove off.

"Come on guys, we should get going," Nathanael said to the group of his classmates.

"Actually," Max said, taking out his calculator. "at the accelerated speed the ambulance is traveling, it should arrive at its destination in approximately 7.34 minutes. Also including the time for the doctors to evaluate her condition and check her into a room, we probably won't be able to know anything until-" Max stopped talking when he noticed all his friends worried looks and figured his time calculations weren't helping. "Then again, the sooner the better," the young genius said as he put his device away.

It didn't matter if they got there early. They'd all rather be waiting in the waiting room then anywhere else.

Everyone muttered in agreement before talking about how they were going to get there and who could carpool with who.

It was still lunch break, but they all knew they couldn't resume classes until the akuma was defeated and the school's entrance was fixed. They were all worried, so they all might as well head to the hospital now and wait to hear on Marinette's condition.

As Nino and Alya turned to Adrien, the blonde model pulled out his phone. "I'll call my driver. He can drive us to the hospital," Adrien said to the couple. But paused to look at everyone else behind them. "Sorry you all can't fit in his car," he apologized to the rest of his class.

He was the one who insisted on not being driven around in a limo anymore. But now he wished more than even that the Gorilla was still driving it.

"It's okay Adrien, we'll all meet you there," Mylene said, Ivan's big arm around her and his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Adrien smiled sadly to her and the others as he dialed up his driver and asked him to come back to the school.

As Nino started leading his upset girlfriend over to the side road, where Adrien was heading, Alya turned her head back to her group of girl friends before stopping. "Actually guys, I'm gonna go with them," Alya said as she lightly pulled back from Nino. The young DJ stopped and listen as she turned to talk to them. "We should all go pick out a nice 'get well soon' bouquet for Marinette," she told the four other girls.

The girls all looked at each other and exchanged nods. "That's a great idea," Alix agreed.

"She'll love that," Rose added, excited on picking out a nice flower arrangement to cheer Marinette up.

Nino placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, making her turn back to him. "You go ahead, babe. I'll ride with Adrien and we'll meet you there," he told her before pressing his lips to her forehead. When he pulled away, Alya gave him a tight hug before walking back over to the girls.

Adrien watched the sweet exchange between the two love-birds as the Gorilla pulled up on the road between the school and the Dupain-Cheng bakery behind him. Adrien opened the door and climbed in, Nino right behind him. When they were buckled in, the Gorilla pulled away from the school and started driving away.

"Uh, isn't the hospital back that way?" Nino said, pointing his thumb back behind them.

Adrien kept his head tilted down, his eyes on his lap, as he looked through his phone for a certain number. "Yeah, but before we go to the hospital, Nino, I want to get Marinette a bouquet too," he said, his voice low and sad.

It was obvious to Nino that his best bud was upset and worried, and he didn't blame him. He was upset and worried too. "Oh, well okay," Nino said. If Adrien wanted to quickly stop by the florist and get Marinette some flowers too, that would be great. She would appreciate another bouquet. "I think the one the girls are going to is just a few blocks-"

"No man," Adrien stopped him without looking away from his phone. "The florist I'm thinking of is a little farther away. I'm calling in an order for one now so it'll be ready by the time we get there."

"Order?" Nino asked. Adrien was planning on ordering a costume-made bouquet? And he could only assume this different florist was more high-end and expensive. "You don't want to just pick out a per-made one?"

"Absolutely not," Adrien replied, very sure of his decision. He still felt awful for what he had done to her and wanted to give her the most he could. Even if it hadn't been his fault, Marinette deserved far better than a per-made bouquet. She only deserved the best. After finally finding the number for the florist he wanted, he started dialing. "This one needs to be special."

Next chapter is more of the aftermath.

What I have planned for the rest of the story after that is mostly just thoughts and notes to create Marichat cuteness (so I'll be basically winging it then).

Bye!