A/N Hello readers :) You may or may not have noticed that I have started a new story, but no worries, I am still continuing to write this. I have about 2 weeks where I have nothing to do (yay!). No more school (for now) and no job (rip toxic workplace), so I am not feeling burnout anymore! I still am a little upset with how I handled this story, but, I am feeling better about it. I actually wanted to write it this time! I want to say I love all of the support I have gotten - and apologize for the little angst dump from the last chapter. Continue to comment and review! Makes me want to continue. Only a few more chapters guys, and then the journey will end. Enjoy :3
Adrien had a restless night. He had hauled Gabriel to jail with the help of Nathalie and had endured endless questioning as Mister Bug. Finally, Gabriel was taken into custody and Mister Bug was free to go. Nathalie was enduring more intense questioning considering her heavy involvement. He snuck his way into his room and detransformed. He immediately fell asleep on his bed, tuning every sound and thought out. He knew he would be feeling the emotional effects of everything in the morning, but didn't want to think about it, not yet.
Marinette awoke to the loud yells of her parents. Groggy from being awoken so abruptly, she first thought that the screams were bad, nearly causing her to yell "Tikki Spots on!" She eventually realized that one, she didn't have Tikki, and two her parents sounded happy. She descended down the stairs to find her parents watching the TV intently. Marinette stared at the headline which read: Shadowmoth Defeated! Paris Can Rest
She was frozen. Shadowmoth was defeated... without her! She nearly screamed, "Adrien!" but the wires on her teeth stopped her. Is he okay? Marinette dashed upstairs and ran towards her phone and found no messages from Adrien. She felt a pit in her stomach. There were so many things that could've gone wrong. I need to call him. Marinette dialed Adrien and every dial tone caused more and more anxiety to build up inside her. Pick up, Pick up, Pick up!Adrien did not pick up. Her mind was racing. Do I call Luka? No. He doesn't know I know his identity...
Marinette got dressed faster than she had ever and rushed downstairs. Her parents gasped with a sound that was unimaginable, she whipped her head towards the TV to see Gabriel Agreste in handcuffs. Gabriel... is Shadowmoth. Marinette scanned the crowd surrounded him in the hopes of seeing Adrien, and to her dismay, he was nowhere to be found. He must be so shaken right now... I need to find him.
"Oh, this is just terrible! Poor Adrien," Sabine said, aghast at the fact that Gabriel was Shadowmoth. Tom held her closely. Marinette made her way to her parents and settled in her mother's lap. She hoped that Adrien was okay.
Adrien barely was awake when he heard his phone ring. He didn't want to answer it, so he put it on vibrate. His mind was a mess and he could barely think. The only feeling he had was pure exhaustion. His eyes quickly closed and his body fell into a deep slumber once again.
When he woke up it was dark. What time is it? He opened his phone and read 9:00 PM. I really needed to sleep I guess... He noticed that he had 30 missed calls from Marinette, causing him to shoot up from the bed. Oh no...
He dialed Marinette's phone, it only rang once before she answered. "Marinette, I am so sorry I was so tired and I didn't even consider how worried you would be," Adrien didn't expect to hear anything from Marinette, considering her mouth was wired shut, but instead did hear her speak.
"I was so worried for you, I nearly had a heart attack! Are you okay?" Marinette asked with somewhat slurred speech.
"You can speak?" Adrien said breathlessly, he had missed her voice so much.
"Yeah- I got my wires off, my jaw is healed. They were going to take them off next week, but at my appointment today they thought my jaw was healed enough so they took them off," Marinette's words were a little jumbled but Adrien chopped it up to be because she hadn't spoken in a while. "Are you okay? I can't imagine you are..."
Adrien breathed in deeply, the severity of the situation had not set in. He was quite numb about it at the moment, only feeling relief, he finally was able to sleep. "I am fine, at least for now," he said quietly.
"Are you home alone?" Marinette asked.
"I mean- Gorilla is here but, besides that no one..." besides my mother in the basement... Adrien shuddered at the remembrance of her presence. Nathalie explained the whole situation surrounding his mother, and how she was in a magical coma. He still didn't know what he was supposed to do about that, but he didn't want to think about it.
Marinette was silent for a moment, then said "my parents insist that you come and stay here, we have a guest room. You shouldn't have to go through this alone."
Adrien smiled, Tom and Sabine were always so considerate of him, "I will take them up on that then, just give me time to pack some stuff and- bring back the thing I borrowed. I'll have to make a quick stop at Luka's though."
"Okay, see you later Chaton," Marinette said as she hung up the phone.
Adrien told Gorilla the situation, then packed a to-go bag. He transformed and made a quick stop at Luka's ship and took back his miraculous. He made his way back home and removed the earrings and put on his ring. He was glad to have Plagg back.
He got into the car and was driven to Marinette's house by Gorilla. The bakery was in sight, and Adrien felt a lot of weight fall of his shoulders. He never felt more at home than there. His world was crumbling beneath him, but he knew that Marinette would always be there for him. Once the car stopped Adrien sprinted into the bakery and made his way upstairs.
He was immediately greeted by Marinette who pulled him into a deep embrace. "I am just glad you're okay," she said with teary eyes, "don't ever worry me like that again."
"I promise, I won't," Adrien said as he tightened his grip around her frame.
The guest room that they had was decent. It wasn't large on any scale, but it had a bed and a nightstand and that was really all he needed. Adrien set his stuff down on the bed and changed into pajamas. Tom and Sabine had gone to bed, but considering he had slept the whole day, Adrien didn't feel like sleeping. He made his way into their living room to find Marinette sitting on the couch holding two controllers. She was completely wrapped in a blanket, only showing her hands and feet. "Are you cold or something?" Adrien chuckled as he sat down on the couch and retrieved a control from Marinette's grasp.
"A little," she said sheepishly, "I know you're not tired so- want to play a match to keep your mind off of things?"
Adrien nodded, "oh- before I forget, here," he handed the earrings to Marinette, "you might want these back."
Marinette very happily put the earrings on and was happy to be reunited with Tikki. After a little reunion between the two, Marinette booted up the game. The two played for hours until Marinette couldn't hold back her yawns anymore. She tried to stay up for Adrien but couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore.
"I am going to go to bed," Marinette yawned, "goodnight, Chaton." She got up from the couch and stumbled the way up to her room.
Adrien stared at the TV and decided to turn it off. He felt okay for now, but he knew if he attempted to sleep he would have a nightmare. He had nightmares nearly every night, but mostly after stressful battles. He didn't want to think about his father, let alone have a nightmare about him, so he made his way into the guest room and played on his phone for the rest of the night. He was too afraid to sleep.
