Marinette talks. Nino and Alya are worried. Adrien gets a present.

Marinette busted through the glass door in the small ICU room. Her heart was racing, and she had to rest a hand on the door frame for support. Exhaustion was finally catching up to her. But as soon as her eyes laid upon the people inside the room, it was as if the fog surrounding her had finally lifted.

As soon as her eyes made contact with the shiny, albeit exhausted emerald eyes of her partner, of her love, it was as if a dam had broken, all her fragile resolute crumbled, and Marinette could not say anything, because the words she had wanted to say since that horrible night when a feverish Adrien was begging for her forgiveness, for something he had absolutely no control, for the hell that was unleashed upon him, those words… well, they were just stuck between her sobs and her jumbled mind.

It took a minute for the medical staff to process what just happened, but eventually, they left the room, warning that Adrien still needed to be tended to, so they would be back soon. No one acknowledged that since the world outside those two soulmates had faded to nothing.

Marinette felt Mrs Agreste's hand resting on her shoulder, and despite her gaze being incapable of breaking the connection between Adrien and she, Marinette knew that Émilie had a soft smile on her lips as she spoke to her, "I know you two must have a lot to say to each other, but Ade is still very weak, so please try to be gentle with him.", and with that, she also left the room, leaving the two alone.

A few minutes passed, where the couple just stood in silence, absorbing each other as much as they could. Eventually, Marinette's silent sobs subsided, and words were finally able to pass through her lips.

"Hey, you…" She said as she approached the bed. God! She wanted to hug him, to press him against her, and never let go, to stroke his soft blonde locks, and whisper soft promises, "Everything will be alright…" she wanted to say.

Marinette rested her hand on his frail, bandage covered wrist.

"Hey…" Adrien breathed through the oxygen mask covering almost all his beautiful face.

"I'm sorry," They both said at the same time.

Marinette hesitated. Her hand moved from his wrist to his hair, gently feeling the wild soft strands. She could not tear her gaze away from the horrible bruises on his neck. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry! I never should have left you alone in that house!" Tears were making fat trails down her face.

"If only I, if only…"

"It's okay…" Adrien interrupted, slowly lifting his thin weak hand. Slowly caressing her wet cheek with his fingers. "You didn't know… you couldn't know… I betrayed you, m'lady…" he finished, taking a large gulp of breath from his oxygen mask.

"You didn't, you could never, kitten! You did what you could, with what you had. I was the one who left you when you needed me the most, I was so afraid, Adrien! You are such an amazing person, and I was just so afraid you would leave me as soon as you knew my real identity. I was so stupid!" Marinette grabbed his hand, holding it between both of her palms, mindful of the IV, and the oximeter resting on his index finger. "I had this irrational fear, and I know it was wrong, because, I'm still me without the mask, and I know you love me, but… It was all so much! Because I have always loved you."

Adrien's eyes widened, and his heart rate, indicated in one of the many machines aiding his survival, accelerated a bit. "What about the other boy…"

Marinette let out a small sad chuckle, "The other boy is you, silly… I have loved you since that day in the rain when you gave me your umbrella. And I have been a complete mess around you since then. You, Adrien Agreste, my kitty, you were my first love, my one true love. And I know that we're still so young, but you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with…" She stared at his beautiful green eyes.

"I love you so much, Mari…" Adrien whispered, blinking slowly.

By the time the doctors came back with Mrs Agreste, Adrien was sleeping peacefully, perhaps for the first time in weeks, and right next to him, with her head resting on the crook of his neck, their hands intertwined, was Marinette, also sleeping with a small smile gracing her lips.

A week had passed since the first time Adrien had awakened. He was transferred to another room, a bigger one.

He only remembered glimpses of those days, as he was still heavily medicated because of the pain and all his other ailments, so he would only be awakened for maybe an hour or so each day.

The doctors said he was getting better; however, the oxygen mask was still a constant presence on his face. He was still dependent on a feeding tube, and he still couldn't get out of the bed. Despite all his improvement, the doctors said that his heart had taken a lot of damage, the infection he had left its mark, so his heart would never be completely healthy again. He would need to monitor it for the rest of his life they said.

Today was going to be the first day he would get to have other visitors. His mum was always with him when he was conscious, he had a feeling she had never left the hospital since he had been admitted. Marinette was the only other visitor who was allowed to see him, and from what he remembered, she really looked like she could use some sleep. Adrien felt like he was being a burden to all the people worried about him, on the other side, a small part of him was joyous that they cared enough to worry.

"Dude!" The familiar voice of his best friend interrupted his thoughts.

Nino stopped dead on his tracks, just as he approached his bed. Alya was right behind him, and Adrien noticed that both had bloodshot eyes, like they had spent these last few days crying.

"Nino, I'm not going to break you know? You can hug me…" At least he could now say full sentences without losing breath.

"Dude, don't even joke about that!" Nino paused, hesitantly he rested his hand on Adrien's shoulder, and being mindful of all the cables and tubes connecting his best friend to the various machines in the room, he hugged him softly. Adrien could pinpoint exactly when Nino started to shake while they were hugging. He could feel his unsteady breath on his neck, and the way his hospital gown started to get wet, right where Nino's face was resting.

"They- they said y-you died, dude…" Adrien's eyes drifted immediately to Alya, who was looking at him trying to contain her own tears.

"Well, obviously I didn't, I'm still here." He tried to reassure them. Adrien thought his visibly bruised neck and his raspy voice didn't help the situation at all.

"Hey, Sunshine… How are you feeling?" Alya managed to ask with a minimum quivering of her voice.

"You know, I've been better… I've also been worse, so I think… not that bad at the moment…" His gaze drifted to his nervous hands, just as Nino had finally managed to pull away from the hug.

"Good! Because I'm sick of having to order Marinette to go to sleep every night, that girl would not leave this hospital for anything…" She paused, "And I guess you feeling better is also good…" She teased, earning a small chuckle from Adrien.

"Dude, we should have busted through that room of yours when we went to speak with your father."

Adrien flinched at the mention of his father. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to mention him!" Nino raised his hands, gripping his short hair. "It's just that… This suck! All this situation sucks! You didn't deserve any of that! And it still happened! And to think that we were so close, and yet we couldn't protect you! Ahhh!" Nino pulling his hair now.

"It's okay! You had no way to find… All that matter is that I'm here, I'll be okay… Well, maybe not 100% fine, but I'll manage… I have you guys, and you are the best friends I could possibly have…" Tears were now gathering in his eyes.

"You are goddamn right! If you think we are going to leave you alone for even a second, well, you are very mistaken mister! We are going to smother you so much that you'll get sick of us in no time!" Alya was now in mother's mode it seemed.

"Alya, as if he would ever get sick of us! The dude loves us!" Nino laughed.

In fact, they all laughed together, as if they didn't have any concern. Adrien really missed this. His friends were everything to him, and despite all that happened, he felt incredibly lucky to have them in his life.

Soon, laughter turned into coughing, muffled by the oxygen mask in his face, he leaned forward. Nino and Alya sobered up immediately. Adrien's frantic gasps of breath left them frozen in place.

"Should we call someone?" Alya asked. Adrien violently shook his head, holding his mask against his face, coughs rattling his still fragile form.

"Okay Adrien, calm down, breathe with me…" Nino started to rub small circles on his back.

Eventually, his coughs subsided, and Adrien was breathing normally again, his lips let out a small whimper of pain.

"Okay, what was that?" Alya's tone was clearly shaken by this small episode.

"They say it's…" He paused exhausted, "It's my trachea, it's damaged, because… because of what happened, and… and that it's also psychological…"

"Are you sure you don't want us to call somebody?" Nino insisted.

"No, it's okay… really" Adrien blinked slowly. Lying down again on the bed.

"Okay, you look like you need some sleep, I think it's better if we go now, to let you rest, are you sure you're fine?" Nino asked once again.

Adrien let out a small smile, "Yes, I think the meds are finally kicking in… I'm fine, I promise…"

"Alright, well, we better get going then, we'll come back tomorrow, and Chloé said she's also coming, so be prepared for that…"

He chuckled, Adrien wasn't aware of this until now, but he really missed his childhood friend, even with all her quirks, he knew that she honestly cared for him. "Thank you for coming guys…"

"You know we wouldn't leave you here alone with nothing to do…" Alya smiled, "Well, Sunshine, see you tomorrow!"

"I'll be here waiting…" He joked.

"Bye, dude! Call us if you need anything!"

Adrien kept smiling at them until they left, immediately after they closed the door behind them, his smile fell, and he could only stare at the ceiling. Yes, the doctors said he was getting better, but he still had such a long road of recovery ahead. He didn't feel okay, far from it actually, and there was still so much he needed to fix. He still hadn't seen his ring, he missed Plagg so much. He missed hearing his rants about cheese, his awkward displays of affection towards him. Plagg was the best friend he had ever had, he was the best partner and guide one could ask, and yet, Adrien had failed him. He wasn't careful enough, and that was why his father managed to take him away.

A soft knock on the door managed to pause his dark spiralling thoughts. He slowly turned his head towards the opening entrance, only to see a small Asian man with a Hawaiian shirt smiling at him.

"Hello, Chat Noir! I have something that might belong to you!" He affectionately said, revealing a small wooden black and familiar box.

Adrien grabbed the box hesitantly, his expression morphing to one of surprise, as he opened the seemingly innocuous container, revealing a familiar green bright light.

I have no excuses for the hiatus, I'm so sorry. My life from September until now has been incredibly busy with uni. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, and thank you for your patience.

Next chapter: "I'm sorry, I'm so-sorry, I'm sorry!" He cried in despair, hoping that his partner would forgive him.

"Adrien, none of this was your fault! The only one to blame is that vile man!"