Beep. Beep. Beep.
Marinette woke up to the noise of the machines; groggily she opened her eyes and looked around. She seemed to be in a hospital room, hooked up to at least 3 machines and an IV drip. She was startled to see that she had a small florist shop in her room, there was what must have been 3 dozen bouquets of flowers, a dozen balloons and at least five teddy bears. Her heart rate started to pick up as she noticed that, sleeping next to her bed, was Adrien. His hand was holding hers and as she shifted slightly he woke with a start.
"Mari?" he whispered. God his eyes looked so sad and red, it was if he had been recently crying.
"Hi Adrien," she rasped, voice raw from misuse, "What happened?"
"You collapsed during rehearsal Mari. I barely caught you before you hit your head on the floor. You scared me, don't ever do that to again your hear?" he reprimanded.
"Sorry, I must have gotten dizzy," Marinette murmured.
"Mari, the doctors said that you were malnourished and that your body was past the point of exhaustion. You have been asleep for 4 days."
"4 days?!" Marinette exclaimed "No! I have to get back to rehearsal, I still have so much to learn!"
"Not going to happen young lady," A man said as he entered the room, "My name is Doctor Morris, I am the one in charge of making sure you get better soon. Now, you will not be dancing for at least another week, your body is not ready to go back to such a gruelling routine."
"But I don't have time to sit around and do nothing!" Marinette cried.
"If you are lucky you can start dancing in one week but even then it will be on restricted duties. If you push yourself much more, you may lose more than just four days next time," Doctor Morris chastised.
Marinette was stunned at what she was hearing, she knew she wasn't feeling the best but she didn't think it was as bad as the Doctor was describing. Surely she should be able to go back dancing much sooner than he said. As she looked at Adrien, she was shocked to find that he was staring back at her.
"You're going to listen to the Doctor aren't you Mari?" he asked pointedly.
"Yes Adrien, I will," she replied, "But do I have to stay here in the hospital?" she asked the Doctor.
"You will have to stay here for tonight but if you can promise me that you will not return to rehearsals until at least next week and that when you do, it is for no more than two hours at a time for up to four hours a day." Doctor Morris compromised.
"Yes, Doctor, I promise." Marinette promised, crossing her fingers that were hidden behind her back. She could still practice at home or she could go back to her old studio if she needed the space until she was allowed to come back full time.
She was released the next day and made a point of going to the Kwami Dance Studio to say hi to everyone and to thank them for all the gifts they had sent. She then excused herself, saying she should get home to rest so she could be back sooner rather than later.
I wonder why Adrien was there in the hospital with me and why he seemed so upset. She pondered as she walked back to her apartment. Oh well, time to start practicing so I don't fall further behind.
You will never catch up now little bug, you will always be second rate compared to all of them.
"Go away, you're not real," Marinette said out loud.
You do realise you are talking to a voice in your head right?
Marinette's concentration was broken when Alya's ringtone blared again. Dammit Alya, I'm a little bit busy.
"I suppose I should just answer her and then turn it on silent so I can keep going" she said to no one in particular.
"Alya, what's wrong?" she asked, after hitting answer on her phone.
"I am at your place Marinette and you are not here," Alya said sharply, "Where are you? You are supposed to be on bed rest."
"I'm fine, I just went for a walk around my old neighbourhood after seeing my parents," Marinette lied, "I needed some fresh air after being stuck in my house for the past seven days."
"Marinette, you're not dancing again are you?" Alya asked.
Marinette's breath caught slightly at the accusation, "N-No Alya, I am not dancing. I promise."
"Marinette, I am just worried about you. I know what you can be like and being forced to not dance for so long will just make you want to practice more." Alya said softly.
"Alya, I said I am fine. Just stop worrying about me. I need to go," Marinette said bag before turning the music back on and walking back into position to start the dance again.
She was in her old dance studio; Madame Zoe was kind enough to let her borrow a key so she could practice whenever she needed. She had practically lived here for the past week the moment she was let out of the hospital. She was still stuck on a particular section of Ladybug's solo at the end of the performance. She had to spin while moving across the stage and then stop suddenly in a pose. She had almost every move perfected but kept stumbling and falling over at the end. She had been practicing the same combo for the past six hours and was no closer to perfecting it.
Oh my little bug, when are you going to listen to me?
Never. I just need to focus and I will get it right.
Keep going, I can't wait to see when you break your leg, falling over like that.
I won't break my leg. Now go away. I need to concentrate.
Whatever, just don't come crying to me when you fail miserably on stage. I am just trying to save you from public humiliation.
"Mari?"
She spun to see Adrien standing in the doorway of the studio, his face covered in shock.
"A-Adrien? What are you doing here?" she asked, looking around the studio.
"Alya called me after she spoke to you. She said you didn't sound like yourself and when she tracked your phone, she saw that you were in a dance studio," Adrien said, "You remember you are still not allowed to be dancing right? You lied to her, you said you weren't dancing."
"Oh uh, I wasn't dancing, I was just visiting my old dance studio. Yeah I had been walking in the neighbourhood and decided to pop in." Marinette scrambled for an explanation.
"Mari, I saw you dancing just now, why are you lying to me?" Adrien asked softly, walking towards her.
"I wasn't lying, but I have to go, sorry, bye!" she said, snatching her bag and running towards the door.
Adrien grabbed her arm as she ran past him. "Mari, please talk to me."
"Adrien, I-I can't, I'm sorry but I can't. Please let go of me," Marinette begged.
"I can't do that either Mari. I'm worried about you; you look as bad as you did in hospital if not worse. Just tell me what is going on, please," he pleaded.
Marinette stopped, her heart beating loudly. She didn't want to keep lying to everyone but she couldn't tell them the whole truth. She turned to Adrien, her eyes not making contact.
"I, uh, I-I have been dancing, but it's only because I need to be able to keep up with you. You're so amazing and I'm just….just…me." Marinette muttered.
Adrien moved his free hand to her chin, lifting it up. "You are an amazing dancer Mari. One of the best that I have ever danced with."
Marinette blushed at the proximity between them and at his words.
"When was the last time you ate?" Adrien asked pointedly.
"Um, maybe a bite of toast this morning," Marinette murmured.
Adrien sighed and started dragging her out of the studio, snatching the keys from her hand and locking up.
"Right, we are going to eat before we go home," he stated.
"Home?"
"Oh, I probably should call Alya" he said, ignoring Marinette. He pulled out his mobile and dialled Alya's number.
"Alya? It's Adrien. Can you do me a favour and pack a bag of Mari's things? Yeah enough stuff to keep her going until the performance. When you have it all packed let me know, I'm taking her to get something to eat before we head back to mine. Awesome, yeah it's ok. Of course, you know you can call me whenever you need anything, especially when it comes to Mari. Cool, well I see you later," he hung up the phone with a smile. "Alright, how does a burger sound?"
"Adrien, why is Alya packing a bag of my stuff and why are we heading back to your place?" Marinette asked after Adrien had paid for their meals.
"Because you are moving in with me until after the performance, since you can't be trusted to not dance when you're supposed to be resting," he replied straight faced.
"WHAT? I can't move in with you Adrien! I mean, I couldn't expect you to do that for me," Marinette spluttered, red faced.
BING. Marinette's phone chimed with a text message. Swiping the message open, she swallowed a squeal and swore her face turned a new shade of red as she read the message. It was a picture of Alya holding a pair of Marinette's black lacy underpants.
I think I'll pack these for you 'just in case'.
"I'm going to kill that girl," Marinette growled quietly.
"You ok Mari?" Adrien asked over his burger.
"Oh yes, she was just asking me about some of my clothes," Marinette replied, "She is having fun picking my clothes out for me."
"Oh, well that's good. We probably should start heading back to my place so you can settle in. Do you mind if we stop by the grocers? I still need to set up the spare bedroom with the few essentials that I don't have stocked on hand." Adrien said standing up.
"Sure, but you don't need to go out of your way for me," Marinette said also standing.
"This isn't out of my way, I also need to get some stuff for dinner tonight so it's not trouble at all."
Once they got back to Adrien's apartment, he showed Marinette the spare room that she would be staying in for the next nine weeks. After a full tour of the apartment, including a 'oh and this is my room if you ever need me', they settled in the kitchen while Adrien started prepping for dinner.
"You don't have any allergies right Mari?"
"Nope, I can usually eat just about anything," Marinette replied grinning.
"Usually?"
"I, uh, haven't had much of an appetite lately," Marinette whispered.
"Well you won't have a choice here. I cook a lot and I don't like having left overs." Adrien stated, before chopping the onions.
"Knock knock, anyone home?" Alya called out from the doorway.
Marinette raced over to her 'best friend', grabbed her bag and dragged Alya to her room.
"Right, what did you pack for me? Any actual clothes?" Marinette questioned.
"Of course I did!... Just not many of them. Anyway I wanted to make sure I had all the 'essentials'." Alya chirped, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
Marinette just sighed, shaking her head and hugged her friend. "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to snap at you or hang up. I'm sorry that I lied, but I knew that you would be mad at me and I don't want to fall behind anymore."
"It's ok girl, all is forgiven. Just make sure you don't give Adrien a hard time about this; his heart is the right place and he cares for you." Alya hugged back.
Marinette and Adrien said goodnight after dinner and Marinette hadn't felt so full in a long time. She also realised that she hadn't heard from the voice since Adrien arrived at the studio, which was surprising as it was normally so persistent, especially when she was eating that she would only get a few mouthfuls before losing her appetite.
She curled up in bed, closing her eyes, and immediately opened them back on the stage in the red tutu.
I have missed you little bug. Now that the blonde bimbo has gone, we can play.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Marinette screamed, launching herself up in bed. Her hands were shaking and her heart was racing.
"MARI!" Adrien barged into her room, "What happened?"
"Sorry Adrien, it was just a nightmare," Marinette said shakily.
Adrien walked up to her bed, sat down beside her and put his arms around her.
"Shhh, it's ok now. I won't let anything happen to you while I'm here," he whispered.
"I'm sorry," Marinette turned into his chest, tears welling in her eyes.
"Go back to sleep, I'll stay here until you drift off," he said softly. He then started humming a sweet tune that made Marinette feel very sleepy.
Marinette rolled over with a smile whine, to avoid the bright light shining through the blinds. She curled closer into her nice, warm, snuggly, breathing pillow. She froze and her eyes flew open in realisation… Pillows don't breath.
"Morning" a husky voice said.
