By the time Marinette made it back home her parents were frantic with worry. She had been gone for hours, several of those being after sunset, and not once had she answered her neverending chiming phone. She hadn't even realized it had been going off, her whole body numb to the world around her. She hadn't even been aware that she had moved from her bench underneath the Eiffel Tower, let alone that she had been moving for long enough to make it home.

As soon as Marinette stepped through the door, her parents scooped her up in their arms, exclaiming how worried they had been and how glad they were to have her back home and safe. The bluenette barely heard anything though. Now that she was back home and wrapped in the love and warmth of her parents she began to thaw out and feeling returned once more. Marinette was harshly aware of her shredded and bleeding heart. All of her emotions hit her full force and her sobs wracked her body ten times harder than they had so far.

Chat! her whole body wailed.

Chat! her heart died just a little bit more.

Tom and Sabine didn't ask any questions, they didn't demand any answers. They simply wrapped her up in their arms and whispered of their love for her. They reassured their daughter that everything would be okay, that everything would be better in the morning as they took her upstairs and settled her into bed.

Marinette didn't hear a word that left their mouths but if she had she probably would have screamed at her parents. Because what they were telling her was lies. Life wasn't okay and it would never be okay again. Chat was gone. Marinette had no way of getting him back.

The ex-superhero fell asleep sandwiched between her parents on their bed. They made sure to pour out all the love and comfort they had to offer the grieving child but it was no use. Only Chat could make her feel better. Only Chat could fix her broken home.

When the sun shone brightly through the windows the next morning, Adrien could only groan in pain and frustration. He blinked, trying to clear his bleary vision as he reached for his alarm clock. Slowly the green blob of light morphed into something decipherable and for a moment Adrien just stared at it in confusion. That couldn't be right.

Adrien immediately jumped out of bed and rushed towards the bathroom the moment his brain caught up to the waking world. School had started two hours ago. His father was not going to be pleased.

"Plagg!" Adrien all but yelled in frustration and annoyance. "Why didn't you-"

Everything halted. Adrien became rooted to the floor just outside the bathroom door, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open, and for a moment his thoughts were completely silent. Adrien then remembered what happened perfectly. Plagg was gone, Adrien was left all alone. Confinement to his room had kept him from being able to go find Ladybug no matter how much he had begged and pleaded. Adrien was worried that he had hurt her. That maybe she thought that the reason he hadn't rushed to find her immediately was because he didn't care. He did care, as he had passionately exclaimed to his bedroom, but it didn't help to make it hurt less. All afternoon and evening he had paced and pulled his hair out and all but went insane as he thought about Ladybug. Over and over again he had tried to convince Natalie and the Gorilla to let him leave but it had been no use. Eventually Adrien had changed into pajamas and laid down on his bed. Sleep hadn't come at first and when it finally had it had been awful.

The nightmares weren't anything new for Adrien. It had become a common occurance to have the Akumas that they fought during to make an appearance in his dreams. Last night though, had been brutal. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Ladybug, completely terrified, as he was unable to save her. Sometimes she was caught in the clutches of Hawkmoth as he laughed evilly and stole her miraculous. Sometimes she was lying in his arms, bleeding horribly, as he watched her life slip away. Still at other times he saw her standing under the Eiffel Tower, scared and alone, tears slipping down her cheeks as she came to realize he wasn't going to show. He could see the fear in her eyes that he didn't care.

Over and over again, as Adrien closed his eyes to these images, he found himself jerking back awake in fear, burying his head in his hands as he cried.

So no, it hadn't been a good night. Now it was more than two hours past the start of school and Adrien had to wonder why no one had woken him up.

Not wanting to be even later than he already was and get into even more trouble, Adrien rushed to get ready for the day. In record time he was showered, dressed, and had his bag packed as he then headed out the door.

"Natalie?" Adrien called, hoping to find the assistant so that he could get his schedule for the day as well as the reason why he wasn't woken up.

Ten steps later though, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder as it roughly pulled him back into his room.

"Hey! Wait- I have to go to school." He shot a confused but also somewhat annoyed look at the bodyguard who was once again blocking his way. "What do you think you are doing? I need to go to school. You have to let me out of here!"

Natalie suddenly showed up at the Gorilla's side and Adrien sighed in relief. She would be able to get him out of there so that he could go to school and get on with his day. He really needed a chance to be able to find Ladybug.

"Natalie, I need to-"

"No Adrien."

Adrien just blinked at her. She had never cut him off and frankly after all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours he wasn't sure what to think. Or even what Natalie was saying no to.

"You will not be going to school and from here on out all of your former engagements are canceled."

Natalie delivered her message with her normal straight face so it took Adrien a moment to realize she had said something other than the normal prattle of his schedule.

"What?!" Adrien's stomach sank. He must have misheard right? That's what must have happened because there was no way Natalie had just told him he was no longer going to school.

"Your schedule is now completely free until further notice."

Natalie turned on her heel, leaving Adrien alone to let his brain catch up. She sent one last glance to the sheltered boy, a flash of pity and sorrow taking over her features. But then she was gone, the door shutting him inside again.

With the click of the latch, Adrien caught up with reality and he threw himself against the door.

"No! No! You can't do this to me! Let me out! Please! She needs me!"

Adrien pounded on the door and jerked the handle with all his might. It remained sealed shut and his cries went unheard. In a matter of seconds he was gasping for breath, panic seizing his heart in a death grip and refusing to let go. He was trapped with no way out. No way out as Chat. No way out as Adrien. He no longer had hope of escape to see his lady. They truly were forever going to be alone. His house had become his jail cell and his home was lost to him.

Ladybug! How he wished he could just go home.