As we all knew they would, my parents agreed to let my friends stay the night and had no issues helping us bribe Adrien's driver, after he decided to be truthful with him. Of course, Gorilla let him stay and agreed to tell his father the story about the school project. So everyone ran home to grab overnight bags before returning to the bakery in the hopes of having a fun night.
And have fun, we did. We played video games, ate pizza for dinner, watched two and a half movies, binged on candy and popcorn, and just talked about anything and everything before passing out into bliss-filled sugar comas on the floor of my room. That is until about 4 o'clock in the morning.
"Save me," Blue eyes fill my vision, claws are sinking into my skin, blood is dripping from the numerous cuts all over my body, my lungs are screaming for air, and all of my limbs are burning and still none of it hurts as bad as those two words, whispered in his soft and broken voice.
"Cataclysm," stated calmly as he holds his hand up where I can see the Destruction seep from his ring to cover his hand, bubbling menacingly, waiting patiently to be used.
"I still love you, I'm so sorry" he's whispering again, leaning in to press his sweet, soft kiss to my forehead, mere moments before the worst pain you can imagine rips through my stomach, spreading to my heart and legs simultaneously. This time, just before my vision goes black, I swear I see his eyes begin to turn green again.
I sit straight up, panting, blinded by tears and feeling my heart trying to beat out of my chest. I quickly realize I am not in my bed, and I am not alone. It takes about a minute or so of full blown panic to remember that my friends and I are having a sleepover. At that point, I finally registered that the voice I am hearing is not Chat Blanc but Alya, and the restraining hands on my wrists are Adrien's, who was only restraining me because I, apparently, punched Nino as he tried to wake me.
Once I become fully aware of my surroundings, everyone lets go and backs away to give me a moment to calm down. And it was at that moment I fully realized what had happened. Oh my god, I just had a full blown aggressive response to a traumatic nightmare, in front of all my friends, who have no idea I've been having aggressively traumatic nightmares. Welp, the cats out of the bag now. Breathing exercises aren't gonna do shit this time.
"Nino, are you okay?" I say as calmly as possible while searching for him in the dark. His face moves into view and I instantly start panicking again because his eye is already starting to swell and he has a trail of blood coming from his nose as well as a split lip. "Oh my god! I-I'm-I didn't-I'm so s-sorry Nino, I-I can't-I-I'm just—" Three sets of arms wrap around me as I try to finish my apology and end up sobbing. Adrien is the first to break the awkward silence.
"Mari, what happened? Before you started screaming, you said-you were saying some pretty…strange things. Do-do you remember what was happening?" They had all pulled back when Adrien started talking and were now looking at me waiting for answers. Answers I, once again, couldn't give them. So I lied…again.
"I don't really remember. I just remember waking up and not recognizing where I was. I could tell I wasn't in my bed and I wasn't alone and it kinda made me panic. Then I remembered we were doing a sleepover."
"Girl…Marinette, you know if someone is hurting you, you can tell any of us and we will help you. You know that right?" Alya says, putting her hand on my shoulder. That's worrisome, what the fuck did I say in my sleep?!
"Hurting me? What do you mean, no one is hurting me. Why would you assume-"
"Mari…you said 'please stop, it hurts' and you said 'I love you too' right before you started screaming," Adrien had the weirdest look I had ever seen on his face and wouldn't look me in the eye as he repeated my unconscious words back to me.
"O-oh…I-I'm sorry," I didn't know what else to say. Alya stood up and started helping Nino to his feet.
"I'm gonna go help him get cleaned up. Is the first aid kit still in the first floor bathroom?" I nodded stiffly at Alya without meeting her or Nino's eyes. They quietly left the room and now I was alone in an awkward silence with Adrien. He reached over and gently grabbed my chin, raising my face to look at him. Under any other circumstances, I would be elated, but now I just wanted him to forget this whole thing ever happened.
"Mari…you—do you remember anything from your dream at all? Do you remember Chat Noir being there, maybe?" My eyes snapped to his and I froze.
"Why would you ask that?" My voice comes out as barely a whisper and my hands start shaking uncontrollably. He lowers his hand from my chin to rest on top of my hands and his eyes follow.
"Before the others woke up, you had rolled in your sleep and bumped me awake. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I promise. I honestly thought you were talking to me at first. You were saying something about being sorry and that you didn't mean for things to happen the way they did. You mumbled something about love and the end of the world. Then you said 'I'm so sorry Chat Noir' before you started to thrash around. That's when you woke the others. We didn't know what to do at first until you sat straight up and we thought you were awake. Nino tried to touch your hand to ask if you were okay and you just started hitting him. That's when I grabbed your hands and you started asking me to stop, saying that it hurt. I almost let go but you whispered…those words before you started screaming. We didn't know what to do other than try to talk to you until you woke up."
"Adrien, I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of you to see that. It's really not a big deal. They usually aren't that violent and-"
"Wait, has this kind of thing happened before?" Shit! What the hell do I say now? Me and my big mouth. Adrien is looking at me with this weird mix of anger and worry on his face. "What the hell Mari? Why would you keep something like this to yourself when we could have been helping you work through it?" He is so upset that I immediately begin to feel guilty for keeping this from my friend, before piercing blue eyes flash through my mind and I am reminded why I haven't told any of them. "This is not something you should handle alone…trust me." He says the last words so softly, I'm not sure I was meant to hear it.
"I just didn't want to burden any of you with it. It really is not as bad as it seems, they're just nightmares. It seemed silly to tell you all about it when there wasn't anything any of you could do about it."
"Mari, you are no burden, believe me. We are your friends and we only want to help. You are always there for all of us when we need it, let us be there for you. Please promise you will at least come to me and let me help you work through these nightmares after they happen," He grips my hands firmly and looks at me with those big green eyes. Who am I, a mere mortal, to refuse this god-like man. I would steal the stars from the sky if he asked me to.
"I promise, Adrien," and just like that his expression clears and he smiles like I just told him we were going to a pun themed amusement park. He wraps me in another hug, pressing my head to his chest with one hand and wrapping his other arm around my shoulders. The hug feels so intimate and I melt into his embrace instantly. I could stay here forever.
I'm not sure how long we sit that way, but at some point he moves his hand from the back of my head to cradle my cheek and jaw as he tilts my head up to look him in the eye. He doesn't say anything, nor does he move so I don't either. I just calmly meet his gaze and wait. What I'm waiting for, I have no idea but I still wait. Inside, I'm freaking out. This is the longest we have been this close physically and I don't know what to do. Where do I put my hands? Do I keep looking at him? Does my breath smell okay? What is he thinking about? Just when I start to get the tiniest bit uncomfortable, he looks away and releases me.
Before I really have time to analyze that, Nino and Alya come through the trap door. Nino looks better but his lip is still split and his eye is definitely going to bruise tomorrow. I move to apologize, again, but he beats me to the punch.
"Don't apologize again Mari, I know you didn't do it on purpose and I'm gonna be fine," Nino says with a smirk directed at Adrien. What's that about?
"Yeah girl, no worries here. Let's try to get back to sleep," Alya also has a smirk and she has this knowing look in her eye which makes me think that maybe they witnessed mine and Adrien's embrace. Great, gonna hear all about that later…