Marinette woke in her own bed, though it took her a moment to realize where she was. She had fallen asleep in the couch. If she was in bed but didn’t remember getting in it, then there was only one reason.
“Did Adrien come home?” she asked Tikki.
The kwami nodded. “About ten minutes after you fell asleep.”
Marinette groaned, rubbing tired hands down her face. “I can’t believe it. It was barely nine.”
“But you’ve been working yourself into the ground for the longest time,” Tikki said. “And yesterday, you went running around as Ladybug and facing off Kagami. That took a lot out of you.”
While Marinette wasn’t convinced, she dropped the subject, instead choosing to get up to make breakfast. She faced Tikki for her daily love dare, then got ready for the day.
She walked out the door, only to freeze in the garage when she saw Adrien’s car there. She spun around. He was home?
Her heart jumped. Was he up and awake? Or was he sleeping in after a rough day?
And didn’t he have work today?
“Adrien isn’t going to work today?” she asked no one in particular.
“He’s hurting pretty bad,” Plagg said, appearing by her side. “Moaning about some pulled muscle in his back.”
“What?” But she already ran inside, dropping her purse on the kitchen counter and heading to Adrien’s room before she could hear Plagg respond.
She gave a quiet knock on the door before she cracked it open. “Adrien?”
There was a garbled hum in response, but he didn’t move from his face-down position on the bed.
“Can I come in?”
He hummed again. “Yeah.”
His voice was rough and low and should be illegal. She loved his morning voice, remembering the first time she heard it the morning after their wedding. Still, Marinette pushed past that warm memory and entered. “Hey,” she quietly greeted, walking up to where he was laying right at the edge of the bed, his arm hanging off the side. “Are you okay?”
“I hurt,” he mumbled.
“Yeah?” She knelt down beside the bed so he could see her without having to strain his neck to lookup at her.
“Tweaked something in my back really bad.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” she cooed, unable to resist running her hands through is fluffy bedhead. “Do you need anything?”
His eyes drifted closed a moment, but when they opened again, they looked glassy. “I’m sorry.”
She paused, mostly out of surprise. “W-what?”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I’m sorry for being stubborn and wanting to give up on us.”
Her heart was going to pound out of her chest.
“I’m sorry for taking all my anger out on you,” he continued. “I’m sorry for everything and…” Tears ran down his cheeks before he could get out the next words.
YOU ARE READING
The love dare
Random⚓After Hawkmoth was defeated, Adrien and Marinette are both hurt, leaving their marriage strained. Worried, Tikki and Plagg decided to take matters into their own hands by issuing a series of dares in an attempt to help their charges fix their marri...
