You're my dearest lie || Miraculous Adult

Chapter 5

American Beauty - Thomas Newman

Adrien

Day 304.

I woke up with a heavy pressure on my chest.

As if I was trapped in plaster, I opened my eyelids with great effort and stared into nothingness.

I should have known.

Slowly, I regained the feeling for my body, whose weight almost made me sink deeper into the mattress. With each further powerless breath, the pounding in my head came back again, of which I had been freed from for the brief time that I had slept.

I blinked several times until the black before my eyes transformed into several nuances of grey and I let my gaze wander across the dark room.

Which I soon realized was not my own bedroom.

High ceilings graced the room, which was packed with framed landscape paintings, completely different in size and shape. But in the dim light of the streetlamps, they all looked like gloomy scenes from a horror movie. Even the old, tall bookshelves looked downright spooky in the passing light of the headlights. If this were a movie, it would have been the perfect time for a murder.

That dead silence accentuated my thoughts.

But I was neither afraid nor panicked.

In fact, I knew exactly where I was. Because the throbbing pain in my skull reminded me of how the previous night had passed.

How it had begun, how it had ended.

Stealthily, I turned my head to the left when I registered a light movement.

Immediately, a familiar, flowery scent came to my nose.

I could see a sleeping body next to me, its breathing causing it to expand and contract at slow intervals.

Long, smooth strands of hair hid her shoulders, but not her bare back, which was partly hidden by the blanket.

Quietly, I took a deep breath.

In the darkness, you couldn't make out the colour of her normally red hair.

Once again, I looked across the room while I quietly, but resolutely, sat up.

I had to get out of here.

Searching, I squinted my eyes and let my gaze roam over the floor, which was littered with carelessly discarded clothes. The closer they were laying near the bed, the less likely strangers were to see them. Just at the foot of the bed, I spied my pair of boxer shorts.

"Plagg?"

My voice was raspy and cracked as I tried to whisper. But her sleeping body thankfully did not move.

Slowly, I slid forward and immediately began to feel dizzy. I clutched the metallic rail of the bed for support while everything was spinning.

"Where are you, Plagg?"

My tongue was no use as I spoke. It felt numb and practically stuck to the roof of my mouth.

How much did we drink yesterday?

Uncoordinated, I picked for my shorts and pulled them on with some struggle. If it was only the darkness that made it difficult for me.

All of a sudden, I saw something long whizzing towards me, the trail end of it dragged on the floor.

"Here, your clothes," a hushed, scratchy voice rang out, dropping my clothes on my lap in front of me. I didn't see how I could have distinguished them anymore in my condition.