Appel de fin de nuit | Late Night Call

Notes:

i wrote this at the beginning of 2020, like days before the covid shutdown. i haven't touched it since then, and i'm posting it exactly as i left it, bc if i looked at it too much i'd tear it apart and there'd be nothing left

with that being said, i hope y'all don't take it too seriously and can enjoy it, as ik i did when i wrote it :)

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Appel de fin de nuit | Late Night Call | 03.12.2020

"I'll always be there for you, Ladybug. Whatever you need, even if you just want to talk, I'm only a phone call away. Don't hesitate to call me for anything, understand?"

Marinette stared down at her phone, finger hovering over the call button. Should I do it? ...I don't want to disturb him... What if he's busy? ...I shouldn't call. It's so late... I'm just going to do it. ...But wait. ...What if he's in the middle of some super important meeting and I embarrass him and he no longer wants me to call and he stops coming to patrol and he ends up hating me and---

Marinette blinked several times and shook her head. Stop it, Marinette. You're going to call him and tell him what's bothering you like he wants you to whenever you get too stressed.

Not allowing herself to hesitate anymore, Marinette pushed the call button and brought the phone up to her ear.

The dial tone rang on and on in her ears while her heart pounded in her chest.

On the fifth ring and final ring, the call was answered.

"Hello?" a groggy voice on the other end said. Marinette internally cursed herself for waking him up.

"H-hey, Chaton. It's me. Uh, Ladybug." Marinette cringed at how pathetic she sounded.

She heard shuffling on the other end of the line, like sheets being rumpled as the other person shifted to attention.

"Ladybug? Is everything okay? Did something happen to you? Is there another akuma we need to defeat?" Chat Noir was on high alert now.

Marinette sighed and shook her head.

"No, kitty. There's no akuma. I'm perfectly safe."

There was a pause and some more shuffling before Chat Noir responded.

"...Then what's the matter? I'm guessing this isn't some late night tutoring session...."

Marinette shook her head again, even though she knew he couldn't actually see the motion.

"No, Chat, it isn't. I was just feeling a little stressed... and I decided I'd call you."

Again, hesitation on the other end of the line.

"Oh." His voice was gentle, full of understanding. From the sounds she heard on the other side of the call, Marinette guessed that he had laid back down. "Well... do you want to talk about it?"

Marinette appreciated his concern and made a mental note for the next time she saw him, to give him a great big hug to show her gratitude.

"I...I don't know, Chat. It's just nice hearing your voice."

Chat Noir let out a thoughtful hum.

"What's on your mind, Bugaboo? The only way to keep me talking is to tell me what's bothering you."

Marinette sighed, knowing that he had a point.

"...Fair, kitty," she conceded.

There was silence on both ends before Chat Noir spoke up again, his voice cheery and playful.

"Sooo.... Are you ever going to tell me what's bugging you or am I going to have to start guessing?" Marinette could hear the grin in his voice. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, on top of being the new guardian, school's been pretty hectic lately. My friends don't even hang out with me anymore, so I feel so alone, and I'm always late to class and my grades are slipping." Marinette paused to take a shaky breath. "And I hate lying to my parents and I hate feeding them excuses as to why I'm always late and why my grades are slipping and why I'm skipping class. I hate seeing them disappointed and I hate that I'm losing their trust, but I can't tell them what's actually going on in my life because it could put them in danger." Marinette didn't realize she was crying until Chat Noir tried to console her by whispering sweet things across the line.

"Hey, hey, shh. You're not alone, Ladybug. I'm here, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. If it's anything to you, I believe in you and I'm not disappointed in you. You're my very best friend and I'm so proud of you and all that you do. Heck, I think you manage to juggle more things than me, and if you knew me as a civilian, you would know that that's pretty crazy." His voice was soothing and gentle and Marinette found herself crying harder for a different reason.

"Oh, Chat, what did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful partner like you?" The tears are streaming down her face now and she was a little glad that he can't see her right now because she's such a mess. "What you said---what you said was beautiful, Chat, thank you." She looked around her room until she found some tissues and then used them to blow her nose. "I'm sorry---I'm sorry I'm such a mess right now," she hiccuped.

Marinette can hear Chat click his tongue across the line.

"M'lady, there's no need to apologize. It's perfectly okay for you to express your emotions. You're going through a lot right now and you're under quite a lot of pressure. It's not fair that you have to face this on your own. That's why I'm here. We're a team, m'lady. It's you and me against the world, remember?"

Just when Marinette thought she had gotten a hold of herself, Chat had to go and say that.

"Oh, Chat," she said, raw emotion making her voice thick, "you are really very sweet. I'm so lucky to have you." She sniffled and the two of them fell into a beat of comfortable silence.

After a moment of quiet, Chat broke it by saying rather cheekily, "M'lady? Was that a pun~?"

Marinette just groaned and told him that she'll see him tomorrow night for patrol before she hung up and cut off his hysterical laughter.

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Notes:

thank you for reading! it means a lot to me that you did, and i hope it didn't totally suck

constructive criticism is appreciated! just please be nice about it, but i'd love to hear what i could do to make my writing better, even if i don't write exactly like this anymore

also cross posted on ao3! noirwrites