My Imaginary Friend \|/ Adrienette/Marichat AU

Chapter Five

Marinette gasped, for what felt like the millionth time in that conversation, and fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Nathaniel?" Nino called to the red-head, earning no response. Nathaniel lay on the couch with his eyes open and his mouth twitching, but other than those subtle movements he wouldn't respond.

Adrien hovered awkwardly in the corner, feeling very much like an outsider. He shouldn't have been there. He didn't belong with Marinette and all of the others that were knee-deep in knowledge about Hawkmoth and his victims.

Marinette noticed Adrien skulking and walked over to him as Nino continued to flick Nathan's nose to see if he would react.

"It's okay, Adrien." Marinette grabbed his hand and Adrien felt a weird tingly feeling fill his chest. He looked into Mari's eyes and felt as though he had peered into pits of unease.

"Nathaniel's going to be fine." Mari whispered as Nino full on slapped Nathan across the face, trying to wake him up. Nathan yelled and sprang off of the couch, flailing wildly.

"Wh-What?!? What happened?! Who hit me?!" Nathaniel cried, still swinging his arms around.

Nino screeched at him to calm down before gently sitting him back down onto the couch. He then beckoned Adrien and Marinette forward.

"Adrien, this is Nathaniel. Nathaniel, you remember Marinette. This is her C.C." Nino introduced them and then everyone sat back down in their seats, though there was a tension that hadn't been there before.

Nathaniel shook slightly and didn't look anyone in the eye. Nino eyed him for a while before finally asking him what had happened to him.

Nathan eyed Adrien suspiciously before answering. "Chloe is gone. I..." He trailed off, wiping his forehead nervously. "I couldn't save her."

If Nino was surprised by this revelation he didn't show it. Instead, he shook his head sadly and quietly wrung his fingers together nervously. Similarly, Marinette looked grieved although she did not seem quite as distressed.

"Do you mean that she was kidnapped or....?" Marinette whispered.

Nathaniel's eyes widened and he frantically shook his head. "Only kidnapped!!! She's...she's not...at least not yet." He couldn't bring himself to say the word.

Dead.

Adrien was still extremely puzzled.

"Who took her?" Marinette growled, her fingers twiddling together in a way that seemed almost painful.

"That's just it...," Nathan mumbled, his eyes wild, "She just walked off. When I called for her she just ignored me and raced away with a few of Hawkmoth's victims. I... I think it was..."

"A Sabrinae," Nino finished for him. Nathan nodded before shuddering slightly. Marinette glanced at him before turning to Adrien. Her hands were red from all of the twisting and nervous fiddling she had been doing, and her eyes were storms of anger and pity.

"We need to go after her," Mari hesitated before shaking her head, "But I'm not going to force you into this. Just because you can see me now doesn't mean that I'm going to force you into my reality. Just ignore this and go back to your life. I'll figure this out."

Adrien didn't know what to say. How could he, when this strange but amazing girl had just told him to go back to his boring and stifling life instead of living in this fantastical yet dangerous one? With a furious shake of his head Adrien grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes.

"Never," he said, though inside he was still battling fear and doubt, "Why would I leave this to go back to a nonexistent mother and a horribly stale and mean father? Yes. I get that this could be dangerous. But so is my old life."

While Mari struggled to find something to say, Nathaniel and Nino glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. While Nathan was still frowning from nerves, his eyes betrayed something a bit deeper. Nino, on the other hand, was openly grinning and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Thank you," Marinette gulped, her eyes brimming with unwanted tears, "You..."

"Okay!" Nathaniel interrupted, his brow furrowed from anger and something like irritation, "Enough with the heart-eyed sappy stuff! I'm sorry, but my C.C. is in the hands of Hawkmoth and I don't have time to watch this! Normally, I would never be this forward, but I'm desperate here!"

Adrien whipped his hands out of Mari's as a light blush spread across his cheeks. When he glanced at Mari he could tell she was feeling the same way. For a moment her strong demeanor crumbled, betraying a blushing and fumbling girl, before the gravity of their situation pulled her back into leader mode.

"Okay," she breathed, the word coming out as a quick sigh, "Let's think. What can we do.... What can we do..."

As Mari began to pace, Nathan pulled Adrien closer to him, his eyes full of anger. The grip on his arm was harder than necessary, and Adrien winced.

"Don't even think about slowing us down," Nathan growled quietly into Adrien's ear. Neither Nino, who was closing his eyes in concentration, or Marinette heard the threat.

As Adrien stared into the distressed boy's eyes he felt nothing but pity. The stress of the situation and the possibility of never seeing his C.C. again was visibly getting to the red head. Though his glare seemed to be full of anger an emotion closer to panic flickered through the boy's features.

"It's okay," Adrien whispered back, "I don't even know what I can do to help. I'll probably just help from the sidelines."

At this Nathaniel visibly relaxed, his hand releasing Adrien's arm and his eyes draining of anger and filling with vulnerability instead. His eyes flickered around the room, staring at Mari, who was still pacing, and then at Nino, who was muttering to himself.

"Thanks," Nathan mumbled, his voice barely even escaping his lips. With the anger gone he was nothing but a nervous shell.

Suddenly, from across the room, a yell of triumph echoed through everyone's ears. Adrien spun, spotting (LOL) Marinette, who had previously been appearing very anxious. She now punched the air excitedly before grinning widely.

"I know what to do!"

I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter, life has been crazy lately. I'm learning an instrument, writing a book (that's not fanfic), petsitting, and trying (and failing) to survive high school.

I know that that stuff isn't a good excuse but oh well. I hope you can forgive me. XD

Also, this is IMPORTANT! All of the chapters except for this one were written a few years ago by a girl who had never written anything before. Please try to give me some grace when you read them. I will be editing them heavily later, as well as continuing the story.

I hope you enjoyed!