Heartrate One-Shots

Dreams

A sleepover with the entire class. What a dumbass idea.
At least, that was what Alix thought.
It wasn't that she didn't trust anyone. She had know most of these idiots since she was five. She trusted them fine. The guys weren't going to touch the girls unless the girl specifically said she was okay with it, and the various couples were decent enough to go find a closet or something to make out in.
No, it was that Alix knew exactly what types of games her classmates liked to play at sleepovers, and she knew exactly who they were shipping with who.
Two of the five couples who everyone shipped were together already. That left three, and Alix was in one of them, and she kind of hated the ship itself, not that she'd confirm or deny having a crush on the guy.
There was no way this could end well.
Still, Alix opened her window and snuck to the school for the sleepover. It was finals week after all. They all needed some fun. And when they got caught in the morning, they would blame it on stress and take the consequences together.
'Ride or die' were Adrien's exact words when he proposed the idea. 'No weak links. We're all responsible.'
It was that bond their class had that was the real reason Alix was going.
Plus, Marinette was bringing food.
Alix approached the school carefully, where everyone else was waiting.
"Took you long enough, Breaker," Kim said, throwing an arm over her shoulder.
"Har har," Alix responded, "You'd be surprised how late my psycho family stays up. So how are we getting in?"
"Like this," Max responded. He pointed to where Markov was flying over the walls of the school.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
Everyone grabbed their supplies and brought it inside, setting up in their home room classroom. They pushed the teacher's desk into a corner and set up in two rows of seven. It would be cramped, but work. Barely.
Kim was on one side of Alix, and on the other was Marinette. Across from Marinette was Alya, then Nino, Adrien, Chloe, Sabrina, Mylene, Ivan, Nathaniel, Rose, Juleka, and Max.
"How much food did you bring, Juliet?" Alya asked.
"Plenty," Marinette said, "I stashed it in the bushes a couple hours after school. Anyone want to come with and make carrying it in easier?"
Alix, Kim, Adrien, and Ivan volunteered, and Alix found that Marinette really had brought probably too much food. Each of them ended up carrying four pastry boxes, and Alix had no idea how they would possibly eat it all.
"Let me help you, Breaker," Kim said, grabbing one of the boxes Alix was struggling with.
Alix glared at him, "I'm fine, Cupid. I don't need your help."
"Objectively, you do, with those tiny arms," Kim argued.
Alix shifted her pastry boxes into one hand so that she could flip him off, then managed to catch them before they fell.
Once everyone had eaten all the pasties they could possibly hold, Adrien turned to Nino.
"So, Bubbler," He said, "Truth or dare?"
Half the class groaned, but Alix grinned.
"Dare," Nino said, without breaking eye contact.
"Do we have to play this?" Rose asked.
"Yes!" Alix and Kim exclaimed at the same time.
"Fine," Rose mumbled.
"Care to sweeten the pot?" Alix asked Adrien.
"What did you have in mind?" Adrien asked mischievously.
"Strip truth or dare."
"Oh, no," Nathaniel muttered, knowing the majority of the class had crushes in the class and would definitely agree to that.
"You would only have to strip if you chickened," Alix explained quickly, "And we can only do dares that involve staying in the building, so that we can postpone being caught for as long as possible. But it would make things more interesting."
"I'm in," Adrien said, "Any objections?"
Mylene wordlessly reached for another cardigan and put it on over the one she was already wearing, but no one objected.
"Dare," Nino repeated still waiting.
"If she consents to it," Adrien said, "Kiss the most beautiful girl in the class."
Nino smirked. He had a girlfriend, so it wasn't hard to guess who he'd kiss.
"Alya," Nino said, "Do you consent?"
Alya blushed, but nodded.
After that, Nino said, "Cupid. Truth or dare."
"Dare," Kim said, naturally.
"I dare you to jump off the balcony."
"He'll break his leg," Alix pointed out dryly, not that worried about it.
Kim glared at her, "I know how to land parkour-style." He walked out of the classroom and jumped, coming back a few seconds later, only limping a little bit.
"Gamer," Kim said, "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Max said, playing it safe.
"Who do you think is the prettiest girl in the class?"
Max sighed heavily, "I'm aromantic, Kim. I'm not attracted to any of them."
"That's not what I asked," Kim pointed out, "Which is the prettiest? Most aesthetically-pleasing, if you have to pick."
"Fine," Max said, "Probably Marinette."
Marinette smiled, "Aw! Thanks Max!"
"Alright. Fragrance. Truth or dare?"
Rose played it safe, too, "Truth!"
"Who do you like?" Max asked, "As in—."
"We all know what type of like you're talking about, Max!" Ivan pointed out.
Rose blushed and took off her sock. The first strip of the night.
"Um, Marinette. Truth or dare?"
As the night went on, Alix was only asked once. (She said dare, of course, which ended in her doing twenty pushups with Chloe and Sabrina sitting on her back.) But as the night got later, she found herself getting more and more tired, until she absolutely could not keep her eyes open. She slumped against someone's shoulder, and felt an arm being put around her as she fell asleep.
...
Kim tried not to disturb Alix as he took more dares. He was kind of surprised she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Surprised that she trusted him enough to not draw a mustache on her or something. Still, he just stayed still and tried not to wake her up, even if that meant taking truth instead of dare a few times.
The question came around to him again from Ivan.
"Dare," he chose, "But only if it involves something that won't wake Breaker up."
"Fine," Ivan said, "I dare you to put hot sauce on a pastry of your choice and eat it."
Kim made a face, "Ew." But he did it as soon as Juleka passed him the bottle of hot sauce she had brought for some reason.
He asked Nathaniel.
"Tomato! Truth or dare!"
(Nath was one of the few who didn't have a nickname related to his akuma name. Evilistrator was too hard, and besides, they'd all been thinking of him as 'Tomato' for years.)
"Truth."
Kim smirked. This was the perfect opportunity to ask something he genuinely wanted to know. It wasn't too embarrassing, considering that Nathaniel was one of Alix's best friends, and Alix was one of his best friends.
"What's your sexuality?" Kim asked.
Nathaniel mumbled something under his breath.
"Couldn't hear you," Adrien said.
Nath took a deep breath before saying louder, "I'm gay."
"Called it!" Alya exclaimed.
"If anyone else would like to come out, now would be the time," Nath offered, seeming not to want to be alone.
"I'm bi," Adrien said without hesitation.
"Me too," Kim admitted.
"Me too," Nino said, "Girls? Any of you?"
"Lesbian," Rose said sheepishly.
"Same," Juleka said, almost too quietly to hear.
"Pan!" Alya said proudly.
"Wow, is anyone else here straight?" Ivan marveled.
Mylene raised her hand, but the others stayed quiet.
"I'm Demi," Marinette said, "Which means I have to be friends before I crush. And I'm also bi."
"I'm lesbian," Sabrina said.
"Bi," Chloe admitted.
"Two straight people in the whole class," Kim marveled, "I love our generation."
"What about Alix?" Ivan asked.
"She's biromantic and asexual," Kim said simply.
"And you know this how?" Adrien asked.
Kim shrugged, "She's my best female friend."
The night steadily got later, and everyone started falling asleep. Alya and Nino were cuddling as they zonked, and so were Ivan and Mylene, as well as Sabrina and Chloe. Marinette was borderline asleep, but still awake, and so was Adrien and Nathaniel. Rose and Juleka were sleeping suspiciously close together, and Max, being hyped up on coffee, was the only one still fully-awake. Kim was lying down on his stomach, and had managed to shift Alix onto her own pillow.
Truth or Dare had died by now, and the remaining awake ones were just talking.
"What's the girl you're crushing on like, Romeo?" Kim mumbled to Adrien.
"I never said it was a girl."
"Well, whats the person like?"
"You're right, it's a girl. She's smart, funny, beautiful, and brave. She's perfect."
"So basically, Marinette," Max summed up.
Marinette groaned questioningly when she heard her name, but she was pretty out of it.
Adrien reached over and rubbed her back, "Just go to sleep, Juliet."
"Are you going to keep denying you like her?" Nathaniel asked, "We've all been seeing you two together for years."
"Didn't you have a crush on her?" Adrien asked.
"Like I said when everyone was coming out, I'm gay. I got over her months ago. At what point do you stop denying you like her? It's obvious she likes you."
"She wouldn't like the real me," Adrien muttered.
Kim wasn't sure what that meant, but he heard a thump, and Max was on his pillow, snoring softly.
"Guess he crashed." Nathaniel muttered, stating the obvious.
"So who's the lucky guy, Nath?" Adrien asked.
"You haven't met him yet. If it gets to the point where it might be getting serious, I'll introduce him to all of you. I promise."
"Okay," Adrien said, "What about you, Kim?"
"Doesn't matter," Kim said, "She doesn't like me back." He restrained himself from looking over at Alix.
"Well, you're a pretty cute guy," Nathaniel mumbled, "I'm sure she does and you're just too stupid to see it."
"Did you just compliment me and then insult me?"
"Taken; not blind." Nathaniel slumped against his pillow, and Kim looked over at Adrien, "Guess we're the only ones left. Wanna bet who can stay up later?"
"Ugh. You win."
Adrien went to sleep, and Kim was quick to follow.
...
Kim was suddenly someone else. Just a passenger in whoever this person's body was.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
He knew this feeling. From when he was akumatized. The feeling of just watching as he hurt people he cared about and made them hurt the other people he cared about.
He had had this nightmare before, but it never stopped being scary.
Then he realized that he wasn't Dark Cupid.
He wasn't holding a bow, he didn't feel wings on his back, and he was a lot shorter than he usually was.
"I'll kill you," the akuma hissed, and he realized by her voice who he was dreaming about.
Alix.
No, Timebreaker.
He had heard of people dreaming their soulmates' dreams, but... ALIX WAS HIS SOULMATE?!
Then he remembered all those times when he'd wake up in a cold sweat, only to not remember the dream. Only the panic. Now, he felt all that panic that he always tried to forget.
Only... it wasn't his panic at all.
It was Alix's.
Timebreaker skated around, touching different people and making them fade. At first, it was just random people.
Then it was Mylene.
Ivan.
Sabrina.
Chloe.
Rose.
Juleka.
Marinette.
Adrien.
Nino.
Alya.
Max.
Nathaniel.
...him.
Kim could hear Alix sobbing inside her head, powerless to do anything to save her friends. She kept begging for Timebreaker to stop. Kim could feel all her helplessness, her fear, her anger, and her guilt.
Then Timebreaker skated in front of a mirror and smiled cruelly.
"You did this, Alix. You killed them. And even if Ladybug brings them back, they'll never forgive you. He'll never forgive you. Even if they pretend to, your friends, especially him, will never accept you again. They will always fear you. After all, did all of the others kill with intent? No. That was you. Because deep down, you're a monster in your core, Alix. And you know it. You should kill yourself to make up for your sins! You don't deserve friendship. Much less such wonderful friends as your class who you've bonded with over the last few years."
Kim felt anger well up inside him. The Timebreaker that was tormenting Alix in her sleep kept telling Alix these horrible things every night for a few years.
Even worse, he could tell that she believed it. Alix believed every word.
Then Timebreaker said something that Kim never expected to hear.
"More than that, you don't deserve love. Even and especially someone as special as Kim."
...
Kim woke up with a start, accidentally smashing heads with Marinette.
"Ow! Kim, what the hell!"
"Sorry, Mari," He said, "What happened?"
"We woke you up," Marinette explained, gesturing at the whole class, who were awake and staring at him with concern in their eyes, "We were worried. You looked like you were having one hell of a nightmare."
The dream came rushing back to Kim. Alix. Timebreaker. The horrible things she endured when she slept.
Kim grabbed Alix's shoulder and shook her, "Alix! Wake up! Damn it, Breaker, wake up!"
Alix started awake, gasping and sweating and starting to cry, fear clouding her blue eyes.
"No!" She gasped, "Guys! I'm sorry! I—."
"Shh!" Kim grabbed her and pulled her close, "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault. Don't listen to her, Alix."
"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked, "Wait, did you..?"
"Dream her dreams?" Alya finished the sentence, "That means you two are—."
"Soulmates!" Adrien interrupted.
Kim glared at the three of them, who were starting to grin. Alix was sobbing into his shirt, hugging him like she was terrified he'd disappear like in her dreams, and they were thinking about this?
...
After a while, Alix's crazy heartrate slowed down to normal and she managed to stop crying.
"I'm going to let go, now, okay?" Kim asked.
Alix nodded and though she was still sitting very close to him, they weren't touching anymore.
"What happened?" Rose asked, worried.
Alix wiped her nose on her sleeve, "I don't want to—."
"Alix," Nathaniel said, "If you don't want to tell us, you don't have to. But you should know that the thirteen of us are here for you. And we always will be."
There was a chorus of all of the others agreeing, including Sabrina and Chloe. Though those two had once been bitter enemies of everyone else, now, they were part of the group. After all they had been through together, their bond was unbreakable.
Alix looked at the ground, "I can't talk about it yet, but..." she looked up at Kim, "Kim, you saw it, right? Could you tell them? Please?"
Kim nodded, "Of course."
The others waited expectantly. Alix wasn't sure how much he'd seen of her dream, so she had no idea what he was going to say.
Kim took a deep breath, "In the dream, Alix was Timebreaker again. She was skating around, a passenger in her own body. You all know how that feels."
Everyone avoided eye-contact with everyone else. Although it had taken longer, even Marinette and Adrien had fallen victim to akumas. They all knew how it felt.
"She was helpless to do anything," Kim continued, "As she skated around, touching and killing all of us."
A few people gasped. Alix knew she had been by far one of the scariest akumas. Besides Nathaniel, Ivan, and maybe Chloe, Alix was the only one of them who had actually been looking to kill while under Hawkmoth's influence. And for the others, they had only wanted to kill one or two people. Alix on the other hand? She had literally killed all of them.
Clearly, none of the others had thought about that, and the potential for PTSD that created in her.
"Then she skated up to a mirror," Kim continued, "And Timebreaker started telling her things about how deep down, Alix was a bad person who should just kill herself. A monster who didn't deserve things like friendship, or love..."
Alix reddened slightly at the realization that he had heard that part, too.
"Or any of us," Kim finished, "And that we all secretly hate and fear her, and will never forgive her."
There was a moment of silence where no one knew quite what to say.
Finally, Marinette broke the quiet, "How long have you been having the nightmares?"
Alix sighed, "Almost every night, since I was first akumatized."
Pretty much everyone gasped.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Juleka asked.
"Because she's right," Alix said miserably, "Timebreaker's right. You all need to remember that I literally killed all of you. I don't deserve your friendship. I deserve for you all to hate me. I deserve to wake up and feel this pain every single day."
"Alix..." Alya said, "No."
"If Ladybug hadn't save you all, what would the survivors be saying?" Alix asked, "I killed everyone I touched. If Ladybug hadn't brought you all back..."
"She did," Adrien said, "Alix, none of us blame you."
"You should," Alix shot back, "Hawkmoth only amplified everything that was already inside me, the way he did with all of us. None of you turned into mass murderers."
Nobody seemed to know what to say to that, until Kim said something Alix didn't expect.
"Juleka," He said, "You have the ability to reflect emotions into others, right?"
"Yeah..?"
All of them had retained abilities from their being akumas. For Alix, it was the ability to see time as sped up or slowed down. For Kim, archery, and so on.
"Could you let all of us feel what Alix is feeling?" Kim asked.
"If all of you would be willing, yeah," Juleka said.
Everyone quickly said that they were willing.
"You'll all have to be physically touching me," Juleka said, seeming very uncomfortable with the thought, but allowing it.
Everyone touched Juleka's arms, and Juleka held out her free hands to Alix.
Alix shook her head, "No. No way. You all don't deserve that."
"Neither do you," Kim said, pointing out an untrue fact, "When are you going to learn that we're all in this together?"
"Ride or die," Adrien agreed, "No weak links."
"Fine," Alix said, taking Juleka's hands.
Though Juleka could no longer reflect her body onto other people, she could act like a mirror with light for reflecting emotions.
Alix could see the shock as her emotions hit the class like a tidal wave. She could practically see their simultaneous thought.
"How has she lived with all this pain for so long?"
No doubt, they thought she was a freak now. She had sadness and guilt and fear, sure. But she also had a molten core of animal-like rage.
Alix knew she was a monster. Now they knew it, too.
No doubt they'd abandon her now.
Alix stood up, "I'll pack my things and go now. I'm sure you don't want me—."
She was cut off as Kim stood up and hugged her fiercely, as if trying to let her know that she wasn't alone, or protect her from the darkness lurking inside her.
It took her a good five seconds to realize it wasn't a prank, and she hugged him back just as fiercely, wanting to have as much physical comfort with a friend as possible before they all decided they didn't want her around anymore.
Then Marinette and Alya hugged her from behind.
Nathaniel joined in, then Nino and Adrien.
The whole class shared a desperate, comforting embrace with Alix at the center, and all of their emotions rushed together. All the fear, sadness, guilt, and even rage, that they had been holding deep down.
Alix supposed this would be the perfect time for one or all of them to become an akuma. She didn't care. She felt herself start to sob as she realized that they meant it. Ride or die. They weren't going to let her go.
Many of them started to shiver, and she realized that she wasn't the only one crying. She wasn't the only one who had so desperately needed this reassurance. Who needed to know that they weren't alone.
And Alix... she kept desperately clinging to Kim, needing to feel safe for just a little longer.
"You were in my dream," she whispered.
"Shut up; we'll talk about it later."
Eventually, they all sank to the floor, and ended up all cuddling together, sleeping peacefully like kittens in a pile.
...
The next day when Mr. Damocles came to school, he and Mrs. Bustier were shocked to find her homeroom class curled up on the floor of her classroom together.
It didn't take much yelling to wake them up, but Mrs. Bustier noticed none of them, not even Rose or Adrien, looked guilty. They just stared back defiantly, seeming brave. Intimidating, even.
But what Mrs. Bustier noticed most of all was How together they all seemed. She could sense a bond between them that she didn't quite understand, and she managed to convince Mr. Damocles to let them off easily with only a month of detention each before sitting them all down.
"So," She said, "Who would like to tell me what happened last night?"

And that is the story of why whenever Gabriel goes on a business trip or something, Adrien convinced Nathalie to let all of his friends sleep over.
After all, they are all in this together.