Always Find You

Chapter 17 - "Priorities"

  When he wakes up again, Adrien's phone is buzzing like there's no tomorrow. He rubs his eyes to wake up a little and checks his notifications.

3 Missed Calls from Father
9 Missed Calls from Nathalie

Father
Nathalie said you're not with your bodyguard. Where are you??

Father
Adrien! Answer me!

Father
Hello?!

Nathalie
Adrien, nobody has seen you all day. You missed a photo shoot and a fitting. If you don't reply soon, we'll be forced to call the police.

Adrien nearly drops his phone reading the messages, "Shit!"
He quietly exits Marinette's room and dials Nathalie's number, explaining the situation.

"You need to tell us about these things beforehand," Nathalie says, "Keep your priorities in check, okay?"

"Nathalie, this is my priority. Nothing is more important to me than making sure Marinette is okay."

The assistant gives a sigh, and Adrien can practically hear her pinching the bridge of her nose, "Fine. How long are you planning on being there?"

"As long as I need to. Please, just cover me for a couple of days?"

Another sigh, "I'll clear your schedule until Tuesday," She states reluctantly, "But you'd better be back and working by Wednesday, or you'll be hearing from your father."

"Fine. Deal." Adrien hangs up the phone and walks back into the hospital room.

"Adrien, are you okay?" Marinette looks like she just woke up.

"Yeah yeah, I'm good. I just had to take a call."

"I gotcha. Hey, what day is it?" She asks, partially ignoring his explanation.

Adrien looks down at his watch, "It's Saturday."

"Was I... was I gone for that long?"

"Yeah, since Tuesday, why?"

"It..." She hesitates, "It felt like an eternity."

They both make eye contact for the first time, Marinette's eyes watering slightly.
She wipes her lash line, though, trying to remain strong.

"Sorry, I don't like crying in front of people. It's just hard not to, lately." She chuckles sarcastically.

"Thankfully, I'm not a 'people,' so feel free." He banters, trying to keep her mood light.

That earns him a small half-giggle.

"Man, this pain medicine they've got me on makes me pretty woozy. If I say anything weird, please ignore me."

"Consider it done, princess," Adrien stands up, bowing slightly, "Now if you would excuse me, Your High-ness, I'm going to grab a snack from the cafeteria while you rest some more."

Marinette lets out another giggle at his pun, "You're more of a jester now, aren't you, sir?"

He kisses the back of her hand gently, "You might be right, because I'm a fool for you."

The girl blushes softly, but wants to hit him for the awful joke more than anything, "Go get your snack, stupid."

Adrien exchanges a goofy smile with Marinette before slipping out the door in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Marinette!" She hears a voice say just as she's about to fall back to sleep, making her jump.

Wait. She knows that voice, "Tikki?!"
The little red kwami flits in front of her face and nestles into her cheek.

"I missed you so much!" Tikki says while the girl is still in shock. Marinette reaches up to touch her earrings, making sure this isn't a morphine induced hallucination.

"Tikki, is it really you?" The girl takes the kwami into the palm of her hand, "I thought I'd lost you!"

"Actually, Chat Noir held onto the Miraculous for safe keeping after the Frenzy attack. It's a good thing he did, too, otherwise I'd be in the hands of Hawk Moth right now."

"That cat..." Marinette trails off, "He saved my life and yours. I'll never be able to thank him enough."

"I could think of a couple of ways!" Tikki makes a smoochy face before laughing at herself.

Marinette joins in, "Yeah right! Just because he's in love with Ladybug doesn't mean he feels the same about me, silly."

After talking for a little bit, Tikki explains what happened the night Ladybug was down for the count, "Frenzy actually injured Chat. From what I could tell, he was walking with a limp when he was trying to save you. The akuma was in Frenzy's necklace, which Chat Noir took a huge risk destroying it after merely guessing where it was. The poor lady was just a therapist gone rogue."
She continues, "You probably remember turning the akuma back to normal and passing out right after. Well, Chat took you home, but...."

"But what?"

"Because you didn't use the Lucky Charm, you wouldn't have transformed back until you woke up and told me to drop it. That's just how it works. Chat... he had to take your earrings, which means..."

"He knows who I am." Marinette puts her hand over her face, "Oh no, Tikki, this is terrible!"

"Well, you actually said your name while under Frenzy's influence, which I assume is how Hawk Moth knew who you were too. What I'm saying is, it's probably best he knows who you are now, otherwise you could be in a lot more danger."

"He's not even here, how's he supposed to protect me?"

"He's around," Tikki says with a wink, "Don't worry."

"Not sure how I feel about that."

"Chat Noir would do anything to protect you, Marinette, he's the best person for the job."

"I know, I know. I just didn't realize it needed to be a job."

"Well, Hawk Moth is still out there, and you're in no condition to defend yourself. It's pretty much a requirement."

Marinette chuckles a little to herself, "You know what else is a requirement? Sleep. I'm gonna get some now."

"Alright, sweet dreams. I'll be right here if you need me." Tikki gives her a tiny kiss on the cheek before nestling into the girl's covers and eventually falling asleep. Marinette tries to do the same, but her stomach keeps growling.

"I guess it's lunch time." She mutters to herself, pulling out her phone and dialing Adrien's number.

~ ~ ~
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