Calling...

Untitled Part 1

"Ladybug....... I think something is wrong" ladybug looks over at her partner only to see the pool of blood forming underneath the crumpled form of her partner. "CHAT," Ladybug sobbed as she ran over and pulled him on to her lap, "Chat look at me. LOOK AT ME. Chat please, please wake up." holding his crumpled form against her she sobbed, "chat please, don't leave me, oh minou I'm so sorry this is all my fault"

Marinette woke with a start, the sob forcing its way out of her chest. With tear lidded eyes she frantically searched her room for Tikki, hoping to find some comfort with her kwami. "Tikki, tikki please where are you," she cried. When no response came, her panic increased, and her breathing started to come out in harsh gasps. She searched for her phone, seeing the time as 2:03 am, and with a shaky hand she scrolled through her contacts until landing on Alya's number. As the phone was ringing the memories of her nightmare, of feeling Chat die in her hands, replayed over in her mind as her sobbing grew louder.

Adrien woke up to his phone ringing, which confused him, since he had a pretty busy day of photoshoots planned. "Hurry up and answer that will you, or else I'm gonna need more cheese," grumbled Plagg. "Oh, shut up," replied Adrien as he reached for his phone. Looking at the caller ID, Adrien was confused to see Marinette's name, "Why would she be calling me at this hour, maybe somethings wrong." he hurriedly answered the call only to hear sobbing on the other side.

"Alya, it's my fault, it's all my fault and he got hurt. Alya it felt so real, and it was all my fau-"

"Marinette?"

"Alya?"

"Marinette, it's Adrien. Are you okay? What was your fault and who got hurt?"

Marinette froze, realizing that in her panic she must have dialed Adrien instead. She freaked, how is she supposed to explain to him that she had nightmares about one of Paris's most beloved heroes. He was going to think she was crazy, and if he didn't, he might start assuming things and oh no what if he figured out, she was ladybug, she was totally screwed-

"Marinette? Are you okay?"

"y-yeah I'm fine" she stuttered, "it was just a bad dream, I'm sorry for waking you I thought I called Alya. I know you probably have a busy day tomorrow and that you probably wanted your beauty sleep. I-I MEAN NOT THAT YOU NEED ITbecauseyou'realreadycutei'msosorryimrambling-"

Adrien laughed quietly, "Marinette, do you want to talk about it?"

She paused, he sounded concerned and she really did need to talk about it, or the guilt she was feeling would keep her up all night. "I don't want to keep you up," she whispered her voice wavering as she remembered seeing Chat in pain , "it's no big deal it was just a nightmare."

Hearing her voice quiver was almost enough for Adrien to transform and race over to her house right then, but he knew his lady would be mad at his identity reveal, so he decided that talking over the phone would have to do for now. "What happened in your nightmare?" Adrien questioned. He wondered what horrible things must have happened for her to be this upset.

"Chat noir, h-he got hurt, and it was my fault. There was so much blood. It felt so real" she whispered, her voice cracking at the end. Her embarrassment towards the situation was overpowered by the fear of her partner being hurt.

Adrien felt his face heat up as he thought to himself, "wow I didn't know she cared that much about me". His heart hurt for his friend and he wished that he could provide her with the knowledge that Chat was okay without revealing his identity. "Marinette, Chat noir can take care of himself, I'm sure he's okay. Besides he wouldn't want you losing sleep over a bad dream."

Marinette sniffled as she thought about her sweet Chaton, knowing full well that he was probably okay, and safely asleep somewhere. She quietly muttered "That mangey cat better be okay...." and was surprised to hear Adrien's soft laughter at her comment.

"Well Marinette, that was a CLAWful thing to call the feline hero of Paris" Adrien mused, and smiled softly when he heard Marinette's quiet giggle at his choice of pun.

"Well Adrien, that was a PAWsitively horrible pun," she joked. Then she blushed furiously as the realization that she was flirting with her crush dawned on her, but she was relieved to hear Adrien's laughter and surprise though the other side of the phone.

"Mari, did you just make a cat pun?"

"......no"

"You did!"

"you have no proof!"

"I didn't think you liked cat puns Mari," Adrien said, his voice laced with a teasing tone.

"yeah well I guess that alley cat really is making an impression on me," she said, thinking about all the puns her partner makes. And she'll always deny it, but they really don't bother her like she says they do. The line was quiet on the other end and she was starting to worry when Adrien's soft questioning voice pulled her from his thoughts.

"I didn't know you cared about him so much...... why?"

"well......" She said softly, "we've ran into each other a few times and he's always been sweet and done his best to protect me. He doesn't get the recognition he deserves ya know? He's always throwing himself in front of danger and I just worry about him. He's my friend and I care about him and I don't want him to get hurt."

Adrien felt his heart swell at his friends' words, and felt his face grow hot. Marinette, his sweet, pretty and kind classmate, cares about his alter ego. "wow Mari, that's really sweet of you" he said softly, trying to keep his happiness at her words hidden in his voice.

She smiled, "thanks Adrien. A-and thank you, for staying on the phone with me."

"Of course, Mari, anytime"

"i-I should get to bed, and so should you, it's getting late...."

"yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but hey Mari?"

"yeah?"

"we should do this more often.... talking I mean. It was really nice." Adrien said, his face growing warmer as the seconds passed.

Marinette squeaked and quickly said, "y-yeah I love you...... I MEAN I'd love to......"

Adrien chuckled, there was his Mari....... wait, his Mari? When did that happen, he questioned. He shook his head and decided he would figure it out some other time.

"Goodnight Mari"

"Goodnight Adrien"

As they said their goodbyes and went back to bed, they both felt warmth on their faces, and where Marinette's heart was once filled with worry for her partner, it was now filled with happiness from her conversation with her crush. Adrien went to bed smiling, ignoring plagg and his complaints about how his conversation interrupted his sleep.

On Monday when Marinette was noticeably more relaxed around Adrien, Alya would stare at the girl, but didn't say anything. And if anyone was to notice the lingering looks or touches, they didn't say anything...... "Dude, are you and Mari dating now? When did that happen?" except for Nino.

~The End~