1... 2... 3... 4...
"You don't have to cry, Minou."
1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... "
One day we will go to America and start over, just the two of us."
1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7...
"We can have ice cream every day, see the Statue of Liberty, and you can meet my sister, Lucy."
1... 2... 3... 4...
"I will never leave you."
Adrien couldn't sleep.
Images of his mother continued to intrude his mind: her laughing, crying, singing, dancing. She made it impossible to think about anything else.
He'd wake up sobbing, her voice whispering in his ear,
"You don't have to cry, Minou."
Adrien tried focusing on his breathing when this would happen: breathe in for four seconds, hold for eight seconds, and out for seven seconds. Nino gave him all sorts of breathing exercises the first time it happened.
"Yeah, man. My mom has had me count my breathing since I was five! It's does crazy shit on your body and relaxing your brain muscles or something. I don't know man but I read it on the internet, so it's gotta be true."
When Adrien first called Nino, he was surprised to find him so understanding. Nino called himself Adrien's "resident insomniac", and was more than willing to give Adrien some advice.
Adrien didn't think the counting actually did anything, but it made him feel like he was doing something.
Reaching his hand out towards his bedside table, Adrien sleepily grabbed his phone and tapped his friend's number. After several low rings he heard his friend's voice, "Eeeeyyyy it's Nino! I'm not here right now but leave a message! Peace."
"Dammit," he cursed. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and tried the next friend.
"Hey y'all! It's Alya! Sorry I can't make it to the phone right now! Call back later, and check out the Ladyblog! Bye!"
Adrien frowned. Usually one of them was awake. Maybe it was a sign, he should just go to bed.
He continued to scroll down his limited contact list. Chloé, Natalie, his dad. All bad options. None of them were exactly "sensitive" people, and even picturing their responses made him recoil.
"OH ADRI-KINS! Just come over and sleep with me! The only eyes you need waking you up are mine!"
"We could try scheduling a meeting with your therapist, but it might create conflicts with your Chinese lessons."
"If you keep having issues sleeping, we can remove you from your school environment to create a better sleeping environment."
Nope. All bad choices.
He continued to pass by names of models, photographers, and tutors and until his finger stalled and hovered over a familiar name.
Marinette.
Marinette was the best. She smelled like cookies and was good at video games and super smart and really brave and so strong and just so amazing. Maybe she would be awake...
No. He shouldn't. He couldn't! They don't talk a lot. She was probably sleeping, not to mention it would totally inappropriate to-
His thumb grazed the call button.
"SHIT!" he yelped. He tossed his phone at the end of the bed, realized it was still ringing, and fumbled about his blankets until his hand touched a cold cell phone. He was about to slam the big red button and forget this ever happened until a groggy voice came on the other line.
YOU ARE READING
Not Okay Buddies!
FanfictionMarinette was the best. She smelled like cookies and was good at video games and super smart and really brave and so strong and just so amazing. Maybe she would be awake... No. He shouldn't. He couldn't! They don't talk a lot. She was probably sleep...
