Sandboy 2.0

Chapter 8: The Unexpected

"No.., no no no! No Chat Blanc please don't! NOOO!" Marinette shot up in her bed, heavily breathing, sweating and shaking. It was yet another nightmare. It had been a week since Sandboy, aka Chat Blanc had happened. Marinette's nightmares had only gotten worse and Tikki was really starting to worry. She flew to her chosen's face who was sobbing, and started to pet and comfort her. It was the middle of the night, everyone else in the Dupain-Cheng's house was still sleeping. Marinette's parents had noticed their daughters different behaviour and dark circles under her eyes, but they didn't know of her daily terrible nightmares and every time she'd close her eyes, she saw the tower collapsing again or Chat Blanc ready to deal the final blow.

Tikki hugged her chosen and looked her in the eyes. "Marinette, you haven't been out of the house for a week, you need some fresh air."

Marinette chocked on another sob before she answered. "You- you're probably right T-Tikki. I'll uh... I'll go out for a bit." With that she climbed out of her skylight onto the balcony. It was a beautiful clear night. There was a chilling breeze but not too cold and the stars were twinkling bright in the sky. Then Marinette said the magic words and started to jump over the roofs of Paris.

~~•~~

Adrien was laying in his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He was incredibly worried and was fidgeting with his ring, something he did when he was thinking or stressed. His Lady hadn't shown up for patrols the entire week and he had no idea how she was doing. Then there was also Marinette who had been sick for the past week. He wasn't sure if he should visit her or not. He knew they were friends, but wasn't sure if they were 'friends enough' to actually check up on her.

Adrien's mind was killing him, the thoughts went through his mind uncontrollably and he was getting frustrated. He jumped out of bed and woke Plagg.

"Plagg, wake up, I need to go out for a bit, I have to take my mind off of things."

"Ugh, are you thinking about your girlfriend again, pigtails?"

"She's not my girlfriend Plagg! Can we just go?"

"Fine, but I want extra camembert tomorrow!"

Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed. "Plagg, claws out!!" The Kwami was sucked into Adrien's ring and then Chat Noir stood in the model's place. He opened the window and jumped out onto the opposite's house roof. Then he started running and flew over roofs and alleys. Unconsciously he went to the place where he and Ladybug always met before going out on patrol. He was about to take a turn to the right when he saw something red sitting on their meet-up roof. He dashed forward and silently landed behind her with a smile on his face, happy to finally see his Lady again. Before he could speak, he heard Ladybug letting out a deep sigh and then a sob. His face instantly went from happy to sad and concern. He coughed a little so he wouldn't startle her and walked to her side.

Ladybug turned around to see a sad and concerned Chat Noir coming towards her. She quickly faced the other way and tried to wipe away her tears. Chat noir sat down beside her and let his feet dangle.

Chat looked at Ladybug who wouldn't meet his eyes yet. She looked worn out, the mask might be hiding the dark circles around her eyes, but only her eyes already told enough. They looked tired, defeated, scared, the fierce and confident shine they normally had wasn't there. She looked broken. Chat tried to say something, his mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the words, but Ladybug beat him to it.

"I'm sorry Chat, I'm sorry I didn't contact you, or let you know how I was doing, nor showed up for our patrols. I-I'm sorry." The last sentence barely came out and turned into a sob. Chat quickly wrapped his arms around her in comfort and shushed her, spoke comforting words, told her he of course forgave her and that she shouldn't apologise. That's when Ladybug broke down, tears flowing down her face, her arms went around Chat's waist and her face was hidden in his chest. Chat kept whispering comforting words in her ears while she let it all out. His hand was on her back, drawing circles to calm her, his other hand was tightly wrapped around her to keep her close and make her feel safe. Ladybug held onto Chat so tightly that she was almost crushing his ribs and he could barely breathe, but he didn't care. He was so glad to finally see his Lady again, to be able to comfort and hold her.