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Oh, what a day it had been! Marinette couldn’t wait to drag herself up to her room and simply fall into bed. All she wanted was to sleep for several hours and forget about the horrible day she’d had thanks to Chloe and Sabrina. They could be downright insufferable on a good day, but today, they’d been beyond impossible as they worked to undermine Marinette every chance they had. No matter what Marinette or her friends tried to do, Chloe came right back with something worse.
First, it’d been the new outfit Marinette had completed the previous evening and worn to school. While Marinette was quite proud of her work and received more than her fair share of compliments, all it’d taken was a few unkind words from Chloe and Sabrina to have Marinette fuming. Not even Adrien’s quick defense of her could help make matters better. In fact, that had made things worse for her.
Chloe had always hated Adrien hanging out with Marinette, Nino, and Alya, but they’d dealt with it for the most part. However, as the day wore on, Chloe made herself a constant shadow on their group time together, insisting on sitting next to Adrien and invading his space despite his clear discomfort. When Marinette had tried to intervene, Chloe had threatened to destroy everything Marinette held dear, including her family’s bakery.
By the time the final bell chimed, and they were free to go home, Marinette felt ready to jump out of her skin or scream until her voice grew hoarse. Instead, she’d settled for racing out of the classroom without a word to her friends. She ignored their calls as she made a mad dash to the bakery and up to her room, slamming her book bag against her desk and climbing onto her bed. She buried her head under her pillow and proceeded to ignore her phone’s constant chimes of missed texts and calls.
She stayed like that until well into the evening, ignoring even her parents’ calls to join them for dinner. She claimed an upset stomach and asked them to eat without her, promising she’d be fine the following morning. Even Tikki couldn’t get her to cheer up enough to snack on one of the cookies in Tikki’s stash.
She didn’t care to move at all and debated ignoring the soft tapping on her skylight, knowing her sweet kitty would understand. It wasn’t the first time she’d denied him though she typically made sure he understood why she didn’t want him around. Knowing how insecure he could be, she turned onto her back and stared into his sad, uncertain eyes. Her heart broke at the sight as she sat up and popped the lock on the window, gesturing for him to join her.
“Hey, princess, I heard you had a rough day.”
She laughed at that without any mirth. At the deepening sadness in his eyes, she said, “I’ll be okay, Kitty. Don’t worry.”
“Would you like me to go?”
She thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. She laid back down on her bed and patted the spot next to her, smiling softly as he quickly did as she asked and stretched out next to her.
“What can I do to make it better?”
“Cuddles would be nice.”
“Okay.”
“I wouldn’t mind some nuzzles, either.”
“Check. Anything else?”
“Your purring helps, too, Kitty.”
“So, petting, too?”
She nodded.
He smiled at her and settled in for at least an hour of his own prescription for lifting her mood. As her fingers wove into his hair and found his favorite spots to start up his purr, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could while nuzzling the space between her neck and shoulder. He worked to hide his smile as he heard her hum of pleasure as he found the right place to get her purring, too.
They continued for most of the evening, only coming to an end when she neared sleep and he needed to return home to recharge his kwami.
“Hey, princess, thank you for defending Adrien today to Chloe. I’m sure he appreciates more than you know.”
“He’s my friend, Chat. I wouldn’t ever leave him in the cold.”
“I know, but I still wanted to thank you.”
She nodded, her eyes drifting closed as she succumbed to the sleep claiming her.
He watched her a few minutes, leaning in close to her ear and whispered, “I love you so much, princess. Someday, you’ll learn who I am and you’ll see how much your presence has affected my world in ways you can only imagine.”
He pressed a kiss on her temple and left with all the stealth he’d gained from his cat-like superpowers, racing across the rooftops towards his home, though his heart remained with the sleeping girl in the room above the bakery he’d come to call his true home.