Chapter Text
"Stop. Please..just stop. Not right now." She didn't mean it to come out as blunt as it did. Or as desperate. She probably sounded so pathetic begging like that.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I didn't-" This had definitely backfired. He didn't mean to make her upset, he just wanted to spend time with her. Patrol wasn't nearly enough time, and they still had four minutes on both their miraculous left. It seemed like the perfect time to ask.
"No, it's fine Chat. I..I have to go." she said sternly, cutting him off. She grabbed her yo-yo and left before he could say anything else. It wasn't fine. Every time she said that it was clear she didn't mean it, not really. He was left standing on the roof of a building all by his lonesome, just like the countless times before.
This past month had been excruciatingly hard on the both of them, and it was excruciatingly obvious. Ladybug had become distant. And though she can be stern, she's never been as closed off as she was now. Chat suspected it had something to do with her duties as the superhero of Paris, and the extremely excessive and pointless akumatized villains hawkmoth had been sending their way for the past few weeks (sometimes twice a day). But then again, it could've had something to do with her civilian life. He would never learn anything about that though, he knew that for sure.
He sighed and headed to his mansion. Or rather, his father's mansion. He'd been assigning him more and more photoshoots as the month progressed. As well as additional and completely unnecessary Chinese, piano, and fencing lessons. It seemed all his father wanted to do was wear Adrien out, and he had no idea why. He hadn't been disobeying him, and got good grades as always. Maybe he was just in a bad mood...a bad mood that lasted weeks.
Adrien chose to ignore it though, maybe it wasn't all bad. Maybe it'll all come in handy later on in life.
Reaching his mansion was like re-entering prison willingly. The only way he could leave the house and be/feel free was with his miraculous. He was incredibly thankful for it too. Becoming Chat Noir was one of the best things that's ever happened to him. It had its consequences though.
"Claws in." he said in a murmur so that no one could hear him. It was late, 22h to be exact. Of course his father and Nathalie were still up. They were busy people. He was too, but he was expected to get his beauty sleep. He was a model after all.
A few minutes had passed, the quiet taking over the atmosphere. All Adrien could hear was Plagg chowing down and nibbling.
"Geez, if I knew how tiring the day was gonna be I woulda stocked up on more cheese!" Plagg exclaimed. He yawned loudly without a care in the world and continued to munch on his Camembert. The little kwami didn’t exactly have a sense of awareness in his surroundings and the situations he could get himself into..
Adrien gave him a harsh look, which Plagg knew meant ‘shut up’. “Yeah, well, enjoy it while it lasts because we're leaving once you're done." He said, soft spoken. Adrien didn't want to be in his house any more than he needed to. It only reminded him of his maman and how much he missed her. How empty the house had become when she left. How unbearable his father had grown to be as the years went on. He always gave him the benefit of the doubt though, even if he didn't deserve it. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because he was still his papa, and he still loved him very much. He could only hope his father felt the same way.
Plagg stuffed his last bite of cheese into his mouth. "Excuse me!? I'm not the one that refuses to come home and rest! So I refuuuse to be intertwined with this ridiculo- woAH-WAIT!" Plagg didn't get the chance to finish his dramatized sentence, for Adrien had called his transformation before he could. "Don't act like you don't know why." He rolled his eyes.
He was Chat again. This meant he was free to go wherever he wanted, at least for a bit. Sometimes all he did was go for a midnight walk, but it was still nice to be out of the house. Out of his jail cell he called a bedroom. Sure, sometimes it could be fun in there. And sure, sometimes he was glad to just be able to relax. But that didn't cancel out the rage he would feel every time his father would stick him in there like a mouse in a cage. How ironic.
He left through his window, just as always. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to go. He didn't know why he ended up there of all places. And he had no idea why it felt right. But then again, Adrien didn't know a lot of things.
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