Chapter Text
Now Adrien wasn’t the kind of person to do something stupid. He was definitely not the kind of guy to sneak into his father’s study and dip into his perfectly aged whiskey. And most importantly he was totally surely, without a doubt of the highest caliber, the kind of teen to get drunk off his ass. Ever.
Yet here he was, sitting on the roof of his building, bottle in hand, and transformed. With his staff in his left hand, bottle in the right he contemplated calling Ladybug. Though Contemplated should be used loosely, his thoughts as fuzzy as the lights of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Chat’s knuckles popped as he gripped the neck of the bottle, roughly biting his lip he dialed up Ladybug.
For the first few calls it didn’t go through and he nearly chucked his staff into the yard taking another chug of the whiskey. It burned going down, it burned a lot and he coughed horribly, but he was numb from the pain, numb from every feeling swirling deep within him. The only sense he had was the weight of his staff and the bottle, and the wind hitting his cheeks in hard whips, blowing his hair in an even wilder style.
It was way too late, there was no way Ladybug would be out and about this late at night, especially since there was no night patrols scheduled anytime soon. Chat was tired, he was so tired, but he couldn’t stand going into that prison he called his room. He’d sooner hang himself and let his father find his mangled corpse then deal with him at the moment. He lifted the bottle and took a long glance at the sparkling glass, all the lights from the buildings around him making every cut the bottle was shaped with a different color. There was a little of the deep brown liquid left over, he licked his chapped lips and downed the rest. What was the phrase? Liquid courage? Whatever, his thoughts weren’t clear enough, which also lead to his next action.
Chat Noir only noticed he was bouncing over buildings when he nearly slipped off, instinct kicked in, his staff expanded between two buildings, one hand holding him three stories up. He stared down, it’s not like he was a place where he could be seen, so with a few swings he was back on his (albeit unsteady) feet. He was still quite drunk, but he knew where he was. Just a few streets away from Marinette Dupain-Cheng parent’s bakery. His feet carried him over the roofs and finally landing gently on her terrace. The few lively plants and a cute little seat with a shade hanging over. It was almost like a reading nook; it fit her personality so well.
Standing above the trapdoor he tried to think, why was he brought here of all places? Why at the house of a girl that obviously didn’t like him, as Adrien, and probably as much as Chat Noir. Swallowing a lump in his throat, his claws first tapped to see if the sharp sound was loud enough, but not too loud. After a few seconds he thought it didn’t work, but was quickly proven wrong when his hanging eyes met the shining blues of the girl below him.
“Chat? Do you know how late it is? Why are you here? Is something bad happening? Where’s Ladybug?” Marinette haphazardly started shooting off questions that Chat didn’t and probably couldn’t answer.
Halfway through what seemed to be a little panic she was suffering though he interrupted. “In. I want in.” He slurred, gaining him a worried look from the girl. She didn’t question him, just opened up the trapdoor and sat back on her bed. He slipped in after her and with a little trouble closed the trapdoor.
In the now stuffy bedroom the smell of alcohol on Chat was overbearing, it came over Marinette and she backed up. “Chat, are you drunk?” Her hand reached out to him almost like she wanted to hold him.
“A little. Or a lot, I don’t remember all too well.” Chat murmured and leaned his face into Marinette’s hand rubbing himself against her soft skin.
Marinette only sighed, he could barely guess what thoughts worked their way through her head. “Usually I’d be against a late night visitor, but you can stay until you sober up enough to make your way home safely.”
His hands had found their way around Marinette’s thin waist and he forced her to lay down with him, his face in her stomach. “Thank you princess.” Chat hummed and squeezed her. Soon after he felt her hands pulling through his hair, untangling the knots that the wind dutifully placed all along the pieces of his hair.
The silence was nice, or as nice as it could be with the smell of whiskey lingering in the air. Shortly after Chat wrapped his arms around her she knew that there was no way out. Marinette just accepted it and took a self note to wash her sheets tomorrow. But for now her attention was on the drunk cat curled up in her lap. One hand made it’s way to rest on his back, and he seemed to have no qualms about the contact. He seemed to almost like it. For some reason his back tightened, his breaths soft heaves.
“I don’t want to go back.”
Everything was still, the words hanging in the air like a thick smoke. Chat let another shuddering breath go. “I don’t want to go back.” He repeated. “ I don’t want to go home Marinette.” His grip on her torso felt tighter, his body lurched. He was crying. “Please... I don’t- I don’t want to go back.”
Marinette was awe struck. By no means is a guy not allowed to show his emotions, crying is an okay thing to do, but it’s so odd, almost frightening to see her partner, her actual backbone, crying on her stomach, his tears large enough to make her skin wet under her night shirt. Marinette’s insides twisted with anxiousness as she tried to find the words that rested at the tip of her tongue. “Chat..” She stuttered out, “Chat.” She said again, trying to get his attention. A little shake of his shoulders he was finally looking up; unable to see the swelling of his eyes, but she could he how red his face was, from the mix of whiskey and his crying. “Come here.” She said in a hushed tone and put her arms around him to pull him closer. Her brows furrowed trying to think of a way to calm him down.
Chat was blubbering. Through drunken tears on Marinette’s shoulder he whined, refusing to leave. “He doesn’t care.” She heard him say. She nearly pushed on, but she couldn’t do that, he was drunk and he could give up information she shouldn’t know. “He does.. Shit.” Chat hiccuped, “To my head and my body. I can’t go back, Marinette.”
“Who Chat, who?” Marinette let herself ask, in the pit of her stomach she knew she wouldn’t like the answer, but she couldn’t help him otherwise without all the pieces.
“My father.” Chat said after a deep breath. Marinette couldn’t stand to hear it anymore, so she held Chat Noir close to her letting him use her shirt as a tissue to. Another thing for future Marinette to deal with. She chewed her lip. She never thought someone so carefree could have such a horrible home life. She doesn’t have all the clear information, but to have Chat come to her house drunk and crying while curled up to her it was way more than safe to assume.
Marinette sat and held Chat for what felt like hours. Her hands both trapped around Chat Noir in an almost protective way, it was only after a few more sobs that wracked through his body did he calm down enough. Trying not to disturb him, Marinette moved one arm to grab her phone, the dimly lit screen shown it was almost three in the morning. Now conscious of time she began to wonder how long had Chat been transformed. A little beep took her out of her trance. His miraculous was beeping.
Panic set in. What was Marinette going to do? He didn’t seem like waking him up will do anything and he might still be too drunk to get home by himself. Another beep. Marinette tried to get up from under Chat but his unconscious self held onto her tighter. One last beep. She swallowed hard and tried to look away as his transformation released.
There was a loud whine. “Ugghhh.” Plagg groaned. “I’m starving.” The little black kwami looked around and noticed they weren’t home. Everything was so.. Pink. After a full look around he met eyes with Marinette. “Crap.” He said.
Marinette couldn’t allow herself to look anywhere towards Chat Noir, so when his kwami came out of she watched him. Plagg looked between the two. His own face twisted and showed worry, not only for the shitty situation, but the fact Adrien didn’t look so good. The smell that’s carried with him coated the room. Plagg knew and he flew over to Adrien. “Buddy come on. Please wake up. Seriously we can’t be doing this. It’s the fifth time.” Plagg’s voice quavering. He turned his attention away from the sleeping boy and laid it on Marinette. “Please you have to help him, find a way to get him home, anything.”
Marinette for the first time allowed her gaze to come over Chat Noir. The face snuggled into her pillows, eyebrows wrinkled, was none other than Adrien Agreste. Marinette of course was star struck, but that was buried under the worry for Adrien. His father does these things to him? It made her want to check his body to see if there was physical evidence of this, but there was no time. It was three AM and she had to get him home. She chewed the inside of her cheek trying to think this all the way through. “Tikki.” Marinette said just above a whisper.
Not surprisingly the ladybug kwami responded almost immediately, like she was listening to them. Tikki took a look at the three. Giving Plagg a little nod she turned her full attention to Marinette. “I think I understand. Can you get him off you?”
“Of course I can, the problem isn’t weight, it’s that he won’t let go.” Marinette replied and shifted a little on her bed. One arm pushed his apart. With a few reluctant shoves he had finally let go. She slipped off the side of her bed and went down the stairs. “Tikki transform me.” The darkness that coated her room was beaten back by the pink light of her transformation. Transformed, she made her way back to her bed. Plagg had tucked himself into Adrien’s collar, he didn’t look up when Ladybug lifted Adrien bridal style. With a little struggle she got her trapdoor open and climbed through with Adrien. The daunting weight of her yoyo bothered her as she started running. With Adrien out like a light he couldn’t hold onto so she couldn’t swing.
It took a lot longer with the weight of the sleeping boy in her arms but she finally made it to the Agreste Mansion. She looked around the perimeter trying to find any open window or way into the building. She ended up finding a bathroom window. She prayed that it was Adrien’s bathroom and slipped in.
The white marble floors and the black marble shower was a dead giveaway, she was in the clear. Quickly moving from the bathroom across his room and finally to his bed. The bed looked as if it’s never been slept in, the edges and folds pristine, not a single wrinkle. Too bad in a careless move of her hand it was ruined.
She laid Adrien down giving him one last look. Plagg moved from his shirt and floated over to Ladybug. His face showing the utmost concern. Ladybug didn’t know what really to do so she ran her gloved hand along Plagg’s head. He floated back to Adrien and laid down on his chest.
Ladybug opened his window and started to climb out, but she heard something, a quiet voice. “Ladybug.”