Nightmares (A Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfic)

Chapter 11

Adrien stared out of the car window watching the pedestrians move faster than them. Traffic was slow, it was the dinner rush on a Saturday night. Nino had texted him something about meeting up to hang out tonight, Adrien had said no at first but Nino stressed that it was important for some reason. As much as he always jumped at the opportunity to see his friends and get out of his room, lately he hadn't felt like going out and having fun. He sighed as they moved barely more than a block and checked the time, it looked like he was going to be late.

His thoughts wandered back to the akuma they had fought today. Scarabella and Chat Noir were barely able to beat Mr. Pigeon, a villian Ladybug could have de-akumatized easily. He was trying to be a good partner to Scarabella and she was pretty good at fighting but they felt sloppy together. He wished Ladybug would just come back, he missed her so much it hurt. Somedays he was angry at her for abandoning her but mostly he felt sad and empty. He had been left by his mom, shut out by his dad, and now abandoned by his partner. He felt the emotion threaten to spill from his eyes but he pushed it all down until he didn't feel it anymore.

Suddenly the door swung open and he saw his bodyguard holding it for him. He saw Nino waiting on the corner of the block texting someone on his phone. Adrien slowly walked over to his friend with a wave and a forced smile.

"Hey my dude," Nino said looking up for a moment before sending another text.

"Hey Nino, so what's up?" Adrien asked, looking around they weren't at one of their usual spots to hangout. He recognized the area as it was close to the school but he hadn't payed much attention to the side street they were on.

"The girls wanted us to meet them here, Alya and I have been a couple times," Nino said pointing to a small restaurant. Adrien looked over to the restaurant, it had a large window with its name scrawled in white curling font.

"Wait- the girls, as in Alya and Marinette?" Adrien asked realizing he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Marinette out of school. Even in school they hadn't talked much, he had tried to cheer her up but after losing Ladybug he found it hard to be cheerful himself. He felt himself smile a bit, maybe she was feeling better if she was out with Alya.

"Yep and the dudettes are waiting so let's go," Nino said walking towards the restaurant. Adrien followed behind him a bit more excited to spend the evening with his friends. Nino pushed the door open and a bell jingled as they walked in, the space inside was small and full but not cramped. There were plants hanging near the large window and tables being waited on by the staff. Nino looked around a moment before leading Adrien closer to the back where a small table had four chairs, two of which were filled by their friends.

Adrien glanced past Nino as he greeted the girls and saw Marinette mid laugh at something Alya had said. He barely felt himself stop as he took in her dark hair braided loosely, bits of hair left out of the braid framed her face as she laughed. He had gotten so use to the quiet reserved Marinette that sat behind him in class that he felt like he was seeing a different person. He felt the beginning of a blush on his cheeks as she looked at him realizing he was behind Nino. He waved awkwardly any words felt stuck in his throat. He saw her eyes widen as they met his, he must have scared her, he always seemed to do that to her. He had wondered if it was because she looked up to his fathers fashion designs so she was scared around him for being Gabriels son.

"He-hey Adrien!" She said loudly standing up quickly, banging the table with her legs, "I suddenly have to- to go- to the bathroom!" He watched her hurry off almost running into one of the wait staff. She was even wearing a completely different outfit, maybe she had made it he wondered, it was cute. He felt his blush deepen, the outfit was cute, not her, she was his friend. He mentally scolded himself for the mistake. It must be because he hasn't seen her laughing in so long and she looked so different than normal.

"You going to sit down dude?" He heard Nino's voice and realized he had been staring where Marinette had disappeared. He rushed to sit down and hid his embarrassed blush behind his hands. Nino and Alya talked quietly between themselves enjoying their time together. Nino had been complaining alot to Adrien lately about Alya always being too busy for dates or running off in the middle of them. He decided to let them use this as an excuse for a date so he wouldn't bother them too much. Adrien busied himself with the menu keeping an eye out for Marinette to come back.

A scream pierced the air, Adrien jumped up scanning the room for Marinette but saw no sign of her. The sound of metal scraping against metal pushed the already tense room into a panic. Adrien saw a car fly past the window outside.

"Go hide! I'll find Marinette!" Adrien shouted to Alya and Nino over the screams of panic in the room. He looked back to make sure they heard him before running towards the bathrooms. He went to knock on the door but it whipped open before he could stop his momentum and he crashed into someone sending them both to the ground one on top of the other.