Run and Hide - Miraculous Ladybug (TV-2016)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Genre: Drama

Word Count: 2459

Characters: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug, Hawk Moth, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Emilie Agreste

Warnings: Terrible parental choices

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33921964

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Summary:

Adrian, fed up with his lonely life in the Agreste Mansion, runs away in the middle of winter. Roaming the streets, trying to find where to go, Marinette finds him and wants to help.

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Another quiet night in the Agreste Mansion left a sour taste in Adrian's mouth. He was used to the lonely dinners where his distant father would be in his office, too busy to sit down for five minutes with his only son. Adrian stared at the long table, gripping his fork tightly as he gritted his teeth. With a huff, he stands forcefully, the chair behind him falling to the ground from the momentum, and walking out of the room and towards the staircase. Standing at the central landing, he looked up; where once was a loving portrait of his family now stands the cold, depressing replacement of just him and his father. Laying eyes on it for only one moment, thinking how much he missed the smile of his father, he turns towards his own bedroom, closing the door behind.

"I have to do it, Plagg. I can't stand it anymore." Adrian called out into the room, sitting on the couch in the center and dropping his head into his hands. Plagg, trying to comfort the blond-haired boy, floats in front of him.

"Well you can't go out there, it's freezing! Where would we go?" Plagg replied. Adrian looked up, watching the winter snowflakes fall from the sky outside the gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows, looking through the kwamii.

"I don't know. But anywhere is better than here. I'll find somewhere. Maybe I can go to Nino's?" Adrian stood, walking towards his wardrobe and pulling out a duffle bag.

"If you want to run, that'll be the first place the gorilla looks. Besides, we can't get camembert out there… Do you really need to leave?"

"Plagg. I am not staying in this cage any longer just so you can get some camembert." Adrian snaps back, shoving clothes into the bag. Plagg floats by, crossing their arms.

"Do we have to?" Plagg sluggishly protests again.

"Yes." Adrian slams the door of the wardrobe closed and zips up his bag. Walking over to the wall, he unhooks his coat from the door, wrapping himself uptight. His eyes glance at the cerulean scarf that he had been gifted by his father. He debated it for a moment, but knowing the snow wouldn't help to be outside, he grabbed the scarf and wrapped it around his neck.

Taking a deep breath, he turns towards the large windows once again. "Are you definitely sure? It's warm in here, we can have all the food we-"

"Plagg, Claw's Out" Adrian cuts them off, quietly speaking under his breath. From head to toe, the black leather suit encases him. The now Chat Noir picks up the duffle bag and opens one of the windows, lifting himself out with his staff and setting off to find a new home.

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Adrian, still disguised as Chat Noir, jumps across the rooftops and finally settles down in a small alley in the centre of Paris.

"Plagg, claws in." He whispers, transforming back into his bundled-up civilian form. Plagg appears and Adrian extends his arm, opening his palm. "Sorry Plagg, but you'll be warmer here," He says as he opens his coat slightly, placing Plagg inside. The kwamii doesn't protest, snuggling into one of the inside pockets. Zipping his coat back up, Adrian takes a deep breath, securing his bag once again, and steps foot into the quiet streets.

He trudges through the growing layers of snow on the ground, holding his arms close to his chest and burying his face as much as he could into the coat. A few cars pass, their headlights blinding him as they constantly adjust between the light of the cars and the darkness of the evening sky.

Trying to take his mind away from the bitter cold, Adrian mumbles to himself. "Right. I can't go to Nino's, they'll definitely find me there, Natalie knows I'm friends with him and will most likely ask there first. Oh! What about Max? Maybe? Though I'm not sure we're close enough to show up randomly asking to stay. I could ask Chloe, as much as she's a pain, at least she might help and she has enough room… No. If Mayor Bourgeois found me, he'd, sure enough, send me home.- I could just stay out here? Maybe find somewhere warm enough and figure something out tomorrow…"

Before he knew it, Adrian had wandered down the street and was now passing the alleyway filled with bins. The wind was getting too much and he needed to find shelter. Here, he could be away from the wind and maybe use the bins to create some sort of shelter. It sounded weird to do this, but where would people look to find him here? He nodded to himself, walking down the alley and trying to find a clear space in the snow, which he did in the corner. The roof above him stopped the snow from forming, and the alley stopped the wind. The lights of the building lit up quickly, displaying the form of a doorway; something he hadn't seen before, and a silhouette of a person coming closer and closer to the handle from the inside.

"Oh god... No, No, No... " Adrian thought as he pressed himself smaller and smaller into a ball, hoping to be unseen as the door opened. His eyes peered over his knees, watching the figure enter the alley, holding a bin bag and opening the lid to throw it in. His head got higher over his knees as he recognised the blue pigtails anywhere. Marinette. Of course, he wandered into the alley by the Dupain-Cheng's Boulangerie Patisserie. While he was happy to see her, someone he could maybe trust, he quickly shocked himself back down. He couldn't let her find him like this-

"Hello? Is everything alright?" It was too late. The calming voice echoed in his ear as Marinette approached. Adrian breathed in, deciding whether or not to answer her. He slowly lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers as she recoiled in realisation.

"Adrian?" Marinette whispered, slowly approaching and kneeling down beside him.

"Hi…" Adrian replied awkwardly, unsure what to say as his face tries to hide the frown, but the sadness in his emerald eyes can't be covered at this moment.

"Adrian… Come inside… You can't be out here, it's way too cold." Marinette says calmly, holding out her hand to him. She would normally be so nervous around him, but she knew that he needed help and that her fangirling was trumped. With caution, Adrian takes her hand, standing up and letting her lead him into the bakery.

Inside, Marinette quickly closes the door and locks it shut with one hand, keeping her other in his. He doesn't want to let go for the moment. She turns back to him, placing her other hand on top of his, cupping his hand in hers, trying to warm him up. She looks up at him with concern. "We need to warm you up, you're absolutely freezing… Oh, Adrian…" Her voice sounds so caring, Adrian didn't know what to say. Someone was actually caring? He doesn't protest as she drags him towards the staircase leading upstairs. As she begins to ascend, Marinette feels resistance.

"Will your parents be okay with me being here? I- I don't want them to be angry at you." He asks, looking at her questioningly. Marinette can sense there's some weight behind those words, but she doesn't want to pry; not right now.

"They won't mind. They would rather you be safe and warm than out there. Don't worry about them, only worry about getting yourself warm right now. Okay?" Adrian nods, his head falling as Marinette leads him upstairs into the living room.

As they enter, Adrian looks around. Everything looks so cozy and homely, unlike his own house where everything is just big, empty, and soulless. As his eyes wash over everything, they slowly fall on the man and woman sitting on the sofa looking puzzled at his sudden appearance. He gives a small wave and a forced smile to the couple.

"Mum, Dad. Is it okay if Adrian stays here for a bit?" She asks with a smile, trying to indicate with her eyes something was wrong. The man looked puzzled at her question, going to speak-

"Of course he can." Sabine cuts in. "Of course you can, Adrian. Would you like anything? Hot chocolate? Maybe a warm cookie? I just finished baking them." She stands up and walks into the kitchen. Adrian, startled by the quick succession of caring remarks, stutters over a simple yes, please. Sabine gives him a loving smile, looking to her daughter who also nods with a smile. "Okay, I can bring them upstairs once they're made, go get warm"

"Thank you, Mum!" Marinette takes Adrian's hand again.

"Yes, Thank you Mrs Cheng." He smiles weakly as he is dragged up the stairs towards Marinette's bedroom.

Upon entering her room, he removes his coat, placing his bag on the floor, and moves towards the radiator. Marinette grabs a blanket from her chair, handing it to him to wrap up. They sat in awkward silence until her mum had been and gone. But now, with their hot chocolate and no more reason to stay quiet, Marinette asks the dreaded question.

"Adrian… Why were you outside in the snow? Did something happen" She tried to ask calmly, letting him think of what he wanted to say. He looked down to his hot chocolate, his grip tighter as he tried to figure out what to say. But he didn't know how to start… "I'm not going to force you to tell me if you don't want to, not now. But I just want to know you're safe. You're my friend and I care about you."

"Nothing… Happened. I-" Adrian struggled, quietening back down. his face turning to sorrow as his eyes begin to glaze over... Marinette, sensing the struggle in his voice, placed her cup on the side table and turned to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Adrian. I know it's hard, whatever it was that made you need to be out there tonight, please know that that won't happen here." Adrian looked at her, giving her a slight smile before quickly looking back at his cup with a frown.

"Thank you…" Adrian swallowed his sadness for a second. "Marinette. I just can't be home anymore. It's… so lonely."

"Where's your dad?" She asks, innocently.

"Never around." Adrian bluntly states. "Ever since Mum… He just doesn't care. He never wants to see me, and I'm lucky if he talks to me in passing. I even have to make appointments like his clients to see him! All he does is stay in his study working on some new project then tells me to wear it for some shoot or runway. Tell. He never asks if I want to, he tells me I have to. I don't have a choice." Adrian's voice grows louder as Marinette just stares, letting him vent out his frustration. "He never has any time for me, yet he expects me to do everything he asks. He organises all of my clubs outside of class, and even my free time is almost non-existent, especially when-" Adrian stops himself. He was about to go on about his duties as Chat Noir, but he couldn't.

"Especially when what?" Marinette asks.

"Oh.. er- especially when I ask him if I can have friends round or even come out with you and the others, and its a lot of humming and harring about it all. Most of the time, I have to give something in return, like a photo shoot or some sort of interview for the Agreste brand in order to go… I shouldn't have to do him a favour to see my friends."

"No… You shouldn't" Marinette sympathises. She didn't know the lengths he had to go to see them all. She knew that he had struggled to come to school. She went to his dad in the first place to persuade him to let Adrian come, but… not to this extent. "Is your dad the reason you left?"

"Yes… well… I said it was lonely. I would do everything alone. Even Natalie and my bodyguard felt off to me. They're there to do a job, they aren't family. The house is way too big, and I still shake the feeling that mum's gone. I know my dad misses her, but I miss her too… And I can't even talk to him about it. I've only managed to sit with him once and have something to do with mum, we watched one of her old movies together. But that was it. I miss her every day and I can't talk to anyone about it."

"You can talk to me. I might not know how it feels, but I am here for you. The fact you've had to deal with that all alone is…" As Marinette speaks, she watches a tear fall down Adrian's cheek. She shuffles up to him, wrapping her arms around him. The instant she does, Adrian struggles to contain his emotions, and the tears flood out.

"I can't go back, Marinette. I can't face being there anymore." He pushes out as his voice shakes.

"You don't have to. Not now anyway. We can figure out what to do in the morning. There's no rush. Try to get your mind off of the night and deal with it all in the morning. My parents might have an idea of what we can do. They'll help. I'll help. I don't want you to be sad, or in an unhappy place." Marinette keeps a hold of him as his tears continue. She doesn't want to be the first to let go. She can feel his need to be held, to be cared for. She wants to be there for him, and right now he needs a hug. "Why don't we watch a movie?" He nods faintly, pulling away from her and wiping his tears.

"It's a weird request, but can we watch 'Solitude', It's old and has a sad theme, but my mum's in it…" He asks.

"Of course, I'll try to find it on the computer. Why don't you go get changed into some pajamas and I'll find the film. Then we can set up your bed for the night on my sofa and you can tell me all about her."

"Okay." Finally, a smile lights upon his face. He goes towards the duffle bag as Marinette begins to search on the computer for the film. He stops at the hatch of the room, looking towards the blue-haired girl. "Thank you, Marinette." She smiles as he leaves the room.

He's safe now.