Running from the Night (A Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfic)

Chapter 28

Marinette held the bottle in her gloved hands. She looked at the golden blond hair she had come to love and cringed at the thought of changing it.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" She asked, trying to keep her tone gentle. Chat Noir sat facing away from her in his civilian form. He had a dark towel around his shoulders, he had insisted he didn't want to ruin the sweater she had made him even though it was already black.

"I need to be.. different," he nodded, his blond locks bounced in the sunlight that streamed into her room. She breathed deeply, readying herself to say goodbye to his beautiful hair. She squeezed the bottle and dark hair dye plopped on his head. She began messaging the dye into his hair. The light colour was methodically replaced with layer upon layer of black dye.

All too soon she was walking around Chat inspecting his hair for any missed spots. She still felt weird seeing him without cat ears but the black mask she had made at least obscured his identity. The first time she saw him in the sweater and mask he had looked so different and yet so familiar at the same time. A nagging feeling at the back of mind told her she recognized him, not as Chat but rather she had seen him as a civilian. She pushed the thought away and put the hair bottle down on her desk.

"Okay it looks good," she smiled at him. As much as she would miss the blond she couldn't say she wasn't excited to see him with dark hair.

"How long do we have to wait?" he asked. She noticed his knee bouncing and the way he was fiddling with the sweater sleeves. She took off the gloves flipping them inside out so she wouldn't get dye everywhere and flipped the box over to read the instructions.

"About forty minutes," she replied before putting the box down and leaning against her desk, "what do you want to do while we wait?"

"Don't you have to go to school today," Chat asked suddenly, wide eyed.

"I told my parents I was feeling sick," she shrugged.

"Mari you can't miss school because of me!" He exclaimed. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you not also missing school?" she rebutted. She had been wondering if he was a drop out, or even older than her, but didn't know how to ask politely.

"Well, technically yes but that's not new," he squinted at her and crossed his arms.

"Then it's fine, we can miss school together, and it's not like it's that enjoyable anyways," she added under her breath. She looked at the near empty cork board she used to keep photos of her and her friends on. Now it only held a few family photos and some pictures she had with Luka and Adrien, not that she had seen either of the boys in a while.

"Did something happen?" He tilted his head questioningly.

"Yes and no, I don't have anyone to talk to anymore, but it isn't new, my only friend hasn't been around," she glanced down at her hands.

"Alya?" Chat asked lightly. Marinette laughed dryly, she didn't think she and Alya would ever be able to call one another friends again.

"Adrien," she hugged her arms around herself, "he stopped showing up to school weeks ago and I tried to find out what happened. I even went to his house and asked his father but he wouldn't tell me anything."

"Oh," Chat said. Emotion that Marinette couldn't place, played across his features.

"I'm really worried about him," she sighed, "I got the sense he wasn't in a good place before he disappeared but there's nothing I can do." She felt emotion threatening to spill from her eyes.

She was scared for him but nothing she had done had helped. She had even asked Alya about Adrien but she had regurgitated the same lie's Lila was spreading. Adrien was visiting family in London. Marinette of course had looked into it but Felix told her he hadn't heard from Adrien. Normally she wouldn't take Felix for his word but she trusted him more than Lila.