Runaway: An Adrienette Story

Chapter 22 - Worried About Him

That night...

Tikki decides to telepathically contact Plagg to find out what happened to Adrien earlier that night. "Plagg, psst...Plagg!" 

"Tikki? What's going on?" 

"Well, it's about earlier. Did you feel something wrong when Adrien had collapsed on Marinette's balcony?" 

"Hmm, now that you mention it, something did feel a bit off when he transformed." 

"You better keep an eye on him Plagg." 

"Yeah. I sure will."

The next morning, at school

Marinette arrives at school, early in fact and waits for Adrien to join her at her locker. But the passing bell rings and he never shows up. I wonder where he is. Adrien said he would be coming. He's probably in class and just forgot.

In class

Marinette strolls into class and finds Adrien, sitting in his normal spot like always but he looks exhausted. He looks so tired...Adrien would never come to school like this, ever. Maybe he didn't get a lot of sleep last night after what happened. "Hi Adrien, are you okay?" 

"Oh uh, yeah. All good." 

"Oh okay, let me know if you need anything." He doesn't seem to be acting any different than he normally would but something keeps bugging me.

At lunch, Marinette goes to her locker to grab something she had prepared for Alya, Nino and Adrien from the bakery and returns to the table to bring it to him. When she returns, she finds Adrien on his knees, clutching his shoulder with his cup of water spilled all over the floor in front of him. She quickly drops her bag and rushes over to him.

"Adrien! What happened? Are you okay?" 

"Y-Yeah. I felt a bit dizzy but I'm okay now, don't worry." 

"Okay, if you're sure. Let's clean this up."

Classes after lunch go smoothly and Marinette keeps a close eye on Adrien since he seems to be having a rough day. After the bell, Adrien and Marinette meet at the front entrance of the school. "Hey, Marinette." 

"Hey, Adrien." 

"I'll pick you up back at your house in half an hour for the photoshoot." 

"Sounds good. See you in a bit Adrien."

Half an hour later...

Adrien grabs a quick snack for Plagg and heads out to the car to meet the Gorilla and Nathalie. 

"Adrien, we best get going. Your father is at the park already and we need to pick up Miss Marinette on our way there." 

He replies with a somewhat lagged tone, "Right."

On the way to Marinette's house, Adrien takes note of an uneasy feeling that has lingered with him all day. Why do I feel so exhausted today? Something just doesn't feel right. It's like all of my energy has somehow dissipated slowly throughout the day... 

"Adrien!" Nathalie shouts as she shakes him furiously. 

"We're here. Please go get Miss Marinette." 

"Yes, Nathalie."

With Marinette

The sound of a car gets Marinette up from her chair. She swipes my sketchbook off her desk and race down the stairs to see Adrien at the door. 

"Hi, Marinette. Ready to go?" 

"Yeah. Let's go. Bye mom, Bye dad!" Adrien takes her hand and leads her to the car and they head off to the park.

At the park

Gabriel greets Marinette and Adrien once they arrive on the set for the photo shoot. Adrien is asked to continuously move for different poses and Marinette sits down on a nearby bench to sketch and observe him during the shoot. This goes on for a few minutes until she notices something strange.

Adrien doesn't seem like he's enjoying this shoot. No...it's not that. Something seems wrong here. He looks completely worn out! Wait, it looks like they're giving him a quick break. I should check on him. "Adrien!" I call out to him and gesture for him to come my way.

Adrien takes notice of Marinette's gesture and begins to walk in her direction hoping for a quick chat with her. Thank god, I finally get a break from the camera. I don't know how much more I can go through today. Wait. Why do I feel so dizzy all of a sudden? Someone...please. Help.

The sky! Where'd it go? Everything is black!

"Adrien!!"