The Cat Bell Curse

👣 Chapter 7 🐾

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"MARINETTE! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

   Marinette stumbled out of bed hurriedly and tripped over a box that wasn't put back yet from last nights mess. She stumbled to her feet and grabbed some clothes before racing inside bathroom.

   Adrien opened his tried eyes from a difficult night of sleep. He had no idea why it was so hard to sleep last night when feeling so drained. Yet, it happened.

   "Why does she have to be so—ARG!" He spat under his breath, very tired from the morning escapades. He was very close to making thumb tacks ear buds. Holding back feline urges to hiss, Adrien laid back down.

It grew oddly quiet, yet the bluenette still hadn't left the bathroom. Usually it would only take a couple loud minutes before bursting through the door and out the room faster than him changing clothes at a fashion show.

   Curiosity got the better of the boy in a cat's body. He trotted over to the bathroom door and placed an ear against it. Not even his enhanced hearing couldn't hear any sort of noise.

   "Did she fall into the toilet or something?" Adrien thought, jokingly nervous. That's what he did when he was nervous or stressed, made jokes in his head. It helped relive some tension from life and kept him sane.

   To say the least, he felt an unknown urge figure out what was wrong. For the first time, fear settled inside his chest and nervously meowed at the door. Still no answer.

"Marinette," he called, worriedly. He didn't care if the door was clawed a little. The only thing that mattered was if Marinette's safety. His mind argued against the thought of worrying over the baker's girl. Yet, something else took over blocking his reason and common sense.

He didn't like it and wanted this bad felling to go away. This incredibly new emotion he felt that he hadn't felt since his mother's death.

"Princess?" He questioned in almost a hushed tone.

"Chat, what on earth are you doing?"

Adrien almost did a full 360 with his head when green eye's met with pretty bluebell. Marinette stood there with a raised eyebrow and confused with the display he was just doing. Embarrassed, the cat boy did the only thing he knew best, be grumpy.

"Oh great, just when I thought I got rid of you," he grumbled, a wave of relief flowing over.

"Were you worried about little ole me, Kitty?" Marinette teased, smile crooked. This made Adrien sputter incoherent words—meows—until finally ending with telling her he would sue.

   "Relax, I was just playing," she said, scratching behind his ears. The cursed model huffed but didn't make any remarks or side comments after designer hurriedly left.

   He softened and fondly stared at the trap door the teenage girl left. The edge of his lips twitched a bit but held back a-

"Did I almost witness the Adrien Agreste genuinely smile!" Tikki cooed and scaring the heebie-jeebies out of the cat.

   "NO!" Adrien scoffed after calming his racing heart.

   "Whatever you say, Minou," the witch teased.

   "Is she bae yet?"

   "One, don't you have anything better to do? Two, I have a girlfriend so these charades are totally worthless," Adrien pointed out, growling.

   "One, this is my job. Two, your girlfriend is a pig. I wouldn't call any of this worthless. You seem to have changed a bit since the first time I saw you," Tikki replied back, smoothly.

"I haven't changed a bit," Adrien scoffed, seeming offended.

"So I just imagined you fondly gazing at someone with just as much misfortunate as you?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You are delusional, considering you think someone like me could ever change," he replied, trying not to sound as dejected as he felt. He constantly thought if it was already too late for him to change. There has been so damage that's been done just to make his father proud of him.

"Adrien..." Tikki spoke, remorsefully. The cursed model's gaze widened in shock when meeting with sympathetic blue.

"You can be so much more if you don't try to live up to your father's expectations all the time."

   "Oh, really? So who's expectations should I live up to?" I sarcastically asked.

   "I believe you already know the answer to that," Tikki said then disappeared, leaving Adrien in the room alone. He stared at the spot where the witch was just at a little longer before shaking his head.

   "This is stupid," he grumbled, gloomily. Just then, the trap door opened, and Marinette's father, Tom walked in.

   "Good morning, Chat Noir. Did Marinette wake you up early?" The Baker asked, a soft and jolly smile on his face. Adrien could only meow as a response and earn a small scratch on the head. The scratches were nothing compared to Marinette's but it was still nice either way.

    Tom usually visited Adrien to see if he was doing alright. Other times Marinette's mother, Sabine came if the bakery had a big order. Adrien liked the man, though may look intimidating, reminding the blonde of a big teddy bear of sorts. Tom was like a gentle giant and loved to bake more than anybody the model knew.

   "It seems like everything is good up here," Tom said, scanning the room before looking down at the black cat. "Would you like to come downstairs? It must get tiring staying in this stuffy room all day."

   Adrien obliged to the man's words and followed the Baker down the stairs to the apartment. Tom went back to the bakery below while the human-minded cat began to look around closer. Last time he was in the main area, there was no time to look around closer because of practically starving.

Emerald eyes walked around the room for any way of escape to be disappointed when everything seemed to be sealed. Yet, he did notice something strange on the shelf that seemed out of place.

   Before he could get a better look, Marinette walked through the door. She was surprised to see the grumpy cat in the main room of the apartment but smiled nonetheless.

   "Hey, Chat. What are you doing down here? Did I leave the trapdoor open?" She asked, gaze turned towards the shut trapdoor above. Adrien meowed and grabbing back the girl's attention.

   "Oh, guess what?" Marinette said, excitedly. "We have a special guest coming over tonight!"

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