I'm always here for you

7

—Chat's POV—

What I sight I am tonight. I'm a super hero, dressed in an indestructible suit, but being torn apart from the inside. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, and I'm staring at the ground as the rain pours down on me.

Mom left. I'm hated by my father. Nobody loves me. What is wrong with me?

Suddenly I remember Marinette's words to me, saying that I should call her if I need to talk.

"Plagg, claws in."

"What are you doing, kid?"

I ignore him, and pull out my phone. I call the number written on my hand, and wait for her to pick up.

No answer.

"Adrien?" A deeply confused voice asks. "What are you doing on the roof?"

"M'la-Ladybug," I say as I turn around, almost forgetting that I wasn't transformed. I felt Plagg bolt behind me to get out of sight.

"Are you okay?" She asks, approaching me. Her tone implied that she knew the extreme I had gone to earlier today, but that must be just a coincidence. She hasn't seen my wrist.

"Yeah, I just—uh, was calling a friend."

She comes up to me and wraps her arms around me. She glances down at my phone, sees the number I tried to call, and panic flashes across her face. Hmm, I wonder why.

"I'm guessing she won't pick up," she says.

"How did you—"

"Intuition," she says quickly. "She's probably just asleep. I'm sure she's not ignoring you."

"Oh, you're right," I respond, realizing how stupid I am. Marinette probably isn't awake at this time of night.

"You can talk to me, if you like."

"Shouldn't you be on patrol or something?"

"Nah, Chat can take care of that on his own."

I laugh quietly. She doesn't know the irony of those words.

I take a deep breath, and start spilling all my thoughts out. I ramble on for a long time, not knowing how to express exactly what the problem is, and eventually we sit down.

Despite being the only one speaking, I feel better afterwards. It feels good to get rid of some of the bottled up emotions, even though I hardly even know what's coming out of my mouth.

I notice Ladybug is staring at me with a saddened expression, but there was another emotion lingering... pity, most likely.

"What is it?" I ask. "Sorry, I shouldn't have kept you here this long."

"It's no problem. You look a little better than when I found you here."

She takes my hand in hers, fiddling a little bit. She leans her head on my shoulder, which makes me smile.

"I wish I could do something for you," she says sadly. "But I've never been depressed. I don't know what it feels like, and I don't pretended to. So if there is anything I can do, anything at all, please tell me. I want to help you, but I'm not sure how."

Based off of her tone, I finally realize what her expression was: guilt.

"This is helping," I say. "Just being here with you. And I don't want you to worry about me; it's not your responsibility to pull me out of this."

She laughs quietly, and it's like music. Wait... it sounds so familiar... where have I heard that noise before?

"But it is kind of my responsibility," she says. "I'm a superhero; it's my job to protect the people of Paris from everything, even their own minds."

I lean my head in, resting it on hers. Her hair smells nice, like... cookies?

I feel a small tug on my ear, and brush it off. It happens again, this time harder.

"Psst, kid!"

I don't answer him, but I move my head slightly to let Plagg know I'm listening.

"You two should kiss!"