Glass and Thorns [Miraculous]

sixteen // i'm still here, don't give up on me!

Chat Noir's POV

I choke on my spit and stumble backwards, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Oh, are you upset that I actually hate you?" She teases, smirking and crossing her arms.

I struggle to stand up and hold my arm. I sharply inhale as my glass heart stabs me every time I move. I wipe the blood dripping down from my broken nose. My eye is swollen shut and dark purple. My hair is matted with blood from the cut on my skull slicing down half of my head. My shins are banged and bruised up. The only reason I'm still moving is because of the adrenaline.

"CHAT NOIR!" I hear someone scream.

I whip my head around, terrified that another civilian will be sent to the shadow realm. My vision is blurry from being slammed on the ground so badly that I can't even recognize who it is. All I know is that I have to get to them as soon as I can to save them.

I extend my baton and fly towards the civilian before Shadow Princess can reach them. I sweep the civilian up in my arms and jump away to the top of a building. We hide behind an electrical box so Shadow Princess can't see us.

"Adrien...?" I hear the civilian whisper.

I can barely keep my vision focused. "A-Alya...?"

I collapse into her arms. She gasps and holds me in her lap.

"Adrien, oh my god!" Alya screams, terrified. "H-How can I help?!"

"I'm fine!" I snap, struggling to stand up, but I don't have enough energy and fall back down again.

"Y-You're bleeding..." she whispers. "I..."

I shake my head and use my baton as a walking stick to stand up. "I'm fine."

I start making my way off the building to return to Marinette.

"Adrien..."

I look back at her. "Please, Alya, don't refer to my real name in public. Someone could hear and then-"

Alya shakes her head and runs to me, hugging me tightly. Her tears fly everywhere. She digs her head into my chest. I'm shocked at first, but then wrap my arms back around her too.

"It finally clicked," she mumbles with her face buried in my shoulder.

"What did?"

"That you're Chat Noir. I was in denial for a really long time. A part of me kept telling me it wasn't true. No way could my own classmate be Chat Noir," she explains through sobs. "But you really are him. And you're willing to sacrifice your health to save Paris."

"Well, yeah, duh. It's kinda my job," I reply.

"You're not listening to me!" She cries. "You're the Chat Noir. The picture perfect model is the same guy who wears tight leather and makes cat puns. You're a model in the day time, and by the night you protect Paris."

Tears start to form in my eyes.

Alya squeezes me tight. "You're a hero, Adrien. I know it's hard that Marinette is an akuma, but just know, she loves you. She really, truly does."

I bite my lip to stop it from quivering.

"Your father is cruel, and Marinette's saying this awful stuff when she's akumatized, but you still, miraculously, keep fighting."

She looks up at me with tear filled eyes and smiles.

"So thank you, Chat Noir. Thank you."

I collapse on the cement roof in tears, holding myself. Alya squats down and holds me tight.