12. Worry and Confusion

You sighed as you swiped away his final message, just as you had with the three prior.

Your window was wide open and you were leaning against the bottom of it, letting your head hang slightly out of the window. You sighed as the wind whipped through your hair— even with how little you had let out. The night felt almost freezing. It was mid fall, and the cool weather began to remind you of New York.

This had to be your favorite part of Paris, just this night, just this moment.

You sat there for a moment with your eyes closed. Just as you were about to turn and head back to bed, you heard a muffled shout.

"Heads up!" The voice was clearer now and you jumped out of the way as you saw the dark figure barreling towards your window.

You searched desperately for something to arm yourself with. You picked up the hardback novel you had been reading less than an hour before. The figure groaned against your floor, clearly not expecting their landing to be as rough as it was.

You shakily held the book over your head, ready to do with it.

The figure began to move and you held up your free hand defensively as you backed up into your nightstand. "Stay back!" You warned, wanting to yell, but decided against it before you identified the stranger.

"Now, Y/n, that's not how you read a book." You could almost see his cheeky grin through the darkness of your room.

"Chat Noir?" You gasped as you dropped your book onto your bed, letting out a sigh of relief.

He turned around and clicked on the lamp that sat on your vanity. "The one and only." He spoke with an almost smug smirk as he pointed towards his chest. You couldn't help but roll your eyes at his confidence.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" You demanded. A surprised look crossed Chat Noir's face at your reaction.

You raised an eyebrow to your own thought.

His expression fell serious. "I wanted to check up on you. It seems you've been having a rough couple of weeks."

You snickered, wanting to correct him on the time frame of your period. You waved your hand out in a circular motion in front of him. "Is this a thing you do? I've never heard of Ladybug and Chat Noir making house visits hours later." Your arms were now crossed, and he wasn't entirely sure what to say.

He knew that he could easily talk to you as Adrien about your feelings. He watched you standing there looking incredibly irritated with him. It was almost amusing how drastically different you acted with him and his alter ego.

He knew he should've come to you as Adrien, but Chat Noir would have to do for tonight.

"It's not, but I've recently found myself in some serious situations with you." You noticed his eyes advert down to the base of your bed, which was broken. He extended a finger towards it, "What happened there?" His voice shook like he didn't even want to know the answer to his own question.

You hummed as you nodded your head, contemplating if you should tell him or not. "Marinette shoved the crap out of me, and that's the outcome," you admitted with a shrug of your shoulder, deciding you no longer cared how your words affected her reputation.

Chat Noir blinked hard at your response. "The force of her push caused you to break the base of your bed?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

You nodded simply and turned your back towards him. "Look at my back if you want to see the brunt of it." You voice was so calm, it frightened him.

He stood awkwardly there, unsure of what you were really asking him to do. "God, I'm not asking you to strip me. Just lift up the back of my fucking shirt." You sighed as you placed your hand on your face, making a stressed rubbing motion across your forehead.

Chat Noir blushed. "I know, jeez, I was getting to that." He sighed and ignored the growing heat spreading across his face. His hands were shaky as they moved towards the hem of your large sleeping shirt. He was hesitant, but he lifted your shirt just far enough to see the damage.

You had a large dark red cut across the center of your back. The entire surrounding area was covered in bruises that varied from purple, blue, and green around the very edges.

"Y/n..." His voice was soft and wary, almost like if he talked any louder, the rest of you would shatter in his arms.

You shrugged as you motioned over to your nightstand. "I've got some pain killers. I iced the last hour and I'll sleep on my stomach." You turned around and looked up at the cat hero with wary eyes. "I'll be careful, no need to be so worried." You placed your thumb between his two brows, and smoothed out the crease he had furrowed.

He felt like jelly under your touch, and it was terrifying. You stared up at him with such sad eyes, and he couldn't believe how much he wanted to show you who he truly was and just... hold you.

"Are you going to tell me why you're really here?" You asked him as you walked over to your closet and pulled out your soft unicorn slippers.

Chat Noir smiled softly at your childish footwear, he found it absolutely adorable. As he was admiring it, he realized you were looking up at him, clearly waiting for an answer.

He waved his hands out in front of him. "I told you! I was just checking up on you." His voice shifted from nerve filled to surprisingly calm and steady.

He was towering over you and his eyes were solidly serious. You felt yourself gulp hard before you placed your hands on his chest and pushed him away from you, weakly.

"I need to go to bed," you whispered.

"It's not even ten," he retaliated, making you pause.

"I had a really long day Chat Noir." You sighed as you pulled back your comforter so it was ready for you to climb under whenever left, "I appreciate you checking up on me, but I'll be fine. I promise," you reiterated when you realized he was hesitating.

He nodded curtly before beginning to climb back out your window. You were in your bed, surrounding by your fluffy sheets and large blankets. His expression softened at your quiet and relaxed form.

"Good night Y/n," he whispered and you glanced back over at your window, realizing it was closed and he was gone.

You smiled softly. "Good night, Chat Noir." You laid your face against your pillow, and tilted it slightly. You traced your finger down the length of your sheets as you tried to stop this growing confusion that boiled throughout your body.

**

"You're really letting them go Sabine?" Your father was in shock as you all sat in your dining room. Your mother had made all of you breakfast and insisted that the bakery would be closed for the morning.