The next few weeks were hard for Adrien. Ladybug refused to talk to Chat Noir unless it was necessary, his father had doubled his workload on him as punishment for buying the Avatar tickets without his permission, which made it hard to go see Marinette as often as he wanted to .

Speaking of Marinette, she was acting different around him. Both as Chat and Adrien. She'd reverted into her old shell, hardly talking to the model, stuttering out sentences when spoken to. She was... skittish. She was constantly looking for new ways to avoid him, her eyes searching for some sort of escape when she got caught in an conversation with him. He was trying, he really truly was. He wanted to talk to her, he needed to.

He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was getting worse. He can't look Nino or Alya in the eye anymore, the brown irises dragging him into dark places. Looking at them, he felt as if he were dunked under freezing water, brought back to the place he can hardly remember but is all that he can think about. It made his fingers twitch, desperate to grab something to keep him grounded, help him realize he was still in reality.

Which was why he was he was currently sat on top of one of the buildings he and Ladybug often frequented after they were done patrolling, hidden from the public eye. He wasn't wearing his transformation, Plagg laying down next to him, and for once the kwami was quiet. Adrien didn't have to worry about Ladybug coming by and seeing him. She hasn't been staying around much after patrol, and the nights where the both had patrol, such as this one, she went the other way, never coming over here.

Though it was basically spring, the nights were still cold, but the temperature didn't bother him any. He stared emptily at the dark sky, the stars covered up by clouds that wisped over the moonlight, giving a creepy sense to the evening. Or morning, Adrien thought bitterly as he looked down at his phone screen. 1:32 blared back at him in bright white numbers. He knew he should get some sleep but he couldn't. He moved his gaze to the palms of his hands, glaring at them as if they had done something to offend him.

Plagg looked at his holder glumly, not having the heart to think of any of his usual quips and jabs towards the blonde. He had heard him, his screams before he shot up in his bed, panting and covered in sweat. They had sat in the giant room for minutes, yet no one came to check on the young teen.

Wordlessly, Plagg plopped himself down on his holder's hands, lightly patting Adrien's thumb. Adrien smiled softly at the small gesture before he said his first words since waking up.

"I screwed up, didn't I?"

"How could you have screwed up if you haven't done anything wrong? Think logically kid." Plagg retorted. Adrien shook his head, looking back up at the cloudy sky. He had to have done something wrong, why else would both Ladybug and Marinette be ignoring him? Did he forget something? Did he not do something that the wanted him to do? It made sense why Marinette was ignoring him. Adrien never came back to the closet after the fight, and Chat Noir didn't even ask her if she was okay after the fight.

Marinette should have been, and should always be his first priority, and yet he completely forgot about her as he fought the akuma and helped the victim.

Ladybug was a different story. Sure, she isn't one to tell personal details, secret identity and all, but she has never full blown ignored him. And that hurt nearly as much as it did to have Marinette ignore him. LB was his best friend and to be neglected by her for a reason he didn't know stung a lot.

"Why don't you just ask them?" Plagg asked. "Idiot..." He added, almost as an afterthought. What? He couldn't go around letting the kid think he was growing soft on him! Then that would just lead to Adrien coming to him more often for his girl problems, and he's already dealt with that enough, thank you very much.

"Ladybug's a... reasonable person. Most of the time at least. And Marinette loves you. Do you really want all of that to go to waste just because you were too scared to ask them what you did?"

Plagg's words struck a chord with Adrien, the cogs and gears in his mind shifting as he thought about what he could do to make it up to his two favorite girls. "Right. They're both reasonable. And they can't really hold grudges that long."

Though he said those words, that wasn't what he was talking about when he asked if he had screwed up. He looked at his fingers. Though they were missing the black leather gloves with the sharp claws he was still disgusted with them. He looked at them as if they weren't his own hands.

Plagg frowned as he looked at Adrien's face, thinking back on the words that had escaped the teen's mouth when he first woke up.

"I will kill him. I swear to everything out there that I will kill him."

The kid himself had seemed as shocked as Plagg was when he realized what he had said. He was staring at his hands in horror and revulsion, much like he was doing now. After a few minutes he quickly ripped his covers off of him, rushing over to his dresser and pulling out a plain blue tee. Hurriedly, he tugged the clothing over his head before quietly calling out Plagg's name.

And that is what led them to here.

"Do you want to go back home now, kid?"

"Sure."

No, he wasn't ready. But he will be.

He hopes.

So? Why do you think Adrien keeps looking at his hands like that? Is it because of what he said when he woke up? Or is it something else?

And what dream did Adrien have? We'll find out soon!

Until next time, peace!