Reasons You Shouldn't Befriend Your Sister's Crush

CHAPTER NINETEEN: SHE REALLY IS JUST A FRIEND

LADYBUG'S POV

This is one way to develop critical thinking.

Here's my issue: I'm far drunker than I thought I would become when initially arriving at the party, the pastries don't seem to be sitting in my stomach all that well, and I have absolutely no idea what I can do to defeat this villain. I don't know where the akuma is and other than causing people to quite literally 'blackout', I am unsure of any other powers he has.

When faced with this situation, others may opt to assess it and make the most rational decision considering the circumstances. I, however, didn't reach this conclusion.

"Erm, excuse me? Erm, blackout?" I stumble my words out. 

He stops in his tracks, a grin spreading across his shaddowed face. "Your night seemed to have been just as eventful as mine, Ladybug".

"I'm drunk - a bit" I reply confidently.

"I know" he laughs cruelly, giving me the sense my confidence was misplaced.

"Why are you attacking these people?" I guesture abnoxiously at my friends bodies, littered across the ship's deck, and purposefully trudge on in my investigation. 

"Because I don't get along well with the 'goody-two-shoes' type, and that blonde tosser with his high-and-mighty act has really pissed me off". With this he resumes his plan of attack, begining to tear chunks of wood from Liberty in an attempt to reach the lower deck. 

At this stage I'm begining to panic - there is no chance in hell that any move I make will be successful in my state and Chat Noir is yet to emerge from the stairs. Though someone else has.

"Ah, Alexia! I was begining to wonder where you had gone. Weren't we having fun?" Blackout calls down to Alexia and dread begins to build inside of me. I had been so focused on the way Adrien had been watching her all night, that I had failed to recognise that she - my family - wasn't in a particularly great situation either.

She looked stunned by his words; her small sobs muffling what sounded like a plea for the villain to leaver her alone. Her knees collapsed beneath her but before she could hit the ground, Chat Noir pulled her from where she stood and placed her swiftly beside me.

Ah yes, keep the two drunks out of the way. 

I watched as my partner charged at the akumatised villain with fury spread across his face. He performed some superhero-esk moves, the majority of which involved far to much movement for me to watch and not become overtaken by sickness, so instead I kept my eyes on Alexia.

She looked so hurt. Hurt by the boy who'd treaten her like an object at his disposal. Hurt by her family and friends who'd failed to notice her unusual behaviour, despite not knowing her all that long. And hurt by her own actions more than anything else. 

I remember thinking that it didn't seem like Alexia's thing... drinking and flirting. I'd know that when I first saw her this evening and I hadn't forgotten it as the evening progressed.

I was so focused on chasing this chain of thoughts until it lead me to the reason I had been such a shit friend, that I failed to notice when Chat yelled at me to capture the akuma he had just freed. I failed to notice that that same akuma was flying directly towards Alexia.

It all seemed to occur in slow motion. I hadn't seen the decayed butterfly until it was too late, and Chat Noir no longer had access to his power - having used it in battle. The first thought that crossed my mind was that I had to cheer her up. And I had only seconds to do so.

Uh...

Chat Noir took Alexias face in his hands and kissed her. He looked desperate; as though he couldn't bear the thought of her being akumatised even if we were able to free her from it. 

The kiss didn't last long but it was full of desire. Something in the pit of my stomach burned.

Alexia was safe but I'd lost Chat Noir and I had nothing left to cling on to if everything else in my life fell apart. 

...

I recognise that it might seem impossible to tell all this from a kiss, but you would have reached the same conclusion, had you seen it.