Sandboy was awesome! Loved the Chat action most of all. But I also thought Marinette's fears were way too silly and normal for a teenaged superhero girl. Adrien's though were so relatable, I couldn't help but relate to it. Think we also got a newheadcannon/fannon of Adrien beingclawstraphobic. XD I regret nothing. That being said, the kid needs therapy, and since his dad is too cheap/negligent to give it, it's up to his best bud to do the trick, with a small audience. Enjoy!

Share Your Nightmares

Chat Noir tried desperately to shake off the fear he experienced just a few seconds ago. Plagg gone. Trapped in his room. Bars closing in on him. No one coming to his aid no matter how much he yelled…

It was terrifying and depressing at the same time, and he hated it.

So he pushed it to the back of his mind as much as he could. There was an akuma who needed to go to bed and a lady to see. Hopefully, he'd fix all of this in five minutes.

"Chlooooeeee!"

His heart stopped for one second, jerking his attention away from the real task at hand. Was that -

Looking down, he saw a fumbling version of himself, almost as if he were a zombie. Well, not his self right then, but Adrien Agreste self. He had too many self's. Nightmare him had this dead-end smile on his face as he lumbered forward, somewhere between classic zombie and fast zombie. And he was talking very loudly. "I'm in love with Chloe! We'll have a big house, three kids, and a -"

"Ew! NO!" Shaking his head and trying to get the image out of it, Chat ran as fast as he could towards the flying pillow boy. "Nope! Nuh uh! Never gonna happen! Buh bye! Won't be seeing ya later!"

Who in all of Paris had a nightmare of him being in love with Chloe?! Who in all the world even thought that was possible?! Ugh! He did not have time or energy to deal with this! Time to put all these nightmares to rest. NOW!

The next day in class, everyone was talking about their nightmares, comparing them and somewhat competing with them: worst ones, best ones, funniest ones, scariest ones, most real ones, stupidest ones, most common and most unusual ones. Honestly, Adrien was only half listening. He didn't want to think of his nightmares. Being unloved and trapped in his own room with the walls closing in was too depressing to even vocalize.

The worst part? Nathalie and his father didn't even hear him scream. They didn't even ask if he was okay this morning.

Adrien was anything but okay.

"Dude, what's eating ya?" Nino playfully punched his shoulder as he leaned over the desk, using his bag as a pillow. Honestly, Adrien did not get a lot of sleep that night. He didn't want to be in his room at all.

So he shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About last night's attack?" He shrugged again. Nino watched him for a moment before trying again. "Wanna talk about it? Might make it better."

"How can reliving something you don't want to think about make it better?" He turned his head towards his best friend, letting a little of his pain out. Misery really. Fear and sorrow at the same time? Adrien only wished his nightmares were ridiculous like half the class. Kim was chased by a huge spider and it's babies. Max was suddenly unable to remember anything to do with math and science while missing his pants. Rose was being threatened by her stuffed animals. His nightmare though? Adrien persisted in going to school because of how much his home was a prison. He'd even endure photo shoots if it meant not seeing the same four walls and sealing every day (there were 6,783 ceiling tiles in his house by the way. He counted during a storm when he was little). And the day Ladybug 100% rejected him and all his advances, even hating him like everyone else he loved, was one day he dreaded above all else.

No, he did not want to relive any of those nightmares. Not even a little.

Nino gave him a sympathetic look. "Dude, I know they can be hard, but… facing your fears? Sharing them with others? It really does make it easier to bear. You can work through them if you have someone at your side."

Adrien looked away, a knife twisting in his gut. If only his nightmares weren't so real. If only he really did have someone to share the burden with at his side. Plagg listened, but he couldn't help. The bars would always be there in one form or another, and Plagg couldn't change people's feelings towards him. Ladybug seemed sympathetic and confused when she saw his nightmare version of her (his dream version was way way more into him and probably would have scared the real one off). Really, was there anyone he could share all this with? Without bogging them down? Nino did not need his messed up life mixing with his -

"My nightmare was my dad throwing away and burning all my music."

That caught Adrien off guard. He looked back to his friend who tried to smile it off, but it was clear he was still shaken by it. "Been my nightmare for years actually. Dad's not really happy about me wanting to be a DJ, but he doesn't care so long as I keep my grades up. More interested in his girlfriend than my grades too."

"Nino -"

His friend looked off, trying to stay strong. "So my nightmare dad found my stuff, threw half of it out the window, and burned whatever he could. My real dad though came in and saw me struggling with him, and he punched fake-dad out. We talked this morning, really talked, and he said he was proud of me being so passionate about music and sticking to my guns."

A real smile graced his features. Adrien couldn't stop the pangs of jealousy as he listened. His father just told him what to do and not argue. Gabriel Agreste hadn't asked what his interests were in a long time, let alone said he was proud of him.

His best friend grinned at him. "Dad and I don't always see eye to eye, but talking about the nightmare this morning really helped out. So, what was your nightmare?"

For a moment, he thought about lying. It'd be easy to do. Real easy. Just say it was random things falling from the sky. Say it's an attack by a flock of birds (which honestly did scare him, when he remembered his allergies). Say it was a dark room in the mansion. Say it was a hoopskirt! Just say something that wasn't the truth.

Instead, he looked forward, chin in his bag, and admitted the truth. "My room turned into a prison and the bars kept coming closer and closer to me. When I screamed for help, no one came. My greatest fears are being trapped and unloved, Nino. And I live that nightmare every day."

"Unloved?" Nino's voice seemed hurt, and it hurt him to hear it. Adrien knew Nino cared, he really did, but the people he really wanted to love him just weren't there for him. "Dude, you know -"

"I called out for Father and Nathalie. Even Ladybug. No one came." He hid in his arms and bag just a little more. He could smell Plagg's cheese breath and even felt a paw touch his chin, trying to comfort him. Only Plagg came, and he gave him a way out. But for a moment, when he found a sock in Plagg's place last night, he started to doubt he was even real and Chat Noir was just in his head. That would be a true nightmare. "I think I even heard her laughing at me."

"Ladybug would never do that!"

Adrien's head jerked straight up to see Marinette in tears, eyes boring into him. How long had she been there? Was she listening this entire time? Her hands were in fists and she shook for some reason. Had his nightmare really affected her this much? Almost stuttering, she went on. "She would never laugh at you, Adrien! She would have gotten you out of there in a heartbeat if she could. Y- you are loved, Adrien. Please… don't forget that."

"Dude," Nino got his attention again, putting a hand on his shoulder, "if you ever did get trapped like that, you know your friends would be there in a heartbeat to get you out. I'll be there for you, guaranteed."

"Me too." Hearing Marinette and Nino's assurances warmed Adrien's entire body. What did he do to get such wonderful people in his life?

"And I'll be there recording the entire thing." Alya's joke and wink from her seat got some glares from their friends, but it got Adrien laughing, glad someone would joke in the face of the abyss with him from time to time. She'd definitely give Chat a run for his money.

"Thanks, guys." A real smile finally spread on his features, finally able to relax after seeing his nightmares come to life. An image from then came back to his memory, getting him curious. "Hey, do you know whose nightmare was me declaring my love for Chloe?"

For some reason, all his friends' eyes bulged at the question. Nino was the only voice of reason. "Huh?"

"Well…" he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. How to spin this one? "Last night, before I got trapped in my room, I saw a zombie-like me declaring I was in love with Chloe and was going to marry her. Freaked me out so much I ran home. I was just curious who'd think I'd ever marry Chloe."

'She's like a sister to me,' he mentally added but didn't dare voice. He didn't know what it was like to have a sister so he may be wrong. So caught up in his own thoughts, he didn't see Nino and Alya glance over to a bright red Marinette.

"Gee… I wonder… Whose nightmare could that be?"

END

A/N: XD I regret nothing.

This was going to be a little longer, but I also wanted Nino to have the last line. Personal theory: I think the relationship Adrien and Chloe have will end up being more like siblings than anything close to romantic. She'll always be a part of his life, but that doesn't mean they'll have a relationship beyond old friends. The thought of kissing his sister definitely would disgust him so I just got the idea and ran with it.

Hope you liked the short! And I am definitely gonna have clawstraphobic Adrien in the future.

Poll on profile. COmments are beyond loved so please leave a review!