Midnight Under The Eiffel Tower

"I'm fine, Natalie." Adrien rolled his eyes as Natalie fussed over his twisted ankle. "It's probably just a sprain. It'll be fine."

"I knew something like this would happen! We never should've put you in school!" Natalie paced back and forth in front of Adrien's bed.

"Whoa, this didn't happen at school! I mean, I guess it did, but not really!" Adrien ran his fingers through his hair. "Seriously, I'm fine!"

"Maybe we should go to the doctor," Natalie worried, "Get a brace. Maybe crutches."

"No!" Adrien felt flash of panic, imagining what Ladybug would say when he showed up to save the world in crutches. He scrambled to his feet. "Look! I'm fine! I can stand, walk, and everything!" He walked across the room without limping, biting his lip to keep from wincing.

Natalie pursed her lips, eyeing his swollen ankle. "All right...but we will wrap it and ice it tonight. No arguments."

"Fine." Adrien sat back on his bed with relief, his ankle throbbing from walking normally.

"And you're staying in bed tonight," Natalie added. "Your father's orders. No parties or movies. Your photoshoot at the Eiffel Tower was postponed to..." Natalie paused, glancing down at the tablet in her hand. "...Tuesday. And your fencing class will have to do without you."

"Fine," Adrien sighed. Then his eyes widened as he realized what Natalie was saying. "Wait, you told my father about my ankle?"

Natalie nodded silently.

Adrien folded his arms, scowling at the ground.

"I had to, Adrien. He is your father."

"There goes my freedom," Adrien muttered.

Natalie hesitated, looking as if she was going to say something, but then her mouth clamped shut and she clasped her hands in front of her.

"I'm going to go get you some ice and a wrap for your ankle. I'll be right back."

Adrien nodded dully, and Natalie withdrew.

Adrien exhaled and threw himself on his bed.

"Why me?" He demanded, staring up at the ceiling. "Why couldn't someone else have rolled their ankle saving Marinette?"

Plagg slipped out of his jacket and floated in front of him.

"Oh please," The kwami snorted. "Grow up a little, Adrien. Bad things happen to everyone."

"But not everyone is a superhero," Adrien argued, sitting up. "I have a responsibility to Paris!"

Plagg raised an eyebrow. "Well, that makes it different, I guess."

Adrien groaned again, falling back against his pillow.

Plagg rolled his eyes then zoomed up to hover in front of Adrien's face. "Let me ask you this. Would you rather that Marinette be hit by that bus?"

"Well...no, of course not." Adrien pushed himself up onto his elbows, feeling a flash of guilt.

Plagg tilted his small head. "So? What's your point? You saved her and rolled your ankle in the process. They happened together." He puffed out his small black chest proudly. "I've always said that every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

"Plagg, that was Isaac Newton."

Plagg scoffed. "Whatever. Everything has a consequence, even heroism." He broke off, sniffing around the room. "Do you have any food? I need some Camembert."

Adrien laughed, rising to his feet and reaching into his pocket. "Fine, but then I need to ice my ankle. Ladybug's orders."

"Food first," Plagg agreed.

Adrien frowned, feeling nothing in his pocket. "I must've used the last one earlier." He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a flashlight.

Plagg laughed. "You just carry around a flashlight?"

"No, genius." Adrien felt a thrill of excitement. "This is from Marinette! Her answer to the dance!"

Plagg snickered. "Bet she said no."

Adrien glared at his kwami. "Bet she said yes." He limped over to the door to his room and closed it. "Will you close the curtains? It needs to be dark."

Plagg obliged, yanking closed the tall curtains over the glass windows. The light diminished, and Adrien sank back down on his bed.

"Let's see..." He murmured, turning over the flashlight in his hands. "Where is the-"

Plagg zoomed over and pushed forward on the switch.

"...switch," Adrien breathed, glancing up as a beam of light shone across the room.

'YES' twinkled on his opposite wall. Somehow the words sparkled, and the 'y' had bars and lines across it, appearing to be an upside-down Eiffel Tower.

Adrien laughed in excitement. "I told you! I knew she'd say yes!"

Plagg zipped closer to the shadow on the wall. "Wait, how did she do that? Those weren't there before!"

"She put the letters over the lens of the flashlight, so it shines through the light, making that shadow." Adrien grinned. "Creative, huh?"

"She's an artist?"

"Yeah, remember that derby hat I wore for a photoshoot a while ago? She designed it." Adrien pulled up a picture on his phone and showed it to his kwami.

Plagg shrugged, unimpressed.

"Oh, I need to send a picture to Nino." Adrien pulled his legs up onto his bed and crossed them, creating a support for the flashlight. He set the flashlight on his feet and turned on the camera. He quickly snapped a picture of the shadow and sent it to his best friend.

"Great. Now can I get something to eat?" Plagg whined.

Adrien ignored him, grinning as he stared up at the sparkling "YES" on his wall.

"I'm going to prom!" He whooped, jumping up on his bed and thrusting his fist in the air.

Suddenly Adrien's door creaked open, and Mr. Agreste stood in the doorway. His eyes widened, and he stared up at his son in disbelief.

Adrien flushed, beaming guiltily.

"Hey, dad."