Adrien was alone.

There was no one else insane enough to be in the park at midnight. Everyone was in their houses or working late night shifts instead of brooding like he was. It was stupid for him to even be there, given that he had a photo shoot early in the morning. But Adrien didn't care.

Not only was he alone at the park, but he was alone at home too. Not literally, of course, but emotionally. The only person he saw on a day to day basis was paid to tolerate him, and his father didn't seem to notice how he had slowly drifted away.

Adrien felt like yelling at the world for being so cruel, so harsh. But he held himself back, not wanting to sound like a lunatic to anyone who might happen to walk by. Instead he tilted his head back and stared up into the blanket of stars above.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Adrien asked no one in particular, "Why can't I just have a friend to be by my side, through thick and thin? I just... I just don't want to be alone anymore."

The words were raw and dramatic, Adrien knew. They came from his heart, and he hoped that one day someone would realize that he was hurting. That he needed help.

No one answered them, of course, but Adrien felt strangely comforted. After shaking the depressing thoughts from his head, he got up and began the long walk home. And with his eyes trained on the path before him, he failed to see a particular star above shine a bit brighter than normal.

~\|/~

It was early in the morning, about 4:00 am, when Adrien was woken from his peaceful dream. The warmth of his blankets drew him into a half asleep haze, and he smiled into the night groggily. He could barely remember his dream, which was kind of sad, given how happy it had made him feel.

Rubbing his eyes, Adrien wondered what had woken him up. He never woke up this early on his own, sleep was a rare treasure and he hoarded what he could.

Sighing, he glanced at the glowing clock nearby and saw how early it was. He deeply wished he could go back to sleep, but he was scheduled to have a photo shoot in an hour and a half anyway, so there wasn't much of a point in staying in bed.

While a yawn burst from his dry lips, Adrien felt something near his toes. It felt like a cat, and he almost dismissed it as Plagg, until he remembered that Plagg had died over a year ago. With a yelp, he pulled his legs towards himself and stared at where the cat imposter felt like it had been.

Where his feet and toes had previously been wiggling under the sheets was a ginormous mass of.... something.

Adrien's breath caught in his throat and he stifled a gasp as the mass moved towards his now curled toes. He felt like yelling for help, but for all he knew that would only enrage the monster that he had never before believed lived under his bed.

The mass reached the edge of the blankets and something peaked out from underneath. It was a head.

Someone was in Adrien's bed.

The blankets fell away, revealing a girl with black hair pulled back in two pigtails. Her blue eyes glittered mischievously and her mouth twisted into a grin.

Adrien whimpered as the girl crawled closer to him, plopping herself next to him.

"Hey Adrien." She said nonchalantly, as if she hadn't just emerged from his blankets as if she was digging herself out of a grave.

Adrien just stared. How did a girl wearing a white dress get into his bed while he was sleeping?! He felt like screaming at her to see if she would react. This was beyond creepy, and he hoped that it was only a nightmare.

"Hellooo, Earth to Handsome?" The girl waved her hand in front of his face, trying to get him to respond to her.

But Adrien couldn't. He was scared stiff. The girl looked so familiar, like she was a long lost friend that had finally returned from a trip overseas. Then it struck him like a bullet. He remembered her.

This was the girl he had pretended was his best friend when he was younger. She looked exactly like how he had imagined her, pigtails and everything. Though she did look older.

"You're not real." He whispered, remembering all of the times that he had 'played' with her as a child.

She giggled. "Of course I'm not silly. Or at least I wasn't, until now."

Adrien shook his head, trying to wake himself up from the dream. It couldn't be real. He pinched himself, wincing as pain flared up from his arm.

He was going crazy. He knew it, the ghosts in his room knew it. What am I going to do? This is a girl from my fantasies and yet... she's real! In my bed! She... she can't be real. I'll just play along. What harm can it do?

"What's your name?" Adrien asked, wondering if she was called Marinette just like how he had imagined.

"Marinette, silly. You of all people should know that." Marinette laughed and hopped off of Adrien's bed, giving him more personal space.

Adrien was panicking internally but tried to keep a calm front. "Why are you here? How are you here? Am I going crazy!?" He failed quite miserably.

Marinette smiled knowingly. "Adrien, I've always been here. Well, I almost wasn't anymore but your wish fixed that. And no, you're not crazy yet."

Adrien blinked, confused. "Umm... What?."

Marinette giggled, her eyes twinkling, "I guess I should explain in more detail, huh?"

Adrien nodded, though in his head he was screaming from fear. She looked so animated, her eyes wide and her fingers twitching. "Yes, please do."

Marinette took a deep breath and started her story. "When a child is young and lonely it wishes that it had a friend. That wish is granted. Well, in a way. The child uses its imagination to pretend that it has a friend and that imaginary friend becomes 'real' in a sense."

Adrien was already convince she was a lunatic. He opened his mouth to ask a question but Marinette sighed impatiently.

"Just give me a minute, please. Anyway, as I was saying, the friend becomes 'real'. But not mortal like humans, instead it becomes something else entirely. It becomes...well, I guess the closest thing to it that you would understand is a ghost."

"It is invisible and untouchable by almost all humans except for the one who created it. It's child. It then befriends the child and they have fun together. But then the child grows up. It decides that it's friend was fake and because of that the I.F. (Imaginary Friend) dies."

Adrien shivered. Though he was convinced that this was an insane fantasy, he couldn't help but feel ill. "Dies?"

Marinette nodded sadly. "It's a slow process. Once the child decides that it's I.F. isn't real the I.F. has about ten years to live until it fades away from existence. When the child doesn't believe that the I.F. is real that I.F. becomes invisible and untouchable to everyone, including its child."

Adrien didn't want to believe that this was true, but slowly he realized that this girl existing was proof in and of itself. And he might as well believe it, since it wouldn't do any good to pretend Marinette wasn't standing right in front of him. He gulped. "Were...you dying?"

"Oh yes. I had only days to live before you made the wish and now I'm your friend forever. Or at least until you die." Mari smiled happily as if Adrien dying wasn't a morbid thought at all.

"What's this thing about a wish?"

"Well," Marinette answered, "when you made your wish last night it was granted. Instead of finding a human for you to befriend the star decided to revive me. Wasn't that nice of him?"

Adrien was once again dizzy with disbelief and paranoia. "The star that I wished upon was a he?"

Mari nodded as if everyone should have already known that. "Of course! His name's Felix. He was quite the charmer."

"Umm, I'm going to try and ignore that. But why are you here?"

Marinette sighed once again, frustrated by how dense Adrien could be. "I have no family except for you. Well, you're not my family but you're my friend and that's the closest thing to family I have right now. I'm so happy that you can see me again! It was so lonely these past ten years."

She was rambling now, but Adrien had a feeling that she had so much to say to him after not being able to talk to him for so long that she was now overflowing.

Adrien was about to comment that they weren't exactly friends yet when he noticed a tear making its way down Marinette's cheek. He wished he could comfort her but felt awkward about talking to her like that.

"Sorry," Mari sniffled, "I just... You have no idea what it's like knowing that your only friend doesn't think that you exist. It's horrible being invisible to almost everyone."

Adrien immediately made a decision about what he would do. He would befriend Marinette. Even if it was awkward at first, he would try. No one deserved to be alone.

As Marinette cried, Adrien hopped out of bed. The floor beneath his feet felt cold but he didn't care. As he walked over to the poor I.F. Adrien wondered why he felt so strongly about helping the girl. He didn't really know her very well, yet he still wanted to comfort her. Maybe it was some strange magic that prevented him from thinking properly.

When Adrien reached Marinette he smiled at her. The gesture was small, but it still made Marinette happier. She smiled back at him even though tears still leaked out of her eyes. Then Adrien did the last thing that Marinette could have expected him to do in their circumstance. He hugged her.

It was awkward for him, of course. Adrien still felt as though he didn't truly know her, but in some ways he knew that she was his old friend. And that fact had only solidified when he was able to touch her, proving that she was real. Though half of him protested at the thought of hugging Mari, he knew it would cheer her up.

And maybe it would help him be happier too. Just a little bit.

Marinette tensed at first, not used to physical contact, but soon she melted into Adrien's arms. It felt good, better than anything she had experienced in almost ten years.

~\|/~

Phew, first chapter done! This is an unedited first draft so please take that in mind when reading. This is also a few years old, and the characters are probably a bit out of character. I fix that problem along the way.

I'm hope you enjoyed this chapter!

What do you think of Marinette in this story? Please give me your feedback!

Arigatou~