Anne-Marie took in a deep breathe before taking her first step off the plane. Instantly, she was greeted with the warm Parisian summer air, something that she had missed throughout her many travels. With newfound excitement and joy, Anne-Marie completely disregarded the ramp steps and jump past them, her feet making contact with the black tarmac.
"Oh, it feels so good to be back!" She exclaimed in delight, twirling herself around a few times. The rest of the passengers from the plane just walked past her, eyeing her as if she was a bit crazy but she paid them no mind. She was in a world of her own as she almost skipped her way inside the airport.
Anne-Marie thought back to the last time she was here as she made her way over to the luggage collection area. It had been a while; a long one at that. She tried to remember how old she was before she left to go exploring other countries.
Anne-Marie was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't realise that she was starting to drift into people.
"Hey! Pay attention where you're walking lady!" One man yelled. The loud voice was enough to snap her out of her thoughts.
"Sorry!" She called over her shoulder. One thing she didn't remember was the people here being so rude.
Standing before the conveyor belt, Anne-Marie waited patiently for her bags. Once she spotted her bags, she quickly snatch them up and moved a little bit away from everybody else wanting to take their luggage. Having brought with her so many bags, Anne-Marie had a little trouble carrying them.
She let out a huff and blew her bangs out from obscuring her face with her hands placed firmly on her hips. How in the world am I going to… she thought. That was until she spotted one of those luggage trollies in the corner of her eyes.
She smirked and quickly ran over to grab it before anyone else could. Once she stacked all her bags together, making sure they weren't going to fall off, Anne-Marie proceeded to make her way to the airport entrance that led to the car park.
Just as she exited the automatic sliding doors, she felt her phone buzz in the back of her pocket. Anne-Marie stopped in her tracks, not caring about all the people who had to swerve around her, she reached behind her and pulled out her phone.
It was a text message. As soon as Anne-Marie's eyes landed on the contact name, her face lit up.
To: Anne-Marie
From: Leila
Look to your right ;)
Looking up from her phone screen, Anne-Marie did as instructed and turned her gaze to her right. Her eyes landed on a pretty looking woman. She was brown skinned with fluffy, wavy brown hair and the most warm chocolate brown eyes.
Anne-Marie practically dropped everything as she ran over to her friend. "LEILA!" She squealed happily, tackling the woman in a tight hug. However, with her small height of 5'1", one wouldn't really call it a 'tackle'.
Leila wrapped her arms around Anne-Marie's shoulders. "It's good to see you too Annie." Leila smiled, letting her arms fall back to her sides. Anne-Marie, on the other hand, refused to let go. After all, it's been so long since she'd seen her friend, but it didn't really bother Leila.
Three minutes later, Anne-Marie finally let go and took a few steps back to give her friend some space.
"It feels like forever since I was here." Anne-Marie admitted with a sombre expression.
Leila crossed her arms with a smirk. "Well, we were only little kids when you were last year. How's travelling the globe treating you?" Leila asked.
Anne-Marie perked up within seconds. It didn't take much. "I have so many stories and photographs to share with you and Kylie!" She exclaimed.
Leila laughed at her friend's excitement and enthusiasm. "Yeah, I bet you do. How about we head over to your place and you can tell us all about it?" Leila suggested.
Anne-Marie pumped her fists in the air. "Yeah!"
Running over to her luggage trolley, Anne-Marie followed Leila to her car. Halfway through putting the bags into the boot, Leila looked around before asking, "Hey, Anne?"
"What's up?"
Leila looked around once more. "Where's Oreo?"
Anne-Marie froze. She stood there for a few seconds and Leila swore she could hear the cogs turning in Anne-Marie's brain. Then she reacted.
"Oh shit biscuits!" She shouted, dropping the bag that she was holding and sprinted back towards the airport as if her life depended on it.
"I'll be two minutes!" She called back to her friend.
Leila stood with arms crossed, her back leaning against the side of her car as she waited for Anne-Marie's return. Two minutes she said. More like ten minutes.
As if on cue, she saw Anne-Marie stomping over towards her. But this time, she had someone with her on a leash, trailing quickly behind her. Leila stepped forward.
"You took your sweet ass time." She mused.
Anne-Marie just puffed her cheeks out in slight anger. "Yeah well, I got into an argument with security when I tried to pick Oreo up. He didn't believe me when I told him how old I was and thought I was trying to steal him because I thought he was cute. Like honestly." She finished her rant, throwing her arms in the air and letting flop back down.
A look of amusement spread across Leila's face. "I can imagine." She teased.
Anne-Marie huffed and bent down to pick up Oreo, snuggling him to her chest. Oreo purred in return, head butting Anne-Marie's cheek. "And how's the little adventure kitty doing?" Leila scratched, scratching Oreo behind the ears.
Oreo was Anne-Marie's adventure buddy. She took him everywhere she went and he enjoyed it. He was like her little black, brown and white furry splotched bodyguard, traveling the globe by her side.
"He's had just as much fun as I have, didn't you." She cooed to her little feline friend. Oreo meowed back.
Leila shook her head and hopped into the driver's seat. "C'mon, Danielle's waiting for us." Leila said. With a nod, Anne-Marie took her spot in the passenger seat, with little Oreo sitting in her lap who occasionally poked his head out the window, meowing at all the people that they drove past.
Anne-Marie rested her head back against the head rest, absentmindedly stroking Oreo as she stared at the window. One would think that she was upset about something when looking at her neutral expression, but in reality, she was just talking a trip down memory lane.
It was still the same place she grew up in yet it was also seemed so different. I guess it's because I've been absent for so long that I've forgotten what everything was like… She deduced.
Leila occasionally glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye. Little Annie has changed so much. Leila thought to herself. Yet deep down, she's still the same Annie I remember and love.
Leila was pulled out of her thoughts, when she heard Anne-Marie's voice. "Sorry, I zoned out. Could you repeat that?"
Anne-Marie turned in her seat to face Leila. "I said, I hope you've been watering my plants." She repeated, making Leila stifle back a snort.
"Who do you think I am? Of course I watered your plants for you!" Leila replied. Anne-Marie nodded, happy with the answer.
"Yeah, you're right. I bet you if I left Danielle to the job, all my plants would be dead." Anne joked. Both girls laughed at the idea. "True." Leila giggled.
No more words were exchanged between them until Leila parked across the road from a semi-rundown looking loft, that looked more like a rustic shed turned into a house.
"Here we are." Leila announced, switching off the car's ignition and pulling out the keys. Both women exited the car and stood in front of the house. Anne-Marie let out an awed whistle.
"Home sweet home." Anne-Marie chirped. Leila rested her hand on Anne's shoulder. "You remember where you hid the keys?" Leila asked.
Anne-Marie scoffed. "Puh-lease! I think I remember where I hid my keys, Leila." Anne-Marie said, her tone of voice sitting on the verge between sarcasm and confidence.
Stepping forward, Anne-Marie lifted up the door mat but was met with a rather… unpleasant surprise. "Huh?" She mumbled. I swear I left my keys under the mat! Standing up, Anne-Marie looked around until she spotted the small letter box in the wall beside her door.
Aha! It has to be in there! She exclaimed in her thoughts. Opening up the metal letter box flap, Anne-Marie was once again greeted with nothing except tons of junk mail and overdue payments. Anne-Marie scratched the back of her head in a mix of confusion and frustration.
"Where are those damn keys!" She whispered yelled under her breathe.
Leila, who was watching everything unfold, couldn't help but laugh at the poor woman. Anne-Marie whipped around in an instant.
"What are you laughing at?" Anne growled.
Leila shook her head but continued to chuckle. "Nothing, but I thought you said you rememb-"
Anne-Marie quickly cut her off. "I do remember!" She shouted. There was a pregnant pause before she spoke again. "Just not right now." She added.
Deciding to give her friend a little hint, Leila pointed up to the lamp that hung up on the wall. A baffled look flashed across Anne's face. "Up there?" She asked, also pointing to the lamp.
Leila nodded, barely able to stifle her laughter. "But I can't even reach that high! How'd I get it there in the first place?!" Anne yelled.
Having teased her friend enough, Leila stepped forward, reached up and swiped small silver set of keys from the top of it before throwing them to Anne-Marie, who just barely managed to catch it without dropping them.
"Here you go!" Leila smiled.
Anne-Marie's faced flushed pink, half in embarrassment. "Thanks." She mumbled.
Walking up the few steps to her door, Anne-Marie was about to stick her keys into the lock when she noticed the door was already ajar. "What the?!"
Leila peered over to see what the fuss was about. Thinking the worst of someone breaking into her house, Anne-Marie entered her stealth ninja mode.
Leila shook her head. "Anne honey, what are you doing?"
Anne-Marie quickly shushed her, pressing her finger against her lips. Bending down to pick up the door stop, Anne-Marie crept against the side wall until she stopped just before the entrance of the lounge room. She could hear movement.
Counting to three in her head, Anne-Marie yelled as she ran out from her cover, the heavy door stop clutched in her hand.
"I GOT YOU NOW YOU THIEF!" She yelled loudly.
The person in the lounge room, however, remained unfazed by the loud and sudden action. "Hey Anne-Marie, long time no see." They said nonchalantly.
The doorstop fell from Anne-Marie's hand. "Dani!" She yelled, but this time in a more happy voice as she ran over to the sitting cushion her friend was on, glomping her in a hug just like she did with Leila.
Danielle was a beautiful young woman with fair skin, green eyes and shoulder length hair. She was tall like Leila, making Anne-Marie the odd one at, standing at 5'10", only two inches taller than Leila.
Leila casually strolled into the room with Oreo following behind her and seated herself on a different cushion with an amused smile.
Anne-Marie pulled herself away and sat on her own cushion like a happy little puppy. If she had a tail, it would be wagging like no tomorrow.
"Sorry, I thought you were a thief breaking into my house." Anne chuckled nervously. Danielle just waved it off.
"Of course, you would."
Leila clapped her hands together. "So, before you start going on about all your wonderful adventures, how about we bring in your bags?" Leila suggested. Both Anne-Marie and Danielle nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
"Sure thing."
All three woman stood to their feet and exited the bohemian and indie decorated flat and back to Leila's Porsche. As soon as the boot was popped open, Danielle gasped.
"Damn Anne-Marie, how many bags do you have?!"
Author's Note:
Link to all images are on my pinterested board titled: "Along Came Anne-Marie (Miraculous Ladybug FanFic)"
Just type in Madi_Milkshakes pinterest, click on my profile link on google (it should be the first result) and scrolled down my profile until you see the board as stated above ^^^
Don't know why it won't let me post links :/