The student's of Collège Françoise Dupont had a chance for an amazing field trip today, a once in a lifetime chance to see inside the Palace of Versailles. It took up the entire day and by the time they finally reloaded the buses to return home it was near nightfall. Most of the students found this to be exciting, even as an added bonus to an already amazing trip and normally Marinette would feel the same, but right now she was exhausted.
She had loved the trip to Versailles; from the inspiration, she had while walking through the halls, hearing the stories and getting to see all this with her best friends, it had exceeded her expectations. But that didn't change the fact that she was feeling overextended; as if going to school, helping her parents out with the bakery, being class representative and her 'just a normal girl' life wasn't enough to handle, she always had the duties of Ladybug to worry about. She was managing on a day-to-day basis but if she was being honest, at this moment she was feeling utterly exhausted; which was probably the reason that once the bus had departed back to Paris, Marinette had fallen fast asleep.
This drifting didn't go unnoticed by her best friend, Alya, either. Just as she had retrieved her phone from the inner depths of her bag she turned to see Marinette with her legs up, head down and eyes closed.
"You did not just pass out on me," said a baffled Alya. But her irritation and shock didn't last long. It took a moment for her to come up with a plan, which she was going to mark up to an ingenious idea.
In the seats in front of the girls sat Nino and Adrien, who was currently looking at the video clip Nino took of the Palace of Versailles.
"Hey guys," Alya called out catching the boys' attention.
"Hey Alya," greeted Adrien and Nino in unison as they turned to face her.
"Adrien would you mind switching seats with me," asked Alya, "Nino and I haven't had a chance to talk in while, so I figure no time like the present."
The request surprised Adrien but then he looked over to Nino and saw his vigorously nodding and realized he didn't have much of a choice. 'I guess they have been getting pretty close lately,' Adrien thought to himself, 'and they are pretty great for each other.'
"Sure," Adrien said as he got up from his seat.
"Awesome," she responded as she jumped up to switch with him, "Thanks a bunch."
"Also Marinette's totally out, so she won't be much for conversation," Alya added as she passed him to take her new seat next to Nino.
"No worries," Adrien answered and adding, mostly to himself, "She did seem pretty tired earlier."
'You made this way to easy, girl,' Alya thought to herself as she sat down and smiled to herself.
"So why did you really want to switch seats," whispered Nino once Alya had settled in and he was sure Adrian wasn't listening.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," responded Alya, failing at sounding clueless.
"Yeah, maybe I would consider believing you if I didn't know you," said Nino, "so spill."
"What," said Alya, "all I did was push two people I genuinely believe belong together to sit next to each other."
Before adding an innocent "is that so wrong?"
"Well it's either going to be the best thing or the most awkward thing that ever happened to them," remarked Nino, "either way it's going to be entertaining."
"And that is one of the reasons I like you," commented Alya.
"But our girl is totally out right now," observed Nino, "so whichever it is, it isn't going to happen for awhile."
"I'm sure we can find something to talk about to kill time," Alya said, now sounding more flirty than mischievous.
Back in the seats behind them, Adrien had also settled into his new seat beside Marinette. He had to admit that he was a bit bummed out that she was asleep, 'it would have been nice to have a chance to talk,' he thought.
While he was looking at the sleeping girl he couldn't help but notice the color in her lips and freckles on her cheek. 'She has such bright, blue eyes I guess they make everything else less noticeable.' And in that moment he suddenly realized, he was staring.
Adrien abruptly turned away as he felt his face starting to burn up, he presumed it was out of embarrassment but honestly wasn't all that sure. Even though he hadn't actually done anything he felt like owed his sleeping friend an apology.
As the blonde thought about what would be the most appropriate thing to do next, he felt a weight hit his shoulder. Marinette had shifted and now her head was lying on him.
'What should I do, Should I move her, Or wake her up,' Adrien's mind was racing about what would be proper protocol, 'Maybe I should ask... but we are on a bus, would this even be considered a big deal.'
'I mean we're friends and she's tired,' Adrien continued to think, 'she had been clumsier than normal today. I guess the way she runs around all the time would leave anyone exhausted. I should know.'
Now that he was thinking about, he had to admit he was quite tired himself. Between modeling, school and being Cat Noir, Adrien had a pretty intense schedule himself, and lately, he had been really starting to feel it. For the last couple of weeks, he had been going to bed as early as possible and right now he had to admit it was way past the time he usually went to sleep.
With the thought now in his head, Adrien couldn't help but feel relaxed. 'What would be the harm,' he finally thought as he put his head down. It only took a minute for the boy to close his eyes as well and join Marinette in a peaceful slumber.
All the while, in front of the sleeping beauties, Alya had finished showing Nino her Versailles pictures and he was about to show her his own video clips when he shifted and saw the view from behind.
"Hey check it out," Nino whispered as he nudged Alya's side and pointed behind them.
Alya looked back to see the two unbeknown lovebirds. From what she could see, Adrian was now asleep as well and the two seemed to have dropped towards the middle because now Marinette's head was on Adrien's shoulder and his head was against her's; they were a perfect fit, literally.
"No way," Alya squealed in a whisper as she pulled out her phone.
"This is so much better than I thought it would be," she admitted as she showed Nino the picture she took of the pair.
"Those two may both be clueless," Nino commented, "but you got to admit they fit perfectly together."
"I was thinking the same thing," smiled Alya as she pushed her shoulder against Nino's
Nino took hold of Alya's hand as he said, "I guess that means we must be a perfect match ourselves."
The couple intertwined their fingers and returned their attention to Nino's videos for the rest of the trip back to Paris.
