Chapter 2

Chat frowned at his baton, wondering why Ladybug had cut off so suddenly. Not to mention the fact that it couldn't be a coincidence that they were both leaving town on the same day, for the same amount of time. He wondered what she could possibly be doing. Could she be going on the trip as well? No, that couldn't be it. He'd seen Alya turn into an akuma before, but Marinette.. She was never around when Ladybug was. Chat shook his head at the thought. It didn't seem likely that the two were the same person, despite similar hairstyles. Marinette seemed less collected and much more clumsy, which Chat had to admit was kinda cute. However, he doubted that she would be the physical strength to fight and run across buildings.

With a sigh, Chat re-attached the baton to his belt, and headed off back home. Lost in thoughts, he didn't notice Ladybug entering the bakery where Marinette lived.

"Morning girls!" Marinette's mom knocked softly before entering the bedroom to wake the sleeping duo. "I made breakfast."

Alya and Marinette sat up with a yawn as Sabine set down the plates of toast and jam, along with two cups of coffee.

"Call me as soon as you arrive at the lodge safely alright?" She said as she kissed Marinette's head. "Be careful, but have fun too."

"We will Mom." Marinette promised as Alya dug into the food, with a thanks to Ms. Cheng.

As soon as she left the two, Marinette and Alya squealed.

"I can't believe today's finally here." Alya sighed happily.

"I know!" Marinette agreed eagerly. "I'm glad we packed last night, so we don't have to rush this morning"

"... Uh, I think we fell asleep while doing that."

Marinette glanced over at the mess of clothes and two very un-packed suitcases and screamed.

In a whirlwind of movement, the two haphazardly flung clothes and necessities into their bags, got dressed, and rushed out the door, only pausing for Marinette to hug her parents and promising to call every night.

"Please don't let us be late." Marinette groaned, pushing herself to run faster and nearly leaving a very winded Alya behind.

"You've been holding out on me." Alya panted, stopping to catch her breath. "When did you learn to run so fast?"

Marinette frowned and jogged in place, glancing at her watch. "You know I tend to be late to school." Marinette joked. "Have to run fast to make it." It's not like she could very well tell her that nights of being a masked superhero made her get in extreme shape.

Alya shook her head, remembering all the times Marinette had overslept, and laughed.

Then the two were off again, making it to the train station just in time.

"Finally! We thought you were going to miss it." Nino said as Alya and Marinette collapsed into the four seater compartment.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world." Alya laughed. "It's just somebody let me fall asleep before we packed last night." She pouted at Marinette, who laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I'm glad you made it in time." Adrien smiled, causing Marinette's cheeks to flare up.

"Y-yeah, well I'm glad you're here to! Wait, um, I mean nice to see you!" Marinette burst out before standing up abruptly to arrange the bags in the overhead compartment and hide her face.

Luckily, Alya was there to save the day. "Alright, so we should arrive at the station just after noon, and then we can get a cab to go to the lodge and check in. Then we can get our ski gear!"

"Are you going to be okay skiing?" Nino asked Marinette jokingly. "Bags seem to prove quite the challenge in class."

Marinette pouted, recalling the multiple times she had tripped in class. "That's cause I wasn't paying attention."

"Sure, whatever you say." Alya winked, causing Marinette to whine at her and nudge her against the wall of the compartment as she sat back down.

"You guys are so mean." She sighed, followed by a laugh, which turned into a frown as a muffled sound came from the boy's luggage. "What was that."

"Nothing!" Adrien said quickly. "Probably just my phone or something."

"Bro, your phone's in your hand." Nino pointed out.

"... That it is. I'll check it out." Adrien laughed and checked the bags, his back to the others.

Nino was trying not to laugh, Alya had an eyebrow raised, and Marinette was too busy swooning at the fact that his reaching to the bags made his shirt slide up slightly, which earned her an elbow to the side from Alya. Marinette pouted, face on fire, and stared out the window in response.

"How about we play 'Never Have I Ever' to pass the time?" Adrien suggested later, as they all grew bored of being in the small train compartment.

"That sounds great!" Nino replied as Alya and Marinette made sounds of agreement. "Since you suggested it, you start us off. And instead of taking a drink, we can mark a tally on our hands."

"Yeah that'd work." Alya nodded, searching her back for a permanent marker. "Here." She set the marker on the small table.

Adrien thought for a moment, before saying "Never have I ever played this game."

Alya and Nino both shot him a dirty look before putting a tally mark on the back of their hands.

"You've never played either, Marinette?" Adrien asked the girl curiously.

Shaking her head, Marinette let out a nervous laugh. "Well, no. But I've seen others play it so I know how it goes."

"Yeah, that's the same for me." He smiled.

"Well, I'll go next. Never have I ever ditched class at random times." Nino shot back to Adrien, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and made the tally.

"That's you too." Alya pointed to Marinette, shoving the marker at her. Adrien glanced at her curiously, eyebrows bunched together as if in concentration. Butterflies erupted in Marinette's stomach as he looked at her, and she made a mark on the back of her hand.

"Never have I ever run a blog." Marinette said, which caused Alya to groan. Another mark.

The game continued on until they finally reached their destination around noon. The train station

was old, with cobblestone walls and floors, and big windows providing a view of the mountains.

"I didn't realize it'd be this cold." Alya groaned, wrapping her jacket around herself tighter.

"Well, we are in the mountains to go to a ski lodge." Adrien pointed out with a laugh. "That means it's cold enough for plenty of snow here."

"True." She agreed, and pulled out a folder filled with papers on their trip. "The lodge is a bit of a ways from here, so we should probably try to get a cab."

"Will all four of us fit in a cab?" Nino frowned, setting down his luggage as Alya called the company.

"We should." Marinette shrugged. "Three to squeeze in the back and one up front. Luggage in the trunk."

"Yeah, that sounds reasonable." Adrien nodded.

"Alright, they should be here in about ten minutes." Alya pipped up, sliding her phone back into her pocket.

"Anyone want anything to drink?" Nino asked. "Hot chocolate sounds amazing to me right now, and we might as well kill some time while we wait."

"Oh hot chocolate would be great right now, Nino." Marinette sighed happily, and Adrien nodded in agreement.

"I'll help you carry them." Alya said, rising from the seats the group had positioned themselves on. After collecting the money, the two were off to the concession stand, leaving Marinette and Adrien alone in the lobby.

"So, Marinette, how are you feeling about this trip?" Adrien asked, to break the ice between the two.

Suddenly feeling extremely shy, Marinette pretended to be busy watching the two order the hot chocolate. "O-Oh, I'm really excited! I'm looking forward to spending time with y- all of you!" She said hastily, internally scowling at herself for not being able to control her words better around him. "What about you?"

"I'm super excited, if I'm honest." He laughed. "I've never been invited to anything like this before, and it's a nice break from my usual routine."

Marinette felt a twinge of sympathy at his words. He had been homeschooled before this, that she knew, but she always figured he would've lived an exciting life, being rich and all. But to her it sounded like it was all work and no play. "Well, we'll just have to enjoy ourselves to the fullest then!"

Adrien opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by the return of Nino and Alya, each holding two coffees.

"Here you guys go." Nino said as he and Alya handed the other two their hot chocolate's. "It's kinda awkward when the cashier asks how long we've been together, though."

"Oh please, you're just upset you had to correct them." Alya laughed before winking at Nino.

Adrien raised an eyebrow at Marinette, and mouthed the words 'what's going on?'

Marinette shrugged, though she was glad to see them getting along. She knew Alya had developed a small crush on Nino the past year, but hadn't done anything about it yet. She was happy to see the two acting so friendly to each other.

Aimless chatter and one cramped car ride later, the four had arrived at the ski lodge. It was a grand oak cabin like building, with many off shooting wings for rooms, and a pathway down to seperate cabins. On the inside, the main lobby was giant, with multiple fireplaces and many couches strewn about, where people sat talking. Looking above, there were chandeliers of antlers hanging, and you could see the floors above, separated by railing. There was a reception desk, a gift shop, and a restaurant as well, causing the group to take everything in in awe.

"This is amazing!" Nino muttered, eyes darting between the fireplaces and the people.

"You can say that again." Alya agreed, eyes wide. "I'll go check us in."

"Um, hi I'm Alya, I'm the one who won the contest, they told me to check in with this." Alya told the lady working at the desk, passing her the piece of paper that acted as her certificate.

"Oh, we've been expecting you!" She smiled at the group, taking the paper, and pulling out a handful of cards and two sets of keys. "These are the keys to the cabin, you'll be in number seven. And these are your meal cards, they're good for three meals a day for each of you. Oh, wait," The attendant pulled out a map, and made a few circles. "Here's your cabin." She said, pointing to one close by a pond. "This is the path to get there. And here," She said, pointing to a small building in front of the main lodge. "Is where the shuttle leaves once every hour to bring passengers up to the slopes! I hope you all have a wonderful stay." She smiled, and passed everything to Alya.

Alya then divided up the meal cards, and gave the spare set of keys Marinette. "You better not lose those." She joked. "Now come on, let's check out this sweet cabin!"