Giuseppe stares with dismay as he actually hears Adrien utter the words "Ladybug, my hero!" as she grins at him with a ten thousand watt smile. The boy looks like a smitten kitten instead of the dashing (single) young man he's supposed to be as the face of the Agreste brand, and Gabriel Agreste will kill him if he doesn't figure out some sort of way to get the boy to give off that vibe again.

Perhaps asking Ladybug to participate in the photoshoot was a mistake. Giuseppe hadn't realized how deep Adrien's passion for the spotted heroine ran, and now he's worried that he's wrecked his own photoshoot.

Until it occurs to him that perhaps he can channel this passion into something more constructive.

He walks over to the smitten pair and coughs loudly to capture their attention once more.

"Ah—well, I see the two of you have gotten well acquainted by now, isn't that right?"

Ladybug winks at Adrien. "Yes indeed. We are good friends now."

"Wonderful, wonderful," murmurs Giuseppe, waving his hands dismissively. "And because you are such good friends now, do you think you can make that come across in a photoshoot?"

Ladybug turns her big blue eyes to the photographer, staring at him innocently while Adrien chokes back his laughter. "Whatever do you mean, monsieur?"

"It's clear that there is an attraction of some sort between the two of you. Can you play it up, make it more flirtatious?"

Ladybug's gaze immediately shifts from one of guileless innocence to shrewd calculation.

"How flirtatious are we talking here?" she asks with a smirk.

Giuseppe is taken aback by her ability to switch moods at the drop of the hat. He doesn't quite know how to read the girl, but perhaps that's because he's not a superhero himself. He imagines they must run by different rules.

Or maybe it's because she's a teenager.

Either way, as long as she's willing to cooperate, he doesn't care.

After their little conversation, Giuseppe is shocked from how smoothly the setup for the shoot goes from there, as they get into the vans to head toward their shoot location, Lake Javen, a beautiful mountain lake not too far from the resort.

The three of them are sitting in the same van, and Giuseppe watches them in the backseat together through the rearview mirror with a great deal of bemusement as Ladybug turns to look at Adrien and they have a silent conversation of sorts.

He wonders how these two got to know each other so well in five minutes. He's been working with Adrien for three years now, and they are never on the same page.

It's a mild day, with more clouds than sun, creating perfect lighting, and by the time they arrive at the lake, the weather is perfect as well, and it puts everyone in a good mood, especially Giuseppe's two models, who are behaving spectacularly well, even though they are standing awfully close to each other and whispering into each other's ears.

The first line they are shooting is athletic leisurewear, and Ladybug watches with glee as Adrien comes out wearing the nicest grey and black sweatpants and sweatshirt she has ever seen in her life. They are tailored to perfection and give off a completely casual vibe, and as the sunlight catches his eyes and hair just right, she feels a little bit like she's melting into a little puddle.

She stares at Adrien, slack jawed, when he smirks and indicates that Giuseppe is trying unsuccessfully to get her attention.

"Yes?" she asks, mildly irritated at having to look at someone other than Adrien.

"Mademoiselle Ladybug, we have a sweatshirt for you to wear as well."

He nods at the assistant, who approaches her with a jet-black hoodie, with neon green piping.

Ladybug looks critically at the hoodie. "Neon green and black? Will that match my suit?"

Giuseppe frowns. "If you dislike that particular style, we have one other, though Monsieur Agreste specifically wanted to display this one in the shoot. But if you absolutely cannot wear this style, I can see what I can do."

"If I may, I personally think that green and black matches with you very well, my lady," says Adrien with a wink.

Ladybug rolls her eyes and smiles. "It's fine, Giuseppe. I'll wear this one after all."

After Ladybug puts on the hoodie, she indicates that she's ready to start taking pictures, and Giuseppe starts directing them in a variety of poses.

As expected, she's a natural in front of the camera, and the new direction of flirtatiousness seems to do the trick, carrying on as they move through the other lines: jackets and coats, running, golf and tennis, and shoes.

No longer is the air between them romantic and lovestruck, but rather, fierce and electric.

As he directs Adrien and Ladybug in a variety of poses, Giuseppe gets the strange impression that there's no way that these two don't already know each other intimately well, and at some points he even gets the feeling that he's intruding on something private and intimate, a kind of passion that isn't technically meant for public consumption.

Even as he does so, he shakes his head and thinks that he must be going crazy; these are teenagers, after all, and there's no way that the insane chemistry between them could be more than a crazy coincidence. It's the perfect storm; one is a famous model and the other is the heroine of Paris—it's completely natural that they would play well off each other, even if the intensity is a bit shocking.

But then again, it occurs to Giuseppe that some of the most famous lovers in history were not much older than these two, and he's left with the concern that when people look at the final photo spreads, they won't be paying attention to the clothes they're wearing, but rather, at the hungry expressions in their eyes.

But maybe it doesn't matter; either way, he's going to make bank from this shoot, and maybe these two will exchange phone numbers. Either way, everyone wins.

By late afternoon, there's only one line left for Adrien and Ladybug to shoot: hiking gear. The props assistants rush to set up the various scenes before the limpid golden light of the late afternoon disappears: a mid-hike picnic, a canoe in the lake, and a campfire, the final scene that will be shot.

Adrien moves over to the tent to change into his clothes, winking at Ladybug before he disappears into the tent.

She prepares herself as she waits for him to come back out. Even though it's been several hours that they've been at this, she still isn't used to how good he looks in literally everything, and now, in the late afternoon light, she's pretty positive that Adrien will look positively celestial.

And she's right. As Adrien comes back out of the tent with perfectly tousled hair, wearing chestnut hiking boots, light brown cargo hiking pants, a robin's egg blue shell jacket with piping that's the same red as her suit, and a cheeky grin that suggests that he already knows what kind of effect his look is going to have on her, Ladybug's about to fall over.

She wants to take him into the woods behind the lake and do distinctly unladylike things to him. But that would be inappropriate, and also difficult, given that she is currently covered from head to toe in magical spandex and standing in front of a crew of about thirty people who probably don't want to watch two randy teens make out in front of them.

"How do I look?" he asks, as cocky as can be, though she can still hear a faint and tense note of uncertainty woven tightly into the lower register of his tone.

"Incredibly sexy," she says with a wink, and he blushes.

Ladybug bites her lip, which does not go unnoticed by Adrien. His eyes widen and he gulps, his adam's apple bobbing nervously as he looks down.

One of Giuseppe's assistants rushes over to them with a large patterned blanket, and Ladybug looks at it with surprise as it's plopped into her arms.

"What's this for?" she asks.

"Oh, it's for the campfire photos. Giuseppe thinks you should pose as a couple in this set of photos, and sit underneath it together. You know, like cuddling. You don't have a problem with that, right?"

Ladybug and Adrien smile at each other before turning back to the assistant and shaking their heads.

"No, not at all," he says. "It's fine."

A few minutes later as they sit cuddling together underneath the blanket in front of a slowly kindling fire as the sun slowly begins to sink below the horizon, prop s'mores in hand, it occurs to both of them that this is an activity they'd like to repeat, when there isn't an entire crew standing there watching them.

At the end of the shoot, Giuseppe beckons at his accountant, who runs over to ask Ladybug what her rate for the nine-hour shoot will be, and how she should transfer the money to her.

Ladybug shakes her head and smiles. "No charge."

"I'm sorry?" asks the accountant. "How do you mean?"

"I don't need to be compensated for this shoot. Spending several lovely hours with Adrien Agreste is more than enough compensation for me."

"Oh, uh…" the accountant looks over to Giuseppe, who shrugs. "Okay, then. We appreciate your generosity!"

As they head back to the resort in the vans, everyone is tired and happy, and although Giuseppe is not quite sure what he just witnessed, he's pretty sure he has some spectacular photos for his editorial.

Adrien: What are you doing right now? Have you had dinner yet?

Marinette: yes, and I'm just packing up to go home tomorrow

Marinette: this weekend flew by fast, didn't it?

Adrien: It really did

Adrien: Did you have fun at the photoshoot?

Adrien: I hope you did

Adrien: Sometimes Giuseppe can be a bit much

Adrien: You weren't uncomfortable with anything were you?

Adrien: If you were let me know

Marinette: mon minou

Marinette: you worry too much

Marinette: I'm fine

Marinette: and I had a lot of fun

Adrien: ….I have a confession

Marinette: ?

Marinette: don't leave me hanging, chaton

Adrien: I want to see you again tonight

Marinette: we were together for 9 hours today

Marinette: you're such a clingy kitty

Marinette: it's a good thing you're so cute

Adrien: So….that's a yes?

Marinette: I mean, I'm pretty sure we both had the same idea earlier

Adrien: So, want to meet up and go there in an hour?

Marinette: Lol good thing I snuck the prop blanket into my bag I guess

Adrien: My lady, you're a thief? I am shocked and appalled

Marinette: Hey, I totally saw you sneaking those s'mores into your bag earlier

Marinette: So I don't think you have any room to talk

Adrien: Those were from craft services, it doesn't count as stealing

Marinette: Whatever you say, mon minou

Marinette: Either way, bring them along, I didn't eat much at dinner

Adrien: Wellllllllllll….about that

Marinette: You ate them all already, didn't you

Adrien: I was hungry!

Marinette: You're lucky my parents are bakers and always have backup snacks on hand

Adrien: See you at 11, my lady! =^-^=

As the City of Lights, Paris is beautiful at night, but it's almost impossible to see the stars.

But not so on this night in the French Alps, where the sky is clear and the mountain air is clean and cold.

It's a new moon night, clear and dark. Against the inky black darkness, the stars shine as bright as diamonds against the celestial silk of the Milky Way.

And so when Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive back at the lake at 11pm, both are momentarily dumbstruck by the spectacular view of the heavens, reflected in the crystal clear water.

So much so, that they almost forget to start the campfire to warm up the s'mores that Ladybug has managed to sneak from the resort kitchen (it turned out that her parents were actually out of backup snacks, forcing her to be a little resourceful).

Until Chat's stomach rumbles rather loudly, that is, and they rush to start the fire.

Five minutes later, when the campfire is crackling comfortably and their bellies are filled with chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows, Ladybug pulls out the blanket and wraps it around them, sighing in awe as she looks up at the dazzling night sky.

"Isn't this wonderful? I've never seen anything like this."

"Yeah, it really is," says Chat Noir, smiling as he watches her eyes sparkle.

The Milky Way may be beautiful, but in his eyes, there's nothing lovelier than her.

The blanket is warm, but Ladybug's suit is designed to retain heat, and within a few minutes of cuddling under the blanket, she's sweating.

Chat Noir turns to her, frowning. "Are you okay, my lady?"

"I'm feeling kind of hot with the combo of the suit and the blanket…do you mind if I detransform?"

"Of course not. Should I as well?"

"No, I like how warm you are. You're like a giant space heater, and I'm probably going to get cold after I don't have the suit on anymore."

He snickers. "Well, I am a cat, after all. We tend to have warm bodies."

"What, you didn't know that's the only reason I'm dating you?"

"My lady, you're using me? Meowch, my heart is broken."

Ladybug rolls her eyes before detransforming, and Tikki waves a merry hello before floating closer to the fire and taking in the heat.

Soon, it's apparent that her instincts are right, and the night mountain air is much colder without the protection of her suit, so Marinette wraps her arms around Chat Noir and snuggles into the heat he's emanating, and soon, she's sleepy.

He's more exhausted than he realizes as well, and in between yawns and sleepy conversation, two hours quickly pass by.

Close to one in the morning, Chat Noir realizes that they probably should return to the resort, but Marinette is on the precipice of falling into the depths of slumber and nestles into the crook of his neck, half asleep, as he tries to tell her it's time to go back.

"My lady, are you listening?"

"Mmmmmm," she murmurs, burrowing her face into his chest.

Chat Noir smiles and wraps his arm around her, pressing a kiss onto her forehead.

"Do you want to transform again, or should I carry you back?"

"Hmmhmmmm," is the only response he gets.

Tikki flies up and whispers into his ear.

"Adrien, Marinette might seem like she's awake, but she's actually asleep! You won't be able to wake her up now."

"Oh, okay," he replies with a nod, as he moves to pick her up in his arms.

Tikki shakes her head.

"If you carry her on your back, you'll be able to move faster."

"But how can she hold on?"

Tikki smiles. "She's Ladybug, and you're her partner. She'll always hold on, even when she's asleep."

Sure enough, as soon as Chat Noir hesitantly puts Marinette on his back, her arms and legs wrap instinctively around him, as tight as can be, even though it's clear that she's still far from being wide awake.

He pulls out his baton and rushes down the mountainside, Tikki flying beside him.

A few minutes later, a yelp indicates that his lady is conscious again, the cold rush of the mountain breeze blowing against her face having jerked her awake.

Marinette is silent for the rest of the journey, but once they arrive back at the resort, she presses a soft kiss on the back of his neck before hopping down.

"Thank you," she whispers as he detransforms and Plagg perches on his shoulder, yawning. "I had a great time."

Adrien smiles shyly and reaches for her hands. "So, does this count as date #2 then?"

"Okay," says Marinette, laughing. "But to make it official, I want a goodnight kiss."

Adrien's eyes brook no hesitation or protest, and as he leans down eagerly to meet his lady's lips, Plagg zooms off his shoulder without a word as Tikki giggles sweetly, like a nightingale in the darkness.

The next morning, both Adrien and Marinette wake up in a daze. They know the weekend is about to end, but neither wants to leave. At breakfast, they smile at each other over their breakfast crepes, indulging in the last quiet morning they have together before they separate again to finish packing, and all too soon, it's time to go.

At the entrance, they stand, facing each other, reluctant to look away. But finally, the Gorilla walks up to them and makes it clear that it's time for the holiday to end.

"Master Adrien, it's time to go," says Gerard, looking down at his watch. "We will be late if we don't leave now."

He turns to Marinette and nods. "It was a pleasure, Mademoiselle Marinette."

"So I guess I'll see you back in Paris then, yeah?" says Marinette as she turns to Adrien, trying not to let her disappointment show.

"Yeah, I'll see you there," replies Adrien quietly, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck as he struggles to keep his face composed. He knows that they'll see each other again tomorrow, if not sooner, via Facetime, and there's always texting—but there's so much that's happened over the past few days, and he doesn't want to leave everything here.

Marinette reaches for Adrien's hands and he meets her halfway, squeezing them as he tries to press as much love and affection into them as much as possible without giving everything about their relationship away to the people watching (though it's blatantly obvious to every adult who can see them what's going on), before wrapping her into a big bear hug, deciding it doesn't matter who sees them after all.

They stand there for several minutes, unmoving, before Marinette finally lets go with a sigh, a slight pink blush visible on her cheeks from what has clearly been the most visible display of affection between them in front of other people so far (though she knows the day when they will kiss after an akuma battle in front of other people is most likely not too far. She's a little nervous about that. And also a little excited)

The Gorilla watches their exchange in silence before pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking down at it, eyes widening. He turns to Tom and Sabine and beckons at them. Concerned, they rush over to him, but within a matter of seconds, their worry turns into something like quiet glee.

Marinette and Adrien look at each other and shrug. Neither has any idea what's going on. The Gorilla turns to Adrien and places a hand on his shoulder.

"Master Adrien, I'm afraid I have bad news. It appears that I have a family emergency I must attend to, so I cannot drive you back to Paris. However, Madame Cheng and Monsieur Dupain have told me that there is room on their bus, so you and Mademoiselle Marinette may travel back to Paris together."

Adrien's eyes light up like lanterns as he smiles with surprised delight.

"Really?"

"Of course, Adrien!" says Sabine. "We would be happy to have you come along with us!"

"That's right," adds Tom. "Marinette says that you are quite the punster! You and I can play games on the way back. Something tells me you're going to appreciate my jokes better than she does."

"Papa, that's because your jokes are terrible," says Marinette with a sigh.

"See? That's why we need you along, Adrien," says Tom.

Sabine smiles and nods. "Yes, indeed! In fact, I've been wanting to get a chance to get to know you. Marinette's always talked about you a lot, but she's been talking about you nonstop lately. In fact she really liked the suit you wore at the wedding reception. She says you looked as handsome as a Greek God!"

"Did she now?" asks Adrien with a wicked grin, as Marinette squeals "Mamaaaan, nooo!"

She knows that he's never going to let this go.

The double seat in the back of the bus is plush and large, like something out of a movie theater. It's almost as huge as a couch, and even though there's much more room there than there was in the car, Adrien and Marinette find themselves instinctively drawn close, their legs pressed together like magnets. They find that they fill each other's spaces just fine, and though the journey back to Paris will take many hours, they're happy to sit next to each other, side by side through all the bumps on the long ride home.