Here's the next part! I'm sorry it's taken so long. Thank you for the encouragement to continue and please enjoy the next instalment =^.^=

As Marinette boarded the transfer bus from the airport to the Hotel Lafayette alongside her classmates, her tiny companion snuck into a distracted blonde's pocket. Without the use of words, she pulled Plagg out of the safe place he was snoozing in, and made a B-line for Marinette's carry on. The tiny black god had not even realised what was happening until he was nose to nose with a very angry looking Tikki.

"Don't look at me like that Sugarcube!" Plagg whined, "what was I meant-"

Tikki cut him off with a glare as the case they were in jostled and became suddenly still. The noise of an engine starting up indicated that they were moving. "If they are both here, then who is protecting Paris?"

Plagg pulled a face and shrugged, "well maybe if the Guardian knew who her Chat Noir was, we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

The Kwami of Creation huffed haughtily, "you know exactly why they haven't exchanged identities yet Plagg," she crossed her tiny arms, "and don't change the subject! You knew Ladybug would be coming on this trip, why hasn't Chat Noir at least told her that he was also going to be out of town?"

Plagg deadpanned, "look, if the Guardian can have a break, then so can my kitten, we have a foolproof plan in place in case if we're needed back home."

Tikki muttered sarcastically under her breath about Plagg being a fool which the God of Destruction chose to ignore.

"Look," Plagg tried to reason with his age-old counterpart, "if it wasn't for Marinette, then the kid wouldn't even be here. You could have stopped her too."

Tikki began a retort but cut herself off knowing that Plagg had already raised a valid point concerning identities. She resigned herself to concede, but the Kwami had one condition: "Well, it's too late to do anything about it now, just try and keep Adrien away from Marinette so in the likelihood of him needing to get back home, he can do so without drawing her attention."

Plagg smirked, "you have my word Sugarcude."

As the class made their way through New York, Marinette was looking out of the window but she was not paying attention to the scenery: her mind was back home. It was only when Alya pointed out one of the city's superheroes that the secret heroine broke out of her thoughts and tried to pay attention to what was going on around her.

"…superhero for everything here y'know! So what happened," Alya winked and nudged Marinette suggestively, "with your friend Adrien?"

The ravenette shrugged, "we talked, listened to music-"

"Watched a beautiful sky together while you were thirty five thousand feet in the air…" Alya smirked suggestively, "come on girl! Spill! You can't say that nothing happened, he hugged you!"

"He thanked me, Alya," Marinette informed her well meaning friend. "He thanked me for taking a chance and speaking with his father, and then the plane was attacked and he stopped me from banging my head."

Alya hummed but it was obvious that the bespectacled teen was not convinced. "I saw you guys talking before we were saved from Techno-Pirate, which was so cool~ by the way!" She pumped her fists in the air, "who knew that would get to see some heroes before we even landed!? And none other than Majestia herself!"

Marinette smiled at Alya's enthusiasm, "pretty amazing huh?" The secret heroine was just glad that the hero-obsessed-reporter was distracted from talking about her and Adrien: Marinette had other things to debate about the blonde and her feelings did not need to be one of them.

Alya's eyes went wide as she brought her hands into the conversation, "it really wa-hey! I know what you're doing…" The brunette side eyed Marinette with playful irritation, "you're trying to get me to stop talking about you and Sunshine over there." Alya gestured to Adrien with her thumb not discreetly enough for Marinette's liking, "but I saw you girl, and you have to admit that he kept that arm around you unnecessarily."

Marinette pursed her lips, "Alya, we're friends~" the teen added emphasis with her palms pressed together in a pleading motion, "please stop reading anything more into our relationship."

As Marinette turned to look back out of the window to hide her treacherous blush, she could almost feel the frustration radiating from her best friend. Marinette had other things to think about however, as she spotted a superhero making magically animated balloon animals who was joking around with the children and their parents. The ravenette could not help but allow her mind to wander back to her black clad partner and his playful antics, and upon comparison, Chat Noir and Adrien were very rarely that similar. Letting out a thoughtful sigh, she decided to see how events panned out, there was nothing the teen could do at that moment anyway, so why not enjoy her time in New York?

As Adrien checked up on the news in Paris, his best friend and seat mate nudged him out of his perusing.

"Forget about Paris, dude!" The cap wearing teen exclaimed as he took Adrien's phone out of his hands and put the device back in his bag. "You're in New York now!" He continued enthusiastically. "Your ol' man's not here, and when the cat's away, the mice will play!" Nino grabbed Adrien's cheeks and turned his gaze to look out of the opposite window, "open your eyes, know what I mean? Take it all in!"

Adrien felt a slight jolt of excitement run through his chest as his eyes landed on a gently smiling Marinette. The memory of them listening to music and playing games on the plane together warmed him thoroughly and he smiled at how easy their time together had become. The buildings outside the bus were lit with an orange glow, and the memory of the sky he observed on the plane alongside Marinette caused him to smile.

"It is beautiful."

"And we're here for the whole week!" Nino threw his hands up causing Adrien to chuckle, "we're gonna have so much fun! You, me, Alya and Mari!" Nino dropped his voice slightly and leaned into Adrien's personal space, "you might need to keep our dudette company over there so I can have Alya all to myself for a bit if that's okay my man?"

The blonde half smiled at his excitable seat mate, he really did not mind that idea as Marinette finally seemed to be more comfortable around him. Besides, if it had not been for his raven haired classmate, he would not be in New York at all, so spending time with her and becoming closer friends seemed like a wonderful idea. They had made great progress on the plane, but the blonde found that she clammed up just before they landed, not even accepting his help in acquiring her luggage from the overhead compartment causing her to struggle in a flustered state.

Adrien could not work it out, but he was sure that they would get back on track.

"Of course Nino," Adrien looked around his bespectacled friend to see Alya pursing her lips while Marinette continued to gaze out of the window. "I'm sure Marinette would be happy to give you guys the opportunity to be alone."

Nino smiled brightly and took out his phone and began sending a text while Adrien turned his attention back out of the opposite window. With Marinette in his sights, the blonde was going to make the most of any opportunities that came his way to connect with the ravenette.

When the coach finally arrived outside of where they were staying for the week, Alya wasted no time in bolting for the doors and pulling Nino along with her. Marinette chose to stay put in the hope that she would be less likely to trip and hurt herself if the other passengers had already vacated the vehicle. The blogger had been in a slight grump after their exchange about her and Adrien's relationship status, and Marinette thought that she would possibly have to remind Alya that there were two people at home who also needed to be considered.

The ravenette knew in her heart that she was not over Adrien. No matter how she tried to lie through her teeth about her feelings and using 'research purposes' as an excuse to still have his posters lining her walls, she could not lie to herself.

The amount of guilt she felt over stringing Luka along was something that played on her mind constantly, and he was a lovely person that really did not deserve that kind of treatment: he was just so understanding. Marinette would be stupid to throw a prospectively wonderful relationship away over a unreciprocated crush on her blonde classmate, especially since he also had someone at home. Kagami was a lovely girl and had become a close friend, how could Marinette hurt her fellow ravenette?

Alya needed reminding, and that was exactly what Marinette was going to do as soon as it was brought up again.

"Marinette?"

The teen was pulled out of her thoughts as a hand gently touched her shoulder and her big blue eyes rounded on gorgeous green. The soft way in which he smiled down at her and held out his hand to help her up did nothing for her suddenly wildly beating heart, and Marinette cursed herself for waiting until everyone else had left to leave.

"Ha-hi," she stuttered and saw how he retracted his hand quickly and placed it at the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he awkwardly looked to the floor and shrugged while rubbing at his nape, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Marinette got to her feet quickly, conscious that they were the last ones on the bus. She kept her head down in the hopes that not looking directly at him would calm her violently beating heart. "N-no, no, you needn't, didn't…" she let out a huff, "it's dine-urgh! Let's just, go, get our tings-things."

'Why am I like this?!'

After collecting their respective luggage that had been placed on the pavement by the bus driver, Marinette was aware that Adrien was yet to say anything since they departed from their mode of transport. She knew her stuttering had come back in full force, and the teen also knew that her behaviour must be really confusing for the blonde. It was not as if he had done anything purposely to make her uncomfortable, Adrien had just noticed that she was also still on the bus, same as him; it would be weird if he had just ignored her. Marinette decided to pull from deep within once again and bite the bullet to try and dispel the awkwardness that seemed to surround them so often.

"So uh, you looking forward to being away from Paris for the week?"

The blonde walking beside her turned his head to glance at her with raised eyebrows before smiling softly. As on the plane, he seemed pleasantly surprised at the quick change in her demeanor, and Marinette felt herself relax as he gestured for her to go through the door first.

"I am, but-"

Bang!

Adrien stopped immediately as Marinette walked into the still closed automated sliding doors and caught her elbow in an attempt to prevent her from falling.

Marinette jumped away from him and bashfully scratched at the back of her head.

"Are you okay?"

"Dine-fine!"

She replied while attempting to get through the door once more so they could join their classmates on the other side. Unfortunately, her determination mixed with doors' unwillingness to budge resulted in her ricocheting off the hard glass. As Marinette mentally prepared herself to hit the floor with a bang, she found two arms catching her in the nick of time.

"Ah!"

"I've got you."

Not giving herself time to relish the closeness between them, Marinette sprung back up and leaned on the doors with one hand while turning to face Adrien and grabbing the handle of her bag.

She giggled awkwardly with a prominent blush taking shape on her cheeks while Adrien just smiled at her fondly, "doors, am I righ-woah!"

Adrien watched helplessly as Marinette flew through the now open entrance and saw how her bag opened, flinging the contents all over the floor. In the calamity of it all, he did not see the red and black blurs escape the confines of the suitcase and zip into their respective hiding places: Adrien was more concerned with helping Marinette off the cold surface.

"Are you hurt Marinette?" Rushing to her aid quickly, he gingerly helped her to sit up and began picking up the stuff that had been strewn all over the place. Before Marinette had a chance to reply however, a teen approached them from inside the lobby.

"Hey!" He hollered at them, "you guys are the cool French kids that made that sock puppet movie!" He bent down to help with picking up Marinette's possessions. "We're from Armstrong High in Queens, I'm Delmar…"

As the American teen continued talking, Adrien and Marinette finished packing up her things. When their hands touched on top of her belongings. Adrien noted how Marinette jumped at the contact and was surprised as for him, it was not unpleasant. Quite the contrary, however brief the gentle brush was, it brought with it a warm tingle that shot up his arm causing him to smile softly at her. He was happy to see her return the gesture with an accompanying blush too, even if it did seem slightly strained. Adrien put that down to the embarrassment of having her things on full show for everyone to see.

Choosing to not say anything further, the blonde helped her zip the case shut and stood up offering a hand out which she gingerly took. Her soft hand in his was welcomed but short lived when it was no longer a necessary support and Alya and Nino came to stand with them. With a silent thanks in the form of a gentle nod which he returned kindly, Marinette turned her attention to Mrs Mendeleiv who commanded their concentration by clapping her hands. Marinette did seem to have relaxed a little, and the blonde would have been content to simply stand next to her, but Chloé and Sabrina somehow made their way between them.

As their teacher explained what was to happen next and the students groaned and weakly protested simultaneously, Adrien was happy to hear Delmar's invitation to the roof party later on. With Chloé's complaints drowning out anything else that was being said, Adrien headed to find out which room he was in and hoped that he was sharing with Nino.

"Dude!" Nino exclaimed as he jumped and landed fully on his bed, "how awesome is this?" He sat up and began counting the advantages on his fingertips as Adrien opened up his suitcase. "We're bunking just us bros, we're right across from the girls, there's a party up top and we're in freaking New York!" The excited DJ flung himself back and bounced slightly with the momentum. "It doesn't get much better than this."

Adrien smiled while checking his phone for more updates on Paris, letting out a hum of agreement in response to Nino's points.

"Adrien, my man," he stood up and snatched the blonde's phone out of his hands again, "why do you keep watching that stuff? We're in New York, no Hawkmoth, no Akumas, and no parents!"

The teen shrugged as he watched Nino place his phone on the bed, "it's just a habit, I guess." Rubbing his nape he sat on his bed and took out his toiletry bag while Nino routed around in his own luggage. Noticing Plagg's disgruntled face staring at him from the depths of his shirt, the blonde grabbed some Camembert that he had placed in a ziplock bag and made his way into the bathroom. "I'm just gonna freshen up."

"Be quick," Nino called after him, "we'll be going in a minute, and we don't want to keep the girls waiting."

"I will," Adrien called back as he shut the door and his Kwami zoomed out as the mechanism clicked shut. "Be quick," he whispered with haste, As Plagg flipped several pieces in the air and swallowed them each one after the other with practised precision.

"Jusfft-" he spluttered, "leaffff me'ere."

"And what if I need to get back to Paris quickly?" Adrien reminded him, "how am I going to get there in time to alert Ladybug if you're out cold in a cheese coma?"

As Plagg finished his treat, he shrugged and wiped his lips, "just make sure it's easy for you to slip away unnoticed in that case," the tiny being said cryptically before looking at the blonde through the corner of his eye. "You've been spending a lot of time with Pigtails since we left Paris, don't you think she'd notice if you disappeared?" Plagg drew out and turned smug when Adrien stopped to think about his point, his Sugarcube would be proud.

Adrien huffed and deflated a little. "But I promised Nino."

Plagg rolled his eyes with his back to Adrien so the blonde could not see. 'I hate these secret identities, they should know already…'

"Plagg," the tiny god turned to see a new determination in the blonde's green orbs, "I actually think Marinette would be the purrfect purrson to be around if I had to leave."

Plagg's mouth dropped open as Adrien smiled with accomplishment.

"She's kept her secret, who else could I trust to cover for me if I disappeared for a few hours? It's not like I'm five minutes from the Eiffel Tower, I'd need that person back here to cover for me." He held his hands out to emphasise his point, "If I'm around her when I have to go, I know she can help!"

"Kid-"

"Adrien?"

With Nino's voice travelling through the door, the blonde ushered his little companion into his shirt pocket.

"Is everything okay in there? Who're you talking to?"

"Just me, I'm talking to myself, just finishing my teeth!"

Turning the tap on quickly, he brushed his teeth and flashed his pearly whites in the mirror before darting back out of the bathroom. If it had not been for Plagg pointing out about how much time he had already spent around Marinette, it would never have occurred to him that she could be his cover. It was not that he did not trust his best friend, but if the ravenette proved to Ladybug that she could keep his secret as well as her own, then she would be a shoo-in for having the Mouse Miraculous again; maybe they could even patrol and take off some of the pressure from Ladybug?

While Adrien internally toyed with the prospects of that scenario, his Kwami silently cursed his owner's train of thought. Not only was the blonde willing to possibly expose himself to his classmate, but that classmate just so happened to be his red and black polka dotted partner too.

'Tikki's not gonna like this...'

I hoped you enjoyed my take on this part, and I really felt the need to explore areas that the special left out. If you like it, let me know, if you think it's terrible, still let me know! I love reading your reviews on my stories, they are what keep me motivated!

Thank you for the follows, reviews, and faves =^.^=

Take it easy

Lady Rhi X