AN: I'M SO SORRY THAT I'VE BEEN AWAY FOR SO LONG AND THIS HAS TAKEN LITERALLY OVER SIX MONTHS. Really, I did not pick the best time to start a multi-chapter fic and, to be completely honest with y'all, there were a couple months where I could've been writing after school calmed down a little but I had no ideas/motivation/etc and then by the time I got some school stress basically enveloped me again. So, again, I'm so sorry! But I promise I'm not abandoning this fic. I'm hoping to be able to get in an update a week from now on although I'm not making any *solid* promises. Thank you so much if you're still reading! I appreciate y'all so much! - Danielle xx

Chapter 5

"Babe, ten miles to go!" Alya spots the road sign from the tiny screen on her camera. As the other three spot the sign in canon, there is a small chorus of whoops and shouts as the relief and excitement settles in. It's been a great trip so far, but it's been tiring. And there is absolutely no doubt about that.

"Guys, I know you have an itinerary and everything, but I have a proposal," Adrien pipes up from the back seat, where his head is currently buried in Marinette's bag looking for more snacks. Marinette eyes him as he helplessly rummages around before taking pity on him and snatching away the bag, throwing the container of grapes in his direction with a roll of her eyes.

"And what exactly is this suggestion?" Alya is always a little touchy when it comes to altering The Itinerary, and they've already done so multiple times today.

"Airbnb, shower, movie, sleep." Adrien pops a grape into his mouth and grimaces as the sourness hits him. Marinette giggles as he shoots her what is supposed to be a death glare but, in reality, is just a ridiculous scowl that only fuels her laughter.

Alya thinks about this for a second. On one hand, they have been driving for hours and it really would be nice to be able to relax and chill out in a stress-free environment. On the other hand, she had been hoping to do a little exploring of the city and get used to the area surrounding their accommodation before their stay really gets underway. After taking a couple seconds to weigh up the pros and cons of each option, it's ultimately the pleading look Nino shoots her that is her deciding factor. She leans over and kisses his cheek before turning back to Adrien and to concede that the amendment to the itinerary is perhaps the best plan. Grabbing the first pen she can find in the seemingly endless vacuum that is her backpack, Alya rearranges her written out itinerary.

Alya's travel journal is a sleek blue Moleskine that she impulse-bought online a couple years ago whilst on a caffeine-induced stationery shopping spree before starting her degree. As with the other four empty notebooks she already had lying in a forgotten drawer in her desk, she had had no idea what to what to do with it for the longest time.

It started off with the itinerary for their first road trip written in her signature scrawling handwriting with a half-working black ball-point pen, a couple smudges here and there from writing whilst on the bumpy metro ride into the heart of Paris. On the journey back, she decided to create a packing list, doodling a small camera and some sunshades to perk it up. Really, she hadn't thought that journaling would be something she got really into but sometimes it's nice to have a creative outlet. At least, that's how she justifies spending arguably too much money on fancy ink pens and cute stickers.

Marinette leans forward to watch Alya drag her pen across the page, forming loopy curling letters in an almost transfixing manner. There's not a single mistake; everything is seamlessly laid out on the page, despite the sudden jerks and bumps from potholes in the road, in a manner of professionalism that really is a testament to Alya's perfection of this skill over the years, a manner of professionalism that Marinette can only hope to attain one day; she really is more of a frantic-scribbles-and-ink-blots-everywhere kind of person. The jet-black ink stains the ivory paper as Alya sets their new itinerary in place, opting to leave the original itinerary page in place rather than cross it out and adding a note in red in the free left-hand corner that reads 'Overridden'.

They pull up to the Airbnb within about 20 minutes after stopping to grab some ice cream from a cute café that Marinette makes a mental note to revisit at some point to check out the macarons she saw in the window.

The house is without a doubt everything Marinette pictured for this kind of trip; it's sort of rustic looking with gorgeous wooden blue shutters over all the windows and doors and its location, a short stroll from the sea, is perfect. Marinette grins to herself as Nino shuts off the engine and they begin to unload the car. For her, this trip is going to be all about relaxing and trying to be herself instead of this zombie that her intense schedule has turned her into. She looks over at Adrien, who has a similarly ecstatic look on his face, and her smile only grows wider.

"Mari, can you run over to the neighbour to grab the keys?" Alya calls from the back of the car, somehow already wedged between suitcases trying to reach the smaller bags that Nino haphazardly stuffed into the boot earlier. She really should stop trusting sleep-deprived Nino to be organised. Marinette shouts back that she's on her way and jogs over to the cottage next door. The neighbour, Caline, is smiley and lovely, with her almost startlingly red hair and green eyes. She checks that their trip was alright and that they're all okay, asking a million and one questions in order to do so, before handing over the keys. She assures Marinette that she'll be around most evenings should they need anything and, with one last smile, she disappears behind her own rustic red door.

"Right, team, keys have been obtained!" Marinette jingles said keys over her head triumphantly. They get stuck in the door briefly on her first attempt to use them but, after a couple tries and a particularly unhelpful commentary from Nino ("I don't think it's working."), the door is open.

"So…this is very blue." Adrien observes, looking around at the décor of the place.

"Problem?" Alya raises an eyebrow at him.

"No, not at all. I think it's very nice, I'm a fan." He nods in the same way that someone who knows a lot about interior decoration would, even though he knows nothing about interior decoration. "I like the calmness, the neutral tones really make the blue pop, y'know?"

"Adrien, honey," Alya slings an arm over his shoulder. "Shut up."

Adrien, rolling his eyes, shakes Alya off and begins to haul his bags upstairs as he calls dibs on picking his room first. Watching him attempt to lug his suitcase and backpack upstairs simultaneously turns out to be more entertaining than Alya expected, especially considering that his backpack is open and things keep falling out, prompting him to attempt to pick them up which only results in more things falling out.

After revelling in his failure for a couple minutes Alya decides that she may as well help; she can see his laptop beginning to slide precariously close to the opening of the backpack and, although Adrien is a literal goldmine and could probably afford several laptops, it's probably more convenient to save the one he currently has. She makes it up about three steps before she has a tiny brain spark. It's more of a Tiny Camping Flashlight Moment than a full on 100-Watt Lightbulb Moment but it's still something.

"Hey, Mari?"

There's a muffled yelp followed by a slightly worrying clang-bang-crash from the kitchen. A metal saucepan lid rolls across the terracotta kitchen tiles onto the wooden floor of the main hallway and spirals noisily to a stop before Mari slowly pokes her head around the kitchen doorframe and squeaks back a response: "Yeah?"

"Nino and I are running to the store around the corner because we need…supplies! Quick grocery run whilst I have the list in my head. Can you come help Sunshine Boy with his bags? The fool is having a Moment." With that she makes a quick U-turn on her heels and starts a beeline for the front door, grabbing a slightly surprised Nino in the process.

"We going somewhere?"

"Out."

"Uh, alright just let me grab my hat and then-"

"Nope." The door slams behind them and Nino's red baseball cap falls off the hook on the back of the door onto the floor.

As she drags a still-confused Nino down the cobble-stone street towards the nearest convenience store, Alya begins formulating Operation Get-Mari-And-Sunshine-Boy-Together. So far, the operation is still in the works and, really, it's more of a make-it-up-as-you-go-along kind of thing.

Operation-Get-Mari-And-Sunshine-Boy-Together:
1. Leave them alone together.
2. Keep leaving them alone together.
3. Nino, I haven't thought this far ahead please help.

So yeah, the plan still has a long way to go.

As a still-confused Nino is dragged down the cobble-stone street towards the nearest convenience store, he begins formulating Operation Propose-To-Alya-In-A-Way-That-Isn't-Stupid. This operation is, he'll admit, not very well thought out.

For as long as Nino Lahiffe can remember, he's been staunchly Against Marriage. That's not to say that he's against it entirely, he just never thought it was really for him and, until recently, was very happily a part of the 'I-don't-need-a-piece-of-paper-to-certify-my-love' club. Even now he's still of the firm opinion that a piece of paper is entirely unnecessary when it comes to matters of the heart and all that because really, love for love's sake is enough for him. Sidestepping swiftly to avoid the lamp post that Alya is about to inadvertently drag him into in her haste, Nino looks down at their joined hands and he can't help but start grinning like crazy. Call him lovestruck but he's still absolutely and completely smitten and that's all the incentive he needs.

Operation Propose-To-Alya-In-A-Way-That-Isn't-Stupid:
1. Still pending

Taking his mind off of the as of yet undeveloped operation, Nino resolves to look around the place a bit. After all, Alya did want to do some exploring in order to get familiar with their surrounding area and this is the perfect opportunity to do just that. He carefully detangles his fingers from Alya's and wraps his arm around her shoulder to slow her down in her unreasonably frantic quest to reach the convenience store.

"Hey, Al, slow down," he laughs. "We're not exactly pressed for time, are we?"

Alya leans into him and lands a kiss on his cheek. She isn't really a big PDA fan but sometimes impulse grabs hold of her and runs with it and all she can do is go along with it.

"I may have been slightly confused earlier but I've clocked on, Al. Babe, I know you've committed to playing matchmaker for those two but you need to chill out sometimes, y'know?"

The grey clouds in the distance move further away from them, rolling slowly along the sky and revealing the evening sun. A warm kind of glow seems to settle in around them but, to be completely honest, Nino isn't sure if that's because of the weather or just because of how insanely content he is, oxymoronically.

"Chill out? How am I supposed to chill out when they're so obviously perfect for each other and too stupid to do anything about it?"

"You know they're adults, right? As much fun as it is to jump on that bandwagon with you for the jokes, it really is up to them whether or not they get together."

Alya huffs and rolls her eyes. "I really hate when you use actual logic and reason against me. It's super irritating."

Nino pats her condescendingly on the shoulder. "I know, it's okay."

Sometimes Alya really cannot believe how lucky she got with Nino. The list is seemingly endless; he's cute, he balances out her manic with his chill, he can handle her crazy nocturnal habits, he's funny, he's a good pillow/footrest/chair/insert other furniture piece here, he loves her. She really did luck out and it's something that hits her repeatedly throughout the day.

Except for right now. Right now, he's being an annoyingly smug twerp and, for that, she elbows him lightly in the ribs, producing a satisfying 'oof' from the twerp in question.

"What was that for?!"

"You were being a twerp."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Al, shut up."

The surprise kiss definitely catches Alya off-guard and, although she really hates over the top PDA, she really doesn't hate what's happening right now. Although thinking about it, her lips are a little chapped and damn, hindsight really is a bitch but Nino's hands on either side of her face are all she can focus on at the moment.

She pulls away slightly, just to ensure that they don't become that couple that everyone hates, but keeps her arms locked around Nino's neck. "You're not gonna just resort to kissing me to shut me up now are you, Lahiffe?"

"I wasn't going to but seeing as you tip-toed into it, maybe you didn't mind it all that much." He boops his nose against hers and Alya is, at this point, completely lost for words except for 'shut up, you idiot'. So that's what she says.

Alya wanders if Marinette and Adrien have managed to sort out the whole suitcase debacle.

The answer to that is no, they have not.

After saving Adrien's laptop and helping him transfer all stray belongings into the room behind the first door on the left, Marinette resolves to grab her own stuff and start unpacking. Upon checking out the rest of the upstairs area, however, Marinette quickly comes to the conclusion that there are only two bedrooms in this Airbnb; one with a double bed and one with two single beds. And Adrien has currently set up shop in the latter.

Marinette shuts the door to the double bed room and lets her head fall against the door with a thud that, to Adrien's ears in the next room over, sounds painful. Because it is.

"Of course," Marinette mutters to herself. "Alya just will not let me live – she never does – and for crying out loud, the freaking Airbnb! Why am I not even surprised? What a traitor…I can't believe her, honestly -"

"Mari?" Adrien hasn't heard Marinette do her weird frustrated frantic muttering thing in a while. It means she's stressed about something.

"YES!" Marinette squeaks. Or, more like she squawks…. "Err, I mean – yeah?"

"Everything okay?"

"Uhh, yes! Everything is, erm, peachy-keen, fine and dandy, the bee's knees, the cat's meow – err – the cat's pyjamas? I, uh, I'm running out of expressions to use…"

"Right…"

"So, um, how are we organising the whole bedroom thing?" Marinette tugs the hairband on her wrist and starts braiding her hair up in an attempt to distract herself with something – anything. She knows exactly what he's about to say and as the words 'we can share' leave his lips, Marinette freaks out.

Having reached her early twenties, Marinette Dupain-Cheng should not be freaking out this much over a boy. Yes, he is a boy that she has been in love with for almost ten years now, but still – he's just a boy. There is absolutely no good reason for her brain to be short-circuiting in the way that it is at this current moment, and yet she cannot figure out how to turn off the panic.

He's a boy. Just a boy. He's just Adrien. Adrien whom you have known since you were fifteen. With whom you've been in love with for ten years… No! Stop it, Marinette. Pull your damn self together. Okay. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Come on. Just smile and then nod. Two simple actions; you can do this.

So, she does. Marinette Dupain-Cheng slides into autopilot mode, straightens her back, nods her head, and smiles widely at Adrien Agreste. She manages to say something along the lines of 'sure, that sounds good' and then strolls (yes, she freaking strolls like it's a damn walk through the damn park) towards where she abandoned her suitcase and backpack.

And then she strolls right past Adrien Agreste, model extraordinaire, and into their now shared bedroom, effortlessly toting her bags behind her. Who is this person and what has she done with the real Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Marinette has no clue, but she sure as hell doesn't mind it.

From: my precious macaron
To: queen of everything
you know ily and everything but right now you are the fucking worst xox

Alya checks her phone right as the text pops up and Nino will swear on his life that he has never seen his girlfriend grin as wide as she is currently grinning.

From: queen of everything
To: my precious macaron
love you babe xx

"That Alya?" Adrien asks as he begins to grab stuff from his backpack.

It's all general stuff: headphones (a must-have essential), gum (the must-have essential that everyone forgets), the book he's currently reading (something to do with the history of spies and detectives which Marinette hopes is the explanation behind Adrien's as of yet unexplained collection of fake moustaches and other comical disguises, which he thankfully has not brought with him), sunblock (the boy tans faster than ice cream melts in the midsummer sun), laptop (because he insists on working even though they're on holiday), custom plushie of his cat – Plagg – that he takes everywhere with him (he insists it's a good luck charm or something but Marinette thinks he just misses his cat), and, finally, phone charger (which really doesn't warrant an explanation, does it?).

"Yep, she and Nino are just wandering if there's anything specific we need but I think we're good, right?" Marinette flops back onto her bed as Adrien nods affirmatively. "I am abso-fucking-lutely exhausted." She sighs.

"You literally sat in the back of the car for the entire journey," Adrien laughs. Marinette sticks her tongue out at him as he walks round the bed to shove his bag down the side next to the wall. "Why don't you unpack or something? Maybe being productive will energise you."

Marinette doesn't respond with actual words, instead opting to bury her face under her pillow and grunt.

"What if I bribe you with the Oreos I have left over?"

Marinette doesn't respond with actual words, instead opting to zip over to where Adrien is sat and snatch the Oreos out of his hand with a squeak. Sometimes Adrien cannot believe that she is legally a fully-functioning adult.

They spend the next hour or so not unpacking as intended but lying side-by-side on the floor, ploughing their way through too many Oreos (although both will assert that there is no such thing as too many Oreos) and watching true crime mini-documentaries online.

About ten minutes into the second mini-doc, they happen to have moved a little closer to each other. Neither says a thing.

About twenty minutes later, they've moved again so that Marinette is using Adrien's arm as a pillow. Neither says a thing.

About an hour later, Nino and Alya get back from their grocery-run-turned-romantic-stroll having not actually bought any groceries. After calling out for both friends and receiving no responses from either Marinette or Adrien, they find them curled up together on the floor as an overdramatic recreation of the Zodiac murders plays on Adrien's laptop and, although Alya and Nino share A Look, neither says a thing.