Chapter Text
When Alya first made the suggestion that they go camping, Marinette's instinct was to say no. Going on vacation was a luxury that neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir could afford, particularly since Alya wanted both Marinette and Adrien to go on the overnight camping trip with her and Nino. Alya might not have known it, but that would mean four out of five Parisian heroes would be away from the city for the night.
No matter which way she spun it, Marinette couldn't in good conscience come up with a reason to say yes. It was simply too dangerous, and it was with a lot of regret she texted Alya to turn down the invite.
But then she went on patrol.
"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase," Chat begged, falling to his knees and clasping his hands in front of his face.
"Chat, it's just not a good idea," Ladybug said, trying to steel herself against his kitty eyes. Adrien was hard enough to say no to, but Chat? The sad eyes, the drooping kitten ears, the slumped shoulders, the dramatic frown - Ladybug knew she was being played, but damn it all if it wasn't working.
"It's a great idea! We need a break and you know it. Especially you," Chat said, batting his eyes. "Come on, Bugaboo. Doesn't the thought of a fire under the stars sound appealing? No school, no akumas, no designs, no Lila..."
He knew her weak spots. Ladybug sighed. "Sure there won't be an akumas where we are, but what about Paris?"
Chat smiled up at her. "I have it all figured out. We can give the Bee miraculous to Chloé for the weekend." He held a hand up when she opened her mouth, quickly adding, "I really think Chloé is ready for this. She can take over patrolling for the one night that we're gone. If something goes wrong, she can distract the akuma until we get there. I already checked with Alya; the campsite is only two hours away from Paris. Transformed, you and I can make it back in like forty-five minutes. Queen Bee can totally take care of an akuma for forty-five minutes and you know it."
She closed her mouth, realizing that he had put a lot of thought into this. He really wanted this. More so than she had anticipated. Enough to have figured out what her objections would be and come up with workable solutions. Much as she hated to admit it, he was right about Chloé. Ladybug sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"You do realize that the only reason Alya cooked up this scheme is because she thinks she can get us to start dating, right?"
"Absolutely," Chat said, smirking.
Ladybug studied him for a moment. "You totally want to go just to mess with her, don’t you?"
"Got it in one, My Lady," Chat said, smirk broadening into a grin. He took her hands into his, pressing kisses to her knuckles.
With effort, she kept her face straight while she thought about it. The thought of being able to mess with Alya was incredibly tempting. The recent change in Marinette's and Adrien's friendship was already driving Alya crazy. Seemingly overnight, the two of them had gone from casual friends to sharing inside jokes, cute nicknames, and meaningful looks. Since she couldn't tell Alya the truth - which was that Ladybug had accidentally detransformed in front of Chat, and the dumb cat had followed suit before she could stop him - Marinette had been dodging the subject as best she could.
What wasn't so easy to dodge was Alya's insatiable curiosity over whether they were going to take the next step and start dating. It was literally the first thing Alya asked her every morning, and the last thing Alya asked her every night. And every time Marinette told her no, she was pretty sure that the veins in Alya's forehead got a little bit bigger from sheer frustration.
It was, if Ladybug was being honest, hilarious. The day that Adrien walked over, kissed Marinette's cheek and lovingly called her 'Princess' while wrapping his arms around her, Marinette thought Alya's head was going to explode.
It was just one of those things that didn't have a simple explanation. As surely as the sun rose in the east, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was going to marry Adrien Agreste. That was a fact that Ladybug knew in her heart, and she knew that Chat knew it too. The unspoken acknowledgement surrounded the two of them like a warm, cozy blanket. There was really no need to rush to dating because that next step was always going to be there; they had all the time in the world.
Right now, Ladybug was just thoroughly enjoying both the anticipation and the ability to cuddle up to Adrien while watching Alya try not to choke to death on her blueberry smoothie as Nino awkwardly patted his girlfriend on the back.
"Okay," Ladybug said at last. "But you realize this means we'll end up sharing a tent."
Chat shrugged. "A tent has to be more comfortable than the time you fell asleep on top of me and then rolled off the roof."
"That was one time, you asshole!" Ladybug freed her hands and shoved his forehead. Chat yowled and fell backwards onto his ass. Ladybug huffed and threw herself off the roof.
"Rude!" he yelled after her. "Just for that, I'm not purring while you sleep!'
"Yeah right," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes but smiling to herself as she made her way home. Chat purred every single time they hugged, transformed or not, and they both knew it.
She landed lightly on her balcony and detransformed, making her way back inside. At just after midnight, everything was quiet. Her papa wouldn't be up to start the day's duties for another three hours. Marinette landed on her bed and crossed her legs, reaching under her pillow for the cookies she'd left Tikki. Her kwami beamed and took one of the cookies, biting into it happily. Marinette smiled back and took out her phone, sighing when she saw all the texts that Alya had sent her. Alya had never been good at taking no for an answer.
"Do you want to go, Marinette?" Tikki asked, peering down at the screen. A crumb fell onto the glass. Marinette absently wiped it away.
"You know what, I think I do. It would be nice to get away from Paris for even one night. I'm just not sure..." Marinette sighed.
"I think Chat is right. Queen Bee can handle things. And if you two needed to get back quickly, you could," Tikki said.
"Really?" Marinette said hopefully.
Tikki nodded. "Go for it."
"Okay." Marinette quickly tapped out a text to Alya rescinding her earlier reply and agreeing to go. Just as she hit send, a text from Adrien popped up.
"What is it?" Tikki said, seeing the look on Marinette's face.
"Ugh, that cat. He said he went to get the Bee miraculous from Fu and is on his way to drop it off to Chloé. He's so presumptuous! What if I'd said no still?" Marinette said, scowling at her phone.
"Just think. You get to deal with that for the rest of your life," Tikki said slyly.
"I know, right?" Marinette sighed and dropped her phone, grabbing her covers. She scooted down in bed, pulling the covers up over her head and letting the excited smirk roll across her face. This was going to be fun.