#raysdrawlings

"It's just around this bend," Alya shouted back when Nino released another groan.

They were headed to the campsite that Alya's family—parents and siblings—had had set up for the past week. They weren't joining up with her family as most of them had already headed back to the city, but they were using the site for the last weekend before the Cesairs packed everything up.

They weren't alone in the woods. Alya's mother was staying in a cabin about three hours away, but they were enough on their own to relish in the adolescent independence.

"So, uh, Marinette." Adrien skipped up beside her, Marinette squeaking and unintentionally shying away. "Have you ever been camping before?"

"Um, w-well, a few times. With- With my parents." She couldn't bring herself to look up at him, instead staring at the path in front of her feet as she pulled at the straps of her pack.

"I've never gone camping before," he admitted, sounding excited. "Not in a tent or anything. Is it fun?"

"Uh, I-I mean, of course it's fun." She smiled awkwardly. "It's- It's mostly fun when- when you're with fun people." She bit the inside of her cheek.

"We should be fine then," he decided, smiling brightly.

Marinette nearly swooned. Instead, she tripped over an invisible rock and nearly fell on her face. Before she could topple completely, however, Adrien reached out and steadied her.

"Ha, thanks…" she said quietly, blushing bright enough to match the pink sky above them, the color a result of the setting sun.

"Okay!" Alya said loudly, turning to face them all. "We're 'finally' here!" Rolling her eyes, she twisted back around and hunkered beyond the bend in the path, looking none to impressed with her boyfriend's attitude as he practically dragged himself after.

The campsite itself was modest, but they were there to enjoy the outdoors, not admire it from behind a glass window. In the center was the fire pit, which looked very recently used. It was bordered by log benches that had been cut in half with the flat sides facing up for more comfortable seating. The two tents were respectively set up on either side, situated safely between trees. They were a comfortable distance apart—the fire pit between them—and looked to be made for two people each (which, in tent sizes, was quite crowded, but Alya had warned them). There were fold-up chairs spread around as well, a few coolers tucked in different nooks, and a side path led off to the outhouse hidden far enough away that they wouldn't be affected by the smell.

"The lake is down that way," Alya explained as she set her pack down beside one of the tents and gestured to another path. "It's getting late now, so I'll show that to you guys in the morning."

"Thank god," Nino exclaimed, dropping his own bag without a care for the contents before collapsing into one of the folding chairs. Alya was harassing him a few seconds later, pointing out the lack of fire and the state of the darkening sky. Adrien and Marinette listened with silent laughter, dropping their own packs and taking direction from Alya as to how to set up the camp.

By the time the sun was fully set, they had a good fire going and food pulled from the coolers for a late dinner. All the chairs were tucked up close, Marinette having trouble focusing on the hotdog she held above the flames with Adrien sitting right beside her.

Alya's knowing looks weren't exactly helping her to find composure either.

"Alright, alright, now you're just exaggerating," Adrien was saying, waving his own hotdog around on his skewer while Nino flicked a flippant hand is dismissal. "I do not shower three times a day."

"Dude, there was literally an akuma coming after your dad and you were like, 'it's the model side, scrub-a-dub-dub.' You didn't come out until Ladybug came to get you." Nino cast his best friend a very flat look.

"I wasn't- It's not like that," Adrien defended lamely.

Part of Marinette wanted to say "yes, it was," seeing as she was Ladybug and she'd been the one to interrupt his bathing—a thought that had her blushing worse than she already was.

"Honestly, dude," Nino pushed, "akuma wants to attack your dad and you get in the shower. What else could it be 'like?'"

Shoulders slumping, Adrien opened his mouth as though he wanted to defend himself, but nothing came out. Which had both Nino and Alya laughing while Marinette tried to stifle a giggle.

"Since when were my bathing habits under scrutiny?" he muttered a moment later, sounding quite sour. "At least I'm clean."

"You're not going to have any clean showers while you're out here," Alya noted, winking. "Hope your model habits can handle it."

"I'll be fine," Adrien said through gritted teeth, which only had his friends laughing yet again.

"We'll see," Alya continued to tease. "You don't really seem like the outdoorsy type, after all."

Adrien glared, pooching his lips as he did. "I'm plenty outdoorsy."

Even Marinette had to share in the skeptical looks tossed around the group.

"You don't- You don't even know!" Adrien continued to try and defend.

"Don't pick on him too much," Marinette cut in, unable to look at Adrien even as she talked about him. "He's already burning his hotdog—he probably can't take much more roasting."

As if startled by her observation, Adrien yanked his skewer from the fire, groaning when he saw the state of his charred meal. Once more the others laughed, continuing to rib Adrien for a few minutes longer until, somehow, attention got turned on Alya instead.

It wasn't until near midnight that they were finally drowsy enough to view sleep as a viable option. On top of staying up late, they'd also spent a lot of energy hiking to the campsite, which left all in a droopy state once their energy stores wore low.

"I'll set up our sleeping bags," Marinette volunteered after a yawn, her statement clearly directed at Alya.

Alya, who was about to become her least favorite best friend.

The two were standing outside one of the tents, Adrien and Nino still sitting at the fire throwing marshmallows at each other. "Actually, Nino and I were thinking we'd stay in the same tent. You know… because." She cast Marinette a suggestive smirk.

"Oh." The pieces didn't come together initially, Marinette about to share in her best friend's devious expression. But reality did catch up to her eventually. "Wait, what?" All the color drained from her face.

"We figured you and Adrien wouldn't mind," Alya continued. "Right, Adrien?"

He whipped around to look at them, therefore unable to defend against the marshmallow that bounced off his cheek. "Hm, what?"

"That you and Marinette wouldn't mind sharing a tent, so Nino and I could share one."

Adrien blinked, taking in the information with far less horror (seemingly) than Marinette had. "Uh… alright." His gaze flicked to Marinette, who had yet to recover. "I mean, only if that's okay with Marinette."

Was she okay with it? Sharing a tent with Adrien? She should have seen the scheme coming, but she'd been too naïve and caught up in trying to speak coherently around her crush to consider such treachery. No doubt Alya thought she was doing a favor, but Marinette was hardly capable of getting out a full sentence around Adrien, let alone anything else.

This was going to be a disaster. Oh god, what if she did something embarrassing while she slept and Adrien noticed and, oh god, he'd never forget and she'd never live it down! What if she kicked him? Or said something? Or- or- or- Something even more mortifying?!

She wasn't ready for this! She wasn't ready!

"Marinette?" Adrien asked.

She squeaked. "It's fine!"

"Awesome!" Alya slapped her hard on the back. "Nino and I really appreciate it." Taking her bedroll from Marinette's hands—because she'd had both—Alya then ducked inside her chosen tent. Which left Marinette to look grimly at the one on the other side of the fire.

Refusing to catch Adrien's eye, and hoping her blush wasn't as obvious as it felt, she dashed across the campsite to their tent and quickly ducked inside. Ignoring the shrieks bouncing between her thoughts, she put her attention on unrolling her sleeping bag and trying to view the situation as rationally as possible.

It wasn't that big of a deal, after all. Not like anything was going to happen. They'd just be sleeping close to one another, separated by their respective sleeping bags. Really, it wasn't so different than how close they sat in class.

Yeah, that was a good way to look at it. No different. Except that they'd be alone. And sleeping. And… alone.

"Marinette?" Gasping, she jumped before whipping around. Holding the flap open with his bedroll under his arm was Adrien, frowning as he looked down at where she was crouched atop her own. She'd likely been spending far too much effort on smoothing it out to be normal.

"Heh, sorry," she said without thinking. "I was just, um, you know, getting, uh… anyway." She looked to the side while Adrien shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"Are you sure you're okay with this? Because if you're not, I'm sure Nino and Alya-"

"No! It's- It's fine," she assured. "I don't want to ruin their… fun. And, um, bedsides, I'm fine. Really."

Adrien's frown deepened. "You don't seem fine."

"I am!" Why was she so obvious? "I'm not… worried or anything. Not that there's anything to be worried about. Um, just, anyway. It's fine. Don't worry about me. I'm just… you know…" She sighed. "Me."

Adrien still didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? I could even sleep outside, if you want."

Did she really look so terrified that he felt the need to suggest such a thing?

Beginning to feel guilty, Marinette—not for the first time—cursed her inability to control herself around him. He didn't deserve to feel bad because she couldn't get her nerves under control.

"It really is f-fine," she managed to get out, doing her best to stay calm. "I don't mind, Adrien. I'm just… Please don't worry about it."

Though he hardly looked comfortable himself, he finally nodded and entered the tent. Silently, he crouched down beside her and began to situate his bedroll, while Marinette pulled her knees up to her chest and refused to look at him. Part of it was to save herself any embarrassing slipups, but also because she was too ashamed of her own behavior to dare any interaction.

She hoped Adrien didn't think she was, what, afraid of him? She didn't think he'd do anything and, well, she wasn't afraid of anyone besides. The whole situation was her own stupid fault.

Ignoring the way her stomach dropped, she silently left the tent, grabbed her bag, and went to the outhouse to change. Nose plugged, she swiftly pulled on her night clothes before dashing back down to the campsite. Adrien and Nino were once more together—looked to be going through their own bags—so Marinette took advantage of the opportunity and snuck back into the tent. Slipping into her sleeping bag, she pulled it up over her head and made sure to face away from where Adrien would be.

A few minutes later, the glow from the fire went out and Adrien was toeing his way in beside her. The shuffling of his sleeping bag was akin to nails on a chalkboard in Marinette's ears, keeping her tensely alert until he finally settled. And even then the sound of his light breathing and the weight of his presence so close was enough to keep her anxious. With how small the tent was, there was barely half a foot between their sleeping bags.

She didn't dare turn to face him.

No words were shared between them—no goodnights—and Marinette supposed that was her fault too.

Closing her eyes, she willed sleep to come and hoped she'd be able to smooth over any awkwardness the morning after—if that was even possible.

Her exhaustion kept her from wallowing too long in her depression, slumber a welcome reprieve that was, unfortunately, interrupted far earlier than she would have preferred. She wasn't jolted awake, as protagonists often are in stereotypical dramas, but rather dragged from her dreams by an insistent mumbling. And as Marinette was not a "morning person," being pull from sleep prematurely left her relatively irritated as well as intent on getting back to the rest she felt she deserved.

This left her in a state between true sleep and wakefulness, making confusion all the more possible, as well as probable.

Yet again, the mumbling tried to lure her into opening her eyes.

"The akuma went that way," the voice claimed, a statement which only irked Marinette further.

Stupid akumas. She was trying to sleep!

"You're going the wrong way," was a statement a second later.

"I'm not going anywhere," she replied, snuggling further into her sleeping bag.

"It's getting away."

"I don't care, Chat. Be quiet." Because it was Chat that was mumbling to her, she realized. It didn't exactly make sense that he was there, but she really didn't care that much. She knew she was camping, but supposed Chat had found her in his attempts to get the akuma or something. The least he could do was wait until the morning to bother her, however.

Typical.

"It's got my popsicle, My Lady," he insisted.

What did Marinette care about Chat's popsicle?

She growled. "Be quiet."

"It's gonna melt."

And she was gonna lose it.

"Shut up!" she barked, barely turning toward him. Reaching out, she punched the closest thing she could find as hard as she could. Which resulted in a satisfying "oof" that told her she'd hit accurately. "I'm trying to sleep you stupid cat! I don't care about the akuma!"

Once more pulling her sleeping bag up over her head, she welcomed the drowsiness trying to creep back in. There was some shuffling beside her, but she was easily able to ignore it.

Until Chat had the audacity to clear his throat and whisper. "Sorry. I didn't realize I was talking."

Marinette wanted to strangle him. "Please be quiet, Chat. Just… If you're gonna stay here, stop talking."

There was a slight pause. "Of course, Ladybug."

"Thank you." Satisfied he'd finally shut his mouth, Marinette eased herself once more into sleeping, hoping to get all the way to the morning before being awakened again.

She was not so lucky.

Even if her brain couldn't compute everything in its half-awake state, it somehow managed to remember that Chat had crashed her camping trip. Which meant he was the only one that could possibly be clinging to her a few hours later.

"Get off me," she mumbled, reaching back and pushing at the body that was snuggling up close to her own.

"But it's cold," he whined, his arms wrapping around her middle.

"Chat, I swear I'll kill you." She pushed on him again, but her efforts were to little avail. Probably because she was still too much asleep to put much effort into anything.

Her threat went unheeded. Instead, Chat only coiled himself more securely around her. And supposing the situation could be worse, Marinette decided to ignore it and go back to sleep as best she could.

What woke her up next, and more fully, was the morning sunlight filtering in through the fabric of the tent. On her back, she reached up and rubbed her eyes, not ready for the brightness and very, very slow to adapt.

She was uncomfortable, which was the first thing she registered as her eyes adjusted to the light. Of course, she knew she wasn't in her bed and had only a sleeping bag atop the dirt, which would explain some of the discomfort. The rest came from the weight laid out on her body from the neck down.

Chat Noir immediately popped into her head as the one to blame, which only dragged her morning further downhill than it already was. She loved her partner, really—he was one of her best friends—but she wasn't at all amused that he was, what, lying on top of her? Was that what it was?

What was he even doing there? How had he found her?

Finally able to see some—albeit blearily so—Marinette leaned her head up just a bit to look down, only to come face to face was a mop of blonde hair just below her chin. His head was lying heavily on her collar, nose pressed into her shirt. The rest of him, she could feel, was draped around her from the side, one arm wrapped around and tucked up under her shoulder while his leg stretched over her own and hooked beneath her knee.

He wasn't exactly light.

Head falling back against her pillow, Marinette closed her eyes and fanned some of her irritation, trying to gather herself enough to do something.

Part of her was still angry he'd somehow invaded her trip away with her friends. And then decided to conk out in her tent, like that was okay. He should have brought his own tent! And how had he figured out her identity anyway?

What would her friends think when they woke up and realized they had an addition to their party? How would she explain it?

What would Adrien think?

What would Adrien think?!

Finally startled into alertness, Marinette's eyes went wide as she turned her head quickly to look to the other side of the tent. Where Adrien was.

Or, rather, where he was supposed to be.

But… there was no one there.

Wait a minute…

Ignoring how her heartbeats grew abruptly louder, Marinette carefully sat up on her elbows, which of course jostled the boy using her as a body pillow. He rolled a bit to the side, still asleep as he burrowed his face into the sleeping bag that was haphazardly tangled with her own.

It was Adrien. Not Chat.

Oh god.

She wanted to panic, but he still had his arm wrapped around her body and his leg tangled with her own. Despite how her thoughts raced, she kept herself still and tried to figure out what, exactly, was going on.

She would have sworn with absolute certainty that it was Chat who was snuggled up with her, not… not Adrien.

No! Don't think about that! Focus!

"Oh no, oh no," she whispered. She couldn't focus.

Beside her, Adrien pulled closer again, his nose curling in his sleep. "What time is it?" he mumbled out, yawning as he did, but failing to open his eyes.

"Uh…" What did she say? "It's… morning time."

"Morning time?" he grinned, barely cracking his eyes open before closing them again. "You're usually a little more precise than that."

Marinette could have sworn her entire world was crashing down around her. And maybe Adrien could feel it too. After a few seconds of him waking up, his whole body tensed before he abruptly sat up, wide-eyed, and caught her gaze with his own.

She could do nothing more than gape, their legs still tangled as the reality caught fire between them. So severe was it that Marinette thought she might suffocate with the silence.

Adrien watched her, she watched him, and neither of them said a single word.

"Are you two awake yet?!" It was Alya's voice that jolted them both violently back to their situation. Marinette jumped and cupped her hands over her mouth so as to prevent a shriek from escaping, while Adrien sat up straighter and held his hands out like he was preparing for the whole tent to be yanked out from under them.

"Guys?"

Right, they had to say something.

"We're awake!" Marinette managed to blurt out, startled yet again though this time by her own voice. "We'll be out in a minute."

"Well hurry up, it's almost eleven." Alya's footsteps echoed on the dirt as she walked away, the sound acting like an anchor for Marinette to latch on to.

Running away probably wasn't the best solution, but it was the only one she had at the moment.

"I'm gonna go get dressed," she said hastily. Hesitating for just a moment—her eyes still caught with Adrien's—she grabbed her bag from the corner and clumsily dove out of the tent. Nearly tripping over her own feet, she bumbled up into a jog and kept going until she reached the outhouse.

Ignoring the foul smell, she loitered some behind the building before falling to her knees in the grass. Bag toppling down in front of her, she slumped and did her best to process.