Chapter Text
“Rise and shine, Buginette,” Adrien sing-songed, leaning dangerously close to her. Not many dared to wake her at such an early hour, but Adrien was testing new waters and braving new dangers by embarking on the most adventurous journey of his life. Besides, he wasn’t afraid of getting close to her; she’d literally thrown him across the city of Paris on multiple occasions. “We gotta go now.”
Even if part of him wanted to sit and watch Marinette sleep— no , that wasn’t a stalker-ish thing to do—they had somewhere to be. It was exciting and new, and Adrien was glad Marinette agreed to go with him. The whole thing at first, in all honesty, seemed kind of scary, but Adrien was ready and adamant about doing this. He needed this.
Marinette groaned and cracked an eye open, her eyebrows furrowed. “What time is it?” Her voice was resonant; deep and rough with sleep.
“Six-thirty,” Adrien answered, ruffling her hair. “Like you said.”
“I didn’t say that,” Marinette grumbled, turning away from him. “I would never say that I want to get up this early.”
“ Marinette! ” Adrien whined, gently pulling on her arm. “Come on, you can sleep in the RV. There are beds back there.”
“ No .” She hit his shoulder, thankfully not roughly, and pulled the blanket over her head. “We can leave when I’m awake.”
“Marinette! We need to get onto the highway before we could get caught in traffic. I promise, you just need to get up, brush your teeth, and get changed so we can go!”
She groaned again. “Who let you come up here? You’re annoying .”
Adrien bit his cheek to stop himself from laughing. “Sabine did.”
“She’s annoying too.”
This time, Adrien was unable to withhold the breathy chuckles that left his throat as he laid beside her on top of the blanket, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Pretty please? For me? Your best friend in the whole, wide world?”
She turned around to face him, her eyes squinting open. “You’re not my best friend anymore.” Her harsh words were softened by the small smile on her face, and Adrien felt his heartbeat quicken slightly because, gosh , this girl was absolutely adorable.
“Ouch, Bugaboo.” He dramatically brought a hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh, though his grin was wide and radiated pure joy. “After all we’ve been through, you’re just going to leave me?”
Marinette shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dork.”
Adrien laughed a bit more, propping himself up on one arm. “Okay, are you coming or not? We have a long, long trip ahead of us.”
Technically, it could be a short trip too. Adrien figured after having his whole life planned out for him in Nathalie’s schedules and five-year plans, he didn’t need an itinerary any longer. There was no destination or timeframe, just a rented RV, some cash—a lot of cash—they’d stored away, and a long playlist full of great songs.
Adrien had wanted to go on this trip since after his father, Hawk Moth, was defeated, his real life was beginning to be a bit much. All the court cases on his father’s trial, all the medical visits to preserve his mother’s life, all the business meetings he had to attend to salvage his father’s— his —crumbling company, and all the extra attention he’d gained from not only being a popular model but also the son of Paris’s number one supervillain, he needed this break. Luckily, Marinette agreed to go with him when he asked. Then, after weeks of planning, it was finally time to embark on their journey.
Contrary to Plagg’s persistent teasing, Adrien was not worried about spending an entire road trip with his crush. Marinette had expressed that she only wanted them to be friends, and that was okay. He could handle being friends with her, and he could handle having her undivided attention for all the days to come. Nothing would go wrong, and he’d make sure of it.
“Hmmm,” she said, tapping her finger against her chin in thought as if she hadn’t already agreed and planned the entire trip with him. “I’ll only come if you say we can go get coffee first.”
“Way ahead of you.” Adrien grinned. “Your parents already packed us some extra pastries to eat for breakfast, and I planned our route for today last night. There’s a Starbucks by the entrance to the highway. We can stop there real quick and grab some coffees because I know how much you like the peppermint lattes there.”
At the sound of her favorite drink, Marinette perked up. “With the whipped cream and chocolate syrup?”
Adrien nodded. “Whatever you want.”
“Okay. Get out, you. I’m going to change.” Marinette sat up, stretching her arms up and letting out a loud yawn. Adrien internally chided himself for not leaving or looking away, considering they were just friends and nothing but. Best friends. If he was going to survive this trip, he needed to remind himself of that constantly. “By the way, my bags are over there.” She pointed to the wall where a red suitcase was sitting. There was a small, black duffel bag beside it along with a backpack.
Adrien tore his eyes away from her, climbing down the ladder of her bed and grabbing the bags. “I’ll take those down for you and load them into the RV.”
She smiled. “I’ll be down in ten.”
Adrien grabbed all the bags and maneuvered them all the way to the large RV he’d rented out. Maybe a week ago, he and Marinette had gone down to the dealership to look through all the options and finally settled on one. It was spacious and included a tiny little kitchen area and bathroom, along with one queen-sized bed. He’d asked Marinette if she was fine sharing a bed with him, and she confirmed she was because she trusted him. Adrien, though a little skeptical of how much it would help him protect their friendship, agreed. If Marinette was comfortable, he’d adjust to her liking.
There was a small seating area as well with a table in the middle so it could double as a dining area. Marinette had also gone through and put in some decorative knick-knacks to make the place seem more homely because, well, it would be their home for the next few weeks. He appreciated that she had taken the time to do this, especially considering that he’d grown up in a cold, lifeless mansion with too much space and not enough people, and Marinette was doing everything in her power to ensure he would never feel that way again.
There were some plush blankets in a variety of colors on the bed, some bright pillows on the couches, and some fake plants scattered through the kitchenette which was already stocked with all their favorite snacks—all kinds of snacks that he’d never been allowed to eat while modeling for his father.
Adrien took in a deep breath, unable to control his giddy smile. They were actually doing this.
“So, Kitty, you ready?”
He heard the voice behind her, and he turned around, finding Marinette standing behind him, dressed in a cropped t-shirt and tie-dyed sweats. Her long hair was tied into two french braids, and in her hands, she held her purse. His heart fluttered upon seeing her–it was only confirmation that they were finally doing this.
He nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Do you remember when we were younger and we used to sit on that rooftop after patrol some nights? We would talk about all sorts of things we’d get to do after Hawk Moth was defeated.”
She walked over to the passenger seat up at the front where all the driving machinery was located. “Yeah, I remember.”
“One of the things we wanted to do was traveling the world. I guess, in a way, we’re doing that now, aren’t we?”
She smiled softly. “Well, I don’t know if we’re particularly traveling the world .”
He walked forward, grabbing her hands and squeezing them tight. “Who knows? We could end up in Asia!”
“That’s probably not going to happen, but okay, sure. We’re traveling the world together.”
“Yeah,” he squeezed them again. “We get to do this together.”
“You know, when I told Maman and Papa that I was going on a road trip with only one other person, Papa wasn’t exactly on board until he found out I was going with you. If you weren’t coming, then he probably would’ve asked me to go with a larger group. You know, for safety.”
He let go of her hands, poking her in the side before going to the driver’s seat. They’d played a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who would be doing most of the driving during the trip, and Marinette won, meaning he was tasked with the job. “Even your dad knows that we’re a great team.”
Marinette rubbed her side as she walked over to the seat beside his. “We are.”
They simply looked at each other for a few moments, interrupted by Tikki and Plagg’s telltale ruckus.
“Can you believe this, Plagg?” Tikki squealed as she and Plagg flew into the RV. Marinette had even taken the liberty of setting up small Kwami beds—a large pillow to act as the mattress and scraps of fabric acting as the blanket—for them to stay in during the trip. “We’re actually going on a trip!”
“Yeah, at least we’re off-duty this whole time,” Plagg replied. “You remember New York and Shanghai, right? We couldn’t even get a vacation without Hawk Moth interfering.”
Adrien flinched at the name. He really tried not to, especially considering that it had been a bit over two months since his father was defeated and thrown in jail. So much had happened since then. Most days, he had too much going on to give his shitty father an afterthought. He glanced back at Marinette, making sure she didn’t notice his reaction.
“And can you believe all the fun treats we’ll get to taste?” Tikki continued. “All the different foods from so many different cultures.”
Plagg shrugged, settling on his bed and curling up like a cat. “I’m just looking forward to all the cheese I’ll get to eat. Adrien, Kid, you brought my cheese, right?”
Adrien nodded, pulling up the GPS on his phone and positioning it on the holder. “Yeah, it’s in the fridge.” Then, he turned his gaze to Marinette. “You and me against the world?”
Marinette smiled. “Always.”