once

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"Marinette," A voice called. Something began to shake me. I refused to stir and I mumbled angrily as I rolled over.

I heard a light chuckle. "Fine, then. Keep drooling in your sleep. It makes you look really attractive,"

That made me open one eye.

It was still dark but a ray of light shone across the room. I sat up on my bed to see why. My eye landed on my open window with the curtains flapping about in the wind. I opened the other eye so now both of my eyes were open.

A familiar figure sat at the edge of my bed. I squinted to see try to see who it was.

"Don't worry, it's only me," The familiar smooth voice answered. "Do not think about screaming again,"

That's when it clicked. "Adrien?"

"Mmhmm?" He replied.

"This is the second time you've broken into my room in one day. Can you pass me my phone so that I can call the police?" I asked, rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"You don't tell a criminal what you're going to do with your phone," He answered.

"So you admit that you're a criminal," A lazy smile crept into my lips in the dark.

"Okay. You've gotten me. Sue me. My crime is being too beautiful," Adrien feigned a dramatic voice. "Take me away,"

"You're too melodramatic," I rolled my eyes. "Criminals aren't that dramatic,"

"I'm only dramatic for you," The light shone a bit of his face for me to see his boyish grin. "In fact, I would break all the rules for you, Mari. That is why the police are after me and I had to hide here because it was nearby,"

I yawned as I stretched my arms. "What time is it?"

"Here I am, professing my love for you and all you want to know is the time," Adrien said dryly. "I feel so underappreciated. Why do I even try?"

I knew that he was joking about everything, but, even in the dark, I couldn't stop from the blood rushing to my cheeks.

"You came in the middle of the night just to profess your love for me?" I raised an eyebrow, even though I was sure that he couldn't see me.

"First of all, it's not midnight. It's a few minutes past 1 am," He indirectly answered my question from before. "And second of all, I'm here for a good reason,"

"What are you here for? Did I take something of yours?" I asked, sitting up on my bed.

"Well, apart from my heart, I don't think so," He answered. It was amazing at how he sounded so serious. But then again, I am learning more and more about him each day. One of his many character traits is that he is such a flirt.

"Then why are you here?" I asked a bit bluntly. I didn't mean to sound rude. I was just a little upset that he came to me at night when I was sleeping. Sleep is very important to me.

"I couldn't sleep," He admitted. I notice how the playfulness in his tone had disappeared. All of a sudden, I wasn't sleepy anymore.

"Why?" I asked, concerned.

"Because I kept thinking about my mother," Adrien answered. I felt the bed shift a bit. Then I saw his figure stand up and sit back on the bed, only now he had made his back touch the wall.

He was still sitting on my bed, only with his back touching the wall. He bowed his head down.

"What exactly were you thinking about her?" I asked. "Did that sentence even make sense? What memory were you thinking about which involved her?"

Adrien chuckled lightly. Probably out of politeness. "I guess all of them. I was sleeping, well, at least I thought I was, when I saw my mother and a younger version of me. My mother was teaching younger me on how to ride a bicycle,"

"And the dream kept changing. The setting would change after a couple of minutes to something different. But the one thing that stayed the same was the fact that my mother was the main character. Memories kept on triggering other memories," Adrien shook his head slowly, as his blonde hair fell to his cheeks.

"At quarter to 1, I couldn't take it. I woke up. My body felt really numb and I knew that I needed to get out of the house, just for a little while," Adrien continued.

"So I thought of places to go to. Somehow, I found myself at your house," I could see him smile a little.

I looked at him, very cautiously. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adrien was very silent for about a minute or two. "No. Not yet,"

I slowly nodded my head, comprehendingly. "Do you want me to hug you?"

Again, Adrien was very silent. This time, the silence was longer than the previous one that I thought that he had probably dozed off and fallen asleep.

"Yes," He answered very faintly.

My heart somehow ached for Adrien. I don't know why. It's probably because I didn't like it when people were in pain, or they were hurting.

I climbed out of my bed and stood up. The breeze tickled the unclothed parts of my body and I regretted wearing pajama shorts.

Adrien stood up, too. This is when I took note that he was also in his pajamas. He didn't change at all. He was in a white t-shirt and blue-and-purple striped pajama pants.

Well, those were the colours that I saw. You can't rely on my eyesight when the only source of light was the moonlight.

Both of us move towards each other. Adrien's arms wrapped around my waist at the same time as I wrapped my hands around his upper body.

I could feel his body tremble for a second. At first, I thought that he was crying. But then, when he hugged my more tightly, I realised that he was cold.

The poor guy walked from his house to my house, and that's not a short distance. It wasn't far, but it wasn't near either. It was like a 15-minute drive away from here.

His nose tickled the nape of my neck as I could feel him breathe in and out softly. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not a dream - no matter how hazy it felt to me.

Most of my sleep had gone but there was that little bit of it which refused to go. It was also dark. If it were brighter, I would believe that this actually happened.

But I didn't want to be the first to pull away from the hug. I like long hugs and I figured Adrien needed one.

I don't know how we stayed like that, and I didn't really care, because as cliché as it sounds, it felt like time actually froze for us to have this moment.

"Are you going to stay here?" I asked him.

"No. My father will start tearing out his hair once he figures out that I've disappeared," He chuckled again, stroking my head.

I found the stroking of my head a little weird, but I went with it.

"Unless, you want me to stay," The usual playfulness in his tone returned, thus ending this beautiful moment.

"No. My parents would be suspicious on why I was sleeping in the same room as a model," I replied.

"Sleeping in the same room with me isn't that bad," Adrien chuckled again, playing with a lock of my hair. "I don't snore,"

"Yes, but you could get ideas," I said. Adrien removed his hands from my waist. He put his hands on either side of my head. He made our foreheads touch so that we could see each other face to face, before his hands went back to hold my waist again.

"Who says that I wasn't already getting ideas? Mari, you had my full attention when you said 'sleeping in the same room with a model',"

"You are really something, Adri,"

"Adri?"

"Yes, that's my nickname for you,"

"Come up with a better one. That's too boring,"

"It sounds just like Mari. That means that Mari is boring, too,"

"Mari sounds more sexy than Adri. You can't sound sexier than me, Mari. I refuse it,"

I whacked the back of his head. "I am calling you Adri and that's final. I was going to think of better name until you indirectly insulted me,"

"I didn't insult you. You just took it wrong," Adrien rolled his eyes. "I will never understand women. You get all worked up over small things. You tend to overreact a lot,"

"I will never understand men. Always classifying and judgding women to be emotional creatures. You tend to be judgemental and not to mention you spend more time on appearances than we do. You specifically,"

"I wasn't even talking about appearances. You're a terrible listener. But since you have brought up the subject, how do I spend more time on my appearances than a girl?"

"I bet that you spend more time in the shower, more time in front of a mirror and more time with your hair and clothes, than I do,"

"That doesn't mean anything,"

"Yes it does,"

"Oh, you're right. It does. It means that you need to work more on your personal hygiene since my personal hygiene is much, much higher than yours," He poked my nose playfully.

"It is not. And you're mean," I pretended to be mad. I even looked away from him.

"I was only joking, relax," He poked my cheek. "Relax for now because I will make the plane ride a living nightmare for you Marinette Dupain-Cheng,"

"Well it can't be worse than me standing right next to you. That's already my worst nightmare coming to life," I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling on the inside.

"How dare you," Adrien let go of me and walked towards my window. "And you say I'm mean. I am leaving,"

"Works for me. Not only do I get to sleep but I get a breath of fresh air," I climbed back into my bed.

I could tell that Adrien was scowling at me. "On second thought, I guess I could stay here longer. Now do me a favour and move over so that I can join you in your bed,"

"Nuh-uh, Agreste. I like my personal space, thank you very much," I crossed my arms.

"You say that now. No girl can resist me for very long, Mari," He began to climb out of my window.

"Hey, I thought that I shut that," I frowned looking at my window.

"You didn't shut it properly," Adrien responded. "I'll see you in a few hours in the plane,"

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"Marinette," A voice called. A voice called. Something began to shake me. I refused to stir and I mumbled angrily as I rolled over.

Boy, was I having a serious case of déja vu.

"Marinette, dear, you'll be late for your flight," Another voice spoke to me.

That's when I woke up with a start. My mother and father were kneeling on the ground beside me, trying to get me to wake up.

"Oh no!" I pushed the covers off of me and I dashed off to my bathroom. Then I remembered my manners. "Thank you! And good morning!"

Spending approximately 15 minutes in there, I was able to brush my teeth and take a shower. Luckily, I had packed all my toiletries the night before.

I changed into my usual outfit: My dark gray blazer with rolled up sleeves. Underneath, I wore a white t-shirt with black stitching and a design below the collar. The design has pink flowers and black leaves. I wore my rolled-up pink pants with the inside lined in white with pink polka dots as well. I wore my favourite light pink ballet shoes with dark red soles.

I grabbed my light pink purse which was sitting on my desk. "Are you ready, Tikki?"

"Yeah!" Tikki chanted, flying around the roof. "I've never been on a plane before,"

"I hope I get a window seat so that you can see the view. The view is amazing," I told her.

I've been on a plane once, just a few years ago. It was not out of the country, though - we were going to the south of France.

"I can't wait!" Tikki flew into my bag with a packet of candy. I made sure to add a couple of marshmallows and Skittles because I know that Tikki is crazy about them.

I got my suitcase and went with it downstairs. It was fairly heavy, so it was manageable.

I had a quick heavy breakfast with my parents before I headed off to school. My father gave me a kiss on my forehead, wishing my a safe journey and my mother hugged me, telling me to enjoy the trip.

I dragged my suitcase on the ground as I made my way to school. At the bottom of the suitcase were two pairs of wheels so it made it easier.

The sky was not as dark as I thought it would be, since it's some minutes to 7. The sunlight was there, though it wasn't strong. It was still cold, which was ironic because the sun was visible.

You can be amazed at how many people wake up at 6 in the morning just to go to work. I cannot imagine doing that. I hope fashion designers don't have do that.

And even if I had to do that, I had to be under the heavy influence of man's greatest beverage - coffee - or else I would just be a hot mess.

When I arrived at school, it didn't surprise me that almost everyone was here. My teacher was standing at the corner of the room with a clipboard and some students were talking to her.

I decided to go there first, but I waited for her to finish talking with the other students. "Excuse me, miss?"

The teacher looked up from her clipboard with a smile. "Yes, Marinette?"

"I've just arrived and I'm not sure on what to do," I admitted.

"Oh. Well, put your luggage there. It will be put in a private bus because we are using that bus to go to the airport. Since I can see that you're here, I can check your name off the list," She clicked her pen and scanned for my name before putting a tick to the box beside me name.

"Do you happen to have any medication or allergies by the way?" She turned to look at me.

"No, I don't have medication. And I don't think I have any allergies," I shook my head.

I find myself thanking God that I went to the hospital to get a shot. I heard that you should get those before you travel to another country because of the spread of unknown diseases.

I could carry a disease with me to the country that we are going to. Or I could bring back a disease from the country we are going to.

All I'm saying is you can never be too safe.

"Alright. You can go and put your luggage there," My female teacher pointed to the other corner of the room, directly across us.

I nodded. I dragged my suitcase with ease and I set my red suitcase down with the others. That's when I noticed that my suitcase stood out because of its colour. I readjusted my small purse over my shoulder.

Suddenly, someone's hands covered my eyes and I couldn't see. My hands went to feel the person's hand. It was smooth.

"Alya," I guessed. My guess must have been correct because her hands left my face to hold my hands as I turned around to face her.

"I am so excited!" She squealed.

"Me too!" I said, squealing back.

"Ooh! Let's take a selfie before we leave. I want to capture every moment on camera so that I can relive these memories when I'm older," She got her smartphone out and fumbled with it before she put her phone up.

Her hand goes around my shoulder, bringing our faces together. My hand also went around her shoulder.

"One, two, three, smile!" She gave an award winning smile whereas I gave a grin and held out two fingers to do the 'peace' sign.

We did a couple of goofy poses before we were photo-bombed.

"Hey! You two ruined the selfie," I scolded Nino and Adrien.

"Go and photo-bomb somewhere else," Alya folded her arms, glaring at the two idiots.

"Sorry, but we couldn't help it," Nino shrugged.

"We've heard your point, though, so we are leaving," Adrien held up his hands in surrender, as he grabbed Nino by the collar and they walked away.

"Good," Alya huffed before taking her phone out again. She put the camera on timer mode to take 4 different pictures after every two seconds.

First picture, Alya and I were grinning goofily as Alya put 'rabbit ears' with her fingers behind my head.

Second picture, I stuck out my tongue playfully while Alya did the 'peace' sign with her fingers. Nino did the 'rock-and-roll' sign while Adrien was smirking slyly as he did the 'peace' sign, too.

The third picture I was laughing at how Alya was going to rip Adrien and Nino's heads off their bodies. However, she covered her death face, by pulling out a weird face. Adrien did rabbit ears behind my head while Nino tried to look like a gangster.

The final picture was my personal favourite. I puckered out my lips, while Alya raised an eyebrow, mischievously. The boys did seductive faces by winking at the camera or licking their lips seductively, while trailing their hands up and down their body.

"You guys are really stupid!" I was laughing my head off at the pictures.

"You're right, Marinette. These two are stupid enough to photo-bomb our selfies after we politely asked them to leave," Alya gave them a deranged smile, while her eye twitched. "Now, they have to deal with me,"

Alya cracked her knuckles which made the two boys gulp and look at each other nervously.

"Hold my phone," Alya handed me her phone. I sent the collage of the four pictures of Alya, Adrien, Nino and I to my phone. Then I hit the video button to record everything.

Alya chased the boys around. She caught up to Adrien first. She grabbed him by his collar and gave him the most painful wedgie that I have ever seen. I could have sworn that I saw the fabric of his underwear tear.

Nino's wedgie wasn't any better. She didn't go easy on him just because she had a thing for him. His wedgie was just as brutal as Adrien's.

When she started to come back to me, I turned the camera to the boys who were screaming and on the ground, holding their gluteus maximuses.

Gluteus maximus, what a funny name for the butt. It kind of sounds like a superhero. Just picture it: It's a bird. No, it's a plane. No, it's Gluteus maximus.

The boys have the guts to still limp back towards Alya and I. I was still recording them. We both had amused expressions on our faces though.

"If you would excuse us, ladies," Adrien said in a high pitched voice.

"We are going to remove our wedgies," Nino continued before bowing before us. Adrien did the same. "And possibly change our underwear,"