Cloud 69

64:

The rest of the trip went as well as it could have. Every morning, the chaperones would give a litany of rules that were to be followed, to which Zach would scoff at and Jason would remark 'What are they gonna do if I break them? Leave me in Paris?' which Dylan would respond to with an 'If we're lucky." Then, all six of them scheme up a way to break the rules without getting caught. 

Their plans all worked out well, too. And even when they weren't trying to break the rules or evade curfew, they had plenty of fun. Luna got her picture in front of the Arc de Triomphe and found a cute french guy to share a croissant with at a café in Champs-Élysées. Madeline got to see the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Carson got to correct enough tour guides while Dylan would argue the socio-economic importance of people and events mentioned during visits to museums and palace gardens to last a lifetime. Jason even dragged them all to Moulin Rouge, which was thrilling, but made for a really hard time waking up call the next morning.

The week had gone by so quickly, and it felt bittersweet that the trip was coming to an end, even though the memories were still fresh and exciting. Like Jason trying, and failing, to order himself a coffee in french, only for the waiter to cave in and speak English because Jason's accent and mispronunciation was just that horrible. Or Zach creating a scene in the Luxembourg Gardens after a bee "nearly killed" him. Then, there was the day Dylan had the bright idea to race up the Eiffel Tower first thing in the morning; Carson ended up winning with Madeline and Dylan right behind him, Zach was about five minutes behind them, and Luna and Zach gave up early on, and bought tickets to take the elevator up to the top and were splitting a muffin while waiting for their friends. 

On their final night of the trip before the plane ride home, all six of them returned to the hotel content with their travel, and with enough cheesy souvenir's (mostly Jason's) to fill up half of a suitcase. By this time, they were all so exhausted, they didn't even have the energy to be sad they were leaving. The group parted in the elevators, giving tired goodbyes as Maddie and Luna got off on their floor, and the guys stayed on to ride up to theirs. 

The girls dragged themselves down the hallway, making it to the door of their hotel room with sleepy eyes and tired bodies. Madeline leaned on the wall as she waited for Luna to unlock the door, letting her eyes fall shut for just a moment; she knew as soon as her head hit the pillow, she would be out like a light. When she heard the door unlock, she reluctantly opened her eyes and stood up straight, following behind Luna. 

Before she could close the door fully behind her, a hand on the other side reached out, stopping the door from shutting. After getting over the initial shock, Maddie opened the door and found Carson standing in front of her, lips pressed in a straight line and eyes awake and alert. 

"Carson," she questioned, a little breathlessly. 

"You owe me a picture."

Her eyes widened, and she brought a hand up to her face, "Shit. I'm sorry. I forgot about that."

"I know. That's why I came."

Carson remained in front of in the threshold of the door, keeping her from closing it if she wanted to. He tapped his foot, a quiet padding noise against the carpeted floor, and brought his wrist in front of him to check his watch before bringing his eyes back to Maddie. Her brows furrowed. "You want to take it now?" 

He shrugged, "When else would we take it?"

She looked around, at the dim – but certainly very messy – room behind her; there were clothes thrown about carelessly, and two large suitcases covering most of the walkable floor area. Even without the mess, it wasn't very ceremonious place, and Madeline couldn't imagine anywhere inside the room that would make good for a picture. "Here?"