"Here I'll get the door," Adrien said, running ahead to open the bakery door for Marinette, who insisted on carrying her bags.

"Thank you," she squeaked quietly, moving quickly to get inside and finally out of the cold. Adrien let the door swing shut with a soft chime, and suddenly he was standing in the Dupen-Cheng bakery.

The building looked tiered, with the house proper above them and their workspace below, the whole place pleasantly soaked in the smell of freshly baked pastries. It was charming and very nice, making him even more eager to see their home. It was such a novel idea, living above a bakery you owned, it intrigued him. He jumped however when the absolutely massive man who he remembered as Marinette's father towered into view with a booming, "Hello there!"

"Hi Dad!" Marinette was quick to greet him, setting her bags on the counter for a moment and hugging him, wasting no time in turning and gesturing at the young boy stood a little awkwardly in the common space. "This is Adrien, you might have seen him in my class and he's a friend of Alya and Nino's too."

He chuckled, the sound low and mirthful, making Adrien relax a little.

"Oh yes I recognize him from the usual group, though it is nice to properly meet you. You can call me Tom of course."

The man strode forward and held out his hand to shake, Adrien accepting the gesture with a polite smile but honestly a little intimidated by how lost his hand was in her father's.

"Nice to meet you sir," Adrien said by way of greeting, earning a genuine smile that curbed his intimidation almost immediately. This man had probably only a handful of bad words to say about anyone in his whole life.

"Hahaha, Sir! Such a gentleman," he chuckled, confirming Adrien's thoughts. This guy was as nice as they came, he saw now where Marinette's earnest friendliness came from.

"What have you got there?" Tom said suddenly, turning to look at Marinette's bags before she whisked them back into her arms with a playful scowl.

"Presents papa, no peeking!"

To Adrien's amazement the man playfully frowned back, hunching his shoulders and sighing dramatically. "Brushed off by my own daughter, what a world. Oh well at least Sabine is nice to me."

"Daad!" Marinette whined, shaking her head and laughing along with him before seeming to think better of excluding Adrien, referring to him with a shy smile that still held humor. "He's a drama queen."

"And this is my kingdom," Tom said with a flourish of his hands, making the kids laugh as he turned his back to return to his work. "Welcome to our home Adrien, stay as long as you like! Sabine is making something for the two of you now."

Marinette let out a tiny shocked gasp before shouting up the stairs, "Mama! You didn't have to!"

Adrien couldn't help the smile that was a constant on his face since entering the home, only growing when he heard a female voice call down, "I wasn't going to make you cook! Bring up your friend I'd like to meet him!"

Marinette giggled tensely, holding the bags awkwardly and looking back to Adrien, her nerves slowly replaced with surprised relief as he still seemed to be in a great mood.

"I'll introduce you to my mom, the house is this way," she spoke up, gesturing with her body for him to follow.

Adrien was over, meeting her parents, in her house. She was doing , she was so proud of herself. It was getting easier to talk to him, to laugh and share things and it was amazing.

When Adrien saw how steep the stairs were he let out a breathy laugh and said, "Okay you were stubborn before but let me at least carry ONE bag."

After a moment's hesitation she relented with a light blush and the two of them headed upstairs, leading through to the kitchen/living area where her mom was.

"Hello!" he was greeted happily, and he saw a pretty older woman smiling at him over her shoulder. "My name is Sabine, you're Adrien right?"

"Yes mam'" he answered happily, "It's very nice to meet you! Thank you so much for letting me come over."

"Of course! I'm making food for you now, do hot sandwiches sound fine sweetheart?"

"Yes that sounds great, thank you!" he said enthusiastically, making the woman smile before she turned back around. She was working quickly, rolling together spiced ground beef it looked like and heating up a basic sauce from a jar for the makings of something like a meatball sandwich? He had no clue, but he was excited for it.

"We can put this stuff down in my room," Marinette spoke up, drawing his attention to another small flight of stairs with a hatch at the top. "It's this way, but give me just a sec, I need to do something."

"No problem," he said with a grin, moving to wait by the bottom of the stairs. His visit had been impromptu, her room might not be in a state she was comfortable with sharing.

His hearing was very sharp and he could hear her moving quickly, collecting what sounded to be pieces of paper and maybe... stapling something? There were another two minutes of silence, which she was in reality using to ensure she had gotten every single picture of him out of her room including the desktop and stashed Tikki in her closet before nervously calling, "Okay, come on up!"

For her it was huge milestone and her heart was thumping erratically with nerves, the boy of her fixation coming in to view, standing in her room, looking around with a soft smile on his face. He was here, she had really done it. He was standing in her room. They were friends.

"Your room is really cool! Is this all your design stuff?" he asked, setting his bag down along with hers on a couch like sitting space near the wall and silently asking for permission to proceed. When he earned a shy nod and smile he went forward, looking at the well-used sewing machine and progress sketches tacked along the wall.

"Is this for my jacket?" he asked, looking at a handful of pages that looked like slow progressions towards the look he recognized as the very jacket he was wearing.

"Y-yup. I went through loads of phases for it before I uh- l-liked how it looked for you. Well I mean looked as a whole but it was for you." She clammed up, probably deciding silence was safest and he smiled at her in a way he hoped would make her more at ease again. He didn't want to lose the companionship they had forged, but he recognized having him in her room probably put her more towards her shy side again.

"How long did the planning phase take? This is."

"I-I've been changing it for about two months, I finally picked though not long before I gave it to you."

He stopped, pausing in thought before turning to her with a quizzical tilt of the head.

"Two months? But we only got our secret santa's the week before break."

She made something like a strangled squeak, her cheeks and the bridge of her nose red as she laughed nervously.

"W-well I- I uh. I was actually already... planning it. I was designing it f-for you, for Christmas. Then I got you as a secret Santa and decided to just g-gift it that way."

Marinette wasn't sure what to think of his reaction at first, his eyes widening a little and his mouth popping open, his gaze darting between the sketches and her and the workspace and her again.

"Y-you were planning a gift just for me that far in advance?"

He could have sworn she was just as red as her scarf, her hands twisting the length of red fabric nervously in her hands and she didn't look at him.

"I- I wanted it to be perfect."

What she didn't expect,

Was a hug.

He was wrapped around her out of nowhere, closing the distance between them faster than she could comprehend, holding her tight and speaking into her shoulder by the time she gasped in surprise.

"."

He said it sort of heavy, and after a few seconds of frozen shocked confused disbelief she hugged him back, staring dazed over his shoulder.

"No one's ever thought of me like that, wanting to make something just for me as a gift I- I can't even believe- just- thank you."

He pulled away from her, his hands still on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes so she could see how much he meant it.

"It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me, you really are amazing Marinette." He said it with something that was almost a laugh, just a breathy exhale of happiness and emotion. His grin was automatic, splitting his face as he gazed down at her, the designer's face filling with pride and joy.

She had no idea what to say, no idea if she even had a voice left, but her words fell out on their own, high and broken with giggles.

"I'm g-glad I could make you happy!"

He let her go then, trying to be conscious of her personal space but she didn't seem to mind that he had hugged her. He looked again at the sketches, smiling to himself like a doofus but he couldn't find it in him to be embarrassed. "I'll make it up to you someday I swear, all your kindness. I'll figure something out."

"I told you already Adrien, you don't have to," there was a hesitation in her sentence, and she seemed to hype herself up to say something before blurting out, "getting to know you better m-more than makes up for it."

He looked at her quickly, meeting her eyes and seeing the fragile confidence she had built up to say that to him reflected in her face. She stood with her arms close to her, but her stance firm, and a gentle smile on her face.

It made him grin. "See then you say stuff like that and I know I owe you more than ever. You're so kind, I'll catch up soon."

That confidence in her eyes settled into place, her body relaxing a little as she huffed and smiled wryly at his determination.

She moved to take off her coat, setting the puffy fabric down on her lounge and revealing a light white long sleeve shirt with a wide neckline that showed her collar bone. When his eyes followed her hands as she removed her gloves he caught a flash of gold and felt that same spark of pride when he saw his bell hanging just past the edge of the neckline. She didn't remove the scarf, just let it dangle a little looser. He had admittedly been a little distracted, having tracked the gold of the bell then examined the contour of her collar bone and then- ehem.

He tore his eyes away, scolding himself with a twinge of embarrassment. You're in her house you jerk, she might be pretty but don't be disrespectful.

He settled in in much the same way, removing his coat and folding it to place over the back of her desk chair and removing his gloves. While he was stood by her desk he saw another few removed pages from her sketchbook, calling over to her, "Why are these ones separated from the rest? I really like them."

"Huh? Oh, those ones I- well." She seemed to consider her words carefully, that concentrated designer mode he had witnessed a handful of times falling over her. "I'm not entirely happy with them. I was researching different ways to go about making it but I just don't know if it will work."

"Why not?"

She walked over towards him, chuckling a little self-consciously. "I-I don't want to talk your ear off about cuts and stitching."

"No do it!" he said excitedly, settling in to her chair with an attentive expression that made her laugh. "I might get confused but I'll try and keep up. I know a bit about clothes just from immersion, though nothing much about making them, even if I should. Try me!"

She blinked, a little surprised, before giggling into her hand. "Are you sure? Well... I mean it's sorta boring but..."

Their conversation quickly became an in depth discussion of lapel types and what was and wasn't in fashion, Adrien sometimes playfully saying cat pun sweaters were the next big thing or something else that would make Marinette laugh. He could do that a lot he noticed, make her laugh. And oh man could she make him laugh, she was so funny. Just her facial expressions alone sometimes were so amazing, how she used them to tell half the joke for her. They were so caught up in each other that it took Sabine physically opening the hatch to get their attention, and with a flash of embarrassment the two of them realized she had been calling for them for a while.

"Sorry mom! We're coming!"

Adrien chuckled and smiled shyly at Sabine who just laughed. "Okay, hurry up."

The two kids made their way to the kitchen, sandwiches prepared and lined up for them already. He was right they were a sort of meatball thing, toasted French bread rolls filled with the spiced meat coated in sauce, melted white cheese over the top before being enclosed back in the roll. It was relatively simple and quick to make, but it looked amazing.

"Thank you Mam', I really appreciate it," he nodded his head graciously and she laughed again.

"It's no problem sweetheart, I'll do it anytime so come by as often as you like."

Adrien slid in to his seat, very much so liking the idea of coming there again. He had only traded a hand full of words with the parents and they were so warm and welcoming.

He started to eat and was delighted with the taste, grinning at Mari between bites. They didn't talk too much at first, too busy with their food, until they were about halfway through. Adrien had made a joke that made Mari choke on her drink when Tom came up, catching the handsome blonde boy laughing heartily at how Mari scowled at him.

Tom and Sabine switched places in the bakery so he could eat, and he chuckled at the sight of Adrien snickering into his food as his daughter swore revenge.

"Hello kids, food good?" he asked, grabbing a larger portion of his own.

"Yes sir!" Adrien piped up, Mari choosing not to say anything and scowling in mock irritation at Adrien until he started laughing again. "Look Mari it's not my fault I'm hilarious."

Tom did his best to keep to himself, but having a hard time containing his laughter at the adorable banter the two held.

"See?" Adrien said at one point during an argument, "your dad is on my side, right sir? Puns are an extremely vital part of comedy."

"I am a father," Tom laughed, "puns are required. I've gotten so good with them I could take my Dad jokes on tour, being a baker doesn't put much else besides bread on the table."

Adrien blinked, and then howled with laughter while Marinette groaned good-naturedly. Marinette had to admit, how excited her father was to have someone to tell bad jokes to was pretty funny. She had finally found the catalyst for her father's terrible jokes, and she never would have guessed it would be Adrien. After that she lost her date-not date to her father for a little while, the two of them swapping absolutely horrible jokes that made Marinette lay her head down on the table, much to their delight.

"HA, I've got to tell that one to Sabine she's going to hate it. Are you two going back out again or are you going to hang out here?" Tom had risen, taking his and the children's plates towards the sink and drifting towards the staircase to torment his wife with some new jokes he had learned.

"Oh- uh I don't- Adrien?" Marinette referred to him, the boy checking his phone with a frown. It was already 3:30.

"I have a dumb thing at 5:00, so I should probably be home by 4:30. I've got an hour, so it's up to you! We're about finished with the market, but I'm sure we can find something else if we walk around. Or you can keep showing me your designs."

Marinette thought it over for a moment, worrying that her house was boring or uninteresting without much to do but also enjoying the warmth of the house and the thought of Adrien in her room just hanging out like friends and-

"I can show you what I'm working on next i-if you want," Marinette asked with a shy smile, to which Adrien replied with an enthusiastic nod, bouncing to his feet.

"That sounds good! Is it for you or a gift?"

Tom watched as his daughter shyly but happily started to describe her work, leading the boy back towards her room. He couldn't help but chuckle again, before heading downstairs himself to tell his wife some of the jokes Adrien had told him.

.

The next hour was unbelievable. Over Marinette's desktop speakers she played a random Christmas station, getting more and more excited about her projects and laughing at how silly she discovered Adrien could be. She would pace from one end of the room to the other clutching sketches or cloth or needles and Adrien would chase along behind her in her rolling desk chair, pulling up his legs and spinning as he gently rolled past her with a grin. It was insane to see, to actually get to a point where Adrien was more full of life than she had ever witnessed before from afar. And for him, seeing Marinette laugh and even tease him, bouncing around all bubbly and excited, it was one of the greatest things he had ever seen. She had always been so shy and while she was still a little awkward, a little clumsy, a little silly, he never once considered those bad things. She was so courteous and thoughtful, he saw no reason for her to be self-conscious, someone as amazing as her deserved all the confidence in the world. Though he supposed he could only hope that time would change that.

Adrien realized with a little unease that it was becoming increasingly more difficult not to blatantly be Cat Noir. It was almost impossible, and he was slipping constantly. Luckily he had managed to avoid calling her Princess but there were distinctly Cat Noir things that he never did as Adrien he was worried might tip her off. Honestly though, he couldn't help it, he was in a better mood than he had been in for a long time, outside of being with Ladybug that is. He noticed with a faint kind of humor that this kind of happiness could be found in friends too, not just love, that maybe he could have yet another amazing friend. Before it had been Ladybug and Nino holding the titles of best friend, but he suddenly had hope Mari would be there too.

He had been scooting away from Marinette, spamming her phone's camera and clogging her storage while he laughed when he got a phone call. With a pout he relinquished Marinette's phone, snickering at her frustrated huff when she saw the pictures were in the hundreds now, pulling his own phone from his pocket and running cold.

Woops, it was 5:05.

"H-hi Natalie," he tried to start, giving Marinette a sheepish grin as she too noticed the time with a horrified gasp.

Marinette could only watch as Adrien winced, obviously being chewed out to some degree by his father's assistant.

"Y-yes I know, I'm sorry. Yes. I'll head home n- Okay. Yeah the park wi- Oh he's already there? Okay, yeah. Sorry, I'll go now."

Adrien hung up quickly, sighing as he slumped back into the chair.

"I've got to go," he said sourly, rolling his head to look over at Marinette. She looked a little saddened, and a little concerned, his mood reviving slightly when he saw how much she didn't want him to go. Not a single cell in his body wanted to leave that warm cheerful bakery, but he was already in trouble as it was.

"I had a really really nice time," Marinette squeaked, smiling cutely at him with a slight blush.