Adrien was glad he had made the suggestion of playing more video games instead of shopping once he was back on his feet a little, because he had given himself the excuse of another fantastic day. He didn't want to push too much, he didn't want her to get annoyed but he just... couldn't stay away. It sounded weird, and maybe a little clingy too but her home was just so warm and nice and she was just so warm and nice that leaving to go back home was horrible. Even the snow felt different. If he was walking with her it was amazing, whimsical and festive and bright. When he was alone it was mostly just cold, yeah he still liked it but... he liked it better with a friend.

'With her,' his mind added more specifically, but he blocked it out with another irritated huff, his third that day. Certainly the last though, because he remembered with an ecstatic grin that he was going to see her again, the day before Christmas Eve, to go Christmas shopping for her parents.

He had wanted to go see her earlier, wanting to return to the bakery the second he had been forced to leave the night before, but there was an insanely dull festive photo spread to be done and it had taken the entire morning. Now it was almost 3 PM and he was eager to be off, still riding the giddy high that came with the realization that he was going Christmas shopping for Marinette's parents, because he was spending Christmas with them.

He paused in his preparation to leave, an involuntary frown settling on his face. His hands fell from their outstretched positions to grab his coat off his bed and he was forced to recall the crushing disappointment of his father's dismissal, and the cold anger that came with it.

It still stung, of course it did, having to go back to his father's house where the man had already left for work he refused to elaborate on. Seeing the big empty halls and the cheap meaningless tree, it made him angry.

"You're gonna need this Adrien its cold!"

Plagg's voice broke him from the encroaching numbness and he looked down, seeing the black kwami doing his best to drag the heavy coat from the bed by the sleeve. Despite his rapidly failing mood the sight made him laugh and he moved forward to help, grabbing the black coat into his hands and sliding it on. It was funny, honestly, how literal the feeling of the coat weighed on his mood, in a good way. It was heavy and warm and hugged him just right, and with a smile he realized it smelled like bread.

He didn't care how it looked to Plagg, or if he would be teased, but he quickly pulled the coat tight and buried his nose in it, the smile growing wider as he did. To his surprise Plagg made no move to make fun of him or say something suggestive about the shy baker's daughter, rather he looked pleased. Plagg gave himself a satisfied nod before whizzing forward to settle into Adrien's pocket, glad that his plan had worked as he intended. He knew the boy was recalling how empty the house was it was written plain on his face, so he had moved quickly to counter those thoughts with recollections of a house that wasn't empty, and of the girl who waited for him there.

'You're not alone you doofus,' Plagg thought to himself, his irritation laced with fondness, 'you got us. Me and Ladybug and Tikki too though you don't know. So stop moping already, she's waiting.'

With the weight of the coat came fond memories of the night before, of the dinner Tom had insisted on taking everyone to. It was like a dream, Adrien was almost embarrassed at how surreal it was to him. The only reference he had for this kind of thing came from TV shows and movies, it had never really struck him as something real that real families did. He grinned when he remembered Tom's playful jab, calling up the stairs saying "Get away from that TV and pretend you like your dad! We're going to dinner let's go!"

They had rubbed the sting of way too much game binging from their eyes and realized it was almost 7:30 PM, they had been at it for AGES and it was perfect. Adrien had felt something he could hardly name when he ran downstairs with Marinette, met with the determined eyes of her parent's and being almost startled by it.

"Bundle up sweetie its cold," Sabine had cooed, pulling Adrien's scarf a little tighter before repeating the action for Marinette.

"The car is around this way Adrien," Tom had said with a smile, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him through the back. "Hope you don't mind, Sabine's called permanent shot gun."

It had started the second Marinette had vanished from her room to notify her parent's to the change of plans, and it had made him feel... was there even a word. Grateful, he was tempted to try, but that was way too mild. Indebted sounded better, because when he had finally found the steadiness to make his way back to the living room after the phone call Sabine had hugged him tightly without saying a word, and he had felt all at once all the warmth of a parent and it was almost overwhelming. Tom had stood behind her a short distance, but seemed to recognize how at his limit Adrien was and instead tried to make him feel welcome in another fashion.

"What does a reindeer do if they've lost their tail?"

Adrien had blinked, looking over Sabine's shoulder before pulling away and giving Tom an expectant smirk.

"What?"

"They go to a 're-tail' shop and buy another one!"

It was things like that, things that the two adults did to immediately welcome Adrien in, even more than before. The comment Tom had made after a few more bad reindeer jokes had nearly broken him, saying something like "You have fifteen years of those to catch up on, I figured I'd get started early" that had almost been too much, but luckily the tight knit family understood and the parent's gave him space to soak it in, leaving him with Marinette until it was time for dinner that night.

Adrien shook himself back to the present, reminding himself that those same adults he was indebted to needed gifts and he was already running behind.

He looked around, spinning quickly and having to apologize to Plagg for jostling him before finally finding his phone on his desk.

'A- I'm on my way Mari sorry! Be there soon I swear!'

He jogged towards the door and quickly darted into the bathroom to check he looked alright, ignoring Plagg's snickers, and then bolted out the door, running through the house and out into the cold to head towards the bakery.

Adrien was talking aloud to Plagg as he cleared the front door and started running towards the gate, enjoying the crisp too blue sky and the giant clouds hanging above him. "I'll have to figure out what they like but Mari will be with me so I can just ask her opinion on everything but it has to be good I-"

He got to the gate, skidding to a stop in the thin layer of snow that had yet to be cleared by workers and gaping at the happily smiling girl in a cute red cap, a bell necklace hanging on her chest.

"I- Marinette!!" he shouted, his legs jolting back into movement as he ran to her, throwing open the gate and ignoring the sting of freezing metal against his bare palms. He came to a halt a little ungracefully, having to twist his arms to stay standing and making her laugh, but he couldn't stop staring and definitely couldn't stop smiling. "What are you doing here?! I was just on my way!"

She giggled and the image was adorable, her arms curled up in her chest and her one hand bundled up in her scarf while the other held a thermos of some kind which she held out with pink in her cheeks.

"I wanted to walk you there cause y-you always run over and I wanted to make you something warm so uh- here you go!"

Adrien just stared at her for a moment, grinning like a fool before taking the thermos, turning the lid slightly to be greeted with warm chocolate smelling steam. "I can't believe you walked here just so we could walk together- and then this!" He held the thermos aloft, unable to help the happy giggle that slipped out. "You really are the best, have I told you that yet?"

He liked the way her eyes still widened a little and how she still turned a little red, but she managed to smirk back and say, "You can keep saying it if you like."

They shared a laugh for a moment, Adrien about to take a drink when she asked, "By the way, who were you talking to?"

He froze, the thermos still just in front of his lips when he panicked and said around it, "Uh, my cat."

He lowered the cup so he could see, trying to smile and play it off but she gave a quizzical tilt of the head.

"A cat? I thought you weren't allowed to have pets."

"Uh... uh well- you know with cats," he laughed awkwardly, trying to get out of it as he started walking, only moving forward to keep her from looking for it. "They don't really have to be yours to be around it's uh, a cat from one of the houses nearby I think, yeah. It wanders in and I pet it... sometimes."

She was still staring at him, wondering after his fidgety reaction but tried to be casual to put him at ease.

"That's nice... uh, what color is it?"

"Oh it's black, all the best cats are," he couldn't resist saying, relaxing a little with his semi-believable lie.

She snorted and shook her head, and her hair was down he realized. He hadn't noticed at first because of the beanie and scarf but it fell down in a dark curtain, weaving into the red knit. Perhaps it was that visual coupled with the fact that she reached up to toy with the bell around her neck absentmindedly that made his breath skip, breaking from its normal rhythm just enough for him to notice. He tore his eyes away quickly and focused on the sidewalk ahead, his hands curling around the warmth of the thermos as he tried not to dwell on what that was.

He knew, how could he not? To say that she didn't look beautiful with her hair down would just be blatantly disregarding a fact. Admitting she was pretty wasn't a problem, he knew she was pretty. It was very hard not to know she was pretty, and had been getting increasingly more difficult as time went on It was something he realized with slight irritation. The problem with that was he was going to spend the next two days in incredibly close proximity with her, even closer than before, and he was not about to be some disrespectful teen boy and start looking at her when he was literally going to be sleeping at her house. He refused to undermine their friendship when she was being more kind and supportive than anyone he had ever known... he wasn't about to give her anything less than a perfect gentleman just because she had the habit of being a little distracting at times.

She giggled gently as she saw a couple swinging their young son between them on the sidewalk just ahead and he drilled his resolution into his mind again, ignoring the pretty ring of the sound and how suddenly light it made his heart feel. Or maybe it was the hot chocolate. Or the gesture, or just her really. Ugh... She had to make it hard. Even then though, his frustrated thoughts brought a smile to his face.

"You look really nice with your hair down Marinette," he said suddenly, grinning at her even as he practically screamed internally. So are we just going to go ahead and throw all that 'gentleman' stuff out the window right off the bat? Good, of course well done.

Her lips parted slightly in surprise, a light pink dusting her cheeks as she giggled again, looking up at him as they walked with a happy smile. "Thank you! I always think I should do it more often but never do."

Okay, that was good. She wasn't falling apart or stuttering even at all anymore, she looked flattered definitely but he hadn't made her gasp.

He felt another spark of irritation at the fact he was little disappointed.

They kept walking, trudging through the snow together in peaceful silence and he couldn't really feel frustrated. Keeping up any kind of sharp or uncomfortable emotion was hard with moments like this, just pacing through the snow with his friend and trading the warm thermos between them. It was... strange, and amazing. Even when his brain was trying to self-destruct and his emotions were trying to sabotage him, after enough time and enough gentle smiles and enough happy laughs he couldn't help but feel at ease. It was like no matter how hard he tried to ruin this for himself he couldn't do it, it couldn't be ruined, because no matter how many unsure thoughts he had and unstable emotions that rose to the surface he would still be walking leisurely through the snow with Marinette... and that made everything okay.

"This isn't the way is it?" he finally spoke up, noticing that their path diverged from what he expected, Marinette making a sudden left down a snowy side street.

"Well not to the bakery," she responded over her shoulder, "but I figured since I went and met you we could just head straight to the shops! They are only going to be open for so much longer, a lot of the shop owners are going out of town tonight for Christmas Eve tomorrow."

Oh that was right, no one was bound to be open for much longer and he was not going to walk in empty handed. "Alright so, presents for your parents. What would they like? I can even order wine for them as long as I have it delivered in my dad's name."

Something about that made her laugh, the girl bouncing giddily as they wove their way into a commercial district. "Well you won't have to worry about that, I wouldn't know what they like anyways. No my dad is simple, get him something goofy and he'll love it to death. And my mom, she just likes thoughtful things, something that you had to consider a little bit before getting."

Marinette looked up when Adrien didn't immediately respond, smiling when she saw how deeply concentrated he looked.

"Don't stress Adrien, it's nice of you to get them anything at all."

"You- all of you," he blurted out, his hands suddenly lurching out in front of him in wild gestures. "You're all so- you're so amazing your whole family I just want to do it right. I want them to like it but I don't know them too well and I've only been at your house the past few days and-"

"Adrien."

Her soft voice cut him off, his breath a little uneven from his agitation when he met her eyes. And when he did he suddenly felt that much calmer, her gentle smile forcing his unease away once again.

"They are going to love it, whatever you get. So don't worry okay? You don't owe us anything."

He laughed at the last bit, shaking his head in stunned disbelief as they pulled to a stop in front of a cheery store.

"Don't owe you anything? That's totally unreal I owe you everything Marinette! I- you- you've made me feel so welcome and it's only been a few days it's just- I..." he trailed off, trying to pull the words out of the air and looking anywhere but her. "I'm really grateful... that you've done this for me just. Even these as well just," he used one hand to hold out the thermos and loosely gesture to the girl as a whole while the other gripped his jacket protectively. The action made her mouth for a little 'o' and her eyes shine with joy.

Silence stretched between them as it suddenly became important to him to thank her all over again, repeating the earnest words for maybe the dozenth time. He held the thermos tighter, looking at the air just above Marinette.

"I really appreciate this... spending Christmas with you. You make me feel like I'm apart of things and it means a lot to me... so thank you."

He still didn't look down at her, but he saw the flash of red from the corner of his eye as she moved forward, wrapping herself around his middle so suddenly it made him jump a little in surprise.

"I'm glad I get to spend Christmas with you too Adrien."

The words were muffled against his chest when she said them, but she pulled back so he could hear her more clearly when she spoke again, her cheeks red and eyes shining. "You deserve to have a nice Christmas."

There it was again, her telling him he deserved something nice. She had said it about him before, about Cat Noir when she bought that little golden bell. Seeing it flash against her chest now made it sound even better in his ears, because she truly believed it. Even about the side of his she didn't even know.

"Thanks Mari..." he said quietly, smiling at her and reaching out to place his free hand on her shoulder, guiding her inside. "I-I guess we should start looking huh?"

"Yeah," she said back, her voice equally as withdrawn but a smile still on her face. "I'm sure we can find something for my dad here."

---

Adrien paced briskly before his windows, traversing the length of his room again and again as his heart beat erratically against his rib cage. It was almost pitch black in his room, none of the lights were on and clouds bearing snow blotted out the moon and stars of the night sky outside. He didn't need to see though, he would be leaving soon regardless. Leaving was what had him so tense in the first place.

"What are you freaking out about?" Plagg's voice cut through the darkness and made Adrien stop in his tracks, a grimace settling on his face. "It's Ladybug, you see her all the time."

Hearing her name made his heart just that much more frantic in its pace, and his feet were practically begging him to be in motion again from his nerves. Adrien grit his teeth however, forcing himself to be still.

"I've never given her something like this before," he spoke, his gaze zeroing in on the glowing green eyes of his Kwami floating nearby. "It's a gift she- I'm sure she won't refuse it but I don't know if it's too much she might- what if she thinks I'm making a move on her so she doesn't take it?"

"Well aren't you making a move on her?" Plagg supplied unhelpfully, his eyes rolling to express his disinterest since it was the only part of him that was visible.

Adrien scoffed, but didn't answer. He wasn't entirely sure, he mostly just wanted her to like it. But what if she didn't? He was in motion again.

"You keep pacing and it's gonna give me a headache. Let's just go, she'll be waiting for us at this rate."

"I-I know just, give me a second Plagg."

"You've had all day!"

Adrien sighed, coming to a stop again and fiddling with the small black box in his coat pocket. He had had all day. And he had been nervous about it all day as well. Well most of the day.

The gift exchange had been on his mind all through the photoshoot, and all through dinner and all the rest of the night up until just now when he really should be on his way. His time that day with Marinette shopping through town had been a fantastic distraction but she had turned down the offer to hang out after they had a quick dinner together in a café.

"I have something I need to do tonight and should probably be available," she had answered evasively, smiling and giving him a hug before running inside, the chime of the bakery door in his face ringing in the return of his panic. He had something he needed to do as well, and it involved a small black box on a rooftop in Paris.

Now that he was right in the face of it though his nerves made him jumpy and fidgety, wanting her to like the gift, not wanting it to be too much. Making her smile meant so much to him it always had, and he could see two very clear images of what might happen.