Adrien woke up the next morning, just in time to be able to transform before Marinette woke up. He took his clothes and went to the restroom. He changed back to his normal clothes and was about to transform when Plagg raised his paw. "Wait!"

Adrien froze, "What is it Plagg? Did something happen?" Plagg dropped his paw and smiled. "I see you didn't have any problems while sleeping."

Adrien groaned, "Shut up, it's too early for your annoyance, Plagg." "Are you sure it's that? Are you sure it's not beca-"

"Plagg, transforme-moi."

"Wait! No! I'm no-"

He went back upstairs to Marinette's room to see she was still asleep. He sighed in relief and put the clothes she gave him on her chaise. From downstairs, he could hear Sabine and Tom talking quietly, hoping not to wake the pair up.

He took one last glance at Marinette before deciding to go downstairs. Upon seeing him walk down the stairs, Sabine looked at him with a warm smile. "Sleep well?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Tom looked at him with a slight confused look. Sabine turned to her husband and simply said, "He slept on Marinette's chaise it's much more comfortable than the couch." Tom raised a brow at his wife with a small smile. He looked back at Chat and chuckled. Tom knew his wife very well.

Chat felt heat rise to his cheeks and he chuckled awkwardly. "So, son, how did you and Marinette meet? I know I already asked this, but I'm genuinely curious."

Saying he visited her at night on her balcony probably wouldn't be the best idea. Not because of the consequences, but because of the teasing they'd most definitely get. The best option would probably be the fair.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, he heard Marinette walking down the stairs. She rubbed her eye and waved good morning to her family with a smile. "Just in time, we were asking Chat about how you two met. We genuinely want to know," Sabine smiled.

Marinette froze at the stairs and looked at Chat. Chat gave her a nervous glance before saying, "The Fair."

Sabine put her cup down in surprise, "Oh? Weren't you with your friends Mari? With that lovely boy? Wasn't it a double date?" Chat bit back a smile. Marinette blinked. She looked away momentarily and frowned. She looked back up and shook her head, 'No, he's just a friend.'

Chat felt a little hurt hearing that. He was more than a friend as Chat but not as Adrien. How would she react to knowing it was him? Would she reject his love because Adrien's just a friend? Stop overthinking, Plagg groaned from inside the ring.

"Chat?"

Chat snapped out of it and turned to Sabine. "So what made your paths cross?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, um well," Chat muttered and looked over at Marinette. He wasn't sure if she had told her parents about the incident. It didn't seem like they knew.

Marinette took a deep breath and looked at her parents. With slight shaking hands, she signed, 'The 'akuma' got me and Chat had to save me.'

Sabine and Tom both stared at her daughter in surprise. "Akuma? Those things we've seen so often?" Sabine asked, worry in her tone. "Most are harmless!" Chat said a little to loud, making Marinette and Sabine jump slightly. "Uh, I mean, most don't have enough power to actually do anything harmful to civilians. Ladybug and I usually stop them before they hurt anyone. Marinette was fine. We stopped him rather quickly."

Sabine placed a hand on her chest and let out a sigh. "Next time please inform us, Marinette," Tom said looking at his daughter with a worried expression. Marinette nodded, 'désolé papa.'

After the exchange, Tom and Marinette prepared breakfast while Sabine and Chat set the table. After breakfast, Chat said he had to leave, he knew his father would call in about an hour, something he always did when he was away.

While Chat was saying goodbye to the Dupain-Chengs, Marinette ran upstairs to retrieve his scrapbook. She came back downstairs and handed it to him. He gave her a tight hug and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He said one last goodbye to the Dupain-Chengs and left. Most people were still home and there wasn't much snow for him to worry about.

As he landed into his room, he detransformed. Plagg flew out and landed on a pillow. "Pleeeaaasseeee tell me you never have to transform that long ever again," the Kwami moaned, dramatically placing his paw on his forehead.

Adrien rolled his eyes and threw him a slice of cheese, which Plagg happily took.

Adrien sat down on his couch and went through the scrapbook. Alya had taken multiple pictures and Marinette placed them all neatly on every page. Reading the words of encouragement made his heart feel warm and his eyes to water slightly.

Marinette couldn't speak a single word yet she could say so much. Her inability to speak did not stop her from expressing herself, it encouraged her to be expressive. He admired that greatly for that.

As he flipped to the last page, he stopped. The last page held the picture of him holding Marinette by the waist and kissing her hand. Right below the picture was something that wasn't there before.

In perfectly neat cursive, she wrote:

'I think I love you too.'