"M. Agreste will see you now," Marinette stood and made her way into the office of Gabriel Agreste. She'd been summoned in earlier that morning, Nathalie muttering something about dresses and wanting her opinion on them. She had no idea what it was about, as far as she knew she was in charge of accessorising the finished products that Gabriel would send through, not having her own opinion to the actual designs. Come to think about it, she was sure that in the first meeting he told her she wouldn't have any say in the overall designs.

She walked into the office, both hands clutching onto her cross body strap, and noticed Gabriel had positioned three mannequins with outfits on. Each a different style of dress.

She looked them over quickly, deciding she needed to come up with a good lie. The dresses were hideous. She wouldn't want her name attached to any of them.

"Take a seat, Ms. Dupain-Cheng." Gabriel was standing at the side of the desk, indicating to the chair which had been pulled away ready to seat her. Tentatively, Marinette made her way to the chair and sat down, not letting go of her bag or Tikki. Something felt off, but she couldn't quite place it.

Instead of seating himself opposite her, Gabriel made his way over to the mannequins and walked around them, taking the material between his fingers and studying it. The room was silent and Marinette was scared to talk.

"Interesting aren't they?"

Her gaze shifted from walking Gabriel to the mannequins and she squinted at the prototypes. Did she tell the truth or was this a test? A test to check she supported Gabriel and their brand.

"Come here." Gabriel summoned her to his side, and she stood up from the seat she'd only just settled in. Her nerves were on edge and she couldn't help but gasp even harder at her side bag. If she kept this up, she'd snap the strap.

Slowly, she made her way to Gabriel's side and looked from his stone face to the designs in front of her. She looked it up and down before moving to the next one and repeating the action. She knew he was watching her. Watching each and every move she made.

"You can touch them if you want," he said.

He remained at the first design whilst she had moved onto the third. The designs, in a matter of words, were not good. Actually, they were shockingly bad.

"Did - um - did you make these yourself?" She gulped down a nervous bubble in her throat before turning her attention back to Gabriel.

"No, a junior designer did. I'm not sure if they'll be capable of creating any final designs." As if she was a balloon she felt herself deflate. Thank God!

"Oh," she said, feeling a little more comfortable to speak her mind. "Well this one here," she pointed at the third mannequin, "the stitching is slightly off on the sides, it's pulled the neckline out of sync and into an asymmetric line where I think it needed to be a simple scoop neck." She walked to the next one and studied it. "This one's okay, though the overlocking just needs to be a little tighter."

"Exactly my thoughts, and what about this one? I don't know about you but something is not right about the edging and the design."

She moved up beside Gabriel and pulled the edge of the dress up to her eyes. Gabriel was right the edging wasn't right and neither was the design, this was nothing like they wanted to produce, quite the opposite in fact. This looked like a nightgown more than formal night wear.

"This looks mismatched like a five year old badly edged nightgown," it came out automatically, without an ounce of thought. It was almost an exact replica of the dress the previous days akuma wore and her words mirrored it.

She looked over to Gabriel, a smile stretching over his face as he walked back to his desk, indicating Marinette to follow. She walked back to her chair and seated herself down again, facing eye to eye with Gabriel Agreste.

"Thank you. I'm very glad you said that Ms. Dupain-Cheng, it had been in my thoughts for a while and I needed someone else to express the same opinion." He threaded his fingers together and rested his elbows on the table, looking over at Marinette.

"You're welcome, I'm happy I could help."

"Oh, you've helped Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you've helped a lot more than you know."

•••••

The meeting with Gabriel lasted just over an hour and her brain was fried. She was so tense when she entered the building she could now feel the resigning aches from holding such a static position. After such a harsh meeting, she decided she needed to go straight home, any plans for the rest of the day suddenly on the back burner.

It was five days until Christmas, which was usually the day Marinette would spend wandering Paris gathering any last minute presents and meeting Alya for a hot chocolate and walk around the Tuileries Garden, before heading back to her parents for the bakery run and games night. Alya and Nino were regular visitors in the past, along with Luka. The games were always team games and for the first year ever Marinette would be on her own.

She made her way out the Metro station, pulling her phone out of her pocket as they reached midway up the stairs and dialled her best friend's phone number. Typically it went straight to voicemail. The one time she needed to talk to Alya and she isn't answering her phone.

"Hey Al, it's me. The meeting at Gabriel was quite intense this morning so I will have to pass on our afternoon hot chocolate date. I'll check times for tonight with my parents, but I think we'll be leaving to take the donations around five and eating about seven. Just turn up at the bakery whenever though. I'll be here having a nap."

She ended the call as she bounded the remaining couple of steps up from the metro station. Her ears were met with the joyous screams of children as they cascaded down the steps of her old collège and out onto the streets hand in hand with parents waving goodbyes and announcing 'see you next year', as they separated and began to walk in different directions.

Marinette smiled, getting caught up in these children's screaming and shouting that Santa was coming. She let out a giggle wondering where they were all coming from. What was happening at her old collège?

She decided to take a closer look, rounding the metro station sign and looking up at the entrance way to the school. Suddenly her lungs struggled to take in any breath, and her heart ached with such ferociousness she didn't think she could breathe.

At the top of the steps was Adrien. He was kitted out fully in his fencing lamé, but there was one added extra. A santa's hat was placed on his golden blonde hair and he looked so silly, it was undeniably cute. She stood slightly out of eyeline as she watched him.

Her heart melted as she saw him hand out presents to each of the children and gave them fists bumps as they left, each child squealing 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy New Year'. Then something happened that made Marinette's legs turn to jelly. A small child exited the doorway hand in hand with their mother and, slowly, he made his way to Adrien. The child cleverly had Down's syndrome but what happened next was Marinette's undoing.

She watched as the child pulled on Adrien's hand to get his attention. Instead of the usual fistbump he'd been passing out, Adrien picked up the small child and lifted him into the sky, spinning him around to the sound of delighted giggles. The child couldn't be older than four and the way Adrien smiled whilst twirling him hit her hard in the chest. So hard she couldn't help falling. Falling deeper and deeper for Adrien Agreste. He placed the child down before kneeling to his height and handing him a present. The smile on both their faces caused Marinette's eyes to blur with unshed tears.

She'd managed to go six days without seeing him, six days ignoring his messages and phone calls, yet here she was, watching him and falling for him harder than she already had. It was then she decided that she couldn't stay away from him, she needed Adrien in her life. She needed this wonderful man around her.

Adrien suddenly took the mother into a hug and: she kissed his cheek making Marinette's stomach twisted with jealousy, that should be her, she wanted it to be her. The woman and child were soon joined by an out of breath man with a bag in his hand. A bag decorated with candy canes and gingerbread men. It was obvious this man had a gift for Adrien in his hands as he thrust it at the child and pushed him towards Adrien.

Adrien and the woman both laughed, as she wrapped her arm around the man's waist and tapped his chest with her free hand. The child handed the bag to Adrien, and Adrien embraced the small child and thanked him. Standing back up, Adrien fist bumped the man and the family left hand in hand. Adrien waved after them.

Wanting to see him and wanting him to see her, Marinette stepped forward, an apology forming in her head regarding her pathetic behaviour over the past few days. Moving forward, she reached the bottom of the steps and stopped. One more woman exited the building, sending her child down the steps as she stepped up to Adrien, wrapping her arms around his neck and lips pressing firmly onto his cheek. The hold she had on Adrien lasted a few minutes too long and Marinette suddenly felt uncomfortable as both an observer and a 'friend'.

"What are your plans over Christmas, Monsieur Agreste?" The blonde haired lady, released one hand and dragged it down his chest. The look on Adrien's face showed just how uncomfortable he was, and Marinette knew she had to do something. "My ex-husband has Krystof for the holidays, so I'm all on my own. I could do with a warm, strong man to keep me company."

"Adrien, come on, we're going to be late." Marinette bounded up the stairs two at a time, stopping next to Adrien and pulling him out of the blonde's grasp.

The woman looked like she could spit fire directly into Marinette's face.

"Hey sweetie, I didn't know you'd be here so soon." He bent his head down towards her and kissed her on the cheek. "I hope your meeting with my father went well." Marinette didn't know what surprised her more; the kiss on the cheek, or Adrien knowing about the meeting.

"It was good," Marinette wrapped her arms around Adrien's waist, squeezing into him before looking at the blonde woman standing with her jaw clenched so tightly, Marinette swore she could hear her teeth grind.

She put one hand out in greeting. "Hi, I'm Marinette, Adrien's girlfriend."

Marinette learned what being scrutinised meant at that exact moment. Gabriel had nothing on the looks she was getting right at this moment. From head to her 'pink muppet' toes, and back to her head Marinette could tell she was being judged. The woman finally took Marinette's hand in her own, giving it a very awkward shake.

"Charmed," she said.

"Sorry, how rude of me. Marinette, this is Sara, her son Krystof is one of my pupils. Sara, this is my lady, Marinette."

Marinette tensed. His Lady? she attempted to keep the smile on her face as they made pleasantries with Sara, but her mind was reeling. His ... Lady?

An equal amount of being thrilled battled against a feeling of guilt. She was Chat's Lady, not Adrien's ... then suddenly jealousy made an ugly reappearance as she thought about the previous evening's conversation. He had, or would have, a new Lady soon. Someone who could give him everything she couldn't, and it hurt. It hurt more than she ever thought it could.

Chat ... Adrien ... both amazing but both untouchable. She cuddled into Adrien closer. She may not be able to be with him for real, but she'd enjoy this whilst she could. She'd remember his smell and his warmth, and she'd remember how he made her feel.

Sara said her goodbyes and left the two 'lovebirds' standing cuddled on the top of the stairs. Once she was out of view, Marinette unwrapped herself from Adrien and moved away.

"Thanks for that," Adrien said, taking the hat off his head and holding it in front of him.

"I owe you after being such a horrible friend," she took the hat out of his hands and placed it back on his head. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. I've just - um - there's been a lot on my mind recently and I've been trying to figure things out. I know this is such a lame excuse. I'm just so sorry."

Adrien grabbed hold of her hands and pulled them from where they had been resting in his hair.

"I thought I'd done something wrong Marinette, I couldn't understand why you disappeared." He wasn't angry, but it was clear he wasn't impressed by her behaviour. "I thought you hated me."

Her heart hurt. How could she let him feel that way?

"I don't hate you at all, and I know it's cliché to say it, but it's not you ... it's me."

Adrien rolled his eyes and let go of her hands crossing his arms over his chest. He looked out onto the road and she couldn't stand that she'd made him feel that way.

"Let me make it up to you please." She asked, stepping forward and placing both her hands on his arm. As he turned his gaze to look down at her, she couldn't help but suck in a breath. The glowing green emeralds of his eyes bore straight into her soul. "Please." She whispered again.

Seconds passed between them as they took part in a spontaneous staring contest, and Marinette believed she could actually hear him think.

"What do you have in mind?"

Marinette smiled knowing exactly what would be a fun way to apologise.

"Are you busy this evening?"

"No, why?"

"Grab your things and come with me."

Ten minutes later, Marinette was hooking an apron over Adrien's head as they gathered supplies together in the bakery.

"I don't know if this is a good idea, Marinette, I've never baked in my life." Marinette wrapped the ties around Adrien's waist and tied it in a bow at the back. She could barely reach around him with her short arms, but she wouldn't deny she enjoyed the feel as she skimmed her hands over his stomach and around to his back.

"Well, you have a master baker here to help you."

"She means me," Tom Dupain came from the back carrying a large sack of flour, slamming it on the floor near Marinette and Adrien.

"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, glaring at her papa, she was trying to make it up to Adrien the last thing she needed was for him to think she was incapable of doing this.

"My chick-a-dee is alright at baking too." He dropped Marinette a wink and returned to the back gathering the next of the supplies.

"Does he need any help?" Adrien asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to where Tom had just disappeared.

"Nah, he prefers to do it himself, so when something goes wrong he can say he's not to blame - he did his part correctly."

Adrien laughed and Marinette smiled with him. "That's a great excuse, I'll try that one."

Marinette beckoned him around to show him the list of what needed doing.

"That's quite a list, Marinette. Do they all need to be done today?"

Marinette moved her sleeve from her watch and looked at the time. "We have just over three hours."

"To do all of this?"

"Yeah, that's loads of time!"

Adrien dragged his hands down his face, and his eyes pulled down. Marinette couldn't help but laugh at how the perfect model face suddenly changed into something not so 'fetching'.

"Has she broken you already, son?" Tom entered again this time with another bag of flour and a follower. Sabine Cheng walked in behind Tom holding a bag of sugar, and a smile on her face.

"It's just ... that's a lot of baked goods."

"It is," Sabine said, walking over to Adrien and placing a hand on his folded arm. "We bake as much as we can with the remaining supplies and take them to the children's homes and homeless shelters. We count the eggs and butter and then work out what we're doing from there."

"That's amazing, M. Cheng,"

"Please, call me Sabine." The smaller woman smiled and then walked away to her husband who was still working at the front of the store.

"So, Monsieur Agreste, are you ready to get your bake on?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the list again. Marinette watched as his eyebrows creased and relaxed, before he turned to face her.

"Tell me what to do first, boss."

Marinette smiled, and began to instruct Adrien around the bakery giving him hints and tips from what to use to measure, to the times in which to place them in the oven. Macarons, cupcakes, biscuits, cookies ... everything.

They worked like a machine, moving around each other like a dance, and helping each other almost silently. Adrien would reach for the top ovens, as Marinette ducked under his arms to reach the bottom. They grabbed bowls, and added ingredients without a single hesitation, and Marinette was impressed by how Adrien had taken to the baking.

"I need a cup of -" Marinette turned around, cup of flour already in hand at the exact same time Adrien stretched his arm out towards where Marinette was standing. She watched, as the cup launched out of her hand from the impact of his and into the air above them both.

It circulated and swirled in a dance of its own before tipping upside down and emptying it's contents on Adrien's head. His sunshine blonde hair was coated in the thin dusting of flour, along with his top and jeans and Marinette couldn't hold it in. She let out a loud hard laugh, pointing towards where Adrien was standing, before collapsing with her hands above her knees.

The bell to the shop chimed, signalling the arrival of another customer.

"Woah, Mari, your snowman looks so real."

Marinette burst out laughing again as she realised Alya and Nino had just entered the store. She attempted another look at Adrien, but couldn't manage it through the tears in her eyes.

"That's it, laugh it up!" Adrien's voice was laced with amusement which only made her laugh more.

"I can't - br - breathe," Marinette wrapped her hands around her stomach turning her head to Alya and Nino in an attempt to welcome them to the bakery. "H-hi g-guys."

As Marinette attempted to pull herself together, Alya took it upon herself to do the introductions. She hadn't laughed this much since Chat's snail tail incident and as soon as the thought entered her mind she was off again, cackling like a witch.

"So, tell me wonderboy, are you joining us this evening?"

The laughter suddenly stopped and Marinette signalled to Alya to stop talking, her eyes opening wide and darting from side to side. Adrien couldn't stay, that was not what was meant to happen. He wasn't even meant to be here.

"Oh no, I couldn't impose myself,"

"You wouldn't be imposing, dear. You've put all this work in, you deserve to see the rewards." Sabine walked to the front of the store and flicked the sign to 'closed', locking the gang in the bakery to begin their preparations for the evening's events.

"Plus, Marinette needs a partner for game night." Tom was next to drop in his two cents and Marinette could feel her face starting to heat up.

"Well, if you all don't mind me crashing. I was just going to go home for a microwave meal anyway." He responded, the pink tinge of his cheeks starting to shine through the coating of flour on his cheeks.

"Then that settles it," Tom's voice sounded through the bakery, "you're coming with us tonight Adrien, and then come back to ours for game night, and if you don't mind it, pizza."

The smile on Adrien's face was infectious and again she couldn't help but see him as a child getting swept away in the Christmas excitement.

"Dude, you can't go out looking like Olaf." Nino spoke up for the first time since entering the bakery.

"It's okay Nino, I'm sure Mari will have something upstairs that he could wear instead." Alya winked and her friend and Adrien began to bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Oh, that would be amazing if you don't mind Marinette."

She trailed her eyes from her parents, to Alya's to Nino's and then ended on Adrien's, and her heart betrayed her again. How could she ever deny this human?

"I have the perfect item."

Taking his hand, she pulled him up the stairs and into their apartment. Asking him to wait in the lounge, she rushed up the staircase leading to her room. She may have said it was due to a designer mess, when really it was to do with the miniature kwami's most likely causing havoc around her room.

"Just wait here, I'll be right back."

She opened the hatch and of course she had been right to stop him from entering. Wayzz and Fluff were currently having a staring contest on her chaise lounge, as Sass and Barkk cheered them on.

"Shhhh!" She said, making her way over to her clothing rack, "Adrien's downstairs and he can't hear you."

"Adrien's downstairs?" Sass asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Does that mean ... ?" Longg continued, as Roarr flew over to join in too.

"Yes he is, and so is Nino. They're going to be here most of the night so please stay hidden."

"Most of the night?" Xuppu stated, seeming everything but impressed.

"Xuppu, play nice," Tikki appeared in front of the monkey and crossed her arms out of her chest. Marinette wasn't sure what was happening but at the moment she didn't care. She was looking for the one item of clothing she was sure would fit Adrien.

Pushing the clothing hangers across the rail, she pulled the material until she found the one item she was looking for.

"Got it!" Taking the black material off the hanger she moved towards the trapdoor, whispering to the kwami's one last time before she left. "I'm warning you all, not a word." She glared at them, watching them slow their movements and move around softly and quietly. Good.

Marinette re-entered the living area and noticed Adrien was looking at her family photographs. He was currently looking at one from a couple of years back of Marinette with her friend Fei and her Uncle.

"When did you go to Shanghai?" He asked. Marinette was slightly taken aback by Adrien's question.

"Oh - um - can you remember when that Dragon thing was dissolving everything? I was there then. Luckily, Ladybug and Chat Noir came and saved the day again."

"Yeah," he laughed, "They're always in the right place at the right time," he said.

"Yeah they are," she replied.

"Anyway, talking about our dear heroes ... here put this on." Marinette held out the shirt and Adrien looked from her to the item in her hands, then did something unexpected, and if she was being honest she thought she was about to faint.

Adrien stretched behind him, grabbing the back of his tee and pulled it over his head.

"Did you want pecs - I mean - you're buff - oh, God!" She covered her face to block the sight of Adrien Agreste topless and toned, and everything wonderful. "You really are a wonderboy." She muttered, taking a deep breath. "What I meant to say was would you like a shower?"

"No, it's fine, I'll just -" her words had had an obvious impact on him as when she managed to uncover her face she saw he was the shade of a tomato. He used his tee to ruffle his hair and wipe his face. Majority of the flour abandoned ship and his golden mane was back to being it's vibrant golden colour.

He took the shirt from Marinette's hands and slipped it over his shoulders, buttoning it up the front to close the sides together. She'd made this shirt as a gift for Chat Noir, but due to identity issues she'd decided not to give it to him, just in case they bumped into each other on a night out. Not that she knew where he went or what he did in his spare time but she couldn't take the risk.

"It fits you well," her mouth dried up as she looked at Adrien in the shirt. It was a mirror image of Chat's suit, the flaps and buttons on the shoulders plus the fake zip on the front, all that was missing was Chat's trademark bell.

"I love it," her heart skipped ten, twenty, thirty beats as she looked into his eyes, noticing a shine there which she'd never seen before. "I've missed you." His voice was low and quite, very much like he was whispering a secret.

"I've missed you too," her voice level mirrored his, and she stretched up to wipe the remainder of the flour from his hair and face. She kept her eyes firmly on his and felt herself moving closer. He was enchanting. Everything about him was enchanting.

Adrien grabbed her hands in each of his and brought them down into his chest. Her heart began to beat wildly and her stomach was doing somersaults, this was crazy. Absolutely crazy. She was drawn to him in ways she didn't understand, ways that she'd seen in Hallmark movies, and Disney films. Like in Hercules.

"Marinette, I -"

"Guys, come on, we need to go."

Marinette watched as Adrien sighed and dropped her hands from his grasp. He dropped his head and she couldn't help but stare. What was he going to say? Her heart was still beating crazily in her chest. What ... was ... he ... going ... to ... say?

"Adrien, what -"

"Marinette, come on!" The voice shouted again.

He lifted his head, and his eyes met hers . He placed on his model smile. "Shall we?"

Marinette nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Yeah, you carry on. I'll be down in a second."

He nodded to Marinette as he made his way out the door and back into the bakery. Marinette let out a sigh as he left, trailing him every step of the way. She watched his back, the way the muscles in his shoulders moved, how he strutted, how his hips swayed, and she gasped. Every little movement not only read Adrien Agreste, but also, from behind, was the spitting image of her kitty.