Stinging air dug needles deep in Marinette's face, her nose and ears a bright, angry red. In her hands she swung three gift bags, which hit the side of her thigh lightly in a repeated motion. The cheers and bellows of fellow Parisians filled the street as she walked to Alya's house, heart beating wildly in her chest from anticipation.

It had been so long since she'd seen Adrien.

He'd gone away for two months on a "mandatory, required vacation," as his father had put it, but really, she knew it was an attempt to undermine their relationship. His disapproving glare had made it clear that he was out to destroy what Marinette and Adrien had. It hadn't been bad at first, when Marinette had gone on and on about becoming a famous fashion designer.

And then she'd changed her tune, wanted to pursue fashion as a hobby instead of a full-time career, and whatever microscopic warmth Gabriel Agreste had shown towards her had disappeared.

She didn't care anyway. What love could the man who'd locked his son away have for her, anyway?

Despite not caring about Gabriel Agreste and his many, many, many issues with Marinette's general existence, she was forced to suck it up and deal with it. The emotionless, abusive man hadn't taken the hint when Adrien had refused to dump her, and he'd taken to giving Adrien stupid, meaningless tasks to keep him away.

His latest, a two month vacation where Adrien was allowed minimal communication, was the most taxing, and Marinette was too exhausted to deal with his bullshit, passive-aggressive ridiculousness. Weren't adults supposed to express their opinion and then deal with rejections of their ideas healthily?

She did her best to shake the thoughts out of her head; there would be no room for negativity tonight, only happiness and love as she spent Christmas Eve with her four best friends in the whole wide world. After all, not only were Alya, Nino, and Adrien going to be there, but even Chloé had managed to be in Paris to spend the holiday with them.

She conjured images of happy things, like baked goods, her father's hugs, the taste of peppermint, and the soothing pitter-patter of rain on her childhood bedroom's window the rest of they way, preparing herself mentally to greet her friends with a smile.

Disappointment filled her when Alya opened the door instead of Adrien, but she quickly moved past it, hugging Alya and hurrying inside. They chatted as Marinette took off her coat, Alya joking about Marinette's buns being the bakery's next attraction, before Alya squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek, promising better conversation later. Marinette grinned and placed her gifts under Alya's Christmas tree, smile widening as she heard Nino on the phone. A cursory glance let her know Adrien wasn't here, and she quenched her remaining nerves with wine, her glass clinking with Nino's. A pleasant warm buzz settled in her stomach.

She felt her heart crack slightly when Chloé arrived along fifteen minutes later and they had dinner. It wasn't that bad, seeing as she'd missed hanging out with the four of them. But a huge part of her had been excited to see Adrien again, and that part was currently kicking around on the floor, sobbing.

She was sure she was hiding it well, but judging by the long looks the other three shared, she wasn't doing a good job.

"Hey Alya, this goose tastes delicious," Marinette offered, and Alya rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"I know it is, Nino made it."

"You shouldn't brag," Chloé teased. "Only the chef gets bragging rights."

Alya shot the blonde a dirty look,, mouth twisted in a scowl. Nino rolled his eyes in Marinette's direction, his thumb pointing subtly out the window. Marinette snickered and played with her food, watching Alya and Chloé argue about how bragging rights work.

It was a good reminder to the good old days, when they were all superheroes and dead set on protecting their city. Alya and Chloé would never admit it out of some weird, petty feud, but they arguing they'd done as heroes and continued to do to this day had made them closer.

It made Marinette happy, knowing that her team was still as close without the miraculouses. That was proof that the bond they had with each other was special.

Nino chose to intervene in their argument and shut it down, and Marinette gave up after that, watching the others talk as she slowly ate. Her eyes darted towards the door repeatedly, and her plate was still mostly full long after the others were done. Alya sighed at the sight of it and shook her head, her expression exasperated as Nino took it away.

"You should get home."

Marinette shook her head stubbornly. "Negative. We decided to have dinner a few hours early so we could greet Christmas with liquor. I'm not ruining that."

Alya and Chloé shared a long, annoyed look before Chloé stood up, faced Marinette, and gestured towards the door. "You're leaving, Dupain-Cheng. You look tired, miserable, and I'm going to walk with you anyway. And before you try to refuse, it's because Nath and Sabrina live close to your place, and I want to go see them."

Marinette sighed, standing as if it was a great burden to her. Chloé sent her a quiet smile, filling Marinette's heart to the brim with gratitude. They left Alya and Nino's warm apartment to brave the cold, dark streets of Paris, hands tucked deep into their pockets and shoulder hunched. Outside Marinette;s residence, Chloé broke their silence.

"You didn't eat much."

"Not much of an appetite," Marinette shrugged, and Chloé watched her for a minute before smiling.

"Merry Christmas, Marinette."

She left with a hug, and the lingering feeling as if Marinette was missing something important. The sly glances at dinner, the smirks, and Adrien's unexpected surprise built up hope inside her as she navigated inside, her hands flipping all the light switches. The lack of life in her living room, kitchen, and hall squashed her hopes, and Marinette decided going to bed was the best choice.

Not like she had something, or someone , to be awake for.

A candle greeted her in her bedroom and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she recognized the silhouette in her bed as Adrien. Her arms froze by her sight, drinking in what she could see of his smile and the glare of the candlelight in his right eye. Her heartbeat sped up, a marathon paralyzing her.

She'd known she'd missed him, but she hadn't realized she'd missed him this much .

"Hi," Adrien said as the silence stretched, and Marinette found herself unparalyzed, her legs catching up to her heart and running.

"This reminds me of our first date," Marinette remarked, legs tangled with Adrien's as she popped another chocolate covered strawberry into her mouth. It was well past two at night, but all thoughts of fatigue and left her long ago. She'd planned to get hammered tonight, and there was no reason not to do it.

"Ah, yes," Adrien replied his hands tracing patterns on Marinette's legs. Sometimes they'd start tickling, and then she'd have to shank him until he stopped. She'd missed it.

"I'm positive that was the best food I've ever eaten."

He seemed to find amusement in that as he stared at her, watching her eyebrows ruffle. "You've never tasted anything better than McDonald's food bought at 3 in the morning? Clearly my wealth has failed you."

Once she realized they weren't thinking about the same outing, it took Marinette a minute to remember which date he was talking about. It had been after a long patrol, and when Adrien had noticed Marinette sluggish movements, he'd convinced her to stay. They'd bought fast food and sat on the Eiffel Tower, Marinette talking his ears off with tales of how much she'd hated fashion school. Adrien's tail had wrapped comfortingly around her waist, his leather ears twitching at every word she spoke.

His advice that night had eventually led to her reevaluating what she'd really wanted to do.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Marinette interrupted, her legs immediately bumping Adrien's hip in response to his patronizing tone. "That was not our first date. I'm talking about when we went to Guy Savoy."

He blinked at her, a few times, unable to comprehend her words. "That was a good date," he responded after a pause too long to be normal had passed. "But it wasn't our first ."

"Yes it was," Marinette insisted, abandoning her beloved snack to argue her point. "It was our first official outing. That was the beginning of our relationship."

"Fair," Adrien agreed. "But I distinctly remember us kissing after patrol that night. We ate food, we danced, and we kissed. How does that not make it the first date?"

"Because. Even if we did kiss, we didn't know exactly how the other person felt. Our dinner at Guy Savoy was right after we revealed our identities and our feelings."

"It was so awkward, though. We barely looked at each other, and our conversation fell flat."

"Yeah," Marinette nodded. "But you know what? I'd rather have an awkward date knowing that you liked me instead of a casual dinner where I second-guessed everything I said to you."

Adrien kissed her then, his hold on her gentle. Her heart ached at the missed contact, eyes shining as he pulled back with a grin. "I love you, you know that?"

Marinette closed her eyes, followed the flickering of the candle light behind her eyelids and smiled. "I know."

After two months of distance, her heart felt full again.