Notes:
This is my first fanfiction. I hope you like it! Also, please let me know if you have any suggestions. I honestly haven't written fiction in about 2 years so I'm a little rusty. Thanks!
The wind whipped through his hair as he walked on the tarmac, the air freezing his breath as he exhaled in exhilaration. He set his luggage down by the cart and walked to get on the small jet from New York to Paris. He regretted using the family's private jet and being so flashy, but he couldn't wait to get back and see his friends after a semester of studying business in America. As he settled down in the jet for the long flight he pulled out his phone to see a new message from Nino.
N – [I hear you're coming back for a visit?]
A – [Yeah! I'm boarding right now and I'll be there soon, I'll let you know when I land]
N – [Sounds good dude]
He put his phone away and readied for the long flight ahead of him.
"I don't know why you're so nervous about this, Mari. It's not like we aren't all waiting for him" teased Alya.
"I-I don't know. We haven't seen him in 4 months what if he forgot about us." Marinette stammered, fidgeting with her hands and eventually resting them on her lap.
"Oh come on I haven't even seen him in 4 months guys. He remembers us." Nino paused, then decided to continue teasing Mari, "We will be at the airport soon to see him, calm down. Don't want any akumas over here, do we?"
"Alright…" Marinette said tightly, not responding to Nino's poor taste in jokes. "But don't expect me to instantly fall for him again. I finally got over him and moved on."
Alya and Nino shared a look in the front seat of the car before turning back to the road in front of them. After breaking up their sophomore year of high school, Alya and Nino had stayed friends, still looking out for each other and their mutual friends. Now past their first year of college, Marinette could see her friends had grown up, and grown together again. Mentally, she bet they would be back together before the end of the break.
Marinette woke up to Nino stating they were at the airport that Adrien would be landing at, and they all climbed out of the car, some more lethargically than others. "Mari, do you ever get any sleep? You fall asleep anytime you're in the car for more than 5 minutes and you've been sleeping during all our movie nights," worried Alya.
Marinette remembered back to the past week of fighting akuma alone. "I've just been working on my fashion projects, university life, you know how it is," Marinette blurted hoping nobody would notice that her last project was due a few weeks ago. Tikki would scold her for the lame excuse later, but for now Mari just felt a slight pinch against her skin from the kwami.
Walking down the steps of his private jet Adrien spotted a few familiar faces waiting. Not wanting to slip on the frozen ground he walked gingerly over to his friends. "Are you all excited for the holidays? I know I am." Adrien laughed while hugging his friends.
"This year we should all do something together for Christmas, isn't that right Mari?" Marinette shot Alya a threatening glare before replying.
"We should, and we could do it at our new apartment. I mean, I've been living there for a few months now that university has started but I'm never really there. Too much to do… anyways, our place? That is okay with you Alya, right?
Each of them responded positively as they walked back towards Nino's car. "Man, can you guys believe it's already been 4 months since we last saw each other?" Nino fumbled for his keys while saying this, causing a few stifled laughs from his friends. "Not funny."
The ride back to Marinette's apartment was short, and along the way they all blasted Jagged Stone and sang along, reminiscing on their younger years. Although it had been several months since they had all been together, they still all felt comfortable.
"Hey, Mari, would it be okay if I stayed at your place over the holidays? I know it very last minute, but I already checked with Alya and she said it was okay. I'd rather not stay with my father…"
"Sure, Adrien, as long as you don't mind the clutter. Luckily we have a futon in our living room." Marinette blushed slightly at the thought of Adrien staying over in the clutter that was her apartment. "Even though I'm not there much, I don't clean up enough..." She looked over at Alya who was slightly cross about it.
"I was hoping that Adrien coming over would force you to pick up your dirty clothes up from around the apartment, especially all your underwear. I know you've been working on a line of lingerie-"
"Okay that's enough." Marinette blurted as she noticed Adrien's face blush in her peripheral vision. "I got it, I'll clean up." This sparked a laugh from Alya, who also noticed Nino's face had darkened in red as well.
Marinette unlocked the door to her apartment and let Adrien in. They thanked Nino for the ride and Nino replied that they will be back soon.
'Maybe it will be sooner than the end of the holidays' Marinette thought to herself.
For the first time Adrien had been in Marinette's apartment, he could still feel how loving the space was. He could feel the air was lived in, even though she wasn't here very much. It was a cozy apartment with two rooms, Alya and Marinette's rooms, and a living room with a small kitchenette tucked into the corner. On the walls he noticed the pictures that Alya had hanging up of Chat Noir and Ladybug, and the pictures of Marinette and Alya together. "Nice apartment," Adrien said while he brought his luggage in. He noticed Marinette started to run around collecting clothes from the ground, and started to blush again.
Finally done cleaning up the living room, she realized she never responded to the compliment. "T-thanks. Alya did most of the decorating." She stood awkwardly next to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, swaying back and forth from foot to foot, not knowing what to say.
"Uh, where would you like me to put my stuff?" Adrien said noticing how awkward she looked.
"Oh just over here next to the counter is fine. Here, let me get your bed setup." She ran back to her room to grab the extra sheets and started to put them on the bed when she heard a voice behind her laughing.
"Its fine, I can do it" He bent down and started spreading the sheets out, bent over next to Marinette. He noticed she started to blush again.
"Thanks…" She walked to the other end of the bed and started straightening the sheets before walking back to stand next to the counter. "So, how has New York been?"
"It has been okay, between the remote conferences for my father's work and school, I haven't had much time to myself. Has anything important happened while I was gone?"
"Oh, nothing much. Although it looks like our two favorite love birds are going to get back together. The ladyblog has been pretty active, although Chat Noire hasn't been around lately." Something bugged him the way she said it with almost a little venom towards Chat, towards him. Maybe he was just hearing things. She walked to the fridge, "Want anything to drink?"
"Maybe just a coke?"
"Sorry, all I have is Dr. Pepper, is that okay?" She picked up the soda from the bottom shelf and he could almost swear she bent over like that on purpose. But no, he was just imagining things. He didn't have feelings for her. This was Marinette, his best friend, his first real friend.
"You okay?" Marinette looked worried as he realized he had been staring at her.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry, just a long flight and I'm kind of out of it. Mind if I head to bed early?"
"Sure, I have to head out soon and won't be back until later tonight, I have some work to finish on my latest collection due after break."
He gasped. "Already? Break barely even started for you." She looked just as pained as he felt for her.
"Yeah, it's a lot of work. But it has to get done."
"Okay, just don't stay working past midnight, don't want my friend tired for our long day together tomorrow"
She lazily replied as she headed out the door. Once the door closed and he heard her open the elevator he pulled out his phone and quickly typed out a message.
CN – [I'm back in town for a while, patrol? Usual spot?]
He didn't have to wait long before he got a reply.
LB – [Beat you there!]
Plagg floated up groggily to face Adrien, knowing that from this he would get his fill of cheese. "Couldn't you have just gone to sleep like a normal person? If we are going out can I have some Camembert?"