Marinette wiped down the bakery's counters, counting down the minutes until she would be released for the weekend. Her parents owned what had been nicknamed the best bakery in Paris, and Marinette had worked there her whole life. Baking delicious sweets and putting smiles on the faces of hundreds of Parisians filled her with joy, even if it was hard work that sometimes wasn't completely fulfilling. Marinette allowed herself to doze off into dreamland. . .

A beach, occupied only by her and the man she loved. A setting sun that encased her love in a suit of gold, making him shine brighter than he had in the daylight hours. Marinette sighed, reaching out to touch his cheek. . .although, this man was faceless. She couldn't make out who he was, but his boyish grin set off fireworks in her heart.

Marinette was jolted out of her reverie by a loud crash. She squared her shoulders and set down the cleaning supplies, confused by what could have caused such a commotion this late at night. The young, black haired woman was a lot tougher than anyone would have suspected - if there was something sinister happening outside of the bakery, she could easily take down the perpetrator.

However, when Marinette made her way outside, she was confronted with a scene much different from the disaster she had envisioned.

Adrien Agreste, the handsomely rich model and son of world famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, was sitting cross-legged by the bakery's back door holding two small kittens. To add to Marinette's shock, the man was purring and cradling the kittens in his arms, looking more happy than he ever had in any of his modeling campaigns.

Marinette cleared her throat, somehow feeling like she was intruding even though Adrien was the one sitting outside of her house with kittens at 10 p.m.

The model jolted, his eyes widening and jaw dropping. "Oh, uh, I swear it's not what it looks like!"

Marinette was officially confused. Adrien gulped. "I saw these kittens, okay? They were alone - and I couldn't just leave them! But when I tried to pick them up, they scattered! So I ran after them, until we came up to this bakery. I crashed into the dumpster - I know, how clumsy of me, right? Anyway, when that happened Tikki turned around and jumped into my arms. . .she's so sweet! Plagg followed her. After that we've just been hanging out. I guess these two like to stick together."

"Tikki? ...Plagg?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, a blush starting to color his cheeks a deep red. "I named these two Tikki and Plagg. Obviously you wouldn't know that. . .sorry, what's your name?"

Marinette chuckled. It was pretty funny seeing such a well put together guy (usually, anyway) stumble over his words. More often than not, Marinette was the one totally losing it during a conversation. "I'm Marinette. And you are Adrien Agreste."

Adrien grimaced. "As you can imagine, I'd appreciate if no one else knew about me crouching outside of a bakery in the middle of the night playing with stray kittens."

"Don't worry about!" Marinette smiled, reaching out a hand. "In fact, I can help you figure out what to do with the kittens and give you a sweet treat." She faltered a little, suddenly remembering that she was talking to no ordinary man, and feeling surprised at herself that she had been so forward to someone who obviously had better things to do than sit around in the bakery with her. "O-of course, only i-if you w-w-want to. . ."

Adrien frowned at her sudden nervousness. It had been nice to meet a woman who didn't seem fazed at all by who he was. He took her outreached hand, quickly replying, "I'd love to, Marinette. I don't get sweets that often! And someone told me this is the best bakery in all of Paris."

Marinette giggled, regaining some of the confidence she had before her invitation. Adrien handed Tikki over to her, then picked up Plagg, as they walked into the bakery and were enveloped by the warmth of Marinette's childhood home. She walked over to the display, taking out the few goods that were leftover from the busy day. Three macarons, a few cookies, and an eclair were all she had to offer Adrien. Marinette sighed as she walked over to the table Adrien and the kittens had chosen. If she had known that there would be such a high profile customer today, there would have been way more impressive sweets set aside this morning.

Adrien, however, didn't care at all. His eyes lit up when Marinette laid out all of the desserts and he quickly dove for a macaroon, shoving it into his mouth and barely swallowing. "This really is amazing! Oh, what I would do to come here whenever I wanted."

Plagg purred, and, if he had been human Marinette would've sworn the cat rolled his eyes at Adrien's overreaction. "So what are your ideas for the kittens? Were you thinking a shelter, or looking to see if they're missing. . ."

"I think I wanna take one home with me. I would love to have both Plagg and Tikki, but there's no way my dad would let me have two kittens. Bringing one home is already a stretch." Taking note of Marinette's confused expression, he explained further, "I still live at the family place. Even though I'm 18, he still has a lot of control over me." Adrien wanted to say even more, like ask her if it was normal to still not have freedom despite being an adult and having completed school, but he stopped himself. Why did it feel so easy to divulge all of his worries to this stranger?

Silence fell between the two of them for a few minutes as Marinette mulled over the information she had just received. She had seen plenty of stray animals in the past 18 years, but there was something. . .familiar about Tikki that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something that made her feel like she had a responsibility to personally care for the small kitten. Oddly enough, despite being a deep reddish brown, Tikki had a patch of black fur along her head that reminded Marinette of a ladybug. The kitten looked nothing like any other cat she had seen before. It was intriguing.

"I can handle Tikki just fine," Marinette said at last, breaking the tension filled silence that had fell between them. "So you take Plagg, and I'll make sure Tikki is cared for."

Adrien didn't even try to hide his excitement as he reached for a cookie, his other hand rapidly stroking Plagg's left ear. "That makes me really happy Marinette!" A honk from outside caused both of them to jump, as Marinette's eyes landed on a large, serious looking man emerging from an expensive car.

"Oh," Adrien gulped as his smile fell, "that's my bodyguard. I guess he found me. Listen, Marinette, I am seriously so happy for you helping me. And, hopefully-"

"I won't tell anyone. About the cat chasing," Marinette interrupted. She couldn't resist giggling at the ridiculousness of it all. Her and Adrien freaking Agreste had a secret.

Adrien exhaled and stood, cradling Plagg as the black kitten purred. Plagg's fur was completely black in contrast to Tikki's, but his eyes were green. And, somehow, Marinette felt like the little kitty had a heightened awareness of everything that was going on around him.

"It might not be plausible," Adrien murmured, rubbing his neck again, "but I really hope I see you again someday. And Tikki, too!"

Marinette nodded, somehow containing her shock - Adrien wanted to see her again?

The four of them walked over to the bakery's front door, Tikki following close behind. "My lips are shut." Marinette did a locking motion, throwing an imaginary key into Adrien's free hand. He waved, and then turned, walking out into the quiet night and into his bodyguard's car. The car sped away, leaving Marinette behind with a twinkle in her eye.