The sun burned the back of Adrien Agreste's neck as he walked through the streets. A swell if hot air blew against his face, bringing no relief from the summer heat. 'A cool breeze is probably too much to ask for,' Adrien thought, considering the record breaking temperatures Paris was currently experiencing. The park he now walked past was devoid of people; everyone had likely retreated to their air conditioned homes. Even the bird song which normally filled the air was lost with the weather.

Finding himself with a day free of photo shoots, piano, and even fencing, which was on hold until the end of summer break, Adrien had thought a walk would be a nice way to spend his time. As he trudged down the sidewalk now, he decided that his bright idea hadn't been so bright. Sweat made the fabric of his shirt cling uncomfortably to his back, and for reasons beyond himself, Adrien hadn't thought to swap his tight jeans for shorts. It was still early morning, not even noon, and the day was only going to get warmer.

Plagg wasn't taking the heat well, either. He'd fallen asleep in Adrien's shirt as soon as they left the house and hadn't made a sound since. Adrien could feel the small body against his chest, the kwami's breath warm against his shirt. How he wasn't suffocating in there, Adrien wasn't sure.

He'd turned himself back in the direction of his home some blocks ago, but it seemed to Adrien that the distance only grew farther. He wished he had chosen another way to fill his day, but with Nino out of town for the week, his options were limited. He didn't have many other people to spend his time with. Chloe would be more than willing if he asked, but the idea didn't really appeal to him today.

Adrien forced his legs to keep moving forward as another breeze swept across his face, this time bringing with it a smell that stopped him in his tracks and made his mouth water. The smell of something baking… Bread, Adrien guessed. The fragrance was dancing through the air. Looking ahead, Adrien noticed that his walk had led him to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

'The heat must be really getting to me. I didn't realize what neighbourhood I was in…' Adrien thought to himself. He'd been to the bakery Marinette's parents ran a few times. Though he had been there as Chat Noir for a number of them…

'I wonder if she's home?'

It wouldn't be weird to go in and say hi, would it? Marinette knew that he had been over at least once, so it wouldn't be strange for him to know where she lived. He wasn't very close with her, but felt that their friendship had grown stronger recently. What if she was busy though? He didn't want to get in the way of her work.

He could make it a quick visit if needed. Going in to say hi would be no problem, Adrien reasoned with himself, and seeing a familiar face right now would improve his day greatly.

Swiping his hand across his sweaty forehead, Adrien couldn't help but thinking:

'And they just might have air conditioning…'

The blast of cold air that met Adrien as he opened the door to the bakery was colder than he could have hoped for, and he let out a pleased sigh. He could practically feel the energy returning to his heat exhausted body. His nerves came to life under his skin as the cool air wrapped around his body, and with it came the overwhelming smell of what was definitely baking bread. Stepping over the threshold, Adrien smiled and let the door swing shut behind him, a bell chiming his entrance.

There were no customers in the bakery, the counter also abandoned of staff, but a call from the back room alerted him to another person. A quick shout of "Hello! I'll be out in just a minute!" came from a voice Adrien immediately recognized as Marinette's.

"No rush!" Adrien shouted back, wondering if she too would be able to recognize a familiar voice.

The clatter of what sounded like a falling baking pan answered him, as well as a strangled gasp, then a muttered curse.

Adrien walked quickly over to the counter and leaned over it as far as he could. "Uh, you alri…?"

He stopped mid question as Marinette abruptly popped out of the doorway, eyes frantically searching the bakery before finally landing on Adrien. She looked confused for a moment, as though she still wasn't seeing him despite standing right in front of him.

"S-sorry. I thought you were someone else…" Marinette muttered.

Before Adrien could respond, Marinette seemed to come back to herself, and a blush rose in her cheeks.

"Adrien! Um… Welcome to the bakery! Or, I guess you've been here before, but, welcome back! Um, as a customer this time! Yeah." Marinette rushed quickly through her words.

"Yeah, kind of… Are you alright? It sounded like you fell back there." Adrien questioned.

A blank look crossed Marinette's face as though she didn't understand his question, before she quickly whipped her head back to look into the room. She turned back to Adrien with a sheepish look.

"I'm fine! I just knocked over a mixing bowl, which knocked down a few other things… Luckily they were all empty." Marinette answered brightly. "Um… Are you alright out here for a minute while I go clean them up?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll just look around at the displays." Adrien replied.

With a small smile, Marinette dashed into the back room once more. Adrien turned away from the front counter and moved slowly around the room, looking in display cases as he went.

The first case he looked into was filled with a delicious looking array of macaroons, all stacked and sorted by colour. Decorative accessories had been added to attract the eyes of customers, and Adrien was no exception to its ability.

The next display was much larger, both in a case and on top of the counter. Baskets of bread overflowed and made Adrien's mouth water from the scent. This time, the baked goods were decorated with a classic red and white checkered picnic blanket lining the bottom of the glass.

The next two displays held sweets that Adrien had no name for, but they all managed to make him more and more hungry anyway. Chocolate was drizzled over what looked like some kind of cake; Jam was spread across what could have been a sweet tart.

Adrien turned to a case full of muffins when his stomach let out a loud growl, and a quiet laugh behind him had him turning to see Marinette back in the room.

Adrien scratched the back of his neck and laughed along with her.
"I guess being in here has made me hungry. Or maybe I already was and didn't realize. Everything looks great!"

Marinette smiled and walked to where he stood. "A…Are you looking at anything particular? If you like those muffins, I'd recommend the cinnamon ones in the back corner, they're my favourite," Marinette explained.

"Oh, sure! If you recommend it then it must be good," Adrien smiled. "I hadn't been planning on buying anything, but in a place like this it's pretty hard to resist, huh?" He asked Marinette.

Marinette nodded with a little affirmative "Mhm!" and moved behind the counter to grab the muffin. Putting it in a paper bag, Mari walked around to the register, Adrien following behind, his stomach making another loud groan.

Marinette looked at Adrien with a confused expression. "If your that hungry, why weren't you planning on buying anything?" She questioned.

Adrien pulled out his wallet, handing her some coins as he answered. "Well… When I came in, I wasn't actually hungry. Honestly I… Just wanted to see you. I hope that's okay." He smiled.

Marinette made a small noise in front of him and dropped the money he'd handed her onto the counter. Adrien watched as her face grew pink, then very quickly red.

Had he said something wrong? Clearly she thought it was weird that he came to see her. Was she angry? She looked kinda angry… Or maybe embarrassed. Either way he'd done something wrong. He needed to say something, something to make her calm down and –

"Th-Thank you!"

…

'What?'

That wasn't what he'd expected.

Marinette looked about ready to explode in front of him, but she had a happy looking smile on her face.

"I- Uh. I mean… Thank you for coming! To see me, I mean. That was nice of you. I wanted to see you too! Or ah…I'm happy that I did see you!"

Adrien let out a breath of air he hadn't realized he was holding. He honestly didn't know what he would have done to fix the problem, so he was beyond relieved to find there wasn't one. She wasn't mad at him. In fact, she looked very happy. The blush on her face had even lessened.

"I'm glad! I was worried the bakery would be busy when I came, but I guess I'm not the only one bothered by the weather. The AC in here is like heaven though." Adrien laughed.

"Well, feel free to stay and enjoy it as long as you'd like!" Marinette spoke while finally getting the money into the register. Her deep blush was back with full force, and her smile seemed to freeze as she took in her own words, but she didn't stumble to correct herself this time.

Adrien grinned from ear to ear. "Great! I wasn't looking forward to going back out there yet. How about I stay and eat this muffin, then head out?"

Marinette was still stiff behind the counter, her gaze on anything but Adrien. With a small voice, she managed to answer. "Sounds good."

Adrien smiled and pulled the cinnamon muffin out of the paper bag. Taking it in both hands, he pulled the muffin into two piece and handed one half to Marinette. "Wanna share? You said they were your favourite." Adrien gave Marinette his best smile, hoping it would put her at ease.

Reaching out with a small, slender hand, Marinette took the muffin piece from Adrien. "Thank you"

"No problem." Adrien took a bite of his muffin, flavor dancing across his tongue. "This is amazing!"

"I told you so. I'm glad you like it."

"I love it! I need to get these more often"

Marinette laughed. "We bake them fresh every morning."

Adrien swallowed his last piece. "I'll have to come by more often then." He turned his head to look at Marinette. "Would that be okay?"

Marinette lifted his eyes from the counter, finally letting them settle on the blond. His face was close to hers, and his green eyes looked expectant for an answer. She smiled.

"I'd like that."