The premise started out a little differently, but I like where it ended up. Wishing you a wonderful 2018!
Bonne Année
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~*Que te souhaiter de mieux que la santé dans ta vie, la prospérité dans ton travail et beaucoup d'amour tout au long de cette Nouvelle Année.*~
~*What best could we wish you more than health in your life, prosperity in work and lots of love throughout the New Year?*~
"How do I get myself into these things?" Marinette asked, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "One minute I'm planning the world's laziest New Year's Eve in, and then you two come in with 'C'mon, Mari – it will be fun!'," she pitched her voice comically high. "And the next thing I know, I'm knee deep in baked goods."
"I had fun," Alya shrugged. "Didn't you have fun, Nino?"
"Totally," he grinned, reaching for another sweet.
"Eating," Marinette slapped his hand away. "That hardly counts as helping."
"Sure it does," he bumped her with his hip as he reached over her and took a different baked good. "Look at all this stuff! If I wasn't here for quality control and overflow check, you'd be drowning in macarons!"
"My hero," Alya sighed. "Besides – I've already got the champagne chilling for the toast at midnight, and I made snacks."
"And my mom's hot cocoa," Nino added. "Don't forget the hot cocoa."
"Bribery," Marinette pointed an accusatory flour-covered finger at him. "Don't pretend you didn't hoodwink me into making treats for your party tomorrow night."
"Well, I would have ordered them from your parents," Alya refilled her water bottle, "but they are on a well-deserved vacation and the bakery is closed! What else was a girl to do?"
"Go to another bakery?"
"Treason," Alya gasped. "I'll hear no such thing from you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And of your own parents!"
"Not cool," Nino shook her head.
"Okay, fine," Marinette sighed. "Save the drama for whatever stupid movie you are going to make me watch after the ball drop."
"Sure," Alya chirped. "Ah," the buzzer for the dryer went off. "That would be me."
Alya bustled out of the kitchen, snatching up her empty laundry basket as she went.
"Don't know why she bothered washing her sheets," Marinette smirked. "Not like she stays here to use them."
"I heard that!" Alya sang out from her room. "And because I am an awesome roommate, I changed yours as well."
Marinette rolled her eyes. "I just changed them a few days ago."
"Doesn't make me any less awesome," Alya called back.
Mari grinned at Nino. "She has a point."
"She usually does," he snorted.
"There," Marinette put a tray of cookies into the oven. "That should be the last of them. So," she eyed the array of pastries and goodies they'd already made. "Should we box this up?"
"I'll help you start," Nino washed his hands. "Then Alya will take over and I'll move on to dishes."
The friends moved with a synchronicity born of years of making laughter and mischief and decisions of varying quality together. Alya shooed Mari off to a relaxing bath while she and Nino took turns shuttling the goodies back to his apartment down the hall.
Marinette fished out a red bath bomb with black spots labeled "Lucky Charm" and tossed it into the water, smiling as it exploded into swirls of red hearts and glitter, while smelling of something heavenly like jasmine and ylang ylang and something else she couldn't be bothered to place.
She slipped into the water with a happy sigh. She'd been run off of her feet this holiday season, and her new line had taken off in ways she couldn't have possibly imagined. She'd been invited to party after party, but was content to know that her designs were attending many festivities on New Year's Eve, even if she was not. She was, in fact, grateful for it.
The idea of luxuriating in a great bath, and then spending the turn of the year with her best friends sounded just about perfect to her. Alya knocked on the bathroom door after about twenty minutes per Marinette's request, who hummed to herself as she wrapped up in a fluffy bathroom and padded into her room. Alya had made her bed and left out her cozy loungewear. Marinette smiled at the familiar hoodie – one from their university days – and patterned with the black-on-red polkadots that had earned her the nickname 'Ladybug.' She zipped it up over her t-shirt and yoga pants, pulled on her favorite fuzzy slippers, and rejoined her friends.
She chuckled when she found Nino fiddling with their door while Alya read instructions.
"Still can't get that thing to work, huh?" Marinette teased, leaning in the doorway.
"It's being stubborn," he frowned. "That's all."
"You and your gadgets," Alya sighed. "C'mon Marinette. He needs to call someone for help and he won't do it if we are here to hear him. Besides," she linked her arm through her roommates. "There are fresh cookies to sample."
It was decided that the girls would get everything ready to toast the New Year while Nino swore at the security device he was rigging up at the door.
"What is that thing again?" Marinette asked as she pulled out their stash of noisemakers, and the hats she'd made last year.
"It's a camera that can send signal to your phone – so you can see who has been by your door, or who is outside or.. I don't know," Alya shrugged. "It's a new toy."
"Sounds pretty fancy," Marinette peered past her friend to see Nino muttering under his breath.
"Nothing but the best to keep two of the best women in Paris safe," Alya nudged her with a wide grin.
"Well, obviously," Marinette chuckled, plucking out the tiara she'd made for Alya last year – the one that looked like a wi-fi signal – and placed it expertly in her hair. "Designer bath bombs, fancy hats? Clearly we are women of pedigree."
"Rose did a really good job on that last batch," Alya grinned and sniffed at her. "Lucky Charm?"
"How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess."
Marinette groaned. "I thought I was safe from anything resembling puns tonight. At least until Adrien calls Nino."
"Who, according to Nino, got his New Year package this morning," Alya inspected her reflection in the mirror. "Nino says Adrien was especially excited about his hat."
"Well we couldn't have him be left out, could we?" Marinette fished out her own hat and joined Alya in adjusting it in the mirror. "I send everyone else theirs, after all."
"He was particularly appreciative that in recreating your winning derby, you didn't use real feathers,"
"It was a compromise to my design," Marinette sighed dramatically, "but probably better than him sneezing his way through an entire shoot. Where is he now?"
"Hard to say," Alya frowned. "They changed his schedule so many times on this trip. The Azores, and then Reykjavik, and London, and –"
"London!" Marinette brightened. "Will he be coming home, then?"
"Why," Alya's lips slid into a sly, teasing smile. "Miss him?"
"Of course I miss him," Marinette scoffed, her cheeks turning a pretty pink. "He's our friend, and he's been gone a long time."
"Mm-hm," Alya crossed her arms. "And am I supposed to believe that you don't know down to the fraction of a second just how long he's been gone."
"I'd appreciate it if you pretended to," Mari muttered, putting the basket of noisemakers on the end table.
"Alright," Alya held her hands up. "Every journalist knows when and how to employ suspension of disbelief. So. You miss Adrien just as a friend, I am only going to eat five of those delicious cookies, and Nino is actually going to finish that device tonight and not give up amid a barrage of swearing and calling Max in to fix it."
"I GOT IT!" Nino called from the door, and the girls looked to each other.
Marinette bit the inside of her cheek as Alya deadpanned. "Never doubted him for a second."
"Check it out!" Nino waved them over. "This thing is amazing! With this app, you can check footage of who's been outside of your door, program the doorbell to just set off a specific a ringtone on your phone (preferably an awesome jam by yours truly), lock and unlock the door if you need to – although I need Max to really set up the more complicated features – and check any of this wherever you are!"
"Impressive," Alya leaned over to look on his phone. "Except right now you are the only one that can do all of that."
"Don't worry, babe," Nino winked. "I just needed to make the account to check the features, but it's under your emails. When we're done, you can log me out, change the passwords, and never look back."
"Probably a good thing if you can get to it, though," Marinette tilted her head to the side as she considered him. "We watch each other's places enough, right?"
"See," Nino slung an arm around Mari's shoulders and drew her in for a hug, minding her hat. "Mari loves me."
"Sure do," she kissed his cheek. "Now, the important question – as of right now, does it actually work?"
"Yup," Nino slid his finger across the screen and the sound of something mechanical whirred behind them as the display flashed 'LOCKED.' "Best two girls in Paris - safe and secured."
"Then you may have more macarons," Marinette grinned.
"Nice job, babe!" Alya sidled up to his other side. "But I'll fight you or those macarons."
"Yeah, yeah," he kissed her forehead. I'll give it another couple tests and then we'll see who is or isn't eating macarons. How's the prep coming?"
"Food is ready," Alya pinched his cheek and headed for the kitchen. "Cocoa is hot, champagne is cold, snacks are ready, and baked goods are amazing."
Nino's phone buzzed in his hand and he frowned. "Parents are with Dad's family," he held it up. "I won't be long." His greeting was enthusiastic as he lapsed into Arabic and slipped out of their apartment.
Marinette eyed her roommate.
"You still think it's hot when he does that, don't you."
"What? No! I just…."
Marinette arched an eyebrow at her.
"Okay, fine, yes. It's ridiculously hot, okay?"
"'S'okay," Marinette shrugged. "He thinks the same thing about when you slip into your Creole after talking to your mom's family."
"Good to know," Alya's grin sharpened. "Thanks, girl!"
"Although you are sort of cheating since that is still kinda French," Marinette teased. "I think Nino wins for more awesome."
"I have to give you that one – and I will kindly refrain from reminding you what your face does when Adrien speaks Chinese and how it lit up the first time you got good enough to actually converse with him."
"Thanks," Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get the glasses – it's almost time."
She flipped on the television and made sure the balcony door was unlocked. They had a spectacular view of the Parisian skyline, and she didn't want to miss a minute of the scene.
Nino came back in and had a quick, murmured conversation with Alya that Marinette dutifully ignored, per best-friend-and-roommate-protocol. She remembered all of the side glances she and Adrien had shared as those two got together, or when they thought they were being so subtle. She was grateful that they were the kind of couple that didn't make you feel like a third wheel, but the balance had shifted since Adrien left three months, twenty-seven days, five hours, three minutes and (she checked her watch) seventeen seconds ago.
Determined to keep her childhood crush behind her and out of the way of her friendship with Adrien, Marinette did a pretty good job of keeping things together around him; she no longer stuttered or flailed or embarrassed herself to the point of mortification.
He'd moved in with Nino the year before last, fresh from receiving his Master's in physics. He took a job covering the maternity leave of a teacher at their old school, and that year had been one of the best Marinette could ever remember. He'd become such a part of her life, that when his contract with the school ended, and he picked up his work with his father's company again, she'd felt the difference keenly.
He'd traveled often for his work, but this last trip had such variable schedule that no one seemed to have any idea when he'd be back in Paris. Something about not knowing when he'd be back made her feel a little more off kilter; like she couldn't feel prepared in her strategies of the heart.
She realized she still loved him when she found herself missing him so often in the little things. Unlike her childhood crush, though, she kept this feeling a little closer to her heart, and was determined not to think about it too much until after Adrien returned.
She didn't have to worry about not knowing when he'd be in; he'd tell Nino and Nino would tell Alya who would tell her. That left her with worrying about when she'd hear that he was coming home, and since that was nonproductive, she poured her energy into not worrying about when she'd hear that he was coming home.
But she missed him terribly.
"Okay," Nino guided Alya as she flicked through the app on her phone. "Now press here… here…"
"What am I supposed to be seeing," she frowned.
"Ugh, here," he rolled his eyes and stepped out of the door. "You see me?" His voice came through, muffled.
"No," Alya motioned for Marinette to look at the screen where Nino was standing, hands on hips. "Try moving around some."
The girls pressed their hands over their mouths as Nino moved around awkwardly.
"A little more," Alya called out, doing a wonderful job of keeping her voice level, and Nino jumped up and down. The girls burst into laughter as Nino came back in.
"Ha, ha," he snatched the phone out of Alya's hand. "We'll see who's laughing when this device saves your butt from evildoers."
"Wow," Marinette snickered "Did the 'fights crime' feature cost extra?"
"Hand over your phone, Wonder Woman," Nino held out his hand.
"Sure," she plonked it in his palm. "You fiddle with that while Alya and I get the drinks ready."
In two more minutes it was five minutes to midnight, and they each had a flute of champagne sitting on the end table. Nino was flicking through the menus with Marinette.
"Need something at your place," Alya called out, and left the apartment, waving to the camera as she slipped out of sight.
Nino paused a minute later and swore.
"She's going to go snoop!"
"Probably," Marinette shrugged. "But the ring is hidden here – she won't find anything."
"She won't find the ring," Nino jumped up. "That doesn't mean she won't find anything."
"Why Nino Lahiffe," Marinette's smile was slow and feline. "Just what are you hiding in that apartment of yours."
"Be right back," he tossed her back her phone and ran out of the apartment, Marinette's laughter ringing behind him.
The final countdown to midnight was just seconds from starting, so Marinette closed her eyes to make a wish.
"For my parents and friends: good health, happiness, and laughter. For Maman and Papa: twice the blessings they have given me. For Nino and Alya: a wonderful life together. For Adrien…" she paused, her heart beat picking up with that familiar longing.
"Happiness," she whispered. "I wish him happiness, and that he knows that he is loved – really and truly loved by all of us."
The knock on her door was unexpected until she spotted Alya's keys hanging in their usual spot. She tried to look through the app to see who was there, but Nino must've locked it in his haste to derail Alya's snooping attempts.
"Locked yourself out, didn't you," she called out, crossing to the door. "Serves you right for,-" she opened the door to admonish her friends, but stopped mid-sentence.
For a second she thought she'd fallen asleep on the couch, and considered pinching herself.
"…for showing up unannounced?" he offered, his grin knowing and playful despite the fatigue that hung on him like a languid mist. "Sorry," he gave a rusty chuckle. "But I didn't even know I'd be able to be back in time until a few hours ago."
"A..Adrien?" she stammered, blinking widely. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," he shifted his weight and patted the rolling carry-on next to him. "If Nathalie asks, I am still in London at the Savoy or for the next three days before flying out to Milan. But if you're asking, well," he pulled something from behind his back, "I have this stunning chapeau, and I couldn't think of a better place in the world to wear it." He put on a very familiar derby, making Marinette's grin widen. "That is, if you'll have me."
"Of course," she said warmly, her voice strangely thick, her eyes over-bright. "Come in."
She stepped back and let him pull his case behind him, pausing to take his coat.
"Why didn't you dump this at your place first," she asked as she hung up his coat, and then winced. "Not that you needed to, I mean, it's fine, I just wondered and –"
"I heard raised voices from the other side of my door," Adrien interrupted -not unkindly. "Nino and Alya. I didn't want too walk in to find out if they were angry or… something else."
"Oh," she blinked.
"Yeah," Adrien gave a knowing smile. "Oh." His eyes drifted to the televison, and his eyes lit up. "Hey, it's almost time!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as she laughed and followed. She offered him one of the pre-filled glasses and he beamed at her, insisting on holding her hand as they counted down the last few seconds of the year together. Marinette felt her heart warm and swell and burst with affection at his genuine, childlike enthusiasm, and absently thought she had never loved him more than in this exact moment. At the last stroke of midnight they let out a cheer and toasted the New Year laughing, at the tickle of the champagne. Marinette took his empty glass, shoved a noisemaker into his hand, and pulled him onto the balcony where they chased out the last of the old year with joyful cries, and welcomed the new. Adrien lifted his voice exuberantly - something she was certain he hadn't been able to do in the stone quiet formality of his childhood home.
Every inch of Marinette was happy.
There were no regrets – as they made too much noise and clapped, awestruck for the blast of fireworks – and no secrets in her bones.
Adrien wound his free hand in hers.
"It is so good to be home," he said with the world-weary gratitude of Odysseus on his doorstep.
"It is good to have you home," she squeezed his hand tightly, and allowed herself to radiate unabashed adoration.
"I missed this," he beamed. "Everything about this city – from the ugliest day to the loveliest night and everything in between. And you," he put a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "I missed you."
Her heart stutterstammered even as she smiled serenely and wrapped her composure more tightly around her heart. "I missed you too, Adrien."
"No," he shook his head, taking both of her hands in his before gripping one tightly, and raising the other to rest above his heart. "I missed you Marinette. More than just about anyone or anything. You can ask Nathalie; I was a mess. Everywhere we went, I kept thinking it would be so much better if you were there, and wondered what you'd think of the people and the food and the sights and –" his eyes darkened to an impossible green as they searched hers, while his words tangled on his tongue.
"And I don't want to be away from you like that again," he admitted. "I thought about you every moment for three months, twenty-seven days, five hours, thirty-seven minutes and..." he checked his watch.
Marinette cleared her throat. "Twenty-nine seconds."
He looked up at her sharply, eyes wide with a dawning hope.
"Give or take," she added, a tenuous smile pulling at her lips.
"Yeah," he agreed with a breathy laugh. "Give or take." He pressed his hand over hers. "Did you... you missed me, too?"
"Yeah," she chuckled, eyes bright and impossibly blue. "Kind of alot."
Adrien flushed happily, and suddenly looked more nervous than she'd seen him look in years.
"So..." he slowly drew them closer together. "So is it okay, if I... if we..."
The rest of his sentence was swallowed by the boom of fireworks, the cheers of revelers below, and Marinette's kiss – thankfully he'd had just enough sense to catch her as she flung her arms around his neck while holding on to his derby. He kissed her back fervently and ardently, pouring every ounce of his sincerity and gratitude into her. Deftly, he pulled her up, wrapping her legs around his hips as he effortlessly brought them back inside, closing the balcony door behind them.
In the back of Marinette's mind, she was beginning to connect the dots – the baked goods on the counter were all Adrien's favorites. The hot cocoa, relaxing bath complete with heart and aphrodisiac laden bath bomb, the evidence that neither Alya nor Nino were returning to the apartment before breakfast, the clean sheets on all available beds, – it all had "Alya and Nino" written all over it.
But she found it hard to care when she was losing track of where Adrien ended and she began, or how kissing him felt inexorably right – more right than anything she'd ever done in her life – or how his touch was at once the newest discovery in her world, an the most familiar thing she'd ever experienced.
Distantly she heard the whir of something electronic, and realized Nino had locked the door. That confirmation in place, she broke for air, and met Adrien's eyes. The question was there hovering, but waiting or her permission.
"So…" she cleared her throat. "We have movies, and Nino's mom's hot chocolate, and I made macarons, and Alya made snacks or…" she felt her cheeks light on fire, but she didn't break eye contact. "Um…there's always... my room...?"
"Please," he breathed, and chuckled at her muttered : "Thank god."
"I love you, Marinette," he closed her bedroom door behind them as he kissed her temple, her forehead, her cheeks, and her jaw. "I don't know since when; it feels like for always."
"You're just buttering me up or macarons," she half laughed half gasped as fire raced down her spine.
"Doesn't mean it's not true," he smiled against her collarbone. "But I'm game for a demonstration."
Marinette hummed her agreement (and later gasped and cried it out) a final wish flitting through the back of her mind.
"I wish him happiness,
and that he knows that he is loved
really and truly and deeply and honestly loved,
and I can't wait to remind him
every single day."
.~*Fin*~.
* Nino and Alya are canonically Moroccan and Martiniquais. Morocco has its own flavor of Arabic, and while French is spoken in Martinique, many speak Martiniquan Creole, a form of Antillean Creole.
* Headcanon that Rose ends up making her own super amazingly pretty bath stuff and beauty products; see Lush's bath bombs for example. She also makes a more subdued line of darker colors for Juleka - but they still have glitter.
* Any interest in reading the story from Nino and Alya's POV?
Thank you for reading! -GL