I'm really proud of this one ;)

"I'm your Secret Santa, Alix! Happy holidays!", Mylène announced happily, hugging Alix and giving her a gift. The smaller girl beamed and hugged her back as someone skipped past them, up the stairs.

"Happy holidays, Nathaniel! I'm your Secret Santa, you lucky child!", Kim yelled, almost scaring Nathaniel off his bench. He recoiled but laughed at the poorly wrapped present, already thanking Kim. Meanwhile, Sabrina skipped over to Nino, presenting him a smaller gift.

"Hey Nino! I didn't exactly know what to get you sooooo… I just winged it. I hope you like it!", The boy grinned widely in return, taking the gift from her.

"Really cool from you, Sabrina!"

"Roooooooose!", Marinette shouted, turning to the back, "I got something for you!"

"Really, Marinette?! Ooooh, how sweet of you!"

In the midst of all the hectic running around, giving and receiving gifts, Alya sat on her seat, grumbling. Of course, of course Chloé had chosen her. Well, she should've known and better her than Alix who would protest, or Rose who would be sad.

But still.

While she had already given Ivan his present and had gotten back the brightest smile of him that she had ever seen on this bog boy, the dumb chocolate bar sat in front of her on her table. It was almost as if Chloé had generously given her alms to satiate her.

And yes, while Alya had never been much of a gift accepter since she liked giving gifts more, she had at least wanted a 'Happy holidays'. Or at least the tiniest bit of effort. Chloé had already given signs to better herself but this? This was sad.

Alya sighed, resting her chin on her crossed arms while watching Marinette giving Rose a rose themed shirt. Juleka gave Max a present behind them, Sabrina just unwrapped a portrait of herself, drawn by Nathaniel. Everyone had a smile on their face. Even Chloé, who had gotten a present from Max.

It wasn't that she felt left out or anything. It was just that she didn't really feel the vibe of Christmas coming her way while the others looked like they could immediately jump on Santa's sled and yell 'Silent Night' from the top of their lungs. Eh, who needed a Secret Santa anyway…

Miss Bustier just opened her gift from Alix, laughing as she revealed a small rollerblade-keychain. So that she would never forget her coolest student, the small girl claimed.

Alya huffed and rested her temple on her arms. She hadn't slept very well anyway so she could just as well get some rest now. Miss Bustier had officially declared the first two hours as a class intern Christmas party so she would have enough time to close her eyes a bit, slip off in the land of dreams and forget everything around her. Just as much as she had been forgotten.

Alya wasn't sour about that, no. Or, well, maybe a little bit.

She just felt like something was missing. She didn't want a gift, necessarily, but at least a kind gesture? Something telling her she was at least wanted here.

She sighed silently as she felt Marinette leaving their bench, off to ask everyone what they had gotten. Such a sweet soul.

Always out to care for others. And hell, how she had already cared for Alya! She was incredibly grateful to have found Marinette, to have her in her life. Before she had come to Collège Françoise Dupont she hadn't had many friends. Well, she hadn't really been interested in friends, honestly. She had her comic books, her sisters, one boy from school with who she could always geek out about Majestia and well, that had been enough for her.

Until she had gotten to know Marinette. She had also begun valuing Adrien as a great friend, no matter how much of a crush her best friend had on him.

And Nino… Well, that was a totally different story. For a few days now at least.

She smiled lightly when she thought about his golden eyes shining when he was excited, or transforming into molten caramel flowing around his pupil everytime his gaze softened, everytime he pulled her close and was just about to kiss her…

Her lips tingled and she couldn't quite suppress a bigger grin.

She opened her eyes, turning her head again to see him standing with Rose and Juleka, grinning broadly. She hummed at his sight before turning away again, not wanting to be caught staring. He just adjusted his red cap when she closed her eyes again and the image played in her head all over again.

He loved that cap. He never took it off outside even if his hair was so silky and soft that she was sure at least a few people would wanna touch it. She knew she wanted to.

His laugh ringed in her ears and she hid her smile in the crook of her arm, her chest feeling fluttery and her heart suddenly so light. Every negative thought from her forgotten Secret Santa was gone as she filled her mind with his grin, with his eyes, with his smooth, soothing voice. Somehow, her ears filtered away all other noises and she was concentrating on him alone.

"Woah, that looks really cool, Rose. I bet you're gonna wear it all day long now, huh?", he said, a happy undertone in his voice. And definitely a good piece of pride. Pride for Marinette.

She knew Nino and Marinette were childhood friends. Basically that they grew up together.

They had re-established a really close friendship as Adrien and Alya had joined the class but Alya knew from Marinette that she had been inseparable from Nino once.

She had to smile again.

They were so cute together. Marinette had shown her a few old photos and Nino's chubby cheeks always got her cooing. He had been so cute next to the absolutely adorable beauty next to him. Well, she couldn't blame him – Marinette had always been a beauty.

Just as Alya was about to doze off she felt a hand on her arm, though. The hand was a little too warm as always, but not sweaty. She opened her eyes and found Nino's smiling eyes just a bit away from her.

"Come with me, Al.", he whispered. A little groggy, she sat up and blinked.

"Where to?", she yawned.

"Just come with me.", he smirked, a conspiratorial expression flashing over his face. She got up and watched with a certain satisfaction how Nino inconspicuously swiped the chocolate bar a bit further onto the table, away from her.

He had seen it. He had understood her.

She followed him out of the door, her hand lying in his, protected and warm. She giggled a little as they were out of the door, feeling like they just snuck out of an important lesson even if they were free to go through the school at the moment.

"What's up, Nino?", she asked, not really expecting or wanting an answer. She wanted to be surprised.

"Just follow me.", he winked over his shoulder, his teeth flashing in a joyous grin.

She grinned and kept up with him, letting him pull her into the locker room. Nobody was here.

They passed all the lockers of their classmates and went to those of students in a higher class, passing them, too. She now understood where he wanted to go.

This corner was mostly used by students of higher classes because it was in their corner of the room but since their class was mostly in the middle they didn't have such a corner. And since Nino didn't want to go to the younger kids' lockers, he decided to pick the one that already had a reputation. A kissing reputation.

She bit down a giggle and tried to ignore the feeling of a thousand butterflies fluttering through her stomach as they got to the place where Nino wanted to go.

There was nothing really special about this corner, really. Apart from the fact that it was well hidden from the entrance and all the other lockers safe for the ones on this side it was just, well, that. A corner.

But within the students it had kinda become the place where people would go to kiss. As tenth graders they were a bit on the younger side to use the corner but Nino didn't seem to care. Especially since nobody was in the locker room anyway.

He turned to her, grinning with his cheeks slightly reddened. Was he just as excited as her? Well… They had shared a few pecks, yes. And they had also kissed for a bit longer, back when her mom had walked in on them. But this corner and the fact that they were in the school made it all a bit more-… Rebellious. Mature. Also, a bit more exciting, almost as if they were breaking some rules.

She watched him talking both her hands, slowly turning around and pulling her in a circle around him to let her lean in the corner. She willingly stepped past him, pulling a quick pirouette in a flowing motion as if it was a dance. He grinned as he remembered where she had last done that.

Alya's shoulders gently bumped against the wall on one side and the lockers on the other, one foot still on the floor while she propped one against the junction between locker and wall behind her. Nino smirked as he stepped closer, still holding both her hands, their fingers loosely interlaced.

"So, what're we doing here?", she questioned, tilting her head to indicate she was mockingly oblivious. He laughed, taking her knee between his legs to be close enough to her, his sneaker lightly bumping against the shoe with which she was still standing.

"Well, I saw how Chloé gave you that chocolate bar as a Secret Santa gift."

Alya psh'ed and shrugged.

"Yeah, that was very Christmas-y and nice. I practically felt the Christmas Spirit and kindness radiating from her in tsunami waves."

Nino snorted, now pulling away one of his hands to wrap his arm around her shoulders, leaning against the wall behind her in a close hug. His chest laid flat against hers and she smiled as she used her free hand to reach around him, grabbing his shirt and letting her arm relax in that position.

His nose softly bumped against hers and he nudged her, his fingers between hers closing to hold them tighter.

"Well, I figured you needed a real Secret Santa gift. Well, not so secretly from me but hey, at least we're in secret here."

She laughed at that, pressing a quick kiss to his nose.

"You mean I'll get a real Secret Santa gift here?"

"Well…", he smirked, "I could always run for Marinette's Santa hat that she's wearing and when we return you claim that you don't know who kissed you anymore. But yeah, I thought about giving you a real Secret Santa gift."

She giggled, his breath mingling with hers and flowing down between them to their necks.

"I like the sound of it…"

And with a hum he leaned in, eager to give her the best Secret Santa gift she could have. Which she claimed to be true, even after seeing that Adrien had given Marinette, being her Secret Santa and all, a gift card for a cinema date.

Because even if everyone else had gotten something thoughtful from her classmates, she had gotten the sweetest attention from her boyfriend that she could've ever asked for.