They'd been patrolling and training every night for a week, and it was nearing the middle of December when Alya all but demanded a night off. The rest of them could use an actual night's sleep, she claimed, and she hadn't planned on being home for Christmas and was woefully underprepared in the gift department. Marinette had been to her house and saw the ridiculous pile of presents she brought back from abroad as evidence against this statement, but she wisely did not contradict her friend and relented to her demands. Besides, she could use a day of just sleep, too.

She was doing just that, curled up at Adrien's side, head nestled near his ribs and leg slung over the back of his thighs as he sprawled like a starfish in their bed. He often teased her about her wonky sleeping positions, but it was warm completely submerged in the covers, and the steady beat of his heart thrummed through her, lulling her into a peaceful rest. At least, it would have been peaceful if someone would quit knocking on their door.

"Nnngghhhh," she rolled out of bed, letting herself slip slowly over the edge until her butt hit the ground. She lifted herself to a standing position, and made her way towards the door that was now singing "Mmmaaaarrriiiii!" in Alya's horrible, tone-deaf approximation of a serenade.

"Alya, don't wake the neighbors," she grumbled once she opened the door.

"It's noon, chickie. Get dressed, we're having a girls day." She brushed past Marinette, who was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You decent, lover boy?" Alya called as she walked towards the bed and plopped down next to Adrien without waiting for a response. Marinette just chuckled as the half-asleep boy reached over and ruffled Alya's hair before cuddling into her side. Adrien had practically lived with them the first year of university. Privacy and personal boundaries had no place with the three anymore. It just would have been exhausting.

Marinette moved to join the cuddle, but Alya pointed at her and she stopped.

"You. Dressed. Now," she grabbed Adrien in a headlock and started to give him a noogie, causing her boyfriend to squeal in a very manly high pitch squeak and break away. Sitting up, he gave her a 'kitty' pout to which Alya just rolled her eyes. "I'll keep sunshine distracted," she finished, her expression turing impish.

Adrien looked over to Marinette for help, but she put up her hands in surrender and backed out of the corner. She quickly grabbed jeans and a sweater and ran to the bathroom to wash her face.

"Traitor!" Adrien called after her, but whatever he said next was muffled by Alya smacking a pillow into his face. The sound of empty threats and dull thunks assured her that her betrayal was soon forgotten and the pillow battle had commenced.

A few minutes later, she returned to a now dressed Adrien making coffee and Alya lounging across the couch.

"Ready?" She jumped up and Marinette almost cringed at her energy.

"When did you become a morning person?"

"It's noon,"Alya reminded her.

"Right, noon," Marinette repeated with a yawn. "I'll believe that more when I have caffeine."

"Coffee on the way, c'mon chickadee!" Alya linked their arms and Marinette tried to keep up as they left the apartment. She looked at Adrien, but he just blew her a kiss and took a deliberately slow sip of his coffee.

"Et tu, Adrien?"

"Have fun, Bugaboo!" she heard him call and chuckle before the door shut behind them and Alya heralded her into the traitorously bright sun.

After she was properly fueled with coffee and pastries thanks to a stop at the bakery, Marinette was fully awake and couldn't remember the last time her heart was so full. She'd missed Alya more than she'd admitted to herself, and she tried not to think about the expiration date on this visit or the fact that after graduation, it was very unlikely that they'd end up living in the same city again. Possible, but unlikely.

She honestly didn't know how she'd survived the first fifteen years of her life before Alya moved to Paris. She's always had friends, and throughout the years she had different groups that she considered her best friends. Some of them she was still really close with, but she'd never had that one person who you were your complete, unfiltered self with until Alya. She was her person, and Marinette didn't look forward not being able to just walk down the street and have her there. The last few months had been hard enough.

They plopped on a bench, somehow ending up in the park outside their old lycée, and dropped their bags at their feet. Alya claimed that she only intended to window shop around the city and catch up, but then they passed a fabric store Marinette had never seen, and then a new secondhand bookshop...and here they were four hours later, exhausted, but giddy with purchases and plans of designs and new worlds to discover...

They sat in silence, Marinette leaning her head on Alya's shoulder and tilting her face towards the sun, both already forgiven for their harsh wake-up this morning.

"I think sunshine is going to propose," Alya said suddenly, and it took Marinette a good minute and a half to process what had just come out of her best friend's mouth.

"Wha-WHAT? HOW-Do you know something? WHAT do you know? TELL ME!" She turned and grabbed Alya by the shoulders, shaking her slightly, much to her friend's amusement.

"I know nothing!" Alya laughed as Marinette dropped her hands and leaned back into the bench in shock. "I just have a feeling."

"A feeling or an Alya-reporter-gut feeling?" Marinette questioned, narrowing her eyes at Alya.

"The latter."

"Oh my god, he's going to propose," she murmured to herself, accepting Alya's appraisal without question. Her gut feelings were almost never wrong. She turned to Alya then, more calm and smiling widely. "He's going to propose!"

"I'm guessing that's a yes then?" Alya quirked an eyebrow at Marinette, teasing, but the shocked girl just sank dreamily back into the bench, staring across the grassy park in a daze.

"Adrien's going to propose," she smiled over at Alya, seeming incapable of other speech and felt herself tear up.

"Probably," Alya reminded. "I expect my maid of honor dress to be spectacular."

"Maid or Matron?" Marinette quipped and Alya couldn't contain her laugh. Marinette had seen the looks between her and Nino recently, and more often than not saw them linked together in some way.

"Oh, honey," she patted Marinette's head affectionately. "Look how long it's taken sunshine. Our music man is a slow little turtle." Alya joked and tried to brush off her implication, but Marinette wasn't fooled. Those two were made for each other. It was only a matter of time. She also remembered how heartbroken Alya was when it ended, however amicable it was, so she didn't push. Instead she leaned her head back on her best friend and gazed up at the trees, remembering the garden behind her and Adrien's house. She imagined living there together, as husband and wife.

He's going to propose.

Probably...

Adrien laid on the bare parquet floors while Nino shuffled through songs, talking about everything and nothing and just catching up. Nino came back for visits every once in awhile, but it was usually only when he was passing through. Adrien couldn't remember the last time he just sat and did nothing with his best friend. Everytime he was in Paris, they tried to make the most of his time, hitting up their favorite places, grabbing their favorite foods. Every visit was an occasion, as it should be, but Adrien missed doing nothing with Nino. It was comfortable, listening to Nino splice music together. He drummed his fingers and beatboxed without even realizing he was doing it as the music played and Adrien let himself relax to the familiar noises of his friend.

The sounds took him back to countless nights when they crashed on each other's floor-usually Adrien's because his parents were well aware of why the boys were out gallivanting around the city past midnight. Hawkmoth may have retired, but crime didn't, and they all kept up regular patrols until university. Chat and Ladybug still tried to, and had amped up their patrols a lot recently at the request of Fu, but it still wasn't as frequent as they probably should. If the past few nights were any indication, he doubted the others had been practicing their powers and keeping their stamina up…

"Stop frowning. You'll get wrinkles."

Adrien looked over and stuck his tongue out at Nino, who wasn't even looking at him.

"Dude, seriously. I can hear you worrying from over here. It's killing the vibe I'm laying down."

"Sorry," Adrien muttered. A second later a throw pillow lived up to its name and pummeled into his face. He glared back at Nino, both of them regarding each other with a straight face, before Nino shrugged.

"You were asking for it. Sorry," he whined in a horrible approximation of Adrien and the latter snorted. "God, you're apologizing to me? Something is up with you. Is it the stone of doom or the proposal?"

"Ugh," Adrien rolled over and pressed his face against the floor. "It was the stone, but now that you mention it…" Nino chuckled at him, turning his beats down to a background noise.

"Why are you so nervous?" Nino looked at him seriously then. "I mean, you and Mari are the most solid couple I've ever met. It's almost disgusting how perfect you are for each other, and you've lived together now and still seem perfect. So what's the deal? And don't," he held up a hand, stopping Adrien's quick response, "tell me you don't know. Because I know you, and you've over-analyzed this. Am I right, Plagg?"

"Yup," the black kwami zipped over their heads before hiding away again. Adrien sat up and narrowed his eyes at the traitorous god.

"I feel like that's a breach of holder-kwami confidentiality," he called after Plagg only to hear him snicker from his an Tikki's corner. Adrien turned back to Nino, who was still watching the blonde with an expectant look on his face. Adrien sighed, and tried to put it all into words.

"It's not that I'm afraid she'll say no, though I'm not assuming she'll say yes-"

"She'll say yes," Nino interjected. "Continue." He made a waving gesture with his hand.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, man." Adrien laughed lightly, trying to collect his thoughts properly. Nino was right, as Plagg had been kind enough to confirm. He had over-analyzed this, although he wasn't completely on board with the qualification of over. He'd just been thorough.

"I just want it to be perfect," he finally continued. "Growing up, everyone I knew had dreams of future careers. Chloé always wanted to be a lawyer, and every time I was on a forced playdate or 'arranged socialization'," Adrien watched Nino smirk as he described his life before he was allowed to join public school. "Everyone always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up, even if it was subject to change. Astronaut, Policeman, Teacher, Reporter, DJ." He looked at his friend as he pantomimed spinning discs.

"And you?"

"I never really wanted to be anything in particular. I guess that's why I modeled for so long without much complaint and allowed my dad to put me in so many different extracurriculars. Modeling, piano, fencing, Chinese...It didn't really matter. I enjoyed most of them well-enough, but it wasn't like I was using them to work towards a particular goal. Now, I love physics, and think I would like to be a professor one day, but throughout it all, my answer to What do you want to be? was always more along the lines of What do you want to have?"

He looked up then, but there was no judgement on Nino's face, just calm support. Encouraging him to continue without pushing.

"I want a family," Adrien said. "I've always wanted to be a dad. Find someone who was intelligent, clever, witty, beautiful, and real. Someone who I could be completely myself with and settle down, have children, and just love them everyday. My childhood wasn't ideal. I realize why now, but I spent a lot of time questioning why my father didn't love me. My family now is so much closer, but that time in our history still existed and it cemented for me how lucky I am to have the relationship I do with them now. I want to make that with someone else, just without the middle part. I want to be a dad."

"And Marinette is your something real."

"Yeah. She's more real than I ever dreamed she'd be. So I'm not afraid to spend the rest of my life with her, but I'm on the edge of having my deepest wish fulfilled, and it's fantastic and nerve-wracking at the same time."

He looked up to Nino then and swore he saw tears in his friend's eyes.

"You deserve this, man." He subtly wiped one of his eyes. "I love you so much, dude. Mari is going to say yes and you're going to be the best dad."

"I love you too, man." He smiled a watery smile at Nino, and then laughed. "You're going to be a bomb-ass uncle."

"The favorite uncle," Nino confirmed.

"Obviously," Adrien responded, flopping back onto the floor. Nino turned his music back up and started playing with an arrangement of Train's Marry Me. Adrien gave him a sarcastic look.

"What? I've got to start getting ready for the reception."

Adrien snorted, but then sat up straight when the door to the apartment burst open and a frazzled Chloé rushed towards them. It was the second time this week that he'd seen her like that, which was more than in the last 3 years combined.

"Chlo?" Adrien shot to his feet and she was suddenly in front of him, gripping his arms with a strength he didn't know she had. Nino was up and at their side immediately.

"Chloé? Chlo, what is it?"

"Mathys. It has Mathys."