Chapter Fifteen: Wrapping for Charity

The class gathers together for a good cause and Adrien breaks the rules to join them and spent some time as a normal teenager with them and Marinette.

Sunday 15th December 2019. 10.55 a.m. Collège Françoise-Dupont.

Marinette stood in front of her school bright and early on a Sunday morning wondering why on earth she was even there.

Sort of. It wasn't bright, it was actually fairly dull, and it wasn't early, it was just before 11 a.m. which was early for Marinette but not for most other people, but it was a Sunday and Marinette really was wondering why she was going into school. Normally she would still be asleep at this time on a Sunday (akumas permitting).

It was for a good cause.

That was the thought that kept her going. It was the thought that made her get up early and go to school. That and another opportunity to see Adrien.

It was for a good cause.

She had already been in the school once this morning, to meet Mlle. Bustier. Marinette had helped her teacher open up their classroom and set everything up for her friends. Mlle. Bustier had promised to leave them to their own devices while she did some paperwork in her office, connected to the back of her classroom, and asked that they please keep the mess to a minimum. Marinette had assured her they would be as quiet as possible while they were there.

A wall of noise hit her as she opened her classroom door and she had to repress the urge to sigh. So much for that promise.

She had only been gone for a short while, just long enough to walk back home and grab the bakery box of treats her parents had insisted she take to feed her friends, and apparently everyone had chosen that moment to arrive at the school. Almost everyone, that is. Adrien, Alix, Sabrina, and Chloé were missing, but everyone else was there.

Alya was the first to notice her. "Hey girl!" She bounced over and grabbed Marinette in a hug, being very careful not to jostle the large bakery box she was carrying. Everyone else shouted their greetings and cheered for the arrival of the food. "Ready to get wrapping?"

"Aren't we waiting for Adrien, Alix, and Sabrina?" Marinette asked. She knew there was no way that Chloé was going to attend and so didn't bother asking.

Alya just rolled her eyes. "Chloé won't let Sabrina come - she needs her bag carrier when she goes shopping this afternoon," Alya scowled at that. Most people hated how Chloé treated her supposed friend but found themselves powerless to help. "Alix is running late, she had to help her dad with something but she's on her way. As for Adrien…"

"Didn't he text you?" Nino grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked it. "I got a message like ten minutes ago saying he couldn't make it. Nathalie's got every minute of his day planned out and this isn't acceptable."

Marinette stared. "What? Seriously?"

She couldn't get her own phone out to check because her hands were still full with the box of treats, but she had got a text from him just before she picked up the food. Hers was completely different to Nino's though.

See you soon Purr-incess!

It had been followed by several winking cat emojis and had made her laugh as she collected the treats. He was such a dork sometimes! But now she was getting worried. Had he tried to leave and been stopped by Nathalie? Could he not get back in contact with her and so sent a text via Nino? Was he ok?

Wait a second.

Purr-incess?

He might like cat jokes and cat emojis but he did his best to stay away from puns that were a little too Chat Noir. Purr-incess was definitely one of them, so for him to use it had to mean…

Footsteps on the stairs confirmed it.

Marinette groaned. "That silly boy," she grumbled. Alya cocked a questioning eyebrow at her. "Just wait for it."

Less than a minute later, the classroom door opened and Adrien walked in smiling happily at them all. "Good afternoon."

Nino leapt at him. "Dude!" he pulled Adrien into a hug that looked more like a headlock and Adrien reciprocated, laughing loudly. "You said you couldn't come!"

Alya pried him out of her boyfriend's arms and gave him a short hug of her own. Everyone else shouted their greetings to him. He waved before walking right up to Marinette and she made sure to look unimpressed as she shook her head. "Piano again?"

"Tchaikovsky." Adrien agreed, looking at the box with interest.

"Of course," she huffed. What else had she been expecting?

She opened the box then, letting Adrien have first choice of snacks. He grabbed a handful of cookies, and the cheese bread that she had put in there for Plagg, winked at her, and then quickly dodged out of the way as the rest of the class stampeded towards the front of the room for their turn. He sat on top of his desk, legs swinging, watching the treats evaporate under the onslaught.

Marinette dumped the bakery box on Chloé and Sabrina's desk, it obviously wasn't going to be used today, and barely managed to wiggle her way out of the crowd intact. Once she was safe she hopped up next to Adrien on his desk. He handed her two of the cookies and she ate one, slipping the other into her bag, and smiled at him. Her smile dimmed when she saw Alya looking between the two of them suspiciously. That was never a good sign.

"This isn't the first time you've snuck out…" Alya deduced correctly. Her eyes were still flicking between them while she put the pieces together and even though Marinette knew there was no way Alya wouldn't come up with the correct conclusion she still prayed that her best friend was wrong. It didn't work. Alya's jaw dropped and she gaped at the two of them. "You two were… he… you.. Ohmygod!"

"Dude!" Nino nodded approvingly.

Rose squealed then, alerting Marinette to the fact that she and Adrien hadn't been very subtle and nor had Alya been particularly quiet. The whole class was staring at them while they ate their snacks.

Rose looked like she had stars in her eyes as she swooned over them. "Oh that's so romantic!"

"Urgh," a groan from the doorway announced Alix's arrival. "I came here to wrap presents, not gush about romance."

Marinette took the opportunity with gusto. "Alix!" she leapt off the desk and pulled her inside, shutting the door, and shooing everyone away from Chloé's desk. "Great, now we're all here… Rose, this event was your idea, why don't you start us off?"

"Really? Thanks Marinette!" she set her cookies down and hurried to Mlle. Bustier's desk, skipping in her excitement. "So, as you all know, this Friday we will be turning the whole of Collège Françoise-Dupont into the North Pole, complete with snow, games, and Père Noël in his grotto!" she began excitedly.

Everyone nodded. The school's Christmas planned had been talked about at length for months as everyone planned the main event and decided who was going to contribute what. Rose had proposed the idea to collect money for the local Children's hospital. Collège françoise-dupont would host all the nurseries and schools in the arrondissement for one day, collecting money from donations and sales of food, drink, and Christmas ornaments, while showing off their skills to all interested parties. It was unanimously voted in. Their class was here today to finish off their contribution which was to wrap the presents they had already bought for Père Noël to hand out in his grotto.

"So today, we are here to wrap up all of the presents for…" Rose paused in her explanation. "Do we have the final numbers yet, Marinette?"

Marinette nodded. She'd spent weeks contacting everyone they had invited to pin the final numbers down and she was very pleased with the results. "Everyone said yes, so we will have three école maternelles and two écoles coming to see Père Noël this Friday. That's a total of 600 children, assuming they all come, and 50 staff, with each school having a designated time to arrive so we can hopefully stagger their visits throughout the day." The class started murmuring around her, in shock and surprise at the numbers, and despairing over wrapping all of those presents. She held up a placating hand. "I know it seems like a lot of work to do today, but our class got lucky. We're in charge of the presents, not the games, the refreshments, or the extra supervision on the day."

There were several eager nods around the room. Kim was the one to say what they were all thinking. "Yeah, I do not want to be in charge of a bunch of screaming kids at school."

Alix grinned. "I don't know. I'd think I'd pay good money to see that."

"You say that, but there's no way I am trusting my sisters to Kim!" Alya scoffed.

"Getting back on track," Marinette quickly interrupted, determined to head that argument off. "Our class is in charge of the presents. We aimed to get 700 presents but we smashed our total and got just under 1000 so well done everyone! Any presents we don't get rid of on Friday will go to the hospital the day after with the money. I'm looking at you Alix."

Alix grinned back, unashamedly. "It was shortbread, it was my favourite, it was a crime to let it go uneaten!" Marinette gave her a flat stare as she gave up the act. "Ok, ok, I won't take any presents this year - but I won't need to. Check these out!"

She leaned back in her seat and set her feet on her desk, proudly displaying the neon green and pink shin guards wrapped around her racing leggings. She pulled the matching knee and elbow pads out of her bag, monogrammed with her initials and her favourite designs, and held them out smiling happily.

Adrien felt his heart sink when he saw them. Those were the exact ones he had ordered for Alix for her Secret Santa gift, minus the monogram, and they had only just arrived late yesterday. He hadn't even taken them out of the box yet. Marinette slipped her hand into his and gave it a sympathetic squeeze and he interlaced their fingers before she could pull her hands back. The whole class thought they were already dating so he didn't care if anyone saw this time.

If he had time later then hopefully he could go to Marinette's again and get her help with finding another Secret Santa gift for Alix. He could easily sneak out again after dinner if he feigned exhaustion and wanted and early night. Nathalie wouldn't look in on him and his father was working at the main office on the other side of town today so he wouldn't be home until very late on.

Alix was fortunately oblivious to his fretting. She carried on showing them off while their class cooed over them. "Dad said I could have these early for helping him out with all his exhibitions this month. Awesome, right?"

"They're gorgeous Alix," Marinette agreed. She gave Adrien's hand one final squeeze before letting go and hopping off the table. "Now is everyone up for the challenge ahead?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Bring it!"

Max adjusted his glasses and stood up. "I estimate that we will have all of the presents wrapped up in less than three hours - providing of course that those of us who are good at wrapping help those of us who, uh, aren't as proficient."

He looked down at his desk, clearly placing himself in the latter category, and Adrien felt a surge of sympathy for him. Max wasn't actually that bad at wrapping gifts but he had been unlucky enough to get Chloé's name in their class Secret Santa - twice. Adrien had witnessed Chloé verbally eviscerate Max for his shoddy wrapping job both times.

He wished there was something he could say to cheer Max up, but fortunately for him Rose beat him to it.

She hurried over and wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders. "That's a perfect idea! We can all team up - and the team that wraps the most presents can get a special prize!"

Kim perked up at the hint of a competition. "Like what?"

"Oh, um, I don't…"

"One free selection box from my bakery!" Marinette volunteered. Given how quickly the twelve of them had demolished the snacks she had just provided, Adrien thought it was quite probably the best incentive they could have today.

Kim whooped in delight, proving him right. "Oh I am so going to win this one! That box is mine!"

Adrien saw Marinette shake her head in bemusement. "Max, do you want to pair everyone up?"

"Very well. The worst wrappers in our class are myself, Nino, Nathanaël, and Mylène. I don't know enough about your skills to place you Adrien."

Adrien thought about it. "Does putting things in gift bags count?"

"Poor," Max ruled. Adrien tried not to pout, a feat which became easier when Marinette took his hand again. "The pairs therefore are: Rose and Juleka!"

Rose squealed and tackled her girlfriend in a hug. Juleka blushed a little at the attention but happily held Rose to her. Adrien smiled at them. They always did their best work together so Max was right to pair them up.

"Nino and Alya."

They fist bumped and Adrien's happy smile turned more smug. He can see where this is going now.

"Nathanaël and Alix. Mylène and Ivan. Adrien and Marinette."

He gave their still joined hands another squeeze and smiled at her. His perfect partner. They were so going to win this. It didn't even bother him that the whole room was sending them knowing grins, or that Nino had just caught them holding hands and was trying not to freak out and draw Alya's attention to them.

Max nodded approvingly. "That leaves myself and Kim. Is that acceptable?"

"Totally!" Alya jumped in before anyone could object, smiling down at him and Marinette in her typically very unsubtle way that had Marinette rolling her eyes. Adrien felt like doing the same. Their friends may have promised not to set them up again, but technically they had made no promises about exploiting existing opportunities.

Rose pumper her fists in the air. "Now let's get wrapping!"

There was another human stampede as everyone race to Mlle. Bustier's desk. All of their wrapping supplies were stored there, with plenty of scissors and tape to go around, a few kilometres of ribbon, and a miniature mountain of rolls of wrapping paper. The presents the class had bought over the last few weeks were stacked behind the desk in large bags and Adrien watched as Kim took three of the bags before being tackled by Alix who managed to wrestle one away from him.

He was content to wait with Marinette until the chaos died down a little and they could safely collect their own supplies. There was still plenty left when they approached the desk.

Adrien steered Marinette towards his usual desk, since Alya had claimed hers and Marinette's for her and Nino today, but then was content to let Marinette take the lead in setting up their supplies. Gift bags were the extent of his wrapping experience, save for that one time he had seen Nino start to wrap up Alya's birthday present. Start, but not finish.

He looked around the room at what everyone was doing. Most of them placed the gift on the wrapping paper, marked a line, and then cut the paper, before wrapping, folding, sealing, and decorating it until it looked like a masterpiece. He didn't think his would turn out that well at all. Rose and Juleka were both on their third gift, Max was cutting several sheets of wrapping paper to size while Kim folded them around the presents in a production line method, Alix was a speed demon, and everyone had huge smiles on their faces.

He turned to look at Marinette who was waiting for him with a patient smile. "So it looks easy, but…"

"I know you can do this. Just follow my lead."

"Always."

He could practically hear the confusion radiating off Nino and Alya as they shamelessly eavesdropped behind them. Adrien thought about teasing them a little more, maybe dropping another in-joke that he and Marinette had, but reluctantly decided against it. Fun as it would be he was still technically in the middle of a piano lesson and his time was limited. He would much rather enjoy the little time he had with Marinette and their friends today before he had to rush back to his duties at the mansion.

Author's note. This chapter is late today because the sproglet and I were baking brownies and making cards for his teachers at nursery. Tomorrow is his last ever day there before he starts school in January. Pass the tissues please.

Replies to reviews.

bunnywabbit29 - thanks for the review. I think we all need good scarves in this weather right now.

Cals1686 - I'm glad you like the fluff, and don't worry my wrist is almost better. Thanks.

MelAria - I'm glad this is what you wanted and please keep reading for even more fluff.

yellow14 - whatever gave you that idea? *cough*tosspots*cough* yes, it is quite an apt autocorrect. If only the others were half as good. Thanks for reviewing.

alexiel1086 - thanks for the review and I'm really glad you like the story. I try to keep them in character.

OnlyLonelyStars - I think the dress scene will be worth the wait. Thanks for the review and thanks for not spoiling things for me - I'm slow to catch up but I'm determined to do it! And, also, a huge thank you for being my 200th reviewer on this website. As a thank you I will write any scene you want in a future chapter of this story - just tell me what you want! :)