Chapter Sixteen: Mistletoe.

When the school is covered in mistletoe everyone wants to take advantage of that fact. Everyone.

Monday 16th December 2019. 08.15 a.m. Outside Collège Françoise-Dupont.

Marinette was on her way to school when Rose rushed by her in a blur of pink, shouting a quick hello and see you later as she ran past Marinette and into the bakery. Marinette waved back and carried on walking to school. She could see Adrien stood with Alya and Nino on the front steps and didn't want to delay meeting them for what was a very common occurrence - her friends were always popping into the bakery for a quick and heavily discounted snack, and Rose was probably just hurrying to collect her free selection box for having won the present wrapping competition yesterday.

The closer she got to the school the quicker she ran. Yes, she was really eager to see Adrien again, but as she neared her friends she could see the tension between them, Adrien's disbelieving frown standing out clearly. It looked like the conversation they were having was seconds away from descending into an argument.

"Dude, I swear!" Nino held his hands up in a placating gesture even though Adrien wasn't even mad. "I swear on my headphones, we did not do this!"

Alya nodded. She dropped her backpack on the floor and Marinette just caught sight of something green sticking out of it before Alya blocked her view. "We really didn't. I mean, I totally get that we're your chief suspects right now, and in your place I would definitely be suspicious too, but face it - it would not be this much of a random mess if we had done it. We would have targeted you two directly."

Well, wasn't that just a delightfully ominous thing to hear on a Monday morning?

"Do I even want to know?"

Marinette announced her presence with that question, growing more concerned when both Alya and Nino startled. They had been so caught up in protesting their innocence that they hadn't seen her walking straight up to them. That was never a good sign.

Adrien had noticed, of course. He always knew where she was. She hadn't been able to take him by surprise in a game of rooftop tag for months. He smiled warmly at her and offered her one of the two to-go cups in his hands.

Marinette took it, brought it to her face, and inhaled, barely holding back a moan as the delicious aroma of peppermint hot chocolate drifted up. He had gone back to that little coffee shop they had found the other week just for this.

"Oh you're the best." Marinette took a long sip, giving a happy hum.

Adrien's answering smile was unbelievably fond. "I'm keeping you." Adrien declared. Alya choked on air and Marinette had to hide her smile with her cup. "You're great for my ego," he continued with a wink. Marinette just snorted. "And we're talking about that!"

It took Marinette's Monday morning brain a few moments to realise exactly what it was in the school that Adrien was pointing at, and even longer for her to believe what she was seeing.

"What the-?"

The school was green.

Somehow someone had covered every doorway and almost every square centimetre of the ceiling in mistletoe. M. Damocles was stood in the middle of the courtyard and gesticulating wildly at an annoyed Mlle. Mendeleev, a frowning M. D'Argencourt, and Mlle. Bustier who was doing her best to hide her grin. From the few snippets of their loud conversation that she heard, Marinette could tell they were trying to figure out who had done it and how.

The how was fairly straightforward. To her at least. In the gaps in the foliage where she could see through to the actual ceiling, Marinette could also see a sort of netting held up on small hooks. That made sense. If all the mistletoe was tied to the nets beforehand then it would be easy and fast to cover the ceiling with the plant before school. As for who, well Marinette didn't have a clue. In her class alone there were multiple suspects - Kim and Alix would both have done it for a dare and they were fast enough to do it; Nathanaël could have done it as an art project because as much as he loved his comics and sketched her also loved gigantic performance pieces too; Chloé had the money at her disposal to buy all of the materials and hire someone to do it, plus it gave her a good chance to grab Adrien under the mistletoe; and of course there were Alya and Nino to consider...

Marinette turned to her best friend and gave her a look that screamed explain now.

Alya held her hands up in surrender. "I said it wasn't me girl."

"And you have mistletoe in your backpack, because…?"

"What?" Adrien gaped.

"It's not for that, I swear!" Alya grabbed the sprig of fake mistletoe from her bag and showed them the gift tag she had attached to it. To: Marinette. From: Guess who! "It was meant to be a little joke, see? I was going to put it in your locker."

"It's true, M," Nino agreed. "Besides, like we told my bro, if it had been us we wouldn't have gone that mad."

"True enough," Marinette agreed.

Because they were right. If they had wanted to use mistletoe as a tool in their schemes to set her up with Adrien then there would have been a lot more planning involved for starters. Alya would have had a master list of prime locations in the school to set them up - undoubtedly including over Marinette's locker, their classroom door, and the ceiling between their desks - and she wouldn't have been very subtle at all in her hints for them to kiss.

With the mistletoe covering every inch of the school there would be a significantly increased risk of someone else getting between them too, and Marinette knew that there would be no way Alya would do that to her. She was far too loyal of a friend to risk having another girl accidentally fall under the mistletoe with Adrien. This was definitely not Alya's work.

Her little joke present, yes, that was 100% Alya Césaire. It might have even worked too, Marinette mused, thinking of how surprised and happy she would have been to have found that in her locker. Of course she would have assumed it was from Adrien, they were practically almost dating as it was, they had admitted that they loved each other for crying out loud, so of course she would have gone to him with the mistletoe and perhaps been bold enough to hold it above them and tempt him in for a kiss and…

Alya pointedly cleared her throat and snapped Marinette out of her daydream before she could get too lost in it. Thank god for best friends!

"Well," Marinette looked around desperately for a change in topic and her eyes were drawn to the still arguing teachers. M. Haprele had arrived with a ladder and some scissors so it looked like they were ready to start taking it down. That was good enough. "I guess I'd better do my class rep duty and see what's going on."

Alya swung her backpack on and links her arm together with Marinette's. "I'll be your bodyguard girl. You can smooch me instead of any of the losers in there."

"With an offer like that how can I refuse?" Marinette laughed.

She was about to grab Adrien and pull him along too when she noticed the crowd of his fangirls stood in the entryway under a large cluster of mistletoe. No wonder he had been waiting outside in the cold. She settled for a wave before dragging Alya into the school with her to get this mess sorted out.

Adrien waved back to her, glad that Alya was there to protect her when he couldn't - he loved her with all his heart but he didn't think he could face up to the fangirls even for her - but got distracted when Nino sighed.

"Dude," he wailed mournfully. "Your girl is trying to steal my girl."

"She's not my girl."

"Yet," Nino winked. "Still not asked her out yet?" Adrien gave him a pointed look. "It's curiosity not interference."

Adrien shook his head. "Not yet, but I have the best plan for it. And no I'm not sharing it. With anyone."

He said that last part loud enough for Plagg to hear and he felt his kwami hiss in his pocket. He would probably find camembert in his clothes later on for that slight but he didn't care. It would be worth it for him to ask her out the way he wanted to, not have confession opportunities forced upon them.

"That's fair," Nino nodded. He kept a wary eye on the fangirls and nudged Adrien when there was movement. "Looks like you'll be safe soon. They're starting to take it down."

There was a small squeak behind them and they turned to see Rose, clutching a bakery box to her chest, looking up at the school in dismay. Juleka was walking over to them from the park behind them.

"Oh no, why are they taking it all down?"

"Rose?"

She blushed as pink as her coat and look down at the ground. "I-I-I just wanted to do something nice for everyone, and maybe catch Juleka a few times, and-"

"You did this for me?" Juleka said quietly. Rose jumped and almost dropped her bakery box, had Adrien not managed to catch it, before turning and grabbing her girlfriend's hands in her own apologies pouring from her lips until she looked at her girlfriend. Juleka was smiling down at her looking happier than she had the day her photo curse was broken. "You covered the school in parasites just for me?" she asked. Rose nodded. Juleka beamed and leaned down and kissed Rose thoroughly.

Adrien smiled at the two of them. Juleka looked so happy with Rose's gift that he found he couldn't be annoyed any more. He turned to Nino, intending to suggest they leave the girls be and go inside the school, but stopped when he saw Nino looking between the girls and the school in confusion.

"Parasites?" he yelped.

Juleka broke the kiss slowly and turned to the boys with a nod. "It's a parasitic plant that leeches life from its host trees, draining them dry. Awesome, right?" Both Adrien and Nino blinked then decided it was safer to now. Juleka gave them another smile before catching Rose's hands again. "Let's find ones with lots of berries before they're all gone."

Rose nodded and took the bakery box back from Adrien and raced back into the school with Juleka, leaving Adrien standing there very confused. "Berries?"

"Oh, I know that one," Nino grinned. "One berry equals one kiss between the couple caught under the mistletoe, no more berries, no more kisses." Adrien shot him another look at the obscure knowledge and Nino's grin turned into a smirk. "I tried mistletoe with Alya our first Christmas together and she took great delight in pointing out she wasn't obligated to kiss me because the sprig I had didn't have any berries… however it looks like those do."

He pointed to the school where Rose and Juleka were enthusiastically kissing in the doorway. Alya was wolf-whistling them and gesturing for Nino to come into the school and Marinette was walking over to them. Adrien felt the sudden urge to drag her into the doorway too, but decided against it when he saw Chloé hovering nearby. Nope.

Nino slapped him on the back in farewell and then raced up to his girlfriend. Adrien burst out laughing as Alya dipped Nino in a grand gesture. Marinette was giggling too when she reached his side and took the arm that he offered to her. He reached over and squeezed the hand that was holding his arm.

"I think I should warn you," she started. "Mlle. Bustier said that we could keep one sprig of mistletoe in our classroom. And Chloé looked very happy to hear that."

Adrien winced. "Is it too late to go home sick?"

"Don't worry, kitty. The rest of the class is playing bodyguard for you."

Adrien couldn't turn that opportunity down. "I'd much rather that you guard my body," he said with a wink.

There was the tiniest hint of a blush on her cheeks and he counted it as a win - until she smirked at him and deliberately trailed her eyes up and down his figure. "And what a fine body it is too," she purred. Adrien swallowed hard and willed his blush to dim. His Lady was far too good at teasing him back. She giggled and took pity on him. "Let's get to our lockers and get to class before the fangirls come at you."

Somehow they made it to the locker room undetected and without stepping under any of the remaining mistletoe. They put their things away and grabbed their books for their first lesson, and Plagg slipped out from Adrien's and shot his Chosen a haughty look before joining Tikki in Marinette's bag. Adrien sighed. Plagg was going to be insufferable all day now.

They weren't as lucky on their way to the classroom. Three Adrien fangirls blocked their way, all of them waiting to grab Adrien when he walked under the mistletoe.

To Adrien's deight, Marinette hadn't been joking about their class standing bodyguard for him. Kim ran at the first girl making exaggerated kissing noises and she shrieked and ran away from him, leaving the jock laughing hysterically under the mistletoe. Ivan and Mylène took up position under the second bunch of mistletoe and started kissing while Alix glared at the third girl and started cracking her knuckles in clear warning. The two fans wisely gave up at that point.

Max and Nathanaël escorted Adrien and Marinette towards the stairs but stopped at the bottom when they had accidentally steered them under the last sprig of mistletoe.

Max grinned and adjusted his glasses. "According to the rules of the tradition, you two must kiss."

Adrien wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. He was so tempted to pull her into his arms, to tilt her head up to his, to lean down and capture her lips for his own, to finally kiss the love of his life. He could see the same yearning on Marinette's face. It didn't matter to him that they had an audience or that he hadn't actually managed to ask her out properly yet, not when he knew they both wanted this.

But instead he leaned down and brushed a tender kiss across her cheek, ignoring the loud booing from Kim and Alix, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her upstairs.

"Your bag," he whispered to her.

She nodded. "I know."

The second they had stopped under the mistletoe, Marinette's bag had begun moving at her side. Her bag with both of their kwami inside. He had no idea what was going on, and judging from the concern on Marinette's face neither did she, but there was no time or privacy for them to ask Plagg or Tikki. They would have to wait for morning récré.

Their luck ran out.

When the time came for morning récré Chloé immediately positioned herself by the classroom door and smiled at Adrien. He shivered. Her smile was as friendly as a shark's and if he had to choose between the two he wouldn't be kissing Chloé.

Alya huffed and grabbed Nino, intending to shove Chloé out of the way, but she stood firm. "Oh Adrikins?"

He shuddered again. Where was an akuma when you needed one?

Marinette sighed behind him and leaned over the aisle. "Alix," she hissed. "Free shortbread at the bakery for the rest of the year if you can do something about that."

Alix's answering smirk was wicked.

Ignoring the stairs, Alix leapt up onto her desk and bounded across to Marinette's desk. Adrien's heart nearly stopped when Alix only just managed to miss landing on Marinette's hands and he had to duck quickly and she jumped onto his desk before launching herself up onto Kim's shoulders and then over Chloé's head to the mistletoe.

With a triumphant cry she snatched the plant off the wall, landed in a crouch in the doorway, and raced out of the classroom with Chloé in hot pursuit. Alix was laughing while Chloé screamed at her to bring that back because she needed it.

"Holy shit," Alya gaped. "That was awesome!"

She grabbed her phone, hit record, and ran from the room. The rest of the class followed a heartbeat later, eager to see how this would end even though they all knew there was no way the Chloé of all people could catch Alix.

The second the coast was clear Marinette put her bag on the table and snapped the clasp open. "Tikki? Plagg?"

Adrien peered over, as concerned about their kwami as she was, and very confused when Plagg floated out with a very dopey and satisfied grin on his face. His fur was ruffled and sticking out everywhere and his tail was curling lazily in contentment. He's only ever looked that blissful after devouring half a fromagerie's worth of camembert.

Tikki popped up next to him with a giggle. "That mistletoe is fun!"

Both of them stared at their kwami in shock but eventually Adrien couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Marinette was quick to follow.

Plagg was still smiling goofily but Tikki had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that," she said. "But this tradition wasn't around the last time we were active. We'll be more careful next time," she promised, winked, and then dragged Plagg back into her bag with her.

Marinette burst out laughing again. "And to think we were worried," she giggled and grabbed her things.

Adrien agreed but he was also slightly annoyed that he had missed his chance to kiss Marinette because Plagg was kissing Tikki. This was the second time that damn cat had interfered with his plans and Adrien wasn't sure he could survive a third.

He sighed and looked up at the now vare doorway. "You know it's a shame she had to run off with all the mistletoe."

"Oh?"

Adrien smiled. "I was actually looking forward to the challenge of catching you under it without an audience and trying to steal a kiss."

Marinette blushed but then smiled back and Adrien just knew he was going to die. "You were, were you? Well…" she leaned forward over her desk and placed one hand on his chest. He immediately covered it with his own. "I'll let you in on a little secret, my sweet kitty," her voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned closer and he couldn't have stopped himself from leaning in if he had wanted to. She leant towards his ear and whispered. "You'd have been able to get a lot more than one." With a quick kiss to his cheek she bounded away, grinning happily, and racing to the classroom door. "Cat-ch me if you can, Adrien!"

Adrien grinned and gave chase. He was right. Marinette was going to be the death of him but what a way to go!

Author's note. So today was the sproglet's final day in nursery and I am not ashamed at all to admit that I cried. Gosh I'm so emotional right now! Please excuse any typos because I was on my phone again but also crying tears of sorrow and joy because my little man is growing up. Now to get everything ready for school in January.

Alix is most definitely my favourite character to write. She is just that awesome. Also, you may have noticed that I bumped the rating up a little to account for the language.

Replies to reviews.

bunnywabbit29 - oh poor dear. Sorry about that. You must be amazing at the secret part of Secret Santa then if no one could guess. I hope they all liked the treats. Thanks for the review.

yellow14 - yep, damn autocorrect typos. It doesn't bother my wrist to type on the phone but it drives me up the wall with all those insufferable autocorrect errors. Thanks for catching it for me. I hope you liked Rose, Juleka, and Alix in this chapter too.

Guest on chapter 10 - thanks for catching that typo. I'll change it when I can. Glad you're liking the story.

OnlyLonelyStars - hmmm, that sounds promising. I'm sure I can fit that in somewhere. Keep an eye out because I will dedicate the whole chapter to you. Glad you're enjoying the fic.