Marinette tapped her feet impatiently, occasionally shifting her weight on both feet.

"Okay, there you go, hunny." Sabine handed Marinette a tray and before she could voice out a proper thanks, she was already zipping up the stairs into her room.

She placed the tray on her desk and checked the time, it was already a few minutes after 7. "He'll be here any moment now. Oh he's gonna love it." She clapped happily and Tikki smiled as she hovered over the bluenette.

"I'm sure he will." The kwami encouraged and Marinette bopped her head happily, "C'mon let's go wait for him at the balcony."

She climbed up her loft and through the trapdoor then out to the balcony. It was a chilly evening and the snow fall was not so serious. She say crossed legged on the floor and began to wait.

The previous night, Catnoir had to go since it was getting late. He promised he'd try his best to come the next evening. She knew he'd never break a promise so she was waiting. She was sure he'd be there any moment from then. So while she was waiting, she busied her thoughts.

She promised to make this year's Christmas memorable for him and she would do that. She hadn't really thought through how but she was sure she would. They could try a new Christmas activity every day. And she was going to make sure he loved it. He deserved it, she smiled to herself as she wait.

She went deeper and deeper in her thoughts, planning each activity that she didn't even notice the leather clad hero landing softly on the railing of her balcony. He crawled a little then landed quietly on the floor.

When he looked down at her, she was staring into space and smiling. So before getting her attention, he stared for a moment. She was such an amazing friend, to both sides of him, and he was lucky to have someone like her in his life.

"Hey, princess!" He finally spoke but the poor girl's soul nearly left her body at the shock and she screamed. She relaxed after seeing it was only Catnoir, she placed her hand to her chest and stood up with a frown, "God! Catnoir you scared the living daylights out of me!"

"Sorry.." He smiled sheepishly and reached to help her straighten up. She took his hand and her frown relaxed. She smiled back at him. They took a while looking at the other before stepping forward to wrap their hands around the other. Since he was taller, she melted into his embrace, nuzzling his chest.

"I missed this." He murmured into her hair pulling her closer and her smile only widened, "Me too." She whispered muffled.

There was a dragging silence except the distant noises in the now dark city. After an extra second, they both pulled away. "That even felt better than yesterday." Catnoir gushed as soon as they pulled apart. His hands still remained at her side even when she dropped hers.

She put her hand to the side of his face, "You're better today."

"Yup...I couldn't stop thinking about meeting you tonight. I'm really sorry I made you wait, I couldn't leave the house." He spoke softly but she only nodded in negation, "It's okay. I didn't wait that long."

There was a small pause before she finally moved out of his hold putting the much needed distance between them. "I have something for you."

His eyes lit up, "Really?" And she nodded, matching his smile. "C'mon let's go in." She held his hand to pull him with her.

"You mean in your room?"

She frowned, confused, "Yes."

"You don't mind me coming in." He asked skeptical and her frown disappeared and she smiled, "Well I let all my friends in." She rolled her eyes and he couldn't help but smile back. "Of course."

She kneeled to open the hatch but then stopped and turned to him, "Just give me a second first." He nodded and she slid in, landing on her bed.

She made sure each kwami was safely tucked back in the miracle box, and then made sure it was safely locked in the sewing box before going back to open the hatch so he could come in. He landed on all fours on her bed and his eyes scanned the room. It wasn't much different from the last time he'd seen it. That should've been an awfully long time ago.

"Come on." She led him to sit on the chaise while she brought the tray her mum had prepared for her earlier. She frowned as she sat on the chaise too, placing the tray between them. "What's wrong?" He asked watching her face drop.

"I think we waited too long." She lifted the mug from the tray, "It's cold now. You can't enjoy it when it isn't hot."

"What's that?"

"It's hot cocoa. Y SCou know, since it's cold, you share it with your loved ones, to stay warm together." She explained and smiled as he watched her in awe like it was the first time he'd heard something so nice. "That's actually nice."

She nodded, "I know..and look..." She stretched over to show him the contents of the mug, "You put tiny marshmallows in them, it makes it way better." She explained pointing to the tiny floating marshmallows, "And it you look closer, you'll see they're cat themed. They have little cute ears, I thought they were really cute when I saw them in the corner market and I guessed you'd like them."

He long stopped looking at what she was trying to show him in the mug because he was looking at her, watching her every gesture as she spoke. He didn't remember what it felt like to be someone's top priority and somehow Marinette choosing what she'd thought he'd prefer made him fell hot in the chest area, "I love them." He whispered breathlessly, his gaze still fixed on her.

When she finally placed the mug back and looked up at him, she found him already staring at her. She felt her cheeks heat up under his stare and she shifted uncomfortably, looking away, "Why are you staring at me that way?"

Realizing he was staring, he finally tore his gaze from her and fiddled with the ring on his finger. "Marinette, you've been nothing but sweet to me, I just don't know how to pay you back."

And her expression morphed into surprise, she rose a brow at him, "Pay me back?" He looked to her and nodded subtly, "Yeah..." She looked confused for a second before she relaxed and let out a small chuckle, waving her hand to brush it off. "Don't be ridiculous now, kitty cat. You almost had me for a moment there. I'll go get us more hot cocoa, you wait here."

She stood and left before he could contest. He didn't understand her response, he really did want to pay her back and make her feel just as warm as he felt when she did something nice for him.

She spent quite a while before she came back up holding another tray with two mugs and a few snacks. When he saw the snacks, his stomach made a slight rumble noise and she laughed before pushing the old tray aside to place the new one.

"Looks like someone's hungry." She sat on the other side. He chuckled nervously, "I kinda flaked through dinner so I could get here on time to meet you."

"You shouldn't do that!" She frowned at him, "Dinner is important."

His face dropped and he looked away, "I know, it's just...it's really hard to have an appetite when you're at a large empty and cold table." Marinette felt her heart break for him. She just wished she knew how lonely he'd felt sooner, she would've been a better partner and friend to him.

She placed her hand on his, "You know you'll never be alone when I'm here." He looked up at her and the moment were they just stared at the other lasted an extra second. "I know." He whispered.

She pushed the tray closer to him, "You should have all these, I'll go get more."

"No, don't-"

"It's okay, Mum and Dad have a large order and they always go out of their way to make a lot of extras. I'll be right back." After one last look at him, she walked out to get more.

"You really seem to care a lot about Catnoir." Tikki whispered trailing behind her as she strode to the kitchen. "Of course I do, he's my friend and my partner. I just feel like I've misjudged him for a really long time. I can't believe he doesn't understand how important he is." The kwami smiled at Marinette's response. She was finally warming up to the other side of Adrien and it was good.

She found him stuffing a macaron in his mouth when she walked in with some cupcakes and she laughed. He looked so precious with his mouth full.

"These are so amazing!" He exclaimed and she laughed even harder. She didn't want to say anything but it was clear he didn't get much of snacks in his house. Her poor poor kitty. Like every stray cat, he needed love and a owner. She could be that, she smiled to herself as she sat beside him.

"Seriously, I feel like I have to pay you back, you're too good to me."

"Wait a minute, you're really serious about that." She looked genuinely confused and he nodded, "You know I wanna do something for you like you do for me."

"That's not necessary. Caring for someone isn't because you want to get it back in return. Showing love is just like giving a gift and not expecting one in return."

Completely taken away by her explanation, he only nodded so she smiled, "Now come on, fill up, I want to try something." Marinette stood from the chaise and then walked around it so she was behind him. She climbed on her knees and then slowly ran her fingers through his hair.

"Wow..." She mumbled completely shocked by how soft the feel of his hair was.

Catnoir nearly had a heart attack when he suddenly felt her fingers in his hair. It felt like there was a very strange yet familiar spark at her touch. "Your hair is so..." She hummed, still running her fingers through the strands deftly, "So...so...soft."

"What on earth do you use for your hair?" He couldn't even reply, her hands felt too magical, "And it smells so good." She giggled again. "It's flabby."

"Is that a word?"

"I don't know." And now their laughs both echoed through the walls. After a moment, it all died down and they were left in a comfortable silence as she ran her hands through his hair and he ate the snacks, occasionally sipping from the mug.

He felt so so much better than he'd felt half the year. Not just that he felt so oddly relaxed. And it was all because of Marinette. She really was amazing.

"This really feels great, princess." He nearly purred.

"Princess?"

"It's your nickname." He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Like you used to call me kitty sometimes."

She giggled, "Well every owner calls their cat, a kitty."

"You're my owner?"

"I'm literally petting your hair, furry."

"I'm not a furry." He scoffed, "But fair enough, I wouldn't prefer anyone else."

"Not even, Ladybug?" She teased. "No one can take care of me like you, princess."

"Okay stop, that nickname is just down right cringy and equals horrible." He chuckled, "Don't you mean purrible?"

The bluenette groaned and rolled her eyes, "At least we know the real Catnoir is back." She finally removed her hands from his hair after threading it through one last time. She giggled at his little whimper at her withdrawal.

And then there was a small chime from his baton. He pulled it out and then his whole face dropped.

"Is something wrong?" She asked noticing the serious change in his mood.

"I have to go. Akuma alert." He sighed sadly. Her expression also dropped but then she offered a small smile. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Seeing the brilliant smile on her lips, Catnoir smiled and reached for her hand. "Tomorrow." He whispered before bringing her hand to his lips and placing a kiss on the back of her hand.

He kept eye contact with her while his lips lingered on her hand and Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot. "I can't wait." He whispered against her hand before pulling away, "Goodnight, Princess."

And after what felt like an eternity of staring, he finally stood up and slowly made his way over to her bed. And after one last glance, he climbed out of her trapdoor.

As if on cue, the kwamis came popping out of their various hiding places and resumed zipping around. "Are you okay, dear guardian?" Pollen asked, genuinely curious after noticing her flustered state.

"Yeah...you look red..." Xuppu commented too. Marinette buried her red face in her hands and groaned, "I'm fine."

"You guys, you guys, she's just blushing because Catnoir kissed her hand." Roarr buzzed in giddiness flying around her, "I so was not." Marinette argued.

"You definitely were."

"You all get in the box." Marinette feigned a frown and gestured to the box, "C'mon Tikki we've got a villain to fight.

The kwamis giggled as they watched her stomp away with Tikki. "She's definitely falling in love with him."

"Totally!"