A/N: Look who's back! I finally caught a break from school! Thank you Corona! (Not really because a worldwide pandemic is terrible!) I've been off for three weeks now, and I won't be going back until this fall.
I'm no longer a junior everyone. I AM A SENIOR!
And I already have a bad case of senioritis.

Anyway... I hope you all are doing well out there wherever you are! Here's a little Christmas spirit brought to you in Spring! Enjoy!
(It's about time, right?!)

Chapter 42

~Marinette's POV~

I was standing off to the side with Alya, watching the guys trying to get through their scene at the fire station. There seemed to be something off with Adrien since he was usually able to get into character so easily, but it was him who was forgetting lines or missing his cue.

"Marinette, could you please get me a cream soda?" Alya asked after she and Nino called, "Cut!" for the third time. I nodded and let my eyes linger on Adrien a few moments longer before I turned to her.

"Yeah, I'll be right back." I said, glanced at Adrien one more time, then turned and walked out of the garage and into the main building. After walking down a few halls I spotted the vending machine that the firemen had shown us when we first started to film here. They told us that we could help ourselves to a soda whenever we wanted while we were filming there.

Though as soon as I started to look for the soda option that Alya asked for, my mind blanked. I completely forgot what she wanted as my mind drifted elsewhere.

Despite her saying she would revise the following scene, Alya just reintroduced the original script she came up with. The one in which a kiss under the mistletoe was scripted. A kiss had happened, but it hadn't been scripted.

My cheeks heated up as I thought about the kiss again, bringing a hand up to softly touch my lips. It had only happened yesterday, but it was still so fresh in my mind. I never thought that something like it would ever happen.

Adrien kissed me!

It took everything I had in me not to squeal out loud. He went off script and kissed me when there wasn't a kiss written in anymore. Adrien wanted to kiss me, didn't he? Otherwise he wouldn't have done it since he didn't have to.

The kiss meant that he liked me, right? I guess Alya, Alix, and Rose were all correct in their theory that Adrien really was starting to like me thanks to this film and the romance between the characters that we play. Maybe I'm the reason he was struggling through the scene?

I looked towards the garage where I knew the boys were on the fifth, maybe sixth take of their scene and smiled widely to myself, unable to keep myself from feeling extreme happiness again. Maybe I should tell him my feelings for him?

I know that I had been trying to tell myself that there was no way that Adrien would actually like me as more than a friend, and that I had to push aside my feelings for him for the sake of both our friendship and the film, but after that kiss things changed.

I was confident that there was a much larger possibility that Adrien liked me too, and I was really anxious to tell him how I feel about him. Could we really become something more than friends all thanks to this Christmas romance movie?

I'll have to thank Alya later. Her plan actually worked!

Suddenly I remembered which soda she was wanting me to get and I pressed the button for cream soda. When it fell to the dispenser, I reached down to get it, but I stood up straight up again slowly as I looked at the options.

After thinking for about half a minute, I pressed the button for a cream soda for myself as well. I was in a great mood, things in life were looking up for me, so I think I deserved to pamper myself. I picked up the soda with my free hand and smiled to myself while turning back to the direction of the garage.

A small sigh escaped my lips as I thought once more about Adrien and how excited I was to truly believe that he liked me too. The short amount of time that it took me to walk back to the door that separated the main building from the garage was long enough for me to decide something.

After this scene was finished I would talk to Adrien about that kiss under the mistletoe. I had never felt more anxious, yet so very excited to admit to him that I love him. I've never felt so sure about doing anything else in my life at the moment.

~Adrien's POV~

"Ohh no…" I said to myself. My voice was muffled because I had my face buried in my hands while I paced across the floor. I pulled my hands away from my face but kept them up, staring down as my thoughts raced. "This cannot be happening… This is not happening… to me…"

It was the seventh take of scene fifty-five with the guys at the fire station. There was only me to blame for having to restart the scene so many times since I kept thinking back to that kiss. The things the guys had to say for their lines weren't helping me clear my mind either.

"Calm down." Ivan said with an amused tone and I stopped pacing and looked at him, lowering my hands. "It's not such a bad thing."

Kim looked over from where he had been standing on Ivan's other side and started towards me with slow steps. "Answer me this: There's a—uh—fourth step before you fall off the cliff."

"I though you said there were only three?" I questioned, placing my hands on my hips as I looked at him skeptically.

"It varies." Kim said, then paused for dramatic effect. "Has she asked you to meet her family yet?"

"No." I answered, my tone rising very slightly to show hope. "Not yet."

"Well…" Kim continued with a supportive tone to show I wasn't completely hopeless yet. "There's that then."

"Yeah, but have you kissed her?" Max asked from where he stood on top of the fire engine we were near.

"No." I answered quickly. Too quickly. "Yes."

All three of them instantly grinned teasingly and simultaneously teased me with a held out, "Ohh" followed by chuckles.

"But it was only because of mistletoe." I added quickly. "Okay? I didn't have a choice."

"He's toast." Max said with a serious expression and a small nod. Kim looked up at him then slowly looked back at me with a smirk to show he agreed then let out a breathy laugh.

I looked between the two of them and Ivan in the back looking at me with a smirk. I let out a small sigh right before Alya called for the scene to be over. "How hard was that?" She asked me with a smirk. "The scene was so short, yet it took seven takes."

"That's because dear lover-boy here was thinking about a certain girl, am I right?" Kim asked while nudging my side.

"N-No." I quickly protested which only made Kim's smirk grow. I went dead silent when I heard someone come through one of the side doors of the garage and made sure that my eyes were completely averted.

"Here you go, Alya." I could hear the smile in the one voice I really didn't want to hear at the moment.

"Thanks, Girl." Alya replied, though I refused to look in their direction, instead allowing a small smudge on the fire engine to become of interest to me. I heard the sound of a can opening and instantly remembered that Marinette had left after the fourth take to get our director and scriptwriter a soda.

A few seconds went by during which I was only aware of the other guys snickering at me. It was so obvious that I was trying not to look at Marinette, and even though it was because I wanted their teasing to stop I knew it was fueling them on. But I still couldn't bring myself to look at her in case she noticed how embarrassed I felt.

After those few seconds went by Alya let out a sigh of contentment. I assumed it was from taking a drink of that cream soda, and my assumption was confirmed by her saying, "Very refreshing. Thanks, Marinette."

I heard Marinette hum in response, but my attention instantly perked just after when I heard Alya continue.

"Since this scene is finished we're going to head over to the bakery to film scene fifty-six." She said. "Then I'll give you all the final five scenes that are left until the movie is finished."

All eyes landed on Alya, including my own, as we looked at her in surprise. "The last five?" Kim asked, almost sounding disappointed. "Already?"

"I don't think any of us really wants this movie to end, but I've written the ending and I'm very satisfied by it." Alya said with a smile. "Besides, since it will be finished soon, we'll be able to watch it from the beginning as a class, and maybe some of the other classes will get to see it too. It's an amazing film."

After we all said something to each other about looking forward to the end of the film, we started to part ways. I went with the other guys to change out of the firemen uniforms, though I was far ahead of the others. I wanted to avoid any confrontation with the guys ad their teasing remarks especially with Marinette still close by.

However, in my rush, I completely missed seeing Marinette trying to catch my eye and even follow me a few steps in her attempt to get my attention to talk to me.

~Marinette's POV~

I stopped walking when I knew that Adrien hadn't seen me at all and stared after him as he walked away. A frown settled across my lips as I felt rather disappointed that I wouldn't get to talk to him like I had been wanting, though the frown soon after turned into a thin, straight line of determination.

I'll talk to him either before or after our scene together at my house!

Alya and I left the fire station together with Nino and arrived at my home soon enough. We were all instantly greeted with the warm, sweet smell of fresh baked cookies when we walked through the front doors. Alya and I threw away our now empty cans of cream soda into the trash can in the kitchen as my mother walked up to the three of us, offering a plate full of freshly baked Christmas cookies.

We each took one and ate as we waited for Adrien to show up. Nino then busied himself with setting up his camera for the short scene while Alya and I started to set up the scene. About five minutes later my father let Adrien in.

"Come on over, Adrien." Alya called from the kitchen as she put a fresh loaf of bread on a cutting board. "We're nearly ready to start filming. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He responded as he walked over to me and took Alya's place when Alya walked over to Nino and his camera.

I glanced at Adrien for a second but looked away again quickly. I wanted to talk to him so badly about that kiss, but I knew that now wasn't the time. So instead I looked at him and said, "Good job with your last scene."

"Thanks." Adrien answered as he looked at Alya and Nino, watching them as they were finishing up. He turned his head after a moment and our eyes met, though I noticed him giving me a small smile. "You too."

The smile I had been giving him instantly faded as I looked at him in surprise and confusion. "But…" I started to protest, though I trailed off unable to put words to my confusion. His own smile faltered slightly before fading completely as a light red hue coated his cheeks.

We looked at each other for a moment longer, each a little confused by his two last words. After a couple seconds I looked down to break our eye contact, giggling at his mistake and how embarrassed he seemed because of it. However, instead of commenting and reminding him I hadn't been acting in the last scene, I turned away from him for a moment.

"Here." I said once my laughter died down, turning back towards him with a plate. I noticed that he had leaned around me to try to see what I was doing when I was turned away, but stood straight again as his eyes lowered to the plate I was offering him. His eyes instantly widened when he realized there was about a dozen fresh Christmas cookies on them, the same batch my parents offered to Alya, Nino and me.

"Can I have one?" Adrien asked with a very hopeful tone that made me smile at him in amusement.

"Why do you think I showed you the plate, Silly?" I retorted with a teasing tone and warm smile.

Adrien looked up from the plate as he reached a hand toward the plate slowly, as if he still wasn't sure if he had permission. When I gave him a small nod of encouragement, his fingers slowly closed around a reindeer cookie then pulled away slowly, bringing the cookie towards his mouth.

I continued to smile at him in amusement at his slow actions before I turned around again to the counter and put the plate of cookies back. When I turned back toward him I saw that he had eaten nearly half of an antler.

"This is really good." He praised before he took another bite. "You're the best, Marinette."

I blushed from the compliment and shook my head, suddenly feeling a little nervous as I tucked a strand of my loose hair behind my ear. "It was my parents who made them."

Adrien gave me a small smile. "You're still the best." He said then continued to eat the cookie. I had to look away because I knew if I didn't I would become a blushing mess from the compliments and smiles he gave me. It all just seemed to confirm more to me that he did in fact like me.

I really need to talk to him about that kiss!