Buzz!

"Ahh!" Marinette sat bolt upright, flailing her arms. When the noise repeated, she recognized the sound of her phone ringing and quickly reached over to snatch it up, "Alya?"

"Girl! Where are you?" said Alya, "I need you here ASAP!"

"What?" Marinette checked her clock, "Alya, school doesn't start for another 20 minutes! I'm not late yet."

Alya's familiar laugh rang through the phone, "Are you not awake yet girl? I didn't say you were late, I said I need you here. Hurry up!"

Blinking the last of the sleep from her eyes, Marinette finally registered what Alya had said. "Sorry! What do you need? I'm on my way."

"Good. See you soon."

Marinette brought her phone down from her ear and stared at it for a moment, "She never said what she needed."

A red blur zipped around her until Tikki stopped in front of her, hovering just above the phone, "Then maybe you should get going and find out Marinette."

"Right!"

Tossing her blankets aside, Marinette scooted across her bed and down her ladder. She quickly changed, tossing her pyjamas onto her chaise and retying her pigtails to smooth them out. A quick glance in her mirror reassured her that she hadn't missed any strands and she scooped up her bag, slung her purse over her shoulder and pulled open her trap door. She was halfway down before she realized she'd forgotten mitts and a scarf. She hurried back up to grab a set that she'd just finished knitting for herself the week before and went back down, detouring through the kitchen to grab a danish for breakfast before slipping down to the bakery to get a couple of cookies for Tikki.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! Love you!" she called out as she ran for the front door, dodging early morning customers.

"Bye Sweetie! Have a good day!" called Sabine. Tom was in the middle of helping a customer, so he gave her a quick smile and a wave over the customer's head as she slipped out the door into a swirl of snow.

A few moments later, she pulled up in front of the school, her breath forming white clouds in the winter air. Alya was standing by the school steps waiting for her. "Good, you made it."

"Made it for what?" Marinette asked.

Alya looked around them to make sure no one was listening before leaning in close, "I need you to distract Adrien so I can get Nino to go through the doors with me."

Marinette blinked. After a few seconds her brow creased, "What?"

Alya rolled her eyes and tsked. She stepped around Marinette and took her by the shoulders, turning her to face the main doors. It took a few moments before Marinette understood what her friend was trying to show her. Centered above the doors hung a sprig of mistletoe. She half turned back to meet Alya's eyes, "Really? Since when have you needed an excuse to kiss Nino?"

Releasing Marinette, Alya tapped one finger on her chin. "Hm… You're right." A mischievous smirk spread across her face, "I don't need an excuse to kiss Nino. You and Adrien, on the other hand, do."

"Wha–"

Marinette suddenly found herself being pulled along by Alya until they reached Nino, who was just greeting Adrien as he got out of his car. She noticed with a slight blush that he was wearing the scarf she'd knitted him for his last birthday. Stop it Marinette, she scolded herself, He doesn't even know it's from you. Equilibrium temporarily restored, she refocused on her friends just in time to see Alya loop her arm through Nino's and pull him up the stairs. With a wink, Alya bumped hips with Marinette, sending her a few steps closer to Adrien.

"Good morning Marinette," said Adrien with a bright smile.

"Good morning Adrien," she replied, trying to slow her heart rate. It didn't help that as they naturally fell into step together while ascending the stairs her eyes landed on the mistletoe again.

It's fine. Just pretend it isn't there. It's just a silly tradition, it doesn't have to be weird. But it would be nice to have an excuse to kiss him… whispered a small voice in the back of her head. She shook her head, I've kissed him before, if he notices then I'll just give him la bise like last time and we'll keep going. He probably won't notice though. She tried desperately to ignore the mistletoe, but her eyes kept being drawn back upwards.

"What are you looking at?" asked Adrien. She snapped her eyes down to meet his eyes, a blush flaring across her face. She was thankful that the cold and her scarf would help disguise it. Before she could answer, his eyes had followed where she'd been looking and found the mistletoe. "Oh. It's just some mistletoe." He smiled at her kindly, "Come on."

Feeling stunned and confused, Marinette kept pace with him until they reached the doorway and he stopped. She contemplated just walking straight through, but something seemed to trap her feet in place and she found herself turning to face him instead. His eyes were kind and inviting and she swallowed hard. Nope, it's nothing. Time to get to class. Marinette tried to take a half step back when a sudden chill passed through her and she shivered briefly but violently. Adrien's brow creased and he stepped right up to her, taking her hands in his, "Are you alright?"

Mouth dry, Marinette nodded, "Just c-c-cold." Her teeth chattered.

Adrien released her hands, "Let's get you warmed up and inside then." His arm slipped around her waist, but their feet didn't move.

Marinette gazed up into his warm green eyes and everything, including the cold, seemed to slowly fade away around her. It wasn't until his nose brushed past hers that she realized they'd been getting closer. He's going to kiss me! And then he was.

Her eyes slid closed immediately and she wrapped her arms around him even as his tightened around her. Her shivers stilled and she felt a strange yet wonderful warmth in her chest as she kissed him back. How long they stayed that way she didn't know, but all traces of cold were gone. They could have kissed for seconds or hours for all she noticed. It wasn't until a strangled screech sounded nearby that they pulled apart, both turning towards it instinctively.

They were met by the sight of many of their classmates watching them avidly. Kim wolf-whistled and Alix cheered, but their attention was drawn to the two pairs of eyes that were narrowed at them, one set angry blue, the other set green and calculating.

"Adrien I thought we were going to spend some time together today," said Lila, "You did offer to help me get caught up on what I missed while I was travelling right?"

Instantly, the blue eyes snapped over to glare at Lila, blond ponytail swinging, "Like he has time for you!" spat Chloe, "He's not stupid, he knows exactly what you're trying to do!"

As Lila turned towards Chloe to answer, Adrien leaned in close to Marinette and his breath tickled her ear. She felt another shiver slip down her spine, but this one wasn't from the cold. "Let's take advantage of the opportunity to get to class, shall we?" He offered his hand, and without stopping to think, she accepted. They quickly disappeared into the school and up the courtyard stairs to their chemistry class with Ms. Mendeleiev, leaving the arguing pair behind them.

When they reached their classroom and approached their desks, Marinette became far more aware of the fact that she was still holding Adrien Agreste's hand. Unsure what to do (Do I let go? Would that seem like I didn't want to hold his hand? But I can't keep holding his hand forever! Or can I?), Marinette hesitated. Adrien smiled and gave her hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Despite already missing the presence of his hand in hers, the warm feeling that had filled her when they kissed continued to linger. She returned his smile and tried to step up to her desk, only to miss the step entirely and start falling forward instead. Fortunately for her, Alya had been watching and quickly slid over to catch her and help her back up.

Face flaming, she straightened to meet Adrien's concerned look and laughed nervously while waving one hand erratically, "I'm fine!" His answering smile turned her legs to jelly and Alya had to help her to her seat before she collapsed.

Alya laughed quietly and gave her shoulders a squeeze, "Wasn't that a great excuse?" she said with a gentle elbow nudge.

"Alya…" Marinette whined.

"Oh come on girl! I saw you two! Don't try to tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Marinette hadn't realized it was possible, but she felt her face redden even further, "Alya!"

Alya just laughed.

"Dude!" hissed Nino, "What was that?"

Adrien feigned confusion, "What was what?" Judging by the flat look Nino gave him, he was fooling no one. "There was mistletoe," he hedged.

Nino tipped his head forward, giving the impression of looking down on Adrien. "Really dude? You're going with 'there was mistletoe'?"

"Well there was," said Adrien, trying hard to focus on setting up his tablet for class.

Nino shook his head, "Pretty sure you just gave Marinette a better mistletoe kiss that I gave my girlfriend."

Blood rushed to his face and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. Now that the warm and comfortable feeling of everything being right while he kissed Marinette was fading, he was struggling not to panic. Kissing her had been incredible. It had felt exactly the way he'd always imagined he would feel if he ever got to kiss Ladybug. What am I doing? Marinette is an incredible friend. What if I've ruined that? He gave his head a nearly imperceptible shake. Besides, I'm in love with Ladybug. Nino was still watching him, but Adrien was trying hard to pretend he didn't notice.

With a final shake of his head, Nino turned to the front of the class where Mme. Mendeleiev was calling for their attention. Adrien couldn't quite resist glancing back over his shoulder and meeting Marinette's eye. She blushed a beautiful light pink and for a moment the warm feeling of rightness washed over him again. With a small smile he firmly squashed his inner turmoil and confusion in order to focus on his teacher and her continuation of their discussion on the structure of atoms.

"I expect you to review pages 112-116 at home tonight and complete the electron orbit worksheet I handed out. It's due next class," said Mme. Mendeleieve as the bell rang to signal the end of class.

As Adrien packed his bag he became aware of a presence at his shoulder and looked up to see Lila smiling down at him. "Hey Adrien, can you still help me catch up like you offered?" Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stood and began to walk towards the exit with her. "I missed the introduction to electron orbits with the different layers and orbit patterns and I can't make heads or tails of it. I was hoping we could sit together at lunch and– oh!" Lila came to abrupt halt in the doorway, pointing above their heads, "Looks like there's some more mistletoe!"

A brief frown crossed Adrien's face, though he wiped it off so quickly that no one noticed. Lila's careful attention to the mistletoe told him she had seen it long before they reached the door. Most likely, she had been talking to him not for the sake of getting help with her school work, but instead to ensure that they would pass through the doorway together. He sighed inwardly.

Lila's eyes closed and she started to lean towards him. Adrien pulled back, noting that she had grabbed his wrist and was attempting to pull him down towards her. Resigned, he bent down and gave her la bise. "I can't today, maybe tomorrow at lunch if Father says it's alright?" Her surprise at his response caused her to loosen her grip just enough that he could gently slip his wrist out of her hand. He offered her a smile, "I'll let you know what he says this afternoon."

As he walked away, Adrien glanced back at Lila in time to see her shiver and Nathaniel offer her his jacket. Adrien shook his head to himself and resumed walking down the hall towards their literature class with Mme. Bustier.

Exposure! Hawkmoth's voice was unmistakably irritated, How do you expect to deliver me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses when they don't even know you exist?

A sly smile filled Exposure's face. "Oh don't worry Hawkmoth, I'll be exposing their secrets soon enough."