Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Chloe scowled at her tablet and whatever pointless story she was supposed to be reading. First Marinette had the audacity to kiss her Adrien, then Lila had to try and sink her claws into him! At least she got what she deserved! Until like that stupid Mari-tra– Marinette. She corrected herself. After seeing the look on Adrien's face when he'd once overheard her use that nickname Chloe had decided it wasn't worth repeating. Old habits were hard to break though. Especially when the girl in question had been kissing her boy!

Chloe looked up to check the clock above the door, wondering how much longer she was going to have to sit there, pretending she cared, when a leafy green, white berried plant caught her eye. Her scowl faded into a smirk. My turn! She thought.

The remainder of the class was spent watching the seconds slowly count down while planning her perfect encounter under the mistletoe with Adrien. Together, they would put his kiss with Marinette to shame!

When the bell rang, Chloe abandoned her things on her desk, trusting that Sabrina would take care of them. She quickly skipped across the aisle and looped her arm through Adrien's, pulling him up from his seat and towards the door. He was just barely able to sling his bag over his shoulder while stuffing his tablet inside as she pulled him along. "Adrikins! Would you be a gentleman and escort me to lunch?" she batted her eyes up at him, carefully slowing them down until they came to a stop in the doorway and waiting expectantly.

"Chloe…" Adrien glanced up towards the mistletoe hanging above them, then gently disentangled their arms, though she did manage to snag his hand again. Here it comes! She thought. He sighed, "I really should have told you before, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings. You've always been a good friend to me, but I just don't see you that way. I'm sorry." He leaned down to give her a bise on each cheek, then pulled his hand away and started to walk down the hallway.

Chloe was frozen in shock, staring after him. That can't be right! He must… he must just take me for granted because I've always been here! Her mind raced, trying to come up with a backup plan when she remembered the surge of jealousy she'd felt seeing him kiss Marinette. That's it! "Adrien!" she called. As soon as she saw him start to turn back towards her, she turned just enough to see and grab the nearest boy. Nathaniel stumbled to a stop in front of her and she stepped up close enough to hiss in his ear, "Play along or I'll rip up that precious art book of yours!"

Nathaniel stiffened but, to her relief, didn't try to pull away. Chloe pulled back just enough to plant her lips on his. Ew! She stifled the urge to pull away and wipe her mouth. It's worth it, it's worth it, it's worth it… After what she hoped was long enough, Chloe pulled back and gave him a poisonously sweet smile, "Oh Nathaniel! You know my heart belongs to Adr–" she came to an abrupt stop as she turned her head away from the redhead to search for a familiar, perfectly coifed blond with beautiful green eyes seething with jealousy. Instead, though there were many people staring at her and whispering, Adrien was nowhere to be seen.

The sensation of something flicking her arm had Chloe spinning back to glare at Nathaniel, "Don't go getting any ideas art boy! I'm not interested!" She spun away, her ponytail whipping across his face, and marched down the hallway.

"Hey!" yelled the nosy, wanna-be reported, "You can't just kiss someone against their will and walk away!"

Chloe turned her head back just enough to be sure her voice would carry to them, "There was mistletoe. And he didn't stop me, so why are you complaining?" A shiver passed through her and she rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm them up.

"Are you okay Nath?" Chloe clenched her fists at Marinette's question, but kept walking.

"I'm fine, let's just go." His response was so quiet that she'd had to strain to hear it, but Chloe smiled grimly to herself as Sabrina came hurrying up beside her with her things. Good. At least I don't have to waste my time destroying his book now.

Marinette was seething to herself as she walked home for lunch. She slipped a croissant from the tray her father was carrying and he smiled at her indulgently. She tried to smile back, but she knew it was forced. Upstairs, she sat at the kitchen counter and started ripped off little bits of the croissant and eating them.

"I can't believe those two Tikki! Trying to trap Adrien under the mistletoe to make him kiss them! And then! Poor Nathaniel! He was quivering when he went for lunch! I wouldn't be surprised if he goes home for the rest of the day. I'd take off sick if she'd kissed me like that!"

Tikki giggled, "I think you're safe from that Marinette."

Marinette glared at Tikki, "It's not funny Tikki! Mistletoe is not an excuse to kiss someone without their permission!"

Tikki's face became very serious, "No, of course not. What Chloe did to Nathaniel isn't funny or okay." A small smile twitched back onto one corner of her mouth, "But imagining your reaction if she'd tried to do it to you sure is."

Marinette tried to hold onto her anger, but she couldn't do it. She dissolved into laughter with her kwami, and let her head fall forwards onto her arms which were crossed on the counter, "I think I would hit her for that one."

"Hit who?" asked Tom. Marinette bolted upright, but Tikki was thankfully nowhere to be seen. Tom frowned as his eyes fell on the counter in front of her, "I wouldn't have let you pilfer that if I'd realized what you were going to do to it."

Confused, Marinette looked down. Apparently, at some point during her rant, she'd switched from ripping the croissant into pieces to squashing it into a pancake. She flushed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry Papa. I was mad and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing." She mournfully ripped off another piece and popped it in her mouth. I didn't taste as good since she'd flattened it, the light and flaky texture ruined.

Tom dropped another, undamaged croissant beside the sad remains of her first one, "Be nicer to this one okay sweetie?"

"Thank you Papa!" Marinette happily scooped it up and took a bite while Tom watched with an amused smile.

"So, you didn't answer my question." Marinette looked up at him and blinked. "Who are you planning to hit? And why?"

"Oh." Marinette blushed. "I'm not really planning to hit anyone…" When Tom merely raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed and gave in, "Um, well… Chloe. She kissed Nath after Adrien turned her down and excused it because there was mistletoe. I was thinking about what I'd have done if she'd grabbed me instead."

Tom nodded sagely, "Well you know we don't condone violence, but I think I could make an exception for that."

Marinette almost choked on her croissant as she burst into laughter. After a brief coughing fit and a few firm pats on the back from Tom, she recovered and sat up again. "Thanks Papa, I should probably head back to school."

Tom gave her a quick sideways hug, "Okay sweetie. Maybe try to stay away from the mistletoe if you're worried about unwanted advances." He winked, "Unless that Adrien boy is around…"

Mind immediately flashing back to their kiss that morning, Marinette's face rivalled a tomato, "Papa!"

Tom put his hands up in surrender, "It's just a suggestion."

Marinette spluttered as he disappeared back down the stairs to the bakery, but was unable to articulate anything coherant. Tikki reappeared at her side, smiling and suppressing her own giggles. "Well he does have a point…"

Thoroughly flustered, Marinette gave up. She popped the rest of her croissant into her mouth and ran down the steps back towards school.

"Do you think it's true?"

"Are you willing to miss your chance because you think it's not? I'm not!"

"Well I'm going to wait by the library, he always goes there to study."

"Yeah, but he's got to go to his locker first, so I'll be at the locker room door."

"Too bad you'll both be disappointed then! I've got the main door and after you see our kiss you'll know you don't have a chance!"

Marinette scowled as she realized what the group of girls was talking about. Not again! She thought. I wonder who their target is. Maybe I can warn him…? She slowed her steps and dodged around the edge of the main stairs so she could listen as the girls continued to argue about who would have the best kiss with their chosen boy.

One snorted, "You'll be lucky to get a bise. We were obviously meant to be!"

"And I'm the queen of Paris!" Laughter rang among them.

"Isn't he dreamy?" sighed one. The others quickly agreed. "Look at this!"

There was rustling of pages and Marinette stretched up on her tiptoes to try and see. A brunette was blocking her view and she growled softly to herself, willing the girl to move. When she finally did, Marinette felt like she'd been punched in the gut: it was a picture of Adrien.

She turned and sank to the ground, ignoring the cold seeping through her pants. "Tikki! I have to warn him!"

"But how Marinette?" The kwami hovered anxiously, "He's going to be here any moment and those girls will be all over him as soon as he steps out of his car!"

"You're right Tikki, Marinette can't help him in time, but Ladybug can!" Marinette sprang to her feet, "Tikki! Spots on!"

Adrien was sitting in the back of his car, halfway dreading returning to school. He closed his eyes and sighed, "I hope I didn't hurt Chloe's feelings."

"Who cares?" said Plagg, "She's annoying anyways."

"Plagg! She's my friend!"

"And no one knows why…" grumbled Plagg under his breath.

Adrien glared at him, but Plagg ignored it.

A sudden thud on the top of his car made Adrien sit up so fast he felt a slight twinge in his neck. Rubbing it, he leaned over and peered out the window. When Ladybug's upside down face appeared, he jumped backwards before quickly reaching out to raise the privacy screen and lower his window. "Ladybug! What are you doing here?"

Ladybug slid gracefully through the window and onto the seat beside him. "I overheard some of your fans talking about how they were going to try and trap you under the mistletoe at school and get a kiss. I figured you might not be interested so I came to offer you an alternative route to class."

Adrien had to stifle a groan. More of them? "Yes please."

"Great." Ladybug leaned over to check their location through the window, "Think you can convince your bodyguard to let you off at the back of the school? I can give you the express ride in."

For a moment, Adrien was too busy thinking about how nice it would be if Ladybug was the one that wanted to catch him under the mistletoe. He'd be there faster that someone could say 'Puns are clawsome!' He came back to himself abruptly when he saw a red glove with black spots waving in front of his face and Ladybug looking at him with concern. "Oh! Uh… yeah. I should be able to do that."

"Perfect." Ladybug slid back to the open window and boosted herself halfway out, tossing a quick "See you shortly!" over her shoulder as she slipped back onto the roof of the car. With a blur of red and black, she swung past his window and was gone. It wasn't until he started shivering that Adrien remembered to close the window behind her.

A quick, one-sided conversation later (Is it really a conversation if only person speaks? Or more of a monologue? he wondered absently), the car was turning down a different route and Adrien was climbing out on an empty street looking up at the back of the school.

A soft whir announced Ladybug's arrival as she dropped down next to him. "Going up?"

Adrien smiled and stepped close enough to wrap his arms around her. His heart was racing and he sincerely hoped that Ladybug didn't have the same heightened senses as he did as Chat Noir. That would be embarrassing. He couldn't tell whether or not she did as she calmly slipped her own arm around his waist, then gave her yoyo a tug to start their ascent. Once they were safely on the roof, she released him and he reluctantly followed suit. "What now?" he asked.

"Well," she said as she leaned over to look into the courtyard, "That depends. I can drop you in now and attract the attention of your entire school, or you can be a few minutes late for class and we can be a bit more discreet." She flashed him a grin and his heart stuttered in response.

"Uh… late is fine." Adrien fidgeted as Ladybug continued to watch the students below them. "So… how are you doing?" She turned and gave him an odd look and he quickly amended, "You know, with the akumas and Hawkmoth and everything."

He felt himself redden under her gaze, before she returned to scanning the courtyard. "Well enough. It was kind of disappointing that we weren't able to catch him a couple of months ago when he tried to take us out with simultaneous akumas," she shrugged, "But we're working on it."

Idiot! Adrien berated himself, Like you didn't already know that! At least she doesn't know I knew that. Hopefully it'll stay that way… He opened his mouth, though he wasn't quite sure what else to say, "Well, um…"

Suddenly, Ladybug whacked herself on the forehead. "Stupid! You don't have to be late! Come on!"

Confused but trusting, Adrien followed her across the roof until they reached the roof access door. To his surprise, it opened immediately at her touch. "Don't they lock that?"

Ladybug shrugged, "Not that I've noticed." She suddenly blushed and wouldn't meet his eyes, "Er… not that I've had much reason to try. There was an akuma here last year and it was unlocked then, so I figured maybe it would be again?"

Her laugh sounded forced, but he dismissed it as he tried to find an excuse to entend their time together. Coming up empty, he approached the door she was still holding open for him. "Thank you for saving me Ladybug," he gave her his best smile, "Even if it wasn't from an akuma."

The red hadn't faded from her cheeks as she met his eyes, "My pleasure."

A sudden overwhelming urge to pull her close and kiss her flooded his body and Adrien found himself stepping closer. No! You already screwed up by giving into that wish with Marinette! He felt his cheeks heating. At least you have a chance of resolving things with her! Ladybug would probably never talk to me again! He managed to stop himself, but he stumbled slightly.

Slender arms were immediately wrapped around him, steadying him and Adrien couldn't look away from her beautiful eyes. I was wrong. They're even more intense than bluebells. Columbine? No… Bluestars? No… Delphiniums! That's perfect! Something soft brushing against his lips pulled him from his reverie and Adrien stiffened as he realized that Ladybug was kissing him! Disbelieving, but unwilling to waste a second, he immediately wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. They moved together, as though this wasn't the first time they had kissed, and Adrien revelled in the perfection of the moment. Warmth filled him, pushing back the cold and making him hope this would never end. One hand trailed up her back to tangle in her hair. Raven black hair kept in two adorable pigtails, just like Marinette…

Guilt, shame, and confusion swelled up and he froze before pulling away. What is wrong with me?! Adrien stepped back out of Ladybug's arms, but he couldn't bring himself to look up and meet the eyes over which he'd been mentally rhapsodizing just moments before. "I'm sorry, I… uh…" Think!

"Mistletoe," she breathed. Adrien looked up. Sure enough, there was yet another sprig of mistletoe in the doorway. Ladybug wasn't looking at him at all. Her arms were still partially outstretched towards him, but she held them as though she'd forgotten they were there. Straightening and turning back towards the open roof, Ladybug finally let her arms fall. "I really am being stupid today. No one puts mistletoe everywhere. Especially not doors that no one uses!" Adrien stared at her in confusion, mouth still slightly agape, but she didn't seem to be talking to him. "And that means one thing:" Her eyes narrowed, "Hawkmoth."

Yoyo in hand, her arm brought back, Adrien just managed to bring himself to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder before she could disappear again, "Wait! What do you mean Hawkmoth?"

She tilted her head to look at him with a confident smile, "Don't worry, there may be an akuma on the loose with a strange fascination with mistletoe right now, but Chat and I will sort it out and you'll be safe to go about your day like normal soon enough. Bug out!" Her yoyo flew through the air, and with a final determined grin, Ladybug flew off over the roofs.

Adrien stared after her for a moment before a sharp whack to the side of his head brought him to his senses. "Hey Kid!" said Plagg, "Weren't you listening? She said there's an akuma out there! Now stop mooning and do something about it!"

"Right! Plagg, claws out!"