They caught the last metro of the night, adrenaline pumping through them as they jumped through the sliding doors. Adrien's hand shot out to clutch Marinette's arm tightly, holding her steady when she stumbled in the moving carriage.

"You okay?" he said, releasing her as she moved to grip the silver pole in the centre of the carriage, steadying herself against it and nodding firmly.

"Yeah." Marinette's voice was hoarse, her eyes wide and sparkling in the lights which buzzed in the carriage. "Yeah, I just can't believe we made it."

The train already began to stall to a halt; one stop down. Adrien took a step closer to Marinette, wrapping his own hand just above where hers was curled around the pole tightly. "Well, we got there just in time. A few seconds later and we'd have been walking home," he said with a laugh.

Marinette pulled herself around the pole to face him, using her free hand to flick him on the chest. "I'm still mad at you for making me run in heels," she grumbled, eyes darting to the black kitten heels which rubbed painfully against her feet, even when standing still.

"I offered to carry you."

"I didn't think you were serious."

"Well, that's on you then," Adrien said with a laugh. He could just about hear the huff Marinette let out over the metro's soft rumbling. "Tell you what, when we get off I'll give you a piggyback the rest of the way home."

The metro drew to a halt once more, and, as the doors slid open again, a giant image of fourteen-year-old Adrien's face greeted at the duo, winking at them with gusto. Marinette clapped a hand to her mouth whilst Adrien visibly winced at the poster. A couple of the other weary passengers noticed Marinette's poor attempt at holding back her giggles of surprise, and their eyes widened as they realised that the boy plastered on the wall was currently in a staring contest with his older, live counterpart. The doors began to shut, too slowly in Adrien's opinion, and when the train finally started to crawl towards the next station, picking up speed with each passing second, he let out a sigh.

"Is there a reason your company is using images of you from five years ago?" Marinette asked. Adrien rolled his eyes, the hand not gripping the pole moving to rest on his hip as he shook his head.

"Nostalgia," he replied. Marinette raised her eyebrows, biting back another grin.

"I'm sorry, nostalgia?" The remnants of laughter lace her words, and Adrien couldn't help but smile too.

"It's the new cologne the company's producing. They thought it would be more… well, nostalgic, to use old pictures of me than to hire another model." The metro began to slow again, and it was with some relief that Adrien saw that there was no poster on the wall.

"Must be cheaper, too," Marinette murmured.

"That did play a rather significant part in the decision." Adrien's dry tone drew another laugh out of Marinette, earning them a few glares from passengers who would have rather made their late-night commute in silence. The doors closed once more, and Adrien pointed with his chin at the map of the stops which rested just above the doors.

"We're the next one," he said, desperate to move the conversation away from the poster which, he knew, he was never going to hear the end of. "I wasn't kidding about that piggyback, you know; if your feet hurt that much, it's not a long way to your house."

Marinette paused, considering the offer, and Adrien knew she was going to say yes purely from the amount of time she took to respond; it was less a matter of if, and more a matter of when she would be comfortable with him carrying her on his back.

"Let me see how I feel when we're out of the station," she said slowly. "It might be okay until I get home." Adrien nodded, turning to face the doors as the metro ground to a halt. He let go of the pole, offering his hand to Marinette. She smiled, placed her hand in Adrien's, and then winced as she took a step. The doors slid open, and they exited as slowly as they could, Marinette's shoes causing ripples of pain through her heels with each step.

The walk through the station was surprisingly quick; Marinette took the approach that if each step was going to hurt, then moving faster would get it over with sooner. Adrien kept pace with her, and before he knew it – how Marinette moved so swiftly in heels, he would never understand – they were at the station's entrance, and Marinette was kicking off her shoes as she groaned in relief.

Adrien blinked in concern. "Uh, Mari? Your tights are going to get dirty if you do that…"

She released his hand and bent down to pick the shoes up in one fell swoop. "I know. It's worth it," she said. Shifting her bag more firmly onto her shoulder as she straightened up, Marinette turned to looked at Adrien, the lights of the streetlamps drowning him in a streak of brightness. "Is that piggyback still an option?" she asked hesitantly, a bashful look which Adrien was no longer used to crossing her face.

He didn't answer; he simply turned around and bent his knees so that he was low enough for her to jump on. There were a few seconds of uncertainty, when Marinette debated whether it was a good idea or not, before Adrien felt Marinette's hands grip his shoulders.

"One… two… three!" he called, locking his arms under Marinette's thighs as she jumped onto his back. Once he was certain she was secure, her arms wrapped firmly across his chest, Adrien stood up fully and began the walk back. Marinette pressed a kiss to his temple, her shoes bouncing gently against his shoulder as he walked.

"Thanks, mon minou," Marinette whispered, resting her head in the crook of Adrien's neck. He smiled.

"Anything for you, Princess."