"Awesome!" Alya exclaimed as she immediately put on the orange mask she found inside the sparkling box she'd just opened. Marinette inspected it impressed too, recognizing the mask from her favorite store she had recommended to Adrien last month. One single glance was enough for a feeling of proudness to swell in her chest, the way he had customized it was beautiful. The painted ornaments weren't perfectly symmetrical but it still looked pretty good. Deciding that she had sufficiently examined her student's work she finally opened her own present.

Silently she stared at the photo inside of her hands. Everyone knew that she loved Alya with all of her heart but this present freaked her out.

Shocked she looked at a photo of herself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, right next to Chat Noir and… herself.

She blinked.

Alya had photoshopped the two heroes of Paris into a photo of Marinette she had taken a few weeks ago. Gawking at the picture Marinette was afraid that she was unable to give the slightest impression of liking it even a bit. She just looked at her face and her face and it gave her goosebumps over her entire body.

Aside from that she couldn't believe that Alya had spent so much time editing the photo and still hadn't recognized that her best friend and Ladybug shared the same face.

Or had she?!

Dread filled Marinette's chest and warily she looked at the girl sitting beside her. "I can't remember that this ever happened" she said as casually as possible but still with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"I know that you met Chat Noir but did you ever meet Ladybug?" Alya asked distracted while looking at herself wearing the mask through her phone's selfie camera. "Maybe one day you will really stand next to our heroine!" she exclaimed excited and winked at Marinette behind her mask, most likely only to see how it feels.

Marinette wasn't sure if she should be offended that her best friend still hadn't recognized her even though she must have spent quite some time with Marinette's face next to Marinette's face but she was too glad to truly care. It was nothing to make believe her relieve was happiness caused by the present as she cheerfully wrapped her arms around Alya's neck. "Thank you so much!"

"Who said it's from me?" Alya shrugged but smirked at her.

One row in front of them Nino was barely able to hold back the tears as he looked at the poster with a logo Marinette had designed for him. At the heart of the artwork, in the background of a colorful graphic of Nino's headphones, a red vinyl shimmered due to the kind of paint she had used. Bold, curved letters surrounded the picture, a quote of him she had always liked incredibly much: 'All I need is friends, family and music!'

His overwhelmed reaction warmed Marinette's heart and she smiled happily, glad that her friend liked her present so much. But she quickly got distracted by the boy next to Nino who inspected some ugly grey felt shaped like mice. At the sight Alya wrinkled her nose and Marinette began to feel bad for him but Adrien seemed to be perfectly happy with it.

"I have no idea what's going on but I still love it" he said cheerfully and everyone was impressed by his unconditional trust and love he had for his friends and, most of all, in his Secret Santa.

Later that day Marinette once again found Chat Noir on her balcony and invited him in on the condition of no puns for at least that evening. Grudgingly he agreed, both of them knowing that he wouldn't stick to his word but that it didn't matter anyways because they also knew that Marinette hadn't really meant it.

In consequence of him spending a lot of time inside of her room over the past few weeks Chat immediately spotted the new frame on Marinette's desk. In school he hadn't had the chance to get a closer look at it so he inspected the picture interested and ended up genuinely confused.

"I can't remember that this ever happened?" he said puzzled, scratching the back of his head. He wouldn't forget about saving Marinette and taking a picture afterwards, would he? Guilt bubbled up inside of him but it vanished as soon as Marinette began to laugh.

"That's just what I was thinking! But a friend of mine made it, it's photoshopped."

Chat smirked and took his chance to show off a little. Yes, he was talking to his close friend Marinette but it wouldn't hurt to impress her a little, okay? "I guess I could arrange it for you to actually take a picture like that with me and my precious partner."

Marinette laughed it off nervously because, no matter how incredible his powers and connections were, he definitely couldn't arrange that. "Nah, I already spend more than enough time with you and I met Ladybug a few times so… I think I can live with that one."

Chat's response caused Marinette's blood to run cold.

"You're lying."

Startled she looked up at him. Did he figure her out? Did he recognize her face? Was he mad at her for lying at him, pretending she wasn't who she was?

But he just wiggled his eyebrows. "One could never spend enough time with me."

That took a load off Marinette's mind.

"Please shut up" she laughed relieved and proceeded with what she had been doing before Chat had scared her to death and loaded the cheesiest Christmas movie she had been able to find into her computer: Love Actually.

Today Chat would learn about the emotional, sentimental side of Christmas.

"I am ready for something more difficult!" Adrien announced as soon as he was standing inside of Marinette's room, his posters long gone. Unsure she motioned him to sit down on her second chair.

"Are you sure? It's only two more weeks until Christmas, I wouldn't want you to bite off more than you can chew."

With a motivated grin on his face Adrien nodded and settled down next to her. "I learned from the very best and I'm certain my skills improved enough for me to try something more complicated! But not too hard please" he encouraged and backtracked at the same time and Marinette giggled quietly. Then she had a sudden inspiration.

"I have the perfect idea!" she exclaimed, hurried to her cupboard and rummaged through the drawer for a short while. Suddenly she threw a pair of fluffy socks at him that he managed to catch before it hit his face.

"Socks?" he asked wondering as Marinette came back to her desk with her sewing box.

"Yes, socks! It's quite easy to sew a plushie with a sock. Let me show you…"

Delighted Adrien watched the process in which she transformed the sock into the head of a black cat.

First of all she drew the shape of a cat on the sock and then sewed the outline. After that she cut along the line, turned the inside out and stuffed it with some fiberfill until it looked squashy and cute. Every step was performed slowly and with clear movements, easy for him to follow as Marinette explained everything she was doing.

Adrien had to admit that it indeed seemed to be fairly easy but he had the presumption that it would be harder for him as it was for her. Throughout the entire process he kept asking questions and intently watched every step as she showed him how to backstitch.

"Your first try may not go off without a hitch but a pair is made out of two socks for a reason, right?" she asked and winked playfully, a happy chuckle bubbling out of her.

If anyone would see the fond smile Adrien sent Marinette's way, they would instantly know what kind of feelings he developed for her. Tikki nearly had a breakdown.

Unfortunately he had to leave early because of a scheduled Chinese lesson (at some point he had started to go over at Marinette's even though he didn't exactly had the time for it) but maybe it wouldn't take long for a certain superhero to visit.

On his way back home Adrien bought 6 pairs of socks.