This monday morning no one found a present on their desk due to their agreement to exchange the final gifts on Christmas Eve. A little disappointed the rest of the class compelled them to report every littlest detail to them; since they had witnessed the whole thing from the beginning they also wanted to know how it ended.
Except for Chloé, of course.
On the last day of school Rose handed all of her classmates a little personalized Christmas card, Mylène served various cookies and Kim refused the bet that he wouldn't miss the others. Marinette watched it all happening with a fond smile playing around her lips. She loved the close, strong bond her class had developed over the last months and knew for sure that she would miss all of them dearly. But it would be an "excited to see everyone again"-kind of missing and not the sad kind, so the thought didn't harm the thrill of anticipation that warmed her chest but fueled it.
Before they went home Alya, Nino and Marinette planned their meeting on Christmas Eve to deliver the last gifts and even though Adrien wasn't sure if his father would let him leave the house he assured his friends that he would somehow find a way. That statement worried his friends more than it eased them but they couldn't change his mind anyway so they decided to not worry too much and just enjoy the holidays instead.
Little did Marinette know what the following days had in store for her.
"Come out already!"
Marinette hid out of sight of her window as narrowed green eyes scanned her bed for any sign of living. So far she was not ready to face Chat Noir after what happened the week before, she needed more time to figure her feelings out. "Tikki, what should I do? He knows I'm home but I… I can't talk to him! Not now."
With an understanding smile her Kwami snuggled up to her. "I get that it's hard Marinette but you don't want to be as shy around Chat as you were around Adrien, do you? Is it worth it to-"
"Princess! Please, I have to tell… show you something!"
"Gosh, he's stubborn. What did you want to say?" Slightly annoyed Marinette faced Tikki again.
"It's just that I'm concerned that you'll be unhappy about-"
"I know that you can hear me Marielf. It's urgent, come on!"
Questioningly Tikki looked at her. "You don't want to go see him? Not at all?"
Conflicted Marinette began to waffle. "It's not like I'm completely aga-"
"I'm freezing, you know?"
Eventually an upset groan escaped Marinette's lips and she tucked a blanket around her shoulders as she furiously rushed towards her balcony. "Chat, I swear to god I'm gonna…" She popped her head out of the window but froze in her tracks as she found Chat's face only inches apart from hers. Due to the unexpected, surprisingly small distance between them Marinette's breath hitched in her throat and she just stared at him with wide, round eyes while a merciless blush spread over her cheeks up to her ears.
Eventually she was able to form coherent thoughts again and finally got an idea of what was happening. Suspiciously she looked up and as expected there it was, fatefully hanging above their heads: a mistletoe.
"Oops" Chat whispered, his face getting even closer. "I heard there's a certain tradition connected to this little thing." He moved closer again and Marinette could feel his warm breath on her lips. "I guess we have to kiss now since it's a very strict Christmas rule and I just learned that you have to stick to all of those." He hesitated and looked into her eyes, his expression so affectionate and genuine that it made Marinette weak in the knees. For a split second his eyes flickered down to her lips as if to ask for permission before he, ever so slowly, began to close the last bit of distance between them.
But suddenly Marinette jolted up, grabbed the green branch and threw it over the railing of her balcony, cutting through the tension that had built up between them. Because all of a sudden, she knew what she wanted and how to answer all of Tikki's and her own questions.
"I'm not going to kiss you because of such a stupid thing!" she exclaimed indignantly. Seeing his deeply pained expression made her say the next sentence earlier than she had planned to but she couldn't bare to see him like this. "I'm going to kiss you simply because I want to" she corrected under her breath, quickly wrapping her arms around Chat's neck and pulling him towards her.
Both of them felt the smile on the others lips as they finally met gently. It was a cute, soft kiss but it was all they could ever wish for.