Marinette had been having the most wonderful time with Gramps. He'd taken her around the building, giving her a tour of the different rooms and what activities were going to be going on over the next couple of days; all being set up in case the snow got worse. Apparently, he and his wife had been coming here quite often, enjoying the tranquillity of the main house and cabin along with seeing the grounds in different seasons. Marinette had made a mental note of the details he was giving her, hoping that maybe herself and Adrien could return at some point in the near future.
He had been kind and attentive, nothing at all like her own grandpere. Instead, she could imagine him as the most wonderful grandparent, always making sure his grandkids were spoiled with toys and sweets… and love. Granny had found a good one, one definitely worth the 63 years they'd been together. The way he spoke about her was something most people could only dream about. It wasn't very often you heard love stories like this anymore, her parents being one of the few and far between with their almost 35 years of marriage.
But no matter how sweet and endearing her time with Gramps had been, right now, all that was quickly forgotten. Marinette stared, slack jawed, as Adrien stood in front of her, on the bottom of the staircase, with a cardigan in the most familiar design.
The gold piping trailed up either side of his chest and sat in a familiar soldier design, the front embellished with golden buttons on either side, a perfect match in colour. A golden rope hung across the front as the neck raised high, folding over and laying in a perfect drape. The gold piping continued onto the shoulders of the cardigan — the added rope effect capping on both arms.
It was nothing more than a large flashing light over his head. Adrien Agreste — Chat Noir — was Catwalker.
There was no doubt in her mind that she was right about this, and there was no way she wasn't questioning it further. She felt so stupid in that moment. Not only had she missed the obvious in the way her temporary partner had acted in comparison with Adrien, but also the name.
Catwalker! Like seriously ~
It was as though he was guiding her towards him this whole time. So not only was she now contending with being madly in love with Adrien and Chat Noir, but the only other person to come close to capturing her heart was also Adrien — again!
"H-h-hey," he mumbled, raising one hand in a wave.
She crossed her arms and glared at him, the rose tinge on his cheeks evidence that he knew, she knew. He looked guilty, and he should do too. He'd made her worry, he'd made her panic and most of all, he'd made her question her love for Adrien and kept it a secret for years.
Ignoring her partner, she turned to Gramps and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before turning back to Adrien and raising a brow. He had some explaining to do.
Gramps began to make his way past Adrien and onto the staircase, giving the guy a quick smile and placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned back to Marinette, a soft smile gracing his lips.
"Don't forget," he said in warning, "part of a conversation is never the whole." With that he patted Adrien on the shoulder and wished him good luck, moving his way up the staircase and out of sight.
Moving her attention slowly from the elderly gentleman to the younger one on the bottom of the staircase, she looked back at Adrien knowing full well her face didn't look too impressed and, by the look on his, he was not looking forward to the conversation to come.
Marinette took a step forward, ready to start the altercation there and then, only to be stopped before she could say anything by Adrien holding up a pair of fur lined, pink, walking boots. Her dream winter boots — aside from the ones she was wearing, of course. However; if he thought that was a peace offering he was scarcely wrong.
Grabbing the food basket from where she'd placed it underneath the Gingerbread House, Marinette turned and started to head for the exit, fully set to head back to the cabin and make herself a cream and marshmallow decorated hot chocolate. Just as she was about to leave through the door, she stopped abruptly and turned around, marching back to Adrien and grabbing the boots with a small huff.
She wasn't stupid enough to try and walk outside again in her heels. The last thing she wanted at the moment was Adrien saving her again and giving her another reason to love him.
.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .
"Come on, Marinette, you've got to talk to me at some point. You can't just ignore me all evening, we're stuck in here."
She looked outside the window next to the fireplace and damned the sudden increase in snow. Doing her best to ignore talking to her partner, she headed for where she'd left her phone and started scrolling through her contact list. If she was busy talking to someone else, that meant she didn't have to talk to him. Genius idea!
Marinette couldn't believe how long he'd kept this a secret, how Adrien — her trusted partner — had managed to completely avoid the fact he was the only other cat she'd ever worked with, and that she'd once again fallen for his wit and charm. She didn't know if she was angry at herself for being so weak or if she was angry at him for being her weakness. Dammit, she loved every single side of him.
She found her Maman's name and pressed the call button, moving close to the window again and seating herself on the cushions placed there. She'd never seen a window seat before, but she was quite sure that she wanted one in her own house now – when she moved out the bakery that was. Signal had been pretty sketchy in the cabin so she prayed it would last at least long enough to tell her Maman they were safe, and give her some time to work out how she was going to handle Adrien.
Placing the device to her ear, she listened to it call out, watching Adrien's reflection in the window. He'd moved on from his anxious stalking up and down the cabin to now being fully focused on putting the objects from the basket away in the fridge and cupboards. He was even doing that with skill and accuracy.
A click sounded through the receiver and her mothers voice graced her ears from the other side of the call.
'Marinette? Thank God! Are you both okay? Where are you? The news has said the autoroute is shut.'
Marinette suddenly felt bad, she should have contacted her Maman a couple of hours ago. She knew how much both her parents worried when they hadn't heard from her, regardless of her constant disappearances from the house. The only thing at the moment keeping them sane was that she was with Adrien liar Agreste.
"We're fine. The route changed and took us down some country lanes. We're at a small bed and breakfast, though, I'm not quite entirely sure where we actually are."
'Do you have food? Are you warm?' Her Maman's voice changed into a shout as the phone seemed to muffle and sound like it was being moved. 'Tom, they're safe. They're at a romantic bed and breakfast.'
Marinette groaned, placing her hand to her head. "I never said that."
'But that's what happens in all those Christmas movies we watch. You'll both come to a realisation about how much you love each other because you have nothing else to do but talk whilst you're stranded. This is so romantic. Isn't it Tom?'
It was at that precise moment Marinette realised her mother had placed her on loud speaker, her papa coming in on the conversation too. This was more embarrassing than he decided to hug the van.
'Marinette, make sure you're feeding the boy. He's wasting away. Do you have supplies? Don't forget he likes his pancakes plain.'
She looked over to her partner, still busy putting the supplies away and looking a little downtrodden. Maybe she'd gone a little too far with this, and Gramps was right, she needed to hear the full story from him, not fill in the gaps with her overactive imagination; an imagination which could be quite terrifying at times.
"Yes, papa. We've got it all sorted. I'll drop you a text tomorrow. I love you loads."
'We love you too, sweetheart. Look after each other, and try to find some proper shoes.'
Ending the call, Marinette studied Adrien again. In the past four hours she'd gone through that many emotions with him, is this what it was like to love someone with your whole heart? One minute you would fight anything to be with them and the next you want to throw them across the English Channel.
She stood and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing two cups and the powdered cocoa. She headed to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of milk, slamming the door closed a little too hard.
"The cardigan looks good on you." She broke the silence by bringing up the elephant in the room. Her eyes firmly set on measuring out milk and powder.
"Granny made it herself," he responded, continuing to place the food and supplies away. He was clearly avoiding eye contact with her too, putting them both at a stalemate.
"She has good taste… just like you."
Adrien stopped. His hands came down on the counter as his head hung downwards. He let out a sigh before looking at her, turning his body to rest his back against the worktop.
"It wasn't my idea," he said, his green eyes staring straight into hers.
She moved herself to lean against the island in the centre of the kitchen opposite her partner. Keeping the silence between them she waited for him to continue, each mirroring the other with their arms crossed in front of them.
"Where's Plagg?" Adrien said, looking around. "He can explain this better than me."
"Plagg and Tikki left. Apparently Plagg couldn't deal with us anymore."
"They left?"
"Yup! Plagg shouted at me, grabbed my bag and made me open the doors to let him out."
They looked at each other, the tension suddenly breaking as they both burst out laughing. The moment which had been so serious suddenly broke and she couldn't hold it together. It wasn't even that funny.
"I'm sorry, M'Lady. Plagg came to me telling me he had a plan to help me understand why you needed me as in Chat Noir – me, not just any random cat holder. I tried to be everything you wanted, my stubbornness being to blame for giving up my ring in the first place. I suppose I wanted you to see me in a different way."
"Well, I hope my constant breakdowns had shown that Chat Noir is my one and only partner. It's all about us, Chaton, you and me." Marinette stood from the counter and moved towards him.
"Against the world?" Adrien smiled, his eyes apologetic and begging for forgiveness.
"As always." Marinette held her hand out, ready to fist bump Adrien, only for him to grab it and pull her into him. He embraced her tightly, allowing her to feel every inch of his body, and get consumed by the smell of his new fragrance. It was strange that he didn't wear his self-named one anymore, but the one he had chosen was just as enticing.
"I'm really sorry," he whispered in her ear. "I was just so disheartened at the time, I thought you didn't want or need me anymore, having everyone else joining in and taking on new responsibilities. I just felt as though I was being pushed out. I didn't want to deceive you or pull anything out of the ordinary. Superheroing with you has always been the best part of my day. You still are the best part of my day."
Trying not to overthink what he'd just said, she closed her eyes, keeping her tears at bay. His hands began to move up and down her spine and she melted into him, moulding their bodies together and allowing that moment to be one of joint understanding. She moved her own hands, curving them under his armpits and cupping his shoulders, nuzzling her head into his chest and allowing him to feel the embrace of her love.
"I'm the one that should be sorry. You mean everything to me," she said, getting lost in the warmth and smell of Adrien. "You do mean everything to me."
"I- I do?" he asked tentatively, his voice stuttering as he spoke. She couldn't help but pray she was affecting him the way he was her. That this close proximity and her softly spoken and honest words allowed him the opportunity to understand her love for him. This was it. She could use this moment to her advantage.
"Of course," she responded, without letting go of him. "You are the best partner ever."
"Oh, I - um - of course. Partners." Without warning, Adrien stepped away and back towards the counter. Dammit! She must have made him uncomfortable and gone in too quickly. Had she really read the signals that wrong?
Marinette stood frozen, replaying the conversation in her mind as Adrien continued with storing the supplies. What had happened? She continued to study him, noticing he was about to add some oranges to a fruit bowl when she had an idea. One to bring him back onto her side.
"Wait!"
The sudden shout caused Adrien to send the oranges flying from the bag and onto the counter, both watching with bated breath as they rolled around and headed towards the floor.
Like a well oiled machine they moved, easily stretching out and grabbing the oranges; one, two, three in each hand. Adrien took the high as Marinette bent down to catch the low — all oranges saved.
"I was thinking I could use the juice and zest in the hot chocolate." Marinette slowly returned to standing looking at the oranges in each of her hands. She took the four she was holding over to where the other ingredients were, grabbing hold of a saucepan and pouring some milk into it.
"Orange hot chocolate?"
"Don't knock it until you've tried it, Bugaboy," she chuckled, Adrien's smile suddenly back to full power and obviously enjoying the lift in the mood.
"Bugaboy? Now you're pulling the big guns out, Princess." She watched him place the remaining oranges into the fruit bowl and walk back towards her. He stopped behind her and glared over her shoulder to look into the saucepan of simmering milk. All she had to do was lean back a little and they would be connected once more – and it took all her might to not do that.
Focusing on the task at hand, she expertly added the right amount of cocoa powder into the saucepan before grabbing the grater and adding some orange zest into the concoction. Taking a deep breath, she couldn't help but marvel in the smell. Heavenly.
Though, that could have been Adrien.
"Do you want cream with this?" She turned her head to look over her shoulder at Adrien only to notice he had made himself move a little closer, his chest brushing her back. Her eyes met his as she peered over her shoulder, and she couldn't help noticing the lowering of his eyelids. She swallowed down the lump which had appeared in her throat, one that had been caused by the intense look and parted lips. Lips she just couldn't seem to take her eyes off.
She couldn't help but be swept away in dreams of her younger years, standing here with Adrien in a whole different situation, one where they were together.
She was in so much trouble!
Her eyes began to flutter closed as she felt a magnetic pull to her partner. A need and desire to join their lips together. Maybe she hadn't messed this up as badly as she suspected? Especially if Adrien's warm breath hitting her face were anything to go by, goodness, he was close! A couple of millimetres and they would kiss. Her dreams would finally come true.
Stealing her nerves and the way her heart was about to explode out her chest singing 'All I Want For Christmas (Is You)', she prepared for his warm, soft, peach lips to share a moment with hers. Closer. Closer. Closer.
…Until she jumped away in fright.
The high pitched wailing of the fire alarm put a massive dent in the plan as their eyes widened and Marinette turned back to the stove catching the cascading milk tumbling onto the cooker hobs. The milk bubbling over the top.
Removing the saucepan, she closed her eyes and wondered how she possessed such bad luck.