Standard disclaimers apply

Christmas came and with it the annual Agreste Christmas dinner and party. After that year where Adrien had run away during Christmas, Gabriel had made it a point to invite all the members of his class for a casual dinner and Christmas party consisting of games, carols and overall frivolity. It was all his peers talked about before Christmas break in December.

As the senior class came into the foyer, Gabriel and Natalia smiled at the scene before them. Ivan and Mylene were holding hands, as were Alya and Nino; Sabrina and Max; Nathaniel and Juleka; Kim and Alix; and last, but not least, Rose with her visiting boyfriend, Prince Ali. The Agreste and Dupain-Cheng parents sighed internally at the fact that, besides Chloe, their children were the only ones without a significant other. It was incredibly depressing especially when they were looking forward to green-eyed and blue-eyed grandkids.

The dinner was lively and festive. Classic carols were sung before everyone sat down for a grandiose feast. Gabriel, at Natalia's request, had added holiday favorites like panettone, hot chocolate and various desserts. As Adrien saw all the desserts that were served, everyone chuckled at the look of complete rapture on Adrien's face. It was like he hadn't seen for the whole year. Everyone held in their laughter as Adrien piled his plate with one of each dessert.

"Hey!" exclaimed Marinette, "You try eating salad with chicken for lunch and dinner all year and then being allowed to eat all this. You'd be enraptured too!" Adrien scoffed before adding to Marinette's comment.

"You forgot my exercise regime. My trainer's going to make me run the circumference of Paris after this meal." Guffaws could be heard around the room at Adrien's non-subtle joke. Gabriel rolled his eyes at his son's sense of humor. Why was it that the only thing his son took after him in was his humor? He remembered quite clearly how Natalia rolled her eyes at his terrible jokes. However, as Gabriel would often point out, they'd still married; so maybe, deep down, Natalia had actually liked his jokes. Adrien led everyone to the parlor for games after they'd had their fill.

On the way to the parlor, Alya looked up at the archway. An excited gleam entered her eye as she subtly pushed Marinette into Adrien. She then nudged Nino and pointed quite obviously toward the top of the archway.

"Hey, look!" exclaimed Nino, realizing what his genius girlfriend had planned, "Adrien and Marinette are under the mistletoe!" The students, seeing Nino was right, quickly began chanting 'Kiss!; Kiss!' Adrien looked a bit lost before suddenly, an ingenious idea entered his brain. He gently grabbed Marinette's face in both his hands, tilted her face so her cheek was exposed and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Adrien turned to face his friends and the sight was so hilarious he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at their various expressions.

Alix, Kim, Max, Sabrina and Chloe stood with their mouths agape in disbelief. Ivan and Mylene looked unsurprised like they'd expected Adrien to pull this kind of stunt. Nathaniel was shaking his head in exasperation while Juleka looked apathetic. Rose looked disappointed while Prince Ali merely looked confused as his country didn't have the mistletoe tradition. Alya looked furious while Nino looked irritated at his best bud. The adults that were there simply shook their heads, wondering how a sixteen-year-old had managed to figure out the mistletoe loophole.

"Let's all head into the parlor then," Natalia intoned, hoping to spare her son from his impending doom. It was obvious to the Agreste parents that their son's classmates wanted him to date Marinette almost as much as she and her husband did. It was both a relief and surprising to see how many allies they had in their goal to have Adrien and Marinette start dating.

Winter break passed quickly, as did Adrien's birthday. The play's dress rehearsal was fast approaching as February came roaring in with a harsh winter blizzard. Adrien's driver, whom he'd nicknamed 'The Gorilla,' looked on as Adrien gave his 'not-girlfriend' eight chemical heating hand packs. The Gorilla rolled his eyes, wondering how on earth no one had figured out Adrien and Marinette Dupain-Cheng were already dating. What confused him even more though was how he felt compelled to protect their secret. As he drove off, he couldn't help but smile at Adrien's care and love for the baker's daughter. It wouldn't surprise him if Adrien married her right after graduation. To him at least, it was obvious Miss Dupain-Cheng and young Mr. Agreste had a bond many adults could never achieve with their significant other. It was truly a privilege to witness such a love.

"Dude," entreated Nino as Adrien walked up to the school entrance, "you've got to help me!" Adrien looked at Nino, internally laughing once he realized his friend's problem was in the girl department.

"I can only offer suggestions man; no one knows Alya better than you."

"But I'm stumped on what to get her!" freaked Nino. Adrien had to bite his lip to keep his insensitive laughter in check.

"All I can say is don't overthink it. There must be some Valentine's Day gift you can get her that has a special meaning to you both." Nino scrunched up his face before inspiration struck.

"There is! Thanks Adrien; you're a genius!" Adrien smiled as Nino ran off to snag his girlfriend away from her talk with Chloe. Incidentally, since Chloe was putting an effort into being nicer, she and Alya had quickly bonded over their mutual love of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Adrien's internal jokester couldn't help but find the whole situation hilarious and ironic.