Friends and things. So nice. Don't get comfortable.

Marinette ran down the street as quickly as she could. She had taken an extra patrol without telling Chat Noir, so that she could search the opposite side of the city. She knew if she had told him, he would have insisted on accompanying her in case of a run in with the Huntsman. Of course nothing like that had happened, but now she was blocks away from home, in the dark, with a tired and hungry Kwami in her purse.

So Marinette ran. And she ran fast.

As Ladybug she didn't have to worry about being out at night. As plain, old Marinette, however, she was as helpless as they came.

Lungs gasping for air and legs throbbing from being pushed so hard, she rounded the corner and slammed into a wall.

No. It wasn't a wall.

Walls don't catch you mid-fall and set you back on your feet.

"Marinette? Why are you out in the dark?"

The bluenette blinked at the voice. She looked up and, even in the dark, she couldn't mistake those eyes.

"A-Adrien?" She quickly jumped back, dusting herself off. "I am with you here- why you- I mean- are um- you're dark, I…." She buried her face in her hands. "Sorry. I'm, um… Sorry."

Adrien smiled at her. "Ooooookay. Are you alright? You know you shouldn't be out alone at night."

Marinette peeked out from behind her hands. "Yeah. I j-just let time get away from me. I, uh, I'm on my w-way home now so…"

Adrien considered her. "Okay. I'll walk you home then."

"O-oh. Nonono. You don't have t-"

Adrien's stomach growled, cutting her off. His eyes widened and a light blush dusted his cheeks. He was thankful the streetlights weren't bright enough for her to see it.

"Um… Are… are you hungry?"

The model laughed a little. "I guess you could say that. Come on," he grabbed her hand. "Your house is this way, right? Near the school?"

Marinette mumbled some unintelligible string of syllables. She could only imagine how red her face must be. Her fingers tingled at his touch. Her legs felt like jelly and she could swear her feet weren't even touching the ground.

Adrien Agreste was holding her hand.

ADRIEN AGRESTE WAS HOLDING HER HAND.

She could die.

"Marinette… Marinette?"

Aaaaand he was trying to talk to her and she was completely ignoring him. Way to go, Marinette.

"Huh? S-sorry, what?"

"I said your had feels cold. Are you okay?"

Of course I am, hot stuff. You're walking me home, holding my hand, the moon's shining down on us, and if you asked me to marry you, I'd ask you how many kids you wanted me to have. "Oh, uh, y-yeah."

"You sure?"

She nodded.

He smiled warmly at her.

She screamed internally.

"H-hey, uh, Adrien? Why, uh…" Spit it out, Marinette. "Why were you out? Here. In the dark. I mean, y-you're not usually alone, um, right? Are… are you okay?"

He stifled a laugh. She really did care about everyone, didn't she? "Yeah, I was just out and let time get away from me," he said with a wink.

They shared a grin and continued to walk in silence. He still held her hand.

And then his stomach growled again.

Marinette giggled.

"What? Don't you ever get hungry?"

Before she could answer, his stomach moaned again. Marinette burst into a fit of laughter, tears falling down her cheeks. She gripped her sides as she giggled.

Adrien grinned. Marinette had seemed so tense over the last week. It was good to see her laughing. And her laughter was contagious, as he found himself joining in with her fit.

After a few minutes Marinette wiped the tears from her face and looked up at Adrien apologetically. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Adrien smirked, catching his breath. "It's good to hear you laugh." He took her hand again and gently pulled her along the street behind him.

"Marinette! You're back! Where were you? Why were you out past dark? Marinette, I'm asking you- Oh!"

Adrien waved a kind hello to his friend's mother. He explained that they both let the time slip away from them and bumped into each other a few blocks down the street.

Her parents were impressed by his taking responsibility in walking her home and invited him to stay and eat with them until his chauffer could come to pick him up.

Adrien gladly accepted the invitation and, after shooting Nathalie a quick text to explain what was going on and pleading quite desperately for her to let him stay and eat, he happily joined the Dupain-Cheng family at their table and dug into a delicious plate of breads, cheeses, meats, and pastries.

They sat and talked about anything and everything that came to mind, joking and laughing with each other again and again.

Marinette seemed to loosen up with the lightheartedness and even fell into witty banter battle between herself, Adrien, and her father.

By the end of the meal, Adrien was on cloud nine. He found himself wondering what it would be like to be a part of this family. To be accepted and loved and recognized…

Tom and Sabine busied themselves with gathering the dishes and putting away what was left of their meal. Sabine insisted that Adrien take some food home with him, only to have him politely refuse knowing that it would only be thrown away if he did. He asked if he could help clean up in any way, but ended up being shuffled into the living room with Marinette to set up for a family video game tournament.

Upstairs in Marinette's room, a small purse and a schoolbag sat side by side. Sitting on the desk were two Kwamies, sharing cookies and aged cheese with each other while swapping stories about their Miraculous bearers.

"It's funny how clueless humans can be, don't you think, Tikki?" Plagg asked, breaking off a piece of the cookie and smashing it into his mouth with a chunk of camembert.

Tikki could appreciate cheeses just fine, but watching her friend mix it with one of her precious sweets was enough to make her gag. "How can you eat the two together, Plagg?" she groaned. "And anyway, they're young and distracted. And we use our magic to help keep their secrets, even from each other."

"But," he took another bite. "They're so dense sometimes. Listen to them laughing down there. Adrien's eating this stuff up. You should tell Marinette to give him a break every now and then. Poor kid's lonely."

Tikki giggled. "Aww, Plagg, I didn't know you cared."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm a cat. Of course I care. I just don't fuss over him the way you do your charges."

She scratched him behind the ear, laughing when he leaned in and began to purr.

When she pulled away, he shot her a glare. "That's not funny, bug."

Tikki shrugged. "Well, for your information, Marinette cares very deeply for Adrien."

"No, duh! The only one who can't see that is Adrien himself. But no, I mean…" he studied what was left of his cheese, suddenly not so interested in eating it. "Adrien likes Ladybug the same way Marinette like Adrien. Sure, they're both too stupid to put two and two together, but the kid's pretty miserable at home. He actually likes going to school, of all things! It'd be nice if Marinette could give Adrien a break as Chat Noir."

Tikki grinned at him, causing him to blush.

"Besides, the happier the kid is, the more cheese he gives me."

She threw a cookie at his head. "You never change, Plagg."

"Course not," he said cheekily, smearing more cheese on the cookie and munching down. "Why mess with perfection?"

Plagg is precious.