As much as Marinette hated to admit it, the roast chicken and winter vegetables dinner Adrien had made was absolutely delicious, not to mention the gravy that was so smooth and flavoursome. On top of that, it was clear that Master Fu had enjoyed every single mouthful. For once in her life, Marinette wished she had inherited some of her father's skills in the kitchen.

"I went and visited the Merchant's Association to let them know you two would be taking over the organising for the competition this year." Fu said, patting the corners of his mouth with a serviette.

"And how did they feel about that?" Marinette asked with some trepidation.

Fu ummed and ahhed, moving his head from side to side. "Some were enthusiastic, but a few of the others were naturally concerned about strangers stepping in. I told them though that fresh eyes might be just what this competition needs to give it a boost."

It was clear Fu was trying to put a positive spin on things. Marinette started to gather up some of the empty plates. "Well, I'm sure we will be able to win them over. Right Adrien?"

"Of course." Adrien agreed enthusiastically. "I'm looking forward to meeting everyone." Fu didn't look so sure, but smiled anyway.

"You know what I'm looking forward to… that Yule Log in there. It smells amazing."

Adrien stood up, taking the plates Marinette had piled up. "Why don't you two go on into the lounge and I'll bring your cake and hot chocolate."

"I can help make the hot chocolate." Marinette perked up and offered. "My roommate says it's one of the best." But Adrien shook his head.

"This is my own special blend I brought with me. Shaved chocolate with a hint of Christmas spice. It's something I plan on serving at my shop as a holiday special." He then disappeared into the kitchen with that smug grin again.

Fu leaned over to her and whispered. "I could really get used to this."

Marinette was starting to feel she was on the losing team tonight. As they walked into the lounge Fu complimented her on her choice of colours and decorations which made her feel much better about her own efforts.

"There were so many boxes for me to choose from." Marinette said. "I couldn't possibly put everything out."

"Marianne would change the colour schemes and decorations from year to year, rotating them to keep things fresh." He then picked up a snow globe. "I haven't seen this in years."

"I found that in a box hidden high up on a shelf. It was labeled Fei."

Something sad seemed to have crossed Fu's eyes, a sadness that was quite different to the one he had when Marianne was mentioned.

"I'm sorry… did I bring up something that upset you?"

"Oh no." Fu said with a reassuring smile as Adrien walked in with a tray. "There is that delicious smell again. I tell you truly Adrien, if your cake tastes as good as it smells, your shop will be a huge success."

Adrien beamed with pride. "Thank you Master. I really hope so."

"And you Marinette. If your decorating is any indicator of your creative talent, you too will do most well for yourself."

"Thank you so much." Marinette grinned, taking the plate Adrien offered to her with a wary side eye.

Fu heartily tucked into a spoonful of the decedent desert. "Oh my goodness." He declared. "I have eaten many Yule Logs in my lifetime, but this… I have no words."

Adrien was almost overcome by the praise. "I'm so glad you like it. It's my personal favourite but I haven't shared it with many people so it's great to get some feedback."

"Really?" Marinette said surprised. Adrien blinked at her and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "I mean I just thought you would be the kind of guy to invite a lot of friends over for a taste test or something."

Adrien looked away from her and into his cup of hot chocolate. "I don't really have a lot of friends." He replied quietly. "Félix and his wife Kagami are about the only ones who care to try anything I make. They always say it's good, but I guess I worried they were just being nice because, you know, family."

An awkward silence fell over the group with only the sound of the fireplace crackling beside them. Fu let out an appreciative hum.

"Well, I volunteer to be your taste tester anytime." He said with a wide grin. "Although I may need Miss Marinette to make me some new clothes that accommodate my growing waistline."

The awkwardness soon evaporated as everyone laughed and Adrien and Fu talked cheerfully about their favourite Christmas foods. Marinette sat listening quietly as she ate her slice of cake. Once again she had put her foot in it with Adrien. So much for her thinking he was a jerk weed because the only one looking like a jerk here was her.

~~~~~

The next morning, Master Fu recomended that Adrien and Marinette should go and make themselves acquainted with the merchants in Main Street before calling for a committee meeting. Donning their coats, the two made their way on foot into town. At Master Fu's suggestion they had breakfast at the Cosy Cafe and met Caline Bustier and her young daughter Harmony. Ms Bustier was so lovely and five year old Harmony was extremely excited for the battle of the Main Streets as the competition was being publicised as.

Ms Bustier was very interested in Adrien's hot chocolate mix, having heard rave reviews from Master Fu about it. Marinette internally grimaced as Adrien offered to send her a sample bag and if she liked it, they would organise for her to sell some in her shop as a promotion. It came as no surprise that Ms Bustier gave them her full support in exchange. Oh well, at least that made one merchant on their side.

After they finished their breakfast, the first store on their list to visit was a Comic Book and Manga store. Adrien, being ever the gentleman, held the door open for Marinette to enter.

Inside there was a young man with bright red hair staking one of the bookshelves.

"Hello?" Marinette called out. The man looked up, his hair covering half his face, but he gave her a welcoming smile.

"Hello." He said, offering his hand to both of them. "You must be Marinette and Adrien. Master Fu called to say you would be coming. I'm Nathaniel and somewhere hiding out the back there is Marc."

"I'm here." Marc called out as he came around the corner. "So, you two are taking over huh? I guess you have your work cut out for you then."

"Well, I'm more interested in your ideas." Marinette said. Marc and Nathaniel looked at each other with doubtful expressions.

"It's pretty much been the same thing every year." Marc said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It was decided a few years ago that we would have a winter wonderland theme and we just kind of rolled with it."

Adrien cocked his head to one side. "You mean you've done the same thing every year even though you kept losing?"

"It's not that we're being lazy." Nathaniel tried to explain. "Only Madame Bourgeois over at Diamond Cove has more money to throw around on it so while our efforts remain, shall we say stagnant, theirs just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. Plus there is someone being rather stubborn in the committee."

"Stubborn?" Marc snickered behind Nathaniel. "That's one way to put it."

"Madame Bourgeois? As in the wife of former Paris Mayor Bourgeois?" Adrien asked curiously.

"That's the one." Marc nodded. "Do you know her?"

Adrien could see out of the corner of his eye Marinette looking at him curiously. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "The name rings a bell. You know, after that scandal and all." He said before changing the subject. "We talked to Ms Bustier over at the Cosy Cafe. She said she is happy for us to host a meeting there tonight so we can come up with some practical, cost effective ideas."

Marc tried to suppress a laugh. "I see you haven't met the Mrs Mandeleive yet."

"Marc." Nathaniel hissed under his breath. He then looked back at Adrien and Marinette with a reassuring smile. "She isn't that bad, she's just ecentric that's all."

"That's all." Marc scoffed. "She completely derailed the last meeting. Not to mention she's the reason we've been stuck with the same theme every year." He then addressed back Adrien and Marinette. "Look, if you're after fresh ideas, you would be better off checking out the music store. A new owner took over a few months ago so he hasn't been involved in the past competitions. He tends to keep to himself, but he seems like a nice guy."

Adrien thanked them for their help and he and Marinette made their way outside where she let out a long sigh. "Please tell me I'm not the only one wondering what we might have gotten ourselves into."

"Oh I don't know." Adrien chuckled. "I'm kind of keen to meet this Mrs Mandelieve. She could turn out to be a real riot." Marinette chuckled at him as they began to walk down the road.

When they reached the music store, it wasn't open. Marinette pressed her nose to the glass and could see some records on the wall with a few Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale posters as well as a few instruments. "No one seems to be home. Do you think we should leave a note about the meeting tonight?"

Digging around in her bag, Marinette pulled out a notebook and scribbled a message saying they would be having a meeting about the competition at 6pm at Ms Bustier's Cosy Cafe. She then slid it under the shop door.

"So tell me." Adrien said as they continued on their way. "If you weren't here right now, what else would you be doing?"

Marinette shrugged. "Probably working on one of my designs with a corny Christmas movie for company."

"On your own?" Adrien said surprised. "I thought a beautiful woman like yourself would have someone special to share the holidays with."

Marinette stopped in her tracks. She could feel her cheeks heating up despite the chill in the air. "You… you think I'm beautiful?"

Adrien stopped and stepped closer, regarding her. "I told you yesterday, Marinette, I just call things as I see them." For a moment Marinette felt like the world had just stood still except for the slight breeze that swept through her hair, that was until Adrien stepped back from her. "Sorry, that was a little personal. Forget I said anything."

"No, it's fine." Marinette hastened to say while catching up to him. "The truth is I was engaged once, but it didn't end well. Things done that couldn't be undone. Anyway, I've been too busy setting up my online brand to try dating again. What about you? I gather things are a little complicated with your family."

"You could say that." Adrien chuckled humourlessly. "The reason I was late getting here yesterday was because my father was telling me that unless I stop this "chocolate shop nonsense" he was going to force me to sell back my shares in the company and cut me off totally so my failure won't be an embarrassment to him."

"Oh." Marinette said, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, father of the year material right there. I already knew it was coming because I had a heads up from Félix. That was the day you tried to run over me." He shoulder bumped her playfully and Marinette rolled her eyes at his teasing. "Anyway, Félix is doing what he can to try and make sure that can't happen, but I'm not going to let my father stop me from achieving my dreams. I've gotten this far without his help."

Marinette cast her eyes to the ground where her shoes left small indents in the snow. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"It's not your fault."

"No, I mean that I'm sorry, for the way I judged you."

Adrien slid his hands into the pockets of his coat. "If I'm being honest, I judged you too. I guess it's just human nature to assume the worst in people when bad things have happened to you."

"Then I think we should both keep an open mind when we go and see Mrs Mandeleive." Marinette suggested as they reached the door of Mrs Mandeleive's Silver Screen Memorabilia store.

"I agree." Adrien said, looking at her with those soft eyes that were starting to affect Marinette more than she cared to admit.

Going inside, Adrien called out hello. The shop was crammed with all kinds of unusual equipment, odd nick nacks and pieces of memorabilia. Marinette's attention was drawn to an old enlarged photograph on the wall of a vintage movie theatre. Judging by the car in the picture it must have been from the 1920's. Adrien's attention was very much elsewhere in the store.

"Woah." Adrien exclaimed, examining over a large, clunky looking piece of film equipment. "A genuine Edison Kinetoscope."

"Don't touch that." A gruff voice barked out. Marinette almost jumped out of her skin, bumping a vintage dial up telephone.

"I'm sorry." She said, picking the fallen handset and sitting it back.

"You break it, you buy it." The woman snapped. "Are you the two Fu rang me up about?"

Marinette and Adrien both nodded their heads, struck dumb by her abrupt manner.

"Figures." The woman huffed, turning around and heading to a desk at the back of the store. Marinette and Adrien followed to find Mrs Mandeleive working on some kind of antique contraption at her desk. "So you know we've lost this thing five years in a row right." She said, sounding acrimonious.

"Yes, Master Fu told us." Marinette replied, trying to sound positive.

"Old Wang has his hopes up if he thinks you two are going to change anything." Mrs Mandeleive scoffed. "I mean you know the only thing you get is a stupid trophy and some bragging rights on the local TV station."

Oh boy. This was going to be one tough nut to crack. "Well I for one am feeling confident." Adrien said, flashing that teen model smile of his. "Marinette here is one of the most talented people I've met and her taste in decorations is impeccable."

Marinette could feel her face going red again. Did he actually mean that or was he just laying it on for Mrs Mandeleive's benefit? "Speaking of taste." She added. "Adrien here is a wizz in the kitchen. I'm sure his treats could win over the judges."

Mrs Madeleive looked the two of them up and down, then gave a shrug. "Alright then. If you two think you're up to the task, then go right ahead. I won't stop you. Ever since that Bourgeois woman took over the decorating at Diamond Cove we've had no hope. It's about time we won again."

"I'm glad to have you on board." Marinette beamed. Maybe things weren't so bad afterall. "I hope to see you tonight then at the Cosy Cafe. We're going to have a meeting to discuss strategies with the other merchants."

"Maybe." Mrs Mandelieve replied flatly. "Now if you don't mind, I'm rather busy."

Hmmm…. Maybe not so easy after all.

~~~~~

Come 6pm, Ms Bustier brought around some mulled wine for everyone and a few nibblies that Adrien had paid for. After their visit to Mrs Mandeleive, Adrien and Marinette had gone to visit the other stores that made up Main Street. To their relief, they had been kind and curious about ways to make Silver Lake more competitive. Everyone was chatting happily, except for Mrs Mandeleive who just sat there sipping her wine and a scowl on her face.

Marinette clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Good evening everyone, and thank you for coming tonight. I know we're still missing a few people but we might get underway."

"I have a question." The lady from the florist shop called out from the back of the room. "I was just wondering if we were going to change the theme for this year?"

There were murmurs of agreement around the room. "That's an excellent question." Adrien said, feeling quite confident. "Now, we understand that every year one store has the spotlight…

"That's me." Mrs Mandeleive butted in, waving her hand around. "This year is my turn."

"Oh… that's great." Marinette was trying really hard not to grimace. "Because we had some ideas…"

"Ideas on how to best showcase my store? You could have at least consulted me first." Mrs Mandeleive scoffed in annoyance.

"Um…" Marinette mumbled, biting her lip and playing with her fingers. "Not exactly." Adrien could see she was starting to get nervous at Mrs Mandeleive's death stare.

"I think what Marinette was trying to say was that we thought we might change things up a bit…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Mrs Mandeleive bristled. "I have waited five years for my turn…"

There was an audible groan from around the room. "Seriously?" Marc frowned, ignoring Nathaniel trying to hush him. "You know this isn't all about you right? That's why we need some fresh ideas." Marc explained. "We can't keep doing what isn't working."

"There isn't enough time to make grand changes." Mandeleive insisted, waving her hand around. "It's easier this way. Tried and tested."

"Tired more like it." Nathaniel grumbled.

"Olga…" Ms Bustier said gently. "Wang invited these nice young people to come help us. The least you can do is listen to what they have to say."

"But it's my turn this year, Caline." The grumpy woman insisted. "I want my turn. My great grandfather helped build this village and it's about time I took center stage."

Soon the room began to dissolve into a set of petty arguments. Adrien began to rub his temple while Marinette looked completely exasperated. "Everyone please." She interjected, holding her hands out to try and bring calm. Behind her the bell above the door tinkered and a tall young man with dark hair came in.

"Sorry I'm late." He said, moving his blue tipped hair from his eyes. Marinette froze. She would have recognised that hair and black nail polished fingers anywhere.

"Marinette?" The man said in surprise. Adrien looked between Marinette and the tall stranger. The tension in the room suddenly increased ten fold.

"L…Luka." Marinette stuttered. Her face so shocked it looked almost as though she had seen a ghost walk in. "Wha… what are you doing here?"

"I live here now." Luka replied awkwardly, aware that everyone was looking at him. "I just moved here a few months ago and took over the music store. When I saw the handwriting and name on the note, I could scarcely believe it was you."

"Yes, well." Mrs Mandeleive said loudly. "You can save your touchy feely reunion for later. You just interrupted important business here."

"Olga!" Caline scolded her, but soon the room dissolved back into petty debate again.

Marinette was trying hard not to get flustered as Adrien tried to steer the conversation back to something more productive, but she wasn't doing a great job of it. Her instincts were telling her just to get out of there, but she was trying to ignore it. Luka sat down beside Nathaniel and Marc. He was observing everyone in the room, including her.

Marinette called out again to try and get everyone's attention. "Everyone please. Let's all just try and stay calm."

"Calm?" Mrs Mandeleive retorted. "Calm? I'm quite calm here, thank you very much. How about you calm down, Miss random helper person. You don't look like you could keep control of a chook raffle. Why don't you just sit down and let the adults talk."

Marinette was shocked and hurt. Maybe it was the pained way Luka was looking at her, or the concerned way that Adrien was, but she started to feel completely overwhelmed and lightheaded to the point it felt like the room was spinning.

"I need some air." She said towards Adrien while trying to avoid Luka's eyes. Adrien ignored the questions being asked of him, grabbing her coat that she had left behind and chasing after her instead.

"Marinette." He called and she stopped and turned around keeping her head down."Where are you going? And who was that Luka guy?"

Marinette's lower lip quivered and her eyes became glassy. "He… he was my fiancé." She said, trying not to get emotional.

"Okay." Adrien nodded, processing this new information as he put her coat on around her shoulders. "So your ex unexpectedly turned up. I get it. Just take a minute and then come back in so we…"

"I'm not coming back tonight."

Adrien frowned at her. "So you're just going to quit? Does that commitment you made to Fu mean nothing to you, or did you just say you'd help with this for your own selfish reasons?"

Marinette glared at him angrily. "That's not fair. You don't know me. Where do you get off making accusations about my motives? Of course I meant what I said, and I'm not quitting, but you heard them all in there. We won't get anything done tonight with everyone arguing. Let's just call it a night and regroup tomorrow."

Adrien folded his arms. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Maybe not, but perhaps you should explain to them why you're walking away." He said, pointing back towards the cafe.

Marinette stomped closer to him, her eyes blazing and her hands in fists by her side. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have your heart ripped apart and your whole world turned upside down. To have all your dreams destroyed because everything you thought you knew was nothing but a lie?"

Adrien looked down at her with wide eyes. Marinette shook her head and turned away from him. "No, I didn't think so." She said quietly.

Adrien stood frozen. He remembered that Marientte had said her relationship had ended badly, but this clearly was having more of an effect on her than he had understood. She was partly right. He didn't exactly know what it was like, because he had never really been in love before, but he did know what it was like to lose everything you had ever known and he understood

"Do you want me to walk you back to Fu's?" He asked her more gently.

"I can take her."

Adrien turned towards the male voice to find Luka coming from the cafe over to them. "Please Marinette. I really need to talk to you. There's something you need to know."

Marinette lifted her head, but kept her back to the two of them. "No. I can't right now. I'm… I'm not ready." With that Marinette took off running down the footpath.

A fresh flurry of snow began to fall down in the wake of the footprints Marinette had left behind. Adrien glared at Luka as he walked past him back to the cafe. Luka stood for a few moments watching where Marinette had disappeared around the corner before he also returned back to the meeting.