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Ladybug swung high over the rooftops of Paris, shivering slightly in spite of her magic suit. Christmas was here, and with it had come snow, ice, and a massive cold front.
She was patrolling tonight more out of habit than necessity. Chat Noir had told her weeks ago that he planned to skip their usual Christmas Eve patrol, and something had stopped Ladybug from cancelling it altogether and spending the evening somewhere warm with her friends or family.
Everyone with a place to go had gone there, leaving the streets all but empty. There was something nice about Paris like this, cloaked in a fresh dusting of snow not yet churned into grey slush. For this soft, intangible moment, the city was under Ladybug’s protection, hers and hers alone.
She didn’t plan to make a sharp left by the riverfront and pass by the Agreste manor. Her body took her there of its own accord.
Ladybug alighted on a rooftop across the street and studied the manor, remembering the long-ago Christmas when Adrien had briefly gone missing. She wondered where her old classmate was tonight. Somewhere far away from this cold, dark house, she hoped.
She hadn’t kept up with Adrien very well since school had ended, but she knew through mutual friends that he was pursuing a law degree. In her weaker moments, she imagined him in a crisp suit and tie, arguing passionately in some stuffy courtroom. She hoped he was happy, wherever he was.
And there he was, as if the ghost of Ladybug’s crush had summoned him to her. A taxi pulled up to the gate, and when its passenger got out Ladybug recognized him even before he turned around and looked right at her. The end of a blue scarf flapped in the wind as he beckoned for her to come down.
Ladybug swallowed. Was Adrien about to ask her why she was following him? She wasn’t; those days had passed. Bracing herself for the worst, she swung down and landed beside him. The fresh snow crunched underfoot.
He was wearing the scarf. Why was he wearing the scarf? Her heart thundered.
“Ladybug,” Adrien was smiling. Even after all these years, he had the power to make her go weak in the knees. “Where’s Chat Noir?”
Ladybug wasn’t sure. She avoided prying into her partner’s personal life, but she knew he didn’t get on with his immediate family. Holidays tended to depress him. That was one reason why the Christmas Eve patrol had become an annual tradition. Maybe he had a girlfriend this year.
“Otherwise engaged,” she said, trying—and knowing she was failing—to sound casual. “I’m alone tonight. But not… not lonely! Because all of Paris is my family.”
Adrien pursed his lips. “I see. It’s cold out, isn’t it? I—I’m sure he didn’t want you to patrol by yourself.”
“I don’t mind,” said Ladybug. She wasn’t completely sure what she was arguing, or why. “The quiet’s nice.”
Adrien tucked the loose end of his scarf into his coat. He was shivering. “If you’re sure,” he said. “But I was actually hoping to invite you to dinner.”
Ladybug blinked. “Excuse me.”
Adrien’s eyes widened. “Not like that! To Christmas dinner. With my father. I hired a professional clown to be my date, but she just called to cancel. Her son has a cold.” He shrugged. “And family dinner is boring when there’s nothing interesting for my father to seethe about. You probably remember the time I ran away from home on Christmas Eve. It’s the one night a year when my father tries to be nice to me. This year, he wants to try a wholesome holiday dinner.”
Ladybug absorbed this information. “You want me…”
“I do.”
“…to be your replacement clown?”
“No! Yes!” Adrien grimaced. “Look, it’ll be warm in there, and the food’s sure to be fancy. Please, Ladybug. I’m desperate.”
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. She was considering it. Part of her was furious with the rest of her for wanting to say yes so badly. “And what if I have atrocious table manners?”
“That would be a bonus.”
The look on Adrien’s face decided her. After all, Ladybug had hated Gabriel Agreste with a passion since she was fourteen. Time and distance hadn’t changed that.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m in.”
Gabriel Agreste took a sip of wine and patted his mouth with a cloth napkin. He moved more like a mannequin than a man. “You’re dating?”
“Yes,” said Ladybug, repeating the story they’d worked out on the walk up to the driveway. “I’d saved Adrien from akuma attacks a few times, but we didn’t click until we ran into each other while doing volunteer work at a stray cat rescue.”
Another sip of wine. Another precise napkin movement. “I had assumed that you were still seeing Chat Noir.”
Ladybug smiled tightly. Adrien had warned her that his father would go straight for the most sensitive subjects he could think of. “No,” she said. “We’ve actually never been an item, despite what the tabloids would have you believe.” She let out a fake laugh. “Trust me on that, and I’ll trust you when you say that there’s no two-headed alien baby locked in a secret basement under the manor.”
“Indeed,” said Gabriel. He turned to his son. “It must be difficult to love someone who won’t show you her true face. Unless…?” He trailed off, letting the unspoken question hang in the air.
Ladybug admired Adrien’s placid expression. He took a bite of his chicken, chewed it carefully, and swallowed before responding. “I feel very close to her, actually. I may not know Ladybug’s name, but I know she’s the woman I love. We’ve already talked about designing a wedding dress that wouldn’t clash with her costume underneath.”
Ladybug took a sip of her own drink to keep from laughing out loud at Gabriel’s expression. Would he call their bluff?
“I can’t believe he never once called our bluff,” she said in the taxi three hours later.
She had gotten in to keep up appearances, but Adrien had promised to make her “the best cup of coffee you’ve ever tasted” if she came up to his apartment with him. Ladybug was considering it. More than considering it. A chance like this didn’t come every day.
The taxi driver kept shooting them looks in the rearview mirror, and she was certain that some garbled version of this story would be front page news by Christmas morning. At the moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Adrien shrugged. “I up the ante every year,” he told her. “He wouldn’t have called my bluff with the clown, either. Too scared of losing me.” He made a face. “To be honest with you, I preferred it when he used to yell at me. It’s like… like he’s trying to wallpaper over my shitty childhood. Sorry I dragged you into it.”
“Are you kidding?” Ladybug decided that she didn’t care if the taxi driver was watching them. “For one thing, that food was every bit as good as you said it would be. For another—”
Before she could talk herself out of it, she planted a soft kiss on Adrien’s cheek.
“—apart from your father, the company was excellent,” she said. She was gratified by how red Adrien’s face had gotten. “I can’t wait for that coffee.”
So maybe she was still just a little bit madly in love with Adrien Agreste and just a little bit tipsy. So what? Where was the harm in seeing where else the night might lead?