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"Do you have plans for Christmas?"
Marinette was clearly startled by Adrien's question but given their view of the huge Christmas tree it shouldn't have been that surprising. Even the Supreme couldn't stop Christmas from coming.
Then again, maybe he shouldn't have waited until Christmas Eve to ask her.
"No," she shrugged, her eyes on the bright lights down on the square.
They had to hide, especially when they were transformed because they had yet to deal with the Supreme. But they had their secret hideouts which still had a good view.
"My aunt doesn't like Christmas," she added with a frown.
"Oh." Maybe he could backtrack before it was too late. "Do you do something for Chinese New Yer instead?" He asked. He wanted to kick himself for just assuming that they celebrated France's holidays.
"Not usually. She's just not big on festivities."
Adrien opened his mouth to say something about the cheerfully decorated bakery and all the Christmas pastries they sold. Marinette clearly sensed this and the corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile.
"Oh, she knows what the people want and how to make money out of it. But behind closed doors, it's just a regular day for us."
"Do you mind?" He asked quietly, trying to gauge her mood.
"I like the idea of Christmas. Being with the family, doing things together, exchanging gifts. It probably sounds pathetic but it's what I wanted growing up."
"It sounds absolutely normal," he reassured her.
"There was one time we went to Shanghai to visit my great uncle there. It was January and the week-long celebrations were in full swing. It was a lot of fun."
Her smile was both bigger and a little sad now. She clearly wanted it to happen again.
"How about you?" She asked, shaking her head as if to get rid of the sentimentality.
"Christmas was my mum's favourite holiday," he sighed. "She would have the whole mansion decorated for the whole month of December and while they usually invited business associates for a lot of official dinner parties, Christmas was just for the family. I snooped around and found out that she was Santa pretty early on but I didn't mind," he chuckled, remembering opening presents and exclaiming that Santa had to have read his letter again. "Last year...," the mirth left his voice. "It was a miserable affair."
Marinette tool his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. He shot her a grateful look.
"We were both mourning but separately. My father just pretended that I wasn't there or so it felt. And it just made me feel lonely and angry," he admitted.
"We met shortly after that," she gasped. "Did this tip the balance in favour of villainy?"
"Maybe," he looked away, feeling embarrassed.
"Hey, it's ok. I can't even imagine how tough it must have been for you. I'm used to being miserable. You weren't."
Her voice was full of understanding and he was grateful for this. But the truth was that he didn't want to dwell on the past.
"I hoped that this year, with things with my dad moving in the right direction and you here..." He trailed off, his courage abandoning him before he could say it out loud.
"You want me to celebrate Christmas with you?" She asked in a small voice, thankfully understanding. He nodded eagerly.
"Unless your aunt minds, of course," he added quickly. This made her snort.
"Not at all. She will be free to watch her soap operas without me grumbling."
"But won't she, you know, ask about me?"
"She already has," Marinette surprised him, her cheeks getting suffused with colour under his surprised gaze.
"Oh." His own face was hot.
"She has seen you at the bakery. She can guess it's not just because of the macarons," she smiled a little. "And she has noticed that I'm not as grumpy as I used to be." His heart jumped at that at the thought that he had something to do with this. "But I still don't know what to tell her."
Her eyes held his, a quiet question in them.
"What do you want to tell her?" Now his voice was barely a whisper. He hated it but he still felt nervous about this.
"Kitty, you know that I'm not good at this," she groaned, leaning in to hide her blushing cheeks against his chest. It was so her. Adrien wanted to laugh and to hug her. He wanted more of this.
"M'lady, I won't tell anyone that you get all mushy sometimes," he resorted to teasing her. She freed her hand and used it to swat him on the arm.
"Who are you going to tell anyway?" She muttered.
She had a point. Alya and Nino were still wary of them. And he was nowhere near this level of closeness with his father in spite of the improvement in their relationship. Overall they only had each other
"It's the thought that counts," he said, surreptitiously moving his arm around her shoulders. She sighed but didn't pull back.
This was all so new. They were still getting used to the new nuances of whatever it was between them. So he tried to be patient.
"I want to tell her that you're my boyfriend," Marinette said eventually, her forehead against his sternum, still hiding from him. But her arm was warm against his side and this meant that she was basically cuddling with him so he didn't mind.
"Then tell her," he said, trying to rein in the excitement threatening to overwhelm him. "My father already calls you my girlfriend and we haven't corrected him, so... "
She shifted a little, a bright blue eye peeking at him through her hair.
"You want this?"
"Wasn't this obvious already? You know that I love you."
Saying it got easier with each time.
"I love you too. But this would be... You know, official." She lifted her head and shook the hair out of her eyes.
"I want it to be official," he said gently, lifting a hand to trace the smile that slowly appeared on her lips with a finger.
"Ok."
"Ok?" He paused, his hand cupping her red cheek.
"Just kiss me already," she said impatiently, almost back to her grumpy self. He smiled and leaned in.
"Ask and you shall receive," he said. Her groan was muffled by his lips against hers. And then they were done talking.
It was that simple. They just tended to make it more complicated for themselves.
"What do you want as a present?" She asked after a while.
"Surprise me."
Her smile, calculating and excited, warmed up his heart. He was ready for Christmas.