Marinette shivered in the cold night, the jacket doing nothing against the cold. Seeing another group of people pass by, she plastered on a smile.

“Hello!” she called. “Would you like to try some samples from the Boulangerie Patisserie?” She held up the plate of delectable cookies but the people had already passed by. She sighed. She had no idea why exactly she had to do this;the Boulangerie Patisserie was the best bakery in Paris according to many people. The only reason some passed by without a cookie was because they had passed by before she could ask or her voice was too quiet. Yet her parents still insisted on making her do this for seemingly no reason.

A flicker of movement caught her eye and she looked up. A blond-haired, green-eyed boy who looked vaguely familiar was smiling at her, nibbling on a cookie.

“Hi,” he greeted.

“Hello,” she politely replied. Deciding that he would soon leave because of the cold, she turned her attention back to the busy streets of Paris, looking for a particularly large group that would willing take a few cookies.

A few moments passed and she took a glance at the boy, who had already finished his cookie and was still standing next to her. He caught her look.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she looked back at the crowd, but couldn’t resist sneaking another glance. Unfortunately, his eyes once again found hers.

“Seriously, what is it?” he asked, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

“Why are you still here?” she blurted, unable to contain her curiosity.

“Am I not allowed to stand here?” he grinned at her.

“No, but….”

“But?”

“But it’s cold and no one in their right mind would stand outside.” she bluntly stated, staring at him suspiciously.

“One, who says I’m in right mind? And two, you’re also standing out here in the cold,” he pointed out.

“Oh I didn’t notice, thanks for pointing that out,” she thought wryly. Verbally, she argued that she was standing out here to give out cookies; he was standing out here for no visible reason. As if to prove her point, a passerby took a cookie. Marinette smiled at them, calling out a “Merry Christmas.”`

“Well, maybe I’m here because I saw a pretty girl alone in the cold and wanted to keep her company,” he winked at her flirtatiously.

“That’s just creepy,” she deadpanned.

“True. Hmm, then maybe I saw a friend and wanted to talk to them.”

“Considering that I don’t even know your name, we are not friends,” she disproved his excuse.

“Oh! We can change that,” he extended his hand. “I’m Adrien, nice to meet you. Can we be friends?”

Determining that he wouldn’t leave anytime soon, she relented. “Nice to meet you, Adrien,” she shook his hand. “I’m Marinette. Let’s be friends.”

“Yay!” his face brightened as he cheered, and he twirled in a small circle. She smiled at his happiness, and they started talking about everything and anything, only pausing when she had to replenish the cookies.

“-and then it turned out that she had the bracelet all along!” Marinette ended, recounting the time with

“Oh, wow,” Adrien distantly responded, grateful that he had correctly determined that the bracelet he found had been Chloe’s and that he was able to return it with no trouble. He was quickly finding out that his friend was not quite as innocent or nice as she pretended to be. He had approached Marinette after recognizing her appearance from what Chloe had described to him and wanted to see what she was like.

“I know!” Marinette shook her head, “ All that trouble for one misunderstanding.” She paused, examining Adrien. “Um, Adrien?”

He looked up guiltily, wondering if she found out that he wasn’t listening. “Y-yes?” he squeaked.

“Go home.”

“Why?!” he sounded and was offended that she wanted him to leave.

“You’re shivering and I don’t want you to go sick,” she said worriedly.

He relaxed, relieved that it wasn’t something he had done. Marinette was nice, and he didn’t want to lose her friendship. “Nope!” he stubbornly replied, “I’m staying right here.”

She sighed exasperatedly. “Fine. Stay right here.” She disappeared into the bakery as he looked questioningly. A few minutes later, she reappeared. Tucked into her arm was some kind of black fabric, and she was holding two steaming cups.

“Where are the cookies?” he asked.

“They said I could stop,” she explained.” Here, she handed him a cup of what seemed to be hot chocolate then shoved the black fabric at him. “Put this on.”

Making sure not to spill any of the drink, he carefully pulled on the jacket. It was warm. It had a mandarin collar with a small bell in the middle and a zipper running down the front of the jacket. The right breast was embellished with an acid green paw print, and the jacket’s hem and bottom of the sleeves were outlined in thin green stripes. The hood was decorated with black ears with a green middle.

He glanced at her, “This is…?”

“I made it for a friend,” she explained, “but you need it more than he does.”

He assumed that her friend was a friend of Chat. It would be too much of a coincidence if she was Ladybug and meant to give it to him. Nonetheless, it was warm and he would probably start wearing it on patrols when he didn’t move as much and it was colder.

“And now, since I’m done, go home, model-boy.” she lightly pushed at him, a small grin gracing her face.

With a sudden surge of confidence, he stepped closer to her and kissed her forehead. “As you wish, princess.”

Flustered, she pushed him harder, causing him to actually stumble back.

He grinned and called out as he stepped away, “I’ll come visit, Mari!”

Shaking her head at the disappearing figure, she stepped back into the bakery with her cheeks still red.