Sunday, December 31

Early in the morning, Adrien told her that he would try to sneak out later, because he would most definitely not miss her cooking. She hadn't told him about his father visiting her yesterday, but she assumed Gabriel had told Adrien about their little meetup and that he didn't want him to see her, hence why Adrien was about to sneak out.

Marinette was putting the plates and utensils down on the table. The rice was almost done cooking, so were the beans and chicken. It smelled wonderful and she was almost about to call Adrien and tell him to hurry up, because she couldn't wait to eat. Her growling stomach was agreeing with her.

The knock on the door put her at ease again, and Marinette excitedly opened it. As expected, Adrien was there and she greeted him with a hug and a quick peck.

"So, how did you manage to go out without your father noticing?" She said while closing the door behind them.

He suddenly swooped her up in a hug and twirled her around. Marinette shrieked in surprise, but eventually switched to giggling as he put her down and started nuzzling her neck.

"I love you."

Marinette stiffened at his words. Sure, their feelings towards each other were quite evident, but they've never said them out loud like that before. Should she say it back?

"What did I do?" She asked then. For some reason it seemed the appropriate thing to say.

Adrien chuckled and removed his face from her to look at her clearly. "Being you. I don't know what you did, but my father is already really fond of you and is asking when you'll come over. He basically ordered me to go to you tonight, since he knew we had plans. Did a certain little bug spill the beans?"

Marinette rubbed the back of her head in a nervous gesture. "Hehe, about that…"

"It's fine, I know he went to visit you yesterday. You know, I never intended to tell him about us until sometime later, the only person who knows is Nathalie. So, I was talking to her about you, but apparently my father was behind me and heard everything!"

"…So can you keep the 7th of January free for me, so I can hang with Mari?"

Nathalie smiled warmly, amused by the excitement coming from the boy in front of her when talking about his girlfriend. "Of course, Adrien. Do you want the whole day off or just the evening?"

Adrien pondered that. "I don't know. I might want to plan something big, but she's more of the little things, so I might-"

"You're going on a date?" A voice spoke from behind him.

Adrien gulped and slowly turned around, meeting the stern eyes of his father. "…Yes?"

Nathalie in the meantime had made herself scarce, seeing this a father-son moment.

"With who, if I may ask?"

He swallowed again, trying to get his nerves under control. This is the time. "Marinette."

"Oh," Gabriel said in understanding. "I see. I've got to admit, I'm not surprised."

"Y-You're not?"

He didn't know if he was right, but Adrien was sure he saw a hint of a smile on the man's face, but that couldn't be true of course. "No. You wear your heart on your sleeve, son. You're not very good at hiding your feelings. With that being said, I also visited her the other day and she confirmed my suspicions. She also mentioned something about spending New Year with her?" He asked the question with a quirked eyebrow.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "About that… I was gonna ask permission before I left..."

"No, you were not. There are countless times when you're not at home when you should be. Next time you want to keep me in the dark of your secret escapades, don't leave your window open."

Oh man, his father had caught on. A lot of times Adrien left to see Marinette, Nino or his other classmates, but most of the time when his window was open, it was past midnight and he was running across rooftops. If only his father didn't ask questions about where he was going in the middle of the night…

He didn't. He turned around and made his way towards the door when Adrien said nothing in return, obviously processing the information of his father knowing he snuck out time and again. Now was to hope his father didn't know more.

"So, I can go to Marinette today?" Adrien asked, halting his father in his step.

The man didn't turn around, but did answer. "Yes. Have fun and I'll see you tomorrow, please be home before 2 p.m." With that, he left the room.

Okay, so his father was okay with Adrien sneaking out? Or at least, he didn't ask questions. Second, he was okay with Marinette it seemed, and with him staying the night at her place? His father?

Even though the behavior was odd, Adrien wasn't going to question it. He took the opportunity and was going to leave as fast as he could before his father changed his mind.

"He knows about you leaving the house?" Marinette asked skeptically.

Adrien had already expected her reaction. "I know, weird huh? And he seems okay with it. I just hope he doesn't know more or starts to pay more attention to me. He's the last person I want to find out why I'm sneaking out."

"Maybe you could try to ask vague questions, to see if he will imply that he knows?"

Adrien shrugged. "Risky, but worth a shot."

They had moved towards the dinner table during his story. They both hummed in appreciation at the food.

"Please cook for me every day for the rest of my life," he moaned when he took another bite of chicken.

Marinette giggled. "Isn't that what being married is like?"

Adrien shook his head. "No, then I'll be the one to cook for you."

She smirked in amusement. "How so?"

Adrien raised his shoulders dismissively. "I don't like stereotyping people. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you should stay at home to cook for the husband, you know? Unless you want to that is. I want to, even though I can't cook, but I want to learn! If we were married, I see myself cooking for you when you get home from you supersuccessful job in fashion. And don't tell me otherwise, you're gonna put my father to shame in the business."

Marinette laughed, but secretly smiled at his confidence in her. "Looks like you thought this through."

He crossed his arms with a proud smile. "Of course."

Marinette hummed. "And what will you be doing? I can't be the only one making the money, right? That doesn't seem fair."

Adrien smiled weakly. "I'll probably stay in modelling, I guess. Then at least I have the chance of you dressing me instead of stern designers."

"Sounds good." She noticed the lack of twinkle in his eyes when he smiled. "It's not what you want though."

"Does it matter?"

"Adrien."

He shook his head and held up a hand. "It's fine, I'm used to it. If my father wants to monitor my career, then so be it. It brings money, right?"

"The money will not be worth it if you don't do what you love," she said sympathetically, reaching for his hand.

He took the offered hand and gave her a warm smile. "I'll have you, right? That would be worth it."

"It's a bit soon to talk about these kind of future plans, minou," she spoke with a laugh.

"I know, but still…"

"I love you too." He said it before, and since she felt the same way there was no reason for her to not say it. Also, it seemed like he could use it.

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

Finishing dinner, they cleaned up and moved to the couch, playing some videogames until it was eleven thirty. They turned the T.V. on a New Year countdown in front of the Eiffel Tower. They huddled up together and watched the people on the screen being interviewed and talking excitedly about their plans for the next year.

Adrien kissed her head every few minutes, and they cuddled closer together. They didn't really talk, but the silence was pleasant. With another kiss to her head, Marinette turned to him and closed the distance between them, kissing him on the lips. He took the chance gladly and kissed her in return. She ended up tightly cuddled against his chest, kissing and smiling at him every few seconds, the T.V. long forgotten.

"What do you want to do then?" She asked softly.

"Hmm?" He was dazed from their occupation a few seconds ago, his head resting on the back of the couch.

"Hypothetically speaking, when we're married and I have my supersuccessful job, what would you want to do?"

He thought about that. "Playing piano," he decided. "It's something my father made me do, and though I sometimes pretend to play… I do enjoy it a lot."

Marinette smiled. "Sounds good."

He smiled back at her. "But that's all hypothetical, of course. Like you said, it's a bit early to make plans."

Marinette shrugged and leaned forward. "We'll see about that." She pressed her lips against his again.

Adrien, taken aback from the meaning of her words, reacted a second later, lazily kissing her in return.

It was nice and peaceful. Just the two of them, no one else, spending time together in their own bubble. Smiling, talking, exchanging soft pecks. It was a magical moment and Adrien already dreaded having to leave her tomorrow morning. He decided to enjoy their moment before it was over. It all was perfect now and he didn't want to leave.

Their bubble was popped though when the doorbell rang. In surprise, Marinette nipped Adrien's lip.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," he groaned out, not because of her but because he was annoyed that they were disturbed. "Just see who's at the door."

Marinette noticed his change in attitude and smiled fondly. "This is not a good look on you," she said, gesturing to his face. She leaned to him and kissed him on the cheek before heading to the door. "Don't worry, we'll continue." She winked and Adrien blushed slightly.

Opening the door, she was immediately crushed by something, or more like someone, hugging her legs.

"Manon?"

"Oh, thank goodness you're home," Nadja said relieved. "The one who is supposed to be on T.V. to do the countdown at the Eiffel Tower can't make it and they asked me to do it. I couldn't find a babysitter for Manon this last minute, but I also couldn't put her to bed because she wants to stay up and…" She heaved a deep sigh and stared at Marinette pleadingly.

Marinette got the meaning of her look and turned over her shoulder to look at Adrien apologetically. He, of course, only smiled and nodded in approval.

Turning back to Nadja, she said, "It's all right. Manon can stay."

"Oh, thank you, dear." She held Marinette in a quick, tight hug. "I'll pay double for tonight, no, what am I saying, triple! You're an angel and deserve it! I'll be off now, I only have fifteen minutes. I'll get her as soon as I'm done, so you don't have to stay up too late. Bye, Marinette. Bye, Manon, be good!"

Marinette closed door and went to look for Manon who had already disappeared. She expected her to have gone to her room to look for dolls, but she instead was standing in front of the couch, frowning at Adrien.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Adrien," he answered politely, not seeming to be annoyed by her attitude.

"Why are you here?"

"Because I'm hanging out with Marinette."

"Are you her boyfriend? Your face is all over her room."

"Manon!" Marinette shrieked.

Adrien laughed heartily. "Oh, I know. It's super cute, isn't it?"

"Adrien!" She exclaimed again. Her face had turned completely red. She sat down on her spot on the couch again, pouting. Why was everyone is this room against her again?

Manon giggled. "Yes! And I remember we had to watch you from behind a tree when a guy was taking pictures of you. She didn't want to talk to you, but she was looking at you-"

"That's enough, Manon," she chuckled nervously, grabbing Manon to pull her close and put a hand to cover her mouth.

"Oh, I didn't know that," Adrien said. He turned to Marinette with a smirk. "I didn't know you were so far gone, Bugaboo."

Marinette huffed in indignation. She let Manon go who gathered a few dolls from Marinette's bedroom to play with on the floor in front of them. Marinette and Adrien stayed on the couch and watched as Nadja appeared, animatedly talking.

"10!"

People were gathering closer, yelling the countdown together.

"9!"

Men in the back were readying fireworks to be fired.

"8!"

Manon had stopped playing and sat next to them on the couch, smiling whenever she saw her mother.

"7!"

Some on the T.V. were flashing lights and waving flags.

"6!"

Adrien held Marinette's hand in a loving gesture and smiled.

"5!"

Marinette squeezed his hand in return. He rubbed circles on hers again with his thumb.

"4!"

Nadja was doing the countdown with glee, smiling brightly and pumping a fist in the air with each passing number.

"3…2…1! Happy New Year!"

People exploded into cheering. It was heard on the T.V. but the couple inside could also hear it from a few streets further. Adrien turned to Marinette.

"Happy New Year, M'Lady."

"Happy New Year, chaton."

They closed the distance with a quick, sweet kiss. Manon gagged next to them.

"Ew, gross!"

Marinette and Adrien laughed.

And done! I hope you enjoyed this crazy ride, even though it took some time. I'll tell you this: it was super fun, but I'm never doing this again lol. Having to type out around thousand words each day is pretty stressful. I still loved it though.

So yeah, here are my plans for my other stories. (I'll talk about season two, so spoilies ahead, loves!)

Lovesquared was my first fic for the Miraculous fandom. I haven't written any chapter for months though, because I started hating it. Since it was my first I do want to finish it, because of my pride and stuff, you know. It will be finished, but only when I feel like it which is not now.

Uncertain Fates will be put on hiatus until after season two. The second season has given me so many ideas and since the story is still blossoming and in the beginner stage, there is so much that I want to add. With that said, there are also things that'll clash. For instance, Gabriel being offically Hawk Moth now (though it was already obvious) and the lucky charm given by Adrien or Chat Noir confessing to Ladybug. A lot of changes will be made and things will be added, until AFTER season two.

There will be a sequel to Not Meant To Be, but I'm still thinking of what I exactly want to happen. It'll be written fairly soon, so be on the look out for it!

I want to make a collection of drabbles and one shots. It'll be updated whenever I feel like it or when something pops up in my mind. I'll take requests too, so don't be afraid to share your ideas in the reviews/comments! Or if you want to, send me a message! (You can also go to my Tumblr (ScriptaHistoriarum), but I'm not on there a lot)

I'm going to start first though with a story idea that has been in my head for MONTHS. I didn't allow myself to write anything though until SFSS was finished, which it is now. It'll be a married and enemies AU and I'm super excited to write it! It'll be posted in the next couple weeks.

So, that's all. Hope I didn't take too long. Thank you so much for sticking around with me and my madness! Even though it's really late, Happy New Year! Let's make this year awesome, amazing and miraculous!