Adrien stood by the door of the train, bag over shoulder and finger trapping the handrail impatiently as he held his phone in his opposite hand. It had been a whole month since he'd seen Marinette. With the fall out of his mother and father, plus the holiday break. He'd been stuck in London without any means of returning. Time just flew by and he hated being away from her.

Adrien
Ten minutes away, Princess

He placed his phone back in his pocket, a bounce pulsating through his feet and banging his heels against the ground.

Come on, come on, come on.

The ten minutes felt more like ten years, the train teasing him as it pulled into the station and the announcer rambled on about something. All Adrien could do was stand around willing the goddamn doors to open.

As soon as he heard the tell tale click, he was pushing himself through a tiny gap trying to get out and onto the platform. He looked everywhere; left and right, even up regardless of Marinette's tiny height.

"Come on, Princess, where are you?"

He began to wander in the direction of his exit only to have a torpedo sent straight into his back, knocking him to the floor. Okay, maybe not a torpedo, but a very small woman with quite a strong grip.

Adrien hit the floor, his attacker coming with him and slamming down on top of him, winding him with the momentum.

"Adrien, oh my God, I'm so clumsy! Are you okay?" The hit must have killed him because he was quite sure that was the voice of an Angel. He felt the pressure leave him and took the opportunity to roll onto his back, where he saw that 'yes' he was most certainly in heaven, as the Angel was standing above him. The sun was glowing behind her as it flooded through the windows of the station giving her a makeshift halo.

"Why hello Princess. Fancy seeing you here?" His voice came out in huffed breaths, Marinette covering her face mortified by what she'd done.

"Adrien, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it Angel."

"Angel?"

"What can I say, when I see 'em I call 'em."

Marinette laughed, stretching out as Adrien gladly placed his own hand in hers, a quick tug later and he was standing to his full height taking her into his arms. The tenderness of the hug was everything he needed after the past month. So much had happened and changed, starting with his mother finally filing for divorce and Adrien having his contract scrutinised to see if he could get out of the company. He wanted nothing more to do with his father.

Marinette was the only one still stuck, however, Adrien was hoping after a few words with the university (mainly from his mother) they would consider giving her a placement elsewhere.

"Wanna hear a secret?" She whispered into his chest.

He laughed, holding onto her tighter, "Sure."

"I missed you so much, I kissed a magazine picture of you every night."

"I missed you too, though I am curious to know which magazine it was." She laughed, smacking him in the bicep before continuing the conversation.."I'm just glad I'm home for New Years."

"Me too. It's the first year I have a boyfriend for the occasion, and I'm hoping a kiss at midnight is a guarantee." She dropped him a wink that hit him straight in the heart. He was totally and deeply in love with this girl, their time apart solidifying the feelings he had growing quicker than he ever could have imagined. Forget Fairytales, his life was so much better.

"I'm sure that could be arranged," he replied, "but maybe we should have a little practise first to make sure we know what to do."

And just like that, Adrien took her face between his hands and bent down to her height, closing his eyes and using his other senses to absorb her. Her smell, her warm minty breath, the feel of her face in his hands. The kiss was gentle, his lips feeling the wonderful softness of hers as he got reacquainted with her for the first time in weeks. He'd missed this so much.

He pulled away watching as she let out a blissful sigh, one that warmed his heart and made him feel invisible without the supersuit. This was it. This was his forever.

"I've been waiting for that." She smiled, wrapping her hand around his and tangling their fingers together. She led him out of the station onto the snow covered streets of Paris guiding him in the direction of her apartment. "Would it be okay if you stayed at mine tonight, it's just I've missed you so much, I don't think I can let you go."

"I thought you'd never ask." He said, swinging his bag over his opposite shoulder and following Marinette out of the station.

"How was your Christmas?" He asked, smiling at her, knowing full well she had not been overly impressed by his gift.

Being the amazing boyfriend he was, and considering they weren't spending their first Christmas together, together, Adrien had been ridiculously kind and sent Marinette a life sized cardboard cutout of Chat Noir complete with a Christmas party hat on.

She burst out laughing. "You know, my parents have stolen it off me. They're using it to pull in the crowds, you know, having Chat Noir stopping by the bakery and all that."

Adrien joined in with the laughter. He'd only met Tom and Sabine a couple of times, but he liked them a lot. They had taken him in and under their wing without a single doubt or question. Tom even referred to him as 'son' a couple of times on his second visit. He didn't know such affection would have an effect on him, but when they arrived back at Marinette's that evening he'd blabbered like a baby for at least thirty minutes. He felt more like a son to Tom Dupain in that moment than he had for 19 years as a son of Gabriel Agreste.

Making it back to Marinette's apartment, Adrien dumped his bag in his usual overnight spot before coming to look at the couch.

"You know, we could just buy a new couch."

"We?" Marinette looked at him one eyebrow raised, her arms crossed over her body and an eyebrow lifted. She couldn't have been more 'Ladybug' at the moment if she was wearing her suit.

"Well, yeah." He reached up to rub the back of his neck, Plagg coming to fly by his head as Tikki appeared near Marinette. The small red kwami's eyes had gone wide, and Plagg was gwarking at his holder. "We? Like me and you, to share, nightly, or daily. Like for us both to sit on all the time."

"Smooth, bro!" Plagg laughed at Adrien, wiggling his eyebrows at the stunted words of Adrien Agreste. Something's never changed.

"Are you inviting yourself to live in my apartment?"

"I was -" he let out a cough before continuing, "this is going so wrong."

Marinette moved forward, pulling his hand from his neck and leading him onto the sofa. They both sat down tentatively waiting for the creak. When no movement or unstable noises were heard they continued their conversation.

"I was wondering if you wanted to move in, together, into a different apartment."

"And... not take the couch?" She looked at him quizzically. "I'm sorry Adrien, but if you take me then the couch comes too."

He laughed, relieved that this wasn't a no. "I know we're both locked into contracts for our places at the moment, but I thought as we get closer to the end of the university year, maybe it's something we could consider. If you wanted to, that is?"

"I like that idea. Ask me again closer to the time."

"Sure," he said, a smile brightening his face.

"But the couch is non-negotiable. Where I go the couch goes too?"

"Fine, if it means I get to live with you, I'll live with the couch too."

She leaned into him, cupped his head with her hand as her lips brushed against his only for a sudden 'boom' to rattle the building.

"Akuma?" Adrien asked, their phones going off in sync confirming it.

"It's amazing how nothing happened when I was away. It was almost as though Papillon wasn't in the country either."

"It's you, isn't it!" Marinette stated, standing up and pointing at him.

"Aye, it is moi. I make people angry so I can go and beat them up, especially when I'm about to canoodle with my girlfriend."

"Canoodle?" She laughed.

"Why not?" He said in a way of response. Shrugging his shoulders and standing up beside Marinette.

"Do you ever feel like we've done this before? Like our bodies have naturally started to respond to the alerts."

"It's funny you should say that, Kitty. I had a dream last night of us finding out who Papillon was."

"And?" He questioned.

"It was your father."

"Pfft, no surprises there."

"Kids, you need to get out there." Tikki, the sudden voice of reason, flew between the two heroes, alerting them to the fact Paris was under attack.

"Sorry," the two heroes said in unison, making a swift exit from Marinette's apartment into the alleyway behind.

"Tikki, spots on."

"Plagg, claws out."

Transformations complete, they launched up into the sky ready to defeat their next akuma - however, a thought plagued in the back of Adrien's mind. What are the secrets of the Miraculous and is there a chance they have done this before?