*Jingle*

The door of the small cafe opens, alerting the cashier of a new customer. The usually quiet and mostly empty cafe has had more business than normal, but it's still not very crowded. The main customers are school kids from the school down and across the street, and now is no exception. A girl with midnight blue hair in a bun and sapphire eyes that sparkled, sporting a plaid skirt, white shirt and brown jacket, all made and designed herself, matched with a pair of brown ankle boots with a slight heel. She walked through the quiet cafe, to the cashier.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" The male manning the counter smiled at her. He was a couple years older than her, and was admiring the pretty girl with a bright smile.

"Can I get a caramel latte, please?" She chirped cheerily, her blue eyes glinting with a joy that was infecting everyone around her. The cashier smiled genuinely, not a fake 'face of the store' smile, but a happy one, his mood lifted just by being around this bright girl. His flirtatious manner melted and was replaced by a warm feeling. 

"Sure! That'll be 5.80 euros." He took the coins from her outstretched hand, and gave her a little more change than necessary, cutting off her protest. "Name?"

She blinked in surprise, before smiling while putting her change back in her purse. Her soft, pink lips formed her name, enticing a blond male sitting by the window to look up.

"Marinette."

The cashier nods, and goes to make her order. She moves to a booth by the window and takes out her sketchbook, starting to draw the falling leaves of autumn. It was her favourite season, cold but not too cold, the sunlight still bright after summer, the different shades of orange, red and brown of the leaves. It was the season where everything was going to rest, to sleep for winter, yet it was still alive. 

After about two minutes, the same worker from before, the one who took her order, placed her latte on the table, giving her a napkin and a smile, before going to return to his station. Marinette gave him a smile and a thank you, sipping her latte and continuing to sketch. Two girls, one blond and the other with a purple streak, walked past her table, giving her a friendly wave.

"Hey Marinette. How are you?" The blond, Rose, possibly the sweetest girl ever, was with Juleka. The two were newly dating, and Marinette couldn't be happier for them.

"Hey Rose, Juleka. I'm doing great. Scored another job for Jagged Stone. How are the two of you? Last I heard, you were heading off to Rome for break." Her musical voice once again caught the attention of a blond model, who was seated just behind her. Juleka grinned and squeezed Rose's hand.

"Yeah! We're really excited to see everything there! You know how much Ancient Roman history fascinates me." The purple eyed girl let out a light laugh, missing Rose's adoring gaze on her.

"Yeah, we all know. I'm excited for you! Can you send me some pictures? I might be able to use them as inspiration for some of my designs." Marinette giggled at the adorableness of the couple. The two girls nodded at her request.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, better get going. I have to meet Rose's brother today." Juleka said with a groan, causing Rose it giggle.

"Come on, Jul, it won't be that bad." Wrapping an arm around the taller girl's waist, Rose waved to Marinette. "See you around, Marinette!" 

"Have fun, you two!" She said with a smile, waving as they left the cafe. Returning to her sketch with renewed inspiration, she glanced out the window to see Alya and Nino talking together. Chuckling, she watched as the two obviously flirted. Marinette and Adrien both were trying to get the two together, but to no avail. However, the pair's liking for each other was clear as crystal to all except them.

The two brunettes walked into the cafe, and Alya immediately brightened upon seeing her best friend, before smiling mischievously at the sight of her crush behind. Nino catches the look on her face, and shakes his head with a chuckle.

"Hey Mari! Got your coffee without me, I see." She smirks, sliding into the booth. Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Don't blame me if you were too busy flirting. Speaking of," She cut off Alya's oncoming protests with a wave to the bespectacled boy. "Hey Nino! What brings you here?"

He gives a wave, his mood lifted even higher by the smiling blunette. She was a younger sister to him, so he acted like he was her older brother with her. She was used to it, after all these years. He ruffled her hair, or as much as he could without messing up her bun too much. "Nothing much. My man Adrien was feeling down, so I thought I'd invite him out for coffee, and ran into Alya on the way here." 

Marinette furrowed her brow before letting a bright smile work itself back onto her face. "Oh, that's a shame. What happened?"

Adrien rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle at her obliviousness. He stood up and moved to rest a hand on Nino's shoulder, startling her greatly. "Dad problems. I'm okay, really." He forced a smile, but at the sight of her radiant joy, it relaxed into a genuine one.

"You sure? We can go to my bakery, get some pastries." Her voice was filled with concern as the two boys sat down, Adrien next to her and Nino next to Alya. He shrugged.

"Now that I'm with y- my friends, I'm okay." He met eyes with Nino and Alya, observing their affection for each other and noting that they were sitting a little too close for 'just friends'. He also caught that he almost said 'Now that I'm with you'. Well, it was true. Marinette could brighten anyone's day. Even Chloe seemed down when she wasn't in class.

She nodded, her blue eyes sparkling with concern and that underlying joy. Alya grinned and poked her from across the table.

"What's got you so happy?" She watched in mischievous happiness as Marinette's smile grew wider and her cheeks flushed slightly. 

She bounced in her seat a couple times. "I shouldn't - Ah, I can't not tell you anymore! Alright, so you know how Jagged Stone has asked me to design stuff for him in the past, right?" The three nodded, watching as her bubbling joy overflowed. "Well, for his next concert, he asked me to design a couple new outfits for him. Of course, I accepted, and then he said he would recommend me to designers around the world on his tour!" She squealed, and the other's broke into grins, happy for the deserving girl.

"Oh wow, really? That's amazing!" Alya clapped her hands. Marinette nodded frantically, that infectious smile still on her face.

"I know!! My dreams are coming true, one by one!" She squealed, her face flushed from both the cold and her happiness. Nino winked at her the moment she said 'one by one', and she stuck her tongue out. "Oh come on, a girl can pine after a guy, just as you pine over A-"

"OKAY! No secrets being spilled here, dudinette!" He frantically waved his hands in front of the now laughing girl. Adrien had long known about the girl's crazy crush, but he still didn't know who she liked so much. Whenever he brought it up, Alya would roll her eyes in exasperation.

"Sounds like you like this mystery guy a lot." He commented, sipping his own drink, and true to his prediction, Alya rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. Marinette blushed redder.

"Well, I do... He's really kind, and sweet, and smart and he has these amazing green eyes and he's so lonely and I hate it and I just want to hug him sometimes and now I'm rambling aren't I, oh well, that happens a lot doesn't it, haha-" She clamps a hand over her mouth to stop the verbal diarrhea. Adrien blinked, refusing to realise that she just described him. She couldn't possibly like him, right? Alya giggles at her best friend, and nudges her with her knee.

"Yeah, but it's cute. Your rambling, your stuttering, you know, overall, you're just adorable." The brunette grins at Marinette's flustered expression.

"That is something we agree on, Alya." Nino chimes in, causing the blunette to sink further down in her seat in an attempt to hide her red face. Adrien chuckled, feeling happy. Happy. That... these friends of his were a blessing.

"You know, this has really lifted my mood. Thanks, guys." He gently smiled at the three, which Alya returned with a full out grin, Nino returned with a half-smirk and Marinette smiled genuinely, happy that she could've helped make his day brighter.

"Well," Alya broke the short silence with a smug and teasing tone. "That's probably due to our little ray of sunshine over here." She nodded towards Marinette, who blushed and bit her lip. "Seriously, have you not noticed how you always seem to make a room brighter, or someone smile, just by being there? Even Chloe seems down when you're not in class. Everyone likes you, Mari, and it's because you manage to put a smile on their faces in their darkest days."

Nino continued her speech with an example. "Remember when Sabrina was upset because Chloe was angry with her? You took her hand and brought her out with us to the carnival, acted extra silly and she forgot all about it after five minutes." He chuckled fondly at the memory.

Adrien piped up with another point. "How about when Ivan was sad because he couldn't find it in him to confess to Mylene? You encouraged him and helped the two get together! Marinette, you are literally a ray of sunshine, and... without you, everyone's rainy days wouldn't become rainbows!"

Marinette felt warm inside - she hadn't known that's what her best friend thought of her, and felt even warmer when Nino and Adrien nodded vigorously in agreement.

"With words like those, Alya's going to have some competition for the position of reporter." She cracked a smile and listened to the three chuckle, losing herself in the sound. "But... Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." She met each other their gazes with a thankful smile before she looked out the window, absorbed in her thoughts, because it did mean everything to her. To know that just as Marinette, she was loved and respected and needed. Ladybug would always be needed and loved because she was a hero, but plain old Marinette? She was needed too. She was appreciated too. She was loved too. 

The four friends continued to talk and laugh, filling the quiet cafe with the sounds of friendship and possibly even love. The dappled sunlight shone through the windows, illuminating their faces, which were filled with such joy and contentment, it infected everyone who passed through that cafe. The customers left with a sense of warmth, knowing that there was still genuine love, without boundaries of gender, race or money. A model, an aspiring DJ, a reporter in the making, and a baker's daughter. 

The usually quiet and mostly empty cafe has had more business than usual, but it's still not crowded. The main customers are school kids from the school down and across the street, and today is a kind of exception. Today, customers of all ages wander into the shop, because they are as curious as cats when they hear the loud laughter ringing through the cafe. The laughter of four kids, one of which is filled with so much sunshine, she lets it radiate out through the store. Every customer is touched by her happiness, every customer is warm. 

On this autumn day, everyone found some sunshine.

Okay, this was so damn cute and sentimental, I fangirled while writing it. Hope y'all enjoyed this little one shot o' mine!

PEACE OUT PEEPS