A Christmas Wish

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Marinette stopped a few paces away from the gates of the Agreste mansion. She was carrying a thermos of soup and a box of macaroons. Tikki poked her head out of the purse and looked up at the wide eyed look on her chosen.

"What's wrong Marinette? Adrien is waiting for you." Marinette continued to look ahead at the giant steel gates.

"I can't do this Tikki. What was I thinking?" Marinette was still not over the fact that she had received a late night phone call from Adrien asking if she would like to come over for the afternoon. He sounded so sick and sad on the phone that she immediately said yes without hesitation, only to have a complete meltdown after she hung up the phone. Several text messages to Alya didn't really help the situation with her reporter friend threatening to spill everything to the model of Marinette dared to back out. Despite spending a lot of time together over the years, there was usually always someone else there - mostly Alya and Nino or her parents. She had never spent an extended period of time just her and Adrien together, alone.

"Don't be silly Marinette, Adrien asked you to come, obviously he wants to see you." Marinette finally looked down at her Kwami. Tikki's reassurance gave her a confidence boost. After all, she was Ladybug and Adrien was sick and all alone. He needed her company today. She wasn't going to let him down.

Pressing the buzzer on the wall, a security camera popped out. Marinette had to stifle a laugh because the camera looked more like an alien's eye ready to interrogate her. "Um, hi." She waved at the camera. "I'm Marinette, Adrien asked me to come around today." The camera quickly disappeared back into the wall and the gates opened up. Adrien had told Marinette that only his bodyguard would be at home so she wasn't surprised when he opened the door.

"Merry Christmas." She said cheerfully, holding up the small box from the bakery and handing it to him. "These are for you." She had previously met Adrien's bodyguard, a man they affectionately referred to as the Gorilla because of his huge size, so she knew he was quite a softy under that hard looking exterior. The man cracked a slight smile before gesturing up the stairs towards Adrien's room. Marinette nodded and carefully made her way up the grand staircase. She paused momentarily to look at the huge picture that hung at the top of the stairs. The cold distant look on his father's face and the sad expression on Adrien's broke her heart and made her more determined to brighten up his day.

Standing in front of Adrien's door she took a deep breath before knocking. "Come in." She heard, followed by a spate of coughing. Marinette gave a final look to Tikki who in return gave her an encouraging nod before opening the door.

Marinette wasn't sure what she expected to find when she walked into the spacious room, but Adrien sitting up in bed on his phone in a Ladybug onesie definitely was not one of them. "Marinette!" He called out to her excitedly. "I'm so glad you came." Throwing the blankets back he came over and wrapped her up in a tight hug. "I had an awful night last night with that damn fever. Honestly the thought of you coming today was the only thing that got me through it." Marinette could feel her face heating up. He'd been thinking about her coming all night?

Stepping back out of the hug she held up the thermos to him. "Here, my mum made you some of her chicken and sweetcorn soup." Adrien took it gleefully, opening the lid to take a smell. "She always makes it for me when I'm sick and it helps me feel better." Adrien sat back up on his bed with his legs crossed as he poured out some of the hot soup into the lid cup. He then patted the spot next to him for her to sit down.

She took her coat off and laid it over the back of his computer chair with her bag before taking her seat on the edge of the bed. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure he must have been able to hear it. Thankfully he was too involved with his soup to notice her minor freak out at the fact she was sitting next to Adrien on his bed.