A/N: Today, I'm celebrating the one year anniversary of publishing my first fic! I started out with Glittery Green, and it was, of course, an AU, so what better way to celebrate than with another AU? I got the idea for this particular AU when some lady came into the fabric store that I work in and was super rude to me. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. I want to keep this one short, so hopefully I'm only gonna have like five chapters, but you never know.

Special thanks to Leisey and livinglittlelie for putting up with my sick brain yesterday and helping me pick the titles! I love you gorgeous ladies :) Be sure to check out their fics because they're amazing~

Please let me know what you think! Love you all!
xoxo -wwot

Marinette was comparing two fabrics when she heard a woman yelling at the counter, only catching the tail end of the rant.

"I've been a human resources representative for three decades, and you don't know anything about helping customers!"

Marinette walked around the aisle in just enough time to watch the woman knock her papers to the ground, pick them up, and storm out.

The man behind the counter kept his head down and finished the cut he'd started on the fabric before the woman's explosion; Marinette determined to be extra nice to him when she made it up to the counter. She'd gotten back around the corner before she heard the door open again.

"That's absolutely absurd! You don't know anything about anything!"

Marinette hurried over so she could see the woman. "You need to leave. He's done listening to you." She stood up to her full 158 centimeters and glared until the lady left. "I'm so sorry about her. Some people just don't know how to act." Marinette turned back to the man, but he wasn't around anymore. She pointed to his spot and turned to the other employee, an eyebrow raised.

"He went to the back. He's the sensitive kind of guy."

Marinette frowned. "Alright. Well, I'll wait for him to check me out, if that's okay with you, Michel. I still have some shopping to do anyway. Can I leave these up here?" She held out the bolts in her arms.

"Yeah, for sure. I can get them started for you. How much?"

"Two and a half meters on each, please. Thank you." She smiled and moved the fabric out of the cutting space, wandering back to where she'd been before.

"And then she came back in the store and yelled at me more! Well, there was this other nice lady who basically told her to bug off, but still. What the hell?"

Marinette moved closer, sure that it was the man at the counter speaking to someone on the phone.

"I'm sorry. I'm calm now; I just had to get that off my chest. Yeah, yeah, love you too, dude. See you." He strode out from the curtained-off area, and Marinette got her first real look at him.

Blond, lean. Gorgeous green eyes hidden behind glasses. Impossibly tall (okay, she had a shorter vantage point, but still).

"H-hey, um, uh, I-I'm s-sorry about that lady. Sh-she was s-so rude."

He looked at her, fear written on his face for a brief moment. "Hey, no, it's okay. I haven't had that happen before is all."

Marinette nodded. Come on, Mari, say something! "So, uh, have you worked here long? It's just that I'm in here a lot a-and I've never seen you." Yes, excellent. Sentences. Words. Questions. Make him talk instead of you.

"I've been here over a year, and I've never seen you, either. When do you usually come in?"

"Tuesdays."

"That explains it. I'm off on Tuesdays." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Sorry, did you need help with anything? I can take those to the counter for you." He gestured to the bolts of fabric she had in her arms and then pointed with his thumb to the cutting counter.

"Oh, sure. Um, I still need this one to match, but Michel has a ticket started for me. Two and a half, please. On each, I mean. Not, like, two and a half total meters. That would be silly. Like, how would you know how much I wanted of one and not the other. I mean, unless I told you. I guess you would know then. But yeah, it's good to meet you?" Stop talking, Dupain-Cheng!

He accepted the bolts she handed to him, laughing. "I'm Adrien, by the way. I'll have to have a little talk with Michel about why he's hoarding all the pretty customers." Adrien winked as he walked away.

Marinette was certain that she was dying. Touch the fabrics. Get back in the zone. Forget his pretty eyes, the nice scruff. Oh, I'm so gonna need to go to confession for this.

She eventually made a decision—cheap satin would do for a mockup—and brought the rest up to the counter.

Michel took the first one from the stack. "The same on the rest of these?"

"Yes, please." Marinette smiled at him and started digging her wallet out of her purse.

"Adrien, come help me."

He jerked his head up from his phone and pocketed it. "Yeah, sure. Two and a half?"

"Y-yeah. On all of them. Th-thanks."

Michel raised an eyebrow, eyes focused on the fabric but attention very much elsewhere. "So, Marinette, what do you have planned for this?"

"Marinette? That's a pretty name," Adrien said.

"Th-thank you! You're...that's...sweetness!" Kill me now.

"You're welcome. So, what are you doing with this?"

"I-I run an Etsy shop, and it's good to have lots of things to take care of—I mean! Lots of things to take pictures of!"

Michel started folding the piece he'd cut. "You should show him pictures, Marinette. Your work is beautiful."

"Beautiful girl, beautiful work. What a day to be alive." Adrien laughed, cussing softly when the scissors snagged.

Marinette momentarily forgot her phone password. "Okay, here. I was commissioned for this last month." She held the phone to Adrien so he could look at it.

"Damn. My father would love that, and he's a hard man to please. I would know."

"Come on, tell Marinette who your dad is."

"I'd really rather not."

"It's not that bad—"

"I-it's fine if you don't want to, Adrien. I'm not gonna force you to s-say anything you don't want to." Marinette smiled, handing her card over to Michel when he was finished with her next piece.

"You didn't even ask me about the price."

"You're not about to short me or overcharge me."

"Ah, but I could start!"

Adrien smacked Michel's arm on his way by. "Be nice to the lady. She's not rude like other customers we've had today."

"No, we always take care of her. It'll be just fine."

Adrien started bagging her fabric up. "So, how long have you been coming here that I totally missed you?"

"About three years regularly. Before that, sporadically. Sometimes I have to pick up extra shifts at my parents' bakery, so I go a stretch every now and again without getting fabric, but that's life, I guess!" She took the receipt from Michel and signed it, looking at the price afterward. "Okay, I know you didn't charge me for something."

"Consider it a gift for my favorite customer."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You're too sweet. I'll see you next time. A-Adrien, it really was nice to meet you!" She waved to him. "I hope your day improves!"

"It was nice to meet you, too! I hope I see you next time you're in."

"Yeah! I'll have to stop coming in on Tuesdays, I guess." She hefted the bag of fabric over her shoulder. "See you guys!"

Adrien watched Marinette walk out, his lips barely parted as she walked away with complete confidence pulling her up (and then as she tripped over her shoes; nobody's perfect, after all). He turned on Michel as soon as she was out of sight. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"Marinette? Oh, I figured you'd meet her sooner or later."

"You jackass. I would have preferred to meet her sooner. And don't go telling her all about my father problems, either."

"Calling it 'father problems' doesn't make it sound less like 'daddy issues,' Adrien."

"Shut up, Michel. Just help me get her number."