A/N: Here is the 2nd chapter for my college AU. Laundromat. There will be one more chapter after this! Please enjoy! (Side note: remember this is a no chat noir au also)

~marauderluverz

Day 5 – Laundromat – A Crazy Random Happenstance

Marinette POV

It had been three months since the Ladybug Festival. Three months since I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng had kissed Adrien Agreste. Not that he knew it was me. He just knew Ladybug had kissed him. I felt my face heat up at the mere memory of the kiss.

Stop it. Thinking like that will just psyche you out! I scolded myself.

I glanced down at the bag in my hands. It was from my favorite frozen yogurt place that was so conveniently located on the way to the local laundromat. Inside the bag were two containers of yogurt and two spoons.

"I don't know if I can do this, Tikki," I said to my kwami who was currently floating beside me in the safety of the late night darkness. "What if he thinks it's weird that I brought him froyo?"

Tikki's laugh chimed through the air. "Marinette, you already bought it. There's no going back now. And besides, it's not weird. You two are friends and you always end up at the laundromat at the same time. Even if you never actually go in." She gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "Just go for it!"

I nodded. I could do this. I shifted the duffle bag on my shoulder that held my laundry and secured my grip on it before marching up to the laundromat door.

Trips to the laundromat had become a regular occurrence for my dorm when our laundry facilities caught fire due to a room full of idiots who tried to save money by shoving all their clothes into the dryer at the same time. Until repairs were done, students from our dorm were required to use the local laundromat. The school had even supplied a shuttle to transport students to and from the laundromat.

Unfortunately for me, my schedule didn't line up with the shuttle's hours. It seemed the only thing my schedule lined up with was Adrien's schedule. Which, unfortunately, led to me hanging out outside of the laundromat as Ladybug until I saw him leave.

I peeked in through the glass on the front window, ducking down so no one inside would see me. It was nearly 10:30 PM and sure enough, there was Adrien. He was lying on the bench of uncomfortable plastic seats, staring up at the ceiling.

"Go in there, Marinette! He's alone. I'm sure he'd love the company," Tikki encouraged. She was always encouraging me.

I nodded again and stood up. Opening the door to the laundromat, I stepped inside. The bell above the door jingled and Adrien sat up.

His face lit up. "Marinette! Hey, what're you doing here?"

I opened my mouth, trying to find my words. His eyes were so bright. He seemed so excited to see me. He'd probably be excited if it were Nino or Alya too, I reminded myself.

"Uh, I'm uh just- laundry?" I blathered, finally just pointing to my duffle bag.

Adrien grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right. I mean why else would you be at a laundromat." He laughed. "What I should've asked was why are you here so late?"

I shrugged my bag off and set it down on a nearby counter. I focused on the bag's zipper, willing myself not to stutter. "Between classes and my job I don't have much time where I can come and spend more than an hour doing laundry."

Adrien sighed, "Yeah, I understand. I have so many classes and extra lessons that with school and photo shoots, I'm lucky I get any laundry done at all."

There was a buzz and Adrien stepped up to a washer and unloaded his wet pile of clothes into a metal basket. "I'm really glad you showed up though. My phone died and I've been bored out of my mind. At least now, I'll have someone to talk to." He flashed me an award winning smile that made my heart leap into my throat.

"Uh huh," I said, nodding, "That's great. I mean, not that your phone died. Just that I showed up. I mean, uh?" I let my words dangle in the air unspoken. I needed to stop rambling around him.

I moved over to a nearby washer and began to load some of my laundry inside, just as the rumble of a dryer began nearby. I racked my brain trying to think of what to say. I glanced over the washer and saw Adrien staring at the vending machine in the corner.

I couldn't help but admire him as I loaded coins into my machine. Sure, his eyes were beautiful, so bright and green, but my favorite thing lately, was his hair. His hair, so bright and currently messy from the late hour. I just wanted to run my fingers through it.

"I love your hair."

Adrien glanced over at me, "What?" he asked.

I gulped. Had I really just said that? "I- I love the air. You know, in a laundromat. It smells good. Because of all the, um, soap…?"

Relief filled me when his eyes lit up and he smiled, nodding as he stepped over to me. "Yeah, I know what you mean. My house never smelled like laundry." He laughed, "I actually had to drag Nino to the laundry with me the first month of school because I hadn't ever done my own laundry."

A light blush lit his cheeks and I had to hold back my desire to kiss him. Don't go freaking him out now!

The sound of water filling my washing machine startled me out of my thoughts and I followed Adrien over to the plastic benches.

He pointed to the bag still in my hand. "So if that's not laundry stuff, then what's in the bag?"

I glanced down, only just remembering what my plan had been. I could feel my face heating up.

"Oh, um, I picked up some frozen yogurt from this shop down the street. The owner was really nice and stays open late." I stared down into the bag, trying to get my courage up. Just offer it to him.

I reached into the bag and pulled out two spoons. "Oh, hey, this is weird. They gave me two yogurts. What a crazy random happenstance! Um," I looked up at him shyly. "You wouldn't happen to like strawberry froyo, would you?" I held out a cup of frozen yogurt to him and hoped it hadn't melted too much.

He stared at it with an unsure expression for a second then grabbed it and opened it quickly. "Thank you!" He took a large bite, humming as he swallowed. "You are a godsend, Mari. I'm gonna have to keep you around all the time with all the good luck you bring me."

I stared at him, my face heating up more as I took in his words. My spoon had stopped half-way to my mouth.

"Mari?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Adrien's easy-going smile disappeared and he sat up straighter. "Sorry, I've just heard Alya and Nino call you that. Nath too actually. I won't if it bothers you though." His hand flew to the back of his neck, a sure sign he was feeling awkward.

I shook my head. "N-no. You're fine. I'm fine. I mean, it's fine. I don't mind. Really." I pushed the spoon into my mouth to shut myself up and watched out of the corner of my eye as Adrien grinned happily while eating the frozen yogurt.

"It would be nice if we could do this more often," he said after several minutes of silence.

I laughed, "What? Sit in an empty laundromat at eleven at night eating froyo?" I teased.

He chuckled. "No, spend time together. I don't think I really know that much about you. And I feel like I should since we are friends."

I nodded quickly. "Definitely. I love yo- I'd love to. To get to know each other better."

Adrien stood and moved away to throw out his now empty bowl. He turned back to look at me with a charming smile that nearly had me melting right there.

"So, I'm actually free next Friday. Do you want to go get something to eat then?"

I stared at him for several seconds before realizing my mouth was hanging open and I hadn't yet answered. I swallowed hard before nodding. "Yes! Of course. I mean, sure that sounds perfect."

I couldn't believe it. I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, had a date with Adrien Agreste.