Chapter 2: blond and broke

"Fired!"

Adrien woke up that morning thinking it would be a decent day. Unfortunately he was very very wrong about that. Not only was he late to work, but he also found out he no longer had work to be late to.

"Bill…Mr. Melly, w-why am I being fired?" He asked. The plump yet tall man shook his head as he handed Adrien his last paycheck.

"I'm sorry Adrien, but it's just not working out," he replied vaguely.

"B-but I'm a hard worker! I stay overtime when I need to a-and I'm excellent with the customers!" He protested.

"Yes, that is very true. You are a very talented young man with an excellent work ethic, I agree, but you're just a little too good with the customers," he said. Shit.

"W…what do you mean?"

"I mean there are dozens of giggly teenage girls crowding the snack aisle to ogle at the blond cashier without even buying anything. It's an occupational hazard, and not to mention very discouraging to anyone who doesn't like the latest parfume de adolescentes."

"Oh…"

"I'm very sorry, Adrien. I know you can't control that, but I don't see a solution anytime soon. Business has already gone down because of this, and I can't afford to let it be affected anymore," Bill finished. Adrien sighed. He was right. Damn his model good looks.

"I understand. Thank you for hanging on as long as you could," Adrien said. Bill nodded.

"I'm glad you're not too upset by this. We'll really miss you here," he smiled. The blond returned the smile and stood up from the chair in Bill's office.

"Oh, hold on a minute. There's another thing I'd like to share," Bill said with a hearty chuckled. Adrien lifted a brow as the older man took his phone off the machine and dialed a number.

"We've been receiving phone calls from these girls the past week and there's one that's just hilarious," he grinned.

"Huh?" Bill held up a finger signaling for Adrien to wait before laughing and then pressing a couple buttons.

"Okay, listen," he urged handing him the phone. Adrien stared at the phone for a while before slowly accepting it and holding it up to his ear.

"Um, this is Nelly's grocery store…thingy right? I just wanted to say that blond cashier is like…so hot. I was wondering if I could get his number or if you could possibly give him a message please? Thank you. My number is…" Adrien rolled his eyes and handed the phone back to Bill, but he shook his head.

"That isn't even the best part."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"C'mon, I promise it's great." Adrien sighed and returned the phone to his ear.

"I know his name is like Adrien, and…like I just broke up with my boyfriend a couple days ago because of this guy. Ugh, he's so gentle yet he looks like he could dominate me its so hot…" He turned bright red. He wasn't ready to dominate anyone.

"S-sir, I really doubt this is appropriate for you to show me," he protested.

"Why? You're not my employee anymore," he laughed. Adrien shrugged. He had a point.

"And like my sister has been asking if I'm dating him because I've been moaning his name in my sleep. It's…super embarrassing, but I hope he hears this so we can like met up and maybe-"

"Okay, I'm done. That's hilarious Bill," Adrien said sarcastically as he handed Bill the phone. His former boss was too busy slapping the counter and laughing his ass off.

"You are such a joy, Adrien! I'm really gonna miss ya!" He cackled. The blond laughed a little too and returned the phone to its holster.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Bill," he replied.

"You're discount still applies though. Anytime you come in here you get 25% off. I'll tell all the others," he said.

"Wow…that's so kind of you. Thank you."

"Not a problem. I know you're struggling, which is why it pains me to fire you, but I know someone as smart as you can easily find another job in a week," Bill assured him and stood up to pat Adrien's shoulder. The blond nodded.

"Yeah…hopefully."

He didn't. All five jobs he applied for rejected him. Even the beauty store had hired another person by the time he tried to come in to apply again. The bills were due next week, and he had a mountain of physics homework to get through. He spent his weekends basically living in the library on campus. It was the only place he could get a decent computer to work for his online textbook, but he would have to ask his programming professor for a laptop he could borrow to complete the assignment he gave them last class. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were filled with waking up early and going to the Library until midnight and then repeating. Although Nino forced him to sleep in on Monday until noon since he no longer had a job and his class started at 1.

If he was being completely honest he was discouraged. Everyone was rejecting him and his college tuition was only getting more and more expensive. Not only was he discouraged, but he was also stressed the fuck out. With finals in a couple weeks he was jam pack studying. Every waking moment not in class he was glued to his homework and study guides. Even when he was eating, and Nino swore he heard Adrien singing a goddamn periodic table song in the shower the other day. Life was getting repetitive and worse. He needed an upgrade.

Adrien left the library one Friday night. His chemistry final was in three days and he had just finished writing up his lab and emailing it to his professor. It was raining, of corse, and he didn't have an umbrella with him. Great. To make things even worse he was starving. Obviously or else his stomach wouldn't be making sounds comparable to a tractor. He sighed and made his way to his apartment five blocks away. Although it was a bit of a walk it was better than having to use the bus and paying for yet another thing. He had leaned to deal with it and wear cheap sweaters on a regular basis.

He was nearly halfway there when he noticed something a few feet ahead of him. A girl was hiding behind a bush in front of a hotel and glancing over at a guy who appeared to be looking for someone. Adrien knew he shouldn't get involved, but he found himself incredibly curious. The guy was tall dark and handsome. Any girl would go crazy over him. Except for maybe the girl who was hiding from him. He started to come closer to the bush she was hiding behind and passed it. She gave a sigh of relief only for the guy to turn around and instantly spot her. Shit.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you?" Mr. Mysterious said. Why was Adrien getting closer to them? He should've get involved.

"O-oh! Sorry-"

"Why are you hiding behind a bush?" He asked. Adrien stopped next to one of the polls on the side walk with a "no parking" sign on it. This was…interesting.

"N-no reason! I was just-"

"Anyways, have you thought about my offer? I know of this really nice restaurant I would love to show you. It's very romantic." Wow this guy barely gave her time to breath between sentences.

"Um, I-I'd love to, but I can't," she answered. Oh boy. Maybe he should get involved…

"Why not?" The man asked.

"Um…busy?"

"I haven't even told you when I'd like to take you out."

"W-well I'm pretty busy for the next couple of weeks so-"

"Then how about after? I'm sure-"

"Ah-hem," Adrien cleared his throat as he stood behind the mysterious man. He successfully captured the man's attention as well as the girl practically flattens against the wall.

"Excuse you, sir, but I am in the mid-"

"Do you mind telling me why you're asking out my girlfriend?" Adrien interrupted. The girl turned bright red as the man looked between her and Adrien.

"This isn't you're girlfriend," he stated. Adrien cocked a brow.

"Oh?"

"Of course she's not, she's-"

"A-actually, I am," the girl said timidly. The man gawked at her.

"What?"

"Sorry…"

"Why didn't you tell me that? Now I've just embarrassed myself!"

"No! Jared-"

"Ugh! Women are all the same," he grumbled as he stomped off. Adrien watched him leave and rolled his eyes. He then made eye contact with the girl and smiled politely.

"He's tough to shake, isn't he?" He said. She giggled.

"Yeah…thanks for…doing that, Adrien," she replied. He blinked.

"How do you know my name?" He asked.

"It's me…Marinette. From middle school?" She announced. His eyes widened. She had changed quite a bit.

"Oh…yes! I remember you! Of course, how could I be so oblivious," he grinned and instantly pulled her in to a tight hug. It was nice to see a familiar face from the golden days. She returned the hug and pulled back laughing.

"It's nice to see you," she grinned.

"It's nice to see you too, how have you been?" He asked.

"Pretty good actually. I just graduated with my masters in fashion and design, and I just moved out of the house in a little apartment with Alya," she told him.

"Wow, that's so great! I'm happy for you."

"How about you? How has live been for everyone's favorite model?" She questioned. Oh dear. This was when the conversation was gonna suck.

"Um…I'm managing for now. I'm still in college for my doctorates degree, so I have a few more years left. My uh…my dad kinda cut me off so I'm living in an apartment with Nino," he said.

"Oh…what do you mean by 'kinda'?"

"Completely."

"Geez, and you're getting a doctorates?"

"Yup."

"That must be tough. Where are you working?" She asked. He sighed.

"Uh no where right now…I just got fired a week or so ago," he told her. Marinette frowned.

"That's too bad. Are you getting by okay?" She questioned reaching out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about me, I'm-" he was cut off by the sound of his stomach grumbling…loudly. Marinette's frown deepened.

"…fine," he finished his sentence with red cheeks. She shook her head and then took his hand.

"C'mon," she said.

"Huh? W-where are we going?" He asked. She dragged him down to street until they reached what Adrien assumed was her car.

"I'm buying you dinner."