A few days later, Adrien slowly opened his eyes to the stream of bright light flooding in through the window. He stretched his body across his entire bed and yawned before attempting to sit up. However, he always forgot that he was sleeping in a loft bed, so he hit his head with a loud thud and fell back down.

"Ouch!" He whispered as he rubbed his head. He heard a soft giggling coming from the other side of the room. Adrien sat up, carefully this time, and peered over the railings of his bed to see Marinette, in her own bed, looking back at him and laughing. He could feel his face turn hot as the newly familiar feeling of blush spread over his face.

"Good morning to you, too," Adrien mumbled with a small laugh.

Adrien climbed down from his bed and searched through his dresser until he found a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and a white jacket. He couldn't just walk around campus in his old baggy T-shirt and shorts. He went into their small bathroom and changed. When he came out, he saw that Marinette had already changed as well. Adrien let out a slow breath as he looked at how beautiful she looked. She wore a black sundress with ribbon straps and a red half-cut jacket to cover her arms. Her outfit matched the black earrings that she always wore perfectly. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail on the back of her head by a red ribbon.

"You look..." Adrien paused, searching for the right word to describe her. "You look amazing." He sighed.

Marinette smiled and did a little twirl. "Thanks. Oh, hey, are you going to the party tonight?" She asked him with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"What party?"

"Well, some sophomore is throwing a party in his dorm tonight. Kind of a 'welcome to college' kind of thing." She explained. She tried to sound excited, but it was obvious that she didn't really want to go.

"Are you going?" Adrien asked, raising one eyebrow. Parties weren't really his idea of a good time, but if Marinette wanted him to go with her to keep her company, he would be willing to make an appearance.

"I think so. I promised my friend that I would try to get out of my shell a bit more. I never really was a party girl in high school, but I guess I could try going to one," She offered. Adrien nodded understandingly.

"That makes sense. If you want a friendly face, I'll go too. Parties were never really my scene, either, but you never know until you try, right?" Adrien suggested. Marinette nodded with a smile on her face and headed towards the door.

"That would be great, thanks. I'm probably going to spend the day working on my designs so I'm going to go grab some coffee. Do you want anything?"

~

Marinette carefully balanced her coffee tray in her left hand and pulled her room key out of her pocket and wiggled it in the lock with her right. She had been noticing for the past few days that their lock was a little difficult to work. When she finally heard a click, she used her foot to push the door open and walked inside. Adrien glanced up from his laptop, where he was editing a beautiful photo of autumn leaves mid-fall from their tree, and smiled.

"One cafe breve with extra creme, sir." Marinette offered as she bent down to let her roommate take his coffee. Adrien took a sip and sighed.

"Thanks, Marinette." He smiled.

"Anytime." Marinette nodded and leaned over his shoulder to look at his computer screen. "Whoa, don't tell me you took that!" She gaped. Adrien blushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I did. It's not very good, but-" He explained sheepishly.

"No, no, no. You're right. It's not good." Adrien looked up at Marinette in surprise. "It's better than good! It's amazing! Truly beautiful, Adrien."

"Thanks," Adrien looked back towards his computer and looked at the image with a new respect. He took another sip of his coffee, careful not to spill any on his expensive laptop that his father had bought him as a farewell gift. Marinette nodded and went to her own desk, the one covered in a neatly organized mess of threads, fabrics, ribbons, and strings.

~

Marinette let out a grumble of annoyance as she was working. She was trying to design a red, knee-length dress with a sweetheart neckline of lace with silver sequins when a red string got caught around her little finger. Adrien looked up to see what was causing her noises of frustration to see her cautiously fumbling with the red string. "Gah," she mumbled. Adrien couldn't help but let out a gentle laugh as he stood up to help her.

Marinette shot him a soft glare. "What's so funny?" She prompted, still carefully working her hands to free her tightly wound finger. Adrien leaned over the desk and began trying to carefully help her out.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," He coughed, feigning seriousness. He carefully maneuvered his hands until her finger was free, only causing his own pinky to get caught in the same loop. Marinette began laughing in turn as Adrien untangled his finger and stepped away from the desk with an amused glint in his eyes and a smile on his face. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before any sound could escape his lips, Marinette's phone buzzed rhythmically.

"Whoa, it's already six?" Marinette said. Adrien nodded in acknowledgment before realizing why she was panicked.

"Oh yeah, the party." He realized. He wasn't very excited about the whole party thing, but he was willing to go to keep his roommate company.

"Man, I'm actually pretty nervous," Marinette noted while going through her closet to pick out an outfit. "I've never been to a party outside of birthday parties. So lame, I know."

"It's not lame, I've never even had a birthday party of my own. My father always thought birthdays were a waste of time. This is really my first party ever." Adrien noted while taking his jacket off the back of his chair and putting it on. Marinette paused from her search and turned to him.

"You've never had a birthday party?" She repeated sadly. Adrien simply shook his head. He had never experienced it, so he didn't think it that sad. His roommate's sad face turned to a look of determination. "Let's go to this party and have the night of our lives." She turned back around and grabbed an outfit and went into the bathroom to change.

~

The slightly uncomfortable pair walked down the hall of the third floor of a nearby dorm building towards the door that was playing loud music that, though muffled, Marinette could just make out enough to tell that it was Despacito. She let out a groan, already regretting her decision. She stole a glance at Adrien who also looked a little annoyed by the song choice. "Ready?" She asked, aiming the question towards Adrien but mostly asking herself. Adrien nodded. Marinette put her hand on the doorknob and began to turn it. Before she could, though, the door swung open and a boy with brown hair rushed out, knocking Marinette off her feet. Adrien rushed behind her and caught her before positioning her upright again. She scratched her head and looked down the hall after the boy but he was out of sight. "Welcome to college." She muttered with a small laugh.

Adrien took a step inside the dorm and gasped. The room was at least four times bigger than his and Marinette's dorm and was filled with other college students, many of which had red solo cups in hand that Adrien doubted were filled with apple juice. There were cheap laser lights dancing on the walls and party-goers in greens and reds and the music was, of course, blaring. After ensuring that there were no more surprises, he ventured inside and was immediately overwhelmed and got lost in the crowd. He tried to call out to find Marinette but his voice was drowned out by the buzz.

Marinette, after losing Adrien almost immediately, cautiously stepped in and stuck to the walls. She made her way to the back of the room and leaned against a wall to observe while trying to keep her distance from a couple, a tall girl with brown hair and a red jacket with a fox embroidered on it and a girl with short blue hair and thin blue eyes, making out against the wall. Marinette was watching the whole party, uncomfortably, when her phone buzzed. The praised the lord for the distraction and took it out of her pocket to read the message.

Marinette sighed with a laugh as she put her phone back in her pocket. She turned back towards the small kitchen and, still staying close to the wall, made her way in. She watched as people pushed themselves towards the punch bowl, reminding her of wild animals at a watering hole. Marinette tried to wait her turn as students kept pushing through but she knew she would never make it if she waited politely. "When in Rome," she whispered to herself as she pushed her way, pretty easily, through the other people and reached the bowl. She took a red solo cup off the stack and filled it with the strange red liquid and managed to make her way out of the crowd and make to her spot on the wall. The two girls that were there previously had gone, thankfully Marinette thought.

Adrien had finally made his way out of the crowd and against one of the side walls. He watched as at least 30 drunk college students "danced" to Gucci Gang. He was about to take out his phone to text Marinette to see where she was when his question was answered. The crowd had formed a circle around a girl with blue hair and deep blue eyes. She was holding an empty red solo cup in one hand as she, somehow gracefully, danced to the terrible rhythm. Adrien's jaw dropped at the sight of his roommate who didn't even want to come to this party drunk and dancing. Adrien knew now that he had two options. Get drunk himself and enjoy the party or leave.

~

Sunlight streamed through the black curtains adorning the windows to his room. Adrien sat up in his bed, careful not to hit his head on the ceiling. He smiled as he looked over the railing and out the window at the bright world. After a few minutes, he heard a muted groan coming from Marinette's bed. He glanced over to see Marinette wearing the same clothes she wore last night, messy hair, and somehow her makeup still perfect, squinting at the window.

"Did someone turn the sun up or something?" She mumbled.

"Good morning to you too sunshine," Adrien laughed.

"How did I get back here? I barely remember last night."

"Well after you finished dancing to Cardi B -"

"Oh Lord" Marinette interrupted.

Adrien's eyes shone with amusement. "I managed to get you to stumble all the way back here. It was tough, but we made it."

"This is why I don't 'get out of my comfort zone.'" Marinette used a high pitch voice in a mocking tone and immediately winced. "My head is killing me."

"I'm pretty sure that's called a hangover. Good thing classes don't start until tomorrow."

Marinette let out a small smile before letting herself fall back onto her back to lay down again. "I think I'm just going to take a nap to help with my headache."

"Good idea," Adrien laughed as he climbed down his own bed and sat at his desk to fidget with his editing software.

~

Adrien's phone started to ring, startling him to the point that he almost dropped his camera. After figuring out his editor, Adrien had decided to go out and explore the campus. The late summer / early autumn season was perfect for photos and this campus was so perfect and full of nature. Adrien glanced at it but didn't recognize the number so he swiped the red 'ignore' button. He was about to go back to photographing a wild tulip with dew still on it when he caught a glance at the time on his phone. 7:08 pm

"Crap, I told Mari that I'd be back by now." He remembered as he packed up his camera and rushed off.

~

7:38 pm. Marinette checked her phone again, wondering where Adrien was. He was supposed to be back an hour ago. She shrugged and put her phone back in her pocket as she continued to sew. After waking up from her nap, she felt a lot better and the hangover was basically gone. She had also awoken to a note on her desk saying "Back at 6:30, exploring campus. ~A" With his absence, Marinette had decided to get some work done before classes started the next day. She was sewing a midnight blue gown when she heard the door burst open.

"Finally, it's about time you-" Marinette started to tease as she turned around. However, when she turned to face him she screamed.

____________ A/N_______________

Well hello there, readers! I am so sorry for not updating in... months... but I'm back now. Everything has been crazy with high school and college and I was in two plays, anyways. You guys don't care about my excuses, just that you have stuff to read; which you will a lot more often, I promise! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a bit shorter and lack of fluff, but it'll get better, don't worry.

Anyways, I want to thank you guys for sticking with me and being so supportive even in my absence. You guys truly are amazing. <3

Je t'aime et au revoir

Miraculouslyypanda