Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I told you we were going to get here way too soon,” Luka sighed as he walked beside his sister up the stairs of the concert venue. “I don’t get why you insisted on leaving so early.”

Juleka’s mumbled response was unintelligible but there was something about the way she dipped her head forward to let her hair fall across her face that made Luka think she was laughing at him.

He shook his head and spread his hands. “Well, we’re here, so what now?” He had dressed for the heat and the crowd, swapping his usual layered look for his black Kitty Section t-shirt, which was both lightweight and perfectly fitted. He sort of wished he hadn’t abandoned his favorite sneakers for combat boots, but the last time he’d worn sneakers in a concert crowd, he’d taken a stiletto to the instep that left him limping for a week.  Even with the changes, standing out in the summer sun for hours was not something he was excited about.

Juleka ignored him, texting on her phone. Luka shook his head and took a guitar pick out of his pocket, feeling the hard edges press into his fingers as he turned it in his hand. The band members had made plans weeks ago to attend this Jagged Stone concert, but Luka was sure the rest of Kitty Section wouldn’t be here for at least an hour. He didn’t understand why Juleka was acting so weird.

Suddenly Juleka looked up from her phone, scanning the milling pedestrians. “Here she comes.”

“Here who—oh,” he said, and shoved his sister lightly when Juleka chuckled. “I’m so gonna get you for this,” he told her under his breath as Marinette bounced up to them.

“You can thank me later,” Juleka told him, elbowing his ribs in retaliation for his shove. She stepped forward to greet her friend.

Marinette was wearing a black leggings and a Jagged Stone t-shirt a couple of sizes too big so that it hung off one shoulder, artfully ripped in places to expose the pink tank top she had on underneath.  Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and her bangs were gelled back in spikes off of her forehead. She had a canvas tote with the bakery logo on it looped over her shoulder, a smile a mile wide—and his Jagged Stone guitar pick, strung on a black and pink striped cord, rested perfectly in the hollow of her collarbone.

Luka squeezed the pick in his hand and reminded himself to breathe.

“I’m so glad you made it,” Marinette gushed. “Here’s the tickets for the rest of the band.” She pulled a handful of tickets from her purse and gave them to Juleka, who grinned. “They’re good seats, I checked. Sorry I couldn’t get more of you in with us.”

“Thanks,” Juleka mumbled, and then she shoved Luka forward. “He’s all yours.” As she turned to walk away she told Luka, “Try not to embarrass yourself.”

Luka watched her go for a moment and turned back to Marinette, running his fingers through his hair and slipping the pick back into his pocket. “Okay, I officially have no idea what’s going on, I thought we were all going to—“ He stopped as his eyes focused on the small plastic square clipped to a lanyard that Marinette was holding out to him. His hand came up slowly to take the backstage pass. “Are—are you serious?”

“Yep,” Marinette winked, giggling at his reaction. “Surprise.”

“You can say that again,” Luka said in awe, staring at the pass. “All access—How did you even get this?”

“No time for that now!” Marinette grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door. “I told Penny we’d meet her at the security door in five minutes.”

“Penny?” Still bewildered but not about to protest, Luka slipped the lanyard over his head and let Marinette guide him.

Security opened the door and a dark-skinned woman with magenta hair and a clipboard looked up and smiled broadly. “Marinette, good timing! It’s so good to see you again!”

“Hi Penny! Thanks for getting us the tickets and passes, it was so nice of you!” Marinette took the bag off her shoulder and offered it to Penny. “These are for you and Jagged, fresh from this morning! There’s box of macaroons in there for Fang too.” As Penny took the bag of sweets, exclaiming in delight, Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out a USB drive. “Here’s the digital proof for the album artwork, I finished it last night.”

“Perfect,” Penny took the drive and tucked it in a pocket, clicking her pen to check off something in her clipboard. She looked at Luka and smiled. “This is your friend you brought to meet Mr. Stone?”

“Yes, this is Luka!” Marinette pulled him forward and Luka shook Penny’s hand numbly. He looked at Marinette.

“Did she say ‘Meet Mr. Stone?’ As in, Jagged Stone?” he asked in a low voice.

Marinette shared a conspiratorial grin with Penny before she turned to him and shrugged. “Surprise again.”

Penny smiled kindly. “It’s nice to meet you Luka, I’m Penny Rolling, I’m Jagged Stone’s agent. Mr. Stone is a big fan of Marinette’s work.  She’s working on her second album cover for us, and she did some of the promotional art for this tour.” Luka’s eyes widened and he looked at Marinette. How did he not know that? Penny laughed at his expression and Marinette’s suddenly red face. “Marinette, you’re too modest. How are you going to build your business if you don’t promote yourself?”

“I do!” Marinette insisted. “It’s all in my portfolio, it just, um...never came up?”

Luka put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. Penny just shook her head and checked her watch. “Come with me, we’ll put you in the lounge. Mr. Stone is still in makeup, so he’ll join you when he’s done.”

She ushered them through the backstage area so fast that Luka only caught glimpses of the staging area and people rushing by carrying cables and lights and equipment. Crap, I totally owe Juleka groveling and ice cream, he thought distractedly.

“Here you go,” Penny opened a door and ushered them inside. It had a couch and a couple of chairs, as well as some instruments on stands along the wall. “I have some more things to check on, but make yourself at home. Just grab one of the craft services people if you need anything.” She popped back out of the door, pulling it shut behind her.

For a moment it was quiet as Luka and Marinette just stood there.

“So…” Luka said slowly, running his hand through his hair and turning to face Marinette. “You’re on a first name basis with Jagged Stone’s agent.”

“Yep. She’s really nice.”

“You’ve met Jagged Stone.”

“Mmhmm. A few times now.”

“You work for Jagged Stone.”

“He wanted a younger perspective on his last couple of albums, so...”

“Jagged Stone is a big fan of your work.”

“Well that might be overstating it a bit…but, kinda?”

Luka bent down to look her in the eyes. “Marry me.”

There was a beat of silence as Marinette stared wide-eyed at him, and they both cracked up together. “Seriously,” he said, still chuckling, “I can’t believe I didn’t know any of this.”

“Sorry, it’s kind of a lot to surprise you with all at once, isn’t it,” Marinette giggled. “But your face is so worth it right now. I can’t wait to tell Juleka.”

Luka turned toward her and took her hands. “You set all this up for me? I— why?” It was a stupid question, he knew that the moment it was out of his mouth. This was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She couldn’t have done anything else.

“Because you’re my friend,” she answered with a smile. “And you’re so talented and passionate about your music, you deserve to be heard, Luka! I know the rest of Kitty Section loves what they do but it’s not their whole life like it is yours. And Jagged Stone is going to love you, I know it.” She hesitated. “You should know, though, he’s kind of eccentric. He’s not as cool or laid back as you are, he’s actually a giant dork and kind of high maintenance. And whatever you do, do not insult his crocodile.”

Luka grinned at her. “You think I’m cooler than Jagged Stone?”

Marinette made a face.  “Please don’t tell him I said that, he’ll be super dramatic about it.”

Luka had to laugh. “This may be the most surreal day of my life. How come you never told me you knew Jagged Stone so well?”

“Oh,” Marinette pulled her hands away and reached up to fiddle with her spiked bangs, “it’s kind of hard to bring it up without sounding like I’m bragging, and it was all luck to start with. Really, I was just in the right place at the right time and somehow I managed to impress him, and things just kind of snowballed from there.” She dropped her hand and looked away, blushing fiercely. “Also, please don’t be weirded out if he calls you my boyfriend. He likes to tease me.”

“I don’t know, Marinette. You hang out with rock stars, I’m starting to think you’re out of my league.” Luka snickered at the look she gave him. “You are fun to tease though.”

Marinette shoved him lightly. “Just wait till he hears you play, he’ll forget I exist.”

“Play?” Luka’s eyes widened. “You think he’ll want me to?”

Marinette just gave him a knowing smile.

“I think I need to sit down,” Luka muttered.

“Is it too much?” Marinette asked in a small voice as they sat down on the couch. She folded her hands around one of his. “Maybe I should have given you more warning...I’m sorry. It’s just, Penny didn’t want word getting around so she asked me to keep it quiet…”

Luka shook his head, squeezing her hand. “Only you would apologize for something like this. Marinette, I—“ he pressed his free hand to his chest. “I’m so touched. I can’t believe you would set this all up for me.”

“I didn’t do much.” Marinette squirmed. “I just mentioned it to Penny after one of our design meetings and she did all the work. She felt like she owed me a favor because, well, things went kind of bad the time they tried to film that reality show at our bakery, and—“

Luka freed his hand and put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him in a tight hug. “You have no idea how awesome you are.”

“Luka,” she sighed, hugging him back. “I’m not.”

“Hush and let me appreciate you, okay? It’s the least you can do for springing all this on me,” he teased. They sat in silence for a bit as Luka tried to process everything he’d been told. He still felt like he was having some weird out of body experience. He closed his eyes and breathed for a moment, trying to focus on the ground beneath his feet and Marinette’s warmth pressed to his side.

“Luka?” she said after a moment, bringing him back down to earth. “Do you ever sing with your music?”

He gave her one more squeeze and released her, sitting back on the couch. “I used to, some. You know I told you words aren’t my thing, I’m not a lyricist, so I wasn’t, like, writing ballads or anything that I really felt like I needed to sing myself. But I used to sing other people’s words all the time.”

“Why did you stop?”

Luka winced, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s kinda embarrassing actually.”

“Really?” Marinette giggled, covering her mouth with one hand. “I didn’t think you got embarrassed.”

Luka had to laugh at that. “I’m chill, Marinette, I’m not dead. Of course I get embarrassed, just not usually over small stuff.”

“Oh. You just always seem so calm. And when you—I mean you don’t—I mean if I tried to say some of the things you’ve said I probably would have really messed it up but you did it so cool and—” She was growing redder by the minute, and smiling to himself, Luka took pity on her, interrupting her ramble to answer her question.

“I stopped singing when my voice started changing,” he admitted. “Trust me, no one wanted to hear me while that was going on. It was bad.” He chuckled ruefully. “Juleka even banned me from singing in the shower.”

“Oh,” Marinette gasped. “Oh, that—that makes total sense actually. But...but you’re over that now, right? I mean, you always sound good now.” The color that had begun to fade from her face returned. “I mean—I like your voice.“

“Yeah, I’m pretty much done with that,” Luka smiled, tactfully ignoring her embarrassment. “I just...haven’t really gotten back into it. We’ve got Rose now and the songs we’ve been playing don’t really need backup vocals, so I just haven’t picked it up again. I’m out of shape for singing.” He glanced sidelong at her. “But, you’re right, I don’t really have an excuse anymore. Maybe I’ll start working on it again, see what I can do with this new voice.”

Marinette’s hand curled lightly around his bicep and he looked down at her. “I’m sure it’ll be great, Luka. I know you can do it if it’s something you want.”

Luka couldn’t help the way his eyes softened as he looked at her earnest face turned up to his. I can do anything if you’ll look at me like that , he thought. Some of what he was thinking must have shown in his expression because Marinette’s cheeks slowly darkened the longer he looked at her. He swallowed and looked away.

“This is gonna sound weird,” he said a little hesitantly. “But do you mind if I meditate while we wait? I have a feeling I’m gonna need all the chill I can get.”

“Of course,” she said, sliding back from him. “Maybe you should teach me some time. Heaven knows I could use some more chill.”

“No,” Luka said immediately, and then shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out like that, and of course I’ll teach you if you want. But you don’t need to be like me, Marinette.” He swallowed down the lump in his throat and reached into his pocket, pulling out one of his ever-present guitar picks and turning it in his fingers. “Chill would look weird on you. You feel what you feel and I love that about you. It’s brave, even when it scares you.”

“Luka?” she touched his hand.

“I’m okay,” he said automatically, smiling at her. “Just—don’t change, okay? Not like that. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re enough.”

She smiled slowly at him and pulled her hand back. “Thanks, Luka. Um, I’ll just sketch while you do your thing.”

Luka folded his legs and set his arms, pinching the pick in between his index and forefinger. His first breath was shaky. He closed his eyes and quieted his mind, but only for a moment. Silence was not solace for him. Silence was waiting for the pin to drop, waiting for the blow to fall and not knowing when or why it was coming. Silence was anger, pain, the flat, speechless moment in the aftermath of tragedy.

Silence was a black butterfly in a moment of weakness.

Instead, he let his mind fill with music, picturing it flowing around him, in him, out of him.

He listened to it all, still vaguely aware of the scratch of Marinette’s pencil in her sketchbook, the humming of the air conditioning, the distant sounds of people rushing beyond the door.

His heart calmed, his turbulent thoughts smoothed into an easy flow. He’d been reeling all afternoon and he needed this moment to get back in his own skin. By the time Jagged Stone burst through the door like a whirlwind, he felt grounded, collected, more like himself again.

Jagged was across the room hugging Marinette before Luka’s eyes were even all the way open, and Luka bit back a laugh at the sight of the tiny girl wrapped in the rocker’s spider-like limbs. Luka unfolded himself and stood up as Marinette struggled half-heartedly.

“Jagged, stop!” Marinette whined as the rock star ruffled her spiked bangs and cooed over her “cute little punk-wanna-be style.” She pried herself loose and pushed the tall rocker towards Luka.

“This is Luka.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” Luka said, careful to meet Jagged’s eyes while he shook his hand.

“Luka, huh. My girl here talked you up pretty big,” Jagged winked. “Seems like you made an impression.”

Even forewarned Luka could feel heat in his cheeks, but he rolled with it. “She certainly made one on me.”

“Ohh, a charmer,” Jagged threw his arm around Luka’s shoulders. “He’s definitely got more style than that blond kid you wallpapered your room with.”

Marinette sputtered, turning cherry red. Luka cleared his throat and coughed to cover his laughter.

“Play!” Marinette burst out at last. “Guitar! He plays good guitar!”

“Is that so,” Jagged laughed, and Luka realized that the rock star didn’t really believe her. Luka was a kid, after all, maybe with some talent but this surely can’t be the first time he’s been forced to listen to someone who couldn’t live up to their friends’ hype. He must have been through this dozens of times. He was indulging Marinette now because he liked her, but it was clear he didn’t expect anything special out of Luka.

Luka’s eyes locked with Marinette’s and he saw that she’d realized it too, and he saw the firm line of her mouth and her outrage on his behalf. Then suddenly she was giving him that lopsided smirk of hers and he could hear her clear as words. You’ll show him .

He appreciated her faith in him, though there was a curl of fear in his stomach. He was confident in his skill as far as that went, but whether he could measure up in the eyes of someone like Jagged Stone, universally admitted to be the greatest artist of his generation...He didn’t want to believe Jagged was right. He didn’t want to let Marinette down. He didn’t know how he would take it if that happened.

“Well, kid, let’s see what you got.”  Jagged reached a long arm out to grab the neck of a guitar on a stand near his chair and he tossed it to Luka. “Oy, Penny, plug him in, will you?”

Luka licked his lips a bit nervously as he went through the familiar motions of settling the guitar and tuning it by ear.

“You sure you don’t want a tuner?” Penny asked him, and Luka shook his head with a one shouldered shrug.

It didn’t take him long to be ready, the guitar was already mostly in tune. It was a far more expensive model than he’d ever played, he noted distantly, but it was close enough in size to his usual guitar to feel familiar in his hands. He played a quick warmup exercise almost without thinking, and nodded to himself.

“It’s not just the playing,” Marinette was saying when he tuned back into the conversation. “He writes music, too, and his improv is amazing. Show them, Luka. Play me.”  She looked at him, shining with confidence, and he couldn’t refuse her.

Normally it amused him when people treated his music like some kind of freaky superpower. There wasn’t anything mystical about what he did, he was just observant. Intuitive. Sensitive , his father had scoffed. It was just a quirk of his brain that he translated his observations into music without conscious thought. Maybe it started as self-preservation, for all the things he wasn’t allowed to say back then. He couldn’t make anyone angry with the wrong words if he didn’t use any. His music brought people in instead of driving them away.

However it started, it was as natural to him as breathing now, and he couldn’t turn it off, even when he tried. He heard music everywhere. In Juleka’s growling voice, his mother’s boisterous laugh, in Rose’s smile, Ivan’s strength, in Mylène’s gentleness. In the waves slapping the boat hull, in all the million shades of the sky, in the gentle rocking that meant home.

In Marinette’s enthusiasm, creativity, determination. In her babble and stutter, in the heart that would break itself to pieces for the people she loved.

He played. Eyes on his guitar, he played her confidence, that unwavering support, the tremor of excitement in her words. He played his gratitude and her joy.

Luka didn’t notice her come next to him until she touched his arm. “Now play Penny,” she said. Luka raised his eyes to the agent for a moment, adjusting his fingers as he thought.

For Penny, he played efficiency and competence and a kind heart, satisfaction in a job well done, the strength to fight when she had to, and a softness that he couldn’t quite define but could sense nonetheless.

When he stopped playing, Penny was blushing, Jagged Stone was looking at her with tears in his eyes, and Marinette was beaming at Luka as if he’d just given her the world instead of the other way around.

The air in the room was so heavy it was almost painful.

Luka took a breath, thought, what the hell, and began playing I Love Unicorns.

The tension snapped as he’d intended, and all eyes turned back to him, but the only sign he gave that he noticed their attention was a small smirk at the corner of his mouth. He knew this music like he knew his own breath, and it was easy to just let go.

He sank into the music, as he always did, letting it move his body. After a minute or two he felt comfortable enough to look up, to connect with his audience. Jagged Stone had a surprisingly serious look on his face, though his own body was moving subtly to the music. Penny stood with her arms folded, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. And Marinette - Marinette looked ready to explode with glee, and he couldn’t help the grin that broke over his face.  He kicked the tempo up a bit, more energetic, more free, and with a smirk of his own, launched into Jagged Stone’s own music, riffs as unique and recognizable as the artist who wrote them, daring and unmistakable.

Marinette whooped and Penny applauded, laughing.

Jagged jumped up, pointing at him.  “Keep playing, kid,” he said, going to the stand behind the chair where his own guitar rested.  Luka’s heart leapt into his throat but his fingers kept going, his body kept moving, and the song kept growing. Luka could see Jagged bob to the beat before his own fingers start moving and a second melody rang out, improvising around Luka’s song.

How did this happen, he is jamming with Jagged Stone , how is this even his life , and he grinned wider than he probably ever had when Jagged whooped enthusiastically. “Alright, can you keep up?” the rock star hollered, taking the lead, and Luka laughed, catching up a harmony. “Rock ‘n roll!” Jagged cried, and the girls backed up to give them space as they played and whooped and danced.  

He caught Marinette’s eye and she was looking at him with a face he never wanted to forget, joy and pride and excitement that he knew was all for him, because he was happy, because she found a way to bring him joy and she couldn’t NOT do it.

He glanced back at Jagged Stone and found the rock star giving him a sly grin, and Luka could only grin back sheepishly, knowing he was caught. Jagged clapped his hand on Luka’s shoulder. “Can’t blame you kid,” Jagged said, surprisingly quietly, “She’s a keeper. Clearly got an ear for talent, too.” He winked. “You’re gonna do great things kid. Give Penny your number, let’s stay in touch.”

Oh if anybody could hear what was going on in his brain right now, his reputation as the laid back, relaxed artist would be over.

“All right, it’s been great, kids,” Jagged said, taking off his guitar and handing it to Penny.  “But I have to get ready for the show.”

Luka held his hand out. “It’s been an honor, sir, really.” Jagged shook his hand and pulled the boy in to bump shoulders.

“Keep rockin’, Luka.” The tall man turned and opened his arm to Marinette.  “Marinette, you never stop impressing me.” Marinette giggled as Jagged hugged her to his side.  “You two kids enjoy the show.” He looked back at Luka. “Keep an eye on my girl here in that crowd, she’s so tiny she’ll get crushed.”

“I will, sir,” Luka started to say, but Jagged was already hollering for Penny, though she was only a few feet away.

“Hey, Penny, how about we let Marinette and her boy watch the show from the wings? Less likely to get stomped on, as long as you stay out of the crew’s way.”

Luka and Marinette gaped at him, and then at each other as Jagged walked out. Then Marinette squealed as Luka laughed. “This. Is. AMAZING!” Marinette shrieked, shaking him.

“Woah,” he exclaimed, “Easy, easy, I’m not feeling so steady already.” He lifted the guitar strap over his head. “That was wild,” he murmured, taking the instrument back to the stand. He stood for a moment, turning the pick in his hand, then looked up when he felt Penny’s hand on his shoulder.

“You impressed him,” she said, and he appreciated the gentleness in her smile. “Here’s my card, be sure to send me your number. You’re still young but we can definitely help you make some connections and develop your skills.”

“Thank you so much, ma’am.” Luka felt the heavy, smooth weight of the card between his fingers, slick on one side with Jagged’s picture. He put it carefully in his wallet.

“My pleasure. It was a real treat to hear you play, Luka. Now, why don’t you and Marinette come with me and we’ll find you a good spot to watch the show? Ready Marinette?”

“So ready!” Marinette bounced on her toes.

“All right then, let’s go.” Penny led the way out, and as the two teens followed, Luka caught Marinette’s hand and linked their fingers. She looked up at him in surprise and blushed at his soft look, but didn’t pull away.

Chapter Text

Out of chaos comes creation. Or at least rock concerts. Still, there was a flow to the madness backstage, an order that defied observation but still worked towards a common goal. Penny somehow located an eddy in the swirl of people where Luka and Marinette could both sit in relative safety and have a clear view of the stage. She had tall stools relocated from somewhere for the two teens to use, and advised them to plant themselves and not move lest they cause some sort of mishap (Luka pretended not to notice that Penny looked at Marinette when she said this). 

While they waited, Luka took the opportunity to text Juleka to make sure she had connected with their bandmates and gotten in okay. He also gave her a brief account of everything that had happened so far and where he was now. Her response made him laugh so hard he nearly fell over. 

“What?” Marinette asked, giggling. 

“I think Jules is a little jealous,” he chuckled, turning his phone towards her so that she could see the stream of exclamation points and emojis Juleka had sent him. 

Marinette laughed with him then, covering her mouth. “Oh, poor thing. But it’ll be easier to bring her in once you’ve got your foot in the door, and I know she knows you wouldn’t forget about her.”

Luka smiled, because she was absolutely right. He teased Juleka for a few more messages before he admitted it to her though. Then he put his phone away.

The opening act was good, blending rock music and classical instruments in a really interesting way. When they left the stage he found himself tapping out a rhythm on his knee as he listened to a new melody unfold in his mind.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there staring into space when Marinette nudged him, but when he looked at her she was holding her sketchbook and pencil out to him. She’d turned to a blank page and lined it for him. “I know that look,” she smirked. “Write it down before you lose it.”

“You’re the best,” he said, taking it from her. It was so nice to be with (next to, not with, they weren’t together no matter how comfortable they’d been today) someone who understood, he thought absently as he scribbled his thoughts into the staff she’d drawn for him. The lines weren’t perfect but they were much better than what he could’ve done freehand. 

“Just promise you’ll play it for me later.” She patted his arm and he glanced up with a smile.

“Deal.”

When Jagged Stone took the stage, Luka and Marinette were on their feet instantly. Jagged Stone might be eccentric and impulsive but no one could deny that he was more than a singer, he was an entertainer . Luka spared a derisive thought for that spiritless, passionless “artist” XY. All his flash and special effects couldn’t rival Jagged Stone’s sheer charisma on stage.  Standing so close, Luka could feel the music all the way down to his bones. It was exhilarating, he loved it, he’d only ever felt this connected when he was playing himself. Conversation was impossible but he caught Marinette’s hand, lacing their fingers together so that his palm pressed hers and he could feel the music through her body as well as his own. He could feel she was cringing slightly, and he glanced at her. She mouthed the word “loud” at him and he could only grin back at her and mouth back “awesome.” She rolled her eyes at him and he turned back to the stage. 

When Jagged took a break, he leaned down to her. “Are you okay? We can find somewhere else to watch if you want.” 

She shook her head. “I know you want to stay here. I can see you’re loving every minute of this.”

“I am, but not if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m getting used to it.”

Suddenly Penny appeared at their shoulders. “Luka,” she said urgently, “Jagged wants you to play when he goes back on.”

“ WHAT ?” Luka stared at her, too shocked to be polite. 

“I tried to talk him out of it but he’s stuck on it. He’ll be out there announcing it any minute but I wanted to give you at least a little warning.” Even as she spoke the members of the small backup band were taking their places. Penny put her hand on Luka’s shoulder. “ Miraculous is next up in the set list. I told him this was too much pressure but he said you could handle it. He believes in you.”

He felt Marinette's fingers dig into his arm. “Breathe, Luka!” she said urgently and he sucked in a breath, and then another one, too fast. “Are you okay?”

There was a chorus of screams and Luka looked up to see Jagged walking on stage screaming “Rock ‘n roll!”

Luka shot Penny a desperate look but there was no hope of reprieve in her expression. Apparently this was happening and he was going to have to find a way to deal with it. At least he knew Miraculous , it was one of the songs he’d played with Jagged back in the lounge. But he’d never rehearsed with these people before! It took time for a group to gel, you couldn’t just—but Miraculous was mostly guitar and vocals with a pretty basic bass and drum line, Jagged was a solo artist after all and his backup would be used to following the lead guitar, but still, he couldn’t seriously expect—

Luka saw Jagged look their way, and then turn back to the microphone, and the singer’s next words made his stomach drop through the floor.

“How about we have us a guest guitarist for this song? We’ve got one of Paris’ own young up and coming talents here with us today, let’s get him out here!”

Despite the warning Luka’s lips parted in surprise and his breath quickened again. He looked at Marinette, who stared back at him with eyes so wide they looked like they might fall out of her head. The crowd cheered mindlessly.

Luka looked back just in time to meet Jagged’s eyes across the stage. “Come on out here, Luka!” the star hollered into the microphone, waving him down.

His brain disconnected from his body.  He was only dimly aware of the pressure of Marinette’s hand on his bicep, the slide of her fingers as he pulled away, the thud of his combat boots on the wood of the stage, the roar of the crowd as he crossed the stage and took with numb hands the guitar that Jagged handed him.  “Whenever you’re ready, kid,” Jagged told him, yelling near his ear to be heard over the massive crowd in the stadium. “Don’t be nervous, show ‘em what you got.”

Don’t be nervous, are you serious? 

Luka put the guitar strap over his head and settled it comfortably, glancing back off stage as he dug in his pocket for a pick. He could just barely see Marinette standing in the wings with her hands over her mouth, eyes still wide as saucers.  He let his eyes skim once over the crowd, taking them in as best he could’ve with the blinding lights, and then he looked down at his feet again. His head shot back up as four voices (which shouldn’t have been nearly loud enough to reach him except that two of them were Ivan and Rose and one was Juleka, who seemed to hoard all her volume for special occasions like these) near the front screamed “KITTY SECTION” in unison and he grinned in their general direction, though he couldn’t see them because of the lights. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling the stage beneath his feet and the energy of the crowd crawling up through his blood. This was insane but...awesome. The thrill of performing began to push back the fear. Oddly enough, even though this was a far bigger crowd than any he’d been in front of before, this was easier than performing one on one for the King of Rock. After all, he smirked, Luka Couffaine had never failed an audience and he would not start that night. He took one more breath, raising his fist to acknowledge the screaming crowd, and then he flipped his pick, placed his fingers on the fretboard, and nodded to Jagged Stone.

The drummer counted them off, Luka began to play...and he killed it . If this was his fifteen minutes of fame he would die happy. The crowd was roaring, Jagged’s energy was contagious, and it was the best Luka had played in his life.

Luka walked off the stage in a euphoric haze, barely aware of Marinette as she took his arm and guided him back to the lounge and sat him down on the couch. 

“Did that seriously just happen?” Luka asked her, putting his face in his hands. “Did I really just do that.”  He drew his hands down his face until they were just in front of his mouth as he stared at nothing. “Man, what a rush.”

Marinette let out a little squeal, wrapping both hands around his upper arm and bouncing in place. “Luka, that was awesome!!  You just played LIVE with JAGGED STONE and I can’t believe you just did that either, I would have DIED! I swear, I had no idea he was going to call you up there. He must have been so impressed with you.” She squealed again and threw her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him in a quick hug before leaning back again to clap her hands and bounce some more. 

The adrenaline was doing weird things to his body and she was doing weird things to his heart. Luka caught her face in his hands, cupping under her jaw, and had just enough self-control left to plant his kiss on her cheek and not her mouth. “You’re amazing, Marinette,” he whispered, face still pressed to hers. “Thank you so much.”

“All I did was introduce you,” she said, blushing hard. Her fingertips came to rest shyly on his wrists. “The rest of it was all you.” 

He grinned, kissed her cheek again and let her go. “Amazing,” he repeated, pulling his frantically vibrating phone out of his pocket to turn it off. 

“You’re the one who’s amazing,” Marinette insisted, recovering some of her composure. “You went out there with no warning and no rehearsal and you didn’t even look scared!”

Luka laughed breathlessly. “Terrified is more like it.”

“It didn’t show. You walked out on that stage like you owned it.” Marinette’s eyes shone and he was pretty sure if his heart beat any faster he would keel over and die. “You’re so brave, Luka!”

“Tell that to my hands,” he muttered, raising them to show her how they shook. “And I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stand right now if my life depended on it.” 

Marinette took his hand and laced her fingers through his. “That’s just the adrenaline reaction. That was a huge amount of pressure Luka and you pulled it off!” 

Luka let his head drop and closed his eyes, trying to focus on breathing, on trying to slow his heart and calm the blood still singing in his veins to the beat of Jagged’s music that they could still hear, even back here.  Marinette freed her hand from his and he felt her move away, but she was back moments later, pressing a cold bottle of water into his hands. He took it gratefully and threw his head back to drink it. He managed to keep himself from chugging, knowing that it would make him sick, and pressed the cool bottle to his forehead, focusing on the cold and the crinkle of the plastic in his fingers. 

When he looked back at Marinette she was staring at him with a slightly glazed expression and a healthy blush that did dangerous things to him.  Her blush darkened as he stared back at her, and— look away, look away now. Tearing his gaze away felt like ripping out his own heart.

Luka always felt high after performing but this was a whole other level of intensity. He really needed to be somewhere else - anywhere that was not alone with Marinette in a closed room while she was looking at him like that.

“I’m okay now,” he said roughly, standing and pulling her up with him. “Let’s go watch the rest of the show.” She squeaked as he threaded his fingers through hers and they made their way back to their place in the wings. 

The only thing he remembered from the rest of the show was the feel of their hands locked together.

He was still in some weird fugue state as they said goodbye to Penny and she let them out of the security door into the night. Luka’s phone was still off but Marinette had been texting to Rose, and she guided him to the rest of the group. 

As soon as he spotted them Luka broke into a run, catching up Juleka and swinging her around while she pounded his back. Rose threw herself on them both, and they were only saved from topping over by Marinette hitting them from the other side. Ivan wrapped his arms as far as he could around the whole group and nearly lifted them all off of the ground. 

“Okay, okay,” Luka laughed from the center of the pile. “You guys are crushing me here!”

They all peeled away, giggling, and Luka threw an arm each around Juleka and Marinette. “You guys are seriously the best, I mean it,” he said, addressing the whole group. “It was huge, knowing you were out there.”

“Oh, Luka, this is so exciting!” Rose squealed. “You’ll be famous and you’ll get to go on tour and see so many exciting places and meet so many wonderful new people and—“

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Rose,” Luka laughed. “Let’s hold off on planning the world tour, okay?”

“You really were great,” Mylène said from where she was hanging back, clinging onto Ivan’s shirt tail. She looked a little shy, being the outsider of the group. Luka smiled at her.

“Thanks Mylène. I thought I was going to die once I got off that stage.”

“Did Marinette give you CPR?” Juleka mumbled beside him, and he immediately shifted his arm until he had her in a headlock. 

“Somebody better watch her mouth if she wants to meet Jagged Stone anytime soon,” he grumbled, and then immediately released Juleka when he felt her perfectly manicured nails digging threateningly into his arm. “Okay, okay, not the claws, ow!” He knocked into Marinette in his haste to get away from his sister, and only just managed to twist and catch her around the waist before they both tipped over. 

“You better come back to earth before someone gets hurt,” Ivan chuckled. “You’re seriously wired, Luka.”

“Sorry, Marinette.” Luka made sure she was steady and then drew away, hoping he wasn’t too red. He’d been kind of all over her all day, he knew, and while she was an affectionate person and hadn’t seemed to mind, he’d better get his act together. 

Fortunately Mylène diverted her attention just then with a question he didn’t quite catch and he had a moment to get ahold of himself. Luka stepped slightly away from the group, digging in his pocket for his pick, aware that Juleka immediately moved to block him slightly so he could have a little space.

When he’d calmed himself down a bit, he returned to the group, flashing a quick smile at Juleka. “Lila?” Marinette was saying, in a tone that surprised Luka. “No, we didn’t see her, why?”

Mylène shrugged. “We invited her to come with us, but she said Jagged had already called her and offered to let her watch the show from backstage. Since you were back there too I thought you would have seen her, but I guess it’s pretty crazy backstage.”

Marinette was clearly trying to keep a neutral face, but Luka could sense something negative going on with her. Her voice sounded all kinds of wrong to him, though all she said was, “It was pretty chaotic.”

“Weird, though,” Luka said with a shrug. “I mean there wasn’t all that much room on the sides, and we didn’t see anybody in the lounge before the show. You’d think Jagged would’ve said something if one of your classmates was there.”

There was gratitude he didn’t quite understand in Marinette’s eyes when she looked up at him, but he smiled back at her reassuringly.

“Guys, it’s been awesome, but we gotta go if we’re gonna be home by curfew.” Ivan put his arm around Mylène. 

“You’re staying with Rose tonight, right?” Luka asked Juleka, who nodded. “Text me when you get there, okay?” Juleka just gave him a deadpan stare, but Rose winked and nodded. He turned to Marinette. “Can I walk you home?”

“Oh, you don’t need to, I can take care of myself, it’s fine!”

“I know,” Luka smiled down at her as the others began to walk off. “Can I walk you home anyway?”

Marinette blushed prettily. “Sure.”

As soon as they got to the main sidewalk they were caught in the rest of the crowd leaving the venue. After seeing the petite girl nearly get knocked down twice, Luka pulled Marinette in front of him where he could shield her at least a little bit, keeping his hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” he muttered in her ear, pulling her a little closer to him. “I’m afraid you’ll get crushed if I let you go.” He steadied her as somebody knocked into them again. “Let’s walk down to the next metro station instead, it should be less crowded there.” Luka kept his head down, hoping no one would recognize him as the guy who’d been called on stage, but no one seemed to be thinking about anything other than getting ahead. 

Things did clear out considerably once they were passed the closest stop, and they both breathed a sigh of relief once the crowd had eased. Just as Luka thought they were free and clear, they passed under the light of a street lamp and suddenly he heard a chorus of “Luka!” from across the street. As soon as he looked in that direction he heard a squeal and a small cluster of people came running across the street, giggling as they stopped in front of him. 

“It is you, I knew it!” one of them practically cooed, reaching out to twirl one of his blue tips. Luka took a step back, automatically shifting his arm back to move Marinette behind him.

“Sorry, have we met?” he asked, glancing across the group of four girls. They looked close to his age, but he didn’t recognize any of them.

“We saw you on stage,” another one giggled. 

Ah, now he understood. He relaxed and smiled back at them. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

“You were awesome,” gushed the girl who had touched him. “Could you sign my program?” 

Luka blinked. “Sure,” he said, taking the booklet and sharpie she shoved at him. “Thanks for your support. What’s your name?”

“Veronique!” 

“That’s pretty.” He smiled at her and signed her program and then the ones the other two passed him.

The last girl, who looked a little older than the others, pouted and opened her eyes wide. “Gosh, I must have lost mine. I don’t have anything for you to sign. Hmmm...” she pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully. Luka had a feeling he knew where this was going and he was not about to let it get there. Instead he smirked, took her hand and turned it up, and signed the inside of the girl’s wrist. She glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. “Can I get a phone number to go with it?”

“Ah, I’m keeping that top secret for now.” Luka winked. “But you can follow our band, Kitty Section, on Instagram.” He wrote their handle under his name and released her, stepping back. He reached blindly behind him and felt Marinette take his hand. “You ladies have a good night. I’m afraid I have somewhere to be, but I hope we’ll see you at Kitty Section’s next show.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, just waved and pulled Marinette down the sidewalk. “Well that was embarrassing,” Luka muttered, running his free hand through his hair. 

“The price of fame?” Marinette suggested, but her smile looked forced. 

“At least it was good publicity for the band,” sighed Luka. “They seemed harmless enough, except the one girl. She didn’t really have a creepy stalker vibe, at least.”

“You didn’t seem to mind,” Marinette replied stiffly, and Luka snorted.

“I’ve been playing in bands since I was thirteen, Marinette, mostly with guys older than me, and I’ve picked up a thing or two about how to deal with fans. Although it’s unsettling to be the focus.” He snickered. “Trust me, when it happens to someone else it’s hilarious. The second band I played with, the lead singer was seventeen and gorgeous, and watching him trying to play up his girl fans without getting molested was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” He glanced at her and smiled to himself as she relaxed. “Besides, I knew you were there to rescue me,” he teased, squeezing her hand. “You always come up with something.” 

“Or maybe I would have left you there. I’m beginning to think you’re as bad a flirt as Chat Noir.”

Luka laughed heartily as they went down the metro steps. “I am so much smoother than Chat Noir. I mean, I have nothing but respect for the guy and what he does for the city, but he flirts like he learned all his lines from bad romcoms.”

“I didn’t realize you were such an expert,” Marinette sniffed as they reached the platform, pulling her hand away and folding her arms.

Luka stepped close to her, and then leaned in just a little. “Marinette. Are you going to make me say it? Again?”

She turned a highly satisfying shade of red. “N-now that I know you’re such a master flirt,” she stammered, “Maybe I shouldn’t believe anything you say.”

“Do you know what the difference is between good flirting and bad flirting really is?” He leaned the tiniest bit closer, and lightly tapped the guitar pick around her neck. “Sincerity. I meant every word I said to those girls, and every word I’ve ever said to you.”

She made a strangled, inarticulate noise, and he straightened, not even bothering to hide his smile. He stood next to her on the platform, and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for Marinette to regain her power of speech.

As they stood there, Luka remembered their earlier conversation, and glanced sidelong at Marinette. “So...who’s Lila?”

Marinette’s face twisted in distaste.

“Wow, that bad, huh?”

Marinette flushed. “No, I mean, well, she’s...uh…”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he told her. “But you don’t have to pretend, you’re allowed not to like someone. It doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“Popular opinion is against you on that one,” Marinette grumbled, and then she hesitated. “And...she’s Juleka’s friend…”

Luka smiled, and bumped his arm lightly against hers. “I’m not Juleka.”

Marinette sighed, and chewed her lip for a moment, and then her shoulders slumped and she gave him a tired smile. “Honestly, she’s a liar and a manipulator and I don’t really want to ruin this night talking about her. Some other time, okay?”

“Sure,” he said softly, motioning her ahead of him to board the train. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier but you look really cute tonight,” Luka said as they settled in seats. 

Marinette made a face. “Jagged called me a punk wanna be.” 

Luka chuckled. “I think it’s perfect. It’s fun and still totally you. You should’ve called Juleka and let us do your hair, you’d have been adorable with pink tips.” He reached out and flicked her bangs.

Marinette giggled. “Maybe next time.” 

“That’s a cool bag.” 

Marinette brightened as she lifted it from her lap. “It’s hand embroidered! My Nonna Gina travels all over the world, and she brought me a shirt back from her last trip for my birthday, only it kinda didn’t fit, so I used it to make this! It doesn’t match my outfit but it’s bigger than my other one so I can fit my smaller sketchbook in it. Oh, I wish you could meet her, you’d love her. She wears a motorcycle and rides a leather jacket and—“ she stopped with a blush and a giggle, realizing she was rambling. “Anyway. She’s really cool.” 

“I’d love to meet her sometime,” Luka chuckled. He folded his hands together and leaned forward a little to rest his elbows on his knees.

The weight of the day was finally starting to settle on him. He came to the unsettling realization hat he no longer knew what tomorrow would look like. Marinette has opened this incredible door for him and now he had to figure out how to walk through and keep going—and he wasn’t even sure who would be with him as he did so. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. 

“Luka?” Marinette leaned into him a little, trying to see his face.

“I’m okay. It’s just...kind of all hitting me at once.” 

“Can I help?” Her fingers curled around his upper arm.

“There’s nothing wrong, it’s just...a lot. This whole thing has been like a dream,” he confessed. “It still doesn’t seem real. And I’m not really sure how I’m feeling, to be honest. It’s...scary, the idea that this big dream you have could actually happen, and…is it completely weird and ungrateful not to be sure that you want it? Or maybe I’m just scared of getting so close and then crashing and burning.”

Marinette squeezed his arm. “No, I think that’s totally natural. It’s easy to overlook all the downsides when it’s just a dream. You got a taste of the reality today, some of the bad along with the good, and it’ll probably be worse tomorrow when everyone sees it online or on the news or wherever. And I think that crashing and burning at the worst possible moment is something that every artist fears.”

“You’re an artist, Marinette.”

Her smile was sad. “And I’m a mess. I doubt myself all the time. How could I not, I’m such a disaster. Half the time I can’t even speak clearly. But then, there are moments...well, you remember Adrien, right? His dad is a super famous fashion designer, one of my idols. He sponsored a design contest at my school, and someone copied my design. So I had to stand there and defend my work to the Gabriel Agreste.” She shook her head, eyes going misty. “I killed it, Luka. I was clear and calm and I destroyed Chl-uh, the copycat designer and I won the competition. And those are the moments where I really believe it can happen. Just like when you were up on that stage today. You could have refused to go out there. You could have tried and choked. But you didn’t.” she squeezed his arm again. “You went out there and you slayed that crowd, and you loved every minute of it.”

Luka’s eyes were on his feet but a slow smile spread over his face. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I really did.”

“So hold onto that,” Marinette told him, and he lifted his gaze to hers, a tight feeling in his chest. “If this is what you want, you can totally do it. And if it turns out that it’s not what you want, that’s okay too. I didn't introduce you to Jagged to make you miserable. This is your dream, you get to decide what it looks like.”

What if it looks like you? he thought, mesmerized by her eyes, her earnestness, her kindness, and those perfect pink lips. It just wasn’t fair for her to have such a sweet little mouth. 

Marinette stood up quickly. “Oops, this is our stop.”

He spent the rest of the walk out of the metro and up to the bakery trying to talk sense into himself. Sure, she liked him, but she wanted someone else, and yeah, she wasn’t dating Adrien yet, but she didn’t want to date Luka either, and he’d be putting her in a tough spot but he wanted it so badly, and he liked her and she liked him and couldn’t that be good enough for just one minute, it wasn’t like he was proposing marriage—

He opened the side door of the bakery for her and followed her into the relative privacy of the stairwell, still balanced on a knife edge of indecision.

Then she smiled at him. “Thanks for walking me home, Luka.”

Screw it.

“Marinette, can I kiss you?” he asked. 

Marinette squeaked, blue eyes wide. 

“Listen, I know you’re not ready for anything to change between us,” he continued quickly, “and you might not ever be, and I’m cool with that, I really am. And you can say yes or you can say no and either way it won’t change a thing. I know I’m being selfish asking, but I’m feeling so much after everything today, and I just…” He swallowed, “I just really really want to,” he finished huskily. His whole being hummed with tension. He was too much, he was too intense, he was completely going to freak her out but he couldn’t look away. He reached out to grip the stair rail beside her because he needed to feel the cool metal and the way the edges cut into his palm, but he made sure not to lean into her space, leaving her plenty of room to get away from him if she was uncomfortable. 

And then she was looking at him with those soft eyes, the ones that sang to him of “really?” and “why me?” and that heart-stopping “maybe…”

“Okay,” she said quietly, cheeks perfectly pink and shoulders slightly hunched, but smiling. 

“You sure?” he couldn’t help asking as he brushed his thumb against the perfect bow of her lips, a thrill skittering through him when she didn’t pull away, only nodded shyly. 

He leaned down and kissed her, eyes closing as soon as he felt her plush lips under his. He kept it soft and slow, breath catching slightly when she curled her fingers in his shirt and kissed him back, following his lead easily. His free hand came up to rest against her neck, and Luka felt her shiver at the feel of his fingertips stroking lightly at her nape, his thumb just brushing her jaw. He guided her a little deeper, still slow, still tender and innocent. He was a little shocked at how good it felt. He’d kissed girls before and never really thought it was a big deal, but this… I am in so much trouble. Even caught up in her he could hear the music they made in the mingling of breath, the meeting and parting and meeting again of lips, the flutter of her pulse against his palm. He lingered, lips moving over hers until he felt her begin to pull away, and then straightened with a sigh, stroking her cheek once as he let his hand fall away.

“Wow,” she touched her lips. “Now that...that was a first kiss worth remembering.”

“Yeah,” Luka cleared his throat. “That was...really, really nice.” He raised his eyebrows slightly. “First kiss with me, or…”

Marinette blushed and looked at her feet. “First kiss at all. Um, sort of. It’s complicated? But, yes, if someone asked me about my first kiss, it would definitely be that.”

“I’m honored.” Luka took her hand, cradling it loosely in his, and waited until she looked back up at him. “Thank you for everything today, Marinette. I just...there’s no other words. Thank you.”

The smile she gave him was so full of affection that it hurt. “You deserve it, Luka. You’ve always been so supportive and so good to me, and—well, I’m happy I could do something for you.”

He smiled, and uncurled his white-knuckle grip on the stair rail to back towards the door, her hand sliding out of his as he moved away. “Goodnight Marinette.”

“Goodnight Luka.”

He had to lean against the wall for a moment once he was back outside.

Chapter Text

Luka was about ready to nominate Penny Rolling for sainthood. It had become crystal clear over the past couple of days that while Jagged could put his name in the spotlight for a brief flurry of publicity, it was Penny who could actually get his foot in the door of the industry. It was Penny who had sent Luka a list of classes and private tutors he should consider, not only on musical subjects like composition and performance, but on business and publicity as well. It was Penny who gave him tips for handling the media attention his unexpected performance had temporarily garnered, and asked for his approval on the press statement she had prepared for Jagged. 

It was Penny who kept him from being completely overwhelmed and paralyzed with her prioritized action item list, and included with that list were applications for music scholarships Jagged sponsored—both for his age group and Juleka’s. Because chasing your dreams costs money, after all.

She’d also suggested he consider selling some of his compositions, and implied that Jagged Stone would love to have the first chance at whatever he came up with. 

Luka had to take a long walk to calm down after she’d suggested his music might actually sell. That Jagged Stone might be willing to perform something he wrote. Rose was going to flip. 

Finally, while Penny explained that she herself couldn’t represent him as repping Jagged alone was a full-time job, she had also sent him a list of agents she knew and trusted and promised to get him a meeting when he was ready.

So when Penny sent him a release form for his unscheduled appearance and begged him to have his mother sign it before her legal team paraded her corpse down the Champs Elysee for letting Jagged pull a minor onstage without parental consent, he gladly went to bat with Anarka, who despised paperwork in general and legal documents in particular, and pestered her until it got done. His mom would probably be extra contrary for at least a week, but that was fine, he could handle it. At this point Luka was so grateful that he was pretty sure he’d donate a kidney for Penny if she needed it.

Now, she told him, it was just up to him to keep the ball rolling until he was musically and emotionally ready to try for the big time—to keep his name out there and build his fanbase. 

Fanbase. Like he was ever going to be emotionally ready for that.

Luka coped with his sudden crushing case of imposter syndrome by focusing on the band. He saw no reason why keeping the ball of his popularity rolling, as Penny put it, couldn’t include bringing the rest of Kitty Section along for the ride. After all, none of this would be happening if Marinette hadn’t done the same for him. He’d asked Penny to include Kitty Section’s Instagram in her press release, though he’d cringed at her insistence on the wording “Kitty Section featuring Luka Couffaine,” as if he was any more important than any other band member, and their number of followers had tripled overnight. Rose had posted pictures and a short clip of him on stage with Jagged, and she’d been calling every club and venue she could find to pitch Kitty Section.

It was a beautiful madness that was at the same time overwhelming and so far removed from his daily life that it didn’t quite seem real, and finally he decided to give himself a break from trying to figure it all out, and he took his guitar out on the deck.

Luka was staring dreamily into the sunset, singing softly along with his guitar, when suddenly his view was blocked by a curtain of black and purple hair with lace sleeves. 

“Okay,” grumbled a familiar voice from within the curtain. “What the hell happened when you walked Marinette home?”

Luka sighed as Juleka came to plop herself down in the other chair.

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“You haven’t sung in ages.”

He eyed her suspiciously. She was speaking in full sentences so something was up. “You didn’t want me too.”

“Not while you sounded like a cat in heat, but that’s been over for a while. Why now?”

Luka shrugged. “Why not?”

“Luka.”

He said nothing.

“Do you realize that ever since the concert you sound like you’re putting together the soundtrack for a heavy metal romcom?”

“I do not,” he grumbled. Yeah, smooth. God, nobody could get under your skin like a sibling. Especially his. 

Juleka was silent for a minute. “She has a crush on Adrien Agreste.”

Luka’s jaw tightened and he turned his pick in his fingers, pressing into the hard edges. 

“Like a super-mega-nearly-stalker crush, Luka.”

He said nothing.

“You know that stuttering, word-scrambling thing she does that you think is so cute? She’s a million times worse with him. It’s a small miracle that he hasn’t decided she’s a complete psycho.”

Luka sighed. “You’re telling me this why? And why now?”

Her face screwed up the way it used to when she was five and he wouldn’t let her play with him. “Because you’re my stupid brother and you’re getting in over your head, and I hate you and I’m scared you’re going to keep me awake with your sobbing when she breaks your heart.”

Luka had to smile at that. “I love you too, Juleka,” he said, with more sincerity than he’d intended. “And I already knew she had a thing for Adrien.”

“Has a thing, Luka. A big thing. Eiffel Tower big. The Great Wall of China, visible from space big.”

Luka plucked at a string, pretending to tune it. “Does he have a thing for her?”

“Luka.”

Luka groaned and rolled his eyes. “Look, I know the score. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’m just...we had a nice moment, okay? We don’t have to be destined soulmates for me to enjoy her company. Now get lost so I can watch the sunset without your mopey goth doom and gloom.”

Juleka sighed gustily. “I’m going to have to smother you with my pillow, aren’t I?”

“Tell me about Lila,” Luka said abruptly, and Juleka tilted her head. 

“Why do you want to know about Lila?”

“I don’t know, I just kind of got a weird vibe that night while you guys were talking about her.”

“Marinette doesn’t like her.”

“Why?” 

Juleka rolled her eyes. “Because Lila is pretty and confident and wealthy and well-connected, and Marinette’s insecure and jealous. She thinks Lila wants Adrien and it makes her act crazy.”

Juleka’s words were so discordant with Luka’s reality that he almost felt nauseous. “That doesn’t sound like Marinette at all,” he said cautiously.

“I told you, Marinette loses her mind when Adrien’s involved.”

“Yeah...so much so that she agreed to help him ask out another girl.”

“She probably did that so she could spy on his date. She’s as threatened by that Kagami girl as she is by Lila, only nobody actually likes Kagami, so she’s a tiny bit less crazy about it.”

“I was there, Juleka,” Luka reminded her sharply. “Nothing like that happened.”

Juleka leaned her chin in her hand and looked at him. “You’re biased, Luka.”

“Biased, not blind, and Marinette’s not exactly hard to read.” Luka put his guitar aside and turned in the chair to face her. “Juleka, you know me. I’m not wrong about this. I was there. She told me when she asked me to go that we were going to support Adrien, and that’s what she did. I watched her smile at him and encourage him when he was nervous. I gave him advice myself right in front of her. And yeah, she looked at him like a sad puppy whenever he couldn’t see, but she didn’t even give him a hint at how upset she was.” He sat back, studying his sister. “I thought Marinette was your friend.”

Juleka started. “She is.”

“Are you even listening to the things you’re saying about her? Does anything you’ve said actually make sense with what you know about Marinette? Look, I believe you when you say she’s crazy about Adrien, that makes sense, and I can believe she’d come up with some crazy convoluted things to get his attention, but do you really think she’s that jealous and petty? And if she were, that I’d be so crazy in love that I couldn’t tell?”

Juleka chewed her lip. 

“Marinette’s done a lot for us...and for you, Jules.”

Juleka lowered her eyes. Luka just shook his head and reclined back on his chair, picking up his guitar. “Look, I think I’m done talking about this, forget I asked. Tomorrow’s the first day back at school since the concert and to be honest I’m kind of freaked out about how things will go, so…” He made a little shooing motion with his hand. “Can I just get some space please?”

Juleka didn’t move or speak for a moment. Then she said, “Are you going to be up here singing more sappy barely-rock love songs?”

“Vocal practice was on Penny’s list. I’m more marketable if I can perform my own vocals.” 

“Right,” Juleka drawled. “Penny’s list.”

Something about her tone made him put down the guitar again to look her in the eye. “Juleka, anywhere I go, you go too, for as long as you’re up for the ride. I promise.” 

She held his gaze for a moment, and then stood up, and started to walk off. “Whatever. Enjoy your quest for the perfect rock ballad to serenade Marinette. Just don’t call me to bail you out of jail when Officer Roger arrests you for public disturbance.”

“It’s not for Marinette.”

“Sure.” She waved over her shoulder. “Try not to be a total cliché or I’ll disown you.”

Luka just smiled and shook his head as he picked up his guitar.

The first day back in class after the crazy fever dream of the concert night was as surreal as he expected it to be. Some of his schoolmates were at the concert, enough to whisper and point and spread the news around the school. The weight of his guitar on his back was steadying, but it marked him. There were a lot of awkward conversations with people he barely knew.

The attention he got from girls who were suddenly giggly and handsy was what really threw him, until his best friend took pity and passed Luka his phone, open to a news site that had a photo of Luka playing at the concert. Luka stared at the photo and covered his mouth to keep from...something. He wasn’t sure if he would laugh or swear. 

It was clearly a professional photo, not like the slightly hazy ones that Rose had taken from the pit. They’d caught him mid-riff, his arms flexed as he played, his hair flying about his face, his eyes focused and a smirk on his lips. He understood now why girls kept grabbing onto his arm or cuddling up and slipping their hands under his jacket. The picture made him look hot, and there was a lot of muscle on display in that custom-fitted MDC Original shirt that was totally hidden in his usual layered look.

Luka passed the phone back and put his head down on his desk while Evan tried to smother his laughter.

He wondered if Marinette had seen the picture. Maybe he should see if Penny could send her a copy. For her portfolio. 

A week after the concert Rose texted that she had big news and asked if he could meet the rest of the band at the college after class. 

Rose and Juleka were the first band members out, walking with a red-headed girl Luka didn’t recognize. He’d expected Rose to be bouncing, bubbly, excited after the tone of her messages, but instead Rose looked a little uncomfortable, and Juleka...Luka’s eyebrows rose. Juleka had her murder face on. 

“That’s so great, I knew Gustav would come through,” the redhead giggled to Rose. “He and I are such good friends ever since I grabbed that fire extinguisher and saved his club from burning down. I knew I could convince him to book Kitty Section!”

“Um, that’s really sweet of you, Lila,” Rose was saying. “When I called, you know, he said that he saw Jagged Stone’s press release and—“

“Oh, yes, I sent that to him as soon as I got it!”

“You...got it?”

“Of course, I get all of his press releases. You know we’re like this.” She held up her crossed fingers. “And honestly, I felt bad for you guys! I’m sure Marinette meant well but singling out one person to meet Jagged, it just seemed so unfair! You all deserved that chance, but maybe she just didn’t know him as well as she said—I mean, as well as she thought she did! I wish I’d been there like I planned, I could’ve done something. It’s too bad that I had to cancel to go help Prince Ali with that emergency at the children’s hospital.” She dropped her voice so that she was only barely audible to Luka. “Honestly I’m surprised Marinette would use her connections like that just to impress a boy, I would never dare, but I guess we all know how far Marinette will go when she has a crush!”

Juleka’s eyes lifted from the ground and met Luka’s. 

He realized he had his murder face on too. 

The two siblings smirked at each other and then both looked at their feet. Luka breathed, reminded himself of little black butterflies, and when he looked back up his face felt more normal.

“W-well, I understand why you might think that, but you haven’t heard Luka play, he really was the best choice and—“ Rose began, then Juleka caught Rose’s chin and turned her face toward Luka. Rose brightened. “Oh, there he is!”

“Oh!” Lila slipped ahead of them to plant herself in front of Luka, hands wrapped around the strap of her bag as she looked up at him from under her bangs. “You must be Luka, I’ve heard so much about you,” Lila gushed, batting her eyes at him. “Juleka talks about you all the time.” Juleka gave her a sidelong look, which made Luka want to laugh. Juleka hardly talked about anything, and never talked about Luka if she could help it. “Rose and Juleka and I were just talking about this gig I booked for Kitty Section at L’Accord d’Or!”

Luka smiled over Lila’s head at Rose. “That’s great Rose, I know you’ve been trying to get us in there for months.”

“Yeah,” Juleka said flatly. “Who knew that all that time all Lila had to do was make a phone call.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rose fluttered, not seeming to know where to look. “What’s important is that we got the gig now!” Her face brightened with genuine excitement. “And it’s not at the open mic, we’re the headline act. And it pays!” She bounced on her toes, hands clasped together. 

“That’s great news, Rose. I know you’ve worked really hard to make it happen.” Luka said, giving the girl’s shoulder a little squeeze. No wonder Juleka was pissed, if Lila was trying to take the credit. 

When he looked back at Lila, Luka could practically see the calculations appearing over her head as she looked him up and down. He gave her a bland look back that was part disinterest and part warning. He knew that look, he’d seen it over and over in eyes the same blue as his own. It wasn’t even any special kind of insight that told him this girl was selfish and self-centered, just cold, hard experience. 

Maybe he’d done too well at shielding Juleka if she couldn’t see it too. Luka turned his attention back to Rose.

“I thought we should get together and talk about it right away,” Rose was saying, “since we only have a couple of weeks to get ready. He wanted to do the gig soon while people are still talking about Luka. And I thought maybe Marinette could help us make up some T-shirts and things we could sell.”

“You’re so forgiving, Rose,” Lila said with admiration. “Even after Marinette ditched you guys to be with Luka.”

“Marinette’s done a lot for all of us,” Luka said mildly. “But Rose, If we’re getting paid, we need to make sure Marinette is too. She’s already done all of our costumes and the backdrop.”

“Wow,” Lila cooed, curling her hand on Luka’s arm with that slip-squeeze move girls had been pulling on him all week. “She did all of that? She must be so into you.” 

Luka didn’t even hear her, gaze suddenly focused on the door. “Here she comes now.” He tried to keep his expression neutral, but he knew he hadn’t entirely succeeded. It was kind of impossible, given the rush that flooded his system. He hadn’t seen her since he had kissed her in the hall at the bakery. He pulled his arm away from Lila absently, plucking her hand off when she didn’t let go, and reached for the guitar pick in his pocket, pressing the edges into his fingers. He’d promised her when they kissed that it wouldn’t change anything and he was going to keep that promise if it killed him. Marinette caught sight of them, blushed, waved, and tripped on the steps. 

Luka moved without thinking, even knowing he was too far away to help. Suddenly there was a flash of white and blond in front of them and Adrien was lowering a red-faced and stammering Marinette carefully to the pavement.

“Adrien,” Lila squealed, bouncing over to them. “Oh, it’s so good that you were there, that was a really bad fall, Marinette. I know you must be excited to see Luka but you should be more careful.”

Marinette’s face turned even redder as she got to her feet. Lila pushed in between them, and linked her arms through both Marinette’s and Adrien’s, pulling them with her back over to Rose, Juleka, and Luka. “I was just telling Luka about the gig I booked for Kitty Section!”

Juleka growled at Luka’s side and he put his hand on her shoulder. He got an elbow in the ribs for his trouble, but then she folded her arms and huffed out a sigh. 

“Hey Luka, good to see you!” Adrien waved, trying to discreetly pull his other arm free of Lila’s. Marinette was less delicate, shoving the girl’s hand away with a disgusted expression. Undeterred, Lila simply wrapped both hands around Adrien’s arm as he continued. “I saw the clip of you on stage with Jagged, it was awesome! You looked like you were born for it.”

Luka ran his fingers through his hair. “Thanks, I’m just glad he picked that song since I’ve played it so many times at home. I thought I was going to pass out just meeting him, but he was really cool, and it was really funny watching him tease Marinette.” She blushed slightly when he smiled at her, and his heart did a little flip. 

“Really?” Adrien chuckled. “I know he’s a fan of her work. She signed my copy of his last album cover.” He grinned and nudged Marinette with his elbow.

“Yeah, it’s adorable actually, he treats her like she’s his favorite niece or something.” Luka kept his attention on Adrien but watched Lila out of the corner of his eye. “And he brags about her like a proud grandpa.”

“Wow,” Lila said, opening her eyes wide. “Marinette must really have wanted to impress you to use her connections like that. That’s so brave, Marinette! I mean, I would never have dared to bother Jagged Stone just to impress a boy. Oh, isn’t it sooo cute that Marinette likes Luka so much, Adrien! They make such a cute couple!”

Marinette flushed from her hairline to her collar. “We’re not a couple! It wasn’t like that! I only know Jagged because I was in the right place at the right time and he happened to like my work. It was crazy lucky and Luka’s so talented, I just thought he should have the same chance that I had. And he did great and now he’s opening doors for Kitty Section. I think it’s awesome that we can all help each other succeed in our dreams. After all, what good are all these ‘amazing connections’ if you can’t use them to help your friends?”

Something ugly flashed across Lila’s face but Adrien spoke up before she could bite back. “You’re right, Marinette,” Adrien agreed brightly. “It might have been luck that you met Jagged but you’ve definitely made the most of it, and paying it forward to help Luka and Kitty Section is really cool.”

“Y-you think so?” Marinette nearly whispered, still red in the face. 

“Yeah, it makes me think I should be more active thinking of ways I could do the same,” Adrien rubbed his neck. “I never really thought about it before, but there’s got to be more I could be doing.”

“Oh, Adrien, it’s so like you to think that way,” Lila purred. “Maybe we could have coffee sometime and we could talk about it? You know I’m involved in so many charity projects, I have tons of experience at that kind of thing.”

Marinette looked like she might explode. Adrien laughed uneasily and finally managed to get his arm away from Lila. He started backing away from the group, glancing back towards the silver car waiting for him. “Some other time, maybe, I have uh, somewhere to be right now. Bye guys, and congrats again on the gig!”

“Bye Adrien,” Lila waved cheerfully, and then turned to Marinette. Luka felt a physical pain at the way Marinette tensed up. “Oh, Marinette, it’s so good to see you’ve finally moved on from your hopeless crush on Adrien. I hope that means we can be friends now since there’s no more need for you to be jealous.”

Marinette folded her arms and gave Lila a look that Luka had last seen aimed at Bob Roth. “I think we both know that’s not going to happen and why.”

“Oh, Marinette, it’s really not fair for you to lead Luka on if you’re still hung up over Adrien,” Lila returned, sugary sweet, and Marinette went from red to white, and Luka felt his own face heat. “Or,” Lila lowered her voice to a perfectly audible stage whisper. “Don’t tell me that you went to all that trouble for him and he still turned you down. You poor thing, that’s so…” she paused, as if looking for the word, and then smirked. “Pathetic.” 

Lila whipped around as Luka began to laugh. “You can’t be serious,” he managed to get out between chortles. Beside him, Juleka was smirking. “You’re not taking anyone in with that one.” 

“Yeah,” Juleka drawled. “He’s been stupid over Marinette since they met.” Rose giggled, though she still looked uncomfortable.

“All right guys, are we having this meeting or what?” Luka stepped around Lila and put his arm around Marinette’s shoulders to guide her away. “Anybody know if Ivan is coming?”

“Oh, he asked me to tell you he had to stay and talk to Miss Bustier for a little bit,” Marinette said. “He’ll be along in a few minutes. Um, if you want, we could have the meeting at my place? It’s not big but at least we wouldn’t be standing in the sun. Plus you know Maman and Papa will feed us.”

Rose and Juleka both perked up. “Sounds like a plan,” Luka grinned. “Lead the way.” 

“Don’t worry, Marinette,” he heard Lila purr behind them. “I’ll take good care of Adrien now that you’ve moved on. You couldn’t have gotten in at Gabriel even with Adrien’s help, anyway.”

“Ugh, she makes me nauseous,” Luka said softly to Marinette as they approached the crosswalk. “I see what you meant, now.”

“Oh my God, Luka, I’m so sorry, that must have been so embarrassing for you,” Marinette whimpered. 

“Not really. It was the truth, I’m crazy about you and I’m not ashamed of it.” Luka tightened his arm around her, and then reluctantly let her go, pretending not to see her radiant blush. “She wouldn’t be so threatened by you if you weren’t so amazing. People like that, you almost have to feel sorry for. How lame must her life be to make her so bitter?”

Marinette was silent for a moment, her blush fading as her expression fell. “So you think I should just let it go?”

“What? No!” Luka said, surprised. “Feeling sorry for her doesn’t mean putting up with her crap. Whatever’s going on in her life, she has a choice about how she treats other people. And I can tell you from experience, people like her will take everything they can get and then burn down the rest just out of spite.”

“Adrien knows how she is,” Marinette said quietly. “But he didn’t want me to say anything. He said making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy.”

Luka snorted softly. “All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.”

Marinette’s head whipped around to look up at him. He met her eyes got a moment and then focused on the sidewalk ahead of him.

“Look, it’s to Adrien’s credit that he is the way he is. In a way he’s proof of what I was saying. He has a crappy home life and he still chooses to be optimistic and compassionate, and maybe that means he has a weak spot for people like Lila and Chloé. Maybe if he admitted to himself that some people are beyond redemption, then he has to admit that there’s no hope for his own father. That his dad will always be cold and calculating and manipulative and Adrien will never be good enough for him.” Luka paused and took a deep breath. “It’s a hard thing to admit to yourself. It’s even harder to admit that the reason those people won’t change, is because they don’t care enough to try.” He glanced back at Rose and Juleka, glad to see they were trailing far enough behind that they wouldn’t overhear. “I get it, you know? He still has hope. I just…” He lowered his voice without really meaning to and she swayed a little closer to hear. “I remember how it felt when there wasn’t any hope left, just all of us exhausted and used up and tossed away, and all I can think about is how much time we wasted believing the lie that if we just tried hard enough we could make him want to stay. So no, I can’t agree with Adrien. Giving in to selfishness never turned it into generosity either.” 

Marinette stopped walking and put her arms around Luka’s middle, squeezing tight. He patted her arm, and then pulled away, a little uncomfortable with having said so much. “Anyway, you do what you think is right, Marinette. Protect yourself and trust your instincts. You might not always get it right the first time, but I know you will in the end.”

“Thanks, Luka. I think I needed to hear that.”

They waited in silence at the crosswalk for a moment for the others to catch up. Luka chuckled suddenly. “You know, she made a mistake today.”

“What?” Marinette blinked at him. 

“Lila screwed up. She pissed off Juleka.” Luka grinned. “Rose has been spinning her wheels for months trying to get us into that club, and Lila just up and claims it was all because of her that Rose finally got through. I’m not sure whether Juleka believes Lila and is mad that she didn’t do anything sooner, or if she knows Lila didn’t do anything and is mad at her for lying, but either way, she’s mad that Rose is unhappy. So that’s one less person on Lila’s side anyway. That’s how I know you’ll come out on top no matter what you decide to do.” He didn’t even try to hide the affection in his face when he looked at her. “You can call it karma or whatever, but I’m sure you’ll always have people on your side. Maybe there will always be a Lila out there, taking the credit and name-dropping and looking out for number one. But you...you’re always lifting up the people around you. You don’t let pursuing your own dreams stop you from caring about everyone else’s.” 

As he said the words, the world seemed to stop for a heartbeat, and suddenly he knew what he wanted to sing for her.  Her pink cheeks grew a little pinker as he smiled a slow, secret smile, but before she could ask any questions, Rose and Juleka joined them and they all crossed the street. “You’ll come to the gig, right?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual. “We wouldn’t even be playing a place this big if it weren’t for you.”

Marinette sighed. “I wish you’d stop saying that. You’re the one who impressed Jagged. You’re the one who played in front of all those people.”

“You’re the one who gave me that chance. But I’m sorry, I’ll try not to bring it up anymore if it makes you uncomfortable. Anyway, will you come? I’d really like you to be there.” 

Marinette waved her phone. “Already on my calendar. Actually I was thinking I might try to get there when you guys do so I can help you get ready, if that’s okay? I want to make sure your costumes are perfect for this!”

Luka smiled. “Better make sure your website is ready for all the traffic you’re going to get. Rose said people are already asking about T-shirt’s and things.”

“I’m not surprised, you did make it look good.” Marinette slapped her hand over her mouth and Luka looked away and coughed to hide his laughter. 

Kitty Section worked harder than they ever had for the next couple of weeks. It was a scramble to finish the new song Luka and Rose had been working on, and then they had to figure out what else they were going to play and practice that. (Penny said covers would be a good way to pad their setlist, Luka had informed the group.) Fortunately all of the band members were extremely motivated, so once they got over the hurdle of agreeing on which songs to play (which turned out to be a very high hurdle indeed), they worked relentlessly to get them down, meeting every chance they got to practice.

Marinette had to miss a lot of those rehearsals, but that was fine--that was actually good as far as Luka was concerned, since he had to get the band on board with his plan and then teach them the music he had reworked to suit Kitty Section's metal sound. 

He tried to frame it as platonically as he could, but he still spent almost as much time ignoring teasing comments (and Rose’s overly romanticized fantasy world where he and Marinette had a wedding officiated by Jagged Stone before honeymooning during Luka’s first international tour) as he did practicing. As he lived with Juleka, he was accustomed to blocking out things he didn’t want to listen to, so he let most of it roll off his back. 

Luka was surprised when Ivan stopped after practice one day to lean against the rail next to him.

“Hey,” Ivan said, rubbing his hand over his hair. “You um...okay? We were kinda giving you a really hard time today.”

“Yeah, you were.” Luka shrugged. “But it’s okay. I know I’m an idiot.”

“You’re really in love with Marinette?”

Luka sighed. “Head over heels, man.”

“Wow,” Ivan mumbled, and then was silent for a moment. “So you think the song’ll work?”

“Nope.” 

Ivan blinked. “Really? But…”

“Rose’s romantic fever dreams aside, I’m not doing this to try to win Marinette over. I know she loves somebody else and—well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish for something different, but that’s her choice to make, you know? I just…” He paused, automatically beginning to play his feelings as he tried to find words. 

“I owe Marinette a lot,” Ivan said after a moment. “She was the one who really encouraged me to confess to Mylène. I might never have gotten up the guts of it weren’t for her.”

Luka grinned, looking up at him. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah, I was the first akuma victim, you know. Yay me.”

Luka huffed. “I feel you on that one.”

“I was so in love with Mylène but every time I tried to get close to her, I scared her. I was feeling super down about it. Marinette gave me a pep talk. I mean, things still kinda got worse before they got better, but it turned out all right.”

Luka shook his head, smiling to himself. “She’s something else. You know I was impressed with her before we even met. You wouldn’t believe how much money I’ve spent on ice cream and nail polish every class photo day for years. I was all set for Juleka to come home crying yet again, and instead she comes home with a smile on her face. Even having been akumatized that same day, she was so happy. I asked her what happened and she just smiled and said, ‘Marinette.’” 

“She’s always helping out, huh?” Ivan rubbed his hand over his head again. 

Luka slid his hand over the fretboard thoughtfully. “I just...want her to know how special she is, you know? Like I said, it’s not about winning her over, just...letting her know.”

“Yeah, I think I get it.” Ivan punched him lightly in arm and Luka tried not to wince. “Still...good luck, man. You and Marinette, you both deserve good things.”

“Thanks, Ivan.”

Even though Marinette couldn’t always be at practice, she was still working for them. She presented them with three new t-shirt designs, all of them simpler than the ones she’d originally made for the band so they could be easily sourced out to a printing company. She’d teamed up with Marc and Nath (names Luka only vaguely recognized) and they’d created posters and fliers featuring comic-book style drawings of the band playing on the back of a winged cat unicorn. Luka had to admit, once he stopped laughing, that they were pretty awesome. The band plastered them all over their schools, in as many local coffee shops and music stores as they could get to, and Luka had to smile when he passed one proudly displayed in the bakery window. 

And somehow, the image, including the gig date and time, got passed to Jagged Stone, who tweeted it out to his billions of followers. “I thought we were going to have to give Nath oxygen when we told him,” Marinette giggled. 

By the time the gig night rolled around, it was no shock to anyone that the club was packed.

“Are you nervous?” Marinette asked as she helped Luka lift the breastplate into place and began to fasten the ties.

“If you’d asked me that yesterday, I would’ve said yes, totally, but tonight? Honestly, I’m stoked,” Luka told her, tilting his mask in his hands to admire the play of the glitter under the club lights. “This place is amazing, the set list is sick, the crowd energy is amazing, and your costumes look unreal under these lights. We’ve worked really hard and I feel like we’re ready for this. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Marinette shook her head. “You guys are amazing, if it were me I’d pass out. Is this okay, can you move?”

Luka moved his arms experimentally. “Good as gold. You’re amazing in plenty of other ways, Marinette.” 

He wasn’t even sure she heard him. She bounced and squealed. “You look so great, you’re right, this is gonna be awesome! You’re gonna knock ‘em dead!”

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He blinked at her but Marinette just flashed him a shy smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and turned away to help Rose. 

He took a few minutes to himself to just close his eyes and breathe, and when he opened his eyes again the rest of the band was ready, and Marinette was passing him on her way to the door. “Hey,” he caught her shoulder. “Can you try to get a spot up front? I want to be able to see you.”

Marinette smiled. “I’ll be there. Adrien’s already out there and he has his bodyguard holding space for me and Nino and Alya.”

“Great,” he said, letting his hand fall to catch hers and squeeze it. “Hey guys, all in real quick before Marinette leaves?”

The band crowded together to slap a high five. “Kitty Section!” They yelled together. Marinette and Mylène went to find their places. 

Luka slipped his mask over his face. “All right guys, let’s do this.”

The crowd roared as the band walked on stage. Luka took a deep breath as he slipped his guitar over his head. Remember the plan. He played a short riff to get the crowd’s attention as the others took their places. He stepped up next to Rose at the center mic as she welcomed the crowd, and then handed off the microphone to him. There was a cheer as he took off his mask and waved to the crowd. 

“Thanks for coming out to hear us tonight,” he began. “Let me introduce the members of Kitty Section, first on lead vocals, Rose Lavillant!” Beside him Rose lifted her mask, waved, and held up a victory sign. “Rose is also writes our lyrics, runs our Instagram, and books our shows, she’s amazing and her hard work and persistence got us here tonight.” Eat that, Lila. “Next, if you didn’t know, I have the coolest kid sister in Paris and she’s here on bass, Juleka Couffaine.”  Juleka left her mask in place and her wave looked more like clawing the air. “And last, he plays a killer set of drums but he’s also one of the greatest friends any of us could ask for—especially if you have furniture to move—ladies and gentlemen, Ivan Bruel.” Ivan stood up behind his drum set and punched his arms in the air as the crowd cheered.  “Alright, let’s get this place rocking, I’m Luka Couffaine and we are,” they all bellowed together, “Kitty Section!”

Ivan counted them off as Luka slipped his mask back on and relinquished the mic to Rose, her own mask back in place as she belted, “Oh I love unicorns…”

The energy in the crowd was amazing and it definitely fired up the band. Luka didn’t think they’d ever played better. They went through the first half of their set flawlessly and Luka felt incredible. 

Then it was time, and for the first time that evening the chill of nerves wound down Luka’s spine. 

“Thank you!” Rose hollered into the mic. “And now we have something special for you tonight, so ladies and gentlemen, kittens and unicorns, give it up for Kitty Section’s own Luka Couffaine!”

The audience erupted as Luka took off his mask, handing it to Rose as he took his place at the mic. 

“Wow, thank you,” he said, grinning out at them and hoping his nerves didn’t show as he raised the mic stand to a more comfortable height. “Really, thank you, I’m so humbled and grateful to have all your support.” Chants of Luka, Luka broke out and he laughed. “Wow, seriously, you guys. Thank you so much.” He cleared his throat. “So this next song is maybe an odd choice for a rock band, but I hope you’ll like what we’ve done with it. I’ve been thinking a lot about hopes and dreams lately. I think you can probably guess why,” he grinned as laughter rippled across the audience. “It’s been a pretty surreal experience. And it’s got me thinking a lot about dreams and life and just...potential, you know? I think about how lucky I am to have gotten the opportunities I’ve had. But, at the same time it feels disrespectful to call it luck, because it was intentional. It was a very special person taking the opportunities she’s been given and passing them on. If you ask her, she’ll tell you she didn’t do very much, but that’s not even remotely true. For one thing, she designed our awesome stage gear,” he tapped the sparkling kittycorn on his breastplate. “And if you could have been there in the band meetings and listened to what the poor girl had to put up with while we were tossing ideas around, you’d be even more impressed.” There was another ripple of laughter, and Luka chuckled, turning his pick in his fingers. “You know, some people think you have to be ruthless to follow your dreams, that you’ll never get anywhere without stepping on the people around you.” His eyes locked on Marinette, who was gaping at him, mouth open and one hand locked on Alya’s arm. “But then there are some people who aren’t afraid to share their dreams and who are excited to share yours, and that’s what Marinette has been for us. I don’t have time to tell you half of the things she’s done for Kitty Section and also for me personally, or to tell you how she’s encouraged and inspired a lot of people in this room, and if I tried she’d probably pass out.” He grinned and winked at her. “So instead I’m just gonna say, this one’s for you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl with a million dreams, and a heart big enough to hold all of ours.” There were scattered cheers from Marinette’s friends, but for the most part the room seemed to hold its collective breath.

Luka closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself. When he felt ready, he began to play what he’d been working on for weeks. He took a deep breath, and stepped up to the mic, eyes still half-closed as he began to sing, his voice low and mellow despite the metal sound of his guitar beneath. “I close my eyes and I can see a world that’s waiting up for me, that I call my own…Through the dark, through the door, through where no one’s been before, but it feels like home…”

Luka opened his eyes, and smiled down at Marinette, who now had both hands over her mouth. “They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy, they can say they can say I’ve lost my mind...I don’t care, I don’t care if they call me crazy...we can live in a world that we design…”

Luka tore his eyes away from her, scanning across the crowd, feeling Ivan’s rhythm through his feet and Juleka’s bass thrumming behind him and Rose’s voice coming in to support his. “Cause every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake…I think of what the world could be, the vision of the one I see, a million dreams is all it’s gonna take...a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” He was starting to see faces in the crowd, now, friends that had come out to support them, faces with dreams for their own. He wanted every one of them to have the same gift Marinette had given him. He sang on, and his already racing heart tripped and stuttered, and he closed his eyes again to keep back the tears trying to spring up as he poured his heart into his hands and voice. 

“However big, however small, let me be part of it all...share your dreams with me...we may be right, we may be wrong, but I wanna bring you along, to the world I see, to the world we close our eyes to see, we close our eyes to see…”

He dropped his hands from the guitar and held the microphone instead.

“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake.” He barely remembered to pick up his guitar in time to catch the crescendo. “I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see, a million dreams is all it’s gonna take, a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make…”

His voice caught on the last line. “For the world we’re gonna make.”

There was a beat of total silence, and the crowd exploded.  Luka could only raise a hand to acknowledge them as he stepped back, and accepted his mask back from Rose, who hugged him impulsively before coming back to her place at the microphone. He settled the mask back over his face, breathing hard, and tried to remember what they were supposed to play next. It was several minutes before he felt composed enough to look at Marinette.

Her face was in her hands, but she looked up just as he looked down and caught his eyes, and though her face was tear-streaked, the smile she gave him was blinding.

Chapter Text

Luka tossed his sweaty hair back from his face and looked out at the blinding lights. “Okay guys,” he said into the microphone, picking idly at his guitar. “I think we’re gonna take it down a bit for this next song. But first, can we bring the house lights up please?”

Used to his quirks, the lighting crew responded quickly, dimming the lights in his eyes and turning up the lights on the crowd in the packed stadium.

“That’s better,” Luka said, skimming the crowd of fans waving and screaming wildly. “I know this might be kinda weird if this is your first show with me, but I just like to see you. Put some faces to my audience. This is a two way street, you and me, and I don’t wanna forget that.”

A small crowd of girls off to his right screamed in rehearsed unison, “WE LOVE YOU LUKA!” 

He grinned toward them and winked. “Love you too, sweethearts.” As they shrieked excitedly he looked at the banner they were holding up, decorated with birthday cakes and glittery letters. “Seventeen huh? Nice. Happy birthday, babe.” The girl in the middle of the group wearing a sparkly tiara put her hands over her mouth, eyes huge, while her friends practically mobbed her. Luka chuckled and returned to his perusal of the crowd, meeting as many eyes as he could. Somewhere a group of fans screamed for Juleka and out of the corner of his eye he could see her raise a lace-gloved hand to blow them a kiss. 

Suddenly he locked eyes with a familiar sapphire gaze and the rest of the stadium disappeared. 

“Well hey there, beautiful,” he said softly, ignoring the several ladies in the line of his gaze who swooned or screamed. She knew who he was talking to, a slow smile spreading over her face. “I didn’t know you were back in Paris.” His grin widened as he took in the faces around her. “Wow, check it out Jules, looks like a bunch of old friends came to see us tonight. Awesome.” 

He tore his gaze away with effort, and looked up to the balcony. He couldn’t see faces up there as well, but he let his gaze rake across slowly before nodding. “All right. Now that we know each other, let’s get back to the music, shall we?”

The lighting crew recognized their cue, and the blinding lights were back as the stadium went dark. Luka stepped back from the mic for a moment to take a deep, centering breath, focusing on the vibrations of the stage that he could feel even through his heavy boots, the feel of his guitar in his hands, and the song he could still hear ringing in his mind even though he couldn’t see her anymore.

Then his fingers began to move, and he stepped back up to the mic.

The critics said it was his best concert to date.