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Juleka was being weird.
From the moment Marinette showed up on the deck of the Liberty for her guitar lesson, Juleka had been shooting glances over at Luka and grinning, trying to get his attention. He was ignoring her, for the most part. Although when he did catch Juleka’s eyes, the tips of his ears kept going red. Luka had quietly suggested they go below deck and with a glance back at Juleka, Marinette led the way.
And Juleka followed them, too, whispering something in Luka’s ear behind him on the way down. He’d shoved her away, but she bounced into the living area and plopped onto the couch. Her tawny eyes started flicking between Marinette and Luka and her grin was growing by the second.
“Maybe I should go?” Marinette asked, more to Luka than to Juleka, since it seemed like it was something about her that was making him uncomfortable.
“No, it’s okay. Juleka was just leaving.”
He shot a pointed look at Juleka, but instead of leaving, she picked up a book and settled into her seat, glancing up at Luka over the cover. He grumbled something under his breath, and then plugged his guitar into the small amp they kept downstairs.
He was standing behind Marinette, helping her place her fingers, when Juleka started giggling. Luka’s hand tensed around Marinette’s and she felt him take a deep, calming breath behind her.
“Juleka,” he started, his voice low, “can you give us some space?”
“Some space, huh?” Juleka muttered back, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She sat up and laid her book aside to cross her legs on the couch. “I would think you’d want less space.”
Luka took a quick step back and Marinette turned to look at him. He was raking his hair over his ears in an effort to cover them.
“Sorry,” he smiled at Marinette, although there was something strained in his tone. “Give us a second.” He caught Juleka’s eye and nodded towards the door. With an exaggerated sigh, Juleka stood to follow him.
They had what seemed like an argument in low tones. Or maybe less of an argument and more of a verbal sparring match, which Luka was losing if the way his eyebrows were knitting together was any indication. But he was slowly circling Juleka towards the door and blocking her from coming back in, so maybe he had more of an upper hand than Marinette thought.
With a final glance back at Marinette, Juleka went up the stairs and Luka sighed in relief.
“What was that all about?” Marinette asked.
“Nothing, it’s just something she’s holding over me.”
“Like a secret?”
“Not exactly.” He looked back at her and smiled. “Although it is a bit embarrassing.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She blushed as she turned back around. She tried to put her fingers back where he’d shown her, but when she strummed it didn’t sound like it was supposed to. Like when Luka’s cool hands had been over hers, helping her find the right frets and fixing her position. She shook her head clear and tried again, but it was still wrong.
“Here.”
He was behind her again, adjusting her fingers on the fretboard, and when she tried to strum again, the chord came out right. She turned to smile back at him and he was closer than he’d been standing before. He was almost pressed against her back and if that wasn’t his heartbeat she could hear, then it must be her own, pounding in her ears like it always did when he was close to her like this. She turned back around, her face flaming, and strummed a few more times.
“Good, then if you shift here…” he fixed her fingers again. She got a little lost noticing how deftly his hands moved and how intensely his eyes were focused until she heard him chuckle. “Marinette?”
“Yes! You’re fine—I mean! I’m fine, I mean… what’s this one again?” She hung her head and groaned as she kept strumming woodenly, hearing the chord she was creating but not registering it.
He paused before he answered. “C Major.”
Oh, whoops. That was one of the first ones he’d taught her and she should know that one by now. He’d been giving her lessons for weeks, after all. And she had been paying attention, really, and he was an excellent teacher despite his protests. It was just that whenever he complimented her or hummed along with her or even just said her name, her mind tended to go completely blank. A lot like it was now.
His hand fell over hers across the strings and the instrument quieted as she froze.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.
She didn’t trust herself to try to speak, so she nodded instead. He pulled away and held out his hands for his guitar. She unslung it and he set it in its stand before he turned back to her.
“I don’t think I should keep teaching you guitar, Marinette.”
“But…”
“It’s nothing you did,” he rushed to assure her. “You’re doing great.”
“Then why can’t you teach me anymore?”
He raked his hair over his ears again and glanced up at her through his bangs.
“Is it because of Juleka?”
He let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, kinda. But it’s more because of me. I just… I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Why would you make me uncomfortable?”
“I dreamt about you last night,” he said. His earnest tone struck some chord deep within her. “And I… talked. That’s why Juleka’s been teasing me.”
“Oh,” she managed to say.
“Yeah.”
She was grateful they were on the boat because the gentle creaking of the hull filled the silence that stretched between them.
“What was the dream about?” she asked quietly.
He blew out a breath as he seemed to think about it. “I don’t remember, really. The only reason I know about it is because I said your name in my sleep and Juleka hasn’t let it go since.”
He leaned back against the arm of the couch and crossed his arms. Giving her space, she figured, although Juleka was right about one thing. Marinette wanted less of it.
There was only one reason she’d asked to learn guitar, and it was most definitely not because she wanted space from Luka. It’d been weeks of having him close to her and she still hadn’t dared to tell him what she really wanted.
“What do you think it was about, then?” She hadn’t meant to whisper. It did something to him though, because he sat up a little straighter and cleared his throat.
“I can’t… I mean, I don’t know. Probably nothing.”
“If it was nothing, then why is Juleka teasing you about it?”
She dared to take a step closer to him. Her face was probably a bright, neon red by now, but she was determined. His breath came out in a low, embarrassed chuckle.
“All right, so maybe I do remember it. And maybe I told her once she’d pestered me enough.”
“Tell me?”
He glanced up at her before he sighed. His ears were red again under the blue tips of his hair. “It was about that day at the ice rink.”
She reached out to take one of his hands and nodded for him to continue.
“Except I ran after you instead. And when you heard me calling for you, you turned and you came back to me. You kissed me.” His hand tightened around hers and he dropped his eyes to his shoes. “Wishful thinking, I guess.”
“Do you wish you’d gone after me?”
“No, I did the right thing. I know that.”
“Luka.” She took another step forward and she was standing in his personal space now, slotted in between his knees. “Do you wish you’d gone after me?”
His thumb stroked against hers as he looked up at her. “Every day.”
She took his other hand and smiled. “Me, too.”
The creaking of the hull seemed louder this time as she waited for him to process. He blinked up at her before he straightened up to stand in front of her. His eyes flicked around the room and landed on the guitar they’d been practicing with. The guitar she was no closer to learning how to play than when they first started these lessons.
“Why did you want to learn to play the guitar?” he asked breathlessly.
“I couldn’t ask you to teach me to ice skate.” She giggled nervously and lowered her eyes to their hands, still joined at their sides. “I just… I wanted to spend time with you.” When she dared to look back up at him, he seemed frozen, watching her with all of his intense focus trained on her. “I wanted to be close to you,” she amended.
“Anything else?” He sounded dazed, although his smile was turned up at the side like a smirk.
She fidgeted with their hands beside them and took a deep breath. It was now or never and she’d come this far.
“I wanted to kiss you,” she admitted.
She heard his breath hitch before he wrapped his arm around her to pull her in closer to him. As he leaned down to brush his nose against hers, he was smiling and his eyes were brighter than she’d ever seen them.
“Me, too.”
A quiet giggle at the door made him glance up, but he didn’t seem to care that Juleka was watching as he pressed his lips against hers.
Kissing Luka felt like C Major when she got it right. A little thrill ran down her spine all the way to her toes and she pushed into him eagerly, falling onto his chest and making him stagger backwards to lean against the couch again. He broke away from her to laugh and repositioned himself so she could tuck herself into his arms.
“C Major,” she whispered, “got it now.”
“Your first successful guitar lesson.” He was smirking at her, teasing her, although he still sounded just as dazed and breathless as before. “Congrats.”
“I have a good teacher.” She smirked back at him and grabbed his jacket to pull him back to her. His arms wrapped around her waist tightly, holding her to him as if he’d never let her go again.