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Luka stood in front of Marinette, his hand held in front of her. Marinette hesitated a moment before placing her palm on his. Adrien blinked, eyes wide, as Luka pulled Marinette onto the ice rink and spun her around in only a few smooth movements. His eyes followed them around the rink, refusing to look away.
“Adrien?”
Adrien dragged his gaze away from the pair at the sound of Kagami’s voice. She was watching him with a questioning gaze. “Uh, sorry about that.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck apologetically. “I got distracted. So, shall we follow after those two?” He stood up, offering Kagami his hand.
Kagami stared at his hand, seeming to contemplate whether or not to grab it. Her eyes darted to Luka and Marinette, before she looked back at Adrien and said, “Why did you invite me here, Adrien?”
Adrien faltered, dropping his hand. Something about her tone … threw him off. “I--I don’t know,” he mumbled. “To hang out?”
Kagami sighed, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands across her chest. “When we spoke after fencing practice, you put me under a different impression. Are you honestly going to tell me that this has absolutely nothing to do with your feelings?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed at him.
“I--”
“You know,” Kagami cut him off, “if you’re interested in someone else, you can just be honest with me.”
Adrien’s eyes widened. “What? No!” he denied. “Who would I be interested in?”
Kagami scoffed. “Please, I’m not blind. I saw the way you watched Luka and Marinette out there.”
“You think I have a crush on … Marinette?” Adrien gaped, the statement alone sounding wrong. Marinette was a good friend to him, and he really appreciated all that she did for him, but Adrien could honestly say that he saw her as nothing more than that.
Kagami pursed her lips at his reaction, a resigned look crossing her face. “If you don’t want to admit it, then fine,” she said.
Adrien tensed when he saw her stand up and grab her bag. “Wait, are you leaving?” he blurted, reaching out a hand to stop her. Kagami merely brushed it away.
“Yes,” she said. “You and I would be good together, Adrien. I truly do believe that. However, nothing can happen between us if your thoughts remain elsewhere.” She briskly walked past Adrien, who slumped at her words. He didn’t want to hurt Kagami, who was clearly disappointed in him, but he couldn’t really argue with what she was saying. At the exit to the rink, Kagami paused. She turned to face Adrien and called out, “I’ll see you at fencing practice.” Then she was gone.
Adrien let out a heavy sigh, slumping down into a seat next to the rink. He placed his head in his hands and stared down at his lap. Somehow he had managed to screw everything up without even knowing why. Kagami had accused him of having interests elsewhere, but he really didn’t see Marinette in that way. Was Kagami just seeing something that he wasn’t?
“Are you alright?” Adrien jumped at the voice, and turned to see Luka sitting in the seat next to him. The fellow boy wasn’t looking at Adrien, but it was clear that all his attention was on the blond.
“What?”
A small smile spread across Luka’s lips. “I asked if you’re doing alright.”
“Oh.” Adrien shrugged. “I’m fine, as always. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Luka tipped his head. “Doesn’t seem that way to me. And what does that ‘as always’ mean?”
“I’m Adrien Agreste, the perfect model and the dream guy,” Adrien said dryly. “How could I ever not be alright?”
“Dream guy, huh?” Luka glanced sideways at Adrien in amusement. “That’s quite the title.”
Adrien laughed lightly. “Trust me, I know. If I had been given the choice, I would have chosen something different. It would make school a lot less awkward.”
“I would think so,” Luka agreed.
“Speaking of which,” Adrien said, a frown spreading across his face, “what happened to Marinette?” He glanced around, not seeing her anywhere. A feeling of dread settled in his stomach. Did she…?
“Oh, she just went to the restroom,” Luka answered.
“Oh, good.” Adrien sighed in relief. It would have been horrible if she had stormed off as well. He wouldn’t wish that upon Luka.
Luka watched Adrien with contemplative eyes. “What happened with Kagami? We both saw her storm off and she seemed pretty upset.” Luka turned his body fully to face Adrien, looking him up and down. “Honestly, so do you. Wanna talk about it?”
Adrien shrugged stiffly. “It was nothing. Or, nothing I want to talk about at least.”
“That’s fine.” Luka placed his hand on Adrien’s shoulder and said, “If you change your mind, I’m here.”
Adrien stared, wide-eyed at Luka. The boy was smiling kindly at him, understanding in his eyes. “Thank you,” he breathed. “I appreciate it.”
Luka opened his mouth to say something more, but was cut off by the sound of Marinette calling out, “I’m back!”
Luka pulled his hand off of Adrien’s shoulder, leaving a warmth there, as he turned to smile at Marinette. “Wanna go back out there?” he offered, gesturing to the ice rink.
Marinette spared a glance for Adrien before nodding. “Maybe a few more minutes,” she said.
Luka nodded, standing up. “I hope you feel better soon,” he murmured to Adrien before leaving the blond sitting alone outside of the rink.
Adrien let out a sigh, leaning his head against the back of the bench he was resting on. His shoot had ended early and unfortunately Plagg had been playing around on his phone the whole time, leaving it dead and Adrien unable to contact his bodyguard to come pick him up early.
“Next time, just leave my phone alone okay?” Adrien hissed to Plagg, who was peaking up at him from a pocket in his shirt.
“I was bored,” Plagg shot back. “What am I expected to do during your shoots if not mess around on your little device thing? Your shoots can take hours .”
“Take a nap or something,” Adrien grumbled back.
“ Boring ,” Plagg said, annunciating each syllable. He popped a small piece of cheese in his mouth before continuing, “I’ve slept so much that I don’t think I’ll be able to for at least a wee--ack!”
Plagg let out a noise of complaint as Adrien shoved the kwami back into his shirt when he noticed a figure approaching. His eyebrows shot up when he recognized the figure as Luka.
“Hey Adrien,” Luka said, stopping in front of him. “Didn’t you have a shoot today?”
“Yeah it ended early.” Adrien motioned for Luka to join him on the bench. “You wanna sit down for a bit?”
Luka contemplated the bench for a second before lowering himself next to Adrien. “You’re waiting for your bodyguard, then?”
“Yeah, my phone is dead so I can’t call him.”
“I see.”
A silence fell over the two. It wasn’t really the awkward kind, but more of a comfortable silence. Adrien could feel Plagg shifting about in his pocket and lightly tapped the pocket in warning. At the movement, Luka glanced over. Adrien gave him a sheepish smile.
“So,” Luka said, brushing off Adrien’s behavior, “do you think you’ll be able to make it to the Kitty Section rehearsal tomorrow?”
Adrien turned to his fellow boy in surprise. “There’s a rehearsal tomorrow?” he asked in surprise. “No one told me about this.”
Luka looked back at Adrien with a matching expression of surprise. “Really?” His nose scrunched up in what Adrien assumed was disapproval. “Someone should have told you.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Adrien reassured him. “I’m sure everyone just forgot or assumed that I already knew.”
“No, it’s not fine.” Luka turned intense eyes upon Adrien, causing the blond to fall silent. “You’re a part of the group, Adrien. You need to be kept up to date with what’s going on. We should have made sure you knew.”
Adrien gaped at the righteous frustration flaring in Luka’s eyes. Despite having been going to school for months now, Adrien still sometimes got caught off guard by the way other people saw certain actions as unacceptable. Especially the actions that Adrien had come to expect from his father, such as springing some big event on him last second. Adrien’s mouth twitched upwards in appreciation. “Thank you, Luka,” he said, grabbing Luka’s hands and clasping them between both of his. Luka looked at their hands in surprise. “I really appreciate your consideration.”
Luka offered a smile in return, moving his eyes away from their clasped hands and towards Adrien’s eyes. “Of course. It’s the bare minimum, right?” Adrien let out a small chuckle at that, deciding not to mention that he had very few experiences of ‘the bare minimum.’ “So, I’m guessing you won’t be able to make it tomorrow,” Luka continued, his brows furrowing.
Adrien’s smile fell. “Oh, yeah,” he sighed. “I don’t think I can. My father doesn’t like it when I jump these kinds of things on him, and I doubt he would make an exception even for this. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Luka replied with a shrug. “Although, if you can make it then that would be great. If not, there will be other chances.”
“Luka--” Adrien cut himself off. It was strange. Plenty of people had been nice to him before, but it was different with Luka. It made Adrien feel warm inside everytime Luka said something comforting or just nice in general. Adrien shrugged it off, deciding it must be because Luka was just a great person and an even better friend. “Thank you,” he finally finished. “You’re, like, really nice.”
Luka laughed at that, removing his hands from Adrien’s. “Thank you,” he said with a bright smile. “You’re very nice too. I can see why Marinette speaks so highly of you.”
Adrien smiled. “Thank you.” He jerked a bit when he felt a jab at his rib from Plagg, and turned his head to see that his bodyguard had arrived.
Luka followed his gaze and said, “I guess I’ll see you around then. Later, Adrien.”
Adrien stood up and spared a warm glance to Luka, replying, “See ya, Luka.”
Adrien was elated as he climbed onto Liberty, the boat owned by Luka and Juleka’s mom. His father had actually let him come to the rehearsal that day, which was quite the rarity. “Hey guys!” he called out with a bright smile, drawing the attention of the members of Kitty Section. He pushed his hand forward to offer a handshake to the nearest person. That just so happened to be Luka.
“You made it,” Luka replied in greeting, grabbing Adrien’s outstretched hand and pulling him onto the makeshift stage.
“Yeah, my father was feeling generous today I suppose,” Adrien chirped. “So, what are we doing today?”
“You can probably start by making sure the keyboard is in tune and then doing a few warmup chords,” Luka said. He motioned to his guitar with a small grin and added, “I can give you a few starting notes.”
Adrien nodded enthusiastically before rushing over to the keyboard and tuning it quickly, It didn’t take much time, as it wasn’t terribly out of tune. As he finished up, he turned expectant eyes on Luka, who nodded and readjusted his guitar into a better position. He considered a moment before plucking a string.
“D Major,” Adrien commented approvingly. His fingers quickly moved across the keyboard as he played the chord. He smiled in satisfaction before turning back to Luka. “What next?”
Adrien’s brow furrowed as Luka moved to stand behind the keyboard with Adrien rather than giving him another note. He shot the guitarist a questioning look. “Can you do freestyle?” Luka asked.
Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Of course I can,” he answered, offering Luka a confident grin. “I’ve told you, I’m Adrien Agreste. I’m perfect .”
Luka lightly laughed at that. “Why don’t you prove it?” he challenged.
Adrien shoved him lightheartedly before turning back to the keyboard. He flexed his fingers experimentally before taking a breath and playing. It wasn’t the best tune ever, with some of the notes sounding almost out of place, but Adrien was pretty satisfied with what came out in the end. He almost wished his father was nearby to hear what he had played.
“Wow,” Luka breathed. Adrien turned to the other boy in surprise at the awe in his voice to see him staring at Adrien’s hands with eyes full of admiration. “When your fingers move across the keys, it’s mesmerizing,” he said.
Adrien looked away as he felt a small blush creeping onto his face. “Thank you,” he stammered.
Luka grabbed Adrien’s shoulders and gently turned his back to face him. “Seriously, it’s--”
“Um, Luka?” a voice squeaked. Adrien jumped at the sound as Luka calmly turned to face the person who spoke.
“Yes, Marinette?” he said, his hands still on Adrien’s shoulders. Adrien gulped at the warmth radiating off of them, turning his head to see Marinette’s eyes darting between the two of them.
“Am I … interrupting something?” Marinette asked.
“No!” Adrien exclaimed before slightly wincing at how loudly that had come out. Luka turned his head back to face Adrien, raising an eyebrow. Adrien cleared his throat before saying more quietly, “Uh, sorry. No, you’re not interrupting anything.”
“O-oh, okay,” Marinette said. “Well, your mom is asking for you Luka.”
“I should probably go see what’s up then,” Luka replied, standing up and removing his hands from Adrien’s shoulders. “I’ll be back in a bit,” he said before heading off.
Adrien waved him off before moving over to sit down on a stray box nearby. He glanced at Marinette, who was fidgeting in spot awkwardly. “You want to come sit over here?” he offered her, motioning to a box sitting next to his.
Marinette hesitated a moment before rushing over and plopping down. “Yank thou--I mean, thank you,” she mumbled. She side-eyed Adrien awkwardly. “Umm, it’s nice to see you and Luka getting along.”
Adrien smiled. “He’s really cool. And really nice! It’s easy to get along with him.”
Marinette nodded in agreement. “He’s a sweet guy.”
“Yeah!” Adrien exclaimed. “It’s awesome that I’m getting to know him.”
Marinette smiled. She looked at Adrien in consideration before saying, “Luka is glad that he’s getting to know you too. He mentioned it to me.”
Adrien perked up at that. “He did?”
“Yeah,” Marinette said, looking surprised at Adrien’s reaction. “He’s mentioned you a few times during our, uh, phone calls?”
Adrien beamed. “I’m flattered! You have no idea how happy that makes me, Marinette.”
Marinette looked taken aback. Her hesitant demeanor fell away and she started, “Adrien, are you--”
“I’m back.”
Marinette fell silent, turning to look at Luka and Adrien could have sworn Luka was giving Marinette some kind of look. Apparently he was right, as Luka said, “I need to talk to you, Marinette. Can you come with me for a bit?”
Marinette glanced at Adrien hesitantly before nodding. “I’m coming.”
“Sorry, Adrien, we’ll be right back,” Luka said before grabbing Marinette’s arm and practically dragging her away. Adrien watched them go before leaning back where he was sitting.
What was that all about? Adrien wondered.
“Isn’t Luka amazing?” Adrien asked Plagg as he flopped onto his bed. The kwami floated above Adrien, giving him an unimpressed look. “No, seriously. Amazing .”
“Kid,” Plagg said, “you’ve got it bad.”
Adrien furrowed his brows. “What?”
“Nothing,” Plagg replied breezily. “Just making an observation. But also, what about Ladybug? I thought she was your ‘soulmate’ or whatever you like to call it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Adrien asked. “Luka’s just a friend.”
Plagg groaned. “You’re so dumb. How did I end up with a dumb owner?”
Adrien frowned. “Plagg, calm down. And I’m not dumb. Luka is seriously just a friend.”
Plag plopped down on Adrien’s stomach. “Do I have to spell this out for you? Because I really shouldn’t.”
“Spell what out?”
“Nothing. Whatever,” Plagg muttered before gliding over to the fridge and pulling out a roll of Camembert. Adrien’s nose crinkled in disgust at the sight. Plagg sent a grin Adrien’s way and said, “Gooey goodness.”
“Gross.” Adrien turned away from the sight and closed his eyes. Pushing the conversation with Plagg out of his head, he allowed himself to slowly drift to sleep.
“... an akuma attack on a ship known as the Liberty.”
Adrien bolted up in his seat at those words. He watched the footage on his screen playing with wide eyes, seeing some villain smash it to pieces. His eyes narrowed down on a figure in the water who looked like Luka. “Plagg, Luka’s in danger! I need to transform.”
“Oh, gonna go save your boyfriend?” Plagg teased, floating over. “I suppose I’ll hold back the complaints just this once.”
Adrien grit his teeth. “He’s not my boyfriend. Plagg, claws out!”
Chat Noir hopped out of an open window and started to make his way over to the Seine. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop with ease, only jumping slightly when Ladybug appeared next to him suddenly. “I see you’re on time for once, Chat,” Ladybug commented with a quirk of her lips.
“I saw the akuma on the news,” he replied, narrowing his eyes. “We need to hurry up and stop this one. It’s already caused some serious damage.”
“Hmm, on time and ready to work? Is today my lucky day?” Ladybug chuckled. “But yes, I’d like to fix this one as fast as possible. Did the news happen to mention what powers this akuma has?”
Chat Noir nodded. “It can cause explosions, I think. It has some kind of gun, and when it shoots at something that thing will explode.”
Ladybug pressed her lips together in thought. “I wonder what could have brought this kind of akuma about. It sounds like this’ll be a hard one.”
“Yeah,” Chat agreed with a frown.
The two hopped down from the rooftops once they reached the Seine and Chat breathed a sigh of relief to see that Luka, and everyone else, had safely made it out of the water and were drying off on the pavement. He strode over to Luka and kneeled next to the boy. “Are you alright? I saw the explosion on T.V..”
Luka glanced up at him and offered a small, appreciative smile. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“Good to hear.” Chat Noir looked at Luka's dripping wet form up and down with a frown. “Ladybug and I will hurry up and try to fix all of this as soon as possible. Any idea where the akuma is?”
“Probably the gun,” Luka replied. “It tends to be the weapon, right?”
Chat grinned at him. “Thanks.” Luka nodded, turning away from him to watch Ladybug as she spoke to Juleka and his mother. In doing so, Chat got the chance to examine him. He looked Luka up and down with a critical eye, eyes searching for any injury. He narrowed down on a gash on the backside of his arm. Chat Noir hissed and made a grab for Luka’s arm, startling the other boy. “You’re injured!” Chat Noir accused. “You said you were fine.”
Luka, getting over his initial shock at being grabbed so abruptly, shrugged his shoulders. “It could have been worse. Besides, it’ll all go away once the akuma is taken care of and Ladybug fixes everything.”
Chat frowned and opened his mouth to say more, only to be cut off by something shooting past his ear and the ground behind him exploding. “Shit!” he exclaimed before grabbing Luka and rushing over to Ladybug. “We need to get out of here!” he called out to her.
Ladybug, who had been staring with wide eyes at the explosion, immediately jumped to attention. Her eyes darted around them, searching for the akuma. “Where are you?” she muttered, placing herself protectively in front of Juleka and her mother.
“There’s no time for that! We have to get the civilians to safety,” Chat urged.
Ladybug frowned. “I want them safe too, but the akuma is clearly already here. It’ll just try to shoot at us while we’re running. It’s better to find it first.”
“But--”
He was cut off by another explosion and a loud cackling. The group turned around to see the akuma floating above them with a cat-like grin on its face. “Ladybug, Chat Noir,” it called out. “How kind of you to join us.”
Chat shoved Luka behind him protectively before sending a sharp glare at the akuma. “Stay away from Luka,” he growled.
Ladybug sent him a look before adding, “And the other civilians.”
The akuma raised an eyebrow. “Aww, does our little kitty have a crush? How utterly adorable. Oh Luka, you’re so lucky to have caught the attention of Paris’ amazing superhero.”
Chat tensed, not daring to look at Luka to see what his face looked like. “I don’t have a crush,” he snarled. The akuma merely laughed in response.
Ladybug huffed, swinging her yo-yo towards the akuma and wrapping it around its body. “Chat!” she called out, her arms struggling against the akuma’s writhing form.
“On it,” he replied, rushing forward to the akuma.
“Ugh, so annoying,” the akuma muttered. It squirmed around for a moment before bringing its gun up and aiming it straight at Chat Noir.
“No!” Ladybug called out, loosening her grip on the yo-yo. The akuma grinned, making one final motion and freeing itself. Ladybug stared at the free akuma in frustration.
“Nice try, ladybug,” the akuma taunted, “but I’m far stronger than that. You’ll see just how strong I can be.”
“Who even are you?” Ladybug demanded.
The akuma giggled. “How rude of me to not introduce myself. I am Discharge!”
Chat Noir choked on his spit and Ladybug’s whole body went slack. “I’m sorry, you’re … what?” Chat asked, his lips starting to twitch.
“Discharge,” the akuma replied.
There was a moment of silence, as everyone seemed to be processing that. Then a quiet chuckling came from Chat Noir, slowly getting louder and more aggressive until he was bent over clutching his stomach with tears in his eyes. The akuma narrowed its eyes at the sight. “What? What are you laughing at?” it demanded.
“I’m sorry, it just,” Chat wheezed, cutting himself off. “You’re name,” he gasped. “It’s,” another gasp, “ discharge .”
Discharge’s eyes widened as they realized what Chat Noir was referring to before they narrowed to slits. “That’s not--I’m not--It’s a synonym for an explosion!”
Chat cackled. “I’m sure it is,” he quipped.
Discharge growled, whipping their gun forward and aiming at the group of civilians. “Shut up or I shoot them,” they threatened.
Chat, who was laughing too hard, didn’t even process the threat until a hesitant sounding Luka called out, “Uhh, Chat Noir?”
“Chat, focus!” Ladybug snapped, although there was clear amusement glinting in her eyes.
Chat took a deep breath, calming himself before regaining his composure. “Right, sorry. Let’s take down … Discharge.” He let out a final chuckle before turning to Luka and saying, “Get somewhere safe.”
Luka, who had been watching him strangely, nodded. He grabbed Juleka and Mrs. Couffaine and dragged them away behind a pillar.
Discharge cackled at the sight, saying, “You think that’ll protect you? I can shatter it to pieces!”
“Too bad I won’t let you,” Ladybug shot back. “Lucky Charm!” Ladybug blinked as a cork fell into her hand. Then she turned a grin on Chat and said, “I think I know how to use this one right off the bat. Get your Cataclysm ready.”
Chat nodded, calling out a quick, “Cataclysm!”
Discharge narrowed their eyes. “What are you planning now? Whatever it is, I won’t let you.”
“Try me,” Ladybug shot back. As Discharge raised their gun and aimed, Ladybug herself aimed. There was a loud bang as the akuma pulled the trigger and … nothing. There was no explosion, nothing came out of the gun. Ladybug shot a smirk at the akuma before saying, “Now, Chat Noir!”
“You got it,” Chat said. He ran forward, his Cataclysm hand reached out.
The villain glared at him and said, “You know what? Just do it. I’m over this. This is the worst experience of my life. First I get called Discharge and now this? Just end it already.” They tossed their weapon at Chat, who caught it in one quick movement.
He watched, stunned, as a purple butterfly flew out of the destroyed gun and Ladybug shouted, “Time to de-evilize! Bye-bye little butterfly.” She waved to the retreating form of a white butterfly, before tossing her Lucky Charm into the air.
As everything was miraculously fixed, Chat Noir heard his ring give off a warning beep. “Ah, I’ll be off,” he said, only to be grabbed by the arm before he could run away.
“Wait,” Luka said. Chat blinked at the other boy in surprise before turning to fully face him. “I appreciate you protecting me out there, but I do think you should know something.” Chat tensed, having an idea of where this is going. “I’m … not really interested in you. I’m sorry, I already--”
“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!” Chat Noir spouted, wrenching his arm out of Luka’s grasp and bolting away. His face felt warm as he ran across the Paris rooftops, and he just knew it had to be red as a tomato. He grimaced at the thought before letting out a weak, “Why me?” He raced over to his house as fast as he could, before swinging into his room through the same window he left through.
“Claws out,” Adrien muttered, stumbling through his room towards his bed. He dropped himself down onto the mattress face first, ignoring Plagg’s whine for cheese.
There was the sound of a cupboard opening and closing. Then a loud chewing noise right next to Adrien as Plagg piped up, “So, what did we learn today?”
Adrien groaned, the sound muffled by his face-full of blankets. “Plagg, don’t do this to me.”
“No, no, I’m serious. What did we learn?” Plagg pushed, amusement tinting his voice.
There was a long pause from Adrien as he considered whether or not it was worth it to say. Then, finally caving in, he replied in the most pathetic voice ever, “I have a crush on Luka.”
“Hey Marinette,” Adrien said, stopping in front of his friend. After the advice Marinette had given him about Kagami, Adrien had decided to simply seek her out from the get-go this time.
Marinette froze at the sound of his voice and hesitantly replied, “Hi Adrien.”
“Listen…” Adrien started. “I need some advice. And you gave me great advice with Kagami, so I just thought…”
Marinette’s eyes widened. “You, I mean, Kagami?” she blurted. Then she shook her head and rephrased, saying, “You’re over Kagami?”
Adrien ducked his head in embarrassment. He had thought Marinette would have already known about his failed relationship with Kagami, seeing as she was there that day at the ice rink. Apparently not. “Yeah, we didn’t work out,” he replied with a small chuckle. “There’s someone else now, though.”
Marinette gasped. “Someone … else?”
“Uh, yeah,” Adrien confirmed sheepishly. “You actually know him.”
“HIM?” Marinette exclaimed, before slapping a hand over her mouth. She sent Adrien an apologetic look. “Sorry, I just … I mean, not that it’s a problem. No, it’s fine. I mean, I don’t care. Like, I do care, but not in that way. I’m happy for you?”
Adrien chuckled again. “Thanks, Marinette. I knew you wouldn’t judge me.”
Marinette smiled at that. Then she furrowed her brow and asked, “So, who is it? I mean, I may or may not have a few guesses but I don’t want to name anybody.”
“It’s Luka.”
“LUKA?” Marinette exclaimed again. This time she showed no shame in the volume of her voice, instead grabbing Adrien’s shoulders and aggressively shaking them while crying out, “You have a crush on Luka?” Adrien, shocked at the exuberant reaction from his typically shy friend, merely blinked and nodded. To his further surprise, Marinette seemed happy at this news. “This is great,” she said with a bright smile. “I mean not for me, but it is for you and Luka!”
Adrien tipped his head. “Why isn’t it great for you?” Marinette froze, a blush creeping across her cheeks. Adrien gasped. “Oh no, do you have a crush on Luka too? I’m so sorry Marinette, if I had known--”
“No!” Marinette cut him off, her face clearly burning up. “I don’t have a crush on Luka.” She took a deep breath, some of the color leaving her face.
“Oh.” Adrien furrowed his brow. The topic was clearly making Marinette uncomfortable, so he decided not to broach it any further. “So, do you think you can give me some advice like you did with Kagami?” he asked.
Marinette paused. Then, “I say, just ask him out?”
Adrien practically choked. “Just ask him out?” he repeated. “But I don’t even know if he, he--”
“If he’s gay?” Marinette finished for him, a singular eyebrow raised.
“...Yes?”
Marinette smiled and said, “Easy solution. He’s gay.”
The bluntness of the statement gave Adrien whiplash, and his face went slack. “Oh,” he said dumbly. “So I just…”
“Ask him out,” Marinette finished for him again, giving him an encouraging smile. She jumped a bit when Alya loudly called her over before turning back to Adrien and saying, “Good luck.” Then she turned away and rushed over to Alya.
Adrien stared after her a moment before slumping against a wall. “Plagg,” he whispered, “how can I just ask him out?”
His kwami stared up at him from his bag with a tired expression. “You say, ‘Wanna date me?’ and go from there.”
“But that’s so bold!” Adrien shot back.
Plagg merely sighed and said, “Well, if you want to be a coward , then don’t do it. Luka will be none the wiser.” Then he floated back down into Adrien’s bag on the hunt for more camembert, leaving Adrien to decide on his own.
Adrien sat quietly, mulling over what both Marinette and Plagg had said. Then he hardened his expression, making up his mind about what he was going to do. He grabbed his bag and walked into the courtyard, making his way to his first class with a determined expression on his face.
I’m going to do it.
Adrien took a deep breath, steeling himself, as he stared upwards at the now daunting form of Liberty. Adrien had reached out to Luka, asking his … crush if he would be willing to meet that day, and Luka had replied with a yes. Adrien had left the house that day feeling confident in what he was about to do, but now that the moment was right before him he was starting to shrink away.
There were so many ways this could go wrong, starting from Luka only seeing him as a friend and ending with Luka never speaking to him again for even daring to suggest more in a relationship. And maybe he was being too paranoid, but Adrien’s anxiety wasn’t going to be leaving him anytime soon. Or at least until he shoved the words out of his mouth.
Plagg wouldn’t stop telling Adrien how much of a coward he was being the whole way there, which Adrien took actual offense to (after all, he was still going to tell Luka wasn’t he?). It had gotten to the point where he threatened to feed the kwami only plain wheat bread for a week if he didn’t shut up. He hadn’t heard a peep from the little kwami since.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to ground himself. Luka was nice. Luka wouldn’t abandon Adrien. Everything would be fine. Everything will be fi--
Adrien jumped when a hand appeared on his shoulder. The owner of the hand immediately withdrew it and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you like that.”
Adrien blinked, staring at the apologetic gaze of Luka. Luka who had appeared practically out of nowhere. Had he been watching Adrien’s struggle or did he just happen to appear in that moment? Adrien decided he didn’t want to know. “It’s okay. I was just distracted,” Adrien replied with a tight smile.
Luka nodded. Then he motioned to a bench nearby and offered, “Do you want to sit down?” Adrien smiled gratefully and made his way over to the bench, following Luka. As they sat down, Luka asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
Adrien instantly tensed up. “Uhhh--”
Luka put a hand on his shoulder. “Is it something hard to talk about?”
Adrien sighed and shook his head. “Not exactly,” he replied. “Just awkward, I suppose.”
“Take your time,” Luka said, leaning back on the bench.
Adrien took in a breath. He could do this. He hadn’t come all the way here just to chicken out at the last second. He could do this. “Luka, would it be extremely weird if I said I like you?”
Luka raised an eyebrow. “I like you too, Adrien. I thought that was already established.”
Adrien grimaced, a serious blush spreading across his face. “No, not like that,” he stammered. “Like, like .”
Silence. Adrien could have sworn he wasn’t breathing as he carefully watched Luka’s face for any reaction. He could have sworn his heart stopped working as he stared at Luka’s carefully blank face. Where was the reaction? What was Luka thinking? Adrien probably could have passed out at that very moment.
Luckily for him, Luka chose that moment to finally let a smile appear on his face. Seeing this, Adrien finally breathed again. “Adrien, I like you too,” Luka repeated, this time emphatically. He turned meaningful eyes on the blond, and just like that Adrien thought he could pass out for an entirely different reason.
“You … what?” Adrien stared at Luka with wide eyes.
“Like you,” Luka said.
Adrien blinked. “No you don’t.”
Luka raised an eyebrow. “Yes I do.”
“No, you really don’t.”
“Yes, I really do.”
“No way,” Adrien denied. “Maybe you misunderstood me. Luka, I want to date you.”
“Well clearly you’re misunderstanding me ,” Luka replied, “because I also want to date you. Is that so hard to believe?”
Adrien gaped at him. “Does this mean…?”
Luka smiled. “Adrien,” he said, “will you go out with me?”
A beat of silence. Then, “Yes.”