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Luka was not expecting the knock on his door at…nearly one o’clock in the morning.
He was supposed to be asleep, for one. Tomorrow was a big day, after all, and he had to be over at the boat early to help finish setting everything up. It was going to be an amazing day, but it was also going to be a long one, and he wasn’t sure when he’d actually get another chance to sleep. He needed his rest. Anyone that would be knocking on his door would be in the same boat, actually, which brought him back to: who the hell was knocking at this time of night?
When the knocking continued, louder and more obnoxious than before, he groaned and flipped a light on.
“Ok!” he called. “Give me a minute – I’m coming!”
There was a muffled giggling from the other side of the door, and he frowned as he reached for the lock. What the hell…?
“Luka!”
He barely had time to register Marinette standing on the other side – or the sister that had been holding her up – before she was throwing herself at him, making him stumble back a step in surprise. Her cheek smooshed against his bare chest felt grimy, but that didn’t stop her from snuggling into him anyway. Her arms tightened around his middle, and she hummed happily.
“Found you,” she sighed, and a crazed laugh escaped him as he patted her back. “Was looking forever. Jerkface.”
He looked up at Juleka, his eyebrows soaring in confusion.
“Thought she was staying with you and Rose tonight?” he asked. “Tradition and all that?”
“Fuck that,” Juleka snorted, grinning at him. “You try keeping her locked up when she’s like this. She bites.”
He blinked, only a little thrown by that, because…well, yeah. He knew that. It’s just Juleka wasn’t usually the one she was biting.
…not that Juleka needed – or even wanted – to know that.
“Good luck,” his sister said, waving. “See you tomorrow. I hope.”
He shook his head, chuckling as he looked down at the woman that would be his wife in…God, fifteen hours. She was still cuddled close, but he would swear she was falling asleep against him.
“You overdid it, didn’t you?” he asked, smiling. She hummed.
“Woo wooooo!” she cried, leaning away from him to throw a fist in the air as she let out a cheer much louder than any of their neighbors probably appreciated. He laughed and caught her arm, steadying her as she stumbled back towards the outside hallway. She looked back at him with a happy, drunken grin. “No idea what’s in ‘em, but they are delish…delsh…so good.”
“Woo Woo?” he asked, his eyebrows lifting. “Can’t say I’ve heard of ‘em.”
He pulled her back towards him, and she stumbled back into his chest, giggling.
“So good, Lu,” she said, beaming up at him. Her grin turned a little silly, and her fingers tapped against his shoulder. “Hey…”
“Hey,” he said, bending down to kiss her forehead. “Why don’t we get you to bed? Big day tomorrow, right?”
Her eyes lit up with delight.
“Oh my gosh, yes!” she squealed, bouncing as he tried to move past her to close the door. He made quick work of it, moving back to catch her as she wobbled and giggled. “Luka! Lu! Ka! Guess what!”
“What?” he asked, turning her towards the hall. “Tell me on the way, darning. We need to get you to bed.”
“Noooo…” she whined. She spun, crashing into him as she grabbed for his shoulders. She looked up, her eyes glassy and bright. “Luka. Do you wanna know a secret?”
His lips quirked with a smile. His hands had found her hips, trying to steady her.
“I think I know most of your secrets already, Mari,” he said, “but sure. Hit me.”
“You don’t know this one…” she giggled. She leaned against him, propping her chin on his chest as she tapped her fingers above his heart. She smiled stupidly up at him. “I’m getting married tomorrow.”
…he didn’t mean to laugh. He really didn’t. But he choked it back all the same, snorting a little as she stared up at him with stars in her eyes. He bent down, trying to ignore the fruity scent of too much alcohol as he pressed a kiss against her lips. She sighed, and her breath tasted like peaches.
“I know,” he said, pecking another kiss against her. “To me, remember?”
“I am?” she gasped, her eyes widening. “Oh my gosh. I am! I got so lucky, Lu. How’d I get so lucky?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m the lucky one, darning,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. “I need you to walk for me, ok? Bed’s this way.”
She giggled as he turned her back around and started leading her towards their bedroom.
“Trying to get me to bed? Why, M. Couffin, I’m practically a married woman!” she laughed. He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Whatever would my fi…fian…fincy say?”
He snorted. He almost wished he had brought his phone with him to record all this (he was really going to enjoy telling her about it come morning), but he had left it on the charger.
“Couffin? You might want to work on that name a bit more before you take it, darning” he chuckled. Her brow pinched, and he kissed the back of her head. “And I think he’s ok with me taking you to bed. He usually doesn’t have a problem with it, at least.”
That seemed to go right over her inebriated head.
“Couff…Coffin? You’re not a coffin. That’s Jules,” she huffed. “My Couffin is…is…bluer.”
He snorted as he flipped on the light by the bed. Well. She wasn’t entirely wrong…
“Come on, Mme. Coffin,” he teased. He helped her into the bed, and she shook her head as she tapped his nose.
“Not yet,” she giggled. She frowned as she looked up at him. “Hey…what are you doing here, anyway? Not supposed to see me yet. Bad luck.”
“I wasn’t the one who brought you here,” he said. “But I’m not entirely mad that she did. I feel safer with you home when you’ve been drinking like this.”
She didn’t usually. He could probably count the number of times she’d been drunk on one hand. He just hoped she wasn’t feeling it too bad come morning. The last thing she needed was a hangover on their wedding day…
For her part, Marinette was too buzzed to care.
“Woo-wooooo!!!” she cheered again, throwing a fist in the air – one that narrowly missed his nose.
“Whoa!” he laughed, leaning back before she could deck him. That would have been fun, explaining to their guests why he had shown up to the wedding with a broken nose or black eye… “Easy there, Mari.”
“I like vodka,” she hummed. “I think I really like vodka.”
“You really don’t. You’ll remember that come morning,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Go to sleep now, ok? Big day tomorrow.”
“So big…” she sighed happily, turning to snuggle into his pillow. “Gonna marry the heck outta Luka…”
His lips twitched with another smile, and he smoothed her bangs back before dropping a kiss against her temple.
“Yeah, you are,” he said, kissing her again before pulling away.
He did a final sweep of the flat, making sure the door was locked and the lights were out, before bringing a glass of water and bottle of paracetamol in to put on the bedside table. He grabbed the trashcan from the bathroom, too, just to be safe, and left it by her side. He shot off one final text, a reminder to his sister that he expected to see her bright and early at the boat in a few hours, hangover or no, before climbing into the bed behind Marinette. She hummed and turned towards him, a silly smile on her face as she snuggled against his chest.
He needed to get to sleep.
After all, it was a big day tomorrow.
Marinette was getting married, and he wouldn’t miss it for the world.