~perfect for pictures~ (luka couffaine x reader)

☆ chapter sixteen ☆

(Y/N's POV)

The next few weeks were a blur. Isaac and I went on dates, but I never fully got used to us. We'd hang out and come back home together every night. I dunno, maybe I'm overthinking it, but it's not what I expected. Years of dreaming about a relationship with Luka could never have prepared me for this. It wasn't bad, but we weren't what I hoped we could be. I wished so badly for it to be wonderful with Isaac– and it is, but in the same way it always had been.

And Luka. I didn't see as much of him anymore. I get the sense he doesn't click with Isaac, and of course he was out with Marinette all the time. We still text a little, and we've hung out a couple times, but he's been distant as hell. It just wasn't like him.

I was laying on my bed, pondering my current state when my phone rang out. Marinette's profile lit up the screen and I groaned as I sat up.

"Hello?" I groggily muttered into the phone.

"Y/N! How are you?" Marinette chirped.

"Tired, but otherwise pretty good. You?" The small talk was awkward.

"Not too bad!" A pause. "So listen, I was wondering if you and Isaac wanted to do a double date at the fair with Luka and I tonight. It's the last day the rides will be running and there are supposed to be fireworks!" Oh. A double date. With Marinette. And Luka.

"I don't know– doesn't the fair get a little crowded?" I was looking for an easy out– some valid reason to convince myself that I couldn't go rather than face the fact that I just didn't want to see Luka with Marinette.

"The lines are usually pretty short if not non-existent. I think it'll be alright." Marinette corrected, just trying to be helpful. I sighed.

"Okay, then. Yeah. Isaac and I will be there. What time?"

"7? At the entrance?"

"Sounds great."

"Alright! See you then Y/N! Bye!" Marinette said.

"Bye." She hung up. "Great." I muttered to myself. Damn.

Isaac and I arrived at the fair a few minutes late to find Marinette and Luka waiting for us at the ticket booth. They handed us our tickets, insisting that we didn't need to pay them back. Luka gave us a small smile, but he was mostly ignoring us– which I was grateful for despite it being incredibly confusing.

"I saw a tilt-a-whirl as we were walking up– do you guys wanna go?" Isaac proposed.

"Definitely!" Marinette tugged at Luka's sleeve and we headed off in the direction of the tilt-a-whirl.

After nearly spilling her guts on the ride, Marinette called for a quick break. We trudged over to the benches, still a little dizzy. The silence settled in, and the sounds of the carnival were brought into the foreground. But the silence wasn't a comfortable one, and I soon found myself trying to break it.

"So, Luka. You have a concert Friday, right?" I looked directly at him for the first time that night. He kept staring at the ground.

"Yeah. We're playing at The Forum. 7:30 if you wanna come." He shrugged. Marinette hung off of his shoulder, but he didn't seem to be reciprocating. Something was off, but this wasn't the right setting to ask.

"You guys should totally come! It'll be so fun! Rose is taking backing vocals after the last concert was such a success– so Luka's fronting again!" Marinette gushed, literally jumping for joy. Luka smiled at the ground faintly, playing with the hem of his shirt. Despite the awkwardness, I could see his genuine pride in this triumph.