~perfect for pictures~ (luka couffaine x reader)

☆ chapter eighteen ☆

(LUKA'S POV)

Backstage, everything was in chaos. Rose was squealing and jumping in excitement. She gushed her praises to me and I high fived Adrien. I got to work taking off my makeup, which wasn't a large task considering I sweated most of it off. Afterwards, I changed into some more comfortable and less sweaty clothes. Even though my bandmates had cleared out of the room, the buzz from the show still lingered, filling me with excitement. That is, until Marinette entered the room.

"Luka! You were amazing!" She practically tackled me in a hug.

"Aw thanks, Mari." I awkwardly exited the hug, but she didn't seem to notice. I took note of the smile on her face and the energy in her eyes, and I worried if I could really end things with her. She just seemed so happy.

"You sounded really good! I really liked when you sang Because of You!" Oof. That was rough.

"You're too sweet, Marinette." I nervously looked around, trying to find an appropriate segway for a breakup– if such a thing even existed. I took a deep breath. "Look–"

"I get it." Marinette cut me off.

"What?"

"I'm not that dense, you know."

"What?" I repeated.

"I see the way you look at her. I'm not blind, Luka." Marinette looked at the ground.

"I don't know–"

"Can we not drag this out, please?"

"Okay, okay. You're right." I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Marinette– I don't know what to say. I didn't mean to hurt you– honestly. I did like you. It's just–"

"Not the way you like her." Marinette raised her eyes to meet mine.

"...Yeah." I looked away, wishing a rogue bolt of lightning would strike me down on the spot. "Mari, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean..." I couldn't find the right words.

"I get it. It's okay. I mean, it will be." She gave me a sincere look. A long silence followed. The air was heavy with tension. "Well... I'll just go I guess." Marinette gestured to the door and awkwardly backed up.

"Yeah– probably for the best. Thanks for being so understanding. I'm sorry I dragged you into all of this, Mari."

"Don't mention it, Luka." She softly smiled and nodded to me before leaving the room. Once the door clicked shut, I was finally able to let out the breath I had been holding in. The calm did not last for long, however. A few minutes later, the dressing room door flung back open and Y/N stood in the doorway.

"Hi." She smiled at me.

"Hey." I tried not to look too caught off guard.

"You okay? You look a little out of it." Oops.

"No, no I'm okay. I just...didn't expect you to be here." That came out wrong.

"I'm sure you were expecting Marinette or someone else." She looked at the floor.

"No– we just haven't talked too much recently." Y/N opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately decided to keep quiet. "I know that's my fault, and I'm sorry. I don't really have an excuse, I'm just...sorry." My recent liberation was now replaced by guilt.

"No, it's okay. I know we've both been distracted with our relationships and all." She paused. "I'm really proud of you, Luka. No matter how many times I see you up on that stage, you blow my mind every single time. Or even when you're testing out a song and it's just us– without all the fancy lights and the crowd and... you're really talented. I just wanted to come congratulate you." She smiled at me, a bit of the old us starting to bleed through.

"I missed you." I confessed, suddenly feeling very vulnerable.

"God, I missed you too." Her smile grew wider, and she stepped towards me. I wrapped her in a hug, and she reciprocated like she had been waiting weeks for this. We pulled away, both of us grinning. "Catch me up, Lu. What have I missed?"

"Not much. I broke up with Marinette." Nice transition, dumbass.

"What?" Y/N stared at me in shock.

"Yeah. Like five minutes ago, actually."

"Oh my god– are you okay? What happened?"

"It just wasn't working." I sighed, wishing I could tell her the whole truth. "I'm fine– I'm actually more worried about her."

"Well, uh... she seemed fine when she came to get me." Y/N said.

"What?"

"She told me you wanted to talk to me backstage. That's why I came here." Jesus, did I owe Marinette an edible arrangement or something.

"Ah, right." I played it off. "Well, that's good I guess. So what's new with you?"

"I think we must be like...psychically connected or something, because Isaac and I just ended things too." She sat down on the sofa.

"What? When?" I sat down next to her.

"Last night, actually."

"Are you...y'know, okay?" I wasn't sure how to proceed. It felt wrong to comfort her about this knowing my feelings for her but how could I not check up on my best friend? Plus, it's not like she knew I liked her or anything. Hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was Isaac who did the breaking up but I had been thinking about it anyway." She didn't seem to want to give any more details, and I was okay with that. Especially considering my aversion to sharing the details of my own breakup. But I did want to know a few things.

"That's good, I guess. Is it awkward with him living with you? He didn't hurt you, did he? Do I need to start a hate page for him?" I blurted out too many questions at once.

"No, no, and no. If anything, I hurt him. We talked, and he's going to stay with Nino so we aren't around each other 24/7, but it's back to normal now. We're very clearly better off as friends." The last comment stuck out to me. Could that be true for us, too?

"Good. I would have had him on the ropes otherwise."

"I know." Y/N laughed– a sound I hadn't been privy to in a while. "Alright, rockstar– you've got a tired sister waiting for you to go home and I've got Alya waiting for me as well. We should probably get going."

"Yeah, probably." Neither of us moved. We took a few more seconds, staring at each other. I would have thought it was weird if I wasn't so distracted by her eyes. But eventually, she looked away and stood up, clearing her throat.

"C'mon, fool." She held out her hand to help me up and we walked out hand in hand.

(A/N: Chapter eighteen! Nineteen will be up right after I publish this! Let me know your thoughts!)