A Tale of Lukanette

A Long Night

Luka gently placed Marinette on his bed. He crouched beside her and took one of her delicate hands in his.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but if you do..." Marinette closed her eyes, a single tear slowly rolling down her cheek.

"I liked Adrien alot, but he doesn't like me. He never will." Luka frowned, debating with himself whether to tell her Adrien's secret, or honour his privacy. "Luka?" She pleaded. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she believed Luka was no longer paying attention.

"Argh!" Luka stood up. He bit his lip, still mulling his predicament over. Finally, he stared Marinette directly in the eyes. "Adrien likes you too! He told me just before he left. He's confused and scared and he doesn't know what to do. He likes you Marinette, but he's afraid there's someone in between you."

"W- what?" She sat up. "But he-"

"Didn't know how to tell you." Luka finished. He shut his eyes and, with the back of his hand, wiped away a tear now realising, he and Adrien were in similar situations.

This is such a mess! Adrien and Marinette like each other and I'm caught right in the middle!

Marinette smiled to herself. But as she looked up at Luka, that smile faded.

"Luka? Are you-"

"So what movie do you want to watch?" He faced her with his best smile. It seemed to convince her.

"Uhh... I um- I don't really mind. Whatever you're happy to watch." Marinette pouted as he chuckled to himself,

"You sure do stutter a lot."

~~~

Luka watched as Marinette fell asleep. He stroked her gorgeous blue hair, wondering if things would go well between her and Adrien.

If they don't, perhaps I might... No, Luka! You shouldn't think that way. They're perfect for each other. And they're actually the same age.

And this bothered him. He hated himself for thinking that a 14 year old, sweet and beautiful girl would love a 17 year old that played guitar more than he spoke. He adjusted the blanket on her and went to sit on the deck and watch the stars.

He reached the side of the boat and solemnly watched the water. He fell asleep there and there he stayed until a few minutes before sunrise. Although, he didn't expect to find Marinette beside him drinking a cup of hot coco.

"I came up to see where you had gotten off to." She smiled. Luka noticed his own blanket wrapped around him. "You looked cold." She added before turning to see the sun come up over the horizon. He watched her shiver in the cool of the morning.

"Here, you have it. You're colder than I am." He started to take it off.

"No. I won't take it." Marinette said sternly.

"Well if you won't take that..." Luka removed his hoodie and passed it to her. She frowned,

"I can't. Luka!" And he threw it at her. He laughed at her inability to catch while she slipped it on. It was a bit big for her and as she turned to tell Luka, she noticed something. She bit her lip as she stared at his bare arms, rather muscular. She quickly glanced away without a word. Had she really just caught herself checking out the arms of her friend's older brother? In complete silence, the pair watched the sun become full over the Paris streets.

"I should head home." Marinette announced. Luka looked at her funnily,

"Do your parents really expect you home at sunrise? What are you, a vampire?" He held his hands up to the side of his face and made out his fingers to be teeth. Marinette laughed.

"No, but it's been a hard day and night. Thank you Luka, for everything."

"Except, you know, drowning though." Sadly, his gaze dropped. "I could barely sleep last night because I kept thinking: What if you hadn't pulled me from the river? What if Ladybug hadn't been able to save me? What would have happened to my mom? To... Juleka?" He shut his eyes, refraining from crying.

"But you're here and you're okay." Marinette lifted his chin up with her finger. "I promise you, I will always look out for you." They looked into each other's eyes, a meaningful gaze. They inched closer slowly, until there was barely a gap between their lips. And then Luka pulled away.

"Thank you Marinette." He said, looking elsewhere. She sighed.

"Goodbye." She spoke softly, but received no reply. She walked home with a dark cloud hanging over her head. What she didn't realise was that her path came close to, but didn't quite cross, Adrien's on his way to a photoshoot. He glanced at her and was about to say hello. But in its stead...

Is that? Luka's hoodie? Marinette wearing... Luka's hoodie? But he said... That little double crossing-