Right When I Saw You | Lukadrien

Chapter 15 | Clouded Emotions

   Staying inside for an entire day at home was unbearable. Luka wasn't very extroverted, but he still felt a tug inside of him which wished that he could be with others. That day, when Juleka came back from school and his mom came back home a while later, he couldn't stop clinging to them. He wanted to do something with them since they were the only people he'd seen the entire day. When he finally went to school the next day, most people in the class didn't ask why he was gone, except Alya. He told her that he just got really sick suddenly and had to stay home. He couldn't tell if she believed him or not, but the girl just nodded and walked away. Speaking of which, Luka had also noticed how the entire day he hadn't spoken to Marinette. Whenever they saw each other she would try to avoid eye contact, and when they were in the halls she would now try to avoid him as much as possible. It was saddening to notice.

Well, that was his day. At the moment he was near the entrance to the high school about to head home for the day. Juleka and him already said bye to each other as she was heading to the art room, so she knew he was going. He was going to have a lot of catch-up homework to complete, which kind of sucked, but there was nothing he could do about it. He stared at the pale-blue sky for a moment. It wasn't as vibrant today compared to yesterday. It was also kind of cloudy. He was going to have to hope that it wouldn't rain while he was walking home. He sighed and started to walk down the stairs

"Luka!"

Luka turned to the familiar girly voice that called his name. He was caught a little bit off guard by the sudden noise because it was so quiet outside, except for the chirp of birds and the honking of cars in the distance. As suspected, it was a girl with raven hair tied into two ponytails with bluebell eyes, or rather, Marinette.

"Oh, Marinette. Did you need something?" he asked politely. He didn't want to inject any emotion into his words, afraid that he could start an argument with them.

"I... I'm sorry. I overreacted over what you said. I'm just the worst. I caused you so much trouble. I don't deserve to be friends with you..."

"Don't think like that. I'm sure there's a way we can sort this out."

"..."

Luka tried his best to be careful with his words, as he did with her when he was trying to comfort her as Charm Bug. It felt as if he was walking on the edge of an invisible cliff. He just wanted things to be normal again. "I had... a c-crush on you. That's why I asked you if you liked anyone." It was clearly obvious that her face was rose red again, from her ears to her cheeks even as she was looking directly at the ground. It reminded Luka of that exact moment during school which ignited this whole fire of a mess.

"Oh. I... As I said before... I like someone else. Marinette, even though I don't like you romantically, I want to stay friends. I want to keep hanging out together. I don't want this to ruin our friendship. You're important to me." Luka answered honestly. These were his true thoughts on their relationship, and he sincerely hoped that he didn't completely ruin it. Thankfully, he saw that Marinette's expression eased and it seems she relaxed a bit.

"...A-Alright. I... also need to ask you something else. Are you perhaps, um, gay?" She earned the confidence to look up from the ground and actually stare at him.

If Luka had water in his mouth, he probably would've spat it out. Such a blunt question about him took him aback. Nobody's ever directly asked him about his sexuality before, not even his family. There was a pause for a while, as the chirps of birds once again became audible and the growl of cars driving by on the road intruded the atmosphere of the conversation. He felt a tad of sweat drip down his forehead. Actually thinking about it now, was he gay? He never really had any attraction to any girls before, and if he had some sort of attraction to someone... they were usually boys. Besides, now he had a massive crush on Adrien.

"I don't know... Um, maybe?"

"Alright," She nodded slightly expressionlessly. It seemed as if she was extremely emotional on the inside and she was concealing that feeling on the outside. Talking about Adrien made Luka remember about how he offered to hang out with him instead of Marinette. That wasn't a very nice thing to do... Yet he did it anyways.

"I also have something I need to apologize about. I kind of went with Adrien to the park while you were upset. I'm sorry, I just really couldn't stop myself from being near him..." The moment he said the last word he realized what he just said. Time seemed to stop and shock travelled through his body before he felt that he was back in the present. His face started to get hot little by little and he really hoped that Marinette wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no way that nobody would notice what he just said and how he was acting after it.

"Do... you like Adrien?"

Cold breezes blew across their faces and played with their hair, messing around with it for a bit, as Luka became a stone statue. It felt as if his heart stopped beating for a second. She guessed right, but should he tell her that? Should he deny it? Should he lie? His brain was spinning in alarm and what his next decision should be. He ended up blurting out words until he found the right ones to word an answer.

"I, um. I... I do." He responded, pretty flustered.

Marinette sighed a sad sigh, and her eyes seemed upset, but her lips formed a smile. Her eyes stared down at the ground again, only for a bit, and then returned her gaze to face each other.

"It was kind of easy to guess," she chuckled lightly. "I mean, he is quite cute."

"...He is, isn't he?" Luka smiled as well, and blush dusted his cheeks a little bit more. Marinette grinned gingerly again in return, then started to talk again.

"About your apology though, it's alright. I was too depressed at the time to be with him, so I'm just glad that he wasn't alone."

Without warning, thunder boomed from the sky, warning the city of Paris that rain may come down soon. Luka and Marinette looked up to the sky and both of them noticed that the clouds were getting much darker and closer together, as well as the wind picking up.

"I should probably go. I'm glad that we can put this behind us now. See you tomorrow, Marinette." He waved to the girl as he started to walk down the stairs, trying not to trip, and made it down to the sidewalk. He started to sprint down the streets, trying to make it home before the storm could catch him. Even though he couldn't see it, she waved back.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, from inside a long limo, a blonde-haired boy watched their whole conversation. He couldn't hear anything because his window was closed in the limo, but he could see their expressions and movements clearly. From what he saw, there seemed to be no negative emotions or movements when they finished talking. Maybe those two made up? He thought. He beamed and took his jade-coloured eyes off the glass of the window.

"You can go now."

The vehicle's engine reared up again and the limo began to move. Things are probably made up now, and that made him happy. He didn't have to worry about his friends being upset with each other anymore. Marinette lives nearby the school, so now he could only hope that Luka can make it home quick enough before he gets soaked.