#lukaladybug

Part 1 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174249876650/compass

part 5 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174466811620/compass-part-5

After a short goodbye Marinette found herself in a car being driven home, it was a bit surreal to be treated like this, but she couldn’t say she hated it. After getting home she started a short shift in the bakery, she always liked helping her parents out when she could, and working also helped her to relax, and she really did need to relax.

Alya called around at 3 to see how her morning had gone and also to check on how her friend was holding up. She found Mari working with a smile on her face and a light blush on her cheeks, and she was sure that it was more to do with what was about to come rather than what had happened.  She went upstairs to Mari’s room while she waited for her friend to finish up and for the next three hours they chatted and planned out what Marinette could do if she needed to escape.

“Not that I think you will need to run gurl, but if anything, just shoot me a message and I will call you and give you a bail out.” Alya said and Mari laughed at that, it did seem like the best plan, but why was she so nervous, why did she even think she might need a way out?  The truth of it was she didn’t, but she felt like she should, after the lovely morning she had had with Adrien, she felt simply terrible that she was now going on a date with a different boy, it almost felt like she was cheating!

She sat back and looked at her phone, she had received two messages from Adrien and one from Luka. Adrien had thanked her for coming over to see him, and then apologised if his father seemed rude. She replied saying it was fine and it was not rude at all, and that she had stayed later than planned anyway so it was okay.

Luka had text her asking if she liked sweet or salty popcorn.  She replied saying she liked both. Alya was raising her brow to it and more so now that she had checked the film times. “Gurl are you sure he said horror movies?” she asked, and Mari nodded her head. “Well I just checked all the cinemas around and not a single one is showing any horror movies.  And who asks popcorn preference before arriving at the cinema?”

It did seem a little strange, but it was what he had said. Alya left at 7 to give Mari time to get washed up and changed, she had told her parents about the ‘date’ but had said she was going out with a friend, they nodded and said that they already knew about it and to have fun, which was also a bit strange, how had they known? Did Luka say it to them when he was leaving?

She was getting more and more flustered as she was trying to think about what he might have planned, after all, he had just asked if she liked horror and said he would pick her up at eight. Maybe it wasn’t a date, maybe she was over thinking it, maybe he had something else planned, maybe he was a murderer! No no he was too nice to be a murderer right? But then maybe that was just to lure his victims into a false sense of ‘KNOCK KNOCK’ “AAAAHHHHH!!” she screamed, and her mother popped her head up from the trap door.

“Marinette, your friend is here” she said and Marinette looked at her in wide eyed terror, was it eight already? really? How had it gotten that late? What was she going to do? She felt herself hyperventilating but then she heard her dad telling Luka to head on up to her. Her heart stopped, her mom disappeared only to have a blue tipped mop of hair replace it. Luka Couffaine with his wonderful eyes and relaxed demeanour slunk into her room like it was the most natural thing in the world for him, and he smiled for a brief second until he seen her expression.

“Are you okay?” he asked and the concern came off him in waves, it was obvious that he was not going to do anything weird just from the look on his face. But she wasn’t really able to say anything in reply to this, as a result Luka walked over to her slowly and just wrapped his arms around her. “Sorry Mari, I didn’t want to upset you, if you don’t want to come it’s fine, I guess I just assumed-” he said in a soft voice and she began shaking her head rapidly “N-no, I can, It’s okay, I just… I was”

He pulled back from the hug and smiled at her. “You sure?” he asked and she nodded to him with a soft smile, he was really good at calming her down. “Yes, I’m sure, sorry, I just get a bit nervous sometimes” She said and Luka just pointed at himself as if to say ‘of me?’ and she nodded. This brought a small blush to Luka’s cheeks and Marinette’s eyes widened a little as a result. He was adorable!

After she got her bag and coat they went down stairs where her parents were waiting, he smiled to them and Marinette hurried past to avoid embarrassment, but Luka stayed behind. “This is my phone number, I will be sure to keep her safe, and I will have her home before 12. Thank you for letting me have her out that late though, I know it is a lot to ask, but it really is the best time for the place I am bringing her” he said and Mari’s parents just smiled and nodded. It was nice to see him doing that, she never even thought about the idea of him asking permission to take her somewhere. But weren’t they just going to a cinema?

--

Luka had brought her to a more run down area of Paris, and had he not calmed her down earlier and given all his details to her parents, she might be thinking along the lines of serial killer again, but as he pushed open a slightly rusted door and held out his hand to her, she didn’t hesitate to take it. They walked hand in hand up five flights of stairs only to emerge on the roof of the old building. “I found this place when I was twelve. I liked to explore a lot and mum trusted me to be careful, and when I made this discovery I adopted it as a secret base of sorts” He said, and Marinette found her curiosity clawing to know more, she could see a section of the roof that was partially blocked off by sheets hanging up, and that was where he led her.

He pulled back the sheets to reveal a personal alcove of sorts, Fairy lights twinkled brightly and a couch was placed in the center, there was a table and chairs a small stage area that had a few different guitars leaning to a wall, and a white sheet was hung up on a wall. She looked up to see an old glass roof and realised that this was possibly at one time a conservatory. The stars were visible and it was all very beautiful. In a way it reminded her of what Chat had done for Ladybug. So that must have meant…

Her heart was in her mouth as she turned back to Luka “is it too much?” he asked, and she could feel tears in her eyes. His expression changed to worry again, but she just ran to him and hugged him, it was all perfect. She smiled into his chest and she could hear the sigh of relief he emitted as he rested his head on hers. He really had worked hard on this. “I wanted it to be memorable” he said softly, and she just nodded, not really knowing what to say or even do, but Luka seemed too.

He pulled her back and took her hand, he led her to the couch and on the table in front of them was bags sweets and two large covered bowls. There was also a projector and he clicked it on and opened a laptop he had sitting next to it. It was then that it made sense, he was going to play a horror movie here, and the bowls must have been the popcorn. She sat down and after he finished up he took both of the bowls and sat next to her “I burned the sweet popcorn a bit, Sorry” he said and she laughed. It was so comfortable with him that all her nerves seemed to melt away.

The movie he had chosen was just awful, but not in a bad way, in a b movie this is way too cheesy sort of way, and she found herself liking far more than she might have, partially due to Luka’s commentary in between. By the time the film was finished she had found herself leaning on him as he cuddled her into his chest. They had ate all the salted popcorn and attempted some of the sweet, but it really was a lost cause, film was done and now there really was no real reason for her to stay cuddled to him, but she really didn’t want to move.

Half an hour went by of them just holding each other, and Luka finally spoke. “It’s getting Late Mari, I should probably get you home.” It was clear that he didn’t really want it, but he had made a promise to her parents. Begrudgingly she moved, and he stood up with her, he fixed a bit of her hair back and she felt as though the world was spinning. He was looking at her and she felt herself moving forward without really moving at all. Her eyes closed and she tilted her head a bit. It all felt so perfect.

And it was perfect. His lips were so and the kiss was sweet. He didn’t linger too long, nor did he let it get too heated, it was just… perfect. He pulled back from her and she opened her eyes to see his flushed face, even in the dark he was clearly blushing, but he had a shy smile in place and it just made her like him all the more, she knew that her own face was a mirror of his, and it was her turn to talk “I- You like really Luka” she said and she blinked for a moment as she realised that she had ruined the moment. He laughed lightly and leant in and kissed her nose “I You like really too Ma-ma-Marinette”

She felt her face heating up even more, but she was not embarrassed, for some reason his teasing felt really nice, and she took his hand and began to lead him back down to the street. Tikki and Alya were right, she just needed to let whatever would happen happen, and as a result she was here with a wonderful guy and had had a wonderful first date with him. And even though she still liked Adrien, now she was beginning to think of him more as a friend, she just didn’t have the same felling with him as she had had with Luka.

--

Meanwhile…

Adrien was in his room looking at his phone. He was wondering if he should call her or not. He really had thought his Father had been rather rude, but then again, he had been late to his shoot, so it was mostly his own fault. But he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind the entire day. Just how did he feel about Marinette?

It had started when Luka had been asking him about her, he had been praising her so much even though they had only met a handful of times, Adrien had told him some of the stories of how she had helped other people in class, and how she was considerate of others, he told him about how she hide out with him to go to the movies to see his mother’s film, and Luka had commented on how that almost seemed like a date.

Adrien had of course denied it being a date, as it really wasn’t, but it did get him thinking, just as he was now. What if it might have been a date? He thought on all the times he had been around Marinette, how she acted around him, how clumsy she was, but also he thought of how she was when he would watch her from a distance, she was almost a different person. He wondered then if she had liked him, He saw too how she was around Luka the day of the video shoot. She had been just as flustered at the start, but then he had managed to calm her down, and after that she hardly faltered at all.

Perhaps Luka was right for her? But why did that make him feel hurt? He flopped back and looked over at Plague “Hey, what do you think of Marinette?” he said and Plague’s eyes widened “Nothing! I don’t think anything about her at all! And I certainly don’t know any secrets! So you can’t ask me anything! NOPE!” the little spirit then flew away at a quicker speed than he had ever seen before and it left Adrien at a loss as to what that was about.

part 1

Why did she have to go and say something like that? Really? And why was she even thinking about it? She liked Adrien, she knew she liked Adrien, she had liked him right from the start!! I mean he was cute and nice and caring and he was… he was… Well he was cool right?

Marinette Looked at the posters on her wall and frowned a bit, why was she finding it hard to look at them now? Why was she suddenly wondering if what she felt towards the blond was nothing but a shallow crush? Alya had seen her reaction to Luka that day, and she asked if her compass had a new statue. No one else knew what that meant but the two of them, and she had laughed it off in the moment.

But did she have a new statue? And if she did, what did that mean for Adrien? She looked away from the poster and lay back on her bed with a flop. Tikki was looking at her from across the room while munching on a cookie, the little kawami had no idea what was going on in Marinette’s head, but she wanted to help her in any way she could. ‘Why are you sad Marinette?’ her small friend asked, and Marinette looked at her and smiled softly.

“Not sad Tikki, just confused. I don’t know what to do, I like Adrien, but I think I like Luka too” she said, and as she said the latter part her cheeks turned a bright red. Tikki just giggled and floated over to her ‘why are you confused about that? There’s nothing wrong with liking two people at the same time, don’t worry about it too much, whatever is meant to happen, will happen’

The young hero just blinked stupidly at her little sidekick and smiled a bit brighter. “I guess your right, but I feel weird having Adrien’s posters all over my wall now. I think I am going to take them down.”

http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174410757630/compass-part-4

“Alya” she half shouted down the phone “Alya Alya Alya!!” she continued and her friend could do nothing but stare at the offending object while waiting for her friend to calm down. “Just spit it out gurl” she managed to say between the repeated string of her name. “AdrienwasoverbutthenLukacameoverandhehadmybookthatIforgotandIthoughthehadlookedinsideitbuthedidn’tbutthatisnottheimportantthingbecauseAdriendaskedmetogotohishousetomorrowtolearnpianoandLukaistakingmetothecinemaandIdon’tknowwhattodo!” Marinette blurted out without taking a breath and it too her friend a few moments to decipher the run on sentence.

“Adrien was over at yours, and you are going to his tomorrow…” she started with and Marinette made a umhum noise in reply “But then Luka showed up to give you back your book and asked you to the cinema?” she finished with, and this was followed by a sequence of noises and finally a whine. “I will be right over”

True to her word Alya was at the door in under 30 minutes, she went straight up to the attic room only to find her friend burittoed in her blankets making small noises every few seconds. She dug her out of her fortress of squirminess and sat her on the bed to tell her the full story from start to finish. Marinette explained how the night before she had run into Luka and ended up staying with them for a while after the ‘heartbreaker’ attack, and she how she must have dropped her book while she was there, but then she explained how awkward it had been with Adrien at the start, but how they relaxed into it and had lots of fun.

“He offered to teach me how to play Piano Alya! I get to sit next to him, and he will be holding my hands as he shows me things, and maybe then he might…” her face went red as she imagined leaning back against him and then he held her close, but even as she was imagining that, Adrien’s hair was dark and tipped with blue. Her blush grew deeper and she threw her hands up to cover her face. This just caused Alya to laugh a bit. “and how did Luka get in the way of this?” Alya asked and Marinette opened her fingers just enough to look at her friend. “He… I… I sort of forced him up into my room when he was about to tell Adrien…”

Her eyes widened in Horror, she had dragged Luka to her room in front of Adrien! OH NO! She had practically body slammed Luka when she covered his mouth! What on earth was she thinking! What would Adrien be thinking?! What if he thought that they were dating? Well she was going on a d-d-date with Luka, but that was not like they were dating dating right?

Alya seemed to figure out what was going on in her friends head as she tossed and flopped on her bed. “Mari seriously, what’s the big deal? This could be good for you? I mean you like Luka too right?” her friend reasoned and Marinette stopped flopping dramatically to register a nod “Okay, we I say enjoy it, Go see Adrien tomorrow, just relax, and then afterwards go out on your date with Luka. Don’t think too much about it. Just let your compass guide you girl”

Mari sat up in her bed and actually smiled “just let whatever happens, happen.” She said and Alya agreed to that, after calming down a bit more they enjoyed some hot chocolate and some of the cake that Adrien had made, it was really good and Marinette found herself more than impressed by it. While they were eating Marinette remembered she was meant to call Adrien to arrange going to his the next day, but she decided to text instead. ‘Hi, so is it still okay to call tomorrow? Totally fine if it’s not. Just wondering?” and he replied almost right away ‘morning okay? I have a shoot in the afternoon?’ She smiled down to her phone and then to Alya. ‘Morning would be great!’

--

Morning came and Marinette found herself at the front gates of the Agrest manor again, only this time she was invited, she rang the bell and bounced from foot to foot. Within mere moments the gate was opening and a tall dark haired woman was walking out to greet her. “This way miss Cheng” Marinette jumped a bit and began to follow “O-oh Yes! Going that way” she stuttered as nerves overtook her, she was lead to a spacious music room where Adrien was waiting for her with a friendly wave and a smile, she waved back and made her way to him by what could only be described as scurrying, Adrien chuckled and thanked Natalie for showing her in.

“So where do you want to start?” he asked her and she opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, this only had him laughing more and he moved over to the grand piano in the center of the room. “Well how about this? I will show you the basic keys and we can start you off with an easy song?” she nodded to this and moved over to the piano stool, it was just like she had imagined it would be, she was sitting close to him, and he was pointing out each note for her. Though he wasn’t exactly holding her hand as he did it, it was still pretty near what she had imagined.

Well all except him morphing into Luka. Her cheeks flushed as she thought about that and Adrien seemed to notice, though he didn’t say anything about it, he just flipped out a music sheet and said “Do you know how to read music?” this was enough to bring her back to reality and she looked from the sheet to him and then back to the sheet “A little bit, but I never really understood the marks other than the notes.” She said and Adrien smiled and began to explain what each symbol meant.

It was difficult, but fun at the same time, and after an hour she managed to play frere Jacques at a decent pace. She laughed about it being a childs song, but Adrien just told her that that was how he started out too (though he neglected to tell her that he was a child at the time) “Hey” he said after a moment “Are you hungry? I can get some lunch brought out to us if you like?” she felt herself going a bit wide eyed to that but just nodded before saying “If it’s okay?”

Of course it was okay and she ended up at a large dining table with him, it seemed a bit surreal to be sitting at such a huge table when it was only the two of them there, and she said as much to him “Well” he replied “It’s worse when it is just me” he finished and Marinette felt a wash of pity flood her, Adrien must have noticed and he tried to laugh it off “Ah, no, I don’t mind it that much, besides, I get to go out and hang out with you guys now. And having band practice with Luka” he paused for a second as he said that name and looked at Marinette, and just as he thought would happen, she went as red as a tomato. He smiled, but at the same time he was not very happy about it. “Well, let’s just say I am not on my own anymore”

Marinette smiled to this and was thankful he didn’t say anything more about Luka, or at least, she would have been if he hadn’t “So… You and Luka seem close.” He half stated, half questioned and Marinette almost fell of her chair as she backed up and waved her arms “No no no! I mean not the way you think, not that I know what you are thinking, it is just that I left my book and I have drawings in there that I don’t show people and I thought he was going to tell you what they were, but he hadn’t actually looked so I really didn’t need to cover his mouth like that and drag him away, but he is really only a friend right now so there is nothing going on at all, not that you asked me that, but I mean he is nice and all and I am sure you know that too because you play in the band with him and all so, but” Adrien laughed and Marinette fell silent. “okay okay, you are friends.”

Adrien couldn’t explain why he felt relief after that, and in truth, Marinette had been on his mind for a while recently, Luka had actually been asking him about her a lot recently, and openly admitted to how much he liked her, and it made Adrien really start to look at his friend a bit closer. She was smart and funny, even if she didn’t mean to be half the time, and she was considerate of others too, not to mention talented. The only problem was even if he did think of her as anything more than a friend, he doubted his father would approve. He hardly approved of him being friends with Nino and the gang as it was, let alone starting to date one of them.

He was just staring at her while he thought of this, and it struck him hard, would he really consider dating Marinette? She was just shyly eating her lunch as carefully as she could while he looked at her and it occurred to him, he probably would. But deep down he knew it wouldn’t be fair to her, he was in love with Ladybug, so dating her when he liked someone else would be cruel. She seemed to notice he was staring and he smiled and shook his head, finishing his lunch too.

After that, they ended up playing games and talking about the pastries he had made the night before. “Natalie had them brought out to my father during our supper, I didn’t tell him I made them until he was finished, it was funny to see the look of both horror and surprise on his face.  He enjoyed them though, and praised me on my skill but he said he didn’t want me to get any notions of becoming a chef as it is not the Agrest way” he said and laughed a bit at the end, and so did Marinette “Well I guess he has a point, I can’t really imagine you working in a bakery” Adrien smiled and then it faded “Really? Do I stand out that much?” He asked and she instantly regretted her wording “No no! I mean, I am sure you would be amazing at just about anything you tired, but, A bakery just, well you should be a film star or famous or something, not working in a store like I do”

“I couldn’t agree more” came a voice from the doorway, both Adrien and Marinette turned to see his father standing there looking at them, Adrien’s agent was also lurking behind and it was only then that he realised the time. “Ah Father, sorry, I didn’t realise the time” he said and his father said nothing but just looked at Marinette, he didn’t hate this girl, she had proved herself talented and she had given his son good advice before, but for Adrien to become so distracted was an inconvenience.

part 3 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174318654995/compass-part-3

Adrien arrived via limousine the next morning and Marinette welcomed him with a bright smile, she was feeling relaxed and not nervous at all, and she didn’t even wonder why, they talked for a bit about school assignments, and she asked him where he had learned piano. Home tutored of course and she face palmed to that, of course he was tutored at home. He just laughed though and explained that he had wanted to learn because his Father played piano too, and that made her smile. “I never would have thought it, he doesn’t seem like that type of person to…” she trailed off when she realised how rude that might have sounded and Adrien picked up on it “It’s okay, actually he used to play a lot, before my mother died, after that he became colder.”

They went silent after that and Marinette felt a bit awkward, she scurried away and began to get all the ingredients ready. “Sorry.” Adrien said as she began to put things on the counter, she half dropped them and looked at him wide eyed. He looked so sad that she couldn’t help but feel pain for him. “No, it-it’s my fault for bringing it up” she said, and he looked at her with a small smile “You are too nice Marinette” he reached over and started fixing some of the things she had dropped on the counter, and while reaching for the flour his hand touched hers, she went to withdraw it, but he held on. “She was nice like you, My mom I mean, she was a bit clutzy too. You remind me of her, so I guess that’s why I just feel comfortable around you.”

She looked at him and he smiled a bit brighter to her “Thank you for being my friend Marinette” she smiled back to him and nodded, a faint blush was on her cheeks then and she turned back to the ingredients. “Say that after I have finished teaching you to bake!”

A few hours went by and a lot of laughs were had, Adrien was a quick learner, but very messy, the first few attempts tasted good but looked terrible, but by the end of the day Adrien had manage to make cakes even her father would be proud of! They were both covered in flour and laughing as he packed the sweets into a box to bring how to his father. “Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun!” He said as she cleaned the counter top “Yeah, maybe next time you can teach me something” she said and he chuckled “well why not come over tomorrow and I can teach you some piano?

She smiled and was about to agree but then the chime of the shop bell rang, and her Father called her “Marinette, your friend is here” He said and she looked at Adrien and shrugged, for a moment she thought it might be Alya wanting to get the gossip on how her day went, but as she and Adrien went out to the shop front she was faced with Luka. And once more her heart was thumping hard. He waved a hand to her lazily and she waved back a bit too quickly.

“Hey” he said, and then he nodded to Adrien “Hey Luka, what has you over here?” Adrien asked him cheerfully. “Mom found this on the floor this morning and Juleka said it was Mari’s” He held up a sketchbook and her face went red. “M-M-My book, you d-d-didn’t look inside did you?” she stuttered and it just caused both Luka and Adrien to chuckle. “What are you worried about? You are really talented” Adrien said, but Luka spoke softly “Oh it’s probably because of the drawings she did of” Marinette was on him in a shot, hand over his mouth and grinning at Adrien.

“Nothing! Drawing of nothing at all! Luka and I need to have a little talk now Adrien, I… I will call you about tomorrow okay?” she said and Adrien looked concerned, but he just nodded and left to go to the waiting car outside. With his gone Marinette grabbed Luka’s hand and dragged him up to her room while her mother chuckled behind her.

“Those drawings were reference only! They weren’t” “Don’t worry, I didn’t look inside” he said and her eyes widened, she slapped him on his arm and he laughed as he rubbed it “That was mean Luka!” she said, but something in her tone said she wasn’t angry about it, he smiled and then looked around her room. It was then that she realised that she had brought him up here with no explanation to her parents, that wasn’t going to go down well… “Pretty spacious up here, and it has nice acoustics.” He said as he moved further in. She trailed behind him as he explored her room, and saw Tikki hiding in one of her drawers right where he was heading.

Knowing she would need to distract him she looked around in a fluster. “Oh yes! And balcony! That is way!” this did the trick as he turned to look at her, she was robotically gesturing to the balcony and he laughed and lazily strolled outside “You’re a weird girl Ma Ma Marinette, but I dig it” he said as he moved past her. “She gestured to Tikki to hide under her bed and then followed him out to the Patio “Thanks for bringing my book back” she said, and he smiled to her. “No biggie”

He was leaning on the rail looking down at the people on the street, and she smiled and leant to the rail with him. “You like horror movies?” He asked her and she looked at him with a raised brow “Sure” she said, not knowing what he was getting at “Great” he said. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight then” that said he pushed himself back off the rail and left. She stood in silence as she processed what had just happened.

He had… was that… did she just… were they going on a date?!

part 1 is here http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174249876650/compass 

part 2 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174280450755/compass-part-2

 Adrien was set to be over on Saturday morning, meaning that she had a while day of School to get through with him before the ‘date’ actually happened. She sat through class and stared at her books for the entirety of the day, she hardly said anything to him and he hardly noticed, and when she thought about it, she realised that it was nothing really new. When she really thought it over, even though they were in the same class, and hung out a lot, they didn’t really talk all that much. The final bell rang and the class began to file out, Adrien smiled to her before leaving and said “See you tomorrow.” She just smiled goofily and waved a hand, this was a usual reaction so she figured that she must have just been feeling unwell the last few days.

“Tomorrow? And just what is my adrikin’s doing meeting YOU tomorrow?” said a voice from behind her and Marinette turned to face Chloe, the blond was fuming and Marinette could not help but smile. “Oh we are hanging out, just the two of us.” Marinette said with a smile and turned on foot to bounce away happily. Little did she know that she had… once again, planted a seed in the jealous blond.

*

Chaos ruled over the city as heartbreaker, aka; Chloe as an akuma, turned lover against lover. Fights were breaking out all over the city, famous romantic spots were being ruined, and Chat noir and Ladybug were both fighting as best as they could to stop the Akuma from doing more damage, they realised, thanks to Noir pointing it out, that a charm on her bracelet seemed to be the catalyst. How he knew this was beyond her, but when she went for it, Heartbreaker became protective.

“Lucky Charm!” she called out, and an amp cord and two sets of ear plugs came down. It took her a moment to realise what she had to do, but once she did her eyes widened. “Luka Coffaine was watching from his home one deck. He had his guitar on him and the speakers from the music festival were still set up. She smiled and handed one set of the plugs to Chat and began to run towards the boat “Keep her distracted” she called out, and Chat smiled “Anything for you m’lady”

She landed on the boat and Luka stood up to greet her “Ladybug, do you need me for something?” he asked, and she felt her face beginning to burn already but she coughed it off and nodded, this was not the time to get love struck “Luka, do you think you can play something for me? As loud as you can?” she asked and he looked concerned for a moment, but as she handed him the cord and showed him the ear plugs, he smiled and nodded. “I think I can manage to come up with something”

He plugged in the cord and she ran back to the fight while putting the earplugs in. the cord rang out like thunder and Heartbreaker had to cover her ears to save herself. In that moment Chat snatched away the charm bracelet and destroyed it. Catching and restoring the Akuma was easy after that, and they finished with the usual ‘pound it’ while Chloe looked confused.

Her earing began to beep and she smiled sheepishly to Chat, he bowed to her and she ran off to a nearby alley way. Transforming back she let out a sigh, why did it have to be Chloe again, and she knew that it was her remark that had caused it, and while she did feel guilty over it, she couldn’t help but be annoyed at the same time. After all it wasn’t like Chloe owned Adrien, he could do whatever he wanted, hang out with whoever he wanted!

Her mind was so abuzz with these thoughts that she didn’t hear her name being called, and she jumped a mile when a hand touched her shoulder. “Sorry, I thought you heard me calling” she turned around to see cool teal eyes looking at her with concern and her heart skipped a beat “Ah-Kalu, I mean Luak. No!” Her eyes widened and he just chuckled “Kalu? Still funny, Guess I shouldn’t have worried about you after all” he smiled down at her and she smiled back, his hand was still on her shoulder and she looked at it for a moment, then his words sank in “You were worried? About me?” she asked and he nodded

“Well, yeah, after you helped us last time, I wondered if you always act like that. So whenever I hear about a new attack, I just, well worry about you and hope you are safe.” She felt her face burning as he said it and he noticed “Sorry, I tend to say whatever comes to mind, No filter, maybe that’s why I am better with music.” He said as he looked down ashamedly and Marinette felt a wave of Panic wash over her “N-no! I like it! I mean I don’t like being teased, and you don’t have to worry about me, but I mean I don’t mind if you do but you don’t have too” he was chuckling again and she smiled at him, feeling strangely more at ease now “I was just finished making cookies with Juleka when the attack started happening, would you like to come back for a bite and a cocao?”

It was odd how easy it was to say yes, and he smiled and took a hold of her hand as he led her back. She looked at it with burning cheeks and smiled softly as she let him guide her. On deck Juleka was waiting, and she gave a small wave to her friend. The sullen girl cast her eyes over the joined hands, but she said nothing and just went to prepare the drinks. Marinette sat on a beanbag and Luka went back to help his sister. This gave Marinette time to call her parents and tell them where she was. After she was done with the conversation Luka was walking back in with a plate of cookies and sweet bread. “You called your folks?” he asked and she nodded “Yeah, they get worried if I don’t check in.”

He smiled and Juleka came out with three mugs in hand “Her parents are nice. Her Dad is a pretty famous baker, he brought in treats for our class before.” Luka’s eyes widened as his sister said that and he looked at the plate he was holding “Ah, well, I will just bring these back inside and” Before he could get away Marinette was already on her feet and had grabbed a bread roll, she shoved it in her mouth as he began to protest and took a large bite from it.

He looked a bit nervous as she chewed on the bread and she knew that he had to be the one that had made it, and it was nice, sure not to her father’s standard, but it tasted good. She smiled a toothy smile and he smiled back “I know it’s not great, but I like baking” it was her turn to chuckle and she took a mug from Juleka. “it tastes good Luka, don’t worry” after that the three of them ended up chatting for the rest of the night, Juleka was telling stories of the many many failed attempts her brother had made at cooking and he was insisting that cooking was an expression of artist flair and that he should not limit himself to the confines of a book.

Marinette could not remember the last time she had laughed so hard, and she had entirely lost track of time, it wasn’t until her mother rang wondering when she would be home, that she realised just how late it was. “Oh no! Sorry Maman, I will be go home right now!” Luka and Juleka looked at each other and nodded. “Let me walk you home.” Luka said, Marinette was about to say that it was alright, but he was already pulling his hoodie on “Well, okay, thank you Luka.”

It had already gotten dark and Marinette wrapped her arms about herself, she wasn’t really cold, but there was something about the dark to just made you feel like you should be. Without warning she had a hoodie put over her shoulders and she looked up to Luka who was purposely not looking at her, she smiled to herself and gripped to the edges of it. “thanks” she said, and she could almost feel his eyes on her. “No biggie” Silence then, and her heart began thumping again, it seemed so loud she was sure he would hear it, it wasn’t a very long walk back to her place, but it seemed like it was taking longer for some reason, so she tried to make conversation “So urm… What do you… like?” she said, and after a moment of silent she turned to look at him, he was looking at her with an amused expression and she went completely red and looked at the ground. Next thing she hears is his soft lovely laugh “Well, I like music, but you already know that. And cooking, but you know that one too.  I have tried drawing, but I suck at it. And I like gaming, but not good at that either.”

He smiled at her and she looked at him again with a smile. “How about making clothes?” she asked and he scratched his cheek as he thought on it “Never tired that, sounds like fun.” She smiled and said without thinking “I could show you sometime if you like?” and his eyes widened “yeah? You really are amazing Marinette, Thanks!” he stopped walking and just looked at her, and she turned to face him, it felt like time was at a standstill and all she could see were his wonderful mesmerizing eyes. “Ah there you are! I was worried sick!” came a voice beside her, and Marinette’s eyes widened as her father gripped her into a bear hug. Her mother was at the door too and she gave Luka a once over and then a smile “Thank you for walking our daughter home” she said and he smiled to the short woman. “No problem, I would never leave a girl to walk alone at night, not even one as capable as Marinette” This seemed to win over her parents as they both nodded in approval.

Luka said his fairwells and Marinette felt a pang of hurt as he walked away, she turned and went up directly to her room after that.

part 1 is here http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174249876650/compass

Just let whatever was meant to happen, happen. Thinking like that made everything a bit easier, she wasn’t even as nervous around Adrien anymore, and they were actually able to have normal conversations. Well more or less. “Hold on, are you telling me you have never cooked anything before? Like at all? In your life?” Marinette asked him in a tone of disbelief, and Adrien looked embarrassed and a bit amused all at the same time. Nino who was sitting next to him laughed and leant back against Alya “Well think about it dudette, you think his Dad is gonna risk him getting hurt in a kitchen, when they pay people to make the food for them”

This time Adrien really was embarrassed and he gave Nino a long hard look before he spoke up “I mean, yes we do have cooks (plural) in my house, and I guess my father wouldn’t be thrilled at the idea of me cooking, but it isn’t like I want to be waited upon hand and foot” The blond said and Marinette just laughed. She couldn’t imagine what that felt like, it was a whole other world to her, they continued chatting and Adrien told her a lot about how he lived in his home. Private lessons, etiquette classes, modelling appointments, his life was so hectic it sounded like he didn’t have a moment to breath.

“Well, there must be something you do to unwind?” she said and Alya tilted her head as she wondered at her friends new found confidence and Adrien smiled and said “I mean yeah of course, when I am running around with La-a-a… I mean, driving, Driving around with My bodyguard it’s fun” Marinette just raised her brow and then laughed. “Sounds like you need a day out Adrien” she said and both Nino’s and Alya’s jaws dropped. She looked at them and then realised why “N-n-n-no! I- what I mean is, not that I was saying that we should have a day, I mean I would like it if we did have a day out, but not that I am asking you to go on a day out or anything, that would be weird right, not that going on a day out with you would be weird, I mean it would be nice, I mean you are nice and all so-” She was flailing her arms as she said this and Adrien took a hold of her hand and held them still, he was smiling at her and she felt her face growing hot.

“I would love to spend the day with you Marinette, we are friends after all right?” His words filtered past her blush and instead of the happy feeling she should have been feeling, another one was creeping in, doubt. “Yeah… yeah we are friends” Her embarrassment faded along with her smile and she stood up and excused herself. Alya followed her not long after, finding her sitting on a bench in the park holding her chest. “You okay gurl? Not quite the ending I expected there” she asked and Marinette looked at her “We are friends. That’s what he said, I mean, we ARE friends, but…” Alya sat beside her as she realised that was going on in her friends head.

“Adrien is a nice guy Mari, but Gurl, he is a bit stupid when it comes to you. Give him time, I’m sure he will figure it out” She offered Marinette a reassuring smile and patted her on the back “And now that you asked him on a date, I am sure you will have plenty of time to make him realise it.” She looked at Alya in abject horror as the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. She had hadn’t she! And Adrien… he had said yes!!!

*

Adrien had called her later that day to arrange their day out together, he suggested movies, but there wasn’t really anything on that they both wanted to see, then after that she suggested a concert, but only Jagged stone was playing and it turned out that Adrien while liking his music, was not a huge fan. They bounced back and forth with each other trying to figure out what to do, and eventually Marinette suggested that he come over to hers and she would teach him how to make bread, and they could do some gaming afterwards.

That seemed to go down a treat, and later on she asked her parents if it would be okay. Her mother smiled knowingly and said it would be fine, and her father was grinning wildly while nodding. It was clear to her that her parents liked Adrien ever since that first time he had been there and they had asked about him a few time since then, so her inviting him over was a big step.

But strangely it was not as exciting as she thought it would be.  She returned to her room and sat to her desk, maybe if the made something it would help her to clear her head.

Later that evening Alya came to visit, they were chatting for a while, Alya was getting excited on Marinette’s behalf over Adrien coming over, but then her bestie was not getting flustered over it, and was instead looking concerned, the ladyblogger became serious and took her friends hand. “What’s eating you?” she asked and Marinette looked at her with a smile “Oh it’s nothing really, I just, I don’t know how I should be acting right now?” she said. Adrien was coming over the day after tomorrow and she was not nervous or excited, she was not anything if she was honest, and she didn’t really understand why.

Alya seemed to have realised something and she looked around the room, it was more bare than she remember and she looked back to Marinette and leant in closer to her “This iiis what you wanted right?” she asked, and her friend went bright red, this caused her to laugh and relax “You’re just thinking too much. Relax, I am sure everything will be fine”