#softober

Standing off to the side and just bending over had been working so far for preparing Eddie's face and outlining the design of the fake cut he had requested you do for him, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that this position was terrible. Your lower back ached, your arms were growing tired, even your neck had a strange pain in its side from the way you were twisting to accomplish the task at hand.

At first, Eddie pretended to ignore your obvious discomfort, passing it off as merely being focused.

But now?

"Sweetheart," he huffs with his eyes closed, hearing you sigh before standing up straight to give yourself a break. "Have you considered just sitting on my lap?"

The suggestion makes you freeze.

It certainly had - but just as quickly as the thought had come, you had shoved it away.

You and Eddie had been best friends for quite some time. The prettily painted image of an overused cliche. You met in your youth, and grew into young adults together. He had been there for your first broken bone, and you had been there for when he finally got his driver's license. You had been the first - and only - person to ride shotgun in his van, and he was the only person you let in your room for a good six month period. The two of you had witnessed every major milestone in each other's lives, every embarrassing development, every hardship.

You knew Eddie better than the back of your hand, the back of your own eyelids. And at some point, knowing had become loving.

His lap isn't an option. At some point, somewhere between the lines, that type of contact stopped being common. Stopped being something your weary heart could handle.

"I'd probably be too heavy," you laugh off, mind rolling around several backup excuses. "Besides, I don't want your legs falling asleep and you interrupting me, complaining about it and needing to stand."

The furrow in his brows tells you this is going to be an argument.

Easily, his hand comes up to grab the wrist of the hand currently tapping and molding the cotton and latex, "First of all, you've never been too heavy to sit in my lap. We've done it a ton of times in cars and stuff," he looks up at you, a miriage of concern and curiosity, "Second of all, we both know I'm going to find a way to complain anyways."

Even his touch on your wrist is quite a bit. The softness of it, the weight of his knuckles wrapping around your skin, is too heavy to bear. Your heart could crack under the weight, pumping furiously as you're sure he can feel your pulse pick up where his thumb rests against your vein.

"That was ages ago," You laugh nervously - it really wasn't, "And yeah, true, but you'll be complaining sooner rather than later if your legs go numb. It's just-"

He was never going to fall for all your excuses.

He rolls his eyes, hands dropping down to your waist, tugging you right onto his lap. As if the world doesn't stop for him with this much contact with you. As if his lungs haven't frozen over just as yours have, trapped in a forever winter as you feel his breath brushing over your cheek from the sudden proximity.

"There," he grins, totally oblivious of the way his toothy smile could permanently alter the very molecules of your existence, "Now, keep making me absolutely terrifying, m'lady."

The cotton ball between your fingers, previously coated in latex, has gone dry. Your mouth follows it, and your heart tries to creep up into your throat, as if curious to get a glance at the warm honey eyes glittering at you right now.

"I…" you start to whisper, just staring at him.

And he doesn't take the hint. "What's up? You can also straddle me if that's more comfortable, I don't mind-"

"I can't," you blurt out before blinking rapidly at your own outburst, clearing your throat and trying again, "I… This is fine."

It's so far from fine. It's driving you insane.

How is he so nonchalant about this all? How is this not affecting him?

How can he just look up at you with those big brown eyes, that half dimple ghosting his left cheek, and not see what he does to you? The way your heart rate picks up, the way your mind goes blank. The way warmth weeds through your veins at a gentle pace, curling up around every inch of you and lulling you into all that he is.

You're not sure when that effect began. You just know it exists now.

"You… can't," he speaks slowly and carefully, looking at you with an eyebrow raised behind his bangs. "Why can't you?"

Because I like you too much. Because I'm drowning in your cologne right now, and I don't recall being affected this much by it when I helped you pick it out. Because every time I get too close to you, physically, it feels like I've been struck by goddamn lightning.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," you offer one last pathetic attempt at an excuse to not take this any further, to not torture yourself anymore than needed.

And yet, when his face softens, when his eyes melt at the sight of you, it's hard to keep making excuses.

"That's not it," he whispers back. You wait for him to demand the real answer, to press you to confess. He doesn't.

His hands fall to your thighs, keeping a respectable distance close to your knees. He shifts in his seat, and he encourages you to stand.

Before you can process it, you're letting him guide you to straddle him.

The latex is on the counter behind you, a mess of cotton balls strewn half into the sink. A jug of fake blood and face paints not yet opened. All but forgotten.

But the unspoken isn't forgotten. You can see it in his eyes, so up close - he knows, and he won't make you say it.

He just keeps his hands right above your knees, letting you hover as you need to straddle him, and closes his eyes.

"Go ahead, sweetheart," he says, and it feels like a lot more than just an invitation to continue the makeup,"I'll keep my eyes closed."

You hadn't noticed his breath catching when he had pulled you into his lap. You hadn't noticed that he had kept opening his eyes against his will before because he needs to see you, needs to make sure you're still there and still real. You hadn't noticed the way that every brush of your fingertip against his cheek has him all but melting into himself.

You hadn't noticed the effect you've had on him, one strong enough to counter the one you had stumbled upon recently.

He had been waiting for this moment since Marinette turned up next to the Liberty in a white car and proudly showed him her shiny pink driver’s licence, asking him to join her on a small road trip for the weekend. They wouldn't go too far from the city, and the few hours they needed to get to the countryside were spent singing along to the songs Luka put on the radio and Marinette making sure she didn’t go above the speed limit. 

When they reached the small camping area they would be staying at, Marinette looked around in awe. The sunlight was shining through the tall trees and gleamed on the surface of the lake in front of them, flowers of all kinds and colours surrounded them, and everything was so serene and calm that Marinette felt her heart lighter the more she looked around, finally feeling the weight on her shoulders get less heavy. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to inhale the fresh air while Luka set up their tent, insisting he didn’t need any help. 

Marinette laid a blanket on the ground, picked some daisies and started weaving them in a crown while she waited for him. She was pulling the ends of the garland together when Luka sat next to her, “What’s that?”, he asked, and as an answer Marinette pulled him in a light kiss and placed the crown on top of his head.

She could feel his smile on her lips before he pulled away, “Does it look good?”.

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open at his question, the flower crown was titled on one side, and the sweet smile on his face made Marinette's heart skip a beat. The bright blue of his hair made a nice contrast with the white flowers, and all Marinette could do was raise her hand to cup his cheek and lean closer to press her lips to his. It was overwhelming, thinking about the way the tall lanky brother of her friend made her feel, how things changed since they first met and everything that led to this exact moment, but Marinette couldn’t wish for anything better, even if Luka wasn't who she thought she needed in the past.

He made things easy, and that was what she needed.

Something easy, someone who listened to her silence, who was patient and gentle. Luka was that and more, and Marinette loved every part of him. 

She kissed him again, deeper this time, so she could let her actions speak for her, so he could understand how much he meant to her. The soft hum he let out when he kissed her back was an answer for her, he understood, and Marinette's heart beat louder in her ears as his hand tickled the hair at the nape of her neck.

They were both breathless when they parted, “I’ll take that as a yes”, Luka’s words came out in a soft sigh, his thumb gracing her cheek as their forehead pressed together. He looked down, picking a small daisy from the ground and putting it behind her ear, and pressed a small kiss on her lips before he pulled away and looked at her.

He was sporting the goofiest, dumbest smile as Marinette tilted her head, “What?”, she asked.

Luka let out a breathless laugh, “Nothing, nothing… I just- you're so beautiful”, he said, cupping her face with both his hands and squeezing her cheeks lightly, “and amazing. I really don't know what made you choose me but I'm so happy that you did. You make me so happy, and- ah, I’m so stupid in love with you, Marinette”.

He could feel her cheeks heat up under his touch, and he let her go only to grab her by her hips and make her sit on his lap. Marinette's face was the prettiest shade of pink, "You, you-", she mumbled as she hid her face on his shoulder and slapped her hand on his chest lightly. She could feel his chuckle rumble through his chest, how he could be so open with his feelings for her was still a mystery to her, but she loved how he never failed to warm her heart and make her feel special.

Back when she was at the beggining of lycée, Marinette thought she would never find someone who loved her the way Luka did, and now here she was, with his arms wrapped around her and his hands tracing small patterns on her sides, finally feeling that someone genuinely cared for her without asking for something in return.

“The same goes for me, you know...”, Marinette whispered after a moment, and Luka hummed softly, “You make me happy, even if you’re a dork sometimes”.

“But you love me”, he countered, she could see him smiling without even looking at him.

“That’s true”, she confirmed, and raised her head to place a kiss on his jaw, “I really, really love you”. 

Marinette’s fingers played with Luka’s hair as they got lost in each other’s eyes and admired the warm sunlight flicker through them, making them shine in different shades of blue.

They spent the afternoon wrapped around each other, sharing slow, tender kisses and basking in the sun in blissful oblivion, pointing at the sky and guessing the shapes of the clouds. 

It wasn't until the sun hung low in the sky that Luka reluctantly got up to light up a fire before it became too dark and cold, and Marinette took out their food from the cooler she had brought. Luka grinned at her, reaching for his backpack and pulling out a bottle of wine and a box. She tilted her head in confusion as she watched him set the bottle down and open the box, pulling out some electric candles and putting them around the blanket. Marinette's eyes twinkled with happiness as she looked at their surroundings in awe, "It's so beautiful, Luka!". 

"Are you planning to serenade me, too?", Marinette said, glancing at the guitar case he set next to them.

"Maybe later", Luka bit down a sheepish smile as he sat next to her and opened the bottle, pouring the mellow liquor in a glass before handing it to her and raising his glass for a toast. They both drank from their glasses and later started eating the delicacies Marinette had brought. Sometimes, she fed him from her fingers, and he did the same until they were both comfortably full and the bottle of wine was half empty. After they put away their plates and settled on the clean blanket, Luka reached for his guitar and started to tune it, "When did you become so romantic?” Marinette teased, “Lighting candles, bringing wine, and now you're playing for me…”.

Luka let out a small chuckle as he tested the sound coming from his instrument, “Did you forget how I confessed to you, Ma-Ma-Marinette?”.

It had been so long since then, since their first meeting and since the first date that followed much time later, after Marinette had sorted out her feelings and decided to allow herself to move on and found love in blue eyes and gentle melodies. 

She smiled fondly at him, her cheeks turning pink at his comment, and Luka just took some time to admire her and take her in fully, from the way her lilac sundress exposed her pale collarbones to the way her midnight hair framed her face. 

"I would never forget that", Marinette said, and leaned in to press a small kiss on his cheek.

“Good”, he grinned, and finally started to play a slow tune.

“Called you for the first time yesterday, I finally found the missing part of me”, he sang slowly as he looked at her, the soft smile on her face made her shine brighter than the stars that were starting to appear in the sky.

“I can't get your smile out of my mind, I think about your eyes all the time. You're beautiful but you don't even try”, he went on singing, Marinette could feel her cheeks grow warmer and warmer, but she decided she'd blame it on the fire cracking in front of them.

He moved his head to the rhythm as he sang, grinning when he stopped the music abruptly. He winked at her before his fingers started moving effortlessly on the fretboard to form a quicker melody, “Now I'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment, I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again!”, he concluded with a final strum, lowering his head in a little bow.

Marinette was giggling as she clapped her hands, and the wide smile didn't leave her face as she leaned in to kiss him. He let out a small sigh before he shifted to settle his head on her lap, his fingers slowly moving on the fretboard to test a comfortable position to play. “I'm not done yet”, he said, and he started playing another delicate combination of notes as Marinette's fingers brushed his hair.

He started singing a moment later, his rough voice dripping with sweetness as he sang, “I want to write you a song, one that's beautiful as you are sweet, with just a hint of pain for the feeling that I get when you are gone...”. Marinette closed her eyes to fully absorb the music that made her heart feel full and she got lost in that sweet world he was creating just for her, feeling like she didn't need anything else while he was by her side.

When a chill gust of wind made Marinette shiver, Luka got up and offered her his spare hoodie, which she took gladly. 

They laid down, watching the sky littered with bright stars as they both held each other close. Marinette nuzzled next to him when he wrapped his arms around her, quietly inhaling his scent and closing her eyes. Her hands intertwined with his as she turned her face to him, the fire had slowly gone out, and the only thing illuminating his features was the faint light coming from the moon hanging high in the sky and the tiny stars shining over them. She looked up only to find herself in awe at the world around them. Looking at the stars from there was different than seeing them in Paris, they weren't dimmed down by the city lights and the pollution. The sky was clear, allowing them to see a big portion of its stars as Marinette raised her hand to try to reach them.

Luka couldn’t help but look at her in wonder, smiling to himself as her lips curved into the most happy smile.

“It’s so beautiful”, she whispered quietly, afraid to ruin the atmosphere if she spoke too loud.

She heard Luka hum in approval, too dazed to even answer. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but the only thing he could do now was point at the constellations that were shining over them. Marinette squinted her eyes to follow his finger. He gave her directions again, and she lit up when she could finally see the constellation he was talking about.

“If you go up from there and then to the left, you can see Ursa Major”, he said, and watched Marinette cheer when she finally found it.

The moonlight  was illuminating her beautiful features, it made her skin glow a soft white light and he couldn’t help but wish to never stop looking at her, warmth spread through his body, and when she turned to give him a slow kiss he was sure that he wouldn’t trade this moment for anything.

He would fight for it, to keep it stored into the softest parts of his mind, to keep it pure and true like their love was, and he was sure he didn’t need any blanket to keep him warm as long as Marinette was by his side.

She rested her head on his shoulders, letting out a content sigh as his fingers traced lazy patterns on her arm while they looked back at the sky. Luka started humming the melody of her heart in the quiet of the night, and just then a sudden flash of light crossed the sky, illuminating the trees surrounding them.

Marinette gasped, “Shooting star! Make a wish!”.