Hold Me By Both Hands

by angelofthequeers

"I know he said never to take you back," Plagg mutters. "But he'd change his tune if he knew." He looks Adrien straight in the eye and, more serious than Adrien's ever seen him before, says, "There's someone you gotta meet. He's been looking for that book for ages." Lukadrigaminette polyam because some people don't seem to be able to read tags.

41. Chapter 41

Disclaimer: I don't own ML.

I'm most likely going to stop posting to FFN after I finish this fic. People don't seem to be able to read the ship/labels and it makes me vastly prefer AO3's super comprehensive tagging system and makes me remember why I left this site in the first place. And I've found that there are quite a few rude people here too.

Thanks to The Dimensional Reader, DragoonSensei, Evander1435, Shiranai Atsune, acosta perez jose ramiro, Lily, The Keeper of Worlds and yellow 14 for your reviews :)

"Who's meeting us here?" Nino says as he, Marinette, and Alya make it to the Place de la Concorde to watch the fireworks, with Alya only being released after Nino defeated her overprotective older sister Nora in an arm wrestle (which Marinette may or may not have rigged), and Adrien and Kagami aren't even with them in person because strict parents and all that. Ugh.

"I know Luka, Juleka, and Rose are," Marinette says, and a shiver runs down her spine as it always does when she thinks about Luka for more than a nanosecond. "Chloé and Sabrina might."

"I still can't believe we're friends with Chloé," Alya says and makes a face. "Well…not-enemies. Frenemies."

"Neutral parties?" Marinette says. Alya snaps her fingers and finger-guns Marinette.

"That's the one."

"I think she really has changed for the better," Adrien says through Alya's tablet. "Even if she slips up, I think she hit that point of no return."

"Hi, guys!" Rose cries and waves from near the base of the Ferris wheel, and Marinette, Alya, and Nino rush over to join her. Juleka's next to her, their fingers laced, while Chloé and Sabrina stand close enough to be part of the group but far enough to make a statement. And next to Juleka is…

"Hey, Marinette," Luka says. His smile is like sitting next to the bakery ovens during winter, and it takes every little shred of Marinette's willpower to force out a hello without stammering or otherwise looking like a weirdo.

"I wish we could be there," Kagami says from the other half of the tablet screen once they've all paid for their tickets and have organised themselves in two compartments; Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Luka are in one, while Rose, Juleka, Chloé, and Sabrina occupy the next one down.

"Well, this is the next best thing, right?" Marinette says and angles the tablet so that Adrien and Kagami can see the fireworks erupting in the evening sky. "At least you get to see them."

"That's true," Kagami says as Marinette turns the tablet back towards her.

"Beautiful," Adrien sighs. He shakes his head. "The fireworks! They're so beautiful!"

"Well, duh," Alya smirks, while Marinette bites her lip and looks down. "What else would you have been talking about?"

Adrien's cheeks darken. "Shut up." Then his eyes widen. "Marinette, behind you! I saw something go by!"

"So did I." Kagami leans forward with narrowed eyes. "What was it? A bird?"

"I don't see anything," Luka says, looking over his shoulder. "It could've –"

The ground starts to rumble before Luka can finish his sentence, and the Ferris wheel screeches to a halt. Nino yelps and throws his arms around Alya.

"Dude, please don't tell me we're gonna be stuck up here!" he whines.

"I thought you said you were going to protect us," Alya teases. And speaking of protecting, as Marinette stands up and peers out the window of the Ferris wheel pod, Luka slides up behind her and plants his hands on the glass on either side of her head, as though shielding her back. Heat erupts in her cheeks, and she rests her forehead on the glass, as though this'll cool her face down.

"Over there!" she gasps at the sight of the black and yellow spider-like being hanging off the middle of the Ferris wheel, spraying webs from its mouth to gum up the wheel. "A supervillain!"

"Uh, maybe you shouldn't film it, Alya?" Nino says as Alya gleefully records the akuma on her phone. "You don't wanna attract it to us when we're up this high!"

And when they can't transform. Shit. Marinette can't transform! On the tablet screen, the pictures of Adrien and Kagami vanish as they either hang up or lose signal.

"A new scoop for the Ladyblog!" Alya's bouncing on the spot. "The heroes will be here any minute!"

How is Alya so ecstatic? She's Rena Rouge! She can't show up if she's stuck up here!

"Well, well," the akuma cackles when it's hanging outside their cabin. Up close, Marinette can see that it's most definitely a spider akuma, with extra arms and everything. "There you are, fly-weights!"

Oh. "Nora?" Marinette, Alya, and Nino gasp. The akuma gives a twisted little grin, her dead white eyes standing out against her dark face and bright suit.

"Nora's not here to protect you anymore. I am Anansi, super spider!" Then she grabs their Ferris wheel pod and leaps down to the ground to slam it on the concrete.

"All those arms are convenient, but you destroyed my scratching post!" says a blessedly familiar voice.

"Don't mock the akuma when she's got hostages!" Ryuuko says. Chat Noir just grins and tilts his head like an adorable little kitten, and between that, Ryuuko's eyes darting around to take in their environment on her first akuma mission, and Luka's arms around her as he helps her out of their pod, Marinette about melts on the spot.

"Lizard breath's right, kitty cat," Anansi grins. "How about we play a game of fetch?" She darts at Chat Noir and Ryuuko, dodges Chat Noir's baton, grabs Ryuuko around the wrists with two of her hands, then throws Ryuuko into the Ferris wheel so hard that it creaks and rolls loose from its webbing. "Go get it!"

"No!" Chat Noir bounds after the Ferris wheel and Ryuuko. Just as Alya and Nino climb out of the pod, Anansi lands next to them with a thud.

"Now that you can't cheat anymore, cappie," Anansi says and grabs Nino in a reverse bear hug, "show us just how you plan to protect my dear sister with your muscles of friendship!"

"Hey! Let him go!" Marinette dives for a struggling Nino, but Anansi yanks him out of her reach.

"You wanna eat dirt, baguette?" Anansi swats Marinette across the stomach, sending her flying clean off the top of the pod.

"Marinette!" Before Marinette's head can crack on the hard ground, she's enveloped by warm darkness that smells of sea spray, and then she's rolling and gasping but not hurting, and what's going on? She gets her answer when she finally comes to a halt and pushes herself up rather woozily.

"Luka!" she cries. Underneath her is Luka, out cold with blood trickling down his face and abrasions all down his right arm, undoubtedly from cushioning her fall. With a gasp, she carefully reaches out and brushes Luka's hair aside to reveal the gash that's heavily oozing blood. "No!"

"Marinette!" Chat Noir lands next to her, and there's a sharp intake of breath from him when he sees Luka's state. "Luka! Is he –?"

"I think he's just unconscious…" Marinette grits her teeth against the white-hot rage that's bubbling deep in her gut, because how dare Hawkmoth hurt someone she loves like this? "But there's so much blood! Is he even breathing?"

"Head injuries bleed a lot," Tikki says from inside Marinette's purse. "He'll be fine, Marinette!"

"Tikki, I don't think he's breathing! Did the fall – did he crack his head that hard –"

"Marinette! If you transform, you can take care of Anansi and heal Luka!"

"Tikki's right." Chat Noir grabs Marinette's hand and squeezes. "We can't let this distract us, princess. If we let Hawkmoth take advantage of the people we love, he wins."

Marinette takes a deep breath, then nods and squares her shoulders and pushes herself to her feet while swiping her sleeve across her face. "You're right. We have to –"

"Can you step on it, you mangy alley cat?" Honeybee lands next to them. "Guitar boy'll be fine once Ladybug's here. Just shove him somewhere safe and come help!"

"Can you take them both?" Chat Noir says. "I have to go back up the others. Who else made it?"

"No one. We're it," Honeybee says. "Ryuuko's trying to save the Ladyblogger and DJ Tupac all by herself so, like, maybe you should hurry the hell up before Spider-Wasp gets her Miraculous."

"Right. Right." Chat Noir stands up and twirls his baton. "Make sure they're safe, Honeybee."

"When did I turn into a goddamn taxi service?" Honeybee grumbles as she grabs Luka and slings him over her shoulder, then does the same with Marinette. Marinette's expecting Honeybee to just dump Luka when she bounds into an alleyway a few streets over, but she's almost gentle as she sets Luka down next to Marinette.

"Honeybee!" Marinette says before Honeybee can disappear. Honeybee looks over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you. You're a great hero."

"Of course I am," Honeybee scoffs, but her cheeks are pink and there's a softness in her blue eyes that Marinette's never seen before. "Just keep guitar boy safe, okay? That mangy cat cares about him and I'll flip my shit if I have to carry Chat Noir's dead weight against Spider-Wasp. Ugh, and I was actually having a good time before I transformed. I so owe Spider-Wasp a sting up the –"

A crash from a few streets away cuts off Honeybee before she can finish her sentence. Shaking her head, she leaps away.

"Hawkmoth's gonna pay for this," Marinette growls, brushing strands of teal-tipped hair away from Luka's forehead and away from the gash. She's tempted to check for breathing or a pulse – oh, how tempting it is – but what if she doesn't like the answer she gets? If Miraculous Ladybug will fix it anyway…well, maybe it's better that she doesn't know. Injuries fade, but memories don't.

"Just keep a clear head, Marinette," Tikki says. "If you let yourself get clouded by Luka getting hurt, Hawkmoth will win. It's one of the reasons why secret identities are a thing!"

"I know. I promise I won't let this knock me down, Tikki. Luka didn't sacrifice himself for me to let Hawkmoth win."

Tikki darts up and nuzzles against Marinette's cheek. "Good. You know what to say!"

"Tikki, spots on!"

Although only half the team is there, the fight against Anansi is quick enough with a well-timed Wind Dragon from Ryuuko to keep her distracted, allowing Honeybee to Venom her and Chat Noir to destroy the helmet containing her akuma. After they've pounded it and then scattered to detransform, Ladybug makes a beeline for the alleyway where Luka had been left and she detransforms around the corner so that he doesn't see her.

"Luka!" she cries when she rounds the corner and finds him blinking slowly and pushing himself to his feet. "If you ever do that again, I'll – I'll –"

"It's okay, Marinette," Luka says with a soft smile. "Ladybug always fixes everything."

"That's not the point!" Marinette stamps her foot. "I – I care about you, you jerk! Ladybug might fix everything, but she doesn't – she doesn't take away the memories…"

"Hey." Luka's warm arms slip around Marinette as she sniffles, and she buries her face in his shirt, cursing the inevitable draining of adrenaline that turns her into an emotional mess half the time after akuma battles. "I'm sorry that you had to see that. But I'm not sorry for what I did. You're extraordinary, Marinette. As clear as a music note, as sincere as a melody…you're the song that's been playing inside my head since the day we met. How could I not save you?" One of his hands slides between them to rest on her chest, above her heart. "You and Adrien have the most unique songs in your hearts. I'd do anything for you. For both of you."

"That's not a good thing," Marinette says thickly. "There's such a thing as being too selfless."

"Perhaps." Luka's other hand starts to stroke Marinette's hair, and she sniffles again and leans into the touch like a girl dying of thirst. "But we all have our flaws. I'd prefer to be too selfless than not selfless enough. And I get the feeling that you have that problem as well."

"Yeah. I guess," Marinette says and closes her eyes so that she can nestle even further into Luka's embrace. "But still. You're a jerk."

"You're still here, so I'm happy to be a jerk," Luka says. When Marinette pulls away to squint up at him, she's greeted with a teasing little smile, so she huffs and slaps him on the shoulder.

"I'm calling Adrien and Kagami," she says, fumbling around in her purse for her phone. "We need to talk before I explode. And you can give up the act, Luka. I know you know who Adrien is."

Luka shrugs with a small smile. "If you insist…Ladybug," he says. Marinette's heart jolts in her chest at the sound of someone other than Adrien calling her civilian self by her superhero name. "Tell them to meet us at the houseboat, then. Juleka was planning on staying at Rose's after the fireworks, and Mum's gone for the night. No one should be able to listen in."

"S-Sounds like you want to lure us there and murder us in the dead of night!" Marinette jokes weakly.

"Now, why would I do that to such cute people?" Luka replies with a wink, and Marinette just whines and flushes because dammit, why does he have to be so adorable?

With the text sent, the two of them emerge from the alleyway and set off for the Couffaine houseboat. They're walking close enough that Marinette can reassure herself that he's very much alive, but far apart enough that no one will mistake them for a couple. Not that Marinette would mind, but maybe after the inevitable talk rather than before.

When they reach the houseboat, Chat Noir and Kagami are already waiting for them. There's a tiny shred of jealousy that curdles in Marinette's gut when Chat Noir heads straight for Luka and throws his arms around the taller boy, but she squashes that jealousy down like it's an annoying akuma. No. This is not the time for jealousy, especially not when they're about to have this long-needed conversation between the four of them. She's not going to lose Chat Noir just because he chooses to show affection to Luka first, especially after what had happened that evening.

"You never did have that conversation with him, did you?" Kagami says, jolting Marinette out of her own mind.

"I never got the chance. Today was so busy because we were at Alya's for the day, then Anansi happened…is it really that obvious?"

"The way you looked when Chat Noir went for Luka, even though Chat Noir isn't pursuing a relationship with him. It was only for a split second, but I still saw it."

"I know I shouldn't be jealous. And I told myself that it was silly because it's not like I mean anything less to Chat just because of another guy. But…"

"Feelings are irrational," Kagami says with a small smile. "I know. I get jealous seeing you and Adrien together sometimes."

"Does it ever go away?" Marinette says softly. "I don't want to feel like this every time Chat hugs Luka, or Luka hugs Chat."

"It's natural to be jealous when you've spent so long believing that relationships can only be between two people," Kagami says. "But so long as you're open and don't bottle it up, it's easily handled."

"Some more sage advice from Rin?" Marinette grins. Kagami laughs.

"Yes. I do miss her sometimes, but I'm glad I moved to Paris. I have more friends here. Friends I'm actually allowed to spend time with."

"Your mother didn't approve of Rin?"

"Not rich or influential enough. I don't think Mother cares about who my friends are so long as they're successful. I'm still afraid to tell her that I like girls, though…"

"You think your mother would approve of Marinette and Luka?" Chat Noir says. Marinette nearly jumps out of her skin when she realises that Chat Noir and Luka have been watching and listening for a while, although she couldn't say exactly when they'd started eavesdropping. Hopefully, it was after the jealousy thing.

"Marinette? She just might," Kagami says. "After all, Marinette won Mr Agreste's design competition and her hat caught the eye of Audrey Bourgeois. Not to mention that she's designed for Jagged Stone before. Mother might see that budding potential as good enough. But Luka? I'm not entirely sure, not unless he was to make a name for himself in the music industry."

"I plan on it," Luka says with that adorable smile where one side of his mouth curls up. Marinette about dies on the spot at the sight. It's so different to Chat Noir's toothy grins and Kagami's barely-there smiles that creep up on her, yet it makes her insides explode in exactly the same way.

"But you know what?" Kagami says. "I find that I don't really care who Mother approves of. I'll always strive to be a daughter she can be proud of but, well…she can't really say who I can and can't be friends with, can she?"

"That's the spirit," Chat Noir says cheerfully. "Besides, you're not dating Luka or anything, so…"

The dreaded d-word wipes the smiles off everyone's faces. Clearing his throat, Luka steps onto the plank connecting the houseboat to the concrete bank and holds out his hand to escort Marinette across. Chat Noir does the same for Kagami and for a moment, it's so similar to when Adrien had helped Kagami across on the day Marinette had first met her that Marinette's forced to blink and shake her head to dispel the image.

"Drinks? Snacks?" Luka says once they're all down in the living area and he's flicked on the lights.

"I feel like you're stalling," Kagami says. Luka shrugs.

"Kind of. We all know how we feel about each other, but we've never actually talked about it."

Chat Noir sighs and throws himself onto the couch. Marinette's oh so tempted to sit in his lap or snuggle up to him, but she feels like that wouldn't be fair to Luka and Kagami with the conversation they're about to have, so she instead just sits next to him. Kagami takes the spot next to her and Luka ends up next to Chat Noir, sandwiching him and Marinette.

"So," Marinette says. "Who, uh, wants to go first?"

"How brave of you, princess," Chat Noir says dryly. "Fine, I suppose your knight in shining leather will have to take the plunge."

"Never call yourself that again," Marinette, Kagami, and Luka say in unison. Chat Noir pouts.

"I'll go first, if only to never hear that name ever again," Kagami adds.

"Alright, but can I do something first?" Chat Noir says. "Luka already figured it out, so it's not fair that you don't know. Marinette and I, uh…aren't in a polyamorous relationship."

"What?" Kagami's brow furrows. "But she's with Adrien, and she was caught kissing you."

"Yeah. About that…" Chat Noir scratches the back of his head.

"Are you sure, kitty?" Marinette says.

"Yeah. Kagami can't be the only one who doesn't know. Claws in."

Kagami's jaw drops at the sight of Chat Noir transforming back into Adrien. "Oh," she says faintly. "Oh. Um…okay. Yes. That makes sense. That's why you and Chat Noir are never seen at the same time. And if you're not all in a polyamorous relationship but you were kissing Marinette…"

"Y-Yeah," Marinette says with a nervous little grin as Kagami leans in and brushes aside a lock of hair to reveal one black earring. "I kind of forgot that I wasn't transformed when I was kissing him."

"Wow." Kagami sags back against the couch. "I think I need a minute to process this. How did Luka already know?"

"Their heart songs," Luka says. "Slight differences when they're transformed, but overall the same."

There's silence for a minute or so, to give Kagami time to process everything she's just learned. Finally, she shakes her head.

"Okay, I think I've caught up with my brain," she declares. "We should talk about where we each stand before I pass out from information overload. I've made my feelings for Marinette and Adrien clear. I also told Marinette that she needs to talk to Chat – Adrien – about what boundaries they want to set, how they'll deal with jealousy when it arises, whether they'll be open to each other dating others beyond us, but she obviously didn't get a chance to talk to him until now."

"You could've just DM'ed me," Adrien says.

"Yeah, but it felt like a conversation to have in person, you know?" Marinette says. "And, uh…it's not like I was in any hurry to have that conversation. Okay, so I may have been putting it off a little…"

Adrien snorts. "Well, I'm only the jealous type when I can't have something or someone," he says. "So long as I've got you, angel, and I don't lose any time with you, I don't mind who you date."

"Still sounds like something you might want to work on," Marinette says. "The whole "jealous if I can't get what I want"."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just…not easy, y'know? You know I'm not exactly wanting for anything in my normal life. And since my father's a colossal jerk…"

"Oof." Marinette laces their fingers together. "Affection-starved and not used to not getting something."

"Maybe you could see a therapist," Luka says. "Or someone who could help?"

"I'm not messed up in the head!" Adrien says automatically.

"That's debatable," Marinette mutters, earning herself a pinch that makes her squeal. "But seriously, you don't have to be messed up to see a therapist. They're just someone you can talk to who don't know you personally, so they're like a third party. My mum used to see one when I was a child, although I don't remember why."

"As if my father would let me," Adrien says. "I, well…being Chat Noir's my escape. And it's freeing, yeah, 'cause I get to let loose, but in a way…I kinda resent it? I just…want to be able to be open and affectionate as me as well as Chat Noir."

"You know I love you with or without the mask, right, kitty?" Marinette says softly. "Your civilian and hero selves aren't separate people."

"Marinette's right," Luka says. "You're the same person no matter what. Chat Noir is just one instrument in your soul's band."

"Having more freedom to let loose behind a mask doesn't make you a completely different person when you're wearing it," Kagami finishes. "It doesn't mean that you're "your true self" as Chat Noir; you're just putting on a different face for the situation, just as everyone else does. And you know exactly where I'm coming from when I say this."

"Thanks, guys," Adrien says with a soft smile. It's so raw that Marinette can't help but lean into his side and rest her cheek on his shoulder, offering him that little bit more comfort. "You next, princess."

"Okay, okay, I guess I can't run away forever," Marinette says. "I don't exactly know what boundaries we'd set off the top of my head. Maybe we could just go with the usual "open communication" and that sort of thing and figure out the rest as we go?"

"Sounds good to me," Adrien says.

"The jealousy thing? I think the only thing I can do about that is to just keep forcing myself to unlearn it. Like…" Marinette sighs and looks down at her fidgeting hands. "Rationally, I know there's nothing to worry about. I know you're not going to leave me for someone else. I just…guess I've spent so long fantasising about meeting the perfect person and having three kids and a hamster with them that I'm still not used to the idea of having multiple people and balancing that."

"If you need time to sort that out, Kagami and I would be more than willing," Luka says. "If the original melody is off, any additional ones would just muddle it even further."

"No. No. I want to be with you and Kagami as well," Marinette says. "I guess…well, just slap me around the head if I ever start being overly jealous."

"We wouldn't harm you for it," Kagami says. After a moment, she blinks slowly. "Oh. It was a saying."

"Yeah," Marinette says with a small laugh. "Luka?"

"I've made my feelings clear as well," Luka says. "I'd love to date both you and Adrien. But I understand if the relationship between you two takes priority –"

"Whoa, whoa, no," Adrien says. "There's no priority. You're all equally important to me."

"What he said," Marinette says. "Adrien's not more important just because I was with him first. We're not gonna just shove you and Kagami aside when things get rough, Luka. That's why we wanna be sure we've figured this out before we go jumping in."

The smile that spreads across Luka's face is wide and warm, like sinking into a hot bath. If Marinette was sitting next to him, she'd almost certainly have melted into him, and it feels like Adrien would be doing the same thing if he wasn't currently snuggling into her.

"Well, I'm not usually a jealous person," Luka says. "So long as something's not being flaunted, I guess. And I don't really mind if you both date anyone else, so long as there's no sneaking around."

"Sounds like there's a bit of history there," Marinette says carefully when a scowl flickers across Luka's face at that last comment.

"Let's just say there's a reason Mum's single and we've got her last name. The less said, the better."

"Oh." Adrien reaches across to take Luka's hand. "Sorry."

"It's cool. We just don't think about him. That's way more energy than he deserves."

"My father died several years ago," Kagami says. "Is Marinette the only one of us with a normal family life?"

Kagami's joke successfully breaks the ice, as Adrien and Luka snort and Marinette rolls her eyes.

"I'd offer to have my dad adopt you three, but since you're all my partners, I feel like that'd be a bit weird," she drawls. Then she blinks and giggles. "My partners. Wow, that's such a rush to say."

"I know what you mean," Kagami says and shifts so that she's resting against Marinette with her cheek tucked against Marinette's arm. "I felt light and fluttery when you said that."

"Just give us a steady supply of treats and we'll call it even," Adrien says.

"Bad kitty." Luka playfully swats Adrien around the head, causing him to hiss. "No begging for treats. Even if they're Dupain-Cheng treats."

"I thought bringing you three treats would be a given," Marinette says. She rearranges herself so that she's lying across Adrien's lap, with her legs in Kagami's lap and her head against Luka's thigh. Luka immediately starts stroking her hair, while Kagami drapes an arm over her legs, and both Luka and Kagami lean against Adrien's sides. She can't help but let out a soft purr and curse Plagg, that damn kwami, because he hadn't warned her that she'd be left with faint Black Cat side-effects from her few weeks as Lady Noire!

"So, uh," Adrien says. "How do we do dates? I don't think it should be all four of us all the time, especially because Kagami and Luka aren't dating in this dynamic."

"And I think we'd all appreciate being alone with one or both partners every so often," Luka adds. "It'd give us a chance to work on our individual relationships. You know, so we're not just known as Lukadrigaminette the four-way package deal."

"That's a mouthful," Marinette says. Luka chuckles.

"I know. Some days, we might want Adrienette. Or Lukadrien. Or Kagaminette. Or even Lukadrienette or Adrigaminette."

"What are you, a fanboy?"

Luka just shrugs. "Blame Juleka," is all he says, while Adrien shakes with laughter against Marinette. "She's a closet nerd, so neither of us are any strangers to shipping."

"Plus, it might be a good idea to not be open about your relationships with us until you know how you want to announce it," Kagami says. "The last thing you need is to end up in the tabloids with accusations of infidelity."

"How about we do all that annoying thinking stuff later?" Marinette grumbles. "Just shut up and cuddle, all three of you."

"Yes, ma'am," Adrien, Luka, and Kagami reply immediately.