Designing Your Melody: Chapter 18 - Vocals
There were some situations that could only be put into perspective by venting to your best friend. Having a boy basically state his interest in you in a romantic capacity definitely qualified as one of those situations.
"Alya," Marinette whined, looking at her best friend sitting on her couch. "What do I do?"
Ever since Luka's confession two days ago, Marinette had been debating what her next move would be. She really really liked spending time with him, but she didn't want to chance messing up the comfortable friendship they had developed.
"Girl, what do you want to do?" It was killing Alya to keep her mouth shut about Viperion's true identity, but she agreed with Nino that this was something that their friend had to work out on her own. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't give her BFF a little nudge in the right direction. "What would you do if it were, say, Adrien confessing his love to you?"
She was appalled at that idea. "Adrien? Alya, you know I don't like him like that anymore." She shook her head in disgust. "No, even if Adrien were to tell me right now that he was in love with me and wanted to be with me, I'd tell him that we'd just have to stay friends"
"Okay, so it's not the fact that someone likes you, it's the fact that it's Luka who likes you, correct?"
She stopped in her tracks and stared at her chestnut-haired friend. She hadn't thought about it that way before. Maybe she wasn't scared of being in a relationship, maybe she was scared of being in a relationship with Luka specifically. "Why does that scare me so much?" she asked anxiously.
"Girl, you're scared because you're already invested in your relationship with him." She stood up and walked over to grab her friend's hand, pulling her back to sit with her so she could focus on their conversation and not her pacing. "Even though you guys aren't romantically involved yet and he said 'no pressure', you're still worried that if you try to be with him and it doesn't work out, it'll destroy whatever it is you guys have now."
"You're right. It's not worth it. I don't want to lose him."
Seeing the determination on her friend's face, Alya realized that she needed to try a different tactic before Marinette sabotaged any sort of romantic involvement before it even began. "Let's look at this from a different perspective. How would you react if it were Viperion saying that he wanted to be with you. Would you react any differently?"
She knew that she had to tread lightly. She didn't want to reveal everything too soon. She was a little worried about using Marinette's crush on her clanmate against her, but really, the girl was just so dense at times. Sometimes you just had to come right out and smack her across the face with something to make her acknowledge it.
"Viperion? What does he have anything to do with this?"
Alya growled, frustrated at her own decision to keep her mouth shut. "It's a hypothetical question. Purely hypothetical. I asked, 'what if' to make you think about if you would behave differently."
Marinette pondered that question for a few seconds. Would she react differently if it were Viperion? She did really like talking to their reptilian clanmate and she looked forward to playing with him whenever she got a chance to get online. Plus, he had an easygoing nature that made it really easy to open up to him. There were times that she wanted to ask him if they could meet up in real life, but she was comfortable with that degree of separation between them. Crossing that line would make him real, a flesh and blood person instead of a voice behind her screen.
If Viperion expressed an interest in meeting her and cultivating their friendship into something more, would she be so quick to shoot him down and play it safe?
"Honestly? I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know the real Viperion, only what he shares with me online. Just like he doesn't know the real me. We only know what we tell each other."
Alya chuckled softly. "That's true of any relationship we have with another person. It's up to you how much you share with the other person. Just because you don't know what Viperion's face looks like doesn't mean you don't know what his heart looks like."
She looked at her friend in shock. "Wow, Alya. That was kinda deep."
"What can I say?" she retorted with an exaggerated hair flip, "I have my moments."
They both started giggling and the absurdity of Alya's statement. After a few moments, Marinette took a deep breath and continued talking. "To be honest, I think if it were Viperion who had confessed his love to me, I think I would give him a shot."
"Really? So what makes Viperion different than Luka?"
"I don't know. I'm just so comfortable around Viperion. We can laugh and joke around and there's no expectation there for anything else. When I'm with Luka, I can be myself around him, but there's still that, I don't know… pressure? I can't really describe it."
Deciding that she's pushed her friend far enough for one day, Alya changed the subject. "So have you seen Luka since Saturday? Has he been stopping by the bakery like he used to?"
Marinette shook her head. "I think he's giving me space. He invited me to see him perform next Saturday, though."
"Oh my god, you have to go!" she shrieked. "Nino and I will go with you if it'll make you feel better."
"Would you?" she looked relieved. "I was going to ask Adrien if he wanted to come too. Get him out of his house for a night, ya know?"
Alya's nose crinkled as she scowled at her friend. "Really? You think bringing Adrien to go see Luka play is really a good idea?"
Marinette's brows furrowed in response. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be a good idea? He's one of my best friends!"
She sighed at the naïve girl's utter lack of awareness. "If you think it's a good idea, then go ahead and invite him, girl. It's your funeral."
-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-
To Marinette, she thought of the evolution of her relationship with Adrien Agreste as a marker to indicate how much she had grown up and matured over the years. If someone had told her that she would be able to personally invite him out to join her – and their friends – to a club to watch a band perform without stuttering or making an absolute fool of herself, she would have called that person a liar. When they had been teenagers, there had been something about him that had made her brain short circuit in the most embarrassing of ways.
In a way, she was flabbergasted that the blond boy had never caught on to the way she had felt about him back then. In her mind, her obsession with him had been so painfully obvious to literally everyone except Adrien himself. Maybe he was just that oblivious. Or maybe he had been aware and was ignoring her affection for him in order to avoid a painfully awkward rejection.
It was something that she had wondered about many, many times over the years, but as her attraction for him had waned, she'd decided to just leave it alone and put it behind her.
Once she had moved on and made the conscious decision to be Adrien's friend rather than just another fangirl, they had grown even closer than she had ever imagined. She was aware of the constant pressure he was placed under from his father and she had become a sort of safe haven for him to turn to when the stress of living up to his father's expectations while pursuing his own dream became too much. If she were to be honest with herself, she was honored that she was the person he turned to when he just needed a break from reality.
However, recently she had begun to wonder if he had an ulterior motive for seeking out her company.
Over the past few months, she'd begun to notice that he'd been making more and more excuses to spend time with her, even if it meant squeezing in time between his university classes to drop into the bakery to snag a few pastries before returning to campus across the city. Surely there were other places much closer to his university where he could eat his lunch.
But Marinette never questioned him. She never brought up the lingering glances she caught him giving her. She never confronted him about the casual way he would invade her personal space, even if it was in a platonic way. She was hesitant to rattle the status quo they had been living in for so long, especially if her intuition was wrong. God, that would be embarrassing for him, as well as her.
A trickle of unease ran down her spine when she saw the way Adrien's grin lit up his face when he noticed her approach in front of the club where Luka's band would be performing that night. The sparkle in his eyes was something that she chose to ignore. After all, she was here at the invitation of another man.
'Oh crap,' she thought to herself. 'Now I understand what Alya meant.' She really hoped her utterly brilliant idea of inviting Adrien to watch Luka's performance would not end up blowing up in her face.
As she and Adrien made small talk while waiting for the other half of their group to arrive, Marinette sent up a silent plea to whoever was listening that nothing bad happened tonight.
-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-
Once inside the club – turns out it really does help expedite the process when a member of the band gives the bouncer your name in anticipation of your arrival – Marinette and her friends looked around for a good spot to watch the show from. Even though they had gotten there an hour before Luka was supposed to hit the stage, the club was packed.
As she looked around the crowded club, Marinette was impressed. She'd been here before with Alya a few times to unwind after a rough day and it had never been this busy. It was standing room only and the mass of bodies crowding in front of the stage was already nearly impenetrable. Apparently, the band Luka was playing with tonight was more popular than he had led her to believe.
Just when she and her friends had resigned themselves to watching the show from the back of the room, a ripple of movement through the crowd caught her attention. The volume of chatter rose over the pre-recorded music being pumped through the speakers, easily becoming audible over the pounding base that made it feel like her ribs were vibrating with the reverberation.
She strained her eyes in a futile attempt to see what had caused the commotion, but she was too short to see over the heads of so many people.
When Nino nudged her arm with his elbow, she glanced at him in question, but he was too busy waving to someone in the crowd. Just then, Luka himself broke through the sea of bodies and the rift he had opened with his passing closed behind him.
He grinned at the four of them and yelled over the music to be heard. "I'm glad you guys could make it! I wasn't expecting it to be this crowded tonight."
Marinette couldn't help but notice the way that Adrien shifted on his feet to inch just a little closer to her. Luckily, Luka didn't notice the subtle movement due to his attention being focused solely on her. Thankfully, Nino kept the conversation going as he made the necessary introductions, even though she was pretty sure that Luka had met Alya and Adrien before.
They decided to brave the bar in an attempt to get something to drink. Luka stuck to water since he would be playing later and he wanted to have a clear head for the show. The other four, however, ordered bottles of beer to wet their parched throats. The temperature in the club was already becoming oppressive simply from the heat of so many bodies pressed together in one place.
Marinette couldn't prevent the way her cheeks flushed whenever Luka bent over to yell something into her ear. The music was loud enough to invite the intrusion into her personal space, but she was certain that the hand he placed on the small of her back was unnecessary. Welcome, but unnecessary.
While Luka and Marinette stood off to the side and attempted to carry on a conversation in the loud club, Nino and Alya were keeping a careful eye on how their other friend was reacting to the interaction. He wasn't taking it very well if the way he was scowling as he quickly drained his bottle was any indication. They tried to get Adrien's attention away from the couple talking next to the bar, but even as he half heartedly listened to them talk, his eyes never once strayed from their dark-haired companion. Or the hand pressing gently on her back.
Alya and Nino grew more concerned as Adrien ordered three more bottles of beer and emptied them before Luka motioned to them for them to follow him. Adrien tipped his head back to drain his last bottle and slammed it on the bar before following their group.
Using the dense crowd as a flimsy and utterly transparent excuse, Luka grabbed Marinette's hand and led her through the crowd to get closer to the stage. With her free hand, she grabbed Alya by the arm, who grabbed onto Nino with her own spare hand. Nino, in turn, snagged the last reluctant member of their party and weaved their way up to the front of the crowd.
When they were in the front, right in the middle of the stage, Luka leaned in one last time. "I've got to go finish setting up. We'll be starting soon, but I wanted to make sure you had the best seat in the house for this."
Marinette's heart fluttered. He really was so sweet, sacrificing time he should have spent preparing for the concert to make sure that she was taken care of. She shooed him playfully and he gave her arm one last squeeze before making his way backstage.
They didn't have to wait long before the house lights dimmed and the spotlights illuminated the stage. The roar of the crowd was deafening when Luka and he other members of the band stepped on stage.
If she thought he was cute under normal circumstances, the moment he stepped on stage, her jaw – and her IQ – dropped. He was wearing simple clothes, nothing fancy since he wasn't a full-time member of the band and he didn't want to attract too much attention away from the main members: ripped jeans and a shredded black t-shirt with a pair of Converse sneakers on his feet. But the moment he pinned her with his eyes, Marinette's brain ceased to function. He had heavily outlined his ocean-blue eyes with eyeliner and the way he looked at her did things to her insides that she didn't want to acknowledge. He was freaking hot.
Marinette joined in and cheered for Luka; she hadn't learned what the band was called, so she just screamed his name when the vocalist, a tall, slender girl with wild, jet-black hair introduced each member of the band.
The way he winked at her as he slung the strap of his guitar over his shoulder made her mouth go dry. Seriously, it should be illegal for someone to look that good holding a guitar.
From the moment the band started playing the first song, Marinette was mesmerized. Hearing Luka play at her parent's bakery and in her room had shown her that he had talent, but seeing him on stage, playing with a full band, gave her a whole new appreciation for his skill. The way his fingers danced over the strings of his instrument was a thing of beauty to behold and the way he moved so confidently around the stage told her that this was who Luka truly was.
Gone was the quiet boy who liked to tease her and who she had always considered a bit of a flirt. This boy – no, this man – was sex incarnate. He knew exactly what he was doing with his fingers on his instrument and the dexterity he displayed (as well as the heated way he looked down at her from the stage) made her think about what else he could do with those nimble fingers.
She shook her head to get rid of those intrusive thoughts. She looked up just in time to see him wink at her and smirk knowingly. It was like he knew exactly what she had been thinking about.
The band continued playing, sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy. People around her were dancing and jumping and screaming and Marinette was loving every second of it.
Until she felt someone drape their arms around her shoulders, holding her in an unwelcome embrace from behind.
She turned her head to see Adrien grinning at her from mere inches away. In all their time together, as casual as their physical interactions had been, he'd never been so bold when touching her. It was something she truly respected about him as a person; he knew where the line was. Until now.
She looked to her other side to see if she could get Alya's help, but her friend was too wrapped up in the energy of the crowd to notice her predicament. She reached up and grabbed Adrien's wrists, aiming to gently pry his arms away from her, but he only took that as an invitation to cuddle her closer.
She looked up to the stage with a panicked expression. Sure enough, Luka had noticed what was going on. He walked across the stage, never missing a beat, and crouched down to where she was standing. He locked eyes with Adrien and growled, "Let her go. Now."
The singer's vocals were loud enough that nobody around them realized what was happening. To the casual observer, he was just interacting with the crowd. But to Marinette's immense relief, Luka's actions had caused not only Adrien to release his hold of her shoulders but had also attracted Alya and Nino's attention to the drama that was unfolding between their two other friends.
Thankfully, once that situation had been diffused, the rest of the concert had gone off without a hitch, but Adrien's actions made it abundantly clear to Marinette that she would be having a serious discussion with her friend about boundaries and personal space.
-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-
As the club emptied out after the show, Marinette and company were waiting by the bar for Luka to make another appearance. After a few short minutes, he walked up, reached behind the bar to snag a bottle of water that was waiting for him, and drained half of it before he turned to them.
"So, what did you think of the show?"
Marinette beamed at him. She didn't think her smile could stretch any further across her face. "Luka, you were amazing! How are you not famous by now?"
He chuckled at her enthusiastic reaction. "I don't want to be famous. I like my peaceful life." He shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his water. "I just want to play my music and live in peace."
While Nino and Alya exclaimed over how good the show was, Marinette could feel the daggers that Adrien was staring at Luka. As time passed and his gaze turned darker and darker, she had had enough.
Just as she was about to confront him about his attitude, Luka reached out and place his hand on her shoulder. "I hate to do this, but I've got to help them break the equipment down. Do you think I can stop by your place when I'm done?"
Pulling her phone out of her purse, she checked the time. It was only 10:30pm, so she nodded and told him she'd be waiting for him in the bakery.
With a final thanks to everyone for coming to see him perform, Luka strode off to join the band and clear the stage of equipment.
When they all left the club, Alya and Nino were hesitant to leave Marinette and Adrien alone, especially considering Adrien's erratic behavior earlier and his questionable sobriety. But Marinette told them not to worry and sent them on their way, giving Alya a pointed stare that managed to convey that she was going to be having a very serious conversation with Adrien about what had transpired that night.
So it was with a little concern – and a promise to text when Marinette made it home safely – that Nino and Alya made their way home, watching as Marinette and Adrien walked in the opposite direction towards the DuPain-Cheng bakery.
-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-
*This chapter gave me soo much trouble. The first half I just absolutely hated, but I absolutely flew through the second half. I've been wanting to write Luka's concert for like, ever and personally, I love how it came out. And while I wasn't planning on Adrien acting like a possessive jerk initially, I think it kinda fit. So, I'm sorry if he seems OOC, but I love it and that's all that matters haha.
I'd like to apologize for it taking me so freaking long to get this out. Now that I'm not dying of the flu anymore, I'm working so much more, picking up all sorts of shifts to cover for the people who can't work now because they don't have childcare and the kids here are still out of school. I count myself extremely fortunate that I'm still able to work (I'm a home healthcare provider), so I'm not taking that for granted.
Special thanks as always for those who have followed and favorited this story of mine. It sincerely touches me that you like this utter trash that I'm creating and I couldn't be happier. And as always, an extra special shout out to my ever faithful reviewers: XandraRis, Fanfictions4ever, and beardancing4. I'm always so excited to see what you guys have to say about the new chapters and I so look forward to your feedback. I love you guys so much!
The next chapter will be exciting for me to write. Marinette confronts Adrien with his stupid behavior and Luka sees something he shouldn't.
Until next time, my lovelies XOXO*
