I know right? I'm suddenly back from the dead after two months. I really am sorry about that. It wasn't meant to happen, but all of a sudden so much of my life changed at once. I now have a new job, and all the training and studying for it has been taking up a lot of my time, and I've just been generally stressed with real life stuff. So I'm sorry to the people who were worried. If I ever vanish or you're wondering where I am or when the next update might be, you can always check my Twitter and my blog as I'm usually always active on there.

Thank you so much for your patience and for all of your awesome reviews! It really means a lot to me, and I hope that I still have an audience after all this time. Anyway, without further ado, let's get back into the story.

Chapter 9: Totally Not A Date

"You've just asked Luka out on a date, that's what you have done!" Alya yelled excitedly before dramatically feigning being upset. "My baby girl is growing up so fast!"

Marinette could barely process the words that had just come out of her best friend's mouth. All of a sudden, it felt like she was in the wrong universe, having been badly copy and pasted into a parallel world. A parallel world where Marinette had found herself successfully asking Luka to hang out with her on the first try instead of all the failed attempts she had made to do the same with Adrien. It wasn't computing with her brain. Luka…he actually wanted to hang out with her…her…Marinette Dupain-Cheng!

At that thought, her knees began to wobble beneath her, and she felt like she was on the verge of collapse. Her heart soared out of her chest and exploded in the sky in the most beautiful display of fireworks. However, while her heart was high in the sky, the rest of her body began to sink deep down into the earth.

Was she doing the right thing?

What even was she doing?

Marinette had never felt confusion like this before. It almost felt like life was now pulling her in two separate directions while she was stuck in the middle, being torn in half by the powerful force. But why should she feel this way? She wasn't doing anything huge or anything wrong. She was just treating Luka to a milkshake as a thank you for helping her yesterday. It wasn't like it was a date or anything.

"It's not a date!" Marinette finally snapped as she blinked back into reality again.

"It so totally is a date!" Alya continued to playfully tease.

"It so totally is not a date!"

Alya rolled her eyes. "You can lie to me and yourself as much as you want, girl, but I know that you have feelings for the dreamy guitar boy."

"Hey, don't call him that," Marinette defended.

At that remark, Alya smiled smugly. "I rest my case."

"Gah!" Marinette cried out in frustration, gripping her hair as she began pacing the room.

"Hey, relax, girl, it's no big deal," Alya began trying to comfort her.

"It's not a date!" Marinette repeated again, beginning to sound even more erratic. "What if Luka thinks it's a date? What if he's got the wrong end of the stick? What if I hurt his feelings? Oh no, what am I doing? I can't do this!"

"Snap it out of it, Marinette!" Alya grabbed hold of Marinette's arms and began shaking her slightly, her face growing serious as she maintained eye contact with her. "You're thinking way too hard about this and getting yourself into a state – as per usual."

Marinette took a deep breath. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Alya playfully boasted, "I know you too well."

Marinette glanced down miserably, and she heard Alya gasp before switching back to her comforting best friend mode again.

"It's going to be okay, girl," Alya began reassuring, "you never specified that it was a date, so I'm sure Luka knows and isn't assuming anything. He's a smart and kind guy, and there's no need to put so much pressure on yourself. It's just a milkshake between two friends."

"You're right – again," Marinette sighed out.

"Of course that could always lead to something more though."

"WHAT?!"

"Relax, Marinette, I was only teasing," Alya laughed upon seeing the terrified look on her best friend's face. "Though it's still true."

"ALYA!"

"It's time to face facts, girl." Alya became serious again. "It's obvious that you have feelings for him, and don't deny it because I've seen the way you look and behave around him. And I think that he feels something for you too."

"Really?" Marinette asked dreamily before shaking her head. "No! That's ridiculous."

"I'm being serious!" Alya tried to get her to listen. "What's so bad about admitting that there's something there?"

"Because there isn't," Marinette huffed, folding her arms across her chest like a grumpy child before pouting as she stared out of her bedroom window.

Deep down, Marinette knew that Alya was right. No matter how much her brain tried to argue with her heart, it didn't stop that fact from being true. Marinette knew that it couldn't or shouldn't be possible, but she did enjoy being around Luka, and she felt something more for him than friendship. Whether or not that was love, Marinette wasn't sure. But it was like Alya had told her all those months ago when they had first met Luka: he sent her compass crazy.

Marinette had always been so sure of her direction. So confident about what she wanted out of life. She loved Adrien, that much she had always been certain about over the course of this past year. She thought that it was destiny. That they were made for each other. That one day, they would eventually be together.

But Marinette was now learning that not everything in life went to plan. She couldn't control the world around her, and that other people's decisions and feelings might not correspond with her own. It was up to her to adapt to the new paths that she had been sent down. That was the only way that she was ever going to be happy.

Was rushing down the new path laid out for her such a good idea though? Especially when Marinette had no idea of what lay ahead? It was both thrilling yet terrifying at the same time. It filled Marinette with an overpowering sense of curiosity. But fear continued to hold her back. What if this new path was worse than the old one? What if Marinette was only going to get hurt again? That worry alone was enough to freeze her in place, leaving her permanently stuck at the biggest crossroad of her life so far.

The sound of Alya sighing snapped her back out of her deep thoughts.

"I know that you really loved Adrien," Alya began to gently explain, "but he's interested in someone else. It's a fact that we can't change and we have to respect his feelings. The best thing that you can do is to move on."

Marinette was beginning to feel tears burning behind her eyes, desperate to burst free like a powerful torrent behind a floodgate. It took everything in Marinette's power to not allow them to gush free, because if she started crying now, she knew she would probably never stop. The mere sound of Adrien's name was enough for her already broken heart to begin painfully pulsating. She wasn't sure if she was ready. She wasn't sure if she could focus on anything else right now other than the pain.

"But what if I can't?" Marinette's voice cracked with emotion as she spoke, barely reaching a volume above a whisper.

Alya's face dropped in sympathy before she pulled Marinette into a tight embrace. Marinette buried her face into her best friend's shoulders, once again having to fight off the urge to burst into endless tears. At least she wasn't alone. At least she had Alya by her side to help her. Marinette wasn't sure she would have made it through this day without her.

"You will," Alya comforted. "I know it feels like the end of the world now, but you will get through this. No matter what happens, you'll always have me."

"Thanks, Alya." Marinette managed a small smile as they both pulled apart.

"Hey, what are best friends for?"

"I really would be lost without you," Marinette chuckled.

Alya smiled smugly again. "I know."

"Hey!" Marinette playfully shoved Alya as they both burst into a fit of giggles.

However, Marinette still felt like her chest was being ripped in two. Her laughter felt almost hollow. She felt like it was wrong to laugh. Her broken heart was begging for her to be miserable and wallow around while it yearned for what she could never have. It made Marinette feel like she was climbing up a sheer cliff-face, battling against the forces of gravity as she tried to pull herself up to safety. Each centimetre took its toll, and she was beginning to feel like it was getting harder and harder to cling on. The temptation to just let go and let her arms rest was overwhelming. But if she did that, she would fall backwards into oblivion. The sensation left her feeling absolutely exhausted.

"But seriously, if you say it's not a date, then I believe you." Alya turned serious again.

Marinette sighed in relief.

"Though I still believe that there's something there between the two of you."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Alright, you've made your point."

"Sorry," Alya chuckled. "I only have my girl's best interests at heart."

"I know." Marinette smiled up at her again. "Luka's just a friend, and that's probably all he will ever see me as."

Alya facepalmed. "Seriously, Marinette, if that guy carried anymore of a bigger torch for you, he'd practically be a lighthouse."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen the way he looks at you!" Alya shrieked as she tried to explain. "Every time he's on stage performing, I see him glancing down at you. He always smiles as soon as he sees you, and he always comes out of his room when we're over at Juleka's house, which is not like him since he's always lost in his music. When I went to borrow a textbook off Juleka last week, I could see the look of disappointment on his face when he saw that you weren't with me."

Marinette's cheeks exploded into a brilliant red, and her heart skipped a beat. A huge part of her wanted to believe that none of that was true and that Alya was just exaggerated to help set Marinette up with someone knew. But at the same time, the simple idea that Luka might possibly feel that way about her once again gave her a weightless feeling. It felt like she was floating up into the clouds, ascending into a heaven of happiness and love.

She shook her head again, quickly dispersing those thoughts.

"I doubt that's true, and even if it is, that just gives me even more of a reason to cancel," Marinette said as she stared down at her phone. Her fingers hesitated over the screen as if some powerful force was holding her back, preventing her from calling him and backing out of their plans.

"What?! You can't do that!" Alya yelled.

"Why not?" Marinette demanded, growing irrational again. "If he does have these feelings for me like you said, then wouldn't I just be leading him on?"

"Ugh!" Alya groaned. "Seriously, girl, you're going to make me go prematurely grey!"

"But it's the truth!" Marinette tried to defend herself.

"Look," Alya said before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Luka knows that it's not a date tomorrow, and everything is going to be fine. Just enjoy spending some time with him, because I know that you enjoy being around him. You're just two friends hanging out. If you stop overthinking, then I'll stop teasing you about it. Deal?"

Alya held out her hand, and Marinette stared down at it before slowly grabbing hold of it with her own.

"Deal," Marinette agreed as they both shook hands.

They both stood in silence for a few seconds before Marinette began to explain herself a bit more.

"I'm sorry for sounding all crazy. It's just…Adrien showing up yesterday afternoon didn't help things."

"He did what?" Alya responded, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows, so certain that Alya knew about the whole thing. "Adrien…he came to see me a few hours later. I figured you and Nino had sent him or something?"

"No." Alya still sounded shocked. "He left in a little bit of a hurry, claiming that his dad had something planned for him or something. Now that you mention it, he was pretty concerned about you after you left."

"As if I needed any more confusion," Marinette whined, her throat closing up as she collapsed back down into her desk chair, wishing that the ground could just swallow her up.

"I'm sure he was just trying to be nice," Alya explained, though judging by the tone of her voice, she didn't sound too convinced herself.

"He probably was. He's such a kind and caring person after all," Marinette replied sadly as she stared at the collection of photos on her wall that she still had hanging up there.

Adrien looked so dreamy and amazing in all of them. Sometimes Marinette used to stare at them for hours, fantasising about a life together. A life that would never exist now. Who knows, maybe soon Adrien and Kagami would get together, and they would be on the front page of every magazine, the children of two powerful and influential people getting together being the talk of all of Paris. And Marinette would have to grin and bear it through all of that. She would have to be happy for him, while on the inside, it felt like she was being tortured.

"He does care about you, Marinette," Alya tried to reassure her.

"Just not in the way I wanted him to," Marinette sadly finished Alya's sentence.

"It just feels like there's something weird about this whole thing." Alya began to ponder.

"Oh please don't, Alya, I don't want any false hope," Marinette pleaded.

Alya sighed. "You're right, sorry."

"Promise me you won't go probing Adrien? I mean it, Alya."

"Alright, alright, I promise." She moved her hands behind her back.

"I've had enough drama and confusion to last me a life time," Marinette sighed out.

"Chin up, girl, it'll get better." Alya leaned down to give Marinette a quick hug. "I'm gonna go now as Nino and I are going to see a movie later. But I can always cancel if you want me to stay? Or you could even come with us? A distraction might do you some good."

"No, thank you," Marinette declined as politely as possible. She really didn't feel like being a third wheel tonight, dealing with Nino and Alya being all lovey-dovey while she had no one. But she didn't want to spoil things for them either by selfishly wanting Alya to stay with her. She needed some alone time to try and wrap her head around things.

"Are you sure?" Alya didn't sound convinced.

"I'll be fine, you go and have fun," Marinette encouraged, trying her best to plaster a convincing smile onto her face.

"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Marinette replied as they gave each other one last final hug before Alya skipped towards Marinette's bedroom door.

She shot Marinette one last reassuring smile before disappearing below, closing the door behind her. The sound of her door closing echoed around the room, reminding Marinette of just how alone she was right now. Her room grew incredibly quiet to a point where she could almost hear her own heartbeat. The pain washed over again like a destructive tsunami, striking Marinette down now that she was all alone.

"Are you sure going out on a date with Luka is wise?" Tikki slowly asked as she came out of hiding.

"It's not a date!" Marinette snapped again before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, Tikki."

"It's okay."

"But it really isn't a date. I just wanted to thank him for how nice he was to me today, that's all. Besides, we're supposed to be friends, yet I hardly ever make time for him."

"Who are you trying to convince, Marinette? Me or yourself?" Tikki questioned.

"W-what? I'm not trying to convince anyone! It's the truth! There's nothing going on between me and Luka!" Marinette shrieked, wondering why everyone kept assuming that she and Luka were going out on a date and that they were obsessively in love with each other. That just simply wasn't the case.

"Marinette, I just want you to be happy." Tikki floated forward, pressing her red little hand against her holder's cheek.

Marinette smiled. "I know. I'm sorry for shouting, I'm just…I'm just so confused and lost right now."

"You'll find a way through this, Marinette, I promise. You have me, you have Alya and Nino, and you also have your parents. You're never alone and we're always here to help you and be there for you."

"Thank you, Tikki. You're the best kwami anybody could ever have." Marinette leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the top of Tikki's head, who giggled and nuzzled against her cheek in response.

"Things always have a funny way of working out. You'll see," Tikki consoled.

"Yeah," Marinette replied absent-mindedly as her eyes once again glanced towards the piece of paper, her gaze meeting the scruffy hand written numbers that stared back at her.

Man, this chapter only took me what? Two months to write? I apologise that this chapter is a little on the shorter and more filler side of things, especially after such a long wait. I'm hoping that now I'm settling into a new routine that things will now finally get back on track. At the moment, there's no specific update day for this story, but I am hoping to update at least once a week. I know, I know, you've heard it all before, and I'm really sorry. I hope that my actions can prove it.

In the meantime, please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this story in review as feedback always helps us writers out a great deal. Remember that you can always leave anonymous comments on my blog if you have any questions or would like to speak to me about something. That way if you don't have a FanFiction, AO3, Twitter or Tumblr account, you can still get in touch with me. I hope you guys are having a good week so far, and I'll see you all again soon.