Haha! New chapter!
Updates will be a little haphazard over the weekend as I'm going camping, and thus will not be able to upload anything. I'll try to upload tomorrow's chapter in the afternoon before I go. Then Saturday and Sunday's will have to go up Sunday afternoon/evening when I get back (assuming I finish them on time!)
Thanks as always for your support. I hope you enjoy the next instalment!
Day Twelve: Flavour
The image of Luka's confused expression morphing into surprised joy was one that Marinette would keep with her forever. And two weeks later, as she carefully whipped together butter and icing sugar, she replayed the moment afterwards on a continuous loop. How he'd shifted closer, spreading his arms to invite her into his embrace. His head resting on hers, the warmth of his neck against her face, the puffs of breath as he tried to smother his laughter. This kiss he pressed into her hair.
She had hoped for another kiss, closer to her mouth, but then Anarka had clambered on board and grinned slyly at the sight of them. "Don't the both of ye look cosy!"
Then, with cold horror clawing in her stomach, she'd realised her parents would soon notice her absence and she did not want to deal with the aftermath of that. So, despite Luka's protesting grunt, she wormed her way out of the blanket and scrambled to grab her things. "I have to go!"
"Hang on, I'll walk you."
"No no, that's okay."
"Marinette," he said, disentangling himself. "I want to walk you home."
"I…" She had to pause for a moment, think about her priorities. As much as she wanted to walk with Luka, she had to get home as quickly as possible, and the quickest way to do that was as Ladybug, which meant no Luka. "I'm sorry, I really have to run. Like, literally run or my parents will murder me. Next week's special will be Marinette macarons."
"Sounds delicious," he joked. "At least text me when you get back, okay?"
"Okay," she promised and, waving to Anarka, fled.
Fortunately, she'd gotten back in time to throw the covers over her body and send Luka a quick text mere moments before Sabine peeked through the trapdoor. Luka's response didn't come for another half an hour.
L: Spoke to Jule and she told me what you said earlier about Lila. Took a while but I convinced her that it wasn't true. Or at least that Lila was wrong. I don't think I've persuaded her it was a lie
L: Oh. Jule is also now under the impression we're going out
L: Like boyfriend and girlfriend
L: It didn't help ma told her about our cuddle on deck
L: Sorry if that's too much. I can try to set her straight if you like
L: Unless it's something you want?
L: I actually wanted to walk you home so I could ask you but...
M: are you asking me to be your girlfriend?
L: If you'll have me
And really, how could she say no?
Marinette decided to wait to tell people about this development. She could hardly tell her parents without admitting she'd sneaked out when she was supposedly ill, and she didn't have the emotional strength to breach that topic with Alya and the others.
But Juleka knew, and the next day she sheepishly came up to Marinette before class.
"Sorry about yesterday," she mumbled, looking down, rubbing her wrist. "I should've let you explain."
"I wish you'd given me the chance to," Marinette replied but nonetheless she opened her arms to give Juleka a hug, which she happily returned. "But I forgive you."
School was a little easier after that. Although Alya and Alix still held a grudge, Juleka was back on her side, and with Juleka came Rose. Although neither girl thought Lila a full-out liar, they were coming around to the idea that not everything the girl said was strictly true.
But now, two weeks later, another issue had arisen.
Despite the fact she and Luka were officially dating. Despite the fact she had added a little heart next to his name on her contact list, and he had saved a photo of her as his background. A candid shot when she was staring at something off-camera with her pencil resting against her lips.
"That's an awful photo!"
"No, it's artistic."
"It's pretentious."
"Which is a pretentious way of saying artistic."
Despite all of that, he had yet to kiss her. He'd pecked her on the cheek, sure, and pressed his lips to her hair when he stood behind her. But he hadn't gone anywhere near her mouth. Marinette didn't realise how much she wanted him to until she realised he hadn't yet. Was it something she'd done? Maybe when he'd kissed her all those weeks ago, he'd found her skills lacking? Maybe she needed to practise? She'd been looking up ways to improve kissing online—a little put off by all of the tongue technique tips—when a message popped up from Luka.
L: I'm bored
L: Want to come over? I miss you you :(
M: i saw you two days ago!
L: Can't a guy miss his girlfriend?
M: youll have to keep missing me
M: making macarons so i cant leave
L: Yum
L: Save me some?
M: you can always come here and save some yourself
L: Be there in 20
And so, twenty minutes later, she was whipping together butter and icing sugar, waiting for Luka to arrive. Tikki hovered next to her with a coy grin.
"I've never seen you so happy when making macarons..."
"Of course, Tikki." Marinette smiled, splitting the buttercream into four different bowls. "I get to see my—" she giggled— "my boyfriend soon…"
She had managed to flavour the four bowls of buttercream, and pipe onto three quarters of the macarons when Tikki suddenly went into hiding. Seconds later, Sabine poked her head around the doorway.
"Marinette. Your friend is here to see you…"
Of course, even though Marinette hadn't told her mother that she was dating Luka, Sabine was bound to notice that he was around far more often, and came up more often in conversation, and that even his name made Marinette blush and smile. And from the way her eyes gleamed when she said 'friend' it was clear she suspected.
Sabine stepped aside and Luka entered, face already pulled into a wide smile. "Hey," he said, the word trailing awkwardly in the air. In complete. Usually he'd follow it with a pet name. 'Hey, beautiful,' 'Hey, love,' 'Hey, my melody.' But he knew Sabine didn't know, and he respected she was waiting to tell them.
Not that Marinette was sure what she was waiting for anymore.
As soon as Sabine left, Luka stepped forward to sweep Marinette into a hug and hoist her into the air.
"Luka!" she shrieked, hands clamping on his shoulder. "Hey!"
He laughed and carefully set her down again. "How's it going? Nearly done with those macarons?"
"Is that the only reason you came over?" she teased, flicking his nose. "To eat macarons?"
He gasped and clutched his chest, as though greatly offended by such an accusation. "Of course not. I also came to see my beautiful girlfriend. The macarons are just a plus…"
"Well, I'm just about to pipe the last lot of buttercream so you'll have to wait a little bit longer."
He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Need any help?"
"No, this should only take a minute," she said. She expected him to go and sit down, maybe put on some music, but instead he leaned forward on the counter to watch her pipe.
"Why are they all different colours?" he asked.
"Different flavours."
"Ah. What flavours?"
She nearly told him, but an idea struck and so she merely smirked and replied, "You'll have to guess."
"Guess?"
"Mmhmm." With the piping done, she topped each piped biscuit with another one, creating the traditional sandwiched look, and added them to the plate of completed macarons. Yellow, green, pink, and brown. "Close your eyes."
Luka gave her an odd look, caught somewhere between amused and curious, but nonetheless he closed his eyes. Marinette selected a yellow macaron and broke it in half so it would fit in his mouth.
"Okay, open."
He laughed awkwardly and parted his lips just enough for Marinette to push the macaron in. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "That has to be lemon. My favourite so far."
"It's the only one you've had!" she giggled. "But you're right. Okay, next." Marinette picked a brown one, broke it in half, and again pushed it past his lips.
"Mmm, definitely chocolate," he said. "That's my new favourite."
"Third one."
A green one now. It crumbled a little as she broke it, and when he ate it a few crumbs stuck to his lips. "That's nutty," he said, eyes twitching as he tried to shut them tighter. "So...some sort of nut?"
"Yeah," she replied vaguely. Her attention was caught by the crumb still clinging to his lip, bobbing as he spoke.
"Oh!" he said, eyebrows twitching upwards. "Pistachio?"
Marinette nodded, then realised he couldn't see. "Um, yeah! Pistachio. Ready...ready for the next one?"
"The pink one?"
"Yeah."
Marinette wasn't quite sure what made her do it. Her hand was hovering over a pink macaron, but her eyes were stuck on the green crumb on his mouth. Would it be too much? Would he be horrified? Would he jerk away, decide she was a mistake?
Too late. She took the plunge.
With one hand on the counter to keep her steady, she went onto the tips of her toes and lightly touched her lips against Luka's.
He made a startled noise with his throat, but he didn't pull away. When Marinette stepped back, releasing him and dislodging the crumb, his head moved as though following after her, eyes wide. Then he smiled, lips pushing into his his flushed cheeks. "I didn't quite get that," he said breathlessly. "I think I need another taste. Just to be sure."
Suddenly, Marinette realised what she had done, and the strange urge to simultaneously laugh and cry came on so strong she had to hide her face in her hands. Luka wound his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. She lowered her hands to press her face into his shirt.
"Are you alright?" he asked; she could hear that his smile had dropped.
She managed a nod. "I just—" she swallowed, but couldn't keep down the string of panic trying to claw its way out of her. "I was worried because i-it's been, like, two weeks and you haven't even tried to kiss me and I thought maybe there w-was something wrong with me and I'm sorry I shouldn't have just kissed you like that. I'm such an idiot." She stopped when she realised he was laughing.
"Marinette," he said. "Calm down. I'm not upset or anything. Actually I'm the opposite. I've been wanting to kiss you for, well—" he laughed again— "for a long time. I was just being cautious because last time I kissed you, you ran away and wouldn't speak to me for a week."
"O-oh…"
"You can kiss me anytime you like."
"Can, uh…" She lifted her head, echoed the smile on his lips. "Can I kiss you again now?"
Luka swooped down, stopping when his nose touched hers, and grinned. "You don't have to ask," he murmured and kissed her.
Their moment was cut short by a thump and an excited gasp from the doorway. Marinette pulled back, startled, and span around to face her parents.
"Maman! Papa!"
Sabine laughed and grabbed her husband's arm. "We'll give you two some privacy," she said. "But we'll talk about this later, Marinette. Come on, dear…"
With a hearty shove, she managed to move Tom, who had frozen in shock, and shut the door. Marinette felt her face heat up and groaned.
"I guess they know now…"
"I'm sorry… Did you want to keep it from them for a bit longer."
"No." Marinette shook her head, face still warm and embarrassment curling in her stomach. "They had to find out sooner or later…I should have told them before now, to be honest." She forced herself to laugh, hoping to loosen the tension in her body, and glanced over at the macarons. "Did you want to try the other flavour?"
Luka tapped his chin thoughtfully then smirked and curled an arm around her waist. "Nah," he said, leaning down. "I've got my favourite flavour right here."
