Chapter 10: (Re)Assessing

"Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options."

-Simon Sinek

Balancing III

Luka was assessing his thoughts on everything.

Everything

His stance on what truth is, lying, life, relationships, friendships, everything. His world had been turned upside down, inside out. But of course it all made sense now. All the turmoil and pain and disappearances and stress, all of it made sense now and he was trying not to panic with the weight of his discovery.

Marinette was Ladybug!

He'd found out completely by accident.

Before he'd been stung by Miracle Queen's wasp, he ran into Marinette who was completely out of it. He had tried to keep up with what she was saying but one sentence stood out.

"I can't handle all these responsibilities! As me or as her!"

Luka was sure she hadn't meant to say it but- after the battle was over and they were sitting on the river with friends eating ice cream- it had all clicked and it knocked him on his ass. It had him assessing and reassessing everything he thought he knew.

He was dating Ladybug.

He was dating Ladybug.

He was dating Ladybug.

No wonder Marinette was so stressed all the time!

The moment Luka figured it out, he wanted to tell her, but they were surrounded by ears. And then the next day she was unavailable. However, the more he thought about it, the less sure he was about telling her he knew.

Luka was all about honesty. He told the truth and hoped others would do the same with him, but... He also believed that people should be able to tell their secrets on their terms, so he wasn't sure if telling her was for the best. He fought himself on what to do for days until he finally settled on telling her. Hopefully having someone in the know would help with her stress.

As he waited for her to have a day to talk, a visit from Adrien had him reassessing things as well.

It was two days after the battle when Adrien showed up out of the blue wanting to talk. Luka had obviously obliged and lead him to his room. When he got there, Adrien immediately started to pace.

"What's up?"

Adrien scratched his neck before stopping to stand in front of Luka. "I have this... problem."

"Okay."

"I... I don't know how to say this. I never thought I'd say this or be dealing with any of this. And I know you're not going to tell anyone but it's still so hard to say and you usually understand and know what to say." Adrien rambled before he dropped his head into his hands and sighed.

Luka put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Take your time. There's no rush."

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Adrien sighed again before collapsing on the bed. Luka followed. "I... I think I like y- boys."

Luka's eyebrows hit his hairline. Of all the things he'd been expecting, Adrien coming out to him was not one of them. "Boys?"

Dusted in pink, Adrien's cheeks heated as he blushed. "Yeah. There's this... guy, and I think he's pretty amazing. I can't stop thinking about him."

"And you think you really like him?"

Adrien smiled a little. "Yeah, he's a really great person."

Luka smiled and nodded at the dazed look on Adrien's face. He looked like he was in love and Luka was very happy for him because Adrien deserved love in his life. "That's sweet."

"Sweet?" Adrien snorted as he threw himself back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "Can you imagine my Father's face? 'My son? Dating a boy? I won't allow it. It's not good for the Agreste brand.'" Adrien imitated. "He'd probably lock me in my room forever to keep me away from any other guys, even if I told him there's also this girl I think I like."

Luka was reassessing everything yet again as he absorbed the kind of new information. "There's a girl too?"

Adrien's blush deepened and the way he looked away from Luka made him think Adrien hadn't meant to say that. "Oh... yeah. That's my other problem. There's this girl. She's a friend. I mean, she's always been a friend, a great friend, and I thought that was it... until yesterday."

"Oh? What happened?"

Adrien's eyes glazed over as he spoke. "We hung out at this stuffy party and, for the first time ever since I've known her, she let her hair down. She was laughing and playing around and it was the most relaxed I'd ever seen her, at least around me. It was weird because even though I see her everyday, it was like I was seeing her for the first time, really seeing her, and it was beautiful: she was beautiful. I don't know how I didn't see it until now. It kinda snuck up on me." He smiled.

Luka nodded. "I see. So what do you think about telling them how you feel? I'm sure either one of them would be lucky and thrilled to have you."

Adrien's smile dropped and he sighed. "My father won't let me date so it wouldn't go anywhere. Also, I think they're both in relationships. I don't want to come between two amazing people and the people they love." The song Luka could hear in Adrien's heart- louder than it'd ever been before, nearly matching the sad piano in volume- matched his words and, paired with the sad look Adrien gave him after his confession, it all made sense.

And Luka found himself assessing and reassessing everything.