"I don't have feelings for Adrien anymore, Alya, I swear," Marinette said, placing her pictures of Adrien inside of a PhotoBox. She left one out, to place it on the poster board with the rest of her friends. "He is just - a friend," she smiled. It was relieving to finally be able to say those words. She could look at his picture without getting enamored by his charm and good looks, and recently at school, she had been able to talk to him without stuttering. No longer did the crimson red appear on her cheeks at the mention of his name or the placement of his hand on her shoulder. She was finally over him.
"Girl - you're actually being serious this time aren't you? You didn't do your weird eye dart thing, and you didn't stare deeply at his photos… what happened?" Alya inquired.
"I don't know. I got tired of waiting I guess? I realized that I am happy being just a friend." She placed the cover onto the PhotoBox and looked up at her friend. "Besides, there's Luka. He is perfect for me. He listens to me, he is patient, and the most caring person ever."
"He is very clear with his feelings, isn't he? Total opposite of sunshine boy." Alya pointed out.
"I know exactly how he feels about me, and that is why he is perfect. With Adrien, I was never sure if I was a friend or more than that. With Luka, I know I will be loved, and forevermore than just a friend." Marinette smiled. She reached over to another PhotoBox, full of photos she recently developed. On top was a picture of Luka. A bright pink fell over her face as she looked at her picture of Luka. Alya just looked at the little love-sick girl sitting in front of her and laughed.
The kids were released for their vacation, and Marinette was ensuring that her time was well spent. Marinette and Luka were both falling for one another but had never been on an official date. That is why Marinette jumped for the opportunity to go to a Jagged Stone concert with Luka, Nino, and Alya. A double date. Jagged had gifted Marinette four free tickets to the first concert of his new debut album for her commission to create T-shirts inspired by his latest album. This was their first night of vacation and she was already going on a date with Luka! Marinette was ecstatic.
"I don't know Tikki, what do you wear that is comfortable, but also looks good, but also isn't too flashy, but -" Marinette was silenced by a pen hitting her head.
"Calm down Marinette, Luka is already enamored by you. For all he cares you could be wearing a potato sack and he would still want to date you." Tikki consoled. Tikki flew over to one of Marinette's outfit choices, a black Jagged Stone t-shirt with a green army jacket accompanied by black leggings and sneakers. "Here, this one is simple and comfortable. You won't get cold, and you will have plenty of pockets to store macarons for mwah!"
"You're right Tikki, and thanks for reminding me that bringing my purse to a crowded stadium would be a bad idea. I can't imagine losing you again!" Marinette changed into the outfit and ensured that her hair and makeup looked good before running downstairs to greet Luka.
"Hey Marinette, you're looking stunning as ever, ready to go?" Luka held out his arm, and Marinette held onto it as they walked over to the stadium. She nuzzled her head into his shoulder and the two sat in silence. This is all she ever wanted, a boyfriend with who she could simply exist. No more stuttering and failed attempts to woo a boy who simply only saw her as a friend. She was meant to be with Luka.
The pair arrived at the stadium to see Alya and Nino waiting for them "Hey girl! You didn't forget the tickets right?" Alya jabbed Marinette in the arm.
"O-Of course not Alya, they're just in -" Marinette panicked as she couldn't find which pocket she put the tickets in.
"Here," Luka said, pulling the tickets out of Marinette's side pocket. "I saw you put them in there as you walked out the bakery doors. Shall we?" Luka nodded towards the stadium entrance.
Marinette giggled, "We shall."
It had been weeks and Adrien had barely hung out with any of his friends. His father was seemingly stricter with his schedule, and with school out that meant more photoshoots and public appearances. The good part of going to public school meant that there was dedicated time for the blond to at least socialize for a few minutes. Now there was none of that.
He wanted to go to the movies with Kim and Max, but Nathalie said he was booked for the whole afternoon for a photo shoot. He wanted to go to one of Chloe's parties, but his father argued that his piano performances had been subpar and forbade him from attending any social gatherings until they improved. Adrien, however, finally had a chance to socialize with some of his friends. Gabriel Agreste was out of town for a month to finalize business matters in New York. Adrien wasn't interested in what needed his father to be out of the country for a month, but he was glad nonetheless. Today in particular was a great opportunity because his Chinese teacher had to call off sick, and his piano had finally achieved his father's impossible standards. It also happened to be Alya's birthday, one that Nino was a DJ for.
"You can come, dude, sick!" Nino excitedly responded on the phone, "You hear that babe, Agreste is able to join the party!" Adrien smiled at Nino's excitement, he had missed Nino.
Adrien arrived at Alya's birthday party to find it was held at an outdoor venue. It was a beautiful park with a plaza lavishly decorated with lights. The plaza housed everything a teenage girl would want for her 16th birthday. Placed on the far end of the plaza were Nino's DJ booth and large lights, with the other end a table full of food that Alya's mother prepared, and sweets and confections from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Adrien noticed that there seemed to be a color theme, orange and yellow. The tables had an orange table cloth and there were yellow rose bouquets on each one. Adrien found a table for gifts and placed his on the table, and proceeded to walk around the venue. Upon closer inspection, Adrien found out that the tables had place cards on them. The table he was looking at had places for Kim, Alex, Max, Mylene, and Ivan.
I wonder where my table is? Adrien proceeded to walk around until he found a table with his name. He was sitting next to Nino, of course, and next to Nino was Alya. Alya was next to Marinette, to be expected, and next to Marinette was… Luka? Adrien knew that Marinette and Luka may have some chemistry, and of course, they hang out because of Kitty Section… but was Luka really so close to Marinette that Alya would allow them into their inner circle. Adrien couldn't help but feel like Luka was intruding on their friend group. It was always the four of them. I am being too harsh, I like Luka. Adrien shook the negative feelings out of his head. There was no reason for him to feel jealous. It was only for the party anyway.
Adrien walked around to find Alya and greet her. "I am so glad that you could make it Adrien!" Alya exclaimed as she kissed him on both cheeks. "Oh - if you're not busy and a little bit early, could you help Marinette with something? That girl has been working her tail off trying to make the decorations look perfect but she is too short to reach the lights. She has been jumping to clip them." Alya pointed to Marinette who was mid-jump.
Adrien chuckled. "Yeah, of course, Alya." He walked over to Marinette and smiled. "Hey Marinette, Alya said that you might need some help."
"Oh thank you! Yeah, I am way too short to reach the canopy, and apparently, no one in this whole venue has access to a step stool." Marinette grabbed more lights out of the box and handed them to Adrien who hung them with ease. Adrien couldn't help but stare at her.
"Hello, my melody." Adrien heard as he hung the final piece of the lights. He looked back to see Luka pull Marinette into a kiss. So they are official now…
"Hey, Luka!" Adrien went over to Luka and gave him a handshake. "So when did this happen?" Adrien eyed the couple.
"Well Marinette invited me to a Jagged stone concert, and we had an absolute blast. I then invited her on a date to the park…" Luka said before being interrupted by a very enthusiastic Marinette.
"Where Luka had a beautiful picnic. We sat there for hours just talking until the stars were out. Luka then played this amazing song and…"
"... that's when I asked her to be my girlfriend." Luka finished. Adrien noticed Marinette's bright pink blush. "We've been dating for what, a week?"
"Well, a week, 2 hours, and 35 minutes if you want to be exact…. But yes…" Marinette responded, perhaps with a little bit of embarrassment.
Adrien smiled, "Congratulations you two! This is some party Alya has planned. I am surprised that she asked Nino to DJ, doesn't she want to hang out with her boyfriend?"
"Yes, but Nino is doing it for free, and he can always just put a playlist on to take a break," Marinette assured. Over the speaker, Adrien heard what he presumed to be Alya's dad tell everyone that dinner was served and encouraged people to find their seats. Adrien obeyed, and after gathering his food he arrived at the table to find Alya and Nino sitting in their seats.
"Hey, dude! I have a playlist set so I can come and socialize a bit before the party really kicks in," Nino high-fived Adrien as he sat down.
"I am glad you're here. I can't really spend my whole party at the DJ booth, since I should socialize with my guests, so at least Nino can talk to you when he is 'working'" Alya sighed and started eating.
Luka and Marinette arrived a few moments later. Luka pulled out Marinette's chair, and Adrien noticed once again that a bright pink blush appeared on her cheeks. The five sat at the table and ate their dinner with friendly conversation floating around. Eventually, everyone had finished their meals, and it was time for the party part of Alya's birthday to commence.
Nino had picked all of Alya's favorite songs and mixed them in with crowd favorites to ensure everyone could have at least a few songs that they felt they could dance with. Adrien was having fun, bouncing between groups of friends and socializing with whoever came his way. The party was dying down and Nino decided that it was time to turn on his playlist that had some slow dances incorporated. "Next song is a slow dance, dedicated to the birthday girl, my girlfriend, Alya." Nino put on a song that Adrien recognized, it's the same song that Marinette and he danced to at Chloe's party, and they danced to under the moonlight. He watched as Nino grabbed Alya's hand, and used his other hand to grab her by the waist.
Adrien decided to sit down, but then he realized that he saw Marinette standing alone. He approached her and asked, "hey Marinette, where's Luka?"
"Oh, he had to go to the bathroom." Marinette looked out on the dancefloor, all she wanted was to slow dance with Luka.
"Well, do you want to dance? Just because Luka is gone doesn't mean that you don't have the right to dance." Adrien extended his hand out to his friend, "let us dance, as friends." Marinette nodded, and grabbed his hand. Adrien did as he saw Nino do with Alya, and held Marinette by the waist. He then saw a crimson red spread across her face.
