A/N: Apologies for the delay. I was trying to decide what to do about Adrien and if I should go with my idea of boarding school/redeeming Chloe. Since I really enjoy writing Adrien, I went with it. Hopefully, not too off-putting. Luka, Mari, and Adrien are all so perfect, the plot needed someone to redeem! I also decided to age up the characters, Mari 16, Luka 17, Adrien 15 (he's the youngest in their class), and eventually they'll get to 19/20 y/o in this story and I can write some more mature parts to the story. And yes, there are some crush vibes Adrien has for Luka - who doesn't crush on him? Enjoy!

Chapter Five: The Rain and the Storm

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The power of the Miraculous was strong. The Guardian was aware of multiple identities of the user and often times the Snake Miraculous user was aware just due to the plethora of memories and timelines they experienced. So while Adrien remembered being the Snake himself a few times, he couldn't say for sure if Luka's Ouroboros bracelet was the same or not.

"Are you?" Adrien asked, his face contorted in a mixture of conflicting emotions. "Viperion?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"We are both Miraculous users," Luka confirmed. "The current Guardian has decided to allow me to keep the Snake permanently." He smiled faintly, he and Sass really were quite good friends.

"Then— do you know Ladybug's identity too?" Adrien was a little too eager.

Luka began to strum on his guitar and let Adrien's excitement cool down. "You've found out each other's secret identity seven times now," Luka explained. "Every time, the world was destroyed." He met Adrien's gaze. "I know, because I'm the one that had to fix it. Every time."

"Seven times?" Adrien slumped back against the wall. "What happened? Do I turn into Chat Blanc?"

"A couple of times." Luka started to pick up the tune to something more up beat. "But it always works out, so don't fret, Adrien. At least you don't have to make up lame excuses around me." He glanced over and caught Adrien's eye. "You're a pretty terrible liar."

The blond laughed nervously. "I suppose that's true!" He rubbed the tension in the back of his neck. "Will you be picking up more patrols then?"

Luka shrugged. "If needed." He started humming the tune to the song he'd been working on for Marinette. He was calling it Rewrite the Stars. He didn't think it was Marinette and Adrien knowing each other's identities that caused their loss against Shadow Moth. He suspected it was the change in their dynamic — they were too distracted in their mutual crush whenever they got together. It had been hard to watch them implode — every single time.

"That song, it's really nice," Adrien marveled.

"You want to jam out?" Luka asked. "We can work on that piece about the Queen Bee."

Adrien laughed. "I thought that was a joke song."

Luka shrugged. "Maybe, but it had a catchy beat. And songs about villains can beeee fun too." He wasn't a huge fan of Chloe, but he could see the girl was in pain. Part of him felt sorry for her, but the bigger part was irritated by her antics. He would have preferred if she didn't lash out her pain on his girlfriend and baby sister. It was probably a good thing they were at different schools. "She's your friend."

"Sometimes, I really wonder if she is. The things she does to Marinette — it's really bad, and she's never apologetic," Adrien pointed out. "But Ladybug keeps trying to give her chances. And when that happens, she sometimes shows a glimmer of the kind girl I remember from when we were little."

"An absentee parent isn't really an excuse for cruelty," Luka pointed out. He set aside his guitar and turned towards Adrien directly. "Here's the deal. A few of the times when our side loses, it's because Chloe helps Shadow Hawk. We have to find a way to keep her from betraying everyone— repeatedly. And you're the only person she seems to respect." Maybe it was a little selfish on his part, but he didn't mind encouraging Adrien towards Chloe.

"I just don't see her that way," Adrien confessed. "I'm not interested in being anyone's boyfriend."

"Then just be you," Luka agreed. Though, while Adrien wasn't ready to be a boyfriend, he refrained from pointing out that Chat Noir was a complete charmer that constantly flirted with Ladybug. "I'm just saying, if you drop Chloe completely, she turns to the dark side— every time."

"More people are Akumatized because of her, than anyone else," Adrien pointed out. Ironically, while Chloe adored Adrien, she couldn't stand Chat Noir— the latter representing his true personality. He smiled wide and stretched out his body, legs kicked out far, his calves taut. His latest fencing class had been grueling. "I have to say, it's nice being able to talk about this to someone!"

"That's what I'm here for," Luka murmured. "To help everyone sort out their issues."

"Maybe you can be a therapist or something?" Adrien suggested.

Luka hummed absently. "Isn't that what all musicians are? Music soothes the soul, my friend." He absently strummed his guitar to the stanza he'd written for Queen Bee and smirked when Adrien groaned. But the blond's silence grew and Luka glanced back at him, the younger teen was still worried about something. "What else is going on?"

Adrien sighed, his shoulders slumped defeated. "Father wants to send me to London next school year. I've just barely made friends and I have my other gig and now I'm going to end up on the other side of the channel."

"Have you let your father know how you feel?" Luka couldn't imagine a parent forcing their child to move to another country. "Is it a boarding school?"

"He knows how I feel. He thinks my friends are the wrong type. He absolutely abhors Nino and Marinette. I think as long as I was dating Kagami he was okay with me here." Adrien ran his fingers through his fine, blond hair skewing it more than usual. "Chloe is being sent there as well."

"Oh?" Luka let a small, knowing smile turn up the corners of his lips. "Is she now?"

Adrien shoved Luka in the shoulder and then both laughed. "You're just afraid I'm going to steal away Marinette if I stick around."

A deep, throated chuckled escaped Luka at the threat. "You've made it clear you're not interested and besides, I'm not stepping back this time. She's finally got her rose-colored lenses off and is seeing past you. Marinette is the rain and I am the storm. You are the sun, Adrien. We share your sky, but never at the same time."

Emerald eyes blinked back at him in astonishment. "How do you do that? Just — off the top of your head?"

Luka started strumming again, this time a catchy repeating sound that imitated the rain falling on the river. His favorite sound to lull him into a calm state. "I'm a genius."

Adrien snorted. Then he glanced out the window of the ship. "Maybe you are."

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It was late afternoon when the rumble of Luka's motorbike caught Marinette's attention. She'd been sitting on her balcony, enjoying the smell of the boxed flowers and watching the birds flutter about. She sprang to her feet and peered over the railing and felt her heart race as the familiar blue moped sped towards her home.

Marinette grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and rushed down the stairs.

"Honey, you know we like Luka. Just, maybe you need to give him some space," Sabine suggested. "Tomorrow is a school day, so you both need a goodnight's rest. I expect you home by nine thirty."

"Maman! We go to different schools. And before yesterday, it had been weeks since we'd last spent time together. We have plenty of space." Marinette brushed her lips over her mother's cheek absently and shot out the front door just as Luka parked. Marinette was done with given the dark haired musician space.

"Hey, there my Muse. Really to go?" Luka shifted his feet to redistribute his weight evenly, but remained straddling the bike. The skinny jeans he worse accentuated the lean muscles of his thighs.

"Luka!" Marinette smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. It took all her willpower not to lick her lips as her gaze drifted from his helmet to the tantalizing view of his legs. She had her bag slung over one shoulder and held her helmet in her free hand. "You made good time!"

"I didn't catch any lights." Luka took off his helmet and shook out his aqua tipped midnight hair, his blue eyes never leaving her face. Marinette's eyes snapped up to meet his— mesmerized. "Our boy Adrien's still at the boat house. Is that going to be okay? I can text and ask him to leave if you're not cool with it."

Marinette stuck her helmet on and Luka did the same. "It's fine," she said, her voice muffled by the helmet. She'd just make sure to keep Luka between them at all times. And if her brain visualized a half-naked Luka with Marinette clinging to one arm and Adrien to the other, she ignored that imagery. He was just rockstar material — that's why she was imaging such things, right?

It felt good to ride behind Luka. She looked forward to having the confidence of riding her own motorbike to his home in the future even the dusk. Though for now, an excuse to press her chest against her boyfriend's lean back and band her arms around his waist was worth accepting not having full autonomy.

The landscape passed in a blur of color. Pedestrians meeting Andres for their ice cream, lovers holding hands strolling through the streets, children playing bocce ball in the park. Before she knew, they were parked on the dock just outside of The Liberty.

Juleka greeted them on the dock. Her long, dark hair covering half her face, arms crossed over her chest and foot tapping impatiently.

Luka removed his helmet and shook out his hair. Marinette took hers off and finger combed her own dark hair. "Are we late? Why do you look so irritated?" He stepped off the bike and with his hands on Marinette's waist, helped her off — though it was completely unnecessary. And by the look in his aqua eyes when he met her gaze with a slight smirk on his lips, they both knew it was unnecessary.

"Anarka is having one of her days," Juleka whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Luka whispered back. "It's to be expected. Today's the anniversary of Grandpierre's death. We just have to give Mom space. She'll want dinner in her room and a bottle of Whiskey. I have a bottle of The Low Flying Bird stashed in the back pantry closet. I ordered it directly from Scotland a few weeks ago for this."

"Oh." Juleka's expression softened. "I had forgotten about that."

"And when did you start calling Mom Anarka?" Luka asked. He reached for Marinette's hand and once they were palm to palm, Marinette threaded her fingers through his long dextrous fingers. He glanced down for a moment, a brief flicker of surprise and then joy in his gaze.

"Since you spent the night at Marinette's last night," Juleka explained. She smiled at her classmate. "She was going on about her children being all grown up and they should call her by her given name since they were all equals in this family."

"I'll talk to her," Luka promised. He squeezed Marinette's hand. "I'd prefer to continue calling her mom, but it's important to respect people's preferred names."

The trio walked up the ramp and found Adrien and Rose standing over the keyboard and while he played a few tunes he was trying out, she was humming along. The two blonds looked up at the same time and smiled at the three.

"Welcome back, Luka," Adrien said. The tips of his ears were crimson in contrast to his pale skin. She was glad he felt nervous too. "It's good to see you, Marinette."

"Likewise," Marinette answered, comforted when Luka squeezed her hand again.

Juleka continued towards the kitchen and returned a moment later with a bottle of whiskey in her hands.

"I need to check on my mom, get her settled in her room." Luka released Marinette's hand and smiled down at her softly. "Are you going to be okay with them?"

She nodded and forced a smile. "We're all friends. But, maybe I can help with dinner?"

"It's all ready, just warming in the oven," Luka explained. "But if you and Juleka want to set it out, that would be great. Thanks, Marinette." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Then he took the bottle from his sister and hurried to check on his mother in the back of the boathouse.

Rose squealed, her hands clasped together over her heart. "You and Luka are back together! That's so sweet!" She looked over at Adrien briefly. "Adrien told me while Luka was picking you guys up, but I didn't believe it— until now! You are both so cute!"

"The perfect couple," Adrien chimed in, his smile forced.

"Um, I guess," Marinette said, feeling nervous under the scrutiny of her friends.

Juleka draped her arm over Marinette's shoulder and leaned close to her ear. "Now that you and Luka are together — I hope for real this time — I think our classmates' interest in your love life will start to diminish." She looked over at her girlfriend. "But Rose will continue to be your number one supporter. And I just want to ask that you not hurt my brother again."

"I will never hurt him again, intentionally," Marinette vowed. "And if I hurt him unintentionally, I will be sure to apologize profusely."

"And he would forgive you — over and over." Juleka's lips were so close to Marinette's ear, she could feel the brush of them again her skin. "He's in love with you, Mari. He seems cool and calm, but he's a raging storm ready to happen. And if you hurt him again, I will probably be Akumatized and he will be unlikely to forgive me if I intentionally hurt you."

Marinette chuckled nervously. "Good to know! I'll remember!" She forced herself away from Juleka and started for the kitchen. "I'll just go take dinner out of the oven."

"I'll help," Adrien volunteered. As he walked alongside Marinette he dipped his head down slightly to be close to her ear, practically the same distance Juleka had been moments ago. "Are you okay? Was Juleka threatening you?"

"She didn't say anything I wasn't already thinking." Marinette squared off her shoulders resolutely and pushed past the saloon style doors into the kitchen. She grabbed the green and white polkadot pot holders from the counter and removed the two dishes from the oven. It smelled delightful. "Wow."

"Yeah, Luka and I made dinner." Adrien rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Normally, the staff does all the cooking at the house, so this was the first time I've even really helped make anything." He chuckled. "That probably sounds weird to you since you've probably been baking since you could walk."

"Since I could sit up," Marinette corrected. "I've got a picture of me sitting on the counter as a baby helping Papa roll out the dough with flour all over me." She giggled at the memory. As she placed the dishes on the ceramic hotplates on the table she looked back up at Adrien. "Hey, you're not crushing on my boyfriend are you?"

He laughed, but his ears were still red tinged. "While I admit, if I were to crush on a guy it would definitely be Luka, I'm just overwhelmed today. I felt so bad about yesterday with you and Kagami is still angry with me. And Chloe is constantly blowing up my phone. And then I realized that I'm the reason you and Luka broke up in the first place." He pulled out one of the chairs and sat down with a defeated slouch. "I just feel so bad about it all." He braced his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands.

Marinette busied herself setting the table — the placemats, dishes, silverware, napkins, pitcher of lemonade, glasses. "Don't feel bad about me and Luka. That was my fault entirely. I just had to see things from a different perspective." She smiled across at him. "We're good, Adrien. I'm good with being friends with you." Seeing a half-naked Luka step out of her bathroom hours ago was enough to make her forget any crush— even if it was on the blond heartthrob sitting across from her.

Adrien looked up and smiled at her, not his supermodel smile, but the shy boy that was feeling happiness smile. "You know, this is probably the first conversation we've shared when you didn't stutter over your words to me. It's nice."

She laughed— that was definitely true. She hated how her awkwardness spiked whenever she previously tried to speak with him. "I guess, I just had to get my foot out of my mouth."

The kitchen door swung open again and Luka entered, a note of surprise on his face at seeing the two together that quickly faded. "Mom's tucked away for bed with her nightcap." He pulled out the chair next to Marinette and joined them. "Thanks for setting the table."

"Thanks for cooking, Luka," Adrien said. "I was just telling Marinette how you know your way around the kitchen."

"Ah, it's not that big of a deal. It was either learn to cook or starve, so you know—." Luka shrugged, as humble as ever.

"Papa must sense the fellow chef within you," Marinette teased. "No wonder he likes you so much!"

"Ah." Luka grimaced. "Tom will be disappointed that I'm terrible at baking." He used the serving spoon to dish out the food onto their plates."

"I don't think anyone could ever be disappointed in you, Luka," Adrien argued. His emerald eyes warm as they looked at Luka.

"I'm just as human as you two," Luka protested, a slight shrug as if he were a little uncomfortable with being praised.

"Are you though?" Marinette asked, leaning closer to him. She could feel the warm of his upper arm where it brushed hers, heat seeping through their thin shirts. "You've been the least villainous Akumatized villain I've ever seen."

"Well, I've never even seen you get Akumatized, Marinette! You have a firm grip on your emotions," Adrien pointed out. "And that's extra impressive since you are Chloe's number one punching bag."

"Juleka and Rose will be here shortly." Luka abruptly changed the topic out of dangerous territory. "They needed a moment. I'm pretty sure they just wanted to make out." He laughed softly, his eyes twinkled in amusement that absolutely warmed Marinette's heart. She leaned closer to him and he turned to her and kissed her cheek absently.

She practically melted off the chair right to the floor.

"Geez, get a room," Adrien muttered, clearly flustered as well.

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Dinner had been a nice affair, once Luka steered the topic away from how wonderful he was — seriously Marinette and Adrien both sang his praises a little too much. He felt guilty. He'd seen the realities when the two of them were together — the definitely loved each other, but they also definitely caused the world to be destroyed. Was it selfish that he wanted to take this chance with Marinette? He wanted to scoop her up in his arms, run away, and never look back.

"Are you okay?" Marinette raised her head from his upper arm. She'd been snuggled up against him on the couch, her legs drawn up under her and clutched onto his arm.

What Luka really wanted to do was draw her into his lab and hold her for the two hour movie, but that seemed rude given the present company. And he didn't want to make her nervous. "Of course, it's just a tense movie, you know?"

Marinette nodded and rested her cheek against him again. He could feel her breasts pressed softly against his arm and it took all his concentration to focus on the movie.

"I'm going to get some more water. Anyone need anything?" Adrien asked.

"I'm good," Marinette murmured. Luka's lip twitched at her tone. He shook his head. His sister and Rose asked for water as well and his keyboard player vanished to the back of the boat.

"Oh! This is the best part!" Juleka leaned forwards excited and Rose covered her eyes and squealed.

Marinette buried her face against his shoulder. "I can't look. Tell me when it's over."

Luka pulled his arm from under her and slid it around her upper back and drew her against his chest in a new position. Marinette glanced up briefly, confusion on her face. "Sorry, my arm was going numb."

Her sky-blue eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, Luka!"

"Shhh." Luka pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "The goriest part of the movie is coming up, you probably want to hide your eyes again."

She nodded and pressed her face against his chest, her hand fisted in his shirt front. When Adrien walked back in he met Luka's gaze and nodded. And then he sat on the floor a few feet away and handed the water bottles to the girls.

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