Part 1 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174249876650/compass
part 5 http://foxycrafter.tumblr.com/post/174466811620/compass-part-5
After a short goodbye Marinette found herself in a car being driven home, it was a bit surreal to be treated like this, but she couldn’t say she hated it. After getting home she started a short shift in the bakery, she always liked helping her parents out when she could, and working also helped her to relax, and she really did need to relax.
Alya called around at 3 to see how her morning had gone and also to check on how her friend was holding up. She found Mari working with a smile on her face and a light blush on her cheeks, and she was sure that it was more to do with what was about to come rather than what had happened. She went upstairs to Mari’s room while she waited for her friend to finish up and for the next three hours they chatted and planned out what Marinette could do if she needed to escape.
“Not that I think you will need to run gurl, but if anything, just shoot me a message and I will call you and give you a bail out.” Alya said and Mari laughed at that, it did seem like the best plan, but why was she so nervous, why did she even think she might need a way out? The truth of it was she didn’t, but she felt like she should, after the lovely morning she had had with Adrien, she felt simply terrible that she was now going on a date with a different boy, it almost felt like she was cheating!
She sat back and looked at her phone, she had received two messages from Adrien and one from Luka. Adrien had thanked her for coming over to see him, and then apologised if his father seemed rude. She replied saying it was fine and it was not rude at all, and that she had stayed later than planned anyway so it was okay.
Luka had text her asking if she liked sweet or salty popcorn. She replied saying she liked both. Alya was raising her brow to it and more so now that she had checked the film times. “Gurl are you sure he said horror movies?” she asked, and Mari nodded her head. “Well I just checked all the cinemas around and not a single one is showing any horror movies. And who asks popcorn preference before arriving at the cinema?”
It did seem a little strange, but it was what he had said. Alya left at 7 to give Mari time to get washed up and changed, she had told her parents about the ‘date’ but had said she was going out with a friend, they nodded and said that they already knew about it and to have fun, which was also a bit strange, how had they known? Did Luka say it to them when he was leaving?
She was getting more and more flustered as she was trying to think about what he might have planned, after all, he had just asked if she liked horror and said he would pick her up at eight. Maybe it wasn’t a date, maybe she was over thinking it, maybe he had something else planned, maybe he was a murderer! No no he was too nice to be a murderer right? But then maybe that was just to lure his victims into a false sense of ‘KNOCK KNOCK’ “AAAAHHHHH!!” she screamed, and her mother popped her head up from the trap door.
“Marinette, your friend is here” she said and Marinette looked at her in wide eyed terror, was it eight already? really? How had it gotten that late? What was she going to do? She felt herself hyperventilating but then she heard her dad telling Luka to head on up to her. Her heart stopped, her mom disappeared only to have a blue tipped mop of hair replace it. Luka Couffaine with his wonderful eyes and relaxed demeanour slunk into her room like it was the most natural thing in the world for him, and he smiled for a brief second until he seen her expression.
“Are you okay?” he asked and the concern came off him in waves, it was obvious that he was not going to do anything weird just from the look on his face. But she wasn’t really able to say anything in reply to this, as a result Luka walked over to her slowly and just wrapped his arms around her. “Sorry Mari, I didn’t want to upset you, if you don’t want to come it’s fine, I guess I just assumed-” he said in a soft voice and she began shaking her head rapidly “N-no, I can, It’s okay, I just… I was”
He pulled back from the hug and smiled at her. “You sure?” he asked and she nodded to him with a soft smile, he was really good at calming her down. “Yes, I’m sure, sorry, I just get a bit nervous sometimes” She said and Luka just pointed at himself as if to say ‘of me?’ and she nodded. This brought a small blush to Luka’s cheeks and Marinette’s eyes widened a little as a result. He was adorable!
After she got her bag and coat they went down stairs where her parents were waiting, he smiled to them and Marinette hurried past to avoid embarrassment, but Luka stayed behind. “This is my phone number, I will be sure to keep her safe, and I will have her home before 12. Thank you for letting me have her out that late though, I know it is a lot to ask, but it really is the best time for the place I am bringing her” he said and Mari’s parents just smiled and nodded. It was nice to see him doing that, she never even thought about the idea of him asking permission to take her somewhere. But weren’t they just going to a cinema?
Luka had brought her to a more run down area of Paris, and had he not calmed her down earlier and given all his details to her parents, she might be thinking along the lines of serial killer again, but as he pushed open a slightly rusted door and held out his hand to her, she didn’t hesitate to take it. They walked hand in hand up five flights of stairs only to emerge on the roof of the old building. “I found this place when I was twelve. I liked to explore a lot and mum trusted me to be careful, and when I made this discovery I adopted it as a secret base of sorts” He said, and Marinette found her curiosity clawing to know more, she could see a section of the roof that was partially blocked off by sheets hanging up, and that was where he led her.
He pulled back the sheets to reveal a personal alcove of sorts, Fairy lights twinkled brightly and a couch was placed in the center, there was a table and chairs a small stage area that had a few different guitars leaning to a wall, and a white sheet was hung up on a wall. She looked up to see an old glass roof and realised that this was possibly at one time a conservatory. The stars were visible and it was all very beautiful. In a way it reminded her of what Chat had done for Ladybug. So that must have meant…
Her heart was in her mouth as she turned back to Luka “is it too much?” he asked, and she could feel tears in her eyes. His expression changed to worry again, but she just ran to him and hugged him, it was all perfect. She smiled into his chest and she could hear the sigh of relief he emitted as he rested his head on hers. He really had worked hard on this. “I wanted it to be memorable” he said softly, and she just nodded, not really knowing what to say or even do, but Luka seemed too.
He pulled her back and took her hand, he led her to the couch and on the table in front of them was bags sweets and two large covered bowls. There was also a projector and he clicked it on and opened a laptop he had sitting next to it. It was then that it made sense, he was going to play a horror movie here, and the bowls must have been the popcorn. She sat down and after he finished up he took both of the bowls and sat next to her “I burned the sweet popcorn a bit, Sorry” he said and she laughed. It was so comfortable with him that all her nerves seemed to melt away.
The movie he had chosen was just awful, but not in a bad way, in a b movie this is way too cheesy sort of way, and she found herself liking far more than she might have, partially due to Luka’s commentary in between. By the time the film was finished she had found herself leaning on him as he cuddled her into his chest. They had ate all the salted popcorn and attempted some of the sweet, but it really was a lost cause, film was done and now there really was no real reason for her to stay cuddled to him, but she really didn’t want to move.
Half an hour went by of them just holding each other, and Luka finally spoke. “It’s getting Late Mari, I should probably get you home.” It was clear that he didn’t really want it, but he had made a promise to her parents. Begrudgingly she moved, and he stood up with her, he fixed a bit of her hair back and she felt as though the world was spinning. He was looking at her and she felt herself moving forward without really moving at all. Her eyes closed and she tilted her head a bit. It all felt so perfect.
And it was perfect. His lips were so and the kiss was sweet. He didn’t linger too long, nor did he let it get too heated, it was just… perfect. He pulled back from her and she opened her eyes to see his flushed face, even in the dark he was clearly blushing, but he had a shy smile in place and it just made her like him all the more, she knew that her own face was a mirror of his, and it was her turn to talk “I- You like really Luka” she said and she blinked for a moment as she realised that she had ruined the moment. He laughed lightly and leant in and kissed her nose “I You like really too Ma-ma-Marinette”
She felt her face heating up even more, but she was not embarrassed, for some reason his teasing felt really nice, and she took his hand and began to lead him back down to the street. Tikki and Alya were right, she just needed to let whatever would happen happen, and as a result she was here with a wonderful guy and had had a wonderful first date with him. And even though she still liked Adrien, now she was beginning to think of him more as a friend, she just didn’t have the same felling with him as she had had with Luka.
Adrien was in his room looking at his phone. He was wondering if he should call her or not. He really had thought his Father had been rather rude, but then again, he had been late to his shoot, so it was mostly his own fault. But he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind the entire day. Just how did he feel about Marinette?
It had started when Luka had been asking him about her, he had been praising her so much even though they had only met a handful of times, Adrien had told him some of the stories of how she had helped other people in class, and how she was considerate of others, he told him about how she hide out with him to go to the movies to see his mother’s film, and Luka had commented on how that almost seemed like a date.
Adrien had of course denied it being a date, as it really wasn’t, but it did get him thinking, just as he was now. What if it might have been a date? He thought on all the times he had been around Marinette, how she acted around him, how clumsy she was, but also he thought of how she was when he would watch her from a distance, she was almost a different person. He wondered then if she had liked him, He saw too how she was around Luka the day of the video shoot. She had been just as flustered at the start, but then he had managed to calm her down, and after that she hardly faltered at all.
Perhaps Luka was right for her? But why did that make him feel hurt? He flopped back and looked over at Plague “Hey, what do you think of Marinette?” he said and Plague’s eyes widened “Nothing! I don’t think anything about her at all! And I certainly don’t know any secrets! So you can’t ask me anything! NOPE!” the little spirit then flew away at a quicker speed than he had ever seen before and it left Adrien at a loss as to what that was about.
He eventually gave up on thinking about it and went to sleep. Possibly for the best, he had school in the morning anyway.
