Archive of Our Own ^beta

Marinette feels her face warm, but she musters her courage, and she quickly pecks him on the lips before leaning back.

“Like this?” she asks.

Luka presses a hand to his lips.

Let’s start at the beginning.

“I…” Marinette shifts on her feet. “My parents still think we’re dating. It’s been really awkward, and I tried to tell them that we broke up, but…”

“They don’t believe you?” Luka fills in.

“Yeah,” she answers. “They’re not believing me when it comes to our relationship. They liked you a lot, you know. They thought you were good for me.”

But we both know better, she thinks.

“Why are you telling me about this?” he asks.

“I…you should come to the bakery. I know we’re not dating anymore. I don’t think we should date anymore,” she says, clenching a fist. “But you should come by still. They miss you. And we wanted to be friends, right? My friends come over to my house all the time. It’s more suspicious when you stay away.”

“...I think you might be right,” he responds, setting aside his guitar. “I’ll be sure to swing by. Your parents make the best pastries, after all.”

She smiles, and leaves.

Marinette’s working inside the bakery with her sketchbook open when she spots Luka walk in, guitar case on his back.

“Luka! Are you here to see Marinette?” Mama asks.

“Um…” Marinette spots his uncertainty, and steps up to save him.

“Hey, Luka!” she says. “Come sit down.”

“Thanks,” he says. The two of them progress towards the table Marinette was sitting at. “You saved me back there. I definitely get why they’re…”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s hard to lie to them, but they can be…stubborn sometimes. Did you know that my father got akumatized because he thought Chat Noir was dating me?” she asks.

“...what?” he asks.

“Yeah.” She sighs. “We had a nice lunch, but it didn’t work out. I kind of gave my parents that impression, though? It’s complicated.”

Luka hums, drumming his fingers on the table. “I see. So…”

“It’s hard to dislodge an idea once you get it in their head. It took some time to convince them I was actually dating you, and that you were a real person.” She ducks her head. “Mama knew about my crush on Adrien. So…”

“Oh, so it’s a bigger problem,” Luka says. “So…how do you want to fix this?”

“Maybe…if they hear it from you, they’ll be more likely to accept it?” Marinette proposes.

“Good idea. When can I talk to them outside of…” He gestures to the bakery around them. “Work.”

“You could swing by game night for a few minutes,” Marinette says. “Just enough to talk to them. You know when to come, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he says. “If they invite me to stay, though, I’m staying. Juleka’s not good at UMS, and Ma hates technology.”

She laughs. “Have a nice day, Luka.”

Game night. Marinette’s wrapped up in playing Pokemon on the TV — the three of them are trying to beat Pokemon Sun, with the console hooked up to the TV.

“That’s probably Luka,” Marinette says when there’s knocking at the door.

“You invited your boyfriend back to game night?” Papa says. “Good! We haven’t seen him in a while.”

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore, Papa,” Marinette insists. “You’ve got the wrong idea. We broke up a few weeks ago.”

He laughs. “Don’t be silly, Marinette.”

“...I’m not lying,” she says. “Really. He’ll tell you the same thing.”

She loses the Pokemon battle.

“Is it true?” Mama asks when she answers the door.

“Huh? Um. I don’t know,” Luka says. “What are you talking about?”

Marinette facepalms.

So they have to pretend to be dating again now. This is…really awkward.

“I’m sorry I told your parents that. I felt kind of blindsided,” Luka says. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were lying about our breakup.”

“Now they really think we’re still dating,” she grumbles.

“Why don’t we pretend for them?” Luka offers. “Just for them. Not for anyone else. They all know we broke up. We only need to pretend around your parents. And since we already dated, we know how to do it!”

“Yeah,” she says. “That makes sense.”

“What if your parents expect us to kiss?” Luka blurts, slightly panicked. “Um. I’m not sure I can do that.”

“I’m not sure I can either,” Marinette says, curling in on herself a bit. “I’ve never kissed anyone before.” She’s lying — but she can’t tell anyone about her first kiss with Chat Noir under the influence of Dark Cupid, because it gives her away. “I…”

“You want your first kiss to be with someone you love,” he says. “It’s okay. I understand.”

She nods. “I don’t know. It’s…something I used to fantasize about.”

“Something you used to fantasize about,” Luka echoes.

“Back when we were dating,” she confesses, “I thought it would be with you.”

“I mean, what’s a little kiss between friends? Friends can be affectionate,” Luka says, though his words get more jumbled as he goes on.

“If you’re taking your friendship cues from Juleka and Rose, maybe.” Marinette snorts.

Luka smiles. “Please don’t bring up my sister’s romantic relationship with the concept of friendship. You don’t want to contribute to lesbian erasure, do you?”

“The point was literally the opposite of erasure,” Marinette says, booping him on the nose. “Literally the opposite.”

“Come on. It’s not that hard, Marinette. You can kiss me if you want,” he says. “Bring it in.”

Marinette feels her face warm, but she musters her courage, and she quickly pecks him on the lips before leaning back.

“Like this?” she asks.

Luka presses a hand to his lips.

“Exactly like that,” he whispers.

She smiles. “You should…go. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“I’ll see you later.” Luka stands up and leaves hastily.

“Remember my ex-boyfriend?” Marinette asks Chat Noir.

“How could I forget, milady?” Chat Noir responds with a laugh. “That whole…episode in the movie theater…”

“Yeah,” she says, deflating. “Sorry about that. I know it was probably a little much, but…”

“You have the right to feel bad after a breakup,” he comments, nudging her lightly with his shoulder. “So…what about your ex-boyfriend?”

“So, since my parents don’t think that we broke up, he thought that we should just pretend to be in a relationship to appease them.” She places her head in her hands. “I think I’m in too deep.”

“...I don’t think you need me to say this,” he says, “but…that’s probably one of the worst ideas you’ve ever agreed to. And that’s saying something.”

She can’t help but laugh at that. “I think you’re right, kitty. But it’s too late now.”

“Good luck,” he offers.

“I’ll need it,” she says. “Would it be stupid to get back together with him?”

“That’s up to you,” he answers.

“Um. What if…we got back together?” Marinette asks. “Then we wouldn’t be lying about it.”

“What’s changed since the last time?” Luka asks.

“You tell me,” she challenges. “Are you…”

“I’m not going to accept it if you’re going to lie to me?” he says. “I wanted the truth.”

She bites her lip. “And there’s…a very good reason I haven’t been able to tell you.”

“Consider it an open secret,” he responds. “Don’t…hide it from me on purpose. If I find out, I find out. If I don’t, I don’t. It’s not the end of the world, and…I won’t try to find out on purpose. It’ll happen if it happens, and if it doesn’t…I’ll wait for you to be ready.” He offers a hand. “Let’s shake on it.”

“This is a really weird beginning to a relationship,” she says, but she shakes his hand.

And then she kisses him, without any reluctance. This time — to celebrate that they’re in a relationship.