Marinette POV:

After school, Marinette walked to find Luka in the foyer. We had planned a last minute date at lunch. We were planning to go grab smoothies after school.

She found him leaning against her locker. "Hey Luka" Marinette said casually. "Fancy seeing you here" she said, as he moved aside so she could open her locker.

She grabbed her bag out of her locker and slung it over her shoulder. "Ready to go?" Marinette asked.

“Here let me take that for you, it looks heavy,” Luka asked, gesturing to the bag slung on her shoulder.

Even though she knew he was just trying to be kind, Mariennte couldn’t push down the feeling of bitterness, at how he acted as if she wasn’t capable.

"I can carry my stuff myself" Marinette said, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"What type of boyfriend would I be if I didn't carry your bag?" Luka said in reply, grasping her bag and swinging it onto her shoulder, while taking her hand and walking with her towards the school doors.

Marinette didn't reply to that, instead asked about his day.

"The usual teacher got mad at me because I wasn't paying attention, but it's not my fault I have a beautiful girlfriend." Luka said nonchalantly, while looking over at her with a playful smile.

Marinette blushed at the compliment, but couldn't help but feel guilty at his comment. She hoped Luka's performance wouldn't decrease in school because of her.

Luka must have picked up on her guilt because his brow furrowed. "Something wrong, Marinette?" He questioned.

“Um...no everything is fine Luka, w-why would you think something was wrong?” Marinette began to feel nervous around him as her stutter made a sudden reappearance.

She couldn’t even look him in the eyes. As suddenly, the speck of mud on her flat seemed fascinating. Why was she so nervous? Shouldn’t she feel safe and comfortable around him, he was her boyfriend?

But then a silent echo, whispered in the back of her mind; “Why is Luka my boyfriend, when I really don’t know anything about him,”

She instantly shook the thought away, that wasn’t true, she knew Luka. She knew Luka...

"Something seemed off, perhaps an accidental sharp or a string out of tune" he said, wrapping his arm around her.

"N-no, everythings fine, really!" Marinette assured him.

"Alright, I won't push, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here" Luka said.

They arrived at the smoothie bar moments later. They ordered their smoothies, Luka paying much to Marinette's distress. Marienette tried to make small talk, while they waited for their smoothies, about school, but everytime Luka would switch the subject to her designs.

She honestly loved talking about her designs and it was really great that Luka cared so much about her passion, but something inside her craved for more. An unfamiliar voice echoed in her mind, calling to her heart that she was missing something. That this should be..feel...different.

"You always pay. Why can't I pay for once?" Marinette said as their smoothies arrived.

They got their smoothies and sat down at the table. "So, how's Kitty section?" Marinette questioned her boyfriend.

"It's doing really well, all thanks to those shirts you made us"

"Oh please, your band isn't successful because of your shirts, Kitty Section is successful because of your awesome music. You don't give yourself enough credit" the dark-haired girl replied.

"Tell me about your latest song" Marinette asked, trying to move the conversation along.

"I'd much rather hear about your designs" Luka countered, earning a sigh from Marinette.

She liked Luka, but it seemed he only wanted to talk about her and never about him. It made her feel guilty, all she did was take and take and never give anything back.

He never seemed like he wanted to share anything about himself.

Relationships were supposed to be two sided, but it felt like she never got the chance to do anything for Luka.

She told him about her latest design, a black beanie with little light pink flowers stitched into the fabric.

"But enough about me, tell me about your new song" Marinette pressed, leading to Luka explaining how the song was inspired by her.

Once Luka was done his explanation, they both parted ways and headed home to start their homework.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0-0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagami POV

Kagami was walking down the street, enjoying the rare moment of solitude.

Fencing had ended early, and seeing as her mother had not been notified, she decided to go on a walk.

During this walks she had time to reflect on her busy and scheduled life. Or today in peticular certain things that had been bothering her deeply.

She still found herself wary of Adrien and Marinette’s seemingly close bond, but she refused to let it get to her.

Adrien wasn’t a liar, and Marinette was her friend.

Mind you, Lila was her friend too, and she wouldn't lie to her either.

Plus, what Lila had said made so much sense, the reason why Marinette's ice cream was so strikingly different from her boyfriend's appearance, the little looks Adrien gave Marinette throughout the day.

She felt her anger grow from the pit of her stomach and continue to build rapidly, until it was almost boiling over  at the surface. Desperate to be let out.

She clenched her fists, trying to take deep calming breaths, in and out, to calm her raging frustration, just waiting to be let loose.

In her desire to remain calm, she didn't notice that she had bumped into someone. Kagami looked up, silently cursing her lack of awareness to see Luka.

"Hello Luka, what are you doing here." Kagami asked curtly.

"I'm just heading home" he replied, to which Kagami cocked an eyebrow.

"School got out a whole ago" she told him matter of factly.

"I was on a date with Mari, although she seemed a little off…”  the blue haired boy trailed off.

"Off? How so?" Kagami said, curious and desperate for more clues surrounding the Marinette situation.

"Ahh, nothing much, just didn't seem as happy as she usually is" Luka said.

“Huh, that isn’t like Marinette. Nothing to worry about though, I’m sure she’s just tired and upset about all the homework we received over the course of this week.” Kagami didn’t realize that she wasn’t only trying to convince Luka, but herself.

"Yeah, I should probably get home now, bye Kagami, nice talking to you" Luka said, before walking away.

Something definitely didn't add up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0-0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adrien POV:

Adrien had somehow managed to convince his father to let him spend time with friends. Adrien didn't know how exactly, but whatever he did had worked.

He excitedly got ready to hang out with his friends. He never got to hang out with friends? What was he supposed to wear? How should he act?

He felt sudden panic flood him, but he shook his head, trying to clear his clouded mind. This was Mariennte, Nino, and Alya. He knew them. They were his friends, he could do this.

Adrien's expectations were high with the amount of times Alya mentioned the "legendary game night". He was thrilled that he was actually going to be able to experience the game night first hand.

Once he had finally gotten ready, spraying on cologne to mask the pungent scent of cheese and gave himself a mini motivational pep talk he got into his father limo, giving Gorilla the directions to Alya’s.

All the way there Adrien was a little restless. His knee bounced up and down and his fingers lightly tapped against his seat. But his excitement overcome his nerves and he had a feeling he would remember tonight. 

Upon arriving at Alya's, he was greeted by loud shouts coming from the living room.

Oh no, he thought as fear washed over him. Suddenly a rush of adrenaline took over and he raced to the living room.

"Is everything alright?" He asked Alya as he stepped inside, his voice laced with concern, his body alert.

"Yeah, that's just Mari, I'm warning you, she gets really competitive." Alya said, an evil grin on her face.

Adrien felt all his pent up anxiety leave his body with a relieved exhale and for the first time tonight he began to feel relaxed.

"I think I remember her being competitive," Adrien said, remembering the school gaming competition, a fond smile curving his lips.

That was the same day Marinette had given him her lucky charm, he thought, subconsciously touching the beaded bracelet in his pocket.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he followed Alya to the living room, where Marinette was doing an adorable little victory dance.

He might just have to lose on purpose to see the dance some more, he thought to himself.

"There's chips on the counter, and there's a stack of games over there" Alya said, before plopping down on the couch between Marientte and Nino.

The night was a blur of games, with Marinette getting more and more competitive throughout the night, Nino doing some ridiculous dance moves, and Alya filming the majority of it all as future blackmail.

Adrien couldn’t help but admire Marientte as she was playing the video game. Her face a mask of deep concentration, her tongue stuck out without her realizing it, and her eyes dancing with the flashing lights of the game. She looked so cute.

"ADRIEN YOU JUST DIED WE NEED TO PASS THIS LEVEL" Marinette yelled, snapping him out of his daydream. He had forgotten that they were supposed to be playing the game together.

Adrien couldn't help but realize that Marinette was even more adorable when she was mad.

This new piece of information had absolutely nothing to do with the shenanigans that ensued when Adrien discovered new ways to prevent them from passing the level.

Eventually, Marinette sighed in defeat and flopped onto the floor, dramatically exclaiming how she was "defeated and would never play video games again"

Adrien couldn’t help but give her a teasing grin as he playfully decided to softly pull on one of her midnight pigtails. He only touched her hair for a second but he couldn’t help noticing how soft it felt between his fingers. God he sounded like a creep.

But he wasn’t expecting the result of this action which was being attemptedly murderd by a pillow from Marinette. Which missed and whacked Alya instead.

The result was a full blown pillow war, with Marinette trying to hide behind a chair as everyone ganged up on her.

"Okay fine you've killed me, happy now?" Marinette said at last, ending the pillow fight.

They all shared a laugh at Marinette's dramatic death that followed, but their giggles were interrupted by Adrien's bodyguard ringing the doorbell.

Adrien said his goodbyes and then left. He was sad it was over, but the overwhelming happiness that comes from being with friends won the internal battle.

He slept well that night, dreaming of video games, pillow fights, and pigtailed girls.