"I can do this." You took a deep breath as you pulled on your jacket and glanced in the mirror.

Your phone was clutched tightly in your hand, the nerves of the day before you were creeping in. You flipped your phone over to check the time, seeing that if you didn't leave at that moment, you were going to be late.

"Shit."

The whole adventure down the stairs consisted of you grumbling to yourself, an attempt at convincing yourself not to go.

You knew it was a bad idea the moment the plans were made...but you were drawn to the idea more than you'd like to admit.

"Good morning sweetie!" Your mom called from the kitchen, serving eggs to Marinette. The two of them looked surprised to see you fully dressed and ready to leave the house. Your mom motioned for you to sit in the place next to Marinette and you forced out a smile as you shook your head.

"I have plans this morning, could I take a plate to go?" You asked with a soft tone, nervous she was going to insist that you stayed.

She hesitated, but nodded with a sigh, handing you one of your favorite pastries.

"Thanks." You smiled as you ran over and kissed her cheek before waving to them as you left.

The closer you got to the houseboat, the tighter your chest got. The barge was soon in your line of vision and you stood in front of it for a few moments, fiddling with your fingers and trying to catch your nerve.

The idea of writing a song with Luka was very exciting, but it would just be the two of you.

And that was terrifying.

"Hey Y/n!" Luka called, waving from his dock.

You took in a deep breath, hoping to breathe away your flustered feelings. You lifted your hand slightly and smiled. "How are you?" You asked him, feeling incredibly awkward with this greeting.

"I'm good," he was still smiling, "We've got a couple of hours and I have a few ideas. The band is coming by later if you end up wanting to stay and watch us practice." He had you by the wrist and was pulling you towards his bedroom.

The two of you made it in and it was almost the exact same since you had last seen it on the night you met. The only change you noticed was the new picture of Jagged Stone and Luka to replace the poster.

"No way! You met Jagged Stone?" You exclaimed as you pointed to the larger-than-average photo on the wall.

Luka had his hand cupping the back of his neck as he laughed softly. "Yeah, turns out he's my dad." His back was turned to you as he pulled out a spare keyboard.

Your hand fell slowly as you stared at the photo wide eyed. You couldn't believe how casually he said all that.

You cleared your throat and walked over to him. "Do you play?" You questioned him, trying to sound casual, and he shrugged.

"I can play everything."

"Jealous." You grumbled as you took a seat on the stool he had set up behind the keyboard.

Luka sat on his bed with his eyes closed and his guitar laying across his arms. His hand hovered slightly over the strings and he sat there completely silent and still.

You weren't sure what he was doing, but you watched him curiously.

Luka suddenly opened his eyes and looked back over to you. "Did you feel that?" He asked.

You raised an eyebrow at his odd remark, "Feel what?"

"The power of the melody in this room, that's playing between the two of us." His lips curled into the smallest smile and you felt your heart drop at the comment.

"What's wrong?" He asked as his smile dropped.

You lifted your shoulders in a simple shrug. "I don't really know." You lied.

"You have that same look that..." he stopped himself and you lifted your head with a slight tilt. You clearly wanted to know and he felt horrible for even beginning to think that out loud.

"That..." you spoke with drawn out syllables and he sighed.

"That Marinette has when she thinks about or sees Adrien." He whispered and you snorted.

"Isn't that look more like a combination of a gremlin and a puppy?" You asked with an innocent expression which threw Luka into a laughing fit.

"Yeah I guess you're right about that one." He tried to mimic the expression she always makes, but it just seemed too out of character for him to appear accurate. His attempt sent you into your own fit of laughter, and you missed the way his eyes softened at your elated state.

He smiled softly, "You're cute when you laugh." His voice was quiet but he immediately clamped a hand against his mouth, signaling to you that he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Your laughter stopped rather abruptly and your expression was laced with surprise. "Thanks." Your voice was almost a whisper and Luka cleared his throat as the two of you nervously readjusted your positions where you were sitting.

"What were you thinking about writing?" You asked him and his lips shifted into a mischievous grin.

"A song, dummy."

You rolled your eyes, having no idea he could be so playful, let alone teasing. His calmness towards it was almost irritating. "I meant what should it be about?"

"I was thinking heartbreak." His face was stoic and you nodded your head as you let out a breathy laugh.

"What?" He questioned, confused by your response.

"I feel like all the two of us ever think about is heartbreak." You spoke and he stiffened.

"Well uh...it's just been a center point of my life for so long."

You nodded, noticing his uncomfortable expression. "Mine too." Your words eased his tension almost immediately.

"Who broke your heart, Y/n Dupain-Cheng?" He asked with a lazy smirk on his face. He knew you had it rough, but with your tough exterior you always tried to put out, you made it seem like those barriers you had were impenetrable.

That was unless you were having a breakdown, and he had witnessed a few of those so far.

You sighed, leaning your head back as you gripped the round edges of the stool you were sitting on. "Want me to pull out my detailed list?" Your lazy grin almost mimicked his smirk.

Luka chuckled softly. "No, but I feel like if we talk about heartbreak then it will make the song writing process much simpler."

You sighed because you knew he had a point. "Well what do you want first? Romance, family, or loneliness?"

"Well of course I want to know everything...but I have to admit the romance option is very intriguing." There was humor dancing around in his eyes and you couldn't remember on the spot if you had even told him about your history of feelings for Adrien.

Well, history is a term you use loosely.

"Well, I was in love with Adrien for a long time." You whispered and the expression on his face never changed. He simply nodded and remained on his bed, clutching his guitar.

You gulped as you continued on, "Him and I have always had a close bond. He always tries to remind me that I belong here when I'm questioning it the most. I-"

You glanced up only slightly when you heard the creak in the floorboard. Luka was towering over you and you realized he had even shifted the keyboard so he could stand closer to you. He lowered himself down and placed his hands lightly on your thighs and shifted his face dangerously close to your own. You felt the heat on your cheeks begin to rise but he remained completely stoic.

He gripped your left thigh and slipped his right hand under your chin. You noticed a flash of emotion in his eyes, but you couldn't pinpoint what it was. "You belong here." Was all he said. His voice was so firm and it felt like it was demanding for you to hear it. He released his grip on you and moved your keyboard back to its original position.

He walked back over to his bed, stepping again on the same creaky floorboard. He crossed his legs and waved his hand at you, motioning for you to continue.

You couldn't even believe him, nor did you understand why that impacted him so much.

You took in a large breath and swallowed the bundle of feelings you felt lodged in your throat. "Well...I was ready to tell him how I felt one night. I didn't even care if he felt the same...I just needed to tell him. I went to Marinette for advice for the first time in years. I had no idea she loved him too...but I told her she could have him as soon as she told me. I didn't want a boy to drive us further apart. She didn't see it the way I intended for it to be which made her more pissed than when I told her. I left for New York soon after that. Once I came back Adrien told me he had a girlfriend, which made it all feel a lot worse."

"Kagami." Luka spoke, almost like he was in a daze.

You raised your head along with your right eyebrow. "Oh, is that her name? I never got it."

Luka nodded, "They broke up not long after Marinette and I did."

"What's up with that? How did you fall crazy in love with my sister?" You asked gently and he scoffed.

"I wouldn't say crazy in love." He muttered and you simply shrugged.

"Those are just the words Juleka and Rose used."

He sighed. "She just has the most incredible melody radiating from her, I've never felt anything like it," his eyes shifted towards you but then back down at his guitar, "Until recently, I believe I found something similar but even more complex. I understood how she felt about Adrien, but all I ever wanted was to make sure she was happy. When we finally got together I cherished every moment...but she couldn't be honest with me and that is so important." His voice fell to a tense whisper.

"She's always been like that." You mentioned gently.

"Like?" He needed clarification.

"Secretive."

"And your not?" He snorted and you shook your head.

"I wouldn't call me secretive, I feel like I'm incredibly transparent." You let out a short laugh.

Luka's eyes scanned you for a moment but then shook his head. "I think you're definitely in the middle, but then again neither really apply to you. Your head is clearly somewhere else when you're around others." He paused for a moment. "I've got it, you're mysterious." He snapped his fingers like he just discovered a piece of information he had been searching for.

Now you were laughing, "Mysterious? Don't make me sound like the loner girl out of a cheesy romance novel. I'm just an emotional freight train."

Luka was laughing with you, "Fair point, but aren't we all?"

You nodded, "Hit the nail on the head with that one."

*

Before the two of you even realized it, you had been talking for hours. In the end, you only had down a couple of lines and a few notes to accompany them.

Luka's eyes shifted towards the clock on his wall. "Everyone should be coming in soon." He spoke but made no indication that he wished for this moment to end.

You smiled softly, flattered that he seemed to want to spend more time with you. You stood, even though you also didn't want this time together to end. You walked over and pulled him by the arm. "Come on, I want to hear you guys play some music."

He stood and you tried to back away, but he tugged his arm that you were holding onto towards him, bringing you a bit closer.

When you were sitting earlier he had towered over you, but you never realized how intimidating he seemed when you were standing as well.

His eyes flickered down to your lips and looked back up quickly to meet your eyes. You noticed every movement his eyes made, and heard every breath he took, which sent butterflies through your stomach.

"Y/n...I-"

"Luka!" Rose yelled down the halls.

"Practice calls." You smiled nervously and removed your hand from his arm and backed away quickly. You nodded your head towards his door and walked out of it, wondering what he had wanted to say.

*

Adrien was standing on the dock along with the other members of the band. You smiled and waved at him once you saw him, immediately moving towards him.

Luka watched you interact with him and couldn't ignore the pang in his chest he was experiencing.

His emotions were no longer under his control. You and Marinette each had control of one of his heartstrings, and as he watched you interact with your old love he couldn't help but realize how much you mirrored Marinette when you spoke with him.

Luka was always losing a Dupain-Cheng to Adrien, and he wasn't even sure if the one he was getting close with now was the sister he truly wished to be with.

Edited: 5/21