Luka wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to make the situation any worse. But he had a gut feeling, and he needed to be sure he was right. To avoid anything potentially going south, under the guise of a quick bathroom break he left Adrien and his mother to talk about what to do. He took his phone, went to Snapchat and looked at the maps showing where all his friends were at the moment.

His sister was at her girlfriends, that was normal. Nino seemed to be over at Alya's place and Marc and Nath looked to be at school still. Probably in the art room late. But as he's suspected, the map showed his darling ex girlfriend only one street away. She should be home, he didn't have anything on today and all their other friends weren't with her. So unless this was just a wild coincidence and her parents had her go run an errand or something...

Luka sighed, gently banging his head against the door. He knew it, who else was that obsessed with Adrien? He should have known something was wrong the moment she called him Adrien when they were still dating. Luka was just too much of a pacifist, he had a bad habit of seeing the best in people even if they had red flags. He didn't want to believe it at first, when he was still dating her. He was too blinded by love. But after that messy breakup, and a whirlwind of conflicting emotions he'd come to see something was very wrong with that girl.

He didn't wish her any ill will or anything, but he was starting to become very unsettled by her. She clearly needed serious help, but was too deep in her own delusion to realise that. And he couldn't exactly blame everyone else for not knowing the extent of it, they were all dumb teenagers and no one else was as close to her as he'd been as her ex boyfriend.

If he was right, if this was Marinette's doing... he wasn't sure what to do. Adrien's safety was his top priority but he also didn't want to completely traumatise the boy by being the into to break the news that his stalker was someone he considered a friend. At a loss, he turned to his sister, sending her a message and hoping she wasn't too distracted at the moment to miss it. Lord knows what she and Rose got up to behind closed doors, as her twin, Luka quite frankly didn't want those details.

Luka: Juels emergency

Juleka: what's wrong?

Juleka: do I need to come home?

Luka: no I just need a third party opinion here

Juleka: what's wrong?

Luka: Adrien just rushed in, he's been stalked and he panicked, came here because it was the closest safe place.

Juleka: what the actual fuck

Juleka: is he ok?

Luka: physically yes. Mentally no. That's the issue though, I think I know who it is but I have no idea how to break the news to him.

Juleka: ...

Juleka: I just checked snap maps... I think you're right

Oh thank god he wasn't going crazy here, his sister was on the same wavelength. The fact that she had the same thought he did the moment she heard the words Adrien and stalker in the same sentence sure did say a lot about the situation.

Juleka: he needs to know. Even if it'll hurt, he needs to for his own safety.

Luka: I know. I just don't know how to tell him in a way that won't freak him out.

Juleka: there's no avoiding it, you just have to tell him.

She was right... there was no avoiding the inevitable. Sighing, he went back out to the kitchen where he found his mother on the phone with Nathalie, letting her know Adrien was here and he could stay until she was able to come get him. Adrien had his head in his hands, not crying, just silently stressing. Luka sat on the barstool beside him, taking a moment before finally speaking up.

"I think I know who it is..." he said.

Adrien perked up, looking over at him in a sad mixture of dread and intrigue.

"Who?" He asked.

"You won't like this. But... I have my reasons for thinking so"

Luka pulled up his snap maps, showing the screen to Adrien and sure enough, Marinette's profile was still on the same street, only a few boats down.

"She's not with any friends, and she doesn't have anything on this week. Yet, she's been hanging around there for a while now. Not just that, when we dated she... she was in love with you. She even mistakenly called ME by YOUR name while we dated. That's why she dumped me, for you..." Luka explained, dreading the reaction.

He was expecting Adrien to lash out, get defensive of someone he called a friend. Instead... he just stared down at the screen in disbelief as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you about the whole her having a crush on you thing earlier. I was just... I dunno, sad over the breakup I guess. That and... I mean I had NO idea she'd go THIS far" Luka added.

As he watched Adrien's expression turn from shock to betrayal, his tense shoulders sunk into heartbroken ones and his ability to hold himself together sunk with them. It broke Luka's heart, seeing him like this. Adrien just sighed in disappointment and his head dropped into his hands.

"Why can I just never have a normal friendship? They either use me for the fame, don't see me as anything other than a face on a billboard or- or this!" Adrien choked out.

Luka reached over and pulled Adrien into his arms for comfort, Adrien practically melting into them desperate to feel safe. Luka was practically the only person he did feel safe around anymore. Luka just let him cry, gently rubbing his back and holding him tight. His mother gave him a pained look, sympathetic for the all bullshit this poor boy had to go through all the time.

"Nathalie said she's not able to get here until after dinner, cars broken down. You two go calm down in your room ok? I'll make an extra serving" Anarka said.

"Alright. Thanks mum" Luka replied.

Grabbing a box of tissues on the way, Luka bought Adrien down to his room and just let him cry it out for a while. Sitting together turned into Luka leaning against the headboard of his bed, Adrien still sobbing in his arms. Which eventually ended up basically cuddling. Not that either of them minded, it was something Adrien needed to feel. The warm, gentle embrace of someone he actually trusted. Once he'd managed to get himself to steady his breath and gotten through half the box of tissues, he sighed. Resting his head on Luka's chest, listening to his heart beating, he felt that flurry of fear and betrayal he'd been hit with start to subside and be replaced with a strange sense of calm.

"Luka..." Adrien muttered.

"Hm?"

"Thank you"

"I'm not going to let you deal with this bullshit alone Adrien, I'm always here. No matter what" Luka assured.

Maybe it was how emotionally exhausted he was, maybe it was his craving for some kind of true, genuine bond after the absolutely train wreck that had been his relationships over the last few years. But Adrien was wanted to keep Luka forever this way, and his filter had been completely shattered for the moment.

"She says she loves me but she does something that's hurts me so bad? And she hurt you too, because she loved me? She's a stalker and lead you on all over me..." Adrien rambled.

Luka wanted to tell him it wasn't that bad, but it was. He couldn't even pretend.

"Yeah... I'm sorry you have to deal with all this bullshit Adrien. I was already growing apart from her but this has just made me want to never see her again..." Luka replied.

"I don't want to see her again... I know I'll have to confront her, but fuck I don't want to even face her knowing what she did. What is she even doing with my jacket huh? Something creepy?"

Adrien looked up at Luka, eyes red from crying and cheeks wet with tear stains. Somehow, even when he was a wreck he still managed to look beautiful.

"You're about the only person I trust nowadays" Adrien said.

"I'll never break that trust ok? I've got you, always" Luka replied.

Adrien felt the urge to cry again, although this time it was from the sheer relief and joy he felt knowing he had someone that genuinely cared for him.

"I love you Luka..." he said, a slight wobble in his voice as he tried not to cry again.

Luka was silent a moment, not expecting such words at a moment like this. But he smiled, pulled Adrien up closer to him and held him tight.

"I love you too Adrien..." he replied.

There was a brief moment of silence as they just hugged, and both realised that the situation sounded a lot more romantic than it did platonic. Because friends can absolutely say I love you to each other, but when it's said in that genuine, deeply caring way like that...

"When... when you say love..?" Adrien spoke up.

"Yeah. Yeah, I- if you're comfortable with it then... ye-"

Before Luka could finish, he was stopped mid sentence with Adrien's lips against his. He was still for a moment, in shock. But quickly melted into the kiss and felt his heart racing in his chest. There was no way this was actually happening.

Adrien buried his burning face into Lukas chest, leaving Luka kiss stunned for a moment.

"At least you don't make your crush creepy" he snickered.

"I'd never. You're too pure for that, too good for this world" Luka smiled.

They both knew they'd have to confront Marinette about her behaviour eventually, and they needed to deal with Adrien'a safety from creeper fans in general. But for now, just in this moment, they simply lay together and held each other close. Luka's arms being Adrien's one true safe place.