#she puts her own happiness above Chloe’s at every turn

[chloepleasestopdying]

Like I understand that most people don’t want to get into how bad Joyce is in fic ( most fics are ship based just to start) and the game is clear on it’s stance on the matter ( Which is that Joyce is mother of the year and tried her very hardest but Chloe is stuck in her grief and if she just gave David a real chance everything would be sunshine and rainbows) but ugh.

No doubt there’s like a dozen posts on this blog about how annoyed I am about it but honestly it really does annoy the hell out of me. I mean come on guys! Putting aside that Chloe lost her father and was undoubtedly a hard teenager to raise: Joyce started dating a man within a couple months of William’s death ( I believe we dated it at like 5 or 6 months) and continued despite seeing how Chloe felt about it. Yes- she can date who she wanted too but she had to have seen how much it hurt Chloe.

David clearly pushed Chloe into being more aggressive and angry. She was a young teenager who lost her father and instead of getting a hint of compassion from her mother or new shiny step father her needs were completely ignored. And Joyce just sat there and went ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl I did all I could 😔’ while David’s over there poking her with a stick.

It just really gets me that Joyce only kicked David out when she learned about the cameras and not if Max tells her that he hit Chloe. She can excuse her husband hitting her daughter but not an invasion of her own privacy. 

[libidomechanica]

Untitled (“We are the infants grave in sweet in”)

Then behind who will I pour foe.     The breast, when first assay’d. We are the infant’s grave in sweet     in its good to the tame: the nutriment made it out dispense     a wild roses that from my last divorce. Add fresh nuptials     joyfully upon

the high doth my youth; and song. And     dark night from her Hand I are not bear that, which insphere, beneath.     It could every tree, forbid. The light, a beauteous dyes,     is like a coward … this baby that sweet babe you there bent     with beauty in the answer.

It’s fun said she Ah Sun-flower,     each the World dirhems for the stuff, it were turn’d her baby     and vain the way to open wind and with thee. That lace,     with his Associates Night hand you seize my arms, its greeted     by a doubt’s pain Still

sing thorn when a tear falls, that makes     some by-street its misery! Both broke us from thee, which     the Nightingale with vncalled townes do the one twain, by Name     and trysting one another of happiness at a long     ago hath thee back, till

my smart, as thou art my all. Of     these action! Then markes each within the charming Chloe.     That hills, that I bleed. Of all had join’d in woe I vowed head     in my skin and that purpose no farther. Are young, its slender     oats foraged in

my skin and wearing that I pedaled     my ten-speed across the best. Mirror, full ten time; down     instrument doth use and now unpossible of the Well     of greene is fitter than a cubit in come, and eyes—and     methoughts that sweeps thee dear;

no, the humble rug. I know a     sweet fields each his mother, quo she, do what is not ceasing     fuell of moss is spotted his mind; thou minion of her hut,     the her answer This fair Scotia hame again will breathing     on the Water of

Fidelity; nor can have measure     the marigold at last I know what shake, as him to belongs!     The mountains doth true lovers of the close beside the     sake of which it cold, and that I have my great Mother, you’ve     done for which I plight: a

mazer alone? As mad, yet wist     na what was tender joys that rage outside, and Virtue kept     on but not for text. What can ne’er renew it; but whether     to reach they be but once studded, old, was divided be     to sit by their grave

wherefore? I turne and with the mountains     lighter; and deck thee to that for? Then let me love: quest.     Fain would raise; but to the walls of racoon tongue which carries     thou art, dear maid, because why I the found all dispense a     wild and see the staves and

all bail shall I never lets the     poor solitary dove, must make worms, my heart only dear     loves have said or sung by virgin full moon, and song. Of the     pond, whilst thou loves; and I; we stand on a holly is danger.     The lights of love: quest.

Of blue day-light’st for him; to a     boon southern count and make a lodging is a pile of the     eastern skies, that in my breathe like them all that gallants, e’er     drive Homer’s spright of blooms in Margent see? Dost thou yields. All     along a scarlet cloak,

I wish their own: for each other,     for such man’s door, above thee living in welth, she thing, she     roude at me, bending away, as if they least in sackcloth     too, O Thyrsis! Hey ho gracelesse sorrow and adulterate     fruit might be allowed

in the two and done goes all     enforced, the other door�� tis seldom shut—and thirty years,     to whiffs of court, and swell, by oft predict that must deny:     whilst I, whom she never cracked an empty-handed grows to     Honour most. Two hours as

thou always? I bring ye love groans,     but his sickle to the most precious jewel-like an out-of-     tune worn viol, a good to turne and when she wrought her sene? No     palace was all these field, wheresoever, every margin’d     rills. Some say, if to thee

down,—burst, its girth; whether answer:     do what you may things and even as dots now in hastes     pawes: and found such-like a cinder, we were but he the     Night he sprang, and the Pledge, which in the high the valley, streames     my soul move still had

Thyrsis! Who last shall stay. I probably     should be to my heart, I look the shadow of the Spittle     else. Down from the crown put out broad leaves, and such a brain     to human have, which like a grassy floor with potent     The main, let break in you!

[mc-lukanette]

GOD Furious Fu genuinely pissed me off SO MUCH so hopefully you don’t mind me coming over here to ask for some kinda Lukanette fix it for that train wreck??? Like, not even anything super detailed, if you don’t feel like it, maybe just “Marinette caves, gives the Miracle Box to Su-Han, gets spotty memories and Luka (+ Kitty Section and Kagami, maybe) help her out and worry over her.” Maybe Tikki even realizes she screwed up. If not it’s fine but Lukanette makes everything better so I had to ask.

Warning: it’s gonna be a ride.

—————

Luka looked over as his phone started ringing, brows raising at the sight of Marinette's icon popping up on the screen. It'd been rare for her to call him after all the complications that came with them dating, so he was surprised to say the least.

Nevertheless, he rested an arm on his guitar and reached across his bed with his other to pick up the phone, answering the call and moving the device to his ear. "Hey, Marinette."

"Hey, Luka..."

His heart sank at the sound of her voice. It was a whole mix of emotions, but above all else, she sounded tired. He wondered what she'd gone through for her voice to play those sorts of notes.

"Did anything happen?"

"No," she answered almost instantaneously. She paused, then let out a small whine. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so used to lying, but—I guess I don't have to do that anymore."

He stayed silent, allowing her to continue.

"I—" Marinette took an audible breath, then let it out, her voice lowering to a whisper as if she were scared of someone else hearing.

"I'm...I'm Ladybug, Luka."

Luka's first reaction was shock, though he couldn't be sure if it was the identity bomb she dropped or just the fact that she told him at all. Then, once the surprise died down, the idea that Marinette was Ladybug wasn't that surprising in itself. and he couldn't imagine who else it could've been otherwise.

Smart, talented, caring, selfless... it all added up.

But that also made it all the more painful when he realized what it meant. Immediately, all the dates that she'd missed and all the things he'd been concerned about made sense, and it hurt.

That was the secret she couldn't share with him, no matter how badly she might've wanted to.

The last thought in particular was odd to him, and he couldn't help voicing it, "I... thank you for telling me, Marinette, but... why now?"

She took another breath, more unsteady this time, like she were a guitar with something jammed inside the base. "Because—I'm about to forget it, and now I can't stop thinking about everything I might forget; how I want someone to know. You were the first - the only - person I thought of." Then, hesitantly, she asked, "Is that okay?"

Luka swallowed, feeling the whiplash of another dropped bomb right before the kind of casual compliment that made his heart race. "Of...of course it is."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you."

He tried to keep quiet, but couldn't hold back from questioning, "You said 'forget'..."

"Yeah, because I'm guardian now. There was someone else before and they gave me the ladybug miraculous, but—" She paused, as if considering something, then seemed to shift the conversation. "See, I didn't know anything about being a hero at the start, and... I screwed up." Before Luka could ask or recall the event, she continued, "I let the first ever akuma go, and it let Hawk Moth spread his butterflies everywhere when Ivan got akumatized again. I fixed it, but it was still my mistake that started it."

"Marinette—"

"—and I always tried. I tried my best no matter what I did. I tried to be a good Ladybug, a good student, a good daughter, a good friend... and I tried to get Adrien's attention." She groaned, though the sound seemed muffled, perhaps by her hand. Her voice cracked as she went on, "That's where everything went so wrong, Luka. I knew I had bad luck, but no matter how hard I tried, things would go bad. It was humiliating, and I kept thinking that maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough. My parents had such a happy relationship and I wanted that, but I was just wasting my time. He was barely in my life but he got put into everything I did, and I made so many mistakes from him. There's a liar in school who wants to turn everyone against me, and Alya thinks I'm just jealous because of Adrien. Chloe convinced me to do things I'm not proud of, and it took a while for me to be Kagami's friend. I didn't listen to my kwami and used my miraculous for my own gain, and..."

"What's wrong with that?" he questioned, voice pained. "What's wrong with using your miraculous for you? You save Paris every other day—"

"—because bad things happen, Luka," she stressed as if it were something urgent. "Bad things happen when I... feel."

There was a pit in his stomach. He knew he shouldn't ask - knew he wouldn't like the answer - but he hoped for better regardless. "Feel... what?"

"Anything."

He hunched forward, not strumming his guitar but running his fingers along the strings, desperate for something to busy himself with. His shoulders were stiff and his chest felt tight, unable to fathom what she'd been going through compared to what he'd merely seen on the surface.

"No matter what I did, no matter what I felt... it was wrong, Luka. I embarrassed Chloe in front of the whole class and she wanted to move to New York. She'd bullied me for years and I was so happy." She sounded conflicted, like instruments that didn't go together. "Adrien told me it was terrible. He didn't know why I could celebrate it. I felt awful, so I gave her a chance; I gave her a miraculous."

Luka anxiously rubbed one of the strings between his thumb and index finger, torn between seething and trying to reassure her despite knowing that she'd cut him off.

"She got it in her head that she deserved it, but with Mayura around, it wasn't safe to let her keep having it. I had to tell her 'no,' and..." She let out a defeated noise. "Do you remember that day? At the park?"

She didn't need to specify, and his voice lost all life at the memory. "Yeah..."

"Adrien and Kagami were together. I let them go. They seemed so happy together and it was the right thing to do, but..."

She paused, and he braced himself.

"When I was going to see the guardian to get a miraculous, I saw them. I got distracted and I forgot to de-transform. Because of me, Hawk Moth found the guardian, and he got the miraculouses from him. By the time I realized what happened, it was too late, and Chloe got akumatized again to ruin me. Those bees you saw—they were hers. They mind-controlled everyone, and that's why your identities were compromised. The guardian had to give up the box with all the miraculouses in it to me - ladybug me - because Hawk Moth was probably about to kill him and become the next guardian." She let out a sob. "Giving up the box... it takes your memory with it."

Luka gripped the string he'd been rubbing.

"I don't know how much he lost, but... anything about the miraculouses was gone. He didn't recognize me. He didn't even recognize the love of his life. He had... feelings, but that was it. All because of me."

"Marinette—" he desperately tried to interject.

She cut him off, as he'd feared, "I'm just fixing my own mistakes. People think I'm a good Ladybug because they don't get that. They don't get that I'm just going in circles. My friends don't believe in me, my parents think I'm too clumsy to carry a tray, and... it always feels like someone - somewhere - is laughing at me, with every screw-up." She whimpered. "What good is a ladybug who gets people akumatized? Who gets her own boyfriend akumatized?"

"I don't blame you for that!" he shouted, intentionally raising his voice to talk over her.

He heard a small noise in response, though he couldn't tell if it was another whimper or a giggle.

"I'm sorry," she said, though what she was apologizing for seemed vague, "and thank you, for always being there for me. I'm glad I have time to talk to you before he gets back."

Luka had to calm himself down to ask worriedly, "He...?"

"The guardian; the one that came before the one I knew. He showed up in my room today and saw how I had all the kwami outside of the box; I guess you're not supposed to do that, and he wasn't happy. He told me about all these rules I broke and how I had to give everything back. I took him to meet Chat Noir, but Chat ran for it when he realized that I'd forget about him. The guardian is chasing him down now and I'm just here, with the box, waiting for him to get back."

Luka leaned back and stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed by the rush of information she'd thrown at him all at once. He hadn't even been the one to experience any of it and he still felt worn down as if he had.

"I—" He paused, not liking how his voice shook. "I wish I could've helped you, Marinette. I wish you hadn't had to do all of that alone. I know you feel like it's your fault, but even the best musicians miss notes and mess up. Please don't blame yourself."

She let out a non-committal noise and he knew then that nothing he said would help her. He was sure that she believed him, but words could only do so much, and unlearning what apparent months of suffering had taught her would be difficult.

Though, he supposed it wouldn't matter. "Will you forget... everything?"

"I don't know, but at least everything about Ladybug or the miraculouses will go." She let out a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess it was all for nothing in the end."

"It wasn't," Luka replied. "Marinette, no matter how many times you feel like you screwed up, you were still an amazing ladybug. Everything you said didn't change my mind about that." After a moment of thought, he added, "And that other guardian... how is he?"

He heard her take a breath, as if to give an automatic answer, but she stopped herself. "...He's away from Paris, living with the love of his life."

"See? That sounds better than being the guardian, in Paris, where Hawk Moth is," he pointed out. "Maybe he forgot more than he would've wanted, but—"

"Luka," she interrupted, as if something had just occurred to her.

He considered finishing what he was saying, but stopped himself in favor of wanting to hear her out. "Yeah?"

"A-ah... mm." She struggled briefly while trying to get the words out. "If—if I forget too much... if I forget you... would you still visit me?"

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about the possibility, but it hadn't been on the forefront of his mind either, mostly for the sake of keeping himself grounded.

After having an internal debate with himself, he settled for asking, "Would you want me to?"

"Don't say it like that," she pleaded. "Don't leave it all up to me. I...I'd understand if you decide you don't want to see me again. I wouldn't blame you, I just—" Her voice lowered to something both shy and fond. "—I'm my best self when I'm with you, Luka. We didn't date for that long, and maybe it would've been better for you if we never met, but I..."

The pause she made had him holding his breath, his grip on the phone tightening. He couldn't believe she would dare to imply that he wouldn't do it all over again; meeting her, writing songs about her, dating her...

Marinette let out a breath, and Luka noted that it sounded so... final, like this was really the end.

"I love you, Luka."

His heart hammered in his chest. "Marinette."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry," she whispered. After going quiet for a few seconds, her tone suddenly shifted as she said, "I have to go now. He's on his way."

Luka took a sharp intake of breath, but the click of the call came before he could speak. He could only stare down at the phone, Marinette's contact image staring back as an emptiness washed over him.

Then, he was on his feet, guitar tossed aside, and he'd never moved so fast before in his life.

—————

Marinette gazed at Luka's picture for a few more seconds, as if doing so would permanently imprint it into her memory, then sighed and tossed it onto her chaise lounge. She rubbed at her eyes, wiping away tiredness and unshed tears, unable to help wondering if Fu falling unconscious after his memory loss was something peaceful for him.

When she uncovered her eyes, she noticed the kwami, all distancing themselves from her but staring at her like she was a corpse in a coffin.

"What...?" she asked, though part of her already knew the answer.

They all exchanged glances, like they were debating telepathically, then Wayzz flew forward.

"I - we - we're so sorry, Marinette," he said. Bowing in respect, he added, "We got so excited, and we only caused you more problems."

Marinette shrugged, only able to offer a defeated smile. "There's nothing we can do now. It's too late to change anything."

Tikki approached, her body hunched over and making her look even smaller than she already was. "I-I should've said something. I let him talk to you like that and I didn't do anything to stop him."

Marinette reached over, tempted to pet or touch her kwami in some way to help reassure her, but pulled back at the last moment, too conflicted about it.

The sound of something landing on the balcony followed, and Marinette stared up at it like she could see through her ceiling.

"...He's here," she stated. After giving one last look at all of her kwami, she focused specifically on Tikki and said, "Spots on."

Su-Han descended into her room, Ladybug standing in the center and wanting nothing more but to get things over with. He approached her, raising his fist and then opening it to show her the ring inside; Chat Noir's ring. Plagg, meanwhile, hovered aimlessly around the room, not meeting anyone's eyes and probably sensing the tension.

"That crybaby was even more of a fool than I'd thought," Su-Han commented, "giving a miraculous to a boy whose face is all over this village."

"What?" Ladybug blurted out. A boy whose face was all over—but that meant—"Adrien?"

Su-Han raised a brow. "A friend of yours?" He promptly scoffed. "That makes him even more foolish."

She couldn't even find it in herself to respond, too busy grappling with so casually being told something she'd intended to never learn about if she could help it.

Adrien was Chat Noir? It explained a little bit of everything and made her feel a lot of everything at the same time, like the two personalities meshed together to create something both shocking yet profoundly upsetting. She saw her memories with Adrien in place of Chat Noir and vice versa, unable to separate the two and pursing her lips as she recognized that, perhaps if things had been a little different...

"Young lady," Su-Han called strictly, pulling her out of her trance. "I don't have time to waste here. Relinquish the Miracle Box to me, at once."

"A-ah..." Ladybug could only nod, still dazed but at least focused enough to respond. She stared down at her hands, staring at the red and single black spot on the back of each, then sighed and closed her eyes, accepting that it was the last time she'd see them.

"I, Ladybug, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box..."

The last feeling she'd remember as Ladybug was a deep, unrelenting regret; regret for all the things she did do, didn't do, and the things that weren't even in her control.

Then, as her mind was fogging and she was slipping into darkness, she felt something else.

She felt free.

—————

Luka didn't bother saying a word to Tom or Sabine when he charged inside the bakery, both of them letting out various shouts of concern as he bolted past them and ran up the stairs. He nearly tripped multiple times, but he never stopped moving. He dashed up each flight until his eyes locked on the door to Marinette's living room.

He opened the door in a hurry, ignoring the sound of it slamming against the wall, and headed right for the stairs to Marinette's room. He threw caution to the wind and pushed open the trap door in the same fashion, his eyes scanning the place in a panic.

Then, his gaze fell upon Marinette, lying there on the floor, earrings gone, and he realized that he was too late. If he were honest, he hadn't known exactly what he'd rushed there to do - try and prevent the memory loss? tell her how wrong she'd been during their call? call out the guardian for treating his beloved so cruelly? - but now that he was there, all he could think about was being there for her.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then approached and knelt down next to her. Slipping his arms underneath her, he lifted her up and brought her over to her chaise lounge, wanting to at least get her off the floor. Her phone had been resting on the chaise’s cushion, but he simply moved it to the table after setting her down.

He paced around the room, raking his fingers through his hair and ruffling it. His mind was still racing, as was his heart, and his running had nothing to do with either. He knew that, whether Marinette had her memory or not, she was the song in his head, and any pain that would come with her not knowing him couldn't compare to the pain of not seeing her again. She wasn't a burden, and no matter how many excuses he might have to come up with, he wasn't going to let her be alone, especially not when she trusted him with a secret that she'd only let him hear.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the slight shuffling noise, though the sound of Marinette stirring was what made him fully turn around to look at her. While she laid there, her eyes were half-lidded and unfocused, darting aimlessly around the room as if in search of something.

"Marinette," he whispered, rushing over to her. Bending over the chaise lounge, barely thinking, he asked gently, "Are you okay?"

"Mm..." Her eyes found his, and she blinked a few times before she actually seemed awake enough to answer him. "Luka?"

His breath, his words, his very sound, all caught in his throat. If he were a guitar, his strings would've snapped from the sudden release of tension.

"Y-you... know who I am?" he asked in a small voice.

She tilted her head at him, confused by the question. "Of course I do? You're my boyfriend."

Boyfriend. She said boyfriend. She didn't just remember him, she remembered her feelings for him.

He got misty-eyed from the realization, and Marinette's eyes widened in alarm.

"L-luka?" she called, brows furrowed with concern. She reached up with a hand, sliding it along his cheek. "What's wrong—what happened? I swear I'm okay, I—"

He shook his head, gently holding onto her wrist and feeling the steady rhythm of her pulse to ground himself. "Nothing, Marinette. Nothing happened. You—you just had a bad fall."

"O-oh. I...I'm sorry." She pushed herself up with her free hand. "I'm so clumsy. I didn't mean to worry—"

He couldn't wait any longer. He hugged her, squeezing her with every ounce of love that'd been accumulating since they'd originally broken up. Marinette didn't seem to understand the intensity of his actions, but didn't hesitate to hug him back either, even humming with content and burying her face into his shoulder.

Her song sang freely to him. It wasn't torn or twisted up, playing openly instead of staying locked in a music box. He couldn't have been happier after she'd given him such a scare before, and any remaining questions could come later.

For that moment, he just let their duet play free-er than it'd ever been able to before.

—————

"Luka~" Marinette called from the kitchen. When he looked over to her, she raised two different bottles of iced tea, waving them a bit for emphasis. "Which one do you want?"

He hummed, then pointed to the one in her left hand. She nodded at the decision, then put the other bottle back in the fridge, retrieving a bottled drink of her own before leaving the kitchen to join him on the couch.

The last few weeks had been a bit of a rollercoaster, but not necessarily in a bad way. He'd had to deal with Marinette's memory loss and simultaneously piece together how exactly it'd all worked out, but all in all, it was good for her.

Most of Marinette's memories outside of being Ladybug were in tact, and Luka had realized soon after she'd woken up from her memory loss that the reason she’d forgotten about their break up was exactly because it'd been related to her being Ladybug. He'd tried vaguely to explain it to her as if he hadn't known that she was Ladybug, wondering if those negative feelings still lingered, but they both still wanted to date each other and thus concluded that not dating after all that would've been silly. He knew full well that she wasn't going to be stressed or strapped for time anymore, so it wasn't a subject worth debating over, especially if it meant that they could move back into dating without issue.

She'd initially cried when he assured her that he was happy to continue dating her. She couldn’t comprehend why and he'd merely hugged her in reassurance, imagining that he was also hugging the Marinette of the past who didn't believe he'd want to date her again.

Outside of that, there were additional gaps in Marinette's memory that she couldn't explain, and Luka was certain that they were either Ladybug or guardian-related. Her parents had been particularly concerned by the losses, but Luka noted to himself that the lost memories were for the best. It was as if all of the memories that had caused her stress had evaporated, leaving only good ones behind.

Adrien was the big one, as she hadn't been able to remember him at all. At best, she was uncomfortable around him, and Luka did her the favor of removing any pictures of the guy from her cork board and phone. It took him a while to figure it out, but once he put together that Adrien was Chat Noir, things fell into place. Marinette had explained during their phone call that the previous guardian had lost his memory of the love of his life, but Luka imagined that she might've been his confidant for so long that thinking of her as anything else was impossible. Factor in that Marinette had also explained that her crush on Adrien had seeped into her being Ladybug, and it all added up; so long as the connection between the person and the miraculouses was unavoidable, they were forgotten.

And Marinette seemed all the happier for it. To some degree, it was tragic that Paris didn't have Ladybug anymore, but as far as Luka was concerned, Marinette needed to be rid of Ladybug more than Paris needed her, and Marinette's health took priority over all else.

The new ladybug holder was no replacement from the original, but Luka had expected that. Despite them being an adult and having access to as many lucky charms as they desired, no one could substitute Ladybug's instinct and ability to think on her feet.

But that wasn't Luka's problem, and he wholly intended to make sure that it wasn't Marinette's either. She'd heard that there was a previous ladybug, but had no interest in anything relating to the heroes nor their miraculouses. The most she'd said about them was one time where she'd idly commented that her homeroom and PE teachers had been "busier than she remembered," though she'd brushed it off as being related to her mild memory loss.

He'd giggled at that. He had been prepared to have to fall in love with a slightly different Marinette, but she honestly hadn't changed much; still caring, still generous, and still the adorable mess that he loved so much. She could afford to work on her confidence, sure, but he didn't fall for her due to what Ladybug had given her.

"Luka?"

He blinked, then looked down to her; her and her bright, happy eyes, the darkness underneath having faded long ago. She smiled at him, oblivious to his thoughts and a brow raised in amusement.

"Were you daydreaming?" she asked curiously, her hand covering his and giving it a casual squeeze.

Luka still couldn't quite believe that he was hers and she was his. He recalled Desperada, that fateful day where she - Ladybug at the time - had given him the snake miraculous, presumably after she'd tried to give it to Adrien. He wouldn't have admitted it at the time, but there was a pride in being able to do something that Adrien couldn't. He'd never forgotten her words either, knowing now that they were Marinette's.

"You were the right choice, Luka."

He sighed blissfully, bending down to press his forehead against hers and replying, "I'm just happy."

She let out a small whine at the sudden and sweet gesture, but still pressed back in return. "Me too."

They stayed in that moment until a sudden thumping noise brought them out of it, Luka jerking his head up to stare at where it'd come from: Marinette's room. Immediately recognizing what was happening, he groaned and rubbed his face in irritation.

As expected, the man Luka had come to know as Su-Han emerged, descending the stairs and locking eyes with Marinette. She recoiled, her hands clutching Luka's sleeve as she murmured, "Not you again..."

Luka gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then got up from the couch and walked around to face Su-Han himself.

The man huffed. "I'm not here for—"

"Marinette wants nothing to do with you," Luka said lowly. He went for the living room door, opening it and gesturing outside. Su-Han followed with an air of self-importance and Luka closed the door behind them, leaving Marinette safely out of the conversation.

"The former ladybug had not even informed me of what she'd done," Su-Han explained. "Therefore, it's time she take responsibility and—"

Luka snapped, "You don't get to blame anything on Marinette. She did everything you asked her to and you made her give up her memories." He purposefully left out the fact that she was better off without said memories. "You're the one who insulted her song before you even got to hear it."

Su-Han squinted, the phrase clearly going over his head. "...What?"

At that point, the sound of footsteps came from downstairs, Luka glancing past the railing to see Tom coming up, perhaps having heard the voices even if he didn't hear any specific words.

The moment he saw Su-Han, Tom glared.

"Honey! That man bothering our daughter is back!" he shouted.

More footsteps followed, this time from Sabine and simultaneously much faster than Tom’s. Su-Han clearly caught on that this would be a repeat of "last time" (one of Luka's fonder memories of seeing the man be dealt with) and quickly fled back into the other room to return to Marinette's balcony and escape.

Once Luka had confirmed that everything was okay, he returned to the couch to sit at Marinette's side again. She tilted her head at him, but didn't ask any questions, Su-Han having become something on a "frequent but harmless weirdo" who she didn't understand.

Luka held an arm out invitingly, then wrapped it around Marinette when she snuggled against him. He used his free hand to open the bottle of iced tea - finding it difficult but also not worth leaving their cuddle to allow for both hands - then tipped the drink to his mouth to take a sip.

"Hey, Luka?" Marinette called, slightly shy in her delivery.

Luka met her gaze, setting the drink back on the table so he could give her his full attention. "Hm?"

"Could we... go on a date tomorrow?" she asked, one of her hands idly fiddling with the fabric of his pant leg. "I was thinking we could go buy a movie to watch? The one with Jagged Stone?"

He didn't know if the request had anything to do with the failed date that she may or may not recall anymore, but regardless, he was grinning like a fool. He pulled her closer, his free hand falling upon one of hers as he nuzzled her. "I'd love that."

He silently looked forward to the day where all the new memories he made with her outmatched the time lost from her old ones.

[dessarious]

How the Sirens Adopted a Ladybug Pt5

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They ate mostly in silence with Ladybug refusing to look at any of them. The Kwami were all cuddled up against her obviously trying to offer emotional support. Every time she managed to calm herself down Selina would look over at the girl and her rage would build up again. She was going to have to find an outlet for it in order to stay here.

“So why haven’t you asked for help from the European Justice League?” The full body flinch she got in response gave her a target for that rage. She mumbled something that Selina couldn’t hear. “What was that?”

“I don’t think they believed anything was happening. Eventually they just told me that if I couldn’t handle butterflies I shouldn’t consider myself a hero. They had real problems to deal with.” Oh she was definitely sicking Bruce on those idiots once she figured out what was going on. “In their defense once I cast my cure there’s no visible damage so unless one of them had been here during an attack it really doesn’t seem real.” Great, now she was making excuses for heroes who absolutely should know better.

“I don’t care what they thought, that’s unacceptable behavior. You mentioned something about others that were helping you?” She flinched and curled in on herself.

“You should tell them. Plagg’s right, I think they can help.” Most of the other Kwami looked surprised at Tikki’s words. Ladybug somehow just seemed to get smaller.

“Kiddo, the three of us are the last to judge, trust me. We just want to help.” Harley’s voice was gentle and the girl peeked at her before looking back at her hands. Plagg flew up to her shoulder and was whispering in her ear. Eventually she took a deep breath and pulled her knees into her chest.

“At first it was just Chat Noir and me. It was okay for a while. He was always goofing around and flirting but he was there. But things happened and he didn’t want there to be secrets even though it was for our own safety. The Guardian chose what information we got when and he trusted me more than he did Chat, especially the more he pushed. He let me choose temporary holders and that just pissed Chat off more. He started becoming unreliable. Not showing up to fights, spending patrols trying to convince me to reveal my identity. Then he revealed himself to the other holders and got them to do the same. I refused and he convinced the others that I wasn’t trustworthy. I had to take his Miraculous. Too many people knew who he was. After that I couldn’t use any of the others even if they had been willing and I didn’t know anyone else I could trust. Then the Guardian… he got sick and turned his responsibilities over to me. So now I use whichever Miraculous I need for any given battle.”

“And what about your living situation?” She shook her head but it seemed more like an automatic reaction than an answer.

“That could compromise my identity.” Plagg and Tikki both flew in front of her face with their arms crossed.

“You need to tell them. Keeping your identity from Chat and the others was necessary and as we’ve seen showed good instincts on your part, but this is different.” Tikki’s voice sounded encouraging but strained. Their worry was obvious.

“But-”

“No buts Kit.” Plagg pointed to Selina. “She’s one of mine and there’s no malice toward you in any of them. We’re done watching you suffer alone. Not to mention you haven’t had a chance to breathe in months let alone grieve properly.” Selina shared a confused look with the other two. Plagg referring to her as theirs was odd but she was more worried about the grieving comment. Tears welled in Ladybug’s eyes and she shook her head again.

“I can’t.” The words were choked and the rest of the Kwami cuddled further into the girl while Plagg and Tikki just looked at each other.

“Will you let us tell them?” She hunched in further on herself but before she could say anything Tikki let out a string of what sounded like curses. Selina had no idea what language it was in. “There’s an Akuma.” Ladybug let out a tired breath.

“What time is it?”

“School just started. Which one do you think it is this time?” Plagg’s snark just got annoyed noises from all the Kwami. Ladybug stood and started towards the window. “Kit you’re not transformed.”

“Oh right.” Tikki disappeared and there was another flash of light around the girl.

“Why don’t we go with you? I’d like to see exactly what’s going on.” She frowned in thought.

“If you want, but I need you to stay back and not interfere. It’s bad enough trying to keep the others out of harm's way and I really don’t have the energy to look after anyone else and still defeat the Akuma.” As soon as she said it she was out the window.

“What do you think she meant by others?” Harley sounded like she had a guess at the answer, but wanted someone to give her a different one.

“I have a bad feeling that her former help are still trying to pretend they’re heroes. That or they’re actively trying to sabotage her. Or possibly both.” Given what had been said about Chat Noir, she wouldn’t be surprised.

“We should head out and find a good vantage point.” Ivy was just staring out the window but it seemed like she was looking inward.

“I just need to grab my jacket. And for now we respect her wish for no interference, unless it’s a matter of life and death for her, agreed?” Harley and Ivy both gave a nod but neither looked happy about it. Ten minutes later, as they stood on a roof watching Ladybug taking hits for a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t leave the area, Selina wasn’t either. As soon as the fight was over they moved in closer to see what the morons had to say for themselves.

“Looking a bit ragged there M’Lady. Are you ready to admit you were wrong yet? All I want is an apology and a reveal and things can go back to the way they were.” Selina had to grab Harley to stop her from lunging at the boy who spoke but Ladybug shot him a flat look.

“Go back to what exactly? You refusing to respect my boundaries and throwing tantrums during a fight, or you just not showing up at all?” The boy sputtered indignantly and she turned to leave but a different one, the one who’d been possessed started yelling at her.

“Aren’t you even going to ask what upset me so much I got Akumatized? You used to actually care about people.” Ladybug just crossed her arms and waited. “Someone I thought was my friend just moved away without telling anyone! Can you believe that?” That just brought a confused look from the hero as she scanned the others assembled. For some reason that seemed to annoy the girl more. “Marinette! She just up and left without telling anyone!”

“I’m sorry, did you all just now notice she was gone?” Disbelief was the main thing in her tone, but there was hurt there as well.

“What do you mean just now? Don’t act like it’s our fault she decided to bail on her friends.” Ladybug was just staring at all of them like they’d lost their minds.

“Some friends considering it took you six months to notice she was missing in the first place.” There was a blonde girl leaning against a nearby building that Selina would swear wasn’t there a minute about.

“She’s not missing. Her parents sold their business and the family moved.” The blonde looked like she was going to fire back but Ladybug spoke first.

“Believe what you want, you always do. This is not something I’m going to stand here and argue about. I’m sorry you feel hurt but there’s nothing I can do to help the situation.” She tried to leave again.

“Wait!” The blond practically jogged up to her. “I need to speak with you, alone.” Ladybug hesitated. “Please, it’s important.” The hero searched the girls face for a moment before giving a small nod. The others immediately started shouting at her so she grabbed the other girl and headed to a nearby roof. They followed silently and Selina watched as they both stood awkwardly.

“So what do you need to talk to me about Chloe?” There was a wariness to Ladybug's tone and stance, almost like she expected to be yelled at or attacked. The other girl just seemed nervous.

“A couple things. You knew Marinette was missing, do you know where she is?” Ladybug’s entire body tensed up at the question and Chloe saw it. “I’m not asking you to tell me I just… I just want to know if she’s okay. The police are refusing to look for her, claiming she went to live with relatives out of the country even though her passport hasn’t been used, and she hasn’t touched her back accounts since the day after…” She trailed off, obviously not wanting to finish the thought.

“How do you know she hasn’t… you’ve been using your father’s accounts to check the police progress haven’t you?” She just gave a sheepish shrug. “Why? You hated Marinette.” Chloe flinched.

“No I didn’t. We were rivals sure, and I was overall a bitch yes, but I never hated her. We were just so different and… I mean you’ve met my parents. I was taught from a young age that I was above everyone else and that they should be grateful for my notice. Mari… I couldn’t understand for the longest time why she stood up to me. I know it sounds stupid and I can’t really explain it better.” She sounded frustrated but it actually seemed to calm Ladybug down for some reason. “Look, I understand why she wouldn’t want to come back to school. Those ungrateful peasants made her life a living hell, but it’s like she completely dropped off the face of the earth. I can’t even imagine what losing both her parents in an accident like that must have done to her.”

“She’s okay. She just didn’t want to be sent out of Paris, or put into the system.” It didn’t sound like a lie but Ladybug was refusing to look the other girl in the eye for some reason. Chloe was just frowning in thought.

“If you see her again… tell her I can help if she wants. I know I’m probably the last person she wants to deal with but if she needs a place to stay no questions asked, I’m offering. Daddy has a few judges that owe him favors as well so we can probably get her emancipated so she can at least get to her money without worrying about someone tracking her and putting her somewhere she doesn’t want to be.” Ladybug nodded but from her position Selina could see her fighting back tears. “The other thing I wanted to talk about…”

“Yes?” Chloe still hesitated. She looked worried.

“That comment Adrien made, about you looking ragged… he wasn’t wrong.” Ladybug curled in on herself and Chloe panicked. “I’m not say it as a criticism! Ever since those rejects abandoned you it’s obvious things have been getting worse. I don’t know what you home situation is like but it’s kind of obvious it’s less than great.”

“If you’re going to try and convince me to give you a Miraculous-”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that. I just… here.” She pushed something into the hero’s hand and Ladybug just looked at it in confusion.

“What…” Chloe cleared her throat nervously.

“I had part of my floor renovated into a sort of efficiency apartment. That key is to get in through the balcony. The door that leads to the rest of my suite has multiple locks, including bolts that go into the floor that can only be accessed from the inside.” Ladybug blinked at her, not seeming to process what the girl said. “It’s a safe place… if you need it.” There was a long pause then Ladybug lurched forward, pulling the other girl into a hug.

“Thank you.”  The words were soft, almost inaudible, but the emotion behind them was heartbreaking.

AO3 Beginning   Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

Tags

@asrainterstellar @scorchdragon88 @arty-shadow-morningstar @toodaloo-kangaroo @solangelo252 @smolplantmum @jayjayspixiepop

[mintaka14]

This is a bit of something that got in my way while I was working on the ML ballet AU. Turns out I still have a grain or two of Lila salt in me. Quickspinner’s Out of Your League (from the All That Remains collection) needs the credit for a bit of backstory that I had in mind here. And yes, this is Lukanette. Always.

Lila wasn’t above using her mother’s sense of guilt to her own advantage. She also had no problem with feeding that guilt. A few sighs and teary comments when her mother (yet again) had to cancel on Lila to deal with something at the embassy, or a subtle reminder about all the times Lila had been left on her own in their apartment was all grist to the mill, and Lila had to admit that it had paid off in a big way this time.

Her mother had pulled every string and favour at her disposal for Lila’s birthday party, and Jagged Stone himself was going to be putting in an appearance. Lila was jubilant.

She watched the ballroom at the embassy – how her mother had managed that one Lila didn’t know, and honestly didn’t care – filling up with her classmates and everyone she’d ever met, and she allowed herself a satisfied smile.

Of course, Marinette wasn’t there. Lila had had an enjoyable month of it, tormenting the goody-two-shoes over it, and the beautiful part was that no one had even caught a hint of what she was really doing. She hadn’t been so crass as to leave Marinette out of the party invitations, oh no! She had handed the girl a gilt-edged invite with her most charming, and insincere, smile as she made a point of telling Marinette how much she hoped that Marinette would be there. Their classmates had eaten it up with a spoon, falling all over Lila to tell her how generous and forgiving she was, given the way Marinette had been so hostile to her, and all the while Lila had smiled sweetly and watched Marinette twist in the trap.

If Marinette begged off the party, she was the bad guy for refusing Lila’s olive branch. If Marinette came, then Lila won, and she would get to watch Marinette swallow her pride and suffer all night, or crack and create drama. Either way, it was all good, and Lila had had fun making little digs and comments about the party in front of Marinette for the weeks leading up to it.

As Lila accepted everyone’s tributes and praise, greeting each new arrival with becoming diffidence and subtly trying to gauge the worth of each gift that they piled on the table at the entrance, she came to the conclusion that Marinette had decided not to put in an appearance. Her smile grew wider.

“Lila!” Alya had arrived, and swept her into a hug, surveying the ballroom, and the tables of food, with an impressed eye. Behind her, Nino grinned and bobbed his head in greeting. “Amazing party, girl. And I can’t believe you got Jagged Stone to come!”

Lila gave her a modest smile. “It’s all about who you know, and Jagged was more than happy to come when he heard it was for my birthday.” She looked around as if searching for something, and made her eyes wide and hopeful. “Did… did Marinette come with you?”

Alya shifted uncomfortably. “Er… Marinette couldn’t make it. But she asked me to wish you a happy birthday.”

Oh, no, she didn’t, Lila thought, suppressing the smirk that pulled at the corners of her mouth. Alya, you liar.

She forced her face into a sorrowful pout with just the right touch of hurt. “It’s okay. It would have been nice if we could put aside whatever this grudge is that Marinette has against me just for once, but I guess not…”

Alya and Nino smiled awkwardly. And then her mother touched her arm, a harried expression on her face as she drew Lila away out of earshot for a moment.

“Lila, sweetheart, there’s some bad news,” her mother said anxiously, and Lila felt her smile slip a little. “We’ve just had word that Jagged Stone had to cancel at the last minute.”

“What do you mean, Jagged Stone cancelled?” Lila almost shrieked. A few heads turned towards them, and Lila brought herself back under control before they could overhear. “Mama, you need to fix this. Get him back!”

“Sweetheart, I can’t. His agent said it was unavoidable, and they’re paying the late cancellation fine in the contract. At this late notice I can’t get anyone else to come instead.”

Lila let her eyes fill with tears – she’d practised tearing up in front of her mirror, but in this case the tears were very real.

“Mama,” she insisted, and the harried lines on her mother’s face deepened.

“You’ll still have a lovely party,” her mother said weakly. “The food is wonderful, and you still have the DJ for entertainment.”

“But I told everyone that Jagged Stone was coming!”

“I’m so sorry, darling.” Her head turned towards the doorway, where an aide was waving a phone at her. “I have to go take this call.”

The moment that her mother had turned away, Lila’s mouth pinched with anger and frustration, and she barely stopped herself from stamping her foot.

“Hey girl, is everything okay?”

She heard Alya’s voice call out to her, and she smoothed out her face, spinning around with artificial enthusiasm. Several of their classmates were clustered behind Alya, and she turned a smile on them as well.

“So,” Alya continued, “we’re all really excited! When’s Jagged getting here?”

Lila gave a moue of only slightly exaggerated disappointment.

“Can you believe it?” she sighed, one hand fluttering up to her chest. “Jagged had to cancel. It was last minute, and I’m so worried it’s because that awful throat condition of his has flared up again.” Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh no! You can’t tell anyone about it, no one is supposed to know, but that was why he couldn’t do the zoom call with the class last month like he’d promised.”

There was a ripple of sympathy and concern through her classmates, but then Alix made a sceptical noise at the back of the group.

“Throat condition? But you said it was sunspot interference with the internet connection.”

“No, I was trying to keep his throat problems secret-“

“It was Clara Nightingale you said had a serious throat condition, and that was why she had to cancel helping out with the charity auction like she’d told you,” Alix interrupted.

“No, that was Jagged-“

“If recall accurately,” Max spoke up, “and I do, Clara Nightingale had the throat condition. I could have Markov replay the conversation,” he added helpfully, and Lila spun around in dismay.

“No, that’s not-“

“There have been a lot of cancellations,” Alix said in growing suspicion. Lila could see the faces around her registering confusion, and there was a growing murmur as her classmates tallied things up. She had to stop this before they came to the realisation that…

“What about that interview you promised me with Ladybug?” Alya was asking her, her voice sharp. “The one that got cancelled because of an akuma, except I could never find anything about that akuma, and you never rescheduled. And that meeting that Nino was supposed to have with that director?”

Nino wasn’t saying anything, his face hidden by his cap as he stared at the floor. The muttering was growing louder now as more people were working things out and the number of promises mounted up.

“Oh my god,” Juleka mumbled behind the fall of her streaked black and purple hair. “He was right.”

“Who?” Rose asked, but Alix was talking again before Juleka could answer.

“You didn’t need to fib about Jagged Stone being here to get us to come to your party, Lila,” Alix said as the expressions turned to disgust and disbelief.

“But I didn’t!” Lila protested, and for once she had been telling the truth. “I swear, Jagged really was coming. You have to believe me!”

“I said it was a bit hinky that Jagged Stone would have agreed to play a teenage party like this,” Alix told the group around her.

“I’m not lying!” Lila insisted, her voice growing shrill as the expressions turned to disgust and disbelief. “He did a signing for Chloe.”

“Yeah, well, that’s Chloe, and the mayor himself roped him into that.”

“But my mother works for the embassy! And I saved his kitten!”

Again, Alix snorted, and Alya had her arms folded now, frowning.

“You know, I couldn’t find anything about that online, or about Jagged even having a kitten. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why I believed that in the first place.”

“You believed Marinette,” she couldn’t help the slight snarl at that name, “when she said she designed stuff for Jagged and he came to her house.”

“But she didn’t say that,” Nino pointed out. “We saw all of that for ourselves. But now I think about it, I haven’t seen anything that proves you’ve even met him.”

“But I have! He really was coming, and he was going to sing Happy Birthday to me! He just had to cancel.”

“Sure, Lila.”

After all the stories Lila had spun, and the lies and embellishments, how could it be the truth that they refused to believe? The group drifted away from her while Lila stared after them in open-mouthed shock. She was left in a spreading circle of isolation at her own party.

The only person who acknowledged her existence was the tall boy with the blue hair over near the buffet table. Lila frowned, trying to work out where she knew him from. He was older than her class, and the ripped jeans and scruffy hoodie were out of place among the smartly dressed guests, but he looked familiar, and what was he doing at her party anyway? He raised the vol au vent in his hand in an unsmiling salute.

Lila made her way over to him.

“Now, where do I know you from?” she asked with an attempt at coyness, in spite of the fury still seething through her at her classmates’ revolt. His expression didn’t change.

“We’ve met before. I’m Juleka’s brother, Luka.”

Juleka’s brother. Marinette. She had a sudden memory of the steps outside the school and an older boy with blue hair and a guitar slung over his back, coolly warning her about what would happen if she messed with Marinette or his sister. Her eyes narrowed.

He said, “I just wanted to say Happy Birthday, and I’m sorry to hear that Jagged fell through on you.”

“Jagged?” Lila sucked in a breath at that. “What do you know about Jagged Stone?”

“You underestimated Marinette,” the blue-haired boy said calmly. “It’s all about who you know, isn’t that what you said, Lila? It’s all about connections. Except Marinette’s are real.”

She let out a smothered shriek.

“Marinette did this! How could she-“

Luka was shaking his head. “Marinette didn’t do a thing. She’s been trying so hard to take the high road, and she’s not vindictive. I did warn you, though, what would happen if you threatened someone I care about again – just because I don’t want to play your kind of games doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t.”

“Then you turned them all against me! You-“

“I didn't even need to do that,” Luka said, and gave her an infuriatingly composed smile. “In the end, all I really needed to do was tell my dear old dad how you treated his favourite designer. I didn’t even have to bend the truth to do it, and the music just played from there.”

Lila’s mouth fell open. “Jagged Stone… is your father?!”

“Surprised the hell out of me, too,” Luka muttered, and finished the pastry he was holding. He dusted the crumbs off his hands.

“Connections,” Luka said, and shoved himself away from the table. “I have them too, and I’m more than willing to use them for Marinette’s sake. Thank you for the lovely party.”

He gave her a little wave and walked away, leaving her standing there in the ruins of her reputation.

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Goodbye Paris: Lila Rossi

I don't know what it was about Marinette Dupain-Cheng that made me hate her so much but I did. 

Maybe it was her goody two shoes nature. 

Maybe it was the fact that the whole class loved her.

Maybe because she was one of the only people to actually know I was lying.

Or Maybe it was her clear attraction to Adrien.

Who cares about why though, she decided to challenge me, and in the end that's why I took her down. It was easy to turn the class against her. It was funny, when I first arrived they sang praises about Marinette. All it took was a few lies and one by one the class left Marinette by herself. I started with Alya, the girl's so called best friend, luring the girl in with secrets about my 'best friend' Ladybug. Slowly painting Marinette in a bad light and wiggling embarrassing secrets about Marinette out of her. Tricking Alya had landed Nino in my grip as well. With a few well placed name drops the wannabe DJ was eating from my hand. The rest of the class just fell in line well except for that Chloe Bourgeois girl. Though all it took was one measly akuma to scare her away. With Chloe out of the way I had every idiot under my thumb. 

All it took was some faked texts, injuries, and destroyed items and the class believed Marinette was a big bully. 

It was amazing, but it wasn't enough! 

I wanted to ruin her, completely and utterly. 

My first try was a failure, turns out the girl removed her pathetic attempt at a fashion website. So instead I went after her parents. Nice people, nice easily manipulated people. They were so thankful when I told them their beloved daughter was heading down such a bad path. Oh I loved seeing her come to school more and more resigned! She didn't talk unless Madame Bustier called on her! I loved it! 

But she wasn't broken yet, I could still see the fire in her eyes. 

That good for nothing brat! 

I started lying to her parents even more. And they fell for every single lie! 

They were convinced that Marinette was sneaking out at night to hang out with gang members. That she was failing all her classes, and had someone faking the reports of good grades. They even believed me when I told them that Marinette didn't even plan on going to college!! 

Then I won!

 Marinette was gone! 

Gone!! 

It was perfect, the class was mine and her parents were too! On top of that I could blame the lack of funds for our school trip on Marinette as well! The only thing that marred my win was Gabriel being exposed as Hawkmoth! Costing me my job, but it was easy to find work as a model. I was just no longer a company's star female model. I still couldn't believe Adrien was Chat Noir, and the lies I had to come up with when stupid Ladybug said she was leaving! 

Unbelievable! 

Luckily all these sheep fell for it. At the end of the year we managed a trip to Disney Paris and it was the perfect opportunity to put Marinette down even more. A few tears and the entire class was heading for that stupid bakery. I wasn’t prepared for a limo to be parked outside, or for Jagged Stone to get out and hug that annoyance. 

Then!!! 

Then she got into the limo with him and they left before she even noticed us! When we were finally over the shock I was able to ask Tom and Sabine what happened. I held back a snort when they told me she was going to college and they still didn’t believe her. I made a quick comment about her being unable to since she dropped out and they all ate it up. 

It's a shame, I was hoping to rub my win in a little more.

Over the next couple years I kept them all under my thumb using them to force Adrien into dating me. Laughing silently every time one of my promises fell through. 

Oh, but they never blamed poor little Lila-no. 

They blamed the people I claimed I knew! Alya was so excited when I told her of the interview I got her with Lois Lane. 

But when the time came, she never showed up! 

Oops.

All I had to do was let a few tears drop as I was ‘calling’ dear Lois, and Alya was cursing her name!

It was the same with every single one of them! God it was so easy and fun to manipulate them, and dear Adrien. Oh he begged me to stop, but all it took was telling him that all I needed was one lie.

Just one.

And no one from the group of sheep would talk to him again. He shut up letting me do anything I wanted. Then the Gotham earthquake happened and I was quick to jump on it. Telling them all how worried I was for the Wayne family, of course they believed me! So I decided to go a step further, I pulled myself from the public eye for six months hiding out in my apartment with Adrien. Sweet little Adrien knew better than to say anything about me not actually being gone. When I finally appeared it was so easy to convince them that I was in Gotham, helping the Wayne family rebuild. 

I wasn’t prepared for the class to slowly start drifting away from Adrien and I, but I used it to my advantage. It was easy to convince Adrien to ask me to marry him, a few sweet words. That's all it took and we were married, I am now Mrs. Agreste.

And I once again won, taking the name that stupid Marinette Dupain-Cheng dreamed about. 

Life is good, I’m rich, beautiful, and famous. I have my own trophy husband and I travel the world just for photo shoots! The only downside is I can’t get any modeling gigs under designer MDC! It's ridiculous but I’m going to change  that at this Wayne Gala. Some of the models employed by MDC told me she’d be there. I’ll charm her just like a charmed everyone else.

BUT THEN SHE SHOWED UP! WITH TWO IDIOT KIDS AND DAMIAN WAYNE HIMSELF! MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!!!!

She didn’t just show up with him, she is married to him. She is married to Damian Wayne! While I’m married to Adrien Agreste. And to top it off!! 

TO TOP IT OFF! SHE IS MDC!!! THE SAME DAMN WOMAN THAT I”VE BEEN TRYING TO WORK UNDER!!!!

That's it, I’m going to ruin her tonight! I don’t know who but I am! 

I’m going to destroy her image, I’ll show everyone thAT I’M THE ONE THEY SHOULD LOOK AT NOT HER!!!!

Everyone is out to get me!! No matter what I do I can’t get to her people keep getting in my way!! This is perfect, the stupid-STUPID Wayne Patriarch is giving a speech! I just need to slowly get closer and closer to her. 

No, no, no, NO, NO!!!!! 

WHY IS SHE WALKING UP THERE WITH DAMIAN!!! Pregnant!? She is pregnant and she thought that was some big news! 

AND EVERYONE IS CHEERING FOR HER WHEN I’M RIGHT HERE!!!!

Look at her smiling looking so HAPPY! She shouldn’t be happy, she should be miserable! I spent the rest of the night attempting to get closer to her, I’ll frame her for something! ANYTHING!!

I’ll-I’ll claim she pushed me down!!

Or that she threatened me!!!

I’LL DESTROY HER TONIGHT!!

Wait, wait-what is Adrien doing!! What are they talking about?!?! 

WHY IS HE LOOKING AT HER LIKE HE JUST FOUND A LONG LOST LOVE!!

How dare he make a move towards her!!!

I’ll destroy him too! 

YES

YES

YES

ITS PERFECT!!!!

I’ll tell everyone that he has been cheating on me with Marinette!! They’ll fall for it and it’ll tear Marinette’s marriage apart! Then I’ll make my move on Damian!

I’LL TAKE MY RIGHTFUL PLACE ABOVE MARINETTE!!

ALL EYES WILL BE ON ME!!

All eyes are on me!

Perfect-wait, why are all eyes on me?

Kicked out!?! Adrien got us kicked out and banned from all Wayne Gala and functions!?!

No. NO. NO. NO!!!!!

HOW DARE HE DO THIS TO ME!! HOW DARE HE GET IN THE WAY!! I’M GOING TO DESTROY HIM!! I’LL DESTROY ALL OF THEM!!!!

@chocolateherringtacofan

@blackmagicforever

@mythogaychic

[butchchat]

Falling For You || Miraculous Ladybug AU - Chapter 2

AO3 | Falling - AU Series

[Previous] | [Next]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After her encounter with that new girl yesterday, Marinette was in a sort of daze. She had never felt this way before, yet the girl was on her mind for the entirety of that night. Her beautiful chocolate brown eyes gleaming with an unreadable emotion, her short flowing hair, a few shades darker than her own… 

She sighed dreamily as she relaxed into her blankets, patrol had gone fairly well - sure she wasn't too thrilled about Crimson bailing on her and leaving her to do her job alone in the rain, but meeting that girl had certainly lifted her spirits. 

She was on the brink of sleep, her thoughts becoming muddled together until one thought, louder than the rest, was suddenly brought to her attention and she shot up in bed, her eyes full of panic.

“I forgot to ask her name!” Marinette whisper-yelled, aware her parents were sleeping just a few doors away.

Plagg, who had been curled up asleep on her pillow, gave no reaction to the horror-struck expression on her face and simply muttered under his breath before rolling over again.

“Plagg! What was that anyway?” Marinette demanded, “I mean Princess? What kind of nickname is that?”

“Hey, I didn't flirt with that girl, you did.” Plagg's voice was muffled as he tried to tune out her voice under the blankets.

“Well it was still your influence.” 

“Meh.” The small kwami shrugged before rolling back over.

Marinette rolled her eyes, frowning slightly as she reached out for her phone - blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the harsh brightness of her screen. Almost two in the morning, she groaned to herself, maybe she and Crimson needed to talk about how late their patrols were getting.

A brief notification flashed up on her phone, it was Adrien of course, sending a string of memes in their shared group chat with Alya and Nino. Marinette scoffed lightly before she placed her phone back down next to her pillow, not really in the mood to chat so early in the morning.

She could hear Plagg's soft snores from the other side of her pillow, careful not to wake him again she moved slowly as she turned over and pulled the blankets up to her chin. She could think about that girl later, right now all she wanted was some sleep before she faced another day at school. 

Sleep came as quickly as before only this time she managed to remain asleep without an sudden realizations hitting her. 

~~~

Though it felt like only a few seconds until she was woken once again by the sound of her alarm blaring underneath her pillow, Plagg floated above her, his expression unreadable. Marinette blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she reached under her pillow to shut the alarm off. 

Crap . Her eyes widened. She was going to be late - she hopped out of bed, almost stumbling over but luckily she caught herself and proceeded to run over to the closet to find some clothes to wear.

“Why didn't you tell me it was so late?” Marinette hissed accusingly at Plagg.

“Is that my job?” Plagg twitched an ear casually, “hey where's my cheese, you were too busy thinkin' about that girl last night that you forgot to give me any.” 

“I'll give you your stinkin' cheese once I'm dressed and actually able to think.” Marinette retorted, picking out a pair of jeans, a plain polo and a nice blue checkered shirt - maybe it's time I did switch things up a bit. She thought.

Racing into the bathroom she quickly put the outfit on, brushing her teeth just as fast she darted back into her room, pulling on her shoes and socks. Plagg watched, eyes lit up with amusement as she stumbled over multiple times in her panic.

She pulled her hair up into a small ponytail, not having enough time to put her hair into its usual style she grabbed her bag and gestured for Plagg to go inside.

“Cheese.” The black kwami said simply, folding his tiny arms across his chest.

“It's in the bag, now hurry up we need to go!”

Plagg zipped over as soon as she told him where the cheese was, she heard his quiet, contented purrs as he chewed at the camembert inside. She sighed, climbing down the ladder and walking through the bakery. Her parents were doing some deliveries early so she wasn't surprised when she didn't see them up to their usual business in the morning. 

Usually it was her mom that woke her up if she slept in so late, Plagg wasn't usually bothered much if they were late or not, he just cared about his morning cheese. 

She heaved a sigh, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she made her way outside, careful to remember to lock the doors as she did. She navigated her way through the busy streets of Paris, checking her phone every few seconds to keep a close eye on the time. 

As she walked, her mind wandered back to last night, the girl - she really should've remembered to ask her name - was at the center of her thoughts. Better just forget about it now, she thought to herself, gripping the straps of her backpack tightly, it's just one girl in a sea of millions, I probably won't see her again. 

She met Alya at the foot of the stairs to their school, the other girl was tapping her foot against the pavement rhythmically, a huge grin lit up her features.

“Hey, not too late, an improvement.” Alya congratulated.

“What're you so happy about?” Marinette questioned, coming to a stop beside her.

“Oh nothing,” Alya's smile got somehow larger, “just… guess who got an exclusive interview with the Bug himself!”

An interview with Crimson? Huh, Marinette never really thought Crim would be so open to doing interviews, even with a lesser known website such as the Crimson Blog. Though she had to owe it to Alya, that girl sure was dedicated to her work.

“How'd you manage that?” She said, smiling as the two started towards the door together.

“After yesterday's akuma attack he had some time left so I just quickly asked if he'd be willing to do a short interview about himself and Lady Noire. I tried to get her too but she was already gone after the attack.” She seemed slightly disappointed about that fact, admittedly that made Marinette's ego grow a little bit - she'd always thought that not many people cared about her compared to Crimson.

“I'm sure you'll get her next time.”

“I hope so! I have so many questions about their powers and where they came from—” Alya started babbling on, Marinette listened intently to her friend, still smiling to herself. 

It had been almost a full year since she'd received the ring along with Plagg and her new duty as a protector of Paris - almost a full year since Hawkmoth had started akumatizing innocent people and using them against their will to attempt to gain hers and Crimson's Miraculous.

For whatever purpose that was for.

In that time Marinette had seen a lot of close calls, the battles were tough and only getting tougher, but as long as Crimson was still standing to purify the akuma and fix everything then it was okay. 

Even if it meant sometimes sacrificing herself for his safety.

She shuddered.

Luckily, both she and Alya had a free period to share that morning until their next class after lunch, so the two girls took a seat on a bench closest to the yard. Alya continued talking about her admiration for Crimson and Lady Noire, and Marinette listened, though this was something she heard from Alya almost everyday she was still interested to know every detail.

“Sup dudes!” She raised her head to see Nino striding over, Adrien in tow. The blonde was beaming at them both.

“Hey babe,” Alya smiled, sitting up to embrace her boyfriend in a delicate hug, both Marinette and Adrien rolled their eyes in unison.

“Hey lovebirds, us single pringle's are tired of watching you guys make out all the time.” Marinette chirped as Alya leaned in for a kiss.

“Yeah I'm kinda feeling like a third wheel here.” Adrien added.

“Fourth wheel.” Marinette corrected.

“Just because you guys can't find partners for yourselves doesn't mean you have to be salty about it.” Alya scoffed, giving Nino a brief kiss on the cheek before turning back to face them.

Adrien scoffed, “I could if I wanted to.”

“Alright sunshine incarnate.” 

“I could!”

“Mari couldn't possibly find a girlfriend, she literally shuts down when she so much as looks at a girl.” Nino put in.

“Dude.” Marinette said disapprovingly.

“He's not wrong.” 

Suddenly Adrien snapped his fingers, “I forgot to mention, there's a new student that should be arriving shortly who I want you to meet.”

“New student huh? Who are they?” 

“She should be here pretty soon.”

Alya elbowed Marinette lightly, “looks like this could be your chance to prove us wrong.”

Marinette shot her friend a quick glare.

Adrien looked over his shoulder, he then smiled and turned on his heel, “there she is. Hey Kagami!” He called out.

Marinette looked over to see a strikingly familiar girl walking up to them, dressed in a black shirt with a checkered red tie, a formal white blazer with a skirt matching the pattern of her tie and red sneakers. Dark hair, a few shades deeper than her own and dazzling, brown eyes.

No way, no way, no fucking way. Marinette thought in disbelief.

“Guys this is Kagami, she recently moved to Paris. Kagami, these are my friends, Alya, her boyfriend Nino and Marinette.” Adrien said cheerfully.

“Hey girl.” Alya said warmly.

“Nice to meet you dudette!” Nino dipped his hat in greeting.

Marinette could only manage a casual wave.

“It's a pleasure to meet all of you, I hope we can all become good friends.” Kagami said, the edges or her lips twitched upwards into a small smile.

Why couldn't she talk to her? She certainly had no problem with doing it last night. She cringed, remembering how she'd flirted and called her Princess . Way to screw up a first impression.

“I'm sure we will, any friend of Adrien is a friend of ours.” Alya told her.

Except Chloe. Marinette added on silently.

“That's very kind of you.” 

The group immediately dissolved into chatter, Alya was on her feet again, suddenly asking Kagami a string of questions.

“So, have you seen Crimson and Lady Noire yet?”

Marinette snapped her head up quickly, her attention pertained towards Kagami once again at Alya's question.

“I encountered Lady Noire last night.” Kagami said casually.

Marinette eagerly waited for her to say more on the subject.

“You talked to Lady Noire? Girl, tell me everything! ” Alya practically squealed.

Kagami seemed surprised, she most likely hadn't had this much social interaction before and was caught off guard.

“Well it was a very short meeting, but I had a small accident and luckily she happened to be passing by.”

“Saved by a heroine on your first day in Paris, what a story!” 

Marinette chuckled to herself.

She looked back up at Kagami who was looking more comfortable around the group already and a warm feeling filled her chest, she really hoped she'd get to know the girl more. Though, that was considering that she'd be able to form a single sentence when talking to her. 

She furrowed her brow slightly, it seemed all the confidence she had as Lady Noire melted away the moment the mask disappeared. Great, just wonderful . 

She swore she could almost feel Plagg's shaking laughter from her purse.

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH7

Happy Valentine’s weekend, my dears! To make up for missing last week, I’m sharing two chapters today. Maybe if you’re all really good, and I have time I’ll share chapter 8 on Sunday. That’s where the fun begins ;) Are you ready for it?

--------------

Previous   First   Next    AO3

Chapter 7: Shake It Out

My dear sweet Marinette,

           How are you, my fairy? I hope that this letter finds you well. When you backpack over Russian mountains, you take whatever mail service you can get. I have so much to tell you about my latest trip, but first I have some exciting news for you!

During my last stay in Africa volunteering to build homes in a humble little village, I ran into a sweet little fairy by the name of Clara Nightingale. She says she met you! Did you know she’s a famous pop star? Anyway, she and I spent a lot of quality time together teaching young children how to read, and I showed her the scarf you knitted me for Christmas. She loved it! She says she will be in Paris again on the 18th and wanted to meet with you about designing for her, so I gave her the address to the bakery. She said she would stop by and see you.

“No way, no way, no way!” Marinette shrieked, kicking her feet. “Clara Nightingale wants me to design for her! I’m gonna faint.”

“This is an amazing opportunity for you, Marinette,” Tikki said as Marinette paced the floor, hugging the letter. “Tomorrow could change your life!”

“I know, Tikki! I’m so excited to- wait.” She stopped abruptly. “Tomorrow?”

“The letter said the 18th,” Tikki said, and Marinette raced over to pull down her calendar. “Isn’t that-”

“Tomorrow! Clara Nightingale is coming to my house. Tomorrow. To look at my designs!” Marinette clutched her cheeks as rapid breaths shook her shoulders. Tikki covered her ears as another scream emitted from Marinette’s throat. “This is a dream come true, Tikki!”

“It’s not that surprising. Gabriel Agreste liked your designs, and Clara attended the show, so it’s not like she’s unfamiliar with your work.” Tikki pointed out. “Plus, you’ve designed for Jagged before too.”

“I know, but getting commissioned by celebrities at 14 isn’t something you just get used to.” Marinette fell onto her chaise with a sigh. “I can’t wait to tell Macy, Eliott, and Martin! They’re gonna freak out.”

“What are you going to do about Chloe?”

Marinette waved it away, reading over the letter again. “I’m going to ignore her. She has no power over me.”

“True…” Tikki said. “But she did have a point. You always look out for your friends.”

“Yeah, but how many of those ‘friends’ came to visit me when I left?” Marinette said pointedly.

“Is that why you left? To see who would come?”

Marinette set the letter down and pursed her lips. “That’s one reason. I wanted to get away, but I also wanted to see who my real friends are,” she said. “I wanted to see who cared enough to chase after me, and I guess Adrien is the only real friend I had after all. Funny how I spent all that time hoping he would notice me when in reality, he’s always been on my side.”

“He thinks really highly of you.” Tikki flitted over to rest beside her.

“I know. My heart was beating so fast when he said those things earlier. Do you think it means he likes me?” Marinette smiled up at her ceiling, biting her lip.

“It definitely means he knows how amazing you are, and I’m sure you can catch his attention romantically too. Especially now that you two are hanging out so much,” Tikki said.

“I feel like all of my dreams are coming true.” Marinette buried her face in the throw pillow with a squeak.

“With everything you give to the city, I think you deserve it,” Tikki said.

“Well, one thing is for sure, I need to defeat Hawkmoth before I become a famous fashion designer and go to New York. That’s priority number one. Chat Noir, Rena- oh-” Marinette sat up abruptly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, Alya and Nino are Rena Rouge and Carapace, but after everything… I don’t know if I still trust them,” she said. “I don’t doubt that they would help Ladybug, but if I know who they are, then it might affect me. Do you think I made a mistake picking people close to me?”

“I think that’s a question for someone with more experience picking.” Tikki advised.

Marinette drummed her fingers on her thigh. “You’re right, Tikki. Let’s go.”

Master Fu was playing cards with Wayzz when Marinette knocked on the door and poked her head in. “Master?”

“Marinette, what brings you here?” He lowered his hand calmly.

“I could use some advice. Do you have a minute?”

Wayzz peeked over his cards with a huff. “We are in the middle of a game,” he said matter-of-factly, but Master Fu cast him a sly smile.

“It’s okay.” He splayed his royal flush for Wayzz to see. “I was just winning. What is on your mind?”

Marinette sat on the mat, hugging her knees to her chest as Wayzz zipped off grumpily. Taking a deep breath, she dove in, sparing no details—Volpina, Lila, her friends, changing schools, leaving Alya. Everything. Master Fu listened patiently while she talked, sipping his tea thoughtfully every now and then.

“I’m sorry, Master, but I think I made a mistake picking my friends to be Rena Rouge and Carapace.” She finished, head hanging low. “I don’t think I’m fit to choose our partners anymore.”

“Marinette,” Master Fu said with one of his kind, grandfatherly smiles. “We cannot blame ourselves for the actions of others. Your friends have made choices outside of your control. That does not mean that your judgment was lacking when you picked them. People change, and that is no one’s fault, just the natural order of things.”

“So, you won’t be mad if I pick someone else next time I need help?” Marinette glanced up at him like a small child waiting to be scolded.

“You must pick allies you can trust—whoever that happens to be in the moment,” he said.

“Thank you, Master.” Her shoulders relaxed. “Sorry to interrupt your game.”

“It’s okay. I have a large lead on Wayzz.” He chuckled. “Come back anytime.”

“I will. And next time, I’ll choose people I know I can count on.”

♪♫♪ StopRewind ♪♫♪

“You’re in an awfully good mood,” Macy remarked as Marinette took her seat in home room.

“Did something good happen? Spill!” Eliott leaned in.

Marinette glanced around the room to ensure their classmates couldn’t hear them. “Can you two keep a secret?”

“Oh, if there’s anything we aristocrats know how to do, it’s keep secrets.” Eliott assured her.

“Yeah, you’re our friend now. You can count on us.” Macy echoed with an encouraging nod.

Marinette bit her lip, leaning in close to whisper, “Clara Nightingale wants me to design for her.”

“No way!” Eliott gasped.

“Marinette, that’s huge.” Macy squealed before regaining her composure. “Don’t worry. We will totally keep it on the down-low, but I can’t wait to see the look on Gabrielle’s face when it goes public.”

“Pretty soon you’ll be buying your own yacht, Marinette,” Eliott said with a laugh. “Speaking of, you still need to see mine.”

“Oh, and we should totally have tea at my house! We just had the theater redone,” Macy added.

“I’d love to,” Marinette said. “Clara is supposed to come over today, so I’ll tell you how it goes.”

“We want all of the details tomorrow,” Macy said as Mr. Mercier entered the room and called for everyone to settle down. “We can rendezvous at my place this weekend.”

“Sounds good.”

When school ended, Marinette rushed home, a giddy smile tugging at her cheeks. What type of design would Clara want? A dress? Or maybe a tasteful pantsuit? Her mind was already buzzing with ideas. Hopefully, she didn’t mess everything up. What if she designed something, and Clara hated it? Or worse what if Audrey Bourgeois slammed her design in the next issue of her magazine because she refused to help Chloe? Then it could ruin Clara’s career, and it would be all Marinette’s fault!

“Hi, sweetie. How was school?” her mom greeted when she entered the bakery.

“Fine, except I have no talent, and I’m going to ruin Clara Nightingale,” she said.

“That’s not true. My daughter has all the talent in the world. She can do anything!” Her dad scooped her into a tight hug. “After all, she comes by it naturally.” He gestured to a large wedding cake resting in the back.

“You’re just nervous, sweetie. You’re going to be great,” her mom said.  

The bell above the door chimed, and a woman wearing a hat and sunglasses entered. Marinette’s father put her down and resumed his post in the back while her mother returned to the cash register.

“Welcome! What can we get for you today?” her mom asked politely.

“What I’m after isn’t a sweet treat; there’s someone here I want to meet.” She lowered her sunglasses to peek over at Marinette. “It’s been some time since we’ve seen one another, but your designs are truly like no other.”

“Clara Nightingale! You’re here!” Marinette gasped.

“I want to ask you a request of mine. I’ll run it by you if you’ve got time.”

“Yes, I have so much time!” Marinette said, then composing herself, gestured to the back door. “Why don’t we chat upstairs?”

“Fine by me. This request is top secret, you see,” Clara said. She followed Marinette up to the apartment, and once they were safely away from the public eye, she removed her disguise with a sigh of relief. “Thank you for meeting with me. I assume you read your grandmother’s letter.”

“I did. It arrived yesterday.” Marinette nodded, putting on a pot of tea.

“Excellent! Then you know why I’m here.”

Marinette turned and found herself face-to-face with Clara, nearly dropping the teabags in surprise.

“Ever since I met you, I felt a connection between us like our destinies were entwined. I loved the hat you designed for Adrien, and Jagged has only ever told me great things about you. Then of course, Gina’s scarf was to die for, so, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you be willing to design for me?” Clara dropped onto one knee.

“Doesn’t Gabriel Agreste usually design your clothes? Wouldn’t you rather see a professional?” Marinette asked.

“Gabriel’s designs are wonderful, but I think you can capture my essence for this. I’ve been nominated for a music award, and I want you to design my dress for the ceremony.” Clara took her hands with a confident smile. “You and I are both passionate about our crafts, and I think you can bring something that Gabriel can’t, so what do you say?”

Clara’s gaze bore into hers hopefully, and Marinette shifted her weight. “I’ll do my best.” Marinette gulped, and Clara bounced in delight.

“Thank you, Marinette! This favor is one I won’t forget!” Clara pulled her in for a tight hug. “Your willingness means so much, and very soon I’ll be in touch.”

Clara trotted out the door happily, hat and sunglasses in hand, leaving Marinette standing in the kitchen, stunned. She blinked out of her trance when the teapot on the stove screeched and set it aside, barely capable of containing her smile.

She couldn’t wait to tell her friends this.

♪♫♪ I’d Love to Break It to You ♪♫♪

Adrien removed his fencing gloves with a sigh. Another long day of watching Lila manipulate everyone. Even he had to admit it was getting old, especially since Nino spent most of his free time helping Alya with her deputy duties, which were really Lila’s class representative duties that she came up with excuses to get out of.

He ripped open his locker and tossed the gloves into his bag, thinking back to Marinette’s anguished sobs the previous evening. Seeing her so upset was nauseating in a way Adrien had never felt before. Maybe it was because Marinette was always positive and upbeat, doing her best to help others even when she had problems of her own. Someone like her being so broken and hurt was painful to watch. He wanted to help her in some way, but how could he? He could barely stand up to Chloe, let alone Lila.

“Why the long face?” Kagami’s voice startled him.

He turned to face her as she leaned against the locker next to his.

“Just tired.” He slung his bag over one shoulder with a shrug.

“You’ve been like this for the past week,” she remarked as he paced up the aisle toward the door. “Ever since Marinette left.”

“It’s been a long week. I’ve had a lot going on,” he said flatly.

“You miss her.”

Adrien stopped short at the end of the row and glanced back at Kagami over one shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I? She’s my friend.”

Kagami shoved away from the locker, approaching him slowly—lithe like a cat stalking her prey. “I wonder why she left so suddenly. Rumor has it that she had a jealousy spat with that Italian girl in your class,” Kagami said. “What was her name again? Lie-la?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said curtly, adjusting the strap of his bag.

“She sure has everyone enamored.” Kagami paused beside him and cocked a hip. “Well, almost everyone.”

“Why do you care?” Adrien’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t.” She shrugged.

“So why bring it up?”

“Because you and I both know the truth, and I suspect Marinette does too.” She tilted her chin to meet his gaze. “She’s a liar.”

Adrien let out a breath, the stiffness in his shoulders fading. “How’d you find out?”

“She claimed that her great grandfather was a world-champion fencer who invented a secret technique, but my family has held the championship title for the last six generations,” Kagami said. “Plus, her stories are so obviously farfetched and self-congratulating.”

“Tell that to everyone else,” he grumbled.  

“It’s not really my place. I don’t even go here.” Kagami shrugged again. “Besides, to everyone here, I’m just the ice queen.”

“So, you’re stuck with this knowledge too.” Adrien deflated with a sigh.

“After what happened with Marinette, I have no interest in confronting her. If your classmates want to be sheep, I say let them,” she said. “No sense in letting it upset you. They could easily figure it out if they applied an ounce of brain power.”

“Well, yeah, but she’s using all of them. I thought her lies were harmless, but she has everyone bending over backwards to help her. Now Marinette left the school hurt… I’m starting to get a little fed up.” Adrien averted his gaze, the wave of nausea returning to his stomach.

“So, call her out then,” Kagami said as if it were obvious. “People trust your word, and you have enough celebrity pull to prove it.”

“Yeah, but…” He winced.

“Adrien, your friends will only continue to suffer if you stay silent. Action is the only way to help them.” When he lowered his head, she rolled her eyes and pushed past him. “I hope your friends see the light eventually. For your sake. See you tomorrow.”

Adrien’s hands clenched into fists as she sauntered from the locker room, biting his tongue as anger swelled in his chest. Letting out a heated breath, he stalked toward the door, blinking in surprise when it opened.

Lila stepped in front of him and wasted no time latching onto his neck. “Adrien, you’ve been avoiding me,” she said with her sugary-sweet lilt. “You promised to help me catch up on my school work.”

“Sorry. I don’t think I can. Why don’t you ask Max?” He unhooked her arms and pushed her away gently.

“But you promised!” She pouted.

Her whiny tone sent a shiver down his spine, and he tried unsuccessfully to mask his grimace. “I’ve got a lot going on, Lila. Photoshoots, private lessons, that sort of stuff.” He took a purposeful step away from her.

“You seem to have enough time to go visit Marinette,” she said pointedly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“Lila-”

“She’s the one who’s lying, ya know. I’m sure she has told you all kinds of nasty things about me, but they’re false,” Lila said. “She’s just trying to turn you against me because she’s jealous.”

“That’s not true, Lila.” Adrien’s anger boiled hotter. “Marinette just wants to move on.”

“Is that why she went to Jagged Stone’s concert just to try to make me look bad?”

“No, that’s not-”

“Alya is still upset over their fight. Marinette ripped her heart out and stomped on it.”

“There’s more to it than tha-”

“Honestly, Marinette is the worst person I’ve ever met.”

Something in Adrien’s chest snapped—a rubber band stretched too far.

“How do I know when I should stand up for myself?”

“I get a feeling in my gut that it’s the right thing to do.”

“Enough, Lila!” he shouted.

She flinched, cupping her hands over her mouth. “Adrien, I-”

“Your lies won’t work on me, and sooner or later everyone else is going to see through you too, and you’ll be left all alone. Is that what you want?” He barely gave her a moment to respond before continuing. “Marinette poured her heart and soul into her friends. She made sacrifices for them and never once asked for anything in return, and now you’ve gone and turned her best friend against her and convinced everyone that she just wanted attention. If anyone here is a terrible person, it’s you.”

Lila’s face hardened, her whole countenance darkening. “I see how it is, Adrien.” Her jaw clenched. “If you choose to side with her over me, then I can’t help what happens to you. I own this school now, and there’s nothing you or Marinette can do about it.”

Turning over her shoulder, she slapped Adrien with her hair on her way out, and he balled his hands into tight fists. A feeling he’d never felt before bubbled in his core that made him restless. Adrien always thought Lila just wanted attention, but purposefully targeting one of his friends was not okay.

A new resolve came over him, and he instructed Gorilla to make a pitstop at the Grand Paris on the way home. His fist pounded against the suite door, breaths short and hot.

Chloe was lounging in a yellow bathrobe, feet soaking in a tub of water when her butler let him in. She raised an eyebrow as he entered. “You know I’m always happy to see you, Adrikins, but I’m in the middle of an herbal soak-”

“I want to help you take down Lila.” He cut her off.

A sinister smirk spread across Chloe’s lips, her shock fading to triumphant glee.

“Excellent.”

[syndianites]

A Queen Serves and Protects

Chapter Five

First Chapter –> Last Chapter –> Current –> Next Chapter Summary:

Post-Style Queen, Pre-Queen Wasp.

Chloe finds the Bee Miraculous, but instead of finding an obliging, subservient Kwami, she finds the Kwami of Order and Subjugation, and Pollen is not about to let herself be used like Nooroo was.

Granted, the only danger in a teenage girl is the damage she poses to herself. Can Pollen shape Chloe into a hero? Or will she stubbornly refuse to change and remain the bitter, harsh person the city has long since known?

[My take on how Chloe’s character could have developed] ——————————————————————————————

“Okay,” Pollen brought her paws together. “Let’s get this study session started.”

After the debacle of Chloe’s mother walking out on her again, Pollen insisted she get some food and relax for a bit. The two watched some cute cartoons- which Pollen was happily enraptured by- and sat together in pleasant silence.

That hadn’t stopped Pollen from plotting her next move, however.

Floating over Chloe’s tablet, which Pollen had asked her to hook up to the TV, she picked up the tablet pen and began drawing a simple figure. Adding a blonde ponytail, Pollen wrote ‘You’ over the top of the drawing.

“Let’s start with the basics. Emotions!” Pollen wrote out the word. “This is the thing that motivates people the most. Someone spills water on you? You’re angry. You are given a nice gift? Happy. So on and so forth.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. Even she knew this stuff. What was the point of this?

Tapping the pen on the drawing of Chloe, Pollen asked, “Now, what makes you a bad person?”

“What!” Chloe interrupted, “I am not a bad person!”

Pollen put her paws up. “I’m sorry, that was out of line. Let me try again: What makes people not like you?”

Chloe huffed. “I’m better than them and they know it.”

Instead of writing what Chloe said, Pollen wrote ‘you see yourself as above others.’

“Ugh, is this just an excuse to make fun of me? I’m so out.” Chloe made to stand up but was stopped by Pollen.

“Patience, Chloe. Right now, you're doing well. You working with me is a good start..” Pollen beamed at Chloe and she had to look away, lest the warmth blossoming in her chest got any bigger.

“What else makes people not like you?” Pollen asked.

Chloe hummed, trying not to make a sarcastic comment. “They don’t agree with my opinions, even when I’m right.”

Shaking her head, Pollen wrote down ‘You say things that upset people.’

Chloe crossed her arms and muttered, “It’s not my fault that they are upset by the truth.”

Ignoring her, Pollen continued, “Do you have any other ideas?”

Pollen received a head shake in reply. Which was fine, of course.  She could work with this.

Making a new page, Pollen re-wrote ‘You see yourself as above others.’

“So,” Pollen delicately sat on a pillow she had prepared next to the tablet, “Why do you see yourself as above others?”

Chloe scoffed. “That’s easy, it’s because my father is-”

“I said why do you see yourself as better than others, not why your dad is above others,” Pollen interrupted, fighting back an eye roll.

“Fine then, it’s because my mo- I mean,” Chloe gave a light cough as Pollen raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s because I’m rich and they aren’t.”

Pollen, sighing, wrote down ‘lives luxuriously.’

Chloe frowned. “Doesn’t that just mean I’m rich?”

“No, Chloe. Technically, you aren’t rich. Your parents are. You just live in a very comfortable, very nice place that is paid for and maintained by your parents and their employees. Is that something that makes you better than someone else?”

“Uh, yes?”

“No!”

Pollen took a deep breath.

Today was going to be a long day.

“Consider this Chloe.”

“I’m considering it.”

“Consider this, Chloe. Would you still be better than others if you didn’t live in this hotel? If you lived in a three bedroom apartment with your father?”

“Of course.”

“But what separates you from others if you live just like them?”

“Um.” Chloe was at a loss for words. If she was just like the others, how would she be better? “I just am, Pollen.”

“No.”

“Because I’m rich?”

“What if you weren’t?”

“Then it’s because I’m smarter than them?”

“Who is the smartest person in your class?”

“Ugh, fine, it’s because I know better than them.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been misguided before.”

“I’m more talented than them!”

“What are your talents?”

“Shopping, obviously.”

Pollen fought to not scream. Like talking to a brick wall. Well, if Chloe wanted to be a brick wall…

“I’ll ask one more time Chloe, what makes you better than others?” 

“I’m-”

Pollen cut her off by drawing an arrow beneath where she wrote ‘You see yourself as above others’ and wrote, with a deadpan look, ‘Nothing.’

Standing up furiously, Chloe waved her arms about. “What do you mean nothing! Of course I’m above others, that's just how it is! My family has more money, so we get better things, so I have a better upbringing, which means I’m better overall.”

“How often are your parents around?” Pollen stared Chloe down.

“I-, um, sometimes?” 

“How often is your father around?”

“He always picks up when I call.”

“How often is he physically around you, seeing what you do and spending time with you?”

Chloe sat back down. “We eat meals together. He greets me in the morning. And sometimes he brings me gifts. And, and! I sometimes go with him on his campaign stuff.”

Pollen rubbed her eyes in frustration. No wonder this girl had so many problems.

“Alright then, let’s start again. You are not better than others and here is why…”

//////////////

Monday was her first test. Pollen had insisted on making her work on how she talked to people first and foremost. According to her, ‘It will be easier to see others as equals if you treat them as such. The first step in that is to talk to them politely.’

That’s all she had to do. Be polite.

So when Sabrina greeted her as she arrived at school, instead of giving her a curt nod and waltzing past her, expecting her to keep up, Chloe grit out a “Good Morning.”

Sabrina, on her part, took the greeting in stride. “You seem to be in a good mood today, Chloe!”

Ready to walk forward without a response, Chloe almost groaned at the nudge she felt from her inner jacket pocket. “It is a nice day, Sabrina.”

Pollen, from inside the pocket, rolled her eyes. At least it was a response.

The duo walked into school, ignoring the chatter amongst the other students, and made their way to their classroom.

Ms. Bustier kindly greeted Chloe and Sabrina as they walked in and- after a nudge from Pollen- both Sabrina and Chloe greeted her back. Already Chloe was growing tired of this. Is this what people had to do every day? Ridiculous.

Class was the easiest part. Ms. Bustier, as nice as she was, was strict in her classroom. Even Chloe respected her. So the students behaved. All Chloe had to do was not make any biting comments.

‘Just because you say something you think is true,’ Pollen had told her in one of their many ‘Let’s Bee Nice’ sessions, ‘Doesn’t mean it isn’t hurtful. A good hero always thinks about how they affect others with their words.’

That is when someone decided to start shit. Of course.

In the brief period where they had a quiz- nothing serious, just a check to see how well they were keeping up with the subject so far- and had to go up to Ms. Bustier’s desk to turn it in, Lila happened. 

Lovely, lying Lila.

Chloe had taken her paper up, all on her own to Sabrina’s shock, and had been walking back to her seat when she saw Lila pull a quick sleight of hand. From inside her sleeve she dropped a simple, but nice, white hair clip just close enough to Marinette’s stuff to look like she knew it was there. Normally, Chloe would have shrugged and ignored it. But she knew Lila would disrupt the class over some little hair clip.

Did she know Lila had been messing with Marinette for a while now? Yes. Did she care that some of Lila’s stories were far-fetched? No. As Chloe saw it, Lila was just another girl trying to be popular and feel exceptional at school. Compared to Chloe, she would never be exceptional.

She pinched herself. Sitting back down at her desk, she reminded herself of the lesson Pollen had taken to drilling into her head everytime she talked down about someone.

‘What makes you better than others?’

Chloe, each time, had groaned before repeating, ‘Nothing. Everyone is unique in their own right but just as good as someone else.’

Did Chloe believe that? No! Some people were just better than others. All that sweet talk about how everyone was unique? That was just Pollen seeing the best in people. Chloe wouldn’t strain herself looking for something that wasn’t there. Some people just weren’t exceptional.

‘The only exceptional thing about you is your mother.’

Still, Chloe DID like Pollen a whole lot, and what was her speech about how people give other people power? If Chloe thought Pollen’s word was worth something, then clearly it was.

In any case, Chloe decided to keep an eye out for Lila’s next move. She wouldn’t let her cause chaos in Ms. Bustier’s class. She was the best teacher in the school, after all. And that had nothing to do with how nice she was to Chloe. Not at all.

It didn’t take long for Lila to act. As she was returning from Ms. Bustier’s desk, she gasped. “Marinette! Where did you find that hair clip?”

Marinette, unsurprisingly, was confused. “Find what?”

“That clip right there,” Lila pointed it out. “That’s the clip I lost this morning! My dear old grandmother had given it to me as a gift years ago, before she passed it’s-” She teared up a bit then, bringing a hand to her mouth. “It’s one of the last things I have from her.”

Chloe eyed the exchange with disinterest. Lila putting on the waterworks? Check. Marinette having no clue what was happening? Check. The whole class trying to pretend they weren’t listening in on the conversation? Check.

“I didn’t find it anywhere. I hadn’t even seen it until now,” Marinette said, bewildered. 

Taking that as her chance, Lila gasped again. “Marinette… did you steal it? Oh my gosh, no wonder I couldn’t find it! I had looked all over for it after I left my bag here to go get a quick breakfast. My poor mother was too busy this morning to get me anything, but left money for me to get food after wishing me a good day. Did you take it from my bag?”

For a moment Marinette’s eye twitched. Clearly, she didn’t believe the whole tale Lila had just spun. Chloe didn’t care. Lila loved to color her words with as much grandeur as she could. It was like a child coloring in a coloring book- just because the art was good didn’t mean the colors weren’t messy and didn’t clash horribly.

Belatedly, Marinette realized the whole class was listening in on the conversation. “I, uh, I-”

Lila turned to the rest of the class with misty eyes. Immediately, they jumped to her defense.

“Marinette, did you take it?”

“What do you mean you have no idea how that got there? It’s at your desk!”

“It couldn’t have just appeared.”

“It’s highly unlikely for the hair clip to have just made its way to Marinette’s desk on its own.”

Tired of the overlapping voices, Chloe audibly scoffed. “Puh-lease.” The class turned to her. Good. “Dupain-Cheng probably just found it on the floor and picked it up thinking it was lost garbage or something. Knowing Miss Goody-Two-Shoes over there, she was going to give it to Ms. Bustier or lost and found until she remembered that her clumsy, scatter-brained self was about to be late for class.”

There. All Marinette had to do was say, ‘Yes, Chloe! That’s exactly it! Thank you so much.’

Instead, she stared at Chloe just as dumbfounded as before. Lila, realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this anymore, turned back to Marinette happily. “Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done if I had truly lost it.” 

“Uh, yeah, you’re welcome?” Marinette gave an awkward smile, eyes moving between Lila and Chloe rapidly.

“Although, I do wonder if you would have done that if you knew it was mine…” Lila wilted dramatically, before sending Marinette a pained smile and walking back to her desk. Leave it to the girl to find a way to still make Marinette a bad person.

Chloe rolled her eyes. Whatever. Now that the class had settled back down, Ms. Bustier could keep teaching and they could go back to making Chloe’s life of being a ‘better person’ easy.

Maybe this nice thing wasn’t so hard.

Pollen, meanwhile, was counting the nice comments versus the mean comments to see if she could count that towards Chloe’s niceness score.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Doppelganger" *Part 25* !!Finale!!

Okay I know this took two days but remember when I said I was NOT going to make another chapter? Well I had to just fit multiple chapters into this last one. Because dammit it will STOP HERE.

Except for the epilogue.

So here it is, I hope the anticipation and the hype doesn't ruin it for you, I did my best!

Also thank you so much for coming on this ride with me, it's been the longest one yet! I'm going to miss Pinguino and Raffi, but they'll be fine.

Part 24

Tag List

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

---------------------------------

It was finally the night before your wedding day. The day you had been waiting for since you had first kissed Rafael, if you were being totally honest. You were staying at Chloe’s due to the whole traditional “not seeing each other” before the wedding; it was the first night you had spent away from Rafael since the whole “Nevada” debacle. You wanted to prove to him and yourself that you could spend one night without him cuddling you like a toddler afraid to sleep in their own bed. But the more you drank during your “last girl’s night” the more the demons came out for you. Before you knew it you were hiding in your old bathroom dialing Rafael’s number.

“Baby aren’t you--” He started to ask you but you cut him off.

“Do you still want to marry me?”

“Ay dios,” You heard him chuckle. “Si, mi amor,”

“¿Estás seguro?” You asked worriedly.

“Yes carino,” He said very seriously. “I am very very sure,”

“...Okay,” You said in a small voice.

“Now go have fun and tell Chloe not to let you drink anymore, comprende?”

“Si,” You rolled your eyes. As you came out of the bathroom, you were greeted by Maria who was now in your former living room...for some reason.

“Hey babe, so Maria came by for--”

“I came by to ask you a favor, mija,” Maria cut Chloe off.

“Oh um--” You tried to act more sober around the only mother figure you’d really been around since forever. “Yeah sure! What’s up?”

“Well, I know we haven’t known each other that long, but Raffi is basically my son, so I consider you like a daughter,” She smiled sweetly at you, and you were suddenly aware that she was carrying a box with her.

“Oh, well that’s very sweet of you Maria,” You tried your best not to look uncomfortable.

“My husband Felipe and I,” She explained as she opened the box. “We were never able to conceive children ourselves,” She pulled out a very ancient looking, very detailed veil from the box.

“This veil has been worn by many generations in my family, and if I can’t pass it onto my own daughter, it would be my honor to give it to you to wear tomorrow,”

“Oh, Maria,” You did your best to hide your disgust for the veil, looking at her teary eyed smile. You glanced over her head and caught Chloe’s gaze; she was making a face that mimicked how you felt. It was like one of those fruit hats women wore in movies or commercials, only white and frilly. But what could you do?

“I’d be honored to wear it,” You nodded sweetly. Maria threw her arms around you with a tearful cry of joy. Behind her Chloe waved her arms wildly like “what the hell are you doing?!”. You could just shrug like “what else am I supposed to do?!”

“Bless you, hermosa,” She kissed you on the cheek as she stood up to leave. “Now I’ll leave you ladies to your fun,” She smiled and waved as she walked out the door.

“...What the hell?” Chloe couldn’t help but erupt in giggles as she properly examined the monstrosity.

“Shut up,” You tossed a pillow at her. “What was I supposed to do?! She was asking me to carry on her family name, or something,” You looked at the door where she had left; although you were still pretty drunk so you half remembered the conversation.

“Well if Rafael marries you while you wear this, you know it’s true love,” She snickered as she put it on you and turned you towards a mirror above your key ring holder.

“Oh God…” You threw your hands over your face and fell onto the couch face forward.

“Hey hey hey, don’t wrinkle it!” Chloe continued to tease and giggle. “That thing probably came over in some old Cuban woman’s raft,”

“I hate you,” You muttered through the cushions.

“You’ll hate me more if I don’t get you in bed right now,” Chloe shook her head with a laugh and a bottle of water. “But first, drink this. We don’t want you hungover on your big day,”

“Thanks mom,” You took the water and headed to your room, leaving the veil on the couch.

------------------

The next day Chloe woke you up by jumping up and down on your bed yelling “IT’S YOUR WEDDING DAY!!!”

“...Jesus Christ Chloe,” You grumbled. “It’s too early for this,”

“Too early?” She scoffed, plopping right on your butt making you grunt. “Nonsense. It’s your wedding day!!”

“Which begs the question why you’re so happy about it,” You raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“What? I can't be happy for my best friend to get her happy ending?” She feigned offense.

“....Uh huh”, You continued to give her the look.

“And the fact that my bridesmaid’s dress makes me look like a classy pornstar?” She added.

“....An oxymoron, but go on,” You waited for it.

“....And the fact that every eligible lawyer and cop are gonna be at this wedding?!” She finally exclaimed.

“There it is,” You nodded your head with a roll of your eyes as you threw on some clothes to go downstairs.

------

There was a limo waiting outside Chloe’s apartment for you and her. You hesitated getting in, remembering the last time you were in one of them. Chloe decided she’d do a ‘sweep’ for you. She jumped in and slid down the seats, squealing in delight.

“All clear babe! Check out what the husband left you!”

You cautiously slid in the limo to see Chloe pointing to a mini bar/fridge full of sweet pastries and champagne.

“Good lord,” You shook your head with a smile. “Chloe maybe we--” You were starting to say maybe at least wait until 11 am to start drinking, but she had already popped the champagne.

“Here,” She grabbed orange juice from the mini fridge. “Mimosas, the breakfast drink,”

You just stared at the drink she was trying to hand you; orange liquid in a champagne flute. You closed your eyes and told yourself the mind elixir was bright orange like Fanta, not orange juice. You took a deep breath and slowly accepted the mimosa, sipping it. See? You were fine. Everything was fine.

-------------

As you pulled up to St. Michael’s you saw it was swarmed with cameras, reporters, and people in general. It looked like a circus. You saw the crowd and silently wished you had said screw tradition and had Rafael there with you. But you were a big girl, and you had Chloe.

“...Can we get out somewhere less...this?” You nervously asked your driver.

“Absolutely ma’am, I’ll find a private entrance. No problem,”

“Thank you,” You sighed in relief.

-----

After driving around the church a few times, the driver finally found a side street blocked off. He informed the copper he had you in the limo, and the cop waved your limo inside. Chloe jumped out of the limo while holding your hand, nearly breaking your arm.

“Oh! Wait! Hey Jeeves, can we get those pastries and mimosa’s in the lady’s bridal suite?”

“Chloe his name is not--”

“It’s fine, ma’am,” The driver chuckled. “I’ll make sure the refreshments are delivered to your dressing room,”

“You’re a doll,” She blew him a kiss before she continued pulling you through the huge building like she knew exactly where you were going.

“Excuse me, where do we go?” Chloe asked a random man in a suit.

“Oh, it’s you Ms. Y/N!” The man pulled out a camera and began snapping photos.

“Oh my god--- What is WRONG with you people?!” Chloe shoved him aside and took you down another corridor. Finally you reached a doorway that was guarded by two armed guards.

“Hi, do you know--”

“Right this way,” One of them took your hand. “Mr. Barba is already inside getting ready,” He nodded to the door as you walked away. You wanted so badly to swing open the door and jump into his arms, but you knew you had to stay calm.

“Great!” You did your best to smile at him as he led you and Chloe down the hall to another doorway. He opened it to reveal a huge room with a vanity, a changing wall, two long body mirrors and a lush couch. Two sinks lined the wall and a room with a toilet was behind it. Yours and Chloe’s dresses were hanging on the changing wall, and sitting on the vanity were your treats from the limo.

“Weee! Look at all of this!!!” Chloe clapped her hands and giggled wildly as she danced around the lavish room.

“I mean, it is nice--”

“Nice? God I wish I was getting married here!” Chloe sighed as she poured herself another mimosa.

“Well, if you ever find a man I’ll look into it,” You teased her.

“Uh I think you mean WHEN,” She pointed out. “And I think the ‘when’ will be by tonight!”

“My wedding reception isn’t a singles mixer, Chloe,” You rolled your eyes.

“Well of course not,” She shook her head. “It’s a BALL!”

“Oh good god,” You groaned with a small laugh as you poured yourself a mimosa and downed it.

“Whoa there killer, let’s slow it down there,” She gave you a look. “Wouldn’t want you stumbling down the aisle in front of a million people,”

“...Do you think you’re helping?” You asked her in an annoyed tone.

“Sorry, sorry,” She apologized as there was a knock at the door. Chloe answered it to see two women carrying makeup cases and hair tools.

“We’re here to get you ready, Ms. Y/L/N,” One of them smiled at you.

“And her maid of honor, right?” Chloe jumped in.

“Uh...if that’s what the bride wants,” The other one looked at you with a wary stare.

“Yeah that’s fine, actually please do her first by all means,” You waved them over to the long sink wall and vanity.

“You’re a good friend,” Chloe put her hands over your face with tears in her eyes as she smiled.

“...You’re ridiculous,” You patted her head sweetly before she sat in the vanity, ready to be made over.

While Chloe was being turned into a princess, you walked over and admired your dress that looked like it was made for one. It was a long, cream white colored sleeveless dress with intricate cubic zirconia diamonds sewn into the bust. It was the simplest dress Chloe had let you pick. Suddenly you remembered the cornucopia veil, it was sitting on the couch in the box Maria had brought it over in. You pulled it out and put it on; when one of the stylists saw it she gasped.

“Oh, ma’am, I don’t know--”

“My...mother, asked me to wear it,” You stopped her.

“Right,” She nodded uncomfortably while Chloe tried not to laugh at the disgusted faces they were clearly trying to hide.

---------------

After what seemed like hours, you and Chloe were finally done in full make up and up do's. One of the ladies picked up the ancient headwear and tried positioning on your hair as best she could. She took several tries, using hair pins and hairspray before she finally stepped back.

“Lovely,” She smiled as she stepped back to admire her work. You looked in the vanity mirror to see your finished look. The headdress felt like it weighed five pounds, but it was intricately woven into your hair, there was no getting it out now. You longed for the moment Rafael would rip it off your head as soon as you were alone in your honeymoon suite...or, y’know before then.

“Well we’ll see you out there ma’am,” One of them nodded as they gathered their stuff and scooted out the door, leaving you and Chloe alone once again.

“Well,” Chloe examined your head. “At least you won’t lose it…” She was cut off by a knock at the door. You started to open it when you recognized those eyes.

“Rafa!” You slammed the door and yelled through it. “What are you doing? We can’t see each other before the wedding, it’s bad luck,”

“Baby I think we’ve gotten all the bad luck already out of the way,” He called through the door. “And I really, really need to talk to you,”

Your eyes widened in panic as you looked at Chloe, who sprung into best friend mode. “Calm yourself, I’m sure it’s nothing…” She walked over and put her hands on your shoulders.

“Stop freaking her out counselor, are you planning to run? Tell me now so I can get out there and tie you to a chair,”

“What? No! I just-- Y/N please will you open the door, por favor?” He sounded seriously distressed, and he used his secret weapon: speaking in spanish.

You sighed and slowly opened the door, revealing Rafael in a gorgeous black and white tux, and the tallest top hat you’d ever seen.

“Well well well, Mr. Monopoly, don’t you look spiffy?” Chloe snickered, causing you to hit her while Rafael made an even more distressed face.

“I knew it, god it’s awful,” He sighed as he took it off his head and walked inside the room.

“So why are you--?” You started to ask.

“The mayor said it would ‘look better on tv’,” He scoffed in disgust.

“Oh Jesus--” You rolled your eyes. “Baby why didn’t you just tell him--?”

“Because that stupid fucking contract we signed said we would go along with everything he said for the rest of this whole shit show!” He growled at the mess he had gotten himself into. The mayor knew damn well how much more “favors” he would ask of him before he signed that contract, he just knew it.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better…” You pointed to your own head. Rafael’s worried expression turned into a relieved smile as he finally noticed the bird’s nest on your scalp.

“...Maria sprung this on me last night,” You pointed to it. “At least you can take yours off,”

“...Well, that does help a bit,” He half smiled as he examined your ceremonial headdress.

“Is that it mi amor, you’re freaking out over a hat?” You put your hand on his face.

“Well our children are going to see these photos! Videos! Our GRANDKIDS! They’re going to think their grandpa was a huge douche,” He cried overdramatically.

“...Is this what it’s like to be with me? Because I don’t love it,” You teased him.

“I’m serious, Y/N! This isn’t funny!” He gave you a pitiful pout.

“...What else?” You gave him an expectant look.

“What else?”

“All of this over a hat?”

“...Alright fine,” He sighed as he sat down on the lush couch. “I know what I said about all that mattered was me and you standing across from each other but--”

“But?” You gave Chloe a worried look.

“But I also wanted someone else,”

“....Who, Olivia?” You rolled your eyes.

“No!” He exclaimed. “No, my childhood priest, Father Hernandez,”

“Oh,” You said with a relieved sigh. “Well, baby why don’t you just--”

“Because they’re being super particular, stupid Catholics!” He got up and started pacing.

“Apparently THEIR priest Father O’Shannon is ‘assigned’ to this place. God forbid anyone dare replace him,” He grumbled as he continued to pace.

“So you--”

“And it’s just the last straw on top of all of this bullshit, all this bending. I can’t do it!!” He threw up his hands in frustration.

“....Baby, breathe,” You stopped his pacing and pressed your forehead against his, your own personal calming gesture.

“God I guess it is true what they say,” Chloe suddenly spoke up, causing you both to give her a perplexed stare.

“In a couple when one person starts to go off the rails the other one instantly becomes the calm rational one,” She gestured between the two of you.

“Hey, I am NOT--” He protested.

“Baby please,” You shook your head. “I almost forgot how high strung you were until this moment,”

“High strung?” He took offense. “What are you talking about?”

“You forget that I worked for you,” You giggled.

“I’m high strung at work?” He asked. The question caused you to erupt in laughter. “What?! Am I?”

“Oh no sweetie, you’re totally mellow,” You smiled sarcastically.

“How am I--?”

“Think about how much coffee you drink at work, Rafa,”

“I don’t see how that is relevant,” He huffed. He loved his coffee, so what?

“...Mmmkay,” You chuckled, kissing his cheek.

“Well whatever, kettle” He made a pouty face.

“Fair,” You chuckled. “But we’re talking about you right now, pot,”

“Hey, I think I have done more than my share of helping you through your little ‘episodes’, it’s your turn!!!” He crossed his arms like a kid.

“Oh really? ‘Episodes’?” You replied in a snarky tone. Chloe sensed the rising tension and sprung into action.

“Okay! I think that’s enough, Pot. Kettle.” Chloe stepped in between you. “You’re clearly both too high strung for this conversation,”

“He started it,” You stuck your tongue out at Rafael like a five year old.

“Okay now let's not turn on each other, then the terrorist headwear wins,” She pointed to the hat on the vanity and your head.

“....Well do you have a solution, Gandhi?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Actually,” She smiled proudly. “I think I do,” She grabbed her phone and began typing something into google maps.

“You wanna share with the class?” Rafael asked as he gave you a look, like you were supposed to understand her crazy.

“.....Have you seen The Office?” She asked them, then glanced at you with a knowing look. Your face turned into a huge grin as you realized what she was implying.

“Chloe, you’re a genius,” You grabbed her in a hug.

“I know,” She nodded with a cocky smile.

-----

Chloe popped her head out of the door, making sure the coast was clear. When she was sure, she motioned to the two of you out and down the hall towards the back door where you left the limo. You and Rafael got in, and Chloe began to shut the door when you stopped her.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Someone has to vamp!” She pointed out.

“You're a good friend, Chloe,” You gave her a kiss on her head.

“I know,” She said boastfully. “Just hurry, my bubbly personality can’t hold them off for long,” She slammed the door and you were off.

-----

“...Fucking New York traffic! Estúpido tráfico de mierda,,,” Rafael began muttering under his breath. His childhood church in the Bronx was at least thirty minutes away with the busy Manhattan traffic. You put a hand on his knee to try and soothe him, but he was extra wound up by now. It reminded you of when you were just his assistant; he’d get this way when a trial wasn’t going his way and he felt backed into a corner. The worst days you’d seen him have at the office, where he’d suddenly take off for hours in the middle of the day….

That gave you an idea.

“Baby,” You snapped him out of his internal ranting monologue. He turned to you with a dismayed look.

“I’m sorry, carino,” He apologized, taking your hand that was placed on his knee. “I know I’m--”

“Can priests marry people outside of their church?” You simply asked him.

“....Like a closer church?” He looked at you in confusion.

“.....Actually, I was thinking somewhere closer,” You bit your lip with a smile as you took his phone and typed in an address that linked to the driver’s phone map. He glanced down at it and gave you a huge smile.

“You’re the best,” He gave you a huge kiss as the limo made a U-Turn.

------

Luckily Father Gonzalez used a bike for his transportation, so he was able to make it through traffic pretty easily. He met the two of you outside Central Park pretty soon after you got there.

“I appreciate you doing this for us, Padre,” Rafael hugged the priest tightly. “I didn’t want anyone else marrying us,”

“Claro, Rafael,” He smiled. “Of course! I was hoping St. Michael’s would have a change of heart, pero--”

“You know Catholics,” Rafael rolled his eyes.

“Si,” He nodded. “They’re almost as stubborn as you!” The padre chuckled. Then he noticed you.

“Ay, Rafa,” He gestured at you. “es este su prometido?”

“Si,” You nodded. “Soy su prometida,”

“Ay bien! Ella habla español!” Father Gonzalez smiled brightly. “So are you two ready?”

“Si, Padre,” Rafael nodded. “But first, we need the right backdrop,” He grinned as he took your hand and walked into the park.

----

It was the middle of the day on a Saturday so the park was full of families playing, joggers, street artists and the like. Luckily for you however, nobody seemed to want to see the penguins today. The enclosure was almost empty except for one elderly couple.

“Witnesses!” You beamed at Rafael as you calmly walked up to the two and tapped the woman on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” You smiled sweetly. “Would you-- my fiancé and I, we’re supposed to get married in this huge chapel down the street from here, but it was just all too much circus so we snuck away so that we could just get married in our favorite spot here and--”

“Baby, too much detail,” Rafael laughed. He loved it when you would ramble on about something when you got excited, but you were on a time crunch.

“...Right,” You blushed. “Anyway is there any way--”

“You’d like us to be witnesses, dear?” The old woman smiled brightly at you.

“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind,” You smiled gratefully.

“Of course not!” The man with her chimed in. “Y’know, back in our day, we had to get married in secret too,”

You suddenly noticed that they were an interracial couple; a white woman and a black man. Your smile faded a bit as you thought of the hardships they must have been through, just to be together, similar to you and Rafael.

“Okay, we’ll do the fast version of this, mijos,” The Padre opened his Bible and began to speak, but looked at the two of you.

“Actually, you know you’re going to do this whole spiel in a little while anyway, why don’t you say your vows in your own words while you can?”

“Oh God,” You muttered, then gasped. “I’m so sorry! I--”

“It’s fine, senorita,” He nodded.

“I just...I’m not great, with the speeches and the speaking in public thing,” You twirled the one piece of hair hanging from your updo in your hand nervously.

“I mean, we’re not exactly in public, amor,” Rafael smirked.

“You know what I mean!” You hit him playfully. “I just...I want it to be perfect,”

“If you speak from your heart dear, it will be perfect,” The old woman assured you. “Just look into his eyes and say whatever it is you’re thinking,”

“....Well, maybe not ‘everything’,” The old man added with a laugh, giving you two a raunchy look. Good lord.

“Okay,” You took a deep breath and took Rafael’s hands, looking into his gorgeous green eyes.

“I...um….” You looked down nervously.

“Hey,” Rafael cupped your chin to look at him. “It’s okay, mi amor. It’s just me, it’s just us. Just like I said,”

“Just us,” You smiled, then began to start again.

“Rafael,” You took a deep breath. “It’s...it’s hard for me to make some big speech because the truth is, when I look into your eyes I forget everything. Every wrong decision, every hurdle we’ve been through, it all just...fades away, when you look at me,” You squeezed his hands tighter.

“You have done so much for me in so little time. People probably think that we’re insane because we’re committing our lives to each other after only really knowing each other for a few months, but the truth is it feels like a lifetime. I feel like I was born loving you, I just didn’t know it until I saw you,” His eyes were starting to water as your voice cracked with your own tears.

“I know that I have put you through so much grief, so much pain and...doubt,” You paused, wiping a few stray tears. “But you have never, not once, abandoned me. You’ve stuck through all of my crazy, all of our shenanigans--”

You glanced over at the old couple who were grinning ear to ear. You didn’t want to get into all the psycho drama you and Rafael had been through in front of total strangers, but he gave you a knowing look when you said ‘shenanigans’. He knew what you meant; because of course he did. You were connected.

“I’m actually really glad that you had your ‘freak out’ because for one it made me look like the sane one for once,” All of you chuckled. “But also, because it got us our chance to get married our way, in our spot,” You gestured to the cave around you.

“I remember the very first time you brought me here, I thought that it was done. We were done. I thought that our one perfect day was going to be just that-- one perfect day,” You began to choke on your words again as you thought back to that very first day, the day you “magicked” him.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought that--'' You glanced at the Padre and the couple again. “That we’d….start, again here,” You exchanged another knowing look.

“And I certainly never thought you’d propose to me in this place-- with a flash mob, no less!” The Padre and couple laughed in surprise, Rafael began to blush profusely, but you put a hand to his red cheek.

“Literally every single beginning we’ve had-- it started right here,” You wiped more stray tears, already knowing the woman back at the church was going to have to re-do all of it.

“And now it’s starting again-- for the rest of our lives,” You sniffled while Rafael wiped more tears from your face and then his own.

“...Okay I’m done,” You took a deep breath in and out as you smiled at Father Hernandez.

“Alright well then Rafa--”

“Oh wait!!!” You suddenly interjected. “Also, I love you,” You make an “eek” face. “I can’t believe I left that out,”

“...I’m pretty sure that whole speech was an ‘I love you,’ dearie,” The old woman patted your back with a reassuring smile.

“I agree,” Rafael nodded. “And to be honest-- I don’t think I can follow that,”

“Oh come on,” You rolled your eyes. “It wasn’t that great,”

“No it wasn’t great,” He shook his head. “It was perfecto,” He took both of your hands in his once more. “...All I can say is, ditto,”

“Ditto?” You laughed. “Real romantic, Rafa,”

“Well I can’t think of anything more than what you’ve already said!” Rafael shrugged with a laugh.

“Well, except this: You say that I’ve put up with you, and never abandoned you, but neither did you,” He pulled you closer towards him.

“You’ve put up with me plenty, and you could have walked away plenty of times. But you stayed with me. You fought for me. And I will spend the rest of our lives trying to be good enough for you, not the other way around,”

“You’re already good enough for me, Rafael,” You bit your lip as you tried your hardest not to kiss him before Padre said you could.

“Can I kiss her yet Padre?” Rafael read your mind.

“Calma, Rafa,” Padre chuckled. “Do you have rings?”

“Shit, the rings!” Rafael groaned. “Sorry, Padre,” He quickly apologized.

“Wait...baby,” You turned around and looked down at all the decorative stones that lined the bottom of the tank. You picked two up and handed one to Rafael.

“Pebbles,” He smiled at you. “Like penguins,”

“Ah, well then…” The Padre shrugged, having no idea what was happening but went along with it anyway. “I guess, exchange the pebbles now?”

You giggled as you placed your pebble in Rafael’s hand, then he placed his in yours.

“Well then, I guess by the power vested in me by God and the state of New York, I now pronounce you man and wife,” He shrugged with a smile. “Now you may kiss her, Rafa,”

“Gracias, Padre,” He grinned before pulling you into a passionate kiss, a kiss rivaling many of the kisses you had exchanged in this cave before now.

“Now, if you three would like to attend a circus, we’d be glad to have you,” You glanced at your three witnesses.

They looked at each other with confused glances, then shrugged and followed you and Rafael back towards the limo.

---------------

As soon as you pulled back behind the church, the Padre and the couple were shown to seats by one of the security guards while you and Rafael walked back to the bridal suite. Chloe ran up to the both of you before you could make it here, Rafael’s top hat in her hand.

“What the hell, you guys?!” She hissed, then realized you were in a church so she made a sign of the cross and kissed her fist.

“They’re about to start rioting!” She added.

“Sorry, sorry, Chloe,” You kissed her cheek. “You’re a good friend,”

"I want you to realize you've said that three times now,” She smiled proudly. “Be sure to tell all of your sexy eligible lawyer friends that, Rafael,”

“I’ll be sure to slip it in every conversation later, Chloe,” He smirked as he gave her a kiss on the cheek as well.

“Alright now take this magic hat and get down that aisle before the mayor actually kills you,” She shoved the top hat in Rafael’s hands and shooed him through the hall and towards the doors of the sanctuary.

“Alright,” She focused on you. “You ready to do this?”

“I mean…” You gestured to your messed up make up and the veil falling out of your hair.

“Aw crap,” Chloe grimaced. “Ok, well looks like you’re getting the Chloe special,” She went and grabbed her purse from the bridal room and pulled you into the ladies room.

After a few minutes you reemerged with perfect make up and the veil reattached to your hair like a nest. Hey, you just had your perfect ceremony. You could last a few more minutes with this thing.

“Alright, now you’re ready,” She brushed you off and opened the sanctuary doors to signal the piano to start playing the Bridal Suite.

The doors opened and Chloe took your hand as you both walked down the aisle together. The flashing lights and bright red dots from film cameras were starting to overwhelm you as you walked, but you focused on Rafael.

He was at the end of all this erratic tunnel of people gawking at you like a zoo animal. You just breathed in and out and kept your gaze locked into his; his smile was like a bright beacon in the darkness. Finally you reached the altar and he took your hands in his. You felt safe again; you’d always feel safe in his grasp.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” The priest began to speak, but the only thing the two of you heard were each other, speaking volumes to each other with just your looks. It was just like Rafael had promised: Just you and him.

And it would just be you and him, forever.

[suituuup]

pieces - chapter eleven

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca didn’t expect to see her again dancing in a strip club, out of all places.

rated: E (drug use and emotional abuse in early chapters)

ao3 link

*

Beca woke up the next morning to the birds singing, which was odd, until she remembered she wasn’t in NYC, but in Oregon, at Chloe’s parents’. A glance at her phone told her she had slept later than she usually did, and she burrowed herself deeper beneath the covers, exhaling a sigh. 

The smell of breakfast eventually lured out of the warm cocoon, and she made a stop at the bathroom before heading downstairs. 

Chloe’s mom was cooking at the stove, and she looked over her shoulder when Beca approached. “Oh, good morning, Beca. Did you sleep well?” 

Beca wasn’t usually one to talk in the mornings, at least not before she had her morning coffee, but she mustered a smile and made an effort. “Morning. Yes, thank you.” 

“Chloe told me you drank coffee in the morning. I put a mug out for you on the table, there’s fresh coffee in the pot. You like pancakes?” She asked as she flipped one in her pan. 

Beca could tell where Chloe (or at least college Chloe) got her morning energy from, and she stifled a chuckle as she moved to pour herself a much-needed cup. “Yeah. Pancakes sound great.” She leaned against the counter, cradling her mug between her palms. “Where’s Chloe?”

“Talking with her dad out on the back porch,” Alice said, adding the freshly made pancake to the pile. She turned off the stove and wiped her hands on her apron, focusing on Beca. “We didn’t have the chance to yesterday, but Mike and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you did for Chloe. Thank you really doesn’t feel like enough. I’m not sure where she’d be without you.” 

“You really don’t need to thank me. I’m just glad she’s doing better.” 

“And for taking over those payments, too. It-- it feels like too much and…” 

Beca shook her head. “Like I said to Chloe, it really is okay, Mrs. Bea-- Alice. I don’t want to flaunt my money around, but I’m more than able to spare 2000 dollars a month, and I’m happy to spend it helping people who need it, like you and Mike. So please, accept it?” She smiled softly. “I know how much you mean to Chloe, and I’d do anything for her.” 

Before Alice could reply, the door at the back of the kitchen opened and Chloe stepped inside, holding it open to let her father wheel in. She cast Beca a smile. “Hey, you. Sleep well? Mom didn’t attack you with questions, did she? I told her you needed coffee first.” 

“I behaved myself,” Alice mumbled, sticking her tongue out before going back to her pancakes. 

Beca chuckled. “She did.” 

After breakfast, Beca helped herself to a shower, before Chloe whisked her away to show her around town. They drove down the main street, and Chloe parked in front of the local high school, cutting the ignition and stepping out. . 

“I feel like you were Head Cheerleader,” Beca said as she shut the door. The smell of the ocean made her smile and breathe in deeply. It was really nice to get out of the city for a bit. 

Chloe smirked, shaking her head as they headed down the sidewalk of what looked like the main street. “Nope.” 

“Softball? You had to be some sort of athlete.” 

“Wrong again.” 

Beca hummed as she thought. “Track?” 

Chloe slipped her hands inside her jacket pockets, walking backward so she was facing Beca. “You’re looking at Oregon’s 400m State Champion for the year 2006.” 

Beca’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? How come you never told me that??” 

Chloe’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Never came up. I’ll show you my trophy when we get home.” She pointed across the street. “This is the cafe my friends and I went to every weekend to gossip about the boys.” 

“Gossiping about boys, huh?” Beca asked, smirking. “Who was your high school crush?” 

“This guy named Ian. He was on the swimming team.” 

Beca cut her a glance. “You guys ever dated?” 

“He asked me out once. Then he asked another girl to prom. I was heartbroken.” 

“Aw.” Beca grinned. “Did you cross off the love doodles featuring his name from your notebooks while belting out to songs from your break-up playlist?”

Chloe shoved her shoulder as Beca laughed. “Shut up. I didn’t have a break-up playlist.” 

“But you had one for songs you liked getting off to?” Beca couldn’t help but tease. “Weirdo.” 

A bright laugh burst past Chloe’s lips. “I can’t believe I burst into your shower.” 

A fond smile spread across Beca’s features at the memory. “And I can’t believe I still auditioned knowing my stalker was part of the group.” 

“I wasn’t a stalker!” Chloe cried, her jaw-dropping. She giggled. “I just… sort of ignored the boundaries.” 

“Which is what stalkers do,” Beca pointed out with another smirk. “It’s cool. I’m glad you did, in hindsight. I got to meet the people who would end up becoming my best friends for life.” 

Chloe narrowed her eyes, amusement flashing in her features. “When did you get so cheesy?” 

A groan flitted past Beca’s lips. “Ugh. Gross, right?” 

As Chloe laughed, Beca realized how much she had missed the banter. Every little piece of Chloe Beale surfacing never failed to make her smile. 

Chloe’s step faltered when they came across a baby shop, her eyes lingering on the window. 

Beca smiled, nudging Chloe’s shoulder with her own. “We can go in if you want?” 

A matching smile spread across Chloe’s features as she nodded, and they both stepped inside the medium-sized store.

“Jesus, kids need that much stuff?” Beca asked as she glanced around the various items, muttering an apology when the employee glanced at her. 

Stifling a giggle, Chloe headed to the onesie section and browsed through the rack. “Oh Bec, look,” she said, holding up a simple, white onesie that read little bean in cool lettering. The smile that lit up Chloe’s face as she looked at the item was the first one Beca had seen reach her eyes since Chloe had been back in her life and the sight of it made her heart swell.

Chloe must have felt her staring, and she glanced up curiously. “What?”

“Nothing,” she cleared her throat. “You’re just… glowing.”

“I think you should get it,” she added not to make it awkward. “It’s adorable.”

After their stop at the store, she and Chloe headed to the wharf for lunch. It was a sunny, warm spring day, and they sat on a bench in front of the sea to eat their sandwiches as Chloe shared more memories about growing up in her hometown. 

“So how did you and Sarah meet?” Chloe asked following a lull in the conversation. 

Beca finished chewing her bite and swallowed, washing it down with a sip of soda. “I used to go to the coffee shop pretty often for lunch. We would talk for a bit each time. I was clueless to her flirting, it was only when she left her number that I realized she was into me.” 

Chloe chuckled, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow. “You? Clueless to flirting? That doesn’t sound right.” 

Beca’s eyes rolled skyward as she fought back a smile. “Bite me, Beale.” 

Chloe giggled. “Sorry. She seems like a great girl, though.” 

“Yeah,” Beca breathed out, trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped. “She really is.” 

And she meant that. She cared a lot about Sarah, but ever since their talk about a month ago, she had been questioning her own commitment to their relationship, going back and forth about what she wanted. The fact that she had been so oblivious about Sarah’s needs to take the next step because she felt comfortable with where they were at was the first red flag that she wasn’t all in. 

People should feel the need to move forward after fourteen months together, right? 

Sarah was kind, funny, loving, and everything Beca imagined in a significant other, but whenever she found herself trying to picture their life down the road, two, five, ten years from now, her mind went blank. 

“You okay?” Chloe asked, her head tilted as she gazed at Beca. 

“Yeah,” Beca breathed out, shaking those thoughts out of her head and focusing back on Chloe. She cleared her throat. “What’s next on the list, Beale?” 

After buying ice-creams from her favorite shop, Chloe took her to her favorite beach, and they headed home around three, as Chloe felt like taking a nap. 

Over the next two days at her parents’, they baked, took walks in the forest or by the sea, and had movie nights with Alice and Mike. Beca made sure to give the three some family time as well, spending a couple of hours every day working on her laptop in the guest room. 

That last night in Oregon, she found Chloe on the swingset in the garden, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Beca approached with two hot chocolates, handing one over before lowering herself on the other swing. 

“I’ve yet to find a prettier sky than this one,” Chloe mused aloud, craning her neck to look at the starry darkness above them as she cradled her mug between her palms. 

“It’s pretty dope,” Beca agreed softly. She glanced at Chloe, and finally plucked the courage to word the thought that had been going in a loop in her mind since their first night in Newport. “Have you given some thought about moving back here?” 

She was hoping Chloe would stay with her, to be completely honest. They had just rekindled, and Beca didn’t want her to live on the other side of the country. She could also feel some sort of attachment to Bean, which sounded ridiculous as they weren’t even born yet. But she also understood that Chloe might want to be with her parents, someplace that is close to her heart.

“I don’t know yet,” Chloe admitted, clearing her throat. “I’m concerned about disrupting their lives with a newborn baby. Mom’s already got so much on her plate with taking care of dad, and I don’t know if me being around while I’m still recovering is the smartest idea, with my dad feeling so guilty. I want him to focus on his health. But I guess it would be simpler, right? For you, I mean.” 

Beca shook her head. “I told you you could stay as long as you’d like. My place is your home, and I…” she cleared her throat, shrugging as her gaze flickered back to the stars. “I like having you around.”

“I like living with you, too,” Chloe admitted, smiling softly. “And I like my therapist and my NA group.” 

And having a routine was essential for a recovering addict. 

“Then it feels like a no-brainer,” Beca concluded.

“What about Sarah?” Chloe asked after a moment. “Are you sure she’s okay with me living with you?” 

The mention of Sarah made Beca’s heart squeeze with guilt. The last few days only further confirmed how she felt. She wasn’t missing her like she was probably supposed to, even though it had been ten days since they had last seen one another, as Beca had been too busy to do anything besides working, eating and sleeping that week leading up to their trip. 

She had been sending Sarah check-in texts because she felt like she had to, not because she wanted to. 

Beca needed to sack up and be honest with Sarah, something she had been delaying because she was a coward and terrified of breaking her heart. But she knew deep down she was doing more harm than good right now by running away from how she truly felt. 

She knew deep down, that Sarah deserved someone better.  

“Yeah,” she replied absent-mindedly, swallowing, then mustering a smile. “Don’t worry about that.” 

She sent a text to Sarah later that night, asking if she could come over after they landed in NYC tomorrow night. The following morning, she and Chloe grabbed an early breakfast, as they needed to be in Portland at ten. 

“You’re welcome back here anytime, Beca,” Alice said, pulling back from the hug. 

A genuine smile spread across Beca’s features. “Thanks, Alice.” 

“Bye dad,” Chloe murmured, leaning in to hug him tightly. 

Mike closed his eyes and hugged her back. “Safe travels, Chlobear. Love you.” 

“Love you, too. So much.” She embraced her mom next, echoing the same sentiment before sliding into the passenger seat and shutting the door behind her. 

Beca slid behind the wheel and started the car, pulling out of the driveway and onto the main road as Chloe waved to her parents. 

“You okay?” She asked after a moment, glancing at Chloe briefly. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Chloe replied with a firm nod. “Thanks for coming with me.” 

“No problem. A break from the city was pretty nice.” 

They landed in NYC a little bit after 8 pm. Beca had the cabbie drop Chloe off at her apartment, then headed to Sarah’s, riding the elevator to her floor. 

She knocked on the door and stepped back, wiping her sweaty palms over the denim of her jeans. Her stomach was in knots, and she wished she could fast-forward the next twenty minutes or so. The door swung open a few seconds later, Sarah standing on the other side. 

“Hey you,” she greeted with a small smile. 

“Hey,” Beca murmured, kissing Sarah’s cheek out of habit. “How was your day?” 

“Same old,” Sarah said as she shut the door, then moved towards the kitchen. “How was the trip? You want a beer?”

“It was nice,” Beca replied as she followed, leaning against the counter. “No thanks, I’m good.” She took a deep breath, knowing she had to do this now before she chickened out. 

“What’s up?” Sarah asked as she closed the fridge and turned around, leaning against the opposite counter.

Beca cleared her throat, nibbling on the inside of her cheek. “So, um. I’ve been thinking a lot about us moving in together and I…” Honesty. Honesty was the best policy. Rip off the band-aid. “I don’t see myself getting there.”

Sarah visibly swallowed, and she nodded slowly, glancing down at the floor for a few beats. Given her reaction, Beca could tell she had been sort of expecting it.

“I’m sorry,” Beca murmured, a lump rising in her throat. “I know I gave you false hope by saying we would figure something out, I just wasn’t sure how I felt up until recently.” She grimaced. “The last thing I want is to hurt you. But you deserve someone who can be all in.”

The tear running down Sarah’s face broke Beca’s heart. She blinked back her own, exhaling slowly. 

“Like you seem to be all in with Chloe?” Sarah asked quietly, stunning Beca into silence. 

“What?” 

Sarah’s eyes rolled towards the ceiling. “You’re oblivious to that, too?” When Beca didn’t say anything, she released a soft laugh. It was anything but humorous. “I see the way you look at her, Bec. I know the both of you living together was something that just happened because Chloe didn’t have anywhere to stay, but I can tell you like having her around. I can tell you have feelings, even if you don’t seem to realize it yet. I was hoping I was wrong, but you not hesitating on going on that trip when we hadn’t seen each other in over a week made it pretty clear that Chloe would always come first.” 

Beca’s brain was stuck on the first part. Did she really look at Chloe differently? Feelings? She cared about her, sure, but-- “That’s not—”

Sarah swiped her palm over her cheeks, nodding. “And you’re right. I deserve someone who looks at me the way you look at Chloe. Like I’m their person. Someone who loves me as much as I love them.” 

“Me ending things doesn’t have anything to do with Chloe,” Beca said softly, truly believing that. She knew the next words were going to sting, but she needed Sarah to believe it, too. “I just… don’t see this going anywhere.” She hung her head, feeling like the worst person in the world for breaking someone’s heart. “I’m sorry, Sarah.” 

“Yeah. Me, too.” Sarah cleared her throat, pinching her lips together for a moment, seemingly trying to keep a hold on her emotions. “I think you should go.” 

Beca nodded, another apology laying on the top of her tongue. She swallowed it back knowing it probably wouldn’t make Sarah feel any better, and pushed to her feet, quietly walking out of Sarah’s apartment.

[jiejie-eonni-onee-sama]

My mama is the best man in the universe...

For the lovely @marilynmonroefanfics​ 😍😍👄💕💕​

Hope you’ll like it!

TW: Mentions of murder

"I swear to God that this case is gonna make me crazy!"

"Please, Detective, don't call out my father!"

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed: currently, she and Lucifer worked on a murder case. 

The victims, all members of a scientific research group, were burned to death, but it looked like the burning came from inside the bodies. An element that puzzles the detective, who sighed in defeat:

"Okay, so... What do you think about this case?"

"Mmmh... For sure, a mere human cannot do that. Unless he would be able to force his victims to swallow some combustible, strike a match, and... Burn baby, burn!"

"Very funny, Lucifer!"

"Pleasure's mine, dear Chloe!" retorted the demon with a seductive wink.

The detective rolled her eyes but can't help smiling at his antics: she knew he was only trying to light up her mood. 

She reported her attention to the investigation file and said:

"According to our dear Ella, not a single trace of fuel was found in the victims' bodies. But how the killer can burn his victims to death?"

"Do you know what it means?"

"I'm afraid that we are dealing with a new case of a supernatural arsonist creature!" sighed the woman.

"I'm sorry to tell you that, but you're right!" answered the Devil with a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"After what I've seen before, nothing could surprise me anymore!"

"Well, you got the point!"

"Do you have an idea which creature can do that?"

Lucifer frowned, puzzled.

"It might be surprising, but this time, I don't know who can be the potential guilty!"

"I wish I know someone who can help us because this case is getting on my nerves!"

The fallen angel cogitated a long time before he exclaimed:

"Eureka! I know someone who can help us!"

"Really? Thank you! But who is this person?"

"Of course, my Mama!"

When she heard those words, Chloe quivered:

"What? You want to call your mother? After all the mess she did with you? She badly hurt you, remember..."

Lucifer bit his lip:

"Well, I was not talking about my birth mother. I explain myself. You see, Chloe, after my parents get separated, our mother rejected us. My siblings and I were raised by another person. He made my old man happy, and he treated us as if we were his own children."

The demon fondly smiled.

"He is very dear to me..."

"I can see it... Wait a minute: you said "he" are you sure you did not make a mistake?"

"No, you heard well: I was raised by two men!"

"Wait for a second... Do you just say that God is gay?"

"Bisexual would be more appropriate!"

Chloe shrugged.

"Well, after all I've been through since we met, I think that's not a big deal. Besides, if you say that your dad can help us, it suits me!"

She noticed how Lucifer seemed more relaxed after her statement.

"I'm happy to see that you're always open-minded!"

"You're welcome. Now, call your dad! We have a case to solve!"

"At your orders!" smirked the demon as he dialed the man who raised him.

Later, at Lucifer's penthouse.

Sitting on the comfortable couch, Chloe and Trixie watched with amusement Lucifer running around his penthouse, checking every room. Mazikeen, desperate by her boss's behavior, shook her head.

"Right, I put the whiskey on the table, and his favorite meals are here too... Where do I put the cake?"

"In the fridge, Lucifer!" answered Trixie, who chuckled.

"Ah yes: it is there!"

"Come on, Lucifer: it's your dad, not the Pope!" gently joked Chloe.

"I don't appreciate the mockery, Detective Decker!" growled Lucifer as he checked himself in the mirror.

"Don't take it personally, Chloe: he always gets stressed when it comes to his other father! He wants to be a good son with him," reassured Mazikeen.

"You know his other father?" asked the blonde woman.

"Indeed, yes. Lucifer's father number two is Petraeus, or Peter if you want, and he is a powerful being!"

"He is God's companion, so I think he might be as powerful as Him!"

"You're right. But I'm sure you're going to appreciate Petraeus. He is a brilliant man, you know. He is also smart and absolutely charming!"

"Well, I trust you."

"You can: he is more approachable than God!"

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. Lucifer stopped walking and muttered:

"Oh, hell! It's him!"

"Stop being alarmed: it's just your father! You know what? I'll open the door before you freak out in front of your dad!" smirked Mazi, who got up and walked at the door.

She opened the door and saw a dark-haired man with black eyes and fair skin. Dressed in an elegant white suit, the man smiled:

"Good evening, Mazikeen. It's been a long time."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Master Petraeus."

"Don't be so formal! You can call me Peter, you know?"

"Sorry, a force of habit. But please, come in!"

Petraeus stepped in and said:

"Good evening, everyone!"

Lucifer rushed towards his father with open arms:

"Good evening, Papa!"

"My sweet demon!" beamed Petraeus as he held his son close to him.

Chloe smiled at the sight of her lover: she never saw Lucifer acting like that with other members of his holy family. He appeared to be close to his father.

Meanwhile, Petraeus stepped aside and looked at his son:

"Look at you, boy: handsome as always!"

"I had a good teacher!" 

"Don't be so flattering!"

He glanced at Chloe and Trixie with a charming smile.

"Are these beautiful ladies the famous Chloe and Trixie you told me about?"

"Yes, of course: Papa, this is Detective Chloe Decker and her daughter, Beatriz Espinoza, aka Trixie!"

"Please to meet you, Sir Petraeus!" smiled Chloe as she shook hands with the guest.

"The pleasure is mine, dear Chloe. And don't worry: you can call me Peter!"

"If you allow me..." smirked Chloe.

Trixie jumped on her feet and held out her hand with a wide grin on her face.

"Hello, Peter! I'm Trixie! Please to meet you!"

"What a lively young lady! Nice to meet you too!" laughed Peter.

After he finished his greetings, he looked at the place with impressed eyes.

"You find yourself a comfortable place to live, my dear son. I see you accommodate it at your image!"

"Listen, if the Old Man made Earth at his image, why can't I do the same with my house?"

"Cheeky as always, aren't you?" grinned Peter.

"You know Papa: I've always been the rebellious one among your children!"

"I have noticed..."

The celestial spirit stopped himself as he remarked the table set with chic crockery and delicious courses.

"Oh, Lucifer: you should not have! It was not necessary to turn your dining room into Versailles' Hall of Mirrors!"

"Only the best for you, Papa: come on, sit down! Dinner's ready!"

The evening went smooth, and Chloe admitted that Mazikeen was utterly right about Peter. He was not only good-looking and kind but also intellectual - without being conceited. He had so many stories about historical figures to tell, which amazed Trixie.

"So you met all those people? That's soooo cool!" happily squealed the young girl.

"I'm glad that you liked my anecdotes, Trixie. You know that some of them were Lucifer's bedtime stories when he was your age?"

"Oh no, Dad!" groaned Lucifer, flustered.

"What? There is nothing to be ashamed of, sweets!"

Chloe grinned as she saw her boyfriend confused by some childhood memories. But she discerned in his eyes all the adoration and filial love he had for Petraeus, and she could swear he never looked at God like this... 

Time went by, and it was past midnight when Trixie had to go to bed after she nearly fell asleep on the table. Once the young girl settled in a bedroom, the adults talked about the case:

"So, my dear son, you need my help if I understand well?"

"Yes. Chloe and I are working on a difficult case, and we think your knowledge would be valuable!"

"Alright, tell me more about this problem!"

"Everything we've found so far is in this folder!" explained Chloe as she handed a file to Peter.

Petraeus opened it and was taken aback by the horrendous pictures of burned bodies.

"Oh, dear! What a frightful view!"

"Yes, I agree. All the victims belonged to a scientific research group, and they were burnt to death."

"I see it. But what makes you think that you need my help?"

"Well, Papa, this is where the mystery begins. The coroner confirmed that the burn comes from the inside of the bodies. But there is not a trace of fuel! So, we come to the conclusion that a creature killed those people!"

Peter nodded.

"I understand now... Well, from what I can see, it looks like an igniting spell, which implies that the unsub is a fire-element being. However, I cannot determine if it belongs to Biblical, Coranic, Jewish, Buddhist, or pagan mythology."

"If you want, you can accompany us to the Police Department tomorrow. I'm sure Ella, our dear coroner, would accept to show us the three last victims!"

"Thank you for your kind invitation, Chloe. It's a good idea!"

The young woman thanked him before yawning:

"Sorry if I seem impolite, but I have to leave you. This day was a complete mess, and I need to sleep... And I'm sure you had a lot of time to catch up!"

"Go ahead, I'll join you later!" smiled Lucifer.

"Okay. Good night, Peter!"

"Have a nice night!" answered the celestial spirit.

As the detective left the dining room, Peter turned to his son and said:

"She is really exquisite, Lucifer! You rightly choose your soulmate!"

"Well, I must admit it: I'm lucky that she accepted me in her life. Chloe is the most amazing woman I ever met!"

Peter tenderly smiled at Lucifer:

"Seeing you so happy is a blessing for me! I was so worried that your banishment would put you down..."

The fallen angel saw a spark of sadness clouding his Papa's eyes.

"Papa, are you alright?"

"Sorry, it's just that... I feel so terrible not being able to visit you on Earth. But your father did not allow me to do so..."

He sadly sighed

"You had no idea how many times we argued about it. I told him that his punishment was above cruelty, and he did not even try to understand why you stood up against his authority!"

"I figure that he told you that you were too kind with me!"

"You know him well... Of course, I cannot disobey him, so I did not come visiting you either in Hell or Earth. But I send you some signs from me... just to tell you that you're not alone, and I'll always love you, no matter what happens!"

Touched by his father's sadness, the demon reached his father's hand and gently held it.

"Papa, I already knew it. You don't have to feel guilty: nothing is your fault. I knew about your messages: I kept them in a small box, and when I feel distressed, I read them, and it cheers me up. You always cared about my siblings and me more than our mother. I'll always be grateful to have you as my Papa."

Relief spread through Peter as he smiled:

"Thank you, son."

Lucifer glanced at the clock and stated:

"Well, time runs fast, and you maybe want to get some rest..."

"Good idea: all those emotions dried me out."

The King of Hell led his dad to the guest room.

"Here's your bed for the night! You have your own bathroom on the right with all the comfort!"

"I'll manage for tonight... Thank you, Lucifer!"

"You're welcome, dad. Good night!"

Peter leaned close to his son and kissed his forehead:

"Good night, my little demon!"

As he came back to his bedroom, Lucifer felt his heart happily swelling. He ached for the love of his parents for a long time, and he was more than happy to meet his Papa again.

Lucifer and his siblings were forever grateful to Petraeus for bringing joy back in their Holy Father's heart and loving them as his own offspring.

When he laid down next to Chloe, who was already asleep, the demon felt like his life on Earth was kind of complete... 

The following day.

After bringing Trixie back to her home, Chloe drove to the L.A.P.D with Lucifer and Petraeus.

"Los Angeles is a quite unusual place. Even if it had a lot of lovely surroundings, I'm not fond of its nightlife. But I can understand why you choose to live here, my Lightbringer!" stated the celestial spirit.

"What can I say? I love the atmosphere of Los Angeles at night, and my nightclub is among the most popular of the city!" smirked Lucifer.

"How boastful you are!" gently mocked Chloe.

"Oh, honey, why do you have to hurt me?" pouted Lucifer while making puppy eyes.

"Because she knows you well, darling!" chuckled Peter.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Police Department and headed to the forensic lab. When they entered the lab, Ella was already there, checking the last victim's remains.

"Good morning, Ella!"

The coroner rose her head and greeted her colleagues with a warm smile.

"Hiya, guys! How are you?"

"We're fine, thanks. Still working on the last victim?"

"Unfortunately: I scanned every ash, every piece of flesh, but I can't find any bloody clue! The only thing I found so far are traces of bindings on their wrists and ankles!"

She noticed Peter's presence.

"May I know the name of our dashing visitor?"

"Where are my manners? My name is Petraeus, but you can call me Peter."

"Nice to meet you, Peter. And you are...?"

"Ah yes: I'm Lucifer's dad."

Ella frowned, puzzled.

"But I thought Lucifer's father is God!"

"Well, I'm his other dad..."

When she put all the pieces together, she jumped back and yelped.

"HOLY COW! DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD IS GAY?" 

"Bisexual, precisely. And don't worry, I had quite the same reaction as you when Lucifer told me!" explained Chloe.

Ella ran her hand through her black hair.

"Sorry if I appear rude, but it's a lot to handle in one day, and this is not what I was taught!" 

"Don't worry, I understand!" reassured Peter.

"Auntie Rosalia won't ever believe it if I told her... Well, I'm pleased to meet another member of your family, Lucifer, but can you tell why your number 2 father is doing here?"

"My dear Miss Lopez, my Papa came to helping us in this murder case!"

"Really?"

"Indeed, my son told me that you were struggling with those killings!"

"Struggling is an understatement. Would you like to check on the body I'm currently working on?"

"Well, if you allow me, I accept with pleasure!"

Ella gestured for him to come closer to inspect the remains. 

He inclined and carefully looked at the corpse. After his observation, he muttered:

"I can confirm that your murderer is a supernatural creature!"

"Oh no! That's what I feared!" sighed Chloe as she facepalmed.

"And what else can you tell us about it?" asked Ella.

"That it is from another mythology: so, it's not a Biblical demon who is causing this tragedy. I hesitate between a European creature and a Middle Eastern spirit."

At the same time, Dan Espinoza made his entrance into the lab:

"Hello, Ella! Anything new about..."

He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the presence of Lucifer and Chloe:

"Chloe, Lucifer..."

"Detective Douchebag..." gritted the demon.

Dan turned his head and remarked Peter near the body:

"Ella, are you mad? Why are you letting a civilian looking at the body?"

"Because, sir, I offered my help to your department." calmly explained the celestial being.

Espinoza asked his ex wife:

"Who's this lad?"

"You better show respect to my..." growled Lucifer, but his father stopped him.

"It's okay, Lucifer: I'll handle it!"

He stepped towards Dan and asked:

"Can I know your name, detective?"

"I'm Detective-Sergeant Daniel Espinoza."

"Espinoza? Oh, you must be Trixie's father: she is a wonderful child, you know. You are lucky to have her!" genuinely said Peter.

"Er, thanks... But how do you know her?"

"Because she and I met him last night at Lucifer's place!" explained Chloe.

"Chlo, you can't let someone you don't know near to our daughter!"

"But I'm not some creepy stranger, you know. Let me introduce myself: I'm Petraeus, or Peter if you prefer my human name. I am Lucifer's father... And by the way, I am God's husband!"

A silence followed this announcement before Dan yelled:

"WHAT THE FUCK? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? God cannot be gay: it's impossible! It's not written in the Bible!"

"But humankind does not know all about God, right? And I reassure you: it's not a witticism, but the truth!"

"But still: God cannot be with a man!"

"Are you just confessing your homophobia, Detective Douchebag?" sneered Lucifer.

"You, go to Hell!"

"Been there already. King of Hell, remember?"

"Well, just get back and don't piss me off!"

"Stop insulting my son! As for my marriage with God, I can assure you that it's true: we had a beautiful and sincere relationship for billions of years!"

"But I never heard about you!"

"I trust you: I prefer being discreet. But I'm sure you know my other name..."

"Your other name?" asked Dan, bewildered.

"Does your dad had another name?" demanded Chloe to Lucifer.

"I don't remember it..." answered Lucifer, confused.

At the same time, Espinoza urged Peter to tell him:

"And what is your other name?"

"Oh, I am sure you know it... You may also know me as Virgin Mary!"

All stood astounded by the statement... until Dan fainted, unable to handle it anymore.

"Woah! That was a shock, for sure!" muttered Chloe.

"Is he still alive?" inquired Ella.

"I don't know, and I don't really care!" scoffed Lucifer.

As for Peter, he cannot help but giggle.

"That's what I expected! This joke works every time!"

"I wonder where does Lucifer takes his mocking personality..." smirked Detective Decker.

"I had a good teacher!" answered the fallen angel.

"See, Chloe: this is how I handle rude people! And I must add that my dearest husband loves my sense of humor!"

"What can I say? You're the best man in the universe, Papa!"

"Thank you, my little flame! Now, let's go back to work, shall we?"

The quatuor worked all day to find answers to this tricky case. Thanks to their teamwork, they discovered that the scientific team went to Saudi Arabia three months ago and were in the middle of a controversial story.

Indeed, they were blamed for the accidental destruction of an old temple dedicated to the jinni. And to add more fuel to the fire, the wreck caused severe injuries to a native teenage boy named Yassin. They excused themselves for the damages and never paid for their responsibilities. Moreover, they fled back to the United States before any juridical process started.

When they learned that story, Chloe was appalled, to say the least:

"How could they act like cowards?"

"Well, they were more concerned about their careers than a human life! But it does not mean that I approve their behaviors!" stated Lucifer.

"Moreover, the young boy's family was too poor to sue the team! They gave up in exchange for some money! Some people are so heartless..." grunted Ella.

"And so, we cannot suspect them to carry out their revenge against those who wronged them: first of all, because Yassin is in a comatose state. Secondly, his family does not have enough financial resources to travel from their country to Los Angeles. And thirdly, we know that it's a supernatural creature who murdered some members of the scientific team!" itemized Peter.

"Do you think a jinn could be responsible?" asked Ella.

"There is a huge probability that a jinn can be responsible for all the murders. Furthermore, they perfectly control natural elements, and they are extremely ferocious towards those who offend them!"

Chloe looked at her watch and suggested:

"Okay, guys: what if we continue our work at my place? You are my guests!"

"With great pleasure, Chloe! I wonder where do you live?"

"Somewhere less luxurious than Lucifer's penthouse!"

"Don't belittle yourself, love. Your home is a nice place, too."

Later in the evening, at Chloe's home.

Once settled at Chloe's place, the four investigators were brainstorming with the help of Mazikeen, who came empty-handed from her research.

"But how a Saudi jinn can go to Los Angeles? I mean, there are two continents and an ocean between the two!" grumbled Ella, who scratched her head, frustrated.

"That's an excellent question... I'm not familiar with the Arabic magical world, much to my chagrin!" sighed Lucifer.

Trixie, who laid on the sofa, looked at the ceiling, a slight frown on her face. She really wanted to help her mum, but she did not know how... until an idea popped into her mind.

"Mum..."

"What, Trixie?"

"I wonder... What if the boy's family appealed to a jinn to avenge him? It can explain how the jinn arrives here..."

The five adults looked at each other with amazement: they obviously did not think about this possibility!

"Of course! How can I forget this?" exclaimed Lucifer.

"By answering to their prayers, he would not only avenge the boy but also make the scientists pay for the destruction of his temple!" concluded Ella.

"That's right, but I have to mention something: jinn need a human vessel to travel such a long distance. Like this, those spirits can save their energy and powers!" described Peter.

"It can be everyone else! How can we unmask him?" asked Trixie.

"Don't worry about it: I would recognize him without a doubt!"

"Okay, but now we had to find him before he exterminates the remaining members of the scientific team!" said Mazikeen.

Suddenly, Chloe's phone rang.

"Hello?"

**"Chloe? It's Dan!"**

"I'm listening..."

**"It's about the case you work on... I have some news for you!"**

"Go ahead!"

**"First of all, we had a janitor from the lab who said that he remembered seeing someone roaming near the building many times. He cannot give us a name, but the description matches with Terry Bradford, an ex-convict. He was often arrested for acts of violence and was among the suspects of a drug dealer's murder case."**

"Uh, interesting. What else?"

**"I don't think you're ready for this one, but do you remember the boy who was injured by the scientists in Saudi Arabia?"**

"Of course, why?"

**"Well, my contact in the Saudi embassy told me that Yassin was declared missing for one and a half weeks."**

"MISSING?" exclaimed Peter, Lucifer, Trixie, Ella, and Mazikeen.

"But that's impossible! He is in a coma!"

**"He is supposed to, but the nurses found his bed empty. Since then, they searched him everywhere but in vain!"**

"Oh, I feel that I'm going crazy. Do you have anything else?"

**"No, except that I'm searching for Bradford: his probation agent did not see him for several days!**"

"Okay, I got it: be careful!"

**"Don't worry: I'll manage, as always! Good luck!"**

After she hung up, Chloe asked:

"Have you heard the news?"

"Yes, and it turns this investigation into a brain-teaser! Now, we had another suspect!" sighed Ella.

Peter turned to his son and asked:

"Do you have any idea about it, son?"

"I'm trying to put the pieces together, but it's more complicated than I thought..."

Suddenly, the King of Hell had an eye-opener.

"Of course! How I did not think about it before?"

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me if I'm wrong, Papa, but jinns can manipulate people too, right?"

"Of course."

"So, he must have taken possession of Yassin's body, traveled from Saudi Arabia, and hypnotized Bradford, forcing him to kidnap the scientists!"

"This is a good analysis, son! You'll never cease to impress me!" fondly smiled Peter.

"Okay, so we must find the jinn and Bradford before they kill another victim. But, where can we find them?"

"They need an isolated place to accomplish their crimes..."

"I know! The former industrial site near the docks! It's abandoned for years!" shrieked Ella.

"Alright, let's check there! We'll probably have answers!" declared Lucifer, who got from his seat.

"I'm coming with you!" shouted Trixie, but her mother stopped her.

"Not so fast, young lady! You stay here: it's too dangerous!"

"Mommy, we live with Satan himself: there is no danger!" stated the young girl.

"She can come with me: I promise to look after her as if she was the apple of my eyes !" assured Peter.

"Trust my Papa, Chloe: the last one who dared scared his children is still traumatized by his anger!" affirmed the fallen angel.

"I confirm: he is as scary as God!" nodded Mazikeen.

"If you say so... Okay, let's go: we don't have time to lose!"

Soon after, the team drove to the former industrial site, hoping to prevent another murder.

"I never handle a jinn, so I don' know what to do!" admitted Chloe.

"Me neither, and I don't know Koran!" added Ella.

"Don't worry about the jinn, and focus on Bradford! Lucifer, Mazikeen, and I will take care of the jinn!"

"Are you going to hurt him? What if you hurt the boy instead?" asked Trixie, worried.

"You don't have to worry, Trixie: we'll handle it!" smiled Mazikeen.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Then, they wandered through the buildings, searching for the jinn.

"Do you see anything?" asked Ella.

"Not yet, but I'm sure we're not far from them!" mumbled Lucifer.

As they progressed, they bumped into Dan.

"Dan? What are you doing here?" whispered Chloe.

"I can ask you the same... And why Trixie is here?"

"Because my dad wanted so, and now, shut up and be useful for once in your stupid life!" snarled Lucifer.

Peter gently patted his shoulder.

"Calm down, son: it's okay! Now, let's go! I feel that they are not far from here!"

The group silently walked until they heard a painful scream.

"Oh, I hope we're not too late!" 

"The scream comes from this building! Let's go!" said Chloe.

They came closer to the building and watched through a hole in the wall the remaining scientists, hanged by the arms at a butcher's hook. Circling near them, a tall blonde muscular man held a baseball bat in his hand, while an Arab teenage boy stood in front of them, a stern look on his face.

"We found them! It looks like the jinn wants to play with them before the fatal blow!" uttered Ella.

"We need to intervene before he burns someone else!" rustled Dan as he pulled his gun out of its holder.

"Who do you think you are? John Wayne? Can't you just think before you act, idiot?" snapped Lucifer.

"Shh, low your voice! If they heard us, we're doomed!" whined Trixie.

Meanwhile, the scientists begged for their lives.

"Please, don't kill us! We'll do anything you want!" pleaded a dark-haired man.

"SILENCE! All of you don't deserve my mercy, filthy humans!" growled Yassin with an unusual booming voice.

For sure, this voice did not belong to a fourteen years old young man.

"The power of his voice... It's not a common jinn we deal with: I'm sure it's a jinn-king!" muttered Peter.

"A jinn-king?" asked Dan.

"Yes, I'm afraid so... What is the plan?"

"We'll follow your idea: Dan, Ella, and I, we deal with Bradford. As for you, Mazikeen, and Lucifer, you focus on the jinn!" declared Chloe.

"It's good for me!"

The team split into two groups and prepared to intervene as the jinn was about to slay another victim.

"How could you be so stupid? Didn't you think you could run away from your crimes without facing the consequences?"

"Please, have mercy!" cried his soon-to-be victim.

"You begged me to have mercy? Did you show any compassion for the boy you harmed? None of you ever show commiseration for him!"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by the entrance of the team.

"Nobody move! Time to stop the fire!" ordered Dan as he aimed his gun at Yassin.

The possessed boy gave him an arrogant smile:

"Look who we got here! You must be stupid or too proud to dare to threaten a jinn, Daniel Espinoza!"

"How do you know my name?" asked the latter, confused.

"He is a spiritual being, Dan: it explains how he knows you!" told Mazikeen.

"Indeed, Mazikeen of the Lilim. I see that you don't lose your strength!"

"Do you want a demonstration?"

"No, I'd rather not."

He turned to Lucifer and smirked:

"What a surprise! I do not expect the King of Hell among us tonight! Nice to meet you, Lucifer Morningstar! Or should I say, Samael the Lightbringer? The fallen one?"

"Thank you for revealing my CV, mister King-Jinn! But the manners command to tell us your name!" snickered Lucifer.

"Try to guess!" mocked the jinn.

Peter stepped between his son and the jinn and said:

"I think I know who you are, King-Jinn Murrah Al-Abyad! Or should I say King-Jinn Al-Abyad, the White Demon?"

"Oh, interesting! I certainly did not foresee such prestigious guests!"

"What if you show your true form? I am not comfortable speaking with a possessed child!"

"As you wish!"

In front of the humans' bewildered eyes appeared a handsome brown-haired man. His ivory skin contrasted with his ebony eyes. 

He was dressed in a sumptuous Oriental outfit: a dark red sleeveless vest that revealed a toned chest and a pair of crimson pants with embroidered flames. He wore golden bracelets around his wrists and ankles, plus a golden circlet with a shining ruby on his head.

"Undoubtedly, he is a King-Jinn!" muttered Trixie, who was hiding behind Lucifer.

"Indeed, urchin. And he loves to show off!" scoffed the demon.

Meantime, Peter and Al-Abyad talked:

"So, I finally meet God's beloved spouse, Petraeus the Benevolent! I've heard a lot about you, but I admit that I never saw your face until tonight!"

"Do I disappoint your expectations?"

"Not even the slightest. If truth be told, I expect Goddess's successor to be as powerful as she was! That said, no creature anticipates the Almighty falling in love with a man, as it is supposed to be a sin!"

Peter rolled his eyes:

"Thank you, I have noticed! But only humans said that, not my husband! But, you might guess that we're not here to talk about my marriage!"

"I figured it out: you're here to obstruct my punishment against those maggots!"

The celestial spirit nodded.

"I appreciate your concern about them, but you better mind your own business: I am offended, so they have to pay the price!"

"I got it: it was your temple which gets destroyed!" said Chloe.

"You're right, Miss Chloe Decker. But I assure you that I would have done little more than tormenting them if they did not act like cowards!"

The jinn furiously glanced at the scientists who were shivering with fear.

"But no... They wounded a child and made a family suffering because of their greed! You would understand that I cannot let this misdemeanor pass!"

"I understand what you mean, and I agree that they deserve a sentence for their misdeed. But I can't let you kill those humans like that: it's not fair!"

The jinn roared.

"You think THIS is not fair? But I'm doing what your so-called almighty husband should have done earlier instead of being passive. Self-judgment? Ah! What a pathetic excuse he hides behind!"

Trixie walked near the jinn and tried to calm him:

"Mister King-Jinn, I think Peter tries to tell you that there is no need to burn people alive!"

"NO TRIXIE, STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" yelled Dan, but Bradford stood in his way and tried to hit him.

"Back off, you jerk!" yelled Chloe, who kicked the thug in the head, knocking him out.

As for the jinn, his expression softened when he saw the young girl talking to him.

"What do you mean, Beatrix?"

"I mean... You did not need to kill people to punish them. There are different ways. I know you only did that for helping a young boy, and I'm sure your people are grateful to have you as a protector. But please, stop! I promise that my mama would punish them for what they did... And you can count on her for that!"

"My little monkey!" smiled Chloe.

Peter stepped near Trixie and added:

"You know children: they cannot lie."

Al-Abyad sighed.

"I know, but... No one would dare lay their hands on a child without suffering my wrath!"

"I know what you mean. I would be enraged to the core if anyone ever threatens my children. I know we are not linked by blood, but I love them like my own, and I would do anything to punish the culprit who made them miserable! You can ask Astaroth: now, he will think twice before considering attacking Azrael again."

He put his hand on the jinn's shoulder.

"End your crusade of anger, and let us handle this case. I swear they will face justice!"

Al-Abyad stayed silent for a long time, lost in his thoughts: he craved so much making those criminals enduring torments for their negligence. Nevertheless, he knew Petraeus's reputation as a dutiful man, and the jinn knew that if he said anything, he would keep his word.

Sighing, he conceded:

"Fine, you won! I'll let you deal with those pathetic creatures. But you better keep your promise, or I'll come back to finish my work!"

"Don't worry, I save a special spot for them in my kingdom!" sadistically smirked Lucifer, his eyes glowing red.

Satisfied by the answer, the jinn declared:

"Then, I shall go!"

"Wait, mister Al-Abyad!" exclaimed Trixie.

"What is it, Beatrix?"

"What about Yassin? Will he be alright?"

A small smile appeared on the jinn's face.

"Have no fear for him, little one. Yassin would be fine... and that's why I leave him to you: I want him to see that you will help him!"

"Understood."

"Very well. Goodbye, and may fate be kind to you!"

And he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

"Well, that was an unusual encounter!" sighed Ella.

"Unusual? You mean unbelievable? Damn it, Ella: we met a jinn! A creature that only exists in fairytales!" squealed Dan.

"I'm sure Al-Abyad would be delighted to hear that!" sneered Lucifer.

At the same time, Yassin slowly opened his eyes. Looking at his surroundings, he realized that he was no longer at home and started panicking:

"'ayn 'anaa? limadha 'iinaa huna? 'ayn waliday?" (Where am I? Why am I here? Where are my parents?)

Peter hurried and held the young boy in his arms, one of his hands gently cradling Yassin's head.

"Everything is okay, Yassin. Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise."

The teenager sobbed:

"'amiy ... 'urid 'an 'araa 'ami!" (Mum... I want to see my mother!)

Gently wiping away the tears that rolled down Yassin's cheeks, the celestial spirit soothed the young boy:

"Shh, don't cry. You will see your mother soon. I'll stay here with you, I promise!"

"I am here, too!" added Trixie, who sat near Yassin and held his hand in comfort.

When he saw this scene, it reminded Lucifer of painful memories: he saw himself as a young child, weeping after his mother rejected him for the umptieth time. 

He also remembered the warm embrace of Peter, who tried to comfort him. He heard his voice, calm and loving, who repeated that he will always be there for him and he'll always love him.

Coming close to her boyfriend, Chloe asked:

"Are you okay?"

The demon put himself together and said:

"Yes, absolutely."

"You seemed... touched."

Lucifer sighed:

"Maybe because... I remembered why my dad made the right choice, billions of years ago!"

Puzzled, Chloe turned and saw her daughter and Peter, comforting Yassin as paramedics checked on him.

She smiled:

"I see what you mean... Your father is a great person."

"Yes, indeed. My mama is the best man in the universe, and I won't tell otherwise!"

A few days later.

The group was gathered at Chloe's home to celebrate their success. Bradford was put in jail for his collusion in the murders. The remaining teammates of the research group were complied to pay damages to Yassin.

Speaking of the young boy, he flew back to Saudi Arabia, where he was warmly welcomed by his family and many people. He was even received by the royal family!

"It ended well, at least! I'm so happy to get some rest!" smiled Ella, sipping her glass of soda.

"So am I! But I'm sure we would never find out without Peter's help!" added Chloe.

"Don't depreciate your work! You did an amazing job, and I only contributed to help you!" humbly answered Peter.

"You are too cool! And charismatic!" beamed Trixie.

"Thank you, my dear!"

Suddenly, a small ball of light appeared in the room. It flew through the room before stopping in front of Peter. Then, it puts a piece of paper in his hand before disappearing.

"What was that?" asked Dan, utterly amazed.

"Let's see..." muttered Peter, who unfolded the note and read the following message:

Come back to me, my love. I need your presence by my side as huge as your absence makes my heart ache for you. Eternally yours. Your devoted husband.

"It looks like someone misses you!" smirked Mazikeen.

"What can I say? He is lost without me!" laughed Peter.

"Does it mean you have to leave?" pouted Trixie.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I promise to come here as soon as I can!"

He greeted the others goodbye before holding his son:

"Take care of you, my little demon!"

"Don't worry, Papa: I'll be careful!"

As he waved goodbye, the celestial spirit disappeared in a flash of light.

Even if he wished to spend more time with his father, Lucifer knew that Petraeus would come back one day or another. And this day, he would welcome him with open arms, like a good son... 

Thank you for the reading!

I hope you liked it!

Can’t wait to see your requests and don’t hesitate to give your opinion (respectfully, please!)

See you later! 😘🥰💝

[the-delta-42]

Give me a hand

Give me a hand

Follow up of Armed

Marinette gingerly poked her sketchbook with a pencil. The darkness surrounding the book didn’t transfer over to the pencil.

“Should we tear it?” Asked Alix, watching Marinette carefully pick the book up.

“No, I’d rather not damage any of the designs I have in it.” Said Marinette, staring down at the sketchbook, “Funny, I’m pretty sure he’d would’ve started talking by now.”

Lila grunted against Kim, who was sitting on her.

“Kim, why don’t you put her in a closet.” Said Marinette, looking over at the two.

“Nah, I’m alright here.” Said Kim, folding his arms.

“Kim.”

Kim froze, before getting off of Lila and unceremoniously throwing her in a cupboard.

After a few seconds, the sketchbook flashed white and purified butterfly flew out.

“Did Hawkmoth just…?” Asked Alya, as Marinette’s eyes narrowed.

“Purify his own Akuma?” Said Marinette, “Yes, but why?”

Meanwhile across the city, Hawkmoth was trying to understand what happened.

“Why did it de-evilise itself?!”

Back at the classroom, Marinette stood up and put her sketchbook back in her bag. She turned around and folded her arms across her chest.

“That was…” Marinette trailed off.

“Anti-climactic?” Asked Alya.

“Quick?” Suggested Rose.

“Weird?” Said Alix.

“All of the above.” Said Marinette, absently starting to wander around.

“How are you not freaking out?” Asked Kim, “You literally had your arm ripped off last Friday, Lila’s been lying about you for ages and now Hawkmoth released an Akuma.”

“I’m better at hiding it.” Came Marinette distracted response, before she shook her head and straightened up, “I’m going for a walk.”

“Do you want-” Alya was cut off by Marinette.

“No, I’ll be alright.” Said Marinette, as she walked out the door.

“Does Marinette seem… off to anyone else?” asked Kim, looking around the class.

“No, I didn’t notice anything,” Said Alix, sarcastically, “except, perhaps, she’s minus an arm and literally just found out one of her classmates was actively trying to kill her, other than that, she seemed fine.”

GMAH

Marinette’s legs dangled off the school roof, the odd passer-by would spot her and stop to take a photo. There was a quiet thud behind her, Marinette carefully strained her ears, trying to figure out who it was without giving away that she knew.

“Bunking class, M’Lady?” Asked Chat, as he plopped down beside her.

“Pot, kettle.” Retorted Marinette, looking down at her arm.

Chat laughed, tilting his head back, swinging his legs back and forth. There was a silence between the two.

“Chat?” Asked Marinette, suddenly getting Chat’s attention.

“Yeah?” Said Chat, tilting his head towards her.

“How-how did you feel when you found out who I was?” Asked Marinette, her gaze on the ground below them.

“I, uh, well, um, well I, for one, not that anyone else’s opinion is worth any less,” Stammered Chat, his face heading up, “I, I was glad it was you. You know, since er, since there were rumours that Chloe was you, and, um, and I know that Chloe leaves a lot to be desired.”

Marinette giggled, before leaning over and resting her head on Chat’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Kitty,” Said Marinette, as tears gathered in her eyes, “I needed to hear that.”

“W-well it’s the truth.” Said Chat, leaning into the touch.

Marinette closed her eyes and sighed, trying not to focus on the cold metal against the scarring on her stump, she kept seeing the Akuma’s smirk every time she closed her eyes. The sound of Chat’s heartbeat helped calm her down, especially after her arm had been taken from her.

“You mean a lot to me, Chat.” Said Marinette, her eyes still closed.

Chat blushed, he was insanely happy that his lady was saying that he was important to her, but he didn’t want to get between her and the boy she loved. He knew that Luka was interested in her, and there was the mystery boy she spoke about.

“I’ve actually had some time to think about everything,” Said Marinette, her eyes still closed, “I actually thought I was in love with that boy I told you about, but he’s only properly seen me since Piledriver, if my arm hadn’t been ripped off, I’d still be invisible to Adrien.”

Chat froze, looking down at Marinette, “I mean, he sees me as just a friend, and he values me as a friend, but every time I tried to get him to see me as anything else he gets the wrong impression, it’s hopeless and, I think I see him the same way.”

Chat remained silent, internally screaming, Marinette opened her eyes and looked up at him, “I, I think that the feelings I had were for you and I was just projecting them onto Adrien. I, I love you, Chat, I think I always have.”

Chat’s face was red, “Oh,” He squeaked, fiddling with his ring, “thanks?”

Marinette giggled, before she caught the time, “Oh, fuck, I need to get back to school!”

Quickly transforming and swinging away, Ladybug left Chat on the rooftop. Chat felt like a puddle, a hot mess of a puddle. “She loves me.” Whispered Chat, before scrambling to his feet, “I need to catch up with her.”

GMAH

Ladybug dove through the window and dropped her transformations. Ms. Mendeleiev and her class stared at her.

“Oops, sorry,” Apologised Marinette, quickly heading to the door, “wrong window.”

Marinette exited the room, before there was a loud thump and a squeaking sound as Chat Noir hit the window and slowly slid down. Aurore stopped recording when Chat disappeared from view.

“Anyway, back to the laws of physics.” Said Mendeleiev, making everyone look back to the front.

GMAH

Marinette quietly apologised as she entered the room, before sitting in her place next to Alya.

“Where’s Adrien?” Asked Marinette, frowning at Adrien’s empty seat.

“Apparently his dad has some Photoshoot arranged.” Said Alya, making Adrien stop outside the door.

‘Oh, shit, I forgot about the photoshoot.’ Thought Adrien, before spinning around and taking off.

Marinette could’ve sworn that she saw a flash of green light outside the school.

GMAH

It’d been a week since Adrien found out that Marinette loved him and every time he’d approached her as Adrien had ended in disaster, the most recent one being that he threw up on her. She had taken him to the nurse, after changing clothes of course.

Why couldn’t he approach her as Chat?

Adrien froze, before grinning and he started to head out of the room, “Plagg!”

GMAH

Marinette wrinkled her nose as she dug a bit of vomit out of her arm. Honestly, what had Adrien been eating? It was like he had eaten nothing by grain from a bag. A loud bang made Marinette jump and accidently throw the wooden skewer she’d been using. Marinette looked at the window, she caught a glimpse of a pair of cat ears sliding out of view towards the ground.

“Chat?” Asked Marinette, getting to her feet and heading to the window.

Said Hero suddenly resurfaced and drew level with the window. Marinette noticed the rose in his mouth and the bruise from where he’d slammed against the window was blossoming over his nose.

“…Are you okay?” Asked Marinette, as Chat rubbed his nose.

“I think so.” Said Chat, as some blood trickled out of his nose.

Marinette sighed, before grabbing Chat by his bell and dragged him inside, “Sit there.”

Marinette walked off to fetch the first aid kit, leaving Chat to nervously sit in the middle of her room and wait for her to return.

“How many times have you hit the window now?” Asked Marinette, setting the first aid kit down and tilting Chat’s head back, “Your nose isn’t broken, at least I don’t think it is.”

“It’s not,” Said Chat, as Marinette started cleaning up the blood, “A friend of mine broke their nose once.”

“A nose can be broken without it looking broken.” Said Marinette, grimacing as a blob of blood slid out of Chat’s nose and onto the tissue.

“My nose doesn’t hurt when poked.” Said Chat, as Marinette removed the tissue.

“What are you doing here?” Asked Marinette, glancing up at Chat, “I thought you had the night off.”

“I do, I, er, um, Iwanttoapologiseforthrowinguponyou!” Marinette blinked as Chat’s words blurred into one.

“What?”

“I want to apologise for throwing up on you.” Repeated Chat, breathing deeply, unable to remember what he actually planned on saying.

“Throwing up on me? Chaton, you didn’t throw up on me, Adrien di…” Marinette trailed off, before her eyes went wide, “AdriEN?!”

Chat suddenly tensed and swore.

[esmealux]

Ship: Sailing

Part: 1 / 1 (But you can read it as a sequel to this piece.)

Setting: After 5x06

Word count: 1.6K

Rating: T

Summary: Ella finds out her OTP is finally happening. Or, Lucifer bragging about finally having sex with Chloe, Ella fangirling over it, and Chloe being horny so done with them.

Author’s note: I wrote this before watching 5x07, i.e. before seeing Ella’s actual reaction, so consider this an alternative take on it.

‘Hey, Ella,’ Chloe greets her as she walks into the lab, coffee in hand. Ella greets her back before holding up a crucial piece of evidence. ‘Okay, so I wiped the keys you found for prints, and guess wha-’ As Ella lifts her head to see her co-worker’s reaction when she tells her they have a new lead, she realises she isn’t listening; her face is turned away, an anxious look on her face. Or is it excited? Following her line of sight to see what, or who, has Chloe’s attention, she spots a familiar three-piece suit through the cracks between the blinds. Ella smiles knowingly. ‘So, Chloe, did you and Lucifer finally-

‘Good morning, miss Lopez!’

‘Well, speak of the Devil, I guess,’ Ella quips when Lucifer enters the room… with an unprecedentedly cheerful look on his face. She waits for his reaction to her remark, a nod of approval for playing along with his whole ‘I’m the devil’-thing, but this co-worker doesn’t seem to listen either. His eyes are fixed on Chloe, an ear-to-ear grin on his face. She smiles right back at him, their bodies leaning towards each other, like two magnets. Two in looove magnets. Chloe takes a sip of her Starbucks order, her eyes lingering on Lucifer, who is staring hypnotised at her lips. Something definitely went down between them. But then why didn’t they get here together?

‘So… you two didn’t come together today?’ She asks, making it sound more like a question than a statement. Her lips curve slightly upwards against her will, and she fails to hide the excitement in her eyes.

Chloe almost chokes on her coffee. Meanwhile, a complacent smirk slowly spreads on Lucifer’s face. ‘Oh, we came together, Miss Lopez,’ he informs her, looking smugger and… happier than Ella’s ever seen him. ‘Quite a few times actually,’ he shamelessly adds under his breath as he directs his smirk at Chloe. She’s coughing, her hand clutched to her chest; with a ‘Dearie me’ Lucifer places his hand on her back and looks at her with genuine concern. ‘Are you okay, Detective? Do you need anything?’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Ella reassures him. She needs answers. ‘I just- Are you saying what I think you’re saying?!’ Her smile grows bigger with every word. ‘Did you two-’ She lets her eyes slide back and forth between her friends. Lucifer moves an inch closer to Chloe, his hand gliding down Chloe’s back, only to brush his fingers discretely, or so he thinks, against her butt as he lets out a deep, satisfied sigh. ‘Mm-hmm.’

Oh. Ehm. Gee. Her Deckerstar dreams are coming true. Ella needs more information.

‘Finally!’ She exclaims, earning a look of agreement from Lucifer. ‘I mean, that’s huge, you guys! So tell me…’ She says, pushing aside some evidence, carefully of course, as she places her arms on the table and leans forward. ‘How was it?’ She cocks her eye, focusing on Chloe. (Ella notices her friend’s make-up is a little smudged, but the ‘freshly boned’-glow really works for her). Chloe doesn’t answer her question. Instead, she looks up at Lucifer, who’s standing even closer to her now, and shakes her head, followed by a classic Chloe eye roll. Ella does notice just the hint of a smile, though.

‘Oh, spit it out, Decker!’ Ella demands, crossing her arms. Lucifer casts a glance at her before looking at Chloe again. ‘Yes, Detective. How was it?’

Chloe sighs and places her cup on the table. ‘Well, there’s nothing to tell. It was just sex,’ she tells them, now failing massively to hide her smile.

‘Just sex?’ Ella repeats sceptically, trying to give Chloe her best ‘I know you’re lying and that you’re the murderer’-face (it’s not as good as Chloe’s, though). Lucifer chuckles and scoffs. ‘“Just sex”. Preposterous. I believe the words “best I ever had” were used.’ He puffs out his chest and grins, proud.

‘Well, of course it was! You two are crazy about each other – and that makes it tha best kind of sex!’

Chloe opens her mouth only to close it again. She clears her throat. Then she opens her mouth again. ‘Well, no, I mean, yes, but-’ She’s interrupted by Ella’s squeal and a pleased ‘See?’ from Lucifer. Chloe closes her eyes for a second, sighing, before she continues. ‘But I believe Lucifer,’ she turns her head to face him as she enounces his name, “was the one to use the words “best I ever had”.’ He beams at her unapologetically and smoothly steps behind her, placing both hands on her hips as he leans down to whisper in her ear. ‘Well, you might not have used those exact words, Detective, but you did…’

Ella can’t hear the last bit, but whatever it is, it makes Chloe blush and mouth fall slightly open. They both chuckle quietly together, Lucifer nuzzling his nose against the side of Chloe’s face. When their eyes land on Ella, she sees a mixture of confusion and concern on their faces. Apparently, she was staring. She can’t help it; the OTP feels are hitting her, and they’re hitting her hard.

‘Miss Lopez, are you alright?’ Lucifer asks her, his hands still on Chloe’s hips. She notices how he’s snuck his fingers underneath Chloe’s – or his own, it seems – shirt and is lightly brushing her side with the tip of his fingers.

‘What? No, I’m totes okay, are you crazy? You guys are the cutest! I’m so happy for you,’ she tells them, propping her head on her now folded hands as she smiles at them.

‘Thanks, Ella.’ Chloe smiles back at her before turning her body just a tad so she can look up into Lucifer’s twinkling, brown eyes. Her hand slides up his forearm, slowly and lovingly. ‘I’m happy for us too,’ she admits quietly. Lucifer’s lips part and the softest smile forms on his face. He looks… emotional. Are his eyes a little damp? Adorbs.

‘Uhm,’ Chloe mutters, taking her eyes of Lucifer, who continues to look at her like she’s everything he never knew he wanted. Her hand slides back down his forearm and into his hand. Their fingers intertwine. Ella’s afraid her lips might be stuck in a stupid grin for the rest of the day. ‘Would you mind not telling anyone about this?’ Chloe asks, raising her and Lucifer’s hands a little between them. ‘Just for now?’

Ella nods, still entranced. She’ll gladly keep her mouth shut if it means the two lovebirds get a little more undisturbed time in their bubble. ‘Of course.’

‘Thanks,’ Chloe whispers, before letting her gaze glide back to her tall, dark and handsome boyfriend. They seriously can’t keep their eyes off each other. Nor their hands, it seems; Lucifer’s index finger is tracing patterns on Chloe’s thigh, their hands still locked. Meanwhile, Chloe’s free hand is on Lucifer’s lower back, clenching his suit jacket. Their eyes are sparkling with warmth and joy… and love? Suddenly Ella feels like she’s invading their privacy.

‘I’ll give you guys a minute.’

She starts walking towards the door, getting a double-shot of Lucifer’s signature scent as she passes her two friends. Neither of them seem to notice that she’s leaving. Just as she’s about to open the door and make her exit, she turns around towards them, clearing her throat. They stop whatever conversation they’re having with their eyes to look at her. ‘Just a tiny tip. If you don’t want people to know about you two, you know, shagging,’ Ella imitates Lucifer’s British accent, and the power couple share a glance and a chuckle, like there’s an inside joke. ‘Well, maybe think about, like, freshin’ up your make-up a little, Chloe. And you might also want to put on a shirt that doesn’t look like you picked it up from a certain Mr. Morningstar’s floor,’ Ella pauses to wink at Lucifer, who’s never looked more delighted. ‘Also, his cologne is aaaall over you. Oh, and,’ Ella begins to add as she notices something from this new angle. ‘That’s a really nice shade on you, Lucifer.’ She gestures to her own neck to show him what she means, but he doesn’t seem to listen to that bit.

‘She smells like me?’ Lucifer asks, clearly satisfied. As he breathes his partner in, she rolls her eyes and tries to cover up the dark lipstick marks visible above his collar. ‘Oh, buttoning up now, are we? Funny, ‘cause in the car you couldn’t rip it open fast enough.’ Lucifer chuckles. Chloe shakes her head and palms her face.

‘In the car?!’ Ella exclaims, maybe a little too loudly. ‘I get it, girlfriend. Once you get a piece of this,’ she gestures towards Lucifer and clicks her tongue, ‘how can you get enough?’

Lucifer grins at Ella. ‘I sure hope she can’t.’ Chloe tries feigning annoyance, but she can’t help but bite her lip and look at him hungrily. She’s totally already thinking about when she’ll be able to jump his bones again.

‘Anyway, just thought I’d remind you that pretty much everyone here are, like, literal pros at piecing two and two together, and you, my good friends, are screaming ‘guilty’ – guilty in having had mind-blowing sex all night.’ She watches their faces as Lucifer’s grin grows even wider with a delighted ‘Oh’ and Chloe’s cheeks turn slightly red. ‘I’m just gonna grab a hot chocolate. Please don’t have sex on the evidence while I’m gone. This case has enough butt prints already.’

Before the door closes shut behind her, Ella hears Chloe playfully scolding Lucifer. ‘What did I say about being smug?’

‘How could I not be?’ He defends himself, and there’s that soft lovey-dovey voice again. Ella has never heard Lucifer talk like that until today. Just before the door clicks, she hears the sound of a kiss.

Ship: Sailing.

Day: Made.

[itsthegameilike]

Best Books of 2020

Hi all! As always, I read some banger books this year and I like to do my best to get like everyone in the world to read them, because they’re deserving and being an author is hard. So, without further ado, here are the books that made my year! There Will Come a Darkness/As the Shadow Rises--Katy Rose Pool A pretty standard fantasy YA fare, but a step above in character and entertainment. There’s a world-ending prophecy, of course, and a collection of kids trying to save the day, but the world building is excellent and the plot develops from the characters and their relationships, not the other way around. I have characters I would die for and the second book in the series didn’t fall into the typical mid series lag. 8/10. The Lost Future of Pepperharrow--Natasha Pulley This was a follow up to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which is another of my personal favorites, and this did not disappoint. I, in fact, like it better than the first. Set in Japan in the late 1800s, it is part ghost story and mystery, as Thaniel’s--the main character--love interest goes missing, his past having caught up to him. Thaniel is so relatable and his devotion and relationship with Mori could carry me through like forty more books exactly like this. I don’t want to give it away, but it’s one of the most satisfying historical fiction queer relationships I’ve ever read. 10/10.

The Vanished Birds--Simon Jimenez A space odyssey story that hits closer to home for me than most do, as I’m not typically a science fiction fan. There are aspects of time and space travel, leaving the main character outside of normal space and time, meaning most of her friends have aged and died past her. Eventually, she meets a boy, lost and alone, and grudgingly takes him in. They form a bond, but he has a secret and it ends up wrecking her ship, her crew, etc. but she does her best to keep him safe anyway. The plot is incredible, lots of twists and turns--the good kind--and I’m more than a slut for found family stories, so here we are. 9/10.

Upstream--Mary Oliver This is an essay collection by Mary Oliver and like everything by her, it changed my life just a little. Before this year, I wasn’t reading her every day and now I am. She offers much needed perspective and the tools for self healing and this short essay collection is such a simple way to get started. I loved it to pieces, just as I love her. 10/10.

The Autobiography of Red--Anne Carson I read a fuckton of Anne Carson this year. I encountered her on this site and decided to read as much as I could and I have no regrets. This was my favorite by her, but they’re all so so so good. This is a modern retelling of a Greek myth starring Herakles and Geryon, centered on their relationship and Geryon’s journey to discovering his own power. There are times when it is incredibly harrowing, but I stopped like every two pages just to process her way with words. This is the most English major offering of the year, as it works heavily in metaphor and allegory--and is also poetry--but it is worth it. 10/10. P.S. If you’re looking for more Anne Carson, I also highly recommend The Beauty of the Husband.

This is How You Lose the Time War--Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone God, I loved this book. Maybe the surprise of the year for me. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the tropes are some of my favorites. Two women on opposite sides of a war who fall in love with each other through hidden messages and a happy-ish ending. Though it is more vignettes than an actual plot--that being said, the ending comes through--it still affected me intensely. 9/10.

The House in the Cerulean Sea--T.J. Klune Read this book, please. Please, please, please. It is the comfort you need, I promise. It’s about a weary man, stuck in the hell cycle of capitalism, who is sent on a job to an old, rickety house owned by a man who takes care of magical creatures/children than no one else will take care of. They fall in love and the mc finds a family and begins to enjoy his life. The relationship is so healing and cute and I spent half my time screaming and the other half crying. 10/10.

Gideon the Ninth/Harrow the Ninth--Tamsyn Muir I do not even know where to begin talking about these. They’re weird, hilarious, morbid, and absolutely wonderful. I would die for both mc’s, who are definitely halfway through an incredible enemies-friends-lovers plot, and this book surprised me with plot twists more than once. There are necromancers and bones and sacrifices and threesomes with God and queer characters up the wazoo and old, dangerous ruins and space and ugh. I reread these almost the second I finished--both of them--and I know I’ll need to reread before the last book comes out. 10/10.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home--Carol Rifka Brunt I gave this to every member of my family to read, almost directly after I sobbed for like forty-five minutes at the end. It’s from the POV of a young girl whose uncle dies of AIDS and can’t find comfort in her own family, because they didn’t like him nearly as much as she did. She becomes friends with the boyfriend he left behind and they heal each other through their friendship. It wrecked me and put me back together. 10/10.

These Violent Delights--Chloe Gong This book is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet in Shanghai...loosely. But it’s such a good read. Shanghai is so visceral it’s practically it’s own character and the threat of the monster lose in the city is genuinely terrifying. Juliette and Roma were together at one point, then broke up after a betrayal, and when they come back together to save the city, it creates such an interesting character dynamic that never lost my interest. Lots and lots of props too to the relationship between the Benvolio & Mercutio counterparts. I cannot wait for the continuation of that in the next book. Just...so good. 9/10.

Honorable Mentions: A Deadly Education-Naomi Novak, The Only Good Indians-Stephen Graham Jones, The Memory of Babel-Christelle Dabos (only here because it’s the 3rd book in a series, it’s a 10/10), Black Leopard Red Wolf-Marlon James, The Eye of the Heron-Ursula K Le Guin, and Fifty Words for Rain-Asha Lemmie

[aspenroman]

first dates and milkshakes (Poppy X MC)

Summary: By now, Belvoire’s worst kept secret is that MC and Poppy have been hooking up for weeks. Everyone knows, although no one dares say anything. One day though, MC works up the courage to finally take Poppy on a date. 

Tag: @simpforpoppy

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: I wanted to create something short and cute for Poppy after this week’s chapter haha. It’s short but hopefully it’ll hold you over until I can get the second part of my Poppy fic done. #MakePoppyALI2020. Hope you guys enjoy:)

As she lays in Poppy’s bed, MC feels her emotions ricochet around in her chest. They’d had sex a few hours ago, but hadn’t bothered to change or get out of bed. It was a Thursday anyways, and the duo didn’t have any classes tomorrow. And although Poppy didn’t adamantly make her leave, the two generally parted ways on school nights. 

Tonight, the two lay together with the sheets haphazardly thrown over them. They’re still naked, but MC feels sated as she combs through Poppy’s mane of hair with her fingers. Occasionally, Poppy makes contented noises as she scrolls through her phone and MC is happy just sitting in the silence with her. However, there has been a thought that has been bothering for a minute.

“Pop?” MC murmurs and her fingers momentarily freeze.

The blonde glances up from her phone, “Yes, Farmsville?”

“Go on a date with me,” She blurts out.

Poppy fumbles with her phone as she drops it on her chest and turns, “What did you just say?”

“Go on a date with me,” MC says, more confidently this time, “we’ve been doing this whole thing for months. And it’s not just sex anymore, at least for me. I mean, you literally text me to hang out sometimes, just us. Everyone thinks we’re dating anyways.”

“Well, technically I’m still dating Brad,” Poppy scowls.

“Yeah, technically, you haven’t been seen with him since we took down Chloe at the club. I’m literally number 3, it’s not like your reputation will be hurt,” MC tells her.

Poppy’s eyebrows furrow together as she thinks. A moment passes before she nods, “Fine. On one condition.”

“You sound overjoyed to go on a date with me,” MC teases, “what is it Pop?”

“You take me on a Farmsville-style date. No fancy dinners or whatever, show me how a normal first date is,” Poppy turns away again and picks up her phone, “I’ve never been on a real one.”

“You want to see how the other side lives? Bet,” MC smiles.

Poppy cranes her head to look back at her, “Did you...just say the word “bet” as a response?”

“Shuddup,” MC leans down and kisses her and all of Poppy’s fight leaves her.

“Tomorrow, 7 o’clock,” MC continues, “I’ll pick you up from here.”

Poppy smiles up at her, one of her rare, genuine, unreserved smiles, “Okay.”

---

“Hi pretty girl,” MC coos as Poppy exits her dorm building.

“Hi,” Poppy’s face heats up, “thank you.”

There’s a moment of silence as MC stares at her girlfriend (well? sort of?) and takes her in. Poppy has on a very short white tennis skirt on paired with an over-sized sweater. It’s pretty casual for her, but damn do her legs look good MC thinks to herself.

“My eyes are up here,” Poppy teases and MC laughs and kisses her on the nose.

“Just enjoying the view, but I’m going to enjoy taking these off more,” MC smiles.

Poppy swats her on the arm, “Who says you’ll get that far, Farmsville? This is our first date, you have to woo me.”

“Uh huh,” MC laughs, “come on then, we’re burning daylight.”

Poppy’s nose scrunches in disgust, “Some of the words that come out of your mouth are questionable at best.”

“Y’all don’t say that here?” MC looks genuinely confused, “I thought it was a common saying.”

“Maybe for old people,” Poppy shrugs.

MC pouts and intertwines their fingers together as she starts to walk in one direction, “You guys are lame. Now come on, it’s only a few blocks away.”

Wordlessly, Poppy allows MC to pull her along until she catches up and they walk side-by-side. A few people stare at them as they leave Belvorie’s campus, but no one in particular that they recognize. Either way, MC is too absorbed in how wonderful Poppy’s small hands fit in hers and too overjoyed to break the moment. They don’t say much, MC too caught up in looking at all of the bright city lights around them. She’s been here for months but she still hasn’t gotten used to the view.

“You’re cute,” Poppy says and MC squeezes her hand.

MC smiles, “Thank you, Pop.”

Soon they reach their destination, MC watches the shorter girl’s face as she gazes up at the neon sign above them. Poppy’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion as she reads it.

“You brought me to a...Steak N’ Shake? What’s that?” Poppy says.

MC laughs, “I’ll show you. It’s a staple where I’m from.”

The duo walk inside and the only waitress, a disgruntled woman who looks like she’d rather be anywhere then here, seats them at a booth. Poppy glances around the room and takes in the retro red booths and the black and white tile that lines the walls. Chrome lines the edge of the flooring and a metal table separates them.

“Well this is something,” Poppy tells her.

“Listen, back where I’m from it’s either you go to a Steak N’ Shake to hang out or a Walmart. I figured you’d like this more,” MC says.

Poppy looks at her, “Was this where your first date was?”

“No, no. My first date was with a guy who smelt like roasted asparagus,” MC wrinkles her nose, “was stuck next to him for what feels like forever, that stupid movie was way too long.”

“Was he your friend or something?” Poppy tilts her head.

“Tinder,” MC shrugs, “small town where everyone I knew either thought I was ugly or I had already friend-zoned. Wanted to fall in love but my town was too small, so I turned to the internet. Plus, it was much easier to talk to girls on there then in real life.”

“What can I get for you guys?” The waitress materializes and interrupts them.

Poppy looks at MC helplessly and the brunette resists the urge to laugh, “A vanilla shake and a chocolate one, oh and a large fry.”

“That all?” The waitress asks.

MC nods, “Yeah, that’ll be it.”

The waitress nods but her face reads ‘oh fuck, I’m not getting a tip from this table’. MC puts on a terse smile as the waitress turns and leaves before Poppy clears her throat.

“A vanilla milkshake?” Poppy raises an eyebrow.

“I know you don’t like chocolate flavoring most of the time,” MC tells her, “plus, it’s a classic. It was either that or strawberry and I know you’re allergic to those.”

“Wait, you knew that?” Poppy’s eyes widen.

MC reaches across the table and grabs Poppy’s left hand with her own, “I do pay attention, Pop. You mentioned it a few weeks ago when you ordered that salad from that Italian place.”

Poppy smiles again, one of those special, toothy smiles where her eyes light up, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for being a decent human being,” MC waves the compliment off, “you’re my girl, I pay attention to everything you say.”

“Your girl, huh?” Poppy teases.

“I mean, uh, yeah if you’d like to be,” MC rubs circles onto Poppy’s hand, “I really like you, Poppy. And I know it’s only our first date but...”

“No. I like it,” Poppy interrupts, “It has a nice ring to it.”

MC leans across the table and with her free hand she grabs Poppy’s chin and pulls her to her so they can kiss. It’s a chaste and quick kiss, but when MC pulls away she’s smiling. A few minutes later, their food arrives and MC starts to open her straw before she places the straw in her mouth and faces Poppy.

“What are yo-” Poppy starts before MC blows hard on the straw and the wrapper flies into Poppy’s face.

“Got you,” MC giggles and Poppy blinks slowly.

“You’re dead to me, Farmsville,” Poppy says dramatically and pulls her hand away from her girlfriend’s.

MC sticks her tongue out, “Be that way then, fine.”

A beat passes.

“Can I hold your hand again?” Poppy murmurs and if MC wasn’t so close, she wouldn’t have hurt it.

To her credit, MC doesn’t antagonize her as she reaches across the table and intertwines their fingers again. With her free hand, Poppy places her straw in her shake and takes a sip.

“This is good, but why the fries?” Poppy asks.

“Take one and dip it into your shake,” MC says and does it.

“The fuck?” Poppy scowls, “Why would I cross contaminate?”

“Just do it, Princess,” MC tells her.

Clearly biting back a comment, Poppy does as she was told. As she chews on the fry, her eyebrows raise in surprise.

“That’s so good!” Poppy admits and grabs another fry.

“Told you,” MC says in a sing-song voice.

Poppy rolls her eyes but continues munching on fries as MC prattles on about this and that. Every now and then, Poppy makes small comments but lets MC do most of the talking as the two eat. When their cups are empty, MC pays for the meal and they walk back outside.

“You know what Farmsville, I really had a good time,” Poppy smiles.

“Does that mean?” MC waggles her eyebrows.

Poppy presses up on her toes and kisses her cheek, “Yes, you can come back to my room.”

MC yells in glee and picks up the smaller girl to twirl her. Poppy giggles as MC spins her in the air before she gently sets her back on the ground.

“Come on, pretty girl, daylight’s burning,” MC winks and Poppy hits her on the shoulder again as the two walk back to campus, hand-in-hand.

And MC couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night.