Chapter Text
Thursday
Since the school course started, Marinette forced her daily schedule to change. She started waking up earlier, despite her usual bad sleeping habits, never failing to ride the same metro every morning.
Being earlier than rush hour gave her the freedom to take a seat and look at her surroundings. Not that there was much to see outside, being inside dark tunnels, but her eyes enjoyed much better the vision she usually had in front of her, across the carriage: the boy with blue hair and summer sky colored eyes that had stolen her heart at first sight.
Everything was for a boy. An unknown boy. And if it had never been easy for Marinette to control her feelings when it came to her crushes: how was she supposed to talk to a stranger she knew almost nothing about? Only one thing was certain: how she felt was perfectly real .
Eventually, from staring at him daily and secretly observing and studying the little pieces of information she could get, she learned little by little a bit more about him. His name: Luka. His major: music. His destination: one station before hers. His prefered seat: the one in front of hers, across the carriage but that faced backwards instead of sideways. He seemed to be protective of the seat facing his in front of him, as he didn't let anyone take as long as there were other available ones.
In his seat, he would usually yawn at the glass window, sleepy, with his earphones on and humming a song Marinette couldn't recognize. His guitar case laid between his partly-opened legs, protecting it, and he usually closed his eyes, probably to focus on the music, Marinette assumed. Marinette loved the sight of his profile when he faced straight: his strong manly features, his sharp eyes, his thick brows, his pierced ears and his colorful untied shoes.. The tattoo on his arm never failed to catch her attention either. He was glowing in Marinette’s eyes.
She usually found herself staring, and reminded herself she had to hide her obvious looks, not to be found out (not so) secretly admiring his beauty. But she kept failing to talk to him.
' Maybe If I was prettier or clever, or if I was special or magazine worthy, I could draw the courage to talk to him ' she usually thought in a deep sigh.
There were times when they exchanged looks, and it felt like time stopped for an instant as her heart skipped a beat. Whenever that happened, embarrassment always made her look away, sinking between her shoulders, and the second after his gaze was already looking somewhere else. Marinette felt her heart rate unavoidably intensifying every time he blinked or directed her a short gaze, forced to look away to hide the embarrassment projected in the redness on her cheeks. ‘ He must think I'm weird or silly… ' she usually thought.
There were times when the boy scribbled on his notebook. Marinette liked to look at his focused face and to peek at his handwriting, but she also enjoyed looking at his long fingers and black painted nails holding the cheap blue inkjet pen that he spun on his fingers when it stopped writing. She loved how his hands got tainted in blue from running them over the paper and it made Marinette emphatically smile. ' Cute '
When she was feeling down or inspired, it was her turn to scribble on her sketchbook. The sight of the boy whom she dreamt about daily activated her creativity for new designs. Sometimes, she even lost track of time while drawing and cursed later in regret for another missed chance to talk to him.
The conclusion she reached everyday was the same: the ride was too short. ' Eleven minutes of heaven ', her best friend Alya teased her.
What would he think if he knew she always wore her makeup and her most beautiful clothes just for him? , she wondered. Did he notice her little makeup and hair styling changes? Or her now black painted nails? Or how she wore a necklace with her name on it in wish he would call it for her someday?
All her courage and efforts to catch his attention wasted by her shyness. No progress ever made. No words ever exchanged- only silences between them.
Just like this, the days repeated, every day on the same metro train. Station to station, like seasonal migrating birds, the seasons passed by… And now it was almost Spring- the blooming season: perfect for love.
And now it's Thursday, March 11th, and Marinette has set her determination: ' Today I'm talking to him. Today I'm making him notice me! '
That Thursday she woke up even earlier than usual. She put on her prettiest skirt and some natural makeup and walked to the metro station near her house. She could have ridden at least two of the previous metro trains, but those weren’t the ones she wanted to ride. She would wait until the boy of his dreams appeared. And after a few minutes, he was there: earlier than usual, just like her, as if destiny was telling her: ‘ today is the day ’. There was something special in the air, she could sense.
Looking at the boy from afar, Marinette could see how he sat down and stared at his phone, probably checking the time. A metro arrived shortly after, calling for his attention.
Marinette’s body was stiff. ‘ Good thing I came earlier, I wouldn’t have met him otherwise ’ she thought, ready to get in the first car. But, surprisingly, he didn’t move an inch, and just as it came, the metro train left. ‘ Why didn’t he get on it? ’ she wondered, seeing how he had clearly missed it on purpose.
As she stared, she noticed how he was discreetly looking at his surroundings, as if he was looking for somebody, waiting. The thought of him possibly having a partner saddened her, but she hadn’t woken up early just to give up yet.
In what seemed an instant, the next metro to arrive was the one both of them always rode. This time, he stepped on it leaving a resigned sigh. He moved to the usual platform and got in the car they always shared. Marinette got in from another platform and rode another car. She could see through the glass door between cars how he had sat at his usual seat, while the one in front of him and her usual one across the aisle remained empty, along with some other seats closer to the door. Another sigh left his mouth and his aura seemed to have changed to a colder color. When he connected his earphones to his phone, Marinette knew it was her time to move. After a little shake from the moving vehicle, she armed herself with determination, and moved to Luka’s car to sit in front of him, looking at the floor. She knew where to sit when she noticed his unique untied sneakers and the designs she had already studied so much. “Excuse me” she mumbled while sitting down.
The closeness of the seats made Luka instantly notice her. And if she hadn’t been looking down in embarrassment, she would have seen the relieved smile on his face, as he went back to humming at the glass, happier.
The girl’s eyes continued gazing at the floor, flustered for her unusual boldness and noticing his eyes on her, making her feel smaller, her tiny body trembling like a newborn puppy.
Wanting him to notice her, she bravely made a first attempt and moved the tip of her flat shoe to slightly touch the tip of his high shoe and waited for his reaction- a reaction that never came. His foot stayed immobile, as if he hadn’t noticed her touch.
Disappointed, Marinette tried a bolder move. She then moved her other foot to touch his, this time touching it from the side and waited again for his reaction. Nothing. Then, she used her other foot to catch his in between them and waited. With no answer coming from him, she wondered what was making him so distracted and finally looked up at his face.
He was staring at her, eyes opened in surprise. Luka was clearly noticing her touches, she realized, yet he didn't react. Was it on purpose or because he didn't know how to act, that was yet another mystery.
Marinette jolted in surprise and broke eye contact immediately, retiring her feet and placing them under the seat, temperature increasing as her cheeks turned deep pink.
‘ What are you doing Marinette? Talk to him. He noticed you! It’s your chance. Call his name ’
The metro vibrated as it reached the first of the three stations before his final destination and Marinette had to use her feet to keep her balance in place, stretching them a little in front of her. Luka had done the same and one of their feet crashed, resulting in Marinette partly stepping on him.
“I’m sorry!” she panicked, moving her foot away and covering her face with her hands.
“It’s ok”, he answered, offering her an emphatic smile.
It was the first time she heard his voice properly and it sounded just like she thought it would. Deep and kind, quiet and magical. She could melt at his sound.
‘ Now’s your chance, Marinette ’ she told herself. And somehow, she managed to gather the courage to take the opportunity the sudden stop had granted her to try to speak again. But her bravery vanished the instant the doors opened and an unexpected loud crowd got into the car- tourists.
Marinette sighed in defeat and looked at her feet again.
Moving his gaze to look at his unusual surroundings, Luka noticed an old couple standing next to the door. Being the gentleman he was, he called for their attention and offered them his seat, which they thanked him in some foreign language.
Noticing his actions, Marinette also stood up to offer her seat to the old couple, and she was thanked too.
The train was packed and the loud youngest tourists weren’t especially careful about their surroundings, pushing people to gain some personal space or move through the car. Being small as she was, Marinette was close to being crushed between the back of the seats, the door, and a group of young large immature men.
Marinette closed her eyes, scared, as one man was jokingly pushed towards her. But, to her surprise, he didn’t bump on her- Luka stepped in the way to protect her, and she was now secured between his body and the space between the door and the seats.
“Stop being rude, where are your manners?” Luka coldly glared at them.
“Sorry, dude”, the young man said, and he got angry at his playful friends, who kept stupidly laughing.
The fear in Marinette’s eyes became surprise and shyness at noticing her position and how close the man of her dreams was to her. She could smell his ocean scented cologne and her eyes couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful face features from close up, as he angrily glared at the rude youngsters.
“Are you ok?” he asked again, taking one step back, to leave her some space to breathe.
“Yes!” she jumped at the question. “Thank you...”
“You’re welcome” he smiled.
The redness on her face became more vivid and she looked back at her feet again to hide it. When the men finally took their leave, Luka tried to take another step back to give her more personal space. But something stopped him: Marinette finally drew the courage to shyly grab his jacket.
“Lu-” another jolt marked the arrival to the second station. The agitation of the train made both of them lose their balance, holding onto each other to keep their steadiness. Marinette’s face was buried in his chest as he used one of his arms to keep her safe and the other hand grabbed one of the pole stands.
“Are you ok?” he asked again, releasing her from his hold.
Surprised, she grabbed his jacket once again “Yes” she finally said, whispering his name, stuttering. "Lu- Lu- Luka…"
Her eyes were strongly shut, and she was trembling, but she was refusing to let go of his denim jacket no matter how embarrassed she was. After a two seconds of silence, he called her with a relieved sigh.
“Marinette”
Her startle was felt by him through his jacket as she raised her face up to stare at his eyes. Both of them had glowing pupils, filled with a hope that didn’t come unnoticed by Luka- an emotion that determined and secured his next steps. He moved his hand to hold hers and she let go of his clothing to squeeze his fingers instead. “Marinette” he repeated. And her heart skipped a beat, rhythm intensifying, melting in his blue eyes now fixated on her.
The doors closed again and the metro resumed its march. One station left.
“You noticed me…” Luka whispered, caressing her hands with his thumb. His face showed a relieved smile that made Marinette understand at last. She squeezed his hand stronger, confirming his words.
“You noticed me…?” she returned his words back to him, with a shy smile and expectation on her face.
“Always. I don't know you, but I already missed you” he replied, smiling softly. “Everyday, ever since I first saw you, I've been riding this train, wishing to see you every morning, despite my bike being cheaper and faster”
Marinette’s eyes glowed in awe and joy. “I’ve been waking up earlier every morning so I could ride this train and see you, even if this means I have to wait for 20 minutes in front of the school gates…” she confessed.
Luka's smile widened and left out a sigh. “What have we been doing all this time?” he asked rhetorically, moving a lock of Marinette's hair to take a better look at her face. The girl awkwardly giggled, embarrassed for not having been able to tell him her feelings and encountering this happiness earlier.
“I like you” he finally said, taking one of her hands close to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles while staring at her eyes.
Marinette smiled and brought out all her determination to stand on her tip-toes and give him a soft kiss on his cheek. “I like you too”.
Another turbulence marked the final destination arrival as they hugged again to keep their feet on the floor. The train finally stopped, and its doors opened.
Not wanting to separate, they exchanged sad looks and he moved his head down to give her one final last kiss on her lips. An action she quickly mimicked when he started to pull apart, causing him to smile widely.
“See you tomorrow” he whispered, reluctantly crossing the door. Marinette nodded shyly and stayed by the door, cheeks red and waving at him with a soft smile on her face, one he also had for her in return.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow...” she whispered, trying to process everything that happened. ‘ He likes me back! I’m so happy I could die ’ she thought, internally squealing.
And that's exactly what happened .
The deadliest terrorist attack in the city. A cataclysm that wiped all traces of life of the metro passengers on the next station- Marinette's destination.
Irremediably, Marinette was one of the hundreds of fatal victims. But her soul was happy, because before she died, she had given Luka everything she had: her first and last kiss, her last blush, her last sigh, and the last thought on her mind. Instant death with the sweetest sensations.