A/N: No Luka bashing is intended with this fic, but it is lovesquare endgame

Disclaimer: I love kazoos and if someone tried to woo me with a kazoo I would probably swoon. Rip to Marinette but I'm different

Thanks to Kim (Boogum) for betareading!

"Are you okay?" Luka asked when Marinette returned from getting ice cream.

It took some effort to pry her gaze away from where Adrien and Kagami were sharing at the other end of the ledge, but she promised herself she wouldn't be jealous.

...Or at least, she wouldn't show it this time. Both of them were her friends, and they deserved to be happy with each other.

Did that mean she was okay? No, not really. But she didn't really want to get into that, especially since Luka had already seen her so vulnerable last time.

"So, uh… where's your guitar?" she asked instead.

"Oh." Luka blinked, as if surprised his instrument wasn't there either. "Remember the last time I saw you? When you were… crying in the street?"

She'd really been hoping he forgot about that. It definitely wasn't her most awkward moment, but Adrien at least tended to ignore the worst of hers. He hadn't even breathed a word about the whole constipation incident.

But comparing Luka and Adrien wasn't fair to either of them.

She shook her head. "Um, what about it?"

"I dropped my bike when I went to hug you. My guitar fell out of the basket and… yeah." He moved his hands as if to strum a chord, only to slump when they just stroked the air.

"Oh, Luka, I'm so sorry." She winced. She knew his guitar was basically an extension of himself; she hadn't intended for him to sacrifice it for her. Was she really that important to him?

"It's alright. I've almost saved up for a new one." He shrugged.

She couldn't tell if he was actually alright or if he was just faking. "Well, I'm still sorry."

"It really is alright. You're the music that's been playing for me since we met, anyway."

She blushed and looked away. Luka had always been more forward, but she really didn't know how she felt about his love confessions, especially considering…

No, she wasn't going to glance back towards Adrien. (Not that she could do that subtly, with all their classmates packed between them.)

But the point was, she couldn't return Luka's confession while her heart still hung somewhere in the balance. She could try to move on—she should try to move on—but no matter what Luka said, she didn't want him to feel stuck as a second choice.

"Well, um… thanks, I guess."

She took a bite of her raspberry ice cream to fill the awkward silence. Normally his guitar did that. Ivan's hand drum sort of helped, but it was too far away (and too sporadic) for her to pretend she was focused on his music.

"I guess you can't play that song for me now," she added when he didn't speak up. It was too bad, because she thought she might actually want to hear it, if only to give them something to connect over.

Had she really listened to his music that often? It was painfully obvious now that his guitar was absent.

"Were you ready to hear it?" Hhe asked. "I still can, if you'd like."

Her head tilted, her eyebrows scrunching together. "But you don't have your guitar. Unless you're going to borrow Ivan's drum."

He chuckled a little at that. "I've got something else."

His hand reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out…

"Is that a kazoo?"

Was this a joke? Was he playing a joke on her? He'd never shown that much of a sense of humor before. If Juleka hadn't been in the middle of the group sharing ice cream with Rose, Marinette would've flagged her down for help.

"Yep. Juleka got it for me as a replacement present, you know, until I can pay for my new guitar."

"Oh." She forced a grin. "That's… sweet of her."

So no help from Juleka then. Maybe this wasn't such a big deal. Maybe Luka would be an amazing kazoo player, and sweep her off her feet with his buzzing melody and help her forget all about Adrien and—

Yeah, even her normally-vivid daydream couldn't paint that picture.

"It really is. She's the best." He smiled. She hadn't heard him talk about Juleka often, honestly. It was a little weird to remember that he was her friend's older brother, but Juleka hadn't seemed to mind Luka showing an interest in her.

Well, unless the kazoo was more of a warning than a present. But that was branching into conspiracy theory territory.

"Are you going to play it, then?" she asked before she could lose her nerve. Maybe hearing the melody, even if just on the kazoo, would give her the answers her heart was looking for.

"Right." He nodded and raised the blue piece of plastic to his lips.

She didn't wince at the first high-pitched buzz. She might have just… cringed a little. Kazoos weren't really meant to be played at close distance—at least that's what she assumed, because could anyone really want to unironically listen to that?

The melody was… hard to pick out with all the screeching. She tried to smile through it—he'd written this for her, and it wasn't really meant to be played on the kazoo—but then Marc and Nathaniel looked up in shock-slash-horror, and Mylene just about fumbled her ice cream into the river, and Juleka let out an uncharacteristically loud cackle.

Luka's playing petered out with a sad doot doot. He still looked up at her expectantly.

And because he was staring at her, of course the rest of their group did too. Including Adrien, the green mint of his ice cream still staining his lower lip.

"Um… that was…" Marinette's face burned as she sprung to her feet. "W-well! Look at that I have to go—buy a birthday present for my grandpa's mouse!" Wait, had she used that one before? It didn't matter, her legs were already wooshing her away, leaving only the cherry from the top of her ice cream behind.

She hurriedly shoved the rest of her ice cream into her mouth to cool her burning face. That was… probably an overreaction. Luka had just tried to play her a song. It wasn't her that everyone else was laughing at.

A horrible feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just the odd mix of raspberry and cotton candy ice cream. She should've stayed to cheer him up, right?

"Tikki, what's wrong with me?" She groaned, dropping her forehead against the side of the alley. "Why did I run away like that? I probably made Luka hate me!"

The kwami flew out from her purse. "I don't think he can hate you, Marinette. He still liked you even when he knew you were in love with Adrien."

"For some reason." She sighed.

"Do you want him to like you?" Tikki prodded gently.

"I don't… I don't know." She bonked her head against the wall again. Ow. "He likes me, and he's nice, and we… have absolutely nothing in common."

There. She admitted it. They both liked Jagged Stone, but lots of people liked Jagged Stone.

(Adrien liked Jagged Stone. He'd asked for her autograph, and she'd just about melted.)

What she felt with Luka was nothing like that. It was nervous usually, until he started playing his guitar. The chords, if simple, were still soothing.

"Did I just think he made me comfortable because he played the guitar? Am I really that shallow?"

"Of course you aren't." Tikki rubbed her cheek to hers. "A boy liked you, and it sounds like you liked him at least a little bit. Even if it was mostly because he played guitar."

Marinette groaned.

"But now he plays the kazoo and I don't want to hear his song! And I really can't think of anything else we have to talk about. And I won't go on dates with him and move on from Adrien and I'll end up old and alone with a tarantula instead of a hamster and—"

"Marinette, you know that's not going to happen." Tikki patted her face again. "There are plenty of other boys besides Adrien and Luka. And you don't have to move on with a boy. You have plenty of time to just be you. Maybe that's for the best, with you being the guardian now."

"Don't remind me." She squeezed her eyes shut. She wished she had someone to rely on as the guardian. Luka had been there that one time when she couldn't take it anymore, but she couldn't actually tell him anything. If only she could talk to…

"Chat Noir," she whispered, eyes going wide.

"What?"

She paced back and forth across the width of the alley. "I want to talk to Chat. I can do that now, can't I? I'm the guardian. No, but Master Fu did what he did for a reason. I can't go sharing important secrets. But if Fu did tell us more maybe we could've protected him better."

"Um, Marinette—"

"Either way he's gone and I don't know what to do, Tikki! He didn't finish teaching me everything and here I am worried because of a boy playing the kazoo!"

She spun, breaths coming too quickly, hoping to hear Tikki's words of wisdom to help her calm down.

Instead, she came face to face with Adrien. Adrien, whose eyes were practically bugging out of his head. A cute smear of ice cream still clung to his parted lips. That was easier to focus on than the fact that he'd almost certainly heard every word she said to Tikki.

His mouth opened and closed again. "Uh."

"Oh no."

"You're…!"

"No, no, of course I'm not!" She waved her arms frantically. Tikki'd had the sense to dive back into her purse, but the damage was already done.

"You're Ladybug," he breathed. "It's you. Of course it's you."

Tears pricked her eyes. One day into being the guardian, and she'd already let someone figure out her secret identity! And it was Adrien, and while she thought he could keep a secret, she couldn't ignore the incident with the beret, and if he told anyone and that awful future happened—

"Marinette, hey, hey, it's alright." He stepped towards her, too close, not close enough. "I'm not going to tell anyone. I swear. I—I didn't mean to. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and then I heard and I can't unhear and—please don't be mad."

He looked down at her with such a distraught expression, she couldn't imagine him ever breaking that oath.

"I'm not mad at you, Adrien." She bit her lip and looked down, afraid she might actually start crying if she had to see his pain any longer. Which was ridiculous, because it was her identity that was compromised. "You were just trying to help, and—and it's my fault for not being careful enough."

Her voice choked. His arm reached towards her, hesitated, fell back to his side. Of course he wouldn't pull her into the hug that she craved. He was dating Kagami now; it was surprising enough that he'd left her just to come make sure she was alright. He really was a wonderful friend.

Maybe that was all she needed right now.

"It's not your fault, my—Marinette." He swallowed. "It could've happened to either of us."

"Yes, but it's not a big deal if someone finds out you once used the snake miraculous. Nearly all of the other heroes were compromised yesterday, anyway."

Her fault again. She was back to square one, just her and Chat Noir against the world… and possibly Adrien too. He hadn't been revealed yesterday. Maybe it would be worth it to give him a miraculous again?

He laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. Of course."

"So… yeah." She nodded. "I'm just going to. Go home now."

Where she could cry in peace and Tikki could lecture her and she could find someone else to pass off the miracle box to because clearly she wasn't ready, only there was no one else who could possibly do it except maybe Chat Noir, and he didn't deserve that kind of pressure either, and—

"Marinette, wait."

This time Adrien did grab her hand. She did her best to control her flush.

"I know you didn't want me to know, but… I'm still your friend, okay? You can tell me anything. Especially now, if you need someone to lean on…"

She did. Oh, she did, and any other day she would leap headfirst into that offer.

But all she could think of now was Adrien smiling softly as he wiped ice cream from Kagami's cheek. It wasn't like he couldn't still be her friend when he was dating someone else, but she wasn't sure her heart could take trusting him with all of her secrets except the one she'd actually wanted to tell.

She loved him. Even now, knowing he had just become a threat to her identity, she loved him.

And it was too late to say it.

"Thank you, but I'd actually rather talk to Chat Noir right now. I hope you'll understand."

He blinked and opened his mouth before shaking his head. "Right. Of course. I'm glad you trust him."

"I do." She looked towards the sliver of sky above the alley as hope blossomed in her. She did trust Chat. He would be able to help her through this, just like he'd supported her during Miracle Queen's short reign. "I wish he'd been the first to know my identity, but if anyone else had to… I'm glad it's you, you know. I lo—I trust you too."

Really? Now she almost said it? He didn't seem to notice, though. His expression softened into a smile.

"Thank you, Marinette. That means a lot to me."

She smiled back, palm braced against the alley wall to make up for the weakness in her knees.

"Oh, um—is Luka alright?" She barely remembered to ask. It was probably the least of her worries, but it was still worth checking. "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. The whole kazoo thing was just—I was so embarrassed and I ran away without thinking. He was just trying to be nice, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't like it."

"You never seemed to have a problem telling that to Chat Noir," he said. Was that a hint of… jealousy she detected in his voice? No way; she had to be imagining that.

"That's because I know Chat Noir. He knows I don't return his feelings…" she trailed off, blinking at the ground.

Chat had been the first person she wanted to talk to when she was upset. The one who always supported her, who knew all her weaknesses and flaws and still looked at her like she'd hung the moon in the sky. Who wouldn't hesitate to risk everything for her, who trusted her even when she was wrong but was always, always there to make things right.

He was the one who called her his Lady. He was the one whose hug felt like home.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked.

"Oh," she breathed.

"Oh?"

She looked up and met his eyes, and before she knew it, she was confessing to the wrong crush.

"I think I'm in love with Chat Noir."