LukaZoe PG-13

The Crush

At a Kitty Section rehearsal one Saturday, the first Saturday of Spring school holidays:

Zoe loved her new group of friends and loved coming to see Kitty Section rehearse. She hung out on the Couffaine houseboat quite a bit ever since she arrived in Paris six months ago. She was extremely grateful to Marinette for becoming her first friend in Paris and introducing her to such a lovely group of people and encouraging her to not let her half-sister Chloe influence her. She knew now she is her own person and no one else can tell her how she should act or be. She knew now that she alone has the power to shape her own destiny. Ladybug really inspired her too.

The last couple of months though she has been finding herself getting a crush on a certain blue haired guitarist. She kept pushing the thought away to the back of her mind because she thought that he liked Marinette. She couldn't bear the thought of hurting her first ever Parisian friend. Especially coming from New York where she never really had that many friends.

But today Zoe was really struggling trying to keep her crush hidden. It's like it was growing stronger and stronger every day. She would usually chat with the group after rehearsals and Luka would play his acoustic guitar and it was like no matter what anxiety she was feeling, no matter what problems she was facing, Luka's music had this uncanny way of calming her down. It felt like it was meant just for her.

This particular Saturday Marinette had been able to come to watch rehearsal. She was only able to come a couple of times per month. Zoe was never sure why. She presumed she was busy designing a new dress or hat as she knew fashion design was her passion. Although sometimes she had to leave in a hurry before rehearsal was over. Zoe would smile and think this was just typical Marinette, forgetting that she needed to be somewhere else. It was reassuring for her that not everyone was perfect and nobody in this group expected anyone to be. They all accepted each other for who they are. She'd never been able to feel like that in New York. She felt like she had to put on an act and be someone she's not just to be accepted. Here she felt like she could be herself, for the first time. And she was happy.

After rehearsal was over this particular Saturday, Zoe went over to talk to Marinette.

'Hey Marinette' she said shyly.

'Hey Zoe! How's it going?' Marinette replied.

'Oh, pretty good. I was...wondering if I could ask you something...personal' Zoe said softly, looking at the floor.

'Personal?' Marinette said, feeling a little worried.

'Oh, nothing like bad, um, well, I hope not that bad? Oh, this isn't coming out right!' Zoe said as she put her hands on her cheeks trying to hide her embarrassment.

'What was it about?' Marinette asked, just hoping she didn't say Ladybug.

'It's about Luka' Zoe said looking up at her shyly.

'Oh, Luka!' Marinette replied a little too loudly.

Luka heard her and replied, 'Yes, Marinette?'

Zoe went bright red and looked panically at Marinette and mouthed 'No!' as she moved her hand back and forth across her neck with her back to Luka so he didn't see.

Marinette saw the signal and understood. 'Oh nothing, just girl talk! Will chat to you later Luka!'

'No problem!' Luka called back and went back to chatting to Ivan.

'Sorry!' Marinette led Zoe further away. 'What about Luka?' she asked Zoe quietly.

'Well...' Zoe began. 'I'm kinda scared to ask you this because I don't want to ruin our friendship. You and everyone have been so kind to me ever since I moved here from New York.'