Silver Bells

Chapter 6

"I'm sure that's not what was on your mind when you got into bed with Lila." Marinette said sharply.

Luka's eyes held a world of remorse. "I have regretted that decision every single day. I thought, maybe if we could..."

"It's too late for that Luka."

"But you said..."

"I said I forgave you." She said, finally turning to look at him. "That didn't mean I was going to take you back. Some wounds can't ever be healed, Luka. You betrayed me in the worst possible way. Forgiveness isn't saying it's okay what happened. I blamed myself for the longest time. I told myself I mustn't have been good enough, or pretty enough or loved you enough..." She let out a long sigh, turning away from his intense eyes. "By forgiving you I could move on and set my own heart free. I could let go of what I thought might have been."

Marinette heard the muffled voices of Adrien and Master Fu in the lounge room. Looking up she could see Adrien nursing the black Kitten by the fireplace, gently scratching its head. The poor little thing had been so lost and confused, and yet looked so content in Adrien's arms. Luka saw him too and started to make his own conclusions.

"I understand." He said, not unkindly. "He seems like a nice guy."

For a moment Marinette considered saying Adrien was her boyfriend, just to get back at him, but she decided against it.

"He is." She acknowledged. "But we're just friends."

"I see." Luka said with a sad amused smile. She hadn't changed much, but if she thought Adrien was looking at her as only a friend then she was still just as oblivious as he knew she could be at times. "Master Fu told me about his building that you two are both after. I hope you do get your store, Marinette. You deserve it after all your hard work."

Luka reached over and patted her hand. This time she didn't recoil back and he took that as a small victory, letting his hand rest there.

"Is there no hope for a second chance?" He asked, his voice vulnerable and full of emotion. Marinette hesitated to look at him, but when she did, she didn't feel the tears she thought might come.

"No, Luka." She said calmly, but firmly. "I'm not looking back. Only forward. This competition, then hopefully my store and then who knows... but I have something to look forward to now." She then gave him a soft smile. "I hope you find what you're looking for with your music store. How did you end up with it?"

"It's a bit of a weird story, but the short version is that it used to belong to an old mate of my Dad's. He retired and I didn't want to stay in the recording industry anymore so I took it over."

"Well, I'll look forward to hearing your ideas for the Main Street competition."

Luka shook his head, standing up from the swing. "I'm not staying for Christmas. Jules invited me over to spend Christmas with her and Rose for the first time in years. I'll be leaving in the morning. I suppose Christmas can be a time for mending bridges." He explained, seeing out of the corner of his eye Adrien still watching him. "But I'll give you a little word of advice. Mrs Mandeleive isn't as hard as she appears. Her biggest fear is being left behind. She's very passionate about preserving the past and in many ways I think the world is moving too fast for her. I get the feeling she's had a bit of a lonely life but what she really wants most is to be part of the community. She just doesn't know how to be."

He leaned forward and kissed Marinette on the forehead, lingering a little longer than was necessary. "Ooops, I almost forgot." Luka said, digging his hand around in his pocket. He took Marinette's hand and laid into it a pink and green beaded bracelet. "One of the main reasons I wanted to see you tonight was so I could finally return this. I tried to at the meeting the other night, but you kind of ran away from me."