You're my dearest lie || Miraculous Adult

Chapter 12

Slow Down - Chase Atlantic

Marinette

As I walked out, I did not notice the thunderous cheering and shouting until now. Somehow, I had even shut out the sound in Luka's presence.

Trying not to be seen, I scurried around the stage and climbed over the barrier, where the gigantic crowd was already waiting for me. Some people at the edge looked sceptical, but I wiggled through quickly, so that I did not get more attention.

I truly owed Luka.

Much more than that. He had put the patience of his colleagues, his team and the fans on the line. And all because of me? I still had the feeling that something about the whole thing didn't add up. But I would worry about that later.

I made my way to the centre of the edge of the stage as I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I caught sight of my friends.

"Man, where have you been? We thought you weren't coming!" yelled Alya when I finally reached her. It was hard to tune out the crowd.

I raised my chin and nodded to Rose and Juleka behind Alya.

"I didn't find my ticket!", I turned back to Alya at the same volume.

My best friend made a wagging hand motion in front of her widened eyes.

"Are you crazy!!! How did you get in?!"

I paused, not sure if I should really tell her.

But thankfully, a resounding drum solo rang out, taking the decision away from me.

Equal to the crowd, Alya completely snapped out of it as the spotlight fell on drummer Nelson.

Reflexively, I covered my ears. I'd never been to a concert before. Let alone at a rock concert. But I realized that I needed to get comfortable with the volume.

A short riff of a bass guitar followed as soon as the second beam of light lit up.

Alya screamed like a banshee, apparently Cal was clearly her favourite. I didn't even know she had a thing for blondes.

But I abandoned this thought when I saw a shadow slowly walking towards the microphone.

Suddenly, screech levels peaked, and I supported myself on the grate as I rose on my tiptoes. With a height of five feet four inches, it was difficult to see the back of the stage.

Now I could understand the excitement as I spied Luka's dark silhouette.

While everyone around me threw their arms up in the air full of euphoria, I stiffened.

The situation just now seemed like an unrealistic dream. As if it was a guy who only looked like Luka, not the Luka I knew. He was slowly walking towards the microphone.

I didn't even want to know how much trouble it would cause him afterwards. Just because he...

"Marinette, now have fun, you promised!"

Alya shook me obsessively until I started to grin. She was right. I could worry about Luke's problems later.

Suddenly the lights came on, and I thought the shrieking couldn't get any louder.

Luka, cloaked in turquoise light, was playing another riff on his electric guitar, and the people around me were almost shitting themselves with excitement.