Right When I Saw You | Lukadrien

Chapter 23 | Sunset

   Long story short, after both boys headed quickly towards the starting point again in order to tell Ms. Bustier they had photos of all the items, Alya and Marinette ended up running faster and won the contest in the end. They had won only by a minute or so, which really dissapointed the pair that tried their best to come first, but ended up coming in second. The girls seemed really happy about winning, even though they wouldn't be receiving anything as a prize. When they realized they had lost, Luka and Adrien ended up looking at each other for a few moments before laughing it off. It was just a silly game.

"Even though we lost, I don't regret taking that photo." Adrien remarked.

Luka nodded in response to his comment.

"Yeah."

"Oh by the way, could you send it to me? I want to send it to my friend, Kagami."

"Sure." He took his phone out and looked for Adrien's number which he had given to Luka a while ago and found the file of the photo, then sent it to him.

"Thanks." He smiled gently. They ended up chatting with Alya and Marinette while they waited for their classmates to return since they were already done. It wasn't long before everyone else started to come back as well, and soon everyone had returned to where they began. When all the students were there, Ms. Bustier declared that Marinette and Alya were the winners and gave everyone except Luka another paper. Luka didn't need one since he wasn't going to return to the school after this trip. Luka ended up looking at Marinette's paper and it just had a few questions that you needed to answer about the biodiversity and stuff here. Luka was thankful he didn't get one. The rest of the day they could do anything they wanted, as long they stayed within vicinity of the hotel and returned to it by 8:30 p.m.. Adrien ended up going somewhere with Nathalie and his bodyguard and swiftly disappeared from the scene. Now all Luka needed to do was to find something to do for the rest of the day.

~~~

   After searching around for a little while, Luka managed to occupy himself with something and the day went by slowly but surely. Before he knew it, the sky was a bright orange and the sun was slowly setting. He was going through his phone when he suddenly remembered what he vowed to do by the end of the day. I have to confess... Those words made him want to melt into a puddle. Thinking about saying something so embarrassing to the other boy made him feel so faint. Most of the time Adrien put a big smile to his face, but it also made him super nervous and made him super hot. Luka decided to go back to their room from the shop he was at to see if Adrien was there. As he walked there he texted his sister, Juleka, asking her if he'd seen him. It had only been a few minutes of walking before he entered the beachfront hotel. He walked to his room trying to relax, but ended up just stressing out. Staying calm wasn't going to be easy knowing what he was going to have to say if Adrien was behind the door. He opened the door to their room without looking inside and was somewhat relieved when he didn't see the boy there. His next thought was to check his phone for a response from Jule, and low and behold there it was.

Juleka

iMessage

Today at 7:40 P.M.

hey

u know where adrien is?

hi

i think the last time i saw him was around the beach

y? u need something with him?

yea thanks

   He found himself running out of the room again, somewhat exhausted from moving so much everywhere, and headed for the beach. As he left the hotel an orange glow hit his eyes as he realized the sun was setting hastily and he would need to hurry before it got dark, since they would need to be back in the building by that time. He ran on the pointy rocks that scattered the beach and spotted Adrien in the distance, standing near the shore and gazing out to the sky. He slowed as he approached the other and stood next to him. His blonde hair blew through the wind a bit, and his eyes were completely mesmerized by the sun. Luka glanced towards the giant ball of fire shining in the now melted sky.

"Pretty sunset, huh?"

"It's the same."

"Hm?" That wasn't the type of answer he expected to receive. What did he mean by the same?

"I can't believe there's another one this beautiful."

"Do you mean the sunset?"

Adrien nodded wistfully, still keeping his stare towards the sunset.

"I was at Chloé's place a while ago, and there was a sunset similar to this one. At the time, I hadn't seen a sunset like that in a long time. Seeing that sunset reminded me of the ones I saw with my mother. It was like she was there with me. And now, by chance, here it is again. Wherever I go, my mother can always communicate her love to me through these sunsets, and I can communicate my love to her and others through it as well. Sunsets have always felt like a symbol of love to me."

"..."

He finally turned his face towards Luka's. Adrien forced a smile to the corner of his lips, but deep down the other knew that he was feeling depressed and hurt. His eyes reflected the lava like sky that was around them, and his blonde hair swayed a bit even though there was barely any wind. It was clear to the blue-dyed boy that he bottled all his emotions inside of him instead of letting them out. It was clear just by this one, single look.

"Sorry, I kind of went on a tangent there. Did you need me for something?"

He pushed himself to say it.

"I love you." Luka stared towards the ground, because try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to look Adrien in the face as he said those words. His heart beat rapidly and his mind started to spin. Waiting for a response was absolutely excruciating.

"What was that?"

"I love you!" He turned redder than ever. He couldn't see Adrien's reaction but tried to eye him from looking at the gravel. He merely stared at Luka for a few moments before he saw him also start to blush. He glanced around like he didn't know what to do.

"M-Me?" Luka looked up, extremely embarrassed and blushing like crazy. He thought his heart was going to explode. Somehow, Luka found the courage and looked directly into his eyes. That might have been the most horrifying thing he'd ever done.

"Yes, y-you." His words stuttered since Luka was so embarrassed, but for some reason, Adrien looked like he felt the same way. The other boy took a deep breath and then started to respond. Even after taking a breath, he noticed that the other still had some pink dusted on their cheeks.

"I keep telling myself I love Ladybug, but for some reason my heart keeps going to you. I think that means I like you too."

He could hardly believe it. Adrien returned his feelings. It was like a dream come true. Luka started to laugh a bit out of the nervousness he'd been carrying. He likes me back. The both of them ended up shuffling closer together until underneath the warmth of the glowing evening, underneath the sky of love, their lips softly met each other.