Music Sounds Better With You

You groaned as you crumbled a piece of paper and threw it in the trash can. Sighing, you leaned back onto your chair and stared at your ceiling. Kwan flew onto your desk, staring at empty music sheets. You were having problems with writing songs again. And it wasn't just music. You haven't been able to focus on your dance recently. It's become a huge block for you.

Just then, you heard your phone ring. It was from Owen. You smiled at the contact and picked it up. "Hey"

"What are you doing right now?"

"Nothing, really" You got up from your desk and walked over to lay on your bed.

"Great. Do you want to go on an impromptu date?"

"Sure" You giggled. The two of you hung up and you quickly got up to get ready.

"I don't understand. You're happy with Owen, so shouldn't you be full of inspiration?" Kwan stared at you. "I mean, aren't you over Luka by now?"

You paused and turned to her. "I am. Luka is just my friend now."

Kwan sighed, shaking her head. You turned back around. Kwan knew that you would answer like that. No matter how much you seemed happy around with Owen, she never saw that spark of love in your eyes. She only saw it when you were with Luka. This isn't to say that she hates your boyfriend, but does prefer the French guitarist.

Sass opened his eyes at the sudden movement he felt next to him. It was currently late at night and he was meditating when his master suddenly jumped off from the bed. Luka grabbed his acoustic guitar and began to strum. Sass sat on the boy's shoulder. "Another song dedicated for (y/n)?"

"I can't help it. I can't stop thinking about her." Luka chuckled. "I wonder what she's doing now"

Sass looked at the way his master's eyes gleamed with joy. He never had that look when he was with Marinette. In fact, all of the kwamis felt that something was wrong when their masters moved on from their crushes. When Luka and Marinette broke up, Plagg had informed Sass about Adrien's and Kagami's break up as well. It seemed like both Ladybug and Chat Noir had finally ended up together.

Luka placed his pencil down. The smile that was on his lips a moment ago disappeared. He leaned back and stared out his window. He thought about how you would talk about your boyfriend. You would always smile and blush. Luka could tell that you liked the boy a lot. He hasn't told you about his breakup. He feels like he should - seeing that it's been about a year now, but he fears that you would catch onto the real reason why he and Marinette ended things. He doesn't want you to feel guilty. He just wants to see you happy. This must have been how you felt the entire time. Luka admires your endurance, but he wished you didn't have to go through all of that alone. He wished he wasn't so stupid.

----

"Is something wrong?" Owen looked at you, squeezing your hand to grab your attention. The two of you were walking around town, and he had just gotten you a drink from a vendor. "You're spacing out"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. I've just been having some trouble writing music." You looked at him. Truth is, you were thinking about your writer's block. Writing songs and making choreographies has always come easy to you. Your love for both made it so. But there was the factor of your muse. You wrote songs to express your love for someone who didn't return your feelings. You danced to feel connected to the songs that that person wrote. And without him... You looked back to see Owen continuing to stare at you. He knew that there was more you wanted to say. "Where do you get your inspiration for your photos?"

Owen smiled and turned his gaze at the sky. "I never really thought of it before. Hmm. I guess I just love seeing all of the smiles I make when I show people the photos I make. What was your inspiration before?"

"Uh" You gazed down. "My friends back in Paris"

"Haven't you been talking to them daily?"

"Um. Yeah. It's just... It's just that I'm homesick" You took a sip of your drink. Owen wrapped his arm around your shoulders, bringing you closer to him. Kwan stared at you from your bag. You were lying. It's not like you want to lie to him. But you can't tell him the truth without hurting his feelings. I'm a terrible girlfriend.

----

You sat on the living room couch, hugging one of your mother's sofa cushions. The news played in the background and you could hear your father cooking dinner while your mom was solving a crossword puzzle. Kwan laid on your lap as you watched the television screen. "I'm a disgrace"

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Your father began to place plates down on the table. "You've been sighing since you came back from your date with Owen"

"Did he hurt your feelings?" Your mother glared.

"No, but I might have" You sighed. Your parents shared a confused gaze. They wanted to ask further questions but knew that you would ignore them. Thankfully, your thoughts disappeared the moment Kwan changed the channel to Paris' TVi news.

Nadja smiled at the camera.

"WHAT?" You stood up from the couch.

"I knew it. Pay up" Your mother smirked at your father, who in return sighed and took out a twenty-dollar bill. You ignored them and quickly ran to your room with Kwan following. You sat at your desk and pulled up the Ladyblog. The recent posts were about Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing. They're dating. Marinette is dating Chat Noir. That means...

"Looks like they broke up" Kwan read your thoughts. You quickly pulled out your phone and checked the young designer's . Her recent photos were of her and Adrien. Okay. So now you know three things. One, Chat Noir is Adrien. That actually makes sense. Two, Luka and Marinette broke up sometime this year or last year? Three, Luka never told you about it. "Wait. What are you doing?"

"Calling Luka" You waited for the boy to respond.

"Hello" His voice came out raspy, causing your heart to skip a beat. You must have woken him up.

"Luka" You could hear the boy ruffle around on his bed.

"(y/n)!" You heard something fall. "Hey. What's up?"

"Are you okay?" You frowned.

"I'm fine. Why?"

"I heard what happened" You paused. "About your break up with Marinette"

Luka was silent. You were nervous. What if he was still hurting? Damn. I shouldn't haven't said anything.

"Yeah" Luka sighed. He sounded so calm about it.

"Can I ask what happened?" Is it bad that you felt happy? That you wish to hear him say that he loves you? You shouldn't. You have Owen. But still, Luka was your first love and maybe you still have those feelings deep down inside you.

"I just couldn't stand in the way of her happiness" Luka responded. "Plus, Adrien is a good guy. They look great together"

"Are you sure you're okay?" You asked again.

"I'm fine." Luka chuckled. "Is that all you wanted to ask me?"

"Well, yeah" You stood up and went to lay on your bed. The two of you stayed quiet, but neither of you wanted to hang up. You could hear his breathing. It was calming. Then you heard it. Luka was humming. You smiled. "Do you want to have a music session?"

"I thought you'd never ask"

The two of you transferred to video chat. Your eyes widen a bit at the sight of a shirtless Luka. It's not like you haven't seen him like that before. It's just that it's been a long time. He's gotten more muscular - especially in the abs department - and you noticed that he got a few tattoos on his arms. He had a snake tattoo on his left arm and musical notes on his right arm. His hair had gotten a bit longer and his jawline was becoming much sharper. You could feel your cheeks redden. How did he get hotter?! Dam puberty.

Luka chuckled at your reaction, "So shall we start?"

"Yeah. Hold on" You got up and went to your piano.

He strummed his guitar while you matched his melody. Both of you talked for a long time, to the point where your mother had brought you your dinner. The entire time you were on call with him, your mind was full of new ideas. Even during the time where you just talked with him, you were getting inspired.

Your heart leaped from joy as Luka sang. A love song. Stop it, (y/n). You're with Owen. Luka's a friend. He's your best friend. You smiled and sang your verse.

You continued your session with him until you fell asleep while calling him again. Luka stared at you with a small sad smile on his lips. You're still cute as ever. He continued to watch you sleep through the screen. He laid on his bed, hearing your soft snores. He closed his eyes and began to drift to sleep. A part of him wished he could tell you how he feels one day.

"Guess who just got the offer of the lifetime!" Owen held an envelope. It was his acceptance letter to this internship at a photography company.

"Congrats" You tackled him into a hug.

"I knew you would get accepted" Cecil grinned. "So, when do you start?"

"In three weeks" He scratched the back of his head. "But the thing is... the company is in Japan"

"Japan!" You and Cecil gasped. He never once mentioned that the company was overseas.

"Yeah" Owen winced.

"Three weeks?" Cecil looked at you. You stared at Owen with wide eyes. He's leaving. Cecil let out an awkward cough. "I guess I should leave you two to talk things out"

The door to your house closed behind your friend, leaving you and your boyfriend alone. You took in a deep breath and sat down on the couch. Owen sat next to you. A tense silence filled the room. You could tell that he was also nervous. After two years of dating, this was the first time the two of you reached a bump in your relationship. Sure, you would have tiny arguments here and there, but that was nothing compared to this.

"So..." Owen looked at you.

"So..." You sighed. This is going to be a long day.