Archive of Our Own ^beta

They were walking through a narrow corridor, the booming of the crowd was so loud it left the floor shaking.

Marinette sensed her husband's mild trepidation, his guitar was a bit too tightly wound around his neck and the constant rolling of his ring on his finger was too fast to be casual.

They were nearing the backstage area, people rushing left and right, lights of all colors flashing even through the blinds hiding the backstage area from the wild crowd.

Marinette smiled, dressed in a shirt representing her husband's band, the words 'wuw you papa' messily scrawled on the entire front of it, partly covering the band logo, but neither parents could care about that.

She grasped Luka's hand and stopped, feeling resistance before Luka finally stopped a step in front of her, turning back to look at her. "What's wrong, Marinette?" Concern twisted his handsome features and Marinette shook her head.

He still thought of others even when he was a mess.

She lovingly adjusted his shirt and jacket, checking the mic on his shirt, running a hand through his already messy hair to calm him.

It helped, if the deep exhale was any indication. 

Part of his weight melted against her, Marinette's hands skillfully rubbing the singer's back, voice humming his song, one she thought of years ago on their wedding day, into his ear.

He sagged against her, strong arms coming up to press her tightly against himself, drawing energy from her silent strength. She was so strong, he still sometimes couldn't believe how lucky he managed to be in life.

Marinette kissed his cheek and the couple broke their embrace to stare at each-other. Luka took a deep breath, before he opened his eyes again and nodded.

The shorter woman grinned, hands resting on his chest, over his heart, where the previously wild pace settled into a more calming beat. "You'll be great Luka, just like you always are. You'll see, their attention will be all on you."

A smile stretched his lips and his aqua eyes turned impossibly soft, leaning down to lovingly kiss her forehead. "If I manage to just capture your attention, that's all I need."

A blush rose to her cheeks and the sight of her shyness managed to bring some of his confidence back, if the grin on his face was any indication.

Marinette playfully slapped his arm, slapping her own cheeks to curb the sudden wave of shyness, trying to ignore his laughter. 

He was her husband for haven's sake. She was supposed to be over blushing in front of him.

A gentle hand on the back of her head made her focus on him again, staring into aqua eyes that asked for permission, lips only clue hair's breath away.

A smile curved her lips and her hands fisted his shirt, pulling him in close. They shared a long, slow kiss, giving each-other strength and support in actions than words.

When they broke apart, before her stood not the nervous musician but the confident rockstar she knew he was.

"Thank you, Nette."

She smiled, raising her hand.

Luka mirrored her smile, raising his own hand enveloping her smaller one with his larger hand, wedding rings clinking together when their pinky fingers met.

It was a promise.

A promise to do his best and give his all.

A promise to cheer him on and support him all the way until the end.

Just like they did now, just like they always have.

They could hear the crowd's cheers dying down slowly as another announcement was made for the arrival of the next musician to take the stage and that was Luka's cue to go.

With a fluidity that spoke of years of trust, Marinette and Luka broke apart and walked in different directions, Luka to the stage, Marinette to the crowd.

It was showtime.

The crowd's defening roars increased when Luka's name fell from the announcer's lips, who quickly rushed off stage to escape from the loud screams and to give Luka the spotlight.

Tonight would be his solo performance without his band, he just hoped he wouldn't mess up.

No, he wouldn't mess it up.

Not with Marinette's encouraging words still ringing in his ears and the warmth still blooming brightly in his heart.

He would do this.

He spoke into the microphone and he was surprised to hear his own voice with how loud the audience was. "Hey everyone, thanks for coming to my solo gig tonight. I hope you'll like this single, it's a new song I've been working on after the birth of my kids! Rock on!" he stepped back for a moment, the loud roars and cheers and screams even louder than before, bordering on eardrum breaking proportions.

Luka chuckled when he saw the banners and cloths held up high over people's heads. 

'WE LOVE U MAN!'

'LUKA COUFFAINE 4 THE WIN!'

'I'M STILL SINGLE!'

'WE LOVE UR SONGS!!'

'CALL ME XXXX'

'VIPERION IS HOT! HOT! HOT!'

'YOUR KIDS AND WIFE ARE SO CUTE BRO!'

A particularly big one caught his eye and he had to back away from the mic to laugh.

In the middle right, a bit closer to the stage, there was a semi-large group of people wearing the familiar white unicorn masks he remembered Kitty Section wearing when they debuted. 

And everyone was there too.

His sister, Rose, Mylene, her boyfriend Ivan, Alya and Nino, Adrien, Kagami, Alix, Kim, Max and of course the most important person, holding the biggest banner someone her size possibly could, with strength gained from years of being a hero.

His wife.

His gaze softened when he managed to catch her eyes and she stretched her arms as far as they could, waving the banner in the air.

That one was his favorite.

'ROCK THEIR WORLD, DEAR!'

Decorated with hearts, her signature flower design and his old Kitty Section mask drawn in the corner. 

Luka grinned, taking out his favorite all time pick, which never failed to bring him luck.

He had it custom made.

A picture of his wife and kids on the front, with his sister and mom on the back.

With a final breath, he strummed the pick across the strings of his guitar and the crowd boomed.

A little while later...

Luka Couffaine signed autographs with a smile, meeting each fan's eyes and making silly faces on photographs to make them memorable.

It was his third favorite thing after performing on stage to do.

His most favorite thing was currently running straight at him.

Marinette dived into his already waiting arms, body vibrating with energy, as if his song was still coursing through her veins.

She had a big grin on her face and her eyes shone like stars and Luka found himself falling for his wife all over again.

Their friends in the back were trying to fight their way passed the fans, the Gorilla and Fang, whom Jagged often allowed to accompany Adrien's bodyguard because they made a surprisingly good duo. 

Luka still didn't understand how the odd friendship came to be, but it was always entertaining seeing the previously wild crowd of fans parting like the sea when a large hulking man and a equally sizable crocodile marched their way through them.

And then, the fans rounded on them, camera flashes and eager faces in their view.

"OMG! It's Marinette Couffaine-Cheng!!! LUKA IS WEARING HER DESIGN!" one fan screamed, obviously a fan of his wife too, if the red earrings on her ears and a shirt with her signature flower design was any clue.

Marinette laughed, smiling and also singing autographs, fans shouting praises.

Luka kept to the background but remained visible enough for his wife's handy work to be seen.

Everything down to his socks was designed by his wife. A black leather jacket with her pink and white flower design on the breast pocket with a green snake, too similar to Sass to be a coincidence, curling around the sleeves of the jacket. Underneath the jacket was a white shirt with the band's faces drawn in simple but artistic art lines, a nod to his old Jagged Stone shirt he used to wear in his youth.

On the front was the biggest head, his own, accentuated with blue lines, followed on either side by his sister's in purple, Rose's in pink, Ivan's in red, Adrien's in yellow and Alix's in green. 

His pants were dark blue denims, ripped at the knees how he liked it, decorated with small subtle music notes here and there, not too many to be tacky, but enough to catch attention, in colors of white and light blue. Simple black boots covered his feet.

His hair, dyed teal blue near the ends, the root with his natural black and the very beginning tips which remained untouched by blue were covered by red instead, completed the look.

Red like a certain heroine's suit.

He smirked proudly at the rightful attention his wife gained, more and more of his fans immediately catering to Marinette, who accepted praise and compliments with a beaming smile and blushing cheeks. He was fully convinced most if not all of his fans were already his wife's, he was also convinced they loved her more than they did him and that was fine by him.

He loved her more than he could ever bring to love himself too.

He caught her flashing her wedding ring a few times in response to male fans with phone numbers plastered to their banners and Luka had to chuckle at that.

He was there to lead her back to their friends waiting patiently in the lounge of the hotel, after having signed some of their own autographs with their fans having accompanied Luka's gig tonight.

He was there when they finally hit the soft, inviting mattress of the hotel bed, chuckling like teenagers when they called their kids, babysat by Nathaniel and Marc, cheering at their parents for their father's performance and scolding them for staying up so late.

Marc had blushed to the roots of his hair for the scolding, with Luka trying to reassure him they weren't scolding him and Nathaniel shaking his head helplessly.

They knew how rowdy their kids could be, despite them being generally well-behaved and sweethearts. They'd inherited both of their parent's more wild streaks; Marinette's impulsiveness and Luka's rebelliousness.

With kisses and soft whispers of good night, with plentiful 'thank you's to Nathaniel and Marc for watching over them, they ended the video chat with their kids and set the phone aside.

With the much welcomed silence filling the room, Luka hissed when he rolled onto his back, stretching himself after the strain of the long night.

Marinette scooted closer and rested a hand on her husband's chest, the couple sighing deeply at the other's closeness.

She drew soothing circles on his naked skin, humming a soft tune.

No, not a soft tune, his tune.

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her, gathering her close and kissing his wife's head. "You were amazing Marinette."

She glanced up at him with an amused smile. "Me? You were the one with the hour long gig remember?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I meant before it all started. I was a bit nervous and you calmed me down before I made a fool of myself." He pressed another kiss to the top of her head. "You're always there for me and I can't thank you enough with words." 

His wife giggled, raising herself up and kissing his nose before pecking his lips sweetly. "There are many other ways you can thank me other than with words." 

Luka smiled and chuckled when his wife kissed him again and he felt like the world was right.