***Hello, my loyal readers. I am sorry to have to do this, but I will be making this chapter into two different parts. I will try to update one after the other. Sorry again. Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow. Sending love, MMF***

Marinette smiled as she stuffed her possessions into her suitcase. Her conversation with Adrien had gone better than she had anticipated. She exhaled deeply, feeling relieved. She truly believed she was about to lose him forever. There was no doubt he was ready to walk away for good.

Marinette massaged circles on her chest, recalling the garments and photographs in the trash can. The pain in her chest was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Seeing their memories in the trash was as painful as the day she walked to school to see Adrien's lips on Kagami's. Marinette was curious as to whether he had left them there or had decided to retain them. She prayed he'd done so. Knowing he didn't want to keep their memories would be painful.

Marinette sighed as she stuffed the last of her belongings into the luggage. Even though their conversation went well and they were able to reach an agreement, she couldn't forget his expression when he learned of her broken promise. That gaze, the young designer was positive she had never seen before. It was filled with so much hurt and hatred that it made her want to die. What if he still felt that way? What if he decides he can't forgive her in the future and walks away? That was a one-of-a-kind look. Marinette was well aware that she may still lose the blonde for good.

Once again, Marinette reached up and rubbed circles in her chest. The entire situation was killing her slowly. She had not only let Adrien down, but she had let herself down. In a matter of weeks, she had managed to do and say everything she always said she wouldn't. The sad part was at the end, she was not only hurting herself but those who loved her. Marinette was in pain. She needed help and maybe some advice, but it was not like many people knew she was hurting. She had always been good at hiding her pain behind her fake smile. But Marinette believed she deserved the pain. After all, it is the consequence of her lousy choices.

The youthful fashion designer bit her lower lip. She had never imagined herself capable of such folly. She could have saved herself and Adrien a lot of sorrow and suffering if she had just talked to Adrien before fleeing like a coward. However, it was too late. She had moved on and was already dating another man. Well, perhaps. She has yet to inform him about the agreement she reached with Adrien. When she told Luka, would he still want to be with her?

The deal.

Adrien was only staying because of this. Marinette was well aware that giving such a bargain was wrong, but she didn't care. All she could think of at the time was persuading Adrien to stay. Stay with her. Stay for her. And it worked. 

Marinette rubbed her temples, her head throbbing the more she thought about it. She did not know what to do or how to act anymore. She was well aware that the agreement would be extremely painful for Luka, but she didn't know what else to do. As horrible as it was to acknowledge it, Marinette felt guilty because the notion of losing Adrien was far more agonizing than the thought of losing Luka.

Nonetheless, she was adamant about not losing Adrien for the rest of her life.

Adrien had not earned the treatment he had received. True, he lied, and those lies hurt a lot, but he never used or played her the way she thought he did. His affection was as genuine as he had stated. That much was undeniably clear.

No one could have feigned the kind of agony he'd been in for the past few days. No one could kiss and make love to someone the way he did if they did not truly love them with all their heart. Adrien loved her, and she would have realized it sooner if she had spoken to him that night as she had promised she'd do. 

Adrien was absolutely correct. It was she, not he, who betrayed the other with broken promises. She had not broken just one but almost every promise she had made him. It was no wonder he wanted to leave. Could she blame him if he realized the deal would not be enough and left? Because the way Marinette saw it, it was far from enough.

He deserved so much more than what he asked for. Truth be told, if he asked for more, Marinette would not hesitate to give it to him. She just hoped Luka would understand. 

Luka. What was going through his mind? What made him think to do something like that? He was well aware that this would enrage and hurt Adrien. Was this his method of retaliating? He had sworn to put the past behind him and not harbor grudges against them. So, what was he thinking when he did it?

The more Marinette thought about it, the more questions she had. None that she had answers to. Deciding that overthinking would do her no good. Marinette took a deep breath and zipped up her suitcase. It was time to return to the place she called home, where Adrien awaited her return. 

Marinette's nerves were frayed, and she was afraid. She had no idea how she was going to retain her sanity. What if she returned to find the dorm empty and Adrien gone? What if he agreed to the deal knowing that she would have to leave, giving him time to run? What if he did wait for her? How will she fight the urge to want to be in his arms? How will Luka handle the news? 

Ahhh, Marinette wanted to scream. She needed to stop freaking out. She was only torturing herself. 

Marinette was ready to go. At least that is what she told herself, to attempt to continue overthinking. As she opened the door, she ran into a handsome man with his fist up, ready to knock.

"Luka?"

"H-hey, melody," Luka stated nervously. He knew he had fucked up by the look on her face as she left the classroom. Just the night before, he had promised not to hold her previous actions against her or Adrien, but he had done just that. Luka hoped she could forgive him for it. He had contemplated waiting a bit longer before coming to talk to her, but he decided not to wait much longer.

Luka had thought hard about how to explain himself. He didn't wake up wanting revenge. It just happened.

To his credit, Luka intended to keep his word, but the moment Adrien walked into class, he lost it. Marinette had given him hickeys the night before, and the blonde had made no attempt to cover them. They were right in front of everyone's eyes. Adrien and Marinette had previously been dating, but few people knew about their breakup, so it was obvious to everyone that she had given him the markings.

Luka was almost soothed when he saw the blonde disregarding his girlfriend, but he was outraged again in a matter of seconds. Marinette attempted to pique his interest! She attempted several times and would have succeeded if he hadn't started the class. The actions only enraged Luka even more, and before he knew it, he had simply reacted to it. 

"We need to talk," he said as he pushed open the door and allowed himself in. Luka took a peek around the room and noticed tape markings on the walls. His best assumption was that the walls used to be covered in photos of his girlfriend with the blonde he detested. Luka felt compelled to break something at the thought, but that was not his objective. That was her past, and he had to come to terms with it.

He didn't notice the suitcase until the door closed and he turned to look at her for the second time. "Were you going somewhere?" He asked curiously. 

Marinette shook her head and cleared her throat uneasily. She knew she'd have to inform him about the agreement at some point, but she never expected it to be now. "I'm just-" she hesitated, which Luka was quick to notice, but decided not to comment about. "I am just, umm, going b-back to the dorm," she confessed shyly, as she tapped on the suitcase handle nervously. 

Luka's eyes widened as he took a step back. "Excuse me?" He asked in disbelief. "You are going back? You are returning to the dorm with him?" He added in evident anger.

Luka stood there watching as Marinette bit her lower lip and averted her gaze. "Are you fucking serious?  Is this some sort of retaliation for my conduct earlier in the day? I understand. I knew I'd made a mistake, but I couldn't help myself. Do you realize how difficult it was to watch him come in after knowing that he had made love to you just two nights before? Do you have any idea how it made me feel to have to look at the marks you left on his neck while he made no effort to cover them up? I gave it my all. I truly did, but then I turned around and saw you trying to gain his attention, and I completely lost control. I wanted him to hurt as much as those marks on his neck were hurting me. I know what I did was wrong, but this is a bit much, don't you think?" he argued. 

Marinette let out a sigh. She was fully aware that Luka would be upset by the news. Unfortunately, this was only half of the story. She couldn't imagine how Luka would respond to the rest of the deal if he was already enraged by her return to the dorm. She, on the other hand, was not going to disguise it. She'd made that mistake before and promised herself she'd never do it again.

"This isn't any kind of retaliation, Luka. I'll confess that what you did irritated me, but I'm not trying to harm you. This is something I need to do. I need to make amends for what I've done wrong," Marinette stated, her voice still calm. She declined to join him in a yelling match. She'd had her fill with screaming and sobbing for the past few days, and she was exhausted.

"I'll be honest, I was annoyed with you earlier. You assured me that you would forgive me and that you would not retaliate against either of us, but you did. It hurts that you did, but I don't blame you. I see your point of view. I understand how terrible it must be to see everything, but there is nothing I can do about it. I cannot change the past. Luka, I'm not angry with you."

"Then why are you going back?" He asked, his voice almost pleading with her not to.

 "To correct my error, Luka."

"What exactly did you do wrong?" Luka inquired, his voice filled with rage once more. "You were taken advantage of by him! He was the one who took advantage of you for a fucking bet. I'm not sure how this is your fault."

"Because he didn't, Luka!" This time Marinette's voice raised a tad bit. 

"He didn't," she repeated sadly. "It was all a misunderstanding. Yes, it might have started that way, but it changed. His biggest mistake was being scared to tell me the truth. It was I who messed up. I was the one who broke our promise, and it was me who kept it from him," she confessed.

Luka stared at her with a look of confusion. All he could think about was 'what promise? What was she talking about? Kept what from him?'

Noticing his confusion, Marinette took a deep breath and continued.

"Not just one promise, but many. Adrien knew of the others but chose to disregard them. He didn't care. He promised he still loved me no matter what. That was until he found out about the lantern. The biggest promise I had broken and the one I had chosen to hide."

Luka remained confused. Nothing was making sense. Why would the lantern thing be a broken promise?

"It wasn't my first time in China. Adrien and I had been there before. When we were younger, that is. It was way before college, before our friendship broke, and before I met you. Adrien and I were really close then," Marinette smiled weakly, remembering her younger years.

"You wondered why my uncle didn't really like you or why I had a hard time the first week we were there. Well, it was because of Adrien. We had worked in the restaurant as well. My uncle loved him. He believed we were soulmates and never made an attempt to hide it. So, seeing you was a surprise to him."

"Anyway, on our last day in China, Adrien and I tried to go to the festival of lights, but his father had a business emergency come up, and we didn't get to attend. That night we made a promise. No matter what happened in the future or where life took us, we would come back and light our lanterns together. Just the two of us. Only with each other."

"That promise always meant the world to Adrien. I remember that even after our friendship ended, every time the anniversary of that day came, Adrien would leave pictures in my locker with the words 'one day' or 'only with you' on them. The promise meant so much to him that on his 18th birthday, he got the words only with you tattoed on his wrist, the wrist he wears his lucky charm on. I didn't know that till we started dating. He had said those exact words to me that day."

"After the bet, I was so angry. I believed he never loved me. Then you took me there," she confessed.

That's why you hesitated." He responded, and Marinette nodded.

"But I was so angry, and you were so sweet I decided to break that promise. I didn't want to disappoint you. You had been trying so hard to make me happy. I thought it was the least I could do. Plus it didn't help that I believed Adrien had fucked with my heart. When we talked that night, I didn't tell him. I couldn't. I decided to hide it from him. He didn't know till this morning when you mentioned it."

Luka's jaw dropped. Everything made sense now. Adrien's and Marinette's reactions this morning had confused him, but not anymore. Luka had aimed to hurt Adrien, but he never imagined his actions would cause more harm than that.

"I-I didn't know," he whispered.

"I know, and that is completely my fault. Luka, I broke him. I ran after him to explain, but he was so angry and hurt, he didn't even want to look at me. It killed me to know that I was the reason for that. I tried to apologize, but he wasn't having it."

"He yelled that he hated me. That he had stupidly believed it was him who had messed up when I had a knife in his back. He threw away our pictures and packed his things, attempting to leave. He was going to throw away his future because of me. I couldn't let that happen. So I made him a deal," she confessed.

"A deal?"

Marientte nodded as a response.

"Yes, a deal."