Archive of Our Own

"You've gotten good Lloyd," Kai commented, panting after their finished round of training together.

"Oh?" Lloyd smiled.

"Yeah. Maybe someday you'll come close to being as good as me," Kai joked, flexing cockily.

Lloyd laughed and playfully punched his shoulder.

A few of the other ninja groan at the exchange happening before them. Kai and Lloyd would always pair up and flirt with each other during training, much to the annoyance of everyone else. Especially because they weren't even together. All they were doing was dancing around each other and bother everyone with their obvious mutual pining.

Jay and Cole were also paired up, but even they weren't as obnoxious with it.

"Lloyd, its your turn to be on bridge duty," Pixal announced, coming in from finishing her own shift.

"Alright." He turned to the others. "I'll see you guys later." And then turned to Kai, giving him a small wave before leaving.

Kai waved back shyly, and the other ninja snicker in the background at the lovestruck look on his face.

He noticed and frowned. "What?"

"When are you two gonna stop giving each other heart eyes and just ask each other out?" Jay joked

Kai sputtered incoherently. "Wh- that's rich coming from you!"

Jay, worried that he's going to be exposed, ws taken off guard and Cole took that opportunity to tackle him to the ground. "Oof! Don't change the subject on me, Kai," he warned from underneath Cole. A sight that Kai just had to roll his eyes at.

"He's right," Zane joined in, "My database suggests that there is a 95% probability that Lloyd reciprocates your feelings

Kai scoffed. "Data collected from what?"

"Just general observation," Zane smiled. "I bet even Cole noticed."

"Uh, not necessarily," Cole said after helping Jay back up. "I mean, now that you mention it, I can kinda see it."

"The only person more oblivious than Kai is Cole," Nya teased.

Cole smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I guess you can say I'm not very experienced with that sort of thing."

"That explains a lot." Kai shot a look at Jay, to which Jay responded by sticking his tongue out childishly. "You know, I don't think Cole's ever mentioned having any romantic interest towards anyone. At least not to us."

"Well..."

"You're changing the subject again, Kai!"

"Okay! Maybe I am! I'm not oblivious, I'm just- kinda scared, is all."

"Hey look. He's coming back. Why don't you tell him now?"

Kai immediately straightened up, turning to lean casually on a wall as Lloyd ran back onto the deck.

"You guys. There's a situation that you all might wanna come take a look at," Lloyd said with urgency. The humorous atmosphere quickly faded as they all ran into the bounty bridge, following Lloyd.

"We're getting reports of suspicious activity going on in a remote corner of Ninjago city," Lloyd explained, the Bounty's map zeroing in on said location. "We've also gotten reports of people who may have been taken captive and are currently being held there. We don't know what's going on under there, but we'll assume it's something dangerous. So we're gonna need all hands on deck."

"I'll set a course right away!" Nya said, starting up the Bounty.

"We're gonna need to split up. Some of us will need to stay here, to be with the hostages once we rescue them."

"Me and Nya will stay," Kai volunteered. "If you need backup, call us in."

Lloyd nodded. "Jay. Pixal. You two will rescue the hostages, while the rest of us go after whoever it is that's behind this."

They continue to go over the plan further on their way there. Shortly after, they finally arrive to the location of the distress call.

"We're here!" Nya announced. "Is this thing underground? I don't see anything here."

"Yeah. I forgot to mention. I did an underground scan. Pix and Zane, you two should be able to download a copy of the map to help guide us around there."

They promptly depart the bounty and come across a small cave opening where the entrance supposedly was. Though it seemed innocuous at first, the further down they made their way through, the more it became clear that there were people working on something there in secret.

"Okay guys," Lloyd whispered. "There are two major gatherings at opposite ends of this stronghold. I've marked them both off on the map. The smaller one is where I assume the captives are being held. So Jay, follow Pixal there."

Jay nodded and followed Pixal, who was already making her way to the holding cells.

"Zane. Take us to the other one."

"On it," Zane said, scanning the area. "This way." He pointed towards one of the tunnels. Cole and Lloyd both followed suit.

"So, Lloyd. Do you have any ideas on what's going on down here?"

"No, nothing really. Although I do have a couple of theories. There's been people around these parts who are found after they haven't been seen for a long time. They've been reported as acting...Well. Strangely."

"Strangely how?"

"Ehh..." Lloyd made a weird face, trailing off. "The theory is that there are people down here experimenting on a drug of some sort and are using the captives as lab rats. The results are mostly temporary, and the type of drug they're making is currently unknown.

"Shh. Guys. Look." Zane called out to them from around another smaller tunnel. They followed him there, and were immediately faced with the first room with lighting, albeit minimally. They were a level above what looked like a laboratory, them being on what appeared to be the viewing area. It was fenced off except for one opening which led to stairs that went down to the below level.

There were vials of different colored substances scattered across the many tables in the room. There were three people to a table, in white hazmat suits, all of them mixing said substances together.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cole whispered in awe.

"We're about to find out. I've done a scan, and none of the people here appear to be possessing any weapons. Although I suggest we proceed with caution."

"Alright. What's the plan Lloyd?"

"Apprehend them. We'll make them tell us what it is they're doing down here. I'll decide what happens after that. If they aren't armed, there are probably more people who're the ones who do the fighting and abducting somewhere else. Let's try and make this as least violent as possible."

The three ninja split up into opposite directions, in order to cover more ground quickly. They all jumped over the fence on Lloyd's queue, holding up their weapons towards the people in white.

"Hands away from the...um. Hands up everybody! Step away from the tables, slowly."

They all did as they were told, except for one person, who quickly slapped a button hidden underneath one of the tables they were at. Suddenly, an alarm went off, with red lights flashing along with the blaring noise.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Cole exclaimed, annoyed.

The room was suddenly filled with people in black suits and masks, coming in through every door, each of them a weapon in hand.

"I'm assuming the order to 'make this as least violent as possible' no longer applies?" Zane inquired.

Lloyd groaned. "Yeah. Let's make this quick. Don't go after the people in white, I think they were forced to be here. And please be careful around the chemicals."

The ninja launched into battle with their signature cry of ‘Ninjago’ as they unleash their spinjitzu, spinning towards the three different groups that came from three different doors.

"Uh, hey guys?" They heard Jay speak into their ear comms in the midst of battle. "Do y'all hear that too? Are you guys okay over there? We've just got the captives free and we're leading them to the bounty. There's nobody here!"

"We could use a little help over here when you're done with that" Lloyd responded, grunting.

"Yeah. There's nobody there because they're all here," Cole added, as he kicked a weapon out of the hand of one of the people in black. "Nothing we can't handle though, 'cause we're awesOME-" Cole yelled as he was thrown and sent crashing through one of the tables.

"Are you alright Cole?" Zane called from his side of the room.

"Yeah," he groaned as he punched the guy who threw him into the table, hard, knocking him unconscious. "Oh, that was so rude."

He got up and dusted himself off, noticing a pink dust covering part of his suit. Oh. Hope that doesn't affect him in any way.

He quickly forgot about it as he jumped right back into combat, using spinjitzu to get over with it faster. It was starting to annoy him.

The battle ended soon enough, with all the bad guys apprehended and tied up. The police arrived to bring them to jail.

Lloyd stayed behind to supervise and answer the police's questions while the others helped the hostages waiting on the bounty call their relatives and friends to come get them.

At this point, the sun was setting, and the sky had turned a pretty orange.

"So. Did you guys have fun over there?" Kai asked them once they'd gotten the chance and all the captives were brought to their homes.

"Yeah dude, we kicked ass!" Jay exclaimed animatedly. "It was like a movie set down there! They had a whole fucking alchemy lab! There were so many potions and shit!"

"Stop cursing in front of the children, Jay." Cole joked, rolling his eyes amusedly.

"But it was so cool looking! Kai, you missed it! All because you wanted to volunteer to Lloyd's order so you could impress him."

"That-That's not why I did it!" Kai denied.

"Was to!"

"Was not!"

"Was to!"

"Ugh! So what if it was?!"

Jay laughed. "Got 'em!"

Kai groaned in annoyance, while the rest of the ninja giggled at the humorous exchange.

"Hey look, Lloyd's back." Cole pointed out suddenly.

Kai once again straightened instantly and put on a casual appearance, to the amusement of the others. "Hey Lloyd."

"Hi, Kai," Lloyd smiled, slumping into the seat beside Kai and letting out a soft yawn. "That was tiring as hell. But at least we got the job done. We'll also be getting a copy of a police report in the morning for us to review, along with transcripts from interrogations they'll be running tonight. So yeah, fun time for whoever decides they wanna take that job up tomorrow, 'cause it ain't gonna be me."

"I'll take care of it," Kai assured. "You should head to bed. You worked hard."

"I don't wanna get up." He leaned his head onto Kai's shoulder, closed his eyes and gave a content sigh.

Jay snorted at the reaction Kai's face sported at that second, to which Cole smacked Jay's arm to silence him, and Jay quietly said "ow" at.

"Yeah we should all get going to bed," Cole announced, standing up. All of the ninja follow suit, where, once out of hearing range, Jay complained to Cole. "Why'd you hit me, asshole!"

"They were having a moment, asshole."

"I didn't even think you could identify what a 'moment' was, asshole..."

"Cmon Lloyd." Kai shook Lloyd gently. "We gotta get inside." Lloyd simply grunted in response.

Kai sighed. Lucky him for being so cute. He slowly picked Lloyd up, cradling him against his body, and made his way to their bedroom.

He immediately turned to glare at Jay as he walked in, who was doing his best to suppress his laughter, and managed to will away his amused expression after taking a deep breath.

Kai tucked Lloyd into bed, and caressed his golden hair for a moment before returning to his own bed.

They fell asleep soon after, as none of them knew what the consequences of today's battle would be brought in the morning.

- - - - - - - - -

Jay woke up early the next morning, as he usually did to make his morning coffee, since he didn't quite function properly without it. However, he was feeling very comfortable where he was. And oddly, very warm. And squished. Hold on a second. He opened his eyes as wide as they could, which wasn't very much due to the time of day, and was faced with the ninja of Earth. Sleeping and cuddling up against him.

Instead of reacting in any way, he just closed his eyes again. Alright, so that was a bit unusual. He was probably dreaming, he reasoned with himself. But it felt so real. Maybe if he went back to sleep, he would be gone when he reawakened. But it felt so real.

He opened his eyes again, his heart jumping in his chest when he realized that this was, in fact, not a dream.

There he was. Cole. In the flesh. Right next to him. On his bed. Jay racked his brain, trying to remember what had happened last night. He's fairly certain that they went to sleep in separate beds, which meant that at some point during the night, Cole had woken up, and climbed into bed with Jay while he slept.

That or Jay was going crazy.

He should probably just wake Cole. He'll explain. Everything will make sense.

He shook Cole's shoulder urgently. "Cole!" he whispered loudly into his ear.

Cole's eyes slowly opened, bleary with sleep. For a moment, they just stared at each other, although Cole did so much more calmly than Jay. But then, Cole unexpectedly giggled and nuzzled closer into Jay's side. And planted a kiss onto his neck.

Alright, that was real for sure.

And the pain he felt as he rolled off his top bunk in surprise and fell to the floor was definitely real as well.

"Fuck," he exclaimed loudly, waking everyone else who hadn't already woken up by the resounding 'thump' of him falling off his bed.

"Again?" He heard Kai groan. "I told y'all, he needs safety railings."

"I thought you were joking," he heard Lloyd reply in a groggy voice.

"What is Cole doing on your bed?" Zane chimed in.

Fuck

- - - - - - - - - -

"This is by far the stupidest reason I've been woken up at the crack of fucking dawn for," Lloyd complained. All the ninja murmured in agreement.

They were all at the bridge, having called an emergency meeting, although the emergency in question was certainly... peculiar.

Cole was currently clinging onto the arm of Jay, who was visibly uncomfortable. For reasons that didn't involve the fact that Cole was currently clinging onto his arm, but rather the reason why he was, which was being explained to them by Nya and Zane.

"Seriously. A love potion? That's what they were all working down in that lab? That's hardly as evil as Jay described it as," Kai grumbled.

"Not a love potion, Kai. At least not initially," Nya corrected. "They were working on a sex drug, for date rape, but we busted the operation before it got to that point. They'd only gone as far as making a 'love dust' or whatever you'd like to call it."

"Imagine what would've happened if Cole had been hit with that kind of spell," Lloyd said with a disturbed look on his face. They all shuddered.

"Let's not imagine that," Jay said, now sitting on top of Cole's lap, with Cole's arms wrapped securely around him and his head laying on top of his shoulder.

They gave him weird looks, to which Jay just blushed and grand in response. "So, do we have a cure for this or not?"

"We ran a couple tests on Cole and looked through the reports sent to us by the deputy," Zane informed them. "Apparently, there are two possible outcomes to this. The first: Cole's condition can be cured, but only if the person that he truly loves kisses him-"

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Kai interrupted. "Jay, kiss him."

Jay sputtered. "Wha- Me?!"

"Yeah, look at how he's clinging to you! That means he's the one he loves right?" He looked to Zane for confirmation.

"Not necessarily. The effects of the spell cause Cole to be affectionate towards anybody he personally knows. Jay just happened to be the first victim. We'll all get our turns soon enough."

"Can't wait," Kai sarcastically returned.

"But what if Cole doesn't love anybody? Will he be stuck like this forever?" Lloyd asked with concern.

Nya chimed in. "That brings us to our second outcome. If there isn't a special someone that Cole has his eyes out for at the moment, then the effects should wear off within a week's time."

"Wow! That's great! It's just a week then." Jay exclaimed, relieved. "Right guys?" he laughed nervously.

"Well, we don't know if Cole does or doesn't have someone in mind."

"He's never made it present that he did."

"And anyway, the spell would make finding who that person is way more challenging than it would be even without it."

"So it's settled. We wait." Lloyd concluded.

"Unless anyone wants to take a crack at kissing Cole and possibly end it sooner," Nya suggested.

All heads turned to face Jay, whose face was practically burning up, as Cole has gone from nuzzling Jay's neck to leaving a trail of soft kisses instead.

He gulped. "Guess we're waiting."

- - - - - - - - - -

1.

A few days passed by, all of them involving a lot of kissing, cuddling, ogling and everything in between, on the behalf of Cole. As Zane had explained, Cole eventually began to expand his horizons and went for the other ninja as well. None of them had attempted kissing Cole so far. Kai tried annoying Jay into doing it, but to no avail.

However, that was about to change.

But it wouldn't be the ninja of lighting to do so.

"There's been a breach at the Kryptarium prison!" Nya announced on the bounty's intercom. "I'm already steering us there!"

"There's been a small break, in one of the less restricted areas, though it still constitutes an emergency," Zane explained as the ninja quickly gathered onto the bounty deck.

The seriousness of the situation was weakened by the fact that Zane was carrying Cole on his back. Or, more accurately, Cole seemed to be clinging onto Zane with a reckless abandon, and Zane seemed to be pointedly ignoring it.

"Uhh, is he going to be a hindrance if we bring him along?" Lloyd questioned uncertainty.

"I assure you, he will not," Zane said. "I think," he added as a second thought.

"Whatever. Maybe he'll snap out of it in the heat of battle," Kai interjected. "C'mon, let's get going!"

As Kai predicted, Cole did manage to pry himself off of Zane and participate in the fight. Although his actions were all rooted in romance, and his motives were clearly to impress and protect the other ninja.

"Thanks Cole!" Lloyd called out to him, after he helped prevent a surprise attack from behind him.

Cole giggled. "Heh. You're welcome Lloyd-"

"Watch out!"

Lloyd barely managed to push Cole out of the way from a prisoner who had managed to obtain a large club as a weapon and had swung it aiming for Cole's head. Lloyd broke the weapon in half and threw the offender into the growing pile of prisoners that have been dealt with.

Lloyd dropped to the ground. "Cole. Are you okay?"

Cole grunted and then giggled. "Kiss me better?"

Lloyd groaned. But then considered it. "Hey Zane?" he spoke into the comms.

"Yes?"

"Does the kiss have to be on the lips for it to count?"

"Affirmative."

"Oh my god, is he really gonna do it!? Seriously? Right now?" he heard Jay rattle off in the comms.

"It won't hurt to try, right?" Lloyd justified, trying to reassure himself and the others.

He ignored Jay and Kai, who were arguing with each other while also trying to convince him not to do it.

"I thought we were waiting for the week to end?!"

"What are the chances that it'll work!? The chances are very low!"

"Shut up Jay! This wouldn't be happening if it weren't for your stupid pining!"

"Oh, you're one to talk, heart eyes!"

Lloyd took a deep breath and pulled up both of their masks, just above nose level so he could have space to do what he was about to do. Cole was looking at him like he hung the moon, and Lloyd felt a pang in his heart as he hoped that was only because of the spell and not because he actually felt that way towards Lloyd. He didn't want to have to reject Cole's feelings, if they were real.

Fuck it.

He smashed their lips together, harsh and aggressive. He pulled away quickly though, especially when he felt Cole moan into his mouth. He wiped his lips with his sleeve, panting heavily "Did it work?" he asked Cole.

"Did what work?" Cole replied, the dreamy look still present in his eyes.

Lloyd sighed, in both relief and annoyance. Cole went in for another kiss but Lloyd dodged it, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder.

"Guys, it didn't work." He heard Kai and Jay express their relief. "I'm going to be taking Cole back to the bounty. He's being too much of a nuisance here. You all gonna be okay without me?"

"Yeah, we're almost done here anyway!" Kai assured. "Go on ahead."

Lloyd nodded and hurried towards the exit. But once outside, he was bombarded by news reporters and cameras flashing, blinding his vision momentarily.

"Green ninja!"

"What is your relation towards the black ninja? It appears you are more than just friends."

"Do you have any statements regarding the kiss you and the ninja of earth shared earlier?"

"How long have you two been an item?"

"Uhh, no comment." How the hell had they seen what happened from out here? He looked up, noticing a small drone being controlled by one of the news reporters in the crowd.

Great.

"Um. I can explain..." Lloyd began, but then noticed a reporter holding a microphone up to his back. Cole.

"He kissed me first. He definitely loves me-" Lloyd stopped whatever nonsense he would spew out next by covering his mouth with his hand and muffling his words.

"Sorry. We gotta go."

Lloyd pushed past the crowd, who continue to shoot question after question, some even attempting to chase after them.

He arrived at the bounty and finally placed Cole down. Who then immediately tried to kiss him again, which Lloyd stopped by placing a hand to his mouth.

Well. At least he knows now it isn't him.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Uh Lloyd. Why am I seeing you kiss Cole on the news?" He heard Nya ask in the other room.

"What." Lloyd said, walking in to see the kiss he and Cole shared being shown on television.

"NGTV news, Gale Gossip, here in the site of the ninjas most recent battle where the green ninja has been spotted kissing his fellow ninja of earth. Clips have been circling around, and neither ninja have come out to make official statements as of yet..."

"On the newspapers too," Kai walked in right afterwards. One hand holding a newspaper and the other hand holding Cole's. Or, more accurately, Cole has taken ownership of Kai's hand and Kai has given up on trying to pry it free.

Lloyd took the paper from Kai, the headline reading in bold letters "THE GREEN NINJA AND THE NINJA OF EARTH SECRETLY AN ITEM? PROOF"

"Fuck."

"I told you not to do it! Seriously, that was the worst timing possible!" Jay added from where he was sitting, next to Nya. His arms were crossed and his face fixed with a pout, very obviously jealous regarding the situation.

"I think we can all unanimously agree to have Cole sit out any future missions until this is over." Zane proposed.

The ninja murmured in agreement.

"This wouldn't have happened if Jay had gone through with kissing him from the start. Just saying."

"Shut up, Kai!"

- - - - - - - - - - -

2.

"You seem a lot less uncomfortable with this than I expected you to be."

Kai, Lloyd, Jay, Zane and Cole were all at the bounty's deck. Lloyd and Jay were sparring, Zane was meditating, and Kai was using one of the bounty's built in machines to train.

And Cole was, well... He was busy ogling shirtless Kai. Which was the 'this' that Lloyd was referring to earlier.

"I mean, I was at first," Kai explained. "But at this point I think we've all gotten used to it. I've decided to embrace it, rather than to let it bother me."

"Alright, wise ass, just say that you're using Cole as your personal servant," Jay said, annoyed.

Kai rolled his eyes. "C'mon guys, can't we have a little fun with this?" He gestured to Cole, whose attention immediately perked up. "Hey Cole, can you hand me some water."

Cole did as he was told, walking up to him and shyly handing him a water bottle. He visibly reddened when their hands brushed against each other, and watched as Kai gulped down the water, sweat glistening across his chest.

"Sure, it's kind of creepy at times, but in the end, we both get what we want." He clapped a hand onto Cole's shoulder, causing Cole to jump underneath his touch.

"That's fucked, Kai," Jay said, pausing from his sparring session with Lloyd.

"Well if you don't like him doing things for me, then why don't you just end it, Jay, and kiss him," Kai challenged, arms crossed.

"He doesn't like me."

"We won't know that for sure until you kiss him."

"Last I checked, you haven't kissed him. So it can well possibly be you he likes," Jay countered exasperatedly.

"You know what. You're right."

"Huh?"

He walked towards Cole, who froze under Kai's gaze. "Hey. I'm gonna need my shirt back."

Cole nodded, going to take off his shirt, but Kai stopped him, and started to lift the shirt off of Cole himself.

"I didn't even notice he was wearing Kai's shirt," Lloyd whispered at Jay.

"He said he liked the way it smelled like him." Jay shuddered, entranced by the spectacle occurring before them.

Kai lifted Cole's arms above his head to pull the shirt off, pressing his entire body against him. He then stood still, Cole's arms still trapped within the shirt, staring at his eyes. Then trailed down towards his lips. He smirked cockily, and pressed his lips against Cole, who eagerly returned it.

The kiss lasted for a lot longer than the one Lloyd shared with Cole, and it involved a lot more tongue than necessary. When they finally pulled away, Cole was left looking like his brain had melted, while Kai was sporting a triumphant look on his face. He turned towards Jay and dramatically gave him the finger.

"I am so conflicted and weirdly turned on right now. Ow! C'mon Lloyd, I know you agree, with that look on your face." Jay shoved Lloyd with his shoulder. "Show off!" he called out to Kai.

"Well. I think we should let the records show that I am not a coward, and that Jay is," Kai said smugly.

"Did you even check to see if the kiss worked?" Lloyd asked.

"I feel like he'd have reacted by now if it did," Kai responded, finally noticing the state he left Cole in.

"I think you broke him Kai."

"Heh. Well. What can I say? I'm a pretty great kisser," he winked at Lloyd, who blushed and covered his face with one hand in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm going to go try and help Cole retrieve his sanity. And a shirt, for that matter. You two work out whatever sexual tension is going on here."

"Maybe you can kiss him out of his trance!" Kai called after Jay, as he took Cole's hand and lead him inside. Jay turned and flipped him off using his unoccupied hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"I can't believe you kissed Cole before you even kissed me."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Jay told us to resolve our sexual tension, so why don't we? I'm tired of dancing around this."

Kai gulped, all the confidence from earlier quickly fading as he turned into his usual bumbling self around Lloyd.

"Oh, c'mon. What happened to that smug Kai from earlier?" Lloyd teased.

"H-He comes and goes. Um," Kai fiddled nervously with his fingers. "So, you've noticed I've been flirting with you?"

"I think everyone has." Lloyd smiled. "I'll take it you've noticed that I've been flirting back. Right?"

Kai nodded. Where were words when he needed them?

"Were you waiting for me to make the first move?" Lloyd asked, leaning into Kai's space, nearly close to sitting on top of him.

"I just wanted to be 100% sure..." Kai's words died in his throat as Lloyd actually did sit on top of him and wrapped his arms around his neck.

He laughed at the expression Kai's face displayed. "Are you sure now?"

Kai nodded, smiling shyly. "Can I kiss you?"

"Of course, you doofus."

Kai eagerly locked lips with Lloyd, who kissed back just as passionately. So passionately, he pushed Kai into the ground, falling with him and landing on his chest, still kissing him. Kai didn't so much react to that than with a grunt, as he was so focused on the taste of Lloyd's soft lips against his.

He choked and broke the kiss when he suddenly felt Lloyd grind their hips together, an intense heat immediately flowing through his body.

He laughed mischievously, running his hands across Kai's bare chest. "What's wrong, Kai?"

"You know anyone can walk in," he warned, although not sounding too opposed to what Lloyd's actions were implying.

"That's part of the thrill, isn't it?" he whispered sensually into Kai's ear, sending shivers up his spine.

"You guys realize I'm still here, right?"

"Fuck!" Lloyd jumped off of Kai, startled to see that Zane was still sitting where he'd been meditating earlier. "S-Sorry! I, uh, forgot you were- I thought you left already." Safe to say that Lloyd no longer felt the thrill of being caught in a compromising position.

"That's alright. It's nice to know that my calculation of 95% was fairly accurate."

"Huh?" He looked to Kai in confusion, and saw him covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.

Kai stood up and grabbed Lloyd's hand. "How about we just go inside?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, let's do that instead."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

3.

To take their minds off all of the chaos that Cole had brought to them lately, Nya decided to organize a movie night. Of course, one of the ninja had to be sacrificed in order for this endeavor to work. That ninja was Jay, who had lost the deciding round of rock-paper-clamp, and was now forced to keep Cole occupied during the other ninja's break.

Lloyd and Kai were squeezed together on a single couch made for one, even though they had the option to sit on the other two larger couches that Zane and Nya were each sitting at, because they've become that couple.

Jay eventually came to join them a little over halfway through the movie, slumping down next to Nya with a sigh. "How'd you manage to get away from him?" Nya asked him.

"He fell asleep. Apparently Cole's a fucking cat that likes to get his hair played with." He closed his eyes and laid his head on Nya's shoulder to try and get some rest.

But not long afterwards, Cole walked into the room, looking more asleep than awake, with a blanket wrapped entirely around him. His eyes were barely even open, yet he somehow managed to make his way towards the empty spot beside Zane, where he laid down and rested his head atop of Zane's lap.

Jay frowned. "Seriously? All of that cuddling for nothing?"

Zane gave an apologetic look to Jay in response to the slightly hurt and jealous tone he used.

"Should've done less cuddling and more kissing if you wanted that to happen," Kai teased.

Jay groaned. "And now I can't even make fun of you for pinning anymore."

They continue to watch the movie after that, with no interruptions from Cole, who appeared to be tired out from being affectionate for the entire day, and stayed asleep.

From where Zane was, he could see the sadness in Jay's eyes, where there were surely many thoughts running through his mind. It probably also didn't help that they were watching a movie that happened to involve romance and heartbreak.

Zane tuned the movie out and decided to run through his memory's database of every single encounter he's witnessed of Cole and Jay interacting in any way. Perhaps he could find an instance in which Cole happened to show any romantic feelings towards Jay.

As he scanned, he found multiple occurrences in which Jay was the one being affectionate, although he'd already known that to exist. But he couldn't recall anything explicit coming from Cole.

However, that then reminded him of their previous conversation the day before Cole woke up under the dust's influence. Kai had mentioned that Cole never seemed to show his affections as explicitly as any of the others have.

Zane proposed a theory to himself, one that he hadn't put much of any thought into before any of this had happened. The theory being that Jay may be the person who Cole liked.

The movie ended, and the ninja all head to their beds, except for Zane, who still had a sleeping Cole laying his head on his lap. This made Zane form an experiment in his head, to test his theory.

He shook Cole awake, and Cole gave him the usual heart eyes that he'd been giving everybody nowadays. At this point, Zane believed he could distinguish between the fake and real affections Cole gave.

Zane decided to test his theory, and leaned down to kiss Cole. It's a sweet kiss. Hardly even to be considered a kiss compared to what Kai or Lloyd did. A quick peck on the mouth is a more accurate description of what he did. When he pulled away, he saw the same love struck face on Cole as from before he went in for the kiss.

So he was right.

Zane stood up and carried Cole to their room, covering his face with the blanket Cole brought with him to avoid the attempted kisses Cole was trying to give him.

He left Cole on his bed, gently. He now knew who Cole's heart really belonged to.

He looked at the bunk above Cole's to see if Jay was still awake. Sure enough, he was, staring at the ceiling with an upset look on his face. Probably from what happened earlier.

"Jay," he whispered.

Jay hummed in response, in a sad tone.

"I'm sorry about earlier. It was not my intention to upset you."

"Yeah, I know. It's not your fault. I guess I'm just sad at myself..."

"If it's any consolation, I do truly believe you can be the one to fix this." Zane saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Really?"

Zane nodded. "We already know it's not Lloyd. Or Kai. I wanted to tell you that it's not me either." Jay got a sour expression for the second he understood that Zane kissed Cole, but then smiled at the second thought that Zane meant it hadn't worked.

"Thanks Zane."

Zane smiled, and headed towards his own bed to sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

4.

"Hey Sensei."

Wu looked up from where he was making tea and saw Cole leaning against a wall sensually, in a pitiful attempted act of seduction.

Shortly afterwards, the ninja hear a distressed Wu announce on the bounty intercom, "One of you better find Cole a cure, fast."

The ninja all giggle and groan, mixed reactions as to what they speculate happened to Sensei to elicit that reaction from him.

"Now that's gonna be embarrassing for future Cole."

- - - - - - - - - - -

5.

The ninja had gone on a few missions ever since Cole had been basically rendered useless in combat, and consequently left behind. However, today would be different.

They would usually leave behind someone to look after him (determined by whichever of the ninja lost at rock-paper-clamp, of course).

Kai was the one stuck behind with Cole for today, but he stayed in the bounty bridge listening to the comms and supervising in case they called for his backup.

He was absentmindedly scrolling through his phone with one hand and running his fingers through Cole's hair with the other (as apparently that helped keep him distracted) when his interest was piqued by the urgency in tone that suddenly picked up in the conversation going on in the background.

He put his phone down to pay attention more closely to the conversation.

He heard Lloyd inform the others on how there were people trapped on a bus that was hijacked by some of the people they were fighting and that they made a quick escape. Lloyd told the others that he was currently busy with some other people and asked if anyone was available to go and get them. He got similar responses from them all saying that they had their hands filled at the moment. They were currently dealing with a series of coincidental break-ins all across Ninjago.

He heard Lloyd curse in frustration. "Alright, I'll go deal with it myself."

Kai dropped his hand from Cole's head to go and give a response. He asked, "Do you guys need my help out there?"

"We could use all the hands we can get. Will you be able to keep Cole occupied to do that?"

Kai turned to see that Cole had taken ownership of the hoodie he left on the chair he was sitting at. That gave him an idea. He quickly changed into his ninja uniform using spinjitzu and made his way towards their room.

"Kaiii," Cole whined and grudgingly got up to follow him. Just as he'd planned. "Where are we going?" Cole asked.

"Oh. I just had this great idea," Kai replied innocently. "I want to show you something."

Cole followed Kai into their room, and they stop in front of a closet. Cole raised an eyebrow. "Show me what?" Kai opened the closet door, revealing a plethora of assorted clothing, mainly colored blue.

Coles eyes lit up. "Jay's clothes." He frowned. "He doesn't let me wear his clothes. He says that I'm too bulky to fit into any of them."

"That's just his way of calling you a hunk!" He clapped his hand on Cole's back. "I'm sure you'll find something here of your interest. I bet he keeps that orange scarf of his in here."

"You think so?"

"Sure! And besides, Jay's not here, so all legal rights of anything here goes to me, to which I then grant to you."

Cole giggled. "I don't think that's true."

"It is in my books! Go ahead and get your ass in there," Kai said, lightly pushing Cole into the closet. "I'll be right back!" Kai called out to him as he ran out the door, locking it behind him. A door won't hold back the mighty ninja of earth, but the comfort of the sentiment was enough for Kai.

Kai had already steered the bounty on course towards the fighting, and when he walked out onto the deck, he saw the bus that Lloyd was referring to earlier driving towards the bounty's direction, as he planned. So when the time was right, he jumped, landing onto the roof of the bus.

He looked behind him and saw Lloyd driving right behind in one of the many vehicles Nya had provided them. Kai waved at him, and together, they work to take down the hijacker and release the civilians stuck in the bus.

With Kai's help, the ninja get the job done at a quicker pace and have all the criminals detained and arrested.

Once everything was taken care of, they all made their way back to the bounty where Kai had left it.

"How'd you manage to keep Cole busy?" Nya asked.

Kai winced. "I locked him in Jay's closet."

"WHAT?" Jay exclaimed loudly.

"Are you mad about the fact that I let him in your closet or that I locked him in it...?"

"Fucking BOTH!" Jay ran ahead of the others, headed towards his closet. The others follow suit, although when they get there, they find Jay standing in their room, which was in a state that Kai was sure he had not left it in before leaving.

"You know, it's not ransacked as I expected it to be," Jay commented, looking through his closet. "I think I'm more concerned about what happened to our room. Y'think Cole went crazy with none of us here to cuddle him?" Jay joked, laughing nervously.

"How'd he get out of the closet?" Kai questioned. "The door's still intact, and you can only unlock it from the outside.

"Where is Cole?"

The ninja split up and began looking through the bounty for any sign or trace of Cole, but to no avail.

Until Zane announced on the bounty's intercom, "I think I may have found something of interest!"

They all meet at the bridge, to find Zane holding up a cassette tape. Across it, a strip of masking tape, with big bold letters reading 'PLAY ME' written in black marker.

"A cassette tape? Who the hell still uses these things?" Kai joked.

"Well, Cole does. But that's just because he's a music aficionado who listens to 90's soft rock." Jay informed, arms crossed. "So is this a message from him? Cole's got a cassette tape player. Hold on, I'll go get it."

Jay returned with a Cole's player in hand, the size of a calculator, covered in band stickers and doodles.

"Is that your handwriting?" Lloyd asked, amused. He pointed out a small cartoon drawing of both Cole and Jay's faces with the words 'team jole!!!' written beside it

Jay laughed shyly. "Yes. We share it. He gives me music recs." He cleared his throat. "Not the point right now. Let's see what this is about."

He went to connect the player to the bounty's sound system so they could all hear, since it's only made to be playable with headphones. Once done with that, he put the cassette tape in and hit play.

The ninja quiet down to listen, but hear nothing but a weird static silence for the first few seconds. Suddenly a distorted voice spoke up.

"We've heard news that a certain ninja of earth has been affected by one of our very own experiments and therefore has been left vulnerable. We decided to act upon that opportunity. Fail to meet our demands and the pretty boy gets it."

The tape ended.

"Demands!?" Jay screeched. "They didn't even give any demands! What kind of ransom message is this?!"

"This ain't our first rodeo, Jay. Calm down, we'll get him back," Lloyd said, attempting to reassure him.

"This is your fault!" Jay accused, pointing towards Kai.

"Me?! What do I have to do with this?" Kai raised his hands up in defense.

"You left him alone!"

"I left him in a closet." Kai countered. "And how was I to know that this was going to happen?"

"Let's not argue, guys." Nya interjected, stepping between them. "How about we start trying to figure this out, yeah?"

"She's right." Lloyd agreed. "We need a plan. Zane, Nya. You guys can start off by looking through our room for any sort of clue. Kai, can you search around the deck for anything that could be helpful? And Pixal, could you fly around the perimeter using the samurai suit? Maybe they're still nearby."

They all nod and do as they're told. Lloyd turned to Jay, apologetic. "Sorry this happened Jay. Maybe if I hadn't called for backup, Kai could've been able to stop them."

"That or they would've gotten Kai as well," Jay muttered in response. "Do you think that whole thing we were at was a diversion?"

"I was thinking we'd check in with the prison they're being held in. Maybe they've got answers there."

Jay agreed to go with Lloyd, and together they questioned the criminals who had been imprisoned just a while earlier, as well as the ones they'd gotten the day before Cole became affected by the drugs.

The only person who ended up talking was one of the guys that they'd gotten today. When they asked him if he was working with the people who made the love drug, he said, "I thought we were. But clearly we're not. They said they weren't gonna let us get arrested, yet here I am! Fuck them."

"What can you tell us about them?"

"I'll tell you whatever if it means you get them here in this jail with us."

He revealed to them that they were hired to create a diversion, as Jay suggested earlier, so that they could get Cole and hold him up for ransom.

"I think they were planning on dosing him on something new they've been testing out. I don't know anything about that, but they said it was potent."

"Do you know where they're keeping him?"

"I don't. Sorry."

They leave, knowing at least a bit more than they initially did. Kai greeted them upon their return.

"We've got something."

"Same here. Come check it out."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Zane and Nya had found another tape in the mess that had been left in their room. They informed them that the tape had given them a location and time, as well as the amount of money they were asking for.

Kai found a ripped cloth with a symbol, which they recognized from the first time they had infiltrated the underground laboratory. Pixal went to the location provided by the second tape to scope the area beforehand and found that same symbol attached to the door. It was empty at that time.

They also had requested for only three ninja to go. Kai, Lloyd, and Zane were the only ones who presented themselves, while Jay, Pixal, and Nya chose to secretly look out in the distance.

The ninja handed over the suitcase with the money, but then the masked person who took it suddenly dropped a smoke bomb, leaving the three ninja blinded. Zane had expected this to occur though, and he used his robot vision to scan in the haze. He informed the other three ninja of the location they had escaped in and that they took off in a white truck.

However, there turned out to be more than one truck, which all went in different directions, as a diversion tactic. Jay, Pixal, and Nya each followed one.

Nya was the one that got the correct one, and she was led towards their lair. Underground, again. She hid underneath the truck, hanging on to be let inside without being caught.

She informed the others where she was at, but Zane suggested that the best form of action was for Nya to try and find Cole on her own, which would be easier if they knew that they weren't in the same building trying to free Cole.

However, they did track her location and waited nearby outside the building to be with her as soon as it turned out she needed backup.

She ran around the stronghold, listening around to see if she could overhear where they were keeping Cole. She eventually heard someone tell another person that it was time to swap shifts at the prison quarters. She followed him, easily taking out the guard and took the bunch of keys he had hanging from his belt.

She then ran past each cell, calling out for Cole. There were a bunch of other people in the cells too, which Nya informed the others of in the comms, saying that they were gonna need to bust this place too.

She was still calling out for Cole, when she finally got a call back.

"Nya?!"

She ran towards the sound of his voice and found him at the cell at the end of the hall. He was wearing Kai's red hoodie and Jay's orange scarf was wrapped around his neck. "Nya! You found me! You're amazing..."

Nya cringed. "Alright Cole. I'm gonna need you to help me help you out of this. Please try and stay focused." She grabbed the keys that she picked up from the guard she knocked out earlier and tried them each out. None of them worked. "Shit!" she cursed, kicking the door. "I'll just break this fucking door down then."

"I've already tried that. This door is useless against our powers. Their leader has the keys, I think. You're better off just giving them what they want. Or just leave me here. It's not safe. I heard they're tracking the guard's vitals so that they know when something is off."

"Crap. Nobody could've told me that sooner?" She heard footsteps nearing them. "Guys? I found Cole. I can't get him out. I'm gonna need backup."

"We're on it. Hang tight Nya."

"Nya, you should go. There's dozens of them!" Cole warned.

"I'm not leaving without you, bastard." Nya snapped back. Upon seeing the look on his face, Nya groaned. "Listen Cole. I'm a lesbian. But if kissing you might make you snap out of it, then fuck it."

She reached through the bars and grabbed him by the collar of his (well, Kai's) sweater, pulling him as close as he could. She presses her lips awkwardly against his, trying to figure out the right way to go about doing it, but a guy's lips were surprisingly different to kiss than a girl's.

She pulled back pretty quickly, partially because they were on a very strict timing, partially because it didn't feel right. Cole just looked even more lovestruck than before, and, shit, she probably made it worse. Well at least she didn't have to reject him now.

"Nya, we're here! We're about to drill through the wall to your left, make sure you're both out of the way."

Nya felt the rumble of Cole's earth driller underneath her feet, coming from behind the cell wall where Cole was. "Brace yourself!" she warned, moving out of the way.

The wall came down, and in came the driller. It stopped and out came Jay, from inside. "Hey! Are you guys okay?" he called out to them.

"Yeah, we-"

"Jay!" Cole cried out, interrupting Nya.

Jay visibly became flustered. "Is that my scarf?"

"We don't have time, guys!" Nya exclaimed.

The guards finally arrive, and there were dozens of them, as Cole had warned.

"Don't worry. I've got this." Jay said, pulling out his nunchucks. "Take Cole away to safety, Nya. The others went through the main entrance, we'll meet there. I hear that's where the party's at."

"You got it." Nya said, grabbing Cole and pulling him along by the arm.

After leaving Cole at the bounty with Wu, she went through the main entrance as Jay said they others did, and sure enough, they were all there. She joined the fight alongside them, and they quickly get the job done. The police were called to take them away, and when that was done, they all head back to the bounty to finally rest.

"Hopefully that's the last we see of them." Lloyd remarked, exhausted.

"Seriously." Jay agreed. "If I wake up tomorrow and it turns out they're plotting something new, I'm gonna sit that one out."

The ninja head to their sleeping quarters, all of them quickly falling asleep from exhaustion. Except for Cole, who was scared that there was still more and that maybe they'd come and attack them in their sleep.

He climbed up onto the bunk above his and laid down to sleep there. The movement woke Jay, but he ignored it. Today was the last day the dust was supposed to affect Cole, supposedly, if he didn't actually have feelings for anyone. If this was the last time Cole would show any romantic affection towards him, then so be it.

He felt his heart clench, the thought of that hurting a lot more than he figured it would. Jay felt selfish. It was wrong to be sad about Cole becoming cured, even if it meant he wouldn't look at him with the love he had been the entire week.

Jay frowned when he felt Cole cuddle up closer to him and sigh in content. Well, maybe a little self indulgence couldn't hurt. It was just for a night anyway.

Jay hesitantly reached an arm across Cole, hovering over him for a bit as he considered his actions, but then gave in, and slowly wrapped his arm around Cole.

He was still wearing his scarf, as Jay had been too shy to ask for it back. Besides, he kinda looked cute with it on.

Jay forced every single thought away, and just focused on the comfort that Cole's presence brought beside him. Because right now, that was all he ever wanted.

- - - - - - - - - - -

+1

Jay had woken up the next morning with Cole spooning him, his arms wrapped securely around him and their legs tangled together. He stayed there for as long as he could, not attempting to wake Cole up like he had the last time he was in a situation similar to this.

It wasn't that long after when he felt Cole shift around him, signaling that he had woken up. Jay had stood still, waiting for Cole to pull away, to say something, to at least react in anyway. The lack of reaction was making him very anxious.

Until finally, Cole had moved. And planted a kiss on his neck. Again.

And Jay fell from the bed. Again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" And he woke up Kai. Again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Nya. Could I ask for some advice?"

"I could try."

Nya was in her room, polishing her weapons when Jay had decided that he had enough. That he needed to confess to Cole, and find out the true intentions of Cole's affections, whether he liked the answer or not.

The thing was, he didn't know how to go about doing that. So he chose to ask Nya for advice on how to do so.

"Hypothetically speaking, if there was somebody that you happened to have, erm, romantic interest in, what do you suggest would be the best method to go about telling them that, if they've also shown no explicit signs of reciprocating."

Nya hummed. "In this hypothetical situation, does this person happen to be affected by a love drug in which it would make it unclear as to whether their affections are the cause of mutual feelings or due to said drug?"

"Maybe...?"

Nya raised an eyebrow.

"Fine! Yes."

"I thought so," Nya said, smiling to herself. "Jay, it's been a week already. You're the only one here, besides Wu, who hasn't kissed Cole. I think the odds are plenty in your favor."

"But what if they aren't? What if it's actually not me? What if it's someone we don't know? What if I confess my feelings to him and kiss him and it doesn't work?"

"What if there are no more what if's, Jay?"

Jay frowned. "You're quoting Sensei Wu."

"So what if I am?" Nya said, brushing him off.

"I thought we said there'd be no more what it's," Jay joked.

"Shut up," Nya laughed. "But do you get what I'm saying? How will you know if you never try? If it doesn't work, which I highly doubt, it won't be the end of the world."

Jay sighed. "I know, but I don't want to go through with making myself vulnerable in front of him just to have it backfire.

"Think about what Cole would want. I don't think he enjoys being stuck in the state he's in. He'd want you to take the chance."

Jay was silent as he considers her words. "You're right. I'm gonna do it." The confidence on his face faltered. "But should I just tell him? Or- Or should I do something for him?"

"It doesn't have to be overly romantic or special. Just be yourself." She grimaced at her own words. "I know it sounds corny. It physically hurt me to say it, but it's true."

Jay laughed. "Thank you Nya, you're the best."

"Damn right I am," Nya called out to Jay as he hurried out of Nya's room to look for Cole.

He found him on the deck of the bounty, with Kai and Lloyd. He was playing with Kai's hair, who was ignoring it, in favor of talking with Lloyd. Cole perked up when he saw him, and dropped his hand from Kai's head. "Jay!" he called out, causing the other two ninja to notice his appearance.

"Is it your turn with Cole already?" Kai asked, confused.

"No. I need to talk to him, it's important."

Kai and Lloyd shared a knowing look.

"So, I'm just gonna take him. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure go ahead," Lloyd said.

Jay could hear them talking animatedly to each other as he walked away with Cole in hand.

"Holy shit." "Is he gonna do it?" "I think so." "Well it's about time."

He took Cole somewhere private, and finally took a moment to look him in the eyes. "Cole."

"Jay?" Cole smiled.

"I know you're under a spell, and that whatever I'm going to say might not matter in the future, but this is really important to me right now, so I'm going to need you to listen."

Cole nodded and waited for him to continue.

Jay took a deep breath. "Cole, we've known each other for a long time, and from the beginning I knew that you were going to be someone very important to me. And you are. But, those feelings of brotherly love quickly turned into something more."

He grabbed both of Coles hands and held them with his own.

"I just want you to know that I-I really, really like you. And I'd really like to kiss you."

"So do it."

"Huh?"

Coles smiled, pulling Jay closer to him. "Kiss me, you idiot."

Jay gulped. He hoped that wasn't the drug speaking.

Hesitantly, he brought their lips together, standing on his toes to make up for the height difference. His heart was pounding in his ears, and as soon as their lips met, he felt sparks of electricity flying in his chest.

Cole's lips were soft and pleasant against his, and Jay could feel the sweetness seeping through the kiss. With weak knees, Jay brought Cole closer to him, intensifying the kiss, which Cole returned with just as much passion.

It felt as if time had stopped, and Jay was only brought back to reality when Cole pulled away. He had a certain look in his eyes that made Jay's heart jump in his chest.

"Jay?"

"Cole?"

He brought a hand up to his head and groaned. "I feel like I'm having the worst hangover of my life."

"Oh my gosh, it worked!?" Jay exclaimed. "Holy shit."

He pressed another kiss onto Cole in celebration, which Cole heartily returned but then pulled away quickly.

"Not that I'm not loving the loving, but what the hell is going on right now."

"You don't remember?" Jay frowned.

"Kinda? It feels like a fever dream." He smiled shyly. "I do happen to remember a lot of what you said just earlier though."

Jay laughed, bashful. "You better have. I put a lot of heartfelt effort into my confession, asshole."

"I'm sure you did, bluebell," he saif, ruffling up his already messy ginger hair.

A realization hit Jay suddenly. "Oh! We should tell the others!" He grabbed Coles hand, pulling him along. "We'll fill you in on whatever you don't remember."

Jay called for a meeting and brought everyone together to announce the news.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Guys! Guess what?"

"You're pregnant."

"Fuck you Kai!" Jay retorted, still smiling. "Cole's back to normal!"

The ninja all simultaneously expressed their relief.

"Finally!"

"Oh it's about time."

"So you finally got the balls to kiss him," Kai said, cockily crossing his arms.

"I was just waiting for the week to end!" Jay defended himself. "Unlike all of you guys."

The other ninja became visibly flustered and uncomfortable, Kai in particular blushing at the memory of what he'd impulsively done.

He coughed awkwardly. "You don't happen to remember any of that, do you?"

"It's all coming back to me gradually, but, you know what, let's just pretend like I don't."

The ninja quickly brushed past that conversation and explain why this all started, catching him up on other things as well.

Eventually, Jay and Cole excused themselves to 'talk' privately. And they do talk! But also kiss a lot. But can you blame them, after all those years of pining?

They laid in bed together, something that Jay had gotten used to already, but hadn't experienced like he was now. Where Cole shared the same feelings for him, and it wasn't because of a love drug.

Cole was leaving soft kisses on his neck as they cuddled close together, same as he'd done many times before. The memory of the first time he did it made Jay giggle out loud.

"What's funny?" Cole asked, smiling.

"I don't know if you remember, but you did a lot of that this entire week. Kissing my neck."

"Yeah, I think I did, didn't I?" He laughed. "I guess I still acted a bit like myself even in the state I was in."

"You're saying that all that stuff you did was just an uncensored version of yourself? So you like climbing into people's beds to cuddle them while you sleep?" Jay joked.

"And you like falling off of beds," Cole teased.

He groaned. "You remember that?"

"Both times."

Jay laughed. "Let's put that under the list of things we pretend to forget."

"Whatever you say, Jay," Cole said, pulling him closer and resting his head atop of his. They laid like that for a while, reveling in each other's presence.

"I think I'm in love with you."

"I think I might be too."