Chapter Text
It was real late in the evening when the boys got to their hotel. The rain had hiked up so much goddamn traffic that there really wasn’t much any one of them could do about it.
Sure, the drive was fun, Jay thought to himself as the four of them bustled into the hotel lobby. He’d gotten into a heated “discussion” with Kai over what movie candy is objectively the best. Zane put a poll up on Twitter to get them both to shut up about it, and Kai’s M&Ms won out over Sour Patch Kids by a landslide. Cole scoffed at their damn petty argument, but added that clearly the best movie candy were those frosted animal crackers, which just caused a whole other uproar.
Trips with these guys were fun like that. Jay felt like he’d known them so long that even when they were being dramatic, being around them felt like… home.
They walked up to the front desk in the wee hours of the night. Cole, taking the lead with the bag cart, also took the lead regarding getting the keys.
“Sorry about coming in this late,” he started, looking up at the concierge apologetically. She just sighed in a sort of resigned way.
“Believe me, this isn’t the latest I’ve seen. What’s the name on the booking?” She flips through the computer absentmindedly.
“Uh, Cole Brookstone. Four nights.” Cole slid his phone out of his pocket and opened up the app he’d done the booking on. Kai shifted from foot to foot quietly as the concierge continued to flip through the computer.
Jay hummed a bit, trying to break the silence. He glanced at the clock behind the front desk. 11:44 PM. Hotels were usually dead quiet around this time, and this place was no exception.
Finally, the concierge looked up. She yawned. Then she passed four cards across the table. “Room 114.”
Cole flashed another apologetic smile. “Thank you. Have a good night, then?”
“Mm,” she replied, noncommittal.
With that, the boys filed off into the elevator, finally free to talk amongst themselves.
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Jay asked into the air. Zane picked it up.
“Well, there’s a county fair in town that I know Cole wanted to go to,” he explains, flipping through his phone with one hand.
Cole brightens. “Oh, very much. You guys haven’t lived until you’ve tried funnel cake. Ooh, and cotton candy! And-“
Kai laughed a bit and clapped Cole on the shoulder. “We get it, the sweet stuff’s pretty good.” Cole’s grin turned sheepish and he shrugged a bit. The elevator dinged, and the four of em bustled out into the hallway. The only people still up in this place, in fact Jay recalls the concierge starting to clear up the desk before the elevator closed downstairs.
“Ah!” Cole chimes, pulling Jay out of his internal thoughts. “Here we are!” He fumbles with the keycard for a moment before it beeps and he shoves the door open. Kai slides past them all with a short “gotta pee” before tucking into the bathroom. Cole helps Zane pull the first round of luggage off the cart… and then he stops short, looking into the room.
“... uh. Where’s… the other beds?”
Zane makes a perplexed noise and looks over Cole’s shoulder. “Hm.” Jay silently curses the gods for making him short, and tries to peer between the two of em. “What? What is it?”
“There’s… only one bed,” Zane observes. Jay sputters. “WhAT?” There’s a flushing noise and then Kai opens the door, looking over to the rest. “What are we all stari- whoa!” He looks over at the singular bed in the room.
“Well. That’s a… problem.”
Several minutes later and Jay was laying down, in the dark, shoulder to shoulder with his friends. 12:10 AM. Not what he expected.
Zane had gone down to request a different room, but the concierge desk was already dark and closed. They had debated for a bit about who would sleep on the floor, if anyone, but somewhere in there it was decided that they were going to make this work for everyone.
So now they’re here, like a goddamn sardine can. Zane on one edge, Jay on the other, Kai and Cole in the middle. Jay was having trouble deciding if this was comfortable or not.
He glanced over at Cole, who was just staring up at the ceiling drowsily. There was some light snoring from beyond him, probably Kai. Zane’s breathing was calm. It was… weird, being able to hear all of them like this again. Last time they were all sleeping in the same room like this was when they were still teenagers, training under Sensei Wu. It’d been several years since then.
Some part of Jay found the sounds of his friends sleeping comforting. Looking back, this might have been one of his best sleeps yet. He rolls over on his side and doesn’t remember much else until…
3:27 AM.
Jay blinked awake, barely conscious and with a pressure on his back. His vision is blurry, but he can make out the shapes of two of his friends sleeping peacefully nearby.
As his vision cleared a bit, the details were made out. Kai’s arm was pinned against his side by Cole’s, and Zane was hanging around Kai’s waist. Jay’s eyes followed Cole’s arm to come to the alarming conclusion that he was lying on Cole’s stomach, and that the pressure on his back was Cole’s other arm, draped over him and holding him close.
Jay felt his face grow hot and his senses suddenly sharpen out of sheer embarrassment. But he didn’t jolt or move, thank god. This is happening??? What???
Everyone seemed to still be asleep. Jay considered his options. He absolutely didn’t wanna wake anyone up, but he had to move. Why? Because… because he can’t stay here! Like- what! What would any of them think if he stayed there? If they woke up like this?
Okay, breathe Jay. Breathe.
He shimmied his legs a bit under himself and reached around with his arm to move Cole’s arm off of him. Eventually he managed to slide out and off the bed. Cole snorted, but stayed asleep. Now it was just Jay awake, standing there quietly, wondering what he’s meant to do now.
He crept off into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, looking into the mirror. His blush was even more obvious now, and he made a frustrated noise and turned the faucet on to splash some water on his face.
God, he thought he’d gotten over this. Gotten over Cole. He had a crush on him when they were like 15 but he thought that was it! It had to be. But… he looked so soft in the pale light like that. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but… Jay wanted to stay there, in that moment.
But he can’t.
I’ll just sleep on the chair there. It’ll be fine .
When he left the bathroom, he was once again startled by Cole snorting, but this time he actually woke up and mumbles, “Jay?”
Jay froze. “H-hey, uh, go back to sleep,” he whispered.
“Where’re you goin…” Cole responded blearily. Evidently not conscious enough to notice his own predicament. Jay stuffed his hands into his pajama pockets.
“Just… went to the bathroom, it’s alright. Go back to sleep,” he answered again, making a sort of calming gesture.
“Mmkay…” Cole relented, drifting off again and curling his free arm against his side. Jay let out a small sigh of relief, looking over his friends still sleeping peacefully.
It really looks inviting…
Jay shook himself. I can’t. I just can’t. End of story.
He tiptoed over to the small armchair next to the window and curled up in it, sighing wistfully at how cold it was now that he wasn’t on the bed, next to them. He felt his face grow hot again, and just sort of… folded his arms over his head.
I can figure my shit out in the morning.