Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The wind howled outside the small building, the sun setting casted a warm glow through the front windows of the shop.

y/n sighed, glancing at the clock before turning back to the partially decorated cake, ‘it’s not home time just yet’. The police commissioner had put in a last-minute request for a cake to celebrate the latest achievement of the ninja, they had just finished rebuilding most of the city after the events involving the sons of garmadon and figured now would be an appropriate time to celebrate.

The cake itself was massive, it had 3 tiers and each tier was a different flavor. It was a risky move with deciding what flavours to use as the commissioner didn’t her much information to work with, “Just make it look cool!”. In the end they went with chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, the safest options.

They had decided to try and make the monastery on the top tier and decorate the rest of the cake with little props and figures of the ninja. They opened the box of figures and took the first one out, the green ninja, ‘where should he go?’, they moved the figure all around the cake, trying to determine the perfect spot before deciding on the top tier in the monastery gates.

They glanced at the clock again, 6:12pm, “It’s going to be a long night.”

-

11:37pm is when the cake was deemed finished.

y/n stepped back from it and stared at it, “For a last-minute request, it’s the best I can do.” The cake was decorated like a mountain, the mini monastery turned out better than what they expected, and they was extremely happy with how the landscape looked.

They separated 3 tiers from each other and placed them all in the fridge, they’d have to figure out how to transport it to the venue tomorrow.

-

The celebration was due to start at 5pm and at 4pm, y/n was still struggling to transport the cake. Even though the cake was currently split up, it was still large and was decently heavy.

By 4:30pm, they had managed to get the cake in their car and was now at the venue. The commissioner had arranged some venue staff to meet them outside to help transport the cake inside, they brought a food trolley with them. They quickly assembled the cake before wheeling it inside.

The inside of the venue was breath-taking, gold and black streamers hung from the roof while matching balloons decorated each table. There were about 30 tables in the room, all fitting about 10 people on them. When they had walked in with the staff, they noted the small handful of people that already arrived and were trying to find their designated table seats.

“y/n! Its so good to see you!”

The police commissioner came up and shook their hand, “I do apologise again for the late request, you’ve done an amazing job though.” He looked in awe at the cake, noting all the small detailing down to the grooves in the monastery’s walls.

“Just wait until the ninja see this! They’re going to love it!” He turned back to y/n and smiled, “I hope you’re staying for the celebration.”

“Am I?” they asked, confused, “No offence commissioner, but I don’t feel like I should be here. I haven’t done anything to help.”

“Nonsense! You made this cake, you deserve to stay, and I know for a fact that the ninja would agree! Besides, we’ve already allocated a spot for you.” He gestured to a nearby table, “You’re already dressed for tonight too.”

“I only dressed like this so I looked nice while bringing the cake in.” they laughed, smoothing out theur shirt, “But if you insist, I’ll stay.”

Soon everyone else started to arrive and by 5pm, the commissioner took to the main stage with a microphone in his hand, “Thank you everyone for making an appearance tonight, I know there’s still a lot of work that needs to be finished but this is a well-deserved break! So please take tonight as a chance to relax and to celebrate what we’ve already achieved.” A few people clapped.

Music started playing as the commissioner walked off stage and people slowly got up and started dancing, some went to the bar and others stayed at their tables, content on where they were. y/n decided to just stay put in her seat, rethinking their choice of staying. They was paying with her fork on the table, watching as people started to gather around the entrance. The doors opened and they watched as the ninja walked inside, the commissioner running up to greet them all individually.

Soon after, the party had gone back to normal. Half of the ninja were sitting at their table with the high-ranking officials, the others had either gone off for drinks, to talk to others or to join others on the dance floor. They were all dressed in matching suits, except Nya who was wearing a loose blue dress, the others all were wearing black suits and ties, which were their respective colours.

y/n kept glancing at their table, noticing how bored Jay, Cole and Nya looked. They looked around and noticed Kai dancing with a group of girls, Lloyd talking to the mayor and Zane at the bar, getting what looked to be glasses of water for the three at the table.

When they looked back at them again, they saw Jay and Nya had left, quickly spotting them with Kai. Zane had come back but he was talking with whoever was sitting on his right while Cole looked like he was about to die of boredom. Y/n glanced back at Kai, Jay and Nya before looking back at Cole. Who was now looking at them. He smiled and waved slightly while they smiled back and nodded their head at him before diverting their attention away to try and ignore his lingering stare.

8pm is when they announced that they were going to cut the cake, Slowly the ninja and police commissioner moved towards the stage. Y/n watched as they carefully wheeled it out on the little food trolley, watching the ninja’s face as they took in the details of the cake.

The commissioner was handed a microphone from venue staff and started speaking, “Thank you everyone for coming out tonight, I hope everyone has had a good night.” A few cheers in response, “This night wouldn’t be complete without a cake to wrap up celebrations. I had put in a last-minute request for a cake, and I must admit I was a little scared of the outcome, but it turned out way better than I could’ve imagined, and I’ve only got Y/n from Ninjago’s Baked goods to thank for that!” He pointed at Y/n gestured for them to come over, which they hesitantly did. As they made their way to the stage, people started clapping for them, they gave a small bow when they reached the stage and went to walk back only to be stopped by the commissioner, “I think its only fair that you get to cut the cake.” A staff member handed them a big knife and they tensed up.

‘Why did I agree to stay? Why did he have to call me up? Oh FSM, I don’t want to cut the cake in front of everyone.’

They gave the commissioner a nervous smile as their grip around the knife tightened, “It’s just a cake, you’ve cut many before..” they whispered to themself, placing the knife into the top tier of the cake, and slowly pressing down. A staff member soon joined them and held a plate out, which y/n placed the slice of cake onto, the staff member then handing the first slice to the mayor. They noticed everyone’s attention was no longer on her and they sighed, continuing to cut the cake and hand slices to staff members.

“Soo, what flavors do you have?”

Cole, the earth ninja was now stood beside them with a massive grin on his face, “Bottom is vanilla, middle is chocolate and top is strawberry. Any preference?” Another slice cut and placed on a plate. “Could you cut me a slide of chocolate please, I know they’re giving out slides randomly but I’m dying for some chocolate cake.” The knife was moved to the second tier, cutting a slice out, placing it on a plate and handing it to Cole. A staff member handed him a fork and he immediately started eating it, a groan soon following, “This is so good, you made this?”

A nod in response.

“I might have to stop by your shop more often then, what was it called again?”

“Ninjago baked goods, its located outside of the city, close to Jamanakai village.”

“What other stuff do you make?” They had stopped cutting the cake now and turned their attention to the ninja sitting on the stage, eating the cake. They took a slice of vanilla cake and went to sit with him, “Your usual run-of-the-mill pastries such as pies, bread rolls, jam tarts, sometimes cupcakes, brownies, a lot of cakes but they’re mainly for parties and such.”

“Now I definitely have to stop at your shop, a lot of the bakeries in and around the city had to shut down due to the sons of garmadon, which unfortunately included where I regularly stopped so I’ve struggled to find somewhere new, but it looks like I’ve just found my new bakery.” He smiled, placing his now empty plate on the stage next to him.

Y/n smiled back, glancing at the other ninja who were slow dancing. Cole followed their eyes and grinned, he held his hand out to them, “Want to dance?” Y/n shook their head, “I don’t know how to dance.” Cole grabbed their hand and stood up, “C’mon I’ll show you, it’s easy.” He dragged them to the dance floor. “Alright, left hand in mine, right hand on my shoulder.” They hesitantly moved their hands, which he noticed and laughed, “I’m not going to bite y’know?” They rolled their eyes and smiled in response, “I know but we literally just met and now we’re slow dancing, please excuse my hesitance.” He moved his arm around their waist and slowly started to move around, “Just follow my steps and you’ll be fine.”

Y/n freaked out a little when Cole started swaying them around slightly, trying to match their footing with his. Cringing when they stepped on his foot, “Sorry.” He looked down at them, “For what?” “Stepping on your foot?” Cole laughed, “It’s fine, don’t stress too much about it.”

The two continued to slowly move around the outside of the dance floor.

“You looked so bored at your table earlier.” Cole stated, “Yeah well i didn’t know that i’d be staying, the commissioner kinda just sprung it on me.” Y/n had briefly forgotten about the party surrounding them, all they were focused on was the hand holding theirs and also the hand around their waist. They could’ve sworn that they weren’t this close to each other when they started dancing.

“What was your excuse for being so bored mister?” Y/n teased, in response they got a shrug, “Parties aren’t really my thing. Sure it’s cool to go to one every now and then but when you constantly go to them, it’s the same thing over and over and it just gets boring.”

Y/n never thought of it like that, the ninja are always attending celebrations and parties held by the city, of course they'd be bored of them, 'well not Kai at least.' they thought, glancing at the fire ninja who was still dancing in the middle of the floor.

Cole followed their gaze and chuckled slightly, "Kai is probably the only one that is super excited to attend everything, especially if it's a party." He turned to look back at Y/n and smiled.

The two danced in silence, enjoying the company of the other.

Y/n became hyper-aware of Cole's hand when it started moving to the lower part of their back and was now rubbing circles with his thumb. They flushed slightly, noticing how close the two were now, 'How did I even end up here, dancing with a ninja. THE earth ninja for fsm sake.' They looked up at him, catching his eyes and smiling. 'God, Mari is going to go apeshit over this.'

Cole removed his hand from Y/n’s and pushed some hair out of his eyes, revealing the scar on the side of his forehead, "Can I ask you something? It might be a bit rude." They started, fingers interlocking with his once again when his hand returned to theirs, "Go for it, I don't mind." He smiled, tilting his head slightly. "The scar on your forehead, what is that from?" Cole was silent, not knowing how exactly to answer. Y/n bit the inside of ther cheek, 'Knew i shouldn't have asked that, now he's uncomfortable.' they sighed, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me to ask," 'Maybe i should just go home now.' They slowly started pulling away from him, unclasping her hand from his, "Sorry, I should go, have a good night Cole." He quickly grabbed their hands before they walked away, "No wait- I'm sorry. Did you maybe want to go outside?" They nodded in response.

Cole held onto Y/n’s hand as he led them outside to the balcony, he pulled himself onto the railing, holding his hand out to Y/n who gave a nervous laugh in response, "I think I'll fall If I go up there." Cole smiled, "Do you trust me?" His hand was still outstretched. They looked between his hand and his face before sighing, grabbing his hand and letting him help pull them onto the railing. They gripped onto the railing as they tried to steady themself and Cole laughed, "This isn't funny." They glared, sitting next to him, still gripping the railing as hard as they could. "Oh c'mon, you gotta admit it is a little." He winked, causing them to roll their eyes playfully. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say."

Y/n looked at the moon, noticing the rain clouds coming over the horizon. "The scar," they turned to him, "What?" Cole didn't turn his head to look at them, instead continuing to look at the garden below, "I got the scar when I was turnt back into a human."

"When were you not a human?" 'God that was so rude.'

"Do you remember when all those ghosts were attacking Ninjago?" A nod in response, "We had to get this scroll from this place and if you weren't out of there by a certain time, you became a ghost."

"Oh." Silence, "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"That you had to go through that, and for asking rude questions."

He smiled, "It's not your fault and you didn't ask anything rude, don't worry. I honestly forget about the scar half the time because my hair covers it now and I didnt realise you could see it so it kinda just took me by surprise."

"I only saw it when you had moved your hair, I didn't notice it before that. Was that the reason you grew your hair out?"

"Yes and no, I never liked how it looked and would always try to cover it with my hair but when my hair started getting longer, it was easier to hide. I just didn't cut it because we didn't really have time to stop in Ninjago for a haircut and there was no way in hell that I was letting Kai near my hair with scissors again." They both laughed.

"Well, I know my opinion doesn't matter but I think it looks cool. Both the scar and your hair." They smiled, shifting their hand to rest on top of his.

"Ah- Well- Thank you." He stammered, slightly flustered at both the compliment and the hand now resting on his.

Y/n smiled, moving their hand to adjust themself on the railing. They let out a small scream as their foot slipped and grabbed onto Cole's arm, sighing as he pulled them up again. He wrapped his arm around their waist, causing both of them to flush, "I'm not going to let you fall again." He smiled, pulling them into his side.

"Thank you for tonight Cole." They rested their head on his shoulder, looking out at the garden. "No, Thank you. I thought tonight was going to be another boring party but it was nice meeting you and being with you tonight. Also, that cake was delicious, so I might have to stop by your bakery for another one." He laughed. "Wow, not even stopping by the bakery to see me, all you care about is the cake." They teased, nudging him lightly with their elbow.

"Maybe I might have to stop in to see you too I guess." He joked, turning to look at them. In the corner of his eye, he could see the crowd inside was starting to grow smaller, people were leaving. Was it really that late already?

Y/n noticed the crowd too, "Looks like everyone is starting to leave.. Is it really time to go already?" They laughed, turning to face Cole, "It's funny because I was thinking the same thing."

"I'm going to ask you something but you can say no if you want too." He said, his face becoming serious. "Okay, what is it?" they laughed slightly.

"Can I kiss you?"

Y/n stared at him in shock, he maintained eye contact with them but they could see his face getting redder by the second. They could feel their own face heat up when they nodded slightly, watching Cole as he moved forward until their lips touched. They both instinctively closed their eyes, too afraid to move as if the other was a fragile statue. He moved his hand up to their cheek, cupping it gently while they grabbed his free hand which was gripping his pant leg.

When they pulled apart, both of them were smiling, "That was... um.. nice." Cole chuckled, jumping down from the railing and holding his hand out to Y/n, who gladly took it and with his help, jumped down from the railing and started walking inside with him. They took note that his hand was still holding theirs and smiled, gently squeezing his hand.

The other ninja took notice of Cole and started walking over to him, all of them noticing his and Y/n’s hands, "Cole," Kai started, "Who's your friend here?" He teased, smirking as both Cole and Y/n’s faces turned red. "Um- This is Y/n, they’re... a friend.." Everyone greeted them before turning back to Cole, "You ready to head back now? It's getting really late." Lloyd said. Cole nodded and started following everyone else outside, still holding onto Y/n’s hand and leading them with him.

"Just friends huh?" They joked, laughing slightly causing Cole to roll his eyes, "Oh you know what I meant." The two laughed, quickly quieting as they stepped out of the venue, the other ninja now further ahead.

"So.."

"So?"

"Are you going to maybe stop by the bakery one day?"

"Of course, are you crazy? Why wouldn't I?" A shrug in response.

"Cole! Are you coming?" Nya yelled from the limo's window causing him to flip her off.

"You better go." Y/n laughed, "Yeah, but I don't want to leave you." he smiled, cupping their cheek gently. "Well you know where to find me, I'll make sure there's always a slice of cake put away for you." Cole laughed, "There better be or I'm suing you."

"You should really go before your friends kill you."

"Yeah, alright." He pulled them into a hug and placed his head on theirs, "I'll see you soon?" They returned the hug, "Of course." When they pulled away, he leaned down and placed a kiss on their forehead, "See ya." He smiled before turning to walk to the limo. Y/n stood there as he walked away and smiled, waving at the limo as it drove off.

"There's no fucking way that just happened, holy shit."

Chapter Text

”You kissed him?!"

"Mari!"

"No no no." Mari screamed, the grin on her face was the biggest one Y/n had ever seen, "You met him that night and kissed him!" she squealed, jumping up and down while holding onto Y/n's arm.

"I may have skipped over a very crucial piece of information..."

"Y/n."

"He's a ninja.."

Mari's face went blank, void of emotion then the grin started growing again, "You kissed a ninja? Which one? Are they nice? Was he nice to you? Did he try to do anything to you?" Y/n defensively held their hands up, "It was the earth ninja, yes the ninja are nice, he was nice to me and no he didn't try anything." Mari smirked, "Was he a good kisser though?" A light slap from Y/n lands on Mari's arm, causing her to giggle again, "It was nothing big! Just a short kiss, I'm sure it didn't mean anything!"

They couldn't help but think that. It has been a few days since the celebration and they haven't seen Cole or the ninja at all, they know that they could be on a mission right now but part of Y/n feels as if he's just forgotten about them.

"Y/n, I'm willing to bet all your jam filled donuts that the kiss wasn't nothing to him," Mari threw her hand over her friend's shoulders, "It sounds like you guys got on very well, he's probably just been caught up with his work."

A small 'ding' ran through the shop, alerting the attention of the two friends.

"Now c'mon, let's go help this customer."

"Thank you Mari."

They turned the corner and were greeted by an older looking man, "Oh hello, I was wondering if i could put in an order for a cake if that's okay?" The two nodded and Y/n noted down everything the man wanted and was trying to achieve, "Is it possible to get it delivered if that's okay? I won't have anyone to pick it up for me." Y/n smiled, "Of course, i can drop that off to your house for you, Can I just get your name please?" "It's Lou."

Lou left the bakery after paying a small deposit, leaving Y/n with the notes of the cake, "So what did that guy want?" Mari called, "He put in an order for a cake, a 'welcome home' cake."

"Any specific details?"

"Medium sized cake, chocolate and vanilla flavour. He wants it to be mountain themed, with rocks and all that stuff. Must be a mountain climber or something."

"Due when?"

"Sunday. We have a couple of days, I reckon I can get this done in two days. One day for baking, the next for decorating."

Mari nodded, "If you need any help, let me know." she said, picking up the piping bag and continuing to pipe the frosting border on a cake. "I'll get started tomorrow. All going to plan, I should finish Saturday then I can deliver it Sunday afternoon." Y/n said, pulling an empty tray from the front storage case, "You can head home whenever you want tonight, I'll close up." "Are you sure? I thought it was my turn to close up." They shrugged, "You can just owe me one, I've just got some work I wanna go over before I head home so I'll sit and do it here." Mari nodded, placing the piping bag down, "I'll pop this cake in the fridge, clean up then go."'

-

The Friday and Saturday flew by fast, Y/n was juggling baking and dealing with customers. Mari had to call in sick both days due to having to take care of her younger sibling which left Y/n to run the shop by themself, which thankfully, not many people came in, allowing them to focus on the cake more.

Sunday is the usual day the bakery is closed. Y/n had finished up the cake the night before and placed it in the fridge, they woke up around 10am and rolled out of bed, opening their phone to review the delivery instructions for the cake, "Deliver around 4pm.. Simple enough, and It's nearby!" They cheered. They opened Mari's messages and started typing.

'how is your sister feeling today?'

'still like shit :p'

'want me to come over and drop anything off?'

'unless its the cure for her flu, it's best you stay away. its pretty nasty :')'

'roger that o7'
'just let me know if y'all need anything'

'eye eye captain y/n! :D'

Y/n laughed, setting their phone aside and sighing, they looked around her room and frowned, "Well, might as well clean my room. I've got a few hours to kill."

By the time 3pm rolled around, Y/n had cleaned their room as well as the kitchen and lounge room. They dressed in their work clothes and grabbed their shop keys, locking up their apartment and driving to the shop.

They had to quickly touch up the cake after pulling it out of the fridge, adjusting some of the rocks that had fallen off or moved. They managed to leave the shop at 3:50pm, packing the cake safely into the car and driving off to Lou's house.

When arriving, Y/n's phone had dinged, signalling a message from Mari.

'there's spare clothes in the boot of your car ;)'
'thank me later, ily <3'

'??'
'very confused'
'why do i need spare clothes?? ://'

'shshshhsh stop messaging me on the job ;)'

They rolled their eyes and slipped their phone into their pocket as they got out and unloaded the cake, walking to the front door and knocking. Soon Lou opened the door, "Ah, right on time," He looked at their name tag, "Y/n, nice to see you. Please, come in!" He moved out of the doorway, allowing them to walk in and shut the door behind them, "If you'd just follow me, I'll take you to the kitchen where you can place the cake and I can give you the money." They followed him through the long hallway of the house, looking at every picture on the wall that they passed. There were other voices coming from a room further down the hallway but they couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Just in here please, dear." They placed the cake on the kitchen counter, marvelling at the nice, expensive looking kitchen. "You have a lovely house sir." "Lou looked surprised but then quickly laughed, "No need to call me sir, that's way too formal for me. Just call me Lou." He stretched his hand out, which Y/n took, shaking his hand. "Please just wait here while I go find my wallet." Lou hurried out of the kitchen and down the hallway, Y/n could hear him talking to the other voices before he returned, wallet in hand.

"Dad, are you ready for cake?"

Y/n tensed up, recognising the voice from the party the other night.

"Just a minute Cole, let me finish paying the nice worker for it." Lou handed Y/n the money and thanked them again. As they turned around, they tried walking to the door with their back turned to what they could guess was Cole and the rest of the ninja.

"Oh Y/n, wait! I forgot your tip!" Y/n mentally cursed, turning around with a nervous smile, now facing both Lou and the ninja, "It's fine-" "I'll pay for the tip dad." Cole said, standing up from his chair and nudging Y/n outside, closing the front door behind him.

The two were now outside, standing on the driveway of the house. "Small world huh, I should've expected you might've been the one delivering the cake after my dad said he got one." Cole laughed, "Yeah, I didn't realise he was your dad." They smiled, fidgeting with the edge of their apron. "Hey, are you okay?" Y/n nodded, "Yeah, just didn't expect to see you here. I feel a little embarrassed honestly." They laughed. He sat down on the top of the driveway, patting the ground next to him, inviting them to sit. Y/n sat next to him, hugging their knees to their chest.

"Why are you embarrassed?"

"I look like a mess and I delivered a cake while looking like a mess to the ninja."

Cole laughed, "You're kidding me right?" Y/n shook their head no. "You look fine, sure you might have a little bit of frosting on your apron but you're a baker, you make cakes, it's to be expected." He threw his arm around their shoulders, pulling them closer and causing them to lean against his shoulder, "Stay tonight, please?" They smiled, "Sure, okay."

The two sat there, looking up at the stars before Y/n jumped up, "No fucking way. I just realised what Mari's message meant." They pulled her phone out of their pocket and read the messages again, "She must've seen the name on the order and realised it was your dad or something because she told me that there was extra clothes in the back of my car." Y/n walked over to their car and lifted the boot open, there in a shopping bag was a pair of Y/n's jeans on the top. Cole walked over to them and helped them shut the boot, "C'mon, you can get changed inside." He smiled.

The pair walked inside, Cole leading them down the hallway towards a dimly lit room, he walked inside and flicked on the light switch, revealing walls that were covered in posters, drawings and multiple photos. The bed was neatly made but Y/n could tell it had been sat on in the meantime, there was also a string of fairy lights hanging above the bed. in the corner of the room was a large desk, multiple pieces of papers and drawings were scattered across the top of it.

"This is my room, you can get changed in here if you'd like."

Y/n walked in, looking all around at the decorated room, "I can just tell this is your room." They laughed, "What's that supposed to mean?" Cole smiled, crossing his arms over his chest, "It just fits you, I don't know how to describe it, but it just gives off a 'Cole' vibe." Y/n placed their bag on the bed, "I'll take that as a compliment." He laughed, walking towards the door and shutting it behind him, leaving Y/n to rummage through their bag to see what Mari had left them with.

"Hey Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"Um.. Do you have a spare shirt or jumper I could borrow please?"

"Are you dressed? Can I come in?"

He carefully opened the door, spotting Y/n sitting on the bed, "Sorry.. Mari didn't pack a shirt and I don't really want to wear my frosting covered shirt." They laughed. Cole waved his hand at them, walking over to his wardrobe, "Don't stress it's fine." He pulled a plain black jumper from the drawer and passed it to them, "I normally wear that to bed but it's clean. Also the others have never seen me wear it so they shouldn't suspect anything if you're worried about them noticing." He smiled, walking back out of the room and closing the door behind him.

When Y/n put the jumper on, all they could smell was Cole and whatever deodorant he used. If you couldn't already tell he was the elemental master of earth, you'd be able to tell if you ever went near him, he smelt like the earth and rain.

They finished getting dressed and opened the bedroom door, jumping slightly when they saw Cole leaning against the wall, he silently led them to the kitchen where everyone was seated at the table.

Y/n sat across from Cole and next to Nya nervously smiling at everyone while they sat down, "Nice of you guys to finally join us, we've been waiting to get into this cake." Kai smirked, nudging Cole with his elbow causing the water elemental, who was sitting directly opposite her brother, to kick his shin under the table. "That was uncalled for." Cole laughed, high-fiving Nya, "It was very called for."

"So Cole, when were you going to tell me about your partner?" Lou asked, taking them both by surprise and causing Y/n to choke on the water they were drinking.

"We're just friends Dad!" He stated, glancing at Nya who was patting Y/n's back as they recovered.

"Friends don't wear each other's jumpers, son." He smirked, neatly placing his hands on the table.

"How do you know that's mine?"

"Cole, I'm your father, I know everything. Also you used to wear it around home all the time."

Cole dropped his head on the table while Y/n covered their face with their hands, the others laughing in the background. "Alright, alright." Lloyd started, "Let's leave the lovebirds alone and have some cake." He grabbed a knife and handed it to Cole who took it and slid the cake towards him, he glanced at Y/n who was trying to look everywhere but at him and sighed, placing the first cut in the cake.

He cut the rest of the cake and served slices to everyone, giving Y/n their slice last. They looked over at him and smiled, quietly thanking him.

The rest of the night was quiet. mainly consisting of the ninja sharing stories to Lou about their adventures and things they've seen and Lou sharing stories about his life before Cole was born.

One by one, the ninja started walking back to the monastery, bidding their goodbyes to Cole's father. Lou eventually headed to bed, apologising to both Cole and Y/n for embarrassing them in front of the other ninja before heading into his room. Leaving Cole and Y/n in the living room together, sitting on the separate couches.

"Sorry about my dad," Cole started, "He doesn't miss a chance to embarrass me." he laughed, glancing at Y/n who smiled in response, "Don't stress." They glanced at the clock, 'Hm, almost 11pm.' They sat up and tied the laces to their shoe, "I think I should get going, it's pretty late." They glanced up at Cole through their hair and watched as he looked up at the clock himself, grimacing at the time. "Sorry, I didn't realise how late it was. Did you want to stay here for the night?" Y/n stood up, "No it's fine, I don't live too far so It's not too long of a drive, but thank you."

"Can I at least walk you out to your car?"

"Of course, please protect me Mr Ninja in case any snakes try to nab me." They both laughed.

Cole guided them to the front door, pulling it open for them then walking out himself. The street was quiet, the only source of light coming from the lounge room window and the dim street lamps. Y/n unlocked their car and put their bag in the backseat, shutting the door and then leaning against the car.

"This gives me deja-vu." They laughed, causing Cole to tilt his head slightly, "What do you mean?"

"Well last time, I walked you out to your car, remember?"

"Oh yeah." He smiled.

"Did you want your jumper back? I can quickly get changed in my car."

"No no it's fine. I'll get it when I come into the bakery one day." He smiled, "Besides, It suits you."

Y/n blushed slightly, thankfully it wasn't too noticeable due to the lighting, "Guess I'll just have to take it with me to work everyday in case you come in."

Cole laughed, "I'll come in soon I promise."

They stood there in silence, pretending to look up at the stars while sneaking glances at each other.

"You should really head home, it's getting late." He said, head still facing the sky.

"And what if I don't want to leave yet?" Y/n grinned, crossing their arms over their chest.

"You're more than welcome to stay but I think we both know you'd rather be in your bed than sleeping on the couch."

Y/n rolled their eyes, "Yeah, you got me there." They pulled their car keys out of their pocket and turned back to Cole, leaning up and placing a small kiss on his cheek, "See you soon then." They smiled before unlocking their car and getting in, soon driving off, leaving Cole standing there holding his cheek while smiling.