Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a sunny day in Ninjago City. Kai and Skylor had few more hours of their summer job left. It was afternoon, so they didn't really have a lot of customers at the moment. Only few kids, who came here to play the latest game everyone has been talking about. It was usually either children from nine to thirteen or teenagers from fifteen to eighteen, who came here to pass their time. There were few regular customers, they came almost every day and weren't hard to remember.

Few of them were their classmates, both Kai and Skylor were going to have their last year in high school. They were best friends for like forever, that's how they described it at least. They both met when they were kids, and since then they became best friends. Everyone always said that a friendship between a boy and a girl couldn't exist, it was always them falling in love with each other in time. But Kai and Skylor had never had any romantic interest in each other. It was only when they grew up that Skylor realised she wasn't really into guys, and Kai started questioning his own sexuality, ending up finding out he was bisexual. They both helped each other during this time, which probably made them even closer than they were before. 

When another school year was about to end, they both thought it would be great to get a summer job. They needed money for the university they were going to go to (of course, together) the next year after they were finished with school. It was both scary and exciting at the same time. However, the choice wasn't really big for them, considering that both of them were still pupils. There were few options — an arcade, an ice cream shop and the library. Since they couldn't go a minute without laughing their asses off from jokes the library was already out of list. The ice cream shop wasn't really something they would enjoy either, so they stopped on the arcades. They could get paid good here, and besides, both of them knew a lot of people their age who were interested in this. So with that, they both ended up working in the arcades that were located not so far from their school.

Their boss was a pretty good man, he was in his late thirties and was really chill about most of the stuff. When he found out the reason they decided to find a temporary job, the old man suggested to pay a little more than was mentioned in the ad. It couldn't help but make both teenagers happy. The first work day went pretty well, which left the owner of the arcades very pleased. Since then Kai and Skylor didn't really have any problems, the job was simple and didn't take a lot of time. If they had some extra homework or needed to get ready for a test, they could study here, just needed to change each other from time to time.

They ended up remembering every single customer who came here a lot. The first one was Jay Walker, he was in the same school year as Kai and Skylor. The brunette shared history and biology classes with him while the girl had chemistry with the curly-haired boy. Jay came here A LOT. Sometimes alone, sometimes with his boyfriend Zane. It was a real surprise for both of them to find out that Jay Walker was dating a boy, and who? They didn't really know much about Zane, only that his father was an inventor, and the boy was a real nerd. Or at least, he seemed like one. However, both Kai and Skylor admitted that the boys looked pretty good together. It was really cute to watch them when they came here to have a date.

The next arcade lovers were Scott and Benthomaar. They were best friends, they didn't really came here as much as Jay did, but their faces were still shown here a lot of times in a week. Benthomaar was a year younger than all of them. If Kai's memory told him right, the boy was in one grade with Kai's sister, Nya. Otherwise, they always played one game — Prime Empire; sometimes it was something else, but it was really rare to see them playing another game.

The last one to join the crew of regular costumers was Sally, the girl with pink hair and an awesome voice. Skylor even had a tiny crush on her, but it faded away so quickly. Sally moved to Ninjago City in the end of the school year. As she told them later, her main goal here was becoming a singer. The girl could come to the arcades just to find motivation to write another song, and nor Kai nor Skylor were against it. On the contrary, it was interesting to watch the process when Sally was writing another masterpiece. 

Today nothing has changed. Since it was Friday they expected to see Jay here, maybe Scott and Benthomaar too if they didn't have any plans. Tho they both knew Jay would come even if he was busy with something. It was just obvious. 

“I'm so bored,” Kai said and leaned against the bookshelf that was behind him. 

Skylor yawned. “You’ve been saying that for a whole day, how about you just shut up?” the brunette only rolled his eyes and turned to the kids that were celebrating something. They probably completed another level, which made Kai chuckle. 

“Now I'm thirsty,” Kai turned to the shelf with water bottles, that could've been bought here as well, and grabbed one bottle, immediately opening it. Skylor's eyes widened when she saw the bottle was empty in less than a minute.

“Did you seriously just drink all of the water in one minute?” she raised her eyebrows. 

“I told you, I'm thirsty,” he rolled his eyes, causing his friend to do the same. 

Kai sat on the chair and pulled out his phone. The brunette started playing some video game where you needed to compete with other players online, which made Skylor snort. Even tho she worked in the arcades, the girl wasn't really into video games herself. She preferred to spend her free time another way. However, since she was friends with a video game nerd, she didn't have a choice but to learn how to play video games. And the brunette had to admit, Skylor learnt fast and was one of the best players he had ever played with. 

Just when they were about to continue arguing, the door opened, announcing about new visitors. Sure thing, it was the one and only, Jay Walker. He wasn’t alone, his boyfriend was walking right next to him, but there was someone else, too. This time there were three of them, however, the third person was unfamiliar to both Kai and Skylor. The girl squinted, trying to recognise the teen, but she had no idea who he was. She wanted to ask Kai, but her best friend was too busy playing another round of his game. Jay and his friends laughed at something, then the teen turned to Skylor and smiled at her. The redhead returned him a grin.

“Glad to see you again here, Jay! Gonna be honest, we thought you won't come today at all,” she laughed, making the other three teens laugh as well. 

“It’s good to see you too, Skylor, I had some stuff to work with in the afternoon, but now I made these two come with me.”

Skylor laughed again and nodded. “I see. It's pleasure to see you guys, too! Welcome!” they nodded with a smile, Skylor turned to Kai, who still was busy with his game. The redhead rolled her eyes and threw the water bottle in her friend, causing Kai to yell. “What was that for?!”,

“Get up and help me here, stinkhead!” she exclaimed, crossing her arms. Kai mumbled something like ‘fine, fine, I'm getting up’ and stood up on his feet, fixing his hair. He turned around to face the customers and recognised Jay and his boyfriend. 

“Hey, man!” they gave each other high-five. “How are the things going? Any news from the junkyard?” he wiggled his eyebrows in a playful manner, causing Skylor to punch him. “Kai!”

But Jay only laughed and shook his head. “Guess you could say that. Oh, by the way, you haven't met Cole yet! He just moved here, so I'm showing him around. Come here, dummy.”

The black-haired boy only rolled his eyes but walked up to the others with a smile. Kai immediately forgot he just drank a whole bottle of water because his throat felt so dry when he saw the other teen. Jay's friend was so beautiful, Kai immediately noticed the colour of his eyes. His mother had the same, they were green, almost like forest. His smile was so bright and kind, his lips seemed so smooth. He had raven black hair, that was up in a man bun. It was so pretty in Kai's opinion. He was wearing an orange hoodie with black pants, Kai could see his neck, and honestly, the sight of his smooth skin made Kai's stomach turn sick. The noriette was so mesmerising, Kai had never seen someone like him before. It was almost like he was out of this world, like he came here from another, different universe.

Kai heard how Jay called him, his name was Cole. Cole.. A strong ‘C’; a charming ‘O’ that literally melted on the tongue; a soft, smooth ‘L’ and a quiet ‘E’. His name was repeating in Kai's mind again and again, making him sick. He couldn't explain what was going on inside of him, but Cole's gaze, the way he looked and smiled made his mind fuzzy. He needed air or he was gonna start talking nonsense like he usually did. But this time everything was different, it's like Kai was scared to mess up. Usually he knew he didn't have a chance or he was just bored, so he acted like a hothead that he was. But right now he wanted Cole to like him, he wanted the noriette to have a good first impression on him. It was as if Cole was a Greek God, he just couldn't be real. His lips, his eyes, his laugh. He was so different compare to every other person Kai's ever met in his life.

A punch from Skylor brought him back to reality. The brunette shook his head and realised they all were staring at him, probably waiting for an answer. Kai gulped, his cheeks flushed. “I uh.. I forgot that.. boss called me. Yeah! Um, sorry, Sky, I'll be back a little later. Have fun you three!” he blabbered and got away from the room faster than lightning could cross the sky. He was now in the working staff's room, trying to normalise his breath. He tried to use these breathing exercises, but nothing really helped him at the moment. Well, he had just got a crush on the boy he saw for the first time in his life.

Chapter Text

The second Kai disappeared behind the pantry’s door, Skylor understood that something was wrong here. She knew the brunette too well, and besides, their boss was having a business trip right now, so he physically wasn't able to ask Kai to help him. It was clear as a day that he was lying, only Skylor couldn’t understand the meaning of this.

When Jay and his friends changed their direction to the arcade machines, Skylor helped few more customers that came after them. She smiled and told them about the new games they could play here. After they paid, the girl sighed and now could concentrate on another but not less important thing — sudden disappearance of her best friend.

With that, Skylor looked around, seeing that no one had troubles, and went to the room. She opened the door and was stunned by what she saw. Kai was sitting on the chair in the centre of the room and nervously twitching his leg. This habit was with him since the brunette was a kid. Kai looked like he was thinking about something, like he wasn’t even there.

“Mind to tell me what the hell was that?”  Skylor asked, sitting next to her friend, who jumped from the sudden movement on his right side. He blinked at the redhead, then sighed and buried his face in his hands. That took Skylor aback as her eyebrows shot up in confusion. That was a weird behaviour.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let’s just get back to work,” Kai gave her a soft smile, then got up on his feet. However, he immediately sat back on the chair when Skylor’s hand pulled him down.

“Not so fast, hotshot. I know you better than anyone else, so spill the information right now,” s he said in a strict voice and crossed her hands, looking directly at confused Kai.

He pursed his lips, then looked away. And what could he say? That he found this guy that he saw for the first time in his life attractive? That his heart started beating so much faster when Cole smiled at him?

Cole. His name was Cole. Kai couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful his name sounded, it melted on his tongue every time he mumbled it to himself. The name of his newfound crush was Cole. He didn’t know his surname, but it was enough for Kai to have his name in his mind. He didn’t really expect to have chances with this guy, he didn’t even know if the noriette was into guys himself!

The brunette should’ve calmed down and stopped looking at the situation as if he was wearing pink glasses. He didn’t even know Cole that well, and love from the first sight was an absolute bullshit in his opinion. Every time he heard or read about it, he grimaced. This kind of stuff couldn’t be that easy. His parents didn’t fall for each other until their fifth meeting. Though it was the moment when they only started developing their feelings towards each other. And now Kai was thinking he had a thing for this guy? Gosh, he didn’t know anything about him! Only that his name was Cole and he was the hottest guy Kai had ever seen.

His cheeks immediately heated up at this thought, he shook his head in attempt to calm down. However, he couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. After all, he didn’t talk to a stranger right now, Skylor was his best friend. She knew him better than Kai knew himself, she was the last person to judge him over something like that. He just needed to trust her like he always did.

Kai sighed and turned to Skylor, who seemed like she was waiting until Kai talks, and then the brunette finally spoke. “I think I.. sort of have a crush on this guy,” Kai blushed.

Skylor blinked at him in confusion. “You mean Jay or what?”

“No!” Kai exclaimed, shaking his head. “First, he has a boyfriend, and second, he is not my type at all, and you know it better than anyone else!” Kai frowned.

“Okay, okay, chill, hothead,” she rolled her eyes. “Then who? Cole?”

Kai turned his gaze away and slowly nodded, causing Skylor's eyes to wide. “Is it something like you had with this new guy in your history class?” she asked to clarify.

“Plundar? Hell no, this dude turned out to be a real asshole,” Kai was the one to roll his eyes this time.

Plundar was Kai’s classmate, he moved to Ninjago City two years ago. The first time Kai saw him was when the boy joined their history class, Kai remembered that it was Friday. He and Skylor were supposed to work on their science project that evening, but none of them expected that Kai would talk about this guy with goo-goo eyes instead of chemical formulas.

The two went along pretty good with each other, even hung out few times. Only in the end Plundar turned out to be a real moron, who only used Kai to pass his time. He was never really interested in Kai as the brunette wanted him to, he wasn’t even into the boy. And when Kai thought he could confess, Plundar threw his feelings away like they were trash, saying that Kai is too naive to think someone would like him for who he is because in reality Kai wasn’t so interesting as he thought of himself.

Since then, Smith promised himself he would never fall in love. He sure was happy every time Skylor said she might’ve caught feelings for someone, but falling in love himself? Never. He didn’t trust anyone anymore, even tho Skylor said it was just one time and not everyone was like this guy Kai used to like. But the brunette was a stubborn, so he couldn’t really do something with his thoughts. He made a decision that he was fine by himself.

But was Cole anything like Plundar? Kai wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to think it could be true. Even tho Cole didn’t look like someone who could hurt you. He seemed like someone with a big and kind heart, someone who could protect you from the whole world. Kai wanted to believe in this, but he couldn’t really trust anything anymore.

“You know that not everyone is like your first crush, right?” Skylor spoke, gently grabbing the other’s hand and giving it a comfort squeeze.

Kai sighed. “I know, I know but.. I’m too scared to trust someone again. And I can’t be sure Cole is even into guys, okay? And even if he is, who said I might be his type? We don’t even know each other, we had only one interaction!”

“Okay, you are overthinking,” Skylor frowned. “Look, we both know that you don’t have to trust him right now when you both just met. But who said you shouldn’t give it a shot? I mean, if Jay is friends with this guy, maybe he isn’t that bad as your mind trying to convince you.”

Kai thought of it for a moment. Maybe she was right, and he should’ve tried it. Sure, it was gonna be hard at first, but who said he wouldn’t regret if he didn’t even try? Maybe Cole was good after all.

Two friends got up from their chairs after giving each other a tight hug. When they came out, Jay, Cole and Zane still were here, being busy with playing Prime Empire.

“Jeez, everyone is really so obsessed with this game,” Skylor rolled her eyes, causing Kai to laugh and shook his head. Typical Skylor.

They were back to their counter, Skylor said she needed to pick something her dad asked her to, so the girl left the arcades for a few minutes. Kai could see in the window how she crossed the road to get on the opposite side of the street.

Meanwhile, the brunette sighed, feeling how the anxiety took over him. He glanced at Cole. The boy was watching Zane playing a fifteen level of the game, Jay was on his other side, supporting his boyfriend. However, Kai’s attention was only on the black-haired boy and his god damn pretty face. He just couldn’t stop watching him, almost like Cole was a Greek God.

His face expressions were so handsome, Cole himself was very handsome. Even tho he was wearing a hoodie, Kai could see that the guy was pretty much muscular. It made Kai gulp nervously. Was he seriously watching his crush in the corner? Man, that was creepy.

However, his face widened in surprise when he saw Cole walking towards him. Kai felt how his body temperature was rising with every step closer the other teen made. He should’ve kept himself calm, he should’ve—

“Hey, Jay said he’s too thirsty and told me I can buy water here,” he smiled, making Kai’s heart melt. This god damn smile, oh gosh.

“Uh.. yeah, sure,” Kai gulped and turned away, wiping away his sweat. He reached the water bottle that was above him and hand it over to Cole. The noriette was about to pay for it when Kai shook his head. “ Don’t. If you are Jay’s friend, I won’t accept money from you,” Cole blinked but smiled at Kai’s words. He didn’t say anything else, instead he started walking back to his friends.

Man, he got a really nice ass. All of the sudden, Kai’s eyes widened at his own thoughts as he tried to hide his blush. Had he seriously just checked Cole’s ass?!

Chapter Text

The next day Kai came to the arcades alone because Skylor had to help her dad. She promised to come a little later and then buy the brunette his favourite strawberry milkshake after they were finished, so Kai thought he could forgive her for leaving him alone for such a long time. It was Saturday, which usually was the busiest day in the arcades. Almost everyone came here to spend their time by playing bunch of video games, which of course was good, considering that Kai and Skylor got paid more because of it. They could really use some money.

It's not like their families were poor, no, they both had a good financial situation. Kai's father had a whole company based on different kinds of weapon that he ruled with Kai's mother. Running a business was hard, but Ray Smith didn't seem like he was tired of it. On the contrary, in years it was only getting better and better and gave the four of them more money each month. Nya — Kai's little sister — also got herself a summer job. She was two years younger than her brother, but she still decided to earn money on her own, even tho she was a minor. Yet it didn't stop her. Nya didn't do anything special, just delivered newspapers all around the city. She worked three hours per day and always came back home with money. Kai was proud of her, she always managed to find a solution to every problem and was very strong herself. Sometimes he was really jealous of her.

Kai opened the arcade door, yawning and pulling out from his thoughts. He didn't sleep well last night because his mind was too busy. The brunette was talking to Skylor on the call until early morning, and it’s probably not hard to guess the topic of their conversation. Or rather, Kai's monologue because Skylor was only a listener and sometimes talked between what Kai was saying. He was talking about Cole. The poor boy really did fall head over heels for the guy he saw only once. He couldn't close his eyes, he wanted to see him again. At least for one last time, he just couldn't do anything with himself. It was still hard to admit that he got a crush on someone after the whole Plundar thing last year, but as Skylor said — we all can't control our hearts and choose who we want to fall in love with. It was a natural thing.

Kai shook his head and came in. He turned on the lights, taking a quick glance at the place. The arcades themselves were located in the end of the room, there were bunch of machines with different kinds of games. Most of them sure were about adventures and fighting. On the other side — the one near the exit — were chairs and tables where people could rest and eat some snacks. It wasn't a cafe, so there wasn't much of a choice, but the customers could always deal with their hunger by eating a burger or fry potatoes. There also was a big choice of different drinks or just water for those who preferred it over sweet sparkling water.

Another yawn escaped from him as Kai moved to the working staff’s room and changed from his hoodie to a t-shirt. Today was pretty windy cause summer was about to end, so it was obvious that the weather was gonna change as well. T-shirts that Kai and Skylor wore had a big letter ‘T’ in the middle, and then there was bunch of different patterns on it. Not something very fashionable if you asked them, but they both had a dress code and they couldn't say no to it. So they just went with it.

Minutes that felt like hours for him were passing so slowly that Kai almost fell asleep. His eyes were shutting because of how tired he was, he slept only four hours, which wasn't enough for him, considering that he always enjoyed sleeping and went to bed early. It was one of his good traits. Kai was about to shut his eyes when he saw someone walking towards the arcades, he squinted to see who it was. His heart immediately started beating faster in his chest when he saw that it was Cole. Well shit, Kai was so screwed.

The brunette started panicking, he looked around for help but then remembered Skylor wasn't here. He would ask her to deal with Cole and answer on whatever questions he might've asked, but there was one tiny problem. His friend was at home, helping her father, so Kai was one on one with his problem. Suddenly, he mentally facepalmed himself. Did he seriously just call his crush a problem? Way to take the romance out of it, Kai.

When the door opened, Kai quickly hid behind the counter, sitting on the floor and having his hands on his head. Maybe if Cole thought no one was here, he would leave, and then Kai wouldn't have to come up with excuses. But then Kai realised that the arcade was opened, so Cole wouldn't leave it that easily. Kai didn't have a choice but to show up in time or else his boss would be really mad, and Cole would think he was a weirdo. He couldn't explain why, but the last one sounded worse than the first option.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Kai nervously swallowed the lump in his throat. The brunette really wanted to respond, but he couldn't let out a single word from his mouth. Call him a coward, but he was too scared to show up and talk to the other boy when no one else was around. An idea of the two of them being all alone here made Kai blush. He should've concentrated.

He couldn't really hide here forever, so with a sigh Kai got up on his feet and showed up. Cole jumped from the sudden movement and looked at the brunette with wide eyes, catching his breath. “Woah, you scared me, dude!” Cole said, having his hand on his chest. Kai chuckled. What a drama queen.

“Sorry, man. I didn't mean to,” Kai shrugged. Well, he was doing pretty good, and it was only few seconds of their conversation. Maybe Skylor was right, and he was overreacting. He cleared his throat before asking. “So, uh.. what made you come here that early?”

Cole looked up at him from his phone. He put it in his pocket, which made something melt inside of the brunette. Did he really put his phone away just so he could talk to Kai? “Me and Jay decided to meet here again. We asked Zane to join us, but since school is about to start, he has some project that he has to do. Jay asked if he needs help, but this guy is too stubborn, so he said we can do something more interesting than spending time with bunch of historical books,” Cole finished and smiled. Kai couldn't stop staring at him, he wanted to listen and listen and Cole to never stop talking. So he asked the next thing.

“I see,” he nodded while leaning his head against his hand. “Jay mentioned yesterday that you moved here. Did you live somewhere near Ninjago City or not?” Kai was surprised at his own confidence, the conversation went too smooth.

“I moved from Ignacio. Maybe you heard of it, it's on the north,” Kai nodded in agreement. “My dad is a dancer, so moving isn't something new for me. I already lived in Ninjago City when I was a kid, so that's how I know Jay, but then our paths went different ways. He stayed here, and I had to move somewhere else because of my mom.”

“She is a dancer too?” Kai smirked, not thinking of what he was saying.

“No, uh.. she had cancer, so we had to move. She passed away,” Cole pursed his lips, it was clear that he tried to fight his own tears to not break down in front of his newfound friend.

Something dropped inside of Kai when he heard what Cole said. His mother passed away. And Kai just made a joke about her. It was probably the most awful thing he had ever said to someone. He had never felt so guilty than he did right now. A lot of people told him to keep his mouth shut, but it didn't look like Kai really listened to them. He always made everything worse, didn’t he? Skylor called him a hothead for a reason, he never thought first before saying something, he just spilled the words out of his mouth, not thinking how they would affect other people.

The brunette was one hundred and one percent sure he made Cole remember one of the worst moments in his life. Which was obvious, considering how fast the expression on his face changed. Kai clicked his tongue when he saw how upset the noriette looked. Gosh, someone seriously should’ve taught Kai how to behave around people he had a crush on. The brunette sighed heavily. “I'm so sorry for your loss, I can't imagine how you must feel,” Kai looked at him sadly. “And I'm sorry for making this stupid joke, I should've kept my mouth shut.”

Cole offered him a soft smile. “It's fine, Kai. You didn't know.”

Something about the way Cole said his name made Kai's legs weak. He was so doomed. “I've never told you my name,” Kai raised one of his eyebrows, which made Cole chuckle.

“The name-tag,” he pointed at the other boy's chest, it caused Kai to look at his t-shirt. "Of course," he rolled his eyes and buried his face in his hands as Cole laughed.

There was few minutes of awkward silence, both of them were embarrassed to start another conversation. They didn't know each other very well, they just met, for the heaven's sake, so they couldn't really find a topic they could discuss. They didn't even know each other's interests, except for the video games. Kai didn't know if Cole liked strawberry milkshakes or pop music, did he enjoy horror movies or was he a fan of basketball. He didn't know anything about the other teen, just like the noriette had no idea what Kai enjoyed to do.

Kai thought it would be right to apologise for his big mouth for the second time. "Again, I'm so sorry for saying this dumb joke. Skylor always says I first act, then think."

All of the sudden, he felt something warm on his shoulder. He looked at it, spotting Cole's hand. It was so big and warm, Kai wanted to stay like this forever. "Look, it's fine, really. I'm not mad at you at all. I guess it will make sense if I call you a hothead from now on," Cole winked at him and pulled his phone out of his pocket because it buzzed, informing that Cole received a message. Kai couldn't help but think about this wink. Cole was so beautiful, so pretty, so attractive, so handsome, so good-looking. Literally every other synonym you could've thought of. He was just.. so cool.

Just when Kai was about so say something else, the arcades door opened, revealing Jay, Skylor and Scott. The three of them were laughing at something, not even bothering to look at the other two teens, who shared a look before glancing at their friends. Jay was the first one to look up, yet he was still laughing.

"Hey, guys! Sorry for being late, man," Jay walked up to Cole, bumping fists with him. The raven-haired boy only laughed and shrugged it off.

"Meh, it's fine. Besides, I had a pretty good company while waiting for you," he looked at Kai with a smirk, which made the brunette blush and look away.

Skylor glanced at Cole, then at her best friend, who was redder than his own t-shirt. Something definitely happened here or else Kai wouldn't look so weird. Skylor knew him too well.

"Alright, boys," Skylor walked up to the counter. "You three have fun with the arcades, and I need to have a quick word with my best friend," she grabbed Kai's collar shirt before he could react, making the brunette follow her.

In few seconds, they were in the closet, Skylor crossed her arms, looking at Kai, who seemed to be so confused. "Mind to tell me what was going on here?"

"Um.. why do you think something happened?" Kai let out a nervous chuckle, putting his hands on his hips.

Skylor rolled her eyes. "Cause it's been only a day, and Cole is smirking at you like you guys were making out here."

Kai couldn't help but blush, he coughed and cleared his throat. "First, you are the worst. And second, yes you are the worst!"

The girl smirked. "So I was right?"

"What?! No! We just- we- fuck you, we just had a talk!" the brunette blabbered, at the same time blushing more and more. Skylor laughed at his words.

"Is that how it's called now? Having a talk?" she continued teasing him.

"I swear to god, another word!"

"Okay, chill," she chuckled. "But seriously, you two seem a little closer comparing to yesterday."

Before Kai could say anything, he noticed how Skylor's face expression changed. "Whatever you are thinking, it's a no," he said, frowning.

"I have an idea how you two can become even closer!" she exclaimed, having an evil smirk on her lips.

"Oh no. No, no, no, I don't even wanna hear that, Skylor Chen," Kai protested, shaking his head. 

Skylor rolled her eyes, but the smirk never left her lips. "You will ask his phone number and then you two will hang out together! C'mon, hothead, show him your confident side," she wiggled her eyebrows in a flirty manner, making Kai blush.

"Uh, no. Thanks but no. I better stay like this and watch his beautiful face from the counter," Kai cleared his throat and was about to leave the room when Skylor's hand grabbed his arm, causing him to stop and raise his eyebrow at her.

"Are you seriously going to give up that easily? Just because this asshole once said bullshit about you, it doesn't mean it's the truth and everyone else will be like him. Kai I know would never give up that easily," Skylor crossed her arms and looked at her friend, who bit his lip.

She had a point, only it wasn't easy for Kai to let go of this feeling. He already was betrayed more than once, he was surprised how Skylor was still with him. Sure, he should've at least tried, but something inside of him didn't let him do this. It was his fear.

Chapter Text

"Kai, you are gonna break my wrist," Skylor grimaced, looking at Kai's hand squeezing her own. The brunette gasped and let go of her hand, bitting his lip nervously.

"Sorry! Sorry. I'm just.. I'm just nervous," Kai sighed and looked at the trio that was playing video games for the second hour. They didn't seem like they were tired.

Skylor took a deep breath. She has been trying to convince Kai to go and talk to Cole, but she didn't expect it would be that difficult. Kai was always confident, sometimes too confident. He could do some weird shit without thinking what he was actually doing. Only when the brunette was facing the consequences of his actions or was getting punished at school, it hit him that he should've thought before doing something suspicious that in the end no one would probably appreciate.

However, the circle repeated again and again. It was just who he was - confident and cocky hothead. His family sure liked him for who he was, but sometimes even Kai himself couldn't stand his own temper. Like it was mentioned before, he was too confident, which usually leaded to not the best scenarios. Tho Kai's confidence immediately disappeared when someone flirted back with him. Kai was known as the one who used stupid pick up lines for fun or just annoyed people with his flirting. However, it was different when people responded to him. Then the hothead everyone knew disappeared, and Kai transformed into someone else, someone less confident.

The same was happening right now, Kai wasn't sure in himself at all. Whenever he looked at Cole, something felt off inside of him. He didn’t know the guy personally, they only had one talk. But something in his face made people want to talk to him, to be around him in general. His smile was filled with so much kindness, with a bright light that Kai could definitely use in his life.

Another punch from Skylor brought him back to reality. He looked at his friend, who pointed at Cole. Kai glanced at the boy. He was surrounded by Jay and Scott, having his turn in playing the next level. He had a confident smirk on his lips, Kai could even see a little sweat on his forehead. The other two stood on both of his sides, saying something supportive and watching how the tense in the game was growing. It was probably the finale level.

"Leave Jay and Scott to me, you can have your black-haired prince all to yourself," Skylor said, making Kai blush again. He didn't really know what was he supposed to say. He couldn't really walk to Cole and just ask his phone number, could he? It would look weird. On the contrary, it was the only way Kai knew. But he didn't want to scare the other teen away by his weird behaviour.

Skylor was right about the two of them being able to find a contact with each other during their talk a little earlier, but it was everything. And besides, they only had a quick chat to pass the time. It didn't mean they were already friends, just buddies. Yeah, you could say that. Kai gulped when Skylor punched him further again, but his feet couldn't move. He froze on one spot, not being able to make a step forward.

"C’mon, Kai, don't be a coward! You can do this!" Skylor whispered to him, then pointed at Cole's friends that left to the counter to buy some water, the boys were talking with each other, so they didn't really notice Kai and Skylor. She gave him a quick nod and walked up to her working place, leaving Kai absolutely alone.

The brunette swallowed the lump in his throat again. It couldn't be that hard, right? He would ask Cole for his phone number, they would probably chat a little and then hang out somewhere, so they would know each other better. All people do that, it wouldn't be something weird. Kai just needed to be a little more confident than he was right now.

After taking a deep breath, Kai sighed heavily and started walking towards Cole, who was currently scrolling through his phone, leaning onto the arcade machine. Kai turned around one last time, receiving nodding from his best friend, and then took few more steps forward. Here goes nothing.

Kai cleared his throat, making Cole look up at him. Just like the brunette thought, when these green eyes looked at him, the boy immediately forgot everything he was gonna say. "Kai?" Cole called him, making Kai blink.

"Um.. hi," he said awkwardly, instantly punching himself. Just a little more confidence.

"Hey," Cole said in response, a light smile started forming on his lips.

"I was thinking.." Kai rubbed the back of his neck. It was so embarrassing. "Maybe you would want to.. hang out? Sometimes, it's not supposed to be today or even tomorrow," Kai let out a little nervous laugh, waiting for the other's response, but the noriette was only staring at him.

"You mean like a date?" Cole smirked. Kai's face immediately heated up and was covered in blush.

"No! Of coarse not! I mean- what I've been trying to say is-"

"Relax, I'm just teasing you," Cole laughed, seeing how the heavy tense started leaving Kai's shoulders. "Sure, I'd love to hang out with you, Kai. It's always good to make new friends."

Kai chuckled. "Yeah.. friends.. I mean! That's why I asked you this. To be friends. That's it."

Cole nodded, still smiling. "Wanna have each other's numbers, so we could contact each other and decide when and where to meet?" Kai blinked. Everything went too good, he couldn't believe it would be that easy.

"Sure!"

After that, the boys gave each other their phone numbers, in the end giving each other a smile. Kai was so close to say how cute he looked but was able hold himself back in time. He didn't need to embarrass himself more than he already was. Cole said something else, but Kai wasn't here to hear it. All he could think about was the other’s number in his phone. Skylor would be proud.

Scott and Jay called for Cole, which caused the noriette to leave Kai alone. Now when the arcade was empty, Skylor turned to her friend and ran up to him, immediately grabbing his hands in excitement. "So?? Did it work? Did you get his number?!" she attacked with questions, seeing that Kai was completely zoned out.

All of the sudden, the brunette looked at her, and a wide smile started forming on his lips. "I did it!" he exclaimed. "I have his number, and he agreed to meet me the other day!"

Skylors eyes widened as she yelled. "Yes! Oh, thanks god, I started to think it’s all over!" she laughed, causing Kai to laugh too. "You know what, we need to celebrate this. Buddy's pizza?"

"Buddy's pizza!"

Kai and Skylor were drinking milkshakes and eating fry potatoes while discussing the coming meeting of Kai and Cole. To be sure, Skylor was the one who talked the most - Kai either hid behind his drink with a blush on his face or rolled his eyes on the girl's comments. Tho he couldn't really be mad at her, he knew she didn't mean it in a bad way anyways. Skylor was the most supportive person he had ever had a chance to meet, so all of these words that came from her mouth weren't said in attempt to hurt Kai and his feelings.

"I still can't believe it! You are getting partner earlier than me!" she laughed, taking another sip of her milkshake.

Kai only rolled his eyes, but the spark inside of him shone brighter at her words. "Not so fast, Skylor Chen. We are gonna meet as friends, okay? We don't even know if he is into guys!" Kai said, crossing his arms.

"Well, yeah, but neither someone said that he doesn't like guys," she winked, receiving a glare from Kai. Tho Skylor could see how his eyes started shining at her words. He wanted this to be true. "How are you feeling about this? I mean, you got a chance to actually hang out with your crush, and he seems to be really interested in you. At least as a friend for sure."

Kai sighed. What did he feel about it? Sure, he was excited for this meeting. Even tho the brunette was head over heels, he wanted to know more about Cole. He wanted to know what type of music the guy was listening, his favourite colour and food. Any detail you could know about the person and what did they like.

He wanted to get closer to Cole, he wanted the noriette to have a good impression on him. Kai understood that he and Cole just met, and he wasn't expecting his feelings to be mutual. He couldn't even admit the fact he was having feelings for someone. After what happened, the brunette thought he would never fall in love with someone, he didn't want to get hurt again. But as Skylor was saying, we can’t control our hearts and our feelings. It all happened naturally, and Kai just needed to accept that now he had another important person to him in his heart.

"I dunno," Kai shrugged. "I'm both excited and scared, I mean, who wouldn't? It's still hard to accept that not everyone is like Ash, that someone can really love me." 

"Hey, look at me," Skylor grabbed the other's hand gently, giving it a comfort squeeze. "It's gonna be okay, Cole won't hurt you. He seems like a good guy with a good heart. And besides, knowing Jay, he wouldn't be friends with someone, who could hurt another person," she smiled at him.

Kai responded her with a smile, squeezing her hand in return. "Thank you, Sky. You always know what to say."

"Sure I do. Furthermore, if Cole dares to hurt you, he will meet me. I will teach him some manners because no one messes with my best friend!" she stood in a protective pose, making Kai laugh.

"Okay, okay, superhero, I think everyone got it," Kai pointed at the other people in the room that were glancing at both friends with weird looks. Skylor only snorted.

"Since when do you think I care what other people say? And since when you care what the other people say?" she raised her eyebrow, making Kai chuckle.

"Okay, that's true," he smiled.

They talked a little more and were about to leave when someone touched Kai's shoulder, making both Kai and Skylor turn around. The brunette froze deadly in his position while Skylor had a frown on her face.

"Well, well. Isn't it my favourite faggot and his red-head chihuahua?" the boy said with a smirk, his other two friends shared a look with each other, standing behind him.

"Fuck off, Ash," Skylor rolled her eyes, looking at Kai, who seemed scared.

"And why's that? Your friend seems like he is happy to see me," Ash pushed Kai to the wall, taking the sitting spot near him.

"What do you want?" Kai asked in a cold voice. Skylor glanced at him with a worry. "You said you moved away!"

"My father thought this city is better for his work, so I'm back. Aren't you happy to see me?" he smiled, but all Kai could feel from his smile was disgust.

He mentally compared Ash and Cole. The noriette's smile was so bright, so kind. His laugh sounded like the boy himself was an angel compare to his ex crush, who was nothing but a show off and didn't care about anything and anyone. His soul was selfish, he didn't need anyone in his life. Kai maybe didn't know Cole very good, but it was clear as a day that he was a so much better person than Ash was. And this made Kai take the next action.

The brunette frowned and suddenly threw his milkshake over the other guy. There were few seconds of silence, Kai's lips were slowly forming into the smirk while everyone else stared at him with wide eyes. Skylor blinked but started grinning when she saw Ash's shocked face.

She and Kai got up from the their seats and headed towards the exit. When they were about to leave, Skylor stopped, making Kai do the same. She turned around and yelled. "Hey, Ash? Suck my dick, you asshole!" she showed him a middle finger, which caused Kai to laugh. They gave each other a high-five and left the cafe, running away and giggling.

Chapter Text

Kai was sitting on his bed and staring at the numbers on his phone screen. He wanted to call Cole or at least text him, but he couldn't find strength to do this. What if Cole was busy or wasn't gonna answer him? The overthinking kept running through Kai's head, in the end making him groan and burry his head in his pillow. Why was he such a coward?

The scene that happened yesterday was repeating in Kai's mind either. He couldn't help but think about how he and Skylor disgraced his ex crush in front of everyone. Kai would lie if he said he felt guilty about it. In fact, he was very relieved, he was glad the two of them did it. He and Skylor called each other when they got home and discussed everything in details like they usually did, and this talk only convinced Kai that he did everything the right way. Ash deserved this.

The other thing he was concerned about was Cole. It was Sunday, so the brunette had his day off and didn't have to go the arcades today to work. It was probably the first time in a while when he was excited for his another work day, right now it was the only excuse he could use to see Cole more often. However, it couldn't help at the moment because school was about to start in a week, and honestly, Kai wasn't ready at all.

It's not like he was bullied there or was scared of the teachers. On the contrary, he wad in good terms with almost everyone, and his teachers never complained about him or his behaviour. It's just that something still felt off, but he couldn't explain what exactly.

Kai sighed as he looked at his phone screen again. It was evening, Cole was probably busy with something like every other person. He could text him tomorrow, at the morning. Deep inside Kai wanted to meet the noriette before school started, but he couldn't really decide it. He wanted Cole to choose and he will give him a chance to choose where and when gonna be their meeting. If he still wanted to hang out with Kai of coarse.

The brunette kept staring at his phone like it was gonna change something. Sure, it didn't magically give him a message from Cole. It was stupid. But just when he was about to go to the kitchen and grab something eatable, his phone buzzed, announcing about a message from someone. A wave of hope crashed Kai as he unlocked his phone. It was Cole.

"Hey, it's Cole! The guy from the arcades. I have no idea why I'm going into details, but just to make sure you didn't forget who I am :) Sorry for texting this late, I had some troubles with my dad. Uh, it turns into the life story, let's skip to the more interesting part. I was thinking if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? I know it's Monday, so you probably have work, but what about after it? In the evening. Lemme know if you agree :)"

Kai stared at the message, trying to understand if he was hallucinating or not. Cole wrote him a whole paragraph, even explained why he didn't text him earlier. Gosh, this guy was literally a dream.

For some reason Kai felt guilt in his chest. He should've been the one who texted first, not Cole. After all, Kai was the one who asked to hang out, so he should've done this, too. The boy bit his lip and took another deep breath before sending his response.

"Sure, I don't mind! I mean I'd love to of coarse. How about we meet at five? I ask Skylor to change me for an hour, so we could have more time. I mean! Only if you want to!"

Kai read his message again and sent it but immediately regretted his decision. He didn't sound confident, he sounded like a ten years old boy, who told the girl in his class that he liked her. He instantly groaned again and hid his face in his pillow. Man, why would he be scared to text a boy? He was Kai Smith, after all! Sending a message to someone wasn't that hard, at least not for him.

But Cole did something to him that he couldn't even explain. He was different. Even tho Kai didn't know him, the brunette could feel it. He couldn't really process what just happened. He and Cole decided to meet tomorrow, Kai will see him again!

Thousand firecrackers exploded in his chest as he started grinning like an idiot. He needed to tell Skylor this or else he would blow up from the emotions that filled him. Just when Kai was about to do this, someone knocked into his door, making the brunette look up. Kai let out a loud “come in”, so the person behind the door could hear him. When it opened, Kai saw his sister in the doorway.

"Hey, I made lunch. Will you join me?" Nya asked, having a tired smile on her face. The brunette knew her teacher gave his sister some task for a coming school year, which kept her awake until the late morning. Kai returned her a smile.

"Sure! Are you done with your schoolwork?" he asked, walking up to his sibling. The girl nodded.

"Almost. I have few more details that are needed to be finished until Wednesday, but it's not a big deal. Vania will come here to help me with it," Nya said as she and Kai walked in the kitchen. Kai could smell the lunch his sister cooked, she always was good when it came to the cooking.

"How are the things going in arcades?" the girl asked, getting two plates - for her and for Kai.

The brunette immediately blushed. "Uh, good I guess?"

"Really? I saw Skylor two days ago, and she said there is something you have to tell me," she said with a smirk, making blood freeze in his veins. Suddenly, Kai wanted to have a quick chat with his best friend.

"Uh.. I have no idea what she was talking about," he shrugged, hoping Nya would just give up with questions. But his sister was just like him, a real stubborn.

"You are clearly lying, Kai," she said in a cold voice and turned to him with crossed arms. Kai cleared his throat.

He had no choice but to tell her what was going on. With that, he opened his mouth and spoke. "I've got a.. um.. a thing for this one guy that showed up in the arcades few days ago.." Kai finally said, his cheeks red.

Nya blinked at him, she definitely did not expect to hear something like that. Its not like his sister was against his sexuality, no, she knew her brother was bisexual and liked boys. Moreover, she was so supportive about it and never judged Kai for who he was. But the brunette was sure that it still must've felt weird for her in some way.

"What's his name?" she asked. Kai did not expect her asking something like that.

"His name is Cole. He just moved here."

"Cole? Isn't he Cole Brookstone by any chance?" Nya raised an eyebrow and put two plates with food on the table.

Kai blinked once again. "Uh.. yeah. Why?"

"Oh well," Nya shrugged and sat in front of her brother. "Mrs. Montgomery said this guy is gonna help me and Vania with preparations for the project she gave us since he is new in our school."

"He is gonna come here with Vania?!" Kai exclaimed, choking on his food.

"Slow down, Romeo, I dunno if he does," she rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a smile. "However, he has no choice but to help us, so I guess he will. Cole is gonna do the writing task for our project, I don't think he is gonna be here for too long. Tho, who knows, maybe he'll stay here a little longer to spend some time with you," Nya wiggled her eyebrows and started eating, leaving her brother as a blushing mess.

Ever since his sister mentioned about Cole coming to their place, Kai couldn't concentrate on anything else. He needed to write a report for his work, he and Skylor got it yesterday and needed to bring it back to their boss tomorrow. However, Kai’s hand didn't write a single letter on the paper, and it’s been almost an hour since he started.

Kai still didn't receive any message from Cole that would say he agreed on Kai's suggestion about their meeting, which made him worried. What if he was hurt? Or sick? Or changed his mind and thought hanging out with Kai would be just a waste of his time? The brunette pursed his lips and sighed.

He didn't even notice how he started drawing something on the paper, only when he was finished, the teen realised he drew Cole. He wasn't much of an artist, but it looked not that bad as his other drawings he made in class. Maybe, he would be able to give it to Cole one day.

All of the sudden, he shook his head. It would be creepy. Who in the name of Ninjago draws their crush and then keeps this picture on their wall? Kai blushed. Cole really did something to him, he had never blushed that much in few days just because of thinking about someone. But Cole was more than someone.

Kai didn't realise how his hand was now typing a number and clicking on the "Call" button. Only God knew where did this confidence came from. He wasn't fast enough to change his mind when a voice on the other side talked to him.

"Hello?" Kai gulped but immediately answered. "Hey, Cole. It's Kai."

"Yeah, I figured that out," he chuckled, which made everything inside of the brunette melt. "Something happened?"

"No! I was just- I wanted to know if- if you are still fine with our meeting tomorrow? At five?" Kai asked with a hope.

There were few seconds of silence before Cole responded. "Oh! I might've not noticed your message. Sorry, I've been a little busy with new school today, there is still so many stuff I have to do before it starts."

"It's okay! If you are busy, we can meet another time of coarse. I don't wanna pressure you," Kai said, but it wad clear that he was upset according to his voice.

"Oh, shut up there. Look, it's fine seriously. I could use some distraction because these papers are driving me crazy!" he laughed, causing Kai to giggle. "I would usually ask Jay, but he is too busy with Zane. You know. Couples," Kai could tell Cole grimaced at his own words on the other side. Jokingly, of coarse.

"Yeah, I can tell," Kai chuckled.

"Sorry, my dad is calling me. See ya tomorrow at five, hotshot. I'll pick you up from your work!" Cole said and finished the call, making Kai's cheeks blush again.

He was gonna pick him up. Like they were going on a date. No! Oh gosh, Kai, get yourself together, you dumb idiot! It's just a meeting for two people to get to know each other better. But why did he feel so much butterflies in his stomach then?

Chapter Text

The last time Kai was so excited for something was back when he was a five year old. His parents promised him to buy this new toy car the kids in his kindergarten were talking about, so the little Kai couldn't think of anything else but about his soon to be bought car. When Kai showed up the next day with this toy, he was surrounded by the other children, who were asking him to show them all this super cool car. 

Sure, right now he wasn't buying himself a toy, but this excitement was almost as same as it was twelve years ago. Only now he was meeting the boy he loved. However, the word "loved" was too strong to call what he was feeling right now. They didn't know each other that well, did they? It was their first meeting, and if everything goes bad, the last one. 

That was the thing Kai was scared about. After he told Skylor about his meeting with Cole, all the brunette could think about was how he was gonna mess everything up. He was afraid Cole would get bored of him or would think he was weird. However, Skylor convinced him that he was overthinking. Even if Cole got tired of him, he would tell Kai about it politely. It sure didn't do anything with tense on Kai’s shoulder but could calm him down a little. And the brunette could use it right now. 

It was almost five, but Cole was nowhere to be seen. Kai bit his lip, his mind ran through different scenarios. What if Cole changed his mind? What if he decided to do something else instead of waisting his time on someone like Kai? 

"Calm down, Romeo," Skylor said, rolling her eyes. Sure thing, she has noticed that something was wrong with Kai, considering that his hands were sweating, and he himself looked so nervous. "Your knight in the shining armour will be here soon, it's not even five yet. Be patient."

"First, can you stop calling him like that?" Skylor smirked. "And second, I am patient! I'm just worried, that's all," Kai said and turned around to the couple that came here few minutes ago. The guy was teaching his girlfriend how to play Prime Empire. They both were giggling, it was  clear that she needed more practice.

Kai sighed. He imagined how he and Cole were playing the same video game, only the noriette was standing behind him, his arms wrapped around Kai's waist as the brunette was clicking on the buttons, and they both were laughing. All of the sudden, he felt how his face heated up from this thought. He was stupid! How could he fell for a boy he barely knew?! 

"Lemme guess," Skylor raised her voice, crossing her arms. "Thinking about you and Cole doing the same thing on your date?" she asked with a smirk on her lips.

"It is not a date!" Kai exclaimed louder than he wanted. The couple stopped playing and glanced at the counter. Skylor snorted, trying to hide her smile, while Kai couldn’t help but blush. The girl and her boyfriend shared a look and returned to their game. Kai cleared his throat. "We don't even know if he likes me in a friend way, Skylor."

"Oh come on! More confidence, hothead!" Skylor said. "Here, lets practice," she jumped on the counter and sat on it, kicking her legs in the air. "Where did you two decide to go?"

"Uh.. We haven't really decided yet," he shrugged. "I think Cole said we will choose when we meet." 

"Really?" Skylor raised her eyebrow, causing Kai to blush again. "Okay, let's say. What about Buddy's Pizza? They make good food."

"Are you crazy? What if someone I know sees us here! And besides, it's a weird choice for a first meeting," Kai crossed his arms and frowned at her.

"Dude, just get yourself milkshakes and then walk around the park," the redhead raised an eyebrow at her friend. "It's pretty big, so you'll be here for an hour at least, if not more."

Kai sighed. "Okay, maybe you are right, but-"

The brunette looked behind Skylor as his eyes widened in shock. Skylor was surprised by the weird changing in her friend's behaviour, so she looked where he was looking. Immediately, her mouth opened, she looked at her arm clock. 

"Wow, he is so punctual," she said, a smirk started forming on her face. "Looks like you've got a nice catch," Skylor wiggled her eyebrows, making Kai blush and whisper a quiet "shut up!".

"How do I look?! What about my hair? Or I should've wore another hoodie or even shirt! Or-"

"Kai," Skylor called him softly. "You look awesome, calm down and go spend your time with Cole. Maybe, it will turn out in something more than just friendship," she smirked.

"Skylor Chen!"

Just when Kai wanted to continue arguing, the bell rang, announcing about a customer. Sure thing, it wasn't a one, it was just Cole. He looked the same as he did few days ago, only had different clothes. In Kai's opinion, he still looked amazing. 

The noriette looked around, spotting familiar faces, which made a smile form on his lips as he walked up to the counter. "Hey, guys!"

"Hi.." Kai said shyly. 

"Hello, Cole! It's good to see you again," Skylor said, leaning against the counter.

Cole grinned in response. "It looks empty today," the noriette scanned the room, seeing only few kids and a couple. "No customers?"

"You bet," the redhead sighed. "It is always like that on Mondays."

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I steal your best friend for a few hours?" Cole asked, a smirk formed on his lips. Kai thought he forgot how to breath.

"But of coarse," Skylor said and turned to Kai, who gulped.

"You ready?" Cole asked with a smile. 

Kai blinked. "Uh, yeah! Of coarse! Lets go," he said with an awkward smile, and after that, the two of them left the arcades.

Have you ever got butterflies just from standing near a person? It's like a shock wave crashes you with an astonishing power, and you can't stand on your feet because they feel like jelly. It's like you don't understand what's going on around you because your whole attention is on the person next to you. You can only hear them, their beautiful voice that tells you some story from their life. And it felt amazing.

Kai and Cole has been walking around for more than an hour. The boys bought coffee near the arcades Kai and Skylor were working at and then headed to the biggest park in the city. There were mothers with their kids, couples, friend groups and just random people, who wanted some peace and quiet. But it was a good place for two strangers to hang out and know more about each other.

Cole was talking for almost the whole time. He told his newfound friend about moving to different cities because of his father's job, about him becoming friends with Jay and a lot of other things. Kai didn't try to stop him because, well, he liked listening to his voice. It was everything and nothing at the same time. It was better than any other sound you could suggest to listen to. It made Kai feel safe and relaxed. He definitely liked this feeling.

He also liked a smile that was dancing in the corner of Cole's lips for the whole time he was talking. The amount of positive emotions Kai's got in only one evening was incredible. Cole did things to him no one else did before. And it's only after one meeting that hasn't even finished yet! Kai smiled to himself, still listening to everything his friend (?) said. He didn't want to miss any detail. He wanted to know everything about the other guy. 

"I feel like I talk about myself too much today," the noriette laughed, making Kai grin.

"I like listening to you. You have interesting life," Kai chuckled, receiving another wave of laughing from Cole. 

"Well, I want to listen to you, too. Maybe you have something to tell me, hotshot?" 

Something about the way Cole called him and the way he said it in general made Kai's skin burn. It felt good. "My name is Kai Smith, I am seventeen years old!" he said in official tone. "I have a little sister, parents and a best friend-"

"I didn't ask for this kind of story, we are not in the primary school!" this time they both laughed, then took a sit on one of the benches that was far from the other people. "At least I know your last name now."

"Oh no, are you gonna use it against me?!" 

"Depends on your behaviour."

They laughed again, Kai felt how the tension started leaving him and the atmosphere around became less awkward than it was before. The boys found another topic to discuss. It appeared to be one about the newest video game that was going to come out in a little less than a month. Surprisingly, they both had a different opinion on it, which turned into an argument. With that, they didn't even realise it was getting late.

"So, will we see each other again?" Kai asked, bitting his lip. After hanging out in the park, the boys noticed the time on their phone screens and started moving towards each other's houses. 

"Do you want to?" Cole smirked, making Kai roll his eyes.

"Yes I do," the brunette said with a frown and punched the other boy gently into his shoulder.

"Well, school starts soon, and I have one project to be done so-"

"I know. You are sharing this work with my sister and her best friend," Kai interrupted him, grinning.

Cole blinked, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe we do see each other at school then, what do you say?"

"That would be nice," the shorter boy smiled, receiving a smile from Cole.

"Then, see you?"

"See you too, Cole."

And with that, the boys left each other. Oh boy, Skylor will do anything to hear all of the details.

Chapter Text

"So? How did it go?" Skylor asked.

Kai took another sip of his tea, the cup of which he was holding in his hands. A small smile appeared on his lips as he put the cup on the table. "Well, it was.. good, I guess." 

Skylor only raised her eyebrow at him. "Did you just call a date with your crush "good"? That's it?"

The brunette frowned at her. "First, it was not a date!" he blushed, making his friend smirk. "And second, I just have no idea what to say. Sure thing, I'm on the cloud nine, and we seem like we are having some kind of connection with each other but.. It was so hard to not grab his stupid face in my hands and just kiss him."

Skylor squealed with delight at his words. "You guys are so cute! I'm your biggest shipper," Kai rolled his eyes, but his heart started beating faster after her words. "I wanna know all of the details, hothead. Tell me everything!"

And sure thing he did. He told Skylor everything. He told her about the moment their hands touched for a second, but Cole was too busy telling another story, so he didn't even notice. But Kai did. He damn did. It was his second favourite feeling in the world. The first one was probably hearing Cole's laugh after telling a joke. Knowing that a person you like enjoyed your sense of humour was something Kai couldn't explain with words. It felt so amazing.

Cole was amazing. They knew each other for a little amount of time, but Kai felt so comfortable around him. The noriette was like a magnet, and, damn, Kai enjoyed this effect. He never wanted him to stop talking, he wanted to listen to this voice every single hour without Cole stopping. I guess it's a part of being in love when you have only one thing on your mind - this one comfort person, who is perfect in your eyes. Because Cole was. He was perfect for Kai, almost so perfect that the brunette felt like the wrong one around him. 

Cole was a type of person you always want to listen to, you just want to wear headphones and listen to his speech that he recorded for you and then just keep and keep listening to it. And for once in his life Kai didn't feel wrong about it. It felt so right to talk about Cole this way, it felt right to say that Kai was in love with him. His parents would attack him with million questions, knowing that their son - the one who always said that love from the first sight and love in general is total bullshit - actually fell in love with someone the second he saw them. But Kai was totally ready for it and would give them all of the answers he could.

"I cannot believe this! You are actually getting a partner before me!" Skylor exclaimed and fell on her back, causing Kai to laugh.

"What happened to Antonia?" Kai smirked. Not a long time ago, Skylor came to him with words that she thinks her new neighbour is so hot. And knowing who Skylor Chen was, it meant that she got an eye on this girl. As she found out later, Antonia was going to go to the same school as she did, so the redhead thought she might get a chance to ask her out.

"Meh, that girl turned to be straight like everyone else," Skylor rolled her. "I think she even has a boyfriend. Otherwise, she is out of my league."

"That sucks, Sky."

"Bruh, I'm not going to be sad about it! I mean, look at me! I'm so hot!" Kai could only laugh at her words. His best friend always was so confident about herself.

"Then why did you dump me few years ago when I asked you on a date?" Kai squinted.

"Sorry, dude, I don't like dicks," this time they both laughed.

Maya and Ray were still on their business trip, so Kai asked Skylor if she wanted to stay a night here. Sure thing, she agreed. She was always welcomed in this house ever since Kai and Skylor were kids. Their families had a lot in common, their parents liked to have dinners together and just spend quality time with each other. It was a part of their big, old friendship.

With years Kai and Skylor spent less time with their parents at the table and usually went to hang out with each other alone in the city. Sometimes they brought Nya with them, but it was mostly the two of them because Kai's sister spent a lot of time with her best friend, Vania. There were few times when the four of them hung out in some local cafe. Kai really liked Vania, she was kind and funny, and he was glad his sister had a chance to get a real friend, who always got her back when he wasn't around.

Of coarse he knew that Nya was strong and independent, and he admired this in his sister a lot, but his big brother's senses couldn't just leave him. Nya always was gonna be his little baby sister that he cared about a lot. Sometimes it was annoying but that was part of being a responsible, big brother. He called it his own duty.

Speaking of which, when the two of them thought of what they should make for a dinner, someone knocked in the door. It was Nya. She had two boxes of pizza in her arms and looked like she was hanging out with someone. "Hey, guys. Wanna join me on the dinner?" 

"Sure!" they both exclaimed and got up from the bed. 

The trio headed right to the kicthen, Nya put two boxes on the table while Kai went to get three plates. In few minutes the whole kitchen was drowning in the delicious smell of pizza. They were eating and talking about school that was almost here. Sure, only Nya out of the three of them was actually ready for it.

"What about the look, sis? Did you hang out with someone?" Kai asked, biting a piece of his pizza.

"Yeah, I was meeting Lloyd. He finally came back from his vacation," the girl said. Lloyd was Nya's good friend, the two of them and Vania hung out at school a lot. They three shared most of their classes and could always be seen together during breaks.

"That's nice," Kai responded.

"And what about you? How did your date go?" Nya smirked. Kai immediately chocked on his drink and started coughing, which caused Skylor to help him because she sat next to the brunette. However, she couldn't hide her smirk, either.

"First, I didn't tell you that, and second, it was not a date!" Kai frowned.

"I know you didn't, but I have my own source of information," Nya winked. Her brother immediately understood everything.

"Skylor!"

"I'm sorry," she said innocently but clearly didn't look sorry.

"Oh come on, Kai, I'm your sister! And besides, Cole is my business partner, I have all rights to know about it!" Nya said proudly.

"Business partner?" Skylor raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, we've got a school project to do together. I told Kai to join us, but he is such a lame and didn't agree on it," Nya crossed her arms and stared at her brother as Skylor's eyes widened.

"You dumbass, that's a perfect opportunity to get closer with each other!" 

"I know but-"

"Maybe he likes smart guys, you should try," Nya giggled, receiving a glare from her brother.

"I don't know, okay? I'll think of it."

"You better hurry because school starts tomorrow," Skylor warned, making Kai sigh.

Chapter Text

Kai already forgot how hard it was to wake up this early to not be late to school. In all honesty, he didn't miss it. At all. If Nya didn't wake him up this morning, he would definitely continue sleeping in his bed, not minding about skipping all of the classes. It was his last year in a high school, so not going to classes because he wanted to sleep a little more was probably not the best idea. 

He wore the first thing he found in his wardrobe, grabbed all of the books and other stuff and left the house with his sister. They always went to school together and didn't plan to change this tradition this year, either. Skylor was going to join them in school itself because the girl lived so much closer to it. Which meant she had more time to sleep. And yes, Kai was jealous. 

He didn't know what he wad going to do with his future when school was gonna be finished but thinking about this at seven am in the morning on the first day of school was a bad idea. The brunette yawned, receiving a glare from his sister because they were late. Or rather, she was late. Nya had to visit headmaster Wu before the classes started, the old man was supposed to discuss some details about the project she was given. 

After receiving another punch from her, Kai suggested that she could go to school by herself today. Because he needed to wake up fully first, and he had more time for that unlike her. The girl sighed, kissed her brother on the cheek and told him to be careful. With that, she left. Kai waved goodbye to her and started walking less faster than he did before. 

The sun was shining brightly today, which made Kai grimace and close his eyes. Too bright for a night owl that he was. He started walking like that, not even looking where he was going. It ended up with him bumping into someone. Kai's eyes immediately opened in horror as he started apologising to the stranger. 

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I should've looked where I- Cole?" he blinked. 

The stranger looked up and blinked in response. However, a silly smile appeared on his face when he saw Kai. "Oh, hey! Going to school?" the brunette nodded. "Yeah, I figured that out. Do you mind if I keep you company? I sort of got lost in this area," Cole let out a small chuckle, making Kai smile.

"Sure! We can go together. And according to where we are, you were going in the right way," Kai said, a silly smile on his face. 

"I guess, but it's better to have someone, who knows the way. You know the way, right?" 

Kai scoffed. "No, I have no idea where the school is located!" Cole could hear sarcasm in his voice, which made him giggle. Kai's heart flattered at this sound. 

"So is it a yes?"

"Yes, Cole, you can come to school with me."

"Thanks, man!"

And with that, the boys started walking. This time, to Kai's own surprise, not only Cole but he was talking as well. They were discussing the coming classes, Kai even found out that Cole was a little nervous. It was understandable. After all, he had his first day at new school. Even tho they knew each other for a few days, Kai felt like he should’ve done something. Something that could’ve calmed Cole down. He didn't like seeing the boy so nervous.

"It's gonna be a piece of cake, I'm telling ya!" Kai said with a smile. "Teachers here are kind, just like the students. Sure, there are some assholes, but I think every school or university has them. It's like.. a fifth piece to a whole picture," he finished, waiting for Cole's reaction. 

The noriette offered him a smile. "Thanks, dude. I have no idea why am I so nervous. It's just the first day of school, isn't it?"

Kai chuckled in response. "Well, you don't change schools every day, so I get why are you so nervous," he smiled. Suddenly, Kai felt some confidence inside of him, so after clearing his throat, he added. "You can.. you can stay close to me if.. if you don't wanna be alone. Just in case. If you want."

"That's so sweet of you, Kai, but Jay and Zane already promised to keep me company," Cole smiled. 

The brunette bit his lip nervously. "Oh. Yeah, right. Okay! That's cool!" he wanted to slap himself for his own answer.

And what was he expecting? Cole wasn't his boyfriend, not even best friend. They were just.. buddies. Yet something inside of the brunette was so upset by the whole thing. Of coarse, he wanted Cole to be near him. He wanted to show him school, where the classrooms that he needed were located, where was a school cafeteria, library. He wanted to just spend more time with him, even if it meant going through the whole school. He didn't mind as long as it was with Cole.

"I appreciate your support tho," he added, definitely drawing all of Kai's attention. "I never was the one to make friends so easily, but it looks like here it's different," Cole shrugged. "Jay was my only friend this whole time, the others were kinda.. well, they didn't want to be friends with me I guess. I don't know the reason by the way, they've never told me," he chuckled.

"Then those guys were so weird and didn’t even understand who they’ve lost!" Kai said, a small smirk on his face. "We might not know each other that long how you know Jay, but I already can see that you are a good person, Cole. And the guys here will definitely love you, too."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

All of the sudden, Cole leaned closer and wrapped his arms around Kai, pulling him in a tight embrace. The whole thing threw Kai off the guard. But he couldn't help the butterflies in his stomach from this action. Cole's hands were so big, so warm. He was like a giant bear, and Kai could totally get used to this. It was an amazing feeling, he wished they hugged like that every single day. And not as just friends.

He blushed from his own thought and tried to hide his face at least until Cole pulled away. In few minutes, it actually happened, and Kai didn't even try to hide that he was disappointed. Because he was. 

"Thanks, Kai. This means a lot to me."

The brunette only offered him a smile as a response. In few minutes, Cole met Jay and Zane, leaving with them. He waved Kai a goodbye, receiving a nervous smile from another boy. But Kai only tried to hide his sad face. He didn't want Cole to leave or at least leave without him. Skylor seemed to notice the sad look.

"Don't worry, hothead," she threw her arm around his neck. "I'm sure it's not the last time you see him today. Our school isn't so big," she smirked.

Chemistry definitely wasn't one of his favourite subjects. Or rather, it wasn't one of his subjects at all. Kai was good at history, he always was excited for a new History class. Skylor called him a nerd, but he only rolled his eyes at this. He was just like his mom, her job was about history as well, and the brunette hoped that one day he would be able to be like her, or even better. 

Kai didn't share this class with anyone. Usually he would sit with Skylor or anyone else he knew, but Chemistry was out of this. Sometimes he could sit with a random guy, but he preferred to be alone, even tho it didn't always turn out to be a good idea. But he didn't really have a choice. 

The teacher started talking. It wasn't anything important, just another speech about how they all had to be careful in the chemistry classroom during different experiments and other practical shit you could do during this class. Kai didn't find anything better than taking a quick nap. It was the first class this year, so today they wouldn’t do anything important other than talking about rules. So with that, he closed his eyes and prepared himself for a forty minutes of beautiful sleep.

However, his peace was ruined when the door opened and someone appeared in the doorway. Kai looked up to see who it was when his eyes widened as he realised who it actually was. It was Cole. He was panting, probably after running. Kai made a mental note to ask him later if he got lost. The brunette also noticed how few girls started whispering something to each other, even some guys became interested in a sudden guest. Kai didn't even realise that jealousy started boiling inside of him after seeing these looks. 

Cole was a good-looking guy, it wasn't a secret for anyone. He had a muscular body, a very handsome face, his hair was always up in a pretty man bun and, gosh, his smile was the prettiest thing Kai had ever seen in his life. He was sure that Cole was used to those looks from the people around him. Suddenly, Kai got so sad. He stood no chance. There were other people, so much more beautiful than he was. He would look weird next to someone like Cole.

"I'm so sorry for being late," the noriette said, still painting. "You have a lot of hallways," few people laughed at this.

The teacher took his glasses off and said. "Since you are a new one, I forgive you for being late, mr. Brookstone. But I ask you to not do the same mistake again."

"I won't."

"That's good. Now please take a seat, so we could continue."

Cole nodded and started moving. Kai's thoughts about his self-confidence issues popped off in his head, he tried to do everything for Cole to not notice him. He wouldn't look good next to Kai, so he should've sat with someone handsome, like himself. However, his plan didn't work. Cole chose a seat next to him.

"Good to see you again, hothead. I'm glad to have my first class with someone I know," Cole smiled and put his bag on the floor, still not noticing the looks he received all around the classroom. Kai thought that they all must’ve been very jealous of his position at the moment. Especially the girls, considering their disappointed faces. It made Kai smirk. 

"Welcome to the Chemistry class, Cole."

Maybe this year Kai would actually enjoy this subject for the first time.

Chapter Text

"I didn't know you are so good at Chemistry," Kai said, astonished. 

Cole smirked. "It always was one of the subjects, where I did pretty well. I guess, you aren't one of the chemistry genius?" 

Kai snorted and put the last book in his bag. "As you can see, I am not. I'm the last person to do good in Chemistry."

Their class ended few minutes ago, the boys mostly talked during it, not paying any attention at the teacher. However, Kai didn't miss the looks they received. Some guys stopped staring at them after a minute or two and minded their own business, which couldn't be said about the girls. They literally tried to burn a hole in the couple’s backs with their gazes. 

But Kai couldn't care less about it. Talking to Cole was easy, you always knew what to say to continue the conversation. Which happened this time, too. They discussed how Cole got lost, even tho Jay showed him the right way. The curly-haired boy was already late to his Math class himself, so he couldn't really walk his best friend to the door he needed. With that, Jay decided to just explain the way in words. And while Cole thought he understood everything, it became so much harder when he started searching himself. 

Kai was happy to know that he actually found the class and joined him, he didn't want Cole to have any troubles, especially in his first day here. However, after seeing those green eyes full of happiness and excitement, maybe it wasn't that bad, after all. Kai could only smile while listening to Cole's mini-adventure. 

"What class do you have next?" Kai asked as they were walking through the hallway. 

Cole pulled out his phone and found a picture, where his schedule was written. "Uh.. apparently, PE. Yeah, it is it," he put it back in his pocket. "I need to see the headmaster first, he wants to discuss something with me. I'll see you later?" 

Kai blinked. "Yeah! Sure! Good luck with PE." 

Cole only smiled in response and turned the other corner. Kai was watching him leaving while something inside of him broke. He couldn't even explain why. It's like when Cole left him, some tense appeared on his shoulders. Cole made him so happy, the happiest person in the world to be sure. Kai wanted to be with him, he wanted to spend every second with this boy. Kai was in love, and this was slowly ruining him.

All of the students were coming to the school cafeteria to have their lunch. Kai was sitting at the table, he and Skylor usually sat at the last year, so he thought of not changing this tradition and continuing to sit here. His best friend was supposed to join Kai in few minutes, so he looked up from his phone and scanned the area.

There were few new faces Kai didn't recognise. He didn't expect to see so many new students, especially when it was the last school year for most of them. Knowing that Cole was one of them sent a weird feeling to his chest that the brunette couldn't explain. But he definitely liked it. He liked to think that Cole and he would went to the same school, he liked an idea of him and Cole sharing classes and whispering something to each other during Chemistry. He also liked the idea of going to school at the early morning while holding hands. He wanted this more than anything, to feel Cole's hand in his own, to feel Cole next to him. Not as his best friend but as his official boyfriend. He wanted Cole to be his.

His own thoughts made him blush, but by now Kai was used to it. Cole was probably the first person, who made the brunette a flustered mess. However, Kai didn't complain. He loved having feelings for someone, even if they weren't mututal. Just spending time with Cole, whatever they were doing, made Kai the happiest person in the whole world. He couldn't explain what Cole did to him. It was a feeling you couldn't describe with words because right words simply didn't exist. You were just deeply in love. And it drove you crazy.

Kai wanted to be the one, who could kiss those lips in front of him, he wanted to hold Cole's hand, to make him different hairstyles (having a sister, he was good at it), go on a dates with him. Just simply call Cole his boyfriend. He didn't want to share this boy with anyone, he wanted Cole to say out loud that "yes, this guy, Kai Smith, is my boyfriend!". Unfortunately, Kai wasn't only crazy in love but he also was a realist. A chance that something like that would've happened was too small. It almost didn't exist. Kai didn't really know if Cole was straight for sure, but even if he wasn't, it didn't mean Kai was his type.

The brunette sighed. There were too many "buts", and sure thing he didn't like it. He was mad and pissed and sad and every other adjective you could come up with to describe what he was feeling about all of this. He was sad and happy at the same time. Kai looked up from his plate, only to be met with some couple making out in the furthest corner of the cafeteria. He rolled his eyes and frowned, continuing to eat his food. 

In few minutes, Skylor joined him, she was panting, probably from running, and holding her bag. "Hey, hotshot. Hope you didn't wait too long," she winked, making him roll his eyes again. 

"No, but you are too slow."

"Oh, shut up," she scoffed and stole one of his fried potatoes. Kai looked at her with one of his raised eyebrows, then Skylor stuck out her tongue at him. "So, how did Chemstry go? I heard it's your favourite class."

"Very funny," Kai snorted. "But it was good. I sort of share it with Cole, so he was sitting with me the entire time," the brunette immediately blushed because of the memory.

A wide smirk appeared on Skylor's lips. "You are sharing a class with your crush, I think it's destiny," she wiggled her eyebrows, making Kai blush even more.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

All of the sudden, someone behind them said. "Hey, nerds!" the two of them turned around, instantly recognising those faces. It was Cole, Jay (the two of them seemed to being just finished with their PE class), Zane and Nya. Kai's sister was discussing something with Cole while Jay was leaning on Zane, looking so tired. "Mind if we join you?"

"Coarse not, take a seat," Skylor said. She looked at Kai, who couldn't pull his eyes way from Cole's muscular body, and immediately understood the whole thing. Cole had a PE class, which meant he wasn't wearing the clothes he came in to school. The noriette changed into his tracksuit, and his t-shirt was showing off his muscular arms. Cole looked like a really strong guy and definitely worked out at the gym a lot because even Skylor looked impressed. She glanced at her best friend again, the poor boy looked like he was about to choke on his own spit. 

The redhead made everyone sit next to her, so the only left spot would be next to Kai. And of coarse, it was for Cole. The noriette nodded at Nya's words as the girl sat near Skylor, leaving the place near Kai for Cole. He immediately sat next to his friend, who seemed to snap out from his trance and shook his head.

"Looks like the PE class went pretty well, huh?" Skylor said with a smirk, drawing all of the attention on their table. Nya, who understood what she meant, put a smirk on her face, too. 

"Oh, yeah! It was good, but you should've seen those girls! They couldn't stop staring at Cole's body!" Jay exclaimed, giggling and receiving a smile from his boyfriend. Cole only rolled his eyes but still chuckled, not even noticing Kai next to him, who was about to explode. Nya and Skylor shared a look.

"So the girls couldn't stop staring at your body, huh?" Kai suddenly smirked and leaned onto Cole's shoulder. The noriette blinked in confusion, Skylor and Nya did the same. Kai looked almost too confident.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I don't blame them, did you see yourself in the mirror, dude?" Kai raised an eyebrow at him, which made Cole's cheeks flush a bit. 

"You are exaggerating. I just like working out, and this is the result," Cole looked all over his arms. Kai gulped. 

"You are just scared to admit the truth. You are in a perfect shape, Cole, and honestly I would lie if I said I'm not jealous," said Kai, receiving confused looks from the other side of the table.

Cole immediately exclaimed. "Yeah, no way, man! I might haven't seen your body, but you look so handsome, so give yourself more credit," Cole smiled and started searching for the water bottle in his bag.

Zane and Jay kept chatting about something meanwhile Kai could only stare at the table. Skylor and Nya looked at each other shockingly, but the brunette thought about what he had just heard. Did his crush just call him handsome?

Chapter Text

Kai did not expect things like that to happen. Or maybe he did, just not this soon. It was three in the afternoon when he was standing near the coffee shop, drinking tea that he ordered few minutes ago. He wasn't really a fan of it, he preferred coffee instead, but this one shop could really pleasure Kai with its tea.

He looked at his phone screen, seeing a new message from the person he was supposed to meet. It said he was gonna be few minutes late, but Kai didn't really mind. When Cole called him in the morning, asking if the brunette wanted to meet few hours later, Kai couldn’t help but take his offer. He didn't even think of what Cole said, he heard the "wanna go out?" and immediately said yes. If it meant he was gonna spend time with Cole, Kai would use any chance he got.

After his phone call with Cole was finished, Kai called his best friend. He needed to let out his emotions, especially when his crush asked him out himself! Out of howhere! Sure thing, Skylor was surprised but not shocked. After this little scene during their shared lunch a week ago, the redhead was almost one hundred percent sure Cole might had some feelings for her friend. I mean, who wouldn't?

Even tho Skylor has never been interested in Kai as a romantic partner, the brunette was a good friend and a person in general. She always could have so much fun with Kai or talk about anything she wanted. Furthermore, Kai was very trustworthy. No matter how long you knew each other, he would never tell anyone your secrets. Besides all that, Kai was also a very good-looking guy. He always took so much care of himself, especially his hair. There was time when he and Skylor were going to go to some concert of Skylor’s favourite singer. Kai spent almost an hour on just making his hair look good.

The brunette also had a lot of different stuff his mother bought him to look after his skin. Sometimes Skylor was really jealous because even if Kai was a guy, his skin was so much better and softer. Although Kai also had a scar on the right side of his forehead after an accident. One year ago he saw how some bullies were picking up on his sister. Nya looked genuinely scared of them, and that was the moment when his big brother's senses were higher than ever. He sure did everything to protect his little sister, ending up with a bunch of bruises and scars. Surely, it's been so long ago, and all of the bruises were gone by now, but this one scar was still on his face and probably was gonna be with him until his last days, according to the doctors.

Kai sighed at the memory and looked at his cup of tea. It was warm by now, not hot as it was before, so Kai took a sip of it. He immediately grimaced. He shouldn't have added the sugar, it tasted horrible. Kai didn't really have time to think because when he was about to say something, he saw a familiar face. It was Cole. He was dressed up as usual, in his casual clothes, having a carefree smile on his face. Still, in Kai's eyes he was the most beautiful boy in the world. Maybe even in the universe.

"Hey! Sorry, I had to help my dad with something, so that's why I’m late," Cole sighed. "Hope you didn't wait too long?"

Kai immediately shook his head. "Nope, I got here few minutes ago. You are fine."

"Glad to know," Cole put a smile on his face again, and god damn, it did make Kai's heart melt in every way possible. "So! I was thinking if we could go and see this one movie that came out few days ago?"

"A movie?" Kai blinked, not believing his own ears.

"Yeah! It's something about fiction and action," the way Cole's eyes shone at the mention of this kind of movies couldn't help but make Kai smile. The noriette looked so happy and excited. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I understand if you don't like this type of movies."

Kai could only chuckle in response. "Dude, are you kidding? Me and Nya are big fans! Our mom always made us watch either some tragedy or romance, but me and my sister always voted for some action."

Cole laughed. "Yeah, I get that. My mom liked to watch romance a lot, too," he smiled at the memory of Lily and Lou sitting on the couch in the living room and watching a movie of this kind while little Cole was sitting on the floor and playing with his toys.

"I think most moms are like that," Kai shrugged. They slowly started walking towards the cinema while talking about movies and their families’ tastes. Turned out he and Cole not only liked watching the same movies, but also listened to similar music. They both were big fans of pop and rock, only Cole enjoyed the soft one, and Kai preferred listening to the hard rock. 

When they got to the cinema, the boys started choosing their seats. They ended up on the seats in almost the last row, which made Kai blush. Sitting on the furtherst seats in the cinema with the boy you liked was sure a good idea, but in reality Kai knew it was gonna be a challenge. A challenge to not grab Cole's shirt and smash their lips together. He felt a weird feeling in his stomach. Butterflies. 

They were so big and filled his stomach fully. He wasn't used to a feeling like that. Kai was pulled out from his thoughts when he heard a price. He was about to pay for the tickets, however, Cole's hand stopped him. Kai looked at him with a confusion on his face. 

"It's me who asked you out, so I'm paying, hothead," Cole smiled and winked at him, taking the tickets from the woman. For the second time in few minutes Kai felt butterflies in his stomach again. They felt so real.

The movie went too fast, Kai wasn't even able to blink when he saw credits on the screen. However, he wasn't really focused on the plot of it, he didn’t even remember the name of the main character. And the reason of it sat next to him. Sure, Kai knew what he was dragged into, but he didn't expect it to be so hard. Cole was so close to him, almost too close. And sometimes when things on the screen were becoming too tense, he would even grab Kai's hand.

Yes. Kai's hand. 

It was the third time when Kai got butterflies. If his memory told him right, it was the moment of the finale battle between the main character and the antagonist, so when things became too tense and it was unknown if the protagonist surives or not, Cole just grabbed Kai's hand. The brunette thought that people usually did this during scary movies. Turns out during fiction movies as well. 

Cole's hand was so soft and big, comparing to Kai's. During the moment his hand was in Cole's, Kai had to fight a desire to do something more than this. He just wasn't sure if he was the one who was allowed to do something like that. But he couldn’t help himself when he saw those excited green eyes that couldn’t pull away from the screen. So with that, Kai took a deep breath and squeezed Cole's fingers with his own, showing that this was okay. It seemed to draw the other's attention, but Cole only gave a quick look to their hands and smiled, returning his eyes back to the movie. Kai almost forgot how to breath. 

Right now, two boys were heading somewhere else. Cole seemed like he didn't want to go home, considering how emotional his review was. He talked about everything at the same time: about main characters, about the villain, plot, love line etc. Cole looked genuinely interested in this, and seeing him like this sent a warm feeling to Kai's chest. Man, he loved this boy so much.

"And do you remember when he blasted her with his staff?! That was amazing!" Cole shook his head, being too emotional. Kai could only laugh.

"Yeah, I didn't expect this at all! I mean they were friends and then she just betrayed him?"

"That's what I'm talking about!"

All of the sudden, few raindrops fell on the ground. They were followed by a heavy rain. Two boys were quick enough to hide in the store, but they couldn't stay here for too long because it was about to close. None of them expected rain today, but since it was autumn, this weather was understandable. Tho not welcomed. 

"We can go to my house if you want," Kai said, drawing Cole's attention. "It's only in few minutes from this place."

"That would be nice," Cole smiled.

Forgetting about how heavy this rain was, the boys opened the store's door and just run. Their hair and clothes were slowly becoming so wet, but they couldn't care less. Even tho the rain was unexpected, it was so warm. All of the sudden, the two of them started laughing. They felt so careless, like there was nothing for them to worry about. Kai thought it was time to just enjoy the moment he was living, so the brunette ran up closer to Cole and grabbed his hand, making the taller boy follow him. 

They were running to Kai's house while holding hands and laughing. They were wet but happy. After all, they were teenagers, and teenagers did stupid things, right? Some people that were passing by with umbrellas in their arms gave two boys weird looks, but they didn't care. They were enjoying each other's company and didn't pay attention at anyone but themselves.

When Cole ruffled Kai's wet hair, laughing after it, the brunette felt how the butterflies were back. They were holding hands and running to his house, followed by the rain. They looked like a real couple. His cheeks flushed a little after this thought, but he immediately put a smile on his face, making sure Cole was following him.

Chapter Text

"Today?!" Kai exclaimed, being completely thrown off the guard. Nya only rolled her eyes at her brother's perfect memory. 

"Yes, Kai. Today. I reminded you about it yesterday!" the girl crossed her arms, glaring at her brother. "We should fix your memory."

Kai totally forgot about everything. Or rather, he forgot that Cole and Vania were supposed to come today to help Nya finish their school project. Vania came because she shared this task with Kai's sister, and Cole volunteered to help because he was a new student. Headmaster Wu seemed to be fine with this decision, so Mrs. Montgomery told the three of them what they were supposed to prepare. 

According to Nya, she met Cole few times. The first time happened in the headmaster's office. At first, she didn't pay any attention at him, he seemed like every other boy Nya had met before, but after knowing him a little closer, her opinion completely changed. Cole was such a cool guy, the three of them hung out in the cafe in the centre of the city to discuss some details about their project. To Nya's surpsie, Cole spoke the most, suggesting his ideas about how they could make the whole thing so much better. And the ideas he gave were actually amazing and easy to become reality!

The three of them already did most of the work but some things were yet to be finished. So the trio decided to meet at Nya's place. Their teacher gave them a little more time to finish all of the stuff. It's been almost a month of school, their deadline was until tomorrow. Sure thing, Nya warned her brother about it the other day, but information like that didn’t stick in his head for too long. So as it was expected he forgot about everything the next morning. That's why he was so surprised.

"But.. But I'm not ready! Look at me! I'm a total mess!" Kai pointed at himself, making Nya raise her eyebrow. "How am I supposed to meet my crush like that?!"

"Kai, I don't think Cole will pay attention at how fresh your hair is," the girl sighed and turned to the fridge. Cole and Vania were going to arrive in few hours, so Nya thought it would be wise to make some food for all of them.

"Don't make food for me," Nya turned to her brother, looking at him with a surprise. "When they come, tell them that, I dunno, I'm with Skylor or something. I'm gonna lock myself in my room."

With that, Kai turned around and left the kitchen. He opened the door to his room, immediately locking it and walking to his bed. The brunette fell on it and hid his face in his hands. He was so hopeless. But what did he expect? It was obvious that Cole didn't want anything but a friendship with him, but no, Kai kept feeding himself with lies that maybe, just maybe there was a chance of Cole liking him as someone more than just a friend.

Sure, they did some couple stuff like holding hands or flirting. However, Kai immediately frowned at his own thoughts. What made him think that all of this was a sign of a couple? Just friends did the same things. For example, he and Skylor liked to hold hands a lot, and they were best friends. Or sometimes they could even flirt jokingly. Sometimes, of coarse. But all friends did that! 

Suddenly, the image of Jay and Zane appeared in his mind. When the two of them came to the arcades during their dates, sometimes Kai and Skylor secretly watched them. But not because they were stalkers. Jay and Zane were just so cute together. There were few things Kai had noticed about them: Zane always had his one hand wrapped around Jay's waist no matter where or what they were doing; Jay called Zane "snowflake"; Jay gave his boyfriend pecks on the lips while Zane used to kiss his forehead a lot. There were a lot of other things, but Kai wasn't in the mood to remember about every single detail. Because he knew he was gonna be jealous.

He wanted to be the one, who would do the same things with Cole. He wanted to kiss him, touch him, take him out on a dates. He wanted everyone to know that Cole Brookstone was his boyfriend, that they were dating and no girl was allowed to give him goo-goo eyes because only Kai was allowed to do this. Because they were dating.

The brunette didn't even notice how he fell asleep. He woke up because of some muffled voices, tho he couldn't understand who it was while being asleep. Kai instantly started searching for his phone to at least check the time, only to find out that he slept for three hours straight. The brunette sighed, grabbed the water bottle on his table. He realised that those voices must've been Vania and Cole. Considering what time it was, it was pretty obvious they were already here, and along with his sister they were finishing their project. 

His eyes noticed an unread message. It was from Skylor. His best friend told him to not miss the opportunity to get closer wit Cole, but Kai only blocked his phone, right after he finished reading this message. Why everyone told him what to do? He wasn't a child, he could deal with things on his own. Even if it was his crush. 

Kai sighed. Well, he needed to at least show up, didn't he? With that, the brunette opened the door and left his room. With every step those voices were becoming louder and louder. Kai could even hear Cole's laugh, which made his heart flatter. The sound of Cole's laugh was too precious for his ears. He found the trio in the living room with snacks on the table that Cole and Vania probably brought, and some food Nya made earlier. 

"Hey, guys," Kai said, drawing the others' attention at him. Call him crazy but Kai bet he saw that Cole's eyes shone when he saw the other boy.

"Hey, Kai!" Vania said with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi," Cole's answer might wasn't like Vania's, but it made Kai so much happier. "How are you feeling? Nya said you felt sick earlier."

Kai blinked, then look at his sister, noticing a smirk on her face. She tried to hide it with her cup but failed. "Oh! Yeah, uh.. I feel so much better, thank you," he smiled. "What are you working on?" Kai asked as he sat next to Nya on the floor.

"On our project, silly," Nya rolled her eyes. "But we are almost finished! Tho I think we might use a little break. Vania, mind to help me on the kitchen?"

Kai couldn't take so much words at once, his sister literally spoke about everything she could in less than a minute, making Kai's brain explode. When she and Vania left, the girl winked at her brother, and he immediately understood everything. Kai glanced at Cole. His sister did this little scene, so the two of them would have some privacy. Kai's cheek flushed, but he instantly tried to hide his blush. 

"Is that your parents?" Kai was pulled out from his thoughts as he looked at Cole. The noriette seemed to be very interested in Kai's family tree. 

"Those? Yeah. I think this picture was taken right after Nya was born," Kai smiled at the memory. He remembered that day perfectly. He and his father were waiting for his mother to come out of the hospital with his baby sister, and Kai couldn't be more excited to meet her. Ever since he found out he was gonna be a big brother, the little boy couldn't help but ask when his little sister was gonna be born. Maya and Ray only laughed at their son and told him he needed to wait a little longer. 

And then Kai saw her. Nya was so little that a three year old Kai wondered if she was a doll. "Mommy, she is so small!" Kai exclaimed that day, making both of his parents laugh. "I know, honey. She is indeed so small," his mother answered him.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kai looked at Cole, who took the picture in his hands. "So is that you?!" Cole pointed at the little boy on the picture. They asked the nurse to take a picture with all four of them, Kai looked so silly here. His hair was messy, the little boy was smiling wide and showing his teeth. 

"Uh.. yeah."

"You were an adorable kid, Kai," Cole giggled and put the picture back, where it was, not realising what his words did to his friend. "I think kids are adorable in general. They are so tiny and innocent," Cole smiled. "I always wished I had a younger sibling I could take care of."

"I'm sure you would be a good brother, Cole," Kai smiled and moved a little closer to the noriette, tho he didn't seem to mind.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yeah. I mean, you are a really good friend. You are kind and caring, you always know how to cheer everyone up. I think if you had a sibling, you would be the best big brother ever," Kai smiled. He genuinely meant everything he just said. He could talk about Cole and his kind heart for hours because.. Cole was amazing. Just being around him made Kai's heart beat so much faster.

Suddenly, Kai spotted a smile that was dancing in the corner of Cole's lips. It was a magnificent view. "Thank you. But I think you are exaggerating because someone else already took the place of the best big brother ever."

"And who's that?"

"You, Kai," the brunette blinked, receiving only a warm smile in return. "You are an amazing brother, and Nya is so lucky to have you. One day you will give yourself more credit."

And then Cole did something Kai couldn't even dare to think about in his dreams. Cole put his head on Kai's shoulder, sending a warm feeling to his chest and making thousand fireworks explode inside of him. Kai never felt so warm. And what's more important, he never felt so safe. It was new to him, to feel like that with a person he knew for not so long. Looks like Cole was special. Different out of every other person Kai had ever had a chance to meet. And with every day Kai fell for him more and more.

Chapter Text

"You remember about the meeting today, right, son?" Lou asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, dad, I remember," Cole packed the last book in his bag, at the same time checking if he didn’t forget anything.

"Aren’t you gonna be late for school? It’s less than twenty minutes left until the first class starts," his father asked and looked at the clock.

"I don’t have first class today, so I can come a little later."

"Then why are you going now?"

"Me and Kai decided to meet now to hang out before school," Cole immediately smiled at the thought of his friend.

The brunette called him yesterday, asking if he wanted to meet before school started. Since none of them had first class, Cole thought it would be a good idea. And besides, he would love to spend more time with Kai, he was a really good friend. And Cole would definitely love to know him closer.

"Okay, I think I should leave now or else I’m gonna be late," said Cole as he went to the hallway to wear his jacket.

"This boy.. Kai. Do you like him?" Lou asked as if it was a simple question.

Cole froze in his position, he looked at his father in confusion, only Lou seemed to be fine after asking something like that. However, Cole couldn’t say the same about himself, this question wasn’t something ordinary and couldn’t be answered like that.

And why would he need to answer on it anyways? Cole did like Kai but as a friend. Just like he liked Jay or Zane, who, may I remind you, were dating. There was nothing romantic in Cole’s feelings.

"Um.. no, we are just friends, dad," Cole gulped, wearing his shoes.

"Oh. Okay then," the old man shrugged. "If you want to, you two can always come here to hang out. Your interests are welcomed in this house," Lou smirked and hid in the kitchen.

"Dad!" Cole exclaimed, his cheeks flushed. "I’m gonna go now to meet my friend! See you in the evening!"

And with that, the noriette left the house, not letting his father say another word. Why would he say something like this in the first place? He and Kai were just friends, maybe even best friends, considering how much they hung out with each other lately.

It’s been almost two months since their first meeting. This friendship started the most random way, but Cole appreciated it a lot. Kai was an important part of his life, he could always make Cole laugh whatever they were doing. Spending time with him wad something Cole genuinely needed in his life, it became like a daily routine to just call Kai in the evening to talk or discuss some movie with him until late night.

They did this two days ago. Cole found another action movie and immediately told Kai about it, the brunette seemed to be truly interested in the idea of watching it, which Cole couldn’t be more happy about. They finished it at the same time and instantly started discussing it in their messages.

"And did you see how she did this flip in the air?! That was amazing!" Kai texted back then. A small smile formed on Cole’s face as he continued walking.

Surely, Cole wasn’t completely blind. Kai was a good-looking guy, probably too handsome for this world. His face was different from every other person Cole had ever met, he has also noticed few small freckles on his cheeks. According to his baby pictures, Kai had freckles while being a kid, so it was understandable. Yet Cole still thought he looked so cute.

All of the sudden, he stopped in the middle of the road. Was it a normal thing to think of your friend as someone “cute”? Of coarse, it was. Maybe Cole didn’t tell Jay or Zane something like this, but other people definitely did!

He bit his lip. Was his dad actually right? Of coarse he wasn’t, that’s bullshit! How could Cole like Kai? He liked him in a platonic way, but he didn’t want Kai to be his boyfriend. That even sounded crazy! He was okay with hanging out with him as friends, he didn’t need something more.

"Hey, dude!" Cole jumped and looked around, seeing Kai in front of himself. "Woah, careful there, man," he laughed. "You seem like you were thinking about something."

Cole blinked while his cheeks flushed a little. He couldn’t really tell Kai the reason he was so dreamy because only one mention of this would mess up their whole friendship, and Cole didn’t want this. He couldn’t lose Kai.

"Oh.. uh.. I was just thinking about my dad and today’s meeting," Cole shrugged.

"What meeting? If you don’t mind me asking," Kai said. Meanwhile they started walking towards the coffee shop.

"Basically, it has to do something with my dad’s work, but since I’m his son, he wants me to be present here as well," Cole explained.

"Oh, okay, that makes sense then," Kai smiled.

Usually Cole would just smile in return, and the two would continue talking about something random. But after the morning talk with his father, Cole couldn’t help but notice that Kai’s smile was different, comparing to the other people. Something about it was special. It was such a warm and comforting movement. Kai was a very comforting person in general.

Cole shook his head. He needed to put himself together or else he would make a mistake. And this mistake would cost him  his friendship with Kai, which he didn’t plan to lose. He just needed to decide what he was gonna do with it. Because his dad was definitely wrong.

Cole always liked PE, it was one of his favourite classes. Considering that he used to work out in the gym a lot, his body was in a perfect shape. He was very muscular himself thanks to the daily visiting of the gym, so doing sports was never hard for him, and he always had amazing grades.

Right now was happening the first time when Cole didn’t listen to the task his PE teacher gave him and the other students. Call it destiny or whatever, but Kai happened to have the same class at the same time. He never really paid attention at the boys during his PE classes but.. everything has to happen for the first time, right? That’s how he explained the reason he was staring at Kai while the brunette was working out.

"Brookstone!" Cole snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his PE teacher. He glanced at Jay, who stood next to him and pointed at their teacher.

"Yeah! Sorry."

"You seem pale, go take a sit," the teacher said and turned to the other students. "What about you all, we are going for a run today."

Cole stopped listening as he sat on the bench and quickly looked around. Everyone else was minding their business since it was class, there was only one girl sitting next to him, but she seemed like she wasn’t so sporty. If Cole’s memory told him right, her name was Seliel.

"Want some water? You look pale, man," she handed him a water bottle.

"Uh.. sure, thank you," Cole took it, so she wouldn’t ask any questions and started drinking it.

But of coarse his eyes had to look somewhere, so he choose the same person as he did before. Kai. The brunette had his fingers running through his hair, sweat trickled down his forehead as he was saying something to another boy from his class. The two seemed like they weren’t on the best terms.

Kai rolled his eyes and turned around, stretching his neck. Cole suddenly thought of how his lips were touching Kai’s soft skin and kissing their way to his neck, then kissing his jaw, his cheeks, his lips-

All of the sudden, he chocked on his water, spitting all of it around him. Seliel who sat behind him jumped from the sudden noise and looked at Cole to check if he was okay. He wasn’t sure but he saw that Kai turned around to see what happened, too.

Cole politely excused himself and went inside of school. He couldn’t stay here any longer. It was becoming harder for him to breath as he could feel the same thing was happening to his heart. It was beating so fast inside of his chest.

What the fuck he just thought about?

Chapter Text

"Cole? Dude, are you okay?" 

The noriette snapped out from his thoughts as he shook his head and looked at Jay. His friend had a worried look on his face. "What? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Cole nodded as if he tried to confirm that what he just said was truth. He turned to his locker and made himself look like he was searching for something here.

"Are you sure? You were staring at one point with a frown on your face, like someone or something seriously hurt you," Jay said, sharing a look with Zane, who was as confused as his boyfriend.

Cole only sighed. "Yes, Jay, I am okay," he closed the door of his locker and turned to his friend. "Now, excuse me, I promised headmaster Wu that I see him. I'll meet you after classes, bye, guys."

With that, Cole started walking away because he knew if he stayed here at least a minute longer, he would say something he was not supposed to say. And all of this because of a one damn boy. 

It was foolish to keep denying an obvious thing. Cole started developing a tiny crush on one of his friends, and it definitely wasn't a good thing. He couldn't mess up this friendship because of his stupid feelings. Kai was so important to him, he became the last piece to his heart, and Cole couldn't lose him like that. 

Until today Cole would describe it as his imagination and just a strong attachment, but after this scene in the hallway few minutes ago, he was sure about everything. He couldn’t really explain what happened to him. He saw Kai laughing with some other guy, how close they were standing to each other. And it made blood boil in his veins, he could feel how his chest was filling with anger. He wanted to walk up to those two and tell this guy that he had no rights to stand near his Kai and make the brunette laugh because only he — Cole — could do this.

Only there was one tiny thing. Kai wasn't his and never will be. It was just impossible. Compare to himself, Kai looked like a Greek God. Cole had never thought of himself as someone beautiful and handsome. He was just Cole. He had ordinary hands, ordinary hair, ordinary face, ordinary body. He wasn't different from other people unlike Kai was. There was something special about him that Cole couldn't explain with words.

However, he was scared to call this a crush. He had relationships before, sure only once, but still had. And this.. didn't turn out to be good in the end. Of coarse, he didn't think of Kai the same way, but he was too scared to fall into this trap again. A trap that could be created by his own feelings and fears. His mom always taught him to be brave, to not be scared of making mistakes. After all, how could you learn something without making a mistake that could teach you something really useful? 

Cole wasn't ready for another life lesson. He had enough. There was a simple solution to his problem. He will suppress those feelings and just continue being friends with Kai. Then everything will come back to normal. Or he could find a girlfriend to stop thinking about Kai. This sounded more like another problem than an actual solution because using someone to forget about someone else was actually a bad thing. And Cole didn't want to hurt anyone. 

He shook his head as he got to the headmaster's office. For some reason he was a little anxious from a whole thing. Why would headmaster Wu ask him to come? He and the girls finished their project more than a week ago, and according to their teacher, they did amazing. Being a new student, it was sure a good thing for the boy. 

He knocked, then opened the door. "Headmaster Wu? You asked me to come," Cole said and closed the door behind him, walking in the middle of the room.

"Ah, mr. Brookstone, come, come!" he smiled and pointed at the chair in front of him. "Please, take a seat."

Cole did as he was told and sat on the chair. "So.. what did you want to talk with me about?"

"Nothing really special," the old man said, crossing his arms. "I wanted to know how are you doing. Since you are a new student, I want to make sure there was no troubles created for you."

Cole blinked but immediately cleared his throat to answer the question. "No, there have been no troubles. I got to make few friends and I think everything goes fine," he shrugged. 

That was true. At first, Cole was a little anxious. After all, you weren't a new student every day, so Cole calmed himself down that feeling like this was okay. His mother would still be proud of him for not giving up and trying. Cole understood that even after her death, his father had a big survival guilt, so that's why he spent so much time at work. The noriette heard his father talking to himself in his room about how much guilt he has inside of him, that it was him who should've been gone, not Lily. 

The two of them worked with a family therapist for some time, which had a good effect on their relationships. It's not like they were in bad terms with each other before, but a tragedy like this sure created a little abyss between them. Cole was thankful his father that even when he wanted to be drown in his work to not think of all the pain he felt, he still supported his son and tried to be here as much as he could. That was probably the reason why Cole was able to make some friends.

However, he didn't really plan to tell the old man all of the details. He didn't need to know that Cole might had a crush on one of those friends, it sounded a bit too private to be announced at the moment. He tried his best to not start blushing in front of the headmaster, gosh, he was such a mess. He needed to get home, so he would think about it one on one with himself.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that then," he straightened his back. "You can go now, if there are any questions, my doors are always open for you."

Cole smiled politely. "Thank you. I'll remember that."

With that, Cole got up from his seat and left the office. Headmaster Wu started reading some papers when Cole disappeared behind the door. He had one class left, but he would lie if he said he wanted to visit it. He wanted to go home. Maybe if he was a new student, one time wouldn't count? And his dad wouldn't know about it either because he wasn't at home. Cole could just lie that he was sick or didn't feel good. A lot of people did that, he wanted to try to.

When it was decided, Cole nodded to himself and started heading towards his locker to grab his jacket. What he wasn't expecting was him bumping into someone on his way. He must've been so drown in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice a person walking in front of him. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was going."

"That's okay."

The two boys looked up at each other, immediately their eyes became wide.

"Cole?"

"Kai?"

To each of their surprises, they both blushed. Cole's cheeks flushed a bit while Kai's face looked like a tomato. But sure thing, they thought of it as a simple embarrassment but not a chance of their feelings being mutual. Kai was the first one to clear his throat and speak.

"Don't you have a class right now? Where are you heading?" 

"Oh, um.. I don't feel so good, so.. I decided to go home earlier today," Cole lied as if it was true. But a part of it was. The noriette was pretty sure he was gonna get a headache soon, his thoughts were so annoying.

"Oh.. I see.." Cole wasn't sure, but Kai seemed like he was genuinely upset that Cole was leaving that soon and they weren't able to spend more time together. Or it was just Cole's imagination, and in reality Kai was just sad about him feeling sick like every other person would. "Well, then.. I'll see you later?" he smiled.

Cole gulped. His smile.. "Yeah.. I'll see you, too."

Not wasting anymore time, Cole gave Kai a quick smile and ran off the school. It definitely looked so weird, like Cole couldn't wait to get rid of his friend and finally have some peace, but it wasn't the truth. Cole genuinely wanted to stay with Kai a little longer, spend time with him like they used to. Maybe they would even skip classes together. But on the other hand Cole understood that if he spent another second around Kai, he would definitely do something stupid. For example, kiss him.

Chapter Text

Cole groaned as he opened his eyes. He has been sleeping for more than eleven hours, but he didn't really care. His father was still out on his business trip, so Cole could do whatever he wanted. And skipping classes was definitely one of the things. 

It's not like Cole hated his new school or teachers here, no. He was fine with everything. In fact, this one must’ve been so much better than his previous school. Especially, the people. Cole had to go through a very difficult time here, and again, thanks to those epeople. However, he could survive with the support he received from both of his parents, who didn't let him give up that easily. Which was the right decision.

So, why he had been skipping classes for a week now? He told his father on the call that he caught a cold, so Lou immediately told him to stop talking and get everything he needed to feel better like medicine or a cup of hot tea. He also, of coarse, let his son stay at home as long as he needed. Lou trusted Cole, and he knew that the boy had amazing grades, so skipping few days of school wouldn't be a crime. Cole was forever grateful him for that. 

Although, it wasn't quiet a lie. Even tho Cole did feel a little sick, everything wasn't that bad like he described to his father. It was just a little cold and one day without school would be more than enough to be fully healthy again. However, he couldn't make himself to get up from the bed and visit school and see those amber eyes again. Every morning he told himself that tomorrow he will get himself together and finally stop acting like a scared five year old. But every single time something has stopped him, so the boy kept running away from responsibility. Maybe another day.

Cole finally got up from his bed and went to open the front door. The reason he woke up was because someone started ringing the doorbell, making him open his eyes. He wasn't sleeping in his room today, so the way to the front door took only few seconds. But he wasn't ready to face who he saw behind it. At first, Cole thought he was still sleeping, but after blinking few times, the reflection of the person didn't go anywhere. In front of him stood Kai with an awkward smile on his face.

"Kai?"

"Hey," he replied. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah sure," Cole stepped aside, letting his guest in. Kai started looking around, and Cole only now realised the brunette had never been to his place, so that's why he was so surprised. "Not like I'm sad to see you, but what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Well, it's a funny story," Kai chuckled and took a seat on the couch Cole was sleeping on few minutes ago. "I was worried about you not showing up at school for so long, plus you didn't answer on my calls and messages. So I decided to check what is going on with you. And looks like I came at the right time."

Cole couldn't help but feel a warm feeling inside of him. Kai was worried, that's why he was here, sitting in front of him. He was worried for him, Cole. A small smile appeared on his lips as he joined Kai on the couch. Comparing to his friend, Cole looked like a total mess. He couldn't really tell Kai the truth why he wasn't showing up at school for a week because it would mess up their whole friendship, so the noriette decided to tell him what he told everyone else - lies.

"I caught a cold so suddenly, so that's why I was at home the entire time. And I'm sorry I didn't answer on your calls. I guess I needed some space or something."

All of the sudden, he felt something warm on his hand. He looked down, seeing that Kai put his own hand on his. "That's okay," he said with a smile. "I'm just so glad to see that you are fine."

Cole looked up at him with his eyes wide. The two had an eye contact that none of them dared to break. Cole's cheeks became redder and redder while Kai finally realised what he has done. The brunette cleared he throat and made a distance between them, trying to hide his blushing face. Cole decided to say something until things became more embarrassing. 

"So, uh.. how exactly did you find me?" he asked, being genuinely curious because he never told Kai where he lived.

"Oh! Well, I had to call Jay," Kai shrugged. "He was the first person who came to my mind, and I thought that he definitely has to know. Turns out he does, so I told him to cover me in case someone will ask where the heck I am while I check on you."

"That's so sweet," Cole smiled. 

"I almost forgot! I bought some food for you," Kai turned to grab his bag as he started to search here for something, definitely drawing all of Cole's attention. "I didn't really know what sick people can eat, so.." 

He pulled out some fruits and dairy produce, and there were even sweets! Cole was looking at the food with a surprise on his face, which Kai probably noticed because he blushed a little. "It was.. unnecessary, wasn't it?" Kai asked, bitting his lip.

Immediately, Cole shook his head. "No, no! Coarse, not!" he smiled. "I'm just.. surprised I guess? No one has ever done something like that to me. Thank you."

A smile danced in the corner of Kai's lips when Cole asked him. "If you are here, maybe we could drink some tea and.. watch a movie?" 

"I promised Nya I will help her with something," Kai looked at him with a guilt. Cole's face immediately changed to a sad one.

"Oh.." Cole looked at his feet.

"But.." that seemed to catch Cole's attention, considering how his eyes lit up with a hope. "I think she wanted to meet Vania first, so we have some time," Kai smiled, and that was the moment Cole thought that nothing could be more beautiful than Kai's smile. He smiled back.

"That's great! I'll make us tea meanwhile you can choose a movie," Kai only nodded and went to the living room. 

Cole went to the kitchen with all of the food Kai brought, which couldn't help but make him smile again. Kai was so amazing, he seemed to care about Cole so much, and it melted his heart in every way possible. Maybe having feelings for him wasn't that bad after all. It showed that Cole actually had a good taste in men, I mean, look at him! Kai was so beautiful inside and outside, he was so kind and caring and funny. 

With every minute, his feelings were only growing, and Cole had no idea what he was supposed to do to stop it. But the truth was - he didn't want it to stop. He loved being in love with Kai, he loved having feelings for him. He loved the idea of Kai and him dating, he loved the idea of them going on dates and being in love with each other. After few weeks, he finally accepted it. 

Now, watching Kai being so comfortable in his house made things to Cole's stomach. It was almost too good, Kai was too good. He seemed to be so comfortable sitting on the couch in the living room and choosing a movie on the TV while Cole was busy making them food in the kitchen. It was almost like.. almost like they were on a date. Cole blushed at this thought, but the teapot brought him back to reality. 

Cole grabbed two cups and poured tea in it. With that, he left the kitchen to join Kai in the living room. "So what did you decide?" he asked as he put two cups on the table along with cookies Kai brought. The noriette sat on the couch, next to his friend and looked at the TV. 

"I thought it would be good to watch some comedy," Kai smiled and took a comfortable position. "You know.. laugh is the best cure to every illness!"

Cole only laughed and nodded, turning his whole attention to the screen, where movie has already begun. All of the sudden, he realised that he was still in his pyjama while Kai was wearing casual clothes. For some reason it made him blush again. However, the brunette was too focused on what was happening on the screen to notice this. 

Seeing this beautiful face next to him, Cole couldn't control his own body and what he was doing. So he decided to be a little more confident this time. Taking a deep breath, Cole put a smile on his face and leaned closer, putting his head comfortably on Kai's shoulder. It seemed to draw Kai's attention as he looked at Cole with wide eyes and an opened mouth. But the taller boy only smiled at him and continued watching the movie. 

Kai was confused. But he thought it was a good opportunity to do something he wouldn't usually do. He smiled back at him and put his head on top of Cole's, sipping his tea. The boys continued watching the movie in silence, sometimes laughing at some scenes and ignoring the butterflies in their stomachs.

Chapter Text

"Be a good boy, honey!" the woman with dark hair said as she packed the last piece of clothes in her suitcase.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm almost 18!" he exclaimed and crossed his arms.

"Well, it doesn't mean you have a brain," Skylor said from behind.

"Shut up, Sky," the girl giggled before holding her hand out to Nya, asking for a high-five.

"Skylor, please. Take care of him, he's too little," Nya said, putting her hair up in her usual ponytail. "I wonder if it's even a good idea to leave you here alone!"

"I promise you, Nya. I will do everything I can to protect this little boy," Skylor said, trying not to laugh during talking as she ruffled Kai’s hair.

"Will you guys stop?" Kai raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, pushing his best friend away. "Dad, say something!"

"He is right, girls. Leave the poor boy alone. Come on, our plane is gonna leave soon," Ray said, taking suitcases in his hands. "If you need something, son, text us, alright?"

Kai smiled at his father. Ray always was so caring and kind towards both of his kids. Even when they were little and Ray used to work a lot, the old man always had time to spend with his children, which had a good influence on who they are today. And Kai was forever thankful him for being a good father.

"Don't host any parties, kids!" Maya warned them in a strict voice as she kissed both Kai and Skylor on the foreheads and left. Nya gave both of them tight hugs and left with her parents, after whispering to Kai that he should be careful.

Now when the front door finally closed, that was the moment when Kai could take a deep breath and sigh. Sometimes his own family scared him, but that’s what happened when you were Smith. They all seemed so different, although in reality they shared so many things with each other.

"I know what you are thinking about," Kai looked at his best friend, who was now lying on the couch and looking at him with a smirk on her lips.

"Since when did you become a mind reader?" he snorted and grabbed a piece of pizza they ordered earlier.

"You want to agree on Jay's suggestion, and you definitely want to meet your knight in the shining armour after not seeing him since your movie marathon," Skylor said, watching how the brunette chocked on his food and started coughing. She laughed in response as Kai threw his pillow at her.

"No, I do not! Also, stop calling Cole like that!" Kai's cheeks flushed as he received a snort from his friend. "And for the record, we haven't said "yes" on Jay's suggestion yet," the brunette frowned and crossed his arms.

Skylor came to the Smiths house today's morning. Kai's parents were packing their stuff for another business trip, but in addition, Nya decided to go with them this time. They were going somewhere, where she could have some rest from all of the schoolwork that she has been getting for the past few weeks. Maya and Ray agreed to take their daughter with them with a big pleasure. They asked Kai if he wanted to join them too, but the brunette refused his parents' offer, wishing them to have a good time. And besides, he wanted to know what news Skylor was gonna bring.

Speaking of his best friend, Skylor told him a very interesting thing. Before she went to sleep yesterday, she received a phone call from Jay. He asked if she and Kai wanted to join them three tomorrow. Jay, Zane and Cole decided to meet at the new cafe that opened few days ago. Kai heard about it from his sister, she and Lloyd already had a chance to investigate this place. According to Nya, it was amazing and was worth to be visited.

However, Kai didn't like the company. Don't take this the wrong way, the brunette liked all four of his friends, he had an amazing opinion on all of them. The subject was his feelings towards one of those friends that, fortunately or unfortunately, grew only bigger and bigger with every day. Especially, after the last time when Cole and Kai saw each other.

"So does that mean you aren't against it?" Skylor asked, a Cheshire grin was on her face.

"Gosh, Skylor, please!" Kai hid his face in his hands. "I'm still not over of what happened, okay?"

"You mean when he put his head on your shoulders and you were born again?" she asked, raising her eyebrow in question.

"Yes!" Kai exclaimed, frowning. "You have no idea what I wanted to do when he dared to pull those tricks on me.."

"Oh, I definitely know what you wanted to do, hothead," Skylor smiled and grabbed the pillow that was near her. The girl lifted it to her mouth, imitating a kiss and making Kai blush.

"I hate you," Kai only received loud laugh in response.

The brunette wasn't sure how many times he thought about that day since it's ended. It's been four days already, he and Cole haven't seen each other this whole time but kept in touch by calls and messages.

And for the first time Kai was happy about it. Sure, he still wanted to spend every possible second with Cole, but he knew that after what happened, it was gonna be so hard to keep his hands to himself. Kai wasn't sure if Cole was teasing him or not, but he wanted to know what was going on in his mind so bad.

The brunette kept dreaming about their shared future. The only thing he could think about after this day was how he and Cole confess their feelings to each other (that are mutual in his dream) and start dating. Officially. Kai imagined how he tells Skylor about it, then his family; imagined their happy reactions. Skylor would host at least a party after hearing that.

His parents.. well, Kai hoped their reaction would be positive. Maya and Ray knew about Kai's bisexuality and they were pretty supportive when their son came out to them. However, there was always this little anxiety inside of him when the brunette thought of telling his parents about something like this.

"You know what," Skylor suddenly said, making her friend pull out from his thoughts. "We are going here, and today you are gonna confess your feelings to him!"

Kai's eyes widened. Was she serious? "Are you crazy?! I'm not going to do this! What if he rejects me?! Why am I asking anyways, of coarse he will!"

"Listen to me, Kai. He already did everything that "just friends" don't do, okay," she said, her voice serious. "He can be just as scared as you are to make the first step!"

"I'm not scared!" immediately defended himself Kai. "I'm just.. waiting for the right time."

Skylor rolled her eyes. "There might not be a right time, Kai. You gotta just do it!" she put her hands on her hips, staring at Kai with a frown on her face.

The brunette bit his lip. On the one hand, his friend was right. There was a possibility that Cole might’ve liked him too, just was too scared of the consequences like Kai was. Kai thought of it a lot of times, and this scenario was too good to be true.

However, if he was being a realist, it was highly unlikely to be true. He didn't even know if Cole was into men. He could be just too clingy and show his love through physical affection. Maybe that's how he was taught or how he was used to. So Kai's hopes were hilarious at this point.

But then he thought again. If he kept being a coward, Cole would never know about Kai being in love with him. This life was too short to just hide your feelings from someone you like, Kai had to use to this opportunity. It was today or never.

"Call Jay. Say that we are gonna be here."

Chapter Text

Kai was so nervous. In fact, his whole body was shaking from the anxiety that was slowly taking over him. There could be so many reasons why, but I think it's not hard to understand why exactly he was so nervous. Obviously, it was his friend and what was coming so soon.

He seemed so confident when he and Skylor were at home, dressing up and thinking what Kai should've said. They practiced his speech at least four times because Kai wanted this talk to be perfect. After all, it was gonna change lives, and the brunette hoped in a good way. Or else he wasn't sure what was gonna be with him after this.

"Kai, will you relax?" Skylor raised her eyebrow. "We aren't even here yet!"

"But we almost are!" Kai said anxiously. "I'm gonna mess up, I just know it," he shook his head and bit his lip nervously. It was the first time in his life when he was such a mess. Damn, Cole had a really weird effect on him. 

Skylor sighed heavily as she stopped and took Kai's hands in her own. "Kai, look at me. We’ve practiced what you are gonna say few times, alright? Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise you," she smiled.

"How can you be so sure about it?" Kai crossed his arms, frown appeared on his face.

"Because I saw how Cole was looking at you. And from everything that you have told me, I can only assume that he is too scared to ruin a friendship between you two. Just do it."

Kai bit his lip again. She had a point, didn't she? He would never know if Cole liked him if the brunette doesn't tell him how he felt. And he felt a lot. More than a lot to be sure. It was just a feeling you couldn't describe with words, but it filled every part of your body, every bone of your skeleton, every cell of your brain. There was a place for only one person in your mind, like other thoughts were simply blocked. 

After realising and accepting his crush, Kai started noticing things about Cole he wouldn't usually notice about other people. He's noticed how cute and quiet Cole's snoring was when he was asleep; he noticed that Cole hated burgers; he noticed that Cole had a little freckle near his lips, and if Kai could, he would kiss it. He would kiss Cole all over the face, too. Kai dreamt of those lips, those cheeks. This boy. In Kai's eyes he was the most perfect human to exist. Unfortunately, not his.

He never wanted someone more. He wanted to hear Cole saying that he feels the same way, he wanted Cole to be in love with him, was it too much to ask? Kai wanted to be happy like every other person was, he deserved to be happy. But the only person who could make him happy probably viewed Kai as just a friend. Friend.. Kai had never hated some term that much. 

The rest of the way Kai and Skylor walked in silence. Kai was drown in his own thoughts about the noriette while Skylor just didn't want to bother him with anything. She understood perfectly that her friend was in a difficult situation, and the crush thingy was always hard to deal with. But she also knew that Kai was so much stronger than he thought of himself. 

They came to the cafe at five pm, the others were already here. Kai looked around, scanning this place. It wasn't that bad as he thought, in fact, he was quiet impressed by what he saw. Nya didn't lie when she said they made this cafe look very comfortable and peaceful. Instead of usual chairs there were couches, tables were little but big enough to put all of the food on them at the same time. Kai looked down, noticing that the floor was designed as a chess board. It made his eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

"Guys! Over here!" they both heard suddenly as they looked up, noticing the table near windows. Speaking of windows, they were floor to ceiling here, which in Kai's opinion was a cool element for the cafe. 

Zane and Jay were sitting on the one couch while Cole was sitting in front of them on another one, scrolling through his phone. There was a free seat next to him and the armchair for a one person between the couches. Kai thought about sitting here first, but Skylor was fast enough to take this seat. She pointed at Cole, frowning, as Kai gulped and looked at his friend, who finally noticed them both. A smile formed on his lips.

"Hey! You two are finally here," he said, a bright smile on his face. Kai couldn't help but smile back. His damn smile was like a curse, gosh.

"I see you haven't made any order yet, huh?" Skylor asked, receiving nodding. 

"Yeah, we thought we should wait for both of you," Zane said.

"However!" Jay interrupted their dialogue. "We ordered some drinks. Scott said they were amazing, and I have no reasons to not trust this guy!" the boy said with a wide smile on his face.

"Didn't you curse him few days ago for not telling you about this game that came out?" his boyfriend raised an eyebrow in question.

Jay scoffed. "This is different, Snowflake."

"Whatever you say, Sparky."

Skylor and Cole laughed at them, even Kai let out a small chuckle. 

The group made an order and started their conversation. Mostly, it was Skylor and Jay who talked. Zane, Cole and Kai sometimes said their thoughts out loud or just laughed. Kai kept finding himself staring at his black-haired friend from time to time. In his defence, he couldn't really do anything about it. It was starting to be like a daily routine, he couldn't start his day without thinking about Cole or finish it without staring at him. Sometimes Kai was scared of himself. 

Their food was ready in less than thirty minutes. Kai and Skylor ordered salad and burgers, Jay ordered pasta, Cole and Zane had something called lasagna. It was made super fast, the food was delicious, which surprised them all. They agreed they would visit this place again some day. 

The laugh kept being heard from their table, but they were the only customers here, so it didn't make any troubles. Besides, the working staff seemed fine with it, some of them even smiled. It was always nice to see that your customers enjoyed the place you were working at and had good time here. However, one of them had a bad feeling inside of him. Even tho nothing seemed to be wrong, Kai couldnt explain why he was so nervous. He and Skylor agreed that after they leave, he will ask Cole to have a quick chat and confess his feelings towards him. Kai assumed that was the reason he was so nervous, but there definitely was something else. Something worse.

The brunette didn't want to think of something bad that could happen, at least not now. He already spent enough nerve cells after thinking of every possible scenario that could happen. Some of them were too bad to even imagine, so Kai immediately stopped. If he continued being so pessimistic, nothing would work out. Skylor was right, he needed to be at least a little confident about himself. He needed to give it a shot.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Kai snapped out of his thoughts as he shook his head, turning around and facing a worried expression on Cole's face. Kai also felt his hand on his knee, which made him gulp nervously. Apparently, Cole tried to comfort him that way. He looked around, seeing that Skylor and Jay were arguing about something while Zane was only rolling his eyes, sometimes chuckling at what he heard from them.

Kai thought that he didn't want to worry Cole right now, so just smiled at him and put his hand on top of his. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little lost in my thoughts I guess. There is a lot to think," he half lied, trying to sound as convincing as he could. And according to Cole's relaxed face, he succeeded. 

"Aww, aren't you two adorable?" they turned their attention to Jay, who was smiling at them. The boys separated from each other, creating a distance between them, and blushed. Jay definitely knew how to make the atmosphere better.

"Jay, you are embarrassing them," Zane said, yet he chuckled. 

"But I'm not wrong! Just look at these lovebirds!" he exclaimed. 

"Jay.. we are just friends," Cole cleared his throat, his blush was slowly fading away meanwhile Kai was still struggling with hiding his own. However, he didn't miss how this "just friends" hurt his heart. Too painful to even think about this.

Jay scoffed. "Right. You never told me about your love life, Cole. And then you two suddenly start to hang out that much!" Jay stated, which was actually the truth. "I can't be the only one who is suspicious about it, can I?" he looked around in attempt to find a support.

To Kai's own surprise, Skylor nodded at his words, turning to both of them. Zane also glanced at two friends. The brunette didn't want to say anything, so he just looked down, staring at his fingers. In his opinion it was wiser to let Cole talk. However, he didn't know it would turn out into a big mistake.

"Jay, we are just friends, we are not in love, okay?" Cole frowned, looking at his friend. "I don't like Kai, I love h-!" the noriette stopped himself, bitting his lip nervously. Kai and Skylor shared a worried look. 

"H-?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"I.. What I wanted to say is.. I love Hannah. Yeah! Hannah. She is from my Math class, we've been hanging out for a while, but she is too busy lately with studying. She is really cool, " Cole said like it was a total truth. 

"Woah! Congratulations, dude! I didn't even know," Jay blinked but a smile could be seen on his face. 

"Yeah, I hope you two will work out," Zane smiled as well.

Cole returned a shy smile, blush was still on his cheeks. "Thank you, guys." 

The three started talking about the new topic, changing the subject almost immediately like nothing has happened. Only something did happen. Kai's heart was broken. Skylor was holding his hand to comfort him, she was looking at her best friend with a sad look, but he didn't even glance at her. Instead, he was staring at his fingers. 

Hannah. The girl Cole was in love with. They hung out. Suddenly, it all made sense now. Kai remembered that girl. She had pink hair with a blue streak through, she almost didn't use makeup and wore dresses most of the time. Kai didn't know much about her but one thing was crystal clear. Cole was in love with this girl, he laid his eyes on her.

Tears started slowly forming in his eyes. He wanted nothing but to come back home and cry his eyes out. He needed air. Right now. Kai suddenly got up, all eyes were on him. "I.. Can you excuse me for a second, guys, I'm sorry," he tried to put a smile on his lips, a real smile, but it didn't look like it at all. Kai didn't even care what they all would think. He needed to get out of here as fast as he could.

Chapter Text

The situation was completely out of her control. Skylor didn't know what to do. Once she looked at Kai, she forgot every word she wanted to let out of her mouth. The whole thing was so confusing to her, she didn't understand how could Cole love someone, who wasn't her best friend. Skylor was so certain about him and Kai working out as a couple once her best friend would confess his feelings to the noriette. This plan sounded perfect, and according to what she has heard, it had all chances to become reality.

She wasn't blind. She saw how Cole was looking at her friend at school, in the cafe, in the arcades. And the girl was absolutely sure that the same was happening when the boys were alone. Or maybe even more was happening without prying eyes. Cole's eyes always sparkled whenever Kai apparead around him when the two were hanging out or were just next to each other. Cole always wanted Kai to sit next to him, was it a lunch time or them having a dinner in the cafe.

However, she still couldn't understand what happened. When Kai said he needed some fresh air, Skylor knew it wasn't about his lungs. It was about his heart. The others seemed to be worried about their friend, but Skylor calmed them down and said she will go check on Kai. After seeing those red, full of tears eyes, the girl told everyone they were going to leave because Kai didn't feel well. 

At first, Cole volunteered to help, but Skylor immediately told him it was fine. She might've sounded too rude than she meant, however, she couldn't really care at the moment. After all, this guy, right in front of her, just broke her best friend's heart. She didn't want to hurt Cole and she knew nothing was really his fault. Even if the noriette did like this girl, it was okay, we all couldn't really control our feelings. But if he liked someone else, why would he act like that with Kai, giving the brunette a hope that his feelings could be mutual?

Speaking of Kai, he wasn't doing well at all. The second the two of them got home, Kai bursted into tears, and if Skylor didn't catch him, the boy would fall on the floor and probably wouldn't even bother to get up. He seemed to not care about this scenario, he looked like he didn't care about anything at the moment to be honest. Kai wanted nothing but to forget about everything and everyone for a few hours, he wanted to just crush on his sofa and fall into a deep sleep.

It's been almost an hour, but Kai still couldn't calm down. He was crying, letting all of his emotions out while his head laid on Skylor's lap as the girl was running her fingers through his messy hair in attempt to comfort him. Kai's quiet sobs and whispers broke her heart. He didn't deserve any of this, she wished she could do at least something to stop his suffering.

"Kai.." called his name Skylor but received no answer. She sighed. "Kai, he is not worth it.."

"How could he do that to me?.." Kai half cried, half whispered. "He seemed to have feelings for me, like he actually loves me.. And this stupid joke Jay had to say, why they all are doing this to me?" he cried, burying his face in his friend's legs. 

Skylor didn't have any answer. And Kai didn't expect her to have one. He understood that no one probably had answers on his questions. He was confused as well, his mind couldn't process this scene, those words that were stuck in his mind. He hated this girl but not because of who she was, but because he wanted to be her. He wanted to be the one Cole was in love with, he deserved it, didn't he? 

This name echoed in his mind, ringing in his ears. Only a day ago only hearing it made him smile so wide, made his heart beat so much faster. It made him so happy, so excited for their another meeting. And now it was the opposite effect. Now he wanted nothing but to forget that Cole even existed, he didn't want to see him ever again. He knew if he and this girl worked out, it would be too hard, too painful for the brunette to even look at them. Because he always dreamt to be the one, Cole talked about like that.

Kai wanted to be the one Cole was in love with. He wanted to be his, he just wanted to be happy with him. Everyone else could, why couldn't he? Or was it a curse that all of his crushes in the end never worked out and never ever would? He didn't have answers for this, he didn't have answers for anything. Kai had never felt more pathetic than he felt at the moment, and with every second his condition was only becoming worse.

Everything felt so hard, his body, his emotions - all of this was so hard for him to carry by himself. Even the fact that Skylor - his best friend - was here didn't make situation any better. Tho he was glad she didn't leave him alone, Kai really needed someone by his side at the moment or else it wouldn't end well.

"Sky.." he sobbed. "What if.. what if.. w-what if I never find someone, who will love me back?.."

"Kai.. hey!" Skylor tried to make her friend look at her, but he only kept crying. "None of this is your fault. You didn't do anything wrong, okay? We both know that Cole is hiding something."

This time Kai finally took a sitting position and looked at Skylor curiously. "W-what do you mean?"

She sighed. "Let's be honest," Skylor suddenly stood up in front of Kai. "He looked at you like you are the most precious thing in this world, right?"

"Right."

"He always smiled and got so excited around you, right?"

"Right."

"He put his head on your shoulder twice, and both times happened to be during the cutest moments ever," Skylor started walking back and forth. "The first one happened when he was looking at your childhood photos, saying that you were an adorable kid. And the second one happend when you two were watching a movie. He even smiled at you! Right?!"

"Right!" Kai exclaimed more confident this time.

"He did all of the couple stuff with you, yet he said he is in love with some girl?" Skylor frowned.

"Ri-! Right.." Kai looked at the floor, tears started rolling down his cheeks. 

"This guy is hiding something, I'm sure about it," Skylor put her hand on her jaw, like she was thinking about something. Kai looked at her confusingly.

"What are you implying?" he asked, wiping his tears away.

"Just think about it, Kai! He did all of the couple stuff with you and then got so confused when Jay said you two look cute," Kai blushed at this. "Almost like.. almost like he was scared!"

"Scared? What possibly he could be scared of?" Kai crossed his arms and looked away. 

"I don't know," the girl shook her head, sighing. "But I have a feeling we are gonna find out soon."

Chapter Text

The next day wasn't any better. Skylor left in the morning because her dad asked her to come home right now, so she could help him with something. However, Kai wasn't against it, he wanted and needed some time alone to sort out his thoughts. Skylor had nothing else to do but to wish him good luck with it. The girl really hoped that her friend will be okay after everything what has happened to him yesterday. He deserved to have peace.

After Skylor left, Kai had no idea what exactly he was supposed to do to make himself feel better. If it was another time, Kai would ask Cole to come, so the two would hang out. However, today he didn't want to hear anything from him, he needed a break. No matter how sad it made him. Speaking of Cole, the brunette saw that he sent him few messages, asking if Kai was okay, but he thought it would be wiser to leave Cole on delivered for now. He needed some time alone. The first thing to do on his list was to at least make himself look better. He was a walking mess, especially his hair. A hot morning shower would definitely fix few things. So with that, Kai grabbed new clothes and went to the bathroom.

The brunette quickly brushed his teeth to get rid of the morning breath. Then it was time for the shower. When the hot water started rolling down his skin, Kai realised how relaxed he was at the moment. He knew that all of his morning rituals would at least calm him down. Kai put some shampoo on his head and started slowly massaging it with the material. Then it was time for the conditioner that the boy used on his hair. He washed it all away with water, then grabbed his towel and started dressing up in the hoodie and his pants he wore at home. He decided to let his hair dry by itself. 

Kai touched it, feeling how soft it became. If he needed to went out, he sure would use his hair gel, but today he was gonna stay at home, so he had no need in it. Suddenly, Kai pulled out from his thoughts and stopped on his way. His mom did a lot of breathing exercises whenever she got stressed or anxious about something. Usually it was something important about her job, but who said it wouldn't work for Kai? The boy bit his lip, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and then slowly sighed. 

He needed to remember one thing - his feelings. He needed to take care of them, they must've been on the first place for him. All people that made him feel bad or were the reason of his self-confidence issues didn't matter, they weren't important. Kai needed to learn how to take care of himself or else it would end bad. And he didn't want it, did he?

He just needed to relax. Kai thought it would be a good idea to watch a movie with a cup of tea in his hands. A little smile formed on his lips, in few minutes he was sitting in front of the TV screen with a cup of hot green tea. He didn't know what exactly he wanted to watch but the brunette decided to stop on some comedy his parents watched few days ago. According to their review, it was pretty good. 

However, he didn't pay any attention at what was happening on the screen. After five minutes, Kai stopped thinking about the plot of the movie as he got flashbacks from a week ago. He and Cole were sitting like that on the couch and watching a comedy while the noriette was feeling sick. He looked so happy and excited when Kai came to check on him. Almost like.. almost like he was waiting for him. 

Kai immediately shook his head to prevent himself from crying. He already cried his eyes out enough. It was time to move on. Cole wasn't the only boy in this world, Kai should've just forgot about him and find someone else. Someone who would love him back. Someone who wasn't Cole.

But would it actually make him happy?

Kai couldn't answer on this question. The only thing he knew was that he wanted to be loved. At least for once he wanted someone to have the same feelings for him as he had. He wanted to be a special person for someone. But both times didn't turn out well for him. The first crush destroyed the way Kai viewed himself, making the boy hate every part of himself. And the second one looked like he was just playing with Kai's feelings, in reality liking someone else. Yeah, it fucking hurt because Kai was a human with real emotions. He could feel too.

He didn't even hear how someone knocked into his doors at first as tears started rolling down his cheeks. How Cole could do that to him? That was the thought that kept repeating in his mind, that kept him away from reality. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer on this questiom because he simply didn't have an answer. 

When Kai heard someone ringing in his door, he almost dropped his cup. His eyes laid on the clock. It was almost evening, who would come to him at this time? His parents were still out on their business trip, besides, they had keys. Skylor was still helping her dad, the two of them decided to meet tomorrow to hang out. So who could it be?

Curiosity took over him as Kai put the movie on pause, left his cup on the table and with that started moving towards the door. He definitely did not expect to see what he saw behind it. In front of him stood Cole - all wet but with a kind smile on his face. Only then Kai realised that it's been raining the entire time. 

"Cole? What are you doing here?"

"I was, uh.. sort of on the run I guess, and then rain started, and I was so far from my house, then I remembered that you live not so far, so I decided to come to you and check on you at the same time since you didn't reply to my messages," Cole blabbered. "So, uh.. that's why I'm here. I'm sorry for coming out of nowhere, you probably were busy, so I should-"

"No!" Kai exclaimed, instantly grabbing Cole's hand and making both of them blush. He cleared his throat before saying again. "Uh.. what I've been trying to say is.. You are not going anywhere because the rain is too heavy, and you are already so wet," Kai frowned and let Cole inside. "I'll give you my clothes and make you some tea while you go to the living room, okay?"

Cole nodded and did as he was commanded. Meanwhile Kai went to his room to grab some warm clothes. Only then it hit him what has just happened. Out of all people Cole came to him, Kai. He could chose literally any place, but he decided to come to him. It brought a smile to Kai's face, however, he immediately shook his head. Cole was staying here until the rain ends, then he will leave. Kai was in no need to give himself a hope for something more to happen.

He walked into the living room, immediately turning all of Cole's attention on himself. "Here," he gave him a hoodie and a pair of pants with socks. "I dunno if we have the same size but I hope it won't be too tight," Kai said with a smile.

Cole smiled back. "Thanks, Kai."

In few minutes tea was ready as well. Cole was already dressed in Kai's clothes, sipping the green tea that was made for him while Kai was drying Cole's wet hair with towels. He liked taking care of the noriette. Seeing him like this, in his living room, being so comfortable in his house in general, did things to Kai's stomach. Cole looked so relaxed, so chill about everything. It was like he enjoyed being with Kai, like the brunette was so important for him.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Cole raised his voice. "I should've checked what weather it was gonna be today," he sighed and put his cup on the table. 

"No problem, man," Kai put away the towels and turned to his friend. "But mind to tell me what you were doing outside during rain?"

That was the moment when Cole's cheeks turned red and he looked away as if he was trying to hide his blush. Kai's face immediately fell when he saw this reaction. Was it what he was thinking about?

"Um, yeah, about that.." Cole bit his lip nervously. "I.. kind of tried to get rid of my thoughts or at least sort them all out but.. then the rain started, and I ran to your home and.. well, you know the rest."

Kai frowned, although he tried to not show his interest that was boiling inside of his chest. "Thoughts? What thoughts? If you don't mind me asking."

They were silent for a few minutes, and this was slowly killing Kai. The awkwardness between them was only growing and growing, Kai was about to speak by himself when Cole raised his voice again. "I was talking about my feelings to Jay earlier and.. well, I needed an advice from someone, so I thought I should ask him because.. he would understand."

"Oh.." 

Now it all made sense. Cole went to Jay to ask some realtionships tips, so he could ask this girl that he liked out. What else he could ask from someone who would understand. Besides, Jay was in long-term relationships with Zane, so it made even more sense Cole would go to him. 

"He told me that I should be braver and that I never know what can happen tomorrow. That I should just go for it," with every word Kai felt how his heart was breaking once again.

"Well, I hope you know what to do now," the brunette said, bitting his lip and not even noticing that Cole was staring at him. "I mean, I'm sure you and Hannah will make a good couple," he smiled weakly. "You two seem like you are made for each other! You are in a perfect physical shape while she is one of the most beautiful girls at school! It only makes sense if you two go on a date or start dating or even-"

Everything stopped. The universe stopped existing, the Earth stopped spinning, the raindrops stopped falling on his windowsills when he felt Cole's lips on his own. Kai automatically closed his eyes, enjoying the moment. Meanwhile the noriette grabbed the other's hands in his gently, exploring every part of Kai's mouth, who seemed to be fine with it. 

They were kissing with passion and hunger of two people, who dreamt to do this for a long time. Kai ran his fingers through Cole's still wet hair while Cole wrapped his own arms around the other's waist, pulling him even closer. They made a perfect combination. It was like only the two of them excited. They wouldn't care if the world fell apart. As long as they were together, there was nothing for them to be scared of. 

However, they needed to pull away for some air. Their breathing was hard, but they couldn't stop smiling like a total idiots. Cole couldn't help but lean closer and connect his lips with Kai's once again in another quick kiss. 

"I.. I don't understand," Kai said once they stopped kissing. "I thought you liked Hannah and-"

"Kai," the noriette called him softly. "I've never liked her. Because you are the one I'm in love with."

Kai blinked in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? "What?"

Cole sighed and lifted Kai's hand to his mouth, leaving a soft kiss on it. "I made this up yesterday because.. I was scared that if you find out I love you because of Jay's stupid jokes, I will lose you. I couldn't let that happen, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. And the reason I went to Jay today was to ask his advice because.. well, Jay is dating a boy himself." 

Kai tried to process everything he had just heard. It was hard to take so much information in at once, but the one thing Kai knew for sure was that he was extremely happy at the moment. He gently cupped Cole's cheek, drawing his attention. 

"I love you too," and with that, Kai pulled him in another kiss, feeling strong hands of his lover around his waist.

Chapter Text

"No way, man, what are you doing?!" Cole exclaimed, his eyes wide as he was pointing at the screen. Kai could only laugh at his words. 

"Well, I told you he was gonna betray the entire group," the brunette scoffed. "His goal is to kill all of them because he lost his parents as a kid."

"But how are they related to this?! It makes no sense!" Cole snorted. 

"That's the reason he became a villain in the first place!" Kai rolled his eyes. Cole seemed to be too affected by the plot of this movie. "He blamed them for what happened because he was told that their friend group is the reason his parents died."

"They better not kill my favourite character in the end," Cole said, disappointed. His beau could only giggle at his partner's words.

The boys were cuddling on the couch while watching the movie Kai suggested. He and his family watched it at least seven times, it was so special to the brunette. So he decided to share this experience with Cole because, you know, he was important to Kai.

After their little make out session a little earlier, there was a lot of awkward things they had to face. Eventually, they ended up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, that Kai found on the kitchen, and a movie. Kai was more than happy when Cole suggested if he wanted to cuddle with him. And how could the brunette say no? Turned out Cole was the comfiest pillow in Ninjago. Kai was lying on his chest while the noriette played with his hair as the two of them were focused on what was happening on the screen of the TV.

However, Kai couldn't really concentrate on it. He couldn't concentrate on anything to be sure because his mind was thinking about the noriette with green eyes. It still felt like a dream. Even after they kissed, Kai still couldn't believe all of this was happening in reality. Cole loved him, he felt the same feelings towards Kai as the brunette did for him. It couldn't help but make him the happiest guy in all Ninjago.

All of the sudden, it hit him. They could go on the dates now, they could officially do all of the couple stuff Kai had been dreaming of this whole time! He smiled at his own thoughts and cuddled closer to Cole, who was currently running his fingers through Kai's fluffy hair.

"What is your cute head is thinking about this time?" Cole asked, making Kai blush. 

"Nothing," he looked at the noriette. "I'm just so happy. You make me happy."

Cole could only smile in response as he leaned closer, merging their lips together. Kai sighed, melting into the contact. Cole tasted like a cotton candy, like everything Kai could ever imagine. He felt how the noriette was smiling into the kiss and slowly took the sitting position, which caused Kai to do the same. They didn't want to separate from kissing, so they continued making out while slowly changing their entire position. Now Kai was sitting on Cole's lap, his hands lost in Cole's raven hair. Meanwhile Cole had his hands wrapped around Kai's waist as he kept exploring the other's mouth, asking for the permission, which Kai gave him with a big pleasure. The brunette groaned, causing Cole to shiver. 

The movie was immediately forgotten, both boys were too busy with each other. This was a battle of dominance, they both wanted to show each other who was better, however, their power was equal here. Yet they still tried to take over each other. All of the sudden, they heard a sound, like a shattering glass, which made them pull away from each other. Their breathing was hard, they looked at the floor, seeing that the cup was broken. Apparently, Cole hit it with his elbow. 

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry," the noriette apologised, still trying to catch his breath. He looked at Kai. "Was it something important?"

Though Kai only shook his head. "Nope, just an old cup. I'm gonna clean up the mess," the boy tried to get out of his current position, however, his hands were shaking too much. Cole noticed it and smirked, leaning his head on his hand. 

"Are you sure you are in position to do cleaning?" the black-haired boy chuckled, causing Kai to roll his eyes. 

"Yes, I am. Just need few minutes to calm down."

"Whatever you say, babe," the way Cole called him made Kai's skin burn as he looked away, trying to hide his blush. God damn, this boy was gonna be the death of him.

The next morning Kai opened his eyes because of the feeling that someone was watching him. The boy yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes. When he was a kid, he accidentally watched the documentary about ghosts. The poor boy couldn't sleep alone the next few weeks because he was convinced those mystical creatures were spying on him in his own room. He was afraid to close his eyes and wake up as a ghost himself, so he had to sleep with his parents the entire time.

Today he sure didn't wake up because of the ghosts or other evil spirits. He could feel someone's arms wrapped around his body, then Kai remembered that Cole stayed a night at his place because it was too late for him to go home. Kai wasn't against it anyways, he wanted Cole to stay here, so they could wake up in each other's arms. This thought sent a warm feeling to his chest but also made his cheeks flush.

"I like seeing your cheeks covered in red in the mornings," the voice next to him said as Kai turned around, facing Cole with a sleepy smile on his face.

"Is that how you say good morning?" the brunette raised his eyebrow in a question, making Cole laugh.

"Well, I have a special treatment to those, who I wake up next to."

"So I'm not the first one to wake up in your arms?" Kai squinted.

"Nope, you are definitely the first one. And I hope the only one."

Kai smiled and leaned closer, leaving a quick peck on his cheek. He then got up from the couch, leaving Cole here, who was currently blushing. Kai could only chuckle on his way to the kitchen. Today was the day when Cole's father, Lou, was coming back from his business trip, which meant the noriette needed to head back home to help his dad. Of coarse, the brunette wished the other boy could stay a little longer, but he also understood that family was as important as relationships.

Relationships.. Could he really say that he and Cole were together? The only thing they did was making out and calling each other pet names few times. But that was all. They haven't really talked about the two of them getting together, as boyfriends. Sure thing, Kai would love to. He wanted everyone to know that Cole was his. Officially. He didn't want to see anyone flirting with Cole. Even tho the noriette confessed his feelings to Kai yesterday, and million kisses they shared was a proof that Cole wasn't lying, was he actually ready for this? Or maybe he needed a little more time to accept that Kai liked him too, or he just didn't want to rush things. Kai would of coarse support all of his decisions. 

All of the sudden, he felt someone's body pressed against his own but immediately relaxed, knowing perfectly who it was. Kai bit his lip when he felt the other's lips kissing their way down the brunette's neck. It made his skin burn, made his heart fill with passion. Cole did things to him Kai couldn't explain with words. Especially, his lips. Man, Kai wondered if he ever get tired of kissing Cole or feeling his lips against his skin.

"I didn't know you are so clingy in the mornings," Kai teased, a slight smirk formed on his lips.

"Well, now you know. Get used to it," Cole mumbled against the other's skin. The brunette felt how weak his knees were at the moment.

"I thought.. I thought you were late to your dad, weren't you?"

Cole hummed. "But I want to spend time with my boyfriend."

Both of them froze. Kai slowly turned around and looked at the other boy with wide eyes while Cole tried to hide his own blush. He didn't really mean to say it, it just.. came out of his mouth without any warning. Cole couldn't control himself whenever he was around Kai. However, he wasn't against the idea of them being officially in relationships.

"What did you just call me?" asked Kai.

The noriette cleared his throat, blush was spreading across his cheeks. "I, um- I mean- It's not what I've meant-"

"No, no, no, say it," Kai teased him, walking closer. "What did you call me, Cole?"

"Kai.."

"Say it, baby. What did you call me?"

"I called you my boyfriend!" Cole exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Happy now?"

A cheshire grin was forming on Kai's lips as he wrapped his arms around Cole's neck, slowly pulling him closer. "More than ever," with that, the brunette merged their lips together.

After few minutes, they separated as Kai said. "I would love to tho. Date you."

Cole blinked at him. "So.. will you give me an honour and be my boyfriend officially, Kai Smith?" he smirked too this time, making Kai chuckle.

"I would love to, Cole Brookstone."

Chapter Text

Kai seriously planned to tell Skylor all of the news. After all, a lot happened since she left. It would be like a betrayal if he didn't tell her anything. And Kai really wanted to, he couldn't keep it in himself any longer. He needed to tell someonone about him and Cole dating, there was so much to say!

After Cole left, Kai planned to call Skylor and ask her to come to his place, so the two would hang out. And also so Kai would be able to tell her everything. She was his biggest support, she was here for him since the first day of Kai discovering his feelings towards the noriette. He owed her for all of the help and support he received from the redhead. He was genuinely happy to have Skylor by his side.

However, his plans didn't come true. And there were two reasons. The first one was Skylor herself, the girl said her teacher called her in the morning, saying that he needs her help at school. She sounded really guilty in front of Kai for not being able to come to him. But then it hit the brunette that his best friend might've still thought that Kai was sad and heartbroken after what happened in the cafe. Which was understandable because Kai didn't tell her anything since she left. Not like he really had a chance to do this. He told her that everything was completely fine and they could meet the other day. Although he knew that he couldn't hide how happy he was because Skylor sounded like she suspected something but decided to leave this conversation for another day.

His second reason was Cole. He called Kai right after his conversation with Skylor, in few hours. Kai was running when his boyfriend called him, but what came after it caught the brunette off the guard. Cole asked him out. And it wasn't just a simple date, it was a chance for Kai to meet Cole's father face to face! The noriette said they will just have a quick dinner together and then the two of them would go somewhere else because his father wanted to rest after his long trip. 

Surely, Kai agreed, but he was so nervous. Like really, really nervous. You don't meet your boyfriend's father every day, after all. So Kai's anxiety was understandable. However, he wanted to make a good first impression, so he decided to do everything he could for Cole's father to like him. He wanted to prove that Cole did a right choice and that Kai would never hurt the boy. Which in fact was true because it was the last thing Kai would think of.

Nevertheless, when Kai was standing in front of the Brookstone's house's door, he realised how nervous he actually was. He needed to stay calm or else he was gonna end up with a panic attack. Why was he such a mess every time something important was coming? It was just a meeting with Cole's father. Nothing has happened yet, and Kai already convinced himself that all of this was a bad idea. The brunette sighed and rang the doorbell.

He immediately heard footsteps on the other side and then muffled voices. One of them he recognised as a voice of his boyfriend, which made his heart melt. He was so in love with him, gosh. The next second the door opened, revealing face of Kai's lover.

"Hey, cutie," Cole called him softly, leaning closer and kissing his cheek. Kai blushed but couldn't fight a smile that was dancing in the corner of his lips.

"Cole, is it Kai?" someone said from the kitchen.

"Yes, dad, we are coming!" Cole yelled back, then turned to Kai. He could see how nervous his beau was. "Hey," Cole put his finger on Kai's chin, making the brunette look at him. "It's gonna be okay, it's just a dinner with my dad."

Kai snorted. "You are saying it like literally everyone is doing this every day."

"My dad isn't that scary, and besides, it was his idea to invite you to the dinner today," Cole said, which caused Kai's eyes to wide at his words.

"Really?" 

"Yeah. After I said I'm dating you, he freaked out and said that he wants to meet you so much. He is excited and happy, so you have nothing to be worried about, alright?"

Kai sighed and nodded. Cole smiled at this reaction and pulled his boyfriend closer, connecting their lips together. If they were alone, they sure wouldn't care about timing but right now..

"Cole!" the noriette groaned, breaking the kiss.

"Coming, dad!"

The boy pointed at the kitchen and stepped aside, letting his lover in. Kai looked around but nothing here was new to him because he already visited Brookstone's house. And back then he and Cole could create only happy memories together. 

Cole put his hand on Kai's back, leading him to the kitchen, where Kai could smell food. Apparently, it was cooked by Lou. And according to Cole, by him as well. Lou was wearing his casual clothes, he was standing near the table and cutting vegetables for the salad. After seeing Lou in real life, Kai was now one hundred percent sure where Cole got his appearance. He was his father's copy.

In few seconds, Lou turned around, a smile formed on his lips. Kai mirrored this action. "It's pleasure to meet you, Kai!" Lou walked up to the boy and shook his hand. Kai did the same.

"It's pleasure to meet you too, sir."

"Oh, please, you make me feel so old! Call me "Lou", okay?" he asked, making Kai blink. But the brunette immediately smiled politely, nodding his head.

"So are we going to eat today or not? I'm starving!" Cole said from behind. Kai and Lou looked at him with their eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"He has my appearance and his mother's temper, but where did he get his appetite is a mystery for me," Lou shook his head and came back to the dishes. Kai snorted, chuckling quietly, while Cole looked too embarrassed to speak. Kai only patted his shoulder as the two of them took their seats on the table. With that, they all started eating.

"So, tell me how did you meet, boys?" Lou asked, taking a sip of his wine.

"Me and my best friend, Skylor, were working in the arcades as the summer job, so we met here," Kai started. "Cole and the two friends of ours came in the end of August, that was our first meeting," the brunette finished, waiting for the reaction of Cole's parent.

"I see," the old man only nodded, still having a smile on his face.

"You already knew you couldn't resist me," Cole teased him, wiggling his eyebrows, as he leaned closer to his boyfriend, who only rolled his eyes and jokingly punched Cole.

Lou only laughed at this. "I remember how me and your mother met," he said, his face dreamy. "It was autumn, I was working as a waiter in the cafe that opened in the centre of the city because I needed money. And then one day I met Lily. She was in this white dress, her hair was down and she had the most breathtaking smile on her face. That was the moment when I knew I fell in love with this woman," he finished with a sad smile on his face.

Cole looked down, his smile, unlike his father's, vanished from his face after Lou finished telling his story. This reaction was something the noriette got used to every time someone talked about his mother. He missed her so much. Kai seemed to notice Cole feeling a bit down, so he grabbed the other's hand gently, giving it a comfort squeeze under the table. Cole returned him a grateful smile.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I can't imagine how you two must feel," two pairs of eyes glanced at Kai. "I might not know what it is like, but I know for sure that she wouldn't want you two to give up. She will always be here for both of you."

Cole couldn't help but stare in awe at his boyfriend. He was so supportive, so caring. He could've just stayed silent but he decided to say something to at least try to make Cole and his father feel better. For another time Cole was absolutely sure he made a right choice.

"That's so sweet of you, Kai," Lou said with a smile.

"Yeah.. Thank you," Cole squeezed his hand in return, seeing smile on Kai's face that was dedicated to both of them.

"Cole is a really lucky man," Lou said, smirking. His son immediately blushed, but Kai could only smile wider. 

"Oh, no, no," the brunette shook his head. "I'm the lucky one here."

"I should head to bed because my head hurts from my trip," Lou slowly got up and headed to the living room. "I hope you two will have a good time with each other. It was nice to meet you, Kai."

"You too, Lou," the boy smiled politely as the old man left both boys alone.

Chapter Text

"Hey," Cole turned around, facing a worried look on Kai's face. "How are you feeling?"

The noriette could only sigh. He didn't have to lie to Kai because the brunette would understand him without words anyways. It was a part of their connection.

"Yeah, it's just.. I miss her," Cole bit his lip and looked away.

Ever since his mother left this world, Cole couldn't be the same anymore. He missed her endlessly, he asked the God why it had to be her every single day. Lily Brookstone was the most kind-hearted person Cole had ever known. Her heart was filled with so much kindness, she always managed to make every day better.

Being a little boy, Cole used to hear a lot of stories his mother came up with, so the five years old boy could fall asleep. There where knights, and samurais, and kings, and even rabbits! Her imagination had no boundaries, this woman was an amazing story teller. Cole liked her stories a lot. Even now when he was almost an adult, he wished he could hear those stories again.

Kai cupped the other's cheek gently, making Cole look at him. "She would be so proud of you."

Cole raised his eyebrow in response. "Proud? Of what exactly? I haven't become anything yet."

"That's not the only thing poeople can be proud of," said Kai as he looked up at the stars. The noriette mirrored his action. "You can be proud of someone getting up from their bed in the mornings, proud of someone for having three meals per day, proud of someone for their school grades. Just simply for not giving up, which you, by the way, could do," Kai looked at him this time, receiving a surprising gaze from his lover. "Cole, experiencing death of your closest person is hard. Too hard. A lot of people like you would give up, but you didn't. Look at yourself, you are still here!"

"But.."

"No buts," Kai shook his head. "If you can't see it in yourself, I'm gonna show you."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes, not daring to interrupt the silence that was dominating all around them. There was a sound of nature, but their voices were quiet. Amber and green eyes were talking to each other just by looking at one another. They didn't need words to understand what they meant. Just looking at each other was more than enough.

Cole couldn't help himself, so he cupped Kai's face, kissing his lips slowly and gently. Kai's eyes shut as he grabbed Cole's elbows, melting into the contact. Kissing Cole was everything and nothing at the same time, it was everything Kai could every imagine. His lips were so soft. Every time Kai felt them on his own, thousand firecrackers exploded in his chest one by one. It was something you couldn't describe with words but wanted to feel forever. 

They were kissing under the night sky, wrapped in the blanket full of shiny stars. The world would fall apart, but they didn't care as long as it was them. Whenever they kissed each other, they couldn't care about anything or anyone else, it was only the two of them - Kai and Cole, Cole and Kai, Red and Black. They made a perfect combination together.

Unfortunately, they had to separate because of the lack of air in their lungs. The boys leaned their foreheads to each other, smiling brightly. "I'm so in love with you," Cole whispered loud enough for Kai to hear as the brunette giggled softly.

"I know. Your lips proved it many times," he said, making Cole snort.

"So you only love me for my lips?"

"And for your adorable smile," this time both of them laughed. They leaned in to connect their lips once again.

"How about we go to the cinema?" Cole asked once they separated.

"Isn't it a bit late?" Kai scoffed.

"Hmm, maybe. But the last seats are made for kissing, don't you think?" Cole wiggled his eyebrows, making his boyfriend blush. "Aww, you are blushing! It suits you."

"Shut up, I am not! And for the record, if you think I'm gonna make out with you in the cinema, you are absolutely, one hundred percent wrong," Kai crossed his arms as if he was proving his seriousness. 

"We'll see," the noriette winked and went ahead, making sure his boyfriend was following him.

It was almost night when the boys got out of the cinema. They had nowhere to go tomorrow anyways, so coming home a bit late wasn't a big deal. And besides, after they started dating, they both wanted to spend as much time with each other as they could. It was a part of being in relationships - you wanted to spend every second of your existence with the person you loved. And could you really blame them? They were idiots in love, after all.

The movie they chose was sort of historical, but in the end it ended up being a good choice. However, Kai was probably the only one in their couple, who actually enjoyed it. Since the movie was based on history, it would have all of of Kai's attention. The boy didn't like to be called a nerd because he actually wasn't a one, but when it came to history, Kai couldn't stop talking. It was probably the only class Kai actually enjoyed. So that's why the brunette couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen. Which couldn't be said about his boyfriend.

Cole wasn't joking when he said he wanted them to have the last seats, so they would kiss. When he was choosing the movie, he thought that something like this would be so boring for both of them, which meant they would end up making out with each other like most of the couples in the cinemas did. However, what surprised Cole the most was that Kai actually enjoyed the movie, he couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen, commenting on what happened almost every minute. Whenever Cole wanted to kiss him, his beau either pushed him away or shushed on him to be quiet.

The noriette had no other choice but to watch the movie that he literally chose. He thought that maybe he should've stopped his eyes on some cartoon for little kids, but honestly he wouldn't be surprised if that had all of Kai's attention, either. You never knew what could hide in his head. After few tries, Cole gave up and decided to focus on what was happening on the screen too, but since he wasn't a big history fan, he had no intention in watching it. With that, the boy just lonely ate his popcorn, sometimes glancing at his boyfriend, who couldn't stop blabbering his comments.

They left the cinema with Kai being so emotional and Cole being disappointed. Looks like he indeed sucked at plans because he actually thought it would work. Although seeing those amber eyes full of excitement and joy because of the just watched movie couldn't help but make Cole happy as well. Kai looked like he was very pleased with the movie, so Cole couldn't resist.

"You were right, this movie was actually amazing!" Kai exclaimed for the hundred time in few minutes. They were almost near Kai's house, the noriette volunteered to walk him here. Cole sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he crossed his arms, disappointed.

Kai turned around, seeing that Cole wasn't so impressed like he was. "Heeey, why are you so sad? We just watched the best historical movie ever!"

"I’m not sad! I guess I'm just not really into history," Cole shrugged.

"Oh.. yeah, I didn't think of that," Kai bit his lip, which Cole immediately noticed. 

"Hey, hey, that's not what I meant!" the noriette grabbed his hands and lifted one to his mouth, leaving a soft kiss on it. "I like seeing you being so excited about your interests and what you like," a comfort smile formed on his lips, which made Kai smile as well.

"Thank you, Cole," a light blush was spreading on his cheeks. "I'm happy I can share it with you."

And then Kai grabbed the collar of Cole's shirt, smashing their lips together in a messy kiss. Cole's eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around the other's waist, kissing Kai back. Kai deepened the kiss by pulling Cole closer with his shirt, which made the noriette sigh quietly into Kai's lips.

Eventually, they had to separate from each other. Kai looked at his boyfriend with a wide smile on his face and stood back on his feet. Being few inches shorter, Kai had to stand on his toes whenever he and Cole were kissing. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"M-mhm," said Cole, making Kai chuckle. He stood on his toes again and left a quick peck on the other's cheek. The brunette then started walking to his house and disappeared behind the front door, leaving Cole standing on the outside. Maybe two hours of this history nonsense were worth it.

Chapter Text

"Did you seriously tell them all to come to the arcades?" Kai asked his boyfriend, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That's where everything started, silly," Cole rolled his eyes as he continued eating his fries.  

In the morning, Cole called Kai with a suggestion to ask their friends to hang out together, so Kai and Cole could tell the three of them that they were dating. The brunette thought of telling Skylor today anyways, so in his opinion it was a good idea. After all, he had a lot to tell his best friend about. 

But right now he was feeling a bit anxious. Surely, he knew that nor Skylor nor Jay or Zane would judge them. His best friend was all into girls, and the other two were literally dating each other! If someone could understand the couple, it was them! And they both knew that their friends would support them. 

Cole probably noticed his boyfriend being anxious, so he stopped eating and sat closer to him. "Hey," Kai shook his head and turned to the other boy, seeing worry in his eyes. "It's gonna be okay," Cole lifted Kai's hand to his mouth, leaving a kiss on it. That seemed to calm Kai down.

"I know, I know," he sighed as the boy buried his face in his hands. "I'm just.. I dunno, I guess I'm not used to it yet," the brunette confessed, waiting for Cole's reaction.

Of coarse, Cole was nervous, either. He and Kai dated for a few days already, and Cole felt like he needed to talk about it to someone. He wanted to tell how amazing and awesome Kai was, how much Cole loved him. He just needed to rant about the boy he loved the most, he had so much to say, and his chest was about to explode from the amount of love he had for Kai. 

But at the same time there was fear he would be rejected by his friends. He couldn't tell why, he knew they wouldn't judge him and Kai for being in love. They were probably the most understanding people Cole had ever had a chance to meet through years. He was certain that they would be happy for them and ask for all of the details. Especially, Jay after their conversation in the boy's house when Cole actually asked for a love advice. Considering that Cole couldn't hide his feelings and Jay's comments about Kai and Cole in the cafe, the curly-haired boy would only be happy for them, just like Zane.

Even tho the noriette knew Skylor not for so long, he was absolutely sure she would support the two of them as well. Cole saw her and Kai's interactions at school, he knew a lot about the redhead from Kai's stories when the two hung out and just talked about everything that came to their minds. He knew that Skylor would support Kai no matter what, and since he was dating Cole, she would be nice to the noriette as well. At least, Cole hoped so.

It felt like forever since the two of them came here and started waiting for their friends to arrive. The boys ordered food to pass the time, but Cole was the only one who actually ate. Kai only took few sips of his milkshake because his anxiety didn't let him do anything else. Whenever he tried to bite his burger, he ended up almost throwing it up because of how nervous he was. Cole of coarse was here to comfort him. 

It was four in the evening when the arcade door opened, revealing three familiar faces. Skylor was scanning the area in attempt to find their friends while Zane and Jay were whispering something to each other and giggling. The redhead finally spotted the couple sitting at the furthest table in the cafe and immediately told the other two about it. With that, they started walking towards Cole and Kai, and the second boy was now anxious as he had ever been.

Cole seemed to notice changes on his face, so he gently took Kai's hand under the table and gave it a comfort squeeze. "It's gonna be okay, baby. We can do this," the noriette said with comfort, receiving a relaxed smile from Kai. He always knew how to calm the brunette down just by his words.

"Hey, nerds," Skylor greeted them, taking a seat next to Kai and bumping his shoulder with her fist. Kai gave her a nervous smile as a "hello". The other two took their seats as well, and Jay immediately asked the main question that has been bothering him the entire time the three of them were walking to the arcades.

"Okay, let's get to the subject, what is this all about?" he crossed his arms, leaning on the chair. "I thought we will go to the cinema!" he frowned like a child, which made Zane chuckle.

"You are such a child sometimes," Zane rolled his eyes, but his boyfriend only stuck out his tongue at him.

Cole cleared his throat and started talking. "We will go to the cinema, but before that we thought it would be right to tell you something," he sighed, then looked at Kai, who kept a carefree smile on his face, then turned to the others and bit his lip. The boy showed their holding hands to the others, receiving questionable looks from their friends.

"Cole and I are dating. For like.. few days."

There was a silence for a few minutes, which only made Kai and Cole more nervous because they couldn't understand what was going on in their friends' minds. However, Jay was the first one to raise his voice. "That's understandable, but what are the news?"

Zane looked at him with wide eyes. "Jay!" 

"What?! I mean, I'm happy for both of you, really, it's just, I thought you were dating before? You didn't look like friends at all," the boy stated, making the couple blush. Zane only slapped his forehead, then turned to Kai and Cole with a smile.

"I'm happy for you, guys! You two seem so happy with each other."

Cole and Kai looked at each other, sharing a loving smile, but then all four of them turned to Skylor, who was surprisingly silent this whole time. "Sky?" Kai asked carefully.

"For a few days, you say.." she crossed her arms, still looking at the floor. Suddenly, she looked up at Kai, and the brunette knew his best friend too good to recognise this look. She was angry. "And you didn't tell me anything!" 

With that, she jumped on her friend, causing the two of them to fall on the floor. "Hey! I need him alive!" Cole stated but kept eating his fries.

"I wanted to, I swear! But you didn't have time!" Kai yelled, so she could hear him.

"Guys!" the two of them looked above, seeing Jay. "The movie starts in twenty minutes, I will kill both of you if we are gonna be late!" Jay frowned. 

Kai and Skylor shared a look, then got up on their feet. They smirked at each other and grabbed Jay like a toy, leading him to the exit of the cafe by their hands. The curly-haired boy yelled at them to put him down, but they didn't listen, going with him further. Cole and Zane could only sigh and walk after them, leaving the arcades.

"So how does it feel to date someone like Kai?" Zane asked with a smile as the two of them looked at Kai and Skylor, who were laughing at Jay and his attempts to get out of their grip.

Cole smiled in return. "Probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. He is just.. I dunno, but sometimes it feels like I'm dreaming because how can someone so perfect like Kai date someone like me?" the noriette sighed but still smiled.

Zane laughed slightly. "Yeah, I totally get that. When me and Jay started dating, it felt the same way," Zane glanced at his boyfriend, who was running away from Skylor and Kai at the moment. "We should go on a double date one day, don't you think?"

Cole blushed slightly. "I think it would be great. We should totally do this."

"Jay, stop!" Skylor yelled, drawing their attention. Zane sighed. "I'll go help them or else it won't end well," the boy said and walked to the others. "Sparky, can you please drop this rock in your hands?"

Cole chuckled at the whole scene when Kai appeared near him, panting. "This guy is gonna be the death of me," the brunette frowned, making Cole laugh, as he kissed Kai's forehead.

"I think it went pretty well, don't you think?" Cole asked, having his one hand wrapped around Kai's waist.

"Huh? Oh, that.. yeah, I think so, too," Kai smiled then turned to Cole. "I love you."

"I love you more," with that, Cole cupped his face and merged their lips together, receiving a sigh from his boyfriend, who put his hands on Cole's waist. They would kiss longer if someone didn't throw the piece of paper at them, making the couple separate in confusion.

"What the-" 

"We are gonna be late, stop eating each other!" Jay yelled, holding another piece of paper in his left hand. 

Kai clenched his hands into fists. "I'm gonna smash you!" Kai yelled and ran after Jay, who started running away for his life. The other three laugh and started walking after them.