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Morro felt stupid.
He was lying in bed, listening to the cheesiest love songs known to man and staring at the ceiling, wondering how this had happened.
It was small things at first. He'd laugh at Kai's jokes a little more than he normally would, subconsciously smile whenever he came into the room, casually ask Lloyd when Kai'd be visiting again… until it wasn't casual.
And he hated nothing more than to admit it, that Kai ended up meaning more to Morro than anyone and anything else did.
One night, Kai had caught Morro smoking. The latter explained that it was just because he was stressed and that he wasn't trying to make it a habit, hoping it would ease the other boy's conscience.
In response, the brunette suggested that he needed to find a better outlet for those emotions.
“Jay's got video games, Zane's got cooking, Cole's got his music, Nya takes it out on a punching bag…”
“..And what about you?”
“Uhh, I guess talking to my friends is what works for me.”
That made sense.
“So is there anything else like that that you've got?”
At the time, Morro had drawn a blank to his question. But now, with his 20/20 hindsight, he knew it was Kai.
Kai was his outlet.
If Morro was feeling like shit, he could tell, and he'd stay there as long as his friend needed, just talking his ear off until Morro forgot all about his problems. Kai, surprisingly, also understood him a lot more than he ever would've guessed. They were completely different people, and yet, Kai empathized with the worst parts of him, and it only made the fire ninja that much more important to him.
The other ninja accepted him as their newest member and might've even come to call him a friend as time went on, but Kai was the only one constantly texting him about the smallest things, including Morro when the others forgot to, calming him down when he'd let his temper get the better of him.
In the beginning, he thought that it was probably just the fact that he wasn't used to someone caring about him so much, and that it was normal for people to care as much as he did about a friend.
Still, Morro would light up at the mere mention of his name and cherish every moment they spent together, scared of the idea that Kai could leave him whenever he wanted and for a number of reasons. Maybe Morro would say something that rubbed him the wrong way, or, if they ever actually ended up dating, the other boy would want something more than romance, something Morro knew he couldn't give, no matter how much he loved him.
But whenever it felt like he was drowning in these thoughts, Kai was still there, smiling like everyday was the happiest day of his life, and seeing his friend only made him even happier, to Morro's pleasant surprise.
Song after song and artist after artist played through his headphones while he imagined all of the stupidly sweet things he wanted to do with Kai like hold his hand and put his head on his shoulder as he prattled on about the most recent drama at their school. Normally, he couldn't care less about those kinds of things, but every word Kai spoke just sounded like sweet talk to him. (He made a mental note, glancing at his phone, that he liked the song Sweet Talk by Saint Motel.) Most of the other songs on this playlist were ones he knew he'd never listen to again out of sheer embarrassment, but for right now, they kept him hopeful for whatever came next, and that maybe—just maybe—he wasn't imagining the times Kai seemed to stare at him a little longer than normal, and that it wasn't just a friend thing when he'd call Lloyd, worried sick if he hadn't heard from Morro all day.
It was these stupid little things that would keep him from giving up until he could finally figure out how to put into words just how much he loved Kai.
Although, with Morro's social skills… he was really hoping Kai would say something first. But it would happen one way or another. Probably.
Mad Season came on next by Matchbox Twenty, which seemed fitting.