We woke to a gun pointed at Lloyd's head.
"Well," he greeted grumpily, digging his head back into the pillow and totally unphased, as per usual. "Good morning to you too, Jamie."
"What did mom say about guns inside the house?" I mumbled, snuggling closer into Lloyd's body warmth and sliding my eyes shut once more. "And what did I say about pointing guns at my boyfriend?"
"And what did I say about Lloyd sleeping in the same bed with you?"
"Actually, nothing," I pointed out in a matter-of-fact voice as I dug my face into his neck. "You've said absolutely nothing about Lloyd sleeping in my bed so ha. Suck it, old man."
"Ha-ha," Lloyd laughed tiredly. I felt him shift and I instinctively bumped his fist with mine. "Nice."
"It is so tempting," dad groaned, pulling the gun away. "It is so tempting."
"Yes, but I love him!" I called as he sullenly stomped down the hallway.
"That's the only reason why I didn't pull the trigger."
"Aw," Lloyd hummed while I lost myself in the smell of spring storms and forest clearings. "That's sweet."
"He had it on safety the entire time," I mumbled, breathing him in. "He's protective, but not a complete idiot."
The drive to school was like most of the others, a calm quiet. A brief crumb of peace before the storm that was a normal day during our last year of high school. Prom was fast approaching - only a month away - and right after that was exam season, so we soaked in the blissful morning company that was each other in my car. The radio played quietly. Old, classic songs leaked from the speakers while Lloyd dozed and I drove.
And then we were hit with the usual chaos that was ten minutes before class.
"Did you hear?" Aaliyah gushed as she slid up beside me, eyes bright and energetic. "The green ninja has a fiancée!"
"You don't say," I hummed behind a yawn. Lloyd's hand briefly squeezed around mine, a silent reminder to tread carefully.
"I do!" my friend squealed, shoving the phone into my face. It was the photo that had taken the internet by storm. "Everybody's talking about it. Hell, even the night show had a huge discussion about it last evening! People are going crazy over it!"
"I know," I smiled as Aaliyah impatiently tucked a curl of dark hair behind her ear, scrolling fruitlessly through whatever social media she was on now. It looked to be Instagram. "I saw a bit of it on Twitter. It's wild."
"Right?!"
"Aaliyah!" Claire appeared out of nowhere, grabbing onto her arm. Her dark eyes regarded Lloyd coolly before dropping to me. "C'mon. You're going to be late to class."
"I don't suppose you know who the green ninja's fiancée is?" Aaliyah suddenly spoke up, brown eyes jumping to mine. I stilled. Her voice was loud. People silenced. "Since your dad works with them, or whatever."
"O- of course I d-"
"Y/n doesn't even know who the green ninja is," Lloyd spoke up, brow furrowed in confusion. "What makes you think he'd let her know who his fiancée is? He's kept his identity a secret this long, what would be the point of letting her know?"
Aaliyah stared at Lloyd for a few beats, digesting his words and trying to find a loophole. Satisfied that there was none, she gave a small nod.
"Oh, right," Aaliyah murmured. "That makes sense."
I gave her an awkward smile. Lloyd tugged my arm subtly, telling me that it was time to head to class and ditch the conversation before anything wrong could happen.
"I'll see you at lunch." I waved her and Claire a goodbye before letting the green ninja hidden in plain sight lead me to class.
"Too close for comfort," Lloyd grumbled, leaning close to me as we squeezed our way through the crowded hallway. He skilfully stepped over a leg that was suddenly and deliberately propped in his way.
"It'll die down," I reassured, voice quiet over the loud hum of the student body. He could still hear me clear as day.
"Yeah," he agreed tensely. He didn't seem to believe his words.
We stopped outside my English class. Lloyd pulled me in to press a soft kiss to my forehead as a brief farewell until next period, which he would walk me to as well. I couldn't even be annoyed with the babysitting. Who would I be to complain about spending more time with Lloyd?
The only good thing about English was Naomi. I struggled to pay attention as the teacher droned on about the contextual similarities between The Tempest and real world politics. Naomi was far more interesting, who was doodling little ninja on the margin of her workbook while I watched. I reached over to colour one's eyes in green. She replied to my addition by colouring in another's soft gaze with a brown pencil. We shared a snorting, secretive grin.
Both Cole and Lloyd were waiting outside for us and god, fifteen year old Naomi and Y/n would be so jealous that we had sweet as all hell boyfriends waiting to walk us to class (truly the stuff from old live-action Disney movies)(or twilight). We went our seperate ways.
Next class was maths with Kai and Jay, which was another I didn't pay attention in. It was mostly spent catching up on homework that I'd already completed one evening while the team went on patrol, so I discreetly gave the boys the answers while the teacher was looking the other way.
We met the others in the cafeteria for morning tea, where Lloyd immediately pulled me into the seat beside him and dropped his head on my shoulder. We ate, we laughed, we talked about whatever crossed our minds. The perfect lie of normal teenagers.
Everything was going smoothly. Everything was normal and fine and sure, people stared a little more than usual - probably because of Aaliyah that morning - but it was difficult to pay attention to them when Lloyd had my total focus as he made me snort at stupid jokes. It almost felt as if there wasn't a huge target on my head.
