After we came home from the dance, Lloyd and I went straight to bed. As much fun as we had, we were exhausted. We didn't even bother to change out of our clothes. Lloyd just threw his jacket off to the side and we both took our ties off and that was as much effort that we were going to put in for the night. We both flop down on the bed and turn to look each other in the eye. We both smile and giggle a bit at each other.
"I can't believe everything that happened today," Lloyd smiles with a tired, drowsy look.
"I can't either," I smile back at him until my expression slowly fades to a neutral stare, "but I'm worried."
"About what?"
"About what happens when we go back to school on Monday," I sigh, "you know everyone there is going to want to kick our asses, right? The two most hated guys at school are a couple. We're an easy target. I know I said I don't care what other people think... but I'm scared about you getting hurt..."
"We're ninja," Lloyd cracks a small smirk, "I think we can handle ourselves."
"Yeah, well you and I both know you don't know how to stand up for yourself. You have no problem protecting others but you wont even protect yourself," I say with a crack in my voice.
"Well... then I can protect you and you can protect me," he laughs lightly.
I giggle at him and we just stare into each other's eyes for a while. For as dismissive as Lloyd is over this whole situation, I'm still worried. But he's happy and I don't want to ruin that for him.
I slowly start to close my eyes and I drift into unconsciousness... let's see what the morning holds...
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
My eyes slowly pop open as I hear the small mumbling of Lloyd's voice in the corner of the room. I hear him laugh a little bit as he continues talking, but my newly woken mind isn't processing the words. I shift a little bit in bed and turn to look at Lloyd. He was on the phone. He looks at me before talking to the person on the phone again.
"Oh, he's actually waking up now," Lloyd cheers, "good morning, babe."
"Who are you talking to this early in the morning?" I ask as I rub my eyes.
"Nya. And it's 2 PM..."
"Oh... why didn't you wake me up?" I groan.
"I dunno. You looked so peaceful," he cooed.
"Mmm..." I just hum in response, still tired.
"Okay, Nya. I gotta go. But we'll definitely be there, don't worry... okay, bye!" Lloyd hangs up the phone and then comes and sits on the bed and looks down at me, still flat on my side with my face almost fully engulfed in the pillow.
"What's going on?" I mumble.
"Nya is inviting us hang out today. Everyone else is going to be there. Ya know, Zane, Jay, Cole. And of course Kai. Because they live together," he chuckles.
"Okay..." I just agree.
"...You look tired," he states.
"I am tired... and now that I'm awake I'm remembering some weird dreams I had..." I huffed.
"What were they about?"
"I dunno... I just remember that they were weird... and you were there... and... Kai I think... and maybe Zane? Agh.. I can't remember," I shrug.
"Well, you better get out of bed. Nya wants us at their place at around five," Lloyd says as he rubs his hand on my shoulder.
"Mmmm..." I hum lightly, "okay."
I roll over and sit up, letting my legs hang over the side of the bed. I arch my back and lift up my arms and yawn as I stretch. It takes me a minute to build up the energy, but I eventually stand up and head for the bathroom. I just brush my teeth, shower, all that junk. I even shaved my face. Something I haven't done in an amount of time that's a bit longer than I'd like to admit.
For some reason, I was feeling pretty confident with myself today. Despite waking up at 2 PM, I feel like I have a nice day ahead of me. Hopefully, anyway.
I guess Koko had gone to work before I'd woken up considering I hadn't seen her around the apartment anywhere. I step back into Lloyd's room and it looks like he had just gotten done getting himself dressed. He was in his usual black pants and plain shirt but he wasn't wearing his jacket.
"Any reason you're not wearing the jacket today?" I ask. I know the jacket has some kind of sentimental importance to him. I just never bothered to ask about it. It's like he never goes without it unless he coordinates some other outfit.
"I dunno... I just... don't know if I need it anymore," he shrugs.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I lean against the doorway as I stare at Lloyd. He stuffs his hands in his pockets as he looks to his jacket that lays gently on his bed.
"I guess my attachment to it is kinda dumb," he sighs.
"If it makes you happy, then keep wearing it. And if it doesn't make you happy then you don't have to. You need to listen to what you want rather than looking too deep into it," I say. And I didn't bother to question why he's so attached to it. I just wanted to be supportive.
"Yeah, but I feel like it's a lot less simple than that..." he stares off for a moment before looking back to me, "it used to be my father's."
"What? How would your dad even fit in that, he has four arms," I stand up straight and walk a little further towards Lloyd.
"Uhh... he didn't always have four arms... Mom said he used to look normal... Like me..." Lloyd pauses.
"So when your mom met him, he was normal? And not an evil warlord?" I ask.
"Umm, I don't know, maybe? She says she has pictures of what he used to look like but I'm not sure what he looked like when they met. I do think about it a lot though... my dad runs through my thoughts a lot more than I'd like to admit," he chuckles nervously.
"Does she still have them? Maybe she has a photo album around here somewhere," I suggest.
"I dunno, (Y/N). Even if she did have one, I'm sure she wouldn't want me snooping around and trying to find it," Lloyd shrugs as he rubs his arm.
"Maybe you can ask about it later. You want to know more about your dad, right?" I try to convince him. I'm curious about his father myself. He's... definitely an interesting character.
"Part of me wants to know more about him. To know why he is the way that he is and why he chose to be... bad... and... sometimes I wonder if his appearance and even his way of thinking are genetic. Mom says he wasn't always a bad guy. So sometimes I worry that something might change in me... I could start to grow another set of arms... or worse. I could start to think the way he does... and I would prove everyone right. I'd be the monster they always say I am," Lloyd takes a deep breath and it almost looks like he's fighting back tears.
"That's always been my worst fear... proving everyone right..." Lloyd hangs his head and kicks his feet off the floor.
"Lloyd, you're not a monster, and you never will be. And no matter what happens, no matter how you look, and yes, that means no matter how many arms you have, I'll always love you. You mean the world to me," I step a little closer.
"Are you sure, though? You never know how you'll really react to something until it really happens..." Lloyd looks up at me with a pained expression.
"Lloyd, you know not to doubt how much I love you. You're the only thing left keeping me going. My mom doesn't care about me, my dad hasn't spoken to me in years, and I never had any friends until you came into my life. You are my everything," I smile softly and he just stares straight at me. I feel like I'm looking straight into his soul and just pouring out everything that's on my mind.
"I owe all of my happiness to you. And I'd never give all of that up, even if you change. Which I doubt will even happen. I mean, what are the odds, right? Wu doesn't look like your dad, which means there had to have been some kind of mix genetics there. And to the full extent of my knowledge, your mom is fully human," I joke.
Lloyd laughs, but awkwardly. He wants to be happy right now but he's having a hard time. And I get it. Everyone has those moments.
We sit in silence for a little bit and then I look at the time, "you ready to head to Nya and Kai's place?" I ask.
"We've still got a little bit of time to kill. Maybe we can leave in about 40 minutes? It's not that long of a walk to their house," Lloyd says.
"So we've got time to do whatever we want?" a small idea pops into my head.
"Yeah, I guess," he nods.
"Then I guess we've got time for this," I smirk before leaning in close to Lloyd and wrapping my arms around his body and pull him into my hold. I look deep into his eyes as his flustered expression grows. I chuckle at his reaction as I just press my lips to his. After our lips connect I can feel his body relax against mine. His arms lay gently on my chest as they're pressed between us. His subtle touch is enough to drive me crazy. I always think about how lucky I am to have him in my life and holding him like this just turns me into a smiling idiot.
I pull away just for a moment and I guide Lloyd over to the bed as we both sit down. He leans back a little as I go to kiss him once more. Our lips together make me feel so happy. I've never been this happy without him. Lloyd truly completes me. I never knew I needed him in my life until he came into it. Everything about us just feels so right.
Lloyd pulls away this time but he seemingly does so just so he can look my in my eyes with those beautiful emerald green globes of his. The more I look at his face the more beautiful it becomes. Eyes shaped like full almonds were wide with excitement and the features of his face complimented his personality well. His face is soft, yet well defined, just like him. Words couldn't even describe the feeling that wells up in my body every time I look at him.
I wish there was a word to describe pure joy encarnating itself into a physical feeling. Because whatever it is, that's how Lloyd makes me feel.
I feel like I had spaced out for a while but it seems as though Lloyd was guilty of falling into the same trance.
We both snap back to our senses and laugh softly at each other but I still can't help but look at him more. I feel like I had to take some kind of action.
I bring my face to his and briskly touch my lips to his cheek, giving him a small peck. He giggles. Then I do it again and again, peppering little kisses all over his face. I move lower and lower until I start to place little kisses on his neck and eventually I just rest my chin on his shoulder with my mouth still close to his neck.
"I love you," he whispers.
"I love you more," I whisper back with a smile that he couldn't see, but I'm sure he could feel as my lips were so gently pressed onto his soft skin.
I kiss his neck again, but this time with more energy and passion. Then again. And soon I open my mouth with each kiss, carefully marking the same spot on his neck over and over with my saliva.
I stop giving small kisses and just continue with one long, drawn out one. Vigilantly nibbling on his delicate skin as to not hurt him, but still stimulate some kind of feeling. I hear Lloyd's breath become heavy as he starts to stroke his fingers through my hair. His touch was gentle and caring. He made me feel safe.
I had begun to lose track of how long I had been at this for, but I would occasionally bite a little harder than intended and I would earn a small sound out of Lloyd. But I would then back off with the nibbling and just kiss his neck instead. Every so often I could hear him giggle as he twirled his finger around in my hair.
Our encounter had soon been cut short as Lloyd's phone began to ring. Disappointedly, I pull away from Lloyd to allow him to answer.
"Hello?" Lloyd answers the phone as he brings it to his ear.
I couldn't hear the other half of the conversation but Lloyd would occasionally give a simple "yeah," or "mhm," as a reply.
I sat patiently to wait for Lloyd to end the call.
"Alright, we'll see you there," Lloyd says as he hangs up the phone.
"Who was it?" I ask.
"Just Jay. He wanted to know if we were also going to hang out with Kai and Nya since him and Zane were already on their way there," Lloyd explains.
"Why didn't he just text you?" I ask, a little irritated that we were... interrupted.
"We should probably get going anyway. I'd rather be early than late," he says as he gets up off the bed and stretches.
I just follow shortly after. Lloyd and I walk out of his room as he grabs his apartment key off the counter as we head for the door. He stops to lock the door behind him and we head out to walk to Kai and Nya's place. They had texted Lloyd the address and it wasn't really too far of a walk.
Lloyd and I walk hand in hand, knowing that practically everyone in Ninjago City has seen the video of us together at the dance. If you're aware enough to hate Lloyd, you're aware enough to know that I'm his boyfriend and to hate me equally as much. But I don't care. I don't care if I get made fun of or beat up for loving Lloyd because nothing in this world is going to stop me from doing it. And I've been so happy now that we're finally out as a couple, even though it seems that people hate us even more now. I could not give less of a shit about other people's opinions.
Lloyd and I grow closer and closer to Kai and Nya's home. We walk a few more steps and we finally arrive to their doorstep. And just in time because we see Jay and Zane coming from the other direction. I assume Cole is already here or he must be running a little late.
"Hey, guys," I smile and wave at Jay and Zane as they approach the door as well. They wave back and soon, Lloyd knock on the door.
A few seconds pass and Kai answers the door with Nya shortly behind him.
"Hey, dudes! So glad you could make it!" Kai grins as he opens the door wider for us to come in, but soon we hear another voice coming from inside the house.
"Who is it?" A woman's voice comes from inside who I can only assume is their mother.
"Our friends," Nya calls back, " you said we could have a few people over."
Kai and Nya stand still as I can hear the footsteps of the woman come closer to the door.
She looks at the four of us, but mainly focuses on Lloyd and I. She stops and stares at the two of us with a look of pure awe.
"You're kidding, right?" She asks as she turns to Kai and Nya.
"Wh... no... these are our friends," Kai's voice shakes as he nervously answers his mother.
"Lloyd Garmadon is NOT a friend of my children. This has to be some kind of joke. What happened to your friend Chen? He was a nice boy! And, Nya, your friends from basketball? What about them?" She starts grabbing at strings in denial.
"I'm not friends with Chen anymore, mom. Not after all of the things he said about Lloyd and (Y/N)," Kai raises his voice slightly.
"And I... got kicked off the basketball team..." Nya nervously rubs her shoulder as she avoids eye contact with anyone.
"No, I can't believe this. You started hanging out with bad people and now they're ruining your lives! It disgusts me that he's even allowed to go to your school," she snarls.
I feel Lloyd's grip on my hand tighten and his hand becomes hot and sweaty. I look over to him and he grits his teeth as he cringes at her words. I know he gets this a lot but I also know it hurts him more than anyone else could possibly imagine.
"I-I can leave, you guys can just hang out without me," Lloyd stutters as he tries to walk away but I keep my grip on his hand and pull him back closer to me.
"No, you don't need to go," Nya stops him, "we can all just go somewhere else." Nya looks back at her mother with a look of both anger and disappointment.
"No, you're not going anywhere, you step right back into this house, Nya," their mother calls again. But Kai and Nya persist as they walk out the door and off the porch.
"Lloyd, we can go to your place if that's okay," Kai suggests.
"Kai! Nya! Get back here!"
The two just ignore the shouting of their mother.
"Uh- Yeah! We can do that if you want," Lloyd nods as we start to walk down the street in the direction we came.
"Just wait until your dad hears about this!" Their mother shouts one last time as she slams the door. Kai and Nya just groan and roll their eyes.
"I'm sorry," Lloyd says as he hangs his head.
"What do you have to be sorry for? If anything, we should apologize. We're so sorry that she treated you like this... we didn't expect anything like this to happen- normally she's really accepting to new people," Nya explains.
"I'm just... sorry. Sorry that I'm the way that I am. Sorry that I'm the son of Garmadon..." Lloyd cringes.
"Don't ever apologize for being who you are. We wouldn't like you any other way!" Kai nudges Lloyd with a smirk and Lloyd just smiles back. I can tell Lloyd faked the smile. I know he has a lot of self doubt that can't be over shadowed by just a few words, though I'm sure he appreciated them.
"We better tell Cole where to meet us now since this... change in plans, right?" Jay suggest.
I nod my head and pull out my phone to text Cole the new plans. I gave him Lloyd's address and then shoved my phone back in my pocket. I was caught off guard when I noticed Lloyd staring at me as we walk.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" I smile.
"Sorry," Lloyd blushes as he looks down at his feet, "you just look so... adorable when you're focused on something," he laughs nervously.
"That's gay," I playfully shove him as our hands are still locked together.
We hadn't let go of each other since we left his apartment. It just felt right.
Soon we'd approached Lloyd's apartment building again and we made our way in and up the stairs. Lloyd pulls the key out of his pocket, unlocks the door and makes way for everyone to come in.
"Nice place," Zane cheers.
"Thanks, you wanna see our room?" Lloyd asks.
He says "our room" when it's really just his. I know he's been letting me stay here for a while but... it doesn't feel right with him calling it that. It makes me feel like I'm just taking everything he has to offer me with nothing in return.
Lloyd guides them down the small hallway to his room and he pushes open the door. The side of the bed that Lloyd sleeps on was neatly put together with his slippers sitting on the floor next to the bed in an orderly manner and the rest of his belongings neatly placed around the room. My side of the bed, however was messy as the blanket was thrown around carelessly, followed by piles of my clothes on the floor next to it. The more I look at the sight the more disappointed I am in myself for just making myself at home in someone else's living space and trashing it as I would my own.
"So you guys both live here or something?" Kai asks.
"Well... kinda... not really," I unspecifically reply, "I've been staying here for a while because of my mom."
"Because of what happened when you were in the hospital?" Kai pushes his questions further.
"No... I've been here since before that..." I sigh as I stare off at my own feet.
"Have you been back home since?" He asks more.
"No..."
"Isn't your mom worried about you? Does she even know where you are?" This time Jay starts throwing questions.
"No- Can we not talk about that please?" I shake a little where I stand and Jay and Kai look away as if they were trying to brush off my response.
I've just made the whole mood of the room so awkward but I didn't mean to. But it's like the more I think of my mother the more infuriated I become. She's just become a source of toxic emotions and feelings in my life for so long and I don't know how to handle it.
I try my best to ignore my negative thoughts but the more I ignore them the worse they get. I try to brush it off just once more as I sit on Lloyd's bed and he joins me. The others sit on the floor or on pillows that happened to be spread around the room.
We sit down and engage in small conversation for a few minutes until we hear a knock at the door.
"Must be Cole, I'll get it!" Lloyd cheers. He gets up off the bed and happily walks off down the hallway. He seemed to have gotten himself in a better mood by being surrounded by our friends.
I sigh as he walks off and the others must have picked up on my emotions because Kai turns to me and asks "what's up?"
"I guess I'm just worried about Lloyd sometimes. The way people treat him and stuff. He tells me he's fine a lot but I don't think he tells me half the things that go on in his mind," I explain.
"Yeah..." he cringes, "sorry about our mom."
"No, it's not your fault. And it's not anything he doesn't hear every day. He hears it at school a lot but even when he's just walking down the street, people seem so afraid. And if they're not afraid they try to mess with him by tripping him or saying things to him. I just wish things were easier for him. I would give everything to make his life easier."
Kai acted as though he was about to respond until Lloyd came back into the room with Cole coming shortly behind him.
"Sorry I was a little late. I was already on my way to Kai and Nya's place when I got the message to come here," Cole laughs nervously.
"Yeah, we had a... change in plans. Sorry," Lloyd apologizes.
"That's okay. I'm just glad I can hang out with you anyway. I had to beg my dad to even let me leave the house," Cole shrugs.
"Why?" I ask.
"Uh, well," Cole starts, "he's pretty strict. One of the reasons I've never really had friends up until this point was because of my dads rules. No one was ever allowed over to my place and I was never allowed anywhere else. I don't know why he's so uptight about that kind of stuff. And every time I did manage to make friends we'd end up moving and I'd have to change school so I guess I just stopped trying. But I'm glad I met you guys."
"Man, that's weird," Jay bumps into the conversation, "has he always been like that?"
"He has been for a long time. Ever since my mom died he blocks everyone out and expects me to do the same. Sometimes I feel like he's blocking me out, too," Cole sighs as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall.
The room goes silent for a second.
"Oh- I'm sorry I just made everything about me, that's my bad," Cole stutters nervously.
"No, that's okay. We're your friends, we're here to listen," Lloyd says.
"Thanks. It means a lot. I've never had anyone just... listen," Cole gives a warm smile.
He sits down on the floor next to Kai and they smile at each other.
"So what have you guys been up to lately?" Lloyd asks.
"Not much," Nya begins, "but..." she stops for a second and stares Lloyd down, "it looks like you've been up to something," she grins.
"What?"
"You've got a little something on your neck," she replies with that same look on her face.
Lloyd still stares on in confusion but I look over and notice a medium sized bruise on his neck still dented with the imprints of my teeth.
"Oh my God..." I murmur.
"What is it?" Lloyd impatiently questions.
"You've got a hickey, dude," Kai says as he tries to keep his laughter to himself.
"What? Seriously?" Lloyd whines.
"That would be my bad," I shrug.
"What did you guys do before we got here?" Cole asks.
"What does it look like?" I joke.
"Not funny! What if my mom sees this?" Lloyd whispers almost as if he's trying to hide something even though all of us know.
"What do you mean? She already knows we're dating. No big deal."
"What if she thinks there's more than this? What if she thinks we did... 'other stuff?'"
I laugh, "you worry too much. Also we all know what sex is. No need to censor yourself."
"(Y/N)!" Lloyd shouts as he shoves me.
As much as Lloyd worries, he is kind of cute when he's got that embarrassed look on his face.
Actually...
He's cute all of the time.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Ah
Hello.
It seems as though it's been half a year since I've updated. And I apologize for keeping you all waiting for so long. I've been under a lot of stress with a family member of mine being in and out of the hospital, as for myself also having physical health issues. But I've always had physical health issues so I guess that's no excuse. I really am sorry for going on such a long, unannounced hiatus. I didn't even know I was going to take that long to return. All I have to say right now is that I hope you all liked the chapter and there is no guarantee on when the next one will be up, or when I'll be updating my other books. I guess being an adult is hard or something? Idk I never signed up for this.
Anyway since we're here I might as well tell you guys some of my plans for this book. Sadly, we're a little over three quarters of the way through. The book is almost over. But there will be a sequel if enough people want it.
Also, I know it's the near end of the month, but happy pride! Hope you enjoyed.