Sorry, this took a while. I had a lot going on. Anyways, the next one shot after this one will be from Sensei's point of view! Have a good day, or night, depending on when you're reading this, and get ready for Glacier shipping!
Zane P.o.v
I stood in the kitchen, staring at the oven. I heard someone come into the kitchen. The footsteps were heavy. Probably Cole. The door opened and closed again, but I couldn't hear any footsteps. It must be Lloyd. He's super good at sneaking up on people. He doesn't realize it though.
"What are you looking at?" I don't respond. "Zane?" I smile. I have my back to them, so they can't see it. Cole sighs and leaves. I sit down on the floor. Suddenly, Lloyd's face pops into my vision. I jump.
"Lloyd! You scared me. My hearing must be failing me." He laughs. Plopping down next to me, he asks "What are you looking at?" The oven beeps. I stand and motion for Lloyd to move. He does. I pull the cake out of the oven. He smiles.
"Don't tell Cole. It's for his birthday tomorrow." Lloyd nods. I put the cake on the counter to cool. Kai runs through the kitchen.
"HE'S COMING!" Kai shouted. Lloyd opened an empty cupboard and helped me hide the cake. Cole came back to the kitchen. Kai followed close behind. Cole came right up to me, his nose was two inches from mine.
"What are you hiding from me?" My eyes widen. His tone was calm and collected, but still accusatory.
"N-nothing." Lloyd and Kai seem surprised by my stuttering. I don't think I've ever stuttered in front of them.
"I believe you. But only you." Cole whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. A blush lightly dusts my face. Cole pulls away. He smirks at me when he sees my face. "See ya later." Cole turns and exits the room. Kai hurries after him. I sigh and grab the cake again.
"Will you help me frost this?" Lloyd looks at me. Lloyd's eyes always show his emotion, and he hates it, but right now he looks nervous.
"I would, but I'm worthless when it comes to doing anything in the kitchen. I was never taught how." I walk over to him.
"I can teach you, if you'd like, of course." Lloyd nods. "Wonderful. Now, let's get to work." Lloyd helps me frost the cake. I teach him basic things as we go. I can tell Lloyd really likes this. Maybe I'll ask him to help me make supper tonight. We finish up and hide the cake in the cupboard again.
"Thanks for helping me." Lloyd smiles.
"Any time." We hear Kai calling for Lloyd. Lloyd wanders off, probably to piss them off. He has that glint in his eyes that he gets when he's about to piss some people off. He really likes pissing us off. I wander outside and watch the sun sink lower in the sky. I sit down on the railing. Sensei doesn't like when we do, in case we fall. But the Bounty is parked, and he disappeared last week, saying he had to do something. He seemed upset. I lean back on the support pillar. The door opens and closes. Cole walks over to me.
"Mind if I sit here? Lloyd managed to piss everyone off. He beat his own record." I smiled. That did sound like Lloyd.
"You may sit here if you'd like." He sits down next to me. He's sitting close enough for me to feel his body heat. We sit in silence for a bit.
"What were you doing? Sitting out here alone, I mean." I shift.
"I was watching the sunset."
"Oh." We watch the sun start to set. Partway through, he slides closer. I don't think he meant to though. The sun finally sets, and the chirping birds give way to the crickets. The last of the sun's rays disappear, one ray of light lingering on Cole's face. The light fades, and the dim glow of fireflies takes over. Cole starts to fidget, and I quietly scan him. He's growing increasingly nervous. I'm about to ask him what's wrong when he starts talking.
"You what's pretty this time of year? The sunset. Do you know what's pretty all year? The sunset. Do you know what's prettier than the sunset? You." Cole says, an odd expression on his face. I blush very suddenly. He does too. "Sorry, I should not have said that. I should not have said that." He moves to leave. I block his exit. Cole ducks his head. I lift it back up. I like to study people's eyes. Cole's and Lloyd's in particular. Their eyes both look like tiny planets. I study Cole's eyes now. His eyes look dirt brown at a glance, but they're actually a deep leather brown, with hints of dirt and chestnut brown. They definitely have flecks of hazel in them, though. He finally meets my eyes.
"Don't go. I don't want you to leave." I say. Cole looks tormented. He sighs.
"Please don't hate me." He says quietly. I open my mouth to ask him to repeat himself, but he leans forward and kisses me. My eyes widen for a second before I finally relax. I lean into him and wrap my arms around his neck. He breaks away.
"What time is it?" I hold up my watch. 8:30. "We should get to bed." He nods.
"Agreed." He picks me up. I squeal in shock.
"Let me down!" He laughs.
"Never." He carries me to my bed. Everyone is in bed, which is surprising. They usually stayed up late when Sensei was gone. Cole places me in bed and curls up next to me. The lights are off, and I'm getting comfortable. He's so warm, and before I know it, I'm asleep.
__________________________________Time Skip_____________________________________
I shiver awake. I'm suddenly cold again. Where did Cole go? As if reading my thoughts, he says,
"I'm still here. Don't worry." I roll over to find him. Cole gets up from the chair he was sitting in and walks over to me. He reaches out and picks me up. He holds me up, and I wrap my arms around his back. He tilts his head and looks me in the eyes.
"What time is it?" Cole laughs.
"Don't worry, you didn't oversleep. It's 6:30." I shift my weight. I need to be downstairs at seven. Cole holds me closer. He sits down on the bed. I look at him.
"I need to take a shower. Is that okay?" Cole asks. I nod. He kisses me on my forehead and leaves. I jump out of bed. I need to get dressed. My clothes are all wrinkly and dirty. I get dressed and hurry downstairs. 6:45. I made it. Good. I enter the kitchen and see Lloyd sitting there.
"What's up, Lloyd?" His head jerks up.
"N-nothing." I notice the way he keeps his head tilted away from me. I walk around the counter to check on the cake. His face looks red. Lloyd gets up and grabs some cereal. I pretend not to notice how he's crying. I walk over to him.
"Let me know if you need to talk." I head over to the entertainment room. I sit down and grab a book. I make it one chapter in before Lloyd comes out and sits next to me. I set the book down. Lloyd hugs me. Lloyd tends to hug people when upset. It was a little confusing at first when we would be talking and Lloyd would just walk up to us and hug someone, but we got used to it. Lloyd's body started shaking when he started crying harder. I hug him back.
"Would you like to talk now?" He nods. I can feel his tears soaking my clothes.
"I-I was just thinking about Sensei, and then I started crying, but I didn't want to wake Kai up." His voice breaks off.
"Why were you thinking about Sensei?" I know Lloyd. He might hug you if he's upset, but he hates talking about his feelings and will wait for someone to ask instead.
"I was just thinking about when I had my nightmares." He shifts his weight. Pulling him closer, I say,
"I'm sure he loves you. Maybe he was shocked, or maybe he didn't think you were old enough yet. I'm sure he had his reasons." Lloyd's calmed down but still crying. I let go of him and stand up. He watches me. I grab a movie that has never failed to make him cry and start playing it. As I sit down I say.
"So no one will know." He smiles at me. About halfway through the movie, Lloyd falls asleep and Cole comes downstairs. God, he takes long showers. He notices Lloyd's tear-stained face, tensing, but relaxes when he sees the movie playing. he crosses the room and sits down next to me. He rests his head on my shoulder. I feel him tracing his fingers up and down my arm. I love how that feels. His hand is hovering above my thigh. Slowly, he puts it down. Suddenly, I'm on his lap, with his arms around my waist.
"Cole? What are you doing?" He grins.
"You're so irresistible!" He exclaims. He's leaning toward me. "I wish I could just, just, Arh!" Cole leans forward and kisses me. I make a surprised muffled sound. Lloyd stirs next to us. Cole's hands start working their way up my shirt. Without breaking the kiss, I pull his hands off me. He ends the kiss, frowning.
"Later." I gesture to Lloyd, who's starting to wake up.
"You guys should have kept going!" We both snap our heads around. We see the rest of the ninjas standing there. I blush instantly. Cole rolls his eyes and starts kissing me again.
"Gross." Jay's voice calls out. We turn in time to see Kai smack the back of his head.
"Now you know how we feel when you kiss Nya." Jay rolls his eyes. I pull away.
"I should make breakfast now." Everyone nods and agrees. I make pancakes. We haven't had them in a while. Coming back out, I hand out plates. I sit next to Cole, and he holds my plate while I wake Lloyd. He finally wakes up, and I'm happy to see he looks happier. Lloyd sits up and takes the plate. He rubs his eyes. I take my plate back from Cole and sit down. We all eat in silence.
"What time is it?" Lloyd breaks the silence, obviously still tired.
"7:20," I tell him.
"Thanks." He stretches.
"No problem." I nod. Lloyd yawns and reaches for Kai. As Kai crosses the room, I turn to Cole.
"Should we go for a walk?" I ask him. Cole tilts his head a bit.
"Why?" Cole can be very dense at times. I stand up.
"We could use the fresh air." I don't tell him it's actually because the others need time to set up his surprise birthday party.
"Fine." I stalk to the closet and pull out our coats. I throw his coat at him.
"Hurry up," I tell him, anxious to get going. He looks me dead in the eye and starts to very slowly put on his coat. I roll my eyes.
"Oooooooh, Zane rolled his eyes. You're in trouble now!" Jay's voice calls out. I roll my eyes again. Lloyd comes over to me. He hugs me.
"I know. They can be super annoying." I smile. "Hey, I don't think I've said thanks yet. So, thanks for helping me earlier." He adds the last part in a whisper. He heads back to Kai. Cole comes over to me. He's finally ready. I open the door.
"Come on, Cole." I walk out the door. Cole hurries to keep up. The cool morning air messes with my hair. Cole matches my pace, and I turn to look at him. The gentle breeze moves the hair out of his eyes.
"Come here," Cole says, pulling on my arm. I move a little closer, but Cole pulls me over and wraps his arm around my back. His hand rests on my hip, guiding me to a clearing a little bit off the path. He sits down against a tree, forcing me to do the same. He gently places my head on his shoulder, and I blush slightly. I close my eyes. I hear Cole start humming something. I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly my phone went off. It was a weather alert. I shift and look at Cole. Somehow, he fell asleep. I shake him awake.
"Cole, we have to head back. It's supposed to start raining." I say softly. He groans awake.
"Do we have to?" I suppress a smile. I knew what he was doing, and he wouldn't win.
"Yes." I pull him up. "The sky's already clouding over. Hurry up." I tug him along impatiently. He starts moving a little quicker. When we finally get back, it's starting to sprinkle.
"I wonder why the sky's sad. Probably because you're being a meanie." Cole says. We enter the Bounty laughing. I lead him inside and he stops in the doorway.
"Wow." That is all he says. The Ninja has really outdone themselves. The whole place is decorated for a party. Lloyd walks over.
"Where are the others?" Cole asks, still looking around. Lloyd wraps Cole in a hug.
"Happy birthday! I'm not sure where the others disappeared to." Lloyd says happily. This is all part of the plan. Cole walks into the living room.
"They left about an hour ago. They should be here right about now." There. Right there was the code word. The rest of the Ninja pops out from various hiding places.
"Happy birthday!" They all say together. Cole laughs. Nya grabs his hand and drags him to the kitchen.
"Come on, come on, you have to open your presents!" Nya has always loved birthdays. And parties. And birthday parties. Everyone slowly wanders to the kitchen. Nya is standing there impatiently. When everyone is there, she starts Cole on opening presents.
----------------------------------------------------Time Skip-------------------------------------------------------
That night, when everyone went to bed, Cole came into my room.
"Zane? I have a problem." I sit up in bed.
"What is the problem?" Cole moves closer, sitting on my bed.
"I'm cold. Will you help me warm up?" A smile is slowly growing on Cole's face.
"How?" He moved closer.
"Like this." He climbs under the covers, moving next to me. I blush. Damn, he's good at making moves. He snuggles against me. I absent-mindedly start messing with his hair.
"Is this okay?" He whispered.
"Yes," I say, nodding. "This is most comfortable."
"Good." We lay like that for a while. Eventually, we drift to sleep, my hand still messing with his hair. I don't usually dream, but tonight, I dreamed a happy dream. It was my first dream in over a year.