Heyy!!
Before we start, sorry for the cliff hanger. But this chapter will actually be partially in Lloyd's point of view. Anything in italics is Lloyd's POV.
Alright, enjoy!
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I had sat silently doing my work for quite some time. It had been a while since (Y/N) had left to use the bathroom but I figured he probably didn't even go to the bathroom. I know he likes to get hall passes just to go and wander the halls for a bit. He says it's a good way to clear his mind. And I don't blame him. He's probably far too stressed right now since it's his first day back. I'd want a break if I were him too.
But another few minutes passed... and then another... I grew quite concerned. Then I hear the door creak open. I look up expecting it to be (Y/N) but instead it's the exact opposite of who I wanted to see.
"Sorry I was late. I was a bit busy," Chen announces as he walks through the door. The teacher just sighs and tells him to take a seat but I can't help but notice something is wrong. As my eyes follow Chen across the room he looks back to me with a smirk.
Now I absolutely know something is wrong.
I walk up to the front desk and hesitantly wait for her to acknowledge me.
"Do you need something?" The teacher asks.
"Uhm.. could I please use the bathroom?" I ask shyly.
"A student is already out," she says referring to (Y/N).
"Yeah, well it's been like twenty minutes," I mumble.
"Hm..." she looks up at the clock. "I'll let you go. And if (Y/N) isn't in the bathroom you need to tell me. We have too many students use bathroom passes just to leave school," she sighs.
"Yes, ma'am," I nod then turn for the door.
I leave the classroom and make my way to the bathroom. I push the heavy bathroom door open and my heart sinks.
"(Y/N)?!" I call out before running over to him.
He was sitting in the corner of the bathroom with his head up against the wall and blood running down his lip and his forehead right above his brow. His eyes fluttered open and closed over and over as if he were barely conscious.
"Ughh..." he groans as he reaches one hand to the back of his head and rubs his head gently before putting his hand in front of his face to see his own fingers coated in blood.
"(Y/N)? What happened?" I ask as I get down on my knees to be nearly eye level with him.
"Lloyd... why are you here?" He mumbles as his eyes are barely open.
"That doesn't matter right now, what happened? Are you okay? Did Chen do this? I saw him come back to class and I knew something was wrong," I probably talk too quickly for him to comprehend.
"No... I'm fine... I just slipped and hit my head... and I fell down," he says though heavy breath.
"Tell me the truth," I insist that he's lying.
He doesn't say anything in response. His breathing just gets harder and harder.
"Ohmygod- you're not okay," I finally start to break down, "you need to get up."
"No..." (Y/N) huffs, "give me a minute," he struggles to say through his own heavy breathing.
"No. I'm taking you to the nurse right now," I demand.
"What's she gonna do, give me an ice pack?" (Y/N) waves his arm. "Just give me a sec... I'll... I'll be okay..." he says faintly as he rests his head on the wall again.
"No, I've had enough of this," I move closer to him and grab his arm and pull it around my shoulder and slowly stand up. He stumbles at first and the both of us almost fall down but we manage to fully stand up. I try to take him out into the hallway still with him using me as a crutch. He's walking with a limp. I'm assuming because the hole where his chest tube once was is hurting him too much.
"I want to go back to class..." (Y/N) sighs.
"If I take you back to class she's just going to send you to the nurse and you'll probably get sent to the hospital from there. You're not okay," I look at him and he's barely even holding himself up. He still has to use me for support.
"Yes. I know!" He snaps. "If you take me to the nurse, she's going to call my mom! I don't want to see her!" He cries out. I hadn't even thought of that.
"You can't keep hiding from her forever! You'll have to talk to her eventually. This is an emergency!" I yell even though he's right next to me.
He stays silent.
"I know it's hard, (Y/N). I, out of all people, understand the most. I know what it's like to avoid a close family member at all times... you've seen my dad," I lower my voice back to normal.
"Fine... just take me to class first so the teacher knows where we are," he huffs.
"You sure you want everyone to see you like this?" I ask.
"They've seen me worse," he shakes his head.
Guess he's right...
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As I cling to Lloyd's side, we get closer and closer to the classroom. It's still hard to walk because of the sharp pain in my chest but the pain gets slowly more bearable over time.
He knocks on the door and another student opens the door and their first reaction is to gasp in fear of the sight of me covered in blood and barely able to walk.
The teacher notices and looks up at the both of us. Her facial expression quickly changes from calm and content to a fearful look in a matter of seconds.
"(Y/N)? Lloyd?" She stands up and quickly walks to the both of us, "what happened?"
"I fell," I groan as I look up at Chen who is laughing silently to himself. I notice a few other kids have their phones out and are taking pictures but I honestly couldn't care less right now. I just wanna sit down somewhere.
"I'm taking him to the nurse. I just wanted to let you know where we were," Lloyd's voice trembles as he speaks.
"Yes, go," she encourages us.
We turn the other way and luckily the nurse's office wasn't too far away from our classroom. When we enter she had the same reaction as our teacher did. She asked what happened, I lied.
Then she called my mom...
She told her that I would be taken back to the hospital to have my injuries inspected more professionally. I guess the wound from my chest tube had a possibility of opening from the inside. I could be internally bleeding right now... that's... not good.
"Oh, you'd like to speak to him?" I hear the nurse ask my mother over the phone. Great.
She hands me the phone as I sit next to Lloyd.
"Hello," I speak coldly.
"(Y/N), I've been so worried..." she mumbles, "why haven't you come home?" She asks but I can barely even hear any emotion in her voice. It's as if she's asking because she feels obligated to and not because she actually cares.
"Tsk..." I snicker, "you've been worried? Then why haven't you tried to call me even once? Why haven't you tried to get ahold of me at all?"
"...(Y/N)..." she whispers my name.
"Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it. I've been staying with Lloyd. His family cares about me more than you ever have," I say with a tone of impatients.
"You know that's not true..."
"Do I?"
We go silent and the nurse and Lloyd both have an uncomfortable look on their face. Neither of them have any idea what's being said on the other line but I know the nurse probably has no idea what's going on and she probably thinks I'm being a complete dickhead to my mom for no reason.
"Don't even bother trying to talk to me anymore if you're just going to tell me something I've heard from you time and time again. It's not worth it," I finally spit before handing the phone back to the nurse without even making eye contact with her. My eyes stay glued on my shoes as I sit and think about what just happened.
Lloyd has nothing to say. He just places a gentle hand on my back as my eyes clench closed and I feel my tears start to well up. I cover my eyes with my hands to try and cover up the fact that I'm crying even though it's extremely obvious. I don't know how long I sat like that for but after a minute I looked up to see the nurse hovering over me.
"You should be transferred to the hospital soon. You need to get checked out by your doctor. An ambulance should be here soon. But don't worry. It's not as scary as it seems," she tries to comfort me because she probably assumed this would be my first time in an ambulance. You know, that's a reasonable assumption to make. Most normal teenagers should never have to be in an ambulance. But here I am.
I just nod in response. I really didn't have the energy to even talk right now especially after what just happened.
"You can go back to class now," she looks to Lloyd.
"Uhm... could I stay here with him?" He mumbles.
"You'd be missing out on class."
"I know..." Lloyd sighs then looks to me. "I texted my mom. She should meet you at the hospital. And hopefully she'll come back here and pick me up so I can see you..."
I just nod again.
"I need to get back to class..." he stands up and hesitantly walks to the door.
"Wait..." I call out.
Lloyd stops and looks at me.
"I love you," I say, still looking down at my shoes.
Did I really just tell Lloyd I love him in front of another person?
Fuck.
"I..." Lloyd looks to the nurse and then to me. He was clearly surprised by what I'd said.
"I love you too."
Lloyd smiles and leaves the room.
I sigh and sit back in my chair and cringe at the small bit of pain that rushes through my side.
"You two must be really good friends," the nurse says.
"Hah..." I chuckle, "yeah I'd even go as far as to say we're best friends," I say sarcastically but it just flies right over her head.
"I worry about Lloyd..." the nurse begins.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask as I look up at her with a furrowed brow.
"Well... all of the faculty knows he gets bullied. We have entire meetings about him..." she sighs.
"Really?"
"Mhm..." she nods.
"Then why does it seem like none of the teachers ever do anything about it?" I ask as I lean forward a bit, letting my elbows rest on my knees.
"Some teachers take it less seriously than others. There are some members of the faculty who are just as unfond of him as some of the students..." she looks away. "It's a shame that he's the biggest target at this school. He seems like a sweet boy."
"So... you really have whole meetings just discussing Lloyd? What would you even talk about?" My voice raises slightly.
"We try to monitor him as best we can... to make sure no one is hurting him or bullying him, but... after what happened with the whole black eye case, you can tell that some teachers don't care as much as others..." she mumbles, "I'm sure you know more than anyone that he has a lot of problems... some of the teachers have found some notes he's written to himself. Calling himself names and such. Bullying can do a lot to a student's mental health and we try not to let it get too bad but there's really not much we can do half of the time..."
I silently take in everything she's telling me. She's probably not supposed to tell students this stuff but I think she understands that Lloyd and I are close and I wouldn't go spewing this information to anyone else. I began to stare off for a second and not even realize how long I had lost my focus for.
"So what exactly happened to you? I didn't even ask how you got hurt," she starts.
"I fell."
Silence.
"Are you sure?" She crosses her arms.
"Yeah."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Within what felt like hours I was taken to the hospital to have my wounds looked at more carefully. None of my preexisting wounds had opened, thankfully. They were just agitated. The marks Chen made on my face, however, the doctors took pretty seriously. I told them I felt fine but they still gave me a whole procedure to follow to keep the wounds "safe" and to help them heal faster.
I'm tired of waiting around to get better. I just want to get over this and finally be useful again...
After we had gotten back to Lloyd's place, I sat silently on Lloyd's bed, lost in my own thoughts. Lloyd had walked off somewhere and I was too zoned out to take notice of it. That is until he entered the room again.
"Hey, (Y/N). You up for a walk?" He asks as he leans gingerly on the wall.
"A walk? Right now?" I look up at him.
"Well, yeah. The doctor said it was good for you to get out and walk. And I know you've got a lot on your mind. Maybe a walk together could help," he proposes.
"I guess I could go for a walk,"I stand up.
"Good," Lloyd smiles as he walks to the door with me. He has his bag with him but I don't question it.
We exit the apartment building and just stroll down the sidewalk. I dont know where we're going but I just go wherever Lloyd goes. Soon we walk just a little bit past the main center of the city. It was still within city limits but it was right on the edge. There were a few hills and trees and lots of grass. Which you don't see much of unless you go to the park. Ninjago is a very densely packed city. Buildings up against buildings with no space left between for nature.
"What are we doing out here?" I ask as I continue following Lloyd.
"Nothing really," he looks up to the sky and smiles faintly. "Why? Did you want to take a break?"
"Well, no, we don't have to," I shake my head.
"Really? I think we should sit down over here," Lloyd points over to one of the largest trees in the area that sat on top of a hill.
"Alright, then," I shrug as he wanders off and I trail behind him. Walking up the small hill was a bit more of a hassle than I'd like to admit it to be. But I conceal my heavy breathing and I manage my way to the top.
Lloyd sat down in the soft grass and sat his bag beside him. The wind wasn't blowing very hard but it was enough to make his hair blow gently, and enough to send a certain feeling through my body that I couldn't quite describe. My emotions have always somewhat been impacted by the weather and mostly the wind. I guess I'm the wind ninja for a reason.
I stand in front of Lloyd who had already made himself comfortable on the ground. I'm not sure why, but I was hesitant to join him.
"Aren't you gonna sit with me?" He asks as he looks up at me with bright green eyes.
"Yeah," I finally come to my senses and sit next to him.
I was cautious to sit on the ground. The most contact I've actually ever made with soil is in the Ninjago City park where people would clean up often and the grass was well trimmed. I guess I've never come into contact with real, raw nature. I can see why Lloyd would lead me to a place like this. It just radiates his type of energy. It has its imperfections but it's far too beautiful to deny its appeal.
I stare off at the sky. It was as blue as ever with white fluffy clouds in patches with the sun showing brightly behind them. I then feel a sudden weight put on my shoulder. I look over and see Lloyd has rested his head gently against me. I smile and lay my head on his. Lloyd then grabs ahold of my hand and connects our fingers.
"It's pretty out here, isn't it?" He asks as we both have our attention on the clouds.
"Mhmm..." I hum.
"I've come out here hundreds of times to relieve myself of stress... but now that you're here with me... it's like the whole place is complete now," he says as he shifts his body to be more snug against mine. I didn't look at his face but I could tell just by his tone that he was smiling.
"I think it's perfect. Thank you for bringing me here," I turn my head slightly to bring my lips to the top of his head and kiss him gently.
"I love you so much," he says and I can feel his grip tighten.
"I love you, too, Lloyd."
The both of us sit like this for a few minutes just letting our stress and problems melt away. It's like I could completely forget all about the rest of Ninjago City from being out here.
But after a while, Lloyd breaks the silence. "I have something for you," he says gently as he scoots away to grab his bag and our hands break their lock.
He digs around in his bag and pulls out two sandwiches, both in their own little plastic baggies. He hands one to me.
"I made us lunch. I thought it would be nice if we could eat out here," he blushes. I smile and take the sandwich.
"Thank you, Lloyd," I simply say. My heart just melts at the small gesture. He's so cute I could die.
We both just smile at each other as we eat. Then a look comes across Lloyd's face as if he has something to say. He swallows his mouth full of sandwich and begins to speak.
"So..." he starts quietly, "is this like... our first official date?"
"A date? You mean like... a real date?" I ask.
"Well, yeah," he shrugs.
"Do you want to consider this our first date?" I ask with a smile.
"If you want to..." he blushes as he mumbles.
"Then, yeah. This is our first date," I laugh. "Too bad I have to look like such a mess on our first date," I joke. The doctor had put a big bandage on my forehead where Chen had knocked my face into the sink. I had planned to take it off when we left the hospital but I complelte forgot it was there. It's not the preferred attire for a date.
"Well, it's not like we're at some fancy candle lit dinner. This is more fun, I think. We're just out here alone with no one to bother us," Lloyd smiles and takes the last bite of his food.
"And since we're alone," I smirk, "you know what that means?" I lean in real close as I hover over him.
"Wh-what does it mean?" Lloyd's face becomes a deep red as he looks into my eyes.
"It means no one's around to see me do this," I laugh as I crumble up the plastic bag that my sandwich was in and throw it to the side. "What were you expecting?" I ask as I'm fully aware that Lloyd thought this was going in a different direction.
"I..." Lloyd's face is still left a dark red and I just look at him and laugh.
"Oh, I see. You were expecting something like this," I smile before bringing my lips to his and giving him a quick kiss.
Lloyd just smiles as our lips part and he pulls his hood up over his face to cover his growing blush.
"I hate you," he says jokingly.
"Does that mean you don't want me to do it again?" I smirk.
"I never said that," he peaks his eyes out of his hood.
"Alright then," I smile and go in for another kiss. This time it lasts much longer. I wrap my arms around his waist and he hums as he melts into the kiss. I rub my hands up and down his back as he positions himself to be a little more comfortable, almost climbing into my lap. We part just for a small fraction of a second to take a quick breath before connecting lips once again. Lloyd parts his lips slightly and I take this as an opportunity to let my tongue roam free in his mouth and he does the same. Our breathe becomes heavy between each other's faces and I can feel the heat from his cheeks on my own skin. I then feel Lloyd wrap his arms around my neck, then move his hands to roughly guide through my hair.
Lloyd's small hums grow a little louder and I feel his lips curve up into a smile and I hear him giggle ever so slightly even through our connected lips. He stops running his fingers through my hair and starts to bring his hands down lower and lower in my body until he begins to run his hands on my chest. He was extra cautious to not touch my healing wounds. It's like he was being both rough and gentle at the same time if that's even possible. He makes me feel safe in moments like these.
Once again, we break the kiss but only for a small gasp of air. I hear him inhale with a little more intensity this time before going back in again to the rough motion of our lips. His hands go even lower on my body before reaching the bottom of my hoodie. He slips a hand underneath the fabric and then runs his hands in between my hoodie and my shirt. It was such a sudden action that I gasp a small bit from the surprise. It's definitely unexpected. Especially from someone like Lloyd. He's so shy and timid and I would have never expected him to do something as bold as slipping a hand up my shirt.
He runs his hand up and down, still being cautious of my wounds. He doesn't go any further than that but I enjoyed the feeling. He parts his lips from mine and then nuzzles his face into my chest, still with his hand under my hoodie. I hear him breathe a little heavier as if he had to catch his breath afterwards.
Lloyd's body lays snugly against my own as he gives me a small kiss on the neck. I just wrap my arms firmly around him and hold him as close as I could.
"Thank you," he whispers.
"For what?"
"For being here with me. For being with me for so long... thank you for everything you've done for me," he says still with his face buried in my chest as his voice is muffled by my clothing.
I just laugh a small bit as I gently pet his hair.
I'll always stand by the fact that I think Lloyd is far too good for me. I'd never expect someone as smart, cute, and amazing as him to settle for someone like me. I know he'd probably have a lot more people interested in him if it weren't for his father.
"I have something else I want to show you," he says as he looks up at me.
"What's that?" I ask.
"Follow me," he says as he gets up and holds out a hand for me to take to help me off the ground. I grab hold of his hand and he yanks me off the ground. I always forget how strong he is. He doesn't look like he'd be strong enough to be a ninja but he very much is.
Lloyd picks his bag up off the ground and begins walking back in the direction of the city. I just walk closely next to him and take his hand in mine as there's no one around to see us. It takes us a while before we reach the more densely populated area of the city. And we had stopped holding hands a few minutes before reaching the general center of the city. Even after we're far into the city he continues to walk in the same direction. It's like he's taking me from one side of the city all the way to the other. Which is a very long walk but I really dont mind walking that far by his side.
Every now and then I have to stop and catch my breath. I'm probably not supposed to be walking this much but it doesn't bother me too bad.
After a minute it becomes apparent where he's taking me; the docks. I don't know what was all the way out here that he wanted to show me but I still manage to stick by his side.
Lloyd walks up to the warehouse that we train in and that the mechs are stored. Before sliding the door open just far enough for the both of us to squeeze through.
"What did you wanna show me?" I ask as I enter the warehouse.
Lloyd says nothing. He only flips on the lights. It was quite blinding at first but as my vision returned to normal I observe my surroundings. Everything looked to be in order until I noticed something different in a particular corner.
"What..?" My jaw drops slightly as I take in the sight.
"Well? What do you think?" Lloyd asks.
What lies before me is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen and a long time dream come true.
"Is that..?"
"Your own mech, yeah," Lloyd smiles wide.
It was a large purple jet with a 'W' painted on the side. Presumably standing for 'wind.' The jet has two cannons on the side, just like the blueprints Lloyd had shown me forever ago. But this was better than the blueprints.
"I..." I'm still left mostly speechless, "how did you have the time to make this?"
"We'd been working on it since you were in the hospital. It was mostly Jay and Nya who made the whole thing a reality but everyone pitched in to help. Everyone else really stepped up since I was visiting you mostly and I didn't really have much time to stop in. The others actually just finished it up yesterday and I thought today would be a good time to show you," Lloyd explains.
"No way..." I'm still left amazed, "this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!" I walk up to it.
"You wanna get inside?" He smirks.
"Can I?" I get all giddy.
"Of course," Lloyd nods as he guides me up to the cockpit.
I get in the pilot's seat and observe the inside. There are very minimal buttons and controls. They were all labeled as to what they do.
"How am I supposed to fly this thing? I've never even drove a car. Well, legally, that is," I chuckle nervously.
"It's actually pretty easy. Jay is amazing at what he does so whenever you put him in charge of figuring out the controls, you know it's going to be pretty easy to get the hang of," Lloyd says as he hovers over me. "Think of it like playing a video game."
"When will I be ready to fly it?" I ask.
"I'm sure that by the next time we'll need to use our mechs you should just be able to jump right in and go from there," he says.
"Really? It's that easy?" I raise a brow at him.
"It's that easy," he confirms.
"I... I don't know what to say... this is amazing... thank you," I look up at him.
"Don't thank me, thank everyone else who put their time into this," Lloyd shrugs.
"I will," I smile and give him a small hug before hopping out of the jet.
"We should probably get back home. My mom is probably wondering where we are," he brushes his hair fo the side.
"Okay," I nod and we walk off back to the apartment.
Today is probably one of the best days of my life. So far, that is.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Hey, everyone. Again, sorry for the hold up with the chapter. It's just that this chapter ended up being a little longer than expected. I hope you like the little fluffy bits I threw in there. (Y/N) isn't suffering all the time.