Chapter II

A/N: Well here goes Chapter II. I believe season 8 will air on the 20th? Hopefully, anyway! I wanted to get this fic finished before the release of SoG. If you guys want a third chapter to this, let me know! I may do it if there's a demand for it.

Jay looked away shamefully. Cole cocked his head to the side slightly.

"You're being uncharacteristically quiet, motormouth," Cole teased with a smile, bumping his friend again, Jay simply shrank under the black ninja's gaze. The ebony haired teen arched a brow. "Uh, Jay?"

"Sorry," Jay muttered softly, his hands still wringing nervously, and his freckled cheeks growing hot with a deep blush. "I just...don't know if I should tell you."

Cole frowned. "We're best friends, Jay, we don't keep secrets." The muscular teen's arm tugged his smaller friend in closer. "Remember how I told you that time I split my pants?"

Jay snorted softly. "Y'mean when you were doing that rehearsal with your dad?" Cole nodded.

"Yeah, and there was like thirty people in the audience, all staring at the stage when it happened," The Master of Earth slapped his forehead with his free hand and stifled a laugh, still slightly embarrassed by the memory of the event. "They could see my shorts through the hole...I told my dad the pants were too tight."

The Master of Lightning laughed. "If you weren't so ridiculously huge maybe clothes would actually fit."

Cole cast a sidelong glance at the brunette and then quickly extended and curled his arm, flexing boastfully. "Wouldn't it be weird for the Master of Earth to be puny like you?" He grinned at Jay.

Jay turned his head to face his friend, smirking. "Lightning is fast and agile," He rebutted, "earth is slow and cumbersome."

"Powerful and unstoppable," Cole argued.

"That'd be lightning." Jay puffed his chest. Cole laughed and shook his head.

"You're one of a kind, Jay Walker," The black ninja said matter-of-factly. Jay smiled sheepishly and rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Thanks." Blue said quietly to black. There was another brief moment of silence. "I'm going to guess that was in hopes of prompting me to talk?" Jay ventured.

"It was my intention, yes," Cole replied. Jay breathed out audibly.

"I'm worried it might...ruin things."

"What? You got some deep dark secret, Jay?" Cole asked, wearing an amused grin.

"Not in so many words." Jay murmured.

"Unless you killed someone, or ate my cake, then there's really nothing you could say that would upset me. And, if I'm honest, I'd likely be able to get over you bumping someone off." Jay tried his hardest not to start to tear up. Cole was too nice and too supportive, and it was eating away at him. "The cake thing, though, that would be such a deep level of betrayal and—"

Sniff, sniff.

Cole paused and looked down to see Jay furiously wiping at his eyes and his heart sank in his chest. Sometimes he said things without really thinking, and now he was worried he'd said something wrong. "Uh, Jay," Cole said softly as he pulled the blue ninja up close again, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to upset you. If you don't want to tell me, that's cool."

"No, Cole, it's not—" Jay hiccuped a bit.

"Jay, dude, it's okay." Cole insisted. Jay groaned and turned his now slightly reddened eyes to meet a confused pair of dark brown orbs.

"Cole, just relax, I'm sorry I'm...just overwhelmed, I don't know." The blue ninja turned his head away and looked at the fireplace. "I don't know what's going on...I don't feel sad or anything." Cole relaxed a bit and nodded.

"We've...been through a lot..." Jay nodded in agreement.

"But...you've stuck through it all with me." Cole lifted his head a bit and blinked at the smaller teen.

"Yeah, of course," He smiled, "You're my best friend." Jay sighed deeply.

"I know, and you're mine." He said evenly. Cole frowned a bit.

"You could try sounding a little more convincing." The ebony haired teen teased good-naturedly. Jay smiled slightly.

"Sorry, it's just...," He looks down at his hands. "I think I might...uh...like someone." Cole blinked at him, bewildered.

"Uh, yeah, you like Nya." Jay chewed the inside of his cheek.

"Yeah, kind of," He breathed a bit, "Nya's great...and I'd do anything for her..."

"But?" Cole prompted.

Jay looked down at the ground in front of them. "But...I think I might like someone else." Cole paused for a moment and then rubbed his friend's shoulder, his arm still around the Master of Lightning.

"That's cool," He said easily, "you like who you like, right?" Jay nervously looked over at Cole and sighed.

"You're a dope." Lightning said to Earth. Cole frowned.

"I was being nice," He defended, "why am I a dope?" Jay just stared at him, shimmering blue eyes narrowed dangerously on deep brown. Cole almost flinched back at the intensity of the stare, but then he paused and processed.

"Wait," He murmured, looking away and then back to Jay, "do you...uh, the person you like, are they a guy?"

Jay just nodded his head.

Cole paused and then quickly blushed. He had no idea Jay was interested in guys.

The pause made Jay falter in his confident stare and he quickly turned his head and pointed his gaze to the lightly flickering fire pit. Cole took a moment to try and unscramble his whirling thoughts. He had never even considered that Jay could potentially like a guy. That certainly was unexpected information. Not that it bothered him, on the contrary, for some reason it made his heart swell and the warmth from his chest creep up his neck and onto his cheeks, making him feel red hot.

"Woah, hey!" Jay shouted suddenly as he pressed hard into Cole's side, his eyes narrowing on the hand that had been resting casually on his shoulder. "Orange hands, Cole, pay attention!"

Cole was snapped out of his thoughts and he quickly withdrew his arm from around Jay and tucked his hands under his armpits. "Ah, sorry Jay! They don't, uh, usually do that..." He mumbled awkwardly.

"I thought you had them under control?" Blue asked black. Cole nodded a bit.

"I do, mostly," He said, "sometimes they sort of light up on their own..."

"Sure," Jay relaxed visibly and alternated his gaze between where Cole had tucked his still faintly glowing hands, to Cole's worried face. "Sorry for freaking out there..."

"It's okay." Cole said softly. "I, uh...," The black-haired ninja trailed for a second, trying to regain his composure. "can I ask you a question?"

Jay eyed him warily. "Yeah?"

Cole breathed. "Do you...like one of the crew?" Jay flushed.

"Uh...yeah." Cole nodded quickly.

"Cool, yeah." Jay fidgeted beside his friend.

"Ugh, see, this is why I shouldn't have said anything. It's..." He wrapped his arms around himself and quieted a bit. "...awkward now." Cole breathed softly and calmed himself, the bright orange glow of his hands slowly diminishing until it faded completely.

"It's not awkward, Jay."

"Yes, it is..." Blue insisted.

"Can I ask you another question?" Jay didn't say anything, but he nodded. "Do you...like Kai?" Jay shook his head. "...Zane?" Jay's arms squeezed tighter around himself as he shook his head again. Cole swallowed. "Lloyd?" Jay shook his head, knowing with that answer, Cole would be able to figure it out. "Oh." Cole untucked a hand and brought it up to scratch absently at his rosied cheek.

"I'm...sorry." Jay felt like he was apologizing a lot today.

"Don't...don't say that. You're saying it like you've done something wrong." Cole turned to look at Jay. "You haven't."

Jay sniffled again and kept his eyes trained on the fire, not wanting to look at Cole.

"Jay, c'mon, look at me?" The blue ninja shook his head. Cole sighed and reached out, catching Jay's chin between his finger and thumb, forcibly turning the Master of Lightning's eyes to meet his own. In an act of defiance, Jay squeezed his eyes tightly shut, steadfastly refusing to look at the Master of Earth.

Cole rolled his eyes and leaned in, tilting his head slightly and pressing his lips to Jay's. Instantly Jay's eyes flew open and his entire body crackled with small and bright blue streams of electricity. Inwardly, Cole was surprised he wasn't getting shocked, although that thought didn't last long as he felt himself melting into the kiss.

When they broke apart, Jay just sat quietly, stunned to silence. Cole looked at his friend worriedly. "Jay?"

"...You kissed me...?" Jay murmured in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah," Cole rubbed the back of his neck, "I just...I think I like you too, Jay, and I hate seeing you all upset—AAH!" The Master of Earth fell back with a thud, rubbing his upper arm. "Jay! That hurt! You shocked me!"

"I know!" Jay shouted. "You JERK, that was our first kiss! You didn't even warn me!" Cole opened his mouth to argue, but his words caught in his throat, and his eyes widened.

"First kiss...? We can, uh," He slowly sat upright and looked at Jay, "kiss...again?" Jay's anger faltered and he instead chewed his lower lip, blushed a deep crimson, and nodded his head. Cole smiled widely but Jay was quick to jab a finger at him.

"But I get to initiate the next kiss!" Cole raised his hands defensively and nodded.

"Sure, yeah, whatever you say." Jay eyed him, but scooted closer, reaching out to tentatively brush the tips of his fingers along the side of Cole's neck. It was amusing to the blue ninja to see how much that subtle touch made his friend shudder. The black ninja's entire body shivered and he stiffened a bit, sitting straight and upright.

"Take it easy, boulder brain," Jay whispered through an amused smirk, his fingers moving up to delicately brush Cole's sharp jawline with feathery light touches. "You're supposed to be tough." Cole scoffed and tried to hide his rather obvious embarrassment. Jay knew all too well when the Master of Earth was flustered.

Jay's palm soon came to rest against Cole's cheek, his thumb brushing over the swell of it. With a deep breath, Jay leaned in and pressed his lips to Cole's, the feeling once again garnering several blue sparks to jump from the blue ninja's body. "Mmm..." The brunette moaned softly despite himself.

Cole, unable to remain still, brought a hand up to Jay's curls. He tangled his fingers in the brunette's locks and tugged him closer, desperate to deepen their kiss. Both ninja pressed in harder, wanting more, feeling as though the tension and awkwardness between them was melting away.

Jay's arms wound their way around Cole's neck and blue met black as their torsos touched, which coaxed the Master of Earth to wrap his free arm around Jay's waist, resulting in his falling back with Jay on top of him. The new position didn't break their passionate lip lock, but instead it seemed to make it easier, with both tilting their heads as they adjusted to the feeling.

It was Jay that broke the kiss, pulling back to breathe, with his cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of pink. "W-Woah..."

"Yeah..." Cole said, panting softly with his own cheeks red.

"I..., oh!" Jay looked down and realized their positions, quickly jumping back and landing hard on his backside. "Ow..." Cole was quick to sit up, confused.

"What was that?"

"I didn't mean to knock you over!" Jay shouted, feeling silly. Cole blinked, then snorted and laughed. His laughter was infectious and it wasn't long before Jay, too, was laughing to the point of his sides hurting. It took a few minutes for them to calm down, but when the laughter had died down into soft breathing, the two ninja just stared at one another, neither sure what to do.

So, Cole spoke. "Jay, c'mere?" He opened his arms. Without hesitation, the blue ninja moved back into the warm embrace of his friend, pressing into him happily. "Thank you..." Cole said as he wrapped his powerful arms around his smaller companion.

"I guess we need to actually figure this out..." Jay said softly, winding his arms around Cole's waist. Cole nodded.

"Yeah." Both sat in silence again, which the black ninja found more than a little amusing. "Y'know, it's weird how many times today you've been quiet."

"Shut up," Jay said quickly.

"Jay?" Cole said.

"Yeah?" The blue ninja pressed his cheek against Cole's chest.

"Be my boyfriend?"

"Maybe." Jay teased. Cole smiled and placed a tussled Jay's messy curls.

"Well maybe I should—" A loud ringing sounded and both boys nearly jumped out of their skin. Cole scrambled for their travel bags and pulled out a small device, reading the screen.

"What's up?" Jay said, still clutching his chest from the surprise.

"P.i.x.a.l's calling us back," Cole turned to face Jay. "Lloyd needs us."