Yay, Bruiseshipping! :D

Takes place after the battle against the Golden Master.

Cole stood outside the door to Jay's apartment, arms folded, foot tapping against the carpeted floor impatiently. "Jay, hurry up!" he called. "At this rate we're gonna be late for the movie, and I know it's the one you've been wanting to see for weeks!"

Cole and Jay started dating after the issues with Nya and the Love Tester were resolved, thinking they could pull it off. They were going on their first date today, and already Cole was under the impression it wasn't going to work out. Despite this, he still had hopes the date would turn out better when they left.

"Give me a second!" Jay yelled back from inside. "I can't find my stupid wallet!"

"It doesn't matter, Jay. I've already paid for our tickets. If you want me to, I'll pay for snacks when we get to the theatre."

He heard an annoyed groan from Jay, who soon opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Cole looked his boyfriend up and down, liking that Jay was dressed in his regular attire of a blue jacket over a white v-neck and a pair of blue jeans, rather than something overly fancy. He noticed from the way Jay awkwardly rubbed his forearms and looked down at the ground that the redhead was a bit nervous.

"Hey, come on, what's wrong?" Cole asked, nudging Jay to get his attention. "You're going out with one of the greatest guys in Ninjago. Why do you look so nervous?"

"Well first off, I still think you're a little self-centred if you really think you're the best guy around," he replied with a half-hearted chuckle. "But I guess I just feel a little awkward dating someone I used to fight with all the time."

"I think you'll get used to it. I know I have." He held out his hand for Jay to take it, trying to ignore how he hesitated before taking Cole's hand. Cole gave Jay's hand a comforting squeeze. "We'll have a good time, I promise."

When the couple stepped outside, Jay loosened his grip on Cole's hand, looking away from him. Cole frowned at this, letting go of Jay's hand and allowing him to just walk at his side. He could've just told me he wasn't comfortable holding hands in public just yet.

"Um, it looks like the construction crews are working on getting things back to normal," Cole said in an attempt to break the awkward silence. All around them workers in bright orange uniforms barked commands at one another. Put a steel beam here, drill over there, bring something somewhere else. The battle against the Golden Master made quite a bit of damage, but he was sure it was nothing the workers couldn't fix.

"Hmm?" Jay looked up, blue eyes almost giving the impression that he'd just woken up. "Oh, yeah, sure does." He was silent after that, and Cole sighed, opting out on engaging in a conversation until Jay was ready to talk.

The couple walked through the theatre doors, walking over to the concession stand. Even when Cole asked Jay if he wanted a drink the redhead didn't look at him, and just shook his head absentmindedly. At this point he wondered if he'd insulted Jay in some way, or if there was just something on his mind. Whatever it could be was anyone's guess, but Cole still couldn't help but worry for him.

The previews were just starting when they took their seats. Looking over to his side, Cole saw that Jay was completely focused on the screen, as though trying to ignore him. He took a deep breath and rubbed his hand comfortingly on Jay's knee. It had the opposite effect of what he wanted. Instead of just relaxing, Jay completely tensed up, bringing his leg up to rest on top of the other one. He gave a sigh of defeat and brought his hand back, resting it in his lap.

By the time the actual movie started, Jay was no longer tense, laughing at the parts meant to be funny, going "aww" at the cheesier parts, generally acting as though he was never tense, unfocused, or behaving oddly in the first place. Cole grinned, hoping this meant Jay was comfortable being with him now.

When the movie was over, and they returned to the apartment complex, Cole followed Jay into his apartment, shutting the door behind them. As Jay took his jacket off and hung it over the couch, Cole leaned against the pale grey wall and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, what was all that back there?" he demanded.

Jay sat down on the couch, looking at him through innocent blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You completely ignored me the whole time, Jay," he replied. "I don't mean that I wanted attention, but you acted like I didn't even exist!"

"Well, like I said, I don't know if I feel comfortable dating someone I've been fighting with for the past couple months!" Jay snapped. "Not to mention..." He trailed off, his lips slowly turning into a frown, the light fading from his eyes. "... I just don't feel that comfortable acting all romantic in public yet."

Cole came over to sit beside Jay, resting his hand on the redhead's thigh. "So what you're saying is...you're embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"No! No, no no," he quickly answered. "I like being with you, Cole! Really! But like this. I like being with you in private, where there's no one around to stare at us, no one to ask whether we're dating because someone dared us. It just... It just feels better like this, you know?"

"People have asked if we're dating because someone dared us to?"

"Not the point, Cole. I just feel more comfortable being alone with you. Like, really alone. It feels like we connect more this way."

Cole smiled, wrapping an arm around his waist, bringing him closer. "You could've just told me that up front, you know." He let his hand rub up and down Jay's side slowly. From the way he sighed and shut his eyes, Cole guessed Jay was enjoying this a lot. "I like being alone with you, too."

With that, he leaned closer to connect his lips to Jay's, pushing him back against the couch slightly. Jay's face flushed red, the freckles dotting his face practically disappearing, and parted his lips to allow Cole's tongue into his mouth. Cole brought a hand up to the back of Jay's head, bringing him closer to deepen the kiss, causing Jay to moan into his mouth. They stayed like this for a long while, feeling as though time had stopped just for them. They eventually parted for breath, Cole enjoying the dazed look on his boyfriend's face somewhat, leaning in again to kiss his forehead.

"Maybe we'll just have our next date here," Cole suggested. "Think that'd be better?"

Jay smiled shakily, bringing his arms up to loop around Cole's neck. "That'd be great," he said.

Up next is Oppositeshipping (Zane/Kai)! Look forward to it!