1direction buys zane

iv. you think your family is bad

Jay and Cole had departed immediately, but they ended up taking a solid forty-five minutes just to find Zane's house. 

Originally, it would have only been about fifteen, but Cole decided he needed a drink so they had stopped at a gas station and retrieved drinks for one another. Then realized it would probably be polite to bring Zane's parents something, so they had to turn around and go back to the gas station. After purchasing gifts for the parents, they then went about the difficult task of navigating ninjago city. 

One would think it wouldn't be too challenging because of the availability of GPS... it turned out to be the most challenging concept of the evening.

Jay's GPS wouldn't work, and then Cole made a wrong turn, and well. Push came to shove and they were forty-five minutes off the mark. Jay looked like he wanted to spontaneously combust, and Cole looked like he wanted to hit Jay in the head if he didn't shut his backseat driving up in the next five seconds. 

Cole prayed Kai was getting along better than they were.

Finally, the pair pulled into the quaint drive of a middle-class suburban home. White picket fence and all, everything seemed cheery and well. There were new begonias in the garden, a fresh coat of paint on the white house, and the welcome mat looked as if it had been meticulously cleaned. Jay reached for the door knocker but was stopped by Cole, who simply rang the doorbell twice.

A shrill voice called out from inside. "Just a moment!" and the door was hastily unlocked to reveal a middle-aged woman, her raven-black hair hung neatly cropped at the shoulders. It was pulled into a messy updo as if she had done it hastily in order to not seem as unprepared. Cole and Jay exchanged a look as she settled back on her heels and cast her clear eyes between the two. She wore an apron, and it quickly became apparent that she had been in the process of cooking dinner.

"We're sorry to intrude ma'am, but, are you Zane Julien's parents? His adoptive ones?" Cole took the lead, letting Jay analyze her response. She stiffened visibly, and Jay reacted in-kind, also fidgeting.

"No, I don't know who that is." She shrugged softly, her facade had slipped earlier, but now it fastened itself firmly about her features and expression. She relaxed and gestured behind her, to the open home. "Only my husband is here with me, but you're welcome to come inside. I need to return to the kitchen before the pie burns."

"Ooh, pie.." Jay murmured dreamily, stepping over the threshold. Cole grabbed Jay's arm, stopping him. "Quit drooling, did you notice her reaction?" he hastily whispered, frustrated by Jay's sudden distraction. That woman knew something, Cole was certain of it. Jay nodded. "Yeah, she knows something. Maybe we can get some more information out of her.. Over pie.." he murmured the final part, mostly to himself. Cole rolled his eyes but nodded, he did have a point. 

"Fine. Over pie. But only one slice, and then we leave once we have the information we need. Eyes on the prize Jay."

"Yeah, the prize is pie. Cole."

Cole facepalmed.

Jay stepped into the house, inhaling the fresh scent, and then followed the woman to the kitchen. The kitchen was nice and clean, the woman bent over the oven, removing the fresh Apple pie and settling it on the stove as she hastily moved to secure it before it burnt. Sitting at the adjoining kitchen table was her husband, reading glasses pushed up the bridge of his nose as he fingered through a stack of letters and bills on the table. Cole and Jay both stood in the kitchen awkwardly, and the man only really noticed them when Cole settled the drinks they had bought for the parents on the counter. 

"Sorry to barge in. We're looking for our friend, Zane."

The father looked up immediately, his gaze tracking his wife for only a moment, before flicking between Zane, Cole, and the drinks that had just been set on the center kitchen island. "Ah. Zane Julien. Our beloved son." Cole watched as the wife straightened abruptly, murder glowing in her eyes as she turned to look at her husband.