The moment Kai noticed that Jesse stepped on the trigger plate that could blow up the whole warehouse where Alexi Babin placed the TATP explosives, Jesse had to kick everyone out for the sake of their own safety but Kai had a different approach to that situation. He chose to stay behind (not a wise decision in Jane, Lucy and Jesse's opinion)but he couldn't leave Jesse on his own,not under his watch.
It didn't take long for Boom-Boom to arrive at the warehouse in his robotic-like protective bomb suit. He explained to them about the gravity of the explosives as he mentioned that the bomb is extremely fatal...even his protective bomb suit wouldn't be of much use to him on that matter. Jesse couldn't help but think why Kai is so persistent in not leaving the premises. He proved to be a tough cookie since day one in the NCIS team. Kai indirectly told him that he cares about him. Boom-Boom,who was readying his equipment got the memo of their interaction and he knew that there was something between them...he pointed it out to them in which Kai and Jesse told him that love is a strong word. This is not the first time someone had to point out to Kai that he 'loves' Jesse...he feels like they are exaggerating his nature of friendship with him(though they aren't entirely wrong with that statement since for now he sees Jesse as his colleague and friend,or that's how he thinks).
At last the bomb was disabled and Jesse was off the hook though there was a bigger problem as some of the TATP explosives from the warehouse was missing and Babin was nowhere near the present vicinity they had to go to the building where the peace conference was held. The mission for the day was successful and they had a party at Jane's house.
Jane's house
Everyone was having fun at the Tennant household and brought their families along. Kai brought his dad and introduced him to everyone. They bonded a lot and had enough snacks as they watched Lucy and Kate make up with each other with Kate singing for her. Everyone folk in the house cheered for them (though they didn't expect Kate to be the singing type, thanks to Ernie's advice).
Time went by and Kai stood by the balcony to view the environment within the neighbourhood as the cool gentle breeze hit him. He was racking his brain about his relationship with Jesse as he thought about the moments they interacted and the most recent one concerning the warehouse. He came to realise what he felt for his colleague is slightly more than an ordinary friendship. He does feel guilty since the guy he's been thinking about is married for crying out loud and has kids so developing some feelings for him is risky at this rate.
He didn't notice Jesse approaching him from behind.
'Hey buddy,what are you doing here alone?' asks Jesse.
This brought Kai to the present world as he was surprised by his sudden appearance. It took him a few minutes to gather his bearings as he produced whatever he could think of.
'Just enjoying the breeze Jesse. '
' Aren't you bored out here? Alone?'
'Naah, I'm good having a great time,' Kai wouldn't vocalise his current thoughts since the last thing he wanted is to embarrass himself.
Jesse knowing him very well knew his answer is less satisfactory since he saw him having deep thoughts by studying his body language. But then he didn't want to press him to talk to him. Besides, everyone wants to have fun and he didn't want to offend him so he had to tread carefully as he asks him.
'Kai,we both know the answer is not complete. Talk to me.'
Jesse used his gentle tone to persuade his partner to open up a bit.
Kai knows it's pointless to hide his thoughts so he chose his words carefully
' I don't know... it's just that after today's operation...' Kai's words got stuck in his throat. Jesse noted his hesitation in voicing the rest of the sentence so he decided to be patient with him(though he was anxious with his next words)
'Go on,take your time buddy,' Jesse urges
Kai sighs. ' You stepping on that trigger and having a 50-50 chance of not being blown up kind of freaked me out. I mean you've risked your life a lot for the people you care about. The thought of losing you... I- we couldn't handle that loss...'
Kai ranted for a while and since Jesse had enough of his rants and got the main message and really wanted to shut him up he chose to do the unthinkable. He slowly approached Kai and snaked his right hand to the nape of his neck and kissed his forehead.
Kai went silent as he tried to process what just happened. He looked up to Jesse with wide eyes, questioning the meaning of whatever he just did a few seconds ago.
' You couldn't shut up so I did what I just did.' Jesse says nonchalantly as he shrugs his shoulders. He goes ahead to say,' I know Kai. I appreciate that you get concerned about my wellbeing though you can be a brat at times. I'd do the same if roles were to be reversed.'
'I feel like an idiot when I said that statement,' Kai whines.
' Nooo,your feelings are valid. No need to be ashamed about it,' Jesse assures him. He stopped to look at him,his hands grazing Kai's shoulders as they slid down his arms. They then close around his torso as he hugs him.
Kai, slowly brings his arms around Jesse's shoulders as they hug each other. No words were exchanged as they enjoyed their embrace. Kai felt Jesse's heartbeat and felt calm about it,he wouldn't mind using his chest as a pillow since he felt comfortable. Jesse ran his hand around his back slowly. He then told him,
' I care about you too Kai. Though love is a strong word, I'd say I do like you too. Lucy mentioned that you love me, which I know you didn't use the word ...'
' It's safe to say for now we have some sort of platonic relationship between us,and I respect that,' Kai interrupted.
' Well then, that's settled. We wouldn't want people to see us in this position and state otherwise,' Jesse pulls away a little.
' Yeah, wouldn't want them to get any ideas,' Kai says with a laugh. He smiled for a bit as he felt some part of him has released whatever he had in his chest.
'Can we stay here for a little while longer,before we go back?' Kai asks.
'Sure,' Jesse says with a smile. They stay out for a bit with Kai leaning his head on Jesse's shoulder. That moment couldn't be kept between the two as Lucy and Kate noted with their smirks visible in their faces, with Boom-Boom joining them.
' Told you these two were up to something,' Lucy told Kate.
'Now I understand why Kai insisted on staying behind with Jesse before I came in,' Boom-Boom added with a small smile.
Lucy decided to take a quick photo photo of them but Kate and Boom-Boom were against it.
'This moment is too precious for photos,' Kate told her.
