Lava | Ninjago

🜃 | change of plans

 The entire day has been... weird. Odd, puzzling, not like the other days, confusing, unpredictable... There were many ways to put it.

It started right away in the morning. Cole woke up in the bed alone, thus giving him zero time of normalcy, straight away waking up to the weird parody of his normal life. Kai always woke up later than him. Cole always woke up with the other man next to him. It was this way for two years now and he certainly didn't like the sudden change.

Not to mention he hadn't seen his boyfriend ever since last night. There was no sign of Kai anywhere in the apartment. No note, no message, no nothing. It almost led to a giant spiral of worries, if it wasn't for Jay, who barged in cheerfully as always.

He mentioned something about Kai having to run some errands with Nya and that Jay decided it would be best to spend some quality time together.

"We barely got any alone time together, you know? With all the being in relationships and working stuff," he said before dragging him outside and around the entire city. They visited every possible place and Jay still didn't stop. Cole on the other hand could feel the aching of his feet and wished to go back home – the number of people drained his energy rather quickly.

Then, when he finally lost it and just decided to go home, it clicked. Jay's desperate attempts to keep him from coming back home weren't just his own desire to spend some time together. No, there was something else going on and Cole was determined to figure it out.

He had to know because otherwise, his brain would make up terrible scenarios and he would probably break down.

But Kai wouldn't just leave him like that, right? they love each other, he said that just last night.

He lost Jay somewhere near the underground – that didn't stop the guy from constantly texting him and calling. Cole just turned his phone off and hurried to get home fast.

That's when he got really worried. He bumped into Nya in the hall and her distressed expression certainly didn't help one bit.

"What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Um... where's Jay?"

"Somewhere in the city, I don't know. Did something happen with Kai? He's not leaving me, right? He would say something, right? I thought we were doing fine, everything seemed all right... I mean, I know how he can get, he's super impulsive sometimes but this isn't buying a llama, right? He would talk to me if he had doubts or anything, right?"

"No, no! Cole, it's not that, don't worry, Kai loves you! He never loved anyone the way he loves you, you don't have to worry about that, it's just... Hey, let's go outside!"

"Sorry Nya, can't do that. Just– just let me in, okay? I need to see him." Cole could see in her face that she was obviously conflicted but then she sighed and gave up, letting him enter their apartment. It was probably the best decision. At least she hoped, otherwise she would have to face her not-so-ecstatic brother.

And just as the door closed behind Cole, Jay appeared, panting. He bent over, trying to catch his breath.

"I... lost him... at... the... under...ground... where... Cole?" Nya patted his shoulder and replied, "It's over, honey... But I think it's for the best. It was starting to look bad." Then Jay almost fell over, Nya catching him in the last second. Today was full of taking care of her closest. What an exhausting task.

Cole entered the apartment terrified of what he'll find: maybe packed bags with Kai standing in the middle of the room, ready to leave, or maybe another collection of wild animals that certainly don't belong in a flat. A dojo full of students could also be a possibility... But one thing was for sure, the first option made Cole lose his breath.

Of course, break-ups are a normal thing, sometimes it's for the best, sometimes it just has to happen. It was just that Cole was so sure Kai was the one for him, that he'll never find anything better. He was unbelievably happy with him. He thought they both were. Kai's outgoing personality helped him a lot, they both grew together as people. Both giving each other a piece of themselves. Cole wasn't ready to lose him. Not yet, not ever.

So, when he entered, his lungs felt the same way when Nya brought her collection of corsets and they tried them all on. She would just always make it so tight...

But then he looked around, calming down on one hand, on the other, he was perplexed as ever. The place looked absolutely terrible. There weren't any packed bags to be found, in fact, it was the complete opposite. It was the worst mess Cole has ever seen. Not even a tornado could manage to do that. And in the middle of it, all sat Kai. His shaking hands fumbled with the hem of the messy burnt apron he was wearing.

"Kai?" he looked up, looking absolutely destroyed. When Cole noticed his face, all the worries were forgotten, replaced with one simple quest – comfort Kai, the love of his life. So, Cole approached the broken man, kneeled in front of him and hugged him, allowing Kai to cry into his shirt. It did feel good to still be able to hold him.

"What happened? Did someone hurt you? A– a burglar or something? What's going on today? Kai, everything is so strange. Jay, Nya... they were trying to stop me from coming here... what's going on? I was so worried..." Kai pulled away, not being able to look into Cole's eyes.

"It's so stupid, really." He sniffled and rubbed his face with his hand, trying to stop the few tears that were let loose. "I was just... I really wanted to make it perfect, you know?"

"Make what perfect?" Cole asked, brushing wild strands of hair from Kai's tear-soaked face.

"I had everything planned, so perfectly planned to the last detail, but then it just... one thing led to another and it all went to shit and now look at this, the whole place is a mess, everything is ruined. My whole plan was slam-dunked into a garbage can. I suck"

"What are you talking about, Kai? You don't suck, you're awesome, you know that."

"I'm really not, I can't even make a nice dinner to propose to you! I'm so sorry. I'm such a disaster. I ruin everything. I really wanted to make today special..." Cole pulled away, holding Kai at arm's length, staring at him in shock.

"You... you wanted to propose to me?" he muttered, not believing what he just heard. This was the complete opposite of what his mind was on about the entire day.

"Well yeah, I've been planning it for months now. It wasn't supposed to be like this, it— Why– why are you smiling like that?"

"Because you wanted to propose! And I've been walking around with this thing for like half a year." Cole pulled out a small box with an engagement ring within, revealed after he opened it for Kai to see. His boyfriend shook his head in disbelief, letting out a chuckle. He pulled out a similar box, also containing an engagement ring and showed it to Cole.

"You have got to be kidding me..."

"It's not April 1st, I don't have to." Kai sniffled some more and wiped his face into his sleeve before he looked into Cole's eyes.

"So... I guess I can guess what your answer will be..." Cole leaned in.

"Kai," he said, "will you marry me?"

"No."

"No?"

"Cole, will you marry me?"

"Hmm, maybe, I'll just have to look into my schedule to see when I've got time..." Kai lightly punched him in the shoulder, to which Cole laughed. He leaned in for a kiss and when they parted, said, "Yeah, I'll marry you, Kai."

"It's a deal then, you'll marry me and I'll marry you," muttered Kai, slowly leaning in again, his eyes almost closed, just like Cole's.

"That's a very good deal, love."

And by the time their lips connected again and again, it didn't matter to Kai that the day didn't go exactly as planned, or that their apartment was a terrible mess they'll both have to take care of later. Because in the end, it was a success. Planned or not.