Lavashipping Oneshots!!

Too Loud to ignore (Angst)

The Monastery halls echoed with a strange tension that night. Not a mission. Not an enemy. Just... distance.

Kai stood in the training room, fists clenched, sweat clinging to his brow. He wasn't training anymorejust hitting the same target over and over, harder each time, like it might answer the questions burning in his chest.

Behind him, the door creaked open.

"Kai?" Cole's voice was low, careful.

Kai didn't answer. His fist slammed forward again, the padded target jolting on impact.

"You're ignoring me now?" Cole asked. "Seriously?"

Kai turned around slowly. "You gonna say something worth listening to?"

The tone was sharp, biting. Cole's eyes narrowed. "Okay. Let's go there."

He stepped into the room, jaw tight. "You've been like this for days. Snapping. Distant. I asked you what was wrong three times this morning, and all I got was 'nothing.'"

"Because I didn't feel like talking," Kai snapped. "Is that a crime now?"

"No," Cole said, voice rising. "But when you're in a relationship, shutting down and giving the cold shoulder does affect the other person."

Kai scoffed. "You make everything about you."

Cole stepped back like he'd been slapped. "Are you serious?"

Kai regretted it instantly-but his anger pushed him forward. "You just hover. Watch me like I'm going to fall apart any second. Maybe I don't need that."

"No, you just want to bottle everything up until it explodes. Again."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be smothered like some fragile thing, Cole!"

"And maybe I'm tired of always having to guess what's going on in your head!" Cole's voice cracked. "I'm your boyfriend, Kai not some outsider you have to pretend for."

"Then stop expecting me to act like you!" Kai's voice boomed in the empty room. "I'm not calm and grounded and perfect like you. I don't know how to deal with everything the way you do!"

Cole stepped closer, face flushed with frustration. "I don't want perfect! I just want you! But you won't even let me in!"

"I'm trying!" Kai yelled. "But you don't understand! You always have your emotions under control I don't! I get angry, I lash out, and I hate it! And I hate that you see it!"

There it was.

The core.

The vulnerable truth beneath the rage.

Cole's shoulders dropped slightly. "You think I'd leave you for being messy?"

Kai turned his face away, suddenly ashamed. His voice came quieter now, but rough. "I think one day you'll realize I'm too much."

"I already know you're too much," Cole said softly. "Too stubborn. Too fiery. Too reckless. But that's the you I fell in love with."

Kai's eyes were wet now, though he refused to let the tears fall. "Then why do we keep ending up here?"

Cole hesitated. "Because we're both scared. You're afraid I'll walk away. I'm afraid you'll shut me out forever. And we don't know how to say those things without hurting each other first."

Silence stretched, thick with everything they hadn't said in weeks.

Finally, Kai whispered, "I don't want to lose you."

Cole walked forward slowly, placing a hand on Kai's cheek. "Then stop trying to push me away before I can leave. Because I'm not going anywhere."

Kai leaned into the touch for a moment, then suddenly collapsed forward into Cole's chest, fists clutching the fabric of his shirt. Cole held him tightly no more words. Just breathing.

They didn't fix everything in that moment. But for the first time in days, they heard each other.

And that was a start.