Chapter Text
”You kissed him?!"
"Mari!"
"No no no." Mari screamed, the grin on her face was the biggest one Y/n had ever seen, "You met him that night and kissed him!" she squealed, jumping up and down while holding onto Y/n's arm.
"I may have skipped over a very crucial piece of information..."
"Y/n."
"He's a ninja.."
Mari's face went blank, void of emotion then the grin started growing again, "You kissed a ninja? Which one? Are they nice? Was he nice to you? Did he try to do anything to you?" Y/n defensively held their hands up, "It was the earth ninja, yes the ninja are nice, he was nice to me and no he didn't try anything." Mari smirked, "Was he a good kisser though?" A light slap from Y/n lands on Mari's arm, causing her to giggle again, "It was nothing big! Just a short kiss, I'm sure it didn't mean anything!"
They couldn't help but think that. It has been a few days since the celebration and they haven't seen Cole or the ninja at all, they know that they could be on a mission right now but part of Y/n feels as if he's just forgotten about them.
"Y/n, I'm willing to bet all your jam filled donuts that the kiss wasn't nothing to him," Mari threw her hand over her friend's shoulders, "It sounds like you guys got on very well, he's probably just been caught up with his work."
A small 'ding' ran through the shop, alerting the attention of the two friends.
"Now c'mon, let's go help this customer."
"Thank you Mari."
They turned the corner and were greeted by an older looking man, "Oh hello, I was wondering if i could put in an order for a cake if that's okay?" The two nodded and Y/n noted down everything the man wanted and was trying to achieve, "Is it possible to get it delivered if that's okay? I won't have anyone to pick it up for me." Y/n smiled, "Of course, i can drop that off to your house for you, Can I just get your name please?" "It's Lou."
Lou left the bakery after paying a small deposit, leaving Y/n with the notes of the cake, "So what did that guy want?" Mari called, "He put in an order for a cake, a 'welcome home' cake."
"Any specific details?"
"Medium sized cake, chocolate and vanilla flavour. He wants it to be mountain themed, with rocks and all that stuff. Must be a mountain climber or something."
"Due when?"
"Sunday. We have a couple of days, I reckon I can get this done in two days. One day for baking, the next for decorating."
Mari nodded, "If you need any help, let me know." she said, picking up the piping bag and continuing to pipe the frosting border on a cake. "I'll get started tomorrow. All going to plan, I should finish Saturday then I can deliver it Sunday afternoon." Y/n said, pulling an empty tray from the front storage case, "You can head home whenever you want tonight, I'll close up." "Are you sure? I thought it was my turn to close up." They shrugged, "You can just owe me one, I've just got some work I wanna go over before I head home so I'll sit and do it here." Mari nodded, placing the piping bag down, "I'll pop this cake in the fridge, clean up then go."'
-
The Friday and Saturday flew by fast, Y/n was juggling baking and dealing with customers. Mari had to call in sick both days due to having to take care of her younger sibling which left Y/n to run the shop by themself, which thankfully, not many people came in, allowing them to focus on the cake more.
Sunday is the usual day the bakery is closed. Y/n had finished up the cake the night before and placed it in the fridge, they woke up around 10am and rolled out of bed, opening their phone to review the delivery instructions for the cake, "Deliver around 4pm.. Simple enough, and It's nearby!" They cheered. They opened Mari's messages and started typing.
'how is your sister feeling today?'
'still like shit :p'
'want me to come over and drop anything off?'
'unless its the cure for her flu, it's best you stay away. its pretty nasty :')'
'roger that o7'
'just let me know if y'all need anything'
'eye eye captain y/n! :D'
Y/n laughed, setting their phone aside and sighing, they looked around her room and frowned, "Well, might as well clean my room. I've got a few hours to kill."
By the time 3pm rolled around, Y/n had cleaned their room as well as the kitchen and lounge room. They dressed in their work clothes and grabbed their shop keys, locking up their apartment and driving to the shop.
They had to quickly touch up the cake after pulling it out of the fridge, adjusting some of the rocks that had fallen off or moved. They managed to leave the shop at 3:50pm, packing the cake safely into the car and driving off to Lou's house.
When arriving, Y/n's phone had dinged, signalling a message from Mari.
'there's spare clothes in the boot of your car ;)'
'thank me later, ily <3'
'??'
'very confused'
'why do i need spare clothes?? ://'
'shshshhsh stop messaging me on the job ;)'
They rolled their eyes and slipped their phone into their pocket as they got out and unloaded the cake, walking to the front door and knocking. Soon Lou opened the door, "Ah, right on time," He looked at their name tag, "Y/n, nice to see you. Please, come in!" He moved out of the doorway, allowing them to walk in and shut the door behind them, "If you'd just follow me, I'll take you to the kitchen where you can place the cake and I can give you the money." They followed him through the long hallway of the house, looking at every picture on the wall that they passed. There were other voices coming from a room further down the hallway but they couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Just in here please, dear." They placed the cake on the kitchen counter, marvelling at the nice, expensive looking kitchen. "You have a lovely house sir." "Lou looked surprised but then quickly laughed, "No need to call me sir, that's way too formal for me. Just call me Lou." He stretched his hand out, which Y/n took, shaking his hand. "Please just wait here while I go find my wallet." Lou hurried out of the kitchen and down the hallway, Y/n could hear him talking to the other voices before he returned, wallet in hand.
"Dad, are you ready for cake?"
Y/n tensed up, recognising the voice from the party the other night.
"Just a minute Cole, let me finish paying the nice worker for it." Lou handed Y/n the money and thanked them again. As they turned around, they tried walking to the door with their back turned to what they could guess was Cole and the rest of the ninja.
"Oh Y/n, wait! I forgot your tip!" Y/n mentally cursed, turning around with a nervous smile, now facing both Lou and the ninja, "It's fine-" "I'll pay for the tip dad." Cole said, standing up from his chair and nudging Y/n outside, closing the front door behind him.
The two were now outside, standing on the driveway of the house. "Small world huh, I should've expected you might've been the one delivering the cake after my dad said he got one." Cole laughed, "Yeah, I didn't realise he was your dad." They smiled, fidgeting with the edge of their apron. "Hey, are you okay?" Y/n nodded, "Yeah, just didn't expect to see you here. I feel a little embarrassed honestly." They laughed. He sat down on the top of the driveway, patting the ground next to him, inviting them to sit. Y/n sat next to him, hugging their knees to their chest.
"Why are you embarrassed?"
"I look like a mess and I delivered a cake while looking like a mess to the ninja."
Cole laughed, "You're kidding me right?" Y/n shook their head no. "You look fine, sure you might have a little bit of frosting on your apron but you're a baker, you make cakes, it's to be expected." He threw his arm around their shoulders, pulling them closer and causing them to lean against his shoulder, "Stay tonight, please?" They smiled, "Sure, okay."
The two sat there, looking up at the stars before Y/n jumped up, "No fucking way. I just realised what Mari's message meant." They pulled her phone out of their pocket and read the messages again, "She must've seen the name on the order and realised it was your dad or something because she told me that there was extra clothes in the back of my car." Y/n walked over to their car and lifted the boot open, there in a shopping bag was a pair of Y/n's jeans on the top. Cole walked over to them and helped them shut the boot, "C'mon, you can get changed inside." He smiled.
The pair walked inside, Cole leading them down the hallway towards a dimly lit room, he walked inside and flicked on the light switch, revealing walls that were covered in posters, drawings and multiple photos. The bed was neatly made but Y/n could tell it had been sat on in the meantime, there was also a string of fairy lights hanging above the bed. in the corner of the room was a large desk, multiple pieces of papers and drawings were scattered across the top of it.
"This is my room, you can get changed in here if you'd like."
Y/n walked in, looking all around at the decorated room, "I can just tell this is your room." They laughed, "What's that supposed to mean?" Cole smiled, crossing his arms over his chest, "It just fits you, I don't know how to describe it, but it just gives off a 'Cole' vibe." Y/n placed their bag on the bed, "I'll take that as a compliment." He laughed, walking towards the door and shutting it behind him, leaving Y/n to rummage through their bag to see what Mari had left them with.
"Hey Cole?"
"Yeah?"
"Um.. Do you have a spare shirt or jumper I could borrow please?"
"Are you dressed? Can I come in?"
He carefully opened the door, spotting Y/n sitting on the bed, "Sorry.. Mari didn't pack a shirt and I don't really want to wear my frosting covered shirt." They laughed. Cole waved his hand at them, walking over to his wardrobe, "Don't stress it's fine." He pulled a plain black jumper from the drawer and passed it to them, "I normally wear that to bed but it's clean. Also the others have never seen me wear it so they shouldn't suspect anything if you're worried about them noticing." He smiled, walking back out of the room and closing the door behind him.
When Y/n put the jumper on, all they could smell was Cole and whatever deodorant he used. If you couldn't already tell he was the elemental master of earth, you'd be able to tell if you ever went near him, he smelt like the earth and rain.
They finished getting dressed and opened the bedroom door, jumping slightly when they saw Cole leaning against the wall, he silently led them to the kitchen where everyone was seated at the table.
Y/n sat across from Cole and next to Nya nervously smiling at everyone while they sat down, "Nice of you guys to finally join us, we've been waiting to get into this cake." Kai smirked, nudging Cole with his elbow causing the water elemental, who was sitting directly opposite her brother, to kick his shin under the table. "That was uncalled for." Cole laughed, high-fiving Nya, "It was very called for."
"So Cole, when were you going to tell me about your partner?" Lou asked, taking them both by surprise and causing Y/n to choke on the water they were drinking.
"We're just friends Dad!" He stated, glancing at Nya who was patting Y/n's back as they recovered.
"Friends don't wear each other's jumpers, son." He smirked, neatly placing his hands on the table.
"How do you know that's mine?"
"Cole, I'm your father, I know everything. Also you used to wear it around home all the time."
Cole dropped his head on the table while Y/n covered their face with their hands, the others laughing in the background. "Alright, alright." Lloyd started, "Let's leave the lovebirds alone and have some cake." He grabbed a knife and handed it to Cole who took it and slid the cake towards him, he glanced at Y/n who was trying to look everywhere but at him and sighed, placing the first cut in the cake.
He cut the rest of the cake and served slices to everyone, giving Y/n their slice last. They looked over at him and smiled, quietly thanking him.
The rest of the night was quiet. mainly consisting of the ninja sharing stories to Lou about their adventures and things they've seen and Lou sharing stories about his life before Cole was born.
One by one, the ninja started walking back to the monastery, bidding their goodbyes to Cole's father. Lou eventually headed to bed, apologising to both Cole and Y/n for embarrassing them in front of the other ninja before heading into his room. Leaving Cole and Y/n in the living room together, sitting on the separate couches.
"Sorry about my dad," Cole started, "He doesn't miss a chance to embarrass me." he laughed, glancing at Y/n who smiled in response, "Don't stress." They glanced at the clock, 'Hm, almost 11pm.' They sat up and tied the laces to their shoe, "I think I should get going, it's pretty late." They glanced up at Cole through their hair and watched as he looked up at the clock himself, grimacing at the time. "Sorry, I didn't realise how late it was. Did you want to stay here for the night?" Y/n stood up, "No it's fine, I don't live too far so It's not too long of a drive, but thank you."
"Can I at least walk you out to your car?"
"Of course, please protect me Mr Ninja in case any snakes try to nab me." They both laughed.
Cole guided them to the front door, pulling it open for them then walking out himself. The street was quiet, the only source of light coming from the lounge room window and the dim street lamps. Y/n unlocked their car and put their bag in the backseat, shutting the door and then leaning against the car.
"This gives me deja-vu." They laughed, causing Cole to tilt his head slightly, "What do you mean?"
"Well last time, I walked you out to your car, remember?"
"Oh yeah." He smiled.
"Did you want your jumper back? I can quickly get changed in my car."
"No no it's fine. I'll get it when I come into the bakery one day." He smiled, "Besides, It suits you."
Y/n blushed slightly, thankfully it wasn't too noticeable due to the lighting, "Guess I'll just have to take it with me to work everyday in case you come in."
Cole laughed, "I'll come in soon I promise."
They stood there in silence, pretending to look up at the stars while sneaking glances at each other.
"You should really head home, it's getting late." He said, head still facing the sky.
"And what if I don't want to leave yet?" Y/n grinned, crossing their arms over their chest.
"You're more than welcome to stay but I think we both know you'd rather be in your bed than sleeping on the couch."
Y/n rolled their eyes, "Yeah, you got me there." They pulled their car keys out of their pocket and turned back to Cole, leaning up and placing a small kiss on his cheek, "See you soon then." They smiled before unlocking their car and getting in, soon driving off, leaving Cole standing there holding his cheek while smiling.