Skylor explained to Jay that Lloyd had chosen to attend Harumi's trial. Said that he wanted to be there for her, so that there'd be a friendly face in the sea of mean glares and loathing pairs of eyes. Jay's reaction to hearing that was quite... odd. An oh followed by him shrugging with a blank look on his face though it was laced with skepticism.

Vania watched it from her spot on the couch with Cole right by her side, an arm draped over her shoulder that went around her neck so that he could still use the game controller. He was playing video games — she wasn't sure what game exactly but knew it was some type of video game — with Kai on his other side, mashing his own controller.

Nya was just standing behind the couch, arms crossed and rested behind Kai's head on the sofa back, watching the TV screen with uninterested eyes. Jay came up behind her after hanging his soaked coat on the hanger. After slowly lowering his arm around Nya, he looked between the two boys who were sat and concentrated on the game as if it were some important match — which it probably was to him —, "So... whatcha guys playing?" He smiled.

"Thought you'd realize by now that this is Fist to Face." Cole said, swerving his body as he moved his controller towards Vania. In doing so, he kind of hugged Vania even closer to his body. She let out a small squeal at the action. Once Cole whispered something inaudible to the others in her ear, they knew he did that on purpose to be even closer to her than he already was.

Kai scoffed, seeing that little flirt take place in the corner of his eyes, "Sheesh. Take it easy, Cole. Any tighter and you might crush your precious Queen." He stuck a bit of his tongue out at the corner of his mouth, turning his body a bit back to look at Jay for a brief second before instantly turning back to the screen, "It's the second one, by the way."

Ignoring his sentence to Jay, Cole groaned, "Oh, shut up, Kai. You just wish you'd have enough courage to do this with Skylor." He grumbled back at the hothead.

"Does he, now?" Speak of the devil and the woman herself appeared from wherever she was just at, "You know I'd accept the gesture if you just did it, hot stuff."

Completely abandoning the game now, Kai's eyes lit up. He turned around, the controller now forgotten to him, cast aside on the soft cushions of Skylor's expensive couch. He smirked, "Would you, now?"

Kai jumped over the couch as Jay snatched the controller from its deserted spot, taking up the former Fire Master's place in the game, "Nya, sweetie, give me a second." He winked at his Yang before taking off his arm from said girl to focus on the game.

Rolling her eyes, Nya sighed while smiling, "Are you really choosing video games over me?"

Jay's figure stiffened ever so slightly. Nya, however, didn't notice. Shifting on his seat, Jay bit his lip, eyes narrowing, "Uh- Um, no. Of course not!" He laughed awkwardly, now remembering the diamond ring that was still in his coat's pocket.

He almost jumped when he felt hands snaking around his neck, until he realized that it was just Nya. Then he let out a small breath of relief. She giggled, "Calm down, Jay. I was just kidding. I know you wouldn't actually."

Jay laughed a bit too loudly that even Nya was quite startled by it, "Yeah, of course. Of course, I wouldn't." Then his tone went back to normal, and genuine, heartfelt words came next, "Not in a million years. As long as I'm still here." Though he couldn't see it, Nya smiled uncontrollably. She buried the bottom half of her face in Jay's curly brown locks to hide the blush growing on her cheeks.

"Okay," Skylor said in her authoritative voice, simultaneously ducking to purposely avoid Kai who was leaning in for a kiss. Kai visibly faltered, knowing that she was intentionally playing hard to get just to tease him. She quickly continued afterwards, "You guys mind helping me downstairs? We need to set up the blankets and snacks for our movie date-" She paused for a second, looking at the floor to think, "-s."

Skylor was quick to leave for the stairs to go back down to the ground floor, and Nya was right on her heels. Cole and Jay were still invested in their game, barely acknowledging the redhead's words, and Vania was stuck in Cole's embrace so she couldn't move. Half-annoyed half-amused, Kai rolled his eyes before snatching the controller back from Jay, "Give me that!" And he quickly paused the game before Jay could react.

"Wha-" Cole didn't even realize anything that happened until after Kai paused the game, "Hey! I was about to finish that!"

"Yeah! We were about to win!"

Kai ignored both of them and threw the controller onto the coffee table in front of the couch. he took Cole's as well and did the same, "Come on. Skylor asked for our help with something downstairs. Instead of being rude houseguests, why don't you two get off your ass- behind-! and give her a hand."

Jay nearly burst out in uncontrollable laughter at Kai's near slip up, but got up anyway, "Okay! Okay! Calm down! Firecracker." He muttered the last word, heading for the steps.

Raising a mischievous/curious brow at him, Kai quickened his pace towards the staircase, "You say something, Jay?" He said in a threatening joking tone, smirking.

"Uh," Jay bolted for the stairs, "Nothing!" He grinned.

"Hey! I wasn't done with you!" And in a jiffy, they were both gone, seemingly swallowed up by the stairs to the couple that still remained up there on the couch. Vania giggled at the ridiculousness of the situation, a hand reaching up to cover her mouth as she did so.

Cole chuckled at their antics, "Those two are seriously like brothers-in-law already. Jay should just pop the question to Nya already. Stop getting cold feet."

Vania's laughing ceased and her head swiftly turned to her — ahem — friend, "Jay's planning on proposing?" She asked, eyes bright with a wide — but adorable — smile. Cole's heart melted at the sight of her looking adorable as ever. It was always nice to see her not being formal.

"Yep. Don't know why it's taking him so long though. He's been planning it for a while now, and he hasn't updated me with anything, which means he hasn't asked. Like, I've been waiting, Jay- Just ask her!" He laughed. But he stopped when he realized Vania didn't laugh or respond to him. He turned his head to look at her. She was staring at the paused game screen. Confused, Cole snapped the fingers of his free hand in front of her face, snapping her back to reality, "Hey." He said, slightly concerned.

Vania sat up straight at record speed. She looked at him with a baffled face, "Hi." She seemed distracted. Almost like she was there, but her mind was elsewhere.

"You okay?" Cole stared at her face, trying to figure out what was going on in that little head of hers.

Then, she asked something he did not expect... at all.

"What are we?"

Vania's eyes bored into him as she asked the question. A line appeared between Cole's brows. Being completely honest, he was perplexed, "What... What do you mean?"

"I mean," She started, taking a breath and holding it, "What's our, um- What's our relationship status?"

"We're- Uh..." Cole didn't really have an answer to that. What were they?

Cole and Vania... They never established anything real, or serious. They're friends. Good- Great friends. They were really amazing friends — could even go as far to say that they were best friends. They have a great friendship, a strong bond that was made over the time they were friends, ever since they first met that day at Shintaro. But it was quite painfully obvious. Cole and Vania were not just friends. Anyone who thought otherwise was blind.

They flirt — the occasional shoulder touches, the sweet nothings whispered into one another's ears, the arm around each other —, they hug — and not in the friends way —, they cuddle when they sit together — as they were still doing right now —, and lots more that did not need to be mentioned.

Cole took one look at those sapphire eyes that belonged to Vania and his heart started beating faster than ever. They were filled with trust and hope. And he was afraid of what that hope came from and what it was for.

"What are we?" She repeated her question, pausing between each word to make sure he understood what she was trying to say.

Cole took a moment to process her question. Vania was asking him what he thought they were. Then something else rolled out of his tongue, "What do you want us to be?" That caught her off guard.

Vania's eyes darted to her legs that were tangled up with Cole's. Her face contorted as she thought of what to say in return. Going over all her options, she decided to throw caution out of the window and be straight forward with him. But before that, "We're not dating, Cole. I know that." His brows rose — what was she saying? — as Vania continued, "But... we're not exactly what people say just friends either."

Slowly, taking extra precaution with what steps he chose, Cole nodded, taking his time. Eyes looking anywhere but Vania's. He opened his mouth, not liking how timid and weak his voice was, "What are... What are you saying, um, we do?" His throat felt parched, his voice coming out scratchy, nervous about what Vania was thinking of.

Tired of how long this was taking, Vania groaned in annoyance, "I'm saying I wanna be more than that!" She cried out, but then her voice dropped to a whisper, "Cole."

Cole closed his eyes shut, mouth setting into a hard, straight line, "Vania." He started, not knowing where exactly he's going, "I, uh- I know that. I do too." She seemed to smile at that, and the corners of his own mouth quirked up, "But you weren't done talking." She faltered, and he frowned at that too, "So, if there's anything you wanna say, now's the time to spit it out. I won't judge, Vany."

Vania snorted at the nickname, "You'll think I'm insane." She looked straight, eyes at the screen again.

This time, Cole snorted, "Never." He shook his head, "If anything, I'm just as insane as you are."

"Gosh, just marry me."

Cole laughed. Took it as a joke. But when he saw Vania looking at him with that certain look on her face, his grew serious. This was no laughing matter. It definitely didn't feel like the right time, but he couldn't help the heat that appeared on his face, "You're being serious?"

Vania nodded her head and answered with a simple, "Yes."

Now, he was the one looking ahead. Cole let out a breath, "Okay."

"Okay...?"

"Okay."

"Okay what, Cole?" When he didn't reply, Vania sighed, letting her head fall onto his chest, "I'm sorry, but... Cole, I'm the Queen of Shintaro. I don't really have that much free time to date. You're the only guy I've ever found interest in, and I got to know you... Well, got to know you enough, at least. We've spent, I'd say, quite a lot of time together. And I'm proposing a proposal to you to marry me now." His face grew grim as he drew his hands together, resting it on his lips, "Because if not..." She stopped mid-sentence, the realization was setting in that she was treading on thin ice, "We might never get the chance to do so. And if you ask me, I wouldn't like to take that chance."

Vania observed Cole's face, pulling away from his embrace. He looked lost, actually. He didn't know what to say, did he? That was what Vania was thinking. Her facial features twisted into fear and doubt. But she trusted him. She knew, even if his answer wasn't what she was hoping for, he wouldn't hurt her on purpose.

Cole's brain was working double time. He was having a mental battle with himself. Have you ever felt as if you wanted something, but at the same time, you weren't sure if you truly did? Because that's how Cole felt at the moment. He's conflicted.

Then, he felt hands- her hands brush over his forearm. Trailing her hand up to his face, Vania was now stood up in front of him, cupping his cheek. A half smile on her face. She looked a mixture of sad and happy. Of course, Vania would never want him to be upset because she's upset. Would never want him to be pained because of her. She was truly selfless.

"Let's catch up with the others. We made them do all the dirty work. We should show up on time to not be any more of a rude guest to Skylor. At least."

Cole, with a sigh, put his feet on the floor and got up. As they walked towards the stairs, he snuck his hand up to lock with Vania's. They treaded down the stairs, hand in hand, in silence. Step after step, they were near reaching the very bottom where the noodle house, where the others were, when Cole got his answers.

Bending down to her height, he whispered so close to her ear that she could feel the warmth of his breath on the side of her face, "The only regret I have from this is that I wasn't able to do it properly, or at all." Vania stopped in her tracks at the suddenness of him speaking up. She felt goosebumps all over her skin, the hairs on her neck stood up. But she didn't look back at him. Not until he'd say some certain words she wanted to hear, "As long as you'll let me give you a proper one."

Her doe eyes stared right into his hard yet soft ones. Still no smile, "As long as I let you do that, you'll what?"

Cole's brows drew together. He wanted to see that smile of hers that could light up even the darkest of days. And as he heard the sound of thunder and rain mixed together from outside, it reminded him of how dark that day actually, currently was.

"I want to marry you, Vania."

That smile. Oh, that smile. His heart melted again at the sight of it. Suddenly, everything felt brighter. Everything felt so light. So right. Nothing around them mattered then as she smiled at him with that beautiful, gorgeous smile of hers.

At that very moment, Cole knew he had made the right decision to say that. Actually, he was pretty sure he'd known that it was the correct answer all along. To be forever bonded with the light of his life, the love of his life. His Queen, Vania.