AAAHHHH I'M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE.

MERRY CRISIS Y'ALL

Nya's POV

"So... I guess we're out of gas," Jay told me, dragging the motorcycle across the edge of the road.

"Great observation, Sherlock," I said, looking at the gas station ahead of us with not much hope. Heck, even the sign's lights were flickering. The place looked haunted from miles away.

The rest of the road was completely empty; and by empty, I mean not only by cars, but with street lights as well. We had to use our phones' flashlights to even see where we were going (along with the motorcycle's lights, of course).

I squeezed the orca plushie in my arms, trying to distract myself.

It was wild to think that after what happened at the aquarium, we would end up here. I wouldn't have minded staying just a bit longer, really...

"Come here, kitty..." Jay said from behind me in a teasing tone.

I stood up from the ball I was curved in, trying to hold back a giggle. Since when did I giggle?

"Pspspspspsps," I hear from somewhere closer to me.

I look back at the shark tank for a split second, clutching onto my phone.

"Like you'll ever find me, Sparky," I went to type, but gasped once I felt someone's grasp on me. The phone dropped and I fell along with it, but unlike it, I was saved.

"Gotcha."

I let out a gasp yet again as he spun me around, tickling my sides.

"Wait—" I said, trying to hold back tears of laughter.

"You know, sharks don't like loud sounds," he raised an eyebrow, looking up at the tank.

I wanted to slap that sly grin off of his face so bad. Once I finally caught my breath, I grinned. "Who's the marine biologist here?"

"And who's the person who has basic surface knowledge on everything here?" he took a step closer, biting his lip as not to laugh.

I looked at him straight in the eyes as he threw his hands beside me, cornering me into the glass wall.

"Do you think they'll try to attack my hands if I put them here?" he said as a hammerhead shark passed by.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the growing heat on my cheeks. "No, Jay, they won't. Unless they smell your blood, I guess."

"Well, it seems like your face is red right now, so better watch out, Kittypuff."

He still refused to take his hands away, which only made my shade deepen even more. I put on a smirk, standing on my toes.

"Aw, did Sparky learn how to use nicknames now?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "And for your information, Stiix does have Choco Puffs and they taste even better than before."

"So our entire crying night went to waste?"

Why did I feel an odd tension in me?

Still, I wanted more.

I cupped his cheeks, trying my best to push him away. A side of me wanted to push him into the tank and run away, but another one just wanted to pull him just a bit closer.

Everywhere I tried to look, I'd find something I liked, whether it was his blue pools, the perfect little notch on his eyebrow or the wavyness of his hair, I still wanted to inspect just a little closer. Close enough to count his freckles, at least.

"Not entirely. I mean—"

"Um, sir?" we heard a voice behind us, only to find the lady from the front desk calling out to us. "Did you find your cat? We've already closed."

And that was the last thing I ended up remembering from our visit. How Jay had managed to be more interesting than octopi eating each other, I didn't know.

As we finally arrived at the gas station, Jay let out a groan. "Great," he said, "it's abandoned."

He knocked on the door quite... aggressively, trying to look through the dirty glass. "Anyone in here?"

I dragged the motorcycle, making it lean against the steps that led to the porch, walking beside him. "I don't think they're gonna answer."

He sighed. "Just great. So now we're stuck in the cold, in the dark cold and we're probably gonna die from the cold—"

"Jay."

"Right, sorry."

I went to sit down on the floor, but he pulled me back up in a split second. I let out an oopmh as I bumped into his chest, trying to gain my balance.

"Uh, here, let me," he said quickly, taking out his jacket and spreading it across the dusty wood.

"Thanks."

I finally plopped down, hugging my knees while he sat cross-legged on the floor, taking a bit too much space for my liking.

I squished the orca plushie as it played its signature sound, making my lips quirk up a little. What I failed to notice though was where I was pointing it.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold," I heard from somewhere close. When I looked up, Jay's shirt was covered in grape juice.

"What happened?"

"That thing has a drink dispenser on it, remember? That's why it cost like 40 studs!"

"Oh, right! I'm so sorry!" I put it down beside me, my eyes popping open.

His voice still trembling a little, he smiled. "N-no it's fine. I'll just... dry it off."

He grabbed the edge of his shirt, pulling it up a little bit as he squeezed it dry. Well, tried to.

Shit.

Nope, nope, bad idea. Don't look, Nya. You're gonna look like a pervert, Nya—

But my dumb self still looked.

Well, at least he had gotten stronger since the last time I saw him, I've checked that now. At least my suspicions were true, I guess.

"Um, are you okay?" he said, quickly pulling it down.

My face heated up yet again. "Abs," I blurted out. Gosh damnit, Nya!

Now it was his turn to blush. "Oh, yeah. Um, I'm glad you... like them. I mean, they're not as good as Cole, Kai or Lloyd's—heck, even Zane's—but they did help me work out at the gym more over the year," he said rather quickly. "You know, the membership isn't so expensive. We can go together if you want to."

I nodded, looking away. "Sure."

Silence.

"So... now that we're here—" Jay started, but I cut him off.

"Jay, do you know why I even dated them? Or do you just assume I'm a molly for no reason?"

Anything to get me out of that abs conversation.

"A... what?"

"A tomcat! You know, the thing..." I said. "Anyway, whatever. Forget it."

"No, tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're gonna yell at me," I admitted, burying my face in my knees.

"Nya, I'd never do that. I'm not... you know who!"

I know you're not, dumbass.

"You did yell at me once in case you've already forgotten."

"Tell me," he said, turning me around. "Please."

As I inspected his blue orbs more and more closely, I could feel him studying my face, his gaze slowly trailing from my eyes down to my lips.

My breathing became faster. Since when was I the one to crave for touch? Since forever, really. I couldn't help myself.

I was so used to Morro's touch. His disgusting, painful touch. He was the one that made me afraid of hugging my own brother.

But he's not here now. Only Jay is.

Maybe the idea of touch wasn't so bad after all.

Our cold breaths slowly but surely merged together and I could feel him moving his hands to cup my face. Before they even reached their destination, he leaned in—

My eyes widened. Nope, too close.

"I wanted to fit in," I said. That's one way to heat up my face.

He looked at me aimlessly, still struggling to come back to reality. "What?"

"I said, I wanted to fit in," I rested my cheek on my hand. "You guys were having fun and I didn't have many close friends back then, so... I did that."

He blinked. "Wait, where does the whole dating thing come in?"

"Well, you guys always bragged about your 'boys club'. Even Kai didn't let me hang out with you for a while. So... I found a way to get closer to you all."

"By dating two of us?" he said, a moment of realisation hitting him. "Does that mean you never liked them?"

"Thought I did, but when we first got into a relationship, no," I sighed. "Cole had met this girl at the time... they seemed to really like each other, so I broke up with him. Didn't want to get in the way of his actual love life."

"I get that... Thanks," he said, falling silent for a minute or so. "Um, I do have one last question though."

"Spill it."

He took a deep breath,coming a bit closer. "Okay... Why not me?"

"About that..." I cleared my throat, reaching into my pocket. "I think my phone's ringing."

"No, it's not. Answer me please," he said, his voice becoming tenser. "Did you find the others more attractive? Were they an easier match? What did they have that I didn't at the time?"

"Jay, shut up." Why is his voice so loud all of a sudden?

"I don't care who you're dating, I just want an answer..."

"Because I liked you, you dumbass!" I shouted, pulling my hair. "Now please... stop shouting."

"First of all, language," he tried to joke before pulling me into his arms. He rubbed circles on my back, trying to calm me down. "Here... I... I didn't realise. I'm sorry." His voice was lower now. Or had my anxiety gone away?

I laughed a little, tears forming in my eyes. "I broke three people's hearts and now I'm experiencing the same. Kind of funny if you think about it."

"No, no, Nya. You weren't an abusive prick to anyone. There's a difference."

"I still deserved it."

"No one deserves that, Nya," he told me. "I'm here for you. Unless you don't want me to be here for you, that's fine too."

"No, no, it's fine. I guess I've hated you for too long."

"Oh... well, I didn't think it was on a hate level, but I'm glad you let that out of your system," he chuckled nervously.

"Oh."

"But no, I totally get it. I guess I reacted a little too much with the whole situation," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, when you're ready to do relationship stuff again, I'm still here."

I smiled shyly, looking at the ground. "That's good to know."

"As a boyfriend finder, of course," he corrected himself, coughing. "I'll just... go check if anyone's inside. Again."

"Yeah, go do that." And... I ruined it.

Suddenly, I heard a grumble, followed by a loud horn. Who the—

"There's our favourite couple! Get in, losers, we're playing board games!" I heard Cole's voice.

I looked up and sure enough, Zane was pulling him out of his car as Lloyd got out of the driver's seat.

"Uh..."

"Cole! That's it, you're sitting in the back," Lloyd told him, much to Cole's disappointment.

He turned back to me and Jay, glaring. "Where were you guys? We kept knocking the door but you didn't even answer! We ended up going to the dumb frat party for two hours!" he said, throwing his arms in the air.

"We tried calling you, but you didn't answer so we tracked down your phone," Zane continued for him.

Instead of answering,Jay looked at the oddly cheerful Cole beside us. "Is he... okay?"

"He seems to be overcoming his loss quite quickly," Zane said.

I sighed. "Is he drunk?"

"A little, yeah."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get in!" Cole told us, hugging us both.

Jay sighed, gesturing back at the motorcycle. "Actually, I have to wait for the motorcycle to get picked up. It's low on gas so I should probably call for help."

"You're just gonna stay here on your own all night?" Lloyd told him.

"I mean, I could stay with him," I volunteered a bit too quickly. Real subtle, Nya.

"It's okay, Nya, really," Jay reassured me.

"Oh, right. What about Kai?" I said.

"From what we heard from outside, he's probably pretty busy with Skylor. He won't even notice," Lloyd shrugged.

"We could stay here with you guys. It's better to wait in the car than outside," Zane suggested, helping Cole stand straight.

"Really? That'd be awesome."

Lloyd pulled me into a hug, smiling. "No problem, midget. We even brought some board games with us, so..."

"Do you have Spinjitsu?" Jay exclaimed, making me giggle yet again.

"You mean Twister," Zane corrected him.

"Spinjitsu sounds cooler though. You know, spin, twist... Same thing."

I rolled my eyes with a grin. "You guys are the best."

Yes, the juice-spilling Orca plushie is a Drake & Josh reference :).

Hope you enjoyed!

C ya!