Let I, the author, get this straight.

Lloyd has had zero experience with girls.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that he didn't have the confidence to talk to them or that he wasn't interested in dating. Nah.

It was because all of the girls in the tri-state area knew who Lloyd Garmadon was. Well, at least they knew his husk. He was the cursed son of Lord Garmadon, the self-proclaimed 'guy-who-will-eventually-take-over-Ninjago-City-and-pommel-you-all-with-sharks (seriously, who made up these rumours?).' Despite the fact that his father put those evil-doer days behind him, the people of Ninjago still looked down upon Garmadon and his son. Especially his son. Probably because they feared that if they made fun of Garmadon, he'd pummel them with sharks. They didn't think twice about Lloyd, though.

Girls, they just ran from him. Guys, they just made fun of him, and if it was a particularly unlucky day, they'd beat him up to watch him squirm.

Lloyd had a hard life.

It just made him more motivated in his training. In training and fighting, he was allowed to vent the hatred that had been bottled up behind a facade of a content grin. He was allowed to convert the hatred from being outcasted into power, power that he used to fuel his elemental energy. He couldn't fight back against his bullies because he knew that if he started, he wouldn't be able to regain control of himself before his strength was spent. So, training and fighting were his coping mechanisms.

In fact, Lloyd was so focused on his training that he easily surpassed his peers, despite the disadvantage of being mentally younger than the rest of the team.

Being the prophesied Green Ninja was challenging enough. Having the weight of the world set on your shoulders at fourteen - now that's almost impossible. Lloyd, forced upon the green gi, felt as if he were Atlas, with the literal weight of the heavens upon on his shoulders.

But this wasn't a Greek myth. This was real life. This was real pain that Lloyd, only fourteen, had to endure.

That was why he was especially surprised when the h/c haired girl didn't show a sign of repulsiveness that he was oh-so-used-to. That was why during the cafe, he purposefully prolonged the conversation, whether it changed from school, to politics, to what breed of dog was the best (Lloyd was convinced that a Golden Retriever effortlessly topped the charts). That was why, after the quick peck to his check, he couldn't think of anything else but Y/n's bright red face, embarrassed e/c eyes and crudely hidden flustered grin as she sped away. She consumed his thoughts, he wondered who she was, where she came from, how much she knew about him and if she was bothered that his last name was Garmadon. He was off his game, and it was easily noticeable by the fact that Jay had effortlessly knocked him off his feet again.

The blonde boy groaned, sitting up and sporting a fairly throbbing head with a caressing hand. With Lloyd away with the fairies, it made the others falter in their training too, wondering what was going on with their team leader. They stopped training, shared worried glances, before turning to blonde as he sat upon the training mat.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked as he helped Lloyd to his feet and brushed him off. "That's the sixth time, and I'm going easy on you."

Lloyd nodded, dismissing Jay's fears that were shared with the rest of the team.
"Don't worry about me," he waved his team off as he rubbed his face, trying to shake the thought of a particular girl from his head. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Kai pressed, eyebrows furrowed as he worriedly stared at the green-clad boy. "You really aren't yourself."

"I'm fine," Lloyd reassured, trying for a smile as he bent down and grabbed his sword. "Just a little tired, is all."

"I'm not buying it," Cole shook his head, crossing his legs as he leant against the mast of the Destiny's Bounty, his hand holding his scythe to the side of him. "What's on your mind, little man?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes at the double-meaning nickname in good nature.
"It's nothing, honest!" he vowed, lying, but hoped to win them over with a smile.
It didn't work.

"Uh-uh," Nya shook her head as she sheathed her katanas. "Tell us what's on your mind. Remember the team rule? We don't keep secrets from each other."

Jay frowned.
"I thought the team rule was to not tell anybody that we're the ninja?"

Kai lightly (not) smacked the back of Jay's head, making him yelp.
"There's more than one team rule, genius," the fire ninja rolled his eyes. Jay huffed, pouting to the side with crossed arms.

Lloyd groaned, running a hand through his sweaty blonde locks. He loved his team, he really did, but can't they just leave him alone for the time being? Training is a safe haven for the ninja to vent their frustrations, not gossip.

Not that the others knew that it was gossip, or that it was a girl - a girl - that had stolen all of Lloyd's focus. He couldn't believe himself. How could he let some girl get the best of him? Just a few weeks ago, he was gagging at Nya because of girl cooties (it was met with a kick to the knee and an ironic 'grow up, Lloyd'), but Lloyd didn't know why he kept thinking of Y/n's encapsulating e/c eyes, or the way she ran a hand through her hair when she was nervous...

Ugh! There he went again! Thinking about her. The thought of her was like poison. It was slowly taking over his mind, and he wanted out! What was happening to him?

Zane must've sensed the inner turmoil that Lloyd was going through, or maybe his conflicted facial expression gave it away. Still, the nindroid placed a reassuring hand on the young boy's shoulder and sent him a warm smile.
"It is okay, Lloyd. We are here for you," Zane pledged, squeezing his shoulder slightly. "Tell us what is wrong, and we will try to help."

"Thanks, Zane," Lloyd said as he released a heavy sigh, before sending Zane a grateful smile. "Okay, uh, well there's this girl-"

In retrospect, Lloyd probably shouldn't have started with that. As soon as the word girl slipped out of his mouth, there was a sudden flurry of chaos as the others either settled down on the mat as if it were story time, sent question after question in such a rapid fire that they slurred their words, or emitted a high-pitched squeal that only dogs could hear (it- it was Jay. It was Jay).

Lloyd stared at them dumbfounded, with eyes as wide as saucers. He was young, he was naive, he had no fucking clue what just happened. Why did they react like that - so spontaneously?

He blinked, unable to comprehend the situation he had conveniently landed himself into. What was so special about a girl? Why did the mention of a girl make the others freak, and why did the thought of a particular girl make his brain falter?

"Guys?" Nya called to Kai and Cole, who were still animatedly asking questions after question without letting the other put a word in edgewise. "Guys! You'd get answers if you'd just shut up."

Jay stopped squealing. Kai and Cole stopped stumbling over their words and settled down, breathless. Nya and Zane shared an exasperated glance at the actions of their teammates, before turning their attention to Lloyd.
"Go on, spill!" Nya encouraged, resting her chin on her palm as she eagerly awaited Lloyd's response, along with the rest, all leaning forward earnestly.

"Okay, well, uh," Lloyd stuttered as he struggled to begin his little tale of woe. "I guess it all began when I saw her in a cafe when I was walking down the street..."

"Sensei! Sensei!" Kai and Jay cried when they saw Wu enter the training deck. "Lloyd's got a girlfriend!"

Lloyd made a sound in between an embarrassed shriek and a grunt of betrayal when Wu raised his eyebrows in his direction. Lloyd's face burned a bright red, and he hunched his shoulders, wishing for the deck to swallow him whole.

"It's- it's not like that!" Lloyd shrilled, waving his arms and shaking his head in denial. "She's just a friend."

"Uh-huh," Kai nodded, not believing Lloyd for a second. He clasped his hands to his chest and blinked rapidly in a mock of Lloyd's infatuated manner. "That's why you were saying 'oh! Y/n has such entrancing eyes! Oh! Y/n has such a beautiful smile! Oh! Y/n has such an amazing a-"

Lloyd, who had previously been paralysed with embarrassment, suddenly leapt onto Kai and slapped his hand over his mouth. The fire ninja just laughed whole-heartedly, taking joy in seeing Lloyd so flustered about a girl.

"I did not say she has an amazing-" Lloyd caught himself off, shaking his head. "Kai!" he whined, causing Kai to fall into a second fit of giggles.

Wu ignored Kai's teasing, instead turning to his nephew with an intrigued smile.
"It sounds like Lloyd's got himself his first crush," Wu said with piqued eyebrows, a mischievous glint in his old, wise eyes. "Why, I remember my first crush."

"Uncle!" Lloyd whined, a pout on his lips.

"Whup, here we go again," Cole said, shaking his head as Wu began his tale of woe.

"It was the summer of-"

Zane caught Wu off, which surprised everybody. His question that he presented the green ninja made them turn silent.
"How old is Y/n?" he asked in an oblivious tone. "Given the differences between your state of mind and physical body, would it not be challenging to find a suitor?"

Lloyd ran a hand down his face, suppressing another groan. It was quite literally torture for him. He did have the mindset of a fourteen year old boy, after all. There was a building ball of frustration growing in his stomach, and it finally snapped.

"I'm not finding a suitor!" Lloyd exclaimed hotly in denial, snarling. "I'm not on the search for a girlfriend, I don't want to be in a relationship, and I don't have a crush on Y/n!"

The other's however, remained unfazed.
"Dude just tell us how old she is," Kai said nonchalantly from where he was sitting on a crate.

Lloyd sighed, giving up.
"I don't know - maybe around eighteen? She didn't exactly tell me."

Kai fell off his crate.

"Eighteen?" Cole exclaimed as he stood to attention from where he was leaning against the mast.
"Jeez, you're ambitious, kid," Jay chortled. "You're really going after the older women."

Nya rolled her eyes.
"Boys," she muttered under her breath (lmao same, Nya, same).

Lloyd stomped his foot.
"It's not like that!" he cried, crossing his arms with a 'harrumph.'

"Sure, kid," Kai nodded as he stood and brushed himself off. "A fourteen year old boy dating an eighteen year old girl. Nothing wrong with that."

Lloyd scowled, hunching his shoulders as he glared at the rest of his team and uncle.
"Well, physically there's nothing wrong with it! My body is eighteen!"

Jay gagged, shaking his head and biting his fist.
"Bro, we don't need to hear about that side of your romantic endeavours."

Lloyd shook his head in disbelief before throwing his hands in the air and stomping off the deck. He brushed past his father, who faltered to stare at his son in confusion.

"What... happened?" he questioned, turning back to the team with a flabbergasted expression on his face.

Cole sighed.
"Girl troubles," he said.