*about 3 years ago*

Nya's POV

"More stunt practice? We just came from the gym! What do they want from us?" Jay complains as we walk to the open room they have for stunt practice. Each season, we learn the stunts beforehand and train, so we can execute them safely and efficiently while on set. 

It's usually no problem, but because the stunt coordinator was busy earlier with Kai and one of the new characters, we went to the gym thinking we had a day off. Clearly though, we didn't. He just moved our time slot back.

Jay's shirt clings to his newly defined chest, a change that certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. The show makes us work out insane amounts, but when the guys were a bit younger, their hormones didn't work in a way for them to build muscle the same way. The increase in testosterone from aging definitely hasn't hurt any of the guys, especially Jay. All of them have gained bulk and tone, something the fans certainly haven't left undiscussed.

"I don't know, but hopefully we won't have to do anything too crazy today. I won't have to, at least, looking at who is going to be there. My only major fight scenes are the final one and with Clouse, but he's not going to be there. You, on the other hand," I nudge his side, "have a nice fight with Cole in the tournament."

"It would've been so cool if you got to be in the tournament," he rests his arm on my shoulder as we walk, and I don't mind. "But hey, now you get to be an ultra sneaky kabuki girl who steals the spell for us. Super spy Nya, am I right?"

"Still not the same, but I appreciate the enthusiasm. It's the tournament of elements though, so there's no way for me to be in it. On the bright side, I don't have to skydive."

"We're skydiving?" his eyes widen. "I didn't know we were skydiving!"

"Yep, and you have a 'broken leg' while doing it. Cole, Zane, Pix, and I, on the other hand, get to watch it all happen from afar," I tell him victoriously.

"You're going to be so scared when we're doing it," he tells me matter-of-factly, his blue eyes teasing me.

"I will not be," I cross my arms.

"You're going to be paranoid that our parachutes don't work. Admit it. You care if I live or not," he nudges me with the arm that used to be on my shoulder, his signature smile on his lips.

"What would you say if I said I did?" my eyes meet his.

"That I feel the same way about you. Can't say that too loud around Gabe though. He's saltier than all of the oceans combined, I swear..." he shakes his head. "How are things with him now, anyways?"

"I'd rather not talk about him," I admit.

Gabe has been a bit overbearing ever since the end of season 2. Once we finished filming, he was upset that I still wanted to hang out with the guys, Jay specifically. He yelled at me, saying that I'm spending more time with them than him, so I cut back on the amount of time.

That still wasn't enough for him. After season 3 finished filming, he started to become even more possessive, not wanting me to hang out with them at all. It's just because he cares about me and doesn't want to lose me. However, it's annoying.

"That bad?" Jay's usually energetic tone drops to a more serious, comforting one. I look up at his eyes, full of concern as he scans my face.

"Let's just say last night he called me a 'slut' and accused me of sleeping with you," I say quietly even though no one is around. Jay's face becomes a series of emotions. First, he's surprised, his eyebrows rising, before he falls into concern. Then, a hint of anger creeps in.

"He's such a...such a..." he clenches up his fists, not able to find the right words. "You told him off, right?"

"He explained how he's just insecure this morning and how he's sorry. He made me waffles..."

"You let him get away with it? Nya, he's going south, fast. He already won't let you see me, or any of the others, after work a majority of the time, and now this? I'm worried for you," he stops our walk to talk to me. The two of us move over to the side, out of the walkway, so we can talk more privately.

"It's just a rough patch. We'll fix it," I tell Jay in an attempt to reassure him.

"You deserve so much better." He pulls me into one of his hugs, holding me firmly but not painfully. I wrap my arms around him and close my eyes. Jay's my safe haven. Being near him is beyond calming, yet there's a growing anxiety in the back of my mind that Gabe will walk in and see us together. Smoke will pour out of his ears as he pulls us apart and makes assumptions.

The fear makes me abruptly pull away, immediately missing the comfort. "We should probably get going. We don't want to be late," I suggest. The warmth and electricity I just felt disappear.

"You're right," he sticks his hands in the pockets of his black, mesh shorts. He opens his mouth to say something else, but he shuts it instead.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. I can tell he wants to say something, but he's keeping his lips sealed for the first time ever. He's always said his mind, whether it was about the food we're eating or Gabe in the past. Now, however, there's something he's not saying.

When we show up, the stunt coordinator is still busy with Kai and the new girl, Skylor I believe. Both are on little perches and are jumping up, trying to reach a sword up at the top. They start jumping, fighting with each other on the way up before the girl falls. I gasp, expecting her to fall hard. Kai catches her and uses his core to throw her upwards. When she flips in the air, grabbing the sword and landing on the top perch above it, that's when I realize that it was all part of the scene.

"There you two are," Cole walks over from where he was waiting. He has a grey headband on, pulling his hair back, along with a charcoal tank top and black mesh shorts just like Jay. "I was worried you weren't going to show."

"How else would I obliterate you in our fake fight today?" Jay jokes, his trademark smile is back on his face. "It's mostly just us using our powers though, so we'll probably be practicing the end part."

The two start to talk, and not having anything to contribute to the conversation, I keep watching ahead of me. They practice the scene several times, adding dialogue, and I'm amazed at how she does what she does. Yeah, Kai is doing something very similar, but I know what training Kai has been required to do these past years. I remember how hard it was to train Lloyd at first, so I can't imagine how this girl could catch on so fast.

"She's really good," I vocalize my thoughts.

"I talked to her at the cast party. Apparently, she's been a stunt double for years now, and she did gymnastics. They wanted someone who they didn't have to train," Jay explains why she's so good. "I still can't believe neither you or Kai could make it this time. I had to carry the party on my back."

"Hey! I was there."

"Yeah, but you were too busy sucking face with my cousin to contribute to the party," Jay counters, and I slightly choke on the air. Cole becomes flustered, his mouth opening, but no words come out. "Then, Zane and Pix are still in the 'honeymoon phase' of their relationship, so they weren't much help either. To add to it, Lloyd showed up late from another project he's working on."

"I wish I could've gone. Gabe just..."

"Practically refuses to let you over to my house? I know," Jay sighs, annoyance fused with sadness in his voice.

"Kai's totally been flirting with Skylor all day," Cole changes the subject in an attempt to reduce the tension.

"Do you think she's going to bite?" Jay accepts the switch, looking over at Cole.

I've realized the two have been a lot closer this season than the previous seasons. The two hang out a lot more after filming, my invitations from Jay becoming a lot less frequent, and now, they're filled with dozens of inside jokes. It makes me uneasy.

"I can't tell. She's nowhere near as flustered as the girls usually are, but she's still flirting back," Cole explains, and the two go into the likelihood of if they're going to get together, and if so, how long they'll be together, before they start talking about some video game. I sigh, knowing I'll be able to contribute nothing to the conversation yet again.

As time goes in, this feeling of being the third wheel grows more and more. My chest is tight, and I need something to relieve it.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announce.

"Have fun," Jay says. He flashes me a smile as I walk away. I walk out of the large room, resembling a warehouse, and I go into the bathroom. After going to the bathroom, I sit in the fancy waiting area they have attached to it for if you're waiting for someone.

Pulling my vape out of my bag, I take a hit. The warm, fruity air fills my mouth and enters my lungs; a lightness fills my body. My eyes flutter shut as I exhale. I repeat this process again, becoming calm.

I know Jay, or any of the guys for that matter, would get mad at me if they found out about my habit. They're all strongly against drugs, but this is different. It helps me relax, helps me let go.

Knowing I need to wait a bit so they can't tell what I did, I pull out my phone and start scrolling through my Instagram. I like the posts that come across my feed, which are all either my cast mates from my various shows or posts from the fandoms. After I exhaust that, I move onto Twitter.

When I hear the door open, I don't look up. I just continue scrolling.

"Hey, is everything alright? I've heard that you've been in here for a while," at the sound of a silky voice, I look up. The new girl, Skylor I believe, is standing in front of me. She has on a macaroni orange exercise tank top and black leggings, highlighting her toned limbs. Her scarlet hair is pulled up in a high ponytail. After our table read, which I wasn't mentally there for at all, Kai told me that she was "the most gorgeous girl [he] has ever seen", but I thought he was exaggerating. However, she is very pretty.

"Yeah, I'm good," I give the easiest answer.

"I can tell that you're not by the look on your face," she takes the seat next to me. "We haven't formally met. I'm Skylor," she sticks her hand out. I shake it.

"Nya."

"Now Nya, what's bugging you? It's not good to bottle things up," she looks at me, sincerity in her amber eyes. In that moment, I decide I need to let it out to someone who will just listen. If I tried to tell Gabe, he'd tell me I'm being ridiculous. Jay, Kai, or any of the guys for that matter, would bombard me with "solutions" to my problem. I need someone who will listen, and who's better for that than someone who's sworn to confidentiality about their cast mates contractually and who barely knows me.

"Honestly, I'm losing control of everything. I hate it," I admit, my chest tight. "My boyfriend has taken a strong hold on what I can and can't do. I love him, but he's making all of my decisions for me. He's booking my new shows, deciding who I can and can't hangout with, picking out what I can eat, everything. Then, he's accusing me of sleeping with my best friend, or at least who I felt like was my best friend. He's my safe haven, but I can feel my boyfriend driving a wedge between us. I'm not allowed to hang out with him outside of production, so he's been getting closer with other people, and I'm scared we're going to fall apart," I explain to her, my eyes starting to water, but the tears don't fall out. I can't cry.

"Oh Nya," Skylor wraps her arms around me.

"I'm going to try to work this out with my boyfriend. He's not usually like this."

"That's good, but you have to make sure you put yourself first," she advises me. "And for your best friend, Jay absolutely adores you. At the cast party, he wouldn't stop talking about you. If I didn't already know about your fandom wanting you two together in real life, I would've assumed that you were together. He cares, Nya. He was the one who asked me to come and talk to you," her words help calm me.

"Thank you, Skylor," I give her a small smile.

"Also, drugs aren't a solution to your problem. They just temporarily muffle it," she informs me. "I could smell it when I walked in."

"I should probably go back to the set," I decide, standing up.

"Good idea. I'll dm you my number if you ever need to talk about anything. I want to be here to help."

"Thank you so much."

---

*one month after the convention from last chapter*

"Oh my best friend, have you gotten your script for the upcoming season yet?" I pick up the phone, smiling at my best friend's voice.

"No, Ms. Sheen, I have not, sadly," I tell her as I type on my computer.

I'm currently sitting in my penthouse at the table that looks out onto the city. It has a very open layout, only the master bedroom, guest bedroom, and bathrooms having walls. Everything is very modern, from the updated kitchen to the white furniture and glass tables. Out on the balcony, we have a hot tub that is away from the public yet allows for me to relax in the elements.

"Kai has been absolutely freaking out. He swears that they were supposed to be to you guys by now," Skylor laughs lightly at her boyfriend.

"They said they'd message us the day before to go in the next day," I explain.

"That's what I assumed I...aw, you're leaving already? Alright, don't do anything dumb, or else I'll have to go over there and beat you up. I love you," I hear a kissing sound on the other end of the line before a door closes. "Sorry for that. Kai's heading over to Jay's for the night, and he wanted to say goodbye."

"Are the two of them plotting something?" I joke.

"All of the guys are going to be there. Kai said that Jay invited you, but you never responded," Skylor says the last part disapprovingly. "You can't just ignore him, you know."

"Look, things have been tense over here, and I can't have someone having another reason to be mad at me," I say quietly, not knowing where in the apartment Gabe is. "Plus, it's not ignoring if I talk to him in person, which hasn't been in several weeks due to my schedule, but hey, it'll happen eventually."

"You need a break from everything. Come over and spend the night. It'll be the two of us, and we can relax," Skylor suggests, and I can imagine it: calming down with popcorn and big pajamas, making fun of the midnight television. We'd be too sleep deprived to realize that what we're laughing at isn't even funny, and that's the beauty of it.

"I can't, early morning tomorrow for the new show I'm on," I frown, resting my elbow on the counter and my chin in my hand. "They know Ninjago is my priority, so they're trying to cram in as much as they can before we start filming again."

"We need to do one soon, though," she persists as I take a bite of the kettle chips beside me.

"We do. We need to..."

"Who are you talking to?" at the sound of that ever so familiar voice behind me, I freeze as if I'm caught in a crime. I'm aware that I'm doing nothing wrong, but his glare on the back of my head makes me feel otherwise.

"Skylor," I show him the name on my phone as evidence when I turn around. He lets out a hmph of satisfaction. His short black hair is drenched, and taking in the fact that his tall, lean figure only has a tower covering him, I can infer that he just got out of the shower.

"Hang up. I want to talk to you," he commands, and I listen. I hang up the call, setting my phone down on the counter. His eyes narrow at the bowl next to me. I feel my throat close up. "The hell are those?"

"Kettle chips. They're tasty. They..."

"Explains the extra weight you've put on," he shakes his head. Suddenly, I become extremely self conscious. I hug my own body slightly tighter, my pajama shorts and t shirt feeling more constricting than before. "I'm horny. Pleasure me," he demands.

I feel the color fall from my face, a familiar nausea entering instead. I close my legs subconsciously. "I'm really tired, Gabe..."

"When did I say it was a choice?" he raises an eyebrow at me. "You owe me this. Remember? It's from when your work went over again when I was going to take you shopping for new clothes."

"Please, I..." I try to find some way out of this right now.

"Do you not want to touch me? Do you not love me?"

"I love you."

"Then make it up to me," he tells me before walking over to me. His hands grip onto the top of my thighs, his fingers digging into the muscles in a way that causes me to wince. "You're so hot."

"So are you," I respond, an instinct now. His hands force my legs open, carassing my thighs up and down.

"That's more like it."

A/N yeah so Gabe is Gabe... 

There's only like one more "contextualizing" chapters left before things get moving. It seems going to be a wild ride

Thoughts?

Well I'm going to keep this short cause I'm tried and should be sleeping 

Goodnight/ good morning/ good afternoon everyone. Thank you sm!