As soon as I got home from school, I went to my room and plopped down my tired body onto my bed. I really wanted to text Lloyd and see how the rest of his school day was going, but I'd have to wait until he got out of school, so that's what I did. I waited a little while, in fact, I waited a few hours until it was about three o' clock. I knew he would probably be home by then.

Lloyd and I have actually exchanged numbers a couple days ago, but haven't messaged each other yet, so I figured I'll be the first to initiate the conversation through text. I pull out my phone and send him the first message.

"Hey Lloyd" was all my first message said. It took him a while, but he finally responded.

"Was the rest of school okay?"

"Sorry about that. I put u in an uncomfortable situation."

"No I really am sorry. Ur going to be at school by yourself until I come back."

"Ok. How is the eye btw?"

"What did she say?"

"What did u tell her?"

"U told her about the fight?"

"Ur mom probably hates me now."

"I don't think she likes me as much as she likes the idea of u having a friend."

"Sorry that probably came out a little more mean sounding than I wanted it to."

":)"

"No she actually took it pretty well. She said she was proud that I stood up for someone and that she would have done the same."

"That's what I said. My mom is weird. One day she acts like she hates me and then acts like she loves me more than anything the next."

"I hope so."

"Not really."

"Why do u think I'm amazing?"

"For forever?"

"I would like to be ur friend for forever. :)"

"Am I still coming to ur house today or have those plans been canceled?"

"Alright let me ask my mom."

I get up and toss my phone down on the bed and walk to the living room, where my mom is watching TV.

"Hey, uh... mom?" I speak.

"Yes?" She turns her head toward me and cocks an eyebrow.

"Do you think... I could go to a friend's house today?" I ask hesitantly.

"Who?" She asks.

"What?"

"Who's house?" She repeats.

"Oh, it's that friend I was out with a while ago... And he was the person I was defending today... ya know... when I got in the fight..." I answer.

"Oh yeah? What's his name?" She seems surprised that I was actually able to keep a friend for more than two days.

"...Lloyd..." I almost didn't want to tell her his name. I hope she just assumes that I'm talking about someone else named Lloyd.

I see a slight look of worry in her eyes. "...And his last name?"

"..." I stare for a second.

"It better not be who I think it is..." she looks to be growing angrier.

"...Lloyd Garmadon..." I finally respond.

"Ugh... this better be a joke..." she rubs her temples. It's as if she's stressed.

"Why is it so bad that we're friends? He's just a normal kid," I try to defend Lloyd.

"(Y/N), why?" She looks up at me.

"What? He's nice!" I continue to defend him.

"He's not nice, he's the son of a war lord, (Y/N)," she tells me.

"He's the son of a war lord. Doesn't mean he is one. He's different. He doesn't have any association or relationship with his father," I explain.

"I don't want you hanging out with him," she ignores me everytime I try to tell her he isn't bad.

"Mom, I'm old enough to make my own decisions. You've even told me that before, which means I'm allowed to choose who I associate with! Just be glad I've actually found a friend! We actually care about each other," I try reason.

"...Whatever, go. It's impossible to try to reason with you. Just don't come crying to me if you get hurt," she says.

"It's impossible to reason with me? You've always told me to respect everyone even if they're a little bit different. So I don't see why this situation is any different," I retaliate.

"I said you can go!" She snaps. "I'm done arguing, just go!"

"Okay, I will!" I yell back.

I go and get my stuff from my room. I get my phone, ear buds, and a jacket. I then leave my room, walk right past my mom and go out the door. I text Lloyd on the way to tell him I'm coming.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

I walk up to Lloyd's apartment door and lightly knock. I hear light footsteps approach the door and open it gently.

"Hey, (Y/N). Come in!" He cheers.

I enter his home. Lloyd is dressed in a mint green shirt and black shorts. He has fuzzy socks with little doggies on them.

I give a small chuckle, "nice socks."

"Oh, haha, they were a gift," he laughs back.

I look around his apartment and notice that it's just us. "Where's your mom?" I ask.

"She's at work. And she probably won't be back for a few hours. She's been working overtime lately..." he seems upset by the absence of his mother.

"Ah... So it's just us?"

"Yup," he replies.

"So what was it you wanted to do today? Didn't you say you wanted to watch Star Wars or something?" I ask.

"Absolutely not! Starfarer and Star Wars are two completely different movies. And don't even get me started on Star Trek!" He complains.

"Okay, I don't want to get you started on a nerd tangent. Just play the movie," I joke.

"Okay, all I'm saying is, I have too high of standards to watch Star Wars," he gives one last remark.

"And how is this movie different? Isn't it also about some hero in space or something?" I laugh.

"No, they're all different!"

"I'm thinking all movies with the word 'star' in it are probably all the same," I continue to tease.

"Star Trek isn't even a movie, it's a series," he retaliates, "at least the somewhat decent rendition of it is a series."

"Okay, nerd. Let's watch the movie," I joke again.

"I guess I deserve to be called that," he laughs as he digs out the DVD and pops it into the DVD player.

We both have a seat on the couch as the movie begins to play. Right away I can see how bad the special effects were. It's either a really old movie, or just a movie with a really small budget. I just chuckle at it.

After about 15 minutes of the movie, I feel myself growing bored. I don't see this movie actually paying off in end like the last movie we watched. This movie is the same as every other movie that's meant to appeal to nerd guys. It's got a conventionally attractive male as the lead, a hot chick as his side kick for unneeded sex appeal, and of course it's got poorly animated alien characters for the guy to save the girl from. I bet I can predict the outcome of this movie just by the first few minutes.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The movie ended after what felt like forever. I've never anticipated the end of a movie more.

"Well... did you like it?" Lloyd asks with excitement.

Based on how hyped he was earlier, I know Lloyd is probably a really big fan of the movie, so I don't see the harm in telling him I liked it, just to make him feel good.

"Yeah, it was pretty good," I say bluntly.

"Really? You like it!?" He bounces in his seat.

"Yeah. I liked it," I affirm.

"I'm so glad I'm friends with someone else who likes it just as much as I do. I love this movie so much!" He smiles.

I just giggle. He's so cute. I hate to admit it, but I'm really starting to like Lloyd. Like, really, really like him. I hate having a crush on anybody. There's no chance of me actually ending up with the person I like, but if we do somehow end up together, I'd probably get dumped after being in the relationship for more than a month. At least, that's how I expect it to go down.

But Lloyd isn't like the rest of the crushes I've had. Normally, I develop small, temporary crushes on people who I just think look cute, but I'm actually, genuinely interested in Lloyd. And why does it have to be Lloyd out of all people? Why does the son of Garmadon have to be the most appealing to me? If we were to ever end up together, I would probably be relentlessly bullied and harassed.

But, the more I think about it... I think it'd be worth it.

I never really thought I had "a type" until I met Lloyd. And, well, he's just my type.

"Are you going home soon, or do you plan on staying a little longer?" He asks.

"I can stay longer if you want," I say.

"Cool," He smiles, "wanna head to my room?"

"Sure," the two of us get up and make our way to his room.

He sits down at his desk and I sit on his bed. We sit in silence for a small while, but I eventually ask him a question.

"Did anybody say anything about me at school today? Ya know... after I left?"

"Yeah. Some things were said... I heard Chen's friends talking about you..." he says.

"What did they say?" I know I'm not gonna like whatever it is they had to say about me, but I'm still curious as to what they said.

"Well, uh... they were mostly calling you insane... a psychopath... And uh... they said some things about you working with me... And my father to destroy the city... the only one of Chen's friends who didn't say anything was Kai. He just looked... disappointed..." he tells me. He was quite perplexed as he spoke. Even he didn't know why Kai was so quiet about it.

"Really? They're probably gonna start a bunch of stupid rumors about me now," I state.

"Probably... The same stuff happened with me. Rumors always start out of nowhere," he agrees.

"I'd like to think that one day, you'll get the respect you deserve..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're The Green Ninja. You do so much for this entire city, just for them to treat you so poorly..." I tell him.

"I guess..."

"Why do you do it? What makes you keep wanting to be The Green Ninja when everyone treats you like this? You keep them safe and they treat you like dirt." I'm honestly kind of pissed. He's even nice to his bullies when he's not in his Green Ninja persona. If they're mean to him, he has the right to be mean back.

"I guess I'm a firm believer in karma. I'll get what's coming to me and they'll get what's coming to them. It'll all play out," he explains.

"Yeah, but what if karma isn't real? What if you're doing this all for nothing?"

"I think my life has been slowly getting better within the past week. It's paying off," he smiles.

"How has your life been getting better? Everyone still treats you the same."

"I have you."

That simple statement was enough to push me over the edge. I don't just think I like Lloyd, I know I really, really like Lloyd. No one has ever said their quality of life has improved because of me before.

"I wouldn't say I've really done anything for you... I'm just some random guy who happened to see you without your mask," I say.

"You saved me. If it were anyone else who saw me bleeding out like that, they would have left me. Just because I'm related to Garmadon. You see past that. You see me for who I am."

"So are you friends with me because you actually like being around me, or are you only friends with me because I helped you to an ambulance?" I ask.

"Wh... Why would you even say that? Of course I like being your friend because I like you. Not because I like what you did..." he seems hurt by my words.

"No, I didn't mean it like that... I'm sorry, it's just that I've had trust issues for all my life, so it's kind of hard to believe someone actually enjoys my company... I'm sorry..." I apologize.

"No, I understand... I know what it's like. Sorry for getting so defensive like that..."

"Don't be sorry... You didn't do anything wrong," I say.

"You know, you're probably one of the only people who would ever tell me I didn't do anything wrong," he laughs.

"Well, you never do. I don't see why everyone blames you for the stuff your dad does."

"I dunno..." he gets up from his seat at his desk and comes to sit next to me on his bed. "But it's nice to have someone like you who understands," he gives me a warm smile and looks me deep in my eyes.

I smile back at him, "I'm glad I have someone who understands me, too."

We sit there, just looking into each other's eyes. His bright green eyes could put you into a trance. I feel myself leaning in closer and closer. He does the same.

"Lloyd, I'm home!" I hear the front door open and Lloyd's mother's voice echoes through out the house.

We both turn our heads away from each other.

We're we about to kiss? What was that? I feel so awkward.

"I think... I think I should probably go..." I say.

"Oh... okay..." Lloyd says.

"Maybe I can come up again this weekend?" I stand up from my spot on the bed and slowly head toward the door. He follows me.

"Yeah. Sounds good," he smiles and rubs his arm.

"Cool," I smile back.

The two of us leave the bedroom and walk into the living room where Koko is.

"Lloyd! Your poor eye!" She frowns as she rubs his face. He just groans in embarrassment. "And you didn't tell me (Y/N) was here!" She seems excited by my presence.

"Hi, Koko. I was just about to head back home," I wave at her.

"Aw, really? Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" She asks.

I look to Lloyd and he just smiles at me.

"I don't know, I think I should probably get going." As much as I'd like to stay, I was still feeling a bit awkward. I know Lloyd probably didn't have the intentions of kissing me, but it felt like it.

Lloyd's smile fades a little bit.

"Oh, okay. But please, do come back sometime soon!" Koko cheers.

"I will. Thanks for having me over, Lloyd," I say as I'm already half way out the door.

"Bye, (Y/N)!"

"Bye!" I close the door behind me as I take a deep breath.

I really need to stop doing awkward shit at Lloyd's house.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Another chapter, yaaaaaaay.

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