So sorry this came out a few days later than expected, but some things got a little in the way recently. Hope you love reading this as much as I did writing it!
Also high school AU bruise Bc I’m trash and I think their designs are adorable
Summary: Just two friends hanging out on Valentine’s Day… right?
“Email me.” Cole read aloud. “Hm,” he squinted, taking a closer look at the tiny orange heart between his fingers. “That’s a new one. Do people even do that anymore?” he asked, before aiming at Jay’s mouth. Cole threw it - only for the conversation heart to fall into the folds of his equally orange scarf.
Jay closed his mouth and began to pick through his scarf. “Beats me.”
Upon finding the hidden candy, he popped it into his mouth, and then proceeded to rummage through his own box of conversation hearts.
It was a nice, lazy, Friday afternoon. Since Valentine’s Day fell on Saturday, their eighth-period history teacher only found it fitting to host a small class potluck. And now that most of the pizza was eaten and the sweets handed out, everybody was just hanging around until the bell rang.
So sorry this came out a few days later than expected, but some things got a little in the way recently. Hope you love reading this as much as I did writing it!
Also high school AU bruise Bc I’m trash and I think their designs are adorable
Summary: Just two friends hanging out on Valentine’s Day… right?
“Email me.” Cole read aloud. “Hm,” he squinted, taking a closer look at the tiny orange heart between his fingers. “That’s a new one. Do people even do that anymore?” he asked, before aiming at Jay’s mouth. Cole threw it - only for the conversation heart to fall into the folds of his equally orange scarf.
Jay closed his mouth and began to pick through his scarf. “Beats me.”
Upon finding the hidden candy, he popped it into his mouth, and then proceeded to rummage through his own box of conversation hearts.
It was a nice, lazy, Friday afternoon. Since Valentine’s Day fell on Saturday, their eighth-period history teacher only found it fitting to host a small class potluck. And now that most of the pizza was eaten and the sweets handed out, everybody was just hanging around until the bell rang.
Seeing it as a perfect opportunity to goof off, Jay and Cole had started a little game using the chalky conversation hearts. Cole considered it less of an actual game, and more like some sort of candy catch with their mouths, but they took turns reading the cheesy messages before flinging them at each other.
The candy tasted just as bad as he remembered, and they didn’t really have to read the sayings, but Cole found it oddly enjoyable.
Well, maybe not at all odd. Because the truth is, Cole believed knew he was falling in love with his best friend.
“You know,” Jay continued, looking at the small white heart in his hand, “I thought you’d be better at this.” Grinning, he took aim.
Cole rolled his eyes. “Ooookay, you say that, but you haven’t even madeone.”
“That’s different. You’re you, and I am me, which givesme an excuse.” Jay took one last look at the heart. “XOXO.”
Cole opened his mouth and watched as Jay let it fly, only for the piece to clink against the button of his denim jacket before it fell, bouncing onto the floor.
He then bent over in his seat to pick it up and turned over to the desk on his right to place it there.
“I love you.”
Cole immediately turned back towards Jay. “What?”
“The message.” Jay clarified.
Cole reeled back a second. In return, he clasped his hands together and pulled them closer to his chest. “Oh, I love you too -OW!” He exclaimed as the small candy whacked him right in the corner of his eye.
Jay only laughed. Cole quickly pulled out another before launching it at Jay. The brunette had dodged the incoming attack, so he threw another which landed in the midst of his curls.
Jay retaliated, and Cole scooted the chair to the left, a loud screech that had barely covered their laughter.
He kept throwing pieces at him, and Cole could hear as they clattered against the floor and whizzed past his ear.
Breathless from laughing and all out of ammo, the two boys called a mutual, silent truce. Cole watched as Jay picked candy out of his soft, fluffy curls. Cole blinked, dispelling the thought, before looking around and noticing that everyone was still immersed in their side conversations, too busy to notice the candy heart war that had taken place at the back of the classroom. The teacher was still at their desk.
“So, uh, you maybe wanna….do something for Valentine’s Day this year?” Jay asked. Cole redirected his attention, but Jay wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was focused on tearing at the flaps on the top of the conversation heart box.
“I thought we both declared Valentine’s Day to be the bane of existence solely made on being a capitalistic ploy.” Cole said, leaning forward, picking up more of the discarded candies.
“Nya said that.”
Cole collected the dirtied pieces off the floor in his palm. “You agreed.”
“Fine.” Jay huffed, crossing his arms. “Forget I asked.”
Cole sat straight up in his chair and scooted closer to Jay. “Hey, I was just teasing.”
Jay returned to picking at the box flaps.
“But, uh, yeah.” Cole swallowed. “What did you want to do?”
Jay kept his head down. “I don’t know. I just thought we could hang out. It’s been a while, and I really missed this…” he finished quietly. Putting the empty box on the desk, he finally looked back up at Cole. “Besides, everyone else is busy tomorrow, so I thought why not?” Jay flashed a soft smile.
Cole wanted to keep it there.
In all truth, they really hadn’t had the chance to spend much time together anymore. Cole was off doing his own thing, and Jay’s been busy with Zane and the rest of the robotics team. Not to forget about homework, and the rest of stuff that came with being your average high school student. And to be fair, all of his other friends were pretty much occupied for Valentine’s Day. Zane had told him how he was planning on making Pixal this fancy dinner, Kai found something to do with Skylor, Lloyd usually buys himself candy, and Nya straight up doesn’t do Valentine’s Day.
I mean, Jay was his best friend, right? It would be weird to say no. He was taking advantage of the free day, that’s it.
“We could maybe…” Jay started again, searching for his next words. “..swing by the arcade, eat some junk, and maybe some chocolate-”
“You had me at chocolate.” Cole smiled.
_________________________________________
Cole was no stranger to Valentine’s Day. He was just twelve years old, a mere boy in the sixth grade, when he started to receive a decent amount of candy grams from other girls in his grade.
At the Valentine’s Day party, he remembered sitting at the table with his friends, sharing his spoils with them. He decided to ask aloud, why him?
Kai, through bites of his chocolate, looked at him incredulously. “Have you ever looked in a mirror?”
Cole left it at that.
When they were younger, it was just about receiving candy, but as he grew older, and moved on into high school, it became more and more about romance. And dates.
He thinks he preferred it when it was solely about chocolate.
However, Cole was a nice guy, and he wasn’t one to turn down the determined girls that asked him to be their Valentine.
To be honest, nobody asked him that year, but he feels it had to do with never moving to kiss the girls he went on these dates with. Apparently the “kiss goodnight” was an important one.
The girls were pretty, and he didn’t mind hanging out with them, but he didn’t really know them. Not like he knew Jay, anyways.
His mind shifted to Jay. The two had hung out before, but never on a “date”. Was this like a date? Cole secretly hoped so. Maybe it could help him process some things…feelings?
Or maybe they’d come to the conclusion that he and Jay were just better as friends. Just like Jay and Nya did at the beginning of high school.
Guess he’d find out something tomorrow.
_______________
After asking his dad to borrow the car for the evening, Cole made the drive out to Jay’s house. He had just arrived and was about to text Jay that he was outside when the front door swung open, and Jay practically bolted down the ramp from the trailer and into the car.
Slamming the door behind him and clutching something tightly to his chest, Jay quickly buckles his seatbelt with one hand.
“He-”
“Drive.”
Cole took a good look at Jay, who was currently looking over his shoulder and had to admit, he looked nice. “You look-
“Oh, it’s my hair, isn’t it? My ma-
“Jay!”
Cole too, turned around to see Jay’s mother coming out after him. He immediately lowered the passenger side window. Jay then glared at him in return.
“Hi Mrs. Walker!” Cole waved.
Edna came up to Jay’s window. “Hiya Cole!” she greeted before speaking to Jay.
“Sweetie, you didn’t let me take your picture.”
“Ma-”, Jay muttered, “…later.”
“Oh alright then, make sure you boys wear your seatbelts!”
“We will!” Cole replied, smiling. He turned back to Jay, who was watching as his mother walked away and disappeared back into the house.
Now that he was close enough, Cole could see a small plastic bag sat in his lap, with something inside.
Jay, noticing where he was looking, started to take the item out of the bag. “I - um, got you something.”
“Oh!” Cole said, a bit surprised as he pulled out a small heart-shaped box of chocolates. Taking it from his hands, he noticed almost immediately that they weren’t just any box of chocolates, but his favorite kind, the ones with the crunchy outside and the smooth hazelnut spread on the inside. “You-” Cole stammered, trying to find the right words, “-you didn’t have to, I was just joking.”
Moving on, and beginning to mess with his own sleeves, Jay’s voice came out in a tiny “oh”.
“But I love it!” Cole said, trying to make Jay feel comfortable again. “You know me…and chocolate ha.”
Great nowhe was being weird.
Sensing the brief awkwardness in the air, Jay looked back out the window hurriedly. He moved his hand and was just about to run it through his curls when Cole stopped him. Carefully, he reached his hand out, and Jay stopped, watching, waiting for his next move. Cole wrapped his fingers around his, and could feel his curls just underneath.
“Don’t do that,” he said gently, “I think you look really nice.”
Jay’s eyes met his. There was a look he hadn’t seen in them before. It represented a closeness he couldn’t describe.
Jay gave a sudden squeeze before withdrawing his hand. “Oh, um, thank you.”
Cole smiled, then took his hand away. “Well, let’s get going.” He started the car, and they were off.
___________
Given that it was Valentine’s Day, there weren’t very many people at the arcade. Of course, they began by exchanging some bills for tokens then helped themselves to snacks and a couple of pieces of Cole’s chocolate. All the while practically cruising around the arcade with nobody else to wait behind.
Together, they racked up some points playing skeeball, and Cole had even successfully convinced a rather reluctant Jay to play a couple songs on one of the giant dance machines.
For Cole, it was pretty much natural, all those years as a kid having finally manifested as a proper element of his. For Jay on the other hand, not so much.
“I thought you didn’t even like dancing!” Jay exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air after finishing the last round.
“Competitivedance.” clarified Cole. He chuckled a bit, thinking back to just a few moments ago. At one point, he nearly moved to catch Jay, who was having a hard time with one of the intermediate level songs.
“It was not funny”. Jay insisted, as he walked a bit further ahead from Cole, scanning the aisles of games.
Cole smirked. “You’re right.” He said, stretching his arms behind his head, “it was cute.”
Seemingly dismissive of the latter’s comment or maybe just not hearing him, Cole didn’t really know but all of a sudden Jay stopped and pointed.
Cole came up close behind him. “What?”
“That one.” he said, pointing over in the direction of the game.
Cole followed Jay’s gaze and could just make out a large game hidden just behind some of the hoop shooters. Following the brunette, he could see that it was actually a co-op shooter game enclosed in a cabinet, where two people could sit inside and play.
He followed Jay into the cabinet and took the player two seat as Jay inserted the tokens. Taking the large blaster-type controller into his hands, Cole sat back and noticed that as Jay took his place next to him their shoulders were touching. He didn’t believe they’d ever been that close before.
The game was fun, even though it had taken the same plot of other shooter games, they had a great time passing through a couple levels blasting robots. The seats vibrated, and the sound effects - booms and shots - surrounded them in the dark.
After encountering the third boss of the game, Jay had got hit with a projectile that quickly came from a corner he wasn’t paying attention to. Cole could see as his side of the screen began to display the INSERT TOKEN message, but Jay hadn’t moved to put in any more. He just sat there, watching the screen.
“Hey.” He called, trying to speak over the booms as he shot down a flying robot. “I placed the tokens on the ground. Right next to-”
The words became lost on his tongue as Jay moved closer, leaning his head on Cole’s shoulder.
Cole could feel his heart beating faster than the vibrations coming from the controller in his hands.
Shooting away at a horde of marching bots, Cole stole a glance and could see Jay just watching him play, not saying a word at all. Cole froze then - and he was immediately taken out by a large missile. The game didn’t make sense anymore, but he could not have cared less at this moment.
His hands remained on the controller, and they both watched as the timer to insert the tokens slowly ticked to zero.
GAME OVER had flashed in giant red letters across the screen, and they had both moved to get out, almost as they both had sensed the moment too, was over.
It may have been over, but something had definitely changed. Their hands bumping into each other as they walked back together to the table where their stuff was.
__________
After getting their fill of snacks, and Cole picking out a cheap blue bear for Jay at the prize counter, they decided to leave the arcade. They were all giggly now, full of junk and sugar from Cole’s chocolates.
Walking out to his car in the parking lot, he and Jay kept bumping into each other - shoulders, hands - their magnetism wanting to pull each other close once more.
Getting closer to the car, Cole jogged slightly ahead and unlocked the car door for Jay, holding it open for him.
“Thank you.” Jay said, giving his best curtsy.
He and Cole burst into laughter again, as Jay climbed into the passenger seat.
“Why-” Cole started in between snickers, “why did you do that?”
“I don’t know!” Jay laughed, red in the face from both amusement and embarrassment.
Coming down from their fits of laughter, it slowly turned back into giggles, then smiles, and then silence.
They looked at each other, Cole’s hand still on the passenger door handle before he finally spoke again.
“Do you maybe wanna…keep celebrating Valentine’s Day with me?”
Jay cocked an eyebrow. “Why?” Did you want to catch a movie or something? To be honest I’m not sure if they’re playing anything good right now.” Jay moved to take his phone out of his pocket before Cole interrupted him.
“No- I mean - like - from now on.”
The question didn’t really reach Jay’s mind. Blinking slowly, he uttered only one word. “What?”
“I really enjoyed the time we spent together today.” Cole responded almost immediately. “I..I think it should be like this every Valentine’s Day.”
Jay stared back at him, almost in pure disbelief of what his best friend was telling him - standing right there in front of him.
Cole prepared himself for the blow.
But.
“Cole, I - I wouldn’t have asked to spend Valentine’s Day with you if I didn’t want to spend it with you - you know? I don’t know if that makes sense.” He finished, his voice beginning to taper off.
Something changed in the air.
Cole moved his hand from the car door handle, and for a second Jay thought he would just close the door, head to the driver’s side and just pretend that this didn’t happen.
But Cole couldn’t let this go. There was a nagging feeling inside of him that told him if he did - he’d only regret it.
Instead, Cole moved his hand from the car door and gripped the passenger’s side interior handle, hanging right above Jay. He felt himself move slowly, closing the distance between Jay and himself.
“Cole,” he breathed, “…what am I to you?”
Cole could only feel Jay’s breath on his skin and watched as his eyes fluttered shut. He inched closer and closed his own.
“…Mine.” he answered, just above a whisper.
Their lips met - timidly - but sure. Jay’s were soft, and he couldn’t help but wonder if his own were chapped. He could taste some of the chocolate they shared.
This by far had become the sweetest gift he had ever received on Valentine’s Day.
They parted. And Cole felt his face heat up as soon as his eyes opened. He thought Jay would look away again, like he had before when they were this close. But instead, he smiled.
“So.” Cole said, getting himself to speak again - restarting time once more - “be my valentine and get a pizookie with me?”
“Uh, bless you?” Jay joked.
“Actually,” he followed up, a smirk gracing his features, “I’d love to.”
As Cole walked around the car and sat in the driver’s seat, Jay at his side, he couldn’t help but think that maybe it just wasn’t the spirit of Valentine’s Day taking over. Maybe it was love.
I decided to essentially stick to their ninja colours for their school tracks so Kai is a Bard, Zane an illusionist, Jay a Healer, Cole a Beast Trainer, Nya is both on the abomination track and Illusionist since I didn’t want to just have her the same as Zane, and Lloyd is on the Plant track (but he’s also Small cause Au means he doesn’t have to magically age up >:3)
