Hey! Last chapter, ah. But not to worry, i will be starting a new fic this Sunday! Sliiight inspiration drawn from Wreck-It-Ralph ;))

Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed this! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and thank you for all your kind words! And once again, good luck to everyone in the new school year!

Cole was scared. Every minute that ticked by, his stomach filled with butterflies. In just a matter of days he'd be back in the very building they all called, school.

Oh, how he didn't want summer to end.

Speaking of, Skylor had already dropped out of work, claiming that working at the bookstore was only a summer job, and Pixal, the intern which he had grown fond of having around as company, had already left as well. Sure enough, it was only him, Kai, and Harumi. Not too many people for a small bookstore. Not too many people for a bookstore which attracted many customers.

"It's your fault we're so busy," Cole shouted across the room at Rumi.

"How is any of it my fault, Cole?" She asked with a disapproving sigh, opening a box of fresh, brand new, notebooks.

Cole handed Kai a better copy of a paperback. "Back to school shopping here, in one of Ninjago's most popular and only bookstore, creates chaos and you know it."

"Yeah, plus, there's only three of us. You know that right?" Kai waved goodbye to the family after handing them their receipt.

After the last customer in line, Kai collapsed against the wall and lifted his phone, switching it on. "Hey! I'm off in five minutes!"

Cole growled low in his throat. He wished Kai could stay longer to help with all the people. He was too exhausted to deal with everyone himself. Even with Rumi helping, it didn't make as much as a difference without a third person. Most importantly, he remembered a certain someone promising to start working early and take over for some of Cole's shifts.

Unfortunately, that certain someone was not here, because that someone was too busy, hanging out with Zane.

A flash of red sped by him and Cole whirled around, catching Kai sprinting for the door with a coat over his shoulders.

"See ya later, Cole!" His friend called out to him, heading for the door.

"You're leaving me already?" Cole pouted, stopping Kai before he could get a foot out the door.

"Weeelll, for good reason, of course. Nya, Sky, and I are all going to the movies tonight." Cole felt his heart clench. "Wish we could have invited you, but… maybe some other time?"

Cole took a deep breath.

"Besides!" Kai's loud voice jolted him awake again. "Look who just showed up! Up high?"

Sure enough, Harumi's new hire she had been speaking of had just stepped inside, furiously tugging at the collar of his uniform. He caught sight of Kai's open hand and he smacked his own against it, a smile finding its way onto his freckled face.

Cole was surely surprised. With a genuine smile, he marched past Kai and towards the friendly face.

"Surprise!" Jay squeaked, letting his hands fall to his sides.

Cole winked at him, fixing the positioning of the collar before smacking him upside down on the head. "Looking sharp, Sparky."

Jay rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You wear, the exact same outfit. In fact, you're wearing it right now!"

"Yeah, might as well say you look better wearing one than me." Jay narrowed his eyes. "You know uniforms don't look great on everyone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rumi asked, squinting her eyes at Cole. "Is that a way of indirectly asking me to change the uniforms?"

Cole shrugged and pointed to the cash register which Kai had left unoccupied. He turned to Jay. "I'm assuming you were trained how to use one of those?"

Jay nodded, surprised by his boyfriend's sudden change in tone. With a grimace Cole shuffled away.

"Well then you get front counter."

Later that night, Jay bundled up under his covers, hurrying his face into the comforts of his pillows.

His first day at a real job, and it was exhausting. Why did he ever thinking of starting while back-to-school shopping was going on?

Nevertheless, he knew he would enjoy showing his face at his job rather than school. Oh, how he hated pretty much everything about school. And he couldn't believe he would be about to enter his senior year of high school in less than a week!

Less than a week…

Three days.

His last high school summer and then who knew where all his friends would go?

Jay gulped, staring at the wall.

Well, he made it this far. It was scary, but he felt proud. Accomplished. And he sure bet his friends did as well.

A small thought popped into mind and he rolled over to the edge of his bed, snatching his phone from the table and pulling up a group chat.

last day of summer party my place?

He texted to the chat. He waited a couple of seconds before a message from Kai blew up in his face.

But you live in a junkyard

Jay wrinkled his nose, shifting into a sitting position.

I'd say a party at a junkyard is a lot more fun than a party at a lame old house.

He typed back with a smirk.

His eyes moved to the top of the chat and he saw Zane, still in the process of typing something.

We could each bring something. Yes?

Jay was about to agree when Nya butted in excitingly.

I call dibs on cookies!

A small sigh left him and he struggled to come up with another treat to bring. He was thinking of having his mom bake cookies to share them with, but Nya had already beat him to that, leaving him to think of a second option. But he had no second option. Not at the moment.

I got soda and drinks!

Kai added.

What about baby carrots?

Suddenly, everyone - everyone actually being Kai and Jay - was sending wild texts, disapproving of baby carrots at a fun, small, get-together party.

don't listen to them Zane. In fact, bring all the fruits and veggies you can get your hands on!

Nya sent.

but what should I bring? I already have plenty of cups and forks…

Jay threw his head back, squeezing his eyes shut as his head spun with ideas. That was until he realized something. Cole hadn't said a single thing since. He was the only person in the group chat who didn't have a single input on the idea.

Taking a deep breath, he forced his fingers to type.

Cole?

Suddenly, Jay's phone was bursting with text messages, all of them demanding that Cole respond to their pleas.

Jay, feeling like having a whole ton of messages thrown at you at once was completely overwhelming, sought to message Cole privately.

u haven't said a thing u know

Jay leaned back against his pillows, biting his thumb. Cole was never doing anything at this hour… Maybe he was just sleeping.

Cooooollle :((

The minutes ticked by and Cole still hadn't responded. At the same time, Jay was beginning to grow more and more concerned.

Nya started to shoot him texts, asking him if Cole was alright.

Then Zane, and lastly, Kai.

Frustrated, Jay switched off his phone and dropped it on the edge of his bed, falling onto his back.

Cole was just sleeping. He tried to convince himself of it harder but the more he told himself that, the less he believed it.

Maybe he should just call Cole…

Going with his guts, he picked up his phone and -

Sorry, Jay. I was… finishing a little something. What's up?

In an instant, Jay shot up in his bed, a wave of complete and utter relief washing over him.

group chat

Sure enough, Cole had checked the group chat which Jay had created and he scrolled through every single message.

With no time to spare, he sent only one text block:

I'll bring cupcakes. Jay, how about pizza rolls?

As the days flew by, so did summer. Soon, it was already the last day of summer, a day that had surprisingly came around really fast.

And in the evening, Jay would host his little get-together between his friends to celebrate their last summer together as high schoolers.

Currently, Jay and Cole were back at the park. The park in which they always sketched together in. However, this time, they had taken a spot on the bench just several feet from the water.

Neither of them had brought their sketchbook because they both agreed that today would be a day for relaxation. No phones, no stressing out over school, and no sketchbooks. They had only a bowl of ice cream and each other.

"Move over, Sparky."

Jay tossed a glance over his shoulder, seeing Cole holding two cups of ice cream.

"Why should I? I'm perfectly comfortable where I am."

Cole snorted, threatening to dump the ice cream on Jay's head. "So I can sit down too. Where else am I gonna go?"

Jay brought his hand to his chin, pretending to look like he was thinking thoroughly. "Um, how about the grass? Or, you know, there's always room on my lap."

"Yeah, right. I'd probably crush you if I did that."

Reluctantly, Jay gave in, making room for Cole on the bench.

"Ice cream, you scream." Cole joked, handing Jay his share of the dessert. Before Cole did anything else, he pulled a folder out of his bag and gave it to Jay, urging him to open it.

"It's finally finished," he told him.

With his free hand, Jay opened the folder to find their watercolor art collab inside.

"It's what I was working on when you made that group chat… what do you think?"

What did he think? Jay felt his heart leap in his chest when Cole leaned closer.

It was amazing! Two combined art styles into one picture… and it was beautiful.

"Gosh, Cole! You really do know how to watercolor," he set his ice cream between his thighs and awed at every little detail Cole had added to the drawing. "You have to teach me this someday, really. Drawing lessons are nice and all, but I want to try other mediums of art!"

Cole laughed. "That sounds like a plan, Sparky. Side note…"

His voice carried, leaving Jay slightly worried.

"Yeah?"

Cole picked at his ice cream, shoveling a spoonful. "So, you know, Kai reminded me of the back-to-school dance they always have on like the second week of school."

Jay leaned his head to the right, curious to see where this was going.

"And you know, we usually always go, but this time, I was thinking," he paused, tapping the tip of his spoon with the rim of his cup. Jay eyed his ice cream with thought. He saw where this was going, he knew what Cole was about to ask. Sure, he was right about them going to the dance every year, but things were different now. Back then, they'd normally hangout by the courtyards, chatting the night away. But now. Now…

"Things are a little different now…" Cole started again, "so would you like to be my date to the dance?"

Jay hurriedly swallowed his ice cream, sharply gazing at Cole.

Although he saw this question coming at him from a mile away, he still felt somewhat dazed and flustered.

"Me?" He echoed.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Yes, you."

"Ah! You just want me to dress up and stuff! Wait- that means I'd have to dress up! Cole! I don't own anything fancy, you know that!"

"Jay, you don't have to dress up. That's just what everyone else likes to do. You don't have to be like them… although, it would be nice," Cole added, tussling a couple of Jay's curls. "Think about it. 'A couple's first dance at a high school.' Now that's pretty funny and cute."

Jay snorted, slipping the watercolor paper back into the folder. "Then I expect you to be well dressed too. We can wear matching bow ties!"

"Whatever you say, Jay."

It was currently ten minutes past the scheduled time of the party and everyone had showed up. Everyone but Cole that was.

Nya and Kai were in the living room playing an old, and what used to be popular, board game that Jay had found, hidden under his bed, all dusty and beat up. Nonetheless, Nya insisted she play against Kai.

In the kitchen, Zane was sampling some of the snacks that were brought and the pizza rolls that had been prepared.

Alone, Jay stood by the window of his trailer, gazing out at the entrance to their junkyard. There wasn't a moment that past in which Jay wasn't thinking of Cole.

The black-haired teen was never late and he always kept his word. This was just like the group chat a couple days ago. Jay sighed. To prove his point, the clock read 7:10 when he was supposed to be here at 6:50.

Jay's eyes trembled and he palmed the glass, never taking his eyes off the lights.

"Where is Cole? It has been ten minutes and he still has not shown up."

Jay jerked, throwing a hand over his chest and fisting his shirt.

"Woah, Zane. You sneaky ninja. You." Jay drew in a shaky, deep breath before looking back out the window. "But… I dunno… he was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. What if something went wrong? I- I mean I literally just saw him three hours ago!"

"Whatever it is that could be holding Cole back, do not worry. I am sure that he will be here eventually."

"Yeah, well I'm going to wait outside." Jay pushed open the door, taking a step out of the trailer. "Tell the others if they come looking for me."

With that, he shut the door.

Moving around back, Jay jumped onto the ladder and started to climb to the roof of his house.

At the top, he sent a message to Cole, hoping he would take quicker to respond.

we're all waiting for u. I'm waiting for u

A sigh escaped his lips as he watched the front of the junkyard for any sign of Cole.

As time passed, Kai would step outside to offer Jay any snacks, thinking he was growing hungry up there. Jay refused to come down and inside, arguing that he could miss Cole arriving.

The minutes ticked by and Jay was struggling to keep his eyes open. Doing nothing but sitting and watching was boring and he could feel himself growing more and more tired.

He was just about to give in when a faint light from the front of the junkyard caught his attention.

Jay jolted awake, getting onto his knees.

"Cole!" His chipper voice shouted happily. "Up here, ya dingus!"

Cole, who was slowly nearing the trailer, looked up from his phone and box of cupcakes, spotting Jay sitting at the top of the trailer. As usual. Before he took another couple steps towards the door, he turned his head to hear music and chattering, coming from inside.

"Awh, man, I'm sorry I'm so late, Jay. I didn't mean to get you worried or anything-"

Jay waved a hand, moving his arm to pat the empty space next to him. "What took you so long?"

Cole looked from Jay to the cupcakes in hand. "Rumi helped me bake these… they took, longer than expected."

A smile crossed Jay's face and he kicked his feet up higher. "I'm just glad you're finally here… Go drop off the cupcakes and then join me, won't ya?"

Sure enough, that's what Cole did. He was greeted by all the familiar faces and before he could step out of the trailer, Kai pushed a paper plate of snacks at him.

Cole looked down at the plate seeing a line of baby carrots, two cookies, a pile of pizza rolls, and a couple of the cupcakes Cole had brought himself.

He couldn't help himself as he popped a pizza roll in his mouth, feeling himself melt at the deliciousness of it.

A few seconds later and Cole had climbed atop the trailer, the plate now sitting between the two of them.

Cole leaned back on his hands, taking one of Jay's in his.

"If I had the choice to be anywhere in the world right now, it would definitely be up here. With you." Cole muttered softy, letting himself take a deep breath as a cool breeze softly hit him. He reached over and lifted the now empty plate, moving it to the other side. Immediately, Jay scooted closer.

Cole's body locked up at the sudden action, but he soon eased, giving Jay's hand a gentle squeeze. Jay closed his eyes. "That was uh, that was a pretty eventful last month of summer… huh?"

"It was bound to happen," Cole told him, never taking his eyes off the night sky.

"You know, I think I'm going to transfer into an art class this year." Jay spoke suddenly, gaining Cole's attention.

Concern flickered across Cole's face and he turned to Jay, offering him his best smile as he remembered a couple years back. "You really think you can manage this time?"

Several years ago, Jay had requested to take an art course with Cole. When the school year rolled around, Jay was relieved to have the same class, the same period, as his best friend. Unfortunately for him, a simple class art walk and he burst into tears, wanting to opt out of the class.

Everyone had put a small piece of paper out next to their artwork. Everyone was required to walk around the room and observe all the different pieces, leaving any compliment, suggestions, or words of encouragement they had on the small paper beside it.

Jay, he didn't get a single note.

Well, he got one note.

One note. From Cole.

And although he knew his friend was only trying to help, he couldn't get the feeling as if he didn't belong.

"Yeah." Jay said confidently, snapping Cole out of the past. "Yeah. I know I can. I just… I just gotta be myself, you know? So what if mine turns out nothing like yours… we've all got our own way of seeing things, just like we've all got our own way of drawing things."

"You're finally listening to me, aren't you?"

"Shut up, Cole." Jay smirked, bringing his legs up. "But yeah, I think I can finally accept it now. Who knows, I'll probably get into a class with you in it."

Jay stole a quick kiss from Cole.

"But for now, let's just enjoy our last several hours of summer."