All of Our Scars - Ninjago Conia AU FanFic

• COLE 6 •

"Cole?"

Holy crap. Cole jumped in surprise and looked up from the counter, his eyes widening as he almost choked on nothing. Jay was looking back at him with the same shock, his electric blue eyes wide and round.

It's been a long time since Cole had seen his friend. Jay still looked the same as he remembered; blue eyes, curly brown hair, pale skin with freckles on the bridge of his nose and a short height - although he was certainly taller than when they had last met. He was wearing a pair of beige cargo pants and a plain white shirt under his blue zip up hoodie. Nothing had really changed about him physically - he was still the little freckled boy Cole remembered - but his personality.....Cole just had to see.

"Jay? What are you doing here?" he asked, surprise lacing his voice. Jay smiled and shrugged.

"I dunno. I wanted coffee. Long time no see buddy," he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. Cole realised Jay had simply not changed at all. He was still positive and optimistic as always.

"Indeed. Now what can I get you?" he asked his friend, smiling and placing his arms on the counter. Jay squinted at the menu, and Cole got a sudden sense of deja vu to when Vania was here. Immediately, Cole's heart started thumping and he looked down at his hands. Not now goddamit.

Cole found he had been thinking about her a lot. More often than he would've liked. He enjoyed every second they talked to each other, and all the times they've called or when she's visited him in the coffee shop. It was confusing for him, and he'd never really felt that way before, for anyone.

"Ahem? Cole? Helloooo?"

Cole blinked and found that he had zoned out. He felt himself flush a little and looked up, smiling sheepishly.

"Heh....uhm...sorry. So....what do you want?" he asked. Jay looked at him in a jokey, suspicious frown, before answering.

"Uhm....just a Vanilla Latte probably please," he said, causing Cole to blink in surprise again. That was one of Vania's favourite coffees, and something she ordered regularly here. Cole forced himself to concentrate, pulling himself away from his thoughts.

"Okay. Coming right up," he said. 

"Great, thanks!" Jay nodded and paid, before collecting his drink and bidding Cole goodbye. He watched, slightly sadly, as his friend left, the bell tinkling as he pushed open the door.  Cole wondered when the next time he'd see him again was. Probably in ages, or even never, and Cole couldn't help feel a little bit of himself die inside. It was stupid, he knew, but he maybe wished his childhood friend would've made a bit more effort to show they were still close. Or maybe they weren't. But something about the twinkle in Jay's eyes and the mischievous grin told him he was wrong, and Jay was definitely up to something and that Cole would definitely see his buddy again. Cole didn't know why, but it was just a strong gut feeling. And from experience, Cole learnt to always trust that. Forget about your brain or your heart, your guts are usually correct. And......that sounded weird. Really weird.

Cole finished working at around 7:00 p.m, since he never really took any of the late night shifts. He was exhausted anyways, so he was actually really glad. It was still surprisingly light, although Cole supposed it was expected since it was basically the middle of summer. But there was still a small soft breeze in the air, and he sat in complete silence the entire drive to his apartment.

When the elevator door opened with a ding, Cole stepped out as the metal doors shut behind him, and to his surprise he saw boxes everywhere, crowding around the door next to his room.

Someone new must be moving in, he thought, taking out his keys and going to unlock his door. He was about to turn the handle, when he heard a voice and the door beside his swung open. Cole actually choked on his tongue this time as Jay Walker walked out, wearing the exact same thing as this morning with his phone in his hand. His face morphed into one of surprise, before it changed into one of utter delight, a smile spreading across his expression. The smile was infectious, because Cole felt his own lips tug up slightly too.

"Jay?" he asked incredulously. Jay grinned wider and nodded.

"Holy FSM. I'm your new neighbour! YES. I HAVE A BUDDY," he exclaimed, basically jumping up and down. Cole laughed. Typical Jay. The exact same Jay Cole remembered from when he was younger. The same goofy, happy Jay Walker.

"So. Want help with some boxes?" Cole offered, gesturing to the mess of cardboard littered around the corridor. Jay smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Yeah....my girlfriend and her friends said they'd come help later too, but we could use an extra hand if we want to be done before midnight," Jay said. Cole blinked.

"Since when did you have a girlfriend? Heck, how did you even get a girlfriend?" Cole asked jokingly. Jay rolled his eyes in fake offence, before he frowned.

"You...don't have a girlfriend?" Jay said hesitantly, half frowning and half stifling a laugh. Cole rolled his eyes, before going down to pick up a box which was actually surprisingly heavy.

"Ha ha. Yes, I'm single. Shocking news. Anyways, where does this go?" he asked, as Jay showed him exactly where to place it. After a few minutes they had moved a decent bunch of the boxes inside, when suddenly the elevator doors opened again and three woman walked out, and Cole almost dropped the box he was holding on his foot in surprise.

One had dark raven hair tied up in a high ponytail tied up with a blue scrunchie, the same colour as her sky blue eyes. The other had dark red hair also in a ponytail, but with chestnut brown eyes instead. But it was the third one that Cole had his attention on - gold hair, blue eyes, pale skin. Vania.

The one with the dark black hair approached them first and smiled, giving a small wave. Jay smiled back and ran up to her, embracing her in a big hug.

"Hey Nya! Thanks for coming to help," he said, stepping out of the hug. This one was probably the girlfriend. Nya, Cole learnt her name was, shrugged.

"My pleasure. I brought a few friends too to help, especially since you tend to be an overpacker at times," she said. Her other two friends came forward, and Vania's eyes went round when she spotted Cole. She gave a small smile and wave, causing Cole to blush and smile back.

"Anyways, my old buddy Cole here has decided to help. And guess what Nya. He's also my neighbour!" Jay said, laughing. Nya smiled, before placing her hands on her hips and looking serious.

"Okay. So where do we start?"

A/N: Sorry this one seemed so rushed! I was surprisingly busy today but wanted to write something, so I just pulled this together. Anyways, Jay has now been introduced, so we've only really got a couple of characters left. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Byeeeeee!