AH! Two uploads by me in one day! I wanted it to be three but I haven't finished the newest chapter for Face the Music yet. Who knows, it could be finished by tonight... cause I won't have time to upload tomorrow since I'm going to be at Ace Comic Con for most of the day.
Hrrh Steven Universe episode reference in the title XP
But I hope you all enjoy this! And check out the two oneshots that Eve and I both did collabs on ^_^
"What do you think of the new intern?" Jay asked, looking out the window.
"I like her," Cole answered and continued to talk on. Jay wasn't listening, though. Since he opened that sketchbook, he only grew more and more anxious to get home and finish going through it. The worst part about it was that every Monday, Cole would stay for dinner. And when he stayed over, he stayed over for hours. Jay wouldn't be able to get anything done if Cole was around. "You should meet her."
Jay caught that much and he laughed, lips forming a thin line. "Eh, and have Rumi try to force some more chores on me?" Cole rolled his eyes. "Maybe."
"Maybe if she didn't like you so much, she wouldn't ask you to help her out."
"Yeah, right. She only likes me cause she likes you."
Cole popped his eyes wide open. "She likes anyone who she can trust, honestly." The car made a sharp right turn and soon the junkyard was only a few yards away. "Hey, I know I usually stay for dinner on Mondays, but I got something to do. Is that cool with you?"
Jay flinched. Had he heard Cole right? Excitement bubbled through him but he did his best to hide it from his friend. "Why not?" He stammered, fighting the growing smile.
"I promised Nya I'd help her choose some photos for her presentation."
Jay's brows drew nearer. "Why can't Kai do that?"
"Lloyd has a karate tournament this Friday and his parents want Kai to stay with him at the dojo to make sure he gets all the practice he needs," Cole punched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Sorry, dude. I really wish I could stay-"
"No!" Jay shouted a little too loudly. Cole peered at him with one eye. "No, no, no! It's fine! Really! Maybe next time?"
A gentle smile crossed Cole's face and he dropped his hand. "Yeah, you're right - while we're still on the conversation of…" Cole looked to Jay briefly, "there's an art show this Wednesday. I was thinking we could spend the day there."
"But my class-"
"It's an art show, I'm sure the teacher wouldn't mind at all."
Jay bit his lip and looked down hesitantly. "Alright," he said, "Sure, why not?"
As soon as they pulled up, Jay hastily unbuckled his seat belt and pushed open the car door, throwing a leg out. Cole wondered what the rush was all about but didn't bother to ask. "Thanks for the ride!" Jay said to him as he hopped out of the car.
"Can't wait to see the rest of your art collage!" Cole called back to him, hoping Jay had heard him as the brunette was already halfway to the mobile home. Cole squeezed his eyes shut when he heard the trailer door slam shut and Jay was at last out of sight. Cautiously, he backed out of the junkyard, looking back at the trailer once in a while thinking Jay was still standing out there.
Inside, Jay kicked his shoes off to the side and quickly started for his room. He hadn't a minute to lose, not when the sketchbook was right here and he was alone without Cole having to look over his shoulders.
"Jay, was that you?" His mom suddenly asked from the kitchen.
Jay groaned inwardly - it was impossible to escape his parents. "Yep, I'm home, Ma!" He shut his mouth when a scented aroma filled the air around him and traveled up his nose. "Hang on a sec, is that… macaroni and cheese?" Excitingly, he left his bag on one of the side tables and slid into the kitchen, a hungry look in his eyes.
"Oh, it's just you, dear?"
"Y-Yeah, is something wrong?"
"Oh, I thought Cole was staying for dinner today-"
"Something came up and he had to help Nya with her presentation for photography," Jay told her. "But that's fine! Just means more Mac and Cheese for us!"
Edna giggled and cupped her son's cheek in her hand fondly. "Oh, Jay."
"... the flowers in this photo look really pretty, and they take up a good third of it too. You should definitely use this one." Agreeing with Cole, Nya dragged a copy of the photo to her photography class folder and scrolled down to show more of the pictures she had taken. "Well, this one's a little angled funny… oh! I like this one! The shot of the water hitting the rocks is amazing!"
"Thanks, Cole," Nya dragged a couple more photos to the folder, "I actually enjoy taking pictures of nature more than anything else. It's amazing what you can see from one shot."
"Hah, yeah…" Cole said softly, staring at her laptop screen. As she continued to scroll, Cole's eyes noticed one that looked like a rose and he unknowingly leaned closer. "Hey, is that… a rose?"
Nya's eyes followed Cole's finger to the picture he was pointing at. "Ah, yeah." She double clicked on the photo and it filled the entire screen, causing Cole to jump back.
Cole studied it carefully, then pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. It was the drawing of a rose Jay had done earlier today in art class with Cole. Jay didn't want it, so Cole has stolen the drawing and tucked it away without Jay noticing.
The young woman saw the paper in Cole's hands and she awed silently. "Did you draw that?"
Cole looked down and then at Nya. "Jay did, actually."
"Jay? Well that's amazing!"
"I know…" he said in a whisper, tracing his fingers over the outline of the petals. "I wish he knew how great he was at this stuff. He's so - he's not confident in himself or his abilities."
Nya smiled. "He looks up to you, Cole."
"He looks up to me to the point where he envies everything I do." Cole sighed. "It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong."
"But you're not." Cole turned his head when he felt a hand on his thigh. "Everyone gets jealous over something. It's a hard feeling to deal with, but you just gotta deal with it and learn to put that jealousy to the side."
Cole stiffened, then held the rose up again, taking in all the details of the flower. "It's so weird. The rose he drew looks so pale compared to the one I colored in," he took out his drawing of said flower and placed it side by side with Jay's. "It's like it's faded… it's kind of depressing."
Nya caught the sad expression on Cole's face. she closed her laptop gently, standing up. Cole's eyes followed as she headed for the kitchen. She turned her head to look back at Cole, halfway in.
"How about we take a little break, you know, drink a little something and relax?"
Cole silently agreed and slumped back in his chair as he waited for Nya to return with snacks and drinks.
His mind wandered back to the flowers occasionally and he started to wonder why Jay had chosen a rose in particular. For his whole life he'd known Jay, the smaller one had never shown as much interest in flowers as he did to animals and birds. Cole, on the other hand, loved flowers, heck his sketchbook was filled with small doodles of flowers.
Cole gulped at being reminded of his missing sketchbook. He had forgotten about it for a while now but it just had to come back at him and fill his head with thoughts he didn't want. Thoughts like Jay finding out about his crush on him.
He had to find out if Jay had it.
After all, he knew Jay, and when he got his hands on something as prized as his sketchbook, he would do anything to keep anyone from finding out he had it.
"I just remembered something," Cole called to Nya. "I need to be somewhere in like ten minutes. You don't mind if I leave right now, do you?"
Nya poked her head out from the kitchen, setting two halfway filled drinks on the counter. "Oh, you're leaving?"
"We can do this again tomorrow," he assured her, packing his things.
"That's alright… um, maybe I'll stop by the bookstore tomorrow."
"Sounds great, Nya. Sorry I couldn't stay long. I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that, he shut the door, starting for his car.
Who knew a drawing of a single pale rose could hide so much?
Edna pulled out the finally baked macaroni and cheese from the oven and set it on the stove. At the same time, Jay was setting up the table, laying down the bowls, glasses, and silverware.
In the middle of it all, there was an obnoxious loud knock on the door, causing Jay's shoulders to hunch forward.
"I'll get it," Jay said, pushing away from the counter while his mom took out the juice. Jay paced himself to the door, wondering who it could be.
"What do you wa…" Jay stood immobile in front of his best friend at the front of their trailer. He tossed a brief glance over his shoulder and saw his parents still too occupied to see Cole. "Cole?" He stuttered. "I, I thought you said you couldn't make it."
"Slight change in plans," Cole peered over his shoulder to look inside. He closed his eyes when the smell of cheese enveloped him. "Is that macaroni and cheese, I smell? Woo hoo!" He made his first move inside but Jay stood in his path.
"Who is that, dear?" came his mother's voice. Jay looked back at Cole and frowned.
"It's Cole." Cole exchanged the look.
"H-Hang on, just a sec… why did you just decide to come over? Couldn't you just have had dinner at home, or something?" Jay gnawed on the inside of his cheek frustratingly, practically pleading for Cole to go away.
"It's still Monday which means it's not too late for me to come over, right, Sparky?" Cole tossed back confidently.
Jay growled inwardly. Cole was right. He didn't know how else he could convince him to leave. "Now outta the way, dude." He crossed his arms over his chest as he stepped to the side, letting Cole inside his home. From the corner of his eyes, a square shaped bag sat on the open table and Jay stiffened, following as Cole's figure walked straight past it. His body relaxed the second his friend had left the bag unnoticed and he quickly rushed to toss the bag somewhere in his room.
"So! Cole… heh heh, just staying for dinner?" Jay asked, bouncing towards his friend.
Cole wrinkled his nose, "Actually, I thought I might see if I left the sketchbook here. You know, take a look around myself? I know you already said you didn't see it, and it's not that I don't trust you, buuut I'm just going to do a quick check. Okay?"
Jay's stomach sunk. Cole was here for his sketchbook. And he had no doubt that Cole would get to it before he could even find it a better hiding place.
What would Cole do when he found out?
Jay's eyes fell to the ground. All he really needed was time and a way to hide the book in a spot so safe and so out of thought, that Cole wouldn't even think of looking there… and then he would be safe.
"It's so nice to see you again, Cole," Edna said, passing by him. "How's the job? Jay told me ya got an intern now, is that right?"
The dark haired man nodded, resting his arms on the kitchen counter. "She's oddly really nice. You'd love her if you get the chance to meet her."
Jay couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Speaking of, you know Zane actually went to the bookstore a little after you came to my art class?"
Cole raised a bushy brow and tilted his head to the right. "Really?" He ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling at the thought of Zane and Pixal together. "Hah, gosh, Pixal is just like him… I gotta ask Rumi what happened while I was gone," he whispered to himself, looking in the other direction.
"You think you can help my mom set up for dinner? My Dad's somewhere outside trying to patch up the old jalopy," Jay rolled his shoulders and flashed a quirky grin.
"What are you going to be doing?"
Cole was onto him.
"I, uh, I need to take care of something in my room…" The brunette bit down on his lip, eyes searching the kitchen to for ideas for an excuse. "I think I left a glass in there."
"I can help you look for that," Cole offered, starting after Jay, who was already moving to his room.
"Aw, hah, naw! I got everything covered. Besides, my mom would love if you stayed here and helped, wouldn't you, Ma?" He peered around Cole, innocently gazing at his mother who stood graciously in the kitchen with a bowl of creamy Mac and cheese in front of her.
"Come here n' I'll show ya where the bowls are, dear," said Edna as she waved for Cole to come over.
But Cole was aware of what Jay was trying to do and he wasn't going to let it slide. If Jay really did have his sketchbook, he needed it back.
Finally, he cleared his throat for added effect and spun around on his heels, starting for Jay's mother. "Alright, but we've gotta check out your room after dinner."
"Oh hoh, sounds good with me."
When Cole was finally out of sight, Jay marched right into his room and yanked the sketchbook out of his bag, searching his room for any good hiding place. Anywhere. Then it hit him. What if he took another peek inside the book? It wouldn't hurt anyways. After all, he didn't get very far back in class all because Cole had shown up early.
He looked under his bed, debating whether he should just slide it right under until it hit the wall. "Nah," he said with a shake of his head and checked for any other spots. Drawers, no. Closet, no. Suddenly, the thought of taking it to his parents room crossed his room and he ran across the hall to his parents room. Inside, he found that it was much cleaner than his and he had no choice but to look for some place else. Maybe his parents work room? Jay gritted his teeth together, but that was all the way on the other side of the trailer past the kitchen.
"My room it is," he huffed and forced his legs to drag him back into his messy room. "Come on, Jay, think. Where can you hide it?"
As he searched the room once more, he could hear his mother's voice in the back of his head, telling him that dinner was ready. Jay only ignored it. His eyes landed on his high shelf and a light went off in his head. He just needed something tall to step on…
"Did you get dad inside?" Jay asked, poking his head inside the kitchen.
Cole whirled around, startled. "You're back. Where's the dirty glass?"
At first, Jay had no idea what he was talking about, but he looked down at his hands and realized his mistake in an instant. "Oh! Guess there was no dirty glass. Probably took it out earlier," he said with a shrug, briskly brushing past Cole to his seat at the table.
Minutes later, they were all seated at the table, eating and talking away. Jay had brought up the conversation, suggesting that they talk about the first year when he and Cole met.
They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and for the first time in what felt like forever, Jay didn't care that Cole was better than him, or in his head; he liked having Cole around. Although his jealousy was hard to control, he couldn't imagine a world without his best friend. Not only that, but Jay was actually considering giving Cole his sketchbook back.
Unfortunately that didn't last.
Once they had finished dinner, Jay led Cole to his room, throwing his arms out as if to say "ta-da!" and show off his junkyard of a room which Cole had already seen so many times.
"Tell me when you find what you're looking for," Jay told him as he collapsed onto the bed.
Cole didn't answer and only set on searching Jay's room for his sketchbook. He checked the drawers, closet, shelves, under the bed, and even under all of Jay's junk scattered across the floor.
"Find it yet?" Jay asked slyly, "I told you, I don't have it. Why don't you trust me?"
Cole rolled his eyes and checked every place again, making sure he didn't leave any rock unturned. "I said I do trust you, Jay."
"Ah hah, uh, no you didn't." He jumped off the bed and kneeled down beside Cole. "First of all, you never explicitly stated that. You said 'it's not that I don't trust you' which could totally mean you don't trust me! And secondly, if you did trust me, you wouldn't be going through all my things right now!"
With a scoff, Cole dropped the pile of Jay's dirty clothes he had currently been holding. "Fine, you don't want me going through your things like some search party? Tell me then, do you have it?"
Jay huffed. "See, you don't trust me." He folded his arms and looked away, his brows drawn together, clearly upset at his friend.
Cole jabbed a finger in his direction. "I know you, and I know you like to lie, I know you like to snoop around in other people's belongings, and I know you'd do anything to keep your hands on something that isn't yours."
"Do you trust me?"
Cole blinked. He drew back.
"Well?"
He didn't know what to say… he wanted to say yes, but he also wanted to say no. Jay wasn't a simple guy, and Cole wanted to tell him that, but now just wasn't the right time.
So what else could he say?
"Of course. I trust you."
Eased, Jay mustered a smile and met Cole's eyes once more.
"Then I don't have it."
