Chapter Text
Cole stares out the school bus’s windows tapping his fingers on the windowsill to the rhythm of the music playing in his duct taped headphones. He can feel Jay slumped against him, already asleep from the long grueling Friday.
The whole class got extra homework and of course there was a huge overwhelming “thanks Lloyd” since apparently when anything goes slightly wrong it’s poor Lloyd’s fault.
Most everybody in that school are a bunch of no good dirt bags to their whole friend group.
It makes him so angry and his fists curl, windowsill creaking under the pressure of his super strength.
Jay whines in discomfort and Cole immediately releases the tension from his fingers and shoulders, carefully readjusting himself more, so it’s more comfy for the smaller teen.
The bus slowly comes to a crawl and Cole nudges his best friend a little.
“Mm…five more minutes.” he mumbles, hiding his face in his scarf.
“Sorry, Jay, but we reached your place.”
Jay huffs in annoyance, pulling away from the taller boy. His cheek is red from the imprint of Cole’s bicep. “I was having the best nap of my life.”
“You can sleep when you get home.” Cole chuckles, making sure his friend has everything before waving and saying he’ll text him later.
The rest of the ride is quiet, none of the other kids daring to try bullying him. They know his strength since he’s popped several dodge balls by just picking them up and once left a huge dent on the basketball court.
Of course none of those things were on purpose, but the other kids seem to be convinced it was all malicious doings from hanging out with Lloyd and ‘his crew’.
He’s lost many a childhood friend to that presumption, telling him how he’s changed since then, for the worse.
Which is absolute bullshit.
Cole hates the kid he used to be, sitting outside the play structures because he didn’t have enough energy to play, thinking about how his mom used to do play with him before she got sick. Dressing in all black after her death and being called emo just because he couldn’t forget that feeling, that loss.
He hates all the music and lessons he would take, just trying to make his dad proud. It wasn’t till he met Lloyd and the others till he actually gained the bravery to quit the lessons he hated so much.
His father and his’s relationship got unstable after that, his dad just cracking down on anything ‘rebellious’ or ‘out of character’ for Cole. Not to mention curfews got earlier and mentions of joining a music and dance school have gotten more and more present.
The bus lurches to a stop and Cole looks out the window, seeing his home street. He scowls at the large houses with fancy gardens and pristine green grass, as he stands up, grabbing his backpack and exiting the vehicle.
He walks down the sidewalk, feeling his neighbors staring at him. He turns up his headphones to drown out the words they whisper to each other and speed walks home.
It’s quiet as usual, his father not home from yet another performance it seems.
Cole plops down on the couch and sets his feet on the coffee table, not bothering to slip off his shoes.
He shuts his eyes, just listening to music for at least two hours before eating a snack and leaving to get the mail.
Opening the metal canister he frowns, staring at the oddly stamped letter from The Musical Academy for Young Stars.
Cole takes it inside, setting his headphones aside as he rips it open, despite it being addressed to his father.
He reads it aloud to himself;
Dear Lou,
We’ve reviewed your son’s application for our prestigious school and after careful consideration, we have decided to accept.
We’re honored to have another royal blacksmith under our care,
Yours truly,
The Board of The Musical Academy for Young Stars.
Cole crumples the paper in his fist, throwing it onto the table as rage rises throughout him. He can’t believe this- his father applied him to a school and he didn’t even know about it!
He never asked for this.
He never even wanted this.
Cole growls, slamming his fist against the wall, not realizing the large dent as a small part of the wall caves in.
Just before he can let out a frustrated string of curses, the door swings open, a well tuned hum echoing through the hallway, just making the teen angrier.
“Cole, I’m home.” Lou calls, shoes clacking as he sets them aside, footsteps growing closer. “What did I tell you about putting your dirty shoes on the coffee table? It’s all grimy again!”
The older man steps into the kitchen, freezing when he sees the crumpled letter. “Did you get in?” he asks excitedly, not even paying attention to the look on his son’s face as he unfurls the paper. “You got in! This is wonderful!” he looks up, stopping when he sees his son face. “What is it?”
“What is it?” Cole echos, practically seething. “What ‘it is’ is that you applied me to a school and I didn’t fucking know!”
“Language, son. I didn’t raise you to swea-“
“No, fuck you!” Cole shouts, clenching his fists. “I told you I didn’t want to sing and dance anymore! I told you I hated it and you still did it behind my back!”
“Cole, you loved singing.” Lou starts, voice stern as he frowns. “I know you did, but Lilly’s death took a lot of that passion away. I want to relight it, so you can be happy and finally have some real friends.”
“Real friends? I have real friends!” Cole snarls, starting to see red.
“You and I both know they’re trouble. Especially that Lloyd Garmadon-“
“My friends are amazing and Lloyd is wonderful, he’s just misunderstood!”
“What about that Jay? He seems shady.”
“Jay is the sweetest fucking guy I know! He’s never done anything wrong in his life. In fact, I don’t think he’s even capable of doing anything bad to anyone.”
“Son, calm yourself.” Lou crosses his arms, shaking his head. “You’re a Royal Blacksmith and Royal Blacksmith’s are respectful.”
“I’m not a Royal Blacksmith.” Cole hisses, shoulders shaking. “And you know nothing of respect. You constantly go behind my back, you constantly make sure I barely have any time with my friends before texting me to come back home, and you constantly show no respect to me or my friends.”
“Cole..” Lou warns, tilting his head.
“No, don’t even. You always tell me you know me better than I know myself. Well, you don’t! You know nothing about me!”
“I know everything about you! I know you’re a good kid with a bad influence and I know Lilly would want you to-“
“Don’t say her name!” Cole shouts, chest moving up and down rapidly. “You don’t have the right to tell me what my mom would say. She told me to stand up to those who are cruel and unjust and that’s what I do! Everyday!”
“Your mother wanted you to have better friends!”
“No, she wanted me to be happy and I’m happy with them!” Cole growls, looking away.
“You’d be happier without them.” Lou reaches out and touches his shoulder, only for his son to pull away with a snarl.
“No, I’d be happier without you. I wish it was mom here instead, but somehow I got stuck with the short end of the stick.” Cole hisses, words filled with venom. The look on his father’s face makes him feel sick and he races out of the kitchen and upstairs, locking his bedroom door behind him.
The room spins as Cole takes in a ragged breath, heart slamming against his ribcage over and over. Tears come to his eyes and he shoves his window open, jumping into the bushes below and running down the sidewalk.
His face stings with salty tears, but he keeps running and he doesn’t stop, dodging cars narrowly, taking a short cut through the park and hurrying down the street corners without stopping.
The evening starts to turn to dark, a cold wind blowing through the streets as people start to return home.
Finally, Cole reaches a small subdivision with modest houses. He reaches a faded blue one with piles of machinery and junk outside it along with a small flower garden.
He sneaks around the back and knocks on one of the windows, trying to calm his unstable breathing.
The window is pushed open, revealing Jay who’s in his pajamas.
“Cole, what are you doing here! You know I have a strict bedtim-“ he cuts himself off, eyes widening when he sees the tears streaming down his best friend’s face. He immediately grabs his arm, helping him inside and shutting the window. “What happened?”
Cole doesn’t answer, pulling him into a tight hug, his tears creating a wet spot on the smaller boy’s plain, white t-shirt.
“I’ve got you.” Jay whispers, very carefully wrapping his arms around his best friend, rubbing circles in his back. “You’re safe.”
Cole just stays in that position, not letting go for a good three minutes before slowly moving back. “Sorry, I just really needed a hug.”
“It’s okay. Can you tell me what happened?”
Cole takes in a shaky breath and wipes his eyes dry. “I had a fight with my dad and ran away.”
Jay’s face just contorts into more worry, hovering near in case another hug is needed. “Was it bad?”
“It was really bad.” Come admits, sniffling a bit as he rubs his nose. “I said something really fucked up. Something I don’t think I can take back.” he leans forward, resting his head on the smaller boy’s shoulder. “He made an application to a music school behind my back and I lost control. He started telling me about how bad my friends were and how he knew what I really wanted…I couldn’t take it. I snapped.”
Jay sighs softly, rubbing his best friend’s back. “You had every right to be angry. I…I don’t know what you said, but even if you can’t take it back, you can at least apologize. Sometimes that’s the best we can do.”
“I can’t believe I even said it.” Cole whispers. “It was awful. I feel sick just thinking about it.”
Jay tugs him closer, letting his friend talk through it as he holds onto him.
“I haven’t had an outburst like that in ages. I know my dad loves me, but he never listens. He only listens to what he wants to hear. I broke and it all came out.” Cole finishes with a tired sigh.
“I’m so sorry, Cole.” Jay hugs him a little closer.
“It’s okay. I just…needed to get that out.”
“I understand that.”
“Can I stay here tonight, please?” Cole asks, wincing at how his voice cracks.
Jay nods and quickly grabs some extra blankets from the closet, the two laying on the bed together.
Cole stares at the ceiling for awhile before Jay finds some earbuds and offers one to him. Cole takes the singular earbud, putting it in his ear while Jay listens to the music through the other.
Suddenly the world is calm and everything feels okay again..