Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He really was lovely.

She couldn't deny it, not that she had ever really doubted it. It was hard though, trying to get a good look at him from the front of the room.

Tooth was a diligent student, always sitting in the front of all her classes. She regretted this during the first week of junior year, after she realized she shared about half of her classes with Jack. He preferred the back of the room. She could only catch glimpses of the boy when she yawned, dropped her pencil, or did acrobatics at her desk (that wasn't too often).

She really didn't want to seem obvious. Not that he would ever notice her staring, Jack never noticed anybody, really. He was always thinking of other things and hardly paid attention to the people around him.

Tooth dropped her glitter pencil for the third time and bent over to pick it up, letting her unruly hair curtain over her face and hide her unwavering gaze. Through the strands, she could see his long legs propped up on his desk. His shoulders were relaxed and he was looking out the window, staring at the autumn leaves. The sun reflected off of the spills of silver covering his scalp.

Tooth was crushing. Bad.

She propped back up in her seat, biting her pencil before jerking it away. Ugh. What a horrible habit! She didn't want the wood to ruin her teeth. They were straight, pearly, and clean. Slumping down on her desk, she softly groaned.

She really wanted to see Jack's teeth.

'I bet they're perfect,' she thought dreamily.

She had never seen them really, because he never smiled. Or at least when he did, it was because he was laughing at the success of his latest prank, and he always covered his mouth when he laughed. Her cheeks heated instantly at the thought of his cheeky laughter. He covered his face so the adults wouldn't catch him, wouldn't realize he was the one that had pulled the prank. He loved those. It puzzled her how he could pull such extravagant pranks and never get caught. The last time she caught him laughing was when the principal was on the loudspeaker, raging over a mysterious someone who had put all of his files into the lunch ladies' freezer. By the time he had found them, they were stuck together and rock solid. She giggled into her arms.

"Toothiana! Is my lesson boring you? Do you need to take a walk down to the disciplinary office to refresh your mind?" the teacher scolded.

Tooth sat up immediately, knocking into her desk with her knees and making her pencils and papers go flying. The class chuckled and she just sighed. Nothing new here.

"No, Mrs. Crumpbittle. I'm fine," she answered softly.

Oh jeez, she couldn't stand this lady. Even though Tooth had the top grades in class, Mrs. Crumpbittle still found reasons to get her in trouble. She had extremely little tolerance for nonsense.

Tooth was sure it was because of her name. Her name annoyed the teacher. As the chuckles resounded around the room, she couldn't help but wonder how it would've been different if her father, Haroom, hadn't named her after his favorite thing, dentistry. By no mistake, yes, she adored teeth and dentition and good sized molars, but...! With all excuses aside, she realized how ridiculous of a name it was. Why would her mother, Rashmi, go along with it?

She fought the urge to sigh out loud.

Her mother. She missed her.

She had been deployed overseas when she had been given a higher ranking in the military. Her mother was a brave Air Force fighter, boasting the high rank of Chief Master Sergeant. Tooth knew her mother loved to fly and so did her father, so neither of them shed a tear when she was deployed. She would come back. She always did.

She giggled at the thought of how a simple dentist won over the heart of such a strong, resilient woman.

Still. In the end of it all, her name was Tooth. It was the cause of much of the teasing she'd ever gotten from other students. The fact that she actually obsessed over teeth made it even funnier to them.

She frowned. She was happy and bubbly! She liked teeth and dancing and spinning in circles, but she wasn't good with confrontations. She didn't think she could hold her own in a fight, not like her mother. She always backed down, and so the other girls always came for her.

"You like teeth? Gross."

"So you're dad cleans the crap out of peoples' mouths for a living? I can see you doing that too."

"What kind of ugly name is Toothiana? Ha!"

She shook the thoughts from her head. She couldn't let things like that get her down. She had good friends that didn't laugh at her or the things she liked.

She smiled. After this period was lunch, and she could see them then! She was sure they would all be waiting for her at the usual table outside on the campus grounds.

She would see North, the Russian exchange student towering over everyone at six feet, four inches. He would be sporting his usual fur-trimmed jackets and dark ponytails. He was muscular and large, with fuzzy eyebrows and bright eyes. He had a fierce look that scared off most people, but she knew better. North was a sweetie. He was still learning English, but he caught on fast and had taken a liking to their group in the beginning of the year.

And sitting next to North would be Sandy, the reasonable one of the group. He was fun to be around even though he was mute and narcoleptic. The school had forced him to take lower level classes with the other disabled kids until they realized he was a lot more capable than they had realized. Many times, Tooth had caught the chubby, blonde boy helping North with his studies. He communicated with them using a notepad that he carried everywhere, but they had all learned a little sign language just for him. Tooth almost laughed out loud as she remembered the big grin on his face when he realized they could sign a little with him.

And sitting opposite to the both of them would be Bunnymund. His name was weirder than Tooth's, but due to his quick temper and great right hook, most kids left him alone. He had moved from Australia when he was younger but the accent never left him. His parents studied animals and came to America to study a new breed of rabbit that had popped up in the region. Even though he had a sharp tongue and a short fuse, Tooth knew he meant well.

She looked at the clock, counting down the seconds. What a group they were! All from different places, yet they fit so well together.

Even her own appearance was different. Her father being from Thailand and her mother of Indian descent, Tooth was a strange, exotic thing. Her skin was a light brown, as if the sun had kissed it for a little too long. Despite her Asian heritage, for some strange reason her hair had turned out a dirty blonde instead of a normal black. Her eyes were a bright purple, making every other person she met ask if she was wearing colored contacts. A genetic anomaly, she figured. She had put dyed streaks of blue and purple in it last week. Her father nearly went into cardiac arrest, but her friends thought it fit her bright personality. Surprisingly, the colors looked fitting on her.

She twirled some of the blue strands around her finger and looked over her shoulder to the back of the room once more. The lanky boy was grabbing his bag and staring at the clock, muttering the seconds under his breath.

Jack Frost. The coldest kid in town. He didn't like talking to anyone, touching anyone, looking at anyone, he didn't like people.

But Tooth liked him. She liked him a lot.

She drifted off, still twirling her hair and gazing when his eyes shot over to her. She nearly choked, jerking back around and slapping her hand to her side. Oh gosh!

The bell rang loudly and the class sounded as if a herd of buffalo ran through it as the students shuffled out. Tooth quickly picked her fallen things up off the floor and shoved them into her knapsack. He had seen her staring, ugh. He probably thought she was some kind of creep.

She hoisted her knapsack on and jogged over to the door, eager to leave this horrible class. The moment she stepped through the doorway and turned down the hall, she ran into something hard.

The impact jerked her out of her thoughts as the breath shot out of her chest. Tooth was usually graceful and poised, rarely out of balance like this. She nearly fell over, but two hands gripped onto her arms and pulled her upright. She swayed back into the body, cautious of not slipping again. Oh thank goodness she didn't fall and make a fool of herself! Now, who had she run into? She just had to apologize, running around like that and not paying attention-

She stopped. Her cheek was nuzzling into a blue sweater. One with ratty, bitten drawstrings. The name barely made it into her head before she was shoved back, violently.

'Jack.'

She stumbled backwards, having to catch herself again. Tooth stood face to face with Jack Frost. His bag was slung over one shoulder and he looked...annoyed. The air around them grew extremely heavy.

She scrambled for the right words to say in the tense moment.

"I-I-I'm really sorry about that, I-I wasn't looking-" she stammered out, cringing at the way her nervousness was crippling her ability to speak.

He shook his head impatiently and held up his hand, cutting off her poor excuse.

"Watch where you're going," he snapped. His voice was hard and she couldn't help but look away from the frustrated expression on his face.

She hadn't meant to upset him. She really liked Jack. Or at least, she thought she did.

Summoning forth her last bit of courage, she tried again, softer this time.

"...Honestly, I am sorry, I really hadn't seen you standing there, I wasn't paying attention-"

He absently wiped the dust from his clothes, ignoring her attempt at an apology and how she grew more and more quiet. Her voice died down the more he was inattentive and Tooth was painfully whispering by the time he finished wiping himself off and brushed past her.

She slumped. He hadn't even listened to her.

The back of her throat closed up and her face burned as she rubbed at her forehead with a trembling hand. She squeezed her eyelids shut and began to walk away hoping to find her friends soon. She didn't realize that the boy had such a hold on her, that he could make her feel this useless from uttering only a few words.

Her walk turned into a jog as she raced to the school exit, hoping that the cold autumn breeze would cool down her steamed and embarrassed face.

He was still lovely to her, even with that ugly scowl on her face. She really did like Jack.

Even if he didn't like anybody else.

"Hello Tooth," North greeted brightly in his heavy accent, "What is wrong? Why you have long face?"

Tooth sighed and smiled as she approached the table. As she predicted, they were all there, waiting for her. The embarrassment and the pain didn't feel as bad anymore when she saw their bright faces.

"Oh, nothing Nicholas. It's just been a rough day. Mrs. Crumpbittle gave me a hard time, that's all." She didn't want to tell them about Jack. She didn't want to make things awkward around the boys by talking about her crush, and she didn't want the three of them to hunt Jack down and force him to be kind to her. She didn't want any trouble.

North nodded, "Yes, the professor of history? She is slow in the voice and ugly in the face, makes class no fun. I sleep always in history. That is why Sandy must always help me!" he laughed a huge laugh from deep in his belly, enjoying his own joke.

The others laughed and Tooth sat herself beside Bunnymund, pulling out her lunch.

"Hello, Sandy!" she signed.

"Hi Tooth." he responded swiftly.

She looked over to Bunnymund and nodded before looking to her lunch and then the campus grounds. The leaves were changing color this time of year. Winter would be arriving soon. She poked at her sandwich absently.

The three young men observed her quietly before Bunnymund broke in, "North's right Tooth. We know what you said about Mrs. Crumpbittle is bull, she's rotten to everyone. Give us blokes a fair go and tell us what's really going on."

Tooth shook her head slowly. She was to Bunnymund's blunt nature. That was just how he was.

"It's honestly nothing guys!" she looked to them and smiled, trying to express that she was okay. "It's just been a rough day like I said, that's all."

Bunnymund shrugged and went back to his vegetarian lunch. North was already chowing down on a big sub sandwich and Sandy was napping, typical with his narcolepsy.

She sighed happily. They always cared for her and she appreciated it greatly. Once she became friends with the three of them, her troubles had diminished. Bullies grew nervous at the thought of approaching a girl with three other dudes, and girls couldn't mess with her for being alone anymore. They were the bright spots in her life and she loved them all like brothers.

She reached in her bag to grab her teeth scrapbook and look through it. She knew it was the weirdest thing ever, but she liked to collect pictures of nice teeth and look at them. She sketched pictures of canines, molars, and incisors. North had even let her take a photograph of his strong teeth to tape into the book. She loved looking through it and she knew that here, with her friends, she wouldn't have to worry about being ridiculed. She sifted her fingers through the bag, but couldn't find the scrapbook. Huh? Where was it? Had she left at her desk in class? Oh no...it had her name in it and everything! It had the names of people whose teeth she wanted to get a better look at.

It had Jack's name written all over it. She cringed.

Her fingers brushed past a tin in the knapsack. She gasped.

"Oh! That reminds me! I brought you guys something."

They all perked up except for Sandy who was still snoring away. She dug into her knapsack and pulled out a case that was stock full of warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies. They all made noises of satisfaction and reached for the cookies.

"I made them for you guys last night after I finished my essay! I hope they're good." she smiled brightly and began doodling in her notebook as they chowed down on the treats. She would look for the scrapbook as soon as they finished the cookies.

"Sandy, wake up, try these." North nudged the blonde boy. He didn't move. "Sandy, cookies. Sandy? Up. Wake up, I said. SANDY WAKE UP." he bellowed.

Sandy jerked awake. North handed him a cookie and they both smiled warmly. Tooth laughed. She loved things like this, being with them. She looked back at the red trees to see the leaves fall. Her eyes widened.

There he was. Strolling up the pavement to their table. With her scrapbook. Her scrapbook. The scrapbook with her teeth paraphernalia and her teeth sketches and people's names everywhere, her damning scrapbook.

Oh, hell.

The boys' munching sounds quieted down as the newcomer approached their table.

Tooth didn't know whether to be happy at the sight of the book again or to bolt.

Jack was at their table before she could decide on what to do, holding the book out to her. His snowy hair was ruffled and his white skin was a bit flushed in the cheeks, like he had been running around school to find her.

"Here. You dropped this earlier. Why don't you sit in the lunch room like other kids? It took forever to find you."

Her jaw dropped. He looked for her?

"Don't answer that," he sighed, running his other hand through his hair wearily, "Just take it." He thrust the book at her. It tumbled off her lap and onto the ground as she scrambled to grab it.

"Oi!" Bunnymund started, getting up from the table. He didn't like the way this guy had just waltzed over and started chucking stuff at Tooth. He didn't like the way he spoke to her either. He was asking for it! Tooth pulled on his arm, sitting him back down.

Jack turned to leave and Tooth was racing for something to say to stop him. She had to thank him, apologize to him, anything to get his attention for five seconds.

She looked to the bin of cookies. That was it!

"Wait!" she called out, snatching the tin and leaping up. Jack's step didn't falter, so Tooth ran and placed herself in front of him. She didn't realize her hands were trembling again because her voice came out steadier this time around.

"Here," she kept it brief, holding out the tin of cookies, "please take some! As an apology for earlier."

He stared at the bin before looking back at her, unsure.

"I made them myself." Tooth added quietly.

She wanted to try. She wanted to get to know this frigid boy, maybe see what he was like when he thawed out a bit. She could already tell he was lovely. Even though he had shoved her earlier and bit out his words in the meanest way, he still returned her book. He didn't make fun of her for it, he didn't throw it in the trash or the lost and found box, and he didn't give it to the other kids to laugh over. He went to find her and returned it.

Maybe he wasn't so cold after all.

She stopped breathing as a pale hand slowly reached into the bin and pulled out a cookie. He held it like it was some kind of alien creature, like he had never seen a cookie before. She was almost afraid he would put it back in the bin, or worse, drop it on the ground. Her fears were dispelled as Jack timidly bit into the cookie, chocolate smearing on his bottom lip.

Tooth bit into her own lips longingly. He really was lovely.

He nodded for a moment, still. She was still. The boys at the table were still.

Jack's eyebrows raised and he took another bite. Tooth could feel the pride welling up from the bottoms of her toes to the tips of her hair. He liked them.

"Well, I'll be damned. These are pretty good." Jack rasped out through a mouthful of warm cookies. His voice wasn't as hard anymore.

Tooth couldn't help but smile brightly. She was getting through to him. Sure, Jack hadn't smiled or anything, and she was sure they weren't even acquaintances yet, but...it was something.

Tooth eagerly held out the container as Jack grabbed a handful of cookies and shoved them in his jacket pockets, already eating another one.

"Thanks," he said walking off before slowing down and turning back once more, a crooked grin on his face, "...Tooth."

She nodded, blushing, not sure if he was poking fun at her or not. "No problem!"

He continued walking backwards, facing her and munching on the cookies she made.

"Nice drawings, by the way. In the scrapbook. Kinda' strange, though. Next time you make cookies, find me, yeah? Oh, and Tooth?"

"Yes?" she answered swiftly, happy about the compliment and eager to hear more of that smooth voice of his.

He pulled a sly grin, and maybe Tooth was seeing things, but she was sure that Jack Frost had the whitest, brightest, and nicest teeth that she had ever seen on any human being, ever. She wanted to swoon.

"The next time you want to see my pearly whites...? All you gotta' do is ask." he pointed at his sly smile and chuckled at the way her shoulders froze up and her face turned red.

Tooth wanted to turn into a bomb and explode. It felt like one was going off in her face as her cheeks grew warmer and warmer. He had seen his name in her teeth scrapbook among the others. He knew about her weird obsession!

His smile vanished as he bit into another cookie, walking back down the dirt trail off the campus grounds. Ditching school. Again.

Tooth turned back to the table, her friends having seen everything. She couldn't hide her embarrassment as she sat back down and placed the container back on the table.

North broke the awkward silence.

"So...since other boy took like, eight cookies, may I take more?"

Tooth nodded weakly.

North cried out gleefully before shoving his hands in the container and taking half of the cookies left. Sandy shrugged and went for the rest before North could inhale all of the remaining food. Bunnymund watched Tooth shrewdly, looking back and forth between her and the receding boy, Jack.

Tooth sighed, burying her face into her arms to hide her happy expression. Jack Frost, the coldest boy in the entire town, the boy who didn't like anybody, who didn't talk to anybody, who didn't befriend anybody; the boy who pulled pranks and ditched school and was cold to everyone-

-he had smiled at her.

Chapter Text

The days were growing colder. Winter was coming.

Weeks had passed since the scrapbook incident. Jack hadn't said much to Tooth and she hadn't said much to him. Ever since that day on the school grounds when she found out that Jack liked her homemade cookies, Tooth began baking at an unprecedented rate. Even her father, Haroom, had noticed her new-found rigor and questioned her about it.

She simply answered: "North and Bunnymund have been bulking. You know teenage boys, they need the food to build muscle."

Her father didn't ask any more questions after that, acting as if he understood when really, he didn't. His specialty was teeth, not bodybuilding.

She was sure that people who actually wanted to build up muscle didn't eat cookies all the time, but she didn't know what else to say. The last thing Tooth needed, was for her father to know about the boy at school that she was really baking for, the one that she had liked for ages. Her father knew that her best friends were all boys, but if he ever found out that she had other relationships with boys - relationships that were a little more than friendly- well, he would have none of that. Haroom was a meek man, but he could be tough when he wanted to be.

She baked late into the night with her hair done up in a sloppy, multicolored bun and powder on her face. She made sure to measure everything precisely so that the cookies would come out perfect each time she made them.

'Not too much milk, not too much sugar, and make sure to leave them in the oven for this amount of time.'

The next day, she would clean the containers for the cookies and bring them to school. Sometimes she hid them from North, Sandy, and Bunnymund. Even though she figured that they all had suspected something was going on with her, she was in no rush to fuel their suspicions. She figured that if they knew about her feelings for Jack, it would only lead to trouble. Besides, they didn't complain about the extra cookies that she did bring them. They were delicious!

After history class, she would walk outside the classroom and meet Jack Frost at the corner of the hallway. He had been hanging around at that corner for the past few weeks after class, though she wasn't sure why. She figured it was a guy thing to stand around looking unapproachable. North, Sandy, and Bunnymund especially had all done it before.

Yet, she would approach him with the cookies in hand. She hadn't seen him smile again after he had returned the scrapbook, but he didn't scowl at her anymore. His expression would remain neutral, his jaw tight when he saw her turn the corner.

The exchange was usually quiet. She had tried starting conversations with him before, but he wasn't usually interested in small talk. He would grab the cookies and stuff them in his jacket before nodding to her and walking off. It was like he hadn't heard a word she said.

She wasn't all that upset by his habit of avoiding conversation. She was just so happy that he let her get close to him, let her share food with him. She liked being able to look at him up close in the hallway instead of trying to steal glances at him from the front of the class.

By the third week though, it was getting a bit tiring. She desperately wished that Jack would speak with her more often or hang out with her group, but he was always off to do other things. She never knew what, exactly. It was nearing the fourth week when something changed.

Jack had been reaching into the tin for more sweets, careful not to touch her hand. Tooth realized that even more-so than conversation, Jack avoided touch. She had never touched him since that day when she ran into him in the hall. The more she looked at him each passing day, the more she wished she could reach out and touch him. She want to touch his cheeks, his nose, his hair.

She never did, though. She was certain that if she tried something that bold, that he wouldn't care about her tasty cookies and would stop waiting for her in the hall. She didn't want to mess up what little connection they had now. Tooth kept her hands to herself.

As Jack had pulled out the cookie, he perked up. He got on his toes and peered over Tooth's shoulder intently. She looked up at his change in expression curiously, before she turned to see what he was looking at.

One of the students, Anansi, was walking down the hall with his friends, Pan and Brer Rab. They were all well-known tricksters in the school, causing trouble everywhere they went. A kid got stuck on the roof of the school? Anansi. Someone found crickets and grasshoppers in their food? Pan. Some poor student had been tricked into getting their wallet stolen? Brer Rab.

Pan wasn't all that bad, he just smoked a little too much reefer. You wouldn't want to litter around him, either. He had put garden snakes into kids' bags for doing just that. He was good friends with Bunnymund, both of them being nature freaks and all. Tooth couldn't imagine smoking like Pan and the other kids did. She liked being clearheaded and focused, and the thought of being unable to control her own actions scared her.

Brer Rab was a Southern kid with a fast mouth and slick tongue. Nearly everything he said was a lie, and everything he did had an ill intention behind it. Bunnymund didn't get along with him as well as he did with Pan. Tooth didn't trust Brer Rab at all.

Anansi pulled almost as many tricks as Jack did, though his tricks were always a little crueler. Tooth thought he kind of looked like a spider, with his big, black, shark eyes and his unruly hair that stuck out like spider legs. He made her nervous.

They walked by, sneering at Jack. Anansi was the one who spoke first.

"Sup', Jack. Who's that pretty little thing you got there? What, she doesn't talk? Mousy little thing. Don't break her!" he jeered.

Jack didn't appear phased and simply looked on, but Tooth was shocked. Who did this boy think he was? She and Anansi had never even spoken to one another because they hung out with different groups of people. He wasn't the type of guy to hang out with strange bookworms like Tooth, and she wasn't the type to hang out with shady characters like him. Now he was embarrassing her in front of Jack for no reason!

She couldn't even look at Jack, her face was so hot. Tooth packed the bin back up in her knapsack and made to leave for the campus grounds, frustrated with the way things turned out. She didn't want things to be awkward around Jack but Anansi had different plans in mind with his crude jokes. She began to walk away.

"Wait up,"

A hand gripped onto her wrist, pulling her back. She glanced back at Jack, stunned. He seemed to have forgotten about his dislike for physical touch and had a mischievous glint in his bright, blue eyes. He pulled her closer to him and pointed over to Anansi, who was at his locker and laughing with his friends.

"Check this out," he said, gesturing over to Anansi, "he'll get what's coming to him. You won't want to miss this."

She tried to focus on Jack's words and the arachnid-like boy that he was pointing at, but she couldn't concentrate with his hand on her wrist. His skin was freezing. He was so cold that she could feel the little hairs on her arm stand on end. Jeez, did Jack take naps in bathtubs full of ice?

She couldn't help but shiver the tiniest bit with pleasure. He was so close to her now and she could feel his icy breath puffing out on the top of her head. The coldest boy in town was touching her, finally. Tooth groaned internally. She was officially a creep! Who thought about things like that?

Two minutes hadn't even passed before Tooth began to hear a ruckus coming from behind them. She turned to see the principal and multiple teachers stomping down the hallway, heading straight for Anansi. Their clothes were dripping with orange and yellow dye, splatters of it all over them. Some of them even had it on their faces and in their hair. What was that? Paint? It looked as if a paint bomb had went off in the main office, or something. Tooth quickly clapped her hands over her mouth to hold back a giggle. The teachers looked ridiculous!

She looked back to Jack. He covered his mouth, laughing gleefully at the scene unfolding before them. His laugh was unrestrained and full of joy, a boyish thing. It made her feel light.

It had been a paint bomb in the main office. And Tooth knew exactly who had planted it there.

"Anansi Spindel, you are in big trouble young man." the principal bellowed, making several students turn in surprise. Laughs erupted all throughout the hallway as the students saw the paint bombed faculty parading down the hall. Trails of orange and yellow were left behind them, as if someone mopped the floor with egg yolks. The faculty fought over the noise to keep things in order, even though they looked the exact opposite.

Anansi jumped at the sound of the principal's shout. He turned, unable to stop his laughter when he saw the enraged principal dripping in paint.

"Woah," he mocked, "what were you guys doing, finger painting?"

Anansi and his friends laughed even harder, unable to stand the sight of the furious faculty members covered in paint.

"Anansi," the principal began, "I'm glad that you find this so amusing. We know it was you."

That shut the boy up real fast. "What? Me?! I didn't do nothin'!"

The principal looked skeptical. "Oh really? And how many times have I heard that from you?" the older man scoffed. "We found one of your textbooks near the scene of the crime. Open your locker, we want to search it."

Anansi acted as if he didn't hear the order. "It wasn't me, man! It was-it was-" he looked around, searching for an escape. His eyes landed on Jack, staring him down. "It was the Frost kid!" he cried out, pointing their way.

Jack shook his head in protest, backing away as the principal made to grab him. Tooth had run to put herself between them before she even realized what she was doing. The words flew from her mouth.

"It couldn't have been him! He was just in my history class with me! If..." she looked at the paint seeping through the principal's clothes, "...if this had happened just last period, then...it couldn't have been Jack. He was in class with me the entire time."

Jack stopped for a moment, staring at Tooth in surprise, before quickly nodding. The principal sighed heavily and looked away. Tooth released the breath she didn't know she was holding.

It wasn't like she had lied. Jack had been in class with her. But if he was there in class, then how...?

The principal shrieked at Anansi to open his locker, who reluctantly complied. The moment he pulled the locker door open, a yellow paint bucket fell from the top shelf and clattered to the floor. It sprayed on the bottoms of Anansi's legs, making him look like a boy walking on legs made out of highlighters. The paint was everywhere.

Anansi looked furious.

"Young man, this is the third time this month you've pulled one of your tricks. I've had enough of it. You're coming to the disciplinary office." The principal grabbed Anansi's arm and roughly pulled him down the hall, away from his locker. They both looked beyond angry.

"It wasn't me, it wasn't! I swear it, it was that Frost kid, I'm telling you!" Anansi was shouting, his friends trailing after him.

Jack watched gleefully, his hand still over his mouth as he watched them go.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

He stared at her, pausing for a moment before nodding. He may as well tell her. She had saved him back there. His infamous record of never getting caught would last for now, thanks to her.

"Why? How did you do it?" Tooth questioned. She really wanted to know.

Jack shrugged, looking off down the hall. "Anansi pulled a trick on me over the summer, so I got him back for it. All I had to do was figure out his locker combination and take one of his textbooks with his name in it. I got the paint into his locker and the main office without being noticed, and left his book there. I made the bomb at home."

Tooth looked intrigued, drawing closer to him. "You can make bombs? But how did you get it to go off when you were in class? How did you sneak it in?"

Jack just pulled a tight lipped smirk and shook his head. "I'm the zen master of pranks. I must never reveal my secrets."

Tooth felt the laugh bubbling out of her before she could stop herself. How strange this boy was! Pranks were serious business for him! She wondered what Anansi had done over the summer to make Jack get back at him this good. She guessed that Anansi would be in detention for a long time, if not expelled. Though she felt a little sorry for him, she had to admit that she was impressed.

Jack dropped his hand from his face. He wasn't smiling, but his eyes lit up as she laughed at his joke. Tooth's laughter faltered as she noticed his face soften. She wanted to see that expression on him more often.

She wanted to see him more often.

Gathering all the courage she had, Tooth made a small suggestion.

"We should hang out more often, Jack!" her voice came kind and eager.

The silver haired boy grew rigid when he heard her words, and so did Tooth. Oh no. She had messed up.

"I don't know. Maybe."

The words came out simple and forced. Tooth couldn't help but wilt under them. He was trying hard to be nice about it, but the tone in his voice said all that she needed to know. He didn't want to hang out with her. The "maybe" was thrown in there just to make her feel better, to make her feel like she had a chance, like she wasn't a complete idiot for asking the antisocial kid to be social with her.

She looked at the ground, waiting for a hole to come swallow her up. Why hadn't she stayed quiet? Why couldn't she ever keep her mouth shut?

"Oh...okay." she mumbled, avoiding his fierce gaze. She swallowed thickly. It was only a simple suggestion, and still, she was shot down so quickly! Had she really had messed things up this time? Maybe Jack really wouldn't be waiting for her or her cookies the next time she turned the corner.

"See you," she breathed, backing up to leave.

"Uh...hey, look." Jack tried. Tooth stopped and avoided his gaze. Despite the crushing feeling in her chest, she was always eager to hear his voice. Her hands were trembling again. How is it that he made her feel like this all the time?

"If you really want- Hey. Cut it out, I'm not going to eat you." Tooth quickly looked up from her feet into Jack's face.

"Sorry," she mumbled, forcing herself to keep his gaze. His eyes were like lasers, staring straight into her. She was sure he was the champion of staring contests as her face grew warm once again. He was so handsome. Oh jeez, now she was rambling. She could never think straight around him.

He looked as if he was arguing with himself mentally. He would move to speak and then stop to look away before looking back. He finally huffed and began again.

"If we hang out, you should probably give me your number. I'm not always at school and I don't know where you usually go-besides during lunch, when you hang out with those guys outside."

Tooth's hearing had stopped right after the word, "number".

'He wants my number. Jack Frost wants my cell phone number.'

"Tooth." he called, snapping his fingers in her face and snapping her back into reality. She jumped a little, scaring him and herself. Jack shook off the surprise and handed over the item to her. Her lips parted and she inhaled sharply. Oh!

In his pale hand was a little blue flip phone with a snowflake charm hanging from it.

Tooth squealed. "Jack, it's so cute!" she snatched it from his grasp and looked it over. It was one of the older model of cell phones, the ones from like, ten years ago. Tooth thought it was fitting for him. The color, the charm, even the model. She couldn't see Jack sporting a smartphone like the other kids.

He looked uncomfortable with her praise over his old, small, and simple phone. He ran a hand through his hair, looking sideways.

"Yeah, yeah, alright already. Just put your number in."

"Why a snowflake?" she questioned, ignoring his impatient tone and adoring the little charm. She didn't even know boys liked cell phone charms.

"I like winter," he answered slowly, surprised by her. Usually when he clued people in to stop asking questions, they did. It was his voice that did the trick, always. He could make it as hard as ice at the drop of a dime, he had practiced. He knew how to use his voice to cut people, to keep people from getting too close to him. It had always worked until now, with this strange girl pawing all over his phone.

"Where did you buy it?" she asked, looking up at him brightly. He shifted under her gaze. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to be the one that was uncomfortable.

"I didn't buy it. It was a gift."

"From who?" she inquired, genuinely curious to know.

"It's none of your business," he snarled out, wanting the questions to cease. Tooth jerked back a little, shocked and slumping.

"Sorry," she offered softly, "it's just...the charm is really cute. It fits you."

Jack sighed at the sight of her quivering frown, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't even know what he was doing anymore. She was making it hard to think straight.

"Look, I'm sorry. For yelling." he said tightly, as if the words didn't feel quite right on his tongue. He didn't apologize much, especially to other students. Still, despite the tense words, Tooth perked back up like a daisy in the sun. He almost laughed.

"It's fine!" she said optimistically. "I was prying. I can get pretty chatty." she chuckled to herself, looking at his phone. All was forgiven. The fact that the apology sounded so difficult for him made her curious, but it also made her feel a little happy. She could tell he wasn't one to apologize for his actions, and the fact that he had done so for her...

She grinned.

Jack sighed. "Are you going to put your number in or not? Cause' I have six minutes before the attendance guys comes around to catch ditchers, and I don't want to be here when he shows-"

He was interrupted by a little electronic chirp from his phone. Tooth had speedily typed into the phone and the chirp was alerting them both that it now had Tooth's number inside of it. She called her own phone from his and pulled it out, handing his back to him. Hers was a smartphone covered in stickers of human teeth, animal teeth, and smiling cases of floss. She had a shiny silver tooth charm hanging from it.

Jack tilted his head at the sight of her phone. What a strange girl.

She saved his number into her phone and smiled up at him brightly.

"Thanks!" she said sincerely, happy to be making progress with him. She hadn't really gotten to look through his phone that well, only having put her own number into it. She wondered who was listed in Jack's contacts, who he would spend time calling when she knew that he didn't like talking to people all that much in the first place.

He shrugged nonchalantly, shoving his phone back into his sweater and zipping up his jacket. He looked around diligently before bounding out of the school's exit doors.

Tooth frowned, walking to her next class. Watching Jack's prank had taken up the whole period, not that she was complaining. Her friends would wonder where she went. She began thinking of an excuse in the back of her mind, focusing on other things in the forefront.

Jack really shouldn't ditch so much. Besides, school was the only place she really ever got to see him.

Her phone vibrated, stopping her. She pulled it out curiously. Was it her dad? Had he bought the wrong bread at the store again? Or was it North, on the hunt for more of her cookies? Displayed on the bright screen was:

Received New Message

Sent X/XX/XXXX From: Jack

Thanks for the save earlier. U want in on my next prank? I could show u some things, being a zen master and all.

She giggled, overjoyed. It felt as if her feet weren't touching the ground, like she was flying. Was this the feeling her mom was always chasing after? This feeling of not touching the ground, like she could reach the sky? She got a bounce in her step to her next class. Maybe school wouldn't be the only place they would see each other anymore.

Sent Message

X/XX/XXXX From: Tooth

:) Definitely.

"So where were you during lunch?" Bunnymund asked, shutting the trunk of North's car closed.

Sandy opened the side door yawning, before writing in his notebook, "Yeah, we didn't see you. Did you hear about the paint bomb today?"

Tooth nodded. "Yeah, pretty crazy, huh? I had to go to the school library to return some things. I saw the teachers on the way there. They looked atrocious in all that paint!" she laughed hard at the memory.

North chuckled along with her, opening up the driver's side. "Paint bomb? That is good one, very good one. Teachers all so boring, it very funny to see them looking like giant egg smashed on them." That earned another round of laughs from them all.

After school, North drove the gang home often since his car was the only one that could hold all four of them along with their backpacks.

It was a big four wheel drive, with leather interior and was red on the outside. He had hung pine scented decorations from the front mirror. There was a little gas jar in the front that they all put money into once and a while for North. For an exchange student, he had gotten his license pretty fast, but Tooth still didn't have hers. She didn't know how he passed the driving tests. North drove like a psycho. Surprisingly, despite his recklessness, they always got home safe. She figured he knew what he was doing behind the wheel, even if it didn't feel like that when you were being slammed around in the backseat.

Tooth hoisted her bike onto the back of his car, strapping it down. She usually rode her bike to and from school, but in the winter months when snow and ice covered the sidewalks, she rode with the boys.

She clambered in the back to sit beside Sandy. Bunnymund always needed the front seat so he could be closer to a window, or else he would get sick. He wasn't a big fan of North's driving, but he wasn't a big fan of noisy buses either.

Sandy quickly jotted some lines down in his notebook before handing it over to Tooth.

"I know you went to see that Frost kid. You like him don't you?"

She shot him a disbelieving look. How did he always figure these things out?

"It was pretty obvious," he signed, "you were smiling and blushing when he came to give back the scrapbook and you've been making a lot more cookies ever since he said he liked them."

Tooth shook her head, wondering why she would ever try and hide something from Sandy in the first place. He had always caught onto things faster than everyone else. She nodded her head over to Bunnymund and North in the front seat, who couldn't hear their silent conversation.

"They know?" she signed poorly.

Sandy shook his head and leaned back.

"It's alright. Your secret's safe with me. Just be careful. I don't want you hurt. Jack's not the nicest kid around."

Tooth smiled at him warmly. She wondered just how many secrets Sandy was actually keeping for others. He was the perfect listener, and so people confided in him.

"Thanks. I think he's nicer than he actually lets on."

She squeezed his hand, silently thanking him. He shrugged and grinned, squeezing back.

Their little moment ended as Tooth went flying into Sandy's side of the car. Someone on the street screamed and a cat meowled in fright as North spun the wheel faster than her eyes could catch.

"Damn-damn cats always getting in way of car. MOVE, lady, this not parade! Old people not knowing how to drive always on road...GET OUT OF WAY, NOW. Damn jaywalkers. Slow in feet. In Russia, we run you over!"

Tooth gripped onto the seat, holding on for dear life.

Later that day, Tooth had slipped into pajama bottoms and a camisole, flipping through her teeth scrapbook. She was sitting on her couch in the living room, with the news channel on television. She had already done all of her homework and finished the last chapter in her book, "Smile: The Bright and Dark History of Teeth".

She was twirling her hair in her finger when her phone vibrated. She leaped across the bed and snatched it, hoping it would be who she thought it was. Her face fell. It was Bunnymund.

Recieved New Message

Sent X/XX/XXXX From: Bunnymund

Hey tooth dont forget about the arcade tomorrow. We r all going. U can still come, right?

Tooth sighed. Oh yeah. That new arcade. North had found it a few days ago, and all the boys had been eager to go and check it out. Tooth didn't see the harm in it, and was a little curious herself. She had only ever played video games at North's house. He had all kinds, games with zombies, games with trains, even games with flowers. She liked them!

She quickly responded, pushing the blue-eyed boy she had wanted to hear from out of her mind.

Sent Message

X/XX/XXXX From: Tooth

Yeah! I can't wait~

Her eyes grew heavy. What a day it had been. She had made a new enemy and a new friend. She wondered what kind of things Jack would show her. She wondered what Anansi had done over the summer. A smooth, edgy voice rolled around her brain.

"I like winter."

"Look, I'm sorry."

She wondered if winter was his favorite season. It would fit. His hands were as cold as ice, his skin and hair as white as snow. That frosty kid had eyes as blue as the sky...

Her hand slumped as she curled into the couch.

She wondered how many girls would've tried to talk to him if he weren't so cold? He was so handsome. She wondered what a real smile from him would look like, or why he covered his mouth when he laughed. What would it be like to see his bright grin? Would his lips curl crookedly like they did when he smirked? Were they soft? Was he a good kisser?

Tooth groaned pleasantly, drifting off to sleep. Her phone slipped from her hand and onto the carpeted floor. It wasn't long before she was snoring softly, dreaming of snowflakes and blue eyed boys.

She never did see the news report on television, warning of a massive blizzard that would arrive the next day.

Chapter Text

"I don't think you should go to school today." Haroom declared, letting the window curtain slip from his hand. "It's gotten pretty bad out there."

Tooth slipped on her fur boots before striding over and peeking outside.

"Dad, that's like, two feet of snow! It's not even snowing anymore, so don't worry about me. I'll make it to school alright."

Haroom glanced nervously back outside the window before refocusing on his daughter.

"I would drive you, but I have to go to work. Halloween candy ruined a lot of the local kids' teeth, this year. Can't you call that Russian friend of yours to come pick you up and drive you to school instead? It looks so cold."

Tooth waved her hand at the idea. She was fully armored in mittens, scarves, and a fluffy hat. She would fare well in the freezing weather. To think that she wouldn't when she was wearing all that protection was silly!

"I don't want to bother North! Besides, I would make us both late if I asked him to drive down here now. I'll just walk."

Haroom frowned. "But-"

"It's fine, Dad," she insisted, "see you later!" Tooth shut the door before her meek father could impose any more. He meant well, but she could take care of herself.

Her foot fell deep into the snow, burying itself near her calves. Woah. It had snowed a lot last night. Why hadn't the news said anything?

Tooth tromped her way down the front drive and towards the direction of school. It was a winter wonderland now, with glittery snow everywhere. It was also early in the morning, so many people hadn't had the time to shovel their drives or sidewalks clear of snow, leaving Tooth to struggle through it all the way to school. The air was cold and bit at her cheeks. She huffed out wearily. This would be a long walk.

It took her ages to get near the school campus. By the time she had reached the large, red, stony building of Burgess High, her legs had turned to jelly. She wheezed, done with tromping through all the snow and was ready to sit down somewhere.

She readjusted her knapsack and made her way down the sidewalk, towards the main doors. She walked along the edges, careful to avoid bumping into any of the other students. She felt like if someone simply blew air in her face, that she would collapse. The ground sloped down into a plain filled with snow near the sidewalk. She made sure to hop over patches of ice to avoid falling down the slippery slide.

'Man. I'm out of shape! Maybe I shouldn't have dropped gymnastics. Or ballet. But I don't have time for them anymore, with school and all! I kind of miss doing-'

"Over here! I'm open!"

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard noisy hooping and hollering behind her. Turning around, she barely saw the large boy before he caught an incoming football and ran into her.

"I got it, I got it!" he cried obliviously and backed straight up into Tooth. She lost her step and was pushed forward into a patch of ice, unsteady. The boys ran past her after the ball, unaware of her distress. She tried desperately to regain balance, slowly losing. Her legs were still sore from the walk.

Within seconds, her feet had kissed the ground goodbye and she went tumbling off the sidewalk and down the slope. The ground came up fast and all she could see were blurs of the ground, the sky, the ground, the sky.

Her bumpy journey stopped abruptly as she crashed into a snow drift. Tooth cried out as she broke through the thick snow, getting buried deep within the drift. She figured she was stuck in it up to her waist, because she could still move her legs. She tried to moving her arms. Nothing.

The heavy snow pinned her down. Oh jeez! She was stuck. She groaned. She hoped that no one had seen her less-than-graceful descent into the big pile of snow.

She sucked in a nervous breath, trying desperately to push her arms out the drift so that she could yank herself out. She could barely open her eyes properly, the snow was so close to her face. She wiggled a bit.

Rumble. Crack.

She stopped. Huh? What was that sound?

Faster than she could realize, the snow drift collapsed down on her, filling in the spaces that she had made when she slammed into it. It was everywhere, in her mouth, in her nose, in her eyes. Fear welled up deep inside of her. More and more snow was filling her mouth every time she inhaled. It was freezing, the icy stuff all over her.

She dug her heels into the ground and pushed with everything she had, but the heavy snow wouldn't budge. She was trapped.

'Oh no. No, no, no,' she thought alarmed, 'I could suffocate in here!'

She began to choke out calls out for help, but the densely packed snow swallowed up her cries. Her lips grew cold and little sound came out past the white barrier. She was alone, no one had seen her fall in, no one was coming. With her legs twisting and her arms still trapped, Tooth could barely breathe air in anymore past all the snow. Within seconds, she couldn't breathe at all.

'Oh god, someone, anyone, please!'

She could hear noises coming from the top of the drift, almost like digging. The snow collapsed once more, packing even harder around her and pressing down on her chest.

That was when she began screaming.

Two hands gripped around her ankles and pulled hard, sliding her body back out of the drift. She inhaled sharply as the warm sunlight hit her freezing face.

Tooth sucked in the biggest, best breath she had ever taken.

The hands left her ankles and reached around her back, pulling her forward. She coughed, hacking out the snow in her throat and leaned forward, gasping. She brushed the white clumps off of her face and sneezed. Hard. Oh, great! She went from being in danger of suffocation, to being rescued, to being in danger of a cold.

"You okay?"

She stilled. She knew that voice.

Slumping and still breathing heavily, she readjusted her knapsack straps. Thank goodness someone had helped her. He had come for her.

"I think I'm alright. Thanks, Jack." she whispered softly. She meant it, too. She had been sure that she was a goner just a few moments ago. She glanced back at the snow drift.

It seemed so harmless! She wasn't afraid of it now, but she could still remember the choking feeling she had when she was inside of the drift. It was horrible! She sneezed again.

He removed his hands from her and she sighed inwardly, keeping her gaze down. She hadn't even gotten to enjoy his touch. She was still freaked out from the fall. Had he seen that? Probably. She couldn't help but inwardly cringe. It hadn't been pretty.

"You're shaking."

Tooth raised her hands, surprised to see them trembling. She hadn't felt them shaking. Tremors were running up and down her body. Must've been the aftershock, or something.

"I...I was really scared back there. I couldn't move. I thought no one was coming for me." she lowered her head, allowing her hair to curtain around her and block everything and everyone. She was so embarrassed! Tooth clasped her hands together tightly to stop them from shaking.

Jack grasped her chin firmly and pulled her forward, making her look at him. She gulped, glancing from side to side unsure, then back at him. She wanted to nuzzle his cold fingers while looking into those sharp eyes, but his face was concerned and his expression was hard. His eyes weren't focused on hers, but on top of her head. He began swatting his free hand at her hair, pushing all the excess snow out of the colorful strands. She jumped as the icy stuff fell in her clothes, closing her eyes and shivering.

"Ah! Cold! That's cold, Jack!" she fidgeted, flailing her hands around.

He shook his head at her, biting back a grin. "Quit whining. You're gonna' get sick if you leave all of this on you."

She frowned before shaking herself off, whipping her hair around and sending the snow flying off of her and her clothes. Jack held up his hands to block the spray.

"Hey!" he yelled, fighting even harder to keep his lips from curling. "Cut it out, you're getting it everywhere!"

Tooth saw his frown, but she could hear the laughter in his voice. She didn't stop her shaking and began to snicker at the white-haired boy's discomfort. Her eyes were shut, but she could hear the softest of chuckles. She smiled even harder.

Ceasing the shaking, she spread her arms out. "See? It's all gone now."

He raised his eyebrows, daring her to look smug. He stood, swiping at his own clothes. "Oh yeah? That might be because you shook it all off on me, genius."

She laughed outright then, and he couldn't help but notice her shaking was gone. She had scared him back there. When he had walked by, she had been kicking pretty hard, being half buried in the snow drift and all. He recognized her furry boots. The other students walked by oblivious, all of them racing to class or hanging around with groups of friends. He had thought she was playing around at first with her weird friends. He wouldn't be surprised if she was, but when he didn't see them anywhere, he drew closer.

He had heard her crying out for help.

Jack had raced over and dug her halfway out with his hands before hearing the snow compress inside the drift, where she was. When she started screaming, he decided to just yank her out. The snow and the cold didn't bother his skin, not like it used to. She had looked so grateful and scared. Not anything like...

'Jack, I'm scared!'

'I know, I know. But you're gonna' be alright. Trust me.'

...No. He wasn't going to think about that. Not today, at least.

Now here Tooth was, grinning and laughing, with snowflakes in her long eyelashes and her winter cap on her head lopsided. He had been planning on wiping those off of her after getting the snowy crap off of her head, but later decided to leave it. The white flurries looked good in her dark eyelashes, reflecting off of her bright violet eyes.

"Are those contacts?" he asked.

She shook her head gleefully, pointing to her eyes. "These are the real deal. A genetic anomaly, probably. I'm happy. What if my teeth had mutated instead of my irises? Purple teeth!" she looked fascinated with her own idea.

Jack stared on. What a strange girl. She smiled brightly at him, like she always did. He forced himself to look away.

Looking away was best. Her smile was a bit too bright for him, a bit too kind for him. She reminded him too much of things he didn't want to remember. He began to feel hollow inside again, unable to face Tooth. He couldn't look at her damn smile anymore.

He walked away without a word.

Tooth looked up in surprise. Why did he leave so fast? Was it because she had been acting weird? Her breath, maybe? No, she always brushed her teeth at least four times a day. Was it because she had started talking about teeth? She stomped her foot in frustration. She always forgot to leave teeth out of her conversations! It freaked people out. It had probably freaked Jack out.

She sighed. Maybe she would get another chance to see him later. Tooth walked towards the building's main entrances. She was going to be late to class!

As it later turned out, Tooth walking into class late didn't matter much. Yeah, her home room teacher gave her a tardy slip the moment she walked in the door, but before he could open his mouth to question her, the loudspeakers came on to make an announcement.

"Attention all students and staff: the storm has become considerably worse, and we request that you all stay in school until it passes. The news channels report that the blizzard will pass before the school day is over. Until then, classes will continue as normal and no one will leave the building for safety reasons. All tardies will be suspended due to how difficult the weather has made it for many students to arrive here."

The sound of collective groans resonated all throughout the building. Tooth smirked, politely handing the tardy slip back to the home room teacher. He shrugged, grabbing it out of her hands and ordering the class to quiet down. Tooth sat herself down and prepared for the day.

The periods were long and the hours dragged. Lesson after lesson, Tooth grew more and more irritable. In history class, she wondered how Jack was doing. It wouldn't be so easy for him to cut school this time. She swiftly knocked her pencil of her desk and made a dramatic sigh for show. As she bent over to pick it up, she looked to the back of the room.

Sure enough, Jack was there, leaning back in his chair and looking out the window at the strong winds and harsh weather. His strong, lean legs were propped up on the desk, wrapped in jeans that were torn in all the right places. Tooth couldn't help but glance over at some of the pale, creamy skin peeking out from beneath the dark jeans through the rips. His feet were bare on the desk and his boots rested under his desk. They were smooth and clean. Tooth almost laughed. He always did that in this class, put his bare feet up on the desk. She figured he didn't like the teacher much here.

Apparently, she didn't like Jack either. "Frost! Take that hood off this instant! And if I see your feet up on that desk one more time, it's the disciplinary office for you!"

The students all glanced at one another before turning to the back of the room, staring at Jack. Mrs. Crumpbittle must've been in a bad mood. She was mean to everyone, but rarely did she go after Jack, no matter what he did. She knew he wasn't afraid to call her out. Whenever they butted heads, things got ugly.

He seemed upset by the sudden attention and shot a dark glare at Mrs. Crumpbittle. He slowly pushed his hood off and swung his feet off of the desk. Tooth looked freely now, turned around with everyone else.

"Is that a cell phone I see, Frost? No phones in class, you know the rules! Bring it here." Tooth bit into her pencil. She had a bad feeling about this

Jack held a neutral expression as he detached the snowflake charm from the phone, slipping his feet into his boots and slowly advanced to the front of class. Tooth tensed up as he passed her desk. He looked like a predator going in for the kill.

Then again, so did Mrs. Crumpbittle. She snatched the phone off of her desk as he calmly placed it down. She peered past her framed glasses at the white haired teen's tight grip.

"That too," she ordered, "hand over the knick knack. I don't want you playing with it during my lesson, you'll distract people."

She pointed down at his clenched fist, gesturing for him to hand over the snowflake charm. Tooth could see the muscles in his shoulder and back clench up, his head bowed. He shook his head slowly, backing up.

"...I can't give you that." he defended slowly. His grip grew tighter, stretching the skin white over his knuckles.

Mrs. Crumpbittle seethed. She would not tolerate disobedience. "Jack Frost, you hand that over, now." her hand stretched out expectantly. Several students began to whisper and leaned forward to hear the conversation better. They wanted to get a glimpse of what was he was holding tightly in his grip.

Jack shook his head once more and his voice came steady.

"No. You don't even know what it is, do you? You wanted the phone, you got it- but you can't take this. I'm not giving it to you."

Mrs. Crumpbittle rounded the desk in a fury and jabbed her finger in his face. "I'm so sick of punks like you," she turned to face the class, "all of you! Especially you, Frost. Why do you even bother coming to school when you don't want to learn? Why do I waste my breath on half-wits like you that'll probably fail the entire course?"

Jack opened his mouth to debate when Mrs. Crumpbittle turned and hurriedly waved in a school security guard that had been passing by outside the door. He poked his head in, looking cautiously at Jack.

"Is there a problem in here, ma'am?"

Mrs. Crumpbittle folded her arms in triumph, staring Jack down. "I don't know, officer! Will there be a problem, Jack?" Her voice feigned calmness even though she was anything but. She held out her hand once again.

He stood like a deer in headlights, looking between her and the officer. His brows furrowed and a shadow fell over his expression. The tension was unbearable to Tooth. She gripped the edges of her desk. Why wouldn't he just hand it over? That security guard could take him away! He could get suspended. She watched as the strong, lank boy held on tightly to the flimsy charm like his life depended on it. It was just some phone charm, it was replaceable! It wasn't worth the trouble.

Her lips tightened as his hand moved. He didn't make a sound but was, slowly and surely, reaching out his hand. The other kids couldn't see, but from where Tooth was- up close- she could see his white fist trembling. Her mouth fell open. Jack Frost? Trembling? No way. She couldn't tell if it was from rage or something else.

The pristine, pretty charm fell from his rough, pale hands into Mrs. Crumpbittle's older, middle-aged hands. Without even looking at the charm she tightened her fist around it, eager to have come out on top. Jack reeled his fist back as if he were going to deck the older woman, but he quickly stopped himself. He flipped his hood back on spitefully.

"Happy?" he gritted out, not sounding like he cared at all whether she was happy or not.

"Very." Mrs. Crumpbittle said primly. "Thank you officer." The security guard was waved away and left the room. She looked back to Jack, a bitter smile on her face. "Class dismissed."

Right on cue, the school bell rang. Mrs. Crumpbittle barked at four other students on the way out, confiscating their phones as well. The rest of the students quickly gathered their things and ran to leave the scene, hopefully to escape the further wrath of the teacher. As the teenagers scrambled out and Jack trudged to the back of the room to grab his bag, Tooth watched Mrs. Crumpbittle set his phone among the others' down on her desk. It looked as if she had been confiscating phones all day long. The pretty snowflake charm was among them.

"Frost, come here. I want to speak to you in private." she called as students continued to file out. Tooth slowly packed her things and watched as Jack stalked over to the front of the room. Even with the clamorous sounds of the noisy students exiting the room, she could hear Mrs. Crumpbittle's irate whispers.

"Do you remember last Tuesday, Frost? What happened last Tuesday?"

He stared her down, refusing to answer her babying tone.

She continued for him. "You were absent that day. You didn't come into class. Cutting again, right?"

He said nothing. She did a little chuckle and went on.

"Do you know why that day ran so smoothly, why it went so well? The entire day went well because you weren't there, Jack. You weren't around to disturb your classmates or interrupt the lesson, or act like the little hellion that you are. Let's make tomorrow like that Tuesday, and make it seem like you're not here. Can you do that for the rest of the class? That's all."

Tooth's jaw fell open. How could she say that to him? How could she say something like that to anyone? Jack didn't even disrupt her class. He just sat in back, some days jotting down notes or daydreaming on others. She sat back in disbelief. No one could really see him back there, could they? So how could he interrupt anything if he was quiet all the time? This teacher always started things unnecessarily. Tooth suspected that something happened to Mrs. Crumpbittle to make her especially horrid that day, but she didn't know what it was and to be honest, she didn't care why. She was taking it out on the students. On Jack.

Tooth couldn't see Jack's face and quickly decided that she didn't want to see. She froze as he walked out, his expression blank and his face shadowed by the hood. His expression revealed nothing, but his forceful steps showed what was really going on beneath the icy surface.

Tooth sat at her desk, her bag packed, staring at Mrs. Crumpbittle. The older woman finally noticed her as the only one left in class.

"Little eavesdropper. Shoo, before I confiscate your phone too." She waved for Tooth to leave, turning towards the chalkboard to erase it.

Tooth silently stood and crept towards the desk as the teacher erased the board. She swallowed thickly.

She was a good student, she always had been. She did all of her work, kept her grades near perfect, and she never stepped a toe out of line. She listened to every order and completed every task demanded of her. She didn't even know what the inside of the disciplinary office looked like. She had never put herself in a position where all of her meticulous hard work could get messed up...until now.

Tooth felt a little guilty for the older woman, wondering why she was so bitter...but that didn't excuse her behavior in Tooth's book. Her remaining respect for the teacher faded fast as she heard the horrible things she had whispered to Jack. She remembered that Mrs. Crumplebittle hadn't even looked at the charm when she took it from him. She wouldn't remember what it looked like.

Especially if it was missing.

Tooth breathed in deeply. Her fingers trailed across the desk before snatching up Jack's phone and the snowflake charm from the pile of phones on Crumplebittle's desk. She didn't make a sound as she swiftly left the classroom, walking down the hall and turning the corner.

Mrs. Crumplebittle had only put down her eraser when Tooth was long gone.

Tooth raced to the usual door that Jack snuck out of. He was already there, arguing with a newly relocated security guard that was posted there. The guard blocked the doors as the blue hooded teen tried to make his way around them, speaking fast and low.

She only barely came close enough to hear part of the conversation.

"-but I need to get through."

"Sorry kid. The school faculty's orders. The storm is too bad to be releasing kids outside right now. We don't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt because of the weather."

"You don't understand- there's someone I really need to visit."

The guard shook his head and Jack clasped his hands together in a pleading motion.

"Look, I'll come right back, honest. I won't even tell anyone that you let me out! I need to leave, it's important."

The guard shook his head again, crossing his arms.

"Please,"

Tooth stopped. She had never heard him sound so desperate before. The blizzard was crazy outside now, she had seen in one of the hallway windows. The snow just kept piling. Who was he trying to see so badly in this weather? Had he been...sneaking out to see this person the entire time? Who could it be? A girl?

Tooth frowned, shaking the gut-twisting thought from her head. Now wasn't the time.

The guard cut off the conversation, blocking the door. Jack let out a miserable groan, clutching at his head before backing up and breathing deeply. Tooth took a step back, her boot heel clicking loudly on the tiled floor. Jack turned at lightning speed, spotting her. He gave her a look that she couldn't define, his face darkening. She gulped.

"I, uh...I have-" she stuttered out. He shook his head in frustration, brushing past her. She sighed heavily before turning to follow after him. Did he always have to do that?

"Jack, wait up," she called out, swerving past the crowds of oncoming students. He didn't stop for her, too busy looking in doorways for one without a guard or for a window that someone had left open. He needed to get out.

She jogged closer to him, so close that she could touch him if she reached. Her fingers only brushed the shoulder of his sweater before he flinched, flinging his arm up and slapping her hand away. He looked at her with eyes full of fury.

She shrank under his ferocious glare and fierce eyes, looking for the words that had suddenly become so hard to find. She nervously dug into her shirt pockets, searching for his things that she had filched for him.

"J-Jack, I-"

"What is it with you? So what, you stalk people now?"

His voice was hard again, accusing and mean, but Tooth tried her best to keep from looking away from him. He was so angry, she could feel the fury rolling off of him. This wasn't just about her following him. This was something else.

"You got my attention, right? You won't get out of my face or off of my back, right? Well?! What do you want?"

His voice grew colder and colder, almost like he was a turning into a different person. Students passing by were glancing over at the scene, wondering why the delinquent and the freak were fighting.

"Please, Jack," she tried, "calm down-"

"What, am I making a scene? I don't give a damn, let them look all they want, it's not like they care about us." He glanced at her trembling lower lip before looking back in her eyes with a wretched expression. "Do I scare you, Tooth? Would things be better, if I weren't here to 'disturb' you? You can be honest you know, I won't cry or anything. You wouldn't be the first one to say it- and you definitely won't be the last.

Tooth shook her head. She wasn't scared of him, not really. She knew he wouldn't lay hands on her, though she wasn't sure how had figured this. She knew she held a silly, girlish faith in some unhinged boy that she barely knew.

She was scared that he would believe in the words coming out of his own mouth, scared that after this, he would walk away from her and never look back. Her face twisted sadly. He was much too lovely of a boy to look this miserable. She wanted to make him happy.

"Jack, stop it!" Tooth hollered, drawing the attention of a large group of friends passing by. They all passed by whispering. She stopped breathing for a moment, shocked at the power in her own voice. Jack appeared shocked too, leaning back and staring at her curiously.

"Here," she insisted, wrapping her fingers around his phone and the charm. She pulled it out of her pocket and reached for his hand. He jerked it away from her, but she moved forward and clasped her fingers around the hand, pulling him forward with it. She pushed the blue flip phone into his fingers.

He looked into his palm, eyes wide.

"The teacher didn't even look at it when she took it from you, so she won't realize it's gone." Tooth shakily supplied as she reached back in her pocket to pull out the snowflake charm. It's gleam grasped Jack's gaze and he stared longingly at it. He reached out for it, but Tooth pulled it away from him. His eyes flicked over to hers, boring into her. Tooth stood her ground with unsteady feet.

"Don't believe her, Jack. You don't mess things up. You saved me earlier from the drift I fell into, remember? You're not a punk. You returned my scrapbook when I lost it in the hall, and you never made fun of me for it." she said insistently. "A-and you're not stupid either. You're so clever, Jack. You've come up with things that I couldn't even think of, and I have really good grades." she twiddled her fingers, sheepish. "Besides, grades aren't everything about a person anyway. Don't listen to her or...or anyone else that's told you that before. You won't think that way anymore...right?"

He looked at her for the longest time. Tooth felt like bolting again. Standing there was getting harder and harder, just holding his snowflake charm and waited for an answer. He blinked once, twice- then his lips twitched ever slightly. Her jaw dropped when she saw his lips curl into a small smile. His eyes were sparkling with mischief and his teeth shone like the fresh snow. They were gorgeous.

He was so damn gorgeous.

He nodded his head, holding his hands up in mock-surrender. "I won't listen to her." He laughed. "Honestly Tooth, I thought you had me figured out? I don't listen to anyone. I swear it." He said jokingly, drawing a cross over his heart.

Tooth grinned, eager to hear him laughing and joking. She handed back his charm. He took it joyfully, looking at it with an expression she couldn't recognize on him. She shook her head.

She couldn't figure him out at all. She was in awe of all the different feelings he had kept locked up beneath that ice mask of his. This one looked terribly close to a loving one.

"Who gave you that?" she whispered, still in awe of his brilliant smile. She would try and ask again. She wanted to find out who could make Jack look like this, who could wipe all the misery and melt the ice mask off of his face.

"...My sister." he breathed, observing the small snowflake. "It was a gift from my little sister."

He stopped. He hadn't told anyone that since he had been here, no one except for another family member that already knew. How did the words slip away from him? He looked up at the colorful girl in front of him. She gave him a dazzling smile, happy to see him with his possessions again.

There it was again! That contagious smile of hers. He lowered his head and let his hood hide his widening grin. She had stolen the charm back for him. She had stood up to him, and then stood up for him. What a strange girl.

"Thanks, Tooth."

He placed both the phone and the charm into his sweater pocket before looking back up with a neutral expression.

"So...what now? We're stuck in this prison until Mother Nature decides to give us a break and stop the snow. What do you want to do?"

Tooth flitted her violet eyes up at him in surprise. He wasn't walking away from her. He wasn't ignoring her or cutting off the conversation. He was actually asking her what to they should do? He wanted to hang out!

She nearly squealed her brains out, but tried her best to keep it cool. Okay! Be cool, she thought. She could do this.

"Oh, I dunno'," she drawled exaggeratedly, looking over her nails, "we could hang out in...the library?" She glanced back up at him quickly, hoping he would appear agreeable with the idea. She froze.

Was it something she said? He looked like he was going to explode.

And then he did. With laughter.

Tooth slumped a little, thinking it unfair that she could fail so miserably at being not-dorky.

Jack's hands slapped over his mouth, his body racking with chortles and snickers.

"Were you trying to be cool?" he choked out past his laughter, "Haha! That was too funny!"

Tooth crossed her arms slightly unamused, yet happy to see his bad mood drift away.

"The library isn't a bad idea." she insisted, stomping her foot. The childish move made Jack burst into another round of laughter. He looked like he was dying from it behind his hands, his cheeks turning pink and his eyes shut tight. He straightened himself out and tried to catch his breath.

"I-ha!-D-Don't get mad Tooth, I'm just messing around. I want to go to the library with you, I do, it's just...you should've seen your face!"

Tooth shrugged to herself as Jack collapsed into another fit once again. That was the last time she would try to be smooth on purpose around him. She did have to admit though, she loved the look on his face. She wouldn't mind geeking out in front of him for the rest of her days if it made him smile like that.

Once he pulled himself together, they began to walk to the library side by side...well, not exactly side by side. Tooth looked back. Jack was lagging behind her, still checking in doorways and windows to see if there was a way for him to sneak out of the building. She wondered once again who that special someone was that he needed to meet. She thought it better not to pry and ask. He might get upset again.

She smiled to herself as she strolled through the halls with him lagging behind. He had told her something private, about his sister. He opened up to her, letting the ice mask melt away if only for a few moments. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know everything about him.

"My friends will be there." she informed him. Of course they weren't going outside for lunch in this weather, no matter how tempting a snowball fight was. Sandy wasn't supposed to hang around outside too much because his narcolepsy could make him pass out in the freezing weather. Bunnymund hated the cold. North was the only one who didn't mind it, but he wouldn't override the others' decisions to stay in, even though he easily could. Plus the guards at the doors wouldn't let up.

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Alright."

She grew excited. He would finally hang out with the group!

She looked at him curiously. "Do you...read often?" She paused, just having figured that Jack didn't really fit the 'reading' type. He was always running around to find something to do.

He shrugged. "Yep, nowadays. I didn't read a thing before I moved in with my uncle here, though."

So he had lived somewhere else then. And he did read. Tooth wanted to ask where he had been before and about why he had moved, but she stopped herself before she could blurt anything out. 'Slow and steady wins the race', as people always say. Plus Jack tended to reject her prying.

"What do you like to read?" she asked instead. That was an easy question.

He shrugged, casually glancing over at her. It wasn't so casual for Tooth when his bright gaze landed on her. She jerked as a pleasurable shiver went down her back. Damn hormones.

"Old stories. Stories from way back when, like fairy tales and ancient myths. Those are pretty cool."

Tooth was intrigued, slowing down her pace so that her and Jack were actually side by side now. He went on.

"I always liked Odysseus. He went through all that crazy stuff just so he could get back to his friends and family. Hermes is my favorite, though. So is Ra, from the Egyptian stories. What do you usually read?"

Tooth was taken aback. She hadn't expected Jack to be so into stories, or know as much as he did about them. She hadn't figured he read at all, really. She felt guilty for doubting him. That's what everyone else did. Maybe that was why he hid his smile. Everyone thought he was incapable of feeling, and so he believed it himself. She wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Oh you know...some fiction here, some anatomy there. Mostly dentition studies and manuals. Ooh, and some dentist's scientific journals!"

"Uh huh... I figured."

They spoke comfortably with one another all the way to the library. When they arrived at the doors they slid inside and spotted North, Sandy, and Bunnymund all at a round table near the corner of the large library. She sat to join them. Jack slowly followed, not all that eager to be in a group setting.

"Guys, this is Jack." Tooth said joyfully, happy to have all of her friends there with her. "He's in-"

"We know who he is." Bunnymund broke in. Tooth looked over to see him staring Jack down suspiciously. "What is he doing here?"

Tooth was taken aback. Bunnymund being rude all of a sudden. She shifted in her seat nervously, hoping that Jack wouldn't rise to Bunnymund's challenge.

"Well, uh- like I was saying, Jack's in a lot of my classes and he's-"

"-Her friend." Jack broke in, his stare unwavering to Bunnymund's. "I'm her friend."

Tooth looked over, happiness filling her up. He had considered her a friend now? Things were going better than expected! Never had she guessed that Jack would say something like that out loud.

"We're her friends too." Bunnymund cut back in, shooting Jack a dirty look. "Her first friends."

Jack shrugged and took on a taunting tone in his voice. "Well you know what they say RabbitMound, change is good."

"That's 'Bunnymund' to you. And as her first friends, we look out for, so I'm gonna ask you again mate: what are you doing here?" his voice tipped off with a low, dangerous edge to it.

Jack's brows drew together. He didn't like this guy. Too stand-offish. He figured he would have fun with it while it lasted.

"Wait up, my hearing must be going. Did you say something, BunnyHound?" he made a show of not knowing who Bunnymund was addressing.

Bunnymund rose from his seat, his fists reeled back and ready to fly, but North put a large arm between him and Jack. Bunnymund huffed and sat back down, not willing to face North in a brawl. He had done it only once before over the last cookie Tooth had brought to school. Never again.

North faced Jack, giving him a look that warned, 'Behave'. North was just the kind of guy that could pull that off with complete strangers.

"Hello Jack Frost. It is good meeting you for second time." he said in his thick Russian accent. He looked over to Tooth, giving her a light look. "A friend to Tooth is a friend to us. Welcome." He reached out to clasp Jack's hand.

Jack paused before reluctantly handing his hand over for North to shake. Everyone at the table flinched as the sound of bones cracking filled the air. The snowy haired teen and the bulkier Slavic boy both grunted as their grips tightened onto one another. Tooth wanted to scream. Really? Did they have to get all overprotective now? Boys. She shook her head.

"We all care for Toothiana. I hope you understand, Jack." North said lowly, staring Jack down. He had heard all about this boy already. He was supposedly a menace, a trickster, a cold and uncaring person. But if Tooth trusted him, then...

"Don't worry. I'm not some kind of criminal...not really. Besides," he said, pulling his hand away and leaning back to look at Tooth, "I'm pretty sure Tooth isn't helpless. She can take care of herself. She wouldn't be friends with me if she knew that I was bad news."

Tooth had to smile at that. Even though he had to pull her out of a snow drift by her ankles earlier, he gave her more credit than the others did. She wanted to believe that she was capable of things, that she wasn't some helpless freak like they all thought about her. And he had held his promise about thinking differently, at least for a while. He wasn't all bad.

"Jack saved me this morning," she supplied, looking gleefully to her friends. North and Sandy looked genuinely surprised. Bunnymund looked like he had swallowed a rat.

"Really?" Sandy wrote down. "What happened?"

Jack looked at him and his notepad curiously. Sandy rolled his eyes and smiled before writing, "I'm mute, Jack. I can't speak. I'm narcoleptic too, so don't be surprised if I doze off."

Jack nodded, understanding. Tooth explained what had happened, filling the others in. They all looked genuinely surprised at Jack, glad that Tooth was okay. She was part of their lone group and they had to defend it, at least until they all graduated. Until then it was up to them. They were all glad- even Bunnymund, who would never admit it- that Jack had went out of his way to help her.

Tooth smiled and watched the boys all flow into easier conversation. Bunnymund was being cross and didn't engage with Jack, who wasn't engaging much at all. Still, it was something. North asked him "yes" or "no" questions, catching onto Jack's discomfort. As big and as loud as North could be, he was closely similar to Sandy. He knew when the situation called for words of consolation or simple silence. He could easily read people when he wanted to.

Jack liked Sandy and his comfortable silence. It wasn't like it was because Sandy couldn't help but be quiet, but it was because he would only ask what he really wanted to know, avoiding pointless chit chat. Sandy didn't feel like writing all that down, and Jack didn't feel like answering it all anyways. They fit together well.

Tooth excused herself to go and see if the library had received that encyclopedia on teeth that she had ordered. They all groaned at how predictable she was. She laughed with them. She didn't care! She was so excited! The encyclopedia had documented teeth from all around the world and why some culture's teeth were different than others. Usually it depended on diet, but sometimes other things occurred, like sharpening rituals or color dyes.

Tooth daydreamed as she walked deep into the aisles, browsing for her book. She didn't see the lone figure stalking up behind her. When a hand roughly grabbed her arm, she jumped.

"Jack?" she questioned, turning around. "Don't scare me li-" She froze.

"The name's Anansi, don't get it confused." His shark eyes bored into her. Tooth gasped, ripping her arm away from him.

"Wha-? I thought they suspended you!"

Anansi chuckled bitterly and closed in on her. "You would've liked that, wouldn't you? You and that Frost kid." He used a hard palm to shove her back into the bookshelves.

Tooth gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. God, this kid was a creep! She put her hand behind her, slowly wrapping her fingers on the spine of a heavy encyclopedia. If he touched her again, he was going to get it.

"I know all about that little stunt you two pulled a couple of days ago. I know it was you and Jack. I would've never guessed you would be part of it though, you being the little goody two-shoes that you are."

Tooth wanted to deny his claims. She hadn't helped Jack at all! She didn't even know that he had planned the prank. However, she didn't want to give Anansi any ammunition to go after Jack. She didn't want him waltzing up to a teacher and give them information that she had let slip in a moment of passion. Denying was the way to go.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she responded, her fingers tightening on the book spine.

Anansi fumed. "Listen up, you little bitch. If I'm going down for this, I'll drag you down with me. You're going to regret the day you ever messed with me." He reached for her again, trying to slam her back into the bookshelf. Usually he fought sneaky, but now he didn't care anymore. That Frost kid had embarrassed him in front of his friends and the other kids. He was a joke now. He wanted to hit Frost where it hurt...and maybe he could start by messing up the pretty face in front of him.

Tooth was ready. She whipped out the book and swung it at his face. The impact made Anansi cry out as he collapsed to his knees, out of breath. She dropped the encyclopedia and turned to flee, but Anansi's hands clawed at her thigh, spinning her around and hauling her down to the floor with him. Tooth scrambled to get away, but Anansi's grip was like wrought iron.

"Why are you protecting him? He doesn't care about you. You wanna' know about your little boyfriend?" he spat, spraying a bit of the blood that was running from his newly bruised nose. "You wanna' know why he really moved here, why he's not back in his own hometown?"

Tooth shook her head vigorously, her eyes burning. She flailed her leg and tried to shake Anansi off. She didn't want to hear anything he had to say. She didn't want to let him take control of the situation, of her and her opinion on Jack.

"You think I'm mean? I'm nothing compared to him. He's a real piece of work, that Frost! I can already tell that you don't really know anything about him, because if you did babe, you would be running in the opposite direction. He's the coldest kid I've ever known. He's fucked up in the head. How could anyone not be messed up, doing what he's done?"

Tooth kicked at his shoulder and pulled her foot free, trying to scramble up. Anansi flung himself at her, pushing them both back down. She could feel his fingers dig into the back of her shirt collar, catching some of her hair in his fists.

"He's put kids in the hospital. He's nearly killed people. You want to know what he did? He-"

Anansi broke off into a gurgle and the weight on top of her was lifted immediately. Tooth looked up.

Jack was shoving the spider-like boy back into the bookshelf with one hand, growling low threats to him. They both struggled against one another, but Jack kept him pinned down like a bug. Anansi tried to open his mouth and argue, but Jack barked him into silence. Tooth couldn't hear what was said, but she didn't miss the way Anansi nearly fell over as he ran to get away when Jack let go of him.

"Did you put that bruise on him?" he questioned her. Tooth nodded absently. Jack nodded in approval. "Good. He didn't hurt you did he?"

Tooth shook her head. "No. I'm pretty sure he's out to get vengeance on us, or something corny like that."

If she hadn't liked Anansi before, she definitely didn't like him now. Those things he had said about Jack...hospitals? Hurting people? Jack did all that? Plus, she had knocked her bottom teeth around when he pulled her down. They ached, the poor things.

Jack shrugged, pulling her up. She grasped onto his cold fingers and let him pull her upright. He always knew when to come.

"Did he say anything? About me?" Jack looked away, looking nervous. Tooth would have to mentally file that away for later observation.

"No." she lied. She couldn't really believe herself. Two lies and a theft in one day! She really wanted to ask him questions about what Anansi said, but she figured only time would tell. She was nervous about his warnings, but all she was really sure about was that Jack was a good kid. He had saved her. Twice! And if Jack was the dangerous one, then why wasn't he the one pinning her down instead of Anansi?

The loudspeakers came on again.

"Students and faculty are now allowed to leave the building. The storm is only getting worse. We suggest you go straight home and stay indoors. The worst of the blizzard has yet to come."

Jack looked relieved. He gestured for her to come back to the table with him, but she couldn't help but blurt out:

"We're going to the arcade after school, Sandy, North, Bunnymund, and me. You should come with us! It'll be fun."

Jack tilted his head, interested. "Are we walking there? In this weather?"

"North will drive us there, and then he'll drive us home."

Jack flinched at the word "drive". He frowned.

"No. No thanks." He walked off and left the library without waiting for her.

Tooth sagged her shoulders, wiping her hair out of her face. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She knew he had saved her twice, trusted her a bit even, but...that had been pretty cold.

Tooth threw her bag into the back of the car miserably. The day had been like a roller coaster ride of the good and the bad. First the snow drift, then Mrs. Crumplebittle, then Jack opening up to her, followed by Anansi's attack in the library, all leading up to Jack ditching her? She sighed heavily. She wished Jack had said "yes" to the arcade. Maybe she needed to see him outside of this crazy school to actually make some progress with him.

And what Anansi had said earlier...what had he been talking about? Jack's hometown? What had he done that was so terrible? Where did Anansi get off talking like Jack was some kind of monster? How would Anansi even know anything about him? Tooth doubted that they were friends. Jack wouldn't have told him anything personal, and Ananasi could have easily made it all up. She didn't want anything to do with him and felt like Jack had felt the same. Still...she wondered.

They all piled into North's car and pulled out of the lot. As they were driving by the school building, they hit a red light at an intersection that led onto campus. Jack was walking across it.

"Jack!" Tooth called excitedly, trying to see past the wind and snow. It was awful out there. If not for Jack's blue sweater and dark pants, she wouldn't have been able to tell that him apart from the snowstorm. He looked like he was in his element, in a weird metaphorical way. While the other students shivered, he appeared almost comfortable.

She opened the car door, much to North's dismay.

"The snow will get on nice leather! Tooth shut the door!" he cried, whining over his interior. He loved his interior.

"Sorry North! Wait," she said briefly, leaping out of the car. She only had seconds before the light turned green again. "Jack!"

He turned, surprised to see her form running towards him through the storm. She stopped before him, heaving.

"Jack, you shouldn't walk in this storm! I can barely see anything on the road, much less you. It would be safer if you just got a ride from us. Please." she had to shout over the wind.

He looked from her to North's giant red car. His face remained blank, as formless as ice.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

She looked at him in disbelief. Was he crazy? He wouldn't be fine. It was freezing out here and the snow was slapping into people's faces near breakneck speeds. She gripped his hand. He pulled it away.

She tried to be forceful. "I got the charm back for you. This is the least you could do for me! Come with us, just this once."

He sighed, looking between her and the car once more before huffing angrily and walking towards it. She followed through the storm happily. She had gotten him out of walking home in this awful weather.

Jack paused in the doorway. The light turned green and the cars lined up behind them honked. He tried to back away but Tooth placed her hand gently on his back.

"I can't," he whispered to her, looking shaken. She frowned, confused. Jack Frost was scared? She grabbed for his hand, smoothing the skin down with her thumb. She didn't know why he was avoiding the car, but she couldn't let him stay out here where he could quite literally freeze to death. She would find out the reason why later.

"You can. Jack, it's just a car. I'll be there with you, we'll all be. North is reckless, but he's the safest driver I know. You have nothing to worry about." she whispered, unsure if she was doing a good job at consoling him.

He breathed deep, his grip tightening on her hand, before climbing into the car. She followed closely, slamming the door behind them.

It was tense and silent at first in the car. North couldn't figure why Tooth was so insistent on bringing Jack along. Bunnymund was peeved. Sandy tried to ignore their intertwined hands. The conversation between Sandy, North, and Bunnymund slowly started up again with the newcomer. The tension dissolved.

Tooth tried to ignore the tremors racking through Jack's hand. He really didn't want to be in this car, but she felt like if she asked why he was upset, that he would storm out the car and into the blizzard. She felt guilty for forcing him in there, but it was better than being out there. She really couldn't see anything anymore past the dense snowfall.

Normally, she would've been happy about the contact she now shared with him, but this was different. He wasn't smiling, he was frowning. He was shaking and sweating and looking defensive and on-edge. He wasn't holding her hand like he wanted to simply because, he was holding it like it was his lifeline, like if he had let go of her that he would drop dead on the spot.

She looked over at him in concern, frowning at his uneasiness to be in the moving vehicle.

"I was in a car accident. A long time ago." he barely whispered. She nodded. The memories might have been affecting him.

"That was back then. There won't be anymore accidents now. You're with us." she whispered, leaning over in his ear so that the others wouldn't hear. She gave him her best smile and squeezed his pale hand a little tighter in her tanned one.

His frosty lips curled ever so slightly, but he didn't reiterate her hand movement.

"So..." he breathed deep, feeling the tremors slowly leave him,"...you might not believe me- but I'm amazing when it comes to Space Invaders." He smirked a little, relieved to be getting over his distress. "Does the arcade have that?"

She lit up. He was pretty amazing. "I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"

He really did smile at that, a big toothful of unhinged brilliance.

And this time, he squeezed her hand back.

Chapter Text

Tooth was a little peeved. The hand holding hadn't lasted for even five minutes.

Jack had released her from his cool grip when North braked way too hard for a pedestrian.

The muscular young man scoffed, slamming the steering wheel. "Gah! Why Americans so slow in foot? You see car coming, you move!"

The white haired teen untangled himself from Sandy and straightened out his clothes with shaky hands. He blew out a shaky breath and looked over at Tooth with accusation written all over his face.

"This guy? This guy is the 'safest driver you know'?" he questioned disbelievingly.

Tooth gave a sheepish smile, shrugging her shoulders and blowing the displaced hair out of her face. Like she said, North was a pretty safe driver. No accidents, ever! Still, that fact didn't guarantee that he was a particularly good driver.

She didn't miss the slight tremble that returned to Jack's limbs. She didn't want to mess up her chance with him before it even began by scaring him back off into the blizzard.

Tooth leaned forward from the backseat and poked her head into the front. She looked over to Bunnymund. His sun kissed skin was now a sheer pale and his dark blue hair was matted to his forehead with nervous sweat. His furry brows were high and his green eyes were wide. He looked like he was about to lose his lunch.

Tooth scooted herself back away from him a bit. Every time North drove, the tall boy turned ghastly ill. He had yet to actually upchuck in North's car- the Russian boy might quite literally KILL him- but that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

"Could you tone down your inner speed racer for today? Please! Bunnymund looks about ready to heave that radish stew he ate earlier, Sandy is too freaked to fall asleep, and Jack is about to ditch our trip to the arcade."

North eyed the jaywalker scrambling off of the road and the red light before them, before grumbling back over to Tooth.

"I always drive like this. Bunnymund always get sick and Sandy never sleep, you NEVER notice before. Why you insist for Frost boy to join group so much?"

Tooth chewed on her lip in frustration before whispering lowly so that only North would hear, "He's my friend, North. And he's been in a car accident. You driving like a maniac isn't helping. Please North, for me."

North nodded in understanding. He didn't like upsetting the people he cared about, and Toothiana obviously cared about the chilly teenager sitting in the back of his car.

"Of course Toothiana! Besides, I owe you for delicious cookies. Put on seat belt!"

He slammed down on the pedal eager to beat the next traffic light, sending Tooth lurching backwards and slamming into Jack. She yelped out, surprised, and he grunted from her sudden weight. She couldn't help but notice how close they had been pushed together, feeling his rough and torn jeans on the bottoms of her thighs. She quickly clambered off of his lap before he could push her away and seated herself down, her face burning. Jack didn't notice her embarrassment. He was too busy clambering for a seat belt to notice.

For the rest of the ride North drove only slightly reckless and not full-on like he usually did. Jack relaxed back into the seat, huffing out heavily and shutting his eyes. Tooth suspected that he wasn't sleeping and peered over often during the ride at his calm face, wondering what he was thinking about.

For the first time, Sandy actually was able to fall asleep in North's car. Bunnymund still had his head resting on the window, breathing deeply and trying to get a hold on his nausea.

Not fifteen minutes had passed before they reached the arcade, despite the horrid snow. The red four-wheel drive barreled it's way through the steadily piling snow like it was built for just this- winter. They pulled up nice and easy in front of the bright building. Tooth smiled at North's progressively better driving. She was so proud!

They all clambered out and North shut off the ignition as the rest of them headed into the building, Jack straggling behind.

North eyed the shady boy suspiciously and couldn't help but notice how much of a vulture the boy looked like as Jack stalked behind the group. He still wasn't sure how to feel about this new boy. He could tell he wasn't a bad kid...but he didn't seem all that good, either.

Tooth noticed him straggling. His shoulders were slumped and his dark jeans and sweater were the only thing sticking out of the weathering storm. While everyone else was wrapped up in warm coats, plump mittens, and scarves, all Jack wore was his jeans, his boots, and his familiar blue hoodie. He seemed to fit perfect in the setting as the dense snow blew all about them, not even shivering in the slightest. Tooth wondered at his skin and how it matched the snowflakes in a near-albino sort of way, but as always, the deep blue eyes dispelled any of her thoughts of him having no pigmentation. His expression was vacant as the snow slapped his white hair around.

Tooth shivered violently. It was absolutely glacial out here! And he didn't even have a coat on. No wonder other people called him the coldest...in body and mind. He worried her.

Tooth slowed and let Sandy and Bunnymund stroll ahead and push into the arcade's entrance. She couldn't see or hear Jack through the snow very well. What a crazy blizzard! Maybe they should've went home instead of coming here? Could Jack see anything past all this flurry?

She gently gripped his arm to help him towards the arcade entrance. He slipped out of her grasp as quick and as easily as she had first gripped him, strolling up past her and ahead to the doors.

Tooth's face fell and she looked down listlessly at her boots. She walked faster to catch up, embarrassed and confused. Hadn't he just been holding her hand and smiling a few minutes ago? What happened to touchy-feely Jack? She had loved the feel of his calloused, cool fingers jammed up against her soft ones.

She regained a little bit of hope as she noticed him open the door for her, ushering her in with a nod of his head. She jogged in, followed closely by North, before the door shut behind them and blocked out the sounds and winds of the blizzard with it.

Tooth adjusted her hat and looked up in awe.

The arcade was stock full of all kinds of games, from old ones to new ones. Many of the titles she could recognize, while others mystified her. She saw high tech computers in one corner of the large room, whereas the other side held all the old-fashioned quarter arcade games. The modern games were scattered all over the place with all sorts of cool looking simulators. People, young and old, left and right, were playing all over the arcade. It appeared as if no one had heeded the news channel's warning. Tooth looked on as another group of kids from Burgess High swept by. Apparently no one had listened to the school's warning either.

Her hand reached up to the familiar weight around her neck. Her special necklace glinted brightly against her chest, calming her nerves.

Tooth observed all of the bright lights and colors before turning to Jack. There were so many people here...he wasn't a big fan of crowds, she had figured. He didn't like touch and he didn't like idle conversation, something that other kids were bound to do. He didn't regret coming, did he?

She jumped in surprise to see his mischievous smirk back on his face as he looked around, liking what he saw.

"Games from the ceiling to floor? Cool place." he said, looking over to her. "I needed a good game. Now...where's Mortal Kombat?"

Bunnymund's shoulders perked up before he strode over and leaned into Jack's face.

"Mortal Kombat, eh Frost? I'll have you know that I hold the highest record in here for that game. And don't be too upset if you see my name at the top of Street Fighter, either. I rule at all the fighting games. Bloody oath, it is!" he declared, jabbing his thumb in his chest and letting loose a big smile. Tooth liked Bunny's smile. He had the largest teeth out of anyone in the group, though it didn't make him look silly. As a matter of fact, it made him look even more dashing to her, having such a broad shiner.

Jack perked up an eyebrow, intrigued by Bunnymund's bragging and better attitude. From what he had seen, he figured the tall nature-nutball was always cranky. So, cottontail thought that he would beat him at a game, huh? Jack grinned internally, keeping his outer appearance calm. This would be fun.

"Alright cottontail-"

"-Cottontail?! Why, you little galah-"

"-you think you're so good? Try me. I'll teach you what it really means to beat a high score."

"Ha! You? Beat my score? No way in hell, mate. You're on! Who're you playing?"

"Sub-Zero. "

"Pfft, you like that ice guy? Well, I'm picking Kira. S'all about the boomerangs, Jack."

Tooth looked back and forth between the two boys, happy that they were finally warming up to each other. Kind of.

"Woah there, Cottontail! The pirate lady with the corset? You sure that all you like about her is her boomerangs?"

Bunnymund flushed a deep violet, spluttering before shouting, "I'll show you just how much damage a boomerang can do-" he thought desperately of a comeback for the rude boy before him, "-Frostbite!"

Jack looked at hims strangely before clapping his hands over his mouth and giggling at the tall and frustrated Australian boy. "Frostbite? You're serious?" he chuckled, racking with laughter. Tooth loved the way the skin around his eyes crinkled when he laughed, how his cheeks would fill with pink and his eyes with mirth.

As natural as the cold had looked on him, Tooth thought that joy looked just as good.

Bunnymund fumed before racing over the machine to put his quarter in. He would show Jack; he would have the last laugh. Jack, Sandy, and North all followed, curious to see the outcome.

Tooth trailed behind them, happy and content. They were warming up to each other! All it took was a ton of cookies, a scary car ride, and a building full of violent video games. She had never seen Jack with other kids before. To see him huddled up at the arcade game with the others...she felt a warm feeling rise up within her. They were almost like family! As she walked up her violet gaze dropped to Jack's hands, his lips.

Hm. Almost like a family.

She didn't look at the others the way she looked at Jack, not really. As she approached, North and Sandy stepped aside so that she could place herself near Jack. She watched him hunch over and manage the controls recklessly, his strong back curling and his attention focused on the screen before him. She had to stop herself from looking past his belt line and gulped hard, looking at his hair instead and thinking good thoughts.

'No Tooth, don't be creepy, don't check him out, just watch the game like everyone else.'

Tooth clasped her hands behind her back and kept her gaze away from the pert rear before her.

Several games had passed and Jack had won nearly every single one. Instead of giving up at the hopeless odds like any other person would have done, Bunnymund simply dug in his heels and played harder.

Tooth got tired of watching the colorful figures beat each other to a pulp on the screen and left the gang to find a game that would pick up her interest again. She sighed. No dentist or teeth games in sight! What rotten luck.

Something on the edge of her vision grabbed her attention. She turned.

It was a flight simulator! Tooth watched as the seats moved themselves along with the screen. Instantly, her mother came to her mind. It was an aircraft game and was all about manuevering your plane to safety whilst shooting the others out of the sky. It was a two-seater. Tooth's eyes widened. Cool!

She waited patiently for the game to be unnocupied before she leapt into the seat and put on the simulator safety belt. When she heard another safety click beside her, she swerved around in shock. Was Jack joining her? Did Bunnymund or Sandy want to play? Had Anansi found her somehow?

No, no, and no.

"You don't mind if I play with you, right?" came the deep, baritone voice.

She shook her head, her mouth gaping a bit. The handsome young man who had sat by her was...well, handsome. He had slick brown hair and a dazzling smile. His teeth weren't as perfect as Jack's, but they were pretty close. She smiled at him in approval. Teeth like that didn't show up just anywhere.

He gave her a sly look, taking her smile as approval.

"Of course you don't mind. None of the ladies do."

As he gripped the wheel with strong hands, Tooth could only notice that he had to be older than her or any of her friends. Maybe he was a college student? There was no way that this guy was still in high school with a voice, a beard, and a body like that.

Before she could speculate any further, the game began and the simulator jostled back and forth, the young man next to her grinning and whooping.

"Alright, let's win this! Hey, uh- what was your name?"

Tooth clapped her hands onto the steering wheel nervously. "...Toothiana." she supplied.

The guy stopped for a moment before glancing over at her. "Wait...are you serious? TOOTH-iana?"

She nodded a little miserably. It hadn't been the first time someone had to emphasize the weirdness that was her name.

"Well then. Your parents must've been crazy for naming such a pretty thing like you with such a silly name like that. I know this one girl, with a wacky name just like yours, except her's is one of those old fashioned German names, way too long if you ask me! Like her hair, it's just waaayy too long, but she says her mom won't let her cut it or anything. I met her mom once. The lady's a real witch, nothing like her daughter, y'know? And then there's..."

As he went on chattily, Tooth couldn't help but notice the "pretty" comment. That was a nice surprise, she thought as she sat back in her seat. Rarely anyone complimented her on her looks.

She didn't have self-image issues and she knew she wasn't ugly, it was just...it was nice to hear sometimes from other people. Especially when you carried around weird collections of teeth in your backpack for a hobby, or a strange name in your title. Not to mention the genetically mutated eyes or the darker, Southeast Asian skin. Not many people besides her parents had told her before, and everyone knew that parents didn't really count.

She scoffed to herself. North, Bunny, and Sandy would never try to comment on her appearance unless she was fishing for compliments, which was never. Tooth liked the way she looked! Besides; she didn't want to make things awkward for the guys by going on a tense rant of how 'fat' she was or how much her hair 'sucked'. She didn't believe any of those things, anyway. Her mother and father had always taught her that she was gorgeous in more ways than one. When the girls and boys in her seventh grade class began dating one another, she ended up standing alone and having to tell herself, 'Just because no one wants to date you doesn't mean anything. You're still a good person. You're still worth something.'

She sighed softly at a new thought in her mind.

The only boy she had ever really wanted to notice her looks was the boy who didn't really notice anybody. She didn't expect any compliments from 'the coldest kid in town' anytime soon. She didn't really expect any comments from him at all. Sure, he could say, "Nice teeth you drew there", or "These are some damn good cookies you made", but she would never expect him to say anything like, "Wow...you're beautiful," or "You're a cool girl, Tooth".

The simulator jostled her out of her thoughts as it whirred back and forth. Digital enemy pilots flew at them on the screen, trying to shoot them down. The boy next to her shouted out in excitement, "Dodge em', dodge em'!"

"What?!" Tooth asked loudly, wondering why she ever stepped foot in this game. She didn't know the controls and was getting frazzled. Which buttons should she press? Was that lever going to make the plane go faster, or slower?

The boy turned their plane sideways, laughing gleefully before answering, "I control the weapons on this side, you control the plane! Keep us out of the way of their missiles and I'll shoot em' down!"

And so Tooth did what he said and maneuvered her way through the levels, twirling, nosediving, and drifting all across the pixelated skies. He shot up every enemy that came their way and before she knew it, they had won the high score together. He sat back, sighing contently at the victory music the game bleeped out.

"Good game, Tooth-chick." He called out impressed. She felt a little spark of admiration for the boy's friendliness build inside of her. He seemed nice enough. And she did have fun with him just now. Maybe they could be friends...?

She didn't catch his gaze lower to her shiny necklace.

Tooth shrugged an smiled at him. She didn't know what had happened! It was like instincts had taken over for her when she had handled the plane. Then again, it was just a silly arcade game. It didn't mean she could really fly or anything.

The boy was about to say something more to her before a high pitched voice broke through the air.

"Flynn? Flynn! You come out this instant!"

His eyes widened as he peeked out of the simulator anxiously before settling himself back inside with Tooth. She eyed him warily. Was he hiding from someone?

"Who's that?" she inquired. "It sounds like they're looking for you." She began to poke her head out of the simulator before she was pulled back by her waist from behind. Plopping back down hard in the seat, she shot the handsome boy a look. She liked his happy, sly attitude, but she didn't like the grabbing. She could do without the grabbing.

"Oh, c'mon!" he groaned in exasperation. "I can't let her find me!"

"Why? Who is she?"

"You know, for someone I just met you sure do ask a lot of questions," he accused frowning, "I'm hiding from my friend, Rapunzel. The German one? She's pissed because I stole something after I told her I wouldn't anymore. She found out. I hang out here at the arcade a lot, so now here she is, looking for me." He had said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tooth looked at him with shock. Stealing? "Why would you steal in the first place? No wonder she's upset with you!"

The young female voice began to fade away before the familiar jingle of the arcade's front door jingled. She had left.

The boy shook his head. "Hey, you can't judge since you barely know me! And I can't help the stealing," he smirked playfully, "I have nimble fingers." He reached out to poke Tooth in her side a lightning speed to demonstrate. Tooth burst out giggling uncontrollably. Damn him! She was ticklish!

"Stop, stop it!" she cried, giggles making her body tremble as the weird older boy poked at her for the second time, smiling. She couldn't tell if he was a pervert, or just childish. Maybe both.

Tooth scrambled out of the simulator booth breathless and red. "I told you to stop!" she stated, still chuckling a little. He was so silly for someone his age, like a child! And stealing? Despite her earlier theft from Mrs. Crumpbittle, Tooth couldn't see herself getting familiar with thieves. She wasn't sure she wanted to know this guy.

She backed up straight into someone. Her laughing halted immediately as she glanced up into Jack's angry face. Woah!

She followed his hard gaze over to Flynn, whose smile dropped as well when he climbed out of the booth and saw Jack standing before him menacingly.

Oh jeez. This didn't look good. Jack side stepped past and placed himself in front of her, stepping forward.

Flynn was slightly taller than Jack and certainly more muscular, but the frigid boy carried a heavy weight with him like no other. Flynn thought he would catch the chills and start shivering any minute now.

"Oh! Uh...hey, Frost. How are you?" he tried being polite, even though his sarcasm bled through.

Jack glared darkly at him, his dark brows slowly furrowing.

"It wasn't what it looked like!" Flynn informed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I wanted to play the arcade game, she wanted to play the arcade game, and there we were; playing and having a grand old time, haha!" His forced cheerfulness made even Tooth cringe. Had this guy and Jack already met before? What was with this tension in the air? They acted as if they already knew one another.

"We made fast friends and I was just teasing her. I didn't take anything from her, I swear."

Jack remained. Tooth began to tense up. She could feel a different kind of storm coming on and was clued in by the silence Jack insisted into the conversation.

Flynn could feel it coming too. "Okay, look man...yeah, I stole that cool woodworking staff of yours, but that was years ago! I don't have it anymore, alright? I sold it to that shady pawn broker...uh...what was his name?" Flynn snapped, trying to recall the memory. "Pitch, yeah it was Pitch! Nothing more I can do!"

Tooth gasped. This man had stolen something from Jack? When? How did they even know each other? And what staff...?

Tooth could see the Jack's back muscles locking in place as he tensed up in anger, ready to spring out like a tightly wound coil. Tooth stepped back.

"Well, I learnt my lesson. I'm sorry. I won't steal from you again, so..." Flynn skirted his way around Jack and passed by Tooth. "Forgive me? Alright, then, everybody's happy! See you around, Tooth-girl."

He smirked at her, reaching out to pat her shoulder. Jack's sharp eyes caught sight of a bright glint that shone between Flynn's fingers.

Everyone jumped as Jack's hand, quick as lightning, deflected Flynn's reach and trapped his wrist in Jack's iron grip.

"Don't touch her," he growled, seething and tightening his grip on Flynn.

"Ow ow ow ow, ow, Christ, alright man, just let- go!" Flynn yelled, trying to pull his hands away. Jack forcefully pried his fingers open, revealing Tooth's necklace. She gasped, her hand touching her neck to feel nothing there. He had stolen it from her back in the simulator!

Jack tossed it over to Tooth who caught it gratefully. Flynn ripped his wrist away, glaring at the both of them. He waved his hand in their direction as if they weren't worth his time, before turning on a heel and walking away.

Tooth stood stock still.

That was creepy.

"You okay?" Jack asked, looking at her uncertain and surprised to see her looking back uncertainly at him.

"How did...how did he...? I hadn't even seen-"

Jack frowned at her, a scowl appearing upon his ice mask.

"He wasn't messing around with you to be friendly. He probably started planning on how to take it from you the moment he saw it on you."

Tooth looked down at her necklace charm. It had a pair of blue, jewel-encrusted feathers dangling off the end of the chain. Her mother had gotten it for her birthday before she was deployed by the Air Force, and it was fairly expensive. She wore it everywhere. Never had she thought Flynn was actually reaching for it when he had poked her around back at the arcade game.

"But that's crazy! How would he steal it right in front of me? I was looking straight at him!"

Jack shook his head, looking at Tooth like she was a two year old.

"You don't get it. That guy is fast when it comes to stealing. Really fast. He lives near Burgess and everybody knows how handsy he is. It's the only reason why he was able to get my staff and get away with it for so long. I hadn't even figured out that he had taken it until a couple of months ago."

Jack calmly thought in the back of his mind. His staff. Flynn had sold it to Pitch. Damn. He wasn't going near that guy anytime soon.

"What was Flynn talking about? He stole a...staff from you?"

Jack looked up at her curious face. Hm. He wouldn't mind telling her about that. It wasn't that much of a secret or anything. He had loved that thing as a kid.

He shrugged. "I don't even know why Flynn took it. It's not worth anything. My uncle made it for me when I was a kid. He carved it out of wood just for me. I liked it because it made me feel like some kind of adventurer when my parents let me play in the forest."

Tooth perked up. Jack was willingly telling her about his past, finally! "The uncle that you live with now? Why not just ask him to make you another staff?"

"Yeah, Uncle Moon. I tried to get him to, but he said 'In due time, it'll come back to it's rightful owner'. Pfft, I doubt it. The guy is always so cryptic."

Tooth chuckled to herself. Uncle MOON? It sounded like Jack's uncle came straight out of a fairy tale. It seemed she wasn't the only one in Burgess with a weird name.

She smiled at the thought of a younger Jack running and playing around in the woods. He had said his parents let him. Did that mean that he had lived with them? Were they still around? Her throat closed as she remembered him talking about the car accident. Had he lost his parents?

"Are they..." she began, "...still alive? Your parents?"

Jack looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course they're still alive! Who told you they were dead?" he smirked a bit, chuckling. "I'm not some poor orphan, if that's what you're thinking."

Tooth breathed heavily. "Oh, I don't know! No one told me anything, I just assumed that...since you lived with your uncle-"

Jack simply waved the thought away, explaining, "Nah. They're all alive and kicking. I'm just staying with my uncle for now."

"Why aren't you living with your parents, then?"

A shadow passed over Jack's face and he shook his head, closing her off. "I'm not telling that story. Way too long."

Tooth slumped, a little upset. She had been shut out again! It didn't seem to her that he didn't want to tell it because it was too long.

He just didn't want to say it at all.

"Oh," Tooth said softly, feeling guilty again. There she was prying, always prying with him. "I-I just thought- well, you don't have to tell me. I'm glad you moved here, anyways." she offered him the smallest of grins and his frown melted away into neutrality.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, trying desperately to dismiss her kind words and make her contagious grin fade away. "Just stay away from Flynn. And maybe next time, you might not wanna' play in any secluded simulators with weirdos, yeah?"

Tooth nodded quickly, not wanting to say anything that would irritate him any further at this point. They had been doing so well before Flynn showed up. She still couldn't believe he had the guts to steal her necklace right off of her! She was so angry. What if he had gotten away with it? She would've thought she dropped the necklace and ended up searching the arcade, looking all day for something that wasn't there. Flynn could have sold it or given it to his Rapunzel-friend.

She grasped it in her fingers, fighting the itching behind her eyes. She couldn't lose this. It was her mom's momento, something physical that embodied her love. Flynn couldn't take this. Not this.

So Jack had been looking out for her again? Sure, he had stopped Flynn over the stolen staff- but he had also stopped Flynn to get her necklace back. Kind of like how she stole his charm back from Mrs. Crumpbittle. The thought washed away all of her bad feelings from before and made her grin at the icy boy.

Still upset from Flynn, he glanced at her teasing grin and threw a glare her way.

"...What?" he demanded in his best, harsh voice. She was always smiling, always happy. What did she have to be so optimistic about all the time, anyways?

Tooth just let her dark lashes shut softly as she shook her head and laughed to herself. She opened them back up to see a less angry Jack, more curious in why she was acting so strange.

"You said you were good at Space Invaders earlier. You sure about that?" she challenged. Her voice was softer than Bunnymund's challenging one, and she had an easygoing tone. She wanted to have some fun.

'Cute,' Jack thought offhandedly, not really thinking straight as he gazed at her pearly whites. Christ, it was like she had a mouthful of diamonds or something. He bet that she brushed after every meal.

"Oh, I'm dead sure," he said with mirth in his eyes, following Tooth anxiously as she headed over to the old Space Invaders arcade machine, "...are you sure that you want to go up against this?" he spread his arms out in a dramatic fashion, unable to stop the smirk that played across his lips.

Tooth beamed at him and simply put in a quarter before starting up the game. Jack stepped forward, nestling beside her at the controls. As they both grasped onto their controls and levers, Tooth couldn't stop herself from sighing inwardly.

She loved this feeling. He wasn't straggling somewhere behind her or speeding away somewhere in front of her. He was right beside her, elbow to elbow and shoulder to shoulder. She could see all the features of his face perfectly and watch his hard hands move about the controls in expert skill.

Did Jack like games? Tooth wondered so. Maybe did like games, because as the arcade game before them blooped and bleeped on, Tooth could've sworn she saw a smile.

After beating her an impressive six times at Space Invaders, Tooth ended up believing Jack's claims at being amazing at it.

"Wow," she exclaimed, slumping at the sight of her terrible score on the arcade game. "I've never gotten that bad of a grade, before!" she laughed out loud before stopping herself.

How dumb could she be? Bragging about her grades in front of a someone who probably did not-so-great in school. Nobody liked to hear about her obsessively perfect GPA, no matter how proud she was of it.

Jack stood off to her side staring curiously as she battled internally with herself.

"Earth to Tooth," he called out playfully at the frantic girl. He waved a hand in front of her face. "No worries! It's just a game and I already told you that I was good at Space Invaders."

Tooth sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that."

Jack looked at her bewildered.

"What? Your grades? I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but you're not the only one with straight A's."

Tooth swerved her gaze to him, intrigued. What was he saying? His grades were good as well? "Really?" She was surprised. All she really was really good at was being friends with Sandy, North, Bunnymund, knowing tons about teeth, and getting awesome grades.

When Jack told her his grade point average, her jaw nearly disconnected.

Tooth gleamed, squealing a bit and grasping his pale wrists in her excited, tanned fingers.

"Jack, that's fantastic! You're so clever!"

The boy's brows furrowed and he waved her off of him, desperate not to blush. Her praise was random and- he felt- undeserved. Plus, he HATED blushing. He had worked so hard to train himself into not getting embarrassed by other people. When Jack Frost blushed the slightest, anyone could tell from a mile away. His pale skin held no secrets.

Tooth decided that they should move to a game where she had an edge. They both buckled up back in the flight simulator and started a new game, though Jack grew cocky and was sure he would beat her at this too.

"I'm the king of games," he said dramatically, glancing her way, "you dare challenge my skills?"

Tooth laughed softly, shaking her head. She hadn't really seen Jack playing around like this before until they had stepped into the arcade. She didn't even know that he liked to joke this much. She bounced in her seat, playing along.

"Methinks that King Jack of Jests and Games doth boast too much. Wherefore art thou high score on this game? I have yet to see it!"

Jack's eyes widened and he bared his teeth in a funny, fierce way. Tooth was swept away by the gleam of them. Did he whiten them? How often did he brush? How the hell were his teeth so perfect?

He pointed a joking finger at her in mock accusation.

"Thou shall bear witness to my divine score soon enough, for I will be the victor of this game as I was of all the others!" he boasted in a loud, boyish way, leaning over and spinning his goofy tale to Tooth.

She clapped her hands over her mouth to hide her smile and could feel her cheeks heat up. This was fun! Jack was letting go of the mask he wore all the time and was playing around with her.

"Get thee to a hospital; for I am about to kick your royal butt at this game, King Jack." she declared just as determined, pushing in a quarter and starting up the machine. Jack laughed a full-hearted, teenage-boy laugh and gripped the controls.

"You wish."

And the game began in versus mode. Not only did Tooth's plane beat Jack's multiple times, but she won a new high score over her and Flynn's old one. Jack slumped back in the simulator seat, astounded.

"Woah. You weren't kidding when you said you'd beat me...I think I've my match." he smirked over at her before unbuckling the seat belt and hopping out. She fumbled with hers, trying desperately to follow after him. The word "match" was envisioned a little differently in her mind than by how he had meant it. He saw her as a worthy opponent of arcade games. She saw him as someone to hold hands with, maybe kiss, maybe even date.

She escaped the simulator seat and leaped out, trailing behind Jack.

"We should probably find the others and head home." she offered up, looking at the snowy chaos outside. "I have to study for that Advanced World History test tomorrow." She sighed, wondering at why she always had to play up the role of bookworm.

Jack nodded. "Oh. I have that one too."

Tooth looked over at him sharply. It was a hard class for a junior to take.

"You take that class? But I've never seen you in it..."

"We're in different periods, I think." Jack supplied nonchalantly. "Most of my classes are the Advanced ones. I think that's why I have you in almost half of them."

Woah! So wait...Jack took the advanced classes? But...? She knew he was smart, but honestly, she had figured him much too easygoing to take rigorous classes like those.

He seemed to understand her silence. "I have a good memory, but I'm not all that great at math. Too many rules. Weird, right? The kid who is always cutting class and pulling pranks actually does well in school?" he joked lightly, enjoying Tooth's bewildered expression.

"Well, yeah." she said. "Why do you always ditch class anyways?"

Jack paused the slightest. Here she was again, asking more about him. He hadn't missed the numerous occasions that she tried to know more about his life. Maybe she was just interested? It wasn't like he talked to anyone else. And being the brainiac that she was, he figured that she probably saw him as some sort of puzzle to figure out.

It angered him when other people tried to dissect his actions because they always judged him, like they were better than him. It wasn't any of their business what he did or why he did it. He had gotten enough of that at his old school from the other kids. Especially after the accident with his sister.

Now, looking into Tooth's curious face, he felt like she wasn't really judging him. She just wanted to understand him better.

He breathed before saying, "I go to the children's hospital. The one a few blocks away from Burgess High."

Tooth gave him a questioning look, her pace slowing down. He slowed with her and went on.

"I mean, I'm not sick or anything! I just volunteer there a lot."

Tooth remembered his words from earlier that day to the security guard.

There's someone I have to meet. It's important...please.

"Do you know someone special there?"

He looked to the window unfocused, nodding softly.

"Yeah. His name is Jamie. We're friends."

Jack went on slowly and quietly to tell her about the beautiful little brown-haired boy down at St. Benart's Childrens' Hospital just a few blocks away from school. He told her about how when he had first moved to into town and how useless and bored he felt in his uncle's bare home. He told her about how the long, dragging lessons at school didn't help. He told her about how his uncle had no television, no computer, and no games to occupy his mind.

He didn't tell her how much that it hurt, having nothing to do but to think about what he had done to land himself on the other side of town. Away from his family.

He had found the hospital upon wandering through town and strolled through the heavy glass doors to the front desk. They accepted him as a volunteer that very day. Ever since, Jack would leave after school to help out the nurses by passing out food, telling stories, or playing games with the anemic, sickly children there. And as the weeks went by he soon met Jamie- a sweet boy full of silly jokes and love. They became fast friends.

Jamie was terminally ill and the sickness only grew worse as the days went by. He was removed from playing with the other children due to his terrible condition. His small body was slowly failing him, and he could pass any day now.

Jack had only just started cutting school so that he could reach the hospital early to see Jamie, just in case that would be Jamie's last time to see him. Aside from Jamie's loving and supportive family, the tall and moody teenager was the only real friend he ever saw anymore.

Tooth was shocked, her hands clutching into her coat. Jack was vacant.

"I mean, yeah it's sad and all, but he's a good kid. A happy kid. If the day was the last day he ever saw, I want him to remember that he spent it happy and laughing, with his friends. I want him to remember me telling him some dumb fairy tale, or hanging out in his hospital bed watching that goofy 'Adventure Time' show that he likes so much. I don't want him to be alone when it happens."

Tooth felt like her heart had fallen through the floor. She didn't know that had been where Jack spent most of his time. She didn't know he could care like that.

She had been to a hospital only once before.

She had broken an ankle during gymnastics after the old, worn, high beam broke underneath her . It was a scary place to her. The walls were white and clean, but the smell of medicine and antiseptics lurked everywhere. There was another unit near hers and it was full of old, sickly people. They all looked as if they had given up. They looked like they were done with everything, done with pain. During her short stay, she had seen people trying to walk on new prosthetic legs or move their healing arms. They had seen disheveled patients shuffling around, trying to find a nurse or just someone to talk to. When they had discharged her, she had seen nurses wheeling around bald, skeletal children wrapped in blankets. They scared her the most.

Tooth didn't like hospitals back then, as a child. She knew how useful they were now that she was older, but back then, they seemed like places where people went to be in pain, where people lost bones and teeth and didn't smile.

And here was Jack admitting to her that on a daily basis, he would leave the happy groups of kids at school to enter these buildings full of sick children- just so he could make them happy too. That wasn't a 'cold' thing to do. It was rather bold, in her opinion.

Tooth felt inspired. She decided to do something bold herself.

She ignored the tension that shot up Jack's body as she wrapped her arms around him. He wasn't as hard as she thought he would be, and he wasn't as cold either. She squeezed tightly before pulling herself away from the lanky boy.

He gaped at her. "Wh-"

"That's wonderful, Jack! You bring them good memories in bad times. I don't think you should ditch anymore, though. Jamie sounds sweet and I don't think he would want you to do bad in school because of him. Next time you visit him though, let me know, and I'll bake some cookies just for him and his friends! I would love to meet them."

She gave him her best smile. She really did want to meet Jamie, someone that sounded so brave and so special to Jack.

Jack slowly nodded, trying to recollect himself from the hug. She was so touchy. He decided to dismiss it. "Y-yeah...that sounds like a good idea. I've never thought of bringing them sweets before." Honestly, he never really brought them anything. He would just show up and like a flipped switch, they would all cheer and grin happily at his arrival.

Their conversation drifted to other things as they continued to search the arcade until they finally found North, Sandy, and Bunnymund at a dancing machine. North seemed to have broken it. The heavy imprints of his winter boots were imprinted into the floor of the machine. Smoke billowed from the sides and it seemed to have caved in on itself.

"Time to go!" North announced, speeding his friends away from the wrecked machine and out of the arcade.

The snow and wind had increased tenfold, nearly unbearable to stand. They all raced to the car, gasping heavily as they piled in and brought flurries of snowflakes with them.

North sped them all home, his car plowing through everything in the way. Sandy was dropped off at his home near school whereas Bunnymund was left in front of his house a few blocks down. North turned onto the main road before looking back at Jack.

"Where do you live?" he asked innocently, unaware of a large semi-truck coming their way. Tooth leaped from the back seat and reached over to turn the wheel for him, making the large truck narrowly miss collision.

"Watch the road!" she nearly shrieked, pushing North forward once more. Ugh!

Jack smirked at her, his seat belt adjusted nice and tight. "So, like you were saying before- this guy is the safest driver you-?"

Tooth silenced him with a finger and a hard look. Jack held up his hands in surrender before rolling his eyes and announcing, "I live near Selene Road. Just go there and I'll find my way home."

Find his way home? Tooth thought that sounded too sketchy. Why not just drop him off in front of his house?

"Don't you live on the road?" she asked.

Jack shook his head. "No. Like I said, I live with my uncle. His house is in the woods near that road. There's a path that leads up to it, but it's kind of secluded. Just drop me off near the path and I'll find my way."

Tooth nodded in understanding. Some of the Burgess residents had houses in the forest preserve, no big deal or anything. It only sucked if you lived near the large herds of deer or coyotes that roamed these parts. Imagine trying to get to school with a coyote pack stalking you, or an overprotective buck in your way!

They dropped Jack off at the neck of the woods and watched his form disappear into the trees and the blizzard.

Back in her warm house, Tooth opened up her World History textbook but she couldn't focus. The day's events were sweeping through her head. She thought of crazy car rides and thieves in flight simulators and woodstaffs. She thought of hospitals and cookies and arcade games and sick children and beautiful boys with bright smiles.

She just couldn't focus. She closed her book and was about to take a nap, right there at her desk, until her phone chirped. Tooth lazily reached over for it.

The name displayed on the screen made all of her energy come flooding back.

Received New Message

Sent X/XX/XXXX From: Jack

The arcade wz great. Thx for making me come with u guys. 2 b honest, i cant study for this dumb test. wanna help me study 2morrow during the lunch period? I promise not to ditch.

Tooth beamed and clutched the phone tightly. Damn hormones.

She responded with a yes and asked if her friends could come along to join them. As much as she would have liked the alone time with Frost, she knew her friends would want to join them. She wanted her friends to like him as much as she did- well...maybe not as much as she did.

Received New Message

Sent X/XX/XXXX From: Jack

Thts fine. I wanted to make fun of cottontail anyways. btw, Jamie is a chocolate addict. He said he wanted to meet u over the weekend. think you can spruce up enough cookies for him and his friends by then?

Tooth typed out a quick response. Of course she could! She was awesome at baking. Though...she did wonder what the affect from all that sugar would do to her friend's teeth...to Jack's teeth.

She gasped. She didn't want to be the cause of- God forbid- a cavity in his gorgeous smile!

On the other side of town, Brer Rab was having a horrible night.

Not only had Anansi been bitching about his busted nose the entire walk to Pitch's place, but the snow didn't sit well with him. He missed the hot Southern sun and the sticky, sweet fruit along with all the sticky, sweet women...

His grin turned debauched. Oh yes, Brer Rab loved sunlight, long legged ladies, lies, and tricks. He was great at those! If someone was fool enough to fall for his trick, they deserved what they got coming to them.

He tromped alongside Pan. Pan wasn't all that big on tricking for the fun of it. He did it in retaliation whenever someone threw a piece of paper on the ground instead of a recycling bin, the nature freak. For whatever reason, Pan had gotten a lot of girlfriends here in Burgess too. He said it was because of his goatee and panpipes, but Brer Rab doubted that. Girls liked southern accents!

Anansi didn't care about girls all that much today, especially since that Tooth-chick had busted his face up. Brer Rab was surprised. Tooth seemed like such a mousy little thing, so quiet and reserved. She didn't seem like one to throw a punch. He bet she still had her cherry even, unless she had already given it up to that Frost kid she was always drooling over.

Brer Rab sneezed. Frost seemed like such a girl-magnet when he first moved to Burgess- but then all the girls that approached him ran away, crying about how 'mean' he was. Brer Rab couldn't believe the guy. How could you have a face carved by angels and not have girls lined up to your left and right? He figured that guy had a real nasty attitude to repel girls with a nice face like that.

But Tooth...now, she was something to look at. She looked like some exotic alien with those eyes and that skin. He could dig it. He wished that it wasn't wintertime so that he could see what the girl was hiding under her baggy sweaters and puffed up coats. All of the girls were far too overdressed in these chilly times, he thought. Tooth looked like just the kind of girl he would want to-

"Brer Rab! Pay attention man, quit thinking about girls all the time!" called Anansi.

Brer Rab shot him a dirty look before shivering and sneezing again.

"Cock block..." he mumbled under his breath. Pan laughed at him.

"Anansi's right bro, you're a horndog."

They started to tussle before Anansi turned around in frustration. "C'mon you guys, cut it out! We gotta' meet Pitch and hand over the stuff Brer Rab and you stole before any cops stop us for curfew! You wanna' get caught with pot, a bag of stolen stuff, and a bunch of wallets? Be my guest."

He began to trudge off through the snow. Brer Rab and Pan lowered their fists and followed closely behind.

They soon entered the old apartment building of Pitch, the creepiest guy in Burgess.

Pitch had moved there years ago from England- no one knew why, but they knew well enough to tell their kids to stay away from him. The guy was bad news. It was like he was the walking, talking, breathing version of an omen. The police had searched his place so many times due to the complaints of neighbors, but they never found anything.

The guy was weird, alright. Brer Rab thought he was a murderer on the run. Pan thought that he was insane asylum escapee.

Anansi didn't care where the hell Pitch came from. All he had to do was snatch a few things from the kids at school and bring it into Pitch to get big bucks in return. He had even convinced Brer Rab and Pan to help him out. No big deal.

Pitch met them at the front door, leaning over the bar of his crummy pawn shop. Only the shady people of Burgess traded with him.

His black hair was slick and greasy and his skin looked as if he had smoked every drug in existence before pulling his body back together after the destruction. He had a tongue of poison and a twisted mind. He spoke like a criminal and walked like he had a million things to hide.

Anansi was sure that there was a skeleton somewhere in this guy's closet.

"Anansi, Brer Rab, Pan...what a surprise." he said sarcastically. He had been trading with these dolts for months. If their parents knew any better, they would keep an eye on where their kids went more often. But Pitch wasn't complaining. More profit and corruption for him.

Anansi dumped their bags full of the stuff they had taken and handed it over to Pitch. As the tall man inspected each item, he inserted quietly:

"So, anything new about Jack Frost?"

Brer Rab blanched. What a psycho! This guy had been asking about the Frost kid since he had heard the rumors about him and his sister. At first, Brer Rab was sure that the guy was a pedophile, but then again, he hadn't seen Pitch eye any of the other kids in town. Plus, he was sure the creepy dude dated women even though Brer Rab wasn't sure how the guy had managed that. He hardly gave off a romantic vibe.

"Man, you're such a creep. Why are you always asking about that guy? It's pretty suspicious to me why a grown man keeps wondering about some kid." he blurted out, unable to stop himself. Damn him and his mouth. Sometimes it ran faster than his brain did. It had gotten him into major trouble back in the South and it looked like the same thing was about to happen up North.

Anansi and Pan looked alarmed at their friend's outburst. Pitch's face pulled into a ghastly sneer, one that made all three of the boys want to ditch this place and run.

"Me? Creepy? Ha. I suppose the term is fitting," he drawled out in his strong, English accent.

His long, gray fingers clawed over the edge of the bar as he leaned forward.

"-but I am not how you think I am, Brer Rab. No, I do not gain my jollies from children, nor am I some kind of derelict stalker. I simply wonder about Frost because of his...passion, you see?"

Brer Rab shook his head, confused. Jack Frost, passionate? This guy's head must be twisted on the wrong way. Jack Frost wasn't passionate about anything, he didn't get passionate about anything, he never would. The guy was like a robot, like some sort of ice statue. He never spoke, never smiled.

Pan grabbed onto Brer Rab's arm in fear. He didn't like where this was going.

Pitch rounded the bar, closing in on them.

"What? You disagree?" Pitch chuckled, his voice condescending. "Allow me to explain. When I first came here, I was sure that this town was full of dull people. Everything here is dull, the buildings, the names, the sunny weather even. You might as well have all been dead. Now, look outside! You see that chaos, that cold and darkness? That is passion. When I heard on the news about the disturbed boy that caused all that ruckus in the next town over, I felt the same kind of passion. What a cold and dark thing for such a young child to do!"

Anansi backed up, grabbing his bag and heading for the door.

"Well-uh...thanks, man. We get it." he grabbed the money Pitch had set on the bar and headed out, bringing his friends with him.

That guy was a nutcase! Anansi didn't have time to listen to the ramblings of a madman. His friends and him would find another dealer, a different person to trade with. No more Pitch.

Pitch watched them go and sighed contently. He loved seeing the fear he sparked in people's eyes. It made him feel alive, like he mattered. He would leave his mark in them so that the next time they saw him, their neck hairs would stand on end and their bodies would tremble.

They would fear him. Just like people did back home.

Pitch strolled over to his window and watched the blizzard toss and turn the snow around the skies. He had turned off the heat earlier and watched his breath frost up the glass before him.

Children did not interest him.

Pitch was interested in the cold.

He was interested in dark things.

And he was especially interested in snowy haired little boys with dark stories that turned up in the mouths and gossip of townsfolk.

Pitch watched his old black Doberman Pinscher bound into the room. He had chosen the animal specifically because of it's interesting history in dog fighting. It didn't just beat the dogs it had been forcefully put against. It had torn them to shreds. The dog was scarred and gruff, trying to kill anything that came near it. It never bared its teeth at Pitch, though. Only once before had the dog tried to resist his owner. Never again.

Pitch pet the menacing animal before looking out of his fogged up window once more, speaking low.

"...What kind of little boy tries to murder his own sister on New Year's Eve? Now that's true passion, right there."

Chapter Text

Since the arcade, Tooth had been walking on air.

It was Friday now. She bit into her pencil absently, creating a new mark to match the rest of the dents in the wood. Her worries for her teeth had soon faded as the habit progressed. They were definitely strong enough to withstand any damage from a pencil by now.

Jack had stopped cutting classes, just like he told her he would. He was still a little distant with her and the group, but he had sat with them a few times during lunch. He even spoke and joked around with the others.

When it came to after school, he never took any of the rides North offered.

"I only went last time because I owed you. Now we're even," he had said back then, plainly, trying to keep the consolation out of his voice as he saw her expression sadden. He didn't like seeing the frown on her face, but he didn't want to get her hopes up either.

She tried not to look solemn each time he would refuse them. She was overjoyed by breaking through the defenses that Jack had obviously spent a lot of time into building, but it was never enough. Not for Tooth.

He didn't say much about the accident he had been in. He only told her later that it had put him off of cars for a while, and he only told her that because she had been prying. His tone had convinced her not to question any further about it.

She couldn't help but stare at him sometimes- longing for him to send her some kind of sign- something that showed he cared for their friendship, aside from the normal meet ups between classes. In class, when he moved to sit in the back and she placed herself in the front row, it was almost as if they were strangers again. But then the bell would ring and break the silent wondering and she would leave the room, afraid that maybe this was the day she wouldn't see him. But she would.

He would always be at the end of the hall, waiting for her.

She didn't bring as many cookies anymore. Tooth had figured that she didn't have to. The first day she forgot to make them, she found herself standing before him in the hallway, fumbling for the right words to keep him from walking away.

"It's fine. You always make them anyways. It doesn't matter if you forgot them," he said bluntly.

Tooth was extremely surprised to find that Jack was just as satisfied walking alongside her while she chatted noisily, as he would be if he were munching on the pastries. He would occasionally glance at the exit doors as they strolled through the building. She knew he missed Jamie. Tooth tried to console him subtly, telling him that she would make the best cookies ever for when they would visit Jamie over the weekend, on Sunday.

Tooth also noticed the curious stares. Kids began to question why Jack was hanging out with anyone, much less Tooth, the dental freak. They were surprised to see Jack show her any kind of attention. They bugged when they saw him accompany her to classes sometimes. The coldest kid in town wasn't acting all that cold to Tooth. She would try to ignore their stares as she walked alongside Jack, not wanting to meet their questioning looks.

'Why is everyone acting so shocked? He's not a statue, he has friends just like the rest of us!'

The bell rang out and broke Tooth's train of thoughts. She gathered her things routinely and headed out the door. There he was!

"Where to?" he inquired, falling into step with her. Even though he was shorter than both North and Bunnymund, he still towered over her.

"The library," Tooth responded, "they have that special edition doctor's journal I that I ordered last week! You know, the one that-"

"-talks about the cool characteristics of the differences in teeth between herbivores and carnivores? Yeah Tooth, you told me this about six times already." Jack intercepted, finishing the sentence for her in a joking tone. He truly had heard her talking about it all week. It didn't really bother him much. He liked the way she would get all giddy and excited thinking about teeth. It was weird.

Tooth twiddled her fingers and tried to keep herself from hiding her face. Had she really been talking about it that much? Well...Jack had been able to take the words right out of her mouth. There was no way he could have memorized all that if she hadn't been babbling about it all week. She grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Jack shook his head, digging his hands in the pockets of his blue sweater. "Why do you like teeth so much anyways?"

Just because he did his best to ignore other people didn't mean he couldn't see the obvious. Tooth was in love with teeth. He had seen the doodles and photographs covering the insides of her scrapbook, an item that he hadn't seen again since he returned it to her. She never said much about it so he never asked much, even though he was curious as to why his name had been scrawled all over it. Maybe she had liked his teeth? He had looked at his teeth in his bathroom mirror that week, curious as to why she would ever wonder over the pearly whites in his maw.

He tried to smile in the mirror to see them, but as his lips curled, the guilt clawed at his insides and the smile turned painfully grotesque. He dropped the smile immediately. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Jack left the bathroom. He couldn't smile at himself, not after what he did! He hated to think about it, hated to think that here he was, fully able to smile and laugh and joke with friends, while his sister could not. She couldn't do much of anything, anymore.

A scowl slowly drew itself upon his face. It was easier to scowl.

Tooth was too busy answering his question to notice the change in his demeanor.

"Oh! Well, I'm not sure. I think its mostly because of my dad, being a dentist and all. I saw his workplace and all the diagrams of teeth, and I guess I just fell in lo-" she stopped herself, rewording the sentence to seem less gushy, "-I guess I just really liked them. I like looking at my baby teeth and remembering how small I used to be. And all the facts about them! Like, who knew the roots could reach so far into your gums? And they help with so many other things besides eating...They can signal someone's health or a mood, they can protect the tongue, they can signify status in all types of places, and even be used as cultural symbols or weapons! So many things can go wrong with them, and there are so many different types, it's all fascinating, really." She said dreamily.

She was so happy that Jack had asked her about them! She tried her best not to geek out over teeth in front of him, but sometimes she couldn't help it. His question had opened the floodgates and now she walked beside him, spilling her guts out about teeth.

Jack's scowl lessened as he listened to her. Her face lit up and a bounce entered her step. He was sure he had never seen someone so enthusiastic over teeth in his life.

"...But you know the thing I like about teeth the most?" she went on. "I like them most, when people smile. Even if their teeth are a little crooked or chipped, a smile wouldn't shine as much without teeth! Well, unless you're a toothless baby." she laughed at her own silly joke, giggling and clapping her hands over her mouth.

'God, I'm dorky. Baby jokes, now?' she thought despairingly as her laughter ended abruptly. She tried her best not to look over at the boy next to her and went on, even though she could feel him staring her down.

She couldn't see him smirking at her odd joke or becoming intrigued by her words.

"When people smile, I feel like they're sharing themselves with the person they smile at. Sure, there are fake smiles and nasty smiles or mean smiles, but real ones? Those are warm and bright and amazing, just like your-"

She shut her mouth instantly and squeezed her eyes shut. Two slips in one day. Tooth silently hoped that Jack hadn't heard what she just said. She did think his smile was amazing, honest. But that didn't mean she wanted to tell him. She couldn't just say things like that to people, especially people like Jack. She had guessed that he wasn't a huge fan of affection like she was. She didn't know how he would react.

It had been a while and he hadn't said anything. She stole a glance, looking into his face. His expression was clear of emotion except for his usual hard look. It was almost as if he hadn't heard her. Had he?

Oh jeez. Had she made things weird now? Why wasn't he saying anything? Tooth twiddled her fingers as the silence between them lengthened. She began to worry in her mind. What had she done?

They went through the doors of the library and she sat by her friends quickly, trying not look at Jack. She was afraid of what she would see in his expression.

"What's up you two?" Sandy jotted down on his notepad before bringing it up for them all to see.

Bunnymund looked between the anxious girl and the brooding boy.

"Oi! What's up with you, Frost? You look like you swallowed a rat."

Jack glanced up at Bunnymund before staring at Tooth intently. She fidgeted in her seat as his expression turned stranger and stranger, like he didn't know what to think of her. His eyes looked as if he were trying to dissect her and figure out what made her tick on the inside.

He felt distant, and she didn't like it.

"I'm, uh...I'm going to the front desk. I have to ask the librarian something."

She rose out of her seat and sped away, eager to be out from under everyone's curious gazes.

She spoke quietly to the librarian at the front, who handed over the book. Tooth was pondering over everything. It must have been what she said. That's why he was so quiet. Was it the compliment that upset him? Or simply the fact that it had been just a weird thing to say? Or had it been that at all? Maybe it was the rant on teeth that unsettled him, or maybe it was her lame baby-joke. She slumped. She just didn't want him to feel so far away anymore. It had taken so long to get this close.

As she turned back to the table, she saw two new figures standing before her friends, all of them deep in conversation. As she closed in on them, she recognized one of the faces.

'Flynn?'

What was he doing here? He wasn't a high school student. How did he even get in the building? There was no way security just let him waltz in there.

Someone who did look like a high schooler stood beside him. It was a girl. A slim, blonde girl. Her hair looked as if it had been braided multiple times over and wrapped together, and yet it still reached past her wast. So much hair! Tooth vaguely wondered how the girl could ever handle it all.

The girl's slender fingers clutched on tightly to Flynn's ear, pulling the older boy down to her height. He looked as if he were being scolded.

Tooth began catching onto some of the conversation as she advanced.

"Oh, well why you say nothing? Thank you for bringing him to our Jack." North insisted, motioning from the girl to Flynn.

She leaned over to Flynn and said curtly, "Well? What are you waiting for? If you want to make it up to me, all you have to do is this one thing."

Flynn heaved a dramatic sigh before exclaiming, "But I already apologized to him! He knows I'm sorry, he knows I took it. Why go through the apologies all over again?"

"Flynn." she said dangerously. That was apparently all he needed.

"Fine. Frost, I'm sorry I took your weed whacking, Gandalf-looking, wood-stick, okay? Everybody satisfied?"

Tooth rounded the table and took her seat. Jack looked distressed under all the attention on him and Bunnymund looked amused at his distress. North looked cross at Bunnymund's amusement, and Sandy just looked plain confused.

Tooth looked over to Flynn and the girl who just released his ear out of her death-hold. The pretty blonde grinned at Flynn, pleased. "Thank you, Flynn. No more stealing, alright?" Her voice was light and enchanting, making Flynn just nod absently.

The girl turned to Jack. Now that Tooth could get a better look at her, she could see the girl's face clearly.

She was beautiful. Like, top of the line 'beautiful', the kind of beautiful that women paid mountains of money to be. She had the looks that so many plastic surgeons made their money off of making. She was the kind of beauty that people would kill to have, the Helen of Troy.

Tooth could feel her jaw go slack. The girl's eyes were big and green, her skin being absolutely flawless. She sported the smoothest hair that Tooth had ever seen, it's color a bright gold. Her nose was small and round, her lips pert and full. When she spoke, Tooth felt as if it simply wasn't fair to be that pretty and sound that mesmerizing. But she wasn't speaking to Tooth.

She was speaking to Jack.

"I'm really sorry about that. He only told me about it yesterday, so I brought him here to apologize to you. It's a bad habit that he needs to break," she said, emphasizing her words near the end and looking over at Flynn, who had taken a sudden interest in his shoes.

She turned back to Jack, her hair swaying along her back and the scent of flowers hitting Tooth's nose.

"He's my best friend. Please try to forgive him!" she clasped her hands together, looking at Jack with a desperate look.

Jack appeared highly uncomfortable and held up his hands to assure her that it wasn't a big deal. His voice cam out slow and steady.

"Honestly, it was ages ago. It doesn't bug me anymore so it's fine, but...thanks, anyways."

The girl's eyes grew big and she gave him a smile that could blind angels. Tooth couldn't decide whether to be awed, or envious. Her feelings quickly changed as she looked over at Jack.

He was smiling back at her. Really smiling. A big and bright one.

Tooth felt like her insides were shriveling up. What? How? He had just met this girl and he was already showing his pearly whites? It had taken Tooth so long to get a shiner like that out of Jack. How had this girl done it so fast?

She clutched her fingers into her lap as she watched the scene unfold.

"Oh! Hey there tooth-girl," Flynn called, noticing her for the first time, "long time no see! This is Rapunzel."

Tooth nodded over at him, still a little peeved over the necklace incident. He seemed to notice her displeasure and gave a sincere, apologetic look. She glared for a moment longer, but soon dropped it. This girl must have been the friend he was talking about in the arcade, and she was obviously getting on his case over the stealing. It didn't look like he would be doing it again anytime soon. Tooth gave him a small smile before looking away. They did have fun back at the arcade, it wasn't like she hadn't enjoyed his company. She just wish he hadn't ruined it by trying to take her things.

Tooth offered a watery grin to Flynn, and his eyes lit up at her forgiveness.

Rapunzel looked over at Tooth, frowning a bit at Flynn's notice of her. Her eyebrows furrowed.

'Huh? Did I miss something?' Tooth thought.

The frown quickly disappeared and Rapunzel gave a little wave to Tooth before looking at Jack once more.

"Well, bye everyone!" she called out cheerfully, pulling Flynn away from the table. The pair attracted many looks as they continued on, the both of them being so extremely alluring. Rapunzel was oblivious to the admiring stares of all the boys that she strolled by. Flynn gave a wink to the high school girls that were noticeably drooling over him. Gross!

Tooth relaxed a bit. They both looked so good together...maybe they were a little more than friends? Maybe the smile between Rapunzel and Jack didn't really mean anything. Her hopes were soon dashed as she watched Rapunzel turn back to their table before walking out, giving a little smirk in their direction. Tooth looked over at Jack.

He was grinning to himself, watching the beautiful girl smirk his way and leave on light feet. He watched her go.

Tooth bit into her lip, looking down at the book on teeth she had ordered. Sandy was the only one who noticed, but remained silent. He got the vibe that she didn't want to talk to him right now.

Tooth fought the ugly emotions back down, trying to ignore her growing jealousy and anger. How could he gift that...that girl- with his smile so easily? After all that time it had taken Tooth, after months of wishing and weeks of hanging out.

She tried seeing the lighter side of things. She knew things about Jack that Rapunzel didn't know. She knew a bit about his sister, his family, and his friend Jamie. Those were things that he wouldn't share easily, no matter how pretty the person who questioned him was. But he had shared them with her, and Tooth was glad.

She was still kind of pissed, though.

Tooth straightened up and refused to look at anyone, flipping through her book even though the words weren't registering in her mind.

She wasn't so excited about her new book anymore.

Jack had been watching Rapunzel the entire time.

The bell rang signalling the end of the period, and Tooth sped to the next class, eager to escape her friends' company. She was too upset to stick around, wanting to brood by herself. Did Jack even date anyone? Had he ever? Did he think Rapunzel was pretty? Prettier than Tooth? Why? What made her so much better? They were both slim and blonde, though Tooth was considerably darker in both hair and skin. And her hips were a lot wider. And she wasn't German. Did Jack prefer green-eyed German girls? Tooth's eyes were an unnatural color, but her teeth rocked, she KNEW they did. She saw them at least four times a day when she brushed them. Then again...Rapunzel's teeth rocked, too. And who said Jack even looked at teeth? That was Tooth's thing.

So unfair!

Tooth shook the thoughts out of her head. OH no. She was not going to be some cliche' jealous teenage girl. She was not going to turn into the classic 'Woe is me'. Okay, yeah, she knew Rapunzel was pretty. Really pretty. But Tooth also knew that she was good looking as well, and that she was friends with Jack. If he preferred Rapunzel over her, so be it. She couldn't control who he ended up liking. It was no skin off her back, she didn't care.

Or at least, she told herself that she didn't care.

She hadn't seen her book still laying on the library table when she jogged off to class. A pale hand picked it up, turning it over before placing it in a backpack.

Tooth's classes sped by as she wondered on and on about the Rapunzel girl. Did she have any classes with her? No. She seemed nice enough. She had brought Flynn into the school so that he could apologize. Maybe she was into gardening or flowers, because her hair was covered in them. Maybe they could get to know each other sometime and even become friends?

Tooth slumped and stopped lying to herself. She didn't really want anything to do with the girl. She knew she was being harsh and that she should give her a chance, but Tooth really didn't want to see Rapunzel again.

She wanted to see Jack. But he hadn't said a word to her since their conversation and her little slip up on his 'amazing smile'.

She pushed her face into her hands, embarrassed. Things had been going so well. Now what?

The ride home was quiet, and so North pumped up the holiday tunes on the radio. Tooth hummed softly, watching the snowy landscape speed by. She loved the holidays. She loved the feeling of joy and happiness all around the town, she loved the cheery music, and she loved the joyous smiles. So many pretty teeth showed themselves on Christmas day!

Sandy wrote a note before passing it to her discreetly.

"Are you alright? I know you're upset about earlier."

Tooth simply grabbed her glitter pen out of her pocket before writing back, not even wondering about how Sandy had figured her out once again. She was glad they were passing notes so that the others couldn't hear. She felt a little guilty, having kept so many secrets from them already.

"I'm fine. It was just a shock, you know? He never seems to notice anyone, and suddenly when blondie shows up, he's smiling like there's no tomorrow." her writing grew more scrawled as the sentence went on and she pressed harder into the paper.

"You're jealous." Sandy wrote back simply.

She shot him a helpless look before tugging her hat over her eyes and slumping in her seat. She folded her arms and said nothing more.

Yeah. This felt like jealousy to her. She was a walking cliche'.

They dropped her off at her house and she adjusted the pack strap before heading inside. There was no school for the weekend. No snowy haired boys. Not until Sunday, at least. Would he still even want to see Jamie with her? She would have a lot of time to think until then.

She was going to fix the mess that she had made.

He slept fitfully that Friday night. Her book was sitting on his nightstand. He had meant to return it to her, but now his thoughts were far from it.

Though sleeping, his eyes zoomed about beneath his eyelids and his pale skin prickled. The blanket had long been thrown off of his body as he twisted and turned in the sheets. His fingers began to claw at the mattress as the night visions grew more and more intense inside his head. He grit his strong, white teeth, unconsciously keeping himself silent. Sweat began to roll and he was falling further and further into the memories he had tried so hard to block. After days of sitting in the dusty corner of his mind, they were fighting back full force in his sleep.

Jack Frost was having a nightmare.

Nothing new here.

...

Water.

Water everywhere.

"Jack, I'm scared!"

He was trying to move her arms so that he could unbuckle her seat belt. His fingers were freezing and something inside his chest felt broken, but Jack barely felt it.

All that mattered right now was the shaking, little girl in front of him.

Her brown doe-eyes were wide and fearful, looking from place to place. Her little hands trembled as she reached out for him, looking for some sort of comfort, for some sort of security. One of her fingers had a pink butterfly ring, and the metal wingpiece dug into his chest.

"I know, I know...but you're gonna' be alright. Trust me."

The words felt wrong in his mouth. Should she? Really? He had gotten them there in the first place, he had promised her back at the house that they would be fine, that they shouldn't worry about their aunt finding out.

He just wanted her to see the New Year's fireworks that night.

Now here they were, her hands digging into his shirt with a strength he didn't know a little girl could have. She coughed horridly, as if she was eighty years old instead of eight. It was the cold. It was the rainwater...

...or maybe it was the lakewater.

"Jack...!" her voice faded and her little hands were ripped from his shirt.

Jack phased through the car and tumbled down and away, watching his little sister claw at the window and cry out for him.

There was darkness, to hospital lights, to "Oh god Jack, what have you done...?" to crying fathers and silent mothers and suspicious police officers, so many police officers. Their voices meshed inside of his head and nearly blocked out everything in the whirlpool of auditory chaos, but one single, strong thought resounded over and over in his mind:

Where is she? Where's my sister?

...Please! Somebody, anybody- just tell

Where's Emma?

And then he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He looked up, dizzy and confused.

A trash can stood before him, full of unread letters. A small, rusty butterfly ring sat on top of the heap.

...

"Calm down. It was just a dream. Only a dream. She's okay now, she's getting better."

The voice is heavy and old, but Jack recognizes it with relief.

His chest heaved as he struggled to keep from blinking, not wanting to fall back into the nightmare. He gasped before sighing heavily and relaxing his grip. Sitting up, he looked into the face of his family.

"Uncle...Uncle, it was bad this time. I don't...I can't-"

Uncle Moon reached out a strong, wrinkly hand and patted Jack on the head. He rubbed small circles into the boy's scalp, like he used to when Jack was just a babe. The boy instantly relaxed and his breathing slowed.

"It's alright. It's been awhile since you had a nightmare. Ever since you made those new friends at the hospital and school, your mind has been on other things."

"I shouldn't be thinking about other things!" Jack tried, sighing into his hands. "That's not fair for Emma. I shouldn't have fun while she's still-"

His Uncle silenced him harshly, before continuing on.

"I'm tired of seeing you beat yourself up over this. It was an accident. Even if others tell you otherwise, the family knows it was an accident. Now I won't sit here and tell you that it wasn't a rash thing to do, because it was. I know that you loved her, and never meant for any of those things to happen. Now, I want you to do something for me Jack. I want you to go outside tomorrow, and have fun with some friends. Get your mind off of things for awhile before you dwell on anything like that again. Stop hiding yourself away in this old house and go have some fun like you used to. I know how much you like to have fun." his Uncle's face twisted into a smile, the old, pale wrinkles creasing everywhere. His grey eyes shone bright.

Jack nodded desperately, just happy to be out of the horrific night terror.

Fun. He would find some friends, and go have fun. Emma would've wanted that for him like he wanted it for her. He felt his chest grow a little lighter.

His Uncle consoled him for a while longer before rising to leave. His cane clumped on the old wooden floorboards as he moved for the door. Right before he stepped over the threshold, the old man stopped and turned.

"Oh...and Jack?"

The boy gazed up. "Yeah, Uncle Moon?"

"If you play any pranks tomorrow in town, try not to get caught. And I better not catch you pulling any trick on me either, or I won't care that you're a month away from seventeen, I'll tan your hide."

Jack grinned mischievously, leaping up from the bed. "You're too old to be tanning anyone's hide," he joked. "C'mon Uncle...you know I'm like the reincarnation of Houdini for this town. I never get caught. Never will."

Moon could only smile at the rowdy, white-haired child before him.

"...That's my boy."

Brrriiing!

'Huh?'

Brrriiing!

'Who in the world...who's calling at this time?'

Brrrii-

Tooth's arm shot out from under the covers and snatched the phone. It was Saturday! And noontime, no less! She was sure there was an unwritten rule somewhere in the cosmos that teenagers were not to be disturbed on Saturdays, but left to sleep the day away.

Tooth didn't bother opening her eyes as she shrunk back into the covers and brought the phone up to her ear.

"...Hello?" she croaked in a voice thick with sleep.

The line was silent.

"Hello...?" she tried again even more tiredly. Telemarketers again? Sheesh, she had already told them about fifty times to stop calling her. She was five seconds from hanging up the phone when a smooth voice broke through the line.

"You sleep this late in the day, Tooth? That doesn't seem like something you'd do," it said jokingly.

Tooth shot out of bed, her pajamas sliding over her shoulders and her hair in a mess. Oh boy. It was Jack!

"Oh! Uhm," she cleared her voice, instantly regretting the decision to sound like a toad when she had first picked up the phone, "Hi there!"

"Hi, yourself." came his voice again, light and full of mirth. Tooth was awed as she pushed her pajamas back over her shoulders, her chest thumping. He sounded so happy! He had never called her before. Heck, he rarely texted her.

"Well, I was gonna' to ask if you wanted to hang out today, but since you're obviously still in bed..." he trailed off, waiting for her to respond.

"N-NO!" she nearly yelled into the phone, hopping out of bed and racing to the bathroom to brush her teeth and fix her hair. "I'm up, I'm awake! I want to hang out, I really do-"

She was in the bathroom now, the phone cradled between her chin and her shoulder, as she tugged through her hair with a comb.

Tooth could hear Jack chuckle over the phone before he interrupted her.

"Nah, it's alright. Forget about it-"

Tooth nearly dropped the comb out of her hand and slumped. "But-!"

"-I'll come to you instead."

Tooth did drop the comb this time. Jack? At HER house?

He went on, unaware of the major freak out Tooth was having on the other line.

"You left your book in the library the other day, so I'll run it out to you. You were all excited about it and everything. Besides, I was heading out anyway. I need some air, y'know?"

Tooth nodded before she realized that Jack couldn't see her do it, he was on the phone. "Y-yeah! Thanks!" He wasn't mad at her! So did he care about what she had said back on Friday? That wasn't what upset him? Or was he just thinking of something else at the time, and Tooth hadn't been able to tell?

She stammered out her address and he said he'd come over in a little while. When he hung up, Tooth went on a cleaning spree.

No, she could NOT have her clothes all over the floor. No, her stuffed animals could NOT be sitting on her bed. She stuffed them into the closet before vacuuming her carpet and trying to hide anything particularly embarrassing. He already knew about her love for teeth and reading, so she didn't mess with the posters of teeth on her wall or her expansive library either.

'Wait. Who says he's even coming into my room?'

Tooth threw some clothes on before leaving her spotless room to clean up the living room in the front of the house, something Jack would definitely see. Her dad had left cups and bowls all over the place! And remnants of the pad kaprao meal that he had cooked for dinner the other night was still sitting on the stove! She had even found one of his socks and ties laying across the couch.

'Oh, c'mon Dad!' she groaned mentally, racing to hide the gross clothes. Only then did Tooth remember.

Uh oh. Dad.

He would know, she knew he would...he would figure out that the boy visiting her wasn't just a friend, not to her! Tooth couldn't keep her cool around her father...or anyone for that matter, really.

It hadn't been an issue when Bunnymund, North, or Sandy came over. Her dad had been a little hostile at first, seeing all the boys entering his home, but he soon came to know them all. He liked Tooth's friends and how they cared for her.

What he didn't like were boys that were more than friends. He tried to hide his hostility about her dating boys from her. Haroom worked very hard to be both a responsible and 'cool' dad for his hardworking daughter. She could always see it really bothered him, though.

Once, they had been at the mall together, and Tooth casually commented on the looks of a boy that had walked by them. Her father spun around, wide eyed and freaked.

"You like him? You know him?! You're dating?!"

She shook her head vigorously and never said a word about dating to him again. He was so weird!

With her mother gone off to the military, she knew it scared him to think that Tooth would leave too. And to Haroom, boys were the very thing that could steal his teen daughter away.

'He's so silly,' Tooth thought. No one was stealing her away. Still, she didn't want him freaking out over her and in result, freaking out Jack.

Tooth pulled out her phone and thought about calling him, but she wasn't sure. Would she seem clingy, calling him back? She went to her room to fix her hair for the seventh time and make sure that her clothes weren't too bad.

The door bell rang.

"I'll get it!" her father called, pacing from his room and yawning. His voice was groggy and the Thai accent had crept back into it. He had pulled on an old college sweater and some jeans earlier after Tooth had woken him up with her vacuuming.

"No, Dad!" she tried to follow him, but he waved her off.

"No problem Toothie, I can handle it. S'probably the mail man. I ordered that intra-oral camera weeks ago for my patients-"

He pulled at the knob and Tooth held her breath.

Bright blue eyes peered back at them both, curious. Tooth could see her father tense up.

"Uh. Hi. I'm Jack."

Tooth's father simply stood in the door for what seemed like a lifetime. Finally, he spoke.

"Who are...How did you...Why...?" he reached out his hand, and for a terrible moment, Tooth thought that her father was going to deck Jack right there, on their front porch.

Haroom didn't deck anybody.

Instead, he squealed like a girl.

"Oh my goodness! You have that edition?" he pointed at the book in Jack's hands. It was the special edition dentist's journal that Tooth had ordered the week before.

Jack looked back and forth between them before cautiously nodding at her father. The Thai man nearly danced on the spot, snatching the book out of Jack's hands. He flipped through the pages furiously, his eyes glazing over and his smile widening.

Adjusting his glasses, Haroom said, "I've been looking for a copy of this for ages! And such good condition, too! Thank you for bringing it to us."

He walked off with Tooth's book, intrigued.

"D-Dad..." she called after him, a little shocked by his reaction. She could care less about the book now. She just wanted to know if Jack could stay. "It's alright if I have a friend over?"

Her dad waved her away, still looking through the book.

"Hmm? Oh sure hon', whatever. Let your friend in the house, don't make him stand out in the cold. Oh...! I KNEW that indigenous tribe had some strange incisors, but I never knew why...this is fantastic!"

Her father shut himself up in his study. Tooth never thought that it would THIS easy.

She turned to Jack and grinned shyly, motioning for him to come in. He shook his head and looked at her socks before gazing back up at her.

"Go put your shoes on." he insisted.

Tooth paused, confused. "Huh? Why?"

Jack ran a hand through his white locks before placing his hands in his pockets and shrugged, giving her an impish smirk.

"Just do it. We're gonna' go have some fun."

After approximately seven snowball fights, four snow angels, two snowmen, a snowtooth, and five ding-dong-ditches, Tooth was breathless and flushing with happiness.

"Go, go!" Jack insisted, chuckling as he watched her race away from the door and down the block. He followed after, barely escaping the swing of the door as Old Man Jenkins came out with his fist swinging.

"Damn kids!" he roared out from behind their footfalls. Tooth burst out laughing, wrapping her arms around her waist to hold herself up. Jack laughed with her, unrestrained. Uncle Moon was right. He needed to have some fun.

It was while he pondered, that a snowball sniped him in the back of the head.

"What was that for?" he said, looking over at Tooth and her snow-covered mittens. She stuck her tongue out at him and snickered, loving how bold she was being with him.

"That, was for sneaking some snow into my coat earlier, Jack Frost!" she jokingly scolded.

He grinned, making his way for her. "Who, me? Couldn't be." He broke into a run after her.

She shrieked and sprinted away, eager to escape the snowball in Jack's hand. Instead of it getting inside her clothes, it was flung at her back. She laughed out loud before slowing down to catch her breath.

When was the last time she had played in the snow with anyone besides Sandy, North, and Bunnymund? They were all teenagers; playing in the snow was considered childish. Tooth had to admit though, she had good aim when it came to snowballs. And she was having a good time!

Causing a ruckus with Jack certainly had been fun. She could barely keep up with the guy. He slunk around school with a look as cold as ice, but out here in the snow, it was like a light turned on inside of him. He was laughing and smiling and running around with no restraints. Instead of being distant, he felt closer than ever. He even walked closer to her as they strolled into the main square of town.

She leaned over and coughed a bit, a little winded from all the jumping and running around. Jack paused.

"Do you want to sit down somewhere?" he inquired. She nodded breathlessly and followed after him into an ice cream shop.

'Wait...what?!'

"Jack, it's freezing outside! You really want to eat ice cream in the winter time? You'll turn into a popsicle!"

Jack simply shrugged at her before turning to the employee at the counter and ordering vanilla. Even the employee looked surprised to see a customer during the cold season.

Hey, what could he say? He liked things cold.

Tooth sat at a nearby table and rested as she caught her breath. It was unreal. Just the other day, she was sure that Jack wanted nothing to do with her. Now here he was, acting as if nothing was wrong! Was everything alright? Or was he still upset about what she had said?

Tooth figured that she would never know if she never said anything. And so, when Jack came to take a seat from across from her, her words came out even and strong.

"Did I do something to upset you, yesterday?"

Jack looked up briefly before turning back to the ice cream. Tooth cringed. His poor teeth. The boy ate too many sweets.

"Not really. I know what you're asking about, though. I just didn't get why you called it 'amazing'."

Tooth cringed even worse than before. So he had heard her.

He went on. "I don't like my smile. Sure, I have nice teeth and all, but I don't think they're amazing. My smile isn't that great."

Tooth was shocked. Was he kidding? He had the best teeth in all of Burgess. She would know. There was no reason for him to dislike his smile.

"What makes you say that?" she inquired genuinely. She wanted to know why he couldn't see that awesome shiner he had.

He looked at her as if he were battling on whether or not to say anything. Tooth held her breath, hoping that he wouldn't turn away and block her out again. He didn't.

"Well...Yeah, I have nice molars or whatever, but- I'd always liked Emma's smile better. When she was six, she lost her two front teeth, right? So whenever she smiled, there was this huge gap in the middle of it. It was really funny to me, but she made it cute. When the teeth grew back, she was mad. I guess she wanted to stay toothless forever, ha. I always liked her smile. I think it was better, more...sweet, like you said Friday. Her smile was amazing. Mine's is nothing compared to that."

Tooth leaned in, fascinated. "Emma? Is that your sister's name?"

Jack nodded, fighting to keep his throat from closing up. Here he was again, having fun while his sister was somewhere out there in pain. He didn't deserve to smile. Not after he had taken hers away from her.

Without realizing it, his head had lowered and his elbows rested on his knees. He didn't want to think about it anymore, he was so tired of thinking about it.

Tooth decided to tread on dangerous water, noticing Jack's mood changing for the worst. "Does...your sister live with you and your uncle?"

Jack shook his head solemnly, his gaze in a far off place.

"No. I haven't seen her for nearly a year," he whispered, "An entire year."

Tooth didn't like the pained look on his face or in his voice. She didn't know why he was away from his family that he obviously loved very much, but decided to leave the subject. He looked as if he were hurting on the inside. They were having so much fun just a moment ago! She placed her russet colored fingers on his back. She wasn't sure what to say to him about his sister, so she opted for someone else instead.

"Don't worry Jack. We'll see Jamie tomorrow, won't we? Won't that be nice? He'll be so happy to see you, I know he will. Just wait and see!"

It felt awkward trying to console someone that was a good foot taller than her and broader too, but she couldn't help it. She wanted Jack to be happy. Tooth believed he deserved it. Any kind of older brother that praised his sister over himself deserved happiness in her book.

Jack moved away from her touch, but his expression lightened.

"Yeah, I guess. C'mon." he moved from his seat and threw the napkins away. Tooth's eyes bugged. He had finished it that fast? He didn't eat that ice cream. He had INHALED it.

"Where are we going now?" she followed him out the door, walking alongside him.

Jack smiled at her and nudged her arm with his elbow, sending warm shocks through her body. "We haven't played one trick on anyone today."

"But I thought the ding-dong-ditching was-?"

"Trivial. Kid stuff. I'm talking big, this time."

Tooth looked around nervously. Another prank, after all those silly things they had done earlier? People would start to recognize them. They were going to get in trouble!

"No Jack, you' cant...you'll get caught!"

Jack snorted at her prediction, shaking his head and laughing.

"Aw, c'mon Tooth..." he insisted, pulling at her hand to lead her along. She gasped a little before grasping back tightly at the pale fingers and following after him.

Why had she ever been jealous? Rapunzel would never get to do this.

Jack went on, leading them into town. As they fell into the crowds of townspeople out and about, he leaned over and softly boasted:

"...You know me. I never get caught."

Chapter Text

"What? Him? Why are you hanging out with Him?"

Tooth shrunk back a little as the angry voice shouted through the phone. She straightened up while putting the bin of freshly made cookies into her knapsack before responding.

"Why is it such a problem, Bunnymund? I don't see what all this fuss is for...he's not a bad guy."

"Pfft, fuss... I never said he was a 'bad guy', but that doesn't mean he hasn't done bad things. You barely know the guy, but you're going to blow us off for him? I don't know why you insist on dragging him around anyways."

"Why, I-! I haven't been dragging him anywhere. He likes hanging out with us. C'mon, don't act like you don't like him! I see you two laughing together all the time-"

"For you! The only reason I've ever talked to that kid was for you! I don't like him! But I put up with him because I know you want us all to be friends- which WON'T happen, by the way. Besides, you promised. Today is Sunday. Remember?"

Tooth sighed. She had forgotten. Sundays were sort of their official 'hang out' night. Bunnymund had started the tradition. Since freshman year, the gang would meet up at someone's house or they would all go out and do something. Last week had been at Sandy's place. This time, Bunnymund was doing the hosting. She had never skipped out...until now.

"I...I'm sorry, but please don't be mad, it's just this once! And-and it's not like I've ever ditched you guys on a Sunday before! You ALWAYS miss out because of martial arts practice or something, anyways. I never have. It's not fair that you guys can skip when you feel like it, but I can't!"

"It's not about skipping out on the Sunday hang-out Tooth!"

"Then what is it about? Why are you getting so angry at me?"

"Because of HIM!"

Tooth inhaled sharply at his raised volume and the line was silent except for Bunnymund's angry huffing. He began again.

"It's about him. It's about you ditching us for Frost. What do you see in him? He lies, he's secretive...he doesn't even trust you! If it were me, I would treat you so much better than hi-"

The line went silent and Tooth thought her hearing was going funny. With Bunnymund's raised volume over the mobile device, and his accent, she could barely catch anything he said. What had he been saying? Something about secrets and trust?

"Bunnymund, I didn't really catch that-"

"You know what? Whatever. Have fun."

His voice was dripped with sarcasm and the line went dead. Tooth huffed and hung up, her tooth charm dangling from the phone.

Seriously? How could he be mad at her? She didn't even understand why he didn't like Jack so much, it wasn't like they had much to fight about. Sure, the name calling could get a little intense at times, but Jack never went out of his way to purposely hurt Bunnymund, and Bunnymund had never tried to seriously hurt Jack. Sandy and North loved Jack! They thought he was funny and had accepted him over the past few weeks. They would even question Tooth when the Frost boy didn't show up with her during lunch.

Tooth slipped on her boots before sliding on her winter coat and flitted around the room to make sure she had remembered everything. Old books? Check. Toys? Check. Board games? Check. Warm, fresh, homemade cookies? Check.

She left the room and repeated to her father for the fourth time where she was going and who she was going with, so that he wouldn't forget during his busy day and freak out. Haroom had smiled upon the idea of his daughter volunteering at a children's hospital. What a good way to spend the time! He focused on organizing his dental appointments and surgeries for his clients while Tooth walked out the door.

She walked a few blocks to the front of Burgess High before waiting patiently. Jack had promised earlier to meet her there. She sat on the steps with her backpack and quietly thought about all the fun things they had done the day before. She didn't know Jack could be so fun and welcoming until she had hung out with him. If only the other kids saw him smile like she had...they wouldn't try to avoid him anymore.

Tooth bristled a bit, thinking of another thought. If the girls saw that smile...Jack would have a hell of a lot more admirers. Tooth twiddled her fingers and was silently glad that Jack didn't have an onslaught of admirers. She didn't have to worry about any other girls!

...Well. Except for one.

Tooth looked around at the barren school campus before looking at the clock on her phone. She was a bit early.

'May as well get some sketching in.'

She sat on the school steps and pulled out her scrapbook, flipping it open. Coincidentally, it was the page where she had drawn Bunnymund and his pearly whites. Tooth groaned in exasperation before resting her chin in her palm.

It wasn't her fault that he was mad! Maybe he was just...jealous? Bunnymund was overprotective of what was his, friends included. Maybe he saw Jack as some kind of threat? It was a silly idea, but...Whatever the case, she would try and figure it out later. She was busy at the moment, and she didn't want to feel guilty or upset today.

Tooth flipped the page away from Bunnymund to a new, crisp page. She pulled out a pencil and began to design animal teeth. The sketches morphed from flat, herbivore maws to sharp, predator teeth. It was when the page was completely covered that Tooth heard crunching snow. She looked up.

There he was, coming up the path. Tooth straightened and gripped her backpack straps before standing up. Despite all the poise and grace instilled in her during her many years of gymnastics and ballet, it only took one look at Jack Frost to make her legs turn to jelly.

He strolled up donning his trademark outfit, a dark blue sweater with darker jeans torn in all the right places. Tooth figured that the guy had about twenty different blue sweaters in different designs. It must have been his favorite color or something, because out of the various times Tooth had stolen a glance at him, he had always been wearing dark blue. She had to say, she liked it. The darker colors went off just right with his bright hair and eyes.

He smirked softly at the sight of his eager friend. He had guessed she would be early, being the punctual an organized person that she was. He had only known her for a few weeks, and already it was getting harder and harder to hide his smiles from her. It was like she pulled them out of him without even trying.

"Hi Jack!" she chirped, not hiding any of her excitement.

"Hi, yourself," he replied, chuckling at her groan.

"You always do that! Maybe, just maybe, it's starting to get old...?" she offered up, hoping he would get the clue. Her cheeks were beginning to burn again. It hadn't even been five minutes yet.

He shrugged. "Well maybe, just maybe, if you stop falling for the same trick, I'll stop pulling it...?"

She nudged him with her elbow, grinning. He nudged back.

"So...! Do you really think the kids will like me? I mean, I've never really tried playing with kids younger than me, or anything. I was a single child, and all. I mean, there were younger students back when I took ballet and gymnastics, but they were in a separate group from the older kids-"

"Huh. So that explains it," Jack pondered offhandedly.

Tooth swiveled her gaze over to him, curious.

"Huh?"

He looked surprised that she had heard him, like he hadn't even realized that he had spoken. He shook his head, biting his lip. The very sight made Tooth warm up like a bomb had gone off inside of her. What was with her and his lips?

"It's nothing! Just, uh- when you walk. When you walk, it shows."

Tooth's eyebrow raised, silently asking for clarification. What was he trying to tell her?

"When you walk," Jack said, feeling dumber by the second, "it's almost like you're not really walking...like you're gliding instead. Floating, y'know? Whatever. Forget what I said, it's dumb."

Tooth let the subject drop, but she did feel a little lighter than usual. She didn't think it was dumb. Did she really look like that when she moved? She focused on her steps, realizing she didn't bob up and down when she took them, but instead, sort of lifted herself up with each step. Her feet were light and moved as if they were dancing into the next step. She had never really noticed before!

She smiled to herself, the cold air biting at her cheeks. Jack had noticed her walk? So he paid more attention to her than she had originally thought.

Jack noticed her prideful expression, and decided to tease her a bit. He would show her.

"So what, you're some kind of acrobat now? I'll bet that I'm more balanced than you..." he trailed off, waiting for her to rise to the challenge. She didn't miss her cue.

"Oh really? Well let's see it, then! Outbalance me." she smiled, before dropping he knapsack to the ground. This would be interesting.

Jack rolled his shoulders, making the lean muscles in his neck and back move against one another. Tooth looked at her toes, not wanting to turn into a creep again and gawk at Jack's physical perks. When she looked back up, Jack had launched himself at the ground before stopping himself from flipping over. A perfect handstand. On the icy ground, no less!

Tooth waited for him to vault himself right side up before looking around the empty street. No one was outside and they weren't that close to town yet. No one would see them.

She silently thanked herself that she had worn pants that day instead of a skirt, before lifting herself in her own handstand. Things were quite literally cool for a moment, the cold ice making her fingers go numb. Then, her wrists began to ache and the blood rushed to her head. She could feel her dormant muscles begin to struggle and her centered weight tipped over. Tooth quickly somersaulted back up on her feet.

Jack nodded with the teasing tone still in his voice. "Not bad, Tooth."

She shook the warmth back into her hands, before glancing at him. "Not bad? Alright then. Check this out." Tooth giggled, feeling the adrenaline run through her. It had been so long since she had tested her physical limits like this. She remembered the days when her entire elementary school schedule had been filled up with some kind of dance class or tumbling club. She had been good at it, too. But she had also been lonely. She didn't have any friends in the classes or clubs because she had been so quiet, afraid that they were judging her because of her name or strange quirks. She was happier now, with the guys by her side.

Tooth made sure no one was looking before pulling herself up onto a mailbox, perching like a bird on the little space she had.

She knew better than this, she knew that her teachers would have a heart attack if they could see her being reckless now, but at the moment she hardly cared. Tooth placed her hands flat on the mailbox before vaulting her entire body up into the air. Toes pointed skyward, she slowly lifted out a hand and balanced her weight on one.

Jack was impressed this time. "Woah. I take it back, acrobat. Get down from there before you fall, or before the mailman sees you outshining his gig."

When he saw her feet touch the ground, he breathed out in relief.

Tooth allowed herself a breathless laugh as she lowered herself. As the blood rushed away from her head, she smiled. That had been fun!

She went to grab her knapsack off the ground and nodded down the sidewalk. "C'mon Jack, they're probably wondering where we are. Let's go!"

Tooth rambled about books and teeth and her old classes the entire way to the hospital. Jack hadn't minded, but he had to wonder how someone so organized could be so...unorganized in their thoughts. She flitted from one subject to the next, like a bumblebee or a hummingbird. He could keep up well enough, but it was a sort of confusing sometimes.

St. Bernart's Childrens' Hospital soon came into view. As they made their way for the entrance, Jack mindlessly stepped past Tooth to open the door for her. She paused ever so slightly, giving him a bewildered look.

"What?"

"Oh! Um...nothing!" she quickly entered through the threshold, Jack following close behind her. An elderly male doctor sat at the front desk, clearly waiting for them.

"Why, hello again Jackson! And I see you brought a friend along?" the doctor slid his spectacles down his wrinkled nose, peering at Tooth. He was already familiar with Jack, but this exotic looking girl with him, he did not know.

'Jackson?' Tooth wondered.

"Jack, Mr. Buford," the boy gritted out in irritation, "...just- Jack. And yeah, this is my friend, Tooth. We go to the same school."

"Ruth?" the doctor questioned, believing he misheard them.

"Tooth." Jack insisted.

"Strange name for such a pretty girl. You did good, son. I knew you could reel in the good ones, eh?" the doctor laughed heartily and Tooth's faced warmed. If only that were true.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw pink branch out on the expanse of his pale cheeks and the tips of his ears turn red.

"It's not like that!" he defended, trying not to let his blush get out of control. He hated that.

The doctor quirked an eyebrow at them both before chuckling and enjoying the remains of his laugh attack.

"Whatever you say Jackson," Jack cringed in response, "bring your 'friend' over here to the back and I'll get her signed up and ready to go."

Jack led Tooth behind the desk where she signed the application to volunteer and showed her I.D. to prove that she was the acceptable age, over fifteen. Mr. Buford smiled warmly upon her before putting away the records leading the way to the childrens' play room.

"Would you like the hours volunteered here to be on record so that you can show them to your school?" he questioned her.

Tooth nodded, remembering that she needed service hours for school. "Sure! Thank you."

The old doctor sighed in relief. "Thank goodness someone wants them! Jackson over here never takes them even though he's racked up over fifty of them here."

Tooth's jaw fell open. "Jack?" He didn't want the service hours? Why not? The school could see how productive and helpful he was off-campus; he could get all kind of credit for the numerous hours he had done here!

Jack shook his head. "Honestly, I don't really need them. It's not about that for me."

Mr. Buford held up his hands, but casually leaned over before whispering to Tooth, "No worries. The staff here knows how hard he works with the kids. To show our appreciation, we've been keeping track of his hours and we'll turn them all into his school when he graduates."

Tooth beamed at him and grew excited for Jack, who was standing off at the side and wondering vaguely what the two of them were whispering about.

The doctor and Jack led her down a series of hallways and up a few floors before opening a door to a big, spacious room. Unlike the white hallways outside, this room was wide, colorful, and smelled of toys and small children instead of medicine. Tooth couldn't decide whether or not she liked the smell.

Beanie chairs lay all over the place, along with toys and musical instruments. A big television was perched on a wall in the corner and a large fish tank was off to the side. Tooth was in awe at all the fun things laying around for the young patients. There was even an arts and crafts table.

Tooth almost thought she was mistaken, but then she was certain: a small rumbling was approaching them. It sounded as though several tiny feet were padding towards them. Tooth looked up to see a horde of kids turn the corner and leap out chairs and other places that she hadn't seen them.

"Jack! Jack!" they cried, completely ignoring her and the male doctor.

Tooth could barely breathe before the crowd of kids made their way to Jack and bombarded him with questions and comments.

"Where were you Jack? You've been gone fowever."

"Yeah, we missed you!"

"Jack, I made a drawing. Wanna see?"

"No, no, look at mine!"

"No Jack, look here at my booger! It's HUGE!"

Tooth grimaced a bit at that last one. Gross! For child patients, they certainly didn't seem sick.

Jack simply grinned at them all, listening to each small voice and answering every question. When he raised his hands, they quieted.

"So...did you guys miss me?"

They all cheered in response, and Jack was eating it up. He laughed and went off to play with them all, momentarily forgetting about the friend he had brought.

Tooth stood and watched quietly as they all played, not sure what to do. She walked over to the arts and craft table before slipping off her coat and setting down her knapsack. She didn't want to interrupt them or anything. They all looked like they were having such fun!

A quiet little girl noticed her before padding over in a hospital gown, looking at Tooth curiously. She looked slightly older than the rest.

"Why is your your hair so many different colors?" she asked, her tone a little accusing.

Tooth looked from side to side before answering in her warmest voice, "Well, uh, I usually feel pretty colorful, so I like to look like it too! Do you like my hair?"

The girls shook her head. "No. You look like a fairy. I don't like fairies."

Tooth slumped.

Another child came bouncing over in scrubs, a blonde boy with thick framed glasses. His head looked a little larger than it should have been.

"I'm Monty! And this is Pippa," he said, gesturing to the scrutinizing girl. "I actually like fairies, so I think your hair is cool! I..." his voice lowered into a near-whisper, "...I-I think your eyes are pretty too."

Tooth smiled at the nasally blonde boy before leaning over and chirping, "Thanks, sweetie. That was nice of you to say! But that's fine if you don't like fairies Pippa, we all like different things."

Monty looked as if he were going to faint. Pippa scoffed.

"You're the one that's kept Jack away for so long."

Tooth was a little taken aback at the small girl's harsh tone. "What? No sweetie, that's not-"

"I'm not your sweetie. Why did Jack bring you along anyways? Are you his girlfriend?"

Tooth had half a mind to tell this girl how rude she was being, but she stopped herself at a sudden realization. Pippa was mad because she thought Tooth had tried to keep Jack from them? That he had brought Tooth along? Tooth blinked.

Pippa was jealous. Did she have a crush Jack? Poor thing.

Tooth chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I'm just a friend. I never tried to keep him from you guys, it was just he was having trouble at school and he needed to spend more time there."

Pippa looked relieved at this. "Well...good. Because Jamie missed Jack. A lot." The girl blushed a bit at this, crossing her arms and looking away. "I don't like it when Jamie gets sad."

Oh! So she didn't have a crush on Jack. She had a crush on Jamie.

Monty reached for Tooth's colorful strands and she let him run his pudgy fingers through it, giggling. They were so cute! Even jealous little Pippa. And they had the smallest little teeth! Tooth had seen galleries of childrens' teeth, but up close, like this...they were fantastic.

"What's your name?" Monty asked.

"Tooth."

"That's a weird name." Pippa interjected. Tooth shrugged, not allowing herself to get bothered by the comment. Like she hadn't heard that before. Try again, little girl.

Jack finally looked up and noticed Tooth engaging with the other kids. He grabbed onto the hands of the twins, Claude and Caleb, before making his way over to her.

"Hey guys!" he called over the ruckus, getting them to settle. "I brought a friend for you to meet. Her name is Tooth." He waited for the surprised looks and comments on her name to cease before continuing. "She brought something special for you guys."

He had already cleared it with the doctor and Tooth had made sure to avoid ingredients that any of the kids were allergic to.

Tooth reached into her knapsack and pulled out the clear, glass bin of cookies. All the kids cheered in a fantastic roar. When was the last time that any of them had something sweet like this?

Tooth smiled before bending down to their level and holding out the tin so that they could reach in and grab a treat. After the long line of kids, she finally stood. They were all munching down happily on the treat, and she could tell already that she had gained major brownie points with most of them.

"Thanks Tooth," one kid remembered, shouting it out with a mouthful of chocolate. The rest of them felt obliged and shouted out their thanks as well with cookie crumbs flying everywhere. Tooth took a step back before nodding and beaming at them all. "You're very welcome."

And so they played half the day away, Tooth learning about the kids and the kids learning about Tooth. After they had learned about her dental fascination, several of them volunteered to show her their missing teeth, proud at the numerous gaps in their smiles. Tooth melted at the sight of them.

They had already ransacked her knapsack and were playing with the games and toys she had brought. Pippa even grabbed one of her books to read, something that Tooth smiled at.

Jack watched on from his own group that he was playing with as he watched Tooth interact with hers. They were all intrigued by whatever she was telling them and were listening avidly. She was getting really into her story, using her hands and silly voices that he didn't know she could make. He smiled.

'She is pretty amazing.'

Jack paused, wondering at the thought. Why had he just...? Well, he had reason to think that way- she had hung out with him when he needed to, she had invited him into her circle of friends and gotten his important momentos back for him. She had baked just for him and challenged him and didn't let him step too far out of line. She had stuck around even when he had been a jerk.

Tooth was a pretty great friend.

Jack smiled, pleased with the thought. He enjoyed hanging out with Tooth and he was glad that he had brought her here, to his special place.

His thoughts wandered. Maybe Tooth's friends would want to come next time...? Would Rapunzel want to come as well...?

'Speaking of friends-!' Jack thought. Jamie. He still had to visit Jamie.

He bid the others farewell and tried to hold up his smile at their frowning little faces. Jack reminded Tooth and she gathered her things, waving to her new friends. As they left the room, Tooth was smiling as bright as the sun.

"Oh Jack, you were right! They're all so precious! And their teeth...!"

Jack chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, I know. Some of them have the mouths of professional hockey players. I hope their teeth come in soon though, because it's hard to understand a lot of them."

He told her Jamie's room number and went to go check in with Dr. Buford.

"Go on ahead of me. I'll be there in a little bit."

Tooth navigated through the hallways until she reached the room, pushing through the door.

A small boy sat upright in his bed, his head buried in his knees. The curtains were closed and a tray of food had been put off to the side. Tooth, couldn't hear a thing, but she could see his shoulders trembling beneath the blue scrubs.

"Jamie?"

He looked up, surprised. He hadn't heard anyone come in. Looking at the older girl, he wiped at his eyes before leaning forwardin interest. "Who are you?" His voice was small and a little rough from not being used.

"I'm Tooth. I'm friends with Jack." She walked over to his window, pulling open the curtains and letting the daylight pour in.

"Jack? Where is he?" Jamie pleaded, crawling forward on the hospital bed. He was hooked up to an IV bag on a stand, and as he moved the IV stand rolled along with him. Tooth stepped forward, laying a soft hand on him and pushing him back into the pillows. He looked pitiful and hopeful at the same time.

"He's here Jamie, he's coming to see you. I'm sorry it took him so long. It's my fault he hasn't been showing up as much lately. I told him to stay at school and visit you afterwards. You don't mind, do you?"

Jamie gave her a hard look. She sighed.

"I didn't do it to keep him from you. It's just...Jack was having trouble in school and I know you would want him to do well. It was hard convincing him! He loves you so much."

Jamie's face twisted painfully before the tears sprung out of his brown, doe-eyes.

"You're right. But I miss him," he whimpered.

Tooth reached out her hand and ran it through the boy's hair, massaging his scalp. "I know! He misses you too. But he's here to see you now, he's just talking with Dr. Buford for a bit. You know him, right? Of course you do. He'll be here any minute now, just you wait."

Jamie's sniffles ceased and the hiccuping soon stopped. He relaxed into Tooth's touch before sniffing and looking up at her.

"You're his friend? He's never brought a friend before."

Tooth smiled before shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, we go to school together. But you know what I heard? I heard you were his best friend," she placed a russet finger on the small boy's nose, "and now I can see why! You're so cute!"

Jamie giggled at her before sitting up. The redness was slowly fading from his eyes.

"Jack talked about you once. He said you liked teeth. Is that why your name is Tooth?"

Tooth shook her head. "I do like teeth, but the only reason my name is Tooth is because my father likes them as well."

"Does your mom like teeth?"

"No, my mom likes airplanes and fighter jets! She's in the Air Force."

Jamie looked awed. "Cool! Jack's mom doesn't do anything like that. She works in a flower shop. He told me so!"

Tooth paused. Jack had told Jamie about his family? What else had he told him?

"Is that right?" she asked.

Jamie nodded, eager to share. "Uh huh! And his dad works in a wood shop. He says his dad's family are from a country far away, in the place where Vikings used to run around and yell at people! He said that there are stories on his dad's side of the family, that long ago in the old country, they had winter spirits in their family! Isn't that cool? And that's why Jack's dad told him all the men in his family have white hair. He says it's the winter showing through their blood!"

Tooth sat and listened. Ancient family folklore, huh? Fascinating!

"What about his mom?" she asked.

"Oh, his mom's normal. She's from Colorado...or was it California? I can't remember! Anyway, her hair is the same as mine! Jack says his sister has brown hair too."

"Jack tells you about his sister?"

"Sometimes. He misses her a lot, I think. He never says it, though. He doesn't like to talk about her. I don't know why! I'm always talking about my sister, Sophie. She's a brat sometimes, but I don't care, I like her!"

Tooth groaned inwardly. Another dead end, another secret kept.

"Well...that's okay Jamie, Jack talks bout you all the time. And Sophie sounds wonderful! Since you seem to like stories so much," she reached into her knapsack and pulled out and old, crinkled book, "this is for you. You can keep it! I used to read it all the time, but I can pretty much tell the stories by heart, now."

Jamie latched onto the old book and pulled it towards him. "'Ancient Myths From Around the World'" he read out slowly. "Cool!"

Tooth settled beside him and read out loud to Jamie. They were both delving into the tales of the Sunbirds from Zimbabwe in Africa, and how the beautiful fiery birds would bring the day with their flaming feathers. They stopped when the doorknob turned.

Jack walked in, the cookie bin in his arm. It had one remaining inside of it.

"Hey buddy. Miss me?"

Jamie nodded, on the verge of tears again as he dropped Tooth's book and reached out for the older boy. Tooth stepped aside as Jack moved forward and scooped Jamie up in his arms, swinging the boy back and forth gently in a bear hug.

They both laughed and spoke at the same time, whispering things to one another before laughing and speaking normally again. Tooth looked on in admiration. They were so close.

Jack leaned his forehead on Jamie's before asking quietly:

"So...do you like her?"

"Yeah! She made me a cookie and brought me a book! And she's really pretty. Is she your girlfriend?"

Jack laughed, shaking his head and rubbing the skin of his forehead on Jamie's. "She's just a friend, Jamie. What about you, huh? I saw the way Pippa was looking at you last time I came to visit. Do you have a girlfriend that I don't know about?"

Jamie shook his head fiercely, heating up the both of their skin with the friction. They laughed. "Nuh uh! Girls have cooties Jack, you know that!"

"Whatever you say, loverboy."

"Jack...!"

They spoke about all sorts of things while Jamie ate his treat before telling Tooth more about himself and his little world. It was only when the sun began to set outside of Jamie's window that he wilted. His friends would have to leave soon.

"I want to go home." he whispered to the both of them.

Tooth and Jack looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Jamie," Jack began slowly, "you know what the doctors said. It's at least a few more months of being in your room, and that's if therapy goes well."

Jamie glared at the ground and the IV in his arm, angry at his illness, angry at the doctors, and angry at his friends. Most of all, he was angry at himself. Why was he always sick? Sophie was only two years old and even she was healthier than him. She never got sick! He didn't try to be. He wanted to be home, with Sophie and Mom and Dad. He was tired of shots and medicine and hospital beds. He couldn't even go to the playroom like the other kids without feeling sick on the way there. The nurses would always have to turn him back around.

The doctors said that the therapy would hurt just a little. They said he might even lose his hair. He didn't want to be bald! If he was, even Pippa wouldn't like him anymore. And even if he was bald, there was still a chance that he wouldn't get better. The adults acted strangely around him when he'd asked them when he could leave, not if. They never gave him a definite answer, always skirted around what he really wanted to know. He had a horrible feeling that he would never get better.

Jamie felt like screaming.

Tooth rubbed the distraught boy on the back, giving Jack a curious look before turning back to the brunette.

"Look Jamie, whatever the doctors say, Jack and I both know how strong you are. When you get out of here, not if- me and Jack and all your friends will be waiting to play with you. You just focus on getting better. Don't get mad at yourself, your body is working hard and you need to help it with a good attitude, okay?"

Jamie nodded, swallowing back the sniffles that threatened to erupt from his mouth. If Tooth thought he could get better, he would try. He liked her. Trusted her.

Tooth smiled and kissed his forehead. "Good boy. We'll come visit you soon."

Jack gave his own goodbye by hugging Jamie once more before speaking low with him. Whatever he had told Jamie, it brought the smile back on the little boy's face and wiped away all traces of his former sadness. Tooth was shocked at how comfortable Jack was with the kids touching him. She was under the impression that he always shied away from touch, but here she was proved wrong.

They put Jamie to sleep before leaving, and Tooth looked back to catch the glimpse of the small chest rise and fall. She couldn't imagine that the motion might stop one day. That the small chest would go still.

Tooth shook the thoughts from her head.

'No. I won't think that way. As long as Jamie believes in himself, I'll believe in him.'

They signed out with Dr. Buford before leaving the building. He waved them off before returning to his work. The orange light of the sun setting washed over Tooth as she stepped outside, the snow crunching under her boots. The air was cold but the light was warm.

Jack stepped up beside her, breaking the silence.

"Thanks for, uh- coming along. They really liked you."

"Well, I'm glad I came! I liked them too." she responded happily, letting the subject drop, to Jack's relief. He really was thankful. Jamie was important to him, and the fact that Tooth had treated him so kindly made Jack extremely happy.

Neither said anything as they strolled back to school. The silence soon became intense, as if the other wanted to say something else but they were too afraid to say it. As they approached Burgess High, Tooth sighed.

She hadn't been able to say anything to him. She had been too nervous. Oh well, she'd have another chance sooner or later.

"Well- bye then!" she said, turning down the road towards her home. She didn't hear anything until the crunching of snow approached her from behind. Jack caught up with her.

"I'll walk you home. It'll be dark soon."

Tooth looked up. The sky had went from orange to a dark blue. It would be night soon.

She smiled to herself, warmth spreading through her before she choked out, "Sure."

'He's just being nice. Don't freak. Don't read too much into it!' she told herself.

They walked to her house together, unaware of the group of boys that had noticed them from across the campus.

"Well would you look at that..." Brer Rab crowed. Pan nodded back to him, watching the pair walk off campus.

"Should we tell Anansi?"

"...Nah. Who cares what those two do?"

The two boys scurried off, looking for tricks to pull on unwary townspeople.

It wasn't long before Tooth reached her house with Jack in tow. She turned towards the handsome boy, thanking him again for the walk. She felt so lucky! She had so much fun with him and the kids, she couldn't help but smile.

Jack just nodded. "Well, that was fun. I'll bring you again next time, if you want. Maybe your friends could come along too. I'll ask Flynn and Rapunzel later if-"

Tooth bristled and Jack stopped, watching her carefully. What was wrong?

"R-Rapunzel...?" Tooth croaked, her smile falling off of her face. She plastered it back on quick enough, but Jack could tell she was forcing it. Did he upset her...?

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "You don't think our friends should come with us?"

"N-no, it's nothing. I just feel a little sleepy, that's all." Tooth mumbled, looking away from him.

No, that wasn't all! Hadn't they had fun together? Just the two of them? Why did they need to include anyone else, least of all, Rapunzel? Had Jack been thinking of this the entire time with Tooth? Had he been thinking about her the entire time? The green-eyed German beauty?

Tooth felt crushed.

"I'm going to tuck in," she insisted, stepping back from the confused, snowy haired boy, "and I'm going to rest. Text me when you get home so that I know you made it alright, okay? Thanks again."

Her voice cracked near the end and she rushed inside to avoid seeing his expression.

Did it even matter what she did or what she knew about him? Tooth turned the knob and locked the door, racing to her room and ignoring her father's greeting. She shut the door to her room softly and threw herself in her bed, burying her face in a pillow, exasperated.

'Jack wasn't thinking about me. He was thinking about her.'

Brriiing!

Brriiing!

Brrii-

Tooth grabbed the phone and laid back, awaiting the voice she knew she would hear ove the line. She was greeted with familiar words, words that she, herself, had said not too long ago.

"Tooth, I'm home now, but...did I do something to upset you?"

She paused, wondering whether or not she was being over-dramatic. Should she confide in him? She didn't want Jack to know that she liked him, but she couldn't keep it in anymore. Tooth's mouth was like a faucet sometimes, and with all the she had insecurities eating away at her, she felt like she was on full-blast.

It was easier, laying in her dark room and speaking to him. She didn't have to look him in the eye, didn't have to face his laser gaze or put herself within his range. Tooth wilted on the inside.

She was such a coward.

"I just don't...it's stupid, I know it is but- weren't we having fun?"

She waited for a good five seconds before he responded. It sounded as if Jack was trying to figure out where the conversation was going.

"...Yeah. We did. So why did you get so-"

"Because, you were saying we should bring other people along-"

"-and what's wrong with bringing along other people to meet the kids?"

"-Nothing! It's not wrong, it's not like I'm embarrassed for our friends to meet them if that's what you think. It's just that-"

"-Just what?"

"-Her! It's her!"

Pause.

"Tooth, wh-"

"I know it's dumb, it's stupid, but sometimes I feel as if what we do together doesn't matter. You're so energetic, you would have more fun with other people like Flynn or Rapunzel, not me. I feel like I bore you. Like I could never make you have as much fun as she could."

Jack figured that 'she' meant Rapunzel.

"Tooth, you're not boring. Besides, I barely know her."

She repeated Bunnymund's words from earlier that day. "You barely know me."

Jack chuckled softly over the phone before answering, "Oh c'mon, of course I know you. I know you like teeth and that you can't watch Les Miserables or you'll cry yourself into cardiac arrest. I know that you like scrapbooking, baking, and that you've read more books than I ever will. I know that you like colors and that you hide a jar of your old baby teeth under your bed because you like the memories."

She lurched up. "Who told you that-?"

"Sandy."

Tooth leaned back into her pillow, strangely calm. "...Oh."

"I don't know why you're wigging out, but I actually like hanging out with you. What, you think you force me to hang out with you? No offense, but I don't think you could force anything, Tooth. And I wouldn't do it just to make you feel good, or out of pity. Not that kind of person."

"Oh!" Tooth could feel her cheeks warm. She had been so petty and childish. "Well, what about Ra-"

"Would you just forget about her? She's not the one I hang out with or who I trust. That's for close friends. You're my close friend, Tooth. Not her."

Tooth let the line go silent, twiddling her hair and feeling her throat close up. He had cared! He had been thinking about her the entire time and here she was, doubting him.

"I...I'm sorry, I was being really petty and jealous, I guess, I didn't think-"

"Whatever, Tooth. No worries. Just...don't worry about stuff like that, okay? We won't bring our friends, it'll just be us. All I need you to do is worry your pretty little head over teeth. And baking cookies. Wait a sec...cookies? I thought you liked teeth! You've been trying to give us all cavities this entire time!"

Jack fell into a laughing fit and Tooth could feel the room grow hotter. 'Pretty'? She knew he was joking and all but...wow. The words sure sounded good rolling off his tongue.

"Jack...Jack, c'mon, quit laughing...Jack, it's not funny, cavities are no laughing matter! Jack!"

And just like that, all was well again.

Tooth spoke with the edgy, smooth voice on the other line until the dark, starry sky outside turned into a fresh, emerging day.

Chapter Text

Over the next week, it almost seemed like Christmas had swallowed the town of Burgess before spitting it back out.

There were holiday lights strung up everywhere on nearly every house. Most of the radio stations were filled with holiday tunes, and the ice skating rinks were being prepared to open for the season. All the kids made use of the blizzard and the early snow that came with it, building armies of snowmen on every block. The ground was icy, the air was dry, and Burgess turned into a little winter landscape.

To Burgess, the winter holidays were a big deal.

They were a pretty big deal to North, too. He loved the holidays, always going on and on about how great Christmas was. His birthday was very near Christmas as well, so he continued dropping hints to the gang as they would drive to school. All of them could have done well without the hints, Tooth especially. She was a hit on birthdays, always remembering the dates and always guessing just the right kind of gifts to give. The only one who was better than her, was North.

She knew most of her friends' birthdays. Sandy's had been back in the fall, North's was in the upcoming winter season, and Bunnymund's would be in the spring. Her own birthday lay in the warm summertime. Since freshman year, she had been the best gift-giver until North came along. He was even better!

She had given Sandy a mega-CD collection of nature sounds for him to fall asleep to. North had built him a great alarm clock. There had been countless times that Sandy had been late to school from oversleeping. It was a quick way to rack up detentions, and so Tooth was glad that North had put his efforts into a quality alarm just for Sandy.

For North himself, Tooth had been planning on getting him a crafting kit. He loved inventing things, toys especially. He had turned his room into a little workshop of sorts. He made all sorts of strange Russian toys that none of them could understand, but lately he had really gotten into American toy designs. Tooth was so excited for him to see her present!

For Bunnymund, the year before, she has gotten a huge encyclopedia on the weapons and fighting styles of the Aborigines, the mysterious native people that had lived in Australia. She knew that Bunnymund seemed to hold a liking for boomerangs and had put many hours into martial arts after school. He loved being in control of his body. He loved the fact that he could turn it into a weapon of itself when needed. There had been many times where North, Tooth, and Sandy had all sat in the dojo and dojangs that Bunnymund trained in, just to accompany him. They had all agreed that yes, Bunnymund could probably win against anyone in a fistfight...well, besides North. North was TOUGH. Speaking of Bunnymund-

'He's been acting strange, lately.' Tooth thought to herself sadly.

It had been during a lunch period that week when Tooth had noticed the change.

Bunnymund was avoiding her. When she tried speaking to him, he would answer monotonously. Tooth nearly called him out on it when North had asked her about her Sunday-hangout absence, and Bunnymund sat off to the side, scoffing at her reply.

"What? What's so wrong with volunteering at the Children's Hospital?" Tooth questioned him, dying to figure out why he was so upset.

Bunnymund simply shook his head and rolled his eyes before refocusing on his lunch. Tooth frowned at him. There was something he wasn't telling her, something that he was upset about. It couldn't be the volunteering, who would get mad over that? It wasn't because she skipped out on their hang-out day. Jack, then? It must have been, but...Bunnymund didn't seem as angry with Jack as he seemed with her. Yeah, he wouldn't speak to Jack, but he would at least acknowledge him. He would laugh if Jack said something funny or throw in a comment when Sandy was debating with North, but ever since last Sunday, it was like Tooth didn't exist to him.

Tooth tried not to show how much it hurt her feelings. He would come around sooner or later. He would open up to her.

Besides, it wasn't like she was the only one that had noticed. If she didn't know any better, she would guess that North had been grilling Bunnymund about his attitude towards her. North would occasionally frown at them both when he would see her attempt to speak with the tall, Aussie boy, only to receive silence.

Sandy had told her nothing, but she was sure that Bunnymund had told him something. Something that he didn't want her to know.

She would sigh and sit up at the table, her bright eyes cast downwards. She hoped he would tell her what was up. She hated when he was upset with her, when anyone was upset with her, really.

Eventually as the days wore on, Bunnymund's mood seemed to lighten for some unknown reason. He seemed like he was waiting for something. It was the week after when he confronted her during lunch while the others were having a snowball fight.

"Hey," he mumbled, sitting next to her and wiping the snowball remnants from his shoulders.

"Hey!" She replied brightly, glad that they were on speaking terms again. "You're...not mad at me anymore?"

Bunnymund gave her a crooked grin before shaking his head.

"Nah, it wasn't you. It was me. I just got mad over something stupid, no need to fret. Actually, I wanted to ask you something..."

Tooth drew herself closer and he seemed to tense up with her proximity. "What is it?"

"I, uh-" he looked around anxiously, before blurting "Do you- do you want to...uh...Y-You're 'Lofty'!"

She looked at him in confusion. 'What?'

He nodded his head vigorously. "Yep! Yep! That's what I wanted to ah, ask- I meant say, that's what I wanted to say. You're a Lofty! You're short!"

He grinned mischievously as her smile vanished and her brows furrowed.

"Why, I-lofty? Bunny, I am not short." She made for the snow on the ground, quickly forming a snowball. He was always using that silly Australian slang to make fun of her!

Bunnymund breathed out in relief as Tooth's attention was effectively diverted. He felt like his insides were falling and his face was heating up in embarrassment. He couldn't say it. He couldn't tell her. Not now, at least.

They all dashed across the campus among a few other students, chucking and dodging snowballs. Tooth was laughing with Sandy while hiding behind a tree from Jack's snowballs, when someone called them all out.

"Guys! Hey Guys! Over here!"

Tooth looked up at the sound of the mesmerizing voice.

'Oh no, not again.'

Rapunzel strolled up to them all decked out in her brightly colored winter gear. She was wearing fuzzy pink earmuffs and had somehow managed her hair into a tightly knit braid that circled her shoulder and fell to her front. Her gloved hands were filled with flyers of some sort.

She looked flushed and breathless. "Hi everyone! Nice to see you all again," she cheered.

Tooth did not feel nice. Not at all.

The others were dropping the snow and crunching over to Rapunzel, curious about her sudden appearance.

"We meet again Rapunzel," North responded with arms wide open, "but where is good-looking friend of yours? You two break up?"

Rapunzel looked even more flushed than before and tried to raise her hands to explain. "Oh! No, no, he's a college student, he's not my- we were never-"

Her fingers slipped and the flyers went spilling onto the snowy sidewalk. Rapunzel looked crushed, but Tooth was quick to bend down and gather the papers before the winter winds blew them away. As bothersome as Rapunzel seemed, Tooth would help her when needed. She was jealous, not heartless.

The boys also helped as well and soon enough, all the papers were stacked back neatly in Rapunzel's hands.

"Thanks, guys! Anyways, I've been looking for you all everywhere. Why don't you eat inside the school like everyone else?"

Jack chuckled. "Oh believe me, I had wondered the same thing."

Rapunzel beamed at him and he smirked back. Tooth felt her insides were twisting up in envy.

"So!" she blurted, breaking their moment, "What's with all the flyers?"

Rapunzel seemed to remember. "Oh! Yeah, I totally forgot. Here," she handed each of them a paper, "we're going to start a fundraiser this year! The school will be doing all sorts of things to raise money for the 'Less Fortunate Kids of Burgess'. If you guys want to stop by the main office and donate something, we'll gladly take it!"

They all nodded and gave Rapunzel their word to stop by soon. She smiled brightly at the group before waving and leaving to pass out more flyers.

The boys stuffed their flyers in their pockets or backpacks, but Tooth was looking over hers.

Her eyes widened. Wow! They were going to be doing all sorts of things to raise money this year. Door-to-door carols, bake sales, anonymous gift-giving...Tooth was impressed. They were even going to raise the prices on Winter Ball tickets, so that some of the profits could go to the fundraiser. They were going to add all sorts of things to the Ball; they were hiring new bands to play live music, an actual DJ, and food of all sorts.

Tooth sighed as she put away her flyer. The Winter Ball! Even prom itself wasn't as big as the Winter Ball in Burgess. The high school had always went the extra mile for the Ball because the founder of the school had placed such a huge emphasis on it. He had met his wife in the winter time, and so he decided to make the Ball a big event to celebrate the season he found his own love. For years in Burgess, the Winter Ball was a must. Every girl wanted to go and every girl wanted to win the crown of the Winter Queen, her date winning alongside as Winter King. It was a huge deal.

Tooth's light expression slowly fell.

She had never gone. Not even once.

During both her freshman and sophomore year, no one had bothered asking her. Bunnymund had been asked before by Alice Liddell, but he said she had been way too spaced out the entire time, like she was in Wonderland or something. Most of the time, the boys weren't that big on dances. They preferred going out for a night on the town. When they would question her on why SHE had never attended the Ball, Tooth would simply shrug.

"I didn't really feel like going." She would say.

'I'm such a liar!' She would think.

Tooth really wanted to go, but she never had a boy ask her to the dance before, and she never had any other friends who wanted to go with her.

Tooth had very few female friends over her three years at Burgess High. During her first year, things were fine. It was the awkward time when there were no cliques, when it was just a bunch of new kids trying to fit in and survive the teasing of the upperclassmen. She used to sit with a table full of girls.

Soon enough, when they realized her strange hobbies and quiet ways, she was pushed out of the group. She had come to eat with them one day and her place was filled up with a different girl. A new girl that they had found solely for the purpose of replacing Tooth.

They wanted popularity, but most of all, they wanted boys. Some of the quiet girls became loud, fun, and bouncy. Some of intelligent girls began to pretend that they were dumb and helpless. The girls who used to speak with Tooth every day pushed her away because they didn't have the energy nor time to deal with Tooth and her nerdy ways. None of them wanted to hear her go on about the incisors on the crocodiles from the Nile, or how the grade point average system worked. None of them wanted her around when they were trying to get the into the good graces of the more popular students.

Tooth hadn't been too upset at first. At least it wasn't like elementary school. At least she wasn't being bullied.

As the years went on, several people proved her wrong.

She looked down at the ground as she walked back to the building with the North, Bunnymund, Sandy, and Jack. The days when she hadn't know any of them had...sucked, in the very least.

They all walked into the building and went their separate ways.

"See you later," Sandy signed to her.

"Bye!" Tooth signed back.

She turned and continued on her way, her head filled with visions of pretty ballgowns and soft music. She didn't see the couple hanging near the door to her class, before crashing into them.

"What the hell-?!" a girl shrieked, pushing Tooth back.

Tooth came back to Earth, looking up shocked. Jeez! She was always knocking into people!

"I'm sorry, I didn't see-"

"Of course you didn't see! With those stupid looking contacts on all the time, you're probably blind!"

The girl was Arachne, a dark haired beauty that was infamous for her short temper. She was also furious, looking a little more angry than one should be. Tooth's jaw dropped. It was just a little bump! It was an accident! Why was she so mad?

"These aren't contacts-" Tooth began, before being cut off by a voice she recognized all too well.

"C'mon Arachne, babe. Chill..."

Tooth groaned, looking up into the smug face of Anansi.

He went on, mocking her. "What? You see something you like?"

Tooth didn't have time for either of them. She had a test to take next period and she needed to study in this one! She tried to maneuver her way around the two of them and into the classroom, but Anansi put his arm out and blocked her path. He still had small remnants of the bruise she had given him weeks earlier in the library.

Arachne looked at them both before realization dawned in her face. "Anansi! Is this the freak that messed up your face?"

Tooth's eyebrows shot up. "Freak? Wh-"

"Yeah, you, freak. What, you don't like that? You're such a stalker! Who goes around attacking people in the library anyways? I bet you were waiting for him to walk by before you slugged him."

Tooth looked past the raging girl over to Anansi, who grinned back at her. It was not a pleasant one. She faced Arachne once more, her limbs shaking. She didn't like confrontations. Maybe if she tried being nice...?

"I, um... I don't know what your boyfriend over here told you, but I wasn't the one doing the attacking. You should ask him to tell you the truth. Now could you please move? I have a test to take next period and I really need to study." Her voice came out soft and steady.

Arachne scoffed and crossed her arms, but didn't move out the way. "Anansi does tell me the truth. He tells me everything, because I'm his girl. Why don't you keep your hands off of my boyfriend from now on? Because if I hear about you so much as looking at him, I'll kick your ass."

Tooth wanted to pull her hair in frustration. What was with this girl? They didn't even know each other!

"What? Why? Arachne, you don't even know me. Why are you acting like this? You seemed so nice freshman year, before Athena-"

Arachne paled and moved forward, enraged now. "Don't talk about her! Don't you ever say her name in front of me!"

Tooth held up her hands, backing up. Uh oh. She had hit a nerve. She remembered Arachne from freshman year when the girl was smaller and quiet, praised by all the other girls for her beauty and talent. She basked in all of the adoration and let it get to her head. It wasn't long before Arachne had challenged the respected upperclassman, Athena. Not only did Arachne get a verbal beat-down from Athena, but she lost her high ranking in the social food chain. No one wanted to talk to her. She turned mean and nasty, getting into fights all the time and spreading rumors about people. Anansi began dating her after that.

"You think I care about what you think of me? You think you 'got me' somehow, just because you know about what Athena did to me? Everyone knows what she did to me! I bet..." she looked up with wide, angry eyes, before continuing, "...I bet you think you're better than me. Right? Is that it?"

Tooth shook her head, backing away from the both of them. She had a bad feeling. Arachne didn't seem like her usual, grumpy self. She seemed off.

Arachne was breathing hard, glaring at Tooth. She looked around for signs of anyone that might have been watching, before quickly grabbing Tooth's collar and pushing her into the nearest girls' bathroom. It was so sudden, Tooth barely had the time to dig in her heels. Arachne forced her through the door. She ignored the girl's protests as she yanked Tooth's knapsack off of her.

"Give it back!" Tooth yelled, reaching desperately for her knapsack. Arachne held it up away from her, using her other hand to keep Tooth back. She was laughing breathlessly, excited to have the upper hand.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

Arachne opened up the top of the knapsack and moved toward the stalls.

'She's going to flush my stuff! What is this, the eighties?! My notes are in there...my scrapbook!'

Tooth sprinted over and rounded on the dark-haired girl, grabbing at her wrists and pushing her away from the stalls. The two struggled over the bag, things spilling out of it and onto the bathroom floor. Arachne was surprised by the mousy girl's strength and abandoned the task. She dropped the knapsack and instead, grabbed a massive notebook that lay on the floor and flung it out the bathroom window.

"No!" Tooth shrieked, reaching out to catch it. Too late, it went down. She could hear the 'fwump' as it hit the snow below. That notebook had all of her notes! Her study guides! The wet snow would ruin them!

Tooth turned around in anger, looking for Arachne. There was no sign of her. She had ran away!

Tooth jogged out of the bathroom, looking up and down the halls before spotting the couple strolling around the corner, laughing with one another. How dare they!

"Hey!" a bubbly voice crowed. Tooth sighed as she lost sight of Arachne and Anansi. Rapunzel's face filled up her vision.

"What's up? You look down." Rapunzel looked over Tooth's face with a worried look.

Tooth shook her head, exasperated by it all. It had been so long since she had been bullied like this. "Nothing, just- Arachne! She just tried to flush my stuff!" Tooth hadn't meant to tell Rapunzel anything, but the words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Rapunzel's eyes bugged. "Oh! Just now?" The pretty blonde looked up and down the hall, her green eyes roving.

"You just missed her," Tooth supplied, "but she didn't get to do it, I didn't let her. She just- she threw my notes out the window. The rest of my things fell onto the floor."

Rapunzel gasped before pushing her way past Tooth and into the bathroom to look at the mess. "Oh!"

And then she did something Tooth hadn't expected.

She bent down on her hands and knees- onto the dirty bathroom floor- and began to gather up Tooth's things.

Tooth went stock still.

'She's helping me?'

"Um, you don't have to-"

"Who does something like this? That Arachne...always causing trouble!" Rapunzel ranted while picking up Tooth's things and dusting them off before placing them back in her knapsack. "What happened?"

"I, uh," Tooth began, unsure. "I was trying to get to class-"

The bell rang right on cue, signalling the end of the passing period. Tooth cringed. She would be late!

"Oh, Rapunzel, you don't have to pick that stuff up, it's fine. You're going to be late to your own class." Tooth gently pushed the blonde girl away before packing away the rest of her things. She didn't want Rapunzel to be late because of her. The girl was actually bending down on this gross floor to help her. Perhaps Tooth had judged her too quickly?

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "You said something to her...about that upperclassman, Athena, didn't you?"

"...How did you know?"

"Oh, Arachne is so bitter about that. She hates when people mention it. I mentioned it last year to her face because she was teasing me about my hair in front of other people. She got so mad at me, that she actually grabbed a lunch tray and threw it at me! In front of the security guards! Can you believe that? The girl has no control over her anger. She's like a bomb waiting to blow."

Tooth felt a little lighter. Rapunzel had been bullied before? But she was so beautiful! Everything seemed to go perfect for her. Why would anyone ever bully her?

Rapunzel went on. "You should report Arachne to the disciplinary office. She can't go around messing with people like this."

Tooth shook her head, closing up her knapsack. "No, I...the last thing I need is her coming after me just because I reported her. I'd rather just stay away from her. But," Tooth glanced over slowly at the green-eyed girl before saying, "thanks, anyways. For helping me, I mean."

Rapunzel nodded, beaming. "No problem! You helped me with the flyers earlier, I just returned the favor."

Tooth nodded, not sure what else to say. She was glad about Rapunzel's help and all, but she knew she still felt a little envy over the girl. Rapunzel stood and dusted herself off before looking around awkwardly. "Well...see you around, Tooth."

Tooth stood and dusted herself off as well, watching the beautiful girl strut out of the bathroom.

Her thoughts went back to her notes. Oh! Her class!

Tooth raced out of the bathroom and across the hall into her classroom. The teacher looked up from the lesson, giving her a disappointed look.

"Oh, Toothiana! You're never tardy! Well, I don't want to do this to such a good student, but..." He pulled a tardy slip from his desk and wrote her up. Tooth wilted.

"Sorry I'm late." She mumbled, speeding away to her seat and ready to rest her feet... except someone was already sitting there.

"Sorry, it's taken." The boy tried to keep a straight face before snorting and looking over to his friend. They chuckled together before turning away from her.

Tooth slumped and looked about the room for an empty seat. Would no one give her a break today? Her breath caught.

A pale hand was waving her down from the back. No one could see him from so far in the back, but she could.

"Over here," Jack mouthed to her, pointing to an empty desk beside him. Tooth had to bite down her smile as she wove in between the rows of desks to the back of the room. She easily set her things down and sat at the vacant desk. She gave Jack a small, appreciative smile, but he was too busy glaring at the kid who took her original seat to notice.

Tooth looked down at her desk, her throat closing up. She had good memory, all she needed was a glance at her notes, but now she couldn't study them! They were outside, ruined in the snow. She couldn't remember the material. She was going to fail the test! And if she failed the test, her grade would drop! And if the grade dropped, so would her GPA! Oh no, oh no!

Tooth's train of panicked thoughts were interrupted by a crumpled piece of paper that hit her desk. She looked over to see Jack staring at her intently from his row. He gestured at the paper.

She unfolded it.

- Something wrong? You look like you're going to hyperventilate.

Tooth giggled softly at the funny handwriting before glancing over at Jack who was smirking back at her. She pulled out her glitter pencil before swiftly writing underneath Jack's scrawled letters.

- I lost my notes. Now I can't study for the test we have next period! I think I'm going to bomb it.

She took a moment to observe the way his letters were sharp and scribbled whereas her letters were bubbly and neat. She chucked the note back over and Jack caught it easily, undetected by the teacher. He took a moment to look it over before writing his own message down and shooting it onto Tooth's desk.

- The next period? We have that one together. You can look at my notes if you want. I'm missing a couple of the earlier lessons though.

Tooth's heart exploded as she glanced over at him, hopeful.

"Really?" She mouthed.

He nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah," he mouthed back. He turned from her, digging through his bag before he brought out a large, black notebook. When the teacher was turned towards the board, he quickly gave it to her and she grasped it.

Tooth immediately went blazing through his notes, flipping the pages this way and that. A lot of the earlier notes were missing, but she figured that was from all the ditching he had done. All his recent ones were there, even though they weren't neat. Tooth's jaw fell.

Jack's writing was neat in some places whereas in others, it looked like hieroglyphs. Some notes were along the sides of the paper, out of the lines, some of them even upside down!

'What in the world...?' she wondered. How did he make sense of all of this?

His notebook margins were filled with doodles of rockets and dinosaurs. There were dragons on some pages, full moons on others. Tooth nearly laughed. Was she looking at the notebook of a sixteen year old, or a ten year old? Jack's drawings were crude and silly, and so Tooth wasn't prepared for when she turned the notebook to a new page.

Snowflakes.

Snowflakes filled up this page. Some were small, some large, but each one was detailed and intricate. They were all gorgeous, so unlike his other doodles. It looked as if he had worked very hard on each and every one, making them perfect in their own ways. Each one was precise and delicate. Each one was different. Tooth eyebrows rose.

She quickly flipped back to his written notes before he could see her looking at his doodles. She studied them for the rest of the class.

With their help, Tooth was able to walk into her next class confidently and took the test, certain that she had passed. When the bell rang and signaled the end of the day, she turned in her seat and grinned brightly at him. Jack just looked on before snatching up his bag and strolling up to her desk.

"So...how exactly did you manage to lose your notes?" His voice was tinged with curiosity and suspicion.

"They were, uh- chucked out of a window," she replied bluntly.

His eyebrows rose a fraction. "What? Why would you toss your own study guides?"

Tooth shook her head. "I didn't. Some girl did."

Jack's brows furrowed, but Tooth quickly held up her hands.

"It was a big misunderstanding, honestly! Some girl got a little mad because she thought I was teasing her, it's no big deal, really."

Jack didn't look convinced. "You don't seem like the 'teasing' type. Who was she?"

Tooth didn't like the way his tone sounded. She felt like if she told him that it was Arachne who had ruined her notes, he would turn into some kind of teenage bounty hunter and track the brunette down. Tooth didn't need the drama.

"It doesn't matter-"

"It does/ matter. If someone is messing with you-"

Tooth curled in on herself from his insisting tone and Jack eased up. He sighed heavily.

"Fine, fine...but- you would tell me if you needed help, right?"

Tooth's eyes bugged.

"I know, I know," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I'm don't have the warmest shoulder to lean on, but I'm...I'm here, alright? If you need something."

Tooth gazed at him before nodding absently. She could feel the tumults of butterflies building in her stomach and rising into her chest. Of course she would rely on him!

"Thanks, Jack. But I don't know what I'm going to do. That notebook had three classes' worth of stuff that I wrote down...!"

Jack chewed at his lip, thinking, before responding. "Hey, wait up. What are those classes again?"

She told him and he grinned at her, blowing her away for the second time that day. He really needed to warn people before he showed off those teeth. He needed a huge neon sign that read, 'WARNING: THESE PEARLS CAN, AND IN FACT WILL, BLIND YOU.'

"Well, lucky you. I have all those classes too. I've got the study guides for em', but some of them are at my house. You can drop by whenever you want to copy them down."

Tooth's eyes widened and she looked at him like a knight in shining armor. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you-!" the rest of her cries of gratitude were drowned out in his sweater as she buried her face in it, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Jack tensed up immediately, perplexed by the sudden contact.

Tooth felt his muscles tighten underneath her, but she didn't care. She was so happy! She wasn't going to fail, she wasn't going to drop down a grade, she wasn't going to bomb anything! She squeezed into him and could feel her cheek resting on his rising and falling chest, enjoying the brief moment before she slid away.

Flushing, Jack stood deathly still. Tooth looked to the ground before gazing back up at him. Oops. She should have known better. He made it pretty obvious he didn't like touching people much, only in those rare moments when he initiated it. This wasn't one of them. Was he angry...?

"Sorry 'bout that. I can get kind of touchy," she mumbled, her voice growing soft.

"Yeah. I kind of noticed," he tried to joke, but his voice was raspy.

"Wh-where should I meet you after school, then?" Tooth quickly asked, desperate to change the subject. Maybe that hug wasn't such a good idea? She couldn't help it! It was a spur of the moment.

"You want to come over today?" he asked, looking stunned.

Tooth jumped at his raise in volume. What was wrong with today? "Well...yeah! I-I thought-"

"No! I mean, it's fine, just..." he looked at her, confused. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Meet me by the main steps."

Tooth nodded and watched him walk in the wrong direction before he looked around and smiled sheepishly at her, embarrassed, before heading down the right way. Tooth watched him for a moment longer before heading to her own class.

She was going to see Jack's home.

The trek to the house was harder than she had thought it would be.

At first, she had to text North and the others to go on and head home without her, and then text her dad that she would be home late. Then, she had to search for her notebook which was on the ground where she had seen it land. When she picked it up, it was dripping wet from the snow, the ink running everywhere, and the pages unreadable. Tooth sighed. Ruined.

Afterwards, she had met Jack standing off to the side by the main stairs, away from the rambunctious crowds of teenagers. He quietly led the way to his home with her trailing after him.

As they wove further into the neighborhood and farther from the school, the silence wove it's way around them. She subtly watched as he puffed little frosty breaths, walking in front of her. At first, the silences had been extremely painful and awkward for Tooth. Now, it was a normal thing between them.

Soon enough, they hit Selene Road.

Tooth watched him suddenly duck into the woods. When she didn't follow right away, he popped his head back out of the brush. "C'mon," he called, "you're not scared, are you?" He shot her a sly grin before delving back into the trees.

She frowned, looking around before following him through the thick brush, copying his every move so as to not get slapped by a tree branch or trip over a root. The ground was uneven and the snow had piled on the branches, spilling off onto her whenever she knocked into any of them. She was cold and tired, but still eager. What was his house like?

...What was his room like?

"We're almost there," he called back. He looked back to see her struggling through a deep patch of snow. He had used a strong branch overhead to swing across the patch, but he figured she hadn't seen him take the precaution. She was sinking up to her knees and trying desperately to stomp through it without looking ridiculous.

Jack shook his head and smirked before making his way back towards her. "Wow. You sunk pretty deep. I guess it's because you're short-"

"I am not!" she shouted, looking at him in disbelief. "I'm a foot from your height! What does that say about you?"

Jack laughed. "I'm only messing around, Tooth. Here," he said, reaching for her.

"What are-" she questioned before yelping at the feel of his hands on her waist. He gripped tight onto her sides.

"Hold onto my shoulders," he ordered.

"Jack, wait-!" she tried, but he was already lifting her into the air and out of the snow. Tooth squealed, gripping onto his arms and kicking her feet. She hadn't realized he was that strong!

He spun them around and put her down quickly, brushing off the snow she had kicked onto him. "Ha! Tooth, this is the thanks I get for helping you out?" he said sarcastically, before moving on.

"Keep up. We're nearly there."

Tooth groaned inwardly. He said had said the same thing a mile ago! Tooth pushed herself the last mile and was relieved to see the trail leading up to the house. It looked as if someone had salted the snow for the path.

The house was large, stable, and comfy looking. It was surrounded by snowy trees, but all the frost and ice didn't deter the warm feeling the house gave. It had a wide porch and large glass doors along one of the sides. The snow had piled on the roof and all was quiet, giving it a secluded look.

Jack pounded up the steps before pulling out his keys and unlocking the door. Tooth followed slowly behind him, looking at the little wooden messages that were hung up by the door. One of the wooden plaques had carvings in it, depicting a starry sky and rolling hills. Another was engraved with the message, "Earth laughs in flowers" and another that said "Warning: Old people ahead"

Jack flushed when he saw her gazing at the wooden messages. "My Uncle is weird- he made all of these. Just ignore em'."

Tooth shook her head absently, still looking at the wooden engravings littering the front of the house. "I like them."

He paused to glance at her before pushing the door open and ushering her in. Tooth felt the warmth and heat spread over her as she stepped over the threshold. Her cold cheeks blazed in happiness.

"I'm home, Uncle!" Jack hollered down the long hallway, shutting the door with his foot. He dumped his bag right there at the welcome mat, before kicking off his shoes and stretching. His back made a satisfying crack and he sighed dreamily, padding off down the hall.

Tooth nearly laughed. Was he always so eager to go around barefoot? She took off her own snow encrusted shoes, not wanting to track snow everywhere. She looked at her socks and frowned. They were covered in pictures of small, smiling teeth. She didn't want his uncle to see those. She didn't even want him seeing those. She hesitantly took off her socks and bundled them up, stuffing them into her boots. She obsessively set her and Jack's shoes neatly by the door and hung his backpack on the coat rack nearby.

She padded down the hardwood hallway, unsure of where Jack went. She wanted to call out for him, but her voice died in her throat. This wasn't her home to yell in.

She looked into a dining room and an office before seeing Jack in the room up ahead. He was in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. "So that's where you went. Hey, do me a favor? Grab two cups from that cabinet over there?" He nodded over across the kitchen.

Tooth nodded and walked across the cool floor, shivering a bit. She looked at her bare feet and brightly painted toes. Maybe she should've kept the socks? The kitchen had the huge glass doors, facing out to the snowy woods. It was a beautiful view.

Tooth slid off her jacket and placed it neatly onto a nearby chair before reaching up to open the cabinet. It had a shelf full of mugs inside, and all of them had pictures of nature scenes. Tooth could spot all of the seasons.

She was closing up the cabinet when something caught her eye.

A framed picture.

It was on the counter underneath the cabinet. The frame was made of gorgeous sawdusted wood. It had small figs laying on the top of it, dried fruits still on them. Wait...who was that...?

The photograph was of Jack. A younger Jack, at least. He looked around thirteen, and was smiling big and bright as if nothing could ever go wrong for him. He was holding a brown-haired small girl in his arms. She looked like she had been in the middle of laughing when the picture was taken, her chubby hands clutching tightly onto Jack's shoulders. He was holding her just as tight. She seemed about six years old in the photo.

'That must be Emma.'

They looked completely different, and yet the same. The same eyebrows, the same noses, the same happy glow. Behind them stood a man and a woman, their parents, probably. Jack's mother looked like Emma, just older and wiser, beautiful in a simple way. His father was holding her from the side, tall and strong. He had toned muscles and a snowy white boxed beard. It didn't look as if he went gray early, his hair was just simply...white! His eyes were a piercing blue like Jack's and his skin was just as pale. His jaw was larger and more squared, but they looked similar. He was his father's son.

Tooth slowly placed the mugs down and drew closer to the picture. This was his family. They had all looked so happy! Why were they all apart now...? Why wasn't he with them? She had been wondering for ages, but she never had the courage to ask him. For one thing, his family matters weren't any of her business. Secondly, she was pretty sure he didn't even want to address the issue. She never brought it up again after the arcade. Neither did he.

Tooth let her fingers trace along the photo, bringing up a light cloud of filmy dust. It hadn't been touched for a while.

An old, deep voice cut through the air and Tooth's train of thought came crashing down. She turned around rapidly.

A man was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, gazing upon the scene before him. Jack was pulling himself out of the fridge, an apple in his mouth. He hadn't seen Tooth admiring the family picture.

"Hey Unc'," he tried to say past the piece of fruit lodged in between his teeth.

The man looked like Jack's father, but in an older version. The elderly man had a wrinkled hand gripped on tightly to a cane, but his stance was tall enough. He was wearing spectacles and a sweater, looking over the two of them curiously.

"Why Jack, you brought over a lovely young lady and didn't warn me? For shame! I haven't had time to prepare an introduction or the house."

"She's a friend," Jack tried to say, but gave up trying to speak past the apple and took a bite out of it.

Tooth set the mugs down and padded over, putting her hands together behind her back. "Sorry for barging in! I'm Toothiana, me and Jack go to school together. You're- You're home is very nice! I liked the wooden carvings by the door."

Jack's uncle's eyes seemed to glaze over before recognition sparked in the deep blue pools.

"Oh, those? You liked them? Such a dear, you are. I love woodworking." He smiled at her before turning to his nephew. "See, Jack? I told you people would like the carvings!"

Jack waved them both off, taking another large chunk out of the apple.

The man turned back to her. "Well Toothiana, welcome to our home. I am Jack's uncle, but you may call me Uncle Moon as well, if you wish. It must have been a cold walk up here. Would you like something hot to drink? I'm fantastic at hot chocolate."

Tooth nodded, thankful.

"Jack! Could you please fetch the old bulbs out of the attic? I need to replace this light in the kitchen."

Jack nodded, strolling off and up the stairs to complete the task.

"Sit, sit," Uncle Moon insisted, motioning to the kitchen table. Tooth sat herself down and folded her hands.

The man began pulling items out of drawers and cabinets to prepare the drink. "There's not really any bulbs in the attic. I moved them months ago," he commented casually.

"Um," Tooth paused, "pardon?"

Why would he send Jack for something that wasn't even there? Oh...maybe he wanted to speak privately with her? Tooth stiffened, unsure of what was to come.

"I'm very glad you've befriended my nephew," Uncle Moon admitted while boiling the water and milk, "he hasn't had too many friends since moving here. You're actually the first one he's brought home so far. You've been keeping him out of trouble, I can tell."

Tooth's eyes widened. "Oh! Well...I like being Jack's friend. He's a great boy." Tooth cringed at her sentimental slip. Jeez!

Uncle Moon nodded. "He is. And he enjoys being friends with you as well. He's been...happier these days. I am truly grateful. Heaven knows he needs the cheer. He has had so many hardships back in his hometown. So much strife."

He brought Tooth over a piping hot cup. "Ah! Don't drink it just yet. It's hot. Let me grab you some marshmallows."

He walked away before calling over, "Did you realize his birthday is coming up? Next week, actually. Monday. Moon's day, they call it in the old language. Did you know that? No, I suppose you didn't."

Tooth's eyes bugged and she nearly knocked over her cup. Seriously?! Why hadn't Jack said something earlier? He would be turning seventeen! That meant...he was older than her by a few months! She would be sixteen until summertime.

"Jack is a rather quiet boy at times. Believe me, I would know. I had guessed that he wouldn't have told you. I'm just giving you a head start, is all."

Tooth nodded gratefully. "Of course! Thank you! Now...I have to find him the perfect present! But what?" Tooth sat back in her chair, thinking.

Uncle Moon chuckled, bringing over the bag of marshmallows. "See, this is why I like you. So considerate! I'm sure Jack would be happy enough if you came to visit him for his birthday. I'm only sorry that the boy is so dense at times, he doesn't notice many things when his head is filled with other thoughts."

"What do you mean?"

Uncle Moon gave her a sly grin, and for a moment, Tooth was reminded of Jack.

"You like him." Uncle Moon noted it happily.

Tooth flushed, taking a sudden interest in the table. "Am I that obvious?"

Uncle Moon tilted his head. "Mm, well, I would say so. But I'm very old, child. I've seen young folk falling for one another far too often. I recognize it right away."

Tooth shrugged, unsure. Her voice came soft and dejected.

"I don't know if he likes me in the same way- the way I like him. He seems to like someone else..."

Uncle Moon chuckled, bringing over Jack's mug of hot chocolate. "Well my, my, my...A pretty thing like you, wondering whether or not you'd catch someone's eye. Now I've seen it all! Tell me, who came here with my nephew and sits before me, his beloved uncle? Someone else? Or you?"

Tooth thought that over in her head, but the old man interrupted her thoughts.

"When is your birthday, Toothiana?"

She glanced over. "It's in the summertime."

Uncle Moon nodded in agreement, as if he had guessed that had been the case. "Of course it is. You seem like a summer child. Bright."

Tooth looked over in interest, and the man went on, looking out of the window into the snowy forest.

"Funny, how opposites attract. Like my younger brother and his wife. I think that Jack may follow the path of his father. This reminds me of a saying I once heard somewhere...'It was only in the depths of winter that I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.'"

Tooth wasn't sure what that meant. An invincible summer? What did that have to do with her? Her birthday? How would you find summer inside of winter anyways? She didn't understand.

Uncle Moon noticed her confusion and simply smiled mysteriously. "You may understand what I mean sooner rather than later, Toothiana."

Tooth was confused. Why didn't he just explain it to her? She wanted to know what he was trying to say, but Jack was right. This guy was really cryptic.

Oh well. Tooth gave a small grin. She liked Uncle Moon a lot! And he seemed to like her.

They heard heavy footsteps clomp down the stairs and saw Jack strolling through the doorway.

"Sorry Uncle, the bulbs weren't up there. Wait...is that hot chocolate that I smell?"

"I think I'm going to ask Aphrodite to the Winter Ball."

"Nah Brer Rab, Hephaestus would kill you. Besides, she's probably going with Ares anyway. The guy is a beast on the football field."

"Fine! I'll just ask Goldilocks. She's a babe."

"Nope. She's going with, uh...what was that kid's name? Oh yeah- Bernard. You know, the hockey player? Dude is as big a bear, I swear."

"What about Gretel?"

"She's goin' with Hansel, bro."

"But, Pan- dude, they're cousins!"

"...I know."

"Fine, forget her. How about Isis or Sekhmet?"

"Taken. Ra is taking them both to the dance."

"Both of them? What?!"

"Dude's got game. He's taking Tefnut too."

"The hell...How about Wendy?"

"She's going with Peter."

"Jasmine?"

"Aladdin, bro."

"Astrid?!"

"Hiccup."

"Hiccup?! What the f- Hiccup is a loser! How did he get Astrid?"

"Beats me."

Brer Rab groaned heavily, running his hands over his face. All the girls the liked were taken! He still couldn't believe Ra was taking three girls. The Egyptians were so hot, it wasn't like Ra needed all those dates! Pan was taking Persephone, the head of the environmental club. Heaven help Pan if Hades found out...wait, who cared? Who was he gonna' take?

Hold up.

"Toothiana, man."

Pan looked over at Brer Rab like he was nuts. "No way Brer Rab, leave her alone. You know she likes that Frost kid. Besides, Anansi would kill us if he found out we were messing with her. He doesn't even like it when we talk about her. Just leave it."

"No, listen! She's all shy and stuff. I could totally convince her to go with me. Just for show. Then, I could find someone else once we're there. I can't show up by myself, I'd look lame. She'll just be...arm candy? Yeah, that's it. Then I'd ditch her."

Pan shook his head. "I still think this is a bad idea."

Brer Rab wasn't listening. The plan was forming in his head already.

Anansi strolled up, slamming his phone shut. He looked furious. Pan and Brer Rab sat up, wondering what the problem was.

"Is everything okay?" Pan asked. Anansi nodded his head, his brows furrowed.

"Yeah. It's just that weirdo, Pitch. He keeps hitting up my phone. He's just pissed because no one's been to his shop in a while. He wants us to show up, but I told him clearly; we're not doing any more business with him."

Brer Rab and Pan relaxed, glad to hear the good news. They wouldn't be upset if they never saw that guy again.

On the other side of town, a phone was being smashed against a wall. Pitch heaved as the phone shattered and fell to the floor in a heap of wires. That little snot hung up on him!

Damn kids. Damn people. Damn Burgess. Everyone was happy and having fun in their nice little homes. All of his consorts and clients hadn't shown up in weeks. They were all with their friends and families, enjoying the holidays instead of thieving.

Pitch hated the holidays. There was far too much spirit floating around for his liking.

Everyone was smiling, everyone was being sickeningly jolly. Why should they be happy? He wasn't. He hadn't seen any cash in ages. He hadn't scared a soul in days. It was as if he didn't exist anymore. The holidays had no room for passion, for chaotic things, the darkness and the cold.

His fridge was running empty and the dog had been snapping at him lately. He needed money.

A bank? No, he couldn't be silly. This town was far too small for a hold-up. They would find him. Theft? No. Most of the neighbors knew him. They would report him.

A thought slowly slid into his mind, whispering through his skull. What had that Anansi boy been talking about one of the times he had came into the shop...?

A fundraiser.

The fundraiser at Burgess High. They always raised loads of cash for the 'Less Fortunate'. Pitch considered himself 'Less Fortunate'.

He smiled and looked at the hound, sleeping soundly in the corner.

They would be feasting like kings soon enough.

Tooth fell back onto the bed, sleepy. Her wrist ached from all the writing she had done and her eyelids were heavy.

She looked up at the skylight and the wooden snowflakes hanging from Jack's ceiling. He had carved every single one himself. She thought they were pretty crafty and had told him so. He had shrugged and looked away, trying to find the rest of his study guides and hide the clothes on the floor inside of his closet.

"You're tired?" Jack questioned, looking over at her from his spot on the floor.

He had laid out some newspaper spreads and was carving away at a new block of wood with his sculpting knife, making a new snowflake.

Tooth inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of sweet wood and Jack. She could get used to this. When she exhaled, her breath came out in plumes of frost-breath. Jack's room was colder than the others in the house.

She turned her head to him to respond, catching another glance of his small bookshelf and the globe sitting on top of it. Band posters were taped all over his closet door. His walls were bare except for one, which had the beautiful scene of a tribe of wolves running across a snowy landscape. Tooth had a sneaking suspicion that Uncle Moon had painted it just for Jack.

"I finished copying down all of your notes. A semester's worth! I'm so tired, you don't even understand how ti..." Tooth began to drift, turning away and curling her face into his pillow . She dug her hands underneath it to the cooler side. Her knees pulled themselves up and she breathed softly, falling asleep. The notebook full of copied notes lay at the edge of the small bed, forgotten.

Jack watched her curl in on herself in his bed and fall asleep. He shook his head, smiling a little. She was such a hard worker. She could have waited to finish copying them.

He glanced outside. It was getting dark.

"Tooth," he said quietly, jabbing at her back from the floor. "Tooth, wake up."

She didn't stir.

He sighed heavily before standing and rubbing the woodchips off of his shirt onto the floor. He had ditched his sweater somewhere. The room felt a little warmer than it usually did.

"Tooth, c'mon," he tried again. He reached out a hand, ready to shake her awake, but pulled it back hesitantly. She seemed so peaceful right now. He didn't want to mess it up. He always messed up the good things he had. He didn't want to screw up anymore.

Not with her.

Jack leaned over and placed a soft, calloused hand down on her arm. He whispered quietly.

"It'll be dark soon. C'mon Tooth, I gotta' walk you home. Please?"

She stirred slightly, moving away from his hand. Fine. He would wake her like he used to wake Emma.

Jack let his fingers wiggle up and down her sides, unsurprised when Tooth jumped awake, giggling.

"H-Hey! Quit it!" she was still giggling happily, drowsiness lacing the light laughs. Jack felt his gut tighten. The sound was gorgeous. He stepped away, running a lone hand over his arm. The skin had risen and the little hairs were standing at attention.

Tooth sat up and hopped out of his bed slowly, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry about that. I guess I should get home before it's too late, huh? My dad will get worried if I don't."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, he will. The animals around here come out at night, so we should get going soon."

Tooth nodded, slipping on her winter coat and her packing her things away. The little daylight left outside was shining through Jack's massive skylight and window, spilling onto the hardwood floor. Tooth yawned as she zipped up the pack.

Jack shrugged on his sweater before heading to the front, Tooth following.

"Bye!" She called out to Uncle Moon as she passed his office. The old man nodded in surprise, waving at her, but looking at Jack. When was the last time that boy walked anyone home? Had he ever? Uncle Moon was highly pleased. His nephew was getting along just fine!

Jack accompanied Tooth all the way back to her house, the walk being long and quiet. The night sky was slowly showing itself. Finally, they reached Tooth's house.

"Well...I'll see you later, I guess."

Tooth smiled, nodding in agreement. "Of course you will. Thanks again for helping me out! Your uncle was pretty cool, too. Bye Jack!" She turned swiftly and drifted up to her doorway, pulling out her keys to unlock her door.

Jack felt his throat close up before his fingers began to tingle. His stomach felt like it was twisting in on itself and he didn't know what to do with his hands. His heart was beating faster than usual.

He wanted to say something.

But what? Why couldn't he just turn around and go home?

He could feel the words, bubbling up inside him. They slowly morphed from a simple feeling, to a thought, to a quiet sentence trapped in his throat.

"H-Hey, Tooth," Jack blurted out, unable to stop himself. What the hell was he doing? He felt his fingers curl into fists before uncurling once more. He was so damn nervous.

She turned and glanced back at him before walking back over, curious. Her large amethyst eyes roved all over his expression before she settled on his eyes. "What's up?"

He felt his brain shutting down. She was so...so...he hadn't really noticed it before! He liked having her around. He liked what they did today. He was so tired of being the loner. He was so tired of being lonely. It had been like that for nearly two years, but then she came along and- everything just...changed.

It was like having Emma around again. It was like having all of his old friends back. It was like being back home with Mom and Dad. And it was a little like something else too, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"I, uh- Y-You should visit more often! Come over, I mean. To my house. To hang out." He turned red at the sound of his stammering, the blood rushing through his cheeks.

Tooth paused for the longest of moments. He could hear his heart pounding and his ears ringing. The short seconds were beginning to feel like an eternity to Jack.

And then, she smiled.

A big and bright one, a real one. He had seen her do it before, oh so many times Tooth had smiled at him, but this one had nearly knocked him off of his feet. She was smiling with all of herself. Just for him.

Jack felt her very expression was filling his lungs up with air to the bursting point; he was sure he would float away. Her face was glowing with so much pleasure, he couldn't help but feel like he was looking at the sun...no, not even a sun. That didn't do it justice, the expression she was giving him.

She was like- she was...

...beautiful.

"Yeah, it sounds fun! I'd like that."

Jack felt the corners of his lips turning up, smiling back like he was surprised he still knew how. He had forgotten how contagious she was.

His throat relaxed and his hands loosened up. She had agreed. She liked the idea. His insides were still all weird, but he felt a lot better getting that out. What a weird moment.

Jack nodded, trying to look around nonchalantly for a minute, before shooting her a crooked grin. "Later, Tooth."

She waved at him eagerly and unembarrassed. Tooth watched him stroll away from the her house until he vanished around the corner. She sighed, looking at the tremors running through her fingers. She had been so nervous! Over something so small, too!

The moment had been so small.

So...why did it feel like her heart burst? Why did it feel like something important just...? Jack and her had been so close just now, that Tooth had been blown away. She had been sure that their thoughts would crash into each other and shatter everywhere.

His smile had been so real just then. Like he had reached deep inside of himself and pulled it out, just for her.

Tooth slowly walked up to the front door and opened it, feeling the heat and warmth of her own home wash over her.

She walked inside with steady steps and trembling hands.

Chapter Text

"C'mon over and sit down hon', she'll be connecting with us soon."

Tooth fixed her hair in the hallway mirror one last time before coming to sit down on the living room couch beside her father. She fingered her necklace while he fiddled with his glasses.

Tooth wasn't going to school today. She was going to talk to her mother.

It had been ages since Tooth and her father had been able to talk to her mother through anything else besides handwritten letters. In the dangerous places she had been sent to overseas with her unit, the hazardous areas sometimes wouldn't have electricity or proper wireless signals. Finally, her mother's unit had moved to a safer region and she could now video chat with them again.

They were waiting patiently near her dad's laptop, waiting for the clock to hit the time the chat was arranged to start. Soon, her mother's face would illuminate the screen and she would be able to see them, despite being hundreds of miles away.

They used to have done it often, much more than they do nowadays.

Her mother—being a sergeant rather than a newbie—had much more time than the others in her unit to communicate with family. She had already finished her training! All she had to do was formulate strategies and plans whenever her unit had a mission. She would supervise the new recruits training to make sure they were earning their right to fly.

Tooth had been so anxious when she heard about the war ending because that meant that her mother would be able to return home. Her mother had been excited as well—until those of higher ranks informed her of troublesome groups causing a commotion abroad near military camps. Her mother had to return overseas and help once more. They needed Rashmi. She was one of the best pilots they'd ever had.

Unlike her calm father, Tooth was so worried when she had found out; her mother would actually be fighting this time. She could get seriously hurt! She could get shot out of the sky, or worse...

...she might never come back!

Her confident mother had suppressed her fears when she spoke with Tooth before she went overseas.

"I want to be with you and your father Tooth, I do. But I made a promise to the country, and I have to keep it. I keep my promises. Had I thought before making the decision, I would've never done it, but it's too late for that. All I can do is keep my team together. Now, I will make a new promise to you: I'm coming back soon. It will be a while, but you know me—no one can mess with these wings! I'll be home soon."

And despite the tiny fears that hid in her gut, Tooth believed her mother with everything she had. All she had to do was be good and wait.

Her mother would be allowed to return in the summer. No more waiting. No more worries. Just Rashmi.

A window popped up on the laptop and Tooth and her father shared equally bright smiles. Rashmi was smiling back, dressed up just for them.

"Well, look at you two! All decked out and nice... I feel so special!" she giggled on-screen, but Tooth could still see her radiance. She loved how her mother could be a hardcore sergeant and still be as girly and feminine as ever.

"Hi, Mom!" she said, waving eagerly at the screen. Haroom waved with equal vigor, beaming at the love of his life.

They spoke for hours, presumably, trying to catch up with everything that had been going on in all of their lives.

Too soon, it seemed, the time came when Rashmi was needed once again with her unit. She bade her family farewell before disconnecting from the chat. Tooth and her father sighed, both feeling lighter than usual. Rashmi was safe, healthy, and happy. She had been flying lately and they could tell by just looking at her face.

Her father smiled at her before writing her an absence note for the first couple of classes that she had missed while waiting for her mother's scheduled video chat. Tooth felt content as she slipped on her boots and tromped through the snow to Burgess High. North and everyone else would have already driven to the school earlier that day. She had already called them beforehand to let them know she wouldn't need the lift.

Tooth wasn't upset that she had missed the ride.

"C'mon guys! Hurry, hurry!" the anxious girl insisted, ushering everyone through the door. North, Sandy, and Bunnymund all pushed into the house.

"Oh, finally! Some warmth. Crikey, it was cold out there!" Bunnymund chattered out while running his hands along his shivering muscled arms. Sandy nodded vigorously in agreement while swiping snow off of his shoulders. North didn't appear fazed whatsoever.

Uncle Moon turned the hallway corner, smiling at all the newcomers.

"Ah! You did bring them, Toothiana. So many people! Are you all friends with my nephew? And you all are so early. You have the decorations, I assume?"

Tooth and her friends all nodded, holding out various party decorations.

Uncle Moon held up his hands in relief and tried to keep a grin from breaking through his straight face. "Well, I'll leave you all alone to that then. Careful with the house though; it's old."

He hobbled away into his office.

"Let's go!" North announced, heading for the dining room. They all followed closely behind.

Tooth was so excited! Today was Jack's birthday and they were going to surprise him. He didn't know that they all knew that today was his special day, thanks to Tooth. She had made plans with their friends to throw a small surprise party for Jack at his house while he was away. Uncle Moon had helped them by getting Jack to visit the St. Bernart's Children's Hospital after school instead of coming straight home.

Right about now, he was probably playing with Jamie and the other children, completely unaware of the hullabaloo happening at his house.

Tooth refocused her attention on the task at hand and continued to blow up balloons. She cautiously glanced over to see how the others were doing.

Sandy couldn't reach the ceiling to hang the banners up, so North clomped over to help him. Bunnymund was busy setting out plates and cups.

Tooth smiled at them all. She was so happy that they were close enough friends to do something like this for Jack too. Of course, they had all thrown surprise parties for one another before, but their snowy-haired addition to the group had yet to have one.

She hadn't anticipated how easy it would actually be to get all the boys to agree to her idea. North and Sandy got excited right away because they loved parties, and they both liked Jack a lot. Over the past few weeks, they had really taken a fondness for him! Even Bunnymund...Tooth had thought for sure she would run into trouble when she presented the idea to him, but he readily agreed.

"What? You thought I was planning to say 'no'? Frost isn't that bad of a bloke. He's still annoying as all get-out, but he only does that to get at me. If you can be friends with him, then I s'pose I can, too."

Tooth hadn't felt as happy all day until she heard Bunnymund say those words. He seemed to wilt under her bright grin and multiple 'thank-you's'. She noticed his frown and tried to question him on it, but he wiped the expression away as soon as it had appeared on his face.

They all continued working on the party decorations and soon enough the dining room looked like a winter party bonanza. Banners ran along the walls and the party plates were all set up. North's nicely wrapped present sat on the table, even though Tooth had insisted that they didn't have to get Jack anything. North insisted that Jack would love what he had built. Sandy had made a card. Bunnymund had listened to her and only helped create the cake. He came to her house the day before; after Tooth had dragged them away from Call of Duty, she was able to convince Bunnymund to write in nice script on the cake. She had worked on the pictures. There was a brief frosting battle and they both came out with sugary hair and dough powder everywhere.

To be honest, the cake looked a little strange and lumpy, like it wanted to fall in on itself but couldn't. The others didn't mind—they had tried their best. As long as it tasted good!

Uncle Moon walked in once they were all finished setting things up and looked in awe at the decorations. "You all did a great job! I don't think I've ever seen party decor in this house since the year 1927..."

Bunnymund was the only one who heard that last part, thanks to his extraordinary hearing. He shot the old man a strange look.

"That can't be right... that would mean you're over ninety years old, but you don't look a day over sixty." He was quick when it came to numbers.

Uncle Moon paused before giving the teenager a strange, glassy-eyed look. "Ah! You're right, my boy. Silly me..."

The old man sped away. No one else had seemed to notice, but Bunnymund was thoroughly freaked out.

Tooth and the others were too busy planning on how they were going to surprise the birthday boy.

"So how will we know you call the signal to yell 'surprise!' if I cannot see you give it? I will be hiding behind door," asked North.

Tooth pondered for a moment. "Well... I could make a noise instead of signaling with my fingers."

"Like a bird call," Sandy wrote.

North laughed. "Toothiana is bird, now? I thought she only remain as party planner. Ha! A bird."

Tooth shook her head. "Focus, guys! Okay, alright. I'll do two short bird calls and on the third one, you guy yell 'surprise!' Agreed?"

"Agreed," North called out. Sandy and Bunnymund nodded.

Uncle Moon called over from across the hall, "Children, he's on the porch. I would hide now if I were you."

They all scrambled behind random pieces of furniture, while Tooth lay flat against the wall near the doorway. She flipped the switch and darkness swept over the room.

She could hear Uncle Moon start small chatter with his nephew as the door swung open and closed, and the familiar sound of a bag hitting the floor echoed out. The old man was luring him into the surprise.

"Oh, and Jack, I need you to grab the good dishes from the dining room."

"Sure Uncle," Jack replied, heading towards the darkened room.

As he neared the door, Tooth blew two low whistles before the third one, flipping the switch.

"Uncle? I think a pigeon got trapped in here or someth-"

"SURPRISE!"

They all laughed boisterously as Jack's eyes widened and his hands flew over his chest. It was falling and rising rapidly and he couldn't stop the amazed grin that was sliding into his expression. He breathed out a low, harsh breath as his blue eyes took in the decorations and the party supplies.

"How... did you guys get into my house?"

Chuckles resounded throughout the room as North made his way forward to give Jack a very rough noogie. "Jack Frost, you think birthday may pass without us knowing? Very wrong you are, my friend."

Jack giggled, trying to squirm out of the large teen's arms only to be grabbed once more by Bunnymund. "You're seventeen, mate. Know what that means?"

"It means...I'm seventeen?"

"Nope," Bunnymund chirped before slugging Jack in the arm, "it means seventeen birthday punches from yours truly—and a pinch for good luck!"

Jack grasped his arm, grimacing, before a twisted smirk played on his lips. "Just you wait until yours, Dumbo. Maybe I can pinch your ears for good luck and make 'em smaller."

"Oi! My ears are a perfectly normal size! Don't mess with the ears!"

Jack smiled, walking circles around the tall boy. He clapped his hands onto his cheeks and mad a fake-squeal. "Oh MY goodness gracious, grandma! What large EARS you have!"

"Why you little—!"

They began playfully rough-housing until North had to pull them apart. Sandy waited for the ruckus to cease before stepping forward with his gift, a handmade birthday card. Jack smiled warmly upon the shorter boy before thanking him and taking the card.

He shot Tooth a grin. "I guess you guys have been pretty busy while I was out."

Tooth shrugged, biting back her own grin. "You don't turn seventeen every day!"

Jack nodded, just smiling at them all, before sitting down and attacking the cake. North and Bunnymund raced for seats while Tooth and Sandy calmly passed out plates. Things fell into a warm, friendly vibe and all was well.

After demolishing some of the cake, Jack went for the presents, eager to see what he had gotten. There was only one, yet he was still excited. When was the last time he had a party? Before the accident, probably.

He ripped open North's eye-popping wrapping paper, uncovering the item that lay beneath the folds. When he full unraveled it, his lips parted and he inhaled sharply. Sweet!

A skateboard. A hand-made skateboard.

North grinned eagerly, reaching across the table to point out his handiwork.

"You like? I've wanted to make skateboard for while now, but there was no one to test. Now I have you for guinea pig! Besides, you seem like one to roll around neighborhood, never stopping. Spring will come soon and melt snow from the ground and then you can ride like wind."

Jack vaguely listened to his Russian friend as he ran his fingers along the board, feeling the smooth wood beneath.

The board had painted designs of icicles and snowflakes flying across it, with powdery white gusts of wind along the sides. Tooth must've mentioned his little 'winter' obsession. He could feel little bumps and ridges where it should've been smooth, but he didn't care. He would never truly show it, but he adored the gift. Who knew that North could be so crafty? He couldn't wait to ride this thing!

He ran a few smooth white fingers along the face of the board, bringing them up to his sharp gaze. Not a splinter to be found.

Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times before any sound decided to come out.

A real gift from a friend. He actually had friends now. He liked the sound of that. His friends.

"North...I don't know what to say..."

"Say nothing, Frost boy! It is beauty, is it not? I use hard maple for wood; it will keep you steady and strong, like current in river. The sanding took long while, but it was not too bad. I build from scratch."

Jack nodded eagerly, looking happier than he had all day. Tooth couldn't help but swoon a bit inside. He was far too good looking when he was this happy. And she thought it had been hard talking to him when he was frowning all the time! They continued to eat and goof around, being boisterous and adoring Jack's new board.

The partying was going full blast until an old voice cut through all sound.

"Jack."

Everyone halted what they were doing to see where the sudden interruption had come from.

Uncle Moon had stepped in through the doorway, looking a little grave. "The phone... it's for you."

Tooth didn't comment, but she noticed the boy's face fall ever so slightly. He lowered his forkful of cake and rubbed a nervous thumb over his fingers.

"Who's calling?"

Uncle Moon looked down at his cane for a moment as if contemplating whether or not to say anything, before raising his gaze once more.

"Your mother. Go on, she's waiting."

The room grew silent. The boys looked on curiously, but Tooth was wary. Her fingers were fiddling around restlessly in her lap. Jack looked as if a switch had flipped in his head, like all the emotion had been sucked out of him. When he finally decided to speak, his voice came out as sharp as knives.

"Tell her to call later. I'm busy."

Uncle Moon shook his head, his expression growing serious. Tooth fidgeted in her seat. She had never seen the kindly old man look this way before. The elderly's brows were furrowed, and a shadow of irritation flicked across his face.

"No fussing Jack, just—at least try and see what she has to say—"

"I know what she wants to say. I just don't want to hear it. Tell her to call back later."

"I am not your carrier-pigeon, young man. You can talk to her yourself. And I expect you to hear her out—she's your mother."

"She can hang up, and call back later—"

"Jackson Overland Frost! Do not make me tell you again."

The air was frigid and the tension grew thick and heavy as Jack rose out of his seat and stalked out of the room past his uncle to the hallway telephone.

Tooth looked at her friends and they simply looked back at one another, unsure of what exactly was going on. She could see the confusion mirrored in all of their eyes. They could feel the bad vibes in the air, too.

Uncle Moon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before adjusting his spectacles and growing soft again.

"I'm sorry for that, children. These days have been hard for us. Thank you so much for the party, but... I don't think it would be wise for you all to stay right now. Why don't you all come back tomorrow on Tuesday? I make fantastic hot chocolate! Toothiana will tell you so."

They all agreed, thanking Uncle Moon for the hospitality and the help, promising that yes, they would all visit again. They filed out through the doorway, but Tooth stopped short on the front porch, remembering something. How could she forget? She must have gotten sidetracked with all the fun they were having.

"Guys, wait... I still have to give him my present!"

They all bid her farewell before parting ways, with Tooth running back inside the house and the boys heading down the path and out of the woods. Bunnymund faltered, looking over his shoulder at her retreating figure. He fingered the stubs of the tickets in his coat pocket before turning away and delving into the trees.

Tooth walked in and began looking for Uncle Moon. She had to let him know she was here, still in his house... it would be rude if she didn't! As she spun around to close the door and shut out the cold wintery air, she could hear loud voices behind her. Tooth turned back to see Jack holding the hallway phone in a tight grip. The skin on his knuckles glowed with white as he clenched his fists.

"Of course I know- yeah, but... no! No, I didn't mean it that way at all, you're not listening to me. I just wish you would listen to me for once..."

Tooth froze, afraid to make her presence known. Should she have just left, instead? This seemed like a really bad time. She could hear the loud voice on the opposite end of the phone from all the way down the hall! That must've been his mother yelling. What were they fighting about that had gotten them both so riled up? Tooth backed up slowly, her hand searching for the door knob.

Jack went on, his voice more and more desperate as the seconds raced by.

"...Maybe if you stopped shouting, I- why won't you just- I... I kept telling you over and over, I wasn't lying! I told you the truth, I told Dad the truth, hell, I even told the police the truth, and still, no one believed me- ! Mom, please- you can't just call on my birthday and dump all of this on me, especially since you haven't called for months... Mom. Did you even listen to me? I. Didn't. Do. It."

Tooth was sure that the voice on the other end was screaming by the noise and Jack's cringing. He tried lowering his tone, his words coming out slow and steady.

"Okay, okay... I'm sorry. Alright? I don't know what else to say to you anymore! I've said it so many damn times, Mom. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I know I messed up. I know it's my fault. Just... can I please talk to her? She hasn't answered any of my letters, not a single one... what are you talking about? Of course I sent her letters! Just put her on the phone, let me hear her at least once. Please?"

The voice on the other line yelled something in response. His fist hit the wall as he clutched even tighter to the phone with trembling fingers.

"Fine! Fine, Helena. What, you expected me to call you mom, again? Why would I? I mean, it's not like I've seen you for a year and a half or anything. I don't see the point in calling you something that you don't want to be; because if you wanted to be a mom- my mom- you would've heard me out instead of listening to every other person that made me seem like some kind of monster in that stupid town...!"

His voice was shaking terribly now as Tooth's fingers grasped onto the doorknob, trying to push back out onto the front porch. The knob jammed on something, refusing to open.

This was a horrible time. She really didn't want to get caught.

"Moms don't send their kids away. Moms don't ignore the phone when they know it's their only son calling about why she's been ignoring his other calls for months. And moms especially don't call on their kid's birthday to remind them how much of a disappointment they are. What's wrong...? You don't want to say anything now? Then I'll just say this: Don't call here again."

Tooth jumped as the phone was slammed back into the wall holster. She didn't dare to breathe as the enraged boy sped down the hall and up the steps, completely unaware of her.

Uncle Moon poked his head out of the office to see if the coast was clear before walking over to the phone. He gave a small 'tsk' as he assessed the damage that slamming it down had done, before gazing at the steps where his nephew had fled. He put the phone back on the receiver before he finally noticed a breathless Tooth in the doorway.

"Oh! Toothiana? Why are you still here, dear girl? You should head home before your parents worry..."

Tooth looked at her tight grip on the doorknob before refocusing on Uncle Moon. Her legs were screaming 'run away', but her gut was telling her something else.

"Will he be okay? That sounded... intense." Tooth commented quietly.

Uncle Moon gave her a contemplative look before shrugging slightly whilst adjusting his glasses. "Indeed. His mother is a bit of a firecracker, she is. It's where he gets it from, her side of the family and all," he clacked his cane on the hardwood floors before continuing, "but I'm not sure if he'll be alright. She hasn't spoken to him for a long time. I had thought it would be good for the both of them to give each other space, but now I'm starting to regret it. I think the distance has only allowed bad ideas to fester in their minds and bad feelings to take root. They're horribly upset with one another."

Uncle Moon looked between Tooth and the door. "You are a good friend, to care so much. But I must warn you. You should go. I won't force you to leave, but if you try to speak with him now, he'll probably say something that he doesn't mean."

She took a brief moment to think. Tooth thought about the pained tone in Jack's voice and how his back curled, like he was trying to disappear inside of himself while talking to his mother. His volume had been so strong and loud, but his body language had been so small and scared. He was upset. And on his birthday, too! Such a shame. Still...

She knew it was a long shot, but Tooth wanted to try. Maybe her gift could cheer him up?

"I, uhm... I forgot to give him his present, so..."

Uncle Moon nodded, simply stepping aside for her. Tooth slipped by with ease and quietly padded up the stairs to Jack's room. The old man smiled, walking into his office and softly shutting the door. How funny that boy was! He had a woman who called to take his smile away, and a girl who was there to return it.

His humor soon faded. Ah, why did Helena have to go and do that? He had always known that his brother's wife was impulsive. She was beautiful and strong-willed, but she was also rash and stubborn. She could hold a grudge for ages.

Tooth made it up to the second landing before pausing in front of Jack's room. She crept towards his closed off room, trying to figure out in her head exactly what she was going to say.

The house was old and weary, and so her steps were announced on the creaky floorboards. She cringed as the wood groaned loudly, signaling her presence.

"Go away, Uncle," he snapped from behind the door, hearing the movements.

Tooth breathed in deeply, closing her eyes before opening them in determination. Her breath came out in cold puffs. Frost was back.

"I'm not your uncle, Jack. And I sure hope you don't speak to him that way... He's your elder."

She was greeted with silence. When Tooth didn't hear any sounds coming from within the room, she gently pushed the door open.

The room was dim and quiet, with the curtains drawn shut and the skylight closed off. Jack sat on the edge of his bed, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at the floor with a frown.

Tooth didn't speak as she went over to the skylight's drawstring and pulled it open, watching as the light spilled onto a spot on the floor. Jack didn't look at her and instead, decided to lean back in his bed and gaze at the skylight. Tooth walked over, looking around awkwardly and trying not to get crushed by the heavy silence.

"Are—are you alright?" she asked, trying to sound confident in her words but failing miserably; they came out weak and tiny.

The boy ignored her, simply grabbing a baseball off of a nearby dresser before laying back down to chuck it in the air. Tooth's brows furrowed. She was right here in his room and yet he could still make her feel invisible. She just wanted to know if he was okay! He didn't have to ignore her like this...

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice came a little stronger.

The ball went up in the air before falling back down into his palms. He chucked it up. Gravity pulled it back down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

Finally:

"Nah. Go home."

Tooth froze. Go home? He was dismissing her? Who did he think he was all of a sudden? She was only trying to help. She had thrown him a party and brought over all his friends. Heck, she had even made him a present! He had been so kind, so happy before! Now he was being cold again, and he wouldn't even tell her why. What had changed?

She grabbed the ball out of midair and flung it across the room. Jack sat up abruptly, looking at her like she had gone crazy.

"What are you doing?" he demanded loudly, trying to get up. He quickly plopped down and backed away as Tooth came over to sit on the other side, blocking his way.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong? You said before that I could trust you if I needed help. I want you to treat me with the same respect. If you need help, I'm here for you."

She slumped a little. Even to herself, her voice sounded needy and desperate.

He scoffed at her, rolling his eyes. "You're not trying to help. You're just prying again. Do... do you only hang around to see what makes me tick? You probably think you're some kind of Sherlock Holmes, solving the mystery of Jack Frost, the reject. Have you figured me out yet, Tooth?"

His mocking tone was ticking her off. He knew she didn't think that! He was just trying to push her away. Tooth gritted her teeth and tried to keep her frustration from getting the best of her.

"I'm not trying to solve any 'mystery'; I'm trying to help a friend! If I didn't care, why would I throw you this party in the first place? I'm the one who planned it from the beginning. Why do you insist on pushing people away?"

His eyes widened in brief surprise at how quick she had caught onto him. He forced his face into neutrality and his look grew more and more vacant as she went on. The ice mask had returned, and Tooth could see it hardening by the second. He was blocking her out.

His voice was infuriatingly calm.

"Why do you insist pushing into my life?"

Tooth could feel the heat race through her body as she began to see red. She fought the urge to scream.

"Because I hate it when you look like that!" Her voice came out strangled and pained, but she went on with her fists burying into his blankets. "N-n-now hate is a strong word, Jack, and I don't like to say it but...I hate it. I really do. I hate it when you turn into some sort of... some sort of statue... it's like you're trying to block everyone out and keep everything inside of you like some kind of secret, but you're only hurting yourself. I hate it when you walk around like nothing hurts when you know it does. I hate that you let others get you down this low-" she looked around in vain, trying to find the words that were just at the tip of her tongue.

"-I hate that you think you can't trust me."

She looked in his eyes hopefully for a sign, but they remained hard and sharp. She unclenched her fists and let her fingers trail back softly into her lap.

He was so... uncaring. He was so cold. Here she was, pretty much holding out her bleeding heart to him on a silver platter, and all he did was ignore the sound of it's beating.

She breathed. She would try again. He was worth it to her.

"I wish you trusted me, because I really do care about you." She said softly, looking him in the eye. Could he catch her drift? Would he understand?

He looked at her in extreme disbelief, and for a moment, Tooth was hopeful.

Then he laughed.

An empty, hollow laugh. He was clutching at his sides, unable to stop the bitter, cold sound coming forth from him. His eyes closed from strain and he lowered his head away from her.

Tooth could feel her bottom lip trembling. She tried to bite down on it to stop the soft tremors, but they soon spread from her lips to her fingers, to everywhere else. Her eyes were burning, and she refused to lift her hands to wipe at them, looking this way and that. It felt like something was trying to crawl out of her throat, like her stomach was a tangled mess.

Tooth quickly turned away from the delirious boy and leapt off of the bed.

"Tooth...? Wait-" he called out from behind her, his laughing having ceasing immediately at the sight of her leaving.

She didn't wait. Racing out of the room, her mind was working in overdrive as she ran down the stairs, trying to use her thoughts to combat with the pain in her chest.

She could hear him padding out of his room after her, offering apologies and trying to explain himself. He leaned over the banister, calling after her from above.

"Tooth, c'mon, I wasn't laughing at you-"

Her head was pounding too hard for her to hear him as she disappeared into the hallway.

'Whatever,' she thought hopelessly. It didn't matter anyways.

Forget about it, it was stupid. The party was a dumb idea—coming here was a dumb idea. How could she be so...?

'Oh god.'

It was fine though! Really, it was. Because now, she could go home, finish her paper, study for some tests, and try really, really hard not to think about Jack Frost ever again.

'It's not fine. I messed up so bad this time!'

Tooth rushed down the hall, trying to sidestep around the sorrowful old man in her way. He had heard them shouting, probably. Had he heard his nephew laughing at her, too?

"I have to go home," she exclaimed fast, hearing Jack walking down the stairs.

Uncle Moon shook his head, worried. "Please understand, whatever he said or did- he's- Jack just... he really needs a friend right now. He didn't mean to hurt you, dear-"

She could hear footsteps at the end of the hall.

"Not to be rude Mr. Moon, but I really have to leave. Schoolwork," she supplied, sliding her back against the wall as she dove around him. Jack's steps were closer than ever.

"Wait up-!"

Her gloved hands fumbled with the doorknob before shoving it open. She didn't bother to turn around and close the door as she leapt the porch steps, eager to get away from her pursuer and hide her embarrassment.

She was so damn embarrassed! She had spilled her guts out to him and he had just laughed at her. Tooth shook her head, unable to stop the tears now as she sped up. She was so angry at Jack, so disappointed with the situation.

She was halfway down the path into the woods before she felt a hand on her arm.

Spinning around, she saw a flushed Jack with disheveled clothes and a pleading look. His bright eyes widened at her wet cheeks and puffy eyes.

Tooth avoided his piercing stare and glanced down at his feet instead, trying hard to ignore the way the hair on her arms stood up when he touched her. He wasn't even wearing any shoes! He had chased her out into the freezing snow barefoot...?

"Tooth—" he began, but Tooth wriggled, trying to get out of his grip.

"Let me go!" Her voice sounded awful, even to her. She made small fists out of her hands and pulled them back threateningly. "You can't just... you can't just laugh at people like that."

Jack gaped at her, bewildered. "I wasn't laughing at you. I just thought it was funny that you cared so much ab-"

"That isn't funny, Jack!" she blurted, lowering her hands. "None of this is funny, not one bit! I heard your own mother screaming at you over the phone. On your birthday, no less! And then you go and shut your friends out, the people who care about you, like Bunnymund and Sandy and North, like Uncle Moon, like-"

She faltered, trying to wipe at the embarrassing tears with her mittens. It didn't help.

"...like me... and you just laughed at me, you laughed..."

Tooth stopped speaking, feeling something crawl back up her throat again. It felt horrifyingly close to a sob, but she wasn't sure. She clenched her teeth together behind her lips and lowered her gaze, fighting it back down. She didn't want him to see this. This messy, unstable side of her.

For a while, all she did was look at his bare feet in the snow, next to her warm boots. She breathed deep, trying to collect herself. All of that ceased when Jack began to move in front of her. He took a step towards her, slow and hesitant. Soon, her bowed head was inches away from his chest, and if she leaned forward, she could have touched it. She didn't.

But he did.

"I'm sorry," he tried, sliding two calloused hands along the sides of Tooth's warm cheeks, rubbing away the tears. She didn't move away as his forehead leaned forward to touch hers.

"I'm sorry, Tooth. I messed up... I wasn't laughing because you care; I was laughing because I don't get how you could care."

Tooth glanced up into the bright blue eyes before her, confused. What was he talking about? He was so close, that his frosty breath would roll over her lips as he spoke.

"I know you weren't prying. I know you were just trying to be a good friend. But I just got so mad, and no one else was there but you, so...I took it out on you. See? This is how I am. I'm not a nice person. That's why I don't get you. I don't deserve it! Why do you care about me at all? I've never done anything for you. I'm not worth the hassle."

Tooth scoffed, rolling her eyes. Was he always so dramatic? Then she checked herself. She began giggling. What a way the tables were turning! Wasn't it her that had ran out of the house bawling like a baby?

Jack groaned. "Now I feel like you're laughing at me."

Tooth backed up and shook her head fast, her face clear of tears. Her chest was beginning to feel lighter. Maybe she hadn't messed up.

"No, no! I'm not laughing at you! I was just laughing at a thought. But Jack; what I don't understand... Why do you think I shouldn't care about you? I mean, how strange is that? No one thinks stuff like that. You're my friend, of course I care!"

He smiled gratefully at her and together, they chuckled in the freezing snow. When things settled, they headed back to the house. Tooth folded her hands behind her back before kicking at the snow playfully. Jack had been careful to put a good three feet of distance between them after the close moment. He seemed to be afraid to touch her. She shot the idea down and spoke up.

"You don't have to talk about things if you don't want to. It's just when I'm upset, it helps to talk to someone. I thought it would help you."

Jack gave a breathless laugh before shaking his head sadly. "No offense, but I don't think talking will help me. Besides, you wouldn't want to hear it."

"Yes I would! If it'd help-"

"It won't."

Tooth sighed in frustration. So secretive! "Well...I actually do have to head home, so here's your present."

She reached into her coat and carefully pulled out a paper bag that she had placed into the lining of the coat. Jack watched with interest as she pulled out a canvas about the size of a thin textbook. It was thick and white, but it was also blank. Jack raised an eyebrow, wondering. He liked crafts and woodworking, but he wasn't into painting.

And then Tooth turned the canvas around.

His jaw slackened.

'Emma.'

There she was, among the numerous brush strokes of colorful paint. There was winter snow surrounding her, but where her small feet were placed, tall spring flowers and green grass sprouted from the ground. She was holding the snowflake charm in her hand and smiling at the viewer, revealing a cute little gap in the front row of teeth in her mouth. Her smile seemed to shine the most in the picture.

Jack gulped. The likeness was incredibly realistic. Tooth could paint...? It looked just like Emma. How had Tooth known...?

Tooth looked from side to side, fidgeting and trying to act nonchalant. Jack looked like he didn't know what to say. She was nervous! It had taken forever to paint this. She had a good memory and was able to recall how Emma had looked in the picture in Jack's house, but... had she went overboard? Should she have not drawn Jack's sister? That subject was kind of personal, and she had crossed the line so many times already.

She sighed and let it go. What was done was done! She had already painted it and Jack had already seen it.

"Uh... Do you like it...?" she ventured carefully, holding the canvas out to him. Jack reached out to grasp it, a smirk pulling on the corners of his lips.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do... this is really good, Tooth."

The girl shrugged, brushing off the compliment humbly. "It wasn't all that hard," she fibbed. "I hope you don't mind, I mean, I know you love her a lot and I couldn't think of anything else to get you, so… I made you this."

"I don't mind," Jack grinned at her, "I really do like it. It's almost like seeing her again...a younger version. I'm pretty sure she's taller now and has that gap filled out."

Jack felt something warm shoot from his fingertips into his chest. This was one of the most thoughtful gifts he'd gotten in a long time. He'd repay the favor... but how? He raised his gaze from the painting and looked at the shifty girl, feeling strange. Her eyes were still a little puffy and she was still walking on eggshells around him, but she seemed so happy that the fight had been dealt with. She was overjoyed that he liked her gift.

Jack swallowed hard. There was that weird feeling again...! It sort of felt like he was going to float away, like his chest was filling up. It felt like he had explosions going off inside of him, melting away all of the ice that had built up.

They looked at each other awkwardly before Tooth bid a hasty farewell and jogged back down the path, heading home.

Jack looked from the vivacious colors in the painting to the girl gliding away before him. The colors in her hair bounced along her back in coils. A light went off in Jack's mind.

He knew exactly how to repay her. Come summer, he would give her the best gift she'd ever gotten.

Tooth had been excited the few weeks before the Winter Ball, catching up on who was going with who. Her friends were all in good moods and she and Jack had become a little closer. She never did find out the reason his mom freaked on him that day, but it seemed to her that as the days passed, he would reveal bits and pieces to her.

His father was kind and quiet, like Uncle Moon. His sister was ill often. His mother loved flowers, but she also loved being stubborn.

Things had been going fantastic until Arachne started coming after her- hard.

Tooth didn't like confrontations. She never had. And so the first day that Arachne walked up to her and shoved her books out of her hands, she thought nothing of it and gathered her things up. She couldn't help it if people were rude, right? But when the event began to repeat itself, Tooth started to worry.

Arachne seemed to take great fun out of bothering her, and Tooth didn't like it. Subtle hair pulling, tripping, knocking things out of her hands and other annoyances were slowly becoming part of Arachne's daily routine towards Tooth.

Tooth considered telling the disciplinary office, but she had no proof of what the girl was doing. Arachne left no traces and only did the little, irritable things when no one was around, nothing major. Tooth did her best to stick with someone during passing periods, because Arachne would look the other way if she was with a friend. If she was alone? It was open season for Arachne.

The little annoyances from Arachne and her ponderings about Jack's secrets began to affect Tooth's mood. She became quiet as the days went by. She had figured the boys didn't notice, and so she was surprised when Bunnymund approached her at her locker after school. Arachne headed in the opposite direction at the sight of him and Tooth couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, what's up?" she chirped, closing her locker. Bunnymund greeted her back with equal vigor, his fingers fidgeting.

"Nothing much," he supplied, "me and the guys wanted to know if you'd come with us to that milkshake spot down the block. It's reopened and they've got that new flavor, too."

"Oh, sure! Is Jack coming with us?"

Bunnymund scoffed. "Dunno. Dun' care. Probably not. It'll be just us."

Tooth nodded happily and Bunnymund sighed to himself in relief. He fingered the tickets in his pockets once more, trying to calm his nerves.

And so after school, they all walked down to the milkshake shop near school. They were pretty lucky to find seats; the place was so popular after re-opening that it was usually crowded

Tooth sat by Sandy, placing her bags neatly beside her while Bunnymund and North sat across the table.

"Ooh! Jukebox! Maybe it has the music of winter season?" North ditched his coat on the booth seat and leapt up, hurrying over to the old fashioned machine. He was fiddling with the controls, trying to see how the colorful and noisy mechanism worked. Soon enough, holiday tunes were blasting throughout the small diner.

They fell into easy conversation and caught up. Tooth smiled, glad to be brought up to speed with how things were for Sandy and Bunnymund. The birthday party plans for Jack had taken a toll on her.

The boys were glad to see her cheery and happy again. Bunnymund felt a spark of courage in his chest and decided to throw it out there.

"Tooth," he said steadily, fighting to keep her gaze without freaking out, "I was thinking—maybe, uh... would you like to...?" He could feel his resolve slowly crumbling as Tooth looked on at him curiously.

"Would I like to 'what', Bunny?" she prodded gently. He seemed to be having trouble with something.

"Bathroom!" He blurted, standing to leave. "Gotta go to the loo." The tall boy rushed off, heading into the men's bathroom. Tooth looked after him confused. Maybe he was sick...? She should make him some soup! Maybe some tea as well...

Tooth was still looking towards the men's bathroom and thinking of homemade remedies while Sandy rolled his eyes in amusement. Bunnymund had absolutely no trouble talking to other girls. He was pretty handsome to the female populace, actually. He had dated before. But never did he stutter or stammer or blush with other girls. Just Tooth.

"What was that about? Is he ill?" Tooth asked worriedly. Sandy shook his head, assuring her that Bunnymund was in perfect health, as always.

Sandy knew what the issue was. Bunnymund was making this a bigger deal than it had to be in his head, freaking himself out. Sandy had warned him earlier that Tooth had her sights set on someone else, but Bunnymund didn't listen to him. People tended to do that with his advice.

Both Sandy and Tooth were unaware of the shop's doorbell ringing, signalling a new crowd of kids coming in. Anansi's gang was mixed in the crowd as well. Arachne, Pan, and Anansi went up to the front counter with the crowd to order milkshakes, but Brer Rab could recognize that girl anywhere.

He subtly excused himself as his gang rounded the corner out of sight, before stalking up to Tooth's table. She jumped in surprise when he plopped himself down into the seats across from them. Tooth's bright eyes widened considerably at the sight of him.

Brer Rab smoothed back his hair before lidding his eyes and smirking her way. Play it cool. Bring in the southern accent. Ladies loved southern accents.

"Hey y'all. Howdy do there, Miss Toothiana?"

Tooth looked around nervously before fixing her gaze on the brunette across from her. Why was he here? Did he want something? Brer Rab was always tricking people. He used to tease her sometimes in their freshman year, but she doubted that he remembered. She had to be careful with her words around him.

Tooth stopped herself. Maybe he wasn't all bad. She HAD misjudged Jack on several occasions. Maybe it would be the same for this boy in front of her? She didn't really know him all that well, anyways.

She opted for a kind smile and directed it at the southern boy. It couldn't hurt to be nice.

"H-hello Brer Rab! I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"

Brer Rab grinned at her happy disposition. This would be a piece of cake. She seemed open to hear what he had to say. Now that he thought about it, up close, she was much prettier than he had imagined. She would look great on his arm at the ball! He wanted this to work.

"Fine doll, just fine. 'Specially now that you're here. I actually wanted to ask you something."

Sandy raised an eyebrow at the boy, feeling wary.

"Sure, Brer Rab. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me to the Winter Ball...?" He left the option open, flashing two tickets for the very event.

Tooth inhaled sharply. What? Her? She had always wanted to go, and Brer Rab wasn't all that horrible or bad-looking, but...

"I...I don't know if- "

"It'd be fun!" He cut her off. "I know you don't know me too well, but I reckoned that you'd be happy to have someone to go with. I've never seen you there before, and I've been fixing to ask someone new this year. C'mon doll, you'll love it!"

Tooth still wasn't sure, biting her lip. Brer Rab was being awfully nice, but she had a weird feeling that he was planning something else. Plus, she had always imagined she would go with someone she really wanted to go with, not someone just for the sake of it. She didn't want to settle.

She looked over to Sandy for guidance, and the blonde boy gave her an insistent look, signing something with his hands. Brer Rab looked at them both in confusion, watching the small teen communicate with his hands.

"'Ay, what's he doin'?"

Tooth deciphered the symbols and gestures:

"Don't go with him. Bad idea."

Tooth looked from Sandy back to the brunette across the table, unsure. Brer Rab quickly caught onto the silent message Sandy was giving her and stood up, angered.

"Look here, chubby; I don't appreciate being ignored or the likes of it, so I'm going to say this once. Stay out of it."

Tooth stood as well, putting a calming hand on Brer Rab's arm to diffuse the situation. "Relax! He wasn't ignoring you, he was just—"

"Why is he even here? Shouldn't you be with the other specials back at Burgess High?" Brer Rab directed at Sandy. His words were simple enough, but his tone was harsh.

Sandy frowned at the challenge. Yeah, he was small, but he wasn't afraid to swing fists with this kid.

Tooth's brows furrowed at the both of them and she turned to Brer Rab. "Please don't say things like that. It's rude. Now, I appreciate the offer, but I don't think..."

Brer Rab's face fell and Tooth felt a pang of guilt, but she was still mad over the way he spoke to Sandy.

"Oh, don't make that face. It'd be better if you asked someone else, I wouldn't be any fun at the ball anyways. Besides, you seem like an okay guy. Someone will go with you. But if you ask someone else, you might want to keep a pleasant attitude about it. Picking fights with disabled kids won't gain you any points."

Brer Rab's eyebrows shot up at her frank comment. Wasn't she supposed to be shy? Sandy grinned at Tooth, glad that she stuck up for him, but remained kind at the same time. He loved that about her, how she went out of her way to remain kind.

Brer Rab began again. "But I already asked other people, you're the only one lef-"

"Who's the only one left, Brer Rab?"

They all turned, watching as Anansi and Arachne waltzed over, milkshakes in hand. Pan followed behind them warily.

Anansi had spoken, the milkshake straw still in his mouth. He continued, "I thought I told you not to hang out with this chick again! You're really going to ask out the girl who busted up your friend's face?"

Brer Rab laughed, chuckling at how dramatic Anansi was being.

"Oh, stuff it Anansi. S'not my fault she busted you sideways with a library book, haha! Oh, c'mon, don't get all mad now! You know all the girls are fair game. And it's not like I'm disrespecting you or anything, bro. As a matter of fact," Brer Rab said slickly, the tricky words slipping off of his tongue like honey, "I would say that you ordering me around is disrespectful! I can hang out with whoever I want."

Anansi raised his hand, glaring at the mouthy boy. "Save the slick tongue for someone without a clue, Brer Rab. I got one."

Arachne ignored them both, sliding around and sitting in the empty booth.

"Hi Tooth." She said in a mocking tone. Tooth frowned at her.

"My friends were sitting there." She replied dryly, unwilling to joke around.

Arachne shrugged, playing with her milkshake straw using her tongue. She stared Tooth down and chuckled, liking the reaction she was getting. "So? Brer Rab was sitting here before and you didn't say anything."

Tooth grit her teeth, her fists clenching at her sides.

"What is going on here?"

North had walked over from the jukebox and Bunnymund trailed behind, looking at the group that had formed around their table. Arachne quickly slid out of the booth and put a reasonable distance between her and Tooth's friends. Tooth scoffed. The girl was a coward.

"None of your business," Arachne spat. North gave her a bewildered look, wondering what he did to have already made the small girl so angry. Anansi and Pan watched in amusement at the misunderstanding.

Bunnymund stepped in front of North, not that the large boy needed any protection. "Oi! Who do you think you're talking to like that? No wonder Athena knocked you down a peg, if you're always yabbering on like that."

Arachne flinched at the name, growing enraged. "Yeah, so? At least I don't pretend to be super-polite and talk like grandma over here." She pointed an accusing finger at Tooth, who looked a little hurt by the insult.

Bunnymund took a step forward and narrowed his eyes. "Don't talk to her like that!"

She looked between him and Tooth, catching on fast as lightning. "Oh... I get it. You're trying to stand up for your little girlfriend. Why her, anyways? She must be boring to hang around."

Bunnymund audibly gulped as everyone turned their eyes on him. Tooth spoke up. "We're not dating."

Arachne laughed. "Yeah, right. You don't have to lie. He's obviously pining for you. I'm not really surprised, either. I guess freaks and geeks attract."

"No!" Tooth insisted, looking around at all of the curious and confused faces. "I would never think of him like that—he's like a brother to me! Really... we're just friends!"

Silence.

Tooth looked around, utterly perplexed.

Sandy slapped a frustrated hand to his forehead. North looked uncomfortable. Anansi and his gang were watching with extreme interest.

Bunnymund gave her a look that she couldn't recognize. She had never seen him look like that.

"W-we are just friends...right?" she whispered.

That was when she saw the tickets sticking out of his pockets. Winter ball tickets.

' Actually, I wanted to ask you something... '

' Tooth? I was thinking- maybe, uh... would you like to...? '

Oh no.

"B-Bunnymund-" she tried, reaching out for him with a trembling hand.

He lowered his head from her and moved away, shoving his hands in his pockets and shouldering past everyone. Anansi and the others began laughing, making 'ooh' sounds and catcalling after the distraught boy.

"Friendzoned!" Anansi jeered.

Pan wasn't laughing and tried to grab Bunnymund by the arm to stop him, but was shrugged away. Bunnymund pushed out of the restaurant doors.

Tooth stood there, slack-jawed. Arachne gave a low whistle, looking the girl up and down.

"Oops. Looks like Bunny ran away." She joked.

Tooth snatched her coat up and roughly pushed past the raven-haired girl, jogging to the door. She pushed the glass and stepped out as the cold winds smacked against her, biting at her skin. She looked up and down the street for him, catching him turning a corner across the road.

"Bunnymund!" she shouted after him. When he didn't stop, she dashed across the street to catch up. A honking noise bleated out, making her jump and drop her coat. She tripped in surprise as car screeched to a stop before her, the driver honking at her furiously.

Her eyes were glued to the headlights and her fingers clutched the icy ground until she felt two warm hands pulling her up. She was led over to the sidewalk before she could turn and look Bunnymund in the face.

"How long?" she asked breathlessly, the cold winds sifting through her hair.

"Too long." He explained wearily.

She thought of snowflake hair and sky blue eyes. "I... I'm really sorry Bunny, but I don't- I can't- I like- "

"—Jack," he said for her, "you like Jack. I know. I mean, I knew the entire time. I just didn't want to believe it. I wanted to try, at least. You're worth it."

Tooth opened her mouth, but he cut her off.

"Just let me get this out, Tooth. I need to say it." He breathed deeply. "I didn't try to stop you from hanging out with Jack because I hated Jack. I tried to stop you because I knew you liked him in a different way than you liked me. As much as it kills me to say it, if he makes you happy...you should be with him."

She reached out for him, grateful that he was so understanding, so sweet. How could he like her? He was handsome and funny. All this time? And he never said a word. She could hardly believe it.

He pulled away from her. She lowered her hand.

"...I never meant to hurt you." She offered softly.

He shrugged. "I know what you're thinking, Toothie. I can see the gears in your head turning already. You're afraid you messed things up between us, but I'll tell you that's rubbish faster than anyone. You haven't done anything of the sort. You can't help who you like."

He softly flicked at her nose, making her giggle. He smiled before growing serious.

"I need you to do something for me, though." He said.

Tooth looked up, wondering. He went on.

"I don't need you wigging out and trying to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed. We're still friends. I will ask that you... give me space, because it still hurts."

She smiled sadly at him and nodded, agreeing. Had she known... well- would she have done anything different? She loved Bunnymund, yes... but as a friend. A brother, even. She couldn't see him as a boyfriend to her. Her thoughts were too full of someone else.

He turned and walked away, disappearing around the street corner. At least he could say that he tried. At least their friendship wasn't ruined.

He straightened up and took broader strides down the block. It had hurt more than he had expected it would, but he didn't die. And even though she rejected him, she didn't hate him.

That was all he could ask for. He chuckled sadly to himself.

Bunnymund was good with fights; he won nearly every single one. He tried to keep his head up high even though it felt like he was breaking on the inside.

Jack Frost.

He had won this time.

For the rest of that week, Tooth gave Bunnymund his space. Their texts were simple or straight-to-the-point. When they ate lunch, she opted for silence instead of small talk. She didn't push him.

She also gave Jack his space, since his mind seemed to be on other things every time they hung out. She had a lingering suspicion that it was another family matter, but she was sure he wouldn't tell her if she had asked.

North and Sandy tried their best to cheer her up, but they couldn't do it. Her mind was constantly on other things, and they seemed to be bringing her into different moods. Their ways weren't working, so North tried something else.

Tooth was very surprised when Rapunzel called her on Friday after school. She had been lying in bed reading when the phone rang. The number was unrecognizable.

"Hello...?"

"Hey Tooth! It's Rapunzel. North told me you were in a slump and Sandy gave me your number, so we're going to a party later on tonight. You game?"

"Uhm..." she thought about her friends going out of their way to help her. A party actually sounded kind of nice. "...sure! Whose party is it?"

"Zeus and Poseidon's. You know, the brothers? The star quarterback and the swimmer? They've got the biggest house and the coolest pool, wait till you see it!"

Tooth grinned. Wow. A REAL party. She hadn't been to a huge bash like this in...ever.

"Me and Flynn will pick you up in a while, so don't worry! Get dressed; we're going shopping for an outfit for the party."

Tooth nodded, excited now. She put on her normal outfit and notified her father, who then when on an extremely long rant on the dangers of hard partying and drinking. He then wished her well and told her to call him if she was going to come home late. She agreed before the doorbell rang, and then she headed out to Flynn's car.

Tooth was in awe. A silver Camaro was parked in her driveway, Flynn looking as handsome as ever and Rapunzel all dressed up and ready for the mall.

She felt under-dressed.

"Oh Tooth, I'm so excited! It's been like, forever since I left the house! Flynn snuck me out for this party."

Tooth raised an eyebrow as she slid into the back seat. She hadn't pictured Rapunzel as a homebody. "You don't go out much?"

"Nope. My mom won't let me. She's really protective. So I took matters into my own hands. Its time to party!"

Tooth laughed. No one was perfect, she guessed.

Flynn sped off, and for the rest of the day, he and Tooth had to deal with the whirlwind that was Rapunzel. They went from store to store in the mall, from outfit to outfit.

Tooth was laughing the entire time, having loads of was pretty sure they had lost Flynn two stores back, but she didn't say anything. He found them eventually, irritated.

She left the store with a new outfit that wasn't really her style, but both Flynn and Rapunzel had said it looked really good on her, so...

They went back to Flynn's dorm to get ready because Tooth was sure that if they went to her home, her father would be suspicious of the older boy and pester him with questions the entire time. Rapunzel's house was out of the question entirely.

Tooth was surprised that Flynn went to a pretty nice college that had pretty nice dorms. The guy must've been smart to have got in here.

Flynn shared a dorm with Sinbad, another college kid. Sinbad whistled low when he saw the two girls trailing after Flynn into the apartment. He swiveled around in his computer chair, shooting the high school girls a sly, dashing smile.

"Jeez Flynn, you like them young, don't you? Hello ladies." He purred. Tooth laughed at his antics and Sinbad shrugged playfully, turning back to his computer. Rapunzel leaned over and whispered, "Careful. Sinbad's got quick fingers. Quicker than Flynn's, even. He hasn't done anything for months, which I'm happy about, but I would keep an eye out if I were you." Tooth nodded.

The hours rolled by as her and Rapunzel goofed around and prepared for the party, with Sinbad and Flynn doing various things like eating, watching television, and eating some more.

Rapunzel pushed them both into the bathroom and shut the door before flashing a makeup kit at her. Tooth gulped.

Tooth hesitantly let Rapunzel do her makeup. With her dark skin and bright eyes, she was never really sure what colors would look good with her, and so she never applied anything else besides mascara or liner. She fidgeted nervously as Rapunzel poked and prodded at her eyelids.

"You know, North told me about what happened with Bunnymund," she commented casually, focusing on applying the makeup. Tooth cringed. She remembered Bunnymund's words. He didn't want her to worry, but she couldn't help it.

"I really hurt his feelings," Tooth mumbled sadly. "I don't like him in the same way, but... maybe... the guy I like, I don't know if he really likes me... Bunnymund is very sweet. Maybe I should just- "

"No." Rapunzel cut her off swiftly, lining her eye. "I'm going to tell you a story. Before I met Flynn, there was a boy I knew freshman year. His name was Prince Charming. You know him right? Cinderella's boyfriend. Well, people used to tell me all the time that we looked great together—my own mother, even. But I didn't like Prince... I liked Flynn. Instead of listening to myself, I listened to other people and hung out with who I was expected to. Prince dumped me when he found out who I really liked."

Ouch.

"But you know what? If I had just hung out with the person who had made me happy instead of trying to force a relationship with someone else I didn't like, I would have saved us both a lot of heartbreak. Don't ever 'settle' for someone, especially not to make others happy. You might not have thought of it, but I'm sure Bunnymund is happier that you were honest with him. He would've been more upset if you guys ended up dating for a while and he had to find out you liked Jack."

Tooth rolled the idea around in her head. She figured Rapunzel was right. Bunnymund would have hated if she had lied to him. Wait a minute-!

"How did you know I liked Jack?"

"It's pretty obvious," Rapunzel chirped, and Tooth could only slump at that. It was like everyone knew! Well...everyone but Jack.

When Rapunzel handed her a mirror, she beamed.

Wow! Gold eyeshadow really brought her eyes out! She loved the way the colors shimmered against one another. Tooth giggled, having fun. When was the last time she had hung out with another girl like this? Rapunzel squealed with her, loving her work. They painted each other's nails and picked out perfume, doing all sorts of girlish things.

She slipped on the lovely short dress and the black floral tights that she had found in the mall. Rapunzel helped her before turning the attention onto herself. Tooth helped Rapunzel braid up all of her thick blonde hair before they deemed themselves ready. They left the bathroom with smiles on their faces.

Sinbad gave a low, appreciative whistle. Flynn smacked him upside the head.

"What? C'mon Flynn, I'm from Syracuse, I can whistle at whoever I want!" He then directed a wolf whistle at Flynn, making the girls laugh hysterically. Flynn gave them all a dry look.

"Sure, let's all laugh at Flynn. Now, are you girls done primping? Or are we going to be late to the party?"

They waved goodbye to Sinbad before heading out after Flynn and getting in his car. The ride took a while and Tooth watched out the window as the houses got bigger and bigger. Zeus and Poseidon must've lived in a richer part of Burgess.

Tooth caught a glimpse of Rapunzel and Flynn's joined hands. She smiled before a frown crept onto her face.

She leaned back, sighing a bit. The party was going to be fun, but it would be lonely.

She missed Jack.

Jack Frost had been moping in his house all week, wondering whether or not to tell Tooth the truth about why he was in Burgess. If he told her, she might hate him for what he did in the past. If he didn't tell her, she might hate him for never being honest with her.

All he knew was that he couldn't stand it if Tooth grew to dislike him.

The only ones he had spoken to were his uncle and the kids at the hospital. He didn't have any friends over at his house again after his birthday party.

And so, Jack Frost was extremely surprised when he heard his doorbell ringing. He was even more surprised when he opened it to see Bunnymund standing on his porch.

"Uh...Hi?"

Bunnymund scoffed, pushing past him into the house. Jack closed the door before following after the tall boy.

"So... why are you in my house, again?" Bunnymund frowned at Jack, who raised his hands in amusement. "Hey man, I just want clarification on why you're a home intruder all of a sudden."

"I'm glad you think this is funny, Frost. Why haven't you been talking to her?"

Jack gave a look of confusion. "What?"

"Are you a ding-bat? Why haven't you and Tooth been talking?"

"Well, not that it's really any of your business, but she's a little upset with me."

"Because you don't trust her, right?" Bunnymund seemed to be fighting hard with himself, clenching his eyes and his fists before turning back to Jack, furious. "She's the only one from school I've ever seen treating you the most like a human being, and you don't even trust her. I ought to..."

He lowered his fists, trying to remember the deep breathing technique his martial arts teacher had taught him. This kid was really ticking him off

"What's it to you? Where's this all coming from?" Jack questioned suspiciously.

Bunnymund froze. "You don't even know? Such a galah... Frost, she likes you."

"Well of course she does, she's hung out with me and threw me a birthday party—"

"No, you don't get it. She likes you. A lot."

Jack's words died in his throat and time seemed to be slowing down.

'What?'

"She's one of my best friends. I would know."

"I-I don't..." Jack faltered. He knew himself. He knew how he was.

He could hardly believe it. He really liked Tooth, and the idea that she wanted him in that way—it made her even more attractive to him. Still...

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said, lowering his gaze. Bunnymund's jaw dropped, but Jack went on. "You said it yourself! I'm not- she doesn't need my problems. I've got too many of them to give. Maybe it'd be better... it'd be better if you were with her instead."

Jack cringed at the way his insides lurched, saying these things. He didn't like the idea of Tooth with Bunnymund. The very thought made him grit his teeth and clench his fists. It made him feel hollow... but he didn't want to mess up with her. He knew he would mess this up if he tried it, he just knew it.

Uncle Moon came out. "Ooh! A friend? Did you properly greet our visitor?"

Bunnymund shoved Jack harshly up against the wall before grabbing his collar, growling.

"Not now, Uncle." The snowy haired boy grunted out, giving Bunnymund a ferocious glare.

Uncle Moon's smile dropped. "Oh! A spat? Well, I'll leave you boys to that." He left just as quickly as he came.

Bunnymund was furious. "How... how could you say that? I know you like her, mate, I can see it. I'm not stupid."

Jack pushed harshly, effectively shoving Bunnymund back. "It doesn't matter if I like her!" he yelled, irritated. "I would just hurt her! I don't want to do that, so you can be with her... I'm just protecting her."

"You're being a goddamned coward, that's what you're being," Bunnymund spat. "Don't you think I wish I could be with her? Don't you think I wish I didn't have to come here and knock sense into you? She doesn't want me," he said, his voice cracking. "She wants you."

Jack shook his head, shutting his eyes. He didn't want to hear about this. He didn't want to hear about something he couldn't have.

Bunnymund got up in his face, the anger fading and the honesty arising in full force.

"I'll admit: you're not really my first choice for her. At all. I want to be with her, but... I can't make her laugh the way you can. I can't make her smile the way she does when you're around. I can't make her happy the way you can. I wish I could, but I can't."

"You don't get it," Jack fumed, "that just makes it worse. I'm GOING to ruin it. I'm going to screw it up by doing something or saying something... she'll hate me. It should be you."

Bunnymund shook his head. "It wouldn't be the same to her if it was me. She couldn't hate you even if she wanted to, Frost, she's not the 'hating' type."

The Aussie stepped back. "That's life! You'll mess up. It won't be perfect, not ever. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try! She likes you, I know she does."

Jack looked at him hopefully. "Do you really think she would...?"

"Not if you stay locked up in your room, feeling sorry for yourself like some kind of dag! Get your ass out there and look for her! She doesn't care about your problems; she doesn't give a damn about the mistakes you've made."

Jack stood there with a vacant look. He didn't know what to do, what to say. She would leave him if he told her, she would leave and forget about him, taking her friendship with her. He couldn't stand it if she left. She would be one more person to add to roster of people who had forgotten about him.

All he knew was that he really wanted to see a certain violet-eyed girl.

Bunnymund went on. "What are you, scared? You're Jack fucking Frost and you're scared? Face your issues, for once. Do it for her, at least. She'd do it for you! There are some things only you can do- " he stepped aside, gesturing towards the door.

"...so go find her. She misses you."

Jack paused for a moment and Bunnymund held his breath. Then, the pale boy slowly made his way to the door, thoughts racing through his head. He wasscared. Visions of her crying on his birthday flashed through his mind. He didn't want things to end up badly.

But he did want her. He wanted to make her smile and laugh. He wanted to see her paint, see her sitting in his room and reading his books. The feeling hit him like a tidal wave.

He wanted her so bad.

He slipped his shoes on before snatching his jacket off of the coat rack and heading outside.

Bunnymund stood silently in the empty hall, unsure of what to do now. He had gotten rid of it, the feeling of irritation that had been nagging him for days. He had finally told Jack everything he wanted to tell the boy. Now he simply felt tired.

Uncle Moon padded back out, smiling warmly. "That must have been hard for you. I'm proud."

Bunnymund nodded, glancing over. "Yeah, it was hard alright. Sorry for screaming the house down."

Uncle Moon shook his head. "No, I'm glad you did. Things have been far too quiet this week with my nephew sulking around the house like a drowned cat. I knew he enjoyed Toothiana's company! Now... you look weary and glum, dear boy. Would you like to stay for some hot chocolate? I make fantastic hot chocolate."

Bunnymund chuckled, nodding eagerly.

Tooth was a little overwhelmed.

There were all sorts of kids at the party. There were all sorts of alcohol, too. The music was loud and pumped throughout the mansion as kids sifted in and out of the backyard. Several were in the pool and several were dancing on the patio. Many couples had drifted to the upper rooms for privacy. Some didn't care about privacy. Like the couple making out right next to her on the couch.

Tooth sighed and removed herself, looking around for Rapunzel. She and Flynn had disappeared somewhere in the crowds.

She was a little pleased. She received a lot of compliments that night, many of them from kids who had never paid her any attention before in school. Even Thor, the popular upperclassman, had complimented her.

"You look hot." He had said bluntly, staring her down.

"Um... thank you?" she cautioned.

Now, she was standing against the wall, trying to find someone she recognized. Unfortunately, she did recognize a certain someone. Arachne was chatting it up with a group of kids, looking as happy as could be.

Tooth shook her head and decided to go outside for some fresh air. There were simply too many people crowding around her, and her head was spinning!

She shouldered her way to the front door before pushing outside, breathing in the cold night air in deeply. No one was outside in the front of the house because everyone was jamming inside, having a blast.

She looked up at the night sky. As much as she loved hanging out with Flynn and Rapunzel, it made her lonely. She wished she had someone who cared about her the way Flynn cared about the blonde beauty. She wished that Arachne never came to the party. She wished that Bunnymund wasn't so upset with her.

She wished that Jack were here.

Tooth looked at all of the teenagers' cars lined up in the front of the house. Wow! A lot of people had come. That car over there was really nice, actually...

Tooth crossed her arms and strolled over to the sleek vehicle, her boots clicking on the shoveled sidewalk. She was so into the act of admiring the car, she didn't see the shadow stalking up behind her.

"Hello."

She jumped and squealed, spinning around and pressing back against the car.

It was a guy that had spoken—a really creepy looking guy. He took a step forward, crossing his hands behind his back. He had a noticeable accent, but the only thing Tooth noticed was the strange look in his eye. He looked... off.

A large dog was on a leash, panting. The man held the leash tightly, petting the animal before turning back to her.

"Just walking my dog. Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Tooth nodded slowly, unsure of the man's motive. She should get back to the house. She began to move away but he blocked her path.

"A moment of your time? I was just wondering ever so much... there wouldn't happen to be a party going on in that house, would there?"

Tooth nodded again. The man forced a chuckle, slicking his black hair back with a long hand. His voice held a false politeness that she could easily detect. He was trying to appeal to her.

She leaned back, feeling the cold metal of the car beneath her.

"That's funny, because... I've been needing a good time. Is there any other way to get in besides the front?"

Tooth shook her head. She did know another way, of course. Around the back, there was a side door. She said nothing to the man though, because she was pretty sure that this guy wasn't there for the party.

"No. That's a high school party."

He nodded as if he were going over the idea in his head. "I don't like liars," he said suddenly, all the politeness gone from his voice. He crowded in on her.

Tooth froze. "I'm going to call the police."

Pitch ignored her threat. "Do you know what I like? I like obedient children that tell me what I need to know."

Pitch wasn't playing around anymore. He needed money and he sure as hell wasn't going to work for it when he could just take it! This neighborhood was loaded, and he was sure he could nab all kinds of things from the inebriated kids at the party.

No one was around. He could scare her into telling him. A crooked smile played on his lips. This would be fun.

He reached for her, grabbing her wrist sharply. Tooth gasped, pulling away from him. He twisted and she cried out, her blood turning to ice and her breathing picking up. Never before had she felt such a primal fear.

"Tell me how to get in," he growled, "or I'll—".

She drove her heel into his shoe, effectively cutting off his sentence. He let her go just as soon as he had grabbed her. Hell; that hurt! What were they feeding the kids these days?

"Tooth!"

Pitch, Tooth, and the dog all turned, looking down the road.

The newcomer sprinted along the icy street with ease, sliding himself to a stop in front of the girl.

Still bent over in pain, Pitch looked up into the angry face of Jack Frost. Even though the man's toes were throbbing, he gave a macabre grin. So much passion was swirling in those furious blue eyes!

"Well, well, well... this dull and dreary night just became a lot more interesting."

Chapter Text

He could remember the first time he had heard the story.

It had been a cold and dark night when Pitch Black had seen the news broadcast.

It had only been shown for a few minutes and had only been shown once. None of his acquaintances had caught it on television. No one seemed to know of the event or what boy he was referring to when Pitch tried to talk about it. He couldn't find out anything else from online archives; no newspaper articles; nothing.

Only whispers.

He'd heard rumors from clients that had lived in places other than Burgess, from friends that knew just how much Pitch Black would love to hear about this.

Attempted sororicide.

Or, to drop the legal terms, the attempted killing of a sister. Now that was interesting. Pitch hadn't heard a tale quite like that since his days back overseas. Ever since he had settled into Burgess, the excitement in his life had plummeted into the ground. Oh sure, there were thieves and liars to entertain around town, but no one truly frightening to hear about.

But this was fearful. A young man going after his younger sibling, and the way he did it, too. One would think he was trying to off himself as well.

He had been so excited when Anansi had told him that Jack Frost attended Burgess High. He was in town; so close. He was the one that had told Anansi of everything Jack had done. The boy had been bewildered, telling Pitch of all the rumors he had heard about Jack. From that point on, Pitch would constantly pester Anansi about the boy, curious to find out more.

Pitch had always pictured a child like that to be hard and cold. He had pictured Jack Frost to be a machine: something unfeeling—something inhuman. These ideas amused him greatly. But now, he was a quite displeased.

The boy before him was obviously not unfeeling. He was raging mad and full of emotion. Pitch could see the icy storms in the blue eyes before him, and it made his fingers quake and the hair on his arms rise.

He didn't like it. Pitch never liked to be scared.

And so he decided to try and turn the tables.

"Ah. So you must be Jack Frost."

The white-haired child pushed himself in front of the girl to hide her from view.

"Call the cops," he ordered the girl behind him. She hurriedly began searching through her pockets, trying to find her phone.

Pitch refrained from gritting his teeth.

"Oh, come now. Don't do that. We just met! I have been waiting to meet you."

The two teenagers ignored the man as the girl pulled out her phone, a queer thing covered in all types of teeth stickers, quickly sighing in relief of having found it.

"Don't ignore me!" Pitch barked. He hated that, being ignored.

The boy turned a sharp gaze on him. "You're going around and sneaking into people's houses. You threatened her. Everyone knows who you are, Pitch, so go ahead and run. The police will find you."

Pitch pulled back, laughing. "What are you, her guardian? Ha! Me? The police shouldn't be worried about me," he chortled, pointing at the boy, "they should be worried about you. How is it that you're walking around as free as a bird? You should be the one in a jail cell. How is your family doing, by the way? Your sister?"

The boy stiffened at that. Pitch smiled.

"Oh? Didn't think I knew that much, did you? Well... people tend to find out things when they're on the news."

The girl stopped her dialing and looked up in shock as Jack stalked over to Pitch. Pitch could feel the anger emanating off of him.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about that," the boy spat.

Pitch laughed. "I speak when I please, boy." He noticed Jack looking back at the girl who was watching them intently, the phone still in her hand. Pitch came to a realization, watching the boy closely.

He was scared.

"Jack...?" Tooth questioned.

A light sparked in Pitch's dark mind. He smiled, clasping his hands and stepping around Jack into the girl's view. Pitch was no longer scared. He knew just how to turn things around.

"Oh... you didn't know? I'm sure Jack told you, didn't he?" Pitch amused himself by adopting a faux caring tone. "It was horrible," he added, enjoying the way the girl's face twisted into confusion and the way Jack's face twisted into one of horror.

"No," Jack suddenly insisted, putting himself back in front of Pitch. "No, you can't-"

"I can't what? Tell this young girl of your past misdeeds?" Pitch made a show, loving this. He loved the way he had put fear into the boy's eyes, loved the way the boy looked back and forth between himself and the girl.

"What are you talking about?" Tooth asked, stepping a bit closer. Confusion was written all over her face.

Pitch licked his dry lips and spoke, ready to make a mess of things. "Months ago, your friend—Jack—decided to go for a little drive on New Year's—"

"Enough," Jack insisted, drowning out Pitch's voice. "Say one more word and I'll make sure the police knows all about you and your 'pawning' habits. I'll bet you still have all those things you stole back at your place, out in the open for any cop to come and find."

Pitch's lips snapped shut. It seemed he wasn't the only one who knew some secrets.

"How did you-"

"Well," Jack taunted, cutting the man off, "people tend to find out things when a certain someone does their dirty business all over town."

Pitch looked past Jack and at the girl. She was on her phone now, still watching them intently, but waiting for an emergency operator to answer.

His fury grew. He couldn't be brought in for questioning at the police station again. Burgess was a nice town. There weren't many people to nab for crimes, so the police were itchy for action. The few criminals that were caught always got the brunt of the law enforcement. Being interrogated—and possibly arrested—wasn't on Pitch's agenda for the night. He turned towards the girl.

"If you're to report anyone, report him!" He yelled, trying to push Jack aside. Jack was pushing him back with equal fervor, trying to keep Pitch away from the girl. "He-"

"Yo! Yo, yo, what's going on out here?!" A small crowd of people leaked out of the front of the house, beginning to surround the scene. Zeus was running up the sidewalk, over to Jack and Pitch. "What do you two think you're doing, starting fights in my neighborhood?"

Pitch shook his head, staring in repulse at the bunch of teenagers that had suddenly appeared. Jack nodded, pointing accusingly at Pitch. "This guy, right here? He tried to sneak into your party, your house. He was gonna steal your stuff."

Zeus eyed them both suspiciously. "Oh, really? And who invited you to this party, Frost? How do I know the two of you aren't working together, or something? I should call the cops on the both of you!"

Tooth ran over. "No! Don't do that, I already called them. Jack's not with him, he just showed up. Jack came to- uhm… he came to pick me up!"

Zeus looked her over and slowly assessed her words. "Hey... aren't you that brainiac in the junior class?"

Tooth sighed at the label, nodding exasperatedly.

Zeus puffed out his chin before nodding, directing his gaze at Jack. "Alright. You two are cool with me. But you," he growled, looking over at Pitch, "you're not going anywhere until the police get here."

Pitch smiled, grasping his dog's leash and standing around, looking innocent. "Fine with me. I wasn't doing a thing."

He knew better than to run. Too many witnesses; it would look suspicious. And he did have the dog here with him, so maybe he could drag out the 'just walking my dog' lie a little longer?

He turned to Jack, looking as content as ever. "We'll see each other again very soon, Jack. I promise."

Jack held his gaze uncertainly for a little longer before turning away from the man. He truly hoped that they would never cross paths again.

Jack shouldered past the crowds of kids laughing and talking, before holding out his hand for Tooth.

He paused. Was that... makeup? And her clothes... she looked different tonight. It threw him off.

She had always been- cute- but never had he thought she could look like this. His eyes drifted as they took in the sight of the floral stockings against her skin. They fit onto her perfectly, looking as if someone had painted them onto her calves, her knees, her thighs-

His thoughts were cut off promptly as her fingers grasped onto the sleeve of his sweater.

"I sure am glad you came," she murmured, looking over at Pitch. She shot the man an uncharacteristic glare, surprising Jack immensely.

Jack swallowed hard before following her gaze, frowning. That guy, Pitch, had been messing with her before he was able to show up. That guy had almost told her. He had to tell her himself before someone else beat him to it. He couldn't let someone else tell Tooth their twisted version of what had really happened.

He would be honest with her.

"Do you want to stay here for the police? You can tell them that he was threatening you."

Tooth shook her head. "I'm really not in the mood for anything like that. If I told them, they would try to drive me home, and if my dad saw me pulling up in a squad car... let's just say I wouldn't be leaving the house again for a while."

Jack chuckled softly.

"Let's go somewhere quieter, then," he offered, gently pulling her away from the clamor and crowds.

"What for?" she asked, searching his eyes. She wanted to be cautious. She had no idea what Pitch was talking about, but—she couldn't lie to herself anymore. He had been saying things people had been telling her for ages;

'I never said he was a 'bad guy', but that doesn't mean he hasn't done bad things.'

'He's put kids in the hospital. He's nearly killed people.'

'Just be careful. I don't want you hurt. Jack's not the nicest kid around.'

'He's the coldest kid I've ever known.'

Who was Jack, really? What did he have to hide?

Flynn came bounding out of the house, looking over the scene. "Hey, Toothiana! Where are you going? The party's just getting started!"

Jack's eyes widened before he gave the older boy a chilling look. "You came here with him?" He asked uncertainly, directing the question at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Flynn answered for her.

"Of course she did, man! I drove us both over here, see? There's my car. Nice, isn't it? I got that Camaro for a bargain you wouldn't believe-"

Tooth cut him off his rant as she saw Jack's face slowly fall. Was he...? No. No, he couldn't be. She decided to clear things up.

"We came with Rapunzel. She invited me to go with them, her and Flynn. It was fun! You should—you should come back inside with us! To the party, I mean. I know Zeus didn't invite you or anything... but I'm sure he appreciates that we both stopped that creepy guy from breaking into his house. He wouldn't mind if you stayed, I'm positive of it!"

Flynn nodded in agreement, wrapping a friendly arm around Tooth. "Yeah man, hang loose and have fun! After that crazy week of testing, everyone definitely needs some fun."

Jack frowned at Flynn's casual arm, but forced himself to look away. He shook his head. "I'm going to take Tooth home. I need to talk to her."

Flynn's mouth fell into a small circle and he waggled his eyebrows at the two of them. "Oh, I get it. Alright," he said, holding his hands up in surrender, "see you two later, then. I'll tell Rapunzel for you, Tooth."

Tooth pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her face heating up. "Thanks." She meant it, too.

Jack pulled the two of them out of the crowds as Flynn headed back into the house. Tooth walked beside him on the sidewalk, wondering just how long it would take for them to get back home. The walk would be a long one.

She wondered about the hand holding hers, and how long it would last.

She was also wondering about the things Anansi told her in the library, and the things Pitch had said. She wondered about what his Uncle had mentioned of his life before Burgess. She wondered about his mother and his sister and the rest of his family. There was obviously something he hadn't been telling her since the day they met, and he guarded secrets well.

She breathed softly before speaking.

"What did you want to tell me?"

He was quiet for a short moment, looking at the sidewalk before turning his gaze to the starry skies. Tooth watched as the stars reflected off of his blue irises, shining back into space.

"Don't you ever wish you could go back sometimes? If you could change the way things turned out?"

Tooth thought of the day her mother was deployed. She thought of the countless video chats and the absent spot at the dining table. She thought about how lonely it must be for her father back at home, lying in a bed with an empty space beside him.

"Yes," she said in certainty.

He glanced at her before looking away, but she had seen the nervous look in his eyes.

"Promise you won't freak out."

Tooth nodded. What could he possibly say that would freak her out anymore at this point? Pitch had already done a good job at that.

"I promise."

Jack finally let out the old memories he had been trying hard to block. They swooped through his mind, coming to life through his words.

And so he began.

It was New Year's Eve.

Jack was careful to tread softly along the hallways of his large home, not wanting to wake up the sleeping nanny in the living room. His feet moved soundlessly across the wooden floorboards.

Right about now, he was supposed to be sleeping. That nanny must've been crazy, telling a teenager to go to sleep at nine o' clock at night! He knew his parents were out somewhere right now, at the New Year's Eve party, probably. They would be drinking and laughing and when the clock finally hit twelve, they could kiss and reaffirm their love for one another. Not that they needed the kiss; they practically breathed love for one another.

Jack tiptoed his way into Emma's room, pushing past her simple, decorated door.

"Emma?" he called out into the dark room. "I brought you some apple slices and oatmeal. I know you're hungry, Emma, c'mon."

The moonlight from the window shone through, hitting the form of his sister. Her shoulders shook and her breath was coming out in short gasps, like she was trying to hold back sobs. Jack's breath hitched.

"Hey, hey... what's wrong, Em?" He closed the door behind him and walked over, putting down the food and gathering the young girl into his arms.

She clutched him fiercely.

"We just finished celebrating Christmas, but Emma hadn't been having such a good time. She was sick the entire week, so we had to keep her in bed. She had to have breakfast in bed and open her presents. She couldn't play in the snow or go out with her friends. I felt really bad. I knew how much she liked to play in the snow."

Tooth continued to walk and listened alongside Jack, who appeared to be alright speaking to her. She thought it would be a struggle for him, or something, but his voice was steady and strong.

"And so when I was giving her lunch—I remember it was apple slices and oatmeal—she started crying about how she couldn't go outside. She wanted to see the fireworks display in the center of town. I... I promised her that I would take her."

Tooth felt her insides tighten. She suddenly had a very bad feeling about all of this.

"My parents were at a New Year's party that night. They left and had a nanny stay behind to babysit. She was asleep in front of the T.V., so I put Emma's coat and boots on. We snuck out and took the car."

His voice began to falter slightly.

"I'm not a bad driver. I never was. I was careful, I was cautious...especially when she was sitting in the seat beside me. I would never drive reckless with her beside me. She was so excited! I was, too. We were being careful. But I—I was laughing and talking with her so much that I forgot which road to take and I took a w-wrong turn. I knew I had messed up so I turned the car around and I was heading back the right way, I knew where to go."

He closed his eyes.

Jack looked down the road with his hands firmly on the steering wheel. He couldn't believe he had taken the wrong turn! That was okay, though. He would just drive back and make the right turn this time.

The car was zooming alongside a hill. Jack wasn't worried. He was going slowly around the curve, and there were guard rails along the side of the road to keep cars from falling down the slope.

Emma was bouncing in her seat, smiling and laughing and singing some song Jack couldn't place. He smiled, glad that the car's heater kept both of them warm from the outside weather.

"Jack, this'll be so much fun!" she squealed, tossing her hands up into the air.

Jack looked over to smile at her, in her mittens-and-gloves glory. She was so happy and he loved the way she shone. He gave her his best, adoring smile.

It had only been a moment.

When he looked back up, he could see the intersection where they had taken a wrong turn. He squinted. Lights were swerving on the road ahead of them, looping back and forth from the left lane to the right lane. As the seconds crawled by, Jack realized just how fast the lights were going. He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. A car? No, no. They couldn't get hit, she couldn't get hit.

As the lights sped towards their car at a remarkable speed, Jack could make out the form of a large vehicle. He barely saw the faces, the hands gripping the steering wheel inside opposite to them. They were going too fast, coming to close.

Seconds.

That was all he had.

Jack barely felt one of his hands leaving the steering wheel, reaching over into the passenger seat to brace his sister. He pushed her back into the seat and braced her, leaving himself wide open, preparing for the worst.

The worst came.

Tension snapped as the sound of crunching metal roared out. Jack was thrown forward, the seatbelt digging into his flesh as the car slid off the road. He tried to look at Emma, but his head was suddenly spinning as the tires slid across the pavement. The world turned upside down. Jack's vision went white as something hard slammed into his chest.

He was lost.

But suddenly, he was gasping. His eyes shot open and his mind was clouded, wondering when he had closed them in the first place.

The car was no longer warm, but cold—freezing, almost.

"Someone hit our car as we were driving back. It happened so fast that I barely saw the car that rammed into us, but I felt it. They were going at least 30 miles an hour."

Tooth grasped onto his hand tighter. Jack didn't notice. He was stuck in his memories.

"Our car spun off the road and broke through the safety rails. It fell down the slope into the frozen lake. I don't remember that part. The investigators had to tell me what happened later on. I think I passed out... but when I woke up, we were... we were in the lake. Our car was sinking and we were still in it. There was water everywhere. It was like being in a submarine—every kid's dream, right?—but scarier. I tried to unbuckle Emma out of her seatbelt but she was screaming so loud and I couldn't stop shaking."

Tooth brought up her other hand to her necklace. "Jack—Jack you don't have to tell me this if—"

"No," he insisted, "please, let me get this out. I—I tried opening the doors but they wouldn't— the pressure—they weren't budging. She was getting really scared, so I tried to calm her down while I was taking my seatbelt off, telling her that we could get through this, that it would be like a game. She liked games..."

Jack fumbled with his seatbelt, trying to ignore the pain that flared across his chest. He threw the thing aside as it clicked open, crawling across the seats towards Emma. The ground felt unstable, unsteady. Jack tried his best to ignore the water outside and the little droplets that were trickling in through the cracks in the windows.

Emma was freaking out, trying to pry her seatbelt off of herself. Her eyes were stormy as the fear slowly settled in.

"Jack, I'm scared!"

He was trying to move her arms so that he could unbuckle her seat belt. His fingers were freezing and something inside his chest seemed broken, but Jack barely felt it.

All that mattered right now was the trembling tiny girl in front of him.

Her brown doe-eyes were wide and fearful, looking from place to place. Her little hands trembled as she reached out for him, looking for some sort of comfort, for some sort of security. One of her fingers had a pink butterfly ring, and the metal wing piece dug into his already aching chest.

"I know, I know... but you're gonna be alright. Trust me."

The words felt wrong in his mouth. Should she really? He had gotten them there in the first place, he had promised her back at the house that they would be fine, that they shouldn't worry about their aunt finding out.

Now here they were, her hands digging into his shirt with a strength he didn't know a little girl could have. She coughed horridly, as if she was eighty years old instead of eight. It was the cold, or the rainwater... or the lakewater slowly seeping into the car, soaking the seats.

Jack shook his head. He had to stay calm. Emma, just focus on Emma, he told himself. He began to speak to her as his hands swiftly attacked the seat belt.

"Emma, this is just another game we'll play. We'll see who can hold their breath the longest, okay? I want you to do it while I swim us both out of here. Can you do it?"

She looked at him with wide eyes, vaguely nodding. "O-okay!"

Jack nodded at her, proud. He could see in her face that she knew this wasn't a game, but she played along bravely anyway.

Jack unbuckled the belt and hoisted her out of the passenger seat, pulling her close.

That was when the back window shattered.

Jack pulled her face into his jacket and protected her as glass went flying, water roaring inside after it. Wave after wave, they were pushed into the dashboard by the force of the lakewater. It was freezing and soaked their clothes as Emma clung onto him.

He knew he couldn't swim through all the forceful torrents coming from the back of the car. He would try to break the side window.

"Emma," he shouted over the roar, over her. "These are the rules for the game; I need you to count to ten for me. When you get to ten, take a deep breath, and hold it, got it?" Jack ordered. It was more of a demand than a question, but he knew Emma needed to be ready when they pulled out of the car.

"One," she began. "Two..."

Jack lifted up a leg and began to kick at the window. Nothing happened.

"Three,"

He used all the strength he had to lift her up to the little air that was left at the top, kicking even harder than before. Adrenaline was rushing through him as self-preservation kicked in. He couldn't let Emma die here, like this, because of him.

"Four, five, six, seven, eight,"

The water rose to his neck. Cracks began appearing in the side window.

"Nine,"

Jack felt the window weakening. "Now, Emma!" The moment he heard her gasp in the lungful of air, he broke through the window with his heel.

Water closed in everywhere and all Jack could hear was muffled noises. He kicked off from the roof of the car, pulling Emma along with him.

Which way was up? Which way was down? He looked around the murky waters, catching the light of the moon.

Using his arm and legs, Jack clutched Emma tightly as they swam towards the surface. His lungs burned, his limbs felt like they would fall off. The inside of his chest burned more than ever, but he didn't stop. So close!

Ice. When Jack put up a hand to break through the water, he hit ice. Panic raced through him as he slowly realized that they had fallen into a frozen lake. He searched around, looking for a hole in the ice. Emma needed to breathe just as much as he did!

A beam of moonlight shone through the water and Jack dove towards it, lifting his sister up first.

The night air hit him hard and Jack gasped for air as he broke the surface. He pushed Emma onto solid ice before hoisting himself up as well. The edges of the sharp ice cut at his fingers and his back as he lifted himself out, but he was far too numb to feel it.

He wanted to stop and rest. He was so tired. But Jack could see Emma breathing short little gasps, he could see her shivering. He pulled himself up and dragged them both off of the ice.

"Phone, phone," he muttered past blue lips mindlessly, forcing his cut up, frozen fingers to search through his pockets and dial for help. When he pulled the phone out, it was waterlogged and fried to the circuits. He tossed the useless thing aside, looking at Emma.

She wasn't breathing.

Jack bit his tongue and swallowed back a scream. He moved faster than he ever had in his life. Mouth-to-mouth brought her breath back, but she couldn't speak, couldn't cry. It was too cold!

They needed help, he knew it. He couldn't call anyone. He couldn't keep her warm. Maybe if they could stop a car and hitch a ride?

Jack lifted her up onto his back and ignored the way his back burned as he did so. He must have scratched it back when he had been pulling himself out of the ice. He forced his freezing fingers to bend and dig into the earth as he climbed up the slope, carrying Emma with him.

Finally, they reached the roadside once more. The car that had hit them was gone. Jack could see the tire marks they had left behind.

They had just... driven away.

Jack gritted his teeth and fought to keep standing. His arms felt like jelly and his legs were numb. He could barely keep himself awake, having thoroughly tired himself out. He almost passed out, right there on the road.

"Jack," a small, soft voice called.

Jack's breath hitched and his energy came back. Emma needed him.

He remained standing and held her close, waving down a car almost immediately. His teeth chattered as the driver pulled over, looking out of his window at the two drenched kids in shock.

"Woah! What in the world happened to you two?"

"The car that had slammed into us was gone.

"We got a car to pull over and call for help, but by the time the ambulance got there, Emma was unconscious."

Tooth fought not to cry out.

"At the hospital, it turned out we both had hypothermia. Our parents had to come in and our nanny showed up too. She pinned it all on me. No one believed me when I tried to tell them that another car had hit us. They thought I was trying to cover up for my own mistakes. They couldn't prove it with the damages done on our car, either. It was sitting at the bottom of the lake."

"The news got whiff of the story and broadcasted it without asking my family and without mentioning another car. Some reporter started a rumor saying that I purposely drove down there to kill us both. I tried to tell them that wasn't how things happened, but everyone kept asking me why I would drive in the wrong direction if I was taking my sister to see the fireworks display. The police suspected foul play and tried to detain me. I got over my hypothermia, but Emma was hospitalized."

Jack rubbed soothing circles onto his temple. He didn't relax one bit, but he continued the story.

"When I got back to school, a bunch of kids had heard about what happened. They all thought I tried to kill my sister, too. I don't think I'd ever been hated as much as I was then. I got into some pretty rough fights; put some kids in the hospital. It didn't help my case much. People made me out to be some kind of unstable kid. There were the medical bills for the bullies I beat up and the hospital bills for my sister. My mom couldn't deal with it. So she sent me to live with my uncle in Burgess."

Silence settled over them, so much heavier than anything Tooth had ever felt before.

His sister. So this was why he couldn't see her.

It explained so much. The rumors; why he had kept to himself for so long; why the others got the vibe that he was bad news. It explained what Pitch had been talking about; what Jack's own uncle had been talking about.

Tooth wasn't sure what to think. It had all been one major accident, a fun night gone wrong. Still, it unnerved her.

She pulled her hand from his grasp and clutched the ends of her skirt, looking away. Jack said nothing about it and just shoved his own hands into his pockets.

They were both quiet for a long time, just walking. Tooth broke it, suddenly.

"You never found out who hit your car?"

"No. I couldn't really see the face. They drove away afterwards. I... I looked up on car crashes a while after that. Some people say that they could tell the difference between a normal driver and a drunk driver. I think the one that hit us was drunk. It wouldn't be surprising or anything. It was New Year's, after all. There must have been parties going on everywhere."

Tooth shook her head slowly, trying to take everything in. "Is your sister okay?"

Jack shrugged. "I wish I knew. I've been trying to call but my mom changed the house number. Now, only she can call me. I try to ask her but she doesn't ever say. It worries me. I don't think Emma is doing too well. I know for a fact that she's still in the hospital."

"How?" Tooth questioned.

"My dad. He doesn't keep grudges like Mom does. He's sent me letters without her knowing. He was the one who told me the hospital address, so I could contact Emma. I've sent her so many letters, but she never writes back. I don't know if it's because she doesn't want to answer them, or because she can't."

Tooth sighed, but continued to ask her questions. What a mess! Poor Jack. There were still things she wanted to know.

"If it was on the news...why doesn't everyone in Burgess know about it?"

"They only showed the report on T.V. once. They hadn't asked my family anything, they went around asking hospital staff what was going on. Some knew and some didn't," Jack explained. "My parents flipped when they found out and threatened to take it to court. The news station didn't broadcast anything about us again after that."

Jack breathed. As horrible as it was to retell all those events over again, he was glad he could tell Tooth. It felt good to get things off of his chest.

Tooth continued to question.

"Why would you fight other kids if—if you knew that the police were watching you? Why would you give them more evidence against you?"

Jack looked her in the eye this time. "I wasn't thinking. I'm not proud of it. I wish I had more control then, but everything was so messed up. My parents were always fighting over what to do with me, with Emma. The teachers and counselors kept pestering me about it when all I wanted to do was forget it. The police were trailing me everywhere. They even searched my room after I became a 'person-of-interest' to them. So, when some kid got in my face and started bad-mouthing Emma... I lost it."

Jack looked away, laughing drily at himself. "All I have are excuses. The whole thing is a mess. I shouldn't have done it, I know that now. I don't like thinking about it. That's why I like going to the children's hospital—it makes me feel useful and it keeps my mind off of things, not to mention that Jamie is... a lot like Emma."

Tooth smiled at that. She still had questions bubbling in the back of her mind, but she pushed them back. She wanted to know one thing right now.

"Jack, hold on," she said, stopping in her tracks. Jack stopped up ahead, turning back to look at her curiously.

"Why were you at Zeus's party tonight?"

"To find you," he explained simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What for...?" she questioned.

"To tell you the truth," he answered vaguely, sliding along a large patch of ice on the sidewalk, "to tell you about me...and to tell you something else."

"What else is there to tell?"

Jack's eyes twinkled mischievously as he glided around her on the ice. "You ask so many questions, Tooth. I told you a lot, already. I think I'll keep this one last secret for a little while longer, yeah?"

Tooth could feel the blood rushing to her face at the sight of his teasing grin. She ignored his words and gave him a worried look. "Stop goofing around on the ice, you'll fall and hurt yourself!"

Jack shook his head, smiling and sliding around even more. "You're such a mom. Besides, I'm a whiz on the ice. No worries!"

Tooth reached out for his sleeve to stop him, but he playfully pulled her onto the ice with him.

"Jack, I can't- I might fall- !"

"No, you won't!" He responded cheerfully, holding her steady.

"We don't even have skates," she muttered, looking at their boots slipping clumsily on the ice.

"I'll bet anything that you'd make a great ice skater. You ever been?" Jack questioned, being more playful than usual.

Tooth looked curiously upon his good mood. "Well... no. Hey, why are you so- happy? No offence, but you just told me some pretty heavy things. It's weird that you're all excited, now."

Jack smiled even brighter. "I'm just glad to get it off of my chest. Bunnymund was right, you didn't freak out like I thought you would."

Tooth paused. "Bunnymund? What does he have to do with-?"

"Nevermind," Jack chirped. "Let's go ice skating sometime- hey... are you cold?"

Jack could feel the slight tremors of shivering underneath his hands, past her coat.

Tooth nodded in exasperation. "It's the skirt! My legs are freezing. I know it's wintertime and all, but I was pretty sure I would be inside Zeus's house the entire time, so I didn't worry about it being cold."

Jack glanced at the skirt and the floral stockings before looking back up. "It looks nice on you, though."

Tooth gripped his arms a little tighter, giving him a small smile. "...Thanks, Jack."

He led them off the icy sidewalk and down the street to a diner. "It's not too late. I can call my uncle to come pick us up and drop you off at home, if you want. It's too cold to be walking around, anyways."

Tooth nodded gratefully, walking into the warmth of the diner. She was surprised to see a stage near the back, with live music playing on it.

"Must be a local band," Jack casually stated, pulling his jacket off and giving it to her. Tooth nodded, pulling her coat off and slipping on the jacket before shrugging her coat back on. She was much warmer now.

They both slipped into some booth seats and Jack pulled out his phone, dialing his uncle.

Tooth shivered, loving the feel of his jacket. No wonder he always wore it! Jack sat across from her, speaking with his uncle over the phone and absently fiddling with a fork on the table.

She sighed happily, glad that she could stare at him without him noticing her. He was too focused on his conversation. Tooth swallowed hard, observing him.

He wasn't perfect. He had messed up family situations and crazy social confrontations. He was overbearing some times and oblivious to others. He would take anger out on those closest to him, and sometimes, on himself. He could have confidence in pranks and other people, but not in himself.

She gazed upon the small physical imperfections he had. There was a scratch beneath his eye that she hadn't noticed before. The dark circles under his blue irises told her the story of many sleepless nights—night terrors, maybe? His hands were rough and hard. He had a very faint frown line between his eyebrows.

She loved them all. She liked everything about him.

Tooth knew that the imperfections were part of the perfections. That his frown line was accompanied by the dimples that would show when he laughed really hard, that the nasty bite in his voice could turn into a soft, soothing one. She knew his calloused hands were from making beautiful, delicate snowflakes out of blocks of hard wood.

She knew he had almost killed his sister. But she also knew that he loved his sister more than anything.

It had been an accident.

Tooth reached across the table slowly, feeling more confident than usual. Jack continued talking, but gave her a curious look as her fingers wrapped around his. He dropped the fork, looking up at her intently as his uncle spoke over the other line.

Tooth gave him her best smile and said as quietly as possible, "I'm proud of you, Jack."

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he lost his train of thought, his eyes looking from her to their hands. He pulled away to refocus on what he was doing. Having her touch him made it hard to think.

"...Huh? Um, could you repeat that, Uncle...? Yeah, I'm listening to you. Oh, okay. We'll be waiting then."

He hung up and placed the phone aside on the table, looking at the lonely, russet hand next to his hard, pale one. He glanced up at Tooth, who looked incredibly frustrated.

So she did like him in that way. She wasn't holding his hand under the guise of needing to follow him anywhere or consolation. She did it because she wanted to.

"You're... proud?" he asked uncertainly. What did she mean?

"Yeah!" she responded, the cheer back in her voice. "You saved your sister."

"I was the one that got us in that situation in the first place," he reminded her. "You don't have to make me feel better about it or anything; I just wanted you to know what really happened."

"I know, I know... but you could've panicked, you could've passed out, but you didn't! You took responsibility and you saved her. Calming her down in a sinking car? Pushing her up to breathe before making sure you could yourself? Not many people would've done that."

Jack shrugged. "She's my little sister. Of course I would put her before myself."

Tooth chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm going to say something completely dorky, but... your love for her is endless. I like that about you." She could hear her voice tweak a little at that last part and ceased talking. She pushed her hands into her lap. So embarrassing!

Jack gave her a sly smile, reaching to poke at her knees under the table.

"You get embarrassed really easily, you know that?"

She jumped at the feel of his fingers finding her. It was strange... she couldn't see their hands past the table, but she could feel them him jabbing at her. "Hey! You don't have to point it out. Literally..."

"Look, look, you're turning all pink!"

"Quit it!"

"Ha, but it's so funny! I've never seen anyone like you turn pink this easily."

Tooth frowned, pulling back. He meant her tawny, Asian skin, didn't he? "Well, I'm sure someone as pale as you would turn into some sort of stop sign when they blushed!"

Jack could feel the heat rushing to his face and frowned as Tooth laughed softly at his expense.

"I was only kidding," she said.

"Whatever," he shrugged, hiding his red face and the smile that had drawn itself on it. He poked at her knees again, playfully. "I still don't blush as often as you."

A young, bouncy waitress came over looking over the both of them. "Oh! Well aren't you two just adorable? Y'all look great together, just peachy! Can I get anything for ya'?"

Jack smiled, ignoring the waitress' hinting tone. "Ice cream?"

Tooth shook her head, laughing. "No, we're fine. We're just waiting for someone."

The waitress nodded, bouncing away.

Jack frowned at her and she insisted: "You'll ruin your teeth eating all of those sweets!"

Jack's eyes twinkled. "Oh, yeah! I had forgotten just how much you liked my teeth... wanna see 'em?"

Tooth gave him a look and Jack cracked up at the sight of it. When Uncle Moon came, they walked outside together. They were shoulder to shoulder as they headed for the car.

Uncle Moon smiled upon them both. "Had fun, you two? It's been a long night."

Tooth nodded. "It definitely has been!"

Jack moved away and opened the door for her to sit in the back seat. Shutting it, he moved to the front to sit alongside his uncle, but then decided against it. Tooth was thrilled when she heard him opening the back door again, sliding in to sit beside her.

Her breath hitched. The atmosphere was different now, they weren't alone anymore. She grew shy again. Should she reach for his hand? He wasn't reaching for hers anymore. What if he didn't want her to touch him? What if he pushed her away?

She glanced quickly over at him, and he looked just as uncertain as she was. He focused on the road ahead, trying to calm himself down.

He couldn't tell what frightened him more; being in a moving car, or the earth-shakingly understanding girl sitting beside him?

She took a soft breath and reached out to lay her palm flat into his open hand. Their fingertips brushed and for a moment, she was sure that he would act as if he couldn't sense her—that he would pull away.

Very slowly, his fingers curled in and wrapped around hers. He watched as their fingers intertwined, forming a tight, perfect fist.

Tooth wasn't sure what this meant, but she didn't want to ask any more questions. She just wanted to be here, with this flawed, slowly-warming-up boy.

Uncle Moon wordlessly smiled as he looked into the rear-view, catching the scene.

Winter and summer looked good together.

Tooth had been walking through the hallway to the lunchroom when she was stopped by an upperclassman.

"Hey."

Tooth looked up. Athena, the beautiful valedictorian of the senior class, was talking to her.

"I heard about what you and Jack Frost did for Zeus and Poseidon; about how you stopped that man from breaking into their home."

Tooth nodded vaguely. "Oh! Well, I'm just glad nothing bad happened."

Athena stood, observing Tooth closely. Tooth couldn't help but squirm under the older girl's gaze. She had eyes like a hawk.

"I've also heard that Arachne's been bothering you."

Tooth froze. Well, this was embarrassing. She didn't really want anyone to know about her troubles with Arachne. She had figured being nice to the girl or ignoring her would keep things under control, but...

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything," Athena stated, "I just wanted you to know... Arachne won't be messing with you again. I made sure of that."

Tooth's jaw dropped.

"Think of it as a favor repaid. Zeus and Poseidon are like family to me. Friends of them are friends to me."

Tooth nodded absently as Athena began to walk away. Woah.

Athena stopped, turning. "Oh, and Toothiana?"

"Yes?"

"When I graduate, I fully expect you to take my place as valedictorian. Your art project last year was impressive and your grade point average is somewhat remarkable. You'd make the perfect candidate for my position."

Tooth was blown away. Was Athena… picking who was allowed to be candidate for valedictorian? That was kind of... uppity, of her. And jeez, that was a lot of pressure to put on someone!

"Thanks...!" Tooth found herself saying, not wanting to get on Athena's bad side.

"You are welcome to eat at our table anytime." And with that, Athena strode away.

Tooth looked after her curiously before moving to head once more for the lunchroom. She walked inside, spotting her friends at a table farther down.

She strode over and sat down, staring curiously. North, Bunnymund, Jack, and Sandy all seemed to be in a heated debate.

"But they'd be so cool!" Bunnymund insisted.

Sandy made an x-symbol with his arms, shaking his head in disagreement.

North slammed a heavy fist on the table in determination. "If I wish to have ink put in skin, ink. Will. Be. Put. In. SKIN!"

Jack tilted his head and rubbed at his chin, thinking. "Well, I think they're pretty cool! You should go for it, guys."

"Come with us! Sandy refuse our offer!" North suggested.

Jack shook his head. As cool as getting inked would be, he didn't want anyone seeing the scars on his lower back left by the accident.

"Not really my style, big guy."

Bunnymund scoffed at him and rolled up a sleeve, flexing his well-defined muscles and gesturing at them. "Oi! I knew you'd be too chicken to do it, Frost. I'd get a tribal one on both arms; that'd be ace!"

"I would choose something like yin or yang. Or maybe good and bad? Black and white? Naughty and Nice? On both arms," North explained, considering the options.

"You'd look like some kind of walking Taoist symbol. Or a checkerboard. That last one is strange," Sandy wrote.

"Hi, guys," Tooth piped up.

"Hey," they all greeted in unison before returning to the debate.

Tooth sat quietly, trying to catch on to what they were talking about. Tattoos?

"Guys, you're getting tattoos?"

North and Bunnymund nodded, but Jack and Sandy shook their heads.

"But you're so young!" she protested, not sure how she felt about the idea. Tattoos were interesting, but never had she imagined any of her friends bearing one.

"Bah, I'm only getting older," Bunnymund boasted, "may as well do it while I'm young."

Tooth began to speak, but was interrupted.

"Tooth!" the bubbly voice called out. "What happened last night? You just left all of a sudden! You totally missed it, some guy got arrested and Ares got into a fight with Thor!"

Tooth stiffened, looking from Rapunzel to her friends' faces. Jack's expression mirrored her own.

"You know about the guy who got arrested...? Well, he was trying to break into the house. Jack helped me stop him."

Bunnymund gave her a crazy look. "You tried to stop some weirdo all by yourself?" He looked over to Jack, narrowing his eyes. "Where were you when this happened?"

Jack answered just as strongly, his eyes turning fierce. "I was there; I just showed up a little late, that's all. Besides, by the time I got there, Tooth already had the guy debilitated. All I did was get the police involved so that he could spend the night in jail."

Bunnymund seemed to accept this, huffing out harshly and relaxing back into his seat. Jack did the same, and Tooth could only wonder what was beneath the surface of this argument.

Tooth shot Jack an appreciative look. "It was Pitch Black," she explained to the shocked blonde girl.

Rapunzel looked up in surprise. "Pitch Black?! The shady dealer? He bothered you?"

Tooth nodded. North reached out a large hand, calling out loudly in thick, Slavic determination, "From this point on, we all watch for Pitch! He bother two people in group, he bother everybody in group!"

Everyone chuckled before putting their hands over North's large one. Tooth giggled as her friends all chanted before cheering, promising to protect one another. She smiled. Man, she loved these guys!

From that day on, they did just that. The group became tight knit as they hung out more and more. Soon, it was almost on a daily basis that Tooth and her friends saw each other. The tension between Bunnymund, Tooth, and Jack eased up considerably.

Everything got better. There were numerous snowball fights that they had during the weeks. They also went to the movies and the arcade. They ate out and did projects together. They studied and crashed more than once at North's place.

Everything was great.

Well.

Almost everything.

Bunnymund had been walking home from the dojo when he ran into Alice Liddel.

She was on her tiptoes by a large tree, reaching up for the branches. She seemed upset.

"G'day, Alice," he called out, hoisting his exercise bag over his shoulder and walking over.

She turned and looked around wide-eyed before spotting him. "Oh thank goodness that you came, Bunny! I need help, you see. I've lost my kittens! Do you have the time, or are you late?"

Bunnymund gave her a strange look. Most people did. "I'm not late for anything, Alice. Your kittens? What happened?"

Alice shook her hands, flustered. "I'm not sure, exactly. I was talking to them like I always do and then I got to daydreaming and so the cats got to exploring. Now they're in this tree and I can't reach them!"

Bunnymund gazed up at the litter of cats in the tree. Holy moly! It appeared as if a cluster of cats were all clinging onto a single branch in the tree. He couldn't make them out. It looked like one large, furry ball.

"Jeez Alice, how many cats do you have?"

"Oh! The big one is Dinah, but the little ones are her kittens! There's Snowdrop, and Cheshire, and ooh, that one's Jabberwocky! He's a mean one. He scratched me, see?"

Alice strode over, bringing the smell of spring flowers with her. Bunnymund froze as she held out her small hand, showing him a long white scar. Man, she was pretty. Not in the same sense that Tooth was, but pretty nonetheless. She was kind, too, despite being a major ditz... and probably destined to be a crazy cat lady.

Bunnymund reached for her hand and lifted it up for a better look. His large, tan hand nearly engulfed her small, soft one.

"Bunny," she tried, "I'm so very, very sorry about last year. I—I know I was the one that had invited you to come, but I wasn't very good company."

Bunnymund shrugged. It had been a little strange last year. "That's fine, Alice."

"No, it isn't. I must explain." Alice bit her lip, shaking her head. "I... my sister is always saying, 'Alice, take your medicine', or 'Alice, don't forget your pills'! I was so tired of the medicine you see, so I didn't usually take it. It takes away the pretty thoughts I have and I almost feel as if I'm not really all there. People always say I act too strange, that I see things that aren't really... that's why I take the medicine!"

She grasped onto his fingers and Bunnymund stood patiently, letting her finish her ramble. He could see why her family might have wanted to help her become more focused. She seemed to daydream more than the average person.

"—and so, on the night of the dance, I thought, 'wouldn't it be kinder of me to make sure I'm medicated before I go on the date with Bunnymund?' Because I didn't want to give you trouble with my silly nilly thoughts and ideas, and so I took the medicine, but for the rest of the night things were a blur. I don't even know what I did!"

Bunnymund felt a little bad for her, but decided to tell her the truth. "To be honest, you didn't do much of anything. You just kind of... swayed. All night," Bunnymund supplied.

Alice groaned. "You see? I was no fun! And I was the one that had wanted you to come. I really like you, Bunnymund."

He smiled at her. Sure, Alice was pretty kooky, but she was a good sport. She was fun, imaginative, and forever pursuing him. If he hadn't had such a liking for Tooth, Alice would have been the first on his list. Now that his feelings for his violet-eyed friend had slowly evaporated, he was beginning to see other things through the mist.

Alice was interesting. She came up with the funniest ideas and if she wasn't in the mude for her signature blue dresses, she wore the most queer things.

She laughed like silver bells and smelled of morning dew.

She would hum birdsongs in the hallways between classes, her eyes shining like the breaking dawn.

To him, she was spring.

"It's okay, Alice," he insisted confidently, "I like you too. Why don't we give it another go this year? Without medicines, this time. I like you just the way you are, right now. Now... let's get those cats!"

Alice smiled shyly at him and he grinned back, both of them heading back to the oak tree, hand in hand.

"So... how's Toothiana?"

"Not now, Uncle."

"She's very pretty."

"Please, Uncle, I'm—"

"I think she's just a sweetheart."

"I'm not listening anymore."

"You two were holding hands when I came to pick you up that one time."

"Yeah... yeah, we were."

"Could you grab that bowl over there for me...? She likes you."

"Here we go again—! Here's the bowl, and yes, I know she likes me."

"Do you like her?"

"Okay, fine. Yes, Uncle, I like her. I like her a lot. As a matter of fact, I like her so much that I've thought about asking her out."

"Why haven't you, yet?"

"I just—can't seem to find the right time. Last time I tried, she was in a sticky situation and I was too busy helping her get out of it. Then, I ended up telling her about what happened with Emma, so... it just wasn't a good time to bring it up. I kind of ruined the mood."

"...You told her about Emma?"

"Yeah... what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Tooth is serious to you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

"..."

"..."

"...Could you hand that carton of milk over to me?"

"Sure—here you go."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"..."

"..."

"Jack...?"

"Yes...?"

"I heard about that dance your school is hosting. Girls like dancing."

"I know. Hopefully, she'll like dancing with me."

"...That's my boy."

The days leading up to the dance were nerve-wracking and undeniably depressing. Kids were getting asked as dates left and right and Tooth couldn't help but think about her rejections to both Brer Rab and Bunnymund. She had been hoping that... well, maybe Jack would...

...But no. He had been acting strange around her ever since the night at Zeus's party. As much as they knew about one another now, he still seemed distant and walled off, like he was keeping a secret.

She figured this would be another year she would stay at home instead of going out. But then again, that wasn't so bad! Maybe she could go sledding with the guys again or they could all hang out at North's house? Maybe they could go eat out somewhere or visit Bunnymund's dojo? There were so many other things to do...!

Ugh. Who was she kidding?

She really, really wanted to go to the Winter Ball. The guy she wanted to go with... maybe she could just ask him?

'No,' she thought to herself, 'too bold!'

And so she found herself later, out on the cold steps of her house on a Saturday, waiting for North, Bunnymund, and Sandy to drive over to her house. Jack was with her, on the lower step. He had walked to her house earlier that day, to save North the trip of finding his house in the woods.

The silent wait was easy and comfortable. Tooth felt a nagging craving for sugar as she adjusted her winter cap. When she pulled out a pack of gum from her pocket, Jack sniffed the air and turned around eagerly.

"You have bubblegum?" he asked.

"Yes," Tooth smiled. "Are you sure you want some? It's sugary, you could get a cavity..."

"Pleeeaase, Tooth," he jokingly whined, "I don't care about cavities, I care about bubblegum. Gimme!"

Tooth laughed at his antics, pulling away from his reaching hands. "You sound like a baby! And that's not how you ask politely."

Jack smirked at her. "Fine. Since I'm such a 'baby', feed it to me."

He leaned back and rested his head on Tooth's lap from the lower stair step, squinting his eyes closed and parting his lips. Tooth nearly jumped at the feel of his head thudding on the tops of her thighs. The white locks that spilled from his scalp were splayed over her lap, his tongue waiting eagerly for the sugary stick.

She tried to ignore the butterflies flapping around in her stomach and unwrapped the stick of bubblegum. She pinched it between her fingers and leaned over, trying hard not to freak out. She lowered the gum past his pearly teeth and felt small vibrations shoot up the stick as it rested on his pink tongue.

The stick of gum was pulled out from her fingers as Jack's tongue lapped it up and trapped it behind his lips. His closed eyes relaxed as he savored the gum, making content sounds and relaxing into her lap. Tooth could feel the movements of his chewing and placed her hands on either side of her, clutching the cold stone tightly. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into volcanoes, heating her up from the inside out.

Jack's chewing slowed. He inhaled deeply through his nose before his lashes fluttered open to reveal wondering, blue eyes.

"Tooth," he murmured past the gum in his mouth.

"Hmm?" she vaguely questioned, lost in the sharp gaze focusing on her. He didn't move his head from her lap.

Her eyes caught a movement from the corner and she jumped a little. His hand had somehow left his pockets and moved to the side of her face without her noticing. Her breathing hitched.

"I've been wondering for a while..." he stated in a curious tone, observing her reaction carefully.

"About what?" Tooth near-whispered, reaching up and brushing the pale fingers on her cheek. She hadn't even realized she had done that! Her hands were moving on their own.

"...I was wondering on whether or not you would say yes if I asked you to the Winter Dance."

Tooth's brain short-circuited before all the systems started functioning once more. Don't freak out, she told herself for the millionth time since meeting this strange boy.

"Well, I guess that depends..." she tried to say nonchalantly. Her tight grip on his hand gave her away. "...Are you asking me?"

Jack smiled. A real one.

"Yeah, I am. Toothiana, would you like to go with me to-"

"Yes," she interrupted, squeezing his fingers with joy. "Yes, I would like that very much, Jack."

Breathless laughs escaped the both of them and Tooth held on tightly to his hand as he squeezed her fingers back.

She was so... happy!

She could lose all of her homework right now and not break a sweat.

She could misplace her favorite teddy bear or her laptop could break down right now.

She could chip a tooth, or a get a cavity, or Arachne could push books out of her hands for the rest of the year, none of it would change how she felt right now.

As far as she knew, Tooth's feet were no longer earthbound.

She felt like she could fly.

The night was dark and cold.

He had driven to pick her up, something that she was extremely proud of. When she saw him ease up into her driveway in his uncle's car, deep down somewhere, she wanted to cry. She knew how hard this must have been for him.

She gripped the sides of her overcoat and brought them closer together, shivering. The dress wasn't made for warmth. "Jack, you- you didn't have to drive here. We could have walked- "

"I'm not gonna make my date walk all the way to school in heels. I couldn't make it that far in these dress shoes, myself. Besides, tonight is different," he insisted, his own overcoat extremely different from the sweater she was so used to seeing him wear. The coat made him look foreign, almost.

"'Different'?"

He grinned and brought a finger to his lips, signalling another secret. "You'll see. Now, are you going to invite me inside and show me your dress? And I'm pretty sure your dad wants to 'have a word with me' before we go."

Tooth agreed and let him inside the house.

Her father had started bawling, something that she wasn't expecting. She had to wait for her dad to finish threatening Jack with her curfew. She also had to wait for him to stop begging her to not go to the Ball, but instead, to stay home and play with Barbies like she used to. She then had to wait for him to take a billion photos of them both before they could walk out the door.

In some of the pictures, they were about an inch apart, what was acceptable for Haroom. In the other pictures, they made funny faces to get back at him. Tooth was trying to make her tongue touch her nose when he stopped snapping shots.

"Stop making your face look silly," her dad complained, "just smile like you used to when you were five. Oh god, can't you stay home and play with your old toys? How about your Barbies? Or we could make molars out of clay, like we used to."

Tooth could feel her face and neck turning red and her did her best not to look over at her date. He was so embarrassing! "I don't even have those Barbies anymore, Dad."

Her father ignored her. "You're so beautiful Toothie! Just like your mother."

She smiled at that and waved him goodbye, happy because of his ability to pull himself together, and happy because of Jack's ability to behave and not poke fun at her silly dad for mentioning the old activities she shared with her dad.

The drive to school had been quiet and tense. Tooth's hand remained on Jack's knee the entire time, and both of his palms fisted the steering wheel. Everytime another car passed them by on the road, she could feel him tense up the slightest.

They were both nervous, but he was careful and there were no accidents that night.

When they had pulled into the parking lot, Tooth stared in awe at the winter decorations covering the outside.

Rapunzel had gone all out with the decorations—kind of like she had when it came to finding a dress for Tooth! Tooth smiled upon the memory. It had been shop after shop until Tooth finally spotted something she liked. She could even remember the conversation;

'Feathers? Tooth are you sure? You don't want a ballgown or a-'

'No, that's okay Rapunzel. This one is perfect! It's me.'

Jack and Tooth hopped out of the car and headed for the school building. Other groups of friends and couples were filing inside, and Tooth couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"I-I've never been to one of these things," she admitted truthfully, fiddling with her necklace once more. She was a little nervous. What was there to expect?

"I think it'll be fine," Jack replied, strolling alongside her easily. "Besides, I haven't been to one of these either."

Tooth glanced up at him in surprise. "Really? No one's ever asked you to a dance?"

Jack smiled at her. "Not really. Kids didn't want to talk to me when we were all old enough for dances. The accident, remember? But it's no big deal anymore. Now, I can go with you."

She turned away from his warm gaze and felt her chest tingling. So they were in the same boat, then.

Together, Tooth and Jack pushed open the auditorium doors.

The dance was going full blast. Along with live music, a DJ, food, and drinks being everywhere, there were also dresses and couples everywhere. Some people were dancing their toes off! Some were standing off to the sidelines.

Tooth caught sight of Bunnymund couple-shuffling with a gorgeous, blushing Alice Liddel. He spotted Tooth and waved her over, excusing himself from Alice, who seemed to be having the time of her life as she shuffled around the dance floor.

"Bunny!" Tooth whispered loudly over the music, but not loud enough for Alice to hear, "I thought you said the last time you came here with her sucked!"

Bunnymund shrugged his shoulders. "Well, yeah, that time did suck...but this time, she's pretty cool! You get over how wonky she is after a while. She's really nice, actually. Plus, she can't get enough of my ears."

Tooth giggled, waving goodbye to him before moving on past all the couples with Jack.

Ra and his three dates were grooving and jiving all over the dance floor, sporting white prom outfits. Peter and Wendy were spinning in wide, unrestrained circles, her fingers playing with his red hair. Cinderella had the best dress as usual, whereas Jasmine and Aladdin had the best matching outfits. Hansel and Gretel were dancing a little closer than 'cousins' should, and Hiccup looked like he was in heaven dancing with Astrid. Zeus was flirting with other people while his jealous girlfriend, Hera, watched from the bleachers.

Thor ran into Tooth once more and looked her up and down, saying bluntly, "You look hot."

"Thanks... again..." she said cautiously, moving past the large boy. Jack glared at the muscled boy as he followed behind her, scheming a prank for his newly-acquired target.

Tooth grasped onto the edges of her feathered skirt. She knew it had been a little bit of an atypical dress for an informal dance, but she had just adored it when she saw it at the dress shop! The soft, multi-colored feathers flowed when she walked and the top was tight and fitted. Her scalp had a shiny wreath circling it and her mother's necklace matched the dress.

Besides, Jack loved it.

Well, not really. He just kind of stood there, gaping at her. Tooth wanted to think that meant he had liked the dress. She hoped so.

She reminisced earlier that evening. She was so surprised to see Jack in a suit! It threw her off, because she was used to seeing him in his usual blue sweater and ripped jeans. His Uncle had explained later on:

"That boy is so restless. Took forever to get me to convince him to wear the thing. When I told him you would be disappointed, he threw it on, finally. Thanks goodness he likes you so much, else I would've had to get the pliers."

He looked good in it- really good. It was fitted for him and he didn't seem to mind it. He strolled up beside her, keeping the staring crowds away from them. They seemed intrigued by the fact that Jack and Tooth were at the dance at all, much less together.

"I hate these shoes," he commented off-handedly, aching to be barefoot again.

"Look who's talking," Tooth replied, "heels aren't any better. They hurt!"

They chuckled together and moved onto the dance floor, ignoring the curious glances and whispered comments.

Tooth could've spent forever there. Goofing around with other people, watching North get swamped with girls and Sandy talking to a few on his own. She watched happily as Bunnymund and Alice swayed together to their own music that no one else seemed to be able to hear.

She liked the way her dress swirled around, the way the feathers would brush past Jack's knees when she spun. She liked the way his hands felt in hers, no matter how awkward the size difference was.

Her favorite part was the way she could lean forward and breathe him in without him noticing much. He smelled like what Tooth imagined a winter wonderland should smell like.

He stepped on her foot more than once, on accident of course. She stepped on his playfully, only a few times to get back at him. Otherwise, their dancing was flawless. Jack liked to move and Tooth loved to groove.

All those years in dance paid off as she let the music tell her feet where to go, lifting herself on her toes and twirling in her own small circle, a smile gracing her face. She was lost in the beat, lost in the party lights, lost on the dance floor.

Jack reached out and stopped her starry revolutions, but her vision didn't stop spinning in orbit. Her head was swimming as two blue lights moved forward through the haze. Wait... not lights... eyes?

She closed hers to regain a sense of balance, cringing at the way her head ached.

'That's it, no more spinning,' she noted mentally.

She reached for her temple to rub soothing circles into it, but a hand grasped hers before she could even touch her skin. She felt cold breath rolling across her warm cheeks. A nose brushed past hers, before the feeling vanished with a whoosh of air.

She opened her eyes.

Jack smirked.

She could only watch with wide-eyed enchantment as his pale fingers nervously reached down to her sides, searching for her own hands. She didn't move a muscle as her hands were brought up to a pair of lips, softly kissed.

Her heart began slamming against the sides of her rib cage as the lips moved from her hands, to the inside of her left wrist. Blue eyes flicked up from the skin and peered into her violet ones.

He wanted to know if this was okay. He wanted permission to kiss something other than her hands. Tooth could barely feel herself nodding.

His mouth moved from her wrist and Tooth felt her breath leave her as his body stepped closer. Hands grasped her shoulders as Jack's head leaned in. Tooth sighed in relief as he moved past her lips, glad that he had, because she hadn't prepared herself at all! Her jaw was still on the floor from the first kiss!

All she saw were white locks as he placed a softer kiss on her neck. The spot of skin that his lips touched lit up and the nerves were sending brain signals one thousand miles a second, signaling "this is electric, this is terrifying, this is Jack, and it's so perfect".

The smell of a cold winter hit her nose as he pulled away, and she could feel the hairs on her arms standing up.

He looked at her one last time, searching for any sign that she didn't want this. She couldn't believe it. Moments away, it was only moments away, the thing that she had been wishing for all year long. Her toes were curling and her skin was on fire.

She didn't want to wait anymore. Tooth leaned in towards him and Jack moved toward her, gripping her hand tighter than he ever had before. She could feel the frosty breath ghosting on her, she could feel her lips whispering across his...

"Turn the music OFF!"

The music ceased, the party lights turned off, and the blaring shine of the normal auditorium lights came on. Kids had stopped dancing, kids had stopped laughing, kids had stopped speaking—

Jack pulled away, turning his head in confusion at the commotion. Tooth felt her insides curling in on themselves as his grip on her weakened.

—kids had stopped kissing.

Her head dropped as she silently cursed whoever had ruined the moment. She looked to the front of the auditorium to see who held the microphone.

Rapunzel.

Flynn stood beside her, looking around anxiously. Rapunzel's voice shook as she continued.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but you can't leave the auditorium. Not until we find out who did it."

"Who did what?" someone called out in exasperation. It sounded an awful a lot like Zeus.

"The money," Flynn spoke into the microphone, taking it from Rapunzel and searching the crowds with a hawk's gaze. "The fund-raiser money. It's gone. Someone stole it, and now we can't let any of you leave until we find out who did it."

The party-goers groaned and gasped, looking around to see if they could spot the culprit. Who would steal the money? It was for children!

Athena stepped forward, with an angry expression. "This was found near the fund-raiser safe." She held up a long, wooden staff in her fist for the entire crowd to see.

Tooth felt her heart dropping into the floor.

Anansi stepped forward, peering at the staff. "Hey... that stick... isn't that Frost's?"

Tooth felt the grip on her hand pull her around, making her face down the lovely, panicked boy in front of her.

"I didn't do it," he whispered fast, looking her straight in the eyes, "I swear to you Tooth, I would never—"

"I know," she interrupted, growing a little frightened by the heavy silence creeping up around them, the weight of the tension in the large auditorium. "I believe you! I trust you. The question is... do they?"

Jack couldn't have done it, he was with her the entire time. But then who...?

They turned from one another, facing their classmates.

All the eyes in the room slowly turned towards Tooth and Jack. Their hands clung even tighter to one another, as the all the lights turned on them.

Chapter Text

"What do we do?"

Jack's eyes turned hard as he gazed at the familiar, childhood staff that Athena held up high. "I have an idea,'" he murmured to Tooth, letting her slip from his fingers and moving through the crowds of gaping teenagers.

He approached the stage with his head high. "It couldn't have been me. I never stole anything."

Athena looked down upon him, uncertain with the situation.

"Is this yours?" she questioned.

"Yes," he responded. "But-"

"Then who else could it have been?"

Jack let his eyes drop, searching his mind for something, anything. This night was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be about Tooth. Wait a second…

Flynn.

Jack's eyes swiveled up, locking with Athena's sharp ones. "Flynn. Ask him. I mean, I did own that staff once, but… I lost it a long time ago. Flynn sold it, actually."

Athena turned her gaze to Flynn and his date, Rapunzel. Flynn looked sheepish and Rapunzel appeared highly annoyed with him. The tall boy stepped forward with his hands out in surrender.

"Frost is right, 'Thena. I took that thing from him years ago, I don't know how you found it near the safe." He then turned to Jack. "I swear man, all Rapunzel had told me was that the money was gone, I didn't know that thing was here-"

"Well luckily, I was the one to find it," Athena intruded, glaring at Flynn. "And you're hardly one to vouch for Frost, Rider. I don't care if you're dating the president of the decoration committee, I am head of student council, and I will not tolerate any mishaps tonight! You're a well-known thief, and despite Rapunzel's insistence that you've changed- I don't trust you, Rider. And I definitely don't trust your word. Jack is still guilty in the eyes of the council. There is no evidence pointing otherwise."

There was a crowd moving in on the small group, glued to the scene unfolding before everyone.

"What?!" Flynn shouted. "You- I just- agh! You think you're so high and mighty just because-"

Rapunzel cut him off with a press of her hand on his shoulder. Her eyes warned him and he silenced himself, allowing her to step before him and speak.

"Athena, I- I know you don't believe this, but Flynn is telling the truth. I was there when he apologized to Jack about the staff, he told me what had happened. He's not lying, and even if he were, this-" she said, gesturing to the staff, "-this is hardly enough evidence to convict someone of a crime. How does this prove anything?"

Athena frowned. "It is meager evidence, yes. It hardly proves anything, but it is all we have. Nothing else was left by the scene, and the money is gone. The only trustworthy lead we have is this staff and Frost admitted himself that it belonged to him."

She turned to Jack, a regretful look on her face. "I am sorry to say this, but I cannot allow the theft of the ball money. I will act as the adult since there are no teachers here tonight for the student-run ball. I'm calling the police."

Jack's mouth went slack and collective gasps erupted from the crowd.

The police? That meant someone was going to be arrested! Murmurs hit the air as everyone was guessing what was to become of Jack Frost.

Silence fell once again as a group made their way to the front of the crowds. Kids moved aside, allowing the four friends through.

"We vouch for Jack as well," North announced in his thick, Slavic accent. He gestured to Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandy, who all nodded in agreement with him. "We know it was Flynn who took and sold the staff. Jack could not have done the crime."

"Oh, really?" Athena questioned, gazing among the group. "Then we'll have to hold Flynn here with Jack as well, until the police arrive. You all obviously seem to think he had something to do with the crime."

"No!" Rapunzel blurted, covering her mouth quickly. She moved quickly towards Athena and lowered her voice, but North, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunnymund could still catch her words. Her green eyes were glistening as she weakly said, "Please, don't have the police take them. Flynn's already been to court. He has two strikes against him. If he gets arrested again, he might go to jail!"

Athena shook her head in determination. "I am sorry, Rapunzel, but I cannot abide by you. I must do something as president of the council-"

Tooth stepped forward.

"Don't call the police just yet. You owe me, Athena."

Silence fell over them as Athena slowly turned from Rapunzel, shooting Tooth an offended glare.

"Pardon? I owe you? I have done well by you, Toothiana. I helped you when Arachne was giving you hell, when you were too scared to ask for help! I owe you nothing."

Tooth felt the eyes of her friends on her, but she kept her gaze on Athena. She couldn't let Jack get arrested for something that she was certain he hadn't done. She racked her mind within those silent moments, finally coming upon a solution.

"Athena, I- I know who did it! I know who took the money. I can get it back for you, just give me time."

Athena looked at Tooth with piqued interest. "You know the culprit? Well then tell me; who took the money?" She shook her head as Tooth became silent. "I knew you were lying- "

"I'm not! It's just…if I told you, you would call the police anyways. You wouldn't believe me. There's no proof, but I know exactly who did it. I… Athena, when have I ever lied? When have I ever caused trouble at this school? Trust me on this one, I know who…I just can't tell you."

"Why?!" Athena shot back.

"Because I don't trust you! You would send the police after them the moment I told you who really did it, but that would only send them running. If that happens, we'll never be able to prove to you who really did it. Just give me two hours, that's all I ask."

Athena only looked into Tooth's steady gaze for a few seconds, but for Tooth, it felt like a lifetime.

"… Alright," Athena finally announced. "Two hours. If you're not back by then with the money, I'm having these two arrested. Until then, they'll be under the watch of the council."

Tooth felt the weight on her chest disappear and gave Athena a thankful smile. She turned to Jack, who looked at her wistfully.

"I'll be back," she mouthed.

He tried to look happy, but he was confused. His thoughts were racing as he watched her leap off towards her friends and head out of the exit doors with them.

She knew who took the money? How? If it wasn't Flynn and it wasn't him, then all that left was…

Oh. Damn!

Jack's energy spiked as he moved away, trying to follow after Tooth and her friends. They couldn't be going there, they couldn't be looking for him. She was crazy, this was dangerous!

A hand on his wrist forcibly stopped him in his tracks. He nearly gasped out loud at the strength of the grip and glanced back to see a regal, manicured hand holding him back.

"You're guilty until proven innocent, Jack," Athena declared, holding him in her vice-like grip. "And until proven innocent, you will remain here, under our watch."

"You don't understand-"

"Oh, I think I do. You're not going anywhere until your friends prove your innocence… or until the squad cars arrive to detain you. Ares, hold him for me."

Athena strolled away to keep a close eye on Flynn, and all Jack could do was gaze through the exit doors at Tooth's receding figure while a strong set of hands replaced Athena's, holding him back.

Her feathered dress gleamed one last time before she vanished out of the building, out of safety, and out of his sight.

"We know who we are looking for, yes?"

"Yes. He lives on the other side of town. You'll need to drive fast if we're going to make the time limit, North. I'm tired of hiding from him. Are you guys ready?"

"Of course we are! Hell, at least I am. I can't wait! I've been itchin' to fight with him for a while now. Especially after he went after you at Zeus's place! You ready to feed this guy a knuckle sandwich, Tooth?"

"Not really, Bunny. I just want to find the money and stop him for good. No more mysteries, no more looking over our shoulders, no more fear… No more Pitch."

North parked the car a block away so that the sight of the giant red vehicle wouldn't blow their cover. They didn't want Pitch to know they were coming. If he could stay in the shadows, so could they.

Tooth quietly shut the door and shivered in the night air. She looked up at the old, crumbling apartment building as North handed her his oversized jacket.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Guys!" she whispered out into the cold night air, stopping the boys in their tracks. They all turned to her, wondering what the hold-up was.

"M-maybe this was bad idea. I mean, we're not bounty hunters or anything. This is an adult we're dealing with, and a bad one at that. We don't know anything about him… he might not even be home! We're breaking into someone's home! That's a crime! And what if he has weapons? What if he has a gun?"

North waved off her assumptions and chuckled. "Guns? Who is scared of guns? I can take gun apart and put back together!"

Everyone heads turned, all of them wearing surprised looks. The large boy shrugged. "What? You never assembled gun before? It fine, but I prefer the traditions in swords. More interesting that way."

Bunnymund snorted and patted North on the shoulder. "Remind me to ask you about your crazy life story, yeah?" He turned to Tooth and cracked his knuckles. "Toothie, we're already here. Yeah, it's stupid. Yeah, it's dangerous. But we do know one thing for certain: he took the money. This might be the only way we can pin him down for a crime! Besides, even if he's not home or hid the money somewhere else, we know he hides all of the stuff he steals in his place. We can still get him in trouble for that, at least. Now, c'mon! I doubt he has a gun, anyways. There are no gun shops in this town, or any of the towns nearby for that matter."

"And knives? If he has those?"

North grinned. "You not worry about knives. I deal with that."

Tooth looked around nervously, unsure. She wanted to tie up as many loose ends in this plan as she possibly could. "We're still breaking into someone's home. We could end up getting in huge trouble!"

Bunnymund smiled. "Pitch won't call the police, he's got too much incriminating stuff in his place. He'd blow his own cover. If a neighbour calls on us, we'll just ditch before any cops show up."

The others agreed on this and made for the building, excited. Tooth sighed before following after them. If her dad ever found out about this, she would be grounded forever!

They approached the small, rickety building. Snow fell lightly around them and few streetlamps were lit that night. The street was mostly dark, but the entrance to the apartment building was still engulfed in lamplight.

North gathered everyone around him before Bunnymund began to speak.

"Okay, here's the plan; North, you go through the front since you're the quietest and know your way around a lock. I'll climb up the wall since Pitch's room is on the second floor. The window should be pretty easy to get through without smashing any glass, going off of what North taught me about locks. Sandy, you'll keep watch with Tooth outside, in case Pitch makes a run for it or suddenly shows up. You guys have to stop him if that happens! We meet back here in fifteen minutes. If any of you need help, whistle and the rest of us'll come running. Everyone got it?"

Tooth nodded. "For Flynn!" she declared, "… for Jack."

"For Flynn and Jack!" the boys repeated in a chanted agreement.

They all nodded in determination before going their separate ways. Tooth and Sandy stood off to the side, trying to go unnoticed. Bunnymund vanished around the side of the building and North made his way through the front door, falling out of view.

Tooth let out a shaky breath.

"Nervous?" Sandy signed.

"A little," She admitted, signing back, thankful that they had the silent language to communicate in. None of the neighbours would accidently overhear them this way. "But this is for Jack and Flynn, so I'll be brave."

"For Jack, you mean," Sandy signed with a mischievous grin on his face. Tooth felt her face getting hot.

"I care about Flynn, too!" she whispered to him, horribly embarrassed.

"I saw you guys back at the ball. Tooth and Jack, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-" Sandy's hands stopped their movements as a soft bird whistle echoed out. It had come from the side of the building!

Tooth moved forward, but Sandy pushed her back. "Stay here! It's Bunnymund. I bet he fell and broke his ankle or something. I told him that climbing the building was a bad idea. I'll be back."

Tooth watched the chubby blonde boy jog off into the shadows, rounding the building out of sight.

She waited. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Four. Where had Sandy gone? What was taking so long? Was Bunnymund okay?

Tooth was battling over whether or not she should leave her position and go check on them, when she heard a sudden rustle. Her head swiveled around, eyes narrowing on the road.

Snap.

She went stock still before stepping further away from the street light, making her heels soundless on the pavement. The shadows covered her, but she still felt a gaze on her from somewhere. Tooth shivered as the rustling sounds ceased the moment she went still.

Someone was out there.

Her voice died in her throat and she didn't dare whistle. Maybe it was just a passerby. Maybe they would leave. Her hands clutched over her chest as she held her breath, straining to hear something, anything.

The rustling began again, and she nearly jumped in her skin. Her knees bent and she began falling into herself, trying to become smaller within the shadows, invisible almost. Someone was watching her!

The rustling approached the streetlight spilling over the apartment building's entrance, before light glinted off of two eyes in the shadows. A dark foot stepped out into the light.

The wind that had been softly blowing through Tooth's hair died. The snowfall stopped. A cloud passed over the moon and everything seemed truly dark. Even the stars themselves seemed to have gone out.

Tooth couldn't stop the sweat that was trailing down the back of her neck, despite the winter air. The silence was so heavy, that a pin drop could have been heard. The only light on the street was the streetlamp, almost as if the rest of the world had turned itself off.

A dark body followed the foot into the lamplight, and Tooth could only feel the fear crawling through her as she came to recognize the figure. His eyes undeniably found their way through the shadows to gaze straight at her. The slouched man smiled crookedly in her direction.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" he sang wickedly, enjoying this far too much. He could smell the very fear in the air. The girl was a good hider, but the shadows were on his side tonight. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel her. What a shame, too. Her friends in the back of the building had put up a better fight than this. They hadn't hid from him. They should have.

He moved closer, smiling. The shadows told him that she was frozen in her spot like a deer before a wolf. He moved casually to the very edge of the rim of light, facing complete darkness. Hm… maybe if he just took a wild guess….

Pitch dipped his hand into the shadows at lightspeed, his fingers curling around a jacket's collar and making the wearer of the clothing shriek out loud.

He tightened his grip, ignoring the hands that had begun slapping on his arm and relishing the sounds of a young, frightened teenager.

"Bingo," he murmured, before using all of his strength to pull harshly.

He wasn't surprised to see the lamplight overhead envelop the girl as he flung her to the ground, single-handedly. She hit the pavement hard, throwing out her hands to stop the fall and crying out when the skin on her palms shredded.

Pitch began a slow walk around her as she breathed fast, scrambling to get back to her feet. He loved the look in her eyes, the sweat that was gathering on her face despite the cold air. He had caused that! How magnificent. He could only imagine how fast her heart was racing. She fought to stand steady as dirt fell from the front of her dress back onto the street.

Pitch's newly-bought phone vibrated in his pocket and he casually answered it, never taking his eyes off of the panting girl before him. He didn't bother holding her down. He had a feeling that she wasn't going anywhere.

"Yes?" he answered smoothly, tracing his tongue over his teeth.

Tooth could hear a frantic voice over the phone, shouting and yelling at Pitch. He turned away from Tooth with a look of boredom, speaking back into the receiver. Tooth breathed hard as he turned away. She could run right now, but the money…! She still had to find it. Unless North had already found it? But where was he? Where were Sandy and Bunnymund? Maybe she should whistle for help? She glanced down at her red, scuffed, aching hands.

Tooth could hear the voice on Pitch's phone, even where she was from. She couldn't recognize it, but it sounded strangely familiar. She took a breath and stepped closer as quietly as possible, afraid to catch the tall man's attention.

"… I helped you!" the voice shouted. Pitch shrugged, putting a hand in his pocket.

"Yes, yes, and I thank you for that. How else would I have gotten into that blasted school? I was only so lucky to find a student of Burgess High to help me."

Tooth inhaled sharply, quickly covering her mouth. So Pitch hadn't worked alone! One of her classmates had helped him….but who? Pitch heard the noise and turned back to her, smiling. Tooth jumped and moved away, but he followed her with renewed vigour.

"Let's talk about this later," he insisted into the phone, "I'm a little busy right now. Yes, I'm busy dealing with YOUR problem."

Tooth's eyebrow quirked. Who was he talking to?

"Of course I'm not holding up my end of the bargain. Who did you think you were dealing with?"

Tooth had enough. She brought up two fingers and whistled loud and shrilly, hoping that her friends would hear. She hadn't even blinked before Pitch slapped a rough hand over her mouth, turning her around and pressing her back to him with a grip of iron.

"Shhh," he whispered into her ear, his dry lips brushing the locks of her hair and his hand pulling the phone away from him, "Don't want the neighbours to hear us, now do we?" He brought the cellular device back to his ear and resumed speaking, ignoring the way the girl twisted and turned, fighting to get away from him.

"What was that noise?!" the voice demanded. Tooth could hear clearly now, being pressed up so close to Pitch. The more she struggled, the tighter he held her, muffling her sounds. She pulled and scratched at the fingers over her mouth, but they wouldn't give. The older man wasn't all that bulky, but he seemed to be getting unnatural strength from somewhere, from something.

"Oh, nothing. Just a little bird I caught." He laughed, looking down at Tooth's feathered dress.

"Whatever," the voice went on, "you messed up everything! It wasn't in our plan, Pitch. I was supposed to get you inside the school, and you were supposed to make it look as if Tooth had taken the money- not Jack!"

For a moment, Tooth stopped struggling. She knew that voice.

Arachne.

"I don't care about your trivial high school rivalries. I got what I wanted. Now I have the money, the boy, and his little friend, too. Jack Frost will never be leaving Burgess's jail with a crime like this over his head. And you can bet that I'll be the one visit him often. As for his friend…" his grip on Tooth tightened ever further, pulling a sharp gasp from her, "… well, I'm still deciding on what to do with her. She knows about all of this now, you know. About what we did."

Arachne's tone turned threatening. "You lied to me! You had better fix this… or else! I'll tell them that it was you who took the money!"

Pitch's voice remained relaxed. "And if you do that, then you also have to tell them that it was you who helped me. Now that won't look so good, will it? The girl who let the bad, bad man inside the building, the girl who helped him steal the Ball money? You'll be in just as much trouble as me."

Arachne went silent over the other line. "You'll regret this," she seethed.

He chuckled before hanging up on her. "Honestly, I don't think I will. Nice doing business with you."

After replacing the phone in his pocket, Pitch used his other free hand to stop Tooth's frenzied ones from swinging at him. With his other hand still pressed over her mouth, he leaned into her ear once more.

"What am I to do with you? You know too much, now. I could find a fitting end for you! Your little friend Jack will be in a barred cage soon enough. Perhaps I could build you one as well…? Haha, yes, a bird cage would be appropriate, I think."

Tooth bit down hard and felt satisfied at the yelp the man released. She pulled from his grip in his moment of weakness and whistled again, even louder this time. Where were her friends? Facing him, her eyes turned cold.

"Return the money!" she shouted at him, unwilling to let him frighten her. He seemed to be enjoying the sight of her fear, and she didn't want to give him that pleasure. "Do it, or I'll have the police here in seconds! I'll turn in the two of you; both you, and Arachne!"

Pitch ignored her threats and rubbed at his sore hand. "Damn you, that hurt… no wonder that 'Arachne' girl doesn't like you! You always seem to muck up things, or my plans at the very least. How did you even figure out it was me?"

Tooth shook her head, not wanting to tell this guy anything. Where were the guys? It seemed as if she would have to do this on her own. Pitch grinned coldly, moving ever closer to her. Tooth could feel her hands shaking, but she didn't stand down. Pitch looked at the quivering things in glee.

"Oh, dear… are you scared? Do I scare you?" he asked, his grin still in place.

"You? Never," she spat, even though it was an obvious lie. Of course she was scared. This guy was a major creep!

He growled and leaped forward suddenly, hands outstretched for her. Tooth quickly sidestepped past him and watched him go flying into the shadows. Soon enough, she realized she had made a mistake. As she stood alone under the streetlight, Tooth slowly became unaware of where Pitch was. The darkness of the night covered him.

Tooth stepped backward in the lamplight, but a voice erupted from behind her in the darkness, startling her.

"Can't find me, can you? It's almost as if you're blind…"

She jumped away from the edge of the light's circle, remaining far from the shadows. She tried moving to the other side, gazing at where she had first heard Pitch's voice.

"…Boo."

He spoke again, but this time, it was as if he was right next to her. Tooth yelped, moving away once again. She tried moving to the middle of the lamplight, drawing her hands close to her body.

'At least he can't surprise me…' she thought slowly, straining to hear where the man might be.

Fingers brushed against her neck, but Tooth only turned to find more shadows.

"Stop it!" she screamed, slapping a hand against the back of her neck where the cold fingers had touched her.

"Why are you even here?" the voice questioned from seemingly nowhere. "For Frost? You barely know the boy. Why so much effort for him? I bet he's never put this much energy into you. I bet he rarely thinks about you."

Tooth blocked out his words. Jack had cared about her. He had done things that had scared him, for her sake. He put his trust back into people, into her. He even trusted himself again. All those times they had spent together, all the secrets they had told one another. It meant something.

"So quiet, little bird! Did a cat rip out your tongue? Or did you just realize the truth? I bet you're pining for him. I bet you think you 'love' little Jack Frost, don't you? How wretched. Such a stupid girl…"

Tooth's fists clenched, but she didn't let her anger show on her face. Instead, she listened closely to the sound of Pitch's voice, following the man's movements. Maybe if she took a lucky guess…

"I wonder if Jack will have enough heart to care when he finds out his little friend is missing, hm? That's right. I can see it now, all over the news! 'Missing high school girl, never to be found again'. That sounds rather good, actually. Jack would be devastated…You'll never see the light of day again, after tonight!"

Something clicked inside of Tooth. The fear began to wash away.

She wasn't exactly sure when it happened or how, but she knew now. She had a good hunch.

This guy fed off fear, didn't he? He tried getting into people's minds, he said things to shock and scare, but it was all just a show, she could tell now. His voice would falter every time she spoke back to him, his eyes would fall to the floor every time she actually faced him. Even as he threatened her very safety, she knew that Pitch was a phony, a fraud. She remembered the way he had backed down with Jack, with Zeus, and they were only kids, like her! He only felt strong when his opponent was scared, that's where he found his power. And her, a teenage girl, was an easy target for him.

Well. She would just have to turn the tables on him.

"You're a coward."

The movements around her stopped. She could practically hear the nervousness in his voice when he finally spoke.

"… What did you say to me?"

Tooth moved forward towards the sound of his voice, reaching out into the shadows and giving Pitch a taste of his own medicine. Her hands found his shirt, and she pulled. She didn't know where she found the strength, but no matter. He had still hit the pavement. HARD.

Her voice came strong and fierce, surprising herself, even.

"You heard me," she growled at him. "You're a coward! I can't believe I was ever scared of you!"

Pitch's eyes turned into saucers as she advanced on him, fury in her eyes. There wasn't a trace of fear to be found in her violet eyes, and it unnerved him greatly.

"Did you hear me, girl? Did you hear what I just said?"

Tooth found herself smiling a bit, glad to be over her fear. The clouds passed overhead and moonlight seeped onto the street. She could now see the three figures of her friends racing towards her, finally! She decided to use this to her advantage.

"Oh, I heard you alright. Now you listen here, Pitch Black. You're going to turn yourself in, and you're going to tell the police everything about what happened."

Pitch felt extremely small, but he sneered at her anyways. "… And if I don't?" he inquired rebelliously.

Tooth crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "… Well then I guess you'll just have to deal with my large, bulky, and very angry friends."

Pitch's eyebrow quirked. Who was she talking about?

A thick hand embedded itself in his collar and pulled the man up to his heels, making him call out a very undignified squeaking sound. He was turned around to face three very upset boys.

Bunnymund stepped forward with an ominous look on his face. There was a large, noticeable bump on the back of his head. He turned to the chubby blonde boy next to him. "Well would you look who it is, Sandy? It's the bloke that hit us when our backs were turned! A bloody wuss, he is. Now I wonder how he would do in a fair fight, yeah? What say you, Sandy?

Sandy planted his fist in his palm, wearing a bump on his head that looked strangely similar to Bunnymund's. "Cream him," he signed.

North tut-tutted while wagging his finger, his other hand holding Pitch by the scruff of his collar. A duffel bag stuffed full of the ball money was hauled over North's shoulder, the stolen money he had found in the apartment. "Wait, my friends! If we hurt coward, police will see marks and we get in trouble! No worry, I have other way of making cowards talk. "

Pitch gulped loudly. "Why in the world would I turn myself in? You think you can make me? I'd like to see you try, Slav."

North frowned at the man's tone, his grip tightening. The others stepped back, watching the scene unfold before them. North found a crooked smile, his blue eyes twinkling.

"It would be a pleasure, Pitch Black."

Pitch hadn't put up a fight when the police arrived.

Not only did he tell them about the stolen money and the plan to break into the school, but he had also told them about partnering up with Arachne, the stolen items in his apartment, and a few messier things back in his past.

Tooth could only shrug. North had been true to his word! He had done a number on the man.

After the police threw Pitch in the backseat of their squad car, they followed North's red truck back to Burgess High, relieving Athena of her duties and assuring that Jack wasn't in any trouble. They announced the finding of the money, thanks to the four brave friends who tracked down Pitch. They then sent out a search team and soon enough, found the Arachne outside the building making a run for it. She went with them, kicking and screaming.

Anansi didn't seem all that upset as he watched the police pull his frenzied girlfriend out of the auditorium by her handcuffs. Tooth approached him sorrowfully. She knew that they weren't friends or anything, but still, it had to be hard watching something like that.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry about Arachne," she said softly, putting an assuring hand on Anansi's shoulder.

The boy turned around in surprise, not sure of what to make of the friendly hand on his shoulder. He contemplated shrugging it off, but then decided otherwise.

"Oh, her? Well, it's not a big deal to me. She's kind of off her rocker, y'know what I mean? I mean, yeah she was always a bitch, but after the 'Athena Incident', she turned into an even bigger one! I had been thinking about dumping her anyways. Maybe juvie will straighten her out or something. I've got my eye on someone else."

Tooth was shocked that Anansi could date someone that he seemed to care so little about. And to think that she was jealous of Arachne in the days when her and Jack were still strangers! Tooth had never had someone the way Arachne had Anansi, and she had always felt a little envious because of it. Tooth had never dated before. She had thought they were happy together, since they always seemed to be with one another. It seemed that her assumptions were wrong.

Flynn appeared out of nowhere and broke Tooth's train of thought as he proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of her.

"Aw man, I thought I was a goner for sure! You sure showed Athena, that was AWESOME! Someone's needed to stick it to her, man, I thought that was the end of me, zip, zada, done, no-more Flynn ladies and gentlemen, I would never even get to take Rapunzel on a date, only a prison jumpsuit for me-! But then you came along! And you went and you beat up Pitch Black and now I'm as free as a bird and Rapunzel's happy and I'm happy and, man, you're just the best 'cause now I'm not going to jail and I promise never to steal anything else again 'cause this was WAY too much to deal with for one stick, and now that I think about it Pitch didn't even pay me that much for it-"

Tooth could feel someone tapping Flynn on the shoulder, and the older boy released her from his vice, saying, "Oh, yeah! My bad, go for it, bro."

Flynn was replaced with someone else and Tooth fell into a pair of much more familiar arms. She pushed up on her tiptoes and buried her face in the crook of the pale neck, clutching at the back of Jack's suit and enjoying the feeling of how tightly he held her.

"See?" she murmured, "I told you I'd be back. Now we don't have to worry about Pitch anymore! Now you won't get in trouble-"

He cut her off by pulling away, an angry expression on his face. He looked at her scraped up hands and held them up for a better view, his frown deepening.

"Why, Tooth? That guy could have hurt you." His tone was harsh and cutting. Tooth was taken aback. He was angry? At her?

Tooth pulled her hands out of his grasp fisted her dress before putting on a frown of her own. "I did it for you."

"I'm not worth that much. You need to be more careful-"

Tooth pushed a finger over Jack's lips, her eyebrows furrowing. "And you need to be more grateful! I know you would do the same thing for me if you had to, right?! Well, then don't expect me to sit back and do nothing when you're in trouble. And nothing happened, alright? We're alright. I'm alright, okay?"

His icy blue eyes locked onto her, unsure of how to react. It seemed as if they would never leave from that spot, staring one another down. Jack broke the spell. He slowly reached for Tooth's hand in front of his face and grasped it, holding it in his own. She shivered as his cold palm wrapped over her bruised one.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Thank you, for helping me out. Just… promise me you won't ever do something like that again, okay? You don't have to feel obligated to help me out every time I run into trouble. I run into trouble way too often."

"I know. But no promises," she teased, pulling him closer. A smirk found its way on his face and he shook his head in defeat, moving forward.

"Why are you always so stubborn…?" he murmured before wrapping her up in his arms.

Tooth was enveloped in his embrace once again, and Jack gripped her unabashedly. They were pressed flush together, and Tooth had to swallow a gasp. Had he missed her this much?

"I'm just glad nothing bad happened," he admitted in a breathless smile, burying his fingers in her hair and snaking an arm around her waist. "They wouldn't let me go after you. I freaked. I wasn't sure if you were gonna' be okay, but – you are. You're okay."

Tooth's hands grasped onto him, and she hugged him back just as fiercely. She peered over his shoulder, gazing at the Winter Ball.

Zeus's gang was laughing it up while Anansi and his buddies slipped something into the punch bowls. Bunnymund had returned to Alice, who was doting over his bruised head. North and Sandy were attacking the leftover Ball food whilst flirting with girls at the same time. Athena seemed highly pleased that everything had been sorted out and had even accepted Poseidon's offer to dance. The students had directed their attentions from Jack and Flynn, to Arachne during her arrest. Now, with the money back in the hands of the council, no one cared anymore. They were all just dancing and having a good time.

Tooth closed her eyes and relished in Jack's scent, feeling his arms over her shoulder blades. Pitch had been wrong. Anansi had been wrong. Sandy and Bunnymund and North had all been wrong.

Everyone had been wrong about this.

About him.

She was enjoying the feel of the embrace so much, that she barely noticed when Jack pulled back, leading her by hand outside the auditorium.

She didn't know where they were going or why, but she didn't care. Right now, she would follow him just about anywhere.

Their heels clicked on the floor of the auditorium as Tooth followed Jack closely, his arm around her waist, guiding her to the door. They flew past all the dancing couples, they ignored the DJs, they even ignored the council kids asking them where did they think they were going, it was freezing outside!

Jack and Tooth both pushed the doors open and the cold night air hit them, but Tooth didn't feel all that cold now. Hadn't it been cold earlier? But here, now, Jack's hand was warmer than she had ever remembered it being.

His cheeks were flushed when he looked down at her and he seemed unsure for a moment, the insecurity creeping in. Tooth smiled.

She had been there, done that.

Tooth leaned forward on her toes and softly pecked him on the corner of his mouth, her gloss rubbing off a bit on him.

Jack gave a breathless laugh at the strange feeling her soft kiss gave him. He had been wondering if his hands were too rough on her, if she was still upset about the times he had accidently stepped on her foot, if his hair was messed up by the wind or if she thought he was weird for bringing her out here. But he wanted it to be out here. He wanted her alone for this, with only him to see it.

The wind was blowing still and the snow was falling again, but his skin didn't seem to feel any of it. So this was what it felt like to feel on the inside again. Really feel. It had been awhile, but Tooth had brought him back. Jack had felt the ice inside him thaw a little the very first time she had smiled at him, and now, he could feel the heat racing through his body, through his fingers. It was unbearable, volcanic almost.

It was only when his hands caressed her jaw, when his lips embraced her soft ones, when he swallowed up the sounds of her soft whimpers, that Burgess fell away. He didn't feel the wind, the snow, the ice, or even the very sidewalk that they stood on. All he could feel was her on his warm breath.

The stars above winked at the two of them, but Tooth and Jack were too far gone in each other to wink back.

The following days were pretty quiet.

The Winter Ball had passed, and the excitement in Burgess was dying down. Each day was a little bit warmer than the last. The snowmen that lined up and down the street were slowly melting. Once or twice, Tooth thought she had woken up to the sounds of birds singing once more.

Spring was coming.

School went on as usual. Bunnymund was getting ready for his birthday bash. North and Sandy were building him presents. The kids at school were using the little snow left to throw at one another, and her father was freaking out all of the kids who were going to get cavities from Easter egg hunts.

Everything was pretty normal for Tooth these days, everything except for that one boy.

Jack.

These days, Tooth could interlace her fingers in his and he wouldn't bat an eye. Instead, he would bring their hands up to his mouth, hiding his smile. These days, he still glared at the average person, but when she rounded the corner after class, he would beam just for her. These days, his expressions were softer and his frowns were rare and he hung out with North and the gang almost every day.

He would stand closer to her. He never hid his laughs anymore. He even went out of his way to show her his new woodcarvings. Sometimes she would sketch out a new snowflake and he would carve it out to perfection. Tooth didn't mind him flipping through her scrapbook, even though he would poke fun at her from writing his name in lists along the sides of it. She never told him about it, but she could see his glee when he saw his name scribbled in her handwriting.

North, Sandy, and Bunnymund hadn't said much about the new feeling in the air between Jack and Tooth. If anything, they ignored it and went on with their daily activities, goofing around and having fun.

Alice joined them plenty of times, holding hands with Bunnymund along the way. Jack and Tooth never tried to do anything like that when they were around their friends. The occasional brush of the hand, the sideways glance when no one else was looking. However, when it came time for them all to go home, Jack would insist on walking her home on his own. Tooth wasn't a stranger to his short-but-sweet frosty goodbye kisses.

Still. Something was missing.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but soon realized the day she had Sandy over for studying at her house.

"So are you and Jack dating now?" the blonde boy wrote out on a piece of paper.

Tooth froze. Wait a second. were they? She had never thought to ask and Jack had never said anything before. I mean, sure they had went to the dance and hung out, but they had never went on another date after that. They usually just hung out with friends! Was he her… 'boyfriend' now? Could she even call him that? Did he consider her as his 'girlfriend'? The very idea made Tooth's face heat up.

What did it even matter? It was just a label! She liked him, and she was positive that he liked her. That was enough, wasn't it? She had what she had wanted. Sort of.

Tooth thought about it. Flynn and Rapunzel had started dating. They called each other boyfriend-girlfriend! Hmm…maybe she was just being silly. Still…she wanted to know where they stood. Was she actually dating Jack, or was this….

Tooth sat on her living room couch, dumbstruck. Sandy waved a chubby hand over her glazed eyes, snapping to bring her out of her daze.

"Huh?" she yelped, looking around.

"Tooth, why don't you just ask him? It's not a big deal." Sandy wrote out. "Don't worry about it, forget I asked."

Sandy sat back and continued to read his textbook, but Tooth couldn't lay back. She couldn't forget about it! She was dying to know!

'I'll just ask him,' she thought silently, 'no biggie, I'll just ask him if we're dating now.'

She left her schoolwork abandoned on the table and pulled out her phone, texting rapidly. Sandy ignored the frenzied girl and sighed, regretting having said anything. Still, he was happy for her. She seemed to be content with the snowy-haired boy, always smiling these days.

Tooth texted:

Sent Message

X/XX/XXXX From: Tooth

Hey Jack, can I come over today?

She only was only waiting a few minutes before her phone buzzed, alerting her.

Received New Message

Sent X/XX/XXXX From: Jack

Sure. Is everything ok?

Tooth smiled, replying quickly:

Sent Message

X/XX/XXXX From: Tooth

Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to see you.

Tooth hit the 'send' button before thinking, unaware of how gushy that last text had just sounded. She groaned, smacking her palm to her forehead. Could she be anymore cliché'? She was glad when Jack didn't respond, not wanting to have to answer for her pining text.

Soon enough, the study session with Sandy ended and he went on his merry way. Tooth slid on her coat and left her house, locking the door, before beginning her long trek to Jack's house.

The day was already getting late by the time she approached the large, cozy house in the middle of the woods. Tooth had an easier time walking up the driveway now that all the snow had begun to melt. She was surprised to see a new woodcarving by Uncle Moon set out on the front porch. It read:

"It was only in the depths of winter that I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer."

Recognition sparked in her mind. She had heard that somewhere before. Hadn't Uncle Moon told her. It had something to do with Jack, she remembered. The meaning of the saying escaped her once again, and she brushed it aside. Tooth rang the doorbell, listening to the sounds of movement inside the house.

"No, Uncle, I got it," she heard Jack saying, his feet pounding up the hall to the front door.

"That's Toothiana, isn't it? You lying scoundrel you, I thought you said earlier that North was coming over-" his Uncle argued back, teasing Jack.

The doorknob twisted and turned before the door sprung open. Tooth stepped back but Jack eagerly pulled her inside, blocking her from his Uncle. He hurriedly took her coat off and hung it up on the coat rack as his uncle walked around him, trying to get Tooth's attention.

"Welcome back, my dear girl! How are you? Do tell me about that dance, Jack here would give away nothing!"

"Run to my room," he whispered to Tooth in an urgent tone. "Hurry, before he embarrasses us."

Tooth chuckled and stepped around Jack to greet his Uncle.

"Hello again! And the dance was wonderful, thank you for asking."

Uncle Moon smiled gleefully and elbowed Jack. "Did you hear that nephew? 'Wonderful'! I hope he didn't step on your feet, did he? He's a terrible dancer. I've caught him in the living room with the radio on a few times, it was a sight to see I tell you-"

Jack grabbed Tooth's shoulders and began steering her away. "Time to go, see you later Uncle, don't wait up."

"Oh, and Jack...?" His uncle called while they were halfway up the stairs, Tooth's hand in Jack. Jack turned and leaned over the stair rail, exasperation on his face.

"What, Uncle?"

The old man adjusted his spectacles and gazed at their joined hands before waggling his eyebrows and fighting to keep the smile off of his face. "Leave the door to your room open. I know how you young people are!"

Tooth couldn't stop the laugh that sprung forth from her as a blush erupted across Jack's face. He didn't miss his uncle's meaning. Tooth clapped a hand over her mouth, giggling as Uncle Moon strolled away with his cane in hand. She could have sworn he was laughing to himself.

Once in the safety of Jack's room, the boy slammed the door shut for good measure.

"I told you he was going to embarrass us…" Jack muttered with a pink face, sliding down to the floor with his back to the door while Tooth placed herself on his bed. Tooth was still chuckling behind her hands, fighting to keep her face serious.

"He's not all bad," she strained to say past her choked laughter, "he's just teasing you. I think he's very kind."

"Yeah, well." Jack smirked at her, shaking his head at all of the silliness that his uncle had conjured. "So…you wanted to 'see me'?"

Tooth's eyes flicked up to see the sight of Jack's sly smirk. Her laughing ceased and she looked down, embarrassed. Jack moved from his spot on the floor to sit beside her on his bed, grabbing her hand off of her lap.

"I'm just messing around with you, Tooth. I thought it was cute."

She gulped hard, a little afraid to look up at him with her heart racing this fast. He said things that made her heart soar, but she needed to know a bit more.

"I-uhm, I came to ask you something, actually."

Jack scooted closer to her. "That reminds me! I need to ask you something too."

Tooth looked up at him curiously. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "You go first."

Tooth felt fear clamp over her heart. She didn't want him to define what their relationship was in his eyes, just yet. She was afraid of what he might say, that he might say something that would hurt her.

"No, I insist. You go first." She responded.

Jack nodded, his sharp blue eyes drifting from side to side with uncertainty. His teeth caught his lower lip and the very sight made Tooth want to squeal. She leaned into his side a little, loving how they could be this close now. Maybe labels didn't matter? Maybe she was okay with just this.

"My parents," he began, "My parents are coming to see me this weekend, on Sunday actually. I talked to my mom yesterday. She was…better. My dad and her are coming to eat with me and Uncle for Easter. It's been a long time since we've all been together, so there'll be a big dinner and everything. Uncle invited other family too."

Tooth nodded. So Jack was having a small family reunion this weekend. And he would see his mother? Maybe they would make up and forgive each other! Tooth grasped his hand.

"That's great Jack! Are you excited?"

He shrugged. "That's the thing. I'm more nervous than happy. I was hoping you would come with me."

Tooth paused. Her?

"Me? What for?"

"Well, I mean…we're dating now...aren't we?"

His face slowly turned hopeful as he looked at her. Tooth had to fight the beaming smile from breaking out on her face. "Yeah! Yeah, I thought we were too."

Jack sighed in relief. "Oh, good. I wanted to ask you, but I wasn't-"

"Me too!" Tooth interjected, jumping on the bed in glee. "I was so nervous to ask you, so I just- well, it doesn't matter now."

Jack smiled at her giddiness and rubbed a calloused thumb over their joined hands, happy with the way things were turning out.

"Will you come this Sunday? As my girlfriend, I mean. I was hoping my parents would meet you."

Tooth froze, the smile still on her face, but doubt trickling in.

Wait a second…Jack's family? She was going to meet his family? But that meant his aunts and uncles, his cousins, his father, and- oh…!

…His mother.

Chapter Text

"What to wear, what to wear…?"

Tooth was murmuring to herself as she stepped through the doorway of her home, thankful to be able to wear skirts again. The weather was warming up and the snow had gone, but things were still slightly chilly in Burgess.

"Swạsdī," her father called from the couch, flipping through his files.

"Swạsdī kah, Dad," Tooth answered, respectfully greeting him. She stretched her muscles before shutting the door, shrugging off her coat. She put her empty cookie bin in the kitchen sink, glad that Jamie had enjoyed them so much. She had just come back from visiting him at St. Bernarts' Children's Hospital.

Jamie was doing much better these days. He hadn't even had his 'official' treatment yet, but already, the illness was fading and Jamie was growing stronger. The doctors claimed it was a miracle. Jack had been overjoyed as well as his own family.

Tooth wasn't exactly sure, but she wanted to bet that it was because of them. Her, Jack, and all of their friends. Tooth had showed up to see Jamie much more often in the past couple of months, including the rest of her friends.

Everyone loved Jamie and his big brown eyes, full of curiosity. Aside from Jack, Jamie seemed to favor North highly. Each time the large boy visited, he would bring a handmade present for Jamie. The Russian would beam whenever he saw the younger boy playing with his creations. Bunnymund and Sandy had also visited, all of them interacting with Jamie in their own way.

Tooth had just come back from reading stories with Jamie. Halfway through the book, the younger of the two questioned Tooth with his keen observation.

"Are you and Jack…?" he asked with quirked eyebrows, peering at Tooth uncertainly.

Oh! She understood what he meant. Tooth tried her best to hide the shock and embarrassment from her face before answering the small boy. "Um… yeah! Yeah, we are."

Jamie nodded. "Oh, okay. Good!" he chirped before settling back on his bed.

That comment made Tooth quirk an eyebrow of her own, but Jamie had already delved back into the book, trying to tell Tooth about which character he thought was going to get the happy ending.

Jack hadn't accompanied her for that visit. It was Sunday, and he was too busy helping his uncle prepare the house for the Easter family reunion. Tooth smiled, thinking of how hard they both must be working. The old man was surely cooking something and Jack was probably doing all the manual labor, easing his elder's burdens.

Tooth broke out of her thoughts and continued through the house to her room, throwing her coat aside. What would she wear? This was a family reunion she was going to, so whatever she decided on wearing had to be presentable… at least, that's what Tooth believed.

Tooth climbed out of her clothes and drifted over to her closet, looking for something nice to wear. It couldn't be too revealing – that might leave a bad impression. Then again, she didn't want to look too conservative either. She wasn't a nun or anything.

As she fumbled through the pile of clothes that she had decided to form the outfit from, her father barged into the room.

"DAD," she yelped, "KNOCKING. IT EXISTS."

"Oops. Sorry, Sweetie!" Haroom swiftly closed the door and knocked.

Tooth gave a breathless laugh at his silliness before tossing on her outfit.

"Okay. You can come in."

Haroom tiptoed into her room like it was full of landmines; his face wore an exaggerated expression of fear. "Is the coast clear? Is my lovely daughter still acting like a nudist or is she wearing clothes like the rest of us?"

Tooth giggled hysterically before answering him. "It's your fault for not knocking first!"

He held up his hands in surrender before continuing on. "How did the visit with your little friend at the hospital go?"

Tooth smiled. "Great! He's been recovering well. He might not even need any of the serious operations that the doctors were planning."

"And his teeth? Your baking is going to ruin them."

Tooth laughed. "He'll be fine."

Haroom strode over and sat on her bed, twiddling his fingers. "I've been meaning to ask something. Are you… I know you've been hanging out with that 'Jack' boy lately. He took you to the dance. Is there anything that you might want to tell me? You can tell me anything, you know."

Tooth froze.

Should she? Should she tell him about Jack? He probably already suspected something was going on. He might get mad at her, but she couldn't lie to him.

"We're dating now." Her words came out quiet and shy. She didn't realize how hard that would be to say to him.

Haroom closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Tooth braced herself for the scolding. She knew he was doing it because he cared. "How long has it been?"

"Just a few days, Dad."

"Have I met him before?"

"Once. That day when he came to drop off the dentist's journal, remember?"

"Hm. I don't recall that too well. I want to meet him again."

"Oh! Okay."

"Has he ever been in the house when I wasn't home?"

"N-Never!"

"You've been to his house before, right?"

"...Sometimes."

"Is there an adult there to watch the two of you?"

"Yes, his uncle. He's elderly, but he's really nice."

"Alright. Do your friends know this boy?"

"Of course! Sandy, North, and Bunnymund all know him!"

"He doesn't pressure you to do anything you don't want to do?"

"Dad..."

"Just answer the question, Toothie."

"No, he doesn't. He's really nice to me."

"He treats you well?"

"Yes."

Haroom sighed once more, flopping back onto Tooth's bed. "Alright then, interrogation over. My job as a parent is done." He cracked Tooth an easygoing smile and she laughed heartily.

"Dad, I thought you were being serious –"

"I was! But now that's over. Interrogating you really wore me out. You should cook something for your Dad, Toothie."

Tooth shook her head, smiling. She leapt off the bed and began opening her drawers, searching for a good pair of socks. "No. I have a party to go to and you're just being lazy."

Her dad made a show of flopping around on her bed and groaning in pain. "But I'm so hungy. Make me seafood stew, hon!"

"Dad! That'll take way too long. I'll be late to the reunion."

"Then… make me stir fry, or something. C'mon, your poppa is starving and you're going to leave him like this? Skin and bones?! My oh my, I never thought I'd see the day my daughter left me to the dogs." Haroom made a show of shouting in pain.

Tooth sighed, leaving the drawers and making her way for the kitchen. "Fine! I'll make you pad pak ruam, but you're cooking tomorrow!"

Haroom grinned widely.

Boyfriend or not, his Toothiana loved him. She wasn't going anywhere.

Tooth was surprised to see Jack in front of the woods as she neared Selene road. She didn't need him to show her the path to his house, she could remember. And the snow had melted, so it wasn't like she was going to get stuck in any more snow drifts or anything.

Still, she was happy to see him. She waved eagerly, smiling at him.

He grinned back, grasping her hand as she got close. Tooth had to stop herself from squealing. She was never going to get used to that!

They strode through the woods together, sharing pleasantries. Tooth told him the story of her father's questioning from earlier that day. Jack chuckled.

"So, am I in trouble, or what?" he teased. Tooth shook her head.

"You know, I thought we'd be in trouble. He was never okay with the idea of me dating before. I think it scares him. He doesn't want me to leave, either. Mom leaving was enough for him."

Jack paused, slowing down his steps. "Wait, what?"

Tooth stopped with him, her boots crunching the woodchips on the forest floor. "What's wrong?"

"Your mom left you?"

Tooth's eyes widened. "Oh, no! It's not what you think. She's in the military, the air force. She was deployed for a while, but she's coming back in a few months. I…I never told you?"

"No," Jack said quietly.

How much was he ignorant of about Tooth's life? He had never really heard her speak of her mother, only her father. The idea had almost escaped him! Why hadn't he noticed before? He thought before speaking.

"That's strange. Usually, you hear of fathers in the military, not mothers. You must miss her."

Tooth felt her throat close up momentarily, eyes suddenly burning. "A little, yeah." She turned away and continued walking. Jack caught up with her.

"Only 'a little'?" Jack questioned, trying to peer into her face.

"Jack, please." Tooth found the words bursting out of her before she could even think. She didn't want to go there right now. Her tone stopped him in his tracks and Jack shut his mouth. She sounded desperate, like she was about to break. "I don't want to talk about it."

Jack stopped.

Wait…Tooth didn't want to talk about something? But she loved to talk! She never put up a wall between them like this. She was always ready to talk about almost anything. She was the advocate of 'if you talk about it, you'll feel better'. She was the one who had practically dragged Jack's secrets out of him, the one who had spent long nights just talking on the phone with him. While he was the silent one, she filled up the silence with words.

Now? The silence was deafening.

Jack didn't know what to do. As she moved past him and up ahead on the path, he thought about what she would do. She would question and pry, she would use gentle words to open him up and expose him, that's what Tooth would do, but…

…Jack wasn't Tooth.

He kept his silence and filed away the moment for later, moving alongside her and drooping an arm around her. She leaned into the crook of his neck, closing her eyes, but not slowing her pace.

"Tell me more about your dad," Jack insisted. He would leave the topic of her mother behind. He gave a silent sigh of relief as she launched back into 'talk' mode.

"Oh! Well, even though today was his turn to cook, he started guilt-tripping me into making him lunch, so I made him 'pad pak ruam' and rice as payback, since he was craving meat earlier."

Jack was utterly confused. "Pod-park-whatsit?" He questioned curiously. He had never heard that word before.

"Oh, sorry! It's stir fried vegetables. Lots of people eat it in Thailand."

"Oh. Is your dad from there?"

"Yep! He came over here to the states when he was a little older than us." Tooth squeezed two fingers together to demonstrate the puny amount.

"That's funny. My dad and my uncles were born in different places too."

"Really? Where?"

"Different places. My family is pretty big. Norway, Greenland, Denmark. All over the place I guess."

Tooth perked up. Wow! "Do you speak any of those languages?"

Jack laughed. "No way! Only English."

"Oh," Tooth chirped, leaning back into him.

Jack glanced over at her. "Do…do you speak any different languages?"

"A few. I speak pretty good Thai thanks to my dad. I used to be great at Hindi, but I forgot a lot of words ever since Mom left. She was the one that taught me. I can still hold up a conversation, though! And then in school, I'm learning French and Spanish. I thought I was bad at them because I always screw up little things like the accent or conjunctions, but the teachers said I was great at them! Nearly fluent. They put me in super advanced classes. I know quite a bit of sign language for Sandy, since he gets tired of writing sometimes. I can say a few Russian words thanks to North. That's about it. I'd say… I know four languages fluently, and two languages semi-fluently."

Jack's jaw hit the floor. Man! And he had thought he was clever. Who knew he would've landed a girl like this.

He decided to tease her. He made his voice girlish and shrill. "Oh, look at me! I'm so cultured, I know five billion languages!"

Tooth giggled and pushed him away. "Quit it! You're just jealous," she teased back.

"Oh yeah, real jealous. I wish I could talk to the president of Mexico and the glorious Shiva at the same time." He fluttered his eyelashes at her and Tooth couldn't stop the laughs bubbling out of her.

"Whatever. Who's coming to the reunion anyway?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! My family's kind of big so Uncle only invited… well, my other uncles. And my parents."

Tooth's brow quirked. Jack had more uncles?

Jack strolled beside her, counting on his fingers. "Let's see… there's Aeolus, the second oldest to Uncle Moon. He likes to be in charge of everything. Then there's Uncle Boreas. He lives up North in the old country. Uncle Eurus is from the East, I think. Uncle Notus is from the South and Uncle Zephyrus is from the West."

"What are they like?" Tooth questioned.

"Hm…Aeolus is like, the leader for everyone else. Asides from Moon, at least. Boreas is a cranky guy. He makes good food, though. Eurus is cool. Zephyrus is the nicest I'd say. I'm pretty sure he's gay, though."

Tooth nodded absently. So many men!

"Aren't they married? Do they have children?" she questioned. Tooth wanted to know if they'd be seeing any other kids their age at the reunion.

Jack shrugged. "Probably. They might have left their wives at home. The only girls that'll be there are you and my mom."

Tooth gulped.

Jack looked over, smirking. "Don't worry. Before everything went to the dogs, Mom was really nice. She'll like you."

Tooth nodded, even though she didn't agree. She couldn't explain the sudden uneasy feeling, but it felt like something bad was going to happen tonight.

Soon enough, they approached the house. They were greeted by several large Nordic-looking men. Tooth was surprised to see the six men sitting on the front porch, smoking and laughing and playing card games. All of them were bearded, but only one had white hair, whereas the rest were gray.

"Jack! Jack-o!" A large gray-haired one shouted, waving them down.

"Is that one next to you your lass?" Another smaller gray-haired man called out.

"Come nephew, the wind bites at us. These cigars won't keep us warm for long!" One laughed, the end of his cigar falling off.

Jack grinned at them all as Tooth drew near him. She was so surprised! These men were so large, so happy, so… rowdy!

"Hey guys," Jack answered calmly, grinning at the uncles. His voice quieted, turning shy. "Hi, Dad."

Tooth scanned the crowd looking for the 'Dad' Jack was addressing. The man with white hair on the very end of the the porch lowered his cigar. He beamed at Jack, a mirror image of the man Tooth had seen in Jack's photographs.

His father.

The man simply nodded, his snowy hair gleaming. His beard was boxed and full, unlike the other men on the porch who possessed much sharper beards. He was quieter than the rest, relaxing in his chair. Jack's uncles seemed to always be moving, almost as if they couldn't sit still. His father remained motionless.

"Where's Uncle Moon?" Jack asked.

"In the kitchen, with your mother. They're putting the finishing touches on the food," Notus answered smoothly while shuffling his deck of cards.

"Ey', don't be rude! Introduce us to your cute friend! I'm sure your father wants to meet her," Zephyrus giggled past his cigar.

He laid down a hand of cards, causing Boreas to jump up and shout in anger.

"You cheating cur!" The larger man cried.

"Fair and square!" Zephyrus called out, beaming.

"Dad," Jack began, placing his hand on Tooth's lower back and pushing her forward, "This is Toothiana. She's the one I wrote to you about."

Tooth smiled shyly, raising a greeting hand. "Hi," she murmured. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Overland."

Jack's father stared down at her from the porch for a minute. Tooth shivered. It felt so odd to be looking at Jack's eyes in another's face! This man was much bulkier and harsher than Jack's boyish features.

Mr. Overland finally nodded, as if he approved of something. He shot Tooth the smallest of smiles before turning back to the card game.

Jack and Tooth maneuvered around the group of uncles and went inside.

"Who's ready to eat?" Uncle Moon called from the kitchen, his voice bouncing off the walls.

Tooth nearly fell over at the thundering sounds erupting from the porch. Five men shot past her, blowing her hair in all directions. They whooped and shouted and laughed, crowding into the dining room. Jack followed them, laughing and grinning.

Tooth stood frozen in the hall with her hair askew. Were they ALWAYS like that?

Slow footsteps sounded behind her, coming near. The smells of winter and tobacco overtook Tooth's nasal passages as Jack's father passed by her, pausing for a moment. The large man looked down at her, chewing on his cigar.

"… They're always like that." He admitted in a deep, tired voice, before disappearing into the dining room.

Tooth had been sweating throughout the entire dinner.

Ever since she sat down at the table, Jack's mother had been staring holes into her.

Tooth didn't know what she had done wrong! She made sure to greet the woman as nicely as possible before greeting Uncle Moon. She was wearing an appropriate outfit. She had been kind to the Uncles and used table manners and everything! She didn't understand.

Tooth risked a glance up, gazing at the brunette across the table from her. The older woman's brown eyes locked onto Tooth, her expression revealing nothing.

Tooth's fingers fidgeted under the table as the older woman stared on. She tried to silently get Jack's attention by glancing over to catch his eye, but Jack was laughing too hard at something one of his uncles said. Every time Tooth looked at Jack and glanced back at his mother, the older woman's expression hardened. Tooth quickly gave up and shot her eyes back into her lap.

Well. This sucked.

The night wore on and the food slowly disappeared from the table. All of the men were telling stories and jokes, Aeolus breaking out into song once in a while. They were loud and rowdy and boisterous. Jack's mother ate steadily, but flitted her gaze back to Tooth every once in a while. Tooth couldn't tell what the woman was thinking. It was highly unnerving.

Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket and Tooth quickly grabbed it, turning it on to see what the alert was. A reminder for a quiz tomorrow, probably. Wait a minute… no, not a reminder. A text. Tooth's brows quirked. A text from Dad! What did he need now?

Tooth stopped moving as her eyes flitted over the text.

All of the air in the room escaped her.

The text on her phone was short, simple, and clear, from her father;

"I know you're at the reunion but when it ends come straight home. It's your mother. She's missing."

Tooth's moving fingers turned into blurs she texted back discreetly under the table.

"What do you mean she's missing? Like, they can't find her at all?"

The reply was just as fast.

"Yes. Her entire unit is missing. The officers in charge of communications just came to the house. Like I said before, come straight home afterwards."

Tooth tucked her phone away, her eyes completely blank. Her thoughts were racing so fast, it felt as if she had nothing in her mind. Her throat closed up harshly and her chest began to feel tight. Her nostrils burned and her temples throbbed as she felt the tear ducts working overtime to keep the water behind her eyelids at bay. She blinked many times, pushing the tears back and forcing herself to sit straighter.

"Hey there! You alright, lass? Is it the borscht? I told Boreas not to give it to you, he makes it so damn spicy. Is it your tongue? Does your mouth hurt?"

Tooth nodded vaguely, unsure of who was speaking to her and not really caring. "Y-yeah, it's really spicy," she lied, struggling to make it look as if it were her mouth hurting instead of her insides.

"I can tell," a man called from across the table, "your eyes are all red! Here, let me take that," Tooth could hear the bowl being pulled away from her, but didn't look at anything or anyone, she just stared at the wall straight ahead. She couldn't risk it. She was fighting so hard to keep from screaming out, to keep from sobbing or smashing something. Her hands fidgeted and she had to fling her fists into her lap, scrunching up her dress in a tight grasp.

She. Would. Not. Cry.

"Give her the lutfisk I made! She'll love it," someone shouted from one side, moving plates and cups.

"No! Take this instead," another man interjected, placing something else in front of her. "It's lapskaus! It'll fill you right up and it won't scorch your tongue, I promise,"

Everyone here was oblivious. Tooth nodded again, feeling awful.

She didn't want to ruin this for Jack. She didn't want to make things dramatic or hurt anyone's feelings, and so she began shoving in spoonfuls of whatever was in front of her into her mouth, fighting tears. Everyone seemed to relax at this and continued their conversations, but she could still feel someone's eyes on her.

Jack.

He was staring at her intently from across the table, suspicion and concern flashing through his gaze. He seemed to realize something was off. Tooth looked away, unable to bear the icy stare of him or the rest of his strange family.

Her hand trembled ever so slightly and she shoveled in the food, her insides tightening and aching at the intrusions. Her body didn't want to eat, it wanted to stamp its feet and shout out loud and cry for days and days and days. Tooth couldn't allow that, though! She wasn't in her home. She was sitting at someone else's table as a guest in this home. These people had come across oceans just for tonight, and she wouldn't ruin it for them or Jack, no matter how much her body begged her to.

She lowered the spoon as a pain sparked in her gut, and she pushed away from the table.

"Excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom," she murmured, leaving quickly before anyone could ask. She walked speedily out of the dining room, waiting until she far enough in the hall of the large house to run without anyone hearing her footfalls. She ran down the wooden floorboards and up the flights of stairs, looking desperately for a bathroom.

'Stop crying.'

Bile rose in her throat and the tears were already beginning to fall, but she could feel something larger coming on. Her body was erupting on her! She couldn't believe her body was betraying her like this, fighting to put her heart on her sleeve, all of her feelings bubbling up through the cracks of her perfect mask. All of it was threatening to overflow and drown her.

'She might be okay, you don't know yet.'

When Tooth finally found the bathroom, her knees hit the tiled floor. Her breath came in short gasps as the feeling of nausea slowly left her and was replaced by something heavier than she had ever felt in her life. Never had she known grief could be this terrible, this violent, this DEEP.

'She's fine, you'll see. She's coming home.'

She flung her hands over her face and softly sobbed, biting down to stop the ugly sounds coming from her mouth and failing. The whimpers echoed around the bathroom, bouncing back to her.

'She's coming home.'

She rocked her body slowly, releasing some of the pain in Jack's small bathroom. Tooth didn't feel very relieved! The ache in her heart turned into an ache in her head, stabbing down on her. She felt disoriented, sick, unsure of where to go or what to do.

'She's coming ho-'

"She promised," Tooth wheezed out into her palms, stifling the sounds. "She promised me, she promised…"

Tooth couldn't go back down there into the dining room. She just couldn't face his family looking like this. Her makeup was ruined, running down her face in wet, smudged trails. Her voice was unsteady and raspy, evidence from the muffled sobbing that she had done. Tooth tried standing and ignored the way her legs trembled as she made her way to the bathroom mirror and rubbed at the makeup, removing the splotches.

There. All better. No stray makeup. Perfect.

Just perfect.

A small knock sounded at the door, causing Tooth to jump. She hadn't heard anyone moving outside of the door. Tooth padded over and opened the door to see the frowning face of Uncle Moon. His sharp eyes peered out at her past the wrinkles, sympathy in them.

"May I come in?" he asked quietly.

Tooth nodded, allowing him inside the small space and watching him close the door. If it had been any other old man enclosing her in like this, she would've screamed for help and kicked his nethers, but this was Uncle Moon. He wasn't like that, and his presence calmed her immensely.

She stood before him, eyes lowered. What could she do? What could she say? 'Oh, yeah, sorry for interrupting dinner and almost puking on your bathroom floor and completely losing it while getting mascara stains on your towels and the sink!'

Nope. Not happening.

Uncle Moon tapped his cane a little before patting Tooth on the shoulder. "You are hurting, Toothiana, I can see that. You look more like a storm then a sun right now, little summer."

Tooth shook her head, unwilling to talk about anything at the moment. She felt like lashing out. This pain, this rage, it had to go somewhere. When she opened her mouth, venom came out.

"My name isn't 'Summer', Mr. Moon. And yes, I'm hurting." She crossed her arms, her eyes tracing the floor tiles. "I don't know what to do," she whispered, the bite in her voice fading.

He chuckled, making her head snap up. He wasn't mad? "That's 'Uncle' Moon, child. And of course you know what to do! You're a smart girl. Confide in someone. Jack worried when you left so quickly, and so I came to find you. It should be my nephew that you confide in, but you may confide in me if you wish."

"My mother," Tooth found herself blurting out, "she's in the Air Force, but they can't find her. Her entire team is just…gone. They don't know where she is. I'm so scared, Uncle Moon! How did they lose her? Is she lost somewhere in the wilderness or something? Is she stuck under something, like a fallen tree or a rock and just can't reach camp? Is she being held hostage? Is she unconscious? Is she dea- Is she d-d-d-" Tooth was surprised at the struggle that came with saying the word. She couldn't say it. She didn't want to.

Uncle Moon stepped in for her, silencing her with a finger. "Don't think of things like that," he commanded. "Calm down, Toothiana. Your mother is fine. Have patience."

Tooth glared at him, shocking herself at the audacity. This was Uncle Moon that she was glaring at! The kind, sweet, old man that had been there for her and Jack countless times without asking for anything in return. She quickly removed the angry look, but the feelings of disbelief still remained.

"You don't know that!" she said, irritation lacing her voice. "You don't have a GPS tracker on her, you don't have a military map leading to her location. You don't even know who my mom is. I'm not five, you don't have to make this a joke or a riddle, it's fine. I get it. Bad things happen to good people."

Uncle Moon looked highly offended. "Now, I know you were raised better than to snap at your elders, Toothiana. And a joke...? Dear girl, I was far from joking. Do you honestly think I would do that to you and make light of this situation? I insist that your mother isn't in any trouble. Danger, yes. Injured, yes. But she is alive and healthy and strong, she will find her way home. It is the way of all free spirits! Your mother is one. So is Jack."

Tooth pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Please, Uncle Moon, stop. Where are you getting all of this from? You don't have proof."

"I don't need proof," Uncle Moon huffed in irritation. "The stars told me so. They never lie."

Tooth was taken aback. The stars? Was this guy for real? Maybe he had an old-person medication that he had forgotten to take earlier. Maybe he had bumped his head the night before. Maybe Boreas's borscht had affected his brain. Whatever it was, it was making him say strange things.

"I know you don't believe me, but I hope you trust in me enough as an authority figure to take my words to heart. Your mother is alive and breathing."

Tooth decided to entertain him momentarily. She still wasn't ready to return to the dining room and so she decided to kill time. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for being rude, Uncle Moon. Really, I am! But... let's pretend that the stars did tell you this. How? Why you? I'm sure they have better things to do." She found her voice catching a nasty bite and slowed down, feeling guilty again. "I-I'm sorry for saying that-"

"No, you're right to question me, I am old and slightly disabled. You must think I'm demented," he looked at her in all seriousness, "I am not, Toothiana. I have been around much longer than you think, and I have seen enough things in this world. Throughout my life, I have used the folklore and the legends of my family to guide me and never once have they failed me. The stars told me of Jack before he was born. Said he would need me when the time came. According to what my elders told me and what their elders told them, the answers are all there in the sky. All I simply have to do is look up."

Tooth fought back a smile. "So you're saying that you're a wizard, Uncle Moon? That the Overlands are some sort of mystic family?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous Toothiana, I'm a simple old man. We are a simple family. I just 'see' better than others. My brothers and sisters were the only others in the family that could 'see' as well as me, but most of them have passed. The only one left is my youngest brother, Jack's father. He has the sight, but it rarely comes to him. He's too far from the old ways, or in other words… he's too young. The younger ones in the family are all sightless. I am the last one of the generation from before. I will be the last to pass, the last to truly 'see'."

Tooth frowned.

She didn't understand all of this 'seeing' business, but Uncle Moon had just said something pretty intense. "Don't say things like that, Uncle Moon. You're not that old. You've still got a lot of living to do!"

Uncle Moon smiled at her. "You're too kind. I suppose you're right. Now, let's return to the table, shall we? The others will be wondering where we went. You will confide in Jack?"

Tooth smiled and nodded, feeling one thousand times lighter than before. Something about Uncle Moon made her want to believe him. Maybe it was the way he said it or how serious he had seemed in his strange words. Whatever the case, she felt much more hopeful now; her mother was alive. Missing, but alive.

She would certainly tell Jack of what had happened and raced back down the stairs to keep up appearances, easily forgetting about the old man who didn't follow after her.

Uncle Moon watched her go before quiet enveloped the hallway. He sighed and walked to the hallway window, lifting it open. Wind burst in through the hall, lightly carrying in leaves and the smell of pine. The stars shone down brightly upon him and he removed his spectacles, letting their astronomical glow reflect off of his irises. He found a smirk drawing itself up on his face and winked at the stars, silently thanking them for helping him and his ancestors for all of these years.

The stars winked back. They always did, for Moon.

When Tooth returned, things were tense at the table. She wasn't sure what had happened or what had been said while she was gone, but the air around her felt uneasy as she sat back down. Jack was looking at his plate, his food untouched. His mother looked irritated and everyone else looked uncomfortable.

As Tooth sat down, Uncle Aeolus smiled, leaping on the chance to break the ice around the table.

"Jack tells us you're both juniors in high school. So you two go to school together? Is that how you and Jack met?"

Tooth smiled, sitting up. "Yes, we have a lot of classes together! We didn't speak much in the beginning of the year, though."

Aeolus nodded, grinning widely. "Ah, so Jack's only just started chasing skirts. He's a late bloomer, I suppose. I remember when I was a boy, I was hounding the girls left and right-"

"He shouldn't be chasing any skirts."

The table silenced as Jack's mother, Helena, broke in. She lowered her eyes, frowning, before raising them back up. She locked gazes with her son across the table.

"If anything, he should be focusing on schoolwork. We didn't send him here so that he could chase after girls." She gave Uncle Moon a disapproving look and Tooth a skeptical glance.

Tooth found her palms growing warm. She didn't like Helena's tone.

"Jack does well in school. He's one of the brightest boys I know," Tooth found herself saying. She couldn't look his mother in the eyes, but the words kept slipping past her lips.

The air around the room grew tight as all the men glanced between Helena and Tooth. The older woman was boring holes into the younger girl, who was keeping her eyes glued to her lap.

Tooth closed her eyes, breathing softly.

Helena probably didn't know much of what was going on with her son these days, did she? Tooth guessed that they argued on every phone call over Emma or over the car accident, so when was the last time Jack's mother learned anything about what was going on in his life? Tooth found her tongue betraying her again.

"But you wouldn't know that, would you? You're never here for him."

Someone inhaled sharply, but Tooth couldn't tell who.

"Uh oh," Notus murmured.

"Here it comes!" whispered Eurus.

"Oh? And you have been?" Helena challenged, setting down her fork harshly. Jack's father reached over to lay a calming hand on her arm, but she ignored it. "Girls can't replace women. Girlfriends can't replace mothers. You have no clue what goes on in my family, so don't pretend to understand because you don't."

Tooth set down her own utensils, albeit softer than Helena had, lifting her gaze. Helena's eyes were stormy, but Tooth could feel the heat behind her own eyes as well. How could she say that? Tooth wasn't trying to replace anyone.

"I understand a lot more about this family than you'd think."

She instantly regretted the words as the older woman's eyes turned suspicious.

"Is that right? And I'm guessing Jack told you everything?" she looked almost sad, glancing at her son.

Jack opened his mouth, but Aeolus broke in.

"Now Helena, why don't we all just relax and eat a little more. Um –" the man looked around, needing a way to break the intense argument – "Brother Moon! Tell me about that new investment you put down for-"

Tooth broke in once again. She wasn't done just yet.

"I don't think you're making the right choices, Mrs. Overland. I don't think you're being fair to Jack. It was an accident."

Helena stood up at her seat, angered. "And you're a teenager. Do you have children? Do you have a family to take care of? Put yourself in my position before you judge me. There's a reason we sent him away-"

"You mean the reason you sent him away? Mr. Overland never liked the idea, did he?"

Jack broke in, angry himself. "I'm not gone. I'm still in the room. You guys don't have to act as if I'm not here."

His voice was ice and Tooth shivered.

Oh, yeah… she had been rude, hadn't she? Talking back to his mom like this in front of the family as well as ignoring him.

Helena was seeing red. Who was this girl that she had just met? This girl that seemed to know all about them and acted as if she did? Where did she fit in Jack's life, the life that Helena hadn't been a part of for nearly a year? She couldn't stand it.

It was so hard the past few months; Emma's hospital bills, Jack's school fees, the hospital bills of the boys that Jack had beaten. It was all piling up on her. Her flower shop and her husband's woodworking were barely enough to cover everything! Of course Mr. Overland hadn't liked the idea of sending his only boy away, but if they hadn't, there would have been more trouble for Jack at school and more damage expenses to pay. At that rate, they would have sunk under.

Past all of her hard exterior, Helena felt torn up inside when she sent Jack to Burgess. Her husband knew it, which was why he didn't push her and went along with it. It was for the best, wasn't it? Jack wouldn't be bullied in Burgess if no one knew about what had happened. He'd make friends and get away from the chaos. Emma would have time to recover.

She did what was best, hadn't she? Helena ignored the trickle of doubt in the back of her mind.

Now, here was some girl passing judgment on her as if Helena didn't care about her own children, her own son?

Her voice came out hard and sharp, like a kitchen knife. The razor was aimed straight at Tooth.

"Are you really going to stand there and belittle me for what I thought was best for my family? Are you going to give me a 'bad grade' for my parenting? Well guess what? Life is hard, and parenting is even harder. I had to make tough decisions, even when they hurt me. That's what mothers do, but you wouldn't know that because you're just a girl. You don't have to face what I face. Jack made a mistake, he has to pay the price."

"What mistake? What price? You think he doesn't know what he did? He thinks about it every day, I can see it every time I look at him. It was an accident-" Tooth shouted in desperation, losing her footing in the heated debate.

"An accident that landed his sister in the hospital! An accident that almost made her lose her ability to walk or think! Do you even know what hypothermia does to the body, much less a little girl? He doesn't have to see her hooked up like that. I do."

Jack looked like he was suffocating, his gaze faced towards the floor.

His father stood up and moved over to him while the rest of the uncles sat back in shock, unsure what to do.

They had all heard of the accident when Emma was hospitalized. Word spread fast in the family.

Still, they didn't blame Jack. They all believed him, even though it was a little harder for his parents considering that they had police and reporters telling them otherwise. They knew how hard it must have been for Helena and their brother, and so they had planned on not saying anything about Emma or the accident at the reunion. They weren't going to question why she wasn't there, knowing that she was in the hospital. They weren't going to ask Jack or Helena about it. They didn't want to cause trouble.

Despite their best efforts, everything had backfired in their faces.

"He wants to see her, he wants to apologize, I know he does. Why won't you let him? He needs you the most now, but you're not here for him. Don't you love him?" Tooth felt the fury in her belly igniting her words.

Was she still speaking to Helena? Or was she addressing someone else…?

"When your child needs you-"

I want to be with you and your father Tooth, I do. But I made a promise to the country…

"-it's your job as a parent to be there, right? It's not fair to leave your kid-"

I'm coming back soon…

"-when they need you, right?"

I'll be home soon…

"Why would you ever leave in the first place?! Don't you love your kids?"

Helena looked genuinely shocked.

"O-Of course I love Jack! He's my first born, my son. I've always loved him." She looked at Jack wistfully. His father stood by his side, a large hand placed on Jack's shoulder. "You know I love you, Jack, don't you?"

When he hesitated, Helena felt an ache within her.

Didn't he know? Of course she loved him, she had told him- well, she had told him…

…Wait. When had the last time been that she told him those three small words? As Helena flew through her memories, she could only recall tearful confrontations and fights over the phone.

She had been so mad the first time she had seen Emma laying in that hospital bed. She had been so mad when she saw her child hurting. In the beginning, when the police and the reporters were dogging her, she had honestly thought that Jack had hurt his sister on purpose. Helena couldn't contain her anger, her pain at the thought of that.

She had taken it out on him. All the stress and the heartache and the problems, she had spit it all back into her son's face every single time she had called Jack to remind him of it, to make him feel bad about it.

A word of affection hadn't left her lips towards her son in the last few months. It had all been venom.

She repeated the question.

"Jackson Overland Frost: you know I love you, don't you?"

Jack looked uncertain.

"I know you do. It's just… hard to tell sometimes. You've been really...disappointed in me."

Mrs. Overland wanted to facepalm herself. When was the last time she had told him…?!

"Oh, Jack…"

She made her way around the table and threw her arms around him, holding him close. At first, he stiffened, feeling highly uncomfortable. She hadn't laid a hand on him in ages. Slowly, he relaxed into her and let her grip him.

She smelled like home.

Aeolus, Boreas, Eurus, Notus, and Zephyrus all laughed at Jack's discomfort in his mother's tight embrace, smiling upon the scene. Mr. Overland gave a small grin and joined the embrace, throwing his large arms around his wife and son. The laughs of his brothers echoed throughout the dining room. This was how things should be.

Helena was whispering to Jack, clutching onto him desperately. The anger and stress had clouded her thoughts so much, she hadn't realized how much she missed her son. Apologies and promises were mixed into the words that she breathed into the air.

"I'm sorry, dear, I'm so sorry. Come back home, Emma's getting better, don't worry. She misses you, too. Come home."

Helena rubbed her cheek in her son's snowy white hair, gazing at her brothers-in-law cracking jokes and eating. Uncle Moon tore his eyes away from the scene and gazed around. "Where is Toothiana?"

Wait a minute. Where was the girl?

They all glanced at her chair, which stood empty among the dining room.

She had left.

She was gone.

Tooth stumbled out the front door, breathing hard. She sat down heavily on the porch, covering her head.

She had royally screwed up.

Her breathing hitched as her brain went into 'over-analyze' mode.

Not only had she bad-mouthed Jack's mother in front of his entire family, she had forced Moon to leave the table and console her, she had made Jack worry, she had made her father worry, she had made a bad impression, there was no way she could fix this, she couldn't turn back the clock, she couldn't douse the flames, she couldn't fix the evening, she couldn't bring her mom back, and even though she had witnessed her boyfriend's moment of glory, even though she had witnessed him reuniting with his parents and becoming forgiven, she just couldn't force another smile onto her face, she couldn't pretend to be happy for him because she wasn't happy at all.

Tooth felt heavy and bare, like a rusty old weight. She felt shame and regret burning hot across her back, she felt anger at herself bubbling in her gut, Tooth felt like dying.

She didn't hear the heels clicking onto the porch…

…but she did feel the warm hand on her back.

Tooth stiffened, a bit unsure of who was there. She didn't want to look up from the ground, she didn't want to show her disorder, her mess.

The hand rubbed small circles on her back anyway.

"I was afraid to meet you, at first. I didn't want to like you."A female voice. Helena.

Tooth turned her head away, but she didn't move away from the soft hand that continued to stroke her back, her hair. She didn't blame the older woman. Tooth hardly liked herself right now. Helena went on anyways, gazing out at ther woods.

"When Moon had told me that Jack had a girlfriend, I didn't know what to think. In a way, it was a bit of a wake up call." She paused. "He's not going to stop growing up, is he? Even if I'm not there for a little while, I'm still missing so much."

Helena moved her fingers up to Tooth's scalp, softly brushing it. "You made me angry. You made me spit-fire mad earlier, I won't lie. But I'm a little glad you did it, now. I'm thirty-eight. Too old to hold grudges." Helena laughed wearily.

Tooth couldn't help but smile a little.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm glad you were there for him when I couldn't be. He seems…" Helena struggled to find the words, "…happier. Much happier. It's strange how brightly he smiles now. He never used to smile like that before."

Tooth turned towards the older woman and smirked, locking eyes with her. "He's always been able to smile like that. He just needed someone to show him how."

Helena gave her a funny look. "You made him happy in dark times. I didn't want to like you at first…"

The woman reached out and rubbed Tooth's arm, the way Rashmi used to do it.

"…but you're a tough person to dislike."

Tooth beamed and Helena beamed back. She suddenly opened her arms out wide and awkwardly. This wasn't her child and so it felt strange to initiate intimacy, but Moon told her of the girl's distress over her mother mother. He had told Helena right before she stepped out on the porch. Such a shame.

Still, Moon had said the mother was alright, just that the child just needed reassurance. Helena could be that reassurance.

The older woman gave a soft sigh as Tooth leaned into her embrace, hiding her face in Helena's brown curls. The older woman wrapped her long regal fingers around the girls neck, holding her close and ignoring the trembles, the hitched sobs. This wasn't so terrible.

Helena wouldn't mind being a substitute for the real thing.

When Tooth had told her father that her mother was 'alive and well' (based on Uncle Moon's strange predictions), Haroom didn't know how to respond. He decided to let others respond for him.

The communications officer claimed that the girl was in denial.

The school counselor suggested it was her way of 'coping with the tragedy'.

The doctor considered a strong anti-depressant medication.

Still, Tooth insisted that her mother was 'alive and well'. In just a week's time, the communications officer had called her home again, bearing the news for her and her father.

Rashmi's entire team had been found along a coastline- dirty, aching, and injured- but okay.

Rashmi was with them.

Alive and well.

Chapter Text

The metallic clang echoed in the air as the knife hit the floor.

Jack cringed as he saw the blood weep from his finger and down his white wrist.

Damn.

He hadn't been paying attention this time.

His eyes widened as the red liquid swiftly ran down his finger and onto the crafted snowflake, staining the wood. A slow sigh escaped him. He would have to carve a new one.

Jack stood and walked into the hall, searching for the first aid kit. Once inside the hallway bathroom, he grabbed the kit and began to clean and bandage the cut on his finger. He cringed. It was pretty nasty to look at.

Now that he thought about it, he had been pretty distracted. His mind wasn't on the sharp blade that his hands were working with. His thoughts revolved solely around the memories, the reunion, his family, his mom, and her. Tooth.

Things had turned out much worse and much better than Jack had ever expected them to that night. Yeah, it was a happy time, but a sad one too.

His mom wasn't angry with him anymore. Dad never was. Tooth...

Tooth.

Something about her had been different. He could see it.

When she had excused herself from the table, he had been the first to get up and follow after her, but his Uncle stopped him short in the hall.

"Don't. Now is a bad time. She will say something to hurt you because she is hurting herself. Let me deal with this, and I'll make sure that she confides in you later. Go back to the table, Jack."

Of course he had argued, but Moon's authority eventually won out over his defiance. And so he returned to the table. He sat back down with his fists on the table and tried to focus on his uncles' bantering, but he couldn't get his mind off of her. Her eyes had been red and brimming, like she was going to burst. He hadn't thought that the food was too spicy. It was something else.

He had seen that look on her before.

The same day of his birthday party when he had made her cry. He still felt shame from that. Regret. The first time he had seen her tears, it had felt so wrong and foreign to him. Tooth was a happy person! He didn't ever want to see that look on her face again. He was anxious for her to confide in him, to tell him what was bothering her, but he couldn't find that out now, with her upstairs and him being down here.

While Uncle Moon and Tooth were gone, his mother had directed her gaze at him. He had tried to avoid it all night, but now there was something in her eyes that wasn't there before.

Anger. Accusation.

He gazed back, trying to hold his own against her. He didn't notice when the table quieted, everyone noticing his glaring match with his mother.

He was the first to look away. It didn't really matter anymore. As his eyes fell to his plate, he could only vaguely wonder how Emma was doing. He didn't bother asking.

He wouldn't get an answer anyways, right?

Tooth returned to the table looking a little puffy around the eyes, but somehow…happier. Uncle followed shortly after, everyone rejoining the table. The mood quickly changed into a warmer one.

His uncle Aeolus had been joking about Jack being a 'late-bloomer' when his mother had to go and ruin the friendly vibes.

She had accused him of slacking off here in Burgess, shaming Uncle Moon as Jack's guardian.

Jack frowned at the memory. How could she have been mad in the first place? She was the one who had forced Jack onto Moon nearly a year ago. If anything, she should be mad at the guardian within herself for failing her son…well. She didn't really fail him. She was hurting too. It was obvious, especially after she tried explaining herself to Tooth in a furious rant.

She had asked if any of them knew what hypothermia did to a person.

Jack knew.

And not just because he had gotten it too, after he had pulled Emma out of that lake.

Sure, he could inform everyone that the hands go numb and tighten into fists. His did.

He could tell everyone that you grow sleepier and clumsier. He had nearly passed out on Emma when they reached the road.

He could tell the family that the cold is more than just a simple chill, but its something deep that reaches into you and chokes your core, chasing all warmth away. But he didn't tell them.

After the accident, Jack had researched everything he could about hypothermia, trying to predict the condition his sister would have been in. He wasn't allowed to see her, he barely heard anything of what was going on. Hypothermia slowed the heart and breathing, it chilled the point of freezing. Jack had thrown himself at the wealth of information on the subject, determining what stage of hypothermia his sister had been in when he had drug her out and whether or not she might have received permanent damage because of it.

Jack figured if her brain's functions slowed down with her breathing, there could be little brain damage, or none at all. If there had been any damage…well, Jack didn't think about that. He also couldn't be certain whether or not Emma still had all of her fingers or toes. Amputees were common in hypothermia victims. The very thought made him sick.

He wondered if he had received any damage as well. Before the accident, Jack was fine with warm things. Afterwards, he preferred the cold. It felt like his body temperature had been fried in the frozen lake along with his phone. He was always, always cold.

Eventually, he stopped the research on hypothermia, because the more horror stories he read and the less he heard from his sister, the more it killed him inside.

Jack's frown deepened. He would never admit it out loud, but Helena had really cut him deep with all those things she had said about his mistake, about Emma's condition, about her own struggle she had to endure because of him.

He already knew these things, but to actually hear the words hitting the air, reaching everyone's ears…Jack wanted to sink into the floor and no longer being a burden to anyone. He wanted the blizzards and cold lakes of Burgess to swallow him up.

He wanted to disappear.

But then Tooth spoke up for him.

She was like a girl on a mission and her anger showed through her eyes. It surprised him. He had never seen such a look of rage on her before. She admitted that he had messed up, but she also defended him and fought for him. She demanded for him to be able to see Emma. She had found something redeeming in him when his own mother couldn't, when even Jack himself could find nothing.

She had made Helena see reason and let go of the grudge. She had turned 'Helena' back into 'Mom'. His mom had even said he could come home. He wasn't sure what to think of that. Going home meant a lot of things.

There weren't enough words in the world for him to thank Tooth for the things she did that year. For standing up when he couldn't.

He sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose.

It was a bit funny. He had tried his best to push the nerdy girl away when they had first met, but now she was a part of much of his life.

His thoughts raced to the moments after the reunion, the moment when Jack walked out onto the porch to see his mother clutching onto his girlfriend. Almost as if they were family.

He remembered the look on their faces. He remembered walking down the path in the woods, holding Tooth's hand quietly, and listening to her tell him about her father's message, her mother's disappearance.

Jack couldn't stomach the idea that Tooth was feeling what he had felt when he first woke up in the hospital, wondering if he had lost his sister. The loss of a loved one. He shook his head silently. Tooth didn't deserve that.

She told him of what Moon had told her, and Jack wasn't sure what to say. Was his uncle just trying to cheer her up? Or was he actually telling her something that he believed in? He looked at his family with a strange curiosity now, wondering just how mysterious they were.

He decided to side with Moon and tell her that he thought her mother would be fine as well. Anything to remove the grim look from her face.

She lit up like a light when he told her.

"You think so too? Actually, I kind of believe him! I think she'll be okay."

It was only a few days until Moon was proven right. Although he had been skeptical at first, Jack had never been happier for Tooth, watching her whoop and dance around at the news.

That had been weeks ago. The weather was turning towards summer, and things were growing slightly too warm for Jack's tastes.

Tooth's mother was going to have an honorable discharge due to injuries she received during the disappearance. She was returning to Burgess. Tooth would see her in a few days.

Jack sat up, remembering suddenly!

Tooth's birthday!

It was in a few days. What was he going to do?

He paced his room, thinking desperately of a good gift. A buzzing noise by his window broke him out of it.

When he saw what was sitting on the windowsill, he couldn't help but smile.

School was easy these days.

No one was there to bully her. Anansi was actually pretty friendly. Sandy, Bunnymund, and North were all doing great.

And Tooth's mind was in the clouds these days. As she walked down the hall, she smiled brightly.

Her mother was coming back! Her father had actually cleaned the house for once, in preparation for Rasmi's arrival. He was excited to that he was going to have his wife back for good. Jack's family all left on good terms and his mother had apologized to him for all the anger. Tooth apologized in return for blowing up at an elder.

Tooth's grin perked even higher. Not only had she become good friends with Helena, but Jack was welcomed back home! He would get to see Emma!

Tooth couldn't wait to meet the girl. Maybe she had teeth like Jack's? Oh, and maybe the girl liked teddy bears? Tooth could give her one of her old ones, just so they began on good terms. She was dating the girl's brother, after all. Maybe they could all go to the Burgess Flower Festival in the summer and see concerts and-

Wait.

Emma didn't live in Burgess. None of Jack's family did. Just…just him and Moon. The Overlands were from out of town. And he was moving back? So that meant…

…Jack was leaving Burgess.

Tooth's books slid from her hands as the bell rang suddenly, scaring her. She watched the hallways empty as she tried to gather her things up, realizing the sudden fact.

How had- why hadn't she seen this before? It was so obvious! The fact was sitting right in front of her face! Tooth quickly figured that it had been because with all the excitement from the last few weeks, that the simple fact must have slipped her mind.

Why hadn't her and Jack talked about this? Why hadn't- well…She hadn't hung out with him in ages. She had been so busy helping her dad prepare for Rasmi's return, that she turned down her friends' offers to hang out afterschool on a daily basis.

If Jack left Burgess, he would go to school back in his hometown, leaving Burgess High. Burgess was hours away from any other towns. Jack wouldn't be able to hang out with the gang. It meant that he would spend senior year away from the gang, and then go to college away from Burgess.

Sure, he could visit, but when? Not while he reconciled with Emma. Not during the busy school year. On the weekends, maybe? During spring break and winter break?

It wasn't enough. Even now, Tooth could tell.

If he left now…

"What am I going to do?" Tooth asked the empty hallway.

"So let me get this straight," Bunnymund began again. "You want us to help you catch something that is illegal to catch?"

Jack nodded eagerly.

Sandy wrote quickly on his notepad. "What if we get caught?"

"That won't happen. But if we did get caught, we would have to pay a fine.

North pouted. "Fine? Like…money?"

Jack nodded a little gloomier this time. "From fifteen thousand dollars to…two hundred thousand."

Bunnymund's jaw dislocated. "Woah, woah, woah, you mean to tell me if this dumb scheme of yours blows up in our faces, not only will Tooth not get a birthday present, but we'll all go broke and in debt before college? Over some birds? Not to mention we might earn ourselves a criminal record!"

Jack sighed. "Look guys, just do what I do. We won't get caught if you do exactly what I say. It's for Tooth! You've got to admit, it's a good present."

North nodded. "Is good idea. Tooth will love very much."

Bunnymund looked to Sandy and North. "Are you guys sure that we should do this?"

"Stop being coward, Bunny!" North scoffed. "We not get caught with fireworks in cafeteria, we not get caught with Pitch, we not get caught with Tooth's birds."

Sandy looked between them all, having given up on being the voice of reason for today.

"YOLO," he wrote.

Bunnymund gave the notepad a look of revulsion.

They all nodded, turning back to the white haired teen.

"Alright, Jack-o. We're in. Tell us what to do."

Jack beamed, pulling out a baseball cap and a large map of Burgess that no one had seen him carrying. Bunnymund's eyes bugged while Jack continued.

"Me and North are going to build the birdhouse while you and Sandy make the bait to lure the birds," Jack pointed to a crappy drawing of him and North on the map, a skinny stickman and a Goliath-like one.

"Afterwards, we'll all go to different parts of the neighborhood here, here, and here," he announced, pointing his finger to three different areas in Burgess, the park, the woods, and a large backyard."We'll see if we attracted any of the little guys. If we see any, we'll nab them with these butterfly nets and come back here. We'll hold them until we sneak over to Tooth's place, here," Jack pointed to a house with another stick figure wearing a skirt with little hearts around it.

He grinned, putting his hands on his hips and beaming. "Then we'll set up the birdhouse in her backyard! It'll probably take the birds awhile to be attracted to the bird house, but they'll settle eventually. We need to be quiet, quick, and discreet."

Bunnymund stared. "You're having too much fun with this. What's with the hat?"

Jack reached for the baseball cap on his head self-consciously. "It's my 'thinking cap'. What? You guys don't like it?"

Bunnymund nearly laughed in Jack's face, but Sandy held up his notepad, distracting everyone. "It's beautiful, Jack. Don't worry, the plan sounds good to me."

Jack smiled while Bunnymund gave Sandy a curious look. North whooped, liking the way things were turning out. "This will be best birdhouse ever made in Burgess!"

Jack nodded. "I sure hope so. Well let's get a move on guys, her birthday's tomorrow."

And so they delved into their work. Jack and North quickly began planning and measuring and designing for the feeder while Sandy and Bunnymund went to the store to buy nectar.

They caught a few spiders and caterpillars on the way back before mixing everything together to make the bait. Sandy felt a little bad, watching the small insects freeze inside of the sticky nectar. Jack and North soon began building and it was only midday when they finished putting the pieces together.

They all split up, using the bait and waiting. It wasn't long before the butterfly nets went flying, nabbing small creature after small creature. The streetlights were on by the time the boys finished.

"Good job guys," Jack heaved, breathing heavy along with the rest of the boys. "Now, let's go put this birdhouse in Tooth's backyard. She's sleeping and so is her dad, so let's keep it down, yeah?"

They all trekked over to Tooth's house, watching as the lights of the neighbors flickered off. Everyone was going to sleep.

The boys hopped Tooth's fence, careful not to make too much noise. The fence shook tremendously under North's weight, but didn't collapse. Once on the other side, Jack and North carefully made sure to attach the birdhouse to the tree in Tooth's backyard. They didn't want it falling off the tree and breaking.

"What if Tooth sees this before the party?" North whispered. Jack shook his head, the baseball cap still on it, pushing up a corner of the birdhouse to rest on a branch.

"She won't. She doesn't come out here often and even when she does, she doesn't come out until after she finishes all of her homework. Trust me, we'll be here before then."

North nodded in understanding. "The birdhouse is attached. We may leave now."

Sandy watched guard, making sure no neighbors came along. Bunnymund was leaning against the fence and watching Jack and North set the birdhouse up.

Bunnymund heard a rustling behind the fence. Curious, he unfolded his arms and peered over into the next yard.

Jaws snapped near his face and a large dog growled angrily at him, snapping again.

"Crikey!" Bunnymund shouted in surprise, falling backwards. He fell onto North, who swung his arms in surprise, slapping Jack in the face. All three boys went down, groaning loudly.

Sandy jumped, bringing his fingers to his lips and trying hurriedly to shush them all. How clumsy could they be?!

A light turned on in Tooth's house.

The boys all froze.

Sandy made the universal symbol for "what the hell are you guys doing, go and hide somewhere".

North dove for the other side of the yard into the shadows while Bunnymund flung himself into some bushes. Sandy hopped the fence out of the backyard.

"Who's there?" someone called from inside Tooth's house, turning the knob on the back door. Jack was the only one left out in the open.

In a panic, Jack tried to fit himself into the bushes with Bunnymund. He landed on the taller boy, quickly leading to a scuffle in the bushes.

"Watch it! You're stepping on my ankle!" Bunnymund hissed.

"Shut up! You're the one that nearly woke up the whole neighborhood! Move over before we both get caught." Jack pushed forward into the dark bushes. His hands clenched into the dirt as he pushed on. He pressed something soft that wasn't dirt, but Jack obliviously squeezed it anyway. Bunnymund squealed loudly, instinctively kicking Jack out of the bushes.

The snowy haired-boy landed hard on his back. He looked up at Bunnymund, furious. "You little-"

The back door to the house opened, spilling a little light out into the backyard. Tooth walked out in her nightgown, with messy hair and slippers covered in depictions of teeth. A flashlight was at her side and she turned it on with shaky fingers.

"Hello?" she called out cautiously into the night, waving the beam around.

Jack froze, his breathing having stopped. He had to distract her from the birdhouse because if she saw it early, then the surprise was ruined! He sighed, thinking fast. He jumped up, his thoughts still zooming through his mind. Tooth gasped a little at the sight of him.

"Tooth…! Hey, what's up?"

Tooth stared at him wide eyed as the beam of light landed on him.

Jack figured he probably looked psycho. He had a huge bruise on his cheek from North's accidental slap, his hands and clothes were covered in dirt, his baseball cap was lopsided, and his hair was a complete mess. His pants had more holes in them than usual and he was breathing hard, standing in his girlfriend's backyard, in the dead of the night.

"Yeah, uhm…" he trailed off, looking everywhere but the wide violet eyes on him. "I, uh- I was watching this movie, right? And its pretty funny haha, the guy, the main character I mean, he- uh, he went on a jog and he made it look so nice, so I, uh, figured I would go on one too!

Tooth's eyebrow quirked. She looked Jack up and down, concerned. "Jogging…? At this time of night? In…in my backyard…?"

Jack froze. He wasn't usually such a terrible liar, but…

"Yeah, this time, uh, makes it special! If I jog at this time, something awesome'll happen. You know, the witching hour and all that. Magic stuff." Jack wiggled his fingers to give a mystical affect, but instantly regretted it. It looked creepy.

Tooth looked genuinely confused. "Oh! I see…but, I thought 'witching hours' were at midnight…? I-It's three o' clock in the morning."

Jack stood absolutely still.

Crap.

He had to get her in the house! She couldn't see the bird house or the surprise was over. Jack was done with talking decided to take evasive action. Stupid and uncreative evasive action, but evasive nonetheless.

He stepped forward and took Tooth's arms in his hands before planting his lips on hers. The girl yelped in surprise, leaning back a bit before welcoming the sudden intimacy.

"Why-?" Kiss. "are you-?" Kiss.

Jack pulled her as close as physically possible, trying his best to kiss the daylights out of her, to distract her. Tooth really did jump at this, surprised at how bold he was being. She didn't seem to mind, though. She kissed back eagerly, forgetting about why he was in her backyard in the first place. Their noses brushed as they both inhaled the other's scent in, pressing even closer. Jack was extremely reluctant to release her arms, but his grip lessened and he slowed down, pulling away from her lips. Tooth gasped with wide eyes, her chest heaving. She couldn't even speak.

Jack pressed his forehead to hers, pulling away slightly as she leaned forward to try and get at his lips again. He couldn't get sidetracked.

"I need you to do something for me, no questions asked. I want you to forget about me being here tonight. You're going to forget all that stuff I said. I want you to, please, go back in your house. Go back to sleep. Then in the morning, you can go to school and we can hang out. Can you just do that for me?"

Tooth nodded vaguely, dizzy and disoriented from the oxygen-lacking kiss. "No questions," she murmured in agreement.

Her lips were wet and pink, making Jack's the hairs on Jack's arms rise. He wanted to taste them again, but there was work to do. Plus, her dad might catch them going at it. That wouldn't be fun. Not one bit.

"Nice hat," she whispered in a hoarse voice, looking up at him.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "Nice slippers. Go to bed."

She beamed. "Thanks! I will."

Jack watched her gaze at him for a little longer in curiosity before turning slowly and walking back into her house, closing the door. She locked it before turning the light in the house off. Jack sighed heavily in relief. "Okay guys. You can come out now."

North stumbled out of the shadows, brushing leaves off of his shoulders. "Did she see the birdhouse? I could not see anything over there, I not hear anything!"

"Nah big guy, she didn't see the birdhouse. The surprise isn't ruined."

Bunnymund clambered out of the bushes, smirking. "I heard that god awful lie of yours, Frost. I'm surprised Toothie bought it! It got kind of quiet afterwards though. Were you guys whispering or something? I couldn't see anything."

Jack looked between the two. "Yeah. We were whispering," he lied. "Didn't want to wake up her dad." The other boys nodded in understanding before hopping the fence out of the backyard. Jack followed swiftly.

Sandy was waiting for them on the other side. As Bunnymund and North moved down the street, Jack gazed over at Sandy nervously. "So…where did you go?"

Sandy looked smug, pointing near the fence.

Jack nodded, trying to be nonchalant. "Did you see or hear anything? Bunnymund says my lying skills suck." He forced a laugh.

Sandy winked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Jack gulped, his face turning red. "You didn't see me and Tooth, did you?"

Sandy smiled slyly, writing something on his notepad. He raised it up for the taller boy to see.

"Jack and Tooth, sitting in a tree…"

Jack groaned loudly, turning even redder as the short blonde boy grinned and silently laughed.

"Sandy- Sandy, c'mon man. That's not funny. I couldn't think of anything else, okay? My lie sucked! It was like word vomit or something-Besides, the kiss worked. Hey, wait. Don't tell the others, okay? Sandy, don't do it, they'll never let me hear the end of it. Sandy...? Sandy!"

Sandy waved Jack away, still laughing silently as he ran off to catch up with the others. Wait till' they got a load of this!

Jack huffed in frustration. He pulled his baseball cap over his eyes and slumping off into the night after them.

Tooth woke up to a curious sound.

As she sat up in her bed she could have sworn she heard a buzzing sound nearby. Was a fly in her room? No…it sounded a little bigger. A bee? Tooth looked around, but couldn't see anything. The sound soon ceased.

Shrugging, Tooth quickly forgot about the sound and leapt out of bed to get ready for school. Today was her birthday! Another year older.

She made her way to school and endured all of her classes. The day seemed to drag and she was only able to catch glimpses of her friends. She had to study during lunch in the library and couldn't eat with them. She thought quietly about her birthday and what her dad might have planned for her back at home.

The ride home with North and the gang was uneventful, until all of the boys hopped out of the car along with Tooth. Why were they coming to her house…?

Oh! It must be a surprise. For her birthday! She pestered them, but they wouldn't give up any secrets and remained tight-lipped.

"Just wait," they said.

The boys led her to the tree in her backyard, pointing to a lovely birdhouse sitting among the branches. Tooth squealed, knowing it was for her. She made her way towards the present and began inspecting it. As she reached out to touch the birdhouse, a sweet smell hit her nose and her hands landed on something sticky. She pulled away, glancing at the honey-like substance slipping along her fingers.

"What's this?" She asked curiously, turning to her friends.

"It's nectar, Toothie," Bunnymund answered. "For the birds."

"What birds?"

Something buzzed past her ear, the same buzzing from earlier that morning. She froze, feeling something land in her hair. A bug?

North laughed loudly. "They like you, Toothiana!"

She looked at him in wonder. "Who likes me?"

Sandy pointed to her sides and Tooth finally noticed the dozens and dozens of hummingbirds flying all around her, trying to settle on her hands and her head. Their rapid wings slowed down from blurs into feathery visibles as they landed softly on Tooth's hands. She remained absolutely still, watching the round and colorful bodies dabbing at the nectar on her hands.

A smile broke out onto her face as the hummingbirds fed off of her sticky hands. She had seen them a few times around Burgess, but never so many at once. And they all lived in her backyard! They were gorgeous things.

Jack chuckled. "Funny…they kinda' look like you, Tooth."

North nodded eagerly. "Is true! Birds have same color as Toothiana's hair."

Tooth gazed at the dark green birds, their fat bodies rippled with streaks of purple and yellow, like her hair. They did kind of look like her feathery mini-me's. A small smile curled onto her face.

"You guys…you guys must have done this last night!" Tooth realized suddenly, looking up at Jack with wide eyes. So that's why he had been in her yard so late. They were setting up the surprise! "How did the hummingbirds find the birdhouse so fast?"

Bunnymund smirked slyly. "We, uh…encouraged them, a bit."

Tooth's eyebrow raised suspiciously. 'Encouraged', huh? Well, she wouldn't push the issue. The birds looked happy, healthy, and seemed sociable- at least with her. Eventually, the birds ate all of the nectar from her hands, but even as Tooth made to move, they followed her.

The boys marveled at the way the horde of birds trailed after Tooth. She softly shooed at them and they lazily made their way back to the birdhouse. She turned to the guys.

"They're absolutely perfect! You guys…" When her words failed her, she shot them a watery smile before running at them in high speed. They all laughed when her small arms tried to wrap them all in a group hug. Despite the strangeness of the close contact for the boys, they obliged her wishes and pulled themselves tighter to the girl.

"Anything for you, Tooth," Sandy signed. "You were always a good friend to us."

Tooth stared at him, a little shocked. She was? North interrupted her thoughts when he pulled everyone into his own bone crushing hug, bellowing out in success. "Gift is perfect! Frost was right!"

Tooth wiggled a bit to get some air before grunting out, "Jack…?"

Bunnymund nodded with difficulty, trying to keep North's muscular arm from strangling him. "Yeah Toothie, it was all Jack's idea in the first place."

When Tooth looked over to Jack, he was too busy flushing scarlet and burying himself into North's hug to hide himself. She grinned before planting herself back into North's embrace.

She had the best friends ever.

Her dad came out into the backyard, having already observed everything. He was so happy to see his daughter with her mesh of friends and how cared for she was. And soon, his wife would be home to see it as well.

"Alright guys, cake time!" he called out.

The kids released one another and crowded into Tooth's house, enjoying the mulitcolored birthday cake and watching her open her other presents.

After stuffing his face for a while, North remembered something and announced, "Arcade by school having free token day tomorrow. We play as many games as we want for no cost. We all go?"

Everyone cheered in agreement, except for Jack. He smiled softly and shook his head.

"That sounds great guys, but I have to do something tomorrow."

North turned on the boy, cake flying everywhere.

"You not come with us? Why? Whatever you have to do, we help out Frost, right? That way, when task is done, we all go to arcade together."

Everyone else agreed once again, but Jack shook his head meekly. "No, that's okay guys. I'm visiting family tomorrow. I'll meet up with you all some other time."

"Family?" Sandy pestered. He was curious.

"My sister," Jack answered quietly.

"Woah!" Bunnymund hollered, slamming down his fork in surprise. "Well I'll be...you have a sister Frost? And you never told us before? I've never seen her before. She lives with you?"

Tooth had been staring for a while now, but decided it was time to cut in.

"Leave him alone, Bunny. She lives out of town. Jack, I actually have something for her. Here, follow me. We'll be back in a minute, guys," she called. Tooth stood up from the table and rounded the corner into her hall with Jack following close behind.

Soon enough, they were in her room. Jack glanced at the paintings on the wall and the army of stuffed animals on the bed. He felt a little uncomfortable standing in a girl's room. He wasn't surprised by the tooth diagrams or the dentist books.

Tooth rummaged through her closet before pulling out a clean, brown teddy bear. "Here," she offered it up to Jack. "This one is an old one that I used to play with all the time. I thought I'd get to meet your sister sometime soon, so I had planned on giving her a gift. I had it cleaned and everything, but…I think you should give it to her instead."

Jack smiled weakly at her before taking the furry thing. "Thanks, Tooth. It's…nice. But, uh, you guys might still get to meet each other sometime-"

"No we won't." Tooth interrupted softly, her fingers playing in the fur of the teddy bear in Jack's hands. She couldn't look up at him and decided to stare at the bear instead. "She still needs rest and I can't leave Burgess and visit others when my mom coming to town. You're moving back home, aren't you?"

Jack didn't know what to say. Yes, he was moving back with his family. He hadn't been eager to talk about the issue with Tooth, hoping that if he had kept it out of mind, that maybe the issue would resolve itself. But now, as he watched Tooth's brows furrow and her frown settle, he realized that some things just couldn't be put off. They had to talk about it sooner or later.

He realized he had been quiet the entire time. The words came out strained and hoarse. "Yeah, I'm moving back home."

Tooth nodded, her frown deepening. She bit her lip to hide the trembles. "When?"

"...At the end of this month."

Even with her bottom lip trapped between her pearly teeth, Jack could still see it begin to quiver. He rubbed his thumbs over her shoulders and she quickly erased the sad look and smiled softly at him.

"Just a month, huh? I guess we'll have to make it last, then." She chuckled, looking forward to the good times they would have before the end.

Jack grinned back. "Yeah! We'll definitely-"

"TOOTH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALL BY YOURSELF WITH A BOY IN YOUR ROOM?!"

Both teens jumped at the sound of Tooth's father interrupting their moment. Haroom laughed at the looks on their faces. Priceless! He wasn't really mad or anything, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Even as he laughed from Tooth's doorway at their shock, the looks of embarrassment didn't leave either of their faces.

The following day had been cloudy and white. Kind of like the long car ride out of Burgess.

Kind of like the hospital waiting room.

Jack had been having a staring match with this bear for nearly an hour.

He pulled at his collar while he waited in the quiet and drab hospital lobby. He looked around nervously, gazing at the bouqet of flowers and the teddy bear in his hand, wondering if they were really okay. Were the flowers bright enough? Did they smell nice enough? The petals were starting to wilt, would the entire bouqet die too quickly?

Did she even still like flowers? He didn't know.

He glanced at the other people waiting in chairs. None of them were as dressed up as he was, none of them were holding flowers or teddy bears. All of them looked extremely tired, as if they had been through this process a thousand times before. Some of them looked sleepy. Some looked like they were in pain.

He decided looking into the face of the teddy bear was better for his nerves.

Jack really hoped that he wouldn't mess this up. He pulled out a quarter and flipped it over his fingers, watching the shiny coin deftly slip in and out of his palm. As the coin turned, so did his thoughts. He began to focus on what he would say, something he had been doing all day long.

'Apologize. Don't freak out. Apologize. Tell her how big she's gotten. Apologize. Ask her about her friends, her hobbies. Apologize. Apologize. Apologize.'

"Jackson Frost?" A nurse called out from behind the waiting room desk.

Jack stood up, nervously fidgeting with his collar.

"This way," the nurse went on, walking down a hallway toward the patient wing of the building. Jack followed closely.

What would she say? Would she be unrecognizable? Would she even want to see him?

Their footsteps echoed loudly down the white hallways, but the only thing Jack could hear was the sound of his heart thumping loudly.

What if his mom had been wrong about her? What if she didn't miss him? What if…

What if she had forgotten about him?

"Here we are," the nurse called out behind her. She pushed one of the doors open. Jack held his breath, his heart pounding louder than ever.

What if she hated him?

The nurse moved away and closed the door behind Jack.

His breath came out hard and heavy, breaking the silence of the room, and so he stopped breathing.

The unmistakable feeling of guilt crept up his spine as his eyes absorbed the surroundings of the room. There was an IV stand. There were a few oxygen tanks off to the side of the room, nearly out of sight. There was a wheelchair near the door, and a walker by the bed. There was also a slightly bucket near it, in case of any accidents, Jack guessed.

There were also mountains of flowers, cards, and teddy bears on the counter nearby. All for her.

Jack stepped closer to the hospital bed, watching the small lump in the covers rise and fall softly. He neared the head of the bed, his gaze slowly softening as the sleeping face of Emma Frost revealed itself from beneath the blankets.

She had grown. Maybe not as much as he had guessed, but she was definitely larger than the last time he had seen her. She had lost some baby fat on her cheeks. Her lashes were longer as well as her hair. Her face showed small hints of a defined jaw, like her mother.

She had been growing up all this time and he had missed it. He had missed her. To think, that he almost took this chance away from her forever…

...the chance to grow up.

Jack's fingers trailed softly along the blanket before he slowly pulled it down, uncovering more of his sister's face. Still fast asleep, she breathed out softly, shifting at his touch and turning to bury her face into her pillow. Jack almost laughed. She never had been one to rise early.

His throat caught when he tried to speak, and so he didn't. He brushed at his sister's bangs, blowing on her face softly. She wrinkled her nose in irritation at the cold gust of wind on her nose, before opening her eyes.

Her mouth fell open at the sight of him and she jumped up from the blankets, jostling the IV stand connected to her arm.

She pulled away from his reach, eyes wide in shock.

Jack didn't know what to do. His insides were breaking at the sight of her flinching away from him, but he stepped back and gave her space.

He, a rowdy seventeen year old boy, had never felt so scared before in his life. And all because of this little girl and what she thought of him. What did she think of him?

All of his mental preparations and run-through's of what he had planned on saying disappeared from his mind. He spoke without thinking.

"Hi, Emma…!" He blurted in a nervous excitement, hating how his trembling hands were shaking the flowers in his grasp.

She just stared open-mouthed.

"I, uh-I brought these for you…" He placed the flowers and the bear on the bed before her, watching how she gazed at the gifts in confusion.

"I'm sorry it took this long to visit...I, uhm….I'm really sorry. I missed you. A lot."

Silence.

"You…you grew really big! It's pretty amazing. I mean, one minute you're a plant and the next, you've sprouted into a tree, you're…yeah."

More silence.

"How's school? Do you still get schoolwork? Well, I guess not…You probably…I…I…"

His words failed him once again and she had none to offer him. She still looked suspended in a state of shock, as if she couldn't believe he stood before her. Jack sighed, deciding to cut to the chase.

"I know I haven't been the best big brother. I know that I haven't visited you in nearly a year. I know I almost got us both killed that New Years, but you gotta' understand, Emma…I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to put us in that rough spot. I never meant to put you in here." Jack looked down as a terrible tightness erupted in his chest, straining his voice. His eyes burned but he didn't dare wipe at them, keeping his gaze on the floor.

"I just hope you can forgive me."

Emma's eyes were swimming with confusion. She didn't understand.

"Forgive…you? But Jack- I thought you were mad at me."

Jack froze, wondering at the first words he had heard from his sister in a year. She thought he was mad at HER? Why would he be? If anyone should be mad, it should be her for being stuck in this place for so long. Now that he thought about it, she did seem kind of…scared.

"I'm not mad," he said slowly, a bit taken aback. "I could never be mad at y-"

"But it's my fault!" Emma blurted.

Jack thought his ears were broken. Her fault?

"Why would you even think th-"

His younger sister scooted forward on the bed, grabbing the teddy bear and the bouquet, holding them both close as if they were the most important possessions she owned. Her voice came out fast and rushed.

"I thought you never came to visit me because you were angry with me! I was the one that had asked to go see the fireworks. You only drove us there because I asked you to. If I hadn't asked, the accident would have never happened and you would have gotten to stay home with mom and dad instead of being sent away to live with Uncle Moon."

Jack shook his head, wondering how things turned out this way. Where did she get these crazy ideas?

"Emma, don't. There was no way that any of that was your fault. You were eight, Em'. Eight. I should have known better for the both of us."

"You hate me," she sobbed, looking away from him.

Jack's 'big-brother' mode activated as he moved to sit on the bed beside her. "That's not true."

"It is," she continued, sniffling. "You never came to see me! You broke your ribs and then they sent you away to a place you'd never been before. I just knew you were angry at me. I was so s-scared that you would never come back…"

Jack pulled her close. "But I'm back now, aren't I? I'm still here. I'm moving back home soon anyways." Emma perked up at this, leaning against his chest and looking up at him curiously. She wiped at her eyes hesitantly.

"You're coming back home?"

Jack smiled at her, nodding eagerly. A sharp pang hit him when the thought of a certain girl back in Burgess crept up on him, but he pushed the thought away.

Emma smiled, loving the news. "Oh, Jack! We're gonna' have soooo much fun! I get to leave the hospital in a few weeks and then I can go back to school and we can go on trips and visit the park and go to the movies-"

"Woah, slow down," Jack laughed, clapping a hand over Emma's mouth. He was so happy to see that she hadn't changed towards him. "You never answered my question earlier. Do you forgive me for my mistake?"

Emma gave him a reprimanding look. "Of course I do! Just…don't drive anytime soon, okay? I think I'll walk to school instead!" She laughed at the dark joke, and Jack couldn't help but wonder if his younger sister was developing a strange taste for morbid humor.

"Hey…didn't you miss me?"

Jack nodded to the small girl. "Of course I did."

"How come you never called or visited?"

"Um…it's complicated." Jack didn't want to tell her that their mom cut him off from her in a fury. He didn't want Emma knowing that. At this age, she still saw their parents as idyllic people that could do no wrong, wonderful and immortal. He didn't want to spoil her childhood image of their mom and dad before it had to be spoiled. She would grow up soon enough and realize that even parents make mistakes. "I wasn't able to visit, but I sent letters…"

"Letters?" Emma looked genuinely confused. "What letters?"

Jack stopped. "I-I sent you a ton of letters Em'. You never got any of them?" Strange.

Emma shook her head innocently, playing with the teddy bear in her hands. Her eyes lit up suddenly.

"Oh, tell me about Uncle Moon! Tell me about Burgess! I hear it's the most boring town ever. Is it true? Are all the kids there the same?"

Jack gazed at her, thinking about his friends. North, Sandy, Bunnymund, Tooth….they weren't boring at all. They were actually pretty fun to be around.

"Well-" he began to answer her question, but his phone chirped, alerting of a text message. He pulled it out, reading a short, cute text from Tooth. Emma's eyes widened at his snowflake charm.

"Hey! You still have it! Aww, Jack," she squealed, before hugging him furiously. He had kept it for all this time!

He chuckled, enjoying her embrace. "What did you think I was gonna' do, throw it away?"

Emma shrugged. "Brothers are silly. Stuff happens. Say…who's texting you?"

The words flew out of Jack's mouth before he even realized who he was talking to. He didn't pay attention to what he was saying as he texted back.

"Huh? Oh, it's just Tooth. Y'know."

Emma shook her head, making a queer face. "No I don't! Who is that? What is that?"

Jack frowned, shooting Emma a dry look before continuing to text.

"'She', not 'what'- is one of my best friends in Burgess. My girlfriend, actual-"

Jack froze, hoping he could take the words back. He prepared for the worst. If he knew anything about his sister, it was one solitary thing-

"Oh. My. GOD! Jack, you got a GIRLFRIEND? Ohmygosh does mom know? How old is she? What does she look like? Is she nice? Is she a cheerleader? Or is she super geeky? Ooooooh, Jack's got a girlfriend, Jack's got a girlfriend~"

-she loved to tease.

The weeks before Jack left Burgess were certainly weeks to remember.

Jack and the gang had hung out more than they ever had the entire year.

Every day was a day that they spent together, and every moment was incredibly precious. Of course, it all went by in blur, but a fun and colorful blur nonetheless.

Jack had tried out the skateboard that North had built him for his birthday. It was a smooth ride and awesome for ollies or grinding down stair rails. Jack had scuffed the skin off his knees and elbows more than once riding the thing, and he once had the police chasing him through the park after he tried to pull off a grind flip over the park statue, not quite making it. The statue had remained headless after that day, and Jack had never been caught for it.

Tooth enjoyed the company of the hummingbirds, feeding them often and watching them buzz about their simple lives. They enjoyed her as well, soon realizing that when Tooth appeared, so did food.

North had built a 'congratulations' scooter for Jamie, who had gotten rid of his illness and returned home beaming. The rest of the kids at the childrens' hospital had thrown him a small farewell party. Sometimes the gang caught him riding around Burgess, and Jack even showed him a few tricks.

Bunnymund and Alice were still going strong. They were planning a big trip to visit her family in England after their senior year of highschool, but Bunnymund really wanted to show her his old home back in Australia. They figured they had the rest of their lives to do both.

Sandy continued excelling at his studies and joined North and Bunnymund on several side-adventures. He loved having such loyal friends and truly appreciated them, even if they were too dense to see it sometimes.

As the weeks grew warmer, Jack grew slightly more uncomfortable. He wasn't fond of warm weather.

One day as they were all hanging out in North's backyard, Bunnymund had jokingly dumped a bucket of ice water on Jack's head, only to realize in horror that Jack didn't mind the freezing water at all.

As the days grew hotter, they all sought out ways to cool off.

They went swimming, they visited waterparks, and they often hung out in Tooth's living room to escape the heat outside. They came up with numerous schemes of getting the cranky, old, Burgess ice-cream truck driver to actually stop his truck for once and serve kids ice cream.

Still, Jack's favorite way to cool off was when Bunnymund let him borrow his bike.

Jack would ride the speedy bike downhill with Tooth holding onto his shoulders and standing on the bike pegs. The air would whip them around and the speed would make their teeth chatter. Plus, Jack couldn't deny how much he liked it when Tooth gripped his shoulders a little tighter as they flew down hills.

Jack and Tooth avoided talk of college and the future, both of them knowing that there was a high chance that they wouldn't be spending it together. They decided to just enjoy one another's time while it lasted.

Tooth took a multitude of pictures of Jack during that time. He hadn't known the reason, but she knew it was because when he left, she would want a few physical memories left behind. Maybe she could put them in her scrapbook? She loved the photographs of him smiling the most.

Eventually, school came to an end.

Moving day arrived.

Jack's friends were sad to see him go, but they all came over to help him pack anyways.

North was fantastic at lugging the heavy boxes while Bunnymund was good at keeping track of things. Tooth organized the luggage and Sandy brought them all refreshments. Jack's mother and father had driven a moving van down to pick up Jack. They were surprised at the sight of all the new friends he had made, but couldn't stop themselves from smiling and greeting everyone.

Uncle Moon gave a teary goodbye, hugging his nephew and demanding that he try his best to visit often, despite Burgess's distance from any nearby towns. Jack promised to try while wiping his uncle's glasses for him. They had fogged up horribly when Uncle Moon nearly bawled on him.

Sandy, Bunnymund, and North left early, all of them tied down to some task. They didn't leave before giving Jack some brotherly hugs and heartfelt goodbyes. Jack had certainly felt North's heart through his hug, feeling as if his spine were breaking as North squeezed him to a pulp. They all exchanged cell phone numbers and X-Box usernames before leaving, promising to slaughter one another on Call of Duty's multiplayer servers.

After the other boys had left, Uncle Moon began chatting it up with Jack's parents. Jack took the opportunity to speak to Tooth alone one last time.

They went back into the house together, hand in hand.

He led them to his old room before they sat down on the bed, both of unsure of what to say.

Tooth glanced around the bare room, noticing how empty it seemed without Jack's books, without his woodcarvings, without anything that reminded her of him. And soon, he would be gone, just like the rest of his things. She bit her lip.

Feeling a hand touch her own, she pulled away slowly.

"Tooth? Tooth, please look at me…I'm not leaving just to hurt you. If- if you really want it, I can stay for a little longer. I can tell my parents to drive back home and leave me with Uncle Moon for awhile..."

Tooth averted her eyes, looking to the wall and fighting the stinging behind her eyelids.

She knew he couldn't stay and she knew why. She had the strange inkling that she would be more upset with everything if Jack chose her over the person that needed him most right now…

His sister was what mattered most right now. She had gone a year without her older brother, in pain.

"It's okay Jack, really, it is. Emma is important to you. I understand. I won't stop you from going home. You can finally be with your family! I'm sure they've missed you." There wasn't a hint of malice in Tooth's voice. She was being sincere and genuine, believing everything she was saying was true.

Jack moved close, trying to get Tooth to look at him. She didn't.

He reached for her fingers.

"But then you'd miss me, wouldn't you?"

Tooth nodded, wiping the back of a shaky hand across her eyes. "I would. But I think you need to do this for yourself. If you don't go home, you'll never be able to make up for a year of not being there for her, or able to tell her how much you love her, or the things you would do for her. The things you already did for her."

Jack glanced at the skylight in his ceiling. Man, this situation sucked big time. He was making his girlfriend cry. Again.

Tooth swallowed down her grief and shot Jack a small smile.

"Well, it's not too bad. We can still text. And call. And skype…"

Jack grinned cheekily. "…And write. And fax. And send carrier pigeons…"

Tooth giggled, knocking into his side playfully. "I bet you don't even know how fax machines work!"

"Sure I do," he lied, wrapping an arm around her. "You just…find a random caveman somewhere and let him operate it for you. Weren't those things built in the prehistoric period anyways?"

Tooth squealed with laughter, pushing at him. She would miss this. Playing around with him, talking to him, touching him.

Jack grinned as he watched her sorrow melt away. Maybe they could still make this work.

He nipped at her cheek and she shivered. "Jeez Jack, you're still as freezing as ever. Like a snow man!"

Jack nipped at her again, pulling her close. "But Tooth, you love snowmen…"

"More like snowboys…" she teased, slipping out of his grip.

"…More like Jack Frost!" He shouted, chasing her around the room. When he finally caught up to her (man, she was pretty fast) his hands enveloped her wrists and he kissed her. She tasted like toothpaste and floss, and he couldn't get enough of it because it was so her. He was embarrassed to admit it, but every single time Jack brushed his teeth, the memory of Tooth's lips locking with his filled his head.

She kissed back, and soon enough Jack's skin was heating up again. He couldn't stand the summer heat, but this kind of heat wasn't unpleasant at all…

A sharp cough broke them out of their kiss and they both turned to see Jack's mother standing in the doorway, tapping her foot.

"As much as I hate to…interrupt…the van is ready. Jack, it's time to go."

Tooth felt her face burn up as she gripped onto Jack's hand, totally embarrassed. Jack ignored his mother's antics and smacked his lips curiously, wondering suddenly if Tooth's lip gloss had gotten on him. Woah...it had. He wasn't sure if he should wipe it away or savor the feeling.

Tooth walked outside and joined Uncle Moon's side as Jack and his parents loaded themselves into the moving van.

"Bye Uncle Moon! I'll call you later!" Jack called, leaning out of the window.

"Thank you for everything!" Jack's mother called, waving out the window before his father began to pull the van into gear. His father gave Tooth and Moonma small salute through the rear-view mirror.

Tooth felt herself jogging up to the van window even as the vehicle began to pull away. She reached out to grab Jack's fingers, feeling their icy tips collide with her warm ones.

She had to speak over the sound of her feet hitting the forest floor.

"Write me, okay? Write me lots of letters or I'll come to your hometown with the guys and have North kick your butt!" She was surprised to hear the threat, despite it's playfulness, leave her lips.

Jack laughed before beaming at her as he leaned out the window, still holding onto his girlfriend, but straining as the van began to pick up speed.

"Oh yeah? I'll make sure to, then. I don't need any angry Russian kids on my back."

Tooth's fingers were getting sweaty and Jack couldn't lean any farther to reach her. He was slowly slipping away.

He spoke fast, trying to get out the feelings he had been stewing over all month.

"Tooth, this was the best summer I've ever had. You're the best girlfriend I've ever had."

Tooth's fingers slipped from his grasp and she sped up, laughing. "I'm the only girlfriend you've ever had!" She had to shout over the sound of the van now.

She wanted to tell him to keep things that way. She wanted to make him promise that she would be his only one, but she didn't want to bind him to that, especially if they would be so far apart from one another. She had a feeling that this was it.

She wasn't sure when she would see Jack Frost again.

Her face felt wet, but Tooth didn't bother wiping cheeks. She was too busy chasing him, trying to keep him close before he was gone.

"I got to know you during the winter!" She laughed at the sudden realization, breathless, with her arms still pumping at her sides. The ground sped underneath her feet, and for the millionth time ever since that lucky winter, she felt like she was flying. "That was the best one I've ever had!"

His smile began to fade as the van sped away. Despite the wings Tooth felt like she had, she simply couldn't keep up with the vehicle anymore. She kept running, but the van slowly began to disappear into the horizon.

"I'll miss you!" she shouted.

"- too," she heard back muffled as the van sped off into the distance. Tooth slowed down, her legs suddenly aching. She hadn't felt that, had she? She gathered the last of her breath for one final call.

"Don't forget me!"

Her loudest shout was lost to the wind, and Tooth wasn't sure if Jack had heard her or not. She could hear no reply, but the van was too far gone for her to hear if there had been one.

It bobbed on the horizon of her vision before turning onto the road out of the woods and out of her sight.

Tooth put her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. After a few moments, she sighed heavily, the wetness on her face having already dried.

Well…

Maybe he would forget. Maybe he would find someone else. Even though the thought unnerved her more than anything, Tooth still had something to smile about.

She would never ever forget about Jack Frost. Their year together would stay in her mind for as long as she lived.

…And there was still a lot of living left to do.

Chapter Text

The days grew long and the nights shortened as the kids of Burgess lit up the summer skies in a blaze of fireworks and youth.

The adults were extremely happy, to say the least, when the summer finally melted back into a new school year.

The old high school seniors had moved on from Burgess High and dispersed everywhere around town, some having left far beyond its borders. Athena, Zues, Poseidon, and Ra were long gone.

Now, Tooth and her classmates reigned in Burgess High as the eldest students.

(ONE YEAR LATER)

...a dream.

She was dreaming again.

Her eyelashes fluttered, the skin of her closed eyelids twitched.

She was in a warm, sunny valley.

The tree before her gleamed in its natural perfection, the leaves a vibrant green. The bark was brown and the wind blew loudly, bringing along humidity and heat with it. Tooth smiled, approaching the tree in her bare feet, the blades of grass pushing up between her toes.

She let her fingers brush along the bark, feeling the life thrumming within. Out of the corner of her vision, she caught sight of something.

Ice.

Webs and webs of ice patterned their way up the bark of the tree, towards her hand. It froze the leaves in their green glory instantly, and the grass underneath melted into piles of snow. She gasped at the feeling, raising her feet to step away. Her hand remained stuck to the tree, frozen.

The tree was soon rock solid, stiff and held in perfection by the freezing ice. Each leaf was in place and the ice gleamed beautifully.

Her breath came faster as the warm wind grew colder and colder. It died down suddenly, almost as if the tree was taking in a deep breath.

Exhale.

Icy gusts invaded her vision, and she could feel sharp snowflakes embedding themselves into her eyes. She was blinded by visions of frozen lakes and snowfall in her head, scenes of frost eating at the corners of windows and snowflakes melting on warm skin, warm lips, a kiss.

She inhaled deeply, waking up.

Woah.

A nightmare? A dream?

Maybe both.

Tooth rolled over, bringing up the bed covers to hide her face from the sunlight peeping through her small window curtains. She didn't want to get up, not yet.

Maybe if she tried falling asleep again, the dreams would return?

She sighed, sitting up and tugging at the curtains; she was too restless to fall asleep once more. Peeping outside, she saw that the sky was still a deep blue, the day being too early for the sun to come up just yet.

Tooth slipped out of bed in her t-shirt and pajama pants before padding softly out of the room.

Out in the hall, she could hear snoring coming from both of her parents the next door over. With lidded, tired eyes, Tooth walked out into her backyard.

The cool blades of grass felt good between her bare toes, even better than in the dream. She sat down by the large tree, gazing up at the sky.

It was endless.

A nearby buzzing noise alerted her, causing Tooth to turn and look.

She smiled.

"Hi there," she rasped, lifting up a finger for the hummingbird to settle on. Before long, a few more had decided to settle on her knees, enjoying the warmth she gave off in the cool morning air. She loved these birds dearly, watching them zip around and do what hummingbirds usually do. Not only were they colorfully gorgeous, but they gave the backyard a feeling of magic when things were quiet like this in the neighborhood. Early mornings in the backyard were the best.

Plus, they reminded her of good memories. Of fun, of birthday parties, of boys…..

"Tooth," a female voice called, drawing open the back door of her house.

Tooth's smile grew wider.

Rashmi strolled into the backyard, clad in her own pajamas, holding a cup of piping hot tea.

"Suprabhat. Here, Sweetie," Rashmi murmured sleepily, handing Tooth the mug of tea. She yawned heavily before stretching out the kinks in her back. "What are you doing up so early? I didn't take you for an early riser. I thought it took pliers and a crane to get you out of bed?"

"That's only on Saturdays, Mom." Tooth cracked a grin.

Rashmi plopped down beside her, scaring the hummingbirds away. Rashmi frowned.

"Hmph. Guess I'm not hummingbird-material," she joked.

Tooth shrugged. "It's alright! They're pretty shifty with everyone. How's your eye feeling?"

Rashmi's hand reached up to touch her left eye, stroking at the medical eye patch there. She sighed. "Fine. I'm just tired of looking like a pirate, is all."

Tooth giggled before sipping at her tea. "At least it's not injured too badly or anything. You just need to keep that one covered until the other eye strengthens itself."

Rashmi nodded. She would never admit it out loud, but she was glad she got injured during her service. It was an excuse to be discharged and return home to her family. "True, true… how is the tea?"

"Perfect," Tooth said truthfully, watching the teabag bob in the water.

Rashmi relaxed against the bark of the tree, her long hair falling out of the braid she had put it in the night before. "I forgot how peaceful it is here, at home. So quiet." When Tooth didn't answer, Rashmi looked over to see her daughter daydreaming. She pushed a few strands of Tooth's dyed hair back. "What are you thinking about? Did you have a bad dream?"

Tooth shook her head, leaning into Rashmi's touch. She couldn't explain how good it felt to have her mother back home.

"No. It was a good dream."

Rashmi smiled slyly. "About a boy?"

Tooth shrugged, deciding not to rise to her mother's baiting tone. "Something like that."

Rashmi pouted playfully, stretching once more. "I wish I had been able to meet him. You know, that one boy that you had befriended while I was away. No, not your other guy friends. I've seen them, and they're a rowdy bunch! The other boy. Haroom tried to make him sound cunning and mischievous, but he sounded very kind to me. Haroom said he took you out often, invited you to dances, played with you and your friends…"

Tooth was quiet as she watched another hummingbird land cautiously on her knees.

Rashmi peered over, looking for some sort of confirmation. When Tooth didn't reply, the woman decided to be direct. "Do you still talk to him?"

Tooth nodded vaguely, ignoring the pang in her chest.

They still spoke.

Barely.

Rashmi sighed. "I'm sorry about your friend, Tooth. He must have liked you very much. You seem so sad when you think of him. I wish I could have had the chance to meet him, maybe to know him better."

Tooth sighed, watching the sun rise and chase the dark blue colors away.

"...Me too, Mom."

Walking to school wasn't as strenuous as it used to be, since Tooth had been spending a lot of time in motion lately. She hung out with friends, she cared for the hummingbirds… she danced. And she had a good reason, too.

Burgess was having its very first International Culture Festival this year.

Because of the large amount of diversity in Burgess's student population, the principal thought it would be a great idea to have a day where all the nationalities were celebrated. All classes would be cut for a day and different students would be allowed to preform different dances from different countries. Others would bring in traditional food and serve it throughout the day.

Many kids had stepped up to the plate to dance and represent a certain country around the world, some kids having absolutely no relation with the country, just a passion. Other kids preferred meshing in with the rest of the crowd and watching the school prepare for the festivities.

Tooth had volunteered to perform an Indian dance routine. She was already super pumped and excited, but when Tooth found out that a few other girls had volunteered to dance with her, she was ecstatic! Several of them were not at all Indian, and Tooth was extremely pleased to find out that they were just passionate about the culture and enjoyed Indian songs and dance.

Rapunzel had actually decided to dance alongside Tooth, instead of with the German dancers.

"I dig the colorful outfits," Rapunzel had explained happily. Tooth had a feeling that Rapunzel hadn't been lying, but there was something else to it. Tooth didn't want to seem conceited, but she had the suspicious feeling that Rapunzel had joined for her. They had become close friends.

Tooth chose to represent India because her father didn't know any Thai dances, but her mom knew tons of Indian dances, and it would be a great way to spend more time with her mother as well as stay in shape. Tooth had pounced on the opportunity.

Since she was the only one with any knowledge of actual Indian dances, Tooth was voted as leader of her dance group and head dancer.

She was a bit shy at first, feeling the pressure build up.

Why would they pick her? She hadn't really danced in ages, much less in front of an audience. Also, Tooth hadn't hung out closely with this many girls in… well, forever. As the weeks passed though, Tooth realized that she enjoyed spending time with her dancing group and grew close to all of them, Rapunzel moreso.

It was the week before the festival, and Tooth was at school, rushing between classes to gather her things.

She approached her locker, still thinking about the International Culture Festival.

North was performing a Russian dance while Bunnymund had planned on doing a display of Aboriginal hunting dances from Australia. Both were excited about it, making their own props and everything.

There were some issues when the principal wouldn't allow any spears during Bunny's performance, but Tooth persuaded the school official to allow in a fake spear, one with a plastic razorhead. That way, no one was injured, yet the dance could remain traditional.

Sandy had planned on helping his friends practice before sitting back and enjoying the show – he was more keen on sleeping than dancing.

Tooth smiled, happyto be a senior in high school.

She hadn't changed much. She had let her hair grow longer. She had dyed it with neater, brighter streaks once again. She was using the colorful makeup techniques that Rapunzel had showed her and wearing less constrictive clothing to combat with the heat. Rapunzel had even leant her a bit of jewelry since Tooth didn't wear her mother's necklace 24/7 nowadays.

Why wear the memento, when she had the real thing?

Tooth bit her lower lip in anticipation and her eyes glowed brightly. She couldn't wait for the festival! She pulled a few books from her locker before shutting it closed.

"Hey."

Tooth yelped in surprise, reeling from the sudden appearance of Anansi. Her hand flew over her chest as she gasped for air, shooting Anansi a bewildered look. It was almost as if he had materialized out of thin air.

He raised his hands in surprise."Woah girly, chill out there, okay? Just stopping by to say hi, that's all."

Tooth breathed a little easier.

Anansi had been way kinder these past few months. He barely started trouble anymore! Well, for her and her friends, at least. She didn't have any problems with him these days… or at least, he hadn't started any. After months of kind words and small chit chat, Tooth decided it wouldn't hurt to give him a second chance.

She was still cautious around him.

She just couldn't forget about how he had near-attacked her in the library last year.

"Oh, okay! I'm sorry, you just – I didn't know you were… I hadn't heard you coming… Hi! Hi, Anansi, how are you?"

Anansi seemed to be greatly amused by her little display of confusion before smiling widely at her. Tooth couldn't sense any mischief in his attitude, but she felt like she was vaguely missing something.

"Good, I'm doing good. So, were you doing anything after school today?"

Tooth gave him a curious look. Did he want to do something with her after school? What for?

"Well, uh – I'm going to be practicing a dance with my team members for the festival-"

"And are you doing anything after that?"

"…No! No, I don't think so. Going home, I guess."

Anansi grinned. "How about we go get milkshakes? Just you and me?"

She paused.

'...What?'

Tooth didn't know what to say. She didn't have a problem with getting milkshakes with Anansi or anyone else for that matter, but she felt as though he wanted something else. Was he flirting? Tooth didn't want to assume, but she had a feeling in her gut.

As Tooth mentally observed the entire situation, Anansi frowned at her sudden silence.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that. I know we started off rocky, but that's over and done with. New year, new beginnings, right?"

Tooth knew he was aiming for something by taking her out alone without any of their friends with them.

Anansi continued. "Don't be such a downer, babe. It's just milkshakes," he smirked, reaching out to grab her hand playfully. Tooth squirmed at the feeling of her hand in his. It didn't feel bad or anything, it's just… well, she felt bad. Like she was betraying something…

…betraying someone.

She slowly pulled away, smiling weakly at Anansi.

"I-I have a boyfriend."

Anansi chuckled. "Correction: you HAD a boyfriend. He's not around anymore, is he? I certainly don't see him." Anansi made a show of looking around.

Tooth frowned. He didn't have to say it like that.

"We still talk! We're still together."

"Long distance relationship?" Anansi snorted. "Those never last. That's why all the seniors break up before graduating and going to college. What's the point of holding onto someone who's hundreds of miles away? He's probably looking at other girls now anyways, not saying that you're nothing to look at…" Anansi paused, his eyes roving up and down Tooth's figure, "…because you are."

His wandering eyes didn't bother Tooth, but the words coming out of his mouth did.

What Anansi was saying was the same logic Tooth had used when she had last seen him. She didn't want to bind him to her since he would be so far away, but...

...things changed.

Still, as much as she trusted Jack, she couldn't be sure that he wasn't eyeing other girls in his hometown.

Was she wrong for thinking that? Jack wouldn't do something like that, would he? Was she just being paranoid and insecure?

She had already suspected this before, him being with other girls, back around their last video chat…

"Oi!"

Tooth and Anansi turned to see Bunnymund walking up the hall and glaring at the spider-like kid. In less than two seconds flat, Anansi had turned on his heel and ditched.

Bunnymund watched the other boy stroll away before turning his attention back to Tooth.

"Was he bothering you?"

Tooth laughed. "No, he was just being flirty. As usual."

Bunnymund shook his head, leaning against her locker. "Brer Rab is rubbing off on him. He's been chasing after anything alive and breathing, lately." Bunnymund folded his arms, revealing the large, aboriginal tribal tattoos stretching around his biceps.

Tooth gazed at them absently. She remembered when Bunnymund and North had first gotten their tattoos near the end of the summer; they had wanted the tattoos to be ready for when they went back to school, fresh and blackened forever.

The shop they had all visited (the only tattoo shop in Burgess) had been pretty edgy and cool.

The owner was super nice to Tooth, admiring her bright, dyed streaks. He joked around, saying how she was the babysitter for the two big guys she had walked in with. Sandy took a little offense to that, considering that he was right there with them all, but he got over it easily.

North and Bunnymund had squirmed far more getting inked than they thought they would have, but nothing too embarrassing happened.

While Sandy recorded the funny faces that his friends were making on his phone, Tooth had wandered off to the other side of the shop, flipping through one of the tattoo artist's design books. Intricate designs of birds filled the pages. For a moment, Tooth felt a small urge to get a tattoo herself, but pushed it away. Though her mom might admire them, her dad would FREAK out.

After getting inked, North and Bunnymund had to wear protective coverings for the newly finished tattoos. For days on end, both boys complained about how itchy the tattoos were, and Tooth had to make sure that they didn't scratch at the marks. That might've messed up the designs.

Now, as Bunnymund spoke to her, Tooth admired the ink patterned up and down his skin.

"Earth to Tooth? We need you to come back down from space, asap!"

Tooth gave a sheepish smile as Bunnymund laughed heartily. "The tats look good, don't they, Toothie? I knew me and North got those tattoos at the right spot; that artist made them look ace."

Tooth nodded, smiling once again.

"Well, gotta run. I'm ditching next period and meeting up with Alice. We're seeing that new movie. I thought it looked insanely trippy, but Alice really wanted to see it, so, whatever. She might even want to make ou- Well, you don't want to hear that." Bunnymund clamped his lips and nervously tugged at the collar of his shirt, taking a sudden interest on the floor.

Despite the happy look on Bunnymund's face, Tooth couldn't ignore the pang of jealousy that sparked inside her.

He had Alice. He could walk a few blocks and see her face. He could plan to meet up with her and be at the meeting spot in five minutes. No hassles, no troubles!

Tooth shook her head at herself. She wouldn't hold onto unsavory feelings just because Bunnymund could really be with the person he wanted to be with, and she couldn't. She would be happy for them both!

Giving him a sly smile, she decided to tease him.

"Bunnymund, I think Alice had got her mind set on tasting movie popcorn, not your tongue, in her mouth."

Bunnymund choked, giving Tooth a bewildered look. She never made jokes like that often. A slow smile drew itself up on his face.

"Alright, alright, a bloke can catch a drift, Toothie. Don't ruin a guy's dream, yeah?" They both chuckled before Bunnymund playfully ruffled her hair and set off.

Tooth was still huffing and trying to flatten her hair back to her head when North rounded the corner, high-fiving Bunnymund before approaching her.

"Toothiana, how is day going?"

"Great, North! I'm just packing up some stuff before next period. How has practice been going for your dance team?" She was genuinely curious

North heaved a great sigh, running a large hand over his face.

"Dance team always whining! Always complaining about how 'oh, my legs hurt, North' and 'oh, I think my arms break now' and 'oh, I sweat like pig, why I sweat like pig, North?'. I tell over and over to grit teeth and take the pain, but no! Dancers whine, whine, whine. I push them even harder. Need strong legs for dance of Russian men."

Tooth bit her lip. She remembered watching North demonstrate a traditional Russian dance to the other boys on his dance team for the festival. All the boys looked awed, but also a little fearful. The dance looked like it called for a lot of leg strength and endurance, something that a lot of the boys who volunteered in the festival were lacking.

Tooth was glad that she and her team members didn't have to put in as much strength training into their dance.

"Sorry to hear that, bud," Tooth consoled, tugging on his sleeve. "Just don't go too hard on them, okay? You might scare a few dancers off if you do, and we'll need all the dancers we can get for the festival."

North nodded.

"True. I will be kind." He ran a frustrated hand through his dark beard, unknowingly giving Tooth a glimpse of his sleeve tattoos. Tooth smiled. They had looked much better on both of the boys than she had expected them to.

"Oh! I remember now," North exclaimed, eyes opening wide, "will Frost come to festival? You invite him, yes?"

Tooth's face fell as the memories overtook her. She HAD invited him, but he hadn't responded.

Not exactly.

( ONE MONTH BEFORE )

It had been ages since they had planned this.

Now on the weekend, with time-consuming school and interrogative parents out of the way, Tooth and Jack could carry out their plan.

Webcamming.

Tooth hadn't bothered making sure she looked acceptable. She was comfortable enough in front of him these days. In her pajamas, she raced onto her bed and opened up her laptop, excited to have the web chat with Jack that they had planned together over the phone ages ago.

The screen whirred to life, and soon enough, the program announced that 'JackOfTrades' was online. Her username popped up alongside his,'MadameMolar'.

She had originally thought the name to be quirky and funny, but now she slightly regretted it.

This was the first time they would actually 'see' each other.

Before, it was just phone calls and letters. Tooth was excited with the new branch of communication. It gave her an entire different feeling from a letter, even though she couldn't deny that she liked trying to decode Jack's scrawled handwriting.

A small window popped open in the upper right hand corner of the screen, displaying her own face first.

Tooth thought that she looked slightly groggy with her hair in a messy ponytail and her camisole strap falling over a shoulder, but she was relatively happy and she could see the glow on her face. The entire screen buffered before showing a new visual. Soon enough, the buffering completed and the screen's darkness broke.

White hair and blue eyes shined back at her.

Tooth felt like her face was breaking from how widely she was grinning.

"Jack!"

He smiled at her, giving her that old, sly show of teeth that used to make her swoon in the halls at school. Even though he wasn't right there with her, she could tell that he was watching her, looking at her. His eyes were just as intense as they always had been.

Tooth never felt so good about feeling so nervous.

"Hi-ya, Tooth. Miss me yet?"

She could feel her eyes growing glossy but she answered him in a light and steady voice.

"Do you really have to ask? You know I do."

He chuckled, looking away from the screen for a moment. Tooth could see the background of his room – his old snowflakes were still hanging from his ceiling and his band posters littered the walls. She couldn't spot his bookshelf, but she did see a few stacks of books piling up on the floor.

Jack himself looked a little different from when she had last seen him. His hair was still as snowy white as ever, but it was slightly longer now. He wasn't wearing his normal sweater, but a dark blue t-shirt instead. The dark circles under his eyes were non-existent. His posture wasn't tense or tight. He looked relaxed and happy as ever, slouched in his chair and gazing at her through the screen.

He looked even better than he had in Burgess.

She was pulled out of her observations as she noticed him staring back at her as intently as she had been staring at him.

She smiled shyly.

"See something you like, Jack?"

He gave her a slightly shocked look before laughing. "Well gee, I guess I've been caught red-handed. As a matter of fact, yeah, I do."

She felt her cheeks warming a bit as his eyes pierced into her. She wasn't surprised that he had played along. Jack liked games. Tooth looked away nervously, eager to think of something to talk about.

"Sorry about this," she said gesturing to herself vaguely, and not feeling very sorry, "I know we planned this, but I'm too tired to throw anything presentable on."

Jack waved his hand playfully, silencing her. "No worries. I'm not exactly dressed up either. Besides, I think I like pajama-clad Tooth."

She swallowed hard as the butterflies started kicking up in her stomach again. It had been way too long since they had seen each other.

Something shined by his head, causing a quick flash of light on the camera. Tooth peered closer.

"Jack… is that a… is that an ear piercing?"

Jack's eyes went wide, wondering what Tooth was talking about, before recognition sparked in the blue pools. He grinned brightly.

Now that Tooth looked closer, she could easily see the singular black studded gem gleaming on Jack's pale ear. When did he get that? Why did he get that?

"Oh, yeah. It's new," he commented, vaguely touching at his earlobe where the stud was placed. "You don't like it?"

Tooth froze, unsure of what to say. It seemed so sudden to her, Jack getting a piercing. Sure, she had went with her other guy friends to get body modifications of their own – tattoos – but she had known about it beforehand. She had talked with them about it. They had all planned it. This was too sudden, and it made Tooth vaguely wonder what else Jack might have changed about his life.

About himself.

"No, I… it's pretty cool," Tooth found herself saying slowly as she gawked at the gem. She actually did kind of like it. The jet black color of the gem really set off with Jack's pale skin and blue eyes. "It's just… why did you decide to get a piercing?"

Jack sighed. "You promise you won't laugh?"

Tooth nodded. "Of course not! I swear."

Jack nodded himself before continuing. "Well, Emma wanted to go and get her ears pierced a while ago, right? So our Mom was alright with it and we all went to this little shop specifically for piercing little girl ears, I guess, but when we got there, Emma started freaking out."

Tooth quirked her head. "Why? Was she scared?"

"Yeah! I guess needles bug her ever since her extended stay at the hospital. The weird thing is, she didn't want to leave, either. It was like she was arguing with herself. She was nervous about getting them pierced, but she really, really wanted them pierced. Something about butterfly earrings, or some silly stuff like that."

Tooth sat back, intrigued. "Well, what happened?"

Jack nearly laughed. "I started teasing her by saying that there was nothing to be scared of, that even I could get my ears pierced without any trouble. I convinced her that if she got over her fear and got her ears pierced, then I would get one of my own piercings with her. Great idea, huh? You should've seen how fast she jumped into the piercer's chair. She took it like a pro just to see her older brother get his ears pierced. I stopped them after the first one, though. Emma was a little mad over that, saying that 'it had to be fair and square, pierce both ears', but I blew her off. She was still happy that I did it for her."

A slow smile drew itself on Tooth's face. So he had gotten it while spending time with his sister, using some sort of weird mind psychology on Emma so that she could overcome her fear of needles? He was so sweet!

"Jack… that's...really cute in a really weird way."

Jack shrugged again. "I guess. The guys gave me hell for it back at school. Some friends they are!"

Tooth paused. Wait. Friends? New ones? In his hometown? At his new school? How often did they hang out? Were they more fun than… than the old friends that Jack had in Burgess? No way. Not a chance… right…?

Jack went on, pulling at his ear. "It's an onyx stone. Studded. Only one that the jeweler had that wasn't rainbow or unicorn styled."

"Your mother was okay with it?"

"Pfft, ha! No way, of course she didn't like it. The only reason she let me do it was because she knew it was for Emma. You should've seen her face, Tooth. It's like she thought I would turn into some sort of hoodlum the moment they pierced my ear," he chuckled.

Tooth giggled a bit at that. "So Emma likes her new earrings, then? Have you been spending a lot of time with her?"

Jack threw his hands up in the air in exaggeration. "Now that she's a preteen with an older brother, she thinks she's some sort of hotshot! Always having sleepovers and bringing her little friends over to the house. They're loud and always try to come in my room, despite the warning signs I plastered all over the door. I think it just makes them want to come in even more."

Tooth really did laugh this time. "Oh, I get it! She's just having fun showing you off to her friends. I'll bet that some of them have crushes on you. Maybe that's why they all try to invade your room?"

Jack made a face. "I don't like nine-year olds."

"Oh…?" Tooth teased "Then who do you like?"

Jack smirked mischievously. "I think you know who I like-"

"JACK, BRO WHERE ARE YOU?"

The moment was lost. Tooth's vision was alerted to the background as Jack's bedroom door slammed open. A group of teenagers trickled in, Emma following them close behind. The teens consisted of two boys and two girls. The one who had called out, a boy, stepped close to the screen of Jack's laptop, pushing Jack out of the way.

"Woah... guys, check this out! Look who Jack's been hiding from us!" The boy peered into the webcam camera at Tooth, and she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. Maybe she shouldn't have stuck with pajamas.

…Who were these guys?

Jack laughed, pushing the boy out of the screen's view and standing from his chair. "How did you guys even get in my house?" Tooth heard Jack vaguely say. The farther he got from the webcam, the softer his voice became.

"Man, we rang the doorbell. Your mom answered, said we could come in!" One of the boys responded, sitting down on Jack's carpeted floor. The other boy sat with him as Emma danced around them all, chanting, "Yeah, Mom let them in, Mom let them in!"

Tooth felt a small pang. Emma seemed familiar with these people, almost as if she had already met them several times before. Maybe they all went to school together? They were around the same age. Jack was laughing and smiling with them, too. Tooth could feel the envy rising up inside of her.

She felt distant.

Jack sat on the rug with them, gesturing to the laptop happily. "Lo' and behold, guys, this is Toothiana."

The boys waved eagerly at Tooth through the webcam. She smiled a bit before waving back, her shyness fading. They seemed friendly enough!

"Oh, is that your old friend? From that one town… what was it called? Oh yeah… Bogess."

Tooth looked to see the comment came from one of the girls.

Both of them were sitting on Jack's bed.

Tooth felt the envy being replaced by anger. She hadn't missed that snippy tone in the girl's voice, or her purposeful mispronunciation of 'Burgess'. And who did these girls think they were anyways, glaring at Tooth through the webcam of her boyfriend's laptop while sitting on her boyfriend's bed?!

He was still her boyfriend, right? Ex-boyfriend? She didn't really know anymore at this point.

She could tell already that these girls had a problem with her.

And what had one of them called Tooth? An 'old friend'? Yeah, right. Tooth could already see the two girls judging her through the webcam by the uppity looks on their faces. Both of them were fully decked out in blouses, skirts, and makeup. Tooth had a feeling that they were trying to be a little more than 'friends' with Jack and the other boys. Maybe they saw Tooth as competition? Petty.

Tooth felt a snarl in her throat, surprising herself. Those girls were lucky that they were only seeing her through a webcam.

Jack spoke up for her. "No, Tracy. It's 'Burgess'," he said in cold annoyance, causing the girl sitting on his bed to look downcast. Tooth found herself a little glad that Jack could still be as cold as ice for some things. "And she's not just an 'old friend'."

Jack's friends jostled him around, 'ooh-ing' and 'ah-ing', but the girls on Jack's bed seemed to be shooting Tooth even harsher looks than before. They didn't like this new development.

"Well," one of the girls spoke up while staring Tooth straight in the eye through the webcam, "does that mean you're not dating anymore then? Since she's all the way over there and you live here now?" The girl sounded hopeful and Tooth wanted to punch her in the face.

Jack glanced at Tooth with the same uncertainty that she felt. They held each other's gaze for a moment, unsure of what to say about their dating status. The more seconds of silence that passed, the more that Tooth felt her insides breaking.

Why wasn't he saying anything? Her mind began to race.

Why was she upset? She deserved his uncertainty, his hesitation! When they wrote letters and called each other, never had Tooth mentioned that she still considered Jack a boyfriend.

Deep inside, yeah, she still wanted to be with him that way. That didn't change the fact that he was hundreds of miles away from her.

She thought that she was helping him out hinting that he didn't have to stay with her, that he could meet other people. Now, as she watched those two girls making themselves comfortable in Jack's room among his friends, Tooth felt utterly stupid.

She didn't want to be noble anymore and she didn't care if it was selfish.

She really wanted Jack Frost.

"Actually," Tooth went on to say, grabbing everyone's attention. "We never really broke up. I figured we were in a long-distance relationship. Y'know, swearing off other people until we saw each other again."

Jack gave Tooth a curious look, hanging on every word coming out of her mouth.

Tooth wasn't too sure about the words coming out of her mouth. What if Jack rejected her idea of a long distance relationship? And in front of all his friends, his sister even?

Tooth didn't think she could handle it.

"Oh. Well, that must suck for Jack. And you. Not to be mean, or anything," one of the girls commented off-handedly, not really sounding like she cared if what she said was mean. "Why are you doing the long-distance thing? Aren't there other guys you could date instead of making Jack sit around, waiting for you to show up? I'm sure there are other girls that he might want to spend time with. Girls within a fifty mile radius, maybe?"

'Girls like them, is what she means,' Tooth thought.

The boys on the rug gave the other girl's words a brief pondering, but Jack's eyes stayed locked on Tooth's.

She had to say something.

Anything.

"I… uh..." Tooth froze for a terrible second.

Was she being cruel? Making Jack wait around for her? But he didn't seem upset by the idea. And Tooth really wanted this. More than anything.

Maybe what everyone else thought didn't matter.

"I think," Tooth began, "that I don't have to explain myself to you."

Jack's guy friends on the carpet all gave out 'ooh-ing' sounds, high fiving one another and mocking the girl on the bed.

"Damn, Tracy," he cat-called. "She sure told you!"

"Hey, watch the language," Jack scolded. "My baby sister's still here."

"Sorry, bro."

"Whatever, Jack, I've heard the word 'dam' before! Beavers build bridges with them!" Emma hollered, before stepping in front of everyone to gaze at Tooth through the webcam.

"Toothiana," she called, eagerly trying to get the older girl's attention. "I already knew about you before the others did! Jack told me about you," the girl explained.

Tooth smiled, feeling a light emotion suddenly blossoming in her chest. Jack and Emma spoke about her?

"Toothiana," Emma went on, "aren't you sad? With Jack being so far away and all? What if he dates someone else?" The question was laced with childish curiosity and the room grew quiet.

Tooth wouldn't explain herself for those other girls, but for Emma…?

"Yes, it makes me sad," Tooth answered honestly, "that he's so far away. Yes, Emma, he has the chance to date other girls. But honestly, when he was with me, I was really happy. I thought he was, too. I would like to hold onto that. I don't think there's any reason to break up. I would love to see him again. I still consider him my…" Tooth paused, embarrassment reddening her cheeks, "…my boyfriend."

Jack gave Tooth the most genuine of smiles, and Tooth felt all her worries melt away.

"Yeah," he managed past the grin, "I thought so, too."

"So no other girls for Jacky-boy, then?" One of the boys teased, nudging Jack.

"Nope!" Jack declared boldly. "Only Tooth for me. What can I say, guys? I'm hooked."

Deep down, Tooth felt like crying tears of pure relief, but instead, she shot a sly grin at the two girls looking distraught on Jack's bed.

"So yeah, to answer your first question? We're still dating." Tooth gave a smug smile, feeling on top of the world right then – in her pajamas in front of a crowd of teenagers.

Emma beamed at her brother and Tooth before chanting, "Jack's still got a girlfriend, Jack's still got a girlfriend, wait 'til I tell Mo-om, wait 'til I tell Mo-om!"

"Ugh, Emma, get out," Jack groaned, pushing the small girl towards the door. "The rest of you guys can go to the living room and hang out there until I finish up here. There are movies and a Gamestation 7."

"A GAMESTATION 7?!" The boys shouted simultaneously before bolting out the room, tripping over one another. The girls slinked out after them, giving Tooth one final sour look.

Jack shut the door behind them all before returning to his desk.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled nervously. "I honestly didn't know that they were coming over."

"It's fine. They're pretty loud, but they seem nice! Most of them."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, they are. They're friends from school."

"...How is school going for you, anyways? Is everything okay?" Tooth's voice was edged with worry.

A twinkle lit in Jack's eye. "Still pretty tough. People still bring up the crash, the accusations. But things are way better. School's okay, I guess." Jack gazed at her. "And what about you?"

"Huh?"

"School. Y'know, Burgess High. How are you holding up? What are North and the guys up to these days?"

Tooth smiled brightly. "Oh! Things are fantastic! Actually, North and Bunnymund got those tattoos that they've been wanting for ages. Sandy and I watched while they got them. What else? The old seniors graduated, the freshmen are kind of dorky, and… Oh! I-I, uhm…" she looked down embarrassed, "…I lost the spot of valedictorian."

Jack choked. "What? You? No way. To who?"

"Hiccup," Tooth mumbled. "He's pretty smart. But in a different way, y'know? He actually knows how to apply what he knows. His science fair project this year was killer, you should've seen it Jack. He made a fully-functioning prosthetic leg. The judges were telling him to buy his rights on the design, it was that good."

Jack hesitated. "...Are you okay with not being valedictorian?"

Tooth laughed. "Oh, I guess. I mean, I'm pretty sure I disappointed Athena – you remember her – and I was kind of bummed myself. I really thought I had it in the bag… but I guess all I'm good at is studying and memorizing useless facts." Tooth gave a sad laugh.

Jack leaned forward. "That's not true. What about all those languages you know? Isn't that 'applying what you know'? I'm sure it wasn't easy to learn them all, and languages take more than memorizing."

In all honesty, Jack couldn't have cared any less about valedictorians or class rankings, but those things were important to Tooth. Anything important to her somehow became equally important to him.

Tooth thought. Languages, huh? She was pretty good at those. And if Jack thought so, then maybe… Hm…

"Oh, yeah!" Tooth remembered suddenly. "Jack, Burgess High is having an International Culture Festival this year!"

Jack's eyebrow perked up."Oh, yeah? Sounds cool."

Tooth nodded eagerly."It is! There are going to be so many different types of cultures displayed in the arts and the students will be making food dishes from all over the world. There's dancing! I-I'll be dancing, too. For the Indian team."

Jack gave her his best grin. "Tooth, that's awesome. Didn't you dance when you were little? Sounds like you'll have fun."

Tooth was getting really excited, now that she could see Jack's excitement as well. "North and Bunnymund are in the festival too! Bunnymund is doing an aboriginal hunting dance and North is preforming with the Russian team."

Beep. Tooth could hear something beeping, but Jack didn't seem to notice.

A long laugh erupted from Jack as he clutched his stomach, struggling to keep a straight face. "Man, that sounds crazy! North DANCING? I wish I could see it."

Beep.

Tooth looked around for the source of the noise again before ignoring it and leaning forward. "That's the thing, though! I WANT you to see it. Can you come to Burgess on the day of the Festival? To see us preform and all? It'll be so much fun if you came, and I-"

Beep, beep, beep, please recharge laptop battery-

-ZZZPT-

Tooth's eyes widened as her laptop shut down, the screen fizzing out and going dark.

"Woah, woah, what?" she questioned, pressing the power button. No response. The battery was dead.

She sighed loudly, slumping back into her seat before looking around for her laptop charging cord. By the time she charged the battery and turned the computer back on, Jack was offline.

She grabbed her cellphone and texted him, but received no texts back. Tooth sighed again.

He must have had something to do, and so he logged off. Tooth decided to text him the date for the Festival before sitting back and pondering.

Would he even come to the Festival? She didn't know yet. She really wanted to see if she could reach him again, but refused to look any clingier than she already had.

Tooth put it aside for later.

Only a day had passed before Tooth gave into her urge to try and reach him again.

The next day, Tooth tried calling Jack's cellphone, but a female voice answered the other line. TWO female voices.

"Hello?" the voice called out, seemingly past a wad of chewing gum.

"…Hello?" Tooth responded in shock, wondering about who the hell she was speaking to. This obviously wasn't Jack.

Could it be his mother?

No, the voices sounded too young.

Maybe it was his sister?

No, the voices were both too old.

"Who… is this?" Tooth asked slowly.

The voices giggled lengthily on the other. Tooth was thoroughly confused.

"Oh, we've met. You're the one from 'Bogess', right?"

Tooth froze.

Those girls. From the webchat! The ones that went to Jack's school and came to his house with those other guys. Why did THEY have his phone?

"This isn't your phone," Tooth scolded, "give it back to Jack. NOW."

The girls laughed even harder at Tooth's reprimanding tone, and for the first time in a long while, Tooth felt a little helpless.

She didn't want to deal with any drama. She just wanted to hear Jack's voice.

"Oooh, we're SO scared," the girls teased. "Are you gonna get us? All the way from Bogess?"

"BURGESS," Tooth grit out. "Why do you guys even have his phone?"

The girls on the other line sighed. "He's too busy playing Gamestation with the other guys. Boring, right? Well, we figured we'd explore the house."

Tooth's brows knit together. "...You're in his room, aren't you?"

"What's it to you? Is that a problem?"

Tooth felt her throat tighten up.

Yeah, it was a problem. She was so angry, but she didn't know how to relieve herself of it! They couldn't just- They were so- And in HIS room…!

The girls went on. "Yeah, so nothing in here is really out of the ordinary, but whatever. Books, posters, desk..." Tooth could hear them ruffling through Jack's things over the phone, and it made her fingers twitch in annoyance. Seriously? They were invading his personal space?

"Ooh," one of the girls exclaimed, "what are these? Snowflakes?" Tooth could hear a snap, and something falling to the floor, shattering. "Uh oh," the voice commented.

"Stop it!" Tooth demanded over the phone. They were breaking his carvings! "Don't touch his stuff without his permission! Don't you guys realize how rude that is?"

The girls over the line gave that annoying giggle, and Tooth felt like she had about enough until she heard someone else over the line. Someone smaller and younger.

Emma.

"Hey," Emma cried out. "Get out of my brother's room! I'm going to tell Jack if you don't get out," Tooth could hear her every word as the small girl shrieked.

Tooth could then hear the phone being dropped and feet shuffling away. Smaller feet padded towards the phone before picking it up.

"Hello…?" Emma answered.

Tooth smiled. "Oh, thank goodness! Emma, I'm so glad you came. Those girls, they were-"

"Being creeps? Yeah, I know," Emma responded curtly. "So are you, like, obsessed with teeth?"

Tooth paused. She forgot that Emma was still a nine year old with a short attention span. "Oh! It's… um- yeah, I'm just a little obsessed. They're just so cool! For example, incisors are fascinating because they actually hint at our omnivorous diets by-wait, wait, nevermind...! Emma, I need you to do me a big favor."

"Sure!"

"Can you give the phone to Jack?"

"Um, he's kind of busy. His other friends left, but Jack forgot about those girls being here. That's why I came to find them, so I could tell them to leave too! He just left with Dad to go to the supply store. They're going camping tomorrow!"

Tooth slumped. "Oh… um, okay. Well, thanks anyways. When he gets back from the store, could you just tell him to check his text messages, then?"

"Okay!"

"And uhm, Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Those girls were going through his room without him knowing. You might want to tell him not to invite them over again."

"Ha! He didn't even invite them the first time! Those other guys did. I'll tell him to stop letting all of his weirdo classmates come over."

"Alright then… thanks, Emma."

"No, thank you!"

Tooth paused. "...For what?"

Emma giggled. "For the teddy bear! Jack told me it was from you after I got out of the hospital. He's so cute! I even named him and everything. Will I get to meet you soon?"

"I sure hope so, Emma."

"Yeah, me too." Tooth could hear the smile in Emma's voice. Emma went on. "Well I gotta go. Mom's calling me down for lunch."

"Oh, okay! Have a good evening, Emma," Tooth wished sweetly before hanging up. She went over the events that just occurred in her mind. Emma scared off two older girls when Tooth couldn't, and thanked her for the hand-me-down teddy bear.

Tooth beamed, feeling lighter than before.

( BACK TO THE PRESENT )

He never responded.

Whether or not he was coming to the Festival, he never answered. And so for weeks, the curiosity sat at the back of Tooth's mind while she worked, while she studied, while she danced. She deeply wanted him to give her a call, a letter, anything, but nothing came.

Tooth moved on with life as usual. She danced vigorously as the Festival neared closer and closer. Her mother helped her practice often.

Jack's silence didn't fully bother Tooth until Rashmi brought him up.

"Tooth," Rashmi called once while they were practicing one fine day, "bend your fingers like THIS. Force them back and stretch the skin over your palm. Make sure the girls at school do the same. Not any more and not any less, or else you girls won't look synchronized when you all dance together."

Tooth obediently bent her palm the way Rashmi showed her before going through the steps of the dance move over again. Her mother smiled approvingly.

"Perfect, Tooth! Ooh, just wait until your father sees you dance during the Festival. He'll cry!"

Tooth groaned. That was the last thing she needed, her father crying amongst a crowd of her classmates. "Mom, I really hope not. Not around my friends, at least."

Rashmi laughed. "Oh! Speaking of friends, is the 'Jack' boy coming to the Festival as well? It will be a big event and a good chance for you two to see each other again." Rashmi didn't feel bad for prodding. She knew how happy Jack made Tooth, but as she watched her daughter's expression fall, she was sure that trouble was ahead.

Tooth continued dancing, but shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't know, Mom."

Rashmi frowned. "You don't know? Didn't you invite him to come?"

Tooth withheld a sigh. She didn't want to appear disrespectful. "I did. He just didn't answer."

"And why not?" Rashmi's voice grew slightly annoyed. "Maybe he's busy?"

"I don't know, Mom."

"Have you called him?"

"Yes, I-"

"Texting? Did you text?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Maybe he's-"

"Mom," Tooth said exasperatedly, stopping her dance motions. "It doesn't matter. I can't force him to come to the Festival. If he doesn't want to visit me, then I'm not going to keep prying. He can do whatever he wants, it's his life. But while he's at it, I'm going to live my own, so-"

Tooth continued dancing, her movements harsher and stiffer than before. The frustration that she was feeling was tensing up her muscles.

If Jack hadn't wanted to come, he could have just said no.

"-it's not a big deal if he doesn't show up-"

He could've at least called.

"-because it's not like I need him there. I don't need him in the crowd to dance well-"

Tooth spun into the next dance move awkwardly, causing her to lose balance and tumble to the ground. She frowned as she stared up into the sky from the earthy floor.

So much for 'dancing well'.

Rashmi walked over casually before standing over her distracted teenage daughter.

"Tsk, tsk. Nataraj frowns upon you today. Tooth, don't be so bitter. He's probably just busy. I don't think he's ignoring you. There's no shame in wanting him there at the Festival. There's no shame in missing him."

Tooth's eyes glossed over again but she pushed the feeling away. Standing up from the ground, she wiped off her clothes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry. I was a little upset about it..."

Rashmi smirked. "I could tell." She stepped closer to Tooth, positioning her arms for the next dance move. "Don't you worry, Tooth," she soothed, forcing the younger girl to make her stance wider, "you just focus on the dancing. The boys will come soon enough."

It was the day of Burgess's International Culture Festival.

Her legs were aching, but not enough to keep from shaking onstage.

"Tooth, are you ready for this?"

Tooth released the curtain from her shaking hand, and turned away from the crowds and crowds of people in the Burgess auditorium. She looked over her shoulder at Rapunzel and the other girls on her team. They all looked slightly nervous, all of them capable of hearing the roar of the crowd behind the stage curtains.

Tooth gave her team a confident grin.

"Of course I am. Relax, everybody! We've all practiced this, remember? Now it's time we show them what we're made of!"

Some of the girls' worries melted away at the spirited words. If Tooth believed, then they could too!

"You're not nervous, are you, Rapunzel?" Tooth teased.

Rapunzel tried to look shocked. "Me? Nervous? Nope! Never in a million years!"

A stage crew kid ran behind the stage. They alerted Tooth and her team, "The curtain opens in fifteen seconds, guys!"

Tooth turned to everyone else, feeling the leadership skills that she learned over the year beginning to kick in. "Alright, ladies, you heard what they said! Everybody get into position!"

The girls quickly scrambled to their predetermined spots before kneeling into place. Tooth gazed on, watching them organize themselves.

All of the girls wore fitted gold tunics. The short sleeves of the tunics were embroidered with bright threads and embellished with pretty beads. Underneath the identical tunics, each girl wore different colored gypsy pants, for individuality among the conforming costume style.

Tooth's pants were a bright blue. Rapunzel sported pink pants under her gold tunic. Other girls had green, yellow, and various other colors. It was like an Indian rainbow, yet the same gold tunics brought it all together.

A lot of the girls thought the pants were stylish and enjoyed how they allowed room to move and groove. The pants flared out before clasping tight around the wearer's ankle, giving the girls plenty of space to dance.

Tooth had also advised the girls to wear bangles, and was not surprised to see several types of bracelets adorning her dancers' wrists. They all had sashes that wrapped across their torsos, paralleling the colors of their pants.

Tooth knew that her entire team had done a lot of work (not to mention fundraising) for these costumes, but in the end, it was definitely worth it! Tooth felt pumped as she looked at her team's gorgeous outfits.

Now, if only they could make their dancing look as good as the costumes.

The stage crew kid whispered out harshly across the stage. "Curtains raise in five-!"

Tooth checked once more, to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

"Four,"

After a successful inspection, she dashed to her own spot, kneeling with the rest of her team.

"Three,"

Rapunzel leaned over, whispering in Tooth's ear. "Okay, now I'm nervous!"A chorus of "yeah"'s and "me too!"'s arose from the group of girls.

"Two,"

Tooth squared her shoulders. "Keep it together, ladies! We've practiced this dance a thousand times."

"One!"

The curtains rose.

The spotlights turned on, beaming down hard on the girls and illuminating them onstage in the dark auditorium, but no one flinched. Tooth's eyes were closed, along with the rest of her team.

They could hear people moving around in the auditorium. People were talking, eating, whispering, and laughing. They could hear their classmates holler and shout in glee at the sight of them, the audience soon breaking into a tremendous greeting applause.

The girls held steady, but up close, you could see nearly all of them trembling.

Slowly but surely, their music began to play over the loudspeakers, soft and soothing. The girls' hands all rose in a perfect synchronization. Tooth could feel her team moving alongside her trustingly, all of them remembering the steps.

They moved like a heartbeat, slow and steady.

Music pumped through Tooth's fingers and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, her nerves sparking all over her body.

The soft sound of a santoor's strings being plucked, a few tunes on a far away flute, a sitar spicing things up – all of these traditional Indian sounds led the girls to rise to their feet together. The girls all moved their hands accordingly.

And so the dance begun, visually telling the story of an ancient Hindu myth.

In the story, a female demigod of nature and storms rose to great power. In the dance, the girls stretched their palms to the sky before stepping behind one another and creating a fluttering wave from their lined up hands. Tooth stood in the front, looking weightless and powerful.

As the story went on, the female demigod fell in battle, and she became a storm, watering the crops of nearby starving villagers and bringing them into a new golden age. The dance team lowered their hands and fell to the floor, preparing for the 'new age'.

There! Tooth breathed silently, but heavily. She and her girls were kneeling once more, catching their breath.

The intro was already over, but the crowd still looked fascinated. Tooth couldn't help but smile. Things were going great!

Now for the main event.

As much as she liked the classics and all, Tooth couldn't deny the newer sounds of India.

Almost immediately, the music morphed from slow and traditional Hindi sounds to something more modern and hip. A fast paced Panjabi beat took over the loudspeakers, throwing the girls into action. They all jumped up together in a flurry of color.

The sound of drums vibrated across the stage floor, tickling the bottom of the girls' feet. They all strode across the stage, twirling their hips and sashaying their arms. Tooth almost laughed as she felt in total control of herself, of the massive energy of the other girls around her. She began to strut a little harder, smile a little brighter.

The girls could hear the crowd cheering now, almost in a fury.

There were people screaming and shouting their approval of the girls' dancing. Some of the audience members were dancing to the music themselves in their seats. Tooth blushed furiously, but didn't stop. The crowd was eating it up!

The beat got swifter and the girls moved faster, never falling out of step, never losing their glow. Tooth had never felt such a deep connection with a group of people like this before. They were moving the same, hell, they were breathing the same. All of their energy was peaking, all of their muscles were straining, and Tooth wanted to cry out at the beauty of it.

She made this. She helped these girls dance as one.

Sweat rolled as the crowd began clapping to the beat, following Tooth and her dancers with their eyes to the very end.

On the final beat, Tooth's girls turned away as Tooth locked eyes with the crowd, their feet stopping.

The dance had ended.

There wasn't even a moment of silence left to fill because the crowd was going absolutely nuts.

Their classmates whooped, parents videotaping eagerly and teachers smiling their approval. Indian Club had been a hit! Tooth had only heard such an applause for a few of the other clubs…this raucous, deafening applause. People were actually calling out for encores!

Tooth resisted the urge to dance anymore, even though her legs were still thrumming with energy. She was sure that the other girls' legs hurt more than hers did.

She smiled, motioning for her teammates to join hands before they all gave a big group bow. They left the stage, cheers and applause still at their backs.

Backstage, Tooth was engulfed by the hugs of all her teammates. They squealed and laughed, praising one another.

"Oh, that was fantastic!" one cried.

"I-I was so sure that we would mess up that third spin, but we all- we all actually did it!" another said.

"Did you hear the way they clapped for us?"

"Did you hear the way they screamed for us?"

Rapunzel laughed, quieting everyone down. She turned to Tooth, still flushed from the dance. Blonde strands stuck to her forehead and she breathed hard, but Tooth had honestly never seen her happier. "...So, our dear leader," Rapunzel teased, "how do you think we did?"

Tooth blew a piece of hair out of her face, smiling sheepishly at her team.

"Honestly? I think we nailed it."

The girls quickly left the backstage area, making way for the next team that was preparing to dance.

They all walked through the auditorium aisle, clearing out for the other clubs to come in. As they walked out, people whispered more congratulations and compliments, quite literally showering the girls with affection. Some were reaching out to give them high fives, or pulling on their sleeves to get their attention. All of the girls had hot cheeks as they left the auditorium.

Tooth was behind them all, lagging because her dad, Haroom, had practically screamed out her name in front of EVERYONE.

"That's MY daughter," he exclaimed loudly. "See, see?! That one, right there! In the blue! She was the captain of the team, you know. My little girl! Ah, Toothie! Over here! Daddy loves y-!"

Tooth looked just in time to see Rashmi silencing her husband with a forceful hand. Tooth vaguely caught the words "always do this" and "embarrassing her" from her irritated mom. Tooth continued on quickly, trying to cover her heated face now.

A small hand reached out from the side of the aisle, someone sitting down. Tooth looked over to see an unforgettable smiling brunette. Even in the dim auditorium, Tooth could tell who it was.

She'd recognize those baby teeth anywhere.

"Emma!" Tooth grinned, leaning over to hug the small girl, who returned the hug eagerly. "What a surprise! What are you doing here?"

Emma beamed at Tooth, giggling and turning pink. "I'm here with my family! We came to see you! Uncle Moon's here too, see?" Emma pointed to the seats beside her. "You look super pretty, Tooth."

Tooth smiled in thanks before her purple eyes flicked up, first landing on Uncle Moon. He grinned, adjusting his spectacles.

"That was quite a show you and your friends put on, Toothiana! You shone like the sun."

Tooth reached over, hugging the old man as well. When was the last time she had seen him? Sure, she stopped by a few times after Jack moved, helping Moon with manual labor that he was too old to do all by himself. Mowing lawns, taming the surrounding nature, and lifting heavy things were all things that she had done. North and the others had visited the man several times as well, but that had been quite a long time ago.

Moon laughed in surprise as the young teenager leaned over Emma and wrapped her arms around his neck. They had never embraced before. He patted her back, but Tooth felt another pat from someone else on her head. She looked again.

Helena. The older woman sat back in an elegant, form-fitting dress and pearls. She smiled at Tooth approvingly. "You danced well up there, Toothiana. I wish I could still move like that."

Tooth scoffed playfully. "You're thirty eight, of course you can still dance! No excuses."

Helena wrinkled her nose, grabbing Tooth's ear playfully. Tooth squealed as Helena scolded her. "You're getting far too bold, young lady! I'm going to have to remind you who's the boss around here. Tell me, how is your mother now? Is she well?"

A deeper voice grunted, and Helena released Tooth. Tooth looked to her savior, Helena's husband. The bearded man gave a 'tsk' sound at his wife before nodding silently at Tooth, congratulating her.

Tooth nodded back absently. "Is, uhm… is it just you guys who came…?"

For once, Helena's husband smiled. He shook his head before pointing outside of the auditorium.

Tooth nodded before racing away and out of the auditorium.

She burst through the doors and they slammed open far too hard, but didn't really care at this point as her eyes roved the hall.

Her eyes passed over her teammates conversing with other teams in the hall and further down, to a lone figure. A tall boy, who was tapping his foot nervously and looking at the clock on the wall with an anxious look.

Tooth shouldered past everyone, making her way towards the boy.

Sure enough, the boy's image defined and the signature white hair was visible. Lightning blue eyes turned from the clock to land on Tooth, and a bright smile of perfect, pearly white teeth showed.

A pang struck her chest.

For a moment, Tooth felt like her heart had jumped into her throat. She wanted to scream from joy.

Without even realizing it, her walk turned into a jog, which became a run. Within seconds, Tooth was sprinting down the hall, her bracelets jangling and her hair thumping against her back. When she saw his arms stretched out wide to catch her, Tooth's feet kissed the ground goodbye.

She didn't mind one bit when Jack's breath was knocked out of him as she flew into him. He raced to catch her before she fell, tipping over a bit. They both laughed out loud, struggling to keep balance while holding each other tightly. She held him, burying her face into the cool crook of his neck. It felt like fireworks were going off inside her as his cold skin met her heated skin.

He curled into her, holding her just as tight.

Pulling away, she playfully smacked his shoulder, trying to hide the shaking in her voice. "Why didn't you answer your phone? Your e-mails? Why didn't you send a letter or call me?

Jack smirked. "I wanted to surprise you for the Festival. It's more fun that way, y'know."

Tooth shook her head, unable to hide her grin even though she bit her lip desperately. "Well, I'm certainly surprised."

Jack stepped close, watching vaguely as Tooth's teammates watched and cooed over them from down the hall.

"I think you surprised me more than I surprised you tonight. Whenever I thought of you dancing, I thought of ballet or something like that, but now, after seeing you, man… you were amazing, Tooth. You're pretty amazing."

Tooth dug deeper into the soft spot of Jack's neck. She loved the words coming out of his mouth, loved the genuine look of adoration on his face.

He thought she was amazing.

"Speaking of which," Jack went on, pulling away from her. "I had this other surprise, but I don't think you saw me holding it. We kind of squished it."

Tooth looked between them to see a bundle of colorful flowers, squashed beyond recognition. Those were for her?

Oops.

"Oh… sorry!" she exclaimed in worry, peeling a flattened flower petal off of her tunic. "I hadn't realized-!"

Jack's lips caught hers, forcing all the worries away. He could hear the squeals of her teammates echoing from down the hall the moment he kissed her. The thought of being watched made him nervous and he slowly pulled away, glancing at them.

"Oh, don't mind them. They're just teasing. They're all sweethearts!"

Jack's attention dove down to the sound of Tooth's light voice.

Tooth's eyes had glazed over and she was smiling, all tired out and stuck with flower petals. Jack wondered for a moment whether or not she was doing this on purpose. Trying to look pretty and appear enthralled with him.

But no, it didn't seem she was trying to do anything. She was just being happy. She was just herself.

Jack brows furrowed as he wondered when she became so alluring to him. When he bumped into her that fateful day in the school hall, all he noticed were the too-bright dyed streaks, her shiftiness, her shyness.

None of that had been attractive then, only slightly annoying. Now, everything seemed different.

"Alright then," Jack said simply, hooking a calloused finger under her soft chin and tilting her face back up so he could get another go at her. Her lips still tasted like mints and toothpaste, but Jack wasn't complaining. He had missed tasting it on her.

He had never missed someone the way he missed Tooth. When Emma was gone, he had missed her laughing and her antics. He had missed holding her and reading to her. But when Tooth was gone, he had missed her smell, her taste. He had missed the way she ranted about Teeth and the way he could make her tremble, make her blush. He had ached for her.

Damn. Now he didn't want to leave.

Tooth pulled back from the simple kiss, a look of urgency on her face. "Jack, we're going to miss North and Bunnymund's performances if we don't hurry! C'mon." She pulled at his hand.

Jack nodded vaguely before following after her, letting the smaller girl lead the way. He skillfully kept his cheeks from heating up as he passed by the knowing eyes and smirks of the other teams.

They sat together in an empty back row of the auditorium. Jack fumbled with the snowflake charm in his pocket as he watched North's dancers enter the stage. He was kind of excited now. It had been forever since he had really spoken with North, Sandy, or Bunnymund. Tooth's voice broke his train of thought.

"How was I?" Tooth ventured shyly as the spotlights hit the stage once more.

"Huh?" Jack asked, wonderingly. "…At kissing? Fantastic."

"No, not that!" Tooth yelped, looking a little embarrassed to uncover Jack's thoughts on her kissing skills. "My dance routine. Did you like it?"

"Oh," Jack remembered, "that. No, you guys sucked."

He earned a punch in the shoulder and a giggle. "I'm serious, Jack. How were we?"

Jack laughed alongside her, causing the man in front of them to turn around and "sshhh" them. Once the man had turned back around, Jack leaned over.

"C'mon, Tooth, you're smart. The crowd wasn't cheering for nothing."

Tooth blushed, her shoulders slumping. "Yeah. But I wasn't asking what the crowd thought. I want to know what you thought." She cautiously glanced over, afraid to hold his gaze or see his expression.

Jack felt something in his chest tighten. He leaned over and pecked her cheek before saying, "You were a knockout up there, Tooth."

Emma stretched her legs and arms as she walked alongside her family and Tooth's family.

They were all chatting it up big time – Tooth's dad rambled to Jack's silent, attentive dad. Both moms were gossiping over various things.

Emma watched with vague interest as Jack and Tooth walked side by side with some other kids, all of them talking loudly and having a good time. There were two large boys, both of them tattooed. One had a dark beard and mustache, and wore a dark outfit for his dance. The other boy had some sort of tribal marking all across his face and body, along with a red wrap and dry grass around his hips. Then there was a smaller guy who was quiet, but socializing just as well with the others. Sometimes he moved his hands, sometimes he wrote on a notepad.

Emma figured that they were all mega-cool and she preferred Jack's Burgess friends over his other ones.

She was glad to meet them all and watch their shows. She didn't recall seeing the smaller blonde teen onstage, but she had seen the big one called 'North' doing some hardcore Russian dance with a group of male dancers. She remembered the tribal kid onstage showing off some flashy moves and spears.

Emma sighed, happy to see her brother happy. She was glad he was around again. He spent lots of time with her.

He still wondered over the missing letters, though.

Emma knew about them now, though she wouldn't say anything to him.

She had been upset at first, when she had found out what happened to them.

Before being moved to another room, she had shared a long-term room with another girl. They were both stuck in the hospital for a while. The girl had extensive burns on the backs of her legs and arms, but she had never told Emma how she got them. They spoke little.

Emma rarely saw anyone visiting her roommate, even though she recalled her own family visit often.

As the days went on and the nights grew longer, not a moment went by where Emma wasn't thinking of Jack or how he was doing. That was when she was awake, that is. She was put under a lot back then. Something about keeping the brain's activity low during recovery…?

Sometimes Emma woke up briefly, late in the night, the hospital dead quiet.

Sometimes she thought she saw the sight of a paper, or an envelope in her roommate's hands, but would fall asleep again. She dismissed the foggy sleep visions as dreams.

Whenever her roommate collected letters from the nurses, Emma would ask if she had received anything.

"No."

Every single time.

When Jack finally visited after Emma had changed rooms and mentioned the letters, Emma had a sneaking suspicion. The day she was discharged from the hospital, she snuck off back to her old hospital room while her parents and the nurses weren't looking.

She confronted her old roommate who was still there, hands disfigured beyond recognition. She wouldn't be leaving until her skin grafting operation pulled through.

Emma had been angry at first. Hurt. How dare this girl keep those letters from her?! Emma was even angrier when she saw the girl struggle to hide the bundle of letters from her, trying desperately to keep them.

"Please," the girl had begged. "I'm sorry I stole them, but don't take them back. I don't- I never had any brothers or sisters. And my parents don't visit me like yours do. I don't like talking to the other kids, and I was so sad, but…these letters, they make me feel better. I like reading them."

"They're from my brother, you sneak," Emma reiterated. She hadn't cared about anyone's feelings at the moment. She was hurt that her roommate never told her about this.

"I know, I know. I… I like to pretend that he's my brother… when I read the letters."

Emma had been shouting then, feeling threatened. "But he's not your brother! He's MY brother. And he loves me!"

The girl began sobbing. "Please. Please don't take them away from me, I'll do anything. Please don't tell the nurses. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Emma had bitten back her words, a little shocked.

Jeez. If the girl wanted the letters so bad…

Emma sighed. "Alright, fine… you can keep them. Just don't do this to anyone else, it's mean. Those letters were just as important to me as they were to you."

The girl nodded vigorously, clutching the bundles of letters addressed to Emma to her small chest. "Thank you," she breathed. "Thank you, thank you."

Emma realized how lucky she was, then. To have a brother like Jack, someone who would always try their best to be there for her.

This girl, clutching her letters, this girl envied her.

Emma started to feel a little bad for her roommate. She seemed like she needed a friend but was too shy to make any, and so instead, she confided in letters that were meant for someone else.

Emma shrugged. Yeah, Jack wrote those for her, but Emma didn't need them anymore. Just knowing that Jack had sent so many made her feel better, and now, Emma had the real thing.

She bid her roommate a quiet farewell before leaving the hospital for good.

Since then, Emma had sent her roommate several letters. The girl needed a friend. Emma was delighted when her old hospital roommate began answering her letters. Even past the scrawled, hard-to-read handwriting, Emma could tell that her new friend was happy to have a pen pal.

Emma stepped between Tooth and Jack, reaching for both of their hands. She smiled when both teens squeezed her palms.

Yeah. Jack didn't need to know what happened to those old letters. Emma figured it was an act of charity. She gave them to someone who needed them more than she did.

She had the real Jack now.

Emma nuzzled his hand, smiling happily. "Jack, why are you always so cold? You should lotion your hands more often. They feel like ROCKS, they're so hard. Tooth wouldn't want to hold them!"

Jack pulled his hand away, self-consciously looking them over. "…Hard…?" he wondered.

"Emma, shoo!" Her mother, Helena, urged. The older woman grabbed Emma's hand, leading her away from the two teens. "Leave them be."

Once Emma was gone, Tooth stepped closer to Jack.

"Don't worry, she's just teasing you. I don't mind them."

Jack gave her a small smile as she enveloped his fingers in her soft ones. He had a feeling that if he had literal boulders for hands, Tooth wouldn't even care.

They went to sit on a bench, resting and watching the others merge with the rest of the crowds, talking and laughing. Their families enjoyed one another's company as they all went around, trying out different food from the cultural food stands. Their friends were doing the same, but eating way more than socially acceptable.

Tooth relaxed back into the bench, her hand still entwined with Jack's.

"You're going back home after this?" She wondered.

Jack nodded.

Tooth was quiet for a moment. Out of nowhere, she blurted, "North's going back to Russia."

Jack's eyebrows shot up. "What?" He couldn't imagine the big guy gone.

"It's true," Tooth insisted. "The exchange only lasts one more year. He'll have to go back after we graduate in a few months."

Jack watched as she went on, her face growing more worried.

"Bunnymund is going to college out of the country. Alice, too. Rapunzel is attending Flynn's school and all of my dancers are doing different things." She sat back. "Everyone's...leaving."

Jack paused, wondering why she was bringing all this up. Was she sad that all of her friends were leaving soon? "What about Sandy?"

Tooth smiled a bit. "He's going to the same place that I plan on going for college! Mythos University in the town of Fables. I'm happy that he'll still be around."

Jack stared off into space. "…Yeah. College."

Tooth glanced over at him. "And what are your plans for college?"

Jack shrugged, scratching the back of his head. Tooth's mouth fell open.

"Jack! You… you don't know where you want to go? B-but it's senior year! You need to kn-"

"Well, I don't," he cut in, irritated. He knew that he should already know where he wanted to go, but... "I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. I'm clueless."

Tooth's eyes glanced around as she sensed his irritation. "But… do you know what kind of career you want?"

Jack shrugged again. "I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician. A doctor that specialize with kids, y'know? After what happened to Emma and Jamie, I figured I could make a change and help kids like them. But I don't know now. Then I thought maybe carpentry, like my dad. Woodworking. I just… I can't decide. I don't know what I want to do."

Tooth looked on as Jack sighed. He couldn't figure it out? Well, that wasn't new. Lots of kids didn't know what they wanted to do for a career. Many seniors still didn't know where they wanted to go for college.

Wait. Maybe…?

She didn't want to push him, oh no, not that. Still. This was her chance. Maybe if she just…

"Jack," she tried. He looked up into her hopeful violet eyes, wondering what she was thinking.

"Um… Mythos University… they have classes for people that want to be doctors. And you could go to a community college for woodworking, but Mythos... th- they have woodworking classes too. They have majors, even a branch for people that need independent schooling for things like plumbers or carpentry. They-" Tooth struggled to speak now, her voice shaking ever so slightly, "-they have undecided majors for people that can't decide either. If… maybe you could… I don't know."

Silence.

Tooth fisted the fabric of her pants, unsure what to do with her hands. She began to ramble.

"I mean, Sandy is going there and they have language classes for people like me. I thought I would be a linguist maybe, since… Sandy would be there too, so we wouldn't – you wouldn't be alone, but it's not… I'm not trying to force you into anything."

Tooth sat back, afraid to look at Jack's expression. He was so quiet now.

"It was just a thought. You could go wherever you want, I was just hoping… maybe…" her voice died again.

"Tooth," his voice came out low and urging. Tooth kept her gaze to the ground, wondering what he was going to say.

Her bottom lip was trembling again and her insides tightened. She looked so desperate right now, she just knew it! Lame. Clinginess wasn't attractive, Jack would think that she was crazy for even asking and say no, she could just feel it-

"Tooth, look at me."

She shut her eyes tight before forcing herself to look up, afraid. Jack had a strange look on his face as he observed Tooth, edging closer to her.

"Do you want me to go to Mythos University with you? Is that what you're asking me?"

Tooth was about to deny this for fear of looking clingy, but she stopped herself. As much as she stammered and stumbled, she had been honest with him this far. Why change that? He had told her his secrets, his hopes. She could surely tell him hers.

"Yes," she whispered, staring at him. "God, yes. Would you- is that something you would want?"

He smiled, and Tooth had never felt happier to see such a sight. He liked the idea? Really? Out of all the other schools around the world...he would attend Mythos University with her?

"Sounds like a good plan to me," he smirked.

Tooth looked away, fighting to hide her smile as she bit her lip, eyes glossy. She could hardly believe this. Jack chuckled before pulling her into a tight embrace, pulling her up from the bench.

"What are you looking away for? I thought you liked seeing me smile!" he teased, pulling back slightly to pout at her.

"You are so cocky!" she laughed. "At least I don't obsess over wintertime the way you do!"

He reached for her sides, making her squeal. "What do you mean, 'I obsess over wintertime'?"

Tooth fought past her laughter to speak, slapping Jack's wandering hands away from her ticklish sides. "You love freezing air conditioning, you love snowball fights, you love hot chocolate for some strange reason, you love snowflakes…!"

"No, I don't," Jack argued, pulling her back to him and ignoring the way she playfully pushed at his shoulders. "I love you more than any of that stuff."

Tooth froze, her arms stopping midair. Jack paused too, just noticing his words.

What.

What did he say?

"What?" Tooth questioned, looking at him as the words she thought came to life and hit the air.

Jack looked unsure for the slightest moment, wondering over his own words. Slowly, certainty shone through his expression.

"I love you," Jack stated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. It almost sounded as if he were just now realizing this himself.

Tooth's lungs forgot how to breathe. He wasn't… this wasn't… no WAY. Boys like Jack…gorgeous boys like Jack Frost only said that kind of stuff in books and stories, and only to other gorgeous girls. Girls that were warriors or princesses, never in real life, never to girls like Tooth.

And yet here he was. Saying that kind of stuff.

Wait, what was she doing? Was she really standing here in his arms- pondering- when she could be saying it back?

Say it back!

"Me, too," Tooth said breathlessly, trying to get a grasp back on reality. "I… I think I love you, too."

Jack really laughed this time. "You 'think'?" He tried to sound hurt, even though his grip on the girl before him grew impossibly tighter. He couldn't let her go now. Never.

Tooth rubbed at her eyes before giving him a determined look. "What? Wait, no… let me try that again! I know I love you, Jack."

Jack smiled at the honesty in her voice before the adrenaline pumping through him caused him to spin them around before lifting her into the air. "Now that – that's what I wanted to hear."

She was in the sky now, with Jack was holding her up. They spun in wide circles before she was lowered, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Even when they were still, he held her so that her toes didn't touch the ground.

"What's the special occasion, you two?" Tooth heard Helena, Jack's mother, asking them.

"Hey… get your HANDS off my daugh-" Haroom began to say before Rashmi's hand slapped over his mouth, silencing him.

"Nothing much," Jack assured playfully. "I just know where I'm going to college now. And who I'm going with."

Tooth held in a squeal as their friends all began to catcall and tease. As she buried her face into Jack's neck, the noises began to melt away into a steady thrumming. She could only hear Jack's pulse now. It was going at a calm and steady rate, even though Jack had been holding up twice his weight for some time, now.

The ground felt so far away. Tooth almost forgot what it felt like. She was impressed by his willingness to bear her weight, to last this long. Then again, she had held the weight of his secrets, his troubles.

They were even, now.

And Tooth had a feeling that with Jack Frost around, she would never have to touch the ground again.

She was sure of it.