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Jaime doesn't like his new room, not one bit. It has white on every wall, so much white that it's nearly blinding. But he doesn't want it to go away, no, because Jack loves the white and Jaime loves Jack.
Jaime loves Jack just as much as he loves the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and Sandman. They're all his friends and they're all he wants anymore. His family still comes visit him sometimes. But they're always crying and begging for Jaime to not believe, to be 'normal'.
Jaime only giggles and tells them that he is normal.
He's only eight years old, Jamie believes, going on nine. His mom though, she says that he's sixteen and needs to grow up. She begs him to forget about his 'imaginary friends' and to come home.
Jaime knows better though. He feels bad that his mom is so sad, but he'd rather see her cry than see Jack upset and that's exactly what will happen if he leaves. He really does love Jack.
One day, Jack tells him that his walls aren't really white. Jack Frost tells him that he's made it snow in his room, just for Jaime, and the young boy doesn't think he's ever gotten a better gift.
Jaime loves his room.
They hug and play and dance all day long until the doctor comes knocking on his door for their appointment.
Jaime hates leaving his room. The snow never leaves his room and it's scary out in the dark hallways of the hospital. It's dark and frightening and Jack is sad when he tells the boy that he cannot leave the white room. It breaks Jaime's heart and it takes three grown men to drag him out of his room.
He hates the shadows.
As he follows the white cloaked doctor throughout the cold building, Jaime pretends that Jack is still hugging him close.
Shadows appear in the doctor's office and that's when Jaime meets Pitch Black. He's a tall and shark-like man and he scares Jaime to no end. Out of the kindness of his heart, Jaime warns his doctor, "Sir! Sir! The Boogeyman is here!"
The doctor only shakes his head. He doesn't see the Nightmare King and Jaime feels envious.
When Jaime is brought back to his room, the first thing he does is hug Jack again. Jack's hugs are always cold but Jaime loves them nonetheless.
"I missed you!" Jaime cries. Jack returns the sentiment.
"I know, I know, I missed you too." Jack says. His voice is smooth and sweet and it's one of the things that Jaime adores about him. As Jaime tells Jack of the monster he saw in the shadows, Jack keeps him close. When he finishes the story, Jack kisses his forehead and says,
"I'll never let him hurt you. I promise." Jaime believes him and for the rest of the day and into the night, the two never part.
There has never been a such thing as time in the hospital and so Jaime can never tell the day or hour. When he asks, the doctors say he's been there for a few years, but to him it has been even longer. When he asks Jack, the frost sprite tells him it's been centuries and Jaime feels like he should believe him over anyone, even himself.
Jaime loves it when Jack's friends come over, though it's always at different times. Santa, or "North" as Jack calls him, only ever comes in the winter. It's always on the same day that his mother and sister come visit with small gifts, things like scarves and toys and sometimes a sketch pad and pen. After those visits, Jaime would run back to his room just in time to see the large jolly man talking with Jack.
The rest of the day is spent with snow games and toys and tall tales told just before night.
A few months after that day, Jaime will wake up to the never ending tease between Jack and the Easter Bunny. Bunny will see him awake and greet him with a basket of painted eggs and chocolate that Jack will somehow manage to steal for himself throughout the visit. On those days, Jack and Bunny will spend most their time arguing. Even so, Jaime loves them both and watches them with interest until Easter ends.
Jack's other two friends come around at random. Sometimes, Jaime will come back from the doctor to see Jack and the Tooth Fairy having a chat, or sometimes he'll see Sandman creating a story for him just before bed. No matter the day, their visits always make Jack happy and when Jack is happy, so is Jaime.
The doctors keep saying he's not getting better. Jack gets mad when they say that.
"There's nothing wrong with Jaime!" He'd shout. They never hear him though, only Jaime can, and they both know that it's not fair. Sometimes Jack is sad when Jaime walks into his room. He doesn't cry, he never does, but his icy blue eyes are filled with hurt that even Jaime's love can't help heal.
No one believes in Jack Frost but Jaime Bennett and they both know that it's not enough.
Jaime has a strange realization one day. He realizes that his family has stopped visiting and when he cries, Jack doesn't know what to do.
"What's wrong? Jaime, what's wrong?" He'd ask. The boy can only manage a shake of his head.
"They don't love me anymore!" He cries. "They never come visit!"
Jack only sighs before pulling Jaime into a tight hug. As always, it leaves him shivering. "Don't worry." Jack soothes. "I'm sure that's not true. It's not. You're safe. You're not sick." He assures. "I'll make everything better. I'll make everything okay."
For once, Jaime doesn't believe him.
One day, Jaime wakes up and Jack is gone.
The first step outside is a scary one. He's seventeen years old. He's been in the hospital for five years. Not a day, not centuries, but five long years. It's a little overwhelming.
Jaime's mother looks so proud of him, and his little sister is ecstatic to see him again.
"Jaime, I missed you!" She cries, launching herself onto him for a hug. It's the first time in years that anyone but Jack or his friend's have touched him, and it feels different.
It's warm, he realizes. It's real.
When Jaime begins to cry, no one questions him.
Jaime hasn't seen Jack in three years. He'd have thought that it would be scary, living without Jack, but the world has become so clear, so beautiful. He gets to go to school now, he gets to see the sun every morning, and he gets to have friends, real friends.
It would be a lie to say Jaime doesn't still think about Jack. In fact, he thinks about him a lot. Every winter the city is filled with glorious snow days and frost paintings on his window. And every winter, Jaime can almost see Jack creating it all.
When he has children of his own, Jaime tells them stories about Jack. He doesn't let them know that he met Jack, and he doesn't tell them how, but he does tell the tale of Jack Frost and his friends.
He spins wild tales about Jack and his story, of a meeting between he and the Guardians and how they all fought a battle against the Boogeyman, Pitch Black. The children don't always believe the story but they love to hear it and Jaime loves to tell it.
It's a small tradition at night when they tell the story. Jaime would sit on the edge of his children's bed and he'd hold a small book that they'd never get around to reading. The now grown man would tell them the story with a certain kind of magic glittering in his eyes, and his children would be on the edge of their seat to hear it.
Then, when the story was finished, he'd tell them to always believe. Even when Jaime knew all too well what could happen if you believed too hard, he told them to always believe in the moon and it's guardians.
And if Jack had been sitting on the windowsill listening in on every tale...well, Jaime didn't see things that weren't real.