first time posting a rotg fic on here so hello
warnings: non capitalization, non-beta'd, weird grammar at some points idk
jack frost x oc || she was cautious about following a boy she didn't know, but she was almost convinced this was a dream so nothing bad could happen. right? "winter is calling," jack said. "shall we answer?"
she didn't know when it began, or how.
when she searched her damaged mind for the fragments of memories to puzzle back together, she recalled only darkness. that was the first piece.
it was foggy, too. like the edges of her vision were clouded by a pale haze that pulsed along with her heart. her heartbeat was slow, anyhow. fading. weak.
as her vision cleared and brightness started to dissolve the darkness engulfing her, the first thing she noticed was the snow. light flakes flurried softly from the grey abyss above and landed on her pastel skin, except they did not carry the icy touch she knew snow did.
it stung. it hurt. inside her arms and around her sides she felt the snowflakes prodding at her skin and breaking through it and then, only then, did she feel the burning coldness entering her system. she tried to brush the snow off her arms in a hasty panic, but each movement made every limb ache in a dull pain. it was like needles.
slowly, cautiously, she pulled herself up. the needling torment that shot throughout her body had lessened and faded; now everything was numb, as if anesthesia had been injected into her veins and her blood was carrying the poison throughout her system. breathing labored, it was then she recognized she lay in a soft blanket of the snow, but it wasn't seeping into her flimsy white gown. it was as if she was immune to it. immune to the cold, immune to the ice.
immune to winter.
in front of her lay a frozen lake, a wide and uneven expanse of pure ice, reflecting off the blank sky with patterns of the dead river dancing beneath. the snow, it seemed, was fresh; the bare branches and needles of evergreen trees were not frozen over, but dotted with the flakes falling from above.
the earth should have been biting with arctic coldness under her naked feet as she stood, but she felt nothing. just a dwindling cool rush on her skin that was almost friendly. the ice seemed to greet her.
the only flaw in the immaculate lake was the small aperture of broken ice, the shards scattered along the uneven edges and the deathly water unmoving below. as her feet brought her towards the spot, intriguing her, she noticed the cracks beneath the ice along the path she took. the white lines of the breaking ice reminded her of lightning-she was walking on clouds.
she remained vigilant as she peered into the hole. her fragile heart pace quickened when she saw how dark the water was, indicating its depth.
"careful," a voice said behind her.
startled, she spun around and nearly slipped on the ice, fearing she would fall to her death, but something rigid roughly encased her waist and pulled her away from the hole.
she looked up and the first thing she saw was a pair of ice blue eyes.
"you don't want to fall in."
her heart was beating a hundred miles a minute and irritated from the petrifying fall she nearly experienced, she pushed the person off her and turned away.
"I just saved your life, the least you can do is thank me." it was a teenage boy's voice; slightly raspy, deep, and impossibly alluring.
she peaked over her shoulder. "thank you." her voice was croaky as her throat was dry. she hadn't had any water for what seemed like hours.
the boy oddly looked back at her with a horrified expression painted across his features. "what did you say?"
she raised an tentative eyebrow. "'thank you'?"
his beautiful eyes widened and he leaped towards her (literally leaped, he must've traveled ten feet in one step) and scrutinized her incredulously.
"what?" she demanded, annoyed by his intense gaze.
her eyes raked over the boy. like her, he wasn't wearing any shoes, and his skin was as pale as snow. his hair matched the colour of ice and the only splashes of brightness were the blue hoodie sparkled with frost and tattered capris. he held a curved staff (which she guessed was what grabbed her from falling into the lake), twisting it in his hand with his other arm shoved into his jacket pockets.
"you can see me?" he asked, aghast.
"yes..." she responded slowly.
a beautiful smile spread across his lips. "you can see me!" he shouted. the boy jumped into the air in a perfect 360 spin, landing gently on the balls of his feet, beaming at her.
"this is incredible!"
"what is?"
"you can see me! and I can see you! and we're talking!"
"and...?"
he laughed aloud.
"...okay." she wanted to walk away from this strange, pale boy, but he was sort of handsome and cute and weird and something about him was holding her back.
plus that stupid enchanting smirk grazed his face and his eyes, swimming with mischief, seemed to be summing her up, too.
"aren't you cold?" she blurted.
"no," he answered casually, calming down, but his eyes were still ablaze with delight. "aren't you?"
she shook her head.
"well," he sighed, taking a few steps towards her, eyes fixed on his staff. "I guess we won't be needing any shelter for warmth."
she didn't bother questioning his use of "we" and shrugged. "guess not."
his eyes darted back to her and his lopsided grin widened. "I'm jack. jack frost."
"I'm-" she began impulsively, but as she searched her mind, she couldn't seem to remember what her name was. "um-"
he only winked at her in response. "good enough."
jack frost held out his hand for her to take, and though she was cautious about following a boy she didn't know, she was almost convinced this was a dream so nothing bad could happen.
right?
"winter is calling," jack said. "shall we answer?"
she didn't have time to question him before he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the ground.
off the ground.
she was in the air.
"what-what are you doing?!" she shouted to the boy lifting her higher. he smiled down at her, his expression crazed with ecstasy, and threw his head back and laughed.
she didn't want to look down, but she did anyways, and when she saw the lake and trees growing smaller beneath her feet she almost let go of jack's hand in shock.
"don't let go!" he told her cheerfully.
"put me down!"
"nope!"
"jack frost, put me down now!"
instead, he let go of her hand and she began to fall.
the scream couldn't reach her throat, it was constricted in pain, and the fogginess on the outskirts of her vision began to fade in.
hang on. hang on. it's just a dream. once you die, you'll wake up.
but then an arm captured her waist and her descend abruptly stopped.
jack frost's face was in close proximity, almost too close, and his minty breath that curled around his lips in the frosty air was so captivating she nearly fell into a trance.
then he smirked. "still want me to let go?"
his body was as cold as the air and his skin felt like ice. how was it she felt so warm?
"that wasn't funny," she snapped, glaring at him, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gripped his navy blue hoodie. "don't drop me."
"wouldn't dream of it."
he shot off into the air. the clouds and mist and fog drifted through her hair and gown, flowing ghostly in the wind. jack's grip was firm and reassuring around her waist and she mentally questioned how someone so skinny could be so strong. she allowed herself one quick glance towards the wintery samaritan, which was all she needed to see his jawline and imperfect skin and the determined look in his eyes, facing forward.
"where are we going?" she asked softly.
his gaze briefly flickered towards her. "home."
the weight in her stomach lifted to her throat as he began to fly back towards land, the clouds clearing and a small village with a billowing fire in the center coming into view.
she still felt the slight chill that lingered in the air, but the warmth of the village engulfed her invitingly. it felt so alive here-children running around playfully and parents being helpful with what looked like the harvest. she couldn't help the smile creeping on her face.
"where are we?" she asked. despite the loudness encircling her and the winter spirit hovering beside her, her voice sounded far off and distant. like she was in a bubble onlooking everything else.
"burgess."
"this is your home?" it was a little hard to believe someone like jack frost, so cold and lone-wolfy, had such a homey home.
"no," he responded slowly. "I don't really have a home."
she raised an eyebrow. "how can you not have a home?"
he sighed and began to float forward steadily, twisting his staff in his hand. "I woke up after I was made and this village was the closest thing to civilization around. I always come back."
"and...how long ago did you...'wake up'?'"
he turned his head and flashed a wicked grin. then, before she could ask any more of the questions burning on her tongue, jack landed his bare feet on the earth and ran off towards the fire. "come on!" he called over his shoulder.
reluctant, but still curious, she followed.
jack didn't seem to care what anyone around him was thinking of him as he jumped and flew around the bonfire, makeshift snowballs forming in the palm of his silver hands and throwing them at children. no one batted an eyelash.
she surveyed the area. over by what looked like a bakery, she saw a girl around her age appearing to be decent and friendly sitting outside on a wooden bench. "excuse me!" she called to the stranger, who did not glance her way. "excuse me, sorry-can you hear me?" there was a sharp edge her to voice after she realized the girl was purposely ignoring her. "hello?"
"hey!" jack's voice carried to her. before she could turn to face him, something cold and wet and icy hit her right on the nose. jack's laughter soon followed.
"jack frost!" she shouted angrily, wiping the remains of the snowball from her face. "that was completely unnecessary!"
"it's a snowball fight, it's in the rules! I made up the rules anyways! HAHA!"
she rolled her eyes. she was tired of this and tired of jack; the only thing she wanted at this point was to find out where she was, how she could get home, and how to get away from this annoying little boy.
it was all just a bad dream.
he flew over to her in a split second. "have a little fun," he stated simply.
"I don't want to. I want to know where we are and when I can go home and how I'm dreaming this and who you are-"
"woah, woah, slow down there speedy gonzales. why are you worrying? you'll get wrinkles, you know." he tapped her forehead with his ice cold index finger.
she scowled. "I'm 16. I'm not going to get wrinkles."
his face lit up. "alas, forever young."
"thank you?"
"I mean," jack leapt into the air and floated on his back just above the ground, twisting his staff in one hand and resting the other behind his head. he studied her with an extremely irresistible stare. "I've been around longer than anyone and do you see any wrinkles on this pretty face? nope, nadda, zilch."
"how old are you?"
he smirked. "that is for me to know and you to never find out." he opened his hand and expertly blew frosted air into it, a perfect snowball blossoming in his palm. "think fast."
it hit her right under her collarbone. jack chuckled and made it snow a bit more, but before she could retaliate, a sharp pain ripped throughout her side. she found herself hitting the ground while gripping her ribcage for life as her insides seemed to be twisting.
"hey, are you okay?" his voice was far off, faded-the fogged edges of her vision began closing in once more.
she felt a cold hand softly touch her arm. "hazel, what's the matter?"
her eyes shot open at the name he called her. "w-what?"
"I said are you okay? what happened? did I hit you too hard? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"no..." she gasped, her breathing labored. "the name-you know-my name?"
"of course I do," he said offhandedly. "tell me what's wrong."
a wave of fury directed towards jack ran through her, but was quickly brushed away as a more realistic pain replaced it. it was all she could do to not scream. "g-get help." was her last demand.
through her vision, she could tell jack's expression became forlorn. "I can't."
"why? there's-tons of people around."
"they can't see me." he sounded so small.
another burning pain shot through her; it was like she was being stabbed from the inside out. a whimper escaped her lips and she curled her body into the fetal position on the dusty ground, not really caring about who could see her or what they would think. wait, but- "what do you mean?"
"they can't see either of us."
painfully, she tilted her head upwards and saw blurred silhouettes walking past her and jack without glancing their way once. the children continued to run around the fire and adults prepare for the feast. her and jack were in their own little bubble. invisible.
the cold aura radiating off jack suddenly became closer as icy arms wrapped around her frail body. she let him carry her, because there wasn't much else she could do, and it seemed jack frost was the only person she could trust in this parallel world.
"hang on," his voice was husky and close; when she looked up, creamy skin covered with nearly invisible small blue freckles running down a distinct jawline was right in front of her nose. hitching her breath and compressing the pressure on her ribs, jack's arms tightened around her and they defied gravity and set off towards the moon.
the colder the air became, the pain lessened. soon she was able to breathe normally and properly wrap her arms around jack's neck, and, exhausted, she rested her head in the junction where jack's collarbone met with his shoulder.
minutes later, the rapid wind around them calmed and she felt the density of the air surrounding her increase. she took in the darkness of the forest covered with fresh snow when she opened her eyes, squinting at her surroundings as the only source of light was the moon.
jack exhaled sharply but said nothing. instead, he maintained his hold on his companion and walked further into the forest. it was only when they reached a small clearing where the moonlight was prominent that he looked down at her. "better?"
she nodded and released her hands clasped behind jack's shoulders. the ground was cold, as everything was-her body heat seemed nonexistent and irrelevant. it was as if the blood had left her veins and all was left was a walking corpse.
she kind of felt dead.
but how could she feel so much pain if she was already gone?
jack was kneeling on a fallen branch acting as a bench, head tilted towards the moon. the ivory of his skin seemed to blend in with the silver light and, for a moment, he was camouflaged in the brilliance.
he didn't look at her when she joined him. his mischievous smirk had all but evaporated from his soft features; he appeared calm, at peace. she wanted to say something but she also didn't want to interrupt the trance he was in that made him look beautiful instead of alluring for once.
but she was stupid and she couldn't stop the words from pouring out of her mouth. "I know this is a dream," she said it softly, but her voice was loud in the quiet of the night. "I know that I'm dreaming and I'll wake up and this is all just a bad dream none of this is real I know it."
he opened his pale cerulean eyes and met her gaze, the sharp details within those orbs piercing through hers. "it's not a dream."
"yes, it is."
"no, it's not," he insisted.
she resisted sighing in annoyance. "jack-"
"I'm real, you're real, and this is real. everything around you exists, hazel."
her response disappeared at the sound of the name. "why do you keep calling me that?"
he smirked. "because it's your name."
"how could you know that when I don't?"
he kicked his feet out and shuffled the snow, leaning back on his hands. "your memory is jogged. it happened to me, too."
"I don't understand."
he didn't respond. exasperated, hazel (so it would seem) turned her aching torso towards him and ignored the dull yet sharp pain within her ribcage. "jack frost, you're a myth. you're just a story, just a spirit made up in my mind."
he didn't seem at all bothered by her words until his eyebrows creased.
"I'm as real as you make me to be."
"but you aren't."
"if this is your dream, and I'm in it, then it's you who's making me real."
she rolled her eyes. "stop making this so complicating. my subconscious is working against me. this conversation isn't happening, it's all my imagination. you're a projection."
"ah, a believer who doesn't believe."
she frowned prettily. "I don't believe in you, jack. you're just a legend. you're what they sing about in christmas songs and blame for bad winter weather."
"who's 'they'?" he seemed legitimately confused.
"uh-people? real life people in the actual world. not from this weird snowy plane that my brain has subdued me in."
he sighed, his chest rising and falling gracefully, his frosty breath coming out as swirling puffs of iced wind. then he shrugged. "I'm in your mind, hazel. you put me here. I didn't do shit. you can see me and there's nothing you can say that will make that untrue, so stop ruining this for me and just believe in me, okay?"
his voice was dead serious, tinted with plead. "um," she coughed. "I'm sorry that I seem rude, but it doesn't really matter, because anything I say will be gone by the time I wake up."
"don't you think you would've woken up by now if this was a dream?"
"no," hazel stated easily. "dreams seem longer than they are. one day in my mind could be an hour in reality."
"in that case, how long have you been sleeping?"
she calculated sloppily in her dysfunctional dream-mind. "about ten minutes or so."
jack frost scoffed and stood up, twirling his staff between his skilled fingers. "you really don't think this is real?"
she shook her head.
"look at yourself."
a blast of ice shot from the curve of the staff, forming a frozen puddle amidst the fresh snow. it reflected the ebony tips of the shadowed trees and the giant moon hovering in the starry sky, but when she neared the patch of ice, her own reflection showed.
her hair wasn't its natural auburn, nor did she have the blush in her cheeks that always appeared whenever winter came along.
white strands flowed softly in the wind and her skin was as pale as snow, as pale as jack. and her eyes, her signature hazel eyes, were all but a memory. azure irises speckled with metallic silver stared back at her in the same expression of shock she knew she was wearing.
(but it was all a dream.)
hazel turned to jack frost and crossed her arms. "I look like you."
the smile he wore then really was the cherry on top of his adorably hopeful expression. "exactly!"
"and?" she kind of hated being cold (no pun intended) to him when he seemed so happy.
he fast approached her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm winter and snow and ice-I control the freakin' weather! I did this all alone and now you came along and you can see me and you're like me. you're just like me."
"but...how?"
he looked up at the moon. its pale green face stared knowingly down at them, and though it remained as still and unmoving as ever, she felt it was trying to pass along a message. all thoughts of it's just a dream vanished as she stared up at the moon and could only question "why?"
jack's shoulders sagged beneath his navy-blue frosted jumper. "he doesn't answer. like, ever. I've been trying to communicate with him for years."
"the moon talks to you?"
jack dropped his hands from her shoulders (immediately she felt warmer) and faced away, shoving one hand into his pockets. "once. he only spoke to me after he made me, and that was to tell me my name. 300 years and nothing else has been said. he's a bit of a twat, really."
hazel smirked and hesitantly placed a hand between his shoulder blades (so fucking muscular) and walked around to face him. he looked so forlorn, so lost, she felt she had to do something. hazel had been mean enough in telling him he didn't exist and stuff, and even though it was true, she couldn't pass off the sadness jack bestowed as a figment of her imagination.
jack flinched when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his, their coldness combining into one, but a moment later she heard the staff clatter onto the ice and his arms needfully encase her.
his grip was firmer than hers was; when she thought about it, jack probably hadn't hugged someone in years. possibly forever. his arms were almost crushing around her fragile waist and she was about to push him off to avoid any pain from before to return, but when he buried his face into her argent hair, she felt her heart flutter and held on.
they were so close. and it felt so right. their bodies were melting perfectly together, as if they were made for each other; carved out by the same brick of ice and destined to connect from the tips of their silver locks to the bottom of their bare feet.
she was dreaming. and suddenly, she didn't want to wake up.
but was she dreaming?
no dream had ever felt this vivid, this real. there was something about the coldness and agony that shook her confidence in her explanation. the stabbing pain was immense enough it should have woken her up, but it remained in her body as she remained in this world.
with jack frost.
he pulled away first with eyes gleaming with melancholic kindness. hazel could feel her weak heart ache for him and his emotional pain, knowing just as much about him and his past as he did. for both of them, there wasn't much to know. they remembered close to nothing about life from before.
she wiped an invisible tear from his cheek and felt butterflies orchestrate a sad song in the pit of her stomach when he leaned into her touch.
a second later he gently took her wrist, pulled it away, and placed it by her side, and gave her one last meaningfully sincere look.
but then he ran past her and leapt into the sky.
she was astounded. what the hell? "jack!" she called.
his figure, shadowed by the moon behind him, turned briefly but continued his summit in the sky. frustrated, she swore under her breath and resisted giving him the finger behind his back.
she sat down in the snow. her white dress was becoming rather tattered and frayed and ripped further up her chalky legs. holding in her annoyance and trying to push the image of jack's crestfallen eyes in order to remain angry at his abandonment, she leant back and pressed her hands into the snow.
how could any of this be happening? it all felt so...real. literally the liveliest dream she's ever had. how could her mind come up with the character of someone she's never met or seen (isn't it impossible to dream of people you've never seen with your own eyes before?) with the saddest story she seemed to share. hazel was never that creative. all of this was next to impossible.
she searched her mind. it was cluttered and foggy and there was some sort of wall blocking her from reaching deep into her thoughts. absentmindedly, she pulled at a strand of her wispy hair and ran it through her fingers, the silver reflected off the moon's light. it made her hair look like a waterfall flowing from the palm of her hand.
she really was just like jack.
the thought suddenly prodded at her mind.
just like jack.
"oh my god," she whispered as the idea blossomed. hazel was at her feet in seconds, brushing the snow from her dress and thinking fast.
how was she to do this? did she just...think it? or did she have to do some intense magical summoning to make the wind obedient?
she didn't know what she did. the powerful thought of lift me was enough. the ground disappeared beneath her feet and, unstable, she floated in the air. her back was unsupported and hazel nearly found herself upside down. however, she remained vigilant to her task, stood straight in the platform of wind, and set off in the direction jack went.
oddly, the air was colder flying alone than it was when she was holding onto jack, who was basically a block of ice. she wanted to be held by him, even if she meant it would be cold forever. she wanted to be nipped by jack frost all night.
but first she wanted to freeze his mouth shut for leaving her like that.
flying was difficult. it was definitely harder than jack made it seem. then again, he did have 300 years (so he said) to practice.
hazel then decided to go with the flow of things. it was better to see how everything went and wait to wake up than to question what was happening...it wasn't anything bad, anyways, right? just her and jack. no one else could see, it was them two.
she was nearly a hundred and fifty feet above land when she felt a familiar cold aura brush by. a translucent cloud formed above and snowflakes began to fall past her, disappearing before they could reach the ground. she spun around (still focusing on keeping up in the air, because holy shit she was flying), seeing nothing around her, until she leant backwards and bumped into a body.
"you catch on quick," jack said huskily in her hair. goosebumps that weren't from the cold rose on her pale arms, making her shiver.
"are you cold?" he asked again, rhetorically. his frosty breath caressed the exposed skin on her neck. his hands were tentatively placed on her hips.
the silence was deafening around them, the couple seeming as one in midair where no one could see them; the weight in her chest spread throughout her body and the dull ache she suffered with every breath lessened.
hazel knew jack liked to play games. he was all about fun. and he was having fun right now.
she figured it was her turn.
"catch me," she breathed. the wind wrapped itself around her waist in place of jack and pulled her far away from him, nearly fifty feet away, and she stopped to wave three fingers at him. the intense gaze on his face was replaced by a determined smirk and she blasted off before he could catch her. she knew jack was fast, faster than she would ever be, but how many chances in life did she have to play cat and mouse with jack frost?
jack frost, the spirit of winter, infamous for icy chills and frosted glass and nipping at noses. essentially, hazel was being chased by the personification of a season. by wind.
the forest expanded far past the village of burgess and into the crevice before the mountains, which shot up past the billowing cloudbank. a river cascaded at the forest's edge, separating the wood, and the forest on the other side of the tributary appeared darker than the one jack led her to. it was of bare branches and very little snow. there was no light.
"hazel!" jack's voice called. she laughed under her breath and descended past the river. "wait!"
she stopped abruptly and felt a gush of wind rush past her as jack attempted to slow his speeding pace. what she didn't expect was the colliding of his body into hers and they began to tumble through the air.
before she could say another word, jack grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the sky, away from the dark, mystifying wood. they were safely above his evergreen forest covered in snow when jack unwrapped his hand from hers. he looked almost worried.
but she smiled. "you're fast."
"don't go past the river. ever."
hazel frowned. "why?" he was ruining the fun. she loved having him chase her. she felt it was doing justice to how he made her heart beat like it wasn't dying with each breath she took.
"dangerous. wolves, boogeymen, all that sort and god knows what else live there."
"alright, I won't go in there."
"promise?"
it was rather strange for jack to be so cautious for her. "promise."
relief washed over his delicate features. a second later, all traces of concern left his face and he leaned back and smiled. "you're pretty fast for a beginner."
hazel grinned back and blushed, glad they had returned to their playfulness. "maybe you're just slow."
jack endearingly raised an eyebrow. "I'm anything but slow."
"I'd argue to that."
silence blanketed over them. jack's eyes were running over hazel's figure, studying her, figuring her out, and hazel tried her best to act nonchalant under her gaze. "so, what do you do around here?" she asked instead.
"I don't stay here all the time. I go places."
"really? to where?"
he shrugged as if the conversation bored him. "everywhere. I'm a busy man. it's my job to bring winter wherever I go."
she was surprised at this. "so you just travel around and make it snow?"
"pretty much."
"doesn't that throw all the other seasons off course?"
jack frost scoffed and began flicking perfect snowflakes from his fingers, tumbling down through the frosty midnight air. "that really isn't my problem. spring will still be spring even if there's a little bit of frostbite." he smirked then, his expression distant; he must have been reminiscing.
hazel wanted to know all of his adventures and all of the people he's met. she wanted to know everything about him.
"that's a bit obnoxious," she teased, new blue eyes twinkling.
he laughed emptily. before hazel could retort again, wind gushed over her and tangled through her hair, and his face was suddenly mere inches from hers.
"what's it like being warm?" he asked in a low, almost seductive voice.
hazel struggled to remain nonchalant. "I'm not anymore."
he gave her a faint, lopsided grin, then felt a soft cold finger brush over the apples of her heated cheeks. "you're blushing. you're warm."
her breath hitched and she looked deeper into his mesmerizing eyes, which stared right back at her. she purposely licked her lips and felt brief satisfaction in seeing jack's eyes flicker to them. "it's not as fun as being cold."
jack's grin widened crookedly. the tips of his fingers, still lightly pressed on her cheeks, traveled downwards painfully slowly. the inside of his thumb ran over hazel's bottom lip.
she wanted to die.
it took every cell in her body to stare back at him unchanged, unaffected. she wouldn't succumb to his chilled touch; she would beat him. he would fall for her first.
but he wasn't having any of that, apparently. "that's a pity," he said even lower. "I wouldn't mind being a bit warmer for a night."
her eyes widened and his implication and he full on smirked, kissing the tip of her nose and backflipping through the air to descend to the forest.
she allowed herself to breathe in mild panic and arousal because holy fucking shit what just happened I just got nipped on the nose before pulling herself together, letting determination take over her mind, and following him into the trees.
jack was facing away from her with his staff held in one hand, the bark glistening with sparkles of blue, and it began to lightly snow.
she held out her hand and caught a snowflake, surprisingly pleased to see it didn't melt in her hand like she thought it would. it simply remained intact the shape impossibly unique, the same temperature as her blood.
"I want to make it snow," she said before she could stop herself.
jack turned and smiled. "ask him." he gestured towards the moon.
the man on the moon hadn't spoken to her, not since she woke up, not ever. he was linked to jack, obviously. he had created him.
but not her. she was from a different time and she knew it. the man on the moon, whoever he was, didn't see her like she didn't see him.
"no," hazel replied simply. "he can't hear me."
jack frowned. "why not?"
"because he didn't make me."
"he made me, and you're just like me." jack was incredibly insistent on how similar they were to each other, and though she knew there was more to her situation, she said nothing. she didn't want to rain on his parade of finally finding someone meant for him.
hazel bit her lip. "but you said he never responds to you."
jack looked to the ground and kicked a pile of snow. "I think he can hear me, though. I feel like he expects me to just wait around for something to happen to show me why I'm here...and what my purpose is." he glanced carefully at her.
it occurred to hazel then that she might be the first one with the ability to see jack since his creation, but she wasn't sure. "why can't anyone else see you?"
an empty smile stretched across his frigid lips. "they don't believe in me. only people who believe I'm real can see me."
"and..no one-"
"nope. no one does. not a single human soul believes that jack frost is more than a myth." his tone was bitter, resentful.
"then what am I?" she inquired with full awareness of how selfish she sounded. "no one can see me either. am I, like...mrs frost or some shit?" hazel glanced warily towards the moon. it was a bit condescending how it just stared at the two of them, listening, but doing nothing.
she looked back towards jack and noticed the corners of his mouth had tilted upwards. "would you mind being 'mrs. frost'?"
heat rushed to her cheeks. "i-um, well, I don't know. being with you forever sounds like a lot of work."
he rolled his eyes. "I'm serious."
what was he saying? "uh-are you asking me to marry you?" she said it with a joking tone, hoping that jack hadn't suddenly forgotten his immature persona that annoyed her so much. and the fact they just met.
but jack's mind seemed to be a bit too fixated on destiny and fate.
his ocean blue eyes touched the top of his eyelids again and he kicked over a mound of snow, scoffing. "marriage is overrated. it sounds so boring."
"then what are you implying?"
he shrugged and began drawing patterns in the ground with his staff.
"jack."
he sighed. his reluctance to explain the topic he'd brought up in the first place was rather vexatious. "I mean, would you mind spending the rest of your life...like this?"
hazel looked down at her pale skin and long, white hair that curled at the ends. "without explanation as to why, no," she answered honestly. a moment later she realized that this was exactly how jack lived: without knowing why.
maybe that's why their connection was so strong. they were as compatible as oxygen to a flame; it was apparent now that opposites didn't always attract.
"but, uh," she added. "I wouldn't mind the company." she kind of wanted to punch herself for sounding so non-blasé.
jack froze (no pun) and flipped his staff around, studying her intently. "really."
she shrugged. "I guess. but there are downsides to that, of course. you can be kind of obnoxious."
he smirked and walked towards her. "and?"
she crossed her arms. "and irritating."
jack's charming, crooked grin grew wider. "go on."
"impossibly smug. and immature. a bit too cavalier. and you have a knack for avoiding any sort of responsibil-mmph!"
jack had finally approached her and didn't give a seconds hesitation before his gaze traveled downwards to her ranting mouth, gently grabbed both sides of her face and pressed his lips forcefully on hers.
her hands at first waved around in shock then on his waist to push him away and then at her sides in defeat, trying to resist the soft coldness giving her a chorus of butterflies in her stomach. she wouldn't succumb to jack. she wouldn't.
he must've sensed her lack of response, because he tilted her jaw upwards to him more forcefully and opened her mouth with his lips. the frost in his breath filled the cavern of her mouth and she was suddenly in a trance, falling deeper into him as his minty taste permeated in and throughout.
fuck it.
hazel's hands tangled in his wispy, snow-like hair and tugged, biting lightly on his bottom lip and forcing herself on her toes to push further into jack's body. he acted startled to her fervent response, but she felt him smile into the kiss and lean over her, grabbing the fabric of the dress by her hips and caressing her flushed cheekbone.
when she tugged on his lip, suckling and biting into the skin playfully, the soundthat escaped his throat almost made her was a combination of an exhale and a whimper and goddamn she needed to hear that again.
but he wasn't having any of it, because jack had this fucking problem of wanting to dominate.
his kisses overpowered hers, needy and wanting and she sort of began to feel every emotion he kept bottled up being expressed through his movements. his fingers dug into her hips and his tongue danced over hers; everything was cold and ice and frost but hazel had never felt more heated in her life.
even in the cold, jack was the fiercest person-being-she had ever known. he was winter personified, but at this moment, she was warm enough. the tension surging between them was like a fire.
her heart suddenly dropped when jack pulled away from her lips. she felt emptier without him around her.
but he didn't leave. he placed icy kisses along her jawline and down her neck, exploring skin and closeness he hadn't experienced once in this lifetime. jack always made everyone cold. it was all he could do; while everyone had blood and warmth and heat pulsing through their systems, he was a block of ice invisible on the sidelines.
now, he didn't need to be careful or worry about spreading pneumonia or frostbite. he had someone exactly like him.
"jack," hazel breathed. it sounded ecstatic but it was a call to make him stop (even though she didn't want him to).
his lips found hers once more, placing one, two, three separate kisses, their icy bond licking around them like a fire. jack pressed his forehead against hazel's and closed his eyes. "don't leave," he whispered. "please."
her heart shattered at the weak note in his voice. she traced her fingers over the crease beneath his cheekbone, then steadily held his face in her hand, their skin nearly the same colour. she was slightly more pink than he. "where else am I going to go?"
he smiled, breathed out in laughter of relief, wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her above the ground. "jack!" hazel screamed, laughing and gripping onto his jacket for life.
he finally put her down on the frozen ground and looked at her with the fondest expression she'd ever seen him bestow. he briskly pecked her cheek and it left a lingering coldness-colder than usual-and suddenly she felt the urge to run around in the snow.
their connection, their bond, the way they sort of fit together physically and mentally was so incredible and strange. hazel had never felt anything like it before (that she could remember, and she didn't remember much). all she knew was that in this life, jack was all she had, and she was all he had. there wasn't much choice or variety of options to choose from if she was to be immortal forever.
she wasn't really complaining, though. six hours with jack frost and suddenly there's a pact to stay together for eternity. sound the freaking wedding bells.
is this what the man on the moon wanted? their purpose was to watch over winter together? she had no idea why she was here or what brought her, but there was something shared between her and jack that no one else could understand.
they didn't even understand.
and she was okay with that for the time being.
but the moment she took a step forward the surging pain nonexistent seconds prior returned in a piercing rip. hazel fell to her knees, her fall cushioned by the snow, and grasped the stabbing agony beneath her heart. the only flaw in the plan was this, whatever this pain was that she suffered from. it was beyond the understanding of both her and jack.
"hazel?" jack questioned. he was at level with her in seconds. "is it back?"
she nodded tightly. it was worse than ever before. usually, it was an aching internal pain, but this time it felt exterior. the torment of something icy cold breaking through her skin and ripping apart her bones was unexplainable in the least. her tears felt like icicles running down her cheeks, her vision blurred; the pale fogginess was pulsing with each beat of her heart that seemed to be quickening instead of dying. she wasn't getting weaker anymore. she felt sweat break through the pours on her face and her cheeks flush with hotness. blood was filling her from the inside out. it wasn't frozen water anymore.
"I'm dreaming," she gasped. "it'll go away." she looked up to her spontaneous love, the one she evidently decided to elope with, and was filled with no reassurance as she looked into his worried eyes. "hazel," his voice cracked. his gaze wasn't fixed on her eyes anymore, but to the area she gripped desperately.
something liquid and warm flowed between her fingers and pour down her exposed thigh.
"you're bleeding," he gasped. "but-how-"
hazel suddenly remembered what she had thought before. it's just a dream. once you die, you'll wake up.
"jack don't let me go." her voice was constricted in her throat. jack's fingers intertwined in hers, ignoring the blood staining his skin.
"I won't. I promise."
hazel looked into his tear-filled eyes. "I don't want to leave."
the pain coursed through her again and she screamed, falling onto her side and letting her blood stream onto virgin snow. everything was red. everything was heated. it was the opposite of what she wanted. she didn't want to wake up, she wanted to stay cold and ice and with jack forever.
she knew if she woke up she'd never see him again.
"I'm dreaming," she said wistfully. the fog was slowly rushing over her vision like a tidal wave. jack was leaning over her, his hand still holding her side and the other resting on her cheek. "I'll wake up."
he looked so hurt. "so you still think I'm not real?"
hazel reached up and traced the contours of his face with her clean hand, memorizing the feeling of his skin under her fingers and the expression in his eyes. she felt so cold. the snow was slowly numbing her skin and everything was frozen and she began to feel aliveagain. she felt alive as she was dying.
once you die, you'll wake up.
she didn't know she was crying until a sob broke from her lips, thick and dry.
once you die.
"I have to die to go home."
jack bit his lip and shifted his weight on his knees, feeling none of the coldness she felt. he was the cold. "you're not dying. you don't need to go. this can be your home. I... can be your home now." he looked down. "please don't leave me."
"I promised I wouldn't," she reassured him. she sounded stronger than she felt. hazel knew it was unfair of her to leave jack when he needed her because she knew he needed love and now that would all be gone.
he wouldn't even exist once she left.
then jack smiled sadly and leant down to kiss her forehead. the icy touch spread throughout her body and the pain from her gushing wound faded. "will I ever see you again?" hazel whispered.
she wasn't sure what made jack suddenly so content. "I'm always around you." but his voice betrayed him; he was weak and heartbroken. "I'm always there. all you gotta do is look."
"I don't want to go," she pleaded, shivering. it was blurring now. the moon behind him disappeared and her senses outside of this plane of existence stirred. "if I wake up you'll disappear."
jack exhaled slowly. "you were right, hazel. what's around us might not be real," he brushed a strand of her hair turning auburn and looked deeply into her eyes. "but you are. and so am I."
in their last moment together, made as one, carved out of ice and destined for each other (far off, she thought her imagination truly was extraordinary, who was the man on the moon?), jack frost leaned in and whispered, "look out for snow when the flowers bloom."
the second his frozen lips touched her hot, blood-filled ones, the light flowed in. darkness engulfed her for what seemed like hours until something in her arm twitched and she groaned.
"oh, thank god!" a familiar voice exclaimed, fully surfacing her back to reality. warm hands touched her face and then lips smacked her on the forehead-everything was hot. even she felt heated.
her eyes were heavy with fatigue and it hurt to move them so she didn't bother trying. instead, she listened. hazel felt more in tact, more in control of her body than she could remember, but everything was heavy. her limbs seemed to weigh more than they could hold.
she tried saying something but it came out as a mumble.
footsteps scattered in, too loud, too ordinary, and a pinch shot through her hand and hazel grimaced, annoyed at all the commotion surrounding. the blanket covering her feet was lifted and put down several times and the wind caused by the fabric sent goosebumps up and down her legs.
something itchy was wrapped around her upper arm and sudden pressure began to grow within it, like a balloon expanding with air. just when she felt her arm was about to explode a velcro rip echoed into her ears and the compression disappeared.
"blood pressure normal."
"no stitches burst. mrs. bennett, make sure she doesn't move. we don't want her going back into surgery."
the voices around her said more unintelligible things as hazel lay unmoving. unmoving, yet she was awake.
and something was nagging at her brain wires. something like a dream.
a palm pressed to her forehead. "hmm, bit of a fever. best to keep her on antibiotics."
"she's on her way to recovery, though, right?" the familiar female beside her said again. hazel really wanted to open her eyes.
a deep, less feminine voice answered. "yes, but it will take several weeks for all the wounds to heal. we also have to check for any infections, amnesia, and any punctures in her respiratory system. it's all standard procedure. she'll be up and at it in no time."
"good, good okay. that's good." a caring hand brushed some of the hair sticking to hazel's face. she rotated her neck to lean into the soft touch. "um, she seems a bit out of it, will she-"
the male chuckled. "it's just the anesthesia and painkillers. she'll be fine in a couple of hours. if there's anything wrong, call the nurses down immediately. and make sure she doesn't move. afternoon."
the footsteps faded away and soon it was quiet, mind the sound of the woman breathing. "hazel, honey." the phrase sounded so customary and known...she knew it from somewhere but couldn't place where. throughout the heat of hazel's fever, there was a leering mental occlusion preventing her from remembering the things she needed to know.
"j-jah-" she breathed. her voice sounded so weak and slurred compared to her intact thoughts.
"shhh, hazel, go back to sleep." the touch of this woman brushed over her sweaty forehead again.
she cleared her throat-bad idea-and a heaving, dry, sore ache filled her trachea to the brim. she coughed, which only made it hurt more so hazel groaned since it seemed like the only thing she could do.
"just rest. you'll feel better in the morning."
so she slept.
the pain had subsided mildly when she awoke next, but that was probably because of the amount of painkillers she was on. she didn't feel as hot, either. hazel felt warm, as she always did, but not unbearably. she felt comfortable for what seemed like the first time in her life.
and she wanted to open her eyes but her lids were heavy and throbbed with pain so she decided to wait that action out.
the fogged memories of when she was last conscious faded into her mind. she didn't know whether anyone was around her, but she spoke anyways. "where am I?"
"hazel?" that woman gasped. "oh gosh, don't scare me like that."
hazel waited for her answer.
"you're in the hospital, sweetheart. burgess town medicine facility."
the questions fired out. her throat was feeling better, and if this was her only chance to talk, she would take advantage of it. "what day is it?"
"april 2nd."
she ignored the annoying concerned tone in the woman's voice. "what year?"
"2012..."
"and what happened?"
a sigh. "five days ago you were playing by the lake with the kids and you fell in...the water was so cold, so unnaturally cold, you couldn't swim and nearly drowned. well, you did drown. and then, I suppose near the bottom of the lake, the police said there was frozen ice but I'm not sure how it's even possible in spring, and a shard st-stabbed you beneath your ribcage. sixteen stitches, you needed." her voice sounded hurt, as it if was painful to talk about.
but hazel's mind was working fast paced; she had no concern for emotions, she just wanted answers. "where's the lake? who are the kids?"
"do you not remember anything?"
"no."
"oh." hazel heard what sounded like wood rubbing against linoleum. a warm hand touched hers, holding it, and a faint pinch on the top of her wrist stung from the sudden movement. "the lake is...the one you go to almost every day. it's your favourite place, hazel. and the-the kids, your cousins and siblings...alex, jamie, sophie, valerie? remember any of them?"
hazel shook her head and ignored the slight ache that stirred behind her ears. "who are you?"
"I'm-I'm your mother."
oops. she felt a twinge of guilt from not remembering her own mother's voice. in reconciliation, she tightened her grip around her mom's hand that held hers.
"do you want to see the rest of your family?"
"they're here?"
"most of them. GUYS, COME ON IN!" the loudness of her mother's call left an irritated ringing in hazel's sensitive ears.
gasps echoed throughout the room hazel still hadn't seen and a few children's voices whispered to each other. "is she dead?" a prepubescent boy asked.
"no, alex, don't say that."
"she's alive, dimwit." hazel froze, automatically recognizing that one.
"but she's not moving!"
"val, honey, don't cry." a sigh. "karen, take your daughter please-she's cried at least five different times and I-"
"yes, fine, christ," her mother said exasperatedly. hazel smiled at her mother's use of words as she heard the chair move across the linoleum and her mom's presence disappear.
quicker footsteps neared as her mother's faded. "hazel..." that familiar boy said cautiously.
"mmm."
"SHE'S ALIVE! SHE'S ALIVE!"
"I TOLD YOU, ALEX."
"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? SHE WASN'T MOVING, JAMIE!"
"well you should listen to me more," jamie said defiantly. "I am the oldest."
"no," hazel spoke with a smirk growing on her face. "technically I am the oldest."
"hazel!" the kid's voices chanted at once. she felt something weighty bounce onto her bed and sit on her knee.
"BE CAREFUL!" the girl who apparently babysat valerie, her little sister, during hazel's coma shouted. "she has stitches, for goodness sake!"
"sorry mom," jamie and sophie replied robotically.
as hazel's aunt and mother talked at the other end of the room, she felt a small hand touch her arm. "hazel, you have to get better soon. you won't believe what's happened since you've been gone."
hazel tried to sit up since her tailbone was beginning to grow sore, but the stinging and uneasy pain in her side made her nauseous and prevented her from doing so. she was so uncomfortable. "what's up, jamie?" she humored her cousin as her younger brother climbed onto the hospital bed beside sophie.
"oh my god so like after you fell into the lake all of us panicked like holy cheese is she gonna die and then we all had to go to the hospital and wait for hours and I was so bored all I had was my book did you know they found sasquatch hairs in michigan? and when mom finally took sophie and me home it started snowing! like, real snow! and it was MARCH! can you believe that?! I was kind of worried about the easter bunny though because he needed to deliver aallll those eggs in time and the snow probably made that harder but I knew he could do it because the easter bunny can do anything and then oh my god hazel I was going sledding and we started this snowball fight and cupcake was there you know that pink troll I told you about yeah and now we're all best friends she's actually not as scary as she seems but HAZEL, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED I didn't mean to but I slipped and fell onto my sleigh and I whooshed and flipped and CHEEEOOOUUWW'ed all around the town and in the fountain and I fell and I lost a tooth! I lost a tooth and it was so fun I felt like I was flying and I thought I was gonna crash and"-dramatic inhale-"it was the best day ever."
hazel sat there, unmoving, after listening to her cousin rant. he did that a lot. it was kind of adorable.
"wow," hazel said with exaggerated astonishment. "sounds like you had quite the week."
"you have no idea," jamie sighed blissfully.
"hazel," alex said tentatively. she turned her neck towards the voice of her brother. "why aren't you opening your eyes?"
sophie nudged at her knee. "it hurts," hazel explained.
"weird."
something was egging her mind. something was...bothering her. jamie's rant was so quickly monologued and made it impossible to process everything he said, but there was something amidst the words...
"jamie, did you say it was snowing?"
"yeah!"
she furrowed her eyebrows. how-how was that possible? she vaguely remembered she had gone to the lake to tan on the beach while the kids played in the water, but-she jumped in, or she fell in, and...
it was all darkness after that.
hazel squeezed her eyes tighter and forced herself to search through her mind and through her hazy memories blurred by the effects of amnesia, coming up nearly empty handed-everything before her accident was a blur.
but something rested in between. there was something missingand she knew it, she knew something happened after she drowned and before she awoke. it was a dream. a dream, but it felt so real.
she drowned (no pun) out all the voices and hospital noises and the beeping of her steady heart monitor, thinking. coldness, lots of coldness, she was iced over-but could that have been from the lake? why was the lake so cold in march? the memory of how cold the water was made her shiver and then there was all the darkness and the snow and the frozen lake and the moon and-look out for snow when the flowers bloom.
a flash of white passed behind her eyelids. silver, it seemed more like. it was a small frame of her memory and she could barely see past the blurriness, but, instantaneously, there was something more. something beneath the silver locks and above the smirk and amidst soft freckles-
and ice blue eyes flashed open.
"oh my god! guys, look!" jamie shouted beside her, the volume ringing her ear drum. "hazel, open your eyes, look outside!"
hazel's reverie was cut short and she shot her eyes open to look to wear jamie pointed: straight outside the open window of her hospital room.
the beeping of the heart monitor, which was increasingly high during her reverie of memories, suddenly rang out as hazel held her breath.
look out for snow when the flowers bloom.
it's april. it's spring.
and it was snowing.
so you might not really understand what happened I was pretty vague so basically hazel fell into the lake, the same lake jack drowned in, and she almost died there, too. that's why they were so connected and why his spirit invaded her mind ... their connection was based on how they (almost) died. though he runs around the world doing his own thing, his ghost still lives in the lake. evidently he's real and his ghost, who doesn't know anything more than what he was told that night he was created, with little to no knowledge of the modern world, was telling her so.
plot twist jamie is her cousin and he believes hint hint nudge nudge
r&r ok thx