Prompt: If you're still taking drabble requests, could you do a modern AU where Jack takes Rapunzel ice-skating, but she takes a spill on the ice and hurts her ankle? Jack takes her to the hospital and is all guilty and protective of her while she's on crutches. ^_^ If possible, I'd prefer for this to be set while she's living with her mom and dad, not Gothel.
The night had started off so well, it was cold with light snowflakes falling from the dark sky. It was a perfect night for skating, especially with the stars shinning so bright over the pine trees and frosted lake. It couldn't have been a more perfect scene if he had planned it himself.
With Rapunzel bundled in her winters clothes, he helped her put on ice skates and lead her onto the ice. She stumbled a few times but he caught her by the hand every time.
The way she laughed when she tried to spin made him laugh causing him to nearly fall over himself.
"You're not too graceful, are you Punz?" She held out her hands to keep herself from falling over. She pushed one foot forward and gasped when she felt her skate slide too far. She lifted her right arm in the air to steady herself and breathed in a sigh of relief when she was no longer teetering.
"I think I'm getting the hang of it!" Jack could see by the way her legs shook that the opposite was true. He took her hand once more and let himself slid backwards.
"Show off." She whispered, he grinned.
They had reached the center of the lake where the moonlight hit the ice in such a way that it looked as though it were made up of frosted diamonds. He grabbed her hands and pulled them up to his shoulders, he then put his own hands on her waist.
"Just think of it like dancing."
Rapunzel giggled, "You said you didn't dance."
"Touche." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. It felt so warm, he couldn't resist kissing her again; it felt even warmer than before. It was such a funny thing really, he'd always felt that whatever he did left people feeling cold but with Rapunzel, it was like everything he did made her warmer and in turn warmed up his usual cold self. She was like the sun, a sun that could burn forever and light the lives of all those she came across whether it be a smile to a stranger or a loving embrace with someone she loved, someone like him.
He'd gotten so lost in thought, so lost in her face, her smile that he hadn't realized just how far he'd slipped back until he could feel himself picking up more speed than necessary.
"Jack!" He let go of her hands and his left leg kicked up to balance himself, he was barely steady when he realized Rapunzel was speeding down the lake too. Before he could shout to her how to stop, she was turning on her right leg in an effort to slow down. Instead, she fell sideways, her ankle bending in half and her body tumbling after it.
He rushed over to her as fast as he could. When he finally reached her, her face was contorted to various expressions of pain and her hands were on the very ankle that had bended in the most awful way.
"Punz," Jack whispered, "I'm so sorry." He bent down to see the damage. Her ankle was already swelling up and turning blue. He pulled of the ice skate and touched the bruised area. She bit her lip to suppress a groan.
"We need to go to the hospital." He pulled her arm over his shoulder and placed his other hand on her waist.
"I don't think it's that bad." She said with hidden anguish in her voice.
"Not up for debate Punz, we're going." She leaned on his shoulder and whimpered. She didn't want him to worry about her but it was becoming increasingly harder to put on a brave face when her ankle felt as though there was a hammer and a knife working together to burn her from the inside out.
It took them awhile, but they finally made it to Jack's car. He made sure to grab handfuls of snow on the way and gently placed it over her ankle to help the swelling go down. Her ankle had gotten so big it no longer looked like her own.
Jack hit the steering wheel, all he could think about was how much he'd screwed up, how it was his fault that she was hurt and how everything people had said about him was true; he only made a mess of things. He could feel her hand on his shoulder as soon as he turned on the engine.
"Jack, it's not your fault," She leaned in and pulled his face toward her, "I'm such a klutz! You know that." He tried to smile but it came off too forced and she frowned.
"Let's just get it checked out, you might need a brace." He was silent the rest of the way.
They spent two hours in the waiting room, two hours spent with Jack pacing back and forth. Every now and then he'd make sarcastic remarks to the less than nice woman at the front desk who told him he had to be patient. He kicked the wall and grunted over and over again, he could see some people needed stitches but Rapunzel's foot was already so swollen and blue, she couldn't even walk on it. He'd moved the seat next to her so that she could elevate her foot and he stroked her hair to distract her from the pain.
"I'm so sorry, Punz, I'm so sorry."
"Jack," She touched his cheek, "I told you, it's not your fault, I slipped all on my own." Nothing she said could make him feel better, at least not any time soon when the guilt was still fresh.
He'd gotten distracted and slipped too far back, he'd let go of her hand, he'd let her fall and for that, he hated himself.
After the x-rays, Rapunzel's parents came to see her, they hugged her, kissed her forehead, and to Jack's surprise, thanked him for taking such good care of her. He almost wanted to roll his eyes.
They shouldn't be thanking me, he thought, they should be yelling at me for letting this happen.
With a brace on her foot and crutches in each hand, Rapunzel headed home with her parents. She kissed Jack goodbye just before leaving and whispered one last time it wasn't his fault for she knew he still didn't believe her.
He couldn't sleep that night, all he thought about was her expression when she fell, the pain that he had caused her.
Maybe I should just break up with her, it's not like I'm doing her any favors being with her. She's… she's better off without the town screw-up.
He tried to block the bad thoughts, not because he felt as though he shouldn't feel guilty but because Rapunzel had asked him not to before. She had seen his insecurities, she'd held his hand, hugged him tight and whispered to him that he wasn't any of those labels people had given him. She had said he wasn't a screw up, she had told him he did so much for others and that she was grateful he was in her life but even so, it hurt him to know he had hurt her.
The following afternoon he came to see her at her home, he'd brought flowers for her, flowers of all sorts because she never could pick a favorite. Her parents smiled at him, they welcomed him in their home and again Jack thought, you shouldn't be so nice to me, I'm not good for her.
He tried to wave the thoughts away when he entered her room. She was laying down on her bed with her sprained ankle on a pillow and a pencil and paper in hand, just as he would expect; she was always drawing or painting when he came to her room. He'd always found her concentration to be adorable.
When she saw him, she smiled and gestured for him to sit beside her on the bed.
"Jack, these are beautiful!" She held the bouquet to her face and inhaled all the scents so deeply that she stopped breathing for a moment, "I love them."
"It's the least I could do." He said softly. Rapunzel sighed and put down her paper and pencil. She grabbed his hand and turned his face to look at her just as she had done the night before, "I'm glad you came Jack because I want to tell you something."
He opened his mouth to speak but she pressed her finger to his lips, "No, just listen."
She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply and opened them again with an expression so sincere he couldn't have talked if he had wanted to.
"I love you Jack Frost, and you want to know why?" She put both of her hands on his face, "Because you make me smile, because you make me feel alive, because you take me on adventures, because you listen, because you understand me, because you don't question why I'm barefoot, you do it too!" He started to laugh, "because you can follow my rambles, because of the look you have when you see me paint, or dance, or hear me sing. Because you join in on what I want to do, because you include me in what you want to do, because you know when I need space and you know when I need you close, because you make me less afraid, because you show me the world, because you make me laugh, because of the way your hand feels in mine," She took one hand off his face and grabbed his. She squeezed it tightly, "because of the way it feels when you run your fingers through my hair, because you want to protect me but you never, ever treat me as though you own me, because you roll down the fields with me even when everyone's watching and we look absolutely ridiculous," He chuckled, "because you're caring, because you want to understand what you can't, because you're…" She kissed his cheek, "you." She took a deep breath after running through all those sentences and brushed his hair away from his forehead.
His eyes had become so big as she talked, as though everything she said was a fairytale that he was having trouble believing in.
"So when I tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty and when I tell you that you're not a screw-up, you better believe me mister." She pretended to be angry with him by narrowing her eyes and puffing her cheeks.
He laughed, "Because I love you Jack, I love you so much and those were just a few reasons why, okay?"
He pressed his forehead to hers. Part of him was overwhelmed with all that she'd said, it almost didn't feel real that there could be that many reasons for someone to love him but there was no doubting her sincerity, that was one of the many reasons he loved her.
"Okay." He kissed her lips and pulled her close to him, her warmth made him fully believe that he was loved, which was something he was still getting used to.
"Now, stay still so I can properly sketch your face." He laughed and looked down at her drawing. Sure enough, he saw his face drawn in sketch lines. She'd made his eyes look so kind, he hardly believed it was him.
"Is that how you see me, I look… loving?"
"I'm basing it off of how you most often look, how I see you." She smiled at him and kissed his cheek again. It made sense to him now, whenever he saw her, he felt like he was in love all over again so of course she'd draw him in love for that was the expression he most often had when he was with her.
He leaned back onto her pillows and closed his eyes, she was about to make him sit up again when he reached for her hand and held it. She sighed and leaned back too, with her head on his chest she closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too." He whispered back and in that moment, everything was perfect because he was with her and she loved him as much as he loved her.
It was more than he had ever hoped to have, it was heaven.