Chapter 2- Jamie's Dilemma

Authors Note: Hi! This is the second chapter of my, hopefully, amazing story At the same time as I'm uploading this I'll be uploading some changes I've made to chapter 1 (If you've just come from reading chapter one then it doesn't affect you). The changes aren't major and will make no real impact on the overall effect of the story but I would like it if those that read chapter 1 before I uploaded the changes went back and read it before continuing with this chapter so I know the time I spent making the changes was well spent. I hope you enjoy this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW! It really would encourage me to write whilst I still have the spare time before my exams. (P.S I've mentioned a couple of people at the bottom)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own anything to do with Rise of the Guardians, except one lonely DVD. After all, if I owned it there would definitely be a sequel where Jack and Jamie get it on!

Three Days Later

Jamie sighs as he looks at the clock. It's five to three, nearly time for school to finish. The teacher's talking gibberish about something that they were apparently going to be tested on next Friday. But he just can't seem to muster enough energy to actually care about school at this moment in time. After all, in just a few short hours Jack will be here and they will, with any luck, go ice skating again. It was fun before. Just the two of them on the ice.

Just another 30 seconds to go until freedom. Jamie can't help but realise just how boring school is as he watches the clock slowly move ever closer to 3 o'clock. All it ever does is cram useless knowledge into your head. When is he ever going to need to know how to work out the angle x in a triangle using trigonometry. And don't get him started on literature, it's the worst, no one reads a book and analyses it in any detail whatsoever as they go along, and if they do then they have absolutely no life.

As these thoughts run through his head, 20 seconds pass. He nearly gives up on life then and there. The clock seemed to be slowing down just to annoy him, every second passing slower and slower. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, RING RING.

There's a cacophony of noise as students rush to pack their bags and get out as fast as they can. The teacher's shouting something about homework over the racket. But nearly no one pays him any attention. Jamie just quickly jots down the homework; he might consider doing it if he begins to feel better later.

Jamie slowly walks out of the classroom, not being in a rush to go anywhere as Jack won't be here for at least another two hours. He hears someone shouting his name and looks around in shock, wondering who on earth could want to talk to him. His chest hurts as he sees that it's Pippa. One of his old friends.

"Hey, Jamie. Do you want to go to the mall with us?" she asks a bright, hopeful smile on her face. Jamie just stands there for a moment, shocked into silence. He can't remember the last time Pippa and, he guessed, his old friends had wanted to hang out with him. He was going to say no, however, he figured that if he were to become more sociable and hang out with his old friends his parents might lighten up a little. Maybe they'll even say that he doesn't have to go see that psychiatrist anymore. He still doesn't understand why they make him see that damn man. He'd been going to see him every fortnight for the past four months and so far it hasn't made any difference whatsoever. He still can't reconnect with his old friends. But, then again, here Pippa is, offering to be friends again. Maybe it's a sign. Well, hopefully it is.

So he agrees and they leave the school building to meet up with, what he assumes to be, the old gang by the gates. Surprisingly, not one of them seems shocked to see him there. Almost like this has all been planned in advance. In fact, as they set off they seem to be pay special attention to him, including him in all their conversations. Even when the topic is something he has no interest in whatsoever. Asking him questions about trivial things, such as his opinion on the film The Hobbit, a good film, but way, way too long in his opinion. To how well he did on the last biology test. He can't help but realise how much the last few years seem like a dream. Just walking along with his friends, chatting about normal teenage stuff. It made him realise how much fun it was, and still is to just hang out with his normal friends. But he isn't completely normal. He still believes in all of the guardians, whereas all of his friends, even Cupcake, have stopped believing in them. Passing off that night where they actually met them as a joint dream. As if they actually exist.

Well, to him this is the dream. Going out with his friends like this is something he hasn't done in a long time. So long that he can't even remember anything about the last time they went somewhere as a group like this. Not even the tiniest little detail, such as where they went to eat.

Well, he goes to the mall with them regardless. Indulging in this little piece of normalcy. Something that he probably won't experience very often in the future. After all, no matter how hard some people may try, no one ever really forgets their first love. And Jack is his first love, and, hopefully, he'll be his first many things. If he can ever work up the courage to actually confess that is.

He's broken out of his thoughts by Pippa shouting his name in his ear, "JAMIE!".

This causes him to jump in shock, nearly falling into the road, hands over his ears. "What?" he asks, his ears still ringing from Pippas loud voice.

"Have you seriously not been listening to anything we've been saying?" Pippa demands, hands on hips.

Jamie just rubs his head, a goofy grin on his face, hoping to placate Pippa by acting like an idiot. If Jack were here he'd say "That shouldn't be hard for you, acting like an idiot". "Sorry I was lost in thought. Can you repeat that please?" His response causes Pippa to throw her hands up in the air in exasperation. But she concedes to his request, even more suspicious, she never repeats herself so easily, "Fine! But only this one time as I'm feeling kind today," before continuing she glances at the others, they're all exchanging worried looks. Something was definitely going on here.

"What we were saying was, do you want to go see a movie whilst we're at the mall? After all, there's only so much shopping you can do at the same old shops." Jamie considers for a minute. On the one hand, he didn't want to be stuck at the movies when Jack arrived and miss him completely. However, even when he wasn't there, in the past Jack either went looking for him or just waited on the roof or with Sophie. Anyway, Jack normally arrives around 6:30 pm when it's school so he should be fine. "I suppose, as long as it's not too long a film as my parents don't like it when I'm out too late," he eventually replies. It wasn't a total lie, his parents don't like it when I'm out late, but that isn't the main reason. They all exchange a knowing look. At this point he couldn't care less what they think. Pippa and his old friends know that he's lying, but they don't say any more. Just accepting the fact that he doesn't want to tell them.

They look around the mall for a little while. Pippa introduces Jamie to some new people and Cupcake eats a caramel and toffee muffin. It's actually quite fun acting like a normal teenager. Then, in the department store, Monty and Caleb start fighting. They fight throughout the store, bumping into mannequins and clothing rails, knocking over shelves of games and CD's. But then, they bump into an old woman in the underwear section and send her flying. They can all hear her mumbling under her breath about stupid teenagers under her breath as she gets up. But the biggest shock comes when they turn around, turns out that she's the old head mistress at the elementary school that they used to go to. As such, she's used to telling off naughty children. She shouts at Caleb and Monty for a good 5 minutes before getting them to pick up her things and help her carry them to the check outs.

After they leave, Jamie and the gang can't stop laughing for, at least, another 10 minutes. Even after that some of them remember and just randomly burst out laughing, triggering everyone else. The film that they end up watching is the new Tom Cruise film. All Jamie can remember about the film after they leave the cinema is that it was called Oblivion, and that it was set in a sort of post-apocalyptic world. Something about alien attacks and the earth being abandoned. Not really his sort of film. He prefers old fashioned crusade type films, where the fighting is a lot more up close and personal. For instance The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of his favourite film series.

They leave the mall at about 6:30 and begin a brisk walk back to their houses. It had gotten dark whilst they were in the cinema and all the street lights had come on. They cast a sickly yellow light, illuminating them on their way home as they slowly trudge through the left over snow, a comfortable silence settling over the group.

As they come to the point where he splits off from them, he hears Pippa calling to him and looks up, "Do you want to come round mine for a bit?" She asks him. Now he realises that there's definitely something going on. Pippa was always very selective about who went to her house, and he doesn't really know her anymore. The reason was that her parents are rather eccentric. Or they were. Maybe they're better now and she doesn't need to be embarrassed. But he doubts it.

He politely turns down her offer and heads home. As he walks back he can't help but wonder what it was that caused his old friends to ask him to hang out today. It's been at least a year, if not longer, since that had happened.

So, as he's walking and considering what it could mean, when he remembers the look they shared earlier when he mentioned his parents not liking it when he stays out too late. His parents. It was them! They'd planned all of this to get him to hang out with his friends more so he'll stop hanging out with Jack.

It's good that they're thinking of him and working together, he hopes. But they have no right to interfere in who he's friends with. That's one of their main problems; they're both just too controlling but can't stand it when others try to control their own lives. People say that opposites attract, but you'd be hard pressed to find a couple more similar.

Then again, his grandparents on his mother's side had been as different as two people could be. Unfortunately his granddad had died from having an allergic reaction to a bee sting. He was hiking in the woods and couldn't get his injection in time. And then around 6 months later, his grandma was found dead. Apparently she'd stopped taking her diabetes medicine and it had killed her. The loneliness was just too much for her.

But enough of the morbid thinking. No point in being all gloom and doom when Jack gets here.

As he approaches the front of his house, he sees that the lights are all on and his parents are home. This was odd as they normally go out to try and keep appearances up.

He enters the house. And, hearing the TV on in the living room, he hopes to sneak to his room without being noticed by his parents. He fails.

His mums voice comes sailing out of the living room, "Jamie. Come into the living room."

He freezes half-way up the stairs, his hand on the rail. His heart pounding in his chest as he worries about what they might say.

He briefly ponders just carrying on upstairs and saying that he didn't hear them. But that would just make it a lot worse later.

He slowly skulks into the living room, still contemplating his chances of escape.

He sees both of his parents are sitting on the coach and decides to sit on the chair. Hoping the distance will make them kinder. Or give him time to run. Either way works. He sits down and looks at his parents expectantly.

"Where have you been Jamie?" his mother asks. His dad just sits there, staring into space and adjusting his glasses every few seconds. That means he's nervous. Which means they've got something to tell him. Hopefully nobody's dead. Morbid as that may seem, it's one of the only times when they both talk to him at the same time. In other circumstances they'll discuss it before hand and decide how best to tell him in order to limit any negative reaction he might have to it. Then it's normally his mother who tells him the news. Something about him connecting with her better as, apparently, it's her that he takes after. All he got from his mother was her hair and eyes. Everything else he'd gotten from his granddad, the one who'd died from a bee sting. He was more like his dad anyway.

"Out," Jamie replies, looking for the tic that appears when he replies to a question with an obvious answer. It's always so funny to watch.

"Now Jamie, you know exactly what your mother meant," his dad interjects. Jamie just keeps watching his mother. Ah, there it is. A small twitch above the eye. It tells you that she's getting impatient.

"Well, if you must know, I was at the mall with Pippa and everyone else," he replies, turning to his dad. He always preferred his dad, he was controlling but understanding. It's always been his mother that he'd had to watch out for. She never listened to a word anyone said and had always made her mind up by the time the conversation was half done.

He pities the fool that tries to change her mind. It would be a fruitless task and she'd probably send them into a corner crying.

"Did you have fun?" his mother asks, her lips tight in anger at his previous misconduct of what she considers social etiquette. But you can also tell that she's happy her plan to get him to interact has worked by the way she's clasped her hands in her lap.

"Yeah it was fun. We ended up seeing a movie." Jamie replies, hoping his parents would stop the conversation there. His dad probably would, but his mum, she's a completely different matter.

"Did you buy anything at the mall?" she asks.

"Just a CD that Pippa said was good. It's by an American band; they're called My Chemical Romance." Jamie hesitantly tells his mother, worried that she'd have heard of them and the sort of songs on their albums.

"Isn't that band a bit depressing?" She asks, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. " Now, now honey. If Pippa likes the band they can't be all that bad." His dad interrupts as Jamie fishes for an answer that could save his new CD from the bin.

His mother just frowns. Not entirely satisfied, but willing to let it go. Now, that was one of the first emotions she'd shown throughout the entire conversation. It had always unnerved him how she could always remain so emotionally detached all of the time. He'd learnt to live with it and read what little she allowed through, but it made every conversation a battle to see how his mum really feels. His dad shows more emotion than his mum. He even smiles at Jamie and Sophie sometimes. His mum never smiles in his presence. At least, not since he was younger.

They sit there in awkward silence for five minutes before Jamie gets up to leave.

"Wait," his mother calls, "We have something to tell you." He stands there, looking at them expectantly. His mother simply gestures towards the chair. He slowly walks over to the chair and reclaims his seat.

He looks at them, waiting. His parents exchange a long, slow look before his father leans forward. "Jamie, you know that we love and care about you. And that we'll support you no matter what." At this point his mother coughs and mutters her disapproval of what his dad's saying. He simply looks at her, a look that says don't argue with me on this one. "We will support you. Just ignore your mother," his mother has a startled look on her face at this point. No one's ever been told to ignore her before. He always did prefer his dad. "You also know how much we worry about you and how we only want what's best for you."

At this point his mother intercepts, "I'll take it from here," She says to his dad. "Now, Jamie. We only want what we think is best for you," His dad frowns at the we but allows his wife to continue. "As such, we've made a difficult decision. We haven't done this to hurt you but because we think it's what's best for you and Sophie because, despite what you might think, the two of you are always in our thoughts." Jamie realizes that something very, very bad is happening. Something that will probably change his life forever. After all, his parents have never talked to him like this. It's normally just the common courtesies, a "How was your day?" or a "Is school progressing as we would expect?"

"This decision is hard on us as well, so don't think bad of us." His parents exchange another look. Jamie's getting rather impatient by this point.

"Just tell me what you've done now!" He shouts at his parents. He never did have very good control when it came to his parents.

He could see his mother was about to tell him off for shouting, but his father places a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head at her. Oh boy. This is even worse than he could have imagined.

His dad begins to talk again, "We've arranged for you to go to an overseas boarding school in England," he admits.

Jamie's heart stops. Boarding school. They're sending him away. Away from his school. Away from Sophie. Somewhere Jack won't be able to find him! To England! It's one of the wettest countries in the world! Hardly ever any sun! Also, it doesn't snow very often there so Jack won't be able to visit even if he can find him. And the summers are awful, they get one day, when they're at school, when it's all sunny and beautiful and it rains the rest of the time.

But, how could they do this. They're sending him away from everything he knows. He realises that his mother had started talking again, "...ally think that it's for the best Jamie. Hopefully this will help you." Of course, it all comes back to curing him of his imaginary friend. "They have a renowned psychologist on staff. She's a really nice person. She's known as one of the best throughout the world and seems really nice."

Jamie realises what his mother just said, "Wait, so you mean you've been talking to her?" He demands not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Well, we had to make sure we could trust her with your care. Whilst your there she'll be your patron. All the students have to have an adult patron at the school who's responsible for the everyday things. It's so they don't have to ring the parents and we've been talking so that it's that we're not just passing you off onto a woman we don't know,"

"How could you just decide this on your own!? Without consulting me!? Without even telling me in advance that you're considering it!?" Jamie half shouts and half questions. His heart, hammering in his chest, his temper flaring. His eyes lit with anger.

"Calm down Jamie!" His mother barks at him. Looking to his dad for support. He just stares back. His eyes accusing. As if to say, this was your idea so you can deal with the damage control.

She just continues with a sigh, "We did this because it's our right as a parent to do what we decide is best for you and we felt that you could do with time away from everything here."

He saw right through her. All she wants is to get him away and to somewhere Jack can't reach him. He can't let that happen. Just the very thought of it causes his chest to hurt as his eyes fill with tears. Not to mention it also means leaving Sophie.

"Why?" He asks, his voice breaking. "What have I done wrong? Have you even told Sophie?" his voice breaks as he mentions Sophie. He can't imagine how she'll be able to cope, living on her own with these two psychos.

"Nothing," His dad replies, when he looks closely at his dad he can see tears in his eyes. He was right; it was all his mums idea. "But your mother feels that a change of scenery will be good for you," he continues, his voice cracking slightly.

Well, if mother thought it was a good idea that settles it. After all, mother always knows best. And when she knows something, there's no arguing. She'll argue with you for weeks and still say the same thing. Jamie realizes that he's going to be forced to go there no matter what.

The best he can do is make as little a scene as possible so as not to distress Sophie more than she's already going to be.

"When am I leaving?" Jamie asks, his voice hollow.

"You leave two days from now," His mother calmly replies, not at all upset about what is going to happen. "Your flight's in the morning."

He's accepted his fate, but one thing still nags at him. "Why did you have Pippa and everyone else take me out earlier?"

His mother looks a bit uncomfortable at the question. However, after a nudge from his dad, answers, "I thought it would be best if we sent all of your things in advance. We've sent most of your clothes and your new uniform ahead. Along with all your new school books and some of your other books .

Some of your posters as well, the appropriate ones anyway."

Jamie just stares at his mother in shock. Unable to believe what he's hearing. He's not only leaving in two days, but they've already sent his things ahead! This is just ridiculous!

"That's not all though, is it? Honey?" His dad questions his mum.

She begins to look really uncomfortable at this point. Refusing to speak anymore. The spineless cow.

His dad just sighs, seeing the look in his mothers eyes and continues, "Your mother thought that this would be a good time to do a bit of spring cleaning was it dear?" His mother nods slowly. Jamie doesn't at all like where this is going and can feel a sense of dread growing. "She thought that this would be a good time to get rid of some inappropriate books." Jamie freezes at that. The only books he has that his mother might deem inappropriate are the ones about the spirits. And some of them were decades old.

His dad nods his confirmation as he sees the devastated expression on his sons face. A single tear escapes from Jamies left eye. He'd spent years collecting those books and gathering every scrap of knowledge that he could about his new friends and all they're different names. The big four had stayed pretty much the same in all legends. But he'd found reference to Jack as Old Man Winter. The king of winter.

He stands up and slowly walks out of the living room. Ignoring his mums calls for him to return. She doesn't deserve his attention anymore. Chanting to himself in his head "Don't break down in front of your parents. Don't break down in front of your parents."

He arrives at his bedroom door after what seems like an age. He just stands there for a while, daring himself to enter and see what his parents had done to his once colourful room.

He eventually musters the courage and slowly opens his door. He turns the light on and is taken aback in shock. Most of his posters have been taken down. His bookshelves are practically empty and his wardrobe is open, empty.

He stumbles to bed, not even bothering to get changed or turn the light of and collapses face down. It still hadn't sunk in. All he can see in his future is a future without Jack. A future full of darkness.

With that thought he begins to silently cry. His tears streaking down his blank face.

His last coherent thought before he descends into the darkness known as sleep is "Those shadows are darker than normal."

Authors Footnote: I would like to thank my three reviewers, headbangerkenny, Ashleigh and blackdawn0 for taking the time to review my story. It makes me feel happy to know that you enjoyed it enough to leave a review. I would also like to thank VampireAngelBec, Scarlett-sama and (again) headbangerkenny for favouriting my humble story (I think favouriting is a word and if it's not then it is now).I would also name the people who followed my story but there's six of them and, although I am really happy that they're following my story, I'd probably just be repeating most of the names anyway. And I'm lazy so thank you, and sorry for not mentioning you. (By the way, this should probably go at the top shouldn't it? Oh well.)

I hope you enjoyed my latest instalment and PLEASE REVIEW. It would make me so happy :) Again, constructive reviews wanted and flames laughed at :D

By the way, if you can think of a better tittle tell me because I'm really bad at coming up with chapter titles. I won't necessarily change it but I will take any suggestions into consideration.