A/N

Whoa! I totally don't know what's going on, but I never update this fast normally! Let's hope this keeps up!

Maybe it has something to do with the super-cool people who are reading/following/favoriting/REVIEWING this story! Special thanks to…

-snowing-in-the-spring-time: Lol thanks so much for the encouragement! Hopefully this chapter meets your expectations!

-Anie6142: OMG I LOVE YOUR GLITTER! Oh, yeah. Aster will be judging. You hit that nail on the head. But stay tuned, cause I will eventually get into what Jack did that got him on Aster's hit list. And maybe some other flashback moments too ;) Let me know if there's anything specific you want to see!

-Guest: Haha you should be a motivational speaker or something! I'm writing, I'm writing! Lol, thanks!

You guys make the world a better place! Thanks so much for your words! Hope you, and everyone else reading this, enjoy!

~Smiley

The big Russian man was waiting for him.

"Jack!" he boomed. "You have come! Aster had bet you would not show. Now he owes money!" The man was laughing like this was the funniest thing in the world.

"Uhhhh…" Jack laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. They had already started placing bets on him? Wait—why was that name familiar?

"Is no matter!" North grabbed Jack, lifting him up in a bone-crushing hug. Jack couldn't breathe. "You are now guardian! Welcome, friend!" He set Jack back down, only to grab his face and kiss both cheeks with two big, Mwah! Mwah!s.

"North! You're going to scare the poor kid off before he even starts!" a higher voice shouted. The woman rushed forward, prying the crazy, over-affectionate man off of the unsuspecting boy.

Jack hadn't even taken a breath, let alone thanked his savior, when he was assaulted again. By his "savior."

"Hi! You must be Jack! We're all so excited to have you joining us!"

Jack took a couple of steps back, trying to put some distance between himself and an overly eccentric girl with way too colorful hair and strange, violet eyes. What was it with these people and getting in his face?

Jack managed to back himself right into a wall.

"Speak for yourself, sheila," a grumpy, accented voice said. Oh…not a wall then.

Jack spun around, finding himself face to face with a guy he hadn't seen since his freshman year of high school.

Oh.

Hot.

Damn.

The colorful girl, now behind him, laughed, but he heard her whisper, "Aster, be nice," through her teeth. No wonder that name had sounded familiar! Aster snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Kangaroo, how've you been? It's been a while."

"Day before Easter, four years ago," Aster stated, grinding his jaw to keep from punching the newbie. It was either that or jumping him.

"Wow, that long? Time must really fly. You're not still mad about that, are you?" Jack smirked at him. Maybe this job would be more fun than he thought.

Before Aster could give a snarky reply, a little blonde head peeped out from around a corner, then, seeing who she was looking for, came running on short, shaky legs. She nearly fell twice before she was able to grab onto Aster's legs for support.

"Bunny! Hop, hop, hop!" She erupted into a fit of giggles, causing her messy blonde hair to shake with her tiny, three year-old body.

The change in Aster's features was immediate. He went from storm cloud to sunshine in less than a second. "Hey there, Sophie, ya little ankle-biter!"

"Bunny! Up, up, up!"

"Ya sure?" Aster questioned, amusement dancing in his eyes. He tried his best not to show favoritism, but Sophie made it so hard!

She giggled, throwing her arms up towards him, trying to latch on to his hands or his clothes. Bouncing and nodding her head, she kept saying, "Yes! Up, up, up!"

Aster swooped down and threw Sophie up into the air, catching her before she could hit the floor.

"More, more, more!" she squealed, laughing hard.

Jack felt himself smile for the first time in a long, long time. A real genuine smile, not those fake ones he fooled people with. Sophie's squeals of laughter were infectious.

Now that he thought about it, Sophie reminded him, in many ways, of what Emily had been like when she was little, but Jack immediately began trying to push the depressing thoughts of his little sister out of his head. Emily had brown hair, he reminded himself. It's not her.

That wasn't helping.

However, Aster was. His smile as the child giggled in his arms was contagious, not to mention one of the rarest, most beautiful things Jack had ever seen. Man, he had forgotten how big his crush on the guy used to be. Four years could do that. Even if Jack wasn't crushing on him anymore, Aster's smile and easy (though not entirely playful) banter were effective in chasing away anything Jack did not want to think about. At least for the time being.

"Bunny?" Jack repeated. "Oh, I'm gonna have to start using that one."

"Don't ya even think—"

North cut Aster off. "Jack, you and Aster will be working in same room. Manny gave you nametag, da?"

"Uh, yeah." Jack pulled the lanyard out of the pocket of his signature blue hoodie. It was plain and simple, decorated with just his name.

North was unimpressed. "Hmmm…we must fix, once we find your center, da?"

"What's wrong with it?"

Jack looked around at all the others. Sophie had found Aster's nametag (which had "Bunny" under his actual name) and was playing with it while bouncing up and down in his arms. But it was decorated with all sorts of different, bright colors and designs. Some looked like Easter eggs; others looked like his tattoos. Tooth's had hummingbirds and teeth all over it. North's had a sleigh flying over the top of his name, and beneath the name were several Russian dolls, getting smaller from left to right.

"Needs more color. But no matter! We will find your center, Jack Frost, and we shall then decorate nametag." North said this as if it were a matter of great importance. Jack couldn't really bring himself to care very much. "Now, off! Aster, you will show Jack where he will be working. Rest of us continue work!"

With that, North went off to do…well, something, grumbling about cookies as he went.

"See you later, Jack! If you need me, I'll probably be in the nurses' office." She pointed. "That's down this hallway. Third door on the left."

Down pink hallway, third door on left, he repeated to himself. "Got it," Jack said aloud, smiling his thanks. Tooth fluttered off, leaving Jack and Aster standing in the middle of the lobby.

And Aster was already halfway down another hallway—this one a bright shade of green. Jack hurried after him.

Somehow, Aster had moved Sophie so she was sitting on his shoulders without Jack noticing. She was gripping onto Aster's blue-grey hair for dear life, but she was beaming like it was the best thing she had ever done. "So," Jack said, falling into step with the much taller man, "we're working together?"

"Uh, no," Aster corrected immediately and a bit harshly. Jack decided he hadn't changed all that much in the past four years, aside from the light stubble that dusted his jaw. Jack tried hard not to note how good it looked on him. "I'm going to be working with the kids doing the arts and crafts. You're going to be watching the other kids."

"But we'll be in the same room."

"We'll be on opposite sides of it."

"Still the same room."

"Oh, shut it, ya gumby. I'm not any happier about this than you are." The bite in Aster's words stung, but Jack laughed it off. Honestly, Jack did not mind being around Aster. Sometimes it was even pretty fun, but Jack screwed that up and possibility of friendship pretty badly four years ago.

When Jack wasn't looking, Aster was sneaking sideways glances at him. Aster did not like Jack. He hadn't really forgiven Jack for ruining Easter all those years ago, but what really pushed Aster over the edge was the unfortunate, distracting emotions that shoved their way to the surface whenever the show pony was around. For someone so infuriatingly annoying and irresponsible, Jack was undeniably attractive.

"Okay, so, Bunny… what am I supposed to be doing, exactly?"

Aster thought for a moment, uncertain if Jack was seriously asking for direction. After a beat of silence, Aster was surprised to find he was. Not that it made him any less selfish or irresponsible.

"First of all, don't call me Bunny, Frostbite. Actually, a whole load of kids went out to the playground. It'd be helpful if you could mind them while they're out there."

Jack wasn't sure if Aster was trying to get rid of him or not, but he wouldn't mind he fresh air, so he didn't argue. Aster continued, "Look, the entire wall's gonna be windows looking out onto the playground, so if ya have any trouble just wave your hands and shout some and I'll come out."

"Aw, you do care," Jack said, putting his hands over the middle of his chest.

"Rack off, ya ruddy show pony, and don't take it to heart. I'm only concerned about the ankle-biters here."

"Whatever you say, Bunny."

"I told ya not to go calling me that."

"Yeah, but it's sticking. Right, Sophie?" Jack asked.

"Bunny!" she giggled.

"See?" Jack said, even though he wasn't entirely sure that Sophie had purposefully replied to him.

Aster rolled his eyes as they came to the doorway of the main room, lifting the girl down off his shoulders. He set her down on the ground, and she took off towards the nearest art table. Jack took a moment to survey his surroundings.

At least half of the room was for arts and crafts. Tables were piled high with glitter and glue and paper and paint and crayons, seats were filled with children, and there were several cabinets, probably filled with more supplies. The other half of the room had all sorts of toys, computers, a TV, and a little library. There were some kids over on the other half of the room, but most were enjoying the crafts. The wall leading outside was, true to Aster's word, lined with huge windows. Jack could see a good twenty or so kids running around out there.

Jack pointed at the playground, one eyebrow raised as if to ask if he was serious.

"Try ta make sure they're all wearin' coats. It's getting chilly, and I don't want them catching a cold or something." So, yes, Aster had been serious.

Jack nodded numbly. He could swear almost every kid was Emily. There she was drawing; there she was on the monkey bars; there she was playing with the remote-controlled cars…

"Door's over there." Aster jerked his thumb towards the exit to the playground and promptly turned his attention to the kids at the tables.

Jack just went for the door, knowing that Aster wasn't going to be much more of a help.

"Bobby, the glue is not for eatin', ya dingo!"

Aster had his hands full anyway.

A/N

Originally I wasn't going to stop here, but this seemed like a pretty good place to stop. Also, it's late.

Sorry for no Sandy in this chapter, but he's around there somewhere! Maybe he'll show up in the next chapter. Jamie, however, will definitely be joining us! Just a heads up. As always, I want to hear your thoughts, requests, and suggestions!

Leave a review, and Sophie will give you a hug! :D

~Smiley