October 27

He still couldn't believe Jack would work with Pitch on anything, let alone drugs. But Sharon had never let him down before, and Jack's record was less than clean for honesty. He couldn't risk bringing in Jack if that meant bringing in Pitch, too. The tutoring program was not going to become a way for Pitch to spread more crap throughout the student population. If protecting his program meant throwing Jack out, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Jack wasn't making it easy on him. He had come up to his locker during nearly every break between classes, trying to convince him he had nothing to do with Pitch. It really was enough to make Aster doubt Sharon. But Jack never pleaded, and he suspected it was just Pitch speaking through someone else. It wasn't like he was throwing Jack out to the wolves or anything, right? He had friends he could go to.

A nagging voice in the back of his head said he didn't. Jack didn't hang out with anyone. That's why he stayed in the library during lunch. He didn't have any friends to talk to. The closest thing he had was a group of people who just wanted to use him for his notes. And in a very distant second, the next thing he had was Pitch.

Would Jack be okay without them? He'd been on his own for so long and he'd just had a taste of companionship with others. The more that he thought about it, Jack's actions made sense without Pitch's involvement. Friends were a necessary part of growing up, and Jack never had any. The first ones he ever had were now calling him a liar and pushing him away. It must have been horrible. Even if he was involved with Pitch, his emotions couldn't have been faked when he was talking to Aster at his locker. He was frustrated and worried that he was going to lose the few friends he had, if they could be called that. Would this loss shock him into giving up his relationship with Pitch?

He was walking out of the school building, not paying attention to where he was going. He was completely lost in his thoughts, and barely noticed someone tapping him.

It was only when the girl knocked her palm against his shoulder forcefully and shook his arm that he noticed she was trying to get his attention. He stopped, turning and looking down to see her. She was from the middle school, he guessed. What was she doing over here? She was distinctly worried, biting her lip and shifting her weight impatiently. He glanced over her shoulder and saw a boy about her age standing a few feet behind, out of hearing range but clearly with her. The boy was watching the pair, probably waiting to walk home with her.

She was looking at Aster nervously, waiting to see if he was actually paying attention. To humor her, although he was annoyed at being interrupted, he said, "What?"

"Are you Aster Bunnymund?"

Do you see another six foot tall Australian with abnormally large feet standing around? "Yeah. Who're you?"

"Jack's sister," she replied quietly. "Emma. Look, he's not supposed to know about me being here."

Aster groaned inwardly. This was guilt tripping if he'd ever seen it. "If this is about-"

"It's not," she replied quickly. "He didn't tell you about this."

He raised an eyebrow. "How d'ya know that fer sure?"

She shrugged, smiling slightly. "He doesn't like other people solving his problems for him, does he?"

Aster paused and then nodded. "Yeah, that's him. What's the problem?" She bit her lip again, looking around the pair. She had to stand up on her tiptoes to see over half the heads in the crowd, but was still too short for the rest. Aster simply had to casually turn his head one way and then the other before saying, "Jack already went home. He's not in the crowd."

She nodded. "Okay. Um… Jack and… and our father had a falling out. I mean, they were never on good terms, but it got… it got really bad. I can't… I tried to get Jack to back off, but he just told me it wasn't going to stop unless he did something, so… And he won't let me help! I don't even know what I'd do if he let me anyway…"

Aster shook his head slightly, trying to get all this straight in his head. How many problems did Jack have? "Wait, what d'ya mean 'a fallin' out'?"

She started to respond and then stopped, grimacing and shifting her weight. "It's… It's just bad, alright? Can you talk to him or something? Please?"

"I'm not sure I'm the best person fer that," Aster said carefully. "He an' I aren' on the best a' terms."

Emma pursed her lips. "You don't get it."

"Get what?"

"He lied a few nights ago and said he was staying at one of his friend's houses to work on a project. He doesn't…didn't…have any friends. So I talked to him about his friends the next night he was home, and he made up this completely false stuff to try to make me happy. Didn't you think it was odd that he was willing to share his notes? If he didn't have any proof of friends, then I would know he was lying, so he made some." She smiled wryly. "He didn't know I already knew he didn't have anyone. One of my friends has a sibling in his grade, and he's kept me informed."

She was not making kicking Jack out of the tutoring group easy.

"The two of us haven't been close for years, and I feel like this is my fault because I pushed him into doing something and…and that's what caused the problem."

"What…" Aster ran a hand over his face. "Okay, what's this about? What d'ya want me to do?"

"I need you to talk to Jack or…or something. Can you stop by sometime to talk to him? It's… You kinda have to see the problem to believe it. It's really bad."

He sighed through his nose, gaze flickering from Emma to the boy behind her. "Yer goin' home now?"

"Yeah."

"I'll just walk the two a' ya home. I don' know exactly where ya live." He gestured for the boy to come over. Emma looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Oh God, a middle school romance.

The boy trotted closer, looking between the two. "You guys figured it out?"

"Somethin' like that. You on the way to her house or past it?"

"My dad's going to pick me up when we get to her house," the boy replied. He held out his hand. "Jamie."

Aster shook it. "Aster. You two in seventh grade?"

They exchanged surprised looks and laughed. "No, no," Jamie said, shaking his head. "We're fifth graders."

"Ah, whatever," Aster grumbled, inciting more laughter from the pair. "C'mon, let's get goin'." He turned, and the other two followed behind. Emma asked about the tutoring program, and Aster asked about how classes were going for those two. They avoided talking about Jack altogether.

It was Jamie's idea that if they could get the tutoring program up and working at the high school effectively, they could expand into the middle school and elementary schools too. It would be a great way for the students to meet and help each other. Jamie and Aster talked about that for almost half of the walk. Emma was grinning through the entire conversation, occasionally adding in an idea of her own.

Jack's sister was really a sweet girl, Aster decided. If he were Jack and had been in the same situation, he would have definitely made up friends to please Emma too. Aster didn't bear any ill will to Jack for partially deceiving him and the rest of the group.

But Emma had said that Jack had lied about where he was a few days ago. Had he lied about the river? And if so, had he planned to be away for the night or had he explained himself later?

He decided that there would be time for those questions later as they arrived at the house. The front was in horrible shape and in bad need of repainting and fixing. Vaguely, he remembered once thinking that Jack repeatedly wore the same four or five shirts all the time. He inwardly winced for having never caught that before.

The three waited at the end of the driveway until Jamie's dad came by to pick him up. Aster and Emma waved as the van drove off, and then stood there for a few moments in silence.

"I guess Jack isn' s'posed to know I'm here?" Aster said.

"Yeah," Emma said, rubbing her head. "I mean… I'm not even sure what you can do for him, but…anything."

"I'll try," Aster promised. "I owe Jack that." He nodded at the door. "Go ahead. I'll…um. I'll figure somethin' out."

Emma smiled at her. "I see why you two don't get along. But you guys would make great friends, too."

Aster grunted, motioning for her to go on. "Get inside, it's cold."

Her smile faded as she nodded and turned to go inside. He watched her walk in to the house and waited a few minutes. Then he moved to the door, watching the windows carefully to make sure no one would see him approach. He walked quietly, trying to avoid arousing any suspicion from the house. With the plan of just walking the perimeter to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, he turned and walked over to the left side. Nothing immediately jumped out at him-

"You asshole!"

Aster froze, hand against the wall. The yelling was coming from the other side of it, but he could hear it as clearly as if it were right next to him. He would have bet his arm that the owner of the voice was the Frost father.

"Tch, that's what you're going to call me?" Jack. "Your vocabulary's as limited as your mindset."

"Don't get cocky with me!"

"You're not happy with anything I do, so I don't think it really matters if I'm cocky or not!"

Aster turned around and set his back against the wall. He lowered himself to the ground, sitting in the snow with his arms on his knees and his chin on his arms. The loud arguing rang out in the room behind him. He heard Jack's father yell something in response; then Jack shouted something back. It went on like that for hours. Aster kept warm by moving about every few minutes, making sure to keep his blood circulation going. Emma came out an hour after she had gone in, bringing with her a bundle of blankets. He took them gratefully but without a smile. She went back inside while he wrapped himself up against the cold, settling in for a long wait.

Eventually, the yelling began to wear down as the Frost father got tired. The two males in the house simultaneously left the room, giving up on the argument in favor of their beds. The heavy footsteps of the father could be heard as he stomped up the stairs to bed.

Aster remained sitting there, thinking over what he had heard. No wonder Emma wanted him to do something about it. The problem was that he didn't know how to even say anything about it. How could you even approach someone and ask that question?

I barely know him.

The thought flittered in, unwarranted and unwelcomed, faster than he could keep it out.

The front door flew open, just when he was sure everyone in the house was asleep. Feet thudded on the wooden planks of the porch and jumped off, hitting the ground and taking off running. Aster looked up, knocking off blankets as he saw Jack sprinting to the forest and carrying something in his hand. He threw aside the rest of the fabric and ran after him.

Jack ran fast and hard, quickly burning out his strength and stamina. Aster followed behind, limbs hurting from the sudden change in stillness to abrupt motion. He could see Jack up ahead, running to somewhere in the far distance. The object in his hand was hard to miss, and now that he was closer, he recognized it as the stick that had saved their lives. If Aster had to guess, Jack probably didn't know where he was going. He was just running. And so Aster would follow him.

Jack's bad leg began to catch up with him, and for the last half mile he ran, his limp became more and more pronounced until he could no longer manage anything more than a fast walk. Then Jack just dragged his leg along behind him, pulling himself through the woods by using the shepherd's staff. The painful movements became obvious to the point where it hurt to watch.

Aster slowed down to keep distance between himself and Jack. In his friend's state, he doubted that Jack would even notice if Aster tripped and caused a huge ruckus. Still, Jack deserved his privacy.

Jack stumbled, only barely catching himself in time. He paused briefly before visibly stiffening his resolve. The staff moved first, and then the rest of his body dragged itself after it. He moved on, stepping forward a few more paces. His leg must have been causing him excruciating pain, but Aster wasn't sure Jack could even feel it.

A rushing sound filled his ears. Aster looked around, realizing they had reached the river. The freezing temperature hadn't been able to stop the rushing water, and it flowed stronger than ever.

A thud made him return his attention to Jack. The staff had dropped, and Jack hit his knees on the ground shortly after. A hollow sound escaped him as he bent forward, planting his exposed hands on the cold bridge and letting his head droop below his shoulders. Aster stopped, watching his friend in pity. Jack's shoulders suddenly stiffened and he reached out with his arm, grabbing onto the railing of the bridge and pulling himself over. From his position, Aster could only hear the ragged breathing and see the heaving shoulders. Anything in Jack's stomach went over the railing and into the river. The sudden exertion of energy and the injury he had just inflicted on his leg came back to cause him more trouble.

He stayed there for nearly ten minutes. Eventually, Jack reached over to grip his staff. He planted it in the snow and used it to heave himself up and to his feet. Aster stepped back quickly, ducking behind a tree. He heard Jack limping painfully past, his foot dragging in the snow. Jack was going back home. Aster would never know how hard that decision was to turn around or how crucial he had been to it.

He watched Jack struggle to his house. It was almost one in the morning by the time Jack reached the porch and collapsed on it. Aster stayed in the trees, hidden from view. Jack reached forward, running a hand over his leg to see how bad it was. He winced several times in pain. A few droplets of blood were running down from it and staining the snow red.

It would've been easy for Aster to step out into the trees and walk to the porch. He could have sat down next to Jack and he wouldn't have to say anything. All Jack would need would be a comforting presence. Aster could go grab the blankets from the side of the house to keep both of them warm. Maybe he could tell Jack something kind, could tell him he believed him now. Sharon must have had wrong information. There was no way this kid would ever get involved in drugs, not someone who would stand up to such a bastard for a sister he barely knew.

It would've been easy for Jack, at that point, to tell him what was going on. It'd allow him to get tension off his shoulders. The two of them could figure something out, maybe get his father into therapy. Emma would love her brother for trying, even if he hadn't been able to fix all the problems by himself. Everyone would turn out okay. The problem would practically fix itself.

All Aster had to do was walk over there.

Instead, he did the hardest thing he had ever done, and turned and walked away.

Aster couldn't fight Jack's battles. Jack had been alone for a long time and would be unable to hand over the steering wheel to another. He wouldn't trust Aster, and would be pissed that he had followed him this entire time without saying a word. He would be unhappy at his sister for telling what had happened because of him. He wouldn't ever trust his sister or Aster again, and Jack's trust wasn't something any of them could afford to lose right now.

Aster wanted nothing more than to help Jack. But his friend wouldn't accept the help, and he could end up making it worse. Aster couldn't do this for him.

He could, however, support him.

His promise to Emma held firm. No harm would come to either of the Frost children. Until the time Jack would accept help or Jack was able to get his father help, he would be supported.

Aster got home late. His mother was up, working on the computer. He told her he had been finishing up something with Sandy, which she said she had assumed was the case. She smiled and nodded as he told her that he had another project he was working on with North that would require him to stay late for a long while every night. He wasn't sure when the project would be finished.

The next day he would go to Jack's house right after school and sit against the wall of the house. He found a pile of blankets already waiting for him and a handwritten thank you note. Then he sat down to wait out the afternoon until Jack's father practically knocked himself out. While the story of falling down the stairs was still believable, it came in second place now to the real story. He sat in the snow, promising himself that he would enter at the first sound of violence.

Aster did that every day for the next month.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

October 28

North and Ana found Aster before school, practically attacking him as soon as his foot touched the sidewalk outside the building. They pulled him along to a corner of the school no one else was within hearing range of. He could guess what this was about but let them pull him along anyway.

Ana faced him, arms crossed. North didn't take any daunting pose, but he didn't really need to. He could probably have been his own football team if he wanted to be. Aster glanced between the two of them, waiting for one to start.

"We think you need to give Jack a little more time," Ana deadpanned. Aster stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to go on. She shifted her weight, and said, "I mean, he's been on his own for a really long time, and he's just now adjusting. Even if he is involved with Pitch, it was probably because of something a long time ago and has nothing to do with today. Maybe he's trying to change, and that's why he was talking to Pitch, to try to get out of whatever was going on. It's a lot of speculation, but you're basing your accusations off of speculation too!" Her defense was flailing a bit. "Give him another chance, please."

Aster looked at North.

"Jack has done his best and done most work," North said. "It not fair to suddenly kick him out."

Neither of them said anything for a few awkward seconds.

"I'm not kickin' Jack out," Aster finally said. He had decided that last night, but he didn't want to rain on North's and Ana's carefully planned speeches. "I can' do that to 'im. We're the only friends he's got, whether I like 'im or not. I think we're important enough to 'im that 'e'd change if he is doin' somethin' wrong."

A wide grin split Ana's face and she practically jumped on Aster, tackling him in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Aster could see North smiling over her shoulder.

"Yep," Aster muttered into her shoulder, patting it awkwardly. "Okay, can ya get off me now?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Did ya get through Algebra II yet?" Aster asked Jack before English started.

He looked at him in confusion for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah, but…"

"Okay. Mrs. Barrett came ta talk to me yesterday, an' she said she'll let us use her labs so long as we let her know ahead of time. I think this is gettin' a lot bigger than we planned. I was talking to someone from the middle school yesterday, an' they said if the high school tutorin' program does well, they wanna start it up at the middle school too."

Jack stared at him with a blank expression. "What's today?"

"Huh?"

"Is it the twenty-seventh?"

"Nah, the twenty-eighth, why?"

"Oh, I thought I just dreamed yesterday or something…"

Aster completely ignored his confusion and just continued talking. "The word's getting' around school pretty fast about it, an' there's been a huge response. I think this is gonna go really well if it keeps up like this."

Jack nodded, listening to Aster as he talked about some of his other plans and what was going on with the preparations. He happened to glance down at Aster's hands and frowned. Interrupting the middle of Aster's ramble, Jack asked, "What happened to your hands?" Aster glanced down at them, flipping them over so he could look at the palms. Jack shook his head, turning them to show the back. The texture was grainy and rough, and they were white from flaking skin. They'd been exposed to the cold for a long time, it seemed. "Did you forget to put gloves on when you walked home last night or something?"

"Yeah," Aster said, nodding. "Just forgot my gloves."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

a/n: Aster's quick personality shifts and constantly changing perspective on what's going on with Jack is supposed to represent his boomerangs. I mean, I couldn't actually give the guy boomerangs to walk around with in school or anything, so...