Stay

A/n: OMG I am soooo sorry I know I said October…and it is October…but I had this diagnostic test on the 22nd and that was when my exams ACTUALLY finished, and there were A LOT of activities going on in school. I'm really apologize if you're angry or disappointed but as I promised, here's the next chapter. And it's still October. BTW, Happy Halloween! I still love you all:)

Chapter 9

Finally reaching the living room, I turned on the electric gate switch for Cameron to drive in. I looked around. Jack was nowhere to be seen. I stood at the door as Cameron got out of his car. 'Hey, (f/n).' He flashed a shiny white smile at me then surveyed the room. 'Looks like nothing much changed. Everything's still the same here.' He walked to where a model train set perched on the mantelpiece of the old chimney at the other side of the room. It was what we played with when we were kids. I hadn't bothered to dismantle it since I was too lazy and it looked nice there. Cameron picked up the red train and looked at it, turning around to raise his eyebrows at me.

'Yeah, nothing's changed.' I looked up at him, holding his gaze. 'Just that we grew up.' I was suddenly angry and disappointed at him for leaving me out in the cold for all these years, letting me fend for myself while he thrived on top of the 'student chain'. I walked away from the living room, biting my lip and trying not to curse at him. This sudden anger had caught me off guard too. I was surprised that I could flare up so easily. I felt Cameron take hold of my hand so I turned around, looking up at his tall figure. '(f/n), I'm sorry. I told you that I was really busy, and Lauren wouldn't let me near anyone.' I looked into his green eyes, but I couldn't tell if he was telling the truth. I inhaled deeply and turned the other way, heading out to the back garden, just wanting to get myself out of there. Cameron let my hand go. 'By the way, I thought you said the winter spirit was here-' 'I'm looking for him!' I snapped, then in a cooler tone, 'You can go watch TV or something else first. I'll just be a minute.'

Pushing open the wooden door, I walked out onto the snow-covered pebble walkway, breathing in the sharp crisp winter air and searching for Jack. I had a feeling that he would be there. Making my way to the old wooden bench beside a rose bush, I sat down on it and looked around at the dry wilted plants. The trees were grey and bare, their cracked branches and trunks holding up feebly. All the flower bushes were covered in frost. Just wait until springtime (f/n), I told myself. This whole place would be bursting with life and colour. I wished I could show it to Jack when the time came. I really hoped he wouldn't have to leave when winter ended. The truth was, I didn't want him to leave at all.

'(f/n)!' I turned my head at the sound of Jack's voice. He was walking to me from the house. 'What're you thinking? Its cold out here and you're still not fully recovered.' He stood in front of me and held out a hand as I looked up at him. His white hair shone even brighter under the mild winter sun, bringing out his clear blue eyes. I looked at his hand in front of me and took it, feeling the softness of his skin and how cool it felt against mine. It was even colder than the air surrounding me. I stood up and walked back to the house with Jack, who was still holding my hand.

Looking down, I watched his bare feet tread lightly on the snow covered walkway. Something made me want to try it too, so I stopped and bent down to slip off my shoes. Jack looked at me, bewildered, then realizing what I meant to do. Just when my left foot barely touched the white powder, Jack grabbed my waist and lifted me up, making me squirm and writhe around, surprised and struggling to get off. 'Jack! Put me down!' I pushed against his shoulders with my hands, not able to resist grinning a bit. Jack looked at my face and laughed, carrying me all the way to the open back door.

'Alright, you can put me down now.' I said half-heartedly, the other half not wanting him to let me go as we got into the house. 'Okay.' Jack put me down on the tiled floor, his arms still wrapped around my waist. 'Jaaack,' I whined, half wishing that he would let go and half hoping that we could just stay like this forever. Then out of the blue, Jack moved even closer and lowered his head so his forehead touched mine, looking into my eyes the whole time. I froze as I didn't know what to do, my heart was speeding up fast and my brain had closed down. Unconsciously, I put my arms up around his neck. Surprise flashed across his eyes then disappeared. He held me tighter, making my heart almost wan to burst—

'Umm, I'm not meaning to interrupt, but you do realize that there's someone else in this house waiting?' I looked to the right to find Cameron leaning on the doorway out of the kitchen, watching us with an amused yet annoyed expression. I looked back at Jack who was staring, or rather glaring at Cameron. 'Keep calm,' I whispered just loud enough so only Jack could hear me. He inhaled deeply and let go of me, eyes constantly on Cameron. I bit my lip as I looked at both of them. Why did I always have to get myself into these kinds of situations?

'Cameron, this is Jack Frost. Jack, meet Cameron.' I motioned for Cameron to come closer. He walked over to us and held out a hand to Jack, who looked at it cautiously for a few moments. He took it and they stiffly shook hands. 'So, it's nice meeting another teenager who still believes in me.' Jack gave Cameron a smile as he drew back his hand. I looked anxiously at him, relieved that he was at least being friendly. Cameron grinned at him. 'Hey, it's an honour for me to actually meet THE Jack Frost. Tell me something, if you're real, then is Santa Clause real?' 'Yeah, he sure is. If you believe in him, you can see him too.' Cameron's eyebrows rose high up his forehead. It was Jack's turn to grin at him. 'Tell me about yourself, since you're the first boy my age that I can talk to.' They moved to sit at the table. 'Uh, I'll be going now. You two have a good time.' Both of them turned to look at me. Cameron nodded and Jack smiled at me. I hurriedly walked out as I could feel my cheeks getting warm.

I had to talk to (bf/n) about this.

Jack's P.O.V.

Both of us watched (f/n) as she walked out of the kitchen. I was trying my best to hold my temper and not fly at the teen in front of me for hurting her. The good-looking boy turned to look at me. 'So, how's life as a spirit?' I looked him down. I had to make myself get to know him if I wanted to become human. Deciding that he wasn't too bad, I told him about how I came to be a winter spirit and about my life as one. When I finished, Cameron started telling me about how he and (f/n) were friends since young and about school. We shared our interests and exchanged info on each other's worlds. I found it was quite easy and fun talking to him. I started to hate myself for being so nice to the person who made (f/n) sick, but I had to act like how the Guardian of Fun should. For (f/n)'s sake.

'How is school now?' I asked him, curious to know and hoping to pick up some pointers for when Manny made me human. Cameron laughed. 'Well it's certainly very different from three hundred years ago. In the school I go to, there are mainly two types of people, the "in" ones and the social outcasts.' I cringed inwardly at how carelessly he said that. 'And I assume you're one of the popular ones?' He nodded his head. 'And (f/n) is?' Cameron's eyes widened as he cleared his throat. 'Uh…well she's…not exactly popular…' He wouldn't look at me as he said it. 'Oh, and you being her "friend" isn't doing anything about it?' Cameron glared at me with flaming green eyes. 'Hey look, Jack Frost. I know you're all super winter power and stuff, but that doesn't mean you can judge the way I treat my friends.'

I tried to keep my voice calm. 'I'm not judging you. I just don't think it's fair. She told me that she doesn't know many people at school, and she only has that girlfriend of hers.' Cameron took a deep breath. 'Yeah, (f/n) hasn't been really sociable since she was a kid. But I'm really sorry about it.' He gazed at me as he pondered something. 'Jack, why are you so protective about (f/n)?' I bit my lip and swallowed. 'Because she believes in me and is the first teenager to ever see me.' Cameron chuckled as he reached over to the fruit basket to take an apple. 'JUST, that?' He cocked an eyebrow at me as he took a bite out of the red fruit. 'Um, yeah I guess so.' I knew that he knew what I was thinking.

'Well, Jack, you seem to like her way more than a friend should.' I held my gaze at him as he chewed, then swallowing the fruit slowly. 'You know, looking at her all googly eyed, holding her at too close a distance for friends to be, defending her so fiercely…are you sure that you should be falling for a human and not one of your kind?' I held my tongue, glaring at him as the fire in me started to grow. 'Hey, it's not a huge wonder that you have a crush on (f/n). She's very pretty, though she doesn't seem to notice it herself. Quite a number of guys at school fancy her.' Cameron turned the apple in his hand round and round, eyes fixed on me. Not even I, Jack Frost, could douse the immense fire inside of me now. I had a sudden urge to freeze him there and then, like how I'd do to Bunny when he got on my nerves.

'So what's the big deal if I like her? It's not like you don't have someone else already.' I retorted. Cameron glared at me fiercely as he stopped spinning the apple. 'This has nothing to do with my girlfriend. (f/n) is my friend and I don't want you to hurt her.'

'Hurt her? That seems like what you did already. She's sick all because of you!' Quick as lightning, Cameron jumped to his feet and was about to give me a blow in the head when I grabbed my staff and froze his hand in a ball of ice. How did it get like this? One minute we were talking like old friends and the next he was going to give me a black eye. Cameron tried to lift his hand, all in vain as the ice encasing it was just too heavy. He looked at me with such fiery eyes that could melt the ice if they wanted to.

I heard (f/n) coming down the stairs slowly. 'Guys, is everything alright?' Her footsteps echoed on the wooden floor, coming nearer to us. I guess Cameron's hand was starting to become numb. The fire in his eyes was gone as he looked at me pleadingly. I rolled my eyes at him and made the ice disappear. He flexed his fingers and seethed angrily, it must have been really painful. He put his hand down just as (f/n) poked her head around the door. 'Are you two okay? I thought I heard someone shout. And Jack, why are you holding your staff?' Cameron and I looked at each other for a short moment. 'Well, I was just showing my powers to Cameron.' I could literally feel anger radiating of the boy beside me. 'Alright, but that's going to have to stop. Cameron, your mom just called and she wants you home for lunch now. She said she phoned your cell at least five times but you didn't answer.'

'Oh yeah, I think I left it in my car. Thanks for informing me.' I watched as he grinned at (f/n). She looked at him then glanced at me, blushing faintly then quickly disappearing from the door. 'Hey man, I gotta go.' Cameron moved in front of me and we shook hands stiffly. In a flash, his good hand grabbed hold of my hoodie front and he pulled me closer so he could look me straight in the eye. I was shocked, not knowing what was gonna happen. He growled in a very low voice. 'Listen, Jack. You had better take care of (f/n) if you're going to see her a lot. And don't you tell her anything…ANYTHING that you know from me.' He took up the apple. 'I may not have powers, but I have my ways…' He held the apple to my face, and squished it with one hand. '…of taking care of people like you.' I was about to open my mouth to defend myself, but decided to let it slip, not wanting any more trouble.

Cameron let go of my crumpled hoodie and nodded at me, throwing the juiceless apple into the bin and walking out of the room. I went to the sink and washed my eyes, which were stinging from the sour juice that squirted into them. That boy didn't look big, but (f/n) didn't say that he was a quarterback for nothing. I went into the living room and saw her waving goodbye to Cameron as he drove away.

My P.O.V

After finishing my composition on Romeo and Juliet for school, I packed away my books and went to plop down on my bed. Homework was never my thing at school. I frowned at the ceiling as I thought about all the other subjects I had to do in these two weeks of Christmas holidays. But I could finish it. It's not like I was gonna do anything special on Christmas.

Looking back, I could remember only one time when I had celebrated this holiday with my parents. The year after grandpa passed away, my mom cooked Christmas Eve dinner and we ate at the table together. There was smoked turkey, ham, fruit cake, ginger biscuits…what more could an eight-year-old want than food and her parents being with her? The next day my dad woke me up and told me to go downstairs. There were gifts of all sizes underneath the tree in the living room. He said Santa came that night and left them there for me. From what I can recall, that was the only time my dad ever made any reference to anything 'mythical'. I was ecstatic and about to burst as my parents and I opened up the presents.

Before, it was always granddad that brought me out to celebrate Christmas with him. He would bring me to his place where he threw a big party on Christmas Eve every year. There would be a gathering of people from around his neighbourhood, all exchanging greetings and gifts, feasting and having a good time. It wasn't a very rich community, but when I was there, I'd feel happy and loved. Some of his friends would buy me small presents and fuss over me, and the children didn't think I was weird and included me in their games. But all of that was gone now. I'd never went back there because I was afraid that I'd get laughed at or maybe the people forgot about me.

I was about to doze off when the phone rang. 'Hello?' I picked up. A vaguely familiar voice sounded through the phone. 'Hi, (f/n). It's Cameron's mom. Is he at your place? He said he was going there and he brought his phone along but I couldn't contact him.' 'Oh, he's here alright. We were just…talking. Is there anything I can help with?' I couldn't say he was here to talk to the winter spirit. His mom sighed. 'Well it's nothing, really. I just need him to come home for lunch.' 'Okay, I'll go and tell him. Goodbye, miss.' I said. Cameron's mom thanked me then hung up.

I got up from the bed and made my way to the door when I seemed to hear a shout from downstairs. Praying that they weren't fighting, I walked down and looked into the kitchen. Jack was holding his staff while Cameron was beside him, looking…shocked? After asking about what I heard, the winter spirit said that he was demonstrating his powers to the golden-brown haired boy. I passed the message to Cameron then looked over at Jack. Not knowing why, my face heated up and I quickly walked away, remembering how he held me just now and hoping Cameron would hurry up. I wasn't that comfortable with him around the house anymore.

I went up to my room and looked in the mirror, checking to see if the blush was still there. I really hoped Jack didn't see it… I couldn't help myself from doing that whenever I was around him. I really needed to ask (bf/n) to explain all this to me. I went down and saw Cameron's car reversing out of the driveway, so I waved to him. I watched as he drove smoothly away, then turned back to see Jack coming into the living room. 'Jack?!' His eyes were bloodshot red and he looked as if he had cried, making his face frighteningly creepy and pale. I hurried over to his side. He moved away as I tried to have a closer look at him. '(f/n), it's nothing.' He smiled at me as he started to scratch his eye. 'Hands off! Don't scratch it!' I shoved his hand away. 'You'll make it even worse.' I held his hands down with one hand as I lifted his eyelid a bit more. The angry red seemed to have lessened a bit, but I hadn't learned the cause of it. 'Why are your eyes like this?' I inquired, not letting go of his hands. Jack's eyes looked around the room as he answered. 'Um…Cameron was letting me see how you don't call him quarterback for nothing using your fruits.' My eyebrows jumped up. 'He squirted a lemon at you?' Jack chuckled. 'An apple, actually. He squeezed it until the juice spurted.' Woah, I didn't know Cameron could do that. He was so skinny last time.

'Well, it's nothing big, you just have to wait till your tears wash the juice away or you could clean it with more water.' I let go of Jack's hands. 'I'm sorry he did that to you.' I apologized. Jack frowned at me. 'Why? It's his fault, not yours.' I looked down at the floor. Diablo came pattering up to me and leant his head on my leg. 'I hope Cameron wasn't much trouble, but he has been acting quite weird lately.' Jack shrugged his shoulders as he turned to walk away. 'It's nothing. He was quite entertaining, by the way. Hey, we should go grab something. I'm starving.' Just at that moment, my stomach growled. Good thing Jack was far enough not to hear it. Diablo looked up at me with a scowl. 'Sorry, boy. I'll see if I can get you something, okay?' He barked and

went to lie on the couch, letting me off the hook. I rushed upstairs to change into a sweater and jeans. The two ice horses were still snuggled together in their makeshift bed.

I stuffed a few bank notes into my purse and brushed my knotted (h/c) hair, having forgotten to do so this morning.

Jack was sitting on the couch beside Diablo when I got down. They seemed to be having some sort of staring competition. Jack's eyes were watering as the greyhound looked at him without a blink. Finally, Jack cried out and closed his eyes, trying not to rub them. 'Fine, you win!' Diablo howled as he raced around the room. I shook my head at Jack. 'Really? A staring contest when you just had your eyes stung with juice?

Great idea, smart guy.' I clapped my hands sarcastically. Diablo seemed to laugh along. Jack opened his eyes and gave me a sideways look. 'Whatever,' he said, standing up and walking to the door. 'I just want to eat.' He opened the door and a gust of wind blew in. 'Are you sure you can go out in this weather?' Jack turned to me. I put on a thick fur coat and my boots. 'Yeah, I can. Anyway, you're the one who's supposed to be able to control all this, right?' Jack ruffled his hair and grinned at me. 'Guess I forgot. I'll try to make it warmer around you.' He took his staff in one hand and walked out. I waved goodbye to Diablo. He lifted a paw and "waved", his face still smug from defeating Jack. The winter spirit saw the look and stuck his tongue out at the dog. I laughed and closed the big door, locking it then starting off beside Jack.

We walked in silence for a while, the wind blowing into our faces, boots and bare feet crunching in the snow. Jack broke the silence. 'Can we get pizza?' He turned to look at me pleadingly. 'I was waiting to see if you'd ask that.' I grinned at him. 'So can we?' he asked eagerly. I thought about it, then looked at him. 'How are you gonna eat without other people staring at me?' 'What do you mean?' Jack's brow furrowed as he kicked at the white snow on the sidewalk. I rolled my eyes. 'Jack, you have to remember that not everyone can see you. How am I gonna explain myself when people see a huge macaroni pizza disappear slice by slice into thin air?'

'Oh, right.' Jack looked at the ground, his bare feet stepping lightly on the snow, leaving perfect footprints in it. After making a couple turns, we were out of the housing area and walking across a wide field. My house was located uptown, meaning it was quite a distance to walk from there to the town. I didn't use the car as going along the roads took a longer time, also because I secretly wanted to spend more time with Jack.

The field stretched for a very long way from right to left. Crossing to the other side took at least fifteen minutes. My grandfather said that in the olden times shepherds used this land to keep their flocks and farmers to plant their crops. It remained untouched by the building companies when they came to build the houses in my area. Tall willows, pines and birch trees stripped of their leaves were scattered alongside the field. One particularly large and towering willow stood towards the middle of the white expanse. I used to come here when I was little to escape the reality of my grandfather's death and to nurse my wounds and scars in my heart caused by bullying at school which never seemed to fully heal. It was the perfect hiding place. No one would see you in the midst of the long, closely grown leaves, shielding you from the world. Yet it was simple to peer quietly out of the leaves to see what goes on outside without anyone knowing.

I turned to look at Jack, who was drinking in the sight around him. He twirled his staff in his right hand, his left swinging beside him. The gentle tread of his feet on the grass and the carefree, light swing of his body suggested flying. I had the sudden urge to run freely across the field with him. 'Hey, Jack. Try and catch me!' I took off, sprinting across the white snow. It wasn't deep which made it easy to run in. I heard Jack exclaim, but only when I had put a good distance between us. I never took part in the track events in school, but I could run pretty fast. I could faintly hear the winter spirit's footsteps approaching me, so I increased my speed. The cool wind whipped my face and hair as I sped through the dry grass, finally stopping to catch my breath after covering almost three quarters of the field. Everywhere was silent. I heard no more footsteps behind me. Puzzled, I turned to look behind. Jack was nowhere to be seen. I started to panic. Where was he? 'Jack?' I shouted into the surrounding, receiving silence as a response. This was fishy, I thought, suspecting another of his tricks. I was about to shout his name again when someone jumped into me, making me lose my balance. I gave a short surprised yelp before tumbling into the bottom of a wide dip in the field. I was knocked out of breath, breathing heavily, my eyes closed in dizziness. Strong hands pinned my arms to the ground before I could try to move, and I didn't have to open my eyes to see who the person was.

'Gotcha.' I opened my eyes to see Jack grinning down at me, his face inches from mine. I rolled my eyes and tried to focus on breathing with him this close to me. 'Yeah yeah whatever.' I tried to raise my arms from the ground in an attempt to get up, but Jack's firm grip prevented that. 'There's one very important thing that you should know, (f/n).' Jack said, his minty breath grazing my face. I swear he could hear my heartbeat quicken. 'It's not a very smart decision to challenge a winter spirit to a chase, especially one that can fly,' he whispered into my ear. His cocky manner was resurfacing again. And I thought it was gone for good.

I tried to give him an I-don't-care expression. He chuckled and propped himself up on his elbows in the snow. 'But it was fun,' he smiled, his old fun tone coming back. I let myself grin. 'Yeah, it was, actually.' I gave a small laugh. Jack lifted a hand and brushed a few stray strands of hair from my face. Our eyes locked and he was giving me that look he had this afternoon again. Before Cameron interrupted. His clear blue orbs reflected the same thing I had been trying to get whenever he looked at me like this. We gazed at each other, Jack's hand stroking my hair, when all of a sudden we snapped out of our own little world and registered the snow seeping into our clothes. I gave a small shiver. Jack looked kind of confused then got off me, reached out a hand to help me up. Still feeling giddy, my legs shook and he put his arm around my waist, steadying me. 'Thanks,' I whispered, feeling a blush coming. Jack just nodded. 'We'd better get going,' he said, keeping his arm on me until we were out of the dip. Then he picked up his staff, which he maybe dropped when surprising me, and continued through the field. I walked beside him for a while, then subconsciously slipped my right hand into his left. I secretly glanced at him, nervous of his reaction and wondering what in the world made me do this. He didn't look over, but I felt his fingers wrap around mine, cold but soft, firm yet gentle. It felt very good, his presence calming and reassuring. We carried on like this in a comfortable silence, with the occasional 'you feeling okay?' from Jack, all the way to town.

It was the best walk I'd ever had.