As soon as their feet touch the ground, Pitch snatches the staff from Jack's grip. He swings it for Jack's head to knock him back and takes off running. Tooth flies over to help Jack to his feet.
"I'll go catch him," Tooth reassures as she goes to take off in Pitch's direction. Jack grabs her quickly by the arm.
"No," Jack shakes his head. "Let me do this Tooth. I'll meet you back at North's place."
"You're sure?"
Jack nods. Tooth doesn't say anything more. She trusts Jack and leaves him to fix things with Pitch. She takes off into the air and is soon out of sight into the clouds. Jack turns to glance over the snowy landscape before him and spots Pitch in the distance. He lifts his staff and with some momentum, Jack rides the wind.
Jack glides his way over Pitch's footsteps being covered up by the snowfall. He follows the trail gracefully and catches up to Pitch in no time. Pitch notices this and tucks into a shadow, or at least tries to. Just as he goes to step in, Jack hooks the top part of the staff around Pitch's neck and yanks him back out. Pitch is knocked into the snow, looking up wide eyed.
"I will not have you imprison me again, Jack!" Pitch swings his arms to throw a gust of black nightmares at Jack. Jack dodges and turns the darkness into ice. It freezes instantly becoming jagged spikes. Jack isn't as prepared for Pitch's next attack and it knocks him back. Pitch grabs the staff from Jack's hands and throws it as hard as he can. "Do not follow me again!" Just as Pitch turns to leave, he hears Jack whisper. He didn't catch at first what he said, "I beg your pardon?"
"I found your heart…" Jack props himself up onto his elbows. "It was near mine."
Pitch shifts uneasy. "You make it sound like it's true. How can I give you my heart when you're so careless with it. You just left me and then throw me behind bars!"
"You stole a child! Then you cheated on me!" Jack cries out.
Pitch takes a step back, "I didn't…it was…"
"Do you love him?"
"Look what he did to me!" Pitch touches the bruises on his face.
"You like it Pitch. You like the pain." Jack rises to his bare feet.
Pitch lowers his brow. "Not like that. You broke my heart Jack. He was there and found me…I was weak." Pitch turns from Jack's gaze. He can't even look at him. He is ashamed.
"…I'm not trying to capture you again Pitch. Go on and leave if you don't want to be with me. I will leave you alone." Jack gestures. "Just leave!"
Pitch looks surprised, but he turns to leave in frustration. He soon stops and spins back around. "Maybe you should leave!"
"I've already left!" Jack throws up his arms and walks off.
Pitch's heart is hammering. He stumbles a few steps after Jack. "Jack-wait."
Jack stops and glances over his shoulder. "What?"
"I hate you so much…" Pitch grinds his teeth. It isn't exactly what Jack wanted to hear, so he continues to walk away. Pitch falls to his knees in the snow. "I hate that I am useless without you. I am nothing. You destroy me Jack."
"Then you're better off without me if I hurt you so!"
"Jack-you're right-my heart is with yours!" Pitch puts his hand to his chest. "Don't make me beg…"
Jack finally stops. He turns and goes straight up to Pitch. His first reaction is to smack Pitch across the face. Pitch grabs his wrist to prevent him from doing so again. Jack falls to his knees in front of Pitch and kisses him hard on the lips. Pitch kisses back deeply until he is bit on the lip. He pulls back to touch his bleeding cut and receive another smack from Jack's free hand. Pitch grabs that too and pushes Jack back into the snow.
Jack wiggles and kicks beneath Pitch's lean body. "You've hurt me so much! It hurts…it hurts…"
Pitch slowly lowers himself onto Jack, pinning him there while lying his head on the boy's chest. He holds him like this until Jack begins to calm down and only then let's go of his wrists. Pitch looks up to see the boy crying and rubs his cheeks against his to wipe away the icy tears. "I also hate the way I fall for you. I can't stop thinking about you. I want to be with you forever. I love you so much. Your ugly face, your stubby little body."
Jack can't help but laugh through the tears. "I'm just younger, not stubby. You make me sound so unappealing."
"I must! Or else you'd be with another and it would kill me."
"Then you must know how I felt."
"It was rape Jack. I didn't want it." Pitch goes to climb off Jack, but Jack clings to him desperately. Pitch lowers back down since the boy has his arms wrapped around him.
"Neither of us are going to apologize for what we did."
"No…" Pitch whispers.
Jack hugs Pitch tighter, "…but we can move on from this?"
Pitch looks deep into Jack's beautiful eyes. "What if this continues to happen, Jack? What if we always disagree? I can't be what you want. I'm not the good guy. I can't-you can't expect that of me-"
"And you can't expect me to do sinister things for you…" Jack frowns.
Pitch swallows hard and brushes the white hair from Jack's face. He kisses him softly. "Then what do we do?"
Jack smiles a little, "we become a little more…accepting of one another and our…differences."
Pitch kisses Jack on the forehead and lies down beside him. He holds Jack in the snow, neither one of them minding the cold. The thick snow starts to cover them like a blanket while they're still.
Both of them enjoying the quiet…
Both of them enjoying the other's embrace.
