Chapter 10
Rapunzel looked over this "Jack Frost", as he called himself, wishing that the wall wasn't here to contain her. Why was she surprised? She had suspected such a thing to happen - she had been so bold as to suspect it vocally. However, she most certainly had not expected that the cold force would materialize right before her eyes. She placed her hand over her heart, trying to calm herself; it didn't seem as if he meant her any harm. He stood before her with a nervous smile, looking like nothing that she'd ever seen in her life. He was tall and thin, with narrow limbs and frosty white hair that in no way pointed to an older age. In his hands he held a crooked staff, swinging it uncomfortably as she stared him down. Was she supposed to say something to him?
She opened her mouth, but her words escaped her. What could be said to a ghost? Was she to greet him as formally as he had her? Nothing was making sense right now.
"I don't understand," she finally uttered. "How is this - how did you do that?"
He stopped swinging his staff then, tousling his spiky hair. "I don't know, actually; I think you might have done it. Maybe we should start off talking about something easier."
"Okay," she said slowly, trying her hardest to think clearly. "I'm Rapunzel."
"I know," he replied with a sigh. "I know everything."
Rapunzel glanced down at the long train of hair at her feet, suddenly suspicious of this strange boy's intentions. She put on her toughest face and looked him in the eye. "Everything?"
He shifted beneath the weight of her stare. "Yes, everything. I've - I've been around for a while, just watching and listening; you just never knew because, well, you couldn't see me. Ugh, this sounds completely crazy; I'm so sorry."
He turned away from her then, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. For a long moment he stood there in silence, and although she was wanted to know more, Rapunzel couldn't find any words to fill the space with. Finally he let out a breath and faced her.
"Look, I think I should go. I'm sorry for-"
"You don't have to leave," she stopped him. Whether it was out of curiosity or pity, she wanted him to stay and talk with her; opportunities like this didn't come around everyday. Taking a leap of faith, she sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to her. At first he only stared, seeming unsure if he should join her. When she refused to break eye contact, he crossed the distance and sat down. "So, why are you here, Jack Frost?"
"I'm here because…" he trailed off, obviously thinking through his words. "I'm here because this is the only place I really wanted to be. I've never had anywhere else to go, and when I found you I just - I just stayed, I guess."
He didn't meet her eyes, seeming almost ashamed of himself as he talked. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with the situation, something that told her to be careful as she spoke in spite of her many questions. She would have to take things one step at a time and swallow her disbelief. Whatever he said, she would simply have to believe it. After all, she'd already taken a leap of faith in believing in him in the first place.
"How long?" she asked, and his eyebrows twitched in confusion. In the privacy of her mind she kicked herself for not being good at social interactions; she'd never gotten much experience in this field. "How long have you been here?"
"A few months?" he guessed, pausing to think. "Five maybe. Spring hadn't quite arrived when I first found the tower - that was kind of an accident, by the way. I wasn't really in the habit of making connections."
She studied him as he talked, analyzing the tiny movements of his face and the emotion hidden safely behind his eyes. There was something more to this than he was telling her. Maybe it was none of her business, but she wanted to pry it out of him. "Why didn't you want to make connections?"
"It seemed kind of pointless," he said, laughing lightly. She could tell, though, by the way that his eyes fell to the ground that this wasn't a laughing matter. "Why get attached to a world where nobody can see you, right?"
She frowned at this, slowly connecting the pieces. "No one can see you?"
"Nope," he sighed, still bearing the unenthusiastic smile. "Not for as long as I can remember."
"That sounds lonely," she said quietly, breaking away from the interrogation. He looked up at her now, unknowingly confirming her allegation. For a few long seconds he held his gaze, breaking it in an apparent realization of his actions.
"I've always gotten by," he nodded, building up his walls again. He looked back at her then, cocking his head to the side and grinning softly. "Not that I'm complaining about your company."
Under the flattery of his words, Rapunzel felt blood rushing to her cheeks. Instinctively she bowed her head, shielding her face with a curtain of blonde hair. She felt safer this way, less vulnerable than she had when exposed to his wide blue eyes. The coldness that seemed to radiate from him prickled against her bare forearm, making the tiny hairs stand on end. As she tried not to shiver she couldn't help but wonder if he felt an equal amount of heat coming off of her body. The crisp coolness in the air was familiar to her - as if she needed any more proof that Jack was, indeed, the one who had caused it all along.
"So all of this," she said, motioning with her hands to nothing in particular, "has been you. All of the strange things that I've been experiencing come back to you?"
"That sounds about right," he smiled, using his staff to pull himself to his feet. He took a few leisurely steps away from her before glancing over his shoulder. Sunlight from the window glinted mischieviously against his eyes. "I may have even saved your life once or twice."
"That also sounds about right," she mumbled, laughing guiltily to herself. "Thanks for that."
"I'm sure you'll find some way to repay me."
She raised an eyebrow at his cocky tone, ready to contribute if he so wished. "Who knows? I might even save yours someday."
"Ha, I seriously doubt it."
Choosing to ignore his arrogance, Rapunzel rose and strolled towards the door. "So, what's the staff for?"
"The staff?" he paused, his eyes flickering upwards thoughtfully before meeting hers with a smirk. "That's the magic part."
When she was unable to tell if he was kidding, Rapunzel decided that it was best not to respond at all. She continued out of the room and down the stairs, amazed by how well Jack seemed to know his way around. He truly had been here for the long-haul hadn't he? Thoughts of every embarrassing thing she had ever done raced through her head - how much, exactly, had he seen? Had he seen everything? Everything? What about the hours she'd spent pathetically sprawled across her bed in tears? What about the times that she'd undressed?
"What's wrong?" She looked up, once again aware of her surroundings. Jack stood a few feet away with a waiting expression. "You just got really quiet."
"I was just thinking," she began slowly, slowly pacing away from him, "about matters of privacy. You know what I mean?"
What little color had resided on his face suddenly washed away, leaving him paler yet and wide-eyed. "Oh, no - I never even came into your room. I didn't want to cross any lines; I swear it."
"You were in my room today," she pointed out suspiciously and saw him visibly panic as he tried to correct her.
"No - I mean, yes I was, but you were upset," he explained. "And you were talking about me, saying things that made me think you might know I was there - and you actually did. I promise you that I've always had the utmost respect for your privacy and personal space. I know that you have no proof, but you're just going to have to believe me."
She studied him; there was such urgency in his eyes - urgency lined with honesty and desperation. It was true that she had no evidence to back up his claims, but perhaps the trustworthiness reflected across his face could pose as a substitute.
"Fine," she narrowed her eyes, unable to mask the small smile that had found its way to her lips. "You leave me no choice but to trust you."
"A wise decision," he said, leaning against the wall. "Now, if the interview is over, could we have some real conversation?"
Once she let down her walls, Rapunzel found that Jack was quite easy to talk to. Although his sentences were often laced with sarcasm, there was a lightheartedness about him that seemed to shine through to let her know that he meant only to have fun. It didn't take long for her to feel comfortable around him - especially knowing that he'd seen her at her best and her worst. Minutes quickly turned to hours - hours in which she learned that Jack could fly, that he'd been most everywhere, and that he had, in fact, caught a handful of embarrassing moments (and it seemed that he was going to have fun with those). The only thing that Jack didn't want to talk about what himself. Sure, he could talk about the places he'd been and the things he could do with his powers, but he cleverly avoided any mention of personal topics and his past. Whenever she tried to ask questions about his life, he would maneuver sneakily around them, modestly changing the subject or finding a way to respond without truly answering. She hadn't noticed at first; no, not until the same question rolled into her head for the third time did she realize his tactics. Due to Mother's excessive lessons on how deceiving people could be. Rapunzel had the urge to press harder for answers. It took more self-restraint than Jack would ever know in order to respect his boundaries (after all, if she had spent her entire life as an invisible being, she might behave rather cryptically too).
"Mother would be coming home for dinner around this time," she sighed, eying the open window.
"I know," he replied, and then cocked his head to the side. With a newfound softness to his voice, he spoke again. "Do you miss her?"
"I do," she nodded, thinking to herself that it was a strange thing to ask; why would she not miss her mother? Perhaps he just didn't know better. "I mean, it's nice to have a little freedom once in a while, but we're really close. We're all that each other has in the world."
Jack walked to the window sill, taking in an audible breath of the night air. He paused, then, and looked back at her curiously. "What's freedom if you never do anything with it? Don't you ever want to leave here?"
Rapunzel was silent in shock - taken aback by the boldness of his words. Jack diverted his gaze to the floor; he knew that he'd overstepped his boundary. The first wave of awkward silence since they began talking hours ago rolled over them. Studying his face and noticing his shame, Rapunzel decided to let it go, although the question resignated in her mind even after.
"Are you hungry?" she asked, bringing the subject back to dinner. "I could make us something to eat."
"Um, sure," he said, and she raised an eyebrow at his hesitation. He chuckled to himself. "I don't eat very much. Actually, I - I don't think I really need to. Go ahead, though, if it's not too much trouble. Some of that stuff you make smells incredible."
How strange, to not need food in order to live. There was much to be learned before she could fully understand just what exactly he was. She tried to mask her confusion, not wanting to bring up anything else that might be taboo for him. "Really? Well, you tell me what to make - it's the least I can do for making you suffer through the delicious smells all this time."
"Nah," he waved her off. "You make anything you want for dinner, although if you're not opposed to dessert, there was a time you made this amazing chocolate cake."
Chocolate cake was something that Rapunzel certainly wasn't opposed to. She whipped them up a quick dinner, and they sat together at the table as she and Mother would have any other night. Jack took a few bites of the food, but didn't touch it much. At every questioning look he would laugh and assure her that it had nothing to do with her cooking skills. He seemed to come alive at the mention of dessert, helping her clear the table and accompanying her to the small area designated for cooking. Without wasting any time, Rapunzel began gathering the supplies that she needed; that was when Jack stepped in. She was beginning to climb atop a chair to reach the cocoa powder on a high shelf, but he stopped her.
"You wouldn't be terribly offended if I got that, would you? I can't help but think it would be easier for me considering what happened last time you did this," he explained, but for the life of her, Rapunzel couldn't remember what he was referring to. With a sigh, he continued bluntly. "You fell and nearly killed yourself - oh, and then you decided to take a nap and almost burned the place to the ground."
"Oh, yeah, you go ahead," she replied meekly, beginning to feel a bit ashamed until his playful laugh rang through the air once again. She couldn't help but giggle along. "Everyone's a critic."
With ease, Jack floated up to the top shelf, leaving gravity and its limits behind. It was a strange thing to see, but for him it was completely normal. He moved with such confidence, not at all worried that he might go tumbling to the ground.
"How do you do that?" she asked when he returned to her level.
"What? The flying?" he handed her the container of powder. "I told you; the magic's in the staff. It does all of the hard work, and I just get to sit there and look pretty."
"Which I'm sure you find to be extremely easy," she said sarcastically, catching on to the feigned arrogance in his tone. He only smirked this time, a quiet snicker escaping him as he walked away from her. In that brief moment, she looked over him, trying to find any of the fatal flaws that her mother had warned her of. Right off the bat she'd noticed that he didn't have sharp teeth (rather, a lovely set of pearly whites that gleamed with friendliness), and he was very clear that he had no interest in using her for her hair. With some more thought, she realized that it was foolish to even be suspicious since he was a spirit - and no spirit that she'd ever heard of needed magic to stay young. It was increasingly obvious that Jack Frost was something special - a rare gem in a dark and cruel world. He began to turn back to her again, and she quickly busied herself by pouring the ingredients into a bowl - so many thoughts could cross one's mind in a matter of seconds.
"Alright," she smiled, letting out an exasperated sigh in attempt to mask the flustered feeling she'd just acquired. "Now we just bake it over the fire."
The wait time was always the most difficult part, but with Jack as company it didn't drag as it usually would. Jack seemed a bit fidgety, as anxious as she would expect anyone trying their first bite of chocolate cake to be. From her end, it was quite an amusing sight, but for his sake she conjured up conversation, trying desperately not to fall into useless words and small talk. When she, too, became too overwhelmed by the cake's sweet aroma to make chit-chat, Jack wandered the room. He leapt up onto the mantel, strolling across and running his fingers over her paintings. Fascinated, although he'd surely seen them many times, he moved on to the murals in the stairway. His toes balanced gracefully on the handrail, walking up the incline with ease; his weight seemed to have no effect on the structure which stood steadily beneath him. At one particular painting he stopped short of his movements, staring long and hard at it. Rapunzel felt a plague of anxiety building up in her chest, wondering if he hated her work; nobody had ever given it the time of day before. After a long moment of suspense, he took in a deep breath and looked down at her.
"Man, Punz, that sure smells great."
It took her a good few seconds to realize that he wasn't critiquing her paintings, and then another few to register what he'd just called her (if he was, in fact, referring to her). She wished that she was half as eloquent as he seemed to be, always having a witty response to her remarks, but in her confusion the words came out as jumbled as she felt.
"I, um - what?"
He seemed to catch on, in spite of her inability to speak. The lopsided grin on his face told her that whatever he'd said had simply slipped out; he hadn't meant to call her that. "Oh, sorry, I - I guess it's just a nickname. I didn't really notice that I'd been calling you that all this time."
"A nickname…?" she repeated, putting the pieces together and trying not to feel too relieved that this time he was as awkward as her. "Punz… Nobody's ever called me that before."
"Yeah, well, uh…" he ruffled his hand through his hair, trying to save face, "you better get used to it; breaking a habit of five months would be a lot of work."
"No, it's okay; I like it."
There was something oddly charming about the name. Certainly it didn't sound like the glamorous names of princesses or fairies in her books, but perhaps the fact that it was something made especially for her was the cause of its appeal. Punz - the way it rolled off his tongue so easily. It sounded as strange as she often perceived herself to be, fitting her like a glove.
"Did you still want that cake?" she asked, realizing that it was probably ready at this point (and purposely not mentioning that she was worried it had been burned).
He answered her with a look that questioned if she'd really had to ask. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as she set the plate in front of him, letting onto the excitement buzzing beneath his skin. Rapunzel put off taking her own bite, trying to be discrete as she watched curiously; the amount of time it took him to fumble with his fork and steady the cake on it - he's probably never used one, she reminded herself - made it difficult to be sneaky. Fortunately for the moment he was focused on only one thing. He seemed to notice her stare just before the cake reached his mouth, smiling sheepishly and raising the fork in a cheers motion before taking the bite. There was a long pause then, even after he'd swallowed. A slow grin crept across his face, seeming to warm his entire demeanor in a way that was almost childlike.
"Good?"
"Good," he nodded, hastily taking another bite. "Very good."
"Yay!" she cheered, a little too excited. She didn't make any efforts to cover it up this time, simply quieting herself and leaving him alone so he could enjoy the food. He'd been fairly talkative until this point, but now seemed content in the silence. She couldn't really blame him; chocolate cake had always been a favorite of hers. She was just happy to know that she'd done a good job.
Time, from then on, passed quickly - perhaps it'd been flying by this whole time and she had just been too preoccupied to notice. As Jack finished up the last scraps of his cake, Rapunzel glanced to the window, frowning at the darkness in the sky. From across the table Jack saw her stare and followed it, his face falling as well. He was still for a moment, opening his mouth but not saying anything. Finally, after a moment's hesitation, he pushed his plate away and sighed.
"It's late."
"Yeah, I guess it is."
Their words hung in the air for a few empty seconds before the screeching sound of Jack's chair against the floor replaced them. He stood slowly, the veins in his hands becoming prominent as he pushed against the table.
"Well, I should probably get going; I wouldn't want to keep you up all night. It's been fun, though."
She followed him silently to the window, watching him climb onto the sill in a way that was so routine; again, she was fascinated, knowing that he'd done this very thing each night for some time now.
"It was fun," he said again over his shoulder, quieter this time. "And I'm sorry - for intruding and everything; I understand if-"
"Jack," she stopped him, noticing the small gasp that escaped him when she called him by name. She smiled softly. "It was fun. See you tomorrow…?"
A wide grin spread across his face, and he nodded. "Yes."
He turned then, facing the night air. With his staff in hand, he stepped out of the warm tower, not even dropping an inch. One question that she'd kept bottled inside the entire evening came bursting from her then, catching his attention before he'd gone too far.
"What made you stay all of this time?"
He flew back to her almost immediately, coming face to face with her so she felt his coolness against her flushed face. Realizing his close proximity, he distanced himself. She watched him consider her question, his lips pressed hard in a line. He'd already given her an answer, but she felt that the months of loyalty had to have a true reason.
"If you really wanna know," he said, crossing his legs as if he was sitting in a chair, "I found this place on accident. When I saw you all alone in the tower, though - I don't know. I just felt like maybe you were as lonely as I was. I didn't want you to have to be alone."
She couldn't find an answer, surprised by the sympathy he'd had and unsure of how to respond to the subject of her loneliness. He didn't wait long for a response, nodding politely.
"Goodnight, Rapunzel."
"Goodnight," she chirped quietly, waving after him although he would not see. When he was out of sight she turned from the window, now truly alone. Having now felt Jack's presence fill the room, the place felt quite empty. She walked across the creaky floors and up the stairs to her room, past Pascal (who'd been napping for hours and had probably missed the entire ordeal) and to her cozy bed. As she lay beneath the covers, she was unable to snuff out the glimmering happiness inside of her. She had a friend. For the first time in her life, she had a friend.
"Jack Frost," she whispered, pulling her blanket closer as she rolled over. Sleep came fast upon her, and as it caressed her mind and filled her breath, she knew this would not be the last time that the name escaped her lips.
WOW, I know, it's been forever. I hadn't even realized how long due to my ridiculous work schedule. I promise you all that the time taken to update this chapter was not because I lost motivation to write, rather that I literally didn't have the time. Every spare second was spent on this chapter, though, so I hope it was worth the wait. NOW ONWARD (to more exciting things)!
sadFasdfkjdahsfkjah This was just so much fun to write. I was a little nervous at first about their interactions (considering the fact that for nine chapters they didn't communicate at all), but I feel pretty good about this (: It's funny how Rapunzel thinks she's so awkward, because (spoiler alert), Jack feels like he's the one being awkward. The next couple of chapters are really going to focus on them getting to know each other and (spoiler alert) probably little bits of flirting :P It was difficult for me not to write an entire chapter of fluff, with Jack pouring his heart out to Punz and kissing and lovey dovey shiznit, but realistically that would have freaked Rapunzel out to an extreme level since she doesn't know him at all. In the words of Gothel, all good things to those who wait.
I've heard of writers getting butterflies in their stomachs when their characters call each other by name, but this was the first time I experienced it. The moment when Rapunzel called him "Jack", just Jack as if on a personal level, instilled so many crazy emotions in me - and in Jack, too, I'm sure.
Thank you guys so much for your patience. I actually got some messages on tumblr asking when I was going to update, which made me smile (and feel extremely guilty) because I didn't know any of you were following me (: Pleasant surprises all about. Here's hoping that this time around I'll be able to update faster.
xoxo ZuEra