STOP YELLING AT ME! FAN FICTION GLITCHED AND THAT'S WHY YOU GOT NO CHAPTER.
Summer of Frost
Chapter 13: A New Beginning
Bunnymund was unnerved. He tried to tune out Jack's love struck ramblings, but that was difficult. Especially since he knew exactly who he was talking about.
For the first half hour, Jack had slept peacefully, a small smile on his face as dolphins continued dancing above his head. Then, he woke up. Bunny had watched him sit there, a stupid smile on his face as his eyes glazed over and he stared into space. He occasionally sighed heavily, like a pre-teen girl watching a pathetic romance movie.
When he'd started talking, Bunny had tuned it out. He kept going on about how beautiful she was and how bright her eyes were and whatnot. Bunnymund continuously rolled his eyes and merely grunted when Jack asked him a question.
But as soon as he'd mentioned colourful feathers, Bunnymund almost smashed his own head against the wall. Because after that statement, it was quite obvious who Jack was in love with. It was Tooth. He was head over heels for Tooth. Bunnymund didn't know much about Cupid and his arrows, but one thing he did know was that the severity of the reaction depended on how in love the person was. Jack had lost all sanity. There was nothing left of the cheerful, mischievous boy who brought winter. All that was left was a grinning, stupid, love struck boy who couldn't function properly. He wanted to go find Sandy and get him to knock Jack out again, but he couldn't leave the boy alone. Hell knows what he'd get up to if he did. Judging by the way he was now pacing the room, mumbling plans of how to tell Tooth how he felt, Bunnymund guessed he'd rush straight out of the room and confess his love, complete with sonnet, in front of every spirit in the ballroom.
Bunnymund didn't hate Jack enough to let him do that.
"Bunny!" Jack cried, that sick grin on his face. "I have to tell her!"
"No you don't, Jack." Bunnymund stated. "Trust me, this is a very bad time for it."
Jack's face twisted into a grimace of annoyance. "Fine." He sat on his bed. "I'll tell her somehow."
Bunny rolled his eyes, watching Jack pull out a piece of paper and start writing on it, mumbling under his breath. God. He was writing a poem. That boy needed to be knocked out again. Bunnymund ran his finger over his boomerang, contemplating whether it would be worth it or not. As much fun as it would be, he didn't want to hurt Jack unless it was really necessary.
...
It had been three hours since Jack had been hit by Cupid's arrow. Tooth's anxiety hadn't gone down one bit. She'd talked to other spirits to distract herself, but she couldn't stop shaking the second she was alone.
Tooth knew what Cupid's arrows did to people. Around seven years ago, Lantern, the shape-shifting spirit of Halloween, had taken Cupid's arrow just as Jack had. Except he didn't have someone to knock him out and isolate him.
Lantern had been in love with Dove, the spirit of peace. When he regained his sanity, Lantern had been so distraught at what had happened that he spent the rest of his days isolating himself. Even Dove didn't know where he went. She was here now, actually, her eyes filled with sadness as she occasionally glanced at Tooth, as if wondering if the same thing would happen to Jack.
Sighing heavily, Tooth found herself sitting in the corner, staring out at the spirits laughing and talking and having fun. She couldn't though. Her eyes kept finding Cupid who was standing against the wall, smiling slightly and sipping punch. Tooth wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp, even if he did look like Jack Frost.
The minutes passed by. Tooth guessed another hour or so had passed. She couldn't stand sitting around anymore so she stood up, her wings humming to life behind her as she flew towards the doors. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't help it. Besides, she wasn't going to physically see Jack. She just had to know if he was okay.
Tooth flew silently down the hall, her heart racing with nerves. As she rounded the corner, she faintly heard the sound of Jack and Bunny yelling at each other.
"LET ME OUT, BUNNY! I HAVE TO!"
"NO JACK! STAY HERE!"
Tooth hovered in the air, listening to their scrapping. A moment later, there was a crashing sound as Jack's bedroom door burst open. The white haired boy stumbled as he came through the door and he immediately fell on his face. Bunnymund's wide eyes locked on Tooth immediately.
"Of all the bloody-".
Jack looked up, his blue eyes lighting up with wonder as his face split into a smile.
"Tooth!" He cried, getting to his feet.
There was a sharp crack and Jack fell back onto the floor without a sound. Bunnymund caught his boomerang with a sigh.
"Sorry mate. Had to." He stated.
"B-Bunny, how is he?" Tooth asked, staring down at his unconscious form.
"Get back in the ballroom, Tooth!" Bunnymund yelled, picking Jack up again. "Don't come looking for him again!" He kicked the door shut, leaving Tooth alone in the hallway.
...
Jack moaned as he began to regain consciousness. His head was pounding with one of the worst headaches he'd ever had.
"You up again, mate?"
"Bunny?" Jack turned his head to the side, sitting up slightly. "Ugh, what happened?"
"Does that mean you're sane again?"
"Sane?" Jack grabbed a bit of snow from his bed and pressed it into the goose egg on the back of his head.
"You got hit by Cupid's arrow, mate."
Jack's eyes widened as the memories rushed back. The bliss, the fantasies, the happiness he'd felt...
"Oh no..." Jack cried. "What did I say, Bunny?"
"Nothing she heard, Jack. Don't worry."
"You know?!"
Bunnymund nodded.
Jack groaned, slamming his head into his snow pillow. "Kill me now, Bunny..."
"I won't tell anyone, mate." Bunnymund stated. "And if it makes you feel any better, she still doesn't know."
Jack mumbled something incoherent. Now that the bliss was gone, all he felt was emptiness and heartache. After all of that, and he was back where he started. Not even. Bunnymund now knew his secret.
"Luckily for you, mate, Sandy knocked you out before you could say or do anything stupid."
Jack sighed heavily. "I'm guessing Cupid's done that before?"
"Oh yeah. Broke so many hearts, he has. The most recent one was seven years ago with the spirit of Halloween. The bloke hasn't been seen since."
"That's horrible..."
Bunnymund nodded. "So luckily for you, we got you out of there before you could do anything stupid."
"But she saw me..." Jack whispered.
"As I said, you didn't do anything stupid."
Jack's eyes found the poem on his bed. He stared at it, his eyes widening in horror. "Did I honestly write this?"
"Saw you do it, mate. You were going to read it to her."
Jack groaned again, pressing his hands into his face. "I'm going to kill Cupid..."
"Can I help? I'm sure many spirits want to see him gone."
Jack took a deep breath and stood up. He grabbed the poem, ripped it to confetti sized pieces, and threw it out the window into the arctic winds. The pieces scattered, gone forever. Jack would've liked to burn them, but he didn't want to get close to a fire.
"Okay." Jack said, taking another breath and letting it out. "I'm ready."
"First thing that comes to mind."
"Snow."
"Second thing that comes to mind."
"Ice."
"Third?"
"Fun."
"Fourth?"
"Kill Cupid."
"Fifth?"
"Shut up, Bunny!"
"Atta boy." Bunnymund laughed. "You're sane again."
Jack chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it, mate." He tossed Jack's staff towards him. "And no hard feelings about the flowers, all right?"
Jack smiled. "They grew back?"
Bunnymund nodded. "You're welcome to come back next summer." Then he smiled. "Or are you going to keep helping Tooth out?"
"You know about that?"
"North told me."
Jack nodded. "Fair enough." He twirled his staff. Then his eyes gleamed. "Hey Bunny?"
"Hm?"
Jack grinned. "Help me flood the ballroom floor."
"Welcome back, mate." Bunnymund laughed.
"It's good to be back." Jack smirked.
...
Tooth was standing with Dove in the corner when it happened. She heard a startled yelp and watched as several people darted out of the way as a flood of water rushed from the door. It fell down the stairs in a gentle waterfall, the metal edges of the carpets preventing it from leaking into the fabric. It rushed across the floor and began forming a puddle across the dance floor. North took notice and burst out laughing. As the water filled all of the corners of the dance floor, the water flow ended. A second later, the water froze, trailing ice down the stairs and straight into the middle of the dance floor, turning it into a solid gleaming mass of white.
And then the doors open, Jack stepping into the room, a bright grin on his face.
"Surprise!" He cried. "I'm back!"
Bunnymund clapped him on the shoulder, tossing the end of the hose away. Where he'd gotten it was a mystery, but Jack suspected he'd brought it all the way from the Warren through his tunnels.
Jack stepped over the ice, grinning as people stared at him with wide eyes. North continued to laugh, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Well done, Jack." He said with a smile.
Jack grinned back. "Thanks. Want me to make it snow too?"
There were a few hoots of agreement so Jack shrugged and pointed his staff at the ceiling. A beam of blue light rushed from the tip and spread right across the ceiling. Moments later, large, fluffy flakes began falling from the ceiling, disappearing as they met objects in the room. Jack could see Nick grinning up at them, watching them fall with a smile on his face. He had his arms crossed so he wouldn't try to touch any of them.
Jack turned to see Tooth standing with a relatively cute girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. He grinned and approached them.
"Hello." Jack said. "Miss me?"
Tooth laughed. "Me? Miss you? Not a chance!"
Jack grinned, turning his gaze towards the girl. "Hello, I'm Jack Frost."
The girl blushed slightly. "I'm Dove."
"Nice to meet you."
Dove nodded, still blushing.
And as the snow continued to fall from the ceiling, Jack couldn't help but smile
...
As the night wore on, Tooth saw Jack slip silently out of the ballroom. She glanced at the party for a moment before following him out of the room. It had to be getting close to midnight by now.
Tooth tried to be as silent as possible as she followed Jack through North's house. He climbed several flights of stairs. Tooth followed until they arrived on the third floor. Jack sat calmly in a window, staring out at the blowing snow, twirling an ice rose in his hand.
Tooth tried to ignore it. "Jack?"
He jumped as if startled. "Tooth. I didn't notice you followed me."
Tooth smiled. "May I join you?"
"Sure." Jack said, shrugging. He stuck the rose into his pocket, putting it out of sight.
Tooth hovered over and sat beside him, staring out at the winter world outside. He was quiet, his blue eyes distant.
"Jack?"
"Hm?" He turned towards her, looking almost startled.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just thinking. That's all."
"About what?"
Jack took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She watched his fingers go to his pocket where the ice rose was as he glanced back out the window, chewing his lip slightly.
Tooth had given up on getting an answer when he spoke.
"I was thinking about Cupid's arrow." Jack stated.
"Oh."
Jack sighed again. "Looking back on it, I realized how strange it felt." He stated. "To think of only one thing for an extended period of time." He ran a hand through his hair. "It leaves you feeling very empty afterwards."
Tooth smiled slightly, twiddling her thumbs nervously. "I didn't get a chance to thank you."
"For what?" Jack asked.
"For standing up for me." She smiled softly at him. "It was really sweet of you."
"I wasn't about to let him insult you like that." Jack growled. "I just wasn't."
"I know, but you really didn't have to..."
"I did have to, Tooth!" Jack cried, his gaze intense. "Because what he said wasn't true!"
Who could love a human-bird hybrid?
"Jack..." Tooth whispered. "Do you even know what he...I..." She trailed off. "You couldn't know, Jack."
"No, maybe I don't know everything he said to you." Jack stated. "But half of it wasn't true."
"Jack..." Tooth felt herself tearing up.
Jack pressed his hand against the window, sighing heavily as the frost slid across the glass. It blocked the snow from view, replacing it with floral patterns of ice. His forehead tapped the glass softly as his hand curled into a fist.
"I don't even know what I'm saying anymore..." Jack whispered.
"Well, is it Cupid talking, or is you talking?"
"I think it's me." Jack stated.
Tooth nodded, her eyes staring at the floor. "You said half of it wasn't true... What do you mean by that?"
"Who do you see when you look at Cupid, Tooth?" Jack asked, not looking at her.
You, Tooth wanted to say. But she couldn't do it.
"The most wonderful person in the world." She whispered.
Jack nodded.
"And who do you see?"
Jack closed his eyes, as if thinking about what to say next. Tooth held her breath, watching him sigh softly against the window.
"I already said who I saw." Jack stated, his eyes opening again. "I see the most beautiful girl the world. The sad part is, she doesn't realize it."
"H-Huh?"
Jack's hand relaxed against the ice, the frost spreading across the already frozen glass and creating intricate patterns in the window. Tooth watched, trembling slightly.
"She's as bright as the moon, but as warm as the sun." He murmured. "She cares, she's..." He swiped his hand across the ice, destroying a large patch in fury. "Impossible to pin down with words!" He stood up and paced across the room furiously.
"Jack..." Tooth stood up, approaching him nervously.
He turned, bright blue eyes meeting hers. Tooth froze as a little bit of snow fell from the ceiling. Was it an accident? Or did Jack do it on purpose?
Jack stood there, staring into her eyes, trembling for a moment.
"I see you, Tooth."
Tooth froze. "W-What?"
Jack didn't say it again, his face serious.
"J-Jack, n-no..." She was so startled, so frightened to find out that Jack actually thought she was... Her eyes widened slightly.
"The most beautiful person in the world, Tooth, is you."
Tooth felt hot tears streaming down her face. Nobody had ever, ever called her beautiful before. Children sometimes called her pretty when they saw her, but nobody ever called her beautiful.
"Tooth..." Jack stepped towards her, using his cool hands to wipe the tears from her face. When she pressed her teary eyes into her hands and whimpered softly, Jack pulled her into his arms and gently ran his hand down her feathers. She shivered, her wings fluttering slightly at his touch.
She wiped the tears from her face and forced herself to look up at Jack. "You...You really think that?"
Jack nodded, smiling warmly. "You're beautiful, Tooth."
"You don't mind the feathers?" She giggled.
"Nah. They're part of what makes you beautiful." He ran his hand through the feathers on top of her head, making her shiver.
"Am I making you cold?"
"No, I like it, I..." She blushed a violent shade of pink. "It's nice."
"What, the cold?" Jack asked.
"Well that too."
"Oh." Jack said, smiling as he understood, running his fingers over her feathers again. She shivered again.
"Jack?" She looked up at him, her cheeks still pink.
"Hm?"
"I see you."
"Huh?" He blinked in confusion.
"I see you." Tooth said, bowing her head. "When I see Cupid."
For a moment, Jack was still. A second later, his staff clattered to the floor as he pulled her close. Tooth closed her eyes, burying herself in Jack's arctic body, breathing in the cool, minty scent that clung to his clothes. His hands slid across her feathers, making her shiver. She never wanted it to end...
But it did. She looked up at him, smiling timidly. Then she caught sight of something above their heads. She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to bring it into focus. Jack saw this and looked up, instantly spotting the green plant tied to the ceiling with a red ribbon.
Tooth burst into a fit of giggles, watching Jack's face slowly shift from white to pale blue.
"What's wrong, Jack?" Tooth asked, feeling her cheeks grow very warm.
Jack turned back towards her, the blue flush still on his cheeks. "North said he was joking..."
"What?"
"Never mind."
Tooth turned her gaze back up to the plant hovering above their heads. Jack began to unwrap his arms from around her, leaning away from it.
"Jack."
He turned back towards her, beginning to return to his natural white colour.
"Smile?"
Jack chuckled and grinned at her. Then his eyes darted back up to the plant. He sighed in defeat, his hands reaching up to take her face between them. Half a second later, ice cold lips met hers. Tooth gasped and held back a whimper. He was so cold...
Tooth slid her arms around his neck and slid her fingers into his soft, fluffy hair. She kissed him back, her wings fluttering as Jack softly ran his thumbs across his cheeks.
She was so warm. Jack couldn't get enough of it. He never wanted it to end. Their lips parted for a moment, but Tooth pressed hers against his once more. Jack held her tighter, feeling her hands running through his hair.
When their lips parted again, neither wanted to speak out of fear of ruining what had just happened. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other, their cheeks flushed slightly.
"I love you." Jack whispered.
"I love you too."
He smiled slightly, reaching into his pocket. "I...meant to give this to you on Christmas. I didn't end up doing it."
It was the ice rose. She'd seen it from a distance, but up close, it was something else.
"Jack! It's beautiful!" She cried, taking the rose.
"Not as beautiful as you."
Tooth blushed a violent shade of red, taking his hand with a grin.
And their lips met once more as Sandy's golden fireworks shot into the sky outside, announcing the start of the New Year.