Hours seemed to pass but in reality it was only 37 minutes according to Aster's wristwatch. Those 37 minutes stretched out impossibly, each second becoming a minute, each minute becoming an hour, until it was like they had been there for 37 hours instead. Aster made himself busy by moving a heavy wooden dresser in front of the door, the noise masked by the loud television that seemed to be playing a fighting explosion scene on repeat. Whatever the men in the living room were watching, it was loud and Aster planned on taking full advantage of that fact. Jack was sitting on the bed that had been moved to under the window, staring into the darkness, willing someone, anyone really, to appear. The tree line was just feet from the window but the darkness was complete. As she stared, the fanciful thought crossed her mind.
"Hey Aster?" said Jack, not tearing her eyes away from the dark world outside.
"Yes Jacky?" replied Aster, walking the short distance to join her on the bed.
"If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?"
"Australia," said Aster without pausing to think. "That's where I'm from, did you know that? My parents moved over here shortly before they died. I don't remember much of it, but I want to go back. What about you?"
"I don't know," admitted Jack. "I want to see the world someday, be anywhere but here. I want to go to the North Pole and Antarctica and Alaska and Russia and anywhere the wind may take me."
"Aren't all those places cold, Frostbite?" teased Aster, trying to lighten the mood, knowing she was still in pain and anxious.
"I like winter," shrugged Jack, the movement making her grimace in pain briefly. "It's pretty. And I'd rather be cold than hot any day. There's only so much you can take off but you can always put more on."
"You're so weird."
"Did something just move in the trees?" said Jack suddenly, peering more intently at the treeline.
"I don't know. Wait, right there! Something moved for sure this time! You think it's Nick?"
"It's too small to be Nick but too big to be Sandy. Oh no…."
Mr. Rob was making his way out of the trees and too the cabin, the look of pure fury written on his face would only have been more obvious if it had been written in neon. Aster felt Jack tense up at the sight of him though his eyes were focused on the side of the house where the door was, not their window. He pulled her close.
"I say we make a run for it," whispered Aster, studying Mr. Rob as he walked. "He doesn't seem to know where Nick, Sandy, and Tooth are. I blocked the door, it's a short run to the trees, we can lose them there."
"No," said Jack, shaking her head.
"Jack, this may be our only chance. We'll wait until they open the door and use that as a cover to break the glass and climb out. It's too dark and they've been in the light, they won't see us right away. We have to try."
"No, look!" pointed Jack.
Aster followed her finger back to the trees where he could make out more people moving. It took him a moment but he realized they were the police and it looked like they were moving into position to ambush the place. Hope soared through his entire body, coursing through his veins like a welcome fire at the sight of those friendly bodies setting up outside to rescue them.
"If they don't find us in Mr. Rob, Pitch, and my father's possession, they may not be able to convict them for kidnapping," explained Jack. "We have to wait for them to make their move, then this can all be over."
"And we can go home," added Aster.
"Home? If Mr. Rob is arrested, you really think the orphanage will stay open? Who is going to take his place?"
"The state will have to assign someone to the job, they don't have room anywhere else to put us."
"Foster homes," shrugged Jack. "That's what they always did with me until another spot opened up at an orphanage."
"Let's try not to worry about it just yet."
What Aster meant was he didn't want to consider getting torn away from the family he'd made with Nick, Sandy, Tooth, and most recently Jack. It unnerved him the way Jack was so used to being moved about and switched from place to place, how she did not seem upset at the idea of being left alone again because, when Aster thought about it, she had way more time being alone than being with people who cared about her.
"Jacky, whatever happens, I want you to know one thing," said Aster suddenly, turning her to look into his eyes so she understood how serious he was. "I will not let them separate us, any of us. We'll figure out a way to stay together but I will not let them take you away, understood? I meant what I said before, you're family now and family stays together."
A harsh knocking sounded through the building.
"Police, open up! We've got the place surrounded! Come out quietly with your hands on your head."
The television kept playing but the door to the bedroom the teenagers were locked in began to rattle as one of the three men attempted to open it and get the kids.
"Jack! Open this door now!" screamed her father.
"You locked it!" snapped Jack from her spot across the room on the bed next to her best friend. "You open it!"
"Don't you get smart with me!"
"You have until the count of three or we're coming in!" yelled the police officer. "One!"
"Aster, open the door," tried Mr. Rob, sounding alarmed.
"Two!"
"I'm not going to hurt you, Jack," said her father. "I just want to talk."
"Three!"
Jack couldn't help but jump at the loud crash as the front door was kicked in by the police. She cowered into Aster's side as the sound of gunfire filled the air. Aster was scared witless but had the sense to pull them both to the ground, covering Jack's small, quivering frame with his own large body in case any spare bullets found their way into the room. An eternity later that turned out to be just a few minutes, the cabin was silent before a firm knock sounded on the bedroom door.
"Hello? Kids? Are you in there?" said the police officer from behind the door. "It's okay, you're safe now. My name is Officer Dawlin."
"Prove it," called Aster, sitting up but not making any move to unbaricade the door. "Slide your badge under the door or something."
"Aster, Jacky, it's alright," came Nick's voice. "Pitch and the others really are taken care of, you can come out now."
"I want to see a badge!" enforced Aster.
There was a bit of rustling then a badge slide it's way under the door and furniture to stop half way through the room. Aster crawled over and inspected it before being satisfied that it was real and shoving the furniture out of the way so the police could finally open the door and get to them. He moved back to sit with Jack as the door flew open, making both of them cringe in the sudden light.
"Aster!" squealed Tooth. "Jacky!"
Three teenagers rushed past the police and paramedics to get at their friends, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Alright, you need to step back so we can check these two over for injuries," said Officer Dawlin, a slight grin tugging at his lips. He had two teenagers of his own and he was glad he could return two more safely to their friends.
Paramedics came in and reached for Jack, clearly the most injured of the two, but she made a noise like a kicked puppy and flinched away from the helping hands.
"Hey, they want to fix your ouches," cooed Aster, stroking her dirty blonde hair out of her eyes. "Okay, let them help you. I promise, I'm right here, so are Nick and Sandy and Tooth."
"Hey kiddo," said a young, handsome paramedic, sitting on the ground a foot away from Jack, crossing his legs and looking as if he had all the time in the world. "My name is Caleb. What's your name?"
"Jacky," said Jack shyly, still leaning against Aster for support.
Caleb waved the other paramedics back a bit so they would quit crowding the frightened girl.
"Well, Jacky, it's nice to meet you," smiled Caleb, sticking out his hand for her to shake.
She flinched but took it gingerly.
"How old are you, Jacky?"
"I'm going to be 17 soon," said Jack, visibly relaxing when Caleb did not make a move to get any closer to her.
"Really? Wow, that's exciting. I have a younger sister who just turned 16 and all she can talk about is getting a car. Her name is Sophie. I think you'd like her. She's really sweet. Who is your friend?"
"This is Aster," said Jack.
Aster nodded to him with a look that said Caleb was welcome to help Jack but if her hurt her, Aster would personally show him five different ways to kill a man with just a pinky.
"Well, it's nice to meet you as well, Aster," said Caleb. "Jacky, do you mind if I take a look at your ouches? Aster can stay with you, I just want to get a quick idea of what is going on before you try moving you guys to somewhere more comfortable."
"Okay," said Jack slowly.
"Thank you very much," said Caleb, scooting closer to inspect the damage. "I'll be very careful."
Caleb was quick and practical, taking account of each injury, patching up the minor scrapes on the spot and waiting to fix the more problematic ones until they were at the hospital. When he was done, he let Aster get Jack settled on a stretcher and hop into the back of the ambulance that waited outside.
"We're going to go to the hospital to get you patched up now," announced Caleb. "You're probably going to be kept overnight for observation but should be free to go in the morning."
"What about my friends?" asked Jack.
"They'll be riding with me," assured Officer Dawlin from the doorway. "We'll meet you at the hospital, don't worry."
"See you soon, Jacky!" called Nick jovially, waving from the ground.
"Let's get this show on the road," sighed Aster, exhaustion threatening to overpower him. "This has got to have been the worst Christmas ever."
"I don't know," yawned Jack as the doors shut and the ambulance started up. "I've had worse. I got a family out of this one, so I'd say it wasn't a total loss."
Aster just rolled his eyes and tried not to fall asleep.
*Sorry for the wait, I got super sick. Mono has either come back for round three or something but I can barely stay awake and have no energy and when I do stand up, I almost pass out every time. But enough about me...on to you!
Thank you for all of the awesome reviews, follows, and favs! I appreciate every one of them!
21SidraCire- It's the first time I have ever written anything fluffy, so I am glad it went over well! I'm just not a fluffy person, unfortunately, so every time I try to write fluffy I feel like a fake.
Magiccatprincess- Aw, thank you so much! I wasn't aware, so thank you for telling me! And I love big brother Aster too!
Lady Minuialwen- Yeah, Aster and Jack, my favorite!
other ari- First off, ha, love your name. It's the best. I'm glad you love it! I love writing it!
Well, that's all for now folks! Have an awesome time and let me know what you think. -Ari