A/N: hey guys just a small little note before the chapter. I'm not trying to be rude or mean, but I hope some of you guys know that I can't always update all the time. right now I'm stressed enough with school finals and homework, and I don't really need people telling me to update again as soon as I post a new chapter anh how i should hurry up all the time.

again, my sincere apologizes if I don't update whenever you want me to but it's my fanfiction that I update on my own time :/

Chapter Twenty One

They were all still shaky from what had just happened and they were glad when they reached the café. Tooth knew that her three year old sister's nerves were still rattled and for once she was going to let Baby Tooth have something sugary to calm down.

Jack held open the door for the ladies and he followed after them once they were inside. Everything for him was changing and it wasn't just his social status. Staying isolated from surrounding peers for so long never gave him the chance to get to know anyone, meaning that he had never had a crush on somebody before. What was he even supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? Jack may not be a romantic when it comes to love but he did know one thing about having crushes.

He cannot tell Tooth about his crush on her.

Obviously he wanted to be with Tooth, but it would be too sudden and awkward if he just blurted out his feelings for her now. Tooth probably doesn't even have the same feelings for him. Jack has only known her for two days and the hours that they've spent together this morning. He knows so little about her and she could only like girls for all he knows.

"What do you think about sitting over there, Jack?"

The sweet sound of Tooth's voice snapped him out of his contusion and Jack glanced over to see Tooth pointing to a table next to a window. There were two chairs on each side of the rectangular table and a napkin holder rested on top. "Yeah, we can sit there." he responded.

Baby Tooth was the first to sit down. She was at the table in the blink of an eye and she planted herself in the seat closest to the window where a view of the small town was on display. Every few seconds she would tremble when she'd see a car drive down the road but she would calm down when she looked at Jack to see that he was still there. He's the best person that she's ever met, and she didn't want him to leave so soon.

Tooth took a seat next to her sister leaving Jack the only option to sit across from them. He was disappointed that he couldn't sit down next to Tooth, but it was better for Tiffany to be with her big sister after today's events. The boy soon found himself twiddling his thumbs and looking around the cafe while they waited for someone to come serve them. He's never been in this place before, but from the looks of how clean and neat everything was he assumed it was new.

"Can I get you two lovebirds anything?"

A perky waitress walked up to them with large glasses and a notepad. Her uniform was just a white dress shirt and a red, pleated skirt that made her look like a high school student. Tooth decided to order for her sister and told the waitress that Tiffany would have a cookie and a glass of milk. She's been to this joint hundreds of times with her other sisters, so she was fully experienced with what they served. "And I'll just have a glass of water." she stated, finishing her and Tiffany's order. Jack watched the waitress nod and scribble everything down on her notepad. She flicked her long, black hair behind her shoulder and turned to Jack. "What about you, sir?" she asked. Jack looked at her name tag and saw it read "Jade" but other than that he had no idea what to do.

"I'll have um..."

He couldn't remember the last time he went out to eat something. The last time he was at a place like this must have been when he was still living with his mom back when she cared. He didn't even know what they served here.

"Well, I've never been here before so..."

"Ah, I see. Shall your girlfriend order for you then?"

"What? No! I mean, not to your question but, she's not my girlfriend. She's just my friend who's a female and-"

Tooth watched Jack stammer over his words in a hurried tone. She's never seen him so nervous like this, but if she came close to dying today she would be jumpy too. He was probably still trying to get over the whole incident with the newspaper and the truck.

As Jack continued to make excuses, Tooth noticed that he was blushing now. She never knew how cute he looked when blushing until now. His skin was so pale, so the color painted on his face made him look like a toy doll that a child would play with. If Jack didn't look so anxious, Tooth would have taken a photo.

"Jack will just have your best recommendation today." she interjected. "We just came back from something frazzling, so something sweet would be nice for him."

The waitress named Jade nodded and began to list a number of sweet treats in front of Jack.

"We have cookies and cake but today we have a special in snow cones. I know it's chilly outside, but it's nice and warm in here." she said. "Would you like a rainbow snow cone?"

Not wanting to stay in an awkward situation any longer, Jack just shrugged and agreed. He liked to eat things cold anyways.

Jade nodded off to them and spun on her heel. She walked across the cafe and disappeared behind a door leaving Jack alone with Tooth and Baby Tooth. They all sat in silence for a moment before Tooth spoke up.

"I think I'll take a quick trip to the restroom." she stated. "Jack, will you watch over Baby Tooth for me?"

"No problem, Tooth."

"Alright. Keep a cool head while I'm gone, mkay?"

"Sure thing."

Jack waved at Tooth who winked at him as she walked off. He was mesmerized by her as she swung her hips while walking and she even seemed to have an extra skip in her fluid steps. As soon as she turned the corner, Jack let out a sigh and found himself banging his head onto the table.

"I am such and idiot!"

He had just sat there babbling like an idiot in front if Tooth as if he didn't know how to speak English. It was all because if that stupid waitress. If she hadn't kept calling Tooth his girlfriend, then he never would have gotten flustered. Tooth probably thought he couldn't handle himself now.

He was just one big idiot.

If there was a kingdom full of idiots, Jack would be the queen. That's how much of an idiot he is.

"Did you see all that?" he asked Baby Tooth. The three year old shook her head and acted as if she didn't witness her friend make a complete buffoon of himself. Jack only sighed again and his forehead was met with the hard surface of the table. Baby Tooth only giggled at him. "You silly." she said with a grin. Jack removed his head off of the table and blinked at her.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Something wrong?"

Baby Tooth had her head tilted to the side. Jack wiped his face with his hands and toot a deep breath.

"I don't know..."

"Tell me! Tell me!"

He could tell by Baby Tooth's enthusiasm that she was interested. She was a girl, maybe she could help him out?

"Okay Baby Tooth, can you keep a secret for me?"

"Yeah!"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone this."

"I promise!"

"Cross your heart?"

The toddler nodded and moved her finger over her heart in a cross motion. She looked dead serious.

"Alright, here it goes. I... I like your sister."

"Toothie?"

"Yeah."

"I like her too."

"No, I mean that I really really like her. As in like like."

It took a second for the child to comprehend what Jack was saying to her before she gasped and cupped her hands to her mouth. Then she smiled at Jack and formed a heart with her hands.

"Heehee."

"Just, please please don't tell her, okay? You promised you wouldn't and she can't know that I like her like that."

"Jack and Toothie, sitting in a tree,"

"Baby Tooth don't you dare-"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"No no no!"

The flustered teenager reached across the table and placed his hand over Baby Tooth's mouth. His hand covered up a majority of her young face but Baby Tooth was only giggling to herself again. A few people were staring at a boy with white hair sprawled over a table with his hand on a three year old's face but Jack didn't seem to notice. For someone so young, Baby Tooth sure had a big mouth.

/

Tooth leaned her head back on the bathroom wall and slid down to the floor. "Keep a cool head?" she said to herself. "Ugh! I'm such an idiot!"

She proceeded to bury her face in her knees while regretting everything she had just done. It was her fault that Jack was so clueless when trying to order. He's never been here before, so of course he wouldn't know what they serve! Tooth didn't even think to inform him about what they serve here, she just let Jack sit there and stammer while feeling stupid. But still, he looked so cute when he blushed...

Then there was his electric blue eyes... they were like gemstones. Tooth loved how they gleamed mischievously in the light like an irradiated sapphire. The way they glistened made his white wisps of hair stand out in a crowd and his teeth were the most perfect thing Tooth has ever seen. She loved teeth, and Jack's mouth housed her favorite set. Every tooth of his was flawlessly aligned and they were whiter than freshly fallen snow. They even shined bright like a night light when he laughed.

Not to mention his personality. He certainly brought out the best in people. Tooth had never seen her little sister act so outgoing around anyone. In fact, she didn't know that Tiffany had it in her and the only way she found out was because of Jack.

If only he felt the same about her…

Tooth no longer had a crush on Jack, she was in full scale infatuated with him.

Not trying to act vain or anything, but Tooth thought that she had a decent shot with Jack. It wasn't like he was out of her league or anything. What league would he be in anyway? Whatever league he was in, it was close enough to make Tooth's heart melt.

/

"How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"That you like Toothie."

"I-"

"Mommy says that boys act silly when they like someone."

"Is that why you called me silly earlier?"

"Are you going to marry her?"

"What?"

"Are you gonna have kids?"

"Uh…"

"Where do babies come from anyway?"

"The stork."

"Where does the stork get them?"

"Clouds. That's why people call babies a gift from above."

He's only been talking with Baby Tooth for ten minutes and she already seemed to know more about love than he did. In a matter of seconds she had changed the subject from his crush on Tooth to where babies come from. Jack didn't know much about families, but he did know how babies were made. His parents weren't around to give him "The Talk" so he found out how children were actually made during his health class at school.

But actually marrying Tooth and having kids with her was going too fast for him. He had only realized his feelings for her today; he can't start thinking about proposing or making babies with her. All he knew was that he was in love with her, and that he had no idea how he should tell her. If he just randomly walks up to her and confesses his feelings then she'll only freak out and their whole platonic relationship would be ruined.

Jack hated being stuck in the friend zone.

What was stopping him from confronting his feelings to Tooth the most was that he was terrified at what she would say. Just thinking about how she could react was making Jack shake with anxiety. She could shatter his heart with only a few words and then they would spend the rest of their friendship together in awkward disappointment.

Tooth was the only thing on his mind right now and he couldn't stop thinking about how she made him smile or how much his life had improved now that she's a part of it. They had created splendid new memories together, and Jack didn't want to lose her for a second. He couldn't imagine going back to his old life without any of his friends and he didn't want to find out if he could. He had spent too long being a wallflower on the sidelines, actually being out in the field was more fun than he had imagined.

"Hey guys, I'm back!"

Jack looked up to see that Tooth was back from the bathroom with her usual smile on her face that made him feel warm inside. She had redone her makeup so now she was looking even better than she did before. Not that she needed makeup to look breathtaking.

"Hey Tooth," he replied as she took her seat by her sister. Baby Tooth was full of amusement and had to keep her legs crossed just to stay calm. She knew something about Jack that Tooth didn't, and it was a super-secret that she couldn't tell anyone. "Something wrong, Baby Tooth?" Tooth asked. "It looks like you have to use the bathroom."

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, no potty for me."

Jack gave a look at Baby Tooth and signaled that she has to act normal despite knowing his secret. He can't have his love life ruined by a three year old. When Tooth looked away, Baby Tooth nodded to him and zipped her lips. They didn't even see their waitress, Jade, walk up to them with a smile on her face.

"Here's your order!" Jade said as she brought everything they had requested on a brown tray. "A glass of water, some milk and a cookie, and one rainbow snow cone."

She set everything on the table and bowed to them before leaving them in peace. Baby Tooth picked up her cookie and broke it in half so that she could stick it in her milk while Tooth only sipped her water. Jack wasn't feeling that hungry anymore since his stomach was currently filled with butterflies, but he hadn't eaten anything all day and Tooth knew it. Not eating anything would only worry her and he can't have that happening. Looking down at his bowl holding his snow cone that was painted with every shade of the color spectrum, Jack realized how it looked like so much compared to what Tooth had ordered. She only sat in her seat with a cup of water while everyone else had something that they could actually eat.

"Hey Tooth,"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna split my snow cone? There's a lot of it in the bowl and you just have a cup of water, so I was thinking that we could share it."

"Well, eating all of that by yourself could be harmful for your teeth, but I think you should be fine if you only ate half. So sure, we can split it."

Overall, Tooth was taken back b Jack's request. He wanted to share his snow cone with her? She looked down at her cup of water and decided having something with a better flavor would be nicer, and they were all just having a good time today so why not? Tooth grabbed an extra spoon from the counter and sat across Jack who was waiting for her to return. He had manners; he was going to let the lady take the first scoop of the colorful shaved ice.

Tooth felt her face heating up and dug her spoon into the snow cone so that she could use it to keep cool. Her spoon brought up a clump of ice bathed in lime syrup while Jack had dug his spoon into the blue section of the snow cone. Baby Tooth had already finished her cookie and milk and was now watching her sister share a snow cone with Jack. If she didn't know any better, it looked like they were on a date. Deciding it was too awkward to eat in silence, Tooth started a conversation.

"So Jack, how do you like this place so far?"

"Not too shabby. The snow cone tastes good and the service isn't that bad."

"Yeah, this snow cone does taste pretty good. You know, for a bunch of shaved ice coated in sugary syrup. Just promise me that you'll brush your teeth twice tonight, okay?"

"Don't worry Tooth, my teeth will be fine."

Jack winked to Tooth as he shoveled another spoonful of ice into his mouth. Even with all of the dyes in the snow cone his teeth were still as white as pearls. "So what are we doing once we're done here?"

"The idea is that we just head back to Aster's place. The boys should have handled everything without us, so I'm sure we're fine."

"Okay. What about next week?"

"Just make preparations to hide the eggs in the park."

"Alright."

Baby Tooth watched them eat together. They were smiling at each other, making eye contact, and she could just picture them getting married. If they did have a wedding, Baby Tooth hoped that she could be the flower girl.