Pitch opened the door slowly, taking in the sight before him. Jack was so calm, so beautiful, so...dear. He approached the bed, crouching down to run his fingers through the sweaty white strands, trailing down to caress what neck was uncovered. "Jack..."

"Pitch..." Jack moaned in his sleep, pushing the blankets further off of himself to escape the heat.

"Jack, wake up. I need you. I want you. You now burn for me, Jack."

The younger man cracked his eyes open, looking up at Pitch with a dizzy smile. "I'm glad it wasn't just a dream. You're really here."

"Of course I'm really here. And this time, I'm not leaving. No matter how much you push, or scream, or threaten, I will never leave you again."

"I'm so happy..." Jack brought the man's hand to his face, nuzzling it.

"As am I, lover. So...very...happy." Pitch stood, moving to straddle his love. "Come now, dearest. Nine months is a long time not to see you, and we've only made love once. How can I possibly be satisfied with that?"

He sighed. "C-can we wait until the meds kick in? I want to be able to enjoy it more instead of worrying about my head."

"That's what I'm concerned about. Your head..." Pitch reached behind him, running a hand teasingly over Jack's crotch. "...it must be aching. Maybe I could do something to soothe the pain?"

Jack gasped, clenching his eyes shut. "Pitch..."

"Yes, my dearest?"

"We need to talk about things first."

"Must we?" Pitch squeezed the sheet, a teasing smile on his lips. "I suppose it was unavoidable."

"It's been nine months. Things have changed in our lives. I want to know how you've been."

"Lonely. Suicidal. The usual. And you?"

"A-about the same, I suppose, but that's not the point. I've missed you. Why can't we just hold each other for a bit?"

"I need to feel close to you, Jack. I need that connection we feel only when we make love. I want to come home, Jack. To you, with you, in you."

"Pitch...o-okay." Jack reached forward, pressing his lips to his love's neck.

Pitch brought his head forward, resting his forehead on Jack's shoulder. "Say it. Please."

"I love you, mon coeur. Make love to me."

Pitch turned his head, kissing the soft skin of Jack's neck. Reaching down, he grabbed Jack's hand, bringing it to touch the scars on his wrist. "Again."

"I love you so much." He sucked on Pitch's earlobe.

"Again, my dearest love."

"Je t'aime, mon amour." Jack held their bodies close. "Now, show me how much you love me."

Pitch kissed his way down Jack's body, slowly undoing each button on his sleepshirt, following the growing trail of skin with his tongue. Finally reaching the sleep pants, he nibbled the skin above the band. "How I've missed this. The soft skin of your stomach. The new spot that drives me...wild." Jack's breath hitched at the feel. He reached down to stroke through his lover's hair with a smile. Pitch groaned. "Oh, lover. You truly do know how to seduce me...sexy minx."

"Mmmm...I try." His pale fingers started to massage against the man's scalp.

Pitch moved his lips away from the skin, choosing instead to nuzzle the pale flesh. "I've missed this. Your fingers in my hair. Your stomach. The way your body moves as you breathe."

Jack gave a soft smile. "And I have missed you too, my love."

Pitch laid his head down on the flat stomach, looking up the body towards his love. "I want to marry you."

He chuckled. "Why, thank you, but I already knew that. That is why there's a ring on my finger, is it not?"

Pitch smiled and nodded. "But I mean...why wait? Why have a huge ceremony? All I need is you. And Aery, your father and Tooth are close by. Why are we waiting?"

Jack thought for a moment. "I suppose I did promise you we could get married as soon as my hand was healed..."

"Don't agree because of old promises. Agree because you want to marry me now."

"I do want to marry you now. Just...give me a few weeks? I still have to work on your wedding present." He smiled down at the man by his stomach.

Pitch sighed. "Jack..." He crawled up his lover, scooping his hands under Jack's shoulders. "A few weeks? That's so long!"

"And you are as impatient as a child. But I still find it adorable."

"If you find me so adorable...then don't make me wait. I mean it, Jack. I've waited a very long time for you. I've lost you more times than I even want to remember. I want you as my husband, Jack. I want to carry you to my bed and know that the man I sleep with that night is mine, completely and utterly."

"I already am completely yours, mon coeur. Hmmm...I'll make you a deal, alright?"

"Perhaps. Let me hear this deal first, and then I'll decide if I wish to agree to it. Just a tip from a smart businessman, my darling."

"We can get married after we find a place of our own to live. On our wedding night, I don't want to come back to my childhood room in my dad's house. I want to go home to a place of our own."

"So, as soon as we have a place of our own...you'll marry me?"

"Well, as long as we can also have enough time to give our guests enough warning." He chuckled.

Pitch put his head down, softly caressing the soft shoulder blades with his fingertips. "What's your definition of 'enough warning'?"

"A few days. Just long enough so they can be sure they'll be free."

"What if they don't need a few days? What if they know quickly, that they won't be busy?"

Jack gave him a disapproving look. "It's the polite thing to do. Just be happy I'm not making you wait the traditional months between invites and the wedding."

Pitch moved his hand, tugging on the white strands and pulling the head back. "Don't you dare, my sprite. I'm not letting you delay this any longer." His teeth scraped along the sensitive, pale skin of Jack's neck. "You will be mine, Jack. Not just as my lover but as my husband."

Jack groaned at the tug on his hair, wincing slightly. "I'm not making you wait that long, though, Pitch. Like I said: as soon as we find a place to live and only a few days after that."

Pitch sat back. "No deal."

"Why?" Blue eyes widened, looking up at him. "I mean, apartment hunting can't be that hard, right?"

"Of course not. However, I'm not waiting. If people can be sure they're free and that they can make it within a few hours, I want to marry you. Nine months isn't long, Jack, yet it can be an eternity. A few weeks or a few days is no different."

"I am so confused right now..." Jack fell back on the bed, his arm over his eyes.

"I will accept this deal. As soon as we have a place, and if people can make the time, we will marry that day. I'm not waiting anymore, Jack Frost."

He gently stroked his lover's cheek. "Alright. Deal."

Pitch smiled, working his hands down to Jack's pants. "Lift your hips, lover. I suddenly have an urge to make passionate and hard love to you."

"Of course, my love." Jack's hips lifted just enough to let Pitch remove his pants. "I can't wait." He pulled the man down for a kiss.

"On your knees, my darling."

The younger of the two rolled over, lifting himself up onto his hands and knees shakily. "I love you, my darling Pitch. I love you."

Pitch ran a hand gently over the soft curve of Jack's rear. "I love you." Stretching forward, he clamped a hand over Jack's mouth. "We must be quiet, my darling. Your father is so close,and we wouldn't want him to know how erotic and sexy his son is." Lining himself up with Jack's entrance, he shoved forward, causing the bed to bang against the wall. "But I still want to hear those sounds. Let me hear you, Jack. Every sound that comes out of that pale throat, I want to hear it."

Throwing an arm down to support their weight, Pitch gently lowered their bodies to the bed. Still inside his lover, he snuggled against Jack's body, pulling it close.

"I love you so much..." Jack held Pitch's arms tight around him, pulling the sheets over their bodies when he shivered.

Pitch pulled back, nuzzling the shell of Jack's ear. "Are you still ill?"

"Mhmm." He nodded his head slightly. "I think the meds are finally starting to kick in a little, though."

"I knew my medicine would cure you. It always has." Pitch chuckled, pulling himself out and rolling the smaller body around. "Hold me, dearest."

Jack slid forward, burying his face in Pitch's neck with a smile. "I'm not so sure it was your medicine that did it, but you can keep thinking that if you want."

Pitch ran a hand along Jack's spine, tangling the fingers of his other hand in the white locks. "Jack, that hurt my pride. And here I thought you loved my medicine. Now I know the truth!"

"I do love your medicine. Very much so." He placed a gentle kiss against the man's neck. "It is the perfect remedy for a broken heart, which you have cured me of. But for a fever? Not so much."

"Is this heart still broken? Do you need more medicine?"

"It isn't anymore. I am in fact happier than I have been in ages. Because I have you back in my arms."

"Say it, Jack. Say it, my dearest love."

"I love you, Pitch. You are more essential to me than air."

"I'm pleased to hear it." Pitch leaned down to kiss the pale forehead but pulled back when his lips met with hot skin. "Jack, you're burning up!"

"I-it's not so bad. Just a small fever..."

"No, my sweetling, you're scalding. Come, my little love." Pitch took the small body in his arms, pulling it from the bed. "To the shower with you. I think a shower is exactly what we both need, don't you?"

"Mhmn..." Jack nodded his head, resting his head against his lover's shoulder.

Pitch opened the door, turning on the light in the bathroom. Reaching a hand out, he pulled the curtain back and turned the handle, releasing a spray of lukewarm water. That is not going to feel very nice, but anything for Jack. Pitch put down the toilet seat and sat on it, pulling the thermometer out from the cabinet. "Open your mouth, dearest. You need to put this under your tongue."

Jack put the thermometer in his mouth with a groan. "So...hot..."

"I know, sweetling." Pitch waited and took the thermometer out when it was time. Sweet Jesus...almost one hundred and three... "Come dearest, time for that shower I promised you. It'll be a little cold, but I think it'll be a relief for you." Pitch opened the curtain, carrying the hot body under the spray of the water.

The younger man let out a sigh of slight relief, holding himself close to Pitch. "I love you..."

"And I love you." Pitch shivered when he felt the water touch him, the temperature cool to the fire under his skin. Think with your head, Black, not your dick... "I'll need you to stand on your feet. I can't very well wash you if my hands are full with you." Jack nodded, tiredly standing on his own but still holding onto Pitch. "That's it, hold on to me. Turn around, back to my chest. Hold on to my arms. And whatever you do, don't fall asleep."

The younger man leaned heavily against his lover, but he did manage to turn around. "...love you..."

"Good boy, keep saying it." Pitch reached for the soap, rubbing it between his hands. His long fingers caressed the burning skin, working on cooling it down.

Jack shivered, letting loose a soft moan. "I love you so much, Pitch."

"Keep saying it." Pitch was desperate by now. He's still so warm. He shouldn't be this warm.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you so much. Don't leave me, Pitch. I need you so much. I'd die without you."

"I know, my dearest heart. Me too." Too warm...he's too warm...North! "Jack, keep talking to me."

Jack shivered violently in his arms. "N-never let me go. Promise you won't..."

"Never. I promise." Pitch shut the water off, quickly picking up the warm body. Too warm...too warm... "I'm going to dress you now, my darling. Keep talking. Stay awake."

He moaned at the thought of wearing clothes. "But it's so hot."

Pitch chuckled nervously. "What's this? What happened to the pretty words you were saying before?" Laying the body down on the bed, he moved frantically to pull clothes out of drawers and the closet. Too warm...hospital...

Jack shivered again. "I-I love you, mon...mon coeur."

"More, Jack. I need more." Pitch worked on pulling a pair of boxers over his lover's slim hips.

"I love you..." His head weakly lolled to the side, watching Pitch move. "Where's Dad's meds? I think I..." He shivered. "...need more."

"You don't think, my dearest. Leave that to me. You just keep saying what I love for you to say, and let me do the thinking." Having pulled the boxers on, he worked on putting on a pair of loose pants.

"I-I can still think. Just need some more meds...and you...and I'll be fine. Good as new."

"What did I tell you, sweetling? Pretty words are all I want to hear from those full lips. Only pretty words."

He moaned softly, curling onto his side with another shiver. "I love you, mon coeur."

Can't wait...can't wait... "Jack, stay awake!" Pitch tugged on a pair of sleep pants over his hips, not even bothering to work on shirts for either of them. He pulled the shivering body into his arms, rushing to North's door. "Mr. North! Mr. North, wake up!"

The big man opened the door a few moments later, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What is big racket? First noises downstairs and now this? You are pushing your luck young man."

"It's Jack! It's my...my Jack is ill. He's burning up! He needs a doctor, not medicine."

North jumped to attention, immediately reaching out to feel his son's forehead. "H-hey, Dad. Tell him I'm fine. That I-I don't get sick ever."

"I want to, my boy. But this time you are sick. Very sick." He reached behind him, grabbing his coat and keys. "Come. We take him to hospital." North lifted Jack from Pitch's arms gently. "Go get jackets. For both of you."

Pitch nodded, rushing to grab the coats. Dashing back, he slipped his on and worked on putting Jack's on. "Put him back, Mr. North. I need him in my arms. Please...put him back."

With a sigh, North handed his son back over to the other man, heading for the front door. "We must hurry."

Pitch followed the older man, stroking Jack's back. "Stay awake, my dearest. Remember: pretty words."

Jack mumbled a slur of "I love you"s, his face burying in his lover's neck.

"Good boy." Pitch pulled the body close. Lowering his mouth near Jack's ear. "Don't leave me, Jack."

Review please ^^