Czarnina Soup (by North)

What you need:

2 Cups of Fresh Duck Blood

0.5 cup vinegar

Duck meat

1 cup of duck stock

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

Salt and pepper

2 cups dried fruit (prunes, raisins, cherries)

2 tablespoons all-purpose floor

1 cup of Cream

How to Prepare:

1)Mix fresh blood with vinegar. This prevent clotting

2)Place duck pieces in a large pot and cover with adequate water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat.

3)Add stock, marjoram and other spice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4)Boil mixture again, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

5)Add the dried fruit. Leave to simmer for another hour.

6)Remove meat from bones and return to the pot.

7)Mix flour and sugar with cup of the duck blood in vinegar.

8)Pour this mixture slowly into the soup, ensuring that it is well-mixed.

9)Stir constantly. Add in the cream slowly too. Salt and Pepper to taste. Once the soup thickens, turn off heat.

10)Add parsley. Serve with bread, potato dumplings or even noodles.

~~~0~~~

"Hey, you haven't RSVP-ed yet."

He didn't answer, because his gaze was glued to his phone at the point of the time, and there was a message there from a certain blonde that he knew, "You haven't gotten back to me on the sponsors."

He rolled his eyes and typed back, "Gimme a sec to check, won't you? The day just started."

"Early bird catches the worm, Jack F. Guardian," came the impatient reply.

He snorted. She was rather fond of addressing him by his full name. It was almost affectionate – at least, he liked to think it was. "Alright, alright, your majesty. Don't get your knickers up in a bunch."

"Knickers? What are we now? British?"

Oops. That wasn't meant to slip out. All those years staying in Brighton must have rubbed off him. He hastily typed an excuse, "Brits are cool, or so haven't you heard? I mean, where all do the classy British villains comes from?"

"So you're a classy British villain now?"

"Am I invisible?"

Jack's head finally jerked up to see a frowning auburn-head tapping his foot. Blushing slightly in embarrassment, he hastily switched off the screen of his phone, stuffing it hurriedly in his pocket. "Hey, Hiccup. Hi, hi."

The other boy raised a brow as he unlocked his locker. "You're acting weird – and that's coming from me."

"Well, I am strange boy," Jack quipped back at him, a warm feeling rising in his chest as he recalled time Elsa had told him that.

"Yeah, okay," Hiccup decided to give up on pursuing the matter, choosing instead to repeat his question. "So, are you going to come to the 'wedding'?"

"Ah, yeah, about that." Jack scratched the back of his head uneasily. "I'm sort of grounded, and the Guardians have been watching me like hawks. I don't think I can make it."

"Oh, it's fine," Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, glancing at his watch. "I'll invite you again ten years from now." Having removed his books from the locker, he kicked it shut with his metal foot – a foot which had a story that Jack couldn't quite remember.

So Jack asked, "How did you lose your foot again?"

"Oh, that?" The lanky teen glanced down the prosthetic attached to the end of his left limb. "Fight with vampires back in 1934."

"Ah." Right. Mortal enemies and all that nonsense.

"Anyway, heard that you've been seeing someone," Hiccup said as the two boys began their stroll towards their respective classes now. "Thought that you aren't allowed to date."

"Mortals," Jack corrected him. "Not allowed to date mortals." He fiddled idly with the strap at the end of his bag. "I think Tooth still wishes that I'd find a nice vampire girl and settle down, but considering we live in almost complete isolation from other bloodsuckers, it's not gonna happen."

"But you are seeing someone, then?"

The white-haired boy couldn't bring himself to say it, so he nodded. Then he shook his head. Then he shrugged, a grimace contorting his features.

"That was … remarkably unhelpful," commented Hiccup drily.

"Okay, we've had some dinners together and hung out for stuff," Jack burst out, unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fist as he did, "but I'm not really sure about the status of our relationship. I mean, I'm not even sure if we're friends!"

"Well, have you asked her?"

"No." Jack was looking at him as if he had just suggested the dumbest thing in the world. "Because she might call it quits, and then everything just goes splat."

"Well, then give her a reason not to," was Hiccup's matter-of-fact reply, sounding a little annoyed with his friend's tantrum. "Sweep her off her feet. Do something romantic this Friday."

"Friday?" Jack repeated, puzzled. "That's an oddly specific day you picked. Is there something special about Fridays that I haven't been privy to?"

Now it was Hiccup's turn to look at Jack quizzically. "Jack," he said, slowly as if he was speaking to a child, "this Friday is Valentine's Day."

"Oh?" The white-haired boy didn't seem particularly impressed with this piece of knowledge. Most of his knowledge of the day involved his locker being crammed full of heart-shaped cards, chocolates and flowers. It was always a huge hassle to clear it all out, though he did dump the chocolates with Bunny, who proceeded to consume them at a rate that Tooth disapproved of. Anyway, most of the gifts came from people he didn't know, anyway, so he supposed that they must have mixed him up with some other Jack. It was a common name after all. "So?"

"So-" Hiccup was starting to get exasperated with him, not surprising with the blank look that Jack was wearing "-get her something nice, or plan her something nice, then ask her to be your Valentine!" The bell rung at that moment, and the auburn-haired boy marched off in the direction of his classroom.

Jack hadn't noticed this however, still brooding along the corridor, rubbing his chin. "You know, I never understood that phrase. 'Be my Valentine'. Urgh." He shuddered. "It's like asking someone to a day, like 'Monday', or 'Friday'. That's kind of mean, don't you think?" He glanced towards Hiccup for an answer, only to discover that he had disappeared. "Oh, well."

It was then he noticed that he got had received a new email. He smashed his thumb against the scanner and opened up the app for his email. As it turned out, he had gotten his reply about the sponsorship. "Oh, boy…"

~~~0~~~

"They all said 'no'?"

"Every single one of them," Jack muttered disconcertedly, slouched behind the booth of the blood donation drive booth.

Anna let out a long sigh herself as she set down the latest form that they had received. Recruitment had really picked up speed, and they were edging closer and closer to their goal of five hundred donors. But all those numbers were going to be useless if they couldn't even get the money to sponsor the equipment. Jack had written in to various charity foundations and academic philanthropists, but the answers had been all a polite negative, because their blood donation drive didn't meet this little requirement, or it didn't fulfill that little criterion. It was all a bundle of bureaucratic nonsense, and frankly, the boy was quite tired of it all.

"Don't suppose your folks would like to make a contribution?" Anna asked with a slight smile, but that faded when Jack shook his head.

The Guardians had reluctantly permitted Jack to continue working in his position in the SASS, but they had made him vow (at least five times) that he would not go to school on the day of the donation drive. Nope, the Guardians were going for a hunting trip, far far away from the mortals who were going to have tubes jabbed into their veins - to find fresh blood that didn't require them to bite into human necks. That said, they still disapproved of the entire thing – mostly Tooth and Bunny, who still considered him grounded. North had been quiet of late and Sandy – well, Sandy was still the cool uncle who'd probably let him get away with anything.

"Well, we're doomed," Anna murmured, sighing again. "Have you told my sister yet?"

Jack rubbed the heel of his palm into his eye. "How am I supposed to? This donation drive means a lot to her."

It was true. Even with three others in the society to help her, Elsa was still the one caarrying the heaviest burden; getting permits for the school, reading up on blood storage regulations, making sure the rest of them did their jobs and so on. He knew that she was working herself to bone, with how exhausted she had been lately. Perhaps he could convince her to let him do more. With his nearly non-existent sleep cycle, he would be able to accomplish much more than she would, and more quickly too. But Elsa was by nature a leader, and she wouldn't appreciate his attempts to lighten her load. No, she would just sit at home and worry if he was doing a good job. She was a perfectionist – a flaw, perhaps, but it did not mar her perfection.

And with the news he was going to break to her, she was going to perfectly disappointed.

"Hello, there!" Both of the teens slumped behind the booth raised their heads to a girl with a fuzzy waterfall of hair falling over her shoulders standing in front of the booth, a clipboard in her arms. She beamed brightly at them, sticking her hand out towards them. "I'm from the Student Welfare Society."

"Yeah," Anna drawled with a raised brow while Jack shook the girl's hand. She gave the student a thorough glance. "Um, are you even seventeen?"

"No, but I'm not here to donate. Wish I could." The girl did look genuinely apologetic, but she got over it quickly enough to revert to her cheery tone. "Anyway, the Welfare Society's selling flowers for Valentine's Day. We're taking orders in advance, and we can even send them to your person of interest for a small fee."

At that, the face of the brunette girl by Jack's side suddenly lit up with interest. "Ooh! What flowers do you guys sell?"

"Just roses, but we have a few colours." The Welfare Society girl lifted her clipboard up to show them the shade of petal that they had, with the respective prices and meaning of the flowers tagged on the bottom. Anna leaned forward with interest, scrutinizing the options on the sheet, while Jack reclined back into his chair, an odd idea stirring in his head.

"Hey," he called to the Welfare Society girl, who raised her head questioningly at him. "What happens to the money that you guys earn?"

"Well,-" she seemed rather surprised at his odd, if not a little uncomfortable question, "-we use it to fund our events, of course, like the school carnival and Movies under the Stars."

"Oh, I love Movies under the Stars." Anna clapped her hand in excitement, turning to Jack. "There's nothing as ridiculous as watching a film that you've seen dozens of times under the open sky with your friends and an overpriced box of popcorn."

"Uh-huh." But Jack wasn't really listening anymore. A plan had formed in his mind, and if they could pull it off, Elsa might be the one asking him to her Valentine.

He grinned. Then frowned. He still didn't know what that ridiculous phrase meant.

~~~0~~~

"Calm down. No need to panic."

"How can I not panic?"

"Because everything is under control," he spoke to the phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder, shaking his head as he lined the tray with foil. "Relax. I got this."

"We don't have any sponsors, Jack!"

"Elsa, Elsa, Elsa." He clucked his tongue at her in a manner that was almost endearing. "You worry too much. Look, you just focus on your job, and I'll focus on mine. We'll get that money. I promise."

"I don't-" he could hear a shout in the background, muffled only by the clinking of cutlery and shuffling waiters. She sighed into the mouthpiece, before saying, "Alright. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Sure, I do." Jack heard the sound of steps coming from behind him. Not wanting to take the risk that it was either Bunny or Tooth, he decided to finish it up the call. "Okay, gotta go. Love you."

He had ripped the phone from his shoulder and hung up before it occurred to him what he had just said. Jack groaned, pressing his knuckle into his forehead. It wasn't on purpose, but then, he wasn't in the habit of saying it at all! Not even to his own family! Why, oh, why did it have to slip out with her on the phone?

That's it. Enough American Television.

"Jack?" He whipped himself around with so much force that he had almost knocked the entire dining table. He came pretty to close to knocking over the flower vase that sat on the polished wooden surface, but caught it mid-air before it tipped over. Tooth herself had jumped back in shock at his reaction, sucking in breath as she did. "Goodness! What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry," the boy murmured abashedly as he returned the vase back at its original spot. "You startled me."

Tooth shot him a look that told him that she didn't quite believe him. She then folded her arm, narrowing her eyes at him. "Who was on the phone?"

"A… friend." He didn't hide the hesitation very well.

The woman appeared sceptical and was about to say so when fortunately, a buzz from her phone distracted her. Glancing at the screen briefly, she only lifted her head to shoot him a warning look. "Well, I'm going to be out for a while." She frowned at the assortment of cooking ware that he had assembled around the kitchen, from the baking trays, to the mixing bowls to the food processors. "What are you doing?"

"Baking." He smiled beamed. "Maybe something from the cookbook, you know."

Tooth's disbelieving didn't leave her face, but she still left after that. Jack waited for a few minutes after her departure before following after her. He raced all the way to the entrance of the mansion, glancing out of the window in time for her to drive off. Grinning like mad, he whipped out his phone and dialed a new number.

"The bird has flown," Jack said. "Repeat, the bird has flown."

"Roger that, Captain Frost," he heard Anna enthused reply.

"This is stupid," came a background voice, deeper and gruffer than Anna's.

"Oh, lighten up, Kristoff."

~~~0~~

Blood Brownies (by Bunny)

100g of bitter chocolate

1 cup blood of your choice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 egg whites

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

How to preheat:

1)Start with preheating the oven.

2)Melt the chocolate in a pot over a low flame. Once liquid, stir gently to prevent burning.

3)Pour the melted chocolate in a mixing bowl containing the sugar, blood, cocoa powder, butter, vanilla. Mix with a mixer until smooth. This may take a minute or two.

4)Add in eggs white and whisk. Gradually fold in the flour and baking powder.

5)Prepare a baking tray. Cover it with a baking sheet and spray the sheet with canola oil.

6)Pour the mixture into the tray and bake for an hour.

7)Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool in the open air.

8)Cut and serve warm with ice-cream, or refrigerator to have a hard, cakey texture.

Note: Eat only once a year. This is bad for your teeth.

Note 2: Tooth, get off my case, for goodness sake. You know my brownies are good. I see you take seconds.

Note 3: Bunny, I only eat them so that the rest of the Guardians don't need to suffer under your stupid stubbornness of serving unhealthy food.

Note 4: MY FOOD IS DELICIOUS!

Note 5: But still unhealthy.

Note 6: Get your own page, Tooth!

Note 7: Hi guys, Sandy here. Do you mind taking this lover's spat somewhere else? The page is running out of space.

Note 8: Sorry Sandy. We know you worked hard to compile all of this. We'll (illegible scribbles) and we'll (more illegible scribbles).

~~~0~~~

"Wow, I can't believe that we've actually made it this far. We've managed to burn only one tray."

"Yeah, thanks to someone who wasn't paying attention." As he said it, the blonde junior student shot a glare at Anna.

She folded her arms, trying to look cross but her flour-stained shirt and her chocolate smeared nose made it difficult anyone to take her seriously. "Hey, I was answering an important message." She reached out to pick up one of the burnt brownies and bit emphatically into it. "And you can hardly taste the burn, actually."

"Important message, eh?" The odd boy called Kristoff scoffed at her. "Your precious Hans Westergaard?"

The girl scowled at him and Jack was certain that she might have launched herself towards him had he not instructed her then, "Hey, cut the brownies up. I need to pack them."

She shot a glare at him, but returned to her duty of slice the cakes into neat squares.

Inspiration had been drawn from the numerous hours of American television and the blissful pop-culture that surrounded that which was called 'Valentine's Day'. On this beloved day, sharp retailers jacked the prices up like you wouldn't believe, and the foolish masses bought chocolates, roses and gift cards at five times their usual cost without a blink. It was the stupidity of mankind that they now exploited, for reasons that were surprisingly noble.

They couldn't sell flowers, since the Student Welfare Society was already doing that, but they could sell decadent, chocolate-related desserts, and it so happened that Jack knew an excellent brownie recipe, written in a very special cookbook. He did remove one particular ingredient though (no prizes for guessing).

That said, he hadn't wanted them to come over to bake. Besides no dating, the other rule that the Guardians had given him was that he wasn't supposed to bring any mortal friends to their house. The mansion held many secrets and mysteries that was best left untouched, and a nosy visitor was all it could take for peace to break into chaos. But so far, Anna and Kristoff had respected the boundaries that he had set and hadn't wandered off to explore the rest of the house, though the girl had hinted strongly that she would like a tour. Still, there was much to do in very little time, so the trio had been stuck primarily in the kitchen.

Now that the brownies had all been baked, Anna had cut them up into small squares and piped an icing heart onto each square. Jack then took packed the squares into a fancy, heart-decorated plastic bag and tied it up with a bow. Kristoff was the last in the factory line, attaching a heart-shaped card to each bag which read, 'Be my sweetheart!'

"Just looking at these makes me feel like throwing up," the blonde boy muttered, dropping another completed packet in a box, where all the other decorated bundles of brownies were sitting. He then picked up the next packet that Jack had handed to him. "Do you honestly think anyone would buy these? I wouldn't."

"That's because you have no sense of romance, Kristoff," Anna chided as she lowered her piping bag over the tray, lining a lovely heart on the next brown square. "What sweeter gesture can there be to give your true love a sweet treat?"

"True love." Kristoff snorted as he slapped the next card on with as much grace as a bulldozer. "You can't be serious."

The girl took offence at that. "Excuse me?"

"You're like, what, fifteen? What do you know of true love?"

"More than you, at least." She cast a disparaging look at him.

The rugged junior student barked a sharp laugh. "My love life level is a zero, thank you very much, but I bet I know more about love than you." A derisive escaped his throat as he muttered, "Crushing on some guy you barely now."

If looks were daggers, Kristoff would have been the pinned to the polished white tiles of the kitchen wall. Anna, burning with fury, thrust the icing-packed piping bag into Jack's hands, not caring that he almost toppled over when she did – geez, for a mortal she was strong. She marched up to the table that the blonde lad was hunched over, arms akimbo as she began to berate him for his insensitivity. In response, the blocky lad had snarked back insults of his own, which served only to anger the girl all the more.

Watching the scene unfold before him, Jack recalled the time when Anna had told him that Kristoff had not joined the SASS out of his own free-will, but that he had been coerced. He had initially thought that Elsa would have been the one to do the coercing – much like the way she had done with him – but now, with a front view seat to Anna's ferocity, he decided it was more likely that the younger sister was responsible for the other boy's unwilling membership. As he gazed at them though, Jack couldn't help but be reminded of the silly quarrels that Bunny and Tooth would have.

With the piping bag in his hand now, he had no choice but to continue her job of drawing the hearts. As he did, however, yet another bolt of inspiration struck him. Jack balanced the heavy bag in his hand, and with a precision that would have made Tooth proud, he inscribed the words his tongue would have never dared to utter.

~~~0~~~

Alright, pay up, you doubters. His idea was absolute genius.

Friday came soon enough, and they were more than ready to meet it. On that beautiful, festive day, dozens had realised that they had forgotten a special something for their partners, friends or family to celebrate. Realisation led to panic and panic lead to bad judgement, and soon students and staff were lining up in front of the blood donation booth to buy brownies.

"Sweet treats for you and your loved ones!" Anna was revelling in her duty as the promoter, waving at their booth in between handing out flyers. "Buy a brownie, save a life!"

"Give yourself diabetes at the same time," was Kristoff's sarcastic, but fortunately unheard, mutter. He had been charged with the duty of collecting of money due to his lack of social skills. It was well-placed position.

Jack, with his gorgeous white locks and his equally gorgeous teeth, gave service with a smile. Fountain poised over the blank card, he beamed at the next customer. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Oh, just write 'Mum'," the redheaded girl said, adjusting the wooden bow in her hand. Probably from the archery club. "Do you guys sell enchantments to go with it?"

Jack crooked a quizzical brow. "No…"

"Pity." The girl sniffed.

He did his duty, curling the calligraphed letters inside the card. Back in the day, he had been illiterate, signing all his papers with a 'Xs'. After the Guardians had taken him under his wing, North and Sandy had been the ones that undertook the task of giving him a thorough education. Sandy himself had taught him the variation of penmanship, from the print to the cursive to the elegant calligraphy that he was now a master of.

Jack grinned proudly at his work before folding the card and handing it to the girl, jerking his head towards the blonde boy at his side. "Pay over there."

And boom! Seven dollars. It was a rip-off. Everyone knew it was a rip-off. But they paid anyway.

"How's everything going?" A familiar voice combined with the hurried clambering over the booth brought a grin to Jack's face.

"Brilliant," he told the blonde, who was in the processes of removing her bag from her shoulder, dumping carelessly under the table of the booth. He allowed himself a minor interruption from his work to watch Elsa straighten out her crumbled blouse and readjust her messy bun, and he wondered how could it be that such ordinary actions could be so pleasing to the eye.

She caught his eye, but fortunately didn't seem to have noticed how he was looking at her. "Have we broke-even yet?"

"An hour ago," Kristoff supplied helpfully, running his pen down the account book. He then leaned forward over the counter. "F.Y.I., Guardian. There's a queue building."

It took Jack a moment to realise that he was talking to him and another couple seconds to realise that the mounting crowd of people appeared rather displeased to be held up. Embarrassed, he finally ripped his gaze from the object of his admiration and returned to writing on the brownie packet cards.

It was around four in the afternoon when they finally sold out. Kristoff and Elsa sat themselves down to count the money while Jack and Anna had the less pleasant job apologising to unhappy customers that didn't get to buy the brownies. When the disgruntled crowd finally dispersed, all four members of the SASS were huddled around the table of money when Kristoff announced the amount.

Anna was the first to cheer, jumping from her seat and twirling in mad circles. Jack followed her in doing so and somehow both of them ended up swinging each other around in an impromptu dance. Elsa herself didn't say anything, just leaning back into a chair and let out a long sigh of relief. Kristoff however still remained hunched forward, fingering the notes and scrutinising the accounts books. He finally announced, an edge in his voice, "We're missing money."

The celebration was drawn to an abrupt halt.

Elsa was the first to respond, blood draining from her face as she whispered, "How much?"

"Seven bucks."

"Well, that's not so bad," Anna put in, a small smile blooming on her face. "We still have enough to pay off the transport and the equipment, right?"

This however did remind Jack of something rather important, however, and he dove back behind the booth for his school bag, pulling out the last missing brownie cake and his wallet at the same time. From his wallet, he slapped down exactly seven dollars in front of Kristoff, startling the boy and earning peculiar looks from the rest of the team. The white-haired lad however did not notice any of these, but instead directed his attention to the blonde president of the Social Awareness Student Society.

"Er, well," he fumbled over his words, before deciding 'heck it' and he thrust the brownie packet to her. Elsa took the offering with a bewildered mien, until he jerked his chin towards it. "Read it."

She glanced down, and true enough, on the chocolate-flavoured confectionary, a bunch of words were scribbled with icing, 'Would you be my Valentine?'

Anna, who was reading the words over her sister's shoulder, squealed in excitement. Kristoff, who seemed completely unaffected by the event, added the dollar bills to the money box and wrote down the sale in his account book. That said, Jack's eyes were only fixed on the seated girl, who was still fiddling uneasily with the gift in her gloved hands.

Her expression was unreadable, but her posture was rigid, and his heart sank when she finally tilted her head up to say, quietly, "I've got work after school."

Of course, she did. By now, he should have been familiar with her schedule. With people winding down from work and looking forward to the weekend, Friday nights would be the peak-period. Not to mention, it was Valentine's Day. The restaurants would be all packed with people. Not everyone belonged to a family that had been accumulating its wealth over the centuries, so of course, she would prioritise work over going out with some boy. There was nothing wrong with that, especially if the boy was as strange as him.

"But-" her voice broke his deflated reverie "-if you're alright with it being late, we could do something else together after I'm done."

Jack grinned so hard that it hurt.

~~~0~~~~

Fusilli Bolognese (by Tooth)

What you need:

Blood Tofu (see page 28 for recipe)

Olive oil

Minced Beef

1 Diced Onion

3 Grated Carrots

3 Chopped Tomatoes

2 cups of 1Beef Stock

Salt and Pepper

How to Prepare:

1)Make the blood Tofu according to the recipe on page 28. Ensure to pour the blood in a swallow tray. This is to form thin sheets.

2)Slice the hardened blood tofu into thin strips. This should form the blood fusilli to used.

3)To prepare the saucepan, pre-heat the skillet to medium heat. Add olive oil. Once heated, add minced beef with salt and pepper. Stir on skillet till cooked. Transfer to another bowl

4)Add olive oil to saucepan. Add onions and cook, but don't caramelised.

5)Add grated carrots and mince meat back into saucepan. Add tomatoes and stir well.

6)Pour in stock. Bring to boil then reduce heat. Allow simmer for 30-45minutes. Adjust time according to thickness of the sauce.

7)Add salt and pepper to taste.

8)Pour sauce over the fusilli. Top with freshly grated parmesan if desired.

~~~0~~~

"How am I supposed to know? Just because I'm half of your age doesn't mean that I'll be keeping up with the current courtship practices any more than you. Heck, school is the only time I hang out with humans."

Jack muttered a curse as he pressed the phone against his ear. His free hand was occupied with browsing the garments in his closet. He didn't know what he wanted to wear, or what he wanted to do, or why he even thought it was a good idea to ask her to be his Valentine without a plan.

Yeah, about that … what does it mean for someone to be his Valentine? Did this mean that they'll spend Valentine's Day together and that's it? Or was it more of a long term thing? Also, were they supposed to spend it as friends or as a couple? Or some kind weird mix of both? The Internet was giving him mixed definitions.

"I'm not completely sure what the phrase means either."

"You're absolutely useless, you know that?" Jack told him.

Hiccup sounded offended. "Hey, you're the one who called me."

"Because I've never dated anyone in my life, and you happen to be a steady relationship!" The white-haired lad was clenching his teeth as shoved back the shirts. Was this one too formal? Yep, it was. It'd make him look serious, and serious was not a feature he pulled off well. What about this one? The motif of puppies was cute. But she might end up bursting into laughter, and then she'll never take what he had to say seriously. He then moved on to the elegant silk kimono that Bunny had dumped on him last time and sad to say, he seriously contemplated wearing it. "Okay, if you were to take Astrid on a date, where would you take her?"

There was a pause, then – "Do you have a dragon?"

"No."

"Well, then my answer will be irrelevant in your case."

"Jack!" A loud bellow echoed from downstairs. "Dinner's ready!"

"I'm not having dinner with you guys! Go ahead and start" he called back, before putting his ear against the phone again. "Is there anything else that you guys do together?"

"Well, on some nights, when we're alone at home, we like do what married couples do and…"

"Okay, you know what?" Even though he was alone in his room and three freakin' hundred years old, a blush crept up his cheeks. "Don't tell me."

"…cook together, though Astrid somehow burns it. I don't know how, but she always does." There was a quizzical note in Hiccup's voice. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"Err, nothing." He forced himself to stare fiercely ahead at the clothes, face still flaming red as he shoved the clothes from one side to another.

"We also watch TV together, go bowling together, go rollerskating together – that's more of daytime thing, I wouldn't recommend it at night-"

"Wait," Jack interrupted, the idea finally dawning on him. "TV! Of course!"

"You're just going to invite her watch TV with you?" Hiccup sounded doubtful. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's kind, well, domestic?"

"We're not watching TV." Jack rolled his eyes though the other boy couldn't see it. "We'll have dinner and go see the moving pictures together!"

"You mean the movies."

"Whatever."

"I can't believe that you couldn't come up with this idea your own. It's the most basic date plan ever."

Jack however ignored the jibe and told him, "I owe you one. See ya." With that, he hung up, tossed his phone and decided to go with a nice short-sleeved shirt that wasn't too dressy, but not too sloppy either. He matched it with a pair of tight-fitting pants and threw on a jacket for good measure. He was rarely cold, but in the movies he watched, the girl would always somehow be cold and the guy would somehow always have a coat to put over her shoulders. He wasn't going to miss out on that.

"Jack?" he heard a knock on his door just as he was about to fit on his shoes. "Dinner's ready." Before he could say anything, the door swung open.

He froze, like a thief that had been caught red-handed, and perhaps the description of red-handed was not inaccurate. He had been hoping to flee the house before anyone noticed what he was wearing.

Tooth's amethyst eyes rolled over his entire form, and then hardened. "Jack," she spoke in a low voice, "you're dressed up nice." Beneath the innocent statement was a subtle query.

Jack swallowed, standing himself straight before her as admitted, "Yes."

"Where are you going?" Still calm, but she had folded her arms. She was prepared for battle.

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Out."

"Out where?" she pressed. "With whom?"

"Dinner with friends," he lied as he grabbed his bag off the hook. As he moved towards the door though, she didn't let him pass.

"I'm not an idiot, Jack. Today's Valentine's Day."

Oh, crap. He had rather hoped that she hadn't noticed that. He pulled a surprised expression. "It is?"

"Yes." Her eyes narrowed themselves down on him. "Also, you're grounded, or don't you remember? You're not even supposed to be going out with friends."

There was something about the way she phrased it that rubbed him the wrong way. Usually, it was Bunny who did this, so if it were Bunny standing here berating him with enough ferocity to dice a carrot, he wouldn't be surprised. But Tooth – sweet, motherly Tooth - rarely pushed him this hard. "I've apologised to Bunny about the donation drive thing, didn't I?"

"That doesn't mean that you're excused from your punishment," Tooth retorted.

"Punishment?" He let out a sharp, humourless laugh. "Tooth, I'm three hundred and six years old. I may look like a teenager, but I'm hardly one."

Since she wasn't going to make way, he pushed past her, making her stumble back in surprise. A surge of guilt shot through his chest at that moment, but in his mind, he knew that she couldn't really be hurt by the gesture – physically, at least.

"Jack." There was a warning in her words.

"I'm going to be late, Tooth." He checked his watch. Elsa told him that she'd be let off at eight, which was a good half-hour from now. But if he stayed here any longer, he knew that one of the Guardians was bound to find something to occupy him through the night. [No.] No more calls to rearrange the furniture, or subject-switching, or sop-stories to make him change his mind. For once, he wanted to do what he wanted. Was that honestly too much to ask for?

"Jack, wait."

Just as he was about to descend the stairs, her fingers latched themselves around his wrist. He pulled against her grip, but she was much stronger. All the same, the boy stared fiercely down at the wall, refusing to look at her. If he did, he knew that his resolve would crumble.

But he should have not underestimated the amount of emotion that she could pour into her voice.

"Jack." A small sigh that left her lips reminded him of a time two hundred years ago, when he had lost control and had razed a mining town to ground. Tooth had embraced him while he had wept, bemoaning the curse that plagued them both. "Jack, please don't do this."

He found his head swerving towards her, just in time to feel the full force of her begging expression.

"You know why I care about this," Tooth pleaded, countenance warped in fear and misery. Oh great, now she was using the soft power. When she had first recounted her story to him, she had been so distraught by the memory of it that she had been rendered non-functional for a whole year. At the time, he had been new to the Guardians and heavily dependent on her, so when she broke down, he himself had been at a loss of what to do. It was an unspoken rule from then on to never speak of it unless necessary. He didn't know if he could honestly stand another year of that again.

So when she said to him – no, beg of him, "Please, don't go. Just stay for dinner with us. I made spaghetti – your favourite." Her other hand went to squeeze his shoulder, a gentle act that drove right into his conscience. "We're your family, Jack. You don't need anyone else." You don't need a mortal girl.

And in a way, she was right. In the end of all things, people will age and die, but only the Guardians will be there for him.

But this was precisely the same argument that had caused him to miss the first date that he was supposed to have with Elsa. After all that time she'd spent with him, he was sure that it was building up to something - something that his interrupted adolescence had never gotten to experience. If he stood her up now, he knew she would never give him another chance.

Jack pulled away from his surrogate sister – mother, whatever role she was playing - firmly but respectfully, and continued his descent down the stairs. He could feel her eyes burning into his back the whole time.

He somehow made it through the hallway without running into any of the other Guardians. He was thankful for that, because he doubted that he could handle anymore emotional blackmail.

Jack let out a breath as he headed over to his bike. It was one of kind, built by North and given to him on the Christmas of '89. Two decades later, and the engineering masterpiece still held up against the factory made ones.

As he did, though, he heard what vaguely sounded like the shattering of glass and smashing of furniture coming from inside. Sandy wasn't going to be happy if they needed to refurbish the upstairs again.

~~~0~~~

It was half-an-hour after eight.

Don't get him wrong. He had all the time in the world to kill, but he was starting to wonder if she wasn't coming at all.

Maybe this was revenge. He had stood her up once, right? Now it was her turn to make him suffer.

Jack leaned himself back against the motorbike and sighed, looking through the glass windows of the 'Oaken's Grill' – the so-called Norwegian restaurant that was Elsa's workplace. He spotted a blonde head shuffling up and down the aisles, carrying plates back and forth all while customers waved for her attention. She hadn't noticed his presence yet. She wasn't the type to get distracted while on task. He doubted that she would really skip out an evening with him, because she was Elsa and she rarely broke her word, but if her boss was feeling nasty and didn't want to let her off at the agreed time, there was nothing she could do about it.

He had already gotten himself an ice-cream from the diner across the road. That had gone down his throat pretty quickly because it gave him no nutrition whatsoever. In his hurry to leave home, he hadn't brought the emergency bottle with him and he didn't want to risk going back. The chances that Tooth or one of the others cornering him was too high.

Bored and a little peckish, he moodily glanced across the road, at the other cluster of eateries that flanked the packed parking lots. His eyes scanned the various food options. The vegan burger place? Yeah, that would kill him. The only thing worse than no blood was no meat. The Indian restaurant? Nice place, but a bit too pricey for Elsa, and also no blood. Elsa also hated fast food, so the next two shops were crossed off the list. The Szechwan Palace wasn't too far from here, and it offered him a nice haemovorous option. But it was closed on Fridays. There was a Vietnamese place up street that offered 'Tiết canh' – a type of blood soup that was served with meat and fish sauce. The problem was that Sandy had tried the place and returned with a heavy thumbs-down for a review. If he took Elsa to a place with bad food, he might as well have stood her up.

As he gazed upon the neon lights of the car park, he suddenly noted that the doors of the fast food diner had flung open. A young couple, hands clasped, dashed through the doors, running towards the carpark. Behind them, a server in the restaurant emerged, yelling something that made the duo dissolve into chuckles as they made their way to the grey sedan parked some distance away. Even in the dim-lighting, Jack was able to make out the profile of the duo – there were some uses to being a vampire, after all.

The male of couple was a medium-height guy, broad-shoulders but not too blocky, with a neat tuft of red hair combed out nicely to match his sideburns. By his side was a girl that was definitely more than a few years younger than him. The way she swung her braids about and giggled made her look younger still.

Braids.

Jack squinted at the girl and his near perfect eyesight confirmed what he had seen.

It was Anna was holding the hand of the older redheaded fellow. It was Anna who was being ushered in the silver sedan. It was Anna was lifted her head and spotted him, and her jaw dropped in horror.

He stared at her. She stared at him.

It only stopped when the redheaded guy said something to her did she move again. She pulled the door open and sat herself down in the car seat, but the whole time, her eyes were trained on Jack.

It was then that he knew this was an occurrence that he wasn't supposed to witness. Moreover, it was an occurrence that Elsa wasn't supposed to know about.

He watched the silver sedan as it departed the parking lot, reversing to take a road that would take itself either to the town skating rink or to the dance club. As the sedan faded from view, a buzz came from his pocket and he removed the phone to check it.

"Please don't tell Elsa," was the first message.

"She doesn't understand," was the second.

"Hans is a really nice guy – a true gentleman. I don't care that he's older than me. Matured guys are better, right?" was what followed.

"Please, Jack?" he could imagine the desperation in her voice. "I just want my shot at true love."

There was a part of him that wanted to text back a chide for going behind her elder sister's back, and also for advise against dating a shifty stranger (okay, to be fair, the fellow was rather decent-looking – dressed nice and everything). But just as he lowered his finger to type the first letter, it occurred to him that he was being rather hypocritical of him to do so. Serious, he was at least two hundred and eighty years older than his date, and she didn't know about the real reason behind his weird eating habits.

He typed back, "Okay." No approval, but no rebuttal either.

"Thanks, Jack," was her relieved reply. "You're a lifesaver."

"Hey."

He guiltily hid his phone behind him, almost tripping over in himself as he stood to his feet. "Oh, um, hey."

Elsa eyed him oddly. "You alright?"

"Um, yes, yes," he said, slipping his phone into his pocket. She had changed out of her server's uniform and was wearing a blue, knee-length dress that, though extremely simple, sprung a catch his throat. He could have sworn that his palms felt sweaty, even though vampires didn't sweat. He managed to wheeze out, "You look nice."

"Thank you. You do too," she said it quite matter of factly, as this exchange was perfectly normal. It was then that he noticed her carrying two paper bags. "I got us some dinner from the restaurant. I hope you don't mind takeouts. I know it's no fancy diner, but it'd save us some money. Don't worry – no garlic."

"Oh, thanks." Elsa had handed one of the bags to him and he peered in it. Chicken sandwiches. He tried to hide his wince. Definitely no blood in that. It would be rude if he rejected the food though, so he folded the flap back down and smiled.

"What time's the movie?" she asked, taking the bag back in her hands and stuffing it in her bag. Efficient as always.

"Nine, but we can make it. We'll sneak in the sandwiches." He climbed onto the bike and motioned for her to do the same.

Elsa however shot a critical look at the vehicle, then at him. "No helmet?"

"Err…" Jack didn't know how to explain that he had never needed a helmet, that Bunny had on many occasions tried to crack his skull and couldn't (and he was really trying), so … he didn't have one.

The girl shook her head at him, but he was relieved that she climbed onto the bike behind him all the same. He could feel her thin form pressing against his back and found it oddly comfortable. And warm, too, like a well-worn woollen cloak.

"Next time, I'm only riding this with a helmet," she told him as he started up the engine. "This is a dangerous vehicle."

"Your wish is my command, your majesty," Jack answered, but secretly, he's thrilled. ['Next time' – she said, and the date hadn't even started. 'Next time'.]

He started up the engine, revelling in how she hooked her arms around his waist even before they began speeding down the road.

~~~0~~~

No-Churn Blood Ice-Cream (by Sandy)

What you need:

1 cup of blood of your choice

2 cup of whipping cream

1.5 cups of condensed milk

1)Whip the whipping cream in a cold mixing bowl until soft peaks are formed.

2)Pour the condense milk into the mixture and fold gently. Blend if necessary.

3)Pour blood and fold into mixture. Add nuts, sprinkles or chocolates chips at this point if desired.

4) Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Overnight for best results.

5) Scoop and serve on a hot summer day, or whenever you're just generally feeling hungry.

~~~0~~~

They managed to sneak in the sandwiches into the theatre. Thank goodness, because she was not buying their overpriced butter popcorn, no matter how good it smelled at the counter.

They had arrived just in time for the previews, and when she deemed the theatre was dark enough, Elsa gingerly removed her sandwich from her paper bag and began to consume it. Dainty, lady-like nibbles, of course.

She heard him snort beside her in amusement. "You still eat sandwiches with your gloves on?"

"Yes, I do," was her prim answer, but she wasn't really offended. By now, it was more or less established that Jack would tease her about her gloves, and she would flatly gloss over it. It was just something that they did. "Now, aren't you going to eat yours?"

"Later, perhaps," was his laid-back answer. When she glanced at him, she couldn't help but feel that he seemed a little troubled. "Not really that hungry."

"Shhh!" Someone behind was shushing them. "The show's starting."

Elsa leaned back in her chair, debating on inquiring what was wrong, but sound then flooded the theatre. She nibbled on the corner of her sandwich and resolved to ask him later.

Apparently, procrastination was becoming an increasingly common practice for her.

The film was picked by him, and it was supposed to be some cliché Cinderella type story, with very little deviation from the original tale. But to her surprise, the portrayal of the characters was rather interesting, with relationships and ideals explored quite thoroughly. She found herself sucked into the movie so completely that she never realised that she was halfway through eating his sandwiches until she glanced down at herself. Jack had been giving her odd looks throughout, though more amused than actually offended.

"Sorry." Elsa, not used to make these kind of blunders, turned crimson as she proffered the half eaten sandwich.

"It's fine." He waved her off with smile. "I'll get something later."

Their attentions then returned to the plot of the tale, watching as the main lead and love interest danced circles around one another (both literally and figuratively). Culmination of the relationship was obviously a kiss, but it was well-timed and though at heart not quite a romantic, Elsa found herself rolling her eyes and thinking 'Finally'.

But of course, the course of true love never did run smooth and the lovers on the screen were separated due to a series of misunderstandings and differences in social status. Elsa grimaced as the drama played out, but she was distracted briefly by a sniffle on her side.

She cocked her head curiously at him. "Are you crying?"

"No," Jack scoffed, but his voice was shaky. He didn't refuse the packet of tissues that she offered either.

The sorrow thankfully was short-lived. The ball proceeded and the main lead made it in a gown that shimmered like magic and child-like fantasy. It was thought then that this would be where trumpets would sound, the drums would play and the couple would twirl their way into a happily ever after.

But at last! The true climax had come. Deception was revealed the most humiliating way possible. The main lead was rejected and fled the ball, while the love interest brooded in bitterness.

"What a douche," she heard her companion mutter angrily.

"Why?" Elsa asked. She did think the prince of the story had acted poorly, but she could sympathise with his reasons. "She did lie to him after all."

He pulled a face, glancing at her in disbelief. "But she clearly loves him. He has to know that. Look at her-" he waved a hand at the screen, showing the pouring rain and the crying girl "-tell me, does she honestly deserve that?"

"Perhaps not," she conceded, still doubtful. "But it doesn't negate the fact that she should have never let the deception go this far. Love is important in a relationship, yes. But if there's no honesty, how long do you expect the relationship to last?"

Silence dropped between them like a wrecking ball, smashing smithereens of awkwardness all around them. She wondered if she was a tad critical for what was just supposed to be a brainless romantic drama.

It was not really made better when he muttered, "So is that why you and Anna keep secrets from each other?"

She turned sharply towards him. "My sister and I don't keep secrets from each other."

Even under the dim lights from the screen, she could see him raise his brow at her.

"Okay, we do." Elsa crossed her arms. "But don't put this on Anna. It's more me than her."

"So you think," he muttered under his breath.

"But you didn't have to put it that way." She hadn't really noticed what he had said. "It makes it sound-" she twisted her gloved hands together "-horrid."

"You should tell her how your parents died."

"It won't do her any good," Elsa hissed back. "And when did it become your business anyway?"

"I don't know," Jack retorted, a tad too defensive for her taste. "I just thought that people in a relationship should be honest with each other. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how much they care about each other, does it?"

The way he threw the words back in her teeth stung, and Elsa couldn't help sitting a little straighter in her seat. Glaring at him, she said, "Well, it's not as if you're very honest with me."

"Oh?" There was an odd glint in his eye, as if challenging her to probe deeper.

"Somehow in all the time we've spent together, you've managed to avoid answering the questions that I ask you." It was a huge relief to let it out, all the bursting curiosity that been building within her. "What does the 'F' in your name stand for? Why didn't you want to go to the hospital last time? Why doesn't your family want you to date? And why on Earth do you still go out with me all if you're going to get in troub-"

She not sure when Jack had cupped his face in her hands, or when he had leaned towards her, so clearly she clearly didn't remember he had pressed his lips against hers. The wore off quickly though as she breathed him in and realised that he was, in fact, kissing her.

His attempt was clumsy, without doubt, inexperience with the awkward angle that he had twisted his neck and the awkward way his cold lips moved against her. But there was sweetness behind it all, full of sincerity and passion that sent an pleasant warm in her chest. Her stiff form relaxed as she let herself melt into the taste of a winter's morning. Her anger was forgotten and in its place was an odd peace. It was unlike anything she had ever known and despite herself, she wanted more of it.

And abruptly, he parted them, holding her at a length that could have almost been considered gentlemanly if his most recent behaviour was not so steeped in ardour.

Elsa blinked her eyes open, not realising that they had been closed before. The film was still playing in the background, but the only interest she had now in the flickering colours was how they danced upon the curve of his cheek, running up his smooth jaw and played against the blues of his irises – those irises that were fixed on her. She had always known that he was attractive, but it was the first time that she had realised this on her own, without the prompting of her sister or the opinions of her peers.

"Frost."

She shook her head slightly, trying to straighten out the clutter of her mind. Somehow in the duration of the kiss, her common sense had taken a stage left. "What?"

"That's what the 'F' in my name stands for," he explained. Even in the darkness the theatre, she could see a scarlet splash rising up his neck, all the way to his ears. He was brushing back his white locks, and for the first time, she wished it were her hands doing that. They were lovely. "Frost. Like snow, or ice, just that it's, well, Frost."

"Jack Frost Guardian." Apparently, some of the neurones in her brain got a reboot, so Elsa was able to piece together a few things. "Your name sounds weird."

He chuckled, and she found it odd that she had never noticed what a pleasant sound it was. "Yeah, that's why we usually just leave it as 'F'."

"Hey, keep the volume down," an irritated whisper came from behind.

"To answer your question earlier," Jack said to her, ignoring the grumble utterly in favour of blessing her with his wondrous sapphires for eyes (why had she never noticed how incredibly blue they were? The sky should be taking notes). "Why I go out with you is because I like you. That, and-" a small hopeful, yet slightly nervous smile "-every time I look at you, I feel doing what-" there's embarrassment in his voice "-I just did."

"Every time you look at me?"

He gulped, smile fading and face turning almost as pale as his hair. He nodded.

"Like how you're looking at me right now?"

He nodded, suddenly wary. She could see his posture stiffening, as if ready to flee.

Elsa resisted the urge to laugh, instead edging herself as close to him as the seats of the cinema would allow. Her gloved gently slipped into his tensed once, folding her fingers with him. "Well, why don't show me again what it is you feel like doing?"

It took him a while to register what she had said, but when it did finally dawn on him, Jack drew towards her once again, this time with more purpose but the same amount of sweetness and sincerity. She let her arms wrap around his neck the way that he allowed his tighten around her waist.

She never really got to learn how the movie ended.

~~~0~~~

"Do you mind if we stop over here?"

He had kissed her. Or was it that she had kissed him? He wasn't sure how it went happened anymore. Whether it was him first, or her first, or how long that they were at it, but bottomline was – they'd kissed.

They'd kissed, and it was more than once. Each time, it got better and better.

The film credits had finished rolling when they were finally chased out of the empty theatre. Despite facing the frowns of a very angry cleaning lady, Jack felt like he was walking on air. Even as they walked back to his bike, the exchange of sweet pecks did not end. Everytime their lips did meet, he felt a curious sensation bubbling inside of him, but not in a bad way. It was as if he had found a light in a very dark tunnel, it was making him giddy with joy.

He was a gentleman – or as gentlemanly as one could be after making out with a young lady (oh, my goodness. He had actually made out with her – and they had only started kissing just this night). So on his motorised steed, he escorted her home, with her arms looped around his waist and him wishing that he could loop his arms around her. As pleasant as the night had been, it was almost twelve and Elsa had a curfew.

As they drew down the Fjord Avenue, a narrow dirt-beaten street that was flanked by thick forestry, she asked him to stop his bike. He did as she had asked, parking the bike next to a nearby tree.

When she climbed down from the bike, he wondered if there was a reason that she had asked him to stop while they were a good distance away from her home.

"Is something wrong?" Jack asked as he descended the bike himself, leaning it against the tree trunk.

"Yes, there is." Her manner seemed grave. That was, until she grabbed him the arm and yanked him forward. Their lips met in a fashion that they have become accustomed to, but he still felt explosion of ecstasy in his chest that made his lifeless heart feel like thumping again.

When they pulled away, Elsa smiled at him in a way that he had never seen her smile before, one that made his legs feel like jelly and his insides turn to mush. "There," she said, like one who had misplaced an item and now found it. "It's a tad hard to kiss you while sitting on a bike."

Oh, how did he get this lucky?

They strolled leisurely down the road to her home, their arms hooked together and his fingers treaded between her gloved ones. They didn't say much, just a little comment on the stars in the sky, or a little on the movie they had watched. Occasionally, they would pause to kiss again, but most of it consisted Elsa leaning against his shoulder and himself trying not to implode with happiness.

This – this had to be it. The reason why he had been so drawn to her. This was the missing thing that he had been piece in the puzzle of life that he had been looking for.

There were no lights to line the road, but the moon above was big and white. Its light was bright enough to light the path, but not too bright as to ruin the mood. The crickets buzzed around them and the waving branches sang with the breeze. And it was then that Elsa spoke up, "Jack?"

"Mm-hmm?" He was in a very weird place now. One part of him was enthused beyond measure, with a desire to jump up and down and scream and yell and make ice-cream-jelly-popcorn-sandwiches (he had no idea what those were, but making them sounded great now). Another part of him however was frozen with fear, because it seemed like it was nearing midnight and the spell was going to be broken.

Elsa hesitated and their pace slowed. "I don't know if you know this, but you're the first person I've every gone out with."

"Okay." Inwardly, he was plotting out the possible ways this conversation could go. His imagination took a turn for the worse.

The hand that was not latched to his was playing with her braid. "You're also my first kiss. Ever."

"Oh." He hadn't expected that. He was pretty sure by this time, some lucky, hateful cad would have managed to lock-lips with a girl as exquisite as Elsa. He found himself liking the idea of being the first to ever share such an intimate gesture with her, and that idiot part of him blurted out, "You're mine, too."

"Really?" Her eyes widened.

"Yes." By the time he had reach the age where he had thought that girls were worth his notice, his humanity had been robbed from him. The first few decades of being 'turned' had been spent trying to get his appetite under control and after joining the Guardians, the prospect of kissing in a romantic fashion had been thrown out of the window.

"Oh." Jack could have sworn that a shy smile had crept onto her face. He had never expected to see that from her – the bold, hard-as-nails, bossy girl that he had fallen for – but he didn't mind seeing it again.

Wait, fallen for? As in… fallen in love?

But-but it was much too soon. He was definitely attracted, yes. Very attracted, if he might admit it himself. But he didn't know the slightest thing in about love. What if this wasn't what he thought it was, but just a passing infatuation? What if he was crazy and all of this was a dream?

"Jack," the seriousness of her tone brought him out of his frenzied pondering, "I need to clarify something with you."

Elsa stopped them along the road and unhooked their arms. Instead, she took two of his hands in his gloved ones, massaging his knuckles with her thumbs. She looked at him in the eye. "Jack, what is-" she glanced down briefly at their joined hands, then back on him "-this?"

He didn't understand.

Seeing his blank expression, she elaborated, sounding a little cross, "I know you've asked me out many times. I know you also asked me to be your Valentine. But-" the girl twisted his hands in hers uneasily "-I never understood what that phrase meant. Is this just for the day, or does it mean more? I've googled it before but I still don't-"

He kissed her, because he wanted to banish the worry in her voice. That, and her lips were so full and inviting.

When they broke apart, Elsa hooked a loose strand behind her ear, a bit more relaxed than before, but still concerned. "Jack, I don't do flings."

"Well, good. I don't either," came his flippant, grinning reply. Clearly he didn't, if tonight was his first kiss.

"I'm serious, Jack. I'm not Anna. I don't have puppy-love, or crushes, or have a boy for the week." Let out a breath, she continued, "I told myself long ago that I would never date someone that I wouldn't – well, someday-" she didn't look him in the eye"- marry. All the in 'sickness and health, poverty and wealth' down to the -" her voice dropped several decibels"-'death do us part'. When I play, I play for keeps."

A heavy paused fell between them the same time it really hit him what 'death do us part' really meant. If anyone was going to do the whole 'death' thing, it was going to be her.

And then he would be back to square one – no flutterings in the stomach, no unexplainable warmth, no inexplicable happiness. After knowing the taste of such, he couldn't possible go back to how things were before.

What was he getting himself into?

"I need to know what this is to you, Jack," she was still going on, ignorant to storm of thoughts that raged his mind. "If this is just some-last minute romance before our high school lives end, then, well, you best find someone else." Her words quivered, as if she hadn't wanted to say what she had said.

He had gone mute, troubled notions swirling in his head as the reality came crashing down. How long could he really expect to keep this – this 'thing', as Elsa had so elegantly described? How long did he think he could deceive her, divert her questions and distract her with kisses? Would he allow himself to lie until the truth became impossible not to notice, when she started to age and he didn't, when his eating habits started to stir curiosity, when she finally found out about his fangs and his lack of pulse?

The clock had struck twelve and the carriage had returned to a pumpkin. The horses had turned back to mice and the gown was back to rags. The magic was gone.

"Jack?" Despite her matter-of-fact tone, he could feel her pleading expression beating against him, hoping that he would wrap her back in his arms, laugh at her for being silly and shower her with assurances that he felt as strongly for her as she did for him. He did feel the same – he just knew different.

Fortunately, they were interrupted.

Less fortunately, they were interrupted by a scream. A girlish scream.

It was coming from the road ahead, much nearer to Elsa's home. The implications of it never really occurred to him until he saw the blonde girl's horrified expression and heard her breathe out, "Anna."

She ripped herself out of him, dashing down the dirt path as quickly as her feet could carry her. Jack followed after her, careful not to reveal his superior athletic by letting reach ahead.

"Anna!" he heard her screech, and then he realised exactly what had happened. He smelled it way before he saw it.

The scent was glorious – sweet and rich, hot and fresh, the way it could only be from a recent kill of young prey. It was dripping iron-packed liquid and its deliciousness taunted him in way that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Anna! C'mon, Anna, look at me."

He snapped out of his haze momentarily, trying to refocus his eyes on the scene before. Elsa had fallen onto her knees next to her younger sister, whose limp, weak form no decorated the previously bare path. Anna's braids had been flopped ungracefully around her head as her body rested on its side. There were wounds on her, deep ones above her collar. With his superior hearing he could hear whimper in time with the trickle of blood oozing down her neck.

Oh, did he mention that the younger girl was lying in a pool of blood? Sweet, scrumptious, hot blood?

"Jack! Don't just stand there!" Elsa was glaring at him, though more out of desperation than actual anger. "Call an ambulance!" Her own gloved hands were trying clamp down on her sister's wounds without choking her. The younger girl was not quite a coherent state of mind, trying to mumble out something to the blonde, but Elsa shushed her quickly, assuring her that all would be alright. She only turned her attention from her sister to once again shout the white-haired lad, "Jack!"

He couldn't breathe – not that vampires really needed to breathe – but this time, he really, really couldn't allow himself to breathe if he was going to keep his sanity. The effects of not eating for the whole night hit him at full force and his stomach was craving for a flavour that it hadn't tasted for years. He had thought that after decades of self-control techniques, decades of practice and training, decades of following the Haemovore's Cookbook, he would know restraint. But in the face unbridled temptation, the tug in his body had never been stronger.

His very nature was calling to him now, to use his underused limbs and leap forward, to plunder and ravage the arteries of bleeding girl, and her sister too. He was ravenous, famished and he deserved to drink his fill. He needed it, after all, and what was wrong from getting things that you needed?

"Jack, what are you doing! Help me!"

A chilly sobriety suddenly slapped him in the face and he stumbled back in shock. He looked at the two girls – one that he had befriended and another whom he had fallen for. One that was dying and another who was begging for his help. He shook his head, aghast with the notions that he had been toying with earlier.

But, oh, the luxurious scarlet liquid that pumped in their veins, so vibrant and alive. It wouldn't hurt much, would it, to have one taste? It wasn't as if the younger bloodbag wasn't already on her way to-

"Jack, run!"

It wasn't the blonde girl's voice anymore. No, it was the voice of elder man, one that he respected and respected him. The face morphed into one of a woman with emerald hair, to another guy with bushy brows, then a short round face with golden strands, and they were all screaming the same words in his skull.

"Run, Jack. RUN!"

And Jack spun on his heel and sprinted faster than he had ever sprinted before.

The world blurred around him as he disappeared down the road, but the scent still filled his nostrils, coaxing him to return and do what he wanted to do. He shook of the feeling the best he could, but he couldn't hold out for long. He needed to get home, where the Guardians could help him.

But in his crazy, famished state of mind, he had lost his sense of direction. He was thrashing his way through the forest – when he had left the road, he didn't know – but he was stumbling down a slope, trying to fight to urge to dart back to the scene where the girl he so admired was holding her wounded sister.

The world was a blur, of iron and darkness, of mad laughter and visceral ferocity. He was pretty sure that he heard a tree tumbling down behind him, and the animals of the wood fled from him. The last that his consciousness remembered were squeals of his kill and heat on his skin when the blood splattered over his elegant shirt.

~~~0~~~

Well, this was a chapter that I had been looking forward to writing. It was fun.

If you know my other stories, you know I usually write Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons stuff, with other disney characters.

The film that Jack and Elsa watched on their movie is not supposed to be named, but I was thinking of 'Ever After: A Cinderella Story' when I wrote this. That said, officially, it can be any other story.

Guest Mailbox:

Party Poison: Haha! Glad that you do.

Tellia Quoxe: Glad that you enjoyed it so far. Hope this meet expectations.

Ciao! A review would be nice, but no pressure. Have a great day!