Warnings: Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

Disclaimer: I claim no copyright ownership to Rise of the Guardians or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.


Chapter Eight


"I'm fine," Max protested through his thick comforter. He was wrapped up like a burrito in his blankets and Alice was left to ponder the incredulity of how he managed to move at all with how tightly they were wrapped around his little body.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "There is snot all over your nose which is as red as Rudolph's and you have circles under your eyes. Which are puffy and also red."

"I'm not sick," said Max nasally as he sniffed wetly. Alice grimaced. His eyelids were grey and swollen and his skin was white as a sheet.

She came to wake him up for school a one early Monday morning and was met with miserable grumbles and whines as he stirred sleepily beneath his mountain of blankets. It was slightly disconcerting because Max was usually rather punctual in the mornings for a kid. For some reason he actually enjoyed school which would have shocked Alice but he was such a happy kid in general that it wasn't really all that surprising. He'd made tons of new friends since starting at the new elementary school and he was playing outside every day with Pippa and Co.

Hence the reason he was now sporting a low grade fever and sinus problems.

"You've been outside in the cold every day since we got here," Alice said. "I should have paid more attention to how many layers you had on. Or how often you were outside playing," she frowned as she realized she'd been less than attentive when it came to Max's well-being. She should have known better that he'd come down with a cold if he kept running around in nearly freezing weather.

Max sniffed again, nose both stuffy but also running and his tired glassy eyes met hers with meager indignation before he coughed. Poor little guy looked rough. Alice felt guilt churning in the pit of her stomach. It physically hurt her to see Max uncomfortable. She wanted to climb in bed with him and curl around him, hold him close to her and try to keep him warm and safe. But she was also afraid to jostle him, thinking that it might make him feel worse. She always hated it when people bothered her when she was sick. And after she'd laid the back of her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, she realized his low fever was probably making him feel achy.

Alice then came to the realization that she had no idea how to comfort him. She didn't know how to comfort her own son. How was she going to make it better? What was she supposed to do?

In the year that she had Max, he'd never been sick. She couldn't remember ever seeing him sick. Anne kept him under lock and key whenever he wasn't feeling well, which was understandable, but Alice had a panicking thought. She'd never dealt with a sick child before. She wasn't around Pippa enough to take care of her when she was sick. She only visited them during holidays. She never babysat kids when she was younger for money and she didn't have any siblings to look after.

She had no experience with this.

Alice stood there with her eyes wide for a moment, hand placed over her mouth as she tried sifting through her brain.

"Are you okay?" Max asked her, voice gravely and nasally as ever as he shifted beneath his comforter.

She glanced down at him. "I should be asking you that," she said offhandedly. She wiped a hand down her face. First thing's first. Medicine.

"I'm going to go see if we have any Children's Tylenol. I'll be right back," she ran her fingers through his soft hair before trailing out of his room and into the cold house. She quickly made a detour and turned the heat up a few degrees before continuing on into the kitchen. She couldn't remember which cabinet she put all the medicine in so she opened and closed a few until she came across one with different bottles and boxes of medication.

Anne would have kept some Children's Tylenol that Alice would have taken with her during the move. She skimmed through the cabinet and silently declared 'aha!' when she found the red box. She pulled it out and looked the box over, turning it around in her hands and examining it before glancing at the directions and warning labels. She lifted her head after a moment, realizing that this probably hadn't been used in over a year. Medicine expired, right?

She felt stupid the minute the thought crossed her mind. Of course it did. She eyed the box warily before deciding it wasn't worth the risk and tossed the box in the trash. She'd have to run to the drugstore and buy some more.

Alice made for the hallway to let Max know before quickly stopping herself. She'd never left Max alone before. Not in the house or in their old apartment. She felt panicked again. It would only be for five minutes tops since the nearest drugstore was just a two minute drive away, a minute and a half if she was feeling brave. But it still left her unsettled. She didn't want to leave him alone for any period of time if she could help it but she had a feeling it'd be a little ridiculous if she took him over to Aunt Liza's just so she could make a quick trip to Walgreens. And she certainly couldn't bring him with her because then she'd feel anxious leaving him alone in the car while she ran inside.

There were very few days she felt in control; where she felt like a mother, or the right kind of mother. It happened sometimes and she reveled in those moments, but there were also many times where she was reminded of how little experience she had. She was still new to this. She was still practically a kid herself. The only time she'd ever been on her own was when she moved out with Max. She never had the chance to look after herself before she was given the responsibility of looking after someone else.

She often had to refrain herself from calling her mom and asking her what she did in situations like this. Then she reminded herself that they weren't on good terms. She couldn't just pick up the phone and call because she wasn't sure if her mom was willing to dish out any pointers. Alice was the one who left the state. Inevitably she was the one who severed that tie.

She still had those moments now where she really wanted her mom's advice. To ask her what she should do and to get some reassurance that this was what all parents went through at some point. Except she didn't really feel like a parent. Max was her son by law but not by blood. She expected her maternal instincts to kick in and take over whenever moments like this arose but did she really have maternal instincts? She expected that whenever those instincts would take over, it'd be for her own flesh and blood. But Max wasn't hers. Not really. And she wondered if that was the reason she panicked like this and didn't know what to do. Because she didn't have that deep connection with him that Anne had.

Alice always told herself it didn't matter, that he was still her son no matter what, but sometimes it made her feel inadequate. Like she wasn't enough for him because she wasn't his mother.

With a heavy sigh, Alice shook herself out of her thoughts and made her way back into Max's room where he had apparently buried himself beneath his comforter once again. She gently placed a hand on the lump she assumed was his shoulder and he barely stirred.

"Max," she said softly. "I'm going to run to the store to get some more medicine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He murmured-slash-grumbled something and she took that as a sign to quickly change and leave before he decided to wake up groggy and disoriented and wonder where she was because he hadn't been listening to a word she said.

On the way to the drugstore she made a few phone calls to have Max excused from school and herself excused from work so she could take care of him. She breathed a sigh of relief when her manager didn't object that she was calling out. She hadn't even been there a month yet and already she was missing a day of work. And a Monday, of all days.

She was in and out in record time. She remained mindful of the icy roads and pulled into the driveway at the nine minute mark. She felt relieved that the front door was still locked and she sighed when she felt the warm air hit her face the second she stepped inside.

As expected (except not because she was paranoid the entire time she was gone, imagining several horrible scenarios of kidnapping and burglary) Max hadn't moved a muscle from within his cocoon. She managed to lure him out for a good thirty seconds to drink the instructed dosage of medicine, to which he cringed and shook his head viciously at the taste before crawling back into his blanket cave. He was out like a light a minute later.

Alice administered water, apple juice and several small bowls of chicken noodle soup throughout the day for Max. She wanted to make sure he stayed hydrated and he constantly whined for apple juice because it was his comfort drink. He didn't have much of an appetite but he nursed the soup in between naps and Alice would reheat it so it could warm him up whenever he was conscious.

She kept a close eye on his temperature. She knew colds typically didn't include fevers and as the day progressed his head started to feel less warm. She figured he may have felt warm because of all the blankets he was bundled up in. She was thankful for that. She didn't know what she'd do if his cold turned into the flu.

He complained a few times about a scratchy throat and she decided to call his school and ask them to excuse him from the following day too just in case.

Later that evening around five when Alice was heating up another bowl of chicken noodle soup and feeling confident about her first day with a sick kid, the doorbell rang. She furrowed her eyebrows.

She made her way towards the front door and wrapped her cardigan tighter across her chest before unlocking it and pulling it open. Besides the icy cold air that bit at her cheeks, she was met with three pairs of eyes. Two pairs were slightly shorter than her. The other was floating in midair.

Pippa grinned brightly. "Hi Alice," she beamed. "Can Max come out and play today?" she asked.

Alice smiled sympathetically at her. "Sorry Pip, Max is sick. He isn't going to be able to play for a while."

Pippa's shoulders dropped and Jamie looked downcast. Jack frowned at her and planted his bare feet on the icy concrete.

"What's wrong with him?" Jack asked, fingers absently playing with his staff.

Jamie turned around, mouth open and ready to say something in response, but Alice answered him without even thinking about it, "He has a cold."

Pippa didn't seem to think anything of it and she nodded sadly but Jamie eyed Alice warily. She hoped he hadn't made the connection that she answered Jack and instead just decided to inform them on her own of Max's condition. She still didn't want word to get out that she could see Jack. It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Jack was very close to Max's heart and she didn't want to risk him feeling threatened if he knew she spent time with his winter spirit.

"Aw," Pippa whined. "I guess that's why he wasn't at the bus stop this morning."

"Yeah," said Jamie. He seemed to have shrugged off his suspicions for the time being. "We thought you just took him to school or something."

The boy absently fiddling with his sled and Alice smiled apologetically. "I'll let him know you guys stopped by though."

"Okay, tell him we hope he feels better," said Pippa, that hundred-watt smile of hers returning. She was such a happy person. It brought a smile to Alice's lips. It was unmistakable that she cared for Max and loved being around him. Like Alice said before, he had everyone wrapped around his finger.

"I will," she smiled as Pippa began to back away from the doorstep. Jamie waved and gave Alice a friendly smile before he nudged Jack in the chest with his shoulder.

"C'mon," said Jamie as he started trudging after Pippa who was bouncing down the sidewalk, kicking snow out of her path as she whistled to herself.

Jack made to follow him but turned at the last second to give Alice a lopsided grin. "Tell the kid I said to take it easy and keep warm," he winked before tapping his staff on the ice and blue snowflakes frosted over the wet ground with a soft glow.

"I will," Alice said without thinking again and this time Jamie jumped as if something startled him and he whipped his head in her direction with his jaw dropped. He quickly slapped Pippa a few times to get her attention without taking his wide eyes off Alice.

"Did you just talk to Jack?" he asked with shock.

"Um," Alice side-eyed Jack who had a ghost of a smirk on his delicate face as if he were having a hard time concealing his amusement. "No…" she said unconvincingly.

Jack chuckled quietly. "Enough of the charade, princess, I think they found us out."

Alice winced as Jamie ran back to her and began bombarding her with questions as Pippa skidded to a stop at the threshold of her door with a look of awe.

"You can see him? How can you see him? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me, Jack? This is huge!" Jamie had a giant grin on his face as he clenched his fists at the last word as if to emphasize his point. His sled was long forgotten at the end of the sidewalk.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alice held up her hands as if to placate the kid. "One thing at a time. I don't actually know how it happened," she confessed with a hint of chagrin.

Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. "I saved her life," he informed the kids.

"If you want to be technical," Alice murmured and he winked again as he leaned against the doorframe next to her.

"This is so cool!" said Jamie and he jumped a bit in his spot like his body couldn't contain his excitement. "A grown up has never believed in the Guardians before! And Jack, it's you she believes in," Jamie stressed with big, twinkling eyes as he gazed at the winter spirit meaningfully. Jack exchanged a tender yet significant look with the kid, like he felt touched at the emotion behind Jamie's words, and Alice felt almost as if she were intruding on a private moment between the two. They were obviously very close. "Did you tell North about this?" Jamie then asked.

Jack shrugged halfheartedly. "Nah, the big guy's got a lot on his plate at the moment. Besides, I didn't think it was that important," he said casually.

"But it is," Jamie said pointedly. "If she believes in you, maybe she believes in them, too! She's an adult, Jack."

"Actually," Alice stepped in carefully, raising her hand a bit to get Jamie's attention. "I'm only nineteen. Not much of an adult here," she said lamely.

"You're considered an adult when you turn eighteen," said Jamie all-knowingly. "Someone over seventeen believing in the Guardians is practicallyunheard of."

"Someone over thirteen is more like it," Jack muttered and Jamie waved his comment off which made the winter spirt look amused again.

"We've gotta tell the others," Pippa finally joined in after the apparent shock had worn off.

"Tell the others what?" a small, groggy voice asked from behind Alice. She quickly turned around and saw Max standing near the hallway with one of his blankets wrapped around him like a cloak. His massive bedhead was probably the cutest thing Alice had ever seen but his watery red eyes and the irritated dry skin around his nose set the anxiety aflutter in Alice's gut.

"Max, you shouldn't be out of bed," she scolded. Max wiped his nose with his sleeve and sniffed again before he smiled tiredly at everyone on the other side of the threshold.

"Hi guys," he greeted softly. His voice was still a bit hoarse but at least he didn't look pale anymore, judging by the rosy red that was flushing his cheeks. Alice felt the urge to check his temperature again.

"She can see Jack!" Jamie exclaimed from behind her. Alice felt a tap on her forehead followed by a spark of coldness that radiated from the spot in her hair and she glanced behind her to see that Jack had his staff raised. He arched an eyebrow at her when their eyes met and she quickly wiped the slight frost that had coated the top of her head.

"Whoa!" said Max, looking and sounding much more alert than he had before. He wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders as his eyes flickered from Alice to Jack who seemed to be finding different places to touch her with his staff as if to prove he could indeed touch her. It was fascinating to Max which was probably the reason Jack was doing it (he seemed to find ultimate pleasure in entertaining Max whenever he had the chance) but it didn't stop Alice from swatting him away every time he poked her in the side. Her ribs were sensitive and she did not want him to find that out.

A gust of wind sent a course of shivers up and down Alice's spine. "Okay, we're letting all the cold air in," she announced, waving her arms a bit as if to quickly put the topic to rest. She turned around to bring the conversation to a speedy conclusion but Jamie and Pippa seemed to take her words as an invitation to come in as they brushed past her. Jack marched in after them and closed the door behind himself.

For a second Alice didn't know what to do.

At least it wasn't cold in there anymore. Her bare feet shifted on the wooden floors that felt chilly and wet from being exposed to the elements for so long.

Finally her brain seemed to reconnect its link to her mouth. "Wait, you guys can't be in here. You could get sick," she said, frowning.

"You know," said Jack as he glanced about the area. Everyone completely ignored what she said. Obviously. It briefly occurred to her that he hadn't seen the inside of her house in broad daylight. His blue eyes skimmed over the surface of her decorated walls and vintage furniture. "I haven't been sick in centuries. I don't even remember what it's like anymore. Not that I'm complaining."

Alice's lips curved upward into a half-smirk. "Jack Frost with a cold. How ironic would that be?" a hint of laughter bubbled in the pit of her stomach at the thought. She had a feeling he'd be a very high-maintenance patient. She just pictured him with a beet red nose and piercing, narrowed eyes that'd be glaring at the world as he bundled up in a fort of blankets and complained. The sight almost made her double over in laughter.

Jack shrugged not-modestly. "I'm too awesome for colds," he winked at Jamie who grinned at being the center of Jack's attention if only for the quickest second. Alice mentally shook her head at the effect he had on these kids.

"Can we get back to the part where you can see and talk to Jack Frost?" Max exclaimed before sneezing loudly.

"It's totally weird, right?" said Pippa.

"When did this happen?" asked Max as he grabbed a tissue. She didn't miss that he moved closer to Jack. He leaned into the winter spirit for a second and Jack ruffled the boy's blonde hair affectionately. It didn't seem to bother Max that Jack was emitting waves of cold.

"Jack kind of saved my life," Alice quickly said before Jack could. Max's little eyebrows furrowed as he wiped his nose. Alice sighed in defeat. "Remember when you had to go to the hospital with Aunt Liza because I was in an accident?"

Max's eyes widened. He seemed to mull over this new information before his forehead wrinkled. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked and Alice couldn't miss the underlying hurt in his voice. She felt guilty almost immediately. "I thought you thought I was crazy or something when I talked about Jack. I didn't know you could see him!"

Alice quickly shook her head. "No Max, I have never thought you were crazy," she stressed, stepping forward to kneel in front of him. He sniffed and she was relieved that it was only because his nose was running, not because he was crying. He only seemed a little upset. She smiled softly as she brushed some of the hair off his forehead and ran a finger down his cheek. "Never," she promised forcefully. "I knew how much you cared about Jack," her eyes briefly flickered up to Jack whose expression didn't give anything away because obviously he knew he meant something to Max. But she could sense that he felt touched just by hearing her say it out loud. Her gaze returned to Max's. "I thought maybe I'd be taking that special bond away from you if you knew I saw him, too. I wanted Jack to be yours because you deserve to have some happiness because," she hesitated and bit her lip. "Just because," she settled with a small smile.

Max smiled a little and rolled his eyes as if to say, 'stop being such a sap,' and Alice grinned. She flicked his nose and he scrunched up his face.

"You really need to meet North," Jamie said suddenly and Alice turned to look at him. He was smiling widely at Max and he glanced at her for a moment. "You too," he said. "He is so cool. He has tattoos and these awesome swords that he fights with," he tilted his head up to give Jack those big, puppy-dog eyes. "Can they meet him? And the others? Please?"

Jack laughed at Jamie's enthusiasm. "Hey kid, Christmas is just around the corner. Who knows," he eyed Max out of the corner of his eye with a sly grin. "Maybe they'll spot him sneaking in presents."

The look on Max's face told Alice that neither one of them would be getting any sleep on Christmas Eve. She couldn't stop the butterflies from flapping wildly in her stomach, though. Santa Claus actually existed. And she might even get to meet him someday. Her inner child was doing cartwheels and backflips. She wanted to scream 'take that!' at her dad who accidentally slipped to her when she was nine that Santa wasn't real and ultimately crushed her dreams of magical fairytales and mystical, faraway lands. Alice idly wondered if all the fairytale places were real, too. Wonderland wasn't necessarily a "fairytale" but she couldn't help the burning curiosity if the place actually existed, or at least some place like it. Maybe even the Emerald City in Oz, or Neverland.

Honestly, she just wanted a life that was created by Walt Disney.

"You gotta meet Bunny, too," said Jamie and then he proceeded to describe all of the Guardians in great detail, from their colorful personalities to their distinctive appearances and quirks. It took a few times for it to register in Alice's brain that these were actual, real life beings that Jamie was painting a picture of inside her head. The last time she heard about these guys, they were just characters in a story told by Pippa over a roaring fire. It was hard for Alice to come back from that – she couldn't quite wrap her head around it even now, with Jack Frost standing next to her as he playfully messed with Max behind his back. It was all so hard to grasp that this was her reality now.

"I still can't believe that they're real," she couldn't help but voice her thoughts half an hour later. Max was leaning against her as he listened quietly to Jamie talk (with Pippa occasionally intervening to more accurately describe something about one of the Guardians, much to Jamie's exasperation). Max seemed vaguely tired and about at his limit for the day, but his face had this mesmerized look as Jamie lulled him into a trance with his words. "It completely changes everything and it's kind of confusing. My parents thought they were lying to me about pretending that these guys were real and then they thought they were telling the truth when they admitted they weren't real but as it turns out that wasn't even the truth?"

It gave Alice a headache just thinking about it.

"Grown-ups will never really know the truth," said Jamie as he sniffed, like the grown-ups were beneath them when it came to matters such as this. Alice felt a little proud that she wasn't included in the "evil grown-ups" category anymore.

Max coughed a little which startled Alice out of her thoughts and she gave the boy a once-over with a hint of concern. He definitely needed to get some more rest. "Alright buddy, looks like that's enough excitement for you today," she said, pulling his blanket taut underneath his chin as he gazed at her through half-lidded eyes. At least his nose didn't look as irritated anymore.

Alice stood from where she'd still been kneeling and her legs felt tingly and numb as she stood. Jamie and Pippa, who'd both been sitting across her Indian style, quickly stood up as well. Jack had been resting against the back of the couch next to Max as he listened on with an unreadable look on his face.

Alice smiled at the two kids as they already began to make their way towards the door. Their parents were probably wondering where they ran off to, or their friends. "Thanks for stopping by, I like hearing about the Guardians."

She held open the door for them as they made their way back into the chilly air. Faint laughter was heard off into the distance and Pippa whined, "Aw, they started without us."

Jamie smiled at Alice as he waved at her and Max. "Thanks for listening," he said, all teeth as he grinned at her. She realized this was probably the most Jamie had ever spoken to her. "You coming Jack?" he asked as he peeked back into the house. Alice had forgotten the silver-haired boy was still there.

"In a minute," said Jack, who had taken Alice's place and was kneeling in front of Max as they exchanged their own private words.

With one last wave, Pippa and Jamie scampered down the sidewalk, exclaiming 'race you there!' and 'no fair you got a head start!' as they took off across the street. Alice chuckled a little to herself before turning back to face the boys who were whispering, their faces close together. Again, Alice felt like she was intruding on a scene she didn't belong in. And it felt a lot different this time considering it was with Max.

Alice cleared her throat, feeling a little bad about interrupting but knowing Max really needed to get back in bed, and Jack looked up.

"I don't want Jack to go," Max complained sleepily. Jack gave him a fond look but didn't say anything as Alice sighed.

"You really need to get some more rest, rugrat," she said. "Sleep the rest of the cold off so you can go back to playing outside with your friends."

Max looked like he wanted to protest again – he was a little grouchy when he was tired and ill, apparently – but Jack gave him a not-so-subtle wink before he stood and faced Alice.

"I can go tuck him in," he said casually. "It'll just be a little extra time with him, if that's okay?" Jack asked at the look of slight hesitation on Alice's face.

Max gave her a pleading look through his red-rimmed eyes and she honestly couldn't say no to that face without feeling like the world's biggest super villain. "Well alright," she relented. At Max's dopey smile she couldn't help but smile back. "Just be quick about it," she told Jack with a pointed look and he gave a firm salute in response before he led Jamie down the hall, murmuring excitedly about something she couldn't quite catch.

It didn't take too long. Alice waited around for a few minutes unsure of what she should do with herself before she decided to wash some dishes in the sink from earlier that day to pass the time. The hot water felt nice on her hands and she took a bit longer than usual as she relished in the warmth before she sensed another person in the room and jerked back in time to see Jack walking towards her with a hint of a smile reminiscent of something Max probably said or did.

"Out like a light," Jack grinned before jumping up to sit on the counter beside the sink as she rinsed the final bowl.

"What did you do?" she asked nonchalantly. Max was a pretty obedient kid for his age but that didn't mean he was easily talked into going to bed when he didn't want to.

"Just told him some stories and stuff until he fell asleep," said Jack as he fiddled with one of the clean forks. "Meaning I didn't even get through one story before he passed out on me," he laughed lightly.

"Hmm," she hummed, smiling a little at the image it put in her head. There was a beat of silence between the two as she rinsed out the sink before drying her hands on one of the towels lying off to the side. She kept rubbing her hands on the towel even after they were dry as she stared at Jack in contemplation. It took a moment before he realized he was being watched and he met her gaze curiously, swinging his legs back and forth. "Have you done that before? Told him stories until he fell asleep?"

Jack shrugged a shoulder. "Only once a while back. It was one of his first nights here. He said he couldn't sleep because he didn't like his new room."

Alice wrinkled her eyebrows, the skin on her forehead tight with concern. "He never told me that."

Jack didn't seem bothered. "I think he just wasn't used to it yet. Besides, kids don't tell their parents everything. Especially boys who want to look brave in front of their moms," he gave her a look.

It didn't sit well with her but she knew what he said must've held some weight of truth. She certainly didn't tell her parents how she felt all the time. She couldn't help but feel slightly hurt that he told Jack instead of her though. It was an uneasy feeling she couldn't shake. "I never even realized he didn't like it here at first," she admitted. Wasn't that something she was supposed to know? Max shouldn't even have to tell her that. She hadn't even taken it into consideration.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her before he pushed himself off the counter and landed gracefully in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her closely, "You're not a bad mom. Don't even go there. Stop brooding over nothing," he demanded as if he could hear her thoughts.

She groaned. "But I have to, that's who I am!" she lifted her shoulders halfheartedly. "Sometimes I feel like I miss out on so many things with him. Things I shouldn't have missed at all. Like this morning," she started and Jack leaned his hip against the counter as he dutifully listened with his ankles crossed. "I didn't even know how to comfort him. I'd never even seen him sick before. I had no idea what to do."

"But you figured it out," Jack said without missing a beat. "Looks like everything turned out okay to me."

"It's just… you're better at this than I am it seems. You've even had more experience than I have," she pointed out.

"Actually I've probably only had about the same. You forget that for hundreds of years no one believed in me," he said with an intense look that made her feel uncomfortable and she had to look away. She had forgotten about that and she bit her tongue, feeling inexplicably guilty for bringing up.

"I couldn't even imagine—" she began, only to be quickly interrupted.

"It's in the past," Jack shook his head. "It's something I try really hard not to think about," he chuckled without much emotion. "It sucked. Honestly. But I'm fine now," he told her sincerely and she knew she believed him. There was no way he could feel nothing but happiness with the looks those kids gave him, as if he were a superhero. In a way Alice figured he kind of was to them. That had to have felt nice.

"Glad for that," she said and he grinned crookedly. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she gave him a small smile. "You know, I'm kind of really glad I'm able to get to know you," she admitted.

Jack's eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath his hairline as he raised them, looking slightly taken aback. Her cheeks flushed and she tried to form her jumbled thoughts into words that made sense, "It's just. All our lives, we're led to believe that magical things don't exist. We've just never had a reason to believe in any of them because how could they be real? It sort of takes away the purity that kids have when they believe in these things," she rambled, playing with her fingers as Jack watched her with a faraway look in his eyes. "But I kind of feel like I'm getting some of that back?" she asked with a wince and the boy raised an eyebrow, eyes glistening as watched her and she felt embarrassed for some reason. "I don't know how to explain it, but it makes me feel like things are… easier, I guess. I don't know," she shrugged again. "You just… you give me hope. And that's not something I've had in a long time. So… thank you?" she finished awkwardly before laughing. "I don't really know where I was going with that."

Jack had this tiny, sort of amazed looking smile on his face as he drank in her words. It seemed like the right thing to say and maybe something he needed to hear. He'd been so kind and helpful to her that she felt like she needed to return the favor. There was this spark in her chest, this skip in her step, that hadn't been there in years. She believed in magic again, could feel it in the air, and it was invigorating. And it was all because of him.

Maybe she could give him a little bit of hope as well.

"I guess you're glad I saved your life then, huh?" he asked a bit breathlessly, as if she'd just opened his eyes to something new. Like he was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that she just existed and believed in him and, of all things, was thanking him instead of the other way around. In a way, it was kind of the exact same way she felt about him.

"I realize I never actually thanked you for that," Alice said. Jack opened his mouth to respond but she hurriedly said, "Thank you. Really. I'm… grateful you were there that day. I don't think I'd be here right now if you weren't."

Jack nudged her with his foot and raised that eyebrow again. "Glad for that," he repeated what she said earlier with a glint in his eyes.

She shook her head and laughed.

Maybe they both gave each other a little hope that day.


A/N: Gah! I feel like this chapter is really short even though it's totally not? It's like 6k words haha. I guess it could kind of be considered a filler chapter again but the content needed to happen. And I also wanted to thank you guys for being so understanding about the wait. It means a lot that you're still reviewing and favoriting.