.:12:.
Jack was glad he'd gone to see Tooth. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from her, but it hadn't been encouragement. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his chest, and as he soared through the skies headed for Burgess, he couldn't stop thinking about what he should do next. Part of him was almost giddy at the thought of starting a relationship, it was something he'd always thought just wouldn't happen to him. He'd accepted the fact that he was basically alone for eternity, with the exception of the rare visits with the other Guardians.
Another part of him was cautious. He wanted to be closer to Sophie, but he didn't want to hurt her. He'd been weighing his options for over a week now, and he had come to terms with how he felt for her. Jack was afraid to make the first move, but Sophie wasn't exactly a shy girl. If anything were to start between them, he was fairly confident she would make it clear. He didn't know exactly what was coming or what to expect, and he was still afraid of getting his hopes up. All he knew at this point was that he'd made a deep connection with the girl, and he was so tired of being alone.
There was a town spread out ahead of him, though Burgess was still a long ways off. Jack didn't waste any time in dumping snow on the town out of sheer excitement as he passed through. Watching the clouds thicken and snow swirl down on the unfamiliar streets, Jack started to wonder when he'd realized he liked Sophie the same way she appeared to like him. He wondered how long he'd lied to himself about it, and if he really had felt it that time he'd seen her in the park with her friends. He'd figured out she had avoided him at first because she liked him, and he wondered if that mean she had liked him since she was ten years old. There had been a definite lack of Sophie in his life around the time she turned ten.
It made him wonder what it had been like for her and if she'd known exactly why she'd avoided him. It must have been confusing at first, watching him become so close to her brother as he grew up, and Jack Frost had never changed in all the time she'd known him. He wanted to ask her why she'd finally spoken to him that night, he wanted to know just what it was that finally pushed her over the edge from uncertain to confident.
He drifted lazily on the wind and cradled his staff to his chest. A million thoughts ran through his head of what he should say, what he should do, and whether or not he was rushing things now. He considered briefly talking to Jamie about it, since it was his little sister Jack had found himself so attached to. He grinned to himself and decided he'd like Jamie's reaction a lot better if he took the time to figure things out himself. Of course, with how mature Jamie was becoming, it was completely possible he had already figured it out and was biding his time to torment Jack when he'd least expect it.
The more he thought about it, the harder his heart began to pound in his chest. What did he think he was doing? He couldn't fall in love with a human. What would the other Guardians think of him? He knew Tooth wouldn't think anything of it, but what about the others? He didn't think Sandy would care much, but he had no idea about North's opinion on the matter. He didn't even want to think of what Bunnymund would have to say. If it was any other human girl he wouldn't have been worried at all, but Sophie was special to the Guardians. He'd felt guilty for visiting the Bennett's until he found out the other Guardians had been known to visit them as well.
He suddenly didn't feel so playful, and turned away from the town passing quickly below him. Letting the wind carry him higher, he ducked into the clouds and blocked his face from the onslaught of moisture. Bursting through the other side, bright sunlight nearly blinded him. He gazed out across the ocean of clouds and found himself enjoying the feel of the sun against his face. It wasn't often that he thought to visit the sun. The wind jerked him forward, and he braced himself as it picked up speed. Jack did his best to enjoy the ride, but he couldn't fight back the feeling of apprehension.
Even at top speed, it took him a good two hours to reach Burgess. It was the kind of trip that he would normally have taken a week to make, but he was eager to get things sorted out so he could more or less restore stability to his life. He knew what he wanted to do, and the Bennett house was his target as the town finally appeared below him. It was bright and clear over Burgess that afternoon, though clouds were quickly rolling in on the wind in his wake. Jack had almost been worried his beautiful snow would have melted in his absence, but the temperature was still low and the town was white as ever. It even looked like it had snowed on its own the night before.
He was nearly to Sophie and Jamie's neighborhood when he finally realized it was a school day and they wouldn't be home yet. Stopping in midair, he thought for a moment, then changed direction and headed straight for their high school. He hadn't come this far just to sit on their front porch and wait for another few hours. The school wasn't far, and Jack paused when he got there as he wondered where to start looking. It was a pretty big high school, and he moved to the nearest row of windows and peered inside. There were a couple of kids he recognized inside, listening to a teacher with severely bored expressions, and Jack grimaced as he leaned away from the window.
"Well, that is just absolutely horrible." He muttered distastefully.
Considering his options for a few moments, Jack quickly decided he'd tried hard enough to find Sophie at school. He was just going to have to bring her out to find him.
A few minutes later, he grinned triumphantly at the thick white snow clouds now amassing overhead. Snow began to fall slowly at first, then picked up the pace until it was snowing so hard he could barely see the houses at the end of the street. When he didn't see any results within ten minutes, he took it up to near-blizzard level and stared at the front doors with determination. Finally, the last two hours of school were canceled, and teenagers came wandering out the doors.
He darted forward when he caught a flash of golden hair and found Sophie huddled beside the covered area next to the front steps. She didn't seem to mind the cold too much, but the heavy snow was giving her some trouble. Almost immediately, the snow swirled around her, as if it was afraid to touch her. She looked up with surprise to find Jack standing next to her, surveying her classmates as they braced themselves against the pounding snowfall.
"What's with the blizzard?" Sophie asked curiously. Now that snow wasn't smacking her in the face, she was happy to stare out at the street and admire his handiwork.
"Just wanted to get your attention." Jack said off-handedly as he twirled his staff up onto his shoulder. He glanced over at Sophie with his best poker face, and she scoffed.
"This seems like a bit much, school would have been out in a couple hours anyway. How long is it going to be like this?" She wasn't chastising him, just musing about the day's events.
"Forever." Jack said as seriously as he could, leaning close to her face to accentuate the statement.
Sophie giggled, and as Jack's gaze softened with affection, he realized she'd sidled a little closer to him. He felt color touch his cheeks, and wondered briefly if Sophie noticed. She didn't say anything though, simply held his gaze a little intensely.
The moment was shattered as a broken shriek brought their attention back to the high school's front steps. It was hard for Jack to tell what was going on at first, but then he realized Jamie had charged out the front doors of the school and was gleefully throwing snowballs at absolutely everyone. A few of his friends rushed to join him, shielding their faces against the raging snowfall as they struggled. Jack smiled proudly and glanced back to Sophie. She snorted and shook her head in slight disbelief.
"So much for my escort. You'll have to take me home now." She turned slowly and smiled sweetly up at him. Jack shrugged and glanced around to make sure no one was watching.
"Okay, it's only fair." He ducked his head as if bowing politely to her, then stepped back and offered her his hand.
Sophie gave him an odd look of amusement, but reached out to take his hand. The moment she raised her arm, Jack darted in and wrapped an arm around her waist, his staff held out beside him as a devilish smirk crossed his face. She immediately clung to him in terror as he leapt up into the air, and she twisted a little in his grip to snake her arms up around his neck and shoulders.
"This is not what I meant-!" She gritted out, her eyes going wide as she saw her town spread out far beneath her feet.
A/n: This wasn't what I'd had in mind for this chapter, but eh. I guess it works. I'm not happy with it, but I've seriously been so busy this is the best I could do running around and writing for about ten minutes at a time for five days. I apologize for any mistakes, I don't have time to reread it right now. I thought up an ending to aim for, but now I'm not sure if anyone's going to like it. Not that the ending is anytime soon.