.:13:.
Jack was careful to clear a path through the snow as he soared a little slowly through the skies over Burgess. Sophie clung to him in desperation, though he could tell she was trying to relax and trust that he wouldn't let her slip. He felt a little bad when her arms began trembling in suppressed fear. Tightening his arm around her waist, he took them a little lower and slowed down as they neared her neighborhood.
Normally, he wouldn't have dared carry her in broad daylight, it would draw a bit of attention from people that couldn't see him. The heavy snowfall made it nearly impossible to see the ground, and he was fairly confident if anyone happened to look up they wouldn't be able to see the teenage girl apparently going for a leisurely flight through town.
Sophie let out a shaky breath as he descended into the backyard of her house. The snow was piling up quickly, and when their feet finally touched ground they sunk in several inches. Sophie shuddered a little, and waited a few long moments to unwind her arms from around Jack. He held onto her waist until she tried to step away, then he quickly snatched his arm back and suddenly found the snow at his feet completely fascinating.
Sophie lingered awkwardly as she watched him, her lips parted as she tried to think of something to say to ease the tension. Drawing a blank, she turned and headed towards the house, hoping he would follow. She let out a startled yelp as she walked into a wall of violently falling snow, immediately throwing her arms up to block her face from the onslaught as she continued toward the back porch. Jack flinched when he realized he had moved too late when she'd turned away from him.
He moved forward to follow her, and she stomped the snow from her boots as she moved up the steps. She shook more snow from herself, then opened the door and turned to look back at him. Snow was melting in her hair and sending droplets of cold water running down her face. Jack brushed some of the snow from his own hair, then looked at the snowflakes caught on his fingers. He watched them for a few moments, but when they didn't melt he smiled a little grimly to himself and brushed his hand off on his pants.
By the time he looked up, Sophie was giving him an odd look as she leaned in the doorway. He apologized and hurried into the house so she could shut the door behind him. Sophie hugged herself as she hurried to her room, and Jack followed her upstairs and waited just inside her bedroom door. She struggled out of her coat and boots, then seemed to pause and look around her room. She noticed Jack lingering near the door and smiled, urging him to come in. He leaned his staff in the corner, then stalked into the room.
She was still getting situated and trying to untangle her hair, so Jack moved over and sat on her bed, scooting back to lean against the wall. When she was finished, she picked out a video tape apparently at random, started it, then climbed on the bed. She scooted up against Jack's side, and his back stiffened in surprise as she settled in and laid her head against his chest. He realized after a moment he was holding his arm up as if she had burned him, and slowly lowered it down around her small form. He rested his hand carefully on her arm, trying to relax as she cuddled against him. His heart pounded almost painfully in his chest, and he was fairly certain she could hear it and was just being polite by not mentioning it.
It took him a few long, shaky breaths, but he managed to relax enough to feel an odd wave of calm and content wash over him. Jack tilted his head and slowly rested his cheek against the top of Sophie's head. She stiffened momentarily, then nearly went limp and let out a deep, happy sigh. Jack smiled a little to himself.
He had no idea what the movie was about, and he had a sneaking suspicion Sophie didn't even know what it was. All of his attention was on the girl snuggled up so happily against him. She snuck her arm over his stomach and hugged him almost subconsciously.
Nearly an hour passed before Jack realized Sophie was dozing off, almost splayed across him. It wasn't that she was noticeably falling asleep, but her self-control slipped enough that he could finally tell she was cold. A slight shiver ran down her arms and she trembled for a moment before gathering herself and curling up closer to him. A brief look of concern crossed his features before he reached over beside his companion and pulled her comforter up and over her rather small body. She was too tired and drowsy to protest as he tucked the edges under her, trying to add some padding between them so his coldness wouldn't take away from her body heat.
She moved her hand up slowly and gripped a handful of his hoodie, almost like she was afraid if she fell asleep he would leave again. Jack caught the silent message and brought his own hand up to cover hers before turning his face and brushing his lips against her hair. Reassured, Sophie let herself drift off to sleep in his arms.
Jack didn't even move when the movie ended and the credits had finished rolling. Eventually, it went to static, and he moved one foot forward and managed to hit the power button to shut it off. Silence filled the room, the only sound being Sophie's soft, even breaths. Jack held her carefully, enjoying the closeness and warmth while trying not to wake her. He brought one hand up and brushed gently at her hair.
A knock sounded at the door, and Jack sat up straight, his eyes snapping to the doorway in surprise. Almost immediately afterward, the doorknob turned and he froze in place as the door was swung open and Jamie leaned inside.
"Soph? You here? Oh." Jamie paused abruptly when his gaze fell on Jack, holding Sophie in her own bed as she napped on his chest.
There was a long, awkward moment of silence as the two young men stared at each other. Jamie shifted slightly, but made no move to come inside the room.
"Uh, hi, Jack." He said a little uncomfortably.
Jack wasn't sure what to say, he just gave Jamie a guilty look and a forced, apologetic grin.
"Kinda wondered where you were. Cuz of, you know, the blizzard and stuff." Jamie trailed his gaze around the room, and Jack could see his mind reeling from the sudden brick wall of realization.
"That's not a blizzard, Jamie. That's a flurry. I can show you a blizzard." Jack flashed him an evil smile, trying desperately to ease the tension.
It took a few breaths, but Jamie cracked his own grin and snorted.
"Prove it." He said challengingly to the winter spirit.
Jack chuckled a little and rolled his gaze over to the window, toying idly with Sophie's soft hair.
"Well, maybe later. Kinda promised a girl I'd be somewhere." He forced himself not to look hopeful as he flashed his gaze back to Jamie.
He watched the teenager eye him and the way his sister was sprawled over him, then the young man's features softened a little. Jamie seemed to get it, and he slowly looked back into Jack's eyes, smiling a little.
"Okay man, come find me when she wakes up. If she doesn't wanna come outside, just wave her camera in her face. That usually does it." Jamie smirked, then ducked back out the door and closed it softly behind him.
Jack exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
A/n: I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed, you guys are wonderful. I really appreciate your insight, I'm convinced my brain consists entirely of hummingbirds, so it's nice to know what normal people think of my story! I'm so happy you like it so far, I hope you like where I take it.
One of you asked when Jack will tell the Guardians that Pitch is back, and I have this to say; he won't. My reasoning on this is simply that I'm going with the idea that since Pitch is immortal, he never actually left. He wasn't killed and the Guardians had dealt with him for centuries, so why would they care if he was gone for a couple years and popped back up again? When he finally became a problem MiM told them so, so they really don't need to keep tabs on him. Another reason I don't want Jack to talk to the other Guardians about Pitch is that I don't want him to become the villain of this story. This story isn't about anything Pitch is doing, he's simply in it because I love him. So yea, that's my reasoning, there will be no Guardians VS Pitch in this story, but he will be making more appearances. But thank you, that was a good question!