Disclaimer: I don't own ROTG. I'm not that good. And please read the A/N at the end.

Darkness. Darkness surrounded me. But not just any darkness. This never ending cold darkness. Just like when I first woke up. Except I was alone in this darkness. There were no Guardians, no Baby Tooth, no Jamie, no Man in the Moon, no one. Silence wrapped around me suffocating my thoughts out of me. I wasn't scared, I know what can happen when I get scared but this darkness, this silence, this loneliness allowed all the voices and the memories to scream. The thoughts that doubted how I was a Guardian. They reminded me how much of a bother I am. They doubted that I was a hero. They hated me. They told me I deserved to be alone. And I had a hard time not believing them. Then I felt something warm. I couldn't tell where but it was there. I wasn't alone. I could relax, I was safe, I felt safe. Everything stopped and there was complete silence. It was different, but nice. Then it was gone. The warmth was gone. I cried out for it to come back but the voices and memories came back with a vengeance. They even went into my human memories, asking me why I left my sister, how could I forget her. I didn't have an answer. The voices weighed me down with regret of past mistakes, the bone chilling loneliness reminded it was my fault, and the never-ending darkness took away my hope. I slid down to my knees, the darkness suffocating me. I couldn't breathe. I just couldn't take it anymore. My eyes shot open as I sat up gasping. But everything was blurry.

"Jack?"

"Jack mate, you alright?" I heard heavily accented voices coming from beside me. Which was odd because I was in a tree by my lake. Actually the tree was oddly comfortable. Usual they never were.

"Jack, are you alright?" One of the voices that was familiar with its heavily Russian accent. Russian, North? Did that mean the other voice was Bunny?

"North? Bunny? What are you guys doing in Burgess?" I asked in confusion trying to grab my staff. That wasn't anywhere near me. "Where's my staff?" With the realization of my missing conduct the world became clearer. "Why am I at the Pole?" My voice held a hint of panic and defensiveness. I felt layers of frost begging to be freed from my body. My eyes darted everywhere looking for my staff. I found it in Bunny's paws. I couldn't help it but I tensed.

"Relax Jack. What do you remember?" Bunny said calmly as he handed me my staff. I quickly grabbed it. The thrumming of suppressed power left going into my staff. Then I remembered everything.

"Jack?" The encounter with Spring, Fauna, Bunny taking me to the Warren, Tooth, and the medical exam. The stupid medical exam that I took my sweatshirt off for.

"Jack? Are you alright?" I looked at North, his ice blue eyes showing worry. Bunny was beside him as if he were dealing with a frightened animal. Maybe I was.

"Did you tell him?" I asked Bunny glaring at him. North looked between Bunny and me.

"No." I sighed in relief. "But he'll have to see. Because you're going to be staying here for a week." I laughed. I didn't stay anywhere, besides Burgess, for a week.

"You got to be kidding me. That's a great joke Bunny. Didn't know you could be so funny."

"I'm not." He said bluntly. I stared at him. He simply stared back. The stare soon turned into a scowl on my part.

"I am not, repeat not staying here, or anywhere else for a whole week! That's not what I do!" I stood up ignoring the pain that ricocheted through my torso.

"Told ya' he wouldn't agree." Bunny told North smugly. I looked at North and his bashful expression gave him away.

"We thought it-"

"We? Whose we?" Were they talking about me, deciding what I should do for me?

"Us Guardians!" North said proudly. That only angered me further.

"And what makes you guys think that you all can talk about me and decide what I should do? For three hundred years I did that for myself and I didn't need any of you! So thanks but no thanks. I can take care of myself." I turned away from North heading quickly for the window on the back wall of the room. From the exits I calculated looking for my staff, this one would be the fastest and easiest way out. I didn't count for Tooth to come through the window as I was going out. We collided and I tried to make sure I didn't hurt her while we landed roughly on North's wooden floor. I groaned as the dull soreness from before became more of a throbbing pain and my broken ribs started to scream in pain. It seemed that the effects of whatever cream Bunny applied on my body had faded.

"Oh my gosh Jack! Are you alright? A blizzard started to come in and I rushed in. I'm so sorry I didn't see you and-"

"Tooth. Off. Please." I gasped. I felt frost began to form around the pain.

"Oh yes! Sorry." Tooth flew off of me but she stayed flittering around me. I got up slowly not wanting to jostle my ribs, using my staff as support. "Are you ok Jack?" Tooth laid a gentle hand on my shoulder when I stood up. It felt nice, but I wasn't use to nice.

"I-I'm fine." I cleared my throat and put my hood up. For some reason I wanted to cry. And it's been happening more and more lately. I just feel like I want to breakdown. But I'm Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun. Breaking down is not what I do. "I was just leaving."

"No!" Tooth flew in front of me and the window that somehow closed on it's own. "You can't leave yet." In my peripheral vision North and Bunny stood by the door. I was blocked in. "Please, hear us out." I pulled my hood down roughly.

"Hear you guys out? So you guys can convince me to let you guys babysit me? Why? I didn't have to listen to any of you for three hundred years! So why should I listen to anything you have to say now?" Tooth winced at that. I looked at all of them and Sandy who just arrived. I barely saw him signed over my focus on my pounding heart. After Sandy was quietly filled in by North he just blew sand out in exasperation. When I looked at him he avoided my eyes. Actually they all avoided my gaze. For some odd reason this directed my anger from them towards me. When I look back at Tooth there were tears in her eyes. I would've run but my exits were blocked. Stupid room with only one window and door. Tooth's mouth kept opening and closing, looking for something to say. For once I had to face the mess I created head-on. "I'm sorry." I heard the gasps and exclamations of surprise.

"Jack!" Tooth's soft voice encouraged me on. Even if that's not what she meant to do. I held up my hand to stop her from saying anything else.

"Look, I, I'll at least hear you guys out." I took a deep breath and slowly went to sit on the bed I was sleeping in before. "That's all I can promise. And I just want to hear why I can't leave. We can, forget about everything else. Deal?" While they kept looking at each other I looked at the bed I was sleeping before. Beds were surprisingly more comfortable than trees or snow covered ground. Like really comfortable.

"Jack ya' alright mate?" Bunny's voice seemed distant and sounded funny. Like I was underwater.

"Hmm?" Man all of the sudden the stupid pain in my body was making me tired. Or maybe it was because I haven't eaten in a couple of days. As if to prove a point my stomach started to rattle. Which rattled my ribs too, sending a jolt of pain throughout me. Now I was officially awake.

"Jack was that you?" Tooth or North asked. It was probably both or neither. Either way I had to answer.

"Pfft." That sounded more like a groan of pain, even to me. Come Jack, three hundred years of being on your own and you went threw worse. You're fine, I'm fine. "Nah wasn't me. I'm fine." I tried to give them my best smile. I prayed that it was convincing, because I was fine.

"No, you're obviously not." Bunny scoffed.

"What?" I could feel a fight brewing between us but I liked anger. Anger helped me forget everything else.

"You heard me. You're obviously not fine. And I'm the only one here bold enough to tell you to your face that we aren't buying that crap." Bunny had taken a few steps to the bed. I leaned forward as much as I could.

"And since when did you know how I feel, huh Kangaroo?" I could see the fire in his eyes flare up. The fun was just about to began.

"Bunny! Jack!" Tooth came between us pushing Bunny back. "Not now." She scolded. I looked away. Part of me was hoping that if I fought with anyone, the best bet would probably always be Bunny, they all might forget the situation we were in. Maybe I could too. "Jack." Tooth's voice begged me to look at her.

"Yeah?" I asked softly. I couldn't look her in the eye so I glanced at them and looked away. The quick glance told me that she wasn't really mad about the almost fight.

"We would like to take care of you. Just have you stay with each of us for a week as you heal." I began to become curious. With each one of them for a week, it sounded, dangerous but exciting, fun but worrisome.

"Why? Not that, it's a nice gesture, but why?" The subtext of me didn't leave my mouth but the sadness in Tooth's eyes told me that she heard it.

"Jack please understand, we have failed you." I sucked in a breath at that. How did they fail me? I was the failure, the mess-up. "And we want to make it right. We aren't going to lock you down or anything. We just want to show you how we should've treated you." I stared at all of them. The slight sadness and hope all in their eyes. I was so confused. I didn't know what to do. On one hand I wanted to jump for joy and say yes, but another part of me was so scared. What if they realized how big of screw-up I am and leave me? What if they don't accept me? Can they really? In times like these I just referred to fun. Fun was always good.

"Come on Tooth that's such a negative way to look at things. No fun at all." The drastic change of mood shocked them all, especially Tooth. "Um, thanks for the offer guys but you really don't have to apologize for anything. You guys did nothing wrong." I said truthfully.

"But Jack-" I raised my hand again to stop Tooth.

"Now I'm not the most serious person in the room. We'll leave that title to Bunny." I shot him a smirk and I got an eye roll in return. It encouraged me to continue. "But I'm serious when I tell you guys that we're fine. You guys didn't fail me. There was nothing to ace, so you can't fail." I joked but there was no laughter, only Sandy and North just gave a small smile. Wow, tough crowd. They're worse than me on my bad days.

"Jack, do you blame anything for those three hundred years?" Tooth asked gently. I froze. Did I blame anything? No one asked me that. No one cared to ask me that. My heart started to pound. Blood rushed to my head. One of Tooth's dainty hands moved my head to look at her. "Jack I may not know what it's like to be alone for three hundred years but I have been hunted before I became a Guardian and a little while after I became a Guardian. I understand running."

"Tooth please-" I didn't know what to say but part of me wanted her to stop, but this time she held a hand up.

"I understand the anger at the world, the morbid thoughts about yourself, and the fear to trust anyone, to be vulnerable. But I beat it with the Guardians help." She looked kindly at the others. "I learned how to trust again. So I know and understand." A voice in the back of my head nagged that she couldn't possibly understand, but the little scars on her hands and faded rope burns under her wrist said something different. "And we, no I want to show you that. Please let us show you that." Tears filled my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I refused to feel everything that Tooth described because I was fine. Her eyes bore into mine telling me I wasn't. I was fine! They all looked so guilty but hopeful. I was fine? My head began to hurt with all the mixing thoughts.

"What would I have to do?" I asked I didn't mean for it to come out so roughly but Tooth's gaze didn't waver.

"You wouldn't have to-"

"That's a lie!" I yelled she flinched back at the same time I did. I didn't mean to yell but the only time people wanted me around was to beat me down. No one else wanted me around just for fun. And the ones that did, they didn't even know I existed. "You can't just not want anything from me. You can't possibly want me to stay." I gasped. I turned my questioning gaze at all of them. This statement laid a blanket of depressing silence over us. Sandy was thoughtful and somber. North was absolutely shocked. Tooth looked so guilty, as if what I said was her fault. "Look I'm sorry Tooth-"

"Don't be. You're goin' have to do something for us anyway." I turned towards Bunny who was standing a little bit behind Tooth.

"Bunny he doesn't have to do anything for us! We just want him!" Tooth yelled at Bunny but I knew that he was right. He saw what I was really like. He knew that I didn't even want to be around myself. Surprisingly Bunny stood his ground.

"No Tooth, he needs to take off his sweatshirt." I knew it. He wanted to warn them. Or tell them that I needed to be watched. I heard a chorus of whats coming from Tooth and North. Sandy signed a question mark. "If he's going to stay with us he needs to know that the sweatshirt needs to come off."

"Bunny-" North started.

"No. You guys can't take care of him if you don't know what has happened. He broke three ribs and all of them are bruised." The audible gasps around the room made me flinch. "Frostbite look at me." I avoided looking at him but his gaze never left me. I knew he wasn't going to back down from this.

"No." I simply stated. I looked at Bunny, my gaze hard. Or as hard as it could be with panic sitting in my stomach.

"Frostbite, they need to know. They'll treat you just the same. I promise." Bunny came closer to me lowering to my gaze. When he tried to put a paw on my shoulder I moved away.

"They won't. I know how this goes Bunny. They'll see how, how, messed up I am and either leave or lock me down so they can keep an eye on me. And if they stay they'll treat me like I'm some fragile broken thing. But I'm not. I'm fine! I am absolutely fine! They don't have to see anything Kangaroo!" I looked at him hoping he would get angry and that he would yell and we would fight and everyone could forget. But instead his gaze became gentle and he laid a paw on my shoulder. Why wouldn't they let me go? Why aren't they forgetting me now? I thought I was forgettable, an unwanted nuisance.

"Do you really not want to get help mate?" Bunny asked me softly. My breath caught in my throat.

"Jack, if you want us to help you, we need you to trust us." Tooth added. I looked at all of them. Sandy just nodded and sanded a mini version of him and me hugging. North just came up to me, his eyes so big and full of care, and laid a hand on my back.

"Jack we might do things that make you uncomfortable and we might not get you, but we do care and vant to help. But it is your choice." He removed his hand and took a step back. Bunny and Tooth soon followed. I looked at my hands, one gripped tightly to my hoodie, the other my staff. I always believed that as long as people would see me I would be fine. That the ache of loneliness would go away. But now that they do, the ache is still there. In fact it hurts more. As if ignoring the pain increased it. But I was fine wasn't I. I didn't have to trust the Guardians. But I did. No I wanted to trust them. God, I wanted to be vulnerable. Fear shoot through my mind. Would they look at me like they did on Easter when I showed them everything? Would they really accept me? Pitch's voice taunted me. They'll never accept you. They'll never believe in you. You make a mess everywhere you go.

"Stop it." I whispered putting my hands to my head, closing my eyes. Pitch's voice left but the voices, no my voice reminded me how unwanted I was, how it was all my fault. That was when I realized that the only to make the voices stop was to trust the Guardians. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I grabbed my hoodie and slowly took it off.

A/N: So truth time. I have thought about cutting, multiple times. And I'm a pastor's daughter. I knew it was wrong so I didn't want to tell anyone. But one day as I held the knife over my arm I realized that if I really wanted help, if I wanted to be free from the pain I had to talk to someone. I was lucky that my mom understood and didn't treat me like I needed to be fix. She just held me together as I realized how broken I was. That's why I wanted to write this piece. I wanted people out there whether you cut, have depression, anorexia, bulimia, or you just feel alone. I wanted you all to realize the truth that you're not alone. I know I can't hold you while you cry and realize that being broken is okay. But like I said before, please contact me. Please, don't let yourself be captive by your own thoughts. I may not know you or understand everything that you have gone through but I do care for you. I want to pray for you and talk to you. But most importantly, I want you to know that it's OK TO NOT BE OK and YOU ARE NOT ALONE.- With all my love Greenphoenix3.