When Lauren eventually came home and saw Brandon and Skyla on the couch, she not so subtly gestured for the latter to meet her in the kitchen.
"What are you doing? Haven't you-"
"Lau. Don't. Please?" she asked, and the red head nodded. "I spent some time with Jack today, and when he brought me home, Brandon was here. I haven't dumped him because I still love him and- Hey, haven't we been over this before? Anyway, you'll be glad to know that I told Brandon there's someone else. We were going to talk about it later, but I have no idea when that is."
"So you haven't decided between the two? You really should. Be with Brandon; move in with him and get married and have a boring life. Or!" she grabbed Skyla's shoulders and shook slightly, "Be with Jack! Travel the world with him! Visit the North Pole, meet the other Guardians, and have a fun life!"
Skyla frowned, "Both involve me leaving. We've never talked about that before, why are you bringing it up now?"
"Priorities, Sky! You have to choose between them! And don't lead them on forever. That's not nice." letting go, Lauren mentioned, "Everyone knows who you'll choose. Well, maybe not everyone. I do, and that's what counts. I know you, Sky. I know that no matter how much you love Brandon; you would never forgive yourself for giving Jack up. Brandon's a nice guy, he'll understand."
"Will I?" The two spun around at his voice. Lauren crossed her arms and Skyla bit her lip. "I could hear you from the living room. Jack, huh? I hope that's not the same one you told me Lauren was running after." his face matched his emotionless voice as he watched the two.
"Yeah, it is. He's the great-"
"Lauren, can I please talk to him myself?" Skyla pushed Lauren out of the room and smiled apologettically at the blonde. "I guess this counts as later, huh?"
"Jack Frost? The Spirit of Winter and... what was he?"
"The Guardian of Fun." she sighed and leaned against the counter.
"Right. So Lauren kissed him, they talked, and he told you he loves you. And then you told him back." she nodded and he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm losing you to an icicle? That's never really happened to me before. Don't bother arguing" he told her, narrowing his eyes slightly, "I heard what Lauren said. If she believes you'll end up with him, then she's probably right. The way your mind works, you know it, too. Did it have to be so soon, though? Or so late?"
"You mean... You would have preffered it if we never got together?" She asked, her voice just above a whisper. He didn't respond, and she straightened up, taking a small defensive step towards him, "Do you also wish you never met me?"
For a while, he didn't say anything. Sky's eyes threatened tearing up, but she fought against it. Finally Brandon stepped closer to her, "Sky, I know you love me, but we weren't exactly compatable to begin with. We met as Demon and Angel. Enemies. Without the Nephilim, we don't have a connection."
"Don't say that. We have each other. So what if we met like that? We became friends, didn't we? Fell in love, against all odds?
"That's the thing, isn't it? The odds were always against us. We had to be careful around our friends, our co-workers. No one can even see him. And you had the perfect excuse to spend time with him and get to know him. Falling in love with someone you were trying to set up with Lauren? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't. Not about that. I didn't know it would happen, okay? But I don't regret it."
"Do you regret me?" he asked, and she shook her head. He walked closer and Skyla stepped back against the counter. He placed his hands down on either side of her, "Kiss me, Angel. As if I was the one you were going to choose"
Skyla knew it was a trap, but having him so close made it hard for her to say no. 'He's in Demon mode' she realized. It was something he did when he didn't know how to handle a situation. She understood completely but it still worried her. 'Why can't we just talk it through normally? This isn't easy for either of us. I... I just want more time' She closed the few inches between them and kissed him. Her hands gripped his shirt and held him close. Brandon kissed her back passionately but otherwise didn't touch her.
He pulled away, "I should go"
"No, don't" her voice faltered, "Stay. A little bit longer. Please"
He wiped away some of the tears she didn't know had fallen from her grey eyes. "Good luck with your spirit" he told her, his voice cold. "I'll be here when you realize you two can't be together"
"Brand- Demon, why are you doing this? Why are you pushing me away like this?"
He turned and walked away. Following behind, Skyla waited impatiently for an answer. She bit her lip and fought the urge to reach out to him. 'He's really leaving? He doesn't hate me, I know he doesn't! Is this his way of 'not holding me back'? Will we ever be friends again.'
"Please tell me we're okay? That this isn't goodbye forever!" she pleaded as he opened the door. He glanced back quickly then stepped over the threshold. Skyla held the door so he couldn't close it, "Please, Demon-"
"Don't call me that," he turned sharply, glaring at her. "Don't think that we still have that connection. You're not my Angel anymore"
Skyla stepped back, startled. It was probably the worst thing he could say to her at that moment, and it had the effect of hurting her deeper than leaving did. Reaching forward, he gripped the doorknob. With one last look at her, he pulled the door shut.
She couldn't move for several moments, listening as his car started up and he drove away not long after. When she could move, she ran up the stairs and into her room, locking the door and closing the window and curtains. She almost wished the lock wasn't broken. With nothing else to do, she collapsed into bed and pulled the covers up and over her head. Pulling them off quickly, she took the bracelet off and threw it in one of the drawers beside her before covering herself again. She muffled her cries with a pillow and let her tears fall harshly.
"Skyla?" Jack's concerned voice reached her ears, "Skyla, what happened?" She said nothing, just hugged the pillow closer. "Talk to me. Please" he tried pulling the covers off of her, but she resisted.
When he finally got the covers away from her face, she sobbed, "Please. Just go." Instead of replying, she felt as he lay back in the spot beside her and pulled the covers back up around them. His arms went around her and he waited while she cried.
"Skyla..." He whispered. "Was it him? Did he hurt you?"
She'd stopped sobbing, but couldn't keep from shaking. "J-Jack, it wasn't like that. He- let me go." She told him, and he held her tighter, "He made himself look like the bad guy. He did it for me. He's so stupid why did he have to-"
"He loves you. Of course he would do that. Would you have been able to forgive yourself for hurting him? No. And he knew that. He saw a way and took it. Remind me to thank the guy before I make him fall on some ice"
Skyla turned in his arms and faced him, "It really hurts, Jack." she clutched at her chest, looking desperately into his eyes, "Why does it hurt so much?"
"...Skyla, it's going to hurt for a while. And, I'm sorry." there were tears in his eyes, and his voice was low, "But it's going to get better. I promise. I'll help you!"
"You won't leave me, will you?"
He took a moment, fighting his tears back. One fell, turning to ice as it slipped down his cheek and he told her, "No. I'm not letting you go. No matter what, I'll always be here."
"Thank you, Jack. Thank you," he kissed her forehead and she buried her face in his sweater.
After a while, he mentioned, "We should go somewhere. Not right now" he added, "but soon. And for a while. A vacation; just the two of us?" Skyla nodded against him and he brushed some stray hairs behind her ear, "We'll go wherever you want. Some place cold would be nice. But it's your choice."
He kept talking and telling her the places they could go. Mostly listing areas that were in the middle of their Winters, he briefly mentioned warmer areas they could stop in. "If you want to" he would add, "It's your choice." Skyla fell asleep, letting the world around her fade into darkness while his voice soothed her.
When she woke up, it was dark out and Jack wasn't holding her. He was by the window, staring out into the night. 'Was he talking to the Moon?' she wondered, watching him. He sighed and looked down. She couldn't see his face but a frozen tear fell from it, landing on the floor. "Jack?" she asked, concerned.
His head snapped up, his arm reaching to wipe at his face, "Sky? I thought you were asleep?" He turned and walked back over to the bed. "I was just... Thinking." he climbed back under the covers, his cold body pressing against hers as he wrapped his arms around her again. "Sorry, I thought you wouldn't notice. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten up and-"
"It's okay. Were you really just thinking?" she asked.
"Yeah... I thought about calling for Bunnymund... Then I remembered you two don't exactly get along. I didn't want to deal with that." Skyla nodded. "Then I thought about just talking to MiM, seeing if he would answer me. I couldnt..."
"I'm sorry"
"For what?" he questioned, his blue eyes searching her greys.
"You need someone to talk to, right? Please, if you can't talk to me; talk to Bunynmund. Or Lauren. Hell, talk to them both. I don't want you to feel like you have no where to turn."
"...Don't worry about me. I'm fine-"
"Please." she pleaded, "Don't force yourself to be alone just because of me. Talk to someone"
"I will, Sky. Then we can go on vacation?" he smiled weakly.
In response, she tilted her head up and quickly pecked him on the lips. "You don't have to worry about not being here when I wake up. I know you'll come back."
Jack shook his head and was about to respond when he turned his head sharply as if hearing something. "Bunnymund's coming" he told her, "MiM must have been listening anyway."
Skyla sat up with him and they watched as a hole opened in the floor. Jack stood, grabbing his staff from the wall beside them. When the over-sized rabbit popped up and the hole closed behind him, Jack greeted, "Hey"
"Mate, what are you doing here? I thought I made it clear I-" he cut off, looking between the two. For a moment, Skyla worried that he would comment on Jack being there after dark while she was in bed. The rabbit's voice came out concerned, "What's happened?"
The Winter Spirit glanced back at Skyla, then back at his fellow Guardian, "She went through something really difficult, and I'm trying to comfort her." he shrugged, "That's all."
"You've both been crying. I have eyes you know!" Hopping closer to the bed he narrowed his eyes and asked Skyla, "Did you do something?"
Before Jack could answer she said, "Yeah. And you two need to have a man-to-kangaroo conversation." Jack covered a laugh with a cough and she continued, "That other guy? He- He left me. It really hurt and... Jack's worried. Can you please do something?"
Jack whispered her name and Bunnymund told her, "I'll try. For his sake," he added, pointing a finger at her, "because even though he may love you, I still don't trust that you're the one for him. Jack, let's go to the Pole and talk about this so the others can get caught up"
Skyla nodded when the Guardian of Fun looked over to her. He seemed reluctant to go, but took her hand and kissed her cheek, "Sky, I'll be back soon. If you need me just- Wait, where's the bracelet?" She looked over to the bedside table and he took the hint, opening one of the drawers. Frowning, he pulled the bracelet out and held it up, "I knew you'd taken it off, but I didn't know you threw it in a drawer. You really didn't want me to know?" She shook her head. "Why-"
"What is that thing?" Bunnymund interrupted. "It looks... Special?" Jack held it out to him and he took it. Dropping it back on the bed quickly he exclaimed, "It's freezing!"
Skyla looked to Jack, concerned, but he just explained to the rabbit, "It's connected to me. I gave it to her without really knowing what it was and now... It reacts to my emotions, getting colder when they get stronger. And it's the same for her. When she's having a... A strong emotion, I can sort of feel it?"
"It's not all that glamorous" Skyla added, "Nearly gave me frostbite one night. Kind of funny, looking back on it." Jack looked over at her like she was crazy and she smiled back.
"Isn't that dangerous for her to have?" the rabbit asked.
Skyla reached forward and picked up the bracelet. 'it really is freezing.' Frowning, she turned it around in her fingers, "I'm not letting you have it, if that's what you're thinking" she joked, smiling slightly up at him.
"Where did you find it?" Bunnymund asked, ignoring Skyla.
"I don't remember. I've had it hidden away for a long time. Took a while to find it again." Skyla remembered how he'd taken her ribbon and disappeared, returning with the ribbon wrapped around the bracelet. "I wanted her to have it. And she knows to take it off if it gets too cold, so it's fine."
"Jack, you don't know what else it could do! You say it's connected to you, but do you know how? Or what the extent of it is? Have you told anyone about it?"
"No, I haven't. I didn't think I needed to. It's our business, not yours!" he got a bit defensive, like he thought telling the others would make matters worse. "Let's just go to the Pole so I can catch the others up, alright?"
He walked over to the rabbit, but was pushed back. Bunnymund thought for a while before he said, "We're taking her with us."
Jack's eyes widened, glancing between the two, "What?"
"I would say just take the bracelet, but she isn't parting with it. Besides, mate, she's involved in what's going on. Why not take her?"
"Do I get say in this?" Skyla asked. They both shot her looks that told her she didn't, and she mumbled, "Okay then."
"Promise she won't be crowded, and she won't leave my side."
"I promise. I'll go ahead and warn- Er, tell, the others. Get her ready." The kangaroo said, and hopped down one of his tunnels.
"This is... A lot sooner than I expected" Skyla commented. "I guess I should probably... Do stuff?"
Jack sighed, "Yeah. He won't be long. Are you going to be okay?" Skyla nodded and smiled at him. "Good. Because this is not going to be fun"
NOTES:
Sorry, I think the last few chapters have sucked.
I'm trying, okay? :)
Thanks for reading!
Review, review, review!
I really like to know your opinions on stuff
Love Y'all *hearts*
