"N-no, Jamie," The brunette heard Jack call from behind him in the foyer.

Jamie bit his lip, resisting the urge to turn around and slap the Guardian right across his face. So he continued up the stairs as fast as he could towards his room. He passed a few Ice Imps, kicking one of the small mounds of snow as it crossed his path. Jamie didn't break down until his icy bedroom door was shut tight behind him.

He held it in for a second, listening for any sign that Jack had attempted to follow him. When he heard only silence from down the hall, it was safe to assume the two Guardians had left. And that's when Jamie lost it.

He curled onto the giant bed and covered his face as tears began flowing from his eyes. Jamie hated crying, yet it was something he found himself doing on a regular basis. He hated the way his chin would wrinkle under his whimpering frown. The way his eyebrows folded in on each other. How his eyes stung and his nose ran, each turning red. He hated the way his shoulders shook and how his face felt oily and wet. But he continued his stupid crying because… well, what else could he do?

He foolishly let himself believe that his life was going to get better. After all, Jack was with him again so why shouldn't it? But over and over again Jamie just set himself up for disappointment. He'd believed Jack. He wanted to completely trust that the Guardian would always protect him. But once again he was proven wrong. And it felt even worse knowing that Jack saw the pain he was going through, but didn't care enough to actually help him. The man had seen Jamie literally harm himself. The teenager felt disgusted and it almost physically hurt to think about how much faith he had in the one who let him down constantly.

"Shut up." Jamie muttered to himself, massaging his temples as a headache began to form. "You're being dramatic. Just shut up." Jamie knew that Jack didn't care as much as he said he did. He was just afraid of being invisible again. Afraid that Jamie would stop "believing" in him. He wasn't worried about Jamie. He just didn't want to be ignored again. Maybe Jack didn't want to save him. Maybe he let him suffer on purpose just to entertain himself. After all, when he thought about it, Jamie really didn't know Jack at all. He'd only met him twice in his life. Granted, each time they met Jamie felt safer with him than he had with anyone, but that was beside the point.

"No. No. Nope. I am a complete idiot." Jamie ran his fingers through his hair, pulling hard until his scalp felt near to splitting. Why did he trust Jack in the first place? Just because he was strong and magical and amazing and beautiful and made Jamie smile and feel things that tickled his stomach and held him so delicately and had breath as cold as snow that tickled his neck when he hugged him and…

Jamie let go of his hair and took to clawing at his face. "UGH." He let out a gigantic sigh. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't feel so comforted by someone he shouldn't trust.

There was a rap at the door, and Jamie nearly jumped five feet in the air. He quickly sat up straight, wiping his face and letting out a heavy cough to clear his throat.

"Um…Come in?" He called to the closed door. The figure that entered his room was not the one he was expecting.

The Queen Tooth Fairy fluttered in. Around her head three hummingbird-like fairies buzzed. "Hi, Jamie." His eyebrows raised; she was still as magnificent as the first day he saw her. Her iridescent wings and feathers glowed in the soft light of the icy room.

"Tooth Fairy," Jamie stood and hoped his tear-stained cheeks didn't show through his smile. "What are you doing here?"

"One of my fairies saw you and Jack fly back here, so I decided to take a well-deserved break from work and come visit you two." She smiled. Jamie noted the impatient looks her worker fairies glared at her. She was obviously going out of her way to visit. Jamie smiled at the gesture; the comfort he felt was small, but needed.

"Well, you've just missed Jack." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the floor-length window, the night sky sparkling as he indicated the North Star. "I think Bunny's taking him to the North Pole right now."

"Oh, right. I forgot North's angry with him." Tooth contemplated aloud.

He's not the only one. Jamie grumbled to himself. He decided to change the subject to avoid getting upset around her. Her cheerful presence was something Jamie savored. "It's nice to see you again. Been a long time."

The fairy had a bright smile on. "It sure has! Oh my god—and look at you! Your teeth!" Jamie stepped back a bit when Tooth zoomed close and tentatively poked his mouth open. "I see the tooth that sofa knocked out grew back nicely. Ah! They're so straight! Did you get braces?" At the word, the three other tooth fairies dipped close to Jamie's open jaw, twittering excitedly.

Jamie laughed at her bubbly attitude and the Baby Teeth's merry chattering. He wiped his mouth once the queen's hands were out of it. "Yeah, when I was twelve. For about two years."

"Oh no!" Tooth's attitude was disappointed. "And I missed it? No fair." Her feathers quickly perked up again and she spun around Jamie a few times, examining. "Wow! Jack was right. You really did grow up handsome."

Jamie found himself blushing and then paused. "Jack… said that?"

"Oh, more or less." She didn't hide her knowing grin. "When he spoke with me the subtext was plain as day. Wow he just could not shut up about you. He was talking almost as much as I do. Haha! But I don't blame him; you're quite the looker!" She giggled and bopped his nose lightly.

"When did you talk to him?" Jamie could tell something was off…

"Huh? Oh, last week, I think. Yeah." Tooth contemplated. She turned to one of her fairies, who nodded in confirmation. "Just after he snuck out to see you."

"What? So you knew about that?" Jamie held back a shocked expression.

"Yeah, he actually came to visit me after the first day." Tooth wondered why Jamie wanted to know. "I was the one who told him that he should go back and actually try talking to you instead of just following you around and gawking."

"Well he took his time doing that." The brunette grumbled.

"What?" She asked Jamie. One tooth fairy whispered something in their queen's ear, but she waved them away.

"Turns out he was following me around for a week before he decided to show himself." Jamie crossed his arms.

"Seriously?" Tooth knit her brow then shook her head. "That creep. I told him it was fine. You wouldn't get mad at him if he did."

"Well…" Jamie coughed.

"Oh god. You didn't…"

"I kinda… threw rocks at him." The brunette rubbed his neck, embarrassed.

"Jamie," Tooth held back a laugh. "I mean… sure Jack's an idiot, but you didn't have to…"

"Of course I had to, Tooth." Jamie turned his palms up. "He left me for seven years. You can't honestly expect me to be okay with that."

The queen let out a sigh. "No, I can't. And I'm so sorry that I was part of the plan. Why aren't you angry with me, then?"

"Because you're not the white-haired dumbass who followed me around for a week without saying anything." He seethed.

The Tooth Fairy stroked the feathers on her opposite arm, attempting to think of a response. "Listen, Jamie… I don't really know what makes Jack do some of the things he does. Maybe he was just so used to you not seeing him that he thought a direct approach might be too overwhelming for him. I thought he was getting better, since he joined the Guardians, but honestly we all have jobs to do and don't see much of each other. I think Jack's so used to being alone that he doesn't know the right way to get close to someone yet... Trust me, I've tried." She muttered, half to herself.

Jamie tentatively avoided the subject of her and Jack possibly in a romantic relationship. For some reason, it made his stomach churn unpleasantly. Jamie ran through what Tooth told him in his head. He suspected that what she told him could be true. He'd only just begun to get to know Jack again and from what he could tell, he was pretty happy. But then again, it was entirely possible that Jack's care-free, reckless attitude was just a façade. Jamie's mind visited their conversation at dinner. Jack's distant expression when he was asked about his family. Jamie knew he was hiding something, but everyone had their own secrets, right? He should respect his privacy and just let Jack deal with his issues on his own.

But even Jamie knew that idea was such a lie it was almost laughable.

The brunette ran a hand over his face, turning in place before facing the Tooth Fairy again. "Well, I just don't know what to do."

She turned her head as a tooth fairy successfully managed to grab her attention. Tooth listened to its rapid squeaks before nodding. "Yes, I know. Just one second." She looked back at Jamie. "I'm sorry but I've got to be on my way. I'd love to help you, Jamie, but I really don't know the answer."

The brunette nodded. He didn't know what he expected. If what Tooth said was true, then why would Jack let anyone in on a way to help himself? "Well, thanks anyway. It was thoughtful of you to visit." He presented expected politeness.

She offered a kind smile and gave him a quick hug. "It was great to see you after all these years. And I'm really sorry we made you wait so long."

He couldn't be angry with her. Her sweet attitude almost made Jamie want to hold her in a tight hug, to maybe catch some of those positive vibes. So he just shrugged, hopeful to transfer his forgiveness into her pink iridescent eyes. She gave a small smile, the beautiful and fur-soft feathers atop her head shaking with her understanding nod.

Her expression fell serious again. "But, um..." Tooth had a few fairies tugging at her feathers, tweeting to remind her of business elsewhere. "If you really want to fix things, you should talk to Jack. He'll listen to you, you know."

The teenager let out a tired breath. "Sure." He wanted to believe her. To think that all that was needed to fix this issue was a simple heart-to-heart. But… Jack would need to prove himself in a more drastic way than just a pinky-promise to earn his trust back this time.

"I mean it." The queen lingered. "He cares about you, really. You two share this... bond. It's strong and more so than it's been with any of the Guardians."

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "He and I share a 'more profound bond', you might say?"

"Jamie, I'm being serious." The Tooth fairy fought his chuckle with a look of urgency. "I'm not really sure how I know, but trust me. Jack would do anything for you. And it scares me to think about what that 'anything' might entitle."

"Wha…" The brunette's face fell and showed confusion. "What could Jack do for me that would be so bad?"

Her feathers twitched. Her fairies impatiently tugged away. "I… don't want to think about it. Actually, never mind. It's probably nothing." She snapped back to focus. "You two just need to talk. Like, as soon as he gets back. Promise?"

"Yeah, alright. I promise." Jamie stopped his eyes from rolling. He still refused to believe that just talking would solve anything, but he didn't feel like discouraging Tooth. The queen finally flicked one of the fairies off her green feathers. "Alright, alright! I'm coming." She turned back to Jamie with a final look. "Take care, okay? And come visit the Tooth Palace sometime! I'd love to talk when I'm not too busy." A tooth fairy squeaked with annoyance. "Oh, okay. You can visit if you don't mind me talking over my work."

Jamie gave a laugh as the fairy nodded with satisfaction. "Sure thing." He grinned. "See you later, then."

"Take care of those beautiful teeth while I'm gone!" Came the farewell as the Fairy darted through the ice frame and out of sight quickly, her fluorescent green feathers tinting purple as she zoomed away.

Jamie found himself falling onto the bed, suddenly exhausted. Taking about his Guardian's emotional issues sure was tiring. Deep down, Jamie wanted to believe Queen Toothiana. But if only trust could be regained by words alone. No, Jamie needed something better. Some test that would prove that maybe he could begin to restore his faith in the winter spirit. Maybe… just maybe, if Jack would stay when Jamie asked him to this time… If he held his ground when Jamie demanded attention…

The teenager didn't have a second to reconsider his plan as he heard a loud gust of wind tear through the hallway. Jamie didn't need to call out to determine that the winter Guardian had returned. So he sat up on his large bed, crossing his arms. As he heard Jack's footsteps near his open door, Jamie put on his most irritated scowl and awaited the confrontation.

Alright, Tooth. Fine. I'll try it your way. Jamie's thoughts muttered. As Jack entered the room, however—his disheveled white hair dropping flakes of snow from his trip, guilty expression on his flawless features as he leaned on the open door frame— Jamie found his heart miss a previously pounding beat and he quickly scolded the blood that rushed to his face. But if that doesn't work, I'm definitely doing things my way.

early update. you are welcome.

might have to wait a while for 8, though. i've got Guardian books to read~