A/N:

Hi everyone! Thank you for your reviews and for your patience with updates ^_^ I'll do the best I can to keep them as regular and frequent as possible. In this installment, Jack and Sally finally have their first date! And in the next chapter, things start to get a little complicated…which is partially why I've upped the rating on this to T. ^^ There's some escalation that ups itself as the fic goes along (mostly due to a Heart Queen and certain magic candies.) I'll try to post the next chapter asap, and I hope you all enjoy where the story goes : )

Dearest Friends

Chapter 5:

Everything but the Goodnight Kiss

Over the course of the afternoon, and with only a few hours notice, a needle and thread, and a little ingenuity, Sally had made herself as presentable as could be for her evening with Jack. The first thing she had done after waking up from her brief nap was to draw a basin of water for herself from the little sink up here, and then she had created a makeshift dress dummy out of an old coat rack in the corner. Next, Sally had taken one of the sheets Jack had left up here for her sofa bed and pinned one end of it to the top of a tall bookshelf and the other end to the edge of a high shelf, effectively creating a little changing area for herself in a corner of the room. Going behind the curtain, Sally removed her dress and tossed it over the top, and then she had taken down the sheet and wrapped herself in it, pinning it around her body. Gathering up her patchwork dress, Sally had next put the garment through a good washing in the basin of water. Then she had wrung it out and hung it up on the 'dress dummy' near the fire to dry.

Her dress taken care of for the moment, Sally had next looked to herself. All of her stitches were nice and tight (she had seen to that earlier when waiting for Jack), so she went over to the basin of water and dabbed at her arms and legs a little with a spare piece of rag to clean herself up. Then she had dunked her whole head of yarn hair into the basin and pulled it out, wringing it thoroughly. Using a needle and thread, she pinned up her hair so that it would dry and then moved on to gathering some of the herbs and incense she had placed up here as part of her cleaning. She dabbed the fragrant items on her neck and around her body. Satisfied with the light smell now about her, Sally had seen to her lips next: she took some outer petals from the rose Jack had given her downstairs and crushed them in a small bowl with some ashes and a little water and a touch of candle wax. She then applied this mixture carefully to her lips, doing her best to dye that fabric a bit of a deeper, richer red. It was a little hard to get the substance to absorb at first, but soon Sally succeeded. She then picked up the hand mirror Jack had left her to examine her work, and Sally had to smile and even giggle a little: with her hair pinned up and her lips an extra deep shade of scarlet and the sheet wrapped snugly around her body like a dress, she looked and felt quite pretty: prettier than she ever had in her entire life, in fact. Sally had giggled more and then snatched up her needles and thread, going back over to the fire and her dress.

Her dress was dry now, Sally began the next stage of her work with it. Honestly, she wished she had material to make a whole new dress for this special night, but this was what she had and this was what she would work with. She took a pair of scissors from a drawer and cut away the uneven and ragged hem of the bottom of her dress and the bottom of her sleeves. Then she had carefully rolled up the ends of the fabric, stitching brand new fresh hems on the dress (and effectively shortening the length of the dress just a little at the same time). Finally, her familiar patchwork dress in the best state she could get it in, Sally went across the room and pulled the basin of water over to the fire near the dress. She set the basin over the flame and left it there to eventually boil and produce steam that would remove any wrinkles from the garment. Finally, Sally had finished by taking the rag she had used to clean herself up and given her shoes a quick shine.

Done with all of this preparation, Sally had let out a sigh of satisfaction and then plopped down on the sofa with a good book while she waited for the steaming to be done. "Now all I have to do is brush out my hair and decide what to do with it," she had thought to herself with a smile.

So now, just before five o'clock, here Sally was in her room and all dressed up and ready to go—her newly-tailored patchwork dress upon her, her lips still stained red, and her freshly washed and dried hair unpinned and falling in small waves down her back. She looked at herself in the hand mirror again. "Ooo…" Her hair looked quite pretty like this! She liked it! She ran the fishbone comb through it a couple of times just to neaten it up a bit, and now she felt perfect and completely prepared for her date with Jack in a few minutes.

Sally sat down on her sofa and waited for now, just staring up at the face of the grandfather clock in the corner as the hands ticked closer and closer until she would get to be all alone with… 'Jack…' Sally sighed deeply, feeling her flustered leaves almost building up a warmth inside of her like a living blush. "Oh Jack…" She wanted to be in his arms again, she wanted him to look at her in that way he did now, with interest and desire and… 'Love. I want Jack to love me.' And Sally wanted him to kiss her, and she wanted to be with him…and the moment it hit five, she would either let him right into her room up here or she would march downstairs and go right to him herself, whichever got them together more quickly! Sally had been waiting for a very, very, very long time to be courted by Jack Skellington, and when the hour struck she had no intention of waiting any longer.

Meanwhile, there might have been nothing more pitiable and yet endearing than Jack's version of 'getting ready' for his 'big date'…

Jack had slept for a rather long time considering his fatigue. By four o'clock though, he was up and staring at his collection of clothing with an intensity only rivaled by that which he had expressed during his scientific study of Christmas, though that intensity seemed a little unwarranted to say the least. In fact, every single item of clothing in his armoire was a pinstriped suit, so his options were obviously limited. And yet, for quite a while now, Jack had literally just been staring at all of these suits, pretty much just trying to decide which pinstriped suite was the 'pinstripiest'…and which Sally might like the most.

'Black with light grey stripes…or black with dark grey stripes…or black with white stripes…or black with off white stripes.' Toward the end, Jack had been ready to just drop to his knees in desperation in front of the armoire at the very idea of choosing the wrong one until he had been snapped out of his dramatics by Zero flying in through his window and suddenly barking urgently at him.

"Ah!" Jack jumped and turned around to the little dog, blinking several time. "Z-Zero, I-I'm sorry, you startled me. What is it, boy?"

Zero instantly flew over to the clock in Jack's bedroom, illuminating it extra with his glowing nose.

Jack blinked! "4:30! Oh dear, oh dear, maybe I should—" He didn't have time to finish his sentence though as suddenly a suit was thrown out of his armoire and right into his arms and face by none other than Zero himself. "Oh! Erm…"

"Arf! Arf!" Zero barked firmly, giving Jack a bit of a look.

Jack blinked again, and then finally sighed and nodded. "Oh, all right, I suppose that I really do just need to pick something already, don't I?" He looked to Zero, smiling a touch sheepishly.

Zero smiled and nodded his head firmly, and then he was instantly nudging Jack behind his tall, black, skull-and-spider themed changing screen in the corner of his room.

"Whoa! All right, Zero, I'm changing, I'm changing, I promise!" Jack assured with a laugh as he stumbled behind the screen and quickly began to do so.

Jack changed while he talked, and while he talked Zero flew across the room into his drawers and picked out a very nice clean white shirt and the nicest, fanciest bat bowtie that Jack owned for his master as Jack tossed his former clothes piece by piece over the top of the screen and onto his bed.

"Zero…do you think Sally really is happy here?"

"Arf!" Zero replied with a firm nod, resting the new shirt and tie over the top of the changing screen.

Jack sighed. "All right. I just worry. Honestly, I don't even know why she would like me as much as she does. I mean, just look at her—look how she smiles when she's around me, and how she cleaned up this whole house for me, and then she listens to me and cares about me so very much when I've hardly shown her the attention she's deserved all of these years. I really don't understand how she could like me so much. She's an amazing woman, Zero, and I'm just a skeleton who almost destroyed a holiday." Jack sighed again, reaching up now and grabbing the shirt and tie. "I'm going to have to be so careful, Zero, if I'm going to maintain her affections. I just don't want her to be disappointed in me. I want to give her everything she deserves in a gentleman companion."

"Arf!" Zero barked with an eyebrow raised and a little frown, pausing for a moment in rubbing a rag over a pair of shoes he had chosen for his master.

"Oh Zero, I appreciate the vote of confidence, really," Jack went on. "But…still, this is romance we're talking about, Zero. I have no idea how to be romantic. Okay, well, I mean, I've had some thoughts on the subject before. But for tonight at least, I think it might be best if I just go with what I learned in Valentine Town so that I don't get carried away and start singing her ballads of my undying devotion before our first date's even over. You know, visiting Valentine Town turned out to be a very nice experience actually…e-even if some of the couples in certain places were a little 'intense'. The younger couples were so sweet, though. I hope I can follow their example well so that Sally and I can ease into things." Clearing his throat, Jack now stepped out from behind his screen, fully changed and adjusting his tie. "Erm…what do you think, Zero?" Jack shrugged, looking to his little dog friend modestly. Zero had chosen a black suit with light grey pinstripes, a bat bowtie with slightly larger lapels that Jack usually kept around to wear on formal occasions, and a dress shirt that was a warm ivory color just a little darker than Jack's bones.

Zero smiled and nodded and spun in an enthusiastic circle, wagging his little tail. He quickly picked up and flew the pair of shoes he had chosen over to Jack. Then Zero dashed over to Jack's bureau where he snagged a little white cloth, flew quickly back over to his master once more, and started polishing his skull a little.

Jack chuckled warmly, holding up his hands. "Hey! Okay, okay, I'll get cleaned up now, I promise! And thank you for helping me pick out a suit, Zero." Jack sighed and took the cloth and polished his skull a little more. Then he went over to his mirror and dabbed himself with the distilled oils of several fragrant dark root extracts he had on hand. He finished by going over to the sink basin, taking a swig of worms wart and licorice extract, gargling it, and spitting it out. Then Jack looked to himself in the mirror, and he actually smiled. He felt…nice. Handsome, even, in a way he had never felt before. He sort of liked it.

Jack sighed blissfully, gazing in the mirror more, imagining Sally on his arm. "Sally…. She'll be so happy tonight. We'll go for a stroll in the darkness, and then we'll come back here and I'll prepare us dinner, and then we'll talk and I'll escort her back to her room. Oh but first thing's first. I'll go to her door now, and…" Suddenly, Jack blinked…and then his eye sockets went wide. "Zero!" He turned to his best friend. "I have nothing to present Sally with! No trinket, no present, nothing! Whenever any of the little boys in Valentine Town came to court any of the little girls, they always brought them a little something—chocolates, a bracelet, flowers, someth—"

Jack was cut short in his 'woe is me' speech by Zero floating up, popping an old Christmas ball into his master's mouth, and then quickly flying up and out of Jack's window (but not before winking at him).

Jack just looked in perplexity after his faithful friend and blinked a few times. Then he spit the Christmas ball out of his mouth and just scratched his skull.

"Arf Arf!" the little dog called after him in assurance.

Jack still looked confused but then just sighed to himself in acceptance. He knew Zero was definitely thinking more clearly than he was about all of this, and Jack trusted him to help with the situation. In the meantime, though, Jack glanced at the clock. He only had about ten minutes left to himself—he chose to use the time sighing to himself and pacing and trying to assure himself that tonight would be all right and that he was just being a little too dramatic and that sensible Sally would certainly have reasonable expectations for how he would be as a romantic person—not like the witches and the undersea gal who clearly thought his prowess could make 'walls fall' and 'mountains crack'. "We'll be fine. And I'm being silly. I know Sally cares about me sincerely, and I've spent the better part of the day refreshing myself on the best way to behave on an outing with a young lady." Jack turned to his bureau mirror now. "You've done all you can, Jack, and this will all work out as long as you keep doing your best."

Jack nodded to his reflection and did his best to smile. "All right then…time to get going." He straightened his tie a little, did his best to seem calm and cool and confident, and then proceeded out of his bedroom door and in the direction of the attic entrance off of his living room. Just as he pulled down the ladder, Zero flew in through one of the living room windows and dropped something in his master's hand. "Oh!" Jack blinked at the item he had received—it was a freshly picked bouquet of dried black chrysanthemums! Jack looked up only to see Zero wink down at him with a smile. Jack smiled back up at his best friend and waved. "Thank you, Zero."

"Arf!" Zero nodded and then flew off to go play in the graveyard with his other ghost friends for the evening.

Jack smiled down at the little bouquet. "Okay, then…here we go. My first date with Sally." Jack headed up the ladder and then proceeded up the staircase to Sally's tower. As he went along he whispered to himself, smiling more and more as he did so. " 'Hello, Sally. How are you? You look splendid this evening. It's a pleasure to be here. Hello, Sally. How are you? You look splendid this evening. It's a pleasure to be here. Hello, Sally…'" Jack continued to rehearse to himself as he ascended closer and closer to Sally.

"Miss Sa—…er, Sally? It's me, Jack. Are you ready for our outing? Unless, of course, you're too tired or something from cleaning today and then everything with Christmas. I just want to do what's best for you…"

Hearing these words from Jack Skellington on the other side of her tower's trap door after a brief knock made an eager Sally just light up! She nodded enthusiastically and called out to Jack as she approached the trap door. "I'm ready, Jack. And don't be silly…" Sally opened the door and then gazed down upon her companion for the evening with a smile, taking one of his arms. "Of course I'm not too tired, and of course I want to go out with you!" She gently pulled him up into the landing of the room. Then Sally released Jack's arm and giggled, stepping back and looking at him with wide eyes. "Oh, dearest Jack…" she couldn't help but coo. He looked so handsome, so intriguingly handsome, and he had made himself that way all for her. Sally sighed softly, glancing down with a beaming smile and clasping her hands together.

Jack didn't understand at first why she was acting so shy…but at the moment he was a bit too distracted by other things to think about it too much. To begin with, when she acted so coy around him like that, it just about put him over the moon. He'd had women over the centuries get grabby, obsessed, demanding, fawning, but had never seen one act like this around him—so gentle, so caring. He wanted gentle, he wanted to be cared for…and it made him want to give it all back to her in return. And the other part of Jack's distraction at the moment was the fact that Sally just looked… There weren't words. He had left her up here with only a comb, a mirror, some thread and needles, and a few other little necessaries—how in the world had she…? Her dress looked brand new and it was even cut differently, her hair fell in soft yarn waves he had never known or imagined it could make, she smelled like an autumn night during a harvest moon, and her lips…. He didn't want to notice them so much but couldn't help it—they were just so fresh and pretty and red and inviting now. What would it be like to press his skeletal grin against them, to warm them…caress them…warm her…caress her…collapse with her in the snow as he had wanted to do last night and say things to her that he hadn't even known were inside of him but that he could feel longing to come out, and just…

"Jack…?"

The soft saying of his name by Sally snapped Jack out of his distraction in an instant. He stood up straight as a board, feeling his skull warming up. 'Oh for the love of…focus, Jack! For the sake of not completely humiliating yourself, please.' Jack let out a deep breath, let go of his awkwardness, and managed to smile at her and reply normally, "Yes, Sally?"

Sally was smiling and blushing a light, purplish color. She swayed a little on her feet. "I don't want to presume, but…are those for me?" She reached out her delicate cloth finger to point at the bouquet in Jack's hand.

Jack blinked and nodded, almost having forgotten about the flowers. "Oh! Oh, yes, of course…I…. These are for you!" He quickly handed them to her then cleared his throat and said almost automatically, "H-Hello, Sally. How are you? You look splendid this evening. It's a pleasure to be here…Um—Oh!"

Suddenly Sally had flown against him, arms wrapped tightly around his thin bony frame. She giggled joyfully and squeezed him with more force than Jack had ever thought she possessed. Then Sally pulled back to give him the happiest smile he had ever seen one person give another. "Oh Jack, I'm wonderful, and you look so dashing, and thank you for so many flowers today, and I've never been happier to be anywhere in my entire life! Let's go!" She placed the bouquet quickly down upon her coffee table and then she was instantly pulling Jack over to her window.

"Er…" Jack stumbled a little but quickly matched pace with her, though he had to raise an eyebrow. "Sally, what—"

"Come on, Jack, we can take the rope ladder outside to start on our walk—it'll be fun!" Sally explained, turning to begin climbing out of the sill.

Jack hesitated, raising his brow even more. "Uh, Sally, are you sure? It's dark, and I don't want you to hurt yourself or anything. It just seems risky."

Sally just giggled, sitting on the sill for a moment with her legs hanging outside. "Oh Jack, I can manage. Trust me. Besides…" she couldn't help but smirk in a touch of playfulness, "I'm not the one who took a flying sleigh a few thousand feet in the air in the middle of bombs going off overhead, am I?" She tapped his nose with her finger, gave his cheek a little kiss, and then straightened his tie a bit from the hug she had given him. "Now come on, let's just have a good night and see where the evening takes us, hmm?" Then Sally was off climbing down the rope ladder.

Jack just stood there for a moment, feeling his bones heat up at her little actions. "Um…I suppose…all right then." He nodded and started climbing down after her, and he had to smile a little as he went along. She could be so thrilling sometimes, so funny, so strange…but so intriguing…and so…fun. He smiled more to himself, wondering what other things he would get to learn about her on this date.

Sally dropped to the ground first with Jack following after her, both of them making light plops in the snow with their feet. As they turned to each other, Jack chuckled a little. "You're right, Sally, that was rather fun—certainly more fun than taking a rickety sleigh in the air and being shot at." He laughed a little more.

Sally giggled softly. " Thank you, Jack. I'm glad you're having a good time with me so far." She glanced to the side shyly.

Jack smiled more and stepped toward her, angling his skull to catch her eyes. "So where shall we walk to, Sally?"

She blinked and then smiled up at him. "Oh Jack, you can pick. I don't care as long as I'm with you. Um…I guess it should be somewhere private though…you know, so that no one sees us, so that we can be all alone together." A private, special little smile couldn't help but come to Sally's lips. 'All alone…at night…with Jack…courting.' And tonight would be their first moment of complete and uninterrupted privacy since their kiss—what romantic things would he do with her? Scoop her up in his arms and carry her down the lane? Put an arm around her waist as they walked side by side? Snuggle his skull against the top of her head and whisper sweet nothings in her ear? Find a lovely spot and kiss her with the unending passion with which she wanted to kiss him again?

"Oh yes, of course, Sally—I think a more secluded walk would be best too."

Sally was snapped out of her musings by this simple response of Jack's…and yet there had been something lacking in his tone while saying it that struck her as curious. Frankly, she had been trying to be a little flirty right now, a little playful, bringing up how 'alone' they would be, but there had been nothing similar in Jack's tone. It was more like he was just agreeing with her that a private walk would be best for not being seen by others, plain and simple.

Sally looked up to see jack smiling at her in that normal, friendly we he'd always had of doing. He gestured with his arm forward down a path. "How about we go walk through the graveyard and into the valley? It'll be lovely with all the snow and the full moon. Um…and may I hold your hand while we walk?" He asked the last question in a quiet tone, looking down as his smile grew.

Sally forgot all about any strangeness in his previous response and blushed a little now, her breath catching in her throat. "Ooo…um…yes… I mean, yes, Jack, I think a walk through the graveyard and into the valley sounds nice. And of course you can old my hand." She held out her hand, trying not to giggle at how sweet it was that he was being so formal about such a simple gesture.

"Thank you, Sally!" Jack replied, his eye sockets lighting up a little! Then he came alongside her and gently laced his bony fingers with her soft cloth ones, upon which he started them forward down the lane. Jack let out a small sigh of perfect satisfaction with this moment. 'All right then, we're walking, and she's letting me hold her precious hand. It feels even lovelier than I imagined. But my bones are so strange and the fingers are so much longer than her own—I hope she likes the feeling of holding hands with me just as much as I like holding hands with her.' He wished he could get a bit closer to her, but… 'No, no…one step at a time. We have all night—and we have all eternity if this works out between us.' He cleared his throat and just looked to Sally with a smile as she walked beside him.

Sally almost wobbled a little on her feet between her usual slight lack of balance and her current slight fluster, but then she quickly matched Jack's stride as they went along. She smiled so much—his bony fingers felt even more intricate and strong and cool than she had always imagined. She wondered what it would be like eventually when those hands of his touched more of her than just her own hands. At the idea, though, her leaves fluttered so badly that her face practically felt on fire, and so she put the thought out of her mind for the moment and just savored the here and now.

"You made your dress very pretty, Sally—even prettier than it was before, and I didn't think that was possible. I like it very much." These words said shyly yet sincerely by Jack were followed by a soft kiss to Sally's cheek.

Sally gasped quietly, her eyes going wide and her smile perking up to its fullest height. "Oh, thank you, Jack," she murmured. She sighed softly and leaned a little more up against him, squeezing their hands.

Jack's eye sockets went wide at this response and his skull heated a little. Then he cleared his throat and said the first thing that popped into his mind (besides a bunch of obvious things about how Sally had to be the warmest, softest, most delightfully designed doll in the world with hair like a glorious blanket he wanted to get lost in).

"So, um…n-nice weather we're having, hmm, Sally? I mean, with the snow and everything…it's nice."

Sally remained smiling and snuggling close and content for a moment longer. Then she raised an eyebrow and raised her head to look at Jack. "What?"

Jack nervously cleared his throat and shrugged. "The snow's nice. Don't you agree, Sally?" 'Oh for Halloween's sake, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I hope I'm at least kind of doing this right. I just…I can't tell her the things I really think about when we're close. She'd never believe my feelings could be so strong so quickly, and it's too soon, and did I really just ask her about the weather? I don't know, I suppose that's all right for now.' He wanted to sigh and bring a hand to his temple and shake his skull, but settled on just swallowing and glancing out to the snowy landscape for now.

Sally just blinked a few times, still absorbing his random question. "Um…yes, the snow's lovely, Jack." She raised part of her brow again. Hadn't they just been…but then why now talk about the…? She cleared her throat and decided to try bringing them back to that first comment he had made to her, the nice romantic one about how her dress looked. "Um…you know, you're very handsome tonight, Jack. And you smell nice…" Sally absolutely blushed and looked down, biting her lip. She had never commented on his scent before, and now it had just slipped out of her. She glanced at him hesitantly.

Jack's eye sockets went wide, and his grip in her hand tightened a little. "Oh, well…" He cleared his throat. "Thanks…u-um…I'm glad you like how I look…and smell." He cleared his throat. "Oh, would you look at that, we're coming to the valley already!" Jack pointed out to the landscape up ahead with his free hand. "Look how pretty it is in the moonlight with the snow still on the ground. Why don't we make some snow angels or snowmen, Sally? I promise, it's very fun." He began to pull lead them along a little more briskly though the snow covered path to the valley ahead.

Sally followed along with him, finding it fun that they were on this little adventure but still feeling a little confused by Jack's skittishness. 'But…maybe he really is just still shy. Still though, he's got to relax at least a little bit before the night's out. Hopefully soon. I really would like to have a nice, long, intimate talk with him about how I feel and how he feels and where we might go from here.' However, Sally assured herself again that if Jack needed time to ease fully into their new relationship, she was wiling to be patient for at least a little longer.

Meanwhile, as they dashed to the valley, Jack couldn't help but have some thoughts on his mind as well. 'She told me I'm handsome and that she likes how I smell.' He chuckled very softly to himself. Wow, it felt…it felt WONDERFUL to be told that by a lady whom you cared for greatly! And if his feeling like this meant that Sally felt just as elated whenever her complimented little things about her, he decided he would give her kind words and caring observations as regularly as possible from now on. Oh he felt so happy! It was working! This fragile thing they had was working! 'Splendid!' Jack exclaimed to himself as they rushed into the valley and he plopped down into the snow and she soon plopped down beside with him with a smile.

Both prepared to make snow angels…

And Jack prepared to continue his painfully slow process of getting closer to Sally while Sally prepared to have a full, deep, intimate discussion…and more…with him the instant the moment felt right.

"So…your favorite color is midnight blue, your favorite food is pumpkin spice cakes, and your favorite thing to do is sew. That's all very interesting, Sally, thank you for sharing with me," Jack replied to Sally brightly as the couple held hands again and walked back through his gate, heading toward the house. The first part of their date had finished, and now it was time for dinner.

Sally smiled and giggled a little. Yes, she would have much rather been talking about their relationship, but still it was cute that he wanted to know all these little things about her. She swung their hands a little as they approached the steps leading up to Jack's door. "You're welcome Jack…but what's your favorite color and food and thing to do?" she asked curiously.

Jack blinked and then smiled bashfully. "Oh, um…my favorite food is worms wart tea, and my favorite thing to do is sing, and my favorite color is…red." He smiled a little more to himself.

"Red? Not black or orange? Really?" Sally's smile grew. "Oh, is it because red is the color of Santa's suit and so many Christmas decorations?"

Jack gulped and shook his head. "No…it's not really 'Sandy Claws red' that I like. It's… 'Sally red'—the red like your hair." They paused in front of the door and Jack let go of Sally and just clasped his hands in front of himself, looking down about as shyly and sweetly as could be.

Sally, meanwhile, just beamed.

Jack cleared his throat and opened the door, gesturing for her to go inside. "Ladies first, Sall—Oh!"

Sally dove right against him, causing them both to stumble into the house. Her arms wrapped around his body and she snuggled deeply against his ribcage, giggling. "Oh Jack…" She could feel his bony chest underneath his shirt and jacket, and one of her hands came up to rest against where his heart would be if he had one. "That's so sweet of you to say." She looked up at him adoringly. She wanted to see those lips of his pucker…oh but forget it, she was DONE waiting! She draped an arm over his shoulder and kissed…his cheeks, to start. She wanted to know every inch of his skull before she went back to that ridged little mouth. She continued placing beautiful little kiss after beautiful little kiss slowly over the smooth expanse of his head and face.

"Mm…!" Jack stumbled back a little as the door shut behind them, feeling surprised at first…and then just feeling like his legs were going to give out from under him. His ribcage rose and fell against her chest a little, and he just did his best to remain standing. "Sally…" Jack barely managed, his eye sockets blinking and hazing. "I, um…I…" 'I really should stop this, I can't just…we can't just…Still though…' He felt her lips getting so close to his own again. And he was still so curious inside about whether those lips of hers would feel any differently now that they were darker and bolder. And also maybe he had a tie in his head now about his favorite kind of red, and it was between red like Sally's hair and red like Sally's lips. 'But, no…I want to, but not in the heat of the moment. We've both been through so much lately, and we should take time before we… I… Oh Sally…'

"I like your skull…Jack. It's so smooth and such a nice shape…" came from Sally in a sweet coo between kisses.

"Sally…" Jack barely managed to get out again, trying as hard as he could to keep his tone and bearing steady.

"Yes…dearest…Jack…?" Sally giggled and cooed in reply between two kisses.

"U-Um…" Jack sighed. He brought his hands to her shoulders. Then he gave her a brief peck on the corner of her mouth. Then Jack pulled back, smiling a touch awkwardly and trying not to blanch too much. "Dinner now, Sally?"

Sally, caught up in a daze, just blinked a few times. "Hmm…?" 'Dinner…what's dinner?' She giggled a little to herself.

"Dinner, Sally," Jack repeated again, already seeming calmer and more in control by the second. "I thought I'd prepare dinner for us for this part of our outing. You must be hungry, after all—I'd imagine you haven't had a proper meal since Christmas Eve, at least. I was thinking Wolf's Bane stew, unless you'd prefer something else? Heh…" Jack smiled sheepishly at Sally, straightening his tie and doing his best to basically pretend like they hadn't just been nearly necking in his foyer.

For a moment Sally just…. Was he…had he really just…? She suddenly felt so awkward. It hit her that she had just been throwing herself at him practically and instead of him responding in the same way, he had just given her a quick peck and now wanted to rush them right along to dinner! Sally had been willing to make a lot of excuses for his shy behavior, but this just wasn't fair—in fact it was frustrating, disappointing, embarrassing even. She felt like she was some little girl throwing herself at him, and he was patting her on the head but keeping her at a distance, which was a far cry from how she had felt earlier—like a beautiful woman ready to start a mature relationship with the man of her dreams.

But Jack, just trying to move things along, wasn't really noticing Sally's pouting and frowning right now. Instead, done assuring her about dinner, he took Sally's hand and led her over to a small table that he used for the occasional meal in a room off to the side between the living room and the kitchen. He then laid down a black lace tablecloth, quickly lit two candles, pulled out Sally's chair for her, and then popped into the kitchen.

Sally took a seat and sighed softly, resting her head on her hand as she gazed at the light of the candle and thought to herself a bit.

Meanwhile, Jack could be heard moving some things around in the kitchen. "The ingredients for the stew are pretty basic, and I usually have most of them prepared and set aside—I'll just add them together in the boiling water in my cauldron and we'll eat very soon, Sally." Jack continued with some more minor preparations, then eventually called out to her again. "I'm sure this goes without saying, but whenever you want a snack or a meal, please feel free to use anything you find in the kitchen. I don't eat much myself being a skeleton, but I always try to keep things well stocked in case anybody needs anything—I suppose I'm just always anticipating company even though I never have much of it." Eventually, the sound of the cauldron bubbling could be heard, and Jack opened and closed a drawer. "I know you'll probably have other plans soon regularly—you seemed so excited about finally being on your own earlier, after all. But I must say, I hope, even if we're not having a date, that you'll have dinner with me here whenever you can. I'd enjoy the company, and so would Zero." Jack went back to cooking again.

Even he had to notice now though that Sally was being very quiet.

Indeed, Sally had just been sitting at the table, at first looking frustrated still…but then looking a little bored…and then (as Jack had kept talking) she had looked a little more understanding…and finally at him expressing his hope that they could eat together regularly she was smiling just a little again, unable to help herself. 'He's trying. That's what's most important, I guess.' Sally sighed softly, smiling more. 'And at least we have a lovely meal to look forward to now—that's something.'

Meanwhile, Jack, growing curious about his lovely companion, finally took his full attention off of the stew for a moment to poke his head out of the kitchen to check on her. "Sally, is everything all right?"

'Somehow we're just not quite on the same page yet—but I'll get us there. I have a good feeling.' Sally nodded to herself and then nodded to Jack, smiling a little more. "I'm all right, Jack. I was just thinking. I'm looking forward to the stew. And I'd really like for us to share meals together even when we're not on a date too. I usually ate alone at the Doctor's, but eating each day with you sounds very nice."

Jack smiled more and nodded to her in return. "Oh, splendid, Sally. Thank you." He was still working on preparing the stew even though he was caught up in gazing at her a little now, but then Jack blinked, realizing he had been shaking a certain spice container of the cauldron for an awfully long time, and turned to face what he had done. Jack's whole self instantly flew fully back into the kitchen, and then Sally heard him sigh very deeply. "Oh dear, I put in too much black spice! It'll be too hot. And whenever I do that, I can never figure out hos to cover it u—"

"Frog's Breath overpowers anything, Jack. Here, let me do it…"

Jack suddenly stopped his lamentations and blinked at the sound of Sally interrupting him with these kind words of assurance. She was now standing beside him in the kitchen and observing the soup. Then he watched as she opened his cabinet and lightly rummaged around until she pulled out a can of frog's breath and also grabbed the canister of wormswart. "Stand back please, Jack, this is going to be very bitter until I add the worms wart."

Jack nodded and took a step back. Sally leaned back a little as well and then put the frog's breath in the stew. Instantly, both of them cringed at the sight of thick curls of stench coming out of the cauldron. Jack continued to watch with interest as Sally then dumped a fair amount of wormswart into the pot. Suddenly, the curls of steam became soft and white. Jack leaned a bit closer to the cauldron and sniffed…and the stew now smelled perfect. Just perfect. Maybe even better than usual. Jack looked to Sally with awe. "Sally…you can cook. I-I mean more than just sandwiches and tea—you really, really know how to cook."

Sally just shrugged modestly, looking to Jack with a little smile, her arms behind her back. "It's just one of the things Doctor Finkelstein used to make me do. I enjoyed it a little bit, but it was just annoying to be 'supposed to' make someone three perfect meals a day, especially someone who was very hard to please. But I don't mind helping you cook, Jack. I care about you, remember?" She leaned over and gave him a soft, simple, lingering kiss on the cheek. Then she pulled back and smiled warmly at him. "Now come on, Jack…I know Christmas and last night and even today have all been a lot for you—why don't we just sit down and have a nice meal and relax, okay?"

The way she looked at him, so peacefully, so calmly, with such compassion, made Jack feel perfectly hopeful once again that everything would work out all right between them even despite any of his uncertainties. He nodded in gratitude. "All right, Sally—I-I'd like that. Here, um…" He handed her two small bowls with spoons from the cupboard and then put a ladle in the cauldron and lifted it up. "We can eat now. Thank you for waiting. And thank you so much again for helping with the stew. I was nervous about making it just right for you. I just want to be good at caring for you, that's all. It's important to me," he admitted with a little smile as he headed into the dining room and placed the stew on the table while Sally followed after him set out the bowls and spoon for them. Jack pulled out Sally's chair once more before crossing to the other side of the table to take his own seat.

Sally sat down and melted a little inside. She reached across the table, resting her hand atop Jack's. "Oh Jack…you don't ever have to be nervous around me, and you are good at caring for me. You're just, well…splendid at it actually." She giggled. She pulled her hand back and smiled at him with affection.

And Jack smiled back at her so very dreamily. "Thank you, Sally—I'm very, very, very glad to hear that." He looked down in a touch of bashfulness and then proceeded to serve them. "So then you've liked our outing so far, Sally?"

Sally nodded. "Yes, Jack, I have. I like spending time with you, and you've been very nice and…friendly. I'm happy to be here with you." She cleared her throat and then asked with a touch of hesitation, "And, have you enjoyed our outing so far, Jack?"

Jack blinked and nodded to her. "Oh yes, absolutely!" He beamed. "It's been one of the most enjoyable evenings of my entire death."

Sally's smile perked up. But then just a touch of hesitation came back to her features and she added, "And you're sure you're happy with us like this—the two of us together with romantic feelings for each other?"

Jack swallowed but nodded again, his smile still remaining. "Yes, Sally. I'm happy you're safe and with me, and that we're courting. It's…It's a miracle to me, actually. I care for you so much, Sally. After all, we're meant to be, right?"

Sally observed him carefully for a moment longer but then let out a small breath of relief and smiled warmly at him. "Of course, Jack. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound silly or strange. I-It's just that I've liked you for a very long time, and…it's nice to hear again that now you like me too." She looked down demurely, taking a spoonful of her soup.

Jack blinked, but then he had to grin and even chuckle a little. "Oh Sally, I understand. I know just how long you've had these feelings for me. But I promise you, after all of this time, I really do have them in return for you now."

"Oh, yes, well, I—" Sally blinked and then paused in the middle of raising her spoon. Her big eyes went very wide. "You…know how long I've had my feelings for you? You knew about my feelings?" she squeaked out, feeling that warm friction of her fluttering leaves building in her features again.

Jack shrugged, smiling more to himself and as he ate. "Well, not officially, but I did suspect sometimes, yes. You were always so sweet and shy around me and always doing little things for me that it looked like you didn't want me to find out about, that sometimes I wondered if you might be sort of smitten with me, at least a little. I just…didn't know how strongly you felt until Christmas Eve, my dearest Sally, or that I felt the same way for you."

Sally blinked a few more times, then smiled a lot but couldn't help looking completely down into her bowl, playing with her soup a little. "Oh Jack…I…I don't know what to say."

Jack chuckled, gazing over at her. "You don't have to say anything. Just keep smiling and laughing and smiling more. I like those things about you, Sally. You have such a pretty laugh and smile."

Sally smiled and giggled, and she thought her grin would just about burst the seams of her face. "Oh Jack…" 'Well, he's acting a little romantic again. That's nice. At least it's some kind of progress.' She managed to look over at him again, which only made her smile and giggle a little more.

Jack just chuckled in return, resting his skull on his hand. "Are you enjoying the stew, Sally? You made it taste simply divine, you know."

Sally shrugged humbly. "O-Oh, it's delicious Jack, but you're the one who prepared and cooked it the most. If anyone made it taste good, it's you."

"Oh no, I think it was you…" Jack countered playfully, smirking a little.

"Oh no, I'm very sure it was you…" Sally countered playfully right back, winking at him.

The two of them shared a warm little laugh and then went on with their meal. And later, after some tea and a few leftover spider cakes for dessert, Jack would escort Sally back to the tower for their final goodnight.

A/N:

Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please review if you can : )

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna