A/N:

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy this latest update, and thank you all again for reading and for your reviews : ) I'm a little sick right now, and I'm working full time again soon, so after this updates will probably be closer to once every two weeks again I'm afraid. Thanks for all of your patience ^^

Dearest Friends

Chapter 10:

Oh What a Tangled Web We Sew…

Sally giggled and held out another freshly cleaned and dried plate to her ghostly dog companion as she and Zero stood before the sink together in Jack's kitchen. "Thank you for putting away the clean dishes for me, Zero. I think Jack will be very happy to see that we've cleaned everything up from breakfast when he gets back, and that we made him a plate." Sally glanced behind her with a smile toward the dining room. And indeed on the long table sat a single covered breakfast plate with a glass of sour orange juice beside it. Sally had left behind two of her pumpkin pancakes for Jack as well as some of the mashed black banana. And to add to the meal she had quickly prepared some pumpkin bread which she then sliced up and covered with a 'wormswart, black sugar' glaze before adding it to the plate. In addition, leaned up against the glass of juice was a little folded piece of paper bearing the name 'Jack' on the outside in her own small script with a little flourish underneath it. The paper was bent at the half way point, displaying his name on one half on the outside, while the inside bore a little breakfast poem Sally had written for Jack as a sort of thank you for all of his kind letters to her so far. Sally giggled and blushed a little at the thought of the poem and then turned back to dry the last dish. "I hope Jack comes back soon, Zero. I'd like to talk to him about some things."

"Arf, Arf!" Zero nodded in agreement, taking the last dish from her to put into the cupboard.

Sally smiled and stretched up, setting down the dishtowel. "There, all done…" Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, she turned and glanced around the kitchen…Jack's kitchen…small and cozy and a little spooky and full of the faint glow of orangey pumpkin sunlight streaming through a dusty window. She loved this room so much. Sally giggled and took a step forward and then another, then completed a little turn, closing her eyes. "Oh it would be so nice. Every morning waking up together and eating breakfast. Hmm, hmm, hmm…" she hummed to herself as she did her little dance around the kitchen and sang softly, "And does he notice…my feelings for him…" She gave another little twirl. "Yes, he must notice, and I'll talk to him when he gets home, and then no more secrets between us," she finished, leaning back against the counter and giggling to herself again.

KNOCK KNOCK, SCREAM!

Sally suddenly froze, her eyes wide and something dropping in the pit of the leaves in her stomach. And all of those thoughts of worry that had crossed her mind her first morning here when someone had knocked and rang instantly came flooding back. 'Who's at the door? I can't answer the door! Should I answer the door? What would someone say if I answered the door? What if it's the Mayor? What if it's the Doctor? But what if it's someone else? Or what if it's just Jack using the doorbell and knocking again? But why would he do that again?'

KNOCK KNOCK, SCREAM!

Torn between all of these considerations (and aware that her ghost dog companion was watching her with confusion as she continued to not answer the door), Sally turned to Zero and made a quiet motion by putting a finger over her lips. Then she beckoned him to follow her. Sally got down low and crept stealthily along through the kitchen and dining room, keeping to the walls. Once she reached the living room she made sure to stay very low and keep away from the windows, and by now Zero had already turned invisible behind her to help with her stealth. Sally inched herself close to a corner of a window and tried to peek out to see who might be out there, but she couldn't get a proper view without whoever might be out there seeing her as well. So instead Sally just waited and listened, hoping that whoever was out there would say something that would let her know who they were. And seriously hoping that it was just Jack being shy again.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Hello? Um…I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude, but…is the Pumpkin King home at all? Mr. Jack Skellington? It's very important."

Sally blinked, her expression curious. She did not recognize that Halloween Town voice at all. It was a girl, a woman. But not the witches…And the corpse wife didn't talk much…Under Sea Gal, maybe? No, no, Undersea Gal had a touch of something deeper in her voice. This was simple, polite, straightforward if a little cool at the same time. She continued to listen intently.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have come so early. Maybe you're asleep? Oh dear, now I hope I haven't woken you up." Whoever she was, she sounded a little distressed at this idea. Her voice quieted now, as though she was talking to herself. "It would be very efficient to have him join us, but socially a king mustn't be disturbed—I'll really have to research more about etiquette if I'm going to be meeting new people like this."

The sincerity and lack of hostility in this woman's tone was so apparent that Sally couldn't help nearly giving in to the compulsion to stand up and answer the door and explain to her that everything was all right and she really wasn't bothering anybody. In fact, Sally could already feel herself standing to do so when…

"Jewel! He's not answering?"

Sally froze again. That voice she knew, even if it might have been coming from all the way down at the bottom of the steps leading up to Jack's front door.

The Doctor.

Sally felt sick and nervous all over for a moment. The doctor was here! The doctor was coming to take her away! He would take her and lock her up in her room and seal up the window and make her make him dinner and tea and do all of his sewing for the rest of her life, and she would never see the sun or the moon or her precious Jack ever again!

Sally started to feel a little faint, and she gripped the window ledge and tried to soothe herself. 'Calm down. He's not going to take you away. It's okay. He doesn't even know you're here, and the door's locked. Just wait until he leaves. It'll be all right.' But then suddenly a new terrifying thought occurred to Sally. 'What if Jack comes back while the Doctor's still down there?' Jack never did lie to anyone, and so if the Doctor asked about her, Jack would certainly tell him the truth about her whereabouts (regardless of whether or not he shared the details of their new relationship just yet). And once the Doctor knew she was here, what would happen to her? And what would happen to her relationship with Jack? She would have to explain to Jack everything about her life with the Doctor and his claim of ownership over her and all of the times she had poisoned him to run away…. It would be humiliating, on top of which for the first time Sally felt herself associating a feeling of shame with her habit of poisoning Dr. Finkelstein. What would Jack think of her when he knew of the lengths she had gone to for her freedom?

Sally let out a breath, keeping low still and biting her lip in fear. Her thoughts managed to become calm again, but only just barely. 'Please just let the Doctor leave before Jack comes back. Please let him leave before Jack comes back. I promise I'll tell Jack everything about the Doctor…later. Just please let the Doctor leave before Jack comes back.'

"No, Doctor, I'm sorry. He doesn't seem to be home."

The sound of the feminine, simple voice replying to the Doctor snapped Sally out of her thoughts and brought her attention to the front door again. She resumed listening carefully.

There was silence for a moment, and then the Doctor replied back up to the woman. "Very well then. Jack does keep odd hours sometimes. All right, Jewel, come back down and we'll try again later. For now we'll meet the Mayor at the Town Hall. He's expecting us soon anyway."

As 'Jewel' responded to his instruction, Sally could hear the outside steps creaking (she was obviously heading back down the stairs and away from the door). "Very well, Doctor. I'm sorry, I wish he had been home. I would have liked to have met the Pumpkin King, and I just know he would have been able to help with finding Sally."

The Doctor's voice met Sally's ears again. "Yes, we will need his help. But at least for now we can have the Mayor gather together some people and we can all form a plan of action for finding her."

Sally's eyes went wide, and she was pretty sure her pale blue skin had paled all the more. "They're looking for me! The Mayor…the town!" she whispered to herself sharply. 'Oh no…'

Jewel and the Doctor spoke one more time that Sally could hear, their voices now fading away even more as they obviously headed up the drive back toward town.

"I'm sure we'll find her, Doctor. And that the Pumpkin King will be able to help us soon too," Jewel remarked calmly.

The Doctor grumbled a little bit but then agreed. "I hope so, my precious Jewel. I hope so."

Then Sally couldn't hear anything further. The pair of unexpected visitors had gone.

Sally turned around, pressing her back against the wall and sitting down on the floor. There was a nervous look in her eyes and she bit her lip. 'Jewel…' The doctor's new helper, she realized. Okay, all right, the Doctor hadn't just forgot about her ever since Christmas Eve—perhaps that had just been wishful thinking on her part. No, he was getting concerned about her long absence, and now he was looking for her and he had help and he obviously didn't suspect that she was here, but he wanted Jack's help at finding her and he was going to get Mayor and the whole town together to start a search. She was blushing furiously now. All of that exposure not just to Jack but to people as well—everyone prying into her life and Jack's life and their small life together, the humiliation of being hunted down through all of Halloween Town like she was a lost piece of property of the Doctor's that he was demanding to have returned to him, possibly having to explain her feelings about Jack to everyone before she was ready and before Jack was ready….And what if somehow the Doctor caused so much trouble that she really did have to leave Jack's house even if she refused to go back to the Doctor's manor?

Sally felt like crying for a moment, it was all so much to think about all of a sudden. Not to mention she'd already been through so much lately: she had successfully stopped Jack from stealing Christmas, she had bravely snuck down into the lair of the most awful person in this town and flirted with him—actually flirted with him—to distract him so that she could save Santa Claus, she'd been tied to a slab, leered at, made the brunt of several distasteful jokes by that horrid monster, she'd had to endure the thought of Jack being gone…and of herself being turned into stew, then she'd had to watch her dear Jack fight that awful monster and nearly get killed again, and then for the last few days even though everything had turned out more wonderfully than she could have ever imagined with she and Jack deciding they were meant to be, she had still been more confused than ever about Jack's feelings for her. And now she had this mess with the Doctor to handle too? And she couldn't even talk to Jack about her problem without potentially causing even more trouble and awkwardness. What would she do?

"Rrr…rrr?" came a gentle, concerned coo of a bark to her ears.

"Ah!" Sally gasped a little, having almost forgotten about Zero's presence. He turned visible beside her now. "Zero!" She looked a touch panicked for a moment and then a touch embarrassed. Sally glanced down with a blush and then looked back up at the little dog, frowning considerably. "Oh Zero, I…I know Jack's your master, I know you two are best friends, but please…oh please Zero, don't tell Jack the Doctor was here and looking for him or for me! I'll tell him soon, Zero, I really will! Just not now." She looked at him pleadingly. "Please just give me some time and keep it a secret. Please, Zero…"

Zero just blinked and looked at her with wide eyes.

And of course he nodded to her. He loved Sally just like he loved Jack, and when Jack plead with him for something (like not telling Sally about his trips to Valentine's Town) it was hard enough to resist, but when Sally plead—her big eyes full of sincerity and innocence, her mouth trembling in a sad frown, her hands clasped together in hope—no faithful companion could deny her.

Zero went forward and nuzzled the side of her face and gave it a little lick.

Sally's heart lightened, and she let out a sigh of relief and reached up to hug him. "Thank you, Zero. Thank you so much."

He pulled back to see her smiling again and wiping a tear away from one of her eyes. "I promise you won't have to keep it a secret for too long. I'll tell Jack very soon, I just need to think of how, all right?"

"Arf!" Zero barked with a grin, giving her face another kiss.

KNOCK KNOCK, SCREAM!

Sally just about jumped out of her pale blue skin at the sound of the bell going off and someone knocking again, and instantly she was standing and looking to the doorway with fright.

"Sally? I'm sorry, darling, I know there's no need for me to use the bell and knock, but my hands are a little full at the moment. If you're nearby, can you help me open the door?" a cheerful, familiar skeletal voice suddenly called out from the landing.

Clutching at her chest, Sally breathed out several deep sighs of relief and proceeded to stumble her way over to the door, trying to put forth as much merriment and ease as she could for Jack. "O-Oh, Jack! Um…yes, of course. Sorry, I'll be right there. I was just, um…I was cleaning, and th-the doorbell startled me! Yes!" Smiling as much as she could (and feeling herself blushing a little) Sally opened the door and stood there with a little sheepish, innocent shrug and her arms behind her back. "Welcome home, Jack."

Standing before her, Jack blinked a couple of times and looked at her with interest, his skull tilted to the side. He wasn't sure what it was, but Sally sounded a lot less…calm and graceful and centered than she usually did. Then again though, she had said that he had startled her with the doorbell, and (thinking about it now, he blanched a little) it really was such a horrific, ghoulish sounding doorbell—an ear-splitting scream? Jack suddenly wondered if such a sound echoing through the house every time someone came to the door might make him seem too scary to his normally calm and sweet Sally? He would think about changing the bell later possibly.

The most important thing to him right now though was that once again he had entered his house and had someone to greet him, to welcome him home. Jack smiled and entered the house (both arms behind his back, obviously holding something) and pushed shut the door with his hip. "It's good to be home, Sally. And I'm so sorry I startled you, my darling." Jack smiled more. "I didn't mean to. And you were cleaning again? Oh what a selfless treasure you are." He felt a touch of boldness and couldn't help leaning forward and placing a little kiss on her forehead.

When he pulled back, Sally looked surprised for a moment and then blinked a few times and smiled warmly. "Oh Jack…my dearest Jack…" She giggled, looking to the side, gently wringing her hands in front of herself now. "I was just trying to help. And you made me such a nice breakfast after all, it was the least I could do. Thank you, by the way, it was delicious." Her eyes brightened and she looked up at him again. "Oh, and we made you a plate! Zero and I!"

"Arf!" the little ghost dog added proudly, flying over to his master and mistress.

Jack looked back and forth between them, his smile brightening. "Really? Oh thank you both, that was so very kind of you." He smiled extra at Sally. "And you're welcome for breakfast, Sally, but it was the least I could do for abandoning you on such short notice this morning. Oh, and speaking of that, I have one thing more for you to start this lovely day…." Jack moved his arms forward. He held a huge bouquet to Sally composed of at least three-dozen roses of all sizes and blooms and shades of pink and red from a pinkish pearl tone to a red so dark it was almost black. In the center he had a large one of these dark, blood red ones, in perfect, glorious bloom. "I picked them all for you, to celebrate our date…Oh…" he cleared his throat and added shyly as he held them out more to her, "…A bouquet of the finest roses, so rich, so complex, so attractive just like the woman they're for. Here you are, my most delightful dolly." He looked into her eyes with a sincere smile.

Sally just stared down at the roses with wide eyes and her mouth in a small 'o', blushing softly. "Jack…you…I'm…" And suddenly all of her panic and fear from a few moments ago felt washed away in the glow of Jack's sweet gesture and words. "Oh!" She utterly flew at him in a hug so that he had just enough time to get the flowers in one arm and to use the other arm to wrap around her as he caught her. "Jack, you're the kindest most caring and wonderful man there ever was." Sally giggled. Then she let out a little dreamy sigh and relaxed against his chest, closing her eyes. "Silly skeleton…thank you," she whispered with another little giggle. Oh, he must love her, she knew it in her heart. And she could feel, now that they were together again, that somehow whatever might come to pass with the Doctor and the rest of the town would be okay. They would find a way to make it okay together. Jack really was such a wonderful man… 'Mmm…wonderful man…' she sighed to herself, 'and with the nicest, strongest, most wonderful chest…' Sally's fingers gently pressed against Jack's shirt now, but very softly so that he couldn't tell. She was remembering how during her first dream about him coming to her in the night, he had said something about always suspecting she liked his chest. Her fingers now could feel the raised and fallen pattern lying just under his shirt where ribs were and weren't, and Sally shivered with her secret desire to know more.

Jack was just trying to keep a grip on the flowers and on Sally while still remaining standing (despite any weakness slowly starting to enter his knees). It just felt so good when she laid herself against him…to have her so close, trusting him, content with him, and she had called him a wonderful man just now among other things. A part of him felt like he wanted to stay like this with her forever, surrounded by her and the smell of delicate roses. "Delightful dolly…" Jack whispered shyly back to Sally, his eye sockets closing and his smile warming, "You're welcome for the flowers." He sighed dreamily. "Still though, even a whole field of roses wouldn't equal your loveliness."

Sally trembled and smiled more and let herself rest more against him. She even let her chest press to his. Did he have a heart or something like a heartbeat? She wished she could find the spot wherever it might be and match it up with the place in her chest that had its own faint pulsation of life in death. "I don't need a field of flowers, Jack. All I need is you, my King…"

Jack trembled so much. She had never called him… "S-Sally, you don't…you don't have to call me…to call me…" Yet, he couldn't get out the words. He liked it too much, what she had just said…and he had liked the shiver it had sent up his spine to hear her address him like that as well.

Sally understood what he meant and whispered back, shaking her head. "I know. But I want to. I don't mean it as 'the Pumpkin King'. I just mean it as my King—my special King…okay?"

Jack's smile trembled, and he felt his bones warming. "…Oh…well, then…if you want, 'my King' is perfectly all right, I suppose."

Sally giggled and whispered back, smiling up at him. "I want very much, Jack…my King…my Jack…"

Jack smiled more down at her, his eye sockets completely hazed now. "S-Sally, I'm going to drop the flowers…"

Sally almost stopped herself as her blushing increased but then couldn't help adding in an even softer version of the quiet coos in which they had been talking, "Do you want to go somewhere more comfortable?" She gazed up at him, still clinging to his chest and with a perfectly lovely smile upon her face.

She was met with the sight of Jack blinking down at her, blanching a little, and then swallowing distinctly. "I…" He looked to the side, his mouth quirking strangely. Then he looked back to her and tried to smile a little again. "Can we go to the kitchen for now, Sally? I want to put the flowers in water, and then I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sally blinked and felt a touch embarrassed for a moment at the sudden switch in tone. But then she remembered the flowers and how large the bouquet really was (and how it had been a sweet present all for her), and she smiled and nodded. "Okay, Jack." She then reached up her hand to gently cup his face and looked at him with a touch of concern. "But promise me you'll eat your breakfast before we do anything else, all right? You sleep so little and do so much, Jack, and I think you've eaten fewer meals since I've been here than even I have. I know you're a skeleton and probably don't need much, but I still worry about you. Please have some breakfast, just to keep up your energy?" Her smile picked up a little on one side.

Jack just blinked…and then he nodded, his voice soft and serious. "I promise to always take care of myself, for your sake and my own, Sally. You have my word…as your King but more importantly as the man who…" His eye sockets went wider and he was quiet for a moment, "…I…as the man who…as your dearest friend…as your more than dearest friend." He smiled and seemed a touch overwhelmed and then he kissed her upon the head again and finally quickly let her go and sped toward the dining room and kitchen with the flowers.

As Sally watched him go she smiled softly and dreamily. It made her feel just wonderful inside when he would admit how he felt about her now—her 'more than' dearest friend. But more importantly he had promised to always take care of himself. Those words lightened her heart considerably after all she had watched him go through these last few months. Sally followed along after him into the dining room.

Jack was just exiting the kitchen with a large funeral urn filled with water which he placed on the dining room table, putting the flowers inside. He admired the roses with a smile for a moment and then turned his sights to the covered plate and glass of juice set up for him at one end of the table. Jack sat down…and then blinked as Sally's little note caught his eye. "Oh…what's this?" He lifted up the note.

Looking shy, Sally blinked and sat down near him, playing with a strand of her hair. "Oh I, um…well, you always write such nice letters to me, Jack, so I wrote you a breakfast one…a poem. Um…it's silly, you don't have to—"

"Sally, if you thought I was determined to steal Christmas, that level of headstrong from me is nothing compared tp how determined I am to read this breakfast poem of yours." Jack cut off her modest disclaimers, grinning at her and giving a little wink as he opened the note.

Sally blinked a few times, then smiled and giggled. "All right, Jack."

Jack smiled more and nodded. "Thank you, Sally. Now, let's see…" He looked down at paper and began to read.

The stealthiest skeleton who's ever been,
An agile shadow of the night.
No wonder you sneak off so easily,
And I miss your smile in the morning light.
I know you have so much to do, dearest Jack
And that you like to be alone,
But I hope you'll take me with you sometimes.
Without you nowhere is home.

I hope you like your breakfast as much as I liked mine, my darling.

~Your Sally.

Back at the table, Sally figured Jack must be done reading by now (it was hard for her to tell since she was looking down shyly, but the poem was short and a minute or two had passed at this point), so she swallowed and stammered a little. "It was just something small. I just wanted to let you know how I feel and how I miss you sometimes. But you said before that you'll take good care of yourself now, and I'm so happy for that." There was still only quiet meeting her in response though. Finally Sally looked up hesitantly. "Jack?"

Jack was just staring at the little note, and there was a little tear falling down his face from a wide eye socket.

Sally froze. She had never seen him cry before. She had thought, when they had been on Spiral Hill together Christmas night, perhaps a tear had left him. But the snow and been falling and it had been dark, so she hadn't been able to tell either way. But this was definitely a tear now.

Jack, not even realizing the tear, just sighed softly. "This is…" left him quietly. He looked to the side and smiled softly, tenderly folding up the note. "You wrote a beautiful poem, Sally. I will treasure it forever. Thank you…so much." He slipped into the inside breast pocket of his jacket, patting it once he felt it safely secured away. Jack was quiet for a moment again, then he let out a breath and cleared his throat, composure finally returning to him. He smiled across at Sally. "I'm sorry, Sally, I don't mean to seem overwhelmed. It's just that I'm so happy to hear that you enjoy our time together as much as I do, and your writing was so beautiful." He realized something and quickly wiped at his face with the fringe of his sleeve. "Oh, um…beautiful e-enough to bring a tear to a skeleton's eye, it seems." Jack laughed and then looked down shyly to lift the silver lid from his plate. He smiled down at the yummy sight before him, realizing suddenly that he really was quite hungry, and then proceeded to dig in. "Oh Sally, thank you! This is just what I needed." He smiled brightly over at her, swallowing some pumpkin bread. "Sometimes I get so distracted I forget how hungry I am and how nice it is in the middle of all of this cold weather to have a hot meal." He ate more.

Sally smiled so very happily. "Thank you, Jack. I'm happy you like your breakfast…and the poem too." She felt a girlish sigh coming on. 'Preparing him a nice meal and sitting down with him and making him smile…I wonder if this is what it would be like to be his…wife.' Something in Sally's leaves fluttered to the point of madness at the fantasy of marrying Jack, the two of them getting to be together forever. She giggled a little at the idea.

"Sally? Something funny?" came the amused question to her ears from Jack.

She blinked, and her eyes focused in on Jack again. He was just looking at her with a curious smile and finishing another bite of food (and he really must have been hungry because she noticed half his plate was already gone). She felt heat run to her face and did her best to smile casually as she replied, "O-Oh, um…no…yes, um…I-I'm just…happy to see like the pumpkin bread so much." She looked back at him. That might not have been the reason she had laughed, but it was certainly a true statement nonetheless.

Jack smiled more. "Oh, yes, Sally, your pumpkin bread is simply delicious, in fact." He ate another bite. "It's even better than my own recipe, actually. And the 'wormswart, black sugar' glaze was a nice touch. You really do amaze me."

Sally giggled, looking down humbly. "Oh Jack…"

Jack chuckled softly. Then he sipped some of his juice. Then he asked, just as anyone in this situation might do, "So, anything happen while I was gone?"

"Mm!" Sally squeaked, her eyes going wide. She bit her lip and thought very hard and quickly.

Luckily for her Jack was just merrily and peacefully enjoying the remainder of his meal, so he didn't pick up on anything unusual.

"Um…everything was…fine," Sally finally settled on replying with the best smile she could manage. 'The Doctor didn't end up catching me so…that's fine…right?' Still, she hated lying to Jack even if it was only 'kind of' lying. She frowned a little. 'I'll tell him later. I promise I'll tell him everything later…. Just let me savor this a little longer—us just being happy together and everything being so simple. I don't know what he'll do when I tell him.' She let out a breath and added, hoping to move things along, "I just missed you, like I said in the poem."

Jack smiled and nodded to her. "And I missed you too, Sally. And I promise, no more missed breakfasts." He winked at her. Then he took one more bite and went to take another but…there was nothing left on his plate. Jack sighed in satisfaction, resting back in his chair a little and giving a yawn. "Hmm I haven't eaten that much at one time since…since before Halloween. Almost three months." He stretched a little and closed his eye sockets and sighed to himself. "I really must stop working so hard…and I really must start making sure I actually sleep when it's dark out instead of walking off…"

"Please do, Jack." Sally's brow knit in concern. "Where have you been going anyway?"

The question met Jack's ears, and he blinked and nearly toppled backward in his chair, losing his balance for a moment. "I-I…um…" he smiled at Sally, feeling his skull starting to blanch again, "Oh, I just went for a nice long walk…talked to a friend. I just needed to clear my head some more. Y-You know…stress of the holidays and everything." 'I can't tell her I needed to get inter-holiday advice about something as simple as a second date—it would be humiliating. I may be very inexperienced at courting, but I still think I can learn enough about it as we go along to keep that from being obvious.' Not to mention Jack also didn't want to have to explain needing some guidance to keep himself from maybe accidentally going overboard and uncontrollably spouting a bunch of things about love and longing and attraction to her and then giving her passionate kiss after passionate kiss… Jack cleared his throat and pushed his suddenly overwhelming thoughts away for the moment.

Sally blinked at Jack's odd response and looked at him with a smile but also with a touch of hesitation. "Oh. Well, that's nice… Um…is everything all right with your friend?"

"Huh?" Jack blinked.

Sally smiled more. "You seemed a little worried for a second. Is everything all right with your friend—the friend you said you went to talk to?" Sally didn't want to pry too much about his whereabouts—she figured he would tell her where exactly he had been when he felt it was the right time. But he had responded a little anxiously, and so to be polite the least she figured she could do was ask about his friend.

Jack sighed, calming down a little (though a touch of something nervous remained in his smile). "Oh, um…yes, my friend is perfectly fine, thank you for asking, Sally. And I'm sorry for seeming worried for a moment, I think it was just a little bit of…indigestion." He perked up at that excuse and lightly hit his chest with the side of his fist a couple of times and cleared his throat, going on. "Skeletons shouldn't eat so quickly or so much in one sitting no matter how hungry they are or how delicious the food is. I suppose I'll just have to eat better and take better care of myself in the future just like I told you I would." His smile became a little calmer now.

Sally looked at him with a touch of concern once more but then smiled and nodded. "All right, Jack. I'm glad. And, um…it's really okay if you want to take private walks and even if you have to miss a meal sometimes. I know you're busy. Just promise you'll always come back to me?" Her smile softened.

Jack's smile softened too. He leaned a little across the table. "I will always come back to you. I promise."

Sally's heart warmed and lightened.

Jack continued to smile at her, though it weakened a tiny bit now. "Um, Sally? As long as breakfast is over, could we talk about what I wanted to talk to you about now? You know, the thing I mentioned in my letter to you?"

Sally blinked, recalling that part of his morning message now. "Oh! Yes, um…sure, Jack. What is it? Is anything the matter?" Inside she could feel her fibers going on edge—what if it was about the Doctor? What if he already knew everything that was going on? Oh dear, oh dear…

"I wanted to talk to you about how I, um…well, how I spent the night in your room last night."

Sally blinked a few more times at this revelation, then blushed lightly and smiled. "Oh, yes…. That." Sally's look went dreamy as she suddenly found herself remembering everything about her lovely dream and…then her eyes went wide! "Wait, you mean you really did fall asleep with me? That wasn't a dream?" She couldn't even breathe.

Jack cringed a little. 'Oh dear, she didn't even realize…Thought it was a dream.' "Er, well, no, it wasn't a dream, Sally." He cleared his throat. "We were talking by the fire last night and holding each other after we ate, and I suppose one thing led to another and we both dozed off together. Then I woke up a little after dawn and realized what had happened, and I left and changed clothes and prepared you breakfast and then went on my outing." He frowned a little. "I am sorry I left you without saying anything. I panicked a little. I hadn't expected to spend the night with you, and when I realized I had, it overwhelmed me a little. And also I just didn't want to wake you so early. Just because I can barely sleep half the time doesn't mean you should miss out on rest." He smiled a little but still looked mostly sheepish.

Sally smiled. "Thank you, Jack—it was sweet of you to let me sleep." They just remained smiling at each other for a moment, and then Sally blushed slightly and prompted, "So then…what did you want to talk about from last night exactly?" She felt her breaths growing a little quick and shallow, and she could feel again the memory of his skeletal hands gliding over her back and his lips occasionally brushing her shoulders in the glow of the firelight last night.

Jack blinked. "Ah…well, I, um…I just wanted to apologize if you felt me staying with you last night was too forward. But I also wanted to let you know that, well…last night was a very happy night for me, Sally. I might have felt nervous when I realized what had happened, but beyond that, waking up with you was…" his smile wobbled, "…very nice. In fact, this morning was the best morning of my life. And I hope the whole experience was just as special for you."

Sally's eyes hazed, and she leaned closer to him over the table. "Oh, Jack, you don't have to apologize—last night was just wonderful for me too. Everything from when we were holding each other by the fire after dinner to when you were telling me the old Halloween Town legends to when you told me all of those things about how you really felt and touched me…" She sighed dreamily, so overwhelmed.

Jack just blinked and looked at her blankly though. "Um…Sally? I'm sorry, but what do you mean? We ate, and then I told you Halloween Town stories, but after that we just fell asleep near each other." He blanched a little and added, "I know I did put my arm over you at some point after we laid down since I woke up like that, but I must have been asleep when it happened, and I didn't really touch you any more than that as far as I can remember. And we didn't talk about f-feelings or anything." He swallowed. "I'm sorry, I'm just not sure what you mean…"

Sally went wide-eyed and could only do her best not to look as humiliated as she suddenly felt. "I-I…um…" she tried to smile, "Oh. Oh…it's nothing, Jack. I'm sorry, I think I must have just been half awake or something when you put your arm over me. That's what I meant about touching me. And I was just thinking of the feelings of spookiness and scariness that came up when we talked about the Halloween legends, that's all." On the outside, Sally seemed calm enough, but inside she felt a little mortified. 'Talking after dinner was real, and we did fall asleep together last night, but everything after that—everything Jack said about how he fell in love with me from the start, and how he touched me…' the feel of his bony hands gliding ghostlike over her taught seams while the word 'love' poured in his velvety voice to her ears, '…That was all a dream. That was all a dream, and I almost just told him everything about it.' "I'm sorry, Jack, I didn't mean to confuse you," Sally mumbled, looking down and trying her best to hide her touch of disappointment and her fluster.

"Oh." Jack smiled again. "It's all right, Sally. Please don't worry about it. I'm just a little tired, and you're still getting used to living here—that's probably why we both got confused. But I'm glad you enjoyed our night." His tone and smile warmed. "Thank you for it."

Something in Sally's smile became a bit more genuine, and she managed to make eye contact again. Her tone grew warmer too. "It was nice of you to say the thing to me last night about the wine and how I was special and how you would only ever drink it with me…"

Jack's eye sockets brightened and he shrugged modestly. "I'm glad that made you happy. And it's true you know…that you're so special to me and that the only one I'll ever share a bottle of pumpkin wine with is you. That's our special memory together."

Sally beamed a little. "Jack?" She bit her lip and looked up at him hopefully.

He nodded, looking a little dreamy. "Yes?"

She smiled more. "Can we have another date soon? I'd like to talk more…and to spend more time together of course." She reached out across the table and lightly touched the long, bony fingers of one of his hands with her own soft little cloth fingers. She wanted to touch those bones of his, and these dreams she had been having, however vivid, were simply not enough. Even just tracing the light arches and bumps of his hand with her fingertips sent trembles all throughout her.

Jack was having quite a few trembly experiences of his own right now. His whole spine shivered. How could she do that to him, and just by innocently touching his hand no less? "Y-Yes…let's have another date soon, and talk and be together." Jack nodded hazily. "We'll make some plans. I'm sure it'll be lovely." He chuckled to himself, and then with a shy swallow he raised their hands to kiss the back of hers before separating the appendages and standing up to head to the kitchen with his empty plate. "For now, though, let's see about those dish—" He blinked, pausing and looking in the sink basin—it was completely empty. He raised an eyebrow. "Where in the world did…" he started to mumble to himself.

"Mmm mm…" Sally cleared her throat lightly and stood up, shrugging and playing with her hands. "Zero and I did the dishes, Jack. You made breakfast, so it was the least we could do. I told you I was cleaning before you got home."

Jack blinked and turned around. Then he smiled, put down his plate on the counter, walked over to her and gave her a very big hug that lifted her right up off the floor for a moment before setting her down again. "You are an absolute nightmarish dream come true." He pulled back with a grin and looked down into her cute, wide, surprised eyes, and then he admonished her playfully, "But no more cleaning or tidying up for you for the rest of the day, all right? I want you to relax and…and eat Halloween chocolates and sew little things for yourself and read a good book by the fire. Promise?"

A dreamy eyed Sally merely giggled and replied shyly, "O-Oh…all right, I promise…my dearest Jack." She leaned up and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek.

Jack grinned ear to ear. "Um…v-very good then." He laughed warmly to himself and then released her and dazedly went over to the sink just to rinse and set aside his own plate. "Well, then, you just relax like I said. And as for another date, perhaps tomorrow night?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. "I want to head over to town hall today and talk to the Mayor a while. See if we can get some preliminary plans in order for Halloween…We really are very far behind, all things considered. Perhaps you could even come with me?"

"NO!" Sally suddenly shouted in panic.

Jack blinked, setting aside his clean and dry plate on the counter, and turned to her with an eyebrow raised. "O-Oh, um…okay, Sally. If you'd rather stay here, I understand." He smiled a little sheepishly. "After all, I'm sure you've had your fill of holiday preparation for a while, and I know the planning meetings can probably seem a little boring." He looked down shyly, not wanting to pressure her about getting involved in the daily affairs of his job. And yet still he wished, however boring it was, that she would come look at plans with him. It would feel like having a partner…even like having a Queen maybe.

"Oh, no, no, Jack!" Sally moved toward him and did her best to smile casually, though inside she was all locked up in nervousness. "Heh, I mean, I'd love to look at Halloween plans sometime, and it's very sweet of you to value my opinion, but, uh…but…." She thought and thought quickly, "…D-Do you really have to go to town hall today? Talk to the Mayor? Can't you just stay here? All day? Not leave." She smiled brightly.

Jack blinked a few times and considered. "Oh, I…well…Sally, you know how much I enjoy our time together, but I do have to be responsible about my duties. We've already lost two months planning time for this Halloween all thanks to me. I at least have to get us on track and have some basic ideas in mind before the new year advances too much. " He smiled. "But I promise you we'll go on a lovely date tomorrow—you just take all of today to plan whatever you'd like us to do. I have total confidence in you."

Uh oh. Sally felt like she was going to pass out a little. 'I am going to tell Jack everything about the Doctor, I promise I am going to tell Jack everything about the doctor, but I just need some time to think about what to tell him and how to tell him! I only just found out myself that the Doctor's even looking for me, planning to get the whole town together…Is one day more too much to ask?' "U-Um…well…okay then!" Suddenly, and idea occurred to her, and she brightened up and smiled more, stepping closer to him. "I understand, Jack, really, but, um…well, for our date I'd also like your input on what we should do, so can you at least stay around to talk with me about our plans, just for a little while now? It's still so early in the day, after all." She looked up at him hopefully once more.

At this new request Jack smiled and nodded. "Oh, well, yes, that's understandable, Sally. And it is a bit early still. We could talk about plans for our date if you wanted for a bit."

Sally felt such relief. And yet still, how much time could talking about a date really buy her? No, she needed something…something that he could get involved in, something that would distract him and keep him here indefinitely. 'The Doctor already looked here for me and for Jack—that means he and the Mayor shouldn't look here again any time soon. They'll scour the rest of the town and countryside first just like when Jack went missing after Halloween…' Sally cleared her throat and nodded. "Thank you, Jack. Um…Jack? There's just one more thing I wanted us to do today if we could, but you don't have to if you don't want to. I know you're busy, of course." She looked down, rocking on her heels a little.

Jack blinked and raised an eyebrow again. "What is it, Sally?"

Sally looked up at him hesitantly and then asked something that she really had been wanting to ask anyway. "Can we work on building my sewing machine together, Jack? I want to be able to sew for us, really sew for us. Can we at least start trying to build it, just while we're talking about our date?"

Jack paused at this request. The building of her sewing machine might be a big undertaking, and he really did want to go and see the Mayor today for a good period of time. 'Still though…we don't have to finish the sewing machine today, we can just tinker with it…. And, like she pointed out, the hour is still rather early…. And I know the sewing machine is special to her. Well…' "Well…all right, Sally, yes. We can work on your sewing machine a little." He nodded and smiled. "I will have to head to town hall at some point before evening, but we can work on it for now at least, maybe even through lunchtime."

Sally beamed. "Oh thank you, Jack!" She gave him a great big hug of her own and then pulled back with a smile. "I'll go set up the living room, and we'll work on it in there! And then when it's done I'll make you all of the cute pinstriped things you could ever possibly want, my big, sweet, silly skeleton!" Her smile bright, she raced out of the kitchen to prepare their workspace. 'Oh, it'll take us forever to try building that thing. It's like a puzzle, and Jack loves puzzles—I'm sure he'll want to stick with it so long that eventually he'll be too tired to go out, and he'll put off seeing the Mayor until tomorrow. And then tonight I'll think about how I want to tell him everything, and then we'll talk in the morning calmly over breakfast together. Perfect, I finally have time!' She was very happy as she trotted away.

Meanwhile, Jack was still in the kitchen leaning back against the counter a little with a surprised, half lidded look upon his face. 'She...thinks my pinstripes are cute…' He had never felt more thrilled by a notion in his entire life. 'Oh, Halloween can wait another afternoon, or maybe even another day, just one more day—I already made an appearance in town yesterday when I went to buy Sally's cloth and our groceries, so at least everyone knows I'm all right. And this year's a leap year anyway so February has an extra day to it that we can work with before October 31st. Or maybe we can even just make a new holiday all about sewing machines and my Sally and how she notices my pinstripes and thinks they're cute.' He chuckled to himself at the idea and dreamily headed forward to gather the box of parts from his bedroom and then commence their project together.

A/N:

That's all for now, and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Next time: lots of stalling by Sally, a ridiculous amount of flirting, and talk of a new role for Sally in the Halloween parade now that Oogie Boogie's part is up for grabs. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna