Finals are starting tomorrow, so I'm updating this one final time before I go through that stuff. But right after is winter break, so I'll be updating a lot then.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, and probably never will. If I did, Jack would have a bunch of *cough* certain scenes and Bunnymund would forever be a tiny little kitty-bunny.

"You invited all your neighborhood friends to come over for dinner tonight?"

Mrs. Bennett smiled at the two boys. "Uh-huh. And Jamie, your father is coming too. Isn't this great?"

Both Jack and Jamie were not as ecstatic as her, but for different reasons.

"How come you never say anything about this kind of stuff until the last minute?" Jack frowned at her.

"Why is Dad coming?" Jamie mentioned his father as if he was poison in his mouth.

Mrs. Bennett sighed. "Now, Jamie, I know you don't want to see your father, but he's still a part of the family."

Jamie scoffed. "Even though you guys are divorced? Doesn't divorce basically severe all ties between the husband and wife?"

"Honey, that isn't necessarily it. We divorced for a reason..."

"And when me and Sophie got to choose if we wanted to stay with you or Dad, we both chose you. I don't know about Sophie, but I chose you for a reason."

Jack couldn't help but be surprised. This was the first time he saw Jamie appear to hold true resentment for something.

"I'm going to my room. Don't bother coming after me," Jamie grumbled and left the living room.

Mrs. Bennett rubbed her temples and sighed again. "What am I going to do with that boy..."

Jack suddenly felt as if his presence was forgotten, so he cleared his throat. "What was that all about?"

Mrs. Bennett glanced at him. "When Jamie's father and I separated a few years ago, Jamie wasn't particularly happy to learn that his father was leaving the house. He's been taking it very seriously, so whenever his father comes over during this time of year, Jamie makes sure that both of them don't talk to each other unless if it's absolutely necessary."

Jack blinked. "So let me get this straight... Jamie's giving his dad the cold shoulder just because...he misses him?"

Mrs. Bennett shrugged. "That's pretty much it. Jamie just feels betrayed that his father doesn't bother seeing him, unlike the times when they used to see each other everyday."

"So why doesn't his dad pay visits more often?"

"He's a businessman who often has to travel, and has almost no time to visit his children. The only time he has is during the time of the holidays. But Jamie fails to understand that."

Jack stood silent for a moment, and then headed upstairs. He knocked on Jamie's bedroom door, and called out, "Hey, I know you said not to bother coming after you, but I personally think that's a bunch of bull, so I'm just gonna kick the door open now because it's locked and I know you're not gonna unlock it for me. And I know martial arts and I'm wearing combat boots so don't blame me if I accidentally break off the hinges."

He heard scuffling from the other side of the closed door, and just as he was raising his foot, a frantic Jamie opened the door. "Okay, okay! You can come in! Just don't wreck my door, sheesh."

Jack inwardly smirked. Works every time.

Jamie sat down on his bed. "I know this is about my dad."

Jack sat next to him. "Yeah, it is. I'm not saying that I'm forcing you to actually talk to him though. I just wanna say that it wouldn't be terrible if you did, because if you really want to see him more, then you better make the most out of his few visits."

"I know, it's just that..." Jamie sighed exasperatedly. "I told him didn't want to lose him, and he still moved out of the house. And the reason I chose to stay with Mom is because it felt like if I stayed with Dad, it would feel like he had taken me and Soph away from her."

"Jamie, both you and I know that wasn't what he meant to do."

"Like I said, I know that, I just...need some time to think."

"Fine by me. Just don't stay holed up in your room for too long, alright?"

The guests started coming in through the front door at around 4 in the afternoon. The Kimberlys and the Johnsons arrived together, and frankly, Jack wasn't too happy to see 6-year-old Scott Kimberly. Two days ago, on Wednesday, Jack was playing in the snow with Sophie and Scott had come by and kicked over the tiny snowman Sophie was building. She had started crying, and long story short, Jack hadn't approved of that, but Scott had stuck his tongue out at him and run off before the older boy could chew him out. And once Jamie came home and was relieved of the story, Jamie had explained that Scott was the neighborhood brat and had once swatted Kevin in the groin with a rolled-up newspaper.

Then came the Lees. Christine, for some reason, seemed to almost have a heart attack when Jack had answered the door. And then she had mumbled a hello and hurried off to the kitchen, taking Melissa with her.

Then there were a couple more families that Jack couldn't care less about (Though he had to note to himself that Mrs. Bennett had quite a lot of friends that lived on the same block), but no sign of Jamie's father.

"Where's Dad?" Jamie asked anxiously, opening the front door and scanning the street.

"He'll be here soon, sweetie," Mrs. Bennett assured, shooting side glances at Jack, curious to how he had persuaded her son into looking forward to seeing Mr. Bennett.

Jamie sighed for probably the millionth time that day. "Fine."

He began to close the door, but a yelp rang out, "NONONONONO WAIT!"

Zander suddenly appeared out of nowhere, stumbling as he dragged a dark blue beanbag chair (Wait – a beanbag chair?) along with him. "Don't close the door yet!"

Jamie obeyed and opened the door wider for Zander and the rest of his family to come in.

Zander panted as he was finally indoors and put a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Thanks, kid."

"Zander, you didn't have to be so desperate to get inside the house, you know," Spencer said from behind.

"Yeah, well, thanks to somebody–" Zander glared at Jack at this moment– "I now have extreme paranoia that every house we visit will be empty."

Jack smirked.

"Abigail!" Mrs. Bennett's face lightened up. "It's so nice to see you! Thank you so much for the hot pot! We're actually having it for dinner tonight!"

"There's no need to thank me. Think of it as an early Christmas present from me," Mrs. Anderson smiled, and then turned to Jack. "And you must be Jack. You're so cute! I heard so much about you from my sons."

Zander rolled his eyes and mouthed, "Moms" to Jack.

"Including the part about you letting them ring the doorbell twice before you told them that no one was home," Mr. Anderson snickered.

Zander looked at his father, absolutely horrified. "Dad! You're supposed to be on our side!"

"I am ashamed to be related to this imbecile of a brother," Spencer told Jack flatly.

"HEY! I heard that!"

The doorbell suddenly rang and Mrs. Bennett opened the door to reveal a man probably in his mid-30's, looking as if he rushed here. Jack had a pretty good feeling that this man was Jamie's father, and his theory was proven when he saw Jamie tense up slightly.

Mrs. Bennett smiled slightly. "Liam."

Mr. Bennett nodded in return. "Jane." He looked down at Sophie and smiled just a tiny bit. "Sophie." He finally turned to his son. "Jamie."

Jamie didn't say anything, so Jack nudged him gently. "Hey... Dad," he finally said, albeit reluctantly.

"Okay... This is really, really awkward so we're just gonna go to Jack's room," Spencer nervously butted in, and he grabbed Jack by the arm and started dragging him to the guest room, with Zander following suit, still carrying the beanbag chair.

Once there with the door shut, Zander dropped the beanbag chair and flopped down on the bed. "Oh man, I don't think I've ever been in such a tense atmosphere before in my life. What was that all about?"

"It's something called father and son becoming distant with each other," Jack sighed, his back leaning against the door. "They're gonna need a lotta time to get back to the way they used to be." He eyed the beanbag chair wearily. "And why'd you bring that here?"

Spencer suddenly seemed to have remembered something. "Oh, right! This is our Christmas present to you."

Jack raised both eyebrows. "A beanbag chair? Ya know, I wouldn't have minded a simpler present. Like a box of chocolates or something."

"Giving you a box of chocolates would make the two of us seem gay for you," Zander replied flatly. "Besides, chocolates are for Valentine's Day."

"But still, you didn't have to go to trouble and buy me a giant, fun piece of furniture," Jack pointed out as he sat down on his present. "But then again, it's pretty comfy..."

"We didn't go out and buy it. It was ours a few years ago until we accidentally scratched a tear into it. And a few days ago, Mom made us find you a present and both of us were broke so we just fished around the house, found the chair, and put duct tape over the tear," Zander informed bluntly.

"Zander! He didn't need to know all that!" Spencer hissed at his brother.

"He's right, I really didn't," Jack deadpanned. Now that Zander had given him that interesting fact, he suddenly noticed a giant piece of duct tape on the side of the beanbag chair.

Zander shrugged. "Hey, you thought we actually went out and bought something for you, and I wasn't about to lie to you. You needed something to spice up this room anyway. Without the chair, it's pretty plain."

Spencer cleared his throat. "Ahem. How did your meeting with the principal go?" he asked, successfully redirecting the topic.

"Oh," Jack blinked. "It went great."

"Really?"

"No. I didn't enjoy finding out that my principal is a nutcase who owns an imaginary pet goat. You know, I don't think he would've minded it if I showed up with no shoes on."

"Yeah, he probably wouldn't have, but Mr. Suzuki sure would've," Zander pointed out.

"And besides, there are some rumors going around speculating that..." Spencer coughed. "Mr. Kaka has a foot fetish."

"After seeing what I saw on Monday, I don't think I should be surprised at anything strange about him anymore," Jack remarked. "He didn't even talk to me about my classes. How is my schedule gonna get organized if he doesn't even know what level of each subject I'm at?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Kaka always has a way to figure that out," Spencer assured. "A lot of people say that he can figure anyone out just by looking at them."

"In my opinion, I say he's telepathic," Zander muttered.

"The school is gonna mail you your schedule, and you'll most likely get it sometime next week," Spencer continued, ignoring his brother. "But one thing's for certain: You're gonna get put in performance art class."

"It's required, which is the stupidest thing ever," Zander added.

The door swung open and Christine came into the room. "Uh... Hey... My mom told me that I should hang out with you guys, even though I said I don't want to, so..."

Jack shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Christine scooted awkwardly to the side of the bed and sat down next to Zander. "Thanks..."

Jack frowned in confusion at her odd behavior, and the twins simply exchanged looks with each other.

"What exactly is performance art class?" Jack wondered.

"It's a class that you will have to take sometime during the 4 years of high school. There, you...well, perform," Christine said, her shy persona disappearing. "There's singing, dancing, acting, and there's even a section for makeup artistry. They let you choose which section you want to do though. And you can switch around when you feel like it, too. It's a huge class, and even the middle-schoolers know all about it. I personally haven't had it yet, so I'll obviously get put in it during my junior or senior year."

"It wouldn't be too surprising if you ended up having it with the two of us," Zander casually commented. "Most of our other friends have it with us, too."

"Uh, that's only because we met most of our friends because of performance art class," Spencer pointed out.

"Still doesn't change the fact that Newbie here might have it with us."

Jack frowned at the nickname and was about to say something about it until an anguished coo came out, "Chwissy!"

Melissa came wobbling through the door, which Christine had forgotten to close, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Christine got up and plucked her sister up off the floor. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Mean boy called Scott said that Santa no exist and that Santa is big doo-doo bwain!"

Zander frowned. "Scott Kimberly said that Santa Claus is a big doo-doo brain and that he doesn't exist? How can someone be a doo-doo brain if he doesn't exist? Does that make any sense at all?"

"Zander, Scott is 6 years old," Spencer reminded him.

Yeah, if he was any older than that, I would've punched him in the face for saying that kind of stuff about North, Jack thought darkly. But instead, he said, "Don't listen to him. He's just upset that he got on the naughty list this year." He could almost guarantee that really was true.

Melissa sniffled. "Weally?"

Christine smiled down at her. "Really."

Melissa managed to grin back through her tears. "Okay. Thank you, Chwissy." She turned to Jack. "And her boyfwiend, too." She giggled and left the room.

Jack was sure that Christine truly did suffer a heart attack this time, 'cause she almost fell off the bed. "Melissa! He's not my boyfriend!" she called out frantically after her sister. Just because she drew a...picture of Jack in her notebook for art class that day she first met him did not mean they had a thing for each other!

However, Jack looked indifferent, if not amused. "Hey, she's barely 2. She doesn't mean anything when she says that."

Christine calmed herself down enough to sit still again. "I-I guess... It usually takes a lot to reassure Melissa when it comes to things like this, and you managed to cheer her up right away. You have more of that older sibling power than I do."

Jack shrugged. "It's nothing. It's just that I know how it feels to have a younger sister."

"You have a sister back home?" Zander asked him.

Jack smiled nostalgically. "You could say that."

"What's her name?" Christine grew piqued.

Jack's smile grew. "Pippa."

Zander snorted for a brief moment until Spencer threw a pillow at his face. "How old is she?" the more reserved brother continued the interrogation.

"She was eight the last time I saw her."

"Why do you sound like you haven't seen her in a long time?" Zander crossed his arms.

"'Cause I haven't."

"Wha-"

"You three seem very interested in this," Jack remarked, playing with the tape on his new chair.

Zander scoffed. "Of course we are. I don't know about Spencer or Chris, but you always seemed like the only child type to me."

Spencer and Christine both nodded in agreement.

"And that's why people say not to judge a book by its cover," Jack said, not looking up. "In fact, there are lots of things that you guys don't know about me – OW!"

Scott Kimberly sinisterly smiled, standing in the doorway and holding a large pail of pebbles he had picked up from outside. "Oops."

Jack gritted his teeth, rubbing the top of his head where the small stone had hit. "Do that again and I'm gonna–"

"You'll what? Kick me out of your room? Mom said I could play here."

"Yeah, she said play, not throw rocks at other people in the room – OW! Quit it!"

Scott pretended to think. "Hm... Nope, I wanna do this some more."

It took every ounce of self-control Jack had gained during the few months as a Guardian to not grab his staff (which was leaning against the wall) and start beating the child over the head with it. For once, there was actually something that was even more irritating than Bunnymund.

"It's kinda funny how you're the only one he's throwing rocks at – YOW!" Zander winced as he rubbed his head. The pebble that had hit him was a particularly large one, and a small bump forming its way on top was possible. It didn't help that Scott played baseball and had a good pitching arm.

Jack couldn't help but think that it was actually pretty funny to see someone get pelted with small rocks when he wasn't the one getting hit.

Scott threw two more rocks – one at Christine and one at Spencer – before running off before anyone could catch him, laughing his head off.

Zander growled, still rubbing his head. "I hate that kid so much."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're not alone on this one."

Christine rubbed her arm where the pebble had hit. "Mrs. Kimberly is a good woman, but for some reason, she stays so ignorant when it comes to her son's behavior."

Spencer, having expected to have a small stone thrown at him, had successfully dodged. "You'd think a kid like that would still believe in Santa, whether he's naughty or nice."

"I know. I was so much more down-to-earth than he is, and I only stopped believing when I was 10," Christine said.

"I stopped believing when I was 11," Zander spoke up.

Spencer frowned. "So I'm the only one who stopped believing only when I turned 14? Wow, I was late..." He turned to Jack. "What about you – Whoa, are you okay?"

Jack was sending all of them some frowns. "You guys really think Santa doesn't exist?"

"Of course not!" Zander exclaimed. "We're all 18 – Well, she's 16." He shot a glance at Christine. "But anyway, don't you think we're a bit too old for that kind of stuff? You're not saying you still believe, are you?"

"What if I said yes? Have you ever considered that he might be real?"

"It's not possible," Spencer argued. "He's just as real as the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy."

Jack knew better than to mention the Sandman.

"But I saw Bunny," Sophie pouted. Jack was starting to wonder if she was some kind of ninja or he and the other three were turning blind, as nobody saw her come in.

"Did you?" Christine smiled. "Was he nice?"

"He had a funny accent," Sophie blinked innocently.

"Funny accent? When I was little, I didn't picture the Easter Bunny having a funny accent," Zander remarked.

"Well, maybe the Easter Kanga – Bunny does," Jack pointed out, still a tad bit annoyed.

"You're weird," Zander told him.

Jamie appeared and took Sophie's hand. "Come on, Soph, let's leave them alone."

"Jamie, how's you and your dad?"

"Uh... Okay..." the shifty-eyed Jamie said tentatively.

"Why do I feel like you're actually not?"

"No, we really are! ...I think. A-Anyway, come on, Soph." Jamie hurried Sophie out of the room.

Jack sighed. "Oh yeah, they have a lot of work to do." He turned back to the other three. "You were saying?"

"You're weird," Zander said again.

"Maybe I have a reason to be weird – Ugh, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Look, I don't see how we got from talking about my class schedule to talking about belief in spirits. Do you guys want to see Wynter?"

"Uh, depends on who Wynter is..." Spencer said tentatively.

"A cat that I picked up off the sidewalk a few days ago."

Spencer sighed in relief. "Okay, good. I thought Wynter was a canine companion for Abby or something."

"Spencer's afraid of Abby. Dogs in general," Zander explained curtly.

Spencer frowned. "It's not my fault this huge dog ran up to me while I was little and bit me! And FYI, it bit you too!"

"Yeah, but I got over it."

"You were scared of Abby when you first saw her, too!"

"Yeah, but I'm not anymore because I actually gave her a chance. She doesn't really bite, unless if she's chasing a rabbit or something."

Jack was instantly reminded of the time Abby chased Bunnymund.

"THINK FAST!" Scott appeared in the doorway again with a particularly large rock in his hand, and chucked it at Spencer. Spencer didn't react fast enough to dodge this time, so the stone hit him square in the groin. He doubled over on the bed and groaned in pain.

Zander, giving Scott a death stare, shielded Christine's horrified eyes. All Jack could do was stare. First Kevin, and now Spencer? What was with Scott and groins? Speaking of Scott, the 6-year-old maniac ran off, laughing even harder than before.

Zander, for the first time in the short period Jack had known him, seemed truly concerned for his brother. "Dude, are your balls okay?"

"Not...really..." Spencer managed to hiss in response.

"...I'm just gonna...go get Wynter now..." Jack finally said slowly, and inched his way out of the room.

...Okay, so I lied when I said Christine wasn't going to show up again until Jack actually starts going to school. But she is still not his love interest. Heck, I'm pretty sure Jack's not going to have a love interest at all.

And HOLY BOBA, THIS CHAPTER IS EVEN LONGER THAN THE LAST ONE. My guess is because of all the dialogue. This chapter is boring, and I am aware of that. I SERIOUSLY CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE GOOD STUFF ASDFGHJK.

If any of you are getting impatient (which I completely understand) and are wondering when these countless fillers are going to end... I say there are going to be two more, and that's it. Then we get to the stuff you guys came here for. I don't know if you guys are enjoying these fillers or not, so bear with me until then, alright?

Do you guys like Scott Kimberly? I'm not sure if I should make him appear again, so I'll let you guys decide that one for me.

And one more thing: Apparently, Larry the imaginary goat has become very popular with a certain reviewer of mine *coughHana-chan111cough* so he'll be appearing a lot more than originally intended.

Now click the review button below and do what I want you to do if you want a tiny Jack doll (complete with a button to make him talk).