"Princess…"

I opened my eyes to see Pitch standing above me. There was something different in his face, he almost seemed…happy. I frowned and sat up, covering my still naked form with the duvet. Every muscle in me ached and I felt too weak to hold up my own body. Pitch leant down and pecked me on the cheek and smiled.

"I have some stuff for you to wear, put it on and come outside." This was obviously an order rather than a request. He disappeared from sight and I looked down at the end of the bed to see some dark clothes lying there. I slowly got out of the bed and pulled on the lace underwear. This isn't actually too bad…kind of…sexy? I laughed to myself, I couldn't be sexy even if my life depended on it. Next to the underwear was a short, silk nightie and a pair of strappy heels. I put those both on and walked over to the mirror by the dressing table. I had a large purple bruise down the left side of my face, which slightly covered my eye, and purple finger marks on my wrists. Since I had gotten out of bed, the burning pain in my crotch had been increasing. I lifted up my night dress and noticed more dark marks at the tops of my thighs and waist. Sighing, I exited the room and walked into a larger living room with the same array of windows and staircases on the ceiling. Pitch was sitting in a black armchair and looked me up and down.

"Beautiful…" He said slowly. I gagged a bit but put on a brave face.

"You have good taste in lingerie," I smiled. Pitch tapped his lap and reluctantly sat on it. He cupped my face and kissed me more gently this time. "Why are you so happy?" I asked. This was so unlike Pitch, he was usually lustful, hungry and conceited but that completely changed. He was gentler, calmer…nicer?

"Well, let's just say you being here has made me a little bit stronger," he grinned and his eyes lit up like a child's. Dare I say it but he almost looked handsome when he was like this. He lifted his hand and a load of small black sand appeared from his fingers. What..? I thought he had lost that ability…

"I know what you're thinking, Princess. But when a man gets what he needs, some things just….come back," He pushed a piece of hair out of my eyes and kissed me again, sweetly. He pulled me further onto his lap so I straddled him and laid his hands gently on my waist. For a few short moments, I felt as though it was Jack I was kissing. I opened my eyes slightly and realised it was Pitch still and broke the kiss. I sighed inwardly before saying;

"I need to go back to bed, I want to be full strength for tomorrow…"

"It's only eleven o'clock…" Pitch said and the brightness in his eyes faded and a lustful gaze returned. "Half an hour." He demanded. I sighed again and realised I didn't really have a choice. Pitch smiled and this time, kissed me hungrily. Twat. He held my waist harder then stood up, wrapping my legs around his torso. He carried me to the bedroom and I cursed myself inside my head. I was prepared for a soft landing on the bed but instead, I felt myself be forced against a cold, hard wall. I gasped and felt fresh bruises appear of my pale skin. Why do I bruise so damn easily? Pitch took my gasp as an opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth and I didn't bother to fight for dominance. His hands snaked up my thighs and towards my crotch, making the burning sensation increase to another level. I couldn't stop myself from tensing and crying out in pain. Pitch looked at me with a slight concern in his eyes and removed his hands, placing them on my waist instead. He kissed me again, acting as though he had never even shown concern about my wellbeing. He pulled us off the wall and placed me down on the bed, kissing my neck and chest. My nightie was now wrapped around my waist and he quickly removed it and kissed the tops of my breasts. I felt his extremely large lump on the inside of my leg and tried to ignore it. No wonder it was so painful…Its like a damn python. Pitch stopped kissing me and smiled.

"Now you can sleep." I stared in shock as he rolled off me and slid of his clothes, leaving himself in his boxer shorts. He climbed in next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist, poking me in the back with his erection. I shuddered and brought the duvet up around my shoulders and shut my eyes, waiting for North's arrival.

"Lizzie, get up now, I'm here." The soft sounds of North's voice filled me with hope and I opened my eyes to see him standing there. I peeled Pitch's hand off (aware of the mass of golden sand above his head) and ran up to North and hugged him.

"I thought you weren't going to come…" I said, muzzling into his coat.

"Of course I was, who do you think I am?!" We laughed and broke apart. North looked me up and down and I cringed, I had completely forgotten about the underwear. I lifted the nightie off the floor and over my head and shifted awkwardly. "Have you got any news?" North asked me.

"He has the black sand stuff back but that's all…" I sighed.

"Ah, well its progress," he shrugged. "Wait, Lizzie… What happened to your face?"

"Oh, well, let's say this is how he deals with me disagreeing with him…" North pulled a sad face then whispered,

"Did you… you know…" and I replied with a short nod and a sniff. "Lizzie, I am so sorry, you can leave if you want to, we shouldn't have put you through this."

"No, North, it's fine, I love you all too much to lose you. I'm doing it for you. I am the only one Pitch is going to want to tell."

"If you're sure…"

"Yes," I said shortly.

"Someone is here to see you," North changed the subject and looked behind him. A tall, pale boy came from behind the door and looked at me. My heart skipped a beat and I stayed glued to my spot on the floor staring at him. "I will leave you two alone," North said smiling and threw a snow globe on the floor and walked through. It sucked it up behind him not leaving a trace.

"Jack…" I began.

"Did you… you know…" Jack said, repeating North's words.

"Yes…" I said quietly, not looking at him. Jack sighed then came over to me and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back and pushed my face into his soft neck, taking in his sweet smell and coolness.

"You can leave you know…" He said, "come back with me."

"No, Jack, I have to do this. For you… because I really, really like you." Jack smiled and looked into my eyes.

"I really, really like you too."

"Plus, I do look rather sexy in this nightwear," I joked and Jack smiled at me. He bent down and kissed me softly on the lips, pushing me down onto my side of the bed. He placed himself between my legs and pulled my nightie over my head, trying not to break the contact with my lips. He looked down and wolf whistled.

"You do look sexy," he winked and I hit him playfully on the arm before pulling him into another kiss. He ran his tongue over my bottom lip asking for entry and I allowed it. Our tongues danced together and I felt as though I was in complete heaven. Electricity jolted through my body widening my senses and making me press myself against him. Jack rubbed himself between my legs and all of a sudden, the electricity was gone and a pain seared my whole abdomen and crotch. I cried out and tears began to fall down my face. I looked at Jack, blurry eyed, and noticed his face was in shock, he was panicking. Finally, he picked me up off the bed and sat us on the floor, putting me on his lap. He cradled me into his chest and stroked my hair. He kissed my face and wiped away my tears.

"It hurts all over…" I choked, not embarrassed to talk about it to him. That's the kind of relationship we had. Just talking about anything.

"I know," he said, kissing my head, "I am so sorry, it will be over soon…" We sat talking about what had happened for a while and then just sat in a comfortable silence. I looked out the window to notice it was dawn. Time had gone by so quickly.

"I need to go," Jack sighed. "I lov- really like you Lizzie, don't forget that. Just think of me when you're sad, OK?"

"I will," I said kissing him on the lips. "I don't want you to go…"

"I don't want to go without you…" Jack said. "Man, that was cheesy…" We both laughed and made fake vomiting noises at how soppy we were being. Jack stood up, helped me off the floor and pulled me into another kiss.

"Bye, you crazy woman you!" He joked.

"Bye Mr Refrigerator."

"That was a terrible insult."

"I know," I said giggling. He gave me one last kiss and with that, he was gone. I climbed back into bed and closed my eyes, feeling just a tiny bit happier.