Last Winter [JackFrostxReader] Pt. 8

He’d done it, Jack had found a way to make you think of snow as fun, but just barely, and you weren’t about to let him know about his win. Instead you stated your agreement of how snow could be seen as fun without giving any more detail as to what had made you think that. Only a memory, you told him and which you soon regretted; a memory of something from long ago had made you see the cold and snow as something other than torture.

Now you lay in bed, the covers pulled over your head completely, and your cell held by your hand tightly. It was the damn memory, you thought, that stupid scene of them being all cozy with one another. Pressed together tightly, his arm pulling her close, her head resting on his shoulder, and Jack’s comment ringing in your mind: Name something you wanted to do since you were a little girl.
Damn him.

You let out a deep sigh thinking to yourself that it was far better to have a non-vocal study subject. Jack was most likely back where he called home, Burgess, which you had also jotted down in your notes. It was surprising to know that his home was were Jamie lived, but not by far as the notes you had on Jamie clearly said that he had seen Jack more than any other person that had seen him before.

That’s the person you were trying to contact at the moment, but the different time zones was hard to pin-point, probably only an hour ahead of your own, and the fact that you wanted to talk to him about something not regarding testing a theory was alarming. From the beginning Jamie had known about your love for experimenting on the unknown, but you had no memory of speaking to him as an actual friend.

Could you both even be called that, though you both had at one point said you were?

Your eyes narrowed at the screen, your fingers tapping at it as you bit your bottom lip. What in the world could you type to him if you weren’t sure what you wanted to know? Jack was getting your mind out of its original course, the course of him being the guinea pig and not you. But now it felt more like he had switched the roles, instead being you the studied guinea pig and several questions surfacing from the past.

The phone vibrated, a message appearing on the screen that had you wanting to throw the gadget against the opposite wall. It read:

‘What did you do to Jack?’

You scowled at the screen.

The question should have been, what did Jack do to you, and not this that he had asked. You were sure your bottom lip had been slightly cut by now, but you didn’t care. Taking in a deep breath to calm yourself, you typed your responds slowly and making sure it came out sounding calm.

‘Have you any idea what time it is, Jamie?’

The light of the screen went out, leaving you in darkness under the covers and you no longer biting your bottom lip but your index finger. You wanted to jump up and write down everything that was going inside your head to have your mind clear. It was easier to figure out your thoughts when you would write them down, but Jamie wasn’t going to give you any time for that.

‘We had a blizzard about an hour ago, which I think is around the time he left your place. And I knew you weren’t sleeping because you rarely sleep. You probably went to bed just to get rid of him after you did . . . whatever it was you did to him.’

The only thing keeping you still under the covers was the fact that your wounded arm didn’t allow much movement. If it weren’t for that fact, you would have probably rolled out of bed and into the floor. You read the message about three times, slowly, taking in every word before answering.

You wanted to make him think you were asleep, but he always called you on things you wanted to avoid.

‘I’m not letting this go. You might have caused a serious damage to the campus . . . not that I’m complaining about that.’

‘His childish tantrums have nothing to do with me.’

That was a lie. A flat out lie because Jack had left when Jamie had said the blizzard had hit, moments after you were writing down how easily he got frustrated and annoyed with your logical thinking. You resisted the urge to jump out of bed to write down that making him irritated could cause blizzards.

Jamie hadn’t answered and for a moment you thought he had let go of the matter and fallen asleep, but the curiosity of what Jack had supposedly done made you text back.

‘Let’s say that I have something to do with what he did. Hypothetically speaking, what did I cause in Burgess?’

It didn’t take a full minute for him to answer.

‘I told you, a blizzard. I haven’t seen Jack, but I can tell by the weather that something’s bothering him. You came to mind because he was with you the last time I checked. Did you try to cut him open?’

‘Not yet.’

‘REALLY?! I was joking!’

You stifled a laugh when you read his message, but you were heading off into a different direction that had nothing to do with Jack. Even though it was what you wanted from the start, you still had some questions about Jack that needed answered. But you didn’t want Jamie talking to Jack and telling him what you told him.

‘When’s the last time you saw Jack?’

‘It’s been a long while actually. Between, homework, extracurricular activities, and him ditching me to see you, I never get to see him as much as I did when I was a kid. I guess you could say you’re lucky.’

You snorted at the last word. Lucky. If he only knew that from the moment Jack had landed on your roof that night, disaster followed. Maybe not as extreme like a blizzard, but a wounded arm and a week with the city covered in snow was enough torture for you. Jamie didn’t send another text after that, probably waiting for you to answered, which you did moments after.

‘He hasn’t been here long, stupid, so I doubt he was ditching you to come see me.’
You waited a few seconds before closing your eyes and resting you head on the pillow. It was the vibration on the phone that woke you up moments after and you noticed you had dozed off for five minutes, which meant Jamie had probably fallen asleep too.

‘Don’t call me stupid, stupid. The fact that you didn’t believe he existed might have not let you see him, but he’s visited you before. Maybe not caused it to snow, but he also has to do with the cold winds. You probably felt him before and thought nothing of it.’

. . . . . .

The phone vibrates with a message on the screen: ‘You asleep?’

‘I can’t touch him.’

‘What?’

You didn’t answer and instead shoved the phone under your pillow. It wasn’t right to text while half asleep, the messages made no sense. Sure it was the thing you wanted to speak to him about, the fact that you couldn’t touch Jack though you were sure Jamie could when he was a kid, and maybe even to this day.

It was a petty thing, but touching him meant so much more to you than anything else you could do with him. What could you do with him? He was like a ghost; not entirely there though your mind registered his form standing in front of you. If anyone was lucky, it was Jamie for having actual experiences with the winter spirit.

It just wasn’t fair. All Jamie did with Jack was play; he didn’t do anything with any meaning or purpose behind it. If you could touch him, you would take samples, give him a physical, or something that would show that he was real and not delusional thoughts that came with being alone for so many years.

Your phone vibrated from beneath the pillow, lasting longer that it normally did when a message was received. Your brow furrowed, eyes narrowing at the phone as you pulled it out to examine. The thoughts in your mind about loneliness vanishing as the screen read: Incoming Call from Jamie Bennett.

In less than a second you were wide awake with a clear mind as if you had never dozed off. You still refused to remove the cover from your head though it was getting hard to breathe. He had never called you before. Your contact with Jamie had always been through messaging and text, calling each other was something that you would have never of thought to do before and especially not at this hour.

The phone vibrated for a couple of more seconds before you finally decided that it was ridiculous for you not to answer and text him afterward.

“Hello?”

In was silent and then a voice came from the other line.

“[Name],” it asked, “You sound younger than I thought . . . and not sleepy at all.”

Jamie's voice sounded rather different than what you had thought it would sound like. He had a soft whispering voice, but that was due to the fact that his roommate was asleep in the bunk underneath him and he didn't want to wake him. Even so, his voice was deep and soft and for some reason in had you thinking of Jack. Perhaps he sounded like him because he had the tendency to make jokes that he seemed to have picked up from the winter spirit.

You didn't do much talking, you had no clue what to talk to him about as the only other guy you had talked to was when you were in middle school, and that was only to shut up him up because he wouldn't let you study. The other person would be Jack, but he hardly counted as he was something along the lines of a ghost.

This person on the other side of the line was real, could be proven he was real with photographs and DNA samples . . . you could touch him. Jamie didn't seem to notice anything wrong with your silence and kept on yammering about Jack going ballistic with the snow. The plow trucks were already being dragged out, but were having trouble with the wheels having been covered in ice. How could that had happen if they were indoors? Only Jack, figures.

It wasn't until Jamie began to ask questions that you were forced to talk back, and it scared you a bit thinking you were going to accidentally offend him. For goodness sake, Jack got offended when called a lab rat, which you thought was a pretty decent compliment that you wanted to study him.

“Did you really try to cut him open like you did Pedro? Oh, how is he doing by the way?”

“I,” you started slowly, carefully, “accidentally chopped of his right leg, but I patched him up really good . . . you can't even notice it's smaller than the other . . .”

He laughed; it was a strangely similar laugh to that of Jack's and it had your heart beating a few times faster than it had already been. It might have been that thought that had made you spill what you had wanted to keep inside.

“We had a fight about Jack dying, being a ghost, and me not believing in him.” You said in a rush, but you knew Jamie had caught it and might have understood it far more than you did. It actually sounded like complete gibberish. “I can see him, but when I try and touch him . . . I go right through. It's like he's not even there.”

It was quiet on the other line, with only a muffled sound of something, maybe a pillow, beating against what you would make out to be a person. Jamie was stifling a chuckle as the sound stopped and his voice came out through your phone sounding far more awake than it had sounded before.

“Sorry,” he said with a small laugh, “I just got kicked out of the room.”

“You don't have my sympathy,” you said quickly, “I would have kicked you out too if you wouldn't let me sleep. Actually, I would kick you out for something irrelevant to what I would be doing at the time. ”

“Ouch! No wonder Jack came back with an attitude.” He didn't mean it as an insult, you could tell that much by his voice. It was quiet, again, for a minute before his voice came quieter through the phone, his whisper sounded slightly worried. “I think he came to find me . . . he's on the roof of the main building.”

You raised a brow, “How can you see the main building from your dorm?”

“If I got kicked out, I might as well go have fun in the snow at night, right?”

“Both of you are alike,” you said rolling your eyes, “I honestly can't see how anyone can have fun with this death bringer that is hell.”

“I still have trouble believing you can see Jack when you're so bent on calling him death, and don't argue about that. Calling the winter a death bringer is like telling him he's a murderer.”

“And he's not, I get that much.” you responded, “Are you going to find him or are you going to see if he comes to find you?”

“Well . . . I can see he's watching me walk towards him, but I don't think he's going to get down from there. And I'm not going to start yelling out at him because I already have a long list of people questioning my sanity.”

“I should be included into that list of people, if I'm not already on it that is.”

Jamie simply laughed at your comment and continued to describe where Jack was, for your notes most likely. That guy knew exactly how detailed the information given should be. Jack was indeed on the roof of the main building, sitting on the ledge with one leg crossed under him and the other hanging from the side.

He looked to be interested in what Jamie was doing outside and talking on the phone at such an hour, or at least that was how Jamie had described it. Jack was leaning forward as if that would allow him to listen to the conversation; gripping his staff tightly, eyes never leaving Jamie as he came closer to the building.

Then, in a loud voice, Jamie said: “YES, [NAME], HE'S RIGHT HERE SO YOU CAN STOP WORRYING. HE LOOKS FINE—AND WARM, LIKE ALWAYS!—WHAT WAS THAT? YOU WANT ME TO TELL HIM TO GO BACK BECAUSE YOU MISS HIM?!”

“Dammit, Jamie!” you hissed into the phone, “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Letting Jack know that you're worried about him,” a loud gush of wind blocked his voice, only muffled sounds could be heard from the other line until a sharp gasp made it to your end. You waited. “ . . . eh, he's gone, and I think I've just been dumped in Santa's workshop—yes, he does exist—I'm almost completely buried in snow.”

You were a bit shaken of what he said, but tried not to sound alarmed, “It's a good thing you two are friends . . . and you like snow. . .”

“I think he figured out you had said you were going to sleep to get rid of him . . . with you it always has to do with getting the other back, isn't it?” he asked softly. “You're like two elementary kids that pick on each other because you're crushing on one another. Basics!”

“Oh, shut up, Jamie!” It was a good thing it was only through the phone or else he would have noticed you face turning a deep crimson and the mention of you having a crush on Jack. It was nonsense, and you let him know that. “That's ridiculous. You can't crush on something that's imaginary—something that isn't real.”

“I once had a crush on a cartoon character—and Jack's not imaginary.”

“What do I care? And that's not relevant to him suddenly disappearing.”

“For a girl of science, you can't read the data that's in front of you.” And you would take that as an insult and click on him, but he was quicker and continued his explanation. “To be direct, I think you two are crushing on each other. You from the moment you first saw him and he gradually grew into liking you . . . for reasons that would be like you trying to prove he exist; next to impossible.”

“Are you saying I can't be crushed on?”

“No. What I'm saying is, how can you crush on someone that has clearly said she hates you more than one time and refuses to change her mind? And you, why are you crushing on someone that you declare you hate?”

You were at a loss of words. He actually sounded older than you, which was something rather rare in your messaging.

“I . . . I don't hate him . . . and I'm not crushing.” That last part came out as a weak defense against the accusation.

There was a rustling on his side, most likely of him getting out of the snow and rushing back indoors to warm up. A couple of male voices could be heard and Jamie greeting them before moving to some place quieter. The other dorm occupants were already waking up it seemed, and he was caught on the phone speaking about crushes. The idiot.

“You sound like such a joykill.” That word again. Someone was going to get seriously dissected if they used that gain. “You're smart and everything you study you collect data on, so don't go telling me you have not looked into the scientific explanation of love.”

You groaned, Jamie laughing on the other end. “I have no idea how to say this in a manner that won't insult you, but, Jamie, go burn in hell's fire.”

So, Jamie knew you far better than you actually thought, or maybe it was your fault for disregarding him as a nut-job that you didn't pay attention to him analyzing you. You kind of understood why Jack had reacted the way he did with the whole Lab Rat fiasco; it made your blood boil to think of yourself as some mythical thing Jamie was looking into.

He was correct about you looking into that whole love stuff with a scientific view of it. There was an explanation to everything; that was what you believed in and that was not going to change. Even Jack Frost had an explanation behind his existence, and you were going to find out why and declare it your discovery.

“You still there or did you pass out?”

“Jamie, do you think you can find Jack around there? He couldn't have gone far from his original home, right?”

“He's been to Russia and back in less than a day. You tell me if he hasn't gone far in the last few minutes we've been talking. I don't think I'll be able to find him here, and my classes are still on so I don't have much time left to actually look for him.”

Of all the times to go missing—you sighed and curled up on your side where you weren't crushing the hurt arm. What Jamie had said was not going to leave your head in a long while until you tested in and proved him wrong . . . or possibly right. If that happen, there was no way you would let him know.

You were chewing on your bottom lip, phone held tightly in hand, and with Jamie chuckling on the other side about something his roommate said to him that he didn’t want to repeat for you to hear. It was in that moment that your ears picked up a soft sound, a sound so acute to your hearing because your house was always empty.

“Jamie,” you whispered softly into the phone, he shushed the other guy up, “I think someone broke into my house.”

“You’re alone, aren’t you?” he asked, “Where’s your mother? Isn’t Christmas coming up?”

“Look who’s talking,” you silently snapped. “You’re at the dorm instead of your house.”

“It’s only an hour away, and stop talking or else they’ll now someone is there and will get violent. Hide—”

“Like hell I am.” You said back. “I’ll call you back—”

“The hell you will!” his voice was louder than yours, drifting out more into the room and causing the sound to stop. “Don’t hang up.”

You listened; you didn’t hang up the phone, but you did place it on the bed and moved your arm slowly beneath the pillow. On the edge of the head of the bed was a smooth, metallic bat, and you wrapped your hand around it. You were glad to be left handed as people never expected to be smacked on the left side.

Jamie’s voice came from the cell as you jump to your feet and swung the bat at the first figure you saw. The room was fully dark, with the drapes covering the light of the moon, the only light came from an unidentified source that looked blue.

Jumping of the bed, you swung at the out lining of the figure only to hear a loud crash as the bat made contact with a lap. You barely had a chance to move when you were blinded by the light that poured into the room as the drapes were ripped off the window.

Only Jamie’s muffled voice coming from beneath the covers could be heard, and your uneven breathing as you reached for it after dropping the bat. He kept calling your name over and over again in a frantic voice demanding you to answer.

You let out a frustrated sigh, “Found him.”

“What—who?”

The white hair teen gave a sheepish grin, “Jack, and this time I’m really going to cut him open. Have a nice day, Jamie. You’ll be hearing my daily report later.”
He was saying something, most likely defending Jack, but you had clicked on him mid-sentence and glared at Jack as you picked up the bat again. You had never wanted to pluck out anyone eyes simply for them being blue until that very moment.