Frostbound

Chapter seven

The moon hung high in the night sky, casting its cold silver light over the frozen lake. The world around them was still, save for the soft crunch of snow beneath their feet as Eve and Jack made their way to the edge of the ice. 

The surreal beauty of the place was overwhelming, but for the first time since she'd met him, Eve could feel the weight of Jack's silence hanging between them.

They had been skating on the lake, laughing and spinning in the moonlight. Jack had taught her to glide across the surface effortlessly, making her forget about everything except the magic that surrounded them. 

But now, as they stood side by side, the playful mood seemed to dissipate, leaving a quiet tension in the air.

Eve glanced at Jack, who stood with his back to her, staring out over the snowy horizon. His usual mischievous grin was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his face was unreadable, almost... lost. 

His shoulders were tense, his figure rigid, as if the weight of something heavy was bearing down on him.

Eve, still caught up in the whirlwind of emotions Jack had stirred inside her, hesitated for a moment before taking a step toward him. "Jack?" Her voice was soft, uncertain.

He didn't turn to face her right away, but she could feel his attention shift. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and smooth, tinged with something that sounded almost like sorrow. "You don't have to say anything, Eve. I know I'm not exactly someone you want to talk to."

Eve frowned, unsure how to respond. Was he pushing her away? Or was he simply trying to make her understand something about himself? 

He had always been playful, teasing, the spirit of winter wrapped in snowflakes and laughter, but tonight, there was something darker lurking beneath his playful exterior. 

Something that made him seem less like the Jack Frost the town whispered about and more like a person who had lived with pain for far too long.

"I'm not sure I understand you, Jack," she admitted softly, standing beside him now, her voice hesitant but curious. "You're always so... so carefree. You never seem bothered by anything. But tonight..." She trailed off, unsure if she had the right words to express what she was feeling. "You seem different. Like something is bothering you."

Jack's lips pressed into a thin line, and he let out a small sigh, a breath that formed a cloud in the cold air. He finally turned to her, his eyes reflecting the pale light of the moon, and she saw something there that she hadn't noticed before—vulnerability. 

There was a deep sadness in the way he looked at her, something raw and real.

"I don't belong here, Eve," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I never have. I belong to winter, to the cold. That's all I've ever known. The ice, the snow, the wind—those are the things that define me." His gaze fell to the ground, and his expression softened. "But sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to belong to something else. To someone else. To feel warmth, to feel... love."

Eve's heart skipped a beat as the words sunk in. Jack Frost, the mischievous spirit of winter, was telling her that he felt like he didn't belong. 

He had never experienced warmth, never known the feeling of being loved or accepted for who he was. 

It was a cruel irony, considering the fact that he had such an undeniable charm, such a magnetic presence that seemed to captivate everyone around him.

Eve swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her chest. She had always seen Jack as an enigma, someone who thrived on pranks and playfulness, who never seemed to care about anything beyond the next joke or trick. 

But now, as she looked at him, she saw the loneliness that haunted him, the emptiness that lay beneath his icy exterior.

"I didn't know," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I didn't know you felt like that."

Jack didn't meet her eyes at first. Instead, he turned his attention back to the snow-covered landscape, his breath fogging in the frigid air. "It's not something I like to talk about," he said quietly. "I'm the one who brings winter, who makes the snow fall and the winds blow. I'm the one who keeps everything cold, everything distant. It's what I am, and it's all I've ever been."

Eve's heart ached for him. She understood more than he realized. She, too, had built walls around herself, walls that kept everyone out. Walls that kept her from feeling anything other than the numbness that had taken over her life after the tragedy that had stolen her family away. 

She had spent so many years pretending she didn't care about anything—about Christmas, about the town, about the people around her. But standing here, in this moment, she felt the cracks in her own heart beginning to widen, just as she saw the cracks in Jack's soul.

Without thinking, Eve reached out and placed a hand on his arm, a simple gesture, but one that carried so much weight between them. Jack looked down at her hand, his breath catching in his throat. For a moment, there was silence, and Eve's pulse quickened as she realized the intimacy of the moment.

"I get it," she said softly. "I get what it's like to feel like you don't belong. I lost my family, Jack. They're gone, and I... I didn't know how to keep living after that. Christmas, it's all a reminder of what I don't have anymore. It's easier to shut everything out, to keep everyone at a distance, so they don't have to see the mess that's inside."

Jack's gaze met hers, his eyes searching her face with an intensity that made her breath catch. "Eve," he said softly, his voice laced with something she couldn't quite identify. "You don't have to be alone in this. You don't have to shut the world out. You don't have to shut me out."

She swallowed, her throat tight. "But I'm not like you. You can never understand what it's like to lose everything. To feel like the world has gone cold, like nothing will ever matter again."

Jack's hand came up to gently cup her cheek, his touch sending a warm shiver down her spine. "I might not be able to understand everything, but I know what it's like to be lonely, Eve. And I know that I don't want you to feel like that. Not now, not ever."

The softness in his voice, the tenderness of his touch, sent an unfamiliar warmth flooding through her chest. 

She wanted to pull away, to protect herself from getting too close, but something inside her—a voice she didn't recognize—urged her to stay.

"I've spent so many years pretending to be fine, pretending that I didn't care," Eve whispered, her voice shaky. "But I do care. I care about the people who loved me. And... and I care about you, Jack."

The words fell from her lips before she could stop them, and once they were out, she couldn't take them back. She looked up at Jack, her eyes wide with uncertainty, and saw that the playful glint in his eyes had been replaced with something deeper, something more real. He leaned in slowly, his lips brushing against her forehead in a soft, lingering kiss.

"I know," he whispered. "I know."

They stood there, together in the cold, with the weight of their shared loneliness surrounding them. The night felt heavy, yet somehow lighter, as if the distance between them had closed just a little bit more.

For the first time in a long time, Eve didn't feel so alone. And for the first time in his entire existence, Jack Frost felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the sun or fire, but everything to do with the fragile connection that was beginning to bloom between them.

But as the wind howled through the trees, they both knew that no matter how close they grew, the distance between their worlds—her world of warmth and light, and his world of cold and darkness—would never be truly bridged.

At least, not yet.