Cold Grey Light of Dawn

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

AN: Will probably do some flashbacks of their relationship later.

Jack hummed quietly as they walked. It was a little bit awkward. The pair had been friends for centuries. They had dated for a while and still had feelings for each other. Both of them knew it, but the blond tiptoed around the subject. The Guardian tried to push boundaries and get them together again.

"Thank you." Matthew said as soon as they were out of the Guardians sight. He was thankful to be away from them. "And thanks for not telling them anything about me."

"No problem." The winter spirit said with a bright smile. The Reaper couldn't help, but smile back. He cleared his throat and got serious. "Sorry about them. I'll try to get them to back off. I knew you wouldn't want this."

"I don't want this." Matthew sighed. "I am not a Guardian."

The pair walked quietly for a while before Jack spoke again. "So, how have you been?"

"Well, I still open my wings every time I jump off a building." The blond shrugged. The Guardian of fun furrowed his eyebrows. He bit his lip and quickly apologized. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Birdie." Jack sighed shaking his head. Matthew didn't want him to be worrying about him. "Still drink?"

"Yep." The Reaper mumbled. "It doesn't do much, but it's a habit."

"If it doesn't do much why don't you stop?" The winter spirit asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Maybe it will kill me eventually." Matthew shrugged. Jack looked away biting his tongue. They walked quietly again before the Guardian stopped at a door and opened it.

"Here, Birdie." Jack smiled leading him into the room. It was a simple bed room with a gigantic bed pushed up against one wall. "I'm right across the hall if you need anything."

"Alright, thanks Jackie." The Reaper said through a yawn. The Guardian smiled and went to the door. He hesitated for a moment before closing it behind him.

Matthew sighed looking around. He knew he could just shadow jump away or open the window and fly away. He was too tired to bother doing either one. He didn't really want the Guardians to be trying to find him again. He really didn't want to be on their bad side, but he was getting annoyed. They didn't listen to him. The Reaper just wanted to be left alone.

The Canadian yawned loudly again rubbing his eyes. He went over to the bed and crawled in. He didn't bother getting under the covers. He just used his wings to cover himself and quickly fell asleep.

-❄️"The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared."❄️-

The next morning, the Reaper woke up with a pounding headache like every other morning. He looked around not immediately knowing where he was, but then he remembered what happened yesterday. He groaned and rolled on to his stomach burying his face in the covers to hide from the morning light.

Matthew groaned again hearing a tapping. He peaked out slightly from under his hood looking at the window. He saw a raven tapping at the glass. He sighed and sat up going over to the window and opening it. He offered his forearm for the bird to land on. It flew in and perched on his arm as he closed the window. He took the message that was attached to his foot and read it.

"Well, that's a problem." The Canadian muttered.

Death wanted to see him, but he couldn't really leave. The raven hopped up to his shoulder as he went to the bedside table. He opened it sighing in relief finding a pen. He flipped the paper over and wrote down what was going on. The Canadian said he'd be there when he could before giving the raven the paper back. He went back over and opened the window letting it fly away.

Matthew sighed and sat back on the bed. He didn't really know what time it was and there was no clock. He pulled out his phone, but it said it was five am. He wasn't sure if it was right for the time zone. The Reaper smiled seeing he still had a signal and immediately started to listen to music. He put one headphone in and laid back. He didn't exactly understand how the phone worked and connected, but he knew someone was paying for it. He had stolen the phone from a rich kid one day when he was curious. He knew it wouldn't be missed.

The Canadian sighed starting to work through some of the harder cases he had set aside. Most souls were processed subconsciously, but the more complicated situations he set aside. He made a good dent before he heard a knock on the door. He rolled onto his feet and went over opening it.

"Morning, Birdie." Jack greeted with a shy smile. He scratched the back of his neck. "Want to have breakfast with me?"

"You just want pancakes, don't you?" Matthew asked with a hint of a smile.

"And your company." The Guardian smiled nervously.

"Okay." The Reaper agreed and Jack bounced excitedly. He took his hand and pulled him along to the kitchen. A few of the yetis looked at them as they passed. Matthew didn't really care, but he didn't want to cause the youngest Guardian any trouble.

Jack pulled him into a huge kitchen. He stopped, but didn't let go of his hand. The winter spirit stepped slightly closer to the Reaper and looked up at him. The blond didn't really mind the closeness, but knew he should step away. He always found it hard to be around Jack for long. He still loved him and he had to stay reserved and hold back.

"Sorry." The Canadian apologized stepping away from him.

"It's okay, Birdie." The winter spirit said with a bright smile. He could see a blush of frost on his face and knew his own was red.

Jack flew over to one of the cupboards and started to grab ingredients. Matthew walked over to where he was setting them and smiled. He set a bowl down in front of him and the Canadian started to make the batter. The winter spirit sat on the counter next to him and watched. He could barely see the Reaper's face under his hood. He always knew exactly what angle to have his head to hide his face in shadow.

"I miss us." Jack sighed. Matthew smiled sadly from under his hood, but didn't say anything. He sighed and went over to the stove.

The winter spirit found him a pan and he started to cook. Once he finished cooking the pair sat and ate quietly. The Reaper was pretty hungry. He hadn't eaten since early yesterday and even then, it was mostly small snacks. The raven had flown in and landed on his shoulder. He looked seeing there was no message attached to its foot and kept eating.

"A raven?" Jack asked seeing the black bird.

"Yeah, Death wanted to see me earlier." Matthew shrugged. "Didn't go anywhere. Didn't think it would be the best idea to be running from the Guardians."

"Yeah, they don't really give up." The winter spirit said with a small smile. The pair heard loud foot steps and looked over to the door. North stomped into the kitchen and smiled.

"Good morning!" The older Guardian greeted. "Ready to talk?"