A Meeting of the Seasons - Chapter 1
By Linda/Linables
Rated M for later chapters
Warnings - Character death (with a happy ending, I promise) and an M/M sex scene.
I'd like to thank Bramblerose4 for her unwavering support of me and my writing, and her generous help with this story. I was stuck on a key point, and she pulled out a bit of brilliance and helped me. What she helped me with will become clear in the next chapter!
This story is for her, and for all of the other JackXJamie fans out there - thanks for getting me to write again!
A small smile played upon Jamie Bennett's lips as he suddenly found himself shivering. He placed his bookmark down, closed the book he had been reading and turned to glance out his partially open window. He caught a glimpse of a pale, bare foot flitting upward past his window, and his smile grew wider. To any other person this might have been cause for alarm, but Jamie knew exactly who that foot belonged to - and this certain someone had never caused him to feel anything but excitement and joy.
The old springs in his bed creaked as Jamie rose, laying his book down on his comforter and making his way to his window. Opening it fully, he stuck his head out and immediately looked up toward the roof. There, a white-haired figured clad in a frosty blue sweatshirt and brown pants smiled down at him mischievously, having known he didn't even need to alert Jamie of his presence. The boy always knew when to look for him.
Technically he shouldn't have even been here - it was June, and the northern hemisphere didn't expect a visit from Jack Frost for maybe another five months. But for this person, Jack made an exception, as he always did. He had been spreading his winter magic in Australia for the past several days and figured he owed himself a break, especially since he hadn't seem Jamie for a few weeks. He probably wouldn't do it for anyone else, considering how careful he had to be when he made these out-of-season visits. He had to do his best to suppress his powers so that no one in Burgess would raise alarm bells over frosty windows in what was supposed to be the dog days of summer. This involved not touching much, and melting off any ice he did create. But, he had decided quite a long time ago, it was worth it to see his favourite child more than once a year.
Though Jack supposed Jamie wasn't quite a child anymore. The boy had grown, as humans always do, and now stood almost as tall as Jack at seventeen years old. His chestnut hued mop of hair was slightly shaggier than in childhood, though not unkept, and his arms had developed a hint of lean muscle from taking up tennis in high school. On many occasions Jack had actually found himself thinking that Jamie had grown up to be quite good looking, and consequently caught himself looking his way for a few seconds longer than appropriate. He had always managed to somehow shush those thoughts and bury them away in the back of his head, but like villains, they tended to break free after some period of time regardless of how tightly their prison was locked.
Jack smiled at Jamie now and flew off of the roof, entering the boy's room through the window when he backed away from it. The second his feet touched the ground, Jack felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his torso and a head being laid on his chest. He wrapped his own arms around the giver of the hug, chuckling a bit at the eagerness with which it was given.
"I missed you." was heard, muffled by Jack's sweatshirt.
"I've only been gone for three weeks, kiddo. Am I that desirable?" Jack occasionally found himself slipping such jokes into his casual conversations with Jamie. Somehow it made him feel better, and neither seemed to mind.
Jamie giggled as he stood up straight, looking his guardian in the face once more. He answered Jack's joke with one of his own, quipping, "Well, it has been getting hot...it's nice to have someone close who can cool me down."
"Ah, is that all? I'm a personal air conditioner? I'm crushed, Jamie!" Jack said in a tone of mock surprise, the glint in his eye nevertheless befalling his true joking nature. They both laughed.
As Jamie picked up the book he had been reading and made his way to his large bookshelf to clear the space on his bed for them to sit, Jack followed him, quietly observing the boy's ever growing library. He was always impressed by how much Jamie read, and by how smart he was. But more than anything, he was touched by his first believer's never ending love of the mythical and legendary, and his unfaltering belief, which was evidenced by the number of books he owned on the subject. That, and of course the fact that he could still see and touch the winter spirit and the other guardians when he saw them.
"What's this one?" Jack inquired, reaching to grab a particularly old looking book off the shelf. The words "Myth and Folklore of the British Isles" stretched across the cover in peeling silver lettering.
"That's one I got from my grandma. It was hers as a little girl in Ireland. It's one of the first books that I ever had about myths and folklore, so I think it did a lot to get me so into them."
"Well I owe it a thank you then. It and your grandma." said Jack, flipping through the pages.
"Yeah, she was great." Jamie mused as he straightened out some other books. "She died a few years ago, but she was awesome to talk to about things like that."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Jack said, placing a hand on Jamie's shoulder. The boy smiled, placing his own warm hand lightly over Jack's cold one.
"It's alright. She was sick, and it was just her time to go." His voice had taken on a bit of a melancholy, thoughtful tone. "All humans have to die at some time."
This touched something inside Jack, though he didn't let it show. Perhaps that was the reason he'd suppressed the thoughts he had about Jamie being attractive, and anything of the sort. It was time to be honest with himself. The thoughts he'd had pointed in one direction, and Jack knew what the feeling he was harbouring was. It was just such a can of worms to open up that he'd stowed it away, not wanting to think about it and cause himself grief.
Jack knew that he was attracted to Jamie. He knew deep down that he even loved him. But what would come of it, even if the boy somehow happened to feel the same about him? Someday Jamie would grow old and die, and Jack would be alone again. Now, he would be delighted to just take what he could for as long as was possible, if Jamie wanted to give it, but even that was farfetched to Jack. He sometimes laughed at himself for thinking that the boy could return his feelings, considering it to be such a long shot that he shouldn't even wish for it. Now and again a hint of sadness would make an appearance on his features when he thought about this, but Jack had become rather good at keeping it hidden. Like he did now.
Whatever thoughts both had been having were then interrupted by a quick knock and the door to Jamie's room opening. Jamie's nine year old little sister Sophie bounced into the room, all wild blonde locks, wide eyes and mischievous smile. Upon seeing Jack in the room her eyes lit up and she ran to hug him as her brother had, though Jack could have sworn Jamie squeezed a bit harder and hugged a little longer.
"Hi Jack!" she said. "I didn't know you'd be here!"
Jack chuckled and answered, "Well, I like surprises."
Sophie beamed at him and then turned to her brother.
"Jamie, Charlotte just got here. You said you'd drive us through the woods today to look at the flowers, remember? Can we go now?"
Jamie laughed softly and patted his little sister on the head. He knew she didn't like that, but it didn't seem to dampen her spirits.
"Sure, Soph," he said. "Just give me a second to get ready."
"Okay. Well come down when you're ready." She paused to turn to Jack and offer him a goodbye, then turned back to her brother and quipped, "Tell Jack he can visit whenever he wants, right Jamie?"
Sophie shot her brother a look, which he countered with a playful eye roll in attempts to cover up his blush. The girl then bounded out of the room and back downstairs, leaving Jamie to say goodbye to Jack himself.
"Sorry," he said, his regret obvious on his features. "But she's right, I did promise I'd drive her and her friend Charlotte around the woods nearby when she came over."
"No problem, kiddo," Jack said, patting Jamie's shoulder. "I'll come to see you again soon, I promise."
Jamie smiled, offering Jack another hug before the winter spirit waved his goodbye and flew out of the open window and disappeared into the sky.
When he was gone, Jamie walked to his desk on the other side of the room to gather up his wallet and car keys, and headed downstairs. As expected, Sophie and her friend Charlotte were quite literally waiting on the edges of their seats for their driver to come and start their trip. The girls burst through the front door and bounded towards the older boy's car as soon as they saw him, leaving Jamie to follow.
Jamie didn't mind doing things like this every now and then. He liked sightseeing in the forest too, as the woods nearby were colourful and quite magnificent at this time of year. Because of that, and because of his birthday being in August, summer was Jamie's second favourite season. Winter, of course, was the only one he liked more.
But he also knew that Sophie, and especially Charlotte, enjoyed spending time with him. Sophie had met Charlotte in school, and they'd formed a kinship based, among other things, on their family situations. Sophie and Jamie's parents had divorced a couple of years ago, and although it had been painful, they'd gotten through it with each other's help. And of course, they both had Jack as a friend, which had helped immensely as well.
Charlotte lived with both of her parents, who were still together but hardly had any time to pay attention to their daughter. Sophie had been to her house, and had been sad to report that Charlotte's only real interactions with her parents were at mealtimes and when they checked her homework or said goodnight, which didn't happen every day at all. She also had no siblings, so she had no one at home to lean on. Sophie was a source of support for her, as was Jamie, since Charlotte had been vocal about always wanting an older brother. Over time, Jamie had indeed come to see Charlotte as another little sister.
For these reasons he was willing to donate his time to taking the girls exploring, which he did every now and then, if he had the time and the gas money. So, turning off the hallway light and locking the front door of the house behind him, Jamie followed the excited young girls to his car, where they were already eagerly waiting.