Ski resorts are awesome. I had always liked them, ever since I first discovered them. I mean, not only is it a place where people go just to play in the snow, but most of them are even grown-ups! It's like they can forget about their jobs and their stress and their taxes for a weekend and just have fun riding down a mountain with stick strapped to their feet like reckless kids. It's great!

While I was visiting one of the biggest ones in Colorado, giving them a little snow as an early Christmas present, I accidentally bumped into someone. That was weird for two reasons: 1) Most people couldn't even see me, much less touch me, and 2) I was about 50 feet off the ground at the time. Was. When we collided, I got knocked off balance and fell down into the snow.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I got distracted. Are you okay?" The…person I had knocked into landed and observed me for a second, while I sat up and did the same. It sounds kinda mean, but…I really couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The way it was dressed didn't help much (both genders wear togas, right?), and there was no way to tell physically.

"I'm fine," I answered, hoping my confusion wasn't written all over my face.

"Let me introduce myself: I'm Cupid." Cupid! That explained the bow across his back. So it must've been a guy. Yeah, we'll go with that. He extended one hand to me, and I took it so he could help me up. "And if I'm not mistaken, you are Jack Frost."

"Yeah, that's me. How could you tell?" I asked as a gust of snowy wind blew past us.

"Just a hunch. You know, I think this place is good in the snow department," he teased, looking around. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, where I go, fun follow," I explained with a shrug. "And sometimes it's the other way around. How about you?"

"Oh, these resorts are very romantic," he said with a grin. "Couples fall in love here all the time. How could I resist visiting a place like that?" His reasons were actually kind of the same as mine; sure, his job was different, but work had brought us both there.

"That makes sense, I guess." I twisted my staff in my hands and asked the question that I was really wondering about: "Uh…don't take this the wrong way or anything, but…should I know you? I mean I know who you are, but…how do you know me?"

"It's my job to know everyone," he answered. "But if you must know, I happen to be good friends with one of your fellow Guardians. The furry one."

"Him? Friends with you? But you seem nice," I snickered. "And he's so grumpy."

"He is. But that's not stopping you, is it?" This time, the look in his eyes was a little too knowing for me, and my smile faded.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Snowflake. He talks about you a lot. It's all right; I won't tell." Thinking about it, I realized that it made sense for him to know. He was Cupid, after all; he had to know about everybody's…business. So he probably knew that Bunny and I hadn't been "just friends" for a while now. In fact, he was waiting for me back at the resort, burrowed somewhere warm while I was "working."

"Yeah," I muttered as my face heated up a little. "Well, what can I say? He's not so bad once you get past that chip on his shoulder. When nobody else is around, he's actually kind of— Wait, he talks about me? What does he say?" I looked up, a little too eager, to find Cupid frowning like he was worried about something. "What's wrong?"

"…you seem sweet," he said, shivering in the cold. "So I have to tell you. Bunnymund's not…exactly the most reliable lover you could find." I didn't know what he meant, but those words made my insides feel cold and empty. In a bad way.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He sighed, fogging up the cool air while the clouds above us grew darker.

"He doesn't do it on purpose. And it's not because he doesn't like you or anything. It's just that… You know, he's a rabbit. He has needs and all that. If you aren't there to meet them, he might find someone else to do it," he explained, almost sounding sad to say it. "Emotional attachment doesn't come easy for him. I've known him for a long time, and he just doesn't do relationships very well." I swallowed hard, feeling my throat prickle and tighten.

"But he's never… I mean, he seems so…" I trailed off; I couldn't even build a sentence. Of course I wanted to believe that Bunny really cared about me like he seemed to, that he wanted me to stay with him. But if Cupid really had as much experience as he said he did… What if he was right?

"I'm sorry, Jack; I don't mean to upset you," he said, sounding distressed to see me so freaked out. "Maybe I'm wrong! Maybe he likes you more. I just wanted to warn you before you got in too deep… I can tell you like him a lot." I didn't know if he meant from my reaction or if he just had love-vision.

"Yeah," I muttered as the wind blew a little harder. "Thanks." Leaning hard on my staff, I was trying to make sense of the stuff going through my head. I didn't feel like having fun anymore… Cupid noticed the change in the weather, the snow getting harder, and he sighed.

"I know it hurts, sweetie," he said, touching my face softly. "But it's for the best. I'll see you around, Jack." With that, he spread his wings and disappeared into the sky, probably predicting a blizzard. My eyes felt wet for a second, but then they turned icy and I had to rub the frozen tears away. It was stupid to let something like this get me down. What did I care? It's not like I expected him to be with me forever or anything. I had been staying at his Warren, but now, I wasn't so sure I wanted to go back. I wasn't sure I could talk to him at all without thinking about those words "if you aren't there…he'll find someone else." Why did it hurt so much? The snow had turned to sleet now, but I ignored it. So much for a fun day on the slopes.

When I finally made myself go back to the resort, he greeted me outside, trembling in two feet of snow.

"Where've you been?" he asked as I reached him. "I thought you said 'a little snow.' What happened?" I shrugged, not even able to look him in the eye.

"Plans change." He reached out and tried to pull me closer, to warm me up, but I pushed him off.

"You all right? Something musta happened."

"It doesn't matter." After spending so much time with me the past few months, he could tell when I was lying.

"Let's go home," he suggested. "We can talk there."

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, too drained to even argue. Even once we were back at the Warren and out of the snow, I felt cold. After being apart all day, it was predictable that he'd try to hug me, but I wasn't having it. When I pushed him away again, he started to get irritated.

"If you're gonna be so bloody cranky, at least tell me what I did," he snapped.

"You didn't do anything," I grumbled, not in the mood to be pushed.

"Pig's arse," he argued. "Then why won't you let me touch you?"

"I'm just not in the mood, all right?" He rolled his eyes.

"Right. Fine." Obviously fed up, he started to walk off, but I grabbed his arm.

"I met somebody while I was out," I told him quietly. "He said he was your friend."

"Who?"

"Cupid." My grip on him tightened a little, and he took a step closer. "He told me…some stuff. He said you don't do relationships. That if I'm not around to do whatever it is you need, you would find somebody else to do it. Like…you don't even care." I could barely make myself say the words out loud. But instead of trying to make me feel better, he just got angry.

"And you believe that? You think that ruddy poof knows anythin' about—" He stopped and made a wordless sound of irritation, turning away from me.

"He's Cupid, Bunny. He knows. You're mad because he's right, aren't you? Because he's right and you know it. And you know I'm not gonna stick around if you don't…" My voice cracked, so I stopped. I felt like an idiot; I should leave before I embarrassed myself any more. Without saying another word to him, I grabbed up my staff and called the wind to get me out of there. As I flew past him, Bunny looked up and called, "Oi!" He bounded after me down one tunnel after another; no matter how fast I tried to go, he was catching up with me.

"Jack!" he called. "Come back here!"

"Leave me alone," I shouted back. When I realized I was lost, I paused in the air. He took that opportunity to pounce and tackle me to the ground. Kicking and fighting like a child, I growled, "Get off me!"

"Hold still," he said sharply, holding my arms down; no matter how much I fought, he was stronger. When I stopped thrashing and glared up at him, panting hard, he looked right in my eyes and told me, "Listen to me: I'm saying I want you. And nobody else." My throat felt tight again. His forehead leaned down against mine while I was biting back tears. "All right?"

"…all right," I agreed, sitting up as much as I could to kiss him.

…

"Bunny, dear, fancy seeing you here. I'm curious as to how you got in without anyone noticing," Cupid said, pausing in the middle of painting his nails.

"Don't piss about; where the hell do you get off?" the rabbit barked, restraining himself from hitting the cherub. "Jack told me what you said."

"Jack? Did I say something to him?" Bunny was in no mood for teasing.

"You know bloody well you did. Why'd you do it?" Cupid crossed his legs and leaned back on one hand, blowing on his nails.

"Let's see," he said thoughtfully. "Why would I say something to make little Jacky question your loyalty? I can't imagine. That is, of course, unless I happened to know that you had feelings which you were stubbornly keeping hidden from him…" Bunnymund's anger seemed to hit a wall, and he paused in his interrogation. So the god went on, "Oh, yes, you are a tough one, Bon Bon, but you couldn't go on keeping it a secret forever. He needed to know how much you cared. If that meant you had to be threatened with losing him, so be it."

"What if I had lost him," the rabbit asked, ears twitching in irritation.

"…then you wouldn't have deserved him, anyway. But you proved that the fear of living without your love was stronger than your pride, just like I knew you would," Cupid said with a smile. "Good onya, mate. And you're welcome."