If you have not already, go back and read Chapter 4 part 2 that was recently added.

Italics – flashback

Disclaimer: Still own nothing…

Chapter 5 - Rain

The shadowy figure's eyes stared intently at the screen. All he needed was a single lead. That would enough to get him what he wanted.

Above the screen of his computer, the picture of the boy smirked down at him. Blue eyes taunted the hunter in his, as of yet, fruitless search.

The man's hand made a smooth, flicking motion and a knife appeared in one of the boy's cerulean eyes. Ah, much better. Now he can concentrate.

A list popped up on the computer screen and the man's eyes roved through all the information, all the failed leads.

The boy had gone to Alvedor High School until February when he had abruptly stopped attending to presumably finish his sophomore year with a private teacher or something of the sort. No other high schools held any record of him enrolling. Dead end.

His whole family had moved away, but no records of buying a house, condo, apartment, anything. Dead end.

It was dead end after dead end.

For all his expertise in computer hacking, he was coming up with absolutely nothing.

The man let a scowl slip onto his otherwise emotionless face and contemplated throwing another knife at the boy's second eye just for consistency's sake.

He could go back to the Mare family chat room and just asking his little cousin outright about the boy he had spoken of, but the man had only known the little cousin for a few weeks. It was not enough time to deduce how nosy or talkative the little cousin was. Too risky. The man always did things in the dark and he would like to keep it that way.

Opening another search window, the man began a separate search on the boy's parents.

Father. Business man. Family man. No siblings. No living relatives that he could see. Dead end.

Mother… Maiden name "North."

The man drummed his fingers on the desk. Perhaps he could do something with that…

Tooth kept shooting worried glances at the next table over, annoying Aster to no end.

Jack had decided that today was a good day to mope alone at his own lunch table. No one had dared to sit next to him. They may not have known the reason for the Frost-boy's sullen mood, but his depressing aura was more than enough to keep everyone away from him, so the rest of the student body opted for just cramming on the available tables.

"Did he have to pick the largest table to sulk at?" Aster grumbled when another student elbowed him in the ribs by accident.

Tooth shot a glare at the tall boy and his sour attitude quickly withered under the heat. The girl gave him one more warning glower before returning to stare sadly at Jack.

"I said all the wrong things," Tooth bemoaned.

Sandy patted her arms comfortably and signed something to the girl.

"Sandy's right," Aster spoke up. "You couldn't have known. If Jack had just told us right off the bat—"

"Oh, yeah," Tooth interrupted, the fire returning in her eyes. "Like that's something you definitely go around telling people 'right off the bat.'" She sighed and then added, "I should have seen the signs. There were so many hints."

Tooth bit her lip, and Aster knew exactly what was going through her mind. Everything had been going so well. Jack was turning out to be a rather good student; he had warmed up to Tooth, to his schoolmates, even to Aster; on top of that, he had invited them all over to hang out at his place.

Everything was going better than just "well," and it all fell apart in one evening.

The day before

"Oi! What in the blazes do ya think ya're doin'!"

Confused blue eyes met narrowed green ones and the perplexed answer was, "Getting something to eat."

"Not like that ya ain't." The Aussie huffed. "If ya want something, go about it like a normal person and ask or get up and yer use hands, not this... this stick!" Aster flicked the hooked end of the aforementioned stick out of the popcorn bowl.

The white-haired teen had previously been using the hooked end of his stick to snag the bowl and then drag it closer to himself. Aster had found the whole thing completely unnecessary and disgustingly unsanitary. He shuddered at just the thought of what kinds of diseases could be crawling on that stick.

"Hey!" a shrill voice interjected. "Don't call a knight's weapon a stick!"

"Weapon? Knight?" Aster repeated incredulously. "Who in their right mind would knight this gumby?" The Aussie jabbed a contemptuous finger in Jack's direction.

Jack snapped at it playfully, and Aster heard Tooth coo fondly over the sight of Jack's pearly whites.

"I did. Princess Baby Tooth," the girl declared proudly.

"As if you could be the princess of anything," Mai piped up.

The newly declared Baby Tooth swung to face her sister. "Jealous?"

"Hardly," the Sang twins chorused.

"Girls," Tooth sighed. "Must we do this everyday?"

But the younger sisters ignored Tooth and the argument promptly ensued.

"So," Jack called over the trill voices of the younger girls and motioned to the bowl of snacks with his over-glorified stick. "Do you mind passing me the popcorn, Bunny?"

Aster scowled at the other boy and said, "As a matter of fact, I do."

Aster reached over with the intent of scooting the bowl farther away from the white-haired nuisance, but another pair of hands intercepted the Aussie's own, plucked it out of Aster's reach, and presented it to Jack.

"Thank you, Sandy," Jack said although Aster could have sworn that the bugger's bloody, little grin was directed at him instead of Sandy.

The mute teenager gave Jack two thumbs-up, easily ignoring Aster's sputtering protests.

"Jack? Do you have any more of those yummy crackers?" Kannitha asked.

"Here, pass me the bowl," Jack replied, his arm outstretched to accept the bowl from the young girl.

"Thanks, Jack!" the girl said, a starry look in her eyes. Jack obliged her with a quick grin, which she promptly swooned over.

Jack got up to retrieve the snack when he caught sight of Aster bent over an egg with a paintbrush in hand.

"Okay, since we're on the topic of strange behaviors," Jack said. "What are you doing to my eggs?"

Aster looked up from his brightly colored egg long enough to give the other boy a withering look. "They're mine, ya gumby. These little beauties are my next project for Mr. Mooney."

Jack picked up an egg, ignoring the protests about wet paint. "So these are what Mr. Mooney calls 'Aster's googies.'"

Somehow the boy managed to balance the painted egg on his staff and slide the egg down its wooden side into Aster's waiting hands.

"Ya dill, what are ya tryin' to do? I—"

"Oh Jack?" Tooth interjected above Aster's ranting.

Jack paused on his way to the kitchen and looked back.

"Thanks for letting me bring the girls," Tooth said.

"These are fragile!" Aster continued. "You put one scratch on 'em and I'll—"

"Sorry if they've been any trouble, but with my parents at that welcome party for yours... Well, someone had to watch them."

Tooth sent a rueful glance at the arguing sisters, but Jack merely laughed and waved a dismissive hand.

"It's okay, really. I know what siblings can be like."

"If ya do a stupid trick like that again—"

Realization dawned in Tooth's eyes as she just remembered a certain detail. "That's right. Where's your sis—

Tooth's last word was drowned out as both Aster and Kannitha decided to raise their voices at the same time.

"Hey Jack. Did you get the crackers yet?"

"Ya hear me, Frostbite?"

Jack chuckled under his breath. "I'm getting them," he called to the Sang girl an then added to the seething Aussie, "Chill, Cottontail. These eggs are safe in my house.

The white-haired boy pantomimed a golf swing, an impish gleam in his eyes, and then turned to the kitchen.

Aster growled as he protectively gathered the eggs closer to himself.

"I'm goin' to snap that bloody staff," the teen muttered darkly.

"Oh please don't," Tooth said, while Sandy tried to console him with a pat on his arm. "Baby Tooth (isn't that cute!) calls it his warrior weapon. She'll be upset if you break it."

"Ya're just siding with him because it annoys me, aren't ya sheila?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, E. Aster Bunnymund," Tooth sniffed.

"Are ya still mad about your chemistry grade? I said I was sorry, Tooth!"

"Your apologies have been heard and duly noted," Tooth returned curtly.

A squeal cut off any reply Aster might have made and it was soon followed by the sound of pounding feet. Looking up, Tooth caught the sight of her siblings crowding around the window.

"It's snowing again, Tooth!" one of them shrieked happily.

Tooth smiled knowingly. "Do you want to go outside?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Kannitha shouted back.

When Jack returned to the room, he was nearly trampled by a rainbow whirlwind as the younger girls tried to race to the door while simultaneously shoving on hats, earmuffs, and various other winter gear. "Come on, Jack!" Baby Tooth hollered as she steamrolled past him. "It's snowing!"

Jack flinched as the door was thrown open and a gust of icy, winter air hit him. Aster glanced at Jack in faint surprise. If there was one thing he had learned about the other teen in the little time he had been here, it was that he was near impervious to cold.

"Crikey!"

A certain Aussie on the other hand…

Aster huddled miserably up against the couch in a vain attempt to warm himself up.

"Shut the door, Frostbite!" Aster grounded out.

In a weird sort of daze, Jack obliged without a single protest. The door shut with a final click, but not before Tooth had caught sight of the inviting winter wonderland that was quickly forming outside. Aster saw a gleam enter his friend's eyes, and Aster internally groaned, knowing what was coming.

"Up, Aster!" she said tugging on her friend. "You could use a little exercise after hunching over those eggs all day."

The boy grumbled, but allowed himself to be dragged towards the door. As soon Aster vacated his spot on the sofa, Jack slipped in and sat down heavily, the dazed look still present in his eyes. Sandy gave Jack a concerned look and scooted close to the white-haired teen as is sensing a coldness that could only be warded away by another's presence.

Jack startled when Sandy laid a hand on his arm, but relaxed when the blonde just sent him a shy smile.

Tooth and Aster both stood there in silence, watching the whole exchange. Tooth shot her friend a confused look, but Aster could only shrug back. The Aussie turned away to gather his coat, hoping that she did not catch the worried light in his own eyes.

"Um, Jack?" Tooth called. "Care to join us outside?"

Jack's blue eyes turned to her and his eyebrows furrowed together as if he did not understand the question. Sandy poked him in the side, and the spell over Jack seemed to break for a second.

"Uh, yeah. Let me, uh, just get my…" Jack's voice trailed off as he stared out the window. A strange sort of apprehension seemed to build up in the silence, but once again, Jack shook it off. "My shoes. That's what I need."

He shook off Sandy's warm touch and breezed past Tooth and Aster. Tooth could only stare as Jack's back retreated into another room.

In no time, the teens had joined the Sang trio, watching in faint amusement as the three flitted around in the gathering snow in a free-for-all game of tag.

Jack also stood by them, but his hood was thrown up and his hands were buried deep in his pockets. Aster knew that it had nothing to do with the cold.

"What's up with him?" Aster breathed a little louder than he meant. Tooth looked up in surprise to meet her friend's green gaze. Aster interpreted the look and gave an indignant snort. "He's an annoyin' bugger, but I am entitled to worry about him too. You ain't the only one who's noticed." To prove his point, the Aussie nodded to Sandy who was shooting questioning glances at the unresponsive boy.

Sandy signed something to his friends, and Tooth and Aster both nodded in agreement. It was as if Jack was regressing. Aster glanced at Tooth, knowing that she felt frustrated seeing all her hard work to get him out of his shell seemingly vanish so quickly.

"I haven't made a snowman this year!" Tooth exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Aster asked. "Sure ya did. Ya did it—" Aster's sentence was abruptly cut off with a wheeze that may or may not have resulted from Sandy's elbow in his gut.

"Come on, girls! Want to help?" Tooth called and then turned to where Jack stood rooted to the porch. "You too, Jack!"

Jack head whipped up, so they could see the shadowed blue eyes under the hood. He opened his mouth to decline or maybe to protest, but they would never know because Tooth bounded across the space separating them and dragged him into the light snowfall.

"You do know how to make a snowman, right?" she asked.

Jack nodded mutely, and Tooth flashed him a grin that seemed a little too bright in Aster's eyes.

All seven of them joined in building the snowman and in no time, three perfect balls of snow were sitting on top of each other. The three younger Sang girls had darted into the forest and gathered twigs, rocks, and other materials to produce the snowman's smiling face.

"He needs to be warm," Baby Tooth declared, taking off her own scarf.

Jack smiled—the first smile to appear on his face since he had stepped out into the snowfall.

"Here, little lady," he said. He plucked up the girl and lifted her up so that she could wrap the scarf around the snowman.

"He needs a hat now," Mai chirped. Everyone turned to look at Aster, the only one with a hat large enough to fit on the snowman's round head.

"Nuh-uh. No way, mates," Aster said, putting a protective hand on his hat. "This is stayin' right where it belongs—on my head."

"But Aster," Mai whined, reaching futilely up to Aster's hat.

Jack gave a low chuckle. "Uncle North has a old top hat that we can use."

"I'll get it," Aster quickly volunteered.

He was already making his escape as Jack shouted after him, "Down the hallway, second doorway to your right. Should be on the top shelf."

As quick as a rabbit, Aster returned with an old, but still elegant top hat and arranged it properly on the snowman's head.

All four girls cheered at the completion of their snowman.

"What a dashing gentleman that has visited us this evening."

The children turned around, startled by the new voice. Aster took in the new face in a second and before she could stop herself, blurted out, "It's an older Jack."

Realizing what she had said, Tooth quickly slapped her hand over her mouth as heat rose up on her cheeks.

"Smooth, sheila," Aster chuckled under his breath.

The man's laughter rang through the open area and two more sets mingled with his as North and a woman walked up to join him.

"That's an unusual way of putting it," the man replied when he had regained his breath. "I tend to think that Jack gets his looks from me, not the other way around."

"I'm sorry," Tooth murmured from behind her hand.

The man waved away her apology with a flippant hand and friendly smile.

"Don't worry, dear," the woman said with the barest hint of an accent. "He needs to be reminded of his age from time to time or else he might do stupid things like diving off a roof into a pool."

The man winced and rubbed his side as if remembering an old injury.

"Well, I guess you're all wondering who we old folk are," the man said, smoothly changing the subject. He gave Jack a pointed look, but the boy either did not notice or was still in his silent brooding because he did not give the man any sort of reaction. With a sigh, the man proceeded to introduce himself. "Jasper Frost, at your service."

Handshakes were exchanged between teenagers and adults and high-fives were given to the younger siblings as the children introduced themselves.

"And if you haven't guessed it already, I'm Jack's father," he said with an easy grin directed at Tooth's still very red face.

As Tooth's earlier outburst had hinted, Jack was the spitting image of his dad minus the fact that Mr. Frost did not seem to bleach his hair or wear contacts. Even their demeanor was almost disturbingly the same. From the lopsided grin to the sparkling glint in their eyes, they mirrored one another, except of course Jack's eyes were currently devoid of any sort of glint sparkling or otherwise.

"And this is Claire, my wife," the man continued.

The woman gave the group a pleasant smile and a quiet hello. She looked nothing like her brother. She was petite for one thing, only standing up to North's chest. Her hair was a dark brown instead of the black Aster knew North had had in his younger days. Even her accent was significantly less pronounced then North's obvious Russian one. The only thing the two siblings shared was the pale blue that colored their smiling eyes.

"It's nice to meet ya, sir, ma'am," Aster said, sounding more reserved than usual. Sandy gave a nod and a returning smile.

Tooth had finally overcome her embarrassment and looked from North to the couple to Jack. Tooth frowned as if trying to find some missing puzzle piece.

Aster realized just what Tooth was looking right before she said it. North had a nephew and a niece.

"Where's Rosie?"

The couple had frozen in exchanging greetings with the group of friends and turned to stare at her.

"That's your daughters name isn't it?" Tooth continued self-consciously, her voice getting weaker as she went on. "Rosie?"

There was another moment of silence before Claire Frost gasped and her hands flew to her mouth as she choked back another sound.

Jack suddenly broke out of his frozen spell and darted to his mother's side. He slung an arm around her trembling form and began whispering indistinguishable words to her.

Tooth took a step back as if someone had hit her, and the children watched the scene unfold before them.

Mr. Frost and North immediately rushed to Mrs. Frost's side, but for some reason, the woman would only let Jack console her. She gripped at Jack's hoodie and pulled him close as if afraid he would disappear into smoke. North spoke briefly to Jack, and with a nod, the boy began leading his mother back to the house.

Mr. Frost turned to the group, a tight and resigned look on his face. It reminded Aster so much of when Jack had first entered Wittmore High.

"Mr. Frost, I'm so sorry," Tooth said, confusion evident in her voice.

"No," Mr. Frost said gently, "No, you had no way of knowing."

He gazed brokenly at the assembled children.

Mr. Frost sighed, "Rosie… Rosie had died last December."

Aster stared at the man in shock. A thousand apologies and words of comfort crowded at the edge of his tongue, but for some reason, the sentences died in the back of his throat.

Tooth also seemed to be choking on unspoken words. And a horrible silence fell over the children.

A heavy hand rested on Mr. Frost's shoulder. "Jay, I will explain to children," North spoke. "Your wife and son need family now."

Mr. Frost nodded, seeming a hundred times older than he had just a few seconds ago.

North turned to the children, grief written all over his face.

"Oh, North—" Tooth began, but the huge man cut her off with a raised hand.

"'Tis my fault. I should have told you before they came, then awkward situation would not have happened, no? 'Tis my fault."

"Is there anythin' we can do, mate?" Aster spoke up.

North shook his head and then hesitated.

"Be Jack's friend. He needs friends more than ever."

"I really am an idiot," Tooth mumbled into her hands. "Everything I said was wrong."

"Ya are talkin' crazy," Aster said. "Ya sound like ya're talkin' about a boyfriend ya just broke up with."

Tooth shot Aster another glare. "He's not a boyfriend, but he is a friend."

Aster snapped his mouth shut and sneaked a peak at the boy, picking listlessly at his food. The Aussie could imagine storm clouds hanging over the boy's head. Like they did in the movies. Aster could almost see the snapping of the lightning, could almost hear the booming of the thunder. Rain was surely on its way.

"I should go talk to him," Tooth said, making a move to stand.

"No," Aster ordered, his voice low. Tooth froze and opened her mouth to retort, but Aster beat her to it. "I'll talk to him. He needs someone who understands, not a girl."

Tooth's face lit up like a cherry bomb and Aster realized his mistake, "Nah, sheila. That's not what I meant," Aster said quickly.

"Then what did you mean?" Tooth demanded. Her eyes held enough heat to melt Alaska.

"I mean that I can understand. I've been in the same place, ya know. Ya could talk to him, but face it, Tooth, he'll just see ya as more sympathy. He'll appreciated, but it won't help, not in the long run anyways." Something he said must have been right because Tooth relaxed back into her seat again and the death scene that Aster had seen in her eyes also cooled.

"Okay," Tooth said slowly.

Aster rose from his seat and instantly the sea of students closed around his empty spot.

"Oi!" Aster protested. "Don't get too comfortable, ya dills, 'cause I'm coming back and my seat better be warm and waitin' for me."

The student population promptly ignored the Aussie and Aster just sighed rubbing his head, considering his seat forfeit. No turning back now.

A tug on his arm got him looking down into Sandy's warm gold eyes. The blonde gave Aster a meaningful look and Aster said, "I know, mate. I'll try not to hit him."

Sandy nodded, seemingly satisfied with that, and released his friend.

Aster made his way slowly over to the nearly deserted table, wondering what in world had possessed him to do this.

He sat directly opposite to Jack, but the boy gave no indication he knew that his personal space had been invaded. He simply continued picking at his food.

"Ya better shove something down your trap, Frost. I don't think that you can afford to be any skinnier."

Jack's head snapped up, and Aster startled when he heard a bang underneath the table.

Jack gasped and then grabbed his knee with a small sound of pain.

Aster watched this all with a dim amusement. "Smooth, Frostbite. Very smooth."

"Think you could top that, Cottontail?" Jack said with a grin.

Aster eyed that grin distrustfully, ignoring the nickname. Jack's lips were pulled tight across his face so that it looked strained rather than friendly or even playfully mocking, and Aster hated to admit that it disturbed him even more those devilish smirks.

"Why are ya over here, Frost?" Aster asked, his narrowed eyes showing that he was not here for games.

"Seems pretty crowded over there don't you think," Jack said, pointing at one of the overflowing tables.

Aster resisted the urge to strangle the nonsense out of the teen and accuse him of being the cause of all the other students' discomfort. "Jack," Aster stated firmly.

That got the teen's attention. A shadow crossed over his blue eyes and briefly Aster wondered about the brown color Tooth had told him lay underneath, but the moment went as quickly as it came and again that tight smile was on Jack's face.

"Maybe you should go back to Tooth and Sandy, Aster," Jack said, revealing that he knew exactly what Aster's intentions for coming over here were.

Aster froze. Jack had actually said his real name, not Bunny, not Kangaroo, not Cottontail… and Aster found that he did not like it—not one bit.

For some reason, that was all Aster could take of this sullen Jack. Crack a joke, throw a snowball, anything but this pitiful show of depression.

"Come on, Frostbite," Aster announced grabbing the other youth's arm. "Outside. Now."

"What?" Jack asked, fork dropping to the plate. "I thought you hated the cold."

"Ya got something against my change in preference?" Aster demanded, easily dragging Jack out of his seat and towards the door. The whole cafeteria had gone silent as they watched the Aussie manhandle the slight, white-haired boy.

"What about my lunch?" Jack asked.

"What were you going to do with it?" Aster scoffed. "Let some freshman who forget his lunch have it."

On the way out, Tooth gave Aster an unsure smile, while Sandy gave the Aussie a full, toothy grin and two thumbs-up.

"Way to be subtle, mate," Aster grumbled at Sandy when Jack shot the Aussie a glare like this was all his idea.

They pushed through the doors of the cafeteria that led outside and a full blast of winter air made Aster immediately regret his decision. At least the snow had stopped.

"Your preference, huh?" Jack said, gesturing the snow-covered tables and ground.

"I love winter, don't ya know," Aster grumbled, releasing Jack's arm to rub his freezing arms.

Jack took the opportunity to turn back to the door, but through the glass, both of them could see that Jack's table had disappeared under the swarming high school students.

"No way, Frost," Aster said, grabbing his arm again and pulling him further away from the door.

Finally admitting defeat, Jack no longer resisted Aster's tugging and instead jerked his arm out of the other boy's grasp and marched over to one of the farthest tables where he cleared a spot to sit. With that little show done, Jack turned to glare at Aster as if to say "you may have gotten me here, but don't expect me to talk."

Aster sighed and cleared the spot right next to Jack and sat down purposefully.

And so they sat, for a whole minute or so—Jack in defiant silence and Aster in morose contemplation.

They would have sat there longer, but Aster decided it would be better to start sooner than later considering his butt was starting to freeze on the unforgiving stone.

"It hurts a lot, doesn't it?" Aster asked.

Jack gave a disbelieving snort as if he could not believe that Aster had the audacity to say such a thing. "'Hurt' doesn't cover it. Try unbearable or how 'bout agonizing? 'Hurt' doesn't describe losing... family." Jack nearly choked on the last word and Aster tried to face Jack, but the other teen was looking the other way.

"I ain't talking about that, ya gumby," Aster said.

Jack turned and gave Aster a confused look. "Separatin' yerself," Aster clarified. "Ya cut yerself off thinkin' it will keep others from hurtin' too, but ya know what? It does the bloody opposite! Oi, so we may not understand the deepest parts, but give a chance to or else let us at least be there. Why are ya doin' this, mate?"

Jack was silent for the longest time before he subtly wiped a sleeve over his nose and turned to Aster. "Who was she?" he asked. "Or he?"

Aster really did not give the little bugger enough credit sometimes. He could be darn perceptive when he wanted to be.

"Actually it's 'they,'" Aster stated dully. Years of buried hurts and nightmares rose from the recesses of his mind, but the Aussie pushed them back; he had had his time to cry and mourn; he had moved beyond that. "My parents. Australia seems like such a nice place to live, but we got troubles and murderers just like any other place out there. Innocent people—it ain't fair sometimes, but..."

Jack did not push for details, but rather let the other boy tell the story how he wanted to, and for that, Aster was grateful.

"I didn't have any other family. The only other relatives I had died before I was born—some freak fire or something," Aster continued. "My adoptive parents took me up, brought me to their home town. I was a really lucky bugger, but I didn't see it that way. Took me years before I started callin' Ed and Susan 'mom' and 'dad.'"

Aster stopped. There was more to say, but he couldn't get the words out, yet when he glanced hesitantly at Jack and found those blue eyes staring back at him, and Aster knew that Jack had somehow gotten the message.

Seeing that Aster was now looking at him, Jack quickly looked away and wiped at any tear that may or may not have streaked down his cheeks and he spoke, "I was so tired or hearing the "I'm so sorry" and "you have my condolences." Jack's voice grated against his throat, but he kept talking. "Even Uncle North... He lost a girl a while back. I think it happened before I was born. Her name was Katherine. He kept saying he understood that I could talk to him, but he's had years to get over it and she wasn't exactly family. You..." Jack stopped as his throat closed and Aster put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Jack didn't need to finish the sentence. The message was loud and clear: "They don't understand. But you do. Thank you."

They stayed like that for the longest time until Aster decided that he should at least say one thing that would make Tooth happy. "Ya know, Frost. Everyone may not understand, but they still care. Just ignore the stupid pity 'cause at least it means they're still lookin' out for ya. They—we are still here, Jack. Ya don't have to be alone, not any more."

Jack nodded and gave a shuddering breath.

The bell gave a dull ring and both boys gave it a weary and slightly annoyed look. Neither made a move to go to class.

Aster gave a glance at Jack and found that he boy was also eyeing him with the same tired look.

"Mr. Mooney doesn't care what I do," Aster said. "I don't feel like goin' to 6th period."

"Teacher's pet," Jack snorted. "When you're in grieving, it seems like the teachers don't question what you do, so I have a free period too."

"How 'bout a drink at the Tea Leaf?"

Jack made a face. "You mean the place that uses a lawn as its main ingredient? Pass."

"What'd you say, Frost?" Aster asked, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," the white-haired teen said innocently. "My parents and Uncle North are supposed to be out getting some 'home necessities.' How about some teeth-rotting sweets and mind-numbing movies at my place?"

"Tooth's goin' to kill us," Aster muttered, but hopped off the bench and began to lead the way to the road.

Jack followed. "Oh the many joys of ditching."

The two boys located the loose part of the school's gate the janitor always swore he was going to fix someday and easily slipped through. They walked in a silence of shared understanding.

About halfway to North's house, Aster realized he could only hear one set of footsteps. Looking around, Aster spotted Jack a couple paces behind him. The white-haired teen had just frozen on the deserted road as fresh snow once again began to fall.

Sensing that something was off, Aster backtracked so that he was standing at the other teen's side.

"Frostbite?" Aster asked softly.

Jack gave no indication that he knew that Aster was there, but continued to watch the snowfall. A pale reached out to catch the little flakes and Jack brought it close so he could watch the fragile flake melt underneath his warm breath.

"She loved the snow," Jack finally said. "Every time I see it, I can't help but..."

Jack reached out his hand again, but another hand stopped his and instead pulled him close—away from the cold.

And Aster just stood there, ignoring the two skinny shoulders that shook slightly under his embrace and the wetness that soaked through his sleeve, because the rain had yet to stop falling.

A/N: Some nice bromance going on. So now you all know what happened (although I'm sure many of you have guessed already). More details of the tragedy are to come.

Thanks to all my reviewers and people who favorited and/or followed this story.

Answers to anonymous reviews:

Guest 1 (6/27): Thank you for your review! And of course I'm keeping this up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

tdbrigit: I feel honored that you think so highly of my story. Thank you so much!

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~Bluesky21543