19.
"I swear I looked everywhere for her!" He exclaimed, irritated. "The first week, she and stupid Frost were together like they were freaking attached like conjoined twins; the next two, she vanishes in the thin air!"
"Dude do you listen at me at all? I told you she still goes to Prof. North class" Hans said in a bored manner. Pitch hasn't recovered fully yet, so he's been stuck in their dorm since he refused to go to the infirmary and his wounds just kept getting infected. He just went out of the dorm in search for Elsa, in attempt to 'apologize' or whatever. This has been all they have been talking about for almost three freaking weeks already.
Hans was getting insane.
"Yes, you fucking idiot, I heard you... And how many fucking times do I have to tell you that I can't go to the Main Hall because I can't let any professor see me looking like this?" Pitch barked. "Plus you told me that Frost is not attending. So I still have no idea on what the heck is going on"
"Ugh, do you live under a rock, or what?" Vanessa said popping a bubble gum. "Jack has a girlfriend" She said. Pitch was about to explode in anger. "And no, you idiot, it's not Elsa" She added rolling her eyes.
"Then who the hell she is?" Hans asked in confusion.
"Does it matter?" Vanessa said bored. "The only thing that does matter is that he left Elsa for this... This thing. I don't even know what Jackie see's in her, she's like a walking unicorn vomit"
"He left Elsa for this girl?" Pitch asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, he left her planted on place one day after class and went with this girl in a heartbeat. It all happened in the Main Building, in front of probably the whole campus" Gothel explained.
"Yeap, Elsa is probably dying of embarrassment right now while she's hiding under a rock" Vanessa added "Serves her well"
"Rumors said that she even changed her whole style after this major rejection" Gothel commented again. "She's probably depressed or something."
"It doesn't seem like a depressed style for me" Hans scoffed, and scrolled through his camera roll, and showed Pitch a few photos of Elsa's new style. "All the campus male population is talking about it. She's even way hotter now, at least for me" Pitch sent him a death glare. "J-Just an opinion of course" Hans quickly excused.
"And how come you didn't show me these pictures before?" Pitch growled.
"I didn't think that a change of clothes was a major issue" Hans exclaimed like it was obvious. Pitch just rolled his eyes.
"Maybe this is finally your chance to be Elsa's knight in a... err, shining armor" Gothel said to Pitch.
"Yeah, right. Like she'll let me go near her" He said chuckling dryly, to then grin wickedly. "What I need is a plan, and now that Frost is not available to defend Elsa anymore, things are going to be way easier"
X
Three more days passed, it was Monday today, and the weekend had not been easy for him. The first reason was that Tooth made him drive her in and out of campus practically the whole weekend, like he was her freaking chauffeur.
And when they finally arrived to the campus, him fantasizing of just sleeping in his dorm without any bother, she made him help her with her dorm, so they spent hours and hours working on it.
She was set in extra decorating her room, and she was quite rushed in finishing it during the weekend. He drove her to maybe ten house stores to buy appliances, decorations and utensils for her everyday use. He even bought her a few stuff due to her insistence.
The second reason, was that no matter how hard he tried, Elsa's last image couldn't get out of his head.
Elsa looking so free and carefree made him so damn curious. He wanted to see her, check if she really decided to dress differently or if her closet was caught on fire and someone was lending her clothes. He wanted to talk to her, just say 'hi' to her. His whole body was screaming him to talk to her. Maybe even tell her that he was actually very sorry.
So, the little free time that Tooth didn't use him as an employee, he couldn't help but walk through the campus in hope of seeing her again, just for a second.
But, thanks to his amazingly 'good' luck (note the sarcasm), he never caught her.
And today, he couldn't shake the feeling of something being wrong. Sure, he felt that since Rapunzel's chat, but now the feeling was getting insanely annoying.
The main reason was that, since the first time that she came, Tooth didn't text him to come pick her up for class, or to help her carry her stuff, or to buy her breakfast or anything of the sort.
He was tempted to text her, but he quickly ditched the idea. He never texted her first, she was the one that was constantly texting him.
Still, he felt anxious. So he decided to search for her just to check that everything was fine and this stupid feeling was just Rapunzel's fault.
He searched the Scientific Building in and out, but she was not there. Not even in her classes. He searched the Art building just because, and he searched her dorm building from outside. He went to the Main Building that was the last searching spot he considered.
Just as he stepped in the halls after more than two weeks, he heard a female voice screaming at the top of her lungs.
"How can you be so fucking insensitive?!" The voice screamed loudly, anger obviously present.
He stopped in his tracks for one second. He could now hear a lot of gasps and murmurs, but that female voice stood out clearly.
"And you, are you really gonna be part of her sick game?!" She screamed again. This girl was burning in anger.
"Why don't you worry about your damn business, huh?" Another female voice said, and Jack felt his soul leave his body.
That was Tooth voice.
"You're such a heartless human being. You're shameless! I can't believe you've been so selfish and mean!" The first voice, that he now realized he was familiarized with, talked again.
Jack finally found the ability to keep walking, and he slowly made his way towards the source of the voices, feeling his heart beating slower and slower.
There was a huge amount of people surrounding something, everyone murmuring, whispering and gasping, with their eyes fixed in the center. A few of them saw him, and they immediately let him through the circle of crowd with terrified and anxious faces.
Right in the middle of the crowd, Rapunzel was with a rage filled face, and just in front of her, a few feet away, was Tooth, hugging tightly no other than Aster Bunnymund by his neck. Him looking rather startled by the situation.
"You're a two-faced whore!" Punzie screamed again, eyes on fire.
"And you're just a dumb princess wannabe. Stay out of my fucking business!" Tooth screamed as well.
Jack's whole world stopped, he couldn't do anything but just stare at the couple with wide eyes, while he felt like his heart stopped beating.
It was just when Aster acknowledged his presence with a shocked and embarrassed face that the two girls finally stopped screaming.
He felt like this was some kind of wicked déjà vú. They were exactly in the same position as they were three years ago inside that janitor's closet, when he opened the door, in front of the whole damn school.
'Don't you see, Jack? You're never going to be enough for me'
He stepped back remembering her words, like they had literally hit him, just like three years ago.
Tooth finally decided to look at him, but she did not look at him like three years ago, she had just 'busted' wrote all over her face. She wasn't sorry, she was just shocked.
"I told you" Rapunzel said silently, looking genuinely sorry for him. Jack snapped his head to her and felt his breath become uneven.
"What a loser" Pitch's very-well known voice said from behind. Hans snickering with him. Obviously they had to see this.
He felt his vision blurring and the whispers and murmurs were making him dizzy and irritated, he tried hard to control his breathing and his pulse.
"Jack?" Aster voice suddenly said, with clear concern.
He couldn't take it anymore, he pushed harshly aside the people that were on his way and he stomped quickly in direction of his dorm.
He couldn't believe it. He couldn't fucking believe it.
He was just so freaking stupid.
How much was life going to make him suffer?
Hadn't he suffer enough already?!
He was a fucking idiot.
He couldn't believe that Toothiana managed to get to him again, so freaking easily.
"I knew you would come" She purred at him while she was tied up to his arm once he started to walk with her, leaving behind the Main Hall.
"Don't touch me" He hissed and slightly pushed her away.
"Aww, Jackie, c'mon" She giggled. "Stop being so grumpy"
Jack said nothing, his mind still on Elsa. Fuck. He should had said something to her. After all he told Elsa about Toothiana she must surely think he's crazy to still agree going with her. But he couldn't help but feel curious.
"We're here!" Tooth announced cheerily, and Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Her dorm was as expected. Full of shiny colors. He wondered how she didn't get dizzy just by looking at everything.
Tooth sat down in one of the couches, and just gazed at him with a grin. Jack frowned at her in confusion.
"You wanted to talk about something or..?" He asked annoyed.
"Oh, of course!" She said a bit nervously. She started rambling about nonsense, and Jack almost instantly stopped listening to her. He took out his phone and quickly searched for Elsa's number to text her and let her know that he's sorry for leaving her like that, and once he finished talking with Tooth he was going straight to her dorm, maybe stopping to buy food for them.
But Tooth was quickly to pick up how his eyes slightly shined while he was writing something on his phone.
"Who are you texting, Jackie?" Tooth asked slightly annoyed.
"None of your business for sure" Jack instantly answered, eyes still on his phone. Tooth smiled dryly and instantly guessed.
"Is that girl you were with?" She asked.
"None of your business" He repeated.
"I really hope you're not interested in Elsa Winters" Tooth said, Jack's head instantly snapped at her. She knew who she was. "I mean, girls like her are so heartless, she's surely gonna hurt you" She said with a sad voice.
"And you're the one to talk" Jack chuckled sarcastically. Tooth tried hard not to scoff, she instead just smiled at him.
"Jack, I know you're still mad at me because of what happened. But just think about it, if you stay with me now, things are going to be how they were before. You could be happy again"
"Things are never going to be the same" Jack hissed.
"Don't fool yourself, Jack. You know they can. You know that no other girl would be able to ever make you as happy as I did" Tooth said with confidence. "And mostly not a girl like her. She's just a spoiled brat that wants everything for herself, she's greedy and selfish. She knows that you're hard to get and that's the only reason why she pretends to like you" She said venomously. Jack felt anger boiling in his blood at her words.
"You don't fucking know her!" He exclaimed in anger, Tooth just smirked.
"I know people like her Jack. Tell me, do you really think she can make you the person you were before? Turn you to the old Jack?" She asked sarcastically.
No.
The answer was clear.
No, she couldn't.
"The only person that can do that is me" She said, looking straight at him. "And you know it"
Could she really? After all she'd done? Could she really turn him into the old Jack? The one that he dreamed of being once again?
"Don't you want to be yourself again, Jack? Haven't you suffered enough?" Tooth said softly.
Yes.
Yes.
"I can turn you back to the old Jack and you know it" She said quietly. Jack gazed at her with hope in his eyes. He couldn't trust her completely. But he wanted the old Jack. He needed it.
And then Tooth grinned. She knew that he was on the palm of her hands now. He didn't need to answer.
"I'll make sure you're happy once again" She said and hugged him. "You just need to stay away from mean people like her. She might appear like she's good, but she's not. You need to stay away" She added.
And Jack deleted the message he was writing to Elsa.
He wanted to be as happy as he once was.
Too fucking stupid. He was just too fucking stupid.
He managed to get into his dorm now, and tears were already running on his cheeks. He couldn't see anything because of the blurriness, so he just seated harshly on his bedroom floor, and leaned against the wall, as the tears ran freely out of his eyes.
He replayed the scene a billion times in his head, and he remembered how he read Elsa's desperate messages just asking for an answer. Pleading for one. Asking if she'd done something wrong.
He was so wrong about everything.
He was right about one thing though.
Elsa wouldn't able to turn him into the old Jack.
Because that Jack no longer existed.
But, she would be able to turn him into a better Jack, a new Jack, and a happy Jack.
She has the power to fix him. Maybe he wouldn't end up being like he was before, but he knew that she was going to make him better. Maybe so much better than the old Jack.
But he shut her out.
He closed his eyes, trying to accept the fact that he was all alone now, for real, while the tears kept on streaming.
Until he felt something warm being delicately placed on his hands.
He blinked in confusion, trying his best to blink the blurriness away and he gazed in curiosity at the object on his hands.
A disposable cup of The Golden Bean was on his hands, with the slight steam escaping through the little whole of the cap.
"It's hot chocolate" a voice coming from above him said.
He felt his heart instantly stop, and he gazed at the source of the voice.
Elsa was looking down at him, with a cup of hot chocolate herself, looking slightly uncomfortable by his shocked gaze.
"Uhm... The door was open so.." She said pointing awkwardly at the door.
He couldn't believe this. He would be sure this was some kind of vision if he didn't feel the warm cup on his hands.
She had an open shoulder slightly over sized grey sweater, black leggings and black booties. Her hair was in a messy bun. She looked great.
"What are you doing here?" Was the first thing that got out Jack's mouth. Elsa seemed to instantly flush, and get slightly angry too.
"Punz called" She said. "She uh... told me what happened. I'm really sorry, I thought you needed something to cheer you up, but if you want I can leave-" she said and turned to leave.
"Wait!" He nearly screamed and instantly grabbed her arm. Elsa turned to look at him, and then directed her sight at his hand. She was about to shake off his grip but he held her tighter. "Stay" he said breathlessly.
Elsa looked at him with cold eyes, but Jack could also see hurt in them.
"Are you sure? Because it seemed that you didn't want me anywhere near a day ago" She couldn't help but say it harshly. It was hard for her. She really felt pathetic already.
As soon as Rapunzel told her about the drama show in the Main Building, Elsa immediately went to buy him something to cheer him up. Hot Chocolate cheered her up, so surely it will cheer him up as well. She just couldn't believe how she didn't stop to think for one second about all these days he avoided her, instead she ran to him in a heart beat. How pathetic.
"No! Please stay" He cried, he looked really remorseful and sad. "Please, Elsa" he pleaded.
Elsa couldn't help but blink in surprise. It was the first time he called her by her name.
Elsa looked at his grip once again, and sighing, she sat down next to him.
Jack let go of the breath he was holding, he never felt so relieved and thankful in his life.
He observed as Elsa silently drank her hot chocolate, looking everywhere but him. He just couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe she was here, rescuing him again. He felt the impulse to touch her again, to make sure she was really there, but he could feel the heat radiating from her body, and as well her characteristic vanilla with just a touch of peppermint scent.
"You look different" He noted. The silence was driving him crazy. He wanted her to talk, or to scream at him or tell him how stupid he've been. He just didn't want silence.
"Uh.. Yeah" She just said, not even looking at him. He tried again.
"What made you change?" He asked
"Uhh.. stuff" She said, unsure of what to answer "I guess I wasn't being myself completely"
"I like it" He said with a smile. "If that helps" He added.
She smiled for a split second, smile not reaching her eyes.
She was mad, if that wasn't pretty obvious already.
A question crossed his mind.
"You knew?" He asked. He was curious, did she know about this? That Tooth was doing this to him? He wouldn't blame her if she did and she didn't tell, but he just wanted to know.
Elsa look at him briefly and then returned her gaze to her cup.
"No" she answer truthfully. "I knew that Punz talked to her and she told her everything"
"And Rapunzel didn't tell you?" He asked confused. It was hard to believe that after all Rapunzel said to him, she didn't tell Elsa about it.
"No" She answered again. "She wanted to, but I told her not to" Jack looked at her hurt.
"Why not?" He asked almost whispering.
"Because if I knew, I was going to go running to you, to tell you" She said first. "But no matter what, you still weren't going to believe me"
Jack instantly felt a pang in his heart.
"Fuck!" He screamed and punched the floor harshly. Elsa didn't move an inch. "I'm such a fucking idiot!" he screamed again, and instantly felt his eyes burning.
He just couldn't believe how Elsa was always thinking about him when he was just thinking about himself. He didn't even understand why was she trying so hard or why she even cared about him. If he was her, he was going to give up in a person like that a long time ago. Wouldn't even give them the time of the day, but here she was like always, making sure he's okay while he's acting like a selfish bitch.
"I'm so sorry, Elsa." He said not daring to look at her. "I'm so sorry. I've been a fucking idiot. She told me that if I ignored you I could be back to being who I was. She told me that she was the only one that could make me happy like in the past. She said that I needed to ignore you-"
"Why are you blaming her?" Elsa interrupted him harshly. Jack tried to blink the blurriness away and looked at her in total confusion. Didn't she know what Tooth did?. "She might have told you what to do, or planned this whole thing. But you were the one that did it!" She said. Jack felt his chest tightening. She was right. "She didn't do this to me Jack. She wasn't the one that ignored me and avoided me for more than two weeks. She wasn't the one that left me without an idea on what was happening. She wasn't the one I considered a friend!"
Jack never felt this guilty in a really long time. He didn't feel this sorrow. He was sure that if someone decided to kick his ass right know it was going to hurt way less than this.
Way less that seeing her face flushed in anger, seeing the hurt in her now crystallized eyes, seeing her lower lip quivering in rage and sadness.
"That was you, Jack. Not her" She said stuttering, to then advert her eyes from him.
"You're right, Princess. I'm sorry. You're right about everything. I've been selfish, I've been so selfish by trying to go back to what I was. I'm so sorry, I've been an idiot. It's all my fault" He said, accepting everything she said. "Just... please forgive me" he begged, Elsa gazed at him a bit surprised by his words, and he really thought that maybe...
"No" She whispered. "I'm sorry"
Jack felt the world crumble around him.
Did.. did he really lose her?
"No. Princess, please don't. I-I know I don't deserve a second chance o-or anything from you but please. I promise it would never happen again, I promise!" He pleaded, his heart was beating furiously in desperation.
"I can't, Jack. You really hurt me, I'm sorry" She whispered again, and a tear slipped from her eye.
No.
Please god, no.
"Elsa I beg you. J-Just one last chance, please!" He tried one more time. Elsa looked at him directly, with tears in her eyes.
And she shook her head slowly, in denial.
Jack felt like he was suddenly drowning.
He gazed at the floor, and tried hard to breath normally. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe he just lost his one last chance, his one last happiness.
Elsa didn't move, she just stayed besides him watching as he silently cried, tearing herself as well. She couldn't, she just couldn't. What of he did the same to her again? What if he hurt her again like this?
Now that she knew he liked him, surely the next time its going to hurt even more.
They stayed in silence for a few minutes. Jack with his head hidden between his knees, and Elsa deep in thought, just gazing nowhere. Both of them silently enjoying just being in the same room with the other, at least.
Suddenly, Elsa felt Jack look at her.
"Let me take you somewhere" He said voice full of hope.
"W-What?" Elsa almost chocked. She snapped her head at him and saw how blood-shot and puffy his eyes where, but they still hold a last bit of hope.
"Yeah! J-Just, let me show you a place" He said again. Elsa flushed.
"I... I don't think it's a good idea" She stuttered.
"No! Just... let me take you somewhere and then- and then if you decide to not forgive me I wont talk you ever again, and I'll leave you alone" He begged. "Just this one thing, Princess. I'll promise I wont ask anything else"
Elsa stayed in silence for a moment, just gazing at him. She was confused, how could this change anything? Still, he seemed really hopeful about it.
"Please, Elsa. I beg you" He said once she did not respond. "I'll stay true to word. If you don't want to forgive me after that, I'll leave you alone"
Elsa's heart tightened. She really didn't want him to leave her alone, but she didn't want to get hurt again either.
"Where would we go?" Elsa asked after a moment. Jack smiled widely, for the first time. She have never seen him smiling this big before.
"It's a surprise" He said. Elsa raised a brow.
"Are we going now?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, no. We need all the time we can get. We're going first thing tomorrow morning" He said, smirking. Elsa narrowed her eyes.
"First thing tomorrow?" She said looking at him accusingly. "We have classes tomorrow. North class to be exact, and we're not really doing good with the project since you left me for two weeks"
Jack decided better to ignore the last part, and chuckled slightly.
"Don't worry Princess, Prof. North class is handled" He said assuring. Elsa tried hard not to smile. She knew the reason that 'handled' was because North was his tutor, but she didn't want to tell him she knew just yet. "We just need to fill in an exit permit"
"Wait, what?" Elsa asked surprised. "Why? Where are we going?"
"Just a little road trip" Jack said smirking.
"A road trip?! Where?!" Elsa exclaimed in confusion.
"I already told you, it's a surprise!" he said. "It's only going to be a couple of days" Elsa widened her eyes in shock and was about so say something but Jack quickly interrupted her "And before you say something; Don't worry, you'll be safe and sound, no funny business of any sort, I promise. Just please say yes"
Elsa eyed at him suspiciously, but ended up sighing.
"Fine, I'll take care of the permits" Elsa said rolling her eyes. Jack smiled widely.
"I'll promise you wont regret it, Princess" he said excitedly.
"I'm already regretting it"
A.N.: OH MY GOSH!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER!! IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES :')
I swear when I wrote this I've must have look like a complete freak just squealing and fangirling, scaring the hell out of my family. (I really hope that was your face while reading it too)
SO... Finally Jack found out the truth (a bit too late but oh well, better than nothing I guess).
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did while writing it!
Okay, here is a life advice from me to you: You should never leave Pitch out of the hook ;)
Some things and answers:
#1 For KaisaSha, of course you can call me Sil, my friends call me that way and it's perfectly fine for me:)
And yes, of course you can ask for references, I actually suggested a few of my favorites in the last chapter (I think, or maybe in chap 17) and if you already read those, just let me know what kind of fics are you looking for (modern AU/ college-highschool/ etc) and I'll recommend you some fics I liked! (I probably already read all Jelsa fics in the world. There're not enough of them ugh)
#2 I'M SO GLAD THAT FINALLY IS JACK THE ONE TRYING OH MY GOD. Elsa's still a sweetheart tho.
Aaaand.. I think that's all for today!
THANK YOU, for your amazing reviews, they made my day! You wont believe how much I appreciate them.
REVIEWS ARE DEEPLY APPRECIATED AND WELCOMED. IF THIS CHAPTER MADE YOU SMILE I REALLY HOPE YOU'LL MAKE ME SMILE BY SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU.
TILL TOMORROW!! YAY :D
Silvana.