Cold Kisses and Hot Nights-Chapter 8

You stand there listening to the soothing rhythm of his heart, his hands wrapped around you as if to consume you. Forgetting your situation, you close your eyes and tighten your hold around him. 'I just want to stay like this, just for a little longer...' you think to yourself. You know you should let go, you know you should move away and keep your distance because you have known each other for less that 24 hours. But you just don't care.

"Is it safe for me to come out now?" On hearing Sophie your eyes shoot open and your feet come crashing back down to reality. You jump away from Jack's embrace and move back into the bedroom and sit on your bed. You look back at him, he is still standing there with a look of surprise and confusion on his face, but his eyes seem lonely. "Oh good, no blood I see..." Sophie jests closing the door to the bathroom "Because I doubt Jamie would  thank you if he had to pay for the cleaning bill too, haha." Sophie walks into the bedroom and stands in the middle of you and Jack, your gaze not faltering. "I'm going to have a shower now then." you say trying to get away and do something with yourself. "Oh ok then (Nickname)," Sophie says to you. Once you are through the en suit door she then adds with a mischievous grin "Do you want me to send Jack in to join you?"

"NO!!!" you shout from in the bathroom, to that Sophie gives a loud cackle. After that, everything went on as normal, Jamie came in a little while after you got out of the shower and took the presents that he and Emily could open today before they left for their Honeymoon. You and Sophie were sent to Alex's (and Sophie's) room to wake the lazy bum up, so he can help with moving the other presents to Jamie's new home. That proved easier said than done because he was so drunk that it was even harder to wake him up. Even when Sophie had the idea and you two rolled him off the bed he didn't wake. After about 30 minutes of this you two where out of ideas, "What do we do now (Nickname)?" Sophie pants after trying to jump around him shouting. "I have no idea." you confess, scratching your head. Then an idea came to mind "Wait here Soph, I'll be back in a bit." With that you ran out the room and could hear Sophie shouting to you "(Name)? Where are you going? (Name)?" 

With that you ran back to your room and grabbed someone. When you returned to Alex's room, Sophie was sitting on a chair lightly kicking Alex's foot as he slept on the floor. "Here we are!" you exclaimed as you came back into the room, Sophie looks at you bored then puzzled, "Jack? You went to get Jack? What can he do?" She looks at him then back at Alex on the floor. "Well we'll soon see eh? Now Jack..." you walk over Alex's body and turn back "Is there anyway you can wake him up please? Just we've tried everything and I thought you could put ice cubes on him or something?" Jack looks at you, then at sleeping beauty on the floor and a wicked grin creeps across his face, "It would be my pleasure." With that, Jack moves to Alex's sleeping form and stands over him. He claps his hands together and rubs them for a bit. At that moment a strong gust of wind whips the covers off of him, revealing Alex in only his Spongebob boxers, and it began to snow. The snow was quite light as first then got gradually heavier and colder as the magic went on until all but Alex's head was covered. Just at that moment Alex rolled over and his cheek was in the snow, his eyes slowly opened. Once realisation sunk in, Alex's eyes widened with alarm and he jumped to his feet "BLOODY HELLLLLLLLL!?" He screamed before running to the bathroom and turning the shower on, "WHAT THE FUCKKKKK WAS THAT FORRRRR, YOU CRAZY BASTARDSSSSSS!?" You all look at each other in shock before running into the bathroom to find him sitting in the middle of the shower, hot water beating onto his back still in his Spongebob boxers. As he gave you all a look to kill, the three of you burst out laughing. "Oh shut up, it's not funny."

"HAHAHA, Oh Alex, hahaha, Actually it's, hahaha, frickin' hilarious, hahaha..."  Sophie says as she doubles over at the sight of him. "Oh haha, I've got to get out before I pee hahaha..." You say before pushing past a laughing Jack and sitting on the bed in tears. "Hahahaha, your brother is hilarious, my hahaha stomach hurts hahaha." Jack flops next to you holding his belly, tears streaming down his now rosy cheeks. But before you have time to reply an angry cry brings your attention to Alex; Sopping wet and body red as a beetroot standing beside you, staring daggers at Jack. "You!!!!" He points at Jack, hand shaking with both cold and rage, "I'm gonna bloody kill you!" And before Jack has time to react Alex has pounced on him and they are both wrestling on the floor. Alex has Jack pinned to the ground, ready to hit him, when Jack suddenly flies into the air, taking Alex with him. Alex's slippery grip soon gives way and he falls onto the bed, you and Sophie  scatter quickly as he came crashing down. You watch from the safety of the wall as Jack flies out of the room and a very angry Alex pursues him down the corridor, swearing profusely. You and Sophie stand there a while, catching your breath and letting the previous scene sink in before you both look at each other, panic stricken. "Boxers!!" You both exclaim as you remember Alex's current attire, or lack of. This in mind you both set out to see Alex furiously banging at your hotel room door, "Jack!!!!! You get you're Arse out here now!!! No moon is gonna bring you back after what I'm gonna do to you..." Sophie starts to laugh next you and you find yourself quickly following suit, 'He's such a dick,' your inner self chuckles 'but you gotta love him.'

At that moment you could hear the sound of the elevator and you see the family from opposite walk round the corner; to be faced with a wet, almost naked Alex screaming and swearing at a door. 'Oh no', horror coursing through your veins you run up to Alex, leaving Sophie in hysterics in the hallway. "Jack!" Alex kicks the door as you reach him, "Alex, come on, let's go back..." You try to wrap your arms around in an attempt to shield him from view. But he flings your arms off and continues at the door, "Jack, I'm gonna kill you when I see you... You hear me you little F..." That's when you clasp your hand over his mouth, while pulling him away. "Come on Alex, let's get you some coffee and get rid of that hangover." You say loudly as you push him back into his own room, no easy task with his shouting and heaviness. Door firmly closed and Alex back in you run to the family, still in the same place as before and a little shellshocked. "I am so so so sorry" obviously seeing you're a normal person they begin to move to their room. You apologise to them and explain about last night, "I am so sorry, he obviously isn't over his hangover yet." you offer them a smile. They enter their room and the father looks at you, "Yes but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't allow your 'brother' to roam the corridors like an animal, especially around children. It is other people's holiday too." And with that the man shuts the door on you, leaving you feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Suddenly you hear their young boy from behind the door, "Daddy, I want some Spongebob underpants!!", this makes you giggle a little before heading to your room and leaning your back against the door.

After looking up and down the corridor, seeing that it's calm and peaceful once again, you lightly bang your head against the door and let out a sigh. All of a sudden the support behind your back was gone and you could feel yourself falling backwards. You open your eyes after a moment to find yourself laying on the carpet of your room and the hallway,  with someone standing over you. "Well, hello there." You hear a sexy tone and are met with two crystal blue eyes and a smile. "Are you ok?" Jack extends his hands to you as he crouches over you. "Yes thank you..." you take his hands and stand up, "though no thanks to you." you bark, slapping him on the arm. "Ow, what was that for?" He protests, recoiling and rubbing his arm. "Alex! Why did you have to rile him up that much?"

"Me? Woah, You're the one who came to get me remember?.." He argues walking back towards you, his height becoming more evident "...You wanted me to help get him up?"

"Yes, that part was my idea, but who told you to fight with him? Or to drop him head first on the bed? Because that certainly wasn't me." You argue back, following behind as he walks away from you into the living room. "What else was I supposed to do?.." He gives an annoyed chuckle and turns to face you, "The man was gonna hit me? I wasn't gonna lay there and let him. After he pounced on me by the way." He says matter-of-factly before turning away from you again. "He was never going to actually hit you..."

"Really? Because it sure looked that way to me." He quips to you from over his shoulder giving you a sarcastic thumbs up over his head. "Ok, ok I'll give you that one; but you could've at least let him in earlier... would've saved me a load of embarrassment..." You trail off looking to the floor. "What embarrassment?" Jack asks, playing with the door to the kitchen. "Just...well... when he was banging on the door, swearing at you and telling you...stuff... he was still sopping wet and in his boxers?"

"Really?" Jack looks at you. "Yeah, then the elevator came up and the people from opposite, you know the family..." He nods at you with a 'Hm'. "Well they came round the corner... and saw Alex..." Jack's eyes widened and he let go of the door "Wow, that must have been awkward." You walk a bit closer to him with a little excitement "Oh yeah, and it was even worse because their children were with them." Jack gives a small chuckle "Oh no." He walks closer as you tell the story. "I know right? And if it wasn't bad enough, when I finally got him back in his room and went back to apologise, the guy had a go at me..."

"Did he?" Jack asks, picking up a water from the bookshelf as he walks past. "'I would appreciate it if you didn't allow your 'brother' to roam wild round the corridors.' I mean he actually did this when he said brother... " you make the quotation signal with your fingers. "Who does that? Anyway, he then slammed the door in my face, making me feel really bad..."

"Really? Are you ok? Want me to say something?" Jack is now close enough to stroke the skin on your upper arms. You feel the cold from both him and the water bottle, though aren't sure which one is actually colder. "Nah, I'm fine thanks. Besides, haha..." you chuckle to yourself as you remember, "The boy made me laugh, because he said that he wanted the Spongebob underwear that Alex was wearing." Jack throws his head back in a laugh "Haha, really? Well that's quite funny." You both stand there, giggling with each other at the story. When you both finally stop laughing you look at one another, smiles still on your faces "Sorry..." Jack starts, "you were right, I shouldn't have dropped him on the bed. I just panicked a bit." You watch as he places the water down, a smile on your face that's now just for him, "It's ok, I should've really figured out what I wanted you to do before bringing you in." You both exchange smiles and you're about to put your arms around him when you hear "*cough*". You stop in your tracks and slowly turn your head to find both Jamie and Emily watching you both over the back of the sofa. You look back at him unimpressed and he says "By the way, Jamie and Emily are here." You give him a sarcastic look that says 'Oh-yeah?-Thanks' before lightly pushing his hands off your arms and turning to Jamie and Emily. "Quite a show you put on (Nickname)" Emily chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, well I do try to keep my guests entertained." You say, gratefully taking her invitation, "Alex and Sophie should be ready any second now, if she's managed to calm him down." Jamie interjects at that, "I think I'm going to go see if they are almost ready, see you in a sec." He gets off of the sofa and, with a quick kiss from Emily, is out the door.

With Jamie gone, you suddenly jump over the sofa to sit next to Emily, "So, what did you get?" With that you and Emily talk about the gifts and a little about last night, Jack making the tea and joining in where he can. Soon you could hear the door opening and Alex bellowing as usual; "I'm fine woman, leave me alone. I don't need any more coffee!" Jamie comes walking into the living room with Sophie and, to your glee and relief, a fully dressed Alex behind him. "Well as long as you're sure Alex, teeheehee." Sophie says, failing to hide her amusement at his previous actions. "Will you stop laughing? It wasn't that funnyyyyyy." Alex sulks, his body slumping to one side and looking like a five year old. "I can't believe you're my older brother sometimes Alex.." You look at him and shake your head, "Because you act like such a kid sometimes."

"Shut up (Name)." Alex moans at you, still flopping about like an infant. "You mean 'brother', eh?" Jack quips referring to your other conversation. This makes you both laugh for a bit till Alex snaps at Jack, "And you can seriously shut up." pointing a finger at him as he returns to his normal form. "Alex..." Sophie warns as the tension rises amongst you all. Alex stops but continues to keep a bead on Jack, doing the 'I'm-watching-you' sign at one point. At this Jack walks over to you on the sofa and places a hand on your shoulder all the while keeping his eyes locked with Alex's, as if to post a challenge to Alex. Seeing his intentions you slap his hand and Alex laughs as if to say 'One to me.' While shaking your head at this pathetic display, you become acute to the actual conversation in the room; "So that settles it then; we'll put the presents in the cars then head out for a final drink before we have to be off for the airport. Everyone ok with that?" Jamie asks the room and Sophie replies with a bright "Yeah that sounds amazing." With that you all take the presents to the cars and check out of the hotel, Emily talking to the management with her usual 'friendly suggestions' list on how to improve the hotel. "Will she be much longer?" You ask Jamie as he comes sighing out of reception, "No, it was a rather good hotel, so she only has four things on her list. I actually think we can come here again some day." He says rather excitedly, this makes you chuckle. Suddenly the urge hits you really bad and you give Jamie a heartfelt cuddle, "I am so happy for you guys, I love and am really going to miss you JimJams." He cuddles you back and whispers "Love you too (Nickname), we're really going to miss you too." He pulls away and smiles at you, "Though probably not that much."

"Haha, that's what I want to hear." You say to him genuinely, returning the smile. "Ok, so are we going my lovely man?" Emily comes bounding out of the hotel and up to you two. Jamie turns to her and takes her hand in his "You ready Honey? Then we're off..." Jamie looks at you, "...you guys know where we're meeting?" You nod at his question "Yep, just gotta wait for Alex and Sophie to get back; they're picking up Sophie's car from the hall car park." They both nod at you, "Oh cool, well you want us to wait with you or..."

"No it's ok, I'm here to keep her company. You guys go ahead and we'll meet you there in a bit, alright?" Jack comes up behind you and puts an arm casually around your shoulders, emphasising his point. "Oh alright then, we'll see you guys there then." With that they waved you good bye and headed to their car, leaving you and Jack in front of the hotel. "They are so happy together aren't they?" You look up at Jack at his suddenly soppy question then back at them as they drive off. "Yeah, they are." Jack lets out a sigh, "It's great to see him doing so well and so happy." Your heart skips a beat as you see the gentle, almost loving look on his handsome face. "You really care for Jamie don't you?" He looks down at you, meeting your gaze. "Well, yeah, we've been through a lot. Without him, we wouldn't have had a chance in defeating pitch."

"Yeah I know, I've read all the books and saw the film way too many times..." you say, looking deep into his eyes "...but that's not the only reason, is it?" You try to coax the other reason out of him, and with a sigh and a distant look in his eye, he gives it to you. "He kept believing in me, kept seeing me, even after all these years, even after his friends stopped; including some of the ones who helped us to defeat Pitch. But he never stopped believing, in any of us. You don't tend to find many people beyond the age of 12 who still believe in the guardians, or any other embodiment." He looks back at you, and you can hear the passion in his voice and see the sincerity in his eyes. You uncontrollably move a hand to one of his cheeks, moved by him and his words. "Though," he begins, "that does leave me wondering something." He suddenly looks at you weirdly, "What?" you ask, becoming a little worried. "How come your brother can see me?" You shake your head at his unexpected question, "What? Well I can see you, why is that so weird?"

"Because I don't think he has the purity of heart as you do," those words make the butterflies in your stomach start flapping. "And I seriously doubt he's the type to believe in anything he can't see, no offence to him." You can't really argue with him, because he's always been the one to teach you the difference between fantasy and reality. "Yeah, you're right actually." You look back at him in agreement. "So, I'm asking, how come your brother, Alex, can see me. Let alone kill me, which he's tried to do twice already."

"Yeah" you say to him, though you're not really listening to the last part of that sentence. 'How can he see Jack?' you think to yourself seriously, 'because he's never believed in anything like that, not as far as I remember.' The thought replays itself in your head, until another thought occupies your mind; 'He always told me they weren't real, he always told me what was fake and what was fact, so... did I really still believing in these guys all these years? Because I don't think I did.' These thoughts swim round in your mind, creating feelings of unease within your heart. Then your heart sinks as you realise something disturbing; 'I didn't believe in them, I haven't since I was about 14. So... If I stopped believing... that means...' Your thoughts pause as you prepare to ask yourself the question, 'How come I can see him too?'