♪ On the twelfth day of Christmas, Mr Jack Frost gave to me,
- Twelve amazing days
- Eleven giant sorrys
- Ten billion snowflakes
- Nine naughty curses
- Eight somewhat truths
- Seven lovely inches
- Six sexy sounds
- Five crazy words
- Four dirty smirks
- Three subtle hints
- Two tiny smiles,
- And a big shocker to my panties... ♪

•

Summer woke up to vague sunlight again. It was a quiet morning, but the tiny morning sun felt wonderful against her skin. It brought a smile to her lips, one that only grew bigger as she remembered last night. By her side, she felt Jack sleeping soundly, his breath even and his eyelids closed. He looked gorgeous with his silver hair rumpled up like that.

She then glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 7am which meant she really should be getting up if she had to be at the coffee shop at 8. Her stomach was growling as well. She didn't get much to eat last night, however she did get a lot of exercise. She needed sustenance.

Carefully without waking him up, Summer slipped out from under the covers her and Jack had shared, and slipped on her morning robe. She then begun a quiet descend down her stairs, trying to tread as lightly as possible, knowing how her staircase creaked. She made it all the way down and was just about to pass the hallway to head to the kitchen when she couldn't help but notice Jack's cane lying in front of the door. Exactly where he threw it.

She had never really understood why he had it. Obviously he didn't need it for walking, he could easily run around and play with children, so his legs were in great health. So why did he have a cane?

Curiosity led her to pick it up and look at it, studying it for something that could tell her anything about why he had it. But nothing. It looked like a normal chestnut brown cane with a round, crystallic knob at the top, one that had the same icy shade of blue as Jack's eyes. The same sparkle as well.

It was beautiful, she had to admit that. Perhaps it was just a fashion statement then, a mere accessory to some style he followed. He just didn't seem like the kind that cared about fashion, that was what puzzled her. Then again, she knew next to nothing about him. Just that he was in town for some landscape construction. She didn't even know his age for Christ's sake.

Shaking her head, she leaned the cane up against her wall, right by her shoes, then went into the kitchen to begin some breakfast. She felt like something Christmassy which was strange. She normally didn't fancy the Christmassy flavor, it reminded her of bad things, but this morning... she was craving cinnamon.

So she made cinnamon waffles. The dough was easy to make and her waffle iron warmed up quickly, so in no time she had two batches of delicious waffles prepared with a sprinkle of icing sugar and some sliced up pears next it. She would go surprise Jack on the bed with it.

Again, walking carefully up the stairs, balancing the tray of breakfast and brewed coffee, she sneaked back inside the bedroom where Jack was still sleeping soundly. He probably worked off a few calories yesterday as well.

"Good morning," She carefully hummed and sat down on the side of the bed with the tray, carefully not to spill anything. "I made breakfast."

She watched as his eyelids parted and how his sleepy eyes looked around for a moment before finding her. A warm smile slid onto his face and he then slowly sat up, noticing the breakfast tray she had brought up. "Wow. Some way to wake up. It smells amazing."

Her lips twitched a little; It smelled like him. "Thank you. Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm, I slept next to you," He hummed as they both begun digging into the food. He sipped the coffee and hummed in satisfaction before biting into one waffle. "Oh Jesus, Summer."

"You like it?" She smiled and couldn't help but feel a warm sensation spread in her stomach as he ate and drank her food and coffee with the deepest pleasure.

"Mmm, its incredible," He said, chewing while giving her a smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Though it should've been me who should've cooked for you. I owe you after yesterday."

"Jack..." She said and looked down a little. "It's okay, we talked about it, you didn't—"

"Yes, I did," He said seriously, swallowing a bite so he could talk. "I hurt you and that wasn't a part of the agreement. We do each our separate thing so this right here," He gestured between the two of them, "Will be what we are. No confusions. That good?"

Summer thought about it for a moment. No personal conflicts. Only this, the sweet moments, the sex. That was what they were going for; A warm Christmas. "Yes, that sounds good."

A smile lifted to Jack's lips. "Alright then. It's a deal." He looked at her, eyes sparkling. His entire face was a picture of happiness, but then his eyes drifted to the window and the expression faded. His smile disappeared and the twinkle in his eyes went out. "Where's... what time is it?"

Summer glanced over at her digital watch with a frown. "It's 7.31am. Oh, I should get a move on, I still need to shower. When do you have to be at work?"

"Now." He said and shot out of bed. Just like the other day, he began rushing around, pulling on his clothes. Pants were slipped on, T-shirt yanked over his head, followed by his faded blue hoodie. His eyes scanned the floors, searching. "Where's my cane?"

"Downstairs by the shoes. You keep throwing it in the hall, so I placed it up against the wall. I hope you don't mind."

"You... touched it?" He said and froze up.

Summer raised a confused brow. "Yeah? I wasn't allowed?" Seriously, what was it with that cane of his?

"Uh, no, it's fine," He said and quickly shook his head. "I really hate to do this again, but I have to run. I'm so late, I can't believe I'm doing this again. Can we meet up later?"

"Sure, it's no problem. Talk to you later."

He gave a last slightly forced smile, but then ran downstairs. As the front door went, Summer immediately felt a chill go through her body when the temperature dropped and the gush of wind traveled upstairs to her room. She shivered but then got up to go to work.

Jack wasn't the only one who was committed to his job.

~~~

Later that day, closing in on the evening, Summer was locking up her shop and heading home. Like always, she stopped up for a moment by her car, took a deep breath and patted herself on the shoulder for making it through another day. Christmas Eve was halfway here and she had yet to break down. She was proud of herself.

But just as she thought this, a distant voice caught her ear. Turning around and glancing towards the park across the road, she saw a figure pacing back and forth, clearing a straight patch in the deep snow. Even from afar, the identity of the person was clear to her as a flicker of silver caught her eye when the moon shone upon it. Without thinking, Summer automatically approached Jack, wanting to know what he was saying. His mumbles grew to audible as she closed up.

"...an't seem to fix it, I don't know how. Why can't I fucking fix it? I've tried everything I can think of, nothing is working! Please, I need help, I just need..." He was pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair while holding his cane. He was deep in frustration, he hadn't even noticed her approaching. "I don't know what I need, goddamn, I just know that I can't... I can't..."

"Jack?" Summer hesitantly spoke up. Was he speaking to himself? "Are you okay?"

Not unlike the first time she had interrupted his evening outings, he wheeled around in shock and stared at her like the kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Quickly straightening his stance, he cleared his throat. "Oh... hey," He started, looking at her slowly. "What are you doing here?"

She took a few steps closer to him. She could now see bags under his eyes and his disheveled hair. She deduced it was stress and frustration tearing on him. She wondered what was bugging him. "Are you okay?" She asked again.

After looking at her for a long moment, he gave up the façade and sighed. He slowly shook his head and then looked at the ground. "No... I'm not okay. I'm anything but, in fact."

"Can I help you somehow?" She carefully asked, now coming so close to him she could place a hand on his cheek. She noticed his eyes squeeze shut at the sensation for a moment before he exhaled and shook his head again.

"No, you can't, I'm sorry. I wish you could," He murmured, now opening his eyes and looking into hers. "God, I wish you could."

Summer could tell his words obviously meant more than what they appeared to, but for some reason he was holding back on her. "Is there anything I can do? Or perhaps something I can not do?"

He shook his head again and lowered his eyes, but then caught himself when a thought obviously popped into his head. His eyes lifted again and met hers, staring deeply into them with his icy-blue orbs. "Actually... there might be a thing... you could do."

"What is it?" She asked hopefully. If there was even the slightest thing she could do to bring back his contagious, Christmassy smile, the one that bought both happiness and heat to her body...

"Take the day off tomorrow," He asked her. "I know I have no right to demand this from you, but... it would mean a lot for me if you could do it."

Summer stood frozen, but still tried to open her mouth. Not a sound passed her lips before she finally remembered how to speak. "Jack, I... my shop is... I can't just close it down unless there's an emergency. As special as you are to me, I can't just—"

"Please?" He pleaded and leaned closer to her. He pressed his forehead against hers and looked deeply into her eyes. "There's something I need to talk to you about. Something I... need to tell you."

"But..." Summer begun, but realized she didn't know what to say. What could be so big and important it demanded she took a whole day off? Why not just half? What could he have to tell her – a woman he had known for exactly twelve days – that was so important, he needed her undivided attention for the whole day? Curiosity was killing her.

"Please, Summer," He said again. She could tell whatever he had to say was important to him and was clearly eating away at him. And now it was eating away at her, too; Curiosity could do that to you.

"I'll have to check up with my colleague," She finally responded with a dry throat. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try. I don't know what's gotten you like this, but I can tell you need to talk it out. And I'll be there for you if you need that."

Jack gave a curt nod and then released a heavy breath of relief. "I do. I really do. I wouldn't be asking you to leave your coffee shop if this wasn't important. But I fear..." He sighed deeply again and closed his eyes. "I fear this is... the only way."

Puzzled by that reply, Summer furrowed her brows as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She momentarily got lost in his sweet flavor, but then he pulled back and allowed a cold wind to separate them. She hadn't realized how warm she had been before he let her go.

"I'll come by your house tomorrow at 9am," He told her, still creating a distance between them by stepping back. "Can you be ready by then?"

Summer nodded as her reply, but kept her frown. "Of course. I will see you then?"

"Drive safely." And with that, he gave her a nod and turned around. He walked further into the park with his cane until the snow and darkness consumed him. Summer stood left there stunned and mystified, until the cold brought her back to the fact that it was late and below freeze point. Shuddering and then plowing her way back to her car, she got in and drove home.

What could Jack possibly have to tell her?

• • •

And thus ended the twelve days of Christmas. It'll be all down hill from now on, won't it.