34 | LOVESICK FOOLS

PEOPLE claimed that love made someone into a fool. Well, if that was true, then it was also true that obsession would transform someone into a complete idiot.

"Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down!" Winter wailed in a drowsy singsong tone from over Jay's shoulder.

"Winter, hush already," Carlos groaned, both he and Jay having tried and failed to shut the girl up for the past few minutes.

At this rate, trying to sneak to their dorm room inconspicuously was impossible for Winter would not stop singing or babbling about how much she loved Jay. Her mind now seemed to be made for only one thought alone, and that was Jay.

"Oh, I dooo looovvveee you soooooo!" Winter cried, managing to wrap her arms around Jay's waist from where she was hanging upside down on his back.

Jay could not stop himself from chuckling lightly, the fumes of the love potion that were coming off Winter now truly beginning to affect him.

God, they needed to decontaminate Winter and soon. The longer she was drenched and exposed to it as she was, the longer and more drastic the effects became. Not to mention it was bound to become dangerous from how much she was being exposed to.

"I love you too," Jay smiled, but paused his words before adding something in a mocking Scottish accent, "duckling,"

It was truly a horrible impression of Harry Hook, one that had Harry himself heard would have earned Jay a punch in the face.

"No," Winter groaned, finding that for some reason she hated that name, "don't call me that!"

Jay snickered, "okay, honey-buns,"

Carlos wanted to cry. No, actually he wanted to vomit. Nope, scratch that, Carlos wanted to vomit then cry and then shoot himself in the head. Jay and Winter were acting so strange that it was not even funny anymore.

This was worse than Evie dressing up as his mom earlier, and that had been bad.

"Mmm, Jay?" Winter stopped her singing, earning a hum from Jay in reply. "You have a nice butt."

It just kept getting worse.

"Why thank you, honey-buns!" Jay said before placing a hand on Winter's rear that was resting on his shoulder. "Your ass is amazing too!"

Was this actually happening?

Carlos swore that even if Jay was now under the influence as well, he was still digging his own grave.

"We're here!" Carlos announced, thanking God that this would hopefully put a stop in whatever weird-ass flirting the two were getting into.

With no hesitation, Carlos opened their dorm door. Like always, the large 3D printer sat in the center console, their two beds behind it, and the couch and desks on the other side. The room was slightly messy, but overall not to bad.

Flicking the light on, Carlos motioned for Jay to put Winter down. Savoring the feel of her ass in his palm for just a few more seconds, Jay put Winter on the ground not too long after. He smiled when she stood in front of him, her braids now extremely messy with many flyaways.

Winter looked like a train-wreck, completely different from how she normally appeared. Flashing her a smile, Jay reached forward and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Winter giggled in a woozy manner while starting to fall backward. Jay gasped, reaching forward quickly and catching Winter before she was even close to hitting the ground. Carlos quickly closed their dorm room door before motioning to the bathroom.

"Jay, she needs to get in the shower, we need to get that stuff off her," Carlos exclaimed causing Jay to nod in agreeance and gently lead Winter toward the bathroom.

"You need to take one after her too, Jay. Both of you being infected by this stuff is a disaster waiting to happen," Carlos said to Jay while all three of them entered the bathroom.

Winter laughed lightly, looking around the bathroom in wonder. Almost as though she had never before seen one.

"Woah," she breathed earning odd looks from both males.

Without warning, Winter started licking her lips and acting as though she were chewing on something. Her pupils had grown to twice the normal size, the girl rubbing her sticky hands together.

"Mmm, tasty," she murmured while Jay and Carlos gave each other strange looks.

"What's tasty, Winter?" Jay finally asked.

Winter gave no reply, the girl merely bringing her right gloved-hand up before licking it. Carlos and Jay cursed when they realized Winter was only putting more of the spell into her system.

"Yummy," she laughed just as Jay forcefully pulled her hand out of her mouth.

Winter laughed in reply, looking to Jay and leaning her face uncomfortably close to his own. Her mouth was open ever-so-slightly, her eyes flickering down to his lips.

"Can I kiss you?" The question was innocent enough and yet it spoke a thousand words.

Jay huffed, about to begin rapidly shaking his head. Yes, of course, she could kiss him!

"Ye—!" Jay's words were muffled by Carlos literally jumping on his back and placing a hand over his mouth.

"No!" Carlos said for Jay, using all of his strength in pushing the much bigger boy out of the room.

Winter frowned as Jay disappeared, Carlos taking his place in keeping Winter steady. She was heavily rocking back and forth—it worried Carlos, but at the same time, he knew he had to let Winter shower on her own. He refused to help unless it was absolutely necessary, this whole situation was already bad enough.

Winter would never act like this if it were not for the spell, Carlos did not want to take it a step further by undressing Winter when she was basically intoxicated.

"Winter, can you take a shower on your own?" Carlos asked.

In reply, Winter grinned brightly, shoving two thumbs-up in Carlos's face. The son of Cruella de Vil gagged at the heavy smell of roses dripped in honey but gave a small smile back nonetheless.

"Good," Carlos said, taking a step away from her, "make sure you take all of your clothes off and put them in the sink," Carlos intended to burn those clothes, "you remember how to take a shower right? Turn the nob, the towels are right there," he pointed toward the direction of the towels, "and make sure you scrub yourself extra good, okay..."

Carlos felt the need to explain this to Winter as she was very obviously so intoxicated that simple things were slipping her mind. Carlos was only praying that she did not pass out in the shower, because then he and Jay would have no choice but to grab her.

Actually, it would only be Carlos because he definitely did not trust Jay or Winter together while they were in this state. Especially if Winter was naked, Carlos could only do so much against Jay.

Carlos shivered at the thought, motioning the shower.

"Shower, Winter," he stated as Winter hummed while beginning to unbraid her hair.

"I wish I had a sailboat," she whispered randomly, her voice whimsical.

Carlos rose a brow of confusion, his mouth falling open. He was unsure what that had to do with anything but seeing as she was doing as he asked, Carlos decided to ignore it and flee the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He paused at the sight of Jay sitting by the window, staring at the moon starstruck.

It seemed that as more time passed the deeper Jay fell under the effects.

"Bro," Carlos said in a questioning tone, just as his dog spoke from his bed.

"He's been staring at the moon since he left the bathroom," Dude, the talking dog, piped with a yawn, resting his head on his little paws lazily. "What'd he take? I mean, yeesh, the guy is completely out of it!"

"The moon is so beautiful," Jay sighed with a smile, "just like Winter..."

"Oh my God," Carlos breathed, shaking his head before pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is so so bad, like holy hell!"

"I love her so much," Jay exclaimed while standing from his spot and turning to Carlos with a shit-eating grin.

It was a smile that Carlos had never seen Jay wear and vastly hoped he never had to see again.

"No, you don't," Carlos crossed his arms, "you know as well as I that this is the love potion talking. You don't even know her that well—"

Jay scoffed, a heavily insulted look on his face as though that were the most preposterous thing he had ever heard.

"I most certainly do know her incredibly well!"

"Really?" Carlos said in a disbelieving manner, "Then what's her middle name?"

"You don't need to know a person's middle name to know them," Jay shot back.

"Favorite food?"

"Again, superficial question," Jay fired.

"When is her birthday?"

"When is your birthday?" Jay was now red in the face with anger. "Honestly, I don't need to know the answer to these questions to know that I love her, I LOVE WINTER FROST—!"

Jay's screaming rant was cut off by a loud knock at the door.

"Carlos? Are you in there?"

Why, of course, it was Carlos's sweet girlfriend, Jane.

...Oh crap, Jane!

Carlos gasped, flying into action. "Yeah, one second!" He shouted, gripping Jay's arm and bringing him toward the bathroom. "You need to hide, Jane'll realize something's up the second she sees you," Carlos whispered frantically, pausing just when he was about to open the bathroom door.

He cursed hearing the shower running, remembering that Winter was already in there. Carlos did not trust Jay at all to put him in the bathroom with her even if it was only for a few moments. Turning around, Carlos walked Jay to the closet and shoved him inside.

Jay tried arguing, but Carlos held his finger to his lips. "Be quiet or she'll take Winter away from you!" He warned, knowing that would make Jay shut up while he was in this state.

Jay gasped, nodding his head wildly as Carlos shut the closet door. He practically tripped over himself opening the dorm door revealing a concerned-looking Jane.

"Carlos? Is everything all right? I heard—"

"Oh yeah," Carlos scoffed in an overdramatic manner, "that was just uhm..." he struggled to think for a second, for a VK, he was really a horrid liar, "that was just Jay, he's changing... in the closet..."

Jane slowly nodded her head, finding her Frankenstein-looking boyfriend oddly suspicious. However, she figured it must have just been from the exhaustion of the party. It was already late and Jane knew her mother would only let the party go on for another hour or so. It was already after midnight!

"Where'd you go?" She asked sweetly.

"Uhm..." Carlos struggled again.

Carlos could not admit that Jay forced him away from the party to help with his stupid love concoction prank. Jay, for some weird reason, wanted to prove himself as the ultimate VK since some of the newer VKs had said that Jay was going soft.

Well, Jay would show them with this love spell prank — a prank which totally backfired!

"I just needed to use the bathroom, and you know how I feel about using toilets that aren't my own..." Carlos nervously laughed earning an eyebrow raise from Jane.

But then again, Jane did know how much Carlos detested using unfamiliar bathrooms. Strange, yes — but that was just how her boyfriend was and Jane loved him for it.

"Alrighty then," Jane piped, "the party was getting kind of crazy anyway, want to watch a movie in here?"

"Actually!" Carlos nearly screamed causing Jane to jump in shock. "I was hoping to steal one last dance from my most amazing girlfriend...!"

Jane tilted her head, opening her mouth to reply, but she stopped short when she heard a sound. She furrowed her brows in confusion, peeking around Carlos only to see his bathroom light on which confirmed her suspicions of the shower running.

"I thought you said Jay was changing..." she trailed off before mimicking his earlier words, "...in the closet..."

One glance at the closet light being on confirmed Jane's knowledge of Jay being in the closet. But then who was in the shower?

Carlos's heart stopped, he looked as though Jane had pulled a gun on him.

Crap, crap, crap...!

His mind worked desperately to try and come up with a lie. And then it came to him.

"It's..." he stuttered before taking a deep breath and speaking, "that is Freddie Facilier in there."

Jane gasped at the knowledge of Celia's older sister taking a shower in her boyfriend's dorm.

"Why is she in there?" Jane questioned, making sure to stay calm and not jump to conclusions.

Any girl was bound to be aggravated at the thought of their boyfriend having some other girl take a shower... naked in the room. Jane was no exception to this.

"Mmm, yes," Carlos nodded, "that is a very good question, why is Freddie Facilier in my bathroom, well — it's a funny story really..." Carlos gulped, deciding that Freddie could kill him for this later, "it's because of Jay."

"Jay?" Jane asked in confusion, her eyes squinted.

"Yep, he and she are planning to..." Carlos's cheeks turned pink as Jane's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh... OH! Oh my Gosh, I didn't know they were like that," Jane said in surprise causing Carlos to nod.

"Yep, they sure are..."

"Then, I guess no movie," Jane laughed, "dancing it is then!"

"Yes. Yes, dancing!" Carlos nodded with wide eyes, turning around and praying that nothing bad happened in the half-hour that he was gone. "I am going dancing with Jane, don't forget to take a shower when she is out, Jay!" Carlos yelled with force.

If Jay took a shower, it would hopefully reverse most of the effects. As Jay had not done more than inhale the love spell and touch it — it should not be as strong in him and a rinse should do the trick in his case.

Turning back around to face his girlfriend with a nervous smile, Carlos grabbed her hand. "Haha! Got to remind him, you know?"

Jane puckered her lips suspiciously but did not say anything as Carlos suddenly tugged her from the room, closing the door behind him.

"Let's get to dancing, shall we?"

Back in the room, Jay stumbled out of the closet with a bright smile — the shower flickering off just as he came out. In the bathroom, Winter hummed while toweling off her dripping body. The sticky liquid had been washed off her and she scrubbed extra good with what she believed was Jay's soap.

She was more than elated to smell like him!

Her ruined costume was now in the sink, Winter was sad that it was ruined but happy that it was not one of her favorite costumes she had. After her shower, she found that she was now able to think more clearly.

Rather, she was able to think about Jay more clearly.

"I want to sail in a sailboat with Jay," Winter said to no one while towel-drying her hair.

Once she was happy with how dry the brown strands were, she tied the towel around her body before moving toward the bathroom door. She had no clothes, so she would just need to borrow Jay's — something that she was not complaining about.

Queen Elsa was able to do many things with her ice magic, this included fashioning herself entirely new outfits from seemingly nothing. It was one of the things she was known for as her original ice dress from when she first ran away from Arendelle was one to die for.

Furthermore, this ability was passed down to Winter — who was also more than capable of making herself clothes if she so wanted. Though, seeing as she quite wanted to wear Jay's clothes, she did not bother to do this.

The second Winter exited the bathroom practically naked, Jay's attention was caught. His jaw dropped and his eyes ran wild with excitement as he raced up to Winter's side.

"Hiya cutie!" He said in a very un-Jay like voice, placing a sloppy kiss upon Winter's cold cheek.

Winter smiled, wrapping her arms around Jay and pulling the boy closer to her. Jay wasted no time in hugging back, Winter resting her head on his shoulder.

For just a second, she registered a burning pain coming from her hip and a name flashed across her head.

Herbert Hookem? Horatio Horway? Harold Hoover?

Someone whose initials were H.H. was what Winter realized, and yet she could not for the life of her remember the name. What did come to mind was a pair of piercing blue eyes that much resembled the ocean or the sky.

It caused Winter to scowl, her mind snapping back to thoughts of the person she loved. Which, of course, was Jay because who else could it be?

She absolutely loved Jay... what was his last name again? It didn't matter, she did not need to know his last name to know that she loved him with all her heart!

"Can I borrow some pajamas?" Winter questioned looking to Jay.

Not that either of them noticed, but both Jay and Winter's eyes had taken on rather peculiar colors. No longer were their eyes brown, but instead they were an odd caramel color that almost appeared as a dark purple.

"Yes!" Jay cheered, forcing himself to move away from Winter and go to his closet.

He nearly ripped the closet door off his hinges from how hard he tugged on it, digging through his clothes for something acceptable. After seconds, Jay came back with a Tourney jersey and a pair of Carlos's old gym shorts.

The shorts would be a tad too big for Winter, but as long as she tightened the string — they would fit fine. Besides, it was better than her wearing any of Jay's shorts as they would only fall off no matter much she tightened the string.

"Here you go," Jay handed Winter the clothes, Winter smiling while taking them.

For Jay, Carlos's previous words of taking a shower rang through his mind. As much as he wanted to stay with Winter, he figured it would be better to get cleaned up so he could properly snuggle with her.

"I am going to take a quick shower and then we can..." Jay flashed one of his devilish smirks, "...watch a movie or something," he said with a bright smile.

"Let's watch a movie about sailboats!" Winter clapped causing Jay to eagerly nod.

"Whatever you want and we'll do it!" He cheered before turning into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Winter fell into a fit of giggles, laughing as she quickly took her towel off and put on the large Tourney jersey with the gym shorts. Her hair was now dry and fell loosely down her back.

"I say," Winter gave a loopy smile, bringing her hands up to her face, "no gloves!"

And for the first time in... ever that she was not at home or in the confines of her dorm — Winterfell was not wearing gloves. She was not scared of her own powers either, for once she was confident in her abilities to control what was hers.

Even so, Winter skipped around the dorm room, twiddling her fingers causing small flurries of ice magic to appear. Small snowflakes whirled the room, blue magic glowing around. It was only after Winter heard the shower stop running that she waved her hand causing the snow and small flurries to disappear.

Instead, she smirked and brought her left palm up. With her right hand, she twirled it around her left palm causing sparkles of blue ice magic to appear. Using her abilities to her heart's content felt good — no longer was all this energy bottled up inside of her.

Her lips quirked into a smile as a small heart made from twinkling ice formed at the command of her magic. This small heart would never melt as long as her love for Jay lived.

With that in mind, Winter quickly crafted a necklace made from her magic as well that held the ice heart. Just when the bathroom door opened revealing Jay in nothing but gym shorts and a tank top, his long hair tied back in a man bun — Winter presented him his gift.

"As long as my love for you lives, my frozen heart will never melt," she handed him the ice heart, Jay's eyes tearing up.

He had never been given something worth so much love. Carefully, as though not wanting to break it, he took the heart from her and examined it. Jay delicately rubbed a finger over the smooth surface, shivering in delight from the nice exterior.

Winterfell was bouncing on her toes in front of him, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Slowly, Jay looked up from the heart with a joyful smile, wasting no time in pulling Winter back into a huge hug.

"I love it, I'll cherish it forever," Jay promised, leaving a chaste kiss on her hairline before pulling back and putting the magical necklace on.

The heart glowed for a few seconds upon touching his skin, reminding Jay that the heart would stay strong as long as Winter's love for him. Something which he was convinced would last a while.

It was odd because Jay knew that he was fully under the compelling love spell, and yet he could not find it in himself to care. Even after the shower, though his thoughts were clearer, he still loved Winter with all his heart and was confident that she did too.

With no hesitation, Winter stood on her toes and pressed her lips to Jay's. Jay did not move, smiling into the kiss.

As it would turn out, Winter did have her first kiss that night, but it was not with the right person.

It was not with the person that she nearly kissed just a few hours earlier. This was certainly not Harold Hook — nope, this was Jayden Max who she was kissing. Jayden Max who she barely knew and yet was convinced that she was head over heels for.

The kiss had no passion, no fire, and honestly, no love. But the two were convinced that it was there, that some sort of fabricated love and adoration was woven within that kiss. And yet, from an outside perspective, it simply looked like two teenagers kissing each other on a dare.

They did not go further than pressing their lips together and seconds later they were pulling away with goofy smiles on their faces. Jay reached down, grabbing Winter's hands.

A small chill went through his body at the small temperature difference, Winter being far colder than average — but it was not uncomfortable. Glancing down, Jay brought her right hand up, his eyes moving over the small pale hand in his grasp.

Alike to most people from the isle, Jay's hands were rough and calloused. Months of Tourney had only especially enforced that, causing his large hands to be firm.

Winter's hands were like you would expect a princess to be: slender, soft, nimble, and smooth. Her fingers were long and skinny with naturally colored nails, and yet they were just so pale. Along with that, Jay could not help but feel a sense of something... magical when he clasped her hands in his.

Almost as though her magic was seeping through.

Rubbing a thumb over her knuckles, Jay placed a small kiss on her hands causing Winter to giggle.

"Movie time?" He questioned, leading Winter toward his bed where they both sprawled out.

"Sounds good," Winter threw a lazy leg over Jay's waist, resting her upper body on his chest.

Jay kept his arm wrapped tightly around her, the two able fit perfectly on the bed. Winter once again ignored the burning on her hip, shifting uncomfortably.

Herbert Hooker?

Why was she thinking of that bloke?

Blue eyes came to her mind causing her to scowl and shift deeper into Jay. As quick as they came they were gone and replaced by loving thoughts of Jay.

"Sailboat movie? How about Afloat?" Jay suggested, turning on the television and shifting through the movie for rental.

Winter vaguely remembered watching a trailer a while back about a couple who sailboats over a thousand miles only to be caught in a hurricane and left stranded in the ocean. It had looked interesting at the time but Winter never found the time to watch it and eventually forgot about it.

Now was the perfect opportunity to watch it.

"Yeah," she chirped, watching as Jay rented the movie through Ben's account (Ben doesn't know Jay and Carlos have his cable password).

Jay and Winter were cuddled under his blankets within minutes of the movie and as much as Winter wanted to watch it, she found she was far too comfortable and far too tired to fight off sleep for long.

Another thing she found out was that she enjoyed the feel of cuddling with someone far more than she ever thought. The warmth provided and the feeling of comfort was enticing, but alas, for some reason Winter found herself dreaming of blue eyes and a hook.

And for just a second, she imagined the one holding her was not Jay but instead a particular wild pirate.

When Carlos came back later that night, he was met with the sight of something he never thought he would see in a million years. Jay and Winter sleeping basically on top of each other, it was definitely an odd way to cuddle and Carlos was slightly concerned Jay might actually crush her.

After nearly an hour of avoiding all of his friend's questions on Jay's location and not meeting any of their gazes, Carlos finally got to his room. Mal and Evie were highly suspicious of Carlos's behavior, and Uma was as well. Harry had not given him enough thought to be suspicious as he and Jonah were too busy dance battling.

Gil was too wrapped up in Sonny's presence, but even if she had not been here — Gil would not have noticed anyway.

Sighing at the sight of the two sleeping, Carlos clicked the television off and made his way to the bathroom.

He really hoped that this would be over by Sunday.