I do not own RoTG and never will. Enjoy!

It had been nearly three months since Jack Frost had joined the guardians and yet he still didn't trust them. Not fully anyway, and the other guardians could tell. His actions gave him away.

Despite constantly wearing a smile, making jokes and annoying the living hell out of Bunny whenever the opportunity presented itself, they could still detect the small flinches whenever they became too close to him, his unwillingness to open up to them and how he always stayed a few steps away in case he felt a swift exit (or escape) was needed. He'd never shown any real emotion infront of them and, when they thought about it, they realised that he had never, ever slept infront of them. Countless times he had nearly nodded off whilst in their presence, but at the last second it was like something clicked inside of him, excusing himself and flying off before he showed such vulnerability infront of them.

It hurt his fellow guardians to think that they were partly the cause of this - years of neglect from all of them had eventually caused Jack to build a barrier from anyone, good intentions or bad. Usually though, they were bad, which was why he was having such a hard time opening up to them.

It hurt Tooth the most. She had always thought of him as a son almost, immediately taking the motherly role in caring for him. Not that he ever accepted the help, always insisting he was fine. Still, she hoped that he had warmed up to them at least a little in the time he had been with them. To her, the guardians were a family, Jack included. So naturally, with her motherly instinct and all, she called a meeting with North, Bunny and Sandy to discuss what they could do to show him that they could be trusted.

That was where they were now, in North's personal office.

"Look Sheila, I know ya care for the kid, but it's his choice whether he chooses ta trust us or not. There's not much we can do." The Pooka stated matter-of-factly whilst painting one of his eggs.

"But there must be something we can do, to show him that we're his family. He should feel comfortable with us by now but he still hides behind a fake smile. How much longer will it take for his smile to become real?" Fretting was one of Tooth's not so great qualities, along with over-protectiveness.

"I am afraid I agree wiz Bunny. Three hundred years of being alone must make it hard for him to trust anyone, at least for a while," noticing the saddened look on his friend's face, North quickly added: "but zat does not mean vee can not try! Vee vill invite him for big dinner tonight, da, try to get him to feel comfortable?"

A small sigh escaped Tooth's lips: she was beginning to run out of ideas. Did he really not trust her? It saddened her immensely to even think of the pain which he has suffered the part three centuries, but at least she was trying to make it up to him. That was better than nothing, right?

Suddenly she wasn't so convinced anymore.

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"Hey North, you said you wanted to see me?" As graceful as ever, the Winter spirit glided in through the open window in the Globe room, delicately landing on one of the wooden beams just above his fellows guardians' head.

"Ah Jack, good to see you! Vee have decided to have dinner together tonight." The large Russian man smiled up at the boy balanced above him.

Suddenly, a large yawn echoed around the room as Jack stretched out his limbs and hopped down to the floor, a few feet away from North. "Um, sure. Any reason?"

"Does zere have to be?" The Guardian of Wonder's stomach jiggled as he laughed. In the corner of his eye, Jack yawned again, eliciting a rather curious look from North as he raised his large eyebrows. "Tough night?"

Jack chuckled and smirked in response. "Haven't slept in a while, been too busy. You know, Guardian duties and all." North laughed again. Yes, he of all people understood the demands of the job.

"You can use spare room if you want sleep, yes?"

Jack thought about how much he would love to lie in a proper bed again, he was used to sleeping in trees and snowbanks. The offer was so very tempting yet he still found himself refusing the Russian's offer and he hated himself for it. He would like no more than to curl up into a ball and sleep for two days straight, he was that tired, but he was most vulnerable when he was sleeping and, though he knew he could trust the Guardians, a small part of him didn't want to. just quite yet.

After all, he was Jack Frost: the loner, the freak. That's what he had always been and that's what he would always be. Right? That's what the other spirits told him anyway and it had only served the purpose of making him believe it even more.

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Soon, all of the Guardians had arrived at the Pole and, with a help from a few of the yetis, a magnificent dinner was served. Delicious food covered the whole table (and it was a very big table), ranging from succulent turkey to roast ham to mounds of fruit and veg and enough cookies and cake to feed a nation. It didn't take long before everyone was stuffed to the brim - it took all the energy they had left to move to the comfy chairs in the Pole's living room.

All of them sat huddled together on the plush settees, though Jack chose the armchair furthest away from the fire. He had to admit, this was nice. The small voice in his mind telling him he was better off as a loner was still there, but it receded more and more over the course of the evening as he interacted with the Guardians, until it was merely a whisper.

The conversations continued all night. Though he wasn't able to speak, Sandy had the most interesting stories which he had collected over the years of travelling the world for his dream giving. Jack was finding it hard not to fall asleep in such a relaxing atmosphere.

Though they made it discrete, the other Guardians observed him, silently communicating with one another. Was this the night? Would he finally let down his wall? The same battle was going on inside the Winter spirit. Surely it wouldn't hurt, just a short nap? In his past 300 years of existence, the thing he had longed for most was to be seen, to be believed in, to have a family. Slowly but surely, his wall crumbled as he realised everything he wanted was right here infront of him and he just had to be brave enough to let go of his inner demons. It would take a while for them to fully disappear but for now, for him at least, he was happy to take the first step.

And with that, his eyelids gently fluttered closed.

Toothiana was ecstatic. Finally! Silently, she stood up from her seat and hovered over to him with a soft blanket. She wasn't sure if he needed it but she placed it over him nonetheless, and it didn't escape her notice when Jack let out a soft sigh of content and snuggled closer, a small smile on his lips. All Tooth could think in that moment was how she would cherish this boy forever and never let him feel alone again. And though Bunnymund would never admit it, the other three Guardians felt the same way.

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A bit of fluff for you to (hopefully) enjoy. I'm not super happy with how this turned out but please read on, they should get better. I'm writing this at the same time as my other story, Immortal, so I'm not sure how often I'll update. Please go check that out if you haven't already! (They are both technically my first fic so please be kind).

Anyway, please review and have a lovely morning, afternoon or evening :)