A modern AU with a little supernatural twist.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters belong to DreamWorks. The AU belongs to an artist called Chinto, as best I can find. I just played around and made a new plot.

Warning: This is not a fairytale with a happy ending. Lots of angst ahead, with a minor amount of fluff. A growing love between two boys and eventual character death. Some really minor language. If any of that doesn't float your boat then feel free to click away.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo line break ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Prologue – Meeting

High up a tree in a park in a little town sat a teenager with white hair and a dark blue hoodie. His name was Jack Frost. The teen was lounging on a branch near the top of the tree, as if he had no worries about falling. And he really didn't, since this rather odd teen was not actually human.

He was a grim reaper, a collector of souls. His spot in the tree was less to avoid being seen, as he was invisible and intangible to most, but because he liked the view and the feeling of being high up. Far below him, at the base of the tree, sat two friends and a large black dog who were completely unaware of the entity sitting above them.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo line break oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So, wait a second. You're telling me you picked up this stray off the street, from that abandoned area you like to walk around, and took him home?!" Astrid said incredulously.

"That's basically what happened." Hiccup replied. He stroked the black labs head as they talked. Toothless, the dog, leaned his head into the touch.

"How did you convince your dad to let you keep him?" Astrid asked.

"I didn't have to at first. He… kinda didn't notice for a few days." Hiccup said, hesitating a little.

"He didn't notice? How did he not notice that you suddenly had a dog? It's not like black labs are a small breed. Did you hide him or something?" Astrid was a little shocked that someone could seriously miss the large dog living in their house.

"Yeah, because there's so much room in my house to hide a black lab. Nah. That's the bad part, I didn't actively try and hide Toothless. If I really wanted to I could have just kept him strictly in the backyard. My dad never goes back there so he would never have seen him. He just literally took a few days to realize that there was a dog in the house." Hiccup's voice went from sarcastic to resigned. He sighed and scratched the dog behind the ears.

"How did he react?" Astrid asked softly. She knew Hiccup had issues with his dad, Stoick. They were both extremely stubborn and had trouble communicating. It didn't help that Stoick was always working at the police station and never home. So Hiccup had no one at home to talk to. Having a furry companion might help him feel a little less lonely. He would need it with the anniversary of his mother's death coming up.

"He didn't take it too well. Dad tried to drag Toothless out by the collar and threatened to call animal control to take him away. It took me a while to get him to stop. He asked why I thought I could take care of an animal. I already had proof that I could and I tried to tell him that having Toothless around might be for the best. In the end he agreed to a… trial period." Hiccup said. He sighed and refused to look up at his best friend. "If I can take care of him and keep the house mess free for a month I get to keep him. My dad will help me get his shots and tags."

"And is you don't?" Astrid asked.

"Then he'll take Toothless straight to the Humane Society." Hiccup said quietly. He wrapped his arms around the black labs neck and hugged him. Astrid put her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort her best friend. Toothless nuzzled his human to return the affection.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo line break oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jack looked through a small brown book, diverting a small amount of attention to whatever was going on with the teens below. He was looking for a certain entry in his list.

"Henry 'Hiccup' Haddock. Age of death: 15. Dang! This guy isn't supposed to die for another two weeks!" Jack exclaimed. He sat up on the branch and looked down through the leaves at the teens below him.

"I don't have any prior targets either." the reaper said. Jack snapped his book shut and stowed it away in his hoodie pocket. "Guess I'll just have to follow the kid and make sure no one else gets to him first." Jack began watching the teens below him with more interest. Especially the slight, brown haired boy that he was going to be keeping an eye on for the next few weeks. He listened to what was going on below.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo line break oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Astrid had been trying to reassure her friend that he would get to keep Toothless. After all, Hiccup was the biggest animal lover she knew and Toothless was a really good dog from what she had seen. She really hoped Stoick let his son keep his furry companion, for Hiccup's sake.

Hiccup just listened to Astrid without replying for a while. He knew she was trying to help but no one knew if his dad would let him keep his new companion. He was glad that he did get to talk to Astrid today. The girl was his best friend, and his only real one. No one at school really cared and his dad was home so little he had no clue what went on in his son's life as long as it didn't involve a hospital trip or him missing school. Astrid would hang out with him as much as she could but she did have her own life to live. Hiccup could call her any time and she would always listen, but he did his best not to bother her. Maybe having Toothless around would help with some of his lonely hours at home. His thoughts were broken when Astrid spoke up again.

"I have to go. I promised my folks I'd be home in time for dinner." she said as she stood up.

"Alright. Thanks for hanging out with me." he said as he looked up at her. She helped pull him to his feet and gave him a quick hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school. Okay?" Astrid asked as she released her friend. Hiccup nodded.

"Definitely. Goodbye." he said.

"Bye." Astrid said as she turned and walked away. Hiccup watched her go for a few seconds before looking down at the dog lying at his feet.

"Time for us to get home too bud. Let's go, I'll make us some dinner. Maybe Dad'll even show up for once…" Hiccup patted his thigh and the black lab rose to follow his human. They began walking towards the park's entrance.

Jack watched the two teenagers start to leave before getting up to follow. "If I'm going to have to stick with this guy for two weeks then I might as well have some fun." Jack said with a smile. "He is pretty cute after all."

The grim reaper started flying in pursuit of the boy. He would occasionally land on branches of trees as he kept up with his target. He drew a little closer before they exited the park to see if he could cause a little mayhem. Unfortunately for him, the dog sensed him as the reaper got too close and began growling.

"Great. He just had to have an animal capable of sensing me. This just got less fun." Jack grumbled to himself as he stopped on a branch near the two.

Hiccup noticed Toothless growling and crowding him, like he was trying to protect him. "What's up bud?" he asked as he turned to see what could have the dog all riled up. What he didn't expect to see was a teen, not much older than himself, standing on a tree branch nearby.

"Who are you?" Hiccup called to the teen in the tree. Jack, who was definitely not expecting anyone to be able to see him, was startled. He jumped, which for him meant floating off the branch and hanging in thin air. He realized his mistake about three seconds after he had done so.

"What the hell! Forget who you are, what are you?!" Hiccup yelped. Toothless placed himself in front of Hiccup and pressed himself against his owner's legs. He wasn't letting the reaper anywhere near his human.

"You mean you can see me?" Jack said in shock. It wasn't uncommon for animals to see grim reapers but humans were different. They could almost never see reapers. So Jack had been completely unprepared for his target to actually catch sight of him. He was honestly a little excited at the thought of getting to talk to a human since it happened so rarely. He landed on the ground a little ways away from the boy and very protective dog.

"Obviously. You are standing right in front of me. Now, what are you? Why were you following me? And why should I not be able to see you?" Hiccup spat the questions as his brain tried to make some sense of what was happening.

"Calm down. I'm a grim reaper. It's my job to follow people around. Most of the time they can't see us so you caught me by surprise." Jack stated. Hiccup began backing away.

"Stay away from me! Are you saying I'm supposed to die today?!" Now he was freaking out.

"Relax. Today isn't your day. And I don't always follow people to collect souls. Sometimes I just do it to mess with them." Jack explained to try and reassure the frightened boy.

"So you aren't here to kill me?" Hiccup asked with a weak voice. His knees were a little shaky.

"Nope. Not today anyway. Besides, we don't kill humans." Jack replied. "It's just refreshing to be able to talk to someone. I like it."

"You… like talking to… me?" Hiccup was calmer but Jack's last statement had thrown him for a loop. He petted Toothless' head so that he'd stop growling.

"Yeah. Is that weird or something? I don't get to talk to many humans so I can't be sure." Jack asked. He was honestly curious as to why the other boy found it weird that someone wanted to talk to him.

"I guess not. It's just that I only know one person that actually wants to talk to me." Hiccup answered a bit hesitantly.

"May I know the name of the guy I'm talking to?" Jack asked. He already knew it but it couldn't hurt to put the poor boy a little more at ease. Maybe then he'd call off the dog.

"Oh! Sorry. My name is Hiccup. And you are?" Hiccup pulled Toothless out of the way so that he could shake the other teen's hand. The lab was not overly happy about this and growled softly at the reaper. "Come on bud. He isn't going to hurt me."

Jack chuckled. "Nice to meet you. My name's Jack. Maybe we can talk more sometime?" Both boys shook hands.

"Sure." Hiccup replied, still a little uneasy talking to a creature that was supposed to be synonymous with death.

"Great. See you soon then." Jack stepped back up and rose up into the air.

"Bye." Hiccup said. He watched Jack fly off before he and Toothless turned around and walked home. Upon arriving at the empty house, Hiccup went straight up to his room. He sat on the bed, lost in thought, while absentmindedly stroking Toothless' head.

He was thinking about his encounter today with the teen who claimed to be a grim reaper. Wondering why he still wanted to talk to boy, when he ought to be frightened at the idea of being near someone whose job is death. Even though Jack did say he wasn't going to hurt him. Eventually he gave up on sorting it all out and just decided to grab a sandwich and feed Toothless before getting ready for bed. He really needed sleep after that ordeal.

Meanwhile Jack had only moved out of sight of Hiccup and his dog before stopping. He followed the two back to their house at a distance so that he could avoid getting caught again.

Upon reaching the destination he made himself comfortable in a tree in the backyard. Jack lost himself in thought as well. It wasn't that he'd lied to the boy. He just didn't tell him the whole truth. It only took one time telling someone the date of their death out of pity. He watched them be a terrified, paranoid mess for days, before dying right on time anyway. He made a promise to himself to never make anyone go through that again. There was no way he could, or would, tell the boy about his death. He would just enjoy the company while it lasted. It was kind of funny; most humans who caught him flying mistook him for an angel or something of the like. Others would be so frightened that they'd never talk to him. Those people did everything in their power to tell themselves that he didn't exist and was just a hallucination. It was so rare actually speak to a human. And conversation with other reapers got dull after a while when they only talked shop.

He would just enjoy this for a few weeks and then continue on as he always had. Jack smiled and settled himself back on his branch for the night. He didn't need to sleep but it did feel nice to rest. He relaxed and closed his eyes.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo line break oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A/N: That's all for now. Please let me know what you thought, even if it's just a smiley face. TTFN!