A/N: Guess what time it is! That's right, it's time for Matt to write more about four magical nerds and football. Because honestly? What else is there to write about? I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Powderpuff?

The redhead blinked.

"...What?"

The blonde girl sitting opposite the redhead had her legs woven together in a pretzel design on the yellowing grass. She had a look on her face that would have made a passerby think she had just won the lottery.

"It would be perfect, Merida!" The blonde cooed, her long hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back in perfect sheets. Her eyes glistened with a almost princess-esque sparkle, a look that Merida, herself, could never pull off (despite how much her mother wished it).

The redhead raised her fiery eyebrows. "I seriously doubt it, Punzie."

"Well I don't!" Rapunzel grinned brightly, leaning forwards with the flyer between her delicate, artisan fingers. "I'm sure it'll be fun!"

"You don't play sports, Rapunzel. Drawing and painting are nothing like playing any sport. Sure, I'm better than you at sports and I enjoy them but... I don't even know how to play this damned sport! So, any fun that could have existed is… It's nonexistent. And, I'm not going to." Merida crossed her arms tightly across her chest. "I'd just make a fool of myself. My answer is no, Rapunzel. It's not going to change."

"What is she saying no to this time?" A freckled, rather awkward, brunette haired boy took his usual seat between the two girls, finishing their semi-circle of friendship. His school lunch balanced atop a stack of books that he was reading. After he sat down, he pushed his crooked, taped together glasses back up his nose.

"Ah Hiccup, you can stop this madness, can't you?" Merida looked desperately at her friend.

"What am I stopping?" Hiccup looked between the utterly irritated redhead to the overly bubbly blonde with a slightly bemused expression on his face. "What's happening?"

"Powderpuff." Merida groaned, lying back against the grass. Her red hair fanned out to form a sort of vibrant halo around her head.

"Powderpuff?" He turned to Rapunzel for an explanation.

"The Powderpuff Game? You know, the girls football game? The Rosie Bowl? They've been talking about it all week on the school announcements." Hiccup gave her a blank look. "Do you listen to the announcements at all, Mr Haddock?"

He gave her a look that promptly said, I've told you before, please don't call me that, I'm not my father but, she ignored him entirely and kept talking.

"Honestly, Hiccup, I would have understood if Merida didn't listen to the announcements but, you? You've thrown me a curveball, Mr. Haddock, a true curveball!"

"Well, I listen… I just don't retain any of the information." He paused. "It's not really of any importance to me so I sort of forget the stuff they say."

Rapunzel waved her hand in the air as if to brush the topic aside. "Whatever. It's basically a girls play football and boys cheerlead football game. Messing with the gender roles, that sort of thing." She smiled brightly to the brunette, tucking a strand of her long hair that had gotten loose back behind her ear. "I suggested that Merida enter."

"Merida playing girls football?" Hiccup laughed, a short burst of air and sound, slight dimples appearing in his cheeks. "She'd annihilate the other team."

"That's what I thought too!" Rapunzel clasped her hands together happily.

The redhead sat up to face him and scoffed. "Don't take her side on this." She narrowed her eyes and glared at the brunette. Between her wild hair and her truly evil expression… If looks could kill, she would have killed him. "I'm warning you, Hiccup."

The brunette jumped back slightly in fright before stopping and grinning from ear to ear. "We just have to get her to play. The other team would take one look at her and they'd be scared out of their wits. Just look at her, Punzie, look at her face."

The mischievous duo turned to look at their Scottish friend. Merida had a look of bitter anger embedded on her face. Eyebrows pressed together in a horrible scowl. She was like a storm that was brewing, the type of storm that would last for days on end. The type of storm that would blow everything in the surrounding area to pieces in seconds.

Hiccup and Rapunzel looked at each other and grinned.

Merida thought it was absolutely no use attempting to putting a stop their fantasy. With Punzie's imagination alone, there was no stopping them. Merida tuned out their excited babbling as she laid back down in the grass. Her eyes unfocused, looking at the bright sky and the leaves of the tree that hung in swaying bunches above.

They just did not get it.

Merida couldn't play football. She practiced archery for a reason, after all.

Archery, as her mother put it, was one of the only sports that allowed a woman to not perspire. Her mother would have preferred that her daughter not play a single sport at all ever but, her father had recommended it and after quite a bit of bickering, her mother had given in.

And so: Merida had learned to use a bow and arrow.

Sure, it required muscles but, it wasn't as aggressive as say… Football, was. Which meant that the chances of her mother actually allowing her to participate in the Powderpuff game was practically nonexistent. All the convincing in the world from her father wouldn't change that.

(Besides, the last time she had actually touched the so called 'pig skin' was in middle school. Or perhaps even elementary.)

She wasn't sure if she even remembered the rules to the damned sport.

And Punzie and Hiccup… She knew how determined they were. How willing they were to succeed. Rapunzel was dedicated. Hiccup was smart. Together, they were practically unstoppable. (Well, unless it came to the eight minute mile run. Hardly anybody could do that successfully. And if they could? Well… They were something else, and Merida was sure it, whatever it was, wasn't human.)

Merida's eyes flicked to the bright blue sky, to the bright green leaves and lavender colored flowers that filled the trees. Only a couple minutes earlier she had been lying in the grass daydreaming about what she and her two friends would do over summer vacation. (It involved an advanced plan of sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night and buying a lot of toilet paper.)

And then Rapunzel had come up with this plan…

They would not understand. Not really.

Sure, she could sneak out in the middle of the night to go study at Hiccup's house, or model for one of Rapunzel's paintings but… This? This was different.

Powderpuff was during the day. Out in the open. Her mother would know, she would find out, she would realize what was happening. And then Merida's summer vacation would vanish like a blown out candle. All her plans, everything. Gone.

A summer without Rapunzel Corona's glimmering smile. Her light laughter. The smell of her paint fume filled bedroom. The way her dress flowed around her calves when she danced. The flowers that she braided into her hair. Her blatant innocence. The way her face lit up when she spoke about things that she loved.

A summer without Henry "Hiccup" Haddock the Third's stuttering mannerisms, awkward timing, and unstoppable swooning over the ever so ominous Astrid Hofferson. A summer without the tangled braids that wound themselves tightly at the back of his head. The slight freckles that dotted his cheekbones and nose, like constellations in the night sky.

She couldn't let that happen.

The redhead loved the quirky blonde and the awkward brunette too much to lose her summer with them for a stupid football game.

"Merida?" That was Hiccup.

"Earth to Merida!" Rapunzel was practically singing. "Are you still in there?"

The redhead's eyes focused to see her two best friends leaning and looking down at her. There was a strand of Punzie's blond hair in her mouth, and Hiccup had a booger in his left nostril. She decided that she wouldn't tell him. (What else are friends for besides embarrassment?) "What?"

"Weren't you listening?" That was Hiccup again. The redhead did not answer. "Didn't think so. Anyway, we were saying, since you don't know that much football, we should get someone to teach you."

That was logical. But that could be expected between the two of them.

"Who?"

Rapunzel glanced at Hiccup, who-Merida could have sworn-managed to blush and grimace at the same time. Was the faint hint of pink at his cheeks because he thought she was attractive? Merida doubted it. Hiccup had been head over heels for a different blonde of the name Miss Astrid Hofferson since the beginning of time. So it had to be something else.

The grimace on the other hand. It was just one of Hiccup's usual expressions. She wasn't exactly sure if it meant anything or not. However… If Hiccup was cringing, that meant that it was possible that Hiccup had something to do with what they had decided upon. And perhaps he wasn't happy about it.

Maybe it was Hiccup's idea to have someone tutor Merida in the ways of football. Perhaps he had suggested someone in particular. Someone… Someone…

Rapunzel grinned roguishly at her. And suddenly she knew exactly who they had decided on to tutor her.

"Oh bloody hell."

For the average person, contacting Jack Overland Frost was like trying to get tickets to a sold out concert.

Sure, the lucky few had the lanky, white haired football player in their classes. Or they saw him in the hallways, meandering from class to class. Few knew his locker number. Even fewer, where he sat at lunch.

Well, actually…

Nobody knew where the infamous Jack Frost would be sitting at lunch.

Henry "Hiccup" Haddock, however, was the only exception. Being best friends with the star football player had its perks, and one of those perks included text messages as early as three in the morning telling the brunette gentleman exactly where Frost would be eating for lunch.

In the beginning, way back when the two of them were both in ninth grade, Hiccup had enjoyed the texts from his friend, it made him feel special. He would wander through the school, meandering past where Jack sat, and smile to himself. Because it wasn't an accident, coming upon the white haired sports superstar and his clique. It was something that he knew, and he alone. The only one in the whole school who knew… It was incredibly exciting!

But now…

Now, they were in their junior year of high school and the excitement that he had felt as a freshman had disappeared into blatant annoyance. He did not exactly care where his friend was most of the time, he wasn't Jack Frost's babysitter, caretaker or whatever other word anyone wanted to call it. All he knew was that as long as Hiccup didn't have to be the person to pull Jack's dead body out of the gutter, he was completely alright with whatever the white haired nuisance wanted to do.

However…

Today was different.

Today, the dark haired junior was on a mission. A mission that involved a certain fiery redhead, and a game of girls football.

A mission that he had spoken about with Rapunzel the night before. The plan that they had perfected. He remembered their conversation vividly. Rapunzel must have said "You have to ask him, Hiccup! It's the only way!" about a hundred times, at the very least, before he had agreed.

His relationship with Jack Overland Frost had deteriorated over the years.

It was just difficult to continue a relationship when the two participants were in completely different levels in the ladder of popularity.

Sure, Hiccup would have been fine with a simple "hello" or a "how are you?" from his white haired friend in the hallway. That would have been enough for the freckled brunette. But it hadn't happened. In fact, Jack had promptly refused to acknowledge Hiccup when they saw each other in the hallway.

A fact that Hiccup Haddock the Third disliked with all his heart.

Which was, after all, why he was so reluctant to go find Jack Overland Frost and ask for his help.

By saying such a thing, he wouldn't only be showing that he needed Jack's help, he would also be showing that he couldn't do anything without him. Hiccup wanted to be independent. Someone who wasn't a babysitter, or a wallflower, or anything that any of Jack's clique wanted to think of him. He could function perfectly fine without the help of a Jack Overland Frost.

It was a fact that Hiccup wanted to prove to the world.

He was perfectly capable of functioning without Jack Frost.

Of course, Rapunzel, Merida and Jack himself knew none of this.

Hiccup had chosen long ago to keep his problems to himself. It wouldn't have helped either of his two closest friends to know about issues that they could not do anything about. And he certainly wasn't about to tell the man who had caused all his problems in the first place.

So he had eventually agreed to Rapunzel's begging and gone to bed with knot in his stomach.

Hiccup stood in the middle of a secluded area near the back of the school. It was a perfect place for couples to stay hidden from… Well, the world. Tall trees hung everywhere, light flowing through the spaces between the leaves, casting a romantic feel to the atmosphere. (That was, if schools could be considered romantic places.)

"Jack?"

His face appeared out of nowhere. Hanging upside down, his light blue eyes staring directly into Hiccup's green ones. He had been perched out of sight in the tree above where Hiccup was standing. The brunette jumped backwards.

"Henry? What are you doing here?" Jack's white eyebrows raised, questioningly.

Henry Haddock never visited Jack Frost. Jack himself had come to the conclusion that they were meant to be in different friend groups, different circles of people. Henry was part of the intelligent, gentle spirited, imaginative group. He took classes in engineering, and higher level maths, and headed the robotics club. He spent most of his spare time studying and trying to make his father proud. And some-Jack included-thought that next year the school would name him valedictorian.

And Jack, on the other hand, took on all the sports that his schedule allowed. His intense, fun-loving, light-footed personality allowed him to balance much more than the average person. Good grades, better muscles, the lot. He volunteered at the middle and elementary schools in the area. He was the star of the football team but, he spent time teaching younger kids how to throw a football correctly. How to do this and that. He inspired them, made them want to achieve greatness.

And so… Jack had thought it best that they had left each other alone.

(Henry was much too smart to hang out with the likes of Jack and his group of friends anyway. He would probably say something clever and accidentally insult one of them, ending up with a black eye.)

But…

"I feel like that should be my question, Jack, not yours."

The white haired gentleman forced a grin, the blood had begun to rush to his head, making his forehead a lot pinker than usual. "You're a little late on asking it, then."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Anyway, are you busy? I need to talk to you."

"I'm not busy right now, no. I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Hiccup smiled, and Jack offered his hand down to the brunette boy. "Take my hand."

"Why?"

Jack snorted. "Just do it, Haddock."

Henry took his friend's hand and the taller, stronger boy pulled him up to the tree branch that he was sitting on. It was fairly easy for the white haired boy, seeing as his friend was only slightly heavier than a hundred pounds. (And Henry had helped by using his feet to help him climb his way up the tree. Not that Jack would tell anyone that.)

They sat on the branch for a moment in silence.

It was quite beautiful, Hiccup decided. They were completely surrounded in leaves and branches, a small amount of light had filtered through the leaves, giving the weird tree nest a sort of warm, yellow-green glow. It was like Jack's own personal tree house. But without the house part. It was much more nest-y.

"So…" That was Hiccup.

"So?"

"So… Why are you up here?"

"Does it matter?" Jack pulled a paper bag from behind him. It was a school lunch, a rather bland looking salad. Jack sighed.

"I guess not." Hiccup crossed his legs and balanced against the leaves and the branches. He took an apple out of his pocket and bit into it.

They ate for a moment in silence.

Hiccup looked at his friend carefully as the man ate his lunch. Sure, they saw each other every here and there but, blinded by his dislike, Hiccup had never realized how tired Jack looked at school. His ruffled, suave hair seemed more droopy, and he had dark circles under his eyes. His lips were chapped and cut in places. There were fingernails on his right hand that had dirt crammed impossibly under them.

Jack noticed Hiccup looking at him and met his eyes with a warm, sort of forced, smile.

Hiccup blinked, coming to the realization. Jack Overland Frost only looked exhausted when he thought people weren't looking.

"So. Why are you here, Henry?" Jack finished his lunch, tucking it back behind him and out of sight. He rearranged his body so he was leaning precariously on his toes, his knees tucked under his chin. How he managed to balance… Hiccup had no idea.

"Well… I guess it's a bit of a long story…"

Jack looked at his friend's stiff pose, the nearly finished apple core held delicately in his hand. Henry was certainly older, now that he looked at him close up like this. His chocolatey hair was longer, and certain sections were braided at the back of his head. He had now, incredibly, more freckles than Jack could remember him having previously. His baby-cheeks had thinned out, revealing a rather sharp jawline and high cheekbones.

Jack Overland Frost smiled genuinely. There was so much time he had missed. So much time that he was never getting back.

"I've got the time."

A/N: If you liked that, please let me know by favouriting, following and reviewing! (I promise I'll love you forever!)