Chapter 2

I heard Jack's door close softly behind me as I left. When I was sure he was no longer watching I let out the breath that had been caught in my throat the entire time. Deflating, I wondered yet again why he had bothered to help me in the first place, even more so why he had cleaned me up afterwards. He seemed like a genuinely good person, but like I said earlier, helping me had caused the death of what could've been his new social life.

I looked down at my watch and saw it was already 5:15. The weather was still freezing cold, and I imagined that the clouds really would be bringing snow that night. Not like I had any rejections to a day spent indoors, but just the fact that winter was really setting in made me cringe. Once the snow started in Berk, it didn't really stop until spring. That meant lots of sloshy walks to school in only half melted snow, thus constantly being pushed into the mess by Snotlout. I groaned in annoyance at the very thought.

To me, winter was the absolute worst season.

"So much for the most wonderful time of the year." I grumbled, finding myself once more in a bad mood. The cold always tended to bring me into this kind of depression, making me feel even worse about the events to come. The heavy door that served as the entrance to our house was locked. Something unusual, especially at this time of day. It wasn't a problem, though. I just pulled my key out of a pocket in my backpack and opened it.

Or I would have, had there been a key.

I fumbled around in the pocket, searching frantically for it. We didn't leave a spare on the porch because of my Dad's fear of someone finding it. This was bad. This was really, really, really bad. With an exasperated groan I gave up on the pursuit of the key and banged my forehead on the door. This only reminded me of my growing headache. "Oh come on!" I moaned, sliding down the door to sit at its base.

That was just lovely. Exactly what I needed on a cold day like this. I pulled my jacket's collar up over my ears, trying to save my nose from dripping. If Dad was already this late there would be no telling as to how much longer it would be until he got back. I sighed, noticing that even the rug underneath me was chilled through. I would definitely be catching a cold tonight. I yawned, depression and anger melting into one large mass of exhaustion. Or maybe it was the fact that I'd just had my ass handed to me yet again. Honestly, it didn't matter.

My breath started to make little clouds as the sun lowered further into the sky. No rescue came. I pulled my knees up to my chest, huddling up as my teeth began to chatter. Seeing no hope for an escape, I decided to rest my eyes and let some of the day's ongoing stress ebb.

It had been a while since Hiccup left, and I found myself carrying more boxes into my room. My uncle clapped me on the shoulder as I passed. "Still not done there, mate?" He asked, a thick Australian accent covering the words. I let out a sigh, "Nope." The tall man just laughed, taking in my form as I attempted to lift a third box onto the already slipping pile. "You're gonna drop those." He said, smirking as it slid up over the last one.

I put on a triumphant smile at the small feat. "Oh really? How much you wanna bet on that, Joey?" I teased, a mischievous grin pulling the sides of the smile tighter. He leaned back on one foot, his hand coming into a "thinker's pose" underneath his chin. "Hmmm… I'll give you dollah if you can make it." He said, challenging me. "Sounds like deal."

He gestured up the stairs, inviting me to try.

I didn't waste any time finding my way to them, carefully ascending each one. Aster looked on with an amused expression, truly thinking I wasn't going to make it. I was up to the last step when my foot caught the edge of the right rail. I tripped forward, boxes swerving outwards as I tried to catch my balance again. And I did, almost too late. The top box was hanging in a very precarious position atop the others. About to fall, but not quite there yet.

Back down in the living room Aster's booming laughter made it all the harder to not move, my own silent chuckles faintly shaking me as I regained a sturdier balance. "Shut up! You're gonna make me drop them!" I laughed, continuing my walk down the hallway into my room. I heard Aster's large footsteps behind me as I entered the final stretch of hallway. I eyed the top box with determination that could kill. My uncle's eyes did the same as I stepped through the threshold.

"Almost… there…" I whispered, as if trying to comfort the tipping boxes. Then in one quick motion, I swiped the top box down, laying it on the floor beside me, keeping the last two in my other hand. I slid both of my palms to the side of the first box as I leaned down, gently placing them on the floor. When I was sure they were settled, I took a big jump into the air. "Ha! Take that, old man kangaroo!" I burst, pointing one finger in his direction.

His face held a playful pout, but I could tell he wasn't really unhappy about losing. "Yeah, yeah. Eat it up, ya bloody ankle-biter."

I chuckled once more at his choice of words. "Ankle biter?" Gosh old man your insults are getting worse and worse." I told him, rolling my eyes.

He smirked, and began wagging his finger at me. "That may be true. But at least I'm not taking a nap on the front porch."

"And may I ask who is?"

I dragged an empty box over to his side and flipped it over, preparing to sit down. "Some kid in front of the next house over. The boy was just leanin' against the door taking a snooze like it was the middle of blooming July!"

I jumped quickly at the news, "Wait. Hiccup's still outside?!"

The sentence caught my uncle off-guard. "Hiccup? And what do you mean, 'still'? Was he over there earlier?" He questioned, but I was already out the door. "Be right back!" I called over my shoulder as he chased after me with a worried look. I slipped my shoes on, instantly hating the feel of them. I would usually just walk out barefoot, but it was already pretty dark outside and I could see the foggy windows as an indication of how cold it must have been.

Not bothering to find a jacket, I ran out door and onto the porch. Sure to my uncle's word, there was Hiccup. He was trembling inside his jacket, but since his eyes weren't open I supposed that he was, in fact, sleeping. I jogged down the sidewalk and over to his porch where I could see little puffs of water vapor pour out of his mouth with each exhaling breath. Dang it was cold!

I rubbed absently at the sides of my arms, immediately regretting having not brought a jacket. "Hiccup?" I asked, crouching in front of him on my toes. My words stirred him, and he sleepily blinked at me in confusion. "Eh? Jack what're you do-"

He suddenly gasped as he noticed where he was. "Oh, crud. It's this late already?!" He asked, teeth starting to click together from the cold. I stared back at him in confusion. "What the heck are you doing out here?" I asked, noticing how red his knuckles and nose were. He shifted a little, wincing as his hands made contact with the cold concrete below him.

"Um, uh… I kinda… lost my key." He said, looking up at me with a sheepish expression.

I let out a sigh and lowered my head into my hands, running them through my hair. This guy really was hopeless, huh? "You're having one heck of a day, aren't you?" I asked, offering him an encouraging smile. His mouth turned into a small line and he ducked his head in embarrassment. "Um, yeah… I guess you could say that."

I slipped back up into a standing position and offered my hand to help him up.

I took the hand gladly, groaning a bit as I got up from my sitting position. It felt like I had been frozen in place for hours, which probably wasn't far from the truth. My face and fingers were numb from the biting cold, calling out in pain whenever I tried to move them. Jack eyed me with an apologetic expression.

"I wouldn't have minded if you had just come back over, you know." He said, punching me lightly in the shoulder. I scratched the back of my neck, a habit I had formed years ago when I started to be an awkward person. "Oh, uh… yeah sorry. I just thought my Dad would be back earlier than this." I told him lamely.

He chuckled, "Yeah well, he's apparently not back yet, so I'm gonna take you hostage to make sure you don't freeze to death."

I felt a lazy smirk lift the side of my mouth, "'Take me hostage', hmm? That sounds relatively frightening."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up before you get frostbite."

I shook out my right foot, bringing some feeling into it. "Is that some kind of threat?" I teased, remembering his last name.

"Hardy har har, Hiccup. Like I haven't heard that one before." He said, turning away to walk down the sidewalk again. I followed behind, happy to be offered a house. Before, something like this never would've happened. Not only was I an outcast in school, but to almost the entire town as well. Only a handful of people might have helped me. Even though Astrid lived close, and would've been happy to let me in, her parents would veto the idea outright, and would kick me out of the house. I could've gone to Gobber's, but that would've taken at least twenty minutes to walk, in which time my Dad could've already gotten home.

So it was very, very lucky indeed that this happened to be the day Jack moved next door.

He led me back to his house, opening the door for me just like before. This would make the second time he had saved me in one day (and if that didn't make me look like a wimp I didn't know what would). Remembering that with embarrassment, I pushed past him into the warm place. At first there was only a bit of pain as my body reacted to the sudden temperature change, but then came the relief of the pleasant heat as it wrapped itself around my face and jacket was only keeping the cold in, so I shed it quickly as Jack kicked off his shoes. "Thanks, Jack." I told him, fully surprising myself when the words came out un-stuttered. He gave me a gentle smile, "Nah, wish I would've seen you earlier so you wouldn't be the Hic-sicle you are now."

I was about to jab at him with a clever comeback, but was rudely interrupted by a loud sneeze. It scared Jack, who flinched back a step, but afterwards he just laughed at it. "You're sure you're name wasn't meant to be sneeze instead?" He quipped. I rubbed at my nose, trying to hold back the usual attack that came with it. "Ha ha, yeah. Very funny." I told him, my voice coming out in a nasally sound.

From above us came footsteps, hurried as they made their way downstairs. "Jack! Why did you just take off like that, you bloody wombat?!" A tall man with large feet and a head filled with spikey gray hair came stomping into the room. Jack waved his grumbling away with a short motion of his hand. "Sorry, sorry. I was just helping this snowball of our neighbor out." He explained.

The man gave me a quick once over, rubbing his right temple with two fingers. He was leaner than my father, but held the same kind of intimidation. He had swirling tattoos that covered the expanse of his uncovered arms and neck. But while I found him scary, he had a strange kindness emanating from him which I had never felt from my father. "So you're the bloke who decided to conk out on the porch, then?" He asked, a jovial smile covering his features.

I wrung my jacket in my hands nervously, "Uh… yeah, that was probably me…"

The man gave a hearty chuckle, turning back towards the stairs. "I'm turnin in for the night then, eh Jacky?"

Jack scowled at the nickname, but didn't say anything about it. "Night, Aster."

The name took me by surprise. I had read books where people called their parents by their first names, but it just sounded so weird. He walked over to the right and sat down on a huge brown couch. As I walked over he looked up at me with a smile, patting the spot next to him. I had to jump a little bit to get on the thing it was so big. Even when I wasn't sitting all the way back, my feet didn't touch the floor. I looked over at Jack, sitting all the way back and still being able to touch the ground easily.

I pouted in annoyance at the sight as Jack flipped through channels on TV. Eventually he landed on Animal Planet, some story about "the majestic ostrich". He didn't really pay attention to the show, but jumped off the couch, telling me to wait for him. I craned my neck forward as he disappeared up the stairs, only to reappear moments later, blankets in hand.

"Here, use this." He told me, throwing one into my lap. "Thanks."

The boy threw a second blanket down in the place he had been sitting earlier and left for the kitchen. I unfolded the thick quilt in my lap. It was made of fabrics that had no rhyme, rhythm, or pattern to them. Despite that, it was pretty, and the squares oddly complimented each other. Apart from that (the most important thing), was the fact that it was extremely warm. It made the last few frozen parts of me thaw out, from blue lips to nubby toes.

Unthinking, I sunk into the couch. It was so fluffy and warm and… gosh I was tired.

The kitchen floor was cold underneath my feet, but I didn't really mind it. Cold had never really bothered me, even when I was a kid. The cabinet above me opened to reveal all of our dried and canned foods. There was an exceptionally larger selection in here than in the fridge. I picked through the unfamiliar cavity until stumbling upon what I was looking for. The box of hot chocolate mix came out and made itself comfortable on the counter while I went to go find some milk.

I was about to start pouring into the second mug when I remembered to ask for food allergies. The last thing Hiccup would need today would be an allergic reaction, and judging from all the bad luck he was having today, he probably would've ended up in hives on my floor. That, to say the least, was not wanted. But, could one even get hives from milk and chocolate? Makes you wonder…

Setting the milk down, I jogged back into the living room. "Hey Hiccup, you're not allergic to anything, are you?" I asked, walking along the perimeter of the couch. "Hiccup?"

I looked down to find him asleep, the couch almost devouring him. His face was almost completely hidden between the cushions, pushing his freckled cheeks forward like a fish. I covered my mouth, attempting to keep the loud guffaws from escaping me. When he snored a little his lips would puff out even further forward. I tried looking away from the hilarious sight but found my eyes wandering right back to him. Who knew a sleeping person could be so funny?

After watching him for a good minute more I could no longer hold it back. A mischievous grin came swiftly to my face as I walked back behind the couch, out of what would be his immediate range of vision. This was going to be good. Standing above him, I reached my hands out within an inch of his face. As he steadily breathed out once more, I brought his nap to an end.

My hands clapped loudly together and he woke up in a fit, arms and legs flailing around him in confusion. "GYAAAAAAH!" He screamed, frightened by the sudden noise. He flung his head around from side to side, trying to find where I was, and eventually laid eyes on me, writhing on the floor. Loud chuckles rang out through the living room, sending me to my knees as they shook me.

"Hi- Hiccup! Your face! You just… AHAHAHAHA!

Tears formed in the corners of my eyes and my sides started to hurt as he calmed himself down. Playful anger colored his expression. He rubbed at his face with a small groan, "Why… Why would you do that?"

I slowly sat back up, giggles still pouring forth heavily, "Because… it was just so… so tempting!" At that, he let his hands fall between his knees, tilting his head. "Tempting, eh? I hope you know that's a terrible excuse for giving someone a heart attack." He said, glaring. It only brought on another round of chuckles from me.

As the words left his mouth the same ringtone as earlier rang out. His eyes widened in surprise and he pulled his phone out of a pocket. "Hello?...Dad?" He sat up from the couch, pulling the phone away from his face as a loud voice came out of the speaker. He pointed his hand over to the kitchen, excusing himself as he walked over. "Ok, yeah but um…Dad? I… lost my keys before you got there, it wasn't like…" He trailed off as the voice went off on another rampage.

I turned around, sensing that his mood had changed into a rather bad one. I wondered if his Dad was mad at him or something for being out so late. The sun had already set and it was around nine o'clock. "Yes, yes. I know that. I, um, kinda fell asleep on the porch…"

I had to stifle a laugh at his sorry explanation. "Well I'm obviously not there now… I'm at the house next door. I'll be back in a second… No, Dad wait!"

I turned around to see him slipping the phone back into his pocket. He brought a hand up to the back of his neck, a habit of his. "I've gotta get back now. My Dad's home so uh, bye." He gave a small wave as he let his hand drop back down to his side and walked over to the door. "Oh, ok." I told him, seeing that something was off. "See ya then… but hey wait!" I stopped him, jogging over to his place by the door. He already had it opened about halfway, but shut it quickly as I approached./

"Yeah?" /

"Would you mind walking to school with me Monday? If you want to, I mean." I asked, blushing inwardly at how stupid it sounded.

A small smile turned his lips, "Sure, that's fine. Just make sure you're up early, I leave before most people."

I nodded, a smile of my own coming forward. He pushed his way through the door, shutting it softly behind him. Once again I sauntered into the kitchen. I placed the mug that would've been Hiccup's back in its place and went to heat up the milk in my own. As the container turned lazily inside the microwave I wondered what he meant by "early". Did he have something like tutorials?

When the milk was done and the brown powder had been mixed into it, I climbed the stairs to my room. Mug in hand, I leaned my head against the wall beside my bed. I took a sip, the liquid instantly warming my mouth and throat.

"Heart attack, huh? Funny guy."

Hey there.

Thanks for reading chapter two! Drop me a review if you have any special requests for the story or if you've noticed something I've done wrong (it would be much appreciated).