It's been long. Explanation at end of chapter.

Bit of a warning, there's a bit of father son argument here, nothing too bad. Buuut if that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, you might want to skip out on this fic entirely. There will be almost as much relationship building with parents as there will be with Jack and Hiccup. Healthy relationships include arguments (Though by no means are either of the parental relationships healthy at the moment). It's not the main focus, but it does play an important part.

Hiccup was not an idiot. As pathetic as it was, he trusted Jack, a complete stranger, more than he did his own father. Something told Hiccup he was right to trust Jack. The boy was mysterious, yes, (and if he wasn't mistaken, Hiccup got the sense Jack could be quite the prankster when he got the chance) but also gentle. Knowing Jack the short while he had, he was positive he would never hurt anyone- unless he had to. It was also obvious that Jack was capable of protecting himself, if needed. Nimble, yet strong. As if he was built for exactly that; defense.

But Jack would never hurt anyone without a moral purpose, that much Hiccup trusted. And because of that, Hiccup felt the need to protect that innocence Jack held, even if it meant risking everything with his father. (If he were being honest with himself, there wasn't much left to risk since his mother left.)

"I'm telling you dad, there's nothing to worry about!"

"You don't know what to be looking for. Just tell me everything that happened and–"

"Dad," Hiccup interrupted, earning a surprised, and somewhat irritated look from his father, "I'm not telling you anything until you tell me what's going on!"

There was an elongated silence, followed by quiet but stern words, "That's not your choice to make, Herrick."

"It's Hiccup," the teen grumbled with a concealed scowl.

Stoick's eyes flared dangerously, "You'll answer to what I call you, Herrick," the man breathed out through his nose, "Don't bother coming back upstairs until you're ready to be respectful," Stoick said as calmly as he could manage and proceeded to walk out of the room, door slamming behind him.

Real mature, Dad. Hiccup rolled his eyes and took out his phone, calling one of his few contacts.

"Astrid, mind helping me get out of the house again?"

"No problem. I'll be there in a few."

...

"Soo..." the blonde leaned forward to set her drink in the car's cupholder, "Are you going to tell me what happened? I mean, I'm not too great with the whole 'gentle' thing, but I can try to help."

"At least you're aware of it," Hiccup shook his head with a weak laugh, "And... it's complicated. Not worth explaining, really."

Astrid frowned, "Are you sure because–"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright then..." the teen shook her head, pushing the matter aside, "Been a while since we talked. Glad to know I'm only useful when you're too much of a wimp to sneak out yourself."

"Hey, I'm not a wimp. The window was made so that I can't get out unless someone's outside to–"

Astrid laughed lightly, "I'm just joking, you know," she took a bite of a soggy, salty fast-food fry, "Calm down."

"Oh, sorry," Hiccup mocked, accompanied with an eye roll, "You know me. I turn into a monster when I'm upset," Hiccup stifled a laugh.

"So I've heard. Of course, I've never actually seen you get upset."

Hiccup shook his head,"Yeah, no one wants this untamable beast to be unleashed, not after it's been contained for so long. Who knows what could lie beneath all... this," he snorted as he looked down at himself.

"Oh, whatever would we do?" Astrid played along, a small smirk on her lips. She leaned back against the car seat.

"Probably laugh," Hiccup said.

"Probably."

A comfortable silence followed, and Hiccup focused in on an ant crawling on the dashboard. After a while, he lifted his hand so that the creature could crawl onto his finger. The teen smiled faintly and opened the car door, allowing the mouth-watering aroma of fast food to gain access to the vehicle. He crouched down and set the insect on the pavement and quickly returned to his seat.

"Hiccup?" Astrid spoke hesitantly, a rare occurrence in itself.

"Hm?"

"It's healthy to get upset sometimes."

Hiccup sighed inwardly. He'd heard this before. Not from Astrid, but the same deal, "Uh huh."

"And it's also healthy to talk about what's making you upset," she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was obviously not used to the whole touchy-feely thing, but she was also well aware Hiccup no longer had anyone else to talk to, "And I'm willing to listen."

"I appreciate it- really, I do," Hiccup assured but went on, shaking his head, "But I don't need to get upset or talk about anything. I just needed to get out of the house, that's all."

"Alright," Astrid replied with a slight disappointment, despite the relief of not having to play counselor, "You want to get dropped off at home or someplace else?"

For a split second, Hiccup thought about calling Jack. The other boy seemed much more comfortable and at ease while in his own home, compared to their other interactions. Even Hiccup felt more at home there than he did in his own house. It definitely wasn't a comfy atmosphere, though. Hiccup saw no family photos on the walls, no refrigerator magnets, nothing that resembled keepsakes... but the air wasn't cold like it was in his own home (metaphorically speaking, at least. The literal temperature was freezing, to match Jack's snowy hair, he presumed). He wanted to go back.

But that was too weird.

They had only been apart a few hours. Asking to come back would just be creepy. Unless, of course, he were to explain the circumstances. But Hiccup couldn't explain how Jack's home contained the same atmosphere his own had, back when his mother was still around. Hiccup couldn't explain how, somehow, the idea of talking through his problems didn't sound so bad, as long as Jack were around. Jack, the boy he'd met only this week.

He just sighed, "Nowhere else to go, I guess."

I've really been debating putting this up because there were so many more things supposed to happen. -_- But, I'm sick with Lyme Disease and apparently I was only receiving half the dose of meds I should have been so... Two month long headache kept me from writing ^^; I am so sorry. This is probably my worst writing so far too. :/ Hope you all are still enjoying it, despite that.