Chapter 6

Time passed normally until Wednesday morning, which seemed more like a Monday morning because of how slowly it had passed. Hiccup and I had walked to school together Tuesday as well as earlier that morning. Hiccup's scabs from Snotlout's attack had begun to fade, and I was grateful that there had been no more to replace them. I found myself thinking about that a lot each time I saw Snotlout on the field. After athletics were done and school was out Astrid came to find us on the field.

"Hiccup." She said, completely ignoring me (which was a first). Her tone immediately caught his attention, and he turned to face her from the pile of water bottles he was loading into the supply room. "We need to talk. Now." Astrid grabbed him by the wrist without an explanation, leaving the water bottles to fend for themselves. I stood dumbfounded, not knowing whether or not I should follow them or how to react. Deciding it was best to leave them alone, I took on the job of putting the water bottles back in their place.

When I was done with the menial task, I went to wait for them to come back on the bleachers. I fiddled on my phone a bit. Checked the time about once every five seconds. Just as it had this morning, time passed slower than sap. To pass the time I decided to clean out my texts. I had already done this a few days ago when we moved, but it couldn't hurt to do it again. Flipping through my conversations, I came across a number that wasn't saved in my contacts. I assumed it was Astrid since Hiccup had used my phone to text her when the car wouldn't start. Curious, I clicked on the conversation to read the messages. The first text at the top of the page was the address of the motel we had stayed at. In the next message Astrid asked about "this Jack guy." Hiccup replied, He's cool. I think you'll like him."

I may or may not have blushed. A lot.

I had been sitting there for exactly 15 minutes when Hiccup re-entered the field by himself. He looked around to find me, and I waved to him from my seat. Instead of waiting for me come down so we could walk home, he came up. His expression was a mix of annoyance and shame. He took a seat beside me and rubbed at his face. "Have you ever noticed how girls have this incredible ability to make everything a bigger deal than it should be?" He asked.

I wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "What happened?" sounded like a good enough bet. Hiccup lifted his face from his hands. "So… I entered this contest for a trick flight contest thing this weekend and I didn't tell her and she was the person who said I should enter one in the first place and Miss Tooth told her and now she's all mad that I didn't tell her and-"

"Hiccup."

"Uh… yeah?"

"Did you just say trick flight contest?"

"Yes..?"

"As in airplanes?"

"Yes… that's generally what people fly in…"

"So that means you can drive an airplane."

"Well, technically you fly an airplane, Jack, but yes, I can fly an airplane."

"You know how to fly an airplane."

"…Yes."

"That… is really just… cool. Why did you never tell me this?!"

Hiccup leaned back, freaked out by my sudden outburst, "Well I'm kinda telling you now, right?" I sighed and settled back against the step behind me. God, he just kept getting more interesting by the second. Couldn't he have given me at least a day to deal with my realization or something first? That would have been helpful. "Haha, that's funny though." He said. "Hmm?"

"Well, Astrid was just on my case about not telling her about the contest and now here you are doing the same thing. I just find it a bit ironic." He chuckled again and rested on the step behind him in the same fashion I had. Mid-evening sun shined on his face, illuminating his freckles and green emerald green eyes. I wondered idly if his birthstone was an emerald as well…

"Jack?" Hiccup asked, "Is there something on my face?"

Oh holy hell he caught you staring you ridiculous flaming idiot. Play it cool. Something on his face… The bag of potentially risky ideas was coming back to haunt me again.

"…Yep. Look over this way."

Jack. Stop it. No. You can't. You can't. This is bad very bad what areyoudoingthiscan'tendwellohmygoshwhyyyyydoyouneverlistentoyourvoiceofreason?!

Hiccup bent forward to face me. "It's like dirt or something on your cheek over here." I leaned in close, like I was trying to see whatever it was that was supposedly on his face. Ok, maybe a little closer than that, but that was fine right? Not like he knew anything. Maybe my closeness was all just in my head. Yeah, my head…


Why the heck is Jack so close to my face?

I didn't want to voice my concern, but it was nagging at the back (ok front) of my subconscious. As I was wondering about this, Jack took his hand from his side and brought it up to my face. "Hold still." He said, stroking his thumb across my left cheek. This was weird. His hand was warm. This would look extremely weird to anyone looking. He was very gentle. Oh God did I just hear voices over there? Jack's still looking at my face. I'm nervous. He's using his palm now, almost like he's holding my face. What if he decides to kiss me?

...

...

...

Wait… What?!


Hiccup's face did a weird sort of thing.

I hadn't seen anybody make that expression ever before. It blushed and at the same time gasped and went confused-looking-ish. He pulled his face away from my hand and looked down at his feet right after. "D-did you um, get it off?" He asked. Why was he stuttering? What was wrong? Did I miss something? My heart was still fluttering rapidly in my chest. "Um… yeah, I think?"

I touched Hiccup.

I touched Hiccup successfully.

Hahahaha.

I let a smile flit across my face. "You ready to go?" I asked. Hiccup nodded quickly and stood up right after, not facing me. "Yeah… let's go." His voice seemed far away, like he was trapped inside his own thoughts. I didn't feel like questioning it, trapped as I was in my own bliss. The streets were normal. We walked down the same road we usually did. There hadn't been any more adventures like the trip to the pond. After my small accomplishment on the bleachers I was walking on cloud nine. Hiccup, however, seemed to be tripping over it. There was a tiny knot in between his eyebrows where they were twisted by his muddled thoughts.

The walk home was quieter than usual. I couldn't tell what had gotten into Hiccup, but after a while it started to bother me. Something was wrong. Even when Hiccup was sad he at least complained about whatever it was. I didn't know how to deal with his silence.

All of a sudden, Hiccup looked towards the woods to our right. He stopped dead in his tracks. Something like fear crossed his features, then worry, then a muddled determination. "Jack… you can make it home by yourself, right?" He asked, looking down. His left leg fidgeted on the ground. His question surprised me. "Um… yeah. Hic, is something wro-"

"No. I just need you to go. I… have to do something." His bluntness made me cringe a little. Wait… had he noticed something? Was he scared? Was he scared of me? I swallowed hard, trying to get a hold of myself. "Oh… ok then. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" I asked. He nodded smallishly. My head was racing faster than I could process. That had happened so quickly. Was he disgusted by me? I had pushed it too far. That was too much. God, what if he never wants to see my face again? I was walking away, numb and unaware of what my feet were doing. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to fold in on myself until I could erase my existence. One thought kept racing through my mind as I walked further and further away.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

I had never run into this problem before. Jaimie had fallen in love with me first. This was the first time my heart had felt so heavy over another guy. Not even when I broke up with Jaimie did it feel this bad. I thought briefly that this must be what heartbreak feels like. Rejection… I definitely wasn't used to it.

Hell… What do I do?


Jack's reaction wasn't what I expected. I didn't want to hurt him like that, but the group waiting out in the woods to our right would have hurt him worse. When I was sure he was out of hearing range, I turned toward the trees. "So you really need an ambush of six people to take down a guy like Jack? Pathetic."

I had seen them earlier when we were walking. They were so overly obvious in their "hiding places" that it was a wonder Jack hadn't noticed them. But I was glad. I had gotten him to leave before they decided to attack. Now I was mad. Even though they were after me, they were going to drag Jack into the game as well. I couldn't let that happen. Snotlout was the first one to poke his head out from behind a tree. The others soon followed. "Pathetic? Good word. It'll describe you when we're done." I saw the shine of a baseball bat as he pulled it out from behind the tree.

Oh, shit.

They had beaten me almost to a pulp before, but it had always been bare-fisted. This was different. The look in Snotlout's eyes wasn't his usual amusement. It sent a chill through me. There was not nothing but hostility. Snotlout was mad. I silently thanked whatever power had given me the courage to tell Jack to go away. The boys filed out from the woods, slowly gathering around me…


I had gotten ready for school as per usual. There was still a dull ache left in my chest from yesterday. Thinking about it just made it worse, though, so I tried not to. I tried to numb myself with routine as I silently pulled on my uniform, brushed my teeth, gathered up my book bag. By the time I was ready to go I had to face the question of whether or not I should go pick up Hiccup like normal. A small part of me didn't want to, to protect myself from any further harm. Another part of me was scared that he would've already gone by himself, confirming my suspicions about never wanting to see me again. Then there was a tiny corner of my brain that still held on to a small scrap of hope that something had just gotten into him yesterday and that everything would be fine this morning.

Holding onto that small bit of hope, I opened up my door and pushed through the dim morning light over to Hiccup's house. I hesitated before ringing the doorbell. I took a few deep breaths, then brought my finger up to press it. Through the door I could hear the small bell chime it made. Some footsteps ensued, and for a moment I allowed my heart to lift. When the door opened, however, it wasn't Hiccup who stood in the entryway, but his father. My heart sunk once again.

"Oh, um, hello Mr. Haddock. Is Hiccup ready to go?" Dumb question. Dumb question. Dumb question. Why did I ask that? There was reason Hiccup hadn't answered the door. Wait… what if he had told his father that he thought something was wrong with me? What if I wasn't even welcome as a neighbor anymore? This was bad. Why? Why did I have to go and do that yesterday? I knew better…

"Hiccup… isn't going to school today." He said. I could detect a hint of sadness in his voice. "Ah… I see." I said. The small bit of hope I had been allowing myself to cling to dissipated. I forced myself to put on a fake grin. "Thank you." Before he had time to reply, I had turned on my heel and was heading down the street towards the school. The wind stung at my cheeks. It didn't matter. I was too far gone to take any notice of my surroundings. I felt a dam inside me breaking apart.

I couldn't show up to school like this. There would be no point anyway. I stopped in the middle of the street and slowly turned back toward my house. I moved on autopilot. Aster was still in the living room, about to head out to work. He looked surprised when I came back in. "Oh, Jackie. What are you doin' back? Forget something? You'd bettah not be late to school. It's just your first week here for cryin' out loud." I threw my bag down beside the couch and walked back up the stairs. "I'm skipping today, Aster." I yelled down before shutting the door to my room.

I could imagine the surprised look he would have on his face. I never skipped school. I hated make-up work too much. Aster's footsteps echoed in the hallway as he came up the stairs. I didn't care. I flopped down on my bed and pulled the covers up over my head like a kid. Before long Aster was knocking at the door. "Jack? Is everything alright?"

No, no it absolutely wasn't.

"Yeah, yeah I'm absolutely fine, I just… have a headache."

Which wasn't a lie. Pretty much everything hurt at this point. My head, my stomach, my eyes… but my heart hurt the worst. Aster didn't walk back downstairs like he usually would. Since I never really acted out of the ordinary, went to school, did my homework, stayed out of trouble, he would customarily just let me be, but not this time. He opened the door to my dark room slowly and walked over to the edge of my bed. "You're a liah. You nevah skip, especially after you've already gotten ready to go in the first place."

Of course he had seen right through me. I was always a bad liar when it came to Aster, he knew me all too well. "C'mon. Tell me what's got yah down." He ordered, sitting down beside me on the mattress. I peeled the covers back from my face and looked at him, trying to guess what he thought might be the problem. He looked back at me without expectations. I guess it would be better to just come right out with the truth. Aster had known about my orientation before I had ever even considered it, so he wouldn't care. He had known about me and Jaimie as well as the few others back in Sydney, he might as well know about hiccup too.

"I… think I was rejected. Without , you know, ever even saying anything." I said. A crappy explanation, but it would have to suffice. Aster just nodded. "Well, that would explain your mood yesterday as well, eh? I figured something like this might happen." Aster stood up again with a small "I'll be right back." I couldn't tell if this was a good or a bad reaction. At any rate, I didn't want to go to school. Aster was back up in the stairs after a little clanging down in the kitchen. "Tell yah what," he said, "Let's just skip until lunch, get your head right, calm down, and then we'll see about going afterwards, alright?"

I nodded, sitting up. Aster was holding two pieces of cake in his hands. He handed one of them down to me, and I took it gladly. Cake usually made things feel better even if they weren't. Aster sat down in the chair to my desk. "So, this mystery boy got a name?" he asked, digging for more. I chewed and swalled my first bite. The taste of sugary vanilla made it easier to talk. "His name's Hiccup." I said. Aster nodded. "Ah, I see. You always have had a thing for the boy-next-door type. Never knew you'd take it so seriously though…" He teased. I scowled, "Oh, shut up."

Aster chuckled and stuffed another bite of cake into his mouth. "So does he just have finely tuned gaydar or where you bein' exceedin'ly obvious this time?" He asked, still trying to get a rise out of me (even though the latter was probably closer to the truth). I glared at him, "Yes, Aster, I've shown off my flamingly gay side thoroughly within the entire week I've known him." I said, shaking my head.

"Well then, what happened? Is he a phobic or somethin'?" He asked. Aster had zero regard for feelings when it came to things like this, but that was a good thing. He never beat around the bush, which made it easier to get to the root of the problem. I had nothing to hide, so I told him about how I had lied just to touch his face and how I must've gotten a little too close for comfort and how he had told me to leave afterwards. By the end, I was all choked up again, the effects of the cake wearing off, but at least I had gotten it off my chest. Aster just silently sat and contemplated.

"Well, maybe he just wasn't expectin' that, yah know? If he had just realized that you were gay and that you were pining after him of all people, he has a right to be surprised and confused. He obviously saw yah as a friend, right? So if I were you, I'd just give it a little bit of time. He'll come around, you'll see. Maybe not in the way yah wanted, but he'll be there all the same, I think."

Aster's words were encouraging, and made me feel better. Aster never sugar-coated things (except for when cake was added to the mix) so I knew he was saying what he really felt. "Thanks, Aster." I said, chomping down on my last bite. Aster finished his not too long after. "So, think you'll be able to go later on today?" He asked, back on track. I nodded. I felt better than I did before. My headache was going away and my stomach had settled a little. Aster took my plate and headed downstairs. I had probably made him late for work, which made me feel guilty, but I was glad he had stayed behind to talk with me. After shouting up a quick goodbye to me, he closed the front door and took off.

I laid back down, still not quite ready to face the day.

School went better than I thought it would. Classes gave me a distraction from my thoughts of Hiccup. It was almost lucky for him to have not come to the school. During football I could let myself go. It was nice. All I had to do was focus on the game and let everything else go away. I finally felt whole for the first time in the day when the coach blew his whistle. Everyone's attention was brought to the sideline. "Snotlout! Git over here!" He yelled. There was a bit of confused mumbling as two police officers came out from behind the bleachers.

Snotlout's eyes grew wide with fear and panic. He turned around and started sprinting towards the school. The police officers ran after him, yelling to stop, but I knew he wouldn't. Whatever he had done was bad enough to get him arrested. I knew that the officers wouldn't be able to catch up to him.

So I started after him. The look of surprise on his face as I tackled him to the ground was priceless. I pinned him as best as I could but eventually he was too large for me to hold down. He punched me across my right cheek as he attempted to throw me off. About this time the officers had caught up to him and had handcuffs at the ready. It didn't take them that long to subdue him once he had been caught. He glared daggers at me as they drug him away. "Dammit Frost! I hope you're glad you left Hiccup alone! That cocky bastard got what he deserved!"

My stomach dropped. Then anger rose up inside of me,

"If you laid one hand on him I swear I'll kill you!"


My head hurt.

It was like the back of my skull had been run over by a freight train. The sheets had twisted around my ankles again, but I didn't feel like leaning over to fix them, too sore for that. I had come-to earlier this morning. Snotlout and the other guys had knocked me unconscious within the first few minutes of their beating, for which I was grateful. The doctors thought I might've had a concussion, but it only turned out to be a slight one. I had bruised ribs, a stiff-shut black eye, a cut to my collarbone that had needed stitches, and a huge knot on the back of my head. I feared for damage in my nether regions because they were still so sore.

They hadn't hurt my already screwed up ankle further, so I would still be able to walk. They hadn't paralyzed me, so that was good. I hated the hospital, though. Ever since having been stuck in a hospital bed after my mother died and being told I might not be able to walk again if the surgery didn't go well and all that jazz, I wasn't exactly inclined to liking them. A nurse came in not too long after. "Hello, Hiccup. How are you feeling?" She asked as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm. "Just peachy." I said.

She laughed a little and went back to checking my vitals. She held up one of those little charts with multi-colored smiley/frowney faces that ask "What is your level of pain?" I chose the green one. It was near the middle, I feel like crud, but I don't think I'm going to die. Once she was done, she left the room and my father replaced her. He must've finished up early at work to come and see me. How sweet. He made an awkward attempt at "are you feeling any better yet?" I said no. He asked me if there was anything he could do. I said no. He asked me if I wanted anything. I said no.

We had gone through this conversation when he had visited me at lunch as well. Honestly, I didn't want him there. I wanted to be alone. Of course he would only care about the bruises on my face when it had actually put me in the hospital. Of course he was only a father when he thought it was his duty to be so. I was angry. I had told him about it months ago. I secretly thought that he had hoped it would make me stronger or something. After a few more tries at "do you want me to get you anything?" he left, assuming I was okay.

After that, I attempted to entertain myself with riddling out how I would deal with Jack when I saw him. I knew I had hurt him, but I had to. I didn't want him caught up in that fight. I was sure he would be angry with me, and for some reason the thought of that put a knot at the bottom of my stomach. I leaned back and closed my eyes. It would be easier to just sleep, to not have to think about it, but my mind was wide awake. I felt like I had been trying to sleep for a good fifteen minutes when the door opened again. It was probably another nurse. I kept my eyes shut, faking sleep.

There was the sound of a chair being pulled up close to the side of my bed.


Hiccup was asleep in the hospital bed when I walked in. He looked small. His right eye was black and puffy, and he had bandages speckled all around his skin. The sight sent a twinge of guilt through me. Why had I left him alone? I knew he couldn't defend himself if something happened. I should've at least insisted on walking him to wherever he "had to go do". How was I supposed to know that he was just protecting me?

Astrid had filled me in on the details of the fight after school. Hiccup had said that they were hiding out behind the trees and that they had come after him with a baseball bat and miscellaneous other things. Astrid had wondered why I wasn't with him. My huge misunderstanding had led to Hiccup getting hurt.

He wasn't scared of me, but scared for me.

As I watched Hiccup slowly breathe in and out from the chair I was sitting in, he looked so fragile, but at the same time, so strong. He knew what would happen when he told me to leave. He had abandoned his own safety in exchange for mine… and hell if I didn't love him for that. I was angry at him, of course, but the act had just made me fall harder.

I leaned my arms on the side of the bed and leaned my head on them. "You adorable little idiot." I whispered, quiet enough that it wouldn't wake him. "I'm going to beat the crap out of Snotlout the next time I see him." I said, wondering if he could hear me in his dreams. For a split second, the corner of his mouth flinched up into a smile. It surprised me. "Can you hear me, Hic?" His face was motionless. Guess not, just a coincidence…

"Hiccup… I love you."

I whispered the words out even softer than all of those before. It felt good to have actually said them, to have admitted them to myself and an unconscious Hiccup.

An…unconscious… Hiccup.

Before I could put the thought out of my mind, I was already staring at his face. Jack. No. Stop it. You can't. You can't .He is unconscious and thatwouldbewrongandhewouldhateyouifheeverknewand- …What if it's his first?

My hand moved on its own. It had a bad habit of doing that. I shifted to where I was sitting on the bed, one hand on either side of Hiccup's face. It felt like twenty minutes had passed where I did nothing but stare at Hiccup for any sign of him waking up. I made absolutely no noise as I leaned in. I was barely breathing for fear that Hiccup would feel it and wake up. His long hair brushed at the back of my hand as I hesitated, hovering my lips right above his. It felt like my heart would beat right out of my chest. I licked my lips.

Moving even slower than before, I cleared the last inch between our faces. His breath mixed with mine as my lips touched his. They were dry and slightly chapped… but also soft and warm. I lightly sucked his bottom lip between mine, and pulled away with a small smacking noise, not wanting to push my luck any further. As fast as I felt I could without waking him up, I slid off of the bed and back down to the chair. Throwing my book bag over my shoulder, I pushed myself back up. My cheeks burned bright red as I silently left the room.


…wow.


Houston, we've made contact.

I am so glad I finally got to this point because it's really so much fun from here /

Hope you liked. I will probably post chapter seven by the end of today because I'm already halfway done with it as well (hahaha)