So a friend of mine wanted feels. I bring you feels (hopefully).

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a laptop and certain plot elements.

Day 10: "Sometimes You're Closer when You're Letting Go"

He had grown since the last time he saw him.

He wasn't the cute teen he met nine years ago, nor was he the tall and attractive young adult he left behind with nothing but a letter and his heart. He was twenty-five and stunning, hair neatly combed back and dressed handsomely in an expensive tuxedo, the traditional black and white formal ensemble that contrasted heavily with his blushing cheeks and nervous smile which only added to his charm. Jack knew he should have saved this compliment for the bride, but he couldn't help it:

"You look amazing."

He was startled; after all, he thought he was alone within the room he occupied in the small Berkian chapel. But when those eyes of viridian were wide with disbelief, confusion, and hurt, it was probably because he recognized the voice the moment he heard it. "Y-you're here…"

Jack's gaze found the floor before nervously meeting Hiccup's. "I'm here..." he admitted softly.

"Why?" And those pretty eyes were watering as the whisper left his lips, something like betrayal, relief, and sadness mixing into the question.

And what else was Jack to do but say the truth? "Because—I love you. And…it's time that I let you go." That was what he came for, but he was already warned that such a thing was harder to do than anything else.

Hiccup shook his head, wiping any tears that threatened to fall with a sleeve. "Not even a proper goodbye, Jack? Again?" He tried to force a laugh, but it cracked at the end with a small sob as something inside the Spirit of Winter broke at the mere sound of it.

"I—I apparently never learn," he sighed, frustration and regret bubbling, fit to erupt at wrongs he could be too late to mend. "I'm here to fix that."

"You…don't seem ready," the brunet replied pointedly.

And he took a good look at Hiccup and he still saw that same teen from nine years ago, confronting challenges he was never truly certain of but willing to give everything he had. "Neither do you."

The man shrugged. "We all have to let go sometime, Jack."

"Then today's the day to do it," he agreed, but somewhere along the words, his will was lost within the tangles and turmoil of his heart.

"…I'm scared, Jack," he confessed.

And Jack was at his side at once, arms uncomfortably wrapped around the shoulders that he could no longer reach without floating. "Don't be. Astrid's a wonderful woman."

The returned embrace sheltered him wholly, the despair and solitude melting away from that everlasting warmth the boy—no, man—emitted as he shakily admitted, "I'm scared that—scared that I still love you more than I could ever love her."

"Shh…c'mon now," he soothed, yet he knew in his heart that those words did more than reveal the man's fears; they eased the ache of years of heartache and mistakes. "Don't get cold feet," the Frost Spirit chided.

There was an annoyed sigh before Hiccup replied. "I'm serious, Jack."

"And so am I." Reluctantly, he drew away, a cold hand cupping a freckled cheek. His eyes searched through the depths of those irises of endless Junes, finding both agony and forgiveness, love and apprehension and Jack knew he could make things right again. "Look, I came down here today…because we both deserve to be happy, okay?" He brushed the stray tears that rolled hopelessly down. "Now, I won't lie—I love you and have never stopped loving you. Not since the six years I left and probably not for another six thousand to this day. I love you." And that was the single most beautiful truth Jack could cling to. "But I love you enough to know that I can't keep you for myself…not when you have others waiting for you."

And then there was a hand holding his, bringing it close to Hiccup's heart where it fluttered beneath the Guardian's touch, for him, but not for him alone. "I love you, Jack. And I love Astrid, but never doubt that I love you."

The Ice Spirit leaned forward, tenderly pressing his lips to a tear-stained cheek. "Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love," he recited, pulling his hand to him, an icy kiss pressed to still-delicate fingers.

Despite the vibrant blush and small streams of tears traveling down his cheeks, Hiccup laughed. "Was that Shakespeare?"

"I ran into Cupid before I got here," he confessed.

The man gave him a wry smile. "Gave you directions, huh?"

"Yep." He looked to their fingers, still entwined after all these years. Giving them one last squeeze, he let them go. "She's waiting for you, Hiccup."

"I know…" he murmured quietly. "I'm scared you'll leave again."

Jack shook his head and helped to pull the man towards the door. "This isn't goodbye—this isn't the end. Think of it as something else."

There as a shaky breath from the brunet as he considered it. "Something new…"

He nodded, smiling as he bit back the tears. "Yeah…beginnings are strange like that, aren't they?" No, he didn't care if Hiccup saw him crying like a baby; this occasion warranted such a thing didn't it? "Now go, they won't wai—"

And how he missed the other's lips covering his own, the same tingles of love and pleasure dancing down his veins, the same fire that ignited sparks down his spine, the reassurance and the promises they both swore to keep, the sweetest pain, and the loveliest torture were found in his lips as they moved against his, burning the memory into his skin because this was the last, oh Jack knew, it was the last of Hiccup's kisses he would ever have. The brunet was panting heavily, cheeks streaked with tears and painted with shades of red as he murmured against Jack's lips, "Oh continue to love me— never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.Ever thine, ever mine…ever ours." And there came that last kiss—simple, wonderful, and brimming with love, the same love that swam in their eyes as Hiccup pulled away. "Beethoven," he informed with a sad smile.

There was a happiness that welled up from within, breaking through the sorrow. Something like a pleasant parasite that fed off of the love between Hiccup and his bride, something that made his heart pulse with joy rather than bitterness at their union, the thorny tendrils of love squeezing his bleeding organ as they recited their vows, as the words, "I do," left Hiccup's lips, as Astrid's covered them, and as cheers erupted from the church, his own shouts of bliss going out to Hiccup—the lovely groom—to take his happiness and do what he wants with it, because his happiness was Jack's.

Compersion, it was called. A gladness that derived itself from a former lover's elation. At least, that's what Cupid called it.

Think of this as a divergence from the "I'll See It When I Believe It" canon. You can blame my friend for this popping up.

-hides-