Wow, someone's reading this? (this is utter crap I am so sorry...) immediate continuation of the last chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING.
Chapter Twenty Four: Heart To Heart
Jack's POV
I'm so dead. Soooo dead. Should I lie to her? Fuck, I hate this! Sometimes, I just want to ignore her completely, and never acknowledge that this is ever happening, but… no, that wasn't an option. I had basically no choice in this. I could hold out for a bit longer, right? Right… I hope.
God, where is she? Toothless said she was looking for me, right? She can't be far behind… Whoa, that sounds creepy…
I found her near the Great Hall. She smiled at me as she saw me down the hallway. She ran the rest of the way and smothered me with a hug that I didn't want. Not from her, anyways. That little close encounter with Hiccup when I helped him up was almost too good to be true. It was like… a moment of happiness that you didn't know if you were going to get again. Which was especially true since Sammy was basically suffocating me by taking away everything I ever really cared about…
"I missed you!" She screeched in my ear, her voice too high to be real excitement. "Where were you?! I looked everywhere and I couldn't find you!" She let me go, and she had a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. There was a certain element of curiosity in her expression, so I'll give her that. I hid the little huff I exhaled well, and looked at her, pasting a smile on my face with some really weak glue.
"Sorry! My friends and I had a little Quidditch match. You know, to get ready for tryouts?" I said.
"Oh, well, you could have at least told me!" She said, laughing. "So, who was playing?" She asked, lacing her arms around my neck again and standing on her tip toes to bring her face closer to mine. I forced myself not to grimace and instead I placed my hands waaaaay above her hips. I knew what the hell she was asking. 'Was Hiccup there?' That was just a cover-up question. Well, I'm not going to lie to her. It's not like she can do anything worse to me.
"Uh, you know. Xavier, Lauren, these two first years Cee and Jay, and Hiccup." I said, shrugging. Her eyes went a little bit wider than normal at his name, and I smiled. "We played for dares. My team lost. But it was really fun. Maybe you should play!"
Okay, maybe I just wanted to see if my aim was any good with hitting the Bludgers, but that's not the point…
"Ew." She said, wrinkling her nose in a way that was supposed to be cute, but to me, she just looked like she smelled a bad fart or something. "You know I hate messing up my hair. And that's way too high up for me!"
"Right. Forgot, sorry." I said.
"Oh, no need to be sorry!" Sammy said, smiling up at me and straining on her toes to rub her nose against mine. I let go of her and she fell back flat on her feet, a lightly disappointed look on her face, but I don't really think I care all that much. "So, wanna go somewhere?" She asked, getting over it quick enough and grabbing my hand. I smiled and nodded.
No. No, I do not want to fucking go somewhere!
Aaaand…. She pulled me back to that empty classroom. Again. I felt like her hands were on my neck, choking me.
Door closes. Lock clicks. She rounds on me almost instantaneously.
"You know what I said!" Sammy yelled.
"I know!" I yelled right back.
"Then why-?!" She started to ask, but I cut her off.
"What would happen if I just all of a sudden stopped talking to my friends?" I asked. "They'll be confused about why I just stopped. I know, you're my 'girlfriend,'" I spat the word, and she scowled, "but really, that's no excuse to ignore them totally. They would ask questions! They would know something's up! I can't just… bail out on them like this!"
"There's a million and one excuses that you could use to not hang out with him!" Sammy said.
"Oh, so this is just about Hiccup, right?" I asked, throwing my hand up in the air. "You feel threatened that he'll take your place?" I paused, almost like I wanted her to answer. Instead she just glared at me. "The fact is that you don't have to feel threatened because-"
"Don't say it." Sammy said, her voice toxic and her eyes like razor-sharp daggers. "Don't you dare say it, because if you do, deal or not, I will tell everyone about your little secret."
"That's the only thing you have against me!" I yelled. "What if I didn't care? Huh? What would you do then?" I needed to lower my voice, but I don't think that was possible. How could I? This bitch is insane!
"But you do care." She said, a deadly smile appearing on her lips. "I know you care."
"Why?" I said. "Why are you doing this?!"
"I told you already." Sammy said, rolling her eyes slowly. "Dummy." There was an affectionate twinge in her voice, and I really wanted to throw up.
"I think I've stayed quiet for long enough." Toothless said prosaically, as he waltzed up to the two of us and let out a low rumble in Sammy's direction. She looked down, and blinked at the cat.
"What's he doing?" She asked, pointing down at Toothless and shooting him the weirdest and most clueless look I've seen on her face (which is saying a lot).
"Telling you to back away from Jack!" Toothless growled ferociously… well, at least that's what he sounded like to me. I actually flinched when I heard him. Sammy just blinked at him.
"You're cat's weird." She said.
I sooo wanted to embarrass the crap out of her, or make her super angry by saying 'he's not mine, he's Hiccup's,' but that wouldn't help anything and it'll only get Toothless kicked out or out of Sammy's I'm-okay-with-you-as-long-as-you-keep-out-of-my-plans circle. So I crossed that option off the list.
"Fine." She said suddenly. "I'll be a bit cooler with this." What are you, a fucking dictator? "You can hang out with your friends, but that's only because you share a room with them and that's a little unavoidable. But…" She said, pausing her little rant to look at me. "You stay with me. As soon as you walk down those stairs, you're mine for the day. Got it?"
Fuck you. No I do not 'got it.' I don't want anything to do with you. I do not want to be yours for the day. I do not want to be pried away from Hiccup and Xavier and Lauren, and hell, even the twins! I do not want this. Maybe I should go to the Headmaster. Would North be able to settle this? Would Pitch scare her enough? No, their souls are alike, black as night, I'm sure they get along swimmingly.
I felt myself reluctantly nod, and I wanted to slap myself.
"Good." She said, grinning. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss on my cheek. It burned like she just poured acid onto it. "So, you're trying out for the team this year?" She asked lightly, acting like nothing ever happened.
Damn, are you bipolar or something?! You were yelling at me two minutes ago, and now you're acting like everything's fine?
"Yeah… like I do every year." I said blandly, struggling not to roll my eyes at the obvious question. I was burning to say something cutthroat, but I decided against it. I have to be nice to Evil-Dictator-Lady.
"As if you are interested in the first place." Toothless said. I nudged him with my foot.
"Oh. Yeah, right!" She said, her voice flat but rising with each word. Sammy was bubbly and happy again, her eyelashes fluttering and her short hair moving as she talked. "I nearly forgot. I'm surprised they haven't made you Captain yet." She giggled. 'Well, wouldn't that help your popularity levels soar?' I thought.
"Me too." I said, heading for the door. Toothless flowed me closely, his eyes still on her.
"Hey hey hey…." She said. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Library." I said, grabbing ahold of the doorknob.
"Ohh! I can come with!" She squealed. I shook my head. "Then, could I walk you there, at least?"
"I can walk, thanks." I said coldly, pulling the door open and walking out. I made sure Toothless was out before letting the door close. I heard her little huff of slight anger as I walked through the hallways. I wanted to slam the door, but I don't think that would have gotten me into a very good situation.
"She is infuriating. I do not know how you decide to put up with her all the time." Toothless said, his tail swishing behind him in remaining agitation.
"Yeah, well, neither do the rest of my friends, so I think that's okay, to be honest." I said, sighing.
"I was hoping for some sort of explanation, you know?" Toothless informed.
"I know." I replied. "But how can I describe this? I put up with it because I have to- and no, don't say that I don't have to, because I'm not telling Hiccup. He'll think it's a joke and that I'm messing with him, and I'm not doing that." I paused. "And none of that 'what-if' bullshit, please. I don't need that plaguing my mind at the moment."
"Right." Toothless said. "I can still eat her."
"Somehow, that's becoming more and more of a possibility." I mumbled.
Toothless fell silent after that, and I didn't know if I was relieved or uncomfortable about the silence that surrounded us. I wished he was a dragon, that way I would look like I was talking to something a lot bigger, but… oh well. I'll live. Flights of stairs later, I found the Library and went inside, Toothless slipping in secretively behind me. Right. There wasn't supposed to be pets in the Library. At least Toothless knew not to chew on the books.
Lauren ran out of the Library, barely even registering that I was there. Really, I don't think she saw me at all, which was weird. Madame Pince, the librarian, was yelling something at her in a quiet fashion, but that just meant she was busy looking at something else rather than at Toothless. Good.
What to do… what to do… I snapped my fingers as I walked through the impossibly tall bookshelves and tables. Well, there was nothing really interesting that I liked in here, so I just found myself wandering to the fiction section of the place. I mean, it was small, it was quiet, and it was separate from the rest. It was sort of perfect, really.
Toothless hopped up on the little windowsill seat that there was in the corner and I sat down with him. He climbed onto my feet and just sat there for the longest time.
This was boring.
Really boring.
I got up and walked around, looking at the books on the shelves. Some of them looked a bit interesting, but none too many. Most of them were nursery rhymes or children's tales but… I shrugged, picking up the Tales of Beedle the Bard.
"My mom used to read these to me all the time." I said, smiling and sitting back down. "But I think this is the original edition, you know, without all the kid-friendly edits and stuff."
"Children's stories?" Toothless asked, his ears twitching upwards and looking at me with his wide green eyes. "Are they any good?" He asked, standing up and stretching as I sat down. I sat crisscross on the sill and opened the book.
"They're only the best children's stories of all time." I said.
"Let me read them." Toothless said, perching himself on my leg and looking at the book. I flipped to the first page and started reading. Toothless would tell me when to flip the page, and soon, we had a little system going.
I didn't know time passed at all until we reached the back cover of the book. I blinked, sort of shocked that we ended it, but all Toothless did was huff.
"Beedle the Bard must have had a weird sense of reality." Toothless said, moving off of me. I got up, rolling my eyes at him as I tried to find the spot where I got the book from.
"This is not a book club or something." I said, laughing. "They're just stories, anyways. Don't think too much about it."
"Don't think too much about what?" Sammy asked, leaning on one of the bookshelves.
"Nothing, I was just…" I said, looking back to Toothless, who was up and clawing the seat. "Talking to myself." I finished, looking back at Sammy. She shrugged, and walked closer to me, but not yet reaching my personal space.
"Okay." She said. "Look, are we… okay?" I just gave her a 'what the fuck?' type look, and she immediately backtracked. "Not-! Not like that! I mean… You know I like you. And… I want you to like me back, too. And I know you're a bit confused with… with Hiccup and everything and… I just don't want you to be mad at me." She looked like a kicked puppy left for dead at the side of the road.
"I am mad at you." I said. "Because if you like me, you would want me to be happy, right?" She opened her mouth, but I kept right on talking. "Well, I'm happy liking Hiccup. He makes me happy, even if he doesn't know he does."
"I want to make you happy!" Sammy said, grabbing one of my hands. "I wish you could see that! I really, really do, and I just thought that of Hiccup wasn't making you happy, then I could!"
"It's doing the opposite!" I argued. Was she really this dense? I mean, really?!
"I know! And I don't want you miserable!" Sammy said.
"Then stop this!"
"I can't…" She said, looking up at me. "I want you to like me and only me. I want you to be happy with me, to not be acting in public and then angry at me when we're alone. I want you to like me! And… and if we have to get to know each other a bit more, that's fine. We can do that, too! But… I won't let you out of this deal."
"If you think I'm going to be friends with you when you're forcing me into a relationship with you, you're out of your mind." I said simply. Tears swelled up in her eyes. I couldn't care less.
"It's dinner." She said, letting go of my hand and wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. "Let's get going, yeah?" Her voice sounded broken, but I knew that in three seconds, she was going to be perky and happy and oblivious to the fact that we even had this conversation in the first place. She took my hand and we walked out. Madame Pince cooed softly to herself when she saw us. Toothless went unnoticed.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the Great Hall was that Hiccup wasn't there. And it wasn't the 'oh, he's hidden because of all the people' type thing, either. I looked and searched, and it was probably obvious, but I didn't care. He really wasn't there.
Xavier and Lauren didn't seem to notice his absence; Lauren was too busy having her forehead on the table and Xavier was trying to talk to her. The twins didn't seem too bothered either. They were both listening to Lauren and Xavier, and when they saw me, they smiled and waved. But no Hiccup. I didn't know whether to worry or not, but if they weren't worrying, then neither should I… right? Don't answer that question, because I really don't know myself.
Well, it was another torturous dinner with Sammy, all smiles and cuteness and just being with her made me sick. Though I can see she was trying to make some sort of effort, it just isn't working out. Sorry, crazy, no matter what you do, it will never get me to like the likes of you. Then Toothless kept on make dark-humored jokes and cruel comments at Sammy from under the dinner table, making me snort and convulse into a laughing fit for seemingly no reason. Everyone gave me a look, but it was hysterical.
When we were done eating, I quickly grabbed a plate of whatever was left over. It was mostly desserts and stuff, like waffles a la mode and pudding, but it would do. Hiccup didn't show up for dinner at all, and wherever he was right now, I guarantee he would be hungry.
"What's that for?" Sammy questioned, tilting her head to the side and blinking.
"Late night snack." I said, smiling brightly. I shifted the plate so it was balanced on top of one hand, and frost leaked through my fingertips and drifted across the bottom of the plate, keeping the food cold. I held out my other hand, and Sammy took it immediately.
"Right." She said, laughing. "You've been acting kind of weird today. Are you okay?" She asked.
"You know me." I said, shrugging. "I'm fine." She smiled, and nodded, completely over the topic.
The whole walk up to Gryffindor common room was a test of patience, balance, and endurance. Sammy was constantly chatting in my ear, laughing at stupid things she said and dragging semi-quick-witted remarks out of me, which made her laugh even harder. Plus, there were girls watching Sammy enviously from their positions in the halls, glaring daggers laced with poison and appreciation at her and practically sending hearts my way. The plate of food kept wobbling in my hand. I didn't want anything to spill, so I encased my hand with a thin layer of frost and connected it to the bottom of the plate. And then… the stairs. Enough said on that one.
Finally, we reached the Portrait Hole, and Sammy said the password ("Good to be back home!") and she led me inside.
"Well, I guess this is where I say my goodnights." She said, with a sigh and a hopeful smile. "Tomorrow morning?" She asked.
"Tomorrow morning." I said, nodding. And, because I knew she wanted me to, I leaned down and pressed a small, almost non-existent kiss on her cheek. She flushed almost as red as the couches. "Good night." I said.
"Night!" She chirped, and I ran up the stairs, careful to make sure the plate was kept steady.
Could I light my lips on fire, but grow new ones or something? Maybe I just needed to brush my teeth and gargle some bleach or something to that extent. It felt wrong. All of it. I couldn't take it anymore. When I walked through the hallway to get to our room, I wiped at my lips furiously, trying to get the feeling of her on me.
I threw open the door to our room, and Toothless slipped in and pounced on Hiccup's bed immediately. I blinked a little, before digging my wand out of my pocket and turning the lamps on.
"Ha! I have found him!" Toothless said, nosing Hiccup's face. He was…
Sleeping? Huh…
"Hiccup…" I said, walking to his bed and sitting down. Toothless pawed at his hair, his face, his hands, everything he could find. Hiccup groaned, flipping around in his bed and nestling himself further into his blankets. "Hey, Freckles." I said, a little bit louder. I poked his leg twice for emphasis.
"Huh?" He asked, still sleeping.
"You dad said it was your turn to shovel the drive." I said, messing with him. Hiccup groaned, louder this time, and he threw his blankets back, freeing his arms from the warmth. "So he says get off your lazy butt and get a move on!"
"I'm going, I'm going…" He said, literally rolling out of his bed and standing up shakily. His eyes were barely open, but he pulled on his boots and he saw me. I smiled. "Jack? What are you doin- oh…" Hiccup said, realizing. He sat back down on his bed with a huff. I laughed. "Asshole." He muttered sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. It only made me laugh harder.
"Would an asshole bring you food?" I asked, sticking the plate under his nose. He blinked before focusing on the plate. He just looked at me.
"What time is it?" He asked, shifting from sitting on the side of his bed to sitting cross-legged on his bed.
"Past dinner." I said, dully. He rolled his eyes, but took the plate from me anyways.
"Thanks." Hiccup said, the word barely audible as he shoved some food in his face. I laughed slightly at him, but he ignored it, well, mostly, anyways.
I wanted to ask a lot of things, like what the hell happened with him in the kitchens and why he got so upset and why… why was my stuffed dragon I gave him for Christmas hidden in between his blankets?! Okay, no, I'm overreacting about all this. It was just… there, right? Ugh, no stop!
"What are you beating yourself up about now, Frost?" Toothless asked, settling himself onto Hiccup's newly emptied pillow. "How cute he looks when his cheeks are puffed up like a squirrel?"
"Shut up, Toothless." I muttered, flopping myself onto his bed, so that my head was next to Hiccup's feet. He looked at me, and his cheeks really were puffed up, and he threw a mildly-curious expression at me before swallowing harshly.
"What's he saying this time?" He asked, smiling a little.
"Something about squirrels." I said. "I try not to listen to him, anyways." Hiccup smiled wider, shaking his head at me as he started wolfing down the waffles.
"You know you listen to me. Liar." Toothless remarked.
"Just because I do, doesn't mean I need everyone knowing, thanks." I remarked.
"I'm not even going to ask." Hiccup said, chuckling.
"GUYS." Someone yelled from outside, and two seconds later Xavier threw open the door and stepped inside. He shut the door lightly, though, which was weird. "Oh, good, you're up." He said, blinking as he saw Hiccup was awake.
"What's with the panic this time, X?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in curiosity. Xavier just tossed me a half-hearted glare and he walked over, sitting next to Hiccup on his bed.
"Lauren has detention." He said, a slight frown on his face.
"Wha?" Hiccup said, his voice a little muffled because he literally had just taken a bite of the waffle. "Dammit," he said, swallowing, "I told her she was going to get in trouble. But, oh no, don't listen to me." Xavier rolled his eyes at his sarcasm and shook his head.
"I don't think she really knows how to listen, you know?" Xavier said. "But she sure is stubborn, I'll give her that. I blame it on you."
"Please, I'm not that stubborn." Hiccup replied.
"Yes you are!"
"Am I the only one out of the loop, here?" I said, gesturing around wildly and getting their attention. They just blinked at me like I was insane, and their look clearly said 'you should know about this already.'
"I am just as out of the loop as you are, Frost." Toothless said, not opening his eyes. The cat looked like he was sleeping, but I knew that he was listening to the conversation just the same.
"She got detention because she snuck in here and got caught." Hiccup said, filling me in on the situation. My mouth popped open, and my eyes went wide. He just nodded slowly, his lips pressed into a tight line. "And now she has detention. Not with Pitch, I hope." He said, looking back at Xavier.
"Oh, no. Bunny saved her on that one. She has it with him now. Two months, every day, after school." He said, his hair turning a bright shade of green and his eyes morphing into a grayish color. Hiccup let out a low whistle.
"Why'd she even come in here in the first place?" I asked, confused. "You mean, like… here here?!" I said, pointing to the floor. Hiccup nodded.
"Yes, here." He said, and then he shrugged. "And I don't know. She said she was checking up on me or something because I seemed out of it…" His cheeks reddened slightly, and I was even more confused, but not about the Lauren thing.
"Well, you did seem out of it." Xavier said, blinking, and his appearance started to shift back to normal. "You know, with you getting all testy and whatnot."
"Are you okay?" I said. The question flew out of my mouth at just the right time, because it sounded like I was continuing Xavier's worrying (he didn't sound like it, but I knew he was worried, I could smell it a mile away).
"I'm fiiiiine." Hiccup said, his voice bordering a whine. "Trust me, I'm okay." Xavier just gave me this look, and I mirrored him. Hiccup glared at the two of us. "I'm serious right now! I'm totally, one hundred percent okay." Xavier coughed into his fist.
"No you aren't." I said plainly, leaning over and poking his side. He jumped, nearly throwing the plate onto the floor, and gave a little yell. I laughed. Xavier rolled his eyes.
"Don't. Do that." Hiccup said, warning me.
"Don't. Tell me what to do." I replied, leaning in closer and scrunching my nose at him, laughing.
"I'll tell you what to do if I want to." Hiccup said, leaning in a bit. We stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity for me, before Xavier got up, rolling his eyes.
"Girls, girls, you're both pretty." Xavier said. "Now kiss and make up."
Well, that made me move away faster than anything else he could have said. Hiccup moved away so fast that he dropped the plate, and it smashed into a million pieces on the floor, the fork clattering to the ground. I swear my heart was in my throat and that it was beating so loud that everyone could hear it, and that my face was on fire…
"Dammit, Xavier!" Hiccup yelled. "Look what you made me do!"
"I didn't make you do anything, buddy." He said, laughing manically. "There's something called free will, and we all have it, so technically I didn't make you do anything."
"Ha ha, wise guy." I said, throwing my sharpest dagger-stare that was in my arsenal at the moment. Xavier dodged it with a shrug.
"Hey, I am right." He said simply.
"No, you're an asshole." I argued.
"No, he's Xavier!" Hiccup said, sounding so ridiculous that both of us looked at him. "Seriously, can you guys go ten minutes without trying to fight each other to the death?! Besides, it's fine anyways." He said, reached for his wand at his bedside table. "Reparo!" He said, and all the shards of the ceramic plate flew back together and looked good as new. There was still a mess on the floor from the spilled food, but he whisked that away too. "See? Done!"
"Still an ass…" I mumbled. Hiccup hit the top of my head lightly. I rubbed the abused spot, even if it didn't hurt that much.
"I really do not see why you two fight so much." Toothless said. "This time, he was only saying what you wanted to do on the inside, so I do not see why you are even angry in the slightest."
"It's inside for a reason, Toothless." I said, like it was a fact... because it was, wasn't it?
"I'm... not even going to ask." Hiccup said, laughing a bit and shaking his head. "Wanna go flying?" He asked. Toothless' ears perked up. I grinned.
"Let's go." I said, kicking off my shoes and grabbing my staff. Hiccup flicked his wand in Toothless' direction, muttering the quick spell, and the cat bloomed into his rightful Night Fury (he looked weird perched on Hiccup's bed heehee). I helped Hiccup lug out what seemed like long-forgotten flying gear. I hooked Toothless' gear up as Hiccup slipped his on. With one quick assessment to see if I did everything right, Hiccup slipped onto Toothless' back. I opened the window.
"Well, have fun." Xavier said. "Don't be out too late, you whippersnappers. Don't get caught, or shot down, or eaten by hungry werewolves!"
"Thanks for the lovely mental pictures." I said, smacking my lips.
"No problem!" Xavier said, saluting me.
Toothless rolled his eyes, and with a lurch, he darted out of the wide-open window, Hiccup pressed flat against his back. I sat on the sill and jumped, falling for a few seconds before the wind came and helped me up. Toothless did the same, flinging out his wings and stopping their fall. Hiccup laughed.
We glided across the sky for a while. I maneuvered myself closer to the duo and flipped on my back, crossing my arms with my staff behind my head and crossing my ankles. I ruffed Hiccup's swept-away hair as I floated above him. He ducked, laughing loudly, and batted me off. I only poked his nose and got out of my relaxed pose and opted out for something a bit more natural instead.
"Wanna race?" Hiccup asked, rolling his shoulders.
"Really?" I asked, chuckling and giving him a smirk. He just shrugged.
"I think you've gotten pretty good…" He said, before shaking his head. "Well, good enough."
"I'll make you eat those words." I said, laughing. Hiccup rolled his eyes at me.
"Ready, set, go!" Toothless said at top speed, before shooting off. Hiccup had to scramble to stay on and readjust his grip. I grinned, my cheeks starting to hurt but I didn't care all that much. I put on a burst of speed, just trailing behind Toothless.
"That's no fair!" I yelled. "You had a head start!"
"Sorry! You're not getting any mercy here!" Hiccup said, looking over his shoulder at me. "Try to keep up!" He yelled over the sound of the screaming wind.
I squinted through the darkness and, just as I thought, he flicked his ankle. In a matter of a moments, Toothless was climbing high into the sky, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his wide green eyes darting around wildly. I skidded to a halt and looked at them for a moment before pushing off and shooting upwards. I literally couldn't hear because the wind in my ears was louder than anything. I didn't feel the cold. I climbed even higher than the two of them, and I bopped Toothless on the nose as I passed them.
"Aw, c'mon!" Hiccup yelled. With my finger still on Toothless' nose, I flipped, turning completely upside down, my balance being my fingertip on Toothless. I pushed off (yes, with my one finger) and completed the flip, clearing Hiccup and stepping lightly on Toothless' saddle. I ran down the dragon's back before he flicked his tail in irritation and knocked me off balance. I clutched my staff for safety, and I realized that did nothing. I threw out my hands and stabilized myself.
"You okay?" Hiccup yelled, turning Toothless around and flying towards me.
"Yeah!" I said. "That was fun!" I cheered, looping around.
"Fun?! You're going to kill yourself!" Hiccup argued.
"Oh, please. I'm not going to kill myself-WHOA!" I yelled, the wind giving way from around me, and letting me plummet towards the earth.
"JACK!" Hiccup and Toothless yelled together, Toothless letting out this strangled noise of fear, bewilderment and worry. I closed my eyes, and I took a deep breath. The next moment, the wind rushed at me again, wrapping me in its embrace and stopping my fall.
"You scared the shit out of me!" Hiccup yelled.
"You let yourself be scared." I said, slowing getting back up to their level.
"Why did you do that?!" Toothless asked, a faint growl in his voice.
"It's not like I meant to…" I mumbled. "I just wasn't focusing hard enough." Hiccup just gave me a look that questioned just about everything I said. "What? Well, sorry, I'm doing this on my own over here, I sort of need to concentrate on what I'm doing!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say." Hiccup said. "You still gave a heart attack." Toothless moved, so that we were flying normally again, and we stayed like that for a while.
"Tell me something." I said.
"The world is going to end in 53 hours, 27 minutes and 59 seconds?" Hiccup asked, blinking and looking at me.
"No, dork." I said, laughing a little and rolling my eyes. "I meant like answer a question."
"I know. Geez, can I not make a joke?" He replied, smiling. I had to smile back. His crooked, adorable, beloved and perfect smile was contagious. It was a million times different from Sammy's and to be honest, I never wanted it to be like anything else. Heck, I don't even want to compare it to anything!
"Hey hey hey, I ask the questions around here, Freckles." I said, wagging a finger in his direction.
"Okay then, ask your question." He said.
"I'm getting there! Haven't you heard of a dramatic pause?" I asked.
"Well, that was a dumb question." He muttered under his breath. I huffed, poking his side roughly.
"You know what I mean!" I said, and I could tell Toothless was rolling his eyes at me. "Okay, the question is: why did you freak out today?" Hiccup blinked, before groaned and leaning forward so that his forehead was pressed onto Toothless'.
"Do I have to answer?" I said.
"Yes!"
"I'll answer on one condition." He said, sitting back up and running a hand through his hair quickly.
"What's the condition?" I asked.
"You can't ask me if I'm okay anymore if I answer you." He said, a note of finality in his voice. I blinked.
"That's not fair." I said.
"It's totally fair." He said. "You don't need to ask me that every time you see me."
"I don't-"
"Yes you do."
"Shut it, reptile!" I said, frowning. I looked back at Hiccup, who looked a little amused, but for the most part he was dead serious. He didn't say anything, and he just waited for my response. "Fine, I won't ask anymore." I said with a sigh. He nodded.
"Okay, good." Hiccup said, taking a breath. "Well, I guess I was just... um… well, hmm, how do I put this?... I was mad? I guess?" He gestured around a lot more than normal, a wild and slightly panicked expression on his face. "I mean, you're always with Sammy and today we were sort of like… how it used to be, but with the twins. I mean, I don't know, I just sort of…"
"Wait wait wait." I said. "You're jealous of Sammy?" I asked incredulously. The thought was so impossible. I couldn't be true.
"NO!" Hiccup yelled immediately, throwing his hands out in my direction as if he was trying to stop my train of thought with his hands. "Not like that! I mean, like, yeah, sort of. To an extent." I raised an eyebrow, and he huffed, either mad at my cluelessness or mad at the crappy way he was explaining this. "I mean, you've been with her for what? A week now? And all that time, we've barely really talked. Yeah, we share a room and everything but, we don't talk much anymore. All you do is ask me if I'm okay, and seriously, it gets really annoying, but wait, that's not the point. The point is that… well, I guess I was just mad that you were sort of choosing Sammy over us."
Oh…
OH.
"I'd never do that." I said. "Sure, I'm going out with her, and I'm with her all the time, but…" but I don't enjoy. Every moment I'm with her, I'd rather be with you. I'd rather laugh with you, talk to you, study with you, kiss you, but I can't because you wouldn't take me seriously and she's got me hog-tied and I can't get out of this even though I really want to-
"But?" Hiccup prompted.
"But I'd rather be with you guys, to be honest." I said, just throwing it out there.
"Then why don't you?"
"She whines. A lot." I said, making up an excuse.
"Oh." Hiccup said.
"Yeah." I said. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I'll try to give her the slip more often. And I'm sorry I keep on asking if you're okay. I just worry."
"Aw, you do care." Hiccup said, laughing a little.
"Well duh." I said. "Otherwise I wouldn't ask. Why do you think I don't ask Xavier?"
"If you ask him that, I'll bet that it'll turn out to be some kind of argument." He said, laughing.
"Exactly!" I said. "He'll just get all defensive about it and everything. And the only reason why I ask you is because of Toothless."
"Do not bring me into this." The dragon protested.
"Toothless!" Hiccup reprimanded. "How?" He asked me.
"He keeps on saying things like you're hurting or something like that. It's really weird, and it freaks me out, so I ask." I said, shrugging. Well, it wasn't a total, complete lie. Hiccup rolled his eyes and patted Toothless' head.
"I'm fine, bud. Don't worry about me." He said. "Come on, let's go back." I groaned, and followed them back to the castle. I slipped through the open window first, and it was a bit of a struggle to get Toothless through, but it turned out fine.
"Look who's back." Xavier said, grinning. "I told ya not to stay out too late, and waddaya do?!" He had a terrible accent and it was really weird. Like, really really weird.
"Sorry mother." Hiccup and I said blandly. I shut the window and flipped the lock. Then I helped Hiccup start taking off Toothless' gear.
"No, sorry ain't enough anymore!" Xavier said, sticking with the accent. "Ya'll are in big trouble, ya hear?!"
"Can you cut the accent, please?" Hiccup said. "It's getting freaky."
"Al'ight." He said, clearing his throat. "Better?" He asked, his voice back to normal.
"Yeah." I said.
"You were so close!" Toothless said, finally exploding as he nearly screamed at me. I rubbed at my ears before I realized that it was in my head. "You are so bent on torturing yourself that you will go the extra mile to do so! You could have left it alone! But no! You go on ahead and you do these things."
"Shut up, Toothless." I muttered, undoing the last buckle and Hiccup pulled off his saddle.
"Shut up, Jack." Xavier said, smiling. I looked at him, giving him a 'what the heck' look. "Sorry, I think it's funny when you talk to Toothless because you sound like you're talking to yourself." He laughed to himself. I rolled my eyes.
"It does sound weird." Hiccup said.
"Good. Night. Everyone." I said, taking off my sweater and my pants and climbing into my bed. Hiccup got the lights, and I fell asleep gripping the pendant he gave me.
I'm so sorry for this BS I call a chapter. Forgive me please. I don't even know what I'm writing.
Thanks for reading and please review.
Love ya bunches!
-HB