The Journey Into Us

Pairing: Hiccup X Toothless
Rating:
M for Mature

Disclaimer:I do not own anything HTTYD-related.

Chapter 62

=Normal POV=
(Saturday, 7/4/2020; 7:30 pm)
(Barbarchi City, Archipelago)
(Beach)

Two and a half hours into the celebration and Trayden was just trying to keep up with things. He was either doing performances or stuck with his parents to talk to their friends. Trayden got very little time with Hunter, or any of his friends for that matter. This is why Trayden wasn't a fan of going to events. Because he couldn't be himself. He had to be Trayden Raseri, son to Mayor Dustin Raseri. Trayden was seriously considering to just slip away into the darkness and go to his apartment, but there were people everywhere and he was sure someone would see him leave and possibly make a fuss or he'd be getting calls and messages from everyone asking what's wrong. Trayden already told Hunter that he was fine, and not mad, so Trayden taking off would only arise suspicion that something was wrong and Trayden hadn't been truthful. Trayden wasn't mad at anyone, just that this whole event was basically him singing or talking to people he didn't really know. However, in the truth of it, Trayden hadn't sung any songs yet.

Trayden was helping manage the music and making sure the equipment was working, he even played the drums and guitar was, but he hadn't done any singing. There was no reason that he hadn't, but the others had it under control, so why step in where he wasn't needed? Finally, Trayden managed to slip away from people and walk down the edge of the sand where the water came up. Trayden stood at a distance that would keep his feet dry, bringing his arms up to fold over one another and just stare out to the sea. It was still a bit cold, but that was the nature of where they all resided. It was the Archipelago, and it was known to be cold no matter what season they were in. Trayden finally let out a sigh of content, closing his eyes and being at peace away from all the guests and excessive noise.

Farther up on the beach, Hunter was standing with his friends and he'd been talking with them. He became distracted by seeing that Trayden was no longer beside his parents, nor was he up on stage. Where had he gone? Entering his line of sight was a hand, snapping it's fingers to gain his attention, so Hunter looked back to the group he was standing with.

"There you are," Bryan chuckled.

"You totally zoned out on the conversation, man," Thaxter added.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What were we talking about?" Hunter questioned.

"You had asked us how work was the past two nights. We started to tell you and then you just started zoning and looking around the beach," Jason informed.

"My bad. I got distracted trying to find my boyfriend," Hunter admitted.

"I'm sure he's around, with his parents or something," Alyssa shrugged.

"No, he's not. That's why I was looking for him. I don't see him with his folks, or with his siblings on stage. He's clearly not with us either, so wondering where he disappeared to." Hunter said. "So, how was work the last few nights? Sorry I haven't been there, was helping my parents move into their new house here in the city. I was needed to keep my brother and sister out of their hair," He changed topics.

"It's cool," Devon nodded. "We understand."

"But hey, on the subject of Trayden…He killed it with running the show digitally the last two days." Elijah smiled.

"He stayed on top of everything, and if an issue came up; the guy had it fixed before we could ask how long it would take," Olivia mentioned.

"I knew I saw potential in him when I offered him the job," Hunter laughed a bit. "Took a bit to get him to agree, but I'd say it worked out and paid off."

"Dude can move like you," Ethan pointed out.

That one made Hunter arch a brow. "Move like me?" Ethan nodded. "Trayden can move like me? My Trayden?" Hunter asked as the others all nodded.

"Last night, we tried to do a practice before the opening group number, and the feeling was off and didn't look right to Greg. Trayden popped online and Greg asked for his opinion on how the routine looked. Tray watched the whole thing and instantly found the problem that we weren't moving the way we needed to," Thaxter started to explain.

"We tried to get it right a few times, but it just wasn't working because we didn't have you guiding us. Tray showed us the move we were supposed to be doing," Jason stated.

"What routine was this?" Hunter wondered.

"The one to a song he showed you when we made the new show stuff. I think it was that Lose Control by Hedley." Nicole tapped her chin, trying to think back.

"But yeah, Trayden knew the moves we kept messing up. And he set his laptop in his kitchen on the bar counter and showed us what to do, like you would have," Devon chuckled. Hunter was impressed actually because he was under the impression that Trayden couldn't dance, his own words, of course. Hunter remembered that from the New Year's bash, Trayden saying that he couldn't dance.

"He learned how to do all that by watching Hunter and all of you perform," Blake enlightened, walking up to the group of friends now. "Otherwise, Tray only dances to things he's seen done previously. Coming up with something on the fly, not his style."

"I was only surprised because he told me on New Year's Eve that he couldn't dance at all," Hunter said to Blake.

"He can, if taught how to do the moves or someone else leads. But if it's, for example, school dance or something; Tray can't just move with the music," Blake smiled. "Where is he anyway?" He wondered.

"Couldn't tell you. I don't know," Hunter shrugged.

"He's your boyfriend of almost half a year at the end of this month, isn't he?" Blake blinked.

Hunter nodded. "But I still don't know where he is right now. Last I saw, he was with his parents talking to other people. I looked over a few minutes ago and he wasn't next to them anymore. And I don't see him on stage either." He responded.

"Is he still mad at me?" Blake questioned.

Hunter arched a brow at the man now. "Tray told me that he doesn't hold grudges and let it go. Hasn't he told you that?" Blake shook his head. "Have you and him talked since that night?"

"No…I knew how mad he was, so I've been avoiding him." Blake admitted.

"Why would you do that?" Hunter asked, turning his head towards Blake now. "He's your best friend, and unofficial little brother…You should have been right on top of apologizing to him and fixing things. That's the first thing I did when I saw him tonight, even though he wasn't mad at me for what I did."

"What did you do?" Hailey blinked.

"It's part of the same situation that Blake did," Hunter remarked, and sighed knowing that he might as well tell them before they tried to harass Trayden about it. "I was over Trayden's place on Wednesday, and we ended up having sex on his couch before dinner. Blake showed up unannounced, but he has a key, and let himself in."

"I guess I came in right after they'd finished and Tray got mad and had me leave quickly." Blake said.

"So Tray was mad about Blake barging in, and where I screwed up was that after Blake left, we got dressed and I got the call out Greg getting hurt while helping my parents move some stuff. I rushed off right away and it didn't hit me until later on that I bailed on Trayden, never asked or made sure he was alright from when Blake showed up. And I'd barely been able to reply to him since that night due to helping my folks. So I thought he was upset with me for take off and not checking on him." Hunter explained. "As soon as I saw him tonight, I said I was sorry for leaving him immediately and not checking that he was okay from what happened. Trayden said he wasn't mad about it at all."

"I should go talk to him," Blake sighed as he looked around and spotted Trayden near the water. "Found him."

Hunter looked to where Blake was and got the distinct notion that his boyfriend was upset about something and Hunter felt like he knew what it was too. Hunter knew what he said Wednesday, he was completely aware that he blurted out he loves Trayden. However, Blake showed up and then after he left and they got dressed, Hunter rushed off. The problem was that Hunter didn't know if he should bring it up again, or wondered if Trayden maybe wasn't upset, but confused and trying to figure out if he felt the same. Or had Trayden not heard him say it, Hunter knew that it was said while they were coming down from orgasm, breathless, and in a whisper against Trayden's lips after sharing a somewhat passionate kiss. Blake now, happened to notice Hunter's longing stare on Trayden, and his face seeming riddled with guilt, concern, and confusion.

"You have guilt and questioning written all over your face for a guy who said that his boyfriend wasn't mad at him for what happened," Blake pointed out, drawing Hunter's attention from Trayden. "Unless you did something else that hasn't been brought up between you two," He added. Hunter stayed quiet.

"Hunt…Did something else happen?" Devon pushed their friend to answer.

The auburn-haired male caved with a heavy sigh. "Fine…Right before you burst through the door, Blake, I…Had told him that I love him," Hunter revealed, surprising the group.

"And…What did he say?" Thaxter inquired.

"Nothing. Nothing at all because, as I said, right after the words left my mouth…Blake showed up. I didn't bring things up after Blake left because Trayden had his hands over his face and saying he was going to kill Blake." Hunter told them.

"And then you two obviously just got dressed and you ended up bailing to go check on Gregory, who had been hurt?" Alyssa wondered. Hunter nodded to her.

"And it hasn't been brought up, at all, since Wednesday night?" Addilyn asked.

"Aside from being busy, I didn't think text messages was the appropriate place to have that conversation. But now…I'm wondering if he heard me say it. Or did and forgot when Blake arrived. It was a back to back thing. I said the words, Blake showed up before Trayden really had time react or process it. The only other theory…" Hunter took a breath.

"Is that he doesn't know what to say due to not knowing if he feels the same?" Blake offered.

"Yeah," Hunter nodded.

"Well, maybe he's just…Processing it still," Nicole suggested. "You did spring it on him,"

"Immediately after having sex," Olivia chimed in. "That's usually a fast-track way to shock someone into being speechless,"

"And then Blake appeared. So the situation being what it was, maybe he just needs time to let it sit?" Oliver shrugged.

"He could also be wondering if he heard you say it," Bryan tried. "With everything that happened, when he cooled off from Blake showing up, he likely had time after you left to think about the night and maybe because of how fast things occurred in the moment; he might be asking himself if he heard you say it."

"I guess that's true. It's mainly why I apologized to him earlier, for just taking off after getting dressed. If he did hear me say it, I'm sure that if I hadn't rushed off to make sure Greg was okay, we would have sat down to talk about things. That's why I was going to ask him if he was alright after what happened, but I didn't…So I thought he was upset or mad at me, and why I figured I should apologize to him for bailing." Hunter informed.

"But he told you he wasn't mad or upset with you, didn't he?" Chelsea questioned.

"That's right. He said he was annoyed that his parents didn't make sure he knew about tonight's event, that they should have called him to confirm he knew, instead of relying on him getting or seeing their messages." Hunter replied.

"Yeah, Tray hates to be rushed…Or told that he should have known," Blake nodded. "Out of curiosity, and only because I know how Trayden's mind works with most things, when you said you were sorry to him…" He paused. "How did you word the apology? Like, when you said what it was for, what did you say?"

"I…Told him I was sorry for bailing after everything that happened. That I should have taken a few seconds to ask if he was okay from you barging in." Hunter answered. "Why?" He decided to ask.

"You didn't say anything in regards about the confession to loving him? No…I'm sorry for taking off without checking on you after the situation took place where I told you I love you and Blake showed up unannounced right after we had sex?" Blake questioned. Hunter shook his head.

"I didn't bring it up because I don't know if he remembers me saying it, heard me say it, or just doesn't know how he feels. In either case, I didn't want to spring it again if he doesn't remember or didn't hear. And I don't want him to feel rushed to give me a response," Hunter stated. "I've never pushed him into anything before, I won't start now."

"Out of our curiosity here…Why are you asking Hunter that?" Shane wondered.

"Do you know something we don't or what is going through Trayden's mind?" Alyssa asked.

"I won't confirm or deny either of those things. It's merely theory, but I may know why his mood is off." Blake told them as the friends stayed quiet to hear the theory Blake had. However, Blake ended up turning and walking away from them and heading towards Trayden. Hunter's eyes widened a little, and he grabbed Blake's arm to stop him.

"You're not going to tell him what I said, are you?" Hunter hoped for the answer to be that he wasn't.

"Of course not," Blake pulled his arm free. "That's between you two."

"Well, you walked off after saying you have a theory about his mood…And you were asking all those questions. What was I supposed to think other than you're gonna go over there and ask him what he remembers about that night?" Hunter retorted.

"Fair enough, but no…" Blake paused. "I'm not going to say anything about you confessing your love for him. I am, however, going to go over and apologize to him for my actions that night. I shouldn't have done it, no matter how close he and I are. Even if he's let it go, which I doubt he actually has because he can absolutely hold a grudge. Speaking from past experience and incidents that he's still holding against me when we were friggin' kids, of course…It's more of a forgiven, not forgotten deal, but I shouldn't have been avoiding the situation or confrontation." He explained and prepared to continue his path to Trayden.

Blake came right up next to his younger brother once he finally got to him. "You know, the party is the other way," Blake started casual, to gauge where Trayden was at regarding his mood. Blake saw Trayden glance over at him, but then look back out to the water. "I thought maybe we could hit the stage, sing together…" He tried. "I'm sure that would liven things up around here," He laughed a bit, but Trayden's stance or face didn't change. Blake got in front of Trayden now, and before he could say anything, Trayden turned so they wouldn't be facing one another. "Remember when we were kids, spending every day, all day at the beach in the summer? Used to sleep under the stars playing our guitars with a cooler full of soda and water, backpack of snacks? Fall asleep to the sound of the waves?" Blake recalled.

Once again, Blake tried to get in front of Trayden, but the younger male turned to face the water. "I was thinking we could do it again, for old times sake?" Blake said. "What do you say?" Trayden didn't reply to him. "Come on…Gimme something, little brother?" Blake put a hand on Trayden's shoulder this time, and Trayden shrugged it off. Blake was starting to see that maybe he actually made Trayden mad and the usual means weren't going to work. "You've never been able to stay mad at me too long. What's it gonna take for you to forgive me?" Blake asked. Trayden turned his head a bit. "I'll take you to your favorite place to eat. O-Or how about we go to the bar together, have a couple drinks? What about…Uh," He stalled on an idea. Trayden ended up just closing his eyes, a sign to Blake that maybe he had Trayden's attention, but losing him again. "Ice cream! You love ice cream, and that always cheers you up," Blake suddenly said. "There's a great place up on the pier…Oh! What about-,"

"Stop!" Trayden finally said, taking Blake by surprise when Trayden's arms fell and the younger man faced him with annoyed eyes. "Just…" He took a breath, recomposing himself. "Just stop. Okay?" Blake stared at Trayden, feeling guilty. It should have been clear before when Trayden didn't respond to him that he wasn't in a good mood, and then when Trayden turned away from Blake, it was obvious that he was asking to be alone and not deal with this right now.

"Tray…" Blake tried to step towards him, but Trayden stepped back. "Please?"

"I don't want to talk." Trayden said. "Alright? I don't want to talk about what happened. I don't even want to be here, but I came anyway to keep everyone off my back. So all I'm doing is getting my head together, that way I can rejoin the event with a convincing enough smile for people to think I'm fine and the night can be over that much faster. I want to be left alone right now. I want to go home and sleep." Without another word, Trayden turned away and walked in the opposite direction. It wasn't that he was mad at Blake, even though he'd been angry that night. Trayden was more hurt that Blake ignored and avoided him from then to now. And overall, Trayden just had a lot on his mind that he wanted to figure out and felt it would go better if he were alone for a bit, with no distractions such as having to attend this party.