Negative delta is the beginning of fun

by Lajt Hane

Hiccup thought that this day couldn't get any worse. And there he was, in the boy's bathroom, trapped with Dagur and the school's prankster and star - Jack - who was claiming to be Hiccup's boyfriend. And he only wanted to clean his sweater…

7. Chapter 7 - Raoult's law

Pairing: Jack x Hiccup

Genre: Romance, Drama

Rating: NC-17/T

Warning: not beta-read

All characters belong to Cressida Cowell, William Joyce and DreamWorks Studio. May contain some OOCness.

---

Raoult's law – the partial vapor pressure of each component of an ideal mixture of liquids is equal to the vapor pressure of the pure component multiplied by its mole fraction in the mixture.

Guyzzzz I need ideaaas! DDD:

Frost, stop it with the emoticons.

Shush it Bunny! We have an emergency! ;_;

What emergency?

I dunno what to buy Hiccup for Christmas (~.~)

Well, what does he like then :3?

The last message was from Tooth – she was adding everywhere this face. Only when she was talking about something important she was dropping it. The emoticonless messages were written by Aster.

Jack sighed as he massaged his temples. The meeting with Hiccup didn't really help him find out what he should buy. And there was almost no time left. Only few days!

Everything related to science… ._.

This is very detailed explanation.

Why do I even bother asking you =3=…

Guys, come on :3! Aster, tone it down

and Jack, don't panic, I'm sure we

will think about something :3.

Tooth was a blessing – an angel in human body.

They spent another hour on the Facebook chat, discussing what Jack could buy. The usual gifts' ideas were the first to appear – books, cups, games – it all went down with a single shot from Jack's side. Then Tooth proposed that Jack should just bake him cookies and well… this was definitely something he could do. But it was missing something (a subtle accent, something which had to be there – only Jack didn't know exactly what this something was).

Aster, even though he was grumbling all the time, told him to buy Hiccup some laboratory supplies. Like test-tubes or pH indicator papers. And even though it sounded strange to buy something like that for present, it was something which could be used by Hiccup in the future. So it was the idea for future consideration. Hopefully.

There were few other people pestering him on Facebook, with their chats blinking furiously in front of his eyes, but Jack brushed them away for now. Couldn't they see he had more important matters on his mind now? Like coming up with an idea for his boyfriend's gift… Well, fake boyfriend's gift!

God, when he was nervous his brain wasn't functioning properly. It was a miracle his mind was somehow able to work during exams.

They were sitting at it for like two hours now with not good results. Although Tooth's idea was becoming more and more appealing. However, he wasn't sure what to bake actually. Muffins? Shortbread? Tart? Sweet soufflé? And what kind of ingredients should he use? Chocolate, fruits, vanilla?

Couldn't Hiccup just tell him straightforward what he needed? No, of course, he didn't need anything!

Frustrated, Jack hit his head on the desk few times.

"Damn it…"

Was he seriously about to ask his family about it? Should he even do that? Will they give him some ideas, if he asks? Will they laugh at him? Definitely, but now Jack had nothing to lose.

Emma… wasn't really any help. She quickly proposed the typical ones – books, cups, clothes. Yet, when Jack shot all ideas down, she rolled her eyes.

North liked the idea of baking something, because everything sweet was good in his book anyway, so this wasn't very reassuring vote. However he even gave Jack few recipes' ideas, which sounded totally delicious.

It looked like the winner of the small contest was gradually moving to the first place.

Jack returned to his room, sighing loudly. The baking idea was good and maybe he would really, really consider it, but something deep inside told him that it wasn't what he really wanted to give Hiccup. It was missing something. Of course, Jack knew Hiccup would be happy about any present, but Jack didn't want to give him some present, but special present.

Wow, if this didn't sound cliché, he wasn't sure what did then. Almost like he was searching for a present for his real partner…

Jack stopped in the middle of his room, just a foot away from the chair on which he wanted to sit down. Well, that was awkward. Why did this idea pop inside his head? Oh, he probably was thinking a lot about Hiccup lately due to this gift's problem. That's why his brain wrongly associated it with relationship's issue. Phew, wow, that did scare him right there.

Jack let out a nervous laugh, which was cut in half when he frowned heavily. But he indeed was trying very hard. Was there something wrong in trying to pleasure your friend? Bad choice of words, Jackson. Very wrong.

Okay, now he was having inner conversations with himself. Great. This was what he needed right now, really.

So Jack did the only logical thing in this situation. Stopped thinking about it. There was far more important matter to attend to, than think about whatever he was feeling right now.

He read few more messages from Aster and Tooth, but they still didn't come up with a better idea. He also answered the rest of people, scheduled a meeting on Tuesday, promised that he would visit his friend in work before Christmas and then he checked the time. It was late, close to midnight and tomorrow was school. But it was close to Christmas, so he could stay a little bit late and play some games. He still didn't finish Bioshock Infinite anyway… Yep, too tempting to go to sleep now. Besides, he can always sleep during some classes, right? But better not to tell Hiccup about it, because he will get mad.

Which reminded him that Hiccup still didn't reply to Jack's last message. The pauses today were definitely longer than usual. Maybe he was just spending time with Astrid? Or reading something?

Jack sent him another message and turned on the game. The loading screen took over the wallpaper with loading icon blinking in front of his tired, but filled with desire eyes. Oh, this was going to be so good! Of course it would be, if someone didn't pick exactly this minute to call him.

He turned his head to the buzzing device next to his right hand.

"What the heck…" Jack murmured, staring at the blinking phone. It was very late. Who could call him at this hour?

For a second or two he wanted to ignore it. Hello, it was pretty late, he could be sleeping and this someone was calling him at ungodly hour! But maybe… just maybe this someone knew he wasn't sleeping right now.

With a groan he grabbed the cellphone and looked at the caller ID – Bunny. What the heck he wanted now? They had talked like… five minutes ago on Facebook and Jack remembered Aster saying he was going to sleep. Huh, weird.

"Sup." Jack said, putting the phone between his head and arm. The menu screen popped out on the monitor.

The voice on the other side answered after a second, with hesitation, like Aster already reconciled with the idea that Jack wouldn't pick up.

"Hey." A small pause, where Jack clicked the 'continue' button. "Are you playing?" His voice quickly turned stern. Oh, Jack could already see him frowning.

"Erm ya?" Then he sighed. Here comes the lecture – a never ending waterfall of things Jack should think about first before playing so late in the night, especially if he has school tomorrow. "Chill out, Bunny. We almost have Christmas, I can stay late once in a while."

He waited for the same low voice of his friend telling him that he should think about his choices, that tomorrow they should be listening to very important classes and that his sleep was good for his body and blah blah blah. But nothing like this came.

There was just another pause.

"Aster, everything's okay?" Jack lifted himself up and quickly turned back on the menu screen. Just five minutes ago he was acting normal… or well, a little bit more sarcastic and mean than usual, but it was still within the range of normality. "You know you can always talk to me, right?"

"I know." Aster sighed. Uh oh, something was definitely off. "It's nothing, I'm probably just tired and overthinking everything." A lie, Jack could detect it. But he also knew well Aster's stubborn nature. Like really, it took sometimes light years for him to say what was bugging him. "But never mind me. I just remembered something, which may come in handy for you."

"I'm all ears for ya."

"Hiccup's present. Buy him lab safety glasses."

"What?" Jack asked, glancing to the side, like he expected Aster to stand there with his crossed arms and scrutinizing look. But, of course, the only thing he saw was his blue wall.

"Just do it. I heard him complaining about a crack on the one he has right now." Then came another sigh, or more like a very long exhale.

Jack was… puzzled.

"O-oh, okay, thanks, it really helps me a lot." But the weirdness of this situation didn't. Aster was acting strange.

"I know. This is all I wanted to say. Good night. Don't stay too late."

And almost like Aster didn't even wait for Jack's response, the line became silent. Jack slowly moved the device away from his ear to confirm that indeed, the call ended. The conversation definitely happened, but the atmosphere of it was so bizarre and unreal that Jack had to pinch himself. Which he did.

Nope, it still hurt.

He slowly put the phone away, observing it, expecting it to ring and not, both in the same time.

That was… honestly queer. Aster was not acting like himself. Something was definitely on his mind. But in this matter Aster was just like Hiccup – plain stubborn and it would take hard methods to make them talk. But Jack knew it wasn't the way. Time was. Sometimes it took Aster months to open up to Jack and he was Aster's best-friend!

So now he could only wait and hope for the best.

But at least Jack had an idea for Hiccup's present.

---

"I can't believe I'm doing it…" Hiccup mumbled to Toothless, laying peacefully on his lap as he sat on his bed with phone in his hand. "I can't believe it…"

Toothless pried open his one eye and looked at him, almost nudging with this glare to already do it and not fret over it.

But it was hard. However Hiccup was already sitting on his bed for at least ten minutes, definitely not doing what he was supposed to do, so yeah… He could do it, somehow…

He searched for a name in his contact list (which wasn't hard, he didn't have that many people there) and clicked the green button next to it. His stomach felt like stone inside his body when he put the device near his ear. First beep, second beep…

Maybe there weren't home? Maybe they were still somewhere in work or out with other friends?

Third beep…

Oh, maybe he had nothing to worry about. He can just call them in an hour and he will have time to read and calm down and not worry about how weird his plead sounded in his head.

Fou…

"What's up, dude?"

Shit, the happiness was so close.

"Uh h-hey Ruff…" His hands fidgeted and Toothless scoffed in his sleep. Small talk, small talk, buy himself some time to calm down. "How a-are you?"

The not-so-girly snort from the other side told him that he was definitely terrible at small talks.

"Ah and here is our always polite and awkward Hiccup." Ruffnut chuckled and then it sounded like she stood up and walked somewhere. Was she alone in her room? Hiccup didn't hear any loud sounds coming from the background. "I'm living as usual. Work, school, work, beating few people in the dark alley, school… you know the usual."

"Wait what?" Had Hiccup heard right? He had seen Ruffnut kicking some boys' butts back when they were all in one school and had heard stories about her voyages, but seriously?

"Maybe. So why are you calling me? You usually write on Skype… or actually you rarely write first."

That was true. He rarely was the first one to start a conversation. The exceptions were interlocutions he had with Fishlegs and Astrid. Even with Jack, the white haired teen was the first one to initiate chats.

"I have… some weird favor to ask."

"Uh, I like it. Weird is good! Come on, hit me with what you've got. But be fast. You have one and only chance of talking with me without my brother sneaking around." Ruffnut said happily.

And that was indeed almost impossible to talk with one twin without the other one being in the background (or relatively close). Hiccup couldn't understand how they had their own private life, when it felt like they were inseparable.

"Wow… okay…" Hiccup got it. There was nothing to be nervous about. "This may sound very, very, very odd… or strange… or both… maybe outlandish would be a good word to use here… but if you think about it from other side…"

"To the point Hiccup!"

"Is your mom somewhere in your home? I need to ask her something."

Okay, words somehow left his lungs – glued together in one, coherent sentence. Phew, that wasn't so bad and when he said it so quickly, it almost wasn't as nerve-wracking as he thought it would be.

"My mom? Did I hear correctly?" Ruffnut sounded not as astonished as Hiccup though she would be.

She was always the twin better understanding people than Tuffnut. He would probably start screaming incoherent words into the phone by now. Hiccup was glad he decided to call her.

"Yes, I need to ask her about something." Hiccup repeated, feeling very, very dumb.

"I mean… okay." Ruffnut slowly mumbled and then she walked out of her room, judging probably by the sound of her footsteps. "But why?"

Okay, so what can he say? Of course not the full truth, because Ruffnut – no matter how emphatic she was – would spill it to the whole world, or his brother which means exactly the same. And Hiccup didn't feel like sharing his ideas with hundreds of people.

"I need to ask her few questions about plants…" He slowly said, combing Toothless' fur with his fingers. The cat opened one eye, but quickly returned to his afternoon nap.

"Since when are you interested in biology?" Ruffnut knew him to well. Which was almost terrifying.

"I'm not… I just…" Spill a little. "Need few ideas for presents and I though your mom would come up with few ideas. As you know… it's her hobby." Okay, this was awkward. However now it was too late to back off.

He heard as Ruffnut opened some door and moved further into her house. Probably into kitchen, judging by the rhythmical sound of metal hitting wood.

"Presents?" Oh, Hiccup already didn't like her voice. It wasn't a good sign. Especially the devilish hum at the end. "I'll let this topic slip away for now, but later I want to know every detail." Then Ruffnut moved the phone away from her ear, but her voice was still audible. "Mom, do you have a minute? Hiccup needs to ask you few things."

He waited patiently, listening to the conversation on the other side and bracing himself for what was coming. To be honest, he was nervous around twins' parents. He talked with them many times and they were very nice people, but… they were so different from Ruffnut and Tuffnut that Hiccup didn't know how to behave around them.

He heard as the girl passed the phone and the sweet voice of her mother swam into the microphone.

"Hello Hiccup darling, what seems to be the problem?"

Yep, like fire and ice, or proton and electron, or anode and cathode, or… never mind.

"Uhm hello, misses Thorston, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Hiccup hoisted himself up, leaning his back on the wall behind him.

The woman on the other side put something away. Maybe she was making dinner?

"Of course not honey. I always have time for you." Her sweet voice tickled his eardrum (well, not in the biological way, but he kind of felt like it was really happening). Hiccup could imagine her bright pink lips forming a kind, nice smile. "At least it's the only thing I can do in gratitude for taking care of my babies."

No matter how old and big the twins were, they were still kids in their mother's eyes and Hiccup… kind of could understand her. The fact that they both soon will be adults wasn't helping much, when they still were buying each other Nerf Guns for Christmas.

"I'm always glad to help." Hiccup said, even though no one could tame the wildness of twins' nature. Not even their parents and especially not he.

Misses Thorston sighed heavily, like she just remembered some really terrible memory (maybe even recalled poor devastated roses Tuffnut and Snotlout had destroyed during the last party).

"So with what I can help you today, sweetie?"

"Oh…" Okay, Hiccup planned this whole conversation in his head. Few minutes ago he had known exactly what words he should use, in what combination, what questions should he ask and what answers give, but now his brain was empty – recharge, recharge! "I need help in some… flowers' problem?"

"I'm all ears." The woman chirped happily on the other side and apparently switched something off on the cooker.

Hiccup bit his lip as his chest rose and fell down.

"I want to give my friend a potted flower or a small tree or a plant for Christmas' present, but I don't know what I should buy…"

He wasn't even sure if this was a good idea, but after the talk at Jack's house something had struck him to move into that direction.

The woman hummed.

"Describe your friend to me." She said very gently.

"Uhm…" Where should he start? He didn't know Jack that much in the end. "He is very kind guy, who is always smiling, even when the times are bad. And he tries really hard to be this one person always optimistic in every situation, but actually he is very insecure about himself." This was okay to say, right? It's not like it was some kind of secret... Not to mention he was saying his name. "Plus he always puts others before himself and do not think about consequences of this!" Oh, he started to speak faster, which was commented by a soft chuckle from the woman on the other side.

"He sounds like a nice guy." Misses Thorston said, probably playing with the braid made from her long, very faint blonde hair.

Jack really was an amazing guy.

"He is." Hiccup nodded to himself, circling his finger around Toothless' ear.

"So what colors does he like?"

"Erm… blue?" Because of his blouse. "Maybe white?" Due to the snowflakes and his hair. "More over bright colors?" He saw few colorful items inside Jack's room. Dark colors just didn't suit him.

"Very simple man, I like it." The woman giggled. "Optimism and happiness of others before his own… how about holly? It symbolizes hope and has beautiful white petals. But the berries are poisonous, so watch out for them." The last sentence was more stern and serious.

Hiccup nodded and stood up from his bed, moving immediately to the desk. Poor Toothless had to jump and settle on laying on Hiccup's pillow.

"Wait a second, I'll write that down." He quickly grabbed the first paper which laid on the desk (an old homework?) and took a pen, writing down the first idea. "Holly flower, got it."

"Typical one is chrysanthemum – a symbol of optimism, joy and truth." Hiccup nodded, listening to the lecture and writing down another idea. This sounded good too. "But I read somewhere that white chrysanthemums symbolize also a loyal love and I'm not sure if you want to go into that direction." There was a hint of amusement at the end of her sentence. Maybe the twins weren't so different from their mother after all?

Hiccup cringed internally. Loyal love? They were dating… fake-dating, but loyal love? What would Jack even think if Hiccup got him that? Better not to dwell on it for too long, because it won't happen.

"N-no thank you." That was ridiculous. Hiccup couldn't really believe he was doing it. And of course, he was sure Ruffnut was somewhere close, listening to this whole conversation. Gladly she could only hear half of it.

"If he is feeling sad about being insecure maybe white Heather then? It signifies one's wishes coming true." The woman said dreamily, like she was remembering something from her youth.

This sounded excellent, if it wasn't for the name of the flower. Nu-huh, Hiccup couldn't imagine giving it to Jack, when the teen wanted to get away from Heather.

"Erm… not so much." He mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck with his pen.

Misses Thorston listed some more names – worth mentioning were Hydrangea (but Hiccup shot it down, because of few bad meanings), Larkspur (even though it meant pure heart and desire for laughter, there was too much love around it), and Alstroemeria (it would a good idea, if it wasn't probably toxic to cats).

Hiccup never thought that picking out the right flower was this difficult.

"Picky aren't we?" The woman said. He was already opening his mouth to apologize for making so much problems, when she started speaking again. "But it's okay. It means you're putting your heart and soul into choosing it. So I assume it's someone important."

Jack… was important to Hiccup – as a friend, of course, even very close friend now.

There was a long pause on the other side, where the only thing Hiccup heard was low, but very warm hum. He played with his pen, staring at the paper dotted with names of flowers, some of which were underlined and some surrounded by question marks.

Was giving a simple plant even a good idea? Would Jack even be happy about receiving something so… plain? What if he will be weirded out or uncomfortable by that? Maybe he should really stick to giving cooking book.

"How about Lilac?"

"Lilac?" Hiccup repeated, shaking his head, trying to clear it and return to the right tracks.

"Yes, they come in very different colors. Blue symbolize happiness and tranquility, while white stands for purity and innocence." Jack – innocent? As if. Hiccup had to snort under his nose at this bizarre idea.

Yet there was some childish purity inside of him after a second though. The way he smiled, the way he acted, the way he stared at the world through this wide open, blue eyes.

"Lilac…" Hiccup mumbled and wrote the name down, circling it two times.

"And they look and smell heavenly in the spring." The woman coed. Her rosy voice flooded Hiccup's mind with the warm memories of spring's mornings. Hiccup knew this flower, or more like a tree, and remembered seeing it during his walks around the town.

It sounded… very good.

"I like it." Hiccup nodded to himself, swirling away on his chair to the center of the room.

"Oh, if you interested, I can recommend few shops where you can buy them even now." The woman happy mood radiated from the other side.

"I will be thankful, thanks."

"Everything for you, dear."

It wasn't so bad after all.

---

The last three days in school were filled with leisurely atmosphere and loosened up teacher. Only Professor Black walked around, furrowing his eyebrows and glaring at every Christmas' decoration like he wanted to burn it and dance on the ashes. Yet even he wasn't giving too much homework. Everyone was very glad for that.

Jack, on the other hand, had bubbles of joy floating inside of him. It was hard to stay calm when Christmas' was one of the most beloved holidays in his household. Overland's family wasn't very big, but they often visited each other during this time and Jack felt happy that he could see some people again.

Holidays were always a time for him to catch up with other people – family and friends.

On Monday Heather waved to him, when they passed each other in the corridor. The movement apparently was weird to everyone else but Jack, because Tooth asked if something happened between them. Jack only mumbled a simple 'no' while rising his eyebrow.

Heather looked a little bit better, but maybe only because she was surrounded by her friends and didn't want to show what was really inside of her. He should ask about her mood later, when she will be alone.

Jack didn't see a lot of Dagur around the school, only glimpses of his silhouette disappearing behind corners. But whenever Jack saw him, he looked awfully down.

Aster acted… well… normal, after his sudden call about Hiccup's present. It made Jack almost think that he only imagined the whole weirdness around this situation. The only out of place thing were glances Aster sent to him while they were talking with Astrid and Hiccup on the corridor. Like he wanted to check, if Jack received the message. The white haired teen only nodded once in response (when no one was looking) – he got it.

The present was already bought and was laying wrapped under clothes in the wardrobe, just like many other gifts.

Hiccup was whole another matter. Once or twice Jack found Hiccup glancing at the place where Dagur had disappeared. And whenever Hiccup turned around small wrinkles appeared on his nose – but it looked like they came from concern than anger. Did he know something? He even saw Hiccup stealing glances at Jack. Maybe it wouldn't be so weird, if his face didn't look then like he was assessing something. But what?

"So what are you guys doing on New Year's Eve?" Tooth asked, looking from Hiccup to Astrid who stood next to each other.

"Well we have a wild night planned out!" The blonde said, smiling wildly.

Jack looked down at Hiccup who was standing next to him. The boy slowly shook his head. Yeah, so not that wild night.

"If it involve twins then it definitely must be wild." Aster commented, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Actually yes. We are spending this night with Ruffnut and Tuffnut at their house with tons and tons of games." Astrid puffed out her chest and hit it with her fist.

"A nerd night out, hmmm?" Jack looked down at Hiccup, wiggling his eyebrows. The boy only hit him in the ribcage in response. Maybe it wasn't too powerful, but Jack still felt it. "Ouch… How did twins agree to that?"

"Well, we almost always go to their parties, so they kind of have to do something we like." Hiccup said with a victorious smirk. He was even darting his head upwards, very proud of himself apparently – that tiny…

"I can't imagine them being too happy about it." Tooth sighed.

Jack took his chance when no one was looking at them to jab his finger into Hiccup's side. Hiccup jumped in the air, letting out a small yelp. The glare that followed after was worth it. No one mess with Jack and comes out unscathed from it.

"They weren't…" Hiccup mumbled, still not taking his eyes off him. Jack tried to stop grinning, but it was hard. "But they won't die just because they will spend one evening alone with us."

"I can't imagine twins sitting in one place for longer than half an hour." Aster said and Hiccup of course dropped the glare he was sending at Jack.

Winning this one fight was almost impossible for Jack. Whenever Aster spoke, Hiccup's attention would immediately slip away from Jack. What love was doing with people…

"Apparently they are good in some games." Astrid was next to speak, shifting her weight from one leg to another and staring at Bunny. "Especially Jungle Speed*. Never play this game with them." Astrid's tone of voice suddenly dropped down and she encircled herself in a hug.

Jack glanced at her, then looked at Hiccup who tore his gaze away from Aster. The auburn haired teen only moved his lips, forming a simple, inaudible 'bad memories' with it.

"So you're not going to the city center to see fireworks?" Jack asked instead, when neither Astrid nor Hiccup were up to say more about the sudden morbid atmosphere surrounding that topic.

"I'm not sure. Knowing twins we will go out to see them, but we probably stick to our Park. You can see them clearly from there anyway." Hiccup explained.

Jack hummed under his nose. Hiccup was referring to the same park where they had talked about details of their fake-relationship. Wow, it was only a month ago, maybe a little more, but for Jack it felt like light years.

"How about you guys?" Astrid suddenly asked, shaking her head first, clearing it from the terrible memories.

"There is this party at Marina's* place and we were all invited. But we'll probably go out to see the fireworks, so we could see each other near midnight!" Tooth suddenly clasped her hands, tilting the head to look at Astrid. "We should totally call each other earlier to meet together and see them!"

Astrid nodded quickly in response.

"I'm in! Twins and Snotlout will definitely be up to see some familiar faces!"

"Sounds good." Jack added, putting both hands inside his pockets. He nudged Hiccup with his arm. "How about you?"

"Ugh, I have to spend the first few minutes of New Year with you?" Hiccup groaned, casting his eyes upwards like he was asking gods why they had sent this curse upon him. Nevertheless, he quickly glanced at Jack back. "I'll do it, only because I don't want to see you crying, if I disagree."

Jack touched his chest.

"You wound me." He said, but the smile on his lips was destroying the fake-hurt image he wanted to show. Hiccup's grin wasn't helping him either.

"So are we all in?" Aster asked, looking at everyone, finding some sign of approval from their sides.

Hiccup turned his head away in a blink of an eye, or maybe even quicker.

To be honest, lately, whenever Hiccup had done that, the sudden prickling sensation had started to run through Jack's body. He wasn't mad at Hiccup. Of course not. Jack knew how crushes worked. Heck, he had a crush (or two) in his life. He remembered the urge to look at someone important whenever she or he spoke. The need to listen to their voice whenever it was possible. It was natural and nothing to be ashamed of.

So why was he feeling that way? Maybe he was pissed at Aster that he wasn't noticing it. Come on, it was so obvious! No one can turn their heads so fast without an important reason. Besides, how could he not notice those shining eyes directed at him that literally screamed with emotions!

Maybe he was jealous that Aster was getting all the attention? But it was ridiculous. Many people told him that he was acting like a child, but to this extent? However Hiccup was also paying a lot of attention to Jack. They were talking via messages, on Skype (because Hiccup preferred it), sometimes in school. It wasn't like Jack was ignored by the teen. On the contrary, he was getting a lot of attention. Yet it always took only one word coming from Aster's mouth for whole Hiccup's focus to be redirected elsewhere.

Jack liked to call the sudden irritation that was appearing inside of him whenever Aster stole Hiccup's attention the first wave. But the sudden rush of guilt (the second wave) following soon after it was even worse. The third wave of happiness for Hiccup to be able to spend some time with Aster was appealing to him more.

So why the first two feelings were so different from the third?

"Yeah, totally." Someone spoke.

Hiccup's smile was brighter than full moon. And just like a sudden inflow, the third wave appeared once again.

---

The day before Christmas was a very hectic one. Jack was glad that the school had already ended, because he couldn't imagine how he would be able to go to classes and clean his whole house in one day. And even though the Overlands were regularly cleaning their house every week, the amount of dirt and garbage still gathering after every cleaning rendezvous was unbelievable.

Emma, of course, was groaning and sighing every five minutes, asking why she had to do it. North only told her that it was a tradition to clean house before Christmas. Easy for him, as he was spending the whole day in the kitchen, not even taking a step out from it, not counting trips to the bathroom.

"This tradition sucks…" Emma said, but returned to dusting off all snow globes on the shelves.

Jack had no problem with cleaning actually. He turned on some music and sang to it, running around with a vacuum cleaner.

His facebook chat and telephone was buzzing with messages from friends, asking him if he has some time after Christmas Eve to meet or complaining about chores.

Hiccup wasn't writing much. He told Jack that he was working on his project and cleaning a little. Hiccup and his father were going to the Jorgensons for Christmas' dinner, so they weren't making much food at home.

But if the previous day was a little bit hectic, then the twenty-fourth* of December was filled with action – almost like someone turned on the hardest mode in this wicked game. Waking up early was compulsion and getting ready fast was mandatory. They had some time until their family will come, but North wanted to be prepared for everything. There weren't too many people coming over actually. Just North's brother with his family and Tara's – Emma mother – sister with her husband. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Jack. North often had told him about the old days when his house was filled with their family's member, but everyone had moved away and nowadays it was hard to gather the whole family in one place.

Besides, the last time the Overlands had the whole family over at their house the police had come, because they were partying till 4 am. Sometimes it was better to have a small party.

There was unfortunately one very big bad thing about this day. There was no snow outside. Jack had jumped out of bed this morning to pout when the white layer wasn't visible in the back yard. Was it a consequence of global warming or what? Yet Jack didn't allow for this one thing to ruin his good mood.

The rest of the day was spent trying to answer everyone on his phone and do something productive in the kitchen. North also was picking his phone every ten minutes to greet some family member or a friend from work. Emma was the only person not looking at her device every five minutes. Well she was glancing at her laptop laying peacefully on the table. Jack knew for what she was waiting for. They all were, but they were busing themselves with doing something else.

Their mother had promised to call them. That is, if she will somehow be able to connect with the internet. If not, the good old phone of North was still available.

Jack was kind of nervous too. They didn't see each other in a year already and they won't do it for another half. The parting was hard for all of them, but Emma took it the worst. She was still a child, no matter how hard she denied it.

So Jack decided not to comment it. Even if he did it, Emma would only glare at him in return.

Jack sighed as he felt his pocket vibrating one more time.

It was his team captain wishing him a happy holidays, even though he had done it during the last morning training. He quickly replied back and pocketed his phone back.

He had already called both Aster and Tooth and the rest of his close friends in the morning after he had woken up (including Heather, Jack was curious how she was feeling after their encounter). They didn't talk for too long, because they all had chores to do, but it was nice to hear everyone's voices first thing in the Christmas' morning.

He had called Hiccup too, but the boy hadn't picked up. After three hours the line was still silent. Was he so occupied that he wasn't able to pick one call from a friend?

Near the afternoon, when North was finishing his famous cookies filled with marmalade, Hiccup still wasn't picking up.

---

Hiccup had enough of the noise around the Jorgensons' house. The loud clattering, yelling, shouting, clapping and laughing sounds weren't the most appealing things to listen to.

He thought they were all up to normal, calm Christmas' dinner at his cousin's home. No one told him that apparently the Thorstons were invited too. So almost being tackled to the ground by a very hyperactive Ruffnut and Tuffnut when he had just barely stepped inside was well… bizarre - mildly saying, if he could add.

Gladly his greeting with Snotlout wasn't so painful. Hiccup and Snotlout weren't so close to hang out together without their other friends (not counting the times when their families had visited each other), but it was much better than what they had few years ago. A hand shake and a pat on the arm from the black haired male was enough.

"I didn't know you guys would be there…" Hiccup said, when he was finally allowed to take off his shoes and move further into the house. Snotlout and his family weren't living in a single-family house in the suburbs, but in a flat in a residential block, so the apartment wasn't that big. And judging by the sounds coming from the living room and kitchen, there won't be much place to maneuver later that day either.

And it was supposed to be calm day.

"We didn't know too, bruh." Tuffnut said and then sniffed loudly. He brushed his nose with his sleeve. "Our cooker stopped working yesterday and we had to come up with a back-up plan quickly."

"So we're here!" Ruffnut finished, moving to Snotlout and hip bumping him. The force made the taller teen stumble to his right, almost crashing into the wall.

Ruffnut had a lot of power in her body. Some guys actually felt that power on their faces and in other more inappropriate places. Hiccup was really glad he was on her good side.

He glanced at his cousin who looked weirdly… displeased.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, come here for a sec!" Misses Thorston called loudly from the living room.

The twins groaned both in the same time and then ran in that direction.

Hiccup took this chance and moved to Snotlout.

"I thought you would be happy about Ruff and Tuff spending Christmas with us." He said, nodding in the direction where their friends disappeared.

Snotlout glanced at him and snorted. Hiccup was used to it.

"I am." Snotlout huffed. "I am just worried about consequences."

What? Did Hiccup hear right? Was his irresponsible cousin worrying about consequences of something? Was it reality? Or maybe Hiccup stepped into some alternative universe? He didn't remember climbing any ladder near the highway*.

"Don't look at me like that! Who do you think destroyed that cooker?" The black haired teen threw his hands in the air and then pointed them at the door to the living room. "Plus, you know how our families act after alcohol. Add Thorstons and Gobber to it and we have a disaster."

Hiccup chuckled under his nose, wrapping his arms around himself. He had the thickest sweater on, but he was still feeling cold. And snow didn't even fall down this year. Yet…

"You now know how I feel whenever I go out with you guys."

Snotlout furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ha-ha very funny. We aren't that bad."

"Remember when you took trolleys from Walmart, wanted to fasten fire extinguisher to them and race on the highway?" Hiccup lifted his eyebrow. He, Astrid and Fishlegs had to close the front door of the twins' house to stop them from pursuing this idea further.

Snotlout opened his mouth, but then closed it.

The auburn haired teen smirked in victory.

Hiccup's pocket vibrated. He quickly took the phone out and looked at the caller ID. Jack was calling him. His finger was already moving to answer it, when he heard a loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen and a yell that resembled definitely Mister Thorston's voice. Then Snotlout's father laughed heartily, which was followed by another banging sound and a shriek.

Yeah, definitely a disaster.

Hiccup glanced one more time at his phone and pocketed it. He will call Jack later when everything will be under control.

---

The shriek coming from Emma mouth scared the living daylights out of him. He was in the middle of gently mixing ingredients for sponge cake when the girl made that sound in the living room.

"Dad, Jack, Mom is calling!" She peeked her head inside the kitchen to disappear a second later.

Jack looked at North and they both left their things there, not finishing anything they were doing. After a second though, North ran back to turn off the gas under soup.

Emma was pacing nervously in front of the laptop standing on the already made table, waiting for guests to appear any second now (even though they shouldn't be here for another hour). Her fingers were laced together, however bended in weird angles.

Jack sat on one chair and Emma quickly followed after. North rushed into the living room.

"What are you doing? Pick it up." He said joyfully, looking around and then grabbing the free chair standing under the cupboard filled with silvery. Emma was cleaning it just few minutes ago.

"Uhm… right." His sister's hand floated above the keyboard to finally land slowly on the touchpad, clicking it. The mouse icon was already on a receiving button, waiting patiently for all family's member to gather around the device.

Emma's palm was trembling as she was moving it back. Jack couldn't blame her. No matter how hard she tried to look strong, she was still a kid. A very independent child, but she was only ten.

The black screen took over the laptop's monitor and Jack could her Emma sucking a breath. Even North sitting between them became rigid, like by moving even an inch he could somehow stop the transmission. Jack knew more over that it was impossible, but he understood the fear (Hiccup could probably explain it better, using proper nerdy words). He himself put his hands under his legs to stop them from shaking.

The transmission blinked, screeched and few white stripes ran through the screen.

Jack's hands fidgeted nervously under his knees.

This minute or so, when they waited for the screen to become more over clean was the worst minute in their life. But when the awful sound stopped and very fuzzy image of the person sitting on the other side appeared, everyone exhaled the air they kept inside their lungs until now.

The woman on the other side was looking with squinted eyes at the device, keeping something near her mouth. Her almost whole face was hidden under the thick hoodie with only one black curl of hair sticking out.

"Hello? Ca- " A buzzing sound resonated around the room. "-hear me? Hello?" Then the woman moved closer to the computer. "This transmitter is a bitch." She whispered. Unfortunately for her, the mic caught it and they all heard it.

Emma was the first to react.

"Mom!"

Tara on the other side jumped and moved away from the screen. Her lips stretched into a soft yet, a little awkward smile.

"Oh, I can finally see you! Sorry. This stupid computer didn't want to work with me correctly. Do you know long it took me to connect to the internet? Let me tell you that I couldn't even load one picture of some cute, fuzzy cat." Her voice was still wonky, sometimes cut in the middle, but they finally could see and hear her.

North laughed heartily, with his stomach shaking under the inner force and just like that Jack relaxed immediately.

"It's good to see you're the same as ever." The man said, leaning a little bit closer to the computer.

Tara rolled her chocolate eyes. The air from her mouth formed a small cloud.

"I'm glad that you're all here. I wanted to call when my sister would be at yours place, but it looks like I'm a little bit early." She said, gracing them with another grin and then unzipped a little bit of her jacket, so they could see her chin and hear her more clearly.

North, next to Jack, nodded, tapping his foot nervously on the floor. It was kind of sweet in Jack's opinion. Even after eleven years of marriage, his dad was sometimes acting nervous around his wife. It was probably because of the time they had to spend apart.

"She should be here in forty minutes or so." North said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Tara smiled sadly, but nodded.

"Well, we will talk some other time." She brushed away that one persistent black lock glued to her forehead. "So now stories' time! Tell me everything that happened in your life!"

Jack grinned under his nose when Emma jumped into very long story about her classmate who supposedly had a crush on some boy, who was very mean, but apparently totally cute and… Jack actually stopped listening after that. He heard about it two days ago already.

Jack, in the meantime, relaxed and allowed for the fast, but very excited rhythm of spoken words to flow through his body, warming him up. North from time to time was butting into the conversation, filling Tara with information about his work or their friends, but Emma was the star of the show. She was babbling, shouting, sometimes whispering to the laptop and most of the times laughing.

It was nice to see her so joyful. It wasn't like she was unnaturally sad during the last few days, but sometimes the tension appeared – for a second or two, but Jack knew her enough to notice those furrowed eyebrows.

They were on it for at least twenty minutes - a never ending river of sentences, questions and answers. They didn't have much more time. Usually they had half an hour to catch up and then they had to end the call.

Catching a signal in Antarctica was awfully hard*. Not to mention very expensive. But Christmas was special for everyone, so every person in research group wanted to contact the family and wish them a happy holidays.

Some man painfully pointed it out, as his voice echoed in the Overlands house.

"Tara, you have ten minutes left. Next is Professor Radcliffe in line!"

Tara had some problems turning her head around, due to very big hood on her head, but she more over was able to respond to whoever was interrupting her.

"Tell him to just wait patiently." She shouted, quickly focusing on them again. Her cunning, bright and excited eyes moved from Emma and North to land on Jack. "Jack, you're unnaturally silent. Something happened? Come on, talk to me!"

Jack groaned theatrically as he moved closer, scratching legs of his chair on the floor.

"If you insist…" The grin was although stretched on his mouth. "I'm good. The practices are going fine. We didn't win the last match, but well the opposite team was very good." He shrugged. It really wasn't that bad. Beside they had lost by only one point. "In school I'm doing fine… surprisingly. I even got B+ in Math!" Well, he couldn't stop bragging a little. He even puffed out his chest, because come on! It was amazing!

Tara's eyes widened. She even leaned closer to the monitor.

"Really? Jack, you got B on Professor Black's test?" She then glanced at North. "Did someone replace our son with some impostor?"

North and Emma both burst in laugher, and Jack crossed his arms on his chest, sulking at the screen.

Tara looked back at him with warm smile returning to her pale lips.

"I'm very proud of you, Jack." She said. The real, warm proudness was radiating from her eyes as she was staring right back at him.

This was one of the most amazing traits about her. The pure, clear honesty. She wasn't this type who was always nice and delicate with people. When someone was acting ridiculously, she was always the first person to point it out. No matter how terrible it was and how harsh words she had to use.

Sometimes people got offended by it, but she never changed her ways. The truth was always better than sweet lies in her opinion. Jack was totally agreeing with her way of living.

But she also loved to make people fluster or lose their tongue. It was her own personal hobby.

North even had told Jack that she was quite the trickster back in College. Tara was always telling him that he definitely took the prankster's gene after her (no matter how biologically incorrect it was, it always made him happy).

"Thanks…" Jack murmured, feeling that indeed he was starting to blush. Sometimes this stare was hard to hold, but he wanted to maintain it no matter what. They didn't know when they will hear each other again.

"So why the sudden change in grades?" She asked instead.

This actually wasn't very nice to recollect, especially during such happy holidays.

"Well, Professor Black told me that I needed to pass the next test or I might…" He gulped. Wow, talking about grades with his mom was never easy. "Fail this semester, so yeah… " He scratched the back of his head, coughing and glancing to the side. "But I did it!"

"Thanks to Hiccup!" Emma yelled from the other side of North, peaking at him from behind their father.

"But I wrote the test!" Jack wasn't going to lose this fight so quickly. Emma had a point though.

"But he taught you everything!" Emma wasn't backing down.

"However, you must agree that Jack had to learn it all almost from the beginning." North even butted in, protecting Jack in his matter. That was surprising, usually he was taking Emma's side, just to tease him.

"Ha! See!" Jack shouted, almost standing and pointing at the brown haired girl still seated on the opposite side. "I'm the best! I won!"

Emma grumbled some uncoherent words and slumped down on her chair, not used to losing when it came to their small bickering. She huffed away the lock of her hair that landed on her nose.

"Okay, I think I'm lost. Who is Hiccup?" Tara on the other side was looking from her daughter to Jack with puzzled look painted on her face.

"He is Jack's friend who was tutoring him to help him pass this Math test." North responded, turning back to the conversation.

"Oh… so is he like in College?"

"Erm no… he is one year younger than me actually…" Jack mumbled, leaning on his chair and straightening his legs in front of him. Both his palms landed inside his pockets. "But he is super smart, so he has almost all advanced science's classes."

"Did you meet recently? I don't remember ever hearing about him from you." Tara had very good memory and when North only knew Jack's closest friends, Tara could even tell the whole family tree of people Jack only knew. This was sometimes horrifying.

"Yup. I…" Rescued him from some creepy dude? No, better not to say it out loud. "Helped him some other time in school and he decided to help me with learning in his weird way of showing gratitude and yeah… we became friends."

"That is very nice of him. Especially as you are a very difficult person to teach." Tara winked at him. "I definitely have to meet him after my return."

"Sure, you'll like him." Jack said, beaming at her. He honestly felt very excited about the idea of introducing Hiccup to his mother. They both were amazing (and also huge nerds), so they definitely will find some common language.

"I don't doubt it."

Hold on a second.

What? Jack was lost. Especially with the way Tara was staring at him – with this smile that was holding so many unspoken words, like she cracked some kind of code, but denied to give the password.

Something inside Jack stirred under that look and he felt like hiding, but he had no choice than to slump down on his chair, uttering a simple:

"What do you…"

But Jack's sentence was cut by a sound of someone urging inside the room on the other side of the screen. The image wavered to the side and screeching sound resonated in the air making everyone flinch and cover their ears.

"Time's up! Time's up!"

Frustrated Tara turned on the chair and glared at this someone who barged inside with scrutinized look.

"Give me a minute to say goodbyes, for fuck sake!"

"Tara!"

North immediately jumped to Emma, covering her ears with both huge palms, but the damage was done. Emma definitely heard the forbidden word. And Jack had no heart to tell North that she already had heard it too many times around the house (mostly from Jack's room, especially while he was playing mostly water stages).

Emma didn't stop herself although from commenting this.

"Dad, I'm not six. And we're living in the twenty-first century. I heard this word already a hundred times." Emma scoffed, pushing North's hands away from her head while rolling her eyes.

"It doesn't mean that you need to hear it in our house."

His sister was opening her mouth to probably say something that would put a great risk of being grounded on Jack, so he had to do something. He leaned and glared at his sister, pointing at his mouth and making a zipping motion. Emma darted her head upwards, but before she was able to add a single word, their mother interrupter them, returning to the screen.

"Okay, guys, I need to end this call. Say hello to my sister from me! I hope you'll have an amazing Christmas! I will call you as soon as I can!" She almost shouted into the mic, persistently pushing someone who was trying to get to the computer away.

They all turned to her.

"Okay, bye! Have a nice Christmas. Love you." Of course, North was the first one to reply.

Emma jumped in front of the camera and waved her hand frantically.

"See you soon. We miss you!"

Jack saluted her in farewell, smiling.

"See ya!"

Tara graced them with one last smile and warm 'Love you all' before cutting the connection. Her unsteady, but very welcomed image was replaced by a black screen, making them all suddenly sad.

For few minutes they were sitting there, only gaping back at the finished call and number of minutes they were allowed to spend with their family. Only a little more than half an hour. Too less to talk about every important thing that happened to them, too less to really enjoy the conversation, too less to be satisfied, however it was everything they got.

North was the first one to return to reality. He clasped his hands together, bringing everyone back with him.

"Okay, we need to return to work! Chop chop. Emma, you finish making the table and Jack, you help me in the kitchen!" He ordered, standing up. He didn't even glance back while moving to the kitchen, humming something loudly under his nose.

Both he and Emma escorted him with their eyes. Their stares crossed as North disappeared behind the doors. Emma looked at him and sent a sad smile, shrugging along the way. Jack could see that she wasn't happy with the amount of time they had with their mother, but it was at least something.

"We better get moving. Auntie Tia will be here any second." She finally said, slowly standing up.

After a glance at the clock, he had to agree with her. Jack slipped away from his chair and shuffled to the kitchen, where North was finishing Jack's sponge cake. So the white haired teen was left in charge of the soup. He turned back on the gas under the pot and started to stir the soup North had left so carelessly.

Okay, this maybe was odd, but something Tara had said was still fresh inside his mind. She was a very perceptive woman, able to see things other people sometimes couldn't (especially the so-called mess in his room, but that wasn't important right now). When he was feeling down, she could always see right through the mask he was showing the world. She knew instantly just by looking in his eyes whenever he had got in heavy argument with his friends or when he had done something wrong.

So what exactly she had seen just few minutes ago in his eyes? And why did it concern Hiccup of all people?

His stomach clenched, making a back flip inside of him.

He leaned above the pot and smelled the soup. No, this needed basil, definitely. And maybe even a little bit of nutmeg.

Jack liked Hiccup, of course. He was a super cool guy, maybe too big nerd sometimes, who liked to correct people and tease them to no end, but in reality he was a very caring person. Maybe he was kind of lost in the reality, with his different perception of the world around them, but it was charming in its weird way.

Jack took out the spices from the shelf and returned to his dish. He poured some of the dry leaves inside the pot. After staring at the package for five whole seconds, he decided to sprinkle it with the nutmeg too.

And the way Hiccup was excited over everything related to science and books! This was where the real Hiccup was coming to life – with his bright eyes, radiating heat to the surroundings, hands moving everywhere and mouth not closing for even few seconds.

Jack liked him in those moments even more. When there was no barrier between them and everything seemed so easy, plain, that there were no worries in the world.

Well, that sounded awfully cheesy.

Jack shook his head.

He really liked to listen to Hiccup's monologues, when they moved to the topic he really liked. It was a nice change in his demeanor. His voice also was changing then, from the usual low tone, to very high one, like there wasn't enough oxygen in the air to say everything he wanted to say. His cheeks often were becoming red then, from the effort he had to make to say everything that was important and it was…

Pretty endearing.

"Jack, you're phone is buzzing."

Jack looked up at North standing next to him and pointing at the device laying on the table which indeed was moving on the surface in circle motion.

His heart skipped a beat, seeing the lightened up screen.

Was it finally Hiccup calling him back? He didn't pick up the last time three times Jack tried to get to him.

He jumped to his phone and quickly caught it.

"Slow down, it's not going anywhere."

Jack rolled his eyes, but looked quickly at the caller ID.

Then it felt like someone just squished his insides.

It wasn't Hiccup who was calling him.

His finger floated above the receiving button, not sure if it should land or not. In the end he just left it there to ring for few more seconds. He will respond after finishing the food, or maybe in the evening.

Jack returned to the cooker and looked inside the pot. It was slowly boiling. And the smell was good. Better than he expected actually.

Was it normal to feel bad, because someone wasn't picking up? Or was Jack totally overreacting? Maybe. However he had never felt so down when he couldn't get to someone. Or maybe now he just couldn't recollect feeling like that.

That was… troubling him a little.

Jack liked to talk with Hiccup. Every message was bringing something new with it, every sentence was making him giddy and often laugh to himself while responding. He liked the way Hiccup reacted to some teasing, the way he explained simple scientific laws, how he was getting excited about nerdy stuff. But he also enjoyed talking with Hiccup in person. Seeing how he was reacting, responding, with his eyes casting him a hesitant smile, radiant, but secretive.

But it was normal. Maybe he wanted to hear Hiccup's voice today more than some other people's ones, however it wasn't that bad. They were friends, in the end. Friends wanted to hear each other voices when they were missing each other.

So why was he feeling like he was searching for excuses?

"Jack, you alright? You're staring at the pot for four minutes straight already…" North patted him on the back, making Jack almost dive into the soup.

He turned to his father.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright." Yep, he just stuttered.

"Really?" North wasn't backing down.

"Uhm yeah, yeah, just lost in thoughts."

"Okay, I'm going to put some dishes on the table before guests arrive."

Jack wasn't even looking at him when he was nodding. The loud footsteps told him that North indeed left the room, leaving Jack alone with his soup and thoughts.

He turned off the gas and closed the lid, sighing heavily. His eyes travelled to land on the phone, laying on the table. He bit his lip.

Jack really wanted to talk with Hiccup, wish him a happy holiday, maybe tease and joke a little, hear what he was doing. However there definitely was a difference in wanting to hear Aster's or Tooth's voice today than Hiccup's.

But what was this difference? And how big it was? It made him a little bit frustrated. He couldn't grasp this lone thought hiding in the corners of his mind.

Hiccup would probably say that it is impossible for mind to have corners as it is only a set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, perception, thinking, and yadda yadda. And because it was not a real, material place, it was impossible for it to have any links to concepts about matter like corners… or something like that.

Jack chuckled out loud, almost hearing Hiccup's voice inside his brain.

However the doorbell decided to free him from his thoughts by ringing loudly.

Soon after, Jack heard loud shouts of his uncle and father, greeting each other (like they didn't see each other in ages, even though they probably did a month ago). Two childish voices followed after, yelling to Emma about how happy they were to see her. Jack waited. One, two, three and…

"Uncle North, where is Jack!?" There it was. A little bit late.

"I'm coming!" He shouted back, loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear him.

He cleaned his hands under the water and then dried them off with a cloth.

Before he exited the kitchen he checked his phone one more time. But there was only one unpicked call – not from Hiccup.

Jack would try after the dinner. Maybe spending some time with his family will clear this fog gathering inside his brain.

---

"Oh boy…" Hiccup mumbled as another glass fell to the floor and shattered under the force. This time it was Spitelout who did it and gladly not Gobber, who already broke three of them.

Hiccup decided to sit with his legs close to his chest to not accidentally step on any shards left. Now it was Snotlout time to clean the pieces, what he did with a loud groan and quite wobbly walk to the corner, where stood the brush, just waiting to be used.

"Come on Hiccup, drink something, turn this frown upside down." Tuffnut moved his hand and put it on the smaller teen's shoulders. "It's Christmas! You have to…" He hiccupped right into his ear. "… you have to…"

Ruffnut peaked from behind her brother.

"Enjoy yourself?" She prompted, tilting her glass.

Tuffnut nodded furiously and gladly finally freed Hiccup from his captivity.

"Yes… this… enjoy yourself! That's right!" Tuffnut finished his sentence with a big gulp.

Hiccup sighed and massaged his forehead, when both his dad and Mister Thorston burst in laughter. This was a little bit too much sounds around him.

But it wasn't like he didn't enjoy himself right now. Maybe with much less loud sounds it would be better, but it still wasn't so bad.

He was just… really, really tired.

Snotlout returned to his seat on the right side of Hiccup. The glass was more over cleaned from the floor, however he could still see some pieces glinting in the light coming from the Christmas' tree behind them. They will have to clean it with vacuum cleaner tomorrow.

"If I knew so many glasses would be shattered today, I would buy my mother a full set of new ones."

"Maybe it is a good idea for birthday?" Hiccup suggested, moving an inch closer to him, because Tuffnut snorted heavily at something their mother said and swayed to the side.

"I'm starting to seriously consider it." Snotlout muttered, warily glancing at the glass his father was holding.

Because apparently when their families met, there were tons of victims and fatalities in poor dishes. Hiccup knew they had some Vikings' blood in their vines, but was it really necessary to really destroy at least dozen glasses in the last two hours?

At least his father looked happy. Lately he was always… blank. Nor really happy, nor sad. Maybe Stoick wasn't very good in showing his emotions, but Hiccup had experience (his whole life, so that was something definitely). He knew he had to search for small things indicating the real feelings of his father. But lately he saw nothing. Of course, whenever he talked with Hiccup he tried to put on that soft smile ('tried' is a key word here). But whenever Hiccup had started to move back to his room, he had seen the smile quickly washing off, replacing with a blank look.

Something was on Stoick's mind and he had a feeling what. Apparently one conversation doesn't fix the whole problem. Hiccup knew it and yet he felt guilty and dispirited. So seeing Stoick like now, jolly and happy, with mouth stretched in a warm, a little bit drunk smile was good for a change.

A little bit of positive charge was needed in people life. Gaining energy was important to feel completed.

So Hiccup only sat there, finishing the last pieces of their dinner still laying on his plate and listening to the conversations. At first they were more over logical, but after few shots and bottles of beers they started to get weird.

However he never though he would have so good time talking with Snotlout, who was the second in line of drinking the less, which was a little bit weird in Hiccup's opinion. He had drunk maybe half a glass more than Hiccup.

"You're not drinking?" Hiccup finally asked, when the twins jumped into weird conversation with the rest of the guest about the increases in sugar's prices. Really.

"Well, someone need to be a little bit sober." Snotlout groaned. "Besides, it's not like I'm not drinking. I'm just… drinking less than usual." And as to indicate his point, he lifted his glass and took a small sip.

Hiccup hummed in response. No matter how nice it was, it was still a little awkward – sitting like that and talking with his cousin. When they were with the rest of the group it was more over okay, but when they were alone it had been a disaster some time ago. Guess not so much anymore.

He took his fork and started to play with the lonely pea by rolling it on the plate. He pushed it from one side to the other.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut finished their conversation and turned around.

"Why you have so… sad faces?" The girl asked, flipping her braid on her back and trying to focus on Snotlout.

"Yeah, it's Christmas, you should… have fun…" Tuffnut added, leaning a little on his sister. "And spend time with your family…"

Ruffnut pushed him away with a gagging sound. Hiccup chuckled under his nose.

"We're sitting next to each other. I think it is enough." Snotlout mumbled, leaning on his chair and crossing his arms on his chest. He looked like a very grumpy child, who was refused to get a toy in the shop.

"Come on, at least try to smile!" Ruffnut wasn't stopping her propaganda. She leaned above his brother and put her finger on Hiccup's cheek, trying to lift it up and imitate a smile. However he had a feeling that it came out more terrifying than appealing. "See, much better!"

Tuffnut cooed next to him and it was the final straw for Hiccup in this matter. He pushed the hand away.

"Ruff, give it a break. I'm okay, I'm having fun, but I'm just too tired to show it, okay?" Hiccup confessed.

"Why are you tired?" Tuffnut questioned him.

Hiccup lifted his eyebrow and stared at them, hoping they would understand what he meant. Unfortunately, they didn't, as they only blinked in confusion.

Gobber said something and Stoick laughed heartily, almost spilling the drink in his glass.

Hiccup decided to avoid that topic.

"Never mind…"

"You're really okay?" Tuffnut inquired, which was commented by a scoff from Snotlout side. Drunk twins were a very weird phenomenon – they could turn from dangerous bombs into precious angels in few seconds.

"Yes! And if you ask me one more time about it, I swear I'll never allow you to use my computer to stalk someone on Facebook!" Hiccup assured, but he wouldn't be himself, if he didn't add something extra.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cross that line!" The blonde male quickly backed away, staring at him with pained yet pleased look on his face. Totally weird combination.

"Hiccup, bring more alcohol from the kitchen!" Gobber shouted. He probably wasn't conscious of the volume of his voice.

"Okay." Hiccup nodded and stood up. He quickly glanced at the twins. "Don't get too drunk while I'm away."

"Aye aye Captain!" Ruffnut shouted when Hiccup walked away.

"Not promising anything!" Tuffnut yelled back, lifting his glass like he was actually doing a toast.

Hiccup shook his head with fond smile on his lips. He was speaking the truth, he had fun. It was amazing to see all of his friends and their families in one place, being joyful and simply themselves, without the restrictions put on them by the outside world. He felt like he could act like himself around them, which resulted in him not speaking a lot and mostly listening. The twins pestering was also natural to some extent.

Beside, Christmas was supposed to be spend with family, right? It didn't matter whether everyone were related by blood or not.

Hiccup walked inside the kitchen where the radio was still on, transmitting some kind of carol. Misses Jorgenson hadn't switched it off when they had moved to the living room for the main party.

The sink was filled with dirty dishes, some of them barely stood there, inches away from falling down and crashing, like most of the glasses already. Some salads, snacks and small dishes were standing on the counter, probably forgotten by the rest of the crew.

Hiccup decided to let them have their fun.

From the fridge he took few bottles of beer and two bottles of something definitely stronger. He wasn't an expert in matter of alcohol. Well, besides alcohol in organic chemistry, because those he knew too well. With full arsenal in his hands, he returned to the living room where he put the drinks on the table. Instantly few hands reached for them.

Hiccup shook his head. He gathered few dirty plates, glasses and cutlery and brought them to the kitchen, where he put them in a sink. The mighty tower wobbled unsteadily from one side to the other. Hiccup eyed it for few second to roll up his sleeves in the end. Someone had to do it anyway, plus he kind of didn't trust other people's drunken state's hands to do this very delicate job.

Besides, Hiccup was used to cleaning equipment after labs. Cleaning Soxhlet extractor* was pain in the ass, but after cleaning a fiftieth test-tube, he started to think that it was a quite calming task.

Hiccup turned on the hot water and started to clean, methodically moving the sponge around the porcelain or glass surface in circular motion.

The voices in the living room were dulled, however if he really wanted, he would hear what they were talking about. But the soft, ecstatic murmur of conversations flowing, moving the waves in the air was soothing him, so he didn't mind.

Minutes passed. The tower was slowly getting smaller and smaller, but Hiccup knew there were already five or six plates waiting in the living room to be cleaned.

It wasn't like he didn't like spending time with his family of friends, but sometimes it was too much. Too many signals coming from every direction, too many voices mingled together, too much action in such short time – it was draining his energy. He needed some alone time, away from all this too much happening around him.

Dish after dish, minute after minute, he felt the tension sweeping away from his body. This day was totally exhausting and it didn't look like it will end anytime soon. So he needed all the energy (power) he could get. Maybe some kind of accumulator – a voltage source for his circuit components – or even a simple battery.

Hiccup sighed as he slowly lifted his head and turned it from left to right, trying to get rid of the tension inside his neck's muscles. He was about to return to work when something caught his attention. The window.

He squinted his eyes, staring at the dark sky behind the glass. Maybe not that dark, because it was illuminated by the light coming from windows and streets' lamps, but this wasn't what caught his attention. Small, white dots were levitating outside the window.

Hiccup quickly turned off the water, dried his hands and moved to the window. He leaned above the counter and caught the blinds' slider, lifting louvers up in few swift movements.

It was snowing outside. Pearly, fluffy snowflakes were dancing, swirling in front of the glass, slowly falling down on the ground. Some of them, moved by the wind, got glued to the window's surface, almost like they wanted to get inside the house.

It was the first snow of this year.

Hiccup stared at it with his lips slightly parted. The snowflakes waved at him from the other side, intertwining with each other as the breeze pushed them in each other directions. They were very big – few particles glued together to form one bigger piece – but it made them look soft. He had an urge to open the window and stick his hand out to touch it, feel the sudden rush of coldness on his skin from the gentle touch of the delicate snow.

It was mesmerizing – the way it was reflecting the light shining at it from almost every direction, like hundreds of prisms thrown into the cold air.

Hiccup felt his chest clench while looking at it. The breath got stuck inside his throat.

"I wonder, if Jack have already seen it…" He mumbled, now almost laying with his upper body on the counter.

Knowing Jack, he would be all over this weather, jumping excitedly and shouting incoherent sentences out of glee. He would probably smile, with mirth glinting in his cerulean orbs. And maybe (just maybe) he wouldn't grin in the way he almost always do. But maybe he would grin, a little unsure about whether he should do it or not.

Hiccup sighed and put his elbows on the counter, leaning on them to be a little closer to the glass. Few more centimeters and he would bump his nose with the window.

No matter how odd this sounded, he got used to Jack's presence. His never ending amount of messages, strange emojis, too overjoyed shouts and comments. Weird… few weeks ago (more than a month, how fast time passes) he would do everything to get away from Jackson Overland, glaring at him from five meters away (come on, Jack always blocked the perfect view of Aster) and now Hiccup almost… missed him.

Gosh, that was stupid. How could he miss someone who was almost like a stranger to him? Of course, Hiccup missed Astrid and Fishlegs, but they knew each other for ages, however Jack…

Jack was an enigma. Funny how at first glance he looked like the simplest man on the Earth, but deep inside he was a tangled mess. This was the difference between them. Hiccup purposely hid himself away from people, Jack did it unconsciously.

His hand moved to the pocket, where laid his smartphone. One tap, two, three, combined with a nervous twitch. His fingers relaxed and finally hooked under the fabric, brushing fingertips on the metal.

Hiccup glanced at the corridor, where the living room was throwing a faint gleam onto the panels' floor. The voices were still vivid, loud and elated. He definitely had time to make a call.

---

"Jack, can we play on your PlayStation? Can we, can we, can we?"

Jack focused on three pairs of very curious eyes gaping back at him with plead tangoing in them. He took out two plates from the fridge and closed the door with his hip.

"I don't know, were you good kids this year?" Jack asked, humming first as he maneuvered between them and moved to the living room. The swarm of kids followed his every step.

Emma was the one who asked him, as she was his sister. Just behind her was Tipo, staring at him with his big, black eyes filled with excitement. The procession was closed by his sister – Chaca – who was fiddling with her red dress, but staring at him with small smile and hope written all over her face. The sibling's black hairs were bouncing with their every step.

Jack only wanted to tease them a little anyway… and to mess with Emma.

"We were!" Tipo shouted, pushing to the front and almost making Jack trip. He gladly made a pirouette, avoiding crashing into him at the last second. "Please!"

"We were doing dishes for three months!" Chaca begged him, now jumping next to his right side.

"Wasn't it a penalty, because you broke your grandma's vase?" Jack glanced at them skeptically.

The siblings blushed deeply and both started to twirl their feet in the ground with their hands put behind their back. Emma looked between her cousins and her brother.

Jack sighed.

"Okay, but no games for adults, okay?" He said, eyeing every member of his family carefully. Last time they had started playing Dead Space and well… the few next nights weren't too calm for any of them.

"We promise! Thank you Jack! You're the best!"

"Praise me more!"

But the kids were already running up the stairs, pushing each other gently, probably racing to determine who would reach Jack's room first.

Jack shook his head, moving finally to the living room where the rest of the family was gathered. On one side Tara's sister – Tiana was talking with Chicha – North's brother's wife. They were leaning close to each other, giggling happily into each other ears and glancing at the men gathered on the other side of table, who were patting each other on the back and laughing joyfully about something. Even Naveen – Tiana's husband now – looked like he had fun. The first time he had met the Overland's family he was… kind of taken aback by North's posture. Jack couldn't blame him, North was scary at first sight, but after knowing him more, he was the softest person in Burgess. Or on this half of globe.

Now North, Pacha (North's brother) and Naveen were hurled together, bumping each other knees and telling stories from the past. When Jack walked inside and put the plates on the table, immediately two manly hands reached for the food. Well, good that everyone brought some food, because Jack had a feeling most of it will be eaten by tomorrow morning.

"Jack, sit with us for a while and relax."

Jack turned his head to the source of the voice on his left.

Chicha was staring at him with soft smile gracing her pink lips. Her thin fingers were embracing white cup with hot coffee steaming from it. Her black hair were put in a messy, curly bun, held together by a green pin.

Jack actually liked to act as a 'waiter' during their family meetings. Usually it was his mother and Tiana doing it, but Jack liked to stretch his limbs from time to time. Besides, it was helping him clean his head from the hot and dizzy atmosphere in the living room.

He grabbed a chair and sat on it, turning his body to the two women sitting at one end of the table.

"Much better." She added and took a smile sip.

"So how's school?" Tiana immediately asked, peaking from behind Chicha and staring at Jack with curious stare. Ebony, swirling locks fell to her forehead, which she pushed with a huff, curling her painted lips.

He groaned. Of course, they had to ask about school first. Why couldn't they ask how was his Steam account going after Steam Winter Sale?

"Oh come on, you know we have to cross the typical questions off the list, so bear with it and just answer us." Tiana said. The small chuckle tingled at the end of the sentence.

"It's fine." Jack finally mumbled. "Not good, but not too bad either." He had some bad grades from few subjects, but he had worse times in his life. "I actually got B+ from Math!" This was worth pointing out.

Everyone in their family knew about his problems with that subject. And they were very familiar with Professor Black, mostly from Jack's stories he just loved to share with everybody.

Chicha's hand trembled and she looked lost between clapping her hands and patting him on the back. She quickly put the cup down – a trail of brown liquid streamed down on its side. Her silver, thin bracelets rustled as she put her palms on his shoulder.

"Jack, that is amazing!" She said, stretching her mouth in a big grin.

Jack reciprocated the smile.

"We're very proud of you." Tiana added.

"T-thanks…" Jack scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Then Hiccup's face popped in front of his eyes. "Although I had help from a friend of mine in this matter."

"Oh, someone was able to teach our untamed Jackson?" Tiana lifted her eyebrow, smirking at him. She put her elbow on the table and put her chin on her hand, so she was able to look at him more freely and jab something into his pride. "We must congratulate him… or her…"

"Him, definitely a male." Jack could already see Hiccup pouting inside his head, so he snickered under his nose. "But don't worry girls, it took him some time to put something in this head!" He knocked onto his forehead.

Chicha laughed, but Tiana shook her head.

"I think it's just hard to break through your wall of laziness and rejection for learning this particular subject." Chicha finally said, grabbing one black lock and curling it on her finger. Her green nail polish reflected the bright light shimmering above them. "I know you never really liked Math."

"I don't hate it from the bottom of my heart, but yeah, it's totally my Achilles' heel." Jack sighed, leaning more comfortably on his chair and hiding his palms inside the pockets of his blue blouse.

"You don't have to be good at everything." Tiana tilted her head. "We could gladly use your helping hand in our restaurant."

Two years ago Jack had actually spent the winter holidays at his mother's family house where he was helping her sister in her restaurant. He had learned quite few recipes from watching back then. Not to mention, he had a feeling Tiana enjoyed his company in the kitchen (and always called for him whenever she was making dinner to spend some quality time together).

"I'll think about it." Jack nodded. It was always a good idea for a part-time job during summer or upcoming winter break. "If we already covered my part, how are your lives going then?"

Chicha started to talk about her kids and how much problems they were bringing her, especially when they were in school. But who could help it? They were unruly, because they were simply kids (and because they had the Overlands' blood in them). They were in this age when you just want to play and don't worry about anything else, so Jack couldn't blame them. Besides, he was also like that, even now…

Tiana then told them about few weird customers and clients they had in their restaurant. She usually was a peaceful, calm woman, but when something irritated her, she could turn into a beast with fire in her eyes. And definitely some customers could bring out her hidden demons outside which wasn't well... good, but very spectacular.

Jack loved to talk with his family and catch up with everything they had gone through. Especially when they were talking so emotionally about it – like Tiana, who now was gesticulating, clenching and unclenching her fists while waving them around (even though she wasn't doing it often).

She finished her story with a loud sigh. She massaged groggily her eyes, like only talking and remembering some customers made her totally exhausted.

Chicha leaned and patted her on the back.

"There, there, gladly they won't return to your restaurant anymore…" She said in shushed tone.

"I hope so…" Tiana lifted her face and put on back a smile, although this one was more tired than the previous ones. She reached with her fork and grabbed a cake. "But we finished the full round. So now Jack it is your turn…"

"Oh no." He said, grinning. He put hands behind his back and balanced on the back's legs of the chair. What would be next? Question about his friends? His future? Emma? Maybe…

"So do you have someone special in your life?"

Jack not so nicely (and gracefully) choked on his saliva. It wasn't his fault this question took him by a surprise and the liquid didn't go into this hole it should definitely go! So he started to hit himself hard on the chest, leaning forward and learning from the beginning how to breath.

"Don't die, Jack!" North laughed on the other side of the table, but did nothing to help him.

Gladly, Chicha was more helpful with her slow pats between his shoulder blades and soothing and calm voice next to his ear.

After a minute or two Jack was good to go, which meant he was able to breathe properly. Few droplets of tears appeared in the corner of his eyes, but he brushed them with the sleeve of his blouse.

He should actually expect it. This was his curious family he was talking… erm thinking about!

"Everything okay?" Tiana asked, sitting back on her chair. She had stood up, ready to run to him if something happened.

"Yes, yes, nothing to worry about." Jack exhaled loudly. Breathing was beautiful actually. "It just took me aback… your question I mean…"

Chicha also sat down, humming loudly.

"Don't think that by choking you will escape answering it." She finally said, smirking at him.

"I wouldn't dream about it." Jack actually would. If there was one topic he was uncomfortable with, it was definitely about his love-emotional state. He knew his family was just interested in his life, but...

Yeah, but what?

"Oh, we know you would do that. And don't suddenly yell that something is burning in the kitchen. We know nothing is being currently cooked right now." Tiana lifted her eyebrow proudly, daring to almost say otherwise. "So now spill the beans! Judging by your reactions, you definitely have some sweet news for us~!"

"I, unfortunately, need to crush your hopes and dreams right now." Jack stated, analyzing every word in his brain before speaking, choosing the perfect ones to use. He put his hand on his neck, scratching the skin near his hair. "Because I don't have anyone."

"Really?" Chicha inquired, grabbing her fork and taking some small piece of cake onto it too.

"Yes, really." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"How about a crush?"

There was a small, tini-tiny hesitation in his mind. Or maybe a short circuit inside his brain, almost invisible to the outside world, but Jack knew he actually took a while to answer.

"Also no."

Both Chicha and Tiana eyed him curiously, before turning to each other and giggling like teenagers that just caught their parents smooching in the kitchen.

Jack didn't like it. Not even a bit.

"W-what?" He asked, laying his hands down on his trousers and brushing them. Was he sweating?

"Oh, noth-"

Then his phone rang, freeing him from the sudden uncomfortable situation. However, after a second, he wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing, but he was glad someone was rescuing him from this misery.

Jack jumped to his feet, startled by the sudden sound, but trying very fast to take out the phone. He glanced at the screen, but didn't register the caller ID before he was looking back at his family:

"Sorry, I need to pick it up!"

Everything definitely was better than listening to this… odd giggles, which were definitely related to him in some weird kind of way. He didn't know the source of it, but he wasn't keen on knowing it either.

Shuffling quickly to the hallway, far away from the curious eyes and ears, Jack finally was met with silence. Well, as much silence as he could get in the Overlands' house anyway. The voices were still audible, but shushed down due to the walls surrounding him.

Jack leaned on the wall near the stairs. He brushed his finger on the screen and put the device near his ear.

"Hello?" He gasped out. Wow, he didn't know he could get so tired just from running away from the living room.

"Uhm hey…"

And suddenly, seriously, he could swear that his heart skipped a beat just by hearing this voice. Jack's hand twitched and mouth opened, but only after a second or two (or maybe even three) he was able to say something:

"Oh, hey!" Jack responded, shuddering and standing straight. His hand maneuvered to his neck. "Hey!" He repeated one more time, for what he wanted to facepalm himself.

"Ooookaay…" Hiccup – because who else could that be – hummed unsurely into his phone on the other side. "Everything okay? You know I can just call later if you are busy-"

"No, no, no, I'm totally not busy. Actually you just rescued me from my family's interrogation." Jack huffed. His back hit the wall behind him once again. "So I should thank you."

"Oh." Hiccup mumbled. "Oh, okay. No problem then." There was a huff and soft rustling sound (maybe Hiccup was changing his position). "Was it so bad? The interrogation, I mean."

Jack chuckled, feeling his heart almost in his throat. Strange.

"Well, you know, it's getting quite boring and embarrassing after a while." Which was true. "And kind of… too much."

"Too much? For you? How could something be too much for always energetic Jackson Frost?" The boy on the other side mocked a disbelieve. Jack could almost see Hiccup touching his chest, bewildered by this information.

"Ha-ha, very funny, smartass." Jack grumbled half-hearted. The hand had left his neck and now was hanging limp near his body.

"You know you can't run away from the inevitable?"

"But I can hope that they will find some other victim till then."

There was a short pause before Hiccup's next reply.

"Okay, seems about right."

Victory was always good.

"I know I'm a genius, you don't need to flatter me." A groan made Jack smile. "Sooo, what's up?"

"Well, Christmas for starter." Hiccup huffed and it looked like he jumped onto something. Maybe some counter or table. "And a lot of broken glasses, if you are very curious."

Jack tilted his head up, looking at the dark ceiling above him. The loud shouts of his cousins and sister came through the wall, almost shaking the monuments in their wake.

"Very curious. So care to elaborate what really happened?" Jack moved his weight to his other leg, searching for more comfortable position. Nevertheless, the cold surface behind him was making his back ache.

But he would bear with it.

"Just it turned out we are spending Christmas with Thorstons, so…" Hiccup trailed just in time for terrible shatter to come from his side and definitely a curse following soon after together with a burst of laugher. Weird mix. "Yeah, this happens."

Jack chuckled. There was weird sensation resonating inside his chest, but he brushed this feeling away for now, enjoying the simple conversation and hearing the teen's voice.

"For me it sounds like fun." Then after a while he added. "Will they be okay without you there to look after everything?"

"No worries, Snotlout is surprisingly cleaning and helping a lot today." The auburn haired boy huffed and then it sounded like he moved his phone to his other ear. "Why do you ask? Want to get rid of me so soon?"

His throat tightened for a second. Or maybe it was because of the dry air around him…

"No…" He said hoarsely and then coughed to clear his throat a little bit. "It looks to me that you've been avoiding me all day long and not the other way around."

"Ah, yeah, sorry, this day was quite… hectic…" Hiccup mumbled, sounding sincerely guilty.

Jack didn't mean it honestly.

"No kidding? Twins and hectic? Pfff, it must be an easy job." He quickly started speaking, like he wanted to smear the last sentence he had said. Christmas wasn't the time to feel culpable.

"Oh, hardly har har. And I thought I was the sarcastic one in this relationship."

Jack's stomach suddenly clenched. This sudden pain appeared for a second and then it was gone, making Jack think he almost imagined it.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not planning to take your title away. Besides, I like my 'best-boyfriend-ever' title more, thank you very much." Jack chirped anyway, rising his head to the ceiling and closing his eyes.

"Of course, your self-proclaimed title..." Jack was almost one hundred percent sure Hiccup was rolling his eyes right now, while speaking. Maybe he was even wearing a smirk on his lips. Jack could only scoff at the boy's response, before Hiccup continued. "On the other side… did you already look out the window?"

That was… very off-topic.

"Erm, no…" He scratched his cheek. After his family came, he was on never ending trip between living room and kitchen, so he had no time to look out of the window properly.

What was there to pick Hiccup's interest so much that he had to call Jack to share this information?

"Then do it."

Well…

With a loud sigh, he moved from the wall. Jack directed his steps to the backdoor, allowing him to step into their backyard, now empty of all colorful flowers decorating it during spring and summer. His hand landed on the chilly door's handle, which he pushed down and then opened the door.

The cold wind toned down the heat from his face first thing after opening the door, however the sudden gust was so strong that he had to close his eyes. Just in time to feel something soft landing on his eyelids. Almost like a raindrop, but more delicate.

He quickly opened his eyes.

It was snowing. The giant, mushy, fluffy snowflakes were slowly dancing and swirling in the sky, step by step, inch by inch covering the frozen ground beneath his feet. There was even a thin coat of white quilt already thrown upon the grass in his backyard – untouched, just like freshly made bed.

He stepped outside. The sound of snow crunching beneath his slippers soothed his heart, which now pounded inside his chest from the sudden rush of excitement in his vines.

"So…" Hiccup's voice melted the air near Jack's ear.

"It's snowing…"

"I know. I though you may be happy to kno-"

But Jack didn't let the auburn haired boy finish his sentence as he shouted happily:

"It's snowing!" He was almost sure some of his neighbors heard him and rolled their eyes at the behavior. But come on! He was called Jack Frost! He adored snow!

Jack laughed as he made another step, already feeling his slippers getting wet. He tilted his head up, where tiny, white spots moved, swam on the dark sky, twinkling like tiny stars.

"I knew you would like it." Hiccup exhaled loudly.

Like it? Jack's heart soared at the idea of seeing snow for the first time this year. And he kind of couldn't believe he wasn't the first one to notice it. Not once or twice he suddenly had shouted in the middle of the class, pointing with excited smile at the window.

This was part of his inner child he never lost.

"Jack? You okay, or did you faint form all this excitement?"

He chuckled one more time, putting his hand on his forehead and brushing his fringe away.

"I'm okay! It's just… you know… snowing!"

Hiccup groaned.

"You repeated it like… three times already." He said, but the soft tingle of chuckle could be heard at the end.

It warmed Jack's insides.

"I know, but I get super excited about snow and winter in general, if you didn't notice it by now." Jack responded, letting go of his white locks. He glanced back at the bench standing near the backdoor. Half of it was covered in snow, but Jack brushed it away with his hand and sat down.

"You're not called Frost for nothing."

"Come on! How can you not be excited about snow?" Jack asked, leaning and putting his head on the wall behind him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the cold, but clear air around him.

"I don't know, maybe because I need to clean the driveway and not to mention I slip like… every five meters?" Hiccup actually sounded tired and not too overjoyed about the idea of very close future.

"You really have bad luck, don't you?"

"Thank you for reminding me about it." Oh, the sarcastic butt was back. Jack almost missed him.

"No problemo! Always at your service."

Hiccup snorted and then shuffled one more time. Jack had no problem imagining him pushing his legs closer to his chest and throwing his oversized sweater over them.

Jack in the meantime enjoyed the soft touch of fresh snow on his skin. The snowflakes lasted there for few second to turn into tiny droplets, running down and disappearing in his clothes or falling to the ground.

The silence that embraced them was comforting. Spending full evening with his family was a bless, but it was draining his energy quite quickly. Especially as he had to race his cousins and sister to the kitchen, so there would be some cookies left for him too.

He didn't know how he missed those simple conversations. Talking with Hiccup was different than talking with his other friends. The small silent pauses were normal and not uncomfortable. Jack didn't actually have to speak to feel like he was participating – that he was a part of something.

"Soo…" Hiccup whispered, starting with very low hum, like he wasn't sure if he was able to speak or not. "How is your Christmas Eve going?"

"Between kitchen and living room." Jack answered. He opened his eyes and looked at the dark sky above his head, illuminated by the yellow light coming from the street's lamps. "This year it was my time to be a waiter." He put his one leg on the bench and put his chin on it. "And let me tell you that my family definitely like to eat, so I already made like a hundred of trips. Add to this looking out for my cousins and sister and you have to watch out for everything. Literally."

"Seems like a harsh job." Hiccup commented.

"Not as harsh as taking care of Ruff and Tuff I assume."

"Oh no, they are pretty decent. They sit in one place and drink, so almost no harm done. Not counting the huge amount of cutlery and glasses already broken of course." He sighed for what felt like already twentieth time this evening.

"Somehow I am not surprised by that." Jack mumbled, pushing his face into the material of his jeans.

It was a miracle Hiccup was still able to understand him.

"Me neither. I got used to it… however horrific that sounds." There was an audible shudder on the other side.

"Very horrific." Jack nodded. Then something flickered inside his head – a tiny shimmer somewhere in the back of his mind. "Do you have any plans for the holidays?"

"Besides Fishlegs coming over for few days then no… I don't think so. Well I kind of have to finish my gravimetric analysis* at our school lab, but it shouldn't take too long. I think…"

Jack rolled his eyes, lifting his head a little. Seriously? School? During Christmas' break?! Come on! When will Hiccup have time for real fun?

He had to fix it quickly.

"Nerd." Jack whispered with every intention of being heard.

And Hiccup of course did. The sound of him scoffing and groaning would made almost everyone laugh. Jack maybe got addicted to make him act like that. Who could judge him? It was ado…funny! Very funny! Totally funny!

"Someone also need to be smarter in this relationship."

"Oh, classic burn, my dear." Jack grinned. Yep, never going to get bored with replies like that. "You wounded me deeply…"

"I know you're smiling, so don't lie to me." Hiccup quickly retorted. "When you're happy your voice sound different, so you won't get away with this."

What?

His mind short-circuited for a tic*. Did he hear right? He had too. Jack's hearing abilities were top notch, so there was no way he heard it wrong.

But how can Hiccup knew when he was smiling just by analyzing his tone of voice…

"Am I wrong?" The boy asked unsurely.

Jack cleared his throat, feeling the cold air sneaking into his lungs.

"Nope, you hit right on spot. But I will act like I heard nothing and interpret your answer that you're not doing anything then…" Here comes the fun part. "And you know… you promised me you will play some games with me~."

Hiccup grunted. An even bigger smile bloomed on Jack's face and he bit into his knuckles to not start laughing there, feeling his heart shuddering inside his ribcage with joy.

Of course, he knew Hiccup was afraid of horror games. Even though the boy never had said it straight, it was pretty visible from his reactions. The way he bit his bottom lip with his hand reaching to massage his arm, the way he avoided looking at Jack and oh, don't let him remind the pained look in his eyes.

Totally afraid of horror games.

Was it bad that he wanted to see Hiccup getting scared? Maybe a little. But seeing people yelping and shouting when jumpscare appeared was very funny.

"I remember…" He groused. "Unfortunately…"

"Sweet, how Monday sounds to you?"

Okay, the sudden feeling of anticipation which spread over him was maybe… no, was definitely odd. Jack knew he was excited about the idea of playing games with Hiccup (and spend time together), but to this extent?

Jack stared intently into the horizon, or to be more precise at the blue fence standing proudly several meters away. His teeth nibbled onto his bottom lip.

"Unfortunately, I'm free…" It seems like it pained Hiccup to say this three words.

"So it is a date." The words automatically slipped from his lips. A small tease, a joke, something to lift up the mood.

So why now something moved inside of him?

Date – he had said this word already few times in Hiccup's presence. And every time earlier he just brushed it off. One word, one sentence and it was gone, a blink of a memory inside his brain and poof. No second thoughts.

But now…

"Yeah, of course…" The sarcasm was basically dripping from the phone. Definitely accompanied by an eyes' roll. "Just for the records, I will blame you, if I am not able to sleep at nights after that afternoon."

"I will take the risk." The answer that Hiccup could always call him then died on his lips, as Jack bit his tongue in time. Better not to say that.

"Oh, how considerate of you." Hiccup snorted and then sighed, shuffling a little, searching for more comfortable position. He probably was also sitting next to a window.

Jack rested his cheek on his knee, hugging his leg closer to himself.

Silences were something no one could avoid. He often had spent time with Aster not even uttering a single word to each other and it was perfectly fine. Jack was known for being a chattering mess, but he also enjoyed those times.

Conversations with Hiccup often had those holes – small spares of time allowing you to breath and relax, not particular even thinking of what to say next. Leisurely pace. Jack never thought he could enjoy it so much.

Then surprisingly it was Hiccup who popped the bubble around them once again.

"Uhm… maybe it's not the best time to say it… because you know I should say it at the very beginning… but you know…" There was a small inhale and rustling of the clothes. "Better late than never so… Merry Christmas."

Jack had to process this words for few second before the meaning really got to him. Then he simply had to chuckle at that. Yeah, there were things important and some a little bit more. Apparently showing Jack snow was more important than wishing him a good holidays.

And Jack… kind of liked and appreciated it.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, you dork. I wanted to say it earlier, but you didn't pick up." Jack said, smiling to himself. His eyes followed random snowflake swirling in the air. He reached with his hand, hoping it would land on it, but the independent snowflake dodged his palm gracefully.

"Uhm, yeah, sorry about that. You know…"

"I understand, you don't have to apologize."

"I know, but…" Hiccup started, but stopped midsentence. Jack could almost hear his breath hitching inside his throat, followed by a sudden inhale. Almost like he wasn't sure whether to say the next words or not.

"But?" Jack nudged, putting his chin on his knee.

Small exhale, followed by a huff. Then something moved, but it didn't sound like Hiccup changed his position. More like he fiddled with the hem of his sweater or sleeve.

Why was he nervous?

"Bu-"

"I just didn't want for you to think you're less important to me than them, okay?"

A sudden bullet shot right through his chest and heart, paralyzing it for a brief second and stopping his breath. Or maybe it was a light bolt hitting right in the center, making him shiver with electricity running down his spine and limbs.

"I'm sorry! That must have sounded weird! It wasn't supposed to sound like that! I mean, of course I know you have tons of friends, so a call from me doesn't mean much, but I think you're this type of person who care for each person individually. And you tried to call me at least two times, but I couldn't pick up! Seriously, Tuffnut just broke the salad-bowl on the second try and I couldn't allow people to walk on shattered glass mixed with vinaigrette, so you know…"

Oh no, Hiccup was babbling one more time. His sentences were barely glued to each other, and there was a sudden rush to his way of speaking, but the honesty was literally emanating from him.

And Jack couldn't control the sudden thunderstorm inside his ribcage and mind. So with hot face, he pressed his mouth to his bended leg and mumbled:

"Hiccup?"

And the long, incoherent waterfall of sentences stopped abruptly with one breathless word following after.

"Yes?"

Jack couldn't understand himself now much – the feelings, the thoughts, the reactions. It all was a mess inside his brain and he needed some time to properly think about what was happening to and with him.

But he was sure something definitely changed.

"Thank you."

---

Author's note:

I'm super sorry for the delay, but seriously Uni held me captive. Like seriously I had no time for myself and when I did, I was too tired to do anything. But now finals are coming, so I hope I maybe will find some time (probably not) xDDD. And a little bit late Happy New Year. Let's hope 2017 will be better than 2016!

Okay, so there is not much science and nerds fact, because most of this chapter was written from Jack's point of view:

* Soxhlet extractor – it is typically used when the desired compound has a limited solubility in a solvent, and the impurity is insoluble in that solvent. It allows for unmonitored and unmanaged operation while efficiently recycling a small amount of solvent to dissolve a larger amount of material.

* Gravimetric analysis – a set of methods in analytical chemistry for the quantitative determination of an analyte based on the mass of a solid.

And other facts:

* Jungle Speed – best game ever, but very… very brutal. Seriously, if you have chance, play it xD!

* Marina – character from Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.

* Climbing ladder near the highway – okay, so I wonder if someone got it. It is a reference to 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, where the main character went down the ladder near a highway and by doing it the character stepped into alternative reality.

* Tic – a time slice in Voltron: Legendary Defender.

* Tiana and Naveen are from The Princess and the Frog, Chicha, Pacha, Chaca and Tipo are from The Emperor's New Groove

And answers:

Scarpool – If only he knew how close to truth he was xD. And thank you, this really means a lot (still working on correcting my grammar and I hope that there will be less mistakes in the future).

vampireharry the 2 – I will try xDDDD. Thank you =D!

AnhiVann – Of course you didn't! I'm grateful when people point me where I made mistakes, because I can watch out in the future =D! whispers Check theeeeem, they are good (especially 1984 – yeah, I know propaganda never ends xD). Thank you :3!

Guest – Oh, thanks, I'm sometimes terrified people will be scared of how long this fic is starting to get D: I will try to finish this one (it will definitely take some time!) and I hope you will enjoy it and it will make you smile! =D Spoilers, spoilers – yeah, this is Frostcup/Hijack, but there is still long way before them to fall in love (or maybe not hohoho!). Stay tuned for upcoming updates! Thank you =D!

AtTheEndOfInfinity – The first sentence and you caught my heart already! High five, nerds! And space is so cool too. I don't know much about it, because I don't know why I never read too many things about it, but whenever I see some nice fact I'm all over it! And characters warming up to each other gives me life =D! I think Jack is the kindest character in this fic xD. He is pure cinnamon roll, too pure for this world! I'm sorry D:! B-but I had to write it D:! I wanted to write the part with reading 1984 so much, seriously xD. Maybe I put too much of this book here, but… naaah! xDDD and I totally believe you! picks up your soul Noooo, there is still many good things in the world for you to see! And thank you for amazing comments!

Guest – Yass, yass, yass! More hugs! Thank you :3!

And thank you very much for reading! See ya soon!