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…

9. Chapter 9 - Avogadro's law

Pairing: Jack x Hiccup

Genre: Romance, Drama + Angst

Warning: NC-17/T

Warning: not beta-read

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

---

Avogadro's law – equal volumes of gases under identical temperature and pressure conditions will contain equal numbers of particles (atoms, ion, molecules, electrons, etc.).

Hiccup slowly walked down the stairs, holding tightly onto the handrail. He knew well how unlucky his steps were while he was still dizzy and drowsy. Few bruises (quite painful) were a good reminder of this fact.

His hand groggily massaged his eyelids, trying to force nerves to work more energetically and stay open for at least few minutes. Until he got his coffee, of course. Which was his goal now.

He shuffled into the kitchen, yawning along the way. Fishlegs was still asleep in his room. They both had escorted Astrid to her home around 2 a.m. Actually both Hiccup's and Astrid's parents were okay with her staying over, but she had said that in the morning she had some errands to do. So in the middle of the night they had to put on warm clothes and go out into the cold and unforgiving outside world.

"Good morning Hiccup."

Hiccup gladly was too tired to be surprised or scared, so he only turned around to stare at his father sitting near the table and munching slowly on a toast while reading a newspaper.

"Oh, hey Dad. I didn't know you would be up." Hiccup answered, moving to the electric kettle and checking if there was enough water for two cups. "I thought you have a free day."

"Indeed I have." Stoick answered, lifting his head up at him.

"Then why did you wake up so early?" Hiccup asked and turned around to rummage through shelves in mighty search for some cups. This could be quite a tough task as most of the dishes were currently in the sink. Ugh, he has to wash it as some point, preferably before going to twins. "You could sleep in."

To be honest, he didn't expect an answer. They both were morning birds, Stoick because of the work and Hiccup simply, because he preferred not to waste whole day by sleeping.

Jack probably had totally different opinion on this matter.

"I couldn't sleep. Besides, it isn't exactly that early."

Hiccup glanced back in the middle of climbing the counter and reaching for a higher shelf to grab two clean cups. Or at least he hoped they were clean.

"Oh…" He mumbled in reply. Very smart. Somehow when he was speaking with his own family there were some kind of noises inside his brain, which didn't allow him to speak properly. Maybe the gears in his head needed few tweaks here and there.

Hiccup jumped off the counter with two cups, which he put down and then poured inside some instant coffee. The water was starting to boil softly in the kettle and they still didn't really moved forward with the topic.

Hiccup simply didn't know what to say. Or more like he knew what he wanted to say. If he could be even more precise, he even knew what he wanted to ask about, but he simply didn't know… how to start.

Wasn't there any compendium about how to talk with your parents? Because Hiccup would gladly buy every volume and read them all in one sitting if this could help him.

"Soo…" Hiccup cleared his throat and poured the boiling and steaming water inside two cups. "Did you meet with your friend? You know… the one you were telling me about earlier?"

Hiccup had a feeling he didn't have to add the last part, but somehow asking so bluntly about it just didn't seem right. Or maybe it was his lack of conversing abilities that he needed to blame.

For few seconds there was only silence behind him. He searched for a milk and sugar, waiting patiently for the reply he hoped would come soon. Did Stoick not hear him? Maybe he was just avoiding the answer. Maybe Hiccup really should keep his mouth shut…

Thousands of thoughts were running through his head and every new one was worse than the previous one. His heart beated loudly in his chest, working on the highest speed, pumping blood like crazy into his veins.

Could he get a heart attack from it? Because he had a feeling he was very close to it.

"Yeah, I did…" Stoick finally replied, unnaturally quiet like he wasn't sure whether he wanted to prolong this topic or not.

Hiccup gulped, pouring himself and Fishlegs milk and his friend also two teaspoons of sugar. His hand trembled and few cubes of sugar fell onto the counter, which he brushed with his sleeve quickly.

"And…" He cleared his throat. "And how did it go?"

Hiccup wasn't sure if he could turn around and look at his father. Stoick would probably immediately notice how nervous Hiccup was. He knew he shouldn't feel nervous around his father, but this stress had its roots somewhere else. He feared he would say something he shouldn't have and feel guilty later on.

But he really, really wanted to help somehow.

He heard as his father shuffled with the newspaper, then lifted the cup with morning, strong and black coffee to his lips to put it down without even taking a sip. A soft taps of fingers accompanied the thick and silent bubble around them.

Hiccup waited, occupying himself with moving to the sink and starting to clean the dishes. Just the perfect amount of dish soap, a warm water to soak everything in and he began to brush bowls first.

"It was…" Stoick started, only to stop in the middle, like he searched for correct words. Maybe he did, maybe he just wasn't sure what to actually say. "It was… okay, but weird. Kind of uncomfortable."

"How so?" Hiccup nudged softly, hoping he wouldn't sound too disturbing or noisy.

"Well, it's just… we sat there, not knowing what to say at first." Okay this was a good start. Hiccup hummed in response to show that he was listening. "Then he started to ask me about my life, how I was doing nowadays. Then I asked him about his life. And well… nothing really happened, but…"

"It was simply off?" Hiccup suggested, glancing above his arm at his dad.

Stoick wasn't looking at Hiccup, but at his own intertwined palms resting on the counter.

"Uhm yeah. It's just… it was uncomfortable how we tried to act like nothing had happened and…" Stoick massaged his forehead. "He really looked happy to see me, but I just was feeling out of this place and situation."

"But you'll probably never see him again." Hiccup nudged, cleaning two plates under the water.

And there was one more time thick silence behind him. This crunchy, dry and heavy stillness, which was making the hair on his arms stand up.

Hiccup turned off the water and turned around.

"Dad?" He asked unsurely.

"It's just… he seemed so happy to see me that I had to agree on another meeting."

"Dad!" Hiccup shouted, quickly covering his mouth afterwards and glancing at the stairs, like Fishlegs could come running down just because he rose his voice.

"I know, I know." Stoick continued. "But he was my close friend when we were young and I can't turn my back on him now."

This shut Hiccup up. He stared at his father for few more seconds, thinking whether he should add something or not.

He tried imagining himself in Stoick's shoes. What if Astrid did something terrible? What if she could change so much that there would be almost no trace of the same joyful, but strong independent woman she is now? What if their future roads would be totally different and not intertwined with each other?

Would Hiccup turn his back on her? No matter how uncomfortable would she make him? No matter what bad things she would have done?

Hiccup wasn't sure what he would do.

He definitely would want to still meet with her, try to help, maybe even convince her to change her ways of behaving.

He couldn't really imagine living without Astrid. Without her constant messages about nothing in particular, without her lame jokes, without her worrying over him, even when he was telling her that he was okay and without her presence near him. The simple idea that Hiccup could lose her was making breathing difficult.

"Yeah…" Hiccup finally said, feeling his throat closing, like it wanted to prevent him from speaking more. "I understand."

He really did. But right now he cared more about his father's well-being, than his friendship with some kind of man Hiccup never even had met!

"Thank you." Stoick said and smoothened the newspaper.

For what his father was thanking him, Hiccup wasn't sure, but he didn't want to know in the end. He took both cups and walked slowly upstairs to his room, where Fishlegs was still sleeping soundly. So Hiccup's yell didn't wake him up. Somehow he wasn't that surprised.

He looked around. The empty chips' packets and plastic foils with cookies still inside caught his attention. In the middle of the night he was too tired to take care of them. From under the wooden desk he took out a trash bin and slowly started to push everything inside, together with crumbs of food scattered everywhere. He had to clean the room a little before going to Ruff and Tuff.

Yesterday he had been still pretty excited about going. The nerdy game night didn't happen often, plus Astrid calmed down a lot. However now there was an empty bubble growing inside his stomach. It was doing nothing, but making him feel uncomfortable.

He hoped that spending time with his friends could subside it.

---

"Aww Aster, you look so nice."

"You're telling me that only because you bought me this shirt."

"Maybe, but it's good. I knew you would look good in it when I was in the shop."

Jack rolled his eyes from his place near the front door, where he was leaning on the wall and observing his two best-friends. He preferred not to say out loud what he was really thinking about the t-shirt Tooth gave Aster. He wasn't sure which side actually to pick – flatter Tooth and make fun of Aster, or be on Bunny's side and tell the truth.

Besides, Jack was sure Aster only wore it to make the girl happy.

"Are you ready guys?" He finally asked, checking the time on his phone. They were late, but well every celebrity had to be always late.

"Almost." Tooth murmured and turned Aster around to correct his hair.

"Tooth, stop it!" Bunny groaned, trying to grasp his friend's hands and push them away. However Tooth wasn't stopping in her fight of pushing some locks up and other patting down.

"You both must look good." She shushed him down, smacking his palms away with a glare. 'Well Jack not so much as he already has a boyfriend."

Jack coughed.

"Fake boyfriend." He said between clearly fake coughs. The everlasting smirk was present on his lips though.

"Boyfriend nevertheless for everyone else." Tooth answered, glancing back at him for a second, but quickly returning to correcting Aster's gray hair.

After few minutes and a check in the mirror they were all ready to go. This time they didn't take Aster's car, simple because they all wanted to enjoy the party and drink something. Besides, Jack was sure it would be fun to return home in the middle of the night by foot.

They had done it a year ago and two years ago. Jack liked to call it a tradition in his head and enjoyed every moment of it – no matter how many times Aster had told him that he was cold or Tooth had fell into a snowdrift. It all was a charm of the night and the very first day of the New Year. And what could be better than spending it with his two best-friends?

And this year… this year maybe he would also spend the first few minutes with Hiccup and his group. Tooth was right. They were dating in everyone else's eyes, so they should show up together on that kind of events. And Jack maybe wanted to see him. Just a little bit.

They all said goodbyes to Aster's father who had to stay in the clinic for the night. He always had two or three patients during New Year's Eve which had to be taken care of immediately, so he couldn't help but be at work. Not that he really minded.

They shuffled slowly in the direction of the party's house, Jack at the front and Tooth and Aster a little bit behind him, because the pavement didn't allow them to walk in one line. Jack didn't mind, as he still clearly could talk with his friends, few times simply walking back to converse with them.

They passed few people walking in different directions. Some of them were from their school and some were students from the near community college. Jack welcomed every known face with a happy yell and a wish for a Happy New Year. Some of the people were already a little bit drunk. Aster grumbled something under his nose when they passed two girls who were singing happily and leaning on each other with a bottle of champagne in one girl's hand.

"Come on, Bunny, loosen up and try to have fun." Jack said, waving at the girls. The teens grinned wildly at him and waved back. Yup, clearly intoxicated with alcohol, but at least they looked like they were having fun.

"I will be having more fun when we will finally be inside the building." Aster responded. "Where will be warm. Or at least hope it will be…" He added after a second thought. "We could simply have taken my car and be there in few minutes, but no!"

"Hey, you didn't drink on the last party, so nu-huh!"

"Technically we're not adults yet, so like… we shouldn't really drink at all, but I think no one listens to me anyway…" Aster mumbled into his scarf.

"Well these two girls definitely didn't listen to you." Tooth said, pointing in the direction where drunk, but very happy girls disappeared. "And also no one tells you to get drunk."

"I will not get drunk."

"Great, because I don't want to spend another night in the bathroom." Jack said, winking at Tooth.

She blushed deeply, but snickered back.

"Aww why? You looked quite comfy there." Aster remarked, smirking and looking back at Jack.

"Hey, you saw us?" Jack tilted his head. He wasn't informed about this. Now that he started to think about it, it was totally possible. Aster had to look for them at some point during the night.

"Yeah, I did. A big pile of people leaning on the bathtub. Adorable"

"At least we were warm." Tooth pointed, but then put a hand to her back. "However I had cramps in my muscles for few days after it."

"Yeah, me too." Jack added and turned around to direct his friends to Marina's house.

Even from a street away they already heard people and music coming from their destination. And when they turned around the corner, they saw few people standing outside, smoking and talking with each other.

When they walked there, everyone welcomed them warmly, a little bit drunk, but with smiling faces. Jack knew most of the guests as they were their old teammates from the football team, who already had finished high-school. Sinbad – Marina's boyfriend – had been a Captain of their team when Jack was still a freshman, but both boys quickly had found a common language.

To this point that now, two years later, Jack and Sinbad were still good friends.

Besides, Marina and Tooth also knew each other and were often meeting outside the school grounds actually. They once had been neighbors when they had been kids and the friendship was still going strong after so many years.

Leaving the smoking group outside, Jack, Aster and Tooth rang a doorbell. They could simply step inside as the door definitely wasn't closed, but Aster insisted on them being gentlemen (and a gentlelady in case of Tooth).

Quickly after, they heard footsteps coming from inside and the door swung open.

A tall girl with short, dark brown hair (that almost looked black under different angles) smiled broadly as she spread her arms in joy.

"Hey Tooth!" She squealed, almost jumping at Tooth and hugging her strongly. "It's good to see you."

Jack kind of suspected that Marina had a big sister's syndrome. She was two years older than the rainbow haired girl and had no siblings, but from what Jack knew, when they both had been kids they had spent every minute together.

"It's good to see you too." Tooth responded as joyfully as Marina did, hugging her tightly, but then quickly letting go.

Marina nodded and then turned to the boys. They weren't welcomed with a hug, but she also grinned at them.

"Hey Jack! Hey Aster!" She waved her hand. There was a soft glint – a reflection of the light on one finger, but it was gone as quickly as the female stopped waving. "It's good to see you too."

"Wait, no hug for us?" Jack asked, trying to sound really disappointed. "You wound me."

Marina rolled her eyes and the golden earrings moved like boats on the ocean.

"Of course, because it would be dreams coming true for you." She sighed, but moved from the doorway to let them in. "Besides, I heard you have a boyfriend. By the way, congratulations."

Oh uh, wow, the rumors were spreading far and wide. Because Jack wasn't pestered about it for such long time, he was out of practice with responding now.

"Oh, thanks." He said, second or two later than normal. Maybe no one would notice.

"You have to introduce him to us one day." Marine said, then shushed them farther inside when they all get rid of their coats and hung them somewhere on hooks. It was hard task as almost all of them were taken already.

"Sure." Jack said, sighing internally.

Yet another person who wanted to dive into this sea of mess. He knew they had no bad intentions, but…

No, maybe they will never meet in the end and everyone will forget about it? It was a possibility, of course. However Jack really, really wanted for this to happen. The guilty munching on his consciousness was leaving a hole in his behavior and soul.

They stepped into the living room.

Twins' parties were known for being one of the loudest parties in Burgess with tons of people going in and out. Even Jack wasn't sure whether Ruffnut or Tuffnut did know who was invited or not. In the end it didn't really matter unless someone made a ruckus or destroyed something. Then it was literally hell for the poor person.

Sinbad was known for partying hard. Come on, after twins he was the second in line in throwing the biggest and craziest parties. But well, that was before he really had started to date Marina – who was a chain on his weird impulses. But well, everyone agreed that it was a relationship with good vibrations. Sinbad loosened up with the parties and Marina started to open up a little bit.

And it was pretty visible.

The living room was decorated with colorful reflectors somebody had brought, but there was no DJ standing in the corner, smashing buttons and playing loud music. The sound was coming from giant speakers standing in different places. If someone wanted to dance there was some free space in the middle of the living room where already few pairs were moving their hips to the beat. Most people were sitting on the colorful pillows laying everywhere on the floor. It was an easy way for everyone to have their seat and you could arrange them however you wanted.

They saw Sinbad – a tall, broad man with stumble on his chin, sitting in the corner and chatting wildly with their old teammates. The bottle of beer was in his hand, but he was moving them so fast, some people had to move away to not be hit by it.

"Sinbad!" Marina shouted, glaring at him or to be more precise at his hands. "Please don't spill it on the wall."

"Won't do hon-!" The male started, but then jumped to his feet with a lout whooping sound leaving his mouth. "My stars! I thought you would never get here!" He excused himself from the circle to run to them, smiling from ear to ear.

With his free hand he ruffled Jack's hair very, very painfully. Why he wasn't in a rugby team with such strength was a mystery to everyone.

"My little Jackie!" He shouted. "Didn't see you in ages!"

"We saw each other almost a month ago." Jack said, trying to break free from the mighty arms of the legendary Captain of their team. "And you didn't see Bunny in a long time too!"

This words got Jack what he wanted. Sinbad stopped ruffling his hair and jumped to Aster. Jack stared with satisfaction as yet his another friend was taken in captivity by Sinbad. It kind of looked ridiculous to see Aster (of all people!) getting a noogie from someone.

Maybe he should take few photos? Nah, he wasn't that kind of person. However…

"Bunny! Quiet as always." Sinbad finally freed Aster from the pain.

They all knew he was doing it, because he liked them, but man, it did hurt.

"Yeah…" The gray haired teen said and then straightened his body. Jack could swear he heard Aster's neck bones cracking when he looked up. Ouch. "Good to see you in… good shape." Aster massaged the aching place.

"Nobody is gonna take care of those guns, beside me, so I have to do everything to keep them safe." Sinbad shouted, flexing his biceps and triceps and posing for everyone to see.

Jack saw Marina rolling her eyes, but then she disappeared in the hallway. Some male behind Sinbad whistled at him and started to clap, which the brown haired man commented with a bow. Yeah, he did love to show off.

"Bring your guns here and help me!" Marina shouted from the hall or maybe from a kitchen now.

Sinbad pouted at the not so kind yell, but turned to them and pointed with his head in the direction of the voice.

"Come with me, you can grab something to drink for yourselves." He said, pushing past Jack, but glancing back to check if they were going.

Having Sinbad for yourself was almost impossible during parties, because it looked like someone always wanted to steal him for the rest of the night, so Jack took the offer with a grin forming on his mouth.

"So how are your lives? Something interesting happened in this sad school of ours I gladly left behind me?" Sinbad asked, stealing a can of beer from a table, next to some boy who definitely was drinking it. But well, he was the host of the party, so who could blame him for that.

"Nothing really." Jack shrugged, stepping closer on one side. "Pitch is always moody, the food is still inedible, the toilet at second floor still plugged. Same old stuff."

"Ugh, this school is more boring now without me. Not that I really want to come back there." Sinbad took a sip.

"And how are you doing?" Aster asked from the other side.

"Good. Very good actually. We're living fine with Mari and I think her parents really start to like me. You know… after what happened…"

Oh, fun fact for Jack – Sinbad had drove into Marina's father's car one day in the parking lot. It wasn't really Sinbad's fault. Just some drunk dude had been half a meter away from driving right into Sinbad's own car, so he had to make a turn with less fatalities and boom! Weird way to properly meet with your future girlfriend, but some girls could even say it was romantic.

But the car had needed repairs, so that wasn't that nice.

"That's good then." Aster murmured, not really knowing probably what else to say.

"They let you do a party in her house, so that's something." Jack pipped from the other side as the three of them walked into the kitchen.

Marina and Tooth plus three more girls were chatting happily there with glasses of wine in their hands.

Sinbad moved to his girlfriend and smooched her cheek quickly.

"For what did you want my guns?"

Marina tried to have a calm and emotionless façade, but the happy dimples beneath her eyes were telling everyone that she was happy.

"Take those crates into the living room. I don't want everyone to walk between kitchen and living room when they want something to drink." She said, pointing at the four crates standing near the sink.

"Yes, ma'am." Sinbad said, saluting to her and turning around to grab the first crate.

Jack and Aster stepped to him and took the next two ones.

They moved in the hazardous journey back to the living room, but now their pace was much slower. Twenty beers definitely weighted some.

"You look happy together." Aster said, stopping for a second to lift the crate and correct his hold on it.

"We are happy together." Sinbad confirmed after a small pause. There was a ghost of a sad smile on his lips, but it quickly disappeared under the usual smirk. "At first it wasn't all hearts and butterflies. Well maybe first few months were." Sinbad looked up at the ceiling, like it held all answers to unspoken questions. "But you know, after some time the curtain of first impression and puppy love fell down and you are met with the reality. Then it is a real test of feelings. And let me tell you that keeping up and pleasing this woman is the hardest job on Earth."

"Aww, but she is so nice to us." Jack said.

"Don't let the outside image fool you. When we are alone she can turn into venomous snake, ready to bite me when I make one wrong step." Sinbad leaned to him, almost whispering conspiratorially into Jack's ear.

Aster lifted his eyebrow, hearing everything the man had said.

Sinbad just loved to be a little bit melodramatic.

"Maybe she has her reasons." Jack proposed, moving back and trying hard not to snort right into his friend's face.

"Not every reason is a good reason." Sinbad sighed, straightening his back. "But I love her even when she is mad at me for something I did, even when I have no idea what I did wrong."

Jack glanced at Aster, but the teen wasn't looking back at him. His eyes were directed somewhere at the floor, with eyebrows furrowed in thoughtful manner.

"Maybe with Hiccup you won't have similar problems."

Jack almost crashed into a group of three people chattering in the entrance to the living room. He could almost blame the carpet, because well, it was very easy to slip on it.

But gladly no one got hurt and no bottle was shattered.

"You okay, Jack?" Sinbad asked, stopping for a second.

"Uhm yeah." He swallowed hard, feeling the sudden loud beats of his heart, drumming inside his chest and ears. "I just got lost in thoughts. That's all…" It was better than lying about the carpet. "And I guess we'll see. We still on the puppy love level."

Or maybe it was only starting.

"Oh, you still blush while thinking about him. That's so cute." Sinbad cooed next to him, and even though it was supposed to sound sweet, it was kind of terrifying. "I'm sure Marina only growl while thinking about me." He shook his head, shivering, like he remembered something terrible. "By the way, congratulations. Little Jackie is slowly growing up to evolve into a man some day!"

"You know I dated other people before Hiccup, right?" Jack wasn't even dating Hiccup, but he bit his tongue.

"I know. But the fact that you wanted to keep it a secret for him means that you're starting to think like an adult." Sinbad passed few people and put the crate near one speaker. He brushed the sweat from his forehead and made place for Jack and Aster to put their boxes down too.

"Uhm, right." Jack murmured, feeling his stomach dropping and maybe even crashing, shattering into dozen pieces. "It didn't go too well as you can see."

"Ah past is in the past. A simple mistake." The taller male waved his hand. "Happens to everyone."

"So how do you know about us?" Jack asked instead, when he had nothing in his arsenal.

"Twins." Was the simple reply that could really answer a lot of questions.

Jack wasn't even surprised. He totally understood why Hiccup didn't want to tell them the truth.

They were like a newspaper, spreading information everywhere, yelling and shouting whenever something interesting happened. Jack knew that it wasn't in bad faith, they were doing what friends did best – share the happiness with the others. Only… they didn't know where to stop.

"Classic answer." Jack said, trying to sound cheerful and happy.

"You know them." Sinbad shrugged. "By the way, your boyfriend hogged them for this evening. Do you know how cool this party could be with them?"

"You mean how disastrous it could be? I think it's a good thing they aren't here. At least your house will still be here tomorrow." Jack bent and took one beer.

He glanced around, searching for some bottle opener. Sinbad took the beer from his hand and opened it, first fishing out the keys from his pocket which he used to open it. The cap jumped into the air with a happy pop.

"Yeah, at least Marina won't kill me tomorrow." Sinbad said, giving the beer back.

"See, you've to look at the bright side." Jack said, nudging Sinbad with his elbow and glancing at Aster to ask if he wanted beer.

Only to find that Bunny wasn't standing next to him. Jack quickly looked around, trying to notice the gray mop of his tall friend's hair only to see him disappear into the corridor. Jack lifted his hand in vain to maybe call him and ask where he was going, but Aster was too far away now.

"Wow, what happened with him?" Sinbad asked, taking one bottle and opening it in the same way as Jack's one. "He acts grumpy. I mean grumpier than usual."

"Bites me…" Jack murmured, furrowing his eyebrows.

If Sinbad also noticed it, then definitely it wasn't his imagination now. And the problem reached dangerous level.

When it all started, why it all started, what was the first spark? Why and when did Jack miss so many important things? It couldn't just happen overnight. This probably sprouted and grew inside Aster's mind till it reached its peak. And now it started to be visible to everyone.

Jack felt like he failed his best-friend.

---

"Are you done?"

"No, of course not. Here you have another +5 to the monster. Just in case you were about to defeat it." Astrid sang, happily putting the card down on the piles of cards already spread in front of Tuffnut.

The blond haired boy stared at the card, then looked at the ones he had in his palm and cursed.

"Someone else?" He glanced at the rest of the people in the circle.

Hiccup was out of options which could drown Tuffnut's chances of winning in this round. But judging by the look on his face, what was put in front of him wasn't really appealing. Maybe he would lose now and then Hiccup could still win in the next round.

Everyone shook their heads, staring intently at the results of the fight.

Tuffnut looked at everyone, judging and waiting for someone to put another thing in front of him.

Uh huh, this didn't look good for everyone else.

"So, if no one is putting anything…" He murmured, touching the cards in his hand. "Then I'm making my doppelganger, which doubles all my points. Boom, I'm a winner!" Tuffnut shouted, literally throwing his ace card on the pile.

Damn him, Hiccup wanted to have it.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Snotlout shouted, putting his hand in front of himself while looking curiously through his cards. "This is not over!"

"Step down from your pedestal, Snot, because now I'm the king, baby!" Tuffnut yipped, jumping to his feet and throwing cards in the air.

Hiccup looked desperately at the set in his hands. Unfortunately, he got nothing. A glance to his side told him that Fishlegs was out of the moves too. Damn it, they shouldn't waste their alliance on beating Astrid. But well, it was kind of worth it after seeing her face when she had fallen to first level.

Tuffnut started to dance, when everyone put their cards down with a groan.

"One of us would win in the next round." Fishlegs scooted closer to Hiccup and glanced at his cards.

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded, looking up at the blonde haired teen who was shaking his hips now way too close to Snotlout's face.

Which resulted in a kick to the shin from the said boy and a loud yelp of pain after that.

"Sore loser!" Tuffnut murmured, but sat back down, massaging his leg.

"I just don't like your butt anywhere near my face." Snotlout grumbled.

"At least you will be getting something nice near your face!"

"What did you say!?"

And they were at this again, pushing and punching each other in a tangled mess on the floor.

Hiccup stole a glance at Astrid, but she only rolled her eyes at their behavior and turned to Ruffnut who surprisingly had her nose in her phone. Astrid moved to her and glanced above her arm, murmuring something into her ear. Ruffnut only shrugged in response.

Okay, what was happening there? The twins weren't really into this glancing-at-your phone-every-five-seconds-in-hopes-for-a-new-message thing. On the contrary (what really had surprised Hiccup when he had started to hang out with them much more) they were usually the type of people who didn't glance at their phones… at all. But now, seriously, it looked like her hand and eyes were glued to it.

It only had happened in the past when there had been some drama on the internet and Ruffnut had wanted to stay updated in it. Kind of brutal, if you ask Hiccup. However now he had a feeling it was a little bit different. Ruffnut was more… secretive about it. Almost like she was writing with a boy…

Great Arrhenius…

"Hiccup, everything's alright?" It was Fishlegs prodding his shoulder in hopes of some response.

But Hiccup was currently unable to give one, because wow… it was the first time something like this happened. Oh, that sounded kind of bad. Different wording. Hiccup never had seen Ruffnut really interested in someone – famous actors and singers not included of course. She had her brother and her friends, and she looked totally content with what she had. No crushes, no problems, no rosy cheeks when someone spoke or even glanced at her.

Guess not anymore.

But maybe Hiccup was totally wrong. Maybe she was just talking with an old friend?

Oh no, she blushed. Ruffnut Thorston blushed and then showed her phone to Astrid, who took it and read something from it. Astrid's eyes widened, but then a soft smile appeared on her mouth as she gave the phone back. Ruffnut asked her something at what Astrid only shrugged.

"Hiccup!"

"Yes, I'm alive!" Hiccup jumped, almost spilling the beer standing next to his leg.

His sudden outburst although caught the attention of everyone – even Tuffnut and Snotlout who finally stopped fighting on the floor and smashing his precious cards.

"Dude, did you again watch some weird scientific document about aliens at night?" Ruffnut asked, rising her eyebrow.

"No." Hiccup said, reaching and scratching the back of his neck. "I just got lost in my thoughts."

Thoughts about Ruffnut of all people. And about Ruffnut's… what exactly? He had only conjectures, a draft, but no hard evidence. Did he even want to have hard evidences?

This could be a huge step in her life, so of course Hiccup was interested in it. But who could that be? Hiccup didn't know all twins' friends, but it had to be someone new. Did they tell him about someone new they had met recently? He wasn't sure.

Okay, no, stop it. This was getting him nowhere. It was her life, her decisions and her crush. Maybe it wasn't even a boy!

Gladly everyone after his short outburst left him alone. Tuffnut and Snotlout stopped messing around on the floor and returned to moreover normal sitting positions. Fishlegs started to gather the cards after their game. He made two piles, taking care of putting the cards in correct stock. Astrid and Ruffnut still whispered something to each other with both their faces lightened by the phone's screen.

Hiccup started to help Fishlegs.

"Don't you think Ruff is acting a little bit… different today?" He asked, leaning close so that both boys not too far away wouldn't hear them.

Yep, he simply couldn't leave it.

Fishlegs glanced at him and passed him one pile.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… uhmm…" Hiccup was lost. Maybe it really was nothing in the end. But the sudden curiosity was eating him from the inside. Or maybe it was weird acid which was dissolving his organs? The second option didn't sound too good. "She is weirdly obsessed with her phone today."

Fishlegs looked up, just in time to see Ruffnut giggling at something on the device.

"Maybe…" The boy nodded, stocked the last pile and gave it to Hiccup. "So what is wrong with Ruffnut looking at her phone?"

Fishlegs didn't get him. Maybe Hiccup really was overthinking it. It wasn't his business-

But weren't private love life of his friends kind of his business too, even if only a little?

Oh, gosh… great Edison, enlighten him! This line of thoughts had to be an error his brain had made. Nu-huh! This wasn't his business, so he shouldn't stick his nose in this mess.

"Hey, anybody hungry?" Tuffnut suddenly asked, looking at everyone.

"Sure. I can order pizza." Astrid proposed, standing up from her pillow and stretching arms above her head. "What do you all want on it?"

"Meat!" Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut shouted in unison and then high fived each other happily.

Hiccup shook his head. Seriously.

"Whatever." He said, packing Munchkin* up and pushing the box away. Maybe they would still play later, who knew? "Just don't add pineapple on it, please."

"Do you have something against pineapple?" Fishlegs asked, rising his eyebrow.

"No, I just don't like it on pizza."

Fishlegs suddenly looked like he was deadly offended by his words.

"Pineapple is good on pizza!"

"Who is talking otherwise?!" It was Tuffnut who turned from bickering/talking with Snotlout to Fishlegs with pure surprise (mixed with hatred) painted on his face.

Seriously? Pineapple? This was what caught his attention?

"Hiccup is!" Fishlegs pointed a finger at him, almost poking his eye out.

"Come on!" Hiccup threw his hands in the air, groaning loudly. "Are we seriously gonna start arguing over a fricking pineapple on pizza?"

"Yes!" Tuffnut grabbed the beer standing on the table behind him and chugged few big sips. Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if he finished it all in this one go. "This is very important topic!"

The auburn haired boy rolled his eyes and crossed hands on his chest. Seriously, why did he even put up with these guys? Oh, yeah… friends.

Hiccup glanced to his side, hoping that maybe Astrid would help him by getting him out of here, but she was talking with Ruffnut, totally indifferent to the sudden storm happening around them. Maybe he should wave at them or cough really loud to get their attention?

"No, it's not." Hiccup finally sighed, pinching his nose bridge and lifting the glasses a little bit.

He never was a big fun of drinking alcohol, but now he kind of understood being drunk. Maybe this way he would be able to actually hold this conversation.

Hiccup reached for the glass behind his back and took few small sips. Yeah, he definitely preferred wine or liqueur. The bubbles were feeling just… off inside his mouth. But now he really needed to block his mind. Or maybe on the contrary, open it more for this conversation.

"Hiccup, pardon me, but pineapple on pizza is very important and good."

"Uhm… I don't like it too." Snotlout suddenly whispered, hanging his head and glancing warily at the blond haired boy next to him.

That… that surprised Hiccup. That kind of surprised everyone as they stopped talking and just stared at Snotlout.

Tuffnut's eyes were so big, like he just saw a living dinosaur in a top hat parading around Burgess.

"Bro, please don't do that…" He mumbled, voice breaking in the middle of the sentence. He even sniffed at the end.

Snotlout stole another short glance to his side, fidgeting in place. Wow, Hiccup hadn't seen him so uncomfortable since… since he wasn't even sure since when. Even at their Christmas' dinner Snotlout had been just mildly irritated. But now he was clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, I just don't even like pineapple." Wow, seriously, even his voice was low.

Hiccup rose his head to look at Astrid and Ruffnut who stopped their chantrt and now were also staring at the boys.

"How could you not tell me that!?" Tuffnut yelled. "I've been buying us Hawaiian pizzas for at least three years. I trusted you!"

"I know." Snotlout made a very theatrical pose, where he threw his head to the side and put one hand in front of Tuffnut. "And I'm sorry, but I can't eat it anymore!"

Just how much they had drunk this evening… erm night? Few bottles? Had they taken or drunk something before Hiccup and the rest got there?

Or maybe it was just typical of them.

"But why?"

"Because you always order it and somehow… I forgot to tell you?"

Hiccup couldn't believe this was really happening. No, no, no. He had to go somewhere and don't look at this situation.

He stood up and in the same time caught Astrid looking at him and pointing with her head to the door directing them to the kitchen. Yes! Finally!

Hiccup quickly jumped around opened games and cans of beer laying around and got to his friend. They both moved to the kitchen, away from the still arguing Snotlout and Tuffnut. Were they even arguing in the normal meaning of this word?

Astrid moved to the phone hanging on the wall and grabbed it.

"There should be a pizzeria's leaflet somewhere on the table."

Hiccup moved to the round table at which they had been sitting after the twins' party. He grabbed the bowl with fruits and started to shuffle through it. He found the leaflet under bananas at the very bottom.

Astrid took it from him and quickly read through it.

"I assume Hawaiian pizza is not on the list anymore for them." She murmured, glancing up at him with a small smile. "I just order the next pizza on the menu. If they will complain I can eat it all for them"

Hiccup shrugged, which meant he agreed to the plan.

In the meantime, when Astrid was making an order, he sat down and looked around. Surprisingly the kitchen was still clean. There was a pile of dishes in the sink, but comparing it to the state of it during the last party it was amazingly pristine. On the counter also stood a pile of unopened chips, cookies and breadsticks.

They made quite the reserves.

"I just ordered one with meat and paprika and the second only with vegetables. And no pineapple." Astrid said, falling down on the chair next to Hiccup.

"Do you think they are still arguing over it?" Hiccup asked instead, taking the leaflet from her and glancing at it. The pizzeria wasn't that far away, but they probably had a lot of orders on this very specific day, so they definitely had to wait longer than usual.

"Definitely." Astrid chuckled. "So can we stay here for few more minutes?"

"I'm always up for it." Hiccup added and after that they fell into comfortable silence for few minutes.

Hiccup read the whole leaflet and it kind of made him hungrier. Plus the alcohol didn't help, it always made him more starved.

"Are we still going to see Tooth and the rest out in the Park?" Astrid suddenly inquired, looking at the window of the backdoor. Half of it was covered with snow, so there wasn't much to see.

"I guess…" Hiccup hid the leaflet back in the bowl. "At least this was what we agreed on. I'll send Jack a message few minutes before we will be going out."

"Good."

There was something off in the way Astrid had said it, but Hiccup couldn't put his mind on what the difference was. He wasn't sure if it was even a good or a bad one. It simply was just off. Or maybe it was only his brain being fuzzy again.

Or maybe deep inside she was still a little bit mad at the twins and Snotlout for fighting the other day?

"You come to really like Tooth?"

Astrid smiled under her nose.

"Yeah, she is amazing and we actually have a lot in common."

"Oh…" Hiccup mumbled. "To be honest, I didn't quite expect it."

"Me neither." Astrid quickly added. "But she is very fun to hang out and talk with." Then she glanced at the door. "I guess the war already stopped."

"Probably."

They both stood up and slowly walked back to the living room.

Tuffnut and Snotlout weren't fighting anymore which was a good sign. On the contrary, they were laughing about something, very loudly, with their arms threw on each other's shoulders. They both had bottles of beer in their hands and when Hiccup and Astrid stepped inside they were toasting something.

Okay, so that war ended quite quickly. Hiccup was actually glad for it. Half of him expected to walk into messy living room with the boys throwing chips or fries at each other.

Ruffnut and Fishlegs were sitting next to each other, talking about something in a shushed tone. The girl's phone was laying next to her hip. It was blinking, indicating new message, but for now she wasn't picking it up.

Maybe it wasn't really a guy.

---

We're going out in ten minutes =D.

Meet you at the fountain |(^o^)/

Jack smiled under his nose as he pocketed his phone. Now he only had to find his friends. From what Sinbad had told him many people were going out to see the fireworks, but not everyone was going to the park.

Aster was standing in the corridor, talking with their teammate.

"Hey Aster, we're going to see Hiccup and the rest in ten minutes. See you at the front door?" Jack said, moving closer and patting his taller friend on the shoulder.

Bunny turned to him and smiled. It looked that his somehow grumpy mood subsided. Maybe not completely, but he definitely looked better now.

"Sure thing. Tooth is still in the kitchen."

Jack nodded and moved in the direction of the said room, patting his teammate on the arm.

The rainbow haired girl indeed was in the kitchen, together with Marina, cleaning some plates and glasses.

"Hey Tooth. We're going out to see Hiccup, Astrid and the rest in ten minutes. Are you still up?" He asked, leaning on the doorframe, but not really stepping inside.

The girl swished around and her colorful hair almost hit Marina right in the face. Jack snorted under his nose, but hid it by pretending to cough.

"Of course I do! Where are we meeting?" She put one plate on the dryer and grabbed another one to rinse it under the water.

"Near the front door."

"Works for me."

Jack sent her a smile and was just about to turn around, when he heard Marina speak.

"Oh look how happy he is about the idea of meeting his boyfriend."

Jack turned around and cocked his eyebrow, seeing as Tooth giggled to her friend.

"Our love-sick Jack is so cute." Tooth glanced at him and sent a wink. Seriously…

He sighed, but the fond smile and warm feeling inside his chest didn't want to go away. It just stuck with him like glue. But that really made him look like some love-sick guy.

Even though it wasn't… it wasn't…

"I didn't see you so giddy in a long time." Marina added. "Ah, young love."

Jack was thankful for the sarcastic remark, because he could roll his eyes and return to his normal behavior, even if only for a little.

"Because you're so old." He noted, crossing his arms.

"I'm older than you."

"But not that old." Jack rose his eyebrow, looking at Marina from top to the bottom. "And I thought that women preferred not to tell how old they were."

Marina shook her head and with one hand brushed a lone dark lock behind her ear. The palm left a trail of foam on her skin.

"I can make an exception when I want to prove the point."

"Like every woman." Jack sighed and turned around, feeling that he wouldn't be winning this fight anytime soon. He wasn't even sure he could win it. "See ya later!"

With that he simply darted out of the kitchen, not really wanting to be dragged into another pointless argument. Some girls were simply beyond his mind comprehension. It definitely took him too long to understand Tooth – which actually resulted in giving up in this difficult task and just taking everything as it was given to him. Moody one day, happy another and trying to kill you even later? No problem. In the morning wearing gothic clothes, only to put sweet pink dress in the evening? Totally normal. He just had to accept it and the whole world suddenly became easier.

And didn't get offended when she said something mean while she was on her period.

Jack stepped for a second into the living room to inform Sinbad that he would be out for a little bit. Then he simply moved to the front door, where he grabbed his jacket and put it on. In next few minutes Jack played with his phone for a little bit, waiting for his friends to get to him.

Aster was the first one and Tooth followed quickly after. The three of them went out into the cold weather of Burgess' night.

There were tons of people outside, yelling loudly and preparing fireworks. Most of them were drunk, what Jack didn't really approve. Alcohol and fire didn't mix well in his opinion. It was a quick way to get easily hurt and land in a hospital for the night.

Tooth was chirping happily about something to Aster who was responding with shrugs and grumbles, but in a very soft tone, which meant he was in a happy mood. It was a good sign. Maybe he wasn't a big fan of alcohol, but at least it looked like Bunny had fun.

And this was what was important.

---

The central part of the Park was a giant fountain, now turned off due to the freezing temperature outside. The cement monument was surrounded by a round plaza made from orange and brown tiles. During summer it was almost impossible to find a sitting place on benches encircling the square. Gladly, there was a giant field around it, filled with lush grass and trees, shading people from the bright sun.

During winter the Burgess Park was a little less popular, but even on sunny days kids often came here to make snowmen or snowballs fights.

But now almost the whole plaza was filled with people, some of them thickly covered in jackets and sweaters and some only wearing long sleeved shirts. The happy chatter was floating above the crowd, making it almost impossible to hear anything else.

Maybe finding Hiccup and the rest wouldn't be so easy in the end. They did plan to meet here, but Jack didn't know there would be so many people.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Tooth asked, staying close to Jack.

He was glad for that. This way they wouldn't get lost in the overflowing crowd.

Bunny was easier to spot, so Jack didn't worry that much about him. But his taller friend still was walking close to them.

"No." Jack shook his head and turned to Aster. "How about you? Do you see them from up above?"

The gray haired teen snorted. Even he had to stand on his tiptoes to see clearly (or moderately clearly). His eyes followed the crowd from above the surface, but then he turned to them and shook his head.

"I don't see them anywhere." He said, confirming everyone's suspicions.

They walked around the gathering for a minute or so, not diving in. There was a possibility of drowning if they would do that and Jack wasn't keen on getting lost or disconnected from the rest of his friends.

"Maybe you should call Hiccup?" Aster proposed, when they stopped in the same place from before, still with no sign of the rest.

Good idea, why Jack didn't think about it earlier? Maybe it would be a little hard to hear the other side responding, but it was better than nothing.

Jack put his hand in his pocket, just in time to feel someone jumping at him and putting in a headlock. The world swayed and he had to close his eyes for a second to comprehend what had really happened.

"Frost, my old man!" And his perfect combed hair was destroyed by hard ruffles. "We didn't see you in ages."

When Jack gladly and quickly freed himself from the grasp, he rose up and grinned at Tuffnut. Almost the whole gang was already here.

"More like a month or so!" He quickly pointed, but indeed even Jack missed the craziness of the famous twins.

Back when they were all in one school, Jack often had done pranks with the twins and Snotlout. It was always funnier to do them in a team of four, plus the planning and gathering of supplies were easier. But the most important now were memories they shared.

After the twins had finished the school, Jack had started to minimalize the amount of pranks. They weren't so spectacular anymore and some people had even thought that Jack lost the gumption. Gladly, Jack quickly had taught everyone a lesson about who was the King of Pranksters in their school. Even detention had been worth it.

"Month is such a long time when you're working." Ruffnut accompanied his brother, putting an elbow on his shoulder and leaning on him. "Especially as you have to deal with ungrateful customers who don't leave tips!"

Astrid stepped forward, crossing hands on her chest and throwing her braid on the back with a quick movement of her head.

"Are you speaking about us?" She asked, cocking her eyebrow.

"Yes!" Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout turned to her and shouted in unison.

Jack and Tooth snickered at that. Aster only shook his head with a fond, but very tiny smile on his lips.

"You eat for free at my house. Isn't it enough?" Astrid quickly retorted.

"No, it's mandatory friendship's extras you get for free." Tuffnut pointed out. "It doesn't count as a tip."

"But we're eating at your restaurant, so you guys can earn more money?" Astrid said, but now more hesitantly.

"Our pay doesn't depend on the amount of customers." Ruffnut added, fighting back.

Astrid opened her mouth, closed it, then opened while furrowing her eyebrows and… shut it. At least they got a winner in this match.

Jack was almost one hundred percent sure the twins only teased them about tips for fun. He knew that the tips they got are used to pay for the destroyed plates and glasses, so that leave them technically with no payment from the tips' jar.

Wait, Ruff, Tuff, Snotlout and Astrid were already here, so where were…

Oh, Hiccup and the blonde haired boy were only now walking up the stairs, talking with each other. The taller teen was leaning to Hiccup with his mouth covered by a gloved hand. He definitely said something funny, because Hiccup threw his head back and snorted loudly.

Fuck. Everything was okay. Nothing changed in him. Jack was totally fine. Everything was cool… cool… very cool. Totally cool.

Hiccup turned to Jack. His eyes widened and then sparkled with warm recognition.

It wasn't fine…

The smaller teen tugged on his friend's jacket and they both jogged to the rest of the crew. The air coming from both of their mouths was forming a tiny, fluffy clouds. With every step they were getting closer and closer.

And… wait… Jack technically was dating Hiccup, so he kind of had to do something. But somehow now it was different. Earlier he had been just doing the first thing that had been popping into his mind. But now… what should he even do to not show that he changed inside?

It was okay, no one could read his mind anyway.

So when the auburn haired teen was close Jack just embraced Hiccup, lifted off the ground, made a swirl in the air and quickly put him down. Maybe it was kind of too fast, but he could always blame it on alcohol.

Hiccup only managed to wave his hand in the air, before he was placed down and looked back up at Jack with small, hesitant, yet kind of dizzy smile plastered to his face.

"It's good to see you too." He said.

"Same here." Jack grinned back, feeling something in him rumbling. Then he reached down and grasped Hiccup's palm.

Hiccup didn't oppose. He probably by now predicted that Jack would do that. They had to act for a little bit more.

Fishlegs next to them cleared his throat, but not in the annoying way, more like he wanted to inform them that he was still there.

Hiccup jumped and slipped his hand away. There was a second of hesitation with eyes jumping from Jack to the boy, but in the end Hiccup moved to pat the teen on his back and push him forward.

"I'm sure you had seen him around the school, but now it's time for proper introduction. Jack, this is Fishlegs." Then he glanced at the blond haired boy. "Fishlegs, the annoying nuisance is Jack."

Fishlegs snorted under his nose, glimpsing at Hiccup for a brief second to quickly return his focus on Jack. He showed Jack his hand quickly.

"Nice to finally meet you in person."

Jack smiled at the boy and shook his hand. A firm grip, Jack didn't expect it, but it was pretty welcomed.

"Me too. I heard a lot about you from Hiccup." It was the truth. The smaller teen talked a lot about his nerdy friend, the only one who fully understood him and how much he missed his presence in Burgess and at school.

"You did?" Fishlegs looked genuinely surprised by this information. He glanced at Hiccup, who weirdly looked away quickly. Then something ran through his face, like an evil smirk, a spell which appeared and disappeared. "I heard a lot about you too."

Jack didn't know if Fishlegs meant it in the good or bad way. However there had to be some speck of truth, because Hiccup swished his head back at Fishlegs and groaned.

"Fish, stop it!"

Oh, this picked his curiosity. Maybe he should craftily ask Fishlegs about it later.

"Hey, socialize with the rest of us!" Tuffnut shouted to them.

Hiccup peeked from behind Jack at the rest and… oh, he had to notice Aster, because his eyes widened for a split second with rosy blush rising to his cheek.

Jack already lost this fight, even before participating in it.

Brush it away, it was nothing, he should be happy…

Tooth and Aster moved to the three of them and Hiccup quickly made a redo of introducing Fishlegs, but this time to different people.

Jack stepped away for the remaining time. He stood together with Astrid, Ruff, Tuff and Snotlout and they tried to get him into talking about best burgers in Burgess (even Jack had to snort at the weak pun). And he did participate, only… some part of him did. He answered when they asked him about things, but he more over was more focused on observing Hiccup – especially his face beaming up at Bunny when the latter said something to him. Jack saw as Hiccup's emerald eyes followed every Aster's movement, as he blushed more furiously when Aster said something definitely directly to him, as he quickly looked away and scratched the back of his neck when he tried to answer properly without stuttering.

It was so obvious, Jack wasn't sure how he hadn't seen it way before properly knowing Hiccup.

And half of Jack was endeared by the image of Hiccup blossoming into beautiful flower. It was sweet and amazing and the world suddenly seemed brighter.

But the other half was whispering something into his ear. Jack couldn't understand particular words, it sounded more like some murmurs in foreign language than in his own, but it was making him edgy. To this point that when Tuffnut nudged him, Jack jumped into the air.

"Frost, loosen up. Your boyfriend will return to us soon." The boy said, laughing loudly at the end and patting Jack on the back.

So it was so visible. His sneaking skills definitely missed some leveling up in the last time.

After some time Jack started to have a feeling that someone was observing him. He lifted his head to notice Astrid eyeing him, not like she usually had been doing, but with a hint of strangeness to her gaze. Like she had something on her mind which included Jack and she tried to decode it.

Jack kind of wanted to shiver under this gaze. To be honest, Astrid Hofferson sometimes scared him. He knew under layers of brutality, harshness and sarcasm, was a kind, nice lady who was warm to her friends, but… Jack wasn't sure if he was exactly Astrid's friend. He liked her as a person and he had a feeling it was reciprocated… but how much?

"Hiccup, Fish! Stop talking about nerdy stuff and come to us!" Ruffnut yelled, turning around to the small group standing few meters away from them.

Four heads turned to them, then glanced at each other and finally Fishlegs shrugged. In few second they moved to the rest of the crew with Hiccup walking unusual close to Aster. Or maybe it was Jack's brain telling him things and bending the spacetime*.

Hiccup stopped next to Jack and glimpsed up at him with snug smile spreading on his lips.

Jack tried to reciprocate it as much as he could, but he had a feeling that it came out a little bit crooked.

Astrid was observing the whole short exchange between them. Jack saw her in the corner of his vision, he saw her furrowing her eyebrows and sucking a bottom lip. But she quickly turned around when Tooth stopped next to her and asked about something.

There were still few minutes till midnight and they stood in the small circle outside the crowd gathering near the fountain. And when the chatter of people started to get too loud they even stepped away, still being more over close but now able to speak more clearly with each other.

Jack participated a lot in the conversation, while making a lot of jokes and laughing at some situation the twins told them about. He felt happy and comfortable around them, even though he still couldn't let his guard fully down.

Yet all this time he couldn't stop himself from stealing a few (or a thousand) glimpses at Hiccup. It just happened. Whenever someone spoke Jack's eyes somehow suddenly landed on the boy next to him to observe his reactions.

Hide it, hide it, hide it, sweep it under the carpet…

Jack could only hope no one noticed it, well no one beside Ruff, Tuff and Snotlout, because they were the only one… not let in on with the fake-dating contract. For them Jack could steal as many lovey-dovey glances as he wanted.

For the rest… not so much.

Maybe it was the alcohol in his veins, or the mood of the night, or the simple happiness blossoming and bubbling inside his stomach, but he couldn't help himself this time.

Few times Hiccup shivered when particularly strong gust ran past them to disappear into the crowd. Well, the evening (or night) wasn't that cold, but Jack knew Hiccup was a warm bun, working properly only when he was wrapped in at least one thick sweater. So for the smaller teen it had to be freezing outside.

Once or twice Jack found Astrid also looking at him, still with this strange look playing on her dimples. Jack couldn't pinpoint what it was, but… it definitely concerned him. At some point.

Someone in the crowd cheered loudly, which was followed by other shouts coming from more and more people. The few popping sounds resonated in the air around them. Oh, the party was starting with the countdown getting closer and closer.

Tuffnut with Snotlout came to life with that sound.

"No worries, peasants!" Tuffnut yelled at what Astrid only snorted. "We are coming for the rescue!"

Snotlout gracefully put down the backpack he was holding and from the inside they took out two bottles of champagne.

Jack whistled loudly at this sight.

"Nice." Ruffnut quickly turned to her sibling with excited eyes. She quickly hid the phone which was weirdly very often in her palm this night. Or maybe it was only Jack's imagination.

"Don't want to burst your bubble of happiness, but…" Astrid started. "… are we gonna drink from the same bottle? It's kind of… uncomfortable to pass one bottle to nine people. It's even uncomfortable to pass two bottle to nine people."

But Tuffnut puffed out his chest, suddenly very proud of himself.

"No worries, my fair lady." Definitely too much alcohol, but the Astrid's eye's roll was quite amusing. "We thought about everything."

This time Hiccup also glanced at Jack, rising his eyebrow. Twins and planning? Even Jack knew it rarely happened.

So everyone was very surprised when Tuffnut took out a bag of plastic glasses and ripped it open with a very content, yet kind of childish smile dancing on his lips. He took out the first one and combined the top part with the support and gave it to Astrid.

"Here you go." He said, bowing even.

Astrid snorted one more time, shaking her head, but took the glass.

"Touché. You impressed me this time." She said and Jack never had seen Snotlout suddenly lightening up so hard than in this very moment.

Tuffnut gave everyone their own glass and then returned to his own place and together with Snotlout started to open the bottle. Few seconds later the loud pop told Jack that they succeeded.

"Gather up folks to taste the stars!" Tuffnut shouted happily, pouring the golden liquid into Astrid's glass.

"Did you just quote Dom Pérignon*?" Aster asked with bewilderment sipping from his voice.

And of course, Hiccup immediately turned to the taller teen. Jack had a second, maybe even less, to spot the sweet sparks of excitement and comprehension materializing in his green orbs.

Another clench of his chest – like a cold embrace of metallic hands. Heh funny, hugs were supposed to be good.

Tuffnut tilted his head and almost poured the champagne on Tooth's palms when he was turning to Aster.

"No, I was quoting The Fault in Our Stars…" He said, blinking. "You know, this one dude from the restaurant?"

Tooth brushed the lone drop rolling on the side of the glass with her finger, which she then licked.

"I didn't know you like romantic movies." She said, wiping the hand on her coat.

Tuffnut scoffed playfully in response and moved to Jack and Hiccup.

"I don't. My sorry excuse of a sister-" Ruffnut waited no time in kicking him in the shin. Tuffnut howled painfully, but looked back at Tooth with painful smile. "…forced me to watch the movie."

Jack put the glass near the bottle.

"But it wasn't me who was crying at the end of the movie." Ruffnut quickly commented.

Jack could sense the sweet revenge dripping from her voice. Ah, classic Ruffnut. Jack always admired her for being so blunt.

"It was sad, okay!?" Tuffnut turned to her. Gladly he lifted the bottle higher, so no alcohol spilled to the ground. "Someone in this family needs to have a softer heart!"

"Ja, ja, I know, I'm the bad twin." Ruffnut threw the braid on her back, smirking at her brother, however the grin she now had was a little bit warmer.

The blonde haired boy returned to them and blinked when he noticed there wasn't another glass in front of his eyes. He glanced at Hiccup standing next to Jack, who was staring at Fishlegs and Aster talking next to him. For someone else he could be simply enamored by their conversation, but Jack knew the truth. So did probably Astrid who was now also looking at the auburn haired teen.

Jack sighed, grabbed Hiccup's wrist and positioned the glass (which Hiccup was holding) under the bottle so Tuffnut could work with it.

After Tuffnut finished, he moved to the two boys next to them.

Hiccup shuffled in his place, tilting the glass in his palm and not looking at Jack.

"Sorry…" He mumbled after a minute or so. His head twitched, like he wanted to take a look at Jack, but decided not to do it at the very last second. He was probably embarrassed for getting caught staring at Bunny.

"Don't mention it." Jack answered, even though he wasn't totally sure of the true meaning of his words. This was terrible. He had to do something with his thoughts. They were getting out of control. "If you want I can leave you alone with Aster for some time…" Jack said, leaning closer to Hiccup's ear, but checking first if no one could hear him.

The boy lifted his head quickly, like he was astonished by this proposition, but he also shook it.

"No need." He murmured. Then he put a cocky smile on his lips." Besides, you could get jealous for it."

Hiccup didn't know that he missed the goal only by an inch or so. Or maybe he didn't miss it at all, Jack wasn't so sure anymore now.

It definitely had to be alcohol in his veins, because normally he wouldn't have this kind of thoughts, right? Right… But there was hesitation, a pause in the beating of his heart. Was it even possible for your heart to stop beating or for it to has a pause in its work? No, Jack wasn't sure. Maybe he should ask Tooth about it, she was a fan of biology and human body.

"Aw you're so thoughtful." Jack nevertheless decided to prolong it. Play along, play along…

"Yes, yes I am, if you-" Hiccup stopped midsentence, opened his mouth, raised the glass and… sneezed loudly after two seconds. The golden liquid swayed heavily in the glass, but gladly stayed inside. The boy sniffed when he lifted his face back at Jack. "… didn't notice it by now."

Jack shook his head, somehow feeling much warmer than few seconds ago.

"Here, hold this, you doofus." Jack said, pushing his glass into Hiccup's palm.

"What do yo-"

But also this time Hiccup didn't finish his sentence as Jack swiftly took off his own jacket and threw it on his friend's shoulder in one quick movement. He smiled fondly at the image in front of him. Well, to be honest his blue jacket somehow didn't suit Hiccup that much (definitely green or red would be better), plus the size was kind of a little too big, but it didn't really matter. It was supposed to warm Hiccup, not look good in terms of fashion.

Besides, Jack kind of liked it, no matter how wrong it looked to others.

Hiccup blinked up at him.

"But you'll get cold like this." He murmured, pointing with Jack's glass to the teen.

Jack rose his eyebrow and got his alcohol back, stepping closer to Hiccup in this process.

"Nah, don't worry. It was too warm to me anyway." He said, smiling comfortingly at the smaller teen.

Hiccup didn't look that convinced. There was a thin wrinkle on his nose, due to which his glasses rolled down, but he pushed them higher with his wrist. His eyes jumped to his side.

Oh, there was a dust of rosy color splattered on his cheeks.

"Thank you then." He whispered, very quietly, but Jack heard him.

It was enough to warm his insides about a degree or two. Was this even possible?

Tuffnut returned to his spot beside Snotlout where he poured himself and his friend also a glass. Then he looked into the emerald bottle, shrugged and drank the rest of the liquid.

"Hey! Not fair!" Astrid shouted, glaring at him.

"I paid for it, so I can do whatever I want with it." He stuck a tongue at her and put the bottle down. "Everyone ready?"

Most of them nodded at each other with smiles gracing everyone's lips. There was already a big commotion in the crowd gathered around the fountain. It looked like the New Year was just around the corner.

A quick glimpse at his phone told Jack that indeed it was the truth.

"Now quick survey, what do you wish for in the upcoming year?!" Ruffnut suddenly waved her hand in front of herself, like she tried to make way.

"More money, less bitchy customers" Her brother immediately replied.

"For Astrid to finally acknowledge how great man I am." Snotlout said, sending a wink at his friend.

Astrid gagged and stuck out her tongue at him. She didn't look surprised by that comment, maybe only a little bit displeased.

"For Snotlout to finally find someone good for himself who isn't me." Astrid said, staring back at him, yet with a dose of fondness and truth ringing in her words.

Snotlout blinked, quite confused at that wish, but huh boy, he did smile back. Jack seriously was perplexed by the exchange, but then decided to shrug it off as something normal. In their small group it probably was.

"Tooth?" Astrid then turned to her colorful haired and always cheerful friend.

The girl tapped her pink lips with the finger of her free hand, staring up at the quite faint sky, lighted up by the thousands of street lights. Here and there someone fired pre-celebrating fireworks.

"I wish for everyone to smile more every day. Oh and for people to not push me around just because my hair is in different color." She said with a grin adorning her face.

Jack internally winced at the last statement. Yeah, Tooth had told him about few bad situations.

"Nothing for yourself?" Tuffnut asked.

"Maybe for me to get into second stage of Biology Olympiad?" Tooth nodded more to herself than to anyone else, looking weirdly content with her wishes.

"Fair enough." The taller teen said and jumped with his gaze at Jack. "And you better not wish for more snow! You know how hard it is to clear our car every morning?!"

Jack chuckled at that. Yeah, nickname Frost really did suit him. However unfortunately he didn't have powers to change the weather, no matter how hard he wished to have those. Life would be so much easier with them.

"Oh you're taking the word 'fun' from 'winter'-" Jack started to be quickly interrupted by Hiccup butting into his sentence.

"Uhm, there is no 'fun' in word 'winter'." He quickly cleared it out, lifting his eyebrow high onto his forehead to this point it almost disappeared behind the material of the hat.

"Shush, hon, I just said it wrong." Jack pointed. He did say it wrong, but he wasn't even conscious of making this mistake. Did Hiccup was listening so intently to him or had he some kind of radar for such errors?

Come on, he was a little bit drunk, he could forget that.

"Oh, really?"

That small, ungrateful nerd. Jack felt an urge to kick him in the shin, only not too strong to not really hurt him that bad.

"Really!" Jack said, louder, like by using mightier tone he was confirming his real thoughts. After that he cleared his throat. "Now coming back to the topic, way before someone interru-"

"There isn't even a letter 'f' in the word 'winter'…"

Excuse me? How Hiccup dared to interrupt the powerful Jackson Overland twice in the last two minutes.

When Jack did glare back at his friend, Hiccup was looking up at him with weird playful tone hiding inside his shining orbs. Oh, what this alcohol was making with people?

But Hiccup needed to learn to not interrupt people when they were about to say their wish. That was very, very inappropriate and he should pay a price for it!

Jack lifted his hand and put it on Hiccup's head. Hiccup only managed to blink at Jack, but his eyes were quickly covered by his hat, when Jack pushed it down, almost covering the nose in the process.

"Jack!" Came the loud whine as Hiccup desperately tried to put the hat back, but it was hard to do so while holding a glass full of champagne, having a gloved hands and being a little bit drunk.

When Jack's very intelligent friend finally pushed the hat higher (making few of his strands stand in weird angles), Jack did the same thing once again. The very annoyed curse this time made everyone laugh – Aster included.

Hiccup huffed, growled and cursed, whispering menacingly Jack's name over and over while still trying to get his vision back.

"Jack, I swear-"

Jack rolled his eyes and after a minute or so helped Hiccup put the hat back correctly. He only felt a tini-tiny little bit bad for doing it. But no one makes fun of Jackson Overland for the same thing twice. Hiccup should be grateful he only got away with the small tease.

Well, being someone boyfriend (even if fake) had to have its own perks, right?

"Yes, yes, here you go." Jack said. There was a soft, kind and motherly tone at the end of his sentence. He couldn't hold still and keep looking at some people when they were trying to solve their problems, no matter how minor they were. "Better?"

Hiccup didn't answer him, only blew him a raspberry with very ablaze cheeks. Totally embarrassed. Or maybe a little bit hot from the struggles. Probably a sum of both.

Hiccup crossed his hands on the chest and turned his head away.

"Oh, don't be mad. It's bad to be in argument first minutes in the New Year." Jack said, stepping in front of Hiccup and hoping to see his pissed face.

But his friend only hmphed loudly and glanced in the other direction.

So Jack tried from the other side, with the same result. Then from another and another and another, but Hiccup was still averting his gaze.

In the meantime Tuffnut questioned Fishlegs about his wish for the upcoming year and it looked like they got into heavy conversation about something.

"Hiccup." Jack tried one more time, jumping at him, but also this time Hiccup was unnaturally quick to look away.

There was a second, maybe two of sudden fear that crawled its way into Jack's heart, because seriously he would hate for someone to be mad at him on the very first day of New Year. And especially for Hiccup to be mad at him for something as stupid and childish as innocent prank. But the fear quickly subsided when he saw the traces of smirk and laughter appearing on Hiccup's face whenever he glanced away.

That sneaky bastard was playing with him.

Who could have thought that always calm and serious Hiccup had a soul of a mean trickster? Definitely not Jack.

"So how about you, Aster?"

Oh, this one moment he could use, because Hiccup immediately looked up at the tall friend standing maybe a meter or so away from him. So nicely predictable.

Jack took his golden opportunity to stab Hiccup's side with his hand which resulted in high pitched shriek and a jump in the air. The glass in Hiccup's hand wavered to the side, spilling few droplets on its side.

Hiccup turned to him, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You're unbelievable today." He hissed, then he glanced at his glove and brushed it on Jack's jacket he was currently wearing.

"Hey!"

"This is for spilling it." Hiccup added with a triumphant smirk.

Jack had something more to say, but was stopped by Tuffnut's yell of surprise.

"Come on, can't you wish for something cool? Like…" Tuffnut rose his nose to the sky, furrowing eyebrows while thinking. "A skateboard or oculus rift or even better grades!?" Snotlout nudged him. "Oh, wait no, you are too smart. You don't need better grades."

Aster huffed and snorted, both in the same time.

"What is bad in wanting to have your very own microscope?"

"Dude, seriously? Hiccup would want something like that! He is a nerd! He probably would even name it, like this weird PMM-whatever figurine he has in his room."

"Hey!" Hiccup shouted, making a step forward. "For first – it's a PMMA*, and for second – it's my first very own polymer I've made!"

"You made it in a shape of a cat and named it Toothless version 2.0." Tuffnut pointed at him and then returned to stare at Aster. "See, that is a present for people like him!"

Jack snorted, which received him a shove to his side from Hiccup's elbow.

He had no problems with imagining Hiccup doing that. But no one told him that Hiccup had childish side when he was making figurines from this… something they were talking about.

"Okay!" Aster lifted his hands, sighing and surrendering still both in the same time. "I want a cool microscope which also shoots laser. Better?"

Both Snotlout and Tuffnut grinned, glancing at each other first. Ruffnut rolled her eyes, but returned her focus on the phone she was currently holding.

"Definitely!" The twin said and then turned back to Jack and Hiccup. "You lovebirds! You got yours sweet, cuddly, something moment, but don't think we forgot about you!"

"Wouldn't dream about it." Hiccup quickly said.

"I'll make a wish for you and wish for a better sense of humor for you in the upcoming year."

"Hey!"

"Ups, already made a wish for you, not it's too late." Tuffnut quickly lifted his face to look at Jack, standing next to the auburn haired boy. "Now it's your turn."

Hiccup opened his mouth few times, stunned by what his friend just said and did. Jack rarely could win their small bickering fights. Maybe he should learn from them this amazing ability. But knowing them it was probably the bald persistence which gave them victory against Hiccup's mind and words' games.

"I didn't have time to even think about it." Jack said, lifting his hand and scratching the back of his head.

"Then just tell the first thing that pops into your head!" Snotlout proposed, putting one arm on Tuffnut's shoulder and leaning on him.

What was the first thing popping into his mind? Happiness. For his family and friends. He wished for his mother to finally come back. For his family to get out of debts. For Aster to tell Jack what was bugging him. For Tooth to not be afraid of being herself. For Heather to find peace in her life. For Hiccup…

For Hiccup to have a normal life without Dagur bugging him. For him to loosen up and enjoy life while not stressing over everything. For him to warm a little bit to people – both emotionally and physically.

For Hiccup to be with someone better than Jack.

His throat was blocked though and the only thing he was able to say was:

"Half-Life 3."

At what almost everyone burst in laughter, including Hiccup.

The sudden knot in his throat loosened up a tiny bit in the rhythm of his hand landing on his nape.

"Oh, I'm signing under your wish, Frost." Tuffnut shouted, lifting his glass higher, toasting him.

"Me too." Snotlout said, showing him a thumb-up.

"Me three!" Ruffnut chirped, rising her eyes form her phone. Her fingers although still moved and tapped a message. But to whom?

The almost inseparable trio high fived each other. The girl had to pocket her phone to do so, as her other hand was holding a glass.

Astrid cleared her throat, making a step forward.

"I don't want to interrupt you but-"

And actually it was the crowd which interrupted her by shouting loudly:

"Ten!"

The sound of their voices definitely woke up few old people who had gone already to sleep.

Everyone turned to the fountain and looked up at the sky, yelling loudly following numbers. Definitely the loudest from them were Tuffnut, Snotlout and Ruffnut. But neither Astrid nor Fishlegs (which indeed surprised him) nor Jack were too far away with the volume of their voice. Then it was Tooth, who tried to shout, but wasn't used to rising her voice. After that was Aster who was saying the numbers and not really yelling them. The last place was taken by Hiccup, who wasn't even opening his mouth to take part in the celebration.

Jack hip checked the auburn haired boy.

"Count with us!" He shouted, leaning closer. "Put a smile on that grumpy face of yours!"

Hiccup lifted his head at Jack, and even though he really wanted to remain calm, the corners of his lips twitched upwards.

"But I am happy!" He responded, also rising his voice, but not enough to be audible, even at such close proximity.

"What!?"

"But I am happy!" Hiccup now shouted, straight into Jack's ear. How this didn't really hurt him was a miracle.

"You don't look like you are!" Jack replied, cocking his eyebrow.

"But it's the truth!"

However Jack couldn't talk more because the crowd went into full loud mode when the three last number were just around the corner.

The excitation, joy, glee, felicity was slipping into Jack's body, filling it with energy. He always loved to be a part of something big, some kind of gathering of people focused and wishing for the good things. There definitely was hesitation and fear creeping somewhere at the back of their minds and brains, hiding behind trees, lurking like wild and hungry animals, but for one night… for just one night everyone could be filled with hope.

It made him warm inside.

And then everyone shouted in not really perfect unison the last and very first number.

"One!"

And the fireworks were also late, but it didn't matter. What did were embarrassed laughter and true wishes of Happy New Year as people sipped on their drinks and turned to each other with grins adorning their faces.

So Jack did too. He turned to Hiccup without even missing a beat or even taking a sip of definitely delicious champagne waiting in the plastic glass.

But Hiccup wasn't looking at him, but at Aster and Fishlegs who were definitely wishing each other an amazing New Year.

Jack rarely had those moments – the ones when you feel like the world turns gray and there is a pause, a rip in the flowing time. A second, maybe even less of floating in the space without having a higher meaning. A moment when suddenly everything feels like too much and too less both in the same time. This moment when the lightning strikes near your home and you're terrified for a second that the next one will hit yours. The moment when you dive into the ocean and you get so far away from the surface that for a second you're terrified of dying as your chest tighten, not being able to be released.

Jack rarely had those moments. It wasn't also one of these dark moments when the world crashes down on you and you can't take a proper breath for some time. It wasn't this moment when you lose your sight with the heartbeat getting lost somewhere in the middle of trying to comprehend the disappearance of something. It wasn't one of those really terrible moments when you're afraid of future or even today.

But something inside of Jack rattled. There was a cold light between the grey clouds, or maybe a first small flood of the mind's basement. There was a spark and a smoke of dying light on the match. There was a drop of life-giving rain, but too far away from the flower.

It all happened in this one short moment. Jack had a feeling he was looking at the back of Hiccup's head for at least ten minutes, when in reality it wasn't even five or so seconds.

But Hiccup turned back to Jack and there was a short spasm of pained look in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as he put a smile on his lips.

"Happy New Year, Jack." He said in a happy tone.

But Jack knew Hiccup would prefer to talk with someone else.

Jack wasn't this person who wanted to have first place in everything. He wasn't this person focusing only on winning and being ahead of everyone. He never had felt an urge to try to get the gold medal.

"Happy New Year to you too, Hic." Jack said too, grinning at his friend.

They made a toast, clinked each other plastic glasses and looked up at the sky, enjoying the colorful show being displayed on the dark canvas.

Now Jack wondered if he was even close to the podium of Hiccup's heart.

The champagne tasted bitterly in his mouth.

---

"Argh, my head…"

"You tell me." Tuffnut next to Hiccup replied, putting a bag of ice to his temple. In his other hand was a remote control, floating meaningless in the air as the teen didn't switch the channel for the last five minutes.

Hiccup closed his eyelids, massaging his head and hoping that the pain would go away.

In comparison to Hiccup, the blonde haired teen looked almost refreshing. It was Hiccup who was a complaining, aching mess of limbs thrown onto the twins' couch. But at least his stomach didn't hurt. There was only a headache.

And this was the reason he preferred not to drink a lot.

"Do you want some more Aspirin?" Tuffnut asked, finally putting his hand down and glancing at him.

"No, I already took too much." Four pills since waking up. And he didn't know the limit, so he didn't want to take more.

"Astrid and Fishlegs should be ready with breakfast soon, so maybe after it you can eat more pills."

Yeah, Astrid alone in the kitchen was a disaster. Burned toasts and scrambled eggs were a daily basis. Gladly Fishlegs was with her. Maybe with him she wouldn't burn their food while learning few good tricks in the kitchen.

Coming to this Fishlegs should talk with Jack about cooking, because Jack's dishes were amazing. Perfectly seasoned and made. A heaven during eating. Just by thinking about them, Hiccup's mouth got watery.

Yesterday, when the fireworks show had ended, they had talked a little bit more with each other and then around 1 am had gone to their respectful places. And it was amazing – seeing his friend talking freely with Jack's close ones. Astrid and Tooth immediately had kicked right off, weirdly together with Tuffnut. And Fishlegs could talk about nerd stuff with Aster for what Hiccup was really glad. Fishlegs didn't have that many friends, but he was such a sweet and nice guy who sought other people's presence it sometimes pained Hiccup to see it. It had got worse when Fishlegs had moved away, as all of his friend had stayed here. So now, being able to see him so hyperactive and energetic while talking about differences in suspension and emulsion polymerization* in terms of durability of the material was astonishing and warming Hiccup inside.

That was a good night. Fishlegs and Aster even had exchanged phone numbers. For it Hiccup was maybe (only maybe) a little bit jealous (because, well, you know what…), but then Fishlegs had said that he didn't mind sharing the information for a good price (maybe buying a game on Steam would work).

Yet even though everything looked so blissful, there was one thing different and simply off.

Only, Hiccup didn't know if this was true or not, but he had a feeling there was something wrong with Jack. Like one moment he had been all happy – sunshine and rainbows, charged with positive energy – and then there had appeared fog on his façade. Maybe Jack had been tired, but… Hiccup was kind of lost. Something indeed must had happened in one second or so to rip Jack's mood apart and Hiccup couldn't put his mind on it. So now he had quite a kaleidoscope of weirdly acting people – including at the very first place Dagur, then Astrid and now Jack. Maybe he would even put on the list Ruffnut, but she wasn't acting strange in that worrisome way, but more like weirded out way. Did it make any sense? Hiccup wasn't sure.

"The food is here!" Came the loud and chirpy voice of Fishlegs entering the living room with two plates in his hand.

Hiccup cringed at the volume of the voice, but the delicious smell was good for repaying the sudden spark of pain in his head.

"Sweet!" Tuffnut jumped to his feet.

From the corner of the living room Tuffnut brought a coffee table and threw four cushions on the floor on which they had been sitting yesterday and playing. The cards from the 7 Wonders* were still there with Snotlout actually winning the game. Dang it, he practically had won by winning the wars only and building a Guild concerning green and red cards. Hiccup with his own green cards had been sitting next to him*, so Snotlout had won because of him.

Fishlegs put two plates with bacon, salad and fried eggs in front of Hiccup and Tuffnut. After few seconds Astrid emerged from the kitchen holding another two plates, keeping a very proud smile on her lips. They both then sat down with food in front of themselves.

"Thank you for the food!" Tuffnut loudly yelled, before digging up into the bacon, munching on it with delighted look on his face.

Hiccup took his own utensils and started to eat slowly, from time to time peeking up at the TV still going on.

The rest was more over talking. Hiccup was only partially listening to them, mostly because his head was filled with needles prickling his brain. Now he really missed those times when his head hadn't hurt and he had taken it for granted. He knew the pain would subside with time or day, but now… now it was too much.

At least the food was great. Maybe it wasn't Jack's level, but he still enjoyed it. Or maybe he was so hungry he didn't care what he was really eating.

"Ruffnut is takin really long." Fishlegs suddenly said, putting the last piece of the bacon in his mouth.

Ruffnut had driven Snotlout's home, because he didn't look like he could walk for too many meters straight. Plus he kind of was seconds away from vomiting, so the girl offered to drive him home. And she did, like an hour ago. But Snotlout wasn't living so far away, so she should be back home right now.

"I'm pretty sure, she stopped so she could flirt on her phone!" Tuffnut started, only to shout the last few words almost right into Hiccup's ear.

"Tuff, fuck, calm down." He hissed, covering his ears and glaring at his friend. Seriously.

"Oh, shit, sorry, forgot…" At least the blonde haired boy looked a little bit sorry for his outburst.

Fishlegs glanced at all of them, blinking at the end.

"Wait, am I missing something? About who are we actually talking about?" He asked, glancing last at Hiccup who shrugged, showing that he also had no idea.

But at least his yesterday's suspicions were correct. Huff – and he thought he was starting to get crazy.

Astrid groaned and pushed her plate away. She leaned away and crossed her hands on her chest.

"You know this guy with whom she actually fought?"

And won, Hiccup added in his mind. No one messed with Ruffnut Thorston or her brother and came unscathed out of it.

"Well, I have a vague memory of him, but everything is a little bit blurred. What was his name again?"

"Eret." Tuffnut mumbled, putting food in his mouth and then leaning on the couch and throwing his hands on it. "And they had exchanged numbers back at the hospital and are writing with each other almost non-stop since then."

"Oh, I wondered why she was looking so often at her phone." Hiccup added, staring at the TV.

Fishlegs coed sweetly.

"It's almost cute!" He said looking at everyone and probably trying to find some person who also though the same way, but finding none. "What, am I the only person thinking that?"

"Yes." Tuffnut immediately replied, now even skipping a beat.

"I don't know." Hiccup said, after a second though.

"I'm not sure about him." Astrid murmured, leaning forward. She grabbed back her fork and started to play with the rest of her food on the plate. "I mean, I'm glad for her, but… I don't know…"

"I trust no man who wanted to fight us." Tuffnut said, now also looking at the TV together with Hiccup. "Even if we kicked his butt."

"Yeah, that." Astrid pointed at Tuffnut and then looked back at Fishlegs.

The teen frowned, focusing on his empty plate in front of himself for few seconds, before speaking.

"Maybe you're right." Then he put the last piece of salad in his mouth, swallowing it quickly. "But he apologized, right? He couldn't be that bad."

Tuffnut snorted, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, words actually do little help when you hurt someone first." He said and somehow this was the end of the topic.

Astrid who opened her mouth, closed it and looked to her side. She grabbed the newspaper from a shop and started to flip through it very slowly. Fishlegs murmured some kind of agreement under his nose, gathered all plates and stood up. Tuffnut focused almost fiercely on the weather forecast actually being showed on the screen.

And Hiccup… Hiccup was a little bit baffled out by the whole situation. He could totally understood Tuffnut's point of view, but Ruffnut was already an adult (strong one, to be more precise) and she could decide for herself. Besides, she looked absolutely happy while talking with this… Eret on the phone, so he couldn't be that bad, right?

Maybe?

There was a loud banging sound when the doors suddenly swung open due to a kick and hit the opposite wall with Ruffnut marching inside.

"Guys I'm home!" She shouted.

Tuffnut, not even lifting a head, yelled back.

"How it went?"

Ruffnut took off her shoes and walked into the living room.

"Good, no incidents on the way there." She said, slumping down on the pillow Fishlegs had occupied few minutes ago. "What is smelling so good?"

And it felt like Fishlegs just waited for this moment, because he stepped inside with another plate with still steaming food on it and put it in front of the girl.

"Breakfast." He said, smiling and walking back to the kitchen to probably finish cleaning the dishes.

"Thanks, Fish!" Ruffnut smiled while taking out the keys and phone to put them on the table.

She grabbed the fork, but before she was able to fully dig in, her phone blinked and vibrated, announcing new message. Ruffnut glanced at it and then shrugged, pushing it away to eat.

At least food was still more important than responding.

---

Author's note:

Finally done! Like, gosh, I re-wrote this chapter (or some parts of it) two times. I'm still not satisfied with how it came out, but… ugh… Now it's too late!

Nerdy facts (and some game's facts):

*Munchkin – it's a card game, where you go into dungeons and fight monster. You win basically when you reach level 10 (usually by defeating monster). Personally, I totally love it, 'cause the cards are fricking funny. If you ever have a chance, go play it! =D

*The spacetime – in physics it is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single interwoven continuum.

*Dom Pérignon – he was a French Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the production and quality of champagne wine. Popular myths frequently, but erroneously, credit him with the invention of sparkling champagne, which didn't become the dominant style of Champagne until the mid-19th century.

*PMMA – poly(methyl methacrylate) – known as acrylic glass or even Plexiglas. But you can do different things from it, not only glass, but small figurines too xD.

*Suspension polymerization – is a heterogeneous radical polymerization process that uses mechanical agitation to mix a monomer or mixture of monomers in a liquid phase, such as water, while the monomers polymerize, forming spheres of polymer.

*Emulsion polymerization – is a type of radical polymerization that usually starts with an emulsion incorporating water, monomer, and surfactant. The most common type of emulsion polymerization is an oil-in-water emulsion, in which droplets of monomer (the oil) are emulsified (with surfactants) in a continuous phase of water.

*7 Wonders and Snotlout winning – this is board game I totally adore. Maybe even more than Munchkin, but I don't know if more than Jungle Speed xD. It is played using three decks of cards featuring depictions of ancient civilizations, military conflicts and commercial activity. Hiccup built a lot of Science Building (green cards) and Snotlout built a Guild (purple cards) which gave him points for every Science Building around him, so you can say he won thanks to Hiccup.

Now answers =D:

Masks of JM and JS – Huehuehue it will be revealed, maybe not soon, but definitely at some point xD.

Awkward-but-fabulous – Omg thank youuuuu =D! I'm glad you like the slow build too!

AnhiVann – I'm sure you're amazing (and definitely better in language than me! =D). Usually when I'm tired and not sure what word or tense or something to use I'm like 'ugh… they will get what I mean hopefully' xD. I'm so fricking glad it helps you keep you mind away from bad things. And to be honest, the urge to write different pairing is so strong, because it would be so angstyyy! And no worries, jealous Jack is coming, but more like sappy-jealous Jack haha xD.

Vamipreharry the 2 – Thank youuu! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

He-who-runs-into-walls – Omg, that would so cool to add in side notes D:! Thank youuu and I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story too =D!

And thank you Reader for still being here with me. Hope you'll have an amazing day!