The boys usually took a couple of days to spend with each other during their summer vacations. Sure, they were best friends who enjoyed spending time with each other. But there was far more to their little summer reunions than they let their families know.

They used their time away from school to plan their next term—whatever that implied. That year, they had decided to meet in the Frost residence, and Hiccup could not wait to finally get there. And yeah, spending the days with his father had been a bit dull, and he missed Jack's antics, but more than anything, Hiccup needed the silverhead's help. He was at a loss of moves, had been for the past couple of days, and he so desperately needed some new insight.

That thought in mind, Hiccup rushed from the bus station to Jack's house at suicidal speed. He knew his hosts would insist that he called for a ride, but he was just too eager to get there. And so he found himself ringing the Frost's doorbell, sweat running down his forehead, ears buzzing, and lungs begging for air.

The door opened a little crack, and a little girl peeked at him from inside.

"Hiccup!" Cassie shouted, fully opening the door, and jumping into his arms.

"Hey, Casse," Hiccup greeted, affectionately messing Jack's little sister's hair. He looked down at the girl attached to his waist. She was taller than the last time he had seen her. Heavier too. "How are you?"

"Good!" she replied. "I get to play with Jack every day!"

"Sounds like fun," Hiccup said with a chuckle. He walked inside the house, the girl still wrapped around his middle. "Speaking of your lousy brother, is he home?"

"I heard that!" the silverhead's voice reached them from another room.

Cassie giggled, letting go of Hiccup, and locking the front door after him. "He's in the living room."

Hiccup followed the little girl and found his friend lying on the couch, playing on his phone as some superhero movie played on the TV.

"Sup, Jackson."

"Hey, Third." Jack looked up from his phone and winked at the auburn-haired guy. "Mother was so excited about picking you guys up at the station. Oh, she will be devastated now."

Hiccup dropped his backpack on the floor and went to the vacant couch. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Running errands. Probably last-minute arrangements for the feast she's throwing in your name." Jack rolled on his stomach to look at Hiccup. "I hope you like meatloaf."

"I love meatloaf." Hiccup leaned back and stretched his legs. He kept opening and closing his hands as he watched Cassie playing with her dollhouse. "Honestly, I love anything your mom cooks."

"Good," Jack said, returning his attention to his phone. "Because you're gonna have to eat Andrew's share too."

Hiccup frowned, apprehension drying his throat. "Why? What happened to Andy?"

"Looks like grandma Davis strained her back, so the family is staying with her for a couple of days."

"Is she okay?"

Jack shrugged. "I think so. Andy said they were just going to make sure she doesn't overdo it, and that he will see us back in prison for the new term."

"That's that, I guess," Hiccup mumbled, knees bouncing frantically.

As the auburn-haired boy's feet continued to tap the floor, Jack's annoyance seemed to grow, and he groaned, dropping his phone on his stomach and glaring at Hiccup.

"Okay, spill it," the silverhead said, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Hiccup asked, feigning innocence.

"Clearly, there's something bugging you," Jack stated. "What is it?"

"Uh…" Hiccup's eyes shifted in Cassie's direction, and then they went back to his hands. Biting on the inside of his cheek, he looked at the girl again.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Cass, can you play in your room for a while?"

The girl looked at her brother with curiosity. "Why?"

"Because Hiccup and I need to have a serious talk."

"Why can't I stay?" Cassie asked pouting.

"Because it's a private conversation," Jack said dryly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Guys stuff, kiddo." Jack rolled his eyes. "Now get out."

Cassie jumped to her feet and rushed to Hiccup's side, tugging on his shirt. "Hiccup doesn't mind, right, Hiccup?"

Hiccup laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. He looked imploringly at his friend for help.

"Cassie," Jack hissed. "Please."

"But Jack—" Cassie whined.

"Give us twenty minutes and we can have a princess tea party later. You can even put lipstick on Hiccup."

"Wait, what?" Hiccup protest but was ignored by the Frost siblings.

Cassie looked at her brother with puckered lips as she seemed to consider his proposition. A long moment passed, the boys glancing at each other, trying not to laugh until Cassie jumped up on her feet.

"Okey dokey!" She picked her little bunny up, gently cooing to the tiny bundle of fur in her hands and carefully trod upstairs.

And as soon as they heard Cassie's bedroom door closing, Jack sat up and faced Hiccup directly. "So let me ask again," the silverhead said, "what's up with you?"

"I…" Hiccup pressed a hand to his face. "I screwed up."

Jack continued to scrutinize Hiccup with his eyes, and the latter felt smaller and smaller as the seconds went by.

"...There's a shovel in the garage," Jack informed. "And I guess we gotta find something to wipe off the fingerprints..."

Hiccup frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jack shrugged, looking at the other guy with a raised eyebrow. "We have to get rid of the body, right?"

"Oh, wow." Hiccup threw his arms up in the air. "Ha, ha. You're hilarious, Frost."

"Thanks, handsome," the silverhead replied with a smirk. "Seriously, what's wrong? Can't be worse than committing murder, can it?"

"That's one way of putting it," Hiccup grumbled.

"You having problems with your dad or something?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Nope. Things are still pretty ordinary with good ol' Stoick. Which I suppose is a good thing in this case."

Jack let himself fall against the backrest. "I'm done playing guess, Hiccup."

"Uh…" HIccup pointed at Jack's face. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. What I'm about to tell you gotta stay between us for now."

Jack frowned. "You're starting to freak me out."

"Just promise you won't tell!"

"I promise!" Jack crossed his arms. "Sheesh."

Hiccup tried to think of his next sentence, but he wasn't sure where to start, and the words jumbled up in his brain.

"Whenever you're ready, Third," Jack said mockingly.

"I…" Hiccup took a deep breath. "Astrid and I have been texting…"

Jack narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Really? Since when?"

Hiccup shrugged. "A month or something ago?"

It had all started when Hiccup asked for her help to pick a birthday present for his father. He asked her if he should pick the green tie or the blue one, and she picked the green one. Since then, they had exchanged occasional innocuous texts—nothing drastic nor too forward, just jokes about their mutual acquaintances or random daily-life anecdotes.

… But then, he screwed up.

"Huh." Jack scratched his chin. "That's good, right?"

Hiccup scowled. "I'm… not sure."

"That doesn't look promising," Jack mumbled, leaning over with his elbows on his knees. "What did you do?"

"I think it's better if I show you…"

Hiccup fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. He watched with apprehension as Jack scrolled down the messages. Jack's eyes widened as he reached the end of the conversation, and Hiccup held his breath.

Jack slowly looked up from the device in his hands and met the auburn-haired guy's startled eyes. "That was bold of you."

Hiccup groaned, pressing his hands to his face.

"And she didn't give you an answer?" Jack asked.

"Nope," Hiccup mumbled, his voice muffled by his hands. "Dead silence ever since."

Jack threw the phone on its owner's lap. "Huh."

Hiccup peeked at the silverhead through the gaps between his fingers. "Should I—should I apologize or something?"

"Do you want to apologize?"

"I don't want to, "Hiccup protested. "But I also don't want her to keep ghosting me."

Jack snorted, shaking his head. "You're hopeless."

"Yeah," Hiccup scoffed, falling back on the couch and staring at the ceiling. "That's the problem, isn't it?"

The silverhead sighed. "Well, on the bright side, she didn't flat out dump you this time."

Hiccup laughed disheartened. "And that's supposed to be a good thing?"

"I mean…" Jack shrugged. "Maybe you still have a chance."

"Astrid!" Violet called as she rushed after her friend down the hallway.

The blonde turned on her heels with a glower on her face. "What?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Violet wheezed out of breath.

Astrid put her hands on her hips. "What makes you think there's anything wrong with me?"

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that you've been acting jumpy since you got here," the brunette snarled. "And then you just bolted out of nowhere!"

"I don't have time for this," Astrid grunted and tried to resume her frantic walk, but Violet grabbed her arm before she could take another step.

Violet narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "What are you talking about?"

Astrid hissed through clenched teeth. "Can we do this somewhere else? I need to get out of here."

"Get out of—"

"There you are!" a guy called, his voice loudly echoing through the hallway.

Looking around, Violet saw Jack Frost and Hiccup Haddock approaching, and was she imagining things, or was Jack pushing Hiccup toward the girls?

Astrid pulled her arm from the brunette's grasp and averted her eyes. The blonde's distress confused Violet even more.

"Afternoon, ladies," Jack greeted, tipping an imaginary hat with a courteous smile. "Good to see you again."

Violet's eyes remained glued to the blonde, who kept staring at the floor with a tense jaw. "Not now, Frost."

Jack sucked in an offended gasp at the same time as his right hand ran to his chest. "Wow, could you at least try to sound happy to see me?"

Violet turned to glare at the silverhead for a moment, then went back to observing Astrid's increasing standoffishness.

Jack cleared his throat. "Anyway, Vi? Could you come with me for a second?"

"No, I'm not—"

Before she could finish speaking, Jack had grabbed her wrist and started pulling her away from the rest of the group. "You're coming with me, darling," he said gruffly.

"Let go of me, asshole!" Violet shouted, but her struggles were in vain as Jack kept pulling her like she was a mere rag doll. She looked back at the other two, and Astrid and Hiccup stood as if stuck frozen in time, both with slumped shoulders and averted eyes.

"Violet, please," Jack whisper-shouted at her. "Work with me for a moment, will you?"

Violet narrowed her eyes, apprehension rising up her throat and making her heartbeat race. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I…" Jack scowled. "I can't tell you."

"Frost..."

They turned around the corner, and Jack pushed Violet to the wall. "Look, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," he grumbled. "But if things go as I expect them to, you'll find out about it soon enough."

She crossed her arms. "You're not making any sense."

He turned to look at her. His eyes were serious. She had rarely seen him so resolute. "Those two need to talk in private," he stated. "Please, trust me on this. Just this time."

Violet took a deep breath and let the air out slowly through her nose. The panic she had seen in Astrid's eyes still unnerved her, and she worried something irreparable was about to happen. She clenched her fists to stop the shaking. Eyes still locked on his, she tsked, throwing her head back.

"Fine," she grumbled at last. "You better not be wrong about this, Jack."

Jack glanced back at the corridor again. "I hope I'm not, Vi."

"I really, really hope I'm not."

Astrid dared not to look up, and she could only listen helplessly as Violet was dragged out of her view. She glared at the floor, clenched jaw, tightened fists, and heartbeat thumping frantically in her ears.

She heard Hiccup chuckled. "That was subtle..."

Her eyes slowly shifted from the ground to his face. Astrid snarled, "So you told Frost?"

Hiccup shrugged, shoving his hands inside his pockets. "I had to. I needed his input after you started ignoring me."

"So it's my fault?" she asked with a snort.

"Wha—no—I didn't say that." He recoiled. "Why are you so mad?"

Astrid crossed her arms. "I'm not mad."

"Yes… you are."

She crossed her arms. "I am not mad, Hiccup!"

"Sorry. Sheesh," Hiccup grumbled, pressing a hand to his face. He shook his head. "This is not how I planned things to go."

Astrid laughed, throwing her head back. "I bet."

Hiccup sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I cornered you with what I said." He looked at her, and his eyes softened. "But I'm not gonna apologize for what made me do it."

Her brain froze. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. And she was stuck there staring at Hiccup's dumb face like a moron.

His lips were shaking as he whispered, "I hope you know by now how I feel about you."

Astrid gulped down. She shook her head, turning away from him. "Yeah, I'd be really stupid if I didn't."

Hiccup let out a choked laugh. He put a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look at him. "I like you, Astrid," he confided, leaning closer to her. "You're smart, and beautiful, and the coolest person ever."

She narrowed her eyes, and Hiccup continued with a chuckle, "And you get suspicious when people compliment you. You're quick to throw a punch, and it's a killer punch at that."

Astrid couldn't look away from his deep, forest green eyes—something about the way the color shifted with the light was so… enthralling, and she wondered how she hadn't noticed it until that moment. She felt his fingers sliding down her arm, his touch so light that it gave her goosebumps.

Hiccup swallowed once, his Adam's apple moving up and down before he continued, "You stand up for what you believe in, and you're unbelievably loyal to the people you trust." His voice got hoarser and weaker at every new word he uttered. "And as great as being your friend has been, I keep wondering what it would be like if we became something more."

She started to get annoyed at his compliments, and halfway down his speech, she started to question herself when the idiot would finally shut the hell up. She arched an eyebrow at him. Humorlessly, she asked, "Are you done?"

Hiccup scratched the back of his head and laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah. Pretty much—"

Satisfied with his answer, Astrid pulled her arm back and punched him in the chest.

"Ow!" he cried, jumping away from her, and as she rushed in his direction, he recoiled, protecting his body from incoming attacks. "What the hell was that?"

"That was for you being a cocky bastard." Astrid's hand went to the nape of his neck, and she pulled him down, crashing his lips against hers. At the sudden attack, Hiccup squealed, and their teeth clashed together.

And as quickly as it had started, the kiss had ended. Astrid pulled back with an audible smack as their lips parted, leaving a petrified Hiccup looking at her in astonishment.

"That… was for everything else."