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Merry Christmas!

Geld

"Pregnant?!" Jack repeated in astonishment as the word was sinking into his mind more slowly than what the situation called for. At first he figured he had heard wrong. That Lucy had meant a different person. Or that it was a joke.

"You're sure?" he asked redundantly.

Lucy only responded with an anguished sob into Jack's neck as she continued to shake from unrestrained tribulation. He held her tighter, staring off at a distant point on the wall, as the message slowly sunk in.

"Hey, hey," he murmured softly as he gently led her over to the couch. He sat down into the soft cushions, pulling her into his lap and then continued to hold her as she sobbed against him, her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried into the crook of neck, her soft, chestnut hair tickling his cheek. Jack started to rhythmically rock her while rubbing her back. Despite his efforts, he felt wetness soak into his shirt from her sorrow. He didn't know what to do. Lucy was having a breakdown and he wasn't…he wasn't upset at all. Should he be upset? Maybe. But no such emotions came to the foreground. The only concern he felt was for her, and whether he could stop her from feeling such despair.

"Shh…" he whispered soothingly as he continued to rock her. "Everything will be alright…"

"How?" she choked as she lifted her tear-streaked face to look at him. Her hazel eyes shining as she finally made eye contact with Jack. Between unrestrained intakes of air she uttered, "I- I can't go to s- school…pregnant. I- I'll lose my funding. My f-family isn't here to help me, I don't h-have enough money, all my plans…I can't do any of it!" Her voice cracked on the final word and she pulled her knees up and buried her face in them as she started to hyperventilate.

Jack enveloped her in his arms again and slowly rocked her side to side, gently guiding her to breathe with him in an attempt at helping her calm down.

"I'm here," he breathed at last, "I can help you with all of it."

"You don't have any money either!" she gasped into her knees. "And we've barely been together two months! This was-n't sup-posed to happen like this!"

"You're right," Jack replied somberly, causing Lucy to glance up at him. They just stared at each other for a moment, Lucy attempting but still struggling to control her erratic breathing.

Jack then slowly reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb and smiled reassuringly at her.

"You're not mad?" she asked meekly as her lip trembled slightly.

Jack's smile warmed a little more as he laughed softly at the ridiculous question. "Why would I be mad?" he muttered in quiet disbelief. He reached out to stroke a piece of her hair as he whispered, "We're going to have a baby…"

After being reminded of that reality, Lucy turned her head away from Jack to return her gaze to her knees, which she still held near her chest.

"Hey," Jack said as he reached for her chin and gently guided her to look back at him, "You're not alone here. And I'm not alone either. We'll figure this out."

"How?" she demanded, her voice quavering but having significantly steadied.

"I'll graduate this language course and start an internship for a job. In the meantime, I do have some support here. I can get you whatever you need," he firmly promised.

Lucy stared into his ice-blue eyes as he made that promise to her with complete seriousness, it was the most serious she had ever seen him.

Sniffing once, Lucy nodded before asking, "Can you just hold me for right now?"

Jack nodded and raised his hips and she removed her weight from him so he could lie down on the couch next to her. Pulling her into his chest, he felt as she searched for his hand before clasping her hand with his. He gingerly kissed the hair above her ear and rubbed his thumb against hers as they both drifted off in their own thoughts.

He was going to have a baby… He was going to have a life with Lucy… A family.

…

…

As to be expected, Nicco was slowly counting down the minutes he had to continue to remain at this stupid office party before he could politely excuse himself. It was being held at one of his boss's homes and was lavishly decorated, despite the less than significant occasion. He had to admit though, the house was beautiful. He found himself wondering how much his boss would have to make to afford it… Sipping absentmindedly on the wine he was holding before lowering it and swirling it around in the glass, he gazed across the room and saw a couple men guffawing loudly with one another. Nicco had to at least be thankful that the alcohol was free… It had caused a few of his colleagues to drink themselves stupid and cause some mild entertainment.

It wasn't that Nicco hated the people he worked with, he just hated pretending to be interested in them. In his opinion, they were not the kind of people he preferred to socialize with. He preferred being around Luka, because they at least had similar interests. Luka didn't talk "business" with him, if he felt like talking at all. Normally Nicco was unperturbed by that, tonight Luka's general lack of communication really made itself apparent as he hadn't been fraternizing with hardly anyone. He appeared like he was observing everyone with the utmost scrutiny for some reason, like he didn't trust them all of a sudden. Nicco hoped that the beer he was drinking would kick in soon and he would loosen up.

Thinking of Luka, Nicco suddenly noticed that he couldn't find him. Turning around, he walked across the living room and into the dining room thinking he had gone to get some food.

But the dining room was empty, save for one girl briskly grabbing a pastry before returning to her original group. Nicco tried to remember her name but quickly gave up as he continued his search.

He strolled casually through the kitchen and then checked the restroom with no success. That only left the upstairs…but the party seemed to be limited to the first floor. He juggled with the dilemma of wanting to locate Luka and acting extremely rudely for exploring his boss's house without permission. Standing at a crossroads, he pulled out his phone and attempted to call Luka.

Of course he didn't pick up. He almost never did.

Glancing around to make sure no one was in the primary hallway, Nicco quietly ascended the staircase so he could briefly inspect the upper level.

Man, if Luka had left early without him…Nicco would be so pissed at him.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Nicco noticed all the doorways were closed. Listening carefully, trying to block out the noise from below, he attempted at discerning any familiar voices. After passing by the first door, he heard the unmistakable tenor of Luka's voice coming from behind the other.

[Sure, I might know where to find some…]

Hesitantly knocking, Nicco waited only a moment before none other than Fabian opened the door to reveal a small office.

Quickly realizing how awkward it was for him to just happen to wander his way to this very room, Nicco decided to admit, [Glad I found you, Luka. Weissman was asking about you a moment ago and I thought you'd left.]

[Pft, bullshit,] Luka laughed as he filled a couple shot glasses with rum, [You thought I'd left early.] He then handed one of the glasses to Fabian as he added, [Cheers.] and looked him dead in the eye before tipping back the liquor and swallowing it in one fluid gulp. Fabian raised a brow in curiosity before following suit.

[What brought you two up here?] Nicco asked suddenly feeling like he was missing out on a vital piece of information.

[Just an attempt at escaping for a moment,] Fabian responded simply setting the shot glass on the desk before adding, [We should probably head down though.] He started to walk out the door past Nicco, but stopped once he realized that the other two weren't following.

[We'll probably sneak out now if that's alright?] Luka declared more than asked as he smirked knowingly at Fabian.

[Fine by me, I'd sneak out too if I could,] Fabian conferred, apparently providing his blessing. [See you Monday,] he added before turning to head down the staircase.

[Let's go,] Luka added before wrapping his arm around Nicco's waist and leading to the staircase.

They swiftly gathered their things and left knowing that no one would notice their disappearance other than Fabian.

[What was that all about?] Nicco asked as the two got into his car.

[What?] Luka asked absentmindedly.

[Your secret meeting with the boss,] Nicco clarified, annoyance ringing on his tone.

[Ohh,] Luka responded and Nicco could tell by his tone that he was smiling wryly at him, [Jealous the boss likes me better?] he asked impishly.

Nicco rolled his eyes at Luka's sudden sense of humor and admitted, [No. It just seemed odd you both snuck up into a room of someone else's house to do a shot.]

Luka merely shrugged and took out his phone to give him something to focus his attention on.

[You're not going to tell me what he wants you to do for him,] Nicco observed after noting Luka's obvious lack of attention.

[Hmph,] Luka snorted in amusement, not really answering the question. But after a moment, he posed the question, [Say Nicco, what do you say about making a little extra cash...?]

…

…

"You're back late," Hiccup commented as Toothless closed the bedroom door behind him.

[My colleagues party harder than I thought,] Toothless explained humorously as he stripped off his shirt and walked into the bathroom.

Hiccup pursed his lips as he thought about it. Toothless had been faithfully coming directly home after work and consequently hiding himself away as a result. He had gotten a lot better at spending time with Hiccup like they used to, but he still kept a wall up. Seeing as his office was holding a celebratory work party tonight, Hiccup saw it as a good thing that Toothless got out a little.

Then again he did stay out until three in the morning…

As Toothless walked out of the shower and over to their dresser, Hiccup couldn't help but let his eyes linger over his book on the raven-haired boy's figure. He missed him so much it was nearly driving him mad. Even though ever since he had started seeing a doctor, he had stopped running and was starting to lose the tone he had before. But Hiccup still found him gorgeous to look at, even if he wasn't allowed to…

[What's up with you?] Toothless asked as he grinned at Hiccup over his shoulder after slipping on a pair of pajama pants.

"Nothing," Hiccup responded before quickly reverting his attention back to his book.

Holding his grin, Toothless closed the divide between the two of them and leaned on the edge of the mattress before asking coyly, [You miss me, right?]

Hiccup immediately felt heat rise in his cheeks after being found out and also from not being able to stop his eyes from roving down the smooth planes of the raven-haired boy's chest. Gods did he miss him. He missed not being able to sleep next to him. He missed being able to touch him whenever he wanted. Glancing at the boy's hips, which were so unfortunately clothed, Hiccup's heart started to race as he missed what it felt like to be filled by him…Moving his eyes back up, he felt the heat continue to rise as he met the raven-haired boy's vibrant green gaze. Toothless looked down for a brief moment before leaning in and capturing Hiccup's lips in a magnetizing kiss.

Hiccup inhaled deeply at finally being able to taste his love again. The raven-haired boy's natural perfume filled Hiccup's senses and he instantly felt safe. As though he had found his home away from home again.

Toothless tickled Hiccup's bottom lip as he ever so gently traced his tongue against it. Hiccup eagerly opened his mouth to tempt the raven-haired boy closer, but Toothless pulled back slightly, biting Hiccup's lip as he left. Hiccup opened his eyes to see him straighten up with a demure smile spread across his features. Hiccup instantly felt his heart sink after being so close to something he had longed over for months…

"You're such a tease…" he grumbled as he sunk back into his pillows and grabbed his book again to stubbornly look like he was going to continue reading it at three in the morning.

[Ch…I try to be,] Toothless remarked before pulling on a shirt and turning to head to the attic. [Goodnight, Hic,] he said simply before turning down the hallway, leaving an extremely disgruntled Hiccup to take care of his own problem again.

…

…

Despite being up late, Hiccup still made it a habit not to sleep in past nine. If he slept in too much, he found that he never got anything done. It was also probably a difficult habit to break after spending so much time waking up at the crack of dawn while he was living at the Guardians.

Hearing his alarm go off, Hiccup groaned and shut off the annoying ring before stretching and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Getting out of bed, he pulled on a shirt and went downstairs to make himself some coffee. Another habit of his past that had been hammered into him, mostly because of Jack.

His heart sunk again at the thought of Jack. Yes, he was happy that Toothless was getting help and getting better. But he wanted to make things right with Jack…problem was that Jack only seemed to come by when Hiccup wasn't around. He was avoiding them. However, he hoped that if he could just get a little alone time with him, Hiccup could repair what was broken. He could get him back again.

Breathing in deeply to offset the despair that had started to settle, Hiccup poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with an apple. After a moment, he heard the telltale footfalls of Benedikt coming down the stairs. The guy had outrageously heavy footsteps, even for his size.

He wordlessly strolled into the kitchen and did the same as Hiccup; however, he started washing the dishes that were left forgotten from the night prior. Hiccup felt suddenly guilty for leaving them there, but he had been so preoccupied with waiting for Toothless that was snacking at midnight and didn't want to wake up Benedikt.

"Don't worry about those Benedikt, I'll get them after I'm done here," Hiccup halfheartedly tried to shoo the blonde twin away, but knew that Benedikt always finished whatever he started.

"No worries," Benedikt replied simply as he continued his task.

"Toothless not up yet?" Hiccup asked since Benedikt had taken it upon himself to check Toothless in the morning to see how he was.

"I was just about to go check," Benedikt answered. "What time did he get back last night?"

"About three," Hiccup said honestly, but knew that the time would set Benedikt on the alert.

As expected he paused as he rinsed and set the dishes on the dishrack to dry. While drying his hands, he turned around to look through the dining room doorway at Hiccup as he asked, "And…was he acting normal?"

Hiccup shrugged and replied vaguely, "Yeah I guess. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Benedikt stopped drying his hands, but continued to hold the dishrag as he watched Hiccup for another minute. Then he wordlessly turned around and poured a cup of coffee before adding cream to it. Hiccup figured he was bringing it up to Toothless.

"Tell him I'll cook him breakfast if he comes down!" Hiccup called as Benedikt exited the kitchen and went to head up the stairs.

…

…

Benedikt was a little annoyed with Hiccup for being so blatantly opaque with him about his brother's behavior. Of course it was bizarre for him to come back so late. And Benedikt could only figure that he had done something peculiar for Hiccup to be so obviously vague about it. This whole secret keeping about Luka needed to stop…

Already Benedikt suspected that Toothless was not himself and was trying to prepare a memory that would bring his brother back to normal before he had even pulled down the attic folding ladder. He climbed the step ladder one-handed, balancing the coffee with the other, before poking his head above the floor.

Toothless was sitting at his desk with both his laptop and his desktop opened as he tinkered away at it.

[You need both of them?] Benedikt asked curiously as he ascended above the hole in the floor and brought the coffee over to his brother.

[Yeah,] Toothless responded curtly without even looking up, instead he reached over to grip the coffee mug and brought it to his lips. He took a drink and set it off on the corner of the desk before resuming his work.

[What are you doing?] Benedikt asked since he wouldn't get an answer otherwise.

[Moving our finances around,] Toothless answered inattentively, holding his gaze onto the screen.

Benedikt walked around the desk to see what he was doing, but as expected, he couldn't make head nor tail of what Toothless was working on. He leaned down over his brother and strongly smelled the scent of his shampoo in his hair, noticing that he must have taken a shower last night. He then looked over at Toothless's bed and saw that it was neatly made. A suspicion settling in his mind, Benedikt walked over and picked up the pillow to feel it was completely dry and even smelled it to check if any traces of shampoo were there.

[No, I didn't sleep there last night,] Toothless answered for him, homing in on what his brother investigating.

[Why not? You should sleep you know,] Benedikt responded simply.

[Thanks mom,] Toothless said bitingly, [I just wasn't tired and once I started this I couldn't stop.]

Benedikt stared at him for a moment, his face slightly lit up more than the rest of the room from the faint glow from his computers.

[You should drink your coffee then,] Benedikt suggested a little coldly, [You don't want to make an easy mistake just because you're tired.]

[There's no sugar in it.]

There it was. All the proof Benedikt needed. Toothless never put sugar in his coffee.

"Toothless," he said firmly trying to pull his attention back. But to no response.

"Toothless." he repeated adding a little more strength to his voice.

"Luka!" he called, almost sounding mad.

[WHAT?!] Luka snapped his head up suddenly angered. [Do you want the money or not?!] he yelled at his brother.

Benedikt was suddenly torn between getting his real brother back and letting Luka's alter continue his work. They needed the money…and if he stopped him now, then Luka might not remember what his alter was doing and make a detrimental error.

[I'll go put sugar in your coffee,] he gave in and reached out to grab the cup before descending back down the stairs.

Once he re-entered the kitchen, Hiccup was still waiting expectantly at the kitchen table like a concerned Labrador.

"Don't go up there for a while," Benedikt muttered angrily before adding a few cubes of sugar to the coffee and turning to bring it back.

Apologies again for infrequent postings.

I must choose to work on my career before writing..

Even though I really enjoy writing, especially this story.

Because I have the BEST readers who leave me wonderful thoughts and ideas afterwards.

Thanks again!

I look forward to your reviews almost as much as I like writing these xP

And man...next chapter is going to be a doozy.

I'll warn you ahead of time...

Special Thanks:

Katsa4444 and Kei-Kat for your follows and favorites!

Kigen Dawn: lol I probably won't be locking them in a room together. The hurt goes deep, brah. But they will fight...oh will they fight.

violets fire: Did Jack handle it how you thought he would? And yeah, Luka's trying. But he's Luka, he'll probably slip up.

Bleepbloop: First of all, I love your nickname. And I wasn't sure about the pregnancy thing either, but I will try reeeeaaaalllly hard to not make it like they always are. Guess we'll see, right?

EmJx: When you said it took you 5 hours to read, I was going to suggest you check yourself for some head trauma xD And ohmygosh I love how you commented that part of the chapter when Toothless assumed Jack was with a girl because he said 'normal'. That was the part I liked most because it's just...aw. Poor guy. And yes, lol, a streetcar/trolley/whatever you call it. It's called a streetcar in German, so I just figured that was a common term for it. But the Brits have to have their own names for everything, so...peh.

JustALittleDisneyPrincess: Jack is definitely not that responsible...But I guess what I didn't make clear was that Jack doesn't have money. They didn't have much money in the States and the only reason he's over there was because Toothless paid for everything.

Teddy: hahahahaha I laughed when I first read your review and I laughed just as hard reading it now. 'wat is heart?' oh my geezus. You got me. But yeah...what will happen when Luka/Hiccup find out about Jack? We'll just have to see next chapter...mwahaha

Elder The 1st: For real...every time I finish a chapter, I want to strangle them. And if time were not of the essence, I would write the rest of the story tomorrow...however long that will end up being. No idea. But yeah, definitely more drama, angst, and twists in the making here. Hope you made it through your semester ok!