Well hey there guys... Sorry for any confusion on the upload of this one but it did that weird code thing that fanfiction sometimes does for stupid reasons... so I had to reupload it and also rewrite all the shoutouts, so sorry if they seem a little unenthusiastic or rushed. It's nearly midnight here and I have college at 8:30 tomorrow...
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Hiccup
Hiccup wasn't going to lie when he said that last night had been stressful for him. And he also wasn't going to try and pretend that he had slept at all since Aster and Jack had left his apartment. If it wasn't enough that he'd needed to deal with Jack and make sure he got home safely, right after he'd gone, Hiccup's phone had started buzzing.
The amount of drunk texts he'd received from Tadashi that day had been astonishing. At least one every twenty seconds for about two hours straight. Most of them had been complete nonsense, just jumbles of letters and numbers, but when they did make sense, they were fantastically amusing.
-yo h whair !did u, goo?;-
-thairs a reely ho/tt pinaple here ,m-
-im guna kisss her!"-
-wayt nevm#ind it wus jus/t fred-
-hav yoo evur bean to freds?./ iTS HUUUuuGGEE-
-nuhnite hICcup cvv-
Apart from wanting to kiss a really hot pineapple, it didn't seem like Tadashi was in any trouble. He was at Fred's place too, by the sounds of it. Fred was the son of the manager of Yoji and he was a pretty responsible guy when he wasn't goofing around. Tadashi was still able to use his phone, which told Hiccup that he wasn't too badly out of it… He'd be fine.
Besides, Hiccup was expecting a phone call.
Jack
Jack wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting stoic, staring unblinkingly at the clock on the wall, but judging by the fact his eyes were stinging beyond belief and he now had learnt the exact duration of one second, it had been too damn long.
What even was the time again?
"Jack?"
At the sudden noise that wasn't ticking or a snoring drone, Jack fell clear out of his chair and landed in a heap on the tiled floor.
"What'cha doin' on the floor, lad?" A flurry of bright red filled his vision as a familiar Scottish voice spoke to him and he was pulled gently back to his feet, onto the chair again.
"Merida? I didn't know you were here…" Jack said lazily, trying to find his voice. He hadn't actually spoken out loud for several hours after all.
"Yeah, ah was in Aster's room, duh. Anyway, what're you staring at the wall fer?" Merida had her hair up in a bun, but it was clear that her hair was not used to being in a bun, as it stuck out at weird odd angles, as if she'd been rolling through a hedge head first.
"In Aster's-? Oh yeah, right. Girlfriend… I forgot." Jack had almost forgotten Merida and Aster were together, what with Aster being so nice to him last night. That's what friends do though, right?
"Is Aster still asleep?" Jack asked. He just now noticed that Merida was dressed in only a tank top and pyjama shorts. This realisation forced Jack to glance down at himself, and he sighed in relief when he saw that he'd had the sense to at least put on a t-shirt before venturing out to the kitchen. However, he was still only in boxers down under. Merida didn't seem to notice or care, thank god.
"Yeah, he'll be out for a coupla hours, ah reckon. But why the 'eck are you up and doin' nothin' at seven in the mornin'?"
Seven? Hmm, well that answered that question…
"How long've you been sittin' there, Jack?" She kneeled in front of him now, her face anxious and concerned.
"Uh, n-not too long. Don't worry 'bout me. I'm just y'know, waiting for this hangover to pass." Jack found himself chuckling nervously. "What about you? How come you're not still smashed?"
"You know the party was the day before yesterday, right?" Merida raised an eyebrow. "Ah'm not that much of a lightweight, thanks. Ah'm offended by that accusation."
"Sorry." Jack mumbled.
"Seriously though, are y'alright?"
Jack nodded.
Merida considered him for a second, not sure whether to believe him or not. "O-kay… Well, I was jus' gonna grab somethin' to eat before ah head out to work. You want anythin' while I'm here?"
Jack shook his head. He'd come to the kitchen hoping to get something to eat, but somehow that whole concept had become completely insignificant to him now.
"C'mon, you need to eat somethin', Jack." Merida said, as she bent down to get some cereal out of the cupboard. "Y'aint had anythin' but alcohol in yer stomach for a few days and that's not good fer you, y'know…"
"Yeah, s'pose… Okay." To be honest, Jack just wanted to stay on Merida's good side today. He knew how crazy she got when she needed to be, and he was in no state to be able to deal with an angry Scot right now.
"Shreddies good?" She asked, straightening up again with a blue box, shaking it a little, making the signature cereal shimmying sound.
"Mmm-hmm."
"You guys got any milk?" Merida floated across to the fridge, littered with dumb, but memorable photos of the gang. There were photobooth strips from fairs, polaroids from when Anna tried to be a vintage tumblr hipster and loads of other random disposable camera photos of everyone pulling dumb faces and grinning like idiots in various different places. The zoo, the pier, an art gallery they all visited last year, the park-
The picture of them all at the park was Jack's favourite. All of them were there that day. Even some friends of Astrid's showed up. Jack hadn't bothered to learn their names, but all in all, about twenty people had been crammed somehow into that single snapshot. They'd gotten a random bystander to take the photo for them, so there was no one missing from it.
Maybe that was why Jack liked it so much. In most of the other photos, it was either Anna or himself missing from the group because they'd been the ones taking the photo. Jack liked making memories like that, but rarely noticed that by being the one to take the snaps, he'd avoided being a part of them.
Oh well, they were memories that made him smile anyway.
He looked at the park photo more closely as Merida began rummaging through the fridge. Jack, Tuff and Gogo were at the front, pulling goofy faces and making peace signs. Behind them were Honey, Elsa, Anna, Ruff and Flynn, all posing like models, as usual. Off to the side, Aster and Merida were having an intense piggyback race towards the camera with North and Tooth. And in the back, Astrid, her three nameless friends, Sandy, Kristoff and Rapunzel were tossing a frisbee between each other, but were all waving to the camera regardless. The blue blur that was the frisbee was inches from smacking into Kristoff's face. A moment captured just before it hit.
Everyone was happy that day.
Jack smiled. Man, he loved his friends…
"Earth to Jack!" Merida was right in his face now. "Where do you keep the milk?"
"Oh, uh, dunno if we have any…" Jack shrugged. "If there's none in the fridge, I dunno where else it'd be." Where else do people keep milk other than the fridge after all?
"Ugh, you guys are 'opeless!" She groaned, plonking the cereal box onto the table next to me and then reaching to grab two bowls and two spoons. "Dry cereal it it then…"
"Dry shreddies?" Jack gasped, in mock fear, "Are you trying to kill us?"
"Man up." She replied, sitting at the chair opposite Jack and beginning to shovel the dry cereal into her mouth. She quickly stopped however, throwing the spoon down and pulling a disgusted face. "Ugh no, that was a bad idea…"
"Told you so." Jack teased.
"Shut it, you." She snapped, tossing her bowl into the sink (thank god it was plastic) and standing up again. She pulled a single hairband out of her hair with a great amount of tugging and wrenching and shook her mane about, letting it cascade down her back, before snatching Jack's bowl away too and taking it to the sink.
"Don't eat dry shreddies, they're gross. But you need to eat somethin'."
Jack looked at her blankly.
"I know you ain't gonna look after yerself properly once I'm gone, so I ain't leaving til I know you've eaten, okay?" She began searching through cupboards again, looking for anything edible. "Toast it is then!" And she pulled out a loaf of bread in a bag, that Jack knew had been in there well past its expiry date, but was honestly too unbothered to mention it.
A few minutes later, the two of them were sat at the table again, eating slightly blue, buttered toast, trying to ignore the deafening snores coming from the next room.
"D'you reckon they're gonna wake up soon?" Jack asked, jerking his head in their direction.
"Probably…" Merida mumbled, mouth full of mouldy toast. "Well, I mean Anna can smell food from a mile away so she'll be up any second I reckon-"
"Who's making buttered toast?" Anna suddenly appeared in the doorway, sniffing the air like a bloodhound.
"Okay, what the hell?" Jack's eyes were wide. Girls…
The door had creaked so loudly when Anna had swung it open that the groans of people coming back to consciousness could be heard coming from the sofas and floor behind her, and one by one, the rest of the group all appeared too.
"Mornin' sleepyheads!" Merida called happily, seeming to find it hilarious that they were all spectacularly hungover still.
A low grumble of 'good morning's arose from the guys as they all stumbled their way into the kitchen with Jack and Merida. It was pretty cramped in here, and Jack wondered if everyone would fit. The answer, no.
As the guys all headed straight to the cupboards, grabbing food for themselves, the girls came and collapsed on the chairs surrounding the small table. Astrid was the last out of the lounge so by the time she reached the table, there were no chairs left. She gave Jack a pleading look, and Jack, getting the hint, scooched over and let her share half of his chair. As she plonked into it, Jack had to put an arm around her waist to stop her falling sideways off it.
"Thanks Jack." She smiled, rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms up. As she brought them back down, she rested one hand on top of Jack's and held on tight.
"What happened to you last night, Jack?" Gogo asked, wide eyed in comparison to the near-dead looking Rapunzel slouched beside her. "I mean, where'd you go when we couldn't find you?"
"Uh, some guy took me home and I slept in his bed-" Jack stopped, realising he was phrasing this completely wrong. "I mean, a guy I saw earlier kinda helped me out into his car and I fell asleep and then I woke up at his place-"
"In his bed…?" Gogo repeated, eyebrows disappearing into her fringe.
"No no, not like that, I mean. He- he tried to help me get home 'cos I was so drunk and then I fell asleep in his car so he took me to his place and then I woke up and Aster came and got me and brought me home again and- oh jeez, I'm making this sound way weirder than it was…"
"You let a stranger put you in his car and you trusted him?" Gogo was frowning now, on the verge of shouting. "And then you woke up in his bed, after losing consciousness in his car? Do you even realise how dangerous that could have been? I mean, how stupid can you-?"
"Gogo!" Astrid snapped. "Jack was drunk. Since when do horrifically drunk people make rational decisions?" She squeezed my hand. "Don't have a go at Jack. He could barely walk and Aster said that guy saved his life by getting him out of there and making him sleep it off. Yeah, it was dangerous, but Jack's not an idiot. He'd have known not to go with a stranger if he didn't think he could trust them. Right, Jack?"
Jack nodded.
Wow, he'd not thought about that. How lucky it was that Hiccup had found him that night, he meant… What if someone not as helpful had gotten to him first? Jack would've liked to say that he wouldn't've gone with someone he didn't trust, but to be honest with himself, he hadn't even seen Hiccup's face until he was already in his car and it was too late.
What if it hadn't been Hiccup? Jack didn't want to think about what might've happened in that case…
But that didn't matter. Hiccup had found him, and he was fine. In fact, he was more than fine now.
"Jack, hey. You listening to me?" Gogo clicked her fingers in front of his face. "Promise us that you'll never go off with a stranger like that again, okay?"
"Okay. Sorry for making you worry." Jack tried to sound as sincere as possible. He knew they were just looking out for him, but for god's sake, he was technically an adult. He didn't need a bunch of girls telling him what to do. "I uh, I think I'm gonna go back to bed for a bit now." Jack tried to shift out of the seat, and it took a few seconds for Astrid to let go of him. When she did, she gave him a puppy-dog look for a second before resuming conversation with the others like nothing had happened.
Jack was never going to understand how girls worked…
He ignored the boys rummaging through cupboards and headed straight back towards his room. Maybe Tuff would be up, he half-hoped, half-dreaded. Jack wanted someone to talk to about Hiccup. And to be honest, at this point, he was still feeling a little brave from the drops of alcohol trapped in his bloodstream.
Maybe now was the right time to tell someone his big secret.
Jack reached his room and pushed open the door. Tuff was indeed awake, lying on his back, scrolling through his phone, laughing every so often at something.
"Hey Tuff." Jack cleared his throat as he shut the door behind him.
"Oh hey man, I thought you'd be gone for a bit longer, if you know what I mean…" Tuff exaggerated a wink face and sat up to look at him. "Dude, tell me everything. Was she hot?"
"What?"
"Well, you disappeared, so you got some, right?" Tuff asked, leaning forward eagerly as Jack sat on his own bed.
"'Got some'?" Jack repeated, slightly confused.
"Oh c'mon man, don't play dumb with me. Did you get it with some chick or not?"
"What? No, of course not!" Jack had been expecting Tuff to have a different reaction to his best friend going missing for a day and a half. He thought he'd at least be worried, not curious as to whether he got laid or not…
"Don't lie to me, dude. Where else could you've gone?"
Jack frowned.
Tuff's face began to fall, comprehension of his insensitivity dawning on him.
"Jack-?"
Jack shut his eyes. Could he tell him? Should he tell him? Damn, was this the right time? Would Tuff take him seriously, or would he think it was a joke? Maybe it'd ruin their friendship… But Tuff had been Jack's best friend since middle school. Since the first day when nobody had known anybody and Jack had been the shy brown haired, brown eyed kid in the corner of the playground. He'd trusted Tuff with everything ever since he came running up to him, a huge freshly caught, jumping frog in his hands, a great big toothy smile on his face.
Best friends for as long as Jack wanted to remember…
Jack took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
"Tuff, can I- can I tell you something?"
…
"Uh sure dude. Why're you getting all serious though? It's kinda creeping me out." Tuff was trying to be funny. Jack wished he'd stop. But then again, why should he? That was just how Tuff was. Never a dull moment with him as a friend.
"Tuff, this is serious. I- I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now, but I just- I never could figure out how to say it, I mean- I uh…"
Tuff frowned and scratched his cheek.
"Crap, I don't even know how to phrase this-"
"Dude, are you trying to come out?"
Jack completely froze, eyes widening at his best friend.
"W-what? How did you-?"
"Jack, my friend… If you were trying to keep it a secret, you really don't know how to keep a secret very well. I'm your best buddy, right? Did you really think I haven't noticed how you've never had a girlfriend, or even been interested in girls when the topic comes up? I saw the way you'd look at all the other guys when we went on all those day trips. And um, I might've never told you this, but you're a pretty epic sleep-talker, dude… Your dreams are melodies to listen to sometimes, I tell ya."
"But I don't-" Jack was speechless.
"I'm honestly just really shocked that it took you this long to tell me, or anyone for that matter. I mean, if you'd told me when we were younger, maybe I wouldn't've believed you, but now… I figured it out on my own, dude."
"And…?" Jack bit his lip.
"And what? You're gay. I don't care. Whatever floats your boat, man." Tuff flashed a grin, and then, sliding his phone into his pocket, stood up and rocked on his heels. "Is that toast I smell?" And just like that, he disappeared out of the room, headed to join the others in the kitchen.
Jack shot up. "Hey Tuff!" He caught him just before he left the room, "D-don't tell the others yet, okay?"
Tuff chuckled a little, but nodded and traced his fingers in a zipper over his mouth before rushing off down the corridor.
Jack took a step back. He collapsed onto the bed, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
That was it. He'd done it. It was over.
It had been that damn easy…
He smiled and shoved his face into his pillow. It'd felt so good to finally tell someone. Especially someone as special as Tuff.
Jack rummaged around the floor by his bed, searching for his phone. He knew it was dead, but the charger was positioned right next to his head and he quickly plugged it into his phone and watched as the screen flashed on, taking about forty seconds to load completely.
The piece of paper with the all important number was in his pocket. Dare he do it now?
Heck yeah, he did. He'd just completely shattered the boundaries of his comfort zone. Why not go the extra mile while he was so ecstatic?
With shaking fingers, he dialled the number and brought the phone to his ear.
It rang once.
It rang twice.
Shit!
Jack hung up and threw his phone down onto the bed again. No way. He couldn't do it. What the hell would he say? He needed a plan. A script or something… At least some kind of topic of conversation so it wasn't awkward.
He'd call Hiccup at some point for sure.
Just not right this second.
...
This chapter was pretty important for me... I finally came out as bisexual to my mum today, and let's just say, I wish my mum was as understanding as Tuff... She wasn't. I love Tuff's character. I think he'd be a great, trustworthy, understanding friend, when he's not goofing around and fighting with Ruff, that is.
Okay, I forgot to include these last time so DOUBLE SHOUTOUTS
Kevin4baconhugs: I'm glad I left a smile on your face. It leaves one on mine knowing that my story can have such an effect on others xx thanks for reviewing and motivating me! Hope you enjoyed this one.
FightMeBoi: Okay... your username intimidates me, I'm sorry.
A Frozen Shadow: Sorry for the short chapters but I hope this one broke my streak of tiny chapters because it's so damn looooooong! Thanks for the review and for sticking with this story x
girlmixi: Thanks for sticking with it here! And for always reviewing xx
I am a Spoon not a Fork: Okay, my idea here is that the girls live on the other side of town, but there spend so mcuh time in te guys' apartment that they might as well live there anyway... I have some friends like that and I find it hilarious that they know their way around my house better than their own. Thanks for reviewing xx
Snowflakesandangels: Righty-ho *cracks knuckles* JackRabbit it is then! Not for this fic, but I may start a new one for that particular ship... hehehe
Two of the broken masks: Wow, your reviews never fail to make me smile... SO MUCH CAPS AND EMOTION I'm glad you enjoyed it this much xxx Next chapter should be up soon
K3nZ13: Holy hell, what a review! To say you made my day with that would be one hell of an understatement... Thank you so much for your support with this! I'm looking forward to writing the phone call scene as much as you are to reading it! Until next time xxx (can I say thank you again or is that way too polite? THANK YOU)
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Okay, thanks again for reading and don't forget to review if you liked and want to read more xxx