ALL EPISODES OF HTTYD: RACE TO THE EDGE ARE OUT JUNE 26

Chapter: Winter with Jack Redux Part Deux

"Its Mr. Handicapable again."

"Shh! He'll hear you!"

Hiccup didn't realize how long the hallway was until now. Jack was talking to him about something, but all he could hear were the snide remarks of his classmates.

They stopped outside the classroom.

"I'll see you after practice." Jack said, glancing into the room.

"Uh huh..." was Hiccup's reply. Jack hugged him and Hiccup held on to him. Every time they parted it felt painful. Hiccup didn't want to use Jack like a crutch, but he felt remarkably better when they were together.

Jack rested his chin on Hiccup's head. He could tell that despite the brave front he put on, Hiccup was miserable. But like Stoick, Hiccup was stubborn. He wasn't going to run away. He kissed Hiccup's forehead, and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" Hiccup grumbled, pushing Jack away, his cheeks puffed out in irritation.

Jack smiled and took two steps back. "See ya, Baby Squirrel."

"Ugh..." Hiccup entered the classroom.

To his surprise, the only one around was Mavis.

Hiccup gave her a nod before setting down his bag. Talking to Mavis was still a little more than awkward, so Hiccup kept his distance.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Hiccup froze. "What?"

"They call you names and laugh behind your back, and sometimes to your face."

She stood before him, looking as tired as he felt. "But never ever, to Jack."

Hiccup stayed silent.

"I think everyone who's ever dated him goes through the same thing. But you're different, Hiccup. You took him away. You changed his circle of friends. And people hate you for it."

Jack leaned against the wall outside the classroom and remained silent.

" I hated that part of being with him." She admitted. "Like Jack was some golden god, and I tainted him...When in reality, he's just as broken as the rest of us."

"You're right." Hiccup said. "Sometimes it does hurt. A lot. But then I have to ask myself, why? I didn't care before, so why now?" He paused. "But I think I'm beginning to understand why that is...And I'm not going to punish him for it. I'm not going to apologize either."

Jack arrived late to practice, and ran laps to make up for it. Was dating him really that horrible? He let the cold numb his senses. Four months left, and three more games. Then his high school life would be over-

Merida shoved him. "Get yer head out of the clouds, Frost!"

Jack blinked at her. "Huh?"

"To the bleachers!"

As they ran up and down the stairs, Jack spoke with Merida.

"S-so, what's the plan Frost?"

"Plan?"

"The dance."

"Oh, right. Um...I thought about it...Val... already spoke to the principal about it. Saying it was unconstitutional...B-But...Other parents are threatening to boycott...And-"

"LESS TALKING MORE RUNNING! " Shang shouted from the field.

Jack paused, his eyes falling on a banner.

-St. Valentine's day dance, 2/14 be there!-

"There's no time." Jack huffed.

"What?" Merida said.

"There's no time…"Jack started to laugh, and Merida wondered if he had finally lost it.

Jack was in a pretty good mood when he got out of practice, and Hiccup couldn't help but smile. While Hiccup had to listen to murmurs in the hallway, Jack had to play Lacrosse, change, and shower with his biggest critics. Jack was not a golden god. He was teenage boy, complete with personal issues and emotions. If he could smile after spending time with enemies he once called friends, Hiccup could embrace the criticism pushed his way.

That night he requested that his parents stay out of his affairs. It had been a long time since his parents had lived under the same roof, and Hiccup preferred it if their time together was spent doing something besides worrying about him. He claimed he could handle the situation, and Stoick respected him for it.

His first stand came the following day, right after his first class. A wall of angsty teenagers blocked the path to his next class, and quite a few of them had familiar faces. Hiccup wasn't one for bullying. Sure, Snotlout picked on him when they were kids, but the other children knew better than to pick on a Haddock. Once he moved to Burgess, not much changed, as no one wanted to bother the kid with the "giant dad".

Instead of finding an alternative route, or asking them to move, Hiccup continued to walk forward. When it became clear that they weren't budging, he stopped directly in front of them. A mild height difference was set between him and his main heckler. The warning bell rang. He sighed, and licked his hand. "Careful...Homosexuality is contagious." As he waved his hand in front of them, an opening appeared in their wall. "What the hell, Haddock!?"

"Yeah, Yeah." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

When he saw Jack again at lunch, he had a devious smile on his face, which bothered Hiccup a little. "Uh...Hey."

Jack looked up from his phone and gave him a nod. "Baby Squirrel."

Hiccup tried not to get annoyed about that. "What are you doing?"

"Horrible things. Terrible things…" He snickered. "Oh, and Kuzco is coming for us in a helicopter."

"How very...inconspicuous of him."

"Guessing that's an SAT word."

"Probably. Have you been studying?"

"Not as hard as I could be."

"Jack…"

"Hic, don't get so hung up on test scores. okay? It's Munster's, not Harvard."

Merida and Jim took their seats.

Jack gave them a similar greeting. "Jerida."
"Jerida?" Jim repeated.

"That's your name." Jack said, not looking up from his phone. "You're always together. It's only a matter of time before you fuse into one being."

"They aren't Crystal Gems, Jack." Hiccup retorted.

"We don't know that." Jack replied.

"Did you hear about the dance?" Merida asked. "All the school dance signs have different times on them. An' a bunch of them say things like CIS Americans only! Or No Gays!"

"Sounds like somebody's upset." Jack said, putting his phone away. "As they should be. "

The rest of the day was relatively quiet, with the exception of Jack punching one of his teammates in the face. There was only so much criticism he could take. Unfortunately, doing so got him removed from the next game. He met Hiccup outside after school. Hiccup, who had heard what had happened, wasn't sure what to do, but had a feeling he would have to keep an eye on Jack.

"Do you want to go to my house?"

"Sure."

They got in the car, and took the short ride to the Haddock residence. The only one home was Toothless, who was asleep upstairs in a heap of laundry. Jack dropped his bag and plopped onto the couch. Hiccup quickly retreated to the kitchen. If he had learned anything about Jack, it was that he was easily distracted by food.

"Are you hungry?"

"..."

"Jack?"

Jack pulled out a blanket from behind two pillows and wrapped it around himself.

Hiccup returned from the kitchen. "Jack? "

"Give me your lap." Jack said. "I need a pillow."

"You have plenty right there."

"No." Jack whined. "I want you."

Hiccup rolled his eyes put complied, putting Jack's head in his lap.

"Hiccup..."

"Hm?" Hiccup had begun running his hands through Jack's hair in idle thought.

"I'm not a cat."

Hiccup moved his hands away. "Don't sit in my lap then."

Jack turned over, wrapping his arms around Hiccup's waist. "Nah, I like the view from down here."

Hiccup blushed, immediately trying to remove Jack from his lap. Jack said nothing but held on tighter. After a moment of struggling in vain, Hiccup returned to petting Jack's hair. Jack grumbled, the vibration of his breath shaking through Hiccup.

"I'm not your pet."

"Are you sure? " Hiccup had one during their last encounter alone by keeping Jack talking. He was sure he could do it again.

"Yeah." Jack slid his hands under Hiccup's shirt. "Watch."

"Your hands are cold." Hiccup squirmed.

"Not for long." Jack looked up at him. "Hold still."

Jack pulled himself while keeping Hiccup beneath him. Hiccup didn't move much, if only to keep himself on the couch. Jack's hands continued to roam across Hiccup's body. Eventually, Hiccup found himself shivering for an entirely different reason. Jack pushed up Hiccup's shirt his eyes darting to Hiccup's face momentarily, looking for approval. Hiccup began to shift under him, causing Jack to flinch.

Hiccup took Jack's hand. "It's kinda cold down here. In th-the livingroom I-I mean."

Jack's momentary feeling of rejection was washed away by relief. "Oh. Do you wanna go upstairs?" He tried to sound as natural as possible.

"Yeah." He lead Jack upstairs.

Hiccup tried to keep his calm. Being with Jack was great. Being alone with Jack was always nerve racking. "Jack…"

They stood outside Hiccup's door. "Why did you punch that guy?"

Jack let go of Hiccup's hand and walked into the room. He retreated to Hiccup's bed, falling onto it with a thud, and grabbing hold of one of Hiccup's pillows. "I don't know anyone else our age with a room this organized."
Hiccup sat on the edge on the bed, and wearily crawled over. "Jack…"

"I was pissed, alright? I usually don't care what people think about me. I mean I obviously care but...like, after years of that stuff I'm used to it." He turned to face Hiccup. " I was never that close with the guys either. But hearing them talk about you is another story."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Hiccup looked up at the ceiling. "You have to miss a game because of me."

Jack took Hiccup's hand. "It's no big deal."

That was Hiccup's thought from the beginning. The dance was no big deal. And yet, here they were. Which is what prompted Hiccup to speak to the principal again, the day before the dance. He went straight into the elevator when he saw the principal's face.

"Afternoon." He said.

"Y-yes." The principal replied, looking uncomfortable.

"I'm going to make this brief." He began. "I'm over this dance thing. I know the PTA wants to have bouncers at the door, and tons of parents have volunteered, but I don't care. There are thousands of schools across this country where hundreds of thousands of students are going to school dances. This issue is going on all over the place. But here's the thing." The elevator was about to stop. "This isn't a big deal for me, but that doesn't mean it won't be for another kid. That doesn't mean someone else isn't going to fight you on this with all they are changing, after all. I hope you're ready for that day." The elevator stopped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have AP Bio."

"Did you really say that? Was he totally freaked out!?" Rapunzel gushed over the phone. It was the following day.

"He did look kinda freaked out when I got in the elevator." Hiccup admitted.

"Ooh, this is so exciting! I wish I was there…"

"We'll all be together for the party..On Kuzco's yacht." He paused. "Sorry, it's kinda surreal. Who gets invited to party on a Emperor's yacht?"

"It's all the good karma you had stored up. Not to mention that video. Are you building anything soon? You get requests all the time right?"

"What are you-" He heard a bell chime in the background.

"Sorry, Hiccup. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She hung up, leaving Hiccup confused.

"What video?" He shook his head and put his phone away, hurrying back into the lunch room.

Only Taran, Eilonwy, and Jim were at the table.

"What happened to Jack and Merida?"

"Go to the gym." Jim instructed. "I'll see you after school."

"Uh...sure." Hiccup replied. Considering that Eilonwy was giggling and Taran wasn't making eye contact, Jim's cryptic language could have met anything. So he decided to play along. He found Merida peering outside from the gym, looking just as giddy as Eilonwy had. "Hurry up then!" She said, looking around. When Hiccup was close enough she yanked on to his arm and pulled into the gym. With that she took her exit. "Have fun then."

The gymnasium was decorated for the dance, with what Hiccup swore were the same ones from the previous year. The only other person in the room was Jack, looking somewhat anxious.

"I know I'm supposed to be over this but…" He scratched his head. "I still wanted at least one dance with you."

"I guess that's okay." Hiccup rubbed his arm. "But I have to admit, I totally have two left feet."

"That's not true." Jack said, pulling him close. "You have one foot, period."

"What are we dancing to anyway?" Hiccup asked. " There's no music."

"I got us covered." Jack said, pulling out his phone.
"You're going to have to tell me what to do...I hardly danced before, let alone with another person."

Jack had one arm wrapped around Hiccup's waist as he tucked his phone into his pocket. "Just consider practice for when we go back to Berk. I definitely plan on reciting 'for the dancing and the dreaming' again. Properly this time."

'As if it weren't embarrassing enough the first time.' Hiccup thought, letting Jack lead him.

"Jack..."

"Hm..."

"I didn't want to go to the dance...because I wanted to be with you. J-Just you." Hiccup admitted. " I didn't want to share."

Jack stopped moving.

"Jack?"

Hiccup tried pulling away to get a better look at his face, but Jack held him firm.

"Just...Give me a second." Jack said. "You gotta warn me before you say something that cute."

And so, Jack and Hiccup had their first Valentine's day dance together. In the gym, long before the actual dance took place...Not that much of a dance took place…

As Jack had observed, the dance had no official time, making it easy for someone to change the items given on the tickets by volunteering to help Tooth. And due to the fact the student body was divided upon which time the dance began, an official notice was posted around the school-and sabotaged. Repeatedly. Along with the dance itself. Due to mysterious group dressed in black, baby oil had been spread across the floor, leading to good, slippy, times. The maintenance crew' sawdust had been found spread across the field. Leading the event to end early.

Upon returning to Burgess, Jack cleared his friends' names by simply showing uploaded videos of his escapades. Most of which included partying, yelling "I'm on a boat!" in a drunken slur, and llamas. Actually, just one llama. What it was doing on the boat, was uncertain.

Senior year is coming to an end...Then summer vacation..THEN CONFLICT! AH HA HAHA AHAHA

Eh, see you next time