Jack found an empty seat near the front of the class in between a long black-haired girl and the wall. He pulled out a blank notebook, college-ruled, and a set of freshly sharpened pencils, then lined them up evenly on one side of his desk. He patiently waited with his hands clasped together on his desk, facing forward, for the teacher to arrive.

Said teacher, Mrs. Phlegma the Fierce (What kind of name was that?) burst through the door just as the bell rang. She was a portly woman in a lab coat with two braided knots on either side of her head, a hearty voice and a no-nonsense policy, jumping straight into the lecture.

By the time the bell rang, the rest of his classmates were groaning about their hands and sighing with relief. Jack barely felt the time pass at all, he was so focused on getting his notes down. The rest of his periods went much the same, minus his third period history teacher, Ack, who'd had everyone writing note cards and introducing themselves. Jack's palms were sweating the whole time, and he couldn't stop stuttering. He'd beat himself up in private over that later.

Now, the current beast was lunch. Jack kept to the outskirts of the hallways, breaking free of everybody else in front of the cafeteria. The inside of it was extremely crowded, each table with their own personality and just as equally rowdy as the next. One pair of students was throwing their backpacks violently through the air at each other in some demented form of hacky sack.

Large cliques of people moved between tables and a group of particularly malicious-looking guys in football jerseys shoved past them. Jack watched as one girl got violently nailed in the head with a fist-sized glob of mashed-potatoes. A group of girls parted around him and exited the cafeteria. With a start, he realized he was blocking the halls.

Jack grimaced. He didn't need more than a second to follow their lead. The cafeteria was one big Hell no, he decided, as he made a beeline back out the door. As he strode back down the halls, now a lot more empty, he pulled out his map, figuring he'd either eat his lunch under some empty stairway-he started bringing lunch after his mother noticed he'd been coming home hungry, never being able to keep a hold of any of his lunch money- or he'd keep to himself and study in the library, as a proper nerd should.

According to the map, he'd be at his goal- the library- with just a turn around this next left corner. His converse made loud squeaking noises, which sounded loudly down the empty hall. He could feel his heart rate pick up as it approached, and he felt he was close to achieving some sort of great victory- then someone grabbed the back of his free hand, pulling him aside and pushing him up against the lockers, knocking the air out of his lungs. Fuck.

Jack felt his stomach drop as he realized it was the same guy as earlier. He'd seemed nice, then. But maybe he was just vetting Jack out. It was a scene Jack was familiar with, having been on the receiving end of trouble many times before.

"Hiccup, right?" Jack said, pressing himself as far back into the lockers as he could go "What, ah…"

"Hi," Hiccup said, shifting from where he towered above him. Jack tried to look past him at the hall, but Hiccup blocked his entire view. They were awfully close, Jack could practically see the rise and fall of his chest, "Uh, can I have your number?"

…What? Jack looked up. Hiccup's lips were pursed and his shoulders were stiff, both arms caging Jack. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, following a light smattering of freckles down his chin and to his neck.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jack said, "You're serious?"

"Yes," Hiccup's voice cracked, "I would like to get to know you- better."

Sensing that he wasn't in immediate danger, Jack relaxed his posture back onto the lockers. Internally, though, he was still freaking out. Maybe he could talk his way out of this? Or something.

In a bold move for him, he grabbed one of Hiccup's wrist and leaned his head against it casually in a bid it would make Hiccup uncomfortable enough to let him go. Or Jack would get punched. Unfortunately, or fortunately for him, he didn't do either. Instead, Hiccup's face flushed darkly. Dark-er. What.

"Please?" He finished breathlessly. Jack stared at him oddly and got off his arm. Was he not uncomfortable? What was wrong with this guy?

"Why?" Jack shifted slightly, dislodging a textbook that had been digging into his back. Hiccup noticed and pulled his Jack-less hand away from the locker, rubbing the back of his neck and then dropping it by his sides.

He tried to keep his voice steady, "Did someone put you up to this? As a bet?"

Hiccup pulled back, alarmed. Finally. Can I go now?

"No, no no no no- Sorry, I just-" Hiccup held his hands out in front of him, like he was trying to tell some kid to stop. Jack was pretty unimpressed with it, moving towards the side, very much intending to turn that corner.

"Wait- no-" Hiccup moved suddenly, throwing one arm towards the locker again, blocking Jack's escape route. Fuck.

"I-It's fine to just… go. I'm not going to say anything." Jack said, "No beans spilled-spilling, over here." Damn stutter.

"Sorry-sorry, can we start over? I just-" Hiccup frowned and took a few steps back, He pointed one finger at Jack for a moment, mouth opening and closing, before pulling both hands up behind his head and puffing his lips out as he exhaled. He leaned on his right foot, tapping his left a few times before letting it rest on the heel. With all his nervous fidgeting, it looked like he was trying to do some sort of jig. He seemed just fine before. What changed?

"The reason I asked for your number is that I think you're kind of cute." He blurted. He took a moment to gather himself, and moved to stand firm on both feet, "I would like to take you on a date, if you are willing."

What? The only thing Jack could do was stare. Jack had never been asked out on a date before. Never. He'd been beaten up, teased, on a few occasions when he was younger, he'd been asked to be friends. But no one had ever asked him on a date. At least not seriously, or with as much energy as this guy. He didn't know how to respond to that. A date? He was trying to ask him out on a date? How-?

Really, his only romantic experience had been when he'd tried to ask someone to be his friend. By slipping her his number in class. She took the time to gently reject him after and he was too embarrassed to try and clear the air. He remembered nearly puking on her feet when she gave him a polite 'better luck next time?' He had to run from her boyfriend later that day.

… Wait. Oh god, he really was asking Jack out, wasn't he?

"So what do you think?" Hiccup was wearing that awkward forced grin again with his hands clasped together in front of him.

"I-Well, if you're not joking about the date," Jack said weakly, "I don't know. If I'm up for it right now, I mean. I don't know you, and we're both guys…"

Hiccup's shoulders dipped for just a moment. Shit, shit, shit.

"But if you still want to exchange numbers," Jack looked up at him, and Hiccup met his eyes with a flustered, genuine smile, "I don't think it'd hurt to give it a try."

I'm such a fucking idiot, Hiccup fell forward onto his bed, his face sinking halfway into his comforter. He thought he was going to scare Jack away. He almost did.

But. He couldn't suppress a smile. In his fist was a crumpled piece of paper with eight digits in rushed, messy scrawl. I got his number.

Hiccup was practically shaking that morning after he'd gotten to his first class, and once he'd reached his second, Civics, he'd only been half-paying attention to his friends and their chatter. Any notes they passed- or crumpled up and threw at his head- were ignored. Obviously, they knew something was up.

He'd been dragged bodily out the door by Astrid, soon followed by everyone else under the excuse that they needed to go to the bathroom, where they'd harassed the truth out of him. They ended up skipping the rest of class, which was fine, because that class was all politics, anyways.

Astrid and the twins cornered a few of Jack's classmates during passing period, trying to dig out some info about Jack. There was one noticeable incident with Ruff and this guy, Eret. Hiccup did not envy him. No one said anything, though whether that was because they didn't know anything or because of Astrid's tendency to get up in their faces, he wasn't sure. It could have also been the twins trying to stuff each other into lockers.

Halfway through, Astrid managed to link up with Heather, holding her at the waist and talking in a way that had him blushing and turning away. She, surprise surprise- the girl knew almost everyone- sat next to Jack. Apparently that Chem class was majority seniors, meaning he and Jack were probably in the same grade. But that was it.

After the obligatory teasing and harassment, they spent the whole of the third and fourth periods hiding away in some obscure, empty old janitor's closet, hyping Hiccup up. It was embarrassing, but it gave him the confidence to approach Jack, somehow.

He and his posse had positioned themselves in one of the corners of the cafeteria at lunch, his friends dragging him there to, in their words, 'Get prime seating so there was no way he'd miss Jack.' Hiccup craning over and peering around the crowds of students nervously, hoping to catch a glimpse of the guy. Privately, he didn't think Jack would show up. His friends had never been the introverted type. Well, none of them besides Fishlegs, and even then, he'd always been toted around by the others. Hiccup didn't really think that they understood what it meant to want to eat alone- in the bathroom, or with a teacher or anything else. But hey, what did he know, he'd only known the guy for an instant. He could have been totally projecting.

It was to his joy that he'd been proven wrong, Jack pushing open the cafeteria doors like, well, like he was scared of them. Hiccup jumped out of his seat, startling the daylights out of Tuffnut, who was sitting next to him, and only giving a mild heart attack to the rest. He sped after Jack with false bravado, the rest of his friends hollering their encouragement behind him.

Hiccup pulled the slip of paper to his face, smoothing the wrinkles out of it and stared at it giddily. These feelings were pretty new to him, and he wasn't sure if they were the kind to last, but they were sure as hell strong and wouldn't be who he was if he didn't at least give them a chance to try.

Well. He got the number. He couldn't believe it. Hiccup ended up skipping the rest of the school day, heading back home and sneaking in through the backyard- they had security cameras (and guards)- but most of that was concentrated in the front. He knew his Dad was out at work and that if he went in through the back, his dad wouldn't find out about it for at least another month.

12:55 PM

Hiccup: Hey, This is Hiccup, from school. hi.

Hiccup: i hope I didn't text too fast? soory

Hiccup: sorry

Hiccup: Nice to meet you

Oh wow. Hiccup stopped himself before he could make it any worse. Hiccup waited for a response with baited breath. And waited. And waited. He was starting to get light headed. Hiccup checked his phone again. 1:30 PM.

Jack was probably still in class. He'd give it some more time

4:23 PM

Hiccup snored quietly, drooling, still fully dressed and on top of the covers. One arm lay half in the air still, clutching his phone tightly.

The door to his room creaked open slowly and Stoick looked in, checking in on his son. He'd gotten a notification from security personnel about movement on their back porch that he'd meant to talk to Hiccup about. He sighed. What am I going to do with that boy?

5:15PM

Hiccup woke with a start, cutting off a snore abruptly. He picked his phone off the side of his bed from where it'd fallen after it had hit him in the face. He wiped the corner of his mouth dry and checked his phone. No text. Alright. People took time to respond, he knew that. This happened all the time. To everyone everywhere. No big deal.

Hiccup: Hello?

Hiccup dropped his phone, burying his head in his hands, groaning, before letting them go limp, falling onto his desk. "-But Astrid, It's been a week. A whole week with no response."

Astrid rolled her eyes at him before looking back and the book in her hands, "Stop being so dramatic, He'll respond when he responds. And if he doesn't, oh well."

Hiccup looked to Fishlegs for support, who grimaced and turned away from him passively.

"Ooh," Tuffnut crowed, "Did ickle little Hiccup get stood up?" Ruffnut cackled in the background. It's not funny. Hiccup made a tiny miserable noise in the back of his throat and glared at the whole lot of them from where his head lay in the crooks of his arms.

Hiccup's phone buzzed. Two weeks, he thought miserably. He checked his screen.

?: Wrong number, sorry