Fast-forward to December! Yes, it's gonna be EVEN COLDER because it's Berk! It snows for most of the year! Still . . . enjoy, my snowflakes! ;D

Chapter 20

Rapunzel Corona

"Go Jack!" I cheered as I watched him practically fly across the ice towards the goalie. He shot the puck right into the goal and pumped his arms in the air. "WOO HOO!" I yelled, jumping to my feet with everyone else. "GO GUARDIANS!" The ice hockey team Jack was on was called the "Berk Guardians". Jack had quickly become their star player after only a few weeks.

"And the Berk Guardians win!" the announcer shouted. "By 24 to 9 points! That's a new record!"

I started up the chant: "Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack! Jack!" He took off his helmet, saw me, and waved. I waved back. "That's my boyfriend!" I yelled to everyone nearby. I was so proud to call him my boyfriend that I wanted to scream it to the world. Then I hurried down the bleachers to greet him.

I waited outside the locker room and saw Jack and the rest of his ice hockey teammates come down the hall.

"Hey! You were great," I told him, giving him a kiss.

"Thanks." He grinned hugely. "I'm just glad you're always here, supporting me."

"Well, I'll always be here." I kissed him again. "Now go change. You smell worse than month-old sweaty gym socks and we're going to a nice cafe with Hiccup and Mer. Go shower."

He laughed. "Yes, ma'am!" And he saluted me before going into the locker room.

"You're lucky you've got such a great boyfriend," one of his teammates said. I turned to look at him. "My boyfriend isn't as great. He spends so little time with me these days."

I patted the guy's shoulder. "It's okay. There'll be other guys out there. He probably doesn't know what he's missing."

He sniffled. "Yeah. Thanks. See ya." He left.

Jack came back out in a half hour, wearing a clean white shirt, a dark blue hoodie, black jeans, and dark blue boots. "Hi, I'm ready. Let's go." I was already in my faux fur purple parka and white boots. I pulled up the hood and put on my matching purple gloves and we went outside.

Berk is seriously COLD. In the winter, it's the worst. You can't go five steps without stepping in 10 ft snow.

When we finally reached the Elf and Yeti Cafe, we were so cold the ice seemed to be in our blood. Stepping inside, the icicles began to thaw from our noses.

Merida laughed when she saw us. "Too much frost, eh, Frost?" She snorted and Hiccup smiled. Ten minutes later, we had defrosted and were sipping steamy hot cocoa and sharing a huge plate of Christmas cookies.

"So, have you and Hiccup picked out what you're going to wear for the Snow Ball, Mer?" I asked as I added a few more marshmallows to my mug.

Merida picked up a cookie and took a large bite. "Not yet," she replied with her mouth full. "We both want to wear green, though, so we're in the right direction."

"It has to be like a forest green," Hiccup said.

"Or Hiccup's eyes green." Jack winked, and both of them blushed.

"Jack!" I gently hit his arm. "Anyway, Jack wants something blue and I want something with pink or purple. I'm taking him shopping today. You guys want to come with?"

"No, no, no, no!" Jack said, shaking his head.

"Sure, why not?" Merida winked at him and he glared at her.

"Come on, Jack! It'll be fun!" I brought out the secret weapon: I batted my eyelashes.

"Fine." He was grumbling.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you! Let's go to Macy's first!" I finished my hot chocolate and cookie. "Come on!"

"Whoa, Punz! I haven't even finished my cookie yet!" Jack interrupted.

A couple minutes later, we were strolling through Macy's, looking at clothes. Or, at least, Merida and I were strolling through Macy's looking at clothes. The boys had their hands in their pockets and were shuffling around, staring at their feet.

"Come on, guys! It's not that bad!" I called. "How about you go look at the men's section?" They took off. Merida and I looked at each other, shrugged, and continued looking for our dresses.

"Ah don't know why et has tae be formal," Merida griped. "Ah want tae wear mah ridin' boots."

"Well, the Snow Ball is the most important dance there is, besides the Spring Fling," I told her, looking at the many colorful dresses on the rack. "But I like the Spring Fling better."

"Of course ya do." Merida's head poked out from between a puffy yellow dress and an aggressively orange one. "None a these are right! Ah need somethin' less . . . girly."

"Just keep looking, Mer." I pulled out a dark blue dress with purple lace adorning the edges. "Ooh, I like this. It's a compromise between me and Jack."

Mer pulled out a dress that was dark green, but it was a tiny strapless thing. "Ah don't know how anyone could ever fit en this."

"Me neither." I had to laugh at the look on her face.

A girl with dark black hair swooped in and took it from her. "Oh, this is simply divine. I think I could fit this, don't you, Rapunzel?"

I blinked. "How do you know my name?" The girl turned around. "Oh! It's you, Heather! Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are. Shopping for my dress!" Heather giggled and twirled around. "This could work. The other girls are over there-" she waved her hand over to the other side of the women's section-"and I decided to come over here and look at all of their amazing dresses." She blushed a little. "Snotlout and the others are over in the men's section looking at suits."

"Jack and Hiccup are over there, too! You want to shop together?" I suggested.

"That would be great!" Heather cupped her hands around her mouth. "I FOUND RAPUNZEL AND MERIDA!" she shouted. The others rushed over.

"Hey, what's up?" Ruffnut said.

"We're lookin' fer the Snow Ball dresses," Merida explained grouchily.

Mavis made a face. "They don't make a lot of black dresses here, but I guess I could take a look."

I looked behind Ruffnut and saw someone.

"Astrid." I narrowed my eyes.

"Rapunzel." Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here." My voice came out flat.

"I'm doing what the rest of you are doing: shopping for a dress for the Snow Ball," she said testily.

I led her farther from the group. "If you're trying to win Hiccup back, he's taking Merida to the dance."

She seemed to deflate a little. "I love Hiccup, okay? But I'm not going to bash on his relationships and you shouldn't try to make me miserable. I already know that I can't win him back so you can all just stop saying it! I came because I want us all to be friends! Why can't we be? I mean, you already took my best friend and-"

"I did not take your best friend," I snapped. "Ruff hangs out with us on her own free will. She doesn't have to stay with us."

"She likes being with you guys. So, can I join your group?"

I didn't know how to answer her. "You have to promise something, though-no hate. You can't hate on any of our friends, or any of my friends."

"I promise." She crossed her heart to seal it.

I smiled a little. "Welcome to the group." I took her hand and led her to the dresses section.

WHOA I FINALLY FINISHED THIS. So, yeah, Rapunzel and Co. have become friends with the infamous Astrid Hofferson. But it's okay because she's not going to try and break up Hiccup and Merida. She is SO over that now. Rapunzel decides to be the good girl she always is and gives her a chance. Yay! Cupcakes and sprinkles all around! If you guys could also come up with a love interest for Astrid, that would be great . . .