After Mr. Dunbroch carefully docks the speedboat and Merida secures it to a post with a bungee cord, Hiccup is the first to jump out onto the pier before quickly turning around to offer a steadying hand for Astrid. Jack hops over the side of the boat and doesn't even try to hide his emotions as he gives his friend an impish grin when Astrid's back is turned. Hiccup immediately rolls his eyes, to which Jack responds by sticking out his tongue like a child.

The group caravans up to the cabin so that everyone has a chance to dry off and clean up before getting ready for dinner. Astrid disappears into the bathroom to change into an extra set of clothes that she had stuffed in a tote bag while the other girls retreat to their room to do the same. Jack closes their bedroom door with his hip and leans his back against the solid wood with his arms crossed and the corners of his mouth turned up into a smirk.

Hiccup is quick to warn his friend, "Don't give me that look, Overland."

"What? You think none of us noticed how you looked at Astrid back there?" Jack accuses lightheartedly.

"Fine," Hiccup confesses, "she's . . . well, definitely something else, I'll say that."

"Her looks really don't hurt, either," Jack comments, giving his best friend a wink for good measure.

At that, Hiccup's cheeks turn a violent shade of pink as he stammers, "Well, yeah, I guess not."

"Lighten up, Hic," Jack teases. "Put on some decent clothes, dry off your hair a little, a quick dash of cologne, and you'll have to beat her off with a stick to get her away from you."

Grabbing a nearby pillow, Hiccup smacks it across the other boy's face with a muffled thwack. Unable to turn down the unspoken challenge, Jack reaches for a stray pillow from their bed. It would be an understatement to say that their playful fight quickly mutated into an all-out war. Arms and pillows and rapid-fire banter fly around the room in utter chaos. Jack barely has time to deliver blows to his opponent in between constant pillow attacks that block his vision and throw him off balance. They are so engrossed in the brawl that the knocking on the door goes completely unnoticed, and it's only after Merida barges into the room and shoves both boys off of their feet that the battle comes to an abrupt end.

"Would'ya stop fighting like toddlers and act your own age for once?" Merida scolds with wild flourishes of her hands.

Without thinking, Jack shoots back a "Yes, Mother," earning him a glare so intense, he swears he can feel the heat boring into him.

Merida's hands instantly grasp a pillow, and within seconds it's flying through the air and smashing into his face with precise accuracy.

"Better watch your mouth, Overland," she threatens with more than a little smug confidence, "or the next pillow's hitting somewhere much more painful."

Jack throws his hands up in surrender before she can fire another missile, but she just turns on her heel and stalks out the door mumbling, "I don't know how Punz can stand you." Halfway down the hallway, she throws them a backwards glance. "Oh, dinner's ready by the way!"

The second she turns the corner and disappears from view, Jack shakes his head and moans, "Wow, I'm just glad she's not my sister, otherwise I don't know how I'd put up with her."

Merida's powerful voice resonates through the cabin. "I heard that, Overland!"

"You get used to it . . . eventually," Hiccup explains, clamping a hand on his friend's shoulder in sympathy.

Jack shrugs off Hiccup's hand as he stands and motions with his head towards the hallway. "Your lady awaits," he proclaims, adding in a deep bow for show.

"Um, Jack?" Hiccup interrupts, pointedly looking at his best friend's choice of shorts, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

The boy in question slowly glances down and realizes that in all of the pillow fight chaos he hadn't changed out of his swimsuit. Now it's his turn to feel heat radiating from his cheeks as he sighs and timidly closes the bedroom door again. He wastes no time shedding his wet swimming trunks and changing into a pair of dark brown khaki shorts instead. Jack quickly yanks a cobalt blue T-shirt over his head before following Hiccup out to the kitchen where Mrs. Dunbroch is frantically trying to get everything ready.

"Well, it looks like you've got everything under control, so we'll just be outside, then," Hiccup remarks as he tries to slip past his mother.

"Oh no you don't, Henry Dunbroch, you get back here right this instant!"

"Mom," her son moans, "you know I hate it when you call me that."

Jack bursts out in a fit of laughter at Hiccup's real name. "Yeah, come on, Henry."

Hiccup uses his eyes to throw daggers at his friend, but Jack simply ignores the glare and carries packages of paper plates and plastic utensils out to the front porch instead. Rapunzel and Merida are already setting up bag chairs in a semi-circle next to the massive grill glinting in the evening sun. Jack places the bundles in his arms onto the white folding table on the far side of the porch, which is cluttered with bowls of fruit, side dishes, and every condiment imaginable. Smoke billows in the air and the most delicious aroma wafts over the porch when Mr. Dunbroch lifts the lid of the grill to flip over the hot dogs and burgers currently roasting above the flames.

After unloading everything from the kitchen, the boys aid Merida and Rapunzel with the chairs until Hiccup stops abruptly with his bag in mid-air. Jack follows his friend's line of sight towards the screen door leading into the cabin that Astrid is tentatively stepping through. He watches as Hiccup's eyes slowly take in her cut-off jean shorts and simple black T-shirt with a stark white skull printed on the front. Her cheeks flush pink when she notices Hiccup's stare, but the boy is too distracted to register her blush.

"There you are!" Rapunzel calls, bounding up to the other blonde with a million-dollar smile spread across her face. "We were beginning to think we'd scared you off or something!"

"What, and leave without a free dinner? No way," Astrid teases, throwing Rapunzel a playful wink.

"A girl with an appetite and a sense of humor!" Mr. Dunbroch bellows over his shoulder with a laugh. "Welcome to the family!"

All five teenagers form a line in front of the buffet-style table and fill their plates to their hearts' desire before filing over to the grill for their main entrees. They plop down in bag chairs with heavy plates balancing on their knees, and Mr. and Mrs. Dunbroch quickly join the group with overflowing plates of their own.

After a few minutes of stuffing their faces, Mrs. Dunbroch finally clears her throat and breaks the silence. "So, Astrid, are you vacationing here with your family?"

"No, actually, I'm just getting in some relaxation time before college in the fall."

"Oh, so you're the same age as Hiccup and Jack, then," Mrs. Dunbroch comments, piecing together information. "You've chosen a study major, then, I assume?"

Astrid's eyes sudden spark to life as she smiles and nods enthusiastically. "I'd like to major in Animal Science so that I can get my Veterinary Technician Certificate to work in an animal hospital. There's just something about taking care of them that's basically like a second nature for me."

"A Vet Tech, eh?" Mr. Dunbroch clarifies. "Not a full-blown Veterinarian?"

"Oh, I'd love to be one, someday," Astrid quickly adds, "but for that I'd need to go to medical school, and I don't really have the money right now. I figured it'll be enough to just get a technician's certificate and some experience, first."

As she explains her plans for college, Jack can't hold back a smirk at Hiccup's love-sick puppy grin. The boy is completely engrossed in everything she says, obviously hanging on her every word. From across the porch, Jack is able to catch Rapunzel's eye, and they share a knowing smile. No doubt Rapunzel is far from Hiccup's mind as he stares intently at Astrid, who nervously covers up a laugh with a fake cough when she stumbles onto his intense gaze.

"Hiccup's going to be an engineer," Rapunzel blurts after a lag in the conversation.

The boy in question snaps his head in her direction with eyes wider than the plate balancing on his knees.

"Really? Wow, that's totally cool," Astrid comments.

"Oh, it's, uh, not really that interesting," Hiccup stutters. "Compared to being a vet, at least, it's not."

Obviously catching on, Merida pipes up, "Hic, honestly, you're a natural!" She turns to Astrid and explains animatedly, "There was this one horse at the stables where I was taking equestrian lessons that wouldn't let a single person ride him. Anyone who tried to get on his back would be bucked off almost immediately, and more than a few of the victims walked away with missing teeth, which is why everyone calls him Toothless. Anyway, well Hiccup was picking me up from lessons one day and saw another rider fail to tame Toothless, so the minute we got home he immediately ran up to his room and designed a saddle with a matching belt that could be attached with straps to provide stability or whatever. All I know is, two weeks later Hiccup's parading around on that big black beast of a horse with the new saddle like he's riding a circus pony."

The expression on Astrid's face is one of pure awe as she turns to Hiccup and reaches over to punch him in the arm. "Hiccup the Horse Tamer, eh?"

"To be honest, it really wasn't me. The saddles just weren't right for him . . ."

"Well, whatever the case, it sounds like you really do have a gift."

Another crimson blush crawls up Hiccup's neck at her compliment.

"Darn right, he does!" Mr. Dunbroch exclaims with a hearty laugh. He sticks out his amputated leg, wiggles it around in the air, and clarifies, "Made me a fancy new prosthetic, he did. Those other ones were so cumbersome and painful, and don't get me started on the chafing!"

Mrs. Dunbroch gives her husband a stern look and quickly scolds, "Fergus, we're having dinner with a guest!"

The man just shrugs and stands to collect everyone's empty plates with an expression not unlike that of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Yes dear."

Mrs. Dunbroch, Merida, and Hiccup retreat to the kitchen to sort out the left over food and load the dishwasher. The other two teens opt to stay outside and clean up the porch, and after tightening the pull-string on his third chair and adding it to the neat stack at his feet, Jack notices the awe painted on Astrid's face as she takes in the vast curtain of trees surrounding the cabin.

"You okay?" he asks slowly.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm totally fine. It's just so beautiful here."

Finished wiping down the grill, Mr. Dunbroch leans against the porch railing and adds, "Sure is. Elinor grew up here, if you can believe it; she says the land's been in the family for generations."

"I can't imagine waking up to this every morning. Why would anyone want to leave?"

"The small-town life isn't for everyone, but Land O' Lakes definitely has it's charm."

An idea starts to tumble in Jack's mind, and he blurts it out before he can stop himself. "Hey, Astrid, you been downtown, yet?"

Puzzled, she replies, "Not really, why?"

"We should take you, then. There's no way you can stay in Land O' Lakes and not be given the grand tour."

"Um, sure, why not?" She agrees with a shrug. "If I'm going to get one, might as well be from the best guides around, right?"

"Heck yeah! I mean, I've only been here a handful of times, but I'll bet Hic'll be the best since he's been here the most."

Just as the words leave his mouth, the boy in question steps through the front door with a towel thrown over one shoulder.

"Hey, my mom wants-"

"We were just talking about you!" Jack interjects, purposely cutting off whatever boring thing his friend was about to say.

All the color drains from Hiccup's face as he asks, "Wh-what?"

"Jack was just telling me about how you could show me around downtown," Astrid answers.

"You know this place better than any of us. Plus, someone has to stay here and clean up and make sure Blondie doesn't accidentally set her hair on fire when she's making dessert or something," Jack adds.

Hiccup rolls his eyes, but Astrid punches him in the arm with a wink, "Come on, Horse Tamer, I don't bite."

"I'll just, uh, get the ATV ready, then."

Astrid disappears back inside to get her shoes, and the moment her back is turned Hiccup glares as his best friend.

"What?" Jack asks innocently.

"What're you up to, Overland?"

Jack stuffs his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "She wanted to see downtown, and who better to give her a tour than you?"

"You could have done it, you know," Hiccup points out as he gathers up two motorcycle helmets in his arms.

Jack makes a tsking sound with his tongue and shakes his head. "Yeah, but I'm not the one who likes her, now, am I?"

At that, Hiccup whips his head around to face his smirking friend with a hot red blush flaring up his neck. "Whoa, what?"

"Oh come on, we all know you do."

"Well, I just- I mean . . . she's probably already got a boyfriend, anyway."

Now it's Jack's turn to roll his eyes. "If she did, she probably wouldn't be making eyes at your every time you turn around."

Hiccup's eyes grow wide. "She what?"

Before either of them can say another word, Astrid bursts through the porch door with the confidence of a queen. "You ready, Horse Tamer?"

Hiccup winces at the name, but nods, "Yeah, I guess. But if you don't mind, 'Horse Tamer' isn't really the best nickname."

The girl studies him and agrees, "True. I'll just have to come up with something better."

Jack walks over to the line-up of ATV's with them and silently smirks at his brilliant plan.

Hiccup leads Astrid over to Merida's massive red four-wheeler and hands her a helmet. "My dirt bike doesn't really hold two people, so I guess we'll just have to take The Beast instead."

"The Beast?" Astrid repeats quizzically.

"That's what my sister calls it. The engine sounds like an angry dragon that you can hear for miles," Hiccup explains. He turns the key in the ignition and the machine roars to life.

"You're right, it does kinda sound like a dragon," Astrid calls over the noise with a smile. Suddenly, her eyes light up and she lightly but forcefully shakes Hiccup's shoulders. "That's it!"

He looks at her with confusion and asks, "That's what?"

"That's going to be your nickname: Dragon Rider," she declares.

Hiccup practically beams with pride as he tests it out, "Dragon Rider, eh? Not bad." He climbs onto the ATV and scoots forward to leave room for Astrid, who slides on behind him with ease.

She wraps her arms around Hiccup's waist as they take off down the driveway, dust swirling in their wake like a lazy tornado.

Jack smiles mischievously and watches them disappear around the bend in the road. With a slight spring in his step, he barely manages to keep himself from whistling as he makes his way back into the cabin. Inside, it seems like things have calmed down because the kitchen is empty, save for a few wash-cloths strewn here and there, and the hum of the dishwasher is the only sound breaking up the silence.

Walking into the family room, he notices Merida sprawled on the couch with her nose stuck in a book, obviously so lost in its pages that she doesn't even look up at him as he passes by. It's unnerving with the entire house so quiet; it makes his skin crawl just thinking about sitting still in this kind of silence. Instinctively, he slips through the back door and out to the back deck where he takes a deep breath of pine-scented lake air. Leaning on the wooden railing, Jack closes his eyes against the sun hitching lower in the deep sapphire sky and shuts off his mind for a moment. His body instantly relaxes as the rhythm of the waves lapping the rocky shore dissolves the tension in his muscles that he didn't know were stressed in the first place. It feels good to just let go and not focus on anything other than the soothing rustle of trees in the summer breeze.

"Now this is silence I could get used to," he mutters to himself, stretching out his fingers and curling them around the wooden beam.

His thoughts, or lack of thoughts, really, are interrupted by the slam of the screen porch door. Jack lets out a frustrated sigh and whirls around fully prepared to lash out at that irritating red-head for not allowing him to have even a moment to himself, but he almost jumps back in surprise when Rapunzel in all her golden-haired glory steps onto the deck.

"Oh!" She squeaks, visibly shocked as she immediately covers her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry, if I had known you were out here already I would have left you alone . . ."

"No, it's okay," he assures her, even though that was all he wanted not a minute ago. He smiles warmly at her anyway and adds, "I don't mind."

Rapunzel tucks a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear and slowly inches forward before settling on the railing beside him. "I couldn't take how weirdly quiet it was in there," she explains, nodding in the direction of the cabin behind them.

"Exactly. At least out here there's some little random sounds to break up the silence."

"That's what I was thinking, too," she comments. Her eyes are fixed on the watery horizon framed by the trees surrounding the cove.

Jack's eyes are fixed on her.

Everything about her has him hypnotized - from the cute curve of her nose to the way her hair falls down her back in waves of golden silk that shimmer in the fading light.

She releases a long sigh. "It's so beautiful."

"So are you," he whispers without thinking.

Her head quickly turns to face him as she searches his eyes with wide pools of jade. "What?"

Realizing what he had just said, Jack hurriedly clears his throat and nervously shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "I said 'you think so too?'."

He knows it's a far stretch, but it's too late to back out now.

Thankfully, Rapunzel skeptical expression softens, and for a moment he swears he can see the faintest hint of disappointment taint her smile, but it's gone in a blink of an eye.

"Yeah," she agrees, her gaze wandering back to the view in front of them, "it almost makes me wish I could stay here forever."

"Almost?"

"Well, I mean, sometime we have to go back. I'd miss home too much to stay away forever."

Jack scoffs. "Home is just a place to sleep."

She glances sideways at him and counters, "Home is with family."

"Not the way I see it," he grumbles.

"What about your family- your sister? Don't you care about going back to them?"

Heat rises in his chest when her words nudge a soft spot in his heart. "Of course I do," he shoots back. His voice cracks on the last syllable, but he brushes it off and moves on. "Emma means the world to me, but . . ."

Rapunzel scoots closer and rests her face in her hands attentively. "But what?"

Jack anxiously runs his fingers through his hair and explains, "It's just that I always feel like, I don't know, like I don't belong here. I'd love to just get away, fly around the world, and have adventures in places I can't even pronounce."

"What? Burgess High isn't exciting enough for you?" she teases with a laugh.

He knocks his shoulder into her arm and replies sarcastically, "Oh, no, Burgess is heaven in a high school."

"Come on," she presses, "it's not so bad in there."

"For you, maybe."

"Please, as if it's so hard for you, Mr. Popular."

Her words sober him. "I'm not popular, Punz."

She rolls her eyes at him. "And I'm a long-lost princess."

"I'm serious."

"How? You're a star quarter-back! Everywhere you go you're surrounded by other jocks and cheerleaders-"

"So that's what you think I am?" He accuses loudly, probably harsher than he meant to, but he can't back down now. "I'm just some popular football player who's too full of himself to possibly have any other dreams besides wearing a football helmet for the rest of his life?"

Rapunzel visibly shrinks away from him and stammers, "That-That's not what I meant."

"Isn't it? Well I bet you didn't know that my dad forced me into playing football, or that I hate being mobbed by people who call themselves my friends even though I barely know them, or that Hiccup is all I've got . . ." His voice trails off as it echoes around the cove, and he plunges his hands through his white-blonde hair, unable to look the girl beside him in the eye.

"Jack," Rapunzel whispers, cautiously settling a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

He sighs, shakes his head, and turns to look at her as his vision blurs at the edges, "No, I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

Their heated words melt into a silence that resonates between them like an invisible barrier that both are afraid to shatter.

Rapunzel inhales a deep breath before leaning her head back to meet his gaze. "Take me with you."

Caught off guard, he blinks at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When you leave," she clarifies, her voice barely audible, "when you escape and see the world and have adventures . . . Will you take me with you?"

The fragility in her emerald eyes reminds him of their conversation on the dock that morning, when she had torn down all of her walls that she had hid behind for so long and let him hold her through her tears that had left her raw and vulnerable. In those moments she was his to protect. Now, again, she is as delicate as a glass flower in his hands, trusting him not to let her fall.

And he was determined never to let her go again.

"I promise."

A/N - Sorry this took so long! I really wanted to get this right, so I took my time writing it . . . So yes, Jack is finally realizing his feelings for Punzie :D Honestly, this wasn't part of my original plotline, so this was completely unplanned. Please let me know how you feel about it, it would mean a lot to me! I love every review I get, from both loyal readers and new, so don't be afraid to leave a few comments! I know I'm being super slow with vamping up the fluff, but I promised it would heat up and I always keep my promises! These things take time and I hate rushing into romance without setting up foundations, so patience is needed.

Thank you all for being such wonderful readers :)

~Jackunzelhayniac3~