AN: Thanks to those who followed, favorited, reviewed, or are just reading. You make the work worth it.

Chapter 8

The next few hours were spent with a very embarrassed Hiccup and a very rambunctious Jack who got a laugh out of making the most embarrassing pick-up lines he knew. After each one he told the story in which he used them and how he got turned down, because they were that horrible. They were so horrible in fact the only girl who became friends with him after he used one on her was Rapunzel. And that took about a month of talking to her. This story was Hiccup's favorite and it went like this.

Jack, when he was still small and didn't yet believe girls were infested with cooties, heard a sentence that made his father get a kiss on the cheek from his mother. His four-year-old logic concluded that if he repeated the line, he would get a kiss on the cheek by a girl too. What he didn't know was that his mother had given his father a kiss on the cheek in pity rather than in heartfelt love. He then used this line on Rapunzel even though he had no idea what it actually meant. The line was: Hey, are you tired? 'Cause you've been running around in my head all day.

Rapunzel, being the bookworm she was, knew what it actually meant (What can I say, the girl is smart) and asked, "We just met, how could I be running around in your head all day?"

This led Jack to say, "I don't weally know, but my Daddy said it to my Mommy and he got a kiss on the cheek fow it. Can I get one fwom you?" As you can see, Jack was a very smooth kid.

Rapunzel, being the sheltered kid she was, (Not everyone has parents that used pick-ups lines in front of their children) told him he could not and ran away. But the next day he was back, and the next, and the next, and soon she missed when he wasn't there. Jack did eventually get that kiss on the cheek from Rapunzel when he was nine, but that was how Jack learned about pick-up lines and soon after started doing some research of his own on the topic.

"You are joking right?" Hiccup asked, trying to keep in his laughter from imaging something like that happening between his dad and another woman.

"No joke! That very line secured me a date to the prom." Jack said proudly, puffing up his chest a little bit.

"I bet it did, probably with your mom!" Hiccup told Jack, bursting into sidesplitting laughter at the thought.

"Okay, laugh it up, laugh it up. I bet you didn't even go to your prom did you?"

"I will have you know I did!" Hiccup cried indignantly.

"You sure? I got a strong bookworm vibe from you and I don't think you would be the one who would want to go to prom."

"Well that's true," Hiccup reluctantly agreed. "But my friend Astrid convinced me to go."

"Oh, 'friend'. Suuure." Jack teased, his blind eyes lighting up a little in amusement.

"Yes, my friend Astrid." Hiccup said putting extra emphasis on friend and getting a little mad at Jack's assumption.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Jack said, picking up on the annoyance in Hiccup's tone, (with his huge ears) "I wasn't trying to offend you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Hiccup said sighing. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. I just… Well I'm gay and Astrid was the first person I told about it. To imagine her as more than a friend is well…weird." As soon as Hiccup stopped speaking, Jack's eyes widened in shock as Hiccup's statement finally made sense.

"Really?!" Jack inquired, still a little shocked.

"You couldn't tell?" Hiccup asked, a little amused by Jack's reaction.

"N-no. That's not it… it's just, well, surprising for you to admit something like that so casually."

"How else was I supposed to do it?" Hiccup asked leaning backwards in his chair, growing more amused by the second.

"Umm… Maybe less casually?" Jack said, his hesitation and stuttering almost completely gone, a teasing tone replacing it.

"Ok, then. Whatever you say." Hiccup replied, rolling his eyes in jest and putting the front two legs of the chair on the floor again. "So, are you? Gay I mean."

Hiccup asked, curious if he would have any shot at all with his roommate.

"Umm…" Jack nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"I won't judge. And if you don't feel confortable sharing now, I won't pressure you. No worries."

"No, it's okay. It's just I haven't met too many open-hearted people."

"I know what you mean. My school flipped their lid when I took a boy to prom. It was like telling my friends all over again."

"Why? I understand the school flipping out, but your friends? Did they not like gays or something?"

"No, they just had no idea what being gay meant. I grew up in a small town and only a few people were openly gay as the community wasn't really gay-friendly. It's kinda sad though, my dad, however, knew before even I did. Such an awkward conversation that one."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I'm just glad I didn't need the birds and bees talk too. Yikes. Four hours of my life I will never get back."

"Four hours?! What was your dad doing? Demonstrating?!"

"No… It's just my dad didn't know how to explain it and I didn't know a thing on the topic. Three hours of the four was him struggling to explain the simplest concepts."

"Like what?" Jack asked jokingly.

"Like… You know what, I'm not going to answer that."

"Good answer." Rapunzel said coming up behind them and delivering their orders.

"A hamburger for Jack and a cheese and sausage Panini for Hiccup. Can I get you guys anything else?"

"No, I think I'm good."

"Me too." Jack chimed in, already stuffing his face with his meal.

"Okay, I have a lot of tables to cover, as you can see it is a busy day," At this Hiccup snorted in amusement. "…So I might not see you guys if you need something so I took the liberty of printing you your check. Trust me, while the foods good, the desserts stink. You are better off going across the street to the small bakery. They have really good cupcakes. I'll see you guys, hopefully soon. I only work for a couple of shifts since I do take classes here. Maybe we will be in some classes together. Oh, that would be so fun! I got to go now, bye!"

Rapunzel hugged both boys one more time and both boys barely had enough time to say 'bye' before she was lost in the crowd that was forming outside and the boys were left with their meals and each other.

AN: I am almost ready to start introducing more of the pairings so you will see that soon. And I almost got to 1,000 words not including the AN! Lots of almost's in this Author's Note. Oh well. Review please!