I'm finally back! Sorry about the wait for this update. I wound up having to rewrite the whole thing because the original chapter made everything too intense too fast. I saved it for later, though. So at least I didn't waste my time, right?
Also, I apologize that nothing major really happens in this chapter. It's mostly just conversation from both Jack and Hiccup's side of things and their friends getting in their faces about it... But I hope you still like it. More character introductions and stuff, so... yeah...
"Wait, wait, wait." Jamie had to clarify what he'd just heard "You're saying that you actually have your eyes on a girl?" The rest of the group at the lunch table turned to Jack, waiting for an answer.
"Why does no one believe this?" Jack protested "First my sisters, now you guys?" He pouted "I'm starting to feel like I should have kept this to myself."
"Don't be like that, Jack." Pippa chimed "It's just a little weird, you know?"
"You've just never been into a girl before." Cupcake added.
"Yeah." Claude continued "Every time Caleb and I… or any of us," He gestured to everyone accordingly "tried to get you a date, you turned them down." Caleb nodded in agreement, as his mouth was busy taking a giant bite out of his sandwich.
Jack shrugged "Hiccup's different. I don't know." He glanced at all of his friends and started playing with the mystery meat on his plate with a fork.
"What'd Anna and Emma think when you told them?" Pippa asked.
Jack chuckled "Emma was glad she wouldn't be the first one of us to date someone. Ann was happy for me; I mean, she was pretty interested in what Hiccup looked like and everything."
"Okay, but why Hiccup?" Jamie quizzed "That can't be her real name."
"She told me to call her that." Jack clarified.
"Why?" Jamie inquired.
Jack shrugged again "I haven't had a chance to ask why, but that's what she wants me to call her so I will."
"Weird name." Cupcake commented.
"You shouldn't exactly be talking." Claude remarked. Cupcake shot him a glare, to which he put his hands up for mercy.
Monty, who had been in the world of the book in his hands until then, questioned "How long have you been talking to her?"
"A few weeks, give or take." Jack moved his hands as if you say so-so "She called me last week and she comes to the library every day now."
"The one you work at?" The boy with glasses continued.
Jack nodded in response "That's where I met her." Monty took the answer and returned to his book.
"Well, I'm glad for you, Jack." Jamie patted his friend on the back.
"Yeah." Cupcake included "Hope it works out."
"We're not dating… yet." Jack stated.
"Cocky, aren't we?" Pippa intrigued.
Jack reclined in his seat "A little." The girls at the table looked at each other and rolled their eyes "What?"
"Nothing." Cupcake chuckled.
Before Jack could question his female friends further, the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch wave and the group had to disperse to their respective classes. Jack tagged along with Monty, as they had the same math class this period, and everyone else soon fell out of sight in the sea of teens bustling through the halls.
Monty dog-eared the page in his book as they walked. "So, you really like her, huh?" he asked, in an effort to regain conversation.
"Yeah." Jack answered "She's really fun to talk to; you'd like her. Another book person."
"I figured you'd get into them once you started shifts at the library." The blond boy commented "Guess I was wrong."
"Eh, I don't hate them." Jack claimed "I just don't have the attention span for it."
Monty laughed "I know that." He gave his friend a mischievous look "So, when can we meet her?"
"Dude, you didn't hear me?" The boy with bleached hair questioned "We're just friends now, nothing serious."
"I still want to see her." Monty stated "I mean, she must be interesting to draw you in."
"If you must." Jack sighed in defeat "Just don't follow me while I'm working; Harry'll flip if he thinks I'm making someone else do my work for me or something."
"Relax," Monty assured "I'll entertain myself until she gets there." The pair entered their classroom "So, see you after school?"
"I can't talk you out of doing this, so why not?" Jack replied.
It seemed to be another slow day at the library for the bored assistant at the desk. Jack had only been at work for about a half hour and he already wanted his shift to be over. It wasn't uncommon for him to feel like this about his job, but he did grow to like it a bit more when Hiccup came into the picture. After all, he at least made a new friend because of the stupid job. And he got to see her almost every day. It became one of the few perks or being there every week day that Jack had grown very fond of.
But it wasn't until a little later that his usual distraction would come through the door, so Jack decided to get a head start on his homework. Maybe, just maybe, he could get to sleep at a decent hour tonight if he could just get some of his work done while nothing was going on.
This managed to kill a few minutes before someone called his name "Jack." Said boy looked up from his textbook to see a familiar mop of blond hair and set of bright red glasses smiling at him.
"Hey, Monty." Jack smiled.
"I brought some books to return." He gestured to the small stack under his arm.
Jack tapped the top of the desk "Give 'em to me." He ordered. Monty placed the stack on the desk and Jack checked them back into the library one by one. He got to the bottom book and smirked "Isn't this the one you were reading at lunch today?" He asked.
"Yeah…" Monty sighed "I had nothing to do in study hall today."
"What about homework?" Jack inquired, putting the last book with the rest of the stack.
"I'll do it later." His friend shrugged it off "There's not that much tonight."
"I'm trying to get a head start." Jack informed "I need to get some sleep after last night."
"What happened, anyway?" Monty leaned on the desk.
Jack scratched the back of his neck "I had to help Anna with something and I don't really want to talk about it."
"Part of dental school?" The blond guessed. Jack only nodded "Sorry, man." His friend shrugged "So, when's this 'Hiccup' getting here?"
"She'll be here soon." Jack peered at the clock "In about fifteen minutes, she'll be here. Go pretend to be busy until then." Monty nodded and wandered over to the shelves of books.
Like clockwork, Hiccup came through the library doors at 4:25. She walked up to the desk and greeted him as usual. There was only one thing different about her; she had her hair in a ponytail, and a very messy one from the looks of it. It was different seeing her without her auburn hair hiding some of her face, a good different.
Another new thing was that she wasn't alone either; two new faces accompanied her to his desk. Thankfully, they were both female. They both sported the same bright blue eyes and blonde hair and were slightly taller than Hiccup. One had her hair tied in a braid while the other had her messy locks falling freely about her. It looked like she either just got out of an open convertible or she just didn't brush her hair that day.
Hiccup must have noticed that Jack was looking her company over and broke the silence "Jack, these are my friends: Astrid and Cam." She gestured to the one with and without the braid respectfully "Guys, this is Jack." They exchanged waves and smiles.
"So, this is Jack?" Astrid stepped closer "He's taller than I imagined."
Jack turned to Hiccup with a smirk "So, you talk about me, huh?"
Hiccup tugged a stray strand of hair behind her ear "Maybe a little…"
Cam rolled her eyes behind them and cleared her throat. Hiccup and Astrid turned to her "I thought I was going to get help with history today?"
"Right, right…" Hiccup stuttered. She turned back to Jack "I'll talk to you later, 'kay?" Jack nodded and the girls made their way to an empty table nearby. They started unpacking their books when Monty walked back to the desk.
"So, which one's her?" He playfully nudged Jack's side.
"What convinced you one of them was her?" Jack inquired.
"I saw your smile while you were talking to them." The blond boy stated "It's the same look you had when you talked about her at school today."
Jack rolled his eyes "The one wearing green, with the brown hair." He gestured to Hiccup, Cam and Astrid's table.
"Hmm." Monty slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose "She's pretty. Then who's that with her?"
"Her friends." Jack answered "I was beginning to wonder if she had any female friends…"
"How come?"
"There's this guy that comes in with her every now and then…" The white-haired youth explained.
"Do you know if they're together?" The other wondered.
"I have no idea." Jack huffed "They just come here sometimes and study until they have to leave."
"You know they could just be friends, right?" Monty asked "Like you are with Pippa and Cupcake."
Jack shrugged "I guess… but it's still bugging me, you know…" he trailed off as his attention was diverted from the conversation to Hiccup reaching behind her head and pulling out the hair band that was keeping her ponytail in place. She shook her hair out a bit before returning to her studying. Jack would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the sight at all; he practically watched it in slow motion.
"Overland." Harry's raspy voice slipped into Jack's ears, pulling him out of his little trance. He turned to see the old man a few feet behind them "Stop gawking at girls and get to work."
Astrid gazed up from her homework to see Hiccup shaking out her messy ponytail. She then slipped the band onto her wrist before starting back on her own work, occasionally peering over at Cam, in case she needed assistance.
"Sorry about your hair, sis." The blonde with the braid broke the silence "I should have had something for you."
Her sister played with her pencil "Eh, it usually looks this way anyway." She shrugged "No big deal."
"I highly doubt your hair always looks like you just rode in Scott's car with all the windows down." Hiccup remarked.
"It's always a mess." Cam answered "But I have better things to do than play with my hair, like perfecting my parry."
"Right, for the tournament coming up." Astrid remembered "Don't worry, Cam, you'll get the team a spot at regionals, no problem."
"Star of the fencing team, after all." Cam bragged, as usual.
"That you are." Hiccup complimented. She gazed at her friend's paper "But you suck at history."
"That's why I'm here." The messy blonde stated "Fix me so I can do well on the next test; I flunked the one last week."
"And mom won't let her play for the team if her grades keep slipping." Astrid pointed out.
"Don't remind me…" Cam rested her head in her hands.
"You know you could have helped her at home, Astrid." Hiccup claimed.
"She's not as good at history as you are." Cam proclaimed.
"Alright, alright," the brunette repeated "maybe we should get some work done? You know, before Scott gets here?"
"Right." Astrid giggled.
Quiet came over the trio of girls, except for Hiccup and Cam's occasional exchanges about the history homework. Astrid scratched down answers to her algebra equations as quickly as usual. Bit as she closed her book to move onto the next assignment, she felt a set of eyes aimed her way. She turned and found Jack quickly looking everywhere but the table.
Astrid smirked at the sight and broke the long silence again. "So, Hiccup," said girl looked up from her notebook "what do you think of Jack?" she whispered.
Cam shrugged "He's okay… for a boy, anyway."
Astrid groaned "Is your name Hiccup?"
"He's a nice guy, why?" Hiccup asked.
"You like him, then?" Astrid insinuated.
The brunette answered "Sure." After it left her lips, she finally understood what she'd just told the braided twin "I-I mean… not like that, uh… w-we're friends. Like… like Felix and I are."
"Uh-huh…" Astrid pondered. She glanced at her sister.
Cam sensed the look and finally joined the conversation "I'm staying out of this, if I can."
Astrid rolled her eyes "Whatever, Cam." She switched her attention back to Hiccup "So, that's it? Friends?"
"Yeah." She answered a little too quickly for Astrid's liking "Can we get back to our work now?"
Astrid took the hint and nodded, each girl turning back to their assignments. But, every so often, she'd feel the stare of bright blue eyes aimed at their table. And every time she looked back, he would be frantically looking for something else to admire. Hiccup may have been oblivious to it, as she usually was with these situations, Astrid saw something hidden below the surface that just might have to come out.
So, if anyone needs clarification on this, Cam is Camicazi from the HTTYD books. I decided to make her and Astrid twin sisters because Camicazi was used as Astrid's base during character design for the movie. So, they have the same genetic features (blonde hair, blue eyes) and some of the same personality traits. I never saw anyone do that with them before, so I wanted to give it a shot
... Sorry that this fic has become the place where I put all of the relationships I haven't seen too much of in this fandom... they all seem to fit together well though, so I'm cool with it. What about you guys?