Well, this chapter took a lot longer to write than I had expected.

Bah, I don't want to get all "I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER AHHH *tear*" on you guys, so I'll spare you the sob story of how my life is so crazy and busy right now because of school and personal problems. Instead, I'll give you a new chapter! Hoozah!

Thanks all of you that stuck with me through this horrific break. I can't guarantee when I'll be able to update next, but I'll definitely try my hardest to make it soon!

.

.

Ruff's the one that comes up with the idea.

"This party blows," is how she starts, her speech somewhat slurred. She's resting her pointed chin in the palm of her hand as Tooth and I join her, her brother, and Fish, all sitting over by the bon fire, all appearing to be a little out of it. The flames aren't as bright as they were when we had arrived about an hour ago, and it seems that everyone here's more interesting in that strange, yellow beverage to care about it.

Tee, cocking his head in the direction of the ramp leading back up to the parking, adds, "Yeah, well… you guys wanna get outta here or what?"

Fish jumps up from the log he's seated on, saying, "Yeah! We can-" but is cut off as he stumbles over himself and lands back on the chunk of wood. Ruff, ignoring him, just shrugs, like she couldn't care less.

"Do you think I could invite my friends too?" Tooth asks, sounding a bit nervous to speak. I suppose it's because she's never actually spoken to these people before, and I don't blame her for being a little skittish. When I had first met these guys - especially the twins though - I was a little more than intimidated. "They drove me here and I feel like-"

"Yeah, they can come. Whatever," Ruff says before Tooth can finish, waving her off.

Tuff adds, "They better just not be, like, annoying or anything."

Tooth shakes her head quickly. "O-oh, of course not! They're really nice people! I promise!"

The twins both shrug in unison, clearly losing interest in Tooth's mentioned friends. Their corresponding actions almost get a laugh out of me, and I can't help but wonder if they're aware that they're so in sync with each other.

"I'm going to go find East and all of them," Tooth tells me, her delicate fingers brushing my hoodie sleeve, making it hard for my throat to retrieve air for a moment. She quickly glimpses over at Fish and the twins, all wandering lazily back off towards the ramp to leave. "Will you wait for me?"

"Of course," I somehow manage to get out with a smile. "What kinda guy do you take me for?"

She returns my smile, her eyes squinting up like the usually do. Next thing I know, she's off, jogging towards the drinks, where I can hear Nik's vociferous laughter echoing through the night air.

I catch up with Fish and the twins, waiting for me at the bottom of the ramp. The twins look somewhat tired, but mostly just eager to get out of here as soon as possible. I can't help but wonder why that is, and I think about asking them - maybe in an attempt to start conversation - but that seems like the kind of question that would make Hiccup nudge and shoot me a watch-what-you-say look. Not to mention, Ruff and Tuff don't necessarily have this friendly charm to them either, so asking something like that, I think, wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.

The three teens are going on about places we could all possibly go, all of us ascend towards where Tooth and I had left Hiccup and Astrid. "A place where no one else is bound to be," Ruff says, since I suppose the main reason why the twins want to leave is to get away from the growing crowd. Fish asks me - I feel out of sympathy for not including me more in their exchange - if I know of any places we could go. The only place I can think of, however, is The Ring, since that' the only real hang out spot I've ever been to while living here. I end up just shrugging in response, and Ruff takes the spotlight by throwing out another option.

We finally arrive at the top of the ramp, Fish almost crashing into a large group of kids only now arriving. I look down at my watch as he searches for his keys in his back pocket, only to be reminded by Ruff that Hiccup took them earlier. Wow. It's actually past midnight. I've never been up past midnight before. Well, I mean, I've been up, sure; dozens of times. I've just never been out at this time though. A head of blonde hair pulled carelessly back into a single braid - whom I instantly recognize belongs to Astrid - calls out to us once Tuff and Ruff start getting into an insult battle over where we should do. Ruff gives Astrid what I assume is supposed to be a playful slug on the shoulder, only her aim is slightly off and she nearly punches her in the breast. As Astrid returns it with an equally as aggressive blow, I can't help but notice that she's wearing what I believe is Hiccup's jacket.

"What do you look so happy about?"

Speaking of which.

Turning towards Hiccup, standing on my opposite side from the others, I can't help but let a toothy grin spread across my face. "It's past midnight."

"Oh, is it now?" he laughs.

"Yeeeep."

"And this is significant… whyyyyy…?

My grin grows larger. "I've never been out past midnight."

The small boy stares at me for a moment, seeming to be taking in what I've told him, and then he just laughs, shaking his head. "I swear, Jack. Sometimes you remind me of a five-year-old."

"You know, I pretty much am five-year-old, if you think about it."

"Yeah, and that's what scares me."

"Oh, don't be like that."

"It's hard not to when your best friend has the mental age of kindergartener."

Trying my hardest to not show too much bliss at him referring to me as his best friend, I shoot back with, "Admit it. You love having me around."

He rolls his green eyes. "Now where on earth did you hear that nonsense?"

Overhearing Astrid, Fish, and the twins going on about who's going to be in whose car tells me that a destination has been decided, though I have no idea where it is. Astrid is chiming in by saying that she can fit a good three other people in her car, so that means Hiccup, Tooth, whichever friends she brings along, and I are going to have to find another ride.

"Tooth said something about one of her friends driving her here," I pitch in. "We can probably just get a ride with them."

Astrid nods. "Sounds like a plan. You remember where the Caliban caves are, right Hiccup?"

"Dang, we're going there?" he asks, sounding a little surprised by this choice of destination. "Haven't been there in forever."

"Yeah, gonna visit some old roots," Tuff says, nudging his sister with a smirk. "Maybe we can even play some hide'n'seek, like we used to when we were kids. 'Member that, huh Fish? All those daaaaaaaaaaaaaark and spooooooooooky caves we used to hide and get lost in?"

Fish shivers. "Yeah, uh… let's not."

The twins take that as their queue to start making creepy "oOoOoOoOh" noises, wiggling their long fingers at the obviously frightened Fish. As they draw closer and Ruff quickly brushes Fish's red cheek with her fingertips, the larger boy lets out a loud yelp and darts off in the direction of Astrid's car, stumbling over his feet and nearly falling flat on his face. The twins, both wearing mischievous grins on their faces, race after him, continuing their taunting.

"Make sure they don't make him pee his pants, like they used to," Hiccup tells Astrid, and I have to fight the urge to burst out laughing. Even though it's awful thinking about poor kid-Fish peeing his pants because he's so scared, it's also rather comical to imagine.

Astrid gives Hiccup a knowing smirk. "You sure it's not you you're talking about?"

I fight back another laugh and Hiccup elbows me in the stomach. "Oh, hahahahaha, you're too much, Hofferson, really."

She sticks her tongue out at him. "So… we'll meet you there?"

"Yes, ma'am. Oh, and please don't let Fish drive. Actually, now that I think about it, don't let the twins drive either."

"Pfft, you seriously think I'd let those two psychos drive my car? You should know me better than that."

"Well, it'd be even worse now, considering I think they're all kinda drunk."

"Oh yeah? What gave you that idea?"

Hiccup laughs at this apparently joke - what does "drunk" even mean anyways? - and Astrid waves towards us, readjusting her - I mean, Hiccup's jacket on her shoulders. "Well, I should get goin'. Don't want the drunkards to mess up my car more than you've already done tonight. Don't get lost on the way here, alright?"

As she disappears behind rows and rows of cars, I ask Hiccup, "What does drunk mean?

"Oh, uh…" he starts, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. "You remember that drink Fish and I had you try earlier?"

"The one that tasted like eating a whole bunch of fire ants all at once?"

"Yes, Jack. The stuff that tasted like eating fire ants."

"What about it?"

"Well, if you drink too much of it, it makes you all, like, loopy and happy and stuff."

"And that's bad?"

"Depends on who you are, really. People that get buzzed can get kinda annoying after some time, so I generally try to avoid them."

"Have you even been drunk before?"

"No… but I've been tipsy."

"What's that?"

Hiccup turns towards me, giving me a look. "You know, you sure do ask a lot of questions."

Despite the fact that I really want to continue learning about all this new information I didn't even know existed until now, I take that as my queue to lay off. It's late, and even though I can tell he's trying his hardest to hide it, I can still tell that Hiccup's exhausted and probably isn't in the mood for my inquiry.

After a moment of silence though, he does speaks up, asking me who exactly Tooth's friends are. I tell him about each of the boys, warning him about Nik's almost overwhelming enthusiasm, explaining to him about Sandy's condition, and enlightening him about East's baffling grudge against me. He suspects that there's something I must've done to get East to dislike me without even actually meeting me, and when I remind him of the infamous event of our first training session, he just snorts and shakes his head.

"Well, he just better not get on my back over something you did," the small boy tells me, crossing his arms. "If he does, then we may have a problem."

"What? Are you going to beat him up or something?"

"If he gives me as much as a weird, side glance, I don't see why not."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"And what if I'm not?" I can tell that he is.

"He's like… some sort of super buff kangaroo, Hic," I tell him. "Trust me when I say you wouldn't stand a chance."

"A wha- okay, I gotta see this guy."

A set of headlights make their way into my field of vision, and within second, Astrid's car is pulled up right in front of the two of us. The blonde girl rolls down the window, revealing Fish sitting beside her in the passenger's seat, and the twins crammed in the back.

"Hey, Fish wants his keys back," Astrid tells us, mostly referring to Hiccup, I assume.

"They're in my jacket's pocket," Hiccup informs her.

She reaches into said pocket, rustles around some, and then tosses the keys to Fish beside her. Turning back towards us, she smirks and says, "Oh, and, uh… you maaaaay wanna tell Fish about what happened to his car too."

"Wait… what… w-what happened to my car?" The larger boy leans forward, pushing Astrid slightly out of the way so he can see Hiccup, whose face I notice has gone a deep red.

"Oh…" Hiccup whispers, rubbing the nape of his neck, not being able to make eye contact with his friend all of the sudden. "Haha, yeah… Fish… um… about your car…"

.

.

I only end up meeting one of the three boys that Jack warned me about. The ones named Nik and Sandy apparently want to stay at the party, considering they're having "such a good time" - go figure on that one - so the person that Tooth comes marching up the ramp with is the one I assume is East, judging by what Jack's told me about him.

He's the one that ends up driving us to Caliban Caves, since he's the only one that has a car - or a truck rather. I sit in the crammed backseat with Jack, Tooth up front with East, enduring what I believe has to be the most terrifying fifteen minutes of my entire life. I'm used to driving with Fish, and he isn't necessarily the fastest driver, since he's very cautious and gets really nervous about those kinds of things. East, on the other hand, doesn't appear to remember that he has other people in the car with him, because he's just barreling down the road like it's no one's business, making me extremely uneasy.

Jack, however, is able to keep my mind off the abrupt turns that are being made ever so often by showing me all these lame magic tricks that I learned back when I was five. I play along with him though, since I get the feeling he's probably spent a lot of time practicing these stupid tricks over and over again just for an occasion like this. Tooth is also encouraging him to continue, laughing and clapping her hands from the passenger's seat whenever he's successful, which I can tell makes Jack a little bit more than excited.

The only person in the car that doesn't seem impressed by Jack's tricks is East. Every time Jack is able to make a coin disappear and pull it out of my ear, I see the muscled teen scuff and roll his eyes from the rearview mirror, like he's seen this all before and isn't impressed. To say the least, these reactions are beginning to bug me. So what if these tricks are cheesy and overdone. Jack thinks they're cool, and apparently so does Tooth, so maybe this guy should just lighten up a bit.

I don't dare say those words though, since he looks like the kind of guy that could easily rip me arm out of its socket if he felt like it.

We eventually arrive at the Caliban Caves in one piece, parking right alongside Astrid's car, which is empty and locked. East asks where the rest of the group could be, sounding extremely impatient. As I point them all in the direction of the caves, just off behind a thin mass of trees with low branches, I can't help but wonder if he's just being forced to tag along, which makes me a little agitated. If he doesn't want to be here, why did he even come in the first place?

As a group, we all push our way through the trees, failing to stay silent as our shoes noisily crunch leaves and sticks underfoot. Once the caves come into view, Jack takes the lead, allowing one of the thinner branches to whip back and smack me dead in the center of my face. He lets out a hurried apology as I hear East surprisingly let out a laugh. Tooth gets all worried about my nose, which I can see while crossing my eyes is bright red. Looking back at Jack, I can't help but notice the playful smirk on his white face. Laugh while you still can, Frosty. I'll get my revenge.

As soon as we emerge from the trees, Fish, Astrid, and the twins appear, all sitting at the mouth of one of the narrow caves, flashlights glowing in their hands.

"Gods, finally," Tuff lets out at seeing us. He gets up from the ground and dusts off the butt of his jeans. "Took you guys long enough. What'cha get? Lost?"

"East's a really fast driver," Jack explains. "We missed a couple of turns along the way." As Fish walks up to him and passing his beaming flashlight over, I notice East shot a glare in Jack's direction, going undetected by both him and Tooth.

"Whatever," Ruff goes as Astrid walks up beside me, shining her flashlight in my eyes as a greeting. "Now that we're all here, what d'you guys feeling like doin'?"

Astrid offers telling ghost stories, but Fish is quick to shoot that one down, for obvious reasons. Jack says something about playing hide and seek without flashlights, which most of us are up for, but then East reminds Tooth how she's afraid of the dark, which she sadly confirms to. Fish says that we could all just look up and study the stars, but the twins roll their eyes and say that that's "booooring".

"What about star tripping?" I suggest, going slightly off of Fish's approach. "Haven't done that in a really, really long time, have we? And there's even some new people here, so that should make it more than interesting."

"What the bloody hell is star tripping?" East asks, crossing his arms and looking doubtful.

"East," Tooth hisses. "Be nice…"

Fish, obviously not noticing the exchange between the two, answers with, "It's kiiinda difficult to put into words. You gotta see it to understand how it works." He turns his large body back towards me, almost clumsily falling over himself, telling me the alcohol from before is still somewhat in his system. After adjusting himself, he adds on, "We can show them what to do. We have enough people."

"Hiccup can hold the flashlight and count," Astrid suggests. She tosses me her light, it stumbling in my hands as I catch it, but not falling to the ground. "The rest of you newbies might wanna step back. It can be kinda dangerous if you guys are standin' too close to the victim."

A nervous look suddenly appears in Tooth's eyes at what I assume was the mention of this being dangerous and someone being considered a victim. "Are, uh… are you guys sure this is a really good idea? I mean, if one of us could get badly hurt, than maybe we shouldn't-"

"Oooooh, oh, oh, oh! I wanna be the first victim, I wanna be the first to get hurt! " Ruff interrupts in an overly zealous chants. She shoots her arm up into the air, waving it so fast you can barely make it out through the darkness. Tuff, however, reaches up and shoves it back down to her side, yelling, "No, I'm going first! I'm better at star tripping than you!"

"Says who?!"

"Says me! I can barely stand up straight as it is!"

"If you two idiots are gonna fight over it, I'll just go first," Astrid volunteers, snatching the flashlight from Ruff and tossing it to Tooth, who, like me, barely manages to catch it. Astrid's blue eyes then move in my direction, narrowed as a smirk crawls on to her face. "I swear, if you led me off a cliff or something, Haddock… I'll kill you. Understood?"

I return her grin. "Gee, thanks for foiling my plan, Astrid. You're no fun."

The twins and Fish all move into place circling Astrid, covering each of her sides. As I back up away from the group, turning my flashlight away from them, Jack catches my shoulder and asks, "Um… care to explain what exactly we're doing here?"

I playfully pat him on his icy cheek. "You'll see."

Basically, the objective of star tripping is to get the person in the center of the circle as dizzy as humanly possible. We've discovered that being spun endlessly by the people around you isn't quite enough to reach full dizziness capacity though, so the victim also has to look up as they're being kept in place, focusing on one star up in the sky as they're being spun round and round. Hence why it's called star tripping.

I watch Astrid being turned in circles, her arms, cloaked with the oversized sleeves of my jacket, crossed over her chest, her head thrown back as her braid flies behind her. Jack's laughing beside me, saying something to Tooth that I don't hear, because I'm focusing too much on the girl being spun a couple of meters away. She's somehow managed to keep her eyes open, unlike most people that dare to play this game, and her mouth is widened to the sky, allowing uncontrollable giggles and the occasional shriek out as she almost loses her balance and is saved by Fish's supporting arms. It's hard not to smile at seeing her like this; she's usually so serious and grim, all work and no play. Seeing her let loose, laughing and almost falling all over herself… well, it's definitely the Astrid that I prefer to see.

"Hiccup! Don't you think we've been spinning her for long enough?" Fish yells at me hurriedly, keeping an eye on Astrid so she doesn't collapse to the ground. The blonde starts to yell something through her laughs as I snap out of whatever mode I was in, but it's completely unable to be understood.

"Let her go!" I yell, bringing out the flashlight again and moving away from Jack, Tooth, and East. As the beam lands upon Astrid, the twins and Fish have parted from her, running away a safe distance. I can hear the twins chuckling as they jump on top of a rock near the mouth of the cave, them and Fish all ready to watch the show unfold before them. Once I see that they're in place, I begin to flip the flashlight on and off repeatedly, all while shining it right in Astrid's face. She appears disoriented at first, and I don't blame her; being the subject to star tripping is always the worse right after you've stopped spinning and you're trying to get your bearings on everything again.

Her perplexities come to an end when her instinct kicks in though. I know it when her eyes land on me, large, dazed, and confused, but full of intense determination.

"HICCUP!" I hear who I think is Fish yell from somewhere. "RUUUUUUUN!"

Allowing my feet to take over, I continue to flash the light at Astrid, who's now barreling towards me at full speed. She nearly trips over her own feet as I begin to sprint in the opposite direction, the cold wind blowing through my hair and against my face as I make sure to keep the flashlight in her sight. She quickly rebounds from her fall, using her hand to push her off the ground and towards me again.

I don't know how long I run. It could've only been a couple of second for all I know, but man, it felt like almost hours on top of hours. I'm not all too surprised when Astrid tackles me to the ground in one full pounce, knocking all the air out of me as my hand loses grip of the flashlight and we topple to the cold grass. She's a quick one, Astrid, especially when she has a target - which just sadly has to be me.

Her chest is still heaving, taking in large doses of lost air, as she pushes herself up, her eyes locking down on mine. Normally she would've just gotten up without making any contact, saying that I need to learn to run faster and that it's Ruff's turn to go, only, this time, she doesn't get up. Not instantly, that is.

"Sorry," she exhales, still obviously catching her breath. "I'm… a lot faster… than I think. Especially… after… y'know."

"Being spun around a couple dozen times in the middle of dark?"

I can see her smile, despite the veil of night around us. "Exactly."

"It's okay. Here." Gently taking her wrist, I manage to not only pull myself back up to my feet, but also her as well. She whips her bangs out of her eyes as I let go of her, mumbling something that sounds like a "thank you" as she diverts her eyes away from mine. If it wasn't so dark, I could've sworn I saw her cheeks light up a bit, but I may just be seeing things.

"Oooooooh man! I gotta do this next!" I hear Jack go from off back towards the cave. "Don't wanna miss my chance to get to attack Hiccup like that! This is gonna be great!"

Astrid lets out a laugh, breaking the silence between us, as I just roll my eyes.

As he had proposed, Jack does go next. His approach, after being released from his spinning, is nothing like Astrid's though. Where she had been abrupt and precise with her movements, Jack is more awkward and loose, constantly misstepping and falling flat on his face. It's extremely hard not to burst out laughing at this, and it makes me feel better to hear the rest of the gang - even East, surprisingly - joining in with me. Jack, of course, takes it all in stride, like he always does. As he shakily gets up, inching his way towards me, I notice an evil sneer appear on his face, and I know he means business now. Luckily for me, he's not fast enough on his feet while basically being considered drunk, so he's never able to catch me. When I notice that he's collapsed to the ground, his limbs all spread out in opposite directions, I assume he's given up.

I walk up to him, Tooth running in beside me, looking worried. "Are you okay, Jack?" she asks, bending down and touching his face with her hand.

He just grins sleepily up at us, letting out a small chuckle. "Le's do it again."

Ruff goes next, who resembles a rabid squirrel when she's chasing after me, and she's followed by her brother, who isn't even able to go after me since he can't even stay on his feet. Fish takes some convincing, despite his earlier excitement to the notion of star tripping, and when he does finally go, I'm not disappointed. The fact that he's already tipsy makes his swooping and rolling after me even more entertaining.

"Tooth should go next!" Jack sings when Astrid asks who the next victim is going to be. "She hasn't gone yet! She still needs to go!" The white-haired idiot is jumping up and down as he runs towards the small, slightly frightened looking girl, taking her hand in his and leading her towards the twins and Fish. Before he can even get her halfway there though, East unexpectedly jumps into action, ripping Jack's hand off of Tooth's wrist and pulling her swiftly away from him. The whole thing happens so fast, but everyone witnesses it - even the preoccupied twins, who were arguing loudly with each other about something stupid behind me.

"East, what are you-" Tooth begins to ask after a second, but when she sees that all of our attention are on her and friend, her face turns a deep red in embarrassment.

"You betta watch yourself, mate," East threatens, not paying any attention to any of us - not even Tooth - but only the shocked Jack in front of him.

"Hey, i-if she wants to go next, you should let her go," Jack surprisingly defends himself. I move in his direction, in case he needs some aid - like I could help if this were to get physical anyways - but he doesn't seem to notice. His gaze is locked on East, a hardened expression I've never seen before on him morphing on to his features.

"If I do recall," East fights back, letting go of Tooth's wrists and brushing past her while advancing on Jack, who takes a clumsy step back towards me, "she never said she wanted to go. Looked more like you were forcing her to."

"That… that wasn't what I was doing though…"

"East. Leave him alone," Tooth says harshly. "He was just-"

"You need. To remember. Your. Place." As East comes toe to toe with Jack, I'm suddenly able to see just how huge he is; Jack is about a solid five ten, easily, standing his ground as this gigantic teen sends a venomous glare down at him. East though… well, he's an entire head and a half taller than the poor kid, making him look like a dwarf in comparison.

"Hey, relax," I hear Astrid tell the two boys, taking a step towards the scene. "He was just messin' around, alright? He didn't mean her any harm."

"I'm fine, East. Really," Tooth backs Astrid up. She takes a step in between the two boys, probably hoping to break them apart at least a little bit and easing the tension. "I want to go next. I really do. I mean, I think it'd be fun."

Though I can tell East has been convince somehow by his friend not to beat the living crap out of Jack, he doesn't break his eye contact from him. Jack, for his own credit, is returning his hard glare pretty well; he hasn't taken his blue eyes off of East's this entire time, despite the fact that I can see his balled up fists trembling at his sides.

Astrid moves around me and towards Tooth, coaxing her towards where the twins and Fish stand, still staring awed at what's just happened. Their stunned expressions are snapped clean off their faces though seconds later, and I know it's probably because Astrid gave them a stern look so brutal, they didn't have any other chose but to dismiss it.

Tooth goes, and of course, she's laughing and shrieking as the four spin her around and around in the dark. East, I notice , lurks off away from where Jack and I stand, keeping a firm eye on Tooth, which bugs me, and I can also tell, bugs Jack.

"That was scary," I hear him say next to me, his arms shoved into his hoodie's pockets.

"Yeah. You looked pretty scared," I tell him.

He looks worriedly down at me. "Did I?"

"Don't worry 'bout it. I think we were all a little scared."

"You were scared?"

"Duh, of course I was. I wasn't sure if he was gonna beat you up or what."

"What if he had though?"

"Then Astrid would've swooped in and given him what for instead."

Jack lets out a laugh, and I hear Fish call for me to get the flashlight ready.

Tooth star tripping is like the equivalent to someone being one hundred percent drunk, plus maybe a little high. She collapses instantly and has the most difficult time getting back on her feet, just like Tuff had been like when he had gone. East is watching her avidly from a distance, not losing contact with her as she darts and falls all over the place, practically intoxicated on her own laughter. Once she buckles to the ground and says through her giggles that she can't get up, it isn't East that comes to her aid - it's Jack.

"Can I do it again?" the small girl asks, still allowing laughs to escape her lips as she brushes her hair out of her face, Jack's hand on her waist as he steadies her.

"Nah, not yet," Astrid goes, grabbing her arm to help Jack balance her. "We got one more person that needs to go."

"Oh? Who's that? I thought everyone had gone already…"

Astrid turns towards me, that horrible smirk on her face.

"Ooooooooooh! Astrid! Oh, oh, oh!" Jack sings from beside her, jumping on his toes. "Can I do the flashlight thing? I want to make Hiccup trip all over himself and stuff! I'm really fast! He won't be able to catch me, I promise!"

"Jack?" I say.

He turns his attention towards me.

"You're a horrible friend, you know that?"

.

.

Hiccups star tripping idea only lasts about one more round for each of us before we all get too disoriented to take any more turns. East is the only one that hasn't gone once, and no matter how much Tooth pleads for him to at least try, he won't seem to budge. I don't necessarily mind this. Though, I'll admit, it'd be more than a little amusing to be the one in control of the flashlight during his turn. I could have a lot of fun with an excuse like that.

The opportunity never presents itself though, and I'm fine with that. Tooth seems to be more on my side with what happened earlier, and for that, I am grateful. The last thing I want is for her to think that I was forcing her to go, thought I get how it probably looked that way. I guess it doesn't really matter anymore though. She tried it, loved it, did it again, and loved it even more. I guess that means I won that battle.

The eight of us all find refuge in the dark shadows of the cave afterwards, sitting on the cool ground in a sloppy circle, our numerous flashlights eerily lighting up the stone walls around us. The twins are, of course, side by side, but I can notice Fish sitting awfully close to Ruff, looking like he half hopes she doesn't notice, but also that she does. Astrid and Hiccup, despite the one-sided feud they had been in now being broken, are sitting on opposite sides of the circle, but I don't question it. I just so happen to get lucky enough to land a spot next to Tooth, sitting all crossed legged and up straight beside me. Having East on her other side makes it not quite as pleasant of an experience as I would like though, since I can see him giving me calloused looks I don't necessarily like having thrown at me.

"We should play Truth or Dare," Ruff suggests, since I suppose we had been discussing on what we should do now. I peer down at my watch as everyone agrees, and see that it's nearly one in the morning. Is it weird that I don't feel tired yet?

"ASTRID!" Tuff yells, making everyone jump. "TRUTH OR DARE?"

I'm about to lean over and ask Hiccup what this whole "truth and dare" thing is, when Ruff yells back at her blonde twin, "Hey! No way! I suggested we play, so I get to go first!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! That's the rule, you numbskull!"

"DARE!" Astrid yells a delayed response, the look on her face telling me she's hoping that'll stop their pointless bickering.

Tuff sends his sister a smug grin, and she returns it with slugging him in the shoulder, but lets him go anyways. "I dare yoooou," he says, rubbing his shoulder and looking up at the ceiling of the cave, like his dare is hiding up there. "To… pick your nose and show the bugger us!"

Fish and Tooth both let out a disgusted unison of "ewwwwwwwww!", both of their faces scrunching up like they've just smelled something awful. Astrid shots Tuff an unamused gaze, and Hiccup simply puts his hand to his face, like he's feeling secondhand embarrassment for Tuff, which is hard not to snicker at.

"Oh! Here's a better one," Ruff goes, shoving her brother to the ground roughly and leaning on top of his bent over back. "I dare you to… sing every word you say for the next five minutes!"

"Laaaaaaaaaaame," Tuff goes from under his sister.

She elbows him in the side. "Who asked you?"

Astrid merely shrugs at the dare, clearly agreeing to the challenge. She tries singing her words as she asks Hiccup truth or dare, but she can barely get the sentence out since she's having such a hard time not laughing. Asking if she really has to keep singing, Ruff informs her that it's against Truth or Dare tradition to break a dare, and that if she does end up deciding to break it, then she's to be labeled as a darer-breaker for the rest of her days in Berk. Astrid accused Ruff of making that word up, which even I could've told you, but Ruff just shrugs her off nevertheless.

The game goes on rather smoothly, and I find I'm enjoying myself hearing with all the others reveal their truths and act out their dares. Hiccup and Fish always choose truth though, and when I question Hiccup why this is while Tuff performs this song that everyone referred to as I'm A Little Teapot while standing in the center of the circle, he tells me he's had some bad experiences with dares - all of which are surprisingly Ruff and Tuff related - which I suppose is understandable.

I'm dared - truth just seems so boring to me - to reenact a television commercial of my choice, being allowed to use any of the people in the circle as helpers. Since the only time I really watch television is when I'm babysitting the Bennett's and Baby Tooth with Tooth, I pick her to be my loyal assistant. Lucky for me, it only takes her a couple of seconds to tell which advertisement I'm performing; it would be hard for her to forget it, since it's this one commercial that's so utterly ridiculous, and I've pointed it out to her every time it comes on to the screen. As everyone else starts yelling out guesses, I notice that East is shooting me one of his glares again, but he drops it as soon as he sees that I've caught him. For some reason, seeing him turn away like that, that annoyed look occupying his face, makes me want to confront him straight up and ask him what he deal with me is. I don't though, because apparently Hiccup's guessed the right answer and everyone's exclaiming, "Ooooooh! Yeah! I remember that one!"

I make Fish tell everyone whether or not he's peed in a pool before - "Ugh, Jack! Really?!" is Tooth's reaction to that. He admits that he has, but adds on quickly, stealing a glimpse at the snickering Ruff beside him, "but I was, like, five!" in his defense.

He then dares Ruff to close her eyes, smell someone's armpit, and try and guess who it is, to which she excitingly accepts. After smelling her chosen person's pit, she guesses Tuff almost instantly, and is surprised when she's told it was actually Astrid, to which Astrid's embarrassed explanation is, "It's been a really long night, okay!"

Ruff then turns towards Tooth, still sitting beside me, leaning slight towards me as she gulps down her fear at being picked to go next. The small girl chooses truth when Ruff asks, like she's been doing every turn, and the twins both let out heavy, dramatic sighs.

"You guys are so booooring!" Tuff complains.

"Yeah," Ruff agrees. "Always choosing truths 'n' stuff."

"Well, with you guys, truths are the only safe way to go," Hiccup explain to them. "I mean, your guy's dares are insane. And not to mention, uh, disgusting on so many levels."

"But that's the whole point of choosing dare," Astrid tells him matter-of-factly. "They've gotta be ridiculous, and sometimes even gross, to be good."

"Obviously your definition of a good dare and my definition of a good dare are two very different things."

"Fine, fine," Tooth speaks up with a laugh. "I'll do it. I'll switch my choice to dare."

"Ana…" East next to her starts as the twins give each other triumphant high fives and Hiccup tells her she'll be sorry, but she just shrugs his objection off. Serves him right. Tooth's not a child; she can make her own decisions.

"Alright, alright. Let's seeeeeeee…" Ruff goes, her hand rising to her chin as she studies little Tooth across the circle from her. "How about… AH! I got it! It's traditional and, y'know, kinda lame, but, oooooooooooh man, it's gonna be worth it!"

Tooth looks back at the long-haired blonde, asking what the dare is with a smile that tells me she's scared stiff.

"I dare you… to kiss your East friend there. Right on the lips too, so don't think you can find some lame loophole out of this or anything!"

A kiss… oh yeah! I know what that is. It was one of the things I learned from Emma in that first week I was "rediscovered the world". The poor, little girl had been determined to describe it to me properly, and I had been so at a loss for why someone would ever do such a thing to another person. The whole act of putting your lips, such a sensitive part of your face, against someone else - it all seemed too curious and bizarre to me. When I explained these thoughts to Emma, she tried even harder to illuminate to me exactly why people kiss - that it's to show another person how much you care for them - but I just couldn't grasp it. I still remember that, at seeing my confusion, Emma leaned over the coffee table and kissed me right on the cheek, and I suppose I can say that, well, I understood what she meant.

Thinking about this makes me feel a strange pang inside of my chest. I don't want Tooth to kiss East. Not on the mouth or cheek or anywhere. The mere thought makes something inside of me just burn and boil, and I don't want to have to watch her touch him in such a delicate way.

I had thought that the feeling I was having after Ruff had made the dare, Tooth and East turning towards one another, looking a little perplexed and red-faced, was bad enough. The second both of their lips clumsily lock with each other, I'm feeling an entirely new feeling stir up inside of me, my body barely being able to contain it.

I don't say anything though as the two's lips separate, after what felt like a lifetime. I don't stand up or move or even breathe as Tooth looks down at her hands in her lap, her dark skin still tinted a light pink. I don't dare look at East sitting beside her, afraid of what I'll see on his face.

The game continues on, but I'm barely there. Every once and awhile, I'll be asked truth or dare by one of the others, and I decide to settle for truth. The idea of actually having to get up from my spot to do something doesn't seem very pleasant right now, considering the wave of dreariness that has just overcome me, leaving me wishing to lay my heavy head down on my soothing, warm pillow back home.

I suppose everyone else is beginning to feel this way, because Astrid gets up and says she's thinking of heading home, and no one disagrees. As I pull myself up from the algid ground, readjusting my hoodie and looking at my watch, I notice that it's almost two in the morning. Yeah, it's definitely time to get home.

East drives Hiccup and me back to where Fish left his car back at Ravan Point, so we can have a ride home. No one talks during the ride, but I'm not all too surprised. East focuses on the road, Tooth stares out the passenger's window, seeming lost in thought, and Hiccup and I just sit in the backseat, exchanging quick looks every one awhile, but never saying anything.

It's a relief to finally get out of that truck, even if it means leaving Tooth for the night. She waves to me through the dark tinted window as East pulls away, a kind smile spreading across her lips, making me forget about what had happened earlier just for a moment.

The twins take themselves home, both of them fighting over who gets to drive all the way to their car lost in the shadows somewhere. Astrid also drives herself, forgetting to give Hiccup back his jacket as she waves back to us and tells us to drive safely. I think of reminding him about the piece of attire, in case he wants it back, but he looks right at her as she gets into her dented car and doesn't say a word; just smiles ever so slightly.

"Do you think you can drive?" Hiccup asks, turning towards Fish as Astrid's driving off, her headlights vanishing behind the trees, leaving us in the chilly darkness.

The large boy shakes his head wearily, his eyelids barely staying open.

"How are going to get home then?" I ask. "We can't walk."

Hiccup moves forwards and digs through Fish's jacket pocket, Fish not seeming to notice him at all, he's so out of it. He pulls out a shiny pair of keys, turns towards me, and says, "Guess we're gonna break the law tonight, guys."

Hiccup proves himself to be a pretty good driver, for someone who doesn't have their license yet. He goes extra slow though the entire way home because, one, he doesn't want to attract any unwanted attention, and two, he also doesn't want to wake the snoring Fish lying in the backseat. We mainly drive in silence, only, unlike when we were crammed in the back of East's truck, it's comfortable. We're both tired, we can both tell, so we keep our thoughts to ourselves.

It isn't until we pull up half a block from my house that Hiccup cuts the engine, leans back in his seat, and asks, "Can I ask you something, Jack?"

I nod.

"Do you like Tooth?"

"Well… yeah," I go, laughing a bit at the odd question. "I mean, she' really sweet and kind, and she's really fun. Kind of shy, but she's a really great-"

"No, Jack. Not like that," he stops me, laughing and rubbing his forehead. "I meant, like... Gods, this sounds so stupid, but like… like like."

My response to that question is simply me staring back at him, a dumbfounded look on my face, no doubt. What does "like like" even mean?

"Like… do you like her in that way?" he goes on, trying to explain himself. "Kinda like how I like Astrid. You know. A romantic kinda way, right."

"Oh…"

Well… now that I think about it… that doesn't seem like a very far-fetched thing to ask. I mean… well… I don't really know what it's like to be attracted to someone else; honestly, I've never really thought about it before. I do, however, see the way Hiccup looks at Astrid sometimes when he doesn't think I notice, with this soft gaze and easy smile that pretty much tells me that he'd be willing to give her the world and then some. I wonder if he's ever caught me giving Tooth that kind of look before, and a part of me really hopes he hasn't, because that would be a little embarrassing on my part. Have I though? How do I feel when I look at Tooth? Do I feel someone different than what I feel when I look at someone like Astrid or Ruff or any other girl for that matter?

The memory of earlier tonight, when Tooth and East exchanged a kiss, replays in my head, and the feeling I had experienced then burns from within my stomach. Suddenly, I'm aware of why I had felt so rattled at watching the two be so close to one another.

I turn back towards Hiccup. "Does wanting to kiss someone mean you like like them?"

Hiccup merely smiles weakly in return, looking amused at my question. "Yes, Jack. Waning to kiss someone does mean you like like them."

"Oh. Well… then I think I like like Tooth then."

"Well, congrats then, buddy. I mean, not congrats on what you had to see tonight, 'cause that was kinda... well... you know."

My heart sinks a little in my chest at being reminded of the event again. "Yeah..."

"But hey! You got your first ever crush ever!" Hiccup goes on, playfully punching me on the shoulder. "It feels like just yesterday I was teachin' ya how to ride your bike, and look at you now. You're growing up so fast!" He places his pointer finger right underneath his eye and pulls it slowly down his cheek, I'm guessing acting like he's crying. I roll my eyes at him in response.

"How are you gonna get home?" I decide to ask.

"Are you changing the subject, Mister Overland?"

"It's getting late. I want to go to bed."

"Yeeeeeah," Hiccup goes, letting out a long yawn. "I definitely feel ya. I'll probably just drive to Fish's place, deliver him there without getting noticed, then walk to my place."

"You're going to walk home in the dark?"

He shrugs. "It's only a couple of blocks."

I think about volunteering to stay with him, helping him get Fish into his bed without waking his family, and then making sure he gets home safely. Now that I think that plan over though, I can see the many holes in it. If I'm all the way back in the suburban part of Berk without a car, how on earth am I to get home?

"I'll be fiiiiiine," I hear Hiccup reassure me, unlocking the car door with a loud clack that doesn't cause Fish to stir somehow. "I promise to not talk to any strangers and to stay in well-lit areas, alright?"

I laugh and pull myself out of the car, telling him he's the weirdest person I know. As he shots back a comeback that I don't hear, I look off and see my house sitting in near darkness, only the porch light completely visible from where I stand. I wonder if my parents had realized I'm gone. Doubt it. If they had, the lights would surely be on and maybe even a police car would be sitting in our driveway.

"Earth to Jack, do you copy?"

Bending back down so that he can see from where he sits, I throw him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

The small boy rolls his eyes, letting out a tired grin that makes me feel even sleepier. "You're tired," he points out to me, turning the keys, causing the car to come alive again. "Go get some rest."