For those of you who are being epically patient and still reviewing, I love you! Again, it's been weird with my new internship and classes taking over, but I do promise I am writing like crazy. Thanks for the support and the next chapter is coming up.

Hiccup sat with Tuffnut on the bleachers as they watched the Changewing's girls' soccer team play their last match of the season. He had promised Heather to come see one of her games and was glad that this last one was a home game. He and Heather were slowly becoming fast friends. She reminded him of Astrid in many ways, only without the punching and the knowledge of the fact that he was gay. So far Tuff and Ruff had promised him that they had said nothing to anyone on campus. They admitted that they really didn't care because well, frankly, they just didn't care. They weren't into the gossip scene and Hiccup was grateful for that. He sometimes wanted to tell Heather about it, considering the amount of time they spent outside of class getting dinner and talking about their rush events were bringing them closer. But Hiccup had a feeling he just needed to wait until after pledging. He was certain that once he felt more comfortable on campus, he could finally tell people about Jack.

He cheered as Heather kicked the ball to Ruff who shot it straight past the goalie and into their net, earning the Changewing's another point.

"Dude, I heard that the official bidding starts next week for the Theta's." Tuff commented as he lazily watched the game.

Hiccup nodded, "Crazy, huh? Just think, soon we're gonna be pledging."

Tuff actually smiled for once, "I think I know who they're gonna pick besides us."

Hiccup nodded again, pretty sure he knew as well. But he didn't want to jinx anything just yet.

"You think it'll be insane? Pledging I mean?" Hiccup asked him.

Tuff shrugged, "We'll know after Christmas Break when we get back."

Hiccup smiled thinking about how close winter break was. He only had a couple more weeks and then he was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He'd be back on Campus a couple of days after New Year's. That meant he got to spend the holidays relaxing at home and spending time with Jack again. And this Christmas marked their first anniversary as an official couple. He wanted it to be special and plan something but Jack adamantly refused, saying that he would be the one surprising Hiccup and making the plans. Hiccup decided to let him have his way. It was the little things that made Jack happy and Hiccup was more than fine to let his boyfriend have his moment.

The girls scored another goal and he cheered again.

"Good game, huh?" a voice said behind them.

Bork and Norbert from the Theta's had come to watch the game it seemed and had found seats behind them.

Hiccup smiled as they acknowledged them. It was becoming a habit of just seeing Theta's show up like ghosts from nowhere to make them feel like they were part of the group. Hiccup always liked seeing Bork around. Of all the Theta's, Bork just really felt like a brother to him. Someone who looked out for him and always seemed genuinely interested in what Hiccup had to say. The other Theta's were just as awesome, but Bork was just a role model to Hiccup.

"Say Hiccup; wanna go grab a soda with me?" Bork asked. Hiccup nodded and got up. He really needed to stretch his leg.

Norbert took his seat next to Tuff and both began talking about the wrestling match on TV. Bork walked with Hiccup and then looked over at him with concern on his face, "Are you doing okay?"

Hiccup looked up at him, "Yeah!" he smiled, "I'm fine."

Bork gave him a look and then nodded, "I remember being a freshman. I missed my parents like crazy and my friends from back home. Shoot I even had a girlfriend at the time."

"No kidding!" Hiccup smiled, "Are you still with her?"

He shook his head sadly, "Nah, we broke up after a while. The distance just wasn't working for us and she had already moved on with some other guy."

"She cheated on you?" Hiccup gasped.

Bork nodded and shrugged, "Guess I can't blame her. I was here, so focused on school and there she was feeling sad and lonely. I didn't really do much for her."

"I'm sorry about that." Hiccup commented.

"It was age's ago." Bork said, waving his hand around his face, "I pledged Theta last minute really and that kind of saved my skin. I needed the distraction and brotherhood."

Hiccup nodded.

"You got a girl back home?" Bork asked, smiling.

Hiccup shook his head half-heartedly. Bork gave him a questioning glance but let it go.

"All I'm saying is that Changewing is the place to be for guys like you and me, but don't let go of home so fast either."

Hiccup smiled at that, "My sister and brothers are pretty excited to see me. So are my friends."

Bork laughed, "Yeah, I remember my mom freaking out when I got back. She made like all my favorite foods and my dad actually gave me the remote."

Hiccup chuckled, "I know what you mean about the mom part, but the remote…that's…not gonna happen at my house." He laughed.

"You know I've been meaning to ask you something…" Bork said seriously as they walked.

Hiccup looked up at him.

"I noticed you said your dad is Fergus the-I mean, Fergus Dunbroch. But your last name is Haddock…Yet you're a legacy. Is it okay if I ask what that's about?"

Hiccup nodded and swallowed. If anyone would understand, he knew it would be Bork, "Fergus is my uncle by marriage on my mom's side. My mom died when I was little."

"I'm sorry…what about your dad? Or did you know who he was at all?"

Hiccup shook his head, "My dad's in jail…I'm actually changing my last name to Dunbroch next year."

Bork's eyes widened, "Whoa! I'm…Hiccup I'm really sorry. But…that's awesome you're gonna move forward I guess."

Hiccup smiled at that, "It's okay. My dad and I were never really close honestly. I visited him, but now we've just sort of gone our separate ways."

Bork nodded, "Look, I have no idea what that feels like or anything, but if you ever need to talk, I'll listen."

Hiccup nodded back, "Thanks. You know…I'm really looking forward to joining the Theta's."

Bork smiled, "You're gonna do great."

"Is pledging…hard?" Hiccup asked quietly.

Bork's smile grew more mysterious, "Let's just say it's no picnic, but, honestly Hiccup, after what you just told me about yourself, I don't think you're gonna have a problem."

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief at that and waited as Bork finally walked up to the vendor and ordered them both sodas to go.

"Heather's gonna kill me if I don't watch their finish." Hiccup laughed as he took a swig of the drink.

Bork laughed, "She's a Phi prospective isn't she?"

Hiccup laughed and Bork actually chuckled darkly, "You know they're our sister sorority right? The first Theta and Phi founded their groups together and originally it was one group, co-ed but then because the dynamics of boys and girls pledging got too crazy to handle, they split but kept the sister and brotherhood alive. So you'll be seeing a lot more Phi's let me tell you."

Hiccup laughed, "They seem like a fairly calm group of girls."

"Thank God." Bork said rolling his eyes.

"Do the Phi's do crazy stuff during pledging?" Hiccup asked curiously.

Bork smiled, "You'll find out. Just be glad you aren't a girl when you do."

Hiccup's eyes widened and he wondered if Bork was kidding or if he was being honest. Either way, Hiccup had a feeling that he and Heather had their work cut out for them come winter time.

They came back just as the girls were finishing the match and winning the game.

Hiccup cheered for Heather and Bork grinned as he looked from Hiccup to Heather, "Do I need to watch you two during pledging?" he chuckled.

"What?" Hiccup laughed, "No! We're friends."

"Uh huh." Bork laughed.

"No…really…" Hiccup said, "I mean…she's really just a friend, I'm not…"

Bork looked at him questioningly as people began filing out of the stadium, "Not what? Dude you don't need to be embarrassed if you like her." He smiled.

Hiccup turned beet red, "Bork…Listen…I can't tell you…it's not…"

Bork took Hiccup's arm and led him behind the bleachers and then let him go to look at Hiccup, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing, just forget it." Hiccup said, attempting to turn and run, but Bork wasn't having it.

"Look, Haddock. Like it or not, you're already a Theta brother to me, so if something's up, I wanna know."

Hiccup looked down feeling the impact of those words. Bork considered him a brother. But how would he feel if…?

"You won't look at me the same." Hiccup admitted.

"Dude, I just found out your dad is in jail, I don't think my opinion could go south at all at this point."

Hiccup really didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to Bork, but he was so afraid that he just couldn't form the words. He finally looked up and then took out his wallet. He pulled out a picture of Jack and showed it to Bork who stared at it with a weird expression, "Who's this? And what's with the hair?" he laughed.

Hiccup swallowed, "That's my boyfriend."

Bork took a minute to look at the picture and then at Hiccup and when it dawned on him, he actually gawked at the photo and then gawked at Hiccup, "No way! I totally had you pegged at straight!"

"Well…I'm not." Hiccup said, sounding annoyed.

Bork merely smiled and handed Hiccup his picture, "So I'm guessing he's back at home?"

Hiccup nodded, "He's going to art school."

Bork nodded, "How long?"

"A year by Christmas." Hiccup said softly.

Bork smiled, "What's he like?"

Hiccup shrugged a little and rubbed the back of his neck, "Jack's…Jack's really amazing and I'm happy with him. He's been through a lot like me and he's just gotten me through so many bad times."

Bork kept smiling, "You two doing okay? Distance-wise, I mean. I know that's rough."

Hiccup didn't really know how to answer that. As far as he knew they were fine but both he and Jack had admitted to having doubts and fears about the distance.

"Look, in my experience, if they stick by you, you keep them." Bork smiled.

Hiccup had to smile at that.

"Hiccup I think it's totally fine that you have a boyfriend. Shoot we have a GSA here on campus if you ever need to talk to people about it, so I mean, we aren't all homophobe's or anything."

"I know…it's just…"

"Just what?"

"Jack and I…we haven't had the greatest…social standing with people who knew about us. Especially Jack's school."

Bork nodded, "I know what you mean, but here on campus, we do our best to accept people, so you shouldn't be scared."

Hiccup looked up at him, "Do you think the Theta's would…not accept me if they knew?"

Bork frowned, suddenly looking upset. He looked around quickly and came over to Hiccup to whisper, "I know I'm not supposed to do this and I'm totally breaking a gazillion rules right now."

Hiccup looked up in surprise as Bork took a breath; "Pledging is no picnic, I already made that much clear…but…" he looked as though he were struggling internally with something, it almost looked painful. All Hiccup could do was stare at him and shake.

Bork took on a serious note, "What I'm about to tell you…I'm telling you because I do consider you like a brother to me and I do care about what happens during pledging. I don't want you to feel scared or hurt in any way."

Hiccup didn't know what he was prepared to hear, but it wasn't what Bork said next.

"The Pledge Master…he's probably one of the sickest guys you'll ever meet and if he finds out that you are gay, there's no telling how much shit he will put you through just to make you feel like hell and drive home how much he goes after people who are…different."

"He won't find out, will he?"

"If he gets a sniff of it, he'll try to get it out of you or your fellow brothers, but I need you to stay strong and not let it get to you. Do you understand?"

Hiccup swallowed and nodded, ready to leave when Bork put a hand on his shoulder, "Listen. I'm sorry I pressured you to tell me that, and I promise I won't say anything to anyone. I know it sucks, but…hang in there okay."

Hiccup wiped his eyes quickly and nearly turned when Bork said one last thing, "And my offer still stands from before. If you ever need to talk to someone about anything, you can always talk to me, okay?"

Hiccup managed a small smile for Bork before he turned and left. He felt bad about abandoning Heather, but at the moment he really needed to get away.

All the images of Jack beaten and bloodied, the words on his car, the hurt he'd seen in his eyes…it just came rushing back to Hiccup and he began to get scared. What if others found out? He didn't think it would be this serious should others find out, but from what he'd just heard…pledging was not going to be pleasant at all and he could get targeted. Would the Theta's hurt him? Or Tuffnut?

He wondered if maybe pledging was a bad idea after all. It sucked to think that a group he was coming to feel a part of would hurt him because he was with Jack.

He shuddered and walked away, bumping into Tuffnut.

"Dude, where were you? We're gonna go get-" he stopped when he saw how red Hiccup was and how blotchy his eyes looked, "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing." Hiccup said quickly, "I'm just not feeling good. I'll see you later."

Tuff watched as Hiccup walked past him. He took out his phone and texted his sister, telling her that he'd meet up with them later.

Soon after he was racing to catch up to his roommate; something was up and he didn't like it one bit. Hiccup was usually a very chill guy. He smiled a lot and stayed positive to the point it nearly drove Tuff insane. And to see how upset Hiccup was it really got to Tuff.

"Hey, dude!" Tuff called after him as Hiccup managed to get past throngs of people and keep up a swift pace to his dorm without looking at anyone who passed him.

"Hiccup!" Tuff called again.

Hiccup ignored him. To be honest he really didn't even hear him. He was so lost in the images of last year and Jack, the feeling of betrayal as he felt he needed to quit the Theta's. And yet, Bork had told him how much he was Theta material "gay or not" were his words. He wanted Hiccup in the Theta's. In fact all of the Theta's wanted him in the group.

"Man, what's wrong!" Tuff huffed as he finally caught up to Hiccup.

Hiccup actually jumped and stared at Tuff who was looking at him with more concern etched on his face than he'd ever seen before.

"I can't talk about it." Hiccup muttered as they walked.

Tuff nodded and both were very silent the whole walk back to their dorm. It was so quiet Hiccup actually wondered if Tuff was even still there. To his surprise, he was.

Once back in their room, they were still silent, but then Tuff tried again, "Did something happen?"

Hiccup swallowed, "Tuff…do you still think I could be a good Theta?"

"What's that supposed to mean? You and I are like the golden pledges." Tuff laughed.

"I mean…me being gay…" Hiccup admitted quietly.

Tuff frowned and then grew serious, "Did someone find out?"

Hiccup swallowed, "I told Bork."

"What did he say?"

"He said that…" Hiccup rubbed his forehead trying to remember, "He said that he had nothing against it and that he really wants me to go…but then he told me something…something not so good."

"What was it?" Tuff asked as he found a seat at his desk.

Hiccup paced and took a breath, not sure why he was venting to Tuff, but God help him he needed somebody to tell him what to think, "He told me that the pledge master, if he found out or if the others found out about it that I might get hurt."

"What? That's bullshit!"

Hiccup took a breath, "Tuff…this is serious…I know what happens when people who don't like gay people hurt them…I saw what happened to Jack and…"

"What happened to Jack?"

Hiccup looked up sadly, "Jack was nearly beaten to death by his swim team when they found out. They almost got away with it too."

Tuff's eyes widened and Hiccup could tell that what he'd said struck a nerve inside of Tuff. It was not a pleasant story by any means.

Tuff was quiet for a moment and then he finally spoke again, "What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know…I'm just scared of someone finding out and…I just…I'm scared okay! I'm scared! Because I don't want to get torn to pieces by a bunch of guys who I thought were my friends and have to go home and face the fact that I'm just a fag!"

Tuff came forward and actually shoved Hiccup, "Hey!" he yelled, "Don't ever call yourself that, cause that's not what you are."

Hiccup stared at him and Tuff actually for a moment looked very different. He looked serious and grown up, almost wise.

"If Bork said you're Theta material, then you are. And I know that the others will accept you. Whoever this ass hole is we have to deal with, we'll deal with, but I'm not dealing with it alone. At least not without you."

Hiccup took a breath and nodded.

"We'll keep quiet about it and then when we come through pledging alive, you don't have to worry anymore. Deal?"

Hiccup actually chuckled and wiped his eyes, taking another breath, "I don't know why I got so…freaked out about it…I guess after you see how much damage one person can do to someone…"

Tuff nodded, "My sister will kill me for telling you this. But her last boyfriend beat the crap out of her."

Hiccup gasped.

Tuff continued, "When I found out, let's just say he couldn't play football anymore, let alone get a girlfriend." He smiled proudly.

"Did she know it was you?" Hiccup asked.

Tuff shrugged, "She won't say really. But we both just sort of moved on from that. But what I'm trying to say is, if anybody messes with you…I'll take care of it."

Hiccup actually smiled and nodded, holding out his hand, "Thanks Tuff."

Tuff stared at Hiccup's hand and shrugged, "Whatever, just don't make me have to."

Hiccup chuckled and shook his head, "I'll try my best."

Tuff gave him a small smile and then took out his phone, "Let's go get pizza, I'm hungry."

"I don't know-"

"Let's go." Tuff said again, a little forcefully and Hiccup knew that Tuff wasn't going to just leave him alone. He actually felt okay about it.

He wiped his eyes and followed his roommate out, actually finding that he would miss Tuff once break came around.

"I think I want chili peppers on my slice." Tuff said to himself and Hiccup chuckled. That was Tuff, serious and wise one moment, then hungry and in his own world the next. What else was new?