Okay, hopefully these chapters will get uploaded quicker because my holidays are starting and I will have more time. My other fanfics are up as well so I guess I'm on a roll! Thank you so much for being so patient guys!

Once again, the pledging stuff seems harsh, but it's fake. Not all Greeks are this horrible during pledging and I promise the outcome is awesome! I just enjoy putting my characters through hell sometimes (evil maniacal writer laughter).

Enjoy!

…..

Hiccup and Tuff carried their duffels and bookbags filled with things they knew would get them through the week. Both had to combine so they could get everything they needed. Hiccup felt bad he'd not be using his room for a few weeks, but that was the price of pledging he supposed.

They came to the Theta house and gulped before knocking.

Dagur answered the door quickly and Hiccup nudged Tuff, "Good afternoon Pledge Master Dagur the Deranged." They said quickly.

"Whatever, come on." He mumbled. How did he not look tired?!

"Haddock you're in Guy the Caveman's room, he's down that hall. Thorston, you're upstairs with Colin the Castrator."

Hiccup's eyes widened as he stared at Tuff's face to hearing that name.

"Oh yeah and those names are earned." Dagur laughed, "Go."

They nodded quickly and walked to their designated rooms. Hiccup found the room and gulped, knocking quickly.

It was answered by a very fit and very tan guy with brown eyes and shaggy brown hair done up in dreads. Hiccup quickly swallowed and addressed him. Earning a very white smile from the guy, "In you come freshie! You get the futon. I heard about your leg."

Hiccup was surprised at how nice the guy was, and even more surprised and rather happy that his room was clean. He had posters of different bands he liked and even a couple of movies he was a fan of. His dresser had a TV on it that faced the bed and futon, and his desk was surprisingly huge, filled with books. He had a walk in closet, his own bathroom, and shoot, a bookshelf!

"Hope you don't mind the mess. I tend to want to keep things clean, so please do the same."

"I will." Hiccup said quickly as he put his bags down.

"I cleaned out a drawer for you and there's a couple hangers in the closet. Oh and I have an extra chair if you need to do homework at the desk."

Hiccup nodded, "Thanks."

"Bathroom gets scrubbed down every other day. Lucky you! You have to make the bed every morning before you leave and dust every Friday." Guy grinned and Hiccup finally realized why they roomed with Theta's; they were their own personal little housekeepers.

Guy smiled at him, "Relax, I'm not as bad as Colin or Shane. Now those guys can be dicks."

"Are you a…a junior?" Hiccup asked.

Guy nodded, "Yep! Juniors get their bitches, the sophomores get their fun, and the seniors get their pledges. But you don't get your senior till later."

Hiccup stared at Guy and wondered if he could ask questions, "So…can I ask you something, sir?" Hiccup asked.

Guy nodded, "Yep! That's why I'm here."

"How did you get your name?" Hiccup asked.

Guy looked excited and sat on the futon, motioning for Hiccup to do the same. He sat down nervously, feeling stiff and Guy kept laughing at him, "You need to chill out, dude." He said as he elbowed Hiccup playfully, "Especially since you're the PCP. I told you I'm not gonna hate on you or anything. It's not my style. If anything, I'm here to make sure you know your place but have a Theta to look out for you during pledging." He laughed, "You're allowed to vent to me whenever you want."

Hiccup looked at him, "You won't…hate me if I say anything about…anything?" he asked nervously.

"I may get after you and tell you to suck it up and keep going, but...yeah." Guy smiled, "That's my role. We don't want you guys venting to teachers or some outsiders trying to get you to quit, so we started using juniors as mentors and not just 'the Dick Squad'."

Hiccup took a breath, finally cracking a smile and Guy nodded, "First nights always the worst. But it gets easier over time, I swear."

"So…last night was the only bad night?" Hiccup asked, feeling hopeful.

"I didn't say that." Guy grinned, "But trust me when I say, we've all done it so we all know how you're feeling."

Hiccup looked up at Guy's brown eyes and wondered if pledging wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Anyways, my name!" Guy said excitedly, "Well…I was given the name because of my dreadlocks first off, but also because I was resourceful during pledging."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Cool."

"Yep, and you'll get your name, little guy, if you make it through pledging. So don't be afraid to show off some mad skills you may have."

Hiccup nodded.

They were interrupted by a knock and Guy raised his eyebrows at Hiccup and he knew that his duties as a maid had begun. He got up, quickly balancing himself and Guy watched as Hiccup answered the door. His eyes widened when he saw Tuff wearing a maids dress, complete with high heels and bonnet. He looked incredibly mad, "Here's your stuff." He said, handing Hiccup some of his clothes he'd stuffed in Tuff's bag, "Can I get mine?" he mumbled.

Guy came over and admired the outfit, cracking up, "Aww! You guys are so cute." He teased, picking up some of the skirt and admiring the cloth, "I told you Colin was a dick." He whispered to Hiccup.

Hiccup meanwhile quickly went to grab Tuff's things out of his bag.

"Do those heels hurt?" Guy asked, "They don't look very sturdy."

"Yes sir." Tuff answered, still glaring at the wall ahead of him.

"They're pretty huge. He probably stole them from Hildegard, one of the Phi's." he laughed.

Hiccup handed Tuff his clothes and gave him a look of pity as he walked away.

"Oh, shoot, I should have had him curtsy." Guy chuckled as he closed the door.

He then looked at Hiccup with concern and motioned to his leg, "Rule number one for you and we all discussed this: if your leg starts hurting or anything, you have to let us know."

Hiccup nodded and shrugged, "It doesn't usually bother me so I should be fine."

"Still…we may be ass holes but we don't want anyone hurt during this."

Hiccup nodded.

"Well, get unpacked and then I'm supposed to take you to get dinner. Sort of a stupid bonding ritual." Guy mumbled, "Every day you have to eat with a new Theta for dinner and get to know them."

Hiccup nodded, "Do we have to um…do anything tonight? For pledging?"

"Every day is pledging, my dude." Guy chuckled.

Hiccup had a feeling that was all he was going to say and he sighed; well Dagur did say they'd be getting no sleep for three weeks, might as well accept it.

"Can I ask you another question, sir?" Hiccup asked.

"Dude, please just call me Guy or Guy the Caveman. Sir is just so…bleh." Guy chuckled.

"Um…Guy? Why did you join the Theta's?" Hiccup asked.

Guy smiled fondly at Hiccup, "Because they accepted a metrosexual hippie."

….

Hiccup rubbed his eyes and stared at his phone clock that read 12:37 A.M. All the pledges were in the workroom looking through their new pledging manuals. It had everything in it; chants, toasts, legends, songs, names of alumni and current actives, and even some secrets. Their job was to do a crossword puzzle that had one hundred questions to study their manual. Because they were so new and the sheet was due no later than 2 A.M. all of them were gathered on the floor, working their tails off as they searched through the entire thing. They were also not allowed to split up the work, but work as a team together through the whole thing, and the liaisons sitting and playing Angry Birds at the president's desk were making sure of that.

"I found number 33." MacGuffin said quickly, "Page 56, the toast that honors Bradbury the Brain."

"You guys should memorize that toast." Harold said as he stared at his smartphone and did a victory cheer for winning his game, "We sing it on Bradbury's birthday every year; tradition."

"Yes sir." They all mumbled in synch. Considering every time they found an answer, both liaisons would look up and tell them to memorize or learn it all. They got the hint; learn everything.

Jack's phone vibrated and he saw a text from Jack. He looked over to quickly make sure the liaisons didn't see it.

He smiled as he stared at the message: How's pledging? I miss you so much. Oh and everyone loves the ring you got me.

He wanted to reply so badly, but knew he needed to finish this and get to bed. Besides if any of them were caught texting during pledging time, they would get in trouble, and he really didn't want anyone to know who Jack was right now.

He pocketed his phone and sighed, "Number 34 is on page 2, the number of members in the third consecutive year."

…..

Jack continued to look at his phone the next day as he waited to hear back from Hiccup, but he got no reply. It had been almost over a week since he'd heard from him and he wondered if he was doing okay. He knew he had pledging but he didn't think it would take up that much of his time. He frowned as he stared at his empty screen and decided to let it go. He was just being needy was all. Hiccup would text him when he had time. College was busy, that was just how it was.

He walked down the street and glanced at the stores already getting things ready for Valentine's Day. Jack frowned as he stared at a flower shop sign all gussied up for the occasion. His first valentine's day with Hiccup had been delayed horribly and as the images all came back, he felt his breathing get heavier. He'd been beaten up the day before Valentine's Day last year, causing them to wait another couple of weeks before they could celebrate. Granted he'd had a great time making valentines for Hiccup and going out to dinner with him, but the fact that his first valentine's day with someone had been ruined by something so violent to this day, bothered him.

He forced himself to look away and keep walking, trying to get the images of Pitch and his friends out of his head, the bat coming down on his body and the pain it issued. The writing they'd left all over his body, and the fact that they'd almost, almost gotten away with it.

He rubbed his hair from his eyes and walked a little quicker. Maybe he was just frazzled because Hiccup was gone. He didn't know why that horrid memory was suddenly infecting his mind. More so than usual because the anniversary of it was coming up. He hadn't really coped with the fact that it had happened to him. He never got a chance to tell any of those jerks how it made him feel and what it did to him physically and mentally. Shoot they were probably having beers and celebrating it for all he knew and that irked him. Now had that been Hiccup…he didn't want to go down that road.

He took a breath and finally got to the town square where a bunch of kids were walking home from school and meeting at the small little park in front of the statue of Burgess himself. He found the statue and sat down on it, hoping to clear his head a little.

Punzie was getting picked up by Max today and he was taking her to her dance lesson. Max was slowly coming more and more into their lives and although it was still strange, Jack was getting used to it. He smiled as he thought about how happy his mother was, how Max would just start dancing with her for no reason in the kitchen, how he'd pick up Punzie and practice ballet with her, how he'd watched Jack skateboard and given him some pointers; it was something that had always been missing but he never realized it.

He was about to check his phone again when he heard a very familiar voice that chilled him to his core. His head snapped up and he looked around the statue to see the one and only Pitch talking with a few of his friends. They were just…talking…like nothing had happened, like everything was all well and good. Pitch no longer had greasy jet black hair, but it was smoother and looser. He wore brighter clothes and his stance was relaxed. He seemed happy, different really; and that pissed Jack off. He got down and came around the corner and stared at the guy who'd made his life a living hell for years.

No one noticed him until one of his friends motioned to Jack just standing there, staring at them.

Pitch turned and his eyes widened for a second, "Jack? Jack Overland?" he asked.

"Nice to know you remember." Jack mumbled, coming closer.

Pitch merely smiled at him, "You look good, Jack."

"Yeah? Do I? Not covered in bruises and sharpie am I?"

Pitch swallowed and turned to his friends, "Hey, give me a minute, guys?"

They nodded nervously and walked away, not going very far.

Pitch then turned to Jack and frowned, "Jack…look…I'm sorry."

Jack stared at him and shook his head, "You beat the shit out of me, made my life hell for years, always bringing up my dead sister, called my boyfriend a fag, and you can just say 'sorry'?!" he laughed, his fists clenching.

Pitch swallowed, "No really…I was…I was a jerk…more than that really. I had a lot going on and-"

He never got to finish as Jack's fist collided with Pitch's jaw. Jack immediately saw red and began beating Pitch's pathetic little face as hard as he possibly could. The image of the bat, the duct tape, the sharpie, all of it, invaded his mind as he roared angrily, calling Pitch as many filthy names as he could. Tears blocked his vision and all he could do was keep going.

"I HATE YOU!" he yelled as people began gathering around, attempting to try and stop him, "MY SISTER! MY BOYFRIEND! MY BEST FRIEND! GOD, I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he roared angrily.

Pitch was blubbering as his nose bled, his lip split, and his eye began swelling, "Jack…" he sputtered, "p-plea-se, sto-top!"

Why didn't the bastard defend himself? Did he really want this? Good!

Jack felt arms grab him and lift him off of Pitch quickly and he fought as best he could at getting back and finishing the job, "I HOPE YOU DIE YOU FILTHY FUCK!" he yelled as he was carried away.

"Jack!" a familiar voice yelled, turning him around and shaking him, "Jack! Stop!"

He felt the hands gripping him, shaking his whole body and then finally a smack to the face. He froze and blinked his eyes before looking up at Max, who was wearing his uniform and staring at Jack with obvious concern, "Jack?" Max asked.

Jack shook and looked over to see Pitch being helped up. He looked over at Jack with sorrow in his eyes and then shook his head at his friends, "No, I'm not doing anything, let's go."

"Dude!" one of his friends gasped, "You're not pressing charges? He like, freaking attacked you?"

"No!" Pitch yelled and then glanced once more at Jack, "I got what I deserved. Let it go. It's over."

He walked away and Jack was led to Max's car and put in the front seat. He looked down at his hands that were caked with blood, some from Pitch but some were scratches from his fist colliding with Pitch's face.

Max was silent as he drove Jack home, glancing every now and then at Jack.

He parked the car and sat there for a moment, then finally looked at Jack, "That was him, wasn't it?"

Jack didn't need to ask for clarification. He merely nodded.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Jack swallowed, "I'm no better than he is."

"No, that's not true." Max said softly, "He didn't press charges, so you aren't in trouble." He nodded, "And honestly Jack, I would say that he didn't deserve it, but from the looks of it, he did."

"He didn't even fight me…" Jack mumbled, "I just…it's like when he taped me down. I felt like…like I'd become him and he'd become me."

Max watched Jack closely and then surprisingly put a hand on his shoulder, "Tell me what happened."

"I don't know. I saw him and I just-"

"No, not today…what happened that night?" Max asked.

Jack looked up at Max who was dead serious as he stared into his eyes.

"He…I…" he chocked, tearing up, "I've never…I never talked about it…" he gasped, his hand going to his mouth, his teeth biting down on his knuckle to keep from breaking down.

Max's hand never left his shoulder and squeezed him tight, "Jack, it's okay, it's just you and me here, you can let it out."

Jack took heavy breath's gasping for air as he tried his hardest to talk, but couldn't.

And still Max sat there with him; hand on his shoulder as he waited.

Jack managed to get out what he could about that night, little details that had been buried in his mind; the smell of sweat, the sound of bones cracking, the voice, the pain, the thought of Hiccup as his world went dark. The vision of Pippa lying dead at the bottom of the stairs, his dad leaving one last time…

By the time he was done, he was a blubbering mess and even Max had shed some tears.

"Your dad…Oh God, Jack, your dad was the greatest guy on the planet." He chuckled, wiping his eyes, "He was my best friend. He kept me going even when I just wanted to end it all. The son of a bitch saved my life more times than I can count."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jack asked him.

"Because you are your dad's son, Jack, and nobody knows that better than me."

"I bet I embarrassed him today." Jack muttered as he wiped his tear stained face.

"Nah. Things happen for a reason. And something tells me that Pitch kid was waiting for it to happen."

"He looked so…so happy! And all I could think was how unfair that was that he could just smile and not think about what he did to me."

"Jack, he thinks about it every day. I could see it in his eyes. He wasn't proud of what he did and he knows it. Today Jack, both of you came past that night."

"Then why am I still angry?" Jack muttered.

"Because you have every right to be. Just as he has every right to feel guilty. But what I want you to remember is that today was the start of a new day for two people. And as far as you're concerned, you are still and always will be Jim's son."

Jack stared at Max who smiled at him and Jack didn't know what else to do but lean in. Max did the rest as he pulled Jack in for a hug, "You're gonna get there, bud." He soothed.

"Max…can you do me one favor?" Jack asked into his chest.

"Sure."

"Can you not tell my mom?"

"Keep a secret from Gwen…" Max mumbled and he and Jack looked at one another and burst into laughter and both of them said at the same time:

"Not gonna happen!"