I AM SO SORRY THIS IS LATE DON'T KILL ME D:! I blame homework and House of Hades…but at least it's here now!
Oh, and I fell like everyone is going to hate me for what Stoick does this chapter. But remember I warned you way back in chapter 1 about his character!
PS Sorry if people got the notification for this twice. I just noticed an error and fixed it.
Getting off the subway, Hiccup looked at his watch and realized he would be just in time…for his least favourite class. He considered skipping it, but then he realized that would mean his trip all the way here was an entire waste because that was his only class left for the day. As boring as three straight hours of Architectural History sounded, Hiccup decided he'd tough it out.
When he entered the classroom, he looked around for a seat and spotted Jason in the crowd. The seats on either side of him were open, so he decided he'd help himself. At least he'd have a distraction.
He sat down beside Jason, who looked up and smiled his famous smile that nearly made Hiccup's heart melt. Whiter than should be possible, and all his teeth perfectly shaped.
'Just like Toothless'," Hiccup subconsciously thought to himself. Before he had the chance to catch himself thinking that, however, Jason started to talk.
"Hey Hiccup! So I put the finishing touches on the house, and I think it looks great if I do say so myself."
"That's great, Jason, I'm sure it looks amazing," Hiccup said, but in his head he finished, 'just like you.'
This got Hiccup thinking, maybe he should ask Jason if he wanted to go out sometime. He had been checking him out for a while now, so why not? Plus he seriously doubted Toothless was serious about the date thing. He was about to say something, but decided it would be best to wait until after class in case he said no so there wouldn't be an awkward air around during class.
It was then that Hiccup turned his attention back to the front of the room. Just then, he noticed a girl walk in that he didn't recognize. She was tallish, had blonde hair that was just longer than shoulder length, and actually quite good posture. She seemed to search the room before she smiled and started walking up the steps.
Jason got up when he saw her, and hugged her when she walked up to him. She ended up taking the seat on the other side of Jason.
"Hiccup," Jason started, "this is my girlfriend, Julia. Julia, Hiccup."
"So you're Hiccup! It's nice to meet you!" Julia said in a bubbly voice.
Hiccup could barely mumble out a, "nice to meet you too," before he completely left the conversation. Well, it was a good thing he decided to wait to ask Jason. He just would have been straight-zoned again. Well, at least the air wasn't awkward. Just mildly depressing.
THE LINE HERE IS THEORETICAL
Hiccup lollygagged home after class, and he ended up walking in at just past 4. He remembered Toothless would be coming for him in an hour and a half, but he figured he may as well start getting ready now so he wouldn't be in a rush later.
First thing was first, Hiccup had to look up the Redeye Grill to see what the place was like and what he should wear. When he finally navigated to their website on his phone, his eyes almost popped out of his head. This place was really nice! Well, nicer than anywhere he had ever been. But he immediately resolved that he would have to wear something nice. Plus Toothless was always in a suit, so he should at least try.
Hiccup started laying out outfits on his bed, mixing and matching dress shirts and pants that he had. He settled on pure black dress pants, a light greenbutton up shirt, and a black suit jacket on top. He ended up deciding on no tie for two reasons: he didn't have one that matched the shirt very well, and he didn't know how to tie one.
He was about to get changed, but he decided to take a shower first. It couldn't hurt, right? So after a very thorough shower he returned to his room, towelling himself off, and finally got changed into his clothes.
Hiccup had lost track of time, and just as he was holding a cologne bottle, considering if he should use it (he only used it on special occasions), his phone started to ring. It was a blocked number, and while normally Hiccup ignored them, he decided to answer it this time.
"Hello?"
"Hey Hiccup, it's me." They may have said me, but Hiccup could recognize that voice from a mile away. "I'm downstairs in the car. You almost ready?"
"Uh, yeah, I'll be down in a minute. What type of car is it?"
"Don't worry, you'll know," was all Hiccup heard before Toothless hung up. Hiccup thought he heard a smile on Toothless' voice at the end, but he paid that no mind. When the clock on his phone showed up, he noticed it was indeed 5:30. He quickly spritzed on the cologne and ran for the elevators.
That elevator ride down felt like the longest of Hiccup's life. He caught himself tapping his foot, and that made him realize that maybe he was more excited to see Toothless than he let on. Before he had time to consider that any longer, the elevator dinged, indicating it had arrived in the lobby.
The lobby was buzzing with its usual evening activity. People rushing for the elevators after a long day's work, people dressed up and heading out for a night on the town, and others just people watching from the couches. Hiccup weaved his way through the crowd until he passed through the front revolving doors.
When Hiccup got outside, he remembered Toothless' words: "you'll know." What on earth did that mean? He started to search for the Lincoln Continental, thinking that was the most obvious choice, until he heard the near deafening roar of an engine revving.
Looking towards the source of the sound, Hiccup's jaw dropped. Sitting at the curb was a Pagani Zonda, painted a deep blue so dark it almost seemed black. Hiccup was about to turn away to keep searching, but just then Toothless' words bounced around his head like an echo once more.
'No way,' was all Hiccup could think to himself as he subconsciously walked over to the car. When he approached the passenger side window, it rolled down and sure enough, Toothless was sitting in the driver's seat, wearing one of his usual suits and his trademark smile. Hiccup was speechless.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get in?"
Hiccup didn't realize quite how long he had been standing there, so he quickly jumped in and fastened his seatbelt. He was sure the sound the car made when pulling away turned more than a few heads. It was now that Hiccup regained his head and managed to speak up.
"So I'm guessing you weren't going for inconspicuous then…."
"What? This is a nice car and I wanted to get it out of the garage."
"And if my father had been in the lobby and noticed that car? Don't you think that that would have attracted his attention?"
"Accounted for. Your father left the station heading in the opposite direction about fifteen minutes ago. Where to though I'm not sure."
Hiccup's expression visibly saddened. "Oh, he's probably just working late again, if you know what I mean."
Toothless didn't know, but he did see Hiccup's new expression and didn't want to press the subject. Instead he wanted to inquire about his new observation.
"Uh, Hiccup, are you wearing cologne?"
Hiccup's expression went from sad to mildly embarrassed in less than a second. His face was tinged with a light shade of red. But his silence was enough of an answer for Toothless.
"Wow, didn't know that this was such a big night for you that you decided to wear cologne."
"Well, maybe I wear it every day."
"No, you don't. You've never had it on at any of our other meetings. Normally all I can smell is your strawberry shampoo."
Hiccup was actually quite impressed with Toothless' sense of smell if he could deduce that. And if Toothless paid so much attention to the little details that he could figure out what shampoo Hiccup used, he could only wonder what else Toothless knew about him.
Hiccup didn't want to leave an awkward silence in the car (although it really wouldn't be silent with the sound the engine was making), so he gave a quick, "touché."
"So, Hiccup, you ever been to this place before?"
"No. My mother always cooked when she was alive, and my dad isn't a fan of taking me out for dinner."
"Oh, I see. Well then you're in for a treat. This place is amazing."
"I'll take your word for it."
"And Hiccup, I really am sorry about your mother."
Hiccup paused. He kind of hated when people did this. It made him all emotional to think about her. Fortunately he managed to squeak out a, "thanks," and he didn't have enough time to continue thinking about her because Toothless interrupted.
"We're here."
Toothless pulled up to the valet and they both got out. Toothless tossed his keys to the valet, and told him to take extra care of the car. Hiccup could only imagine how nervous he would be if it was him giving the car keys to a stranger.
They walked up to the doors and Toothless held it open for Hiccup, before walking in himself.
The hostess, a short redhead wearing heels that where at least six inches tall, welcomed them to the restaurant and asked them if they had a reservation.
"Yes," Toothless said, "it's under the name Hiccup Night."
The hostess looked down and nodded.
"Ah, yes, here we go, table for two. Right this way please."
It wasn't a long walk; they were sitting in one corner of the restaurant, right next to the window facing 7th Avenue. After they sat down and received their menus, Hiccup finally got the chance to ask the question he had been holding in for the last few moments.
"So, Hiccup Night?"
Toothless chuckled. "Yes, well, I didn't want to use my nickname because I didn't want to raise suspicion, so I used yours. I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all." And Hiccup really didn't. "But why Night? Why change my last name?"
"It's like I said before. I am willing to bet that there is only one Haddock family in all of New York, and I didn't want to bring any unnecessary attention. And to be honest, Night is actually my real last name, but no one really knows that."
"Oh, ok," was all Hiccup could say. He did think that it was a really cool last name.
Toothless was about to say something before a tall, dark haired man walked up to the table.
"Ah, welcome back Hiccup," the man said, placing extra emphasis on the name. "How are you?"
"Ah, André, how are you?" Toothless asked, shaking his hand. "Actually, this here is Hiccup. I just used his name for the reservation." André nodded and Toothless turned his attention to Hiccup. "Hiccup, this is André, one of the chefs here. He makes the most amazing steak in the city. You like steak, right?"
Hiccup nodded, and that was all Toothless needed to see before he continued.
"Perfect! Then André, we'll take two of the prime bone in New York strips, cooked medium."
"Of course! I'll personally get started right away!"
André walked off and all Hiccup could do was stop his jaw from dropping. Had Toothless just ordered for him?
"Oh, and tell Vincent to put it all on my tab, would you?"
André nodded and kept walking. Hiccup, however, started making a list in his head.
'He took me to a VERY nice restaurant, he ordered for me, and he paid for me. This is starting to have the makings of an actual date. Maybe that joke he cracked earlier wasn't a joke. No, don't think like that Hiccup, you'll just get your hopes up.' Hiccup was snapped out of his thoughts when Toothless started talking again.
"So, you know all about my past from earlier today, so tell me a little about yours."
Hiccup figured he was close enough to Toothless to be able to use some of his sarcasm without having to worry. Plus if he was going to talk about his past he needed a light mood so he wouldn't be so brought down by it.
"What, you mean you haven't already used your sources to find all that out?" Hiccup asked with a smirk. Sure enough Toothless cracked a smile.
"I have to leave some things a mystery, otherwise what would we talk about?"
Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at this. But he did have a point in a weird kind of way.
"Touché. Well, there's not much to tell." Even having said that Hiccup managed to go on for almost twenty minutes. He talked about where he was born (Queens, New York), how he was bullied in elementary school and how it just got worse after his mom died (he was nine), how his father had changed after his mom had died, and how he was dealing with his father being absent and always "working late". As he spoke he noticed Toothless paying full attention, soaking in every detail with genuine interest. Hiccup did leave out the fact that he was gay, however. Better leave that until they got to know each other better and maybe Toothless would be less weirded out. He was finishing off about school when André returned with their food.
Hiccup took one bite of the steak and thought he had gone to heaven. Toothless wasn't kidding, this guy really did make the best steaks in the city.
The conversation quickly returned, but this time it got into basics, such as favourite colours (green for Hiccup and deep blue for Toothless) and favourite spots in Central Park (The Mall for Toothless, Hiccup just said The Pond). Eventually though, Hiccup's interest in organized crime took over and he couldn't stop himself before he asked, "so how are things going with work?" He figured work would be the best thing to call it without making it too obvious.
"Oh, well, I don't know. Not too well, really."
"Why, what's up?" Hiccup genuinely did want to know, but he was also glad the conversation had shifted off the topic of himself.
"Well RD has been a little more, how do I put this, violent, lately. More attacks sooner on people not repaying debts, more shootings, telling us to use more vicious methods to get protection money, stuff like that. The other leaders aren't happy either that he is making us put ourselves in so much more danger. He's not going to be happy until someone is dead. Actually, someone is dead. Remember that guy from the night we first met? Earlier today I had to go kill him."
Hiccup was shocked. The way Toothless said that with his expression unchanging, it didn't even seem like he showed any remorse. But then again, he remembered what Toothless had seen in his life and he had been doing this for a long time. He had to stop that train of thought or he was going to get emotional.
"So, why don't you and the other leaders try to take him out? Overthrow him or something?" Hiccup asked, concern in his voice.
"If I spoke out at all against RD, or if anyone did, those loyal to him would inform him and take the individual out. I am friends with the other leaders, but you never know where their true loyalties lie. One of them could pretend to be with me, then go tell RD and get the rest of us killed. I can't be responsible for that."
All Hiccup could muster to say was a quick, "oh, wow."
"That's why I had to call in favours to bring you to the warehouse. I don't want to hire someone to work with me because I know that I would be putting someone in direct danger. I kind of feel bad bringing you this far into it," Toothless said, eyes suddenly downcast.
"It's ok, I don't mind, really. I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, I live with my dad and it's not like I'm doing any work for you so I think I'll be fine," Hiccup said with a smile. Somehow, that logic brought Toothless back to his previous mood. Hiccup simply tossed his concerns from earlier that day to the back of his mind.
Dinner concluded well, with the remainder of the conversation just being small talk. It was when they were just getting up to leave that disaster struck.
Hiccup glanced out the window of the restaurant as he got up and watched a black Lincoln Continental pull up outside. Normally he would have paid it no mind, however the front windows were rolled down and sitting in the driver seat was Gobber.
Hiccup's heart started to pound, and he felt clammy, weak, and dizzy. He must have really been flushed because Toothless suddenly became concerned when he saw him.
"Hiccup? You don't look very well. Are you ok?"
Hiccup almost had the strength to answer, but then the situation went from bad to worse. Gobber looked over into the restaurant and his eyes widened exponentially when he saw Hiccup. Toothless was hidden behind a bush until he came over to Hiccup to see if he was alright, and when Gobber caught a glimpse of him, his jaw dropped. He regained enough composure, however, to quickly mouth, "sorry," before rolling up his tinted window.
Hiccup's attention then turned to the back door of the car, which had just opened. By this time, Toothless too was looking at the car, hand on Hiccup's shoulder and wondering why he was staring at it the way he was.
Stoick started to get out, followed by two girls that Hiccup didn't even bother to look at long enough to get a description. He did see his dad flex for one of them though and watch them giggle, and that almost made Hiccup physically sick.
By now Toothless understood exactly what was going on, and he also realized that with the state Hiccup was in he probably wasn't going to move anytime soon.
"Hiccup, this way," was all Toothless said before he grabbed his wrist and started pulling him towards the kitchens.
Fortunately Hiccup was conscious enough to realize Toothless was taking him away, so he didn't end up tripping or falling. He kept his head down as Toothless weaved with him through tables, a door, the kitchens, and out the back way into the alley behind the building. The entire walk Hiccup's heart had felt like it was being compressed, and now that it was just the two of them he felt like he could let it all out.
Hiccup started bawling, and Toothless wrapped his arms around Hiccup and pulled him close. He whispered sweet nothings until Hiccup had calmed down a little.
"Almost every single night he does this. He goes out to clubs and picks up these women. And then he treats them better than me even though the next time he'll have someone new," Hiccup said between sobs.
Toothless couldn't help but feel bad for him. "It's ok Hiccup. Let it all out. Things will get better, I promise. They always do."
Hiccup looked up at Toothless and saw him trying to smile despite the situation. Maybe he was right. Things just might get better. And if Toothless was around he didn't doubt that they would.
It was then that reality hit him. He may have had a crush on Jason, but as Hiccup looked into Toothless' yellow eyes while being held in his arms, he realized: he really was falling in love with Toothless.
Yes, I use the word straight-zoned in real life too XD And I'm sorry I didn't respond to any of the reviews from last chapter, but I've just been so busy...I barely had time to write this!
Next chapter: On or before October 31 (blame the homework D8)
Quickly! Write a review to distract Stoick so Hiccup and Toothless can get away unnoticed!