"Come on, Hic! Just tell me!" Jack whined. He, Hiccup, and Hiccup's cat, Toothless, were in Jack's room, the former having invited the freckled teen over to play a new video game and to sate Jack's curiosity about Hiccup's recent behavior.

Hiccup sighed, "You know, I wanted to keep this a secret for a reason."

"But I'm your boyfriend!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ouch, Hiccup. Ouch," Jack put his controller in his lap and placed a hand over his heart, "That hurts. Right here," he patted his chest.

"I'd call the paramedics if it were actually serious."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

"That pout isn't going to work on me."

"It used to..." Jack grumbled, then pulled out his next trick. Hiccup quickly looked away.

"Those eyes aren't going to work either."

"They did last ni-" The rest was cut off by a hand belonging to a very red brunette.

"And I was almost grounded because I didn't tell my dad I was going to stay over at your place beforehand!"

"Well, we never planned on having a sleepover," said Jack, moving the hand off his mouth, "but then it wasn't as if there was much sleeping going on either," the white-haired teen waggled his eyebrows at the other. Hiccup pushed his face away, cheeks still stained a deep red.

"Will you stop?"

"Only if you tell me why, in the last two months, we've only been able to hang out this past week because you've been so busy."

"Okay, fine, if it'll get you off my back," Hiccup sighed again, "...I'm going to be in a play."

"...That's it?"

"Wh-what do you mean, 'that's it'!?" Hiccup spluttered, waving his arms around, accidentally waking the black cat in his lap, "You told me before you never liked plays and I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to make you feel obligated to come and see!"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah...I...could've worded that better...I don't hate them, I'm just not a big fan. Sure, I can appreciate all the hard work that goes into it, but theater isn't for me."

"But its like playing Pretend, you do that all the time with Emma."

"Ah! That's different."

"How?"

"She's my sister."

"...Fair enough."

Jack put an arm around Hiccup's shoulders, "Sooooo, what's this play about?"

"Oh you know, the usual: family problems, marital affairs, murder most foul, revenge," Hiccup waved his hand around, "all that good stuff."

"Anyone else I know who's going to be in it?"

"Yeah, actually, most of the Drama Club, Fishlegs, Astrid, Snotlout, the twins-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Snotlout and the twins!?"

The brunette scratched Toothless behind the ear, "Ah, yeah, Fishlegs is directing and they owed him a big favor...s-so would you...maybe want to come watch on opening night?"

"Heck yeah, I do!" Jack smiled mischievously, "Like I'd pass up the chance to see those guys stumbling around on stage!"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "So you'd come to see them, but not me?"

"You're my boyfriend, I figured coming to see you would be a given."

"Right...fair enough."

"So do I get free tickets or what? I know North and Emma would wanna see you perform."

"I-I'll talk to Fishlegs about it.

Jack eyed the brunette, "...Are you going to be wearing tights?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Why don't you come to rehearsal and see?"

After school, Hiccup took Jack to the auditorium to see the group's progress.

Jack whistled, "Fishlegs really knows what he's doing, huh?" He nodded toward the backdrops and various props strewn around backstage.

"Yeah, he's really excited about this, you should've seen him when the drama teacher let him try directing," Hiccup smirked, "He's looking forward to bossing Snotlout around."

"Hah, I'd be looking forward to that too," Jack's grin widened when he spied a large wooden dragon in the corner, "Do my eyes deceive me or am I seeing some of your handiwork here?"

Hiccup blushed, "Yeah...Fishlegs needed help so Astrid and I gave him a helping hand and that's how we were roped into actually being in the play."

"You're having fun though, right?"

"Yeah, surprisingly..."

"Hey guys!" Fishlegs called from front stage, "We're gonna start in five minutes!"

"Am I gonna see you in tights?" Jack smirked. Hiccup sighed and pushed the teen's face away.

"Not for another few weeks you're not, be patient will you?"

"Alright, alright," he pouted, "Hey Fish! Is it okay if I watch backstage?"

"As long as you don't interrupt the creative process!" replied the large boy, not looking up from the thick script in his hands.

"Sure thi-" he was interrupted by a faint vibration in his pocket, "Oops, 'scuse me," he held the phone up to his ear, "Hello?...Yes, this is him..." Hiccup watched with growing concern as Jack's face turned even paler and his blue eyes grew wide, "Wh-what? O-okay, I'm heading over right now!"

"Jack? What's wrong?"

The white-haired teen nervously ran his fingers through his hair, "There was a fire at Emma's school, I-I gotta go," he made his way toward the exit, "Good luck with rehearsals, Hic!"

"Text me when you see Emma!"

Upon reaching the school, Jack parked just outside the grounds and jumped out of his car. He sprinted toward the students gathered onto the football field, his eyes wide with panic and fear.

"Emma!" he shouted, "Emma!" Jack searched frantically for the familiar head of long brown hair. The students kept clambering around and the staff tried to find some form of order and control while the parents that came before him were wandering around looking for their own children. Jack held back the urge to just barrel through the crowd and instead made his way around the stressed adults and excited students.

"Emma!" he shouted again, "Emma! Where are you!?"

"Jack?"

He whipped his head around, "Emma!?"

"Jack! I'm over here!"

Scanning the field, Jack spotted a pair of arms waving as high as they could and immediately ran over, falling to his knees when he finally reached his sister, "Emma, are you okay?" He brushed aside her hair and inspected her face and arms, holding her tightly when he found no injuries, "You're not hurt?"

"No, I'm okay," she wrapped her arms around his neck, "the teachers said there was a fire in the school kitchen and we could leave when our parents came to pick us up, but we have to check with them before we go."

Jack released a huge sigh of relief, "Right, right, okay..." he smoothed down Emma's hair, "L-let's head home."

"Geez, the way that lady said it made it sound as if the school exploded," Jack muttered, pulling into their driveway, "Almost gave me a heart attack..."

"Are you still scared, Jack?" asked Emma, noticing that her brother's hands were still shaking.

"Not anymore now I know that you're okay, Emma," he patted her head, "Let's head inside and make a little something to eat, yeah?"

"Okay," She unbuckled her seat belt, but didn't leave, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Jack chuckled quietly, "I should be asking you that, come on, I'm starving!"

Once in the kitchen, Jack opened the fridge door wide open, "Sooo, what do you wanna eat, kiddo?" He looked down at Emma who was staring thoughtfully at a chocolate pudding cup, "I don't know about all that sugar, Emma, you want to sleep tonight don't you?"

Jack chuckled when he saw a small pout form on her face.

Vrr

"Oh!" Jack smacked his forehead, "I totally forgot to text Hiccup! Agh, that's probably him right now..." He dug into his pocket to pull out his phone, expecting to see the brunette's name along the top of the screen, "Huh? Astrid?" He swiped the screen and before held it up to his ear, the blonde's voice came blaring from the speaker.

"Its about time you picked up, Frosty!" Jack and Emma looked at each other before looking back at the phone, she sounded upset, "Where are you!?"

The teen cautiously brought his phone to his face, "I just brought Emma home, what's up?"

Astrid groaned, "Just be outside your house, I'll be there in fifteen minutes and I'll explain on the way!"

Click

"..."

Emma tugged on her brother's trademark blue sweater, "What do you think happened, Jack?"

Jack stuffed his phone back in his pocket, "I don't know, kiddo...she seemed pretty frazzled." He knelt down and placed a hand on his sister's head, "By the sounds of it, I don't think she's gonna take me somewhere a little kid would wanna go, why don't you stay at Jamie's until I come back?"

She bit her lip, "Do you think Hiccup's okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine," he stood up, "Go get your backpack, make sure you have your phone and your books, okay? You guys can do your homework together."

She nodded and ran upstairs.

After making sure his sister was safely at their neighbors', Jack was walking back to his home but stopped when he saw Astrid's car zooming down the street. She skidded to a stop in front of his driveway with a loud screech. He saw her reach over to open the passenger side door.

"Get in."

"Okay, so what happened? I thought you guys had rehearsal till like, seven?"

After getting strapped in, Astrid sped off toward the hospital. Jack clung tightly to his seat, certain that the blonde was breaking a few laws going at such a dangerous speed.

Astrid blew a harsh breath at her bangs, "Something happened to Hiccup."

"What!? What happened!?"

"We were going over our lines for a scene and we heard a creaking sound coming from the ceiling," She squeezed the wheel tightly, "A light fixture came down and hit Hiccup, he tried to move before it landed, but it caught his leg," She swore under her breath when she couldn't make the light, "He...he screamed and someone called for an ambulance...I can't remember what happened next, I think it might've nicked his head, I'm not sure, but...he's at the hospital right now, I-I don't know how he's doing since I came to get you."

Jack took in a deep breath, "How far away is the hospital from here?"

"Not too far now, if I can make the next two lights, I'd say about ten minutes at least."

"Did you get any texts from Fishlegs and the others?"

"I don't know, j-just check my phone, it's in my bag."

Jack dug around until he felt Astrid's phone and pulled it out. He pressed a button on the side and felt the phone vibrate furiously.

15 New Messages

Fishlegs

Fishlegs

Ruff

Tuff

Snotlout

Fishlegs...

"...some burns..."

"...scarring..."

"...sliced open..."

"A lot of bleeding..."

"Not sure if..."

Jack looked away, not wanting to read anymore.

"We're here."

Astrid pulled Jack through the doors to the front desk, "Excuse me," she said, "We're here to see Hayden Haddock?"

"Let me see," the nurse looked through the computer, "He's still in surgery right now, but you're welcome to stay in the waiting room until the doctors are done," the nurse pointed to a clipboard, "If you can just sign in here."

Astrid quickly scribbled their names down, "Thank you."

Jack glanced around, "Shouldn't the others be here?"

Hearing the front doors slide open, the two turned around and saw the four teens coming through. Astrid gritted her teeth and marched up to them.

"Where were you guys!?" she hissed. Snotlout raised his hands in front of his face.

"Whoa! Hey, its okay, the doctor said he's out of...uh, what did he say exactly?"

Fishlegs sat down, "Basically the doctor said Hiccup isn't critical anymore, but they're gonna run a few more tests to make sure."

Astrid crossed her arms and glared harshly at the group, "That still doesn't answer my question."

Jack leaned over, "Remember Astrid, we're in a hospital."

"Which means this is the perfect place to be after I bash their heads in," she growled. Jack quickly stepped away from her, while she took out her phone.

"We just went out to get some 'get well' stuff,"explained Ruffnut.

"Yeah, y'know cards and stuff like that," finished Tuffnut, holding up a handful of garishly colored balloons.

"So...Hic's gonna be okay?" Jack asked.

"That's what the doctor said," answered Fishlegs, his face turning a peculiar green, "But...there was so much blood..."

"Ugh, someone get 'im to the bathroom before he pukes again," Snotlout shoved the large boy away from him.

"Shouldn't Mr. Haddock be here too?"

"He's on his way," said Astrid, appearing noticeably calmer, tucking away her phone in her pocket, "It's close to rush hour, so he probably won't be here for another half hour or so."

"I don't understand," Fishlegs muttered, "The auditorium finished renovating three months ago, almost all the equipment was new, including the lights..."

"Maybe it was that theater superstition stuff, y'know?" said Tuffnut, rubbing his chin, "Like saying 'break a leg' or not saying the name of that one play."

Ruffnut opened her mouth.

"Don't say it!" Tuffnut covered her mouth, "It might make things worse," he looked nervously and suspiciously around the room.

"It's okay to say it outside the theater, you guys," said Fishlegs, still a bit green. Astrid patted his shoulder and looked over to Jack, who was turning very pale for the second time that day.

"Jack?" she whispered, "Are you okay?"

He shook his head slowly, "This is my fault."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Jack buried his face in his hands, "Today, before I left...I...I said 'good luck with rehearsals'...I-I didn't think, I didn't...I mean-"

"Jack," Astrid sat him down, "What happened to Hiccup isn't your fault, it was just an accident, there must've been some faulty wiring or something, besides, it's just a stupid superstition, Hiccup was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The white-haired teen groaned quietly into his hands.

Some time later, Stoick had finally arrived and burst into the waiting room. The teens quickly stood up, looking nervously at each other. The mayor was a fair, good-hearted man, but when it came to his son...things could get a little messy.

"Where is my son?" he said, glaring down at the group, waiting for at least one of them to speak. Bravely, they sent out Astrid, as she had known the Haddock family the longest and was the most familiar out of the group.

"H-he's still in surgery, sir," she replied quietly, "His doctor should be coming out soon...I think."

The large man closed his eyes and sighed loudly. He knew better than to make a scene in the hospital, and seeing the looks on the teens faces, he could tell they felt awful about what happened. Even so, he wanted-no, NEEDED to know what happened.

"Tell me what happened, all of you."

And as if a dam burst open, the teens spluttered and stuttered out the events of that afternoon.

"Everything was going fine!"

"We were just reading our scripts!"

"Th-the lights were creaking-!"

"W-we saw them flicker a little a-and-!"

"S-suddenly some stuff fell-!"

"There was this big crash!"

"Enough!" Stoick commanded, "One of you, tell me. What happened. To my son."

After hearing what they had to say, Stoick leaned forward in his chair, his hands clasped tightly in front of him. He knew Hiccup could be clumsy sometimes, and bad luck seemed to follow the boy everywhere, but he would never have thought something like this would happen.

A stage-light falling on his son.

According to the Ingerman boy, Hiccup had just barely avoided it, but his leg had gotten caught, almost completely severing his leg. Fortunately, he had made it to the hospital in time, but what worried Stoick the most, was the damage to Hiccup's leg. There was bound to be numerous cuts and no doubt there was a good bit of blood that was lost, and the light had been shining brightly so he knew to expect some burns...

"Mr. Haddock?" Stoick was brought out of his musings. He sat up and was met with a nervous looking doctor, "If I may have a word?"

The teens, who had been muttering amongst themselves over how Stoick would react, became silent and focused on the conversation nearby.

"His injuries are..."

"But he's alive?"

"Yes, but there has been considerable damage..."

"...they're just burns aren't they?"

"Unfortunately, some parts of the light that fell on him..."

"Then what do you propose..."

"I believe the best course of action..."

The teens eyes widened. They had never seen Stoick look so ill since the untimely death of his wife. Did something go wrong?

"...I see."

"You have a few days before you have to make the decision, sir, I understand that this is an incredibly difficult..."

"...You'll...You will have my decision tomorrow."

"I understand, sir," the doctor left the room. The teens warily stepped towards the man.

"...Mr. Haddock?" Jack said softly, "...Is-is Hiccup gonna be okay?" Stoick blew a harsh breath and looked sadly at the group.

"I believe its time you all head home."

"You don't think something went wrong, do you Astrid?" Jack asked, glancing out the car window. The sun was beginning to go down when they left the hospital parking lot.

"This is Hiccup we're talking about, Jack," she said, "He may be a fishbone, but he can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be."

"That's true, but, Stoick looked really tense."

"His only son is in the hospital, he has every right to be stressed."

"I wonder what the doctor told him."

"Well, whatever he said, I'm sure Stoick will tell us eventually," she slowed down in front of Jack's house, "And whatever happens, we'll support him and Hiccup."

"Yeah," Jack stepped out of the car, "Thanks Astrid."

"See you tomorrow, Frosty."

Jack couldn't sleep at all last night. North had wanted him to stay home, and usually Jack would have jumped at the chance, but he knew if he did, and North and Emma had gone to work and school, neither of them would be able to focus, and Jack wouldn't stand for that. So he went to school, and could not, for the life of him, find the will to pay attention to any of his teachers.

As soon as the bell rang, he shot out of his seat and drove as fast as was legally allowed (at least in Jack's case) to the hospital. Rushing inside, the teens were surprised to see Stoick in the waiting room, wearing the same suit as yesterday and appearing just as haggard.

"Mr. Haddock," Jack spoke, "We didn't expect to see you here."

"Jack, kids," he nodded, "I'm glad you're all here, there's something I'd like to speak to you about."

"What is it, sir?"

"I think it's best if you all sat down," he sighed harshly, rubbing his hands together, "Yesterday, Hiccup's doctor informed me that the injuries to his leg were very severe, to the point where it was no longer functional."

Jack felt sick.

"I decided...that it'd be best to amputate it."

He wanted to vomit.

"'Amputate'?" said Tuffnut, scrunching his nose.

"Like, cut it off?" asked Ruffnut.

"So like," Snotlout made a sawing motion with his hand.

"Would you stop it!" Astrid smacked him.

"Guys, this is serious!" Fishlegs stared worriedly at the others.

Stoick cleared his throat, getting their attention, "Yes, they finished the surgery earlier this afternoon, he'll be getting a prosthetic in a few weeks and he'll be learning how to walk with it as soon as his doctor deems him healthy enough to move around, and until he can use it just as well as his old leg, I know you'll all be making sure to keep this process smooth for him," he gave all the teens a look.

"We will, sir, you won't have to worry about that," assured Astrid.

He nodded, "Good, I know all of you want to see him, but he needs his rest, you can see him tomorrow."

Later that evening, Jack sat on his bed, fiddling with a small charm Hiccup had made for him.

It was a Shepard's crook, an inch and a half long, designed after the life-size version Jack had that had been broken after a snowboarding incident two years ago. Hiccup, having felt guilty for accidentally snapping it in half, had made the phone charm for Jack as an apology and later on fixed the original staff.

Knock Knock

"Jack? May I come in?" asked a concerned North, his voice thick with his Russian accent.

"Yeah, door's open, North," he sat up as his foster father came in.

"Jack, I heard about Hiccup," He gestured toward the other end of Jack's bed.

"Oh yeah?" Jack nodded. He sat down.

"Will you tell me what is wrong? You did not eat much at dinner."

"I...did something really bad, North."

"Why do you think that?"

"B-because! I..." he ran his fingers through his hair, "I told him 'good luck' which is apparently bad luck to say in the theater business and the light fell on him and it damaged his leg so they had to cut it off and Hiccup will have to use a fake leg to walk and I just feel sick."

"What happened was accident, Jack," he placed a large hand on the boy's shoulder, "Accidents happen."

"..."

North smoothed down his beard, "Tell me, Jack, Hiccup is very kind boy, yes?"

"Yeah."

"He is good to you and his friends?"

"Of course!"

"Do you honestly believe that he would get angry at you for accident?"

"I..."

"Did you want light to hit Hiccup?"

"What!? No! Never!"

"Then I fail to see what is wrong, Hiccup is very kind and forgiving," he squeezed Jack's shoulder reassuringly, "I highly doubt that he would blame you for what happened, that is why they call it 'accident', no?"

"I guess so..."

"And I am sure he will be very happy to know that you and other friends are okay when he wakes up, I can feel it in my belly," he winked.

Jack smiled.

Ugh...Why did his mouth taste all pasty...?

He strained to open his eyes, looking around he took note of plain white walls and bright lights. Looking down, he saw a familiar blue sweater placed over him. Shifting around a little more, Hiccup released a few coughs to clear his throat. Then the door opened to reveal Jack. He smiled when he found Hiccup awake.

"Morning, Beautiful~." he greeted, "Or well, afternoon, how're you feeling?"

Hiccup coughed again, "I've...been better, where's Astrid?"

Jack gave him a water bottle from his backpack, "Ah, she and Snotlout had some sort of sports meet or something, the twins were bored so I have no idea where they are or what they're doing but it's definitely something dangerous, Fishlegs is with the drama teacher discussing rescheduling the play, and your dad had to go to a meeting he couldn't avoid," Hiccup groaned, and covered his face with his arm.

"How far behind are we?"

"You're really worried about that?"

"Jack, we worked hard on the set and script, and now..." he groaned again. Jack sat down and held his hand.

"Hey, don't worry about it, alright? You just focus on getting better," He rubbed his thumb across the back of the brunette's hand, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Kind of? I remember being hit by something."

Jack looked away, "I-it was a stage light, it fell on your leg and might've hit your head too."

"Jack? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Hic."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"What happened...it was my fault."

"Jack-"

"Hear me out," Jack sighed harshly, "I know its going to sound stupid, but, when I left to go get Emma, I..." he rubbed his face with his free hand, "This sounds so stupid saying it out loud, but I said 'good luck', and..."

"You're right, that does sound stupid."

"Gee thanks," he deadpanned.

Hiccup chuckled hoarsely, "It was just some bad luck, Jack, it was an accident, that's all, I don't blame you."

"Yeah, Astrid and North said that too."

"And you should probably believe them, if not me."

"I guess, I mean, North's belly has a pretty good record."

"You still look kinda sick though, wanna talk about it?" Hiccup began getting worried when Jack's face fell.

"I-I should call in the doctor, since you're awake and all, h-he'll explain better than I can," He quickly left the room.

"J-Jack, wait!" Hiccup made to get up, but felt that something was off. He sat back and slowly lifted the sheet off his lap.

Jack stayed outside the room after he called for Hiccup's doctor. He leaned his head back against the wall, remembering the look on Hiccup's face when he came back.

Jack wanted to throw up.

'No, no. It wasn't your fault. You remember what Astrid and North said. It was an accident. Just a stupid superstition.'

His hands trembled at his sides. Jack's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened.

"You are Hayden's friend, correct?"

"Yes."

"I think he'll be needing your company for a bit."

"...Got it." Jack hesitantly stepped inside, flinching when he saw Hiccup's wide-eyed expression. He quietly closed the door shut and slowly walked to his side, "Hiccup? A-are you feeling okay?"

He watched as Hiccup took deep breaths and raised his gaze to meet Jack's. He opened his mouth, but said nothing, looking back at the empty space a few inches below his left knee. Jack sat down and gently held his hand. Taking in another deep breath, Hiccup squeezed Jack's hand.

"I'm...gonna need some help."

Jack squeezed back.

"Whatever you need, Hic."