A friend was talking the HTTYD gang at a theme park. And I already kind of had some headcanons that worked.

Continuing yesterday's drabble.

She's Not My Girlfriend

"Sunscreen," Eret said.

Jack cringed, looking down the picnic table the six of them sat at… relieved to see Eret was talking to Merida. Not him. A day at the amusement should not be wasted by spending time putting sunscreen on. He had already put some on at his mother's insistence before he left the house.

"I put some on earlier!" Merida said, pulling her sunhat lower over her face."I'm fine."

Eret scowled at her. "That was before you got in the water."

"Och. I'm fine!"

After a morning in the water park, the six friends were eating the lunch from one of the food stands throughout the park, before they went over to the roller coasters. The sooner the food was gone, they could get in line. Applying sunscreen would mean more time before they got to the roller coasters. And those were the whole reason Jack was out here in the insufferable heat. Because the adrenaline rush was almost as good as snowboarding. Enough to make him forget how much he was sweating, at least.

"I'm the one who has to listen to you whine when you get burned," Eret said. "Sit still."

Jack snickered into his slushee as he watched. Merida looked for all the world like a cat being forced into a bath as Eret slathered sunscreen on the back of her shoulders. If there was one thing Merida was good for, it was entertainment. And she was currently delivering in spades.

He was ignoring Hiccup and Astrid, who were both laughing as they helped each other with their sunscreen. Hiccup blushing as his hands ran over Astrid's back. They were so cute, it was gross. And all the more annoying because they just wouldn't stop…

"You should probably put some on too, Jack."

He froze at Rapunzel's voice. Her tone sweet, laced with concern as she looked over at him.

"I'm fine," Jack insisted.

"You were in the water more than any of us," she said. "You really should. Do you want help?"

How was he supposed to say no to that?

"Uh… sure."

Even in the brilliant summer sunshine, her smile was brilliant as she came around the table. With the bottle of sunscreen she kept in her purse. Because she was more prepared than most boy scouts could ever hope to be.

His breath was already catching in his throat as she came to stand behind him, just in anticipation that she was going to touch him.

She squirted some of the stuff on his hand, so he could apply it to his chest. But he froze the moment she pressed her hands to his back. The cold of the sunscreen on her hands made him shiver just as much as her touch. He felt as if something inside her was melting faster than his slushee in the heat as her palms ran circles over his skin. He didn't even care that he was missing a brilliant episode of The Merida and Eret Show, which he was just aware of playing out. Judging by Merida's continued complaints, and Eret's "hush". When Rapunzel smoothed sunscreen over his shoulders, nothing else in the world mattered.

He was disappointed when she pulled her hands back. "All done."

"Thanks," he said, throat tight.

"Okay, okay," Merida said, finally slipping away from Eret, now that her skin was slick with sunscreen, and he couldn't keep a hold on her arm. "Can we go ride roller coasters now?"

"Sure," Hiccup said, enthusiastically. Adrenaline addict that he was.

Not that Jack was one to talk. "Let's go!"

They threw away the paper plates from their lunch, and headed towards the main park. Merida had somehow persuaded Eret to give her a piggyback ride, and her annoyance with him seemed to have disappeared. To the surprise of no one.

Jack fell into step with Rapunzel. Glad he didn't need an excuse to do so, since Hiccup and Astrid were leading the group, hand in hand. "Which one do you want to go on first?" he asked.

"Hmm…" Rapunzel looked around, wide green eyes drinking in the sights as she looked around the park.

He loved the way she looked at the world. Always expecting something beautiful or wonderful, and never seeming to see anything else. When she was around, she seemed to chase away the shadows in Jack's own mind, until he couldn't see them either.

Her eyes widened suddenly, and she inhaled sharply. "Oh!"

Following her gaze, Jack saw one of the game stalls, with stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling. A mix of brightly colored Pokemon plush, and other, non-licensed, animals. Her eyes were on the bright green chameleon that seemed to have been hung front and center, just waiting for her eyes to fall on it.

She was already skipping over to the game, and Jack followed like a lost puppy.

The kid manning the stall, who Jack was pretty sure he recognized from school, actually came to attention as Rapunzel approached. A sunbeam flitting into the shade of his stall.

"Rapunzel, you know these things are rigged."

"I know," she said, putting a five dollar bill on the counter. "But I want that chameleon! It can't hurt to try once."

In a group of friends that consisted of Hiccup, and Merida, it was sometimes easy to overlook that they were all stubborn. And Rapunzel could take anyone aback with her tenacity, when the right circumstances arose.

"You get three shots," the boy said. "You just have to knock over the bottles."

"Shouldn't be too hard," she said, smiling as she took the first tennis ball he handed her. Jack took the other two.

She took aim, tongue peeking out between her lips as she focused. Jack felt the corner of his own lips quirk in a grin. She was so cute. If there was any justice in the world, she would knock the bottles over on the first try.

But apparently there wasn't any justice, because her first shot missed by less than an inch. The second was the same. The third flew wide, her frustration distracting her.

"Where's Merida?" Rapunzel asked, looking around. "I bet she could do it."

Jack looked over, but their friends were long out of sight.

Rapunzel sighed, her shoulders sagging as she looked mournfully at the stuffed chameleon.

"You could try again," the boy behind the stall said.

"No, ten dollars is a little more than I'm willing to spend," Rapunzel said.

But she looked so sad, it seemed to cut straight to Jack's heart.

Setting his jaw, Jack stepped up, putting down five ones.

The boy's smirk was easily translated to "there's a sucker born every
minute". Jack wasn't above glaring back at him as he took the three
tennis balls. "Sucker for your girlfriend, huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Jack said, scowling at the boy. It was a line he had said too many times, and never enjoyed saying.

He tossed one in his hand a couple times, testing it as he he looked
towards the pyramid of three glass bottles that sat about 20 feet
away. Looking as innocent as glass bottles could. In defiance of all
the frustration they no doubt caused anyone who tried to knock them
down.

Jack might not be the marksman that Merida was, since she spent almost
as much time with her bow as she did with Eret. But after years of
snowball fights... he was pretty dang close. (And, even if he failed,
Rapunzel was kind enough that she would appreciate the effort, if
nothing else.)

His first throw missed by several inches.

He didn't miss the boy's satisfied smirk.

"You can do it, Jack."

The second ball grazed the bottle at the top of the small pyramid. But
it didn't even sway.

"That's how you wanna play it, huh?"

Rapunzel handed him the third ball.

"A kiss for luck?" he asked, teasingly.

With a smile, Rapunzel leaned over to kiss his cheek. She was only a
few inches shorter than he was, so she didn't even have to rise on her
toes to do so. Jack felt himself flush, his whole body growing warm as
her soft lips touched his skin. He felt her lip gloss leave a sticky
pink mark, and didn't mind in the least.

"Go get 'em," she said, stepping back.

Jack took a moment to steady himself, to get his brain back under
control so he could focus on the throw.

Hefting the tennis ball a couple times, he looked at the bottle
pyramid. Calculating. And then he threw.

Hard.

It hit squarely in the center of the pyramid. Which teetered for a
moment... Then fell. All three bottles toppling to the ground.

Rapunzel cheered.

Jack smirked.

"Congratulations," the boy said, though he managed to make it sound
like an insult.

"Just give the lady her chameleon," Jack said. Now that the challenge
was won, his attention was once more back on roller coasters...

Rapunzel giggled as the giant stuffed chameleon was taken down, and
placed in her waiting arms.

"I'm going to name him Pascal," she said, decidedly, as she buried her face in the toy's soft green side.

"Why Pascal?"

"I like it," she said. "I can pay you back, if you want."

"Nah, it's fine," he assured. Five dollars was less than half an hour of babysitting the Bennett kids. It was nothing. Especially for her.

Rapunzel's phone chimed, and she pulled it from her purse to check the text. "The others are in line for the Terror Plunge."

Looking over her shoulder, Jack saw that someone (probably Merida) had sent her a picture of the ride, with Hiccup's head in the bottom corner of the picture. He looked over at the Terror Plunge, which rose up among the skyline made up of other rides. They started towards it.

"You really like that thing, huh?" he asked, unable to keep from laughing as she continued to hug the chameleon.

"He's so cute!" she said.

He shook his head a little.

As they neared the line to the Terror Plunge, Merida waved to them. As if her red hair wasn't easy enough to see without the large movement.

"What took ya so long?"

"Look what Jack won for me!" Rapunzel said, holding up the chameleon.

"A frog?"

"Chameleon," Rapunzel said. Clearly, questions about her new toy were not allowed.

They joined the others in line, vaguely listening to Eret and Astrid's conversation about their workout routines.

After a minute, Jack looked over at Rapunzel to see her thinking as she continued to hug the toy. She was one of those people who wore her heart on her sleeve, so it was easy to read her expression. Especially when it came to something that made her unhappy. She seemed to dim, the light she always seemed to radiate dissipating.

"What's wrong?" he asked, stepping a little closer.

"I'm just thinking," she said.

"About?" he prompted.

"I just… when you said I wasn't your girlfriend earlier."

"People think we're dating all the time," he reminded.

"I know," she said. "I was just wondering… Why aren't we?"

Jack froze. Convinced he must have heard her wrong. There was no way she could have said… "Why aren't we what?" he asked. Hoping she couldn't hear his heart beating. He was trying desperately trying not to let himself hope.

"Why aren't we dating?" she asked.

"Um…" how was he supposed to answer that? He really wasn't sure.

"That's a very good question," Merida said.

Jack and Rapunzel both jumped slightly, looking over at the red head.

"Hush," Eret whispered, pulling Merida away by her wrist.

Turning back at each other, Jack almost completely forgot about the momentary interruption as he looked into her wide green eyes.

"I… I didn't think you'd want to," Jack said. "I mean, I didn't think you, well, liked me."

"Of course I like you!" she said. "I've liked you for years. I thought maybe you didn't like me."

"I've had a crush on you since we were kids!" he said, the words falling out in a rush. "I… I think I'm in love with you."

Rapunzel's cheeks turned bright pink. "Really?"

"Yeah."

She giggled. "I think I love you, too."

"Seriously?"

She nodded, smiling shyly.

Jack laughed in disbelief. This couldn't be real. It felt more like a dream. She was saying everything he had always believed she would never say. He wanted it to be real, though.

Well, if it was a dream, there was no harm…

Leaning towards her, Jack tentatively brushed his lips against hers. He could taste the sweetness of her lip gloss. He inhaled, and his senses were filled with the scent of her floral perfume.

And he knew this wasn't a dream. Because dreams didn't feel, or taste, or smell this real.

"About time!" Merida cried.

And Jack would have seconded that… but he was too busy kissing Rapunzel.