Disclaimer: I, in one way or another, do not own these lovely characters. They all belong to DreamWorks and Disney. But I can claim that the events that brought them here and the whole course of this story were purely my doing.

Chapter 26

Jackson was not blind not to see that Hiccup was trying to hide his smiles when he glanced at him. Still he told himself to ignore it and continue on with what he was doing. He remained as his usual self, focusing on his art project as to not give away to Hiccup that he knew that he was stealing glances of him. He knew if he pointed it out Hiccup would only say that he was looking at him for reference since he was his model. But from a month or so of being classmates with Hiccup, Jackson learned that the freckled teen was one to finish his homework and projects earlier than needed. He understood that what Hiccup meant by "finishing touches" earlier was synonymous to him being done with the whole thing and just going to add a few things he thinks he might've forgotten, making the piece more amazing than it was before.

The brunette knew he wasn't as great as Hiccup when it came to this subject, but he did possess a natural talent when it came to arts. He just didn't develop it like Hiccup. He was more of the kind that drew when he was in the mood and couldn't produce a decent artwork when he wasn't. But since Hiccup was his subject, oh he wasn't just in the mood. He was pouring his whole heart into it.

He had asked Hiccup for help in mixing the right colours or tips about ways of applying it. He drew Hiccup away from his art project so he wouldn't sneak a peek and he was glad that Hiccup made no action to do so, even though he could see that the shorter teen was quite curious.

He glanced at his phone, which he had propped up on the drawing table, and looked back to his art project. The photo in the phone was starting to look like it, if not a little clearer. It was a quick shot he took months ago before he even knew the boy's name. He still remembered that day vividly as if it had only happened yesterday.

. . .

They were in a bookstore. It was their day-off from working at Silver's Dining and they had no idea how to spend it. They were walking around town with their ice creams, a pretty dumb thing to do since the weather was not as forgiving as the heat was seeping into their skin and their clothes beginning to grow damp from their sweat. The ice creams brought little comfort for their apparent cool temperature was starting to wear off and the dessert was already reduced to a puddle in their cups.

"Remind me why we're walking in this weather again?" Jim had asked frowning at his cup that time. He had shed his baggy leather jacket for the summer and replaced it with a short-sleeved white tee and shorts. Instead of heavy combat boots he was wearing sandals. Jackson wasn't used to seeing him like this. His friend looked younger in these clothes and yet still retained that broody look. Well, at least he wasn't getting as much as many stink-eyes in his usual wardrobe — which Jackson still doesn't get that though.

"We're too bummed to stay at home and my house's AC is getting a maintenance check," Jackson replied staring at his own cup in displeasure and decided to just slurp it up.

"We decided that the pool is overrated, and despite the chlorine, we prefer the pool emptied and scrubbed, which the nearby water park hasn't done yet." Kai offered as he shot his cup like a basketball into a nearby trashcan. "Score!" he whooped as it shot right in and looked at his friends for praises.

Wilbur rolled his eyes and as if to show Kai he wasn't the only one who could do it, he threw his emptied cup into the same trash can without even glancing. Kai frowned as he saw that it hit the rim and rolled before going in. He playfully shoved Wilbur who was smirking and the raven retaliated by punching the darker skinned teen on the shoulder.

Jackson shook his head as he dumped his cup in the same trashcan when they passed it and Jim rolled his eyes skyward at the ridiculousness of his friends. Wilbur and Kai just stuck their tongues out at the pair and laughed.

"Anyway, we were also looking for a place to hang since none of us wanted to stay at home in this 'fine weather'," Wilbur soon added making air quotation marks.

"But why are we walking?" Jim questioned as he threw his own cup into the trashcan they had now left behind. He glanced at his friends who were looking at him with slightly gaping mouths as the cup went through without even tumbling in the rim. "What?"

"You just— Oh, forget it," Kai answered waving his hand dismissively and Jackson bit back a laugh.

"You guys still haven't answered my question," the brunette reminded them and Wilbur sighed.

"We figured walking would make it easier to find a place to hangout," the teen replied.

"Clearly, you guys haven't figured that out properly," Jim deadpanned.

"Hey, you're the one who just agreed without much thought," Jackson defended.

"In my defense, you guys just asked me if I could hang. You never said anything about walking in this sweltering heat as we looked for a place to hang out." He glanced at the shops they were walking by and turned his eyes back to his friends. "And why haven't we exactly chosen a place yet anyway?"

"Wilbur saw Violet in the ice cream parlor with Tony Rydinger. And didn't wanna stay any longer," Kai supplied with a shrug.

"And we saw Jinora in the café. Kai's too embarrassed and thought he might do something stupid in front of her," Wilbur added with a sly smirk as Kai shot him a glare, but there was no denying the flush in his cheeks.

"You guys are really ridiculous," Jim groaned massaging his forehead.

"Can't blame them if they're in love, Jimbo. You just wait, you'll be acting like them one of these days and you'll take back what you just said." Jackson spotted a bookstore and figured why not.

"I'll pass. And between you and me, I'm pretty sure you're the one who's going to go down that road before me," Jim told him and Jackson gestured dismissively with a "Whatever."

"Well, you guys had your pick. Now it's my turn," he declared. "Let's check out the bookstore."

"It isn't such a bad idea," Kai agreed.

"We might find stuff of interest," Wilbur seconded.

"All right, let's get in and out of this heat." And Jim started to push the three to the direction of the bookstore.

The four let out a relieved sigh as they felt the cool air of the bookstore hit their skins. Wilbur immediately sought out the science section with Jim and Kai went to the direction of the comics. Jackson went for the new releases and the young adult literature to see if anything would pique his curiosity and find something worth to try out.

As he made his way to the section he spotted a boy, maybe a year or so younger than him reading the back cover of a book before sighing and putting it back where he found it. He was in a loose fitted dark green shirt and a pair of cotton jeans. He had reddish brown hair that seemed to have a few golden strands when the light hit it at the right angle. Jackson tilted his head, curious. He had never seen this boy in this bookstore before. In fact, he hasn't seen him in town before. He was probably new around here and that made Jackson all the more curious.

And so that's how he found himself, a few minutes later in a bookstore on his day off, hiding behind a shelf of books as he peeked through the spaces spying on the boy on the other side. He didn't know what got into him. Usually when he was curious about someone he would just ask people who might know the person and if what they say piques his interest, then that's when the spying begins. Jackson should have searched for his friends and asked if they've seen or knew the kid, and yet here he was trying his best to be inconspicuous as he watched the boy in secret.

He didn't know how long he's been standing there, picking up different books and pretending to read the back cover before putting it back. It felt like time stood still when he saw the boy turn to his direction. The moment Jackson laid eyes on those forest green orbs he knew he was a goner. The kid was cute. No, he was adorable. Scratch that, he was adorkable. And those freckles, were those even real? Can anybody really have that much freckles? Jackson wanted to trace his fingers on the kid's skin but stopped himself. He was going to blow his cover if he did that. He noticed how the boy's glasses were slipping off his round nose and the brunette had the intense desire to push the thing back in its place. Jackson wondered if the kid could see him but looking at his eyes, the teen understood that the boy was busy checking out the titles on the shelf to bother noticing Jackson.

He hadn't even realized that he already brought his phone out and snapped a photo of the unsuspecting teen. Jackson was thankful that he had turned the shutter sound off or else the freckled teen would have known that he was being watched.

This time, the brunette teen tried his best to be subtle in his "gayzing". There was something about this boy that drew Jackson to him. He didn't know what it was, but Jackson could tell it was there. Like a string tied to the both of them and someone was tugging at the other end to make Jackson notice. He was debating in his head if he should say "hi" or try to remain quietly watching the boy. He took a breath and decided to just wing it. He made his way towards the aisle on the other side, putting up a confident swagger, but when he was a few feet away he quickly lost courage, tucked tail and ducked behind the nearest shelf… again.

What is freaking wrong with me? Just go and say "Hello" to him Jackson! What is so hard about saying that one word to the person? He berated himself and snuck a peak of the boy again. He tch-ed and shook his head. The brunette teen picked up a book, and then took out his pocketed phone. If I can't say a simple "hello", I may as well get another souvenir. He positioned his phone behind the book and tried to act natural as he took photos of the auburn haired boy. He was so focused at the task at hand that he didn't notice Jim sneaking up on him until he heard his friend's voice behind him and Jackson fumbled with his phone along with the book he was holding and immediately pretended to be reading it.

"Jackson what're you doing?" Jim asked him suspiciously.

"I'm reading, can't you see?" he snapped and his friend raised a brow at him.

"Right," Jim answered dubiously. "I can see that you're reading a book... upside-down." He pointed out giving Jackson an odd look.

Jackson glanced at the book he was reading and just like what Jim said, he was, in fact, holding it upside-down. He felt his ears grow hot. He coughed to cover his embarrassment and returned the book where he found it. "I'm practicing how to read books that way," he said nonchalantly and Jim gave him an unconvinced stare.

"Uh-huh." His friend moved to stand beside him and nodded. He picked up a book and opened it. "So, who's the kid?" Jim whispered to him as he subtly nudged his head to the auburn haired boy who stood feet away from them before returning to browse the book.

"What kid?" Jackson whispered back keeping his eyes on the books and not on the boy who was smiling a bit as he read something from the book he was holding. Damn he's cute.

"Dude, I've known you for almost a year now. And I'm not stupid enough to fall for that lame excuse when I see you trying to act cool and subtle as you stare at that boy over there." Jim frowned and put the book back. He faced Jackson, "So?"

The teen's lips pulled down as his brows creased and glanced back at his friend who cocked his head to the direction of the boy. Jackson sighed, exasperated, and picked up another random book, cracking it open as he answered, "I don't know. I was gonna ask you guys if you knew him."

And as if they heard him, Wilbur and Kai were suddenly there. The pair was carrying a stack of comics and smiled like idiots as if they've just won the lottery. They were about to say something when they noticed the stance of their other two friends and they instantly copied them.

"So what's up? Who's Jackson spying on now?" Kai asked as he hid behind the shelf beside them.

"Would you keep your voices down?" Jackson whisper-scolded and Kai shot him a chastised look.

"Sorry," he whispered. "So who?"

"You're interested in the new kid?" Wilbur said incredulous before covering his mouth to muffle his laugh.

"Okay, what the heck are you laughing about?" Jackson scowled at his friend a bit annoyed. Was it really that hilarious to be interested at someone? Wait, wasn't he just curious? Who said he was interested? Well, maybe it was in some sense the same. But wasn't that too early to say he was interested about him in thatkind of way? Oh great, now he's arguing with himself.

"Let me just say this," Wilbur faced him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Jackson seriously, "Take heart and be brave. Your quest will not be easy. You will face challenges that may break your spirit but persevere, my young ward. You must stay strong."

"What the— Will!"

"I'm being serious here!" Wilbur said. "I am telling you, that kid won't be easy. He has a wolf for a freaking pet and his dad? Dude, that man could crush your windpipe like a Pringles chip. And you still don't know if he swings that way. Pursuing him is suicide."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Will, you're such a great friend," Jackson drawled. "But how exactly do you know those stuff in the first place?" He squinted suspiciously at his friend.

"Dude, don't give me that look. He just happens to live in my neighbourhood. Remember that house we saw on top of the hill being built a year ago? Well, he lives there. He just moved in like a few days ago." Seeing the hopeful look in Jackson's eyes, Wilbur added, "And no. I don't know his name. Just their last name which is Haddock. Everyone's kinda intimidated by the kid's dad, and since Mr. Haddock leaves pretty early and comes back late, no one got the chance to know him yet. His kid's mostly locked up in the house too. Never seen him out until now. Mayor Corona was the only one who got to meet him and they seem to go way back too. So no, can't help you there bro." The black haired teen patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"You know you could just say 'hi' right? And if you really want to know his name, you better hurry because he's about to pay for his books and he's gonna be outta here," Kai suggested.

It was only then did Jackson notice that he had been absorbed in his friend's talking that he had taken his attention off the boy. He turned to the direction Kai was looking at a second ago and he saw the boy talking shyly to the owner/cashier of the bookstore. He watched as the boy smiled again, lips moving saying "Thank you" and before Jackson could snap out of his stupor, the Haddock boy was out of the bookstore.

"Whelp, there goes your chance." Kai pointed out with a shrug.

"If you run now, you could probably catch up to him," Wilbur added.

"Yeah and he'd have five seconds of courage and say what he has to. Next thing you know we'll be in one of those rom-com chick flicks, but more on the com rather than the rom." Jims says letting a small amused smirk grace his lips.

"Can we just pay for the stuff we're buying already?" Jackson groans exasperated and the three laugh at him.

They made their way to the cashier with their items—the comics for both Kai and Wil, a magazine about interior design for Jim and a book by Madeline Miller for Jackson. As they got out of the bookstore, they noticed how the sky was starting to turn dark. Wilbur suggested that they just head to his house and watch something on Netflix or something. His friend called home and within a few minutes, Wilbur's mom came and picked them up. Mrs. Robinson, to their luck, happened to be in town buying some groceries. The ride to the Robinsons' home was twenty minutes and they spent it in amiable chatter. To Jackson's relief, his friends didn't tattle about his "encounter" in the bookstore to Mrs. Robinson.

The four teens took it as their task to get the groceries from the back and bring it to the kitchen. As they got inside, Jackson noticed Jim slowing his pace to walk beside him.

"Remember that thing you told me earlier?" his friend started to say.

"What thing?" Jackson asked confused.

"Oh you know, the thing about Wil and Kai being in love?" Jackson frowned knowing where this conversation was going. "Guess I was right about you going down that road before me huh?" Jim grinned at him and the brunette scowled at his friend.

"Shut up, I am far from being in love," Jackson muttered and this time Jim let the laughter rack his body.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Jackson. You can never tell," Jim said and he gave him that all-knowing-smile of his that was starting to get on Jackson's nerves.

. . .

Thinking about it now, Jackson should have listened to Jim. A month later when school started again, he met Hiccup. It wasn't a great first face-to-face meeting since Hiccup was covered with his powder booby trap he set up on his old locker and Jackson laughed his head off. He soon regretted it when he realized who was behind the powder and Jackson felt dread wash over his whole body. His three friends weren't much help in the beginning since guffawing was the first thing they did when he asked them for help after telling them what happened.

Jim suggested that he apologize. But Jackson was still too embarrassed to face the freckled boy. Wilbur told him to write him a letter then if he was too chicken to apologize up front. And Kai was the one who gave him the idea of slipping the note either in the locker or the kid's bag.

And that's how he started to communicate with Hiccup which further led to him introducing himself personally a few days later and them becoming friends (after a few weeks that is).

The brunette teen looked back to his art project. It would only take a few more touches and he was done. He leaned back on his seat, placing the brush in the cup of water, and stared at his finished art project. He nodded and smiled proudly at his piece.

"You finished?" he heard Hiccup ask him and Jackson looked up to meet the boy's emerald eyes.

"Uh-huh. I think I can't even feel my butt anymore," Jackson confessed as he rose from his seat and rubbed his backside.

"What would you want me do? Give you a massage?" Hiccup deadpanned and returned to the cabinet he was cleaning up, organizing the contents in a manner that he only understood.

Jackson made his way to where Hiccup was and leaned on the cabinet. "Will you do it if I ask nicely?" he asked batting his lashes prettily.

"Ugh, gods Jackson. Really?" Hiccup looked at him with a frown. "Don't do that, it's not a pretty sight. At. All."

Jackson rolled his eyes and raised his hands in mock surrender. "All right. I won't do that. But will you still give me a massage?"

"On your butt?" the boy said incredulously.

"Did I say anything about massaging my butt?"

"Well, no. But you were talking about how you couldn't feel it! And I asked what you wanted me to do! And— I just assumed that was what you meant." Hiccup explained cheeks turning red.

"So you assumed I'd ask you to massage my aching butt?" he asked nonchalantly. "But you know, if it floats your boat, I'd be more than happy to oblige." He looked at Hiccup who was staring at him with wide eyes, face redder than he had ever seen and mouth hanging open. He couldn't hold back the laughter and let it loose.

Teasing Hiccup was always a sight. He gets embarrassed by the littlest things and he just looked adorable. Hiccup was pouting at him now, cheeks puffed up in irritation and Jackson could feel himself growing weak in the knees as laughter racked his body. He placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, leaning on him for support, and he tried to calm himself.

"You— you should— have… seen your… face," Jackson said in between laughs and he coughed, clearing his throat as he lifted his gaze to Hiccup. This time it was his turn to blush. He was too busy laughing that he hadn't realized how close their faces were, noses almost touching.

They stared at each other, caught up in the moment and unable to tear their eyes away from the other. Being this close, Jackson never realized how Hiccup's eyes had two shades of green in them. It was lighter in the middle, fading into a darker shade before melding into the brownish-black outer ring. It was fascinating and beautiful. He had the urge to cup the teen's face in his hands and close that teasing gap between their lips but he held himself back. Jackson knew he had to lean away now, but he feels frozen in the spot. His whole body was denying the demands of his brain to move and give Hiccup some damn space.

He didn't know what he would do if he continued to stay like this with Hiccup, so he was thankful when Hiro and Jamie suddenly burst into the room, calling for their names.

"Hey, it's time for—" Hiro paused midstride and stared at the two teens who seemed to be too close to each other, "—lunch." Too close for mere friends anyway. "Did we just interrupt some magical romantic moment here?" he asked Jamie in a whisper that was a bit too loud for comfort.

Hiccup and Jackson stepped away from each other, looking anywhere but the other.

"Yes, I think we did." Jamie said. "Anyways, if you guys are ready, just go down. Lunch is ready," and with that his cousin and Hiro scrambled out of the door, leaving the two boys in all their awkwardness.

"So… uh… lunch?" Jackson coughed gesturing to the door.

"Y-Yeah. Lunch, we shouldn't keep them waiting." Hiccup went ahead of him but he waited by the door when he didn't feel Jackson near him. The brunette smiled a little. Despite the compromising position they found themselves in only moments ago, he was at least glad that Hiccup didn't feel too awkward of having him next to him.

"Can we forget that happened?" Hiccup asked him worriedly.

Jackson glanced at him with an innocent smile. "About what?"

"You know about—" the freckled boy glanced at him with an "Oh," before smiling himself. "Right. Thanks Jackson."

"No, thank you for helping me out with the project," he replied.

"We'll just have to leave it there 'till it dries."

Jackson took a few steps forward and whirled around walking backward, stretching his arms. "We've got the whole day, I'm sure it will be," he grinned and Hiccup shook his head with a little smile. If he had turned around, he would have seen the shadow. But all Jackson saw was Hiccup's eyes widening and suddenly he felt his foot hit something and he was toppling over. His hand went out to grab onto one of the little tables in the hallway with flower vases, but his grip slipped. The vase was tipping off balance and before any of them could react, the vase crashed to the floor, narrowly missing Jackson. He doesn't realize he was actually hurt until he felt something warm seeping from his hand.

"Jackson!" The brunette turned to look at Hiccup and smiled with a wince.

"Okay, that hurt." He grimaced as he looked at the mess he made. "Sorry about that, I hope I don't get you in trouble," his eyes mirroring his apology.

"Why are you worrying about that?" Hiccup's hand move wildly as he gestured to Jackson's bleeding hand. "You're bleeding!" He looked pale and Jackson could see that it was the sight of the blood that was doing this to Hiccup. He was beginning to hyperventilate and Jackson knew this wasn't going to be good. Ignoring the pain on his palm, the brunette teen pushed himself up and walked towards the boy. He was careful not to use his bleeding hand as he took Hiccup by the shoulder.

"Hey, hey. Come on. Look at my face." He said with a soft tone, as if trying not to spook a small animal away. Hiccup immediately obeyed his words and those wide fearful green eyes were staring right back at him. "I'm fine. Don't look down, got it? Look at my face and nowhere else, okay? Just calm down and breathe." Hiccup nodded in response and Jackson gave him a reassuring smile.

Somewhere behind him, he heard a voice say, "Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. What seems to be the problem?"

Jackson whipped his head to the voice's direction and what he saw was a… walking marshmallow. Okay, maybe it wasn't a walking marshmallow. But a robot — a white, chubby, cuddly marshmallow-looking robot. "Uh hello there," he greeted it dumbly.

Hiccup seemed to know the robot as relief instantly washed over him at the sight of the newcomer. "Baymax! Scan him!"

The robot didn't miss a beat and declared, "Scan complete," after giving him a once over. "His scan indicates that he has a few minor lacerations on his left hand and foot, which seem to be embedded with glass. I recommend, we stop the bleeding, immediately."

Jackson blinked at the robot and glanced at Hiccup and back to Baymax. "Uh… yeah. Broken vase and all."

There's some sort of commotion by the stairs and the next thing they knew all of Hiccup's friends were rushing towards them. They stopped dead when they saw the mess and the blood oozing from Jackson's foot to the carpet.

"What happened?" It was Tadashi that first broke the silence. He walked towards Jackson, taking something out of his pockets, before kneeling in front of the brunette teen. He nudged the hem of the teen's jeans and it didn't take Jackson a minute to obey when Tadashi lifted his injured foot and wrapped the handkerchief around it. He didn't even realized he had stepped on the broken glass and that Baymax words were true.

"There was a—" Hiccup started to say but clammed his mouth shut, blinked and swallowed. Jackson knew he wasn't the only one who noticed the action. He also knew he wasn't the only one who saw the way tears formed at the corner of the auburn's eyes.

"Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked softly after a few seconds has passed. It effectively snapped Hiccup out of his thoughts and all of them pointedly ignored that little incident. Jackson knew they could ask questions later. They shouldn't push Hiccup. Not when he's like this.

"J-Jackson tripped and— and— it just happened so fast. The vase fell and then J-Jackson's— Jackson's bleeding!" Hiccup answered frantically, repeatedly stumbling over his words. Merida approached her cousin and placed her hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Hiccup. Breathe. Yoo have got tae calm down."

Hiccup took in calming breaths, forcing the panic that had bubbled up at the sight of Jackson's blood on the floor. Jackson looked at his friends seeing that Rapunzel and Jamie had the same worried expression etched into their faces but Hiro, Merida and Tadashi all have this collective calmness in them, though he could see they were in fact worried, they were unfazed. It was the kind of expression one would have when they had dealt with this kind of thing numerous times.

He didn't like the conclusion he was drawing with these thoughts.

Tadashi glanced at him and he gave the brunette a subtle shake of the head. Not now, was what he was telling him. Jackson frowned at this but he didn't push. Besides, he could finally feel the pain from his wound. Tadashi pushed himself up and placed Jackson's arm over his shoulder. Jamie immediately picking up on the cue, sauntered over and guided his other arm over his shoulder. They nodded to each other and together, they supported Jackson.

"Let's get you to our room. We have to get that cleaned," Tadashi informed him and Jackson just nodded in response. They started to walk away, Hiro following along with Baymax.

"We'll be downstairs," Merida shouted to them and Jackson gave them a wave. When he saw Hiccup looking at him, he gave the teen a thumbs-up and a bright smile to tell him that he was all right. Hiccup worried his lip but he didn't complain when Merida and Rapunzel ushered him to the direction of the stairs.

He felt bad that the joyous atmosphere surrounding them before had popped-up like a bubble. And that he had made Hiccup worry about him again and accidentally caused him to have a panic attack.

"Don't blame yourself about it." He turned to Tadashi a little surprised that he knew where his thoughts were going to. "It's not like you got yourself injured on purpose."

"And," Hiro chimed in as he pulled a sucker out of his mouth gesturing towards Jackson. "You didn't know that he was afraid of blood."

"Why is he afraid of blood?" Jackson asked, brows furrowing.

"We're not really sure." Hiro shrugged. "Even Hiccup. He says it was a long time ago so he couldn't quite remember, but it had something to do with finding Toothless."

He could feel Jamie giving him that look. Jamie had told him that Toothless came along days after Jack and Hiccup had met. They both didn't know the full story, Jack never went into detail about it. But with this, they were sure there was more to it now.

They arrived in the Hamadas' room and the two gently settled Jackson on the edge of the bed. Hiro had slipped into the bathroom and grabbed a first-aid kit that he hands to Tadashi. The elder Hamada teen thanked his brother and pulled a chair to sit in front of Jackson. He reached for Jackson's injured foot first, putting it first since it was bleeding more than his hand, and went through the motion of unwrapping the injured foot and cleaning it. He removed a few small shards that had embedded themselves in his skin, Jackson winced but he didn't let out a single sound. It didn't take long before his injuries were cleaned and bandaged up.

"Done," Tadashi patted him on the knee as he stood up. "Avoid putting too much pressure on that foot so it doesn't bleed out, same for the hand."

"All right, Doc. Whatever you say," Jackson replied with a smirk and Tadashi just shook his head at him.

Jamie extended a hand to him and Jackson accepted the proffered hand. His cousin helped him up but he didn't take him up on the offer of supporting him while they made their way downstairs. He wasn't some damsel in distress. He can walk. He just had to be careful on placing pressure on his foot.

They were quiet as they walked downstairs. Jamie slowed his pace so he walked right next to Jackson. He had a guess it wasn't just because Jamie was being considerate. They had only known each other for a few weeks but Jackson was already able to read him easily. They walked behind the Hamada brothers and Jamie waited for them to get out of earshot when he whispers to Jackson, "I found something."

Jackson cocked his brow up in curiosity. "What is it?"

"It's better if you see it," was Jamie's reply and his lips pulled down into a frown. Jamie was being vague. There was only one reason why Jamie would be vague.

Jack Frost.

He wondered what it was that Jamie had found. He hoped Jack hadn't done anything rash. Not after the conversation they'd had last night. But with the disarray his emotions were in last night, before he slept, he knew he shouldn't hope for too much. Still he hopes this doesn't change things drastically.