"Hey Hiccup! Mind giving me a hand with this?"

A soft sigh escaped his lips. "What is it this time Fishlegs?"

Andrew, known to his friends as Fishlegs, almost tossed a bundle of papers toward Hiccup. "The homework from English makes no sense. Why was it important to learn about some random guy named Jason?"

Hiccup sighed again, this time rubbing his forehead. The wooden chair underneath him squeaked as he leaned over to look at the paper. "Fishlegs, did you even read the story?"

"Of course I did. What are you talking about?"

"Really?" He tapped the paper. "Because the ship's name was not 'Astronauts'. It was 'Argonauts'."

He laughed at Fishlegs' groan, returning to musty book in his hand. Other than the furious erasing and scribbling beside him, Hiccup heard almost nothing in the near-empty library. Every now and again, a librarian popped her head around on of the bookcases to make sure that everything was alright before returning to work.

By the time the sky began to turn orange, Fishlegs passed it over for the final inspection. Hiccup's eyes darted across the pages, marking a few spelling errors on the way.

"Just double-check your spelling. Other than that, you're good."

"Finally!" He tossed the papers into his bag, unaware of Hiccup's eye-roll. Both boys gathered up their things and waved goodbye to the head librarian as they left. A brittle wind blew down the street, causing to shiver. He dug deeper into his coat.

Street lights flickered to life when Hiccup paused, sharp pains shooting up his leg. With a small sigh, he knelt down. Fishlegs paused in front of his house. "Everything alright?"

"I'll be fine." The familiar rip of Velcro disrupted the air. "Just needed to rearrange something."

He shrugged. "If you're sure." He waited for Hiccup to finish tightening his leg brace before bounding up the stairs of his house. "See ya tomorrow."

"Later." Hiccup adjusted his glasses as he continued down the street. Exhaling, he watched his breath mist up in circles. A small smile appeared on his face at the sight. Tucking his hands into his pockets, Hiccup started humming the Lord of the Ring's theme song. He ducked into an alleyway near the local music store. Rock N Roll floated through the partly opened door.

A metal click broke the peaceful silence. Hiccup's eyes widen as a small flame lit up a pale face holding a cigarette for a few seconds. The dim red light flared for a second before smoke curled up into the air. Hiccup coughed briefly, causing the person to finally notice him. The shadow shifted slightly and something metallic settled behind them.

"Is it a bit late for kids to be out?"

Male, definitely a male. Hiccup scowled slightly. "I'm not a kid you know."

"Could of fooled me." The boy puffed out a smoke ring.

Hiccup waved the air in front of him before daring to walk past. Neither of them said a word but just as he got to the end of the alley the boy left a warning. "Keep an eye out on your way. I heard rumors that a big fight might be happening tonight."

"I'll keep that in mind." Okay, that might have turned out a bit more sarcastic than he would have liked. But the boy simply laughed, sounding like a bird chirping.

Hiccup smiled, deciding to jog the rest of the way down main street. Every now and again, he spotted someone sitting or leaning against the wall of a store. There were a small group of them waiting in the parking lot of the local grocery store, which he avoided as he turned into his yard. He shook his head softly at the darken bulb hanging beside the door as he climbed the steps of his small home. Guess his dad had another late night shift again.

Using his own key, Hiccup quietly opened the door and walked inside, dropping his backpack on the ground. A soft meow, as well as soft fur brushing his legs, directed his attention down to a black cat. He knelt down to scratch its head. "Evening bud."

The cat cried out again as Hiccup locked the door and turned on the lights. "Yeah, I know bud. You're probably hungry."

Slipping out of his shoes, he dipped into the kitchen and scooped up the food bowl off the floor. Claws clinked against tiled floors while Hiccup opened a Fancy Cat can. Purring softly, the cat briefly rubbed against Hiccup's leg before diving into his bowl.

Hiccup laughed, brushing his fingers through its fur. "Your welcome Toothless."

A stray headlight traveled past the window as Hiccup rummaged through the fridge. Chewing on some leftover pizza, Hiccup heading over to the living room where he notice a small note lying on the coffee table. His father's burly handwriting greeted him, telling him exactly what he already knew.

Flopping down on the couch, Hiccup grabbed the t.v. remote and curled up into the corner of the couch. As he flipped through the channels, Toothless slinked into the room. Jumping on the couch, he rubbed himself against Hiccup before curling up beside him. Hiccup absently returned the favor, running his hands across his back. He finally settled on a show when the familiar Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. theme began playing.

His eyelids slipped down as the show progressed. Even during the climax of the show, he could only keep a half interest of what was going on. Covering a yawn, Hiccup stretched out his legs. Toothless growled at the sudden movement and hopped onto his stomach, causing Hiccup to laugh.

"Sorry bud." He scratched him behind the ears.

Turning down the volume to barely audible, Hiccup dug himself deeper into the couch. His eyes almost closed completely when a loud bang echoed from outside the windows. Hiccup winced as Toothless hissed, his claws digging into his clothes. He carefully maneuvered him to the ground before pulling back the curtains.

Outside the window, a small group of people fought on the street. A tangle of arms and legs was the most that he could see; be it because of his glasses, the dark, or both Hiccup wasn't quite sure. But his body flinched as another bang was heard, this time with a small glint of light bouncing off something metal.

A gun, some crazy idiot is shooting a gun. Hiccup shrunk back a bit so only half of his face could be seen and observed a bit more. Only two people looked like they had guns, the other three appeared to have only knives or their fists. Surprisingly though, the three virtually defenseless appeared to be the better fighters, keeping close to render the guns useless and aiming for weak points.

One of them dodged by jumping backwards. For some reason, he decided to look left and connected eyes with Hiccup, who was still watching. The boy, Hiccup assumed, motioned downward with his hand, the snowflake tattoo sparkling in the light. He dodged again, this time spinning out of the way, before repeating the motion.

He wants me…to duck. Slowly dropping the curtains, Hiccup picked Toothless off from the ground and returned back to the couch. He curled up on the couch, keeping his head low. The gunshots took longer to shot off so Hiccup assumed that the three were winning the fight. Toothless nudged his head into Hiccup's chest, purring softly. He laughed at the sensation.

"Tired already bud?"

He laughed as Toothless smacked him with his tail. Slowly, the usual quiet noises of the suburbs took over outside. The calming sounds lulled Hiccup into closing his eyelids.

Stoick sighed, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. The bright green lights of the car clock mocked the hour by showing 4:30. With a glare at the clock, he maneuvered out of his patrol car. His quiet street swallowed up his heavy footsteps as he walked to his door. A rumble from a late-night biker and soft murmurings from the t.v. welcomed him home.

His mustached twitched into a hidden smile as he walked into his sleeping son. Hiccup was curled into a ball, an exact replica of his pet next to him. One hand tucked under his head, the other tangled in fur, Hiccup didn't even hear his father turn off the t.v. Stoick carefully gathered up his son, quietly shushing the disturbed cat. With the angry cat at his heels, he climbed up the stairs to his son's room.

It took some careful maneuvering for him to open the door with full hands, but soon Stoick was able to lay his son down on his bed. Toothless jumped up on the bed as Stoick placed his son's glasses on the bedside table. He removed the leg brace before tucking the covers over his son. The cat curled up next to Hiccup's neck and promptly went back to sleep.

Stoick chuckled as Hiccup naturally went back into the position he found him in. He brushed back a few strands of brown hair to place a scratchy kiss. "Goodnight son."

Hiccup took a bite of his lunch, eyes never straying from the words on the page. The noisy lunch room became a distant hum in the background as he read. However, a persistent tap on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Earth to Hiccup. Hello Hiccup? Care to join the conversation?"

Hiccup stuck out his tongue, but still placed the worn bookmark into place. "What now Astrid?"

He flinched slightly as she punched his arm. "Seriously, we're talking about an event that happened right in your street, right in front of your house, and you don't even care."

Shrugging slightly, Hiccup leaned against hand while she turned back to Fishlegs and the twins. "Anyway. Rumor says that it was a city wide showdown between the Nightmares and the Guardians."

One of the twins (Tuffnut) raised his eyebrows. "That's like, the two biggest gangs in town."

His sister, Ruffnut, smacked his head. "Ya idiot, everybody knows that."

"Okay, okay. Back to the story." Astrid leaned forward while spreading out her hands. "No one's entirely sure what started the fight but the most common theory is that they were trying to decide who's going to rule the underground."

"No way."

Fishlegs's mouth dropped to the ground. "Does anyone know who won?"

"Nope, most everyone thinks that the battle's still going."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and messed around with his peas as the others began debating who's going to win.

"It's totally going to be the Nightmares, they don't fear anything."

"But the Guardian's got North. No one's been able to defeat that guy."

"Yeah, but what about Eric. He's just so…" Ruffnut sighed.

Everyone groaned. Astrid rubbed her forehead. "They're not going to win just because you got the hots for one guy. Besides, Aster is ten times better-looking that Eric."

"But what about this Drago guy? Heard he just joined the Nightmares recently."

"An unfamiliar legend, terrifying persona, and reckless with the rules." Fishlegs ticked what he knew off on his fingers. "All from what I heard makes he sound like someone you do not want to mess with."

Letting the metal spoon slip down to his tray, Hiccup stood up. "Yeah but I don't think he's willing to fight people with guns with only a knife. I'll see ya guys later, okay."

Ignoring the demands of an explanation, Hiccup dumped the tray into the cleaning bin before heading outside. He winced at the biting wind and returned inside only long enough to shrug on his jacket. It only took a few minutes for Hiccup to reach his favorite tree, but the quiet atmosphere already relaxed his shoulders. The rough bark tickled his neck while he sat down.

A soft hiss escaped his teeth. "Stupid leg." He massaged around the brace, attempting to break the suddenly stiff muscles. It took a few minutes but eventually the pain began to subside away, allowing him to finally re-open his book. His fingers slipped over worn pages as he smiled softly. No matter how many times he has re-reads this book, Hiccup loved this series to bit.

The school bell rung through the air and the few students who ate outside meandered back to the door. A few teachers also walked inside, most notably the gym teacher Andrew "Sandy" Anderson. He paused by Hiccup to exchange a few words as well as to hand him a work-sheet before heading back to class. Of course the late bell hadn't rung yet, so just as Hiccup started to work on the assignment (the rules and basic information about football) when a familiar, jagged voice cut the air.

"Lookie here. Isn't it lame-foot, four-eyes."

Hiccup looked up as a shadow covered his paper. Snotlout loomed over him, still dressed up in his football gear. "What do you want Snotlout?"

"What, I can't talk to my dear, lame cousin without an al-ul-ummm."

Hiccup rolled his eyes "Ulterior motive?"

"Whatever." He snatched up both the book and worksheet before dangling it up in the air. "Come and grab it four-eyes."

With a sigh, Hiccup carefully stood up to reach for his stuff. "Seriously this is not funny."

"I'm helping you get stronger man." His eyes narrowed slightly as he smirked.

Hiccup sighed again before attempting a small hop. As usual, Snotlout jerked it away and laughed slightly. "Oh come on. You can't do a little jump like this."

Choosing to growl at him, Hiccup jumped again. This time however, his foot landed awkwardly and he tumbled sideways. Metal frames clinked on the ground, tossing the world into a nearly completely fuzzy world. Hiccup spat out a bit of dirt as his cousin laughed at him. He felt his cheeks grew warm.

"Wow, you are pathetic."

"Now who are you calling pathetic mate?"

Hiccup felt a pair of calloused hands pull him back into sitting position. "Easy there ankle-biter. Took a nasty fall."

He felt the warm body of his savior stand up to confront Snotlout. "Now then. Mind giving him back his book. And don't toss it or I'll knock your lights out in 2.5 seconds. Maybe even less based on the fact you're picking on a little fella."

Hiccup's hand snatched up his glasses as Snotlout dropped his stuff in his lap. He didn't really need to see to know that Snotlout was scowling at him. Letting his eyes readjust back to a normal vision, Hiccup spotted both Snotlout and his tan-skinned savior walk inside. His eyes noted the egg tattoo on his right hand, of course Aster.

His head turned around to spot two motorcycles parked in the school parking lot, one of them being revved up by a white-skinned, white-haired boy with two piercings on each ear. The notorious Jack Frost, leader of the Guardians gang, connected eyes with the nerd underneath the tree. He gave him a sly smile as he turned out of the parking lot.

Hiccup felt his face burn up again as he buried himself in his homework, a much safer option to be sure than letting his mind wander.

Later that day, Hiccup sat among his friends at the mandatory football game. Well, mandatory for him. He snorted as Astrid, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut jumped up and down beside him, cheering their team on. Wrapping his arms around himself, Hiccup wished he had brought his book along. The cold, metal bench wasn't helping his leg, or butt, at all.

"Hey Astrid, why do you always bring me out here?"

"Because you need to socialize more."

He rubbed warmth into his hands while looking up to the gray skies. "And I'm socializing by freezing on a metal bench watching a game that I really don't care for with people screaming every few seconds?"

"Oh hush up and enjoy the game. It's not that bad."

Just as soon as she said that however, the heavens decided to open up with a bright light. Hiccup felt the thunder boom through his chest as large drops of rain fell down. He rolled his eyes as he joined the crowd rushing to get into shelter. "You're right. It's not bad, it's downright terrible."

The four friends huddled underneath the bleachers. Astrid unlocked her phone to ring up her parents, ignoring the complaints/argument between the twins. Hiccup sat down and let his eyes wander around. Despite the cool air, the music of rain on metal felt relaxing to him.

A shadow at the corner of his eyes drew his attention. The bulky figure he spotted, dressed almost completely in black, dipped around the corner of the school building. He poked Ruffnut on the shoulder. "Hey, did you see the guy over there?"

"What?"

He rolled his eyes at her confused expression. "Never mind."

Astrid sighed as she ended her conversation on the phone. "Sorry guys but it doesn't look like my parents are in town yet."

She turned toward Hiccup. "Think your dad could give us a ride home?"

He shrugged. "I can ask but I think he's still working." Slipping his phone out of his pocket, Hiccup sped dial his father's number. It rung two times before he heard his father's gruff voice answer.

"Anything wrong son. Did you get hurt?"

"No dad I'm fine." He tucked his hand into his coat pocket. "My friends and I was just wondering if you could give us a ride home."

"What happened to the game night you were planning?"

"It got canceled half-way through because of the thunder storm."

Hearing his dad hum on the other side, he turned around so his back faced his friends. Another voice murmured through and he heard the muffled voice of his dad. The two voices conversed for a while before Hiccup heard his dad talk to him again. "I'm sorry son. But it looks like I'm going to be stuck doing the papers tonight."

Hiccup felt his heart tighten a bit. "It's okay Dad. I understand."

"Will you be able to get home safely?"

"We'll be fine it's just a little rain." He tuned out the complaints of the twins behind him.

"If you're sure. I'll send Gobber over later to check up on ya, okay?"

"Okay."

"Stay safe."

With a deep breath, Hiccup put away his phone before turning around. Astrid gave him a concerned look. "It's a no go?"

"He's stuck at the office for a while."

Tuffnut stuck his hands into his pockets. "You mean we have to walk through this?"

Astrid punched him on the shoulders. "Oh buck up. It will do you some good."

She hitched up her coat in an attempt to cover her head. The twins followed suit and the three started walking away. Astrid yelled over her shoulder. "Coming Hiccup?"

"Go without me. I text you guys when I get home alright?"

She waved her hand to show she understood and continued dragging the twins along. Hiccup waited for them to disappear around the corner before heading to the back of the school. The person he spotted earlier didn't look like he had any rain protection and he wanted to be sure that they were okay. Or at least that's what he told himself. If he was being truly honest, Hiccup was just curious about what the guy was doing.

He almost reached to final corner when a loud thud and a small groan echoed. Hiccup's body froze at the all too familiar sound. He inched around the corner, hopefully he could see what was happening without getting noticed. His eyes widen slightly.

Snotlout laid curled up on the ground, his face bruised and bloody. Above him loomed two tall figures, the bulky guy he saw earlier and a much leaner, ominous boy. All though Hiccup never saw the boy before now, the name Pitch Black came quiet easily to his mind. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and flinched at another kick aimed at his cousin. The two boys laugh, causing Hiccup to shudder.

The rain, plus the distance between him and the group, distorted their words when they spoke but he saw the knife well enough. Hiccup tense slightly, eyes going wide before he searched below him for something, anything to throw. Scooping up a small rock, about the size of baseball, Hiccup took aim at the two and sent a silent prayer upwards. The rock clanged against the knife, tossing it away from Snotlout's barely comprehending face. Hiccup didn't have any time to feel relief when the attackers turned toward him. Who in the world would wear yellow contacts?

He noticed that both of them took a step towards him before he turned on his heel and ran. As usual, sparks of pain shot up his leg as he foot pounded on the ground. The water marks on the lens of his glasses distorted his view as he raced through the empty parking lot on the side of the school. Hiccup dared a shaky look behind him. Pitch Black was the one chasing him, still a few feet away but catching up every second.

Hiccup felt the wind rush out of him as he smacked into what felt like a solid wall. Tumbling into the ground, he grimaced in pain as his head met the pavement. Giant hands gripped the collar of his jacket, easily yanking him off the ground. His feet dangled in the air, eyes closed as he struggled to keep air in his lungs.

"I see you caught the little fly my friend." Hiccup felt his spine tremble as the voice continued. "Well done Drago."

His glasses shattered on the ground as he was whipped into the wall. Their voices faded in and out until Hiccup felt the cool metal of the knife dipped into side. "Now then. I'm sure you must have felt very brave after saving your friend back there. But I think you forgot an a very important detail."

Hiccup bit his lip as the knife trailed down, cutting both his skin and shirt. He could feel the warmth of his blood seep out the opening as Drago slammed a fist into his stomach. The rough bricks scratched his back as Drago lowered him, putting him face to face with Pitch. Hiccup squinted his eyes in an attempt to see the sneering face in front of him.

"No one messes with The Nightmares."

Another swipe of the blade cut a line across his cheek follow by a punch in the face. The pattern continued for a few minutes, new cut somewhere on his body followed by a punch in the exact same place, until Pitch spotted his leg brace. He chuckled as Hiccup whimpered at the nimble finger unstrapping it. The pain never fully died down after his short sprint. A scream of pain ripped from his throat when pressure increased on his leg.

Drago silenced him with a punch in the face. "Enough out of that."

"Oy! What's all this about mate?"

Hiccup barely processed the new sounds of motorcycles pulling closer to them. Instead, he felt Drago tighten his hold on his collar.

"Vell now. This is not vhat I was expecting on tonight's patrol."

Short gasps came from Hiccup as he attempted to gather air into his lungs, feeling like they were on fire. He barely heard the footsteps on the pavements, steadily coming closer to him. A small grunt of pain resounded in front of him and Hiccup felt the iron grip loosen. His legs buckled beneath him as he tumbled to the ground. Still unable to see clearly, Hiccup kept his eyes closed and focused on breathing steadily. A small part of his mind heard the fight beside him slowly died away under the pounding of the rain.

"And don't come back ya hear."

Hiccup flinched slightly as two slim hands gently laid themselves on his shoulder. "Easy there Freckles. I'm not going to hurt you."

They carefully pulled him up to lean against a slim, warm body. A deep, low whistle cut through the rain.

"Looks like they got ya good mate."

Hiccup brushed his fingers near the cut on his cheek, letting the warm blood spread on his fingers. He hissed in pain briefly as the hands holding him steady gripped his side. They quickly left to move up slightly. "Sorry about that Freckles."

Hiccup opened his eyes slightly as heavy footsteps moved in front of him. A dark, redish blob knelt down in front of him. "Mind telling us vhat happen?"

Ever so slowly, he nodded his head. He took short gasps of air between each word. "Saw someone at back of the school. Wanted to see what was going on. Two men attacked Snotlout. Pulled a knife. Tossed a rock at them."

A quiet chuckle rumbled from the person holding him. "Got a lot of guts there Freckles. Don't worry about your friend, we'll take care of him." Hiccup closed his eyes again as the voice continued talking to the other two. "Aster, North. You take care of this Snotlout. I'll take this guy home and call up Tooth."

"Alright mate. Take care of yourself."

"Take care of yourself, cottontail."

Hiccup smirked slightly at the chuckles around him. The two footsteps faded until all he could hear was his breathing and the rain around him. The person steading him carefully place their hands on his elbows. "Okay now. Let's see if you can stand Freckles."

They slowly stood up, causing Hiccup to flinch in pain as his bad leg took his weight. The person must have noticed because soon Hiccup felt his legs swept from under him and he was being carried. Deposited on a leather seat, Hiccup felt the hands gently examined his legs. "Did you sprain your ankle?"

Hiccup shook his head.

"It doesn't look broken either. Ripped muscles?"

Another shake of his head. "Bad leg. The brace is over there somewhere."

The hands disappeared as the boy, Hiccup finally gotten enough information to be confident about that now, moved to get the brace. Seconds later, he felt the familiar material in his hand. "Also spotted your glasses Freckles, but I don't think you'll be able to use them any time soon."

The boy slowly spun Hiccup around before sitting behind him. He wrapped his arm tightly around his middle, pulling the injured boy close, and turned on his motorcycle. "Okay Freckles. Where am I taking you?"

Hiccup mumbled his address, relaxing at the comforting presence behind him and the exhaustion from earlier. He heard another chuckle as the two drove out into the street. The drive thankfully only took a few minutes but Hiccup could feel himself slipping into the land of sleep. He hand over his keys when asked as the boy once again scooped him up into his arms. He only began to take in his surroundings when he heard Toothless cry softly in worry.

The boy chuckled as he took Hiccup into the living room. He got laid carefully on his sofa. Toothless rubbed himself against Hiccup's leg before jumping up to his lap. Hiccup smiled and scratched behind his ears. "Sorry buddy. I can't get your dinner right now."

He felt a hand clap his shoulder. "I can take care of that. Come on kitty. Let's get your food."

Toothless rubbed his head against Hiccup's hand before jumping off to follow the boy. Hiccup eased himself back and closed his eyes. The pain had mostly disappeared by now, only flaring when rubbed the wrong way. Most of the cuts apparently were meant for pain, not for drawing blood. He slowly allowed himself to be dropped into the realm of sleep.

Quiet voices brought him slightly back to the realm of consciousness, noting that he had be moved to be lying on the couch on his side.

"Anything serious Tooth?"

"Just cuts and bruises. The one on his ribs will hurt the most but it's not broken." Fabric rustled around him as a blanket got tucked around him. "The less he moves the better."

"It's a good thing Freckles fell asleep then."

A light chuckle entered the room. "Already gave him a nickname? That's sweet of you."

The boy chuckled in response. "Well I did consider Glasses but Freckles sounded better."

"Of course." Warm hands ran through Hiccup's hair soothingly. "You should probably stay with him until one of his parents come home. They're going to need an explanation."

"Already planned on it Tooth." Hiccup felt someone move his head, allowing the boy to sit down and placed Hiccup's head on his lap. Soothing circles were rubbed on his arm, lulling him back to sleep.

Hiccup woke up the next day to the blaring of his cell phone. Toothless growled at the movement, having been sleeping in the space between his legs. Squinting his eyes, Hiccup attempted to read the caller ID before giving up and answering the call.

"Hiccup Haddock there had better have been a good reason for not texting me last night."

Astrid's yell caused him to winced as he carefully lowered himself back onto the couch. "Sorry Astrid. I kinda ran into trouble last night and forgot."

"Trouble! I swear Hiccup. You were suppose to go straight home after the game."

Hiccup closed his eyes, resting his chin on his arm as he allowed her to rant and yell. The smell of grilled cheese wafted in through the door and Hiccup lifted up his head to see a brownish blob move next to him. A plate and his spare pair of glasses entered his field of vision.

"You alright there Hiccup?"

He nodded as he put on his glasses. Looking up to Gobber, he mouth Astrid. The large man chuckled as he help him sit up straight. A loud sigh at the other end of the phone announced the end of her rant as Astrid breathed in deeply. "Alright. Now what happened?"

Nursing his sore ribs, Hiccup explained what had happened while taking small bites of the lunch Gobber made. He fidgeted slightly at the silence at the other end once he finished. "Um…Astrid? Everything alright?"

"You took on the leaders of The Nightmares? By Yourself?"

Hiccup slowly said "Yes." half questioning.

He could almost see her smacking her palm on her forehead. "I don't know if I should call that brave, stupid or both."

"How about lucky?"

She sighed. "Well, just to let you know. The twins and Fishlegs send their regards, I didn't want them to bother you during lunch. But there's a good chance they'll drop by after school. Also Mr. Anderson sends get well wishes and a reminder to pick a sport to do a history report on."

"Got it."

"Feel better soon okay?"

"Do my best."

"Later."

Hiccup ended the conversation and placed his phone down on the table. He looked up to Gobber who had sat down next to him sometime during the conversation. The man smile at him as he handed over the rest of the sandwich. "She nearly threw out the door trying to come in this morning. Nearly had to drag her off to school myself before she left."

Hiccup made quick work of the rest of the sandwich, a smile working on his lips.

"Oh and before I forget. Your father told me he got stuck doing an all-nighter however he's only on-call for the next two days so he'll be here to help you out."

His smile grew slightly. "That's great."

"By the way. Did you know the young boy who brought you home yesterday? Didn't give me a name."

Hiccup shook his head. "To be honest, my glasses were broken so I couldn't see anything. But he wasn't a person I knew by voice." He took a sip of water. "I would like to figure out who he is though. It would be nice to thank him."

It took a couple of weeks before his father and Gobber deemed him well enough to go back to school, but it turns out that the rumors had already started to spread. His friends would often drop by after school during the weeks he was gone and they would chuckle along with him about how exaggerated they became every day. Of course, he brought up his request to them wondering if they would have an idea who rescued him but no one had much of a clue to go on.

Hiccup sighed slightly, closing his locker for the last time that day. Out of the corners of his eyes, he spotted a group of people pointing his way, whispering to each other. He had never liked being in the center of attention. Turning on his heels, Hiccup swung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to the end of the hallway. Despite having the rumors of him standing up to The Nightmares (the most recent one being that he fought the entire gang with just his fist), not much had changed in his life. Most people, other than his friends, ignored him or stayed out of his way.

Hiccup stumbled slightly, backpack slipping to the ground, as he ran into someone. He rubbed his head a mumbled a quick apology before realizing that Snotlout stood in front of him. His cousin stared down at him, almost like he didn't expect to see him. Snotlout bite his lip. Uncertain fingers stretched down to grab the fallen backpack.

Hiccup's eyes drifted back and forth between his backpack and Snotlout, who seemed unable to keep eye contact. He carefully took it from him with a quiet "Thanks."

Snotlout shook his head. "Na. It's just….Thanks. For trying to help."

He nodded slowly. "You're welcome."

His cousin shifted his weight slightly before looking up. He motioned toward the doors of the school. "There's a band preforming at the local music store If you and your friends want to come."

Hiccup gave a one-sided smile. "Give me a second to text them."

A quick text and a walk later found Hiccup and his friends roaming the local music store, lovingly named The Music Palace. The band stood in one corner, still tuning their instruments. Snotlout explained as he picked up a guitar on display "They're a local band called Checkmate. They mostly play bluegrass music but they dabble in other songs."

Fishlegs squinted his eyes "Bluegrass? What's that?"

Hiccup chuckled softly as the group tried to figure out how to explain it. Choosing to let the others explain, he walked over to the CD section. His fingers ran across the cases as he flipped through the different titles and artists. Hiccup pulled up a Johannes Brahms CD with a small smile.

A pale finger gently pushed it down, drawing his gaze upwards.

"Hey there Freckles."

Hiccup could feel his face flush as he came face to face with the blue eyes of Jack Frost. His mouth dropped slightly.

Jack tipped his head with a smug smirk. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before swallowing quickly. "You're the one who help me?"

Jack chuckled. "Was that a statement or a question?"

Hiccup carefully returned the CD to where he found it, mostly to give him time to calm down. Taking a deep breath, he looked straight at Jack. "Thanks for that."

The smirk soften to a small smile. "Not a problem. After all, it's not often that you see a small fry attempt to take on Pitch."

A small, slightly awkward silence drew between them, interrupted by the band doing a mic check. Jack turned slightly to point at the group. "So, here to see the group?"

"My cousin invited us. Seemed like a fun idea."

"Then you're a bluegrass fan." It sounded sort-of like a question to Hiccup.

"Actually, today was the first time I've heard of it."

Jack grinned widely. "Really? I would have pegged ya as a fan." He leaned forward on his arms, pointing out each member of the band. "See that girl on the far right? Her name's Katarina. She's the mandolin player of the group and sings alto. The guy next to her is named Devin, he plays the banjo. Doesn't sing often but sings bass when he does."

Hiccup smiled to himself as Jack continued. "The guy next to him is Tim. I'm guessing that you know what a guitar looks like but he sings tenor. He's actually the leader of the band. Last but not least is Natasha on the upright bass and the soprano of the group."

Jack lead the nerd's attention to the woman behind a sound control board. "And that is Marla. She doesn't play but she takes care of scheduling and the minor sound changes during the performance. They also have a sixth member of the group called Nathaniel but I heard that he couldn't preform today due to band practice or something like that."

"But how did they all met?"

He responded with a knowing smirk. "Well I guess you can say they've known each other since birth."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "That's very helpful information."

Jack laughed, finally drawing the attention of Hiccup's friends. He could feel their unbelieving stares as he shifted himself so that he couldn't see them. Jack slowly calmed down. "Got a funny mouth there Freckles."

Hiccup smiled a bit at that.

"Anyway. The more 'helpful' answer to your question is that their related."

"No way."

Jack raised one hand. "I'm serious. Tim's the dad, Marla his wife and the other four are his children."

Hiccup blinked a few times before glancing back at the family. They do look really similar to each other and their actions spoke of more inside jokes than just friends would know. One of the girl's, Natasha if he remembered correctly, spotted the two and gave them a smile and a wave. Jack waved back with a small sigh. "Well, I guess that's my cue that I should go back to work."

"You work here."

Jack nodded. "Every week day. Tooth is nice enough to give me the weekends off though."

He suddenly looked nervous again, eyes glancing down briefly toward the section Hiccup was browsing earlier. "So…um." Jack took a deep breath. "I get off at seven ya know. If you want to…"

Hiccup bit his lip, searching for anything to suggest harm in Jack's posture. If anything, the punk looked more nervous than he did, barely even looking at him. He took a plunge, pulling out a small notebook from his backpack. Hiccup wrote down his phone number, ripped the paper out and offered it to Jack.

"Text me when you're out and I'll come meet you."

Jack's grinned larger than he'd ever seen as he tucked the number safely into his pocket. Then, ever so slowly, he leaned over and gave Hiccup a small peck on the lips. "Till seven, Freckles."

Jack walked away to converse with the band, leaving a slightly flustered Hiccup to softly touch where their lips met. He barely registered his friends surrounding him, demanding an explanation, as he grinned slowly. Bluegrass might just have become his new favorite genre.