hi guys!

so sorry for not updating in a looooooong time but i have been on hiatus due to academic and personal struggle (i hope you all understand)(i really do)

i'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and followed and favorited and just. wow. you all are really great. and you're wonderful motivation for me to keep it up, and yeah. thank you!

this chapter is pretty short and unbeta'd and i apologize for that ahead of time, but nevertheless, i hope you enjoy part one of hiccup and jack's little outing. :')

"Just dandy, Jack..." The orphan boy told himself, leaping off the back of a moving vehicle. The man driving the steam-powered truck didn't notice the teenage boy hopping on (or off) for a free ride, much to Jack's good fortune, but of course, that only temporarily satiated Jack.

He landed right in front of the entrance to Warren Park and dusted himself off. "Absolutely great. You're late to your own date."

Well. If Hiccup even bothered to show up, of course.

He sighed and glanced at the tall clock located next to the front entrance - ten minutes after five.

He cursed under his breath and took off down the pathway, the fountain within a feasible running distance. He couldn't make out whether or not his freckled boy of interest was there, and there was a part of Jack that was afraid to find out.

He'd hate to blame showing up minutes late on Toothiana, but...as it turns out, that might be the main reason he was running late. She volunteered to watch the children after closing down her shop early - and although Toothiana's well organized, she's easily distracted by something that intrigues her interest. Next thing you know, she caught herself setting up various dental appointments for a few beggars on the street.

...And sure, okay. Even when Toothiana came knocking at the orphanage's front door, Jack didn't open it until he finished the round of hide and seek he was playing with the kids.

So perhaps that was more of a team effort.

Regardless, Jack was in Warren Park now and that was all that mattered. Unless, of course, Hiccup wasn't there.

And as Jack coasted to a stop, he realized.

No one was there waiting for him, aside from a flock of pigeons and an old woman in a cape on a bench tossing bread at them.

Jack could feel his heart sink not a moment later, the anger and disappointment he felt towards himself weighing down on him even more. He let out a groan of frustration, kicking at the rocks on the pavement below him and plopping down on the same spot seconds later.

"I'm so stupid..." He shoved his head in his hands, fingers clutching at the side of his head. "What was I even thinking? Why did I ever believe he'd even consider..."

Jack stopped himself mid sentence, hearing a small chattering noise.

Wait.

He looked up at the old woman next to him on the bench, currently covering her mouth with her pale white hand.

She was snickering.

And Jack was very offended.

"Pardon me, miss," Jack returned to his feet, getting closer to the old woman. "But are you-are you laughing at me?"

The woman immediately tossed her head backward in laughter, causing the large hood covering her face to fall away, and from this action, Jack could see that this...this definitely wasn't an old woman.

In fact, she was rather young, with a round face and enormous bright red, curly hair. Jack could probably compare it to that of a lion's mane. Her freckled face began turning shades of red as she began running out of breath and stomping her feet, which frightened the pigeons into fleeing the scene.

"Ay, that was a good laugh, eh?" The red head wiped a tear from her eye, finally settling herself down. "Yer pathetic, ye know that?" She said, glancing up at Jack with bright blue eyes, who, in turn, glared at her.

"Wow. Thanks. And who are you?"

"Merida. Merida Dunbroch. Nice to meet ye, Jack." She held out a hand for him to shake, but he refused it. She simply shrugged.

"Well, Merida. I'd like to know why you're dressed like this, why is my misery so amusing to you, and why -" His eyes widened. "...I didn't tell you my name yet."

"Ye didn't need to." Merida giggled. "I already know who ye are, Hiccup told m-"

"Hiccup?" Jack's eyes briefly lit up, "W-wait. You know him?"

"Of course. 'M his best friend."

"Best friend?" The teenage boy began surveying the environment around them, "Is he here with you?"

Merida crossed her legs, turning towards Jack and resting her arm on the back of the bench. She smirked and raised an eyebrow curiously at him, which in turn made Jack feel very, very anxious. "And this is precisely why I called ye pathetic. Why are ye so infatuated with this boy, Jack? He's practically a stranger."

"I don't know, I..." Jack suddenly blinked, his face turning a shade of red. "Why is it any of your business? Why are you even here, are you his bodyguard too or something?"

"More or less, ye could say thet." The red head pulled out her bow and arrow from underneath her cape, making sure Jack could see the details of the bow and how sharp the arrow was.

Jack swallowed rather audibly. He'd always been able to get himself into some sort of trouble, but he never imagined giving a boy he liked chocolate would get him killed.

"Merida!"

Hiccup's voice (also known as what sounded like absolute music to Jack's ears) approached the two of them from behind, and they both turned around, although Jack did so reluctantly.

Jack didn't know what to say as Hiccup approached him. "You, uh...Well. Uh. I-I met your best friend."

The freckled boy noticed the disturbed look on Jack's face, and he crossed his arms at Merida.

"I wasn't goin' t'kill him!" Merida whined, getting up from her seat on the bench.

"I told you I wanted to meet him first before you attempted anything!" Hiccup said, standing in front of Jack. Jack's eyes only widened in horror at what Hiccup just implied. "What's with the bow and arrow?!"

"I just like t'show off. This bag o' bones meant no harm anyways," Merida waved Jack off, who...really couldn't believe what was happening at the moment.

"I'll deal with you later, Merida. Go...go do that thing that you do when we're not hanging out."

"W'tever," Merida scoffed, before running towards the entrance to the park. "I'll just see what Burgess has in store fer me. This is only m'second time visiting. But ye gotta meet me back here in two hours, we both have a curfew, remember?"

"Yes, yes. Bye, have fun." Hiccup sighed, before turning to Jack. "I am so...so so very sorry you just had to go through that traumatic experience," Hiccup chuckled nervously as Jack stared down at him with a blank expression.

Hiccup heard Merida say something along the lines of "ay, it was his idea!" but she was too far gone for him to acknowledge the statement with a response.

The freckled boy continued, shaking his head. "Please, please...just, forget that ever happened. I dropped my pocket watch while walking here and didn't notice and I had to go back and get it and I didn't mean to leave you alone with her. And just...Merida is quite the fiery personality, it's a wonder how I even became friends with her..."

Jack nodded, the information Hiccup was giving to him slowly but surely being processed in his mind. "It's fine, It's fine..." Jack said finally, laughing a bit. "And I understand why she's here anyway. Better safe than sorry, I could've been an axe murderer or something."

"Yeah...right." Hiccup took two steps backward before taking a seat on the bench.

There was an awkward silence, and neither of them managed to make eye contact with each other for at least thirty seconds.

"...Well. This is all so very interesting..."

"What?" Jack asked. "Oh, sorry...I. Well." He sat on the bench next to Hiccup. "Truth be told, I'm not sure what to do next."

"Thought you'd have it all planned out since you sent me the note. With the chocolates and everything. Such a well executed invitation only to be let down by the entire event itself..." Hiccup trailed off before looking at Jack, who gave him a very troubled look in return.

The smaller boy immediately found himself tense. "Oh, gods, Jack, I'm sorry. I tend to be very sarcastic at least 92% of the time even though I really shouldn't be..." Hiccup rolled his eyes. "It's turned into a habit of mine. It's just my way of dealing with...things."

Jack chuckled, leaning back into the bench. "Ah, I know. I just wanted to see what your reaction would be."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure that's what they all say."

"No, I'm serious." Jack's eyes averted from the fountain to Hiccup's eyes, "You're cute when you're nervous."

Hiccup didn't know how to respond to the intimate eye contact, so after a few seconds of panicking on the inside, he simply shrunk backwards. "Ahaha...well. Do you think you'll be able to come up with something soon here or is this gonna be as boring as I thought it would be?"

"Maybe it won't be so boring if we did something you liked. What do you want to do?" Jack asked, leaning toward him. "You've only been in Burgess for just a few days, I can't imagine you've explored the entire city yet."

"I, uh..." Too many thoughts were running through Hiccup's head, particularly thoughts concerning how close this handsome, blue eyed boy was in proximity to him. "I...guess we could head towards the market. Maybe. I might find some things there unavailable downtown..."

"Well. As long as Merida isn't there to start anything, I'm up for it." Jack replied. Hiccup gave Jack an endearing, lopsided smile and Jack's heart swelled at the sight.

"So how much time have we wasted so far?" Hiccup inquired, looking up at the sky above them. "The sun looks like it wants to set."

"You're the one with the pocket watch." Jack pointed to the golden circle on the other boy's vest.

"Oh! Yep. I mean...yeah...It's uh," Hiccup glanced at the trinket, squinting a bit. "It's seventeen minutes after five, now."

"Then we've still got plenty of time," Jack reassured, taking a hold of Hiccup's hand. "Let's go."

Hiccup was starstruck momentarily as he was pulled to his feet, feeling the unfamiliar texture of another boy's fingers laced between his own. It was new and odd but he liked it, and he liked how cold Jack felt against his skin, and he liked the large smile on Jack's face, and he liked how eager he was to begin this...date. Or whatever it happened to be.

He didn't know why he was so drawn to some complete stranger. Jack is a raggedy teenager with aged clothing and dirt stains located on various parts of his anatomy - for all he knew, he shouldn't even be associating with him, considering the fact that it was taboo for one of his class to interact on a close level with someone of the lower class.

'But wow, when have I ever obeyed the rules.' Hiccup thought to himself.

He had to stifle his own laughter as Jack tripped over his own footing in his excitement.

None of his anxious thinking and second guessing mattered. It was too late to care.