Hi everyone! So, I saw this picture that derpfire from tumblr drew about the Pretend Boyfriends AU, and since I've been planning on writing this for a while now, I've decided to bust it out now! *facepalm* In other words, I don't know what I'm doing anymore.

So, this is dedicated to derpfire! Hope you like it!

Warning: my first time writing Dagur, (p.s. he's really creepy) and really bad accents ahead. And a tad NSFW? I dunno... I'm sorry!

DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN ANYTHING!

Note: every line break is a change of POV, alternating from Jack to Hiccup, and then finally third person.

Oh man… Was this really necessary? Seriously, did I really have to do this? Crap, my knees are shaking. Am I going to fall? Maybe. It's definitely a possibility. I need to do this. This shit is getting old. I have to. What… what if he says no?

Oh gods, he looking at me weird. Come on, legs, move! Oh no, really? Now's the time you aren't going to listen to me? Thanks for nothing, you useless limbs… well, limb.

I took a deep breath and walked over to him. His looks didn't really fit his title as the school's number one trouble-maker, since he was tall and kind of skinny, actually. But he had some muscle on him, just enough to make his point. His electric blue eyes and shocking white, spiky hair complimented his pale skin rather well, and it made him easily noticeable and enabled him to stand out more.

This, everyone, is Jackson Overland Frost. And, hopefully, he would be my boyfriend by the time this little talk is done.

"Uh… h-hey." I greeted, waving at him a little awkwardly and smiling a bit. His blue eyes squinted as he regarded me with a confused smirk (yes, the expression as possible).

"Hey, kid. What's up?" Jack said, tossing his head up and inclining his chin in my direction. Never mind that he was only a year older than me, he still called me a kid. Slightly annoying, but I could put up with it for the time being… or however long this would last… you know, if he said yes.

"Well uh, heh, funny story actually… I um…" Why wasn't my mouth working today? It was working just fine in History! I saw Jack roll his eyes.

"Are you going to spit it out any time soon?" He asked. I breathed, realizing that I wasn't doing that important bodily function anymore, and looked at him. Well, better do it now before he punches you in the face for wasting his time…

"I need you to be my boyfriend." Gods damn it all, it sounds a million times worse when I actually said it out loud! My eyes lost their contact with his and instantly flitted down to my feet, er… foot. It was a second before Jack started laughing at me.

"Is… is this some sort of joke? Are you kidding me?" He was saying as he laughed. "Ooh, that's a good one, kid, I'll have to give you that one." He looked at me and I just stared at him, pursing my lips and glancing around to see if anyone was around. No one was.

"I uh, I'm actually not kidding." I said. Jack's smile froze and his shoulders slumped.

"You're not?" He asked, his eyes narrowed again. "Just what the fuck do you think you're playing at?" He hissed, taking a step forward and balling up the front of my shirt with his fist. "Who the hell told you?"

"'Told me?' Told me what? No one told me anything!" I said. He wasn't buying it. What did I get myself into?

"Then why did you suggest that?" Jack said, inching closer to my face, his scowl being probably the most fearsome thing I've seen (over-exaggeration, of course, but you know, at the moment I was shitting bricks, so cut me some slack).

"I need you to be my fake boyfriend." I said, punctuating the word by shoving his chest away from me lightly. He took a step back, a shocked expression on his face, and I didn't know if that was because of what I said or because I actually fought back. "I have this guy following me around, hounding me about going out with him every day. If we pretend we're going out, since you know, you're the bad-ass on campus, then he would leave me alone." Hopefully, but I let that little word slide for the time being.

"Oh, so I have to do you this favor without anything in return." Jack said, folding his hands across his chest and shooting me a glance. "Very fair." He remarked with a cocky smirk.

"Well, Mr. Black told me that you needed a tutor for math if you actually wanted to pass and graduate next year." I said. His smirk dropped and shattered on the ground. "I'll tutor you if you pretend to be my boyfriend." He looked up, almost as if he was praying for strength, and then he looked at me.

"You've got a deal, kid." He said. "What's your name?"

"Henson." I said. "But everyone calls me Hiccup." Jack laughed a bit.

"Okay, fine, Hic." He said. "I'll pick you up here after school. Don't be late. We'll go over to my place and start learnin'."

"Got it." I said, but the school's bell system drowned me out as the shrill sound said that it was time to head back to class. The hall suddenly flooded with people and the inevitable chatter that hung around a crowd.

Jack slid his hand onto my cheek and backwards, cupping the back of my head softly. Then he tugged me forward and kissed me. The contact lasted for a while, letting everyone who passed see the two of us. When he broke away from me, my cheeks were red with embarrassment and the rumors were probably all over campus by now.

"See ya later Hic," He said, giving a final kiss to my nose before walking off.

I turned around, dazed. What the fuck was that?! But I managed to pull a (obviously fake) happy smile onto my face to fool everyone as I walked to class.

All I could think about was how well that went. It could have gotten a lot worse.

*~.~*

Oh, yeah, he tells me not to be late. This is perfect. What if he was kidding about the whole thing, and instead he's going to prank me right here, right now? No, he wouldn't do that… never mind that, yes he would.

Anyways, it's after school, and I'm standing in the hallway where he told me to be. People still linger around here and there, but most of them have other places to be. Gods, I love them for it. Good for them for having a life. Then a shadow moves in the hallway. It's not particularly dark here, but the lights aren't working that well. But I know who it is. I don't even have to guess.

"Hello Hiccup…" A voice says, and it makes me want to vomit. "How's my little dragon trainer today?" Dagur. He's coming this way. He's been calling me 'dragon trainer' ever since he found out that I had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with dragons. I think he thinks it's kinky. I don't care. I want him away from me. This is why I asked Jack in the first place. I tried to ignore him. "Let's say we get out of here." He suggests, and he's right beside me, trying to slip his arm around my waist or grab my ass like he does every time he sees me. I push him away and glare.

"Hey Hic!" Jack says unnecessarily loud. He's running down the hallway, looking every bit as a concerned-yet-happy-to-see-me boyfriend. To me, he's my saving grace at this very moment. He throws his arm over my shoulders and kisses my temple. "Ready to go?"

"Who are you?" Dagur asks, his eyes narrowing with rage. I still don't say anything. I can't.

"I'm Jack, Hiccup's boyfriend. Who are you?" Jack says, pulling me closer to him and getting me out of arm's reach of the creep.

"Dagur." He says cockily. If I had the strength, I would punch every fiber of his being, but I don't. I want to get away from him. I bring my hand up behind Jack and wrap it around his side, bringing myself closer to him until we're practically attached at the hip.

"Nice to meet you, Dagur." Jack says in a voice that clearly says that it's not nice to meet him. "Come on Hic, let's go." With that, he turns around and leads me down the corridor. He doesn't even look over his shoulder. He just hugs me tighter and starts chatting about stupid things that happened in his last class. I force myself to laugh along with him and chat about nothing along with him.

I find myself in the underground parking lot, and I immediately let go of Jack.

"Sorry." I muttered quickly.

"No problem." Jack dismissed. "That's the guy that's been harassing you?" I just nodded, my throat suddenly going dry. "Seems like a creep. Hopefully this works out." He flashes me a smile. Then he gestures to a car. It's a deep blue and it looks kind of old, but you can tell he takes care of it. "Get in." He says, unlocking the car door. We both clamber in.

"Um… so, now that we're alone, I should say something about the terms of this…" I said. I've been thinking about this all day.

"The terms, huh?" Jack says, laughing lightly. "Do I have to sign something? Because my signature sucks."

"No, you don't have to sign anything." I said, slightly annoyed. "But um, the deal is that I tutor you, and you pretend to be my boyfriend in public. There's nothing going on between us when we're alone or anything…"

"We're not friends, we're not real boyfriends." Jack said. "No real feelings. I get it."

"Okay. Just making sure." I say, slumping in my seat and looking out the window.

*~.~*

Jack's house was nice. Really nice. I was almost nervous to step foot in it. But as soon as the door opened, a voice rang out.

"Jackson? Is that you?" His mom, or so I'm guessing, said. "How was your day-?" She came bustling into the living room, where I was currently standing, with a smile on her face. "Oh, hi! Jack, who's this?"

Jack moves to my side and tugs me closer to him. His smile was bright. "Mom, this is Hiccup. He and I… heh, funny thing actually…" he trailed off, and I looked up at him. "We're in love and he's my boyfriend." He said quickly, his smile never faltering as he looked at his mom again.

"Hi, Hiccup!" his mom said, smiling and moving towards me. She gathered me up in a hug, one that I quickly gave back "I'm his mom, but you can call me Tooth! I'm so glad to meet you! Jack! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Well, he wanted to keep it quiet, so I didn't say anything." He said. "But he said that he was going to tutor me for my math class and so… perfect timing to tell, right, Hic?"

"Uh, ha, yeah, definitely!" I said, rubbing the back of my neck and faking a bubbly laugh. "It's a pleasure meeting you." I gave Tooth a smile.

"Oh, aren't you a cutie?" She asked, then her eyes widened and her smile grew wider. "And you're teeth! Wow, they can use some work, but I can tell you floss every day and brush your teeth frequently…" Her nimble fingers were prodding at my mouth and I shot Jack a worried look.

"Mom!" Jack borderline-whined.

"Whoops, sorry." She said, getting her fingers away from my mouth and pinching my cheek lightly.

"Mom's a dentist." Jack said. "Well, we should really be getting started on that math homework right?"

"Right!" I said.

"Oh, alright you two!" Tooth said. "If you need anything, all you need to do is ask!"

Jack led me upstairs and into his room. It was an organized kind of mess, the one where you knew that everything had a place no matter how cluttered or disorganized it seemed to be. The room was a dingy sort of white with snowflakes painted carefully and littering the blank expanse, each one a different shade of blue.

"Sorry about that," jack muttered, flinging his backpack onto his bed. "My mom's a bit excitable."

"No, no, don't worry." I said, waving it off. "We're in love, huh?" I asked. Jack rolled his eyes at me and laughed.

"Well, I needed to keep the act up, didn't I?" He asked. "Besides, it's more believable if everyone thinks we're together." I nodded, still looking at the snowflakes on his walls. "So, math, right? I need help with sigma notation." And that's when it all became serious and mathematical.

About an hour or two passed before I stopped being the total math nerd part of me that I so desperately tried to hide. Jack, actually, was a really good listener and tried his best to understand what I was saying. He was just distracted when he was in the classroom since he had to keep up that air of not caring about school to keep his reputation up. I got that.

The silence crept up between us, and I was okay with that. Jack worked diligently on his homework a little while longer, and I pulled out a book from my backpack and started to read. Time flew by, and Jack only asked me a couple questions when he got stuck, but that was okay. But nothing was said outside of schoolwork… until Jack finally broke the silence, that is.

"Hey, Hic?" He asked. I didn't even look up at him.

"What?" I asked, my eyes still scanning my book.

"What's the backstory?" He asked me. I looked up then, confused. What was he talking about? "You know… why is Dagur trying to get at you in the first place?" Jack asked. I frowned then, and closed my book.

"That's personal." I said, shoving the book in my backpack and standing up. "I should get going." I started walking to the door and Jack grabbed my arm, spinning me around to face him.

"What?" He asked incredulously. "You're telling me that after that creep tried to get all hands-y with you, you're not even going to tell me why?" I glared at him, taking a deep breath. "We're supposed to be dating. You can tell me." Jack said, his voice a million times softer than before as his blue eyes bore deep into my green ones.

"The key words there are 'supposed to.' This is all an act, remember?" I said. "No relationship in private. We are not friends, we are victims of circumstance. Now, I think it's time for me to go."

"You're not leaving until you tell me!" Jack said. I ignored him and tried to wrench my arm out of his gentle yet firm grasp. "Tell me or the deal's off!"

"You wouldn't do that!" I said, my voice rising. "You have your grades to worry about!"

"Fuck my grades!" Jack said, getting louder. "Your life is practically on the line! I saw that fucking predatory gleam in his eyes! He'll kill you if we don't convince him!"

There was a soft knock on the door and the doorknob turned slowly. On a whim, I dropped my backpack and balled my hands into the front of his sweater, pulling him into a hard kiss. He placed his hands low on my hips and tilted his head quickly, deepening the kiss further. The door opened.

"Hi boys, I was wondering if you-" Tooth asked quickly before her eyes flitted to us, and we jumped apart quickly. Both of us were breathing hard, partly because of the screaming match we just had and because we were faking it…

"Mom!" Jack cried indignantly.

"Sorry," She said, trying to cover her mouth and hide the laugh that was evident in her voice. "It's getting pretty late, you two." She informed.

"I, uh, I know." I said. "I was just about to head home."

"But I told him that I would drive him." Jack said. I looked at him, a confused look in my eyes. But he caught my refusal in the look, and laughed. "Come on, Hic, it's already getting dark out. I don't need someone stealing away the love of my life, now do I?" Okay, he was milking it, and I was about to call off the whole thing right then and there. But instead, I smiled and pulled him into an excited hug.

"You're such a goof." I said, laughing.

I grabbed my backpack off the floor, and we all made our way downstairs. Tooth pulled me into a hug.

"Good to have you over," She said. "Don't be a stranger!"

"I won't!" I assured. Jack was tugging me out the door by my arm.

"And don't forget to floss!" Tooth said before the door slammed.

"Stop charming her already." I said, as Hiccup and I clambered into the car. Hiccup rolled his eyes and slouched in his seat, moodily looking out his window.

"I've got to keep in character." He mused, sounding non-too-joyful. He rested his head on the glass.

"Well, it's getting pretty damn annoying." I remarked. And it was. Hiccup was a nice, pretty cool guy when he wasn't drilling you with math equations or saying just the right things to make your mom like him even more. But then again, that's all he's done so far... Damn, what did I get myself into?

"You agreed to this," Hiccup said. "It's not my fault."

I inwardly groaned and dropped all attempts of conversation immediately. Hiccup told me the directions to his house at random intervals, making comments like, "make a right, here," or "at the next light, make a left." When he finally said to stop, I fished my phone out my pocket and tossed it onto his lap before he could open the door.

"What's this for?" He asked, looking at the device as if it was going to eat him.

"Give me your number." I said. When he shot me a defiant look, I poked his cheek once. "C'mon, Hic. What kind of couple are we if we don't have each other's numbers?"

"Hmm, gee I don't know." Hiccup said, pretending to think. "Maybe a fake one?" He suggested. I rolled my eyes as he picked up the phone and typed in his number begrudgingly. He tossed it back to me and got out of the car without another word. By the time he made it to his front porch, I was already pulling away from the curb and heading back home.

Mom was waiting on the couch for me when I got back. When I walked in, she stood up and flitted over to me, hugging me before letting go and smacking me lightly upside the head.

"Why haven't you mentioned him earlier?" She asked. "And don't give me some stupid answer either, I want the truth!"

"The truth?" I asked. "The truth is that I didn't tell you because I knew you would act like… this!" I said, gesturing to her. My mom just laughed at me.

"Fine, whatever!" She said. "Make sure to bring him over more often! He seems nice." I sighed. "Oh, and next time, you two are 'studying' in the living room, if that's what the kids are calling it these days!" She added happily before going off into the kitchen. I groaned.

This… was going to be very interesting.

Unknown Number: hey. I'm gonna pick u at up ur house

I didn't even need to ask about who this was. Are you kidding me? I groaned, and shrugged. I guess he wasn't going to take any shortcuts with this. Plus, it'll only make us look more realistic, I mean, as if we were a real couple. Good, the faster this thing is over the better.

Me: k

I didn't even bother with my half-awake reply as I swung my leg over the side of my bed. I groped the air until my hand hit a hard, metal device. I grabbed it, 'it' being my prosthetic, and strapped it to the little stump that was left of my left leg. Yeah, I didn't like to talk about it much.

I got dressed, and grabbed my backpack, heading downstairs quickly. I tripped on the last stair, and my dad caught me before I could break my face on the floor.

"Gods, son." He muttered, setting me on my feet. "Why aren't you walking already? You're going to be late." Yeah, I walked to school, and I accidentally slept in today, so it was kind of a good thing that Jack was picking me up today.

"Uh, well, my… my boyfriend's driving me today so…" I said, not looking up and shifting my backpack on my shoulder. Toothless, my huge black mutt of a dog came running up to me and licked my hand violently. "Ew, bud…" I muttered, wiping my hand on my pants before petting his head.

"Ah. Boyfriend, huh?" My dad said.

"Yup. He's, uh, he's really awesome. You'll like him." I said. Why did I say that?

"Well, I'm happy you found someone, son." He said, smiling at me. Wow, he took that rather well. I didn't see that one coming.

"Thanks dad," I said, my last word being drowned by a car horn blaring. "That must be him. Bye dad! See ya Toothless!" I said, giving the dog a quick pat on the head and rushing out the door. Yup, his car was in front of my house, and I forced myself to leisurely walk over instead of running and getting this all over with.

"Good morning." Jack said as I climbed in.

"Just drive," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. I could see my dad looking at us through the curtains of the front window.

"Geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Jack said as he started driving. It was silent then, each of us having nothing to say. School seemed a million miles away and as if there was no rush to get there. But once we got there, the tension almost melted… Almost.

We clambered out of the car and Jack walked over to my side. He slipped his hand into mine and squeezed. I didn't put up any resistance, and decided to get the show on the road. I looked up at him with the most love-sick smile I could muster up without dying of laughter. Jack smiled softly at me, and it made me scramble to think if it was genuine or not.

"Ready?" He asked, squeezing my hands again.

"Better now than never." I said lightly, and the two of us started walking out from under the shade up the parking lot and into the morning sunshine.

First thing that bombarded us were the stares. People were everywhere, and it felt like everyone just stopped what they were doing for the sole purpose of staring at us. Then the murmurs came. Whispers flew around left and right, and I found myself biting my lip nervously. Jack let go of my hand, and I panicked briefly. What was he doing? Was he going to break the agreement and leave me here to deal with… him? All my thoughts left me when he put his arm around my waist and tugged me closer to him.

"Let them stare," He said in my ear, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You're mine and they'll all know it." I could practically hear his smirk.

I turned to look at him, and I shot him a smile. At least he wasn't ditching me. He must really want his grade up. Then, I took two fingers and placed them on the side of his jaw, turning his head more towards me, and then I kissed him. Jack let out a surprised sound, and I had to stop myself from laughing right then and there. Jack pulled me a bit closer before breaking the kiss and smiling at me again.

"Let's get you to class, Hic. Yeah?" He suggested, a red tint spreading across his pale face. I nodded, biting my lower lip as I tried not to laugh again. Because everyone was staring at us like they were fish out of water, gasping for air with their eyes gone wide.

It's been about a month since this whole tutor-slash-pretend-boyfriend agreement happened, and I would say it's been going pretty well. I still haven't met Hiccup's father, but I guess he was just worried about that. Hiccup came over to my place every day after school for tutoring and stayed late, my mom usually having to keep him over for dinner because she's just that overly-kind. I sort of ditched my friends to hang out with Hiccup at lunch, too, but that was only to keep the image up. We've even done the sappiest and most cliché of all the things couples do: take pictures together and post them on the Internet! They actually came out really well, and a whole slew of people liked them.

Hiccup said Dagur hasn't confronted him since that first day I met him, so I guess that was a good thing. My grade in Mr. Black's class was improving too, as much as he hated to admit it. That sadistic, nightmare-loving math teacher hates my guts with a passion. So I would say this whole thing was going pretty well.

Mostly.

We were sort of forced to actually go on dates, so we usually went to the movies or hung out somewhere with coffee or ice cream or something. Since we were in public and someone from school was bound to be there, we had to act civil and all love-y dove-y and stuff… Now that I think about it, I've learned a lot about him from all this. That's weird, since we said that we weren't even going to be friends...

And that was part of the problem.

Acting like I liked the cute little shrimp became easier until I didn't even notice I was doing it. The gentle smiles spread across my face like wildfire every time I saw him, and my laugh seemed to be getting more and more genuine. Was this all going to my head? Man, I really needed to get this all figured out.

"Hey Jack!" Someone yelled. I turned around to see Astrid running towards me. I smirked and waved.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Heard about your little boyfriend." She said. I laughed a little. "When are you going to introduce us to him?"

"Excuse me?" I asked. "'Us?'"

"Yes, us. As in, everyone else. You know, Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs?" She said, raising her eyebrows as she listed off the names of the people who were in our group of friends.

"Oh, yeah… well…" I said. Do I really want it to go this far? Does this have to happen?

"We're going to be hanging out at the beach this Saturday." Astrid said, punching my shoulder. I clutched at it. Dammit, that girl could punch. "Bring your little cutie and your ugly ass over and we'll have some fun, yeah?" I inwardly sighed. I couldn't get off the hook, not when she said anything like that. When she said something, forget it. It's her way or the highway.

"Yeah, sure. See ya then." I said, smiling.

"Perfect. I'll tell the others." Astrid said, punching me again before she ran off.

Goddammit.

*~.~*

Later that day, I found myself meeting up with Hiccup, as always. I swooped down and greeted him with a short kiss, but even that sent a flood of warmth into the pit of my stomach. He laced his fingers with mine as we walked to my car, chatting about nothing in particular before I took a deep breath.

"You better be free on Saturday," I said, hip-checking him. He laughed.

"Of course I'm free." He said. "What's up? You got something planned?"

"More like I was forced." I mumbled and Hiccup laughed. "My friend Astrid invited both of us to a day at the beach, so…" I paused. "In other words, we better be there or we're dead." Hiccup laughed loudly.

"I'll believe you on that one." He said. "It actually sounds really fun. I'm in."

"Good." I said as we got to my car. The silence fell on us once again, that annoying, pesky silence that I hated with a passion. I regretted ever agreeing now, but I couldn't really back out. Not now.

I guess I really didn't want to back out. Not only because my grade will drop because of it but… what if Dagur decides to come back? That guy was deranged or something, really, he looked like he was going to kill someone. Actually, I wouldn't doubt it if I heard a rumor that he did kill someone. I guess I just wanted to protect Hiccup.

Damn, I need to stop thinking like that. What's wrong with me?

Saturday came by in a slow-moving blur, if that makes any sense, and to say the least, I was a little bit excited. I never really paid any attention to Jack's friends before, and now that we were "dating," I guess it's only fair that I meet his friends. I don't have any friends, so he can't hold that over my head. I didn't really know what to wear, so I just threw on my swim trunks, a slightly baggy green tee shirt, and some sandals, and left it at that.

Jack picked me up around noon, wearing practically the same thing I was except he was wearing a tank top. Turns out, we had a pretty large group. Well, large for me anyways.

There was Astrid, the impressively strong and fierce blonde that could beat anyone up, but had an interesting soft side; Snotlout, who pretended he was a totally lady-killer and was fooling no one, but he loved a good joke or prank; the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, they were trouble, but they beat up on each other most of the time so that was a plus; and Fishlegs, the chubby and slightly nerdy one who was always throwing sense, statistics, and his own two-cents into the conversation when he felt like.

I think the group was okay. The definitely asked me a lot of questions and laughed a lot, but I guess that was only because I was new to them and wanted to get to know me better. Jack was always at my side, so that was kind of the only comfort I had, if I could call it that. Actually, I guess it was, because I think I've been thinking of him more as a friend lately…

Anyways, we all met up and talked for a bit before I was practically dragged to this little seaside diner.

"Come on, Gobber's is the best!" Astrid assured, slapping my shoulder and shaking me a bit. "You're going to love it! The food there is amazing!"

"If he doesn't stop grilling you about your leg, first!" Tuffnut said, before Ruffnut jumped onto his back and made them both fall onto the ground briefly before Fishlegs came and set them back on their feet.

"Gobber's a double amputee, and he made his own prosthetics himself." Fishlegs said. "He's going to get a kick out of your leg. Uh, no pun intended." He said, laughing a little bit uncomfortably.

"That was actually a good one," I pointed out, laughing a bit. Jack kissed my hair as he laughed.

The diner was a quaint little place and it had a rustic kind of feel to it. I felt like I was shoved through a time machine and was transported to the Viking era. There were swords, axes, and shields that decorated the walls, and a golden dragon figure hung from the ceiling like a chandelier. I looked at it for a little longer than I should have, a dorky smile no doubt crossing over my face. Jack chuckled at me, and I nudged him with my arm.

We all sat at a table, and we talked for a while. I realized that Snotlout was always hitting on either Astrid or this brunette waitress that kept walking by our table. It was sort of funny to see his efforts flop to the floor and die, really, but I held in my laughter.

"'Ello mates, what would you guys want taday?" A guy said, walking up to our table. He had a really thick Australian accent, and I blinked a bit. He had nickel-grey hair that was slicked back neatly, spring green eyes, and a twitchy nose. He looked pretty muscular, since he filled out his shirt easily, and he had some tribal tattoos curling up and down his arms. My eyes found his nametag…

"Hey Aster!" Snotlout said, waving. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Got a couple of idiots over there," Aster said, jerking his head over to where some guys sat, looking like nothing but bad news, "but that's nuthin' I can't handle." He flashed a smile. "Ah, I see you got yourselves a newbie."

"Yeah, but back off, Kangaroo, this one's all mine." Jack said mockingly, sneering at Aster and putting an arm around me almost protectively.

"Oh, no, wouldn't mess with you, Frost." Aster remarked sarcastically. "What'll it be?" He asked, holding up the little notepad and pencil he had in his hands. We all ordered, and he nodded, scribbling away furiously. "Be back in couple shakes." He said, walking away.

"Well, that was interesting," I murmured, then looked at Jack. "Has he always had it out for you?" He laughed, smiling at me.

"Pretty much," Jack responded.

"I thought I heard that my favorite Vikings were back in my diner!" Someone said, voice thick with an undeniable accent that I couldn't put my finger on. A stout man with an impressively braided blond mustache walked towards us, clapping Fishlegs on the shoulder, ruffling the twins' hair, smacking Snotlout upside the head, and putting a hand on Astrid's and Jack's shoulders in turn. "How're you all doin' today?" He asked.

"Good!" "Great!" "Awesome!"

"Great to see you're finally back!" He said cheerfully, swinging his arms out, well… arm. His left hand was replaced by a metal stump that had an ancient-looking wooden tankard attached to it. "And you've brought a fishbone along with ya!"

"Uh, hehe, yeah… hi. You must be Gobber, right? I'm Hiccup." I said, holding out my hand for him to shake. He did, and laughed at me.

"Viking descent, huh?" Gobber said. I looked at him blankly. "Never mind. So, what are you guys doin' here after avoiding me for months?"

"Just decided to stop by the beach…" Ruffnut said, examining her nails.

"Get to know Jack's new boyfriend, you know, stuff like that…" Tuffnut said leaning back in his chair with a wide smirk on his face.

"And so, we kind of thought we could stop by for some grub at your place." Astrid said, shrugging.

"Well, okay then." Gobber said laughing. Jack pulled my closer to him for some odd reason. "Enjoy! And stop by more often, you kids."

"Will do!" We all said.

The food was great, actually, and I felt like I was going to blow up like a balloon, I was so full. We all left a tip and left the diner… after Gobber caught me by the shoulder and demanded to check out my prosthetic, of course. I would have to admit, it was little awkward, but the enthusiasm on the man's face was priceless. He clapped me on the shoulder afterwards, laughing and telling me to come by anytime, and I just agreed and left with everyone else. Jack was holding my hand the whole time, so I guess that was kind of nice…

Whoa, what?

Anyways, we walked back to our cars and grabbed our beach towels and headed towards the sand. After we claimed our spots with out beach towels, we went a little ways away and played a game of football. It wasn't really my thing, but it was still fun anyways. I think Jack let me tackle him on purpose, just so he could sneak a kiss in. Well played, sir, well played… I had to give him props, he was keeping his end of the deal up really well. It made me wonder if I was a good enough tutor to get him a passing grade in math…

After football, we played a game of Ultimate Frisbee, which I ultimately sucked at, and I got hit in the face, and then I hit Snotlout in the face, but other than that it was really fun. Jack's friends were pretty cool, even if they were rowdy and loud and inappropriate most of the time.

We were all too tired to do anything else, so the twins and Snotlout played in the waves for a bit, while Jack, Astrid and Fishlegs and I resolved to sit down on the beach towels. It was all fine, I guess, until after a couple minutes I realized that I went out of my way to sit in between Jack's outstretched legs, my back pressed up against his chest and his arms around my torso. But damn, it was comfortable. Astrid looked like she was constantly biting back a smile as she talked away, and Fishlegs had his nose buried in a book.

"Hey, guys, it's getting pretty late. We should started heading back home." Fishlegs said reasonably. Astrid nodded.

"GUYS! Get over here! We're leaving!" She yelled at Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Snotlout, who yelled back but came anyways. I made a move to get up and start getting our things, when Jack tightened his hold on me. I gave him a confused glance and he just smirked.

"Play it up," he whispered before kissing the shell of my ear lightly. I bit back a smile.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Ruffnut asked.

"Nah," Jack answered. "We thought we could… you know, spend a little more time out on the beach, you know?"

"Oh, like a little romantic date~" Snotlout commented, drawing out the last word mockingly.

"Pretty much," I chirped, which shut him up effectively. Astrid just laughed at his expression.

"Okay, fine. See you guys at school." She said. They all started to walk away.

"Hey," Tuffnut called, walking backwards to face us as they continued to leave. We both looked at him. "No sex on the beach!" He cackled, turning around again and walking off. His sister gave him a high five.

"Ugh, come on." I groaned, rolling my eyes and twisting around to look at Jack, who had a wry smirk on his face.

"I know right?" He asked. "I would have a lot more class than that."

"Oh, of course you would." I said, turning around completely so I was basically straddling his hips. I laced my fingers familiarly into his snow white hair and tugged him into a kiss, which he didn't reject. Nearby, a car engine roared to life, and the sound of tires on gravel and dirt started, and then faded away as the car drove off. When I was sure they were gone, I broke the kiss and got off of Jack, putting about three feet of distance in between us before bringing my knees up to my chest and looking at the sunset.

"Nice acting, today." I said. "I think we fooled them."

"Okay, seriously, what the ever-living fuck?" Jack said, suddenly harsh, ignoring what I said completely. I looked at him, startled, blinking like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.

"What?" I asked. What was going on? And what the heck was he so upset about?

"Why the hell do you have to go around doing… this?" Jack said, gesturing vaguely between us for a moment before setting his hands down almost angrily. I shook my head a little and stared at him.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," I said levelly. Really, what was he going on about?

"That!" Jack said, throwing his hands up, only for them to land on his head, his fingers pulling at his hair as they slid down his face. "Two seconds ago you couldn't stand the thought of being away from me, and now you're acting like I have a disease or something!" Jack was trying to keep the venom out of his voice, I heard it, but there was no denying that it was, in fact, there.

What?

"Why does it matter to you?" I shot back, my eyebrows furrowing. "It's part of the deal. Why are you having a problem with it now?"

"I didn't really expect you to be pulling all this off so well!" Jack said, anger evident in his voice. He thought for a moment, licking his lips, before continuing. "Oh, deal's off, by the way. Since we're talking about it."

"What?!" I yelled. "Why? You barely have a C in math and I'm sure Dagur is nowhere near giving up-" My hands were moving wildly, and Jack caught them, his grip on them almost painful. He was closer now, and I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat.

"I broke the terms." He said, in the most serious tone I've ever heard in his voice. My eyes widened as I heard the words. He couldn't possibly mean-?

"What are you-?" I started to ask, when he dropped one of my hands and moved the other to his groin. I saw him bit his lip harshly when my hand came in contact with his half-hard dick through his swim trunks.

I wrenched my hand out of his grasp and moved back, breathing harshly as I stared at him. Jack looked at me, blue eyes having a sort of guilty look in them.

"I broke the terms. 'No real feelings,' remember?" Jack asked softly.

"You-you-you were probably thinking about someone else so-" I said, stuttering so much that I thought it wasn't audible. But Jack heard and shook his head at me.

"I know what I was thinking about, and it wasn't anyone else." Jack said. "You've been the only thing on my mind for a while now."

What the hell? I couldn't talk. Someone was holding my tongue. I was paralyzed. There was no option of talking this out, and no option of moving away. This wasn't really happening right now, was it?

"Come on. It's late. I'll drive you home." Jack said blandly. We gathered up our beach towels and went to his car.

The car ride was silent and there was no stopping it. The tension was so thick you couldn't cut it with the sharpest knife known to mankind. My mouth felt like it was sewn shut and my heart was hammering away inside my chest. I'm pretty sure Jack heard it. Was this all really happening? Did that really happen? His car pulled up in front of my house.

"We uh, had a really bad fight and decided to call it off." Jack said. "Okay?"

"Yeah sure." I replied numbly.

"I'm… really sorry, about all this." Jack admitted.

"Don't be." I said flatly. "It's not like you can help it. Bye Jack." I said that with a note of finality, and it sent a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I rushed out of the car and practically ran to the front door. I flung it open and slammed it behind me.

"Whoa, are you alrigh' son?" My dad asked, blinking at me from the couch. Toothless bounced up and ran towards me, pushing his head under my hand forcefully, demanding to be pet. I scratched his head absent-mindedly.

"No…" I sniffed. "Jack and I broke up." I said.

"Hiccup…" My dad said, moving to get off the couch to comfort me. I waved him off.

"I'm just gonna… be in my room. Call me if you need me." I said as I shuffled my way up the stairs, Toothless following close behind. At the last step, my prosthetic jammed and I fell flat onto my face. Toothless whimpered helplessly and I got myself up onto my feet with some difficulty. Then I hobbled to my room and took off the stupid thing. It must have gotten sand in it or something…

I sat down on my bed and stared down at my floor for a couple minutes. My head felt blank, but in reality my thoughts were passing by so fast, it just felt like I wasn't thinking anything. This was really confusing.

Jack had feelings for me.

I mean, this wasn't how this was supposed to end up. I didn't plan any of this to end up that way. When I thought about this ending, all I could think of was us parting as unlikely acquaintances and never talking or looking in each other's direction ever again. I didn't plan on actually getting to know him. Nor did I plan to stop pretending…

Did I want this to end?

No, that's a stupid question. A better one would be: Do I like Jack?

Mom knocked my door loudly, and all I wanted to do was bury my head under my pillow and never speak to anyone ever again. But she opened up the door anyway.

"Hey Jack," she said tentatively. "How are you doing?" I didn't answer. I looked away from her. I was doing terrible and she knew it. Hell, I nearly crashed the car on the way home last night!

I was such an idiot. I should have called it off as soon as I started not hating the way he had to hang on me in public, or maybe when I decided that I liked his witty and sassy comebacks, or maybe when I figured out that I actually liked him pulling me in for a kiss…

I shouldn't even be thinking about any of this! It was over! Done for! I messed everything up, and it wasn't like it was real or anything!

"You can tell me what happened, you know that, right?" Tooth said gently, and I scoffed at her.

"I already told you. Hiccup and I had this massive fight and… you know what? I don't want to talk about him." I said, dropping the conversation like a hot potato. Why torture myself even further when she already knew what happened? I told her yesterday when I got back.

"Well, you have to get out of your bed some time, mister." She scolded lightly, wagging her finger at me. "It's past noon, and you're not getting anything done by sulking." I rolled my eyes at my mom's attempt to help, and I rolled fluidly out of bed, standing up right in front of her.

"You're right!" I said, acting cheerful before slumping again. "I'm going to the store to buy some ice cream." I walked right past her and trudged down the stairs.

"Jackson! That is not what I meant!" She said.

"I know. But at least I'm doing something." I said, grabbing the car keys and heading out. "I'll get you a pint too!" I called, and I heard her mutter something before shutting the door. Don't I have the best mother in the world?

I clambered into the car and put the keys in the ignition… when something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. It was just… there, sitting in the passenger seat as if it was waiting for me to do something with it. Hiccup's beach towel. I tore my eyes away from it as I pulled away from the curb and started to drive to the store. But I found myself sneaking glances at it from time to time, as if it was going to grow legs and arms, open the door and leave me just like Hiccup did.

Okay, what the fuck? Why am I thinking like this? He didn't even leave me! It wasn't even a real relationship!

I grabbed two pints of Ben and Jerry's and paid for them as quick as I could, getting back to the car and driving home without a single glance at the goddamn towel. When I got home, I handed Tooth her pint and we ate together, watching a terribly-made, black-and-white horror film from back in the day.

I couldn't really enjoy the fake gore of the old movie, because there was this overwhelming sick feeling of dread growing in my stomach and clenching at my heart like an angry fist.

All that towel meant was that I had to confront Hiccup again. After I told him how I felt. After I made him touch my crotch. GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! I inwardly groaned. This was going to be so embarrassing.

Monday only brought confusion, nervousness and embarrassment for both Jack and Hiccup.

Hiccup found himself walking to school way before he would even be awake on a normal day where Jack would pick him up. And he really didn't care all that much. His backpack was heavy and he had his phone clutched tightly in his hand, just as a precaution. His thoughts swirled around Jack, just like they had the day previously, and his confusion only grew. But a thought was becoming more and more concrete in is mind the more he thought about it. Maybe… maybe he did like Jack after all.

Screw the "maybe." He liked him.

Jack found himself driving over to Hiccup's house out of habit. When he noticed the familiar road, he almost swerved off the road out of shock. He carefully made a U-turn and made his way to school. The beach towel still sat on the passenger seat, practically nagging him to do something, anything, with it. What was he supposed to do with a beach towel? Don't even ask, because he didn't have a clue. All he knew was that he needed to get rid of that thing, and soon. And that's exactly what he was going to do.

At lunch, Jack found himself joining his friends for the first time in a month, while he knew Hiccup was on the other side of the campus, most likely in the library.

"Hey," Jack greeted, sitting down gingerly and barely looking at them.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Snotlout asked, leaning forward and getting a better look at Jack.

"And where's Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "He was starting to grow on me." She admitted.

"We…" Jack started uncertainly, before Ruffnut cut him off.

"Tell me you didn't!" She yelled angrily, slamming her hands on the table and looking at me with hard eyes. Tuffnut grabbed one of the belt loops on her jeans and pulled her back down into her seat harshly. She hissed in pain and slugged her brother.

"Yeah, we uh… we broke up." Jack said, looking down and fidgeting.

"That's too bad." Fishlegs sympathized, placing a hand onto his shoulder. "You guys were really good together."

"You were happier with him!" Ruffnut argued. Jack shrugged, not looking at her. "Give me one good reason why you two broke up and I'll stop."

Jack wanted to scream, "Because we weren't together in the first place!" but he stopped himself before he could open his mouth. He couldn't do that to Hiccup. So, instead, he opted to not answer.

"Why do you care anyways?" Tuffnut asked, thumping his sister on the head. "It's none of your business!"

"Jack's our friend, and as of Saturday, so is Hiccup." Astrid answered as Ruffnut opened her mouth. "Their happiness is our responsibility."

"It's not your responsibility." Jack said, suddenly speaking up. He wouldn't allow his friends to be dragged into this mess… the mess that he created, anyways. "Hiccup and I broke up for the better, alright? Just… stay out of it, you guys. Please."

And with that, the situation was dropped. Astrid and Ruffnut shared a glance though, most likely thinking that it wasn't going to be the last time that the two of them were going to talk about this.

*~.~*

Hiccup got out of his last class in a daze. The day passed fast enough, and he half-expected Jack to be waiting outside his classroom, his arm held out and waiting for Hiccup to walk under it and be pulled into its half-embrace. He shook the feeling away and started walking away.

But then he found himself at one of the entrances to the underground parking lot, and he rolled his eyes at himself. Habit had once again taken over, and he turned around sharply and started walking away.

"Hiccup!" Someone yelled. The voice was familiar and it made Hiccup automatically turn around, half of a smile already forming on his face. "Wait up!" Jack said, jogging towards him.

Hiccup stiffened and stopped moving entirely, and a fight broke out inside him over whether he should drop his smile or not. He didn't move; instead, he just waited for Jack to catch up to him. But all Jack did was stop in front of him and rub at the back of his neck.

"Uh, hey, you forgot this… yesterday." Jack said, holding out Hiccup's beach towel and practically shoving it into Hiccup's grasp.

"T-thanks, I didn't even notice I forgot it." Hiccup said gratefully. In his mind, he smacked himself. He sounded like such an ass. Say something!

"Um, yeah, so… bye." Jack said, barely even glancing at him before turning around and walking away.

Hiccup watched the back of Jack's head as he walked away, and his stomach turned unpleasantly. What are you doing? Tell him! Don't let him walk away!

"Uh… Jack!" Hiccup called, this time him being the one to run over to Jack, beach towel still in his hands. Jack stopped in his tracks and looked at him. "Look, can we, uh… can we talk?" Hiccup suggested. Jack scoffed.

"What's there to talk about?" He asked. "I told you-"

"Can I talk?" Hiccup asked impatiently. "For two minutes, will you please shut up?" Jack pursed his lips, to stop his smile, and nodded slowly. Hiccup took a deep breath and started. "I've been thinking, a lot actually, about what happened Friday and what you said and… heh, funny thing is, I was thinking… Can we… can we try being an actual thing?"

"What?" Jack sputtered, not sure if he was dreaming or if he heard wrong.

"Can we try this out again?" Hiccup said, stepping forward and slipping his free hand into Jack's, squeezing it lightly.

"No deal, this time?" Jack asked, the dorkiest smile spread across his face.

"The deal is officially up in flames." Hiccup responded.

"Great," Jack said, cupping Hiccup's cheek and pulling him in for a light kiss. "I'd be happy to be your for-real boyfriend." Hiccup laughed.

"Ditto," he responded. "But I'm still going to tutor you in math." He said, a sarcastic smirk on his face.

Jack groaned.

So... that just happened. Thank you everyone for reading! (This was really long! *sobs*) Leave a review if you'd like!

Thanks again! And have a good day/night! I love you all!

-HB