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Home is where the heart lies

It had been a long time since they'd been together like this. Ten years in fact. She can't really remember how they drifted apart. Only that they did.

"Anyone want a drink?" she piped up cheerily, a little too cheerily. But she couldn't care less, she needed to break the awkward silence that hung over them like a knife.

She wondered how they deteriorated to this state. Silence used to be a rarity among them, but now it was a torture. She hated it. They used to be able to talk about anything under the sun with each other. The four of them inseparable since the age of two.

Fourteen years of friendship now laid crumbled at their feet.

Jack looked up from the window he had been staring out of, his blue eyes piercing hers. He was different now. More mature, more accepting of responsibility. But, she still saw the mischievous teenager underneath it all.

She remembered the stolen kisses they used to share under the stairwell. The countless text messages, phone calls and light night rendezvous. They used to be in love, and now, they were no better off than strangers.

"Cinnamon het chocolate fur me, thanks lass," Merida requested, her accent as thick as ever.

She smiled, somewhat comforted over the fact that her once-upon-a-time-best-friend's favorite drink hadn't changed over the years.

She wished she could say the same about their relationship.

"Caramel frappe for me, please," Hiccup said with an easy grin.

Out of the four of them, she noticed, Hiccup had changed the most. His once small and scrawny physique had filled out nicely and he'd grown out his hair a little. He had grown taller too. He used to be shorter than her (a fact they used to tease him relentlessly about), but now he towered over her by a head.

Confidence that he had lacked in his pre and mid teen years now oozed out of him. It was almost scary to see how much he had changed and she had even caught Merida gaping at her ex-boyfriend in shock when they walked in.

"I'll follow you," Jack muttered, standing up to accompany her.

She wanted to scream no. She had offered to get the drinks to get away from the awkwardness, not to have it follow her. But the words failed her so she just smiled tensely and nodded.

They said nothing as they queued up for the drinks, Jack was staring intensely at her and she was…well looking anywhere but at her ex-boyfriend.

"I like your new hair," he piped up suddenly, causing her to jolt in surprise.

It took awhile for her to process what he had said because she's had the same haircut for the past eight years, but then realization dawned on her and she laughed nervously, fluffing her short brown hair. It used to be long and blonde when he had known her.

"Yeah. It was such a hassle to have long hair, so one day I just lobbed the whole thing off," she laughed.

It's too forced to seem real, even to her own ears.

She didn't tell him about her standing in front of the mirror with shaky hands as she mercilessly chops off her long blonde locks and dying them brown. The last symbol of rebellion to her Aunt Gothel.

Jack frowned, then, reached out and touched a lock almost absentmindedly.

"It looks nice either way," he said softly and she was too stunned to pull away.

But then, embarrassment seeped into her over the intimate gesture and heat rushed to her cheeks as she gently stepped a little further away.

"Thanks," she muttered.

They didn't say anything to each other for the next few minutes and she fiddled with her dress nervously, begging for anything or anyone to come and save her from their awkward situation.

When it was finally their turn to order the drinks, she was grateful for the break in silence as she rattled off their orders to the cashier and they carried back two drinks each in silence.

She noted how his beverage preference hadn't changed either; mint chocolate and coffee ice blend.

They reached the table and passed around the drinks. There was the soft murmur of gratitude before their table was silent again. She idly wondered what they looked like to people watching. Did they seem like people who had been best friends once upon a time? Or mere strangers forced to sit together due to a lack of tables?

"So…" Jack began, obviously as uncomfortable as she was, "What have you guys been up to?" he asked.

Merida is the first to reply, as usual.

Her lips pulled up into a smirk, "A've bin travelling th' world. Ye guys actually caught me juist as ah wis aboot tae lea Burgress," she said with a lopsided grin as she sipped her cocoa.

Rapunzel hummed in response, impressed. Merida had always said that she wanted to take a trip around the world. It was nice to see her living her dreams.

"Well, my life is hardly adventurous as yours," Hiccup said with a mock jealous look, causing a giggle to erupt from her.

It felt nice to be laughing with them again.

"But I'm happy. And I've taken over my father's business," there was a short silence after that. They all knew what it meant.

"Oh Hiccup, I'm so sorry," she whispered, guilt washing over her. How had she missed Stoick's funeral?

"It's okay, it happened a long time ago," Hiccup shrugged and a fresh wave of guilt washed over them.

There was a few minutes of awkward silence before Hiccup smiled, "Putting aside the depressing mood," he drawled, "I'm engaged," he grinned.

"That's great!" she squealed at the same time Merida said, "Who's the unlucky girl?" and Jack commented, "Never thought it was going to happen."

But her red-haired friend's tone was light, and she could see Merida's eyes sparkling with happiness at the announcement of his engagement. And Jack was grinning like a fool.

Her smile froze for a second. She remembered a time when she thought Merida and Hiccup would've been together for the rest of their lives. And her and Jack…

She let her thoughts trail away but her eyes flittered up to meet with a pair of ice blue ones. She immediately looked away and reached down to twists the band on her finger that's no longer there.

Jack frowned at the gesture but Hiccup didn't notice the change in atmosphere between them and continued on.

"Her name is Astrid Hofferson. She's amazing, and I can't believe how lucky I am," he rambled on.

Rapunzel felt bad for not listening to everything but smiled when Merida interjected halfway through his speech and not soon after, they were bantering playfully amongst themselves.

For a second, she didn't see them sitting together at a table in Starbucks ten years older than the last time they had been together. Instead, they were sixteen again. Young and wild and sixteen, huddled together at the back of a stairwell, laughing and telling jokes. Jack's arm was casually slung around her small frame as she leaned into him and Merida was sitting next to Hiccup in front of them, arguing playfully with intertwined hands.

She was jolted out of her flashback, however, when Merida finally chose to divert the topic.

"Wha' aboot ye, Frost?" the red-head girl laughed, her eyes bright with happiness.

Jack's eyes fluttered towards her for a second before he turned back to Merida, a lazy grin on his face.

"Still single and running wild about the place," he joked, "I took over North's shed a few years back, he's still around to help though," he added when he saw their shocked faces.

She breathed a sigh of relief. North was Jack's adoptive father and she would have be heartbroken if the kind hearted man had passed away without her knowing.

"What about you, Punz?" Jack asked and she tensed up for a second. She hadn't hear that nickname for over ten years now. Melancholy filled her but she ignored it and instead tried for a smile.

"I eloped with someone," she announced and laughed when she sees their jaws drop.

Or at least she tried to laugh. She couldn't seem to. Painful memories replaced the happy ones and she looked away.

"His name was Eugene," she smiled sadly.

She had known Eugene since she was eighteen...right after the four of them stopped hanging out. It had taken awhile for them to fall in love, but after that, they had spent all their time together.

"He's…he's not around anymore though," she added softly.

There was an immediate somberness between them, and she started to wonder why she even brought it up in the first place. Maybe it felt good to confess it to someone.

Eugene had died almost a year ago already. They had run away together two years before that. She ran from her abusive aunt and him from the past that haunted him.

She had lost contact with all her previous friends when they ran away together, and they hadn't stayed in one place for too long for her to make new ones. At that time, it had been okay with her. She had the love of her life at her side and nothing else mattered. But when he had died, she had no one to talk to. It was the first time she had spoken of his death to someone since it had happened.

She felt someone clasp her hand from under the table and looked up to see Jack staring comfortingly down at her, a soft smile on his face. She remembered a time when it was her comforting him after his sister's death and squeezed his hand gratefully.

"It's okay though, he gave me a lifetime worth of memories and that's all that really matters."

'It's the same with you guys,' she added in her head.

It was silent for awhile before Merida raised her cup.

"To Stoick and Eugene," she announced and they were stunned for awhile.

Finally, Jack smirked and raised his own drink, "To Stoick and Eugene," he echoed loudly.

Hiccup and her locked eye contact for awhile before smiling and raising their own glasses, mirroring their friends actions and words. Then, they took a good swig out of their drinks.

Jack immediately tried to deflate the tension and changed the subject by cracking a joke and Merida helped him eagerly. And, before she knew it, she was laughing so hard her stomach cramped up as she doubled over.

And through it all, her fingers were still interlaced with Jack's under the table.

After that, it didn't matter that they hadn't seen each other for over ten years. True, they may have needed a while to warm up to each other, but they held a bond that was stronger than anything.

Rapunzel looked around their table and smiled. It was almost like nothing had changed at all. And for the first time in over a year, she found herself home again.

I'll admit, I was a bit reluctant to publish this, it didn't seem...good enough. But I'll give it a try anyways. Let me know what you think.