AN: Hey guys! Yeah, it's been a while. Life kinda went and smack me in the face. It's ok though! It's a good thing! My wife is pregnant! So, yeah. Been a little busy. lol I still want to work on my stories and get them out to the best of my ability, but don't expect updates to be anywhere near regular. That said, on with the story!

Wanings: None, really, this time around.

Chapter 2

The week was not going well for Jack Overland Frost. Now, life in general was not especially kind to this boy, but this week really took the cake. There was a certain notoriety that came with being the captain of the lacrosse team. With such notoriety came expectations. One of which was to be the boyfriend of the head cheerleader. Now, this wouldn't generally be such a bad thing, given that the head cheerleader, Heather, was a rather attractive brunette with curves in all the right places, big eyes, and pretty much flawless skin. The problem was that Jack was completely, indisputably, flamingly gay. He wouldn't know what to do with a pair of breasts if they were shoved right in his face! (and until this week he'd been able to say he'd never had to have that particular experience…)

To the girl's credit, no one actually knew that, though, so it was to her understandable confusion that every one of her advances were turned down. Pretty much anyone in the know was confused as well. Jack was good looking, talented, charming, and pretty high up on the social food chain. So was Heather. So why weren't the two together? The situation was drawing all kinds of attention and would-be cupids out of the woodwork trying to 'set them up properly'. The most persistent of which had been, without a doubt, Heather's best friend, Astrid. The girl had done everything short of shoving the two of them into a closet and swallowing the key.

Thankfully, Jack's own best friend, E. Aster Bunnymund (the guy refused to let anyone know just what that E stood for), had been in Jack's corner for the whole thing and helped to curb the increasingly annoying romantic enthusiasts. Not that the other teen was ever all that understanding of Jack's plight.

"I'm telling you Aster, they're getting crazier! Today, I found mistletoe over my locker. Mistletoe! It's October! And Heather was right there like she'd been thrown at me! Literally! I don't even know who did it!" Jack all but flung his books into his locker, clear irritation in his voice.

"I bet'cha it was Rebecca. Y'know how much that sheila likes Christmas." The taller teen chuckled, a thick Australian accent lacing his words. Aster Bunnymund was a tall boy, with a lean yet muscular build. He was pretty handsome, too, with messy, ashy blond hair, several tattoos, and bright green eyes that fairly sparked with his amusement at the moment.

"This isn't funny!" Jack slammed his locker shut then turned on his heel to march off to the cafeteria for lunch, grumbling as he did so. "I don't understand why they're being so pushy about this."

"An' I don't understand why yer bein' so difficult. What would it hurt to jus' cave in an' give the girl a shot? God knows I would." The taller teen leered suggestively.

"Yeah, you've said, and to be honest, I'd rather not hear the details again, thank you."

"Aww, yer no fun, Jackie." The Aussie nudged Jack's shoulder playfully with his own, inviting an insulted frown from the shorter boy at the comment. Jack was tons of fun! "But you gotta admit, their persistence is somethin' to be admired. That's how many times now that you've had to turn the poor girl away?"

"I don't have to admit anything…" Jack muttered, "And I lost count somewhere after twelve." Aster laughed at Jack's look of utter aggravation.

"I'm tellin ya, Jackie, y'need to just go with it for a while, maybe even get laid, then put the whole thing behind ya." Jack scowled at Aster's words as the taller boy flippantly waved a hand through the air, as though he were physically tossing the situation over his shoulder. Jack wished it were all so easy… But he couldn't tell Aster just why that wasn't possible for him. He and Aster had been friends since they were kids. It wasn't the sort of friendship he was willing to risk by sharing his preferences. They'd shared a bed a few times on sleep overs, changed in front of each other in the locker room, and their play fighting sometimes got kind of physical. If Aster knew that Jack swung the way he did, then the Aussie would be going over every one of those innocent memories and twisting them in his head, over analyzing every interaction they'd ever had and ever would have. The fact that Aster was no where near his type would have very little to do with anything.

The boy he'd met just yesterday under the willow tree however…

That had been a fairly awkward experience for Jack. His patience had finally run out with the entire school's population and he just needed to get out for a while. He'd just needed to get away from any and every person who might have known anything about anything that was going on with him and the head cheerleader. So he ran. He'd tried a few hiding spots, each of which had been useless in actually hiding him, before he'd stumbled upon the willow tree behind the field. It had seemed so perfect until he'd found out that the hiding spot was already taken. So he'd snapped at the boy. Then the boy had looked up and Jack had looked into the deepest green eyes he'd ever seen in his life, eyes that had barely registered that he was there before they'd been redirected to the ground. Jack remembered his lungs damn near seizing with guilt when he realized the other guy was shaking as he rushed to pack up, muttering apologies as he got up to run away. It had been a gut reaction more than anything to reach out and stop him.

He'd gotten a better look at him then. Beneath those unfairly gorgeous eyes was a round nose and a gap toothed mouth. His skin was kinda pale, which made the freckles that seemed to be just freaking everywhere stand out all the more. He was short, and the baggy green shirt and fur lined vest did their best to hide a thin, coltish body, if he were any judge. And to top it all off was a shaggy head of brown hair that shone in several shades of red and gold in the filtered sunlight that made it through the willow branches. 'Adorable' was a word that came immediately to mind.

All of his fabled charm had abandoned him in that moment and he'd had to fight to not make a complete fool of himself as he'd apologized to the cutie. It had been surprisingly easy to talk to him after that. He'd proven to be both kind and funny, though with a slightly sarcastic edge, but Jack found that he liked even that. Hiccup had been everything he hadn't known he wanted, but when Jack had tried some light flirting the other boy had backed up so fast it was like he'd been bitten.

"Oi! Jackie! You in there, Frostbite?" A hand waved in front of his eyes, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Jack blinked at his friend and smiled somewhat apologetically.

"There ya are. I lost ya for a bit. Where'd y'go, Mate? You were startin' to look like someone'd hit yer cat." That was saying something. Jack loved his cat.

Jack frowned and faced forward again as they rounded the corner and entered the hall that housed the doors to the cafeteria. "Just… Stressing about this whole Heather thing…"

Aster frowned back in concern. "Cripes, this is really botherin' ya, ain't it."

Jack didn't answer, since it wasn't really a question anyway, and pushed through the cafeteria doors.

"Jack!"

Jack jumped, his gaze darting across the room to a certain blond haired girl who was standing and waving to him very obviously. Next to her, at the table, sat a pretty brunette who seemed to have had her back turned to him a moment ago but was now looking over her shoulder at him with wide blue eyes. Astrid and Heather. Astrid was smiling widely as she waved and beckoned him over, but there was a hint of threat in those icy blue eyes, as if to say 'Get your ass over here, or else...'

Jack's eyes went wide. He turned to his best friend in a bit of panic, as though he could provide some solutions to this situation. Jack didn't want to go over there. He didn't want to be forced into an awkward lunch with a girl who wanted to date him so desperately and her oftentimes violent friend who would do whatever she had to to make that date happen. (Seriously, why couldn't they just take 'No!' for an answer?!) Aster stared back, his own eyes wide in sympathy now that he had an inkling of how this was affecting his occasionally highly annoying friend. Sure, he liked to poke fun at the kid, but Jack was truly upset right now and that was just not on.

In the span of a second Jack realized what his only option was. The panic cleared from his face, a look of determination replacing it. He gave his best friend an intent look that made the taller boy gulp nervously. He knew that look. That serious face always preceded something awkward or painful for the Aussie. It meant that Jack was about to do something stupid or reckless.

Out of the corner of his eye Jack could already see Astrid making her way towards them, likely having run out of patience and determined it would be better to just fetch Jack and drag him over there, by force if needed. Jack quickly placed a hand on Aster's shoulder, his eyes taking on a pleading edge to them.

"Aster, you're my best friend, and if you don't survive this then I will sing of your brave sacrifice for years to come." He patted the taller boy's shoulder, eyes narrowing and not straying to the approaching blond girl at all. "Hold her off for me." And with that he turned and bolted, paying no heed to the angry shout of the blond girl or the distressed call from the blond boy.

"You're a good friend Aster!" He called over his shoulder as he heard the unmistakable sounds of an enraged Astrid running up against the agitated wall that was his best friend. Jack chuckled as he rounded a corner. So he would have to go without lunch today. It was just the price he had to pay. Aster was the one paying the real price right now. As big as the guy was and as small as Astrid was in comparison, Jack knew the girl was a force to be reckoned with and his best friend would have his work cut out for him in holding her off for any amount of time. Jack would have to remember to get the guy a carrot cupcake from his favorite bakery later.

Minutes later and he was outside, sprinting towards the one place he knew no one else would find him. Yesterday's encounter had been awkward and unexpected, even a little disappointing there at the end, but today he'd be going in with the knowledge of what was waiting for him. There was an adorable brunette there that would be keeping him company during lunch today. So much better than the alternative!

Hiccup sighed as he slumped against the familiar bark of his favorite tree, not yet reaching for his much loved sketch book. His eyelids drooped as he was finally able to relax a bit. He'd spent extra time last night on his homework, completing a make-up assignment for his math class in addition to his usual work. It took twice as long and would only be worth half the credit of the original homework, but it was better than nothing. He had to keep his grades up, after all, and missing assignments took a pretty big bite out of his overall grade if he didn't stay on top of things. His father had enough things to yell at him for, he didn't need to add mediocre grades to that list.

As a result, however, he'd been up later than expected and ended up falling asleep at his desk atop his books. When his father had gotten home and discovered his son's chores left undone and the boy asleep in his room he had been less than pleased. Some unpleasant words had been yelled, a few things had been thrown, and Hiccup had been made to finish those neglected chores before his dad finally passed out on the couch. Needless to say, the boy hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd already nearly dozed off in his second period English. (Though, to be honest, it was usually fairly difficult to stay awake in that class, having already read half of the reading material they assigned for 'silent reading time.')

Now he was able to rest, and he did, letting his eyes fall closed as the calming sound of the wind through the willow branches serenaded him. It was kind of chilly today, but the breeze itself was warm, tugging gently at his hair. It wouldn't be a good idea to take a nap… The bell that would signal the end of lunch was too far away to wake him if he did… But this place was so nice and relaxing. It was such a wonderful break from the usual state of his nerves… Maybe just a minute or two more, then he'd force his eyes open and occupy himself with something.

The sound of pounding feet went largely unnoticed by the dozing teen, the grass and dirt having muffled the sound until it got much closer. Then the quiet was shattered as the willow branches were violently shoved aside, the panting form of another person bursting through the thin barrier. Hiccup jerked from his half awake state with a strangled yelp, falling to the side then quickly scrambling on hands and knees to put the trunk of the tree between him and the invader.

Wide green eyes peered around the side of the tree to spot the faintly chuckling form of Jack, the boy he'd met yesterday. Hiccup frowned in mild outrage.

"W-what-... Were you... trying to give me a heart attack o-or… What reason could you possibly have to-... Did you run the whole way here? What are you even-..." He edged out from behind the tree, still on his knees as he waved his hands in broad, agitated gestures, clearly irritated if his half finished sentences were anything to go by. Jack thought he somewhat resembled an angry squirrel. An expressive angry squirrel. Cute.

"Sorry about that, Freckles." Jack laughed.

"Hiccup," The smaller boy grumbled, giving up on his aimless attempt at interrogation and crawling back around the tree to his bag, plopping his butt back down where it had been.

"Huh?"

"My name . It's uh, Hiccup. Or have you forgotten our wonderful conversation from just yesterday?" He opened his bag, grabbing his sketchbook and a few pencils. Jack smirked and stepped over to the tree, turning and dropping to sit next to the smaller boy against the wide trunk of the tree.

"Looks like someone's grumpy today. What's got your knickers in a bunch?"

Hiccup sighed, pushing away the remnants of his irritation. "Nothing." He turned curious eyes onto the other boy. "Why were you running? Trying to get away from something or… Or just that eager to bother me?" His eyes darted nervously away at the last bit, flipping open his book to a blank page and selecting one of his pencils to begin blocking in broad, indistinct shapes on the paper to give himself something to focus on.

"Bother you?" Jack responded, a look of righteous indignation crossing his features. "You wound me Hic! And here I was, being so benevolent as to grace you with my glorious presence two days in a row!" He threw his head back, clutching at the material over his heart. Hiccup snorted at the dramatics and eyed the other boy curiously, recognizing the evasion for what it was. He decided not to comment on it. He didn't know Jack. It wasn't his place to pry into his private life. But then again, he'd made the offer to listen to Jack's problems yesterday. Perhaps that was why the handsome boy was paying him a visit. Cashing in on that 'rain check', so to speak. Hiccup couldn't imagine any other reason someone like Jack would want to spend time with him.

"Benevolence, huh? I think a better show of benevolence would be remembering my name. It's not Freckles. It's not Hic. It's Hiccup. This?" He gestured vaguely towards Jack with his right hand while his left continued to box in shapes. "I-I don't even know what this is…" A sigh, followed by an almost subconscious hunching of the shoulders. "Why are you here Jack? I can't imagine it's for the company of some scrawny sarcastic kid."

Jack blinked at the somewhat self-deprecating tone and decided to drop the teasing for now. "Come on Hic, your company isn't that bad. Don't sell yourself so short." He leaned over and gently bumped his shoulder against the smaller boy's. Said smaller boy grumbled as the bump caused his pencil to make a mark he hadn't intended. He ignored the fact that Jack had once again used a nickname rather than his actual name and grabbed an eraser to correct the mistake. He also ignored the little lurch of happiness Jack's borderline praise had caused. Admitting that something that small and vaguely kind had made him happy would just seem pathetic, even to him. "If you must know," Jack continued, "I'm avoiding someone."

"Ah" Hiccup responded, nodding in sudden understanding. "Well, this is certainly a good place to uh- to do that."

Jack hummed in agreement then just sat and watched the smaller boy sketch for a little bit. Hiccup fidgeted under the blue eyed gaze, his face beginning to heat up from the quiet attention. He decided a break in the silence was severely needed.

"So, do you feel like talking about what was bothering you yesterday? Does it have anything to do with the 'someone' you're avoiding today?" He asked almost casually, not lifting his eyes from his work. He almost wanted to pat himself on the back for how calmly and nonchalantly he'd managed to ask his question. The gods knew his stomach was no where near that calm, twisting into all kinds of anxious knots just from having Jack near him. (And what was with that anyway? Was he really so out of practice at human interaction that didn't involve bruising or yelling? Just how low had he fallen?)

Jack was quiet long enough that Hiccup paused in his sketching to glance sidelong at his visitor. Said blue eyed boy was giving Hiccup a contemplative look, as though he were considering how to respond, before he turned to stare off in front of him. Hiccup turned back to his sketch book, pencil being held motionless in his small hand, and wondered if he'd poked his nose too far into Jack's business. He was about to open his mouth and tell the other boy he didn't have to answer when Jack finally started talking.

"A bunch of people want me to do something I don't want to do and several of those people don't understand how to take 'no' for an answer. Most of them just don't understand how anyone wouldn't want to do the thing that they want me to do." Jack was frowning as he spoke. Before long Hiccup was frowning as well, though that was partially because he was confused with how vague Jack was being. He got the gist, however, that Jack was being pressured to be someone he wasn't.

"Why don't you just explain why you uh… Don't want to do what they want you to do?" He offered uncertainly, hesitantly returning to his sketching.

"Because they wouldn't understand!" Jack all but yelled, causing the smaller boy to jump and subsequently have to erase a mark he'd accidentally made. "They'd all just think less of me or start picking on me. I might even lose friends!"

Hiccup supposed he could understand. If he had any friends he wouldn't want to lose them either. Toothless was probably the closest thing he had to a friend and if saying or doing something could cause him to lose the great furry beast, he'd avoid it at all costs. He had to wonder, though, if Jack's friends were really as good as they should be if Jack could lose them by voicing an opinion. He picked over his next words carefully, making slow, light lines on his paper as Jack sat by, quietly frowning at a small purple flower in the grass in front of him.

"Are… Are you sure your friends would mind?" Jack's head turned sharply towards him, his mouth already open to affirm this, but Hiccup cut him off quickly, hands once again flying around in vague gestures. "I-I mean, if they care about you then they should care about what you think and how you feel, right? Someone who cares about you… Wouldn't… They wouldn't just brush aside your feelings like that." He trailed off almost sadly. He tried really hard not to apply his words to his own situation with his dad.

Jack's mouth slowly shut, his words falling dead in his throat. He turned to face forward again, arms crossed and brow pinched in thought. Hiccup bit his lip as he returned to his drawing. The paper was littered with smudge marks from the multiple erasures, his lines too dark in some places and too light in others. It was supposed to be woolly howl dragon in flight, but it kind of just looked like a mess. He sighed and made a small unhappy noise at the back of his throat, twirling his pencil over his fingers as he wondered if there was any way to salvage the picture.

"Wow, what is that?" The innocent question caused him to jump for the millionth time that lunch period. He really needed to get a handle on his nerves. He hadn't even noticed Jack leaning over to look at his book. His initial reaction was the desire to snap the book closed and retreat. Dragons were something that Hiccup really loved and the possibility of his love for them being sullied by scorn was very real. But Jack's wide, curious eyes had not even the vaguest hint of malice in them. He seemed genuinely interested. Cautiously, Hiccup relaxed from his tense posture and answered.

"It's a uh… a dragon. A woolly howl... to be more specific. It's a snow dragon with icy breath and scales shaped like fur."

"Really? Snow and ice huh? I think I'd get along with this guy. What else can you tell me about him?" Jack's smile was bright and childish, no sign of the brooding boy who'd been sitting there minutes before. Hiccup felt a small smile spreading across his own face at the genuine interest Jack seemed to be displaying, gladly welcoming the change in subject. Jack had confided as much as he was willing to for today, and that was enough. The rest of the lunch period was spent talking about dragons and snow. He hoped Jack would come back tomorrow. The more he talked with him, the more he learned, the more he wanted to see of him.

Well? What do you think? You know I love to hear (read) your opinions and ideas! So leave me a pretty little review. X3 Short, long, critical... I love them all!