I am aware that this is pretty short, so I may add more in the future hoorah

Requested by the wonderful because-we-stare-at-stars on tumblr!

Hiccup remembered why he never attended high school dances: they sucked.

Sure, he supposed they could be enjoyable in some respects. The dark ambiance and pop music exploding from the speakers resembled that of a nightclub, and the sweaty teenagers headbanging around him made it feel even more so. The food was alright, someone probably spiked the punch and the band wasn't half bad…

But other than that, Hiccup really had no reason to be there. These were social gatherings, for friends to laugh with friends, or accidentally kiss their friends, or purposefully kiss their friends, or purposefully kiss their friends' boyfriends and act like it was an accident. Hiccup had very few friends to begin with, and no boyfriend to kiss. Astrid, somehow, had been the one to drag him along, with promises far too grand to be satisfied. So now Hiccup leaned, gloomy, against the brick wall of the gymnasium and watched as everyone else had fun.

"You made it," Astrid appeared beside him, a kind smile on her face. The bottom of her hair was plastered to her neck with sweat, and her dress, though beautiful, look crumpled now.

"Unfortunately," Hiccup retorted, crossing his arms over his chest and scanning the room with a bored expression. There didn't seem to be anyone here that particularly sparked his interest. Perhaps Hiccup could have talked to some other loner, if he possessed the courage, but even the wallflowers were in pairs.

Hiccup considered leaving - what was the point of staying if all he was doing was collecting dust and perspiring? - when he noticed a particular young man materialize from the crowd. Of course, there was a lot of kids attending that school, but Hiccup had never seen this man, not once. But the way his eyes seemed to comb the crowd specifically for Hiccup's face, or the way his own pale lips morphed into an astonishingly handsome smirk when he spotted him - it was all too familiar. A feeling, almost, like coming home.

"Who's that?" Hiccup asked, leaning his head to the side, not taking his eyes off the stranger.

"That's Jack," Astrid supplied, staring at the boy as well, albeit less obviously.

"He's coming over here." Hiccup said, in both awe and anguish. The idea had just now dawned on Hiccup, that feeling of oh shit, someone hot's acknowledging my existence. Astrid, unhelpfully, did not respond; instead she sauntered away, trailing her head behind her with a smirk in Hiccup's direction.

Before Hiccup had much time to compose his appearance, Jack was already before him, looking as if he'd been wishing to greet him all night. Hiccup, upon laying eyes on him so closely, gave a small gulp in the back of his throat. "Can…I help you?" Hiccup asked, wiping his palms on his back pockets.

"Hopefully," Jack drawled, biting his bottom lip slightly. His voice was deeper than Hiccup would have expected; it echoed within his skull, making the music feel like only a dim hum. "Would you like to, uh, dance with me, by any chance?"

"Umb, sure," Hiccup agreed, shaking his head slightly to will himself from his place; "Actually, I'd really like that."

Jack smiled and lead Hiccup onto the floor.