Rivals (A Jelsa Story)

Chapter 28 - Plotting Devices

A/N: Here's some fluffy Hiccstrid art while we wait for Elsa and Jack to get their lives together. (Art is by Mysti_Eris)

Hiccup's POV

Astrid walked over to our table in the cafeteria and plopped down next to me. "Hey. Is Jack here yet?"

"No," I replied. "Why?"

"Merida's having a pool party this Saturday and she's invited all of us."

"And you don't want Jack to know because you think he won't go if Elsa's there," Bunny guessed.

Astrid shot a finger gun at him. "Exactly. We need to get him there without telling him where he's going."

"Ooh, that's a great idea!" Tooth exclaimed. "That way they can finally see each other again and talk this whole thing out."

"Might be easier said than done," Sandy commented.

"Why do you care so much?" Bunny asked. "If he doesn't want to see her, I say we respect that. She didn't even say goodbye to him, or any of us."

"She didn't have a chance to," Astrid replied. "Apparently her parents made them leave in a hurry and she couldn't find any of us on her way out. Merida says she feels really bad about the whole thing."

He snorted. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

"I agree with Astrid," I said. "He's seemed really upset ever since the dance. I think he misses her. And if she misses him too, don't you think we should do something to help?"

Bunny shrugged. "He did seem happy when he was with her."

"So you'll help us?" Tooth asked hopefully.

"Sure, alright."

Just then, Jack walked up to our table. "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

"What are you doing Saturday afternoon?" Astrid asked.

"Well, Mary's coming home tomorrow night, so hanging out with her probably."

"What if you let her have some mom time and came to a party with us?"

He frowned slightly. "I don't know..."

"Come on, mate." Bunny plopped a hand down on his shoulder. "Who knows, it could be fun!"

"If I'm being perfectly honest, I think you need to get out of the house," Tooth said gently. "You haven't left all week except to go to school."

"How would you know?"

"You haven't accepted any of our invitations to hang out," I pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I haven't gone somewhere else."

"Well, have you?" Sandy asked.

Jack looked sheepish. "No..."

"So it's settled," Astrid said. "You're coming with us."

"Hang on, I never agreed to that. I don't even know where it is."

"At a pool," I said. "So bring swim trunks."

"And what pool would that be?"

"Don't worry about it," Bunny said. "I'll give you a ride."

Jack looked at us all suspiciously. "Something fishy is going on here."

"Just trust us." Tooth smiled at him.

His shoulders slumped a little. "Oh, alright."

"Great. I'll be right back." Bunny stood and walked over to the snack table. As he passed us, he leaned over to Astrid and whispered, "Text me the address."

She nodded.

Rapunzel's POV

"I don't know if that's a good idea..." I trailed off.

"Come on, please! She needs this," Anna begged.

"But tricking her into going?"

"We're not tricking her," Merida pointed out. "We're just not telling her. It'll be a fun surprise."

"But why can't we tell her?" I asked.

"Because if something fouls up and they can't make it, we wouldn't want to disappoint her," Merida said.

"We just need you to pick us up," Anna said. "You do that a lot. It'll be more suspicious if Kristoff does it since he lives farther away.

"So you don't want her to be able to leave?"

"We don't want her freaking out and running off too soon." Eugene seemed to be catching on to their plan before me. "You know how she gets. She might not want to talk to him."

"But she should," Merida added.

I frowned. "If she's not ready, I don't think we should force her to."

"She clearly misses them," Kristoff said. "Jack probably most of all."

"And she's been trying to convince herself it's a good thing," Anna added. " I think she's afraid of, well... she's afraid that what happened last year might happen again." She pointedly didn't look at Merida.

"You know in the long run that there's a better chance this'll make her happy than not," Eugene said to me.

He was right. Elsa hadn't been the same since Friday. I could tell she was really upset, and Anna was right – she'd said several times that this was a good thing, but we all knew she was lying to herself.

Maybe getting her to talk to Jack would be a good thing.

"Please, Zel?" Anna asked again.

"Oh, alright," I sighed.

Anna squealed. "Thank you!" She jumped up and gave me a hug.

"Hey, what's going on?" Elsa asked, walking up to us.

"Oh, we were just talking about carpool arrangements for Mer's party this weekend," Kristoff said.

"Yeah, I can pick you guys up on my way there," I offered.

"Oh, that'd be great," Elsa said, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah, and Flynn and I can ride together," Kristoff added.

"Okay cool, glad we've got all that worked out." Merida threw me a sly wink. "So, how's everyone's day been?"