Something Different

Chapter 15

Hiccup's POV

I knocked on the door. I had been gone for a half-an-hour, and couldn't wait any longer, so I left counseling. Good thing Gobber sleeps through most of the counseling sessions! And besides, Astrid said that he wanted to talk to me anyways.

"Can I come in Jack?"

"Hiccup? Come in!" I peered in to find Jack sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at me. I sat down next to him.

"Hey, I missed you," he said. I smiled.

"I missed you too," I said to him back.

"Umm... did Astrid tell you to come back?" I nodded. "Okay, then you know that there's something I want to tell you. I- I think we're a little more than just roommates now. I mean-"

"I know exactly what you mean Jack." I looked into his eyes, his irises shattered like broken ice, radiating like diamonds. "I know."

He seemed a bit startled, and relieved. And then he smiled, the first time I had really seen him smile with his heart, and I smiled back, and gave him mine.

"I love you."

Jack's POV

And right then, my heart beat out of my chest, my face flushing over. I smiled shyly and took his hands.

"If I say I love you too, will you believe me?"

"If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't be here."

"Will you love me?"

"Until the sun sets on my last day. Longer than that. Always Jack, always."

"Will you care?"

"Jack, I've cared about you since the day we met, and will care about you until the day I die. I really do love you. Do you love me?"

"More than you'll ever know Hic, more than you'll ever know."

He smiled, but something was wrong. It was pained. I looked at his left arm, the one painted with bruises. I ran my hand across his left arm, his face wincing with every touch. "Who did this to you?" I whispered.

"It's not important." He flinched and pulled his arm away a little.

"No. Who did this to you." He shook his head, trying to smile but failing. His smile was broken.

"Jack. It's okay." I could see a tear glisten out of the corner of his eye. "It's all okay." He blinked, sending the tear down his face. "I'm fine." The tears shone in the corners of his eyes, and created rivers as they streamed down his face.

"Hic... oh Hiccup..." I wiped a tear off his face. "You aren't fine." He nodded, biting his lip to try to keep the tears back. He slowly turned over his right arm, revealing hundreds of scars all up his arm, highly concentrated on his wrist.

"Hiccup, no! No, baby, why did you do this..." I found myself starting to cry too, my eyes turning to lakes. "Hiccup..." I brought his wrist to my lips and kissed his scars one by one, leaving tear stains on them. I eventually stopped at his shoulder. "Are there any more?" I asked, my voice cracked with crying.

He pulled off his shirt to reveal cuts all along his chest. They were on the sides of his body, and on the front of his chest. I held him in my arms, and ran my arms along his scars.

"Why? Why Hic?" The flow of tears became stronger, and he struggled to catch his breath.

"I-I was scared that I had lost you... that I had killed you..." He cried into my shoulder. "That I wouldn't ever see your eyes again..." He bit his lip and the tears stopped for a moment. The clouds in his eyes parted just for a second, letting the emerald sunlight of his irises show for just one precious, golden second.

"That I wouldn't be able to ever tell you that I loved you."

Hiccup's POV

Tears flooded down my face again. Jack put his hands on my face and looked into my eyes. I stopped crying for a moment and stared back into his, my heart pulsing with regret and desire.

"I'm alive," he said. I put my hand on his neck and felt his pulse. It was racing. "I'm okay."

"That's all I ever wanted," I replied, smiling for what felt like the first time.

Jack's POV

The corners of his mouth curled upwards and formed the most beautiful smile that could ever be. And it wasn't broken anymore.

Hiccup's POV

And right then, in that room, I did the unthinkable.

Jack's POV

He kissed me.

I didn't know what was happening. My hands had moved from his face to his waist, and his hands had moved from my neck to the collar of my shirt.  I caught one quick glimpse of his eyes before he pulled me in sharply and our lips made contact. Actually, it wasn't just contact. It was magic.

Hiccup's POV

Our lips perfectly interconnected, creating a spiral of emotions and fireworks. His hands set off explosions on skin, and my head tilted to the side, our lips fitting together like puzzle pieces. My eyes were closed, yet I could feel everything that he was doing and what I was doing in response. I leaned into the kiss, savoring the moment for what it was and wasn't. I could feel his energy, his passion, his crazed thoughts in every corner of my body, my hands, my lips, my heart. I could feel his eyes finally close, and he began to lean in too. He pulled me in closer, his hands becoming firmer and tighter around my waist. He tasted like chocolate, dreams, love. And in that moment, I knew that he was worth the wait. He was worth the pain. He was worth the blood. He was worth it. Worth every second of suffering. He was everything I could've ever dreamed of, and just a little bit more. He was my hands, my lips, my heart.

He was my Jack.