Biology

Chapter 12

Hiccup didn't stick around for too much longer after that. When he left there weren't many words exchanged, just soft goodbyes before he disappeared and Jack was left to close the door in his wake. He leaned back against it for a moment before slowly climbing the stairs up to his room again.

He stayed there for the rest of the night and the entire next day, not even leaving to eat, curled up in his bed with the covers pulled up over his head and a pillow clutched tightly in his arms. He cried, once or twice, quietly so his Dad couldn't hear him. North still worried, though, and eventually brought a couple of sandwiches and some cookies up, leaving them outside his son's door.

They were still there when Jack finally got up Monday morning and forced himself to get ready for school. He picked the still-full plate up on his way downstairs and left it on the kitchen counter.

At school, Hiccup seemed to be avoiding him. The brunet didn't shoot him the same secret looks he usually did, and didn't greet him even in any of their shared classes. Every time he walked past and didn't look his way or say anything Jack's chest hurt.

At lunch time he very seriously considered cutting the rest of the day and hiding out in the library or something, but then couldn't bring himself to actually do it. His father would kill him if he skipped classes again, anyway.

When school got out for the day, habit had him halfway to the rugby field before his steps paused and he stopped abruptly, realizing. Still, he hesitated and considered continuing on for a moment—but, in the end, turned around and headed home instead, where he just locked himself up in his room once more.

North at least got him to eat dinner that night, and Jack was silent despite his Dad's attempts at conversation—at least until he began coaxing him to tell him what was wrong.

"It's been two days, Jack. What happened?"

Jack just poked at his food with his fork for a minute before taking a small bite of potatoes and choking it down. "Nothing."

"There's obviously something wrong."

A slight shrug.

The man across from him narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is there's bullying again?"

He hadn't had a good time of it at his last school, and had gotten picked on and beaten up on more than a regular basis, and that was even before the braces. He'd put up with it for three years before North had finally found out—that was why he had transferred to Berk High in his senior year.

Jack had fully expected for things to continue, just with different bullies, when he got to the new school, but now that he had been there for a while it seemed that the kids in Berk High were less inclined toward that kind of thing. It was a relief, really.

"Jack?"

"No, no one's bothering me."

North considered for a second, then, "is it about a girl?"

"I—what?" Jack jerked a little, eyes lifting finally, and swallowed a bit before shaking his head. "No!"

He knew what his father meant, of course, and supposed the correct answer could have been yes. Not about a girl, per se, but about a relationship. One that no one even knew about. One that, for all intents and purposes, didn't exist. One that, from the way Hiccup had ignored him all day, might have ended a couple of nights ago because he couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut.

But Hiccup had said it was okay. He'd said he had been fine with it.

Now it was starting to become clear that he had lied.