Biology

Chapter 13

When Jack woke up a few hours later, he was groggy but warm and comfortable. Disoriented for just a second, he frowned, wrinkled his nose—then, when his mind supplied a reason for the arms that were still around him, simply sighed and nuzzled down into Hiccup's chest again, eyes still closed and breathing even.

Another couple of minutes passed before he did finally crack his eyes open. His gaze resting against the wall across from him, vision blurry around the edges, and that was when he realized he wasn't wearing his glasses. He made a little noise in his throat, lifting his head to look around for a second before deciding he would worry about it later.

Then he turned his attention to Hiccup.

The punk still had an arm hooked around him, holding him close and his head had fallen sideways, chin tucked into his own shoulder a little. His hair was mussed, his eyes closed, his breathing even. He was asleep.

Jack studied him for a while, then let his head lower to rest against Hiccup's chest again. One arm moved a little until his hand was resting next to his face, his fingers touching lightly along the front of Hiccup's shirt, feeling out the fabric and the muscle underneath absently.

"Molesting me while I'm out cold, huh? Didn't think you had it in you, Frosty."

Jumping slightly at the words, Jack jerked his hand away quickly. "S-sorry! I thought you were asleep!"

Hiccup just chuckled, the sound warm and amused, his chest rumbling along with it. When Jack looked up at him, green eyes were half-open and an amused smile was tilting his mouth. "Obviously." He shifted then, adjusting himself and reaching over toward the bedside table, and a second later he was placing Jack's glasses back on the other boy's face, pushing them up his nose gently. "Here. The damn things were digging into my chest so I took them off."

"Oh." Jack's lips lifted into a faint smile.

"So, how do you feel?"

"Still tired." His arm settled to rest over Hiccup's chest again and he sighed softly. "But okay, I guess."

Hiccup's response to that was a quiet noise in his throat and a light brush of his hand against Jack's hair. Jack leaned his head back down again, his fingers beginning to toy with the edge of the zip on Hiccup's vest, the metal teeth catching on his nails lightly. Neither of them said anything for quite a while.

"I'm sor—"

"Hiccup... stop apologising."

Hiccup gave a harsh sigh. "You should hate my fucking guts, you know."

"J-just because—"

"Just because I apparently broke your goddamn heart this past week, Jack."

Jack swallowed. His fingers paused against Hiccup's chest. When he looked up a moment later it was to push his glasses up absently. Then he bit his lip before leaning to kiss the brunet. Hiccup was still for another second. The hand at Jack's hair slid down to rest against his side again, then, and he tilted his head, kissing back gently.

The next few minutes were filled with soft kisses, just brushes of lips and tongues. Despite the silence, though, a lot was being said: words exchanged between breaths and the touch of their mouths, more 'I'm sorry's from Hiccup and 'I love you' repeated over and over again by Jack until they were both breathless and had to break apart for air.

Leaning his forehead against Hiccup's, Jack closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. Things weren't any less confusing, now. Yes, he knew he had been wrong to assume that Hiccup had been avoiding him because he didn't want anything to do with him, but now that he knew otherwise...