Biology

Chapter 16

Hiccup was looking at him completely seriously, so close he could feel the other teen's breath across his face. Jack's eyes were wide, shocked. His expression wavered as he tried to compute what Hiccup had just told him.

"You—w-what?" When he finally spoke his voice came out little more than a disbelieving squeak.

Intense green eyes closed over and the punk sighed out a harsh breath, licking his lips a little. "I'm in love with you." He repeated, voice firm but with just a faint, barely audible hint of anxiousness. "And—and shit, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to..." Shaking his head, he opened his eyes again. "I'm just really fucking sorry, that's all, I should have been able to tell you sooner but I wasn't—I didn't know how I—I wasn't sur—"

Jack didn't even wait for him to finish speaking, he flung himself forward, arms coming up over Hiccup's shoulders, pulling him into another tight hug. Burying his face in the punk's throat again, he took a shuddering breath, tears rising again—and when he sniffled, Hiccup gave a helpless noise.

"J-Jack, you're crying. I thought you'd be happy—"

"I am happy—I'm happy!"

Hiccup's posture softened at that, and he sighed. His arms came up around the other boy again, more gently this time, and he pressed a kiss into the side of Jack's neck. "Can't believe I actually fell for a geek like you." Then a quiet murmur against his ear: "I love you, Frostbite."

"I—I love you, too." Jack's reply was whispered, muffled a little, but a moment later he released Hiccup to step back a bit. Swallowing thickly, he lifted his hands, one to pull his glasses off and the other to wipe at his eyes. Then he replaced the glasses, pushing them up his nose, and sniffed softly again. "But," His voice came out with a bit of a croak. "My Dad..."

One of Hiccup's arms raised, a hand coming to rest against the side of Jack's face. His thumb traced Jack's cheek. "Yeah."

They were both quiet for a little while, then, before Jack spoke again: "He's my Dad, you know? I can't..." Chewing on his lower lip a bit, he looked down. "I've never seen him so angry before." His voice still wavered, but at least he had managed to fight down the actual tears. "I'm not a rebel. I can't—I can't go against him." And then his words dropped to a barely-audible whisper: "but I can't stop seeing you, either. I can't—it'd—it'd kill me."

"Jack..." Hiccup let his hand slide around to the back of Jack's head and tugged a little, pulling the other boy back against himself, tucking him into his chest. He kissed just above the other teen's temple when Jack leaned his head down quietly. "We'll think of something, I fucking promise you."

"B-but—"

"Okay, look," The brunet huffed a sigh, breath stirring white hair lightly. "For now, we can at least be together at school."

Jack jumped at that, lifting his head again to look at Hiccup in surprise. "But—y-you don't want people to see us together!"

Green eyes blinked back at him slowly. Hiccup's lips lifted in a crooked half-smile. "I'm not completely... I'm a little uncomfortable with it." He admitted, but shrugged with one shoulder, fingers stroking through Jack's hair. "But shit, Jack, if it's the only way I can see you I'll just goddamn deal with it." And then, softly, "but what about you? You said before you weren't ready to be out..."

Jack took a bit to consider that. He looked down, eyes drifting to the ground and the toes of his shoes as he thought, and Hiccup just continued playing with his hair absently.

Was he okay with coming out? He had been afraid of other people finding out he was gay for so long that the idea of being honest about it was more than a little scary. Then again, it wasn't as if he had any real friends, either. The only one that he was close to was Hiccup, and he obviously had no problem with Jack's sexual preferences.

In his old school, if he'd come out the bullying probably would have increased tenfold. At Berk High he wasn't being picked on yet—but would it start to happen if everyone knew he was gay?

"Jack? If... if you're not okay with it—"

He swallowed nervously, brows drawing together and looked back up. "It's just, I—" Breaking off, he shifted, eyes flitting downward again. "At my old school," He began, "I wasn't—I mean, I got picked on a lot. Bullied and beat up. And no one there even knew I was gay, they were just bullying me for being—you know—me. Kids... I mean, not like you, but... kind of like you? The tough kids. That's why, when you first approached me..."

Hiccup made a soft sound, sad understanding glimmering in his eyes. The hand in Jack's hair paused, then slid down to rest at the base of the other boy's neck, and he leaned in to kiss gently over his forehead. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything." Jack shrugged, hands fiddling with the edge of his sweater-vest a bit. His voice was just a whisper now. "But here at Berk, I... no one notices me, and I don't get picked on. I'm just—I mean—what if it starts to happen here, too, once everyone knows?"

The response he got was quick, with no time for second thought: "it won't."

"But—you can't know that!"

Hiccup's mouth tilted, a half-smirk lifting his lips. "I know."

"But how?"

"Look, dumbass," The punk said, voice firm and leaving no room for doubt, "do you really think I wouldn't beat the living shit out of anyone who even thought about going after you?"

Jack's head lifted at that and he blinked at the brunet.

That was true... wasn't it? After all, Hiccup had done it before, weeks ago at that rugby game, and that was back before they even really knew each other. And if he cared about him that much, he wouldn't just let people beat him up. Jack might not make any new friends, if he came out, but he likely wouldn't get picked on much. No one went up against Hiccup Haddock willingly, after all, not even the football players—or the others on the rugby team, for that matter.

And any minute worry he'd had before about North finding out was moot now. His father knew and that fact wouldn't change. Besides, despite how angry he had been, North had told him definitively that it wasn't because he was gay.

Still, if he came out, it wasn't something he could take back if anything went wrong.

Jack chewed at his lip, worrying it between his teeth. Then he swallowed and licked his lips nervously.

"Okay."

Hiccup smiled a little, studying him for a moment, then leaned to kiss him gently. "Are you sure?"

A deep breath and Jack returned the smile. "Yeah. I—I'd rather chance getting picked on some than not be able to see you." A tip of his head, then, and he had to ask: "but you... what happens—I mean—if everyone here knows... what if it gets back to your Dad...?"

That made the brunet pause. He tensed, jaw tightening—then relaxed again, sighing, the sound defeated. "I guess I'll have to take that chance."

"You guess?"

"Yeah, I guess." Hiccup chuckled, then reached out, hands settling on Jack's hips, to draw the other teen over again. Once Jack was close, he lifted his hands to rest against Hiccup's chest, and the punk gave him a fond look, then leaned to kiss him. "Unless you wanna just pack your shit and run away with me."

His teasing tone made Jack laugh. "What, you want to join the circus or something?"

"I could get more piercings and tattoos and be in the freak show. You could just stand around and charge people to see you being goddamn fucking adorable all day long."

"I don't think anyone would pay to see that."

"I would." Hiccup chuckled and kissed him again, gently. "But seriously." His eyes searched Jack's, looking for assurance. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

"Mn... I know." The white-haired boy smiled again, then stepped back, one hand reaching to take hold of Hiccup's, and looked toward the door. He swallowed, fingers tightening around Hiccup's, and took a bit of a breath. "So... are we going to do this?"

Outside, the halls were still crowded, full of students getting ready for classes to begin.

Hiccup followed Jack's gaze to the door and squeezed the other teen's hand. "Yeah. Let's go."