Scared of Water

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"Jack! Come one in!" Merida yelled. Her boisterous voice echoed across the glassy water, up to the Y- shaped tree where he was nestled. Hiccup stood next to her, trying unsuccessfully to adjust to the cool water. He wrapped his scrawny arms around his chest and shivered.

The hood of Jack's blue sweater was pulled down over his eyes, and despite the heat, he felt cold (colder than usual). His bare feet were propped up in front of him, one on top of the other, on the other side of the "Y". From here he could watch the events and still be far enough to not have to take place.

Jack swallowed thickly to clear his voice and called back, "I'll just stay here, princess. Don't mind me." Without turning his face, he gave her a two-fingered salute and a fake smile, then quickly tucked his shaking hand back into his hoodie pocket.

Merida booed loudly, making Jack's heart sink. He hated, hated, to disappoint his friends, but just the thought of swimming made him anxious. There was no way in hell that they were going to get him in, no matter what Merida said.

"Hey." Jack was yanked abruptly from his thoughts when a certain perky blonde popped up next to him like a lizard. How she was clinging to the rough bark of the tree must have been some sort of witchcraft. Jack adjusted his position so his feet dangled over the tree, creating enough space for Rapunzel to sit next to him. Her long hair was put into a thick, bunchy braid to keep it out of everything. The only thing she had on was her swimsuit; a white two piece that fit her form perfectly.

"You're not swimming?" She asked in good nature, swinging her legs.

"Nah." Jack muttered, trying to ignore the fact that there was, like, no space between them. In the water, Hiccup was calling for Toothless to come in, but the dragon was having none of it.

"Why not?"

"I just... don't feel like it."

"That's okay." Rapunzel turned to him and reached her hand out, fiddling with his hoodie strings on impulse. Before he had processed what he was doing, he cupped her chin in both of his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead gently. Finally, Jack pulled away and pushed a stray lock of hair from her face, satisfied by her wide eyes.

"Go swim, princess. Don't stay here on my account." He smirked at her flushed cheeks and gave her a gentle nudge toward the lake.

With an ear to ear grin, she stood up in place. Merida and Hiccup were too busy reprimanding the dragon to notice the blonde leap from the crook and cannonball into the water, effectively drenching the Scot. Instinctively, Hiccup threw up his arms to defend himself, but the wave of water didn't even reach him. When the current had settled, Merida stood with her arms crossed in defiance, not even bothering to push the hair from her face.

"Toothless!" Rapunzel called, stretching her arms wide. Immediately the dragon perked up, ears standing high.

"Aw, come on! Now you want to?" Hiccup groaned in exasperation. Suddenly intrigued, the red head separated the curtain of hair that could only be described as "soggy" from her face. She cleared a sight path just in time to see a one tonne dragon do a kamikaze dive into the lake, shoving all three of them under water. Jack winced in sympathy.

All four emerged at once. Hiccup turned away from the group and coughed up a lung full of water, while Merida watched on laughing. Rapunzel crawled up onto the slippery back of the dragon like a koala and gave him a pat on the head, saying, "Good boy," in a very smug tone.

In tones low enough that Jack couldn't hear, the three in the water stood together and talked as Toothless splashed around like a young puppy. Just as Jack decided to take a nap until they were finished, the group sprinted out of the water and threw themselves onto a large blanket they had set out earlier, wrestling for dominance of the huge picnic basket.