Author's Note: Um… hi there!This is kind of my first multi-chapter Fanfiction, and my one of my first endeavors at writing HiJack. I shipped it ironically and here I am. Alright. I'll stop blabbering and get to the good stuff. The only real warning I have about this story is the pace. Things go pretty slow (as life often feels) but time does skip around between chapters – I'm trying to avoid major time skips, so they'll never be too painful. I'll be sure to put markers at the start of the chapters reminding you how old they are/what grade they're in. (First chapter excluded from that; it should be explained well enough.) If there's any confusion, please inbox me! I'll be sure to make things clearer if something came across a little strangely.

As a quick little side note, North's name is his canon name in the books: Nicholas North. Jack and Emma's last name is Overland, but North has adopted them so it's not used often.

Basic Overview: The Overland family has been living in the same house for years, and up until now the house next door has been vacant. When the Haddock family moves in next door, Jack Overland meets the Haddock's only son – Henrik. The two become unlikely friends and grow up together, surpassing a great deal of hardships. Over the years, their friendship blossoms and flourishes into something more.

Point of View: 3rd person: Generally speaking, Jack is the main protagonist. His perspective is probably going to be explored in more depth. (I say probably in the event that something changes as I write things; a majority of this is planned out but I'm working out certain things!)

Warnings: (Updated each chapter) Implied death.

Chapter One: "Enter the Haddocks"

August

Jack dreamt of a familiar darkness.

Jack remembered the eerie silence of that night and the crash of waves and crackle of floor boards and that horrid urgency that coursed through him. He remembered clutching his sister's infant form close to his chest and using the walls for leverage as he rode against the current. He remembered fumbling to keep her surfaced even while he sunk and rose beneath the water, and that bitter, salty taste that tried to force itself down his throat with every crash. He remembered calling for a mother, for a father, for someone to help his sister and he.

He remembered feeling… sorrow when the waves finally fled, and the chorus of sirens that crescendoed down the dampened streets. He remembered the confusion. He remembered crying, but never why.

The memory was scattered in his mind; like broken shards of glass on the floor he found a new fragment with every blind step he took toward remembering. Some nights would bring him large, unnecessary recollections of unbridled terror of while others spared him more merciful details on the events of that night that felt so long ago. Jack was only… 4 back then. Or perhaps he was older. Younger? Ugh. His head swam. The young boy huffed, clutching his pillow tight in his hands as the comfort of consciousness embraced him. The memory was already gone, faded into a dull throb of fear that held no context.

Just another bad dream, he reminded himself. A useless nightmare.

He flicked on his nightstand lamp and breathed heavily, letting his eyes hurriedly skim across his room to soak in reality. Jack let his head fall a bit, his nose pressing into his pillow carefully as he caught his breath. Warmth returned to his suddenly cold body and he wiggled his toes, letting them peak out from under his comforter with a giggle. His stuffed bunny beside him wiggled with every subtle gesture.

Jack Overland let his eyes wander to his window, and watched thin rays of moonlight protrude the remaining darkness of the room. He brushed his fingers through is chocolate brown hair and delicately tip-toed to the window. Every movement was slight as he flicked off the light and made his way over, careful not to make too much noise; he'd hate to wake up Emma or North this late at night. And as he reached the window and perched himself on the sill, he let his thin lips curve into a smile as he glanced upward.

Just above him, the full moon smiled in the night sky. Never had North's stories become more relevant to him than they had at that very moment. Jack hugged his knees close to his body and let his temple rest against the cool glass as he gazed, eyes locked on the astral wonder watching him from the sky.

You must not be afraid, Jack, North had said in that thick, Russian accent of his. He'd patted Jack's back during his first nightmare attack and simply smiled. Nightmares are useless dreams. But Man in Moon will always watch over you, and help chase bad dreams away.

The thought lulled young Jack into a state of comfort. North had always been good at storytelling, even since the very day he adopted Emma and Jack. He convinced Jack that their house was full of wonder and excitement, despite how dull and melancholically shy the boy was initially feeling. He gave Jack a room he claimed belonged to a great king, and Emma the room of his princess. And every night, just before he fell asleep, North would tuck Jack and Emma into their respective beds and tell them the tales of the great Guardians. He wove these tales of adventure and heart-break around the simplest of ideas, filling Jack's dejected mind buzzing with excitement and curiosity.

But his favorite was the story of the Man in the Moon. The Guardian from above who – according to North – chased away the fearful darkness of the sky with his light and always had his eye on the children of the world. Maybe it was silly, but North's stories always brought Jack a certain kind of… comfort. A wonderful new perspective on life.

And as he gazed with wonder at the moon in the sky shining brightly down on him, Jack felt the gentle beckon of sleep call to him. He slouched back, letting his knees bend and his toes curl around the window's frame as he shut his eyes and drifted away.

He dreamt sweeter dreams in the moonlight.

"Jack! Jack! Wake up!"

The young brunette rolled to his side a bit, confused as to why he was laying comfortably against his mattress, but too tired to care. Beside him, Emma bounced up and down with excitement and shook Jack's arm hurriedly.

"Come on Jack, get up!" she whined, tugging his arm back. Jack groaned in response, clinging to his pillow with his other arm and clenching his eyes shut.

"Emma, 5 more minutes…" he mumbled, fumbling between coherency and the groggy allure of slumber.

The shaking stopped. He shifted a bit to peek over his shoulder. "Fine! Then I'm eating your share of waffles this morning."

Jack's eyes snapped wide-open, the word 'waffle' clicking the awake-button in his brain. "North made waffles?"

"Sure did! Dad made a whole stack of 'em!" She giggled, crossing her arms and shutting her eyes in triumph. "But none for sleepy Jacks!"

Jack sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes tiredly before yawning and stretching his arms. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, letting them dangle for a moment before hopping down onto the carpet. He stumbled around a bit dramatically, peeking over at Emma every once in a while as she giggled at his actions. "Fine, fine, you win. I give up!"

She smiled triumphantly.

"We'd better not keep him waiting." He grinned widely at her and scooped her up into his arms. "All aboard!"

The young boy laughed loudly, hanging onto her small frame tightly as he sped down the hallway. Emma giggled, tugging on his shirt playfully as he waddled down the stairs. Each step bounced her, and the speed threw her hair all over her face. As Jack spun the corner and they neared the kitchen, Jack swung her in circles a few times before setting her down on the floor.

"You made me dizzy, Jack!" she whined, wobbling a bit with each step. Jack simply chuckled, watching her fumble to walk for a moment with an amuse smile. He panted a bit, trying to catch his breath.

"Sure did. Gives me a head start on those waffles!" he laughed, taking slow strides toward the kitchen. Jack chuckled when he heard Emma whine behind him.

She pouted, jutting out her bottom lip before crossing her arms. "No fair! That's a mean trick!"

"Alright, alright fine." Jack sighed. He pattered her head lovingly and kneeled in front of her. "You get first dibs, then."

The young girl smiled widely, and Jack brushed her long, brunette bangs from her face. Once her forehead was bare, he kissed it lightly and took a good look at her. Emma was growing, in more ways than one. Her hair fell to the middle of her back, stick-straight, thick, and tangled from a good night's sleep. Her once chubby, baby-like face was slowly gaining definition, too. The beginning of a chin showed at the bottom of her jaw, and her cheeks weren't as bulbous as they were last year. When Jack stood, he took note of her height; the top of her head just barely reached the middle of his neck. He frowned. Emma was getting taller.

Jack patted her head, letting his fingers part her hair as neatly as he could manage. "You know, if you keep growing like that you'll be too big for me to carry soon."

"Not a chance!" Emma stood on her tip-toes and giggled, telling Jack, "I grew a whole inch last night!"

"An inch? Yeah right!"

She whined, nudging his arm. "It's really true, Jack! Dad said that I might grow up to be taller than you!" She puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips proudly. "Soon you'll be the shorty!"

Jack rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. He strided toward the kitchen. "Dream on, squirt."

"Morning, North."

The large man behind the counter turned to face them, a widened smile stretched across his face and his hands held two large plates of waffles. "Good morning, little ones!" he cheered, placing the plates on the table. "You slept well, no?"

Jack kept quiet as Emma bounced in her seat excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I dreamt I was a princess, and there was a dragon and an ice wizard and a knight and it was really cool!" she giggled, smiling jubilantly. North chuckled deeply and lifted her up, spinning her small body around in the air before kissing her cheek and setting her back down in her seat.

"That is hardly dream, Emma; you are princess already." He smiled down at Jack and ruffled his hair playfully. Jack grinned. The three of them sat at the table and tugged a few waffles onto their plates.

Mornings were usually like this. North tended to be an early riser, so Jack and Emma were always greeted to his morning shenanigans when they woke up. Sometimes they'd catch him while he was making breakfast, or on rarer occasions catch him doing something silly. Jack remembered that on his first Easter, he couldn't sleep so at one in the morning he crept downstairs, and ended up finding North sleep-walking around the house (or at least he thought he was sleep walking) humming Jingle Bells. He never said anything about it, but to this day it makes him laugh.

But every morning the three of them would eat breakfast together and talk about nonsensical dreams or what happened at school depending on the time of year. North would make them special breakfasts on the holidays and weekends, while during the week Emma and Jack settled on a bowl of Lucky Charms.

"So what's the occasion?" Jack asked as he drenched his waffles in syrup. "You never make waffles."

Emma slid her plate over to North and he cut a waffle into a bite-sized pieces. He generously poured syrup on the dish's side and passed it back to her. "Good eye, Jack; I have news!"

"What kind of news?" Jack asked, peeking over at his sister curiously. She shrugged.

"The house next door finally sold," North began. "And a family will be moving in at the end of the week."

Jack pouted a bit and shoveled a chunk of waffle into his mouth. Neighbors? Ugh. Jack didn't want to have to deal with neighbors. Neighbors would get in the way of all the fun things Jack liked about their life right now: they lived in a family dependent on communication and constant noise. The house was never quiet; they yelled across rooms when they were too lazy to get up; Jack and Emma played in the yard and ran around the house while they played, filling the halls with a symphony of footsteps; sometimes North would have music blasting from his study while he was working. And that wasn't even the best part. They had a habit of throwing these insane parties around the holidays, with a list of guests that ran miles long and boisterous music echoing through the house. You wouldn't think it, but North was a pretty popular man; every year more people would end up coming to the parties and every year Jack wondered how the heck they'd fit everyone in the house. Their Christmas parties were the craziest, though. One time, North got a complaint from someone three blocks away. It was pretty nuts, and Jack could never forget that night.

But neighbors? Gross. They'd have to turn down all the fun they usually had to appease a bunch of strangers. Where was the fun in that?

He huffed, shoveling the last piece of his waffle into his mouth before standing up and placing his dish in the sink. "Does this mean we have to start being quieter and more… I dunno, normal?"

North laughed and the sound rumbled through the room like a tremor. "Don't worry, little one. Nothing will change." He patted the boy's head and took a swig of his milk before waddling out of the kitchen to his study. "I trust you two will be fine if I go to work, yes?"

Emma nodded with her mouth full of waffles and a smile across her face. Jack chuckled and threw him a lazy nod. And when they finished up, Jack washed the dishes and Emma dried them. The two of them put them away shortly after; Jack lifted Emma up to put away the dishes on the higher shelve. They watched the Lion King while the food settled in their tummies shortly after, and Jack would sing along to some of the songs and Emma would giggle, swat his face, and joke about how Jack was a bad singer. And in the afternoon, they wiggled out of their pajamas and into their play-clothes before hurrying outside for a game of hopscotch. Like always, Jack would blatantly cheat and Emma would call him out on it; they'd bicker and giggle and play for hours until North called them back inside for dinner. After dinner, the three of them would watch cartoons for a while before Jack and Emma took their baths, brushed their teeth, and headed to bed.

It was a summer routine they'd fallen into by accident, but found so comfortable they never failed to follow it.

The only notable difference was the dreadful anticipation settling in the back of Jack's mind. Day after day, as the end of the week neared, he grew curious about the new neighbors. What kind of people would they be? Would they be stuffy and boring? Exotic and strange? Jack was trying hard not to focus on it; the more he thought about it, the more curious he got. But when Emma brought it up, his mind couldn't help but wander.

Friday didn't come fast enough. Jack usually loved the summer, and was careful about cherishing each day of wondrous heat. Yet it seemed the dreadful excitement of waiting for the neighbors to come made it easier for him to wish time away. Tuesday would not end. Jack woke up that morning to the drab pitter-patter of rain against the roof beneath his window. The two of them had resorted to watching cartoons in the den for the day and overall it was… well, not boring per say, but dreary to say the least. Wednesday and Thursday were dreadfully typical; the only real highlight of the two days was when North had taken them to get ice cream down the road, and when he went to take a bite, a spoonful of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream fell onto his beard. Emma wouldn't stop laughing and Jack was in hysterics.

And then Thursday night came; the night Jack decided to break the rules a little.

Since the day he'd gotten there, Jack had been warned to stay off the roof. And normally you'd think, "Wow that's really stupid; how would a 9-year-old kid manage to climb on top of the house?" but that wasn't exactly the case. See, most kids live in these cute little houses with one rooftop that boxed them in. But Jack? Nope. Jack got an entire flat of roof just beneath his window sill. Yes sir, he was cursed with this marvelous slanted slab of temptation just beneath his window and a matching curiosity that gnawed at him inside. Now don't get me wrong: it wasn't that North didn't trust him (the man loved him like his own son), rather he was fearful the boy would fall off or hurt himself. Jack understood why he was worried and told him he wouldn't play up there like the obedient son he was.

But somehow… tonight was different. Tonight, the moon was waning and its light shined down just as magnificently as it had on Monday. It was the night before things changed, and the night that Jack couldn't sleep as he pondered if that was a blessing or a plague on his house.

He peeked out his window, looking down at the roof not too far beneath the sill. The house next door had a slanted roof that nearly met his, and – well, go figure – a bedroom window just above it. When he squinted his eyes and looked really closely, Jack could barely make out the two visible corners of the room. It seemed modestly sized; it wasn't as spacious as Jack's humble abode, and sort of reminded him of his sister's room (pink walls and posters aside) in terms of dimension. It sort of made him curious, beginning a flourish of thoughts; what kind of person would stay in that room? What color would the walls be next year, and would they hang up any posters? Would it be a boy or a girl, or just a forgotten space in the house?

I guess I'll find out tomorrow, Jack thought to himself, still fumbling to accept or object the idea of a having neighbors.

His attention turned to his own roof. As if to make sure it was really there, Jack glanced around his room before experimentally placing a foot against the surface. It felt so wrong to disobey North, but he was a little excited to sit on the roof. He placed his other foot and shifted his weight, ducking under the indoor barrier, and finally allowing himself to stand on the roof. Jack smiled to himself proudly and looked up at the moon as if to seek its approval. The darkness curved around the moon's rounded edge, obscuring it so that the only shine came from its now visible crescent. Jack was beaming from ear-to-ear.

And for a brief moment, it felt like the Man in the Moon was smiling down at him too.

Jack remembered hearing the whir of the moving truck that morning.

As he sat up in his bed and slowly shifted into consciousness, he listened closely for the crunch of gravel against asphalt when they pulled in. He was both delighted and horrified to hear just that, as well as the echo of one, two, three car doors opening and slamming shut again. Jack practically leaped from his bed to peek out his window, hoping to catch a glimpse but to no avail; the oak tree curiously perched in his front yard obscured his view slightly.

But no matter. It was time to get up.

The young brunette boy strided over to his dresser, skimming through neatly folded piles of clothes before picking out his favorite blue t-shirt and a loose pair of brown cargo shorts. He threw them on lethargically and began down the hallway, tapping on Emma's door before entering her bright, pink room. Emma was sitting on the floor with her favorite doll in her hands. She smiled at Jack. "Morning, Jack!"

"Morning, Emma." He smiled back warmly, kneeling down beside her. He pressed a light kiss to his sister's forehead and glimpsed down at her. "The neighbor's just got here, ya' know."

She bounced a bit, mouth forming an 'O' as she gasped excitedly. "Really?! Did you wake up Dad?"

"Did I wake up North?" Jack laughed, playfully nudging her in the arm. "What kind of a question is that? He's always awake before us! He's probably waiting for us right now, so get dressed, wouldja?"

Emma nodded and shooed him out, closing the door behind him with a loud thump. Jack began his descend for the kitchen and when he swung the corner, North was nowhere in sight. He shrugged it off and got himself a glass of orange juice, the excitement sort of killing his hunger this morning. Just above the kitchen, he heard little footsteps scurry down the hallway and smiled as he noticed Emma making her way down the stairs. "Where's Dad?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe he's in his study or something."

"Hmm…" Emma balled her fist for a minute and pressed it to her chin. She scurried out of the kitchen and passed the living room until Jack couldn't see her anymore. When she came back, she had a confused look on her face. "I didn't see him in there, either."

"No? Huh." Jack murmured, taking a swig of his orange juice. Emma grabbed her step stool and fixed herself a bowl of cereal while Jack simply poured himself another glass of juice. They sat at the table, idly chatting about nothing in particular until the front door burst open loudly. (In all honesty, Jack may have jumped a little.)

"My apologies, little ones!" North's voice called from the living room. "I was helping the neighbors with some boxes off the truck."

Emma and Jack nodded in unison.

"Finish your breakfast and come along; I want you to meet them," North stated, a wide grin on his face. "They have a son about your age, Jack; you and Emma can play with him while his parents and I chat!" Something about the phrase "a son your age" sounded simultaneously awesome and horrible in Jack's mind. Was North really trying to fix him a play date or something?

Rather than argue, the young brunette merely nodded his head and placed his glass in the sink along with Emma's empty cereal bowl. They followed North out the door an over the neighbor's yard in an uncomfortable silence.

That man was a dragon.

Holy hell. Jack had always thought North was pretty big, but this dude was a behemoth. His hand could probably crush Jack's head like a grape! And… and that wasn't even the beginning of it! This tall, burly man had a long auburn beard that Jack almost thought was longer than North's, and a head of hair to match it. To say the least, the guy was intimidating. His shadow completely eclipsed the sun – or at least at Jack's height it did. And when he spoke, it almost reminded Jack of the rumble of an earthquake.

"You must be North's lad, eh?" he asked, his face expressionless. Great. The dude had a funny accent too. He extended his monster-sized hand and smiled a bit at the young boy. "The name's Sven Haddock."

His name didn't really register in Jack's head; he wasn't entirely sure if his name was Ven and his accent was making it sound weird, or if it was Sven and he just pronounced it wrong. Hesitantly, and with a twinge of fear he took Sv… V… Sve… *ahem* Mr. Haddock's hand and shook it politely. "I-I'm Jack. It's nice to meet you."

Mr. Haddock chuckled a bit and patted his head. "You seem like a strong boy, Jack."

Jack could feel Emma clinging to his arm behind him. He glanced between her and Mr. Haddock before boasting, "I-I sure am!" in an attempt to feign bravery in the presence of a dragon. The larger man smiled, and turned his attention to Emma, who shrunk back and clung to Jack's arm as if her life depended on it.

"And you must be Emma," he said, his voice a bit softer to address her. Emma shakily nodded, tugging on Jack's sleeve a bit. Mr. Haddock chuckled and turned to the house for a moment. Suddenly, his voice boomed loudly: "HENRIK! GET OUT HERE A MOMENT!"

Jack and Emma jumped a bit. Shortly after, a softer voice called back to him, "U-uh, one sec Dad!"

Mr. Haddock rolled his eyes for a split second, until his expression melted into what seemed like annoyance when he heard the clatter of things falling over inside, and a few muffled I'm sorry's here and there. Finally, after a silence so awkward Jack died a little inside, a tall blonde woman emerged from the building along with a skinny, brunette kid.

Jack's eyes locked on the two of them, as if to size them up. Compared to Mr. Haddock, Mrs. Haddock was really… well, minuscule and lean. She reminded him of one of Emma's dolls before she took it out of the packaging, with long blond hair pulled back in a loose braid and a few freckles that randomly dotted her face. She was fairly curvy, with meat on her bones but she still had a smaller size to her in comparison to Mr. Haddock. And just behind her, clinging to the back of her shirt, Jack could barely make out the form of another boy.

"It's nice to meet all three of you," the woman smiled gently. "My name is Valarie, but you can call me Val."

She shook hands with each of them, that smile never leaving her face. Shortly after, she nudged the boy hiding behind her a bit. A soft voice barely whispered, "H-Hello." Jack practically didn't hear him; his voice was so soft it was barely even a murmur. Val gently nudged him forward, letting him stand in front of her and Mr. Haddock. Jack raised an eyebrow.

Their kid was a pleasant mix of the two of them; he was rather lean like his mother, with freckles that stippled his shoulders and cheeks less generously than Val. Jack had a feeling that if you moved his tank top enough, you'd find his entire torso covered in freckles. His eyes were a bright green that really popped when he peeked at his face, and his bangs just barely skimmed the top of his eyebrows. His stance was sort of weird too; it seemed like he was shrinking away from Jack, tepidness evident in his every body movement. His tiny hands were balled up into fists and he held them close to his chest; it reminded Jack of those movies when wimpy kids got into fights but didn't know what to do. And it wasn't until he really looked that Jack caught a glimpse of the crudely stitched dragon he clutched to his chest tightly.

Jack snorted to himself. He looked like a dork.

"Well, don't be shy, boy!" North smiled, extending a hand toward the small boy. He shrunk back, but shook it timidly. "The little ones call me North; welcome to the neighborhood!"

"H-Hi." The kid stuttered, peeking over at Jack. The brunettes locked eyes for a minute before he nervously looked away. "I'm Henrick."

North nudged Jack forward, and the boy rolled his eyes a bit. He stepped forward and lazily waved. "I'm Jack. And the arm leech over here is Emma."

Emma pouted, loosening her grasp on Jack's sleeve. "Hey!"

"Jack, be nice." North chuckled.

The two boys just stared at each other quietly. To be completely honest, Hen-whatever-his-name-is wasn't exactly the kind of kid Jack was expecting to move next door. He struck him as quiet, and the way he hardly had a tan made him think the kid hardly got outside. Still, though, there was something interesting about the way he presented himself; Jack was regrettably curious about what kind of kid this guy was. When he peeked up at Mr. Haddock, he got the impression he was a rough-and-tough guy with no real boundary issues; whereas Mrs. Haddock seemed a bit more reserved.

Jack was curious; was Hiccup in the middle, or more like his mother?

"Henrick, why don't you and Jack play together for a bit," Mr. Haddock asked, patting his son on the back gently. Henrick looked back at him with widened eyes like a deer gazing into car headlights. His expression shifted from shyness to mortification in the blink of an eye. His Dad simply looked down at him and smiled. "Don't be shy, boy; Jack won't bite!"

"Or at least not hard," Jack mumbled under his breath, earning an amused giggle from his baby sister. Henrick weakly smiled at him, and the two walked to the tiny back yard. As they walked, Jack babbled on about the neighborhood and the different people who lived on their street. He went on and on about North's parties and whatever popped into his little brain until he ran out of breath to speak with. Meanwhile, Henrick simply nodded, giggling here and there when Jack made a crack about crazy old Mildue at the end of the road. But other than that, he didn't particularly say much. It was sort of annoying. Even Emma tried to talk to him, asking quiet questions about his favorite foods and colors, but Henrick stuttered and answered as quickly as he could.

After a dramatic inhalation, Jack peeked over at Henrick and said, "You don't really talk very much, do you?"

Henrick jumped a bit, but nodded. "S-Sorry…" His fingers curled around his little stuffed dragon tightly.

Jack huffed. The silence's return was annoying him immensely. Yeesh! Was this kid even capable of having fun or socializing with people?"What was your name again?"

"Um… H-Henrik."

Jack glanced over at Emma who shrugged, meaning nothing in particular. He smirked a bit and jokingly stuttered: "H-Henrik, huh? That's kind of a funny name." His joke caught a laugh from Emma and a nervous peek from Henrik. He clung to his dragon a bit more.

"I-It's just Henrik." He mumbled softly.

"You sure? It's not H-Henrik?"

Henrik's eyebrows weaved together a bit, his expression slowly moving into what seemed like annoyance. "I-It's not!" he replied, a bit louder. Something about the defensive tone in his voice pleased Jack. It revealed a louder side of the timid boy's personality that Jack wanted to explore.

"You have the hiccups or something? Y-You k-keep t-talking f-funny." He chuckled, poking the shorter brunette in the nose. Henrik shrunk back a little, letting his eyes fall to the ground while he shyly hugged his little dragon.

Emma peeked at his expression and turned to Jack with a giggle. "Jack I think you're hurting his feelings!"

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled a bit. This kid seems pretty sensitive. He thought to himself with an inner sigh. He strode towards the boy and bent his knees to look him in the eyes properly. "Am I?"

Henrik simply sat there quietly, trying to avoid Jack's gaze. The taller brunette placed a hand on his shoulder and laughed. "Well shucks; hiccup-boy knows I'm only kidding around, right?"

"You are?" His curious peek and genuinely surprised tone in his voice sort of stung a little. Jack wasn't trying to be rude.

"Sheesh! Can't you take a joke?" He groaned, smacking the boy on the arm playfully. "Smile a little, wouldja? You're killing me over here!"

Henrik hesitantly grinned, his smile a little crooked and half-hearted. Jack smiled at him in return. He almost had half a mind to call Henrik's smile cute. Before he could say more, he heard North's voice echo from the front yard, calling for Emma and he. Jack sighed.

"I guess we've gotta go," he said with a falling grin. "But we can play again sometime, right? You're pretty interesting, Hiccup-boy."

His eyes lit up, a bright tint of green that reminded Jack of the spring. "Yeah. But… can you quit calling me hiccup-boy? It's not funny."

"It's less of a mouthful than H-Henrik, that's for sure."

Henrik frowned, and Jack patted his head in response. Emma said a quick goodbye and the two hurried to meet up with North in the front yard.

Jack found Henrik… amusing.

Maybe he just liked messing with him, or the look he'd get on his face when Jack called him Hiccup. He'd weave his eyebrows downward and jut out his bottom lip, and every time he'd complain, "Jack stop calling me that" in the whiniest voice Jack had ever heard. His pout reminded him of Emma when he played tricks on her. But there was something about Henrik that Jack really liked. When they played together, it felt like such a tremendous accomplishment when Jack could get him to laugh or smile; it was like finding a tiny treasure every once in a while, and it made him feel weird and fuzzy inside.

Henrik, Emma, and Jack would play every afternoon until dusk. Some days they'd pretend they were fierce warriors off to save the princess, or gargantuan monsters stomping around the cities. Some days they'd play hopscotch like before, and others they'd play hide-and-go-seek tag. And when it rained, Jack would cover Hiccup with his little striped umbrella when he picked him up and they'd run inside as fast as they could to curl up with Emma on the couch and watch cartoons. All in all, Hiccup was an interesting kid that Jack found himself becoming fond of slowly. As the August days flew by, week after week the two were becoming inseparable.

But nothing pleased Jack more than the night he peeked out his window and noticed Hiccup in the room adjacent from his.

The young brunette was eager to stand on the roof again to look at the moon, but when he went to open the window he noticed his friend unpacking a few boxes in the room with the roof. Jack smiled widely and cracked open his window, sliding the glass upward to allow himself room to slip out onto the rooftop. He let his feet press against the cool surface and stood on his tip-toes, trying to get a better look at his friend through the window.

Boxes littered the floors and mindless clutter was scattered across the furniture. Jack could barely make out a few posters he assumed Hiccup had stuck on the walls; one had a large, fierce looking black dragon, and the other looked like a large map. There were random papers already laid across his desk, and Jack spotted a few cases of books that had spilled onto the floor. He smiled to himself. Hiccup really was a dork. The boy in the window peeked out and met Jack's look with a surprised one of his own. Jack waved at him and the boy mimicked the gesture, visibly confused before shutting the curtain.

The young brunette simply laughed to himself. And before Jack snuck back inside to sleep, he peeked up at the moon in the night sky. He grinned from ear to ear.

The Man in the Moon was smiling down at him again.

Author's Note: Yay~! Chapter one! That was only about… 11 pages of shitty introduction and lazy descriptions. I think I'm better at describing action or setting than writing out actual dialogue! Well, I hope things were straight forward enough. Reviews would be greatly appreciated but I mostly just hope you enjoyed it and stick around for a while!