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“You are aware of the fact that this has got to stop sooner or later.” the hushed voice was heard throughout the rather cramped shed located just about twenty meters away from a quite fine house. That is, fine by the standards of your everyday 18th century village. It was a wooden two storage house, just a teeny bit larger than the average house in this particular village. There was no response to the statement. The auburn haired 16 year old's lips turned into just a thin line.
“Jack.” the same voice rang out, louder this time around.
“I know, I know!” a boy with dark brown hair replied, his voice weary, yet strong. He turned to the other boy, and looked into his green eyes, “But we both know that's going to be extremely difficult. We've tried once before, and it nearly broke me.”
“You mean it broke the pair of us. I wasn't exactly enjoying life those couple of weeks.” almost desperate green eyes locked with Jack's chocolate brown ones. Then Jack smiled.
“Hiccup, you're merely 16 years old, and I just turned 17, we won't have to worry about out duties as responsible adults for another year or so.” being the joker that he was, Jack had deliberately straightened his back, clearly mimicking his father when uttering the word 'responsible'. Hiccup sighed and began buttoning up the shirt he had put on whilst listening to his secret lover's words, and his mouth formed but a weak smile. He could still remember their first time as clear as day. Jack had convinced Hiccup to follow him to Mr. Aster’s farm after dark in order to steal some carrots just for the sake of it. Jack had called it a physical thrill. Hiccup, on the other hand, had called it foolishness. And as it turned out, Mr. Aster had stayed awake on that particular night, probably because of the whiskey. He had seen two figures running around on his crops, and had called out before attempting to run after them. Jack had laughed wholeheartedly while grabbing Hiccup’s hand, running towards the safety of the village, three carrots in his other hand. Before long they had reached the shed in Hiccup’s backyard, and without hesitation they had gone in, locking the door behind them, just to be sure.
“ You are barking mad, Jackson!” Hiccup exclaimed, his voice exhausted from all the running but also slightly amused. The other boy had to lean on the counter by the wall farthest away from the oak door in order to not fall over from laughter. Hiccup glared at him, “This is so not funny!” he stubbornly stated, but a small chuckle left his lips nonetheless.
“ Oh come on Hiccup, even you thought that was good fun!” the brown eyes glistened with tears from laughter and he could but continue to chuckle as he looked up at the other teen, placing the carrots on the counter. “But you know,” he continued, “we've no way of knowing if he followed us all the way here.” he said, in a more serious tone. Hiccup shrugged,
“ Well, he was clearly drunk. Even if he saw which direction we were heading towards there is no way he managed to run after us. If he didn't give up after just a few seconds he probably fell down on his crops and passed out.” he smirked, just a little bit.
“ My point is,” Jack continued, a slight smile ever appearant on his face, “maybe we shouldn't go out just yet.” Hiccup frowned slightly at this, realizing he hadn't even thought about the fact that they were, in fact, in the shed in his backyard, let alone that they would have to get out sooner or later.
“ Then what should we do, stay the night? It's bloody freezing.” Hiccup stated, and Jack took a step closer to the other boy, “And besides, my parents will notice for sure that I'm gone in the morning, my father wants me to do chores even before breakfast.” Jack took another slow step. “Then again,” he suddenly said, “I could always say that I just woke up early and... decided to go out for a bit.” the two of them were now so close to each other that they'd be able to touch one another merely by reaching out their hand a little bit. “But what about you?” he suddenly exclaimed, but in a bit of a whisper.
“ What about me?” Jack tilted his head slightly, his hands stretched out behind him in order to still touch the counter.
“ You live at least a mile away, you'd have to leave in just a few hours.” Hiccup’s voice sounded slightly unsure. Of what, he didn't even know himself.
“ It was your suggestion to stay the night, not mine.” Jack let out a short, yet amused laugh, and finally let his hands fall down from the counter.
“ Jack...” Hiccup started, and the boy before him merely tilted his head slightly more, waiting for him to continue, “Why did you take me to Mr. Aster’s farm?”
“ Huh?” Jack smiled, “I thought that much was obvious, I felt for some carrots, and I thought it'd be good fun.” he motioned towards the three carrots still laying on top of the counter.
“ No, why did you really take me there in the middle of the night? Everyone knows Mr. Aster rarely wakes up before nine in the morning.” Hiccup looked up at the slightly taller boy with a stubborn look on his face, and Jack swallowed a sigh.
“ You're always so busy, either running errands for your father, or helping out here at the house, or studying... There are some days when I don't even see you, and we don't exactly live in an overly large town. I guess I thought that maybe there was a slight chance that this would give us the opportunity of being alone, if just for a little while.” he finally admitted, and unknowingly brought his hands back to the counter behind him. Hiccup could only stare at him, dumbfounded. Of course that was the reason, how had not figured that out sooner? It had merely gone two weeks since they had been forced to run away from an angry salesman down on the market after another one of Jack's mischiefs. They had ended up hiding in a small alley, behind a few bags full of... well, they never found out, and he had no intention of doing so either. The cramped space had forced them to lean up against, practically hold each other in order for them to not be seen. And after a few minutes of sitting in the same position, they finally breathed out and had decided to crawl out of their hiding spot. That had been the moment when their lips had accidentally touched as Hiccup had attempted to move in order to get out in the open completely. Jack's face had turned bright red and had quickly turned away in an attempt to hide his face. Hiccup’s cheeks had also turned red, but in that moment he had felt slightly braver than usual, and had cupped Jack's cheeks in his hands before leaning in once again.
“ So that's why?” he finally asked, it wasn't a question so much as a statement, but he waited for an answer nonetheless. He had no idea for how long he had been reliving his memory of that day, but as he looked up he noticed that Jack's hands had once again been removed from the counter. The brown eyed boy could only nod, looking down on the floor, “Wh-- why didn't you just tell me so sooner? There are plenty of different and better ways than this when it comes to spending some alone time after dark.”
“ Well, what was I supposed to say?” he looked up from the floor, “We've never even spoken about... that day, since, well, ever! I'm not even sure if you meant what you did.” his voice became lower and lower for every word, and Hiccup could easily tell that Jack was truly torn up by what happened. Confused. He was like an entirely different boy. He was usually the optimistic joker who would cheer up everyone's day by helping them out, that is when he wasn't pulling pranks on them, but now he seemed almost unsure of himself.
“ You're unsure if I meant it? Jack, when have I ever done anything with you I haven't meant?” Hiccup resisted the urge of grab the other boy's hand, “I wasn't exactly sure if you approved of it, either, you know.”
“ Well, I didn't exactly say no, did I?” Jack responded with a slight smile, but a smile nonetheless. Hiccup allowed a small chuckle to escape from his lips.
“ I suppose not.” he smiled at the boy who had been his very best friend ever since childhood. He felt Jack's hand gently taking hold of his own. And a few seconds after that the other hand.
“ You still haven't actually answered my question.” Jack said, looking into Hiccup’s emerald green eyes.
“ I wasn't even aware of the fact that there was a question that needed a response.” his lips formed a smile.
“ Whether or not you meant what you did that day.” Jack's voice was light, but it had a serious tone to it, and Hiccup’s smile grew slightly wider.
“ What do you think, you paper scull?” they both shared a slight laugh at the sound of the insult, “Really, though.” Hiccup continued, “Like I said before, I've never done anything I haven't meant when I'm with you, and I certainly wouldn't do such a thing as a joke.” he could hear Jack breathing out at this, even though he clearly tried his very best to hide it.
“ Well, thank you for telling me, at least.” Jack glanced down on their intertwined hands, and then back up at Henry.
“ Hey, you can tell me anything, and you can ask me anything, you know that. And the next time you want to talk to me alone, maybe just ask me to meet up somewhere when we're not busy instead of stealing carrots from poor Mr. Aster?” Jack merely let out an amused laugh.
“ I suppose I could just sneak up to your room and risk getting caught by your father instead?”
“ Don't bring him into this. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.” and with that, Hiccup let go of one of Jack's hands, brought it to the brown haired boy's cheek, and leaned in, somewhat afraid to close the final gap between them. Fortunately, Jack took care of that, sensing Hiccup’s hesitation to do so, and before long they could, at last, feel their lips touch each other softly. They were almost merely brushing against each other, but there was no denying of the fact that it was a kiss full of emotions. Dangerous emotions, forbidden emotions. But it was simply impossible for them to stop. Hiccup’s free hand was trembling like a weak autumn leaf as it reached up to touch Jack's shoulder.
All of that had happened merely six months earlier. Obviously, nothing had ever been the same ever since. They both knew that they would have to keep it a secret, that much was for sure. So, Jack began paying nightly visits to Hiccup’s family's house, or rather, the shed in their backyard. They both knew, of course, that it couldn't go on forever, though Hiccup was aware of it far more than Jack was, or pretended to be. This had been the cause of a short 'pause' in their relationship two and a half months after their first time. Hiccup had tried his very best to forget it, but their fight from that night still haunted him from time to time. In the end, they both realized that there was simply no way that they could simply ignore each other, but after having spent another three and a half months together, the involuntary knowing that what they were doing was indeed forbidden, and most of all a most horrible sin had grown on Hiccup once again, but this time he was determined to not make things between himself and Jack difficult, not again.
“Hiccup...?” Jack's voice shook the green eyed teen back to reality, and away from his memories. He could but look up at the boy before him, and he noticed that he was gently holding his jacket in his right hand. He sighed.
“Sorry. I was just... lost inside my head.” he crossed his arms, repeatedly brushing his foot against a small bump in one of the floorboards subconsciously. His eyes sought their way to Jack's deep brown ones, and he could but frown confusedly when Jack began to chuckle.
“Now that much was obvious. You've been completely gone for the past five minutes!” at this, Hiccup too began to smile amusedly, “Look, I'm pretty sure I'm more aware of the... situation we're in more than you realize. But I still have to at least try to live fully in the moment. Frankly I'm enjoying myself far too much not to.” they both simply smiled at each other for a minute or two, surrounded by nothing but a few tools, a counter, wooden walls and a comfortable, understanding silence. Eventually, though, Jack's somewhat reluctant voice broke the silence, “It's getting way too late. I should probably head back home.” he knew those words were coming, but Hiccup still felt a shot of pain in his stomach as the words left Jack's lips. He could but nod, “Hey,” Jack then continued, cupping Hiccup’s cheek with his free hand, “I'll see you tomorrow. Well, today.” another smile was exchanged between the two lovers, before Jack softly pecked Hiccup’s lips, reluctantly reaching out in order to open the oak door that hid them so well from the outside world. Not looking back, Jack swiftly and quietly left the cramped shed, leaving Hiccup standing by the open door. It may seem like a somewhat cold gesture, but Hiccup knew that not looking back at him was merely Jack's way of (not) coping with reality. As he watched the slender figure running along the street towards his own home, Hiccup was unable to move even a finger. He could only stand still, watching his forbidden love rapidly run farther and farther away from his reach. He knew that they would eventually be forced to let go of each other, but as he leaned against the wall, Hiccup determinedly shut out those thoughts, simply enjoying the moment while closing his affectionate and slightly weary eyes.