A/N Strong language in this from the very first line - rated PG-13

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Merida almost screamed at her best friend, earning some confused stares as they walked out of school. "I worked for two months to get her to even think about going out with you, and now you say you're not interested? What's your problem Hiccup?"

"I - I just - I, Merida -"

"Just give me a reason you utter prat!" Merida shouted at him.

She had good reason to be angry. Back in April Hiccup had managed to get a crush on Astrid Hofferson, one of the most popular girls in the school of all people. As she and Merida went to athletics training together after school and she knew her quite well, Hiccup had asked Merida to put in a couple of good words for him. Merida didn't think it'd go well, or that they were suited for each other at all, but nevertheless she did it for her best friend of ten years.

Now, eventually, Astrid seemed to be taking some notice of him and it seemed her hard work had paid off. She ran to him after school to walk home together, as they always did, to tell him the good news, a beaming smile on her face. Hiccup didn't seem to take the news as well as she'd expected though. In fact, he looked positively downcast. Merida asked what the problem was and he'd simply said that he 'wasn't interested' anymore. No wonder she was pissed off.

"I'm, there's -" he stuttered, "I don't -"

"Oh for God's sake," she snapped, setting off at a much faster pace and shoving her ear-buds in her ears, ignoring him for the rest of the journey home. Hiccup let her walk ahead; he knew he'd played this one especially badly. What he didn't realise over the course of those two months when Merida was telling Astrid how amazing he was and reporting to him on the progress daily was that he'd fall for her. He'd always had a soft spot where she was concerned, but he'd never thought it was anything big. Now, he realised it was so much more.

And damn, it had been hard to convince himself it was real.

Now she was rejecting him? Well, okay, not rejecting, but she wasn't going to talk to him again, he was sure of that. Not after he'd been such an idiot. He couldn't even tell her how he felt about her? That was just wimpy to the extreme, surely? He unlocked his front door, grudgingly walked upstairs and flopped down onto his bed. She only lived a street away; it felt like so much more now.

"What a prat!" Merida almost shouted into her phone as she talked to Rapunzel. She really couldn't get her head around it. Not interested? What kind of pathetic excuse was that? Rapunzel however, had noticed Hiccup's growing interest in the red head but had kept quiet about it, as had Jack after she gave him a stern talking to. She sighed. Now she had to tell Merida - whatever it took. She'd never speak to him otherwise.

"Seriously Punz - can you believe it? I can't even begin to - why aren't you saying anything?" Merida demanded.

"Mer -" she paused for a moment, "there's a very, very good reason why Hiccup said he's not interested anymore."

"Hmph!" Merida snorted. "Try me."

"Merida - Hiccup likes you."

The moment before she spoke again seemed to last forever.

"You've got to be joking."

"I swear. I know. He's always looking at you whenever you're speaking, then looking away the moment you notice. Merida, he's been doing this for at least two months. I've got no idea how you didn't notice."

"Hiccup would never go for someone like me," Merida retaliated, and she was surprised to hear her voice sounded slightly hurt. She mentally slapped herself and hoped Rapunzel hadn't noticed.

"Well, I can promise you he has," Rapunzel sighed. "Just don't kill him for it, okay? What else was he supposed to say? He couldn't confess to you!"

"Why not?"

"Remember what you did to MacIntosh when he asked you out?"

"I see what you mean." Merida bit her lip, trying not to laugh as she remembered how she'd slapped him across the face and kicked his groin. She'd heard reports he went home wailing like a stranded puppy. "Well, what do I say instead? 'Hiccup, I understand why you didn't want to go out with Astrid, but now our friendship is ruined?' What kind of conversation would that be? God - he's such an arse -"

"Merida," Rapunzel said as calmly as she could, "I think I know why you're so angry about this."

"Why?" Merida snapped. She couldn't see her way around the problem; she doubted very much whether Rapunzel would be able to solve the issue either. She heard the blonde take a deep breath, as though steadying herself.

"Merida - it's kind of clear. You like him."

Silence hung in the air for a split second before Merida cracked.

"What?"

"Look -" Rapunzel started talking much faster, "We noticed it, we all did, the way you didn't want to talk to him, the way you blushed a bit when he talked to you -"

"I do not blush!"

"Well we saw you," Rapunzel rushed, wanting to say as much as she could before Merida started shouting. "Look. You like him, and we've noticed. That's all there really is to it. If you told him now you wouldn't hurt his feelings so badly."

"Oh for God's sake."

Merida hung up and shoved her headphones on with unnecessary force, hitting 'play' very hard. She lost her head in the music but there was one tiny part of her brain, whispering to go back. It was blocked out. She didn't want to - but it had to be done. There was no way she was going to ruin a friendship for that.

A street away, a boy was listening to 'Lonely Sunday' through his computer. He sighed and ran his fingers through his auburn hair. She'd never listen, or forgive him for that matter. What was the point in confessing now?

Maybe it just wasn't meant to happen.

A/N Wow - last time I said this I got a ton of supportive comments imploring me to stay, but to be honest I'm really thinking this book is a waste of my time at the moment. The read count has dropped tons; I used to get about 300 on each chapter and now I'm getting just over 100 on each. 

I don't usually pick on stuff like this, but it really makes you wonder if people care anymore. Plus the fact that I've just been dumped, my parents are going through a divorce and my younger sister keeps telling me what a terrible sister I am, doesn't really make you want to write too much. 

I don't know how many of you out there still genuinely enjoy my stories, but to those who do I'm sorry, but I will be taking a break. I'll be online and reading etc, but my writing will be very on and off. The Dragon Rider probably won't be updated for a while; I don't know about this book. I don't care if you unfollow - it's your choice. I just need you to know that at the moment I don't have the emotional energy to cater to everyone's needs.

Thank you -

MericcupIsMyLife.