As Merida rode Angus that day, she found that she could barely clear the jumps as her mind was so distracted. Eventually she gave in to her inner thoughts and led him back into his stable, stroking him gently.

"I know," she murmured, running her fingers through his mane. "I don't understand either." She sighed and picked up her shoulder bag, rummaging in it for a moment before producing two apples, one of which she held to his mouth. He sniffed it before taking it between his teeth in one mouthful. Merida bit into hers too, stroking his face by way of goodbye.

Besides, she still had that Science she needed help with. That was due tomorrow. In spite of herself, she allowed herself a small smile.

Hiccup jumped a mile when he saw '[email protected] would like to Skype' appear on his screen. He sat up, his heart beating furiously, ran his fingers through his fringe and waited a second before pressing 'Accept'.

"Sorry," Merida jumped in before Hiccup could even speak. She sat at her desk, grabbing a pen and her Science book, as well as her revision guide. "Had to get to the stables cleaned up, I hadn't seen Angus for a day or two."

"Who's Angus?" Hiccup asked, glad he didn't have to start the conversation this time.

"My horse," Merida smiled. It was one of the rare times he'd seen her do so and he felt his cheeks heat up. "Probably my best friend too. I haven't got many. Screw that. I don't have any."

"Um," Hiccup mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He really didn't know what to say to that if he was honest. Merida saw him and laughed.

"You can be part of the extremely elite club if you want," she grinned. "If you can stand being around someone that boring, that is."

"Excuse me," Hiccup raised a finger, as though he was making a point, "I may only have met you properly today but from what I've seen generally, you are an incredibly un-boring person."

"Is that your way of saying that you think I'm a nice person?" Merida laughed.

"Basically," he shrugged, picking up his revision guide. "Now, what did you need help with?"

~ * ~

"Are you kidding me?" Merida sat up a little straighter at Hiccup's last words. It was about two weeks since their encounter on the school field, and the pair of them had become firm friends. Now they skyped each other almost every night, to do homework. They'd finished all their homework hours ago and now they were just talking. Innocently talking. It was great. She'd never enjoyed conversation in years, especially not with a boy. "You did NOT just say that."

"What?" Hiccup asked, raising his hands up. "All I said was that I've never heard of Simple Minds!"

"That is blasphemy in itself."

"Hmph. Maybe you should go and get some taste."

"You should go and listen to The Jeweller, Part 2 and then we'll see who's got bad taste, shall we?"

"Challenge accepted," Hiccup grinned. "I'll hang up and YouTube it. I'll get back to you the moment it's finished."

"Deal," Merida folded her arms smugly. The line went dead, and with every passing second she knew she was winning.

Unfortunately, to Hiccup it looked like Merida might win this wager. This song was good, unbelievably good. The guitar solos were simple and not too overpowering, and this singer's voice! God, it was good. He was almost sad when it was over. It was then that he realised the time. Midnight, and he had school tomorrow. Crap.

He messaged her instead.

I'll admit, it was good. You win, but right now I've got to go.

Within a few seconds he got a reply.

I knew it!! This business isn't over yet Haddock. We'll talk at school.

What about the bus?

You get on my bus?!

I just, happened to notice it, yes. Yes, you do get on my bus.

Fine. We'll talk on the bus :)

Night Merida.

Goodnight Hiccup.

Hiccup plugged his phone into the charger and fell back onto his bed, sleep claiming him whilst he was still smiling.

~ * ~

"I told you!" Merida announced triumphantly as she sat down beside Hiccup the next morning. "I told you it was good? Did I? Did I? Yes I did!"

Hiccup smiled to himself, all the while still working in his little brown sketch book which was held almost against his face so Merida couldn't see. He was so proud of it, this one was going so well...

"What're you drawing?" Merida peeked over the top of the book, making him jump and drop his pencil and the book respectively. It landed on the floor, at Merida's feet, on the page he'd just been working on.

"No, don't -!" Hiccup cried, but it was too late. Merida had picked it up and seen it, her eyes going wider than dinner plates.

The sketches were gorgeous. It was Merida, shooting, Merida running, Merida smiling as she usually never did. It was drawn mainly in charcoal, but some had been inked over to give some beautiful definition. Merida's breath caught in her throat as she flipped through the two pages he'd been working on.

"This," she mumbled, "This is - me. But, why -" She turned to Hiccup, who had gone the colour of her hair. He was looking at her with his heart on his sleeve, his eyes open and entirely readable. "Oh."

A moment passed where Merida simply looked at him and Hiccup simply blushed even harder.

"So," Hiccup muttered before speaking up so she could hear her, "So I guess you - you want the truth?"

"If it's not too much trouble," Merida said quietly, handing him back his sketchbook without another word.

Hiccup paused for a moment before finally speaking.

"Look, I've, I've liked you for a while okay? Ever since I saw you put up your hand in English class and you were the only one to get that personification of war in Richard the Third. Then when we became real friends it only got worse."

"I didn't realise -" Merida breathed, as she realised that, all this time, she'd been falling for those damn green eyes and his snarky personality. It hit her like a ton of bricks and a blush crept up her cheeks as she looked into his eyes and saw nothing but sorrow. "I - oh Gods..."

"Don't worry," Hiccup sighed, putting his sketchbook into his rucksack and preparing to move seats, to the other side of the bus. "I knew this'd happen. Who cares about the weirdo Hiccup? He's got a stupid name and is only good for copying homework. I'm sorry. I ruined it."

He stood up and was just about to leave, his heart just about to sink even lower than it already was, when something made him whip round. A pull on his sleeve.

"No."

He turned to see Merida looking him right in the eye. The whole bus was silent and watching them now, to see what'd happen.

"I like you too, okay?" Merida mumbled, gripping his hand tighter. Hiccup waited a second, pulled away and scrunched his eyes.

"No, no you don't..." Hiccup murmured, "There's no way you'd like anyone as boring and nerdy and awkward and stupid and -"

"Shut up," Merida snapped. "You aren't stupid. How dare you? You're the most interesting person I know. You're funny, clever, smart, snarky; I don't even care if you're awkward because your personality more than makes up for it."

"Are you kidding me?" Hiccup wasn't sure, even now, if he could believe her. "I swear, if this is some kind of sick joke I'm gonna -"

Merida stood up, grabbed his shirt and pulled, hard. Their lips smashed together in an electric shock of energy and Merida pulled away after a second. The bus erupted into wolf whistles and cheers. Hiccup felt like his lungs had stopped working. Her hand was still gripping his green plaid shirt, hard.

"Okay, would you call that a sick joke?" Merida asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Shut up," Hiccup replied, holding her face with his hands and kissing her again. One thing was for certain, the bus driver got a pretty bad headache with the amount of cat calls going on that day.