Chapter Eighteen
"ᎢᎻᎪᎢ'Ꮪ Ꭺ ᏙᏆᏟᎢᎾᎡY, ᎡᏆᏩᎻᎢ ᎢᎻᎬᎡᎬ."

"What about the one after that?" Hiccup asked into the phone. He walked beside Eugene, who was pushing a hunched over Jack in a wheelchair. Jack had a bucket hat lowered over his face as he gingerly drank from a bottle of water. They had rubbed some aloe on him but his body was still screaming in pain. "You cannot be serious." Hiccup said. "Oh, goddamn it."

"What?" Eugene asked, glancing up.

"Every flight to L.A. is booked." Hiccup declared, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"What about into Burbank?"

"Totally sold out."

"Oh, fuck." Eugene cursed. "We can't drive there, the wedding starts in three and a half hours." He said, glancing at his watch. Needing something to yell at, he looked at their friend. "Kristoff, where's the car?"

"It's on it's way."

"You know what?" Hiccup said as Eugene put the brakes on Jack's wheelchair. "We can drive there. We can make it. Okay?"

Eugene shook his head as Hiccup looked up. He spotted the redhead, waving at him. "Hi." She whispered.

"Just give me one second." Hiccup said before jogging over to her.

"We will leave without you." Eugene threatened. He crossed his arms over his body. At least Merida was way better than Astrid.

"Is he missing a tooth?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Kristoff laughed.

"Hey." Hiccup greeted, sitting down beside her.

"Hey."

"Hey, thanks for helping out last night. That was so awesome." He said, moving closer to her. He was glad that they got to met again before they left. He wouldn't feel right just leaving her without so much as a goodbye in person.

"Sure." Merida softly said. An awkward silence settled between them. They both knew what needed to be said and what needed to be done.

"Listen, Merida, I--"

"Look, you don't have to say it." She cut off, knowing how hard this had to be for him. "I totally understand. This whole thing was stupid."

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. He was so thankful that he didn't have to crush her heart. He really did enjoy her. She was pretty and smart and goofy. She was a good person. It was just that their situation wasn't ideal. "It was stupid, wasn't it?" He smiled.

She slowly nodded her head, her heart slightly broken. She really did like Hiccup. He was cute and funny and so bright. But there was nothing she could do and she knew that he was wasted that night. "This is yours." She said, pulling the ring off her finger.

"Oh, thank you. I can't believe I gave my grandmother's Holocaust ring to someone I just met." He said, twisting the ring in the light. "What was I thinking?"

"You were really fucked up." She gently smiled, hoping to make him feel better.

"Clearly." He agreed.

Merida made a tsk and looked to the side. "You did pull out your own tooth."

"I--?" Hiccup stuttered. What did she just say? "I pulled out my own tooth?"

Merida furrowed her eyebrows, confused. Why did that surprise him? He was completely hammered and they had done a lot of crazy shit. He should have expected that he was the one to expertly yank out his own tooth without damaging any other surrounding teeth.

"Why did I pull out my own tooth?" He asked, slightly chuckling. What would posses him to do that?

"Well, Kristoff bet you that you weren't a good enough dentist to pull out your own tooth." Merida said, slightly scrunching her face.

"Okay. Heh. Of course he did." Hiccup replied, awkwardly smiling. He was now more embarrassed than ever before. He couldn't believe Merida had to witness that.

"You won." Merida encouraged, seeing his flushed cheeks.

"Yeah. Clearly. Yeah." He agreed, beginning to laugh. "That's a victory, right there." He said, touching the spot where his tooth should be, making Merida laugh.

"It needs to go down." Kristoff said, shoving on the roof.

"It's good. Get in." Eugene said, hopping in the driver's side.

"No. Safety first." Kristoff argued.

"Kristoff, it's fine. It's down."

"No, I gotta get it down first."

"Jesus Christ." Eugene cursed. He stood up, wiggling past Jack. "Look out." He hopped onto the back, stomping on the roof.

"Don't mess the car up." Kristoff said, watching Eugene begin to jump. "You're gonna mess the car up."

"Hey, what are you doing next weekend?" Hiccup asked, ignoring his friends arguing in the background.

"I don't know. Working. Why?" Merida asked, looking up into his green eyes.

"Well, uh, I was thinking maybe I'd come back and take you out to dinner or something." Hiccup said, slightly shuffling. He was hoping that maybe she would give him a real chance.

"Really? Like a date?" Merida asked, her blue eyes lighting up. He really wanted to get to know her? This was amazing.

"Yeah, like a date. Only one that I'll hopefully remember." Hiccup smiled. He chuckled, his missing tooth really noticeable as his eyes fluttered to the ground.

"Sounds good." Merida said, a grin widening on her face. She giggled, lightly blushing. She had never met anyone so sweet to her. When most people find out what her profession is, they freak out and run. But Hiccup was different.

Eugene stood up and slapped on the windshield twice. "Hic."

Kristoff copied him, standing and slapping the windshield as well. "Hic."

"Come on."

"Come on."

Eugene whipped his head, scoffing at Kristoff. Really? This again? He couldn't think of anything else to get Hic's attention?

"I--I gotta go. Okay. Bye." Hiccup stuttered, wandering backwards, keeping his eyes on the prettiest girl he had ever seen. He lend forward to kiss her, then stopped, unsure what to do. Merida laughed, pulling him in for a hug. "Bye bye."

"Bye." Merida blushed, watching him run off to his friends.

"All right, here we go." Eugene said, starting the car as Hiccup ran around back. "All right. Let's go." He urged.

"Yeah." Hiccup agreed, jumping over the side as Eugene began to drive forward.

"Careful." Jack said to Eugene, watching Hiccup rock into his seat beside him.

xxx

Eugene sped the entire way there. He passed cars illegal and was going at least 30 over the speed limit. If he was caught going over, there would be hell to pay. Those cops would have to chase him down to get him to pull over.

"Well, at least the trip wasn't a total disaster." Jack spoke up, his hat laying low over his face to shield from the sun. He tightly held onto the strings to keep it from flying away.

"What makes you say that?" Kristoff asked, flipping around in the front seat.

"When I woke up on the roof I happened to find $80,000 worth of Bellagio chips in my pocket." Jack slowly said, pulling a few out to show his friends. He had counted it three times just to sure that his counting was correct. He had a lot of time to waste on that roof.

"Oh!" Eugene cheered, a grin wide on his face.

"Oh, my God!" Hiccup cheered. They had gotten their money back! They hadn't completely wasted that entire night gambling for someone who wasn't their Jack.

"Looks like we're going home with some money, boys." Jack smiled. Everyone began whooping and hollering. They raised their fists into the air and tossed their heads back.

After a few miles, a van began honking their horn and drove close beside them. Kristoff stood up, pointing at the van edging closer and closer. "Here he comes. That's him."

The van door slid open, showing a guy kneeling on the ground.

"Hey, Neeco!" Kristoff shouted, a grin on his face.

"Hey. What's up, Kristoff?" Neeco replied, nodding his head and smiling. He was excited to try this new mode of transportation. Maybe he could advertise it. Tuxes on the go.

Hiccup cheered as Neeco began throwing the tuxes out of the van and into his hands.

"Whoa! Look out!" Neeco shouted, pointing forward, seeing a slow car in their way.

"Aw, shit!" Eugene cursed, swerving around the car to avoid hitting it. He struggled to keep control in his lane.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Kristoff cried as they swerved in their lane. After Eugene gain control of the vehicle again, they moved close to Neeco. Neeco threw the last tux when it was safe.

"Thanks, Neeco." Hiccup smiled.

"You got it, man." Neeco replied, fist bumping Hiccup across the highway.

Eugene floored it as Kristoff turned around. "Page me!"

"Adios!" Neeco waved, watching them zoom away.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Hiccup asked.

"That's my buddy." Kristoff said with a proud smile.

xxx

They were on a huge time crunch. They pulled over on an exit and began stripping down and changing into their tuxes. Cars honked as they passed by the four men hopping into their pants and buttoning their coats.

Hiccup pulled on his socks as Jack shaved his face. They were just a few feet away from the house. They were going to make it. This wedding was going to happen no matter what it took and Jack was going to look his best.

The four of them burst through the front door, everyone in the wedding party jumping to their feet and staring at them. "Hey. Sorry. MapQuest took us on a really crazy route." Hiccup said as they fixed their appearances.

xxx

The beautiful wedding began. Flower girls threw pretty pink pedals into the aisle. Jack looked dark red standing at the alter, but was still very handsome. Hiccup was still fumbling with his tux as Elsa walked down the aisle with her father.

Kristoff leaned over, whispering softly. "How's my hair?"

"It looks good." Hiccup softly said, nodding his head. Kristoff had cleaned up nice since Vegas. Someone had put light makeup on to hide the purple bruise around his eye and the red mark on his forehead.

"Is it cool like Eugene's?" Kristoff asked.

Now realizing that Kristoff had done his hair the exact same way as Eugene, Hiccup smirked. "It's classic Eugene." He answered. Finally, something that would annoy the shit out of Eugene and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"She looks beautiful, man." Eugene whispered, leaning over to Jack, who was widely grinning.

Elsa kissed her father's cheek then walked to her place at the alter. Jack walked forward, patting his father-in-law's shoulder. "Sorry I'm late." He said. He really did feel terrible. They had worried everyone and caused a delay.

"Vegas." Pete winked then took his spot.

When Jack returned, Elsa looked at him. "Where were you? And why are you so red?" She quietly asked.

Jack took a deep breath. "Honey, it's a long story."

The minister began preaching, gathering everyone's attention.

"All I know is I am so sorry." Jack continued under his breath. "And I promise for as long as we're married, to never, ever put you through anything like this again. Can you forgive me?"

Elsa smiled, looking into his blue eyes.

Slowly, her hand intertwined with his.

~~~~~~~~~~~