Hello! Welcome to the Mirror Image rewrite! I hope all of you will love this as much as I do. Enjoy!

Chapter One

ASHTON

Ashton stood in the studio, arms crossed over her chest as her dance instructor droned on and on. They have a recital coming up, she gets it. Was it necessary to keep them an hour extra just to lecture them? Definitely not. Glancing to her right where two of the girls were on their phones rather than listening, she rolled her eyes. Maybe she's wrong and staying after is what they need.

She could feel her phone vibrating and she sighed. It's her birthday, she knew she should have taken the day off. Ashton loves dancing, though. Her mother had signed her up for her first dance class in preschool, and she's stuck with it throughout the years. It's become her favorite hobby, and she's hoping to be able to run her own studio one day.

Until then, she's still taking classes. It seems like every year she's learning something new, but along with that comes the few students who don't choose to listen and would rather goof off and make things more difficult than they should be.

Hence, why they're still here and getting lectured.

"I expect everybody to be here and be on their best behavior on Wednesday. It's the last class before your individual recitals." Lindsay, her instructor, looked around the class, eyeing each girl. "You may all leave now. Do not be late."

Ashton smiled, grabbing her bag as she passed by their lockers and taking her phone from its place in her bra. She scrolled through the messages as she headed out towards the parking lot. The constant vibrating was brought on from the group chat she has going on with her small group of friends. Hiccup, Heather, Lout and Fishlegs. They were spamming her with questions about why she was running late, where she was, and happy birthdays.

Just as she was getting ready to slide her phone into the pocket of her bag, she got another text. She frowned at the Unkown number, but opened it anyway.

Oh. Nope. Hard pass.

A text from her sister? Why would her sister be reaching out to her now of all times?

"Why the long face, Ash?"

Ashton stopped walking once she reached the curb and looked away from her phone. Standing there, leaning against his car is her best friend, Henry - Hiccup - Haddock. He gave her a smile which she eagerly returned before rushing over and pulling him into a hug.

"It's nothing. Rehearsal was just tougher than usual. Thank you so much for picking me up, by the way."

"Of course. Anything for the birthday girl." Hiccup took her bag from her and tossed it into his backseat before walking around to the drivers door. "We're going to head back to my apartment. Is that okay?"

"Perfectly fine. I need to shower though, if that's okay with you."

Hiccup waved his hand around, "You know it's okay. I know you've got clothes in your bag, too. Please tell me you brought something for tonight."

"Of course I did!"

Ashton smiled, glancing at Hiccup out of the corner of her eye. She's only known Hiccup for a few years. They met their freshman year of college in math class. Ashton thought he was cute and knew he had one of the best grades in the class and asked for help. The rest is history. That is to say, they are only friends. As far as Ashton knows, Hiccup has never looked at her that way. Which, if you ask her, sucks. She's had a crush on him since they met.

"Good. Everyone is already at my place. We were just waiting on you, and then we're going to head downtown."

Ashton stretched in her seat. "I could go for a nap, too. Were we planning on leaving right after my shower?"

Hiccup hummed, his eyes glancing at the time before looking back to the road. "Yeah, you've got time for one.

"Oh, thank the gods."

They pulled up to Hiccup's apartment complex and he grabbed her bag out the backseat before she could. Ashton rolled her eyes. He was always doing small things like that. Like carrying her bags for her when they go to the mall, or giving her small compliments. She tries so hard not to think anything of it, but a part of her can't help it.

As they made their way up the steps, she listened to the familiar sound of his prosthetic hitting the stone. She frowned. They've been friends for a good few years now, and he's never told her what happened. She remembers asking him once and he just shut down. Was it that bad? Did Lout, his cousin, know? Heather and him had dated. Maybe she knows.

Ashton shook her head, forcing the little bit of jealousy she still felt about their past relationship away. It was dumb to still feel anything about it when it's been over for almost two years.

"Hey guys!" Heather shouted at them as they walked through the door. "Are you all ready for a good night? I know I am. We haven't had a nice night out as friends in a long time."

Hiccup passed Ashton her bag, who nodded. "It has been awhile. I wish we weren't all so busy all the time."

"And what took you two so long?" Lout asked, looking between Ashton and Hiccup with a smile and waggling his eyebrows at them.

Hiccup snorted. "Not what you think. Her class ran late."

Ouch. She won't let that bother her one bit.

"Mhm. Sure. That's what they all say."

Ashton groaned. "I'm just going to go shower and then take a nap. Then, we can leave."

She laughed as she shut the door, listening to Heather punch his arm and tell him to stop being annoying.

It was nights like this that Ashton wished all her friends would let loose. Her friend, Fishlegs, would never touch a drink, and always designated himself as the designated driver. Which, she is thankful for. When they go out on rare nights like this, she knows at least one of them is safe. But, she would love to see him let go just once.

Hiccup had never been much of a drinker in school. He would be the one playing it safe, and offering to be everyones designated driver. Ashton can't put her finger on when it changed, but one minute he never touched a drink and the next he did. He doesn't drink as much as Heather or Lout, but enough to feel the buzz.

The group of five had piled into Fishlegs' car and made the forty minute drive to downtown. They cracked jokes the entire way, sang songs at the top of their lungs, told stories. It was fun, but Ashton couldn't shake the bad feeling she had. She felt like something was going to happen, and she was't sure if she wanted to tell any of her friends or not.

She decided to keep her mouth shut and force herself to ignore the feeling. Fishlegs made it to the downtown parking garage in no time, and the group climbed out and started heading towards their favorite bar.

As they were walking, they passed by a building that had a poster. Ashton paid no mind to it, knowing what was on it, and hoping none of her friends would point it out.

"Hey, Ash! Look at this!" Lout was pointing at the poster and Ashton frowned. She should have known he would be the one to call it out. "Give you blonde hair and a few more freckles and this girl could be your twin!"

Ashton hummed, forcing her eyes to look at the poster. She crossed her arms with a frown. Why was she showing up everywhere today?

"Hey, he's not wrong." Heather said, glancing between her friend and the poster.

Hiccup smiled, looking closer at the unknown girl. "Same eye color and everything."

"You know what they say, Ash." She turned to look at Fishlegs, "Everyone has a twin."

Heather laughed. "Looks like we found yours!"

Ashton sighed, looking away from the poster and proceeded to head down the street. "Yeah, okay. Let's just get going."

Either no one noticed she was frustrated, or they all chose to ignore it. She was grateful that they decided to move on, but now they wouldn't stop talking about twins. If she had wanted to talk about twins, she would have told them.

That's just opening a can of worms that Ashton really didn't want to get into.

ASTRID

Astrid fell to the mat with a grunt, lifting her hand and wiping at her mouth. She shot a glare to her friend. "What the hell? You weren't supposed to actually hurt me!"

Ruffnut laughed, reaching down to help her friend up. "You told me not to go easy on you. Your tournament is in two weeks, Astrid. You need all the practice you can get."

Astrid scowled. Her friend wasn't wrong. She has the biggest tournament of her life coming up, and she feels extremely unprepared. Her trainer bailed on her for the day last minute, and she had to insist the help of her best friend, Ruffnut. Her name does her justice. The girl is in fact, rough.

"Fighting with you is much better than fighting with Eret. He's too scared to hit me back."

"Well, you know I don't have that fear one bit. What else do you have to do today?"

Astrid hummed as she stretched her arms across her body. "Nothing, I think. I only planned for an hour of training today, and we've done that. I'm ready to go out! Are you coming?"

"Are you kidding? It's rare that we get to go downtown and drink. Of course I'm coming! Tuff, too, I think."

"What about Eret and Dagur?"

Ruffnut nodded as she reached for her phone that was laying right off the mat. "I think so. I know Eret for sure, but I think Dagur may bail."

Astrid only shrugged. Dagur was something else. Astrid couldn't place why he hung out with them, or why they hung out with him sometimes. It's not that he's a bad guy, he's just… crazy. "That's chill. Let's go home and shower."

Astrid frowned at her phone while she and Ruff headed to their shared apartment. She had hoped that reaching out to her sister this year would fix things, but she guesses not. She had sent Ashton a birthday text hours ago, and it shows as read, but no reply. It's fine, though. If Ashton didn't want to talk to her, she could live with that.

"You okay, Hofferson?"

"Hm?" Astrid looked at her friend. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I was just hoping Ashton would have replied, but, guess not."

Ruffnut frowned. Being a twin herself, she could almost understand what it felt like not having any contact with her sibling. The only difference being, her and Tuff were never separated and have always been close. "Hey, if she doesn't want to get to know you, her loss."

Astrid only shrugged.

She was thankful in that moment that she and Ruff had an apartment a five minute walk from their gym. It was easy to escape Ruff wanting to talk about feelings and things by slipping into the bathroom once they got home. She quickly took a shower and put her hair in her usual braid, flipping it over her shoulder.

"I can not wait for a night out."

Living near downtown wasn't all that bad, either. Astrid and Ruff had found it's a lot easier and safer when they get too far gone to get behind a wheel, and if they meet someone at the bar and decide to take them home, it's the perfect distance that the guy couldn't change his mind. Not that it happened often, really. To Ruff, maybe, but Astird is always too busy for some hook up.

The two girls left their apartment, headed in the direction of downtown. Ruff gave Astrid a light shove as they were walking down the sidewalk. "What if Eret hits on you tonight? Are you finally going -"

"Ugh, ew. No. Please don't finish that sentence." Astrid grimaced, staring around at the buildings around them. "The Eret phase has passed. But, you know him. Incapable of being just friends with an attractive girl."

"You're full of yourself."

Astrid laughed and only paused when her eyes landed on a poster. Ruff bounded over to it, reaching out and pointing. "Look at this! Look at you! You look amazing!"

Astrid stopped in front of the poster. Her head tilted to the side and she smiled. "You're right. I am full of myself. I look good."

Ruff shoved her friend, causing her to continue walking. "Shut it, Hofferson."

The second they walked through the door of the bar, Ruff split. Astrid wasn't surprised, really. If there was one thing Ruffnut loves, it's drinking. Astrid smiled before making her way over to the counter to order her own drink.

One thing Astrid loves about this bar is that it's not well known. It can be crowded sometimes, but it's never unbearable. She's always loved the people that she's met here, and the staff is amazing. It's her goto place when she wants a night out.

Astrid sipped her drink, her eyes glancing around at the people that were here. She vaguely wondered where Ruff had wandered off to and if the boys were there yet. She took a step away, bumping into someone and almost dropping her drink.

"Hey! What where -"

"I'm so sorry!" The guy blurted, reaching towards her and resting his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She looked up him, blue meeting green. "Hey. You're that girl from that MMA poster."

Astrid couldn't help but smile at the guy. She let out a laugh, "Yeah. Yep, that's me. I'm Astrid."

"Hiccup." He took her offered hand and returned her smile.

Astrid hummed, looking him up and down. He was cute. In a nerdy sort of way. He has freckles that cover his face, the greenest eyes she has ever seen, and that jaw. She's a sucker for a sharp jawline. Maybe she'd get lucky tonight, not that she was expecting to, that is. That's not what she came out for. But, it is her birthday, after all.

"You know, you're pretty cute, Hiccup."

She smiled at the slight blush that had taken over his face. He looked her over quickly, reaching up and rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. "Ah.. thanks, Astrid. You are, too."

Astrid's smile only grew. Should she go for it? One more look over him and she nodded. Yep. Definitely going to go for it. She took a step closer to him, "Yeah? I think -"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was cut off by someone calling out Hiccup's name. Astrid looked around Hiccup and at the person walking over. Her smile fell almost instantly. It's turning out to be her lucky day. A cute guy, and the one person she has been trying to talk to, both in the same place.

The person froze upon seeing her. Her eyes got wide, and Astrid could read the shock on her face. Hiccup looked between the two, raising an eyebrow at Ashton.

"Astrid." She looked quickly from Hiccup to her sister. "What are you doing here?"

Astrid only smiled, crossing her arms. "What do you mean? I'm celebrating. It's my birthday, too, sister."