Summary:
"Did you just call me bitch?" Astrid asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm pretty sure that's not what I said, but I guess that works too, Bitch." Oh boy, he shouldn't have said all that—he was so going to die. The moment he saw the glower in her eyes, it was as if Hiccup saw his life flash before him.
But then, Hiccup swore that he also saw her grin.
Tutor AU.
Don't mind the title.
Originally a prompt fic or short drabble.
Prompt: Muse A: my dad is your tutor and I came in and saw you struggling so I helped you and now I've replaced my dad and you're adorable goddamn
Muse B: your dad was my tutor but you helped me and now you've replaced him and even though I understand keep pretending that I don't so that I have an excuse to spend time with you
Though I ended up straying from the prompt, I still tried keeping it as close as possible.
Also, do yourself a favor and level-down your expectations... I swear it will be better for you and I cause apparently... I can't write shit anymore.
Enjoy!
Beta'd by Impracticable-Dreamer, to whom this fic is also dedicated to.
Who would have thought that his burly, viking-like tutor would have a perfect valkyrie for his daughter?
Astrid Hofferson.
As in the Astrid freakin' Hofferson, the epitome of a high school Queen Bee: strong, smart, and proud.
In all honesty, Hiccup didn't really have any troubles with his grades—in fact, his academic performance was the last thing that Hiccup needed to worry about. But his father wanted a son who graduated in one of those fancy, world class universities abroad that offered the best programs. So as usual, with or without his consent, his father had hired Dr. Hofferson to make sure he aced every entrance examinations he took.
Unfortunately(maybe fortunately for Hiccup), Dr. Hofferson had a sudden busy schedule, and the doctor's daughter had to substitute for his father as his study partner.
Here she was, sitting on the same table as him, and he couldn't even strike a conversation with her.
Astrid looked even perfect up-close; toying with her nails, looking annoyed with her usual angry at the world face, not even showing the slightest pretense of being interested.
"What are you looking at?" she said, scowling at him when she caught him staring.
Hiccup swallowed. "N-nothing! I'm just..." Hiccup looked down at the answer sheet pretending to think hard.
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes.
For some reason, that attitude irked him. "Aren't you supposed to be working with me?"
She glared at him again, sitting straighter and crossing her arms. "No, I'm not," she said, "I'm supposed to be hanging out with my friends right now instead of being stuck in this house with you—you who can't fucking study on your own without having a tutor babysit you."
Oh yeah, the epitome of Highschool Queen Bee: strong, smart, proud and most of all... shitty personality.
"Why don't you tell that to your Father then—oh wait—he's not here." He glared back, despite feeling himself almost shaking at the weight of Astrid's far more venomous glare.
"Are you trying me? I'm telling you don't test me, loser."
"Ooh, how threatening." He really should shut his mouth. "Unfortunately for both of us, whether you're going to work with me or you're going to bitch around, you're stuck with me just as I'm stuck with you. So shove it."
"Did you just call me bitch?" Astrid asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm pretty sure that's not what I said, but I guess that works too, Bitch."
Oh boy, he shouldn't have said all that—he was so going to die. The moment he saw the glower in her eyes, it was as if Hiccup saw his life flash before him.
Time seemed to stop as Astrid tightened her jaw and positioned her arms as if to swat—or perhaps grab—him. He considered running away from her murderous aura, though her insistent glower held him in place and he was rendered motionless in his spot. He thought she was going to hit him then—until she loosened the tightness in her facial muscles and looked away, crossing her arms.
And then, Hiccup swore that he also saw her grin, as if looking at him approvingly.
.
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.
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The next time they met, she was surprisingly in a much better pretense—which wasn't much better, by the way—but granted her usual grumpy facade, Hiccup would take this cold, snobbish Astrid any time of the day.
Something was off, Hiccup thought. He could sense it from the moment she opened the door for him.
"Oh, it's you." Astrid greeted blankly.
Hiccup eyed Astrid weirdly, expecting her usual Hofferson brand of foul temper to kick in any minute now—considering he called her a bitch the last time they met.
"What are you waiting for? It's cold outside. Come on in."
Hiccup blinked, unbelieving. "Uhm... why are you being not rude to me?"
Astrid sighed, "Not in the mood."
Hiccup wasn't sure why he really felt like trying to tick her off. He was about to open his mouth but decided against it when he saw a distant look in her blue eyes.
Hiccup followed her into the dining room. As soon as they sat down, Hiccup pulled out all his study material. Astrid surprisingly did the same, and worked with him this time. They exchanged answer sheets to check each other's work, discussing a couple of mistakes they made without the usual heated debate that would inevitably escalate into a full-blown argument.
The silence stretched, and the air eventually become stilted. Hiccup found himself wondering why the sudden change in Astrid's demeanor.
Out of the blue, Astrid asked, "Have you ever been in a relationship, Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up from his work, assessing her with a raised brow. "I don't see how that question is relevant to Mathema—"
"Just answer the goddamn question," Astrid snapped.
"I-I... No I haven't been in one." Hiccup stuttered, taken aback by the sudden aggressiveness in her tone.
"Lucky you." Astrid sighed wistfully.
"Oh, wow... eighteen years of my life, never had a girlfriend—and I'm the lucky one?" Hiccup said sardonically. "Seriously, why are we even having this conversation?"
Astrid frowned. "Are you always this—" she paused midsentence. "Nevermind."
Hiccup raised a brow at her, "I'm always so what, Astrid?"
Astrid let out a long-drawn sigh, looking at the window. "I'unno... Boring. Stiff. Too formal."
Hiccup looked at her questioningly. There wasn't a taunting tone in her voice, and she didn't seem to be talking out of spite. So Hiccup decided to stay away from sarcastic remarks and answer her seriously.
"Of course I have to be," he shrugged. "It's expected of me as the son of Stoick Haddock and the only successor of the VAST Haddock Group." Hiccup didn't realize his voice sounded so bitter and he was throwing his arms around as he talked.
"Isn't that... like, not fair?" Astrid stopped looking at the window to look at him; Hiccup lost his breath, chills traveling down his spine when her blue eyes bore down on him.
"I got used to it," Hiccup shrugged.
"Well, that honestly sucks," Astrid said. "I mean we're in high school. We're supposed to be having the time of our lives, and having all those pressure on you doesn't seem right."
Either there was something wrong with Astrid or Hiccup needed to have his eyes checked. He found himself blinking again, unbelieving. They were actually talking—an actual eye-to-eye conversation without being on each other's throat.
It was actually nice talking to this... version of Astrid—when she didn't seem so intense. He was reminded that this was still Astrid Hofferson he was talking to, the same girl he had a crush on for his entire high school life. But talking to her now ... it was like she was just another human; not the perfect girl everyone revered in Berk High.
When the conversation died off, Hiccup checked the time using his phone. It was only 4:15pm, and they were already finished with most of their assignments.
Hiccup leaned back to his chair, faking a yawn as he stretched his arms. "So I figured..." Hiccup started, sounding as casually as he could, "that you'd prefer to hang out with your friends. Look, I understand. It's only 4:15, I've already studied ahead of time and finished most of my homework—not that I'm doing you any favor or anythi—"
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass." Astrid interjected.
Hiccup stood up, and packed his things. "Ok. So I guess... I'll be going now and—" Hiccup paused, confused,"—wait what?"
Astrid rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Sit down," she ordered. "You don't have to go anywhere, Hiccup. I said thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."
Hiccup sat down, eyeing her wierdly. "Why are you being kind to me now?" Well, as kind as Astrid Hofferson could get. She wasn't pitying him now, was she?
"Do I need a reason to? I'm supposedly your study partner—"
"Tutor. Paid Tutor." Hiccup corrected.
"Details," Astrid rolled her eyes.
Was this really Astrid Hofferson talking? He looked around as if he had accidentally stumbled upon a portal to an alternate universe—and if he did, then everything would have made sense and would explain why this Astrid Hofferson was so different.
"Okay... so what now? Since we're already done here. We don't really have anything left to do." Hiccup asked.
"I'unno," Astrid shrugged, "what do yo usually do?"
"Erm... video games?" Hiccup answered hestitantly.
"Let's do that then."
"Uhm... let's do what?"
"Video games, nerd stuff—whatever. You heard me, let's go play some video games."
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"Hello?" Hiccup answered his phone, his voice still hoarse at having just woken up in the middle of the night. His vision was slightly dazed when he jolted too suddenly from his sleep.
"Oh, you're still up. It's me Astrid."
Astrid? What was so important anyway that she needed to disturb his the only time Hiccup actually enjoyed in his boring life: sleeping.
"Obviously, I'm up now after you ringed my phone for like ... seven minutes straight." Hiccup grumbled. "Why are you even calling me for so late for—and how did you even get my number?"
"I-I..." Astrid paused for a while, "Nothing."
"Really? Nothing?" Hiccup sneered, annoyed, "You just woke me up two in the morning—and you're telling me it's nothing?"
"I'm sorry to bother you... I'm hangin—" The distress in her voice immediately made Hiccup feel regret for snapping at her and his temper whenever his sleep was disturbed.
"W-wait!" He could hear Astrid sighing, "Look... I'm listening now, and I'm sorry for snapping at you—"
"It's fine. I'm the one who called out of nowhere... I'm sorry too." Astrid sighed again, "It's just ... I guess I just needed to talk to someone."
Hiccup wasn't sure what to feel with Astrid calling him of all the people. Was she in trouble? Was she in danger? Various scenarious entered his mind, and Hiccup suddenly felt anxious and worried.
"What's wrong, Astrid? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you injure—"
"I'm fine, Hiccup."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm totally fine—never been better." Obviously she was not. Hiccup almost snorted—because calling someone who you're not even remotely close to at two in the morning was clearly a sign that everything was fine.
"What happened?" he relented, letting the lie slide. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. I'd rather not... I don't want to talk about it."
Hiccup sighed. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I don't know... talk or whatever—anything to take my mind off or something."
"Erm ... okay, let's try this." Hiccup cleared his throat, "Knock knock," he started.
Astrid didn't answer.
"You're supposed to say who's there." Hiccup deadpanned.
"Oh yeah, sorry..." Astrid apologized.
Oh well... that was awkward. "Wanna try again?" Hiccup asked.
"Sure."
"Okay... Let's try this again. Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
Astrid didn't quite get Hiccup's the humor in the first couple of knock-knock jokes. It was on Hiccup's fifth attempt of his lame knock-knock jokes that—finally—Astrid began to chuckle.
.
.
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.
.
"—ccup? Hiccup? Are you listening?"
"Oh sorry, what was that again?" Hiccup said, shaking his head.
Astrid sighed, "Why are we doing this?"
He looked down on at his answer sheet, pretending to have a hard time. "Uhm, we have to factor X with Y to—"
"I'm not talking about the homework, Hiccup. Everyone knows that you're a straight A student. Obviously you don't really need help with your grades. So why are you even here?"
"I don't really have a choice; it's my father who hired a tutor for me, " Hiccup sighed. "It's always been like this, freshman year my father had all sorts of coaches to trying to teach me sports, hoping to get me into some varsity team. Second year was mostly vocational stuff, third year is academics, and now," he gestured the two of them.
"You're telling me that it's always been like this for you the whole highschool?"
"Yeah... I pretty much have my whole life planned ahead," Hiccup shrugged. Astrid looked thoughtful. Then there was a pause for a minute before Hiccup cleared his throat and began to speak again.
"But you know... I'm really lucky that it's you who's tutoring me this time."
Astrid was biting her lip, looking at him weirdly with an indiscernible expression on her face. "What do you mean by that?"
"I-I mean..." Hiccup paused, heart pounding, palm-sweating. I always had a major crush on you. "It's nice that we can talk to each other—you listen to me, and I listen to you. Imagine if it was your father sitting in front of me right now, tutoring me. We wouldn't even have this conversation... Your father and I would probably talking stuffs that I already know about, and I'm gonna have to pretend to study hard because he's going to report to my father."
"Oh." Her eyes seemed distant, suddenly solemn— and she looked as if she was disappointed? He wondered if he said the wrong thing. What if Astrid was actually hoping to hear something else...
She was just there, nonchalantly letting time slip away.
She was so close, that he could practically hear her heartbeat.
Since when did it felt like she was just within his reach?
He could remember watching her from the sidelines, being that one wimpy kid who played too much video games and Astrid being that unattainable girl, who never dated anyone—not even the cool kids—so what chances did Hiccup had with a girl like Astrid Hofferson?
Nope. Not likely. Impossible. Hiccup shook his head to brush of the thoughts.
Or was it?
.
.
.
.
.
Hiccup wasn't sure since when Astrid and him became more familiar; it really felt like they're really starting to mesh together. Lately, they'd been exchanging text messages and calls. It was just some stupid conversations; but still, it made Hiccup feel this swell in his chest.
Recently, Astrid had been setting their meeting in more public places: library, cafe, park, etc... Hiccup wondered why she preferred and insisted that they study somewhere where they would be usually seen together. It happened quite often, bumping with Astrid's friends in public, where her friends would always double take then not-so-sneakily frown in his direction. He never understood why, but pretended not to notice.
Today, Astrid messaged him that they were going to meet at the cafeteria.
Astrid's eyes brightened as soon as she spotted him; something Hiccup never expected to see in his whole life.
"I got us food. Sit down," she urged him as soon as he appeared before her.
Hiccup looked around him, confused. "Erm. Me?"
"Of course you, who else would I be talking to?"
"I figured we would probably sit down somewhere, not on the popular table-"
"For fuck's sake Hiccup, sit down already!"
"You don't understand, I can't sit down there. If others saw me-"
She rolled her eye, muttering something under her breath. Then there was a blaze in her eyes as she looked at him. And for some reason, the flame in her eyes made his heart skip a beat. He was reminded that this girl was Astrid Hofferson. The unattainable girl he had always crushed on since first year. And all too suddenly, she pulled him by his tie and kissed him.
His mind went blank. Her lips... Astrid Hofferson just kissed him. It felt warm, soft, sweet and it was everything he imagined it would be.
"I-I... you kissed me." He said, after she pulled away from him. He tried to meet her eyes, but couldn't.
"I-I..." she took a deep breath. "Yes, I did. I just kissed you,"
"Why? I don't understand. You're Astrid, I'm Hicc—"
Astrid kissed him again, cutting him off.
His mind blanked out, and before he knew it he was kissing her back. The kiss become more passionate and involved as he felt her tongue slipping between his lips and... it felt like everything he had imagined and fantasized.
It was perfect. She was perfect.
And it wasn't supposed to happen.
Hiccup pulled away from her. "W-we can't..."
"I like you Hiccup. And I don't care about all those highschool standing shit." As if to make a point, Astrid gestured around her. Hiccup suddenly noticed that everybody in the cafeteria was watching them.
"What are you all looking at? Oh, by the way this is Hiccup. My boyfriend," She announced loudly.
Everyone in the caffeteria gasped. Including him.
"He is?"
"I am?"
Astrid stood up, smiling, then looked around her. "You all saw me kissing him, didn't you?"
She held him by his cheek and leaned forward, kissing him again, with even more fervor and passion this time.
"You know what, why don't we ditch afternoon class and do something fun instead?" She grabbed his hand, her fingers slowly entwining with his, dragging him along before he could say yes.
I know it's crappy but I would like to hear from you. So how was it? Review, Fave, Follow, Pm me or whatever.
Supposedly a longer one-shot story with much more plot and actual drama and stuff going on plus Astrid's POV. Oh-well, could still be a two-shot. We'll see, but i don't trust myself to write it lol(hello My favorite place chapter 3.)