Hello there! This is my first story I'm posting on here. Hiccstrid, modern AU. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Astrid never thought of herself as a loner, but as she sat in her one bedroom apartment on a Saturday night with no one but her pet she was starting to consider the idea.

She was supposed to be at a frat party with her friends, but instead she opted for a Spielberg marathon. There is really no limit to how many times you can watch the Back To The Future trilogy. She glanced at her phone and noticed she had multiple text messages from Steven Jorgensen asking where she was/if she was coming to "his party", a Snapchat from Heather showing her out to eat with her parents and a missed call from Rachel. No doubt wondering why she is sitting in her apartment all alone. She loved her friends, but a little alone time is good for everyone. She had a lot on her plateand school was starting in one week. Astrid was trying to prepare as much as she could for her GPS to remain at a 4.0, student council, and track, it was the only thing she could do to keep her sanity.

A sudden knock sounded at her front door, she paused the movie slightly confused as she made her way to see who it was. She looked through the peep hole with a sigh of relief and opened it. She was greeted with 2 large pizzas, one pepperoni and one meat lovers she could already tell, and a slight British accent. "Hey there A, glad I caught you at home." Eret said smiling down at her.

"I'm glad to see it's you, I was thinking it was Steven for a second." She said retuning the smile.

"Nah, Snot wouldn't be pulled away from the party for any reason, too many girls and booze there!" He said laughing, using the nickname she personally gave Steven, stepping inside when she waved him in. He sat the pizzas on the counter and glanced at the TV with a slight smile. "Back to the Future again, A?"

"What can I say, I only have eyes for Michael J Fox. He's just dreamy!" She laughed back, adding a little sarcasm to her tone.

"Ah-well, lots of guys are going to be disappointed. Me included!" He said while grabbing plates. She glanced away from him, there was some slight truth to that comment that made her uneasy and didn't want to address it further. Eret and her have been friends since their Junior year of high school when he and his family moved to the United States. It had been a bit of culture shock for him. Berk, North Carolina is quite a bit different from England. Her and Heather were there to make the transition as smooth as possible

and the three of them were thick as thieves ever since. But for the last few months or so she's noticed Eret's comments have become... something slightly over the line of just friends, and that made Astrid nervous. Most people would call her crazy for not jumping on the opportunity. Eret was definitely handsome, but she knew something he didn't.

"So, anything new? I have seen you in like 2 days." she asked him.

"I finally moved in to my apartment fully, though I'm not so sure about my roommate. I think he's kinda shy, he hasn't spoken but 2 words to me since last week." Eret said over a mouthful of pizza moving to the couch.

"That's what you get for getting a roommate off the Berk University newspaper roommate add." She said to him while pressing play.

"Hey! He could be a gem and we don't know it. Don't knock him down quite yet."

"I'm not, you're the one who said you weren't sure about him!" She defended herself with a laugh. "What's his name anyway?"

"Justin, but he had a friend over the other day who kept calling him "Fishlegs" so now I'm confused about the whole thing in general." Eret said.

"Fishlegs?! What an odd nickname." She commented. "But you're right, he could become your best friend and then you'll never need Heather or I again." She glanced at him with a smirk.

"Aw c'mon A, don't say that. I'll always need my two best gals!" Eret said, while putting his arm around her and pulling her down into a hug. They both laughed, knowing their friendship couldn't be broken that easily.

As the movie continued they held a light conversation until the end. "I should probably get to bed, I have an early morning tomorrow. Student Council is having a meeting for the 'get to know your fellow viking' thing we're doing for the incoming freshmen." She looked over and noticed Eret's gaze lingering. "What?" She asked, why is he staring at her.

"Mm-oh, I... nothing." He said, slightly embarrassed. He looked back to her, "I just never noticed your eyes were so blue before."

Oh. Oh, well... she didn't know exactly how to respond to that. "Yeah, um.. do you want to take the rest with you?" She stood up from the couch and walked over, starting to move the left overs into one box. "Maybe you can use it as a peace offering.. ya know for Fishlegs." She suggested, knowing good and well if he took it home the rest would be gone way before his roommate even woke up.

"Nothing says 'let's be friends' like cold, left over pizza." He said with a slight laugh. "But it probably won't make it home, ya know. I gotta bulk up for wrestling season. Tryouts are in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah yeah, you've been "bulking up" since we've met." She laughed, knowing he wouldn't take it seriously. He was by far the most in shape person she knows, he could make the team just by walking into the room.

"Hurtful, Astrid. That was just hurtful. I didn't come here to be ridiculed." He said with a fake sense of woe.

"What are best friends for but to keep your ego in check?" She laughed handing him the box. As he took it he looked at her with a look she couldn't quite place.

"I can always count on you, A." He chuckled. He stood in the open doorway, "so I'll see you tomorrow? Lunch?"

"Yeah, just text me where you wanna eat. But not the cafeteria again, though."

"Right. Of course, not the cafe. Never again." Eret said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Astrid." He leaned over and placed a slight kiss on the top of her hair. When they made eye contact after he had the strangest look on his face, almost like he was thinking of something more. "Sleep well." He simply said and made his way to his car.

"Night Eret." She said, closing the door and locking it. Well, that was weird. They've exchanged friendly kisses here and there but that's all they were-friendly. Not wanting to make it more than it was of the situation she brushed her teeth and climbed in bed not looking forward to her 7am alarm.