Author's Note/ Disclaimer: Okay, so the last chapter may be a bit dramatic, but the series was a drama itself, and I just love to start stories with drama. Anyway, this is the second chapter of the story. And before I forget, I don't own HTTYD or any of its characters. Names have been revised to fit the modern world, and not the Viking age, but the characters are the same. The plot and maybe storyline is also not mine, but it will have some twists and turns I put there myself to make it a bit more unpredictable if you have seen the series…
~Always~
Chapter 2:
Deal with the schedule
He groaned as soon as he felt himself hit the ground. Man, he wasn't expecting that at all. He cradled his head and shook off the ringing in his ears and looked around him. Police cars and ambulance were all around them, and he looked to his right and saw his car was a wreck. Man, he was going to have to wait to get that car fixed. He could remember he invested a lot in it, its engine, accessories, and the like. He stood up and cracked his neck before opening his eyes and let out a yell…
"Gah!" he stumbled back to the truck and rubbed his eyes, "This… this can't be happening…" Harold mumbled as he looked inside his car. It was just completely unbelievable, this was just not possible. He was standing, so who was in the driver's seat of his car, lying down, completely lifeless?! Eventually, some paramedics made its way to his car and carefully removed the body, and Harold had to take a good look. His hand went up to his head as he saw as clear as day that it was him who was in the car, "How is this possible?" he mumbled to himself. Just as he saw his body being placed in the ambulance, he wasted no time getting inside it as well and sat down as he watched tubes and all being attached to him…
"Please tell me I'm going to be okay." He told one of the medics, who clearly wasn't seeing or hearing him. He watched as they fibrillated him and his vitals were still the same…
"He's not responding," said one of them, "We have to get him to the hospital quick."
Soon enough they arrived in the hospital and he was rushed to the emergency room. Harold paced around the doctors and the operating table, staring at his body being worked on, "The airbag had cushioned his upper body's impact, but he's suffered a few broken ribs and bone, his left leg however," the doctor paced around it and examined it as the other doctors went to secure his vitals, "It's going to have to be amputated."
"What?!" Harold exclaimed and winced as soon as he saw just how broken his lower leg was, "Uh, how much do you have to cut off?" he asked and stared at his two legs for the moment. Luckily for him, one of the doctors approached…
"Should we cut it just below the knee?" he asked and the other doctor nodded…
"That's probably best, is the family around yet?" he asked and the nurse nodded…
"They're in the waiting area, awaiting the progress of the operation doctor."
"Okay everyone," he said to the others in the operating room with him, "Let's save a life."
It took a few moments, when everything was stabilized and the doctors were finished with him. One of them went out to greet his family and Harold went out just to know how he was doing, "Harold Haddock's family?" he asked, and his immediate family and friends stood up and approached him, "Are you his father?" he asked Stephen, who nodded…
"How is he?" his mother asked, "How's Harold?" tears were streaming down her face and Harold wanted to touch her…
"Mom…" he whispered, "I'm here, please, I'm fine, I'm right here… I'll be back I promise." He said and he heard the doctor sigh…
"He's stable for now, and he'll live, but," he stopped and gulped before continuing, "He's going to be in a comma, and we don't know for how long. The impact of the crash had given him some major concussion, he was lucky he was still alive when he got here. We also had to amputate his leg, which was crushed beyond repair. Had we not cut it, it would have spread an infection and would worsen his condition." He explained and nodded, "That's all I could do for now, I'm really sorry for what happened, but he'll be fine."
"See?" Harold said smiling in front of his parents, "I'll be fine! Really," his mother only sobbed and his father engulfed her in a hug, "Mom, dad…"
"Valerie, Stephen," the three of them looked behind and saw Heather, "How… how is Harold?" she asked. She had only just arrived from meeting with the wedding planner no doubt, "Is he… is he okay?" Harold felt his world crushed as soon as he remembered the wedding…
It was due next week, he had to return to his body to be able to marry the love of his life, to marry Heather. "He's in a comma Heather," Stephen said, staying strong for his wife, "He's in a comma right now." Heather clamped her hand on her mouth and stumbled into a chair and his friends had to comfort her as she began to sob. Harold felt his tears drop and kicked a nearby wall before he felt himself get thrown backwards by an incredible force…
"Gah!" he fell down and bumped into someone, he looked up and saw a girl rolling her eyes at him…
"Geez, you guys are always so clumsy." She muttered and pulled him upright, "I'll answer your questions later, right now, I need to get someone." She said before he could even open his mouth. She stepped around him and Harold had no choice but to follow her as she entered a different room and grabbed onto the arm of an old man, "Come on geezer," she said and the old man stared at her and at the elevator hat was already behind her, "Time to meet your end." He let out a sigh and nodded, before going into the elevator and it closed. Harold blinked for a few moments and saw that she was already looking at him…
"How can you see me?" he asked and she gestured for him to follow her. She lead them to the outside, and leaned against the railings, "And what happened back there?" he added
"For someone's who's seeing dead people and his lifeless body, you seem pretty calm." She commented and Harold rolled his eyes…
"Well I tried panicking, and look where it got me." He said and stared at her, "Are you going to answer my question or not?"
"Okay, sheesh, don't get your skivvies in a bunch," she said giving up, "I'm a scheduler, and I fetch people who are schedule to die. That person you saw was someone supposed to die today and has now crossed over. However, you on the other hand was not scheduled today." She explained and Harold let out sigh of relief…
"Thank goodness," he then looked to her, "So how do I get back to my body?" he asked and she raised her eyebrow at him…
"Really? You still want to live?" she asked and gestured to everything around her, "This is a pretty pathetic place to live in, don't you think?"
"What?" asked Harold, "I still have plenty of things to do!"
"Don't we all do?" she said rolling her eyes and pulled out a cigarette, "I really hate it when the schedule is messed up!" she exclaimed, "I was going to pick someone up while ago when a stupid airhead had decided to go on to some stupid suicide attempt!" she exclaimed, "And now her schedule's been delayed! Why can't people just wait for their own time?! It's not like we're not going to fetch them!"
"Wait so it's not some divine intervention then?" he asked and she nodded, "So how can I get back?" she looked at him on the corner of her eye and puffed out some smoke…
"You have two choices really," she said, "First, you come with me and leave all this behind," she gestured to everywhere around them, "Second, you use a different body and collect three pure love tears."
"Alright," he said, "I'll choose the second one." He said confidently and she cackled…
"You really think collecting three pure love tears is easy?!" she cackled all the more, "Man, you're more of an idiot than I thought."
"Hey, look here missy," he said, "A while ago my parents, cousin, fiancé, and a few of my friends were in that room crying for me-"
"Parents aren't allowed." She interrupted, "They have unconditional love to offer."
"Well then my friends-"
"Last time I checked, males don't cry that much." She interrupted once more and Harold groaned…
"Heather, she's my fiancé." And she shrugged…
"So? One tear, I said three." She said and Harold grumbled, "Why don't you just give up?" she asked and he spun…
"I am not a quitter, and I will come back to my family." He said, "You said it yourself, it's not my time yet."
"Fine!" she grumbled and sighed, "But there's a time limit and rules."
"Okay, tell me." He said and she took out a crystal necklace and gave it to him, "What's this?"
"That's where you'd place the tears you have collected in, pure love tears." She emphasized, "You have 49 days to complete this task. And there are three major rules," she said and held up a finger, "One, you must never, ever let anyone know you are Harold Haddock, or let them feel you are him," she held up two fingers, "Two, you are not to harm the body you are using under any circumstance at all in the duration you are using it, and three," she put down her hand, "You are not to touch any of theirs, and any money you will use will have to be from your own hard work."
"Okay." Harold said nodding, "Who's the body I'm supposed to be using?" he asked and she smirked at him…
"Wouldn't you want to know?"
"Him?" Harold asked as he stared at the sleeping body of a guy, who looked pretty beat up, "I'm supposed to be using his body? Who is this guy anyway?" he asked and she took out her phone and typed something…
"He's Timothy, aka Tuffnut, Thorston." She introduced, "Been living a pretty pathetic life for two years now and sleeps in the day, while works at night. His parents died at a young age, and well, he's got no one in his life right now. So he's basically alone, and you can only use his body from 9 in the morning until twelve midnight. Got it?"
"Yep…" he said and stared at the clock, "So, I can just use him now?"
"Uh-huh." She said and handed him another phone, "This is for emergency only, and you may only use it for emergencies."
"Isn't it why it's called 'for emergency only'?" Harold asked and she glared, "Anyway, what kind of emergencies?"
"Oh, you know, breaking the rules and all that, plus you have to be back here at his home before midnight, or else…" she said and waved, "Tah-tah!" and she disappeared. Harold looked back at the sleeping guy and then to his phone, where a countdown was being shown to him…
"Okay, better get started." He said and began to proceed to possessing the person…
A few moments after, Timothy's eyes opened up and he was now smiling, "Well Tuffnut," Harold said while using his body, "Looks like you and I will be best buddies for now." And he got up and stared at his reflection. "Man, you need to cut this hair." He said as he held up the long blonde locks of the male. He sighed and grabbed a nearby plain black tie and fixed the hair as best as he could, while still looking like a male. He then quickly changed and went out of the door and locked it before walking out…
As soon as he got by the first block, he face palmed…
"Great, what money am I to use for forty-nine days?" he grumbled and looked around for some newspapers or ads…
Astrid stayed at her office as soon as she got back. It was already noon time and still, she had left her food untouched. A knock found its way to her office door and she sighed, "Come in," she said and Gobber opened the door and at on the chair in front of her, "What is it uncle?" she asked and he shrugged…
"Well, Phlegma's asking for a leave of absence, she's just given labor to her first born child yesterday after all." Astrid nodded and sighed…
"How long will she be gone?"
"Eh, about two months." He said and Astrid tapped her pen on the table, "We'll need to hire one hand." Astrid stared at him for a moment before looking out the window…
"Fine. You handle the employment." She said and Gobber nodded before turning around to leave her office. Astrid slumped in her chair and placed both hands on top of her eyes..
She wouldn't cry…
She couldn't cry…
It wasn't like he was doing it on purpose. He was just naturally clumsy. It was one of the few reasons he remained to be an architect, where all he could mess up was the paper, and maybe some mild calibration issues. Field work, just wasn't his thing at all. He sighed and sat down on the bench, near a café, his face buried in his hands. "Hey there laddie," someone said, and Harold snapped his head up, only it wasn't really his head, "You seem a bit down." Harold shrugged…
"I've been trying to find a job, but somehow, I always end up messing things." He said and the man tilted his head at him…
"Looking for a job eh?" he asked and looked back at the café, "We're looking for someone to hire, want to try?" he asked and Harold jumped up and nodded. The man laughed and brought him inside, "Welcome to Yaknog Delights!" he introduced and Harold looked around. The place was nice and seemed to have a formal feel to it. On the counter was a girl, who was giving him a stink eye, while another employee was staring at him as he wiped a table clean, "So, I didn't get your name." the man said and Harold stopped…
"Oh, I'm, Ha- I mean, Timothy, uh Timothy Thorston. But you can call me Tuffnut, if you want." He said and the man nodded…
"Interesting nickname," he pointed out, "The name's Gobber by the way. And the owner of the café is-"
"Uncle Gobber, I need that monthly report about our income and the expenses of the café…" Harold turned around and his eyes widened as he realized who it was, "Is this the new recruit?" she asked, eyeing him up and down, "He needs his hair cut." She pointed out and Harold backed up…
"Uh, I'd rather not." He said, "I'm sort of, well… attached to it." He said and she glared at him…
"Then you're fired." She said and Gobber immediately intervened…
"Come on lass, give him a chance." Astrid pursed her lips together as the man stood there awkwardly. She watched his stance, and noticed something was odd with the way his right hand held on his left elbow. She knew that stance too well, but it couldn't be. It would be just a coincidence. She stared at her uncle, and back at the man that eyed them for a moment, before his eyes darted back to the floor. Different faces, same actions..
"What's your name?" she asked…
"It's uh, Timothy Thorston, but you can call me Tuffnut." He said, ad his shoulders were shaking in the process. She bit her lower lip and stalked towards the couch at the corner of the café, before she sat down. She then placed on the table the folders she was holding, and opened one as she remained staring at him…
"We'll see if you are accepted." She said, "You're to serve the costumers starting from now, and if I say you're not hired…" she looked to the paper work, "You're not hired."
"I won't disappoint you." He said and he was immediately taught on what to do. Unfortunately, he did disappoint as he almost spilled some drinks, broke a few glasses, wasted a few food and angered a lot of costumers. Astrid was ready to tell him he was free to go and not to come back, however, the way he handled the insults, everything, it reminded her of a gracious loser she once knew. She couldn't possibly say no to him. "I'm sorry, I really am." He apologized to the nth costumer that left. Stephanie, her long-time employee couldn't take it anymore and slapped the back of his head…
"At this rate you are never going to get hired!" she said, "What do you think Yaknog Delights café is? Some kind of a joke? Look here pal-"
"Enough Stormfly," Astrid said, using the nickname of her employee that hates it so, "Tuffnut's a newbie so let him be." she stood up and stood in front of him, "Come to my office." She said and led him to it. Harold fidgeted inside Timothy's body, and wondered if Astrid always had a knack for naming people with nicknames of her own. He followed her to her office and watched her as she sat down. "So, why are you here Tuffnut?" she asked as she sat in her revolving chair. Harold rolled his eyes in annoyance…
"The name's Timothy, not Tuffnut."
"I don't really care." She said, "What skills do you have?" she asked and Harold sighed…
"I'm good with computations, and designing, innovations and all." He admitted and Astrid found it hard to believe…
"Replace Stormfly by the counter," she said, "Being cashier shouldn't be much trouble then." Was all she said and started to type on her computer, "You may go now. I'll get the report of your job with Gobber before the day ends, and then I'll decide if you are hired."
"I'm really sorry for what happened with the costumers." He said and Astrid sighed and looked at him, "I really, really am." The way he looked at her, Astrid could almost see Hiccup doing the same to her whenever he apologized back then…
"Get to work." She said a rather bit harshly than she intended and he left. As soon as the door closed, Astrid leaned her head back, unable to stop a flashback from occurring…
~Five Years Ago~
She was walking in the pavement; she had just ended her class days, and was now waiting for time. She didn't know where she was, or how to get back home, so she approached a group of guys, that were right across her. She cleared her throat, and they stared at her, "I'm a bit lost, can you help me?" she asked and they stared at each other before smirking…
"Maybe, what's in it for us?" one of them asked and Astrid shrugged…
"Nothing really." She said and they too shrugged…
"Well, I guess we can't help you then."
"Okay." She said. She was easy to talk to. You say you can't help her, she leaves. She doesn't impose, but they do…
"Hey, you're just going to walk away like that?" they asked her, obviously pissed that a girl wasn't trying to get them to help her…
"You said you can't help me, so why bother?"
"Maybe it's you who should help us first." One of them snapped at her…
"Oh, so I should be helping you when I'm the one in need? No thanks, I'm off to find someone who actually can help me." She said and walked away when they grabbed her, "Let go!" she snapped at them and they laughed…
"Feisty, I like that." One of them said and she landed a punch on their face, ignoring the pain on her knuckles at the contact, "You little-" a whistle was heard and they all grabbed up their belongings and ran away, leaving her dumfounded. She looked back to the direction of the whistle, and recognized the boy from math class…
"Hey," he said, smiling lopsidedly, "Are you okay?" he asked and Astrid stayed at him for a moment before turning away, "Your hand's hurt isn't it?" he pointed out and immediately pulled out a first aid kit, and Astrid had to wonder why he was carrying it. He tended to her hand for a moment, and once he was finished bandaging it, she pulled away and started to walk, "Oh hey, I can't help but overhear you were a little lost…" she whipped her head around and glared at him, "I may be able to help you though…" he finished…
"Really?" she asked, glare still in place, "What's in it for you?" she asked and he held his hands up…
"I just want to help you that's all, nothing in exchange." He said, looking at her with his beautiful emerald eyes. Astrid blinked; did she just think they were beautiful? "I'm-" he hiccupped, and Astrid's mouth curled up in a smirk…
"Hiccup? Fitting name." She said and his mouth was hanging open…
"What? No it's-" he hiccupped again, and Astrid's smirk grew…
"It's settled, Hiccup it is." She then turned, "So, do you know where this is?" she asked and showed him an address…
~Present Day~
Astrid groaned and rubbed her temples. This was so not possible. Hiccup was in the hospital, in a comma, and he would continue to do so. The doctor said that there was a 50% percent chance he would wake up, while the other half would be that he wouldn't. She's had enough of Fishlegs, who was Franklin by the way, pacing back and forth in the hospital, sputtering useless facts about comatose patients. Snotlout, who was really called Steve, was busy talking about how this was one of the best excuses to avoid weddings, and Astrid had given him the punch of the day…
Heather had ran out after that comment, and Astrid walked out after she was satisfied that he was having a major nosebleed. She had tried to talk to Heather, but she wouldn't pick up. Astrid let out a sigh and immediately snatched up her phone when she heard a distant ding, of a sound that a message was received. She looked at the phone and opened the message. It was from Heather, apologizing that she wasn't able to answer the calls.
Astrid could understand why. She was mourning for her fiancé, but Astrid couldn't find it in herself to do so. He was still alive, breathing. He wasn't dead, he was just asleep. A knock found its way to her door once more and Gobber poked his head in his office. Astrid waited for him to speak, "Well, he's doing well in the cashier, and he also finished the income statement of the month for ye," he said and handed her a report. Astrid got up and took it. It was complete and flawlessly done…
"When did he do this?" she asked as she stared at it, Gobber shrugged…
"Well, about five to ten minutes ago." Astrid stared at him, before she walked past him and watched the newbie by the counter. He typed on the cashier expertly and handed the change, bowing and smiling. He then ran a hand through his long locks and started to mutter to himself as soon as he began to compute. He would often pause for a moment before his face would light up and scribble something down. Astrid couldn't see Timothy Thorston…
All she could see was Harold Haddock.
She shook her head and clutched the income statement tight in her hand and walked over towards him and slammed it by the counter, "Gah!" he exclaimed, and Astrid could almost twitch, "Wha- is something wrong Ms. Hofferson?" he asled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck…
Astrid bit her lower lip, to prevent herself from pointing out there similarities and closed her eyes, before heaving a sigh. "You are to report to work tomorrow morning from 12 noon until midnight, got it?" she said and he exclaimed in joy and rushed off the counter and squeezed her hard. "Let go!" she exclaimed, looking all flustered before he pulled back, rubbing his arm in embarrassment and biting his lower lip as well. Still another trait they had in similar…
"Sorry." He mumbled and Astrid nodded before waving him off…
"Go. You're done for the day." She stated and he nodded before rushing out of the café. Harold couldn't believe his luck! He was finally accepted, and all he'd have to worry about now was the fact that he'd just gather three tears from people not relating to him at all! He arrived at Timothy's house and immediately checked the clock. Okay, so it was still 11:55pm, he probably should get out of the body already. He did some few minutes check up to make sure everything was as Timothy left it before he laid down to close his eyes…
He felt himself get thrown away from the body and rolled out of it, "Okay, so there may be some mild calibration issues." He muttered to himself as he cradled his head. He finally was able to stand up, when he noticed Timothy was waking up. Harold froze, would Timothy see him? He sure hoped not, he wasn't going to deal with Timothy's reaction. He watched Timothy sat up on his bed, a lifeless look on his eyes. He seemed to be off somewhere so distant. That's when he started to cry…
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" and on and on and on, he kept on saying it. Harold was confused, and seems to rethink what the scheduler had told him. Maybe it wasn't true that males are pretty stubborn when it comes to crying. Just a he was about to go, the male stood up and wiped his tears away and went to boil some water and pull out some instant noodles. As he waited for the water to boil, he went to the bathroom and got ready. As soon as he was done, he ate and brushed his teeth before he went out the house.
Harold followed him, all the way to the bus stop, where he got off in the hospital, while leaving Timothy to go on to his own world…
He walked in along with the other living people and went to his room, where he saw that his door was ajar. He peaked in and saw that his mother, and fiancé were inside his room. He wondered where his father was…
"Heather," his mother said, "You should probably get some sleep already." She said and Heather shook her head, staring plainly into space…
"No, I'd rather stay here please." She said and sent her a smile, "You should probably go and see dad." She suggested and his mother let out a sigh…
"You're right." She said, "Well, are you sure your fine staying here? Watching him?" she asked and Heather nodded…
"Yes." And with that, Valerie took her things and hesitantly walked out of her son's room. As soon as his mother was gone, Harold had gotten in, just before the door close and stood next to Heather…
"I am so sorry," he said, "But don't worry, I promise, before this week is over, I'll wake up and we'll get on with the marriage." He said next to her, and Heather was just staring into space again. She stood up suddenly, and turned walking towards the window, looking over the city lights. Harold came up beside her, hoping to hug her, kiss her even…
She turned once more and looked straight through Harold, "Please don't look," Harold said, grimacing, "I don't want you to think less than I already am." He said but he knew Heather was seeing nothing, and hearing nothing…
"What am I to do now?" she asked to herself, and Harold finally looked at her…
"Cry Heather," he answered, "Cry for me, please."
On the outside of the hospital was none other than the scheduler herself, puffing out smoke from her cigarette, "Tsk," she scoffed and scanned through her phone, "Humans are so pathetic." She muttered to herself. If only he knew the real reason he got into accident, he would know that things are never that simple…
At least, not when you were still human.
"That would be $9 ma'am," he informed and the lady gave her ten, "Here's your change." He handed to her and she walked out, when a costumer walked in, "Hello, welcome to the 24/7 convenience store. Please have a nice evening." He greeted robotically. The girl looked through the stalls near the counter and grabbed some candy stick and placed it on the counter, where Timothy had started to punch it on the computer…
Before he could even open his mouth to speak, she had beat him to it, "Are you okay?" she asked and he stared at her blankly…
"I guess." He answered and she tilted her head…
"Your head's not aching, is it?" she asked and he shook his head, "Well, I'm glad your fine." She said and smiled. He couldn't understand why she was nice. Most costumers just bothered their own businesses. This was why he went to this job the first place.
"Um, not to be rude or anything," he finally spoke, "But who the hell are you?" he asked…
"What?" she asked, disbelief in her voice, "You don't remember me?" she asked and his mind started to replay the events a while ago…
He was standing by the side of the road, he crossed when he felt a hand grab him from behind and then he blacked out…
He put things into place, no wonder she was kind to him. She was collecting a debt, "How much?" he asked as he returned her money, "I'll pay you back when I receive my salary by next week." She narrowed her eyes at him, a bit insulted. She let out a sigh…
"I also paid for the taxi by the way," she added, "So if you're going to add that with the medical bills, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to pay me fully even if you do get your salary by next week." She pointed out and he shrugged…
"Then I'll pay the remaining when my next salary comes," he answered and now stared at her, "So please next time, don't come messing with my life." He said and she took what she brought and walked out of the store. Stupid people, he thought, they didn't know just how much they destroyed just for butting into people's businesses.
And that would be the second chapter guys! :D and yep, Tuffnut is the suicidal man, don't worry, his story will soon come into the picture. Will you think Hiccup will be able to gather three pure love tears? Or will his forty-nine days be up before he could even accomplish that?
Watch out for the next chapter!
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