"Uh," the man said, glancing at Alicia before looking at Astrid. "Wh—"
"Jason!" Astrid said, her voice slightly more squealy than normal as she tried to fight the unusual feeling of panic rising from her chest. She ran over to him, pulling him into a tight embrace, whispering an apology in his ear when he tensed at their sudden close contact. "I can't believe you came! This is Alicia, my sister," Astrid waved her hand in her older sister's direction.
The man stared down at Astrid with a shocked expression, before looking at Alicia. He gave Alicia a small smile, before turning his head to peer down at Astrid again. "I think you have the wr—"
"Come with me," Astrid interrupted, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the aisle to one a few down.
"I think you have the wrong… person," he said, still staring at her. He glanced over his shoulder, before looking back at her. "My name isn't Jason."
"I know," she said, "I just need you to pretend it is."
"What?" his thick russet brows furrowed, and the puzzled look on his face deepened.
She dug in her purse and took out her phone, opening the photo app and finding one of his pictures. She showed it to him, and his eyebrows rose. "I'm been pretending this man—you—have been my boyfriend for the last five years," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "If my family finds out that I've been lying to them, I'm screwed."
"You want me… to pretend… to be your boyfriend?" he asked, blinking rapidly at her as he seemed to try to grasp to concept.
"Yeah, I'll pay you whatever," she said, "Just… just play along."
"Who are you?" he asked, still staring at her as if he couldn't quite believe what she was saying.
"Oh right, right," she said, nodding, "Names. I'm Astrid Hofferson. You're Jason Page."
"My name is Hiccup," he said, before Astrid spotted Alicia walking around the corner, standing at the end of the aisle.
"Is everything okay?" Alicia asked, looking at them worriedly.
"Absolutely!" Astrid said, about to put an arm around him, before realizing touching strangers would be inappropriate. She walked around him over to Alicia. "I just need to get some food for Stormfly, and then we can be on our way. Are you going to follow us?" she turned to smile expectantly at Jason—Hiccup.
"Um…"
Astrid widened her eyes, attempting to send a mental message that would convince him to follow along. "Please," she mouthed.
He sighed, and said, "Sure, I follow you in my car."
"Great," Astrid said, smiling, relief evident in her voice. "Let's go pick out some dog food."
"Good," he said, walking after them, "Cause I need to get some for Toothless."
"Toothless?" Alicia asked, glancing over her shoulder at Hiccup.
"My dog," Hiccup said, sending her a forced smile. "Which reminds me." He whistled, and they heard a loud bark from the other end of the store, and the pitter patter of paws and a large black dog came running around the corner. Astrid's eyes widened when she realized the dog was running on three legs.
"Your dog?" Alicia frowned. "You never mentioned Jason had a dog," she told Astrid.
"Must have forgotten," Astrid said.
"Funny," Hiccup said, scratching the dog behind the ears. "He's my best friend." He looked at Astrid, and she could read a challenge in his eyes.
Alicia looked at Astrid expectantly, who just shrugged slowly, saying, "I can't believe I never told you."
"Well," Alicia said, "Let's get the dog food and head home 'cause Mom and Dad are going to pissed if we miss dinner."
"Right," Astrid said, "Yeah, let's get out of here."
Checkout was an awkward affair. Astrid and Hiccup checked out separately, and Astrid could feel Alicia's hard gaze studying them. This isn't good, she thought to herself, wondering how this model ended up in a random pet store in her town, at the same god damn moment she was there with her sister.
"So," Alicia said, "You have a car?"
"Yeah," Hiccup said.
"How'd you get that here?"
"Here?"
"On Berk," Alicia said, as they exited the pet store. "I mean, it'd be a little much to ferry it over from Bog just for the holidays."
"Bog?"
Astrid nudged him, and he quickly said "—oh yeah, yeah, well, I do some work here in Berk, and I keep a car here to uh, drive," he finished awkwardly.
"You do work here in Berk?" Alicia said, blinking at him. She looked at Astrid before looking back at him, "I wonder why this is the first time we're meeting."
"He's very busy, sis, you know that," Astrid said.
"Well," Alicia said, "We should probably hurry—you know how Mom gets when people are tardy."
"Right," Astrid said, "Jason and I will follow you in his car."
"Alright," Alicia said slowly, eyeing them again before getting into her car and driving off.
"Okay," Hiccup said, putting up his hands, "What exactly is going on and why do I have to drive you to your parents?"
"Look," Astrid said, putting her own hands up in a kind of prayer. Begging, was more like it. "If my family finds out you're not real—they'll have my head. Okay? They won't forgive me. And, in fact, they'll start setting me up with random guys and I…" she trailed off, looking at Hiccup. He was looking at her with a wide-eyed expression.
"You… you want me to go to your parents' house, and pretend to be your boyfriend there?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah," she said, "If you are willing."
"No, I…" he sighed. "No, it's just—I don't think I'll be able to do a convincing job."
"Why's that?" she asked.
"It's just," he waved a hand between them, gesturing to the both of them. "Do you really think they're going to be convinced a guy like me could get a girl like you?"
He colored instantly, and she found her own cheeks heating up slightly.
"I mean," he said quickly, "It's just you—you're… really… I mean…"
"No, no," she said, "I mean, they've been convinced I've been dating you for five years, and they've seen your pictures—and they like what I tell them about you, so… I think they'll love you."
An awkward silence ensued, until Hiccup said, "Alright, I'll do it. Only because it means I don't have to go to the holiday party at work."
"Great," Astrid said, relief washing over her, "And I'll pay you whatever you want—just name it, it's yours. Which is your car?"
"That one," Hiccup said, pointing at a car. It was one of those environmentally-friendly ones, probably a hybrid or electric. He unlocked it and opened the front door for Toothless, and the dog hopped in. "You'll have to share with him," he told her. "He only rides in the front with me, and I don't chauffeur."
"Thanks," she said, getting in.
She wondered why the dog was named Toothless—for he had, it seemed, most of his teeth. The dog sniffed her, and she asked Hiccup, "Can I pet him?"
"Sure," he said, as he started driving. He got to the exit of the parking lot and asked, "Which way?"
"Right," she told him.
She put her hand out for Toothless to sniff, and the dog licked it. She smiled, and scratched the back of his ears the way she saw Hiccup had done, and the dog wagged his tail appreciatively.
"You're a dog person?" Hiccup asked her.
"Yup," she said, "I've got my own dog but I can't have her where I live—so she stays with my parents."
"Which way?" he asked, once they got to an intersection.
"Straight," Astrid said, "Then another right, and you'll be in my neighborhood."
"So you live on Bog?" Hiccup asked. "I've got some friends there."
"Really?" Astrid asked. There was a few minutes of silence, where Astrid wasn't sure if she should strike up a conversation or not. "Okay, this is my house," she said, pointing.
Hiccup pulled onto the side of the street, peering out her window. "Nice," he said, and she knew he was talking about the decorations.
"Thanks, my family goes a little overboard," she said, getting out of the car. Toothless jumped out after her, sniffing the ground.
"You should see my dad's best friend," Hiccup said, "He goes overboard."
"Really?" Astrid said, grinning at him. She was about to say 'you'll have to show me', but realized this man was not really her boyfriend. He was just some random stranger who reluctantly agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend for the evening. "Hey, before we go in, I just want to thank you—and I'm so sorry, and… I really hope when this is all over you're not… emotionally scarred or anything."
He opened his mouth, and she winced when he hesitated. Too late for avoidance of that, it seemed. "It'll be fun," he said, giving her an unenthusiastic shrug.
Suddenly the front door opened, a grey pointer came running out across the lawn and jumping up onto Astrid.
"Stormfly!" Astrid said, bending down and rubbing the dogs face. "How are you girl? Guess what? I got you special food—not like the gross kibble Grandma gets you."
The dog sniffed the bag, before noticing Toothless. The two dogs inspected each other, before seeming to decide that the other was a decent fellow.
"Astrid, is that you? Why didn't you come with Al?" Astrid heard her mom call.
"Come on," Astrid said, taking a deep breath and walking up the steps of the porch to the front door. "Hey mom," she said, smiling.
"Hey," her mom stood in the doorway, smiling at Astrid and pulling her into a strong embrace. "So nice to see you, kid." Suddenly, her mother stiffened, and then let go of her, looking past Astrid with a puzzled, and then exuberant, expression. "Jason?" she asked, unbelieving.
"Uh, hi," Hiccup said, waving awkwardly at the top of the stairs.
"Mom," Astrid said, backing up and putting an arm around Hiccup. After a moment's hesitation, he put an arm around her shoulders. "I would like you to meet Jason, my… boyfriend."
"Oh!" her mother stepped onto the porch, opening her arms, "Let me hug you!"
Astrid let go of Hiccup and watched as he was pulled into a tight embrace. He looked at her, a somewhat scared look on his face, but she just shrugged and mouthed a quick sorry. Her mother broke off the hug, holding him at arm's length. "Look at you! You're so tall! Astrid, you never mentioned he was so tall! And he's so handsome too! Oh, come in, come in," she stepped into the house, calling Stormfly as she did. Both Stormfly and Toothless rushed in, and her mother looked startled for a moment.
"That's Toothless, Mom," Astrid said, "Jason's dog."
"Oh, well, the more the merrier," her mother said as Hiccup and Astrid stepped into the brightly lit living room.
"Look, everyone!" her mother said as Astrid shut the front door behind them. "Look who Astrid finally brought home!"
"Jason!" Astrid's father stood up, walking over and shaking Hiccup's hand. "Nice to meet you, lad—finally…" he chuckled.
"Nice to… meet you too," Hiccup said hesitantly.
"That's my sister Alicia, you've met her," Astrid said, pointing, "That's her husband Eric—their son Jacob—that's my brother Aaron—and his wife Carol."
Hiccup looked around the room, looking quite like a deer in the headlights with all the attention pouring onto him. "It's, uh, nice to... finally meet you all," he managed.
"So," her mother said, grinning at them, "Alicia said you have some exciting news to tell us, but I suppose that's you being here, Jason."
"No it isn't," Alicia cut in.
"Yes it is," Astrid said hurriedly, when Hiccup sent her a questioning and panicked look.
"Really, what is it?" her mother looked at Alicia before looking back at Astrid.
"Nothing. Surprise! Jason's here," Astrid said, hoping Alicia wouldn't—
"They're engaged," Alicia said.
"What?" their parents gasped.
"What?" Hiccup hissed, looking at Astrid with wide eyes.
"What?" Astrid whispered back to him, making a pained, apologetic face, before turning to face her family.
And the plot thickens… I just want to reiterate that this story is short and extremely cheesy. Like, it's a four cheese pizza. The kind that almost always leaves fat and grease and cheese stains on your shirt. Better wear a bib. You have been warned.
Next Chapter: Find out how Hiccup responds to having a fake fiancé!
Feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think of the story so far :)
