Flying felt so free. This distracted him from all his problems. He was so alive when he flew. He could see the neighborhood. He could see his school. A few other people were out with their dragons. It was peaceful there.
When he arrived home, Hiccup's father was yelling and throwing things to the ground. Hiccup tried to slip past the man,wanting to avoid whatever he was angry about.
"Hiccup!"
This stopped the boy in his tracks. He turned around to face his father.
"Homosexual marriage has been legalized," Stoick's face meant business.
Hiccup didn't care for his anger towards the subject, in fact, he was happy about gay marriage. Not wanting to displease his father, he said, "Oh dad, that's horrible."
"Isn't it? I'm going to go to a protest against that abomination in Washington. You can come with if you like." Stoick sifted through the contents of his briefcase, removing unnecessary items.
Hiccup was excited to have the house to himself. "Uh no thanks dad. I don't want to miss any school."
"Are you sure you're okay at home by yourself? Stoick zipped up the thick briefcase.
"Yeah dad, I'll be fine." Stoick looked at the boy with concern for a moment. He had never left him alone overnight, let alone a few days, but he was growing up. He was a Freshman now.
"Okay Hiccup. I'll be gone for a while. Tuesday is the earliest I'll be back. I'm going to pack a few things and leave." He carried the large case with him to fill it with luggage.
Hiccup was relieved. It was like he could finally breathe after being dragged underwater by the tide. When his father was gone, he was so much more relaxed and happy.
About five minutes had passed when his father came back down the stairs. "I'm going to call you every day Hiccup. Don't do anything stupid."
"Bye dad."
"Bye son."
Stoick almost slammed the door on his way out. Hiccup could tell he was angry. There were so many things he could do while his father was gone. A few of them were things he just hadn't quite worked up the courage for yet.
The first on his list was to pierce his ears. The second was to go to an actual party with actual people and actual alcohol. The third was to go to the store and buy some things his father would not approve of. Particularly, he wanted condoms.
Hiccup wasn't in a relationship. In fact, he had never even been kissed before. Girls didn't seem so important to him, but when the time came, if it did, he wanted to be safe about it. He was fifteen: he didn't need kids.
He realized that he might want to do the other two things before the party. It was risky, but he was going to pierce his ears, leave the regular earrings in for a day or so, then put in retainers. His hair was longer, so he could pull it off.
Where should he go first? He questioned himself. He knew that the party in question was tonight. He pulled on the skinny jeans that his father had banned him from wearing. It was a Saturday, and it was still quite early. Hiccup took out the hair straightener that he kept in the drawer.
He ran the cheap equipment through his hair until it was pin-straight. He put on a tight My Chemical Romance T-shirt. It felt good to be himself for once.