Chapter 4

Hiccup trudged down the stairs at seven the next morning, dressed and ready for school. 'All I need now is some coffee.' He thought as he rubbed a hand down his face, wiping away the sleep from his eyes.

He had woken up an hour ago with an incredible urge to pee but as he dashed to the bathroom his hand stilled on the door knob; remembering that he now shared a bathroom. Which under no circumstances did he want to find out what Astrid would do to him if he walked in while she was in there. So after several knocks and a quick prayer he slowly opened the door and to his great pleasure she wasn't in there. He did note though that the shower had been used recently and of course the room was spotless, even the towels were hung neatly. Making a mental note to leave the room as he found it, Hiccup went about his morning bathroom routine.

So now freshly shaved and showered he walked into the kitchen with the intent to head straight to the coffee machine to get his fix of caffeine. Of course that was the plan until he saw his blonde bodyguard leaning against the counter, attention focused on the phone in her hand. Hiccup thought he was done being shocked speechless by Astrid but apparently she was just getting started because there she stood looking like the embodiment of the Goddess Freya herself. Astrid had lost the combat boots and leather jacket and now wore a form fitting long sleeve blue dress with black leggings underneath it, her feet donned simple black flats and to top it all off she wore a fur vest to keep her warm from Berk's Fall weather.

But the most incredible part was the waves of flaxen hair that hung loose down her back. They looked like liquid gold and he was sure that if he even had the honor of touching them they would feel the same as well. So over taken by her beauty Hiccup didn't see that her attention was no longer on the phone but now pointed directly at him.

"Finally you're up." She pushed away from the counter, only giving him a better view of her.

"A-Astrid, y-you look…" 'beautiful, incredible, Goddess like,' "…girly." He could have slapped himself the second the word came out of his mouth. 'Girly? Really Hiccup?! This is why you've never had a girlfriend!'

She cocked her infamous eyebrow and shook her head dismissing what he said, "anyways, come on we have to go." The urgency in her voice snapped him out of the mental berating he was doing to himself.

"Oh ok, we'll let me get some coffee and then we can…" he trailed off as he looked toward where the coffee maker sat only to find it noticeably absent. His eyes darted around the kitchen until they settled on the trash can which had the coffee maker unceremoniously sticking out of it.

He swung his shocked gaze to Astrid, "wha-wha-what happened to the coffee maker?!" He asked pointing in the direction of the trash.

Astrid looked up from her nails that she had been picking and pointed at the same trash can. "That is an archaic device that produced black sludge, NOT a coffee maker. So it had to go." She shrugged.

Hiccup stood there mouth opening and closing, similar to the fish that was his namesake. 'She-she threw away…how-how controlling can one person be?!'

"Wha-what was wrong with the coffee maker?" His arms flailing around wildly, "yeah it-it was old but the coffee it made was…well…drinkable." He finished lamely.

"Drinkable is not acceptable. So I ordered a new one, it should be here this afternoon. Now, lets go so you and I can both our caffeine, I tend to loose my pleasant disposition with out it."

'This is her being pleasant? Thor, I don't want to find out what she's like mad…' was all he could think as the two picked up their book bags and headed out the front door.

They walked onto the porch and down the front steps and to his surprise Astrid walked right up to a large black SUV that he had never seen before. He watched as she walked around to the drivers door, opened it and got in. Hiccup looked around confused until the passenger window rolled down and he heard Astrid's voice yelling at him to get in. Apprehensively he walked toward the vehicle, giving it a once over before he opened the passenger door and climbed in. What he saw inside was just as much surprise as the vehicle it's self.

Where the stereo would generally reside a large touch screen monitor sat and flanking its sides were several sets of buttons and knobs. Hiccup took a quick look around and saw more monitors in the two rows behind them. Letting out a whistle of appreciation, he turned back to the front clicking his seat belt before looking over at Astrid.

"Maaaannn this is nice." He pressed the the button on the glove box and was surprised when out popped a mounted laptop and beside it a hand gun. "Oh well that's not a standard feature." He said and shut the glovebox quickly.

Astrid shook her head while she started the vehicle, "there is nothing standard about this vehicle. Thank the Berkain government for that." The she pressed the start button and the engine roared to life and before Hiccup could say anything else the two shot off like a rocket down the quiet house lined street. Hiccup physically had to hold on while Astrid drove at a very illegal speed and turned corners like she was in a formula one car.

Gripping his seat truly scared for his life, Hiccup looked over at Astrid, "uuhhh Ast-Astrid could-could you maybe uh sl-slow down?! Please!" He was answered by a slam of the brakes when they reached a red light.

Astrid let out an annoyed sigh, "I've been trained in tactical driving Hiccup. Trust me you're safe." She shook her head at his irrational fear.

"Really? Cause I-I sure don't feel safe!" She turned to look at him and while she did she gave him quick once over, his color was pale and she was pretty sure his fingers would pierce the leather seats soon. With a grumble she eased off the gas and slowed the vehicle down. She could see him relax instantly, 'his file talked about how adventurous he was...all I've seen is someone who is constantly nervous and could be scared of his own shadow in the right conditions. Another question in the mystery of who Hiccup really is and who wants him dead.' She thought.

Hiccup let out a breath he had been holding and relaxed into the seat. "Thanks." He didn't feel like anything else needed to be said between the two and they fell into a comfortable silence.

After buzzing through a drive-thru and getting some coffee and breakfast sandwiches, the two pulled into the parking lot of the school and parked the car. Hiccup had his hand on the handle when, Astrid's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. He instantly stilled enjoying the feel of her touching him but slightly terrified at the same time.

"Hey we have a few backstory facts to go over." She saw she had his full attention and continued, "my name is still Astrid, but my last name isn't Hofferson here it's Anderson, Astrid Anderson." He nodded.

"Ok next, we know each other. Friends from way back, I moved but now I'm back to finish school at Berk U. That will cover why I'm always hanging around you. Alright?" He nodded obediently again.

"Good, lets go then." The two exited the vehicle and started walking toward Hiccup and now Astrid's first class. Along the way Hiccup gave waves to a few people who passed. All greeting him and then getting a questioning look on their faces when they saw the pretty blonde he was walking with.

The two walked into an Engineering class and sat down towards the center of the room. Again several of his classmates gave a critical eye to the beautiful stranger sitting near him. Probably for several reasons but the main being the fact that she was there with him. Hiccup.

"Good morning class," their teach said. "I see we have a new student, Ms. Astrid Anderson. If you would please come up here, I have some paperwork to give you." He gestured for her to come down with his hand.

Much to his surprise Astrid didn't walk towards him with her normal military like movements; stealthy, assertive and deadly. No, instead she walked between the desks swaying her hips with a bounce in her step. A walk that left ever male, which was the entire rest of the class, leaning out of their seats to watch her as she passed. Much to Hiccup's displeasure.

He watched her saunter up to the teach and exchange pleasantries and then flash him a million dollar smile as he passed the paperwork to her. His professor than said something to her which earned him the most enchanting laugh Hiccup had ever heard. If he didn't know the real Astrid, the one from the last twenty four hours at least, he would think she was another college girl. Friendly, pretty, normal. The problem was he did know the real Astrid, so seeing her acting like this left him thoroughly confused.

Hiccup watched as she walked back to the desk beside him all eyes following her yet again, the most critical being Hiccup himself. Astrid gingerly sat down in the seat not paying any attention to the looks as she pulled out her laptop. It was a moment later she finally spared a glance at Hiccup beside her and to her surprise he was still staring at her with a bewildered look on his face.

"What?" She whispered so only he could hear. He blinked a couple of times before he finally spoke, "who are you?" He asked still not exactly sure about what he had just seen. 'Did someone replace deadly scary Astrid with super personable and charming Astrid?'

Seeing his confusion at her interaction she had just had with the professor, Astrid smirked and leaned closer to him. "Someone who's really good at their job." With a satisfied smirk she leaned back and began working on her computer, leaving Hiccup to continue staring.

Two classes later it was time for lunch and Hiccup had agreed to meet up with his group of friends at a local deli near campus. He was sure they had a thousand questions for him since they had no interaction with Astrid up until this point, other than their initial meeting. Which he admits could have definitely gone better.

Astrid parked out front of the building as the group were all arriving on foot. Tuffnut was the first to recognize the two, "whoa, look who's pulled up in some fancy SUV." He said as he pointed at them, the whole group turned to look and watched as Hiccup and Astrid got out.

Snotlout pushed to the front of the group when he saw Astrid walk around the vehicle to the sidewalk. "Hey babe, didn't see you last night." He walked right up to her side. "Want to sit beside me at the table?" Snotlout flexed a bicep in Astrid's direction.

Astrid gave him a once over before giving him an obvious eye roll, "hard pass." Everyone let out a laugh, breaking the ice before they walked into the deli and towards a large open table. Before Hiccup even had a say, Astrid had maneuvered him into the seat of her liking, "I'll go get our sandwiches, what do you want?"

Hiccup knew he shouldn't have been surprised by Astrid doing these things for him but it definitely still took some getting used to. "Um, uh a Reuben." He told her as he reached into his pocket searching for his wallet, "here let me give you some cash."

Astrid stopped him with a shake of her head and pulled out a black card out of her purse. "Nope, my incredibly high limit government card says you're not." With that she walked off to the front counter with Snotlout trailing behind her.

Once the two were out of hearing distance, his remaining friends all turned to him and began peppering him with questions. "How is she? Is she as bad ass as she seems?" Can we look in the the car? Can we ride in the car? Where does she keep her gun?"

Hiccup threw up his hands in a motion to stop, "whoa, whoa, whoa! Ok first she's good but a bit, um, intense. Very bad ass almost to the point of being a movie character or something. I'm sure you can look and ride in the car and her gun…" Hiccup blushed at the thought. "Well-uh-I-I just know it's there." They all nodded at his answers just as Astrid and Snotlout came walking back, trays filled with food.

As Astrid sat down beside him and passed over his food, even more questions were thrown in her direction, all of which she answered in her own Astrid way. Watching all of them interact, essentially welcoming her into their tight knit group, he could help but smile. Maybe having a bodyguard around wouldn't be that bad.

2 updates in a row! So I love reading your reviews concerning Astrid, to put it simply you really shouldn't like her a ton yet. She's got a lot of stuff to work through and as you can see so does Hiccup.

Oh and about her smoking it will come up a few more times, another bad habit that she is in need of stopping, just like her drinking and being hyper critical of Hiccup. Astrid has a ways to go before she's the Astrid we know and love, so just hang in there.

It's all about the transformation.