Sorry for posting late. Finals. And theres a lot of drama in my personal life. Life advice: Never do anything remotely wrong ever, or people will make a petition and try to expel you for it.

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

Astrid read the numbers on the screen, the total price of the purchase, but it never left her lips. She knew the number, but the words just weren't there. "It's um…uh…" She blinked a couple times, drawing a blank.

"Look, I want to talk to someone who's not retarded. Where's that other kid?"

It felt like the whole world slowed down. Her cheeks glowed with a quiet rage. "Excuse me?"

"Are you disabled? Is that why you can't pay attention? Let me talk to your manager!"

Alvin entered the store, and the customer began conspiring with him. She could hear the phrases "worst employee," "unbelievably stupid," and "belongs in an institution."

It was then that she realized that who she was looking at. The customer that was slowly ruining her life, the woman with the bleached bangs and black undercut. There was some reason this woman was trying to ruin her life.

"Hofferson, you're fired." Alvin's voice was like a gun shot.

Hiccup stood in the background, shaking his head. "You're such a disappointment. You couldn't even do this simple job. What are you going to do as a nurse?"

Gobber came out from the back room. "No point in going to see your father, you've dishonored him. He doesn't deserve you as a daughter. You're just like your mother."

The floorboards started to shift and open up beneath her.

The last thing she saw before falling was Hiccup's disappointed scowl.

Astrid jolted out of bed with a yelp. Her dream had been all to vivid and real. She laid back on the pillow with a sigh and tried to relax.

Today was her day off, and she sorely needed it. The stress of work and daily life was really getting to her. But today, it was relaxing and kicking back with friends and family.

The thought alone brought a smile to her face.

She turned and looked at the clock.

11 am.

It would take a little to get her dad situated, if he even felt up to the party, so she supposed she'd leave early.

Hopefully, everyone would understand.

It was a wonderfully perfect day. A perfect, slightly breezy 72. No clouds in the sky to hide fireworks at night. The deck was filling up. It was a strange crowd, a couple of police officers, a couple of wealthy business owners, and a healthy dose of blue collar workers, all gathered around a grill drinking beer and laughing without abandon. Not an overwhelming number, just a group of unlikely friends.

"So the reason I threw up in front of Jimmy Johns was…well, I do drink a lot. Not while I drive, and I'm over 21!" Tuff sat on a cooler and loudly told an anecdote. Everyone was listening, whether they wanted to or not. "What was different about this time—and there was something different—cause I threw up on myself this weekend, but this time…this time I was walking and right when I started to feel like I had to vomit, you know you do that thing like, HRGH HRGH HRGH, like it's in the back of your throat? Right when that happened, I turned and made eye contact with a lady sitting outside a Starbucks. And then proceeded to keep eye contact with her as I vomited.

"So there she was, drinking her mocha-frappalatte, or whatever they have there. And suddenly she sees the guy across the street just look at her and he just AGGHHHHHHH!" He fake vomited on the deck, the assembled crowd laughing or 'ewing' respectfully. "Can you just imagine what she was thinking? Like, 'oh my god Becky, I was so ugly today, I made a man vomit."

While everyone laughed and pushed Tuff around, the doorbell rang.

Hiccup was the only one who heard it and hurried to the door.

Whatever he was expecting, this wasn't it. Sure, Astrid was there, and her father was in a wheelchair. But he wasn't prepared for Mr. Hofferson to be a shrunken man, sitting blankly in his chair. His neatly trimmed blonde hair and beard had white streaks in it. His eyelids drooped slightly and hid his striking blue eyes.

"Dad, this is my good friend Hiccup. I work with him. He's also taking care of Stormfly until I can get a bigger house."

"Hello sir," Hiccup smiled, "It's nice to meet you."

The man's eyes slid over to make eye contact with him, and his mouth moved, but nothing but a soft mutter came out. He did hold out a jittery hand, though.

"He doesn't talk," Astrid whispered. "Not anymore. But I'm sure he's pleased to meet you."

Hiccup smiled nonetheless and shook his limp hand. Then helped them into his home.

"I'm glad you could both make it." He grinned.

"Yeah, dad was having a pretty good day, according to the nurses."

A squawk came from the rafters before Stormfly landed on Axel's shoulder. "Hello, Handsome."

Astrid smiled, "honestly, as long as he can get out of hospice and be around people for a while, he'll be happy as a clam."

"I didn't realize clams were happy."

On the deck, everyone stopped to look at them when they entered. "Uh, hi!" Astrid greeted, nervously. "I'm Astrid, and this is my dad."

Almost immediately, there was a delighted call, "Axel! Why you son of a gun! You made it!" Followed by several others, "Axel! Why you dirty old bastard!"

"Why, would you look at that!"

"If it ain't ole Hoffmaster!"

Again, Mr. Hofferson said nothing, but something behind his eyes lit up and Gobber came over and clapped his shoulder. "What, has it been over five years now?"

"Wait, you guys know each other?"

Stoick laughed from over by the grill. "Anyone who doesn't know Axel Hofferson must live under a rock! Best electrician in the tri-city area!"

"Wait…" She narrowed her eyes, "Then did you know who I was when you hired me?"

Gobber chuckled. "Of course lass, I recognized you from the photos your dad carried around with him…though I couldn't remember your name…"

It wasn't long until Axel was absorbed into the crowd and everyone began filling him on all sorts of gossip and what changed in their little world.

It was like he wasn't even sick.

"Hey Astrid, this might be kind of rude…" Hiccup began, coming up to her side. "But uh…"

"Parkinson's," She answered shortly. "Usually you get it when you're old, but my dad got it early. Some doctors think it's genetic, others think it's from insulation in walls and ceilings."

"Is that the one where you have seizures?"

"Sort of…it's not like epilepsy, but you lose control of your muscles. My dad sometimes has tremors."

"Oh…so, was your dad always have this?"

She sighed, "As long as I remember, he had to have my mom button his shirts for him. He was fine for a really long time, but had to retire when I was in eighth grade and then had to go into assisted living a year after I went away to school."

"That's why you came back."

"And why I went into nursing." She crossed her arms and spoke softly. "My mom and I never got along, but my dad always treated me like a princess. So I want to do my best to take care of him."

Hiccup looked to her, and then to her father, who was surrounded by his friends and had just a hint of smile on his face. "I think you're doing fine."

"Well soil my britches!" A familiar friendly voice called over from the door. "When Hiccup said he was working with Astrid Hofferson, I thought he was just trying to impress me." A bulky young man, tattoos on his arms and dark hair in a ponytail, approached the group with a smile.

"Eret!" She greeted, "It's been a long time."

"What happened to you? I distinctly remembered you telling me you were going to kick the dust of this crummy town behind you. New York, baby! That's where it's at!"

"Well, life sometimes throws you curve balls. What about you? I thought you were going to the NFL. You were at U of M, right?"

"Like you said, curveballs." He pulled the collar of his shirt down and showed a long scar on his chest. "Open heart surgery. One minute, I'm heading to the end zone and no one can touch me, the next I'm waking up in a hospital a week later. Apparently I had a heart aneurysm right in the middle of the game. I'm not allowed to play anymore."

Astrid grimaced. "That sounds awful."

"Not entirely. I had to change my career path though. I'm going into Wildlife and Fisheries."

"Speaking of wildlife, where's Toothless?"

Hiccup chuckled, "look up."

A long black tail trailed over the edge of the roof, flicking pleasantly.

"Oh. Of course. Why does that not surprise me?"

Fishlegs and another girl approached the group. "What's going on over here?"

"Just a class reunion," Eret answered.

"Oh, Astrid, this is Heather, my cousin…sort of."

"Sort of?"

The dark haired girl gave a short eye roll. "I'm married to his cousin."

"Oh, I get it." She chuckled, "I'm Astrid, we work together."

Heather smiled, like she knew a great secret. "It's nice to meet you."

"So…" Fishlegs rubbed his hands together. "What are you guys doing the 16th?"

"What day is that?"

"It's a Sunday."

"Probably sleeping." Astrid answered, to which everyone agreed.

"Well, I finally finished my campaign, and I'm just itching to try it out."

"Sure." Said Hiccup.

"I'm in."

"Sounds fun."

Astrid, on the other hand, was confused. "Campaign?"

"Dungeons and Dragons." Heather clarified.

"Well," Hiccup added, "we call it Dungeons and Dragons, but it's like a watered down version."

"It's really fun."

Astrid scoffed. "I thought only nerdy kids who live in their parents basement play that."

Fishlegs looked embarrassed, "I do live in my parent's basement."

Stoick called over the crowd. "First round of hot dogs and hamburgers are ready!"

After dinner, the assembled group sat in camping chairs, enjoying the sunshine and the company. Toothless had finally humbled himself to come down from the roof and laid at Hiccup's feet.

"Hiccup, every time I see that cat, I'm amazed." A man said. "Even knowing the full story, I just think it's so weird you have a pet panther. Weird in a good way, though. Don't get me wrong."

"Aye, you're telling me." Expounded Stoick. "The full first year we had him in the house, I carried a baseball bat with me everywhere. Never had to use it, or even felt like I would, but I confess I was a little terrified by him."

"So was the mailman." Hiccup added. "In Tanzania, he'd always fetch stuff for us, so it was natural that he'd see the UPS driver come by and go and greet him." He chuckled. "We lost over a dozen packages like that."

"What did you end up doing? Does he still do that?" Asked Astrid.

"No, a woman took over the route, and she loves Toothless."

The conversation changed to politics, then to cars, then to a comfortable silence.

"Well," began Gobber. "My burger finally finished digesting. I think it's about that time."

"Yeah?" Answered Stoick, standing up. "I think you're right."

"What's happening?" Astrid whispered.

Hiccup smirked, "Do you drink?"

"I…yeah?"

"We've got some beer from Founders, apple ale, and cherry cider."

"Uh, I'll take the cherry…what's going on?"

"We're going to do the drinking song." He said cryptically as he also stood.

Stoick returned to the deck with a fiddle in hand. Eret was getting out a guitar.

"You going to join us this year, boy-o?"

"I've been practicing, but I'm just going to play softly until I figure it out."

Hiccup returned with two cherry ciders in one hand and a weird instrument in the other. It was small and had flat metal bars coming off of it.

"What's that?"

"It's a Mbira, a hand piano."

"Oh." That didn't really answer her question.

It looked like everyone else gathered was grabbing something to drink.

Stoick played a few notes on the fiddle. "Hiccup, you're doing the last verse this year. Okay?"

"Alright." He leaned in closer to Astrid, "let it be know that this song is super racist. You have to be drunk to enjoy it."

She smiled uneasily. "Okay…"

Stoick struck the first note and immediately the deck thundered with clapping and stomping.

"One and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four.

And one and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four."

Everyone sang together at first, swinging there arms and slapping their legs. Then Stoick sang with a rich baritone.

"Love makes one blind until the fiddle breaks.

Old notes are played by a new hand,

It's a tough blow for any fiddler,

He's trying his best, but is both scrawny and bland.

On the hunt for a beard and a mustache,

Should have brought a map for this quest.

Zero discoveries are made,

He's trying his best, but he's as bare as his chest.

He tries to propose, he's finally brave,

His tongue is wet, but his money is dry.

He immediately gets the feeling,

That this something he shouldn't try."

Hiccup and Gobber joined in.

"She started to flirt with more handsome men.

So I traded away that cow

and got the fiddle back again."

Then everyone, including the women, joined.

"So now there will be no shortage of women and money.

because he traded away that cow,

and got the fiddle back again."

Astrid found her self starting to clap along. The song was terrible, but very catchy.

"One and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four.

And one and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four."

Gobber had the next verse.

"A bachelor like him has to keep his head,

he wants to win her over by singing her a song,

But nothing is going to happen,

is being poor so wrong?

So she slips away to the bathroom with a braver man.

One who walks around with his gold in plain sight.

Our fiddler was not interesting enough for her,

So he farts in her direction just out of spite."

Hiccup and Stoick joined again.

"Because life is like a violin

with the need of a violinist

So I traded away that cow and got the fiddle back again."

Astrid joined in on the chorus this time.

"So now there will be no shortage

of women and money.

because he traded away that cow,

and got the fiddle back again."

Hiccup's turn had come.

"Now he's both rich and handsome,

but even that doesn't seem to aid.

The fiddle has gotten a different sound,

a hardened heart is the price he paid.

This girl is different, of this he's sure,

So he introduces her to his friend.

They go to speak for a moment,

Five minutes quickly turned to ten.

He sought them out with question,

But what met him behind the door,

made him want to cry out his eyes.

They were laying together on the floor."

The group sang together.

"I saw her together with my best friend.

So I traded away that cow,

and got the fiddle back again."

Everyone was singing loudly together.

"So now there will be no shortage

of women and money.

because he traded away that cow,

and got the fiddle back again.

One and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four.

And one and two and three and four,

and one and two and three and four.

So now there will be no shortage

of women and money.

because he traded away that cow,

and got the fiddle back again."

Astrid laughed after it was over. Really, it was a terrible song but the sheer volume of drunken rhapsody filled her with joy. "Do you guys do this every year?"

"Every year!" Hiccup laughed back.

Astrid looked over to her father who was clapping. Her heart clenched at the sight of him moving fluidly. Even if it was a little. She vowed to bring him to more events if possible.

Sunset came, and Axel and the adults stayed behind as the kids and Toothless walked down the road to the lake. There, they boarded Eret's boat and jetted out on the lake. Not without lighting a post on the dock first.

There's something about the lake that just soothed the soul. When you're speeding through the waves, you can't hear anything but the deafening wind thundering against your ears. The air around you feels like water parting around you. Each wave the boat cut through, sends a jolt through your body and a pounding in your head.

Then finally, they stopped about a half mile out from the beach. The light house was just a sliver in the distance.

"Are we going to be able to see the fireworks from this far away?"

"Yeah, totally. They're huge."

Toothless hopped up on the back of the boat and stretched out lazily.

"Watching the fireworks has become way more enjoyable since I joined you guys out here." Heather commented from the front. "Scott and I used to go down to Silver Beach and watch there. I mean, it was incredible. But we would get home at like, 3am because they closed traffic down town and you had to detour around the whole city."

"Your husband's name is Scott?"

"Yeah, Scott Jorgenson."

"Oh, my boyfriend's name is Scott too. Scott Loud."

"Oh too funny!"

Everyone fell into a peaceful silence as they watched the sunset on the lake. Everything blossoming into purples and reds.

"My dad and I would go down to the pier on the north side. There's little cement wave breakers cut into the pier that you can climb into. We'd sit in the one directly across from the symphony pavilion. Right in the middle of the 1812 Overture, they'd start shooting off the fireworks. Then after, they play the Star Wars theme. We'd eat cherries and spit the pits at ducks. And we'd wave to all the boats going out to the lake." Then she 'hmph'ed. "It did take forever to get out though, since everyone and their mother tried to leave that way."

"If it makes you guys feel any better," Hiccup began, laying down next to Toothless. "I didn't see my first firework until I was 5. I was on the back deck of my house and I thought the lighthouse had blown up. It was very scary."

"Aw, I love baby Hiccup stories." Heather smiled.

"So…where's your husband, Heather?" Astrid asked, politely.

Hiccup answered. "He and I don't get along, but Heather and I have been friends for a while."

"He had to work," Heather added. "But even if he didn't, I doubt he would have come."

"Well, his loss." Fishlegs commented.

The sun had disappeared over the horizon. But it's light remained.

"In truth, it's been a while since I got to see the fireworks. I always worked downtown, and Fourth of July is one of the busiest times down there. So, I'm kind of excited."

"Come sit up here with me!" Hiccup beckoned.

Astrid laid down on the back, separated from him by Toothless.

"Thanks for inviting us, Hiccup. Today was…really great."

"Yeah? Thanks for coming."

"It's been a while since I saw my dad so active. It was nice. I had a lot of fun."

"Well, you're welcome here anytime."

"Thanks."

And with that, the first firework launched.