(A/N: This is really short and really late and I'm sorry. Uni has me on edge-finals are coming up and I am doing less-than-stellar in the grade department. On top of that, I've gotten a second job and I have to work most of the week so it's just one thing after another. Good news though: I should get another chapter of something out by next month. 'm not sure if it'll be this or Penitence & Patience or even the Truth About Shadows, but I will have written something by May. Hopefully before then.

To those of you who reviewed and asked me to update: here you go. This story is not, nor will it be, abandoned. I will finish this if it kills me (which it may). I hope you all enjoy this. :3)

That bastard! That fucking bastard! I swore inside my head as I wheeled my things to the curb. I was somewhat pleased that my stuff wasn't unpacked all the way because it made it easier to gather up and get out of there. No one tried to stop me from leaving on my way out except for Toothless but I wasn't going to listen to a word he had to say.

"Hiccup!" He had called out, but I ignored him. Camicazi, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Astrid, and Snotlout's just watched me go, looking only mildly interested. I guess no one had ever said "no" to Toothless the sex god before.

He called out to me again and I snapped. I whipped to face him and began giving him a piece of my mind. "Now you listen here you shitbiscuit! You pick me as your birthday gift and expect me to just thank you?! Ohhh thank you so very much Night Fury! Thank you for allowing me this wonderful chance to suck your dick! Is that what you expected from me when I found out?! Gratitude?!"

"No, I—"

I cut him off, "Oh wait, you never expected me to find out at all! Instead, you expected me to just go on my merry way, believing that I got somewhere because of my talent, and not 'cause some immature, spoilt, rich brat decided he wanted me as some sort of human sex-toy! I suppose I should thank you though," my voice got dangerously low as I continued railing on him. "Now I know the truth; and the truth is that you, Toothless, are a spoilt little dick who thinks the world revolves around him and I never had any talent to begin with. Oh thank God for that revaluation so early on! Now I won't get delusions of grandeur! Now I know I'm just a worthless little virgin nerd." I pulled away from him and pulled my phone from my pocket, face burning with embarrassment and fury. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make."

Toothless opened his mouth one last time but, after seeing that I was not going to give in, he gave up and walked away. Everyone else dispersed as well, all the drama over and done with, I suppose. I opened my contacts with shaky fingers and looked for who I was going to call. Gobber was working, so that was a no. Fishlegs didn't have a vehicle due to his mother's obsessive (and rational) fear of him running away. That left Dad, since I had no other contacts in my phone that lived in Berk. I pressed 'CALL' and waited for the dial tone to end. After a few agonising seconds if silence, he picked up.

"Ye'? What is it, Hiccup?"

I couldn't hold it in any longer. All the pain and betrayal and anger I had bottled up burst out of me in a stream of tears and snot. "Dad," I sniffled, "Please come pick me up."

That got a reaction out of him, "What's wrong?! Did they hurt you?! If they did, ah'll hafta' have a talk with tha' 'Fang' fellow! He promised me you'd be safe!"

"It's not that," I hiccoughed, "I...they lied to me..."

"How so?" I heard him get up from wherever he was sitting and exit the room he had been in. "Becau' is this is one big prank an' they never intended to let you sing in the first place, ah'm gonna have a very intimate interaction with Fang."

"I'm not really talented...I'm just there because Toothless wanted me..." How else was I supposed to explain this to my dad? Knowing how he reacted in certain, less threatening situations, if I told him exactly what Toothless wanted me for, he'd come over and castrate him. Which...now that I was thinking about it...wasn't a bad idea.

There was a large pause. I heard him drop his keys and sit down, then he took a deep breath and sighed. "Hiccup, you are talented."

"No I'm not! I didn't get in on my own!"

"Jonathan Horrendous Haddock III, you listen t'me and you listen well." Oh no. He used my full name. Shit, shit, shit. "You are talented. Ev'r since you were a babe you had an affinty for music. When your mother would sing, you would light up li' a Christmas tree an' try to sing along. For your fifth birthday you wanted a guitar an' when I got you one, you go' better an' better at it. When you were ten, you asked for music creation software. Whenever I would look up, you brough' me some new piece of music that you ha' written an' each one was better than the last. You are far more than just talented. You are gifted an' anyone who tells you otherwise is a damn liar."

I rubbed my eyes and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. "But what do I do about this? I'm being used!"

"How long have you wanted to do things with this ban'?"

"Forever..."

"An' how long have you been writin' tha' genre of music?"

"Forever..."

"Are you gonna' le' some shitty brat ruin your dream?"

"...no?"

"Make the best of this situation an' push through. Even if they didn't recruit you for yout talent—which is a damn shame—they'll keep you for it. Don't let them win. Soldier on an' just keep goin'. Make them appreciate you for your talent. Make them need you for your talent. An' when they finally see you for the genius you are, you'lll have won." While Dad is not the most conventional of fathers out there, he is the best I could ask for and he gives a mean motivational speech. "It's like when you an' Fishlegs went against that Jötunar durin' the Forming of Midgard event. It looked bleak an' everyone around you had said that your under-leveled Dragonkin wouldn't survive, bu' you found the programmed move loop and figured out a way to exploit that. That lead to you an' Fishlegs bein' the only survivors an' the winners of th' event. Remember?"

I remembered that. Out of the three hundred PCs that tried to kill the Jötunar, Fishlegs and I were the only ones remaining. Not only did we get a shitton of EXP, but we also got event class-specific weapons and the title "Jötunar-Slayer" added to our PCs. I still had my Bracers of Eternal Winter in a chest—mainly because I had a better weapon—and there was a signpost next to the static remains of the Jötunar that read "Here lies the conquest of the Jötunar-Slayers: Hamrammr and Fafnir". It was a great day for me and I spent the next week excited about whatever other events Dad had planned for Midsummmer Fesitval in Isle of Berk.

"Yeah..." I admitted, sniffing slightly. My tears had stopped but my nose was still running and my eyes were puffy and swollen from me crying.

"You ou' th' same amoun' of tenacity in thi' as you did slayin' the Jötunar an' you'll blow them away with your skills."

I straightened up. He was right! How dare I let some shitty rock star ruin my self-image?! I was good at what I did, and what I did best was music! "I'm gonna do it, dammit."

"Good boy." I could hear the smile in his voice and was warmed by it. "Now you go back an' you kick tha' Toothless boy's ass. You prove to them tha' a Haddock doesn't run away, an' there is nothin' scarier than an angry Haddock."

"I'll do just that." I grabbed my stuff and started to head back into the mansion. "Love you Dad."

"Love you too son. Stay safe."

"Will do." And with that, I hung up. Pocketing my phone, I steeled myself for the stares and questions I would get upon reentry and stepped over the threshold. Fuck them. Fuck them and their stupid fucking prejudices. Fuck Toothless in particular. Just...fucking fuck him, the dick. I was going to take my life back, no matter what kind of abuse I face. I was going to make it big and then he would be sorry. And if that asshole came on to me again, I was going to shove my foot so far up his ass that he would be tasting his own shit for months.

I was going to beat the odds. If only I knew how much work actually went into being a rock star.