Reconciliation

Hiccup watched the front gates of the school intently as they drove in. He was looking for Thorn. The portrait of her was neatly rolled and stowed carefully in his backpack, and he was hoping that the strange events of the previous day could begin to be forgotten with it. Usually, she would be waiting nearby, ready to come and help him out of the car (although his independence was now much greater and he accepted her offer more out of courtesy than anything else) and walk with him into school. Today was evidently not a usual day. Thorn was absent, which was strange. Hiccup hadn't told his father about the events yesterday (apart from the fact that he had fallen and hit his head, but this was a bit hard to hide due to the large welt he was now sporting), and nobody else knew; he was the only one who could understand the real reason for her absence.

To his surprise, it was not an empty doorway that greeted him as he was moving to get out of the car, but Astrid.

"Thought you could use a hand," she said with a smile.

"Actually, I'd rather have a leg," Hiccup shot back, grinning.

He proceeded to get out of the car; a small grunt was emitted when his prosthetic met the floor and bore some weight. Awkwardly positioning his crutches, he walked with Astrid into school.

Hiccup didn't mind walking with Astrid, it was just... strange. He'd never walked into school (or around it) with anybody other than Thorn. If someone did decide to join them, Thorn was always there to lend a hand and keep the conversation going, or just comfort him with her presence. There hadn't been many days when she wasn't there with him. Although, he supposed, he had deserted her for weeks and weeks after the fire.

That final thought brought a firm plan into his mind. Reconcile with her, and make up for all the times he was an idiot and totally unworthy of her friendship. There was no way he could do that by phone; he'd have to visit her. And there is no better time to apologise than right away. Well, as soon as possible anyway. Hiccup decided that he would visit her as soon as he could after school. He could even feign illness or a hospital appointment to get out of school early and see her.

Hiccup's rational brain immediately questioned this, telling him how that would be a direct violation of the school rules, but his heart didn't care. After listening to his rational, argumentative side for approximately three seconds, he just shut it out and let his true feelings guide him. He would do a lot of things for Thorn. Even skip school and break the rules. When it came to school or friendship, friendship would win hands down every time.

"Wait, I've forgotten something. I must have left it in the car, or at home." Hiccup stopped just as he was going to walk through the door of the school. Astrid turned to face him, apologising to a few other students as she moved out of their way.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked.

"No, no, my dad's still here, I'll be fine," he replied, perhaps a little too hastily, and turned to start making his way speedily towards his car. His father started the engine just as he approached, and he put on an extra burst of speed; luckily, he managed to catch him just as he was putting the car in gear to drive away. Hiccup rapped on the window, and his father turned, surprised. He killed the engine as Hiccup pulled open the door.

"What is it, son?" Stoick asked, the look of slight surprise still on his face.

"I've, uh, forgotten something. I think it's at home." Said timidly, the excuse didn't sound very good at all.

"Can't you just go today without it?"

"No, it's for a teacher who's really strict about this stuff. I'll get a detention if I don't have it." Hiccup even surprised himself with his sincerity. "There's still time before school if we hurry." These final words decided his father, and he motioned for Hiccup to get in. No sooner had he clicked his seatbelt into place then they were in motion, his father controlling the car with a stern expression.

As soon as they had cleared the gate, Hiccup turned to his father.

"Take me to Thorn's house. Please." He tried to make his words as pleading as possible, but this was not difficult, since he felt as pleading and desperate as his words indicated. Stoick sat impassively, seemingly ignoring him. Suddenly, he pulled sharply into a parking space at the side of the road and killed the engine.

"Why?" he asked, turning to face him. Hiccup sighed.

"I just... I just realised that my stuff is probably at Thorn's house. Yeah." All he got was an angry glare from his father.

"The real reason?" Hiccup sighed again.

"I... I can't explain. Not properly. I just... need to see her. It's really important." Hiccup looked expectantly at his father, waiting for him to reject his request and drive him right back to school. In a rare moment of do now and ask questions later for him, he started the car and proceeded to drive in the direction of Thorn's house. Hiccup was silently hugely thankful to whatever it was inside his father which made him do that.

The car journey was a short one; Thorn lived not ten minutes from the school. Throughout, neither father nor son spoke. Their silence was more of an uneasy truce, neither party wanting to talk in the fear that another conflict would begin. Hiccup was just grateful that his father had known to do the right thing. He spent most of the time in the car thinking about how to begin.

By the time he was climbing out of the car, he still didn't know what to say. He walked fearlessly to the front door, confident that he could just act natural and it would all work out. Ringing the doorbell, he silently hoped that Thorn would be at home.

It was Thorn's mother who opened the door.

"Hello, Hiccup. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to see Thorn, and to... pick up a few things I've forgotten." For some reason his brain still tried to continue with the lie, even though nobody would believe it. Thorn's mother stepped aside and gestured for him to come in.

Making his way up the stairs, he gingerly tried to push the door to Thorn's room open, but there was something blocking the way. Pushing harder, he heard Thorn's angry voice float under the door.

"Go away!" Hiccup rattled the handle some more, until he had convinced himself that he wouldn't be able to force his way in.

"Thorn, it's Hiccup. Let me in. Please?"

"I don't want to talk to anybody. Least of all you. Didn't you realise that yesterday?" Thorn's harsh words were like a dagger to Hiccup's heart. He almost physically staggered backwards by the force behind them.

"Why... why don't you want to talk to me? What have I done wrong? If you won't say anything to me, at least tell me why."

"It's not you. It's never you. It's me. I've screwed up. I'm always the one who screws up. That's why you shouldn't be talking to me."

"Thorn, wait. I've come here to admit that I've screwed up too. Can you let me in so we can talk properly?" There was a long silence. Hiccup would have stood there for hours if that was what it would take.

As it was, it only took five minutes. Hiccup heard some shifting and rustling from behind the door, and at last the door slowly slid open on oiled hinges. They stood, facing each other, for a long and silent moment until Thorn stepped aside and Hiccup moved into her room. Still no more words had been said, other than the perfunctory conversation with the door between them.

"Thorn, I-"

"Listen-" they both began at the same time. Thorn gestured for Hiccup to go first, so he continued.

"I came here to tell you that I've been an idiot and a terrible friend and I'm really really sorry and it's okay if you hate me right now because I realised how stupid and selfish I am..." The words rushed from Hiccup like they'd been pent up for so long and they were desperate to be released.

"You're not selfish. You're the least selfish person I've ever met," Thorn replied. "You should hate me. I've been the selfish one here."

"But you didn't leave me in the fire and then refuse to see me for months! That was me! I was the ignorant one." At each mention of himself, he jabbed a forefinger at his chest.

"Yes, I don't suppose I did," she said, and Hiccup assumed a face that said he knew he'd won. But Thorn wasn't finished yet.

"That's not all. I was the one who pushed you over; I was the one who failed you time and time again. You were the one who saved that kid from the fire at your own expense; you were the one that bore all the pain and suffering without so much as a bad word said aloud about it. For every failing you think you have, you've got a hundred virtues. So you refused to let me see you for a few months. I probably would have done that too, you know. Not many people have been in your position, and I can't claim to know anything about any of it. All I know is that you handled an impossible situation with selflessness and tact. Just imagine what it would have been like if Snotlout had been the one losing his leg and having flashbacks in his favourite class?" This final comment pulled a thoughtful smirk, then an amused grin, from the mouth of Hiccup.

"That would be fun. Now all we've got to do is engineer that situation," Hiccup replied with a smile. Just the thought of Snotlout in his position had lifted his mood sky high. "But I don't think he'd be able to handle not doing any sport. He'd just sit at the sidelines and throw stuff at everyone." His grin was growing wider by the minute.

"Well, we can't create the same situation again, but we could do something about Snotlout," Thorn replied, glad that the conversation was steering away from Hiccup and his imaginary failings and towards something more light hearted. "We could tell everyone about how he was such a coward in the fire. Do you remember his face?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. "Um, no, actually I don't." He concentrated really hard for even longer.

"I still can't say I can remember his face," he finally said with a sigh. "But... I mean, I should be able to remember the face of the guy I hate, right?" A frown was starting to form on his face, wrinkling the lines born too early on his face from all the pain and suffering he had endured.

Thorn thought for a moment, then suddenly clicked her fingers, snapping her gaze up to meet Hiccup's.

"Maybe you do remember..." she said mysteriously. Hiccup's frown grew deeper.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean that maybe you do remember, but not consciously. Maybe it's buried deep in there somewhere. And you're lucky, because you've got a massive pathway to those locked-away memories- your flashbacks. You go into the workshop with me and try to have a flashback, but really detailed. You'll see the look on his face, then you can draw it afterwards," she finished triumphantly. Hiccup nodded, a smile beginning to form.

"I think that just might work. Tomorrow we can rope in Astrid and then at lunch we'll do it." He grinned, glad that they would at last be getting back at the boy who had made Hiccup's life hell from the second he had walked through the gates of the school just over a year ago.

Thorn's smile faltered for a split second, but then she stepped forwards and grasped his shoulders.

"Are you sure you're okay with this? I don't want you to feel forced into doing this or anything."

Hiccup nodded his head vigorously. "I'm sure. Anything to bring Snotlout off his high horse. As long as you don't knock me out this time, I'm okay with it." Thorn grinned and nodded, then pulled him into a tight embrace, which Hiccup returned wholeheartedly.

"Can we just skip school today?" Thorn asked.

"Yeah. I don't suppose there's anybody to miss us." He settled on the bed and, pulling off his prosthetic, said, "What do you want to do?"

"Movie?" Thorn replied, which was met with a nod of approval from Hiccup. She pulled out her laptop and booted it up, then slotted in the DVD and they sat down to watch the movie.

Thorn sat, huddled by Hiccup's side. She was buoyed up by everything that had happened. Hiccup skipping school (he told her about Astrid and the car and his father), his apology to her, and his willingness to have another flashback just to get back at a bully. He was just so perfect. Which, of course made her all the more unworthy of him. He deserved better; he should /have better than her.

Thorn didn't voice her thoughts, because she knew that they would just be met with disagreement from Hiccup. Unable to accept that he was better than her; yet another way in which he was so perfectly selfless and the most caring person she'd ever met. It was just so unfair, that such a wonderful and perfect person would have to endure all that he has, thought Thorn. If anyone deserved all the suffering, it was her.

"Why is life so unfair?" she mused aloud, and Hiccup paused the movie before glancing across at her.

"Because if it was fair, then we'd all be idiots living too blissfully for our own good. It's important to have a reality check once in a while, you know."

"That's not what I meant," she replied, knowing full well that Hiccup had perfectly understood the meaning of her previous statement.

"I don't think that my life has been unfair. I've just had it a little harder than most other people. But I know that if I can get through this and come out in relatively the same condition on the other side, I'll know I can handle anything life can throw at me. Life isn't unfair all the time. It's just that your life has been fairer on you than mine up to this point. Maybe I won't get cancer or die young or go blind when I'm older; maybe I'll end up wrinkly and senile like everybody else. We don't know of our future until it finally comes up to us and smacks us square in the face. Foresight is one of the worst gifts that we've been given. It allows us to think ahead, which is great if you're playing chess, but in the game of life it's never a trump card. With foresight, many a great decision has been marred by that person's reluctance to take a risk. Because that's who we are, and that's what we've evolved to be- people who don't take risks. If we took risks, then we'd be happier at times, but also sadder at others; it's the fear of sadness that means we're all pedestrian non-risk- takers."

There was literally nothing Thorn could say to that. His words were brutally true, and they both knew it. She just hoped that one day, she'd be brave enough to take a risk like Hiccup did. Brave enough to take a risk, even though she'd seen what could happen if the risk went wrong. She leaned forwards, and pressed play on her laptop, starting the movie once more and pulling herself into another world, one where all her imperfections and worries were non-existent.

After the first movie had finished, they just picked another one at random and sat there for the rest of the day, just sitting silently, each taking comfort from the presence of the other. Hiccup had phoned his dad and asked if he could stay over, and he'd agreed readily and brought over some clothes for the next day. Hiccup guessed his dad was really in a generous mood today; he'd never let Hiccup stay over at a friend's house on a school night before. Either that, or there was some kind of new, deeper understanding that had suddenly been forged between them, and he just instinctively knew that this was important.

Four movies, and quite a few snacks stolen from the cookie jar later, Thorn's mum called them both down for dinner. Hiccup started to pull on his prosthetic while Thorn grabbed his crutches for him.

"No, wait. There's something I want to show you." He got gingerly to his feet, then limped the few steps across to the door on his own. As he turned, he was almost bowled over by an enthusiastic Thorn.

"You walked properly! That's great!" Hiccup shrugged.

"Not really. I don't think I walked very evenly."

"Well, I didn't notice it that much. You should be proud." she replied with a smile. Hiccup started to blush nervously, looking down at the ground.

"Thanks," he said meekly. "I did this for you, you know. I've also got something else for you, downstairs. I was going to give it to you at school today, but I've only just remembered about it. Come on," he finished, opening the door and limping out onto the landing. Thorn followed, handing over his crutches so that he could navigate the stairs. They walked downstairs together, and Hiccup tried walking alone again to his bag. For the last few steps, Thorn could see the pain evident in his face. She moved up alongside him, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. From this distance, she could see that he was breathing slightly more heavily than normal, and that there was a light sheen of sweat on the back of his neck.

"Hey. There's no point in ruining all your hard work just because you think you need to show off to me. You don't. I'm really touched by how you're trying so hard for me, but you're trying too hard. If you keep walking like this, you'll just end up back at square one. Again. Don't make me feel like I'm the cause of it. Again." Hiccup bent over, mumbling his words into his schoolbag as he unzipped it and fumbled around inside for the gift.

"Mmmm… I guess…ah." He pulled out a long, thin roll of paper, secured by a rubber band, and handed it to her. "Open it."

"Not until you promise me that you won't get yourself back to square one by doing too much at once," Thorn said sternly. At times, she reminded Hiccup of his mother.

"Fine," he sighed. "I promise. Now will you open it?" Thorn gave him a look which blatantly said I don't believe a word of what you just said, and pulled the elastic band off the rolled paper. When she unrolled the portrait, she let out a small gasp.

It was… her. An almost perfect portrait of her. She looked up at Hiccup, disbelief etched onto her face.

"Did you… did you draw this?" At her question, Hiccup nodded. "Where did you get the picture from?"

"I, um, I drew it from memory. It's why the eyes are a little off, and your hair isn't quite the right shape…" He trailed off as he saw the growing smile on Thorn's face.

"You drew this from memory? That's incredible! It's so lifelike and you've remembered so many details! I love it. Thank you so much," she said, sincerity in every word. To say thank you properly, she gave him a quick hug and a swift kiss. She then rolled up the portrait with a reverence usually only given to holy objects, wrapping the elastic band around it once more with great care. Handing Hiccup his crutches, which he reluctantly accepted with a scowl, they made their way to the kitchen for dinner.

As usual, Thorn's mother's cooking was excellent, and Hiccup wolfed it down before asking politely for a second helping.

"I still can't believe such a tiny boy can eat so much," she said to him.

"I'm not that tiny. I'm taller than Thorn," he pointed out logically.

"Yes, but… never mind." She left the kitchen and allowed the pair some more time to themselves. Hiccup ate so quickly it was like he'd been starved, while Thorn picked timidly at her food.

"Come on, Thorn. You've got to eat. You need energy for tomorrow, remember?" She nodded tiredly at his comment, then picked up a few pieces of pasta and placed them in her mouth. Chewing slowly, she swallowed and Hiccup nodded his approval.

"You don't know what you're missing out on, all that delicious food that you're leaving on your plate," he mumbled with his mouth full.

"Well, at least I don't talk with my mouth full," she shot back. "And I have better table manners."

"Shut up!" Hiccup said, again with his mouth full.

"Point proven," Thorn said shortly, and went back to poking her pasta around. But she couldn't quite hold the grin from breaking out onto her face, and so after a few minutes it was apparent that there was something she was finding quite amusing. Hiccup noticed the smile on her face, caught her eye, and grinned also. That was it. Thorn burst out laughing, unable to hold in the smiles any longer. Hiccup waited until her laughter had subsided, then added, "I would have laughed too if my mouth wasn't full of food." At that, both of them could no longer suppress the rising happiness within, and they both fell into hysterics. After a few minutes of solid laughter, they finally calmed down enough to finish dinner and make their way back up to Thorn's room. But they still occasionally broke out into quiet giggles, the silent joke between them still amusing.

Thorn and Hiccup played cards for the rest of the time before Thorn's mother came upstairs and told them to go to bed. Thorn feigned embarrassment at the fact that her parents still had to tell her when to sleep, but she didn't mind them controlling this one aspect of her life. Thorn pulled the inflatable mattress into her room, and threw a couple of blankets over it, then sat down on it.

"G'night," she said, arranging the blankets over her.

"Don't you want your own bed?" Hiccup asked, gesturing to the springy mattress he was currently seated upon.

"You can have it. Whoever says that women can't be chivalrous is wrong."

Hiccup sighed. He knew he would never win this argument. He got to his feet, somewhat precariously, and started to walk over to the light switch.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Thorn asked sharply.

"Um, turning off the light switch," Hiccup replied, beginning to move once more.

"Stop. You promised, remember?" Realising what she meant, Hiccup scowled.

"But… come on… I mean…" Hiccup trailed off as he realised that once again she would never let him win this argument. He moved to grab his crutches, as if giving in to her protests, but then quickly darted towards the light switch and back to the bed. Unfortunately, in the sudden plunge from bright light to none, Hiccup caught the edge of his prosthetic on Thorn's mattress and tripped, falling heavily onto the floor with a thud. Thorn sat up, rushing to pull him up and see if he was okay.

"I'm fine," he said in an irritated fashion, batting away her offers of help. "Just let me go to bed. Once I've slept, I'll be fine. Promise." Hiccup then proceeded to half limp, half hop to the bed, pulling off his prosthetic with a wince and a hiss. Thorn was still standing over him, her shadow making the darkness around Hiccup even more absolute.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, yes. Please go to sleep." Thorn got obediently into bed, and rolled over, but not before saying smugly, "I told you not to try and walk over there."

For that, she got a pillow at her face. Or, at least, the back of her head, since she had cleverly turned away from Hiccup. His annoyed hmph and irritated roll away from her made it all worthwhile.

A/N: It's good to be back! Exams were... fun... but now that's all over and I can write more, which is certainly a relief for me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the longest chapter so far (I promised they'd get longer) and please tell me what you think!