Healing Hearts

Rated; M for Mature

Pairing; HunterXAmy(HiccupXAstrid)

Author; Nightstar Fury

Disclaimer; I do not own anything HTTYD related-not the movies, shows, shorts, or series. I also don't own any of the songs that I may or may not use in the story. Everything belongs to it's original artist or creator!

12; Meeting The Father

{Normal POV}

Leaving the school, Hunter drove to the doctor's office quietly. Amy didn't say anything to him, she knew on a bike that the driver had to focus on the road and balancing the bike with his two passengers on it. Amy had her hands on his shoulders so she didn't hurt his side with the cracked rib, Toothless kept his balance easily, he leaned whichever way Hunter did. The ride wasn't long, maybe ten minutes to get into town and to the urgent care office-he pulled into a spot and shut off the bike, kicking down the kickstand. Toothless jumped down first, then Hunter got off to help Amy since she had trouble getting her legs over it. Hunter removed the helmet from her head and placed it in the side bag, he kept his coat on this time and held his side.

"C-can I...help at all?" Amy asked gently, feeling bad that he was hurt because of her.

"No, I'm good...just maybe get the door?" Hunter asked her, she nodded and hurried ahead to open it for him and Toothless then she walked in behind. Hunter went to the counter and signed himself in then sat down in the chair with his head against the window and panting a bit. "Alright so...this song. How do you wanna do it?" Hunter asked.

"What do you mean? We have to write lyrics, then make it into a song with music and perform it at schoo. Are we...gonna be dancing?" Amy inquired quietly.

"We get extra points if we do-but I don't care either...way..." he cringed again.

"So, we know it has to be something where we both sing. I...know nothing about instruments, I took piano lessons when I was a kid-but never stuck with it." Amy admitted.

"Don't worry about music. My laptop will handle that once we figure out lyrics to use. Song about reminding a couple what it felt like when they first fell in love should be simple enough. We will need to figure out what style of music to use. Rap, Hip-Hop, Soft Rock, Rock & Roll, Country...?" Hunter mentioned.

"What would be easier as far as instruments to use and sing? I don't have the greatest voice..." Amy looked down.

"Your voice is in instrument, we just have to find your set of notes. We can work on that tonight," Hunter told her as the plastic window was slid open and the woman smiled taking the clipboard Hunter had signed in on.

"Hunter Ostberg?" she asked, Hunter got up slow and moved over towards the window. "Insurance cards and license?" she inquired as Hunter got his wallet from his back pocket and opened it up to get out what he was asked to get. Amy noticed the picture in there. Hunter-obviously younger and holding a girl against him as they were lip locked but smiling still. The woman had short black hair and stood a few inches shorter than Hunter.

'That must be Chloe...' Amy thought gently. She snapped from her thoughts when Hunter returned beside her and sat down slowly. "All checked in?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. I've never been here before so they were making me a file or something, I gotta fill all this out..." he motioned to the clipboard with the forms to fill out. Amy glanced a few times but otherwise stayed out of his business. She had his friendship, she didn't want to ruin that. However, she did notice when he was done with the formed, he opened his wallet to put away his license and saw the name written there: Hunter Haddock-Ostberg. Wasn't his name Hunter Osberg? Where did the Haddock come from? Or was Haddock his father's last name and he used both last names of his parents. Amy also saw another picture of Hunter with the same girl as before, a close up of their faces. Chloe had short black hair and blue eyes-really bright blue that looked almost silver. She was downright beautiful and Hunter looked so happy and in love with her in the photo. Hunter finished the forms and handed them in to the woman, he sat back down and sighed out heavily.

"Still hurt a lot?" Amy asked him, Hunter nodded and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry, you got hurt because of me..."

"Don't worry about it. Seriously, I've taken worse hits that did a lot more damage than this." Hunter informed her.

"Still..." Amy sighed some.

"What's your favorite type of music to listen to?" Hunter asked now.

"I...usually listen to country. When I hear the music I can feel the emotions of the artist when they wrote it, I feel like I connect more to the songs." Amy replied.

"Well, then I think we should shoot for a country song for our project. Might be easier to write if we have a direction we can relate too." Hunter said softly now.

"That works for me," Amy nodded. The two sat quietly another fifteen minutes until the door opened and the nurse walked out looking over her chart. "Hunter?" she asked, Hunter stood up and Toothless did too.

"Aren't you coming?" Hunter asked looking back at Amy now, she blinked a bit. He wanted her to come with him in the room too? Amy just got up and followed him as they went in the back.

"Alright, Hunter. First time here so let's get you on the scale to weigh and measure you," the nurse said as Hunter took off his coat and handed it to Amy to hold while he got on the scale. "Weight is 155 and height...5'8''. Perfect for you being eighteen. So what seems to be the problem today?"

"Well, I was used as a punching bag at school protecting a friend. Took a knee to the side and I'm almost positive the rib is cracked-but I'm not a doctor so..." Hunter stated.

"Yes, I see the bruising on your face already. I hope those bullies were punished. Well, let's send you for X-Ray and we'll get a better look. Does it hurt to the touch?" the nurse asked. Hunter nodded to her as she left his shirt up some and Amy was able to see Hunter's four pack of abs and muscular chest-not a lot but damn if it wasn't hot. Amy paused, did she really just think Hunter was hot?! Oh, her mind had all been messed up since the dance with him. "Definitely bruised," the nurse stated.

"You can wait here with Toothless, Amy...won't take long." Hunter said as he followed the nurse out of the room. Amy plopped down in the chair as Toothless laid his head on her lap softly after ten minutes.

"Hi, Toothless..." Amy smiled a bit, the dog whimpered sadly at her. "What's wrong?" Toothless only nuzzled against her gently. "Awe, don't worry...I'm okay boy." Amy said rubbing his head. Did Toothless know she was in pain because of her father last night? Toothless sniffed her hands and snorted a bit, then growled. "Ssh, it's alright. Don't worry about me, Toothless. I can handle it," Amy tried to soothe him.

"He knows you're lying," Hunter stated walking back in to the office and shutting the door.

"Lying...about what?" Amy asked quickly.

"Don't know-but he knows you're lying about something." Hunter rubbed his head to settle him down, Toothless whined and nudged her wrists as Hunter looked closer to see marks on them: ones that signaled she'd been tied in place for at least half an hour. "And I bet it has something to do with those marks on your wrists. Is someone hurting you?" Hunter asked.

"N-no. I'm fine, really..." Amy smiled. Toothless growled against.

"You're lying. Amy, who is hurting you?" Hunter asked again.

"No one is. I'm okay, Hunter. Really. Please, don't worry about it. M-My Dad just...gets a little rough when he's upset." Amy admitted.

"How rough? What does he do to you?" Hunter inquired now.

"He didn't mean to grab me last night is all. He...got a little too drunk and...grabbed my wrist when I tried to take the bottle away from him. He shoved me and I fell is all, he realized what he did and apologized to me. It's okay, Hunter. It was just an accident," Amy said. Toothless growled at her lowly, his eyes telling her to tell Hunter the truth.

"I know it's more than what you say it is-but I can't force you to tell me either. Just know that I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on," Hunter sighed as the doctor came in now.

"Alright Hunter, seems you have two cracked ribs on the right side of the ribcage. Nothing big, they should heal fully in three weeks-but keep the activity light for two weeks following that. Nothing over forty pounds, no sharp turns and try to avoid corners. I'll perscribe you something for pain management, do you prefer Vicodins or Percocets?" the male doctor asked calmly while wrapping a bandage around his midsection.

"Percocet, Vicodin makes me want to sleep. Thanks doc." Hunter told him, the man handed him the slip and then two other pieces of paper.

"You mentioned to the nurse you needed a note for work, and the other one is just something saying what the problem you gave was, what it actually was, and treatment for it." the doctor told him. Hunter nodded as he slipped his coat back on and stuffed the papers in his pocket before exiting with Toothless and Amy. Hunter checked out and they made it outside to the bike, getting loaded up on it and taking off down the street. Hunter stopped at the pharmacy first to drop off the perscription, then while waiting for that he went to see his boss. Apparently the note excused him from work for two weeks at least, his boss hadn't minded at all. Just told him to get better and would see him in two weeks with the normal schedule resuming. When that was settled, Hunter returned to the pharmacy to get his pills and then they were headed to Hunter's and his mother's apartment.

(Ostberg Residence)

The bike pulled up as he parked it and shut it off. "Looks like Mom is home early..." Hunter mentioned seeing her car there. The time was now about 4pm-they'd spent an hour at Urgent Care. Hunter got off, then Toothless-Hunter helped Amy down again as they made their way to the front door. Hunter's mother opened it quickly and hugged him, Hunter hissed. "Easy Mom...Geeze...I don't need my ribs cracking more..." he sighed and hugged her back.

"I was worried about you when the school called and said to make sure you were alright because you got into a fight at school." Vivian released him. "And why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I had it on silent in the doctor's office, Mom. I went to Berk Urgent Care after school to get it checked out. I wasn't in a fight, I got dragged into one and didn't fight back. I'm good, relax. Two slightly cracked ribs, five week recovery, two weeks off work and percs for pain." Hunter told her. It was now that Vivian noticed Amy-who tensed slightly as the mother looked over her.

"I didn't realize you were bringing company son," Vivian said.

"Will you just get inside and I'll introduce you to her," Hunter sighed some as they all entered the apartment and the door was shut tightly. "Mom, this is Amy Hofferson. My friend and project partner for music class until April. Amy, this is my mother, Vivian Ostberg."

"Pleasure to meet you dear," Vivian smiled shaking Amy's hand gently. "You just make yourself right at home and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask!" she smiled brightly.

"Thank you, Ms. Ostberg..." Amy bowed her head gently.

"No need to be formal sweetie. Just call me Vivian, or Viv." Vivian chuckled a bit. Astrid nodded, "So what's this project all about?" she asked.

"We have to write a song with music and sing it at school in April. It's a male/female paired project..." Amy smiled.

"Oh, Hunter is very good with music! He has a notebook filled with unfinished-"

"Mother." Hunter stated firmly as she shut her mouth, "Enough. Why don't you go figure out what we're having for dinner?" he added, Vivian seemed to nod and headed into the kitchen. "Sorry about her. She's just excited that I...have a friend." Hunter sighed now.

"It's alright. So...what are we working on first?" Amy asked.

"Well, you've heard me sing-I think it's fair that I hear you sing so we know what pitches we could hit together while singing," Hunter suggested.

"M-Me sing?" Amy stuttered slightly.

"Yes you. Pick any song you want and I'll find the karaoke verson of it on my laptop," Hunter told her as he moved down the hall to his room and got his computer-then brought it out and set it up on the center table.

"Blown Away by Carrie Underwood," Amy said after Hunter saw her look at her phone and sigh heavily. Had someone messaged her that made her upset. Hunter searched the song and brought up the karaoke version and looked to her as she nodded to him and he hit play. Amy took a deep breath as Hunter sat back on the couch to listen to her. "Dry lightning cracks across the skies. Those storm clouds gather in her eyes. Daddy was mean a old mister, Mama was an angel in the ground. The weather man called for a twister-she prayed blow it down..."

Hunter just sat there listening, the curiosity rose of why she'd pick a song like this after just tell him at the doctor's office that her father had grabbed her and accidentally pushed her down. Hunter knew there was more going on at the Hofferson house that Amy was letting on but what could he do if she wouldn't tell him that was going on. "There's not enough rain in Oklahoma, to wash the sins out of that house. There's not enough wind in Oklahoma, to rip the nails out of the past..." she sang low, surprising Hunter that she could get her tone down that low. They might actually have a lot to work with depending how the rest of the song went. "Shatter every window till it's all blown away! Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away! Till there's nothing left standing-nothing left of yesterday. Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away, blown away!" Amy sang out, Hunter could hear the emotion in her voice. Something was absolutely going on at Amy's house she was hiding.

"She heard those sirens screaming out. Her daddy laid there passed out on the couch. She locked herself in the cellar-listened to the screaming of the wind. Some people called it taking shelter, she called it sweet revenge..." Hunter saw a strange look in her eyes. Anger-very clear anger resting in her blue hues. "Shatter every window till it's all blown away! Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away! Till there's nothing left standing-nothing left of yesterday. Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away, blown away!" Amy's fists were tightened-it didn't go unnoticed by Hunter in the slightest.

"There's not enough rain in Oklahoma-to wash the sins out of that house. There's not enough wind in Oklahoma-to rip the nails out of the past..." another pause as she took a breath, "Shatter every window till it's all blown away! Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away. Till there's nothing left standing-nothing left of yesterday. Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away. Blown away! Blown away! Blown away! Blown away!..." Amy finished panting a bit and unclenched her fists finally as she sighed. Hunter reached over and stopped the song.

"That was...really good, Amy. You can hit high and low notes with ease, and you sing with emotions you feel inside. That's perfect." Hunter told her deciding to bring up what he noticed later on-although he knew she likely wouldn't tell him whatever it was. Hunter had the sneaking suspicion that her father was abusive when he was drunk and the mother was afraid to leave him. With how many stories one heard on the news and or read in the paper these days about husband coming after the woman who leave them-Hunter supposed he could understand where Amy's fear was now-but even with that theory...he felt like it was more. Worse than just an abusive father with an alcohol problem.

"Thanks," Amy blushed a bit.

"Well, now that we have that...we can work on lyrics for the song-after that we'll add music to it," Hunter said. Amy nodded as the two sat down and broke out their notebooks and got to work. Around 5:30pm, they stopped for dinner which Hunter cooked and Amy was amazed at how well he did it too. When dinner was over and cleaned up from, they got right back to work on lyrics. The time ticked away until 10:15pm and Hunter had promised to have Amy home on time. She packed up her things and they headed outside to his bike and got on it as they headed off towards her house.

(Hofferson Residence)

Quieting the bike down and walking it to a stop outside her house, he put the kickstand up and got off, helped her, and then Toothless stayed in between them. Hunter followed behind her towards the door. "Oh, it's okay, Hunter. I can get there myself," she smiled

"Nonsense, I don't mind coming along." Hunter stated-he wanted to meet this father of hers. Amy reached the door and patted herself for her key only to find she didn't have it. "Forget something?"

"Yeah, my key is at your house with my sweater..." Amy sighed as she knocked on the door a few times praying to Odin that her father would remember a friend was bringing her home. The door swung open as Hunter eyed the man quickly, Toothless already began to growl a bit and Hunter settled him down. "Hi Daddy..."

"Hi princess. Why didn't you use your key?" the man asked.

"I-I left it at Hunter's in my sweater. I'd taken it off because it got really hot," Amy explained gently.

"Ah, no worries then. Did you do all your homework?" he asked.

"There is no homework during midterms sir, we just worked on our project." Hunter said now, the man looked at him.

"Daddy, this is Hunter my friend and project partner. Hunter, this is my Dad, Marcus Hofferson." Amy introduced. Hunter shook his head firmly.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hofferson." Hunter said.

"Likewise, Hunter. Thank you for brining Amy home. Come on inside sweetheart, don't want to let the heat out." Marcus said.

"Of course, Dad. Um, Hunter will...you bring me sweater to school tomorrow for me?" Amy asked. "Oh...and here's your helmet back. I've gotten so used to wearing it that I forget it's not mine," Amy said handing the helmet to him which was secured under her arm.

"Absolutely. See you tomorrow, Amy. And thanks-I should get you your own since you ride on my bike with me enough. Have a good night," Hunter nodded as he stepped back when she walking into her house and the door was shut tightly and Hunter heard the locks flipped into position. "Yeah...I don't like him either, Toothless." he added quietly as the two made their way to Hunter's bike, he got his helmet on and then the two got into their spots and zipped off down the road. Hunter didn't like Marcus-he gave him a bad vibe. As soon as Amy was inside, Hunter felt the tension shift and he saw how scared she became but tried to hide behind a smile. Hunter felt like she wasn't safe-but what could he do? It wasn't his place to worry about her if she didn't give him a reason to worry. Deciding to let it go, he headed home to take one of those pain killers and get some sleep.