So, I'm a little late. I'm sorry. There is a slight possibility that I will update next week because I know that most of you won't like how this chapter ends. And I know how everyone hates it when they are left with something like this at the end of a chapter and have to wait weeks to get an update. I won't spoil anything, but I'll try to get an update next Sunday. I based this chapter kind off of what happened to one of my close friends. She used to be abused and I asked her if I could use her experience in this story. (She said yes by the way and she is no longer getting abused.)

Chapter 14: Trust

Astrid slowly stirred as she woke up. She blinked a few times to get rid of the bleariness in her eyes. The sunlight was streaming in through the window at the front of the room and shun upon the green walls of the room. Astrid's eyes suddenly widened and fear struck her. Wait a minute; this isn't my room, she thought. She didn't have a window at the front of her room and her walls were blue. Then her eyes fell down to the arm wrapped around her and she realized where she was. Relief flooded her body as she snuggled deeper into the cocoon of her boyfriend's arms.

She turned over just enough so that she could face him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. The frown that was almost always on his face was gone. In all honesty, she thought that he was the hottest guy she had ever seen. The only thing that frustrated her was the fact that she hadn't seen it sooner. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck but winced as her eye socket pressed against him.

Astrid brought a shaky hand up between them to touch the edge of her eye socket. She flinched as soon as her fingers grazed her skin. Then she remembered the rest of last night: the fast-flying fists and sound of a belt slicing through the air. She squeezed her eyes shut as if she could hide from the pain and suffering. She ignored the fact that her eye was basically screaming at her. It was definitely swollen. It probably looked like an overgrown grape. Thank God that today was a Saturday. She was eternally grateful that she didn't have to show up to school like this. Sure, makeup could hide the color, but people would notice if her eye was basically popping out of her skull.

Oh God, she thought, What am I going to say to Hiccup? She knew that if Hiccup found out, he would no doubt try to intervene and get the police involved. She could take care of herself; she was a big girl and has handled him for the past few years. She can take a few more months. She decided that she would just tell him that she didn't want to tell him. Astrid would tell him that she could handle herself and didn't need his help. But she felt a bit guilty. He had done so much for her last night. He had cleaned her up and given a place to stay, but some things are best left undiscovered.

She carefully untangled herself from Hiccup's arms before sitting up on the edge of the bed. Hiccup's room was incredible. It was just as big as all the other rooms in the enormous house. He had a huge HD TV mounted on the wall. He had a few posters of motorcycles around his room. They were all sports bikes that looked amazing. There was one poster with a bike on it that was circled with red sharpie. Next to the circle was a note that read, Dream Bike: Kawasaki Ninja H2 Black. It was Hiccup's dream bike. Astrid never knew that Hiccup was into motorcycles. He always seemed so calm and laid back. She never expected him to be someone…daring. The thought of Hiccup in a leather jacket on a sports bike made her chest pang.

She carefully got up from the bed and tiptoed over to his desk. There was a computer, some books, and a couple of scattered papers. Nothing out of the ordinary. Her eyes fell upon a book with a leather cover with a string that held it shut. She bit her lip before checking over her shoulder to make sure that Hiccup was still asleep. She picked up the journal and removed the string. She gasped at what was inside. The pages were filled with detailed sketches of different things. On one page, she found a sketch of his car. On another, she found a sketch of a motorcycle. She flipped through the pages. Every single sketch never failed to amaze her. Hiccup never failed to amaze her. She went through every page but stopped on one particular sketch that made her breath hitch. It was a drawing of her. She was sitting down in a desk at school. Her chin was rested on her hands. She looked bored. Astrid realized that he must have drawn this while they were in class. Her heart sunk at the fact that he had always noticed her, but she had never noticed him. She silently cursed herself.

The detail in the drawing was breathtaking. Even thought it was done in pencil, Astrid could see the way her eyes popped in the picture. Her hair was drawn in a braid and her face had depth and definition. Honestly, she wanted to keep the picture. But she knew Hiccup would never let her have it. He would probably say something along the lines of, "Oh. That's not good enough." or "No, Astrid. I-It's not my best drawing." She hated the way that he would always degrade himself. If only he could see how amazing he is: smart, funny, charming, sarcastic, and handsome. But she supposed that his low self-esteem was partly her fault. She never stood up for him when fucking Scott would bully him. Hell, the only reason he went by "Hiccup" was because Scott had given him that name all those years ago.

That day, six years ago, was when his life fell apart. It was the day that hanging out with Hiccup was no longer acceptable. And Astrid hated herself for going along with it. She heard the rustling of sheets behind her and she checked over her shoulder to see Hiccup stirring in his sleep. She put his sketchbook back onto the desk and tiptoed back over to his bed before crawling back in with him. She lay down before turning over so that she was facing him. She could stare at him all day, but it was already getting close to noon and they should start getting up. She kissed his nose, which, in turn, caused him to stir and mutter something in his sleep. She kissed his nose again and again and again until he finally blinked his eyes open.

When his eyes fell upon her, she smiled at him. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," she said.

He chuckled before saying, "Aaaasssstrriiiddd, it's too early to get up."

She rolled over to check the clock before facing him again. "Hiccup, it's almost noon."

Hiccup turned away from her so that he was facing the other way. "Exactly. It's too early."

Astrid rolled her eyes before punching him in the shoulder. "You better get up now. Or else bad things will happen."

Hiccup rolled his eyes before muttering, "Oh really? Like what?"

Astrid bit her lip before saying, "Like this." Then she pushed him off the bed. She heard him squeal as he hit the floor.

Astrid was laughing beyond control. "You seriously suck," he said as he groaned. He perked his head up just so he could see above the mattress. Before Astrid knew it, Hiccup was grabbing her and pulling her to the ground with him. She was laughing so hard that she couldn't resist her boyfriend's pull. They started to wrestle around on the ground and ended up in a tangled pile of bed sheets and limbs. When their laughter finally subsided, Astrid realized how close they were. Their little wrestling session had rolled them tightly into a blanket. She couldn't even move any of her limbs.

Astrid felt a faint blush come across her cheeks as she felt his morning…present. She squirmed in an attempt to move away, but ended up making matters worse by rubbing against it. Her brain was paying more attention to his excitement than it should have. She didn't want to pay attention to his bulge, but it seems that her brain had other plans. Well. That's… interesting. There's no way it's… that big. No way. There's definitely something wrong. Maybe his pants were bundled up above it? Because there is no way he is that big. Everyone says that Scott has the biggest in the school, but compared to this, then Scott might as well be a tic tac. If Hiccup's really that big, then how on Earth is he going to fit inside me? Oh shit, I'm thinking too far ahead, she thought.

Hiccup must have known what she was thinking because his face turned to a shade of crimson. "Uh. S-Sorry. Uhmm, maybe if you- or if you could get your hand out and- oh crap," he said.

Astrid giggled a little bit. She rolled over him so that they would come untangled from the sheets and his limbs. It seemed that she had just discovered that one of his limbs was very un-proportional to his skinny frame. She subconsciously licked her lips.

When they finally sat up on the floor, they were silent for about a minute. Hiccup was still blushing like a tomato while Astrid's mind wouldn't focus on anything but-

"So did you want to go grab breakfast?" Hiccup asked, interrupting her thoughts. Astrid smiled at him, relieved that she could finally think about something else.

"Yeah, sure. Isn't there an Ihop around here?"

"Mhmm. I'm going to shower really quick before we go. You can too, if you want," he said.

Astrid quirked an eyebrow at his ill thought out statement. His eyes widened at his suggestion.

"Oh! I didn't mean like that! I mean there's another shower down the hall if you wanted to shower. I didn't mean to insinuate that you would want to shower with me. I mean it's not like I want to shower with you either. Wait, that came out wrong. I would love to shower with you. WAIT! That's not what I meant either-"

Hiccup was suddenly cut off by a pair of lips meeting his. He slowly melted into the kiss as he cupped her cheek. When they finally broke away, Astrid smiled at him and said, "Stop talking so much."

Then she stood up and went to the bathroom across the hall. Hiccup just sighed in relief. He went over to his closet to get some clothes. He settled on khaki shorts and a black t-shirt. They were just going for breakfast, after all. As he let the hot water run down his body, he couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting over to how Astrid looked last night. Something really bad must have happened to her. She was covered in bruises and cuts and honestly, it scared him. It also infuriated him. He was mad at whatever scumbag did that to her and he was mad that Astrid wouldn't let him help her in this.

Hiccup didn't understand why she would let herself suffer through all of this alone. He knows that she can take care of herself, but that doesn't mean that she has to go through this alone. Hiccup wants to be there for her, but he knows that he can't if she won't let him. He had to talk to her about this over breakfast. He knew that she would get pissed at him for being so pushy, but he can't stand to see her like this. But she trusts him, so it will be okay. Right? He trusted her, but she never really said that she trusted him…

Hiccup chose to leave that thought aside. Nothing good can ever come from thinking like that. He got dressed before heading downstairs to find Astrid waiting for him. She was tapping her foot on the ground with her arms crossed. She had already showered and gotten ready. She was able to cover her black eye fairly well.

"Took you long enough," she said with a smirk.

"Yeah, sorry. Just… thinking," he replied with a frown.

She approached him and grabbed his hand before intertwining their fingers. "What about?"

"Just… We'll talk about it when we get there," he said.

"Okay," she replied with a frown. Astrid wondered what had gotten into his mind. They spent the entire walk there in silence. It really started to worry Astrid because Hiccup was always chatty. When they finally arrived, a waitress showed them to a booth. They both ordered their food before returning to the silence they had during their walk. Astrid finally broke the silence. She couldn't take her boyfriend's abnormal silence anymore.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she asked. He looked up at her with concern on his face. At least he isn't mad at me, she thought.

"Astrid, you know just as well as I do what's wrong."

Oh God, she thought. She took a slow sip from her drink. She had hoped that they wouldn't talk about this, about what happened to her. She didn't understand why he had to be so pushy at the subject. Doesn't he understand that she can take care of herself? But honestly, how could they have avoided talking about this. It was the elephant in the room. And it was a huge ass elephant.

She sighed. "Hiccup, why can't we just leave this alone."

"Have you seen your face, Astrid?" he asked in a hushed, but firm, tone.

"Oh, did I put lipstick in the wrong place?" She tried to push the subject away by using some humor. But it didn't work.

"That's not funny, Astrid. This is serious. You could have a concussion. You came to my house in the middle of the night looking all beaten up and I don't even get an explanation to any of this?" he said with an assertive tone.

She glared at him. "Why can't you just understand that I can take care of myself?" she asked in an aggressive tone. She knew that he was only trying to help, but still. She didn't know why, but she just wasn't comfortable around the subject with him. Astrid didn't want Hiccup thinking of her as weak.

He sighed and fell back into his chair before running his hand down his face. "You know that's not what I meant, Astrid."

"Oh really? Because with your sarcasm, I can never understand if you're being serious or not," she snapped at him. She regretted saying those words. Sarcasm was a part of Hiccup. Hiccup wasn't Hiccup without his sarcasm. It was one of the things she loved most about him. She found his sarcasm amusing. He made her laugh all the time. So when she said those words, she knew that she hurt him. She could see it in his eyes. His firm defense had crumbled.

"I-I know that you can take care of yourself. I-It's just that you don't have to go through this alone," he said as he took her hand into his. She pulled back away from him. It hurt her to do so. But she would never allow herself to look weak in front of him. The only way to hide her deep sadness was to show anger instead. She never realized how much she was hurting him.

"I don't need your help, Hiccup," she said as she looked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his expression fall even more. He even sunk back further into his seat. Hiccup felt defeated. He thought that Astrid could trust him with this.

"Do you- Do you not trust me, Astrid? Do you think that I will go against your wishes and just do whatever I want, Astrid? Is that really what you think of me?" he asked in a hurt tone.

She sighed. Maybe she should tell him because she trusted him more than anyone else. She trusted him with her life. If he doesn't think she trusts him, then maybe she did go a little too far. His self-esteem wasn't exactly the strongest, thanks to Scott, so the things she was saying were really hurting him. I'll just apologize and explain everything to him, she thought. "Hiccup, I do-"

Then his expression changed. He sat back up and narrowed his eyes again. His defenses had finally recovered from the constant blows to his self-esteem.

"You know what, Astrid? I always thought that you trusted me. I mean, for crying out loud, you ditched school to confess your feelings for me and you came to my house in the middle of the night. I thought that you really did trust me. What have I ever done to lose your trust?" Hiccup was on the verge of tears. But he wouldn't let himself fall apart now.

"No, Hiccup! I do, it's just-" she said. She was starting to get really nervous and scared. This was not where she wanted this conversation to go.

"Astrid, if you don't trust me, then what the hell are we even doing here?! I trusted you with everything! I told you things I've never told anyone before, things that I'm not proud of, things that are embarrassing! And yet, you still can't trust me?" Astrid could see that his expression was full of sadness and regret instead of anger. She was on the verge of tears, herself. She could see where this conversation was going.

"Hiccup, please don't. You don't understand-" she said as she started to silently sob.

"You never gave me the chance to understand, Astrid."

He sighed as he rubbed his temples. His voice returned to his normal tone. "Listen, Astrid. I love you and all, but relationships are built on trust. I always thought that we were in a relationship."

"We are, Hiccup! I love you!" she said.

He sighed again. "I-I really want to believe you. Look, I think we should take a break from all of this," he said as he gestured between them.

"But you just gestured to us," she whispered.

"Exactly. I-I just want to give you your space. I know that you want your space. I was stupid to think that you would want my help in this. You can clearly handle yourself in this," he said without looking at her.

No, Hiccup! I want your help! I just couldn't think of how to tell you! she thought. But she wasn't able to turn her thoughts into words.

"If at the end of what you're going through, you still want to be with me, then I will gladly come back to your side if you'll let me. But right now, I don't think you trust me and this just won't work without that trust."

No, please Hiccup. Don't do this… she thought. But her tongue was frozen and she couldn't force her lips to move.

"So I think it's best if we just leave each other alone for a bit. We should give each other our space to think." He sighed before standing up and placing a 50 dollar bill on the table.

"That should cover the cost of breakfast." He looked at her one last time; her sapphire eyes meeting his emerald eyes. "I love you," he said before walking to the door.

"Hiccup, wait…" she said. But he didn't turn around. Once he was already outside the doors, she whispered, "I need you." The dam that held back her tears broke and her face became overrun by a river of tears.

I know, I know. But believe me, this will all turn out for the better. Just remember… HICCSTRID! I'll try to get another chapter out next week. So, a lot of you might be thinking, "Why won't Astrid just tell him, already?" because that's the exact same thing I was thinking when I was listening to my friend retell her story. I asked her and she said that it was because she did not want to look weak and was afraid of letting people in because of how they would see her. So anyways, until next time!