(A/N) Ugh! Schooling sucks sometimes, no matter how much I love learning! Anyways, I'd say it's time to get this chapter out of the way for it's ten o'clock and I've got to be up at seven and lets just say I've been having a really hard time staying asleep here recently so I'm trying to get to bed early so I can get around three or four hours in despite the times I'll wake up for around an hour at a time.
If any of you know any causes for waking up in the middle of the night several times without nightmares or sudden noises in sight, I'd really like to know.
Hiccup worked in the forge all day, his forehead sweaty and hands covered in coal and dust. Gobber could notice his fast paced-overly hard work that wasn't at all necessary. He also noticed that this was how the boy acted when something was bothering him and he felt the need to get rid of his energy so he couldn't keep himself up all night worrying about his problems.
Hiccup tied on his work apron, and jumped over a desk to head to one of the cars Gobber needed cleaned out. Problem here was...this was the third time this evening Hiccup had cleaned out that same car. In that moment, Gobber couldn't bare to let apprentice go on any longer. He used his prosthetic hook to catch the back of Hiccup's tunic, and noticed the weight change in the boy. He had to have only been around seventy pounds at the most now it would seem, and he was as pale as ever.
"Hiccup stop!" Hiccup imediatly froze at his boss's stern tone, nodding his head and turning to face him with a nervous smile. "Yeah Gobber?" Really? No 'old man' or 'Peg leg' or even 'Shouldn't you be working too? I'm busy!' from the boy? What in the name of Thor is going on with the lad?!
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third. I know something's wrong so let's save the argument or I ain't helping you with that promise ring we talked about." Hiccup blushed slightly, a little embarrassed by his boss's worry and the sensitive side of that threat. He had indeed been working on a promise ring for Astrid, and Gobber had helped provide the supplies. It wasn't so much a promise ring as it was a sort of trinket. A circular item with two abstract Vikings heads facing each other outlined in gold. The background was wooden and the rim had tiny diamonds. Above the two historic lovers were clouds painted in a silver colored paint, and it all hung on a thin metal chain.
Now, Hiccup would've gotten Astrid a real promise ring if it wasn't for the fact that she loved it when he showed his different, Hiccup-y side. He had been making the trinket between work hours ever since their argument at school, figuring the best way to prevent more of those was to promise his love to her, vowing to never leave the Hofferson's, Halden, and Armina. He himself wore a small leather band on his arm with the exact same designs on it, the only differences being the fact that his was a bracelet, hers was a necklace, and his had her name burned into the bottom of it in Nordic symbols (they were both a fan of Viking history, as shown in Hiccup's journal in the previous chapters).
"I uh...well it's hard to talk about Gobber." Hiccup attempted to insist, sitting down. As he stopped working, the adrenaline keeping him going slowed down and he felt his nausea coming back. Gobber raised an eyebrow with his good hand on Hiccup's shoulder, noticing his sickly state.
"Tell me what's going on my boy." Hiccup bit his lip and went tense at that. The words triggered his memories of talking to his father, and Stoick showing his occasional gentle side, using the exact tone and sentence spoken just now. He leaned into Gobber's hold on his bare shoulder, sighing heavily with a shaky breath.
"It's...here read this." Hiccup said with a deep tone, handing the letter to Gobber. He then stood up, and took his time stoking the forge so he could work on a few of his decorative knives they sold at the shop. Gobber decided not to question Hiccup's sudden change in mood, and began reading the letter.
By the time Gobber got to the end of the letter, he too was in a down mood about his best friend. He looked over at Hiccup, and compared his own dread with that of what the boy must be going through. There was a long silence, before the Blacksmith raised his head with a sigh. "Lad, I'm so sorry." Hiccup stopped his work for a moment, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't be. It's not your fault. If anything..." He picked up a stack of books that needed to be placed on a shelf.
"Be sorry for dad." Gobber could here the heart broken tone in Hiccup's voice no matter how hard the boy tried to mask it. He sighed as Hiccup once again overworked himself, reaching up to stack old manuals and such, his ribs sticking out against his skin. Gobber wanted to ask his apprentice when the last time he had a feed or ate was, but decided against it.
After he was done with work, Hiccup drove home with nothing in his stomach and dizziness. He knew he was likely dehydrated, and knew he needed to eat something despite his churning stomach. He couldn't focus on these things though, he was stressed and his emotions were completely out of whack.
What Hiccup really wanted was Astrid. The young woman who provided comfort in his life and brought him out of these moods. Hiccup had a tendency to overstress himself. Rather it be grades, work, or planning for the future, he always had his mind on overload.
Astrid seemed to have a way of slowing the gears in his brain though. She could come up with simple sentences that when used right meant the world to him. Her voice was like magic when she hummed to sooth him. He didn't have a mother anymore, and Ingrid wasn't the most comforting unless something was really going wrong. Hiccup didn't trust many people with his emotions, but he trusted Astrid. She wouldn't judge him as weak, she never did and never would. He knew that in his heart, and that's why he had that band around his wrist, symbolizing their love.
Once Hiccup got his house, he saw the Hofferson's truck in the front yard. What caught his eye before anything else was the two figures sitting on the front steps, one with his head in his hands and the other with her arms wrapped around him. The young boy had a new hoody on, and seemed to be in distress.
"T?" Hiccup asked, imediatly recognizing his best friend. He ran over to the two guests, and saw a large tear in T's hoody combined with a little bit of blood. "Astrid? What happened to him!?" Hiccup suddenly grew panicked as everything slowly registered in his drowsy mind.
"D-Dad started saying stuff about my mother when we got into an argument." T started with a shaky voice. "That was the first time that I really fought back. He's an awful man but...I-I've never seen him that...furious." Hiccup reached out a hand to comfort his friend, and Astrid let him take her current seating position.
"Where's he now?" Hiccup asked, feeling anger suddenly overflow him. Judging by the bruises, swollen lip, and deep gash covered in stiches upon closer observation, the man had gone too far this time and Hiccup was beyond enraged.
T chuckled a little at his best friend's sudden overprotective mood, and leaned into the embrace they shared. "The hospital questioned me after they stitched me up. I-I told them...I finally told them about him. I thought they wouldn't do much since I don't live under him anymore and it wouldn't be considered child abuse, but they saw the evidence of the past. H-he's on trial pretty soon...I-I may finally be rid of him." There was both a sense of relief and a sense of fear in the atmosphere as T spoke, and both Hiccup and Astrid tried to comfort him.
"It's getting cold out here bud. Lets get you inside and dinner." Hiccup put his arm around T, helping stabilize the sore boy. T looked at Hiccup sternly, making the other boy freeze. "Only if you take care of yourself for once too." Hiccup nodded, for once deciding not to be stubborn for stupid reasons.
As T, Astrid, and Hiccup entered the Haddock household, Hiccup was greeted by Halden and Armina looking his way from their positions laying belly first on a mat. Halden was examining a soft colorful felt book Hiccup had gotten him with animal patches in it, and Armina was about to fall asleep, surrounded by plastic singing animals she'd grown bored of. It seemed as if the nearly-eight month old constantly needed stimulation. She was an odd one if anything, and hardly ever slept compared to her brother. They weren't the 'same halves' like the Thorsten twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were at school.
At spotting her father, Armina imediatly started crying out for attention. Hiccup walked over to her, kneeling down and lifting the baby into his arms. "Are you planning on ever giving me a break?" Armina simply cooed, having no idea what in the world her father was talking about. She gave him her little baby glare when he frowned at her, once again surprising her father.
"Hey Astrid! Come look at this." Astrid stood by Hiccup's side at hearing his confused tone, then looked down at Armina when he pointed to her. "What is it babe?" Hiccup looked down at Armina, thinking of how to get her to do it again. "Okay, watch her carefully. I don't think I've ever seen a baby do this. Try glaring at her." Astrid raised an eyebrow, seeming a bit taken back.
"Why would I glare at my child? Wouldn't that scare someone her age?" In all honesty, Hiccup did find Astrid's glares rather scary and he was a teenage boy. "Just...try not to be scary. Please, common Astrid..." Hiccup gave Astrid the most innocent look he could, and eventually she complied.
"Alright. Hey Armina look at me." Astrid tapped the little girl's shoulder who looked up at her mother. She gave Armina a light glare, and sure enough, the overly intelligent seven-nearly-eight month old mimicked her in an odd sort of way with her own unique features.
"Oh...my...Thor. Tell me you didn't teach her that!" Astrid glared at Hiccup, and surprisingly Armina followed the example, looking almost identical to her mother. "What? No! I was just as surprised as you were!" Armina giggled as her parent's looked at her confused, before yawning and clingy to her father's chest, slowly falling asleep.
"What's going on in here?" Heather, Dagur, and Ingrid all entered the room confused after preparing dinner in the kitchen. "My daughter can glare at me." Astrid simply said, surprise still evident in her voice. The trio looked at her confused, then gazed at the innocent little face of Armina sleeping in her daddy's arms.
"How could that little thing give a glare as scary as yours Astrid?" Astrid shrugged her shoulders at Heather's question, feeling just as confused. Hiccup watched them amused, before remembering what he'd been planning on giving Astrid. He waited until the other's were sitting down and T was asleep on the couch, then put Armina down next to her now sleeping brother and led Astrid outside.
"What do you want now?" Astrid questioned, looking at Hiccup confused. The boy in question simply reached into his back pocket, before pulling out a small trinket on a chain. He gave it to Astrid, who examined the beauty thoughtfully, noticing the diamonds and the hard work it must've taken to do the tiny designs in the clouds.
"Hiccup...d-did you-" "I was planning on getting you a promise ring after our fight at school as a sorry, then remembered all the times you said you enjoyed me showing my 'Hiccup-y' side because I'm so different than others. I figured if I made this and a matching band of my own..." Hiccup showed Astrid his wrist with the leather band. "Then it would remind us to think about our promise to be there for each other anytime we were about to fight again. Remember what I told you a while back when you were temporarily blinded and I was in a wheelchair?"
Astrid thought back on the memory of the accident that temporarily blinded her, and of how much time Hiccup had sacrificed for her. She nodded as said boy linked his arms around her, the sky changing tints every no and then as the sun set. Hiccup lay his chin on Astrid's, her hands linked on his which wrapped around her waist from behind.
"There will always be a Hiccup and an Astrid." Astrid mumbled with a warm smile, looking down as Hiccup grabbed the necklace, linking it around her neck. He stepped back, taking a mental picture of her standing there in the sunset with the light blue door behind her and flowers nearby so he could always remember this.
"You look beautiful." Hiccup whispered. Astrid heard it without meaning to, and felt her heart flutter as she wrapped her arms around Hiccup neck, kissing him gently but passionately at the same time. His feeding tube tickled her cheek as they closed the space between them, but she didn't care. When the two pulled apart, they took a moment to just forget the past and future so they could focus on each other.
This was a moment that would last and always be remembered. The two parents really needed this.
(A/N) So there you have it. I know it's rushed, but I'm trying to get this done despite all the other story ideas I have. I promise there will be more detail in later chapters, but I had to get some of the main ideas out of the way so I could build off of them. Next chapter will be a small time jump by a month, and Halden and Armina will be around the age that they start crawling or trying to stand up. The promise ring idea wasn't mine, and was inspired by a reviewer. You know who you are.