Chapter 26 – When life is laughing at you

"You could work in DSCS, you know? Meatlug and Eret work and earn their money there. You can stay with us or you could ask Ruffnut. We don't have to rent The Cove. The only thing we have to pay for is electricity and warm water, as well as the internet," Hiccup explained while he cut his fried egg into half with his fork. He salted it a bit and added pepper before he put it into his mouth again. He realized that she did not eat her part though and looked up to her. He swallowed and pointed to her untouched bacon and fried egg. "You don't like it?" he asked, a bit hesitant though. They may be a thing now but he did not know the basic things, as for example, her favorite food, her favorite songs, her favorite movies and so on. Well, there never was a time for them to talk about it anyway since the both of them were always occupied with dancing. Astrid shook her head and smiled at him. "It's not that. I'm just… thinking," she said quietly and began to eat.

"Well, how about- … You could- … I-" Hiccup tried to say something to help her but the sentences got lost midway. Astrid smirked at his poor attempt to comfort her. It was sweet and so adorable of him but what she needed the most was silence and time to think. She pursed her lips and stopped picking at her meal. "Hiccup, you know that I love you right?" she asked him for confirmation, more quietly than she intended to sound.

"Yes," he answered reluctantly, not sure where this conversation might go.

"Okay, um, I need some time for myself… Would it be okay if we didn't talk about this until I know what I'm going to do?"

"Sure. But do know that I'll always listen to you if you need to vent off your feelings."

"Yeah… and another thing. Would you mind if I stayed here for the time being?"

Hiccup lay his fork down, glaring at her. She locked eyes with him, but only in order to show him that she was not weak. Inside, she was already going through every disaster and possible rejection. However, Hiccup had a completely different mindset. He was her boyfriend, he was supposed to protect her and he was supposed to be her support. It hurt him that she did not realize it. Although it was kind of sweet to know that she was not taking him for granted, he still wanted her to rely on him. He thought that she knew that after he let her sleep in his bed, after he had hold on to her while she was a wreck.

"What?" Astrid asked a bit annoyed that he was only glaring at her.

"I'm angry," he said, more annoyed than angry.

"Because I told you to keep silent for a few days?" she burst out, a bit angry. All the feelings and events that happened the last couple of hours were wearing off at her brain cells. She felt numb from all the grief and confusion. All those feelings led her to sound more emotional than she wanted to show.

"Because you're talking to me as if I was a stranger. I want to remind you that I'm still your boyfriend. I will always help you if you have problems. And the situation you're now in is no exception," he scolded her with a lecturing tone. Astrid blushed at his use of term. He had just said that he was her boyfriend although they never really said anything specific about it. She did not mind though since that was what she had waited for all along. She bit on her bottom lip and looked at him. The way he frowned at her was unexpectedly attractive. She found it excessively good how his eyebrows were standing low and nearly meeting his eyelashes.

"Boyfriend, huh?" she said teasingly, grinning at him mischievously. His face slowly turned from a frown into an embarrassed gaze as he realized what he had just unconsciously claimed. Well, it was certain that the two of them were… something. But he had never asked her officially to be his girlfriend, which makes his claim even more embarrassing.

"Well, no, I-"

"Are you telling me that you don't want to be my boyfriend?" she asked, trying to hide her smile to see how he will react.

"No! No, no, no! I do wa-"

"What if I don't want to?"

His face fell. He looked like he was about to cry and she bit her lip. While she was indeed exhausted from the whole situation, she would never get tired of teasing him. Astrid was sitting in front of him at the moment, which gave her a perfect view at him. However, it was inconvenient since she could not touch him freely. She stood up and went around the table, keeping her face as straight as she could manage. When she stood in front of him, he looked at her with fear and hurt. She might have gone overboard with the last comment but she still did like his reaction. She bent down, leaning in a bit before she kissed him. He was about to close his eyes but she already pulled back and grinned at him. "Seems like I have a boyfriend now," she said, standing straight up again. Hiccup gave her a crooked smile, a bit hesitant though.

"Seems like I have a girlfriend now," he responded with a wide smile.

It was midnight as Astrid lay in her temporary bed. Her eyes were closed and she was turning furiously in her sleep. She was gripping on the covers as if her life depended on it. Her eyes were moving uncontrollably under her eyelids, twitching every now and then. She frowned slightly she gritted her teeth.

Fire. Everywhere she looked, there was fire. Where was she? She was running through the fire. She did not feel the heat and pain physically but somehow it ate away at her heart. Why was she running? So she stopped. But it only resulted in fueling the pain even more. What was the meaning of this? Why was the scene so familiar yet unknown? She looked around, hectically and panicked. What was going on? Something was pulling at her, something strong and warm, pulling her towards a blockaded way. She was about to step back and turn around but whatever was pulling her towards the rubble in front of her, prevented her from moving away. She could not even turn her head away. If there was no way back, then there was only a way forward. So she reached out her hand, about to touch the fire, just to get hit with something. Something, or rather, someone ran into her side and grabbed her around her waist. She wanted to say something but could not. All she saw was the rubble that slowly vanished in the far, fast. Her heart clenched and she opened her mouth. She was screaming something but she could not hear her own voice. She felt tears flowing down her cheek and her head began to ache again. It felt like someone had put thousand needles inside her head and all she could do was cry and scream out of pain. Another pain followed in her chest. As if a dagger had found its way into her heart and ripped it apart. Lastly, the only feeling she had left, was guilt. Guilt? Why was she feeling guilty? Or rather, this… was not reality. There was fire everywhere but nowhere at the same time. The scene felt awfully familiar yet totally foreign and strange. This… was not reality. This… was a-

Her eyes shot open as she gasped. She sucked a great amount of air, hyperventilating a bit until she took in the surrounding. She was in The Cove. She was safe. The pain was not as grave as the pain she felt in her dream. She lay in the bed for a few minutes until she calmed down. Why was she awake again? She dreamed about something, but already forgot. If she forgot about it, then it must have not been important. It was probably just a bad nightmare. No wonder, she has been going through a lot of shit recently, so it did not surprise her. She looked at the clock that hung at the wall opposite from her. It was past two. This was not good. She had to wake up early in order to get to BDA. If she did not get enough sleep, she might only disappoint Mr. Clay. And that after she had already agreed to take extra lessons. She closed her eyes again and turned to her side. She was counting numbers, starting from number one. When she hit the thirties, her eyelids got heavier and her body more tired. Then she went back to dreamland.

Hiccup kept his eyes on her, watching over her like a protective and obsessed father. She liked the attention. She would bite her head off first instead of ever admitting that, but it eased her to know that he was looking out for her. Hiccup sat in the first row while Astrid sat in the third row. Cami sat in the fifth row, the last row, keeping a close look at those two. Her mother had mentioned something about a madman who killed everyone and everything that stood in his way. And apparently, Hiccup's and Astrid's father were both victims to his events. Her mother made it clear as day to her that she should keep her distance from those two, just to be safe.

After theory classes were over, the class made its way to the dance room. They all stretched and bent, warming up for the lessons that were to come. Astrid sat at the side of the room, her eyes falling shut every five minutes. She was tired. After she fell asleep again, she had the same nightmare again. The dark bags under her eyes were not that visible but still there. Her head hurt, not from the events that she had gone through but because of the lack of sleep. She was annoyed that she was so tired, annoyed and stressed. She closed her eyes to take a little rest before Mr. Clay arrived. She had to pay attention in order for her not to fall asleep.

Mr. Clay opened the door and looked around. He clapped his hands after he took notes to himself who was absent and who not. To his luck, nobody was missing. "Alright, get up. Pair up! Oh, with a slight difference. Hiccup, you're going to dance with Leanne. Astrid, you're going to dance with Aron," he said before he placed his notes away. Cami watched the couple react. Astrid shot up, completely awake now that she heard the new pairing. She would have been okay with Cami being with Hiccup or any other girl, but why did it have to be Leanne?! Hiccup was not enthused himself. He did not like the thought of Astrid dancing with some random guy who was not him. He did not even like it when Eret or the twins danced with her. He was even jealous once when Astrid had asked Hookfang for some new tricks.

It seemed like Leanne was the only one who was pleased with the matchup, for she was the first to react. "Really?" she asked with more enthusiasm than needed. The only thing that followed was a telepathically thought of the couple, "What?!" Mr. Clay looked at the unpleasant gaze and shot Astrid a warning look. She already had a talk with him so he expected her to give it her all and to accept his decisions. She fell back immediately and clicked her tongue. Now that was annoying. She really did not want to get on the bad side of the principal. Especially now that she really needed to be in favor of BDA if her tuition fee really was going to be a threat.

She felt like something was going to happen, she did not know what. But she did feel it. She was annoyed, she was stressed, and that matchup just pissed her off another notch. All in all, the whole day was screwed up. She might as well burst out in frustration but no. She was Astrid Hofferson. She was not going to show any more weaknesses. She had to keep a cool head and maybe this day will pass faster than she expected. Maybe.

A/N:

My back hurts and I'm tired. But, since I love you all so much I kept on writing. Well, it's a bit shorter this time but only because I plan on another conflict and event in the next chapters. Well, every event needs its 'introduction' so bear with it? Haha

Thank you for reading!

Date of Update: 17th October 2015

~ KeGzZ