A/N: Gods, I'm tired... xD So no guarantee for this chapter... Anyway, it is probably not what many of you expected but I still hope you won't be too disappointed ;)
Hiccup
"I'm so sorry, Astrid!" he whispered and reached out for her, to hold her, to apologize, to explain, anything. But he saw his mother glaring at him and ended up only caressing her arm lightly before he walked past her. He had no right to do any of these things anyway, not anymore.
He had wanted to be there, to do all these things as soon as she learned the truth. He had even wanted to be there so she could hit him and yell at him and do whatever she needed to do to make it easier for her. And in a way he had even kind of wanted to endure every punishment she'd seemed fit, knowing he deserved every bid of it and even more.
But he couldn't stay with her now. His mother was furious and he had to face her least the dragon would direct its wrath toward Astrid instead.
Gods, this day was a disaster! Waking up to his alarm without her lying by his side had been a surprise, but she could have woken up on her own after all. Searching her apartment and not finding her anywhere had made him worried. Finding her small note on the bed then had made him frantic. He hadn't known when exactly she had left so he had gotten ready in a hurry, hoping to still meet her at the bus station. But then Heather had called and had yelled at him for three minutes straight and he'd known he messed it up.
She had called Fishlegs to pick him up so he wouldn't need to wait an hour for the next bus and then spend another hour on the ride, though that had been pointless, anyway. They'd spent 2 freaking hours in this new traffic jam instead and Hiccup was close to walking the rest of the way on food, had he not known the distance was far too great for that. He had cursed this accident then, that had caused the traffic jam. Sure, it appeared to be a horrible one with many people hurt, badly even, and maybe even worse but all he had been able to think about was how this stupid accident made him late again, to…..
To do what? He hadn't known really what he wanted to do when he would reach the lair. Find her, talk to her, apologize and maybe beg… But he had only been in time to run into her, completely unprepared, to have her kiss him in front of his mother and now he would have to face the dragon's wrath in all its glory.
Hiccup caught a last glimpse of Astrid when he was about to close the office door behind him. She stood there, utter shock and disbelieve on her face as she stared after him and he saw Heather placing her hand carefully on Astrid's arm. At least… he thought with relief. At least Heather was with her. He closed the door then and turned toward the dragon.
Right now she deserved this nickname more than ever, fuming and eyes blazing.
"What was that?" she inquired, shouting. "Heather assured me you two were just friends. I would never have employed her if I had known this!"
Hiccup tried to be as calm as possible, which wasn't much right now, to be honest. "Well, we were just friends on Friday." He stated, hard pressed to keep the emotional overload out of his voice. They had never been just friends, really…
But his mother just stared at him even more for this, disbelief and disappointment clear on her face.
"And you have nothing better to do then to start an affair with you new assistant over the weekend?" she exclaimed. "You can't be serious! Have you ever heard of responsibility? You-"
"She's not!" he interrupted her, growling through gritted teeth.
"What?" her voice was hard as iron, eyes squinting suspiciously.
Hiccup took a shaky breath. "She's not an affair!" he clarified and his mother's eyes widened.
"You love her…" She whispered and it was not a question.
Hiccup hadn't yet thought of it like that. But hearing her say it out loud… Yes… Yes, he loved her, with every fiber of his being. Whatever that was worth…
He hadn't answered out loud but apparently, there was no need for that with his feelings plain on his face. "Gods, Hiccup, how can you be so stupid! Haven't you learned anything from the past? This job is dangerous! I already gave her a black dragon card, when I heard you two were friends at school, but-"
"You did what?" Now it was on Hiccup to yell and his mother flinched. Was she serious? Did she really mean what she just said the way it sounded?
"I gave her a black dragon card. As payment for her service. I thought as your friend she'd at least deserve this, for..." she trailed off and bit her lip.
"You think simply paying her more rectifies everything? I know you assigned the Dragonfly project to her. Why did you do that?" Hiccup was furious now.
His mother straightened up again and glared at him. "Because that's what I hired an assistant for you for!" she stated coolly. "I won't allow you to risk your life again!"
"But it's okay for you to risk the life of others? To risk Astrid's life?" he asked disbelievingly.
"I have my priorities."
Hiccup could only stare at her. This was the first time she'd ever shown any signs that she cared for him in any way. But now he wished she would not have done so.
"How can you do that?" he inquired, utterly shaken.
She crossed her arms in front of her. "I won't let you take a risk like that yourself again. Not after what already happened to you and your father." She said in a grim voice.
"My father?" he blinked in confusion. "What does he have to do with this?"
His mother glared at him. "Don't play me for a fool, Hiccup. Not about a topic like your father's death…"
He froze, unable to react in any way. "My father's…" he uttered dazed. "But Uncle Gobber said it was an accident. That no one was to blame... What does he have to do with this?"
She stared at him, thunderstruck, and he saw how she began to shake violently. If it would have been any other person or even another situation he would have gone to her, tried to sooth her. But not today. Not after all that she'd just said.
After a few moments her shaking became worse, she stumbled backward and collapsed into her chair. "No one to blame..." she mumbled and buried her face in her hands.
Hiccup was indecisive over what to do now. He wanted nothing more than to leave, to get away from here and from her as well. He wanted to look after Astrid, although he suspected she wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore. He still wanted to make sure she was alright. Or as alright as she could be right now. He needed to know if there was anything he could do for her now.
But here now, for the first time in his life, were information about his father within reach. Hesitantly he stepped closer, preparing himself to ask.
And then she lifted her head again. It was clear she'd cried but apparently had caught herself already. Her face was cold as stone and her eyes piercing as shards of ice.
"You will end this thing with that woman!" she commanded and Hiccup rocked back. He cringed under her glaring stare for a moment then straightened up and glared right back at her.
"Who are you to decide something like that?" He asked as calm as he could. "That's up to her and me, not you!" It was over anyway… But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that. Not now.
"I'm still your mother!" she cried out but he just shook his head.
"No, you're not! My mother was Brenna Hofferson." He turned toward the door but paused for a moment longer before leaving. "You, I don't even know."
He didn't bother to look at her again, didn't care how she'd react to his words, or if at all. He knew without her he would live an entirely different life now and probably not a better one but… That still didn't give her any rights to his life. He was no small boy anymore, dammit!
When he reached the door, he hesitated briefly nonetheless. Not because of his mother but because of the other dragon that probably waited for him on the other side of this door, ready to tear him to pieces. He took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway.
He saw her immediately, sitting on a chair in Heather's office, slumped down, red-faced and a vacant expression on her face. When he closed the door behind him she looked up. Her eyes widened, she jumped up from her chair and raced toward him, glistening eyes blazing.
"You're an idiot, Hiccup Haddock!" she cried. The impact then was enough to push him hard back against the wooden door and to make him gasp.