It's been a few months since everything went down. School has started back up again, and right now Grayson and I are walking to the school building on a Friday, the last day of the week.

A lot has happened in the last few months. For one thing, I live with Grayson now.

After we protested against Madden, something that was hard for Grayson even though his father was was crazy, he was locked up. He'll be in jail for a good long while now.

Grayson turned eighteen recently, so I can legally live with him. It was a bit strange at first, but now I've grown used to it. Of course, mornings are difficult because, despite the fact that Grayson is my legal guardian now, he never wants to get out of bed to go to school.

Now I know you're probably thinking that I could never do this without my father's permission, and he'd never let me move out, but that's where you're wrong. He's actually the one who thought it'd be best if I lived somewhere else, and Grayson's proximity help immensely with the matter.

My father had explained to me the reasons for his drunken tirades, though he said they were no excuse for the abuse he had subjected me to. He explained to me how work had gotten difficult, how problems seemed to arise almost everywhere, and how a buddy of his had offered to take him to a bar with some friends, and he couldn't refuse. He also told me that he had never meant to harm me, that he loved me and I was the best son he could have ever asked for.

And during his confession of his faults, I had, at some point, told him of Toothless. Of course, he didn't believe me until I showed him proof, but I had explained to him that Toothless would never hurt me or anybody else, how none of the dragons would ever want to do that. He acquiesced and promised not to tell anyone. For that I was grateful.

I still visit him, never alone though, just in case. It's usually with Grayson that I go to my old home with, but sometimes it's Astrid, who I had told my father was now my girlfriend, and there was even one time when Scout came along. Despite the dragon's small size, he is fierce in a way that is rather frightening if you aren't on his side.

Also during the summer months, most of which I spent recovering, Grayson had found it within himself to tell me why exactly Madden had lost it, told me that he hadn't always been bad.

He told me of his mother's and younger sister's deaths a few years ago, killed in a deadly shooting. He spoke of how his father had grieved after that, and slowly lost his mind. He explained that his father was distant for the longest time, and then suddenly, he was back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. That was when he had applied for his teaching job and moved both himself and his son to a different state to pursue his teaching career.

His father's leap into insanity was the last straw for Grayson, and he was sad a lot during that time, until he met Steadfast and Scout. They made him happy, and he finally had someone to talk to that would actually listen.

When he told his father, however, he just used them as pawns, not that Grayson had noticed at first. He was too glad to notice, and his happy-go-lucky attitude that had not been a part of him since his family's death and his father's insanity returned.

It was sad to hear, and Grayson had cried, though he would never admit it. I was there though. I made sure he was alright. Grayson wasn't sad anymore, he had told me, he had friends now, had Steadfast and Scout, and it reminded me much of what Toothless had done for me. It's strange, really, how similar we actually are.

We arrive on school grounds, and almost immediately I am greeted by Astrid, the others trailing close behind.

"Hey," Astrid says, pecking my cheek with her lips.

"Hey, Astrid," I smile back at her.

"Woah," she exclaims, pointing to my eye, "What happened?"

I bring my right hand up to my swollen eye, lightly prodding the purplish bruise that has already begun to form, "I know it sounds like the most overused excuse in the book, but would you believe that I actually ran into a door?"

Astrid's eyebrows furrow dubiously, so Grayson steps in and says, "I can confirm. I was there, and I was laughing so hard I was crying."

"Okay, I believe you. But if someone ever does hit you, I will kick them in the face," Astrid threatens, something she does rather often.

"Whose the man in your relationship again?" Snotlout asks, chuckling at his own joke.

"I can punch you too, ya know."

"Of course it's Hiccup, I've never seen a more manly man before in my life," Snotlout says nervously.

"That's what I thought." Astrid says, seemingly satisfied with Snotlout's response, and everyone is laughing, even Snotlout.

I smile. It's great to have friends, the very greatest thing ever. I'll always have these guys, even when we all graduate, some sooner than others, and when I'm no longer living with Grayson, and even if I end up breaking up with Astrid, because there is one thing that we all share, one thing that we'll always share. Despite the fact that we might eventually all move away from each other, to different parts of the world, even, we'll always be in contact, always visit, because we have one thing in common that most everyone else does not. And that is our dragons.

It's funny, really, to think that all of this started because I was distraught one day and decided to roam the forest. Had it been any other day, I might have missed it, or maybe I'd never have gone. But I did go, and I'm so happy I did. All of this started because one day, I ventured far from where I was meant to be, and, for the first time in a long time, I made a friend.