Hello everybody! There was an interesting response to the introduction of Eret last chapter, I guess I don't read enough other fics because I didn't know quite how often he was made into a romantic rival for Hiccup haha. Well I won't say anything specific but I'm not planning on making him a generic asshole, so if you were concerned about that then worry no longer!

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 38

"You saw her?" I asked, my head popping up from behind my laptop. I noticed a few side glances around the library and I lowered my head, asking again but in a hushed tone. "...You saw her?"

Astrid shook her head, still typing away. "No, some international student, he was trying to figure out which museum she would be working at so he could meet her."

"A student?"

"Yeah, international."

"He knew her?"

She shrugged and looked up at me from across the table. "Said she was his mentor or something...he also mentioned that he was studying marine biology, I assumed he must've worked with her at some point in relation to that, maybe he volunteered for her once? Does she do stuff like that?"

"I didn't know she worked with students…" I said glancing off to the side.

"It's not surprising, most environmental work relies on volunteers, and a lot of volunteer work is done by students." Astrid said looking over at me. "...Are you upset?"

"What?" I shook my head quickly. "No, no, of course not, I'm surprised that's all."

She continued to stare at me, an unconvinced look on her face. "Are you sure? You seem kind of agitated, if you don't want to talk about your mom I won't bring her up, I just thought you'd want to know about it."

"No, it's not that," I said looking back down at my computer and continuing to type. I could feel her stare looming over me, waiting for me to say something else, even as I kept my eyes glued to the screen. "...It's just weird you know?"

"What's weird?"

I shrugged. "Knowing someone your age is hanging out with your mom more than you are."

"Oh, Hiccup, I'm sure she doesn't-"

"I know, I know, it's just weird. I don't like it," I groaned. "Ugh, listen to me, I'm so petty."

Astrid reached over and touched my hand. "You're not petty, it's completely understandable to feel that way, but your mom cares about you, she's coming all the way back to Berk just so she can spend time with you again."

I frowned. "Come on, you read the letter, she's coming back for the museum, me being here was just a bonus."

"I did read the letter, she seemed...sorry for all the time you guys lost, I think maybe she wants to make up for it, have a real relationship with you," She said smiling at me, and my eyes shifted to the floor. "Hey, I'm not trying to justify anything she did, but she's your mother, and she's trying, I say give her a chance."

I nodded and looked back up at her. "Yeah, yeah you're probably right…"

"I really think you should talk to your dad about this though, I know it's not exactly easy for you, but if he hasn't even called about it, it's likely he doesn't know," Astrid said, leaning back. "Maybe this whole thing can help all of you work things out, you know, as a family."

"I'm worried about how he'll react, he barely ever talked about her when I was child, I have no idea what he'll even say…"

"If you want me to, I'll go with you," She offered.

I opened my mouth to speak but before I could say a word I noticed Ruffnut rushing in from the opposite side of the library, a gym bag hanging off her shoulder and a huge grin on her face. "Uh, Ruffnut?" I asked, and as Astrid went to look, Ruffnut leapt forwards and grabbed her around her shoulders in a tackle-hug.

"Oh my gods, this is probably the best day of my entire life!" She exclaimed happily.

Astrid grunted from the impact and turned to glare at her friend. "Ruffnut? Are you kidding me? We're in the library," She hissed, glancing around at everyone who had stopped to see what all the ruckus was.

"Oh, shit, sorry," Ruffnut said lowering her voice, and releasing Astrid from her grasp. "But seriously you gotta hear this, guess who got the hottie's numba~!" She said doing a small dance as she slid into the seat next to Astrid.

Astrid scowled. "Really? This couldn't wait?"

"Wow, Okay. Seems like somebody's jealous that I got the number of the sexiest man alive, and they didn't," Ruffnut gloated leaning back in her seat, a smug look on her face.

"I have a boyfriend remember? He's literally right in front of you," Astrid said gesturing towards me.

I waved at Ruffnut. "Hi Ruff."

"Okay, okay, but you do admit that he's the sexiest man alive right?"

Astrid shook her head. "Um, no, going to have to pass on that too, again," She stopped and gestured at me once more.

I smiled. "You think I'm the sexiset man alive?"

She smiled back at me. "Of course, babe."

"Aw, thank you."

"Uugh," Ruffnut groaned loudly. "Gross guys, seriously, get a room."

Astrid turned to look at her. "Really dude?"

"The point I'm trying to make here is that I have Eret's phone number okay?"

"Uh, am I missing something? Who is Eret?" I asked putting my hand up.

"Oh, right, I guess I never told you his name," Astrid said glancing to me. "Eret is the international student, you know, the one I was just talking about."

Ruffnut smirked. "Oh so you are interested in my future husband then?" She turned to me. "See? I told you, sexiest man alive, don't feel bad, no woman can resist his natural charm."

Astrid gave her a flat, unamused expression. "No, if you weren't so drunk last night you would've heard that Eret knows Hiccup's mother, that's why we were talking about it, it had nothing to do with his…" She cleared her throat. "Resistableness, or lack thereof."

"You two talked last night?" Ruffnut asked, looking off in thought. "Huh. I don't remember that at all…I just remember him saying he wanted to get me, or buy me...did he think I was a prostitute?"

She shook her head. "No, no, he wanted to get by you, we were blocking the garbage can."

Ruffnut just shrugged. "Whatever, drunk or sober, he's the best looking thing I've ever seen in my life, so we need to figure out how to make him love me. Like now, someone as delicious as him won't stay single for long."

"Number one; gross," Astrid said with a scowl. "And number two; how do you even know he's single? Did he tell you that?" She asked.

"No," Ruffnut scoffed. "I Facebook stalked him, obviously. Wasn't hard to find his gorgeous face."

I waved my hands around and shook my head. "Okay, okay, I really have to know now, what does this guy even look like?"

"He was tall, black hair, big chin," Astrid described.

Ruffnut continued where she had left off. "...muscular, chiseled, striking, sultry-"

"Alright, we get it, he's super duper handsome, can we get back to work now?" Astrid said with an irritated sigh, her eyes quickly glancing to the library clock.

"No, no, I told you, I need your help, we have to make him love me," She proclaimed, clutching to Astrid's sleeve. "I need him to love me!"

Astrid glowered and tried wriggled her arm away from Ruffnut. "Okay, you may need him to love you, but I need to study right now. I still have two assignments to finish and exams are coming up quickly, will you let go of me already?"

"Astrid, c'mon!"

"I thought you already had his number, what was all that bragging about?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean if he gave you his number he must like you, at least a little bit."

"Actually...I sort of got that buy asking his RA for it," Ruffnut said with a shrug and a sheepish smile.

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Seriously?"

"I'm pretty sure they only have his number for emergency reasons, why would they just give it to you without asking any questions?" I asked, brows furrowed.

"You're absolutely right, it's only for emergencies," Ruffnut replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh no," Astrid said shaking her head. "What did you say to them?"

"Uh...that his grandmother was dying and I needed to contact him before she went," She replied, flashing a grimace with her teeth.

"Ruffnut!" Astrid hissed.

"Don't you think he's going to ask how you got his number?" I pointed out.

"I mean, I was hoping he'd fall in love with me before that came up, but I can probably make something up if that happens."

"Oh my gods, you need to stop this, this is not how you get someone to like you, let alone fall in love with you, do you want him to file a restraining order against you? Because that's the road you're heading down right now," Astrid said, a deep, disapproving frown across her face.

"See, this is why I need your help!"

She shook her head defiantly. "Uh-uh, no way, I'm not getting involved with any of this, and again I have too much work to do, I don't have the time, even if I wanted to help."

"...Okay but when you're done you can?"

"Did you even hear what I said? I said 'even if I wanted to' that implies I don't want to."

Ruffnut grabbed onto Astrid's sleeve again, giving her a pouty look. "You can't abandon your best friend, you have to help me!"

"No. No way."

I stood by the dress racks, one hand folded under my arm as I scrolled through pictures on my phone. I looked up towards the dressing rooms in front of me and let out a impatient sigh before stepping forwards and giving one of the door a knock. "Are you done yet? I don't want to be here all day."

The door opened a crack and Ruffnut's face peered out. "This is a very complicated dress okay? There are a lot of clasps."

"Do you need help?" I asked with another sigh.

"You could at least act like you're enjoying yourself, going shopping with your girlfriend is supposed to be fun you know," Ruffnut joked as she opened the door slightly more so I could enter.

I stepped inside and she turned around so I could do up the back of her dress. "Yeah, well, I'm kind of stressed about school stuff at the moment, I'm not really in the right state of mind for dress shopping," I said as I finished doing the last clasp. "There."

"I left you alone for more than a week to finish your school shit didn't I?" Ruffnut said as she turned around to face the mirror. "Why are you still going on about that?"

"It's November Ruff, finals are just around the corner, and knowing the professors I got this semester, they're not going to be very helpful with what I'm supposed to be studying for their exams."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you always get so stressed, you ace every test they throw at you without fail," She said turning to look at herself from the side. "What do you think? Too skimpy?"

"Yeah, I ace every test because I study my butt off, and I don't want my grades to start slipping because of some asshole profs," I said with a grunt. " I like it, not a fan of the sleeves though, they make your shoulders look big."

"Hmmm," Ruffnut turned back to face the mirror. "I think you're right...maybe the other dress was better, I look good in low-cut dresses...do you think Eret would like that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, I looked through his Facebook like you said but I'm not seeing anything that would tell us what kind of girls he likes."

She groaned and dropped down into the dressing room chair. "Well how the heck am I supposed to seduce him?"

"Maybe you're going about this the wrong way," I suggested. "Don't bother with getting dressed up, just try and learn about the stuff he's interested in, like marine biology."

"Marine biology?"

I nodded. "Yeah, when we met him on Halloween he mentioned that he was getting his masters in marine biology, if you show a interest in that he might start to like you."

"You think so?" Ruffnut said standing back up and looking at herself in the mirror. "...Getting a new dress wouldn't hurt though right?"

"I guess not," I said looking at her. "but get the other one I think you look better in it."

Ruffnut nodded. "Alright, well I'll change back so we can get the fuck outta here," She said jokingly. "Before you leave, undo the top couple clasps, I still can't reach them."

I undid the top of the dress and slipped out of the change room, calling out to her through the door. "I'll meet you at cash okay?"

"Okay!"

I walked back to the front of the store, weaving in between the long racks of clothes and other shoppers. I checked the time on my phone, it was already past four o'clock and we would probably have to eat on the way back, so it would be dark by the time we got to the dorms. It had been a long day, my usual trip to the gym, one morning class, followed by a visit to see Finn at the rehab centre, then straight to the mall to meet up with Ruffnut. I had been out since seven in the morning and I was completely exhausted.

My phone began buzzing in my jacket pocket and I fished it out and looked at the screen, it was Hiccup. I pressed the green answer button and moved the phone to my ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Where...where are you right now?" His voice sounded frantic and breathless, I immediately straightened up at the urgency in his tone.

"I'm at the mall with Ruff, she wanted help with the whole Eret thing remember?" I said glancing back in the direction of the fitting rooms to see if she was approaching. "Is something wrong Hiccup?"

"I...my father called…" He paused for a moment, I could hear his breathing over the line. "He said she him to ask for my phone number."

"She?"

"My mother."

My brows furrowed. "Your mother? When was this? Where are you?"

"Just a minute ago, I'm still at the dorms….Astrid, I don't know what to do."

I shuffled slightly out of the store and into a area where there were less people. "Well did your dad give her your number? I'm sure she just wanted to call so you two could meet up."

"I don't know, I hung up before I got a chance to ask."

"You hung up?"

"I didn't know what to do! He seemed really upset, he was asking all these questions about whether I knew she was coming or not, and why I didn't tell him, and if I was planning to go off with her or something, I panicked and just hung up on him."

"Okay, okay, calm down, it's going to be okay," I said in as soothing a voice as I could. "Did he mention where she was? Is she here in Berk?"

"He said she was at the airport, Berk International."

"You should go pick her up, I can meet you there."

"I don't think I can do it, I'm not ready to meet her, what if I don't recognize her? I barely remember what she looks like. I haven't even seen recent pictures of her!"

"Hiccup, she's already here you can't just avoid her," I said. "I'll go with you okay? You don't have to do this alone, I'll be right beside you."

There was a long pause where all I could hear was Hiccup's heavy breathing. "...Okay….okay, where are you? I'll come get you."

Ruffnut walked over to me, a bag in hand and a smile on her face, her smile slowly faded as she approached and noticed my serious expression. "What happened?" She asked.

I put a hand up, silently asking her to wait. "I can meet you there, I'm in the opposite direction."

"No, please, Astrid, I need you with me right now, I'm freaking out."

I nodded. "Of course, I'll wait here for you. Are you leaving now?"

"I'll call a cab now."

I thought for a moment, biting my lip. "Hiccup, I think you should call your dad back, maybe he can drive us there instead, you two should go together, I'll still be there with you."

"...I can't, he was so mad already, and I hung up on him, if I call him now-"

"Not calling him isn't going to make this situation any better either," I said with a sigh. "He's probably just as freaked out as you, maybe even more so, I'm sure he wants to be there to see your mother too." He didn't say anything. "What if I called him for you?"

Hiccup groaned. "No, no, I can't let you do that, I'll...I'll call him and ask him to pick us up from where you are. Ugh I can already hear him yelling at me."

"It's going to be okay, it's a very stressful situation, he understands that."

"Does he? Understanding isn't really his strong suit," He said sarcastically.

I laughed. "I'm sure, and either way, I'll be there when he gets here so don't worry."

"Alright…" Hiccup said reluctantly. "Well I should hang up, I've got to call my dad…" There was a pause where he didn't say anything and didn't hang up the phone. "...Okay, bye."

"...Bye, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," He said before finally hanging up.

I lowered the phone from my ear, tucking it back away in my jacket pocket. Ruffnut stood beside me, bag in hand and a confused look on her face. "You'll have to go back alone, I've got to go the airport."

"The airport?" She asked.

"Yeah, Hiccup's mom finally arrived in Berk, he's kind of freaking out right now, his dad's going to pick us up," I explained. "It's a clusterfuck."

Ruffnut snorted. "Sounds like it, he not like his mom or something?"

"Not exactly, it's complicated."

"Does he? Understanding isn't really his strong suit," I said sarcastically, I was already dreading the conversation to come.

She laughed. "I'm sure, and either way, I'll be there when he gets here so don't worry."

"Alright…" I said reluctantly. "Well I should hang up, I've got to call my dad…" I didn't want to hang up, just hearing her voice made me feel a thousand times better, it was so comforting just to listen to her. I knew I had to though, as much as I didn't want to. "...Okay, bye."

"...Bye, I'll see you soon."

"Yeah," I said, finally hanging up the phone. Once I had ended the call, I stared down at my phone for a long moment, I could see my dad's name in the contact list and I knew I had to call him. He was so difficult, I knew he would make a big deal of this, and he would probably lecture me for a good ten minutes before actually listening to a word I had to say, if ever. I sighed heavily, and opened up his contact, hovering my thumb over the call button. Before I could press down on it, my phone began ringing, it was him. "Shit," I mumbled. I took in a sharp breath and answered the call.

"...Hello?"

"Hiccup, it's me, don't hang up."

"I already knew it was you dad, it says that when you call."

"I'm sorry for raising my voice at you, I shouldn't have done that," I tensed up, since when had my dad ever apologized for anything? "I just want to know what's going on, your mother said she's here and that you knew about it, did you?"

"I knew she was coming, but she never said specifically when," I said. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I kept avoiding it because I was worried you'd freak out about it."

"Of course I'd-!" He cleared his throat. "It's a little overwhelming, yes."

There was a long awkward pause where neither of us spoke. I didn't know what else to say, he had been so strangely understanding, it almost made me uncomfortable how sincere he was. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen with him, and I wasn't sure what to do about it. I remembered the whole reason I had called and finally broke the silence. "I'm going to meet Astrid at the mall, the one downtown, you know it right?"

"Hiccup, you can't go shopping right now."

"No, it's- look I'm just as freaked out about mom being here as you are, I asked her come with me, we were thinking you could pick us up from the mall and we could all go to the airport together," I said. "We could meet mom together, I'm sure she wants to see you too."

"I don't know about that, we weren't exactly on great terms when she left."

That took be aback, this was news to me, I had been just a child when she left but they still seemed okay to me. "...You weren't? I thought you guys were fine."

I could hear him sigh. "It's… complicated, she never liked my job, it was always a point of conflict, I guess we always tried to keep that sort of stuff away from you. You were just a child, we didn't want to upset you."

"Always? I'm not a child anymore, you never thought this was important for me to know? Did you get divorced and not tell me too?"

"No, Hiccup, of course not," He said. "Let's talk about this later, I'm still working so I'll send a car to get you and Astrid."

"You're not coming with us?"

"I'll come, I'll just be there a little later than you two."

"I really think we should go together," I insisted.

"I've got things to finish here, but I'll be there as soon as I can, I'll see you there," He said, hanging up before I could get another word in. I lowered my phone and looked down at it, there's the father I remember, I thought to myself.

Thanks again fro reading and please be sure to leave any comments you have in the reviews, see you next time :)