Chapter 28: I Know I Took The Path

With a sigh, Hiccup leaned back in his chair as the final bell rang, and closed his eyes for a moment. He hoped that Astrid's last class had gone well, but he wasn't holding out too much hope. After last night, he was expecting to have to hold her through another bout of tears before they went to bed tonight. Not that he could blame her, but after finding her leaning against the wall before lunch, withdrawn, and how brittle she'd been this morning, it was only a matter of time before her mask cracked.

And he could only hope that he'd be there.

Which meant that it was time to get moving.

Opening his eyes, he grabbed his bookbag and made his way to where his moped was parked. At least now he'd streamlined his inspections for tampering, using a trick he'd heard about for dealing with the American border thugs and their liking for slurping down people's personal data from their devices without permission; he'd gotten a bottle of sparkly nail polish and painted it onto each screw-head holding the engine cowling shut. Once the polish had dried, he'd taken pictures of each sparkling screw. Since opening the engine cover would require cracking open the polish seal, and he had a record of what the dried polish looked like, if they opened it, he'd know. Even if they repainted the screws, there was no way that they'd be able to do an exact duplicate of the pattern from the glitter.

Of course, he still had to check the brake lines and other external bits, but it was a lot faster than manually checking the engine each time he left the moped alone. So that would let them get home faster.

Exiting the building, he saw a crowd standing near where his moped was parked. He sighed as he saw Gaston and his cronies among them, their backs turned to him.

Yay. Of course, there might be other delays in getting home…

Bracing himself for another confrontation, he started towards them slowly, only to quicken his pace as he heard Astrid's angry voice.

"—no, I'm not going to dump him and start dating you!"

Uh oh.

"Look, whatever he's holding over you, I can—"

"What, you think Hiccup is blackmailing me? You boorish, brainless—"

Hiccup saw her try to go around the Frenchman, only for him to smoothly block her.

"What other reason could there be for someone like you to be going out with him?" Gaston interrupted her as she continued to swear at him.

"That's none of your fucking business!" she growled.

"Oh, so you care about him?" he replied. "Look, it's not right that a crippled freak like him lands a girl like you. So you break up with him, or I'll break him, got it?"

Hiccup swallowed and hid behind a nearby bush, not wanting to give Gaston more leverage in the form of breakable boyfriends. Eeep.

Astrid paused and then, in her most dangerous voice, she said, "If you so much as lay a finger on him, I'll cut off your dick and balls and serve them to you."

"Oh ho! Feisty!"

Hiccup winced. No, no, no… they couldn't afford a fight… the school could expel them in a heartbeat if she threw the first punch, especially with that many witnesses. Please, please, let this deescalate.

Then another voice intruded.

"Hoy there, Gaston, sis!" Dagur's voice came in, sounding cheerful and nonchalant.

Hiccup moaned, looked up at the sky and mouthed What part of 'deescalate' wasn't clear!?

Gaston scoffed. "What do you want, Dagur?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd go out with me."

There was dead silence for a moment and Hiccup peered around the bush. Dagur was looking up at Gaston, nearly a head taller than him, with a sunny grin and his hands on his hips, Astrid standing slightly behind and to the side, looking at Dagur with shock. A few of the other onlookers were holding in laughter or staring in surprise.

Gaston, whose back was to Hiccup, seemed to be likewise stunned, and his first reply was in French. Hiccup caught several words that made him smirk, despite the seriousness of the situation.

Dagur just kept going. "I mean, nobody dates like Gaston, nobody fights like Gaston, nobody bites like Gaston, right? I'd like to try that." He stepped closer into Gaston's personal space. "Wouldn't you?"

Gaston backed up a step. "Look, you lunatic, I deserve only the best—"

"But you haven't tried me!" Dagur interrupted cheerfully, with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "You have no idea what I might be best at!"

Hiccup couldn't look away, but somehow met Astrid's eyes. She looked at him and then back, her expression incredulous.

Meanwhile, Gaston was losing his cool. "If you touch me, I'll beat you black and blue!"

Dagur clapped his hands with glee, and with a giant grin he said, "Oh, you do like me! And here I thought that I'd have to bring up the subject on the third date!" He then very deliberately and sensually went to touch Gaston's arm.

Hiccup wasn't sure how he'd managed to keep quiet, but Gaston broke first, turning and… well, there wasn't really anything else to call it other than running for it. The big Frenchman made a full speed retreat back to the school building, as Dagur called after him, "I'd let you top!"

Gaston picked up speed, followed by his snickering cronies.

Once they were gone, Hiccup emerged from the bushes as Astrid and Dagur burst out laughing, and the crowd of onlookers started to break up.

Brushing an errant leaf off of himself, Hiccup approached and said incredulously, "Did you just chase off Gaston with gay-chicken?"

Dagur smirked. "Is it really chicken when there's no losing outcome for me?"

Hiccup found he didn't have a reply to that, and then Astrid looped her arm through his. "Okay, Dagur, no brain-breaking my boyfriend. You had your fun."

"Awww. Well, have a good night you two. And stroke the puss—" he gave an extravagant cough as Astrid glared daggers at him, and corrected, "and pet the kitty cat for me."

Hiccup sighed and facepalmed as Dagur walked off, his hands in his pockets and thumbs through his belt loops, whistling cheerfully.

Astrid watched him go before turning to Hiccup. "So. That happened."

"Ayep. Next time he starts in on me, I'll ask if he's gone out with Dagur yet," Hiccup said, getting to work on checking the moped.

"Oof. That might make it worse," she said.

"Still, that was… well, I wasn't expecting it, let me tell you," Hiccup said earnestly.

"What were you expecting?"

He motioned to the concrete and grass around them. "Like this, just with more bleeding bodies on the ground."

"Ha. I wouldn't have started things," she said.

"Astrid, I heard you threaten to serve him his own dick and balls," Hiccup said, checking the brake lines, which were intact.

"Oh, that would have been finishing things," she said flatly. "I'm not his."

Checks complete, he stood and nodded. "No, you're not." He got onto the moped and started the engine. "Shall we?"

With a sigh and a smile, she nodded and mounted behind him. "Yes."

They rode home in short order, her arms tight around him.

As they paused at a light, she said quietly into his ear, "I don't know if I would have hit him or not. But it would have felt so good, you know?"

Hiccup nodded. "I understand. You're angry about Stormfly and want to hurt somebody. And I can't even say that Gaston would be a bad choice."

The light turned and they sped along. From the way Astrid was holding onto him, he could tell that she was thinking on what he'd just said. So when they came to a halt again at another light near their home, it wasn't a surprise when she said, "But… he would be the wrong choice?"

He nodded and twisted slightly in the seat to look back at her. "Milady… I thought that you wanted to stop being like your father. And isn't making someone else hurt to make yourself feel better what he does?"

The blood drained from her face and her grip loosened, just as the car behind them honked irritably.

Hiccup turned to see that the light had turned green, and hit the accelerator, although slowly, as Astrid seemed a bit wobbly and he didn't want her falling off.

They pulled into their driveway a minute or so later, next to his dad's, Gobber's and Ma Kosti's cars. As he dismounted and pulled off his helmet, he looked her over.

She looked horrified, her helmet held in shaking hands. "I… I… I…" she stammered.

He put his helmet down on the bike, took hers, and then enfolded her in a hug. "But you didn't. But you asked me to help you with that. So I'm helping. And you didn't attack him. Even if it would have felt so good."

She shook in his arms and slumped against him; he felt the breast of his shirt grow damp.

After a moment, her shaking diminished, and she seemed to deflate a bit.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She swallowed and said slightly hoarsely, "Not really. But thank you."

He lifted up her chin and kissed her gently. "Not a problem. Remember what Mr Grimborn said about therapy and change? That they have to want to change? You have that. So I'll help."

They stood like that, huddled together, for another minute, until Hiccup gently broke the hug. "Come on. Your fur-baby awaits."

She gave a damp laugh and, hand-in-hand, they walked up the steps into the house.

As soon as the door opened, Hiccup could hear his dad, sounding exasperated, ordering, "Stormfly, get down!"

"She's a cat, Stoick," Ma Kosti commented airily as Hiccup and Astrid came to the kitchen. "She's not going to listen to you."

Entering, Hiccup saw that Stormfly had gotten up on top of one of the cabinets and was swatting at his dad's hands as he tried to get her down. Ma Kosti was leaning against one of the counters, watching with amusement, while Gobber was holding pill bottles and trying not to laugh.

Astrid stepped forward and gave a soft whistle—and with a happy meow, Stormfly launched herself in a running leap into Astrid's arms.

Hiccup glanced down at the purring cat, her head butting against Astrid's chin with her eyes closed, and smiled.

"Thanks, Astrid," Stoick said, sounding tired.

"We've been trying to get her down for twenty minutes," Ma Kosti added.

"'We' meaning 'me'," Stoick added testily. "You didn't help."

"I knew better," Ma Kosti said cheerfully. "And I also knew that they'd be home soon."

Stoick rubbed at his face and sighed. "Aye. So, now… she needs to take these," he took the bottles from Gobber and presented them to Hiccup and Astrid.

Astrid sighed. "Do we have a spare towel?"

Hiccup went and retrieved one from the linen closet, and they wrapped Stormfly into a cat-burrito, and then carefully fed her the pills she had to take.

Hiccup was never going to complain about getting Toothless to take his meds ever again, that was for sure. Stormfly wasn't a good patient, and Astrid was having a hard time disciplining her as they worked. But, one by one, the pills went down the cat's throat.

Once they were done and released her from the towel, Stoick said, "So, aside from the medication, I have official permission from the vets for you to spoil her rotten for the foreseeable future—she's extremely underweight."

Hiccup glanced down at the cat huddled slightly off to the side, giving them betrayed looks, but then looked up again as Ma Kosti came forward.

"I made these," she said with a smile, and presented Astrid with a Tupperware container that rattled promisingly.

"What—?" Astrid asked, hesitantly taking the container.

"Homemade cat treats," Ma Kosti said cheerfully. "I figured you would need them for her. I made four different flavors, and also the cat supplies from your list were bought and set up."

Astrid looked down at the container and abruptly burst into tears.

Instantly Hiccup was there, hugging her and taking the container away from her gently and putting it on the countertop. He was vaguely aware of Ma Kosti shooing Gobber and his dad out of the kitchen, but didn't pay them any mind. He was focused on the crying person he loved in his arms. She was shaking and there were tears running freely down her cheeks.

It took a few minutes, but he got her over to the couch in the living room on shaky legs, and she slowly managed to compose herself.

"Feeling better?" he asked; he'd honestly been expecting this, after having been reading up on abuse… and the aftereffects.

She nodded shakily. "I just… I… it was all… so… much…" she trailed off, looking for the right words.

"Like you realized that you were safe and we love and support you?" he asked gently, and softly pulled her closer as she nodded. "Yeah. And you suddenly realized that it was safe for you to… fall apart?"

She nodded again, more vigorously. "How'd you know?"

"I did some reading… and it's common among people removed from an abusive environment when that realization kicks in." He gently squeezed her. "So it's okay. And before you start beating yourself up about it, you're not weak or anything, okay?"

She paused, and Hiccup mentally kicked himself after a moment for going too far, but then she just kissed his cheek. "You know me too well. I love you, babe."

He smiled. "Love you too, milady. And when you're up for it…"

"Yes?"

"Shall we see what kind of treat Stormfly likes best?"

She gave a soft choked laugh and said, "I'd like that."

Her phone then buzzed in her pocket, and she cautiously pulled it out.

"Who is it?" Hiccup asked.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "It's that reporter that wanted to talk to me about finding Stormfly. He… he retracted the request."

#

Astrid was laying on the couch in the lounge and grinning at Stormfly trying to catch the laser dot when she heard it.

"Bastards!" angrily came from Stoick's office.

She shared a shocked look with Hiccup and felt the smile melt off of her face, and his face underwent the same change.

"Bloody corrupt bastards!"

Swallowing hard against a sudden lump of anxiety in her throat, Astrid stood up slowly, and cautiously started walking towards Stoick's office.

It didn't have to do with her case, she tried to assure herself. Stoick had a lot going on. It could be military or something…

Still, she paused outside of the office door, Hiccup just behind her, both of them barely daring to breathe.

Finally, Stoick spoke. "Astrid, Henry, come in please. I know you're there." He sounded… tired.

Sharing a look with Hiccup, Astrid slowly pushed open the door. "What happened?"

"Take a seat, please," Stoick said.

They did so, still holding hands, and then Stoick leaned over, elbows on the desk and fingers interlaced. "The short version: we have a preliminary custody hearing scheduled next week. That's very fast. And the judge…" He scowled.

Astrid felt faint. "What about the judge?"

Stoick sighed. "How many favors your father must have burned to have him picked, I don't know, but his decision record in parental abuse cases is out-and-out vile, and flagrantly biased towards men such as your father."

Feeling panic starting to rise in her chest, Astrid fought down the urge to start hyperventilating. "No, no, no…"

Stoick held out his hands calmingly. "It's all right! This is just for a preliminary hearing, not a final judgment. And even with his handpicked judge, your father has done enough that I will be able to make a strong case for custody regardless—and if the judge rules against us, we can appeal, due to the obvious bias."

Astrid swallowed down bile and nodded shakily. "Okay."

Stoick smiled at her. "Don't worry, lass. We'll get you to safety. I was mostly upset because of the judge's record as I was reviewing it. I didn't feel that it was a coincidence that one of the single worst judges for children's rights in all of Scotland had been appointed over our case." His eyes narrowed. "And I plan on finding out how space on his docket appeared with such speed."

"Well, that's my father for you," Astrid said slowly. "He's very proud of just how connected he is."

"Indeed," Stoick said with a sigh.

Astrid tried to focus on Hiccup's thumb brushing over the back of her hand instead of the sense of impending doom. He'd been silent so far, but his expression was concerned and supportive as she glanced at him. But they all sat in silence for a moment until Stoick clapped his hands.

"Well. I can tell you this much. He's made some serious mistakes in how he deals with me, and I'm just letting him continue to dig himself a deeper hole." He smiled wolfishly. "And I have a shovel to bury him with."

Astrid nodded, feeling slightly heartened, even though there was a voice in the back of her mind that was gibbering that Stoick wouldn't be able to stop her father.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to remember that he didn't have to stop him. Just slow him down long enough that she'd reach her next birthday and graduation. Then Hiccup could propose without them getting tossed out. Just six more months.

So she swallowed against the lump again and asked, "So what happens after this?"

Stoick nodded. "A number of things. There are a number of process steps and hoops that have to be jumped through here; while Family Court is not my area of focus, I have been doing my reading, and there will be multiple hearings, most likely. Possibly monthly from here on out, and I will be stalling for time as best I can. I have plenty of leave saved up, so I'll be using a lot of it for this."

Astrid winced. "You don't have to—"

"Lass. I do. You're family now," Stoick said firmly but gently. "Now, I'm going back into the trenches here, but I'm going to have to pull you out of class next week for the hearing, just warning you. Henry, be sure to get her notes and the like. We can't afford any slipping there."

Hiccup nodded. "Of course."

"Speaking of which, how is that going?" Stoick asked.

They shared a look, and then Hiccup said, "Well, we had an evil assignment from our Philosophy and Rhetoric teacher. He gave us a debate topic designed to make us fight."

Stoick scowled. "I see. What topic?"

Astrid sighed. "Abortion. It was what made me decide to keep the baby, though, so… it didn't work as they'd intended."

"I see," Stoick repeated, sounding conflicted. "And when is that due?"

"We already had it," Hiccup added, and then when Stoick scowled, he added, "Yesterday. And we did a great job, judging by Mr Mildew's scowl."

Astrid smirked. "He looked like he'd found half a worm in his sour apple."

"Ha!" Stoick said. "I remember him. Dear gods, is he still alive?"

"And kicking," Hiccup confirmed.

Stoick sighed. "Well then. Good job to both of you. And, yes, if he was scowling, then you did well. Beyond that, any problems?"

Astrid shook her head. "No, we're doing all right."

"If anything, we're doing better, since we're not having the upkeep of hiding our relationship any more," Hiccup added.

"And having a study partner right there helps," Astrid said, glancing at Hiccup. "We share most of our classes, after all."

Stoick nodded, looking relieved. "That's good. Beyond that, I'm looking around to see who I can find that can potentially act as your lawyer or at least your advocate if something happens when I'm not here—or if I'm forced to recuse myself due to conflicts of interest."

Astrid nodded, Stoick's calm, solid certainty feeling soothing to her after all of the angst and fear. "Any luck?"

Stoick folded his hands and nodded. "Aye. I'm not without favors of my own to call in, and I hope to find someone in the next few days. Certainly before the hearing next week." He leaned forward. "Don't worry. You'll be safe."

#

Laying on their bed, Hiccup watched Astrid fondly as she cheerfully tossed Stormfly another treat and the cat caught it in mid-air. "I think we found her favorite," he commented. "Which ones are those?"

"The chicken ones," she said with a giggle, and tossed her cat another one. Stormfly caught it between her paws and ate it in a couple of bites.

"Heh," Hiccup chuckled. "Toothless prefers beef and pork, so at least they won't fight over that." The two pets were still circling each other warily, but they weren't fighting at least. It had only been a day, though, so time would tell as to how they ended up. Fortunately, Toothless was pretty easy-going and even-tempered, so he was mostly taking the arrival of the cat in stride. He had tried to get Stormfly to play with him, though, which had been rebuffed.

After Stormfly padded out of the room, off to explore more of the house, and Hiccup closed the door behind her, Astrid leaned up against him lithely—like a cat—and practically purred. "She's happy. That's good. So…"

"So?"

She leaned up next to his ear and whispered, "Today has been a bit… busy. But what do you say we cap it off with a good memory?"

Hiccup felt his blood warm at her tone. "Oh? What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things," she breathed suggestively, and reached over and put his hand on her ass.

Hiccup felt his eyes go slightly wide… and then he shook his head. "Not that yet."

She twisted and gave him a disappointed look. "Why not?"

"Because I was looking into it, and it's not something you just do. You have to work up to it," he responded, and then smirked, "Buuuutttt…"

She poked him. "Wiseass. Say it."

"We have what we need to start on that if you want," he said softly. "From the 'starter package'."

She didn't need to be told twice, and practically hopped over to the drawer where they'd stashed the toys. "What do we need?"

"The smaller plug and the lube," he said cheerfully, grinning at her enthusiasm.

She found them quickly and a few moments later, they were on the bed, as Hiccup did his best to recall the instructions he'd read while having an armful of naked Astrid trying to kiss him insensate.

Eventually, though, he managed to get her up on all fours, with a towel underneath them, and lubed up his left fingers. Remembering what the instructions had said—if you think you have enough lube, add a bit more—he added more, and then gently, gingerly, started to probe,, first stimulating the outer nerves around the tight muscle (he hoped; the instructions he'd found had been annoyingly vague on this part).

But Astrid seemed pleased enough, judging by the sounds she was making. But then, after a few minutes of that, she made a noise of complaint. "Is that all?"

"No, just doing prep," he answered.

"Well, get on with it!" she said impatiently.

Hiccup took a deep breath, and, with a hope that he wasn't about to hurt her, he shifted his fingers and started to push. She shivered as he slowly slid his digit in and he paused. "Should I stop?"

"No! It just feels… weird, but good! Keep going!"

Heartened, he did so, and after a few cautious strokes back and forth, bottomed out with his finger fully inside her.

Her voice breathy, she asked as he continued to work it back and forth, "Now what? I want more."

Hiccup swallowed a laugh at just how keen she sounded, and said, "Well, there's this…" and gently added a second finger as he slid in and out of her.

She moaned, and the sound seemed to leap straight to his own groin, but he ignored his own erection, knowing that she'd happily help take care of it. For the moment, though, he was focused on her and making her day have a great end-cap. After a moment's thought, he took his right hand and started to finger her clit, then curled up inside her to probe her g-spot, making her moan.

Keeping his hands moving at different paces—fast with his right, slow with his left—was difficult but oh so rewarding when it only took a minute or two for her to fall to pieces with her first orgasm of the evening, and she slumped happily into her pillow, apparently boneless.

"So… what do you want to do, Hiccup?" she asked when she'd recovered, his fingers still inside her. "If it's too soon for… that?"

He withdrew his right hand and held up the plug. "How do you feel about this in your ass and you ride me with that in you?"

She shivered and shuddered around him. "Yes."

Gently, he withdrew from her ass, cleaned off his fingers from the santorum, and lubed up the plug. Astrid sighed happily as he slid it in.

"It feels… weird. But good," she said when it bottomed out, only the flared end keeping it from going deeper. Then her tone shifted, becoming more mischievous. "Now…" she turned and firmly pushed him onto his back, and then straddled him. "My turn."

As she slid down onto him, Hiccup had to stifle a moan. He could feel the plug right next to his cock, and between the tightness and the other sensations it added to the always awesome experience of sex with Astrid, he wasn't going to last long.

And she wasn't doing much better, judging by the unfocused and slightly crazed look in her eyes as she bottomed out on him and their hips touched. "Oh," was all she said, and yet it somehow said a lot. Her next words were, "I feel so full. It's… nice." She grinned down at him with a degree of mania that both excited and worried him, and then she started to move, riding up and down on him with panting breaths.

Each slide up and down was electric, and Hiccup reached over to thumb at her clit and nipples, and she gave a small squeal of enjoyment. "Oh, gods, yes…" she moaned as he worked her over—and then, suddenly, she came, spasming on top of him. And that was enough for him to come as well, spilling into her with a grunt.

She slumped on top of him, their sweat mingling, and both of them were panting for breath. They cuddled together like that, grinning like loons at each other at the step they'd just taken.

"So… how was it?" Hiccup asked slowly, between pants after a few moments.

Astrid's breath was a hot-yet-chill wind on his chest, but she stilled for a moment before saying, her tone tired yet satisfied, "I want to do that again. And soon. Gods, I've never felt that full."

Hiccup stroked her hair. "I'm glad." Then he glanced down at her. "And before you get too comfortable, we should get you cleaned up."

Grumbling extravagantly, she acceded, and they made a quick dart over to the bathroom to clean up her and the plug, and then it was back to bed. While it was much bigger than his old twin-sized mattress, to be honest, they cuddled together so much at night that most of the time, the larger size didn't make that much of a difference.

Except…

It was their bed, not his.

And, as they drifted off to sleep, limbs entwined, that somehow made all of the difference in the world.

AN: Happy New Year to everyone!

MarauderPrime12: Thank you.
.Tyr: It isn't FAIR to discriminate against people who want to see me and my friends dead, and who are supporting that with their votes and voices? Eat a block, asshole.
Alejandrathemexican: You're welcome! And, yes, he's quite the monster, isn't he?
Dinochickrox: We can hope!
BrawlerGamer: But you're back now!
Mariah, Vivi-ntvg, & CajunBear73: Yes! The kitty is safe, and the plot is still in motion!

Beyond that, I unfortunately don't have a recommendation at the moment; been dealing with some depression and wondering if I could still keep writing this story set in the UK after the recent election. It's not funny anymore, not knowing what's in store for both the people in fiction and my real life friends in the UK with Boris Johnson in Number 10 with a mandate. I hope to finish this story this year, but I've been dealing with depression at just how the world is going straight to hell.

But let us hope that this year is a better one!