The Edge

Pairing; Toothless X Hiccup

Setting; Modern AU

Rating; M for Mature

Disclaimer; I do not own the HTTYD or any of the music that is used. Everything belongs to its original creator/artist!

6: A Friend

=Harvey's POV=

[Saturday, December 31st, 2011-Harvey's Apartment]

I can't believe an entire year has passed since. To think that I graduated High School in June 2010 and got hired as a full-time server at Dragon's Cove in September 2010, plus living in my own apart right above the bar?! It was incredible to me. My life had never been better, and it seems to still be going great a year later. Ford and Heather are still in school and dating; they've been together for a little over two years as they had started dating in May of 2009, which was when the Junior Prom was held. Ford wasn't working at all, I guess his parents are paying for him to continue his studies as long as he gets good grades, which I know isn't a problem for him. Heather, on the other hand, I believe now is working a part-time job so that Daniel doesn't have to pay for her to go to college. Seth, Roslyn, and Travis were still single and working their jobs.

I heard that Roslyn went on a few dates with different guys, but nothing ever developed into a relationship. For the longest time, I thought that Roslyn and Seth might get together because Roslyn liked him, but I guess her feelings must have faded as the time passed. As far as I know, Daniel, Heather's brother, is still working as a mechanic and in a relationship with some woman, but it was nothing serious. I suppose the last of my friends is Ashley, and she's not seeing anyone. Well, we still hook up to get off or have sex at least twice a week on my off days. It's not always sex for us, sometimes we both just get off to alleviate some frustration and have an orgasm seems to work. The sex thing only happened once a month at best. Even though Ashley and I are friends with benefits, we're still best friends, and no one knows what we do. Also, for another update on Ashley, she has a car now. I believe her parents got it for her nineteenth birthday, which was in April.

For me; I'm still working at Dragon's Cove and living above it for $500 a month. I see my parents at least once a week for dinner at either mine or their place, and I call them every single day before I start working so they know I'm all right. The only downside in my life is that the bar still isn't doing so good, but thankfully, the staff and I refuse to give up until we've got nothing left to fight with. Over the last year, we've lost some employees, so the workers are dwindling, and it's getting harder to get through the work nights. We've changed the hours of operation for opening to be at 10 am, and we do the last call at 12:30 am, so that way we can be closed at 1 am, then hopefully everyone heading home between 1:30 and 2 am. I work five nights a week and only do six if Andrew needs the extra hands.

Also, on delivery day, I'm the one who is downstairs at 7:30 am to open the back doors and then putting all the product away while checking it off on the invoice, so Andrew knows we got everything her ordered. By the time all that was done, it was 8 am with the other openers coming in to start getting ready for the 10 am open. Most of the time, I would stay down there to help out Andy with inventory since I put away the truck delivery and have seen everything and how much of it there was. When that was done, I'd go back upstairs to get a little more sleep until11 am. After that, I'd take a shower, make myself a late breakfast, then clean up the apartment if it needed it. Around 1:30 pm, I'd get myself some lunch, then start running errands. If I still had time after that, I'd sit down and relax until my shift started at 4 pm. My off days are Mondays and Thursdays; used for a big clean, laundry, and shopping. I wasn't worried about bills because I paid them online.

Currently, Andrew had been starting to talk about hiring again because it was hard for Storm and me to handle all the tables by ourselves on a busy night. Plus, we lost Kevin as one of the bartenders, and another server had quit three weeks ago. Sometime after the New Year started, Andy got us all together to discuss how to bring in more customers, and we decided on doing new menu items and themed nights. We even lowered the prices a bit and gave the place a fresh coat of paint. Oh, and perhaps one of the things I got roped into doing was singing on stage. I know I said I wouldn't do it again, but a lot of the patrons had asked Andrew why the live singing wasn't an all the time thing. So after a lot of pleading, I finally agreed and got over my stage fright. I don't perform all the time, just a few songs through the night. Thus far, the ideas we put into place seem to be working because Andrew said we're not doing great, but we're better. That was some good news for us; we didn't want to lose the place, we're a family at Dragon's Cove.

Tonight was like any other Saturday, except for the fact it New Year's Eve and everyone is out having a good time to celebrate the incoming year of 2012. Generally, I wouldn't care how busy the bar gets, the problem tonight is that we're short staffed and the place is more hectic than usual. Storm and I were handling tables, Andrew was behind the bar with Kevin, and we had one cook handling the kitchen. We were doing the best we could, but getting stressed out and overwhelmed. As an added bonus, my parents, godfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, and friends all decided to show up at 11:00 pm because I was supposed to be off tonight to ring in the new year with them, but Andrew begged me to work, and I couldn't let him down. All I sent was a text telling them I couldn't come and I was sorry. I've actually been working since noon, I was thoroughly exhausted and wanted to sleep, but I knew I couldn't; I had a job to do.

=Normal POV=

Sullivan, Victoria, Garrett, Jamie, Samuel, Seth, and the gang of friends minus Daniel were watching Harvey rush around to take orders, bring change, deliver food and drinks. Sadly, they could tell he was tired by the look in his green eyes. The group of them decided that if Harvey couldn't come to them, they'd go to him and had only been there for a little over ten minutes. Finally, Harvey came to the table.

"You know I'd love to chat, but as you can see," he motioned around the room at how nuts it was. "You guys want anything to eat or drink?" he asked. The group placed an order for drinks and two app samplers. Harvey nodded and walked off again.

"Poor guy," Heather frowned. After another fifteen minutes, Harvey brought them their food and beverages. No sooner than he did, two customers knocked into him while they were fighting one another. Harvey narrowed his eyes as he got in between them and grabbed their collars.

"That's enough you two! I'm sick and tired and breaking up your fights, this is not the first time. There are way too many people in here for you to be throwing punches," Harvey stated firmly. "Now, I don't care what the fight is about, but you're going to knock this shit off, or I'm kicking both your asses out, and you'll be banned permanently. Do not think for a second that just because I'm the server here that I can't make it happen. Is that understood?!" he warned as they nodded to him, and Harvey let them go and pushed them away from one another.

"Are you alright, Harvey?" Ashley asked.

"Just friggin peachy, Ash. I gotta get back to work. Enjoy," Harvey said as he grabbed his tray and moved to the bar where Andy was. "That's the fourth fight I've broken up tonight in a three-hour window, Andy. All of which were because they slammed into me. You know I'm not one to complain about work, but I'm not sure how much more my body can take of this tonight," Harvey sighed.

"Yeah, you don't look so good," Kevin pointed out.

"Here," Andrew said while getting him a cup of water and handing it over to him. "Take this, go to the storage room and take a few minutes break. I don't want you passing out on me, and Kev is right; you don't look good," Harvey nodded as he took the water and moved off to the side where the alcohol was kept. Harvey sat on one of the crates drinking the water and trying to get rid of a headache that was forming. Honestly, he just wasn't feeling well anymore and wanted to go upstairs to sleep it off before it got worse. Harvey closed his eyes and tried to relax.

After ten minutes, Harvey came back out and tossed the plastic cup away as he grabbed his tray from behind the bar and started making his table rounds. Reaching where his family and friends were, they looked at him worried.

"Where'd you disappear to?" Roslyn asked.

"Andy told me to relax a few minutes in the back room. You guys good still?" Harvey asked. When they nodded, Harvey smiled and continued working his section. However, things didn't stay so calm as more and more people were beginning to argue and shove others. The last time this happened, Harvey ended up on stage singing to calm them down. Truthfully, he didn't know if he was prepared to do that again tonight with how he felt. Yet, it might be his only choice.

"Harv, they're getting a little rowdy. Might be time for you to get up there," Storm suggested. Harvey sighed as he nodded and got on the stage. Harvey took a few moments to figure out what to sing that might calm them down. Finally, he thought of something. Harvey flipped the microphone on as the music started.

"The mixtape's got a little Hank, little Drake. A little something bumping, thump, thumping on the wheel ride," Harvey began as everyone began to stop, and look towards the stage. However, it was new to Harvey's family and friends to see him up there singing of all things. "The mix in our drink's a little stronger than you think. So get a grip, take a sip of that feel right. The truck's jacked up, flat bills flipped back. Yeah, you can find us where the party's at," Harvey smiled as everyone stopped fighting or arguing, and then made their way closer to the stage.

"This is how we roll!" Harvey sang out, holding the note as he did and the customers began to cheer. "We hanging 'round, singing out everything on the radio. We light it up with our hands up! This is how we roll. This is how we do. We're burning down the night shooting bullets at the moon. Baby, this is how we roll!" Harvey smiled as the girls of the room began getting closer to the stage with broad smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, baby this is how we roll. We rollin' into town. With nothing else to do we take another lap around. Yeah, holla at your boy if you need a ride. If you roll with me, yeah, you know we rollin' high. Up on and thirty-seven needles, windows tinted hard to see, though. How fresh my baby is in the shotgun seat, oh!Them kisses are for me though, automatic like a free throw. This life I live, it might not be for you, but it's for me though! Let's roll!" Harvey sang out as the girls were jumping and down while screaming. The males seemed to be smiling too, holding their drinks up. Most shockingly, everyone began to sing along with the chorus.

"This is how we roll! We hanging 'round, singing out everything on the radio," Harvey continued holding the note a few beats. "We light it up with our hands up! This is how we roll. And this is how we do. When the world turns ugly, I just turn and look at you. Baby, this is how we roll!" Now, everyone was having fun. The gang looked over to the bar seeing Andrew, Storm, and Kevin just leaning back and watching; cheering with the rest. Harvey grabbed the guitar from behind him and started playing along with the song. That was interesting to see, they didn't know he could play. The music slowed a little now as Harvey got closer to the mic.

"Yeah, we're proud to be young. We stick to our guns. We love who we love, and we wanna have fun. Yeah, we cuss on them Mondays. And pray on them Sundays. Pass is around, and we dream about one day!" Harvey sang as the everyone did it with him. "This is how we roll! We hanging 'round, singing out everything on the radio. We light it up with our hands up," the music picked up again. "This is how we roll. This is how we ride. We slingin' up the mud, cuttin' through the countryside, baby. This is how we roll!"

There was a brief pause for Harvey to take a break. "Yeah, this is how we roll! This is how we roll! Yeah, this is how we roll. This is how we do. We're burning down the night shooting bullets at the moon, baby. This is how we roll! Yeah, this is how we roll!" Harvey finished as the crowd erupted into applause for the performance.

"WOO! Yeah, Harvey!" Andrew, Kevin, and Storm cheered. Harvey smiled and shrugged as he put the guitar away and then let the regular music take over as he hopped down from the stage. While walking through everyone; they were patting his back, telling him good job, the girls were swooning and asking how he does it. Harvey just smiles and tells them it's one of his many talents. Harvey reached his family and friends as they were still a bit shocked to have seen up there singing.

"What was that all about?" Seth wondered.

"Harvey performs every night he works, couple songs here and there to keep the crowd from fighting. Apparently, they love the live performances and the fact he can play," Andrew stated as he put his arm over Harvey's shoulders. "And with all that, it's time for the ball to drop! Let's bring in the new year!" Andrew stated as Harvey nodded and moved with him towards the bar. Andrew jumped on stage with the rest of his staff as they turned on news channel six where the new year's party was taking place in New York. There were five minutes left in the year 2011, and Andrew decided to thank everyone for their continued support of the bar, that it would make his ancestors proud to know it's still in the family. The time ticked away until there was a minute left. At ten seconds, they began counting down.

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One! Happy New Year!" everyone shouted together, laughing and cheering. People were taking shots, drinking their drinks, hugging, kissing, and smiling. Harvey loved it, and he couldn't have asked for a better life than he had right now. And so began the 2012 year.

[ Friday, January 13th, 2012-Dragon's Cove-7:20 am]

It had been two weeks since the start of the new year, and everything was back to the standard way of things. At the moment, Harvey was making his way downstairs for the Friday morning delivery of products he would have to put away. Reaching deliver door, Harvey heard noises that he typically didn't. Harvey opened it to see a group of three males in their mid-twenties punching and kicking another man who was curled up trying to block their attacks. Harvey made his way down the stairs quickly.

"Hey! Hey, leave the guy alone and get lost before I call the police!" Harvey warned. The three men stopped fast and bolted out of there. Harvey reached the person they'd been beating up and was shocked to discover that this man couldn't have been any older than he was. Harvey knelt down and put his hand on the man's shoulder; he flinched and tried to cover himself more. "It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe now. I made those jerks leave," Harvey said gently.

The man pulled his arms off his head and looked at Harvey, who was offering his hand to help him up. "Th-Thanks," the male said as he got to his feet. Harvey was able to see now that this man had black hair and green eyes wearing worn out black sneakers, tan pants that had some stains on them, and a very light long-sleeved gray sweatshirt with a hood on the back. It was January, wasn't this guy cold? Especially because it had snowed four days ago and rumor of more coming on Sunday.

"You're welcome. Are you okay?" Harvey inquired.

"I-I think…I'll be all right," the man answered as he checked himself over.

"You're shivering. Why don't you come inside to warm up a bit? I can get some ice for your cheek, so it doesn't bruise," Harvey offered.

"Oh! No, no. I-It's okay. I'm fine, really," the man replied.

"I insist. Come on," Harvey told him with a smile. The male nodded as he grabbed a two bags off the ground, and walked in with me as I saw the truck arrived and gave them a thumbs up to do their regular thing. Harvey would put it away and invoice it before 8:30 came around. Harvey sat the man down on one of the bar stools, then went to the bar to get a bag of ice for him. Afterward, Harvey sat next to him. "Why were those guys beating on you?" Harvey wondered. The male seemed to freeze, then sigh, and look down.

"Will you promise not to tell anyone?" he asked as Harvey nodded. "I-It's because I'm homeless. All I have are these two bags with my clothes in them, well, whatever I could fit. I-I was originally out front, I-I saw the hiring sign in the window," he continued as Harvey remembered that Andrew put that up to try and get more people in. "Those guys walked by and told me I didn't stand a chance. They asked how bad I had to be at life to end up a bum at my age. It…wasn't my choice to live this way. My parents kicked me out four years ago, all because I'm bisexual," he looked down.

Harvey had never heard of anything so heartless in his entire life, and Harvey felt sorry for this guy. Sure, he was homeless for a stupid reason, but he was trying to make the best of it and find work. Harvey couldn't knock that. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm Harvey Haddock," he smiled.

"I'm…Trayden Nyght," the man, Trayden, now introduced. "D-Do you think I might be able to work here?" Trayden asked.

"Well, I'm not the manager, but he should be here soon if you'd like to wait for him? Andrew is a pretty cool guy, and he's desperate for help at nights. Yeah, I think you got a good shot as long as you can be friendly, smile, be quick and accurate," Harvey replied.

"I could probably do that," Trayden nodded to Harvey.

"Then I think you'll do just fine here. Just sit tight, okay? And don't be so nervous, I'm a friend," Harvey told him as Trayden nodded. Harvey walked away to start putting the truck away, but periodically checking on Trayden too.

[8 am]

Harvey just finished everything and came out to the central section when Andrew walked in with three others. "Morning, Harv," one of the female servers greeted. Harvey gave a wave as the staff broke off to get to work while Andrew approached Harvey.

"So, I know why you're down here so early," Andrew started. "Who is that?" he motioned to Trayden, who got nervous.

"He's…an old friend I grew up with!" Harvey stated as Andrew quirked a brow questioning. "Tray and I lost contact when he moved away, but there was a falling out with his parents, and he located me through my parents. I saw him out back when I opened the doors for the truck. Uh, he's gonna be living in the city but needs a job. I…mentioned we were hiring and told him to wait in here for you," he lied, which shocked Trayden a bit. Why was this Harvey guy lying about his background? Harvey cast him a look that said play along. Tray got off the stool and walked next to Harvey now. "Andrew, this is Trayden Nyght,"

"I see. Well, Trayden, to work here you gotta be friendly, fast, accurate, reliable, and neat. Also, I'm looking for night servers. Where you living at? Do you have transportation?" Andrew asked. Trayden froze a bit, not sure what to say.

"Tray's gonna be living with me until he can get his own place, boss. You don't gotta worry about that," Harvey replied.

"Ah, excellent. I know Harv here will make sure you make it on time. So, if you can do all those things I mentioned before, I'm happy to hire you. You up for it?" Andrew inquired. Trayden was surprised. Harvey stepped right up and lied to get him the job, and never mentioned a thing about the real situation. Trayden had a chance to get this job, and he would find however he could to repay Harvey for it.

"Might take some getting used to, sir, but I can handle it," Trayden nodded confidently.

"Perfect then, welcome to the Dragon's Cove team. We'll take care of your paperwork later on. You can start tonight, training under this guy," Andrew motioned to Harvey. "He'll teach you the ropes for a few days. Harvey, why don't you get him what he needs for the job from the supply closet, and then you can head upstairs until 4 pm," he suggested.

"Aye, bossman," Harvey saluted. "Come on, Tray, I'll show you my place," he invited. Trayden smiled as he nodded, bowing his head in thanks to Andrew before getting his bags and following Harvey to a door, which when opened, revealed stairs up to another door. Trayden couldn't believe this; Harvey had only known him for half an hour, lied to his boss, stuck his neck out to get him the job, and even now, Harvey was going to let Trayden stay with him? Trayden had to repay him somehow, for now, he was just grateful to have a friend.