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!
21: As It Should Be
=Trayden's POV=
[April 2017]
I could admit that after the events of Christmas Eve; I slipped back into my depression a little, but true to the words of my husband, in-laws, and friends, they never let me fall down. I suppose what caused me to be depressed was knowing that my father would never accept or love me because I'm bisexual and married to a man. However, after speaking with Dr. O'Conner about the situation on the day after Christmas, he said something that helped me feel a lot better. Dr. O'Conner told me that the reason my father might always be after me now and wanted me to leave The Edge was that he couldn't stand the thought of a man being bisexual doing better than he was in life. My parents lived in a shotty one-bedroom apartment living off housing assistance and food stamps in Bashem, and after they kicked me out, I ended up homeless for four years, but I recovered and have so much more now.
Harvey became my first friend, he lied to get me a job at Dragon's Cove, he gave me a place to live without knowing me at all. Harvey taught me how to be a server, and then he became my lover. When Dragon's Cove went down, Harvey stepped up to save it, and now we have The Edge; a successful nightclub that Harvey and I own together. Dr. O'Conner made me realize that my father was jealous of all my success after he kicked me out, and that's why he was trying to bring me down so much; he didn't want me doing better than him. After understanding that, I no longer felt bad about defending myself and standing up to him on Christmas Eve. I didn't care if he didn't love me anymore because I had Harvey and the others. When that appointment ended, I got home with my husband, and I told him with a broad smile that I was ready to come back to work.
I could not have been happier to return to The Edge, and everyone gave me a warm welcome too. Hell, I even took the 8 pm opening because I felt like getting up there to sing. That was a great night, and another big event to take place in 2017 was the February marked Harvey and I turning twenty-five; we celebrated with our friends and family, I even invited my mother. I took her words into consideration and hearing she was being abused because I was gone infuriated me to no end. My psychiatrist suggested that I continue to fix things with her since she was genuine, and I got proof of that when she divorced Drake in mid-January. My mother was now living in a motel close by to where I lived; Harvey and I were putting her up there because it was across the street from The Edge, and if she needed help, then we were right there. Harvey's suggestion was for her to get a restraining order on Drake, and she took the advice.
My mother and I weren't perfect, but we were mending thing slowly, and I was trying to forgive her. My mom said she was proud of me for no longer taking my father's abuse, and happy I was away from him now. Also, she loved how lucky I got to meet Harvey, then my whole life changed. Truthfully, I couldn't deny that either. Meeting Harvey that day in the alleyway changed everything for me. I'm still taking the anti-depressants, but only being seen once a week now on Wednesdays at 11:30 am by Dr. O'Conner. So now, we're in April, and it was a vacation for the school kids. Harvey's and mine's friends were coming over, along with my parents and mother just to hang out. Harvey was cooking hot dogs and burgers on the grill we had outside on the patio past the sliding glass door. The time was 12:45 pm, everyone was here, and it was going to be a great day.
"I'm so glad we can all hang out like this again," Heather smiled.
"I know, right. It helps that we plan these things for Sundays," Ashley said in response.
"Harv, you need any help out there?" I asked while looking to the patio.
"Can you get the door for me?" Harvey asked as I saw him carrying the tray with the food on it. I moved to the door and pulled it open while he walked in and set the burgers and hot dogs on the dining room table where all the buns and condiments were. Also, we had chips, dip, soda, juice, and beer. " Come and get it," Harvey told the others. Everyone lined up and began to get what they wanted to eat; Harvey and I went last. When everyone was seated and eating, Harvey and I joined them while still engaging in light conversation.
"So, you two are coming up on three years of marriage, aren't you?" Roslyn looked to Harvey and me.
"Yep, in June," I smiled.
"Any plans for that day?" Rebecca asked with a slight smile.
"We'll likely do what we always do. Spend the day together, go to dinner, come home, and then make love until we pass out from exhaustion," Harvey chuckled; I blushed deeply. "What, babe? You know it's true,"
"Well, yeah, but they don't need to know all of that," I reminded.
"It's not hard to figure out, Tray. We know how much you two love one another," Seth laughed a bit as I shrugged, yeah, that was true. There was music going lightly in the background, more talking and I was happy. I loved how things were right now, so peaceful and calm with no fighting or drama. I could honestly say that I was feeling a lot better, and I was healing from everything in the past. I smiled at Harvey and kissed him when he least expected it.
"What was that for?" my husband asked.
"Just for being you," I said as Harvey chuckled and kissed me back, deeper this time, and I blushed.
"Then that was for being you," Harvey said afterward.
"You two are cute," Heather giggled. "Any plans for children?"
"We've discussed it a few times, but our lives are a bit busy to be having a baby," Harvey replied.
"Well, at least you two aren't required to be downstairs all the time, though. I would say your business is pretty well established after three years," Victoria mentioned.
"Even so, there is a lot that goes into us having kids," I stated.
"And we'd have a lot of decisions to make regarding it, so it's best for now that we leave things as they are," Harvey added next.
"Well, if you choose surrogacy then I'm willing to be one," Heather smiled.
"Me too," Ashley confirmed.
"That's sweet of you, Heather and Ash, a little surprising you would offer to carry a child for Tray and me," Harvey said.
"Why is that shocking considering the past we had," Ashley rolled her eyes.
"Pfft. You were terrified of being pregnant with my kid back in 2012, so don't even go there," Harvey said as the whole room got quieter.
"It was your condom that broke!" Ashley stated.
"And it was you're an error in your doctor's office that your birth control had expired when said condom broke," Harvey countered.
"Wait a second, what?!" the friends and Harvey's parents yelled.
=Normal POV=
Sullivan, Victoria, Seth, and the friends were in shock of the information they received when Ashley offered to be a surrogate to carry Harvey and Trayden's child for them if they wanted. Why were the two of them talking about pregnant in 2012, broken condoms, and expired birth control?! Nobody understood, and now demanded answers.
"What is going on between you two?" Zack asked first.
"Nothing anymore," Harvey stated.
"Then what are you two talking about? Did you two screw and she got pregnant or something, then you gave it up for adoption?" Seth asked.
"What? No!" Ashley informed.
"Well, half of that is right. Ashley and I did have sex, and we thought she was pregnant but turned out to be nothing," Harvey corrected.
"When did you two fuck?!" Roslyn, Travis, Seth, Zack, Heather, and Ford questioned quickly.
"I think I'd like to hear this too," Sullivan interjected. Ashley looked terrified that the information had come out, Harvey just sighed and shrugged.
"Come on, Ash, you knew we couldn't hide it forever. I told Trayden about it the night we got together, that's why it's not shocking to him," Harvey told her.
"That is entirely beside the point, Harvey! I didn't want anyone knowing we were friends with benefits!" Ashley revealed as everyone's eyes, except Trayden's and Harvey's, widened.
"You two were friends with benefits?!" the group said in disbelief and shock.
"Yeah, for two years," Harvey said.
"Harvey! Shut up!" Ashley demanded.
"No, Ashley. I told you when many times that I didn't like keeping it from our friends about what we were doing because this would happen when they found out. If you don't want to say anything, that is fine, but I'm not keeping the secret anymore," Harvey informed.
"Start talking, son," Victoria asked as Harvey sighed.
"Do you remember when you came here, and I mentioned hooking up with a girl to get off now and then?" Harvey asked them as they nodded. "Ashley was that girl," he finished as they looked at Ashley, then back to him.
"But you said you had sex with this girl once at the party in Senior Year, and then again at the prom," Ford reminded.
"Yes, and Ashley is the one I had sex with. We were tipsy, talking about not having lovers and probably going through our final year being virgins. One thing led to another, and we ended up at my parent's house having sex for the first time. And yes, it was protected. The second time was during prom, we snuck out and has sex in the backseat of my car. However, there were times in between those two moments where we hooked up just to get off with foreplay," I explained.
"Well, it obviously wasn't just High School since graduated in 2010, and you're talking about broken condoms and failing birth control in 2012, so keep talking," Zack urged.
"Harvey and I made an arrangement to be friends with benefits after the first time we had sex. The rules were that it always had to be protected, we had to know we'd be alone for a bit, and that we both had to want it. We would break the agreement if either one of us developed feelings for someone else and wanted to pursue a relationship," Ashley informed, deciding that Harvey was right and they might as well tell everyone.
"Things were straightforward, and we knew if the other wanted to hook up. All it took was a phone call and asking if we wanted to have sex. Things got a bit harder after High School ended because I had Dragon's Cove, and Ashley had college," Harvey enlightened.
"Alright, so what about this 2012 nonsense. Ashley and Zack were together February 2012," Roslyn pointed out.
"That's when we broke the agreement because I wanted to be with Zack," Ashley sighed.
"But what happened in 2012 with the pregnancy or whatever," Sullivan inquired.
"There was never a pregnancy; it was a scare because he period was late," Harvey mentioned. "Ashley called me and asked if she could come over on Valentines Day. Ashley said her cycle was a day late, and then explained her birth control had expired at the end of December, leaving her unprotected through January. Ashley and I hooked up around the time she would have been ovulating, and after she went back to the University, when I was talking the garbage in my room out, I saw the condom leaking," Harvey started.
"At first, we joked about it, but then when February came and my period was late, I got scared I was pregnant. Harvey told me to give it a couple days and see if I got it, which I did, and then Zack asked me to be his girlfriend," Ashley said.
"Ashley came over to tell me she got her period, and that she wanted to be with Zack. We broke the arrangement, and she kissed my cheek. I cracked a joke that if things didn't work out with Zack, she could have me again. Ashley left, I went to work, and that was it. We never hooked up again," Harvey finished the story.
"So wait. If you two were fucking during that time because she wasn't with Zack, then that means the week she stayed with you over Christmas 2010, you two were having sex, weren't you?" Travis asked.
"Correct. We were doing something every day, wasn't always sex, as I said before," Harvey informed.
"Okay, so how did Trayden find out about it all. And why didn't you ever tell me, Ashley? We said no secrets!" Zack muttered out.
"The night Tray and I turned twenty-one and got together is when I told him. We were sitting down at the bar having a drink, and Tray asked me why Ashley looked so nervous around me when her boyfriend was sitting next to her; I explained that Ash and I were friends with benefits at one time, and she didn't want it getting out," Harvey told him.
"So, that's the reason you knew about me," Zack sighed.
"I've known about Ashley's crush on you since 2010, man. The guys here ratted her out on liking a second-year student from the University, she never pursued it then because she had me, and apparently, you never looked her way. I know about the first date incident because she came to stay with me after getting locked out, and I told her that I wanted her to be happy when we broke the sexual arrangement in 2012," Harvey shrugged.
"Huh, you liked me that long?" Zack blinked as Ashley blushed and nodded to him. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"I was nervous I guess, and then after the first date thing, I wasn't sure what my feelings were," Ashley admitted to him.
"All that aside, why didn't you ever tell us about this, Harvey, or you, Ashley?" Heather asked.
"Honestly, we didn't want to get judged for the decision we made. During High School, we kept it a secret because we knew people would be disappointed in us. After that, I felt wrong about not telling anyone, and Ashley knew that because I told, we shouldn't still be keeping it a secret. However, she's the one who said no one needed to know what we did in our personal lives, and to a degree, I had to agree with her," Harvey replied.
"He has a point, and that's coming from my view," Trayden said.
"That means you two had sex when you were seventeen because Harvey didn't turn eighteen until February 2012," Victoria stated.
"Correct, so we really only had sex once before we were adults, after that, we were legally allowed to do what we wanted," Harvey informed.
"And we were protected each time," Ashley stated.
"Well, I suppose there isn't much we can do about it now," Roslyn mumbled. "Do your parents know, Ashley?"
"No. My parents would probably kill me if they knew I gave up my virginity at seventeen to my one of my best friends. And only because we decided to give it to one another when we were single, and there wouldn't be any regrets since we've known one another since Kindergarten," Ashley replied gently, fiddling with her fingers.
"I don't see any harm in it," Rebecca piped up. "If I could go back and lose my virginity to my best friend instead of my ex, I would,"
"I lost mine to Harvey, no regrets here," Trayden smiled a little.
"I just don't understand why you didn't tell us about this. Sure, it would have been a little bit of a shock that you two started fucking for two years as friends, but we wouldn't have judged you. It was your choice," Heather shrugged.
"Will you forgive us?" Harvey asked them.
"Well, it's done and over with now. Yes, we'll forgive you, but no more secrets! Got it?" Seth mentioned.
"On my life," Harvey put a hand over his heard.
"Got it," Ashley nodded.
"And you didn't want him walking around with condoms," Sullivan nudged his wife's arm.
"Wait, what?" Harvey inquired now.
"Your mother was against the idea of you having protection; I told her that it was precautionary since ya were a teenager, and I know hormones can run wild," Sullivan informed.
"I wouldn't say Harvey's and mine's first time was because of raging hormones," Ashley chuckled a bit.
"Nah. We were tipsy, but very much in control. We had been friends for years, were single, didn't have any love interests, and entering Senior Year as virgins; we figured why not just get it out of the way, and then not worry about regretting it. I personally still don't," Harvey shrugged.
"So how did the arrangement come about. I get the first time, but why continue doing it the deed had already been done?" Ford wondered.
"I actually don't know," Harvey replied truthfully.
"Ya know? Me either. I think we decided to keep doing it because we enjoyed it. During High School at least, we did a lot of projects as pairs, so Harvey and I were always over one another's houses to do work. Sometimes we just decided to use foreplay to cure a little boredom or pass the time if we got stuck on something with our work," Ashley admitted.
"Yeah, sounds about right. I believe after the first few times we just agreed to hook up if we were both in the mood. We set rules, as we mentioned before, and only had sex twice during High School days. Anything in between those two times was foreplay; finger, eating out, blowjobs, that's it. Things after graduation were a mix of both," Harvey stated.
"Alright, so question, Ash. The day I walked in to see you getting off the phone at the end of January in 2012, was that Harvey calling you to come over?" Heather asked.
"Yeah. Harvey was bored, and I was working on midterms but had been thinking of taking a break anyway. Harvey asked if I wanted to come over and have sex to give me a break and cure his boredom. I said sure and went over. That was just a quickie, though, since you thought I was getting something to eat," Ashley replied.
"Incredibly straightforward way of hooking up," Travis snickered.
"Why beat around the bush with it? We knew why we called one another, if we only wanted to talk, we would text," Harvey said.
"Meh, I suppose," Seth stated.
"Ashley," Roslyn said. Ashley looked at her now. "Was it good with him?"
"Oh, my Gods, did you really just ask me that?!" Ashley screeched.
"Come on, you owe us for keeping it a secret so long. How was it having sex with him? Or you with her Harvey?" Heather asked.
"It was interesting, always fun," Harvey started as his eyes glanced to Zack who was looking down a bit, clearly not wanting to hear about how good Harvey and Ashley had sex in the past. "However, I must not have done as good a job as Zack does to her," All their eyes fell on him in shock now, even Ashley's. "What? I had told Ashley when we broke the arrangement that if she got bored of him or he wasn't any good then she could come back to me. Ashley has been with him since 2012, so he must give it to her better than I," he added as he flashed a wink to Zack, who silently thanked him.
"That's because Ashley and I don't just fuck for fun, we make love, as lovers should do," Zack retorted.
"Could not have said it better myself. Having sex with Ashley was NOTHING like when I make love to Trayden," Harvey agreed. "It's a completely different experience when with someone you love. Now, I think we should drop this topic, and go back to having a good time. Who is with me?" he asked. The room smiled and cheered at the suggestion. Harvey was happy with his husband who was doing a great deal better than he was back in September of 2016 plus all his friends and family being together. Everything was as it should be.