Astrid's admission kept Hiccup distracted all throughout his shift at the bar. It even kept him up all night. He had no idea how Astrid herself was dealing this, but he could see that she was barely holding it together at some points. Hiccup was in awe of the strength she had displayed thus far.
He was even more in awe of Evan's. It made Hiccup think about his own life and the things he could have done. Knowing someone that knew they were going to die and was at peace with it really put things into perspective.
Hiccup sat up in bed and dragged his hands through his messy hair. Astrid had asked to see him again today, and of course Hiccup had said yes. If there was anything that he could do to help, he was going to do it.
Maybe Hiccup should have been afraid of the way he was willing to do anything he could for Astrid, but he really wasn't. It felt good, it felt… alive. This was the best that Hiccup had felt in years. He was amazed to realize that all he had needed was someone else—someone special—to feel this way.
He climbed out of bed and jumped into the shower. Astrid had asked Hiccup to come over as early as he could, so he assumed that she wanted to be distracted today. Whatever she wanted to do, Hiccup was going to do it.
Hiccup got dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He sent a quick text off to Astrid before he got into his truck and headed over to Astrid's childhood home. It wasn't that far from his mother and stepfather's house, actually. Hiccup wondered if they knew what was happening to Evan.
Astrid opened the door to greet Hiccup just as he stepped out of his truck. She was wearing a bright smile, and Hiccup was glad to see that she was in some type of good mood. Hiccup didn't doubt that Astrid was putting on a bit of a front, but he understood it.
"Hey, Astrid," Hiccup greeted as he went up the walkway. "How are things going today?"
Astrid's smile faltered just a bit. "Things are just fine," she said.
Hiccup gave her a gentle smile. "Well, I hope you have something good planned for today. I'm a bartender, Astrid. I have to stay up late during the night, so getting up in the morning is a really big deal for me."
Astrid pushed playfully at his shoulder. "You did say that I could ask you over whenever I wanted to. You gave no stipulations."
"And here I thought I was being nice," Hiccup teased. "So let's go already."
Astrid reached out and took Hiccup's hand. He let her lead him into the kitchen, where she stopped in front of the oven. "I decided that I'm going to teach you how to make banana bread."
"Oh really?" Hiccup asked. "I thought that was your thing."
"It is, but I hear that you're quite the cook. I want to see if you can handle the banana bread."
"Challenge accepted," Hiccup said confidently with a wink.
Astrid grinned at him (and she blushed once again; the things Hiccup did to her...) and put on her favorite purple apron. She fished another apron from the pile—this one was pink and frilly. With a straight face, she handed it to Hiccup. "Go on. You need to wear an apron. I'd hate for you to ruin your t-shirt. Besides, you've already worn an apron like this!"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the apron and then up at Astrid. She didn't falter at all, but a smirk began to form on her lips. Hiccup took the apron from Astrid and tugged it over his head. Astrid started laughing, but she attempted to cover it up by pressing a hand to her mouth.
"What are laughing at?" Hiccup demanded playfully. "I think I can pull this apron off."
"Oh yes," Astrid managed around her giggles. "Ruffles are definitely your thing."
Hiccup pointed at the ingredients that Astrid already had set up. "I know you're checking me out, Astrid, but you promised to teach me how to make this famous banana bread of yours."
Astrid's cheeks turned bright red, but she was still laughing. Hiccup grinned as he watched her. It was so nice to hear her laugh for real again. Her whole face lit up when she did. If he had to wear the pink and frilly apron in order for her to laugh, then he would do it.
Astrid started explaining the way she prepared the banana bread and the special ingredients that she used. Hiccup simply watched her; he didn't really pay attention to the actual process. It was just more about watching Astrid and seeing how much she enjoyed herself.
Astrid may have been some big star, but it was clear to see that she loved doing this such as this. She liked spending lazy Saturdays baking and hanging out with her friends. Despite the fact that she was now accustomed to the fast-paced life of New York City, she liked slowing things down just as much.
"Are you even paying attention right now?"
Astrid's voice sliced through Hiccup's musings. "What?"
A smile played on Astrid's lips. "I'm trying to teach you something, Hiccup."
"I know. You just look like you're really enjoying yourself."
Astrid looked over at the batter she had placed in the bread pan. The longer she looked at it, the more her smile faded. She let a long sigh and turned to slide the pan into the pre-heated oven.
"My dad showed me this recipe," Astrid revealed quietly. "He was always the one who had cooked for us. My mom used to sit and watch him and say that it was one of his favorite things to do." A light laugh escaped Astrid as she remembered things from her childhood. "She can't cook at all, so my dad passed down everything he knew to me. I can't cook, exactly, but I can bake well."
Hiccup stepped closer to Astrid. He settled against the counter next to her, leaning against it. "That sounds like a lot of fun."
Astrid smiled and got lost in the memories. "We used to do it almost every weekend. My dad would teach me how to cook and my mom would watch us. I always used to imagine that when I had kids, he would still be there to cook with us. But now…" She trailed off and bit her lip.
Hiccup was at a loss for what to say. He couldn't say that everything was going to be okay, because it clearly wasn't. Astrid was going to lose one of her parents, and that was something that they couldn't change no matter what happened.
"I brought dad some of the banana bread," Astrid continued. "Yesterday, remember? It's always been his favorite. But he's too sick to keep any of it down. He can't even eat it but I left it there anyway because I don't even feel like eating it anymore."
"I think he still likes it," Hiccup blurted. He could have kicked himself as soon as the words left his mouth. He couldn't come up with anything better than that? That was probably the last thing that Astrid wanted to hear right now.
Astrid looked up at Hiccup with wide, sad eyes. "What?"
He couldn't do much worse, so Hiccup decided to try and explain himself. "I think that you dad knows that the whole process of making banana bread is something special between the two of you. It's something that all of you shared together. Even though he may not be able to eat it, I'm sure that he still appreciates it."
Astrid watched him for several long moments and Hiccup wondered if he had completely screwed this up. He always did have a bad case of word vomit, and it had picked the worst time to appear. Hiccup ran his hand through his hair and waited for Astrid to say something—anything.
What did come out of her mouth surprised Hiccup completely. Astrid turned to face Hiccup fully and she said, "How do you always know the right thing to say?"
Hiccup's mouth dropped open in surprise. "I… really?"
Astrid nodded her head. "Every time I see you, you find some way to make me feel better with just a few words." She bit her lip and brushed her fingers across Hiccup's chest lightly. Truth be told, she really wanted Hiccup to pull her into his arms again. The comfort and safety she felt in his arms was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
It was like Hiccup could read her mind. He put one large hand on her shoulder and tugged her towards him. Astrid buried her face in Hiccup's chest and he rubbed his hands in circles up and down her back.
This was exactly what Astrid needed. She couldn't really run from her problems, but it felt good to know that Hiccup would be there for her when she needed it. He pulled her closer and pressed his cheek to the top of Astrid's head.
"I wish there was something else I could do for you, Astrid," he muttered.
Astrid's eyes fluttered closed and she sank further into his embrace. "You don't need to do anything else, Hiccup. This is perfect."
After that, their day became significantly lighter. Hiccup helped Astrid divide up the freshly baked banana bread (while managing to snag a piece for himself and talking Astrid into eating one as well) and package it up for her neighbors.
Then Astrid regulated Hiccup to a marathon of her favorite movies—all of which included Barbara Streisand. Hiccup managed to actually stay awake because Astrid sang along with every song. Her voice really was something else.
Hiccup and Astrid were still hanging out when Alexa returned home. She didn't even bother to hide his grin as she watched the two young adults interact. Astrid was so easygoing and happy around Hiccup. It was a nice change to see, since Alexa knew that Astrid hadn't really been dealing with what was happening very well.
Astrid excused herself to go upstairs for a few moments, leaving Hiccup alone with Alexa in the kitchen. The older woman looked around, taking in the residue from Hiccup and Astrid's baking excursion earlier that day.
"I'm assuming that Astrid told you all about how I can't cook," Alexa said.
Hiccup chuckled. "She might have mentioned something about that, yeah."
Alexa smiled. "I think it was Astrid's favorite part of the weekend—even more so than all of the dancing and singing lessons she had. But I don't think she'll ever admit to it."
"She told me so earlier today when she was teaching me how to make the bread," Hiccup said.
"Really?" Alexa looked surprised at Hiccup's revelation. He hadn't thought that Astrid would ever admit that to a person, let alone someone she had really only just started hanging out with. "She said that?"
"She did," Hiccup affirmed.
"Hmm…" Alexa looked thoughtful for a moment before he suddenly grew serious. "I just wanted to thank you, Hiccup. You're doing a really wonderful thing for Astrid."
Hiccup's brow furrowed. "What am I doing, exactly?" he asked. He just wanted to be there for Astrid if she needed him. He didn't think that it was too special, because any person with a heart would do that. But apparently Alexa thought he was doing something near magical.
"Astrid trusts you," Alexa said. "I can tell. She needs someone like you right now."
Hiccup slowly nodded his head. He couldn't really think of anything to say in response to that, so he just let Alexa's words hang. It wasn't long before Astrid returned from the second floor of the house. She was wearing a smile on her face, and one formed on Alexa's becauses he hadn't seen his daughter this genuinely happy since she had returned home.
"What are you two talking about?" Astrid asked as she sat down at the island next to Hiccup.
Hiccup opened his mouth to say nothing much (because he thought that Astrid wouldn't exactly appreciate that they had been discussing her state of emotions), but Alexa beat him to the chase with something that he hadn't been expecting.
"I was actually just about to invite Hiccup to the dinner party that I'm having tomorrow night." Alexa smiled at his daughter. "I thought it might nice for you to have someone you know there."
Astrid clapped in excitement. "Oh, that would be wonderful!" Astrid definitely wanted Hiccup to go to the dinner party. She would feel much more comfortable having him there with her.
Hiccup was pleased by her obvious enthusiasm. "Sure, I'll be happy to go. Thank you for the invite."
As Alexa began to explain to Hiccup the details about the dinner party, Astrid sat back in her chair and couldn't help the bright smile that formed on her lips. Even though Astrid knew that she had to face her problems at some point, it was nice to just have this time… and it was even nicer that she was sharing it with Hiccup.
