This was probably the most challenging chapter of this whole series for me. I had so many different directions I wanted to take with this. The last half I had two different sections started, and this was where I was the most comfortable with ending this chapter.

Please note, that this chapter does deal with ****violence, some swearing, and some Hiccup whump****(which seems to be a favorite of mine to write).

"Hiccup?" Astrid was trying to talk to him.

He remained at the screen door looking out at the street. Even through the rain he could see the smirk on Brock's ugly face. Words were said to Rudy. He could see their lips moving, Brock and Hiccup not losing eye contact with each other. Hiccup's heart raced through his chest. Catching his breath was becoming difficult.

"Hiccup, what is wrong?" Astrid asked him, approaching the doorway.

"Nothing," he responded quickly, turning around, giving her a forced smile, and pushing the door shut behind him. He could see her eyes studying him. "Would you like something dry to wear?" Her hood and shoulders looked soaked. "I can throw that into the dryer."

"Are you sure you are all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Just - just a little tired. Still trying to wake up."

Her eyes met the bruises on his face. She frowned, but didn't make fuss over them. Instead, she turned around and headed towards the kitchen.

"Hello, Astrid," his father called to her as she passed his office.

"Hello," she responded. "I brought homemade brownies if you'd like some."

"One sounds fantastic," Mr. Vast responded.

Hiccup turned back around, and strained to overlook the window to the doorway. Brock's truck was gone. The knot in his stomach was growing, not easing up now that they had left. How long had they been there? Had they followed Astrid? Surely, this was not a coincidence.

"Hiccup?" he heard her call to him. "How about a brownie?"

…

Monday rolled around, and the quick to rise Hiccup had procrastinated so long getting up that morning that he'd almost missed the school bus. Astrid had a student counsel meeting and wasn't able to come pick him up. The twenty minute trip to the school made his mind twist and turn violently into directions that made him more fearful than he had been to return. Each step down off of the bus practically made his heart race faster inside his chest. He dreaded walking in. It felt more like a prison now. He was prey trapped inside of a cage waiting for the animal to pounce.

Astrid met him at his locker just minutes later. Her bubbly personality pulled the negative energy from him just slightly. Even though she was there, he couldn't help but talk to her and take glances over her shoulder just to make sure Rudy and Brock weren't around. Astrid seemed to notice his tension. She squeeze his hand, and leaned in and gave him a hug.

"It'll be all right," she said to him, and after giving him one last squeeze, the bell rang and they separated and headed towards class.

He calmed down after he settled into first period, and pushed the worry away. Despite the fact that he could feel some glances at the bruises on his face from Friday, the day seemed pretty normal pre-Brock and Rudy.

The bell rang to head towards last period, and Hiccup gathered his things to head in that direction. Just when he thought perhaps the day would be quiet, as he took the final step down to the second floor, he felt a pressure behind him. He stumbled forwards, fell into another student, and they both stumbled and fell to the ground, Hiccup on top of the student.

"What you do, man, lose your footing?" Jensen asked.

"Y-yeah, I guess," Hiccup said, rather confused. It was then he realized his back pack had opened when he'd fallen, causing a folder full of papers to scatter around him. He reached for the folder to start gathering up the papers, but a fell on top of it, preventing Hiccup from picking it up. His knot returned inside his stomach. He had seen enough of the shoes to know Brock was right there. Hiccup's stomach tightened.

Jensen has managed to quickly grab his small stack of belongings he'd dropped and rush around the corner to Mr. Bryce's room. Other footsteps in the hallway had faded farther down towards the other classrooms.

His hoodie was pulled, and Hiccup up to his feet.

"Hiccup - " Brock said, their eyes meeting and a smile coming to his face.

"Brock, please - "

Hiccup felt himself pushed into the wall, snacking the back of it somewhat violently. He saw a few stars behind his eye lids.

"Any luck with your sister?" Brock asked him.

"Seriously, man - "

"Answer the question," Brock said. His hand was so tight on Hiccup's shoulder he could almost feel his fingernails digging in through the layers of his clothing.

"When is this going to stop?" Hiccup asked.

"When Heather agrees to meet with me," Brock said.

"I've told you - "

"Here," Brock said, pulling a piece of paper from his back pocket of his jeans. He placed it into Hiccup's hand. "This is my number. Have her give me a call."

"Brock - " Suddenly, the pressure in Hiccup's shoulder grew with how tight Brock was squeezing it.

"Hiccup?"

Another voice behind Brock pulled them both away from their conversation. Snotlout was standing there. Brock's face lit up with a smile.

"Hey, Snot," Brock said, finally releasing his grip on Hiccup's shoulder. The release felt like ecstasy for Hiccup.

"What's going on here?" Snoutlout asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"Oh, just helping our friend here with his school stuff," Brock said, motioning to the papers on the floor.

Hiccup saw the thick eyebrow of Snotlout's raise in quesiton. His hands were shoved into his front pockets of his letterman jacket. Just then, the bell rang.

"Oh, sorry, Hiccup, I have to run now," Brock said. "I'll hear from you tonight, right?" The sly grin grew bigger on Brock's face. He tapped Snotlout on the arm quickly, then slipped up the stairs again, taking them two at a time.

The sound of Mr. Bryce quieting everyone down pulled Hiccup out of his shock, and he was immediately down on his knees trying to gather up his papers scattered around the floor. He saw Snotlout take a step away, and heard him yell into Mr. Bryce's room.

"Hey, Mr. Bryce. We'll be in in a minute, teach."

"Snot - "

"Hiccup dropped his book-bag," he explained. "Just helping him pick up the mess."

Then, to Hiccup's surprise, Snotlout was picking up the random papers with him off the ground. Hiccup's face was blood red. Between adrenaline and feeling vulnerable and embarrassed.

"Hey, man, are you all right?" he heard Snotlout ask as he came closer to Hiccup for a few of the last papers.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah."

"Dude - " Snotlout's eyes landed on Hiccup's jawline. Tucking his head into his shoulder to hide the bruises, he reached for the last of the papers.

"I'm fine, Snotlout," Hiccup said. He reached his hand to take the papers from Snotlout. "Thank you for helping me gather up my mess."

As Hiccup moved towards Mr. Bryce's doorway, Snotlout put a hand at the bend of his elbow to keep him back a second.

"I heard about the diner incident," Snotlout said to him quietly. Hiccup's eyes connected to his coal-like eyes. "Are you sure you are okay, man?"

"I can deal," Hiccup said to him, and he shoved the folder of unevenly stacked papers into the opening of his back pack. "Thanks."

All through class Hiccup was reminded as he wrote his notes of the new incident with Brock. His shoulder ached dully. His good leg twitched with anxiety, and instead of fear he was now filled with anger. He was tired of dealing with this.

Part of him found anger at Sage. Sage was Heather's boyfriend. He should have been the one dealing with this jerk. Not Hiccup. While Heather and Sage were basically safe at college, Hiccup was forced to go to the front lines to deal with this.

Suddenly, he tasted blood in his mouth. Placing a hand up to his lip, a small twinge of blood rested on his finger. He was eating the inside of his mouth, nervously. He needed to relax. This guy was turning him into a cannibal.

The bell rang, and Hiccup swung his back pack over his shoulders. He nodded to Mr. Bryce, who was erasing the chalk off of the board, and headed down the hallway as quickly as he could. He hadn't stayed behind and made a moment of small talk with Mr. Bryce. He was able to get into the tail-end of the crowd of students either heading to their lockers or heading out of the school for the day.

He found Astrid at her locker, turning the combination to get it open to retrieve her own bag and her homework books. Worry flooded over him when he noticed a person with a letterman jacket come up to her right, blocking her from his view.

Rudy.

He was still at the back of the sea of students, however most of them were taking the corridor to his right to head out of the school, while a small handful were walking in the direction Astrid was in. His heart pounded, and he picked up his step to get to her.

Suddenly, he felt his prosthetic connect at the mid-section with something, and he fell forwards, yet again colliding with another student. Somehow, the student ended up catching themselves, and Hiccup for that matter.

"Sorry about that," they said. It was when they spoke did he realize it was Jake Vickerson, one of Astrid's girlfriend's boyfriend. He steadied Hiccup just enough for him to catch his footing.

Once Hiccup was steady and on both feet, he looked back into Astrid's direction, and saw she was leaning against the lockers. Rudy had her cornered. Both hands were on either side of her.

"No!" Hiccup heard himself gasp. He rushed passed Jake, and towards Astrid and Rudy. Without even thinking, his fist was drawn back, and he connected with right ride side of Rudy's face.

"You little shit," Rudy said, drawing his hand back from his mouth. His lip was bleeding.

Hiccup went to lunge after him again, but the pull on his back pack stopped him. It had been Astrid pulling him back from behind.

"No, Hiccup, don't!" she said. He could hear the fear in her voice. "If anything more comes out of this - "

Then, a weight fell on Hiccup, yet again pushing him downwards. He'd been tackled with the force of a linebacker, and Brad was on top of him. They hit the ground hard. His school papers went flying from the back pack. Hiccup was sandwiched between the floor and a two-hundred pound student.

"Can't listen to commands, can you - ?" Brock said over him, scrambling to steady himself over Hiccup. With the breath practically knocked out of him, Hiccup felt a hit into his back.

"Get off of him!" he heard Astrid yell.

"Just have to keep disobeying my wishes - " Another punch to his back. Hiccup felt as though one of his kidneys were going to erupt.

"Fight, fight, fight…." A student had started chanting, and another had joined in. Hiccup could hear more footsteps rushing either away or towards them. His hood had been pushed over his head by Brock, so he couldn't see anything at all now. His senses were in overdrive. He couldn't see, and he now could barely hear anything that wasn't within a few inches of his ears between the chanting and Brock.

"Get off of him!" he heard Astrid yell again. "Just stop!" Hiccup felt some movement close, a few footsteps, and Brock rock above him, slightly.

"I'll deal with you later!" Brock yelled. "You're girlfriend is a damn tease, you know that?"

"Leave her alone!" Hiccup yelled, and he tried to break free of Brock's grip.

Heard Astrid yell again, and then another hit of skin meeting skin above his head, practically right over him. He heard Astrid scream again over the chanting. What in the world was happening?

His arm was drawn behind his back, and his face was shoved into the cold tile flooring. Breathing was becoming more difficult. Suddenly, he heard his already injured shoulder pop against his ear. The pain surged through.

"Get 'em, Brock!" Rudy was just feet away.

Then, Hiccup felt a foot press down hard on the back of his bad leg.

"How's that feel?" Brock asked with a laugh.

"Please…" Hiccup's breath caught as the pressure was getting more intense. The top of his knee was aching now.

A shove later, and Brock was rolling over Hiccup, his grip was loosened, and finally Hiccup was able to breath again.

"Snotlout?" Brock yelled.

Then, a whistle was blown loudly. Scuffles of feet fled the scene. Pain radiated at the base of Hiccup's bad leg. The pain came on so severely he found himself curling into a ball.

"Seriously, man, he can barely walk as it is!" said Snotlout.

Hiccup heard a few scuffles, the lockers rattled, then, as well. As though someone was shoved into them.

"Hiccup!" Astrid was at his side now. "C'mon, you need to get up."

"Brock, Rudy, don't you two dare take one more step towards those stairs - " To Hiccup's relief, it was Mr. Bryce. "Snotlout, hands up - "

However, Hiccup heard rushing footsteps behind him.

"Boys!"

They'd gotten away.

…

The kids had been separated and taken into separate rooms of the main office area. Hiccup had been placed in the Vice Principal's office, Astrid was to remain in the lobby area, and Snotlout had been asked to wait in the guidance counselor's office. While he was alone, Hiccup had been dealing with a growing phantom pain. He'd barely been able to walk down the hallway after his leg had been stepped on purposefully, and without his medication the phantom pain was more than likely going to continue to get worse.

He'd found a bottle of numbing gel buried in his back pack, and after carefully removing the prosthetic, he started applying it over his limp. What he wouldn't give to be back at home, soaking it in the hot bath. Sleep sounded nice, then, as well. He was mentally and physically drained from this whole experience.

He could hear both his father and Astrid's father causing a commotion when they'd arrived at the school at the same exact time. He heard Mr. Hofferson ask Astrid if she was hurt, to which she replied, "No - but I am not sure about Hiccup." Before his father could ask where Hiccup was at, the principal had ushered them into his office, and a few moments later followed by Mr. Jorgensen, who was extremely confused as to why Snotlout was in trouble.

Hiccup tried to listen to the muffled voices in the next office while they talked, but he couldn't make out the doors. Just tones of voices, very much like the adults in Charlie Brown.

Suddenly, the pain in his leg radiated, and it took all he had to hold in the groan that was forcing it's way up his throat. He did his best to breathe through it. His tender skin felt like an ice pick was driving through the very bottom of his bad leg. He hoped this meeting would be over soon. He wanted to go home and soak it in a warm bath of Epson salt.

A knock came at the door moments later, and it opened. He made eye contact with his father. Worry washed through his features.

"Can you walk?" his father asked him, to which Hiccup shook his head. It was then that the principal handed Mr. Vast a yellow paper, and walked away. His father rolled his eyes, then folded up the paper and shoved it into the breast pocket of his button-down shirt.

His father supported him out to the lobby, where he found Mr. Jorgenson standing with Mr. Hofferson and their kids. Astrid had clearly been pretty anxious waiting for Hiccup to come out. She rushed to his side in an attempt to support him upright.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"I could really use a therapy session," he said quietly to her.

"Have you had the chance to call Katherine?" Mr. Hofferson asked Mr. Vast.

"No, quite frankly, I am not sure what I am going to say to her. I was leaving court when the phone rang."

Hiccup noticed that Mr. Hofferson was in his police uniform. He assumed he was also at the court house at some point during the day. It was the only time Astrid said she had ever really seen him in uniform over the last handful of years since he'd been promoted from deputy.

"Let's keep in touch on this," Mr. Jorgenson said. The man smelled of oil, and Hiccup noted the greasy, dark stains on his hands. That was when he remembered Snotlout's father owned his own car repair and detail shop on the main drag of town. "I'd honestly like to know that those two boys get what they deserve."

"They are too old for juvie, so perhaps a stay in a cell and some community service will do the trick."

"Fat chance, Dad," Astrid said.

Hiccup held in a wince. Astrid felt his leg give out just a bit. She firmed her grip on keeping him upright.

"I need to get him home," Mr. Vast said. "I'll give you a call later this evening, then, Jason?"

"I'll be by to collect Astrid later on, if that is all right? Maybe we can talk then?"

Hiccup noticed his father's hesitation. "All right," he confirmed with a smile.

"Hiccup, you going to be all right?" Snotlout asked.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, Snotlout. Thanks for coming to the rescue - more than once today."

"No problem, kid," he responded, giving Hiccup a fist bump.

…

"What do you mean I am suspended?!" Hiccup cried.

"Now, take it easy, son," Mr. Vast said, putting his hand up to silence him.

Hiccup felt Astrid's grip tighten a little bit more on his leg.

Mr. Vast let out a heavy sigh, and returned to the kitchen table with two glasses of unsweet tea, then dropped Hiccup's prescription down on the table as well.

"You aren't technically suspended - "

"Then what does that yellow paper say?"

"Hiccup - "

Just then the front door opened, the sound of high heeled shoes clicking their way down the narrow hallway. Hiccup saw his father's eyes grow large.

"Great," Mr. Vast muffled.

Katherine had arrived, clearly unannounced.

"I was going to call you," Mr. Vast began.

"Stoick - "

"How am I suspended?" Hiccup asked again. A small pit had formed in his stomach. He still hadn't received the acceptance letter from college yet. This could ruin it.

"Hiccup - " Astrid's grip had eased on his stump. He was becoming agitated and she couldn't massage his leg properly.

"He's suspended?" Katherine placed her purse on the kitchen counter and crossed her arms.

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Vast cried, his voice booming throughout the house. Hiccup swore the plates rattled inside the cabinets. He turned to Katherine. "I was going to call you once we had him completely settled down."

"I had no idea where you were at. I had Mrs. Miller in for her meeting and I couldn't reach you."

Mr. Vast placed a hand over his forehead. "I completely forgot."

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him. Hiccup could clearly see where Heaher's spiciness came from sometimes. She was just like her mother. Calm, sweet, and caring. But once you were on her bad side, the cat came out hissing.

"I told her your trial arrangement went over," she informed him. "She understood, and we rescheduled for tomorrow - when your calendar was free and clear. Do I need to reschedule?"

"I'll call Mrs. Miller," Mr. Vast said. "And, you and I will talk later, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, and leaned against the counter.

"Would you like a glass of tea?" he asked.

"How about some whisky on the rocks?" she asked.

"Coming right up."

Hiccup growled. "Dad, why am I suspended?"

"Well - " Mr. Vast grabbed the ice cubes from the fridge. "It was hard to argue that you should not be suspended when cameras showed you landed the first punch."

"Wait - another fight?" Katherine asked.

"Surprise," Mr. Vast said, sarcastically.

Hiccup froze. "I - I did, but he had Astrid cornered."

"Which, I argued." Mr. Vast pulled two short glasses from the cabinet.

"Then, I was tackled, and - "

"Hiccup, it's not a full suspension," he said with a sigh, now pouring the ice into the glasses. "It's technically an in-school suspension. I was able to fight for that one."

"How?" Astrid asked.

"Well, lucky for us, since Hiccup hasn't been in trouble before, and…because of the previous fight history over the last several weeks from both Brock and Rudy." He handed Katherine her glass, and joined her at the counter top, leaning back and taking a sip.

"So what does 'technically' mean?" Hiccup asked, a larger pit entering his stomach now than before.

"I don't want you to think of this as a suspension," Mr. Vast said. "I saw why you did it. You thought Astrid was in trouble considering Rudy had her cornered. And, judging by the history you all have had with him, I honestly would have probably reacted the same way at your age." He took another swig of his drink. "So, I negotiated the in-school suspension and the principal agreed. Think of it as a remote learning session."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

"For the rest of the week you are going to be staying at home working on your homework. I will be emailing your teachers tonight letting them know that you need your assignments assigned online completely for the week."

"What about those jerks?" Astrid asked.

"The principal is going to be calling their folks in for a meeting. Between the incident at the diner, and the other incidents that we found on camera - " Hiccup's stomach did a flip. "Yes, Hiccup, we were able to see the other incidents on the cameras that you didn't report to us. After Friday's incident, I emailed your principal this morning and he found some of the other footage. With that proof, that was another reason why he agreed to do the home study suspension verses full suspension." He finished his glass. "Also, at this point I wouldn't doubt that those two boys will be expelled from the school starting Monday."

Katherine sighed heavily.

Mr. Vast looked at them all. "Why does everyone seem so upset, still?"

"I just get this feeling that this isn't done," Astrid said.

"Same," Katherine said. She took a large drink.

"You guys are being very pessimistic," Mr. Vast responded, and he swallowed the last of his drink, and turned to pour in another two-finger fulls.

"With Brock and Rudy out of the building, there's no chance of them beating up Hiccup."

"That's where you are wrong, Dad," Hiccup said.

"How?"

Hiccup sighed. "Saturday when Astrid came over, I saw Brock and Rudy parked outside the house."

"What?" Mr. Vast, Katherine and Astrid all said in unison.

"Why are you just now telling me this?" Mr. Vast asked.

"There wasn't anything to tell." Hiccup leaned back against his chair. "They didn't approach Astrid, they didn't come up to the house. It was a public street. I couldn't technically tell them to leave."

"Well, now," Mr. Vast said, taking the rest of his drink in one gulp. "I need to make a few phone calls."

"Dad - "

"Hiccup, you need to file a few restraining order against those two."

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled. "You can't be serious. That means I need to go in front of a judge."

"Yes. Yes, it does."

"Stoick, they don't even obey school rules. What makes you think filing a restraining order is going to fix all of this?" Katherine asked.

"Something eventually is going to teach those two a lesson. If their parents can't reach them, and the school system hasn't taught them, then maybe the law can."

"Stoick," Katherine sighed. "You forget - we've handled a case involving Brock in the past. They just got a slap on the wrist."

"Minors," Mr. Vast said. "They were minors, then."

Astrid sighed. "This is never going to go away. We are going to be living with our heads turned watching over our shoulders for a very long time. Look at Heather. She thought she was done with Brock. He came right back later on to haunt her, and us, now."

"It'll end," Mr. Vast said. "Something is going to give. It always does." He turned to Katherine. "How about we go talk on the porch, and let the kids settle in for a bit. They probably need some time to decompress. If I had to guess, Hiccup probably needs to go soak that leg of his."

I originally had Hiccup inform his father about the boys showing up at the house, and in turn his father was making phone calls to begin the process of a restraining order. However, the chapter felt very blahhhh, so I went with the secret Hiccup kept from them until the very last scene of this chapter. I also had a more detailed description of Hiccup's injuries, the frustrations of dealing with the nurse not knowing how to help Hiccup through the pains.

I WANT to so badly put Astrid in Hiccup's bed - not in a sexual way, but I want him to be in a vulnerable moment, and Astrid lays down beside him in his room to keep him comfortable and calm - just like what they do on the couch, but in his room. I want him to have a sense of panic with this, which is what I did start writing after they came back from the school, but I went a different direction with it.

I know how I want to end this series, but getting there is the problem I am facing right now. So, I am trying to get it there. There may only be 2-3 chapters left of this - if I am lucky - but so far I do think this might be my favorite chapter of the whole series.