Chapter 7

Hiccup froze

He couldn't move, he couldn't speak.

It had to have been a mirage, a trick of his mind along with the shadows on her pale face.

No

Shit, he saw it

He wondered among a million fuzzy thoughts why he would care so much about miss perfect, maybe not so perfect

Suddenly the air became heavier and Hiccup's breath caught. What happened to all of them? Why did they keep acting so normal?

He saw Astrid as from outside his body lift the can to her mouth and take a second shorter sip. A drop of it escaped from her lips, the boy watched it slide as if time had stopped before Astrid brushed it away with her fingers before it reached her chin.

Hiccup gulped.

Fuck

"So what are you doing around these forbidden parts of Hel, blondie?"

There was a common silence after Snotlout's question. Hiccup stopped his screaming mind listening intently without looking at anything specifically.

Astrid shrugged with a nonchalant expression in response, which seemed to amuse the black haired boy even more.

"Wow, you're already a complete troublemaker Hoffy! " Camicazi suddently elbowed her perhaps too hard, but she couldn't move Astrid, who expressionlessly continued playing with the can opener "You'll have a fun" the blonde commented with a laugh in her tone.

Laughter from the other two boys engulfed the teens in the center, each one staring at their shoes.

Hiccup felt a blow to his right arm, waking him up. He turned his head somewhat dislocated towards his cousin who looked at him with a smile full of crooked teeth.

"What's up with that face, Hicc?"

The auburn knew his cousin didn't really care much, not that he cared either. He shrugged with an awkward grin. "Nothing"

"And where does that seriousness come from?" Thuggory commented with another carefree look.

"Yes, you are pale Hiccy! You seem like you have seen a ghost" the disheveled blonde joined with laughter.

Hiccup averted his gaze, shrinking back on himself. He tried not to look at anything in particular, most at the girl two inches from him and her purple cheek.

But he could feel her eyes on him.

Can you feel a look? Well, now he knows that you can

"I'm fine" he said briefly with a tone threatening that that was the end of the subject.

Until he makes the mistake of looking to his side.

Her eyes of a defiant blue that stood out with the dark of the sky above their head flooded his mind, again, and this time it was different, because he felt every speck of shine nailing him.

He swallowed, praying inwardly that no one could hear his heart pounding on his chest.

Astrid didn't take her gaze away from him, as if she was trying to figure out what he was hiding.

Hiccup shook himself and forced his head away from her, her damn eyes and bloody cheek still hidden.

Who did that to her? Maybe an accident? Did she hit with a pole or something? Naivy-hofferson.

No. That was a punch. A tough one.

Her mother? Maybe her father? A street fight? A robber? The man in the truck, Jerry?

Yes, it had to be him

The boy clenched his fists on his knees tightly until they turned white, his normally calm gaze burning the gravel ground.

Now what? Did he have to pretend he hadn't seen anything? He couldn't.

He knew, he would be thinking about it over and over again, it was his thing.

Anyway, why should he care? We were talking about Astrid Hofferson!

The Miss Perfect who had been a headache for over a year and a half.

But he couldn't stand idly by. Maybe the blonde was a likely spoiled, now he was beginning to doubt, absurdly perfect in everything, but she was still human. Like him after all.

Hiccup ran a nervous hand through his hair, ruffling it even more, the conversation resumed around him and Astrid in the background blaring like an underwater radio.

The sound drowning around him and his thoughts louder than ever.

Exactly. Astrid was a person, whoever person was, Hiccup would do the same in that situation, Astrid herself had nothing to do with it.

He repeated the last sentence in his mind about twenty times until his voice in his own mind stuttered.

He sighed with renewed confidence over a layer of unease.

Astrid glanced at the boy next to her, who with his head bowed was staring at the ground as if it was suddenly going to fall under him. She didn't know him too well, she had literally only had one conversation of more than five minutes without insults or threats with the trouble boy. That lasted four hours.

Whatever.

But somehow she knew he wasn't like that, at least not that much.

Astrid had always seen him stupidly charming, confident, and a jerk, but not like this.

So what happened? Somewhat uneasy, she took a small sip from the can of him again.

She didn't like beer. It was sour and it burned her throat, although the worst was the smell. That smell reminded her so much of him... It wasn't even the first time she tasted it, so she continued drinking, perhaps in hopes of forgetting that shitty night. If only Hiccup Haddock didn't shake her head.

Suddenly, she heard the friction of shoes against the gravel of the road, she looked up in confusion to see the target of her twisted thoughts standing, looking at the forest in front of them as if he were about to run towards it.

They all fell silent and all eyes fell on Hiccup. "Hey man, what's up?"

"Are we leaving? But it's still earlyy ...!"

"What's up dude?"

Hiccup was silent for a few seconds, until without even looking away from the front, and with a voice that chilled her body and made a shiver run through her, he said: "Let's talk Hofferson. Alone "

And before Astrid had even time to complain to him, he started walking with a firm and calculated step to the other side of the road.

The whistles and "ooh!" of the troublemakers filling the mist of the night.

Astrid followed him with her eyes without even registering when she had risen to her feet and started to follow him.

Well, if she was going to hit him she had to be close