=Normal POV=

{Tuesday, February 1, 2022-6:00 am}

(Berk; Haddock Manor)

The Haddock Home was never truly at rest. There were night and day workers, all with specific jobs to do at certain times. However, regardless of that; the house was quiet. Or at least it was until Hiccup, and his parents were woken up by a loud scream. Hiccup exited his bedroom, hurrying down the hall to see his father coming out of his parent's room.

"What was that?" Stoick inquired.

"If I had to take a guess…Astrid," Hiccup sighed.

"What's Astrid doing here?" Valka wondered softly.

"Happened last night. Found her sleeping on the streets with her suitcase; she's homeless, Dad…I had to do something," Hiccup informed. "I told her she was staying here until she got back on her feet, and placed her in this room," he added as Stoick sighed a bit.

"I'll expect a full explanation later, son. And I'm proud of you for making the choice you did," Stoick stated. Hiccup nodded, then moved to the room where he put Astrid. Hiccup knocked on the door, then peered inside.

"Astrid?" Hiccup said. Astrid snapped her head in his direction; she woke up in this bed and didn't remember how in the name of Odin she had gotten there. Astrid was a bit scared and panting. "Hey, relax. Everything is okay,"

"W-What…Am I doing here?" Astrid asked instantly.

"I brought here last night after work," Hiccup enlightened.

"W-Why?" Astrid demanded, still a little freaked out.

"Because I found you trying to sleep on the streets during the middle of the snow storm. I also didn't give you much choice in the matter. Just relax, alright? I said you were living here until you get back on your feet," Hiccup reminded. Astrid glanced down at the bed now, closing her eyes, taking a few breaths, and slowly recalled the events of last night. Sure enough; she did remember that Hiccup found her in the alleyway, and then force her to come with him. Astrid sighed.

"I-I'm sorry…" Astrid said.

"It's okay. Are you alright? You screamed…" Hiccup mentioned.

"I didn't…recognize where I was, or how I got here…" Astrid admitted. Hiccup took a breath of relief, happy that was all it was.

"I know it will take some adjusting. It's about 6 am right now, and from what I can see outside your window; by 6:30 am, we'll be getting a call that school is canceled because of the weather, which is supposed to get bad again later today," Hiccup remarked. "Why don't you take a shower for starters, and then I can lead you downstairs for breakfast…Unless you remember the way?"

"I-I don't…" Astrid confessed. "W-Where's the bathroom?"

"Alright," Hiccup came into the room more and moved to a door on the far right wall. "This is your bathroom in this room," Hiccup flipped on the light as Astrid got off the bed to follow him. "You have your sink on the right, tub on the left. Further back past the sink is the linen closet with towels, face cloths, toilet paper, tissues. After that; it's the toilet, and then on the left is the stand-up shower," Hiccup showed her everything.

"Okay…Thank you," Astrid said in a small voice.

"After you're done in here, just put all the dirty things in the hamper," Hiccup advised, showing here where the basket was, which was right by the entrance door into the bathroom. "The staff comes around daily just like in a hotel," he added. "They'll make the bed, wipe things down, clean the bathroom," Hiccup stated. "And you do have a walk-in closet over there by the door to the bedroom. I'll get you in about twenty minutes, okay? To take you down for breakfast,"

"I'll be ready," Astrid nodded.

"I'll leave you to it then," Hiccup replied. "Uh, there should be soap, shampoo, all that stuff in the closet too," he added before exiting the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Astrid took a deep breath as she decided to get started on her shower since Hiccup would be back in twenty minutes. Astrid moved to her suitcase and pulled out a set of clothes to wear; then she went to the bathroom.

. . .

{6:15 am}

Astrid took ten minutes to shower, get dressed in two; the spent the final three in the fifteen minutes to brush her hair and teeth. At the moment, she was sitting on her bed and looking around the room. From the entrance of the space, on the left wall was the walk-in closet. Going around, the room expanded after a corner. There was a bookshelf, then a nightstand, queen-sized bed, another nightstand, and on the wall with the windows in the corner was a small work area. Near the windows were two chairs with a table in the middle of them, and Astrid assumed this might be a small reading spot. Next was the bathroom, which Hiccup already gave her a small tour of. After that was another wall with a long, dark wood, four-drawer dresser, and there was a flat screen TV on a swivel mount just above the dresser.

Astrid couldn't deny how shocked she was that Hiccup was going to let her stay in Haddock Manor until she could recover from the homeless situation and get back on her feet. It was the last thing Astrid expected from Hiccup Haddock, especially given how she had treated him with Eret, Gruffnut, Nadia, Ragna, Thuggory, and Camicazi. Astrid couldn't help but remember that day in school when the others wouldn't back off and leave Hiccup alone; the one where Hiccup snapped and punched Eret in the face. Hiccup said that day that he didn't care what we said about him, but never bring Olivia and Runa into it again. Also, Hiccup told Astrid that he was disgusted and ashamed to have ever called her his best friend, that she changed after her father became Mayor for the first time in Middle School; it was probably around the seventh-grade when it happened.

Astrid still didn't ever remember being Hiccup's friend. In truth; she wanted to know more, but didn't want to make Hiccup mad either. Hiccup is the last person Astrid expected ever to extend a helping hand in her time of need, but he did it. Astrid checked her phone on the nightstand as she had put it to charge last night, and sure enough, there was a missed call and voicemail from Archian Preparatory. Setting the device to her ear; she listened and heard what Hiccup predicted would happen. Due to the weather, there was no school today. Astrid guess didn't mind; it gave her more time to adjust to this new situation that she was living with Hiccup. There was a knock on the door as Astrid stood up.

"Come in," Astrid called lightly. The door opened as Hiccup walked in with Runa in his arms. Astrid saw the little girl awake and playing with a stuffed Night Fury toy. It was hard for Astrid to believe that she met Runa, who at the time was only four months old, and now she's about to be going on eight months in ten days on the 11th of February.

"All ready?" Hiccup inquired.

"I am," Astrid nodded to him. "And you don't have to knock…It's your house…"

"This is the room I gave you to use while you're here, Astrid. And just like any other person who resides here; we respect that privacy," Hiccup informed as Astrid followed him out of the bedroom, and she closed the door. Hiccup led her to the stairs, and then down them to the family room and over into the breakfast area, or smaller, family dining room as Astrid remembered that Hiccup introduced the space as during the tour back in October. Astrid could see right away that Valka and Stoick were already there enjoying their coffee. Stoick was reading the paper.

"There's my granddaughter! Let me see her, Hiccup," Valka insisted right away.

"Well, good morning to you too, mother," Hiccup rolled his eyes, then handed Runa over to his mom.

"You know how she is, son," Stoick chuckled a little.

"Sadly," Hiccup shrugged. Astrid stayed behind Hiccup, being a bit shy.

"No need to be shy, lass," came Gobber's voice next as he made his way through and sat at the table. Hiccup did the same.

"Come on, Astrid. We don't bite; sit with us," Stoick invited. Astrid nodded and moved to sit down next to Hiccup with her hands in her lap and looking down.

"Was school canceled, Hiccup?" Valka inquired.

"Yeah, got the call about ten minutes ago," Hiccup stated.

"Hagen, will you bring in breakfast now that we're all here?" Stoick called over to the kitchen.

"Right away, Mr. Haddock," Hagen replied, then came in with another worker holding plates. There was one placed down in front of each person, except for Astrid. "Oh, I didn't know we had an extra guest this morning. What would you like?" he asked with a smile.

"Just like a restaurant, Astrid. Hagen makes a big spread; eggs, toast, bacon, sausage…" Hiccup told her.

"I'm not a big morning eater…" Astrid said softly.

"Most important meal of the day," Gobber chuckled.

"I don't know…Just some eggs, bacon, and toast is okay for me," Astrid replied. Hagen nodded, then hurried into the kitchen. A moment later, he returned and set the plate down in front of Astrid. "Thank you," Hagen smiled, then returned to the kitchen. The meal was mostly silent with everyone eating their food. Runa was in Valka's lap, and Valka was bouncing her knee up and down to make Runa giggle and clap happily. Astrid felt awkward being here with Hiccup's family, mainly because she didn't think it was her place after all the crap she'd given Hiccup over the years. However, it seemed that Hiccup didn't care about that because he still didn't give her a choice going with him or not last night.

. . .

{7:30 am}

Breakfast finished and was cleaned up. By this time, the Haddock family, Gobber, and Astrid moved into the family room. It was still quiet as they were watching the news, but Gobber was now entertaining Runa.

"Astrid," Stoick said, gaining her attention. "I think we should have a chat about your situation,"

Astrid bit her bottom lip nervously. "I-It wasn't my idea to stay here…Hiccup didn't give me a choice last night," she informed quickly.

"Oh, sweetheart; you're not in trouble for being here," Valka assured. "We want to understand what happened to put you in such a dangerous position," she added. Astrid looked down a bit, fiddling with her fingers.

"I told you to call me if you needed anything, Astrid. I'm a very old friend of your father's, and I mentioned this the last time you were here for the reading of the will," Stoick stated.

"I-I know, Mr. Haddock. I-I just…Things were okay at first. Everything just happened so far, and spiraled out of control…" Astrid tried.

"Astrid, they want to know what took place to land you on the streets," Hiccup clarified. Astrid sighed a little.

"My friends and boyfriend found out by snooping in my diary that I didn't have any money because of all the will and insurance thing…So they ditched me in December, saying I wasn't one of them anymore. Initially; I'd been staying between Ragna, Camicazi, and Nadia's houses. I stayed at Eret's on the weekends sometimes. When I lost that…My car was repossessed," Astrid began to explain.

"You told me the day I hired you it was in the shop," Hiccup said.

"I-I lied…My car didn't have any insurance on it, so the pulled my registration. And then it was repossessed because the company wasn't getting their payments with my parents gone…That happened two days after Eret, and the others abandoned me. I knew that's when I needed a job…But no one had been able to contact me because my phone was off, and I could only use a calling and texting app when there was wifi," Astrid continued.

"Go on, lass," Stoick motioned.

"I was able to stay in a homeless shelter, and I walked everywhere to get around. To and from school and work too," Astrid started again.

"What happened to the shelter?" Gobber wondered.

Astrid looked down; she didn't want to mention the miscarriage to them. "Others from the shelter saw that I had a job, and reported it, so I was kicked out under the reasoning that the shelters were for people who had nothing, couldn't find work, and what not…And after that…It was just me on the streets. Abandoned buildings, under bridges, alleyways…Everything I own in the bags that Hiccup found me with. I took showers at the school after gym class, and I wash my stuff at the laundromat," Astrid informed.

"You should have called me after the others walked away," Stoick sighed.

"I realized that I didn't have your number…" Astrid looked down.

"Hiccup would have given it to you," Valka said.

"I was afraid to talk to him," Astrid admitted. Hiccup blinked.

"Why in the name of Odin would you be scared to talk to me? We saw each other all the time at work," Hiccup said.

"You told me not to bring personal drama into the workplace…And in school…I guess I keep remembering that day when you punched Eret, how mad you got at us…" Astrid stated. "And I figured you wouldn't want to help me because of all the trouble I've given you,"

"First off, the personal drama was about your former friends showing up and causing trouble. And as soon as they tried; I shut them down. Secondly, that day in school…I warned them twice to stop. I was not in the mood to deal with their childish antics, so when the pushed; I shoved back. Lastly, I'm not heartless, Astrid. I knew something wasn't right after they ditched you. That's why I wanted to give you a ride home, and I found you in the alley. I couldn't leave you there to get mugged, raped, or killed no matter how you've treated me over the years. That's not the kind of guy I am," Hiccup retorted.

"You did the right thing, son," Stoick said.

"As we raised you," Valka added.

"Yeah, yeah. Be good to everyone, even if they aren't to you. Always stay humble and kind," Hiccup recited. "The bottom line, Astrid; is that I helped you because you needed it, and I forced you because I know you're stubborn. You're going to stay here until you get back on your feet,"

"You know people are going to talk, don't you?" Astrid glanced at Hiccup.

"Do you think that even remotely bothers me?" Hiccup inquired. "It's no different than when those idiots were your friends. You get used to it after a while, very few things set me off. And hey, if they give me crap; I'll just remind them that what I said in October is true; that I know who my real friends are,"

"Hiccup, people are going to think so many wrong things about me living here…" Astrid muttered.

"So what, Astrid. You do what I do, and go on about your day; ignore them or give a sarcastic response. I don't care what they have to say because at the end of the day; I know that it's just rumors. I know what is true and what is not. Let them talk; it's only words," Hiccup enlightened.

"You flipped out when they were talking lies about your girlfriend and daughter…" Astrid reminded. Hiccup didn't say anything at first. Astrid watched him get up, and take Runa from Gobber. Finally, Hiccup sighed.

"I got mad because I'm not going to let those assholes talk about situations they don't understand and don't deserve to know the truth about," Hiccup informed, then he walked away. Astrid watched him leave the room, not quite grasping what she said to upset him.

"Don't take it personally, lassie," Gobber said. "Hiccup's just going through some stuff right now,"

"And unfortunately, Hiccup needs more time to get past it," Stoick added. Astrid was confused now. What was Hiccup going through that he needed more time for? Does it have to do with that day in school when Hiccup got mad? Had something happened between Hiccup and Olivia? Astrid didn't know, and right now, she doubted Hiccup was willing to open up about things.

"Now, do you have everything you need, sweetie?" Valka asked Astrid.

Astrid nodded. "I do upstairs in my bags,"

"Why don't you head back up and get settled in? You're going to be with us for a bit, so you might as well make yourself comfortable here," Valka offered with a smile.

"Okay, and thank you again for letting me stay," Astrid said, then got up and navigated her way back to her room to unpack her things and relax a little since there was no school today. An hour or so later; she was finished and laid on her bed staring up at the ceiling. Astrid gave a heavy sigh. I guess this is home for now. Astrid thought before closing her eyes.