=Normal POV=
{Monday, March 21, 2022-5:15 pm}
(Berk; Haddock Manor)
"Why can't you fucking support me!?" Hiccup raged. Astrid watched almost helplessly as Stoick and Hiccup were arguing with one another loudly, causing the people in the room to wince at the noise. It had been a trying day since the moment Hiccup woke up in Astrid's eyes. Hiccup woke up with a headache that he wasn't sure would develop into a migraine or no, so he took one of his pills just in case. Hiccup and Astrid met his parents and Gobber downstairs for breakfast, and it was quiet through the meal. Getting to school; it began like any typical day. Hiccup and Astrid went to their lockers, met up with their friends, then went to the first period. The second period was alright too, but in Physical Education; the populars were back from their suspension and trying to talk to Hiccup. However, he wasn't having it. Hiccup didn't care what they wanted, or that Eret and Thuggory helped him out; he was still pissed at how the five of them treated him, Astrid, and their other friends over the years. In lunch hour; it happened again where the five populars tried to speak with Hiccup, and he straight up told them to fuck off or else.
Now, Astrid and the rest of the group didn't know what or else meant. However, it went without saying that it would obviously be an adverse outcome if they didn't back off. Eret, Nadia, Ragna, Thuggory, and Camicazi must have known because they left him alone after that. At 2 pm when Astrid and the others were waiting for Hiccup to arrive; they saw something interesting happen between the populars and Mr. Meatsen.
/Flashback; 2 pm at Archian Prep/
Heather, Snotlout, Astrid, Minden, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut met at the central office for Hiccup since he would take them to his house for an hour of dragon training.
"Where's Hiccup?" Ruffnut asked.
"He should be along soon. I think he said something about using the bathroom and getting an aspirin," Astrid informed the group.
"Oh, got it," Heather smiled.
"Have you five apologized to Mr. Haddock or Miss. Hofferson?" came Mogadon Meatsen's voice from within the office. Looking a bit curiously into the area, the door was left open a bit, which would allow them to hear better.
"Hiccup won't let us anywhere near him, Dad; we've tried twice today," Thuggory defended quickly.
"He's not lying, sir. We have," Nadia interjected.
"How are you approaching him?" Mogadon questioned.
"Slow, and calmly. But as soon as we say his name; he tells us to leave him alone," Camicazi said lightly.
"And is Miss. Hofferson refusing to see you as well?" Mogadon inquired.
"Astrid is always with Hiccup, and if we can't get near him; we can't approach her either…" Ragna enlightened.
"I see," Mogadon rubbed his chin. "Perhaps school isn't the best location as a lot of what occurred happened here," the man continued thinking of an idea. "Have you gone to his house?"
"Hiccup refuses to allow us there," Eret said.
"And why would that be?" Mogadon asked.
"We…Said a couple of things about his wife…The girl who passed away from cancer in November, while he was out for like a week," Thuggory mentioned, clearly ashamed.
"Stoick invited us to Hiccup's 18th birthday party at the house, and we ticked him off. Hiccup said we're no longer allowed there because we're, and I quote, insensitive assholes," Camicazi looked down.
"Hiccup said that the only exception is with our parents present because he believes that we at least act decently with you guys around…" Ragna added softly.
"It infuriates me that you five caused this much damage," Mogadon closed his eyes, rubbing them and sighing heavily. "Off with you to Study Hall. I will call up your parents, and we'll discuss how to handle this matter, but a sincere apology is owed to Miss. Hofferson, and with all I hear now, especially to Mr. Haddock,"
"Yes, father," Thuggory nodded as the five quickly left.
/End Flashback/
The friends saw the five leave with their heads down. Upon seeing Astrid the five attempted to make their apology, but as soon as they were going to start; Hiccup rounded the corner and almost as if they were afraid of Hiccup, they rushed away. The day continued as normal; Hiccup gave his friends their lesson, and then they were all hanging out in the Great Room talking until Stoick and Valka came home at 4:30 pm to overhear Hiccup telling his friends about joining the military. And since then; it had been arguing. At 5:15 pm, the current time; Eret, Nadia, Camicazi, Thuggory, and Ragna showed up unexpectedly with their parents or parent if only one. Astrid and the friends saw them get led in by Sigurd; head of the Haddock Manor staff.
"Hiccup, it's not a practical career for you to have!" Stoick remarked.
"Since when are my life choices any concern of yours, Dad!?" Hiccup stated coldly.
"Oh, Hiccup, not this again. You've been holding onto this ridiculous idea for three years," Stoick sighed.
"So the military is ridiculous to you? Wow, good to know," Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest.
"I didn't mean it like that, son," Stoick said.
"Well, that's how it sounds," Hiccup snarked back.
"You have no reason to join the army, Hiccup. You have a perfectly stable job with Archia Burger; you're eighteen and a General Manager. You were a Shift Supervisor at sixteen. And Crew Trainer at fifteen. I've never seen anyone jump ranks that fast. Why would you want to leave that to go do hellish workouts, play with guns, and all that over stuff?" Stoick asked.
"I'm so glad you think the army is nothing but playing with guns and stuff," Hiccup countered, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I'm good at my job at Archia Burger. But that's just a fast food job, Dad. It's not something I want to do the rest of my life when I can do so much more," he argued.
"I don't doubt that, Hiccup, but you don't need more by joining the army! You have so much more potential than doing that kind of a job. You could be an artist, a singer/songwriter, full-time dragon trainer or racer even. Odin knows with Toothless you'd probably be more well-known than me! Or, come work with me at Archia Isle Hall, son. You'd make a good leader to the island with some proper direction," Stoick suggested.
Hiccup threw his arms down, frustrated. "Oh, my Gods…Don't start that again! I'm not going to be the Mayor, Dad. I don't want to…Lead these people; I want to protect them! And joining the army lets me do that! I want to be one of those guys in uniform who protect our home so everyone can live in peace and be happy. That's what I want to do, and you seem to think it's the worst thing in the world!" Hiccup accused. "It's not wrong for anyone else! So why are you so against it with me?!"
"Hiccup, you're a lover…Not a fighter…You're too understanding and kind; you hate violence," Stoick muttered.
"If you only knew how wrong you were. Yeah, I'm a lover, and I do hate violence. But there is no better feeling than fighting to protect the people you love most!" Hiccup stated. "I've wanted this for three years, Dad! I haven't changed my mind or thought twice about my decision. You are the only one against me joining!"
"Because it's not the job for you, Hiccup! You're my son, and you're a father yourself. Do you think I want to have to be the one to explain to Runa why her father has been gone for months while you train? What if you get deployed? What if you got killed, Hiccup? Then what? Runa already lost her mother, do you want her to end up without you too?!" Stoick glared.
"Don't you dare bring Olivia into this! That is such a cop-out excuse! Even Olivia knew I wanted to join; she had cancer, knew she was dying and I'd be a single father to Runa…But she still supported my dreams! Gobber does, my friends do…Even those five do," Hiccup motioned to the populars standing behind Astrid and the others. "Those five who have been bullying me for years, giving me shit about everything have respect for me wanting to join…But you and mom won't?" Hiccup retorted as Stoick didn't say anything at first. "That's…Undeniably one of the saddest things I've ever heard. Parents won't support their only son who wants to join the army to provide a better life for his daughter and to protect the people he loves,"
"Hiccup…" Valka tried. "The military is dangerous, and your father is right…What happens if you got hurt or killed," she cried a bit.
"Then you can all know I did it to serve my home with the rest of the military. We all know the ultimate price to be paid for freedom and peace. As sad as it may be to lose a soldier, warrior, airman, seaman, or sailor…You can know they went down fighting to keep their home safe," Hiccup stated. "I'd rather be out there helping than sitting here living life as if nothing is wrong with the world. While others are out there dying for us to live the way we do. That is the more I want, Dad. I don't want a good life; I want a great life. I want to be all I can be, and wouldn't you know it; that's the fucking motto of the Archia Isle Army; Be All You Can Be," Hiccup glared back.
"So you'll die and abandon everyone," Stoick huffed.
"Oh, my Gods; you are impossible! You only see the worst possible situation of this, you don't see my side, and you certainly aren't hearing what I'm saying. I'm so done with this. I've fucking heard enough! If you don't want to support me, then fine. I got plenty of others that do, and I'm not gonna give up what I want to do just because my parents won't support it on biased, bullshit reasons. Unless something monumental happens as a sign from the Gods to show me I shouldn't join; then I'm joining after I graduate, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me!" Hiccup clenched his fists and stormed off past everyone.
"Hiccup, don't you dare walk away from me!" Stoick demanded. Hiccup glared at him as he moved to the windows of the Great Room, then gave a long whistle. Seconds later, Toothless rushed over as Hiccup got on his back. "Don't you even think-," Toothless darted into the sky, and was out of sight before Stoick could finish his sentence. The room was eerily silent and filled with tension that was so thick it could get cut with a knife.
"How many times have I told ya, Stoick; he knows what he wants to do," Gobber sighed, breaking the silence. "Why do you gotta fight with him?"
"He's my only son, Gobber…And I don't think it's right for him regardless of want…" Stoick plopped down on the couch.
"And I get that, but don't you see what this is doing? It's pushing him away. Hiccup is gonna go off to training, and you won't hear from him at all because he knows you two will start fighting again," Gobber reminded. "He's wanted this for three years, my friend…It's not that you feel it's not right for him; it's you not wanting to let go of your baby. I know how it goes; Hiccup was born two months early, and you two were told countless times that he might not survive. But you, Stoick, you held firm and said that Hiccup would be the strongest of them all. And Hiccup pulled through, and has continued to succeed in many situations where people thought failure would be the outcome,"
"You say Hiccup isn't a fighter, Stoick, but that's all the lad has done his whole life. Fight to live, fight to succeed, fight to be accepted…Hiccup strives to be the perfect son to you both, only wanting you to accept him, his choices, and be proud of him," Gobber continued. Stoick looked down as Valka sat beside him. Gobber grabbed a picture of Hiccup in a Senior Year photo off the shelf and opened it up finding the last one towards the back and revealing it to Stoick and Valka as a baby Hiccup in the hospital, the day he was born.
"This is the Hiccup you're still holding on to; this is why you won't support him. You don't want to accept that this boy, has now become this man," Gobber showed them the Senior picture again. Both side by side, Stoick and Valka sighed again. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but Hiccup is all grown up now. He's about to graduate in a few months; he fell in love, he was married, has become a father himself…Hiccup is not a boy anymore, and you have to let him become the man he's meant to be. Let him join, let him grow up…Let him go. All Hiccup wants to do is protect the people he loves; that includes you two,"
"You're right, Gobber…I've been so blind during the years. To Val and I; Hiccup is still that born prematurely infant lying in a protective box with wires and tubes helping fight for his life," Stoick said.
"That's why you cherish the time you have while they are growing up. But if you keep going the way you are with Hiccup and shooting down what he wants to do; you're going to lose him for good, and it won't be because he got killed on a deployment. You're pushing him away by being overprotective," Gobber informed.
"I'll go talk to him," Valka got up.
"I'd, uh, let him cool off, Aunt Val," Snotlout said quickly.
"You know how Hiccup is after a heated fight," Dagur pointed out.
"Unfortunately…Yes, I do know. A temper that can rival his father's," Valka sighed.
"Let him calm down by flying with Toothless, and when he gets back; we can see how his mood is. If it's still sour, one of us will talk to him. I don't think it's a wise idea to send either one of you given that's where the fight started," Gobber stated.
"So on a completely unrelated note and addressing the dragon in the room…Why are you five here?" Fishlegs asked bringing the attention to Eret, Nadia, Camicazi, Ragna, and Thuggory. "Because, uh, if Hiccup isn't mad now…He'll be furious upon seeing them,"
"He saw us before…" Eret mentioned.
"Yeah, but he was already in an argument with his dad at that point. If he comes back and sees you here; he might get mad again…" Heather said.
"We were informed that our kids weren't allowed here without a parental escort," Mogadon enlightened. "These five were caught bullying, and their punishments included a week of suspension, and all this week is detention. We also said they had to formally apologize to Astrid, and Hiccup for the things they've done to them,"
"However, the kids say that Hiccup won't allow them anywhere near him at school, so we thought that perhaps it might be better not during school hours and off campus," Nadia's mother, Halla, added.
"Well, their presence, unfortunately, does seem to set Hiccup off almost immediately as of late," Stoick stood now.
"And given the argument he just had; it might not be the best time for apologies," Valka stood beside Stoick.
"I'm afraid I must agree," Bertha Boggs, Camicazi's mom, nodded. "But perhaps…Would Astrid be willing to listen? As I understand it, these five haven't been able to get near her because she's always with Hiccup…"
"I believe that would be up to Astrid," Dagur remarked. Astrid wasn't sure what to do in this situation; these guys were apologizing because they were told to as part of their punishment, which wasn't a bad thing, but the question if they meant it. It was still on Astrid's mind that Eret and Thuggory jumped in to help Hiccup in the fight last Thursday, and they've been trying to talk to Hiccup all day. Astrid guessed that she should at least let them go through with what they were supposed to. Sighing, Astrid faced the give people she used to call her friends and one of them as her boyfriend.
"I will agree to hear them out," Astrid stated.
"Go on," Mogadon urged to the five students.
"Astrid we're…Ridiculously sorry for everything," Ragna said softly.
"We were your friends, and we abandoned when you needed us the most," Thuggory added in.
"We threw you out into the streets when you didn't have anything, we've teased and bullied you when you didn't deserve it," Camicazi continued.
"And didn't didn't need it with all you had going on. You'd lost your parents and home; then you lost us…We're just sorry for everything," Nadia joined in.
"I'm sorry too, and truth be told; Ragna and I only did it once when you and I were together. We only said it had been so long to hurt you…" Eret looked down. "I'm sorry for that,"
"The suspension gave us a lot of time to think about what we did, and we agreed that how we've acted is completely unacceptable," Thuggory remarked.
"We're all just about eighteen, a few younger, and some older. Our behavior as of late has been inexcusable and childish," Camicazi informed.
"We're ashamed of ourselves," Ragna added.
"We're trying to change and do better," Eret jumped in once more, lifting his head.
"So we're sorry to you, Astrid, and all of you as well for the bullying over the years," Nadia looked at Astrid, and then Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Minden. "We gave you hell for years, and with no reason,"
"We know it's probably hard for you to believe us, but we do mean it. I don't know what happens from here, but we hope can forgive us?" Thuggory started.
"A-And maybe we can try to be friends again?" Camicazi hoped.
Astrid watched them as they talked; it seemed like they were genuine in their apologies. And Astrid had a hard time figuring out if they meant every word, or just acting because all eyes were on them right now. The question, though, is what Astrid would do with all this. Astrid could forgive them, or she could say that she didn't believe a word they said. Finally, she closed her eyes. "You guys hurt me pretty bad…" Astrid said.
"We know…" they sighed, looking down.
"You threw me into the streets. I lost my car two days later; I was living in a homeless shelter, I got beat up leaving work, and probably would have gotten killed if not for citizens jumping in to make the person runoff. I was almost grabbed walking to school, and the reason I'm here now is that I got kicked out of the shelter for having a job, then Hiccup found me sleeping in an alleyway during a bad storm. Hiccup knew I was walking in the blizzard, so he turned around to come after me, and saw me go in the alley," Astrid explained.
"Astrid, we'd do anything to take back what we did to you…" Eret stated quickly.
Astrid sighed heavily. "I…Accept your apologies, but I will not forgive any of you unless you prove what you've said here tonight. Also, I don't know about being friends again. You stood here in this house when Hiccup told you that you'd throw someone aside if they ended up with nothing, and you said that wouldn't happen. As soon as I was…Poor, and homeless; that's exactly what you did to me. So I don't know if we can ever be what we were before. You'd have to earn back my trust and show me that you want to be friends. At the same time; you have to know I'm friends with all these guys too, and Hiccup is my best friend. You have to earn their trust and acceptance too,"
"And it won't be easy either," Snotlout huffed.
"Nobody is cool with us if Hiccup doesn't approve; he's our leader. Hiccup is an excellent judge of character, he knows when people lie, and he protects us," Heather said.
"We understand," the five said.
"That's a first," came Hiccup's voice as everyone faced him coming into the room with his arms over his chest. "You can save your breath in trying to apologize to me next," he stated quickly knowing they were about to start. "As I've said before; you act like angels with them around," Hiccup referenced to the fact their parents were there. "I won't believe a word you say until you can show me you know how to behave like adults who don't need mommy and daddy with them as the push to do so. It's appreciated that you remembered what I said in not being allowed here without them, but if you can't even manage to apologize on your power; then it's worthless to me. You should know when you've done wrong and apologize without being told, and it's a meaningless apology when you're only doing it as part of a punishment. In case you're wondering; I'm the one who e-mailed Mr. Meatsen that video of you five bullying Astrid on her birthday. That's why I know this right here, is bullshit, and I don't deal in fake people,"
After Hiccup said that, he walked away leaving the rest of the room to sigh heavily. "I think it's best if we go for now," Mogadon said.
"I'm sure he'll calm down and be more open to listening after he's…Calmed down," Valka tried.
"Come, you five," Eret the First informed. The five of them left with their parents or parent telling themselves that apologizing to Hiccup would not only be hard but also, have to try another day.
