=Normal POV=
(Sunday, 6/16/19-6:30 pm)
(Berk, Archia Isle)
(Raven Point Park)

The graduation celebration for the friends and their families was going well. Granted, things didn't start so happy since Hector showed up and instantly laid into his parents and in-laws about him taking over the company entirely as in managing and owning due to the faults of their fathers not reading the contract for transferring, but once that was over with; everything was calm. Everyone had eaten dinner and enjoyed the desserts. Snacks were still laid out, mainly chips and dip. It wasn't dark just yet, so they were all hanging around a bit longer. When it came to leave, it wouldn't take long to clean up and depart the park. At the moment, Hector and Astrid were gathered with their friends, the parents were talking among themselves. Astrid still wanted to talk to the group of friends about Hector's recent distancing since prom night, but obviously couldn't with Hector standing right there. The friends were discussing plans after high school again, things that were definite or being considered and perhaps needed advice or suggestions about.

Out of nowhere, in the middle of the chatter, a Gronckle landed in the space they were and a male climbed off. "Mr. Haddock," The man waved.

"Jason?" Hector blinked a few times as Jason walked over, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to Quiets, like you asked, and realized that these can't go there without your signature, sir…" Jason informed. "I thought to stop here since I was going right over and get that from you," He added.

"Ah, I suppose it would be helpful if I signed off on this first. Smart man," Hector smiled. "Yeah, come on…I'll look over them real quick and then sign them," He stated before excusing himself from the group of friends and walking off with Jason while going over the small stack of papers Jason had handed him.

"Okay, so real quick while he's busy and away from the group," Heather looked at Astrid. "What's been going on with you two?" She asked.

"Just…Give us the basics, and in short summary," Roxy urged.

Astrid took a small breath and began to tell them about some of the instances where she and Hector were getting closer, even mentioning about them almost having sex on prom night until Hector just stopped and left saying he couldn't do it. By the end of it, Hector was still going over things with Jason at a nearby picnic table and hadn't heard a thing. Astrid gave a sigh and shrug once finished. "And…That's basically everything." Astrid informed.

"Okay so…The big thing was that Hector and you almost slept together on prom night. No hints, no warning, no discussion…Just he helped you with your dress and you two started making out and then right before the big part; he stopped?" Madison inquired.

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "He just pulled away, told me he couldn't do this right now and was sorry, then left the room. Ever since, he's been distant,"

"Have you tried sitting down with him? Bringing it up?" Flynn questioned.

"I tried to, but he just tells me he's busy. Always in his office, or working," Astrid replied. "So I don't know."

"One thing I was curious about," Alexa paused as Astrid looked at her. "What happened the day Hector asked you to prom, mentioning your ribs bothering you?"

'Oh, that…" Astrid mumbled. "So…One of Hector's hookups called him when he was sick that day we both left. Hector left his phone with me, to tell people he was resting. I told her that, and she insisted I was just keeping him to myself…So she showed up and got a little violent. I…Would have fought her, defended myself, but she told me she was pregnant with Hector's child…So I didn't lay a hand on her…Hector woke up and came out of his office to see things. Long story short, the girl was outed as a liar and told to leave. She was pregnant with someone else's kid and tried to pass it off as Hector's. I called her out, informing her that the timeline didn't match up with the last time she and Hector met up," Astrid took a breath. "Afterward, Hector insisted we go to the hospital to check on my ribs, so I ended up with a few bruised ribs after the end of all that,"

"Wow…" A few of the friends said.

"Yeah, so I just don't know what to do. I feel like he's hiding something, but doesn't want to talk to me about it," Astrid sighed a little.

"It does sound like typical Hector when he's got a lot on his mind," Drew rubbed his chin a little. "I'll talk to him," He added. "I can't make any promises, but he usually tells me everything,"

"I just want to know if it's something I'm doing. I felt like I was doing good…Keeping up with work and apartment stuff. We're not behind on bills, and not fighting…I stopped sleeping with other people because after the whole Tristan ordeal, I told Hector I was gonna stop since the event scared me a little and I also wanted to focus on me with finals, work, and what not. I had asked Hector if we could maybe try to make things work again, and he was down for it…Said all I had to do was let him know and we'd talk." Astrid explained. "But when I try to talk to him, he just has other things going on and I feel, personally, he's avoiding me."

"It's possible, but maybe not intentionally," Evan offered. "He was pretty busy with work, school stuff, and what not."

"I know, but it just feels like he's trying to keep himself that busy," Astrid mentioned.

"Is he still sleeping with others?" Syrus asked.

"I told him he could, if he wanted. Both after the Tristan thing and when his ex-hookup attacked me." Astrid nodded. "I don't know if he is or isn't, but I told him he could and I wouldn't get upset about it."

"Does it bother you?" Roxy wondered.

"To a degree, but only because again…I felt like we were getting closer and were gonna give things another try, and now he's all backing off and distant." Astrid stated.

"Well, either way…I'll still try to talk to him and see what's up." Drew said. "But it's still up to you to find time to sit down with him and discuss your personal feelings regarding his distance from you." Astrid nodded, understanding. It wasn't too much longer before Hector finished signing things and shook hands with Jason, who then mounted his dragon and took off. Hector walked back over to the group.

"Sorry about that," Hector informed.

"Hey, it's cool. We know you're a busy guy," Drew chuckled, putting his arm around Hector's shoulders. "Now, come away with me. I need your mechanic skills before it gets dark. My car was acting up on the way here," He asked.

Hector had to laugh a little and nodded to Drew, then the two males wandered off. The friends got back to talking while Hector and Drew reached the parking lot. "So what was your car misbehaving with?" Hector asked Drew.

"Is sounds like something is sputtering when I'm holding the break, like you can feel it. But it lightens if I switch the gear to park and take my foot off the break," Drew explained.

"I'd have to hear it, but possibly on a guess, it's the exhaust," Hector informed. Drew handed him the keys as Hector went to see things for himself. Hector got the car started and listened closely. "Yeah, that sounds like an exhaust issue to me. I'd call the shop tomorrow, tell whoever picks up that Hector sent you. They'll get you right in and you'll get a discount on any parts and labor," He stated while turning off the car and stepping out, then shutting the door and giving the keys back to Drew.

"Thanks, little brother," Drew smiled, stuffing the keys in his pocket.

"Any time," Hector shrugged. "Should we head back now?..." He wondered.

"In a rush?" Drew laughed.

"Opposite, actually." Hector admitted gently.

"Not having any fun?" Drew wondered.

"I am…Just have a lot on my mind," Hector replied.

"Well, you did just take over an entire company as it's owner and CEO. I can't imagine you wouldn't have a lot on your mind given everything that happened today." Drew mentioned.

"Well, it's a lot to do…But nothing to do with what's on my mind," Hector stated.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Drew offered. "You know you can. I promise no judgement, and I'll help any way I can," He reminded.

"I know that, Drew…I just don't know if it's worth bringing up or even thinking this much on…" Hector sighed.

"Maybe you feel that way because it's your perspective. Why not tell me, give you a different one?" Drew suggested as Hector considered it a little. "Come on, Hec…Tell big brother Drew what's up. Lay it on me," Hector sighed heavily and leaned back on Drew's hood of his car, arms folded. Hector closed his eyes, attempting to figure out how to word things. "Is something going on between you and Astrid?" Drew wondered as Hector tensed a moment. "Did you two have another fight?"

"No," Hector shook his head. "On the contrary, we haven't fought at all since the situation with her ex-boyfriend. We've been…Getting along and maybe that's what has my head all messed up," Hector opened his eyes a bit again, seeing Drew come lean against the car beside him. Drew gave him a smile, urging him to continue. Hector caved and began to tell Drew everything since the night Astrid was nearly attacked by her ex-boyfriend Tristan. Hector didn't leave anything out and kept it in order to avoid confusion. Drew, already know most of this stuff from Astrid's side, just listened closed to see if there was anything to help connect dots and make sense that would lead to him trying to figure out Hector's dilemma. At the end, Drew heard of Hector's side from the event on prom night where Hector and Astrid almost had sex.

"I don't even know where it came from, Drew. She kissed me first and beyond that, my mind went blank other than wanting her," Hector explained. "But reality hit me when I looked in her eyes, she was smiling and wanted me. It just…Something went through me and I backed off. I told her I couldn't do it, and left the room. I've been avoiding her since, trying to grasp what the hell happened that night." Hector told him, sighing once more.

"What went through you? What did you feel?" Drew asked.

"I don't know…That's what I can't figure out and have been wracking my brain to do…" Hector admitted.

"You said you backed off after the feeling went through you, and rushed out of the room?" Drew inquired as Hector nodded. "Is it…Possible you felt fear, brother?"

"Why would it have been fear? I'm not scared of having sex," Hector replied.

"Maybe not with girlfriends or hookups cause you've had sex with all of them before-," Drew mentioned.

"I've had sex with Astrid too. On our wedding night." Hector interjected.

"Willingly?" Drew finished what he'd began saying before Hector cut him off. Hector seemed to pause a bit. "I know you had sex with Astrid once, but that was months ago, almost a year ago, in fact." He continued. "And while you both agreed to do it, did you want to do it?" He questioned.

"Of course not…We agreed because it was part of finalizing the merge contract between our fathers. We didn't want any part of being forced to have sex with one another for some legality matter because our parents are clearly too obsessed with old traditions from a time we don't even live in anymore…" Hector muttered.

"But that's my whole point, Hector…Yes, the wedding night was expected of and forced on you…" Drew began as Hector looked at him. "Prom night wasn't." Hector glanced down a bit, considering what Drew told him. "You admitted that to me, Hector. She might have kissed you first, but your mind went blank other than wanting her. And looking in her eyes, you saw she wanted you too. So maybe what you felt was fear of the fact you willingly wanted one another."

"Why would I fear that, though?" Hector looked to Drew again.

"Wanting one another?" Drew asked as Hector nodded. "Maybe its because your old feelings for her have resurfaced, and that subconsciously scares you because last time you opened your heart to her and went for it; she broke it and hurt you," He answered. "Perhaps what you fear of wanting her is because seems to want you and you're afraid to go all in again and end up hurt. It happened more than once, Hector. You told her years ago, she crushed you, and even with this arranged marriage…You tried for months to make things work and she didn't work with you. And she was willing to cheat…" He continued. "You were hurt by that,"

"So you think the reason I ran away from having sex with Astrid is because I'm scared to let her in again?" Hector questioned.

"That's what it sounds like to me based on what you've said," Drew nodded. "It seems like Astrid has come around a lot since you two almost divorced over her nearly sleeping with her ex,"

"Because of the arrangement. She has the freedom to sleep with others, and so do I…We don't have to worry about hurting the other. Just living together like roommates, and acting in public…" Hector told him.

"Is she sleeping with others. She seemed pretty scared after the ex-boyfriend nearly hitting her thing," Drew pointed out.

"I don't know if she is or isn't currently," Hector informed. "I know she said after that whole situation, she wanted to focus on herself and take some time to get over what happened. She said she wanted a sex break, worry about finals and stuff…But told me to keep having hookups,"

"Did she say why she wanted you to?" Drew wondered.

"Just something about not wanting me to have to miss out due to her recovering. She said she knew it kept me destressed, and with her on the sex break, didn't want me to have to suffer if I got turned on and couldn't go to her," Hector shrugged.

"And…Was there any talk of after she recovered from that event, what would happen between you two then?" Drew pushed.

"Astrid said maybe we could try again, with the marriage thing and making it work. I told her we could revisit the conversation, when she came to me that she was ready to give things another go since the first time didn't go so great," Hector responded. "I agreed to her terms that she was gonna get over what happened with her ex-boyfriend, and keep having hookups of my own. Then we dealt with an issue involving one of my hookups attacking her…" He mumbled. Drew didn't say anything about already knowing, he didn't want Hector to get mad at Astrid.

"What happened?" Drew asked, acting surprised to learn of it.

"Roseanna, one of my hookups, called to set something up…But it was the day I got sick. I gave Astrid my phone to tell callers I was resting, and Roseanna didn't believe Astrid…So Roseanna showed up to the apartment and gave Astrid trouble about seeing me. Roseanna tried to claim she was pregnant, that it was my baby…So Astrid never fought back and ended up hurt. I sent Roseanna away after Astrid called Rose out on the fact it couldn't be my baby cause the timeline didn't match up. I took Astrid to the ER, found out she had a few bruised ribs…And cause of all that, I was going to end the arrangement completely. Astrid still insisted that keep doing it…But at that point, even though I kept doing it…" Hector paused as Drew waiting, seeing the disgruntled look on Hector's face, he seemed unsure and confused, or deep in thought. "I guess…I didn't want to."

"You…Didn't want to have hookups?" Drew questioned.

Hector shook his head. "No…I didn't, and…I still don't. Astrid and I…Have been getting along, like…Friends. Living together, married, but friendly roommates…" He stated. "It's been great…I haven't really hooked up with anyone, I put them off…Say I'm busy or tired. Just feels wrong and…Astrid knows that while I've got ways to get out of the marriage, I've…Chosen to stay married to her, with her…I told her at the hospital when we were waiting for her to get x-rays done…"

"What did you tell her?" Drew urged him to go on.

"That even though everything was forced on us, and we've had some bad fights…I chose to stay married and with her because I didn't want to hurt anyone. I didn't want to hurt my father's friendship with Marcus. I didn't want to risk anyone at the company losing their jobs…I didn't want to hurt my family. My parents, her family, or her…And that she became family the moment we got married and she took my last name…" Hector enlightened. "I explained all this on prom night too…That I hadn't made plans to hookup with anyone cause I wanted to be there with her. I had many offers, and Astrid tried to get me agree and have fun after the dance was over, but I told her I was fine and said my night was preplanned to be spent with her."

"Is the arrangement still on?" Drew inquired.

"It is, but…Like I said, I don't really want to. At first, I thought it would take my mind off things and it's not. It's making it worse because I feel like it's wrong. I'm never into it and at this point; it's…Boring…"

"Well, for one…I could fix that boring issue if you were doing it with me," Drew chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Secondly, let me as you this…If it's boring and making things worse for you to figure out whatever is going on, why are you still doing it?"

"I guess I'm just doing it because…I don't want to be around Astrid until I figure things out. Again, at first…A hookup now and then since the prom night thing was a nice distraction, but I realized it wasn't making anything better. It just made me think more about why I could do it with others so easily, but not Astrid. And even on the easily do it with others thing, it…Hasn't been easy," Hector expressed.

"In what way is it not easy? To get laid?" Drew asked.

Hector shook his head. "No…" Hector looked down a bit, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Hasn't been easy to do it," He said. Drew arched a brow at Hector's words, and Hector sighed a bit. "Not easy to get hard, Drew…" He revealed, maybe almost in an ashamed voice. "The hookups only take a few text messages to set up, but it's the arousal that takes some extra to get going…Even then, it's just boring. Still feels good, but nothing…Spectacular, I guess."

"And this has become an issue since…Hookups after prom night?" Drew looked at Hector, not wanting to make him feel any more embarrassed than he already was about confessing to having trouble getting an erection. Hector nodded to him a few times. "Hector…I think everything you're dealing with is because of Astrid."

"Meaning…What? She's the source of my problems?" Hector asked.

"No," Drew stated. "Well, yes, but not the way you think. It's not…Bad, brother." He corrected. Drew put his hand on Hector's shoulder now, making the auburn-haired male open his eyes and look at Drew. "It goes back to what I said before, about fear. I think what's going on is that you care about Astrid, maybe even like or love her. The feelings you had for her so long ago, the ones you buried after she hurt you…I think that's what's causing you to be so confused, have boring sex with others, and also why you're having trouble getting it up with them…" Drew stated. "You thought for the longest after Astrid rejected you some years ago, that you would never get a chance with her…So you buried the feelings, accepting things. But now…Astrid is in your life, as your wife. You two were forced into marriage, and things obviously didn't go so great with you trying and her not…But consider everything, Hector," Drew paused.

Hector started thinking about how things started since the arranged marriage was finalized on paper, then the wedding, their night together, and everything else since then to now. "You two stayed together. Despite the bad you've faced, you and Astrid have stayed together. You admitted that you chose this, even with reason to leave her. Hector," Drew got his attention again. "Your feelings for Astrid started to resurface after she was almost hurt by her ex-boyfriend. When you realized that she was thinking about you while having sex with him. That YOU were on her mind. And over time since then, whatever it is you feel for her continued to crawl it's way up from the grave you buried it in. But on prom night, seeing her want you brought everything forward full force…And it scared you. Because you don't want to give her your heart, or put in your all…To get hurt again." Drew explained.

"Brother…" Drew got off the car and faced Hector, both hands on his shoulders now. "Its your feelings for Astrid keeping you from enjoying random sex with other people and getting hard easily. That's your body, syncing with your mind about it being wrong to sleep with others when you feel so strongly for Astrid. Prom night was you wanting her, when your feelings came full circle. But it scared you and you ran away from it, as a defense to avoid getting hurt. Hector…" Drew waited as Hector looked at him fully, the fear evident in his green eyes. "Stop fighting your feelings. Okay?"

"I'm…Not trying to, but this fear…How do I stop feeling it?" Hector stared at Drew.

"Stop being scared that she's going to hurt you because I don't believe she wants to," Drew said. "Listen…Let's go back and enjoy the rest of the party. But tonight or perhaps on your next off day from work, sit down with Astrid and talk to her. Explain your actions, and reasons behind them…Tell her you want to try again. You don't have to tell her you like, maybe love her. But try to establish an understanding between you two about trying to make things work. Just see where it goes and after an undetermined amount of time, possibly sit down and talk about where your feelings are. See if potentially, she feels something for you…" Drew paused as Hector arched a brow. "Either way, brother…You're gonna have to talk things out with Astrid eventually, or this is gonna keep eating away at you. Communication is one of the key things to have in a successful relationship. My point here, Hector…You've got a second chance to get the girl you've always had a thing for. First girl you fell for…Don't blow this by being afraid."

Hector knew he was right, and he hated that he basically already came to the same conclusion that what happened was his feelings for Astrid resurfacing. That they were in a position to be together for real, not out of acting to appear like a happy couple. Hector knew this meant all hookups would have to end, and he was fine with that. He'd also have to actually have a serious conversation with Astrid about them. Hector realized that he already had things figured out, and what needed to happen. Hector guessed he just needed to hear it from someone else to make it real and confirmed about what he was dealing with. If nothing else, he knew what he had to do now, but it could wait until tonight when he and Astrid were alone. Hector didn't want to put things off until another day; he was going to be busy while settling into his job as it was officially all on him. So yes, Hector knew that he and Astrid had to sit down and discuss things. And that would happen tonight, after the party to celebrate them being graduates from high school.