Hiccup was furious, maybe madder than that if there was a level of anger one could reach after furious. He couldn't believe what Heather had done back at the mall. As soon as they were on the bus and it had pulled away from the mall-Hiccup forced her off his arm and glared angrily at her.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" he yelled at her, she was actually a little afraid too. She'd never seen him this mad before-neither had the others. "I cannot fucking believe what you just pulled back there!"
"I-I just wanted to give them a story..." Heather said meekly.
"By making them think we're engaged!? Are you kidding me!" he snapped again.
"You're the one who proposed!" Heather stated quickly.
"Because that's what you set me up to do! You purposely planted that ring box in my hand knowing I'd drop it because I didn't know what it was! You knew I'd look to check it out and you just fucking played it out from there. You knew I wouldn't make a scene on camera!" Hiccup yelled at her, still glaring hard.
"Okay, fine. So I set you up to propose to me. What's the big deal? It's not like we actually have to get married, Hiccup...calm down." Heather sighed some.
"No, you're just making it that much harder for me to find ways to get away from you. You might want to be in the spotlight, I don't! I don't want more press on us; I hate what little we had already. They will never leave us alone now!" Hiccup raged at her. "What in the name of any Norse God or Goddess gave you the notion this was a remotely good idea?! You know I don't fucking love you or want to have anything to do with you!"
"Fine, you wanna know where I got the idea from. I found the ring you were gonna propose to Astrid with," Heather snapped back.
"You were in my stuff?!" Hiccup yelled again.
"And I thought to myself-maybe he'd come back to me if I made her think he didn't love her anymore. So I bought this ring, and planted in on you to set you up to propose to me on TV in high hopes she was watching," Heather explained. Hiccup couldn't believe what he just heard her say, she was trying to get rid of Astrid!? That was it. He was done.
"Stop the bus," Hiccup commanded the driver. the bus pulled over as he stared at Heather now. "Get. Off. Now." he ordered firmly as the others gasped a bit.
"Y-You can't do that! I'll tell everyone the truth!" Heather threatened.
"Do it, I fucking dare you. You say one goddamn word about it and I'll quit the band, then move away with Astrid outside the Archipelago while you rot in prison for the next twenty years," Hiccup threatened back as she bit back some. "Then all you've done will be for nothing and I'll still end up happy with the woman I actually love and want to marry."
"What are you talking about twenty years? Contract only says up to two..." Heather said quickly.
"You blackmailed me, threatening me with the safety of my girlfriend and unborn child! That's a good five years for each threat made, plus three years for the extortion alone, and then the two for breaking the contract. Twenty years right there. This whole thing is over. I draw the line at you using me to hurt Astrid! I'm done, Heather. I want nothing to do with you. You deal with the press on your own about the Dusk and Heather breakup after just getting engaged. You wanted to give them a story-now you got one. Have fun with it," he said as he pointed to the door.
"It's...an hour walk to my house from here and the end of January..." Heather said softly.
"I really don't care anymore. Get off the bus and leave me the fuck alone; there will be a restraining and no contact order in place by 9pm tonight," Hiccup ordered,. Heather cried a bit as she hurried off the bus onto the sidewalk. "Go." Hiccup told the driver, the doors shut and headed down the road again. Hiccup sat down on the bus couch and sighed heavily, Toothless rubbed his back a bit.
"Well, least she's gone..." Spark shrugged a bit.
"What if she talks?" Stormfly asked now.
"She won't. Not with the threat of twenty years in prison looming over her head..." Gobber said softly now. "Are you alright, lad?"
"I'm livid...I cannot fucking believe she did that," Hiccup grumbled out some.
"Was pretty low of her, taking a shot to get rid of Astrid..." Hookfang sighed. Hiccup got his phone out now as he pressed a contact and put it to his ear.
"Brant, It's Haddock." Hiccup said firmly as he put it on speakerphone.
"Hey boss. I'm with the judge too, enjoying dinner. What can I do for you tonight?" the man replied.
"Remember that girl I had you get a restraining order on for my girlfriend?" Hiccup asked.
"Lanvik? Course I do." now it was clear to his friends that he was talking to: the officer who worked for him.
"Get it in effect for me and the band too. I don't want her near the house, near my friends, or family," Hiccup stated.
"Yes sir. Oh, boss needs that restraining order extended to him, the family, and band," Brief pause, "Judge is making the call right now. You'll be set in a few hours. Anything else I can do for you?"
"That's all. Thanks, Brant. And thank you as well, Colden," Hiccup said referring to the officer and judge, then immediately after that he hung up.
"We would have been okay," Stormfly said softly.
"You're all family, I keep mine safe." Hiccup replied with his eyes closed. The remainder of the ride was quiet, it took twenty-five minutes to get from the mall to Gobber's, they were already halfway there. He just wanted to get to Astrid and hold her, tell her that everything was okay now and they didn't have to worry about Heather.
(Gobber's Place)
As soon as the bus stopped, Hiccup rushed off and into the house while the others followed. Hiccup went to Astrid's room and heard crying-he already didn't like how this sounded. Hiccup nervously knocked on the door and waited.
"What do you want?" came a cold response, "Shouldn't you be with your new fiance?" she added. Fuck! She must have been watching the news to know that.
"No...I left her, Astrid," Hiccup replied, the door suddenly opened revealing her tear stained face to him and he bit his lower lip.
"Just like you left her when your tour ended, right? Where you were done with her, wanted nothing more to do with her?" Astrid asked.
"I really did leave her, Astrid. I swear to the Gods I did. You can ask the band, and Gobber...I kicked her off the bus after what she did at the mall. The proposal...it wasn't real, baby girl. I promise-she planted the whole thing because she knew I wouldn't make a scene on camera. But I'm done with her, it's just you and me now. Us and little Iris. she'll never be a problem again." Hiccup explained quickly.
"It doesn't matter! You still got on one knee and asked her to marry you, with a ring and everything. In front of hundreds, maybe thousands. On camera with tons watching at home, the whole of the Archipelago probably knows now," Astrid cried.
"I didn't buy that ring, babe. She did! She slipped it into my hand knowing I'd drop it when I felt it there: she knew I'd figure out what it was. She planned the whole thing, and she said she only did it to hurt you-to get you out of the picture so I'd be with her. Ask the others, they'll confirm it...please, please don't be mad. I didn't want to do it, you know that. I want to marry you, Astrid," Hiccup tried to tell her.
"Mad! I'm not mad, Hiccup! I'm hurt! All I did was wake up from a nap and turn on the TV-hoping to see you and I saw THAT! You proposing to her. If you want me so badly-then why is she the one wearing a ring and not me!?" Astrid yelled at him angrily.
"She cornered me, baby...you know she wouldn't give me a way out of it...you know why I put up with all this bull the last three months, I've done it for you and the baby-to keep you both safe," Hiccup tried to reach for her.
"I'm a big girl, Hiccup. I can handle a few cameras and reporters. You didn't even give it a chance! I get you were worried about me and the baby. But you jumped so easily to just agreeing to Heather's terms about revealing Dusk had a new girl and baby on the way, it's like you don't want people to know what we did. Are you ashamed of it or something? That we had sex drunk and I ended up pregnant?" Astrid asked.
"No, no not at all. Never. I'm not ashamed of it at all, Astrid. I'm beyond happy and proud. I just wanted to keep you safe so you didn't get hurt. You know it's not just a little crowd of paparazzi..." Hiccup said softly.
"Well, guess what? I got hurt anyway-because of her. She wanted to get me out of the way-and she got her wish. I'm done, Hiccup. I thought I could handle this, but I can't. I dealt with it for three months, and knowing she'll never give up just draws the line for me...so I'm gonna go. I'm staying at Ruff's until I figure something else out, I'll make arrangements with you regarding Iris..." Astrid said to him as she went back in the room and zipped her suitcase,-it was on wheels so she wouldn't be carrying it.
"Astrid, no...please no. Don't leave. I love you...you know I do. I've been planning to propose to you since Christmas, I have the ring and everything. I just wanted to wait until she was gone. Gobber told me this morning that her blackmailing me, threatening me with yours and the baby's lives is illegal but then I ended it all on the bus because she said she was trying to hurt you. I kicked her off the bus, I made her walk home and got officer Solberg to extend the restraining order for me, the family, and band. She'll never bother us again...I swear it on my life!" Hiccup said quickly, in fear of hearing she wanted to leave.
"And how long until the truth comes out, Hiccup? How long until the paparazzi figures out you left Heather, until she blabs about you getting me pregnant on a drunken one night stand? How long until we can't even leave the house because we'll be swarmed-the very thing you tried to avoid happening. Nothing good will come of us being together so let's just end it-we said in the beginning if things didn't work out, we'd make other arrangements," Astrid sighed looking away from him.
"I will protect you and Iris, you know that. Look all I already did to protect you both, I put up with Heather's insufferable bitchiness for three months for you and our daughter. We can still make this work, just please...please give me a chance to prove that to you?" Hiccup asked her.
"I can't...I can't, Hiccup...I'm sorry. I just can't do this anymore, we'll never have a normal life. We'll never be a normal family where we can go out for walks in the park," Astrid said.
"Yes we can, all the time like we do now. The press wants Dusk, not Hiccup...they don't know I'm him," Hiccup said quickly.
"That's the point! How can we be normal if you're living another life?!" Astrid yelled at him now. Hiccup flinched: she had him there. "The press will always want Dusk. Will want to find out what happened with Heather, if there's a new woman in his life, why they never see him. I can't even be at events with you as it is because I have to wear a disguise to be next to you or people would figure out the truth. What's gonna happen with Iris is born: is she gonna wear a disguise too?!"
"No, never. I told you, I'm gonna tell everyone the truth myself...just like I promised I would..." Hiccup told her now.
"So what, we're gonna be allowed to be ourselves beside you? It can be Astrid and Dusk? Or still Astrid and Hiccup? Is Iris, Hiccup's daughter or Dusk's daughter? You can't tell people the truth, the minute you say I'm Dusk's girl-everyone who knows I'm with you is gonna figure it out and there goes your secrecy and I'll get in trouble because I'm under contract to keep my mouth shut about who you are! I swear, you don't even know what's going on anymore," Astrid stated firmly then sighed. "We'll never have a normal life until you tell people the truth about who you really are...and sadly...I don't think you even know who that is,"
"I'm Hiccup, Astrid...I know who I am..." Hiccup said softly, sadly and clearly afraid to lose Astrid.
"But who are you on stage with all the face paint on, the black hair. Who is that? Is that still Hiccup Haddock or is that Dusk Fury?" Astrid asked.
"I'm only Dusk on stage or for events, you know that..." Hiccup replied.
"No, you're Dusk all the time. That's what everyone calls you except for the few people who know Hiccup is living in Berk but not that he's a big shot celebrity, not that he's the lead singer of Dragon's Roar. Don't you get it? It will never work because you just can't be two people and live two lives. How can you say you want a life with me when you don't even know which life you're living anymore. Which life of yours do I get to spend mine with? Hiccup or Dusk...you're so afraid to show everyone who you really are, you hide behind Dusk. You hide so nobody knows the once loner Hiccup Haddock is actually an amazing man who has serious talent," Astrid told him as she sighed heavily and looked at him seriously.
Hiccup didn't know what to say, Astrid was right. Gods, he hated it but she was right. He was always hiding behind Dusk because he was afraid to be judged as Hiccup, that if people knew who he really was-they'd shun the band or something. He was afraid to be himself. Astrid put her hand to his cheek and offered a small smile, "I'm not Heather okay? I don't love Dusk, his money, his status, his anything. I love the man hiding behind him, I love you, Hiccup. Odin knows I do. But how can I be with Hiccup, if he's always hiding in the shadows-afraid to be who he really is?" She paused now, "We tried, Hiccup...we tried to make it work and we just can't. You can still be in Iris's life, you're her father and I'd never take that away. We'll just share her equally so she knows she's loved by both-but we can't be together anymore..."
"Astrid, please...please don't leave?" Hiccup asked, his voice cracking.
"I'm...sorry, Hiccup, I just can't do this anymore. I don't want a part time relationship. I don't want...to know that you're only Hiccup when you're not in that disguise. I don't want us to only be seen together with me being Dawn Winters, lyrical assistant to Dragon's Roar. I don't want to hide behind fake features that aren't me. You might want to hide who you are, but I don't want to hide who I am. You want to be with me-then you have to be able to be with me as I am, no matter where we go or what we do, whether you are Dusk on stage or Hiccup like now. That's what it'll take for me to stay, Hiccup. You stop hiding, can you do that?" Astrid asked him. Hiccup hesitated as Astrid lowered her head, "That's what I thought," she said then took a shaky breath, "I'll send for my things and we'll be in touch to talk about Iris. For what it's worth: I always thought you were amazing-even if we lost contact for years, I still wondered what happened to the really cute, shy kid I always sat next to in class for three years. But I guess...maybe it was just a dream. Hiccup never came back from Archi-Dusk did," Astrid moved towards the door.
"I did come back...I'm right here, standing before you..." Hiccup told her, trying not to cry.
Astrid gave a soft smile, "No...you have black hair and brown eyes with face paint on. You're Dusk Fury, the lead singer of Dragon's Roar. Sorry-but I don't love you, Dusk. I'm saving my heart for a handsome, smart, cocky, smart mouthed auburn haired, green eyed young man with a little scar on the right side of his chin who I haven't seen in while. If you ever see him, his name is Hiccup Haddock the Third and will you let him know I love him and would really like to see him again? He said I had his heart, and I want to give him mine in return-I guess I'm hoping one day he'll come back to me and we can make our hearts, souls, and lives one. A girl can dream right?" After that, she was out the door. She moved her suitcase into the trunk carefully, tossed her backpack in the front seat-took a deep breath, then she started her car and was gone from the driveway.
Hiccup hit his knees hard and cried-he didn't care who was watching. He just lost Astrid because of his stupidity, because he let Heather get in the way, because he was afraid to be himself all the time that he hid behind his celebrity persona to avoid being judged by the people he used to know. Toothless and Gobber immediately went to his side in an attempt to comfort him but he ended up just getting up and going to his room, locking the door. Once inside he ripped off the wig, carefully took out the brown contacts, then wiped his face clear. All these things he hid behind were the reason he lost the love of his life and if there was ever a time he hated his life-it was now when his life caused him to lose her.