Guided Hearts

"Astrid reluctantly goes on a college tour and is surprised to learn her guide is from the same place as her."

Rated K

1,729 Words

Hiccstrid

Hiccup, Astrid, Mala

Modern + College AU, Meet-Cute

May 18th, 2022

"Hello, and welcome to Dragon's Edge University," the loud voice boomed through the speakers. A rather unnecessary addition, Astrid thought. The room was a little longer than a school bus, and less than half as deep. There were, at most, 60 people crammed into the room. "Before we start the tour, I would like to exchange a few words with our newly admitted students."

Astrid groaned at the thought of being stuck in this room longer. She hadn't even wanted to come to this tour, but her family had insisted all go. Of course, something came up and Astrid found herself here. Alone.

"I want to congratulate all of you for getting into the university." A woman with short blonde hair beamed a smile across the room. "My name is Mala Queen, and I am a professor and alumni. At one point, I was like you."

Astrid began thumbing through the brochure they were handed when they first entered the room. She had read through it five times since she got here, having arrived over half an hour early. Perfectionism at its finest, she cursed herself. She had already gone through the school's website and virtual tour and really didn't see the need to be here.

"I was a young, new student—though I will admit that I grew up in the area. Of course, I may be biased, but I will say that I have loved it here. I stayed here throughout my entire four years of college. I left for a little to explore other career options but loved it so much here that I came back," Mala continued on. Astrid took the chance to peer at the other people around her. A lot of kids came with their families, some with younger siblings. However, there was a group of students two rows in front of her. A little to the side, she also spotted a couple. She wondered to herself if they both got into the university, or if they were doomed.

"I know a lot of your parents are worried about sending your kids off the university but, I assure you, this is a safe and wonderful city." Astrid scoffed. Everyone knew the city had a reputation that was less than stellar. The only good part was the college and the areas that clung to it. "Now, onto the actual tour, we will be splitting you guys into smaller groups with some of our students leading you guys through the campus."

Astrid picked up the little goodie bag they had given her and the brochure and stuffed it in her purse. "We'll be splitting you guys by rows. Our first row will start with these two lovely gentlemen. Our second row will follow our lovely ladies out. Our third row will be led by my lovely assistant…" One by one, the rows got up and filed out of the room. At the mention of her row, Astrid did the same.

Standing at the end of her row was a tall man with messy brown hair. He waved and the row followed him out.

Once outside of the building, the man waved his hand again to get the group to stop. "Hello," he said in a nasally voice that was far too high-pitched for someone in college. "I will be one of your tour guides today. Mala will actually be our other tour guide and she'll be here in just a second."

Standing around, Astrid eyed the rest of her group. She saw a guy with his little sister and his parents, two girls that were either friends or siblings, another girl by herself, a girl with her family, and a dad and son that were decked out in school gear. The group stood there, muttering amongst themselves. Astrid stood in silence.

"Alright," Mala huffed as she jogged over from the building. "So sorry about the delay. Before we get this tour started, I would like to have a little introduction from our other tour guide and our students."

The tall boy waved, shrinking his body a little as he did so. "Hi, you guys can call me 'Hiccup'." The two girls giggled but quickly stopped when they noticed Mala glare at them. "And yes, that is a nickname. I am a freshman studying biotechnology and I live on campus."

"Perfect." Mala clapped. "And, for our next person, how about…" She scanned the group until her eyes landed on Astrid. "You, with the blonde hair."

"Hi," Astrid waved, mimicking Hiccup's earlier body language. "My name is Astrid and I am going to study kinesiology."

"Wonderful." Mala smiled at Astrid. "And where are you from?"

"I'm a bit north of here, from Berk" At the last word, she noticed Hiccup's eyes widen a little.

"Berk." Mala patted Hiccup's back, making the boy stumble. "I believe Hiccup is from the same place before. I've been there before. Far colder than here."

Hiccup flashed Astrid a weak smile, though Astrid didn't think much of Mala's comment. Berk was a big city and many people said they were from Berk even if they were miles and miles out. It also very much was colder than here.

"Alright, onto our next student…" As Mala continued the introductions, Astrid went back to brooding. She still didn't see the point of coming here, having already seen everything online. She especially didn't see the point of wasting their time on introductions. The chances of her ever seeing any of these people again were very slim. After a few minutes, the group started moving to the next destination, and Astrid clung to the back.

"Hey," the nasally voice interrupted her thoughts. "I was just curious, what high school did you go to?"

"Arena Academy," she muttered as she quickened her pace. This boy was a bit too close for her liking. "Why? Where did you go?"

"Arena Academy." Astrid thought she faintly heard a chuckle from him. "Small world, I guess." Hiccup looked off at the sky, and Astrid knew he had something on his mind. "How is it? At the Academy?"

Astrid laughed. It was deep and it was short. "It's the same old, y'know. Not many changes."

"Tell me about it." Astrid turned her head and, this time, she could see a faint smile creeping onto Hiccup's face. "That's actually part of the reason why I left. It's like that place is just… stuck." Hiccup peeked at Astrid and saw that she was not sharing the same smile he was. "Uh, how do you like the teachers there? I know I really liked Gobber."

"Gobber's nice. A little eccentric, though. I had Mildew and he was a crank." Hiccup nodded. "You know Gothi?"

"No," Hiccup exaggerated a gasp. "Don't tell me she's still teaching?"

"Please," Astrid snickered, "I swear to the gods. That woman will keep teaching from her grave. She's not bad, at least." Both teens shrugged.

The group was slowing down as they reached their first destination. At the front, Mala halted everyone else and waved towards Hiccups.

"Sorry, I gotta…"

Astrid rolled her eyes but with a smile this time. "No worries. You have a job to do."

Astrid tuned out most of what he said until the group started moving again. She frowned when she noticed that Hiccup was leading the group this time, but she had said so herself. He had a job to do. She didn't want to seem too clingy, so she stuck to the back. It stayed like this for the rest of the tour.

"So," Mala gleamed at everyone, "We have finally reached the end of our tour. If anyone has any last-minute questions, please feel free to ask us now or email us. We'll be heading back now."

"Finally," Astrid muttered.

"Excuse me." She jumped at the voice interrupting her thoughts again. "I thought this was a lovely tour if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, that's because you were leading it." Astrid didn't look at him and kept looking ahead of her as they walked.

"Hey." He grabbed her shoulder and she paused as they stared at each other. "Sorry about leaving you. I'm supposed to be doing a lot more tours and this was my first one. Mala really wanted me to lead most of it by myself."

"No worries," Astrid insisted. "Like I said, you're just doing your job."

The two started walking again, not wanting to fall too far behind the others. "I did enjoy talking to you."

"Thanks." Astrid slowed just a little bit so that she was almost behind Hiccup. She took a deep breath. "Hey, can I have your number?"

"Oh." Hiccup scrunched his face. "Sure. Can I grab your phone for a sec?"

"Yeah." Astrid handed him her phone. Sensing his apprehension, she added, "I don't know anyone coming here. You're from Berk. I thought it'd be a good idea to have someone who's kinda familiar here."

"That's a smart idea." Hiccup handed Astrid's phone back. "I wish I had that last year."

"How was it? Coming here? Alone?"

"You're blunt," Hiccup teased. Astrid opened her mouth to defend herself but Hiccup cut her off. "It's fine. Coming here was definitely scary. I left behind everything and everyone. But, I made great friends when I came here. I'm sure you will too."

"Thank you," Astrid said in a voice so faint, Hiccup wouldn't have known she was speaking if he hadn't seen her lips move.

"Whelp," Mala led the group to the doors. "The garage is to your left and I hope to see you all again this fall."

"Bye, Hiccup." Astrid waved, not looking back at the boy as she headed towards her car.

Mala was wrapping up some last questions with one family but quickly ushered them along so she could talk to the boy.

"Well, how do you feel?" Hiccup was still looking in the direction Astrid left, "Ah, I see. She was cute, wasn't she?" Mala elbowed Hiccup's ribs, finally snapping him out of his trance as he rubbed the abused area. "I love the hair."

"We just went to the same high school," Hiccup protested.

"Old friend?" Mala looked at Hiccup as she held the door for him.

"No." Mala could see the grin on his face as he looked at the ground to hide it. "But maybe a new one."

It's been forever because of school and life, but guess who's back!

This isn't my best work, but I needed to start somewhere. I hope you enjoy it.