Somebody to Love
By BourbonCowboy
Chapter Two: Leave Me Brokenhearted Tonight
The island of Berk is described as being twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It is located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. It snows nine months out of the year and hails the other three. On the upside, Berk is blessed with a plethora of dragons. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the leader of the Viking inhabitants of Berk, had been the first to train a dragon and thus had forever changed the Fate of his home. He had thought he would have years to prepare to become the leader of his people. His father, Stoic, was young and strong. But Fate had other plans for Stoic the Vast. When the dust settled, Hiccup had found his mother, Toothless had become an Alpha Dragon, and Hiccup stepped into his father's large shoes as leader of the Hairy Hooligans. He had weathered the storm and come out the other side and Hiccup had begun to feel that if he could get thru that, he could get thru anything. Two years after his father's death, Hiccup was finally coming into his own as a leader. Berk's defenses were stronger than they had ever been. The Viking's knowledge of dragons and the archipelago in which they lived was far greater than ever before. Hiccup was even considering expanding their territory to make exploration of the outer reaches easier. Though he spent most of his time on Berk planning, plotting, delegating, and generally running things – once every month or so Hiccup and Toothless would pack up their gear and chase the sun across the horizon, looking for…something. Hiccup told his dragon in a moment of quiet between the beat of Toothless' wings and a lull in the wind that "Something…something is out there, bud. Just beyond our reach. Whatever it is, it's waiting for me…for us to come and find it."
Hiccup and Toothless had gone on a long, solo scouting mission of the archipelago. The cold grey ocean stretched endlessly beneath them in all directions. The sun was slipping again below the horizon and soon it would be too dark to see, except by the light of Hiccup's sword. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless was overly worried about the dark. Toothless was an excellent navigator and Hiccup trusted him implicitly. They knew so much more about dragons now and their world had become so much bigger. Although Hiccup was the leader of the Hairy Hooligan Clan now, his heart still yearned for the adventure of exploration. His eyes scanned the horizon for new dragons and new lands. They had been gone for two weeks and Hiccup knew it was time to return. Astrid would be worried if he was gone much longer. "What do you say, bud? Ready to head home?" Hiccup patted Toothless' scaly side. The Night Fury regarded his rider with a shrewd look and made a sound like a moan, deep in his throat. "I know, Toothless. I feel it too. Like if we could just keep flying south…there's got to be more. It feels like – like we are right on the edge of discovering something…something amazing! But hey! Astrid and Stormfly are going to be missing us." Rider and dragon cast one last longing look to the south before turning and heading back to Berk.
A blue-flamed will of the wisp watched them go.
It took them half as long to make the return trip since they weren't stopping to explore every nook and cranny. Hiccup left Toothless at the Academy with a full bucket of his favorite fish and headed toward the chief's house. There was a lamp glowing in the upstairs bedroom and Hiccup paused at the sight of it. "Astrid must still be up." He thought, smiling happily. Since his father's death two years previously, things had been difficult between the young couple. Astrid had been upset that Hiccup wanted to delay their wedding, but Hiccup needed time to mourn his father. He had thought that the big Viking would be there on his wedding day and the idea of standing up before the whole village without him was too much to bear. The two had come to an agreement though, and with Astrid taking over the Academy and Hiccup spending more and more time on the everyday running of the village they had fallen into an easy routine. Hiccup had finally come to grips with his responsibilities and spent less and less time exploring and more time home. The couple finally had set a date for the wedding. It would be on the first day of Spring – a mere six weeks away.
Hiccup stopped and scooped up some wildflowers growing by the side of the path before he slipped inside his front door, quiet as a spirit. He wanted to surprise Astrid, for surely she would not be expecting him back for at least two more weeks. And if Hiccup was honest, she wouldn't be sending a scouting mission looking for him for at least three weeks. Hiccup was glad he had oiled up his prosthetic at the dragon academy before coming home or the squeaking of its hinges might alert Astrid he was there. Hiccup slipped silently up the stairs. He had seen the light glowing in his bedroom and thought perhaps Astrid was going over some of his designs for the new expansion for the dragon academy. Yes, Hiccup and Astrid had been dating and then engaged for what seemed forever, but they still kept separate residences. And even if Astrid did spend the night, she had her own room. Hiccup paused and thought 'Maybe she's just missing me. She's probably sleeping in my bed and wearing one of my shirts to remind herself of me. Awww…' and with that happy thought making his heart glow with adoration and affection, Hiccup finally crossed from the stairs to his bedroom and pushed the door open.
"Hiccup!" Astrid cried. Hiccup stood frozen in the doorway, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. There was Astrid in his bed, just as he had previously thought. Though instead of wearing Hiccup's shirt she hastily covered herself with a sheet. Hiccup's gaze shifted sideways to the other person occupying his bed. Eret, son of Eret, chest glistening with sweat and his hair looking like someone had been running their long fingers thru it. "Wh—what is this? Astrid? What? Why?" Hiccup wasn't even aware of the words tumbling out of his mouth. Astrid just stared at him with wide eyes. She didn't even have the decency to blush or to cry. "Just go, Hiccup. I'll be downstairs in a minute." Astrid said in a commanding voice. Hiccup almost obeyed out of habit. He had taken a couple of steps back in preparation to flee, but then something inside of him just snapped. Hiccup straightened his spine. He saw red. "Don't you tell me to go wait in my living room. This is my house! This is my room! That's my bed!" Eret had turned to the side of the bed and was hastily pulling up his pants. "I'll see you later, Astrid!" Eret muttered. Eret gathered up the rest of his clothes in his arms and beat a hasty retreat, averting his eyes from Hiccup's glower as he scuttled past. Astrid calmly reached over to the bedside table and picked up what looked like a nightgown, but may have just been one of Eret's shirts. She slipped the garment over her head and stood up to close the distance between herself and Hiccup. "I want you out." Hiccup growled. Astrid raised an eyebrow at him and said, "I'm sorry this is how you found out about us, Hiccup. But the truth is I have been unhappy for a long time. I was going to tell you when you got back. I was going to call off the wedding." Hiccup clung to his anger so that she wouldn't see his heart breaking at her words. "You were going to tell me when I got back? Well, Astrid, I'm back. Were the two of you together before I left? Is he the reason you practically begged me to go on this mission? I wasn't supposed to be going until after the wedding – but you insisted. It was so you could be with Eret."
Astrid didn't deny it. She picked up the rest of her clothes from the floor calmly. "Don't pretend to be upset, Hiccup. You didn't want to marry me anymore. That's why you kept putting off the wedding. You're just too much of a coward to break up with me cleanly. Instead you have to drag things out. Well, forgive me for not wanting to get jilted at the altar. Why don't you take a bath and get to bed. We can talk more in the morning." Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, shaking his head. "Talk in the morning? Astrid, you cannot honestly think that you can stay here. Or that I want anything to do with you after this?" The next few words came out in a yell that shook the rafters: "I was going to marry you!" he pulled in a breath, trying to calm his boiling blood. "I was going to marry you, Astrid. Not because I'm a coward, but because I loved you. Because I have always loved you! That's never been enough for you. I only became interesting to you when I had something to offer you – the change to fly dragons, to train dragons, to be the wife of the Chief…but I will never be the type of Viking you want. A Viking like Eret, son of Eret." Hiccup looked down at the flowers he still clutched in his left hand. For a moment he had forgotten where they came from. With the remembrance came a new rush of shame and embarrassment. Staring at the flowers he said, "I will not be made a fool in my own house. I want you gone. Now. Take your things and get out." His voice was quiet, his shoulders slumped. Astrid had the nerve to roll her eyes which just reignited Hiccup's fury. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her out the bedroom. Astrid's eyes first went wide and then narrowed to icy slits. "Don't you touch me, Hiccup!" Hiccup's tall form filled the doorway. His face was darkened by grief and anger. He didn't say another word, just pointed towards the front door. Astrid swallowed hard and then turned on her heel and fled the Chief's house. Hiccup waited until the sound of the door slamming had stopped reverberating in his ears before he allowed himself to sit down on the floor in his doorway and weep.
Not the best moment of his life. Worse! He couldn't even banish Astrid and her lover, Eret son of Eret because Astrid was in charge of the Dragon Academy since he had become the Chief. It had taken months for the scandal to die down. Then Astrid and Eret had the nerve to get pregnant and the scandal started right up again. Hiccup knew that Astrid was getting some dirty looks and there were rumors about whether Eret or Hiccup was the father of the baby, but Hiccup couldn't bring himself to feel bad for her. He had hardened his heart against further pain from Astrid. She had not only broken his heart, she had yanked it from his chest and set it on fire in front of the whole village. No, Hiccup didn't feel sorry that Astrid's name was being drug thru the rumor-mill mud. Hiccup had a village to run. He had people who depended on him for food, shelter, and protection. Hiccup put all thoughts of Astrid from his mind and focused on being the best leader he could, with his best friend Toothless by his side. And still his spirit yearned to be off - flying south towards…what?