"Mummy I don't like your new boyfriend"

Her mother froze monetarily"Why is that sweetheart?""

He's mean to me" she pouted "Plus, he gave me this" she pointed to a blossoming blue-black bruise on her shoulder "Why does he do that mummy?""

Well honey, he didn't mean to give you that""

Why does he do it then?""

You see, he has a magic juice" called alcohol" she pulled the young warrior onto her lap "And it's nice, but it makes him a bit mean"

She crossed her arms "I don't like it""Oh my darling girl, you will one day""But I don't want to""Unfortunately you have to, it's the effects of alcohol it's a part of life"

xxxx

Blaring music. Blinding lights. Deafening yells and slurs. Sticky surfaces. Air thick with alcohol.

Absolutely everything Astrid hated.

Groping. Pawing. Touching. Women and men blindly letting their guard down for the wrong people. Mistakes will be made, and Astrid can predict that at least (at least) half of these people will be filled with regret by tomorrow. She never saw what was so great about bars. They were her hell.

"Hellloooo people of Berk!"

Great.

Two more devils.

A pair of blondes all but barged into the bar that night. Astrid rolled her eyes at the sight. Just another pair of idiots who's mess she'd have to clean up.

"Behold! The wonder that is... Ruffnut and Tuffnut!"

"Actually she means... TUFFNUT and Ruffnut"

The female twin, 'Ruffnut' she assumed, scowled "RUFF and Tuff"

"TUFF AND RUFF"

"RUFF AND TUFF"

"TUFF AND RU-"

"Hey you two!" Astrid cut in, having enough of the juvenile dispute "How about you shut up and have a drink, yeah?"

She poured two tequila shots and put them in front of them. They exchanged looks of confusion and amusement.

"I like her. She gets it" the strange girl stated before downing the shot "Woo hoo!"

Instantly after that, she raced to the dance floor, leaving her brother to huff.

"Hey, no fair! Wait for me!" he exclaimed before also downing his drink. He followed his sister "Partaaayyyyy!"

Astrid stared at the two, slightly bewildered. It wasn't exactly a normal first encounter. Then again, when it came to bars, they usually never were.

"Ruff? Tuff?"

Wait a minute.

She recognized that nasally voice.

"Coffee snob!" she exclaimed smiling.

He turned at the sound of her voice and his eyes widened in recognition "A-Astrid! Hey!"

"Awww you remember me" she jokingly placed a hand over her heart "I'm touched"

He rolled his eyes in a playful manner and sat on a stool "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a seen a pair of twins come in here? Their names are-"

"Ruff and Tuff. Or was it Tuff and Ruff? Seemed to be a little conflict over that" Astrid smiled.

"Ah so you have met them"

"I feel like 'met' is a strong term. I have definitely seen them though" she pointed to the dance floor "The two muttonheads are killing the dance floor. Not sure it's in a good way though"

"Sounds like them" he chuckled "I'll apologize for them now"

"Apologize for what exactly?"

"For anything they've done. Or are doing. Or will do in the future"

Her giggle felt inevitable "Apology has been accepted. Is being accepted. And will be accepted for the future"

"Good to know" he grinned "They haven't done anything, right?"

"No, nothing bad" she dismissed "They started yelling so I offered them both drinks and ever since they've been on the dance floor"

"How many shots did you give them?"

"Only one each. Admittedly against my better judgement. Something tells me that those two and alcohol are not a good mix. But they seemed drunk when they came in so..." she spoke as she cleaned out a glass

"Oh they weren't drunk when they got here" he laughed

She paused "They weren't?"

"Nope" he shook his head.

"Then they just seem drunk when their sober apparently"

"You should see them when they're hungover"

"I'm almost afraid to find out"

"It's not fun. And I get to deal with it every morning"

"Lucky you" she quipped.

"Well someone's gotta get 'em up for their jobs"

Then it clicked in her brain "Those two are the friends who work in the sucky campus coffe shops?"

"Uh yeah" he blinked a coupe of times "I can't believe that you remembered that"

"Well, to be fair, it was only this morning"

"Right, right"

"Why would they even go out every night if they know what they're in for the next morning?"

"They don't exactly think ahead"

"That doesn't surprise me" she winked "They're definitely going on the regret list"

"Your what list?"

"Look around Hiccup" she gestured to everyone in the bar "Half of them are going to have a kickass hangover, or they'll wake up in someone else's bed, or who knows they'll wake up naked on a boat to Thor knows where, but ultimately they'll feel regret about tonight. Hence, my regret list"

"You've put a lot of thought into this" he commented.

"I'm here almost every night, this may be surprising, but it actually gets pretty boring"

"Shocker" he quipped sarcastically "So what list am I on?"

Astrid looked at him for a few moments "Regret list, for sure"

"What? Why?"

"You're not going to do anything that you'll regret" she clarified "But in the morning, when you're dealing with your buddies over there and simultaneously dealing with the headache you got from all this music, you'll regret having been here with them in the first place"

"No I don't think so"

"Really?"

"I mean, I'll definitely have a headache in the morning, and dealing with those two will be an absolute pain, but I won't regret being here"

"And why is that?" she asked with slight curiosity.

"Well I'm talking to you. Not regretting that"

Astrid definitely was not blushing.

At all.

She shot him a small half smile and looked down briefly.

"So what are you doing drinking?" she asked grabbing another glass.

"Oh just water's okay, thanks. I'm DD-ing" he explained.

At that, she raised an eyebrow "Isn't your campus like a ten minute walk away from here?"

He tried to come up with some sort of excuse or explanation, but ultimately deflated with defeat. For the second time that day, she watched him blush with embarrassment and rub the back of his neck. She couldn't figure out why the act was so endearing to her.

"Alright fine, I just don't like the taste alcohol all that much" before she could even formulate a reply he spoke again "Go ahead and laugh, I know how weird it is, the eighteen year old who doesn't like getting drunk"

The blonde bartender simply poured his water and passed him his drink "Not as weird as you might think. I don't like alcohol either"

"And yet you're a bartender" the irony was not lost on him.

"I'm not drinking any of it" she pointed out.

"Fair enough" Hiccup nodded "Can I ask why you don't like alcohol either?"

Astrid paused, choosing her words carefully. The question held more weight than anyone would ever realize. The thing is, she'd never actually had alcohol before. Not one drop. But she'd seen the effects alcohol could have on a person. She'd felt the effects alcohol could have on a person, and she had the scars to prove it.

"It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth"

"I get that"

She couldn't control the pensive stare fixated on her face.

'Do you?'

Still, she wiped it away before Hiccup noticed and changed the topic "You shouldn't do that, you know"

Now he was the one raising an eyebrow "Do what?"

"Hide stuff about yourself. From the fifteen minutes I've known you" she paused as they both laughed "I can tell you're pretty interesting. And nice. That's a rare trait. Own it."

"Most people would laugh at a teenager who doesn't like drinking"

"Most people are jerks. Doesn't mean you should stop being you" she countered

"True" the auburn teen agreed, grinning "That's good advice. Thanks Astrid"

She smirked "Anytime, coffee snob"

At that, he groaned with slight frustration "I'm never escaping that nickname am I?"

"Would you rather I call you by your real name?"

"Oh dear gods, no"

"There we go then"

xxxx

"No, no, no! I don't believe you!"

"I'm telling you it's true! My dad was livid!"

"There's just no way one dog could make that much mess!"

"Oh he so didn't do it alone! I still he think he had some kind of party with some of the neighbourhood dogs. You know, like that scene from Marmaduke"

"Oh right I remember that scene, your dad was really as mad as Marmaduke's owner?"

"Madder"

"Oh gods"

"And that was the lovely temper I got to deal with on a daily basis"

"It can't have been that bad"

"Trust me. It was" he said completely straight faced before bursting into laughter.

Astrid was almost crying with laughter at this point. In between serving drinks she'd been talking to Hiccup. It had been nearlynearly three hours. Best three hours of her life. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so uproariously. She couldn't figure out what it was, but there was something truly magnetic about Hiccup. She wouldn't call it charming exactly but... It was different. Nice.

"Hey at least your dad was in the picture" she said lightly.

"O-oh. I'm sorry for your loss..."

"Wait, no that's not what I meant. I just mean I, well I never knew him. He might be dead, I wouldn't know either way" she joked awkwardly and he tried to return the laugh but it didn't quite sound right "Okay, that wasn't funny, I'm just gonna see if anyone else needs a drink-"

"Hey, wait" he gently held out his arm to stop her from leaving "Don't worry about it, it's an awkward subject, but what you said wasn't that bad. Trust me, nobody is more awkard than me"

She smiled slightly, tension wearing off "I mean, don't humour me, it was pretty bad"

He chuckled, and the butterflies came back "I guess"

A silence that landed somewhere between comfortable and awkward fell over them.

"This probably doesn't help, but I feel the same way with my mum sometimes"

She stared at him for a few moments "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know who she is. But I feel like I don't actually know her. Does that make sense?"

"Don't worry, it does" she reassured him "It's like, you know the face but you don't really know the person behind it"

"Exactly" he nodded "And it's so weird because everyone always says I'm like her. The way I talk, the way I look, even the way I act. They divorced when I was younger, I can't even remember the last time I saw her"

She could tell this topic was sensitive so she attempted to lighten the mood "You know they tell us about how we should be grateful to our parents for everything they've done for us. But they never talk about how they screw us up"

He laughed a little, previous atmosphere returning "I don't really drink, but I'd drink to that"

"Cheers" she grinned pretending to hold up a glass, an action that he quickly "Here's to weird childhoods"

"To weird childhoods!"

They both mimiced a drinking motion.

"You should drink slow, this stuff is strong"

"So strong. I could get drunk off of one glass"

"Someone can't hold their liquor'' she smirked.

"Ah, you caught me. Shameful"

Astrid giggled absent-mindedly pouring a drink for one of the customers. Once he had his drink she turned her attention back to Hiccup.

"So um listen, I was wondering if you-" he began

Unfortunately, he never got to finish his sentence. Before he knew it a flash of blonde was crashing into him.

"Hiccy! Heyyyyyy" An extremely drunk Tuffnut slurred.

Hiccup's eyes widened as he looked over at Astrid, who was doing everything she could to contain her laughter.

'Hiccy, I'm so gonna remember that'

"You having funnnn? Who's the girlll?" he squinted at her nametag "A... Atr... Atrid!"

"Atrid?"

"He misses the letter s when he's drunk" Hiccup explained "Not sure why though

Astrid simply nodded, unsure of how to react.

Suddenly, the male twin let out a loud gasp "Wait a minute! Atrid! You... You de cute coffe girlll" he slurred, leaning his weight heavily onto Hiccup.

Hiccup's eyes widened even more, if that was possible, as he looked frantically between the pair.

"I-I didn't say that!"

"Yeahh you did" he slurred "You were all like... Ya know... Blah blah blah Cute coffee girl... Blah blah blah.."

"Alright Tuff, that's enough from you" he ushered his best friend back onto the dance floor.

"So you think I'm cute, huh?"

"W-well... I mean... W-what I was s-saying was-"

"Relax coffee snob, I'm flattered, really"

"You don't care? You're not like, I dunno, weirded out or anything?"

"No, why would I be?" she asked "I firmly belive that you can find someone attractive without being attracted to them" she gestured to him "Case and point. I think you're cute but it doesn't mean we're gonna date"

"I mean, I know I'm awkward but I'm not that bad-"

"Oh no, it's nothing personal" she waved him off dismissively "I'm eighteen years old and I have to work five jobs just to pay for my crappy flat. Not much time for relationships with all of that going on"

"Five jobs? That's insane"

"It's not all that bad. One of my jobs with an orphanage and another one is with a pet shelter, so all in all not bad"

"Wait a minute, that's only four jobs"

"Fifth job is waitress, not a big fan"

"What restaurant do you work in?"

"Geez coffee snob, first the coffee shop, then the bar, and now the restaurant? I'm starting to think you're some kind of stalker" she teased lightly "Can't resist my cuteness?"

"Oh gods" He rubbed a hand over his face "I'm just gonna find the twins and-"

"Hey wait a second" she stopped him "The little Italian place down the street. That's where I work"

"Well in true stalker fashion, I'll remember that" Hiccup joked "But seriously, I probably should get my friends"

"I would" she agreed, looking as the pair trying to agitate someone twice their size.

"You REALLY wanna fight big guy? Bring. It. On"

"Yup, that's my cue" he stood and went over to where the scene was unfolding. She couldn't figure out what was being said but soon enough the twins were being marched out the door.

"See ya around Astrid"

She decided to get one last tease in "See ya cutie!"

He turned to scowl at her, but there was only warmth in his stare. He shook his head, smiling as he left. Astrid couldn't help but smile too. That had actually been a nice night.

Until...

"AH!" Astrid yelped as beer got spilt all over her uniform by yet another drunk guy.

It was the gods dammed effects of alcohol.

Nobody will care about this but I'm gonna say it anyway: Marmaduke is such an underrated film.

So I don't know if I achieved this, but my aim in this chapter was to get Astrid and Hiccup to open up to each other, without opening up too much. That's why their bits about their families are so vague (and why the first scene is so short.. Trust me, that topic will be coming up a lot ;)

Until next time

Shohini :)