I'm still alive. And I'm back with 1,806 words of pure...I don't know what it is...

So, I kinda want to dedicate this chapter to a good friend of mine, who is leaving in a week for five months of Italy. Laura, by the way, I hate you! You're leaving me totally alone at school. That's not nice.

Anyway to Guest 1 - You should meet my little cousin, she likes the nickname 'Hotcup' very much... ;-)

To Guest 2- I saw that other fanfiction too. I'm just very uncreative when it comes to titles.

To King Of Beasts 007 - Thank you! I will try to write something that makes sense.

And to nightfury335 - I wouldn't say art, I'd say rubbish. But thanks nonetheless.

Enjoy, or not!

College was hard enough, but being Astrid Hofferson was way harder.

Since the blonde always had to be the best at everything she did, she had much to do to keep up her grades at their current levels. All straight A's.

In addition, she had quite a set of extracurricular activities, although most of them had something to do with sports. The student loved cheerleading, took classes in Krav Maga and thanks to her father insisting on it, she could split a log of wood in two. In case of an emergency probably also a man.

The only problem: she had so much to do, that she lacked the time for a lot of social life. She often had to cancel meetings with her friends, which she had quite many of them when she had to study hard.

On this fateful day, she had to call off a date with Ruffnut and Heather, who were already complaining about the hard-working girl. The only thing different than usual was that Astrid simply couldn't concentrate on anything. And frankly, that was solely Hiccup Haddock's fault! How dare he, he and that damn smile, buzz around in her head without her permission! (Not that she would ever let him do that willingly.)

Having to study for the upcoming psychology exam was hard enough work as it is without trying to erase Hiccup from her thoughts.

After nearly two hours of reading the same page in her psychology book over and over again, she finally gave up and decided to drive to the one place, she would definitely forget about him: to her uncle's place.

After her parents had died, her uncle took her in and practically raised her as his own daughter. With Finn Hofferson being a fireman, Astrid had the feeling ever since she moved in with him that she needed to be ready if something terrible happened. Especially since her uncle had the nickname Fearless Finn Hofferson for a reason. When everyone retreated he was the last one out, making sure no one was left behind and everybody was safe.

This resulted in Astrid detaching herself from everybody she had a connection with to prevent getting hurt by losing somebody she cared about. Not even her best friends knew all of her and that scared the shit out of her. What if she was too closed off so that nobody would ever really love her? What if she couldn't establish a real connection with someone?

However, she didn't think about the What If's when she parked her car outside of her uncle's house. The only thing on her mind was how unfair it was, that pets weren't allowed in her dorm room. Since dogs were also pets her dog Stormfly had to live with Finn.

Exiting the car, she muttered, "I really need an apartment of my own."

As she unlocked the front door, the barking started. Astrid carefully opened the door to prevent being overthrown by her over-eager dog and becoming the victim of one of Stormfly's greetings, where she licked Astrid until her complete face was covered in saliva.

But this time nothing even remotely close to that happened. As she pushed the door wide open, the blonde girl saw her uncle holding her dog by the collar to keep her from licking Astrid to death.

"It's alright, lass. C'mon in. I've got the crazy dog." Finn Hofferson looked like he was holding Stormfly down with all his might.

As if Stormfly understood what the fireman said about her, she turned her, stopped the panting and the barking and glared at him.

"Uncle Finn! I'm happy to see you too. By the way, I always told you she could understand everything you said." Astrid chuckled at his wary glance towards the dog.

"You can let her go now. I'm ready to be overthrown."

Fearless Finn Hofferson slowly eased his hand from the collar and steadied himself to spring into action if necessary.

As soon as Stormfly felt the big hand disappear, she lunged forward to her owner, who she hadn't seen In over a week. Colliding with the student, happened to throw them both over. So, while Astrid lay on the ground and smiling in a very content manner, Stormfly nuzzled her face into Astrid's neck.

And suddenly, lying on the floor, she realized that no matter what had happened to her parents, Fearless Finn Hofferson would always love her as if she was his own daughter.

That realization both calmed and scared us.

After a couple of hours they spent talking, laughing, eating and generally just catching up (and playing in Stormfly's case), Astrid sensed the need to get back to her dorm room. So she bid her goodbye and got into her car.

Since her uncle's house was a little bit outside of the small town, the girl thought it would take about an hour to get to her dorm.

The last thing she expected was for the old car to give up as soon as she passed the first few houses of the outskirts of Berk.

Lucky for her just about two minutes from her current position was the only working car repair shop of the whole city.

Thus, she took her purse, got out of her car, locked it and walked the rest to the shop.

It wasn't that late, about 5 pm, but it was late enough in order for only two or three mechanics still working. As she entered the shop, she was nearly immediately greeted by a sturdy looking man with an arm prosthesis. Oh, and a missing leg.

" 'ello, lassie! How can I help ye?"

"My car broke down about two minutes from here, I'd need someone to take a look at it."

"Aye, I've got you." He looked around the shop, obviously in search of something. "Eret, c'm'ere" Or in search of someone. "I'm Gobber by the way." Gibber extended his remaining arm.

"Astrid", she shook his hand.

In the meantime, a tall man with dark brown hair and a tattoo on his chin had approached.

Gibber explained Astrid: "Eret here will tow your car back here and then we'll have a look, okay?"

Eret looked at Astrid "Eret son of Eret at your service, Ma'am."

Between fits of giggles, she managed to bring a "Just Astrid Hofferson, no Ma'am." out.

After she had calmed down, Eret told her to get into the towing truck and to give him the directions to where her car stood.

As Eret began to drive, Astrid decided to interrogate him. Just for the fun of it.

"Soo...can I ask you some questions, Eret son of Eret?"

He grinned, "Sure thing, shoot away."

"What's up with the chin tattoo?"

Eret told her that it was a tribal crest, a remnant from when his ancestors lived in Iceland centuries ago before coming to the UK.

"Then how did you end up here? In Berk? In the middle of nowhere?"

"You know, that's just something that happens."

She nodded, pretty certain that it wasn't something that just happens as he put it, but she against prying for details.

"I noticed a kinda thumping noise in the shop earlier. What was that?" Astrid remembered the weird, repetitive noise just now as she didn't hear it anymore.

"Oh. That was Gobber's…hmm…how can I put easy? Let's say adoptive son. Gobber has a forge in the back room and he and his adoptive son use sometimes. He's a nice guy, but a few years back…man, he was just awkward most of the time and damn, he was so lanky. Now he kinda grew out of it, the lanky part not the awkwardness. That still shows sometimes." Eret chuckled. It was clear to Astrid that he held a great affection for the boy.

"How long have you been working for Gobber?"

"Pfff…I started at Gobber the Belch what?...five years ago…yeah as soon as I got here. That was a long time ago."

Before she could form a response, Eret continued. "We're back."

She hopped out the towing truck. "Already? I didn't even notice we stopped for my car."

"Yeah, I noticed. You were completely dazed off." Eret laughed.

This time when they entered the repair shop, Astrid instantly noticed the missing of the thumping noise. And now the shop seemed awfully silent.

Gobber came towards them. "Okay, lassie. We'll take a look at it."

Astrid sighed in relief.

"Tomorrow." Gone was the relief, back was a slight panic.

"What? Can't you look at it now? I need it to get back to my dorm." The blonde girl became more agitated by the second.

"I'll take you to your dorm."

At the sound of the familiar voice, the girl turned around.

There stood the handsome devil with the green eyes. Arms crossed and leaning against a door frame, Hiccup looked like he totally belonged in there.

" 'iccup! Ye already done with forging?"

Hiccup pushed himself away from the wall and came over to them. As he came closer Astrid noticed the wet strands of hair.

"Yes, Gobber. I'm done. And I'll take Astrid home. If that's alright with her?" He looked questioningly at her.

Shaking her head to clear it, she answered with "Yeah, sure. Thanks."

"Then come on. It's the black pick-up in the parking lot."

Astrid waved Gobber and Eret goodbye and followed the young man out.

When Hiccup started the engine, Astrid looked up to him and said: "So...You're Gobber's adoptive son, aren't you?"

"Let me guess: Eret told you that, right? But, yeah, you could say that."

The longer they drove, the longer they wanted the drive to last forever. At first, there was a little bit of awkward silence. However, as soon as the ice was broken, they discussed things of all kinds: politics, teachers, hobbies and so on. And then they arrived at Astrid's dorm room.

Hiccup chuckled a bit embarrassed. "I guess we're here."

"Yeah, I guess we are."

Astrid unbuckled her seatbelt and went to get out of the car, but Hiccup caught her wrist.

At the sensation of Hiccup touching her, she instantly looked into his eyes. He, on the other hand, pulled his hand away as if it was burned.

"I wanted to ask you for your number, in order for me to send you a text when your car is ready. But I totally get it, if you don't -"

Eret was right. His awkwardness still showed sometimes.

"I'll give my phone number." She took out a piece of paper and wrote her phone number on it. Astrid smiled as he took it and leaned forward to peck his cheek. And then she got out of the car. Completely unaware she just caused him a stroke.

So, he sat in his truck, dumbfounded, unmoving, and grinning like an idiot.