Here's another update!

Hiccup's POV*

"Um…. Do I have something on my face?" I ask stupidly as I reach to wipe my face. Dad had just left and I knew that someone was here. Apparently my mom's old friend and her daughter. But since I had announced my presence with my usual sarcastic remark it was unbearably quiet.

"No! No sorry I was just so taken aback by how much you look like your mom." A woman's voice finally answers. Her voice sounds pretty nice so I assume she's naturally a nice lady but I can hear a hint of sadness by the slight tremble in her words.

"Um well I guess come on in. The living room is right this way." I say awkwardly as I gesture in the direction I know it should be. I turn and carefully walk for my normal seat. I sit down and hear two other soft thumps as the others sit down. The room is generally very bright and I'm assuming has a large window because I am able to make out two fuzzy dark shapes that I'm assuming is the woman and her daughter. The woman clears her throat and introduces herself as Liz and explains how she knew my mom. She begins rambling on about how cute I was as a kid and I pretend to pay attention but I am worried about her daughter who hasn't said anything to me. Did I creep her out with my empty gaze? Did she think I was some helpless kid who should be stuck in a home? Why hadn't she said anything? Maybe going to a normal school wasn't such a good idea.

I was cut off my musing as Liz excuses herself to head toward what I assume is the kitchen.

"Um… so yeah.. I guess I will just go to my room and read or something. You can watch tv if you would like." I mumble as I stand and head toward the stairs not wanting to creep her out any more than I must have already.

"What do you mean read?" a voice cuts me off and I stumble at the beautiful sound. There must be an angel in my house because that's the only way I know how to describe this voice. It was light and airy but also had a slightly demanding tone like she knows what she wants and expects others to obey. This voice has the perfect pitch even with the note of confusion showing through. This is a voice I could spend hours listening to even if it was reading the most boring book on the planet. I caught myself as I stumbled but ended up slamming my leg into the coffee table. Sharp pain shot through my shin as I groaned and reached a hand to cover what I know will be a bruise.

I hear a gasp and then I feel a hand fall on my shoulder and direct my limping form back to my previous seat.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you! But your blind so how can you read?" that beautiful voice questions bluntly. I'm not even irritated that she's questioning my abilities.

"I'm fine and I can read using braille. It's those raised dots that are normally on signs. They make books with them now so people like me can read." I explain with a chuckle trying to imagine what her expression may look like. I can't assemble an image because I'm not really sure what her face even looks like.

"Oh that makes sense." She said simply. "How's your leg?" she asks as though it's an afterthought.

"Oh you know just another bruise to add to my list." I say offhandedly. I unconsciously slipped back into my sarcastic tone as I gesture toward what I'm sure is a blooming bruise. I hear a sharp exhale and suddenly feel a sharp pain in my upper bicep. I jump and instinctively reach a hand to the sore spot to rub the pain away. "ow" I complain as I try to figure out what happened. Then it hit me. "Wait did you just punch me?!" I yelp as I swing my gaze to where I think she is.

"Yep. That's what you get for being careless and hurting yourself." She says like it should be common sense.

"So let me get this straight. You punch me, thereby hurting me, because I got hurt when you surprised a blind person?" I question with a raised brow.

Astrid's POV*

"Yep." I reply popping the p. He looked kind of cute with his brow raised. It almost disappeared completely under his shaggy bangs.

"Well that makes perfect sense. Beat a blind kid for making him hurt himself." He says cheekily as he rolls his eyes. The way he looks slightly to the side of my head reminds me even more of his condition and I feel guilty for startling him and hitting him. But feeling guilty also makes me want to hit him also.

"Watch it or I will hit you again and this time I won't hold back." I warn with a raised fist and even though he can't see it he flinches back with a protective hand over the still sore spot.

"That was holding back?!" He exclaims, "Remind me not to get on your bad side." He mumbles more to himself. I snort as I hold back a laugh and he blushes slightly before quietly chuckling. I fight back the rush of heat trying to flood my cheeks even if no one was around to see it.

"Are you laughing at me?" I ask in a warning voice. He quickly pales before shaking his head vigorously.

"No! No no I was just laughing at the situation. I mean you're one of the few people who hasn't tried to baby me just cause I'm blind. We were just fighting over how your willing to hit me over such a crazy reason." He tried to reason. And now that I thought about it his reasoning was pretty funny. I started laughing quietly and a minute later he joined in. soon we were both laughing so hard I had tears running down my face and he was clutching his side trying control his laughter.

Neither of us noticed my mom standing in the kitchen door watching us laugh hysterically. I didn't see the sad smile to accompany her teary eyes as she watched her daughter laugh like she hadn't in years. And the boy who used to almost be a son to her when Val was alive. What she wouldn't give for Val to see their kids have fun together again. Maybe Astrid would be herself again since she had closed off without her childhood friend to bring her out of her shell. Hiccup doesn't know it yet but he is changing all the lives around him for the better and they are changing his. How long can this continue?

Ok! So I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to update soon! Please leave reviews so I know what you think so far!