Okay, this is where it gets good. *mysterious smile* Read on, my loves!
It gets weirder.
One, Lindsay's been oddly busy lately; he and Toothless have had a fair amount of just-them time in the afternoons. Two, Astrid Hofferson is going out of her way to talk to him. Not just talk…flirt?
Hiccup acknowledges he's obtuse when it comes to flirting, whether in doing so or interpreting it. But he's pretty sure smiling radiantly, grazing your hand across the other person's arm, and laughing at his feeble top-of-his-head jokes constitutes as flirting. And check, check, and check, Astrid's doing it all.
He mentions it to Lindsay, but she just smiles in that indecipherable way and says, "Sounds likes she might like you, lovemuffin."
"I thought we agreed lovemuffin shouldn't be used."
"I think it applies here."
"I think we shouldn't use that word."
"I think you should shut up about my word choice."
"I think you should—oh, this could go on all day."
She grins. "It could."
"For real, isn't the Astrid thing weird?"
She shrugs. "Maybe she's figured out the whole sweet-nerd-is-perfect-for-her-thing."
"After, what, eight years?"
"Oh, you're complaining about timing?"
"It's just strange that it happened so...randomly." She smacks his arm. "You're so picky!"
"You're so violent!"
"Because Astrid will be better with violence."
"It's not like I'm—oh, just be quiet."
She smirks. Argument won.
Lindsay reclines in the beanbag chair. It's beyond sad that she's comfortable in this seat; she's been spending more time than she'd like to recall in Astrid's room. She has new respect for coaches, because it is freaking hard work. She's had to practically make a book of how to flirt (psh, like she knows better than Astrid) and give frequent pep talks to keep her nerve up. And now Hiccup's suspicious so she'll have to figure out how to work around that too.
She better get a good birthday present for this. And free cookies. And—well, he better be grateful.
"He's not convinced."
"What? I'm talking to him! And taking a lot of crap for it, I'll have you know!"
"Exactly—he can't believe you're talking to him."
Astrid looks, for a second that passes in a heartbeat, defeated.
Lindsay stands. "It's time you just tell him the truth."
"What?" Astrid shrieks.
Lindsay shrugs, "He thinks you're just trying to hurt him. Can't blame him, really. The only way to convince him you're honest is to be honest." She feels a stab of reproach at those words and doesn't want to analyze why. "There's nothing else I can say, Astrid. I really… tried." She sways, almost collapsing. Trying seems so trivial. She tried so hard.
Astrid's shoulders hunch. "I know. Lindsay—I-I'll try."
There's nothing else she can ask of her.
Hiccup's exasperated.
Lindsay's walking around with a terrible air of defeat. She's distracted and when he addresses it she denies it with a snappy comeback that makes him laugh and distracts him until later and he remembers what he was trying to ask.
Astrid is avoiding him. Where she was going out of her way to talk to him, she's now averting her eyes. This only reaffirms that terrible doubt that someone put her up to it; that he never liked him and never will. He'd try to talk to Lindsay about this, but he'll make her cry, or worse, attack Astrid.
He's sent Lindsay on to Theatre when Astrid yanks him into a storage closet.
His first thought is to calculate how far he can run before she catches him, to minimizes the damge she is undoubtedly going to do to his face.
Needless to say, he is not expecting what she says next:
"Hiccup. I—I think I— I think I love you. "
His lips grapple to form a word of response.
"Wha—? I—you—what?" This is a dream, it has to be, there is no freaking way.
"I think I love you."
"You think?"
"I do."
"I—I—" Oh, hell. "Do you want to go on a—activity?"
She blinks. "Do you mean a date?"
"I, um, yes."
"Okay."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Um, I'll call you?"
He blinks. "You have my number?"
She smiles enigmatically and waves goodbye; she vanishes like a nymph down the hallway.
He wakes up at the next bell with the lovely realization he passed out from shock in the janitor's closet. This is what shock does for you. Hey, at least it didn't kill him.
Lindsay's ringtone, stolen from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, blares: "Lindsay, you have a call! Lindsay, you have a call! Lindsay, you have a call!" She tears her eyes from her history book and picks up, irritated at the interruption: "Yes?"
"Hey," Hiccup's voice streams through the phone.
"Hey, lovemuffin. What do you need?" Please be quick; so much reading left.
"We can't hang out tomorrow, okay? I'm sor—"
"Okay, sure, yeah." She tries to find her place again. Something about Henry VIII.
"Okay? You sure?"
"Uh-huh." She starts reading again.
"Oh." He pauses. 'Okay. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, muffin."
"Bye."
She hangs up, re-immerses herself in the Tudors, and promptly forgets the call.
Hiccup, recently licensed, picks up Astrid and takes her to dinner at Olive Garden, which he knows is her favorite restaurant. He pays, gallantly. They talk and he's floating on air because she's really laughing with him, not at him, and she likes him. He offers to drive her home, but she senses that he really doesn't want to part yet and they're back at his house.
The kissing is pretty great.
All of this evening has been pretty great.
What comes next? Not so much.
"It's practically subarctic out there," Lindsay complains cheerfully, hanging her watermelon colored Peacoat next to Stoick's suit jackets and Hiccup's hoodie in a completely natural gesture. "Okay, do you want to start with biology or Eng—" her words seep out of her open mouth as she turns to see Astrid and Hiccup entangled together.
She crosses the kitchen in two furious bounds and yanks them apart by their hair. Hiccup opens his eyes to a catch a glimpse of a miserable, wounded, repulsed face and eyes that are shining unnaturally; he only has time to feel ashamed before her fist rams into his nose.
Oh, I'm going to get flamed for that cliffie. Oh well. I face it bravely. Review!
HunterNite: Tis not the end :) I can promise 2 more chapters at least.
Punzie the Platypus: IKR! cookies ;) thank you, my love. I hope you like this chapter, even with my evil cliffie ;)
mks 12 98: I LOVE your multiple reviews. Do not stop them! Ever! And thank you! And nothing is promised. Anything. If you guys didn't get it already, I love a plot twist (hm, the end of this chapter).
SonOfLucifer: "Perfect"? "Just too good"? I love you!
Voldyne: Lol THANK YOU! you're a very kind person for that ;)
Midnight4568: I kind of went for that effect. I love can't waits, thank you :)
Ella Unlimited: I hope this clarified the change; let me know if it needs more and I'll edit. Astrid's father may appear as well.
CamiKlaus 24-7: Most definately a triangle! ;)
And thanks to... the people who added me to author alerts: Ananbeth the Unicorn, MWA220; their fav stories: Mello's-Dark-Chocolate; and their favorite authors: Samantha Spanner.