Thanks so much for the nice reviews! They make my day, really. I know I've left a lot unclear but in time it'll allllll make sense. Trust me. *evil laughing*
"I told you that it was a bad idea! I said we should wait. But did you listen to me? No." Hiccup had been ranting since they left the studio.
Jack wasn't sure if it was directed toward him or Merida. Hiccup seemed to just be yelling at the sky. He kept nagging and muttering curses as he fiddled with his keys. When the three stepped into the apartment, Astrid was sitting on the couch. The second they walked in she shot up on her feet. She quickly brushed her bangs in front of her face and straightened her shirt.
"Hey, babe," Hiccup said bluntly as he kissed her cheek.
He stormed off down the hallway, stripping his winter coat as he went. Astrid looked at Merida with concern. The red head just starred at the floor.
"Oh I'm sorry guys." she said solemnly.
Her voice was strained and ruff. She walked over to the fridge and pulled out four bottles of Sam Adams.
"How you holding up, Jack?" she called over her shoulder.
"Fine." he grumbled.
That's when he noticed something was off. He looked closely at the blonde's eyes. They were red, not a lot but noticeable enough.
"How are you holding up?" he asked suspiciously.
"Great." she spat.
She brought the beers over to the coffee table. Mer grabbed one and popped the cap off.
"Astrid, you're my hero." she said taking a huge swig.
She chuckled halfheartedly. Hiccup walked back in looking slightly less mad. He gladly accepted a beer which surprised Jack because his Norwegian friend had never been one for alcohol. He shrugged and took one himself. Astrid sat on the arm of the couch while she braided Hiccup's hair, trying to coax him out of his grump. Just then, the sound of a phone vibrating filled the room. Everyone unconsciously reached for theirs.
"It's mine." Merida said before pressing the phone to her ear, "Aye?"
Muffled voices could be heard from the other line. Conversation in the room ceased. Merida looked at the others' wide eyes and scoffed.
"It's just me dad." she said covering the bottom of the phone.
A few moments passed before the red head's jaw dropped.
"No really?" she exclaimed," Right now? I can't believe it! I'm on ma way. Thanks Dad!"
She ended the call and began bouncing up and down with the glee of a preschooler. Jack smiled at the sight. It wasn't very often that Merida allowed herself to act like this.
"What was that about?" Hiccup asked.
The Scott blinked as if he'd spoken a different language. Shaking her head out of her daze her toothy smile returned.
"Not telling ya. It's about ma big something. I gotta go."
She didn't say another word, bolting out of the apartment and shutting the door, beer still in hand.
"I don't think she should be driving." Jack said rising from where he'd been sitting.
"Don't worry," Astrid assured him, "the one thing the DunBrochs can hold more than a grudge is their beer."
The three of them burst out laughing. Hearing the commotion, Toothless came bounding in from the bedroom wanting to get in on the fun. He pounced on Jack making him tumble to the floor. This only made them laugh harder. Jack clutched his stomach. It felt good to laugh, to smile, to joke around with friends. For a moment, he thought maybe things could actually go back to the way they were.
The laughter died down. Astrid heaved herself off the couch with Hiccup's hand in hers.
"Come on," she said, "let's get some lunch. My next class is in an hour."
Hiccup allowed himself to be led into the kitchen, leaving Jack on the floor with a puzzled expression.
"Class?" he asked.
"Astrid teaches self defense classes." Hiccup said as he rummaged through the refrigerator.
Setting a packet of cheese and lunch meat on the counter, he turned to the blonde and grinned.
"And today she has her senior citizen class."
She groaned loudly, setting plates on the table. The brunette chuckled. Jack felt strange. This playful teasing seemed so unnatural to him. Astrid wasn't one for teasing, not from what he could remember. In fact, this whole situation still seemed impossible to him. Hiccup and Astrid, living together, having lunch together, getting married for crying out loud! None of it made sense.
"Jack," Hiccup said, interrupting his thoughts, "you staying for lunch?"
The silver haired boy looked at him, then at the table. Astrid had already set out three plates.
"Yeah, Hic," he responded, "sure."
"Then get your butt over here and help."
Once the food was on the table and an assortment of sodas had been collected, the 23 year olds relaxed into their chairs. Jack didn't realize how hungry he was. He'd forgotten to eat breakfast, again, and the only thing in his stomach was coffee. He scarffed down a bag of chips and a ham and cheese sandwich in 60 flat. Hiccup, who was enjoying his sandwich with his mouth shut, rolled his eyes. Astrid simply raised an eyebrow, restraining her first instinct to make a comment.
Eventually, Jack noticed the annoyed eyes on him and finished with a loud swallow. He grinned sheepishly.
"So," he said trying to change the subject, "Hiccup and Astrid getting married. There's got to be an interesting story behind that."
The couple gave him the same look of 'really'? Jack sank into his chair. Hiccup looked at his fiancé and smiled. She shrugged and gave the same grin.
"Well it must have been about a month or two after you left." Hiccup said, "I got my acceptance letter from Rider's Institute of Technology. I told you about that, right?"
"Yeah," Jack replied, "applied without even telling your dad. Pretty ballsy, Haddock."
"He didn't just apply." Astrid spat, "He worked his ass off to get a full scholarship."
Jack dropped his smirk immediately. He had no idea about the scholarship. Hiccup hadn't told him.
"I didn't-" he stumbled, "I had no idea. Hic that's awesome."
"Thanks." Hiccup said sheepishly, "Anyway, I was freaking out about how to tell my dad. He wanted me to just graduate and run the gym with him."
"So what'd you do?"Jack asked taking a huge drink of Dr. Pepper.
Hiccup and Astrid exchanged weary glances. The brunette sighed.
"I bought a one way bus ticket, packed a bag, and left."
-Flashback-
Hiccup couldn't believe how screwed up his life had gotten. Most kids, when they get accepted to their dream school, are uncontrollably happy. They're bouncing off the walls like little kids while their parents tell them how proud they are. That was definitely not this situation. It had even begun raining outside. Hiccup almost laughed. It was the most clichéd disaster possible.
He went over his mental check list one more time. Some clothes, some toiletries, laptop. Bus ticket? He shuffled gingerly over to his desk. It was hard to see in the dark, but he couldn't risk turning the light on. His dad thought he was asleep and if he came in now, he was done for. Hiccup groped around in his desk drawer. His breath hitched in his throat as his hand touched the paper. It was real, his ticket out of here. He was actually leaving, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.
Hiccup shook his head. H e couldn't back out of this. This was his dream school, something his dad could never understand. He had to do this. He shoved the bus ticket in his back pocket and threw on his green hoodie. As silently as he could he unlocked his bedroom window and slid it open.
He wasn't stealthy enough. Toothless stirred from his sleeping position on the end on the boy's bead. The puppy bounded off the mattress and began running in between the boy's legs. Hiccup felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew this was going to be the hardest part, leaving his best friend. He knelt down and stroked the dog behind his ears, making him bark happily.
"No, bud, keep it down." Hiccup whispered, tears forming in his eyes, "I'm sorry, bud. Really, I am."
The dog cocked his head to the side. Hiccup scratched his chin.
"I don't want to leave you, you know that. But I can't stay here where I don't belong."
Toothless jumped up on his hind legs and licked the boys face. Hiccup wrapped the dog in his arms as the lab rested his head on his shoulder. He would be fine without Hiccup. There was a letter on his pillow for his dad to find in the morning. It didn't say much, just telling him to leave Toothless with Fishlegs. He'd be happy there.
Hiccup looked at the clock. It was almost 11. Hiccup had to hurry; he'd gotten the last bus of the day. With a sigh, he let go of the dog and heaved his duffle bag onto the fire escape. As he lifted himself out, Toothless began to follow him.
"No," Hiccup whispered, "Toothless, stay."
The lab whimpered, but remained where he was.
"Good boy." Hiccup said shutting the window behind him.
Without looking back, he slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way down the fire escape. He'd forgotten in was raining until his sneakers sunk into the damp earth. He groaned and flipped up his hood. The bus terminal was almost 8 blocks away, so he shouldn't take his time. He walked as fast as his feet would take him, trying his hardest not to turn around and look back up at his window.
"Yo Haddock!" Hiccup heard from behind him.
He'd only made it about 3 streets and he was already breathing heavily. Spinning around, he saw dark features, a girl, half a block behind him. He couldn't see who it was, but he'd recognize the scream anywhere.
"What are you doing, Hiccup?" Astrid said jogging closer to him.
Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek. The point of this whole plan was to avoid goodbyes, especially from people who thought he was an idiot for going. He couldn't afford to stop. Hiccup began walking again. He heard the footsteps quicken behind him, amplified by the rain. She was at his side in moments.
"Hiccup where are you going?" she demanded.
He didn't answer. He only walked faster. Astrid met his pace.
"Hiccup," she stepped in front of him, "stop!"
If only he had. He slammed into her, sending her back first onto the concrete. She let out a small yelp as the water soaked through her pajama bottoms and t-shirt. Hiccup's mouth went dry as she glared up at him, clearly wanting to kill him. How had she followed him? Why had she followed him? Hiccup didn't have time to ask, but he couldn't just walk away from her now. With a sigh, he set his duffle on the ground and reached out his hand.
"Sorry." he muttered.
The blonde was hesitant to take it. She eyed him head to toe before grasping his hand. It was Hiccup's turn to yelp as she pulled him to the ground. In one swift movement, she was on top of him with her fists pinning his hands to the sidewalk. Thunder echoed across the empty city street.
"Astrid, what the hell?" Hiccup screamed, his voice hoarse.
He hadn't slept and being out in the rain was undoubtedly going to make him catch a cold. A flash of lightening highlighted the stern look on Astrid's face, but in an instant it was gone, and the world around them blended into endless blues and blacks.
"Hiccup where are you going?" she repeated.
"Why were you following me?" he retorted.
She narrowed her eyes at the boy beneath her. She obviously had the advantage in this situation. Still, she felt compelled to answer him.
"I was watching the Hunger Games when I heard something outside my window. Looked down and there you were, working your way down the fire escape. Now you tell me why."
Hiccup squired pointlessly under her hold. He didn't stand a chance against the New York juvenile women's MMA champion, but he could try. Her grip on his wrists only tightened.
"Let go of me, Astrid!" he yelled, "I'm going to miss my bus."
"Hiccup please." she said softly.
Her change in tone surprised Hiccup enough to make him stop fidgeting. He gave a defeated sigh.
"I'm leaving." he said bluntly.
"I guessed that from the duffle bag." she said flatly, "I want to know why."
"What do you care?" he challenged.
She was silent for a few moments. The rain had begun to fall harder, drowning out the sound of the city.
"I normally don't care what people do." She said finally, "But you're acting weird. Well weirder."
"Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup said rolling his eyes.
"Oh come on. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, when it's raining, with a fully packed bag? That's pretty weird."
"Well you followed me, so you're weird, too."
They were silent again. Eventually, Astrid sighed and released his hands. She slowly got up from on top of him and brushed her choppy bangs out of her face.
"I'm guessing your dad doesn't know you're leaving." she said trying to readjust her soaking wet t-shirt.
"If I say yes, can I get going?" he said bringing himself to his feet.
Astrid opened her mouth like she was about to say something but stopped. Her eyes widened at something behind Hiccup. He furrowed his brows and turned to see what she was looking at. To his horror, the bus ticket that he'd put in his back pocket was now being carried by the rain water down the street.
"Crap!" he yelled chasing after it.
But it didn't matter. In a blink, the paper washed through the storm grate and down into the darkness of the NYC sewer system. Hiccup bit down on his lip until he tasted blood. He whirled back to where the blonde stood a few yards away.
"Are you happy now?" he screamed, "That was it for me! It was my one chance to be free and do what I wanted with my life. To be who I am without disappointing anyone. Now it's gone!"
He slammed his fist into the closest thing he could find. In this case, it was a brick wall. Anger masked the pain and rain washed the blood off his knuckles. He wanted to cry or scream, but if he released anything else he knew he was going to explode. Astrid remained silent. The Hoffersons were known for being fearless. Though she would never show it, right now, she was terrified. She looked at her feet where Hiccup's duffle bag had been tossed. With a steady hand, she slung the bag over her shoulder. Hiccup didn't register her presence again until she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hiccup," she whispered, "I don't know what you're going through. But I know whatever it is, you can't just run away from it like this."
Another clap of thunder. She looked closely at his lip, glazed with blood, and his knuckles.
"Come on, those need to be taken care of." she said taking his hand, "I'll patch you up and you can tell me what's going on."
-end flashback-
"So then what did you guys do?" Jack asked leaning forward, his sandwich forgotten.
Hiccup chuckled at his new found enthusiasm.
"Well we went back to her room." he said, "She patched me up while I told her about everything, my dad, Rider's, all of it. We finished watching the Hunger Games and then told my dad everything the next morning."
"Plus," Astrid interjected," we both got the flu from being out in the rain. But it was worth it."
"Yeah," Hiccup said grinning, "it was."
"Whoa! Alright," Jack said standing up, "anymore of this lovey-dovey stuff and I'll hurl."
"Oh shut up, Snow Cone." Astrid snarled, "I gotta get changed anyway."
She left into the master bedroom. Jack glared after her. He hadn't been called that since high school, a fact which he was happy about. Hiccup rolled his eyes as he began cleaning up.
"Have anywhere to be?" he asked.
Jack blinked a few times before registering the question.
"No," he replied, "not until tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?"
"First day, actually." Jack ran a hand through his hair, "I got a position working for this organization that works with underprivileged kids."
"You're helping kids in the Guardian Program?" Hiccup said looking up.
"Yeah," Jack turned, "yeah that's it. Tomorrow I'm meeting with these two kids from the Bronx. A brother and sister, I think."
"That's pretty cool."
"Yeah, I'm excited." Jack grinned, "I've got some really fun stuff planned. Ice cream, board games, and later I can take them to this toy store Pippa and I used to go to all the time."
Hiccup's eyes widened like he'd witnessed the super natural. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"N-nothing." Hiccup stuttered, "It's just- I haven't heard you mention Pip since-"
"Yeah I know." Jack interrupted, "I'm doing a lot better, Hic. Really."
Before Hiccup could respond, Astrid strutted out of the room. Jack's throat went dry. Her navy blue Underarmour tank top showed every curve on her body. The toned muscles in her leg were freed from beneath her ragtag jeans and Jack definitely approved.
Wait, what? he thought, No, bad Jack.
"Alright I'm heading out." Astrid said grabbing her jacket and bag.
"Ok, be careful on the way over. Walt Street is pretty icy and I think there was an accident on-"
She shut him up with a kiss on the lips, hard and fast. He blushed a dark crimson. Jack chuckled. Did Hiccup ever get to finish a sentence? Astrid smiled, nodded a goodbye to Jack, and started for the door. Her hand was about to grasp the door handle when there was a hard knock. Turning back, the blonde looked at her fiancé with furrowed brows. He simply shrugged.
"Hiccup?" called the voice from outside, "I need to talk to you."
Their faces went pale. Trying her best not to shake, Astrid turned the door handle and forced a smile.
"Hey Rapunzel."
Super special dedication to Krista. I know you've been having a bad couple weeks, but there's always ice cream and fanfiction to fix you up! Thanks everyone for reading. Please review, follow, or favorite. Chapter 5 may be a bit late thanks to work, but it's coming.