(A/N) OMG Yay it's almost done! I've got this chapter with Will and Hiccup spending the night and everything, then next chapter is his big race and it's done! Rather I will do a sequel or not is up to the reviewers and my overactive imagination.
Hiccup and Astrid flew to the Hofferson household, seeing all the lights were off. This made sense because it was Monday and almost midnight. Hiccup and Astrid landed in their tree beside Astrid's window, their dragons grasping the branches above them.
Trying to balance in a standing position on the oversized tree limbs, Hiccup took Astrid's hands in his. "Toothless and I will stay up here. I've spent many nights out with him with as a shield so don't worry. If anything happens, call for me or send Stormfly alright? I'm not going to let him hurt you again." Hiccup said, pulling Astrid into a tight hug.
"If I call you then he'll possibly try to kill you for spying on his house Hiccup. The guys a bully, but for some reason won't let any other guys near me. I swear he's got something wrong in the head. Besides, what will happen if he hurts you? What will I do then?" Astrid held him tightly, bombarding the teen with questions.
Hiccup took a second to think. He'd never heard Astrid this desperate and confuse before, and in all honesty it made him more confused than she was. "Astrid if anything happens to me that's my fault okay? I'll stand by you. Your safety matter more than mine. I know you don't want to upset your mom, but if he physically hurts one of us again that's a second assault on child abuse." Astrid tried to relax as he spoke.
"If something happened...what if she-" "Astrid I get it, you love your mother, but sometimes you have to worry about your own safety to." Hiccup spoke in a stern tone Astrid wasn't used to him using. She pulled back from the him, nodded slowly.
Astrid climbed onto her window sill, Stormfly deciding to spend the night in her riders bedroom. Hiccup climbed onto the sill to, sitting on the edge wile Astrid entered her room. Astrid chuckled when Hiccup gripped the window tightly when he tilted to far to the left.
"Your going to fall off of that you know." She said and Hiccup just gave her one of his goofy grins. "I'm one for taking chances. Come here." Astrid walked closer to him, and Hiccup landed a gentle kiss on her forehead, pulling back with a content sigh.
"You've got me Astrid. You always will." With that Hiccup stood up in the window, jumping onto the tree limb. Toothless caught him by the back of his fur vest when he slipped, lifting Hiccup up like a baby dragon by the scruff of the neck. After Toothless sniffed his rider to check for injuries, which Hiccup was perfectly used to having been around the dragon more often than people, they both climbed higher in the tree and out of sight.
Astrid watched as Hiccup left into the dark, shaded leaves, sighing in relief that he was there. She had someone watching over her, and that was something Astrid never really had ever since her Uncles death. Never had she had a man take care of her after that, and her mother well...Astrid was the one taking care of her.
Sure she was sixteen years old and didn't exactly need her parents to watch over her or hold her when she was sad or upset, but Astrid felt lighter knowing someone was making sure she stayed safe. It was a foreign feeling, but was welcomed with relief and happiness.
Moving her blankets to the side, Astrid climbed into bed after changing into her night tank top which qualified for pajamas. She kicked off her long fur boots, snuggling into the covers. Stormfly slept soundly beside the bed, making small sounds in her sleep.
Astrid found the tiny squeaks and squawks relaxing, and they allowed her eyes to drift closed peacefully. Will normally had a talk with her when she would get home late like this, but for some reason he seemed to have gone to sleep before Astrid got home. What a relief that was.
Or...so she thought. Astrid had tried to make as little noise as possible when she climbed in through the window, but after Stormfly squawked rather loudly in her sleep, someone seemed to have taken notice of her presence.
Footsteps were heard on the stairs case, and Astrid gasped when a dark shadow entered her room. He walked closer to her, hands balled into fists. "Do you have any idea how badly you worried your mother?! She's stressed to sickness and it's your fault."
Typical of Will. Loved Astrid's mother, hated Astrid. A gasp escaped the teen in minds mouth, and for a second she thought of shouting for Hiccup. That thought quickly faded though. Astrid was independent, a fighter. She wasn't going to let him get introuble unless absolutely necessary.
Standing up and pulling on her long sleeve vest which was next to her bed, Astrid approached Will. "It's not my fault she's sick." Astrid kept her voice low, venom seeming to drip from her tongue. Will was taken back a bit, slightly scared of Astrid like he should've been.
The man recovered though, and took a step closer. "Maybe not, but your the one who's making her worse. If your going to keep leaving like this, then maybe you should just stay away." Astrid smirked, taking on a sassy stance.
"Hate to break it to you Will." She stressed the word, her voice making him even more angry. "But unlike you, my mother is capable of loving. She doesn't solve things by getting rid of people like you do. I would shut this down right now if I were you, because I have physical proof that can send you back to the jail you came from." Astrid undid her arm band, showing Will the bruises.
Will was taken back, but then smirked menacingly. "Oh sweat little girl." Now it was Astrid's turn to feel infuriated because his taunting tone. "We both know your not going to call anyone. Your far to prideful, and wouldn't want your mother abandoning you. Just like you father eh?"
Astrid bit her lip, shaking in rage. She kept her composure as much as possible, her fists staying at her sides. Stormfly woke up, squawking threateningly at Will. Her tail was raised and her spines showing. "Stormfly no!" Astrid shouted, running to her dragon and scratching her chin.
"You can't hurt him baby girl. Dragons can't be used as weapons. They'll kill you." Stormfly relaxed a bit, not daring to risk death. Not particularly because she cared, but because the dragon wasn't going to be torn away from her rider, leaving Astrid to be alone in her family situation.
"Heh, lizard lover." Astrid turned back to Will, her fists still tense. Suddenly Will approached her, and Astrid took a step back. She wanted to swing at him, wanted to hurt him. Astrid knew that if this happened though, Will would exaggerate it and make her mother think Astrid was to dangerous to be in the home.
"What are you doing?" Astrid snapped, attempting to make her stern tone enough. Will grabbed her arm, yanking her into the wall. Astrid let out a screech of pain, cursing herself for letting her guard down. "Letting you know who's boss around here." He raised his fist, but suddenly a naisaly, strong, infuriated voice came from the window. "What...do you think...your doing." His words spaced out, his expression full of hatred.
"Hiccup." Astrid breathed the word, worry filling her eyes. Will threw Astrid to the ground, smirking at Hiccup. "I could ask you the same thing. What do you think your doing in my house brat." He asked. Hiccup jumped down from the window sill, Toothless unseen in the shadows.
"Protecting the girl who you should be caring for. Not bullying." Hiccup balled his fists, matching Wills every move as they moved towards Astrid, both wanting to be closer to her. "I see, protecting your lady huh? You do know high school relationships never work right?"
Hiccup smirked wile shrugging his shoulders. "That's only because the immaturity levels of most teens in my school. You should know I've been through enough to be among the more advanced kids in my age." Hiccup practically growled, managing to stand in front of Astrid with a protective stance.
Astrid tried to stand up, but she soon fell, realizing her ankle was badly sprained from the fall. "Weakling." Will spat at her. Hiccup became mad now, finding it hard to keep his voice low. "Astrid is not weak. She's been through more than most kids her age. And yet...she's able to stay the kind, special, strong, selfless worrier she is. Unlike you who grew up thinking that bully from high school is still who you are. What you don't realize is that charges could be pressed, and you could be in some serious trouble." Hiccup half taunted, half reasoned.
Will didn't like it. He bit his lip, and despite the slight fear that came with some of Hiccup's words, the man threw the first punch. Hiccup doubled over as the air escaped from his lungs, Will's fist colliding with his torso. Suddenly the roar of a night fury echoed through the walls of the room, and Toothless jumped in, pinning Will to the ground.
"Damn you." Hiccup cursed the man and tried to stand up, holding his likely cracked rib tightly. Toothless imediatly heard the pain in his riders voice, and sprung to Hiccup's side. Sniffing the boy all over, Toothless sensed the tension in Hiccup's torso as he tried to stand in a way that didn't hurt his rib as much.
Will was to stunned to get up, and Toothless had left a pretty bad scratch on his leg. Astrid got up with the support of her night stand, wrapping her arms around Hiccup. "Hiccup! Oh Gods I'm so sorry." Astrid's voice cracked, and guilt flooded her expression.
"It's not your fault Astrid, but remember I'm not leaving you. The more you hold back from getting justice on Will, the more times we're going to be in this situation." Astrid looked down, confusion racking her brain. She saw the hidden pain in Hiccup's voice, and her eyes drifted to Will's bleeding leg.
Suddenly someone shouted downstairs. Astrid and Hiccup recognized it to be Ms. Hofferson. She couldn't get up the stairs without help do to her wheelchair, but Astrid knew she was upset about being woken up. Hiccup looked down at Astrid, waiting for an answer.
"I'll go talk to her." Hiccup nodded, taking Toothless so he could hang out outside in the tree. Stormfly made sure Will didn't move, her breathing ragged with rage. Will laid their, silent. Hiccup knew this didn't teach him a lesson though, for fury still filled his eyes.
Officers were heard downstairs, followed by Will's shouted of fury. Hiccup stood in Astrid's room wile another Officer questioned them. Astrid stood in Hiccup's arms, sadness flooding over her as tears stung her eyes but refused to leave.
Astrid's mother was infuriated with Astrid, and told the officers her daughter was no longer welcome in the home. The police had tried to reason with her, but it became clear that the woman's physical and mental illness combined with rage and exhaustion had changed her. She didn't think of Astrid as her own anymore.
Hiccup tried his best to ignore the pain in his rib, caring only about Astrid. Magnus and Jacob had decided to come over after Hiccup called them, and they stood near the young couple with sorrow and worry. Hiccup looked at them from the corner of his eye, feeling slightly better when he noticed their worry for both him and Astrid.
The police eventually left, Ms. Hofferson refusing to take any of their offers concerning places for her to stay do to her health. Astrid was still to live with her mother, but Magnus and Jacob insisted she could come over to stay any time she needed.
That night Astrid slept on the couch across from Magnus and Jacobs room, a wrap and ice around her foot. Hiccup was to stay on bed rest, his rib needing to heal. The doctors insisted he stay at the hospital, but Hiccup said he could stay home to heal. After all the doctors really couldn't do much more than keep him still and calm his pain.
Hiccup slept on his bottom bunk, confused as to how much things had changed in so short of a time. Jacob being closer to him, Magnus treating him like a son, the twins and Fishlegs acting like his siblings, Astrid becoming the love of his life, helping Snotlout through his problems...the world was a crazy place that one was for sure. Maybe things would lighten up though. Maybe.
(A/N) This is the second to last chapter! Final chapter is just going to be a time jump of Hiccup's race against Snotlout, Heather, and a few other OC racers with his family and Astrid supporting him. Please review!