Merry Christmas! Have some fluff! AND BACKSTORY. YEAHHH.

Disclaimer: Well yeah.

-Ash

Chapter 8

"Astrid, what's with you lately? I don't understand why you keep hanging out with that loser kid. It's starting to get annoying." Ramona grumbled at the blonde as the pair strode out to the softball field.

"He's not a loser, Ruff, you just haven't given him a chance." Astrid retorted.

Ramona snorted at her, "Yeah, and neither did you until he started painting with you!"

"Well okay, but now that I have, I see that he's a really cute little dork." The blonde admitted.

Her eyes widened, "You like him!"

Astrid retreated quickly, "What!? No! Me? Liking a… a no body like Hiccup? There's no way!"

"You're lying! You so like that guy! That is so gross, Astrid! You're so out of his league."

"Fine. Maybe it's the freckles or how he awkwardly babbles… he's just cute, okay? I'm not sure if that means I have a crush on him or if I just want to take him home and feed him treats." She murmured.

Ramona seemed appalled. "That is the most girlish thing I have ever heard you say in your life!"

"Shut up! Just because you've discovered I have feelings doesn't mean I won't punch you!" Astrid sneered.

"What's happened to you? I need to get you away from that guy!"

"There's nothing wrong with me! Nothing's happened!"

"There is something happening! You like someone! You didn't even talk to the guy before he had to be your stupid art tutor! You're changing Astrid! And it's not okay with me!" Ramona exclaimed.

The blonde angrily dragged her hands down her face, "The guy just needs a friend!"

Ramona seemed unimpressed, "And what? You're going to be his new friend? Is this a charity case now Astrid?"

"No! You just haven't taken the time to know him!"

"You wouldn't have if it weren't for the fact that you were forced to! You're not supposed to socialize with that guy, Astrid, he's a loser. A dork. A nobody. And you're actually somebody! Are you going to ruin that over some geek that paints dragons?" She screeched.

Astrid clinched her softball in her hand tightly. She lifted in the direction of her 'friend'. The blonde took a long breath, "Maybe you don't know me like you thought you did."

"I know who you were, blondy, but who you are now… I don't know that girl."

Astrid scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous… you never really knew me."

"What the hell are you saying, Astrid? That this is all an act?"

"Yes Ruff! That's exactly what I'm saying! I'm not 'Astrid: The Amazing Softball Player'. I'm not the girl who can do no wrong. I'm not perfect like everyone thinks I am. Do you even know anything truly personal about me? Other than the fact that I like softball?"

"I know that your favorite color is blue, that your favorite food is chocolate, and that you love your dog Grizzy. I think that is pretty personal, don't you?" Ramona pleaded.

"Do you even know why I act stone cold all the time? Do you even think that something could have happened in my life so I try such off emotions so I don't feel it?" Astrid bit her lip to hold back the water building in her eyes.

Ramona reared back a bit, seeming stunned. "Something happened to you?"

"If you were my friend… you'd know."

Astrid spun on her heel, throwing her bat over her shoulder. The teen strode off towards the softball field, leaving the other to stand there in confusion and surprise. It was then that Ramona began to wonder… what could have happened to Astrid?

I slowly painted on the canvas gently stroking the brush. Suddenly, my cell phone rang startling me into dropping my brush. No one ever calls me. What is happening? "Shit," I cursed under my breath as I gazed around trying to find something to clean the paint off my hands. I wiped the paint off on my apron and lightly grabbed my phone. I tapped the screen before pulling the phone to my ear, "Hello?"

"Hiccup?"

My eyes widened as I recognized the voice on the other end of the phone, "Um, yes? Astrid? Is that you?"

"Yes… Are you busy?"

"Ah, no. I'm just painting. There's not really anything else I do with my life." I said as I began to stack my paints together.

"You take care of Toothless."

"Yes, well, I can't exactly say that one out loud. Or go do that because my father is home so… Is there something you needed?"

"Yes actually. I was wondering if you would like to come to the Berk Diner with me?"

I paused, "Right now?"

"Please."

I'd never heard her like this before. Astrid sounded really… upset. I felt really bad. I wanted to help her. I swallowed thickly, "Yeah. I'll get my scooter and be right over there."

"The scooter? Isn't it too cold for that, dork?"

I chuckled into the phone, "I like the wind in my hair. It reminds me of riding a dragon."

"Oh really? I'll have to take this trip sometime."

"Maybe I'll take you on a dragon ride."

I pulled up on my scooter and hopped off of it quickly. Astrid was already sitting in a small diner booth. I walked in and waved slightly at the owner as she noticed me. I made my way over to Astrid and took a seat across from her. She was gazing down at her hands on the table. I shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

Suddenly her head shot up and she met eyes with me, "I got in a fight with Ruffnut today."

"Ramona?"

She nodded slightly, "Yeah…"

I titled my head in concern and my brows furrowed slightly, "Why?"

Astrid licked her lips nervously, "She doesn't like the fact that I'm friends with you."

A knot swelled in my throat. Was this it? "Oh."

She rested her face in her hands, "I told her it was wrong of her to judge you when she doesn't even know you. After the fight I realized that's exactly what I did to you. I just wanted to come talk to you and apologize to you. The more I thought about it… I was ragging on Ramona for not taking the time to know you, but then I realized that I barely know you." She glanced up at me and stared her blue eyes into my soul, "You barely know me too. So I decided that we're going to get to know each other, Hiccup. You're going to be the person I can tell everything to."

My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't know how to feel at the moment. I opened my mouth to speak but slammed my jam back closed before something stupid came out. Astrid stared at me uncomfortably and shifted. The blonde chewed her lip and waited in anticipation for me to just say something. I took a breath and gathered my thoughts before I spoke. "Wow. I'm sorry that's a lot to take in."

"There's more where that came from." She cut in.

I snorted at her, "I would assume so. As I was saying… it's an honor that you would allow me to be the person you talk to. You can dump all your baggage on me. I don't mind. I'm all ears. The fact that you would want to know me though… that's new for me. Thank you."

Astrid smiled at me slightly, "I had a little brother."

I blinked at her. I was too stunned to speak. My mouth moved on its own, "What? I thought you were an only child."

"I wasn't for 5 years of my life."

My throat tightened, "He was 5?"

She nodded and weakly began to speak, "His name was Walter. He had epilepsy. His medicine had been working. His seizures weren't happening as often. He was getting better; at least we thought he was. Then all of the sudden it just stopped. One day he had an episode and it was horrific." Astrid's eyes began to water, "I couldn't bear to watch him suffer like that. My parents took him to the hospital and the doctors put him in a medically induced coma. He was on life support for a while… then my parents agreed that he would only suffer if he woke back up. And that was that." She sighed loudly. It seemed as if she was free of a burden she had wanted to tell someone.

I breathed slowly, taking all the information in. Why hadn't anyone known this? I stared at her, "I'm so sorry, Astrid. You know… my mother died in a plane crash. It's still an unsolved mystery. They never found some of the people's bodies."

She sighed slightly, "So… they never found your mother?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

"Hiccup, I'm so sorry."

"You? Your brother died… and you've kept it bottled up all these years. But why? Why keep it inside so much?" I asked her.

She buried her face in her hands, "I thought it was easier to cut off my emotions than to talk to a counselor or talk to anyone period. It hurts so much to think about it. We were so close to each other. A lot of siblings fight… but we didn't. He was sick so I had to look out for him, ya know? I did everything I could for him. He meant the world to me. He was everything. I miss him so much."

I took a chance and gently took her hands from her face. I held her hands in mine and stared at her, "I'm here for you. Whatever you need, Astrid, I'll be there."

Surprisingly Astrid didn't pull away from me, instead she just grinned at me. She reached away and brushed a few stray hairs from her face, "Thank you, Hiccup. Thank you so much."

I shrugged, "That's what friends do."

"I dunno, bud. I've never seen her like this. She opened up to me of all people. Me. Harold Haddock. I don't know how to say this… but I think I really do like her. She's not who I thought she was. She's a better person than I could have ever imagined. Astrid Hofferson isn't made of stone. She's made of glass…that's already cracked." I spun on my heel towards my dragon, "You think I can seal the cracks, bud?"

Toothless eyeballed me before he purred and nodded. The dragon nuzzled his nose under my arm, "So bud, you think that we could take Astrid on a flight sometime?"

He stared at me unamused, the bobbed his head. I grinned, "Is that a maybe?" The dragon smacked me with his tail.