A/N - Okay, my bad about the long wait for this update. My internet has been sporadically and useless lately, and I've in town today so I'm updating everything all at once. Also, remember that 'Astrid-virginity-story' I promised? Well, I aim to have the first chapter up tomorrow! The title is still unknown at this point.

Also, I didn't go over this chapter with my fine-toothed grammar comb, so there's bound to be errors. I apologize in advance.

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Chapter 23

Christmas was fast approaching. The snow became a constant blanket on the sidewalks and windowsills. Twinkling lights on strings glittered into the night, and though their brightness was dimmed, they remained on through the day. The historic downtown looked like a scene from a movie, with its lights and holly wreaths.

A light snow fluttered down as Astrid jogged into the downtown café where she and Heather had agreed to meet. The smell of mocha and cream was welcome against the cold and she relished it as she scanned the tables. Heather was sitting near the back beside the wine wall. She waved to Astrid, who quickly joined her, shedding her coat on the dainty chair.

The waiter appeared and Astrid sent him away with an order for mocha, and then reached into her bag and pulled out a small gift box. Heather had withdrawn a box from her own person, and the girls pushed them toward one another, their holiday tradition. They unwrapped simultaneously.

Astrid pulled out a red scarf, that on closer inspection had a tiny pattern of gray running through it. "Oh, it's pretty,"

"I saw that and instantly thought of you. Red makes me think of you, must be your fiery personality." Heather smiled. She held the gifted nail polish in her hands, her own perfect nails reflecting the ceiling lights, admiring the golden hue with an unsure smile.

"When I see gold I think of you," Astrid smiled. "Not really, but that color did."

"I like it," Heather said with a raised brow, turning the bottle over in her hands, "This brand's not cheap…I didn't spend that much on you."

Astrid smiled, "It was on sale,"

"Okay, that makes me feel better." Heather laughed.

The coffee came and the unwrappings were cleared from the table. Astrid pulled the soft scarf around her neck.

"What are your plans for the holiday?" Heather asked.

"I am going to Berk."

"Berk?"

"Yeah, it's up north, about as north as you can go without hitting Canada."

"…Why?"

"That's where Hiccup is from."

Heather's face changed dramatically, from casual chitchat to wide-eyed shock, to a overly wide smile that showed off her too-white teeth. "You're going home with him? For Christmas?"

"Yes." Astrid nodded, sipping the coffee. It warmed the inside of her mouth and slid down her throat, ushering a warmth through her chest. She looked up at Heather who was still wide-eyed. "What? Is that bad?"

"No, no, no, it's not bad, but…it's just that a girl going home with a guy for a serious holiday like Christmas kind of denotes that the relationship is holiday-serious, and his family might start asking things like, 'when are you going to propose,' or 'when are you getting married,' and since you two are already living together, it'll be a quick assumption."

"We haven't known each other six months," Astrid laughed.

"Yeah, but his parents might not see it like that." Heather shrugged. "And they might start questioning how serious such a young relationship is…speaking of…have you and Hiccup…you know."

"Hmm?" Astrid sipped her coffee. She knew what Heather meant, but she enjoyed watching her look embarrassed, like the word 'sex' was taboo or something. "What we what?"

Heather motioned with her hand, "…done it?"

"Had sex?" Astrid said, as if commenting on the weather, "Yes."

Heather blushed, but leaned forward onto the table and rested her chin on her elbows. "And?"

Astrid shrugged. "He's still new at it, so it wasn't the mind-blowing porn sex you want to hear about."

Heather shook her head, "Tsk, tsk, poor you, all the sex a girl could want and none of it's that good."

It was Astrid's turn to blush. Before she could respond, Heather beat her to it with another question.

"How big was it?"

Astrid's face went a deep red and she took a long drink from the cup.

"Oh?" Heather raised a brow. "That either means it was, or it wasn't…"

"It wasn't anything, I mean, it was average," Astrid said quietly. She awkwardly laughed, "I didn't get a stick out and measure it."

"Yeah, because that always brings the romance," Heather smiled. "'Hold on, sweetie, I want to check some facts,'"

Astrid laughed and shook her head. "Nah, he was fine. He was really sweet about it. You know, gentlemanly, but shy about it."

"You always did have a thing for the shy guys." Heather grinned.

Astrid sighed, "Maybe,"

"So, are you prepared to meet his parents?"

Astrid laughed, out loud, and a nearby table's conversation paused at the interruption. Ignoring them, Astrid quietly leaned into the table and told Heather about the impromptu meeting with Hiccup's giant of a father.

"What?" Heather mouthed. "Did his dad see you naked?"

"I don't think so, if anything it was just boobs," Astrid shook her head, thinking how much worse that meeting would have been. "But, no, there was this moment when no one said anything, because that never happens in real life, and we're just looking at each other, god, it was so awkward…"

Heather laughed, "Your life, sometimes,"

"Tell me about it."

"Do you have the time?" Heather asked, as she dug into her bag for her phone, prompting the race to find the time.

Astrid reached into her pocket, but felt nothing. She tried the other. Nothing. "Uh…no, I think I left my phone at home."

"Ah, I've got it. Right, I've got a thing in about an hour. I'll see you, later, okay?" Heather said with a smile.

"Yeah," Astrid stood up to hug her goodbye. She reached into her coat to check, but there was no phone, just her wallet.

She sat back down to finish the coffee. She fingered the scarf, thinking that she still needed to find a gift for Hiccup. Getting something at the school store felt…cheesy, like a shortcut. She'd have to go to a real store this time. But what to get him? She couldn't spend too much without looking suspicious, like Heather's nail polish. It hadn't been on sale, and part of Astrid feared that Heather had known she'd.

X

Hiccup rolled back into bed after Astrid left, but had been unable to sleep again, and resorted to television and his sketchbook. He made coffee and set it on the table beside Astrid's phone. She must have left it.

Toothless stretched on the thin windowsill, his new favorite location, and watched the cars below. His tail swung from the ledge and twitched at unpredictable intervals. Hiccup suspected he was watching blackbirds.

He'd done several rough sketches of Toothless, a few a little too cartoony, and one that made him look more like some kind of dragon than a cat. The coffee slowly drained from the cup and Hiccup was on his second when the phone on the table dinged.

The screen lit up and Hiccup reflexively glanced down at it. It was impossible not to read the bright words that rolled across the screen.

Are you coming up here for the holiday?

Hiccup blinked and the screen went dark again. His fingers twitched. He looked at Toothless who was busy watching the window and quickly snatched the phone from the table. The text was as he'd read it, and it was coming from someone by the name of Alvin.

Alvin? That was a male name. Why was a man texting Astrid about the holidays? He was insinuating that she was going somewhere, to him, assumably, for the holiday. Hiccup's gut twisted into a knot. So she would spend the holiday elsewhere? With this Alvin?

Hiccup was tapping his toes relentlessly and Toothless was glaring at him, ears twitching.

"What should I think about this?" Hiccup asked the cat. "Another guy is texting my girlfriend," Hiccup paused at the phrase that still sounded as foreign in his ears as it tasted on his tongue, "Asking if she wants to come up and spend Christmas with him."

Meow.

"How am I not supposed to be jealous?" Hiccup spat, waving the phone around in his hand. He shut the screen off. She'd know that he'd look at it. Hiccup sat it back down, unable to shake the uneasy feeling.

X

An hour later, Astrid was sitting in her car in the mall parking lot. She hated going shopping without a clear objective. She wasn't one of those girls that could meander aimlessly through clothes and accessories. But, for Hiccup, she'd have to brave it and meander.

She stuffed the keys into her pocket and started inside, dreading the holiday shoppers. It was packed, like she'd feared, but not as bad as she'd seen it before. There were plenty of sales, but price was only part of a gift. She passed by an art store full of supplies and colors, but she didn't know where to start with that. She kept walking and passed one of those up-scale hipster stores, the kind that came and went with the seasons, with some new-aged hip-hop playing and too much brand perfume floating through the air in mists.

Oh well, it was a start.

Astrid meandered inside, skimming the men's side, picturing how Hiccup would look in a pair of slim leg jeans, when a face across the store caught her attention. Eret was standing in the women's side. Sensing a scene, she tiptoed over, and stood gingerly over his shoulder.

"That's not your color," Astrid said, admiring the fuchsia sweater.

He jumped, clutching the shirt, and spun, but his smile reappeared instantly. "Hello, Pige, what are you talking about? I have been told that I look fantastic in purple."

"Oh, was it your mother?"

"Maybe it was."

Astrid laughed.

"It's for a lady, if your must know," Eret said, straightening the shirt.

"Oh?"

"Yes,"

"You're buying them gifts, now?" Astrid smirked. "That's so sweet of you,"

"Maybe I like this one slightly more than the last one." Eret muttered. Then a though struck, "Hey, you know how girls think, help me pick something out."

Shrugging, she scanned the female's section. "How color is her hair?"

"Brown."

"Light brown? Dark brown?"

"Uh…"

"What color of chocolate?"

"Milk,"

"Okay, what about her skin tone?"

The questions continued until Astrid had a decent idea, and she led Eret away from the hideous purples and toward the oranges, and finally pushed him to buy a too-thin sweater. It would fit his latest sleazy arm candy just fine.

"So, Pige, is what I heard through the grapevine true?" Eret lowered his voice, "You got a 50k check for fucking a lawyer?"

Astrid's skin prickled, "No, it was just thirty."

Eret's smirk didn't diminish. "For thirty, it must have been a good one. Spare any details?"

Astrid frowned, "The extra was for secrecy,"

"Ah, I get you," Eret smirked. He looked around the store, "It paid for that sexy little thing you're driving around?"

"Have you been spying on me?"

"Someone's got to keep an eye on you," Eret shrugged. "Besides, I saw that boy of yours in it the other day. Hiccup was his name, right?"

"Yes," Astrid nodded. That tone of his had returned. He was fishing.

"He's driving your car already, I didn't know it was that serious between you." Eret smiled. "It is that serious?"

Astrid shrugged. "Maybe a little. I'm going home with him for Christmas."

"Oh?" Eret smiled widened.

"Hey, you're a boy, help me find something for him." Astrid grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to the boys' side of the store.

X

Hiccup was pacing when Astrid finally came home. The phone had gone off again, but he'd forced himself to ignore it. Each time he heard footsteps in the hallway, he froze, waited, and sighed as the footsteps continued passed the door. When Astrid's key slid into the lock, he twirled around, ready to explode.

"Hey," Astrid said casually as she came inside, a bag under her arm from some store he'd never heard of. She quickly hid it from view. Her brows came together and her stare narrowed, "What's got you all hot and bothered?"

"Who's Alvin?"

"What?" Astrid asked, but the tone in her voice shifted.

"Someone named Alvin has been texting you." Hiccup pointed to her phone.

Astrid's eyes followed his finger, "You went through my phone?"

"No, the text was on the screen, and I-I just kind of scanned over it." Hiccup swallowed. With Astrid staring him down, he felt less inclined to argue, but he refused to back down. "He said something about you spending the holiday with him."

Astrid didn't say anything immediately.

"Who's Alvin?" Hiccup asked again.

"He's just…he's nothing to worry about," Astrid said, pushing passed him, grabbing her phone, and vanishing into the bedroom, bag in her arms.

"He's wanting you to spend the holiday with him, how am I not supposed to be worried about that?" Hiccup said to the bedroom door.

"Because I'm not dating Alvin." Astrid spat on the other side.

"Then why won't you tell me who he is?"

"Because it's not of your business!"

"Isn't that what dating means? We know each others' business?"

"We're dating, not married,"

"Why won't you tell me?" Hiccup demanded through the door. He could burst through, but he doubted it would make this better. Worse, probably.

"Because it doesn't concern you,"

"But it concerns you, Astrid, and that concerns me,"

Silence. Had he said something wrong? He heard the door to the armoire shut. Footsteps. The bedroom door swung open. Astrid was standing there, silent and stoic. Her blue eyes were searching him, her lower lip met her teeth, her nails tapped on the door.

Hiccup swallowed, "Why won't you tell me? Do you not trust me?"

"Alvin is a friend of my parents." Astrid said flatly, not looking away from his face.

"Oh?" Hiccup swung his arms. That wasn't what he was expecting. "So…he wants to know if you're coming home for the holiday?"

Astrid shrugged and went to the still warm percolator and poured a cup of coffee.

"If it's a family thing, you should go, I mean, it's family, and Christmas, and that's more important than spending it with anyone else,"

Astrid abruptly cut him off, "My parents died, several years ago, and Alvin's taken it upon himself to be like my god father or something. He is, I think."

Hiccup, stunned, blinked several times and cleared his throat. "I-I sorry. I didn't know that. I just…kind of assumed the worst."

"Yeah, you did."

"I'm sorry, Astrid," Hiccup repeated. He shuffled his feet. "If you'd rather spend Christmas with Alvin than with me, that's fine. I understand."

"No," Astrid shook her head, holding the coffee with both hand. "I would much rather spend it with you. I'm sorry for getting defensive."

"No, it's my fault, I should've just asked, or not snooped." Hiccup shrugged.

"I should have told you sooner. I didn't know how." Astrid walked to the couch where his sketchbook lay open. "Are you drawing Toothless? …as a dragon?"

"I guess so, I'm not really sure what I was doing."

Astrid's lips turned upward, slightly, "It's cute,"

Hiccup sighed in relief at the shift in her hostility. She was terrifying when she was angry. He cautiously stepped to the couch and sat beside her.

"So…is there anything else I should know about you?" Hiccup smiled, trying to recover from his blooper.

"Alvin owns the casino I work at sometimes in St. Louis. He also owns the Rachel's restaurant chain, but it's not really a chain because there's only like four of them. When my folks died he tried to help me out as best he could, by finding me a job, and keeping me on my feet." Astrid said to the coffee.

"That's really good of him."

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "It's all just part of my messed up life,"

"Why? What is wrong with it?"

Astrid half-laughed, "Nothing much, just little things, I guess. I suppose, in the long view, I turned out okay."

"I think so."

Astrid smiled at him, and gently punched him in the arm.

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