A/N - Early! Kind of, I had been aiming for this weekend, but I had time and energy tonight. I apologize, this chapter isn't as exciting as the last one.
Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate the support!
X
Chapter 33: Pills and Neighbors
A piercing pain in her back caused Astrid to stir, finally forcing her out of bed and into a sitting position. For a moment, she had no sense of location. These pale blue walls were not her own, or the closed curtains, or the starched blanket. For that moment, panic settled into her rumbling stomach, a fist ready to shove the bubbling upward. She covered her mouth quickly with her hand.
Oh, right. Shit.
In a blur, Astrid scooted from the bed and stumbled into the bathroom to empty her stomach. On shaky legs, she spilled her backpack onto the bed and with fumbling hands she dressed. The t-shirt she'd brought hugged her too tightly, but beside her own things lay a red size-too-big hoodie. Pulling it on, she seemed to vanished inside of it. She examined herself in the mirror. Dressed, she didn't look half as bad as it really was. The hoodie covered her arms and her torso. If she pulled it up a little and squeezed the drawstrings, the visible bit of bandage vanished.
How to explain this to Hiccup…just the idea was daunting.
A soft knock came to the door, followed by Alvin's hoarse voice, "Are you awake? I ordered in breakfast. It's out here."
"Okay," Astrid said, hands pulling the hoodie's sleeves down over her hands. She wasn't sure why. Alvin knew. "I'll be right out."
She dry-swallowed another pill and winced as it left a nasty trail of yuck down her throat. After slipping on hotel-brand slippers, Astrid met Alvin in the sitting room, where a grand silver patter had been set, lined with enough breakfast for ten. She sat down across from him, gingerly to avoid pain, and reached for the jug of milk. She took a healthy gulp to wash down the remainder of the pill, then another for safe measure.
"There's coffee also," Alvin said as he tapped the side of an insulated carafe with his pen. He held papers in front of him, what looked like a floor plan.
Astrid reached for the carafe and winced with shooting pain in her back. It radiated up her shoulder and then back down her arm. Hopefully, that pill will start working anytime. Astrid fixed her coffee in silence while Alvin tapped away at the paper. She piled her plate with more food that she knew she'd eat. She had just forked eggs into her mouth when Alvin spoke.
"I've gone over this place a million times since last night," Alvin said. "I don't see a way that bastard could have gotten out, unless one of my men blinked and allowed him to slip through. It's possible, the kitchen's got so many doors, and that damned delivery bay."
Astrid wasn't sure if he was talking to her directly or just musing openly. Her eyes fell onto a discoloration on the floor, and it took a moment for her to recognize the tattered remains of her dress. Seeing it so…mutilated stung. It had been so pretty. Not far off from the dress were her heels, one of them cracked and hopelessly broken. She thought back to the night previous, she hadn't noticed a broken heel.
"I'm sorry about the dress," Astrid blurted out. "And the shoes."
Alvin looked up from his paper. He followed her line of sight to the mess and then shrugged. "Don't worry about those things. They can be replaced. You can't."
Astrid poked the eggs with the tip of the fork. Alvin hated replacing things, rather, he hated spending money.
Alvin chuckled, "If I hadn't forgotten my phone in the casino, a torn dress would be the least of your worries. One of my guys heard something and they went to investigate. Thank god for coincidences, eh?"
Astrid pursed her lips, taking the eggs from the fork.
"You know, you really should keep off your feet as much as possible." Alvin sighed, sitting back in his chair and pushing the floor plan aside, and gripping his coffee cup. "Dr. Markus suggested that you stay here for a week. He wants to see you next Sunday."
Astrid coughed, and pain radiated through her entire torso. "What? I can't stay here, I've got class!"
Alvin frowned. "Dagur could be out there right now, circling the school waiting for you. It's a open field out there."
Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. She put a hand against it. What would she tell Hiccup? Oh, sorry babe, I decided to stay a little longer. I'm having so much fun! Right, ridiculous. If she told him that, she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he packed up and left her.
"Okay, but I'm sending a couple of my guys with you." Alvin heaved a slice of ham onto his plate. "They'll keep an eye on you, and they'll bring you back here to see the doctor."
"Okay," Astrid nodded. It was better than missing an entire week, but still, what would Hiccup think?
After breakfast, Astrid cleaned herself up as best she could. One of the housekeepers arrived and helped her into clean bandages, and Astrid could feel bile sneaking up her throat at the dark red stains as they fluttered into the trashcan. Back in her large hoodie and sweats, she followed Joe the bodyguard down into the lobby, and into a car driven by Taylor the bodyguard. Joe climbed into the front seat and they set sail south through the light gray snowfall.
X
The cab stopped, lurched forward, and Astrid caught herself before she slammed into the back of the passenger seat. Blinking, she wiped sleep from her eyes. When had she fallen asleep? The two men in the front, Joe and Taylor, were getting out of the car. They'd mentioned something, she barely remembered, about moving into her building. Something about 'safety' and 'close monitoring' or whatever.
One of them opened Astrid's door and she carefully drew her legs out and onto the parking lot. Good god, it was cold. She hugged her coat closer around her as she pretended the two bodyguards weren't there, tagging a few feet behind her with suitcases, that her back and shoulders didn't ache, that she was carrying her backpack because she wanted to, not because her shoulder hurt too much.
The two men got off at different floors. Taylor, or Joe, Astrid couldn't really remember, got off on the second floor while Joe was still inside the elevator when Astrid stepped out. She didn't ask where he was going. She didn't care. All she wanted was a warm cup of tea, a soft place to sit, and another of the mysterious pills that she'd tucked away in a side pocket of her pack.
Key in hand, Astrid reached forward to unlock the door, when a burst of laughter froze her. It had come from her apartment. With her heart thumping, she wrenched the unlocked door open. She clumsy half-fell inside, dropping her bag in the process, and the laughter immediately stopped.
Strangers lingered in her living room, looking quite comfortable, with scattered McDonald's cups on her coffee table. Hiccup, who'd been sitting among them on the couch, stood up quickly. He wore the Vikings t-shirt she'd gotten him.
"Hey, Astrid, you're back!" Hiccup said, in a tone that made Astrid want to hit him. Had he not expected her back at all? Did he not want his new friends to see her? Was he embarrassed?
"Yeah, I kind of live here." Her voice was icy. She closed the door behind her and yanked her bag from the floor, the tell-tale sound of pills in plastic rattled her heart. The group of people in her living room said nothing as she stalked across the room and into the bedroom, which she closed loudly behind her.
Why was she so mad?
Someone whispered something, a feminine someone.
"No, don't worry about it," Hiccup said, in a not-as-quiet whisper. "She didn't expect people to be here. I-I probably should have told her."
"You live here, too," that feminine someone said. "You have the right to have friends over, I mean, it's not exclusively her living room."
Bitch. Astrid caught the word in her mouth and bit it back. Who the hell was this bitch to tell Hiccup that Astrid's anger was unfounded? She heard footsteps, uneven, Hiccup's, approach the door and she quickly busied herself with unloading her backpack. She had just set it on the bed when the door opened and closed.
"Hey, sorry about that," Hiccup said from beside the door. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Astrid lied quickly. "I'm just…a little hung over."
"Oh, okay. I, uh, invited them over for lunch, but if you want them to go we can travel elsewhere. So you can sleep, if you want."
"No, its fine, I don't care. Really." Astrid had tossed her bag's contents onto the bed. Her hand closed over the pocket containing the pills, but she didn't want Hiccup to see them. She turned to look at him, but he was looking at the floor. She tried to soften her tone, "Really, Hiccup, I don't care."
His eyes glanced up at her. He nodded. "Okay." His hand was on the knob. "Hey, what did you want to talk about?"
Her heart hammered in her chest. "It's nothing important. Go hang out with your friends. I'm going to take a nap."
"Okay," Hiccup said. Then he was gone, back through the door and to his new, happy friends.
Astrid stood in the darkened room while the murmured talking continued. She had folded her shirt about three times before she decided she still wanted that cup of hot tea. She dropped her folded shirt onto the bed and stalked back to the door. She hesitated with her hand on the knob, hearing the low murmur of happy talk.
You're a big girl, Astrid. You can do this. This is your fucking house. You pay the rent.
With my sex money.
Stop that, you don't do that anymore. You told Alvin that you didn't want to do it anymore. He said he'd get you more hours at the restaurant.
Astrid inhaled sharply and opened the door. The conversation died down at once.
"I'm just making tea, don't mind me," Astrid said through a forced smile.
A pretty faced brunette girl sat too close to Hiccup on the couch. Astrid caught a twinge in the other girl's face, her eyelids twitching ever so slightly, dislike, introductory jealousy. Her fingertips were beside Hiccup's on the couch. Astrid turned her back to the girl, and the rest of them, as she filled the kettle and set it on the stove.
"Oh, right," Hiccup said and then cleared his throat. "This is Astrid." At the sound of her name she turned. Hiccup's eyes were on her as he gestured toward her. "Astrid, this is Cara-"
He said the rest of their names, too, but Astrid had stopped listening. Cara glared at her, her brown eyes narrowed in finely plucked brows and uneven eyeliner. Her mouth twisted into a grimace, but only briefly, before returning to her casual smile.
The kettle began to whistle and Astrid tore her attention away. It hadn't slipped her attention that Hiccup's introduction of her had neglected to identify her as his girlfriend. She was, in his current description, just Astrid. Suddenly feeling like an intruder in her own home, she carried her too-hot tea mug back into the bedroom without another word. She set it on the beside table and reached with shaking hands to the pill bottle.
On the other side of the bedroom door, Hiccup and Cara were talking, so casually, so easily, just like he used to do with Astrid.
Hiccup mumbles something, and Cara laughs too loud.
It's fine. Astrid unclenched her fists. Hiccup is allowed to have other friends. You're just jealous.
The sharp pain in her chest had nothing to do with her injuries.
X
Astrid woke up when the bed moved. Hiccup had sat down with a groan. The dim daylight had vanished and the living room beyond was dark. A pair of yellow eyes stared at her from the foot of the bed, beside a flipping black tail. Toothless blinked, almost sympathetically.
"Hey," Astrid said.
"Hey," Hiccup yawned as he pulled his legs into the bed. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah," Astrid said, unsure if it was a lie. It seemed that the other people were gone. That, for some reason, did put her at ease. She stirred. Her tea sat on the bedside table, untouched and cold. She lifted it and took a sip. It still felt good on the back of her throat. "Your friends seem nice."
"Yeah," Hiccup said. He settled into his pillow. He smelled like toothpaste. "They came by last night and we've been hanging out ever since."
"Did you sleep?"
Hiccup smiled. "No, we were at Denny's until about five and then we went to the park, and then came back here for lunch."
"How did you meet? Class?"
"Yeah, I've got a class with Cara and they were really her friends. They're all older students. Cara told me that when she transferred in and she was the old kid in the class with all the freshmen that it was really awkward, and after she made friends it got better, and she wanted to share the friend making experience with me."
"That's nice of her."
"Yeah," Hiccup said.
Astrid scooted out of bed, gingerly, and stood. She made her way through the dark bedroom, across the living room, to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and pushed the door almost closed. She pulled the hoodie off, carefully, with minor difficulty pulling it over her head. She dropped it onto the floor beside her and turned on the sink's hot water. While she waited, she brushed her teeth, bending at the knees to avoid bending her back.
"What the hell happened?"
Astrid spun. Hiccup stood in the doorway, his tired face ashen, his brows together, his hand clutching the side of the door.
"I-I," Astrid started, looking down at her bandaged self, ugly bruises poking out from under the edges of the white.
Hiccup stepped inside, eyes now awake and wide, stuck on her torso. "Astrid, what happened? Are you okay?"
"Hiccup, it's fine, I just…fell." Astrid put her hand out to meet his, which he's outstretched toward her. She gripped his fingers in between hers. "I was a little drunk, and I tripped, and fell into the mirror in my room. It's not as bad as it looks. It was just me being stupid."
He looked her over, concern and anger in his wordlessly gapping mouth. His eyes returned to her face and his fingers folded around hers. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "I just feel a little beat up, I'll be good as new in no time."
"Okay," Hiccup nodded, visibly disappointed. He let go of her hand. "If you need help with anything, let me know, okay?"
"Okay." Astrid nodded. He turned to leave. "Did you need something?"
"Oh, I just had to go," Hiccup shrugged, gesturing toward the toilet. "I can wait a few minutes."
He was looking at her like that again, with tired, big green eyes, his chin tilted down and his bangs hanging down his forehead. She lifted her hand to his cheek and ran her thumb across his cheek. She closed the step between them, gently leaning her lips against his. "I love you, you know."
"I know." Hiccup covered her hand with his. "I love you, too."
"It's nice to hear you say those words," Astrid said, her voice small. She wanted nothing more to fall into him, to disappear into his arms, into his being, let him swallow her up. He could make her decisions for her, hide her away where no one would find her, where nothing could ever bother her again.
She settled to lean on him instead. His body was steady against hers, solid and warm. His hands settled onto her hips, away from the bandages, half on the hem on her sweats and half resting on her bare skin. She kissed him again, tasting the toothpaste on his teeth. Goodness knows what her mouth tasted like in comparison.
She reluctantly leaned away and dropped her hands. "We both need to get to bed. We've got class in the morning."
Hiccup smiled. "Yeah."
X
With Astrid curled underneath the blanket again, Hiccup took the half drank tea back to the kitchen. He dumped it in the sink and set the cup down. He'd wash it tomorrow, if Astrid didn't.
She fell into a mirror. How the hell had a mirror done that much damage? He wanted to believe her, to trust her so completely that every word out of her mouth couldn't possible be contrasted as anything but the clean, lucid truth. But he didn't. he doubted her, but didn't want to call her on it. What would happen if he did? Would it ruin everything? Would she shout? Would she yell at him for not trusting her?
The entire ordeal sent a shiver down his spine. Hiccup tiptoed back into the dark bedroom and slid into the bed beside her. He wanted everything to be just as it had been, at Thanksgiving, at Christmas, like a fairytale love story. Had it really been too good to be true? If he pretended that it was fine, would it be fine?
X
Astrid pulled the Vikings hoodie over her head with only minor difficultly. Hiccup watched from the counter, prepared to help her if she needed him to, and when she hesitated at her shoulder's limit, he reached her side in a step. He reached under the hem and straightened it before gently pulled it down over her back.
"Thanks," Astrid mumbled as her face popped through the neck.
"You're welcome," Hiccup said as he held his hands out, even though her torso was covered. "What are you doing today?"
"I emailed my professors and told them what happened. Nothing important is happening this week anyway," Astrid said with a sigh.
"Okay." Hiccup swallowed. "Did you sleep well last night?"
Astrid's mouth opened, but nothing came out for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so."
Hiccup bit his lip. He had been woken up several times by Astrid's whimpering. He assumed, at first, she'd been in pain. But the second time, she'd spoken in her sleep. Her words still lingered in his ears.
"Don't let him in," she'd whispered, fists clenched in the blanket, eyes shut tight.
"Astrid?" Hiccup had asked, hand on her shoulder.
"Don't let him,"
"Don't let who in?" Hiccup had asked, fearing his own self in her vague words.
She'd whimpered pitifully, twitching into the blankets. Seeing her like this, he didn't want to go back to sleep. She'd calmed, and he'd scooted closer.
"I'm just going to chill out here today, maybe clean the bathroom." Astrid sat down on the couch, a hesitation in her usually graceful movement, a glitch in her features.
Had she been talking about him?
"I think I'm going out with a few people for lunch after class."
"With Cara?"
"Yeah, probably," Hiccup nodded, not missing the change in her tone. He pulled at a string on his backpack. "Do you want anything? I could bring you back lunch."
"No, we've got leftovers that need to be eaten." Astrid gestured toward the fridge. "But thank you."
Hiccup smiled at her and looked down at the string. He'd had this backpack a while. "I'll see you later, then."
"Yeah," Astrid nodded. She looked exhausted. Surely, it had nothing to do with the mysterious pills she'd taken. She'd snuck them, like a secret, like she didn't want him to know about them. He didn't care. If they helped her, then they were fine.
Hiccup stepped toward the door, but then stepped back, toward her. He walked to the couch and bent down to kiss her cheek. A calm smile spread over her lips.
"Love you," Astrid said as he leaned away.
"Love you." Hiccup stepped back toward the door. In the hall he adjusted his bag. A door down the hall opened, but he paid no mind until he stepped into the elevator. A broad shouldered man stepped inside after him.
"Morning," the man said.
"Hi," Hiccup nodded and stepped aside. The door closed and the elevator started down. He stared at his shoes. He could see the man's black shoes out of the corner of his eye. They looked expensive. He'd never seen the man before, but he'd heard the scooting, shoving sound of someone moving in down the hall.
Compared to his old neighbors, this man seemed fine.
X