Author's note: Thank you guys for all the reviews, follows and favorites! They really are what motivates me to update this story.
The gender poll has been taken down as of July 20th. I have chosen a few names, but will not be doing a poll on that because it will give away the gender. I appreciate every vote that was sent in and will reveal the winning gender within the next few chapters.
I'm sorry about the delay, but life has been busier than usual lately. Anyways, here is chapter eight. I'm not exactly pleased with how it turned out, but hopefully it will be enough until the next update.
3 months
Astrid blinked her eyes open slowly, the bright light slanting through the window blinding her for a few seconds. As her eyes adjusted, she scanned the bright room, her mouth going dry. White was all she saw; the sheets, the floor, the walls.
It didn't take her more than a few seconds to realize that she was in a hospital room.
The obnoxious beeping of the machine next to the bed caught her attention. Her eyes followed the tube attached to it to her right hand, where an IV needle had been put in her second finger, white medical tape holding it in place.
"You're awake."
Astrid's head snapped around too quickly, and pain bloomed in her skull. She raised her hand to rub the sore spot as she looked at the man sitting in the chair next to the window.
Hiccup smiled at her as he stood and came to the bedside. There were purple shadows under his eyes, a clear sign that he hadn't slept in days. He took her free hand in his and smoothed his thumb over the back of it.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
Astrid shook her head. Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "What are you doing here? What happened?" She croaked.
"The nurse should be back soon with the results of your CT scan. She'll be glad to see that you're awake."
"What are you doing here? What am I doing in this bed? What are you not telling me, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. She could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat when he hesitated.
Hiccup sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Someone on the other team hit the ball over the net and it… it hit you pretty hard. You were unconscious when I got to you."
Astrid's head fell back against the pillow. She closed her eyes. "How long was I out?"
"Almost three days. They put you on morphine, so you'll probably still be tired for another day or two."
Her eyes shot open. She struggled to sit up, and the IV was disconnected from the needle in her hand. The machine in the corner of the room wailed.
Hiccup grabbed her wrists and held them against the mattress. Astrid jerked and kneed him in the stomach, taking pleasure in the pained groan he emitted. She growled when he refused to let go, hunched forward to protect himself from further injury.
"Let me go, Hiccup!" Astrid argued.
"No. Do you have any idea what a fall like that could have done to your head?" Hiccup asked. "Because I do, and I'm not about to let you walk out of here like everything is fine."
Astrid fumed at him. "Fuck. You."
"Don't even-"
"Astrid Hofferson?"
Astrid sat up and Hiccup released her wrists. She watched as the nurse reattached the IV to the needle and silenced the machine. The woman's eyes were a warm shade of chocolate that matched the maternal smile on her lips.
"I have good news and bad news," she said. "Which would you like to hear first?"
"Good," Astrid said softly.
"Well, there doesn't appear to be any damage caused by the fall. But it is recommended that you stay off your feet for the next few days just in case something does arise that we missed," the nurse said.
"And the bad?" Astrid asked.
"I assume that you play sports often?"
Astrid nodded.
"Even though you are now in the second trimester of your pregnancy, athletics still pose a large threat to your baby. If you would have fallen that hard on your front, the baby would surely have been killed. Now, I have no way of knowing if you will listen or not, but it is very important that you do not get involved in contact sports. It is also recommended that you contact your gynecologist about an ultrasound to check on your baby. If you would like, I can schedule an appointment for Wednesday the 18th with..." The woman glanced down at her clipboard. "...Dr. Anderson."
Astrid took a deep breath and nodded again, unable to speak.
The nurse gave her a small smile and clutched her clipboard a bit tighter. "Good. You will be released shortly."
Astrid watched her go, a frown on her lips.
An uncomfortable silence hung over them during car ride back to their apartment complex. It was suffocating, stealing all of the words she wanted to speak and throwing them up in the air where she couldn't each them.
Hiccup drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and kept his eyes on the road, pretending to not notice when Astrid glanced at him for the fourth time in fifteen minutes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down at her hands.
Hiccup finally looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Don't be. I… I should have called you back. I was being a jerk."
"I thought you were going to leave me."
"I thought you were going to be the one leaving me."
Astrid looked up at him, blonde eyebrows knit together over stormy blue eyes. "What?"
Hiccup tapped his fingers on the wheel nervously. "Uh, yeah. I mean, I-I could see why you wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life with this." He gestured vaguely to himself with his right hand.
"That's not true, Hiccup. I don't plan on letting you go anywhere anytime soon," Astrid said.
Hiccup looked over at her, a small smile on his lips. "Are you-"
"Hiccup!" Astrid grabbed the wheel as it slipped from his fingers. He blinked and gripped it in both hands, his eyes once again trained on the road ahead of them.
"Sorry."
Astrid sighed and watched as the trees and houses shot by in a blur. "Tell me about yourself," she said finally.
"O-Okay. What do you want to know?"
"Anything."
Hiccup thought for a moment. "Well, Toothless is missing his left hind leg. I got him a year after I lost my foot, and we just kind of… clicked."
"How did you lose your foot?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup swallowed audibly. "T-There was an accident. I was walking home from school and the driver… he didn't see me. The girl who saw it happen thought he was drunk," he said quietly.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Hiccup shook his head. "No, I've moved past it. It's just part of who I am now, and there's nothing I can do to change it."
Astrid nodded.
Hiccup glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What about you?"
Astrid shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I have an older brother, Finn, and a younger sister, Brenna. What else?"
"Why did you move here of all places?" Hiccup asked. He carefully turned onto the main road.
"It's different. At home, everyone… they all expected me to fit this perfect mold. And I didn't. So I lied and pretended to be someone else. My friends wanted to hang out with that girl instead of me. My parents wanted me to follow in their footsteps and take over the family business. That's not the future I want. I want… I want to live; to see the world before I give it all up and settle down for the rest of my life."
"It's not fair."
Astrid looked over at him, surprised. "No. No, it's not."
"You wish you had a second chance to make things right. The way you think they should be; not someone else."
She frowned. "But there are no second chances," she whispered to herself.
"There are if you let yourself believe there are."
She leaned her head on her hand and looked out the window. She shook her head. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Hiccup. There are no right turns. Everything move I have made is wrong," she said.
Hiccup looked over at her as he parked the car in the lot next to their apartment complex. "Then take a left turn. There is always another way, Astrid. Always."
"How can you be so sure?" Astrid asked. She glanced at Hiccup, a frown tugging at her lips.
Hiccup gave her a small smile but kept his eyes trained on the console between them. He hesitated before reaching over it to place his hand over her smaller one. "Do you trust me, Astrid?"
She intertwined her fingers with his. "Of course," she said.
"Then don't question it."
Astrid undid her seatbelt and turned in her seat to face him, never letting go of his hand. She folded her knees under her and glanced out the window behind him at the quickly darkening sky.
"I missed this," she admitted quietly.
"Missed what?" Hiccup asked as he took off his own seatbelt.
"You. Us. Not feeling so alone." Astrid sighed and gazed down at their hands, chewing her lip. "Things are so screwed up right now that I don't even know where to start."
He nodded. "Look, I'm sorry about everything I said, and everything I didn't say but should have. You mean a lot to me, Astrid. I don't want to ruin whatever friendship there is between us."
"It's not your fault, Hiccup. I… I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have too. And I'm sorry. I was angry and scared and… I let my emotions get the best of me. Instead of talking to you, I took it out on you," Astrid said. She looked outside again, her eyes following a stray pink cloud as it floated across the sky over the setting sun.
The last few days of sunlight streaked across the parking lot as the sun set on the other side of the city. The windows of their apartment building were painted orange and purple as the sun slowly fell and disappeared beyond the horizon.
"Do you regret it?"
Astrid glanced at Hiccup, trying to ignore the cold fear building in the dark corners of her mind. "What?"
"Everything that has happened over the past two months."
Was it possible to even answer such a question? Astrid swallowed hard and shook her head, her gaze falling to their hands. "No. I wish it had gone differently, yes, but I don't regret any of it. How else would I have met you?"
Her eyes met his emerald ones as she finished speaking, her breath hitching in her throat when she saw the different emotions in them. Happiness. Relief. Uncertainty.
Hiccup gave her a small smile and glanced down at their hands. Then he leaned over the console, so close that Astrid could smell his woodsy cologne and feel his breath on her cheek. Her eyes widened as he pressed his lips to hers.
She was motionless as his lips molded against hers, her heart hammering against her ribcage. A voice in her head screamed at her to move, to do something, but she remained frozen.
He pulled away after a minute, looking anywhere but her face. He slid back into his seat and grabbed his keys, running the back of his neck. "Uh… yeah, I should probably…"
Astrid nodded too and got out of the car. They crossed the parking and she followed him to their level, then stopped in front of her door, her keys dangling from her fingers As she thought.
What did she even want anymore? She liked Hiccup and all, but where were they in their relationship? Where did she draw the line between boy friend and boyfriend? Were they even ready for such a big step?
In only six months they would be tied together forever, and that was hardly enough time. But with Hiccup there by her side, things would be different. She had more fun with him in one day than she did in a whole month with anyone else. He was the only one that knew the way when she was lost.
Astrid shoved her keys in her pocket and turned around. She scanned the hallway and found him standing in front of his door, trying to unlock it.
"Hiccup!" She called.
His eyebrows knit together as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, his back hitting the door. He slowly relaxed against her and kissed back, his arms finding their way around her waist.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily," she teased as they parted.
"Why would I ever want to get rid of you?" Hiccup asked, his emerald eyes taking on a playful look as he leaned against his door.
Astrid smacked his chest half-heartedly and rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and kiss me, nerd," she said.
Hiccup gave her his trademark lopsided grin as he pressed their foreheads together. "Gladly."