Chapter 35: Room For One Less

Hiccup didn't know what he should've been expecting when he'd woken up that morning, but it certainly wasn't what was waiting for him at dinner that evening.

Up until the time he entered the Great Hall, his day had elapsed like any other. A morning flight with Toothless, some aerial exploring, lunch with the twins, and finally some time to himself at the cove for some new sketches in his notebook plus a little reading. He was really taking advantage of the free time that was being given to him, as Gobber had insisted he take some time off from the forge in the wake of the battle with the Flightmare, and all in all it ended up being a very productive day, only slightly spoiled by his brief run in with Gustav near the arena. If he'd known then the reality that was going to hit him in just a few moments, Hiccup would have damn well stayed home…or flown away forever…one of the two.

Alas, there was no chance for preparation, and the boy got his food like normal and sat down with his cousin, Fishlegs, and the twins at their usual table.

"Hey there, everyone." He called in a friendly tone, taking his place next to Snotlout.

"Hey." Fishlegs replied. "What've you been up to?"

"Oh, y'know, the same stuff as always. I came from the cove."

"You mean the place you now live?" Snotlout retorted.

"So I spend most evenings there… Who cares?" Hiccup defended himself. "It's better than sitting here and stuffing my face, claiming it's called 'bulking.' We all know you've been here an hour already and you're on your third plate…" Snotlout looked frustrated but said nothing because unfortunately his cousin had gotten it exactly right. Hiccup dismissed him and quickly looked around, taking a head count. "Still no sign of Astrid and Arkyn, huh?" He tried to hide his sigh. It was still difficult to accept that they were probably together doing something that Hiccup could only wish he was a part of.

Ruffnut answered him. "Not today, at least. People have hardly seen Arkyn all week anyway. He's been super cagey since the Flightmare's visit."

Fishlegs chimed in at this. "I'm sure he's fine. After all, he is the only dragon rider who hadn't ever seen the Flightmare before. It's easy to imagine something like that would be a little difficult to process."

Hiccup assumed the same but hadn't heard for sure. The Chief had chosen to keep his heart to heart with Arkyn between them on account of how personal it'd become, leaving his son in the dark on the other boy's hesitancy towards dragon riding.

Things would soon fall into place, however, as it was just then that the pair of missing teens walked in- and as Hiccup had guessed, they were together. They sat themselves down at the table, having just come from Astrid's house where they'd spent the bulk of their afternoon catching the girl's parents up on the events of their morning. They tried their best to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, although it didn't last long.

Perhaps it was the acquired skill of a best friend or simply a moment of heightened observation, but Ruffnut immediately noticed a discrepancy with the new arrivals. "There's something different about you two." She said simply, looking from one to the other. The Haddock glanced up from his food as she said this, trying to figure out what she was getting at.

"Did Arkyn get taller or did Astrid get shorter?" Fishlegs joked from across the table, poking fun at their difference in height, which was by no means a comical amount but certainly noticeable.

Arkyn smirked at this line but didn't have a chance to comment on it before Ruff waved their friend off, eager to get to the bottom of her hunch. "Gods, Arkyn. I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without your gloves on." The girl sounded both surprised and mildly amused. She began unapologetically studying what lay beneath the leather.

Fishlegs raised his brow in confirmation. "Goodness, now that you mention it, I think you're right!"

"Whoop-dee-do. Nice hands, Stryerson." Snotlout jabbed, too dull to understand why such a thing held any significance whatsoever.

Hiccup decided to refrain from adding to the string of reactions not because he didn't care, but because his attention was focused on Astrid's own anomaly, which held far more weight in the boy's opinion. "Since when did you get a new battle axe?" He asked her inquisitively. "You've been carrying around your mom's old one since the day you were strong enough to lift a weapon…" Hiccup would soon regret ever opening his stupid mouth.

"I was waiting to see how long it would take someone to notice." Astrid smiled excitedly, removing the axe from her back and laying it on the table so her friends could get a better look at it. She just couldn't hold it in anymore…she had to give them the news. "I've had this new battle axe since this morning. There's…a pretty special story behind it actually, and we have an announcement to make to you all as well…" As she said this, the girl grabbed Arkyn's hands in hers and looked towards her great friends, beyond ecstatic that she could share her happiness and good spirits with them that night.

Hiccup froze upon his realization of what was about to be said. He should've seen the signs…

"This morning…" Astrid began, barely able to contain herself. "Arkyn and I got betrothed! This axe and a matching case to go with it were his betrothal gifts to me!"

Death. Hiccup wished for death. The very moment the words hit his ears the boy began to feel nauseous, like all of the organs that were supposed to be in his torso had just disappeared and only a hollow shell remained. He grabbed each of his pant legs beneath the table and balled up his hands, trying to tear the fabric away to physically stop himself from screaming in front of everyone. He could no longer hear anything and the ache in the stub of his missing leg had come back for the first time since the debacle at the Beat the Dome races. No matter how much he'd tried to move on or accept his reality after that day he simply couldn't, and now things were so much worse. This girl had been his whole world for as long as he could remember, and just as she'd gotten the closest to him she'd also slipped away so suddenly. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. Hiccup's mind began ripping itself to pieces, and at the end of it all the boy could only see Arkyn remaining as the root of all his problems. He'd never understand why Odin had allowed the Nomanisan to live Hiccup's dreams instead of himself, but his thoughts were too clouded to care.

Snotlout shot a glance at his cousin once the cheers of 'congratulations' had died down and could immediately tell something wasn't right. The twins and Fishlegs had luckily taken over conversation with the pair of lovers, distracting them enough to give him a chance to whisper to Hiccup. "You don't look good, man." He said, trying not to sound condescending. Snotlout and Hiccup hadn't always gotten along, but at the end of the day, they were family…and the announcement hadn't exactly made him any happier, either. "Do you need me to walk you home or something?"

Hiccup nodded quietly, trying to appear inconspicuous by not making eye contact. He suddenly looked up, holding his stomach as he made his own declaration to the table. "I think I ate something funny." The boy said with a shaky voice. "Maybe it was the fish, I can't be sure, but…I don't feel so well right now. I'm going to go home a little early tonight…"

His cousin stood up alongside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm kind of tired myself, I think I'm going to make sure he gets home ok and then head to bed. Hookfang and I need our beauty rest…" He wasted no time causing some embarrassment at his own expense in order to take some of the focus off of Hiccup, and before too long they were making their way out the large doors at the front of the Great Hall. Astrid was left sitting at the table with only half a smile, genuinely disappointed that two people who she had grown very close to were no longer able to celebrate with her, something she'd been looking forward to all day…

Once the two boys were down the front steps and on the path to the Haddock household, Snotlout initiated conversation once more. "Quick thinking back there, you know. The fish truthfully wasn't that great…"

"Why the hell are you being so nice, Snotlout? What do you want?"

Snotlout was honestly hurt that his cousin immediately assumed his behavior was meant for personal gain. "Huh? I don't want anything! Look, I just know that you have a thing for Astrid and I'm trying to be a good cousin for once."

"Keep your goddamn voice down." Hiccup spat, taking out his anger on whoever was most convenient. Snotlout simply let him vent. "It's way too soon for this. I- it's not right…" The boy's cheeks were now wet with quiet tears.

"I'm upset about it too, you know. It seemed a little abrupt to me as well…"

"I wanted it to be me, Snotlout." Hiccup admitted.

"I get it, Hiccup. It should've been you, too. Especially after how she kissed you." Snotlout could see how messed up Hiccup was even in the dark, and finally decided to tell him something that Spitelout had told him, even though in hindsight he probably shouldn't have. "Hiccup?" He asked. "There's still a chance for you."

"I don't need some yakshit pep talk right now."

"No, I'm serious. My dad…he predicted something like this would happen after hearing something Riftan said in a meeting with the Chief's council, so he looked into it."

"And what's that entail?"

"He found a law, Hiccup. In the Berk texts. Arkyn is too young to sign his own betrothal certificate and he doesn't have anyone to sign it for him…do you know what that means?"

"None of it's real." Hiccup whispered under his breath in the cold air after a brief pause. "Whatever they have is a verbal agreement only."

Snotlout knew it was probably wrong to pass this information along, but he couldn't stand to see Hiccup so beaten down. He looked worse than before he'd met Toothless. "There's no paper trail that would ever hold up legally because it can't exist. Arkyn is stealing Astrid from you and it'll all be just a sham for the next 2 years, and until then, they can't be married."

"Plenty of time for them to find a reason to break up." This was all Hiccup said out loud, but in actuality he had a slightly different plan.

"Exactly. See? It's not over yet. You still have 2 years to prove to Astrid that you're a better man than Arkyn. Keep your head up." The Jörgensen hoped this had improved Hiccup's mood but looking at it from the other direction, chances were slim.

And indeed, Hiccup really didn't feel any better, but Snotlout couldn't know that. He'd really done his best- more than he realized. "I'll try, and…thanks, I guess. Sorry I snapped earlier." They were approaching the Chief's house now.

"Oh I've done much worse to you, don't worry about it." He tried to smile as Hiccup turned the door handle.

Stoick sat inside poking the fire, alarmed to look up and find his son sloppily stumbling in, face white, cheeks damp, palms sweaty. Just as Hiccup stepped through the door, he couldn't hold himself back any longer and unfortunately threw up his dinner all over the sitting room floor, making a horrible retching noise as he did so.

"Odin's beard, lad! What the-"

"He's had a tough night, Chief." Came Snotlout's sullen voice from the doorstep. And just like that, he was off to his own house, not feeling like he should be a part of the talk that was going to happen next. The door closed behind him with a thud and suddenly the two Haddocks were alone, staring at one another uncomfortably.

"Son, have you had too much to drink?" The Chief finally said, mild annoyance in his tone.

"Not a drop." Hiccup replied flatly. "And I'm not sick either." There was a hesitation as he accepted that he couldn't avoid explaining himself. "Astrid got betrothed."

"She what?!" Stoick raised his brow, instantly understanding why his son was in his current state. "To who?"

"Arkyn goddamn Stryerson." He seethed.

"Good Thor…" his father breathed. "Riftan mentioned that' they hung out a lot but I di'nt think it meant they were seein' each other."

"They have been for a little while, but I didn't tell you because I thought I could get over it by myself and I thought I could be ok but I'm not ok, dad." Hiccup increased the speed of his speech as he moved through the sentence. "Every time I think I'm finally alright with it I see those fucking beautiful eyes of hers again and just cry myself to sleep at night…" He disregarded the vomit on the floor and crossed the room to hug his dad, nearly begging for the safety of his embrace.

"Oh son…" Stoick sighed, hugging him back.

"I loved her first!" Hiccup said in a raised voice through broken sobs.

"I know. I- I know…"

"I'm the one who had to be patient for years while Astrid barely noticed my existence. I'm the one who took her on her first ever flight. I'm the one who showed her how amazing dragons could really be. I'm the one who gave her Stormfly. I'm the one who taught her how to ride. I'm the one who lost a leg to save her and everybody else at Helheim's Gate, including her father. I'm the one she kissed in front of the whole village. The life she lives now? I GAVE IT TO HER! ALL OF IT! Everything she does with her dragon from the moment she wakes up every morning to the moment her head hits the pillow every night is possible because I made it so. But I'm not the one she wants to be with."

"Hiccup, I trust Astrid hasn't forgotten what you've done for her. You must understand that she still holds gratitude for all this."

"But Arkyn Stryerson?! He's been here barely 4 months!"

"I know it may not seem fair-"

"No, you're exactly right. It's not fair! There's no room for him here, dad! Everything in our little group was exactly how it should have been before he showed up. I wish I never would have hauled his sorry ass off that beach. I let that guy stay in our house only for this…"

"Hey!" Stoick finally raised his own voice. "I realize you're upset but I can't have you talking about him like that. He's done a lot of good for this village since he's arrived, too."

Hiccup was angry his father would even think about defending Arkyn at all, but he was forced to brush past the subject. Instead he took a breath and asked a more serious question. "What is it, do you think, that she sees in him that I haven't already shown her?"

"Son, it isn't our place te guess why she feels wha' she feels."

"But what if it was?" Hiccup pleaded. "What would you say?"

Stoick huffed and thought for a minute, resigning to the fact that his son probably needed at least some sort of closure. "This situation is complicated, my boy, but I think the real answer te why she chose him instead o' you is because of what she doesn't see in Arkyn."

The younger Haddock raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Meaning?"

"Well…I'd say it's an issue of history. When Astrid looks at you, not only does she see a fearless and highly skilled dragon rider, but she also sees the shadow of who you were for the 10 years before that. You were…barely a Viking at all, if you want the truth. But as you said, Arkyn has been here just 4 months. Astrid knows almost nothing of what his mannerisms may have been back on Nomanisan besides only what he may have told her. When she looks at him, all she sees is the near equally fearless and skilled dragon rider that he became after arriving on Berk. As much as it pains me to say it, son, Arkyn represents a fresh start for Astrid- a clean slate, if you will. He has no long record of past screwups for her to be reminded of. What he does have, however, is the ability to be unwaveringly strong even in the wake of his parents' death- and that's a trait even I can admire having been through that loss myself."

Hiccup considered this for a moment, resenting the truth that he used to be such a failure. It made sense though…things like that were hard to forget. "It's not like I can change any of that." He growled. "That's not who I was supposed to be."

"The whole village knows, Hiccup. That doesn't mean there's any respect lost. You're still great friends with Astrid now. I'm not sure that would have even been possible before the Red Death."

"But what if that's not enough?! What if I want to be more than that, dad? It should be me that gets to live that life with her, not Arkyn. And to think that all it took him was an axe for a betrothal gift… I've built HUNDREDS of axes in the forge and sharpened Astrid's old one countless times, yet here I am. Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere." Hiccup blinked as the words left his mouth. Oh the whole thing was so twisted! Arkyn had come from nowhere and built his life into something damn near perfect, while Hiccup had started with everything after the Red Death only to slowly lose it all until he had nothing but a Night Fury to show for it.

The irony of this was not lost on Stoick. "Hiccup, I'm going to tell you something that I want you to hold onto, because it's a phrase my grandmother told me when I was very very young and it has stuck with me all these years. It's a mantra I truly believe in: 'This too shall pass.'"

"This too shall pass…?"

The Chief nodded. "Things may seem bad now, but if my years of wisdom have taught me anything, it's that young people shouldn't make big decisions on their own. Arkyn and Astrid, and I suppose you too, are just crossing the line into the early years of adulthood. How are they going to know if this is the future they're going to want forever? They certainly haven't been together long enough to cover every topic of importance with one another, and things fall apart…even with how unfortunate it is to have people fall out of love rather than in. From where I'm sitting, this won't last forever. This too shall pass, and when it does, you will have your time to make things right."

"But there's no way you can know that." Hiccup countered, squinting at his father skeptically.

"Perhaps you should give some thought to telling Astrid how you feel sooner then? If only she knew how much you cared, maybe she'd reconsider…"

"That's the worst part, dad…" Hiccup sighed, shaking his head. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to tell that girl exactly how much I love her, but I can't say anything of the sort now or I'll be the bad guy who isn't supporting the choice she's making. It's already too late…she'd only see it as jealousy."

"Well then I'm sorry, son…" Stoick's heart was breaking for the poor boy. He'd never seen Hiccup like this before, and the man could tell that Hiccup's feelings ran impossibly deep for the Hofferson, even more than he could ever express. "I wish there was more I could do to help you…"

Hiccup thought long and hard, remembering what Snotlout had told him on their walk home. Now was the time to put his plan into action. "Actually, there is still something you can do."

"Anything…"

"Spitelout found a Berkian law that negates Arkyn from entering a real betrothal contract because there's no way for him to get a certificate signed."

"Well I certainly know of this law since it's my job, but wha' are you getting at? There's still nothing stopping them from calling it a betrothal on the surface."

"But there's also nothing stopping anyone else from making a legal proposal."

"Hiccup, I don't know what you're suggesting, but-"

"I want you to make Riftan an offer he can't refuse." Hiccup said coldly, the thought of Arkyn eventually ending up with Astrid chilling him to his core.

Stoick could feel every ounce of sympathy he had for his son drain from his body in an instant. He could barely believe what he'd just heard. "Under no circumstances!" He boomed, startling the teenager. "How could you suggest something so low? I know Riftan well enough to understand that if Arkyn and Astrid have announced their betrothal publicly then they already have his approval on the matter, legal on paper or not!"

"But dad-"

"I'm not hearing you out any longer, Hiccup. You lost that privilege when you asked me to ruin the lives of two dragon riders simply because of your own personal romantic interests. I've never witnessed anything so selfish in my life, and I know I taught you about being an honorable man better than that! I don't think you ever would have even thought about something like this before tonight, and I know you're not yourself right now, so here's what's going to happen: You're going to turn around and clean up that vomit you got all over my floor, march up those stairs to your bedroom, and sleep off your emotions until the morning with not another complaint. And only then will I agree not to ground you any further and I might even forget what's just been said. But hear me now, Hiccup. Hear me when I say that I never want you to even think about something so vile ever again. Hear me when I say that as long as Arkyn is living and breathing on this earth and he and Astrid are happy together that I will not so much as lift a finger to interfere with their livelihoods. That is never what a Chief should use his power for. I'm hurt that you're hurting, but there's a right way to deal with things and a wrong way to deal with things, and you just found out the wrong way. She's not the only girl in the world, Hiccup, and things will get better for you, but tonight this discussion is over."

And with that, Stoick stormed off towards his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. A muffled voice yelled one last thing from inside. "That floor better be clean by the next time I leave this room!"

Hiccup stood in silence once more, all by himself now. The pain his father had helped soothe was back in full force, and he began to cry again as he wiped up his dinner with a wet rag. His plan had failed and he could feel Astrid slide just a little further out of reach as it did. Apparently that had been a bad thing to say to Stoick, though his dad had technically said "anything." It seemed there were still limits to such a word.

After the floor was once again spotless the boy charged upstairs, wrenching his door open to find Toothless waiting inside. He couldn't take it. Images of Hiccup and Astrid's first flight together on the dragon came flooding into his mind, infuriating him to his very core. He went into a blind rage, throwing everything from his desk onto the floor. Pencils, small tools, and various papers went everywhere, hitting the ground with a loud clatter. His sketchbook landed face up, a drawing of his favorite person now laying open at his feet. His tears fell silently off of his face and landed amongst the pages, making them damp.

He kicked the book under his bed, not wanting to look at the sketch of Astrid any longer than he had to that night. With no energy remaining, Hiccup crawled beneath his covers, bunching them up close to his face as he wept into them. Exhaustion eventually overtook the teen and he finally drifted off to sleep, angry with his father, angry with himself, but most of all…angry with Arkyn.