Hiccup woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. He kept his eyes closed and tried to readjust to a more comfortable position on the couch, figuring his dad would get the door. However, the knocking persisted and he couldn't hear his dad's heavy steps coming from anywhere in the house.
"Go away," Hiccup called out. He figured it was probably some sleazy reporter hoping to get a one-on-one with either him or his dad. Ugh, why can't they just leave us alone already? What part of "no comment" can't they understand?
"Can't do that, you ninny," a familiar voice said from the other side of the door.
Hiccup sat up, any chance of more sleep vanishing. "Snotlout?"
"Who else would it be?" Snotlout replied. "Now come open this door. The twins' distraction isn't going to keep those reporters busy forever."
Twins? "What are they doing here?" Hiccup asked as he picked up his crutches that were lying on the floor next to the couch.
"Distracting the reporters, duh," Snotlout answered as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "We needed one if we were going to reach the door."
Hiccup stood up and set the crutches under his arms. "Who's we?"
"Open the damn door if you want to find out," Snotlout urged, irritation lacing his voice, clearly tired of waiting outside.
The auburn-haired teen carefully hobbled his way to the door, wondering where his dad was. He vaguely recalled him mentioning something about having to run a couple of errands. How long ago had that been? How long had he been asleep? If Snotlout was here the school day was clearly over, so he probably slept most of the day away. He was getting really tired of the constant fatigue.
Hiccup nearly laughed at his own joke. Heh, I'm tired of being tired.
After what felt like forever, Hiccup finally reached the front door. With some clumsy coordination, he managed to unlock and open the door without losing his balance. Hey, he was making progress. Yesterday he had fallen on his butt trying to open the bathroom door.
He looked at his cousin and the two teens were standing behind him, Astrid and Fishlegs. Why did Snotlout seem fit to bring them? So they could all take turns laughing at his misfortune? To see if he'd confess to the accusations?
"Why are you here?" He asked addressing all three of them.
"Let us in," Snotlout huffed.
Hiccup really didn't want to, but he knew that if he didn't Snotlout would push his way in, not caring if he got hurt, well more hurt. With careful navigation, Hiccup moved out of the way so the three teens could enter. "Come on in, just take your shoes off, please. Dad doesn't want dirt tracked in."
Each of the teens obliged without complaint. Each of them took a few seconds to stare at the spot where his leg should be but said nothing. Snotlout knew about it, but still had a hard time getting used to it. As for the other two, they probably knew about thanks to the news, or Snotlout told them to prepare them. Hiccup wasn't sure, but for now, he was glad they weren't saying anything about it.
Hiccup hobbled behind them, back into the living room. Snotlout sat down in an armchair while Astrid and Fishlegs stood on either side like they were his bodyguards. Hiccup, just sat back down on the couch and carefully repositioned himself so that his stump was propped up on the pillow he had been using the past few days. His stump pillow, his dad had called it, a poor attempt at a joke, but it helped a bit with the adjustment.
Snotlout dropped the attitude he'd been presenting outside and looked at Hiccup with concern, going into big cousin mode. "How are you feeling?"
Hiccup however did not drop his defenses. He remained alert and chose his words carefully. "I'm doing fine. Why are you here?"
"We wanted to check on you," Astrid spoke up.
Hiccup glared at her, making his expression very clear that he didn't believe her. Once upon a time, he had a crush on her, but he got over it once he realized that she didn't even acknowledge his existence. She barely acknowledged his cousin's. Now here she was in his house, standing next to Snotlout, acting like she cared.
"It's true," Fishlegs chimed in as he pulled out one of his fidget cubes.
Fishlegs, he was more inclined to believe. Both of them had many hobbies and clubs in common, even if they hardly interacted. But the husky teen never went out of his way to treat Hiccup like he was invisible. It always felt like he was watching him while trying to keep from getting too close.
Hiccup readjusted himself, trying to get more comfortable as the pain started to seep in. "Why do you care? You aren't my friends. I don't have any."
Astrid stepped away from the armchair and sat down on the coffee table "We do care, Hiccup. We just couldn't show it. But we realized too late that we should have acted sooner. Maybe if we had acted like true friends earlier, we might have been able to prevent all this."
Hiccup felt the anger he'd been holding back start to rise up. How on Earth would being his friend have prevented him from losing his uncle and leg? What did they know that he didn't? What was the real reason they were here?
Pushing his anger down, Hiccup spoke in a deadly even tone. He was not in the mood for mind games and more lies. "You have one chance and one chance only to tell me how you could have prevented this and why you think you can come in here acting like you care. So tell me Astrid Hofferson, what is going on?"
Astrid wet her lips before speaking. "We know the Red Deaths set the fire. We know they killed your and Snotlout's uncle. We know they are trying to frame you. For the past few months, they've upped their game in terms of illegal stuff and whatnot. They've even started recruiting teens and kids as young as eight into their ranks. Many of them are message runners or dealing drugs. They've tried recruiting us multiple times. They've scared Ruff and Tuff into silence by killing their cousin who was a member who couldn't keep his mouth shut. Up until recently, they've left you and Snotlout alone. After they fire they started pressuring Snotlout to join, because they figured out he's the Chief of Police's son. They also know that you're the Mayor's kid. They didn't know this until after the fire, though. We think their plan is that you'll eventually succumb to the lies and join in the hopes they'll stop."
Hiccup's expression didn't change. "Keep going."
"They've been trying to recruit Fishlegs and me for the past several months due to our family ties. We figured that if we kept our distance, they would leave you alone," Astrid continued. "Before that, we tried being your friend, but you never seem interested. That's not an excuse, just what we noticed from our side of things." She paused for a minute, doing her best to look anywhere, but at Hiccup's stump or eyes. "As for preventing the fire and what followed. We knew they were planning something against Gobber thanks to whispers throughout the school. We tried figuring it out, but it was too late. If we had warned you, maybe you could have saved him and not lost your..." she couldn't finish.
Hiccup looked over at his cousin. "I take it she's already spun this story to you."
"She's not lying, Hiccup," Snotlout replied. "Believe me, I felt the same way you do now, but it's the truth. I wouldn't have brought them here if I didn't believe them. The Red Deaths are trying to recruit me and they want you as well. Whether they want you to join or to kill you is unknown. Either you're a witness or a valuable resource. Drago and them haven't decided yet from what we can tell so far."
"Where are you getting this information?" Hiccup wondered, momentarily forgetting his anger and letting his curiosity get the best of him.
"We have a friend on the inside," Astrid answered. "She joined after her brother did."
"Do I know her?" Hiccup asked.
Fishlegs shook his head. "No. She only moved to town a few months ago and is homeschooled, before that she was shuffled from boarding school to boarding school. You know her brother though, Dagur."
Hiccup felt a cold shiver go down his spine. He hadn't thought of Dagur in a couple of years. The guy was a few years older than him and made his life hell. Dagur eventually moved away for college and Hiccup finally felt like he could walk around town without having to worry about getting knifes thrown at him or dragged to the lake for impromptu swimming lessons.
"When did he get back to town?" Hiccup tried to demand, but his tone came off as weak and dry.
"Same time as his sister, a few months," Astrid answered. "You'd been spending so much time at the shop, you probably didn't notice. Their parents died in a boating accident, so Dagur dropped out of college and moved back here to care for his sister. And he's very protective of her. He doesn't want her in the gang, but having her as a member keeps her safe. According to her, he tries to shield her from the worst parts, but she's very sneaky."
Hiccup winced as the pain started climbing higher. He needed to finish this conversation and get them out of here. "If she's homeschooled, how did you meet?"
"She's in the same martial arts class I'm in," Astrid answered. "At first we couldn't stand each other, but after awhile we became pretty good friends."
"Good enough that she's keeping you updated on the Red Deaths movements," Hiccup determined. "She's how you knew something was going to happen, but you couldn't warn me without more information. By the time you figured it out, it was too late."
"That about sums it up," Fishlegs confirmed.
Hiccup sighed, feeling the anger climb back into its cage. "I am not your friend. That ship has sailed. However, if I'm going to clear my name, I feel like we could work together to accomplish it. Maybe dismantle the Red Deaths at the same time or at least ruin any future chances they have of getting away with murder and other illegal things."
Astrid and Fishlegs both looked like their hopes of friendship had been shattered. Not that Hiccup really cared. The idea of friendship could be visited at a later date. Right now he couldn't afford friends. It made no sense to try and get close to these people.
"I think you should leave," Hiccup said, pain plastering his words. "Next time call first."
Fishlegs and Astrid left as quickly as they could, nearly forgetting their shoes by the door. Snotlout however stayed seated, staring at his cousin. "Need me to get you anything, before I leave?"
Hiccup briefly considered asking him to bring him his medications that were in the kitchen, but thought better of it. If the Red Deaths really were trying to recruit him, he didn't need to know what kind of medicine he was taking. The risk was small, but there was a chance it could be used against him.
"No, I'm good," Hiccup lied. He looked his cousin in the eye. "If I find out all of this is a lie, I will not hesitate to tell my dad and your dad about this conversation. I am only staying silent because I want to make them pay for Uncle Gobber's death and to stop them from dragging my name through the mud. Are we clear?"
Snotlout gulped. He knew better than to cross his cousin. The last time he did, the fallout wasn't pretty. "Crystal clear." He stood up and headed for the door, turning to look at Hiccup as he slipped his shoes back on. "For what it's worth, I'm mad at them too. They had every chance to warn you, to warn us. But right now, they are our best chance at stopping the Red Deaths."
Hiccup didn't look back at his cousin or acknowledge that he said anything. He just picked up the remote and turned the TV on, hoping his silence was enough. There was another reason he refused to look at Snotlout, he didn't want him starting to cry from the pain he was in.
Snotlout sighed as he opened the door. "I'll see you later. Mom wants to come over to see how you're doing, maybe bring you and Uncle Stoick a homecooked meal."
Hiccup still said nothing and waited for the door to close. After a minute or two, once he was sure Snotlout and his new friends were gone, he let the floodgates burst as he sobbed from the pain.
Author's Note: Yeah Snotlout is a bit out of character for the story, but I need him to be caring, at least while Hiccup recovers and adjusts to his new normal. Once Hiccup is better, Snotlout will go back to being an asshole, more or less.
Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I apologize for the author's note I left in the form of a chapter, but I felt the need to call out the bullshit the guest comment was spouting.
As always, don't forget to follow and review letting me know what you think of the story so far. I should hopefully have the next chapter up in a couple of days if I am lucky.
Until next time
