Good morning everyone.

How are you?

Well, I know that some of you already read this story a few months ago, I have been trying to take time to continue with it and little by little to move forward.

Thanks to Maly2003's help as my beta reader and for his great help, especially with writing. I hope you enjoy the story, but before that I wanted to mention a few things:

-The first is that this is not a priority for me, I like to write and this helps me to do better every day, I just hope I don't have to meet people demanding that I publish now and things like that.

-If you don't like the story I'm writing or where the plot goes, don't read it. I am not going to listen to those who do not stop bothering with meaningless complaints and criticisms. You don't like the story? Do not read it.

-On the other hand, that does not mean that opinions and reviews are not well received, even if it is to say that you did not like the story, as long as it is written with education and without demands. I will try to answer them within the time I have.

With her senior year of high school on the horizon, Astrid Hofferson's life is upended when her mother moves them both in with her new boyfriend, Mayor Haddock, and his wallflower of a son, Hiccup. Between the new house, last year's drama, and the return of an old friend, it's going to be a long year.

The clock read four in the afternoon and it was a good summer's day in Berk. One of those with a breeze cold enough to calm the stifling heat of early September and the perfect temperature for a short nap after lunch.

Or at least that's what Astrid Hofferson was trying to do, without success. With a sigh, she sat up and took a look at her room. Several boxes, already packed, were grouped in the corner, her oak desk had been dismantled the night before and was ready to be moved, and the flat-pack shelves were waiting in the moving truck.

In a few hours, she and her mother would be driving to their new home, they only had to load a few more things and they would be ready.

She got up, checked that her stuff was ready to be put in their moving truck, and gave her room one last look. Astrid descended the stairs and walked outside, where her mother was talking to one of the members of the moving company.

"I expect we'll make it to the new house ahead of you, but if we're held up, there should still be someone to meet you when you arrive with the truck," her mother told a man in a beige cap, waving hello when she spotted Astrid. She gave him some final instructions and walked over to her daughter.

"Everything ready, honey?" If there was a perfect person in the world to define the phrase "improves with time", that was her mother, Helga Hofferson. Almost two meters tall, her mother's physical presence was noticeable wherever they went. Her job as head of the Berk Rangers made her fit, her steel-hard muscles filled the clothes she wore. In fact, she had practically loaded the moving truck singlehandedly.

"Yes, I already have everything ready in my room for them to put in the truck, and I've loaded the suitcases with clothes," Astrid stood looking at the small house that had been her home until now.

Hofferson House and the surrounding land had always belonged to the Hofferson family, ever since Viking times, an area of natural entry to the great northern forest. It was also not located very far from the town, but far enough not to hear the day and night of its neighbors. And while she and her mother were only moving to another part of town, she was going to miss this place.

Helga could see how her daughter was looking at the house and understood how she felt. She put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and pressed her to her chest. Helga was grateful to have a daughter like Astrid, always ready to do whatever it took, even if she didn't like it. And while moving to another house in town wasn't a very serious matter, Helga knew how sad her daughter was to leave the family home.

"Well then, we can get in the car and leave," Mother and daughter got into the truck, took one last look at the house, and started the engine. It took a few minutes to get from the house path to the main road. Once there, Helga circled to an intersection and took the road that skirted the coast.

Astrid watched as the seawater sparkled in the afternoon sun, surprised by how quickly time had gone by. She turned her head and saw her mother concentrating on the road, but Astrid could see that she was boiling with happiness and emotion with every kilometer that the car ran. And it wasn't the first time she'd seen her mother like that. For a year and a half, her mother had started dating another man, and boy, had her mother become a teenager again. Astrid was surprised at first, it wasn't that her mother had not had dates, but it was the first time that any of them had lasted more than a few weeks, and not one of them had ever made her act like this.

The curiosity of not knowing which man was the one who had conquered the heart of the ferocious Chief of the Rangers of Berk had kept her in suspense for several months. Astrid still didn't understand why she hadn't told her about it for the first few months. She suspected her mother enjoyed keeping secrets—the bigger the better—and liked to keep people in the dark about her personal life.

So imagine her shock when it was discovered that this man was none other than Stoick Haddock, the mayor of Berk. When the news came out, her mother didn't tell her much, just that she and the mayor were together when they were young and that although they often saw each other for the jobs they had, it was not until recently that they had begun to date. Astrid felt that there was more history behind it, but whatever the case, her mother was happy and that was all that mattered.

Which led them to that moment. Hofferson House was a good place, but the years had taken their toll, and although her mother had done a great job keeping the house standing, the truth was that there came a point where the house demanded more than that Helga could give. It was a worrying time since neither Helga nor Astrid wanted to sell the house and the land, but on the other hand, the current situation of the house made it almost unlivable and they didn't have the money to fix it up. It was then that the mayor proposed that they go live with him and his son after the summer.

At first, Helga didn't know what to say. It was one thing to start dating an old love again, but another to go live together after just a few months. On the other hand, that took a great weight off her mind, having a place to live while looking at how to fix the house, and the truth was it didn't seem like a bad idea, after all, it allowed them to spend their children's last year of high school together. So after a few days, Helga accepted Stoick's proposal, although Astrid needed a bit of Hofferson-style persuasion.

Astrid understood the situation and had a very good relationship with the mayor. Being one of the best students in Berk High and captain of the volleyball team meant they were both invited to many town-wide events, but she didn't like the idea of living with two men. Nevertheless, she understood the situation and the final argument left her with no choice but to support her mother.

"Look, Astrid. I understand that this situation isn't ideal, but if I'm honest, it's not the worst either." Astrid and her mother were sitting at the kitchen table, a few hours after her mother had informed her that she had accepted Stoick's proposal.

"I know mom, but I won't pretend I like it either." Astrid stared at the table as she spoke. "I understand that he's your boyfriend, and I really like him." That was true, Astrid respected the Mayor of Berk, his work in the city was impeccable. "But to go live with them all of a sudden?"

Her mother stared at her without blinking.

"Astrid, I get it, but I don't see much of a problem with going to live with the Haddocks either," Astrid could feel her mother squeeze her hand as she spoke. "Both you and Stoick's son will finish high school next year—it's a good idea to have a trial run before you both leave for college, at least to make sure the arrangement won't make either one of you not want to come home. It's really a two-birds-with-one-stone kind of deal, sweetie.."

Astrid looked at her mother, surprised, realizing that she had never thought much of what she would do when Astrid left for college.

"It is only a year, and believe me that between the end of high school and having everything ready for college, the time will fly by, not to mention that it will be good to be able to be in a house where everything works properly."

Those last words ended the conversation, mostly because Astrid couldn't argue with that. So much of the summer had consisted of getting everything ready, the rest was a road trip with her mother, visiting different places.

"Do you think they will have everything ready?" Astrid asked her mother. They still had a while to get to the Haddock home.

"Stoick said yes, they have made some arrangements, prepared your room, and prepared space for us." Helga took one of the exits and turned onto the road that led into the area. As they progressed along that road they were getting deeper into the forest in that part of Berk. Astrid did not recall having been there much, except perhaps for a couple of times when the mayor organized an event at his house. While the forest around Hofferson House consisted of large trees and dirt paths, the near-shore forest was lusher. There weren't many large trees, but there were plenty of saplings and ivy covered many of the houses they passed.

After a few minutes on the road, Astrid realized something, that was not the way they used to take to go to the Mayor's house. Normally, when they went to the Haddocks' house for some event or another, they would drive to a huge entrance next to the coast with a wooden sliding door.

"Mom, are you sure this is the way?" Her mother smiled and kept driving.

"Yes, darling." Her mother said while turning the car onto a service road, which led to an elevated part of the forest. "This is the main entrance to the Haddocks' house, the one you know leads to the area where the events take place." Her mother switched gears. "Stoick is a good mayor, but that doesn't mean he likes people to see everything he does, he likes to maintain his and his family's privacy."

Astrid began to notice that they must be very close to the entrance. The road went from asphalt to dirt and stone and narrowed a bit. A few minutes later, the car turned into a huge, dark wooden door, closed on both sides by a stone wall. On the driver's side, there was a metal pole with an intercom and bell, and a large tall lamp next to it.

Without wasting time, Helga took out a garage remote and pressed it. After a few seconds, the doors swung open and Astrid saw one of the most beautiful houses she had ever laid eyes on.

The Haddock house was made up of several buildings, the main house was in the style of Viking houses. To the right, Astrid saw a simpler building that had to be the garage with its two big metal doors, and just behind that, she could see some stairs leading somewhere.

On the left side, she could see a building to the side of the house, attached to what looked like the kitchen, and bordering it, a stone path that seemed to lead to the garden. The small building seemed to have been an old garage that had been renovated, a wooden door could be seen next to another bigger one, the perfect size to fit a car.

Helga parked the car in front of one of the metal doors and turned off the engine. They got out of the car and Astrid could see Mayor Stoick already coming out of the house towards them. Her mother wasted no time running towards him and threw herself into his arms. Fortunately, the mayor was a huge man, her mother was not exactly small and few people could handle her. But it seemed that was not a problem for the mayor, as he picked her up effortlessly and hugged her tight.

Astrid looked away as the two adults acted like they were teenagers again. When Astrid thought that enough time had passed, she cleared her throat, bringing the two adults back to reality. They both parted with red faces and Astrid couldn't help but giggle.

When she was in front of the mayor, he gave her a huge hug and released a bellowing laugh. "Welcome to Haddock House, Astrid." Astrid could only blush at this reception.

"Thank you for having us, Mayor Haddock." Astrid's mother rolled her eyes as she heard her daughter speak so respectfully.

"Stoick, please, I might be the mayor, but I'm just Stoick around here. But it's nice to see you have more manners than your mother, at least." Stoick replied as he shot a funny look at her mother.

"Hey!" Helga hit him hard on the shoulder, causing Stoick to rub it while chuckling softly.

"Come inside, the moving truck will take a while, so I'll take the opportunity to show you around the house."

The first thing Astrid felt upon entering the hall of the house was a welcoming feeling. The hall was round in shape and very reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins' house in the Lord of the Rings. Stoick took her bags and put them in a closet with a lot of coats, boots, and things like that. With her things put away for the time being, Stoick stood in front of them.

"Well, first of all, behind me is the living room, the door to my right leads to the kitchen, and the stairs to my left lead to the upper floor, where most of the bedrooms and bathrooms are." Having seen the size of the house from outside, Astrid thought she was going to need a map. "There are more ways to go upstairs or to other areas of the house without going through here, but these are the main ones."

For the next few minutes, Stoick took them on a short tour of the ground floor of the house. For every corner of the house, there was something to look at: plants, shelves full of books, photos, Viking decorations carved in wood, the list went on ... and still one could move around the house very easily.

The living room was high-ceilinged, with the sofas tailored to Stoick's size centered around a central fireplace, the television was mounted to the wall, and beneath it a wooden cabinet with various electronic devices. And all placed in a very professional way, not the typical bundle of cables that she saw in the twins' house or Snotlout's.

They passed through one of the doors that opened onto the garden. The garden was large and very well kept, one part ended in a small ravine from where you could see the sea, and at the other end, you had a stone path that led to a gate to the forest. Continuing on the tour, Stoick used one of those stone paths to guide them to the outside kitchen door.

The kitchen was large and seemed to have everything you could ever need. A central island occupied part of the kitchen and at the other end was placed a wooden table with several chairs. Stoick made them sit down and from a fridge, he took out a jug that seemed to hold a juice of some kind. Astrid didn't know what flavor it could be to get her mother's eyes sparkling the way they were, but she wanted to find out.

Stoick placed the pitcher on the table and picked up several glasses from an overhead cupboard. "Hiccup will be here in a little while, he's putting some final touches on the room, also Gobber and Gothi will arrive later with something for dinner." Stoick barely finished serving the first glass of juice before it disappeared from his hands, snatched by Helga.

Helga smiled tenderly and Stoick couldn't help but laugh. Astrid was struck with the impression that she was not seeing them as they were today, but younger versions of themselves, the clock rewound. Astrid came back to reality when Stoick passed her a glass of juice. Seeing how much her mother seemed to like the drink, she took a good sip.

Astrid had a sweet, cold, and very sour taste, and it was delicious. She must have had a very funny face since her mother and Stoick looked at her with amused glances.

"What is this?" the girl asked when she finished drinking.

"This, Astrid, is the heavenly drink of the gods," said her mother as she raised the glass.

Stoick laughed and explained what it was while he refilled the glasses. "It's a traditional Berk drink, from the Haddock clan to be more specific." Stoick finished serving and set a glass next to it. "It's a mixture of sweet and sour berries along with other ingredients, it can be served hot as a tea in winter and cold in summer. With that said, Helga had emptied her glass and was already asking to have it refilled a third time.

"And like your mother just showed you, it can be very moreish." Helga stuck her red-stained tongue out at him as she waved her glass for more. Stoick picked up the mug and filled it. "You had to see what it was like when she came here to visit when we were younger, she always tried to sneak away with a bottle without my parents finding out." Astrid looked at her mother trying to appear innocent. Stoick received another message on his phone, which took no more than a few seconds to answer.

The talk went on for a while, Astrid enjoying the stories Stoick was telling about her mother. Stoick was recounting a particularly funny incident when the door opened and he was interrupted.

Astrid did not remember the last time she had seen the Mayor's son. She remembered that they played together when they were little, hardly surprising given they lived in a small town, she remembered that they had been friends during the first years of primary school, but she did not recall much of him beyond those early memories. She vaguely remembered seeing him in some shop in town, but it was like when you saw someone but you did not remember what he was like or dressed.

The boy who just walked through the door was tall, he may not have been six feet but he was close. He was wearing a worn red T-shirt and blue jeans ripped at the knees, those clothes that you save for when you have to do something dirty at home. His brown hair was swept off his face with a patterned bandana and a tool belt was tied around his waist. Astrid could see little beads of sweat on his forehead, it seemed that the boy had been working hard these last few hours, but what caught his attention were those green eyes, the same green of the forests that surrounded the house. At that moment the first thing that came to Astrid was the word handsome.

"Hiccup," the mayor stood up and gave his son a hug. "Have you finished?

"Yes dad, we're looking good." Stoick put his big arm around his shoulders and guided him to the table.

"Hiccup, you already know Helga." Said woman got up and gave him a big hug. "But I don't know if you remember her daughter Astrid."

"Sure I remember," Hiccup reached out his hand for her. "How are you, Astrid?"

It took a few seconds for Astrid to react, but she immediately reached out and shook Hiccup's hand. "Okay, a little overwhelmed with all of this, but okay." Hiccup smiled then, and Astrid could feel her cheeks flush. She quickly turned her gaze to the glass so that it was not noticeable, but she could see out of the corner of her eye how her mother gave her a funny smile.

Stoick and Hiccup sat at the table and the mayor served another round of juice for everyone.

"My boy here was giving Astrid's room the final touches," Stoick commented as he finished filling the glasses.

Astrid looked curiously at Hiccup, "Final touches?"

"Of course," the mayor gave his son a "little pat" on the back, causing this guy to almost spit out the juice he was drinking, an image that mother and daughter couldn't help but laugh at. "Both Hiccup and I want you two to be happy and comfortable, so Mr. Handyman has been busy getting everything sorted for you."

Astrid fixed her gaze on Hiccup, a small smile appeared on his face, like when you're little and they praise you for something you have done. But it was not the same shyness that she remembered. She remembered a boy who was so shy that he hardly ever spoke to anyone.

Just then the sound of a very loud horn sounded outside the house.

"The moving truck!" Helga exclaimed. Everyone got up from the table and hurried to the front porch of the house. Stoick used his key fob to open the doors, letting the truck pass, which parked next to the Hoffersons' car.

Stoick turned to his son, "Hiccup, why don't you take Astrid to her room, let her look where she would like to place everything."

"Okay, Dad," Hiccup motioned for Astrid to follow him and together they entered the house.