Hiccup Haddock sat cross-legged on the beautiful carpeted living floor of his family's gorgeous home in Dragon City, his hands fidgeting in his lap. The rain drummed against the windows, a steady rhythm that seemed to echo the tightness in his chest. Boden leaned against the couch with his arms folded, his face pulled into that familiar frown. And Una, with her stuffed dragon, clutched to her chest, sat between them, watching both of her brothers like she was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
The silence dragged on too long.
"I don't know how to start," Hiccup finally said, his voice barely louder than the rain.
"Start anywhere," Boden replied, the tension in his voice as thick as the air in the room. "It's not like we've been great at talking about this before."
Una shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting between her brothers. "We're talking about the bad stuff. Like, the way people treated us?"
Hiccup glanced at her, and his heart ached at the uncertainty in her voice. "Yeah, Una. That's exactly what we're talking about."
Boden huffed a sharp, bitter sound. "Like how everyone acted like you were some walking disaster, Hic? Like it was funny or something."
Hiccup tensed, his jaw tightening. "It wasn't just me, though. They treated you like you were the better version. Like everything I screwed up was your responsibility to fix."
"That's not fair," Una muttered, her voice small but firm. She hugged her stuffed dragon tighter. "And they acted like I was too little to notice. But I did. I saw how they treated you, and it wasn't okay."
Hiccup swallowed hard, his gaze falling to the floor. "It wasn't okay. But for so long, I thought it was just me. Like I deserved it somehow. And then I saw it happening to you guys, and I just... I didn't know how to stop it. I felt useless."
Una sniffled, her blue eyes glistening with tears. "It's not fair. It's not fair that we felt like we couldn't say anything. Like if we spoke up, we'd make things worse."
Boden slid down from the couch and sat beside her, his arm pulling her close. "It's not fair. And it's unfair that people expect you to... get over it. Pain doesn't work like that. No one has the right to tell you how long healing should take. Especially when it was something that left scars like this."
Hiccup's voice wavered as he nodded. "Yeah. You should act like it wasn't a big deal or pretend it didn't hurt. But it did. And it still does."
Una looked up at them both, clutching their hands like she was holding on to the only solid thing in the world. "So, no more keeping it in?"
"No more," Hiccup said, his voice steady for the first time. He took her hand, his other hand resting on Boden's shoulder. "We've got each other. We always will."
The three of them sat together in their quiet apartment in Dragon City, the rain still falling outside. It didn't feel as heavy now, though. They weren't carrying the weight alone for the first time in a long time.