Our Perfect Story

Chapter 13: Family Backgrounds

1.30pm. The dismissal bell rang, alerting every student in the entire school to pack their bags and return home for the day. In the classroom of 10A, students began flocking out as they wished Mr Grimborn thanks and a good afternoon. Not far ahead of him, a group of them began to gather around Fishlegs' desk, who was still taking a few more notes from the whiteboard.

"Guys, just go ahead, I'll catch up," the blonde young man muttered while is head whipped up and down rapidly, his right hand gliding his pen across the paper flawlessly.

"It's alright, Fishlegs. What's the point of ever leaving you behind?" His best friend replied, before noticing Viggo Grimborn approaching them with a sheet of paper.

"Here, Franklin, exactly what's on the whiteboard. You can take it back and return it to me during our next class," the teacher explained in a gentle tone before turning back to the desk at the front. "I've actually got a meeting to attend in five minutes, yet I can't leave until every student has left the classroom."

"Yeah, you know what? We'll be outside the classroom, we won't bother you anymore, teach. Have a fun meeting! Tell Mildew I said hi!" Tuffnut yelled as he, Ruffnut, Snotlout and Astrid left the room, leaving Heather and Hiccup with Fishlegs as they spoke to Viggo while waiting.

It wasn't too long till the remaining three finally walked out of the doors, followed by Viggo locking it and saying goodbyes to them. The man swung his sling bag over his shoulders as he strolled down the hallway of students clearing themselves, whistling to himself while nodding towards greeting students.

The gang made their way out of the school to the front gates, where many of their peers waved at each other as they split ways or boarded their respective vehicles. A honk came from a parked lime green station wagon, an arm sticking out and waving towards them. Immediately, the twins darted to the car and hopped into the backseat. Astrid followed the others towards the car curiously. She had never met any of their parents before, and the twins' mom would be the first checked off the list.

"Buenas tardes, Mrs Thorston! (Good afternoon, Mrs Thorston!)" Fishlegs piped up cheerily. "It's great to see you again."

Behind him, Hiccup and Snotlout, Heather pulled Astrid aside before whispering into her ear. "I'm so sorry but we forgot to tell you that Mrs Thorston is Spanish, moved here in her twenties."

"Mamá, te presento a Astrid (Mom, let me introduce you to Astrid)," Ruffnut said to her mom as she pointed at the other blonde girl of the group.

"Astrid, this is our lovely mother. Behold, the queen of la familia, Amelia Thorston (Behold, the queen of the family, Amelia Thorston)," Tuffnut added in, his hand on Mrs Thorston's shoulder gently.

The beautiful woman smiled gently at her, shaking Astrid's hand. "Nice meeting you, Astrid. Welcome to Berk. I hope Tuff and Ruff have been good to you."

"They're the best, madam. Gracias (Thank you)," she replied gently before stepping back, allowing the Thorstons to leave safely. The twins waved back towards their friends as they drove off, in preparation to meet their great aunt Bertha.

As they disappeared, Astrid had one question lingering on her mind. "Alright, anyone else bilingual and I didn't know it?"

"Well, Snotlout and Hiccup are second cousins and their great-grandmother is Chinese. Their grandfathers wanted to make sure future generations knew their full history, so they've got basic knowledge of the language. Besides that, Heather knows some French, she studied it for a few years," he explained, his face scrunching up in concentration as he tried his best to recall every single detail about his friends. "Sometimes we do love to sit down and learn a bit more about each other's different cultures and languages, it's unique and very interesting. Anything about you, Astrid?"

Astrid remained silent for a while, thinking about her late mother and her family. She recalled her mother teaching her a little Spanish when she was little, and always conversed in it with her grandparents, occasionally with her father. "My mom's also Spanish, but she grew up on Wing Island. It was my grandparents that migrated there before she was born. Unfortunately I never practiced Spanish much ever since she passed on, and I'm too used to conversing in English with my grandparents to switch over."

Ever since Mrs Hofferson's passing, her husband made sure Astrid never missed out on her maternal extended family, especially her grandmother. She would visit granddaughter and son-in-law almost every evening in the first few months, giving them all the support they needed, and them providing the same after losing her own daughter.

On the other hand, her grandfather worked tirelessly, using his job as his sole distraction from the recent loss of his child. Often caught up in his work, he only visited his son-in-law and granddaughter during the holidays, besides providing support at Astrid's swimming competitions. Although she wished she could've seen more of him, everyone handles grief differently, and for him it was some space. Now thousands of miles away, the best they could do was video call.

"Wow, that's interesting to know, Astrid," Hiccup butted in a soft voice. "Again, we're really sorry about your mother, she seems like an amazing lady." Behind him, the others gave sad looks with soft smiles while nodding.

"It's fine, Hiccup, really," the blonde girl smiled. "And yeah, she was amazing, she would've loved to meet all of you."

Just then, Fishlegs checked his watch for the time. "Alright, I think we better start heading home if we want to get ready in time to meet at the park later. See you later, guys!" He and Heather waved on as they walked away, with Snotlout walking behind them as well before crossing the road.

Hiccup and Astrid stood side by side as they waved to their friends until they disappeared among the crowd of parents and students hanging around. Suddenly aware that he was alone with Astrid again, a blush crept up Hiccup's neck, his heart fluttering slightly in excitement. Astrid turned to face him, her gorgeous ocean blue eyes gazing softly into his. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as she moved, her hair flowing smoothly in the wind. Noises around him seemed to be blocked out as he fell deep into his trance, until he heard his name being yelled out distinctly.

"Hiccup! Hello, are you home?" Astrid had grasped his shoulders, shaking him back and forth like a rag doll.

The young man choked on his breath as his friend released him from her iron grip. "Gah, I'm so sorry, I, uh, was preoccupied with... our project! Yeah!" Hiccup stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I was thinking, since I'll only need an hour to get myself and Toothless ready for the park, we could start planning our project first?"

Astrid smirked playfully towards him as they began to walk. "Is homework the only thing you ever think about in that unusual mind if yours?"

"I uh, not really. There's, well, Toothless," he laughed. Oh boy, you wouldn't want to know who else is on my mind.

"Eh, at least he isn't schoolwork," she snorted as she shrugged. "But yeah, you can come over to my place and we can start planning it before we leave."

Hiccup smirked, pumping his fist in the air excitedly. "Yes! Wait, I-I mean that sounds good." He immediately calmed down, grinning awkwardly and giving Astrid thumbs up. "I-I'll be at yours with Toothless once we're ready, at about half past two."

"Alright, but just in case you arrive early, I'll be having a swim as soon as I get back, but help yourself in if I don't answer the doorbell. Emergency key is taped to the inside of our mailbox, really hidden and you gotta stretch your arm in there to get it," the blonde girl explained as she giggled, feeling butterflies in her stomach as she tried her best to suppress her excitement. Hiccup was definitely a huge bumbling dork, yet he made her feel a flame deep in her chest whenever he geeked out or just embraced his awkwardness. To her, unlike most guys she had met, Hiccup had a genuine heart and the was sweetest person ever.

What she didn't know was that he felt the same about her.

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A/N: I'd like to thank ladyhaddockhf_22 for all her assistance with this chapter! I've taken up Spanish in university and seized this opportunity to practice my skills in it, but couldn't have done it without Anny's help. Thank you so much girl!🤗