Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 31

It had been a month since Hiccup had met with Spitelout, and the stress was beginning to get to him. Every night since then, he had been coming home late, never leaving the office before 1, or sometimes 2, in the morning. It had become an uphill struggle for Hiccup, and he was starting to realise how clever his adversary truly was.

"It's already 2 am, where is he?" Astrid wondered to herself as she waited on the couch, her eyes and ears focused on the front door.

She was sat in the living room with the door wide open, and from her perch, on the sofa, she had a clear view of the front door. Ever since he had started coming home late and she was having to go home by herself, Astrid had begun to wait for him to come home. Sometimes he'd notice her waiting for him and declare that she shouldn't wait and just go to bed.

But there she was at 2 am, continuing to wait for Hiccup to come home.

As she sat there, waiting for Hiccup to come home safe and sound, Astrid had decided that she was going to talk to him. His silence had gone on long enough and Astrid needed answers to his weird behaviour. His refusal to take her home and continuous late nights must be because of something. Astrid needed to know.

She wanted to help.

"Come on..." She muttered impatiently, her leg starting to shiver nervously as she sat on the sofa with her hands in her lap. "Where are you?" A sense of worry and fear had sewn itself into her voice as she muttered to herself, but she continued to deny that she was scared about anything.

Suddenly, a rattle of keys in the door awoke Astrid from her worried trance and her gaze returned to the door. She stared at the moving object, its hinges slowly opening the door and revealing the inside of the home. Hiccup appeared from behind the door and made his way inside, sighing heavily to himself and with a tired expression plastered upon his face.

"Thank Thor," Astrid muttered to herself as she watched the door slowly creak open.

Astrid sprung up from the sofa and strode into the hallway, standing in the way of Hiccup and blocking his path. Hiccup came to a halt, looking down at Astrid with a curious and confused face, his tired eyes scanning Astrid's figure as her hands came to rest on her hips.

"Astrid?" He called out, not sure whether his sleep deprivation was getting to him already. "I told you to stop waiting for me to come home, didn't I? You should get some sleep."

"How can I get to sleep when I keep worrying when you're coming? Sometimes, I fear that you're not coming home at all! How can I sleep in this condition?!" Astrid argued back, frustrated by Hiccup's ignorance of the situation.

"Astrid, don't be like this. Come on, let's go to bed."

"Not until you tell me what's going on with you," Astrid announced harshly, her words confident as her feet remained rooted to the spot. Her gaze pierced through Hiccup as she blocked his path. Hiccup tilted his head slightly, confused by her words and a sense of tiredness sweeping over him like a tsunami.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on Hiccup. Did you really think that I'd believe this whole late-night deal was because you were taking your work at the company more seriously? I know something is wrong, and you are refusing to tell me. So, tell me," Astrid took a small step forward confidently, a demanding gesture towards Hiccup as she continued to glare daggers at the man in front of her.

Despite Hiccup being a few inches taller than Astrid, her stature and pose always managed to strike fear into Hiccup's heart and he couldn't help but cower away from her. Her sense of ferocity was stronger than his own, and now that he was standing before it, he was more afraid of it than ever.