Touch My Heart

Chapter 9

The days passed fast and soon it had been almost 3 weeks since Hiccup had moved to Berk. Astrid and he had grown close, despite his efforts not to. If their friends found out, they'd be in trouble.

Astrid left her group of friends early that lunchtime. But Heather followed her, she needed to keep an eye on her friend. She was suspicious of Astrid. Although she didn't know about their secret exchanges at night, thanks to them being next-door neighbours, she still didn't want Astrid to love that boy. Heather had always known he'd be trouble from the first time she'd laid eyes on him. Heather watched as Astrid entered the library and went to the dark corner of the room. This part of the library was secluded and often avoided by other students because of the stories spread around about it, but Astrid still sat down on one of the couches that sat in the corner. But someone else was in that corner too, not that Astrid noticed. But Heather did. In a fright of panic, Heather dashed behind a bookcase that surrounded the dark corner to hide from the mysterious figure. Who he was, Heather didn't know. But she had to find out.

"Hello." A familiar male voice sounded from the darker corner of the room. Astrid jumped slightly as she looked up from the work she was currently trying to do. She looked over towards the silhouette and recognised the face instantly.

"Hiccup?" She whispered to him. "What are you doing here?" She asked not moving from her seat. She watched as the auburn-haired male sat on one of the couches across from Astrid so that she could see him. Hiccup smiled as he propped his feet up on the small table she was leaning on. Astrid gave him a warning look and Hiccup withdrew his legs from the table.

"Alright, Miss feisty. Gods, you're a bit of a time-bomb aren't you?" He joked, Astrid rolled her eyes and carried on with her work trying to ignore his presence. "Well, actually if you must know--"

"And I must?" Astrid questioned sarcastically.

"Yes! This is my secret make-out corner." Astrid gave him a disgusted and sceptical look. "Hey, the mysterious stories bring a sense of adrenaline to those girls. More than you'd think..." Hiccup laughed heartily, causing a small snicker to escape from Astrid's mouth. It was quite funny to think that those girls were willing to speed up their make-out session with Hiccup just to escape from the creepy Library corner. "More to the point, what are you doing here?" Hiccup flipped the question over to her.

"I'm doing some extra work for my project that's in for next week." Astrid smiled and then looked back at her work, she looked at the half-filled page and sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get the grade she wanted unless she did the extra work.

"I can help you if you want?" Hiccup jumped from his seat and sat next to her.

"And stop you from doing your work that you're not doing anyway? I couldn't make you take time out of your busy schedule for me." Astrid replied sarcastically, Hiccup smiled and gave her a small nudge with his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I don't mind..."

"No, I couldn't do that. After all, I'm sure those girls you've been with are wondering when their next session is. You should probably give them priority in your schedule." Astrid quipped, giving him an amused side-eye as she continued with her work.

"See, now you're making me seem like a sex-line. I'm rather more of a... Public service." Hiccup replied, earning a laugh from both him and Astrid at his joke.

Unknown to them, a pair of green eyes were glaring daggers at the couple. Heather could feel her fists balling up. Her friend had been lying to her! She had been talking to this boy in secret without her knowing. That sly---

"Hey, Heather." A sharp voice spooked Heather causing her to jump and knock a couple of books off the shelf. She then turned to face the voice.

"Kristoff! Seriously? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at practice?" Heather asked. He never came to the library, so why was he here now? Kristoff chuckled and crossed his arms.

"It finished, plus I needed to meet Astrid here. She needed help on her project." Kristoff explained. Heather nodded as a devilish smirk appeared on her lips.

"Yeah, sure. She's right over there." Heather pointed to the dark corner where Hiccup and Astrid were working. Kristoff nodded and joined the couple. Heather smiled to herself and left the group alone in the dark corner of the library.

"Hey there?" Kristoff greeted, he was confused as to who this character was that was sitting next to her. Kristoff had never seen him here before, and he immediately didn't like him. There was something off about him.

"Oh hey! There you are, Kristoff. I was wondering where you were." Astrid smiled and gestured for him to sit. 

Hiccup suddenly felt awash with tension and anger. What was happening to him? He wanted to scream and fight Kristoff so he would leave, but he controlled himself.

"Who's this, Ash?" Kristoff looked at Hiccup with a judging stare. He didn't like him.

"Oh! Where are my manners? This is---"

"Hiccup." Hiccup interrupted Astrid and stood up, holding out his hand to Kristoff. As a sort of peace treaty. Kristoff was hesitant at first but shook hands anyway. They were both similar in height and now stood facing each other beside Astrid who was still sitting on the couch, trying to focus on the work in front of her.

"Kristoff." He introduced. But then looked at the work on Astrid's lap. He then grabbed it from her and read it silently. Hiccup couldn't look at Kristoff or Astrid the whole time, he felt uncomfortable. He shouldn't be there. "Tut tut tut. Were you seriously gonna give this in? Hofferson, I'm disappointed. This is not up to A* standard." Kristoff said mimicking their teacher. Astrid rolled her eyes and playfully punched him in the arm.

"No, sir." She replied sheepishly. She gave Kristoff a pen and watched as he sat beside her and add a couple of notes to her page. Hiccup sighed.

"Well, I-er-I better be going... See ya." Hiccup left without a reply. Astrid stretched out her hand trying to stop his departure but she was too late. She didn't drop her arm for a couple of seconds until he was completely gone. Astrid sighed as her arm dropped back down.

"Who was he?" Kristoff asked not looking up from the paper, continuing with the notes.

"You just met him, he's Hiccup," Astrid replied with a chuckle. "And you're supposed to have a good memory." She sat further back into the seat, looking back at the vacant space Hiccup had occupied. Kristoff just shook his head.

"No." Astrid looked back at Kristoff, "Who is he," He looked up, "to you?" Astrid's eyebrows rose and she felt her palms sweat up. Who was he to her? Astrid didn't know. She looked at her hands and then back to the exit Hiccup had left through.

"I-I don't... Know. A friend, I guess?" Astrid answered.

Hiccup walked the empty corridors with a look of sorrow covering his face. Now he couldn't go to his favourite hang out. Not now. Not after Kristoff has been there. He's tainted it with his stupid teacher impression and friendly exchanges with Astrid. It killed his vibe. Who did that guy think he was? Hiccup could see that Kristoff hated him, even though he didn't know him, and he hated him too.