HTTYD: You Don't Know the Meaning of "Nice"? (Hiccstrid)

Chapter 36

Astrid's P.O.V.

"So what's going on with your dad?" I ask Jess, changing the subject.

"I was late coming home from a date with my boyfriend and Dad thought that we...yeah. We didn't do anything of the sort, we just got lost on a forest trail. No matter what, my dad is determined to say that we gave ourselves to each other. I'm just broken that he doesn't trust me; his own daughter. What did I do to loose his faith?" Jess cried. I never experienced something like this, but I knew what was going through her dads mind already. I slowly wrapped her in my arms as I wondered if I was the best person to give advice like this.

"It's not that he doesn't trust you. He doesn't trust your boyfriend," I say and she pauses.

"What?" she asks.

"Boys your age can have trouble controlling themselves. He doesn't want him to force you to do anything. And he doesn't want to loose you. He's worried that if he doesn't assume the worst and prepare himself, he won't be able to help you when you need it most," I tell her, rocking back and forth as she cried into my shoulder. She was 16 and this was her first job. She must be under some stress. New job, family issues, and now the news that her dad doesn't trust the one she loves.

"You must have had a lot of these talks with your own parents, huh?" she asks and I try not to stiffen. I wish.

"I can't say that I have," I say.

"Then how do you know this stuff?" she asks, pulling away to look at me.

"I'm gonna tell you something but you can't tell anyone else," I say and she nods. "I was left on my parents doorstep when I was three. My adopted parents abused me and my friends weren't much better. When I moved to Berk, my mom came with me. Everything was making my life a living ****. It was all upside down. I had to be my own parent. I took care of school, my clothes, food, medical care...everything. I was my own child. I had the thoughts of a parent. (A/N: You guys haven't read them. Just to clear that up.) That's how I know what your dads thinking. He's not mad at you. He's mad at himself for letting you get this close to getting away from him. You're his little girl and he wants you to stay that way. Me? I never got to be a little girl and I always wanted to. So I suggest you cherish his love while you still can," I finish to see that her eyes were filled with shock. Normally, when someone complained to me about a stupid fight between them and their parents, I'd blow up at them for not liking having parents. But now...I dunno, I just felt like I got here in time to stop something.

"You...never got a childhood. Did you?" Jess says. I shake my head softly, blinking slowly. She then sighed, looking at the counter top. "I got more than you ever had," she murmured before dropping a pocket knife on the counter, from her clenched fist. I closed it before rubbing her arm reassuringly. "I can't believe myself," she cried softly, her voice tight, signalling the on coming tears. "What's wrong with me?! People are like you, abused and abandoned, and I'm about to kill myself over a stupid fight with my dad," she snaps at herself. I wrapped her back in my arms.

"It's okay, you were upset. I've been there. I've had the thoughts you just voiced. Countless times. I understand, Jess. When you feel like your parents don't trust you...it can lead you to do bad things. Just promise me, you'll keep trusting them and others to help you," I beg.

"I will," she says, hugging me back, "But why?"

"Because of my parents' mistakes, I allow myself to trust no one. Not even the people who want absolutely nothing but what's best for me. Promise that you'll only stop trusting for the right reasons," I order.

"I promise," she says.

Back at Hiccup's house.

I walked through the door to be met with a darkened house. I look around before going to the stairs and climbing up them, going to my room. I change and walk down the hall to peek into the room Leo was staying in to see all of them in a heap on the bed, a copy of Moby Dick open, upside down on Criss' chest. I sigh in envy before walking to the kitchen and starting the dishes. My friends might not have had a lot of chances, but they made a lot of dishes anyway. I flip on the light and go to the sink before taking my time, relishing the warm water as it ran over my skin and cursing as my nails got too wet, bending backwards in an unpleasant way. Suddenly, the light flips off and I turn to the entrance of the kitchen to see a familiar shadow standing in the door way. I turn back to the dishes as we stay silent. Too silent, because next thing I knew, he was grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around before wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my cheek gently. 

"Hiccup, they're not around," I tell him as I get myself free and continue at the sink.

"Okay, okay. Hey, does Leo always require a bedtime story?" he asks as he sits on the counter next to the sink.

"Only when he sleeps outside his house," I say, not looking up from my task.

"Are you okay?" he asks, stroking my hair out of my face and behind my ear. I threw the sponge into the sink, making the water splash a little bit.

"Why do they act like a family to each other and do nothing but torture me?!" I ask, putting my hand on my hip and beginning to pace. "Do they not know, how much that might aggravate me?! Of course they do, they just don't care! Why do I even hang out with them?!"

"They act like a family to each other when you aren't around. They torture you because they know that's what you're used to. They think that if they treat you different from your parents, then you wouldn't be comfortable and you'd stop hanging out with them," Hiccup says, making me pause.

"How do you know this?" I ask as I slowly turn to face him.

"They don't know how to keep their mouths shut like you," he says with a grin that was almost hidden by the shadows of the kitchen. I let out a sigh before leaning on the island. 

"I was afraid of that," I mutter.

"What?" Hiccup asks.

"I knew I shouldn't have left them with you unsupervised! They told you everything! Everything!" I punched the counter top before wiping a hand over my face.  Then, Hiccup snaked his arms around me from behind and rested his chin in the crook of my neck.

"Astrid, I'm glad they told me, okay? Now I know what you've been through, now I know what not to do. I know what most likely goes through your head when you try to hide your emotions from me," he says softly into my ear.

"I didn't want you to know, though," I say, my voice tight. "I wanted to try and live a normal life without anyone trying not to set me off. I wanted to have everyone, everyone, treat me like any other person, not try not to trigger memories. I wanted...ugh," I couldn't even finish it because there was no point. It would never happen now.

"You wanted a new beginning," Hiccup said.

"Yeah," I sigh.

"Well, then, Astrid Hollerkey," he says as he turns me around and lifts me onto the island. "What do you say we go and do something to night? Get your mind off stuff," he says, leaning his face close to mine. I cannot believe I'm doing this.

"Okay."