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

Chapter 42

Tuesday, 9:40 AM.

Astrid's P.O.V.

I flopped down on my bed with a tired sigh. That was the longest hour of my life. But, I think I convinced the therapist that I was perfectly fine. I buried myself under the blanket and closed my eyes. I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since that morning with Hiccup. I guess I was worried about him slipping into bed with me while I'm out. Sleep crawls over me and I instantly wish it hadn't. 

There I was, crying in the rain, sitting on the stone step of the first house I could remember. I was chilled to the bone and the porch light shined on me like a spotlight. I was twirling my shoe lace around my index finger and waiting for my parents to come back. It'd been an hour and I had no idea where they were; I was scared. Were they coming back? Did something happen to them? I might have been young but I knew, in that moment, I should have put up a fight right when my mother started sobbing. Their faces were blurred but I still saw the tear stains she left on my shirt as she carried me to the porch. Lightning struck the sky and thunder clapped, making me scream in horror.

"Mommy!" I cried, tears staining my cheeks. "Daddy!" My pants were soaked with rain and my toes were frozen. 

They'd told me to wait and I wasn't one to disobey. But right now, I was considering it. I wanted to run back to the house and cry into my pillow...but I had no idea where I was. And I didn't know our address. So, there I was, crying in the rain, sitting on the stone step of the first house I could remember. I was releasing childish tears as I cried for my birth parents. I heard the door open behind me and turned to see a man standing in the doorway, a woman at his shoulder. They had green and brown eyes, and black hair bordering their narrow faces.

"Mommy, Daddy!" I cried as I ran toward them, not noticing that they weren't my real parents. My three-year-old mind didn't know any better. 

I wrapped my arms around the woman's leg and cried into her robe. She and the man exchange a glance before she scooped me up and they walked inside. If only I could remember the stranger-danger rule. Maybe I could have cleared my mind when the storm stopped. I was always told that I was smart for a toddler, I could have found my way to the police station and gotten them to help me. But I went into the unsafe embrace of Ingrid and Harry Hofferson.

3rd P.O.V.

The dream stretched on for Astrid, making her relive the moments in time that she wished she was dead. Meanwhile, Hiccup was pacing the living room. He'd just gotten off the phone with the therapist, trying to make another appointment for Astrid. She, however, said that she couldn't, for the life of her, find anything wrong with the girl...mentally or emotionally. He finally decided that he had to talk to her.  He jogged up the stairs and paused outside Astrid's door, hearing strange noises coming form the other side. Was it...gasping? No, crying? What was going on? He knocked on the door only to be met with more of the strange noises.

"Astrid?" he called. No one answered verbally. 

He opened the door to see her in bed, her shoulders shaking as she cried in her sleep. Hiccup walked forward until he was leaning over the girl he'd grown to like, and possibly even love. Her eyes were closed peacefully but tears were streaming from them and she was breathing raggedly. He brushed her hair behind her ear with a gentle hand before laying next to her. She didn't stir.

"Astrid," he said but nothing changed. 

He gently wrapped his arm around her waist. Just as he layed his arm across her body, her hand moved like lightning, snapping around his forearm as she let out a strangled gasp. Hiccup froze to see what she'd do, but she just stayed were she was, her grip tight around Hiccups arm as she fought for breath. Her gaze was blank as it focused on an invisible point in the distance. She'd just seen the worst memory of her collection. And though her eyes were open, it still played. She couldn't believe she did what her parents did. But she knew that she did the right thing, though she regretted it more than cutting. She had a broken heart before. But now, after reflecting on her life, she had the broken heart of a mother, who had no choice but to do the unthinkable.

"Astrid, it's okay," Hiccup's soft voice sounded in her ear and she started crying again. Then, she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck as he did the same to her waist. "Shh, it's okay," he shushed her gently.

"No, it's not," she sobbed.

"Why not?" he asked, stroking her back. She debated weather to tell him. She'd never told anyone about her child, not even her father. He was in jail for the whole of her pregnancy. When she finally had the baby, she had to give it away before he got out...who knows what he would have done.

"It's just not," she said, her voice tight.

One week later.

Hiccup's P.O.V.

I leaned my back against my locker with a sigh. Astrid and I had very different opinions about spring break. For her, it was torture; for me, it was a mix between torture and Valhalla. I started to walk to class, but something stopped me. Like three paces down the hall, I froze. Did I really want to give her my heart like my dad had said? Could I give her my heart? Would she take it? Would she reject it? Or does she already have it? Since I met her, she was the only thing I've been able to think about. It started as worrying if she would cooperate enough for me to win the bet. Then, it turned to worrying about her. Not the bet. Her. I really couldn't stop thinking about her. Suddenly, I found my feet taking me in the opposite direction of class...toward her locker. They were moving at a brisk pace, swiftly dodging fellow students as I moved against the flow.