The Hangover

18

Chapter Eighteen
"ᎢᎻᎪᎢ'Ꮪ Ꭺ ᏙᏆᏟᎢᎾᎡY, ᎡᏆᏩᎻᎢ ᎢᎻᎬᎡᎬ."

"What about the one after that?" Hiccup asked into the phone. He walked beside Eugene, who was pushing a hunched over Jack in a wheelchair. Jack had a bucket hat lowered over his face as he gingerly drank from a bottle of water. They had rubbed some aloe on him but his body was still screaming in pain. "You cannot be serious." Hiccup said. "Oh, goddamn it."

"What?" Eugene asked, glancing up.

"Every flight to L.A. is booked." Hiccup declared, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"What about into Burbank?"

"Totally sold out."

"Oh, fuck." Eugene cursed. "We can't drive there, the wedding starts in three and a half hours." He said, glancing at his watch. Needing something to yell at, he looked at their friend. "Kristoff, where's the car?"

"It's on it's way."

"You know what?" Hiccup said as Eugene put the brakes on Jack's wheelchair. "We can drive there. We can make it. Okay?"

Eugene shook his head as Hiccup looked up. He spotted the redhead, waving at him. "Hi." She whispered.

"Just give me one second." Hiccup said before jogging over to her.

"We will leave without you." Eugene threatened. He crossed his arms over his body. At least Merida was way better than Astrid.

"Is he missing a tooth?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." Kristoff laughed.

"Hey." Hiccup greeted, sitting down beside her.

"Hey."

"Hey, thanks for helping out last night. That was so awesome." He said, moving closer to her. He was glad that they got to met again before they left. He wouldn't feel right just leaving her without so much as a goodbye in person.

"Sure." Merida softly said. An awkward silence settled between them. They both knew what needed to be said and what needed to be done.

"Listen, Merida, I--"

"Look, you don't have to say it." She cut off, knowing how hard this had to be for him. "I totally understand. This whole thing was stupid."

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. He was so thankful that he didn't have to crush her heart. He really did enjoy her. She was pretty and smart and goofy. She was a good person. It was just that their situation wasn't ideal. "It was stupid, wasn't it?" He smiled.

She slowly nodded her head, her heart slightly broken. She really did like Hiccup. He was cute and funny and so bright. But there was nothing she could do and she knew that he was wasted that night. "This is yours." She said, pulling the ring off her finger.

"Oh, thank you. I can't believe I gave my grandmother's Holocaust ring to someone I just met." He said, twisting the ring in the light. "What was I thinking?"