Things Do Get Better (HTTYD Modern AU)

Not Going To Leave Him

"I have no idea what you were thinking! Sneaking in the house with a stray dog! And you dare do that behind my back and not tell me?! Huh?!"

Trust me, there was nothing worse than your dad, being as big and loud as he was, shouting at you at the top of his lungs. To be fair, he had a good reason to, but it wasn't a nice sight, seeing his face red and fuming with angry.

I, on the other hand, just sat on my bed where the 'conversation' was taken place, trying not to make eye contact at him, with the small glance at him occasionally.

"To be fair, I wasn't expecting you to be home this early." I said sarcastically.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" he shouted. He then let an aggressive sigh before speaking again, a bit calmer this time. "Right, that dog goes out now."

"What? No, he's not!" I declared, getting up on my feet.

"This isn't up for debate."

"Yes, it is! Look, you can punish me. Ground me if you want, but I'm not putting Toothless outside again!"

"And why not?!" We were now face to face, both of us showing both anger and annoyance.

"He's been living outside for too long already! He won't survive on his own!"

"I'm sure he was perfectly fine before you came along."

"No, he wasn't! He was starving! If I didn't do anything, he would have died!"

"Hiccup! I don't know why we are having this discussion! I told you to do something and you'll do it. It's something you have to learn when you become a teacher...."

"Oh my...! For the last time, I'm not going to be a head teacher!" Now I was the one who was fuming. The amount of times he would say this to me brought me to a boiling point. And on top of him wanting me to send Toothless away, I probably could have exploded in anger.

"Why can't you understand that's not who I am?!" I exclaimed.

"Because you're a Haddock! And Haddocks have always became teachers!"

"Well, I'm not! I'm not going to follow our traditions just because!"

"Then, you'll...!" My dad stopped himself, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. I did the same thing. As much as I wanted to make my point clear, it was getting late, and the last thing him and I needed was our neighbours knocking on our door, telling to be quiet (It happened quite a few times before).

He then continued. "We'll talk about this later. Now, there's no argument in this. The dog goes back outside, now."

"I'm not going to leave him." I proclaimed, calm but stern.

"Hiccup... do as I say." I was about to answer back again, but I wasn't bothered anymore. I was tired and it was clear he wasn't listening to me. As normal. Without saying a word and without making eye contact with him, I took Toothless, who was sitting outside my room and went outside to our back garden.

"He never listens! Why can't he just...!" I ranted, but I took deep breaths again to calm down. I did enough shouting for one day. I looked at Toothless, who was giving me happy smiles and was waggling his tail.

"I'm sorry, bud. I wish there was another way, but..." I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I continued to look at him. How could my dad do this? He was only a tiny puppy, alone and scared. He was missing a leg and he wanted me to put him out! Then, with regret, I put him down in our garden. I couched down to his level.

"You can stay here tonight, but tomorrow.... I have to take you back." I think he understood him, because his smile disappeared. He gave scared yelps as he hopped up to me. I stroked his little head.

"I'm sorry, Toothless." I then stood up and went back inside the house. As I did, I could Toothless barking at me. Like he did the first time he met. And like that time, I didn't look back. It would have hurt me more than before.

That night didn't make things better. All I could hear was the barking of a scared dog. I wanted to secretly bring him inside, so he could have a warm place to sleep in, but I feared my dad would find out. But why should I care? He clearly didn't.

I had school the next day. I needed to sleep, but the barking continued and there was no sign of stopping. I buried my head under the pillow to muff out the sound. But it didn't help. Nothing would now. Until the next day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I was heading home from school, from another day of ridicule and mockery. But today, was even worst. When I woke up, Toothless wasn't in the garden. He was gone.

I had a feeling my dad got fed up of hearing him barking all night, that he took it upon himself to take him away. I'd never felt so devastated in my whole life. He was only a puppy, and my dad just discarded him, like he was nothing! I tried to find him on my way to school, but he wasn't even at the alleyway, where I first found him. Because of this, I was in such a miserable mood, that even the mocking didn't hurt as much. Nothing could hurt more than what had happened to Toothless.

I walked up to the front door, but I was hesitating to open the door. I didn't want to even look at my dad for what he did, but if I wanted to run away, I honestly wouldn't know where to go. I unlocked the door and went inside, before quickly going upstairs, not even looking to see if he was in living room.

Then, I heard a barking sound.

I froze at the middle of the staircase, before quickly heading back down and into the living room.

And there he was, sitting in front of TV, with a bowl of dog food next to him.

"Toothless?" I said. His ears raised up when he heard me. He turned and the moment he saw me, he immediately ran up to me (or hopped), barking and jumping excitedly towards him. I held back my tears as I picked him up and hugged him.

"Hey, bud! Where did you go?" I asked, still holding him close to me. "I missed you."

"Looks like he missed you too." I turned around to see my dad, standing just outside the kitchen.

I just stood there, looking at him. The normal awkward silence happened before I spoke. "I guess I should say sorry for sneaking Toothless in without telling you first." I admitted. 

He sighed at me before, surprisingly smiling at me. It was very rare for him to smile, not just me, but at anyone.

"You do know dog food is not cheap, right?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Neither as taking care of a dog. But... I know I can do it. Please."

He nodded his head. "If the dog doesn't wreak the house for one week, then... I'll think about it."

I gave a big grin. "Really? Thanks, dad." I simply said. He nodded before heading back into the kitchen. Once he did, Toothless began to lick my face. I couldn't help but laugh at this, scratching his back as he did.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of you. I promise."

And so far, I've kept that promise.

I convinced my dad that I could care for him during that one week, so he'd officially welcomed Toothless into our home. Not only did I do the usual things you would do with a dog – feed him, bathe him, making sure he doesn't poo indoors, but I also used what I knew about building things to create a prosthetic leg for him. It was functional, to an extent, but it allowed him to finally run probably. Sadly, that prosthetic broke one day (I'll tell how soon enough), so we had to get a professional one, which wasn't cheap. But it was important for him, and I would do anything for him.

Now, here he is today. A big, jumpy, outgoing 6-year-old Labrador. He may have grown a lot since then, but he's still the same Toothless, the one I met all those years ago. My first real friend. 

But one question remained for me – what made my dad changed his mind?