A Promise To Keep

Not A Fantasy

Hiccup was sitting on his bed, his back resting against the wall, with Toothless curled up next to him. The Easter Hoilday was coming to an end, with only three days left. He didn't really do much throughout the two weeks, which was normal for him, so he didn't mind.

Except for one thing where he did mind. That had to be done.

He looked down at his phone, staring at the one name in his contacts – Astrid.

He had never called her before. He had never tried to call anyone before. He would either expect a call coming to him or text them, and he had been texting Astrid almost exclusively for the longest. There was that one time she had called him, but that was it. So, why he wanted to call her was beyond him. But it wouldn't be the first time he was doing something he would have never done before.

But he had to do this. He knew he had to. It was the only way to understand her clearly. To hear her voice as texting would not be the same.

Taking a long deep breath, he finally tapped on her name, calling her. The phone rang four times before it stopped.

"Hello?" Astrid's voice came through.

"Hi, Astrid." Hiccup replied.

"Hiccup?" She chuckled before continuing. "Didn't think you would actually call me."

"Yeah, me too." He smiled. "I... I hope I didn't wake you up."

"Nah, you didn't. Tried to but..." She stopped as she released two very deep coughs that shook Hiccup to his core. Her coughs became more frequent that their classmates were starting to notice before the holidays. She lied by saying she got a bit of a cold, but of course, he knew why.

It's only a matter of time now. Her words repeated in his mind that he took another deep breath to compose himself. "Come on, Hiccup. You can do it."

"Sorry about that." Astrid resumed from her cough. "Yeah, been trying to sleep, but I guess having sugar this late, despite that being necessary, is not doing any wonders for me right now."

"Yeah, I guess." Hiccup could hear the smile in her voice that brought about a smile on his own. But then, remembering why he called, he became nervous again and took the umpteenth deep breath. "I, um... I wanted to ask..."

"Yeah?"

"Ar-Are you free tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night?" He could hear the unsureness in her that nearly faltered him, wanting to end the call now but he held himself.

"Y-Yeah, it's just... I want to show something at Raven's Edge." He explained. There was a silence through the phone afterwards. Hiccup didn't rush, patiently waiting for her response.

"I... I'm not sure. I mean, I would like to, but..." She sighed before continuing. "Look, my parents have been very sceptic about me staying out for a long time, especially at night. I'll try to convince them, but..."

"I understand." Hiccup interrupted. He had a feeling something else was happening as her illness became more visible. "It's OK, really."

"OK. I'll give you a call if they miraculously say yes." Astrid added.

"No, it's OK, just... I'll be waiting at the bottom of Raven's Edge tomorrow night. If you come, then you come." He explained

"And if I don't, which is mostly likely?" She asked with concern.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Then, I'll see the thing I wanted to show you myself."

"You're OK with that?"