When We Meet Again

Chapter 13: Catch-up Lunch

"I'll be out shopping guys! For lunch too, but I promise I'll be back for dinner," Heather called out to the rest of the residents of their little apartment.

"Sure H, just don't come back drunk at three in the morning with another pet rock," Tuffnut replied from the kitchen where he was munching on pickles with peanut butter.

"It was that one time Tuff!!! Give it a rest jeez. And I'm not going to a party tonight."

"You know he's right girl, you're the only one of the four of us who goes to parties, and don't even tell us when you do," Astrid remarked lazily from the sofa where she and Ruffnut were busy watching Survivor. "Ruff, I bet you I would be accepted for a season in this one day."

Ruff rolled her eyes. "Oh boy, no one will bet with you. Everyone knows you have a high chance to participate and we would just lose money for no reason."

Heather scoffed. "I guess it's my cue to leave since no one has any objections. See you guys at six," she said as she put on her shoes and left, locking the door behind her. Half an hour later, she was sitting in a cafe in her favourite mall, waiting for Hiccup to show up for lunch he begged her to meet him.

Moments later, the tall, lanky and lean frame of the Haddock boy skulked through the doors of the cafe with a black dog on his heels. Heather was confused. The mall did not permit pets, including the cafe. She felt herself tense up.

Hiccup's eyes locked on hers for a second and gave a slight nod before sitting in the chair opposite her. His dog sat obediently right next to its owner and rested a paw on Hiccup's lap for a moment, and only took it off and lay down after Hiccup patted it. Heather noticed the dog wore a red vest with a symbol and wordings on it. That's when the thought struck to her, Hiccup needs a service dog. She decided to not be nosy about it and turned her attention back to young man in front of him. He let out a sigh before giving her a soft and cautious hi.

Heather just nodded back before pushing the menu over to him. "I've ordered, your turn."

Five minutes later Hiccup had ordered. They were both sitting in silence, avoiding each other's gaze for a long time until Hiccup cleared his throat. "So... what do you want and need to know?"

For some reason Heather couldn't help but feel annoyed with Hiccup's words and tone. She didn't know why. "Everything," she replied, taking a sip of her hot tea, not making eye contact with him.

"Look, I'm not here because I knew you and Astrid were. In fact I had no clue. I just heard from my peers that this place was highly recommended for my course and I decided to try it out for a year before choosing a place to start my master's degree. And yes, unlike you and Astrid I started two years later than I was supposed to. I postponed my course commencement by two years. So before you accuse me of stalking you two, at least have an idea of my background."

The fact that Hiccup postponed his studies did attract Heather's attention. "May I ask why? Like why did you decide to start so much later? I know you, and I know that you would never delay studying."

Hiccup sighed again. "This shows that you really have no idea about me. I assume Dagur never told you."

Heather raised a brow at this.

"He definitely didn't tell you, nor your parents," he judged. "But I'm pretty sure you know about the accident and all." He paused as Heather nodded, before continuing. "You see, my leg was severely crushed and it had to be amputated. I couldn't walk for months until the wound fully healed. It took me many more months after just to learn how to walk with a prosthetic," he said as he pulled up the left sleeve of his pants, showing the metal and plastic peg.

Heather gasped. She had no idea about all this thanks to her ignorance and it made her feel like the worst person on Earth. She had shut him out of her life for hurting Astrid, forgetting that Hiccup needed a friend too, he had lost his leg and his father, his only family member left, in a month. She hasn't even heard the story about why he needs a service dog. Tears formed in her eyes as she croaked out a weak "I'm sorry."

Hiccup just smiled back at her. "It doesn't matter, it's all in the past. During those two years, I suffered extreme depression, loneliness and PTSD, it was so severe I experienced sudden violent breakdowns wherever I was, even in public. It was mostly caused by my regrets for fighting with my dad nonstop for months prior to his death. I spent lots of time at a therapist who couldn't do much help, especially for my loneliness. So for my birthday the following year, he got me this buddy here," he gestured towards the dog, "to help me whenever I have the breakdowns when I finally left for college. Obviously I named him Toothless and we've been inseparable ever since. He's allowed onboard with me for flights since he's a registered service dog as you can see on his vest."

Heather nodded. Hiccup's story had left her speechless, but he wasn't done with it yet.

"In college I did make some friends, and for once they were guys: Mayor Spitelout's son Snotlout, Fred, who I nicknamed Fishlegs, and Eret, whose surname is also Eret..."

Heather couldn't help but laugh. "Scarily close to Sirhan Sirhan."

Hiccup shuddered before adding. "He's alright though, he's got a heart of gold and is always willing to lend a hand. I also uh got a girlfriend there."

"Oh yeah, Astrid told me about her, blonde hair with blue eyes right?" she replied without interest in her voice.

Hiccup rubbed his neck. "Yeah her, but we broke up more than a year ago as she was kinda abusive and I caught her cheating on me. Thanks to her my mental health declined but my buddy here and my friends really made me feel better. I guess she believed she could make use of my poor mental health and being handicap. Ever since she's been hovering about me, and she's here now too because loudmouthed Snotlout told her about my plans. So now I need help purchasing some nukes for you-know-what."

Heather shook her head and chuckled before getting serious again. "I'm so sorry you had to go through so much on your own. I know it isn't as important as your past, but why did you split with Astrid?"

This was the question Hiccup knew was coming, and the truth he shall tell. "Because I knew she would do whatever it takes just to help me, which definitely involved her making the decision to get back to Berk for me. I didn't want that. I wanted her to pursue her dreams, to become the loving doctor she always wanted to be. If she did return and continued with her course later on, she would probably graduate five years older than she was supposed to. I didn't want to waste her time like that. So I let her go, and I still miss her dearly every single day." Tears pricked his eyes and fought to escape. He felt himself whirling and struggled to breathe, but a big black form of fluff immediately leapt in between his legs and licked his face, attempting to calm him down. "Thank goodness I brought you today boy, we both don't want a breakdown like I did without you during the tour, do we?"

Heather remained quiet. She thought watching Astrid was horrible, but Hiccup had worse and was still suffering. She couldn't do or say anything. All she could do was watch.