When We Meet Again

Chapter 15: Spill the Beans, and Surprise!

"Come on H, out with it. You've been slamming and huffing about ever since you got back."

Heather returned home about half an hour after the Barbie freak incident, and ever since she was in the worst temper, not letting anyone, or anything escape her wrath. Ruffnut was sitting on the sofa upside down while on her phone in the living room the moment Heather walk in, confused when she didn't receive a reply from her hi. She got even more irritated with Heather as she released her anger through her actions... a little too badly. She was currently clearing up broken pieces of a plate she slammed too hard on the counter.

"How would you know what to do Ruff? You don't care about anything," she snapped, taking the confused twin by surprise.

"Uhhh you do know that I can be serious at times, especially when my brother isn't around."

Heather sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I just had a really rough time on campus and I feel like murdering someone."

"Oooook I guess I'm getting Astrid here right now," Ruff replied, and before Heather could stop her, she screamed at the top of her lungs. "AAAAASTRIIIIIIDDD!!!"

Heather mentally facepalmed. Now she had to tell Astrid everything.

Astrid strolled our of her room, her hair held up in a towel showing that she had just bathed. She normally kept her hair up to try her best to dry it up so it wouldn't drip everywhere, and she didn't like using hairdryers. She turned her attention to the other blonde who just screamed and gave her a questioning look.

"Heather is now the Hulk, but not green," she said while pointing at the other girl throwing away the plate pieces in the kitchen. Astrid sighed and massaged her forehead. Not another broken plate from her favourite set.

"What happened H?"

Heather tensed up. She had no idea how Astrid would react to her story, but she knew she would have to tel it to her one day. The longer she waits, the longer the lie goes on, the more she betrays Astrid.

She took a deep breath. "We need to talk. Please hear me out and don't interrupt."

Astrid slid onto a stool at the counter, faced Heather on the opposite end in the kitchen. She had a her stern face on, Heather could only identify it as an "I'm getting ready to kill" face. Ruffnut peered from behind Astrid at Heather, who just nodded at her, letting her join the conversation. She sat on the stool next to Astrid, staring at Heather very intently.

"Alright, yesterday I had lunch with Hiccup." Heather could notice her best friend freeze and slowly turn red. She couldn't tell if she was getting mad or being embarrassed. "I bumped into him, literally, at the bank few days ago and he begged me to meet him to make things clear. I agreed.

"He told me his story after we cut him out, he has made some great friends who I just met, but it still wasn't a pleasant story. He and another guy called Fred walked me home yesterday, and they met Stormfly when she flew out. I met with them again today to help them with some errands on campus. And some mishaps happened."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Heather was too afraid to look at Astrid, Astrid didn't know how to react, Ruffnut was just confused. It was a while before Astrid asked coldly "what exactly happened that made you so mad?"

Her tone did scare Heather but she decided to push it aside for the time being. "At a registration session in a lecture theatre, his ex, the Barbie who threatened you, tried getting him with her, but his dog interfered, and she slapped the poor fella."

"Wait, pets aren't allowed on campus," Ruffnut pointed out. Heather took a deep breath and made eye contact with Astrid.

"He needs a service dog."

Astrid froze. "That's not possible, he didn't have a dog while on the tour."

"He didn't want to make a bad first impression on the officials, and he believed he could last a day without the dog. Unfortunately he saw you that day... and he had a mental breakdown. The dog is his therapy dog. It saves him from his mental breakdowns."

Astrid was taken aback by Heather's statement. After a while of recalling the tour, she realised Hiccup was absent from the first forty minutes of the tour after ice breaking. He must've been hiding somewhere, and took some time looking for the group. This definitely made her feel horrible for ignoring him that day, but she felt that the atmosphere is extremely uncomfortable for them to suddenly start talking again.

Heather decided to continue her story as she watched Astrid soften. "He started yelling at the girl, drawing attention to the commotion, and she used it to turn the situation against us by saying that he cheated on her... with. Me." Heather's blood was boiling again. Oh boy she hated that girl. "Let's just say I nearly murdered her if his friends didn't hold me back."

Silence again. Astrid didn't know how to feel. Heather lied to them, but she was doing it for Hiccup's health too. She knew she had to settle things between them one day, but not anytime soon. "Heather, relax, I'm not mad with you. Any longer. I understand that you shouldn't be sharing such information around. I'm just wondering if you know his ex's name? I swear the next time she hurts anyone, including the dog-"

"His name is Toothless," Heather said with a small smile, which Astrid returned. Childhood memories.

"That's nice. If she hurts anyone else or the dog I swear she will be handed into the authorities."

Heather sighed. "I'm sorry Astrid. I didn't bother asking her name from Hiccup. I was just too mad."

Astrid nodded slowly. Ruffnut just patted her shoulder, trying to ensure she was alright. As Astrid remained silent, Ruff spoke up. "So why did they break up?"

"Ah, obvious reason. She was abusive towards him and I'm pretty sure Toothless too, and also cheated on him. More than a year ago, only together for like two months."

"My my, what a son of a-"

Astrid interrupted her. "Hey, remember we have something special?"

Heather raised an eyebrow as the two blondes giggled among themselves. Ruffnut then turned back to her and asked "noticed Tuff isn't here?" Heather slowly nodded.

"Well he's on his way back with a surprise for you we chipped in for," Astrid announced proudly. She smiled gently and placed a hand on Heather's shoulder as they heard keys unlocking the front door. "Now forget about your fury and enjoy your gift, from us to you!"

Tuffnut walked in with a box with holes on the side. He grinned at Heather before placing the box on the counter in front of her. "Go on and open it, she's excited."

The moment the box lid was removed, an African Grey parrot jumped out onto the counter, curious and sceptical about its new surroundings. Heather gasped. She placed her finger near the bird, letting it check her out before climbing onto her hand. It whistled the tune of 'Heigh Ho', earning giggles from her new owner.

Tears formed in her eyes as she watched the bird. "Thank you so much guys, this just made my whole day a million times better."

"Anytime H, you've been the most supportive person for all of us and it's a gift of thanks. It's a she for your information," Tuffnut added.

Heather grinned at Astrid. "Her name's Windshear."