Just the way you are

Ch. 1: The Pool party

"Hiccup, remember how you used to make those pool parties at your house when we were kids?" Astrid asked her friend as both of them were walking out of the school building.

"Of course I do. Those were a lot of fun," Hiccup smiled and looked away from his phone, remembering all that fun he had with his small group of friends.

"I was wondering, what if you made a party like that again?" the blondy asked, bright smile on her face as she looked at the boy.

Hiccup stopped walking and looked at her with a bit disappointed expression. "You know I can't," he said, putting his phone in his pocket. "You know exactly why I stopped making these parties."

Astrid's smile loosened. She knew well why Hiccup didn't want to make any more parties. "Well, maybe if you would invite only the people who know?"

"That's only three people, if I'm counting my dad," Hiccup shrugged. "But still, I can't risk growing a tail in front of everyone."

Astrid kept looking at him with a troubled look and didn't say anything at first, but then she spoke. "You know that you can't be like this for the rest of you life. You know that you can't keep hiding. And, I mean, it's not like you're in a mortal danger or anything," she giggled at the last sentence, but then stopped and put an arm on Hiccup's shoulder, "What happened to you cannot stop you from living like a normal person. You just have to be more careful in some cases."

Hiccup looked her in the eye, then down at the ground again. He knew she was right. From the day he changed, he was always hiding, he was scared of anyone who didn't know his secret. He became distant and, because of this, he kinda started getting picked up on again. And he also hated that everyone, including himself, took it as some sort of a problem and never straight up said what it was. It made him always feel like if it was a bad thing.

He wanted to change all of that. He wanted to live a life just like everyone else. He didn't want to feel like a beast anymore.

He looked up in Astrid's eyes again, this time with a slight smile on his lips. "You're right."

Astrid smiled at him and put her arm away. "See? And after all, it's not like we live in H2o: Just add water where you barely touch the water and magically change into a fish," she joked with a smirk, throwing her arms in the air.

Hiccup immediately bursted out laughing at that remark, almost not being able to breathe. Astrid was always able to make him smile and laugh when he was feeling down and she always made him feel at least a bit better. He was grateful for her.

"You're right, Astrid. I should be proud to be a merman!" Hiccup exclaimed, not caring that there might be people around hearing them and he started laughing again.

* * * * *

A few days later, on Friday specifically, Hiccup came back home feeling very optimistic about the pool party he had organised for today. He listened to Astrid's words and decided to start living like a normal person again, not being restricted so much.

He came into the kitchen and opened the fridge, searching for a little snack. When he closed the fridge door, he noticed his dad sitting on the couch, reading some kind of a book. In that moment, the boy realised he still haven't told his father about his idea of making party. And he knew he should have told him..

"Dad, just wanted to let you know that I organised a small pool party for today."

Stoick immediately looked away from his book at his son, concerned look on his face. "What?" was all he said.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier," Hiccup shrugged, carefully opening the plastic wrap of a chocolate bar. He took a bite before he looked back at his father, whom just kept staring at him with almost a shocked look.