Our Perfect Story

Chapter 9: First Walk

The next morning, Astrid was up more than an hour early, unable to go back to sleep. Obviously she was too excited to meet Hiccup before school started. After almost half an hour of tossing and turning, she decided to get out of bed and prepare breakfast for both her and her dad for a change. Before she made her way downstairs, Astrid approached the corner of her bedroom where Stormfly slept on her cushion and woke the dog up. After a few minutes of scratches and stretching, they both went to the kitchen.

Astrid fed Stormfly her dog food before lighting the stove to prepare her father's favourite bacon and egg sandwich. As the sizzle and smell of frying bacon filled the air, her father trudged down the stairs in his pyjamas, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Why good morning sunshine. You look ready to kick ass, but with a hamster," Astrid teased using his own words against him as he scratched Stormfly's head.

"Haha very funny, Astrid. Looks like I don't have to worry about breakfast today," her dad rolled his eyes playfully, fetching the kettle to boil some water in. "I thought you hate waking up early to cook?"

"Oh I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to be more useful." Astrid toasted a few slices of bread with butter in another pan as she spoke. "Don't forget, I'll be walking to school from today onwards."

Her father sighed. "Alright, but if that Hayden dares to hurt you I'll send him to Antarctica without warm clothes."

"Dad! He would never hurt me."

Her father walked over to her and patted her head of blonde hair as she looked up to his matching blue eyes with a glare. "Precautions honey."

After having their meals, Astrid went back to her room to prepare for school. She slipped on her uniform and tie before stuffing her books into her bag. Minutes later, her father yelled up the stairs for her. "Astrid! He's here."

With that, the young blonde dashed down the stairs to the front door, almost forgetting to kiss her dad goodbye. He chuckled and shook his head. "So excited that you would forget your old man here huh? I hope that boy won't replace me," he teased as he poked her stomach. "Remember if you ever have a boyfriend I'll have to approve of him first."

"Dad! No one will ever replace you, not even my future husband if I ever get married. Also, I won't be having a boyfriend anytime soon, don't worry about it," Astrid replied as she hugged her dad and Stormfly.

As she walked out the front door, her father leaned against it and waved to both teens as they exchanged greetings. To his confusion, the young man raised his finger to Astrid before walking over to him at the front door with a friendly grin on his face.

As Hayden approached him, he stuck out his right arm. "Hi Mr Hofferson! I just want to wish you good morning and thank you for inviting us over last night. We had a blast!"

Astrid's father smiled back and shook his hand with the polite boy before him. "Anytime boy, and I heard that you and Astrid are going to the dog park with your dog and Stormfly after school right?"

"Yes sir, and Heather might join us there although she's still unsure," Hiccup replied as Stormfly showed up next to Mr Hofferson by the door when her named was mentioned. He gave the golden some head scratches as Astrid's dad nodded his head.

"Well you two stay safe, and no games," he warned Hiccup who gulped nervously.

"Of course not sir, I wouldn't want anything to happen to Astrid too," he chuckled softly as Astrid yelled from the sidewalk.

"Dad! Stop threatening him or we'll be late for school."

He just laughed as Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Go boy, my daughter is right. But remember my warning. Thanks for coming to talk with me."

"Thanks for the talk too Mr Hofferson!" Hiccup called out as he walked back to where Astrid was waiting. They waved at her father as they walked down the road towards school.

"So what did my father drill into you today?" she asked with a hint of amusement and embarrassment in her voice.

Hiccup laughed before replying. "We were just having a man to man talk, no worries."

"You mean man to child," Astrid said sarcastically with a mischievous grin on her face. "You're no where close to being a man, boy."

Hiccup faked a horrified look with a huge gasp. "How could you say such a thing! Here I am keeping you safe from 'thugs' for your dad, I'm now a mature young man!" he said with equal sarcasm as Astrid.

She just rolled her eyes with a grin. "Says the guy who kissed me on the cheek and called me milady last night before running away in fear. I always thought mature men knew what they were doing and faced problems boldly."

That caught Hiccup's attention, his eyes widening as he choked and his face turned red. "First of all, that's so not true, maybe occasionally, where did you hear that?"

"I was just kidding, I had to say something to direct you to what you did last night," Astrid replied with a shrug, a blush creeping on her face as the topic changed.

"Yeah about that I'm so sorry I did that I don't know what came over me and I freaked out and ran away irresponsibly and I'm pretty sure you hate me now for being so weird I'm so-"

"Hiccup, stop." Astrid places a hand over his mouth to stop his word vomit. "It-it's alright. I understand. I don't mind them, after all you're the nicest and most trustworthy friend I've ever had, even than my other friends back on Wing Island who weirdly haven't replied to my texts..." Her voice drifted off as she thought about her old friends. Somehow something didn't feel right about their antisocial behaviour. At that moment she immediately checked her phone, that's when she found out all of them had blocked her on social media. Astrid was too shocked, her jaw dropped as she stared at her screen.

"Hey, are you ok?" Hiccup asked gently as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"They cut me out of their contacts and blocked me on Facebook, Instagram, everything..." Astrid replied, still too stunned to believe what had happened. Hiccup was equally as shocked as she was.

"Excuse me but 'friends'? How could they do such a thing to you!"

"I... I don't know. What the hell!?!?" Astrid groaned in anger more than sadness. "I knew there was something off even before I left. In fact, they pretty much ignored me four months before coming here. No one wanted to meet me as a goodbye! Those bit-"

"Hey hey Astrid, it's alright. You have the gang now. We would never leave you behind. Take Heather's brother Dagur for example. We still meet him every time he returns home from college. Trust me, everything will be alright," Hiccup explained as he pulled her into a comforting hug. He had no idea what was running through her mind at that moment, but he knew as her new best friend he had to be there for her.

"Thank you," Astrid choked out through Hiccup's warm and tight embrace. "Hey, we should really be on our way to school right now and not hugging," she said as she pulled away with a chuckle, trying to show him she was fine. "You're a very great friend, Hiccup."

"Hmm anytime." That was all Hiccup said as they began walking, this time in silence. Am I really just a great friend to her, even after the kiss and nickname and special moments last night? I have no idea how she defines our relationship but she's definitely something more to me. Damn, I'm a creep.