Our Perfect Story

Chapter 12: Truly Unbreakable Friendships

A/N:
Hey readers! I'm so sorry the next part of this story is... uh.... five months late.... At one point I faced much difficulty trying to continue this fanfic smoothly, and had hit a writer's block. In the meantime, I had exams, a bunch of personal problems, and now I'm pretty busy (and excited🎉) preparing for the start of university.

I'd admit I'm barely active on Wattpad and hardly ever make important announcements here, but do follow my Instagram account (also @nightfurywrider), where I post updates way more frequently. I'm shamefully not used to this platform till today🙃

Also, don't forget to keep taking care of yourselves and others around you! Hopefully it will all be over ASAP❤️

I hope I'll be able to write more, and once again I'm sorry for the extremely long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The two girls finally arrived at the cafeteria, where everyone else sat waiting for them. Hiccup had helped Heather get a sandwich in her absence, so she didn't have to get into the queue and risk being late for class.

"So what's the news, ladies? Is Astrid in?" Tuffnut asked curiously, his mouth full as he chewed his own sandwich.

"Not yet, I'll have to attend an evaluation first before they can confirm. It'll be on Thursday."

"And I was thinking if we could be there to root for her," Heather continued, catching Astrid by surprise. "Snotlout, you'll be having football practice till late afternoon this Thursday, right? Since it's just the first few weeks of school, there isn't much work to get done, and we've all got nothing else to do."

"Are you sure you'd all like to be there? It's pretty much just gonna be half an hour of me swimming back and forth. Besides, my dad will want to be there to support me as well," Astrid asked in confusion.

"Hey, of course we would want to be there. We were there for Heather's evaluation for the gymnastics troupe, friends support each other. And most of the time we wait for her and Snotlout to complete their training," Hiccup replied with a gentle smile. "The more support you will have, the better you will perform."

"Also to wait for me, right?" Snotlout piped up, an eyebrow raised. The Thorston twins snickered among themselves, completely unheard by the rest of the gang.

"No chance, Snotface, the Ashtray ship has to embark on its journey into the unknown," Tuffnut announced, climbing onto the table dramatically.

Across the cafeteria, a teacher shouted at him for his actions. "Throston, off the table!!!"

The blonde, lanky teen crawled back down, grumbling under his breath as the entire canteen erupted in uncontrollable laughter. Hiccup shook his head in annoyance and hidden amusement, while Ruffnut smacked her brother's head as tears flowed out of her eyes, her facial muscles starting to sore from laughing.

"Alright, first of all, 'Ashtray'? Your mind's in the wrong direction buddy," Heather choked out as she chuckled. "I've already created a ship name for the two, you probably weren't paying attention when I mentioned it."

Hiccup and Astrid groaned in annoyance, avoiding each other's gaze, trying to hide their embarrassment. In an attempt to change the topic, the young man spoke up. "Secondly, you know that I'd always wait for you, Snotlout. Come on, out of all of us, who has never skipped waiting for any of you after your practices?"

Snotlout sighed and smiled. That was Hiccup for you, extremely loyal and cares about all his close friends. "Yeah, only you. Thanks, Hic."

The two boys fist bumped as Astrid watched in admiration. Her mind drifted to her old friends back on Wing Island, her heart aching as she remembered how their relations had been severed. Around her, the gang remained silent, noticing a pained look on the blonde's face. Her bubbly, exciting demeanour had shifted to a stale, distant one as she poked her salad and sausages with a fork absentmindedly. Hiccup nor Heather said a word, not wanting to share information Astrid might not be entirely comfortable with leaking to everyone. She herself had no clue why her friends had done so, it could've been her fault for all she knew.

Heather decided to distract her best friend by asking the group questions in their plans for the week. "So Hiccup," she started, clearing her throat. "Last night you texted me about taking Windshear for a walk in the park later with you later?"

The mention of Windshear's name definitely grabbed Astrid's attention, her seemingly lifeless blue eyes immediately lighting up. She had been extremely excited to finally meet her, and also Hiccup's dog Toothless. Stormfly had never met any other dogs of her friends before, and she knew her golden retriever would be delighted.

"Yeah, Astrid and I are gonna go to the dog park with Toothless and Stormfly. I invited Snotlout to bring Hookfang as well," Hiccup explained, his eyes filling with relief as he noticed Astrid's growing excitement.

The knowledge of Snotlout having a dog further electrified Astrid. "Why didn't anyone tell me you have a dog as well, Snotlout?? What breed is it? Male, female?"

"Hooky is a male red Rottweiler. Most people don't believe he's one since he's not the common pure black colour. I adopted him as a puppy two years ago from a shelter that would euthanise dogs. I'm so glad I saved this buddy," Snotlout explained as he took a small picture out of his wallet, where he was kneeling next to a muscular brown dog. "Truthfully he's not violent or fierce, an extreme sucker for squeaky toys and treats, but when there we face unusual company on the streets he gets dangerously protective of me."

Throughout her first week of school, Snotlout had made an impression of a careless jock who had an ego higher than any mountain he could climb. However, when he spoke about Hookfang, it brought out a gentle and loving side of him, showing how much he deeply cared for the dog. "I'd really love to meet Hookfang, Snotlout. Will you be free to join us at the park at about 4.30pm?"

"I'd love to, Astrid. Just a heads up that you'll need to be slow with him in the beginning. Being friendly doesn't necessarily mean he's harmless, just precautions."

"I'll join you guys too, Windshear would be ecstatic to make a new friend," Heather chimed in, grinning. "How about those of you without pets? Do you want to join us?"

"I don't mind tagging along, I don't have anything to do later anyway," Fishlegs answered with a soft smile towards Heather. "How about the twins?"

"I'm sorry guys, no can do 'cause we promised our great aunt Bertha that we'd help her move from the hospital to her new nursing home this evening," Ruffnut replied.

"Yep, great aunt Bertha is being upgraded folks: private room, a special private nurse, and first-class quality food. Sometimes I do envy her exclusive lifestyle..." Tuffnut added, his eyes seemingly empty as his thoughts trailed away.