Regret

A Warning

"Are you excited to go home tonight, Astrid?" Honey Lemon asked as she placed fresh sheets upon her bed. Astrid sits in the wheelchair by the corner of the room, dressed in another one of Hiccup's shirts that he brought by. He had offered to bring her some of her own clothing but she had refused, happy to have an excuse to have a part of him always with her. Secretly he found it endearing.

"Yes." Astrid said confidently, though secretly she was worried. A lot can change in eight years, and she was going home with Hiccup instead of her parents. Was he living in the same place or did he move? Was any of her stuff still there or did he donate it all, sick of looking at it. Maybe he gave some of it to Merida...

Hiccup had broken off the engagement a week ago, and then disappeared for a few days after. Astrid has almost thought he ran off with his fiancé, leaving her behind in the end. But no, he returned again and apologized. He had helped move her out of the house so that Astrid could come home with him, if she so chose, and not have to see his ex-fiancé there. Of course she chose to do so.

"I will be there to take care of her every step of the way." Hiccup assured the kind nurse, who eyed Astrid curiously. The blonde was twisting her earring, as she often did when she was stressed. Honey Lemon tutted her tongue disapprovingly.

"You can start by helping her clean that ear every day. Looks like it got infected while she was... gone. Do you know how to do that?" Hiccup chuckled lightly, thanks to Astrid he did in fact know how to take care of a piercing.

*Flashback to 16 years old*

Hiccup was sitting at the kitchen counter, working on math homework when the front door opened then slammed shut. Astrid stormed in and threw open the pantry, rifling through the shelves.

"Do you have a potato?" She asked, not bothering with a greeting. Hiccup looked up, a single eyebrow quirked.

"Um... Bottom left. How did you..." The Haddocks' spare set of keys landed on the counter in front of him. "O-okay?" The blonde let out a victorious exclamation as she pulled a potato from the cabinet.

"Do I want to know what you need a potato for?"

"You mean what we need a potato for." She grinned deviously, fishing through his freezer now before pulling out an ice cube. Hiccup dropped his pencil as she yanked him from the stool, leading him by the elbow up into his bathroom and shutting the door. Jumping up to sit atop the counter, she beckoned him to come closer.

"I need your help with something." She said, trailing her fingers down his chest. He gulped loudly.

"With what?" He asked, cringing at the way his voice cracked on 'what.' Those fingers, still chilled from the walk over and their dive in the freezer, found his hand and she pushed a needle into it.

"With some healthy teenage rebellion." Astrid sets about undoing her long golden braid, and Hiccup was too mesmerized by the way it fell in wavy curls to notice what she meant. She tied it up in a ponytail expertly then sat there expectantly.

"Oh Thor no." He backed away slowly but Astrid hooked her legs around his waist, pulling him closer to where she sat on the counter.

"Astrid I am not piercing your ear for you."

"Come on, it's just a simple helix piercing. It's not like I'm asking you to do my belly button or anything else." She whined, refusing to release her leg-lock as he struggled. He sighed in defeat, noting the ice cube she was holding against her cartilage.

"You're doing it wrong." He murmured, taking the ice from her and doing it himself. "Why didn't you ask the twins to do this, they've done it multiple times."