(Embrace, this one is a long one)
Hiccup woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He slowly sat up and yawnes. He groans and looked at the clock on his night stand.
4:03 AM
He rubbed his eyes, Why would anyone call at this time?
He decided to answer it without looking who it was.
"H-hello?"
"Hiccup?" He recognized the voice from the under end.
"Astrid? Why are you calling this late? Is everything okay?" He asked.
He heard a few sniffs from the other end. "No..." There was a pause, "...can you pick me up?"
He stood up and search for his shoes. "Y-yeah, yeah of course." He put his phone on his shoulder and tilted his head to keep his phone on his ear. He grabbed his shoes and immediately put them on. "I'll be there in 5 minutes, tops."
"Okay... Thank you Hiccup. I'll explain on the way." Astrid said.
"Alright." He hung up and put his jacket on. He sneakily went downstairs, trying to wake up his father. As he stood on the doorway, he checked if he had his phone, wallet, and keys. He opens the door and closed it behind him and made his way towards his car.
××××××××××
He slowly pulled up to the Hofferson's household. He grabbed his phone and texted Astrid that he was here. A couple minutes later, she came out the front door with a sport's bag hanging on her shoulder. She entered in the car. Hiccup looked at her carefully. He noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. She was shaking and she sniffed a couple times.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and she instantly flinched.
"Hey, hey hey... You're okay... Want to tell me what happened?" He spoke softly.
Astrid hugged herself as she avoided eye contact. "He... He did it again..."
"What again?"
"He beat me Hiccup. If I didn't moved around , I would have more bruises..."
Hiccup sighs. Her relationship with her father was never the best. Astrid's mother died after she gave her birth, and her father was responsible to take care of her. But her father hated her. When Astrid's mother was pregnant, he wanted a abortion, but her mother refused. Just to makes matters worse, her father was an alcoholic. If she even made one mistake, her father would beat her till she wouldn't be able to stand on her own two feet.
Hiccup was one of the very few people who is aware of the situation she's in. Hiccup recommended to call the police multiple times but Astrid doesn't wants to. She says that 'He'll stop eventually' or 'He'll change'. She's been saying that for 3 years. Whenever these moments happen, Astrid usually calls Hiccup or Heather to pick her up and stay in their house for a couple of days. Once, her father nearly killed her. If Astrid jumped out the window from the bathroom, she wouldn't be here now.
Hiccup wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to a hug. "Astrid... Please... Call the police... This is getting out of han-"
"No!... He'll-He'll change... I know it. Just give him time..." Astrid said.
Hiccup sighs as he rubbed her shoulder. "Astrid... You've been saying that for years by now. I'm sorry but... It clearly hasn't shown he had changed much." Astrid stayed quiet. "Come on... Let's go home." He pulled away from the hug and starts the car.
××××××××××××
Hiccup pulled out an extra blanket from his closet as Astrid sat down on his bed.
