In Another Lifetime

Chapter 20 - High School Reunion

"Well," Rapunzel smiled knowingly at Merida and Hiccup, "that was an interesting session, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Jack smirked, "Definitely lots of progression going on, eh Hic? Not just with the music pieces either..." He nudged Hiccup in the ribs with his bony elbow. Hiccup rubbed the spot on his chest and frowned.

"I was only doing what the witch told me to do! Stay close together and trust each other -"

"Sounded like you couldn't get much closer from what I heard," Jack snorted. Merida raised a fist.

"I'll do it again Jack. I will."

"You know, I think I'll pass on that," Jack backed away slightly. Hiccup grinned.

"Thought as much," Merida lowered her fist to her side, but as she saw who was approaching them she immedietly clenched it again.

It was a group of five people, one of which they recognised as Astrid from that morning. The others were new faces to Jack, Rapunzel and Merida, but all too familiar to Hiccup. One was a greasy, dark haired boy with broad shoulders and what looked like a bad case of acne, a set of twins, a boy and a girl, each with matching shark tooth pendants and thin faces. The last member of the group was a significantly larger boy with straw like hair and he looked like he somehow didn't belong with them. The whole group were laughing at a joke Astrid had just said, and judging by the way they kept looking at Hiccup, they guessed pretty quickly who was the theme of the joke.

"Astrid Hofferson," Merida walked up to her with a scowl, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"You," Astrid poked Merida in the chest, "don't owe me anything. But he does." She jabbed a finger at Hiccup.

"What now?" Hiccup pulled a face.

"I want to know what's going on. Nobody just gets as many friends as you do so quickly. Especially you."

"I'm sorry," Jack stepped forward, looking at her evilly, "where do you base this judgement on?"

"A certain place I like to call, high school," Astrid smirked.

"So basically," Rapunzel stepped forward, "you bully him."

"Not bullying," Astrid sighed, placing her hands on her hips and sweeping her fringe out of her eye, "just merely pushing people back into place. When you're suffering from a broken heart -"

"You do NOT have a broken heart," Hiccup pulled a face of disgust, "You broke up with ME!"

Astrid shrugged.

"It was a traumatising experience."

"Yeah, for the person who's being teased relentlessly I guess so," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

"Hold up -" Jack held up his hand to silence everyone else, "You," he gestured to Hiccup, "went out with her?" He pointed to Astrid.

"Unfortunately," Hiccup's shoulders sagged and he hung his head.

"You sure have bad taste in girls," Jack rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Not all of them though," Hiccup grinned.

"Hold on," Astrid jumped back into the conversation, "who's this new girl then?" She looked at Merida and Rapunzel, weighing them both up. "It's you, isn't it Redhead?" She pointed to Merida, a look of pure glee stretching across her face.

"N - no..." Hiccup stuttered.

"Oh come on Hiccup, it's so obvious," Astrid raised her eyebrows in a 'bitch please' expression. Merida scowled and retorted:

"Well, is it any of your buisness? If you're so interested in Hiccup's love life, why did you give it up in the first place?"

"Have you kissed her?"

"N- no -"

"Yes we have," Merida folded her arms and smirked at Astrid. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Astrid seemed pretty taken aback, but she soon regained her confidence and folded her own arms.

"You haven't heard the last of this Hiccup," Astrid hissed right in Hiccup's face, pushing him away harshly. She walked away, her fellow idiots following her like obedient puppies and Merida stared after them, a look of pure hatred carved into her face.

"She's a right bitch Hiccup," Jack patted him on the back, "don't you worry about her. She's still getting over you. She'll shut up eventually."

"Astrid won't," Hiccup shook his head firmly, "she's not like that. She's not a forgive-and-forget person. She's going to do something soon, something really bad. I just know it."

"Don't worry about her now," Merida said, calmly but firmly. "Worry about what's happening now. Worry about us. Worry about Mordu. Worry about something worth worrying about. Okay?"

"Okay."

A/N I'm so sorry I haven't updated, and this chapter was a lot shorter than the last one! My wifi at home went spazzy and Wattpad decided to delete this chapter so I had to write it all out again >:(  I was out for two days in a row and I've had barely any time to write, it's been so annoying! And now there's another two days ahead with no wifi and no wattpad... See you when I get internet!