Fire and the Thud [Hiccup x Reader]

The View From The Afternoon

“I'll be back,” he assured Toothless before starting off towards Astrid's house. When he reached the door, he knocked several times, feeling incredibly nervous about what could happen. He wasn't even sure if she was home. However, he didn't have much more of a chance to worry because the door opened.

“Hiccup! Where have you been? Nobody's seen you the past week,” Astrid started to exclaim, but Hiccup was already shaking his head. She drifted off, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

“I have to talk to you,” he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That doesn't sound good,” she muttered, stepping aside. She gestured to him to come into the house, and so he did. She let the door close before turning to him, arms crossed at her chest.

“So I went flying with Toothless,” Hiccup said, clasping his hands together. Astrid nodded once, waiting for him to continue. She could tell he wasn't too thrilled about whatever he wanted to talk about, and it was making her nervous.

“Is everything okay?” she asked when he didn't speak up for another few moments. Hiccup sighed.

“Yeah, uh, actually.. I needed to talk about, well, us.” He gestured between them before dropping his hands to his sides. Astrid felt her stomach fall for a minute but she composed herself, narrowing her eyes again.

“What about?” she said, fearing the worst.

“I think we should break up,” Hiccup said quietly. She breathed out a sigh, shaking her head minutely.

“It's because of (Y/N), isn't it? Please tell me you haven't done anything with her,” Astrid started in a slightly accusing tone, but Hiccup began to protest.

“No! No, we..” Hiccup drifted off before shaking his head and deciding to be honest, “Um. We only kissed, once. Well, I mean, I kissed her, she didn't kiss ba--”

“Wait, you kissed her?” Astrid said in disbelief. Hiccup exhaled sharply, messing with his hair.

“Yes, it was a spur of the moment thing, but yes. I just.. I don't know, I don't want to be going behind your back, Astrid. I feel horrible,” he admitted.

“You should feel horrible,” she agreed. He closed his eyes for a moment before giving her a look.

“Yeah, you're not helping,” he murmured but she only gave him a solemn smile. He was a bit confused as to why she was smiling at all, honestly, but was relieved she wasn't doing something along the lines of punching him instead.

“I saw this coming from the day she came, you know,” Astrid said after a short while of silence. Hiccup looked at his feet, feeling guilty.

“Okay.” she finally said.

“Okay? You're not.. You're not mad? I was expecting at the very least to be bruised somewhere,” Hiccup added in a playful manner, but Astrid only shrugged.

“If you think this is the right thing to do, then I trust you. It's just that..” she paused. Hiccup tilted his head a bit.

“Just what?”

“I mean, don't you think you should've done this before she left?” Astrid asked. Hiccup froze, eyes widening in confusion.

“What do you mean, 'before she left'?” he repeated. Astrid furrowed her eyebrows, gesturing a hand to the door for a second.

“She left with her mom earlier today. I think they said they're going back to Aedria,” Astrid explained. Hiccup felt his heart drop but he felt like his feet were frozen in place, shaking his head slowly.

“Didn't she tell you?” Astrid asked, noticing his reaction.

“I think she tried to but I didn't listen,” Hiccup said quietly, feeling tenfold guilty about everything.

“Don't tell me you blew her off earlier,” Astrid scolded. Hiccup only gave a sheepish look before she raised her eyebrows.

“Hiccup, you asshole!” she exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder. He made a small noise, holding his upper arm.

“There it is, there's the bruise,” he muttered, but Astrid only stared hard at him.

“I know, I know. I'm sorry,” he started, but she shook her head, crossing her arms again.

“You should be apologizing to (Y/N),” she insisted.

“No, I'm just.. I'm sorry about me, and us, and--”

“Hiccup, for the love of Odin, can you just go find her already?” Astrid cut him off, raising an eyebrow. He paused.

“But you said she left.”

“Maybe the ship hasn't gone yet, I don't know, but you're wasting time wallowing here, so.” Astrid opened her door and waited impatiently for Hiccup to move. He finally started to walk, but paused to give her a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he murmured, but she only hugged him back before letting go, nodding. Hiccup smiled softly before making his way to the docks as quickly as he could.
---
“Dad! Dad, hold on a second,” Hiccup shouted. He could see his father walking away from the top board of the docks, rushing over.

“Ah, Hiccup! Where've you been? I've been looking all over the past couple days!” Stoick exclaimed but Hiccup shook his head insistently.

“I need to find (Y/N). Please tell me their boat hasn't left yet,” he asked, trying to catch his breath inconspicuously. Stoick sighed before gesturing down towards the area of the docks where the boats should have been.

“Sorry, son. The boat left about an hour ago. Better luck next time, eh?” he added, trying to lighten the mood up with a nudge of Hiccup's shoulder. However, a nudge for Stoick was more like a punch for his son, who cradled his arm while trying to hide his face.

“Again with the punching,” he thought to himself, rubbing at the spot that Astrid and now his father had hit.

“Uh, thanks, Dad.” Hiccup sighed. Stoick only watched his son for a couple seconds before looking away quietly, starting to walk towards the village again. Hiccup stared at the ocean, feeling frustration growing in his chest.

“Why do I always screw everything up?”

Hiccup heard a familiar grunt beside him and huffed a quiet laugh, turning to see Toothless slowly walking over.

“Hey, bud.” he sighed, petting Toothless gently. He was feeling particularly terrible at the moment, wishing he could somehow find a boat that sailed way too fast so he could try and find (Y/N). At that moment, Toothless tilted his head towards the boy and Hiccup's face lit up.

“Duh! I have a flying boat right here,” he exclaimed. Toothless made a confused noise, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry, I meant dragon. Come on.” Hiccup shook his head with a chuckle, climbing onto Toothless. They took no time to speed off into the air, and henceforth Hiccup was in search party mode. He was not going to mess this up, not this time.