I unlock my front door, setting my back pack down in the entryway. I let Stormfly in and grab my guitar, plopping down on the couch. I mess around with a few cords making up a few lyrics to a song.

"I'm tugin at my hair. I'm pullin at my clothes. I'm tryin to keep my cool, I know it shows. I'm starin at my feet, my cheeks are turnin red. I'm searchin for the words inside my head. I'm feelin nervous tryn to be so perfect cause I know you're worth it, you're worth it, yeah. If I could say what I wanna say, I'd say I wanna blow you away, be with you every night. Am I squeezing you to tight? If I could see what I wanna see, I wanna see you get down on one knee. Marry me today. I guess I'm wishing my life away with these things I'll never sa-"

My door bell rings, so I rise and make my way over to it. I turn the lock and fling the door open, confused as to who would be at my house. I haven't told any of my friends where I live. Hiccup stands with his hands jammed in his pockets, his head hung, and his foot nervously rolling his skateboard back and forth on the ground. My eyes narrow, speculating why he's here. He's definitely got a lot of nerve standing there after I yelled at him.

"May I please come in so I can explain?" he asks finally looking up at me. I step back opening the door a little wider for him. "Thanks."

He sets his board and back pack down beside mine and follows me to the couch.

"Hi puppy." he says petting Stormfly. "What was that you were playing a few moments ago?"

I shake my head giving him an amused smile. "Why are you here?" I question in a serious tone, my smile gone.

"This is about Heather isn't it?" he asks meeting my eyes. I look away petting Stormfly to give me something to do to avoid the question.

"Look, I'm sorry. I should have warned you about her. But in my defense, I thought we were broken up." I nod taking this in. "And we are again. This time for good." he says slowly. I meet his gaze, my eyes widening.

"I'm tired of it. She's only using me. I was stupid to ever have a crush on her. The real reason I broke up with her though..." he stops sucking in a deep breath. "I have feelings for you."

My heart skips a beat before turning into a quick pitter-patter. "What?" I breath out.

"I mean if you're still mad or don't feel the same way, I can just go." he answers getting to his feet.

"No!" I say stopping him. "I was just surprised." He smiles standing in front of me.

"So want to go to practice now?" he offers.

"Actually, I was just going to practice here. I have an amp in my room."

"Mind if I watch?"

"No." I grab my acoustic guitar and lead him up the stairs to my room.

"You know, you have a really nice house." he says following me. I laugh, rolling my eyes.

He sits on my bed as I shut the door and switch on my small amp by my bed. I sit down next to him making a pretzel with my legs resting the guitar on top of my thighs. I play the beat I had been messing with earlier, the acoustic sound filling the room. I watch Hiccup as he closes his eyes, swaying slightly to the music.

"You really like music don't you?" I ask after a while.

"Yeah, I just believe you can express so many different emotions in a single song. I don't know, it's just so intriguing to me." I smile at his words. He scans my room, his eyes stopping on my dress.

"Is that for the dance?" he asks getting to his feet and walking over to where it's hanging on the door handle of my closet. "I didn't really have you pegged as a dress girl. I mean, I've seen you in skirts, but not a dress."

"Yeah, Merida made me buy it. " I say going over to stand next to him.

"Well, I think it's a beautiful dress."

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't even want to go to this stupid dance." I groan flopping down on my bed.

"Same. I'm just going to play with the band." he says plopping down beside me. I turn my head to face him, our noses inches apart. "But I think we'll survive."

"We'll see." I whisper.

He brings his hand up to cup my face. His thumb rubbing gently across my cheekbone. I feel his lips suddenly. He moves them slowly, torturously with mine. His hands slide down to firmly rest on my hips as he pulls them closer into him. My fingers run through his hair as he does so. I pull away resting my forehead on his chest. He kisses the top of my head before resting his chin there.

"Have you ever heard that country song, 'Quit Breaking Up With Me'?" ha asks suddenly.

"No. I don't really listen to country." I admit.

"That's a shame."

"You don't look like the type of person to listen to country either."

He laughs. "I know, but it's still good music. But let me play you that song. I feel like the girl singing, you know how Heather was? It will make more sense when you hear it." I nod waiting for him to play it.

You say it's over, with a middle finger

But then you're calling before I turn off my ringer

And I answer 'cause I love to hear you're sorry for the 400th time

Well,

You try to leave me

But you can't do it

'Cause I'm the only one who puts up with your (censorship)

I know that secretly you love making out with me right after we fight

Well,

We're always fixing something that was never broken

We're on and off again like sobriety

Get back together every time you're done throwing a fit

So when you gonna quit

Breaking up with me

Well,

You think by now

We'd finally get along

But we only feel right when everything is going wrong

And we're back in the habit of cussing each other up and down

Well,

I hate your daddy, you hate my momma

But one thing we don't seem to hate is all the drama

But we never can remember what the hell we were yelling about

Well,

We're always fixing something that was never broken

We're on and off again like sobriety

Get back together every time you're done throwing a fit

So when you gonna quit

Breaking up with me

I don't know where you think you're going

Because you're stuck with me forever and you know it

(Forever, forever, forever, forever)

We're always fixing something that was never broken

We're on and off again like sobriety

Get back together every time you're done throwing a fit

So when you gonna quit

And breaking up with me

Yeah

And when you're gonna quit

Breaking up with me

But you know it (forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever)

"Shouldn't we be doing homework or something?" I ask smiling as he places the phone back in his pocket.

"Probably." he chuckles getting up.

🐉

We sit in the living room, papers scattered on the floor and across our laps, lemonade glasses on the ottoman, music quietly playing as we laugh.

"Do you really think she would if we told her?" Hiccup laughs.

"I'm sure Merida would if we said it was from Eret." I point out.

"Hey, where are your parents? Shouldn't they be home by now? Hiccup asks checking his watch for the time. I look down, small tears forming. I wipe them away with the heels of my palms.

"Um..." I get out. "I just live with my uncle. My parents died about three years ago."

"I'm so sorry Astrid. I-I didn't know. I wouldn't have said anything if I had." he apologizes quickly. He moves the books and papers out of his lap scooting closer and pulling me into his chest.

"I get it. It's hard without them. I can relate to the ache in your chest that can never be filled. I uh... I lost my dad in the car wreck that led to my amputation. Things have never felt the same since then." he tells me.

"I'm sorry." I say looking up at him. His eyes are glassy, but he doesn't allow the tears to spill over. His arms stay wrapped around me though.

"Why don't we work on some algebra 2 to get our minds off of them?" He nods releasing me. " Ok. Solve x+2-93x = 2x-108." I instruct. He laughs rolling his eyes.

"Yes ma'am."

Surprisingly I get lost in my work with Hiccup. Normally I hate homework, but he brings something to it that just seems to make it more exciting. I was having such a good time, I didn't even hear my uncle come in.

"Hey Asty. Is that you?" Uncle Finn calls suddenly.

"Asty?" Hiccup asks leaning toward me.

"Shut up." I say reaching out and shoving his head back. I sit criss-cross-applesauce across from him on the couch, even more papers and books laid out around us now. "Hi Uncle Finn." I say chuckling at the goofy expression on Hiccup's face.

"You seem to be in a better mood today."

"Uncle Finn." I grumble. Hiccup guffaws at me. I glare at him annoyed.

"Who's this?" Uncle Finn asks coming into the living room.

"Hiccup Haddock, sir." Hiccup says getting to his feet and shaking my uncle's hand. "Astrid and I were just doing some homework." he adds.

"Well, if I had known we had a guest, I could've brought home fast food."

"Oh, no. That's not necessary, sir." Hiccup says.

"You're right son. We'll just go out."

"Uncle Finn. Don't force him to eat with us. If he wants to leave, he can." I say hinting to Hiccup to go.

"Non sense. What do you say Hiccup?" Uncle Finn asks clasping a firm hand on to Hiccup's shoulder.

"I guess I could. I'll have to tell my mom that dinner wont be made when she gets home." He steps into the other room to call her.

"Is that him?" Uncle Finn whispers. "The one you like?" I nod.

"Yeah, Uncle Finn. " I sigh out.

"He seems like a very well raised young man." he smiles at me approvingly.