Heart of a Dragon (A Hiccup x Astrid HTTYD AU Fanfic)

Chapter 12: Hard Cold Truth

I didn't even realized that it was already morning, I was startled by my phone's alarm going off while I was watching one of her interviews. I wiped my eyes and double-checked the time, "It's already morning?" I stood up and I saw Toothless peacefully sleeping on my pillow, I stretched a bit before going to the bathroom.

I was out of the front door when I saw a grinning Fishlegs standing by our pathway, "You look horrible?" he said, "Good morning to you too. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night." I told him, "Why? Did we have an assignment? Shoot. I didn't do anything." he replied, "No. I just stayed up all night watching Astrid's basketball highlights and interviews." I yawned at the end of the sentence, "What do you think of her?" he asked, "She's great. I kinda get her game's resemblance to my mom's." I replied rubbing my eyes as we walked towards the bus stop.

"How was yesterday's event?" he asked excited, I just covered my face with my hand and let out a sigh, "Oh no! Don't tell me you did something." I just sighed again, "Oh no! Something did happen.", "I don't think I can face her again after what I did." I told him, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" he kept saying, "I know!" I replied, "What did you do exactly?" he said and seeing his very scared expression, I started laughing.

"Your face... Your face... It was so funny. You look like a Gronkle getting constipated after eating too much rocks." I continued laughing, "Thank the gods. It was just a joke, I really thought that you did something bad to her." I saw John sighed in relief, "What happened yesterday?" he asked, "Uh... Nothing exactly. We just talked then played a game of one-on-one." as soon as I finished my reply I saw Fishlegs's mouth drop wide open.

"Y-y-you played with Astrid?" he was stammering when he said those words, I nodded, "You really played with her?" he asked again, "Is it unusual for her to play with me?", "It's unusual for her to play with anyone one-on-one. Period.", "Really?", "Remember when I told you they changed. No one is allowed to get close to her if they are not a part of her circle of friends.", "But we're her friends.", "Not anymore. That was why I was surprised yesterday when she talked to me.", "That's a bit of a reach, don't you think?" I told him, "It's true. It comes with being the next 'Valkyrie'. Pressure changes you." he replied.

"But Astrid was like the old Astrid, we used to play with. She was a bit competitive and a trash talker but she still seems nice and cool." I told him, "Woah! I wish I could have played with you guys." he told me, "Next time, I'll ask her." I replied, "If there's a next time." he remarked as we arrived at Berk Institute.

We were walking to class and still talking about what happened yesterday when he suddenly told me something, "Oh yeah, I need to tell you something.", "Okay?", "You remember Scott?", I pondered a bit, "Nope! No idea! Should I?", "Snotlout...", "Oh! The Self-entitled jerk and huge douchebag. What about him?", "Shhh. Don't say that out loud.", "Alright. Self-entitled jerk and a huge douchebag." I whispered.

"He's trying to court Astrid..." Fishlegs said and I almost burst out laughing, "Wait... Snotlout thinks he has a chance with Astrid." I covered my mouth while chuckling, "I know it's unbelievable but being called the next 'Stoick the Vast' did something on his ego and he thinks he could get any woman that she wants."  he explained, "What did Astrid do?" I asked, "Of course she declined again and again." he answered, "Okay. So what's seem to be the problem and what does it have to do with me?" I questioned since I have no idea why he's telling me this.

"You've seen him and how he is like. He's a bit possessive." Fishlegs continued, "But you said Astrid already dumped him." I replied, "Yeah. But Scott... Snotlout thinks Astrid is just playing hard to get and eventually she'll madly fall in love him." he told me, "Wow. What a narcissistic, self-entitled douchebag." I muttered, "I agree. So he doesn't let any guy come close or even approach Astrid." he followed, "But why are you telling me this?" I asked, "I just wanted to let you know." he responded. 

"I don't care about any of that or that self-entitled douchebag. If she asks to play with me again, I'll accept it. Plus we still have an unfinished business to handle." I replied to the warning that  Fishlegs issued.

"Unfinished business? Wait Who's leading?" he asked, "Her." I replied, "WHAT?!" Fishlegs exclaimed in surprise.

- - - - -

We were already sitting at our desks but Fishlegs was still asking about the game and how Astrid was like, "Did she really bested you?" Fishlegs continued asking, "Bested is not the word I'll use, She just got the better of me at the start of the game.", I replied, "That's what bested means." Fishlegs declared.

"The guy, who literally destroyed somebody that he moved of town, is getting his ass whooped by a girl." he continued, "It's not any girl, it's Astrid." I told him, "Oh yeah. It's justifiable." he  replied, Fishlegs was about to say something when the bell rang and our teacher came in, he looked at me like he was telling me 'This is not over.' and I just smiled in reply as the class commenced.

The last class in the morning just ended, "Thank God, it's finally over." I muttered, "Hey! Let's grab something to eat." Fishlegs said, "I'm on board with that. That last class took a lot out of me." I replied, "Is that why you were out-cold since the beginning of that class?" he teased, "Shut up." I stated before laughing, we both took our bags before heading out.

"Where are we going to eat?" Fishlegs asked, "I don't want to walk too far, let's just get something at the Mess Hall." I answered and we went there immediately since the both of us are too hungry to argue about where to eat.

I just ordered a cheeseburger and bottled water while Fishlegs got fried chicken and rice paired with soda, we looked for a vacant table to eat our lunches and we found one next to a large window.

I was munching on my burger when I heard Fishlegs say something, "You know since I got to know you and how you play, I never seen anyone as good as you.", "What's with this atmosphere? You're not gonna confess to me, are you?" I continued biting into my burger, "What the heck are you talking about?! I'm just saying that I realize you and Astrid have almost identical ways of how you approach and play the game." he was gesturing with his fork while telling me that, "Really? You think so?" I asked, "Yeah." he replied.

"Now that I think about it, there are some aspects, maybe, that I can say we were the same. Since she plays like my mom, I, in a way, find it hard to play defense against her because it was like playing against myself, who trained me and taught me all the moves I knew." I was making the burger wrapper into a ball and throwing it in a trash bin in front of our table.

"See. You just admitted that you're having a hard time playing against her." he said while finishing up his meal, "Alright... Alright... But I just got too tense playing against a woman, I'm not being a jerk or something. I just don't want to hurt her." I said, "But as the game continued further, I started thinking that I'm not playing against any frail woman but a very good basketball player, I'm playing against Astrid so I started taking it seriously." I told him and he had this kind of a jealous look, "I missed a lot of stuff yesterday, haven't I?" he asked, I just shrugged and we decided to go back to classroom.

I was walking and talking with Fishlegs  when I saw Hailey accompanied by others towards our direction, "Oh, its Astrid." he slightly bumped my shoulder, "Yeah, I see her I have eyes too, you know." I replied, "You want to say hi?" I asked him and I saw his eyes widened, "I don't think that's a good idea, dude." he replied whispering.

"It's Astrid, we've known each other since we were kids. I'm just gonna say hi." I said confidently as Astrid's group walked by us.

I saw her eyes widened a bit so I smiled at her, I waved at her and greeted, "Hey Astr-." but she just walked passed us like we were not there.

"You know that guy?" I heard one of the girls asked and I heard her reply with a distinct "No."

I stared at their backs as they continued walking, "I told you. She's not the same as before." Fishlegs remarked, I didn't reply and went straight to our class.