When We Meet Again

Chapter 28: Terror On The Lose

The following week Astrid and Hiccup never spoke a single word to each other nor crossed paths. The longer they stayed apart, the more Hiccup's heart ached with fear and worry, wanting to get the love of his life back. No matter what he forced himself to remain silent and be patient for her. He could not force her into something she was uncomfortable with.

At the same time, Heather had been released from hospital and resumed her classes on campus with Dagur bunking on an extra mattress in her room. Unfortunately that did not make a difference to Astrid's antisocial behaviour. The blonde girl had been distancing herself from the entire group of friends, including Heather, saying she wanted to be alone. Even when Heather offered to accompany her during lunch breaks, Astrid would decline or mysteriously disappear if they happen to meet. Her best friend never ceased worrying about her, even though they stayed in the same apartment. Astrid never met the others in the day, and by the time Heather or the twins got back Astrid had locked herself in her bedroom with Stormfly.

On the opposite end, Hiccup could only cope with his inner demons thanks to his friends and dog. Even when his friends were at their own separate classes, he was thankful for having Toothless by his side at all times. Toothless wasn't just a service dog to him, but also his best friend. The two loved hiking in the countryside back in California during school holidays on their own. Those trips with Toothless were Hiccup's best memories after his father's passing and his first breakup as he filled his lungs with fresh air and enjoyed freedom from his fears, monsters and abusive girlfriend.

That Friday noon, Hiccup lay on his bed sighing as he thought about his past, particularly his two ex-girlfriends. Oh boy his second one was the worst decision he had ever made. Not a single day passed without Hiccup regretting asking her to be his girlfriend, completely oblivious to the months of torture ahead of him and Toothless. If only he wasn't so blinded by Astrid's beauty, if only he had noticed it sooner.

Weeks after he finally broke up with her, Eret sat him down to think about her qualities and attitude towards him from the beginning. It was that moment when he realised it was all because of her spiting resemblance to the love of his life, although he never said it out loud to anyone. All because she looked like Astrid made him choose her: her wavy blonde hair, her piercing blue eyes, her round face and button nose. Everything was similar except for the smile that appeared on either girls' faces. Astrid's was always warm and welcoming, while his ex had a constant sneer of cockiness.

Hiccup groaned and checked his clock for the time before getting up and dressed for a lecture he had that afternoon. He didn't want or need to get up early that day since he didn't have classes in the morning. As soon as he got to the living room, he made himself a sandwich and chuckled as Toothless tried swallowing a biscuit coated with lots of peanut butter. By 1pm he was out the front door on his way to campus.

Strolling down the street as the trees swayed in the autumn breeze, Hiccup forced himself to appear at ease to passers by who had no clue about his personal difficulties. Toothless trotted alongside his master with a smile on his face, sniffing the ground occasionally. Suddenly, he stopped walking and sniffed the air. He turned his head towards a grassy square they were walking past, catching sight of an approaching figure. He began growling which caught Hiccup's attention.

"Hey, what's wrong bud?" Hiccup knelt down beside his dog and scratched behind his ears which didn't seem to relax him. Hiccup glanced up towards the direction Toothless was staring at. For a moment he thought it was Astrid but was confused with Toothless' behaviour and the girl appeared to be smoking. He knew Astrid would never smoke.

Then it hit him. Hiccup immediately got up and dragged Toothless away, wanting to avoid the person at all costs. However, he was too slow as a cold hand grabbed his wrist that was holding onto Toothless' leash. The smart dog immediately leapt between the two, protecting Hiccup with whatever he had.

"Aww Hiccy! Where have you been? I haven't seen you on your own for the longest time! Finally got rid of that stupid blondie I see?"

Hiccup yanked his arm out of her grasp and started walking away. "My life isn't your business, Karen."

Again his ex caught up with him, this time shoving him onto a bench along the sidewalk and standing directly in front of him, preventing him from getting up. Hiccup groaned in annoyance as he held onto Toothless' collar in case he attempted to bite.

"I really appreciate your actions in getting rid of her, what's her name, Ash? Who cares," Karen Butowski let out a shrill laugh as she took another puff of her cigarette. "I've missed you and Toothless, Hiccup, and I know you miss me too. Ash and that inky haired girl just wanted to sabotage our love, but I know we could never be broken."

Hiccup internally retched at her words as he forced himself to remain polite. Toothless on the other hand didn't even try to hide his disgust, a loud sound escaping his throat as he gagged. His actions infuriated the blonde smoker, who repeatedly slapped his snout hard. "Shut up, you stupid dog! None of this is your business."

Hiccup grabbed her wrist and squeezed it hard. "Leave Toothless alone!! I can't believe you! He's just a dog, my dog, and he doesn't understand what's going on." Hiccup was enraged. He couldn't stand watching his dog being hit. "You haven't changed at all, Karen. Stop lying that you miss me or Toothless, you clearly don't. We were never in love. All you've done is hurt me and my best friend, both physically and mentally. In fact, we never even held hands! What makes you think all this rubbish about us?"

His ex-girlfriend's lips curled into the sneer, the only thing that distinguished her from Astrid. "Well," she moved closer to Hiccup who started panicking, her smokey breath puffed disgustingly into his face as she spoke. "I know you wouldn't ever resist this."

The next thing he knew, terror was coursing through his veins, his mind whirling under pressure. Toothless was whining in distress, knowing his master was in the worst state he had ever seen. His ex had slammed her lips onto his as she gripped his shirt collar tightly, not allowing him to escape. His eyes were wide with fear as his fingers went cold and curled into fists.

What he didn't know was that his ex's doppelgänger witnessed the moment Butowski's lips touched his from across the street, her iced coffee spilled across the pavement as she dropped the plastic cup.

*********************************

A/N:
Seventeen chapters later and I FINALLY choose a first name for the devil woman. I have to admit it's pretty funny, especially Hiccup's first sentence mentioning her name.