It was Tuesday morning, and I once again found myself before my locker. I placed my helmet inside of it and for a moment, my mind wandered back to my first helmet, the one that had matched my motorcycle. I wondered how it was doing at the bottom of that canyon I had accidentally dropped it into.

As I was wrapped up in reminiscing about my times on the road, a familiar figure leaned against the locker beside me and snapped me out of my daze with a loud: "Hello!"

I blinked rapidly as I slammed my locker shut and turned to Heather, who was smiling like a madman. I furrowed my brows and narrowed my eyes at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just happy to have you back, that's all!" Heather smile grew wider as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a tight hug. At first, I wasn't too keen on hugging her back, but I eventually gave in as it was clear that she wouldn't let me go before I had shown her some affection.

After I was finally set free from the hug, I picked my backpack up from the floor and glanced over at the nearest clock. 4 minutes left before my first class of the day. "What's on your schedule for today?"

Heather shrugged. "I've got Social Science in a few, then English and after that ... well I can't really be bothered to check, I just want to have lunch already."

I let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I feel you. I should probably get going though, I've got English upstairs."

Heather pursed her lips. "Oh, that's going to be awkward. I can't wait for you to tell me all about it!"

"I'm just crossing my fingers for solo projects this semester, I don't think I can handle another situation similar to the one from last year." I took a deep breath as I ran my hand across my face. "I've really got to go though, see you later?"

Heather gave me a thumbs up before we went our separate ways. By the time I made my way upstairs, the door to the classroom stood wide open, which indicated that either I was late, or Mr. Grimborn had decided to come early.

As I slipped into the classroom, I was surprised to see many of the desks empty, except for the few overachievers I remembered from last year. Great, I seemed to have the exact same class.

"Miss Hofferson, I haven't seen you in quite a while, good to see you back!" Mr. Grimborn stood up from his desk and greeted me with a handshake as he flashed a smile.

"Yes, it's good to ... be back, I guess." I shot him a small smile before letting my gaze wander around the room. "Is this the entire class?"

Mr. Grimborn laughed as he shook his head. "Oh no, I just wanted to get settled before class officially starts, the rest of the students will be here any minute! Now go, sit down so that you are ready when class begins!"

I shot him another forced smile before scanning the empty seats of the room. For the first time in years, I was not going to sit in my 'perfect' seat. This year, I was going to be as low key as possible, especially considering how awkward I feared things would become between me and Hiccup.

As predicted, the rest of the students began pouring in shortly after. I scanned each and every one of them, my heart aching just to know whether or not Hiccup was there. I was almost beginning to lose hope when he finally entered class, eyes glued to his phone as he made his way further and further back in the classroom.

I felt my heartbeat slow the closer he came towards where I sat at the very back of the classroom. He clearly hadn't noticed me yet, and I didn't know if I wanted him to see me just yet. Luckily for me, the gods had blessed me on that beautiful Tuesday, and Hiccup made a sharp turn before slumping into a seat in the middle row.

For the first time that day, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Hiccup was there, he was safe and for some reason, that was all that mattered. It was strange how I felt I couldn't spend a single day without seeing him after two days back at school, especially considering that I had been on the road for 6 months straight without even thinking about him once. Alright, that was a lie, I may have thought about him a few times.

The class itself didn't feel all that long, but it wasn't like I was following anyway. My focus was on the boy that was joking around with his friends in the middle of the classroom, occasionally taking notes or stopping to listen to the teacher. It wasn't before then that I realized how much I completely despised myself for the way I had treated him the day I left.

Eventually, the bell rung, and everyone stood from their seats and filed out of the classroom. I, on the other hand, stayed back for a moment. If there was one thing I did not feel ready for that day, then it was facing Hiccup Haddock. Heather and Ruffnut were going to be so disappointed in me.

I quickly scooped up my books and dropped them into my bag. I had about ten minutes to switch books back at my locker, and then move on to the next class of the day. That was the original plan, but as you all must know by now, my life very rarely goes the way I want it to.

After having successfully made my way down to my locker, I switched my books and dropped them straight into my backpack. I know, riveting content, but you see, that's where it all went wrong.

A loud gasp came from behind me, and I spun around to find myself face to face with Snotlout and Tuffnut. Snotlout's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. "You're back!"

For a second, I didn't really know what to say, so I just spewed out the first thing on my mind. "Hi?"

"Oh my gods, it's so great to see you!" Snotlout ran up to me and wrapped his arms around me, sounding like he was stifling a sob as he pulled me into a hug that quite literally took my breath away. "We've missed you, so much."

I furrowed my brows as I looked down at him with surprise. "You have?"

Tuffnut strode over and joined the already awkward hug, making it even more awkward. A tear rolled down his cheek, and I had never been so confused in my life. "She's awful!"

A wave of confusion washed over me as I looked between the two guys. "Who? What's going on?"

Snotlout took a deep breath as he stepped back, his eyes watering as he fanned himself with his hands. "Valerie! That she-devil has stolen Hiccup from us!"

Tuffnut held his face in his hands. "Hiccup hasn't had a single Saturday with the boys in over a month! A month! This is outrageous, Astrid!"

I raised a brow as I stared at the guys with confusion written all over my face. "And exactly what do I have to do with all of this?"

Snotlout threw out his hands to his sides as if what he was saying was obvious. "Astrid, you're one of the boys, you're fun, you're hot, you're sexy ..."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I think I'm going to stop you there."

"... and most importantly you're not as plain and boring as Valerie, who does not enjoy the simple pleasures that come with eating Cheetos in your pajamas and playing video games with the boys. You have to save Hiccup from that ... that ..." Snotlout rambled on, but I stopped him by pressing a finger to his lips, which he weirdly seemed to enjoy. I quickly retracted my finger, wiping it on Tuffnut's jacket.

"Listen, Snotlout. Hiccup's love life is not something I'm going to interfere with, that's his business. Besides, it's not like he even knows that I'm back." I informed him, which left both him and Tuffnut with puzzled looks on their faces.

"But how?" Snotlout asked, as if it hadn't taken him over a day to realize that I was back.

I shrugged. "The same way that you didn't see me in English class. He simply doesn't care enough about anyone outside his new circle of friends to see the other people around."

"You were in English!? Damn, how did I not see you?" Snotlout asked as he rubbed his chin, looking like he was deep in thought.

"I don't know and I don't care. Listen guys, it was great to see you and all, but I've really got to get going now." I shot them a small smile as I took a step into the busy hallway. "Oh and by the way, if you could not tell Hiccup about me being back that would be great."

Tuffnut and Snotlout shared a look before grimacing. "I think it's too late for that."

At first I could not grasp what the hell they were going on about, but then I turned around and found a familiar looking auburn-haired boy staring at me, those beautiful emerald eyes of his filled with complete and utter disbelief, as if he'd seen a ghost. Gods, you're gone for 6 months and suddenly everyone thinks you're dead!

Our eyes met, and the only thing that was going around my mind was one word: "Fuck."

***

Hiccup dragged me by the arm through the hallway, leaving both Snotlout and Tuffnut in our dust as he seemed to be headed for the nearest exit. The people around us shot us both weird looks, and I couldn't help but let my cheeks flush red at the excessive amounts of unwanted attention I was getting.

Hiccup hadn't said a single word to me, all he'd done was just storm over, grab my arm and take me on my very own walk of shame through the school. Eventually we reached those familiar green doors that marked the entrance of the school, and with one hand Hiccup effortlessly shoved them open and dragged me out to the top of the stairs. Oh my gods, was he going to push me?

As the green doors closed behind us, we had been cut off from the rest of the school. For the first time in what seemed like forever, it was just the two of us. Gods, was it awkward. For the first couple of minutes, Hiccup had just stared at me, making me feel both very uncomfortable and a little bit annoyed. Like hey, did this asshole just drag me out here to give me a stare down? I wasn't normally one for being very violent, but I was ready to give the guy a good punch in the gut.

After a good couple of minutes, Hiccup finally whispered: "You're back?"

I furrowed my brows at him, a little surprised at his soft tone. Why was this guy acting like he didn't know I'd only be gone for 6 months? "Yeah, no shit."

The previously soft look on his face hardened as he crossed his arms. "I see you haven't lost the attitude."

I raised a brow at him. "You and I both know that there is no way I'm ever going to lose my spice."

And then he did something that surprised the absolute hell out of me. He hugged me.

For a moment, I just stood there, like I had already done several times that day, but it didn't take long before the calming sensation of his arms around me made my shoulders relax and allowed me to lean into the hug and hold him again. It was strange how perfectly he seemed to fit in my arms, like our bodies had been molded to fit one another.

"I missed you." He said, and I could feel him smile against my cheek. My skin tingled as my heart began racing in my chest and the feelings I had for him that summer all came rushing back in a big wave of emotion. Gods, I didn't realize how much I had truly missed him until that moment.

I smiled back and spoke entirely from my heart: "I missed you too."

Hiccup eventually pulled back from the hug, a grin on his face as he let his hands rest on my shoulders. I felt my heart perform a somersault at the sight of that beautiful face of his. Gods, he made me crazy. "It's been so long! How was the trip? How have you been? Did you come back today?"

"Woah, calm down with the questions Hiccy, I can only answer them one at a time!" I couldn't help but grin back at him as the butterflies in my stomach went off the rails. "But the trip was great, I've been good and I came back for the holidays."

"Really?" Hiccup raised a brow. "How come I haven't seen you yet?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I heard you were keeping yourself busy though, so maybe that's why?"

Hiccup's face turned a fine shade of tomato red as he retracted his arms and stuffed his hands into his front pockets. "Heh, yeah ... I guess you could say that."

A silence passed over us as the image of Valerie danced around my mind, taunting me as she seemed to be taking my place in all the memories I shared with Hiccup, at the same time that she was creating new ones. I felt my heart constrict. As long as Valerie was in the picture, Hiccup was far from mine.

"She seems ... nice." I forced a smile as I attempted to start up a conversation again.

"Oh, Valerie is great. She's smart, she's one of the nicest people I know and she ..."

"Does she make you happy?"

Hiccup paused for a moment and looked up at me. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, she really does."

And that, my friends, was when I was introduced to the feeling of my heart being completely shattered into a million pieces. Never in my life had I felt pain as excruciating as that, never before had I wanted to curl up into a ball so bad that it made my poor heart physically hurt. I fought my absolute hardest to hold back the sob that was slowly rising in my throat as my eyes began burning like someone had poured bleach onto them. I couldn't break down in front of him, I couldn't ruin his happiness by admitting that I still had feelings for him. All I could do was just smile and be happy for him, because if there was anyone on this planet that deserved to be happy, then it was him.

"I'm so happy for you, Hiccup." I forced a smile as I gritted my teeth and struggled to keep the tears at bay.

I must've done a good job at hiding my feelings, seeing as all Hiccup did was sigh with relief before another wonderful smile lit up that handsome face of his. "Thanks, Astrid. It means a lot, really."

Another wave of silence passed us, but I managed to break it by forcing out a few words. "I ... I should get to class."

"Right, right." Hiccup said as if he had just remembered that we were still at school. "But hey, how about we catch up later? Want to grab a coffee, maybe?"

I turned away from him for a moment, looking up at the sky so that I could blink away the tears that were threatening to spill down my cheeks before I answered him. "Yeah, I'd love that. You can text me when and where, but I really should get going now."

A grin spread across Hiccup's face once again. "Oh okay! See you later, Astrid!"

"Yeah," I forced yet another smile. "See you later."