Chapter 2

Present day

"Oh Thor, Oh Thor Oh Thor!" Astrid paced the waiting room of the hospital.

"Will you stop pacing? You're making me nervous!" A male voice grumbled. Astrid looked at where the sound came from. There, on one of the couches, sat the shorter man whose cousin she had accidentally bumped her car into. They had driven to the nearby hospital even with the other's assurance that he was 'fine'.

Now Astrid was a bundle of nerves. She had been clearly in the wrong. Backing out of her parking spot without looking in her rearview mirror. Even if she'd been so distraught by what her teacher had proposed, it wasn't a question that she'd nearly squished a guy with her car. 'Would he sue?' She pondered while biting her nails. 'If he did how was she even going to pay off that debt? She'd have to drop out again, find a 2nd, and maybe even a 3rd job. That also meant less time with Damian, and Heather, as much as she loved the lad, surely wouldn't agree to watch more. She was so glad her neighbour was friendly enough not to charge her as much as the daycare cost. But still...

'No,' Astrid shook her head as she debated with herself. Heather had enough on her plate and needed her alone time as well. She couldn't just expect her to watch Damian all the time. Her parents were out of the question as well.

As Astrid's mind was churning with the worst-case scenario she hadn't even noticed the man she had run over walk into the waiting room.

"There ya are cuz! Well? You alright?" The shorter guy stood up and made his way towards the auburn-haired man.

"I'm fine Snotlout. Like I told you before." The man muttered somewhat annoyed. "We didn't need to come all the way here. It was clearly an accident considering how distraught the poor woman was."

"Still, I would sue," Snotlout muttered but his cousin shot him a glare that clearly said 'shut up' upon noticing Astrid's rather stricken look.

"I'm sure it wasn't intentional. Right Miss...." The auburn-haired man held out his hand. Astrid, shocked out of her thoughts looked at the proffered hand and quickly shook it. "Hofferson.... Uhm... Astrid Hofferson. Are you really okay? No concussion? Broken bones? Anything sprained? Please be okay! I didn't mean it!!!" She blabbered.

"I'm fine," The other man chuckled. "As much as my cousin disagrees. I am perfectly fine. The doctor just said I'd have a bruise on my thigh from it. You didn't hit me hard enough to cause anything like a concussion."

"Oh thank Thor," Astrid muttered while the shorter man was still glaring at her.

"Forgive my cousin. He's been itching for a lawsuit just because he recently became a junior lawyer. For him, it's shocking I know."

"HEY!" Snotlout shot back while looking huffy.

"I'm Henry by the way, but my friends call me Hiccup," He introduced, shaking Astrid's hand because she hadn't let go yet. Astrid blushed scarlet upon realizing this.

"Hiccup? That's an odd nickname," She tried to act casual but the more she looked at this guy the more she realized that he was kind of cute.

"Uhm... I got it during a very awkward period," He confessed while rubbing the back of his head nervously. "So, may I take you out to dinner?"

"HICCUP WHAT?!" Snotlout uttered incredulously while at the same time, Astrid stood slack-jawed.

"I'm sorry what?" she managed to utter afterwards.

"What she said!" Snotlout interjected. "She ran you over!"

"What he said!" Astrid had to agree on that. Never in a million years would she have thought that the guy she nearly squished would ask her out to dinner.

Hiccup just rolled his eyes at his cousin before addressing Astrid. "Sorry for being so forward but if I were to get run over again I'd want it to be by a pretty lady such as yourself."

"Smooth Hiccup smooth," Snotlout muttered. "That's never going to work,"

"Well if you insist," Astrid blushed.

"Great, so this weekend? Can I have your number? I can text you the time and place."

"Sure," Astrid answered while Snotlout was looking incredulously at the duo. "I can't believe that worked," He uttered gobsmacked.

'I can't believe I got a date out of this debacle,' Astrid thought as Hiccup offered to walk her to her car. Both of them left the hospital waiting room, leaving behind a still gobsmacked Snotlout.

Four years ago

Astrid sighed as she straightened out her simple beige dress after exiting her parent's car.

"Here hold this," Her mother said as she nearly shoved the bouquet in her daughter's hands. Things had been difficult the last two weeks. Once the prenatal paternity results came in there had been no question that Astrid's boyfriend, Thuggory, was the father. His parents of course were fuming, calling her all sorts of names too. Both teens were forbidden to spend time alone, though really, hadn't the worst come to fruition already?

Both parents watched their children like hawks and in the days leading up to the impromptu wedding Astrid had had a lot to deal with. First off word got around school. When she walked the halls people called her 'easy' and a slut to her face. She tried to ignore it but it was getting to her. People who didn't know her were judging her. Thuggary who was somewhat popular, though not as popular as the jocks, was given high-fives for scoring. She on the other hand was scorned. 'Double standard much.' Astrid thought. It got so bad that she was harassed constantly and eventually had to drop out since the doctor advised that such stress wasn't good for the baby. One more thing for her parents to gripe about.

After the doctor's visit, things had been tense in Astrid's house. She really couldn't call it a home anymore. Her parents had taken off the entire door to her room, confiscated her computer and phone, and even cleared her bookshelf as some sort of punishment.

With a sigh, Astrid came out of her depressing musings. She looked around at the venue, a curious rooster looked back at her while puffing up his feathers. Never in a million years had she thought about getting married on her aunt's farm.

Here she stood, in her simple wedding dress, staring at the open doors of the barn that was converted into a wedding venue with only weeks to spare. Astrid hadn't been part of the planning, her mother had completely taken over once the paternity results had been announced. Her parents were still mostly giving her the silent treatment and disappointing stares. She was also sure that none of her classmates had come, having been avoided like the plague by them when the news came out she was expecting. 'Such good friends they are...' her brain sarcastically supplied though she also had a feeling that her friends' parents had something to do with it since they attended the same church as her mother.

"Astrid smile," Her mother jabbed her in the side while her dad took her arm to walk her down the aisle.

She had always imagined her wedding happening differently. To say she was frustrated as they entered the barn was an understatement. She saw none of her friends in attendance. Instead, the seats were filled with people she recognized as her mom's friends from church along with just a few family members in attendance, amongst them was her big sister who had been low contact for the last three years. That was a surprise. She couldn't help but feel the judging stares of the guests as she had finally started to show a bit. It certainly wasn't a secret anymore that this was a shotgun wedding.

As she was trying to process this all she failed to notice her mother's increasingly sour face as they neared the altar. "Where is the groom?" Astrid heard her mother question which caused her to blink as well. Thuggory, who was supposed to take her hand and guide her the rest of the way was suspiciously absent.

"WHERE IS THE DAMN GROOM?!" Her mother now yelled while her face became puce.