Chapter 1

The frantic thumping of her heart was but one of the effects of having this surprise party dumped on her. Her hands were trembling at the prospect of having to talk to all of these strangers so she grabbed her shoulder bag and clutched it, hoping that it wouldn't draw attention.

"Happy Birthday Sis!" Was shouted and Astrid was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. She nervously hugged her older sister back who didn't even notice her state. Or if she did she didn't comment on it.

"I am so glad to see you again! Come on you just gotta meet the new friends I made," Her sister Alexi stated as she placed an arm around Astrid's shoulders and brought her into the throng of people. Alexi was extremely extroverted and always wanted her little sister to engage with people while Astrid would rather avoid crowds in favor of a good book.

By the 40 minute mark of the surprise party, Astrid felt her hands get clammy and her stomach was churning. She had sucked it up and mingled to the extend that she could, it was mostly Eret's work colleagues that had come. Alexi had made friends with Heather, their neighbour, and her boyfriend Fishlegs. Astrid had known the couple for a while now so talking to them was easier. Heather had shot her a look as if asking if she was okay but that just made Astrid much more anxious. Did people notice that she was this nervous? Were they judging her on how she interacted with everyone? Astrid certainly didn't want to snub people, especially Eret's boss who had also been invited. She had bit the inside of her cheek as she smiled and shook hands. Eret standing next to her with his arm around her waist. The nervousness was eating up at her and she briefly excused herself as her nausea became too much.

Astrid swiftly made her way down the hall to the bathroom, or as swiftly as one could manage on heels. Someone was already coming out of the bathroom. She saw the door opening and locks of auburn hair came into her vision. But Astrid didn't care about that right now. Her nausea had reached its climax and she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Move!" Astrid growled as she violently shoved the lanky man out of the way, barging into the bathroom before promptly emptying tonight's dinner in the toilet bowl.

"Oh, Gods! Are you alright?!" The man she had shoved past asked worriedly. Astrid could hear the bathroom door close, offering her some privacy as she puked her guts out. She heard soft footsteps hesitantly approach her to see if she needed help probably but Astrid's face just turned tomato red at the realization that a stranger had just seen her at a new low. The anxiety over being judged negatively was too much and as she turned to the man to address that she was fine her nausea showed its ugly head again and she ended up vomiting over this stranger's shoes.

Astrid looked beyond mortified as her hands were trembling and she tried to apologize frantically.

"Hey, hey, it's alright.... It's alright," The man tried to assure her as he was trying to calm her down. Astrid realized that she probably must have looked like she was having a panic attack, which she probably was.

"Why don't we just take it nice and calm," The guy slowly moved above her to flush the toilet. He then lowered the seat closed and guided her to sit and compose herself. Astrid quickly grabbed toilet paper to wipe her mouth, smearing her dark pink lipstick in the process while out of the corner of her eye she watched the guy toe off his shoes and wash them in the shower stall.

"I am so sorry!" Astrid apologized again, her cheeks still flaming. "This usually doesn't happen.... If Eret had warned me in advance... I..... agh.... Gods, just who am I blaming!" She muttered more to herself now. "Astrid you gotta stop being like this.... Maybe Eret forgot that you hated parties...." now she was just looking for excuses. Her mind was frazzled from tonight.

"You're Eret's girlfriend?" the guy asked as he poked his head out of the shower stall. "I'm Hiccup by the way. Hiccup Haddock. Eret and I are working on one of the firm's projects together."

"Nice to meet you," Astrid murmured as she couldn't really meet this guy's eyes after puking over him. "I'll reimburse you for the shoes and any dry cleaning," she then added.

"I'm sorry, I'm usually not like this," Astrid mumbled. "Usually when there is a big party I have to attend I'm told beforehand. I really got blindsided here."

"You have social anxiety?" Hiccup asked as he was shaking the water out of his shoes. "And... uhm... can I use the blowdryer?"

Astrid nodded to both questions and the absurdity of it all just hit her. Here she was, at her birthday party spending the time in the bathroom with some oddly considerate guy that was blowdrying his loafers after she puked on him. 'What a night this has been.' her mind announced. She let out a strangled laugh at the whole situation.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and Astrid realized that Hiccup must have locked it so that others wouldn't barge in while she was expelling her guts. "Astrid? You in there?" Was asked as another knock came.

She recognized the voice as Eret's mother and immediately called out "Yeah.... Uhm... just a minute! I'm freshening up!" She had quickly stood up, Hiccup had turned off the blowdryer in the meantime. Astrid looked in the mirror and noted that she was a complete mess. Her hair was frazzled, sticking out in odd places from the once neat bun. Her lipstick was smeared and her mascara was running, she hadn't even realized that she had been crying. She looked like a trainwreck and knew she'd need more than just a freshening up to look presentable again.

"You should hurry up dear! Eret is wanting to give the toast in a bit." Eret's mother announced which caused Astrid to freak out again.

"Toast?! What toast!" Astrid shouted. "Miriam, what toast!" But the other woman had already left and Astrid's grip on the porcelain sink might cause it to crack from all the stress and anxiety she was under.

"To hell with this!" She suddenly snapped. "I can't do this! I can't do this!"

'A toast... her boyfriend had gone mad!' her mind supplied. He knew that she abhorred being put in the spotlight like that. They had discussed it before when she was asked to attend a work function as his date. Eret and her had gone after she'd make him give her a briefing on just who she would be meeting at the time. She could do a speech or even stand in the spotlight if she had enough time to mentally prepare but this surprise party had messed with her nerves tonight. There was no way she would be able to not panic when all eyes would certainly turn to her as she was the guest of honor.

"YOU!" Astrid said rather forcefully as she turned to Hiccup who was now putting his semi-dried shoes back on. "Get me out of here!"

"Uh... what?" Hiccup was caught off guard himself as this woman suddenly said that.

"Get me the hell out of here! I'll owe you one... no two. I'll owe you two." Astrid stated. "Look I can't do this! I just can't!" Just the thought of all the gazes on her in a few minutes caused her nausea to return full force.

"Could you..... Drive me back to my apartment... please," Astrid knew she was asking quite a lot of this stranger but she didn't have another option. She just couldn't keep it together tonight.

Hiccup, after looking at Astrid's frazzled state, just couldn't say no. So he nodded and told her he would escort her out.

"You don't have to, I mean... people will talk if I leave with another guy. Maybe you could leave the party before me and I can follow a few minutes after?" She suggested but Hiccup just shook his head and told her that he'd bring her home right now.

With a nervous tremor, Astrid and Hiccup left the bathroom and made their way towards the front door. Not many people were looking their way as they were engaging in conversations and drinking wine. Astrid suddenly felt guilty as she knew her leaving would spoil the mood but thinking of the upcoming event made her stomach churn.

"Astrid, sweetheart! There you are!" A voice she had not wanted to hear addressed her. She turned around and tried to put on her best smile but her smudged lipstick and running mascara must have stopped Eret in his tracks as he looked at her appearance. "Sweetheart, you're a mess. I can't give the toast like this,"

"Is that all you care about? The toast?!" Astrid asked as her eyes narrowed. "You aren't even going to ask if I'm alright?"

Eret was at a loss for words as he stared at his girlfriend. "I can't do this Eret," Astrid said as she bit her lower lip. "You know about my anxiety... and yet... you do THIS?!" She tried to compose herself slightly but it wasn't doing any good. 'In for a penny in for a pound,' her mind supplied so she carried on. "A stranger saw the state that I was in and asked if I was alright yet you, my boyfriend,...... just want to make a toast. I... can't... I just can't tonight..." She then muttered. "I'm going home,"

Astrid left the apartment right after, giving Eret no time to respond. She stopped near the stairwell to catch her breath. Running a hand through her frazzled locks in the process.

"Are you sure you want me to take you home?" Hiccup asked again. "I mean, I heard your parents are here as well. Maybe they-..."

"NO!" Astrid said more forcefully than she meant to. She really didn't want to deal with her family right now.

Hiccup nodded and then helped her to the elevator and then to his car. A rather inconspicuous white Toyota Corolla parked near the curb.