Chapter 2

Astrid groaned as the sun hit her in the face. She was still groggy and tried to use her arm to block out the sun but it didn't help much. She then rolled over but then nearly fell off the bed. Catching her balance Astrid was more awake now as she took in her current state. On the floor of her bedroom were her heels, haphazardly kicked off and discarded.

She, herself, was laying only half on her bed while still dressed in the clothes from last night. Her dress was now rumpled as she hadn't even bothered to change when she got home.

'Home,' Astrid realized. She was home and she just realized how stupid she had been. She had gotten into a car with a strange man she had met only for an hour at that point. 'But he was a gentleman,' her mind supplied and Astrid was grateful that he was. She even remembered him walking her to her door, worrying over her. But she still felt stupid. For the same reason that the guy would not have been so gentlemanly. Dear Thor, was she really so out of it last night?

She stumbled to the bathroom, not daring to look in the mirror at the mess that she was. Quickly divesting herself of the dress and undergarments she stepped into the shower to let the cold water wake her up before it turned warm. She needed time to collect her thoughts.

Once out of the shower, stepping into her bedroom again, the steam wafting behind her, she noted that her handbag had been discarded near her shoes. Still dressed in only a fluffy towel wound around her chest she picked it up and got out her phone that had been on silent since the party last night.

Astrid tapped on her power button so that it would display her lock screen and around 43 percent battery life. A picture of her and Eret came up when they had gone to a picnic a few months ago. Both were happily smiling at the camera but that was a stark contrast to how she felt now when she saw the multitude of missed calls, texts, and voicemails.

She sat down on her bed and scrolled through the notifications. There were two missed calls from Heather and a text message asking if she was alright. Astrid sent a quick text back telling Heather that she thought she was but needed some time.

Astrid also noted that Alexi and her parents had left two voice messages and several missed calls. She quickly played the messages. "Sis, where the heck are you?! Eret sent everyone home after he announced that you'd left the party! Call me back!"

"Young lady! What the hell were you thinking?!" Her mother's voicemail started off. "How could you leave your boyfriend high and dry after he took the time to plan this party for you?! Call me back this instant!"

There was also a text from Miriam that read, "WTF?! How could you leave when I told you Eret was going to make a toast to you? How can you be that inconsiderate to my son!"

Astrid sighed and chucked the phone against her pillow. She didn't want to read the rest otherwise she'd get more depressed.

After what felt like hours, but was in fact minutes, Astrid reached for her phone again. She dialed a number that she didn't think she'd need anymore. "Nurturing Minds clinic. This is Leslie speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, can I speak to Alvin.... I mean Dr. Treacherous, please?" Astrid asked over the phone. "This is Astrid Hofferson,"

"Please hold for a minute. I'll go see if he's available," The receptionist stated. Astrid sighed as she heard the generic 'on hold' music. She bit one of her nails as she waited.

"He's in between sessions right now and can see you," Leslie came back to inform Astrid as she transferred her call through.

"Miss Hofferson?" A somewhat gruff voice came from the other line after a few seconds. "How can I help you?"

"I... I think I had another panic attack last night," Astrid bit out as her cheeks flamed a bit. "I know we ended our sessions but..."

"Tell me what happened," Alvin said to her in a serious tone as she heard some creaking in the background. 'Probably his desk chair,' she thought as she began to recount the events of the night.

"...-nd then the guy I practically ran over offers me a ride home while Eret's only concern is his stupid toast!" Astrid was ranting now and Alvin let her. "What's more! Both my family and Eret's family seem to think I'm at fault for ruining the evening! UGH!"

"And how does that make you feel?" Alvin asked in a voice that sounded even.

"Like I want to wring their posh necks! Oh my Thor I really just want to beat someone into dust!" Astrid exclaimed, repeatedly punching a pillow. "I'm sorry everyone! I was too busy having an attack to care about my boyfriend's ego!"

"And do you feel that your boyfriend deliberately ignored your boundaries or was this an accident? How does he treat you in day-to-day life?"

Astrid sighed as she lay there on the bed with her phone to her ear. "Honestly Dr. Treacherous, I don't know." Astrid admitted. "Like, he's attentive when he wants to be, except on Hockey days. Then his hand is glued to the remote and I might as well be speaking Klingon. I admit that when our parents introduced us we got off on a bit of a rocky start but he seemed to understand when I told him I have social anxiety. He knew that I wanted to be told in advance of any type of party or social gathering so that I could prepare." Astrid muttered. "Your advice worked and I was less nervous. Your advice also was a great help when I had to give presentations at the office," She added.

"We haven't actually talked yet," Astrid then mumbled, "and I don't know if I want to talk to him right now. Or any of my family, except for maybe my sister. She sounded more worried than condescending,"

"Well you don't have to," Alvin told her. "You should talk to them when you feel mentally prepared to face them."

"Thanks doc," Astrid smiled, though Alvin didn't see it. She ended the call after talking to him a bit more and then decided to give Alexi a call.

Astrid clicked on her sister's number and then the call button. The phone rang twice before Alexi picked up. "Astrid, are you alright?! Like seriously what happened last night? Eret just announced that the party was over and that we should all go home. Also Mom went through the roof when Miriam informed her you left with another man!"

"I...uhm... I had a panic attack..." Astrid confessed. "The guy I left with offered me a ride home,"

"You what?" Alexi uttered startled. "Like, why?"

"You know how I am around people," Astrid sighed.

"I know you usually keep to yourself but aren't you just shy?" her sister then asked.

"No! I'm a nervous wreck when I have to meet new people! I have been since the ballet recital," Astrid grumbled. "Have you really been that dense not to notice?"

"What ballet recital?" Alexi asked, confused.

"The one we had when I was seven and you were nine," Astrid now muttered. "Don't you remember how it ended?"

"No, not.... really...." Alexi confessed. "Honestly sis, mom just said you were super shy and needed to get out more. It's why I dragged you along to meet my friends and such."

"Right...." Astrid rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"So yeah, I was really excited when Eret invited us. My sis wanting to have a party after all this time? Heck yeah!" Alexi then mentioned which caused Astrid to freeze for a moment.

"Wait.... Eret said that I wanted a party?" Astrid asked. Her sister might just be the oblivious one, taking their mother's words to heart and not thinking anything more of it but this piqued her interest.

"Well yeah," Alexi stated. "Mom and I were having tea in her kitchen when I went for a visit that weekend and Eret called. Mom put him on speaker so I could say Hi too and he told us that he wanted to throw you a party and that you'd be okay with it."

'Why that good for nothing mulch-eating bucket of crap!' Astrid thought before saying "Sis.... I'm never good with parties and I told Eret this. He knows.... So why would he......"

"You should maybe also talk to mom and dad too." Alexi mentioned. "Mom's really mad. Miriam made it sound like you went to cheat on Eret right in front of his face. Dad managed to talk her down somewhat but..... You know how mom is,"

"Yeah yeah," Astrid sighed. She definitely knew how her mother was. "I'll talk to her........ Just not right now. I need to get my head straight."

"Uhm sis...." Alexi questioned. "So this social anxiety isn't a phase is it? I'm wanna go look some things up,"

"No," Astrid told her. "I was even seeing a therapist in college,"

"You were?" Alexi sounded surprised.

"Yeah, mom and dad knew," Astrid told her and all Alexi could say was "Huh..."

The phone call ended somewhat awkwardly after that and Astrid plugged her phone into her charger before just laying down on the bed. She must have closed her eyes for a while because the next time she opened them the sun had shifted and her phone was fully charged. She also noted a new message had popped up along with the time..... One in the afternoon approximately, thank Thor it was Saturday. The message notification displayed a number she wasn't familiar with. She raised an eyebrow when she opened it and read the contents.

'Hi, Hiccup here. I'm just texting to see if you're alright. Oh... and... uhm... I'm not a stalker or anything. I don't know if you remember last night but you took my phone and inputted your number. So I guess... I just wanted to check up? Oh Gods, I'm rambling aren't I? I swear I'm not a creepy stalker.... Oh Uhm... that might make me sound like a creepy stalker... Uhm..... eh... hope you're alright... really,' Astrid had to read the message twice before trying to stifle her laughter.

'I'm doing better. Thank you for asking,' Astrid texted back. 'You're a weird one aren't you,'

'Glad to hear,' Hiccup texted back somewhat immediately. 'Also you have a boyfriend. I don't really want him to misunderstand,'

'Probably not for long,' Astrid's mind supplied and then she blinked. Was she really just thinking of ending things with Eret? Sure she wanted to punch his lights out for this debacle but.... Ending it? They were almost at the three year mark in their relationship.

'It's not him that's misunderstanding things right now,' Astrid shot off in a text after a while.

'?????????!!!!' Was all Hiccup texted back.

'Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Just ignore that comment.' Astrid replied with. 'Say, let me treat you to a late lunch. It's the least I can do after ruining your shoes and making you drive me home,'

'You really don't have to,' Hiccup texted.

'I insist. I feel bad for the whole thing. At least some pizza,'

'Uhm... okay,' Hiccup replied. 'You can text me the address and I'll meet you there.'