FIFTEEN:

"So how's it going, Fish?" Hiccup asked at lunch, peering over his friend's shoulder as the husky boy scrolled through his Berkbook feed. Chewing his roasted red pepper and hummus sandwich, Fishlegs looked up.

"Um...rather well," he admitted, turning the screen so Hiccup could see. There were stills from the video and a comment thread that currently had eight hundred comments and counting. Leaning forward, Hiccup read through the most recent.

"He's an ass-how could I ever have looked up to him?" he read. "Wow. I don't know where to start. Is the writer someone really short? Because no one else could look up to Snot..."

"It's Gustav," Fish told him. "That irritating kid from Junior Year..." Hiccup sighed.

"He's a kid whose Dad abandoned the family when he was about ten and he's basically looking for a role model," he explained, recalling the over-enthusiastic jet-haired scrawny kid from when he was still one of the guys. "Though why he looked up to Snot was one of life's mysteries."

"Well, he doesn't look up to him now," Fish told him cheerfully. "In fact, most of the school consider Snotlout to be an ass and probably lower on the food chain than pond slime." He switched page. "And a few of the kids are trolling the jocks." Hiccup shook his head.

"Please ask them to stop," he said firmly. The husky boy's eyes widened.

"Why?" he asked. "I would have thought you would have been happy that they were learning what it was like to be unpopular..." But Hiccup shook his head, his eyes pensive.

"That's not unpopular-that's bullying," he said calmly. "It's cruel and intrusive and vicious and unrelenting..."

"And they did it to you, didn't they?" Fish realised, his mouth dropping open in shock. Reluctantly, Hiccup nodded.

"You get no respite," he said tonelessly. "You can't get away at home because it follows you. And no one should be telling you to go away and die-or kill yourself. Please ask them to stop. They're idiots-but not irredeemable. Being rejected is enough." Fishlegs nodded wordlessly and typed in the request, hitting SEND with a flourish.

"Are you okay?" he asked his friend and the auburn-haired boy forced a smile onto his face.

"I know this was my idea but do you think this is justified, Fish?" he asked quietly. "I know they deserve it but I don't want to be that guy who gets revenge, who deliberately hurts people..." Half-turning to look up into the troubled face, Fishlegs sighed.

"They are going to get hurt," he said carefully. "But not permanently. And nothing that isn't part of the normal rough and tumble of school life, I think. Having their misdemeanours and hypocrisies pointed out and puncturing their self-deluded image of themselves is going to be uncomfortable but no one is going to die. And maybe they could learn from it..." Hiccup smiled wearily.

"Or not," he sighed. "I think, between them, they have the self-awareness of a brick. But we can always hope." Fishlegs patted his arm.

"You know, you're a decent guy, Hiccup," he told his friend. "I don't think anyone else would worry about the wellbeing of the people who have made your life miserable for the last year."

"They were my friends," Hiccup reminded him. "I don't hate them. I'm just sad they behaved the way they have and wish they didn't." Then he visibly pulled himself together. "But if they hadn't, I wouldn't have you guys. So I guess everything happens for a reason..." Fishlegs nodded.

"You know a guy like me would never usually have a chance to be friends with a guy like you?" he reminded Hiccup as the auburn-haired teen froze and stared at him, as if the thought had never occurred to him. "I'm a husky computer nerd with a botany obsession and a tendency to panic. You're a popular, handsome athletic guy who's smart and determined and relentlessly kind..."

"I wasn't," Hiccup sighed. "And I was stupid. I was the same as they are: I only looked at people like me, stuck in my own preconceptions. I missed out of friendship with people who are amazing and genuine and kind and...I'm sounding cheesy, aren't I?" Fishlegs shook his head with a little smile on his face.

"Not at all," he reassured Hiccup. "Look, Hiccup-we all make mistakes. What makes us better people is learning from them. I think you've definitely learned from yours-the question is will Atali and her friends learn from theirs?" Hiccup nodded as the bell rang. "Look, I've got a Library session for my Ancient Viking Theology Class. I've just made the appeal now and I'll monitor what happens. Go! I'll see you in last class!" Hiccup nodded and trotted from the room, heading rapidly up towards the classroom for Geography. His mind was still whirling with his misgivings as he walked up the wide staircase towards the lesson. The surge of students was thinning for he was running late but there were still a number hanging around the top of the stairs, laughing and messing around when he reached the top and took two steps away.

And then it all happened in a flash.

He heard a familiar voice sneer "I don't need anything off you, Useless-especially not you trying to protect me!" at the same time he felt a hefty shove against his side as he turned towards the room. Losing his balance, he flailed instinctively and his arm locked on one of the arms of the person who had pushed him. Giving a low cry, he went backwards, feeling something give and losing his grip on the arm. He slammed backwards, his head clunking against the rail before his body slammed into the stairs. His vision greyed and he immediately felt disorientated as the impact lanced pain across his chest. Something landed heavily on him and he cried out before he rolled, his head meeting the floor once more.

And then everything went black.

oOo

Astrid had been waiting at the top of the stairs with Heather when she saw Hiccup walking up, his tall shape distinctive. She had already noted that he always walked by the rail so he could use it if necessary and he looked thoughtful. Smiling at his serious face, she was just opening her mouth to greet him when she saw Snotlout surge forward, a nasty scowl on his face. Hiccup was still not paying attention as he turned to his right and didn't see his cousin give an almighty, two-handed shove to push him back down the stairs.

"I don't need anything off you, Useless-especially not you trying to protect me!" he sneered viciously as he saw the auburn-haired teen overbalance and topple sideways. But Hiccup's hand flailed out and latched onto Snotlout's wrist, tugging the stocky boy after him. And because Hiccup was taller than Snotlout and falling backwards with a lot of force. Snotlout was almost lifted of his feet as he launched after the falling one-legged student. Astrid watched in horror as Hiccup's head cracked into the metal rail, the thud loud in the sudden silence. Then Hiccup landed across the stairs, the treads slamming into his ribs-before Snotlout landed across him. Seeing Hiccup cry out in pain at the impact tore her heart as the stocky boy tumbled on his way, bouncing down the steps, a tangle of muscular limbs, one leg catching on a spindle from the stair rail and wrenching him sideways before he landed extremely heavily. Hiccup rolled down a few more steps and lay still, his eyes closed and a dark bruise already forming across his forehead from where he had hit the rail.

"OW!" Snotlout screamed. "MY LEG!"

Suddenly, there was movement and sound once more as the students all moved.

"You-get Principal Queen and Nurse Helga!" Astrid commanded, pointing directly at a shocked Sophomore. "Heather-please go and check how Snotlout is. Don't let him move-he's fallen down a flight of stairs and could be badly hurt. I'll check Hiccup." Then they accelerated down the stairs and the blonde knelt carefully by Hiccup, staring into his pallid face and seeing him breathing. Carefully, she placed her hands on the sides of his head, stopping him from moving.

"What is going on here?" Throk demanded from the top of the stairs.

"Snotlout bumped into Hiccup and they both fell down the stairs," Heather explained, crouching by the stocky jock.

"Useless deliberately pulled me down the stairs," Snotlout shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"That's not right," Astrid said from when she was kneeling by Hiccup. "You shoved him, you liar!"

"Miss Hofferson, Mr Jorgensen-we can sort out the whys and wherefores later. For now, has someone gone for Nurse Helga?"

"Astrid sent Fredrick," a little Sophomore reported.

"Good," Throk commented. "We'll need an ambulance. Mr Haddock is unconscious and clearly has a head injury. I can see Miss Hofferson is stabilising his neck. I'm glad someone paid attention in the Health Emergencies Class." She nodded absently, her attention focussed on the limp shape laying in front of her.

"What about my leg?" Snotlout yelled, batting off Heather. "My knee really shouldn't look like that and my ankle is killing me! I'm an athlete-I should be highest priority-more than some worthless one-legged nobody!"

There was a stunned silence at the cruel words and Throk scowled, his thick brows dipping in surprise.

"Regrettably, I do not share your set of values," the master told him calmly. "Mr Haddock is unconscious and could have life-threatening injuries. It is clear from the fact you are capable of expressing yourself so forcefully, that you have no suffered such injury. Nurse Helga will assess your wounds and I am certain you will be transported to the hospital urgently-but Mr Haddock must be higher priority."

"Again, why?" Snotlout sneered. "My cousin has always been useless and he's not a sports star or anything important..." The other students were staring at him in shock. "This is all his fault! He should have just fallen but instead he had to grab me and pull me with him!"

"Some would say that is poetic justice," Astrid muttered, leaning over Hiccup. Then she looked up. "Heather-could you get someone to fetch Tuff or Fishlegs? They should know his home phone number so we can let his Dad know." Her friend rose.

"I know Ruff and Tuff do Chemistry this period," she said. "I'll go ask them myself." Then she looked up to the stern shape of Mr Throk. "If that's okay, sir?" He nodded.

"Good thinking, Miss Hofferson-though the School Secretary does have parental contact numbers in file," he pointed out. She blushed.

"Sorry, sir," she mumbled but surprisingly, he smiled.

"I presume that you will accompany Mr Haddock?" he guessed as she blushed harder. "I'll take that as a yes."

She heard him walk past to try to calm the shouting Snotlout but she tuned the yells out, concentrating in Hiccup's slack features, noting the small freckles on his cheeks, the little pale scar on the right side of his chin, the sparse stubble on his jaw and the slight curl of the ends of his messy auburn hair. Staring at him, she wondered briefly how she was so worried about a guy she had only really acknowledged for the last couple of weeks...but who she had just clicked with. Mentally, she slapped herself, that her stubbornness had deprived her of this amazing young man who had been trying to befriend her for a year. She sighed. They had been an item for less than a week and she couldn't imagine him not being there...

She moved back as the ambulance crew took over, expertly stabilising his neck and putting him on a rigid stretcher to protect him. Carefully, they moved him to the lower floor and then took him to the ambulance as Astrid sped to her locker, fetching her bag and then going to Hiccup's. Shockingly, she realised she knew his combination from standing with him and she opened the door and retrieved his coat and bag, then sprinted to rejoin the ambulance before it pulled away. With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and texted Finn then sat back as the sirens blared and they barrelled on to Berk General.

oOo

Head pounding, eyes burning and world spinning, Hiccup slowly became aware. His entire body hurt, especially his chest and as he tried to move, pressure increased on his hand which he realised was being held. Immediately, someone leaned over him, a hand considerately shielding his painful eyes.

"Son. You're awake."

His father's voice was relieved and sounded thick thick with emotion. Hiccup blinked, recognising the huge shape leaning over him and he swallowed.

"Dad?" His voice sounded weak and very rough but the shape visibly sagged in relief.

"Thank Odin," Stoick murmured, his hand continuing the shield Hiccup's eyes. "I'll admit I was very worried there..." Hiccup frowned.

"What happened?" he asked gruffly, his throat sore.

"You fell down the stairs on the way to Geography and hit your head twice as you fell," Astrid said, squeezing his hand. Something fluttered in his chest that she was there as well, that she cared enough to be here. His brow furrowed.

"I-I don't remember..." he murmured as a few fractured images reared in front of his eyes. Flying backwards, his hand flailing...the impact on his head that greyed the world...something landing on him...blackness...

"You've been out for a while," Stoick continued. "Astrid made sure I was called and came here with you. The doctors were worried but assured me your scans didn't show any bleeding or fractures." Hiccup moved his white lips into a small smile.

"I'm a Haddock," he murmured. "I have a very hard head."

"But you're not indestructible," Stoick said gruffly and as Hiccup's eyes focussed a bit more, he saw his father looking very upset. He moved the hand Astrid wasn't holding to grip his father's huge paw.

"Dad-it's okay," he managed. "I'll just need some rest and maybe some aspirin for this headache..." Stoick sighed.

"They're going to keep you in for a few days to check that everything is okay," he revealed as Hiccup started.

"What?" he murmured.

"They have some tests they need to run-and I would be much happier if they checked you out," Stoick admitted. Hiccup looked over to the blonde shape of Astrid, her blue eyes inspecting him intently.

"But school..." he protested, his world suddenly wrenched sideways. How would he cope with not seeing Astrid when he had just won her friendship? Would she wait or would she abandon him like his former friends? She squeezed his hand.

"Don't worry," she reassured him. "I'll collect your lessons and make notes when I can. I won't let your grades suffer." She swiped her bangs off her forehead. "Besides, it gives me plenty of reasons to visit you..." He turned his head to look at her.

"And you need a reason?" he asked anxiously but she grinned.

"Hiccup-you're my boyfriend," she reminded him. "That's all the reason I need..." And then she looked over at Stoick. "But sometimes parents want to know why you're staying so long..." Hiccup felt his cheeks heat.

"Not awkward at all," he groaned as Stoick chuckled.

"Ah...I see the old Haddock way with women is still working," he commented as Astrid rose. Her cheeks were burning as well.

"And I'll just go and pop in to visit Mom," she announced. "She's over on Ward Nine." Seeing Hiccup's stricken gaze, she squeezed his hand again. "Don't worry-I'll be back soon. But I can see you and your Dad need some time together." Then she lunged forward and pecked a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you later, Babe." And then she left rapidly as Hiccup sighed.

"DAD!" he mumbled as his father sat back, still holding his hand.

"Son-I am immensely proud of you and I know you are sensible and careful young man, but just in case..." Stoick began as Hiccup sat up abruptly, blinking as the room spun worse. He paled but clenched his fists.

"No, Dad. Just...no," he said firmly. "I am NOT getting the Talk two minutes after waking up! Astrid and I have been boyfriend and girlfriend since Saturday! We have just kissed a couple of times. And I had the Talk very embarrassingly from you and Gobber when I went through puberty. No wonder it took me so long to finally get a growth spurt after that near terminally embarrassing experience!" And then he slumped down in the bed as Stoick patted his hand absently.

"Message received and understood," he said gruffly. "So instead, tell me how you and Astrid got together..."

oOo

Spending time with her Mom was therapeutic because Astrid had been shocked to the core by seeing Hiccup lying so pale and limp. And all the way through, she had been wracked by guilt that she had ignored him for so long when he had been trying to be her friend. And Ingrid had been reassuring that Hiccup was awake and talking sensibly.

"Concussion is a dangerous thing," she had told her daughter.

"Yeah-I remember from that volleyball game in the last year of Middle School," Astrid grumbled. "I still don't remember anything about that day, even now." Ingrid chuckled.

"Your Dad vaulted the barrier and was at your side before the coach," Ingrid recalled, a small smile on his lips. "He made sure you were well cared for."

"Just as I did for Hiccup," her daughter murmured.

"You are so like your father," Ingrid sighed as she inspected her daughter. Fierce, brave and determined, her daughter had inherited so much from her dead husband and Ingrid was grateful she had the girl. "Finn was at his side in a moment as well..." Astrid smiled.

"He's been awesome, Mom," she added and Ingrid smiled.

"He's visited me as well," she revealed. "We have talked things out-and I am glad we've cleared the air. He's going to be part of our lives once more-and it means you can go out and spend more time with your boyfriend once I'm home without worrying about me..." Dipping her head, Astrid smiled.

"Um...and aren't you worried about that?" she asked as Ingrid laughed.

"You're a sensible young women, Astrid," she told her daughter. "I have faith you won't do anything stupid." Then she frowned. "But please tell me...just how did you decide to give him a chance? You were angry at him for a long time..." Astrid sighed.

"You," she said. "Your words. When we talked before the dance, you made me think again. And as I watched the jocks and Atali's bitches behave, I saw just how fake and shallow and spiteful they were-and he was there, with his outcast friends and he was just...perfect..." Ingrid smiled. "And I told you about the dumpster thing, didn't I?" she checked and Ingrid nodded. "I apologised to him because I never thought they would trap him in-and he was so decent about it-while none of the others would be. It showed me what kind of person he truly was. And I had never thought they would try to kill him!" Ingrid blinked.

"Kill him?" she murmured. Astrid nodded, her eyes shadowed.

"They locked him in a dumpster in subzero temperatures," she explained. "Locked, not put. So he couldn't get out and his phone was dying so he couldn't call anyone. He managed half a call and his friends found him just in time. But the jocks didn't care. They didn't come back. They didn't tell anyone. And when they beat him up in the bathroom, they said 'You're no one and nothing. A one-legged reject who lost all his worth when he lost his leg.' That's seriously messed up. But he wasn't...isn't." And she fished in her bag to retrieve the card, still in its handmade envelope, handing it over to her mother. Ingrid's blue eyes flicked over the messy words:

I have admired you for a long time for your bravery and strength and the amazing person you are. I really hope you would consider being my friend and maybe my Valentine. HHH

"This is hand painted," she murmured. "Beautifully done and very skilful. Whoever did this was really talented..."

"Hiccup made it," Astrid told him.

"It would have been so much easier to buy a card," Ingrid realised.

"The other jocks did-and I binned then," Astrid told her. bluntly. "They were all for show. Not a genuine sentiment among the lot of them. But Hiccup...he made his card and the words were so sincere..." Ingrid smiled.

"You know your Dad took me for a Valentine's meal at the Pillager Burger Bar when we were seniors and got them to present me with a cake iced with the words 'Will you be my Valentine forever?' He had iced them himself so they actually read 'Will you bo my Vomiting foreigner?'" Astrid burst out laughing. "Yeah-your Dad lacked piping skills but he was a sap. And I loved him for it. If you have someone who will go that extra mile to make you smile or laugh, who wants your happiness over show or scoring points, keep him." Astrid blinked.

"I intend to," she admitted, smiling. "He's in on Ward Three with his concussion. I may head back now, if that's okay?" Her Mom nodded.

"I may wander over to see him later or tomorrow as well," she said. "Though they may let me out tomorrow or the next day."

"Thank Thor," Astrid sighed, rising. "Can I get you anything. Mom?"

"Just tidy up the house and be happy," Ingrid smiled, reaching for the book Astrid had brought her the previous day after the set visit. "Now go see your boyfriend."

Kissing Ingrid, Astrid waved and sped through the door, heading back towards the ward. As she rounded the last corner, she noted a stocky, powerful-looking man with black hair and pallid blue eyes, asking at the desk-and as she walked onto the ward, the man headed in a bee-line for Hiccup's room. Alarmed, Astrid ran after him as he flung the door open and burst into the room, glaring at the supine shape of Hiccup in the bed and the shocked shape of Stoick.

"YOU!" the man shouted, his thick Berkian accent obvious. "I hope you're satisfied, boy! You've crippled my son!"