Chapter 14: Flashback

It had been eight days since the tornado massacre that devastated the town of Berk. Things were finally getting back to normal, or as normal as they could get. Many buildings had been destroyed and almost 80 people died. 12 of them high school students and five of them were going to be graduating that day. Stoick had the great idea to have Hiccup make a video for the deceased students when they did the graduation at the Town Hall the next week.

Besides the deaths and destruction of most of the town, things were going surprisingly well. The rebuilding of the school was going to start within the month and would hopefully be complete by September, meaning Stoick would keep his job as Vice Principal. Valka and Eric had left their jobs as storm chasers since half their team was gone. Valka was going to stay at home with her family until she could find a new job in town. Eric was moving back home with his parents, since he was renting an apartment in the off-season, up north. He told Valka he would keep in touch with her while he was searching for a job.

The teens were doing well, too. The twins were having their house re-built, and it would hopefully be built enough to be lived in by the end of the month if the weather cooperated. Fisher's house was fine except for a small hole in the roof and a few broken windows. Scott was as happy as ever. He finally had the guilt of all the years of bullying Hiccup lifted off his shoulders. His friend group was back together again

Astrid was happier. She wasn't stressing over school anymore because for one there was no school anymore, but also because exams were canceled due to the disaster and students marks were finalized with the marks from their performance tasks. She also had her friends back. Since school sports were (obviously) over she had way more free time on her hands to spend with them, and more importantly, Hiccup. In the eight days since the storm(s) he had recovered a lot. His lungs were perfectly clear with minimal damage from the drowning incident and his stump was healing nicely. Apparently within the next few weeks he would be receiving his prosthetic and re-learning to walk again. Astrid was surprised at how well he accepted the loss of his limb, but the doctors had said that it was quite common with amputees, but there is still the possibility of PTSD and anxiety, which was a little unsettling but so far he was doing okay.

Today was a big day for Astrid and the Haddock family because Hiccup was finally being released from the hospital and sent home. And no one was more excited than Hiccup himself. He hated being in the hospital. For eight days he would constantly be telling his family and friends that he wanted to leave. When he got the news that he could go home he could have jumped ten feet, if he could jump at all. When his parents and Tommy arrived at the hospital to pick him up he would not stop smiling. Astrid and the other teens were not with them because they were back at the Haddock house.

"Alright Harrison," Dr. Nicole Kalt said with a smile, handing Hiccup his crutches. "Take is easy for the first few days so you don't rip the stitches and be sure to come in for physio at least once, if not twice a week. You will be getting your prosthetic soon and your stump needs to be ready to support your weight."

Hiccup nodded in agreement and hastily took the crutches under his arms, and with Stoick and Nicole's help, came to a stand off the bed. This was the first time since the incident he was standing without help from others. Sure, he needed crutches but without having to cling to others. He felt independent again.

"You good?" Stoick asked, his hands ready to steady Hiccup if he were to lose his balance.

Hiccup adjusted his position, putting all his weight on his crutches for a moment before placing his foot back on the ground, watching his left pant leg dangle slightly. He smiled lightly to his father. "Yeah, I think I got it."

Stoick nodded but was ready to help at any moment. "If you need help," he started.

"Dad," Hiccup interrupted, looking up at his father. "I got this. You guys have been constantly helping me all week. I'm fine now. I can do this on my own." His response hadn't meant to be snappy, but he hated feeling weak, especially in front of his father.

"Let him be, Stoick." Valka said from beside him, placing a hand on his arm. "He's stubborn. He'll be fine." Stoick smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, causing her to giggle slightly.

"Can we leave now? Please?" Hiccup groaned, impatiently tapping one of his crutches on the floor.

The three adults in the room chuckled and Valka responded. "Yes, we can leave now."

Hiccup instantly began to make his way towards the door, Valka next to him and Stoick behind him. He stopped at the door, waiting for his mother to open it and turned back towards Nicole. "Thank you, Dr. Kalt." he said kindly, smiling.

Dr. Kalt smiled. "You are very welcome, Harrison." she gave him a small wave as they Haddock family left the room. She sighed as the door shut behind them before grabbing her clipboard and heading out of the room herself.

When the Haddocks exited on the elevator on the main floor of the hospital, Stoick and Valka had to speed walk to keep up with Hiccup. He was moving quite quickly towards the doors, considering he was on crutches for the first time. The waiting room was fairly empty now, since the storm most patients were either recovered or recovering, taking the chaos level from eight days ago down to a minimum. Hiccup barely even noticed how empty the hospital waiting room was because he was focused on getting outside of, what he calls, the 'Thor-forsaken hospital'.

He made it just outside the automatic doors and stopped a few feet from them, standing in the afternoon sun. He hadn't been outside in eight days and his room was on the north end of the hospital, receiving no direct sunlight through the windows. He was relieved to see that the sky was no longer a sickening black-green colour, but clear blue, with a few, fluffy white clouds floating slowly across. He was enjoying himself until someone attacked him from the side, causing him to jump in their grip.

"Gotcha!" said Tommy, chuckling at his brother's face when he tackled him. "Man, you should've seen your face." he said, pulling away and placing his arms over his chest.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously?" he asked, turning on his crutches to face his brother. "Way to ruin a moment."

Now Tommy was rolling his eyes. "Why do you have to make a production out of everything?" he joked.

"Hey! I've been stuck in a stuffy hospital room for eight days! Let me enjoy this!" he protested.

Stoick and Valka walked up besides them. "Well?" Stoick asked, looking down at his son's. "Are we going?"

"Yes!" Tommy and Hiccup replied at the same time, causing their parents to chuckle.

Stoick, Valka and Tommy made their way down the slim front steps of the hospital, leaving Hiccup at the top. He was about to descend the steps but decided against it, not wanting to fall (because knowing his clumsiness, he would). He looked for the ramp but found it was currently blocked off by an extremely large tree that was still being removed by a small construction crew. The only other ramp was at the emergency entrance on the other end of the building.

"Uh, a little help?" he asked, causing the three Haddocks to turn back towards him.

Stoick was about to ascend the steps to help when Tommy beat him to it, running up the steps. Tommy then turned his back to his brother and leaned down in front of him. Hiccup gave him a questioning look from behind him before Tommy told him to 'climb on'. Hiccup smiled and dropped the crutches before, carefully hopping off his right leg and onto his brother's back.

Tommy grabbed Hiccup's legs and Hiccup held tommy's shoulders before they, quickly, descended the steps, Valka pulling out her phone to record from the bottom of the stairs. the two brothers laughed.

Hiccup then reached an arm out in front of him, hand balled into a fist and yelled "Onwards Aoshima!"

Stoick chuckled and climbed back up the stairs to grab the crutches before joining Valka at the bottom, placing his free hand around Valka's shoulders as she filmed the boys running across the sidewalk to the parking garage, Tommy nearly tripping and falling face first on the concrete, causing Hiccup to yell out "Shit!" as he nearly lost his grip and fell off.

"Language!" Valka called out, Stoick trying not to laugh before they both headed towards the boys.

...

The car ride was fairly quiet except for the radio, which was playing music quietly as they drove. Hiccup was staring out the window with much interest, looking at the scenery. They took a more direct route home, instead of driving by the school now that the roads were open. Everything was looking just as it was six days ago, for most of the drive, until they past a small neighborhood that had been destroyed. The road was clear but the homes were demolished. Some had their upper levels collapsed or the entire house was gone. There were construction workers clearing the remaining debris, somewhere repairing damaged roofs on homes while others repaired damaged foundation so a new house could be built.

One house had partially collapsed on one side and had a huge hole in the front upper level. Hiccup stared at it questioningly until he saw the mangled remains of a car in front of the house, being loaded into a truck to be taken away. A boy and a girl, presumably his sister, played on the lawn together. The boy holding a steering wheel while the girl chased him, giggling happily as if all was right with the world before tripping on a piece of debris, which appeared to be a table leg, that was left on the grass.

Another house they past was taken down completely. Construction workers were removing the damaged wooden beams and moving salvageable beams to the side in a neat pile. There were two people standing on the front lawn close to the road looking at the house. it was Heather and her older brother, David. He was four years older than Hiccup and they used to hang out a little when they were younger. He left for university under an athletics scholarship two years ago, and it surprised Hiccup to see him. Heather turned her head towards the car when she heard it drive by, and when seeing Hiccup in the window she gave him a small smile and wave, which he returned.

As they kept driving the damage became minor the closer they got home. Hiccup was still looking out the window but instead of looking about he was lost in thought. Why were they the lucky ones? Why did it seem like everyone else lost something major in their lives but they didn't? Homes, gone. Possessions, memories, gone. People, gone. And yet they came out basically unscathed. They were all still alive, their house was still there, the only thing missing was a limb.

Hiccup felt an overwhelming sensation of guilt wash over him. Losing a leg was nothing compared to losing a home, a family member. He was watching the news and found out that just over 80 people had died. And that 12 of them had been high school students. The people he went to school with. They had their whole lives ahead of them, some of them about to graduate and start a new chapter in their lives, and now they were dead. He had nothing planned yet. No true career path or anything special for his life. So why was he so lucky when they weren't?

His thoughts were cut off when their car parked in their driveway. He looked at his house to see only a few shingles missing overall. There were a few pieces of debris in the yard. Stoick, Valka and Tommy all hopped out of the car, Hiccup opened his door slowly and waited for Stoick to get his crutches from the trunk. He swung his legs around so they were dangling out the door as he waited for his crutches. Looking out at his neighborhood he saw that most of the houses were in the same condition as his, except for a few that had tarps over their roofs to prevent leaking through holes made by debris and windows blocked off where they, too, had been hit with debris.

Stoick handed him his crutches and he slowly stood up and adjusted the crutches under his arms. He then made his way up to the house. Tommy was beside him, trying not to grin (and failing) while their parents were behind them, smiling hand in hand. When they reached the door, Tommy simply turned the handle and pushed the door open an inch. Hiccup raised an eyebrow. Had his parents not locked the door? He then turned to Tommy who was just standing next to him, smiling.

"Lady's first." he said, gesturing to the door.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and gave Tommy a light shove. "Whatever." he muttered, smiling.

He pushed the door open before carefully placing his crutches on the step into the house and pulled himself in. He wasn't even two steps into the dark house when the lights were suddenly turned on and he was suddenly standing in front of a large group of people, all smiling at him.

"Welcome home!" they all said in sync. In front of his was Astrid, her uncle Finn, Scott, Steven (his uncle), Seline (his aunt), Trey, Renée and Fisher. They were all standing together underneath a homemade banner that read 'Welcome Home Hiccup!' in large, green letters.

He was frozen in place, in shock almost. He hadn't had true friends or people who cared about him (besides Stoick, Valka and Tommy that is) before. This was all new to him. It had been years since he had a birthday party with friends, and not because he only had an actual birthday every four years. Everyone was smiling and clapping, happy to see him. If there weren't people around him, he might have started crying.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Stoick placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him. At the sudden contact, Hiccup jumped slightly before looking up at his father. "W-what is all... this?" he asked, looking at everyone in front of him.

"It's a little welcome home surprise." Stoick said, smiling.

Hiccup took a breath. "I-I get that but... but why?" he asked.

Stoick's smile dropped slightly. "Do you... do you not like it?"

Hiccup shook his head quickly. "No, I-I do, but, why?" He looked around, trying to find an answer. "I mean, this is... nice. But why? Why for me? I-I didn't do anything..."

Valka walked over and placed a hand on Hiccup's other shoulder. "We thought that after everything we went through, that you went through, we could use something to lift our spirits." she said with a kind smile, which Hiccup returned.

"Well then, uh... thanks. I guess..." he said shyly, blushing slightly causing everyone to chuckle.

...

Their small welcome home party had turned into a party in general. Everyone was chatting and having snacks and enjoying the company, except for Hiccup. He was never actually a fan of parties in the first place, so he sat in the living room, lost in thought. Over the past week, he had been experiencing minor flashbacks to the events of the storm. Small things like things people said or things he saw would draw him into a flashback. They were easy to escape from and they didn't last long, but the dreams did. He would have trouble sleeping at night, and when he did sleep, he was pulled into flashbacks. Most of them were him being trapped in the hole with the water flowing in and his leg stinging painfully. Sometimes he couldn't escape the dreams, and if he did he would have a light phantom itch in his left leg. Or, where it should be. The doctors said that was normal with amputees, but that wasn't what worried him. He could take a little bit of pain.

He was worried he was getting PTSD. Posttraumatic stress disorder. He didn't want PTSD, no one would. But with the missing leg and relationships with friends and family on the mend, he already had a lot on his mind already. He didn't want to go into flashbacks when someone said something about a storm or water or even the word 'trapped'. He didn't want to start having anxiety attacks (which according to the doctors were possible with PTSD). And he was worried about what might happen next time there was a thunderstorm. He grew up with thunderstorms happening frequently in Berk in the warmer months. He was even used to the occasional, yet usually minor, tornado in town. He'd grown up with it in his life. But he had never, ever had an experience like this one. He was worried a thunderstorm might send him into another flashback, but maybe even worse than the small ones he was having now. He was worried he'd get anxiety when he heard a small rumble or saw a flash.

He didn't want it. Any of it. he didn't want the flashbacks, he didn't want to worry, he didn't want anxiety, he didn't want to have dreams or nightmares, he didn't want to deal with phantom pains, and he didn't want PTSD. He wanted to be normal again. He wanted his old life. His older life. Where he had friends that actually wanted him around, no stress over exams and school, his mother wasn't gone all the time and his father listened to him more. He wanted that back.

"Hey," a voice said, drawing him out of his thoughts and causing him to jump. He looked up to see Astrid smiling lightly down at him.

"Oh, uh, hey Astrid." he said slowly, looking back down at his hands.

Astrid sat down next to Hiccup and took a breath, looking out in front of her at the people chatting and laughing. She then turned her head to look at him. "So," she began quietly. "What's up?"

Hiccup stayed silent, looking at his hands still before realizing she was talking to him. "Huh?" he began. "S-sorry. Just... thinking." he said quietly.

She nodded and sat back against the couch, crossing her arms. They sat in silence before she spoke up. "About what?" she asked.

Hiccup let out a breath and leaned back as well, resting his hands in his lap. "Everything." he said, looking over at her. Her hair was wavy and pulled back into a ponytail high on her head. Her piercing blue eyes stared into his as if she was searching them for his thoughts.

"Why are you over here all by yourself?" she asked.

He looked away, at the groups of people chatting in the kitchen in front of him. "I don't really liked parties." he said, looking back at her, shrugging. "Never really have."

Astrid nodded, slouching in her seat and relaxing. "I don't either." she said, surprising him. "People are either too noisy or too drunk. It's irritating."

He took a breath,thinking about what she had said. "Oh."

She smiled, looking at him with a questioning eyebrow raised. "Oh?" she asked, teasingly.

"Well, I always assumed that, well s-since you were, I-I don't know, decently popular I guess, that you likedparties." he said, stuttering as he felt pressured to answer.

"Oh, no." she said. "I usually hate them. Small parties like this are fine though." She looked to him before gesturing to him with her chin. "So, what about you?" He looked at her before she continued. "Why don't you like parties?"

Hiccup leaned back, looking up at the ceiling if it had suddenly become interesting. "I don't know." he said honestly, shrugging. "I just... never really fit in at parties, I guess."

Astrid nodded, leaning back as well. They stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering what the other was thinking. Astrid's eyes occasionally drifted over to Hiccup. He was deep in thought. his eyes focused on the ceiling and his breathing deep, his lips pulled into a straight line. She become bored quickly and began counting his freckles, losing track countless times. She didn't like the silence. And she could tell he was thinking about something serious. She just wished he would talk to her about whatever it was. She had sunken lower on the couch, sinking into the soft cushions more and more until she was looking up at him. She needed to talk to him about whatever was bugging him.

"Hiccup." she said, trying to gain his attention. When that didn't work, she kept trying. "Hey. Hey, Hiccup. Down here. Hello?" she asked repeatedly in a joking tone, light smile on her face.

Her smile dropped when she heard his breath hitch. She looked at him, her sapphire eyes slowly filling with concern. "Hiccup?" She sat up trying to get a better look at him.

His eyes were glazed over and unfocused, his face frozen in a shocked, wide eyed expression. His breathing was uneven and shaking with every breath he took. Then he slowly started shaking. And it was scaring her.

"Hiccup?" she asked, louder. Her voice filled with fear and concern.

He couldn't hear her. He wasn't really there.

Clang, creak. 'Hey! Hey we're down here! Hello!?'

He was having a flashback.