Astrid's P.O.V.

Well, that's the thing about improv. You gotta go with the flow. And right now, as I sat in the back of Snotlout's van with Toothpick and Fishlegs, I wish I'd chosen a different flow than the mall. I mean it was dead silent in here, I had no idea why Snotlout wouldn't turn on the radio. "Is someone in here allergic to music?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"You good with country?" Snotlout asks.

"That's my station," I say.

"Ours too!" Fishlegs says. After a commercial, Ol' Red started playing and the guys went crazy.

"Hiccup!" they cheered during the intro.

"Oh, no guys, come on," he said, shaking his head.

"Sing it!" Tuffnut shouted and Toothpick sighed, lowering his head before singing.

(Hiccup)

Well I caught my wife with another man,

And it cost me ninety nine.

On a prison farm in Georgia,

Close to the Florida line.

Well I'd been here for two long years, 

I finally made the warden my friend.

And so he sentenced me to a life of ease,

Taking care of Ol' Red.

Now Ol' Red he's the 

damnedest dog that I've ever seen,

Got a nose that can smell a two day trail.

He's a four legged tracking machine.

You can consider yourself mighty lucky, 

To get passed the gators and the quicksand beds.

But all these years that I've been here,

Ain't nobody got passed Red.

And the warden sang,

Come on somebody,

Why don't you run?

Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun.

Get my lantern,

Get my gun,

Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes.

Well, I paid off the guard and I slipped out a letter,

To my cousin up in Tennessee.

Oh and he brought down a blue tick hound,

*Glances at Astrid* She was pretty as she could be.

Well they penned her up in the swampland,

'Bout a mile just south of the gate.

And I'd take Ol' Red for his evening run,

I'd just drop him off and wait...

(Hiccup, Astrid)

And the warden sang,

Come on somebody, 

Why don't you run?

Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun.

Get my lantern,

Get my gun,

Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes.

Now Ol' Red got real used to seeing,

His lady every night...

And so I kept him away for three or four days,

And waited till the time got right.

Well I made my run with the evenin' sun,

And I smiled when I heard 'em turn Red out,

'Cause I was heading north to Tennessee,

And Ol' Red was headed south!

And the warden sang,

Come on somebody,

Why don't you run?

Ol' Red's itchin' to have a little fun.

Get my lantern,

Get my gun,

Red'll have you treed before the mornin' comes.

Now there's red haired blue ticks all in the South,

Love got me in here and love got me out...

Another commercial came on and Toothpick and I looked at each other. "You're a singer huh?" he asks.

"Sorry. I like that song," I say.

"Don't apologize! We've never heard him sing it with a girl! You guys are like the perfect duo," Snotlout says.

"I hope you mean for a duet, Snot," Toothpick says, his voice strangely threatening.

"Uh...yeah," Snotlout says nervously.

"Good," Toothpick said with a nod. I smirked.

"Would it be that bad to be the other half of my duo?" I ask teasingly. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh, relax, Mr. Trampoline Spring. I wouldn't depend on anyone in that way for the life of me," I say. That's when I noticed Tuffnut and Fishlegs staring at us. Even Snotlout was using the rear-view mirror.

"What?" Toothpick and I ask at the same time, making them look away.

"Welp, we're here!" Snotlout cheered and Toothpick opened the door before we climbed out. Suddenly, Snotlout took off again, the door of the van closing due to velocity.

"Well okay," Toothpick said, watching the van disappear down the street.

"Um..." I trail off before my phone goes off. I look at it to see an unknown number. Toothpick looks over my shoulder.

"That's Snotlout's number," he growls. 

"Ooh, speaker phone," I say in a sing song voice before answering the call and putting it on speaker.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" Toothpick asks.

"Yeah, here's the thing. Um, I just remembered something I have to do, and Tuffnut and Fishlegs promised to help me with it. You guys should just go and enjoy the mall," he said from his side of the line.

"Are you kidding me?!" Toothpick says.

"Uh, Snotlout, how did you get my phone number?" I ask. A pause came before a dial tone.

"Uh, I'm sorry. They pull this stuff a lot to try and help me 'get out more'," Toothpick sighs.

"Well," I chuckle, "We're here. Might as well make the best of it."

"What do you want to do?" he asked awkwardly.

"I am going to the techno store, to change my number," I say with a cheeky smile. He let out a soft chuckle before we walked inside. 

Two hours later

Toothpick and I got my number changed and decided to not stay, when we saw my group in the parking lot. So we started to walk home, and got caught in pouring rain. We were now running back to the park, laughing at the cold wetness as we took shelter in a gazebo. I laughed as he tried to pull me back out.

"Come on!" he laughed before letting go of my hand and prancing through the rain. "We can be singin' in the rain! Just singin' in the rain-!" he broke off with a fit off laughter, that I joined him in, as he slipped into a puddle.

"Get out of there! You're gonna get hypothermia!" I laughed and he joined me under the roof as I wrung my hair out. Our laughter soon died as we sat on a bench, Toothpick ruffling his hand through his hair to get the water out. "Oh, what a cliche, huh?" I sigh as I put my elbow on the railing behind me and rest my chin on my palm as I faced Toothpick. 

"Next thing, we're gonna be kissing with such passion we won't be able to stay away from each other," he adds sarcastically.

"It's the oldest one in the book," I chuckle, watching the rain as it fell. He suddenly looked at me with a strange expression.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he asks.

"Sure, what?"

"Um...in the van, I noticed you didn't sing the word 'gun'. And with what I know...I-I'm wondering if there's a reason," he says hesitantly. I paused with a sigh.

"Well ever since my dad shot himself..." I paused to take a deep breath, "It might seem stupid or irrational, but the word 'gun' usually triggers memories of that night. I mean, sometimes it doesn't when I'm relaxed, like now...but when I'm riled up, I try to avoid it."

"Were you riled up when we were singing?" he asks.

"Yup. You can thank my group for that," I grumble.

"What'd they do?" he asks.

"I don't even know. I've just had a long tiring day, and then they wanted me to go to the cafe, where I'm always the waitress, and I just didn't want to deal with their bizarre orders. And then Heather blamed it on my time of the month! It's like I can't have a bad day without blood!" I complain before freezing. "Ugh, I'm sorry!" I groan, burying my face in my arms as I crossed them over the railing, "I just made a possible friendship moment extremely awkward!"

"Eh, it's okay. We've all been there," he says, rubbing my shoulder. I sighed, lifting my head to rest my chin in my arms. He then gently pinched my chin and lifted my head before turning it to face him. "Why don't we respect the cliche," he says softly before slowly connecting our lips.