Huge thanks to the wonderful residentmotherhen for proofreading!

Desktop version highly advised!

CHAPTER 1

Misattributed

"You'll do just fine, honey."

Startled, Astrid Hofferson looks up from her notes, briefly catching sight of the person standing next to her. Her mother Ingrid looms over her and pushes the stack of crinkled papers away. They drag through a splatter of spilled milk causing the neat bullet points, meticulously written out with colorful markers, to smear in a few places. Astrid yanks the notes back towards her with a frown, shoving a spoonful of bland oatmeal into her mouth.

"I need to pass this," she answers curtly with her mouth full, her focus on the sheets of paper and nothing else. The sad truth is, is that no matter how long she stares at those notes, reading them over and over again, she still doesn't fully understand them. The equations and different formulas are all mixing and jumbling together in her brain, not making it any easier for her. The preparations for the exam devoured all of her free time, leaving her hunched over the book for hours after hours each day, and even so she had woken up early today, the day, to try and cram any more information possible into her already-swirling mind. She tries to convince herself that it will be worth in the end – that all the hard work will pay off. It has to.

Astrid doesn't fail. Simple as that.

"You will." Ingrid squeezes her daughter's upper arm reassuringly, trying to take Astrid's mind off of the upcoming exam. The girl grumbles something unintelligible under her breath, forcing herself to take another spoonful of food. The older blonde sighs with a shake of her head, though a gentle smile lingers on her lips at her beloved daughter.

"Good mornin'!" Sven Hofferson exclaims cheerfully as he walks into the spatial living room. He pecks his wife on the cheek, and then moves to ruffle his daughter's hair. Ignoring Astrid's protests as she immediately starts to fix her usual braid, he laughs quietly to himself and moves to the kitchen.

"What would my angel like for breakfast?" he calls out to Ingrid. The notes instantly forgotten, Astrid turns her full attention to her parents. She loves watching the two of them. She is by no means a romantic, but there is just something striking and absolutely heart-warming about their every-day interactions. There is this easiness and obvious love for each other, one that many couples can only wish of.

Astrid's nimble fingers move on their own as they weave in a small braid by her left ear before combining it with the rest of her usual hairdo. Sharp, blue eyes follow her mother as she heads to join her husband in the other room. Astrid can't help it when her gaze comes to rest on the beautiful set of wings upon her mother's back; it usually wanders there sooner or later. Pearly-white feathers shine in the warm rays of sunshine filtering into the room through the numerous windows. The wings bounce, open and fold up as her mother speaks. Astrid follows their movements with a careful, almost awed gaze. Ingrid shifts a little and her left wing hits the cupboard behind her, the expensive china dishes that no one ever uses shifting dangerously close to the edge. Astrid is about to jump up to try and rescue it when Ingrid notices it as well.

"Oh," she backs away slightly and places the china further away from the edge of the shelf. Her eyes meet Astrid's briefly and she shoots her an apologetic smile, a nervous chuckle escaping her as she does so. "I sometimes forget they're even there. And then this happens."

Astrid leans back into her chair, her shoulders less tense as the danger passes. She musters a somewhat-strained smile that fades the moment Ingrid turns away. Astrid cannot fathom the idea that her mother forgets about the wings. At all. It must be her mother's modesty; otherwise it simply doesn't make sense. They are the gift of the gods themselves, they brought her parents together – it's not something you simply forget about. Her mother, by protecting Astrid's future father from that huge avalanche years ago, was given the privilege of knowing who her soulmate was, and, as opposed to most people, she can be absolutely sure about it. Astrid is well aware of how much importance the wings hold. She is sure her mother does as well.

Back in middle school, right at the beginning of the year, her teacher had set an assignment. The students were asked to choose and present a person they admired the most, their role model. Eleven-year old Astrid hadn't thought twice before enthusiastically printing her mother's name on the top of the page. Words couldn't do justice to the respect and admiration she had, and has, for Ingrid Hofferson. She is her hero, the epitome of what she aspires to be when she grows up – then and now.

Ingrid Hofferson doesn't have an imposing posture. Despite her lithe frame and small height, smaller even than her daughter's, the confidence and determination radiating from the energetic woman is impossible to miss. Astrid knows that if she ever has the honor of knowing who her soulmate is, gods bless her, she will be the one with the wings. Just like her mother, she is no damsel in distress, and she does not need a hero to save her, or the day. She is independent and strong-willed, and no one will be able to take that away from her. The unfortunate stereotype of the guy saving the girl is ridiculous – Astrid swears it will never be her.

Ever.

She can see herself rescuing her soulmate from a raging fire, or perhaps a sudden car crash. Fearless and determined, she would do whatever it took to protect him. And he would look back at her with his bright emerald eyes, shining with admiration for her. His hair would still be windswept after she had hurriedly rescued him, and she would-

Astrid shakes her head abruptly, face heating up as she catches herself daydreaming and shoves the rest of her breakfast into her mouth. She skims through the notes once again, although her mind is involuntary miles away. Her phone buzzes impatiently in her pocket, but she ignores it. She doesn't have much time until she has to leave and whomever texted her can surely wait. Ten minutes later the blonde quickly tugs on her dark leather jacket and boots, pausing to give her Golden Retriever a quick belly rub, her own stomach tight with nerves. She has never failed an assignment or an exam before, and she hopes desperately that today's test will be no different.

Somehow she knows this day is not going to be a good one.

The bus ride passes in a blur as she unsuccessfully tries to relax. The ride is too loud and the people are too obnoxious, leaving her staring blankly out of the dirty window and wishing she were anywhere else instead. Her friends greet her once she finally reaches school but she responds absently, barely sparing them even a glance. Trudging through the masses of students, she arrives at her locker and pulls out her books almost mechanically. She grips her physics notes as if her life depended on it; and in her mind? They might as well. Her feet move on their own as she heads for the classroom.

"Astrid!" She stops abruptly, all the equations and rules she had been desperately repeating jumbling into one big mess. She nearly slams into a girl two years her junior that she recognizes from volleyball practice and her cheeks redden in embarrassment. The girl scurries away without a word and Astrid turns around, scowl on her face and ready to give the person a piece of her mind for shouting out her name like that.

The words die on her lips.

It's Hiccup. Of course it's him. She should have recognized his voice. The lanky seventeen-year old is too busy muttering apologies as he tries to get to her to notice her less than happy face. Hiccup, graceful as always, tries desperately to maneuver through the crowd of people and it ends up looking like an awkward dance of sorts. Astrid feels some of her anger disappearing, her eyebrows slowly lowering and softening as she observes his struggle. He's determined, she'll give him that.

"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaims as he finally reaches her, clearly proud of himself. She raises her eyebrow at him, hip cocked to the side and lips pursed, causing Hiccup's cheeks to turn unnaturally red. Astrid unintentionally notes how his freckles stand out more this way, adding some boyish, almost child-like, charm to his features. It's… captivating, in a way. "Hi Astrid, hey–"

"Hiccup." She cuts him off immediately because she knows that, if she lets him ramble like that, he will never get to the point. "What do you want?"

She realizes almost as the words leave her mouth that it came out rude and, even though she isn't usually one to care about being tactful, the way Hiccup's smile falls is enough to make her reconsider her approach.

"I have a test in a few minutes," she adds quickly, trying to somehow justify her previous harshness. His face softens a little and he reaches to the back of his neck, his other hand ready to start flying in the air as it always does.

"Right! Right… Sorry!" Just as predicted, his hand starts making animate, wild gestures as he speaks. His other hand joins in soon enough. "I-I just wanted to ask if you're still up for today? You didn't answer my text, the-the one I sent this morning, and… yeah, just… just wanted to make sure."

"Of course." She smiles at his awkwardness, fixing the bag on her shoulder. Some part of her feels guilty for purposely ignoring his message, and she can't quite understand why. It's not like they have been friends for that long; they aren't that close. Something tugs at her heart and she sighs.

It's cruel how easily people are misjudged. Hiccup had always been there, in the same middle school, the same high school, but they had never talked. To say she hadn't noticed him would be a straight-out lie. Because she had– just not in a favorable light. He was always late for classes, he never did his homework and, gods, don't even get her started on his sarcastic comments during class. He seemed to just… not care, and Astrid couldn't understand that (still can't, not really). She has always striven to be the best; and then there was Hiccup Haddock with his endless, sarcastic quips that no one asked for in the first place.

At the beginning of last year, Gobber the Belch, a counselors at their high school, had created a club that touched upon Berk's Viking heritage and the mysterious legends that surround the small town. Astrid didn't think much of it at first, but one experimental visit has been enough to suck her in. Fate would have it that Hiccup join the club as well. She had begun to get to know him better despite her initial misgivings, and found a shy, awkward boy that quite successfully hid behind the sarcasm. Astrid admits that he can be considered… cute, even, with his wide, intelligent eyes and crooked smile. They are friends now, sort of, and she's glad. He's a fun person to have around for sure.

(Ruffnut, Astrid and Hiccup's friend from the club, made the mistake to call it a crush once. A textbook that magically appeared out of nowhere and 'attacked' her stopped her teasing… for a whole five minutes.)

As a member of the Hairy Hooligans (it was that or the "Awesome Viking Club," thank the Thorston twins for that), Astrid has taken upon herself to help with creating weekly posters that will encourage other students to join in. No one else had bothered with even posting a schedule, and she was certain that if more students actually knew about it, they would find it as interesting as she has. Surprisingly enough, Hiccup has offered his help and, as her week was busy enough as it is, she agreed, letting out a silent sigh of relief. She enjoys working with him, probably more than she cares to admit.

"Meet me by the gym at three. Oh, and it would be great if you brought a computer. If not, we can use the one in the library." Astrid sends him her best winning smile, secretly enjoying the way Hiccup's face turns even redder.

"Right, sure." He nods vigorously, his messy hair bobbing up and down as well. A traitorous part of her wants to reach and ruffle it playfully– it looks so soft! But that would be weird. She doesn't need him to think she's weird. "I'll bring my laptop." The bell announcing the last five minutes of the break causes him to jump in surprise. He smiles sheepishly.

"I-I need to go. Good, uh, good luck. Not that you need it, but-"

"Thanks, Hiccup." She punches him on the shoulder lightly and smiles at his awkwardness. "See you at three, then."

She turns towards her classroom, shaking her head at the absolute goofball that is Hiccup Haddock. She can't help the smile that lingers on her lips. It's almost silly how one short conversation can brighten her mood as much as it did.

But the project and Hiccup will have to wait, as much as her mind would prefer to focus on them. Astrid reaches her classroom with a heavy sigh, knowing that the danger of failing for the first time in her life is looming precariously over her head. The second bell rings and she straightens her back.

"It's now or never," she mutters under her breath and enters the classroom. Ruffnut Thorston is sitting at the end, as usual, a pen shoved between her teeth as she chews on it in boredom. Astrid takes the empty spot beside her, throwing the other girl a quick glance. Ruffnut smirks at her, wiggling her thin eyebrows, and Astrid is pretty sure that the female twin had seen her and Hiccup in the corridor. Resisting the urge to punch that smirk off her face, Astrid takes out her notes to look through them one last, desperate time. Her eyes flick from one equation to another in a rush, numbers and symbols mixing together. If she had only gotten ten more minutes–

"Miss Hofferson!" Her head snaps upwards at the teacher's stern tone. "Please put everything that is not a pen back into your bag."

With a frown on her face, she does as she is asked, intuitively knowing that this was not going to go well.

Thor, just let her pass.

It's already well past three when she finally spots Hiccup rushing towards her, a black laptop case slung over his shoulder. His cheeks are bright red from all the running and, probably, embarrassment. Astrid pulls herself away from one of the walls of their school's gym with a roll of her eyes. She shoves a book into her bag, glad that she thought of bringing it with her because gods bless the day when Hiccup actually comes on time. She's not even angry at him – it's just who he is, and she's come to accept that… kind of.

It's oddly satisfying to see him flustered like this.

"I'm –uh," Hiccups stops himself to catch a breath. He leans over heavily with his hands on his thighs, holding up a finger. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, everyone – the most unathletic guy Astrid had ever known. She bites her lip to stop the laugh that threatens to escape. He finally straightens himself, his face even more flushed than before. "I'm sorry."

"You know, I kind of expected this to happen." She tries to sound angry, or at least irritated, but her mouth quirks upwards without her consent seeing him in this state. She folds her arms across her chest and looks away instead – he shouldn't be let off the hook right off the bat, after all.

"I-" He straightens himself and takes a deep breath before continuing. "Fishlegs called me. He, uh, had some problems with the data, you know, for our science project. Did I tell you about it? I think I did…" He pauses for a second. Astrid observes him from the side, quirking her head in amusement. "Anyway, some of the calculations seem to be wrong, but it doesn't look like anything major – just a calibration issue. We will have to reposition the- wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Because you're a huge dork?" Astrid proposes with a short laugh. Before Hiccup has a chance to retort, the blonde pulls him forward by the sleeve of his green shirt. "Come on, the poster won't make itself."

"Right," he nods quickly, fixing the strap of the black laptop case that had begun to slide off his arm. "But I'm not a dork."

"Mhmm." Astrid hums with a subtle roll of her eyes, letting go of the sleeve. She contemplates for a split second before colliding her fist with his shoulder. Hiccup stumbles awkwardly and his hand flies to cover the "wound."

"What was that for? You already punched me today." He grimaces as he rubs his arm.

"That's for being late. Again," she states with a smug smile. "And I didn't 'punch' you. It was a nudge at most." Big baby, she adds in her mind, mentally rolling her eyes at his "hurt" expression.

"Wha-? What's with all the violence?" Hiccup narrows his eyes at her with a small smile playing at his lips. Astrid snorts and crosses her arms over her chest.

"It's not violence. It's communication." She shrugs, adding speed to her pace. Her smile widens as she hears him laugh. Reaching the huge red-brick building that was Berk's only functioning library, she pushes the heavy wooden doors open and lets herself in. The old librarian greets her with the usual grimace and suspicious squint, as if she were going to destroy all the old books at any second. She ignores him. Mildew was known for such behavior and she is not moved by it anymore. Even the black, almost bare wings on his back don't attract her attention any longer. No one knows exactly what happened; rumors say something about rejection – but she doesn't care. Mildew is a sad, bitter man that probably brought it upon himself. The doors open once again, and the old man's hateful gaze is redirected to the person who just entered.

"Astrid?" Hiccup calls as he looks around the hall. "Where ar-"

"Shhhhhhhhhh." The old librarian presses a bony finger to his thin lips and glares at the lanky boy. Astrid holds a hand to her mouth in order to prevent laughing at Hiccup's startled and very confused expression. His eyes wander around and he calms noticeably once he spots the blonde. The librarian observes the boy warily as he quickly walks over to rejoin Astrid. Hiccup's eyebrows lower as he looks at him, somehow sadder, softer, and Astrid doesn't really understand why. The old man moves his scruffy jaw a little before speaking up in a rough voice. "No talkin' in the library."

Hiccup's green eyes widen without leaving the old man and he straightens himself.

"Right. I'm so-"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh!" The librarian snaps again. Hiccup opens his mouth, but Astrid tugs him further into the depths of the musty library, not allowing him to anger the old man any more. She breezes through the rows of wooden bookshelves and finds her favorite spot. It's so far away from the entrance that no one will bother them, especially the old grump. Astrid falls into a chair with a thud, letting her bag slide to rest by her legs. Hiccup settles on the other side of a small, shabby table, letting out a somewhat-strained sigh.

"Gods, I thought he was going to kill me right then and there."

"He almost did, " Astrid responds with humor. Hiccup glares at her playfully in response and reaches to unpack his laptop.

"Well, you know me." He opens the computer so that she can't see him properly but she just knows he has that smug grin stupidly plastered across his face. "I love living on the edge."

He pushes the laptop between them so that they both have easy access to it, and Astrid rummages through her bag and pulls out some papers she prepared for the poster, throwing them onto the table. Looking up, she notices Hiccup staring at something behind her, a small frown on his face.

"What?" she asks as she turns around. Another one of those overly-colorful and glitter-doused prom posters is stuck crudely on the wall, almost completely covering the information about the genre of the books on the shelves nearby.

"The old man is gonna flip when he sees that."

"They're everywhere," she responds with a scowl.

"It's stupid," Hiccup says simply as he types in some information into his computer.

"Everyone is going anyway. No need to shove it into our faces." Her notes are completely unorganized and she starts to fish for those that will be needed.

"Not everyone."

"You're… not going?" She looks up from her notes. For some reason this new piece of information doesn't sit well with her. "Why?"

"Let me see – over-excited teenagers, most of whom I don't know, falsely happy teachers who wished they were anywhere but there, cliché, overplayed songs, and absolutely everything drowning in glitter." He pauses and nods at her. "Yeah, I think I'll pass."

He does have a point, Astrid admits with some reluctance.

"Well, I don't really have a choice," she sighs, focusing on her notes once again. "I'm the school's president – I have to go."

He only hums in response, although Astrid can clearly see he wants to say something. Hiccup is never one to obey the rules, or fill the quota, and she can only imagine he's eager to disagree with her statement. They are both silent, working on their own parts of the small project, and each stealing a glance at the other when they think the other isn't looking. They don't last long before a conversation breaks out and Astrid is glad. She always appreciated this easiness with which the two of them usually interact, at least outside of school.

That, and Hiccup can't keep his mouth shut for more than a few minutes.

Soon enough they are talking and laughing so loudly that the librarian has to come (which in itself is a feat) and throw them out, all the time muttering about disturbing his precious silence and kids these days. Astrid can't help the snort that escapes her when she sees Hiccup mimicking him behind his back. She has a feeling neither she nor Hiccup will be visiting the library any time soon.

She's still grinning like an idiot as they walk across the school's sport's field. Their shoulders bump into each other from time to time and she tries her best to ignore the warm feeling that passes through her body every time it happens. She blissfully ignores the other going-ons around them; some younger kids are playing volleyball on one side of the field and the other is occupied by the school's track team. It's loud but they can still hear each other clearly as they chat. Her eyes catch the watch on her wrist showing it's already nearly five o'clock and with a weird, tight feeling in her chest she realizes that she should be getting home.

It all happens in a blur.

"Astrid, look out!" Hiccup's nasal voice rings to her left and suddenly she is shoved against something soft and warm as she falls to the ground. Only seconds later she realizes that the soft thing was actually Hiccup, and it slowly dawns on her that they were somehow both lying on the ground, the lanky teen sprawled partly on top of her. Her cheeks flush with the realization. She's face to face with Hiccup who seems to be equally embarrassed, judging by the pink rapidly rising to his cheeks. A presumptuous "ooooooh, love on the battlefield" echoes from somewhere behind her, making her current predicament even worse. They both try their best to untangle themselves, and Astrid frowns at something blocking her view. She manages to prop herself up from behind just as Hiccup manages to clumsily stand.

Her heart stops upon what she sees.

Hiccup nearly falls backwards, new to the strange additional weight on his back. Astrid stares at them for a moment, unable to say anything. It can't be happening, it's not possible. As she silently gawks at the pearly-white set of wings resting upon Hiccup's back, the question of "how" rings in her head over and over again.

A weak "no" is the only thing that leaves her mouth.

TBC

Till next time!

~InsertACreativeNameHere