Going off the title, it's not gonna be what you think.

'Italics'- thought

I own nothing

Everything was easier with the dragons. They accepted him. Sure, his tribe and his friends accepted him. But before? That was a whole nother story. The dragons didn't have expectations for him... he was free when he was with them. Hiccup felt at home with the dragons. They were his first friends and they would definitely be his last. He would let the others have their delusions, he would let them think that he had forgiven them, hell he would even let them think he had just up and forgotten how they treated him. That wasn't to say Hiccup was vengeful ...just ...bitter.

The they in question would be Hiccup's tribe… or more specifically, his sort-of friends. Now, Hiccup uses the term friends loosely when describing Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff, and Snotlout. I mean, those people had treated Hiccup like dirt for all of his life and then BOOM. Instant friendship. Yeah... I don't think so. That's not to say that Hiccup wasn't closer with said people, he just didn't consider them friends yet.

Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff had tormented him for years. Hiccup suffered years of mental and physical abuse by three of his peers, one of which is his cousin! Hiccup definitely remembered the beatings he had received from those three. The slaps, hits, punches, the kicksandtrippingandlaughterandembarassment...he wasn't afraid to admit that he was scared to go out alone, to see those three, and sometimes Hiccup was still terrified it would happen again. He flinched when Snotlout delivered a high five instead of a slap, and when Snotlout clapped him on the back instead of shoving him to the ground. So yeah, old habits die hard.

Astrid and Fishlegs were hardly any better. Despite never actually beating him like the others. They never did anything to stop it. Fishlegs stuck his nose in a book while Astrid sat there, watching, with cold blue eyes. Eyes that said he deserved it for being so useless. Unlike Fishlegs, Astrid would oftentimes speak. She spoke as if she were talking to someone who didn't deserve to even look at her. She spoke with venom in her words and ice in her heart. And it hurt. It wasn't the type of stuff you forgot, either. This, however, was not true for the group of teenagers, who had seemingly wiped those past years from their heads.

So, Hiccup found friends in the dragons. He had Toothless before the war ended, and he had Toothless after, along with numerous other dragons who seemed to flock towards him. As it turns out, dragons are great listeners. They even have their own dragon-y language which Hiccup has convinced Toothless to teach him (it's going quite well, Hiccup can say full sentences!). The teens, however, failed to see how happy the dragons made Hiccup and would often drag him away.

"You need to be with people once in a while," Astrid would say. She would grab his wrist and pull him away, ignoring his flinch. "It's good for you!"

"Someone might think you like dragons more than us!" Snotlout would add.

"What if he would, like, turn into a dragon?" The twins would question. "I wish I could so I could fly away from this conversation," Hiccup would think. No matter how hard Hiccup protested, he always succumbed. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with them… it was just overwhelming. The dragons were patient, the teens were anything but. They pulled him along whether Hiccup liked it or not. And it was usually not. Which was how this particularly bad conversation started.

"I don't really feel like going for a walk, or adventure, or whatever, today guys," Hiccup protested.

"Maybe we'll see some cool dragons, though! Maybe they'll even blow something up for us!" Tuffnet countered as if this appealed to everyone.

"I'm perfectly happy with my dragon right here. Guys, seriously, just go without me. I don't want to go," Hiccup sighed. Maybe he'll get off this one time.

"Really Hiccup? You would rather spend time with your pet dragon than with us?" jeered Snotlout. "We might start to think that you like him better than us!"

"One, Toothless isn't my pet, he is my friend. Two, right now, I would rather spend time with him," Hiccup said, trying to choose his words carefully.

"Come on, Hiccup, don't be silly," Astrid started. "We're your friends, not some dragon."

"YOU'RE my friends?! If you remember correctly, Toothless was my first friend, not a bunch of bullies. You guys were cruel and vicious to me, more so than any dragon was. You people may have the benefit of forgetting everything you put me through, but I didn't have that luxury!" Hiccup is almost in tears by now. "I was put through so much by you people! Years of my life! The dragons took me in for what I was, for what I am! You NEVER have done anything like that!" Hiccup took a breath as he tried to stop the tears that had already started flowing. "I-I went through hell!" The teens took a step back.

"But… but we thought you were ok… that you had forgiven us," Fishlegs said, lamely.

"Forgiven… maybe ...not yet anyway. But forgetting? Never. I will never be able to forget everything I was put through. Forgiveness comes with time, you guys put me through 10 years of hell, that clock sure as hell isn't done ticking yet." Hiccup declared. "Now, if you would leave so I could be alone with my friend." The teens shuffled out, embarrassed and defeated.

"Hiccup," Astrid started as soon as everyone else had filed out, "If it's any consolation, I am so deeply sorry."

"It's a start."

So, sorry for taking so long. I really don't know where I found the inspiration for this story, I just started writing. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and I hope the wait was worth it. I don't know when the next one will be seeing as I am a Beta Reader for three people and I have another story I am working on. But I did have more fun with this than I thought I would.