This story is inspired by a movie I watched called 96. It's an Indian movie that revolves around two schoolmates who were in love, but never confessed it out loud to one another. Circumstances cause them to lose touch until a reunion brought them back together. The movie follows their story as they rediscover each other. It's super sweet and I absolutely love it. This story follows the plot for the most part, but I did change things as well. Hiccup left at the last week of his Senior year without telling anyone and loses touch with everyone. We shall see what happens when a reunion is held and he meets Astrid once again.

Chapter 1: The Message

Hiccup hit his bed with a groan, his muscles aching from sitting in an uncomfortable seat for fifteen hours on end. He had just flown back from… where had he flown back from? He could barely take off his prosthetic leg, much less remember where he just came back from.

After fumbling with his straps and slipping the fake leg off, he fell back on his bed, sighing in relief. The flight had been particularly stressful. There had been a lot more turbulence than usual and several of the passengers had been the whiny type, reporting to the crew members that his flying was very rough. Not to mention, someone else had been using their assigned gate when they finally arrived at the Berk airport, leaving Hiccup to meander around until the other plane left.

He had gotten about seven hours of sleep in three days and was ready to sleep 24 hours straight. His eyes were already drooping as sleep beckoned a gentle hand and drew him in deeper and deeper….

"MEOW!"

The piercing cry of his black cat, Toothless jolted Hiccup awake. Sitting up, he tried to remember when he brought his cat home.

"Shouldn't you be at Dad's right now?" Hiccup mumbled, sitting up to pet his bossy cat. Toothless purred happily when Hiccup's fingers met his chin, and rolled over so that his belly could receive the same treatment. "You didn't run off, did you?"

"I brought him here."

Hiccup jumped, the gruff, accented voice almost giving him a heart attack. "Dad! How did you get here?" He asked, placing a hand over his thumping heart to calm himself down.

"With a car, son."

"Really funny Dad. Did anyone tell you that you'd make a really good comedian?" Hiccup deadpanned, looking up from his cat.

His father stood in front of Hiccup's bed, looking down at his son. Mayor Stoick the Vast stood at an impressive six foot ten, with a massive beard that was once flaming red, but now was a humongous nest of white, gray and a couple of red hairs sprinkled in.

If anyone were to look at Hiccup and Stoick, it would be impossible to guess that the two were related. Hiccup was lanky, skinny and had auburn hair that never settled. His father on the other hand was huge in about every way possible, hence his name Stoick the Vast. The two did share similar characteristics, like their stubbornness.

"How was your flight?" His dad asked, continuing to stand on his feet as none of the furniture in Hiccup's bedroom could support his weight.

"Got everyone to their destination safe and sound." Hiccup replied, choosing not to complain about the actual flight. He would only get, 'It's your job, son. You've got to serve your people even if they don't understand how much you're doing for them, and that means you have to stomach all the whining and complaints'.

Stoick nodded, "Alright, I'll let you get some sleep. You look exhausted. I brought Toothless over only 'cause he was missing you so much. And don't forget about your lecture tomorrow."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. He was thirty-three for Odin's sake, not the small, scrawny runt he had been when he was fifteen. "I remember, Dad."

"Good, good. Alright. Get some sleep, you look like you really need it. See you soon, son." And with that he left, squeezing through the door and out of the house.

Hiccup plopped himself back on the bed, still stroking Toothless. Ever since the incident, his father had been very watchful over him, the complete opposite of how he had been when he was fifteen. He supposed it was rather nice and better than being ignored by his father, but it did get a bit overbearing at times.

Toothless pawed at Hiccup's ear softly, as if to remind him that he needed to sleep rather than ponder over his life. Hiccup chuckled, picking his cat up to place him on his chest. "What would I do without you, bud?"

Toothless purred, curling up on his chest, neatly tucking his nose into his tail. Hiccup closed his eyes, letting sleep finally claim him.

oOo

His alarm blared through the room, waking Hiccup out of his slumber. He turned it off, yawning when he realized that he had indeed slept twenty-four hours straight. He got up, noting that Toothless had moved to one of his pillows while he was asleep. Heading for the shower, he mentally ran through his day.

He had to go to his lecture and talk about the aerodynamics of a plane. One of his co-workers had mentioned the local community college in need of a lecturer and he gladly signed up for it, eager to teach students about his passion.

After a quick shower and dragging on some clothes, he got into his car and drove to the nearest coffee shop, grabbing a latte and a bagel before heading to the college.

There he signed up at the office, received a visitor pass and instructions to get to the lecture room. He wandered in, checking in on the facilities he had and setting up his computer to the projector. Students began trickling in, filling up the seats.

When it was time for the lecture to start, more than a hundred students had occupied the seats. Reminding himself that he just flew a flight with about 500 people, he cleared his throat and began the lecture.

As he talked about the aerodynamics of a plane, he noticed that a group of girls and boys in the front were the most attentive, asking all sorts of questions and taking liberal notes. At one point, a girl with brown hair in the front raised her hand and asked him, "What is your career, Mr. Haddock?"

"I'm a pilot, Miss-?" Hiccup responded.

"Gunning. Could you tell us a little about your job?"

Hiccup smiled, but shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm supposed to teach you all about aerodynamics, but," He added when he saw her face fall in disappointment, "if you see me after the lecture, I'll be happy to tell you a couple things."

Hiccup continued his lecture, finishing to enthusiastic applause. True to his word, he waited after the lecture so that Miss Gunning could ask him a couple questions. What he wasn't expecting was the group of diligent students he noticed earlier to come up as well.

After calmly answering questions about his daily flight routine, how many hours he could fly per month, any situations he had gotten into, how he pursued his dream to become a pilot, and more queries, the students left, thanking him for his time.

Hiccup cleaned up, grabbed his computer and checked out of the office before heading back home with a spring in his step. Meeting all those students reminded him of how he was when he was younger. Full of hope and dreams.

A memory popped up, darkening the mood. He tried to cast around for something else to dwell on, but the same memory kept pushing its way towards the front. Guilt and longing consumed him, like a wave crashing down. The pain was so intense that it physically hurt.

Hiccup got in his car, not really processing what he was doing.

It had been years since it happened; why did it still feel like it occurred only yesterday? He berated himself for not moving on, for still clinging to the past. After all, she probably forgot all about him, and moved on with her life. She was probably married by now, maybe have a kid or two. And here he was. Single, lonely life, only him, his cat and occasionally his dad.

Hiccup started his car, and began the drive back home. He was constantly distracted, and almost broke the law at least five times. He hadn't let himself think about it in such a long time. The memories started to blur as he remembered his life before college.

The cove. The stolen looks. The laughs and teases from their friends. The accident. The promise.

He amazingly made it home safely. He entered his apartment, slamming the door shut to vent some of his frustration. After feeding Toothless, he checked his flight schedule, making sure that he was still on for tomorrow. It was a relatively short flight, just to Berserk. It would take an hour and a half, with a layover of two hours before a flight back.

He sat himself down with the burger he had picked up on the way home and began to eat when his phone buzzed.

Glancing down curiously at his phone, he swiped it open and pulled up his messages. Who could be texting him? He barely had any friends thanks to his job, and his father just checked in on him yesterday.

His blood ran cold. It was Fishlegs. His old friend from high school. That wasn't the problem though. The problem was that Hiccup was in a group chat with all of his other school friends. The friends he hadn't talked to in years.

He only knew the chat consisted of their friends because Fishlegs had typed out, Hey guys. I created a group chat with our old high school friends. We haven't been in touch for a while, and Ruff and I were thinking about having a meet up. For old times sake. What are your thoughts?

Hiccup briefly wondered how Fishlegs had gotten his number when he hadn't spoken to him in about four years. He probably still had his phone number from the last time they had met. Hiccup watched the chat come alive as people started replying back.

Most of them had all agreed, with a couple of them saying a vague 'I'll get back to you on that'.

Fishlegs responded back when someone asked the date, time and place. I was thinking about Raven's Point Park. I'll secure an area and we can all meet there. Does June 21st work? Since that was the day we all graduated? And maybe we can start around 1. We'll have snacks and dinner.

Trust Fishlegs to be all sentimental about the date. Hiccup thought with a smile.

Yes!

I'll be there!

Can we bring our family with us?

Got it booked in my calendar

The replies kept coming. Hiccup felt weird when he saw the question about bringing their families. In his mind, he imagined all his friends to be the same, immature idiots they all were back then. He never thought they actually grew up, settled down, and got married. He thought about himself. He went out on a couple dates, but none of them made it to the second date. What if he was the only one who wasn't married? What if he was the only one who was still stuck in the past? What if his friends didn't want to see him again?

Stop it. He told himself harshly. If he continued to think of all these scenarios he would never go to the party, continuing to shut himself off from his former friends. His hands shook as he picked up his phone hesitantly, tapping out a reply and sending it before he could stop himself.

Count me in.

He was terrified of meeting his friends again. More terrified than he should be. He had disappeared at the end of his senior year. No note, no message, no call. Nothing. He didn't know if his friends wanted to see him. He didn't know if his friends remembered him.

Fishlegs had forgiven him, but that was only because he had that kind, forgiving nature. Hiccup sighed heavily. He could only hope that those who were coming had forgiven him too.

If you made it this far, let me just say thank you for reading it! This chapter was pretty slow since I had to set things up. The next chapter we'll see Hiccup at the reunion. Will he meet Astrid in the next chapter? Stay tuned! Reviews are much welcome!

TheDoomedDreamer