Hiccup quickly ushered Astrid inside the bathroom to hide just as Vivian swung the door open, not even bothering to knock first.

The russet haired boy ran a hand through his unruly mop and smiled at his mother as she stepped forward to greet him. He could still feel his heart racing from nearly getting caught.

Vivian enclosed her son in a warm hug. "Oh my poor baby, look at the state of you," she cooed, stroking his hair before pulling back to get a better look at his frail, freckled face. "Why aren't you at school today?"

Hiccup scratched the top of his head nervously. "I.. uh.. overslept," he lied. "Frankie and I stayed up late working on our assignment and I must have missed the alarm."

Vivian raised a sceptical eyebrow, knowing how punctual her son usually was but let it go for now. She began examining the disheveled state of him room, frowning at the pile of clothes scattered everywhere.

"So how was the conference?" Hiccup continued, trying to divert her attention.

Vivian snapped her eyes back and let out a tired laugh. "Long and tiring. I'm lucky to catch an early flight, I don't think I would have been able to hold on much longer," she admitted. "I have another meeting coming up this weekend but at least it will be here at the university and not somewhere off in Europe.."

Hiccup simply nodded, unsure of how he felt about his mother's sudden reappearance. As much as he missed her, he knew this was going to bring in new challenges.

"I'm going to jump in the shower now. See you downstairs, sweetie," Vivian decided at last, kissing him on the check before stepped out to the hallway.

At the 'click' of the door shutting close, Hiccup felt his shoulders sink and relaxed slightly.

Astrid poked him from behind suddenly, making him jump in startle. "So what happens now?" he heard her ask.

"Good question," Hiccup sighed, rubbing the bridge between his eyes warily.

He couldn't just hide a girl and a dragon in his bedroom, now could he?

-,-

While Vivian was busy freshening up, Hiccup quickly snuck Darkshot up to his room and Astrid was none too pleased about that.

"Why can't Frankie take him?" she grumbled. "I refuse to babysit a dragon, much less share sleeping space with it!"

"Astrid.." Hiccup sighed her name. "I know this isn't going to be easy for you but please try to get along. For me? Please?"

Astrid met his eye for a moment, her features softening despite herself. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine."

Darkshot suddenly began jumping up and down on the bed, making loud and squeaky noises that would definitely raise suspicion.

"Hey, hey there bud," Hiccup tried to calm him down. "Please behave!"

The dragon stopped and looked at him curiously. Hiccup reached out, touching his snout. "You are going to listen to Astrid, okay?"

Darkshot looked between Hiccup and Astrid before letting out a small warble. Hiccup smiled at him, patting his head.

"Hiccup?" Vivian called from downstairs, having finished up her shower and sauntered down to prepare breakfast. Hiccup knew better than anyone to let his mother enter the kitchen on her own.

"I have to go now," he said to Astrid. "We will call up Frankie later and figure this out."

Astrid could all but nod.

-,-

Vivian watched as her son picked on his egg and bacon mindlessly, looking as if he was miles away.

She cleared her throat. "I know I have been gone for a long time, and I know it had been hard on you.."

Hiccup snapped his head up and shook his head. "I'm fine, mom."

"I don't think you are," she said in a quiet voice. "I know you still miss your father."

Hiccup stood up from his chair abruptly. "I have some homework to finish, is it okay if I take this upstairs?" he gestured over to his plate.

Vivian looked at him for a moment in confusion before shaking her head with self-deprecating smile. "By all means.."

Hiccup gathered some extra eggs, bacon and fries onto his plate before speedily making his way up the stairs. Vivian stared after him and then sighed to herself. She knew she had been gone a long time and it was only natural for her son to feel a bit skittish around her for a while. She probably needed to give him some time and space until the tension dissipated.

-,-

Hiccup knocked on the door to his room four times and then flinched at the sound of a loud crash.

"Hiccup.. is everything alright?" he heard his mother call out in worry.

"Y-yeah! Everything is fine! I just knocked over some.. uh.. books!"

A disheveled Astrid opened up to let him in. He shot her a curious look.

"Do I even want to know?"

She shrugged and then picked up a fry off the plate he was holding. Darkshot rushed by then, nearly knocking everything over.

"Hey! Careful there bud."

Hiccup caught his breath, heart drumming as he closed the door behind him and took in the state of his room.

"What on earth were you two doing up here?"

Astrid blushed a little. "I, uh.. was trying to teach him how to fly," she mumbled and Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Only so he can get back to his mother and I don't have to see him anymore!" she added quickly.

He suppressed a smile. "Right."

The room looked quite the sight to say the least. Luckily his mother remained oblivious to the unexpected guests occupying their living space.

-,-

Vivian was in the midst of going through the laundry the following day when she spotted something that completely caught her off guard.

At first she thought her eyes were tricking her but upon closer inspection she realized she was indeed holding a blue cotton bra and thong set that she knew definitely didn't belong to her.