I am enjoying writing these little one shots. Again, based off of other ideas I've developed after working on "Morals." Also, I have a near-completed prequel called "Adjustments." If you need to reference those to maybe better understand this one-shot, it is completed and posted.

I've been thinking that there hasn't been enough..."friction" in "Morals" other than Snotlout bullying Hiccup. Also, since I am considering developing that story more off of the site, I thought about throwing something like this into the mix. I love Hiccup and Stoick moments almost as much as I love Hiccup and Astrid moments...and I would also like to do more Valka and Hiccup moments in the future.

But, here we are. I present "Jealous."

...

"Can you just pull over right here for a minute, Dad?" Hiccup asked his father.

They were in the car outside of the local fitness center. Hiccup hadn't been in the building since he'd tried to do soccer and basketball as a much younger child. Hiccup wasn't particularly good at contact sports, which is why he enjoyed hiking and running so much more. Not only racing other people, but also beating your best times, and striving to get better than what you were at the beginning of a season, always gave him a form of accomplishment. He had saved the stats from the beginning of his first track and cross country meets in a book, and had often reflected back on them to see where he had improved in his times. He'd also been able to compare where everyone else had been at in the prior years. Seeing his teammates improving always made him happy as well.

"Hiccup, the meet's already started," Mr. Vast said. "You need to go get a seat-"

That was why Hiccup had told his father the meet was starting at two, not three like schedule. His father was a bear to pull from his desk today. In his father's eyes, they were already late. Hiccup, he was right on time.

But, he was starting to second guess even coming to Astrid's swim meet at all now.

"Give me a minute," he said quietly, looking down at the floor of the car. He eyed his prosthetic, worried not only about how it would be on wet tile, but also if he could actually sit in a room with more than twenty or thirty other students. The classroom and school atmosphere was a more controlled setting for him. Yes, he was picked on for his leg, questions were asked about it, but there was always a teacher close by to bring their attention back to the real world. The students were always monitored. At one of these meets, he knew they wouldn't be under someone's thumb like they were in school.

He knew how it was during his track and cross country meets. Typically, their coach was too busy worrying about who was running and making sure the other teammates were prepared to run. The rest, well...They kind of just hung in packs or ran around, enjoying some freedom.

He wanted to tell his father his concern, worried that someone would ask or mention his bum leg. He'd gone to school with everyone on the team practically his whole life. He'd been friends or good acquaintances with most of them, because most of the team did track and cross country as well. But, since his accident, he'd withdrawn. And, hadn't spoken to most of them in so long. Even when they did speak to him, he often felt like he was being studied or stared at because he was different.

"It'll be all right, Hiccup," his father said to him gently. Hiccup felt a squeeze on his shoulder. "Just go find Astrid, and support her. That's what she wants you there for."

Hiccup took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Nodding, he stepped out of the car, told his father thanks and "I'll text you when I am ready" and headed inside.

He presented the front desk with his student ID to a blond who was talking to a woman with a small child at the front desk, and she let him in through the locked gate. The place had updated its security over the recent years. Too many people attempting to get past and into the facility without paying, he assumed.

Then he saw it. The metal scanner just three paces from the gate. His stomach twisted a little bit, and he hesitated for a moment, but then walked through it. The alarm sounded as he'd expected it to.

A dark haired woman stopped him and called him over to the desk, asking him to empty his pockets. She was small and plump, and she looked at him over her dark glasses.

He turned out his pockets, willing his voice to say something to her about his leg, but he couldn't speak for some reason. Why was he so nervous? This wasn't an issue to mention in the school office. Perhaps it was because he knew Mrs. Butchers? He was completely out of his comfort zone.

"You don't have a knife?" the woman asked him. "Most of you kiddos carry a pocket knife-" She asked this gently, and Hiccup could feel her eyeing him over, trying to label him as a troublemaker or a good kid, just like the teachers did at school. But, she had a kind look in her eyes, Hiccup could see.

"Ummm-" Hiccup backed up from the desk a little bit, and reached down to his pant leg, gently pulling up the cuff. She peered over the desk and saw his blue attachment.

"Oh-" she said gently. She then looked back at him and gave him a kind smile. "Go on in, Mr. Vast-"

Hiccup felt his insides roll. How did she know his name?

"Enjoy the meet, kiddo," she said with a kind smile, then turned her attention attention back to her duties.

Hiccup took the long hallway down towards the pool. He could already hear echoing voices, the sound of water, and laughter coming from behind the large metal door at the entrance. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled on the handle, making sure someone was not behind him, and he stepped into the pool area.

The smell of chlorine hit him in the face, just as the echoing of voices and splashes hit his ears. He hadn't smelled the chemical in years. Frankly, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gone swimming was. He knew how to swim, but not like the swim team by any means...Well, he used to know how to swim. He doubted he'd be able to now.

He'd apparently walked in right when they were doing their warm ups. He could see about fifty or sixty bodies moving through the eight lanes of water. Turning and looking around him, he spotted a set of bleachers close by. Making sure to stay close to the wall, he walked cautiously towards the end of them. No one had taken a seat on that end. Perhaps he would get lucky and no one would sit so close to him. Taking a seat, he tried his best to relax.

The swimmers moved with such ease through the water. It appeared as though with two or three kicks some of them were halfway across the pool. He watched them do their flip-turns with such ease. Their arm movements appeared to be synchronized.

And he couldn't identify which one was Astrid. He could tell that the other school was swimming in the four farthest lanes by their gray caps. Astrid was somewhere in the mix of the water dancing purple and yellow caps.

People were beginning to come in and take their seats. Some lined walls with pop up chairs in the sections where there were no bleachers. Beside him in a bare spot between the next clump of bleachers laid a sea of bags and towels...

Those were the swim team towels and bags...

He'd sat right next to where the team had camped out at.

His stomach caved. Glancing around himself, hoping to find a spare spot to sit. The only bare spot he saw was across the pool area. He'd have to walk all the way around the perimeter of the pool to take a seat. He could see the water shining on the pool desk. There was no way he was going to get over there on his bum leg without falling, he was confident of that.

He could leave. Without Astrid realizing he was there. He pulled out his cell phone when-

"You made it!" he heard.

He jumped, and glancing up he realized Astrid was standing about ten feet from where he sat, the biggest smile on her face. She hugged her body, shaking as she stood waiting for her turn to walk towards the diving blocks.

Too late to back out now, he thought, giving her a gentle wave. Taking in a deep breath, he watched the end of their warm up.

Coach Carr called their swimmers out first, and ushered them away from the diving blocks. This was when his peers started coming towards their belongings, and Hiccup pretended to look more interested at his phone than he did them. Perhaps if eye contact had not been established they would pay him no mind. They were all busy chattering about how "cold" they were when they were out of the pool, wrapping themselves up in towels to keep warm.

Then, someone cold and damp took a seat beside him, and he knew it was Astrid.

"I'm so glad you could come!" she said with enthusiasm.

Hiccup gave her a nervous smile back as he made eye contact with her, slipping his phone back into his red hoodie pocket. "Thank you for inviting me-" He noticed markings on the inside of her right arm as she adjusted her towel around herself. He studied them for a moment. He saw #3, #6, #8, #12, #23 and #25 in a row, and then H2, H3, H1, H1, H1, and H2. And abbreviations like BK, BR, BK, IM, RLY and FL.

Astrid caught him looking at her arm and she laughed. "I've temporarily been branded."

"These were the marks I saw on your arm the night of the accident-" (***for those who know "Morals" this was not in the story but this is for the sake of the story)

Astrid nodded. "I was on my way home from a meet that night."

Hiccup nodded. "So, what does FL mean?"

"Fly-" Astrid said. "Well-Butterfly-"

Due to the growing noise, they were leaned in close to each other, practically in each other's ear. If it hadn't been for the echoing voices around them, he knew most would have heard their conversation. But, thanks to the commotion no one could hear-at least he didn't think so.

"And this-" He pointed to IM.

"It's a variation of strokes. So, I dive and I start out with butterfly for 25 meters, then when I do my two hand touch, I go to backstroke, then I flip turn and swim back down with breaststroke-and after that I swim back freestyle and finish-"

"What's your record?" Hiccup asked her.

She grimaced. "Minute forty-two. I can't beat it-"

"Astrid-that's still impressive-"

She continued explaining to him the other markings on her arm, when the official started talking over the loudspeaker. They were prompted to stand for the National Anthem. Hiccup nearly lost his footing on the bleacher step, but thankfully Astrid grabbed the top part of his arm to keep him steady, giving him a little laugh as he smiled at her, showing some relief.

"Sorry-" he breathed as they sat down from the National Anthem.

"No reason to be-" she said gently. "I can't tell you how many times we've fallen off the sides of these bleachers-" She glanced at her arm quickly, then stood up. "Hold my towel-" and she was leaving to go get behind the blocks.

Hiccup watched in amazement as the swimmers dove, getting splashed with drops. Lots of screaming erupted around him, and he watched Coach Carr pacing the deck, screaming words that not only could Hiccup not hear, but also the rest of the swimmers. He was certain their screams were muffled between the water and their swim caps.

Astrid was in the water at the start of her heat. She gripped the bar, pulled herself up into a fetal position, and once the mechanical "beep" sounded, they were off. Hiccup watched her swim from one end of the pool to the next, and watched in amazement as she flipped over to her front before she hit the wall, flip turned and was heading back towards the starting line.

She won her heat. 32.3 seconds.

She came back and sat down beside him, grabbing her towel to wrap back up in before taking a seat beside him again.

They sat and watched a few meets together, Astrid explaining to Hiccup what each teammate was about to do. In her hands she held what she called a "heat sheet." Around them, Hiccup noticed a couple of other teammates and parents holding them as well.

Astrid left shortly after to do another heat, and returned again, shaking more than she had been the first time. At one point, someone sitting on the floor next to them offered her a few potato chips from their canister of Pringles, which she eagerly accepted. Hiccup knew she was trying to keep her carbs up for her meet for energy.

After Heat 12, she had a long break, and during this break, she sat down next to Hiccup and leaned against his shoulder for a moment. For some reason he had a feeling she just wanted to be close to him, even for a brief moment.

"I'm freezing-" she said gently, then turned to her right to look at her teammates, just as Hiccup was debating on whether or not to put his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, Nat-can you toss me my bag?"

Hiccup's face grew red when she did, and he turned back to looking at his hands in his lap. He heard her speak to someone, a boy-Avery Keegan, a senior-and a laugh about how he was always eating a large container of pasta salad during the meets.

"Gotta keep up tradition-" he said, clearly with a mouth full of food.

Astrid pulled a baggie of peanut butter and cracker sandwiches from her bag, and offered Hiccup one after she pulled one out and placed it into her mouth. He shook his head, placing a hand up, but gave her a gentle smile as she put the baggie back into her bag.

They sat together for a few more minutes, just watching their surroundings. Suddenly-

"Hey, Astrid-" It was Norah Vance. Hiccup's eyes darted sideways slightly, and she was standing with Jake Vickerson, one of Hiccup's old running partners from cross country. He felt his face flush, and he struggled with not gaining his eye contact. "Do you have fifty cents I can borrow? I need a Gatorade-"

Astrid shook her head, "Sorry, hun, I-"

"Wait-" Hiccup said gently. He gripped Astrid's shoulder to stand up, but he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out two shiny quarters from his pocket. He couldn't put his head up all the way, being timid as he was, but he leaned over slightly and held the quarters out to her.

"T-thank you, Hiccup," she said shakily. "I can pay you-"

"It's okay," Hiccup said gently, raising his head a little bit. He gave her a weak smile.

Jake narrowed his eyes at Hiccup, and had been caught. It wasn't a mean-mug of a narrow, more like feeling him out. Norah grabbed his hand and led him past them on the bleachers.

"That was nice of you," Astrid said to him as he took his seat again beside her.

"Are you insinuating I'm not nice-" Hiccup asked her in a joking tone.

"Not at all," Astrid said with a laugh, and he felt her move her pinky so that it would intertwine with his right one. "You just haven't-engaged-"

Hiccup shrugged. "Not a whole lot-no." He felt his defense go up, feeling his insecurity throbbing on his stump for a second. He tensed a little, suddenly worried that he was about to have a phantom pain come. But, after a moment, no more pain came. He'd probably only dreamed of it...

"You all right?" Astrid asked him gently in his ear as more screams and echos erupted. The buzzer went off again.

He looked up at her, and forced a weak smile.

"I'm definitely out of my comfort zone."

"I know," she said, whispering closer in his ear. "But, I am glad you are here."

"Me, too."

...

So, I think I am going to make this into a 2-3 shot. I liked the stopping point right here, and I have more ideas floating through my head. Granted, we aren't even at the whole climax of the story. I hope you enjoy this as much as I am writing it.