This is it! The chapter where we finally figure out what the heck happened to Hiccup. I do talk about injuries in this chapter, and I hope it's not too bad for anyone. I don't think I went too in depth, but I've read so much whump by now that I've probably forgotten the tame version of blood and injuries. I'm probably exaggerating about how bad it really is. All I can say is that it definitely isn't M rated gore. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Revelation

Hiccup was still breathing hard when he arrived at The Cove. He couldn't believe he let something like that slip! How on Midgard was he so stupid enough to forget that Astrid Hofferson was right next to him? He shouldn't have let Snotlout get to him that easily. He should be used to this by now, but like a blind fool he stumbled right into his trap.

Hiccup didn't know what exactly Snotlout was trying to get out of that. It was funny really. Hiccup had always been slightly jealous of Snotlout, since his father had compared Hiccup to his cousin a couple times in the past, while Snotlout was obviously jealous of Hiccup, though he had no clue why. There was absolutely nothing that Hiccup possessed to feel envious about.

Snotlout had in a way been right; Hiccup did run away from his problems, even he knew that. He was not someone who was that confrontational, unlike his father, and preferred the more peaceful way out and if that meant running away from his problems, so be it. He was a coward too, about Astrid. While he hadn't vanished in the end of senior year because he was scared of revealing his feelings to Astrid, he had definitely stalled because of his fear. There had been so many chances that he could have taken to tell Astrid, but just the very thought of it made his knees shake and break out a sweat, so he would turn away with his tail between his legs.

Hiccup went to his favorite rock that sat close to the lake, sitting down heavily. He gazed at the still water, the full moon clearly visible in it. Hiccup breathed in deeply, letting the soft sounds of the water lapping the shore and the little chirps the crickets made soothe him and his muddled mind. He loved this place so much. There were tall cliffs covered with moss that surrounded the medium-sized lake, with plenty of space to run around, not that he ever did. The entrance was hidden among several brushes, trees, and boulders. The lake was home to several small fish that liked to nip at his toes when he dipped his feet into the water. Occasionally, a deer or a small rabbit would cautiously walk in, bolting the moment they saw Hiccup. He had come across The Cove when he was young, probably around nine or ten when he had gone searching for trolls. He had never shown anyone his special sanctuary, except for one person.

"You can stop trying to sneak up on me." Hiccup sighed heavily, swallowing the fact that he won't have his quiet night at The Cove.

"I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. If I were I wouldn't have stepped on that twig; I was trying to give you a heads up." The footsteps that had been almost inaudible became more sure-footed as she walked up to him and sat down on the rock with an irritated huff.

Hiccup kept his eyes trained on the still lake as he replied back with a bite to his words. "Don't try to pretend. You missed that stick, don't try to deny it! Anyways," his voice dropped, almost as though he wanted to keep the last part to himself, "Astrid Hofferson doesn't try to give you a heads up when she's trying to figure out your secrets."

Astrid didn't react. "So you know why I'm here, then."

"Yeah."

"Well, care to explain why you never showed up that Monday? Why you never called or texted me or why you never picked up my calls? Or why I had no idea where the Hel you were until I found out through Snotlout that you had gone to the USA? Or that you broke your promise?" Astrid's voice had steadily increased, barely restraining herself from screaming at him.

Hiccup didn't flinch. "Thank you for summing that up. Did I ever tell you that you have a way of getting straight to the point? It was something that I always admired about you. I could never do that. I would always ramble and babble like a blubbering idiot-"

"Like what you're doing now?" Astrid softened her voice.

Hiccup nodded, smiling wryly at the irony of his words. He didn't say anything else. He could barely look her in the eye, much less reveal what exactly had happened to him. He hadn't told anyone, but if it there had to be one person he had to confess to, it would be the one sitting next to him.

"Hiccup, why did you do it?"

It was the first time she had used his name tonight.

"I-I don't know if I can tell you. You would be too disappointed in me, and I don't think-I don't think I could handle that." He said, twisting his hands.

"I need to know. Please."

Hiccup took a breath. "I swear that I was going to see you on Monday. I was so excited. I had no idea why I was; I didn't know why you wanted to see me Monday morning. For all I know, you could have said that you're moving or you found the battle axe that you've been searching for since you were ten. I didn't know. I wouldn't know." Hiccup amended softly.

"That weekend I had to run some errands for Dad and I was on the highway. I was driving like I normally do and-" A flash of blue, a screeching wail and several blaring horns. "-a massive truck passed through the barrier and collided into me." Hiccup stopped. He felt as though he was in the car again, humming along to the song on the radio as he saw out of the corner of his eye a blue truck crashing into the barrier, chunks of cement flying in every direction as Hiccup swerved too late and was impacted from the side, right in the driver's door. "The force from the truck was enough to flip me into the air. The car landed on its roof."

This was excruciating; going through his worst memory. The pain, the sound of ambulances and police cars that he vaguely remembered, the darkness that closed in on him when he couldn't push through the searing pain that ran through his left leg. It was all flashing before his eyes. Gods give mercy it had been fifteen years; he thought he was over it by now!

Astrid had given a gasp when she heard that the car had been tossed into the air. Hiccup could sense that she wanted to give him some support, but she was hesitating. She didn't push him either, letting him gather himself before continuing.

"The next thing I knew, my left leg was in agonizing pain. It was awful." His voice shook as his hands trembled. He clasped them together in an effort to regain some control. "I-I took a look and my leg was…" His leg had been mutilated. The car door had pinned his leg, compressing and breaking his leg in multiple areas in the process. There had been blood all over the floor, and it was still gushing from his half-concealed leg. "...destroyed. I blacked out a minute later. People had been getting out of their cars, running towards me. I woke up in a hospital in the USA two weeks later."

"Did you ever find out what happened while you were out?" Astrid asked quietly.

"My Dad told me. He said that he got a phone call from the hospital. Apparently it took about an hour for the ambulance to get there because of the pile up the truck had caused. A lot of people had been hurt too, but I was the worst since I took the brunt of the impact. People tried to get me out by pulling, but my leg had me pinned real good. In fact, they damaged my leg even more because of that. I don't blame them." He said quickly, and it was the truth. "They tried to help me and for that I'm very grateful. Once the ambulance got there, I had already lost a lot of blood, about thirty percent of it. They didn't know how to get me out of there without amputating my le-" His voice failed him.

He jumped at the warm touch of her hand on his shoulder. He looked up to meet her eyes, finding sympathy, pity, and horror in them. He instinctively leaned into her touch, drawing strength and comfort.

"Hiccup," She said in a hushed voice, "You don't have to go on with the story. I-I didn't know. You don't have to do it for me."

"No, I want to. I need to. I-I-I think it's time I told someone." He paused. "They had to sedate me just in case, and they amputated it. I don't know how they did it, my Dad wouldn't tell me, but he told me that I was screaming throughout it."

Horror was etched on Astrid's face.

"They rushed me to the hospital, and by the time I was admitted, I lost about forty percent of my blood. There was… there was a good chance I could have died. It took them about two hours to figure out that they had completely butchered my leg, and that it would take special doctors to give me a chance of surviving. So they boarded me, my Dad, and Gobber on an air ambulance plane and flew me over to the US. There, the doctors were able to correct the damage after an eleven hour surgery. I woke up two weeks later.

"I had to stay there for the prosthetic and the doctors recommended a special therapist for counseling and another for my leg. While I could have returned back to Berk, I didn't. I couldn't go back and face all the questions and sneers about the lanky fishbone had become even more useless. I couldn't go back and see all the pity and disgust on your faces.

"When I woke up, my dad was there in a seat next to me. He asked me if I was doing alright and if I knew what was going on. When I said I didn't, he told me that my left leg had been amputated. I pulled back the sheets and… for a second, I was ashamed of myself." Hiccup mumbled. "It was awful. I've pushed through all the insults from my other classmates and the disappointment from my Dad all my life, sure I had some bad days, but I always pushed through. I've told you about that, remember?" Hiccup asked her desperately, referring to those days when he would rant to her about his imposing father and all the ruthless remarks he heard in the hallways about him. She nodded and he continued. "In that moment, I turned on myself. It was partly the reason why I stayed in the USA for so long. The psychologist said that my insecurities would clash with the trauma, and that it would take a longer time to help me. My dad didn't know how bad it was until then. It was him who suggested that we should stay there longer, never mind his role as Mayor.

"Dad and Gobber were with me for a lot of the sessions. You know those little cracks Gobber used to make about my size, well apparently those affected me too in a way. You always told me to be proud of who I was and that I should stop all the sarcastic comments I made about myself. Well, the psychologist said the same thing. I haven't stopped doing it, but I've definitely gotten better.

"The physical therapy was Hel. I was always in pain when I wore the prosthetic. It was designed to fit me, but that didn't mean it would chaff, rub, and blister my stump. The protective sock I wore didn't help at all, in fact I would say it made things worse. I couldn't walk on my leg for a couple weeks since it was still healing, and afterwards it was sore for a couple months. The therapist was really pushy. I mean in hindsight he really helped because of how stubborn and how driven he was in helping me get back on my feet, but it was difficult when I was doing it. It took me about two years to finish all the therapy. During that I wanted to get some semblance of my life and how it would have gone if that truck didn't crash into me, so I started doing my degree there in the USA. After two years, my dad said it was time to go home and I agreed. I carried on with my life as you guys did. I thought since none of you guys checked in on me, that you had all moved on, so I did too."

Hiccup was shaking by now. He had never told anyone of what happened to him when they asked about his leg. He would always just laugh uncomfortably and say it was an accident before looking for the quickest escape route. Hiccup knew that he should be more open to people, and that talking about his experience would help, but thinking about reliving everything was downright horrifying.

He never thought the day would come when he would talk about what had happened to him, much less to Astrid of all people. Even Fishlegs didn't know, and Hiccup had gotten back in touch with him a couple years back. The large, blonde man had asked the first few times, but when he received the same stiff laugh and the routine 'oh ha, that. Um, well, it's nothing,' he backed off.

When Hiccup returned back to Berk, he had expected his friends to still be in touch with him in some way. He never thought that they would all just move on and forget that he existed, but that was exactly what had happened. Hiccup knew he was being selfish, after all why should his friends seek him out when he was the one who left them without a word? But somewhere he had been hopeful that he wouldn't have to be the one who sought out his friends and that they would.

Returning home completely alone, Hiccup dived into his studies, ignoring the pain. In time he had buried it under a layer of work, family, and Toothless, his cat. He gave up on the dream that his friends would approach him. He had asked himself why he never went after his friends, and the truth was that he was scared. In a way, he had been sort of glad that none of his friends had contacted him. He knew that his friends would not have taken lightly that he left without notice, even if he had been fighting for his life. Even if they had understood (and they probably would have), he would have to tell them about the traumatic experience, and it was much too raw back then, and still was now.

"We didn't really move on. We thought that you didn't care about us as much as we thought you did, so we kind of gave up on you." Astrid revealed, fiddling with her braid.

"Can't say I blame you, I would have thought the same."

"We tried calling you in the beginning, but your phone, Stoick and Gobber's were all unreachable."

"My phone got smashed during the truck collision. And my dad and Gobber had turned their phones off because they were getting all sorts of calls from the news channel and reporters about why the Mayor and his best friend had suddenly disappeared, and if it had anything to do with me. My dad had to hush it all up, because he knew I wouldn't want any attention on me."

"What happened to the driver?" She didn't specify which driver she was talking about, but Hiccup knew.

"He was drunk and thought breaking the barrier and going the wrong way would be fun. He jumped out of the truck when he realized that he was heading for the ditch on the side of the road and died when he landed wrongly and snapped his neck." Hiccup said without feeling.

Astrid went quiet for a bit, before asking, her voice an octave too high. "Does-does your leg hurt still?"

"Phantom pains. I have one every now and then."

"Can I see it?"

Hiccup paused. He had been expecting Astrid to ask, but when faced with the request he wasn't sure if he wanted her to see it. Would she run away? Would she be disgusted like he was when he first saw it? Hiccup looked at her. He was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to show her the part of him that he showed no one else. They had been through so much in the past, she knew his secrets and he knew hers. He could do this.

"I-sorry Hiccup. Forget I asked. I-" Astrid stammered when the silence began to stretch.

"Ok."

She stopped, watching him as he rolled his pant leg up. Breathing in and out slowly, he unlatched the fake leg, slipping it off with practiced ease before tackling the sock. It was always the trickier part. He had to make sure he didn't rub it against his stump too much when he was taking it off, otherwise he would be sore the next day. Hiccup took it off, keeping one hand hovering over the worst of the stump. He could do this. He pulled his hand away.

Though it was dark, the moon provided enough light to see the long scars and knots at the base of the stump. She wouldn't be able to tell, but some of them were white and healed, while some were red from irritation. The long lines traveled up to the knee, fading. At the very end of his stump, the skin had sunk in, healing over where the bone had been cut off.

Hiccup looked up to meet her gaze and was surprised to find compassion in her blue eyes. Her eyes flicked back down to his stump. "That must of been really bad." She stretched out a hand before stopping herself.

"It was." He said quietly, picking up his sock and rolling it back on.

He had expected to feel exposed, almost vulnerable under her scrutiny but instead he felt much more relaxed then he would have thought.

Hiccup could feel her eyes on him as he strapped his leg back on and pressed it against the ground to test if he had placed it on correctly. Deeming that it was fit to walk on, he turned to look at Astrid, shocked to see tears filling up in her eyes.

"Astrid, hey. Don't cry. What's wrong?" He said, completely bemused by her reaction.

"I'm so sorry Hiccup!" She sobbed, flinging herself at him and burrowing into his shoulder. "I thought that you had figured out what I was going to say, and you freaked out and that you hated me so you ran off. I thought-thought that we had something special so when you didn't show up Monday I was so distraught and angry. I spent fifteen years blaming you for something that you had no control over. You could have died, gods dammit and all I did was blame you and turn against you! I feel so guilty. I'm an awful person. Truly awful. I should have tried to reach out to you. I shouldn't have given up as easily as I did! I'm a horrible friend! I'm so sorry, Hiccup!"

Hiccup rubbed her back soothingly, feeling his shirt grow damp from her tears. He had never seen her cry before, in all their years of friendship. Sure there had been a couple close calls, but she had always overcome her tears by channeling the sadness into anger. This time, she hadn't been able to do that, and Hiccup found himself wishing for the angry Astrid he had dealt with in the past rather than the one who was blaming herself and sobbing her heart out.

"Astrid."

The sobs continued.

"Astrid."

She ignored him, still weeping and muttering incoherent words into his shoulder.

"Astrid. Listen to me." He pulled back, holding her hands in his. Her eyes were puffy and red. "You are not at fault for this. You are not to blame. I should have tried to contact you guys, I should have known that you would all be accepting and understanding, but I chickened out. I could have asked my dad to call you guys, but the thought never occurred to me. I deserve all the blame. You reacted the way anyone else would have. And I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for putting you through all that pain, Astrid. And I'm sorry for breaking my promise."

"I won't say that you didn't have to contact us, because you should have, but I understand." Astrid said, her voice slightly raspier than normal. " And as for the promise, I think we can excuse that one. I can't imagine all that pain and suffering you've gone through. And I know you Hiccup. And whatever you did was a hundred percent you. I won't say it's right, but it's something we can expect. I don't know if we can blame that."

"Yes, you can. I should know my friends better than that. I should know you better than that, but I let my fears get a hold of me and ruin everything."

"You didn't ruin everything. We still found each other in the end. You're here with us now. All of us." She reminded him. "We can get back in touch and hang out like we used to, back in school."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry, Astrid."

"I'm sorry too, Hiccup."

They hugged each other, the barrier that was there before, gone. All the anger, hate, and misunderstandings fading away as the two friends reconnected with each other. Hiccup was astonished that Astrid had forgiven him. Maybe there was nothing to really forgive in the first place. They had both let their friendship plummet after that day in June. They didn't seek each other out because of different reasons. They had both made mistakes, but they had both also apologized. They had both accepted those apologies.

They let go of each other, awkwardly avoiding each other's eyes as they both simultaneously blushed, not that the other would ever know.

"Hiccup?"

"Yeah Astrid?"

"I missed you."

Hiccup smiled. "I missed you too."