{A/N: Don't play the music yet

Enjoy the last part of I'm fine}

Warning: sad chapter (?)

I'm fine - part IV

A small yawn escaped her lips as the blonde girl opened her baby blue eyes.

Astrid smiled softly to herself. She felt so good, she wasn't tired anymore. She didn't remember when she had slept well without any cries and tears or beating...

It's a pity that it was temporary. Sooner or later, Hiccup's parents will kick her out and everything will be replaced in its old places, all as it used to be.

With a sigh, Astrid turned on the other side hoping to find herself on the same couch, which they both were watching the movie yesterday, but instead, she found herself lying in Hiccup's bed in his room.

The blonde girl frowned.

How did she end up here? She didn't remember that she had fallen asleep here, the more that she had walked in here. Unless Hiccup carried her all the way to his room and put her in bed so that she would've gotten more comfortable for her sleep. And that's what probably really happened.

The blonde girl looked around the room when she lied down on her back. She always liked Hiccup's room. When she was staying here, the soft sunlight always woke her up by softly waving through the window and gently kissing her cheeks.

The room was bright and cozy. There was a big window to the beach. Near the closet with a human-sized mirror, was a desk, a white desk lamp and a laptop were placed on it, there were a few scratches all over it. There was a white door on the other side of the bed, which was leading to the balcony and the second door leading to his own bathroom.

The thin girl turned on her other side, wanting to stay in the soft bedding, but she opened her both eyes and looked at the watch, which was on the small table next to the bed and widened her eyes.

"Oh, no!" Astrid gasped and jumped out of bed. "It's already half past eleven!"

She quickly grabbed her yesterday's clothes, which were lying on the chair next to the desk and was about to go to the bathroom, when suddenly the door of the room opened and a tall dark-haired male walked in, carrying something in his hands.

"Hiccup! Uhh... Hi-hi, Hiccup! Hi, Hiccup!" She said, nervously, but grinned later, when she heard him laugh a bit.

"Good morning, beautiful." He greeted her sweetly, taking a few steps closer to her and kissing her soft lips. "Sleep well?" Hiccup asked when he broke up the kiss and looked into her baby blue eyes.

The thin girl nodded, smiling. "Yep. I just woke up." But her shiny smile quickly disappeared.

"I have to work today and tomorrow. I completely forgot it yesterday! And if don't show up at work, I will get into a big trouble and maybe even get fired! Maybe you can-" Astrid stopped talking and looked at him strangely when the tall male started to laugh.

"You don't need to worry about anything, M'lady. You won't get fired." He calmed her down but didn't stop speaking. "Because you don't work there anymore."

The blonde girl paled. She took a few steps back until her legs touched the edge of the bed and she sat down on it, accidentally dropping her clothes on the ground that she was holding a moment ago.

"What do you mean I don't work there anymore?" She asked him silently with her eyes wide open.

"I've talked to your boss and told him that you quit the job." Hiccup explained, and placing a blue gift bag on the desk, he looked at the girl, who stood up immediately.

"Oh, no, no, no." Her face was full of worry and she quickly started to go towards the door. "I have to fix it!"

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled out, surprised when she felt two strong arms wrapped themselves around her thin waist. "Let me go!"

"Never. You stuck with me forever." He told her, grinning and tightened his grip around her waist when she kept moving, trying to escape, even if it was hopeless. "And, you not going anywhere dressed like this. What's mine is mine, not gonna share it."

She blushed, hiding her face in his chest as he chuckled. "Just let me explain."

"Alright." She moved a little bit in his lap, that her back would be facing his chest, his hands would be on her belly and her own resting on top of his. "I'm calm."

A dark-haired boy laughed softly but then sighed sadly. "You work because you need to pay the bills, buy food. You're trying so hard that the home you live in, would be the same as the one you spent the most beautiful moments of your childhood before everything had been torn apart."

"You take care of your father, who is not even worth to have that name. You take care of the one who hurts you. And that's not good." He said, embracing her more firmly. "But you still smile. You read millions of books when you're sad, just to escape the reality."

"And all this is just because you care about others more than you care about yourself." Hiccup told her gently, looking down at her, even if he couldn't see her baby blue eyes.

"But it still doesn't explain the fact why you did that." She frowned, but her voice was weak, barely above a whisper. And deep down, she already knew the answer. "Money doesn't grow on trees, and I still need to pay off all the-"

"You don't." The Auburn male cut her off, making the small girl in his lap freeze. "I've already paid for everything and you don't need to worry about it anymore."

The small girl escaped from his grip and looked at him with her now widened blue eyes. "You what?" She stuttered.

"You heard me." He smiled.

"You, you mean you pay it off? But why?" She asked. "You didn't need to."

"Didn't need to? Astrid, my duty is to take care of you and protect you. Of course, I needed to. I didn't like you working in that cafe, that area is dangerous." He said, looking at her seriously and she looked down.

"I-I don't know what to say." Astrid hugged herself, not knowing what to do now. The Auburn male smiled softly and gently took her chin into his hand, lifting it.

"Hey, I'm not mad at you, okay?" He said and she nodded. "Oh, I almost forgot! This is for you!" Hiccup took out the chocolate from his jacket pocket, stretching out his hand and giving it to her.

The girl's eyes spoke better than the words, her eyes were shining, it was showing how much she felt happy at that moment, although the gift was only a small thing, for her it felt like the whole world. And the shining smile couldn't leave her face. "You didn't have to."

"It's not from me." He shook his head, smiling gently at her. "It's from Hunter and he says a big sorry."

"H-hunter?" She stuttered, looking at him stunned.

"Yep." He answered shortly, but proudly. "See, I told you everything will be fine."

"And this one is from me, go ahead and open it," Hiccup added, pointing to the blue gift bag placed on the desk. The thin girl looked at him with curious eyes and slowly started to go towards the desk, where the gift was placed.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Open it and you'll see." He grinned, waiting to see her reaction. Astrid slowly opened the gift bag and looked at the inside with curious eyes. And to her surprise, there was another white box in it. {No, he isn't proposing to her. If he was, it would be way more romantic.} The blonde girl frowned and looked at Hiccup with a confused look, but he only laughed quietly. She opened that box and gasped quietly, covering her mouth with one of her hands.

Meanwhile, the dark-haired male began to worry a bit when the girl didn't say anything for a while. He didn't see whether she was happy about the gift, or if she was disappointed by it.

"If you don't like it, we can change the color." He said as he put his one hand on her shoulder. But when he saw her face, his eyes widened. Her eyes were teary, she was deeply touched.

"I-I... It's too much. I.. I can't..." She muttered, using her hand to wipe away her tears. The blonde girl put the box on the desk again and, not looking into his eyes, she continued to speak:

"First, you let me stay here, then, you pay off all my bills, and now this new phone, which is definitely not cheap. And I? I don't even know how to thank you." She felt a small droplet of water rolling down her face as she closed her eyes, quietly adding: "I'm not even worth it..."

The Auburn male's eyes widened again, but then he frowned slightly. He gently cupped her cheeks, kissing her nose softly. "Not worth it? Astrid... M'lady, what are you talking about? Of course, you're worth it, you are worth much more than this." She lifted her blue eyes and looked straight into his green ones.

"We're family now. You and me, just the two of us against the world. Don't say that you're not worth it because you are." He smiled, looking down at her, admiring her beauty. "Now take it, because I always want to know where you are, no matter what."

"Thank you."

The Auburn male looked at the watch on his wrist and cursed silently under his breath. "Crap, we're late!"

"We're late," Astrid repeated calmly, but then frowned and looked at him confused. "Late where?"

"It's the part of the surprise." He answered shortly. "Change into that new dress that I gave to you."

"The one in the gift bag. Didn't you notice it?" He asked when he saw her looking at him with confused eyes. She shook her head and slowly reached for the bag, and when she opened it, to her surprise, there was, in the gift bag, a neatly folded dress.

"Go change, I'll wait here." He told her and she hurried to the bathroom, leaving him to wait for her.

However, a few moments later, the door of the bathroom opened and the Auburn male gasped.

The thin girl was wearing a white, knee reaching dress, with blue flowers all over it. Her blonde hair was free, falling down her shoulders, and her eyes - shining like the brightest star in the darkest night.

Astrid was more than beautiful there.

She was gorgeous.

"Wow." Hiccup breathed, not even realizing that he was holding a breath.

"This dress is so pretty." Astrid smiled and did a little twirl, making the dress rise up a little bit too.

"But..." Her bright smile started to fade until finally, it disappeared at all. "The bruises..."

The dark-haired male's eyes widened slightly, but a few seconds later, he was showing her a sincere smile on his face. Yes, there were showing, and you could see the same bruises from her father's hand, but he didn't care about it, not at all, she was the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in this whole world, full of pain and happiness. And no one could change it.

"M'lady..." He took both of her small hands in his large ones and looked right into her ocean blue orbs. "Astrid, you're beautiful not only out, but your soul and heart are beautiful as well. And that's all that matters."

*°*°

"That black car is following us." Astrid frowned her eyebrows and looked through the window again.

Hiccup and Astrid were sitting in his car and going to... The Auburn male didn't tell her where telling her that it was a surprise and something like: 'you'll see."

But the blonde girl noticed a black sports car following them, she figured out that he noticed that too because he kept glancing at the mirror from time to time. However, it seemed like he wasn't paying much attention to it.

She groaned when he didn't respond again and was already opening her mouth to say something, but the car suddenly stopped.

She looked at the front and raised one of her eyebrows when she saw a park in front of her. Not because she didn't like it, in fact, she loved taking a walk in it, but she didn't feel like walking today. The weather wasn't one of the nicest too. Even though a few moments ago the sun was shining and it was pretty warm, now it was hiding behind the mad, dark clouds.

"Here, take it." Hiccup spoke and gave her the jacket from the backseat. "Put it on before you've caught a cold." The thin girl frowned slightly, but didn't say anything and took the jacket from his hand, putting it on.

She still was a little bit confused by why he was ignoring her back then when they were in the car. Was he mad at her? Or just thinking about something important. After all, everything was fine before they left the house. So why did his mood suddenly change?

"Hiccup, why are we-" She stopped talking when she saw the same black car that followed them, stopping near them.

The blonde girl frowned, scooting closer to Hiccup and keeping her eyes on him. But when she saw him glaring at something, or maybe someone, she followed his gaze and seconds later, the girl widened her eyes.

It was the library lady that got out of the car.

But there was someone else with her. It was a male.

He was young, but a bit older than Astrid though. Tall, too. He had medium length, dirty blonde hair, that was a little messy from the wind. He was wearing a black shirt, leather jacket, and black jeans.

Even though Astrid didn't know him, his eyes were similar. It was blue, gentle and she could've sworn that she has seen them before. She felt like she knew him.

The girl looked into the male's eyes again, but this time she met them staring straight into her owns. She didn't look away, neither did he, they just stared at each other.

{You can play the music now}

When you feel your love's been taken

When you know there's something missing

In the dark, we're barely hangin' on

"It hurts." A little girl sobbed, looking down at her bleeding knee.

"I know, I know. Just wait a little longer." The older boy said, hurrying to wrap it with a piece of clothing that it would stop bleeding. "Can you walk?" He asked her once he was done.

"No." The girl whimpered, when she tried to stand up, but failed. "I'm scared and I want mommy." She sobbed again, looking at the dark forest, which looked even more terrified than it had looked before.

The boy looked at his sister's teary eyes, feeling guilty that she was crying, after all, it was his fault, it was his idea to go to the forest alone. "Hey, look at me. Don't be scared." He told her softly and she looked at his gentle blue eyes that made her calm down a little bit. "Everything will be okay."

These eyes...

Could it ... Could it be?

Then you rest your head upon my chest
And you feel like there ain't nothing left
I'm afraid what we had is gone

*°*°

"Hiccup, what's going on here? I.. I don't understand." Astrid looked at the Auburn male, confused, then turned her gaze back to the library lady and the mysterious guy, who was standing near them, looking at Astrid like she was a ghost.

"Hiccup-"

"They have something to tell you," He cut her off, folding his arms over his chest, giving them a cold look. "Don't you?"

"What?" She asked once again, getting more and more confused by every second. She stood up between the Auburn male and the lady, facing her boyfriend with a frown on her face. "Hiccup, what do you mea-"

"My real name isn't Lily Hoffer."

Then I think of the start
And it echoes a spark
And I remember the magic electricity
Then I look in my heart
There's a light in the dark

The small girl froze, her eyes widening, the frown slowly disappearing away. "...what?" She was quiet, turning around to face the library lady, her voice barely above a whisper and something in her chest starting to fall apart, piece by piece.

Once again.

But the woman didn't stop talking, she lowered her gaze and quietly added: "It's Lyndsy Hofferson..."

Still a flicker of hope
That you first gave to me
That I wanna keep
Please don't leave
Please don't leave

And that was when everything stopped.

These eyes...

The flashback...

Everything.

...

She got it now.

All this time, when she was growing up with her dad, she was wondering where was her mom. Every morning, she got up early, just to look through the window to see if her mom was coming back, smiling, waving her hand at her, laughing. But nothing. There was no sign of her.

When you lay there and you're sleeping
Hear the patterns of your breathing
And I tell you things you've never heard before

She waited for hours, standing there alone and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, looking at nothing. Until she finally broke, until she finally gave in, realizing that her mom, the one person that suppose to love you and not hurt you, wasn't coming back.

Because she left you.

She left her.

Asking questions to the ceiling
Never knowing what you're thinking
I'm afraid that what we had is gone

*°*°

"Astrid," Lily, no... Lyndsy said, carefully, slowly starting to go towards her, but the young girl took a step back, closer to the Auburn male, shaking her head a 'no', trying to process all the information she got.

"I can explain-" The woman tried again, but she didn't let her finish.

"No..."

"Astrid, sweetheart, just hear me out..." She pleaded.

"No!" The thin girl cut her off once again, but this time her voice was much stronger, colder. The Auburn male widened his eyes once he heard her yell, looking at her, seeing... feeling her pain, betrayal, he could feel how she was breaking inside. But there was something else in these ocean blue eyes. There was furious. She was mad, furious as well.

Then I think of the start
And it echoes a spark
And I remember the magic electricity
Then I look in my heart
There's a light in the dark

"You left me! You left me and dad!" Her hands were clenched into small fists by her sides, cheeks wet from all so well-known salty droplets, but her eyes were burning with fire from the furious and pain. She didn't know what she felt at that moment. Pain? Sadness? Betrayal? Furious? Or relief and happiness? She didn't know what to feel at that moment.

"You didn't care! You weren't there when I needed you, when dad needed you!" The girl glared and the woman felt as her eyes began to tear up. It wasn't true. She did care, she cared about Astrid, so much.

"No, don't talk like that, sweetheart. I do care, I was there when you needed me-"

"No," she shook her head and looked too calm when she spoke, it looked like she didn't feel anything, just emptiness. "It was Lily Hoffer, just a simple library lady, not Lyndsy Hofferson. It wasn't you."

Lyndsy sobbed. "I'm so sorry..."

Still a flicker of hope
That you first gave to me
That I wanna keep
Please don't leave
Please don't leave

"When you left me, you took a piece of my heart too. Dad broke down when you didn't come back." The young girl said. "You stole the opportunity to experience what it means to be a child in a family, where there isn't any abuse, violence, yellings. Where you wouldn't feel fear to be hurt or left once again. Where you could feel loved and cared."

"You stole it and then ripped it in half like it was just an insignificant paper. But the truth is, it wasn't. Not at all."

And I want this to pass
And I hope this won't last
Last too long

Then I think of the start
And it echoes a spark
And I remember the magic electricity
Then I look in my heart
There's a light in the dark

Still a flicker of hope
That you first gave to me
That I wanna keep
Please don't leave
Please don't leave

*°*°

"Shh, don't cry, M'lady." Hiccup soothed the crying girl in his lap, hugging her more tightly. "It's going to be okay, I promise you."

They were sitting in Hiccup's room, Astrid in his lap, her head resting on his chest and arms wrapped around his torso, crying her heart out.

"I'm sorry for this 'surprise', I should've known that you're going to react like this. But I couldn't hide it from you, I couldn't, I wouldn't lie to you." He said, kissing her head. "I'm sorry."

"It's o-okay." She sobbed. "I'm tired of people lying to me." Astrid blinked, trying to wipe away the tears.

"It just hurts." She said.

"I know. I know it does."

"But how... how did you find out that she was my mom?" The girl asked, lifting her head to look into his eyes.

"You two are very similar to each other. Your hair, eyes, even behavior...

The Auburn male parked his car near the building.

He looked at the small note in his hands and the door in front of him. He sighed before stretched out his hand, knocking three times, and seconds later the door opened, revealing the library lady, who's eyes soon widened when she saw him standing there.

"Oh, I remember you, you're the same guy, who was with Astrid." She smiled softly. "How can I help you?" She added sweetly.

He nodded slightly, confirming to her that he was the same guy. "I need to talk to you, Ma'am. Uh, can I-"

"Oh, yes, yes, come in!" She said, letting him in and closing the door behind. "Sorry, I'm not that young anymore, my brain doesn't really work that great." The woman joked, but Hiccup didn't have time for jokes right now. He came here to have a serious talk, not tea-time.

"I know who you are." He told her, his face dead serious and the lady's laugh stopped.

She looked up at him. "I'm afraid, I don't understand you." She said slowly, slightly confused.

"You're not who you pretend to be." He repeated it again. "You're Astrid's mom."

The woman's eyes went wide, her hands started to shake, eyes fill up with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about. You got a wrong person, you need to leave." She shook her head, but didn't dare to look into his eyes, she felt ashamed.

"You really are." He whispered, shaking his head.

"Please, leave." Her voice cracked, she was on the verge of tears. But Hiccup wasn't going to leave anytime soon, he needed answers and he was going to get them.

"She said leave." Someone snapped and the Auburn male turned around, only to be greeted by two ice cold blue eyes. He frowned. "Who do you think you are? Coming here, telling nonsense and making my mom cry."

"Leave." But Hiccup didn't even move a muscle. "Leave before I punch you in the face." The person threatened, clenching his fists.

But the Auburn male only chuckled. "Can you believe it? She said exactly the same thing to me when I went to her house for the first time." He told them, remembering that time when he almost got punched by a mad blonde female.

He looked at the male, who had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as his M'lady. They really were similar to each other, their look and behavior, the same thing, just like Astrid told him.

However, Hiccup frowned as soon as he saw that the male in front of him raise his fist to punch him. Like actually punch him!

Just as his fist was about to contact the Auburn male's cheek a-

"Evan, don't!" From the woman

-stopped him, Evan dropped his hand but still kept his glare on the Auburn male.

"You left her." After a few seconds, Hiccup spoke, catching their attention. "You left her to be abused by her father!"

"Sven?" She gasped and he looked at her with a glare. "He wouldn't. He loved Astrid so much!"

"Then who do you think else could've hurt her? Me?" And when she didn't reply, his eyes grew wide.

"You really thought I was hurting her?" He raised his voice, but then shook his head and continued to speak: "I would never ever lay a hand on her, not in any way that would harm her. And you know why? Because I care about her. I love her more than anything in this world."

The woman's teary eyes widened again, but she reminded silent. "And most importantly, I would never leave her." His voice was harsh, but she hurt his M'lady, she was the reason, Astrid cried every night.

"I won't lie to her." His face was serious when he talked. "If you don't tell her the truth by today, I will do it myself." With that, he was done. The Auburn male was about to leave the room, but a broken voice stopped him.

"I h-had cancer."

He stopped dead in his tracks as the woman sobbed.

"The doctors said there wasn't a lot of time left for me. Said I wouldn't make it." She told him. "But here I am now."

"I left them because I thought it was better that way. Sven loved Astrid and cared about her so much, I thought she was safe with him."

"I didn't want them to see me all bald and weak. Dying. You have no idea how hard that was for me too. And when I healed, I wanted to come back so bad, but was afraid they forgot me and wouldn't take me back." She sobbed as she felt her son's soft hand on her shoulder.

"But when I saw the bruise on her cheek, that's when I knew something was wrong. She looked so scared when I mentioned it to her and she was looking straight at you. That's why I thought that you've hit her. I asked her, but she replied that you would never do it."

"I made a mistake that I will regret every day til' the last breath." The woman took her face into her hands as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry..."

The Auburn male glanced at the library lady for the last time, guilt shining in his eyes. "When you go to the altar and have to say these special words, you just don't say it for nothing. It's a promise to your partner, to your future children that no matter what, you will be there for each other. For better and worse, in sickness and health. Till the death"

*°*°

"Grief is the last act of love we have to give to those we loved. Where there is a deep grief, there was great love."