Chapter Text
"Hiccup, remember how you used to make those pool parties at your house when we were kids?" Astrid asked her friend as both of them were walking out of the school building.
"Of course I do. Those were a lot of fun," Hiccup smiled and looked away from his phone, remembering all that fun he had with his small group of friends.
"I was wondering, what if you made a party like that again?" the blondy asked, bright smile on her face as she looked at the boy.
Hiccup stopped walking and looked at her with a bit disappointed expression. "You know I can't," he said, putting his phone in his pocket. "You know exactly why I stopped making these parties."
Astrid's smile loosened. She knew well why Hiccup didn't want to make any more parties. "Well, maybe if you would invite only the people who know?"
"That's only three people, if I'm counting my dad," Hiccup shrugged. "But still, I can't risk growing a tail in front of everyone."
Astrid kept looking at him with a troubled look and didn't say anything at first, but then she spoke. "You know that you can't be like this for the rest of you life. You know that you can't keep hiding. And, I mean, it's not like you're in a mortal danger or anything," she giggled at the last sentence, but then stopped and put an arm on Hiccup's shoulder, "What happened to you cannot stop you from living like a normal person. You just have to be more careful in some cases."
Hiccup looked her in the eye, then down at the ground again. He knew she was right. From the day he changed, he was always hiding, he was scared of anyone who didn't know his secret. He became distant and, because of this, he kinda started getting picked up on again. And he also hated that everyone, including himself, took it as some sort of a problem and never straight up said what it was. It made him always feel like if it was a bad thing.
He wanted to change all of that. He wanted to live a life just like everyone else. He didn't want to feel like a beast anymore.
He looked up in Astrid's eyes again, this time with a slight smile on his lips. "You're right."
Astrid smiled at him and put her arm away. "See? And after all, it's not like we live in H2o: Just add water where you barely touch the water and magically change into a fish," she joked with a smirk, throwing her arms in the air.
Hiccup immediately bursted out laughing at that remark, almost not being able to breathe. Astrid was always able to make him smile and laugh when he was feeling down and she always made him feel at least a bit better. He was grateful for her.
"You're right, Astrid. I should be proud to be a merman!" Hiccup exclaimed, not caring that there might be people around hearing them and he started laughing again.
* * * * *
A few days later, on Friday specifically, Hiccup came back home feeling very optimistic about the pool party he had organised for today. He listened to Astrid's words and decided to start living like a normal person again, not being restricted so much.
He came into the kitchen and opened the fridge, searching for a little snack. When he closed the fridge door, he noticed his dad sitting on the couch, reading some kind of a book. In that moment, the boy realised he still haven't told his father about his idea of making party. And he knew he should have told him..
"Dad, just wanted to let you know that I organised a small pool party for today."
Stoick immediately looked away from his book at his son, concerned look on his face. "What?" was all he said.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier," Hiccup shrugged, carefully opening the plastic wrap of a chocolate bar. He took a bite before he looked back at his father, whom just kept staring at him with almost a shocked look.
"Hiccup, that's not what I'm concerned about," Stoick spoke, putting his book at a coffee table. "We haven't organised a party like this for three years. And you know it was because of... What started happening to you."
Hiccup rolled his eyes at how his dad was even scared to say it. "Dad, could we please stop talking about it like if I had a period or something?" he requested, taking another bite from the chocolate bar. "I'm tired of hiding all the time. I'm tired of treating w-who I am - of treating myself - like if it was a disability or something bad that we're not allowed to say out loud. I mean, of course I don't want to tell everyone I am a merman," saying that out loud actually felt pretty good and relieving, "but between the people that know about it... It just feels like if there was something wrong with me. I just want to feel normal."
There was a moment of silence between them. Hiccup's good mood was suddenly gone and he started being nervous about what his father was going to say. Was he going to be mad? Or was he going to support him?
Stoick sighed and slowly stood up from the couch. He then approached Hiccup with a bit troubled face. "I understand that, Hiccup." he spoke softly and put both of his arms on Hiccup's skinny shoulders. "I actually thought about this before, and maybe I have been treating you like if... Being a merman was something bad and like if we should pretend it's not happening."
Hiccup was surprised by the fact that his father actually said that word. He never said it directly.
"But I want you to know that it was all to protect you. I never meant to make you feel inferior."
"Yeah, I understand that, dad," Hiccup sighed. "But I was never in any mortal danger. And I was always careful... Maybe a little bit too much."
He gave Stoick a little smile and shrugged his shoulders a bit. Stoick kept his serious look, but his expression softened eventually.
"Alright then." Stoick took his big hands of Hiccup's shoulders. "You are allowed to make the pool parties again, only if there's going to be at least one person who knows."
Hiccup gave his dad a bit annoyed look, but smiled and said: "I'm eighteen already. I know what I'm doing."
"I'll tell you something after the party. I haven't told you yet and you should know. It's important," Stoick said with a raised finger and went back to sit on the couch. "Who's coming, anyways?" he asked as he took the book he put on the coffee table earlier in his hands.
"Astrid, Fishlegs, Heather and Dagur," Hiccup answered.
Stoick didn't even open his book and gave Hiccup another shocked look. "Dagur?!"
Hiccup just nodded and shrugged again.
"Why him?" he asked. Stoick remembered Dagur as a bully with anger issues who definitely wasn't mentally okay. He was a really troubled kid and he bullied Hiccup a lot. Daily actually. It was usually just teasing, which made Hiccup really uncomfortable and insecure, but occasionally, Dagur was able to hurt Hiccup physically and Hiccup didn't take any of it well. Oswald, Dagur's father and Stoick's close friend, sent his son away, probably to a mental hospital, saying it's for his own and everyone else's good. No one has seen Dagur for three years, except for his dad and his younger sister Heather, but a few months ago, he came back and started going to school again.
"Well... It wasn't originally my plan," Hiccup scratched his neck, "but I invited Heather and she really wanted for Dagur to come too. I know you probably won't agree with that, but he really did change. He hadn't been causing any trouble from the day he came back. And I thought I might give him another chance."
Stoick was just looking at him the whole time he spoke, then he shock his head, finally opening his book again. "Do what you see fit."
Hiccup was standing there for a while before eating the rest of his chocolate bar and throwing out the wrapping. He took his school backpack and went upstairs to his bedroom to get ready for the small pool party. As soon as he opened the door, he noticed a small black ball of fur lying in the center of his bed. He smiled, slowly approaching it and carefully sat down on his blanket.
"Hey there, Toothless." he said softly to the black cat and started petting it on it's back. Toothless started purring happily, stretched out his front legs and yawned after his midday nap. He then curled up next to Hiccup, letting him pet him more.
"Sorry bud, but I gotta get ready for a pool party now," he said standing up and went to his closet to find his swimming trunks. Toothless slowly opened his eyes and stretched his body again, then jumped off the bed and walked out into the hall though the slightly opened door.
* * * * *
In about an hour, the door bell rang and Hiccup immediately rushed downstairs to welcome his friends. He opened the door and there stood Astrid with Fishlegs. Both of them carried a bag with their own stuff for swimming, such as towels, sunscreen, or maybe even an inflatable toy.
Hiccup smiled at them brightly and welcomed them, letting them go inside.
"Heather texted me that she and Dagur are gonna be here in about fifteen minutes. Something held them back," Astrid informed Hiccup and bended down to scratch Toothless on his head.
"Alright. Thank you for letting me know," Hiccup said and went to the kitchen to get some chips for his visitors.
It felt like a few minutes when the door bell rang again. Hiccup went to the front door and opened them.
"Hi," Heather said with a warm smile. Hiccup smiled at her too, then looked to the readhead standing next to her. Dagur. He really did change, even visually and Hiccup still couldn't believe it. The man had messy short hair with side shaves, which Hiccup never saw on him before he came back after three years. He also had never seen Dagur with a beard. And if Hiccup was honest to himself, it suited him better.
"Come in," he let both of them in, but Dagur stopped at the doorstep, looking and smiling at the smaller boy.
"Thank you for inviting me, Hiccup," Dagur spoke, genuine smile of his lips as he slowly entered the house.
Hiccup raised his eyebrows and smiled a bit nervously. He still felt kinda uncomfortable and maybe even unsafe around that guy. "Oh, yeah, no problem."
Dagur eventually came inside and Hiccup was finally able to close the front door. He then turned around to see Dagur looking around the house. It must have been a bit special for him. He probably haven't visited any of his old friends in three years. And after one time, many years ago, when Dagur almost drowned Hiccup on one of his visits, Hiccup didn't let him come to any of his pool parties ever again. He really hoped Dagur won't do such a stupid thing again.
"Astrid and Fishlegs are already at the pool, so you can go join them, if you want to. I'll join you in a minute," Hiccup told Heather and Dagur before he went upstairs to his room to change.
In a few minutes, they were all outside, laughing and having fun. Heather and Astrid immediately jumped into the pool and started splashing water at each other. Fishlegs just finished inflating a ball and threw it at the girls in the pool. Astrid cought it and threw it to Heather, who threw it to Dagur who was sitting on a deck chair.
Just like when we were kids, Hiccup though to himself. He was just inflating the lounger so he could also get in the pool with others, but would not have to be fully in the water.
He was distracted from his thoughts when Dagur threw him the ball. He didn't register it and it hit the side of his head.
"Hey! I wasn't paying attention," Hiccup laughed, taking the inflatable ball in his hands and threw it back at Dagur with force. The redhead just cought it and also laughed, throwing the ball back to Fishlegs.
Hiccup shook his head and went back to inflating the lounger. For some reason, he was not able to inflate it properly and after five minutes of sitting there, struggling and trying to figure it out, the lounger was still without air. Hiccup must have forgotten how to do it after so long of not using it.
"You need help?" Dagur's manly voice called from the side and Hiccup glanced in that direction. Dagur was looking at him over his sunglasses, clearly examining the boy and the lounger with a smirk. That's probably the only thing that hasn't changed about him. His crooked smiles.
"Um... No, I'm good," Hiccup said, looking away as he tried to blow in the valve again. He didn't really want Dagur to help him with it. If it was someone else, he'll accept it, but not really from Dagur. He was still kinda sceptical about him.
Dagur stood up and slowly approached the brunette boy. "C'mon, brother. I see how you're struggling with it," Dagur smiled, knelt down, so he would be at the same level as Hiccup and put his sunglasses up. "Gimme that," he ordered and sat down across from him, gesturing with his hand for Hiccup to give him the valve.
Hiccup was subdued by the fact that Dagur insisted on helping him and that he called Hiccup a brother. He was surprised Dagur still remembered that nickname and still wanted to use it.
Reluctantly, the boy gave Dagur the inflatable valve of the lounger and sat there, watching him. Dagur gave Hiccup another soft smirk before he started blowing in the valve. He visibly had no problems with it, as Hiccup saw how the lounger quickly started getting it's right form.
He didn't know what to say, and after all, Dagur would not be able to respond in that moment. So Hiccup just watched him, examining the appearance of the man sitting in front of him. He checked his haircut and beard again as well as the scar in his right eyebrow, but his eyes eventually wandered down to the man's body. Hiccup couldn't not notice that Dagur gained a lot of muscle mass over the years. His shoulders were wider as well as his chest and arms. Dagur was always more muscular than Hiccup, but not this much. The boy didn't want to admit it, but he was pretty amazed by it.
A few moments later, Dagur was done with the inflating and closed the valve, so no air could escape.
"Here ya go," he smiled at Hiccup and gave him the lounger back.
"Thanks," Hiccup responded.
"Guys, you two, stop chattering there and come to the pool!" Heather suddenly yelled at them and started laughing.
"If you want to, of course," Astrid added, because she knew Hiccup couldn't really go in the pool.
Heather turned to the blonde girl and splashed water in her face. "What kind of pool party would it be then?"
Astrid frowned, but laughed and paid the splash back. "We can't force them."
Both of the girls started laughing and fighting in the pool, water splashing everywhere. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh at them. He really did not expect that they would still be so playful at the age of eighteen.
"I'm coming!" Dagur suddenly screamed and ran towards the pool. He jumped and very elegantly dived in the water, almost no water splashing. When his red hair appeared above the surface, he started laughing like a maniac and Hiccup couldn't help it but shiver at the sound of the laugh. Everyone else was laughing with the redhead, but not Hiccup.
"C'mon, brother!" Dagur called at him when he stopped laughing.
Hiccup smiled a bit nervously and slowly stood up, taking his inflatable lounger in his hands. He came to the edge of the pool, but as soon as he looked straight into the water, he felt the anxiety in him rising. What if he'll fall from the lounger and won't get back up before he starts to change? What if something goes wrong? He knew he will be safe as long as he's not fully in the water, but still. What if...?
Hiccup took a deep breath, trying to calm down as he took the first steps in the water. Slowly, he placed the lounger on the surface and carefully lay down on it. He then used his hands to swim closer to his friends and smiled at them, hoping Heather and Dagur won't question why he took the inflatable toy with him.
But surprisingly, they didn't. They started talking, splashing the water at each other and messing around. And quickly, Hiccup's anxiety was gone and he also started having fun. He was still very careful and Astrid was constantly next to him, being ready to help if something went wrong. But other than that, everyone had a great time.
"I'm so glad you've decided to organise the party," Astrid told Hiccup when Dagur, Heather and Fishlegs were diving together in the pool. "I told you it was not gonna be a problem."
Hiccup had a bright smile on his lips and looked at his friend. "Yeah, you were right. Thank you for telling what you've said earlier. I shouldn't have been so scared."
Hiccup laid on his back, put his hands underneath his head and closed his eyes, letting the water calmly sway with him. It was amazing. He didn't even realise how much he missed all of this.
Meanwhile, Dagur was jumping with his sister in the pool, but this time, when he found himself under the water at the bottom of the deepest part of the pool, he looked up at the surface and saw a silhouette of the lounger right above him. He immediately thought what a great prank it would be to turn the lounger upside down, pushing Hiccup into the water. After all, the boy didn't actually go in the water the whole time, Dagur though.
With a wicked smile on his face, he swam up with his hands above his head and pushed at the lounger.
Hiccup did not pay attention to anything that was happening around him, so he was in a shock when he suddenly felt the lounger underneath him turn around. He managed to scream but not take a breath, before he found himself surrounded by the cold water.
And then he panicked. Not only that he accidentally inhaled a bit of water from the shock, but he knew he was about to transform into a half fish if he won't get out of the water soon enough.
"Are you nuts?!" Astrid screamed at Dagur when he started laughing from how 'funny' his prank was.
"Hey, it's just a prank," he said between laughs.
As soon as Hiccup's head was above the surface, he inhaled sharply and started caughing from the water in his throat, not to mention that during his transformation, he always felt like if he was choking. He swam as quickly as possible to the border of the pool, which started being difficult for him as he begun having crapms in his legs. He crawled out of the water and knelt on the tiles, leaned forward and started caughing the water out. He was looking at his hands and noticed tiny dark scales appearing on his skin. He was positive he already started having those on his legs, too.
Astrid was right behind the boy and she jumped out of the pool as quickly as possible, took the nearest towel and put it over Hiccup so no one would see the scales.
"Are you alright?" she worried and Hiccup gestured for her to hit his back so he could cough the water out. She did as he requested and after a few hits, Hiccup was finally able to take a normal breath.
"Are you fucking serious?!" Astrid stood up and screamed at Dagur, who also just got out of the pool. "He could have drowned!"
Dagur already realised the situation might have been more serious than he thought, but for him it seemed like if Astrid was overreacting. "What? I just pushed him in the water. I thought he knew how to swim."
"How could you be so sure he would be okay with someone pushing him in the deepest part of the pool? Not to mention, how could you be so sure he didn't have a problem with swimming or some kind of a block?" Astrid kept on yelling with anger, starting Dagur in the eyes.
Just to make it clear, Hiccup and Astrid came up with a cover-up story for why he was not able to swim or go into the water, so they would know what to tell people in a similar situations. It was partly based on what actually happened to Hiccup, but not quite.
"No one told me! How was I supposed to know then?" Dagur started feeling angry from how Astrid yelled at him, but when Hiccup looked at him from the ground, still slightly gasping and even shivering from the shock, his anger was replaced by worry.
"Look, I didn't mean to hurt him nor cause him a shock. I'm sorry, Hiccup."
Astrid was furious. "Well, maybe if you weren't so ignorant and cared about others, you would know!"
Those words really touched Dagur and his mouth dropped. He knew Astrid could sometimes be really aggressive, but he never thought she could say something like that. Dagur was really mad at this point, but he also felt hurt. When he looked around at others, his sister looked confused, but Fishlegs' expression looked just as angry as Astrid's. He felt like if they were telling him Get out of here!
"Fine!" He walked to the deck chair that he was sitting on before, took his t-shirt and put it on. He took all his stuff he brought here, put it inside his bag, being ready to leave.
"Enjoy your pool party," he said, disgusted and angry, but his expression softened when he looked at Hiccup, who was also slightly frowning at him. He then turned around on his heel and went inside the house, then to the entrance door and left.
As soon as he was gone Astrid and Fishlegs knelt down to Hiccup, asking if he was alright.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I-it's okay," he responded and slowly stood up.
Heather was still confused and didn't understand what happened and why was Astrid so protective of Hiccup. "What happened?" she asked.
Astrid turned to the black-haired girl and put her hands on her waist. "Dagur pushed Hiccup of his lounger, but he didn't know about his... How should I say it? Block?" she tried to explain.
Heather thought for a second, then a realisation appeared on her face when it hit her. "Oh my gods, I totally forgot about your block, Hiccup," she said, face-palming herself. "I'm sorry my brother did that to you. Should I talk about it with him when I get home?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No, thanks. I'll talk to him on Monday." he answered. He finally calmed down from the shock, still holding the towel around himself.
Others also noticed he was feeling better now and Astrid smiled in relief. After a while, the three friends, except for Hiccup, went in the pool again. Hiccup checked if the scales on his body had dissapeared and when he did not see any, he took his towwel off and put it aside. He then laid down on a free deck chair that was near him and watched the sky and a tree above. He didn't feel like going to the pool again. At least not for today.