Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hela Horrendous Haddock III is a wimp, opinion of most students in Berk’s High School. She has made her peace with it.

Technically she is a nerd, not a wimp. The brunette considers herself to be a misunderstood mastermind, though. Every plan that she thinks of, works out. Not talking about her crazy inventions, those never work out. Her schemes to obtain what she wants, do. 

For example: at age 12 the brunette wished for equipment to help her while working on the teen-friendly forge. Her father didn’t think it was a great idea, and refused to give her money to buy it. Hela didn’t take the negative well, and decided to buy it herself with her own money. The problem was that she didn’t have money of her own and stealing wasn’t an option. With her already unpopular fame and the snarky comments she got —mostly from her cousin—, it would have been her complete ruin. 

So, in order to not provoke a social suicide, she pondered other ways to get fast money. With no other viable option, she chose the old-fashioned one: get paid to do other’s homework. Every day in her spare time at school, she would take out her notebook and start doing exercises for her classmates (or maybe upperclassmen, depending on the subject) to copy in exchange for 5 bucks for exercise. Some students considered 5 bucks an atrocity of a prize, but for many desperate ones — who only wanted to live la vida loca as much time as possible — it was a lifesaver. Taking into account the high price of the equipment, it took Hela 2 weeks of work for her to buy it. 

Going back to the main topic: Hela acknowledges everyone sees her as weird. There is no way anyone in school could see her as cool. Only becoming an athlete or an immediate beauty (cheerleader could work) would solve it, but with her scrawny figure there is nothing much to improve. She knows all students — if not most — are disappointed by her, considering who her father is: Chief Stoick the Vast, the perfect viking! 

Freyja, even her dad is a little disappointed, though he conceals the feeling. Even so, Hela noticed. Therefore, in order to not disappoint Stoick more, she studies hard. She has overworked herself in order to achieve the best mark in Chemistry and Biology finals. The brunette enjoys the awesome feeling of getting a straight 10 in an exam and has gotten used to spending the recess alone in class, doodling or completing any homework so she has the afternoon free. She doesn’t have anyone to talk to anyway, hence isolation is not a problem. 

In fact, Hela appreciates the time she has to herself. When in company, Snotlout makes fun of her drawings and puts her down in front of all the class. The Thorston twins are only a burden when they are with the brunette’s cousin. If not, they are quite manageable. Tuffnut just straight up ignores her, banging his head onto his desk or planning a new mischief. Ruffnut, on the other side, looks at her — though she doesn’t usually say anything. In the past, Hela had tried to get close to her — by her father’s request —, but the brunette didn’t fit in her friend group or the girls group the Throston is surrounded by. So, Ruffnut just stares at her while she’s doing any work. 

Fishlegs triggers her. His characteristic mutter and common knowledge wouldn’t be much of a problem, but all the fact vomit can be overwhelming while trying to solve equations or logarithms.

 And there’s Asher.  Asher Hofferson is the definition of perfection, opinion of most students in Berk’s High School. Tall, blonde and gorgeous. With high grades and a flawless attitude, he’s always aiming for success. Captain of the hockey and volleyball team, respectful and doesn’t neglect his duties. The ideal paragon of what a golden boy should be. Pride of his family, the firstborn. Someone apparently unbreakable.

Sharp icy blue eyes always giving stern looks to anyone who made a fool of themself. Because of practising two sports, he has an athletic build but not reaching the edge of bulky. Enough for a 16 year old boy.

The blonde is loved by the student body and the teachers, showing an impeccable attitude. Hela feels intimidated when being near him. He’s never done anything bad to the brunette such as making fun of her or her drawings, but all the aura of perfection is suffocating. Or maybe how stunning he looks. Or his heart-stopping muscles. Or how beautiful his hair looks. Or how great he looks while doing sport, not even the sweat downgrading him. Or how he volunteers for any school activity, no matter if it adds up to his academic record or not. Or how his face looks when he’s concentrated. Or how she gets chills whenever they make eye contact, with his beautiful blue eyes staring deep in hers. 

Being completely honest, Hela doesn’t feel intimidated by Asher, at least not completely. The brunette has a kind of silly crush on him. She only realised her feelings for the blonde a few weeks ago, and she’s been trying to avoid them. The brutal realisation that her heart beating faster around him is not tachycardia, but love, was crushing. Noticing that she watching all of Asher’s movements and body in P.E to ‘ogle’ him and not to have references for future drawings, more than crushing. 

When she realised her crush, Hela was utterly scared. What if Snotlout finds out — by watching her fall for the blonde even more — and tells everyone? She would be more of a fool. The brunette can even imagine the disgusted grimace on Asher’s face as her cousin spills the tea. Rejection hurts more than anything, and Hela knows it by heart. Her whole life is based on it. 

Consequently, for her to not end up with a broken heart and to survive High School, she has decided to remain more silent than ever in class so that her crush in the Hofferson isn’t discovered by anyone. No reaction to nothing. Thereby, Asher will forget about her existence eventually. If the blonde doesn’t know who she is, there will be no reaction if he ever finds out about her silly little crush. That simple yet frustrating. Just because she doesn’t want him to know doesn’t mean she likes being a ghost to him. Contradictory. 

Hela would love Asher noticing her, don’t get her wrong. Only if she had a better shape or looks. The Hofferson is probably influenced by the thoughts Snotlout has about her — not a single good one, that’s for sure. So, between not being acknowledged and being seen as a loser, Hela chooses the first option.

Therefore for Asher, Hela was invisible. Whereas the others pick on her, he keeps on staying out of frame, always focused on his sport clubs or academic grades. Whatever, the brunette thinks, I made this. Asher has always had the tendency to not acknowledge her even when they were younger anyway. Not voluntarily of course, and not only Hela. Ever since he was 4 or 5, the blonde tended to be independent and sort things his way, not talking more than necessary. Still, he managed to get friends because of his looks and how ‘cool’ Snotlout considered him to be.

The trouble now is that Hela recently discovered she isn’t a ghost to the Hofferson as she’d thought. The first hint she took was when Miss Hilda handed the History exams, all graded. As soon as Hela had her exam in her hands, the boy who sits in front of her — Raph from the volleyball team, if she recalls correctly — turned to face the Haddock and asked her mark. Caught off guard, the brunette only pulled up the paper and let the boy look at it. With wide eyes, the boy faced Asher — who always sits across the classroom— and shouted something along the lines of ‘she’s better than you bud, got a 10’ and laughed. Asher didn’t find that funny though, because he looked at Hela with his brow furrowed as if he was angry at her for getting the highest mark.

And Hela understood him, she also despises being compared. As an act of kindness and compassion the brunette wanted to tell him not to care about the nonsensical comment, but got brushed away by Tuffnut as she tried to approach Asher in P.E.

The second hint was when Miss Olga told the class to do a project for her subject, Chemistry. The teacher gave the students the option of doing it individually or in groups, however they pleased. Obviously, Hela did it alone by choice. She didn’t like doing projects or assignments with other people, because she ended up doing everything and not taking all credit. Furthermore, the brunette could add a bit of her essence to the work, with a few cute and elaborated doodles to decorate the project. 

Working with a steady pace, in less than 40 minutes Hela had the project done and adorned. After checking if there were any grammatical mistakes, the information was accurate and her name was on it, the Haddock handed the work to Miss Olga and waited in her seat to be called. When the teacher finished grading it, the brunette walked over to her desk and grabbed it, thanking Miss Olga and returning to her seat with a 10 plastered on the work. With an almost unnoticeable smile, the girl watched as the other students finished their projects.

 At the end of the class everyone had theirs marked. Her classmates snickered and muttered when watching her project, comparing it to their own. Hela didn’t think much of it, but went still when Asher came closer to her desk to look at it. Specifically, to look at the mark. Next to him, Ruffnut laughed impishly as she stated that he was losing his ‘golden strike’ at being the best. As a response to her snarky remark, Asher examined Hela's project with detail and scoffed when he saw the grade. Apparently, his group got a lower mark.

The feeling that she was being watched stuck to Hela for the next 2 periods, until it was time to go home. In an outburst of courage, the brunette looked around to find out who was the one keeping a close eye on her like an eagle to its prey only to find out it had been Asher the whole time. The blonde didn’t seem to let the comment go and watched every movement Hela made — don’t ask the Haddock why, she doesn’t know up to today. 

That was the routine. Any work or exam they did, Hela’s classmates would snitch her mark to Asher in order to compare them. As a result, Hela would end up as the perfect target for the blonde’s sharp blue eyes, riveting deeply as though she were the source of all bad in mankind. The brunette tried to ignore it and attach that behavior to the fact that he’s competitive by nature, but being observed by her crush that way did no good to her heart. She wanted to tell Asher that the comparisons weren’t fostered by her in any way, but didn’t have the courage nor the chance. The Hofferson is always either busy with his sport activities or surrounded by people, so Hela couldn’t approach him. And when she could, he was always walking fast to places, faster than Hela could ever keep up.

At first Hela believed that Asher reacted that way because he despised being compared and content for chitchatters among the school. In fact, the students only started to notice Hela’s grades in order to compare her to Asher. The brunette thought Asher was doing alright, taking into account how flawless he is — or so she thought. That was until one week ago, when the girls in Hela’s class were changing in the locker room for P.E. The brunette got changed in the one that no girl in class went to, in the same corridor of the building. The reason may be obvious, but Hela refuses to be the victim to yet another horde of cruel jokes about her skinny body, thank you. Even so, both changers were next to each other and connected by an air conduit, allowing the Haddock to listen to what the girls were talking about. When the name of the blonde boy was pronounced, Hela sharpened her ear to distinguish what they were saying about him. 

When the conversation finished, Hela obtained the brand new information needed to solve the equation of uncertainty in her mind. Seemingly, Asher had been so focused on his sport clubs that neglected just a slight bit his studies. Of course, Snotlout found out and eventually the twins too, spreading the word — even if no one should care about others business. In the blink of an eye, the title of ‘golden boy’ was blithering as they discovered Hela was surpassing him in the academic ambit — she had already surpassed him since 3rd grade, but once they found a flaw in the blonde the gossip was unstoppable.

Well, Hela thought as she exited the locker room, that’s stupid. He still aces every subject. It’s not like he’s failing . 

Now, a week after she overheard the conversation, Hela sits on her seat, drawing any nonsense while trying to pass the recess time. Finishing a decent portrait of a singer she’s obsessed with, the brunette notices a figure entering the classroom. From the side eye, Hela distinguishes said figure as Asher, who is now walking towards her seat. Trying not to panic and not to feel her heart flutter, the Haddock acts as if she doesn’t notice him. Unattainable, Hela. Unnatainable. Hela is almost sure he forgot something and is searching for it, though all those theories vanish as the blonde stops his movements in front of her seat. The brunette tries to have her breath steady as she raises her head to look at the boy, who doesn’t have the troubled expression on his face he usually has. 

“Hello,” great start, Hela. “Need anything?” As a failed attempt to sound disinterested, she looks anywhere but Asher. Or maybe to hide her reddened cheeks.

“How do you do it?”

Silence floods the classroom as Hela thinks about the response from Asher. What in Thor’s sake does the boy mean by that? The brunette needs more specification, gee.

“Do… what?” Hela asks, finally looking up to meet the blonde’s eyes. It takes everything on her not to seem nervous or not to show how she’s trembling slightly, though her hands are betraying her. Hopefully Asher is too lost on her eyes to notice. 

“Get high grades.” Still with a stern face, Asher holds eye contact and does not move an inch.

“You also get high grades, Asher.” Hela blinks and holds her brows high to emphasise her point. “I-I think you know what to do in order to get them, right?” That sounds kind of questioning his common sense of logic, however Asher doesn’t seem offended.

“But you get better ones. How?” Now the blonde seems to be getting closer, bending over as though he’s trying to imitate an interrogation scene out of a police series. 

“Well, uh, I just study. No big deal, I swear.” 

“Then how do you study?”

“Why would you want to know all this?”

“None of your business.” The short answers are not helping Hela to calm herself. She can feel him getting closer and closer.

“I could help you if only you told me a bit of a backstory. Nothing too deep, I promise! Just enough to, um, help you, I guess. If you want to, of course.” As Hela continues she feels more and more pathetic. She tries to look at him dead in the eyes, but it’s difficult with their intense blue colour. Great way to talk with a crush, obviously.

After an uncomfortable pause — at least for the girl — Asher speaks up.

“I’ve been getting lower grades but I always follow my routine. There’s no reason why I’m getting them, I just do. But you always seem to get the highest mark.” His frown deepens as he says this. He really must be frustrated by this, Hela thinks. Or jealous. “Now, how do you study?”

“Wait, wait, if you are following your routine, how come your grades are dropping?”

“That’s what I’ve told you. I don’t know.” The blonde eyes her with a ‘ seriously?’ look while speaking.

“Don’t you have sports or stuff like extracurricular activities? Maybe that’s why.” Not that Hela is against him doing sport, Asher is welcomed to keep that nail-biter athletic built forever if he wishes.

“What? No. It can’t be, I’ve always practised sports and got great marks.”

“Well, first of all, you are still getting great marks.” Seeing the glare the blonde is shooting her, she retracts. “I mean, an 8’9 is still a good mark, I guess. Or maybe not! Depends on the stu-”

“You’re getting off topic, Hela.” Hearing Asher say her name and not her stupid nickname sent butterflies directly to her stomach. He doesn’t sound angry, but flustered. Why flustered? “How do you study? And don’t try to avoid the question.”

“Okay, okay I, er, summarize, do outlines — well, depending on the subject —, memorise, do exercises — that’s also depending on the subject by the way — uh, also maybe flashcards could work for you. They don’t make sense to me but, um, everyone has different tastes.” The brunette doesn’t notice she’s gesturing with her hands and Asher finds it a bit amusing, but keeps his embarrassed face.

“I want you to teach me.” Asher’s answer seems so final that unsettles a bit Hela.

What? Has hela heard correctly or is she that delusional to listen functionally? Teach him exactly what? To learn to study?

“Teach you what? To study? There’s little I know more than you, that’s for sure.” Laughing awkwardly, Hela tries to look elsewhere apart from his direction but it’s impossible.

“I want to learn how you study. If you are able to get the highest grade, so am I.” At this point they are so close Hela is able to smell Ahser’s fragance. It’s not strong but pleasant enough. Furthermore, the brunette can see clearly the faint blush in his cheeks. She supposes the boy isn’t aware of the minimum space between them, because she’s never seen him this close to anyone. Maybe the redness is caused by the fact he’s admitting he needs help from her. Who would have thought.

 “This might not end up as you expect, It can drop your grades even more if it doesn’t work!”

“Which leaves a 50% chance it does work. I’ll take the risk. So, will you teach me or not? I have sports practice today.”

“All right. But if anything goes wrong or the outcomes are not great, keep in mind I warned you.” Hela doesn’t want to make the only person that finally bothers to speak to her — without any mocking — angry, thank you very much.

“Sure.”

After another awkward silence, the girl is forced to break it. “So, uh, Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school are fine by you? We can meet in the library near the candy store if you want.”

“I can’t meet on Wednesdays, I’ve got hockey practice. However, I can on Thursdays. Or maybe you can meet me after hockey practice, whatever you prefer.” This was getting way too polite, if you ask Hela.

“Okay, then Tuesdays and Thursdays is it. And Wednesdays after practice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Nice.” Backing off, Asher licks his lips and looks at the class door. “Then uh, see ya.” And with that, he waves and leaves Hela alone in the class.

“Heh, yeah I’ll see you, eh, soon and, and well you just left.” As Hela talks, she lowers her voice feeling lore and more dumb, up until the end when Asher leaves.

Looking around to ensure that she’s alone in the classroom, the brunette puts her face in her hands and lets out a heavy sigh to calm herself. She’s only had one talk with him and she’s this worked up. Real good, Hela.You had your very first talk with him and got a date! As soon as her subconscious thinks that, Hela has to remind herself it is not a date. Just to help Asher improve his marks, nothing more. Although just because she’s going to help him in the library doesn’t mean she can’t look pretty or primp. Matter of fact, the Haddock recently bought a red lip gloss that’s kind of subtle but noticeable, and she’s got this mascara that gets her lashes a hundred times prettier. Hela may not have time to get changed before meeting with the blonde, though she could do some retouching in the School girl’s bathroom before heading to the library and wait for Asher.

Gods, she sounds so delusional planning everything in advance, but Hela can’t help it. The chances for people like her to get noticed and arrange meetings with their crushes are one in a billion. A girl can just dream.

So, when Tuesday arrives and school ends Hela sprints to the girl’s bathroom. She has brought with her a vanity case containing a hairbrush, mascara and lip gloss, plus cologne. She styles her hair like everyday, but putting some order in it — she has wild hair, unfortunately —, applies mascara and lip gloss. Last but not least, the cologne. She always uses it, but throughout the day the smell fades. Satisfied with her appearance Hela puts everything away and heads off to the library, trying not to show her excitement as she passes next to Snotlout and Tuffnut. Both boys don’t notice her, too focused on fighting each other to watch her pass by. Thank the gods. 

If they followed her to the library they’d see her help Asher and therefore see her lovesick glare  and make fun of her. No matter what she does, they will make fun of it if they have the chance. Hela is not certain if they’d do the same to Asher if they saw them together. You know, the geek and the perfect boy alone in the library. Maybe not, considering how Snotlout fawns over him to get the blonde’s attention for a second. 

Settling in a library’s table a bit far from the door, Hela puffs her cheeks before sighing. Deciding to kill time, she pulls out the Maths textbook and its respective notebook to finish the homework Ms. Helga sent them. After almost 10 minutes, she hears the door being opened and a blonde boy with icy blue eyes approaches her panting. 

“Sorry for the delay.” Asher says, sitting next to her. “Got distracted discussing some stuff with the volleyball team.”

“Sure, no problem. So now that you’re here I want to propose to you a guide plan to follow to, um, be organized and all that.” 

Hearing no response from the boy, Hela decided to continue explaining the guide plan.

“On Tuesdays we’ll cover Maths and History. In this way we’ll practice Math exercises and summarizing for History. A mind map may also work, though.” Handing in a paper with all the information written, the brunette keeps speaking. “For Wednesdays, considering we don’t have that much time, I thought about studying English and Biology, since English is kind of easy” as Hela says the last sentence, she looks up to Asher and asks. “Right?” The boy nods and that gives Hela a green light to continue. “Great. For Thursdays I think we should focus on Physics and Chemistry. They are both thick subjects, so perhaps it may be too overloaded. What do you think?”

Glancing over the paper sheet, Asher speaks up. “Yeah, maybe we should change History for Physics. Math and Physics are all about practice, more bearable to perform.”

“Fine.” Hela lets out a sigh and drums her fingers on the desk before breaking the silence. “So, then, shall we start? Have you brought any notebooks or..?”

“Yes, yes. Maths is it, right?”

The evening went by with no rush. They spent it doing Math and Physics exercises and looking through some study options that could work for Asher. Now, putting their textbooks, notebooks and school materials away, Hela ponders if it’s proper to ask him his number. Not to chat with him in a romantic way or similar —If only! —, but for Asher to have the chance of asking her any questions or inform her about anything related to their study sessions. It’s for the good, the brunette swears.

Finally heading to the exit, Hela fidgets with her schoolbag’s strap as she decides what to do. The boy, who is walking next to her, looks calm. When they reach the door, the blonde opens it and lets Hela exit the library first. What a gentleman, the Haddock is prone to think. Before finally heading home, Hela hears Asher talk to her and turns to look properly at him.

Apologetically smiling, Hela speaks. “Asher! Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Can you, er, repeat that again?” 

Unimpressed, Asher speaks. “I said if you minded giving me your number. To, you know, meet to study and after Wednesday's practices.”

“Oh sure! Just give me your phone and I’ll add it to your contacts.” Realising what she just said and how weird it came out, the brunette speaks up again, gesturing with her arms. “Or I’ll tell you my number! Yeah that’s better, let me just make sure it i-” 

“Here you have” The blonde interrupts Hela, handing her his phone unlocked. He now looks sort of amused, as if all her nervousness is entertaining to him. If only it were at least endearing, the brunette’s subconscious thinks, and she has to let all those thoughts away again. Not the time, Hela.

Having finished adding herself to Asher’s contacts, Hela says her goodbyes and goes home. Closing her bedroom’s door, the brunette’s phone buzzes. Hela pays it no mind and chooses to shower in order to later change into her clean pajamas. When she finishes getting comfortable, she scrolls through her phone. Nothing new, as always. Honestly, Hela doesn’t know what she expected. It’s not like she’s got someone — apart from her dad — to talk to online, and Hela definitely refuses to talk to strangers — what if they’re pedos?! 

Anyway, almost ready to go to bed she sees a notification from a chat with an unknown number. What the hell? Opening the chat, Hela reads the message.

Hockey practice ends at 6:00 PM in the sports center. The building is in front of a fountain, but there are signs in case you get lost.

Okay, that was definitely Asher. Aw, how cute! He put instructions because he knows I live in cloud-cuckoo land. Wait, no, Hela’s subconscious is just completely delusional. Like, insanely delusional, Hela thinks. The brunette might be staring at the message for a bit too long, because when she falls off the dreamy state it’s almost 11:30 pm. The girl mentally discusses whether she should respond or not, however, her eyelids are slowly dropping, and believe it or not she needs a beauty sleep. 

The next day, school goes without any remarkable incident. At recess, Hela doodles in her sketchbook until she hears someone speak, giving her a heart attack. 

“I’ll see you at 6 at the sports center.”

“Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me.” 

 Completely ignoring her, Asher continues. “Just in case you haven’t read my text.”

“Yeah, uh, I forgot to answer. Sorry about that.” Trying to fix her hair with her fingers, Hela excuses herself lamely.

“Didn’t think you would anyway. Remember, 6 PM at the building in front of the big fountain.” Before closing the door, the blonde shoots her a pointed look.

And there she is at 6 pm, sitting on a bench in front of one of the buildings of the sports center. Before arriving there, Hela was debating whether she should enter the building or not, and finally chose to wait outside. Just in case some of Asher’s teammates see her waiting for him — or them together — and snitch it to Snotlout, assuming things that are not true.

Thanking the Gods, the brunette sees Asher leaving the building two minutes after she arrives, with a bunch of boys behind him. He is carrying both his sports bag with his gear in it and his school bag and looks stunning — in Hela’s opinion. He has a scruffy look with his clothes kind of wrinkled. Even so, that doesn’t lessen his beauty. Asher has wet hair on his temple and his braid is partly undone, probably because of the physical exercise and sweat. He looks in a rush, walking with a fast pace towards the girl.

When he arrives at her side, he speaks. “So, shall we go?”

“Sure, yes, let’s go. You've got your notebooks, right?” Standing up from where is sitting, Hela  sets forth.

The whole studying evening went smoothly slow for the Haddock. It was mortifying trying to concentrate on Biology when she had Asher looking ten times more handsome than usual. It must have been something in the air of the hockey field, because it was inexplicable if not. His messy hair gave a domestic vibe as though  Hela was seeing his look on a Saturday morning, recently woken up. Both of them must have been really taken up — you know, answering questions and memorising technical terms —, because the old librarian lady came up to them and gently told them to leave the library as it was closing time. 

“Hela.” While walking towards the exit, the Hofferson refers to her. “You know you can enter the hockey field, right? It will be easier for you to wait for me.”

“Oh yeah, I just thought it’ll be better if I wait outside. You know, so you can say goodbye to the team and stuff.” The girl is obviously not telling Asher she thinks it will save him from the jokes people would do at their expense if they ever saw them together.

“You can wait outside the locker room if you prefer.”

“Wouldn’t I be disturbing you guys? I don’t want to interfere with your time as a team, or whatever things you do in there.” Goddammit, Hela, that sounded creepy as hell. By a sacred act, Asher doesn’t see anything weird in the final sentence.

“I don’t mind. I don’t care what they have to say at the end of practice anyway, so there’s no problem.”

“Great, so uh, I guess I’ll wait for you there from now on.” 

“Alright.” After Asher finishes speaking, they arrive at the exit and go their separate ways. 

The following weeks go by and Asher seems to be making progress with his grades. He’s improved his Maths and Physics grades, but continues lacking on Biology and History. Hela hasn’t missed how stressed that has him, looking each day more and more frustrated. In a Tuesday meeting, he expresses all his frustration.

“I just don’t understand why I keep getting the same grades, we’ve been working a lot these days! It’s as if all the work is not worth it.” Leaning against the back of the library’s chair, he lets out an angry sigh.

“I’m sure there’s something we’re missing out. We’ll sort it out and then you’ll improve.” After a thought, Hela continues. “You’ve also been working at home, right? Maybe there’s the problem.”

“I’ve been working, yeah. Every single day.”

“Perhaps the problem is the studying habit you have.” Hearing that, Asher turns his head to properly hear her. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, we simply have to… modify it to our liking. Now, what do you do?

“For both subjects I just memorise and do flash cards, like you taught me. And maybe do outlines.”

“At what time do you start and finish?”

“From 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, except practice days.”

“With no breaks?”

“Why would I?”

“You have to take breaks, if not your brain absorbs too much information but retains little! There’s the problem.”

“But it has always worked fine for me these years.” Fidgeting with his pen, Asher’s frown deepens.

“And now it does not.” Hela tries to prove her point by lifting her eyebrows, emphasizing. “On each break you need to distract your brain, let it rest! Do not let it work too much or it’ll be all for naught. There’s scientific proof that endorses what I’m saying.” Thinking of some examples, the brunette comes across the perfect one. “You do sports! You can take a 10 minute break every 30 minutes to rest and do physical effort.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening. I’ve got siblings, and there’s no space for me to do it.” 

“Well there’s gotta be something to do.” Think, Hela, think!

“What do you do?” For Thor’s sake, does it always have to imply me? Is Hela’s exact thought when she hears the question. 

“What?”

Calmly, Asher repeats. “You said breaks are necessary, therefore you take breaks. What do you do on those breaks?” Okay, alright, fair enough, Hela deserves it. Some day she should glue her mouth so it doesn’t put her in touch and go.

Filling up with courage, she answers. “This is really embarrassing, but I draw.”

 Unexpectedly, Asher doesn’t laugh, nor mock her. He just continues looking at her and asks.

“Draw? Draw what?”

“Well, uh, depends. Sometimes animals, other times humans. Depends on how I feel.” 

“Can you show me any of your drawings?”

Inside, Hela wants to scream. Her art is not that good for Asher to like. Oh gods, waht if he laughs right at her face when she shows them to him?

Instead of voicing her doubts and concerns — or even running away—, the girl smiles awkwardly and says: “Sure.” Hoping to be equal to his expectatives, the brunette pulls out her file folder with some school doodles and picks the most presentable — and less messy — ones. 

“These are the ones I make during recess, but I swear there are better ones! They’re just at home because I draw more carefully there and-” Oh, great, now she’s babbling nonsense nonstop. It’s what conveys being nervous as hell, if you care to know.

Asher picks a few and starts inspecting them with detail. If the girl wasn’t so nervous about his opinion, she would appreciate how focused he looks. After what seems an eternity, the Hofferson hands back her drawings to Hela and offers her a sincere smile — one of the few he’s used to giving people.

“These are really great,” if the brunette is not out of her mind, there is a faint redness on the boy’s cheeks. “It must have cost you a lot of practice to get this good.”

Oh my, he gets it. Are the exact thoughts of Hela’s minds. Yes, she’s been working like a dog to get this good at art and finally, finally someone recognises how great she has become. The only reactions she’d gotten so far were adverse, Snotlout undermined the morale of Hela as soon as he caught any glimpse of a minuscule doodle, and Tuffnut would call it ‘geeky’.

“Yeah, it’s all about practice. Kind of like sports, I suppose. 

“I’ll try drawing. I won’t get as good as you, but as long as it works I’ll be satisfied.”

“We have a History test on Friday. Try taking breaks and see for yourself.”

As Hela expected, the break thing works out for the blonde. When they were handed out their tests, already marked, the boy turned to face her and showed her a 9’7 plastered on the paper. The brunette gave him a small smile and gestured a mute congratulations with her mouth. Asher returned the smile, that confident one he had reserved for sports and academics.

At the end of school, Hela hears someone call her name while she’s heading home. In no time the girl has Asher next to her. He is breathing heavily due to running all the way to her, but the blonde doesn’t seem to mind.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me. You were right, the breaks totally help.” Oh, Thor. Asher is giving her a sincere smile again and the girl’s heart flutters. 

“No big deal, that’s why we meet at the library.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” A comfortable silence settles in the atmosphere until the blonde speaks again. “So um, I’ll go, ‘ve got volleyball practice today.”

“See you the-” In the blink of an eye, Hela is unable to speak as she’s being pulled for a hug. It lasts seconds, but the boy’s hand on her waist feels like it’s been there for hours. Moreover, the blonde’s fragance stays in Hela’s mind, his touch is firm and sends shivers to the girl’s spine. Fastly, Asher leaves her side — after screaming a bit strangled ‘bye’ — and goes in the direction of the sports center, leaving the brunette baffled, trying to process what happened.

Hela hadn’t been fond of hugs throughout her life. The only ones she has experienced are her father’s, and with his immense strength, they are kind of bone-crushing. Although, this one she has just experienced was a mind reset to her, with no doubt. 

The next studying sessions take a turn, at least in Hela’s perspective. They seem to be getting closer, as if Asher is warming to her. The blonde is more talkative during their study sessions and more open to talk about any topics, even his private life — nothing weird, simply regarding his family and friends. Matter of fact, the Hofferson has also shown interest in the girl’s life, asking about it without being too intrusive. The boy has been more touchy — not in a creepy way —, considering how the first sessions he sat in a distance of 30 centimeters away from her. He smiles more often when being in the library with Hela and has even offered her to come to one of his hockey games.

The brunette has also noticed how she doesn’t get nervous when talking to him. Thanks to the talks they have, she’s been able to get to know him more and get used to his presence. 

 All those conversations send butterflies to the Haddock’s stomach. When Asher asked her to come to the hockey match, the girl wanted to scream of joy. Obviously she didn’t, but accepted with a smile and a faint blush on her cheeks that resembled the one Asher also had.

Now, Hela has had to contemplate what she will be to Asher. Not talking about choosing between girlfriend or friend, that’s ridiculous since she’ll never confess her feelings. It’s regarding what person will Asher consider her as: a girl who only helps him with his grades with no friendship whatsoever or a friend who he can rely on. There’s no hiding from him like she used to, the girl has to face him and interact with him no matter her feelings for the boy.

Both options make her heart ache, however, the  brunette utterly refuses to be rejected. It’s not fear of rejection, it’s keeping her dignity intact. Even so, all her interactions with Asher enforce the little hope Hela has that maybe, maybe he feels this way too.

It may be Hela’s imagination playing with her mind, but the girl would swear he’s seeing her in a different way. His face seems to lighten even in the dark corner of the library they sit in. Furthermore, the blonde has started engaging in some conversations with her in school, without caring if her cousin sees them together.

Who knows, it is rather common for someone to idealise every single interaction they have with their crush. Perhaps all that staring, touching and the conversations are all platonic.

The day before the hockey match Hela promised to attend, they are studying in the library. After resolving a Physics exercise, Hela waits for the blonde to finish it and compare results. However, when Asher looks up to her to tell her he’s finished, the boy stares at her. Their eyes meet and Hela feels heat in her cheeks because of being discovered staring at him. The brunette gets a lump in her throat as she maintains eye contact, feeling like she’s experiencing a soap opera scene. It feels unreal, and the girl is seriously thinking there’s a reason the boy is staring at her like that. Does she have something in her face? 

It’s as though the girl is floating in a cloud of daydream. The time seems to slow its flow and everything not regarding Asher in front of her turns into a blur. They stay put for seconds until the boy reaches out his arm. It’s determined and yet delicate as he brushes a hair lock of Hela and tucks it behind her ear. Asher pulls out his arm fastly and blinks, breaking the spell they both were casted on.

“You had something in your hair.” Asher avoids her glare and flicks his fringe in a failed attempt to not show his blush.

“Oh, thank you.” The Haddock also has reddened cheeks and a breathless voice, like she’s suffered the most heart-stopping experience of her life. And she might have.

The tickles in Hela’s hair as it was brushed by the blonde and her frantic heartbeat are a strange combination. Asher’s blush and his touch, a heavenly one. The brunette tries hard to suppress a smile as she feels her chest warm of love sickness and forces herself to concentrate on comparing their results of the Physics problem.

The following day is Asher’s hockey match, and Hela is bubbling with excitement. She doesn’t show it throughout the day, but the wait is excruciating. Moreover, the girl hasn’t forgotten about yesterday, and probably won’t. It’s a vivid memory playing nonstop in her mind. All she draws in recess are hockey related things while she wonders how the sport works. The brunette should have done some research about the sport in order to not seem a complete coarse when watching the game; but to be honest, Hela is only going to be watching Asher, not the game itself. 

When the last class of the day ends, the blonde walks towards her. He is carrying his sports bag — along with the school one — and looks kind of nervous too, only showing it by how he fidgets with his bag. 

“Hey. Ready to go?”

“Yeah, lead the way.” They start walking towards the school exit, and when they finally leave the building Asher looks at her.

“I always go to the supper for a snack first, just for you to know.” 

“Okay, I don’t mind.” 

At the supper, while Asher is looking for his snack, Hela is searching for a drink in the same corridor. They’re back to back — not facing each other —, and a comfortable silence settles in until Hela breaks it.

“Is it cold in the field? I mean, the stands.”

“I only feel cold when entering the field, but warm up instantly. Maybe the face feels cold if you don’t have a helmet. The stands are a completely different thing, but it sure is cold. It’s an ice hockey field after all.”

“I should have brought a scarf then.” The brunette deadpans.

“You should have.” Nodding, the boy picks out a bag of vanilla-flavoured cookies and walks to the cashier. After a few seconds, Hela follows and pays for her coke.

Having finished their momentarily stop, they officially head off to the sports center. The Haddock walks at a fast pace and Asher too. However, the blonde doesn't seem bothered about getting on time or not.

“Are you not going to be late?” Drinking from her coke, the girl asks.

“We’re alright for time, there’s no need to rush.” 

“Don’t you need to warm up or talk to the team? Since you’re the captain and all that.” When Hela finishes saying this, the Hofferson stares at her without saying anything. He has a cryptic smile on his face.

“Not really, we warm up when the other team arrives, and the coach is the one who talks to the team.” After a pause where they just keep walking, Asher continues with a rather sincere and small smile. “I’m the captain because I score the most, not because I give empowering speeches.” Now Hela doesn’t know if he’s showing off or just proud of himself. 

“Fair enough.”

When they finally arrive at the sports center, the building they must go to is near them. While they’re getting closer, Asher starts telling Hela where she should go in order to sit in the stands closests to the field, because he will be heading straight to the locker rooms and won’t be able to accompany her.

Following the blonde’s instructions, Hela sits in one of the stands that’s closer to where the boy will be playing soon. As time goes by, the brunette sees more people taking their seats and — regretfully — recognises familiar faces such as the Thorston twins, though they don’t notice her. Thankfully, they’re far away from her in the last row of stands. Nothing to be afraid of.

Hela is so far away with the fairies watching the twins closely that when she hears the sound of ice skates, she startles herself. Looking back to the field, the Haddock easily spots Asher between all the boys playing. The blonde is wearing his sports gear along with all the players and, as Hela thinks, they all look like big marshmallows. Everyone but Asher, of course. He looks nice, already focused on the soon-to-be-started game. He has his particular determined glare and is warming up with his team. 

After a few minutes, both teams have finished warming up and ready to start the game. When the match finally starts, Hela centers all her attention on Asher. Not to sound biased (she obviously is), but the boy must play spectacularly because no one seems to get in his way. And looks breathtaking while playing, with some locks of his fringe sticking to his forehead due to the sweat and cold, and has reddened cheeks caused by the physical exercise. The brunette is able to watch both teams score and fight for the lead, with Asher’s team winning by a small difference.

In the break, Hela watches the Hofferson listen to the coach’s instructions and drink water. He doesn’t have his helmet on and now the brunette can confirm he truthfully looks ethereal. While he listens to whatever his coach has to say, Asher looks up to the stands and whips his head as if he’s searching for someone. When the boy spots Hela in the crowd, he smiles briefly and waves at her. Sheepishly, the brunette reciprocates the greeting and smiles back. She’s starting to feel cold, but sucks it up and continues to observe Asher’s team talking to the coach now that the boy has refocused his attention on him. The realisation settles in Hela’s mind as she tries to process that the blonde has surely seen her ogle him when he spotted her, and blush spreads over her cheeks. Gods, this is so embarrassing.

In the end, Asher’s team wins. After waiting for some people to exit the building, Hela does too. She puts on her headphones and starts walking towards the exit, thinking about the new dinosaurs book she bought two days ago. Finally outside, the brunette ponders whether she should say goodbye to the Hofferson or not, but him appearing next to her dissolves her doubts.

“Great game.” Smiling, Hela tries to initiate a conversation.

“Thanks, they were tough to win.”

“Yeah, I saw you struggling.” Thanks to all the time spent with the blonde, Hela is able to joke and have friendly banter with him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Asher hits her lightly on the shoulder while speaking, smiling playfully.

“Nothing, forget it. Well, I’ll just head home. Yeah, see you tomorrow at school.” Before setting off, Hela feels the boy’s hand in her shoulder and looks back.

“I’ll walk you home.” The tone that Asher uses seems so final that Hela doesn’t intend to fight him. Of course she won't fight him, the blonde is going to walk her home. The funny feeling in the brunette’s chest grows as seconds go by and she can’t help smiling widely at his request-command.

“…All right.”

The walk to the girl’s home is kind of long, but bearable as they are both chatting. It must be Hela’s imagination, but it looks as if both of them are waiting for something to happen. Anyway, they talk about various things — school, hobbies, etc… — until Hela unintentionally mentions the twins' presence in the match.

“They seem to not have anything to do at all and self-invite themselves to my games. It’s a bit of a habit by now, though I’ve tried to stop them.” Asher says, shrugging and looking at the floor.

Forgetting soon about it, they continue the path to Hela’s home. Moving to their interests, Hela is surprised to know that Asher likes the same TV series as her. When they arrive at her home, a sort of uncomfortable atmosphere settles in. They’re both waiting for the other to speak. However, when they see this is not going anywhere, both speak at the same time.

“Thank you for coming to my game.”

“Thank you for walking me home.”

After staring surprised at each other’s eyes for seconds, the both of them loosen a bit and smile. Almost immediately, the uncomfortable atmosphere vanishes and it comes back to a cosy one.

“Today was fun. Thanks for inviting me to your game.” Hela says.

“No problem, I wanted you there.” As soon as Asher answers, blush appears on his cheeks after realizing what he’s just said. “I mean, I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t, it is-”

“Is your house far away from here?”  Before the situation gets worse, Hela interrupts the blonde and asks him. The boy seems to appreciate it, and goes back to his usual self.

“No, just a few streets to the left.” 

“Great. So… I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah.” Asher stays in his spot, not moving an inch. After milliseconds of thinking, Hela realises he’s waiting for her to enter the house. Just to be safe. Therefore, after waving him goodbye, the brunette walks to the front door. Before entering her home, she turns around and waves — again — the blonde goodbye. The boy, as Hela can make out, smiles and reciprocates the farewell, and then goes home.

Throughout the weeks, going to watch Asher’s games becomes a habit for Hela. The blonde keeps inviting her, and she accepts. Who in this world would say no to that? In the blink of an eye, the first trimester of school ends and Snoggletog — the equivalent of Christmas for Berkians — arrives. A two week break from school. That would usually bring joy to Hela, but not now that she has something to look forward to every Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school. Now that school is over until January, their study sessions stop and Hela has to busy herself drawing and watching TV. She also daydreams about libraries and boys with blonde hair and blue eyes; and thinks thoroughly about her crush on Asher.

The brunette wonders if Asher feels the same way and thinks about her in the school break. Probably not. Maybe he’s playing with his siblings, or going out with the Thorston twins and Snotlout and Fishlegs to drink yaknog and celebrate; definitely not thinking about her, not even a bit. But gods, how she wishes it’s the other way. Deep inside, the brunette desires Asher to catch feelings for her and confess. 

Over the course of weeks of studying with Asher and spending time with him, Hela had gotten to see the human side of him. The brunette has come to the realisation that Asher is not some kind of perfect god fallen from heaven, but a 16 year old boy with flaws and defects. And that isn’t bad, everyone has them. That doesn’t mean she has stopped liking him, it just means that, finally, she can completely fall in love with the real version of him and not a dehumanized one. She has realised she likes the ordinary Asher better than the one she used to picture as the flawless golden boy. 

Hela has fallen in love with the Asher who sometimes struggles, stresses and that shows typical human behaviour; not the ‘I am perfect and everyone wishes to be me’ one. Yes, the Hofferson does commit errors, and gets mad, and fails; but that adds up to his personality as a whole instead of bringing him down. She values him as what he is as a person, not what people consider him to be.

In this way, Hela has matured her thoughts and is willing to make the relationship work if it were to happen someday. Now I’m ready for love, but is he? Is he thinking about me during this holiday?

It is stupid. Utterly stupid, because Asher hasn’t shown any signs of attraction towards Hela. However, the girl remembers how the Hofferson had seen her in the most recent study sessions when the boy thought she wasn’t looking. Those stares weren't the normal ones, neither the one he used to look at her at the start. Moreover, Hela can’t recall watching him look at any of his friends that way. Eyes can’t lie, can they? That one hug they shared was of pure gratitude, of course, but they have gotten so close that it is easy to think of the other differently — more than friends —, and getting to know each other more has allowed Asher to see Hela as more than a geek. 

The girl is more than that, and Asher knows it. He knows Hela’s favourite TV shows, her abnormal obsession with dinosaurs and marine creatures, her favourite singer and what she wants to be in the future. The blonde knows her hobbies, her fixations and her favourite food. He knows how great of a person she is and acknowledges that Hela is not someone to make fun of. He thinks of her as hardworking and kind, with numerous good qualities. Committed to helping him even if they hadn’t talked before.

When Snoggletog ends, their study sessions resume and so do their interactions. In one study session in particular, Asher asks her on a date. Okay, not exactly a date , but spending a Saturday afternoon — the entrance is free at that time — at the National Science Museum of Berk and later going to get dinner seems like one or, at least, comes close to it. 

When Stoick hears of it, he questions Hela.

“So, a date?” 

“No! Dad, no, not a date. A hang out.” Explaining this to her old-fashioned dad is tough, believe her.

“With a boy.”

“Asher.” Hela automatically corrects her father.

“The Hofferson’s son?” Stoick recognises him.

“Yes.”

“He asked you on a date?” Raising his eyebrow, he asks again.

“Ugh dad, not a date!”

“Where?” Completely ignoring Hela, Stoick continues.

“At the Science Museum.”

“With who else?” 

“Just me and him.”

“Alone?” What is her father thinking?

“I suppose there will be staff at the Museum. And the people visiting it.”  As a joke, Hela raises her eyebrow. Stoick doesn’t seem to catch up on it, and continues.

“I want you at home by 9.”

“Half past nine.” They need to have time to eat dinner, for Thor’s sake.

“Deal.”

“All right, I’ll go to my room.” Hela goes upstairs until Stoick calls her name, forcing her to go downstairs and face her father once again.

“Hela.”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.” Okay, that is sweet. Smiling, Hela nods and hugs her father, who reciprocates it. When they break the hug, Stoick speaks up again. “Though a museum is a weird place to ask a girl on a date.”

Here we go again. “Dad!”

The day of the so-called date arrives and Hela is a bundle of nerves. She’s fixed her hairstyle five times and has put on lipgloss a bigger amount of times. The brunette is waiting for Asher to come pick her up and then they’ll go by public transportation to the museum. When the doorbell rings, Hela has to stop Stoick from answering. Too bad, he has already opened the door. As the girl goes downstairs, she hears her father and Asher talk.

“Hello sir, I am Asher Hofferson. I’m here to pick up Hela.”

“She’ll be ready in a minute.” Hela hears her father try to continue talking, but she perfectly knows what Stoick will ask to Asher and interrupts him by running to the door and standing next to the older Haddock.

“Hi! Asher, hello, hi, heh. I’m ready to go.” Leaving the house fastly and barely grabbing her keys, Hela holds onto Asher’s bicep, keeping on walking and, consequently, rushing him. “Bye dad! Take care!”

After a considerable distance walked, Asher speaks. “Hey! Why the rush?”

“Oh, nothing.” Slowing the pace, Hela breathes. “My dad just can be a bit… intense? He would be asking weird questions, so it’s better to avoid that, huh?”

“…I guess.” The boy doesn’t seem to forget Hela’s grip — as she has done, completely forgetting she’s holding onto his arm — but doesn’t say a word and changes the topic. “The bus we have to take is the 435. It probably won’t arrive until 5:30.”

“Great, we’ll wait then.”

They spend the entire journey talking about trifles or funny anecdotes, studies being less important. They had to stand on the bus, but it didn’t matter to them, too caught up in their talk to focus on the tiredness of standing for a long time. 

Out of mere curiosity, Hela dares asking. “Why the Science Museum?” 

Asher is petrified for a millisecond, but keeps his normal face and speaks while looking at the brunette.

“You said you liked sea creatures and dinosaurs, and I heard that there’s an expo about them so I thought you’d like it.” The explanation makes Hela’s heart fasten its bumping, and a faint blush appears on her cheeks and neck. The sole thought of Asher thinking about her does no good to her well-being.

“Yeah, I do.” Smiling at him, Hela changes the topic and evades the possible upcoming uncomfortable situation.

Thankfully, when they arrive at the museum there isn’t a long line of waiting, and in less than 5 minutes they are inside the building. The first thing they visit is, of course, the dinosaurs exposition and decide to later go to the sea creatures exposition. Hela, being utterly fascinated by it, isn’t able to witness the lovesick glare Asher is giving her as they walk through the exposition, with a sincere smile plastered on his face. 

The Hofferson doesn’t seem to mind hearing her talking endlessly about each and every specimen they encounter in the exposition. He’s enjoying it as much as Hela, in fact. Without knowing, both are being carried away by each other’s presence. When they reach the pterodactyls, the girl continues fact-vomiting and Asher continues listening to her attentively.

“Oh, pterodactyls are not actually dinosaurs, though.” The brunette frowns slightly when seeing the error the museum has made. “They are pterosaurs, which are different. The difference is slight, but pterosaurs did not have the empty hole in their hip joint dinosaurs had, nor the crest in their upper arm bone that dinosaurs also had.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and they were the first to be identified as  flying reptiles. In fact, they are the largest flying animals to have ever existed on Earth, surpassing the condor by much!” Hela looks like an excited toddler when given a toy, with happiness in her eyes.

“That’s really cool.” Smiling to her, Asher encourages the girl to continue.

“I know, it’s incredible!”

In the sea creatures exposition, the girl is still quivering with excitement. At every fossil’s creature the brunette sees, she points it out for Asher to see and says at least a fun fact about it. As a response, the blonde listens to her carefully and pays full attention to whatever Hela has to say, bending down slightly to be at her height. The height difference is not very noticeable; however, Asher is almost a head taller than Hela.

When they reach the end of the exposition, it has been over an hour since they entered the museum. Unconsciously, the brunette heads to the exit, but is stopped when Asher grabs her hand and forces her to face him.

“There’s still the rest of the museum left to visit.” Is all the blonde says.

And they visit the rest of the museum. They spend the rest of the afternoon walking through the corridors and quietly chatting, being in their own bubble. Maybe unintentionally, Asher is still holding her hand. Whatever the reason is, Hela doesn’t say a word about it and enjoys the rest of the visit, being fully aware of the boy’s touch. The atmosphere of silence makes the experience more intimate, even if it’s only a hang out with a friend — one who is holding her hand. When they finally leave the museum, the sun is setting.

After a bit of walking around, they head to a fast food restaurant to eat dinner. Finally seated, they look over the menu and decide what to eat. 5 minutes pass and they have ordered their meals, the only thing left to do is wait while they talk. In the blink of an eye they are already eating the food they ordered. When they finish eating, Hela and Asher decide to stay in the fast food restaurant for a while until heading off to the bus stop.

Time has gone by so fast that when Hela checks her phone before heading to the bus stop with the blonde — for the first time in the whole hang out — it’s 9:16 PM. The brunette notices a chill going down her spine as she remembers how her dad wants her home by 9:30, and the bus trip lasts at least 20 minutes. Oh, crap. 

“We should get going right now.”

“Why?”

“I told my dad I’ll be home at 9:30, and if we don’t fly to catch the bus he’ll kill me. And maybe you too.” As she says this, the Haddock hurries the boy and they run to the bus stop.

Thanking the gods above, the couple manage to not miss the bus. The vehicle is more crowded than the one they took to get to the Museum, and Hela and Asher find themselves standing close to each other, so close that they are separated by a distance only possibly measured in centimeters. Furthermore, due to all the running they had to do, they are heavily panting. Catching her breath, Hela becomes fully aware of the proximity of the blonde’s body and notices how he has also stopped breathing heavily. 

Looking up to him, Hela is dumbfounded as she meets Asher’s eyes and maintains eye contact with him. This is the closest they have ever been, almost skin to skin. When the girl realises they both have been staring for too long, she blinks and looks away, unable to avoid hiding the blush on her cheeks. Funny how Asher wasn’t the one to break eye contact , Hela thinks.

“It’s a bit tight here.” Is the only thing the brunette cam let out, hiding the embarrassment while continuing to look away from the boy.

“It is.” The warm voice of the blonde sends shivers to Hela, forcing her legs not to tremble and the girl to look as calm as humanly possible. She can feel his face on her neck, and most probably has her skin standing on end due to the little distance separating them. The Haddock decides to not try to start a conversation, because surely her voice will come out brittle if she tries to. Instead, the brunette focuses on watching the scenery through the window, already darkened.

After what seems an eternity, Hela and Asher get off the bus. They share a — sort of — comfortable silence, even if in their minds they are still reliving the sensation of their bodies practically pressed together. Only after having spent a few minutes walking is when the boy starts chatting to Hela. When they arrive at Hela's home, being a few meters away from the front door, they stop their tracks to properly face each other.

“We’re here.” Is all Hela says.

“We are.” 

“I loved the museum, the expos were amazing.”

“They were a great take, I figured you’d like them.”

“I loved them. Thank you for taking me out.” As soon as she says this, Hela feels all colours bloom in her face. “I mean, for going with me! You know, to the museum and for thinking about the dinosaurs- wait no, for thinking about me- no, not that, oh gods this is so embarrassing-” As each word is being said, the brunette is more and more embarrassed. 

Thankfully, Asher is there to save the situation by kissing her. 

A steady kiss, that’s for sure. Kind of like a peck on the lips, but more lasting; that much that allows Hela to properly process what is happening and widens her eyes, body rigid as stone and mind awestruck. That’s her first kiss ever. With her crush, no less. The touch of his lips is thrilling, even if they’re chapped, and his hand on the back of her head is not curt, but gentle.

When the blonde breaks the kiss, he stares at the girl with waiting eyes. For seconds, they both stand there without moving, though it seems like forever. I do not know what to do , is what Hela thinks. She can’t escape the situation, nor does she want to. Wait, I do actually know what to do. And after thinking this, the brunette grabs Asher by the collar of his shirt and pulls him down, kissing him back. The boy must have been caught by surprise, because he reacts a few seconds later, reciprocating the kiss and wrapping his hands around her waist. 

This kiss is better than the previous one. More enthusiasm is shown, and the feeling of being reciprocated adds up to it. It’s not an extremely deep kiss, but enough for the both of them to feel fireworks explode in their hearts. Hela is more than aware of Asher’s pleasant touch on her waist, pulling her closer to him. Surely, Asher is also noticing how the girl has a strong grip on his collar, keeping him kneeled to be properly face to face with her. When they break the kiss, they are both panting. Not knowing what to say, the blonde looks at Hela’s house while she is looking at him, waiting for a confession. Nothing fancy, only enough to clear up this whole event. 

Unfortunately, the boy says something completely different from a confession. “You should enter your house, your dad may be mad.”

A gut-wrenching feeling invades Hela’s mind, but is fastly replaced by fear of the telling off she’s going to receive. “Oh gods, yeah. Well, uh, see you at school.” With that being said, the brunette runs to enter her house. As soon as she steps a foot on the house, Stoick is there in the entrance with his arms crossed and a pronounced frown. The only thing Hela can pray for is for her dad to not chew out her.

“Dad!” Smiling to him, Hela tries to play dumb, but it doesn’t work out. There’s always plan b: beg for mercy and over explain everything, manipulating some minor ‘insignificant’ details. “I swear we came back as fast as we could, but the bus was too slow, and there were so many people! Please forgive me, it won't happen ever again!”

Unexpectedly, Stoick just hugs her, crushing some ribs in the process. “I was worried sick, lady.” Okay, he is mad. Her dad only calls her lady when she fucks up or puts him on the edge of. Nevertheless, there is a hint of utter worry in his voice. 

Continuing the hug, Hela speaks up. “I’m sorry, dad. We got… distracted” Obviously she’s not telling him she has kissed Asher two times. That would be indirectly admitting Stoick was right. 

“I saw that, indeed.” With the sole sentence, the younger Haddock turns into stone, stiff as her dad breaks the hug.

What the fuck.

“Imma go to my room.” Rushing to the stairs, the girl is stopped by a grip on her shoulder.

“You stay here lady.”

“I am really tired, dad.”

“You didn’t seem like it.” 

Facing her dad, the brunette looks exasperated. “Why would you spy on me? I mean, us.” Seeing the look Stoick is giving her, Hela groans loudly. “It doesn’t matter, that is creepy!”

Completely ignoring her, the older Haddock continues. “When I was your age we dated in order to be going around kissing. In public.”

“So?”

“You’re not dating him.” Thanks for the reminder, dad, are Hela’s honest thoughts. However, his dad’s words make the brunette doubt. He’s right though… Wait, why didn’t Asher just ask me that? Does he kiss every girl he hangs out with? No, times change and so does dating, right?

She definitely has to sort out her thoughts. Sighing, the girl looks up to Stoick with induced doubt. “Look, I’m sorry dad. Today’s been a long day, okay? I know I should have arrived earlier, but things happened and then you saw… that. I just want to lay in bed.” That’s true. With what her father said — even if it should be insignificant and doesn’t necessarily link to what happened —, her mind is on fire; each thought crazier than the previous one.

Watching Hela closely, the older Haddock notices how she is, in fact, on the ninth cloud. Taking a deep breath, he dictates the end of the conversation. “Go to your room, we’ll talk tomorrow.” 

For once, the brunette follows his orders and does as told. Finally on the fuzzy of her bed, she lets her mind wander through her thoughts. 

Hela doesn’t want to get ahead of herself, but she really needs to properly process and interiorise what happened minutes before. She needs answers to some questions only the blonde boy can answer, but, of course, she is too embarrassed to ask. Suddenly, a realisation dawns upon the brunette: Asher was the one to kiss her, he initiated the kiss. So, logically, he is the one who must address the situation, not her. She won’t say a word about it until the Hofferson does.

And so Hela does. On Monday, when she’s sitting on her seat and waits for class to start, the girl watches as Asher enters the classroom. At the same time, Miss Olga also prepares to start the first period. It’s okay, he still has the entire day left to talk to me. Thinks the girl as she starts writing down what Miss Olga is lecturing them. 

Turns out Asher doesn’t talk to her. He didn’t talk to her at school before they went out, but Hela expected at least a short talk about that. Nothing too special, just clarifying their emotions and ‘cringy’ stuff. At the end of the day, the brunette can hear her heart breaking just a little.

On Tuesday — one of the days their study sessions take place —, Asher keeps on avoiding talking to her. Well, not exactly avoiding, but they don’t talk. In the library, the Haddock waits for the boy to arrive, taming her wild hair and fixing her appearance a bit. When the blonde appears through the door, he waves at her and quickly goes to their common spot. Asher mumbles a rushed apology for his tardiness and, following Hela’s movements, takes out his notebooks.

The evening goes by in the blink of an eye, as Hela waits for the Hofferson to talk about the kiss. Or kisses. She’s disappointed; what kind of man is he? However, the brunette utterly refuses to talk to him about the topic. What if she brings it up and it goes completely wrong? One way or another, they both act as though nothing had happened, though Asher shoots some glances at Hela without her noticing. 

When the study session comes to an end, the brunette feels heartbroken but conceals the feeling. Smiling, she says goodbye to Asher and walks home slowly, trying not to shed any tears and failing miserably. Hela doesn’t want Stoick to know she’s been crying, so she stops for a few minutes at a park and tries to calm down taking deep breaths.

A week goes by and the tension between them arises. Hela feels close to exploding, but barely resists. I really need to lighten up. It all comes to a boiling point when Asher asks her to go to another of his games and the brunette accepts. She attends the game and, as a habit, the blonde walks her home.

Arriving at Hela’s home, they stop and look at each other. Maybe, the brunette thinks, he’s now going to talk about it. She watches as the blonde gets closer to her. When there are only centimeters keeping them apart, the girl gets away and finally, finally is the one to explode. Stumbling with her words, she expresses all her confusion.

“Asher, please don’t confuse me more than I already am.” Hela doesn’t give Asher time nor chance to speak as she continues, taking a small breath. “You can’t kiss me out of nowhere and expect me to- to pretend nothing happened! What about considering others feelings? My feelings? That’s not cool. At all.” 

Asher looks at her dumbfounded, causing Hela to be more nervous than she has ever been in her entire life. He stays silent, looking at her.

“Don’t stand there, say something!” The brunette thinks if she talks, the whole scene will be less awkward. Well, not entirely, but it brings the blonde back from cloud nine and makes him react.

As fast as wind, Asher pulls her closer again and kisses her again. When separated, he blurts something out, so fast that Hela struggles to understand it, but when she does a shiver goes down her spine.

“Be my girlfriend.”

Well, now the dumbfounded one is Hela. This is the so-called moment, the one that makes your knees tremble and your heart to skip a beat. Even if it’s totally unromantic. It’s not a request, it resembles an order. ‘ Be my girlfriend.’ Is this what their relationship will look like? 

Hela has seen many facets of Asher: frustrated, happy, enraged… the list could go on and on to no end. However, the flustered face he is giving her is one of a kind. Her heart is beating frenetically in her chest and the brunette feels like throwing up. Gods, no one told her how a love confession could be so embarrassing yet so dreamy. 

Wait, she has to answer.

How do I let him know what I feel?

“…Sure.”

Out of all things she could have managed to say, ‘sure’ was not the ideal one. Perhaps ‘of course’, ‘yes’ or ‘I would love to’  would have been better, but Hela’s brain is not functioning at its full speed at the moment. She still notices how the blonde’s face lights up at her words and the growing smile he is showing, which is completely enough for her to be over the moon.

And with that, their relationship begins. 

Now they are officially seen together at school or Asher's matches. Although Hela can perfectly hear how Snotlout, of all people, complains to the blonde about her presence and his lame choice on women, she couldn't care less. The brunette is happy. 

All the hand holding is fun. Exciting, if you may. Asher’s hand is calloused and rough, but his touch can be labeled as — sort of — gentle. He has a firm grip, that’s for sure. All their physical interaction is not exclusive hand holding, though. There is some bear hugging when they are about to part ways and they are saying goodbye, and some kissing — pecks — whenever the boy wins a match. 

Kissing on the cheeks is a more common habit, a cuter one. Despite having a slightly significant height difference, Hela doesn’t have to put much effort on getting on tiptoes and gently grab the blonde’s face. However, the one who kisses the other the most is, surprisingly, Asher. The blonde is aware of the stares he gets from his friends, but he doesn’t care.

After all, the only one with a girlfriend is him, not them. They could talk that talk.

Of course they were a bit sheepish at the start of their relationship. Admitting to the world — or Berk — they possess such embarrassing feelings like love? Ew! However, the initial awkwardness soon faded and led to a comfortable confidence between the two. Amicable banter is common, and sharing lunch is a habit. Study lessons are still a thing, but apart from studying, in the breaks they go to a small cafeteria near the library. The one which makes the best cinnamon rolls of all Berk.

Hela and Asher can’t stop hearing people talk about them behind their backs. Not in a mostly rude way — thankfully —, but everytime they’re out in the streets, people seem to remember Hela is in fact the Chief’s daughter, and that is juicy enough for them to run their mouths.

One Thursday afternoon, Stoick arrives home early looking perturbed — to say the least. The brunette girl welcomes him and decides to make small talk, taking advantage of one of the few afternoons they get to have together while trying to ignore the weird grimace on his face. Strange enough, her father does not speak a word and Hela is starting to look like a clown talking to herself.

“Uh, dad? Are you alright?”

He clears his voice and looks at her. “Yes, I am.”

“…great.”

The atmosphere is now uncomfortable, extremely strange. What the hell is happening?

Breaking the silence, Stoick speaks up. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Hela.”

“Shoot.”

Thinking about his next words, the man finds it hard to find the exact ones to voice his concern — or discomfort. Therefore, he opts for the common way. A safer one, in fact. 

“Adolescence is a stage where you take notice of things and people and develop new… desires.” Oh gods please not this, is what Hela thinks as she hears her father talk. Embarrassment manifests in the girl’s face as blush, and her only coping mechanism is to make an awkward face. “I know that I have talked to you about all this, but now that you have a boyfriend and- and you’re still a teenager, it’s never bad to, uh, remember it again.” Stoick continues.

“Yeah, dad, that is really thoughtful of you but don’t worry, nothing is going to happen.” Talking fast and interrupting Stoick is the only way for Hela to get out of the embarrassing situation. 

“Are you certain?”

“As certain as I can be.”

“Rumour has it-”

“They love to gossip! Nothing will happen. I swear, dad.”

Finally going upstairs and closing her bedroom door is when Hela is able to properly breath. Phew, that was close.

Bonus:

Summer doesn’t always sit up well with Hela. Despite Berk being in the North, some summer days can be boiling hot and that conveys wearing much less clothing than usual. Something so simple can cause the brunette to avoid going out, because it is so shameful to have her body figure exposed to everyone in the street. Ever since young, she’s been made fun of because of her skinny legs and the absence of body muscle, and that leads to not wanting to show skin. Surprising, right?

However, this summer is different. Hela is now confident enough to put on a cute white tank top that leaves her collarbone and belly exposed, and an above-the-knee length denim skirt. It’s a rather simple attire, but she feels comfortable and that’s the most important thing. Nothing out of the ordinary, but cute enough to look great.

When the Haddock is going to her boyfriend’s house, she feels eyes staring at her but ignores them. Even so, when she passes in front of the Thorston’s house, she is not surprised to see Tuffnut outside playing with a ball. On the other hand, the brunette is indeed surprised as he also stares at her and doesn't say anything. No mocking word coming out of his mouth. The boy just stands there, perhaps awestruck.

Now, finally in the comfort of Asher's room, Hela feels great. How could she not, when she’s doing her all-time favourite thing?

Mouths touching, tongues intertwined and curious hands exploring unknown places. Hela is sitting cautiously on the boy’s lap, and it feels great to be held like this. The girl’s hands are on the blonde’s hair, grabbing and pulling it slightly to elicit soft sounds from him. Asher’s hands, however, are on her body, roaming with no final destination and just enjoying the moment. 

The two of them take part in a battle of deep kisses, with sounds coming out of their mouths as they part the kiss to take a breath before diving into it again. It’s a new skill they have discovered recently, and it is very much enjoyable.

In moments like this is where the Haddock thanks the Summer. The sensation of the touches is splendid, and she wishes for it to never end. At some point, Asher is bold enough to grab her ass with one hand, which causes her to startle and to break the kiss with a breathless gasp. She hadn’t expected that, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Just… new. With both panting heavily and their foreheads touching, Hela smiles and starts a new round of kisses, deciding to move her body slightly to see what will happen. Apparently, the blonde likes it, because he deepens the kiss fervently.

In the end, wearing lighter clothing is something Hela can take advantage of. Especially when she feels her boyfriend’s hands on her, holding her and pulling her close, allowing them to unfold exciting feelings.