So…after a hard day and numerous reviews both good and bad, I have decided to put up another chapter and see the feedback on this to see if I should give this a second chance or not. This chapter was actually meant for later, but since the reaction to the last one was so harsh, I decided to bump up the answers as to what the hell happened back there. Please enjoy and make sure to give me some feedback if you want this continued.

Chapter 5: Answers

5 hours earlier

"Hicc! We're going to be late!" Shannon yelled, ushering the tall redhead over to her with a smile.

Hiccup trailed behind her, running to catch up to her and hop his way into the already packed and borderline hot-boxed VW Beetle, who it belonged to he did not know. All he knew was he was going to his very first college party.

Cramming next to Shannon, he slammed the door behind him as the driver, an assumable frat boy whom he had never met, rolled off from the curb outside their dorms and onto the road.

Hiccup sighed to himself. What the hell was he doing? It was one thing to talk about how much he loved the party life and college and meeting new girls when he was safe at home with Astrid. It was another to be completely alone, drifting into the unknown on a ship manned by someone who probably shouldn't be driving in the first place.

But he wanted this. He had always been so unsure of his entire life, knowing nothing aside from Astrid. He had no idea who he was, no use in lying about it. College was his way to start over, become a new person, live a new life; and this is apparently what constituted being cool. So he'd give it a try.

But Gods, he missed Astrid. He would kill to just see her pretty smile, or the way she flipped her hair when she gloated sarcastically, or even those blue eyes drilling into his because he screwed up again, anything. His heart ached, and no matter how much he convinced himself that he needed to live his own life and kiss this girl sitting next to him tonight, he still thought of Astrid all the time.

Maybe he'd send her one last text to tell her he'd be at the party and to have fun at work.

Unlocking his lock screen of the two of them on the Santa Monica Pier, he opened his messages. Instantly, Shannon scoffed and snagged his phone.

"You heard my rules, dragon boy, no phones at this party. Attention on me," she laughed, stuffing it into the pocket of her ripped skinny jeans.

He rolled his eyes. "There's more to Skyrim than just dragons, Shannon, you don't have to call me dragon boy all the time."

The brunette shrugged. "Sorry, things just stick, cutie." She smiled deviously, leaning over to peck his cheek.

Hiccup grit his teeth and accepted the smooch.

He had met Shannon at orientation a few months ago, and instantly he was fascinated with her. Not in terms of love or lust or anything he expected to experience from seeing a pretty girl, but something about the way she carried herself, so different from him or Astrid, made him curious. She always wore a long thick brown braid almost to her hip, had piercing green eyes like his own on a full figure, constantly seizing up the world around her. She was a woman on a mission, devious, beautiful, patient, and the woman of every man's sexual wet dreams.

Hiccup had gotten to know her in a few of his classes, the girl in question being a freshman like himself. Granted, they had nothing at all in common, her always demeaning his interests and him always talking to deaf ears. But, the allure to her was she was a gateway to the life he desired to experience. She was the way he'd figure himself out, make friends that were up his new alley, and taste something else other than Astrid.

As awful as that sounded, he was curious. But he wasn't stupid. He knew in the end she would be the one to kill him like the pitiful curious cat he was.

"I'm keeping this for the night, baby," she chuckled, patting her side for emphasis. "Your little girl back home won't mind will she?"

"I hope not," Hiccup grumbled. "She might have had a rough day at work, I want to be there for her."

"Oh I'm sure she can handle herself," she countered, sliding out of the now stopped car. Oh. Lovely. They survived.

Shannon smiled, prancing towards the door in basically a skip, not waiting up for Hiccup. Time to get drunk!

But first…

She stuck her tongue out to the side mischievously, pulling out Hiccup's phone. His messages were already open, just begging to be messed with. With one last look back at Hiccup, still at the car, her fingers began working her magic.

"Let's see how your little honey likes a break-up, Hiccup…"

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"He said…WHAT?" Ruffnut exclaimed, almost not having enough time to swallow her Starbucks, gathering attentive stares from the other patrons.

"That I'm 'not worth it'," Astrid mimed with air quotes. She attempted to joke about it with a sarcastic tone, but opening all of this in conversation made it hard to keep the tears in.

"What a gentleman…" Eret muttered, "Oh wait! No he's not!" He tossed his head back to drain his white mocha.

Astrid slumped against the booth and sighed, putting her face in her hands. It had been three days, and she still had not heard one peep out of Hiccup. It was like he dropped off of the face of the planet, completely oblivious to the pain she was obviously feeling. The hot heat of hate and betrayal riddled across her body and centered in her spine, and she barely kept it together.

She hadn't been able to focus on anything lately, refusing to leave her room even for class and barely for food. She had missed three quizzes, multiple assignments, and chapters of reading, not to mention lost a few pounds, but that was the least of her problems. She shut off everything and everyone, hadn't even had the nerve to face her parents yet.

Just when she finally gathered the courage to venture into freshman seminar, these two detectives had deduced that something was up and practically dragged her kicking and screaming to Starbucks. Looking back though, she was glad she did. She hadn't had the chance to talk to anyone about it yet.

"Look, Astrid," Ruffnut said, leaning forward. "I know it's hard…I went through a sucky breakup a while back. But I just thought about it in terms of the limitless dick I could get afterwards."

Astrid squinted her eyes in confusion at her. Eret elbowed her in the side.

"You really think she wants to hear that, Ruff? Smooth."

The blonde rubbed her ribs. "First of all, ow. Second of all, I was trying to help. With pure comedic talent."

Astrid simply groaned in response, leaning on the table in front of her and slapping her palms down on the cool granite. "I just don't know what to do now…with anything."

Ruffnut opened her mouth with a finger raised, but Eret quickly interrupted her train of thought.

"Well you keep going, lass," Eret responded, making sure to talk over any comment Ruff would make. "Don't think of it as an end, but a new beginning. You'll understand in a few months."

"A few months?" Astrid yelled, once again drawing glances their way. She felt the hot tears again, this time not sure if she could control them. "Eret, I want to be better now!"

He had the nerve to chuckle. "Things aren't going to be better for a long while. You've just lost your other half, all you know, and you're everything. They say give it at least a month for every year. You're looking at least four months, my dear."

Astrid didn't want to talk nor entertain the thought that he was probably right. She just stared at the ground, lip quivering.

Eret sighed, placing a hand on top of hers. "Look…this is something Astrid has to do for Astrid. I'm sure he was a swell guy, baby, but you need to look to the whole world you have in front of you to explore. Astrid has to want to be happy; she has to desire getting better and getting over this. Wallowing in misery is never healthy, lass, and you of all people deserve to be happy."

"What he said," Ruff said, nodding approvingly. Astrid smile against her puffy red eyes.

"Well," Astrid said, rubbing her nose on the back of her sleeve with one arm and leaving the other to Eret's touch, "this is the first time I've felt human in a few days, guys. Thanks…"

The pair genuinely smiled. "And we aren't going anywhere, lass," Eret said.

His hand squeezed hers tighter.