Astrid waited for twenty minutes before giving up, huffing and rolling her eyes at being let down. Not that she had really expected him to honour his deal but she had put up with constant ribbing about meeting with her new boyfriend for the rest of practice and for him to blow her off...well, she'd give him a piece of her mind when she saw him.

Sighing, she hefted her bag over her shoulder and turned towards the exit...and then she heard voices. She frowned, ducking into the nearby Biology Lab as a group of five Seniors walked confidently past, laughing and joking. She frowned: it was the group Hiccup hung around with...including Dagur, who was suspended for another two days. What was he doing here?

"Shame it needed doing," Dagur scoffed lightly, "but we really can't have someone-especially one of us-interfering."

"Yeah," Dogsbreath said, his cruel voice sending shivers down her spine, reminding her of those horrific moments back at Ruff's. "I've been wanting to teach that skinny sarcastic little twerp a lesson for ages!"

"Well, if he doesn't learn now..." Dagur left the threat hanging as they swept towards the side door and left. Astrid paused, waiting for another minute to check the hall was clear before emerging...then fearlessly heading in the direction they had come from. She really didn't like to consider what they had been talking about...though the words 'skinny sarcastic little twerp' had her on alert. She was watching and listening but she wondered if she was wasting her time as she reached the back door of the school...until she heard a small cough.

Treading quietly, she headed down the stairs to the basement, tense and anxious as she heard the sounds of movement...and then a groan. Tentatively, she opened the door...and then she saw him.

He was trying to push himself up on his arms, head bowed and auburn hair wild. There were bloodstains on his clothes and she gasped. Breathing hard, he just managed to lift his head, revealing a battered and bloodied face.

"Hiccup! What happened?" she asked in shock. His face twitched.

"Lemme think..." he mumbled thickly. "Had a discussion with the boys..." He coughed. "I don' think they like me very much..." Then his arms buckled and he collapsed. Astrid raced forward and helped him to sit up, wincing at his bruises.

"I'm sorry," she said stupidly and he looked at her.

"Not your fault," he groaned, raising a hand to his lip and peering drunkenly at the blood on his fingers. "I...made a choice..." She slid an arm round his shoulders.

"Can you walk?" she asked him gently.

"No sweat..." he mumbled, attempting a smile. But it took all Astrid's strength to manhandle him to his feet and he looked very wobbly. "Wow...why's the room moving?" he murmured, his legs buckling. She lunged forward and caught him, feeling his arms tighten reflexively around her.

"How're you going to get home?" she asked him. "Is there anyone I can call?"

He stilled for a moment and then shook his head. "No," he said softly.

"No one to care? No one at all?" she pressed. He tried to pull away from her but a wave of dizziness almost overwhelmed him.

"Um...no," he murmured.

"Then we should take you to hospital..." she tried but he did pull away from her then.

"No," he said quietly. "Can't ...they'd ask questions..." She stared in shock then sighed.

"I can't leave you," she told him shortly.

"Don' worry, Miss Perfect...I won't die or anything..." he told her thickly, staggering towards the door. He reached it, tried to open it and landed flat on his face. She sighed and walked to his side, crouching down and watching him begin the long process of picking himself up.

"Can you guarantee that?" she asked pointedly. He grimaced.

"How much of a guarantee d'you want?" he muttered, wincing. She helped him up and threw her arm around him, helping drag him to the steps and gradually pull him up.

"This isn't how I imagined my first session being tutored," she grumbled as they slowly limped up the stairs. Hiccup leaned against her and paused. He gestured vaguely at his face and sighed.

"Can't you tell this is art?" he groaned as they reached the ground floor. She huffed.

"Hiccup, this is not art," she told him off tartly. "More like Health Class...or maybe First Aid..." They reached his locker and he painfully grabbed his bag. She watched him quietly sling it over his shoulder and wobble. "Okay, this is stupid," she announced in exasperation. "I'm not leaving you here. I'll give you a lift home..."

"No!" he said suddenly, his eyes wide. "I-I can't go home like this..." I can't go home, period. My stepdad doesn't want me...

"Won't your parents worry if you just stay out?" she pressed. He shook his head.

"Mom would...but not my stepdad," he admitted.

"And is there really no one you can stay with?" Astrid asked him gently. His head snapped up and his green gaze darkened.

"My friends did this," he told her bitterly. And she stared: while her father was irritating and overbearing, she knew he would be worried and heartbroken if she didn't come home without warning. What must Hiccup's family be like? She stared at him and opened her mouth to speak when he fished out his phone. "Um...there is one person...maybe." he mumbled and thumbed in the familiar number. It took six rings before Gobber answered.

"Laddie! What can I do fer ye?" the mechanic bellowed down the phone. Hiccup winced: Gobber really didn't do quiet very well and he had to hold the phone away from his ear: the bellowing was making the pounding in his head even worse. He hesitated for a second.

"I-I was wondering if I could maybe stay with you...?" he managed thickly. There was a pause that instantly had him on edge and he heard a deep intake of breath. Gobber's voice was sad.

"Oh laddie, I'm so sorry but I'm home right now..." he murmured. "There's been a flood from the apartment above mine. Mae bedroom's soaked and the couch..." Hiccup chewed his lip and sagged.

"No-no problem, Gobber. It-it was just a thought," he said quietly. "Hope it gets fixed soon." And he stared at the phone, feeling an unfamiliar feeling of dislocation. Even Gobber had let him down...though he knew the man would've helped if he had anywhere to put the boy. And the only place he could stay...was the garage. "See...no need to worry..." he told Astrid, who was staring at him incredulously.

"So where're you staying?" she demanded. He shrugged and shook his head.

"I'll find somewhere," he mumbled and turned unsteadily towards the door. She walked at his side and sighed then glanced at him. Since the phone call, his shoulders had slumped and he looked completely defeated.

"You...could stay ay my house," she said suddenly and he stared at her in shock.

"Wh-what?" he mumbled. She stared back into his astonished green eyes.

"You can stay with me."