"I need to speak to you about Hiccup Haddock!"

The big mechanic's face creased into a scowl at the name, his body tending. The mood noticeably altered.

"Got nothing to say!" he snapped.

"Excuse me, Mr Belcher-you are Mr Gobber Belcher?-but I have!" Astrid said firmly. The mechanic gave a sneer.

"Yer don't know what yer talkin' about!" he growled. Astrid folded her arms pointedly.

"Or maybe you don't?" she suggested. "Because from what I heard, you never let him explain, you didn't give him any sort of a chance and despite being his oldest friend...'the one person I thought I could always rely on'...you sent him away." Gobber turned to face her, his expression cold.

"And he told you he helped some hoodlums break inter meh garage?" he snapped.

"And he told you he'd been thrown from his home with nothing but what he stood in? That he had no food? That he'd had the crap kicked out if him for rescuing me from some slime-basket at the party two days earlier? That one of the 'hoodlums' had a knife and threatened him?" Astrid's voice was sharp.

"He slept here without me permission and made a right mess!" Gobber growled.

"Really? So the guys breaking in and ransacking the place and stealing your stuff would've been better?" she shot back. Gobber lurched forward to stand in her face.

"He broke in for them...!" he snarled.

"Excuse me-but neither of my brothers would take no for an answer and both of them wouldn't have held back if he'd refused!" Heather reluctantly admitted. Astrid stared at her in shock.

"And you do know that when you let him go with the police, they took him back to his Mom and step-dad?" Astrid checked. There was scuttled nod. "And that after the police left him, he was dragged out back, beaten up and thrown out into the night?"

"Val would ne'er allow that..." Gobber grumbled.

"Hiccup's Mom watched and turned away," Astrid said quietly. "She won't see him or return his calls. He's living with me now because I was the last person he had left to call. Otherwise, he would've frozen!" Gobber shook his head.

"He could always call family services..," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I can see Hiccup asking for that at eleven o'clock at night when the police would just contact his home and his step-dad would say he ran away," Astrid said quietly. "They'd take him back to his supposedly caring parents and Gods know what would happen to him." She sighed.

"That's his choice!" Gobber growled.

"You know, no one knew his Dad had died," Astrid sighed. "No one realised he was so unhappy. He was treated like crap got years...and he ended up with the worst crowd in school! But even they turned on him when he wouldn't harm someone just for fun!"

Gobber suddenly fell silent and looked ashamed. "That sounds like Hiccup...he always was stubborn but he had a good heart..."

"So why did you reject him? He had almost no one..."

"That was his doing! He knew I didnae want him in my garage..."

"Then why didn't you offer him somewhere else...?"

"Meh apartment were flooded..." Gobber snapped. "I had ta look out fer myself! I had nowhere ter go..."

"And you felt nothing for him? You knew how hard his life was! I thought you were his Uncle or godfather or..."

"Godfather. His Dad was meh best friend from first day in Elementary School!"

"Mr Belcher..."

"Gobber," the big man corrected her, scratching his ear with his hook. "Everyone calls me Gobber."

"...Gobber," Astrid continued with a smile, "Hiccup isn't a bad guy. Sure, he's sarcastic and says what he thinks...but he helps round the house, he walks me back from school because he wants me to get home safely and he looks out for me!"

"Aye...well, his Dad would've been ashamed if his son had let a lady walk home alone in the dark," Gobber mumbled. "He was very strict about makin' sure his son was brought up wi' manners..."

"But he's sarcastic and rude and causes trouble wherever he goes!" Cami protested. Gobber gave a wry smile.

"That's Hiccup," he shrugged. "The lad was always a sarky wee twig! But he was ne'er so angry or careless until they had tae live wi' Alvin bloody Treacher! That swine has been beating that boy fer years..."

"So why did you abandon him when he needed you?" Astrid asked directly. "He was literally freezing and starving when he came round to my house. He does everything to protect me...he stopped me being taken advantage of even though he knew it would get him in trouble. He helps me with my homework and revision, he..."

"He's sweet on yer!" Gobber said sagely with an inappropriate wink. Astrid blushed.

"This isn't about me...why did you just toss him aside?" she demanded. "You know, losing his Mom and losing you really broke him? And my Mom has tried but his Mom now thinks he's worthless. Don't tell me you don't care about him either?"

Gobber looked embarrassed that this beautiful and determined young woman had come into his garage and roundly told him off. And it had been easy in his own fog of annoyance to forget that the boy had been his godson for so long. But he had been mad when he watched the boy break into his garage, reckoning it was ingratitude and revenge...and he felt ashamed for his dead friend that his only son could turn out so bad...so he hadn't even listened to the boy's desperate pleas for forgiveness...

And he had stopped them breaking in.

"How is that mutt of his...Toothless?" he asked. Astrid smiled.

"You know Toothless?" she asked. Gobber nodded, scratching his ample belly.

"He used tae stay here...since that Alvin would ha' set his dog on him," he admitted.

"Toothless is great," Astrid smiled. "My dog Stormfly loves having him around for company. And he's no trouble...like his owner..." Gobber backed up a pace and looked harried as the girls all stared between him and Astrid. Few people could out-argue Astrid Hofferson when she was determined...

"Okay! I get the message!" he protested. "But what canna do?"

"Say you believe him?" Astrid suggested.

"Talk to him?" Ruff added.

"Treat him like a real person?" Cami added. Astrid sighed and took a deep breath.

"Give him his job back," she said. Jerking his head up, Gobber stared at her.

"Yer joking? I already got a replacement..." he grumbled. Astrid glared at him.

"Give him a crumb of self-worth!" she snapped. "He's a good mechanic, I understand. And he valued the fact that he worked..." Cami scowled at her.

"How did you know that?" she demanded.

"He mentioned it in Art," she admitted.

"You like him too!" Ruff surmised.

"Do not! He's just a nice guy!"

"Do too," Heather smirked. "You're blushing!"

"Yer the girl from Art? The one who tried ter get him thrown out at the start if the year?" Gobber asked in shock. Astrid blushed more fiercely.

"Um...yeah...but then I got to know him and...um...found he was worth far more than I realised," she mumbled. Gobber inspected her and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Hiccup has given you a second chance...and now yer here asking fer the same fer him. I'll speak tae him, lass! Can't promise anything because he may want naught tae do wi' me..."

Astrid smiled. "Somehow, I think he will," she smiled as her phone buzzed. It was Hiccup.

DETENTION OVER. U OK? FINISHED?

She tapped in a reply. Her phone buzzed.

"He's on his way."