Word got out about Hiccup's new status as the richest student in Berk High. He supposed he should have expected it because Astrid had to tell her friends and though Heather was discreet, Cami and Ruff certainly weren't-but what he hadn't been expecting was the fact that he changed overnight from Hiccup Haddock to the most desirable male in the school.

It had actually been really awkward on Monday morning, walking in with Astrid when girls he didn't know and who wouldn't have even glanced in his direction the previous week were now calling 'Hey, Hiccup!' and batting their eyelids at him. He had looked startled, embarrassed and then smug, giving them all a wide grin.

"Ladies," he purred and there were definitely a few giggles at his response. Astrid brought him back to Midgard with a bump when she punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Eyes over here, mister!" she snapped.

"Owww!" he whimpered. "Why is everything violence with you?"

"Worked, didn't it?" she smirked and he smiled back.

"Yeah, though I may need to invest my fortune in some anti-Astrid armour...maybe something in leather..."

"Hmm...I'd really like to see this something in leather," she admitted, pulling him towards her and kissing him. He very tenderly returned it with a satisfied smile.

"Pretty sure that's detention," he murmured, "as well as highly territorial behaviour, Milady..."

"And you calling me 'Milady' isn't?" she teased him. He grinned.

"Hey-going out with the most popular girl in school means I know how lucky I am...and that isn't going to change just because I'm no longer penniless," he assured her. "But I may have a little fun..." She looked up at him with concern.

"What sort of fun?" she asked suspiciously. He heard the edge to her voice and realised she was jealous. He leaned closer to her.

"Astrid, I love you," he said gently. "Literally with all my heart. And I'm not about to suddenly dump you for some bitch who would have not even given me the time of day yesterday. But I think if people are so mind-meltingly shallow as to suddenly want to be with me because my bank balance now has six figures, then maybe it's time for payback..." She looked at him with dismay...and then forced herself to recall that she hadn't spent all this year and most if the last couple being sneered at pretty much all of the student body.

"Just...be careful," she sighed, her hand rising to rest on his shoulder. He pulled her close, his grip gentle on her waist.

"I'll try to be...but don't get upset," he murmured. "I'm not turning into an ass. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to-"

And then he stopped, the pain flashing through his eyes once more. He pressed his face into her shoulder for a moment and she hugged him fiercely. "It's okay, babe," she murmured. "I'm here for you. I'm always here." He nodded wordlessly.

"You know I couldn't manage without you?" he mumbled. She smiled.

"Hmmm. I had guessed," she said softly. "Now come on. I doubt Mildew is gong to swoon over you like the gold-diggers!"

Lunchtime was equally awkward, with girls crowding round him and all called to him to try to entice him to sit with them. Worse, Lilah had plopped herself deliberately in Astrid's seat just as she was about to sit down...and Hiccup had given her a small smile and rose, pointedly spinning to haul his fuming girlfriend to a pair of spare seats where he sat her down and slid in beside her before anyone else could interfere.

"This could get annoying," he admitted, stabbing a fry on his fork. Astrid munched angrily.

"I am going to kill her," she spat and Hiccup shook his head.

"Please don't," he asked her, chewing. "I don't want to have to visit you in prison for multiple murder...because half the girls in the damned year are after me." He sighed. "Thor, being an outcast was actually more fun." She inspected him.

"Really?" she asked him. He sighed.

"Probably not," he admitted. "But it's close..." He chewed his mac and cheese quietly for a few minutes. "Astrid...are you jealous?" he asked. She shook her head and opened her mouth to deny it...and then she sighed.

"I think so," she muttered. "I mean...I can't call you mine because you're a person and..."

"I am yours," he told her swiftly. "Look, I love you, Astrid and you are the only person here that I ever wanted. I am the same person who went to school on Friday...I haven't gone out and bought a Ferrari and a house and all sorts of unnecessary nonsense...but I will buy my fabulous girlfriend a present..."

"Hmm...that assumes you have fabulous girlfriend..." she grumped, being jostled by Savannah as she walked pointedly by, calling 'Hey, Hiccup! Looking good!' He groaned and pushed his plate away.

"I already have one and I would be the stupidest person in Midgard if I let the beautiful and fierce and wonderful Astrid Hofferson go," he assured her, his emerald eyes filling with worry. "You saved me, you are the only reason I have to go on and I love you. You have supported me when I have been so moping and pathetic since Mom died...and I know I look it but I'm certainly not over it, Milady. I am never going to let you go...and...um...I know that came out wrong and sounded really creepy..."

"You're gabbling again," she smirked, gently catching his hand and he flushed.

"See?" he asked her softly. "No matter how desirable I may seem to all those other girls, none of them know me...or care for me..." He sighed. "In January, I was the lesser-freckled Hiccup Haddock, an inferior species below the notice of Cheerleaders and popular girls..."

"...except me," Astrid pointed out. Hiccup grabbed his fork and stabbed another mouthful of mac and cheese.

"...except, as you say, the fabulous Astrid Hofferson, who risked being ostracised for even acknowledging I existed," he grinned cheesily. "But now, suddenly I am the hottest thing since the Gods first used fire and I feel like the most wanted man on Midgard! You have nothing to worry about, Milady..."

"Hmm...stop being so boring and just talking to her when you should be hanging with me and the real leaders of the year," Lilah said, coming up behind Hiccup and wrapping her arms around him. He stiffened instantly, his eyes widening in sudden shock...but Astrid could see the anxiety there as well. He hid it skilfully but years of being abused and threatened made him wary of being touched without being invited...especially by people who had abused and threatened him previously.

"Bleurgh!" he said, shuddering. "Lilah...you wanna let me go?"

"Not at all," she said smugly, watching Astrid's face scrunch in anger. Hiccup stared at her annoyance, reading her jealousy and frustration...and then an idea hit him. He winked, spinning around and grabbing Lilah, kissing her firmly on the mouth. Her eyes widened and she pulled away, her face totally disgusted as every eye turned on her.

"EWWWW!" she screeched, unable to stop herself. Hiccup gave a wounded look.

"But I thought you were desperate to have all this raw Vikingness to yourself, Lilah?" he asked innocently. She backed off, frantically wiping her mouth with her hands.

"Yuk! Yuk! Yuk! Ewww! Hiccup Haddock kissed me! Oh, I feel sick!" she whimpered and ran off, head down. Savannah and Raylee stared after her...then ran to help their friend. There were gales of laughter at their retreating shapes and even Astrid smiled...before she firmly punched him in the shoulder. He grimaced but didn't protest.

"I deserved that," he admitted, "but it was worth it to see her face. I knew she wasn't that good an actress!" Astrid grinned...then dragged him close and kissed him determinedly. He leaned into it, deepening the kiss for a long moment before pulling back. "Infinitely better," he sighed.

"No kissing ANYONE but me," she told him firmly. He smiled contentedly.

"Why would I ever want to?"

oOo

Cami and Ruff were in the girls' bathrooms, having missed the excitement, when Lilah and her gang stormed in. Sharing a look, the two blondes scrambled into a cubicle before they were seen and pushed the door to, keeping very quiet and listening.

"That bastard Haddock!" Lilah spat. "How DARE he make a fool of me?"

There was an awkward pause as Cami and Ruff shared a look: they knew Lilah needed no help in making an idiot of herself.

"But you said you wanted to kiss him, to make out and steal him from Astrid..especially now he's loaded..." Savannah protested in a confused voice. There was the sound of water running and someone spitting as Lilah washed her mouth out, over and over.

"But he's still...Hiccup Haddock!" she spat hatefully. "That skinny, ginger, freckled bag of sarcasm! He's not buff, he's not got lovely blue eyes and he's not handsome...so why would I actually like him?"

"Because he's loaded," Raylee pointed out practically. "You want some expensive presents off him before you dump him in front of the school and make him look like the worthless piece of trash he is!"

"And I think he's more auburn than ginger!" Savannah added. By now, Cami was covering her mouth with her hand in shock and an attempt not to laugh. The girl really was painfully stupid.

"So we activate Operation Humiliate Bitch Hofferson and Destroy Bastard Haddock!" Lilah said in a dangerous voice. Both the concealed girls stiffened. "We'll isolate him at the Match-well, Astrid will be with the Cheerleaders-and put the word around that he has...well, you know...with Savannah. That will totes make Astrid dump him and make her look a total fool in front of everyone. Then I comfort the poor boy to get him over his jealous girlfriend and get him to ask ME to the Prom. When there, I'll rub her nose in it then dump him for being...well, worthless. A few dollars in the bank..."

"Or a few hundred thousand..." Ray lee amended.

"...can't overcome the fact he's trouble, sarcastic and hung with the worst crowd before he betrayed even them..." Lilah finished.

"Er, Lilah?" Savannah asked in a confused voice. "Didn't we go out with the same worst guys in the school?" Lilah looked at her scornfully.

"But we're popular...so it doesn't matter what we do...because it's right!" she said illogically. Savannah frowned again.

"But Astrid is even more popular so why were we condemning her for going out with Hiccup when he was poor and still an outcast?" she asked. Lilah sighed.

"Whose side are you on, Sav?" she asked in an exasperated voice.

"Yours, of course, Lilah!" Savannah replied brightly, fluffing her hair and fixing her lipstick int he mirror.

"Then stop trying to think and do what you're told!" Lilah snapped. "They're both going down!" She paused and a ver calculating look crossed her face. "And I think my friend Geir needs to know about this. I can see a way we can really get back at all of them...and that stupid Coach Bergstrom and the rest of the losers in this school. Come on!" And they slammed out of the bathroom. Cami and Ruff slowly emerged.

"What do you think of that?" Cami asked.

"Is it me or is Savannah getting even stupider?" Ruff asked. Cami sighed.

"I mean what they were saying..." she pointed out. Ruff frowned.

"We ought to warn Astrid," she decided. "Or we could tell Hiccup and see if the master of menace can come up with a way to sort out Lilah once and for all?"

"What?"

"You mean you don't know that whenever Lilah hurts Astrid, Hiccup gets her for it?" the female twin asked with a grin. "The goo? The pictures? The social media debacle..?"

"Hiccup did all those?" Cami gaped and Ruff nodded.

"Tuff told me," she confided in her friend. "He's really crazy for Astrid and incredibly protective of her. If he knew this was on the cards, I sure he could come up with some massive punishment for her that would make her back off forever..."

"You realise, if Astrid knew that we knew about this and didn't tell, we would both be dead?" Cami asked. Ruff raised her hand.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take!" she admitted. "Don't leave me hanging, Cami..." Cami's palm hit Ruff's.

"I'm in," she said. "Boy, this match is gonna be suddenly even more interesting than just being the State Final!"

"Roll on next week!" Ruff grinned. "I can't wait for the mayhem!"