#can you believe we're in the homestretch me neither

[wilderwestqueen]

You’re Everything I Want (And Nothing I Can Keep) - Chapter Eighteen

“Prove it. Bring her along this weekend, and prove it to everyone.” After a little white lie, Hiccup has to do something drastic to avoid embarrassing himself at a family reunion. Lost for any other ideas, Hiccup asks his best friend to pretend to be his girlfriend, just for a day. What could possibly go wrong?

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(fanfic.net) (ao3)

One Hell Of A Speech

The morning of the wedding dawned with sun streaming through Hiccup's windows, and he found himself gently and pleasantly roused from sleep just a few minutes before his alarm. As he put on his prosthetic, he resolved to himself that today would be different. He was not going to ruin Stoick and Val's day by moping around. He'd made his mistakes, and he was dealing with them, and he was going to act on this day like the good son he was: thrilled and excited to see his parents finally tying the knot.

Downstairs was less serene than his room had been. Despite the early hour, the house was already in turmoil. All of Val's female friends had showed up to help her get ready for the day, and when Hiccup stumbled down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, it seemed like half the town was parading through the house like a horde of elephants.

"Hiccup!" one of them chided, as he hopped down from the last step, "have you only just woken up? It's been mad down here, boy, mad. Take these to your mother, she's in the living room!"

She shoved a bouquet of flowers at Hiccup's chest, and he fumbled to catch them, taking a moment to decipher what the woman had just said to him.

"Okay," he mumbled, to the woman who had already left the room, and navigated his way through the house to the living room.

Val was sitting in the eye of the storm, the only woman there not in a panic. She sat on a chair, a woman behind her brushing her hair out in broad strokes, twisting some of it around in a way that almost made Hiccup wince. Val's eyes lit up when she saw Hiccup coming towards her, and a grin spread across her face.

"Hello!" she said, her eyes shining. "Nice to see you awake. Are those for me?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said, and handed them to her. "A mysterious woman shoved them at me when I came down the stairs." Hiccup looked around the house as if he'd only just noticed the people that had taken over their home. "Actually, now that I think about it, the whole house is filled with strange women. Where's Dad?"

A smile tugged at the edge of Val's lips. "I've been told very seriously that I'm not allowed to see him until I'm at the altar. Rather silly, really."

The hair stylist frowned. "She's impossible," she said, addressing Hiccup. "I've already caught her trying to sneak Stoick in around the back, more than once. Don't you know it's bad luck?"

"Luck is for people younger than me," Val said. "And it's not like I haven't been living with the man for over twenty years. What could possibly go wrong at this point?"

"She's got a point," Hiccup said. The stylist glared at him.

"You couldn't just check on your father, would you? Make sure that Gobber hasn't got into as much of a fuss as everyone here has, you know how he is," Val said.

"No problem," Hiccup said. "I'll bring him around the other entrance, where no one will see him."

"You will not!" the hair stylist snapped, and she sounded so scandalised that both Hiccup and Val burst into laughter.

The woman made a hmph sound, and Hiccup and Val smothered their giggles, their eyes meeting as they covered their grins with their hands.

"Good luck, Mum," Hiccup said, as they finally stopped laughing. "I'll see you later."

"I don't need luck," Val said, her eyes shining. "All I need is you and your father."

Hiccup accepted a kiss on the cheek from his mother - "Don't smudge your make-up!" the stylist screamed - and then headed off out towards Gobber's house.

Gobber's house was the same, if not worse, as the Haddock home had been.

Instead of a dozen panicked women running around the house and gabbling about things not being sorted, Gobber was the one panicking, hopping around the place and talking a mile a minute about how they were not going to be ready in time.

"You're going to be late, Stoick, late!"

"The service isn't until two."

"You have to be there early. If you're not waiting at the altar you'll ruin the whole thing," Gobber cried. "Now, where are your cufflinks?!"

"You took them away from me to put them somewhere safe," Stoick said, gruffly.

When he saw Hiccup enter, he looked up at his son pleadingly. "Help me," he said. "Gobber's gone mad."

Hiccup clapped his hands on Gobber's shoulder to stop him from frantically running back and forth. "It's all going to be fine, Gobber," he said. "There's no need to rush. It's only eight in the morning. You've got plenty of time."

"That's what you think," Gobber said, "but in the blink of an eye eight in the morning will become one o'clock in the afternoon and then you will all be the ones panicking."

Stoick's eyes met Hiccup's, and he gestured at Gobber and then at the door. Hiccup got the message.

"So, hey, Gobber, I've just seen my mother," Hiccup said, "it's all a bit hectic down there. She sent me to make sure it was all good on this end. You couldn't just go there and calm everything down there, could you? I'll hold down the fort here."

Gobber stopped moving and jabbed a thumb in Hiccup's direction. "You better make sure that he doesn't leave the house. He's already tried to give me the slip twice. Don't take your eyes off him."

Then he sashayed backwards out the room, keeping his eyes narrowed on the two of them as he disappeared outside.

"Is it too late to elope?" Stoick deadpanned.

Hiccup tipped his head back and laughed. "He's just excited, Dad. Everyone is. It's going to be the event of the season."

He watched as his father fussed with his bow tie in the mirror, messing with it this way and that, and then finally letting it drop to the floor in disgust. "This is ridiculous," his father said. "I should just go in jeans and a t-shirt."

"Gobber wouldn't let you," Hiccup said, bending down and sweeping the bow-tie up into his hands. "C'mere."

He swiftly looped the tie back around his neck and began tying it in front.

"Never understood how these blasted things work," Stoick grumbled.

"It's not too bad once you've learnt how," Hiccup said. "So, you nervous?"

"Hardly," his father said, drumming his fingers against his trouser leg. "It's been a long time coming. We should've done it long ago."

"Why didn't you?" Hiccup asked, and when he didn't get an answer, he looked up to where his father was looking down at him, thoughtfully. "It's just that I don't think I've ever asked. You've had all this time. Why now?"

"It was never the right time when we were young. We were busy people," Stoick said, "a wedding is a lot of planning, a lot of time, a lot of money. We decided to wait until we had all that time, and all that money. And then we had you, and of course, we didn't want to do it when you were a baby, that would have been too much stress. I think we both agreed that we wanted to do it when you were older. And then I guess it just passed us by. There was always a reason not to. We didn't want to throw a wedding while you were recovering from your accident, that wouldn't have been fair on you. And we didn't want to do it while you were away at university. There was always something."

"So why now?" Hiccup asked, as he set Stoick's bow-tie into place.

Stoick thought to himself for a moment, pressing his lips together. "One day, I woke up and realised that there wasn't much else I wanted in my life. Everything was close to perfect, and the one thing that would have been the cherry on top of everything would be getting to finally, officially call your mother my wife."

"Well," Hiccup said, with a grin. "Today's the day. Are you ready for this?"

Stoick smiled down at his son. "Ready like I've never been for anything else in my life."

The church had been done up beautifully. All of their work over the past month had paid off, and as Hiccup followed his father down to the church, he found himself thinking about Astrid for the first time that day. Something clenched in his stomach. The day was almost, almost perfect. His mother was beautiful, his father was as gruff as ever, and they were finally getting married like they were always supposed to, and yet somehow, something felt missing.

Without meaning to, Astrid had managed to carve out a place for herself amongst the Haddock family, and although it hadn't really been real, it felt overwhelmingly odd for her not to be there. She'd made a place for herself in the family and in his heart, and somehow, she'd become the missing puzzle piece to what would have made this day perfect.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Neither Val nor Stoick were late, and when Val stepped regally up the aisle, her arm linked through Gobber's, Stoick actually shed a little tear. The vows were simple; after years of living together, there wasn't much more that they needed to say. As much of a Haddock whole island extravaganza this was, the event itself was rather simple. It was just solidifying an unspoken promise that the two had made between each other, long ago.

The congregation floated into the reception flawlessly, and Hiccup took his seat at the top table, his father on one side and Old Wrinkly on the other. The day felt sharply bittersweet; on one hand, Hiccup was blissfully happy that his parents had finally made their union official. Not only was it the start of something new, but it marked the moment that the relationship between him and his parents had begun to heal. There had been a hole in his heart for so long, and that hole was finally stitching itself back together.

If only he hadn't ripped a hole elsewhere.

As he listened to Gobber give a speech, set to raucous laughter from the audience, and from his parents, Hiccup felt himself frown. Astrid was meant to be here.

Old Wrinkly nudged him with his elbow.

"You alright, Hiccup?" he muttered.

His eyes flickered upwards, towards where Gobber was doing a spot-on impression of Stoick, leaving everyone in stitches.

"I'm fine," he said, and it was only half a lie.

Old Wrinkly sighed. "What did I tell you about sleeping on sofas, boy?" he said, before his features softened. "She'll forgive you."

"Impossible after the things I said to her."

"Improbable, Hiccup, not impossible."

"That," Hiccup said, as he looked up into Old Wrinkly's eyes, "does not make feel any better."

But he found himself smiling.

He turned his head back to listen to his speech, and found Alvin the Treacherous staring right back at him, a nasty smirk etched across his face.

As Gobber's speech ended and the crowd burst into thunderous applause, Hiccup frowned.

"Y'know, grandfather," he said, keeping his eyes on Alvin the entire time, a steely tone taking over his voice. "I think it's time I put a stop to this."

And then he reached for the microphone.

Hiccup took a deep breath, standing up behind the table and looking down at the crowd.

"A month ago," he began, "my father asked me to write a speech about love for this wedding."

He swallowed, and cleared his throat, took another breath to stop his voice from wobbling and held his hands behind his back so that the crowd wouldn't see them quivering. "And quite honestly, I freaked out—" everyone chuckled— "because I did not know anything about love. What I knew about love came from stories, and if there was one thing I was sure about, that kind of love would never happen to a guy like me."

Everyone was listening intently to his words, and Hiccup had to take another deep breath before he said the next part. "But there was another reason why I was freaking out," Hiccup said. "A few days before that, my mother and father held the annual family reunion, and as some of you may remember, I brought a date with me—" whooping and cheering came from the crowd – "A very beautiful, wonderful woman who everyone took too so quickly," he said, his voice dry as he looked down on the crowd.

"I told everyone that she was my girlfriend," Hiccup said. "But I was lying."

Silence in the crowd. Val was staring wide-eyed at Hiccup. For one uncomfortable moment, Hiccup's eyes met Snotlout's in the audience, where he was staring open-mouthed.

"A week before the reunion, I'd had an argument with someone about my love life, and in a regrettable fit of anger I told them I was taken, and of course, as it always does, word got back to my parents," he said, turning his head to the side to smile sheepishly at Stoick and Val. "And honestly, Mum, Dad, you both looked so happy that I couldn't find it in myself to tell you the truth. So, I did something crazy."

The crowd was hanging on to Hiccup's every word now. "I asked my best friend in the world if she would come and pretend to be my girlfriend for the day," he said, "and for some crazy reason, she said yes. I thought it'd be simple. We'd go around for the day and hold hands, maybe kiss each other on the cheek, and that would be it, just for the day—" he shot a grin at his parents. "But, as we all know, nothing in the Haddock family is that simple."

A small chuckle from the audience spurred Hiccup on. "Before we knew what was happening, Astrid and I had agreed to turn what was supposed to be a day into a whole month of pretending we were in a relationship, and two weeks ago, we set off on a plane to come here for Mum and Dad's wedding. We came as friends, pretending to be in love, only I made a mistake," Hiccup said. He gave a small deprecating smile before he carried on. "And I'm sure you can all guess what that mistake was: I fell in love with her."

There were a few aws from the crowd.

"Actually," Hiccup said, "I think I have been for a while now, I just didn't notice it. Unfortunately—" his voice caught in his throat as he spoke – "It didn't quite work out. I… made some bad decisions and thought I knew what was best for the both of us, and drove her away."

His voice wobbled. Don't start crying, he thought to himself.

"But that aside, if there's anything the past month has taught me, it's what love really is," he said looking down at the crowd of people. "Like I said, I always thought love was like what I'd read about it books, or seen in films. I thought love was all about sparks. I thought it happened in an instant, that you knew the moment you set eyes on that person that they were the person for you. What I didn't realise is that sometimes love comes from looking at a person you've known forever and realising that there's no one else you'd rather spend your time with."

He swirled a tongue across his lips and took a breath before speaking again. "Love is in the little things. Love is knowing that there's someone on the other end of the phone who's always going to pick up. Love is knowing you've got someone who knows when you're upset and turns up on your doorstep with alcohol and pineapple pizza – even if she thinks it tastes disgusting." He gave a laugh. "Love is deciding to do something crazy like fake a relationship just because you know it'll make the other person happy. Not only that, but love isn't like the movies at all. It can't always be fixed with a grand gesture and big declaration. Love takes time, and patience, and honesty, and most of all, work."

He took another long look at his parents. "By the end of the month, I realised that I had seen that kind of love before. I had seen all of those little things. I'd seen them in the best of people. I'd seen them in Mum and Dad," he said, offering Stoick and Val a smile. Val smiled back, her eyes still wide.

Hiccup turned his gaze back towards the audience. "Love comes in the little things. Sometimes you're not always listening," he said. He focused on the audience and raised his glass. "I'm listening now."

He turned his attention back to Stoick and Val. "So, let's give it up for the very best of people, Stoick and Val Haddock!"

Everyone stood up and clapped. A few people were cheering. Snotlout had stood up on his chair and started whooping, and when Hiccup caught his eye, his cousin waved up at him, a shit-eating grin spread across his face. And when Hiccup turned, he saw his parents, standing up and clapping, his mother wiping away tears.

He went to them, and was pulled into his mother's embrace before he managed to say a word.

"Was it a good speech?" he mumbled into Val's ear.

"The best," she said, holding him tight. "I love you, son."

"I love you too, Mum."

They both held on for a little longer before Hiccup let go and was swept into his father's embrace.

"I'm so proud of you," his father said, and Hiccup didn't say anything, because he didn't need to. He just buried his head into Stoick's chest and squeezed.

They broke apart, and Hiccup was just about to say something else, when:

"That was one hell of a speech, Haddock."

Hiccup turned, his heart in his throat.

Standing in the crowd, dressed in light blue, her hair coiled into a bun, was Astrid Hofferson.

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