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astridthevalkyrie · 6 years

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Axe to the Heart: Chapter 2

Astrid Hofferson/Steve Harrington. “Maybe I hate a lot of things here in Hawkins but I suppose you’re not one of them.”

Chapter 1

Edit: Thank you very much to @warrior-of-httyd and @ashleybenlove for giving this trash pair a chance and for the lovely reviews. :D

The next few days became worse and worse. She did nothing but paperwork at the station, the only one who really acknowledged her there was Florence (who said to call her Flo), school was getting tougher by the day (what could she expect, it was senior year), and for some Thorforsaken fucking reason, Steve Harrington was still walking around like someone killed his cat (honestly, what a drama queen).

And Astrid hated the gut feeling she had that paperwork was all she’d ever do in her life, her grades would find a way to mess up eventually, and that she was the one who murdered the fucking kitten.

She was working her ass off to try to get past the first two problems. She could not let her grades slip, or her parents would take an interest in her, but not in a good way. And maybe, just maybe, she’d get Chief Hopper’s seal of approval.

The Steve Harrington thing she could just forget. Right? Right?

Wrong. Apparently, fate was working against her.

“Byers and Campbell, Harrington and Hofferson, Jackson and Brown…”

Everything, Astrid decided as she saw Harrington coming towards her, was shit. Her teacher, and this project in general were part of that everything.

Harrington dropped his bag and slumped in the chair next to her, before looking at her expectantly. She bit back a grimace and shifted her seat closer.

“I hope you know what we’re doing, Hofferson, because I have no clue what the hell she just said.”

Astrid snorted despite herself. Typical.

“We need to choose any Shakespearean work and act out a five minute scene of something we believed should have happened. That was the basic stuff. Everything else was her telling us in fancy terms how much she’d love to fail us if we screwed this up.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you spoke Shakespeare.” He flashed a grin at her, and Astrid bit her lip to stop a sigh of relief from escaping her.

He didn’t hold hard feelings - whatever he was upset about had nothing to do with her.

But then, maybe that was worse. Now she felt even more guilty, because he didn’t hold a grudge. Couldn't he just hate her and get on with it?

“So, when do you want to meet up to plan this thing?”

Astrid thought about what she had remembered last night. For someone who was dubbed a king, he sure didn't have that many friends. Since she'd been here she’d only seen him sitting with Nancy Wheeler, but yesterday, Nancy had sat with Jonathan, and Astrid had seen Harrington sitting by himself. There wasn't any need for him to - half the girls in the school would be more than willing to help him move on.

But what the hell. They might as well just spend the period together. She certainly didn't have anyone vying for her attention.

“Why don't we do it at lunch?” Then, to clear it up lest he think she watched him while she ate, she quickly said, “If you're not too busy.”

“Nah. I'm not. You know...too busy dreaming about girls who like photography nerds.” He shot her a smirk. Asshole. “I’ll find you there, then?” Harrington extended a hand.

He still looked like a fucking wreck. Astrid shook his hand and they didn’t say anymore to each other for the last five minutes of class.

They could have planned right then, but honestly...Astrid was looking forward to not sitting alone at lunch, and when she threw a quick glance to Harrington who was smiling at his phone, she thought he might be too.

“So…”

“So.”

“Why don’t we choose a book?” Astrid suggested, taking out her notebook and pencil. “We’ve read - well, I’ve read - most of them.”

“Hey,” Harrington cut in, looking affronted, “I’ve read them too. I’ve read...Romeo and Juliet. Oh, and Macbeth.”

“Hamlet? Midsummer Night’s Dream? Julius Caesar?” Astrid raised a brow at him as she listed some of her favorites (there was a reason she was in Shakespearean Literature and it wasn’t because she needed the credits).

“Maybe we could stick to Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth?” he asked, looking hopeful. Astrid nearly laughed - but she caught herself.

“Fine. Any ideas?” She bent down, ready to write. They could probably jot down notes and maybe even start a script by the end of the period.

“Not a one.”

Astrid snapped her head up and blew her bangs out of her face as she stared at him. “Okay, so I’ll be doing the work. Whatever. Just practice your lines when I give you them.” She stood up with her tray, taking her things in the other hand (and realized she really should have put her things in her bag before she stood up. She blamed Harrington and his floofy hair for distracting her).

“Hey, hey, no, I’ll help!” He stood up so quickly and with such wide eyes that Astrid relented (she relented? She relented? Just when the fuck was the last time she relented to anyone?) and sat down. Harrington sat back down as well, looking satisfied. “Okay, so I think we should do Romeo and Juliet. It’s everyone’s favorite.”

“But if it’s everyone’s favorite, everyone will be doing it. Maybe we should go with Macbeth.” She leaned back before realizing there was no wall behind her.

Okay, whatever this new idiotic side of her was, it needed to stop popping up in front of Steve fucking Harrington. First she had the gall to feel guilty, and now she was doing dumb stuff like relenting - if she didn’t look out she might start joking around with him.

“What scene could we add to Macbeth?”

“What scene could we add to Romeo and Juliet?” Astrid shot back. If he said that they should show the sex scene in greater detail then Thor help him, she would murder him.

“Maybe a scene with the parents mourning. You could be Lady Capulet and I’d be Lord Montague since Lady Montague died.”

It...wasn’t a bad idea. It was okay. More than she expected.

“Okay…” She wrote the idea down. “Mourning parents. I can work with that.”

“We can work with that,” Harrington insisted, leaning forward and reading her notes upside down. “You know, Lady Capulet really suits you.”

Astrid looked up at him. There was a small smile on his face and testily she asked, “Why do you say that?”

He shook his head, seemingly holding back a laugh. “Lady Capulet was stuffy as hell, you’d play her really well.”

Astrid glared at him, stuffed her notebook and pencil in her bag (ha, she thought ahead this time), and stood up, storming away from him.

Five people. Five people in the whole world were allowed to make fun of her about her personality...her “stuffiness.” And Harrington wasn’t one of those five people. So he could go screw himself.

“Hey...hey!”

She ignored him, leaving the lunch room even though she heard whispers. Astrid didn’t want anyone whispering about her, but if she turned around and snapped at him in front of everyone, whispers would be the least of her problems.

It was when she stopped at her locker that Harrington caught up with her. “Okay. I’m sorry. Be Montague. Lady Montague, that is. We can bring her back from the dead. Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Astrid snarled - could he let her be irritated with him in piece? - as she shoved her bag in the locker and took out what she would need for the next period. “Tell me I’m being a drama queen and go away.”

“Hey, I’m the queen of drama queens.” He peered at her and gave her a charming grin (which, damn it all to hell, was pretty charming). “Just don’t stop talk - uh, brainstorming with me. Please? I just...really wanna work hard to get this grade.”

What the hell was wrong with him? Usually guys called her out for being a bitch or being dramatic, which she usually was. On purpose. The only guy who hadn’t done that who she’d been romantically involved with was Hiccup, and no one was like him. Certainly not King Steve.

Astrid slammed her locker shut and looked up at him (she blamed his hair for the extra foot he had on her). “Don’t call me stuffy again.”

“Won’t.” He looked completely serious. “Definitely...will not. At all. Um...I don’t think we should go back to the cafeteria because there are people who saw us leave -”

“Yeah, thanks for that, Romeo.”

“ - Welcome, Lady Montague. Hey, maybe we should have that instead! A scene between Romeo and his mom where they talk some stuff out.”

Astrid shook her head, hiding her smile as she hugged her books close to her chest. Well, that was strange. All the anger had evaporated. But he had called her stuffy. And he wasn’t allowed to.

But it wasn’t as though she was suddenly close to him, it was just nice to...talk to someone like this again. Like a friend.

“Next.”

“A scene between Nurse and some random cook and we just make it pure comedy.”

“Next!”

“Secretly Paris was having an affair with Paris from the Iliad.”

“Next!”

I have never written a second chapter this quickly, do you need any more proof that this ship owns my body and soul now?

#httyd #stranger things #astrid hofferson #steve harrington #stevestrid #valkyrie stories

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