A/N: Hey! So, this is my first attempt at a modern AU, and although it's not something I plan on continuing, it was nice to give it a shot (pun not intended). Thank you to Nishnibbles for unofficially beta-reading this and giving me tips. I hope you guys enjoy!

This was a dangerous game. And she knew it. Why she was doing it… well, even she didn't fully know herself. It was a masquerade really, trying to hide the heartbrokenness. She couldn't let herself be heart-broken, she had a life! Even though him being gone felt like half of her life had been ripped away from her… no, no, no, she was thinking all mushy again. She was Astrid Hofferson for goodness sake! If her friends could read her thoughts and feelings they'd be ashamed! They had all vowed to each other never to let a boy hurt them. But that was a year ago, back when Hiccup was just a name used to tease her, a name that made her blush and the name of the embarrassment. No one seemed to get her, everyone thought he was just a dorky guy who stuttered and messed up. They just didn't see it. Sure, he could be dorky and he stuttered whenever he was nervous (which was quite often when she was around him) but he was also funny, kind, caring... and hot. And her everything.

Ugh, there she went again, gushing about the guy she broke up with... that was what broke her the most: the knowledge that she was the one who cut it off, she was the one who did this to herself. She was so stupid… Would they still be together if she hadn't stormed off that night, if she hadn't shouted those angry words that she didn't mean? Would they have gotten through it peacefully? She guessed she'd never know.

But she could know whether or not the game would work, she just had to find out. Because otherwise, she'd have to continue suffering the consequences of her rash heat-of-the-moment decision.

If she had been truthful the first time Heather made her try on the dress, she'd have told her she felt like a slut. But she didn't. It was a simple little black dress with little bits of gold embroidery. It came to halfway down her thigh, but the slit on her right leg came even higher and the low neckline revealed the top of her boobs. She had said she liked it and kept it in her drawer ready for the party. Why? She didn't know. It wasn't her style, she was normally the kind of person to wear modest, colourful clothes. But it was all part of the game. Eventually, her opinion of the dress changed along with her emotions. She tried to drown out the sadness with confidence, her depleted posture with sexiness, her usual clothes with new ones. She had tried on the dress every day for the past week, posing in the mirror, letting the revealing cut grow on her, adjusting her posture to make her boobs and butt look bigger.

And here she was in the mirror again, makeup and high heels on as she got ready for the party. It was time to let the game begin. Was she doubting whether or not it was a good idea? Yes, she had from the start. But there was no backing out now.

The doorbell rang and she hurriedly ran down the stairs to open the door.

"Hey! You ready to get this party started?" Heather asked the second she opened the door. Astrid's lipsticked mouth curved into a smile. She nodded, grabbing her bag, locking the door behind her and following her friend to the car.

The music could be heard from the other side of the street as Heather drove them into the parking lot. Astrid opened the door with shaking hands and breathed in the cold night air. She could do this. She felt a hand squeeze her upper arm and turned to see her friend smiling encouragingly at her.

"You're going to be fine, Astrid. Welcome to the new you," She said, pulling her to the door. The loud music hit her ears as soon as they walked in, lights flashing in different colours on the dance floor. Her eyes scanned the room for him.

"Nah-uh. Astrid, you can't go looking for him! He's at this party and you're going to make him come to you," Heather whispered in her ear as she pulled her onto the dance floor and started dancing. "Find a guy to dance with, make Hiccup jealous and you've won!" They mingled through the crowd until two guys came up to them to dance. Heather winked at her, then nodded to a group of guys behind the ones approaching them. She recognised one of them in an instant. Tousled brown hair, robotic left leg and freckles that were visible even under the disco lights. She tried to hide a gasp and focussed on dancing with the guys in front of her, trying as hard as she could to not look at him. The guy dancing with her smiled, putting a hand on her waist as they moved in sync. She glanced at Heather, who was swinging her hips dramatically. Oh yeah, be seductive. She started to swing her hips too, coming closer to the boy. She tried to hide the fact that she could see Hiccup noticing her out of the corner of her eye. Smirking, she continued dancing until she could feel his gaze on her. She turned to see him staring at her, his eyes flickered up to meet her gaze and he beckoned with his hand. She bit her lip, wanting with all her heart to give in now. This was getting really hard to keep up. You're going to make him come to you. She heard Heather's voice echo in her head and glanced at her, but she was rapidly disappearing in the crowd of people. Deciding to ignore him, she brought her attention back to her dance partner, who she swore was closer to her than she had permitted him to be.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his eyes flickering between his friends and her body. She felt his gaze trail up and down as she swayed her hips to the music, accentuating her body as best she could.

And that was the final straw. She saw him narrow his eyes, shoot one final glance at the guys around him before making his way towards her. She pretended not to notice, but immediately gave in when she felt his hand grip hers and pull her through the crowd towards the sidelines. He led her to a bench in the corner but didn't sit down. Instead, he pulled her close until their bodies were almost touching. His head was bowed slightly and his eyes looked up into hers, still narrowed in a way that was either angry or suspicious, she couldn't tell.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered, his warm breath hitting her face.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asked aggressively, playing along. He paused.

"You were never like this when we were together,"

"Is that a problem?" Astrid held her gaze, staring straight into his green eyes as they trailed over her body again.

"What do you want?"

"To have fun tonight,"

"No, I mean what do you really want?"

"For you to leave me alone," The words came out without her meaning to, the defiance roll she was playing taking control. She turned to walk away but he pulled her back, closer this time. His hand trailed up her arm.

"That's not true," He whispered again, and Astrid wished he hadn't pulled her so close that she could smell him. It brought back memories and was messing with her game... "I dated you for almost a year, Astrid, I know you more than you realise," She looked down at the ground, squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. She felt regret creeping into her heart. This was not how it was supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to know what she was up to. He wasn't supposed to take the lead in the situation. He wasn't supposed to do any of this.

His hand reached her chin and lifted it up to meet his gaze and Astrid saw the want in his eyes and the knowing smirk on his face. And before she could make the move they both knew was coming, his lips met hers in a passionate kiss. She pulled him closer and answered his call, tilting her head to the side to deepen it. She felt his hands in her hair, undoing the updo she had done hours ago and letting her blonde locks cascade down her shoulders. He was the first one to pull away a few seconds later, smiling at her.

"You know me too well," She muttered, not being able to stop herself smiling.

"I do, don't I?" He laughed, glancing down at the floor in thought. When he looked back up at her there was a smirk on his face and without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. She followed him obediently, letting the mask of arrogance fall as he led her out into the cold air. They walked down the street at a fast pace, but Astrid already knew where they were going and was not surprised when he pulled out a keychain and opened the door to his house. They walked to the living room and then stopped to look at each other.

"You could have just talked to me. You didn't need to do…" He gestured to her sexy attire. "… all this," She shrugged nonchalantly, feeling a slight pang of guilt - which she hated. Avoiding his gaze, she bit her lip but looked up when she felt his breath on her neck. He placed a hand on her waist and pulled her close. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. I'm just glad we're not finished," He whispered in her ear. And without warning, she pulled him into a tight hug, tears running down her cheek and onto his shoulder. Hiccup reciprocated the embrace, caressing her back lovingly. After a few minutes, she pulled back, looking at the floor as he gently wiped her smudged mascara from her cheeks.

"Hiccup, I'm sorry for what I said-"

"Shhh, you don't need to apologise for any of that. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," He cupped her face with his hands and slowly leaned in but Astrid was feeling impatient now. And as their lips met once again, Astrid smiled to herself.

Game: failed. But she had what she really wanted. And somehow, that was everything.

A/N: Thanks for reading, please leave a review to let me know what you thought and I hope to see you soon!

~httydfangirl123