Hiccup sits on the bottom step of his house, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands cupped around his face. It was known to all but him as his thinking face. Well, perhaps 'thinking' wasn't the right word. When Hiccup's brain was running away with all of his plots and inventions, his hands would be fiddling with things, and he'd inevitably be chewing on something, too lost in his thoughts to realise what he was doing.

No, a much better term would be 'worrying'. This was Hiccup's worrying face. When his hands are still and he stares off into the distance, looking at nothing much at all, you know he's replaying scenarios in his head, letting bad thoughts stew in his mind and take over his brain.

Over the years – particularly the more recent ones when he actually started paying attention to his son – Stoick has grown accustomed to the many faces of Hiccup and he had begun to understand what was going on in that funny old brain of his. That's why, when he sees his son sitting so still on the steps, he drags a chair from besides the fire over to him.

"Alright, Hiccup," Stoick says, dropping himself onto the chair. "What's going on?"

Hiccup sighs, dropping his arms from his face down to his knees. "Nothing."

"Don't play that game with me, son. I know that face. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Hiccup repeats.

Alright, Stoick thinks. So he's not going to tell me. Time to guess.

Stoick makes a mental list of all the things that could possibly be wrong with his son. As far as he knew there was nothing wrong with Toothless, having just seen the dragon happily playing outside in the grass. Must be something else.

"Why don't you go out and find Astrid? I'm sure there's something you can do together."

He gets a long sigh in response, and he knows he's hit the nail on the head.

"Why don't you just tell the lass how you feel, eh?" Stoick says. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Another drawn out sigh. "I don't know," Hiccup says. "She'd probably punch me. Then everything would be really awkward between us and we could never go back the way we were before, and I'd lose the best human friend I ever had."

Stoick rolls his eyes at his son. "And how do you know it would go wrong? She's kissed you before hasn't she?"

Hiccup slaps his hands onto his legs. "Those were just friendly kisses! Or when I was in danger. She didn't mean them. I don't know."

"You'll never know until you ask her," Stoick says.

He gets up and stretches his arms out, wandering towards the door before looking back over at his son once more. "You better do it soon, son," he says, offering his last piece of advice. "If something happens and you didn't take the opportunity while you had it, you'll regret it."

He leaves Hiccup to mull it all over. When he shoots one glance at Hiccup just before he steps out into the village, he sees that Hiccup his back to his original position – his knees up his chest, and his head in his hands.

It's getting harder to be around her.

It's not that he doesn't want to be around her, quite the opposite in fact – Hiccup finds that he doesn't want to be anywhere else but with her, which is putting a damper on the days when he's stuck working in the forge.

It's just that when he's around Astrid, he feels like he's drowning. He feels like he's getting lost in all these feelings - all these things that he's never addressed before. It's not like he hasn't felt them before – he's just pushed those feelings away and pretended they didn't exist.

But recently, the more time he spends with Astrid, the harder it is to pretend that he doesn't feel anything but friendship for her. He feels giddy around her, like the world is spinning and he can't stand still.

And yet, things are just so easy around her.

When she raps her knuckles against his front door and orders him out in the morning, he's out of the door and on Toothless in a flash.

When she flashes a smile at him, gods such a beautiful smile, and yells "Race you to the rocks!" he can do nothing but grin and soar after her and Stormfly, his heart pounding in his chest.

They corkscrew up into the sky together and when the wind blows through Hiccup's hair, he can't help but feel like this is the happiest he's been in years. He beats her to the rocks, of course – as fast as Stormfly is, she can't hold a candle to a Night Fury, but Astrid's not even angry. She just shakes her head, with something of a smile on her face and mutters something about getting him back next time.

They perch in their favourite spot, their legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. Before Hiccup had discovered Toothless, he'd never have done this, he would have been too afraid that he would slip off and fall onto the rocks below. But now, knowing that Toothless would never let him fall to his death, it's his favourite way to sit.

"Are you alright, Hiccup?" Astrid asks. "Your father said you were moping around yesterday."

Hiccup's mouth goes dry, and he silently curses his father. "M'fine," he says, meaning to think of an excuse but nothing comes to mind. He doesn't want to sit there and stutter, so he says nothing.

"You sure?" she asks.

He just shrugs, before saying "Nothing. Was just a bit tired, that's all."

She narrows her eyes as if she doesn't quite believe him, and then aims a swift punch at his arm. It doesn't hurt, not much anyway, but he still rubs it and pouts at her and he's rewarded with a kiss to his cheek, his heart soaring when her lips touch his face.

"Come on," she says, getting back up onto Stormfly. "I've still got to beat you in that race."

He watches the way the sun shines makes her hair look golden and her blue eyes sparkle, and for a moment he wonders if she's a goddess in disguise. Then, when she grins and shoots up into the air, he scrambles up to Toothless and follows her, thinking about how he never wants any of this to change.

The Bog-Burglars arrive that weekend for their annual visit and with them comes the heir to the tribe, Camicazi, who crashes through Berk like a hurricane, taking the world by storm. Hiccup's always been impressed by Camicazi; how is it that one person, especially one as small as her, can bring a whole village to its knees?

In the commotion, while every villager is running around trying to find their stolen goods (Hiccup finds out that she's hidden everything in a corner of the mead hall and decides to let everyone work that out for themselves), he takes her and Astrid over to a quiet spot near the cove.

"That was some pretty neat thievery," Astrid says, her eyes shining with admiration as she looks Camicazi up and down.

Camicazi grins. "I know. Nothing is safe from Ze Great Camicazi."

Astrid reaches out her hand. "And I'll have my axe back, too."

Still smiling, Camicazi retrieves the axe from where she's been hiding it behind her back, and tosses it to Astrid, who catches it without any feat. I'd have dropped the thing, Hiccup thinks to himself. Probably would have lost my other foot, too.

"It's a nice axe," Camicazi remarks. "I prefer a blade myself. I'm a great swordswoman."

She spares a glance at Hiccup and grins again. "Hiccup's not too bad with a sword either. For a boy, of course."

Astrid blinks at Hiccup, surprise evident in her eyes. "Hiccup's good with a sword?"

Hiccup coughs, and rubs his hand behind his head. "Dad made me practice against her. Y'know, children of chiefs and all. I prefer not to fight."

Astrid narrows her eyes at Hiccup, a weird sort of smile on her face. A challenging smile. "I learn something new about you every day," she says and opens her mouth as if she's about to say something more.

Hiccup raises his hands in a surrender salute. "Please do not say combat, I don't care how good I am with a sword, if I sparred with you I'd lose all my remaining limbs."

Both Astrid and Camicazi seem to find that hilarious and share a laugh at his expense. Then Astrid looks up at the sky and sighs.

"It's getting late, and I promised my mother I'd be back before the sunset," she says. "Good to see you again, Camicazi."

Camicazi grins and returns the sentiment, before turning back to Hiccup, her eyes shining.

"So," she says.

"So?"

"Astrid, huh?" she says.

Hiccup scratches the back of his head again and his gaze falls to his feet. "What about her?"

She pushes Hiccup back, teasingly. "You love her."

"Maybe."

Camicazi sighs, a long drawn out Hiccup-is-being-stupid sigh. "So tell her, you idiot."

Hiccup drops to his feet and sits on a log, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasping his face. "I just don't want things to change," he mumbles.

"Don't give me your worrying face," she says and then drops down beside him. "Look, I'm about to give you some serious advice for once, so you better listen."

Hiccup says nothing, but he moves his hands away from his face and rests them on his knees and sits up straighter, so Camicazi takes that to mean that she's listening.

"We're Vikings, Hiccup. We rush into things head first with no apology - it's an occupational hazard. One day, there won't be a tomorrow anymore, and if that happens and you haven't said the things you need to say, you'll regret it," she says, and for once she's not smiling - her face is stern and serious.

"Everyone keeps saying that," Hiccup says. "But what if I say it, and everything's awkward between us and we're not friends anymore?"

Camicazi rolls her eyes. "You know who's too afraid to take risks, even if there's a chance that it might not work out?" she says. "Cowards, that's who."

"Well then, maybe I'm just a coward," Hiccup mumbles.

"Hiccup, you took on the biggest dragon anyone has ever seen, lost your leg and came out alive, you are not a coward. She loves you, you love her, just do something about it for Thor's sake!" she says, waving her arms up in the air.

"She loves me?"

Hiccup's voice is sceptical.

Camicazi groans, throwing her face into her hands. "A blind man could see it."

She pulls herself up off the rock. "Just think about what I've said, Hiccup," she says, before turning and disappearing into the woods.

Once again, Hiccup is left with his knees against his chest and his head in his hands.

It happens when they are on a job for the academy.

Astrid and Hiccup had paired up to go and clear out a long cave tunnel that was blocked up and keeping a pack of dragons from their natural flight path. It wasn't too difficult work – just monotonous, flying in and out of the cave system while the dragons clutch rocks in their claws.

It's not a problem until one moment when they're both in the tunnel, trying to dislodge the rocks from where they've buried themselves in the cave, presumably after landslides and the like. Without warning, the ground begins to shake. Astrid looks up at Hiccup and worry flashes across her face.

"Earthquake," Hiccup says. "We've got to get out before-"

He's cut off when the earth beneath begins to shake even more, the ground cracking as rocks begin to fall. Astrid topples over and Hiccup squeezes his eyes shut as dirt falls around him.

"Astrid?!" he tries to yell, but only manages to wheeze as dust fill his mouth.

All he can do is cover his head and wait for the ground to stop moving, wait for rocks to stop falling. It seems to go on forever and his ears fill with the sound of rumbling as rocks begin to slide.

if something happens and you didn't take the opportunity while you had it, you'll regret it

one day there won't be a tomorrow

you'll regret it

you'll regret it

Finally, finally, the shaking seems to stop, everything seems to calm down and the world that was once in chaos is tossed back into calmness and silence.

When he opens his eyes, rubbing the dirt and the dust out of them, he sees that a wall of rocks has built up again, their hard work ruined but more importantly – he can't see Astrid anywhere.

"Astrid?" he says tentatively, reaching up towards the rocks.

There is silence.

"Astrid?" he says again, a little louder.

And then, ever so faintly, he hears "Hiccup?"

Her voice is quiet, shaken, but it's there and she's very much alive and Hiccup stops himself from crying out in relief.

"Are you hurt?" he calls.

"A few bruises, but I'm mostly okay. Hiccup, I can't see a way out," she says, her voice mostly calm, but there's a little rise in pitch at the end of the sentence that lets him know that she's scared.

"It's okay," Hiccup says. "We'll get you out of there."

And he does. With help from Toothless and Stormfly, he manages to get all the rocks away. It takes quite some time, but eventually light begins to pour into the cave on Astrid's side, and she steps out into the light.

She's dirty, covered in cuts and bruises and her hair is a mess, but Hiccup flies into her arms anyway, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his face into her neck.

"Woah, woah, Hiccup," Astrid says. "I'm okay, don't worry."

"Sorry," Hiccup mumbles, pulling away from her. "We should- we should go."

They fly up into the air and land safely onto the ground, away from precarious holes with their earthquakes and rockslides. They let themselves relax for a moment, forgetting about their responsibilities to the academy – both of them felt like they deserved that, at least.

"Hiccup, are you okay? You're really tense," she says, chewing on her lip as he looks over at where Hiccup's sitting with his head in his hands.

"I'm fine," Hiccup says, and that's all he says.

Astrid frowns and then tries again, her tone a little sharper. "You've been tense all week. Something's wrong and you're not telling me what it is."

Hiccup sighs and mumbles "everyone said I'd regret it if I didn't say it," under his breath.

"What?"

He runs a hand through his hair and draws in a breath. "Astrid, I need to tell you something, and I need you to not freak out about it."

Astrid blinks. "Okay?"

"I, uh. I realised recently that – well, I-" he stutters and stumbles over his words like that for a while before he breathes out and places his shaking hands on his legs. His eyes are closed and his head bends slightly. "I'm in love with you, Astrid."

There's a silence. Neither speaks for what feels like years. Too long.

Hiccup opens one eye to gauge her reaction and her face is impassive, her eyes staring straight back into his.

Then he opens his mouth and stutters. "And-and I don't want anything to change, it's alright if you don't feel the same way, it's just that when those rocks were falling I thought you were going to get hurt and I couldn't – I just couldn't-"

And then her mouth is on his, her arms sliding up his back and pulling him closer and it's like the first time he ever flew, it feels like he's soaring through the sky, the wind racing through his hair and somehow it's perfect.

The kiss ends and their foreheads touch. When he opens his eyes, he looks at her like she's an oasis and he's been lost in a desert. He looks at her like she's the sun and he hasn't seen daylight in so long. He looks at her like she's the girl he's been in love with for so long and he finally told her how he feels.

Astrid is the first to pull away, a smile spreading across her face. She lets out a light laugh, glancing down at the floor before looking back at him. "I thought you'd never say it," she says.

Hiccup laughs. "I thought you'd punch me."

She does punch him, but it's light and feeble, and not meant to do any harm. Her face is bright, her eyes shining and she can't stop herself from smiling. She leans forward and rests her head against Hiccup's shoulder, enjoying his warmth.

"I love you too, in case you were wondering," she says.

Hiccup swears he can feel his heart jump out of his chest.

Nothing changes and everything changes.

They're still Astrid-and-Hiccup, dragon riding team, but now there's more. There are kisses and cuddles and whispered words. They fly off and find their own secluded places to be alone together and away from their responsibilities.

Nobody is surprised, of course. Stoick smiles when he sees them together, clapping his son on the back in congratulations. None of the teenagers are surprised either, all of whom seem to have had some sort of bet placed on when the two of them would get together (Fishlegs won, much to Snotlout's chagrin).

All in all, Hiccup thinks, that if he did wake up and discover that it was his last day on Earth, that there wouldn't be a tomorrow, it wouldn't matter. All that matters is right here and right now.

And right here, right now, he's Hiccup and she's Astrid and everything is perfect.