White Elephant

It was the annual Christmas Party in the Haddock household. Drinks were passed and food was flying around the place. The whole place was as rowdy as ever. No one tried to control the crowd.

The adults were laughing and drinking in the living room while the teenagers were stuck watching Christmas movies in the basement. The basement was as rowdy, if not rowdier, than the living room. They had endless food and drinks strewn around the room.

While everybody else was talking and laughing amongst each other, Dahlia was satisfied with sitting in front of the TV with a drink in her hand. She couldn't hear the movie over the sounds of laughter but she didn't mind. She wasn't one for parties anyway.

"Hey Dahlia."

Dahlia cocked her head back and saw her best friend staring down at her. "Hey Hiccup."

He walked around the couch and plopped himself right beside her. She protested when her drink started to slosh around, but he ignored her. "Having fun?"

"Yeah. The Grinch is trying to figure out what to wear for the Christmas Party."

The Grinch grabbed a tablecloth and knocked the cans off the table. Then he promptly knocked the table over too.

"It's not a table cloth. It's a kilt," Hiccup mimicked the Grinch's voice, which made Dahlia giggle. "You sicko!" Dahlia lost it while Hiccup kept grinning at the movie.

"This is totally me," Dahlia pointed out while watching the Grinch throw clothes around.

"I didn't know you were green and hairy all over."

Dahlia lightly smacked Hiccup on the arm while he grabbed a pillow and hit her on her torso. "Shut up." The duo turned back to the movie to see the Grinch steal the man's clothes and started posing in it until he concluded that he refused to go. "Yep, totally me."

"You're so weird."

"Like you're one to talk," scoffed Dahlia as she leaned her head on Hiccup's shoulder. She tried to hide the blush on her cheeks as she stared directly in front of her. Watching the movie was a bit hard with Hiccup right beside her.

"Hey Dahlia."

"What's up, Hic?"

Hiccup breath out heavily. "Do you…"

"Hey kids! It's time for White Elephant!" Hiccup's mom's voice resounded through the basement and everybody immediately ran toward the den where all the presents were located.

"Let's go Dahlia." Hiccup offered her a hand and they ran up the stairs. Dahlia couldn't help but think about how warm his hand was and it seemed to envelope her own.

The pair joined their family and friends in the den with the parents sitting on the coaches and the kids either sitting in front of the tree or standing behind the coaches. Dahlia let go of Hiccup's hand to sit on the ground in front of her family while Hiccup stood behind his parents.

"Alright, all of you should have a number by now," Stoick's voice boomed throughout the den grabbing everyone's attention. Valka came up behind her and gave her a small piece of paper with the number 11 on it. "We'll go in order. So let's start with number one."

"I'm number one!" Ruffnut exclaimed as she went for the biggest box in the pile. She started ripping it to shreds until she saw a box with D written all over it. "Huh? What's this supposed to mean?" She opened the box and pulled out containers of nuts. "What are these?"

"Deez Nuts!" shouted Tuffnut.

"Ha! Got 'em!" Snotlout and Tuffnut high-fived as they snickered at their stupid joke. Ruffnut had the best idea of throwing the containers at both Snotlout and Tuffnut, which started another fight between the twins.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Stoick called on number two and it went on for a while without any more incidents.

And then it was finally Dahlia's turn. She was smart enough to pick the least obvious gift, but she also didn't have the best luck. Dahlia reached down and grabbed a small red bag. She reached into the bag and pulled out a box.

"What is it?" asked Astrid.

Dahlia looked into the bag. "There's lipstick and…" She opened the box to find something that made her roll her eyes in annoyance. "A mistletoe."

The other laughed at the joke while Snotlout said, "Well, at least now you don't have to keep looking for a kiss."

Dahlia's face flamed in embarrassment and annoyance. She grabbed one of Ruffnut's nut containers and chucked it at Snotlout. "Shut it." Dahlia went back to her seat in front of her parents. There was one person in the room she could not look at. If she did, she knew she was going to die of embarrassment.

The night went on with even more outrageous and weird presents. Valka received a lightsaber which she began hitting Stoick with. On the other hand, Stoick got a new mug in the shape of a Viking helmet. Tuffnut found a bag full of Dunkin' Donuts which he began eating as soon as he got it. Snotlout got candy that he kept asking to trade. Astrid was so angry at her present because she got a framed signed picture of Snotlout. (Personally, Dahlia thought it was hilarious). Fishlegs received ugly Christmas socks with a note that said, "I hope you never get cold feet". Hiccup got a pair of large googly eyes.

When White Elephant was over, the guests dispersed to their own business. As Dahlia left the living room, she saw Snotlout try to convince Tuffnut to trade some donuts with him.

Dahlia pulled the mistletoe out of the box and dangled it in front of her. "Looking for a kiss. My ass," scoffed Dahlia remembering Snotlout's little remark.

"If you ask me, dangling that thing in front of you kinda makes it look like your are looking for one."

Dahlia whipped her head and saw Hiccup joining her outside. She quickly hid the mistletoe back in the box. "You want a container of nuts chucked at your head too?"

"No, thank you."

A chilly breeze blew between them that made Dahlia shiver. Without a second thought, Hiccup wrapped his arm around Dahlia's shoulders and pulled her to his side.

"Hiccup?"

"So about before…" Dahlia was confused for a second but she remembered the basement before Valka called them up for White Elephant.

"You were going to tell me something?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… you see… I… uh wanted to…"

"Yeah…?" Dahlia urged him to continue. She looked up at him expectantly.

Hiccup swallowed and tried to look away but he was mesmerized by the shine in her blue eyes. "I… wanted to… I…uh think you're cuter than the Grinch."

Dahlia blinked. "Uh thank you?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Hiccup exclaimed. He started pacing back and forth.

Dahlia couldn't help but giggle at Hiccup's little freak out as he kept running his hand through his hair, messing up his auburn locks. "What did you mean, Hiccup?"

He stopped. He looked at her with eyes full of panic. "I…"

Dahlia was tired of this. She grabbed Hiccup by his shirt and pulled him down,

She leaned up and gently pressed her lips against his.

It was just a light kiss, but it felt like a heavy load was lifted from her chest.

She pulled away with her cheeks tinted pink.

Hiccup looked at her with eyes as large as the googly eyes he got from White Elephant.

She giggled at his awestruck face. "Now what were you saying, Hiccup?"

A few seconds went by before she heard him blurt out, "I like you."

Hiccup began to panic even more. I should not have done that. I can't believe I just messed everything up.

"Say it again."

He looked back down at Dahlia who smiled up at him. "I like you, Dahlia."

Dahlia could feel her heart flutter at his words. This was definitely a surprise, but it's something that she liked. "Finally. I was afraid you were gonna pull a Hiccup again."

"Hey!"

"I was just joking." Dahlia went to grab his hand, but she realized she was still holding her White Elephant gift. "Guess I really didn't need this mistletoe," Dahlia said as she tossed the present behind her. "I like this one better."

Hiccup grabbed her face between his palms and pulled her in for another kiss… a kiss he was definitely never going to regret. This kiss was better than any present they got tonight.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review!

T-minus 7 days till Christmas!