I'm gonna screw things up. There's no doubt about it! I mean yeah...we've been together for a few months now, and been in love longer than that, but this? This is a hole other level. She seems so calm with it. She's relaxed, almost asleep, and doesn't even care about her shoulder sleeves slowly exposing her skin. Doesn't she care that a guy is right next to her? Then again...it must be because she trusts me. What if I do something stupid and break that trust?! All this...all I've worked for would be ruined. All because we took it to far. I mean sure, she was technically the one who entered my hut and lay in my bed, but I'd still be at fault.
"Hiccup?" Hiccup jumped slightly when the voice of the girl lying next to him pulled him out of his thoughts. Astrid Hofferson, the girl who he'd been dating for a few months now had had a nightmare about the night she was temporarily blinded by lightning a while back. She woke up in fear of the storm currently raining down on the edge. With hesitance, she sought comfort in the one person she trusted with her personal problems, and had entered Hiccup's hut with a request to stay over. At first she wanted to sleep on the floor, but Hiccup had become stubborn and said either he slept on the floor and Astrid slept on the bed, or they both slept on the bed. The second part hadn't been an expected answer, but here they were now.
"What is it Astrid?" Hiccup asked in a quick, nervous voice. He could hear the girl next to him chuckle in the dark. What was so funny? "Are you okay?" Astrid asked, much more calmly than her boyfriend. Hiccup was normally a pretty chill guy. He knew how to wit his way out of things, and could easily control his emotions. Only Astrid could do this to him.
Hiccup took a deep breath to calm himself down, before answering more calmly. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" He was honestly a little confused. "You're really tense. Does it make you uncomfortable that I'm over here?" Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise that his girlfriend would think such a thing, and he quickly reached around her side to grab her hand. Astrid was laying with her back to him, her boyfriend facing her and playing with her hair.
"Of course not, Astrid. Having you around actually makes things a little better. You know you're not the only one who was struck by lightning." Astrid chuckled at that, before shivering instinctively as thunder rocked the hut.
"If we've got this post traumatic fear in our heads because of those incidents, I can only imagine what Snotlout feels like. Gods know he would never admit it though." Both boyfriend and girlfriend laughed softly at that, before Astrid rolled over to face the boy behind her.
"How do you do this to me?" Astrid asked quietly so only Hiccup could hear. She lay a hand over the scar on his chin he'd had forever, and gazed up into those forest green eyes that looked almost mystical in the dark. Hiccup blushed. "Come again?"
"I mean..." Astrid went on to trace the rim of her boyfriend's shirt collar before laying a hand over his heart. Hiccup's breath hitched. "Before I fell for you...No one ever knew my softer side. Even I didn't half the time." Astrid's eyes became saddened. "You could say you bring out the better in me. Before you I was just a...a bully." Hiccup almost felt insulted that the girl he loved would say such things about herself, but also knew that telling her she was wrong wasn't the way to go.
"Listen to me Astrid." Hiccup looked over at the door which was held shut through the storm by Toothless for a second, before turning his stern eyes on his girlfriend's sad ones. "You're a worrier, and Gods know we've been through a lot. I worked day and night on weapons with Gobber during those days, and had a lot going on with my father. All the other Vikings were tending to their families. You had things going on too, well with your reputation and all. The only difference between you and most people was that you were better at hiding your weaknesses, and that 'bully' was only a mask." Hiccup smiled gently, before pushing Astrid's bangs out of her face. "You were no dark spirit Astrid Hofferson. Everyone loved you for you and you were afraid of losing that so pressured yourself to keep it up."
Astrid almost felt tears in her eyes at what she heard, but as always kept a strong face. The blush on her cheeks was well hidden by the dark. She looked up at Hiccup who lay beside her, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion by this point. The storm was dying down by now, only rain and some high winds.
"Are you going to want to go home now that the storm's over?" Hiccup asked in a half-worried, half-bashful voice. He got no vocal answer, but soon felt warm lips connect with his. Astrid held tightly to his shirt collar, though the teen was well used to her strong grip cutting off his air supply. She tried to be careful, but didn't know her own strength when it came to people weaker than herself. Hiccup swore that he would win any swimming competition after adapting to the lack of air he had in their kisses.
The kiss only lasted a few moments, though it was no doubt passionate. Both members of the couple pulled back with lack of breath, before Hiccup smiled his goofy smile.
Astrid saw Hiccup smile, and shook her head with a smirk. "That's for thinking I didn't want to stay with you." She gestured to the redness on his neck from her hands. "And that's for everything else." She traced his smile with her thumb, making the boy chuckle.
"You know...I don't think I'm so worried anymore." Hiccup whispered with a tired voice once they'd both gotten comfortable again. "That's good. With how tense you were I was starting to get nervous too." Astrid remarked while gripping his tunic lightly and burying her face in his chest. Hiccup smiled and lay a hand in her hair, before they both fell asleep.