The sun rose in Berk and slowly a young Viking and his dragon began to wake. Hiccup sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, spotting Toothless who was curled up on his stone bed, refusing to get up. "Morning bud" Hiccup yawned, as he picked up his prosthetic and began to attach it to his leg. The drowsy dragon purred and stretched out his arms and legs before lying back down again. "Come on bud, we need to help my dad with preparations for Thawfest. Remember?" Toothless rolled his eyes and huffed in defeat, before plodding out of the room and hitting Hiccup with his tail as he did. "Hey!" Hiccup complained, raising his eyebrows and trying to fix a scowl. Toothless laughed and sauntered downstairs. Hiccup sighed and cracked a smile, before tying the last band around his leg, standing up to check it was on right and then chasing after his dragon. He ran outside and almost fell over when he trod on something slippery. It had snowed during the night. It often snowed in Berk and Hiccup was used to the cold but even now, three years after the fight with the Red Death, his leg hadn't adapted to the cold and his prosthetic was still difficult to balance with on ice.
Hiccup was so lost in his own thought that he didn't notice Astrid running up to him. "Hey! Hiccup!" she called. Hiccup looked up and a smile spread across his face. "Hey Astrid!" he began but suddenly his foot slipped again and his prosthetic hit the floor, cracking down the middle and causing the bolt in the middle to pop out. The leg immediately buckled and folded in half and Hiccup, with nothing to support him, stumbled forwards and grabbed on to the nearest thing, which just so happened to be Astrid.
Before he could stop himself, Hiccup landed with a thud on top of Astrid, their legs sprawled and interlocked together and Hiccups' hands either side of her hips. Somehow her arms had wrapped around his back and she savoured the way his muscles flinched beneath her fingers. His muscles were small but firm and she liked them that way. They were dragon rider muscles. She took the opportunity to pull him closer and his hands entwined in her hair. For what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only a few seconds, they stared into each other's eyes, each other's souls. Hiccup watched the sunlight glisten in her sapphire blue eyes and Astrid became lost in the forest of his emerald green eyes. Then unexpectedly, they both moved towards each other and in a swift motion, locked their lips together in a passionate kiss.
This was unlike their other kisses, this was different. Hiccup had always been too shy to make the first move, but here he felt exhilarated. His anxiety was gone; all he could feel was warmth and love. He savoured the curve of her shoulders, the freckles on her arms and the way the light was reflected in the snow surrounding her, making the ground glisten and highlight her flawless beauty like a halo over her head. To him she was a goddess now. Astrid had never felt so happy. She couldn't believe this new Hiccup; she was relieved and ecstatic at the same time. It felt like nothing could ruin the moment.
That was until Stoick the Vast, who had crept up silently behind the entranced teenagers, loudly cleared his throat to shake the two out of their trance. Hiccup quickly tried to stand up forgetting about his leg and immediately fell onto Astrid. Luckily she was able to prop him up on her shoulder and as they both glanced round they shockingly realised they had an audience. Half the village had stopped what they were doing and were now gawking at the teens, who were now blushing madly. "Astrid, I'm sorry, this, this was wrong. I can't – I'm sorry." Hiccup was struggling to find the words but his hands were shaking and he couldn't look Astrid in the eye. Astrid began "Hiccup what are you talking about, it's okay" "No it's not" he interrupted. "I'm not- like this- normally. Everyone saw us. I just-uh- I ..." There was nothing Hiccup could do. He had returned to his old Hiccup-y self, self-conscious and scared and Astrid swallowed a lump in her throat and instead became angry at him. "How can you talk about us like this? Why are you ashamed of us?" she fumed.
But before Hiccup could reply, Stoick trudged over to his son and said through gritted teeth "Inside. NOW." Hiccup nodded begrudgingly and limped towards his father, who grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to the house. Astrid began to speak, but stopped when she spotted her parents standing in the crowd, giving her a death glare. She smoothed down her skirt and puffed out her chest, in an attempt to look proud and unashamed. She hastily walked towards her parents, but they also took her by the arms and walked her back to their house. Hiccup barely had time to call out "I'll see you soon Astr-", before his door was slammed shut on him and Astrid's closed in unison.
The rest of the villagers shook their heads and got back to work, confused and shocked by what they had just seen. The problem was that this kiss had been very different to the rest. Hiccup and Astrid weren't children anymore. They were both seventeen, old enough to marry and an encounter like this was seen as inappropriate for an unmarried couple. They couldn't say anything of course because Hiccup was the son of the Chief, but both Hiccup and Astrid's parents had a lot to say.