I watched as Hiccup was accepted by the whole of Burke. Who knew he had so much to give? He had changed drastically in the lad few months…from a small wimp of a boy who wasn't much good at anything, to a master dragon trainer.

I had to admit I admired him so much right now- to the point where my heart fluttered uncontrollably when he was near. I wasn't the soppy romantic type either. But I liked him…even I had to admit it. It was as simple as that.

I walked up to him confidently and kissed him on the cheek. He looked perplexed and then I suddenly backed away. What had I done? And why was I kissing him? This was probably some sort of temporary infatuation. It wasn't like I actually liked him.

Hiccup was staring at me curiously. I felt my cheeks reddening and muttered under my breath, "I…uh…I am gonna go and um…get dinner ready for my family. Well done and see you later." I sprinted in the opposite direction and ran full tilt towards my house. Once inside, I slammed the door shut, heart beating heavily in my chest. I inhaled sharply and tried to think of other things. Why would I do that? What was wrong with me?

I paced around my bedroom for about fifteen minutes until I heard a knock on the door. I clenched my fists and opened it, only to find Ruffnut standing there, a giant smirk on her face. She grinned at me and said, "Hey there, Astrid! Anything you wish to tell me, girl to girl?" I stared at her in confusion, "No, why would I tell you anything in any capacity?"

Ruffnut laughed and said excitedly, "You have a crush on the new hero of Burke. I saw what happened, you know. Not quite sure why you ran away from it…but hey, who am I to judge?" She smirked at me again and I muttered under my breath, "I don't fancy Hiccup, if that's what you mean." Ruffnut sighed and invited herself in, "Well girl, you do because I know you. And I know that you wouldn't just kiss anyone for no real reason. Hence I've come to the conclusion that you like him."

She gave a me a knowing smile and I groaned, "Alright, FINE! So what if I do like him? It's only temporary so there's no need to go and get all excited about it." Ruffnut laughed and rolled her eyes, "Well I can tell you one thing. He likes you too." I frowned and stared at her in confusion, "How would you know that? Besides, this is a temporary thing, as I said. It's not gonna last. It's just because he's popular right now. As soon as that dies, so will my infatuation. You know how it goes."
Ruffnut raised her eyebrows at me, "If you insist. But you should have seen the look on his face when you kissed him! He was perplexed." I blinked at her stupidly and snorted, "Yeah right. I don't believe you." She shrugged her shoulders, "Suit yourself. Anyway, they're having a massive party to celebrate him this evening. Are you coming or what?" I watched her dubiously, "I don't know. We'll see." Ruffnut chuckled, "It's gonna be at the Highest Point. We'll see you there! 7pm."

With that, she turned and closed the door behind her. I knew already that I was going whether or not I wanted to. I hurried to my wardrobe to try and find something party-like. It turned out I didn't own a single dress. I sighed and pulled out my savings. Looked like I was going to have to go shopping. I hated shopping.

I went to the market to look around and ran into Tuffnut and Snotlout. They were perusing the belts store just ahead of me. I wanted to duck and run because I knew they would ask questions. Sure enough, they did. Tuffnut approached me with a sly smile on his face, "Astrid! What are you doing here? You hate shopping." Snotloud chuckled, "It must be because you like someone, and that someone is probably me."
I punched him the ribs and scolded him, "Never ever assume that a girl likes you, you douchebag!" That's when Tuffnut responded, "Dude, it's because she likes Hiccup. She kissed him earlier. Haven't you been keeping up with anything?!" I glared at him and he smiled smugly at me, arms folded. I groaned impatiently, "I can go shopping whenever I'd like. It has nothing to do with a boy." I spat the last word out menacingly. Tuffnut laughed at me, "Yes, hypothetically speaking. But this time it turns out to be true." I bit my lip and carried on walking, "Get out of my way. I don't have time for this inane conversation."
After ten minutes of searching, I found a store which sold full length dresses. I didn't like the shorter kind that Ruffnut wore sometimes. They were too revealing and I felt self-conscious in them. They didn't suit me. I asked the sales clerk, "Excuse me ma'am, can I try on the long blue one please?" I pointed at it and she nodded, "Sure. Changing room is behind curtain."

I thanked her and tried it on. It had a shapely v-neck and a belt which cinched in my waste but wasn't uncomfortable. It also bought out the blue in my eyes and it floated freely around me. It was a dress I could see myself wearing again in the future. I sighed happily. Shopping had never been more easy for me. I also thought Hiccup would like it. I then internally scolded myself! Why on earth does it matter what he thinks? I never care about what people think of me, so why him?

I decided to by the dress for myself, not for him. I liked it and I wanted to wear it. That was the main thing. I was on my back through the market when I found a strappy blue head band with a feather. I found myself mesmerised by it's design and decided to buy that too.

Just as I was leaving the market, I ran into Hiccup. He was with Toothless of course and he jumped because we practically bombarded each other. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly "Hey Astrid. What you doing here?" I felt my cheeks blushing brightly, knowing that he would notice my purchases sooner or later. I stammered, "I came here because um…my aunt is having a party soon and I needed to buy an outfit. Thought I might as well get it now so I can wear it tonight also." I hid my dress behind my back, not wanting him to see it just yet.

He seemed to buy my lie, "Ok…well are you coming to the party tonight? It's at the grand arena." I smiled faintly and whispered, "I wouldn't miss it." Then Ruffnut and Tuffnut came out of nowhere, followed by Snotloud and yelled, "Hey! There's our hero! HICCUP! HICCUP! HICCUP!" They proceeded in lifting him up in the air and chanting his name. I chuckled to myself about how much he seemed to hate the attention. He was being bounced around and I found his shyness endearing.

I shook my head and berated myself internally. I tried waving to him, but they had turned him so his back was to me and I was facing the other way. I hurried on home so that I could rest before the party.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

I didn't want to be too early for the party…more like fashionably late. I didn't want to seem too eager about Hiccup's heroic antics. I ended up sitting by myself for at least half an hour before I decided to leave. I hopped up and finally decided to leave.

It was a five minute walk from my house to the grand arena. When we got there, there were already at least fifty people gathered, and so I sighed in relief that I hadn't gotten there too early. I hated being the first at a party and then finding it awkward to talk to people. I walked my way through groups to find a snack table at the far end of the field. There was a DJ playing loud music although I loved music, loud music was something I struggled with.

I grabbed a snack before Snotloud approached me, "Hey Astrid! You're looking beautiful as ever. I guess you decided you finally like me after all." I rolled my eyes at him, "In your dreams, Snotty." He sighed and grumbled, "Well, you will change your mind one day sweetheart." I turned around to walk away from him when I bumped into none other than the hero of the hour.

I also dropped my cup that I was holding and then my coldrink and the contents spluttered onto his brand new metal leg. I cringed internally and started apologizing consistently, "Oh Hiccup! I'm so sorry! I need know you were there! I'm such a clutz!"

He smiled at me kindly and shook his leg out to get rid of the drink, "Don't worry about it, Astrid. You look beautiful, by the way." I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and stammered, "Uh…th…thank you. You look like you dressed up too." I didn't know what to say, and so I was stumbling like a moron!

I suddenly realised that something was missing, "Hey, where is Toothless?" Hiccup shrugged his shoulders, "I think he didn't want to come. So many people being around was intimidating for him." I blinked, "He's shy of crowds?" Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, the noise is too much for him. Sounds silly, doesn't it?" I shook my head, "Not entirely, no. I don't like crowds like this either."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, "Do you want to go and see him?" I nodded eagerly, "I'd like to thank him." Hiccup frowned, "Why?" I bit my tongue and mumbled, "For…for saving your life." He grinned foolishly at me, "Let's go and find him."

He glanced around to try and see whether anyone wanted to talk to him. Then we scurried out of the arena as fast of possible. We hurried into a nearby forest and Hiccup was calling, "Toothless? Tooothless? We've got someone who wants to see you." I'd been in the forest plenty of times, but knowing a dragon might still pop pit of nowhere- particularly a night fury- was terrifying to me. I stuck close to Hiccup, and then suddenly I spun around when I heard the trees rustling behind me.

He was there, up in the trees and peering down at us curiously. I hid behind Hiccup, for some reason scared of Toothless again. I wasn't even scared of him as such, just of the fact that he's a dragon.