I hate this!

Astrid was so frustrated, because there was so much to be frustrated about. Herself, her cursed feelings, her life in general. But most of all she was frustrated at that small, skinny, dragon-riding kid that had stolen her heart...somehow. He was the exact opposite of what Astrid imagined herself falling for. Although, she wasn't quite sure what kinds of guys she was into. All she knew is that she liked Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

And she hated it. Because she couldn't go out with him. There was something stopping her. And Hiccup was forced to wait. It's not like she didn't want to, it's just that she couldn't...yet. A time would come when she could march right up to Hiccup and declare him her official boyfriend. Such was Astrid's nature to be demanding. But when?

She swatted at answer-less questions flying around her, and shook her head clear. She had been lying on her favourite grassy hill just outside of Berk all afternoon, so she could avoid her mother and the chores list. Now that she was getting older and more Viking-like, the chore list had begun to shrink, but it was still there. And with all her teenage-girl-problems nagging her lately, she just wasn't in the mood for chores.

Her Deadly Nadder was lying not so far from her in a grove of dandelions. Her saddle still strapped to her back. That was the good thing about having your very own Dragon, you could get away from a screaming mum, and she wouldn't be able to chase you down. The hill was situated on a rough cliff-side in the ocean outside the village, after all.

Finally she decided to stop with all the thinking. It was doing her head in. She was at her secret place that no-one else knew about, so no-one would be able to annoy her. He closed her eyes.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Her eyes shot open at the sudden noise that had broken the sweet silence. A face had taken the place of the blue sky she was staring at before. And not just any face, it had to be his face.

She was startled and instinctively shot up, bumming their foreheads together painfully.

"Gah! What was that for?" Hiccup whined, grasping his head.

"For scaring me!" Astrid replied despite that she also was clutching her thumping forehead. "How did you know where I was?"

"Toothless saw you when we were flying." He explained, gesturing toward the Nightfury that had accompanied him. "He's got great eyesight after all."

"Tch...Dammit. I wanted to be alone." She grumbled and turned back towards the downside of the hill.

"O-oh..you did?" Hiccup asked from behind her.

"Duh. Why else would I fly out to a place like this with no other people?" Astrid mumbled.

"Oh I see...Well, I had some stuff I needed to do anyway. I'll catch you later." Hiccup said. His shadow passed over Astrid as he stood up and turned towards Toothless. Astrid glanced over her shoulder at him and spotted a flash of soft colour in his hand.

"Hey wait! What's that you've got?" Astrid asked, rising to her feet.

Hiccup was startled. "W-what? I don't know what you mean?" He fell over his words as he backed away from her, holding his right hand behind his back. "I don't have anything."

"Oh yea cos it's not obvious when you hide it behind your back. What is it?" She yelled, getting closer to him.

"N-no! it's nothing."

"Show it to me!"

Hiccup felt something hard on his back, and he turned to see a big boulder over his shoulder, blocking his escape.

"You're cornered!" Astrid exclaimed. "Now out with it!"

Hiccup used the rock against his back to his advantage. He squished the bouquet of flowers between his back and the boulder, before pulling out his right hand, as proof he had nothing.

"Look, I don't have anything! See?"

Astrid searched his face. At first he was worried she wouldn't fall for it. But apparently something distracted her, as her eyes suddenly widened.

She realised something as she stared up at Hiccup. He was taller than her! Finally! She was at a loss for words.

"Oh my god... Hiccup..." She began, growing uncomfortably close. Hiccup looked confused.

"What? Is there something on my face?" He asked, looking down at her.

"No..." Astrid continued to act weird. But then she realised that Hiccup wasn't actually any taller than he was yesterday. It was merely because he was standing on the high side of the hill that he seemed to tower over Astrid. "Oh wait...never mind." Astrid said as her sarcastic tone came back. She stared at her feet before turning around, a little embarrassed that she had let herself go for a split-second.

"What's gotten into you?" Hiccup asked as she went back to her spot on the grassy hill, staring at the afternoon sky.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Didn't you say you had stuff to do?" She mumbled.

"Oh yea, right." Hiccup grabbed the bouquet and skilfully shoved it into Toothless's saddle bag. "Well I guess I'll see you later." He hopped onto Toothless's back and clicked his prosthetic foot into the pedal.

"Yea...later." Astrid said back. Without another word, Toothless sped off into the sky.

As soon as he was gone Astrid swore loudly to herself.

"I'm so stupid!" All her frustrations began to return. That was why she hadn't been able to go out with Hiccup yet. Her biggest rule when it came to boys was that they had to be taller than her. If they weren't, for some reason she felt put-off. And she was so angry that this was such a big issue for her. She obviously liked Hiccup, but she always pushed him away. And she felt terrible for it. But it felt like there was nothing else she could do. It's just who she is. She felt even worse when she imagined how it must've made Hiccup feel, since he's liked her long before she even knew him.

She watched the black blur of the Nightfury fade into the distance as he and his human headed back to the village. Those two were so seamless together, she thought. And now that they both have a handicap they're able to understand each other even better. Although with Hiccup it's impossible to tell, since the foot he made is so awesome.

She continued thinking to herself. If it wasn't for Sky coming over to her and nudging her with her nose, indicating she was hungry, Astrid could've stayed on the hill all night. She sighed and got up, before mounting Sky and taking off in the direction Hiccup had gone.