Toothless landed in the arena with the others precisely as Astrid turned and entered the main gate. Tuffnut and Ruffnut snorted as Hiccup jumped off Toothless as if to act like he'd been there for hours.
"Is everybody here?" Astrid shouted after she thanked the gods for Hiccup being on time. She really didn't have time for Snotlout making cracks at her boyfriend's punctuality. "Yeah," Tuffnut spoke up and smiled as he jutted his thumb in Hiccup's direction, "Even lover boy over there."
Astrid chuckled as she grabbed her notebook from a shelf on the side of the arena. "Alright, down to business." She cleared her throat and barked, "Tuffnut!" the boy's head jerked up, and "You'll gather the food, and Ruff, you can handle blankets." the female Thorston scoffed and shook her head, eager to start packing the supplies and leave. "Good. Snot, you can take care of, um, weapons? Fishlegs, pots." The group talked some more about the trip and Hiccup finally shut Astrid up, much to everyone's pleasure, by kissing her passionately and the meeting was pretty much adjourned then. But even after the others had left and the moon was high in the sky, Hiccup and Astrid were still in the arena locked in 'combat'.
Hiccup didn't stay long, though much to his disappointment. "What's wrong?" Astrid asked, clearly upset about him having to go, "You're not busy, I didn't even assign you a job! And Gobber can't be open now." She spoke softer as she stepped towards the boy, her arms snaking around his neck running her hand through his chestnut hair.
"I, um, have to finish something at home." He said. He wasn't lying to her, so why did she have that pained look on her face? He immediately broke into panic at the thought that she would accuse him of cheating on her, "I'm not, Astrid, I'm really not!" he said exasperatedly as he crashed his lips to hers in a heated kiss, sending them crashing to the floor. After what seemed like hours, the two broke apart gasping for air. Astrid sat there, a little dazed, before breaking into laughter. "You're not what?" she yelped between laughing fits. Hiccup looked completely confused as she rolled there giggling. "I, but I thought, oh never mind." He smiled as he pulled her close to him. "Do you want to come with me?" he asked timidly, knowing that the ring wasn't as important as time with Astrid. Her face lit up as she nuzzled closer to him when he stood up, "Of course, where to?" Hiccup thought, and stretched, remembering his dad he grinned. "Dad's just about finishing the stew now, are you hungry?"
"Of course." She said lacing her arm through his. He blushed a slight shade of pink as they walked slowly out of the arena, towards the other side of the island.
They laughed and joked and every time that Hiccup would try to make a corny joke Astrid smiled and kissed his cheek. He was in paradise all the way to his house, where he regretfully let go of his girl to open the door. Simultaneously as the door slid shut Stoik called for the stew to be done. "Ah, my boy!" he chuckled, slapping Hiccup roughly on the back, "I was wondering where you'd run off to." Stoik winked at Astrid, "Didn't keep you to long did he?"
"Dad!" Hiccup whined. His father chuckled and turned his attention to the kettle, "Anyway, stew's done now. You kids hungry?" The two shook their heads vigorously, especially since Hiccup hadn't eaten at all that day due to his laborious efforts on the ring.
Hiccup plopped down in his regular armchair while Astrid, about to sit in the one across from him, caught Hiccup's loving gaze as he patted his lap. Once she had settled onto his lap Stoik passed out the bowls of stew, a grayish liquid with a few chunks of what seemed to be fish, or so they hoped, and a slice of bread. Hiccup was about to take a gulp of the concoction as his bowl was replaced with Astrid's while she gently tipped it upwards. He grinned and sopped his bread up with the gush and fed it to the girl of his dreams.
Toothless, who had magically appeared in the house somehow, was hovering over a pile of fish as he curiously pondered why his master and his mate were sharing each other's food. He thought about it, and finally, came to the conclusion that humans and dragons were totally opposite.
Stoik, however smiled at the open sign of affection.
The two continued to feed each other until the last crumb was eaten. After Astrid had settled comfortably into Hiccup's arms, Stoik began to tell marvelous tales from when he was a boy. Tales of danger, excitement, and a corny joke thrown in here and there. They stayed like that for hours, the three of them around the fire listening to the chief's booming voice. Eventually the moon rose high into the sky and Astrid regretfully had to leave.
"Are you sure you have to go?" Hiccup pouted as he walked her to the door. She smiled and cupped his cheek, placing a gentle peck on his cheek, "Not if you really want me to stay." He pulled her towards him, a small blush growing on his cheek, "Well, I really do." He gave her a tender kiss as she walked back inside. "Ah, nice to see you back so soon, Astrid." Stoik said good-naturedly. Hiccup gave a curt nod as he glanced at the stairs in the corner. "Oh, Astrid." Stoik clapped his beefy hands together, "May I ask you're help with something?" Astrid regretfully let go of Hiccup and smiled as she joined the chief in cleaning out the kettle.
Hiccup dashed up the stairs and into his room with Toothless right behind him. "Come on boy, tidy up!" hiccup whispered as the Night Fury began swiping papers into surprisingly neat piles. Hiccup whipped around and caught sight of the ring on his desk. With a swiping movement he stuffed the ring and the now-cooled scales into a drawer and locked it right as Astrid crept in.
"Hey babe." He said hurriedly when he heard the door creak. She glanced at Toothless ho gave her that same crooked grin as his master, "Hey, Hiccup?" she called as she stroked Hiccup's scales. He walked over to her, "What's up?" he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She sighed at the warmth radiating from his body. Hiccup was like a walking fire, always full of warmth and comfort, "Why have you been so busy the past few days?" Hiccup smiled at the awful memories that came flooding back to him, yanking out of Toothless' scales, finding the right piece of steel while Gobber pestered him about the meaning of love, Ruffnut and Tuffnut coming over to help him with early preparations and getting in a fight right above a certain sleeping Night Fury, all of these seemed like they had occurred yesterday. 'Wait a sec,' Hiccup thought, ' They did happen yesterday.'
"I've been at Gobber's." he plain out lied, smiling down at Astrid whose breath hitched every time he looked at her like that. It was a look so gentle that she thought even if that giant of a dragon that caused Hiccup to lose his foot looked at him it would have started cuddling with bunny rabbit's. "You're a terrible liar." She said leaning up a little, still lost by his smile. Hiccup was unable to reply as her lips met his in a slow kiss as they fell on his bed. "But I don't care." Was all she said before drifting off to sleep in the boy's gangly arms. "I love you." He sighed as he tried to move, but found that her unconscious form was unwilling to let him go. He took one last peak at his desk before shrugging his shoulders and nuzzling his head into Astrid's golden hair. "I'll finish it tomorrow."
SORRY IT'S SO RUSHED! I PROMISE I'LL MAKE IT UP NEXT CHAPTER!