"I'll sleep on the floor," Hiccup said quickly, hurrying towards the bed and fussing with the pillows, moving to arrange them on the floor into a makeshift bed. "I've heard it's good for you anyway, so-"

He began frantically trying to make a comfortable space for himself on the floor.

"Hiccup, stop," Astrid said. She dropped the bags on the floor, and moved towards him, picking the pillows back up and throwing them back onto the bed. "It's ridiculous for you to sleep on the floor for two weeks. We can share a bed. It's fine."

Hiccup stilled. "Are you sure?" he began to gabble. "Because I can sleep on the floor, it's fine, I don't mind, I can't believe we didn't think of this, I'm sorry-"

"Hiccup," Astrid said, a little louder this time. "We can sleep in the same bed. The world won't implode."

Hiccup closed his mouth, his heart beating hard in his chest. He couldn't do this.

It was one thing to casually hold Astrid's hand, or have his arm around her waist, or kiss her on the cheek, but the idea of being that close to her all night was doing funny things to his stomach.

"Are you sure?" he repeated, his face like a rabbit in the headlights.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure," she said, scrabbling through one of the suitcases to find her washbag and taking it over to Hiccup's en-suite, arranging her things on the empty shelf above the sink. Then she poked her head around the door, with an afterthought. "Just don't get any genius ideas, yes?" she said, sharply.

Hiccup turned bright red and spluttered, his hands covering his face. "No- I wouldn't- You know - We don't-"

Astrid came back into the room and cackled. "I was just kidding Hiccup, calm down."

She dropped herself onto the bed and stretched herself out, staring up at the ceiling. Hiccup hovered between the door and the bed, but after an internal war with himself, he joined her on the bed and stared up with her.

There were a set of stickers shaped like stars stuck up on the ceiling, all of them arranged into different shapes, peeling in the corners with age.

Astrid pointed at them. "Are those all in actual constellations?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said, pleased to finally have his voice back after the incident earlier. "I did it all one day in the summer when it was raining, and I thought it'd be cool to have the night sky on my ceiling. It took me ages to look up the exact constellations."

"Nerd," she said, playfully nudging him in the shoulder.

Hiccup grinned. "They glow in the dark."

"I bet that impressed all the girls you brought back here."

"Yeah," Hiccup coughed. "All the girls that I brought back here. The girls I brought here. This is the room where I brought all the girls."

Astrid sniggered.

"What, did you have guys falling at your feet in high school?" Hiccup muttered, folding his arms indignantly.

"Yes, actually," Astrid said, with a smug grin. "I was very popular."

"I guess with your looks I wouldn't blame you."

Hiccup froze.

It had just slipped out so easily.

They weren't in front of anybody right now. His parents were downstairs, out of the way - there was no way that they could hear their conversation. This wasn't the reunion anymore, there weren't people at every corner ready to sneak up on them and interject in between every sentence they had said to her.

They didn't need to pretend right now.

And he'd said it anyway.

He felt his heart speed up, wondering if Astrid could tell, wondering if she could feel his hands shaking next to hers, wondering if he could tell how much of that he'd really meant.

"You got that right," Astrid said, smirking.

...Maybe she hadn't heard properly. Maybe, she hadn't cared.

Either way, Hiccup felt himself breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't want to cross the line - they might be fake dating, but they were friends first, and that was all they could ever be. It was all that Astrid wanted, anyway, and he wasn't going to go against her wishes.

He'd need to stop these little slips if he wanted to keep this up. He had to keep a boundary between them. He had to.

Astrid swung her legs off the bed, and jumped onto the floor, taking a look around the room, her hands on her hips as she craned her neck to take in every inch of the place.

"So, this is where little Hiccup spent his time," Astrid said with a smile.

"Yup," Hiccup said. "This is where the magic happened."

Astrid turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "You did magic here?"

"Ha, ha."

She turned her back to him and began to look around the room again. It was a nice little room, she thought. It wasn't as big as she had expected it to be - the double bed took up most of the room. There was a desk and a chair crammed in by the window, the desk still covered in whatever Hiccup had been doing years before. The paper and pencils were exactly where he had left them, spread across the desk mid-work. More than four years had passed and they were all covered in dust, but everything was still there, still intact. It was a little bit eerie, almost like no time at all had passed.

Hiccup joined Astrid at the desk and looked over her shoulder. "Oh," he said. "I forgot I'd been working on this."

"'The Adventures Of Hiccup and Fishlegs: Fearsome Vikings Of Berk'?" Astrid said, her lips quirking into a smile.

Hiccup smiled too. "It was a comic I was working on with my friend, Fishlegs. We were-"

"Vikings?" Astrid finished for him, still grinning.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, and laughed, wiping a hand down his face. "We had a whole storyline going. Man, I can't believe I forgot about this."

"Fishlegs," Astrid mumbled, shaking her head. "I thought I'd had my share of weird names from your family and friends, but apparently I was wrong."

"My family has a penchant for nicknames," Hiccup said, a smile in his voice. "Trust me, you haven't seen the half of it. Wait until the wedding."

Astrid grinned and then turned to look across one wall, which was filled from the floor to the ceiling with drawing after drawing, most of the paper yellowed and peeling.

"Dragons?" Astrid said curiously, as she narrowed her eyes at the wall to see what he'd been drawing over and over again.

Hiccup scratched the back of his head and smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "They were kind of my thing back in high school. They were my favourite thing to draw back then."

"Huh," Astrid said. "I'm learning so many interesting things about you, Haddock. You got any more secrets hidden away here?"

"Um..." Hiccup mumbled, staring at his feet.

"Bet there's a secret journal hidden around here somewhere," Astrid said, that cheeky grin back on her face.

"No," Hiccup said, covering his face with his hands.

"Did you write about girls in it? Did you write about boys? Did you write sad poetry?" she said, still grinning, beginning to search around the desk, opening one of the drawers, only to find nothing but extra stationary.

"You'll never find it!" Hiccup said.

Astrid's eyes glimmered as her grin stretched wider still. "So, there is a secret journal hidden around here? Show me!"

"No," Hiccup said, all in monotone, dropping back down on the bed.

"Come on, Hiccup," Astrid whined. "I wanna know what middle school Hiccup was up to."

"Drawing dragons and acing tests," Hiccup said. "That about sums him up."

"That's boring," Astrid said as she dropped down onto the bed beside him. "I want to know about girlfriends. Boyfriends. Whatever little Hiccup was into."

"I've never had either."

There was a silence. Astrid blinked. "Never ever?"

"Nope."

"But... what about Maria, in university?" Astrid said, a little shocked.

Hiccup shrugged. "We dated, but it never really went anywhere."

"Amelia?"

Hiccup wrinkled his nose. "She didn't like cats."

"Lisa?"

"I didn't like her much," Hiccup said. "We went on two dates, and then I stopped returning her calls."

"Hiccup the heart breaker," Astrid commented, still staring at him wide eyed. "Wow. No wonder your parents were so excited when you brought someone home."

Hiccup shrugged. He didn't really have an answer for that, so instead of replying, he lay down on the bed and stared back up at the stars on the ceiling. After a few moments, Astrid joined him.

"Why have you never..." she mumbled, her voice trailing off. "I mean, you're a nice guy, Hiccup, and you're attractive. Why haven't you ever been in a relationship?"

Hiccup swallowed, rubbing at the neck of his sweater. He suddenly felt very hot after the attractive comment. Had Astrid noticed the sudden temperature change?

He could feel her eyes boring into the side of his head, but he couldn't look back at her. He kept his gaze fixed up on the ceiling.

"Just never came up, I guess," Hiccup mumbled. "There was no one I ever really liked that much."

Until now.

"Besides," Hiccup said, his voice a few pitches higher, "I'm not exactly boyfriend material. I spend too much time with my cat."

"You're not wrong about that. The spending too much time with the cat, not the boyfriend material part," she said, flicking him on the nose.

Hiccup made an indignant noise and turned onto his side so that she wouldn't see his smile.

"That cat still hasn't forgiven me for what I've done," Hiccup said.

They'd let Toothless out of his carrier earlier, and the cat had given Hiccup the most reproachful look. The plane journey had not been a fun experience for the little cat. He was an explorer at heart, and being trapped inside a pet carrier for the best part of a day was not in his best interests. In Toothless' eyes, Hiccup had committed the worst sort of betrayal, and there was nothing he could do to earn the cat's forgiveness.

When they'd arrived, Toothless had hissed at Hiccup and the stalked away to explore his new surroundings.

They'd probably end up with several dead mice on the front porch.

"He'll come round eventually," Astrid said, rolling her eyes. "When he remembers that you're the one that feeds him the good stuff."

"Probably," Hiccup said, and sighed, sinking down into the duvet.

The two fell into silence then, just letting the minutes go by while the two of them got lost in thought, both of them thinking about the day ahead.

Hiccup found himself wishing, not for the first time, that he could see what was going on in Astrid's head. What did she think of all this? What did she think of his home? He'd asked her so many times over the past few weeks if she'd really been sure that she was okay doing this, and every time she had sighed, rolled her eyes and told him that she was. How was Hiccup supposed to know if she was lying? Maybe she was secretly angry. Maybe she was frustrated that he'd dragged her all the way out to this tiny little island in the summer. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Hiccup tilted his head over towards her. She didn't look angry. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were rested atop her stomach, breathing gently in and out, tranquil and calm. A small smile graced her face, and she looked somehow contented.

So, maybe she wasn't angry after all. Not that Hiccup would ever be able to tell. He'd been trying for weeks to understand what went on in Astrid Hofferson's head, the same way that she always knew what was going on in his, but he'd never really mastered it.

Sometimes he thought Astrid could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face.

He wished he could do the same for her. He wished he could unpick her brain and ask all sorts of questions. Namely, are you angry? Are you happy here? How do you feel about me?

They were the sort of questions he'd never really know. There were also other things Hiccup desperately wanted to know, but he could never ask. Do you like holding my hand? How do you like to be kissed?

All sorts of questions, none of them he could ask.

There was a boundary, and he refused to cross it, ever.

Astrid's eyes were open now, and she had shifted up in the bed, her back rested on the headboard, her fingers running through her braid, fiddling with the hairband tying it all together.

"You want to shower first or can I?" Astrid said, pulling off the hairband and sliding it around her wrist.

It had been a long day, and both of them felt pretty sticky and dirty. Hiccup's fringe was sticking to his forehead, and it wasn't until then that he realised how much he really wanted to shower.

"Oh," Hiccup said, sitting up. "You go first, by all means. You got a towel and everything?"

Astrid slid off the bed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got everything, I know how to pack, remember."

Hiccup scowled and gave a pout. "Okay. Do you want me to leave... or?"

"I'll just close the door," Astrid said, whipping out her pyjamas and a dressing gown from the suitcase. "In a bit, Hiccup."

She disappeared into the en-suite and Hiccup sat on the bed and waited for the sounds of the shower running. He twiddled his thumbs, doing the best he could to not think about Astrid undressing.

Hiccup found himself navigating towards the desk, finding the 'The Adventures of Hiccup and Fishlegs: Fearsome Vikings of Berk' comic on the desk. The last panel was empty, unfinished. Hiccup hated leaving things unfinished.

He blew the dust off the page, and found himself a pencil, and before long he was engrossed, sketching out heads and bodies and limbs. He'd forgotten whatever younger Hiccup had in mind for the storyline, but after reading what had already been drawn he could make a few guesses, and carried on with the strip. Hiccup and Fishlegs - the finest of the Viking heroes, along with their trusty dragons. Hiccup drew a small one flying just over his comic counterpart's shoulder, missing a tail-wing. He drew an arrow to it and wrote the name 'Toothless' in block letters. Hiccup got a bit of a kick out of that.

"Finishing what you started?"

The voice made him jump - he'd been so focused on what he'd been doing that he hadn't heard the shower turn off. Astrid was standing in the bathroom doorway, her weight shifted to her left, her arms folded and her head tilted to the side, an amused smile on her face.

"Couldn't leave these two hanging," Hiccup said. "It just seemed wrong."

Astrid laughed and moved over towards him, standing at his shoulder. "You never were able to quit projects like these," Astrid said, something of a fond smile on her face.

Hiccup held his breath, hoping that she wouldn't notice how much his heart had begun to speed up when she'd come closer. She was snug in a dressing gown, her hair wrapped up in one of those towel hats that Hiccup had never understood how they worked.

Astrid let out a bark of laughter as she saw something on the page, pointing down at it. "Toothless, a dragon?"

"He's stubborn like one," Hiccup said, his voice low.

"I feel like that cat would breathe fire if he could," Astrid remarked. "Imagine the trouble he'd get into. He'd never do anything you say."

Hiccup laughed. "He never does anything I say, anyway."

Astrid grinned. "You having a shower, dragon boy?"

"Oh," Hiccup said, jumping from the chair. "Yeah, yeah. I forgot about that."

"I left a towel out for you!" Astrid called as he ran into the bathroom.

What would he do without her?

Hiccup took an extra-long time in the shower, just letting the warm water run down his back. The longer he stayed under the water, the longer he'd prolong having to share a bed with Astrid Hofferson. God, he could feel himself getting dizzy at the very concept.

He had to get out eventually though, when his skin was wrinkled and he was starting to shiver a little. He threw on an old t-shirt and pulled on his pyjama pants, before taking a deep breath and leaving the bathroom.

He could have sworn his heart jumped out of his chest.

Astrid was sitting on his bed in a t-shirt and shorts, her bare legs stretched out, her toes wiggling. She had her phone in her hands, playing on some app or another, her blonde hair loose and fanning out over her shoulders like a golden curtain.

He'd never seen her hair down before, and now he felt like he was privy to something he shouldn't be. Her hair was always up - usually in a tight braid or ponytail, but now it was down. Hiccup's fingers itched with the sudden urge to run his hands through her hair, just to feel it, because it looked so soft and welcoming. He bundled his hands into fists and dug his nails into his palms.

Boundaries, he reminded himself. Boundaries.

"What?"

She'd noticed him staring.

He unclenched his fists, and took a breath. "Nothing," he mumbled. "Just never seen your hair down before."

"Oh," she said, surprised, running a hand through her hair. "I'd have it down more often, but it gets in my way, you know?"

"Yeah," he said, swallowing.

Get yourself together, Haddock.

He hovered, once again not sure if he should sit down beside her. It still felt wrong, still felt like a path that he shouldn't cross, a boundary that once broken couldn't be built again.

She was still staring at him. He wondered if he had something on his face for a moment, but then her expression changed, her eyes sparkling as her lips curled into a smile.

"I've been meaning to ask," she said, her voice taking on an insinuating tone that made Hiccup distinctly uncomfortable, "what these are all about?"

To his horror, she pulled out one of the condoms Val had left in the bathroom. "Because, y'know, if these have been here since high school, I really advise you not to use them."

Hiccup turned a tomato-red, spluttering, "I- they're not- Mum! Mum put them there! They're not mine!"

Astrid covered her grin with her hand. "I figured."

"She's impossible," Hiccup said. He was still bright red, his eyes fixed at his feet, a hand carding through his hair.

"Well, you know," Astrid said, tilting herself across the bed and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, "If you play your cards right..."

If Hiccup had been red before, he was positively scarlet now, barely able to from amongst his stammers.

This time Astrid didn't try to hide her laughter, clutching her stomach. "Your face," she said, barely able to get the words out amongst the giggles. "You're so easy to wind up."

Hiccup stood motionless in the middle of the room, his hands covering his face.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed," Astrid said. "You're just fun to tease."

"Ha, ha."

"Come to bed, sweetheart." She threw him an overexaggerated wink, patting the bed beside her.

"Stop it."

Before he could really think about what he was doing, he slid down next to her on the bed, taking out his phone so that he could distract himself from her. He kept his eyes fixed on the small screen, but he was acutely aware of her every movement. She was still shaking slightly as her laughter subsided, her hair tickling Hiccup's skin.

He felt like he was on edge every moment, his skin pricking and his heartbeat picking up at every brush of her shoulder. He set himself to the task of taking off his prosthetic, methodically unstrapping it from himself, taking much more time and care than he usually would. He was all too aware of Astrid's eyes on the back of his head, watching him carefully. He settled his fake leg down beside the bed, before resting his head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. There was a lump in his throat.

This is only going to get more difficult, Hiccup thought to himself. Get it together.

It was getting late. Outside, the sun had dipped down behind the horizon completely, and the moon was bright in the sky. Tiredness tugged at Hiccup, and he found himself wanting for nothing more than to just dive under the covers and fall asleep, but he didn't know how to breach that subject with Astrid.

When he cast a glance over at her, it seemed like she didn't really know how to either.

"You tired?" she said, eventually, and Hiccup nodded.

"Guess we should go to bed," Hiccup said, hating how awkward his voice sounded.

"Guess so."

"So, I'll just…" He said, his voice trailing away.

"Yeah," Astrid mumbled.

Hiccup reached over to the lamp by his side to switch it off, wriggling down under the covers.

"Night, Hiccup."

"Night, Astrid."

Up above him, the constellations on the ceiling shone like actual stars.

Hiccup had never felt so warm. From his head to his toes he felt deliciously comfortable, and in that moment, he felt like he never wanted to leave. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this - since university, waking up had always felt like he was being ripped away from dreamland, with the harsh reminder that real life was calling.

There was something warm in his arms, and his legs were tangled with something. Did Toothless get into bed with him last night? He couldn't remember. His thoughts were in that hazy state on the edge of asleep and awake, and he found himself unable to think in straight lines.

Something tickled his chin and for a moment all he could smell is something flowery that he couldn't quite identify. Toothless must have been fast asleep, because the something warm in his arms was moving steadily, up and down in a smooth rhythm.

Wait.

Hiccup's thoughts slowly clicked into place.

Toothless hadn't fallen asleep with him.

It was Astrid.

His arms were wrapped around Astrid's waist, her bare legs tangled with his, her hair in his face. For a moment, Hiccup panicked.

His arms were wrapped around Astrid Hofferson. He was cuddling Astrid Hofferson. He was spooning Astrid Hofferson.

All of his senses were alive, the whole surface of his skin tingling, and he was frozen against her, too afraid to move, too afraid he might wake her up. If she woke up, she'd murder him. She'd been clear the night before - "Just don't get any genius ideas," - if she woke up, she'd be furious.

After a few moments of lying still and holding onto Astrid for dear life, his heart beating so hard he could hear it in his throat, he slowly began to detach himself, slithering his arm away inch by inch until he was free, and then pulling himself out of bed, going to sit at his desk.

His fingers drummed on the wood, his leg bouncing up and down uncontrollably and his heart racing a mile a minute, trying not to think about the fact that two minutes ago, Astrid Hofferson had been in his arms, and failing miserably because – holy shit – two minutes ago, Astrid Hofferson had been in his arms.

Hiccup felt like his body was crying out in the absence of her, and he was fighting every urge in him that told him he should get straight back in bed with her - pretend to be asleep, just do anything to be near her again.

But he wouldn't. That would be crossing a line, and he wasn't going to do anything to make her uncomfortable.

He smelled like her, he realised. He smelled like her shampoo and shower gel, the smell stuck to his skin like a tattoo - 'Astrid Hofferson Was Here.'

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair and turned back to the desk, forcing himself to pick up a pencil and beginning drawing.

Drawing had always been a comfort to Hiccup. When he was younger and his anxiety had been worst, drawing was what he did to calm down. Just being able to get engrossed with something and let the outside world become a blur to him was so calming.

"What time did you get up?"

Her voice was barely there, a croak at best.

He turned.

She was sitting up in bed, propping herself up with her hands, blinking at him with sleep filled, shiny eyes. Her face was as soft as he had ever seen it, her hair a tangled mess around her shoulders. Hiccup felt his stomach twist into knot after knot, tying itself up until he felt like he might be sick.

"Not too long ago," he said, glad to find that he was actually capable of speaking this time. "Hope I didn't wake you. You can go back to sleep if you want."

"'M awake now," she mumbled, lifting up the duvet and swinging her legs out.

Her shirt had bunched up over her chest, revealing her stomach, and her bare legs. Hiccup turned back towards the desk, staring out the window, his teeth gnawing on his lip.

"Hey, can you find my toothpaste for me?" Astrid called as she wandered into the bathroom.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, standing up and scrabbling through Astrid's washbag, finding a small tube of toothpaste.

In the bathroom, Astrid stood by the sink, toothpaste in hand. She still had that half-asleep dewy look in her eye, and in that moment, Hiccup felt like he wanted to do nothing else but kiss her.

Almost auto-pilot, Hiccup found his own toothbrush and toothpaste and began cleaning his teeth, finding himself unable to stop his eyes from sliding over towards Astrid and taking in all of her features.

Soft blonde hair. Wide blue eyes he could get lost exploring. The cutest button nose he had ever seen.

Stop, he told himself, snapping his eyes back towards the mirror, brushing his teeth, spitting into the sink and getting out of their as quickly as he could, darting back into the room and finding himself a shirt.

Without really thinking, he pulled his pyjama shirt off.

"Ah!" Astrid made a noise behind him.

Hiccup turned.

"Sorry!" she mumbled. "I didn't realise you were changing!"

She was standing in the bathroom doorway. It took him a few seconds before he registered what had happened.

Oh.

He was standing shirtless in the middle of the room, and Astrid was staring at him.

"Uh," Astrid spluttered. "Uh. Sorry. I didn't mean - I'll just - I'll just go."

Bright red, she slammed the door to the bathroom shut, leaving Hiccup in the middle of the room alone.

Heart racing, Hiccup pulled his shirt on, found a pair of jeans and pulled them over his legs, adjusting them where they had caught on his prosthetic.

He knocked on the bathroom door. "I'm, uh, decent," he mumbled, kicking himself for stammering. "You can come out now."

The door opened slightly, and Astrid's eyes and nose appeared in the crack, looking him up and down before she opened the door fully, her hands covering her face while she let out an awkward giggle.

"Sorry!" she said again, her shoulders shaking. "Sorry."

Hiccup was almost as red as she was, and he coughed once, looking down at his feet. "It's okay," he said. "I should have told you. I didn't think."

"Okay," Astrid mumbled, as the last giggles subsided. "Okay."

Another awkward silence followed, and Astrid slid around Hiccup's statue form and dove into one bags she'd brought, pulling out a hair brush and a comb, resting herself back on her bed.

Hiccup finally managed to move, forcing himself to sit back down onto the desk chair, unsure of what to do or say now. Astrid didn't seem to have any idea either; she wasn't looking at Hiccup, just staring down at her lap as she pulled hairs out of the brush.

Come on, Hiccup thought to himself. Think of something to say. Stop making this awkward.

But nothing came to mind, and all he could do was stay tongue-tied while Astrid ran her fingers through her hair and began to brush it out, waves of silky golden curls falling down her shoulders.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Snarky Astrid was back, sticking her tongue out at Hiccup with the comment, her eyes glittering.

"Ha," Hiccup said, feeling able to speak. "You're the one who was getting a good look at me without a shirt on."

He couldn't help but let Snarky Hiccup sneak back through, even though he felt like his heart was jumping out of his chest while he said the quip.

Astrid turned bright red again. "I was just! I wasn't! I-" she spluttered, and Hiccup loved every minute of it, wanting to bottle up the sound.

After a few moments of not being able to come up with a good comeback, Astrid settled for throwing her comb at Hiccup, laughing when it hit him in the face.

He watched as she separated her hair into sections and began plaiting them together, into her signature braid that Hiccup was so used to. After that, she stood up and scrabbled to find some clothes from the suitcase.

"I'm going into the bathroom to change," Astrid said, matter of fact. "Don't walk in on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Hiccup muttered before turning back to his project on the table, pencil in hand and nose bent towards the paper.

She disappeared into the other room, and Hiccup broke into a smile.