It all began with a conversation between EmmerzK and me. We were contemplating things and the result is this story. The subject matter is more mature than usual but the language isn't offensive. Enjoy!

~KateMarie999

The Darkest Secret

It was about time I was feeling better.

Hiccup was… well, he was Hiccup the entire time I was sick. Rarely left my side and when he did, he came back with a tiny little gift for me. It was as if he was going on daring two-hour adventures in other worlds and then bringing me trinkets. I liked the attention but I sensed that if he did this every time I got sick, we'd end up buried in them by the time we were 30. Thor help me when we have kids. Nine months of lavish attention and no personal space might be enough to push me over the edge.

A few days after a healer declared me fully healed, Hiccup and I decided to meet up at our spot so we could have some time together without being interrupted. Most people barely notice the cliff on the other end of the island but Hiccup and I love it. It provides the best view of the ocean and gives us as much solitude as we want. And the fresh berries that grow there are always nice to snack on when we don't want to go back to the village for food.

Hiccup and I dismounted and dangled our feet over the edge of the cliff, fully aware that we're always in a little bit of danger but, with our dragons sleeping in the sunlight behind us, it's minimal. We were silent for a while, simply holding hands and enjoying each other's company.

But Hiccup has a tendency to speak up when things get too quiet. And this was no exception.

"I can't believe I'm here…" he muttered, probably to himself.

"Believe it." I replied, nudging him with my shoulder.

He didn't face me but the tiny little half smile that lit up his face made my heart skip a beat. I love it when he's deep in thought. Especially when he's thinking about me.

"You and me, Astrid. Did you ever think that was going to happen?" he asked after a long pause.

I shook my head. "Nope. But it did." I squeezed his hand.

"Yeah." He said quietly. "If someone had told me that you were going to be my first kiss, I'd have laughed."

My mouth dropped open. "I was your first?" I asked, trying to keep my amusement contained.

"Well… yeah, I mean I wasn't very popular and girls didn't really notice me." He said, his cute little half smile stretching a bit.

"I just didn't realize it." my stomach clenched. "Would it bother you if I said you weren't mine?"

Hiccup chuckled and squeezed my hand. "Not at all. Who was your first?"

Oh boy. I really shouldn't have said that. I flashed him a very fake smile.

"That doesn't really matter." I said with a shrug.

"We're going to spend the rest of our lives together." Hiccup leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "I want to know."

"You'll laugh." I said, staring at my other hand which was balled in my lap.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I won't laugh, come on…"

I shook my head. "I can't tell you, it's embarrassing."

"Astrid, whatever happened, I won't get upset." Hiccup said, placing his other hand on top of our clasped hands.

"But you'll laugh…" I whined, avoiding his gaze.

"I promise I won't laugh. Come on, tell me."

I took a deep breath. "Fine!" I leaned in so that only he could hear me. "It was Tuffnut."

"T-Tuffnut?" Hiccup choked, nearly strangling his vocal cords in his attempt not to burst out laughing.

"We were seven and we both got caught in a dragon trap together." I said, hanging my head in shame.

"Mhm, go on." Hiccup said very fast, still making odd noises as he fought against his laughter.

"Well Snotlout and Ruffnut came over and told us they wouldn't let us down until we kissed... so we did. It was a short peck, nothing serious." I assured him.

My fiancé couldn't reply to this. His face was slowly turning red and he was making little snorting noises. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh fine. Out with it."

It was as though a dam had burst in his throat. Peals of laughter echoed around us for several minutes. I tried glaring at him but this only made him laugh harder. By the time he was finished, tears were streaming down his face.

"So that's why Tuffnut would sidle up to Snotlout and say 'first' every time he was hitting on you when we were kids." He chortled, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes.

I nodded with a small smile; I had forgotten that Tuffnut used to do that. "Yup. Snotlout never did forgive himself for that dare."

"I forgive him." Hiccup giggled. "That has to be the funniest thing I've ever heard."

"If you tell anyone else about it, I will punch you into next week." I threatened.

Hiccup nodded, still wiping tears out of his eyes. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me."

"So what's your deepest, darkest secret?" I asked him.

"Astrid… I mean, I know your deepest…"

"Okay tell me your most embarrassing one. You've got a lot to choose from." I winked at him and he sighed.

"Okay…" he thought about it for a second. "Do you remember how I first met Toothless?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you shot him down and then cut him free."

"Yeah…" he took a deep breath. "I may have omitted a few things."

"Oh really?" I asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yep. Like the fact that Toothless roared in my face and then scampered off… and then I fainted." He muttered the last bit so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

I gasped. "You didn't!"

He hung his head, a sheepish smile on his face. "I did. It was just so… intense. I tried to get up and the next thing I knew, it was dark outside and I was lying on my stomach in the woods."

I laughed out loud at his embarrassment. "That's hilarious! Hiccup the Bold struck down by his own dragon."

"Hey, I was only fifteen!"

I patted him on the shoulder. "I know. But that's still pretty embarrassing. I won't tell anyone."

"Good. Thank you."

He slipped his arm around me as we fell silent once more. I loved these little moments sitting in front of the setting sun and sharing secrets. It was almost like the late night chats I would have with Ruffnut when she would spend the night at my house when we were small.

"What's your biggest secret?" I asked before Hiccup could break the silence once more.

"You really want to know?" he leaned in close to me.

I nodded and he took a deep breath.

"I'm a virgin."

My mouth dropped open. "Really?" I gasped. "I mean you're the heir and you ended the war between the dragons; I sort of thought you might have gotten around a bit…"

Hiccup vehemently shook his head. "Definitely not. It's only been you. Well I mean we obviously haven't done anything yet but…"

I raised my pointer finger and pressed it against his mouth. He smiled sheepishly and stopped rambling.

"So you were just… waiting for the right person." I ventured.

He nodded. "Well I also got to thinking that I didn't want to do that with just anyone… you only lose your virginity once and I wanted it to be special. So what about…"

I grinned at him. "I'm a virgin too."

Hiccup stared at me for a moment, his mouth hanging slightly open. Finally, he spoke. "Astrid… oh gods, this is going to come out wrong but how…"

"I just never had time." I interrupted. "I never really wanted to, you know? Boys my age, they were so stupid and stuck up. I mean you weren't but I wouldn't let myself think that way until we started dating. And then you were so... cute. And innocent. And... well, I just didn't want to bring it up."

"Cute?" Hiccup put his hand to his heart in mock offense.

"Yes." I ruffled his hair. "Sometimes you're just too cute for words."

Hiccup leaned in and kissed me on the nose. He then looked at his knees, his fingers twitching and I could almost hear him thinking.

"Do you mind if we wait a little longer?" he asked a long last.

"I'll wait as long as you want." I replied, placing my head on his shoulder. "That never was my focus with dating you. And it isn't my focus for marrying you."

Hiccup squeezed my shoulder and kissed me on the top of my head. The heat radiating from his body was very comfortable. I could almost fall asleep like this.

"It's not going to be easy. Especially now that we're engaged." Hiccup said, sighing heavily. "I mean, I'm human… so are you… it's going to be tough."

I thought about it for a moment. "Well maybe we should keep the kissing to a minimum then, and not do in places where we'll be tempted."

"Kissing with an audience? I like that." Hiccup quipped, earning himself an elbow in his ribcage. He laughed in response, gently massaging his ribs with his other hand.

"That's not what I meant." I said, smiling despite my irritation.

"So don't kiss alone but don't kiss in public. You do realize you're killing me right now..." He took his hand off of my shoulder and began to stroke my hair.

"I have incredible willpower." I said, grinning at the look of horror I knew I was probably receiving.

"Says the person whose first kiss was with Tuffnut…"

"Oh shut up!" I shouted, taking my head off his shoulder.

He made a small noise as my fist collided with his stomach but his silly grin never left his face. When we were done giggling like little kids, we leaned on Stormfly's back, our hands clasped once more.

"We can kiss when there are people around." I said after a few minutes. "How's that."

"Does your hand count?"

I looked at him in confusion. Giving me a very soft smile, he lifted my hand and pressed his lips against my knuckles.

"Nope. You can kiss my hand as much as you want." I said, trying not to melt into my fiancé's arms.

He kissed my hand again. "I love you, Astrid."

With my free hand, I gently brushed away some of the strands of hair that fell into his face. My touch made him shiver slightly but I knew that it had nothing to do with the temperature.

"I love you too, Hiccup."

And I meant every word.