I was discouraged after I uploaded the last chapter. Not by you guyzez, y'all r aesome.

I had enough time and will to write this... *Sigh*

Sorry for the late update...

Enjoy reading and review if you like it

Chapter 14
Discoveries

Two days ago, quite a number of walls crumbled down but it is still not enough. *Sigh* I give up. Looks like I have to wait for a hint or something. If only I could see his heart, that would've answered my questions. Yeah… it looks like they pretend… I mean, she pretend that certain event never happened two days ago, whatever that was… two days ago... two days... just making a point here... two days...

Both Hiccup and Astrid did not really like what happened yesterday. Stoick arrived yesterday along with Vincent and they both were proud of their child, with different stories.

With Hiccup and Stoick, Stoick was rambling how good Hiccup had been in the ring after he heard the news and how proud he was. "All because of Astrid!" he said ecstatically and the 'proud' Hiccup felt really fell to the floor. But he received a helmet, which happened to be a half of her mother's breastplate, to his dismay.

With Astrid and Vincent, Vincent was teasing how good Astrid had been with Hiccup after he heard the news and how proud he was. "All because of Hiccup!" he said ecstatically and 'teases' Astrid felt really shot up the roof. And she received a hug from her father because of how he missed his daughter and that she finally had a crush, to her dismay.

What she didn't notice was that after she left her house, Linda whispered to her husband that made him completely shocked.

This morning wasn't a success for Astrid. She was determined to win the dragon training except she can't control the Gronckle since it followed Hiccup there and here. To the villagers' eyes, they saw an extreme pursuit. To Astrid's eyes, the dragon was merely playing tag with Hiccup. So eventually Hiccup had to take him down so there were no growing suspicions.

Over all, it was a bad day for Hiccup and Astrid but mostly Astrid.

So, that afternoon when they were on their way to the cove, Astrid stormed her way through the forest, flattening every bump in her way with Hiccup on her heels. He knew his way to the cove because he followed the heavy stomping of angry Astrid.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly spoke and he heard her stomping stopped.

"Why are you apologizing for!?" she snapped as she turned around.

"For making you angry?"

"Just shut up"

"Astrid-"

"Shut up"

"Astrid, please-"

"Hiccup, shut u-" she immediately went silent when she felt his hand on her. She froze as his thumb rubbing circle at the back of her hand, comforting it and making her face warmer. She tried to speak but a lump caught on her throat as she tried to swallow it.

"Astrid," he said slowly. "Would you please, tell me what is wrong?" Astrid choked at her own words but she managed to let them out.

"So you won't have to face the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow. Hiccup, you're blind for Thor's sake, and I can't be there to guide you in the ring and you have to kill it"

"I totally forgot about the last part"

"Let's just go to the cove, shall we?" Hiccup let her hand go as she awkwardly walked to the cove with Hiccup on her heels. Even if he did it practically everyday, it always made her blushed and it was hard to get used to it for a certain girl like Astrid.

Upon arrived, all of her thoughts licked away – literally – by Toothless with his sticky dragon saliva, which caused a throaty dragon laugh. The everyday flight on that day was got delayed because Astrid chased Toothless around the cove for revenge. After got her revenge, she chased him around the cove for another time to get him saddle up. Unaware of the situation, Hiccup was sitting down on the ground, cross-legged, smiled and laughed when Astrid loudly cursed and Toothless throaty laugh.

The flight was – like always – amazing and wonderful. Astrid and Toothless screamed in thrill as Hiccup just smiled through Astrid's hair behind her. During a glide high up above the cloud, a crazy idea came to Hiccup, making him smirked.

"Do you trust me, Astrid?"

"What!?" she asked through the rushing wind. To make his words reach her ears, he brushed his lips on her left ear and he whispered.

"Do you trust me?" the contact made Astrid stiffened but it was soothing for her. When he whispered to her ear, she shuddered. It made her hard to reply but she did it bluntly.

"Of course I do," and with that Hiccup smirked even further. Through the wind, Astrid heard some clicking sound, like someone detaching something. Suddenly, Hiccup's arms snaked around her waist and pulled her towards him, making her melt into his arms – which she was not admitting it, by the way – and made her face warmer despite the cold rushing air.

"Good," with Astrid in his arms, he leaned to the side, slowly sliding off from the back of the dragon. Realizing what he was doing, Astrid smirked because Hiccup couldn't take her off from the saddle since she was secured onto it. That was, not until she looked down. Both of them were already unhooked from the saddle.

"Oh no," and now she found herself in a nosedive towards the ocean below, with Hiccup wrapping his arms around her waist. Scream of terror came out of her mouth as they approached the ocean from thousands of feet in the air.

"Relax, Astrid," her head whipped around to see Hiccup and was greeted by a pair of closed eyes and a warming smile. "Enjoy the thrill," he calmly added as they spiral down towards the ocean. At first, Astrid wasn't sure but since Hiccup was more experienced than her, she trusted him that it was okay to be calm.

Feeling her body relaxed in his arms, he eventually let her go and spread his limbs wide apart as his back was facing the ocean, still spiraling down. Astrid was few feet above him as she watched him spiraling down towards the ocean. Hiccup was still calm and relaxed even though the ocean was now clearly visible in sight. He then opened his eyes and held out his hand towards her.

Knowing the gesture, she approached him and took his hand. After she took his hand, Hiccup pulled her towards him, spun her once she was close enough and wrapped his arms around her waist and her back was pressing his chest. They were now in the same position like before. Through the rushing air, Hiccup whistled and out of the blue, Toothless flew beneath them and caught them. Once they were on the saddle, Hiccup secured them back onto the saddle in an instant.

"Thrilling, wasn't it?" he suddenly asked, still with the smile plastered on his face. Astrid turned and smiled at him.

"You done that before, haven't you?"

"Twice before and thrice now"

"Let's do it again!" she said excitedly. But suddenly, Toothless shifted as Hiccup's smile disappeared. He shushed her as his face showed concentration and Toothless ears perked up. "What is it?" suddenly Toothless dived towards the fog that led to Helhiem's Gate.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked after he felt Toothless jerked to some direction.

"I don't know he just jerked away-" she got cut off by Hiccup's shush and a finger to her lips. It was silence for a moment before Hiccup whispered.

"Get down!"

"What's wrong?" and immediately hundreds of dragons came to their sight, to her fear. She looked around and they were surrounded by dragons carrying their kill.

"Toothless, bud, we've got to get out of here," Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless' head but he shrugged it away. After a while, a volcanic island came to their view, except for Hiccup. Toothless landed on a ledge after they entered the mountain. "What's happening?"

"They're dumping down their kill in a hole," she replied as she watched the dragons wasting away their foods.

"Is it really that satisfying to know that all of our food has been dump down a hole?" suddenly a Gronckle hovered in aimlessly and regurgitated a small fish down the hole. Suddenly, a loud growl echoed the mountain and a large head popped out from below and took the Gronckle with one single, giant gulp. "What's happening?" Hiccup asked when he heard the loud gulp but words cannot form from Astrid's lips of what she just saw. Then, he heard the same growl and it coming towards them. "Toothless, we got to go. NOW!" they barely escaped the jaws as they exited through the hole up above. His eyes were screwed shut as his hand squeezed Astrid's hand on the rig to make sure she was there.

"It was a dragon…" he heard Astrid spoke after a while. "And the head was… huge," she added. "It took a Gronckle with one single bite"

"We've been through the nest," they had been arguing for a while on their way back to the cove. Through the entire time, Toothless was annoyed.

"No, no. It totally makes sense. They are her workers and she's their queen," after they landed, Astrid quickly dismounted. "Let's find your dad"

"No!" Hiccup dismounted and stopped her from running away further. "Astrid, no. they'll kill Toothless, no. We have to think this through," he turned away from her, facing the pond.

"But Hiccup, we eventually have to tell them. We just discovered the dragons' nest, the thing that Vikings been searching for since they first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret?" Hiccup then turned around and faced her with determination on his face.

"If it means keeping my first and best friend away from harm, then yes," he said with full of determination and no hesitation, making her glare softened. For the first time in her life, she saw the potential strength of Hiccup. She doesn't know whether it was her imagination or Hiccup was surrounded by faint green aura, along with the moon shining bright above him, showing his strength that could take down the whole archipelago with a single strike.

"O-okay. So what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out"

"Okay," silence developed between them as they took off their riding harnesses.

"Let's go home"

"Yeah, let's," they bid Toothless goodbye as they exited the cove with Astrid's guidance. Stoick was not at home so the Haddock Household was cold and quiet when they entered. She led him upstairs and Hiccup sat on at the edge of his bed as Astrid stood near the bedroom door. She gazed at Hiccup as he had his head hanging in deep thought.

Astrid didn't just discovered the dragon's nest that day, she also discovered that there was a person who was much stronger that her, a lot stronger. That person was willingly done what she couldn't do. The weight on her shoulder was nothing compare to him. She realized that the responsibility he held made her just a mere baby and he was a well-grown man. If she would put her place in Hiccup's, she would instantly crush down by the weight but Hiccup would steadily held them up.

"Astrid," he suddenly spoke.

"Yeah?"

"Come here, would you please?" she walked towards him as stood in front of him. He lifted his head and pulled her down by the forearms. She was on her knees in front of him and stared at him in confusion. Suddenly, his hands softly cupped her face, making her jumped a little. His hands were moved slowly and delicately all over her face, taking every details of it: the blushing cheeks, the cheekbones, the nose, the hollows beneath the eyes, the eyebrows, everywhere. She doesn't know why but Astrid didn't slap his hands away. Hiccup took every single detail of her face and after a long silent time, he whispered.

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost sight of you," Astrid's cheeks flared up at his statement. She was flushed at the word 'beautiful' but guilt at the words 'lost sight'. But she was quiet and he continued. "I wish I could see again the beautiful girl before me," he caressed her cheeks. "I wish I could see those beautiful sapphire blue, ocean eyes again," he tugged her bangs behind her ear, revealing wide eyes in shocked. His hands slowly move down and rested at her cheeks as his left thumb delicately brushed her lips. "And I wish I could feel those lips onto mine," Astrid blushed even further. She was about to speak but went speechless of what happened next.

"This is just a dream," a tear rolled down his cheek despite the smile on his face. "This is all just a dream. Everything here is not real," another tear rolled down as he slowly whispered. "My accomplishments are not real, village's respects on me are not real, my fathers pride on me are not real," another tear flowed down as he chuckled… or sobbed. "You're not real, Toothless' not real. I have no one" tears started to flow down from his eyes.

"This is all just a dream, both good and bad dream at the same time. It's a good dream, because I have some friends now, I have my father's pride on me and I have the girl of my dream near me," he delicately caressed her cheeks. "It's a bad dream, because I can't see those who I love anymore and ever again," Astrid was speechless the whole time as he held her face.

"I want to wake up, but at the same time I don't want to wake up," he shook his head. "I want to wake up so that I can finally see the world again, see Toothless again, see your beautiful face again. But if I wake up I'll be back to who I was before: the village runt," more tears shed as he whispered. His next sentences were going to shock her to the very core.

"I love you, Astrid. Gods, I've been keeping those words for ten years and I wanted to say them to you, the real you. I love you so much, Astrid, you don't know how much you mean to me," he tugged her bangs behind her ear and delicately kissed her forehead and held it there.

"You should go home, now. We got a big day tomorrow," he said in his normal tone as he released her. "I'll see you tomorrow," he then lay down, getting comfortable and was going to a slumber despite his shaking shoulders, indicating his tears were still flowing.

Astrid hadn't move for a while, she was dumbstruck and words couldn't form in her mouth. She stared at the shaking form in the bed, thinking back of what he just said and done. After what seemed like forever, she stood up and slowly walked out of the house and headed to her home. Through the entire journey, she wasn't arguing with her mind. Her mind was now accepting to the facts.

'He said I'm beautiful'

'That means you really are beautiful, Astrid. Because he said so'

'Are my eyes really that beautiful oceanic blue sapphire?'

'Yes they are, because Hiccup sincerely said it'

'He said he loves me'

'He meant it, every words Astrid. You could hear it in his tone'

She was still in her thought when she entered her house. Vincent and Linda were still up and they were about to start their teases about Hiccup until they saw the shock/sadness on her face.

"Astrid, what's wrong?"

"H…Hiccup…"

"What's wrong with Hiccup?"

"He… He thought…"

"He thought what?" now her parents started to worry.

"He thought that everything here is not real," now they were confused.

"What do you mean?"

"He thought this is just a dream"

"Why did he think such a thing?" asked Vincent but Linda answered his question.

"Think about it Vincent. The boy recently gone blind and for his whole life he had no one on his side. It is hard for him to adapt the whole thing in just one single day"

"Our effects on him really got to its toll"

"Until to the point that he think everything is not real and it is a dream"

"Despite the pain he received and that he is sleeping"

"We've really corrupted him, badly. Odin's beard"

"How did you know about this, Astrid?"

"He… he poured it down. He poured everything down on me. Until to the point where he said… he said…" Astrid doesn't know whether to say it or not. Luckily his father solved the problem.

"Let's just get back to bed, shall we. Lots of stuff happened today and we need some rest," despite they were in their bed, the Hofferson couldn't properly sleep because of a certain boy.

Now you know where his boldness coming from, and I even write this sentence in bold. HA! get it?