The silence was thick, so thick that Merida thought she'd choke.

Or maybe it was her anger.

"What do you mean we?" Tuffnut asked indignantly, gesturing widely with his arms. "Why do you think it was our fault that she is all..." He peered at Merida. "Is that angry? Or..."

"Maybe that's the Scottish look for smiling," Snotlout said, grinning at Merida as her eyes narrowed.

"Guys, please," Hiccup said, just short of begging. He subconciously lay a hand on Merida's arm, maybe for reassurance, maybe to calm her down. Unfortunately, she was still smarting from the kiss-rejection from a few moments ago, and she shrugged it off uncomfortably.

"I'm starting to understand why Hiccup left," she said, her voice icy. Her eyes swept the vikings viciously, taking in each one with an angry glare. "I don't know if I could last as long as he did."

She pushed past them, shouldering Snotlout especially hard, and walked away. Hiccup looked after her regretfully, before turning and finally facing his friends, who he had left years ago without much of a goodbye.

"Uh."

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs said in relief. "Do you know how much I've missed having another guy with brains around?"
Hiccup looked at him appreciatedly, but was still unsure of how to greet all of them.

"Well you have Astrid there," he said tentatively, nodding at the grim girl. She was just staring at him, and then she remembered Stoick's words. She had to get him back, by any means necessary.

"Hiccup!" She gasped loudly, dragging a hand across her forehead. "We've all missed you so much!" And then she threw herself at him, grimacing at her own actions.

Ruffnut looked at her in disgust. "Astrid, what's gotten into you?" She nodded at Hiccup, eyes sweeping his frame, and grinned. "You've gained some weight, huh?" She zeroed in on his abdomen. "Muscle weight."

Tuffnut looked at her, appalled. "Ruffnut, what the-" he paused. "Actually I agree."

Snotlout didn't say anything for a moment, staring suspiciously at Astrid's tight grasp on Hiccup's arm. He knew it wasn't like her. What was going on?

Finally, though, he shook it off and grinned.

"Duuude," he drawled, punching Hiccup's arm. "I guess Gobber can't make fun of your toothpicks anymore, huh?"

Hiccup laughed nervously, rubbing arm. "Uh, yeah. I guess so." He glanced at Astrid and gently pulled away, a little confused but more overwhelmed than anything else. "Look, you guys really annoyed Merida. You hurt her feelings. I think you shoul-"

"What?" Astrid challenged. "You want us to apologize to that? She's crazy!"

Hiccup stared at her. There was the old Astrid. "Do you blame her? You guys stared at her like she was an exhibit or something."

"And maybe she is, in a way!" Astrid snapped. "She is, after all, a dirty, red-heaired Scot!"

"How could you even say that?" Hiccup gasped, appalled. "You saw her, and the reception the other Scots gave you. Why would-"

"No." Astrid said quietly. "The question is, why would you leave us and join the enemy. There's a word for people like you, Hiccup. " Her eyes narrowed as she almost spat out her next words. "Some would say you're a traitor."

"Alright," Ruffnut said nervously. "Astrid, I think we can all agree that your temper is getting a little out of hand. One minute you're talking about how much you miss Hiccup, the next you're almost strangling him."

Astrid sighed and ducked her head, her pretty blond bangs falling into her eyes. "I know." She looked up at Hiccup through long eyelashes, her charm almost enough to make everyone forget about what she'd said before. "Sorry, Hiccup."

Hiccup, being a gentleman, nodded graciously. But inside, he was more confused than ever,.

"Uh, Snotlout. You mentioned Gobber? Is he here?"

"Yep." Snotlout flexed an arm and stared at his biceps absently. "He came to keep your dad under control."

"Yeah," Fishlegs piped in. "We don't want Stoick to kill you."

Hiccup clenched his fists. "Oh don't worry." He stared at all of them. "If you think I'm coming back, think again. I'm not going back to Berk, and trust me, I've got an army behind me."

"Actually, you're right," Ruffnut said. "Stoick wants us to convince you to come back, which we do want, but..."

"You wouldn't be happy, would you?" Tuffnut finished for her.

Hiccup laughed mirthlessly. "No, not at all. Imagine me as chief? Married to Astrid?" He glanced at her, gauging her reaction in case she leapt at him with a knife, but she only watched him. "No offense. It just... No."

"Okay," Snotlout said, looking around distactedly. "We get is all a big vacation, so we can see your new home. You dontt want to come back, blah blah blah. Now hurry up and show me the Scottish babes."

Hiccup peered around a corner. No Vikings in sight. It'd only been two hours, but already he was feeling the strain of his viking friends once again. He;d shown them around, but then he had to watch them, especially the twins. He was starting to remember how troublesome they all were. He'd managed to convince them to fly over the town, although he was a bit worried that they'd scare the townspeople. Scots didn't even know dragons existed, so this was going to be a shock. When Fergus had seen them arrive, his eyes had nearly popped out of his head.

In the mean time, Hiccup was looking for Merida. A maid had pointed him towards her room, and now he was trying to navigate the castle without seeing his father or Gobber.

Merida stared down at the dress her mother had set out for the night, and sighed. Purple and lacy and frilly.

Gross.

She took off her usual blue one, so that she was standing and wearing her underclothes, quite vulnerable really, seeing as her door was not locked.

Hiccup saw her room right away. The maid had described her bedroom door as enormous, and she wasn't exaggerating. Hiccup was curious to see what the King and Queen's looked like.

"Merida?" He whispered, knocking lightly. He had no way of knowing that the door was so thick that simple knocking would not generate any sound at all on the other side. So when there was no answer, he decided to go ahead and enter.

He pushed open the door, slowly, slowly...

Merida was still in her underwear, trying to decide whether or not to obey her mother and wear the dress, when she heard a gasp.

She turned to see Hiccup, standing in the door way, eyes wide and face flushed redder than she'd ever seen. There was one intense moment of silence, as each of them realized just what situation they were in.

And then chaos.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know-"

She scrambled for something, anything, to cover her body. Hiccup, on the other hand, was so shocked that he seemed glued to the floor.

"You idiot!" She shrieked. "Are you going to just stand there?" She finally just threw on the new dress, marched over to him, and slapped him once across the face.

He stared at her, finally seeming to snap out of it.

"I-" He blushed. "I am so sorry-"

"You'd better be," she said, trying to get her breath back. "I can't believe you just stood there." She sighed, and said, "I guess you didn't know knocking doesn't do the job with these doors."

He shook his head and touched his cheek, searching her eyes.

"Sorry for slapping you," she said, a sheepish smile stretching across her face.

"No," he said dazedly. "I needed that."

They were silent as they stared at each other, in the soft sunlight. Merida's curls looked like they were on fire, glinting gold in the light. As for her, she'd never seen a more beautiful boy in her life.

"Look," she said quietly. "About before, I know I shouldn't've kissed you. It wasn't-" Her words were cut off as Hiccup stepped closer and grabbed her hand gently.

"You have no idea how much I regret stopping you," he whispered. He let go of her hand, and before she could even react, was gone.

Dinner time.

Something Hiccup was dreading.

After seeing Merida wearing barely anything, he knew it would be awkward. Add that to the fact that his estranged father would be sitting there, Astrid and her lovey-dovey eyes, and the tension between Merida and the other teenagers, and you had a real party.

He dressed into proper formal wear, and then sat on his bed, staring out the window. So many things were changing. Merida had kissed him, and he had liked it. Scots were aware of dragons. Toothless was now back with his friends' dragons. He'd gone to his little cottage mid-day and picked him up. When Fergus found out, his eyes nearly popped out of his head again, but he just walked away muttering about crazy Vikings. Outside, the sun was going down, and the villagers were settling down for the night. The castle, however, was a bustle of activity, as preparations were being made for the first feast of the Vikings' stay.

Finally, Hiccup stood, knowing that he could delay it no longer. It was time for dinner, an occasion that would be his own idea of hell.

Hi everyone.

First and foremost, I'd like to apologize for the long wait. I had major surgery, and was not in the condition/mindset to work on this. But it's here now, and I appreciate you all staying with me and favouriting, following, and reviewing. Everytime I see a new comment or follow or favourite, it brings a real smile to my face, and I thank each and everyone of you for that.

Never hesitate to PM me, I will always reply

-Rachel