There was a pregnant pause as Hiccups smile twitched. "Well, I love him too. He's one of our friends. Just like Fishlegs and Snotlout… ok, maybe not Snotlout." Hiccup was saying. Astrid tried to cut him off. "No Hiccup, not like Fishlegs." But Hiccup kept talking. "Just like Heather and Trader Johann. Because of course it would be ridiculous to think…" Astrid could see what Hiccup was doing now.
"No Hiccup, not like Trader Johann. What I mean is-" But Hiccup kept on talking, a crazed look in his eye. "Because it would be ridiculous to think that my girlfriend is leaving me for an ugly, stupid, inbred town laughingstock like that." Astrid had never heard Hiccup speak like this before. He was always nice about the twins, even when he was just ordering her to babysit them.
"If you're really that desperate, we can find better options than that. Aryila, you have single vikings on your island, right?" Hiccup was getting more frantic as he spoke. Astrid lacked the adrenaline to respond with anger again. Hiccup was panicking, but Astrid didn't want to hear it.
"He's changed, Hiccup! He's not the same Loki prankster that he used to be!" Astrid tried to shout, but it sounded like more of a plea. "Thorstons never change, Astrid! Don't you realize? This is all just some trick! You're going to fall for him, and he's going to leave you. And I don't want that." Hiccup said with a measured amount of finality. She knew he wanted the best for her, but she didn't want Hiccup's best anymore. She wanted to live on the Edge with Tuffnut.
"Why is it that you can change and want to swan off with some Chieftains daughter, I can change and want to move to the Edge, Ruffnut can change and marry Eret… but Tuffnut can't change? Why can everyone change except Tuffnut?" Astrid was actually raising her voice now. She was done with this. That Hiccup could throw all of this at her but still refuse that Tuffnut could also become different over time.
If Hiccup had a reply, Astrid didn't want to hear it. She stood up and walked out of the hut. She had said what she had come to say, and heard more than she had planned too. Now she just wanted to find Tuffnut and get off this island.
Hiccup and Aryila moved to follow her, but she slammed the door. As she looked up into the morning sunlight, she heard a scream echo across Berk. A scream from an extremely familiar voice. Squinting into the light Astrid could see something falling off of one of the tallest cliffs on the island.
Astrid's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as Hiccup and Aryila burst out of the hut behind her. They were all too far from their dragons to summon them for aid. Helpless, all Astrid could do was point and mouth the word "No."