Chapter 2 – Hot and Steamy

A little bit of a shorter chapter with a little more recap and set up for what's to come.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments last chapter. Really glad everyone's enjoying this so far.

FYI: As the chapter title says, it gets a little…steamy…towards the end. teehee

Enjoy!

Astrid felt like she was drowning. On dry land. Because it was so hot and humid.

"I can't believe you used to live here," Astrid spoke to her husband as they were being led into the large government building in downtown Atlanta. They'd been invited by the Governor who really just wanted the chance to meet and talk with Georgia's Very Own Prince, "And what I really don't understand is how you used to like it."

Hiccup snickered, "I didn't live here, exactly," he gestured to the large and loud city around them, "About three hours down the road..."

Astrid frowned at that statement. She'd been hoping he lived closer so they could find time to quickly pop by his hometown to see where he grew up before they left tomorrow. She'd seen pictures and heard stories but it would never be the same as actually being inside the tiny house he grew up in. The tiny house that helped make Hiccup into the person he is today.

"But, yeah, you get used to the weather." Hiccup finished.

It was Astrid's turn to snicker now, "Not quite sure how you can get used to sweating to death."

"The Duchess has a point there," a deep voice entering the small conference room behind them spoke. They turned around to see a tall man dressed in a suit walking towards them, hand outstretched. He bowed his dark head respectfully as he took ahold of Hiccup's hand, "Prince Henry, it is so nice to finally meet you," he turned to Astrid then, repeating the same gesture, "And you as well, Madam."

Astrid wanted to cringe at the word, madam. Although it was one of the respectful ways to address her, it still made her twenty-two-year-old self feel middle aged.

They were sitting down across from Governor Collins and conversing on things that ranged from politics to personal. It was one of the more laid back meetings the two have had on this tour. There was only one camera, taking photos just for the sake of having proof this meeting actually happened, and there wasn't a whole team of people writing every little thing down that they'd said so it could be repeated out of context later on.

"So, you're just about to finish up this royal tour, what's next for the both of you?" Mr. Collins asked, leaning back in his seat and crossing his hands over his protruding stomach. He seemed to relax now that their conversation had shifted away from the upcoming election that Astrid had asked about, only out of pure curiosity.

Not wanting to give away the surprise of their next destination he planned on telling Astrid about this evening, he replied with the next job on their agenda, "Well, we head back to Berk to jump right into rebuilding the local orphanage."

The Prince had presented the proposal to Parliament back in the spring. It had been a scary moment for Hiccup, standing up there with all eyes on him, knowing if he screwed this up the kids may never get a decent place to live.

The people in that room were mostly worried about one thing. Money. And Hiccup knew that would be their main concern before walking in that room. So, he'd gone in with a plan. The money from the annual fundraiser helped pay for the materials and the labor costs while the kid's basic needs, like clothing and food, came from a lot of donations from the country as a whole.

Parliament hardly cared anything about the design that Hiccup, with the help of his friend Fishlegs, had come up with. However, he was quite proud of the design and made sure to still show it off.

This was probably the biggest thing he's ever done and it was all on him. Of course, he wasn't actually going to be renovating it with his own two bare hands, but he planned to see the whole thing through from beginning to end.

"Was this project handed to you or all your own idea?" The older man asked, looking between the young couple.

"I wouldn't say it was all my idea…"

"He's just being polite. This was all him." Astrid stated, looking at her husband with the proudest smile as she rested her hand upon his shoulder.

And she was proud. He'd worked really hard. There were many times she woke up in the middle of the night to find the warmth she'd grown accustomed to, missing. She'd trudge out of bed and walk into their sitting room to find papers spread all over the floor and Hiccup either still busy at the desk or asleep on top of his many blueprints. Sometimes she'd stay up with him, but most of the time she'd find herself dragging him back to bed with her.

Hiccup looked down at his lap for a moment and blushed as his hand went to sheepishly grab the back of his neck.

He was also a bit proud of all the work it had taken to get to this point. But this was the first project the King had let him take on his own, which made his stress level skyrocket every time he thought about all the things that could go wrong. He figured if he wasn't able to handle a simple renovation of a children's home then how was he ever going to make sure that all of Berk would be taken care of in the future.

Astrid always reminded him that he was the only one thinking that way. And maybe that was true, but still didn't stop it from crossing his mind most of the time.

Governor Collins was nodding with his lips pursed, "I assume that's probably good practice for when you eventually do become King…"

Hiccup looked back up at the man across the table as he continued to speak about all the jobs he did before he got his current position and how they were all beneficial...the same old speech he'd heard a thousand times. It was why he was barely listening. That and because anytime someone mentioned his future as King of an entire country, his throat tightened and things became a little woozy.

And he only started listening again when he felt Astrid's foot collide with his one good leg. Mr. Collins was looking at him, so obviously he'd been asked a question. Hiccup cleared his throat, "I'm sorry?"

"Has your father given you a date for when he'd like you to take his place?" He repeated.

Hiccup swallowed thickly, "Not quite. A few years, maybe? With everything that's been going on this last year, we haven't had much time to discuss it in detail."

But he knew it was coming. And before he knew it he'd go from Your Highness to Your Majesty…

Astrid, noticing his uneasiness by the way he was pulling at his fingers, reached over the armrest of their chairs to grab his hand. The photographer, who was still in the room, made sure not to miss that moment or the one where Hiccup looked over and smiled sweetly at the Duchess.

Suddenly, there was a quiet knock at the door and behind it was Gustav peeking his tiny head through the crack, "About time to start wrapping this up." His small body fully stepped in the room then.

Governor Collins stood up, followed by Hiccup and Astrid, "Well, I'm sure you two will make fine leaders one day."

"Thank you, sir," Hiccup outstretched his hand that wasn't gripping tightly onto Astrid's.

They all spoke their farewells, took a few last posed photos, and then were escorted out the door and back into the car where they would head to the last and final stop on the long and tiring royal tour.

Hiccup was sitting on the edge of the large hotel room bed massaging the knots out of his aching missing leg that hated him and how much he's been standing on it the last couple of weeks. Spending the second half of the day standing and walking through the city's new youth center had made his already sore leg even worse. Now it had a constant ache and throb and the only thing that seemed to help was the small circles he was currently rubbing into the stump with his thumb.

He heard Astrid mumble something from the bathroom. She was brushing her teeth and the only thing he heard was nonsense, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak that language!" Hiccup called back, chuckling.

She suddenly appeared in the doorway with the most unamused expression and the toothbrush hanging from the side of her mouth. Her narrowed eyes told him that she didn't quite appreciate his attempt at being funny, which only made him laugh harder.

Astrid walked back into the bathroom, finished brushing her teeth, and then returned to her spot in the doorway with her hand on her hip, "You're hysterical." She mentioned sarcastically before walking over to the bed and flopping down on it, jostling Hiccup for a moment.

"I said," she spoke as she crawled on the bed over to her husband and snuggled against his back, her hands wrapped around his waist and her head resting between his shoulder blades, "I'm glad we're going home tomorrow. I miss our bed. And our horses."

Hiccup sighed, he missed his horse and the feeling of freedom that riding him through the forest and field every single day brought him. Neither of them had ridden their horses in weeks and one thing was for sure, they both had a lot of making up to do to both Toothless and Stormfly. The two most spoiled horses in all of Berk.

"I do too," Hiccup replied, "But you're still gonna have to wait to see both of them."

Astrid lifted her head off his back, "What?"

"We're actually not going home tomorrow."

"Then where are we going? And why am I just now hearing about it?"

Hiccup turned around on the bed to face her, tucking his good leg underneath him, "Because I wanted to surprise you with a few days off before we head back to the craziness that awaits us at home."

Astrid narrowed her eyes, "So, where we going?" She asked, a bit impatiently.

"Melody."

"Your hometown?"

"That's right." Hiccup nodded.

Astrid wanted to go home, she was exhausted and a bit homesick, but she really wanted to see this more. Her face relaxed and broke out into the widest smile, "I should be upset with you for keeping this from me all this time, but I'm not. And that's only because I finally get to see the place that helped turn you into this." She gestured to the lopsided grinning young man sitting right in front of her.

"Is that a good thing or…"

Astrid rolled her eyes and pushed his shoulder lightly, "Yes, Hiccup, it's a very good thing."

His face lit up then, "So, you're excited?"

"A few days off to do nothing but sleep and look at your horribly embarrassing childhood photos? What isn't there to be excited about?" Astrid spoke cheekily, laughing when her husband's green eyes grew three sizes.

"There will be no looking at embarrassing photos of me on this vacation." Hiccup stated firmly.

"You won't win that argument, babe," Astrid laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling fan spinning above her head that was casting off a nice cool breeze, "So, we're officially on vacation now?"

Hiccup laid down next to her, "Guess we are."

"Then we should do something tonight to, you know, celebrate…" she spoke slyly, inching her face closer to her husband's.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" The devious smile on her face and the way she wrapped her leg around his waist, pulling him much closer to her sent a chill down his spine.

Astrid hummed and Hiccup closed his eyes, expecting her lips to press against his any moment but suddenly she pulled away and rolled over, her back to him now, "Like sleeping." She giggled.

Hiccup shook his head, "Oh, now that's just cruel." He grabbed her waist, pulling her back towards him as both of their loud laughter filled the hotel room.

And then in between chuckles, their lips found one another. They only parted in order to remove the clothing that was getting in the way and keeping them from getting as close as possible to one another.

Astrid pulled Hiccup's t-shirt over his head in one swift move, just like she'd done many times before. It was easy now. Being with him was easier than she ever thought it would be.

She knew exactly when he'd pull her own shirt over her head and that he always pressed a long kiss to her jaw after doing so.

She knew that tangling her hands in the hair on the back of his head made him grip her bottom lip in between his teeth...and she loved that.

And he knew she loved that.

And Hiccup knew that being this way - this close - to the beautiful and strong woman who was laughing and smiling up at him with those bright blue eyes and flushed cheeks that made his heart soar, was an experience like no other. It was a moment he got to share with her and only her and it never got old.

It was always exciting. Always full of love. Always unforgettable.

They were tangled in each other's arm now, both still trying to catch their breath, Hiccup rubbing his hand up and down Astrid's arm in the most soothing manner, while slowly drifting off to sleep, "Now that was an excellent start to our vacation." Astrid spoke softly, tightening her arms around his bare waist and snuggling even closer.

Hiccup bent his head down and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before laying back on the pillow, "Better than sleeping?" He asked as his eyes began to close shut, a small and soft smile on his face that never left.

"A close second." She replied, her voice already thick with the sleep that was overtaking her.

Both chuckled lightly as they drifted off into the best sleep they'd had in weeks knowing the stressful and non-stop tour was behind them and the only thing the next few days would bring was relaxation and each other.

Hope you all enjoyed it!

We go back to Hiccup's hometown next chapter and I'm so excited! ;)

Thanks for reading!