Chapter 3

"So let me get this straight, she's going to be living here–"

"In the room next to yours." His Father's voice chimed in over his own.

"Oh yeah, the one I share a bathroom with. Great." Hiccup nervously ran a hand through his hair, "and she going to be following me around everywhere. Even school?" Both his Father and his terrifyingly beautiful bodyguard gave him a nod.

"H-how is that supposed to work, exactly? She can't just sit in a class and not do any work?!" At this point he was beginning to pace a nervous habit that he was sure Astrid would love.

"Well Son she won't just be sitting there. She's been enrolled in all your classes and will be turning in work just like yourself. No one, not even the teacher, will know who she really is." This caused Hiccup to pause and turn a suspicion eye to Astrid.

"You have an engineering degree too?" Doubt dripping from his words.

She looked back at him smugly grinning as she answered him, "nope." Her smirk grew bigger. She was obviously taking some sick enjoyment in watching him squirm.

"Well how in Thor's name do you plan on doing the class work?!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"The Berkain government have some very smart engineers, Hiccup." Her grin spread, "if you listen to me maybe I'll help you with your homework." Hiccup's mouth dropped open at what she was implying.

"S-so she's gonna cheat?! Hey why wasn't this an option for me?" His eyes still wide in shock as he looked between his Dad and his bodyguard.

His Father's laugh and a firm hand on his shoulder brought him out of his shocked state, "because Son, you have to actually learn it. She just needs to protect you, not worry about homework." His gaze moved towards Astrid and pointed a finger in her direction, "but no letting him cheat. He has to earn his grades. That's an order." Astrid gave him a swift nod.

"Alright, Hiccup why don't you show Astrid where she will be staying." Stoick nudged his head in the directions of the stairs. "And how about I order some take out? Mutton to go?" A chorus of groans could be heard around the room, even Astrid grimaced at the idea.

"Fine, fine. Pizza it is!" The groans turned to cheers as Hiccup walked up the stairs shaking his head and chuckling. His Father was practically a Father to all of his friends and they loved when he visited. Especially when he ordered them food.

Hiccup walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms, he didn't have to turn back to know that Astrid was following him. He could almost feel her presence there behind him. 'Was this how it was always going to feel with her around. Like I'm being stalked by a deadly dragon or something?' He thought with a slight panic.

They reached the top of the stairs, Hiccup still leading the way as they walked over to a set of doors. He gestured to the one on the left, "this one is mine." Then he moved to the door beside it on the right, "and this one, is yours." He opened the door and stood aside to let her in. She breezed past him into the room, which to his surprise had boxes stacked inside of it that he had never seen before.

As Astrid walked around the room inspecting every corner he couldn't help but watch her; the way she moved around so effortlessly, like she was gliding on air, was captivating. He could practically see the strength in her every movement, he had no doubt she could easily out lift anything he could, doubled. Yet, she was small and unassuming, at first glance but there was so much more beneath the surface.

'Like me…well sort of.' He thought.

His whole life he had been looked down on by others who thought he wasn't worthy of his proud Viking heritage because he looked so, un-Viking like. Thank the Gods for his family and friends standing up for him as much as they did. If he didn't have them, well who knows what cruel things his past bullies would have done to him. 'I wonder if she ever had people look down on her for her appearance?'

He thought briefly as he watched as she reached into a box and pulled out a large knife, unsheathed it and inspected the blade before she re-sheathed it and slipped it under the mattress.

'Yeah, no. Never mind.'

Hiccup watched for another minute, starting to feel awkward just standing there while she pulled out weapon after deadly weapon out of the boxes. "Umm, do you need any help unpacking or…," Astrid's hands stilled and she looked up from the box in front of her.

"No, and I would prefer if you don't touch my things. Ever." Hiccup threw his hands up instantly "no touching. Got it." He shoved his hands in his pockets, all of a sudden weary of even breathing on a box.

"So, um, do you need anything else?" He asked hesitantly.

She thought for a moment, "actually, show me your room." He blanched at her request.

"My-my room? Wh-why why would you need to see my room?" Just the thought of having a girl, a beautiful one at that, in his room causing him to have a mini panic attack. This was very unfamiliar territory he was venturing into.

Her large blue eyes did an equally as large roll before she looked at him again, "because I'm supposed to protect you. To do that I need to know everywhere you will be and that includes, your room."

"Of course, sure uh could-could I maybe have a minute to just…you know straighten up a–" her pointed glare cut him off immediately.

"Ok yeah, never mind," Hiccup headed towards their conjoined bathroom, "well I guess this is a good time to show you my-our…our bathroom." He gestured to the double vanity, "so that my side on the right, y-you can have the left." He reached behind his head to scratch nervously at his neck, "should we, uh, figure out a bathroom schedule or something?"

"How about this, when I'm in the bathroom, you're not." Astrid looked back at him as she opened the door leading to his room.

Blinking for a moment as he looked at her wondering if she was serious, 'of course she is, this is Astrid, my terrifying bodyguard.' "Sure, yeah that works for me." Astrid turned back around and he followed her into his room.

His room was a mirror of her own she noted, widows in the same location, the bed, desk and dresser also in the same location. Though his furniture had a much more custom feel, with an old Norse Viking design carved into it while hers were sturdy and plain. The rest of his room seemed to follow the same Viking like design, with old artifacts littering the surfaces and pictures of extinct dragons on the walls. While she had no problem with the style of the room, actually she found Viking culture very interesting, what she did have a problem with was the unorganized mess that was everywhere. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and papers with drawings and writings cluttered his desk. She could already feel her blood pressure rising, just standing in his room.

Slowly Astrid turned her head to him her, eyes narrowed as she saw him standing beside her a painfully awkward grin on his face. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me." She gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Sooo it's a little dirty, I-I'll clean it. Promise." He raised his hand as if taking an oath.

Astrid took a deep breath while closing her eyes, 'deep cleansing breaths, Astrid. Just like Dr. Seaclaw says. Deep cleansing breaths.' Feeling her anger subside a bit she opened her eyes again and looked back at Hiccup. "Keep it clean. I would hate to not be able to stop an assassin because I trip over something." He gave her a rapid nod, so she decided to move on.

Looking back at the room, she stepped carefully in and walked over to a small wall shelf which held several knickknacks and pictures on it. The first was a picture of Hiccup and the General, both dressed in what looked like matching pajamas sitting in a pile of unwrapped Snoggletog presents, grinning like crazy.

'Hmm, interesting.' She thought while a slight pang of emotion that hit her chest. She ignored it and moved on to what looked like some fossil type rocks and then another picture, this time of Hiccup, a large man who was a double amputee and an older women who looked very similar to him standing in what looked like an archeological site. 'Must be his Mother.'

Astrid thought back to the file she read on Hiccup and how it mentioned his Mother, who was an explorer of sorts, disappeared two years prior with a man named Gobber. After fruitless searching they were presumed dead.

"That's my Mom and our family friend Gobber," Hiccup's quiet voice cut into her thoughts. Surprisingly, it held none of the stutter and indecisiveness that she had already gotten used to when talking with him. It was quiet but clear and concise. 'Hmm.'

"Oh really?" She knew already but he didn't need to know that. "You look like her." He chuckled beside her and smiled fondly at the picture.

"Yeah, other than my nose I pretty much got all my genes from Mom." 'Again no stuttering…' Astrid thought as she nodded and turned away from the shelf.

"Well," she paused and did another sweep around the room. "Keep the room clean and always keep your blinds closed and windows locked. Ok?" Hiccup nodded gratefully at her.

"I'm going to go and unpack some more. I won't be down for dinner." Astrid said as she gingerly stepped over clothing on the way out of the room and back to her own.

When she had cleared out of the room and shut the door Hiccup let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He glanced around the room a bit, shaking his head at the work he had in store for him later. Finally he turned back to the picture of him, his Mother and Gobber, grinning happily as they looked for remains of an old Viking ship, "oh guys, what would you think about all of this?" He smiled sadly still looking at the picture, "if it were you, you would probably think of it as another one of your adventures, huh?"

The smile left his face, 'I miss you, guys.' He thought one last time, before turning away from the picture and making his way downstairs.

Hiccup came down stairs a little after eleven that evening, carrying a bag of trash and a pile of dishes, after spending two solid hours cleaning his mess of a room. 'It really did need a clean I suppose.'

After dumping the dishes in the sink he went out the door that led to the backyard to put the trash in the cans outside. As he stepped into the yard he was surprised to find Astrid sitting at the patio table, her feet propped up in the chair in front of her, a cigarette in one hand and a small glass of alcohol in the other. Hiccup quickly deposited the trash into one of the cans and turned back to her, now taking the time to look her over better; his face going beat red as he did.

Astrid had stripped of her early outfit and now donned a blue sports bra and a tight pair of black yoga pants. Clearing his throat, he took a few steps towards her. "Y-you know those things will kill you." He gestured to the cigarette, looking around awkwardly not able to look her in the eyes. Especially not when she was wearing that.

Astrid didn't look in his direction as she took another drag on the cigarette before snuffing it out and dropping it into a cup beside her. "So will going outside alone while people want to kill you." Her eyes slid over to him while taking her feet out of the chair in front of her and dropping them to the ground. She watched as his face went from a look of shock which then morphed into one of embarrassment.

"Besides my line of work will more than likely kill me far sooner than the cigarettes." Hiccup looked a little taken aback by what she said before he nervously laughed and headed closer to her. 'He probably thinks I was joking.'

Hiccup closed the distance between them and sat down in the chair opposite of her, again getting another look at Astrid; one that had his throat tightening painfully. He gave a lingering gaze at her perfectly sized chest and toned stomach before looking back up at her beautiful face, only to find a cocked eyebrow and two ice blue staring back at him questioningly.

Instantly heat flooded his face, which he was sure she could probably feel from where she was at. "I-I-I..."

Shaking her head at his obvious embarrassment, "Stop before you combust, Hiccup." Astrid took another sip of whisky before giving Hiccup a once over as well. He wore a plain red t-shirt with a pair of plaid pajama pants giving her a better glimpse of his arms, which were surprisingly more toned than she would have imagined. What caught her critical eye next was the necklace that hung around his neck, it was a simple metal chain with a flat black object hanging off of it that she couldn't identify.

She nodded her head, "what's with the necklace?" Hiccup's hand shot up and stroked it fondly a nostalgic look crossed his face.

"It was a gift from my Mom." Astrid set the glass down as she payed attention to his again non frazzled, clear speech. 'It's nice to know he can talk sometimes without it sounding like his brain's broken.'

"Night Furies have always been my favorite dragon." He looked up from the necklace and looking her straight in the eye. "Do you know there has never been an intact skeleton of a Night Fury found?" Astrid shook her head.

"Anyways, I love them and my Mom surprised me for my birthday one year with this necklace. It's a fossilized Night Fury scale. She was as obsessed with them as I was. Even enough to…" he trailed off a vacant look crossing his face for a moment before his eyes cleared and he looked back at her apologetically. "Sorry."

She shook her head, "its fine. So you always wear it then?" He nodded and grinned, "always. Hey did you also know the Night Fury–" he was suddenly cut off by the rattling of the trash cans not twenty feet from where they sat. At a speed Hiccup couldn't even comprehend Astrid had shot to her feet pulling a gun from somewhere and had it pointed in the direction of the noise.

Hiccup froze in place, knowing he should be doing something other than just sitting there but his body wasn't responding at all. 'Oh Thor, oh Thor.' Was all he could think as he watched her stalk towards where the sound came from, gun still raised and ready to fire.

Just as she reached the can a small black shape sprang up intending to jump on top of the trash cans but was intercepted by Astrids quick reach. The sound of hissing pulled him out of his frozen state and back to what was happening in front of him. Quickly he sprang up and walked towards Astrid who had just turned around and was holding a thin black cat by the scruff of its neck.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said as he crossed the remaining distance.

"You know this cat?" Astrid asked as she placed the angry feline in his arms, which calmed down instantly. As the two greeted each other Astrid took the chance to put her gun back into the holster around her ankle.

"Yup, this is my buddy Toothless. He was a stray but now he lives here, I was wondering where you were bud." He gave the skinny cat a scratch under the chin.

Astrid gave the pair an eye roll and gestured towards the door, "alright you two, let's go inside before I need to actually discharge my weapon." Hiccup nodded and followed her order, walking toward the door, cat in hand. Just as he was about to walk through it he stopped and looked back at her.

"Hey um, Astrid?" She cocked an eyebrow, "um I-uh-I'm sorry about the whole, puppy comment." He did his nervous neck scratch again, "you're not a-uh, a puppy. Not at all."

A small smile pulled at her lips, "good. Glad you realized you're mistake."

"Yeah, you're definitely more like a-a dragon!" His excitement barely able to be contained at his realization. "Maybe-uh Deadly Nadder or-or–" He suddenly stopped himself from saying anything more when he noticed her narrowed eyes glaring at him.

"Inside, Hiccup." She said through clenched teeth, hands balled at her side.

Hiccup didn't need to be told again as he rushed back inside, shutting the door behind him. He looked down at Toothless who stared back at him with wide green eyes, "definitely a Deadly Nadder."

Sorry for the delay, I was finishing up one of my fics and adding a few chapters to another. So I hope this made up for it. As always thank you so much for the reviews, favs, follows. Y'all are amazing! -Lizby