My Hope

Author: Nightstar Fury of Nightstar Productions.

Rating: M for Mature.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Dreamworks HTTYD or Dreamworks Dragons. I also don't own any of the songs I may use.

24; Birthday Wish.

{Astrid's POV}

He was about to kiss me...Hunter was about to kiss me! We were about to kiss just now! Oh my Gods! After years of waiting I finally thought I was going to get to kiss him, or him kiss me. Either way we would of gotten to kiss...I was so confused right now. Did he like me, love me? I didn't know what was going on other than the fact we almost kissed, we would have... I felt his lips close to mine, I could feel his breath mingling with mine, I felt the heat of his body from sweating near me... We were so close until we heard Hope's voice behind us from the workshop door. I instantly felt the blush darken as my eyes widened looking at Hunter. Hope was only...almost two years old: she couldn't possibly be able to figure out that Hunter and I were about to kiss, could she?

{Hunter's POV}

The first chance I got to kiss Astrid after realizing I actually didn't have a crush on or like her, rather I loved her and my almost two year old shows up. Why was she there? Hope was supposed to be inside with Heather right now. I didn't like her near the workshop when the forge was lit because it was dangerous and hot. Astrid and I had been so close to kissing until Hope showed up and stopped us in our tracks...more like stopped me in mine. Astrid was nervous, I could tell and maybe I was too. I hadn't kissed a girl since Olivia, and that was for only three weeks back in the summer following freshman year. I hadn't kissed a girl since then and we were now at the end of February in my senior year of High School. I don't know what drove me to want to kiss her, I just did. Maybe to see if my heart would set ablaze with a fire that would never die? Either way, we didn't get to kiss. We'd been caught by my 22 month old daughter and had to deal with that before anything else.

"HOPE!" I heard Heather yell from the house, so she apparently just noticed my daughter was missing. "Oh Hope, where are you sweetie? Your father is going to kill me...HOPE!" I heard her call again. I shook my head sighing as my eyes fell to my daughter now. Astrid shyly moved beside me with her head down looking guilty almost, I didn't know why. She wasn't guilty, I was the one about to kiss her. Hope's head tilted to the side as she had a finger in her mouth looking between Astrid and I curiously.

"Hope, baby. What are you doing out here?" I asked softly.

"Auntie Heafher wasn't playing wiff me." Hope replied. I couldn't help but smile, I loved that my daughter tried so hard to pronounce her TH's but it came out as FH's. It was pretty cute actually. "Wanted to see dada."

"You know you're not supposed to come outside alone princess..." I closed my eyes, sighing. She was nearly two and more active now, I couldn't be upset with her for that. It was rare I got upset with Hope for anything for that matter; she was just a baby and it was my job to teach her right from wrong, after all. I bent down carefully and picked Hope up in my arms as I kissed her forehead. "And you have your aunt scared half to death that you're not in there," I added as Heather rushed outside in a panic looking for Hope.

"Oh, thank Thor you're alright...Hunter, I'm so sorry. I only...turned my back for a second and she was gone!" Heather panted, seeing Hope in my arms now.

"It's okay, Heather but she's nearly two and incredibly active now that she can walk and run. You can't take your eyes off her at all," I stated.

"I'm sorry, bro. I'll watch her better next time." Heather took a few deep inhales to catch her breath. "So what's going on out here?" Heather smiled towards Astrid and myself.

"Not-Nothing!..." Astrid said softly, still embarrassed. Heather blinked a few times as I sighed, almost speaking to her with my eyes that I was having a private moment with Astrid until the small child came outside. Heather nodded, understanding, I loved that Heather and I didn't need to talk to understand what the other was saying. Maybe it was a cousin-sibling like bond or something. Who knows? All I knew was that it worked.

"I'll take her back inside if you're still...um...working?" Heather offered. Astrid's blush darkened.

"No it's okay. I'm done with work on the tail today anyways. Not like I can test it until my leg is healed completely..." I shrugged a bit.

"Dada?" Hope asked as I looked down at her.

"Yes baby?" I replied gently with a smile.

"Why were you and Asty so close together?" My mouth dropped open. Shit. I searched for an answer and couldn't find one.

"Y-Your...daddy...had something in his eyes and...asked me to help him get it out is all, Hope." Astrid replied. Oh, thank Odin she came up with something because I had nothing for that question. Then again, I never expected my daughter of all people to show up while I'm about to kiss the girl I'm slowly falling for. I still didn't know if I loved her for sure. I knew felt something strong towards her, something stronger than what I felt for Olivia. I thought I loved her and that turned out to be a real shit show so I wanted to be sure that what I felt for Astrid was real love. I knew I liked her, but what I felt was way more than a crush. I didn't know anything else past that. Did I love her? I told myself I did earlier but I still wasn't sure about it.

"Do you wike my dada, Asty?" Now Astrid and I were both speechless, and even Heather's mouth dropped open as if she was trying not to laugh. "You wook at him wike nana wooks at papa. And nana says dat its the look of wove," Hope adds gently.

"I-I..I...Hunter...help..." she mumbled.

"She does like me, princess. Astrid and I are old friends. We've known each other for a long time," I finally said after finding my voice again.

"But Dada, you were close to Asty...Like when papa kisses nana...You boff had yur eyes cawosed." Then she stopped and smiled widely. "Were you gonna kiss Asty, Dada!?" Gods damn it, why did my child have to be as smart as me when it came to putting things together?

"N-No baby...I wasn't going...to kiss her. She was...just checking my eyes for me. We...had to be close because I'm taller than her is all." I was seriously going to have a talk with my parents later about what they were telling my child when it came to their public affection! This is single-handedly the most awkward moment of my entire life right now.

"Do you wove Asty, Dada?" I sighed. Sure, kiddo...put me on the spot like that. I kissed Hope's nose and smiled.

"Not as much as I love you princess," I replied and smiled hearing Astrid gasp at what I said. I pretty much just admitted to loving her but not as much as I loved my daughter, which of was exactly how it should be. "Now why don't you go back inside with Auntie Heather and get a snack before dinner?" I said, handing Hope to Heather.

"Are you comin in too, Dada?" Hope asks.

"I will be right behind you after I shut the forge down and put away all my things. Okay? Then we can play on the floor," I replied to her. Hope nodded as Heather took her inside while I faced Astrid, who still looked in shock of what I said. "I hope that answers your question about if I return your feelings or not, Astrid. But we still have things to talk about before there is any talk of a possible relationship. Is that okay with you?" I told her.

"Y-Yes...That's fine...with me, Hunter...I'm just...shocked," Astrid replied.

"I know. Honestly, I didn't know how I felt until today when I saw you watching me work. I've been battling my feelings for you since the day I saw you calming Hope down because she doesn't respond to anyone like that unless it's me. I didn't know if I liked you, had a crush, or loved you. But now I'm sure of it: I do love you, but we still need to sit down and talk soon about all this. It's Hope I worry about, if you catch my meaning," I explained.

"Of course I do. Maybe...one night this week we can go out, just the two of us and talk?" Astrid offered.

"I'm cool with that. Should we say...Friday night, 7:30pm at Dragons Den after I put Hope down for bed? I'll come pick you up at your place? Or we can meet there?" I suggested.

"That's okay with me. Um...My car is going into the shop that night and staying there to get all the work needing to be done to pass inspection on Friday at 4:30 so...can you pick me up? I'll be ready at 7:15," Astrid replied.

"I can do that for sure. So I'll be there around 7-7:15. I'll text you when I'm outside your house." I smiled and she nodded back. "Well I better get this stuff put away and inside before she comes looking for me again," I chuckled as she smiled in agreement.

"And I should...be getting back home too. I'll...see you in two days then," Astrid said.

"Two days it is," I nodded, and with that she left the backyard to return to her car and left. I sighed heavily: that was out of the way. For now at least, I knew I loved her but we had to talk and now we'd be able too without any...interruptions or distractions. I began to blow out the forge slowly and put away the things for Toothless's new tail which I couldn't wait to test out either but I promised my parents I wouldn't even attempt that until the doctor gave my leg the all clear for normal activity to commence. That was fine though: now I could focus on this date on Friday with Astrid. Then on Saturday...It would be my 18th birthday. Sure my birthday was February 29th- I was a leap year baby but how we celebrated it was by doing it on March 1st if it wasn't a leap year. Friday was the 28th, and Saturday would be the 1st which technically meant, I was a year older. I couldn't wait!

(Saturday; Hunter's Birthday Party)

{Astrid's POV}

We really surprised him, that's for sure. He didn't even see it coming when he got home from the store: Samuel and Violet sent him to pick a few things while we all snuck in and set up. He knew all of us were coming over, he just didn't know when or what we were planning. When he came in holding Hope, he nearly fell back from shock but he smiled and was happy we'd done something celebrate his birthday without telling him. He hugged his mother, father, sister, and even me. The rest got high fives or fist bumps. The surprise went great and I was thankful for that. Watching him run around with Hope only made my smile. While sitting with the others, after opening presents and eating, I was thinking back to the conversation we had at Dragons Den the night before.

We did figure things out but never agreed to start dating or anything so it made me wonder if there was more to talk about. While on our...I guess date, we both talked about how our day at school went and then moved on to discussing our obvious feelings. Then we moved on to discussing Hope and what my role in her life would be: I knew I wasn't her mother so that was out. Hunter explained that since this was still new, we would have to take it slow and not give Hope the wrong impression before we knew whether he and I would make it. I understood that: he didn't want to have Hope think of me as a mother then lose me if he and I suddenly broke up for whatever reason. But by the time we reached that part of the conversation, it was time for us to eat and shortly after he got a phone call from his mother saying that Hope was freaking out that he wasn't home.

I assume he just wanted to talk more since we didn't get to finish it yesterday and today was his birthday so I wouldn't bug him about it. "So how'd the date go, Astrid?" Rylee asked me.

"It wasn't...a date, we were just talking about the possibility of dating," I retorted.

"Sweetie, if the man almost kissed you on Wednesday then picks you up, takes you to dinner, and pays for it, then takes you home...It's definitely a date," Heather chuckled.

"Woah woah, what's this almost kissing business!?" the boys and Rylee asked quickly leaning forward for details.

"It was nothing...Hunter was working on the tail, I was there...We stared at one another and then we...almost kissed." I stated, blushing a bit.

"Almost?" Fredrick questioned.

"Yeah, until Hope went outside and found them," Heather giggled.

"HUNTER! Time to do cake!" Violet called from inside the kitchen.

"Coming!" Hunter called back so we all made our way inside the kitchen and around the table. Hunter sat with Hope on his lap as Samuel brought in the cake, lights off and candles lit while we all sang Happy Birthday to him.

"Alright son, make a wish and blow em out," Violet smiled taking pictures with her phone. I watched as Hunter smiled: he glanced my way before he closed his eyes then blew out the candles. We all clapped smiling, it really was a great party.

"So what did you wish for bro?" Heather asked.

"You're about to find out," Hunter said, which shocked us: just where was he going with this? Hunter got up and handed Hope to his father while he moved in front of me and took my hand in his, pulling me to my feet. We were in the same position as Wednesday. Staring into one another's eyes silently, only this time he had a light smile on his face while I was blushing like an idiot. "Understand I do love you, Astrid. I will not and cannot deny that but while I love you, always know that I will love another girl more than you. And that girl is my daughter. As long as you understand that she will always come first, then I see no reason we can't be together."

"Hunter...what...are you saying?" I asked with widening eyes.

"My birthday wish, Astrid...Is for you to say yes to me asking if you'll be my girlfriend?" Hunter smiled now as my heart began to race. "So will you grant me my wish and be my girlfriend?" he asked. I couldn't help but smile back to him.

"Your wish is my command, Hunter. Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," I replied.

"Good-then I no longer feel wrong about doing this..." Hunter trailed off as he wrapped his hand around my waist and lifted my chin with his finger. He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. Our eyes closed as we kissed freely, not caring who saw. It didn't last long,-we were still with company-but nothing made me happier than knowing he wanted me to become his girlfriend and using his birthday wish to get it. Not that I would have said no but it was still adorable how he asked. Breaking the kiss I giggled a bit as he pressed his forehead to mine, "One of the best birthdays ever. I love you, Astrid."

"I love you too, Hunter. Happy birthday," I replied as the room began to clap happily when shared another quick kiss and this time I was sure I saw camera flashes going off. Oh yes, it was a great party indeed.