This chapter is rated T but upcoming chapters will be rated M

(Keep in mind this is AU, so there will be some subtle differences in this world/universe vs the movie!)

"Are you alright? L-lemme help you up."

Curious, green eyes blinked down at her, accompanying a small, pale hand that seemed to be offering her assistance off the forest terrain.

Astrid stared up at the boy speechlessly, yet she found her fingers gravitating to his soft, but calloused palm and suddenly she was being lifted to his eye level.

"I'm fine," she retracted her hand sheepishly, gathering her pride, "thank you, Hiccup."

His eyes seemed to light up at the use of his name. Perhaps he figured she didn't know who he was?

"I mean as fun as it looked down there, I figured you could use a hand," he joked nervously, donating a gap-toothed smile.

They had seen each other around the village many times but had exchanged only a few words.

The guys Astrid hung out with, fell in with an entirely different crowd than Hiccup. They were huge, strapping, loud, drunk brutes that just wanted to fight. Hiccup on the other hand was the chief's son and one would think, having such a title, he would be the hardest working warrior of them all, ready to fill his father's boots, but she hadn't seen him pick up a weapon once. What did he do anyway? Well, she had seen him reading and…drawing, maybe? Now that she thought of it, she hadn't really seen him with any friends at all. Her chest slightly twinged with pity when she glanced at him now, thinking he must be a loner.

Astrid began brushing the dirt off her leggings and arms, wincing when she discovered the big scrape running down her forearm.

"Ouch, that looks kind of deep," Hiccup examined it, tilting his head to the side, "You oughta get that cleaned up before it gets infected," he advised matter-of-factly as if she didn't know.

"Yes, I know, of course, I'll clean this up," she snapped, dropping her arm to her side so he couldn't see it anymore.

"What were you doing out here, anyway? Following me?" She pressed him, but as the idea curled off her tongue, she realized how dumb it sounded.

"N-no, of course not!" he cried, mortified at the accusation. "I was out here drawing…trying to escape all the, um….people," he admitted, his voice rather small.

"The people?" She raised an eyebrow.

A raven belched overhead, the apricot sky was hidden in bits by the tangle of brushwood.

"The other guys our age, I guess" his face smattered with freckles, flushed slightly red. "They like to bother me sometimes…like today," it looked like it pained him to confess it and his eyes darted away to the underbrush.

Her insides stirred up and something uncanny compelled her desire to hug him, but she didn't. However, she was appreciative he decided to share something so personal and troubling with her. She assumed Hiccup hardly considered her an acquaintance, as he was to her.

"Come on, you can walk me home," she said, starting to pick her way through the dense thicket, back to the trail.

"Okay," Hiccup accepted more than gladly and followed along behind her.

They walked in silence for a few moments, as she poked at the drying blood on her forearm, she was still dwelling on what he told her moments before.

She figured the least she could do was offer a couple of words of comfort, "Hiccup, I'm sorry about those guys."

Her words sliced through the silence and she glanced over to meet his green eyes which were probing her questioningly.

"Those idiots don't even have a brain, I swear, I've even seen them try to read before, but they just hold their books upside down," her gentle laugh seemed reassuring in the moment. "They're just intimidated by you because you're so much smarter than they are."

Her words made perfect sense, they just sounded so awfully sweet when she heard them in the open air and she felt the hot flame of embarrassment lick her cheeks.

She looked away, trusting if she hung her head there wouldn't be enough light in the cool wooded twilight for him to catch her blushing.

"W-well I'm glad you think so," he stuttered. "It's good to know at least you don't view me as just a weak target to abuse like everyone else does."

She gave him a cynical look, wishing he wouldn't be so self-pitying. Where was his confidence? Where was his fortitude? No wonder he was an easy target, he had no faith in himself.

The idea of lacking self-esteem was as foreign to her as ballet. Determination and self-assurance were not things Astrid had to pursue or even speculate. These were her natural characteristics in which she worked like an artist worked in oil or acrylic.

"Who said I don't view you as a target," she joked, lightening the mood by playfully socking the side of his arm.

"Ow! Someone's been working out," Hiccup laughed accordingly, rubbing the tender spot.

She laughs a charming little laugh, then meets his softening gaze in the recovering silence as they shared a moment of unspoken intimacy.

Something obliged her to explain herself to him.

"Listen, I know I sit with those guys during lunch and train with them sometimes—"

"Everyday," he corrected flatly, disturbed by the reminder.

"But I can assure you I'm not anything like them, Hiccup."

"Yeah? In what ways would you say so?" his tone was unhopeful.

"Well for starters, I'm pretty sure they don't like you very much," there was an awkwardly long pause as her confidence began to crumble, "and well, I…I do like you."

From her peripheral, she noticed his head turn her way and she decided to look too. When she caught the flirtatious glimmer in his eyes, a hot wave sent rolling up her spine.

"You like me," he put a ring to her words, his freckled face melting into a ridiculous smile.

"Yeah, for now," Astrid rolled her eyes, trying to fight the heat that was that had crept over her cheeks again. Her gaze retreated from his, feeling rather overwhelmed by her recently discovered attraction toward him.

They were walking around a turn on the trail when the forest gradually started waxing thinner.

She examined her gash, shiny and still sticky with fresh blood, but certain parts had dried and crusted. She couldn't wait to take a bath and wrap this wound up.

"So, what were you doing out here all by yourself?" Hiccup inquired, cutting through another wedge of quietness.

"I just wanted to practice swinging my axe without the company of those dumb brutes. They're always trying to give me pointers or show off."

Astrid thought back to the boys that hung around her this morning and cringed. She couldn't stand their suffocating stares, constantly evaluating her every move.

Initially, she thought what she needed was to be alone, so she had figured the forest would have been a perfect escape, but upon being quite literally picked up by Hiccup she realized being alone isn't actually what she was craving at all.

"W-Well," Hiccup awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing at her unsurely, "I hope you didn't mind my company."

"Of course not. It was just those other guys I wanted to get away from...in fact, I'm really glad I stumbled across you," she graced him with a smile and couldn't help but admire the effect she had on him, how the scarlet from his cheeks darkened over his whole face to the very tips of his ears.

Astrid wasn't used to seeing someone get so easily flustered. She had been around such unemotional, insensitive, horny guys most of her life. She was so charmed by his innocence and the way he was reacting to her casual flirting.

"That's kind of ironic," he cleared his throat again, still recovering from a deep shade of scarlet, there was a twinkle of amusement in his bright eyes.

"What?"

"We both came out here to escape your friends."

Astrid snorted before laughing wildly.

"They're awful aren't they," she cried.

At this moment, she realized she didn't enjoy hearing him call those brutes her friends. She felt no regard for them. They were mere colleagues to her. In fact, they irritated her most of the time. If she was going to be completely honest with herself, she only enjoyed the common interest they shared in weapons and fighting, but more so, she secretly liked the attention they gave her and sometimes looking at their shredded biceps, though she would never admit it.

"I wouldn't consider those guys my friends. They're just bodies to train with," she subdued his unrealized accusation.

"If you say so, Astrid," he supposed, sounding unconvinced.

She was desperate for him to understand her and view her in a different light than the crowd she hung out with.

Her mind raced over things to say and ways to show him, with nothing prevailing.

It occurred to her, that she was quite literally worrying about what Hiccup thought of her. She realized that in the matter of this evening she had grown rather fond of him. He managed to ignite her in a way, more so than any of those big, muscular warriors that thirsted over her ever could.

As the sparse trees began to break, they ascended a windy hill, the village clocking into view below.

After this, she knew she most likely wouldn't get to interact with him again for some time. For some reason, this funny thought troubled her more than she would have liked to admit. She quickly pieced together a reason to see him and talk to him again.

"Do you want to sit together at lunch tomorrow?"

Hiccup glanced at her doubtfully.

"Just you and I," she clarified, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Alright," he sounded unsure, returning her smile weakly.

"…Hey," she spontaneously reached down for his hand, pretending not to notice as he jumped at the contact.

Her gaze fixed on him and for a couple of pounding heartbeats he stared down at their intertwined hands, then suddenly his anxious eyes were darting everywhere except her own.

"It's okay, Hiccup, I won't let them bother you," she gave his hand an encouraging squeeze before releasing him at last.

Although he appeared more than relieved to hear her say that, he simply rolled his eyes, "I can handle them myself, thank you for your concern, though."

"Whatever you say," Astrid snorted, amused with his terrible ability to play it cool.

As she followed him down the hill, Astrid slowed in her tracks. This whole encounter had felt so surreal. For a wistful moment, she longed to stay forever in this fever dream forest with Hiccup.