This has been such a long time coming but yooo! Trust me, it's gonna be worth it!

Chapter 13 - Waiting Game

It was still dark outside when Hiccup woke up. Groggily, he reached for his phone and squinted at the too-bright display. 4:06 am.

He exhaled and scrubbed a hand over his face. When did his shift start again? Foggy memories of phone calls and Gobber's voice trickled through the mist in his head.

He screwed his eyes shut, distracted by the weight on his ribs and legs, and the strange numbness of his right arm.

Why …?

The fog immediately cleared as Hiccup glanced to his side.

There was Astrid. On his arm. Her leg sprawled across his.

Hiccup bit back a quiet gasp and closed his eyes, his entire body seemingly on fire.

Oh. Oh.

The storm. Right. He'd said he'd sleep on the couch.

'Well,' he thought, his eyes drifting back to her again. 'That worked well.'

Her blonde hair fell into her face, only disturbed by her calm and even breaths, her ribs moving steadily against him.

He closed his eyes again, a quiet happiness spreading from his chest, and ghosted a kiss on her forehead, smiling softly when he felt her eyes flutter against his chin.

The morning could wait. For now, she was in his arms, asleep, and it was a simple, brilliant thing.

He awoke from the sunlight dripping through his blinds onto his face. Hiccup groaned, his right arm coming up to shield his eyes.

The numbness was gone.

Confused, he opened his eyes and blinked, adjusting to the light. His gaze fell to the right.

Not many days ago, he had thought Astrid in her running clothes was the best thing he'd ever seen.

'I stand corrected.'

There she was, drenched in sunlight that fell in little stripes over her face, her head propped on her arm. She was smiling at him. Her braid almost undone.

This was it. This was the best thing he'd ever seen first thing in the morning.

"Good-" he stopped, voice rough and husky, to clear his throat. "Good morning."

Her smile widened - good grief, his skin was on fire - and she shifted slightly. "Good morning."

To Hiccup's relief, her cheeks were tinted, too. They both exchanged a look, Astrid's eyes shortly flitting up to Hiccup's mess of hair.

Laughter bubbled up between them, and a moment later they were both laughing breathlessly, the tension falling as Hiccup slumped back into the cushions.

"This is so weird," Astrid remarked but grinned, laying back. "But good weird."

"Yeah?" He turned to her, grinning, drunk on his luck.

Astrid's smile widened as she nodded, inching closer to him again. "Yeah."

Without another word, Hiccup raised his arm and let her hide in his emrace, his hand smoothing over her hair, almost absentmindedly. He closed his eyes, resting his chin on her head, feeling almost dizzy.

"Astrid?"

She hummed, lightly nuzzling her nose into him.

"I'm breathing so much easier when I'm with you." He paused, realising how cheesy he'd sounded and cracked a grin. "That being said - you still up for that morning run?"

Astrid pulled back, her hands on his chest pushing herself up as she looked at him as if she wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or ask if he needed medical help.

"Oh my God. You're kidding," she deadpanned after a while and let out a short laugh of relief, pushing him away lightly when he grinned at her. "I thought you were serious. My quads were already screaming."

Hiccup laughed and she let him pull her back against him. "Well, I was serious about 50% of what I just said."

She grinned up at him.

"So what, are we leaving right now or …?"

Hiccup had never really put much thought nor effort into his (albeit stable) morning routine. Not that he didn't care, it just didn't help. He had to be practiced; there was no time for anything out of the ordinary. Get up. Feed Toothless. A quick shower, quick breakfast, quick glass of water. Everything had to go quick. Usually.

Today, on the other hand, he was at ease, with no hurry in his footsteps on the way downstairs. There was a deep sense of belonging in his chest when he closed the cupboard and threw a look back at Astrid, who was sitting at the kitchen table, drenched in sunlight, her legs curled against the wood.

She scrunched her nose at him. "What?"

Hiccup paused, his heart singing in his chest, and smiled. "Nothing. I just thought, I'd uh, I'd like more mornings to be like this."

Her smile widened and his heart sang louder.

"Me too. That'd be nice."

He turned back to the stove and couldn't help but think it had sounded like a promise. It was a funny thing, to think that only last month he'd been convinced his future would never go past putting out her fires.

Had anybody told him that in only a couple of week's time she'd be in his kitchen wearing his clothes, he'd have tied them to one of the fishing boats in fear they had lost their mind, all while laughing manically. But here she was, and here he was, forgetting he needed eggs for scrambled eggs.

He paused when he realised Astrid had come up behind him, patting his arm.

"If you tell me where you keep the pans, I can heat up the butter."

"Oh - god, no," he spluttered before he could think, already nudging her back towards the kitchen table. "You're sitting yourself back down, Miss I Set My Stove On Fire Three Times A Week."

Astrid crossed her arms but sat down. "But I want to help!"

He patted her shoulder. "And I want to spoil my girlfriend."

A slow grin blossomed on her lips and she leaned back, uncrossing her arms.

"Alright. That I can let slide, once or twice."

Hiccup chuckled and pressed a quick kiss on the crown of her head before he returned to the stove.

"Can I at least pour us some orange juice, or are you worried that'll catch on fire too?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but there was humour dancing in her eyes when she opened the fridge and threw him a look.

"Honestly? I would not be surprised."

She scrunched her nose at him, not even bothering to hide her smile anymore and placed the juice box on the table, leaning against it. Her eyes went back to Hiccup, wandering over his shoulderblades, his freckled arms. He was humming, tapping from one foot to the other and set the eggs aside, opened the fridge and pulled out various containers. Throwing her a quick grin, he placed them on the table and returned to the stove.

"By the way, I don't have hair scissors. Kitchen scissors are as good as it gets," Hiccup confessed, shovelling eggs onto her plate, soon realising he had fried and scrambled way too many, but chose to lay low about it.

Astrid looked at him and grinned smugly.

"Oh no," she said, sarcasm dripping off her lips. "That means we'll have to meet another day at my place."

He snorted, pouring her another glass of juice. "Tough call. Was sorta hoping to get out of that one."

"Yeah, I know, real bummer."

Their gazes met; Hiccup gave up and cracked.

"So, next week?"

"Yup."

"So, how's your CV coming along?"

Astrid shrugged and rested her head on her angled knees.

"Feels like I'm stuck," she admitted and hesitated. "I don't know how to sell myself. I mean - I know I'm good, I just don't know how to convince them."

Hiccup hummed. They sat shoulder to shoulder and Astrid found herself leaning into him, the close proximity both electrifying and calm. His voice was gentle when he spoke.

"How long have you been working on it?"

"Since I told you? Every day after work, basically."

"Try putting it down for a couple days. Take a step back, clear your head and come back to it with a new perspective. You'll be able to think of something when you're not forcing yourself."

She sighed. He was probably right, but it was hard to put down. "Maybe. It's just," she hesitated, raising her head to look at him."This is what I've always wanted to do, and I didn't have the chance to do it for so long, and now I finally do, so I want it to be good. Perfect. They'll have to take me."

She could feel herself slip. If the resumé wasn't good enough, they wouldn't take her. Astrid hated that thought and she wanted it gone. The solution was simple: she'd only have to write the best resumè known to mankind and they wouldn't even have another choice than to hire her. Basically foolproof.

Hiccup's voice was slowly trickling in through the war cries inside her head.

"Astrid, a resumé isn't going to make them hire you. That's on you. And you know you're good. You're better than good, okay, you got through months of shifts at the Smith's being harassed by creepy drunk men without punching them in the face, and that's a thing I'd write on that CV."

Astrid blinked. Hiccup's face came into focus again, his forest-green eyes fixed on her and she wondered where the battle cries had gone.

"There are many day-to-day challenges teachers have to face, but there is nothing that could distract or shake me from my firm belief that the most important job of a teacher should be listening to children and help them shape themselves, not be shapen. Opening sentence."

She drew a deep breath, a slow smile blossoming on her face, and let her hands fall into her lap.

Hiccup was grinning. "Top of your head?"

"Top of my head."

"See? Thank you for proving my point."

"Looks like the sky cleared up." Astrid commented and leaned out of the opened window, the now light summer breeze grazing her face.

"Yeah." Hiccup replied weakly, his eyes dancing over the crinkle of her eyes and the smattening of freckles and he couldn't help but think, 'Please don't say you should get going now'.

Astrid turned around, a hesitant smile on her lips. "I think I should get going now."

'Thanks, universe.'

"Oh - yeah, no, of course," he mumbled, raking a hand through his hair. "Stormfly's waiting, huh?"

She laughed. "She'll probably be cross with me for leaving her alone a whole day and a bit. She gets a bit fussy without her scratches."

He nodded and watched her turn back towards him, her brow furrowed.

"You reckon our clothes dried overnight?"

It seemed to Hiccup as if the concept of clothes drying again for the first time, at least that's what it felt like when he staggered away into the kitchen to the chairs where they'd hung them, his hand touching damp cloth.

"Nope, still damp," he let Astrid know, who had followed him. "But, uh, if you want, just - you can just keep this. On, I mean. And just return it whenever you like, it's fine."

God, her smile was better than Fishleg's waffles.

"That'd be great, thanks."

"No problem."

He shrugged, grinning lopsidedly, his heart skipping a beat when she shortly laid her hands on his chest to lightly nudge him towards the kitchen door.

"Well, thanks again for letting me stay. And the clothes. And dinner. And breakfast. You get it," she grinned and bounced herself off the kitchen chair, her clothes tucked under her arm.

Hiccup chuckled and followed her back into the hallway, where they stopped in front of the door.

"You're probably not gonna have the day off, aren't you?" Astrid smirked up at him, quickly tying her shoes.

"Yeah, no, I'm probably gonna report back at work tonight. Gobber giving me that whole day off was sort of illegal," he shrugged, grinning lopsidedly. Astrid chuckled, laid the clothes down, got up again and nudged his shoulder.

"Just be careful."

"You know me. Constantly vigilant."

She snorted, her eyes getting caught on the gap between his front teeth, and after a moment of hesitation she locked her arms around his neck, looking up at him.

"I know. Just try not to get fried? I'd like to actually keep my boyfriend for a bit longer."

Hiccup's smile widened, his hands sneaking around her waist, pulling her in.

"I'll try my best."

His voice barely made it over his lips, almost a whisper as his gaze dropped to her lips ever so shortly. When he looked up again, Astrid's eyes were fixed on his, her hands taking a hold of his collar.

"I really," she mumbled, his breath on her skin, one hand coming to rest over his heart, the rhythm just beneth her fingertips. "I really want to kiss you right now."

Hiccup stopped, pretty sure his heart had skipped a beat at her words. He waited for his brain to sound the alarms, contradict this as a Thing That's A Bad Idea, but all he could come up with was how on earth he could have been so dumb and wasted so much time not kissing her.

He leaned in, holding her gaze.

Astrid's own eyes now flitted down to his lips as he smiled slowly.

"I might have an asthma attack if you kiss me," he mumbled, their breaths mingling.

She shyed back. He grinned, his hand around her waist pulling her back in again.

"But I guess that's an occupational hazard."

Astrid's reply was swallowed by his lips.

There was no toothpaste and no hurry in their kiss, not even as they parted, but Astrid's eyes fluttered open and she was met with his gaze, and there was something else in it.

There was a short moment, their hearts beating up to their throats, the air tingling between them, her hands still clutching his collar.

And suddenly he was dipping down again, and she was pulling him in, and suddenly her back was hitting the wall and they were a mess of teeth and smiles, and her hands were burying themselves in his hair as his cradled her jaw.

All Hiccup heard was the sound of his own heart, beating up to his throat and against her when she leaned into him, swallowing his short breaths, her hands coming down around his neck, pulling him in, and there was not a single part of him that wanted to stop and pull away.

This was by far not his first kiss, but he couldn't help but think that all first kisses should feel like this. Everything right now made sense. His head wasn't scrambling for the next thing, for anything else, something better - this was it, this was the moment - several moments - and he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Astrid's hands had found his face, and her touch was gentle when they parted, her fingers almost cold on his skin. They looked at each other, their faces only inches apart, and Astrid couldn't help but think how alike and yet completely different this was from all the times they had stood like this before. But here they were, and Hiccup was looking at her like she was the best thing since sliced bread, and maybe also like he was going to cry, so she gave the joy in her chest more room and kissed him once more.

(When u finally make ur idiots kiss and are already screaming publishing it)