Here's a rather short one, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyways!

Chapter 16 - Collision

"Hey," she whispered into the semi-darkness of the corridor and squeezed past him, balancing the two cups on the paper tray she was holding as she pecked him on the cheek.

"I didn't know you were still up," he grinned and closed the door with a small Click.

Astrid shrugged and grinned up at him. "Figured I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow anyways."

Hiccup chuckled and gestured over to the plank bed, taking one of the steaming cups she offered to him.

"I got you peppermint, hope that's okay," she murmured and grinned even wider as she watched his face light up.

"That's perfect," he mumbled, taking a big sip after he'd sat down, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. "Just what I needed. Thank you."

His hand found hers on the thinly padded metal.

"Anytime."

Astrid hummed and let herself fall against him.

"Is it dumb that I've missed you?"

Hiccup shook his head and pressed a light kiss on her temple.

"I've missed you, too. So maybe we're both a little dumb."

She snorted and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe."

Hiccup took another sip and wrapped his free arm around her.

"Tell me about your day?"

"Well, I had work until - three, I think? Gothi almost threw me out, she keeps trying to get me to do normal things on Saturdays, but I'm convinced she just wants some alone time with the gang," she chuckled. "So I went to The Cone Cove, I was craving some ice cream, took my laptop with me - and I, well, I finished my CV yesterday night and sent it off today."

Hiccup pulled away for a second, searching her gaze.

"You did?"

Astrid grinned and nodded. "Yeah, just typed it up in ten minutes and sent it. It was funny, 'cause I was stressing about it so much, but as soon as I started writing it, it was fine."

Her smile widened as he pressed a kiss on the top of her head.

"'m proud of you. Knew you could do it."

"Yeah, now all that's left on my agenda is hope they accept me and then stress about actually teaching," she replied, scrunching her nose at him.

"That's the easy part, yeah?"

He cracked a grin at that and Astrid couldn't help but laugh and wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning back into him.

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a while, his ribs rising and falling underneath her steadily. Astrid closed her eyes, feeling only warmth and comfort, trying to match her breathing to his own, thinking she couldn't imagine her life without him anymore.

A whole month, and she still couldn't believe how they had ended up right here, right now, in this moment, and she didn't really care as long as they just kept doing it.

A month ago she'd have laughed at the idea of being this close to someone, this comfortable with someone, but maybe that was the thing - Hiccup wasn't just someone.

She had let her guard around him down a long time now, or maybe she had never guarded anything at all. She'd never needed to, with him. There had never been any need for carefully constructed sentences, or to act like she was untouchable, unattached.

She could just be with him, no questions asked, and it was enough to simply be herself.

"Hiccup?"

He hummed, his fingers lightly drawing circles on her shoulder.

"I'm really glad I set my kitchen on fire two months ago."

His fingers stopped and their eyes met; Astrid sat back up, and watched a grin blossom on his face.

"Me, too."

And then she found herself gravitating towards him again, he was almost magnetising. She watched him stop, still smiling lightly as she let herself lean in closer, closer still-

Their lips met. Astrid's eyes fluttered close, his hands slowly slipping around her waist, ghosting over her ribs as she leaned in. Her own hands found his face, her fingers tracing his jawline, and she couldn't help but smile into the kiss as he hummed and drew her closer still, shifting slightly in his place.

They parted for a second as he caught his breath, leaning his forehead against hers.

"You okay?" Astrid whispered, ghosting her lips over his and he nodded, a slow smile blossoming on his lips.

"Yeah," he rasped back. "Never been better."

He was grinning, and for a breathless second their eyes met, and maybe it was the way he looked at her, or maybe the fact that they sat this close, or that her rising and sinking ribs under his fingertips felt like the realest thing he'd ever touched, but then they collided again, all slowness gone.

His fingers were caressing her back as she slowly pushed her tongue into his mouth, drawing a hum from his lips, his fingers sinking themselves into her skin.

Astrid wasn't thinking - by the way Hiccup was running his hands along her body, pulling her in, brushing his tongue against hers, he wasn't either - the only thought in her mind right now was that they weren't close enough, and suddenly she was lightly pushing him back, and then she was on his lap, her knees digging into the plank bed, leaning into him, locking her arms around his neck. Hiccup let out a low hum of surprise but stilled his hands at her waist and back.

Her whole body was on fire; his hands and mouth adding to the flames. He broke away suddenly, making her whimper shortly, but then she felt him sloppily kiss his way across her jaw, down to her neck, her collarbones, her hands were fisting themselves into this hair in an attempt to keep him there, his name escaping her lips. He was whispering something back, the words getting lost in her skin as he kissed his way back up again. Astrid let herself fall into him, his heart beating against hers before she kissed him again and gently bit his lower lip, swallowing his low gasp.

His hands found her waist again, the rest of him completely lost in their kiss as he shifted, sinking back, Astrid's own hands on his chest pushing him down.

And then suddenly everything was going way too fast, and too slow at the same time, Hiccup felt like he was lost in a haze, her weight pinning him down on the shabby plank bed that had long nights and aching muscles written all over it but suddenly made him feel like he never wanted to get up again, and her hands were in his hair, her tongue in his mouth and he wasn't thinking about anything else than her skin on his, colliding with him again and again and he was burning up-

"Astrid," he gasped suddenly, sitting back up again. "We should stop."

Astrid nodded, her expression almost fazed. "Yeah," she agreed, equally breathlessly, her hands on his shoulders; their eyes met.

Hiccup's hair was a complete mess from the countless times she'd fisted her fingers into it, his mouth hung agape as he looked at her, still trying to catch his breath. Astrid's braid had come partly undone, her fringe hanging into her face - her cheeks were flushed, matching her puffy lips.

There was a moment of silence between them, a mutual realisation of what had just happened, and they couldn't help but grin at each other, laughter soon bubbling up between them.

Hiccup shook his head, still laughing, and let himself fall back again, pulling Astrid down with him.

"That, uh," he mumbled. "That … happened."

She muffled her laughter in his chest and nodded against him. "Yeah."

"You okay?"

She nodded again. "You?"

"I feel like I'm drunk."

They laughed again and he pressed a kiss into her hair, wrapping his arms tighter around her. And in this moment - this incredibly light and drunken moment - the words almost slipped from his lips. But he bit his tongue, swallowing the words and kissed her again instead.

(I can't even think of anything witty to say, this chapter has me shook and I am now contemplating everything)