please let me know what you think!

This scene got so extensive I actually had to break it into two parts between chap 8 and 9. The next chapter will be out soon!


Forced by the wind, the thick, hickory door slammed shut behind the kids with a heavy clunk, muffling the roaring, endless rainfall outside.

It was physically relieving to get out of that cranky storm and step inside the quiet, stagnate air of a house—her house! That was just the thing, thought Hiccup, now troubled by the feverish uneasiness of being alone with this girl. Like truly, impossibly alone, this time.

Yes, it had just been only the two of them once before, on the night when they had trained together by the water, and even on the day, they had first met, in the forest. Although he had been plenty nervous, those situations had not given him this very peculiar feeling that was arising in his stomach right now.

It had been different, those times. The two of them had been out in the open air, on the open beach or Berk's local woods. Out in the world, free to be seen, heard, or interacted with by any passerby.

But now…now, here, the two of them were hidden behind private walls, completely isolated from all supervision, exempt from any company.

He fixed on her while she did not pay attention, admiring the gleaming damp wisps of ivory that framed her face, the sweet way her nose and cheeks adopted this pink wash.

There was no one else in the world for him to spend his focus on except for her, which was everything he could have ever wished for and more, but what truly terrified him was the more part.

Now, suddenly, behind closed doors, there was no one else here for her to focus on except for him. And she was wildly unpredictable.

Hiccup tried not to freak out when he realized all of the millions of things that could very likely happen between the two of them.

He was choked by the suddenness of how this all came to be, praying that his panic wasn't too visually obvious.

He worried for quite some moments, before being able to pay any mind to the growing discomfort provided by the sopping, wet clothes that stuck to his cold skin.

"Wow, it's really coming down out there," Astrid spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.

She shifted her silver gaze to him, the two of them still lingering in the foyer.

"I didn't think the weather would actually get this bad," he replied, feeling his body begin to tremble in the cool dryness. Water dripped off his clothes, off his hair, trickling onto the floor, "I should have planned a change of dry clothes."

"Should of, could of," she teased in a sing-song voice, somehow already pulling his strings,

"Looks like you're just stuck here with me till the storm rides out."

"Oh, what a pity," Hiccup grinned, feeling his face grow warm.

She laughed softly at his sarcasm, a bumbling, rich sound in the thick, static air.

The humming sheets of heavy rain seemed to pelt stronger against the roof.

He followed her into the den which consisted of a few sheepskin sofas and a massive, unlit stone fireplace.

He couldn't help but swallow when he glanced at the couch. A couple of pillows and fur throws were sprawled over its expanse.

"So…what do you wanna do?" She suddenly was asking, right beside him, causing him to jump, even gasp the tiniest bit.

His wet, shivering skin broke into goosebumps, perhaps by her sudden closeness.

"I dunno…what do you wanna do?" He played it off cool, meeting her curious eyes with a struggle, trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding.

He prayed he wasn't coming off too jumpy and took a moment to assess his composure.

"Our family has a nice Taflkast dice set if you wanna play a couple of rounds," Astrid suggested, seemingly unaware of his uneasiness.

Her gaze drifted away from his so she could pull the ribbon free from the end of her dripping braid.

"Yeah, that sounds fun," he mumbled, intrigued, watching as she undid the long blonde waves she had weaved together, wet and shimmering with rainwater.

He wished so badly to touch that silky softness, to feel her golden locks slip through his fingers.

He hoped maybe someday she would allow him to brush her beautiful hair.

"I do want to get into dry clothes first," she said fixed on him again, then hesitation crossed her face for one of those rare moments where her flawless confidence somehow faltered. She couldn't even meet his eyes, "Come to my room with me, real quick."

Hiccup's stomach dropped like a cannonball. That was the last thing he was expecting her to say. He certainly thought that she would have told him to wait out here. It seemed like she was trying to play it off causal, but an invitation like that was as heavy as it gets. He knew that bedrooms were a very intimate place, especially to be alone with a girl.

His mouth suddenly felt entirely too parched and he wished for a glass of water.

"A-alright," he swallowed, this time meeting her eyes by mistake, resulting in another hot wave of embarrassment.

She smirked at him charmingly, perhaps finally picking up on his now, probably, obvious tension.

He silently cursed at himself, reminding himself not to stutter as he compliantly followed her across the room, tracking water along the way.

"I feel bad," she frowned glancing at him, her face glistening beneath the candlelight, "I certainly don't have anything you can change into."

"That's quite alright with me, milady," he smiled, coming off rather smooth compared to how he was truly feeling, but then quickly felt tremendous satisfaction from the adorable way she lit up at this pet name.

He was trying to be unproblematic but he wouldn't argue that it would be real nice to feel warm and dry.

While she led him down the dim hallway with her long gold waves flowing down her back, he tried to breathe normally, imagining what was about to happen in her bedroom. Was she going to undress right in front of him? Literally, one of his intrusive, little fantasies had come to life.

When they entered the room, Hiccup's heart slammed so hard in his chest that he felt like he would puke as his virgin gaze landed on her fluffy, fur bed. His cruel, nervous brain tormented him, flooding his mind with obscene ideas, ensuring he would anticipate the absolute most.

He distracted himself by looking elsewhere. There were little ornate things everywhere; perfumes and oils, twinkling jewels and shiny rings, assorted, dried flower petals in jars organized across her vanity. There was everything he would expect to see in a teenage girl's room, but there was also some other stuff he would only anticipate seeing in this specific girl's room, like the wooden, painted target hanging at the top of the far wall, badly worn and punctured with probably a dozen arrows, or the thick wooden posts at each corner of the bed, still standing strong, yet badly mutilated by what he guessed were axe swings.

After setting down her axe on the dresser, Astrid began to remove her shoulder pauldrons, hanging them up on the armor rack. Hiccup stood awkwardly for a moment, before shrugging off his leather satchel, dropping it atop the dresser as well, right beside her axe.

He watched her for a moment, but never for too long, as she gracefully stepped out of her muddy boots, revealing her dainty, princess feet in wooly gray socks, then set them on a mat by the door.

"You can put your boots right here, too," her words were casual but he could hear the hint of fear wavering in her voice.

He did as was suggested, taking longer than necessary to remove his shoes, silently resurrecting his confidence while he was down there.

"I should have had us take them off by the front door, so we didn't track anything through the house," she continued on.

Upon standing back up, he was blessed by a sight he thought he would never get to see. By some divine miracle, Astrid was in the process of removing her top as if he wasn't even in the room.

Did she not care? He figured that even close friendships appreciated physical privacy, especially so if it was between opposite genders.

Hiccup felt his mouth fall slightly open at this eyeful.

For a moment, it was only a glimpse of her pale stomach, slender waist, then in a flash, her entire garment was thrown aside, leaving her upper body clothed with nothing but thinly wrapped chest bindings. The rainwater had seeped through to that final layer, dampening the fabric to almost see-through and that's when he forced himself to stop observing any further detail.

"But, I won't care, if my parents do throw a fit. I just won't care at all," she said.

Standing half-naked, her pale skin was beautifully exposed to him and he tried his best not to stare, forcing his eyes just anywhere else in the room.

If his face got any hotter than this, he would absolutely get a nose bleed.

He suddenly couldn't remember how to breathe, terrified and honored all at the same time—why did she pick him? What was the catch? He thanked the gods, asking them how had he gotten so lucky?

But as quickly as he was thanking them, he was cursing at them, for plaguing him with this uncontrollable, embarrassing stiffness rousing in his rain-drenched, wet pants.

Good fucking gods—wet pants! He was positively doomed. It would be much easier to see anything happening down there with his clothes sticking to him like this!

His body was a traitor. Selling him out in such desperate times.

Astrid unfastened the latch on her belt which held her skirt up, letting it all fall to the floor carelessly with a heavy clatter.

"My mother is always getting onto me over the stupidest things," she continued to complain, blissfully unaware of his situation.

She began to take off her leggings, meanwhile, Hiccup tried his best to focus on his uneven breathing and the twiddling of his thumbs rather than the—bloody hell, Thor have mercy! Her legs were so perfect, he felt himself jump at the lewd sight. He had never seen anyone so exposed in his life, not even the whores his father used to keep around when he was a child.

Her skin was pale as cream and looked smooth to the touch. It was easy to see, without a doubt, that she was much further along developed than he was in this puberty race.

He had no idea that women could consist of so many curves. Astrid with her long blonde hair, flowing freely like a mermaid, stood only in her chest bindings and those tantalizing panties—which he thought were mature and too sexy for her young age, but it wasn't his place to say so; he wasn't her father, or her brother, or her boyfriend.

"How do I look?" She wickedly teased him, then laughed and turned to pose for him playfully, for a moment, placing a hand behind her head and the other on her thrown out hip.

Hiccup could only swallow, feeling his face burn.

She's talking to you, idiot! Speak! Words! Now!

"Y-You're breathtaking," he stammered the first thing he could think of, finally recalling how to function.

She beamed at him, those haunting eyes and he did not fail to catch the solace she found in his reply. She then turned her efforts towards looking for something to wear.

He could not help but survey the slender arch of her calves to the curve of her toned thighs as she leaned into her wardrobe full of clothing.

He glanced away to breathe, trying not to cough, then back to her, naturally, to admire the subtle, developing width of her nice full hips, her thin waist, pelvis bones slightly poking out of her taut stomach.

Hiccup drank up the godly sight of this girl, trying so hard to ignore the way he throbbed. He was truly blown away by her nonchalance, indifferently picking through her wardrobe for something comfortable, while he was just allowed to watch?

He tried his best to play it cool, just to breathe, but every time he glanced over, he would catch the developed plumpness of her ass and how it would so gently bounce as she moved, pawing through her clothes. He begged and pleaded with himself not to grow any harder.

It's alright, he told himself, he would certainly wake up any second now and this hot fantasy would soon end when he opened his eyes to see that he was still in his own bed.

But then, that furious disappointment would strangle him back into real life, the promise that this beautiful girl, that Astrid, could never truly have feelings for him.

But the dream did not seem to show any signs of ending. He pinched himself.

Hiccup thought she would never settle on something, but finally, she did, throwing a flowing, loose, pale shirt over her head and then sliding on some dark-colored cotton shorts meant for sleeping in—they were rather short, but whatever was comfortable, right?

He didn't anticipate her to reach under her shirt and unravel her chest bindings. He slightly averted his gaze, hearing them fall to the ground.

Now, she's not wearing anything underneath that thin shirt, the intrusive thought taunted him and he felt guilty.

"I must get this off the floor or my mother will pitch a fit over that too," Astrid sighed, snatching her bundle of wet clothes up, then draped it lazily over her armor rack.

"Ready to go play that game?" Hiccup suggested, meaning to come off chipper, but under all the hot tension, his voice cracked boyishly.

"Yeah…let's go," she agreed, when she finally met his gaze, he could see that she was just as red and flustered as he was and he felt significantly better about himself.

He thought she was going for the door at first, but she lingered to him instead, smirking her pretty mouth. He prayed she wouldn't detect his hard-on.

"Hiccup, you're trembling."

How nice of you to notice.

She gazed at him, just very, subtly licked at her lips, wetting them, gently biting at that bottom one—was she teasing him? Or was he imagining it? Who was he kidding, this entire field trip to her bedroom had been a tease.

"Are you cold?" Her soft voice was hardly over a whisper.

"Yes," he confessed.

Her crystal eyes did not leave his own, drawing him weak beneath the unrelenting contact.

She reached her dainty hand out towards him, his breath catching in his throat, as she gently brushed his damp bangs out of his eyes, his heart hammering so hard against his chest, he was certain she would hear it.

Just as he was expecting her to lower her touch, so he could finally breathe again, she then cupped the side of his face lovingly, in her soft, warm hand and allowed her thumb to give his cheek an affectionate stroke.

He felt himself shudder beneath her fingers tips, her touch paralyzing him.

The faintest exhale left her parted lips and a look of attainment filled her winter eyes.

Throughout his whole life, he had experienced such little physical touch. Being very rarely being hugged by his father, usually, the most he got out of any parental figure was a pat on the back.

He had never felt a loving sensation such as this one and he allowed his eyes to flutter shut for just a second.

Then out of nowhere, "Hiccup, why don't you take off this wet shirt?" She was tugging on his sleeve and suddenly her crystal eyes were penetrating him. She had no idea what power her words had over him, what they did to him, then she added with just a hint of girlish nervousness, "I-I'm sure you'll feel much better without it."

My shirt? Did he hear her correctly? He felt dizzy for a second when reality caught up with him.

She just asked him to take off his shirt. Did she want him to take off his shirt? Would she like that? No, it wasn't that, he told himself, it couldn't be. She only wanted him to be more comfortable, less cold, not shivering, but would he even be more comfortable being so exposed? Physically maybe, but mentally, no chance.

He would never dream of not doing as she asked. How could he possibly say no to her? But the controlling anxiety was clawing him to pieces.

She would laugh at how scrawny he'll look shirtless, he panicked unrealistically while his self-consciousness abused him. She'll be appalled by his lack of manliness—he was sure of it—more than disappointed by the haunting absence of any muscle.

"You just look so cold," she insisted softly and he realized he had been quiet and reactionless for far too long.

His trembling body would certainly appreciate the gesture, he considered.

The continuous patter of rain outside the windows hummed on.

"I-I am cold," he blinked, finally finding his words, "Uh, I'll take it off."

The slightest hint of surprise knitted in her brows.

Hiccup mentally braced himself for her negative reaction, before shrugging off his cold, wet shirt, right in front of her.

It felt positively better to have that thing off of him, yet, suddenly not so much, when he felt entirely too naked and vulnerable—surely, far too small for her liking. He frowned down at his sharp rib cage, clutching his sopping shirt in his hand.

"Beautiful," he heard her say, to his surprise.

Beautiful? That's the last word he would use to describe himself.

He met up with her gaze only to see that her eyes fixed over his body—please, not the stiffy—evidently appraising his blindingly bare paleness.

"I'm glad you think so," he sighed, looking off to the side as his face burned like a hot coal.

"I'm sure that feels much better now, huh?" Astrid smiled, showing her gleaming, sharp teeth, the nervous tension had somehow left her demeanor.

If she was scared, she was doing a fine job of hiding it.

"It does."

"Here, I'll warm you up," She offered generously.

Then suddenly, before he could say alright, her soft hands were already around his teeny upper arms, moving up and down in an attempt for heated friction.

"We have blankets and stuff too," she suggested, amusement playing on her tone.

"I'm alright, thank you," he laughed huskily, trying to remain as cool as he could beneath her powerful touch.

It did warm him up plenty, but he was busy being choked by embarrassment, for there was no way she hadn't noticed his stupid boner by now. To his worst nightmare, her eyes that had been fixated on his, were now busy, traveling over his little frame. If she hadn't seen it yet, she surely would in the next few seconds.

Her intoxicating touch wandered off course, rising up his freckled shoulders and up the back of his neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps beneath her touch. Her attentive fingers raked through his hair, then back down his neck and shoulders, once more, to glide over his pounding chest.

The feeling of her nurturing fingertips over his skin was foreign and strange, yet so impossibly soothing.

For a moment her chilling eyes were back on his. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned in and kissed him.

He had trouble reacting, he was dazed for a heartbeat or two, before melting into her warm, soft lips.

Her hands had yet to move from his white chest and he wondered if she could feel his racing heart beneath her fingertips.

She moved her lips against his with eager impatience, before forcing her tongue into his mouth as if it were the very thing she had been waiting her whole life to do.

He tried to tolerate the way his erection throbbed, but all too soon, it was literally impossible, when she fancied herself against him, chest to chest, groin to groin.

He gasped, almost squeaked, at the sudden, glorious pressure down there.

This caused her to laugh softly, smiling against his lips and stirring up a fluttering in his stomach.

She was really taking the piss out of him, now, wasn't she?

He knew she could feel his hardness against her, but in the erotic heat of the moment, perhaps the lust had caught up with her, taking over any feelings of fear.

"Let's go play that stupid dice game," she murmured, her breath mingling with his and a hot chill rolled up his spine.

"O-Okay," he hardly managed.

She untangled herself from him, evidently unfazed, at least from what he could tell, and they floated out of her room, hardly decent. Hiccup watched her as she skipped down the hall—those skimpy shorts were the devil.

Astrid insisted that he sit right across from her, on the floor, while they played Taflkast.

She opened the leather pouch, dumping its contents out; tiny, wooden pieces all over the fur rug.

At first, Hiccup couldn't remember how the game went, he hadn't played this in a few years, but after she explained the rules, it all came back to him.

While playing, Hiccup tried as best he could to concentrate on the game, yet his once innocent mind was now afflicted with the unforgettable impression of sexy, almost-naked Astrid.

By accident, his eyes skimmed directly over her chest, over that light, thin material, capturing the way her nipples sharply poked against the shirt. He glanced up to make sure she hadn't seen and to his relief, she was mildly distracted by the game.

Stop it, you dirty perv, he scolded himself, telling himself that he shouldn't even be thinking of her in this way.

"Hiccup, it's your turn," her beautiful ocean eyes were so adoring on him.

But, I'm so in love with you.

"You suck at this game," she laughed.

Hiccup had grown somewhat comfortable at this point and almost completely forgot he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Based on her reaction earlier and a little bit right now, he knew she actually liked how he looked.

His luck had been so exceptional, he wondered if he had been somehow blessed by the gods in some moonlight ritual he had no memory of. Or perhaps, someone had tricked her into drinking a love potion or put her under some kind of spell. He couldn't figure it out.

He kept catching the way her eyes would wander over his shirtless, thin body as if she wanted so badly to just reach out and touch his bare skin again.

When she saw he had noticed, her sheepish gaze snapped back up to his as she blushed, which he found quite adorable. For a rare moment, he felt really good about himself.

After a half a dozen rounds, they lost interest in the wooden dice and switched to a more intense, strategy, board game, called Hnefatafl, when Astrid suggested that it would be 'loads more fun.'

They sat crisscross applesauce across from one another with the playing board in between them.

Hiccup had never played this game before, but after learning the rules, he quickly got the hang of the slow-paced, thoughtful turns.

He won the first two games and was about to win the third when a loud, sudden clash of lightning rumbled the house and startled both kids enough to jump in fright.

"Oh," Astrid suddenly said, a look of realization crossing her face, "I hope none of your books got wet in the rain," she worried.

"Hm, I hope not," Hiccup said easily.

"I was wondering…" Astrid started, eying him hopefully, "can we look at some more of your sketches?"

"Well, alright," he answered with a touch of reluctance, "if you want to."

"Great!"

She was up to run and go grab it before he could say anything else.

"Here, I brought the whole bag because there's a lot of books in here," she thrust the damp leather satchel into his arms as they casually settled down on the couch together.

It was amazing how much tension could rise within him, just from being on that fur blanket next to her.

Hiccup slid the sketchbook out of the bag, opening it to the first couple of pages, which he knew were safe.

He was always so careful handling such a sensitive book around her. There was no way in hell he would allow her to see those embarrassing drawings of herself. He had previously thought about pulling them, though, they were just too good to tear out.

"Here's a sketch I did of a rabbit."

His heart skipped a beat when her electric hand decided to rest, out of anywhere, on his thigh.

She really, really likes me.

"Aw, he's so cute. This is great work," she admired the bunny drawing, then shifted herself more so against him.

"Yeah, he didn't hop away or anything, so I was able to get the detail on the eyes," Hiccup remained chill, letting her curl up on him, as he pointed out the lead shading.

This is a dream come true.

"Maybe, he just thought you were another rabbit," Astrid teased amusingly and leaned in somewhat, to observe the intricate markings.

"Oh, ha-ha, you're so funny," smirked Hiccup sarcastically.

"You're so cute and little, though!"

He ignored her, yet gave her a small, insincere glare, as he turned to the next page.

"Here's a different one I did of the Night Fury," he continued on.

"Oh! cool. This one is more detailed than the one you showed me the other day," she said, seemingly interested in the dragon stuff the most, which made his heart flutter.

He turned to the next page, feeling his stomach drop like a boulder. He quickly skipped over that one, trying to remain composed.

"What's that?"

My worst fear.

"Oh, nothing."

"Lemme see!" She jumped excitedly, to an upright seated position beside him.

"No way," Hiccup felt his face light on fire.

Astrid snatched the sketchbook, faster than he could pull it away from her reach, and she hugged it to her chest.

"Astrid, no, give it back," Hiccup pleaded desperately, sitting up quickly.

"I won't laugh, I promise," she shook her head, a big smile overtaking her face.

"No, it's so bad," he shook his head, too, "you don't understand."

"Come onnn, I thought we were closer than that," she coerced.

Hiccup could only swallow weakly, eyeing her wordlessly, in inevitable defeat.

This is it, he accepted his fate, this was the end of his bloody world. It was all over now.

He felt like he was going to puke when she fanned open the book and peered down at its pages.

Her determined facial expression wavered into slight confusion upon viewing the contents, her brows knitting some.

"I—what's so bad about it? Are these valkyries?"

She looked closer.

"Wait…Hiccup, this is beautiful. Is this one supposed to be me?"

He was absolutely going to die. This fantasy had turned into a terrible nightmare far too quickly.

She glanced up at him, he had fallen silent, mortified.

"Hiccup," she said his name again, this time gazing directly into his soul. "I love this. I love this so much."

She reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently, but he could only blink at her.

"This means the world to me. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me," she looked emotional for a second when she held her heart in her free hand.

"You drew me as a valkyrie?" She dropped everything to then flip the page, "and a fairy? Amongst all these other fairies of course, but this one is certainly me, wouldn't you say?"

He nodded.

"This is the most remarkably gorgeous thing I've ever seen in my life!" She cried, "why would you want to keep this hidden?"

The words finally came spilling out of him, "I-I was so worried y-you would—you would, I dunno," but then she grabbed his face and kissed him.

Her comforting mouth against his drained all his worries away.

"Hiccup, I want you to draw me in real life," she pulled away to say, still holding his face in her hands.

"What?"

"Draw me, please," she insisted, her pleading blue eyes were stunning to meet with. Her fingers sweetly caressed his skin.

He wouldn't say no to her. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, one he never thought he would get to have, even if he did somehow manage to become friends with her.

"Right now?" He asked a bit choked up with apprehension.

"Yes, now. Why not?" She finally let go of him and posed dramatically for a moment, laughing that beautiful laugh of hers.

"Alright, well get comfortable, it might take a while," Hiccup reached into the leather satchel, searching for a couple of sketching utensils.

"That's just fine with me," her voice was dreamlike as she watched him leave their sofa to pull a chair close enough for the perfect, artistic view of her, sliding it over the masonry floor.

He sank down in the fluffy chair, a couple of spaces away from her. He was scared out of his wits.

"And try to keep y-your eyes on mine, if you can," he instructed her weakly.

"Wonderful. I can look at you all day."