=Astrid's POV=
(Sunday, 7/7/19-7:00 pm)
(Berk, Archia Isle)
(Haddock Apartment)

Well, it's been a week since the big party to celebrate the end of the merge, and Hector becoming the owner and CEO. I'd like to think things are going good for him at work. He hasn't come home in any bad moods and time managements has him home every night, no later than 6 pm. I knew a few meetings ran over and Hector was trying to get the hang of things, but he really didn't struggle too much. We talked every night, got along great. I think we've come a long way since last year when we couldn't stand to be in each other's presence. Next month, we'll have been married for a year. I want to do something special for him, but I'm not sure where we stand. I'm still shocked that Hector admitted to me he was bisexual and his first kiss and time have sex with a male was with Drew. I wasn't overly surprised about that because Drew was Hector's best friend, and they were practically brothers. It seems Hector and I are more open with one another, and I'm glad for that. Hector and I would probably still talk before making any big changes, but I knew for sure that I liked him a lot and I wanted to really give this marriage a try. I was sure we could date through our marriage, couldn't we? It was what we did now, just…Involved more couple things. We did eat dinner together, usually breakfast too. I obviously still work for his company, but it's not a hindrance to our relationship. I was hoping to talk to Hector tonight, but it seems he's running a bit late. It's 7 pm, but he's not back yet and this was supposed to be a quick meeting because initially, Hector didn't have work today.

I know Hector took Toothless to work; it was faster and saved on us using or cars and the gas for them. We only used our cars for shopping really, or sometimes Hector had a meeting. It looks a bit better to drive then show up on the dragon everyone wanted to get close too. Oh, I'm a fully licensed dragon flier now. Hector finished our training on Monday, so as of Friday; I took my tests and passed. I can fly my Stormfly whenever, no limits now. The instructor actually implored whoever taught me, and when I told Hector that, he only laughed and winked. I think I might love Hector, but I didn't want to say anything just yet, given we haven't talked about things between us. Depending on Hector's mood, I might try tonight to talk to him. We originally said we would talk about things when it settled down; I'd say we're as settled as we're gonna get from everything. I had dinner ready to go, it just needed to cook for ten minutes. I know when Hector comes home, he showers so I know I have time finish things while he does that.

I heard a thud in the backyard and knew Hector had to be home now. I got myself up and got to work on finishing dinner as Hector came in through the sliding door while loosening his tie. "Hi, honey," I greeted as Hector stared at me with an arched brow. "Too cheerful? Doesn't sound right? Would babe be better?" I chuckled.

Hector ended up laughing a little. "It wasn't your style, Milady," Hector informed.

"See, that's why I was trying to find something to call you. You call me Milady all the time, and it sounds just so smooth and right." I stated.

Hector shrugged. "Don't try so hard, Ast," He said. "What's for dinner? Why are you eating so late anyway, I hope you weren't waiting for me?" He came up beside me.

"What, no. I actually fell asleep when I got home from work at 3:30. I woke up about twenty minutes ago," I admitted. It had been kind'a true. I fell asleep around 4 pm, but woke up at 5:30 pm. "I'm making baked mac and cheese with broccoli. Just need to pan it up and toss it in the oven. Should be done in ten minutes if you want to go get your shower in," I offered.

"Sounds good," Hector nodded before kissing my cheek and walking off. I blushed a little, that was new; him showing me any affection at home. More of a reason we should talk tonight. I continued working on getting dinner in the glass pan, then putting it in the oven to bake for ten minutes.

About fifteen minutes later, I was getting our food plated up and put on the table when Hector came out of his room/office to sit down. "Perfect timing," I greeted. "I hope you like it…The recipe is my mom's and this is my first time making it."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Astrid. Sit down and let's eat…I'm starving." Hector invited. We both started eating our supper and it was fairly quiet.

"How was your day?" I asked smiling.

"It was good, just busy. Last minute meeting about stuff is what made me late." Hector chuckled.

"Life of the big boss," I laughed and he did too.

"How was your day?" Hector wondered.

"It was meh…" I replied with a shrug while taking a bite.

"That a good or bad meh?" Hector asked her. I didn't want to say anything, but now Hector wanted to know. I should have minded my words. "Astrid…" Hector said now, his tone changed. "Did something happen at work?"

"Just…People talking, Hector. It's nothing to worry about," I replied.

"Talking how?" Hector pushed. "Talking shit to complain, or talking like high schoolers for drama?"

"People not happy with the fact I'm a newer worker and have more hours than some of the seasoned employees, most saying it's because I'm your wife and probably jumped over everyone to tell you I wanted more work. Also that I got hired by you with no experience when others have been turned down for the same." I informed softly. "I'm ignoring it because I know it's not true, but still sucks to hear." I added.

"Of course. Your dad hired you, for starters. And you have more hours because you actually show up for work and do your job correctly," Hector stated. "And there isn't much experience in answering a phone, taking notes, and transferring calls. Reception jobs are mostly for people who have never worked in their life, or need something simple and easy. Your dad wouldn't have hired you for something he didn't think you could do. I'm sure you didn't specifically ask for reception, that's just where he put you, right?" He wondered.

"No, not at all. I just asked him if he had any work I could do since I lost my job, and I needed to be able to help you pay for stuff. I said I'd do mail room, or coffee runs, but I needed work." I smiled. "Actually, I think he said he could put me in reception because it would pay well and he needed someone there due to the unreliability of the others who didn't show or work much." I thought about it, trying to remember when my dad hired me.

"But other than that nonsense, your day was alright?" Hector asked and I nodded. "Good on you for ignoring them, but if it continues and gets out of hand…Take it to whoever is directly above you on the management chain."

"I will," I promised.

"Good. You had me worried that is was much more severe than that," Hector smiled then ate a little more.

"So…I was wondering if we could possibly talk tonight after dinner and things are cleaned up?" I mentioned gently.

"I'm sure we can. What about? Is everything okay?" Hector inquired.

"Yes, everything is fine…I just hoped that since school is over for us and things are…More settled than what they were, we could revisit the conversation about…Being together. Well, I know we're married but…" I told him.

"Yeah, we can talk about that. I'm glad you brought it up because after last week, I actually told myself I wanted to speak to you about it, and completely forgot with how busy things have been. Well, not forgot…But it kept getting put off due to stuff." Hector replied. "Let's eat first, clean up and then we'll sit down on the couch to talk." I nodded, agreeing.

. . .

(8:30 pm)

I wasn't really nervous to talk to Hector considering we originally said we'd table the discussion until things were a bit more settled, and to know Hector wanted to talk but it kept getting pushed back made me feel better about things being mutual that we wanted to be together. Dinner was done now, and Hector said he loved it; the cheese factor was superb. I was happy that he did, and I'm committing it to memory that it might be one of his favorites. Hector helped me clean up, which I hadn't expected considering he usually went to his office to handle a few last minute work things with his assistant, Jason. I know that I did go in the master room to change into something comfortable. I reached the living room to find Hector texting someone.

"Oh, there you are," Hector smiled.

"Sorry, I decided to change into my night clothes," I responded with a smile. "Am I interrupting anything?" I motioned to his phone.

"No, not at all," Hector chuckled. "That was just Drew, jokingly asking if we stopped our arrangement for random sex with others because he's stressed the hell out and needs to get laid,"

I kind'a had to laugh a little. "Well, I know we stopped it, but if you want to go to him…I won't be upset."

"No, no. He's fine, I told him masturbate to the thought of me and since he's gone quiet; I think he took the suggestion." Hector laughed. "Drew and I haven't had sex since the first time, it was never meant to be a hooking up situation between us. Just him helping me out," He added.

"Really, not even when we had the arrangement?" I blinked.

"Well, we didn't have sex…But one of the times I went there after a hook up, Drew and I might have made out and jerked one another off. I was stressed, he was trying to help out." Hector admitted. "Moving on, we didn't sit down to talk about my times with Drew," He laughed a little. "So…Originally, we left our feelings at crushing and would table it until things were settled. At the time, this was just after graduation. I guess a good place to start would be how are we feeling now about a month later?"

"I know I like you indefinitely, Hector. And I want to be with you, however it is we end up doing this. How are you together with someone when you're married to them? Is it still dating? I mean…I know we're together married, but we both hated that it was forced on us and we had a lot of problems in the beginning…Its taken us almost all year to get to where we are now. My point is,-" I started.

"That you want this to work?" Hector asked as I nodded.

"I know the problems were from me. I'm the one who didn't try with you or keep to our wedding night agreements. I didn't help with cleaning, and I'm the one who cheated…" I went on.

"Hey, hey…We're past all that. Yes, you didn't help me, and you did cheat, but we both hated this in the start, Astrid. It's not all on you. I could have been better too. You wouldn't have almost slept with that other guy if I'd made you feel or see you could have come to me. I know I could have been better. My point is, I think we're both at fault from being caught up in the hate of what we were forced into." Hector stated. "But I feel like we're past that. We talked it all out before, and agreed we'd maybe give this another try after you had your time to recover from that situation with Tristan," He added. "And after prom, I needed my time too. We both needed to step back and do some thinking. And I think we've obviously reach the place where thinking is over, we know how we feel and can decide where to go next."

"Where do we go next, Hector? I think we both agreed we wanted to be together, but…We already are. We're already married. I mean…I know it sounds strange to me to say I'm your girlfriend when I'm actually your wife. How do you date when you're married?" I asked.

"I think it's more of what we originally said. Appear happily in love and married to the public, but just dating as girlfriend and boyfriend when alone? Maybe with friends and our parents?" Hector suggested.

"You think they'll get mad if we're not acting married to them?" I wondered.

"I don't really care. We did our part, Astrid. We got married, we consummated it, and have been living together as husband and wife for almost a year now. We did the three things to secure their merge, and have thus remained married. As we both said…We are still legally married no matter what. I don't think it'll be a huge deal if we admit to them that while we're married…We're dating. It's not like it would affect the merge, not that even that matters anymore because I own the company. Since I signed those sheets, legally, we could have divorced and no one would have said anything because our fathers wouldn't have a say. Obviously, I know your stance on divorce…And we've agreed it would look bad on both families. That's why we agreed to stay together, with the agreement up until not that long ago." Hector explained.

"Good point," I nodded. "I know originally…I said I wanted to try things again. Meaning the marriage." I knew Hiccup and I agreed to take it slow, but technically…We've been together for eleven months. Several of which, we hated one another. Or hated the situation, at least. I don't think we hated one another, or we never would have been able to work things out. Hector wouldn't care at all about me, and I've seen too many times that he does.

"Is…That what you want to do, Ast? Skip over the dating segment, just behave as a married couple?" Hector asked.

"Little bit of both, perhaps?" I mentioned.

"Come on, talk to me…" Hector invited.

"I…Feel like we've gotten over a lot of the issues we had in the beginning of all this. We both hated it, and despite agreeing to work together, neither of us really held it up. But…Ever since the thing with Tristan, even Roseanna…We've been alright. We both work, share the bills. I don't know," I paused as Hector urged me to continue. "I suppose what I'm going for is…Not full on behaving as a married couple, but not starting out as a completely new one. I'm going for some…Middle spot." I said.

"I think I see what you're saying, and I actually really like the idea," Hector smiled. "So…How about we do this," He paused a moment. "I don't really think we need to appear married anymore. Everyone knows that we are, and it's not like we go around boldly greeting one another as wife and husband. Married couples are just like boyfriend and girlfriend who have been together for a while, even engaged couples. So I think we can just be together as a couple and not have to worry about anyone thinking something is off, especially this far along into the marriage," Hector took a drink as I nodded to agree with him. "We can date, obviously married, and just have our level of dating be at the point that we've been together for about a year and have decided to move into together. Which is what we're doing now. Living in the same place, but different rooms."

"Don't most couples who decide to live together end up sharing a room?" I asked. "Or get a place that only has one and share it,"

"That's what I was going to ask you next. Do you want us to continue to inhabit separate rooms, or share the master?" Hector questioned.

"Since we are still taking this slow, what if…We did something like few nights a week, we sleep in the same bed. Kind'a like maybe at a stage where it's somewhat serious and we're spending the night at each other's places. In this case, since we're already living together, spend the night in each other's rooms?" I suggested. "Maybe have a couple date and movie nights? Or movie at home the nights we spend the same room?"

"Yeah, alright. That sounds like a fair compromise. And further down the line if things are going good, fully start sharing one room? Maybe revisit the conversation in a couple months?" Hector offered. I nodded. "Great, uh…Given where we're having this relationship begin…What is our stance on sex? A couple in with this much time would undoubtedly probably be having sex. Unless previously discussed no sex til marriage and on that note…" Hector paused.

"Would it apply to us because we're already married?" I giggled as Hector nodded. "What do you think? Are we going to be having sex once or twice a week with the sleepovers in each other's room, or hold off until we start residing in one room?"

"How about we…Agree that sex is on the table, and could happen at…Random?" Hector suggested. "Meaning we don't plan for it to happen, just…See what happens? Or…Added bonus of you or I agreeing to go to the other if we want it? Obviously, could still masturbate…But if you didn't want to do that, we let the other know through blunt words or…I don't know, seduction, hinting. As long as both are willing and in the mood?" He stated gently.

"I think that's more than fair," I replied. "But we should still hold off on any sex until you've settled more in your job and we're still settling into all this actual relationship and not forced to be together thing,"

"Couldn't agree more," Hector replied with a smile. "So…Astrid, will you be my girlfriend despite already being my wife?"

"It would be my honor," I blushed a little. We stared at one another for a moment or two, then Hector leaned towards me and our lips pressed together. Something about it was different, and I think it was the fact this one wasn't forced or because we were feeling lusty. It was affectionate and real. I had a good feeling about Hector and I being together as a couple due to our feelings and wanting this. We weren't forced to act, this was just all us and I couldn't be happier. Now with all this taken care of, I had the perfect plan for mine and Hector's one year anniversary of being married.

"Up for a movie, babe?" Hector asked after the kiss ended.

"You pick, I'll make the popcorn and get some drinks," I told him.

Hector nodded, getting the remote to get to Netflix and look around. If that had nothing, he'd probably check Hulu or Amazon Prime Videos. I hurried to the kitchen to get the popcorn going. I got it in a bowl five minutes later, then grabbed two sodas each and a few other little snacks before returning to the couch. I set things on the table as Hector found something. I sat beside him as he put his arm up and I moved in to cuddled against him. Hector hit play, and got the lights dimmed as we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of our night, since we'd likely be going to bed after this. I know I'm happy, and I think Hector is too. This was a great night, and I hoped for many more days and nights like this.