It'll be fun, they said, it's just a harmless game of spin the bottle.

And it had been, when the bottle had decreed that she should kiss Jack, then Astrid, Elsa and Cass, and even Snotlout.

It had been something of a relief too.

Her heart had felt like it was going to fall right out of her chest every time that amber bottle rounded the circle and passed him.

How many turns had she had? She felt like she'd kissed or been kissed by half the people in the room by now. Was everyone so desperate for a little action that they were going to spend the rest of their night doing this? How long had they been playing this game?

Leaning forward, she took the amber bottle in her hand and flicked her wrist. The hollow ringing of the glass against the hardwood floors seemed to echo in the room, as she settled back onto her knees. Round and round and round it went, past him once, twice, three times, her heart seeming to skip a beat each time it did.

Part of her hoped that it might land on him, but the rest of her was terrified what would happen if it did.

Wondering was easy. She could play out any number of scenarios in her mind, and nothing would change. If he loved her, if he didn't, if they got married, if she broke his heart, if he broke hers.

Wondering was safer than knowing.

"Mer?"

Had her heart stopped beating when the bottle had stopped spinning? It certainly felt like it had.

"Mer, are you feeling alright?"

"Er, yeah, 'm fine." Her mouth said, even though she most certainly did not feelfine. And why was her face suddenly so hot?

Somewhere in the background, she heard another voice. "If you're not gonna kiss him, you've gotta take a shot."

"Eugene, hush." That had to be Rapunzel.

"Hey, just re-stating the rules."

Where was Merida DunBroch, the sarcastic star of the rugby team? The cheeky young woman who had singlehandedly revived the university's archery team? The fearless horsewoman who had yet to be caught sneaking Angus out of the stables for a midnight joyride? The take-no-shit lass with the collection of swords and daggers illegally stashed under the bed in her dorm room?

Propping herself onto all fours, she crawled forward into the circle, and he did the same from the other side.

Her heart was pounding in her ears so loudly that she couldn't even hear the thump of the bass from the sound system anymore. He seemed almost unsure as he settled himself back on his knees – could he see the panic thrumming through every atom of her being?

She took a deep breath to steady herself, but it caught in her throat.

"We don't have to, if you don't want-mmf."

She felt the sound of his words die on his lips as hers pressed against them. Her heart was pounding so hard that part of her would have been afraid that it might shatter every one of her ribs if her mind hadn't immediately shut down the moment Hiccup had started kissing her back.

She felt his calloused thumb brush against her cheek as he moved to cup her head with his hands. His lips were soft and warm and tasted of the cider he'd been drinking – sweet and just a little bit tart. His free hand found the small of her back and her knee bumped his as he pulled her closer, closing the distance between them.

Hearts beating in tandem, by the time they finally broke apart, she'd seen through all of space and time, the world had stopped spinning and they were both out of breath. His nose bumped against hers as they rested their foreheads together, and for a moment they were silent, just trying to catch their breaths.

At some point during their kiss, she'd snaked her free arm around his shoulders, while the other still had a handful of his plaid shirt scrunched so tightly in her fist that her knuckles had turned white.

Releasing his shirt, she bit her lip sheepishly to stifle a grin, but the corners of her mouth stubbornly quirked upwards. She couldn't help it – there was just something about being in Hiccup's presence that made her way too smiley and happy. Inhumanly so, she thought as she smoothed his crumpled shirt collar. And somehow, kissing him only seemed to intensify that effect.

And so, with a little alcohol in her system, she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out, in what could only be described as frenzied whisper. "I love you."

He blinked with surprise, and seemed caught off-guard. "Uh – yeah, you too!"

Suddenly, her rose coloured glasses seemed to vanish entirely, and as she separated herself from Hiccup as quickly as if his skin had suddenly turned red hot, her knee bumped that empty amber bottle between them, and the room around them came sharply back into focus to the hollow song of the glass bottle as it spiralled towards the edge of the circle.

She didn't even have to look to know that everyone was staring at them – she could feel their eyes boring into her, boring into them both.

Her body flushed cold and she bit her lip to fight a sudden wave of nausea. Not only had she been rejected, but she'd been rejected in front of their entire friendgroup.

"Well then," Eugene finally broke the silence, grinning. "If I were a betting man – and a good thing I am – I'd say there's some unresolved romantic tension here. Looks like you owe me twenty bucks, Snotman."

An insufferable wave of heat rising in her cheeks and ears, and suddenly she was hyper aware of just how sweaty she felt. She didn't need a mirror to know that her freckled face had flushed almost as red as her hair.

Her throat tightening, her face burning and her lungs constricting as though threatening to spontaneously burst, she shot to her feet. Not even registering the beer she knocked over as she extracted herself the circle, she fled the room, the ringing of the amber bottle echoing in her ears with every step.

It wasn't until she hit the cool night air that she was able to breath again.

Behind her, the music inside the house faded as her combat boots thudded against the well worn welcome mat that she suspected had lived on the stoop for about a decade longer than any of the tenants had lived in the house.

Her arms crossed over her chest, she hurried towards the pair of headlights that had just turned down the cobbled street, hoping desperately that it was a cab.

Headlights bumped further down the street as the car went over a pothole, then turned into a nearby driveway. The thump of her heavy black boots against the stone slowing to a halt, and she lowered herself gracelessly onto the steps of a nearby house. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and leaned her head against the cold iron railing.

As she watched the last of the summer's insect population buzz in the amber glow of a nearby streetlight, she gave in to the intense dread that had followed her from the party. Her fingers finding their way to her lips, which were still tingling with the memory of Hiccup, she cringed, wondering just how much damage she'd done to her friendgroup, and if her friendship with Hiccup would ever be able to recover from this.

What was she even thinking, kissing Hiccup like that? Why hadn't she pretended that he was Jack or Eugene or Snotlout and just kissed him like a normal person?

Now she'd ruined everything.

But then, who could really be surprised by that? Of course she'd managed to screw things up. She was the queen of screwing things up.

She squeezed her eyes closed, wishing she could just vanish into thin air. "A don' wan ta talk about it, Hiccup,"

"Okay then, we don't have to talk,"

When she finally opened her eyes, she found him looking at her from the other side of the stoop, his arms crossed as he leaned over the railing. She ran a hand over her ponytail, and rolled her eyes. "Then why are ye here?"

"Because, as Eugene so helpfully pointed out after you left, you said 'I love you' and I said 'Uh – yeah, you too'." She shot him a dirty look as the heat began to rise in her cheeks once more, and he ran a sheepish hand through his chestnut hair. "Jack said he was impressed by how spectacularly I managed to mess this up, even for me."

She snorted, but still couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze, lest her face flush as red as it had earlier. "So, what are the chances of ye takin' mercy on a poor, unfortunate soul and pretending like this never happened?"

"Oh, I'd say probably not very likely."

"Yeah, figures." She sighed. "Think things can go back to the way they were? Between you and I?"

"Honestly, Mer, I'm not sure I'd want them to." When she turned to look at him, a mixture of confusion, betrayal and regret painted across her features, she found him grinning. "You know I've been in love with you since, like, first year, right?"

She blinked. "You – what?"