A/N: This one is for ladyamethyst21. Thanks for always distracting me! ;P

Here's a chapter I owed to you after 'I should go'... Hope it's to your liking!

And to EagleDragon15 and Guest: I won't tell you here and now what's going to happen in this story and what's not... All I can tell you is that I'm a HUGE Hiccstrid-shipper with a weakness for happy endings... And I don't think I would want to read or write a story like the one you outlined as well... I hope that's enough for you to keep reading but if not then know I'm sorry.

2. How to properly propose

Astrid

"…stealing all the attention off of the newly wed couple…?" Heather read out loud disbelievingly and looked up from the tablet in her hands. "When did that happen? Why hasn't anyone told me? I obviously was too busy to notice how you stole all the attention." She said in mock annoyance and Astrid leaned back in her chair, took another sip of her coffee and grinned at her friend.

They were sitting in the break room of floor 50 at Dragonite Engineering, the dragon's lair, and had a lot to talk about. Two weeks had passed since Heather's and Fishlegs' wedding and Hiccup's proposal but since the newlywed had been on their honeymoon directly thereafter there had been no time to talk so far. Today now was their first day back at work and Heather had wanted to see this infamous newspaper article so many people had mentioned to her already. Apparently, they'd really left their phones at home as to not be bothered by anyone during these two weeks and hadn't read any news either.

Reading this article on Monday after the wedding had been a surprise, though. Astrid and Hiccup had no idea who these close friends were supposed to be and practically everything in this article was so far off the truth or highly exaggerated that Astrid hadn't been able to stop laughing for quite some time. Hiccup, however, had turned bright red in embarrassed whenever anyone mentioned this article and had practically banished it from the lair by Wednesday, though hardly anyone cared for this order, really.

The truth was that Hiccup had in fact been very secretive about this whole affair. They had celebrated their friends' wedding with all the respect it deserved, had stood beside them in front of the alter as bridesmaid and best man and although Hiccup truly was some kind of celebrity by now he'd made an effort to keep himself in the background as it was his nature anyway. He'd followed his duty, though, and had prepared a felicitous speech about their shared past without all the depressing details and with a lot of funny tidbits about the bridal couple, which only he had known until then. It had been a wonderful party with a lot of laughter, talking and even dancing as they'd all actually practiced beforehand. And only then, when the party was about to turn into something calmer had he taken her hand and had let her out of the ballroom and into the beautiful gardens outside.

They'd walked through the warm night for quite some time, slowly as she'd taken her pumps off by then and went barefoot over the grass. They'd talked in low voices about this day that had begun quite stressed and exciting, how it had finally turned into this calm stroll and all that had happened in between. They'd talked about flying and how Astrid now understood why Hiccup hadn't been able to abandon the Dragonfly project. They'd talked about how crazy their life had been so far with their shared childhood, the agonizing years after High School and about these wonderful two last years.

Without her noticing he'd led them into a hidden pavilion with a round stone bench around a small fountain where they sat down and idly watched the water rising and falling intricately. Hiccup then had started another topic and even though that topic itself would have puzzled her enough, the fact that he alternated between going pale and blushing fiercely and even started to stammer made her even more curious.

"So.. uh… Hea-Heather really… ahm… did look beautiful… d-don't you think?" Hiccup began and she frowned at him, puzzled. They had approached a similar topic earlier that day already, in his car, so she refrained from replying with a teasing comment this time and just blinked at him for a moment, curious as to where he was going with it this time.

"Sure, she did." Astrid agreed noncommittally then. "But aside from the fact that she always looks gorgeous, every bride looks beautiful, I guess. A gown like that alone and the meaning behind it turns every bride into something special and then there's this inner glowing every happy bride carries, that – are you alright?" She looked at him confusedly as she noticed the glassy shimmer on his eyes and his accelerated breathing.

"Yeah… fine…" he mumbled shakily while he kept alternating between glancing at her and averting his eyes again. She steadily kept her eyes on him, though, questioningly, until he continued. "I-I just… just imagined how…" he gulped, a slight blush on his face now. "how… you would... look like… in a dress like that…"

She gaped at him, mouth hanging open slightly and eyes wide. Was he serious? "Hiccup…" she began, heart beating rapidly. " Did… did you just…-" His eyes widened, too, shocked. "Erm, no! No, I… I-" He shook his head fiercely and stood up a moment later to walk up and down in this small pavilion. She watched him as he brushed with his hands over his face and ran his fingers through his hair, agitatedly, and her confusion grew even more. Her confusion and the hurt as well. Because for a moment she'd thought, hoped really, he… would…

Suddenly, Hiccup stopped and turned toward her again, a determined expression on his face. He stepped closer to her again until he was right in front of her. Taking both her hands in his, he got down on one knee and his eyes caught hers, taking them prisoner as she was unable to look away. Her heart was racing and she swallowed once, head dizzy, intoxicated by this sudden change in his behavior.

"Astrid, I love you!" he began, voice steady and sure now. "I have loved you for all my life and will do so for the rest of it as well. And you gave me hope… gave me reason to believe you might feel the same, so…" He withdrew one hand from hers to reach into the inner pocket of his jacket and produced a small black box, covered in velvet. Astrid stared at it, eyes wide and heart pounding, and, when it sprang open after Hiccup pushed the lever slightly, caught sight of a beautiful gem set on top of a golden ring. She gazed back up at Hiccup, eyes swimming with joy and all the love and adoration she felt for him.

"Astrid Hofferson, will you marry me?"

Astrid smiled fondly to herself at these memories while she glanced down at her hand where the ring now sat. Even after two weeks she wasn't entirely used to seeing and feeling it on herself, to wearing any jewelry, really. But Hiccup had chosen this one well. The gem, whatever it might be with this strange coloring of blue, turquoise and yellow, was small enough and ground into a shape without sharp edges so she wouldn't get caught anywhere. The ring was perfect, delicate enough as to not draw too much attention and yet strong enough as to not break easily. And she loved it… It surely was not the usual diamond ring, not one would expect of an engagement ring and although it didn't look like much at a first glance, it surely must be valuable with this unique stone. It was a perfect reminder of her fiancé! Hiccup, too, was anything but usual and also not what one would expect from someone in his position. And he, too, was unique in so many ways and to her, he was valuable beyond any measure.

"Well, either way, I can't remember you crashing our wedding" Heather tore her out of her reverie with an amused tone in her voice. "So no bad blood there on our part, right, Legs?" With an agreeing grunt, Fishlegs reached out and took the tablet with the article out of his wife's hand to read it, too. The break room was visited frequently by now, the two espresso machines on the far wall in constant use, and there was a never-ending trickle of people approaching them to congratulate Heather and Fishlegs again and to welcome them back. Because of this, Astrid hadn't noticed his approach and was pleasantly surprised when she suddenly felt a warm hand on her neck, caressing her lightly and sending tiny shivers down her spine. She hummed contently and leaned into his touch, eyes closing for a moment.

"Thank the Gods, you're back!" Hiccup exclaimed, the relief in his voice only partly teasing. "I'm not sure we would have survived another week without you, Heather!" Astrid grimaced at that but secretly had to agree. She had learned a lot during the past two years but practically running an enterprise like Dragonite Engineering on her own like Heather normally did had been hard. It was good to have their friends back but having them back at work, too, wasn't unimportant either.

"Glad to see you, too, hot-as-hel!" she greeted him with a mischievous grin that made him groan in exasperation. He slumped down on the chair next to Astrid's with an irritated huff.

"Not you, too, please!" he shook his head at Heather, unnerved before he glared at Astrid. "Why'd you show it to them? I thought I was through with that one..." he all but whined and Astrid was hard pressed to bite back her laughter. She knew he wasn't enjoying this attention and didn't want to make it harder for him, although, in her opinion, all this fussing about him was hilarious and quite entertaining.

"I'm sorry, babe," She threw him an apologetic smile. "but they would have read it anyway and I really wanted to be there to see their reaction." She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek, smiling. "And you know, I really like this description of you." She added with a mischievous grin and he gave her a wry smirk.

"Especially the successful and rich part, I guess?" He asked, winking at her and she lifted her hand to give him a light punch as a response. But he knew her too well and caught her hand mid-swing, though only to place a light kiss on it's back instead. He threw her a loving look over their interlaced hands which she returned wholeheartedly, both lost to their surroundings for a moment. She would never get tired of their fooling around.

After a glance at the now unused espresso machine, he got up again, though. "Anyway, I just needed another coffee. Wouldn't want to interrupt your tea party. I'll be in our office in case you return to any sensible topics in the foreseeable future." He leaned down to place another butterfly kiss on her forehead but she twisted her head in the last moment to meet his lips with hers, engaging him in a deep lip lock instead. After a moment of simply enjoying the sensation of his lips against hers, she began to drag her tongue up and down his suggestively and gave him a low moan, hinting at later intentions. With satisfaction, she noticed the deep vibrations of an inaudibly low groan running through him as he returned her passionate kiss, cupping the back of her head with his hand as not to hurt her with the pressure.

"Get a room!" Heather laughed and Fishlegs grumbled almost incoherently. "To think people complain about newlywed couples…"

Astrid drew herself away from him then, grinning, and gazed up into his emerald green eyes that had become a few noticeable shades darker during the last seconds. He returned her gaze, chest heaving slightly and whispered, almost purring. "You are..." he didn't continue, though, and only gazed at her a moment longer, eyes dancing promisingly. Chuckling throatily, he slightly shook his head at her, got up and turned toward the espresso machines.

Her gaze followed him and she watched him prepare two oversized mugs of coffee from which he brought one over to her. "Take your time," he told her with a smile and glanced over toward Heather and Fishlegs, who were talking to each other quietly. "But I need to get back to work. Final adjustment for the Dragonfly and there are new requests for the Pegleg as well." She grimaced at that name, hilarious as it was with all the high-tech, knowledge and brilliance that thing contained, and saw the teasing glint in his eyes as he turned away. "See you later" he waved over his shoulder back at them and Astrid couldn't keep herself from teasing him once more as well.

"There's a stack of personal mail on your desk again. You might want to take a look!" She called after him and chuckled when she heard him groan in annoyance.

Hope, that makes up for the confusion earlier... ;)