Fifteen: For the Camera

"Okay, so the plan is that we do the interview for ARCHIPELAGO ZAP Magazine," Heather read from her phone, her green eyes scanning the details. "There will be some photos of you two together and then a joint interview. The reporter is Gudrun Fenne, a nice sympathetic type. She's a bit gushy and apparently begged for the interview. Photographer is Ulric Jonsson, who's competent and discreet. Nothing controversial required-just standard stuff."

"Which is?" Hiccup asked.

"How long you've known each other, how you got together, how happy you are together, what your future plans are-wedding bells, children etc," Heather reeled off professionally.

"And what should I say?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, I can't exactly tell the truth…that Astrid was my best friend at High School, that she ran off without a word just before graduation, that she didn't even remember I existed until we bumped into each other at the airport and went on a date where some person misinterpreted what went on and voila-fake engagement!"

"No…that would certainly be interesting but may not achieve the desired effect," Astrid said, smiling. Knowing Hiccup as she did meant she was certain that he would never deliberately harm her or her career like that…and she found his sarcastic sense of humour a welcome reminder of simpler times at school. Heather, though was not amused.

"If you say any of that, I really will have Dagur throw you through the window!" she growled.

"No you won't," Astrid told her sharply. "Just think of the cost of the window repair!"

"Is no one worried about the cost of the Hiccup repair?" he sassed back and Astrid chuckled.

"You're safe, Sasscup," she told him as his eyebrows raised.

"Sasscup? Where the Thor did that come from?" he asked her, though his lips were twitching with amusement.

"From close observation of your innate sassiness, Mr Haddock," she said in a very proper voice.

"Oh Thor," he muttered. "That's gonna stick, isn't it?"

"Like yakshit to a stick," Astrid grinned. Heather rolled her eyes.

"You've been talking to Cami again, haven't you?" she groaned. "I swear, that woman has the filthiest mouth this side of Meathead!"

"Everything's this side of Meathead," Astrid reminded her and the raven-haired woman rolled her eyes again.

"So no sass, no swearing and just a nice wholesome couple…" she tried once more. "And please, get your story straight…"

"Wouldn't being honest be better?" Hiccup asked quietly. "I mean saying we were good friends in school, lost touch and bumped into each other in the airport…"

"Actually, I bumped into you," Astrid admitted with a smile. "You were just quietly minding your own business…"

"And I think I called you vain and accused you of not paying attention," he said with a smile.

"And then you asked me out to catch up and…well, it all happened really fast," Astrid grinned.

"There-I knew you could do it," Heather said with relief. "Keep it up!" She paused and checked her watch. "Time to go. Cami will be waiting with the car."

Sitting nervously in the back next to Astrid, Hiccup ran his hand through his hair. The prospect of talking to the reporter was freaking him out, worried that it would reveal to Bella where he was-as if she hadn't already guessed-and would just give her ammunition to attack him and Astrid. Then a gentle hand on his brought him back to the present and he saw Astrid smiling at him.

"Can I try something?' she asked and he frowned.

"Um…what exactly?" he asked her warily but he trusted her not to hurt him.

"Nothing bad-honest," she reassured him and, steeling himself, he nodded. Then he flinched as he felt a gentle tug on his hair. It was an easy way for Bella to control him, snagging a handful of his auburn mop and giving it a sharp jerk. It left no marks and could almost be disguised as a gesture of affection-which it certainly wasn't. In fact, he had even toyed with cutting it really short to deny her the pleasure but her words about his general unattractiveness had echoed around his head and he kept his hair longer to hide behind. But Astrid was concentrating, her eyes focussed on her task as deft fingers wove a small hank of his hair into a slightly crooked braid.

"What-what are you doing?' he asked her in a wary voice as she snagged a second hank of hair-again gently-and deftly began braiding.

"Braids," she told him shortly and he sighed inwardly. Something else to prove to the world he was less than a man. But her next words stopped him dead in his tracks. "Used to be a Berkian tradition that wives braided their husband's hair-and only husbands were permitted to see their wives' hair down. And while I wear my hair braided most of the time, I do need it down for photoshoots and publicity…but I can still mark you as my territory with a couple of traditional hair braids."

At least it's better than hair straighteners, he thought glumly but forced himself to smile. Azure eyes flicked up, as if reading his thoughts and she lifted her left hand, showing the ring sparkling on the third finger.

"Hey-you've marked me," she reminded him.

With your own ring that you normally wear there anyway, he added silently. "That I have, Milady," he added aloud, though she caught the edge to his voice.

"It will be fine," she reminded him gently, catching his hand and lacing her fingers with his. "Hiccup-be yourself. You're a great guy. You have an amazing wit, you're generous and decent and I promise not to call you Sasscup." He broke into a genuine smile then.

"Aww…I was rather hoping you would," he murmured. "I mean, it's kind of cute…"

"So is Milady," she reminded him.

"Getting diabetes in the front here!" Cami commented. "Tone down the syrup for Freya's sake!"

"Shut up, you foul-mouthed thief from Bog!" Astrid called to her.

"Oh, stick it up your ass, you hypocritical prig from Berk!" the blonde driver unexpected replied and then both women burst out laughing.

"Prig?" Astrid snorted. "Where did that come from?"

"OED," Cami snickered. "A self-righteous moralistic person who behaves as if they are superior to others!" She paused, seeing their faces in the mirror. "What? Just because I have the largest vocabulary of curse words this side of Meathead doesn't mean I don't have a good normal vocabulary as well!" Then she swung into the entrance of the Northern Botanical Gardens and drew them to a halt. "And we're here." Hiccup got out and held the door open for Astrid, offering her his hand. Her firm grasp on his was both reassuring and heart-warming as Cami huffed obviously in the front before pulling away to park up until they had finished.

Gerda Fenne, as it turned out, was a bubbly and excitable blonde in her late twenties who seemed immensely starstruck with Astrid and was fawning over her like royalty. She was pretty with short curls framing a sweet face with laughing blue eyes and a slim figure flattered by one of the Team Astrid dresses that still looked far better on Astrid. She was almost squeaking with excitement as she spoke to the Soccer star. Finally, she turned to Hiccup, her eyes raking his tall, lean form and

"You must be Hiccup," she greeted him, her high-pitched voice excited. "Oooh-and you're even more handsome close up than you look on television." Unsure how to respond, he smiled self-consciously and shrugged.

"Well you know how TV can be deceiving," he said lightly. "I could actually be four foot tall and fat as a barrel." She looked him up and down, her eyes lingering on his sparkling emerald eyes and her smile broadened.

"Nope. You're definitely Hottie McHottie," she said then gestured to a crumpled man with a very expensive professional camera. "This is Ulric. Let's get some shots done for the main article and we could maybe get him to shoot you two when you're talking as well." Astrid gave a bright smile, her hand firmly clasped around Hiccup's as they walked through and into the gardens. Forcing himself to forget that they were being pursued by a cameraman, he leaned his head to glance down into Astrid's face-and saw her looking up at him, smiling. And there was something in her smile that made him smile back, a warmth in his chest that drove away the doubts and uncertainties for a few moments.

"Hottie McHottie, hmm?" Astrid asked him in a low voice. "Should I be making T-shirts?" He dipped his head slightly.

"Valkyrie and McHottie?" he suggested. "Hmm…that's pretty vain, to be honest…"

"And will sell like hot cakes," she reminded him, leaning close. "You do know you're getting fan mail." His eyes widened and he stared at her.

"I…what?" he gabbled and she started giggling.

"Yup. Heather has already received about a hundred letters from girls who have apparently 'fallen in love' with you just on the couple of public appearances you've done," she told him playfully, not mentioning the dozen death threats from furious female and male fans who hated the idea that Astrid Hofferson may have given her heart to someone who wasn't them…

"Are they blind? Stupid? Really low standards?" he suggested as she swatted his shoulder playfully.

"Are you insulting me, Mr Sasscup?" she teased him. "Remember I'm in love with you too!"

Not really, he accused her privately but gazed into her eyes.

"And I have always loved you," he replied.

The click and whir of the camera reminded them that they were being photographed as they reached the formal garden. Pictures of them under the jasmine arch, seated by an ornamental pond and one amid the roses, with Astrid seated and Hiccup standing, his hands gently resting on her toned shoulders seemed to satisfy the photographer as Gerda came forward and they all sat down amid the rose garden for the interview.

"So how long have you known each other?" she asked.

"We were in the same class from Elementary School," Astrid said cheerfully. "But we weren't really proper friends until Junior Year?" Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah-you came through like my Valkyrie on a shining steed," Hiccup revealed without rancour. "Fearless Astrid Hofferson stopped the school bully from…well, tormenting me. And we became friends after that."

"We were inseparable after that," Astrid added, her thumb absently rubbing his hand. "We did everything together. You even came on that stupid soccer trip to Trapper Island…"

"Thor, that was terrible," he chuckled, remembering. "It was over a day by ferry and there was storm on the way so the whole team was sick. I was the only male supporter coming so they had no place to put me…I think I ended up sleeping in the bathrooms…"

"I remember that!" Astrid laughed. "You did look rough that morning."

"Milady, I look rough every morning," he reminded her. "Mornings should start at 10am! And when we got there, their pitch was flooded because of the storm, the gym had a leak and the roof of the sports centre in town had blown off so there was nowhere you could even play five-a-side! So we had to travel back-another 26 hours by ferry through the storm without even kicking a ball!"

"So…childhood sweethearts…" Gerda said, her face almost cracking with a smile. "So what happened. Did you swear your love at Graduation?" Hiccup's smile faltered and Astrid shook her head.

"I was scouted and left just before Graduation," she confessed. "Ended up with the Archi Valkyires and played my first match a couple of days after the class graduated. And we kind of lost touch as Hiccup went to University in Berk and I powered on in the League…"

"I finished my Aeronautical Engineering Degree in two years so I was insanely busy," Hiccup admitted. "And then I ended up on the staff of Berk Aero."

"So how did you get back together?" Gerda asked, barely able to contain her excitement. Hiccup smiled and glanced at Astrid.

"She ran into me at the airport…literally," he smirked.

"What?" Gerda asked.

"She was looking at her phone as she came off the plane from Archi and slammed into me," Hiccup chuckled. "We landed up in a pile on the floor. It was all her fault but she accused me of being at fault because I didn't get out of her way!"

"It's true," she admitted with a self-deprecating laugh. "I was texting Mom-I was there for her birthday-and I wasn't paying attention…"

"I may have called her vain and clumsy-neither of which are true-and she put me in my place," he smiled. "And then we just…reconnected. And then…bam. Over dinner it just happened…"

"He proposed after one meal?" Gerda sighed in a dreamy voice. "That is so romantic!" He gave a small smile.

"Love doesn't take a set amount of time…and when you meet your soul-mate, you just know," he explained, his fingers sliding through Astrid's. "And I was lucky she felt the same."

"Some columns have suggested that the whole engagement thing was a set-up, a fake," Gerda said, watching they responses. But Hiccup surprisingly was the quicker to answer.

"I only booked the table the night before-in my name, so no one would know who I was sharing my date with," he told her. "Astrid had no idea what was going to happen. Helheim, I didn't really plan it…it just sort of…happened. And my family and hers were astonished. We told no one…it was going to be our secret…and if that person hadn't filmed us without our knowledge, no one would know about this now."

"So you were going to keep this a secret?" Gerda asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Well, I would never have wanted anything to come out at my Mom's Party," Astrid told her calmly. "I mean, I never wanted to be the centre of attention. I was only home for a private visit…and it all turned out a bit more public than I had planned."

"We would have preferred to let our families and friends know first rather than it being announced on the media," Hiccup added. "But what's done is done and we have to go forward and deal with it-together." He cast her a small look-just tender enough to have Gerda cooing.

"You are so sweet!" she squeaked. "So when are you planning the big day?" They shared a small look and then burst out laughing.

"We haven't anything planned yet," Astrid said smoothly. "The season is in full swing and won't be over until late autumn and I have International Commitments as well."

"So…a winter wedding?" Gerda prompted them eagerly and Hiccup gave an enigmatic smile.

"You'll have to wait and see," he said calmly as she clapped her hands in excitement.

"And longer term…where will you live?" she asked.

"Well, I have to live on Archi for the team at the moment," Astrid admitted, "but longer term…?" She paused. "I think I'd go home to Berk. Our family is there."

And Bella, Hiccup realised with dismay but managed to control his face. I will never be free of her, will I? Especially not on Berk where she knows everyone I know or love. "Family is very important," he added. "They've supported both of us throughout our careers and Berk Aero is on Berk…"

"And family? You two?" Gerda pressed enthusiastically. Hiccup did blush then, all of Bella's taunts about his 'performance' swirling through his mind. But Astrid leaned close and he wrapped an arm around her lean shape, feeling her rest her head against his shoulder.

"That's something we'll work out together," she said gently. He smiled because that would be the ideal fantasy…home on Berk, family around, Astrid with him, his own family…but he had a dreadful premonition that what would actually happen would be a bleak existence isolated with Bella because once Astrid was done with him, what else would he have?

"Could you? For the camera?"

Gerda's words broke through his horribly negative thoughts and he blinked as Astrid stared up into his face, her lips pulled up in a smile.

"What?"

"Just a little one…" she pleaded.

"Kiss," Astrid murmured and he relaxed, feeling ashamed where his thoughts had been.

"Only if you want…" he replied and she grinned.

"What took you so long to ask," she breathed ad leaned close, her soft lips pressing against his own. And against all reason, he kissed her back, his hand rising to tenderly cup her cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. The world faded and everything was just Astrid Hofferson, the most amazing woman he knew, the woman he loved, in his arms, kissing him as if he was the only thing she cared about.

It was only when they heard Gerda say 'Oh my…that will literally scorch the page," that they broke apart, both blushing. Hiccup rested his forehead against hers and sighed.

"Thank you," he breathed and she smiled.

"No, thank you," she whispered back. "You were amazing."

And though he knew she meant the interview, a tiny corner of his heart just hoped she may actually have been referring to the kiss.