More than Friends?

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So...this fanfic is based on a request I got a while back. I forget what the exact request was, but I tried my best:) And sorry I haven't been updating regularly. I'm at a university away from home and I'm still adjusting to my new location, the new work load, etc. Not to mention, I have my own "Hiccup" now. Well, I'm not dating him, but we're friends and he's shy and super sweet. He insisted on walking me home the other night even though his apartment is just down the hall from mine and I was like "Awww." So yeah, he's a distraction from writing:) But enough with me...here's the story.

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Hiccup stood beside Astrid and watched as Heather flew away from Dragon's Edge. Her decision to depart had been a sigh of relief for him - as she and drama seemed to come as a package - but he knew that Astrid didn't feel the same way.

Astrid and Heather were practically long-lost sisters. The only difference - besides their looks, of course - was that Astrid maintained a rational attitude, while Heather jumped on every possible chance she could to get back at those she disliked. Hiccup had thought Astrid had suffered from anger issues up until Heather had made her reappearance. Compared to her, Astrid was an angel - not like she hadn't already been one in his eyes. A tall, slender, blonde angel.

"I-I'm sorry," Hiccup stammered, turning to face Astrid. "I-I know you two got close."

To the young man's shock, his companion stepped closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Well, I still have you," she grinned.

Hiccup felt his cheeks grow red as his heart threatened to leap out of his chest. "I...uh...I..."

"You don't have to say anything," Astrid told him. "Just know that you're still my best friend. I mean, as great as Heather is, she sure isn't even close to being a cute dork like you." She instantly regretted her words.

He raised an eyebrow. "So...so what you told Heather in the woods the other day was true?"

"What? I...I don't know what you're talking about." Blushing, she pulled her arm away from him.

Hiccup froze. He knew there was no going back now. "I-In the woods the other day. You...you told her I was cute."

Astrid cringed. He'd overheard her conversation with Heather? "Well, I um...uh...it was just girl talk. I mean, all girls talk about their crushes with one another. It...it's nothing."

"Crush? As in...boys you like?"

She silently cursed herself and turned her eyes in the direction of the ground. "I...I guess so."

"In other words, you...you like me? I mean, like me, like me? In that way?"

"I...I've liked you for a while, Hiccup," she admitted. "I...I just never knew how to bring it up before, so I decided that I'd let our relationship stay in the friend zone until you got the hint that I had stronger feelings. But you never did. Or at least, you never tried asking me out."

The auburn-haired Viking rubbed the back of his neck. "I...I'm a muttonhead," he stammered as he thought back to all the times Astrid had practically thrown herself upon him. The random kisses that she'd given him as "rewards" when she was proud of him. The tight hugs she'd wrapped him in when she was either trying to comfort him or glad that he'd made it safely out of a dangerous situation. The times she'd waited up for him to return from a trip. And, more recently, the nights on Dragon's Edge during which she'd come to his hut and curled up beside him in bed.

"You are," Astrid agreed teasingly. "But I don't mind."

He gazed into her blue eyes, which always seemed to soften when she was around him. "I...I don't deserve you," he eventually concluded, turning his face away.

"Do you like me back?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Do you like me back?" She paused. "It's okay if you don't. I just..."

"I've liked you since...since I was thirteen," Hiccup admitted. "I...I remember telling Gobber about it, and he just laughed and said not to overthink it because all thirteen-year-old boys got crushes on girls. Though the problem with me having a crush on you was that the feeling never left." He struggled to regain eye contact with her. "In fact, it only got worse." Sighing, he looked away again.

"Same here." Astrid shook her head. "Well, I've only liked you since I was fifteen, but still..."

"Yeah."

"So..."

"So what?"

"What do you think we should do about this?"

"I...I don't know. You're the smart one. Erm...you tell me."

"I'm not gonna tell you," she responded. "I'm gonna show you."

"Uh..."

Without another word, she wound her arms around his neck and slowly brought her lips to his.