Hey, everyone! Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews, faves, and follows! I was NOT expecting this to be that popular! *grins like an idiot*

Well, anyway, here is your next 'I've Got You' chapter!

Right Here If You Need Me: Set in RoB. Hiccup is still getting used to his prosthetic while balancing the academy and sudden changes in between. Astrid catches him at his weakest moment.

This one is my own little idea. I've had this idea for a while, and I wanted to do it before I got bombarded with requests. But I will start requests NEXT update. And, the Hiccstrid status in this: BABY HICCSTRID. AWW.

Here are a baseline of rules for requesting (stupid me for not saying them before, but better late than never...)

1. Nothing rated M, or anything inappropriate. I will only go as far as a kiss!

2. The idea must not be longer than two parts (I can split a story into two parts at the most, but that's probably it)

3. No main character deaths, such as Astrid recovering from the loss of Hiccup, or vice versa. I will not kill either of them off.

Well, now that that's over with... enjoy your next chapter! I hope you guys like it!

Right Here If You Need Me

Hiccup was working late again. Later then he should've. Even Gobber had left the forge to get some rest nearly an hour ago. But the boy couldn't bring himself to walk away. Not yet. He was almost done. Plus… if he left, people might see him… and if people saw him…

He sighed.

Ever since the battle with the Red Death, people had been treating him… differently. In a positive way, but it was still a little unsettling. It was disconcerting to suddenly switch from village outcast to town hero. Sometimes, he just had to get away from all of the attention. The grins. The fond voices that called out to him. He often wondered that if he hadn't defeated the Death, would his village still respect him? He had to doubt that they would.

Toothless sat next to Hiccup, ready to offer a plasma blast if his rider needed one. Hiccup scratched the dragon's ear affectionately, then went back to work.

He was exhausted. But he knew that if he left now while his ideas were ripe, he'd do a worse job tomorrow. And he only wanted the best for his… for his friends, however odd that sounded on his tongue.

Hiccup was working on a new saddle idea for the dragons. He was constantly tweaking them until it got to the point that it was ridiculous. Astrid had suggested he just make a complete design of what he wanted instead of holding them back to finish that last thing. The others had agreed, so here Hiccup was.

He had been working all day, with no break—not even for eating. He could feel a slight rumble in his stomach but ignored it. He wanted to get this done… he could eat after…

As he walked over to cool off a metal rod, he winced. Oh, yes… he had almost forgotten about his prosthetic—but then again, it was hard to fail to remember. Each step he took caused a jolt of pain in the remains of his leg. Not to mention, it was hard to walk.

Hiccup stumbled, nearly dropping his in-progress rod, which was wrapped in a thick towel. Toothless had gotten used to this routine and ducked his head out to catch the boy.

Hiccup smiled, trying to hide his wincing. "Th-thanks, buddy… hey, you know what? After I cool this up, let's go home. I hate to admit it, but I can't do all of this in one night."

Toothless pushed Hiccup back to his feet (er, foot), nodding. His rider was working far too hard. The boy needed some sleep.

Hiccup slowly dunked the rod underwater. The liquid sizzled, reacting to the extreme heat. A minute later, he retrieved it, then set it next to the other parts he had made earlier.

He wiped off the water from his hands, then sagged wearily. "Let's go home…"

Home. Bed. Rest. It sounded heavenly...

In one fluid motion, he blew out the torches he had lit to work in such late hours, then left. Toothless trotted loyally beside him. His bad leg was killing him, and the only reason he didn't collapse right then and there was because of the thought of anyone seeing him. They would find him weak. Pathetic. Useless again. And he couldn't bear to go back to that. So he forced himself to continue walking. He could crumple when he got home. Preferably up in his room where no one could see him.

He swallowed, seeing his house up ahead. Almost… there…

"Oh, there you are!" a familiar voice called behind him. "I was almost beginning to think you were avoiding me."

Astrid.

Hiccup whipped around so fast that he nearly fell again. Luckily, Toothless managed to nudge him back up before the girl could notice anything strange was going on. Well, stranger.

"Oh—h-hey, Astrid. Hey, Astrid. Hi. Hey. Hello," he stuttered, thanking the gods it was dark out and Astrid couldn't see his flushing face. He still wasn't used to the friendly way she treated him sometimes.

"Hello to you, too," said Astrid, coming up. Hiccup could hear the smirk in her voice, reddening his face further. "How'd it go? The saddle plans, I mean."

Hiccup shifted, trying to ease the pain in his leg… of all the times for Astrid to come… "Pretty well," he lied. It had taken about three rounds of metal to be satisfied with his work, any many hours of sweat and hard work. "Should be ready by tomorrow."

"Awesome," Astrid congratulated. "So, I was thinking about the Academy and stuff. Well, I had this idea for training! What if we…" Hiccup blanched for a moment as pain engulfed him. It was all he could do not to buckle over and fall down. Toothless could feel that his rider was hurting and moaned softly, trying to provide some comfort. The pain lessened for a moment as Astrid ended her talk.

"...and that way we could practice shooting targets from far away, yet still exercise close combat." She stopped suddenly as if expecting an answer. "So what do you think?"

During her monologue, Astrid had come up to his side, and Hiccup could see hope shining in her bright blue eyes.

"G-great," he said, though he had no clue what her idea was. "We can… practice it… tomorrow…"

Astrid then seemed to notice her friend's state. His narrow shoulders were almost trembling, and his legs struggling to keep him upright. She crossed her arms suspiciously. "Hiccup… are you okay? You seem kind of… off."

Hiccup panicked. She couldn't know about his troubles. Then, she'd go back to thinking him useless…

"No, I'm fine. P-perfectly fine. Maybe a li-little tired, but we're all sometimes… yeah, I'm… I'm energized by it… yep…" He nonchalantly swiped sweat from his forehead. Was it hot out here?

Astrid squinted, trying to detect what she seemed to believe was a falsehood. Hiccup gave a shaky smile, trying to persuade her that he was alright. A moment later, the girl nodded.

"Okay." Her face brightened as a new thought came. "Also, Stormfly and I discovered this new trick where we—"

Hiccup couldn't take it anymore.

He collapsed.

But, no—he never hit the ground. Astrid had caught him.

"Hiccup!" she cried, not even struggling to bring him back up. "Hiccup!"

Toothless whined, trying to get his rider to face him. To say he was alright—and mean it.

Hiccup tried to push himself away from Astrid. He had imagined this sort of moment many times in his head. The one where the more confident version of Hiccup reached out charmingly and embraced Astrid. Maybe even kissed her. This… this was much different than the ideal one in his head.

"Mm fine…," he slurred. But as soon as he put weight on his leg again, he dropped. Astrid managed to take hold of him at the last minute.

"You are clearly not, Hiccup!" she exclaimed. There was panic laced in her voice. "What's going on? It's your prosthetic, isn't it?"

"…no...?"

His feeble attempt to shrug off the collapse didn't fool anyone. Astrid shot him a glare, forcing him to admit the truth.

"O-okay, fine… yes… but Gothi said it would take… take awhile to get… get used to," said Hiccup. He was in so much pain, that he could barely form his words right.

Astrid was almost panting in fear for her friend. It scared her to see such a brilliant and independent boy in such a state. "Let's… let's get you home, alright? Sit down somewhere… oh, your house is just down the road. Can you hang on till we get there?"

Hiccup nodded shakily.

Astrid slung his arm around her shoulder to support him. Hiccup could walk a little on his right leg, so they managed to start to walk. Toothless helped out when Hiccup stumbled, pushing him back to the place he needed to be. The boy nearly passed out several times.

Soon, they were at the Haddock house's doorstep. Astrid had to momentarily release Hiccup to open the door. As soon as it was cracked open, she turned back to the Rider and grabbed him before he fell again. Hiccup's face was burning with embarrassment. Astrid must think I'm so weak right now, collapsing and nearly fainting… what a mutton-head you are... Gods, it's going to go back the way it was before I killed the Red Death… all alone again... At least I have Toothless, right? Maybe he can prevent me from getting too many bruises...

Astrid helped Hiccup over to the couch and set him down. He let out a sigh of relief when he was able to sit, and leaned back for a blissful moment. He thanked the gods for the second time that night that his father was out doing Chief business somewhere, as he usually was.

Astrid plopped down on the sofa next to him, concerned. "Are you going to tell me what just happened?"

"Already… told you… my leg…" Hiccup opened his eyes, grunting as he tried to sit straight.

Astrid regarded him with stern eyes. "I have a feeling that's not all that's bothering you."

Hiccup shrunk back. Gods... how did she know? It must've been a women's intuition thing or something... He considered lying for a short moment, but from one glance at Astrid's face, he could tell she wouldn't take to it kindly.

"Well," he began. "I just… it's a little hard getting used to all of these changes."

Astrid arched an eyebrow. "A little?"

Hiccup rubbed his temples. "Okay, okay… a lot. What with running the Academy, keeping up my apprenticeship with Gobber, and getting used to the prosthetic… it can sometimes be…" He struggled for the right word. "Difficult."

"Difficult," echoed Astrid, glancing away. "Difficult." She shook her head slightly. "Hiccup… I've seen how much you do… I never really thought about it, but… it's pretty amazing. I never knew that…" Hesitantly, she reached out and patted her friend's shoulder. The movement seemed out of character, but she managed. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. Is… is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Hiccup's first instinct was to say no. If he told Astrid what was on his mind… she would think he was weak. Useless. Pathetic.

And then he looked at Astrid. The almost gentle look on her face. Waiting. Patient. Ready to hear whatever was bothering Hiccup. He sucked in a breath. It's time… if she thinks I'm weak for what's going on. I really couldn't blame her... He felt downcast at his next thought. If she doesn't care, or walks away, then maybe… maybe she isn't the best friend for me…

"Well… ever since I defeated the Red Death, people have been treating me differently."

"But in a good way. Right? If anyone's treating you badly..." The warning hung ominously in the air.

"Yeah—of course. No one's being rude. Of course not. Just, I'm not really used to all of it… people thinking I'm a hero… greeting me when I walk by instead of groaning about how I'm going to mess something up… it's unsettling. Honestly—honestly, I'm expecting someone to suddenly shout, Loki'd! and this is all be a prank."

He felt ashamed for telling Astrid this, but her expression was shocked and concerned.

"I… I never thought that our ridicule bothered you," said Astrid quietly. "You took it so well… I thought you knew that we were just joking around…"

Hiccup shrugged, uncomfortable. "I had to take it well. I didn't want you guys to think I was weaker than I already was. I'm the son of the chief… I had to be strong. Keep up the family name… but, anyway, the change is a little hard to fall into. And then there's the Academy and keeping control of you guys." He allowed a half-smirk, but it faded quickly. "It can sometimes be hard."

Astrid's abruptly angry expression alarmed Hiccup.

"Sorry, Astrid," he apologized, wincing as his leg throbbed again. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said anything…" He sighed, looking pained. "If you don't want to be friends anymore… well, I can't blame you… I can really be—"

"Hiccup," she said, becoming serious. "I'm not going to leave you for being human."

Hiccup was stunned for a moment. He had been expecting her to look disgusted with him. He deserved it for being so weak. "But—"

"Hiccup!" Astrid interrupted. "You do know that I'm here if you want to talk about something, right? I'm your friend! And friends help friends."

She threw her arms around him and hugged the boy tightly. Hiccup tensed from underneath her arms. However, when she didn't let go, he moved so the hug went both ways.

"Thanks," said Hiccup awkwardly.

Astrid Hofferson just hugged me.

"Of course," Astrid replied, resting her chin on his shoulder. Hiccup's lips twitched. It felt nice.

Finally, he pulled away. Astrid let him break free, and sat back herself. She wasn't blushing, nor did she seem embarrassed. "I… it means a lot."

Astrid smiled a little. "Of course, Hiccup… I'm right here if you need me, okay?"

Hiccup nodded, then grimaced. His leg was shooting up jolts of pain. Great timing, he thought sarcastically.

"You… you can go home if you want," said Hiccup, rubbing his leg. He was trying to be discreet about it, but Astrid obviously saw the pain that flashed in his eyes.

"No," Astrid declared. "I'm staying. I'm not leaving you alone."

Toothless gave an indignant snort, and the teens laughed. Astrid patted the Night Fury good-naturedly, murmuring an apology. "Not all alone... sorry, Toothless."

"Astrid… that means a lot," said Hiccup, failing to hide his elatedness. "A lot more than perhaps you'll ever know… a-and, same for me. If something's bothering you, you can tell me about it. I'll listen."

Astrid nodded. "I know… Hey, do you want me to help you move up to your bed? You look uncomfortable sitting. Also, a bit like you might pass out."

Hiccup shrugged, though his relief was overwhelming. "That'd be great, thanks."

Astrid stood up, then moved in front of Hiccup and helped him to his feet. He immediately tripped on the carpet and nearly tumbled down—but before he could fall, Astrid pulled him back up to her.

"It's okay," she assured, a warm sort of light in her eyes. "I've got you."

Hiccup grinned back shyly.

"I know."

Baby Hiccstrid. Ba-da-boom.

THANK YOU, everyone, for viewing, reviewing, favoriting, or following. Any little bit of support makes me write faster.

Special thanks toooo...

thepurplewriter333, phieillydinyia, katurdi, Guest (#1), Nightfurylover1112, surferbabe2019, HTTYDlover199 (Guest #2), Guest (#3), annnnddddd endoplasmic. THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU GUYS! YOU'RE THE BEST.

Until the next!