They were in Hiccup's apartment or theirs as it used to be.

He whispered to a sleeping baby, "So welcome, Ashley. This is our home" Hiccup's voice was lost as she reached years back in her thoughts to the first time they bought this apartment and moved in together. She dabbed her cheeks and attempted to look normal as she schemed to today.

Oh, she'll kill Elsa.

Hiccup set the car seat with Ashley sleeping in it by the couch, then crushed on the couch with a loud wail. It takes him 2 hours to visit Jack, that's why he never did before. Luckily he chose today to go and eventually met his Milady.

"You kept the apartment?" She walked upstairs to the apartment, she figured out he did, but it was nonetheless unbelievable.

Hiccup scraped his stubble and shrugged. "I couldn't let go."

No, she didn't want to question him, but she did. "Why not?"

"Just cuz" He finished off and shut his eyes; Astrid comprehended he wanted to say so much, but he didn't. She didn't know if she should be thankful or miserable over his soft and short answer.

Hiccup heard the knees popping when Astrid crouched down to play with the black cat on the floor, begging for attention as always. This big baby.

He opened his eyes and swelled with tenderness at the sight of Astrid caressing Toothless's dark thick black fur. This was the same view he had seen numerous times in his life. His cute pet and the most enchanting woman to step on earth, who he once had the honour to call his girlfriend and Fiancé.

Astrid sat on the chair, placed him in her lap, and beamed. "I see, so you have missed me. Well, you'll be delighted to know Stormfly has missed you!" Toothless saw her smirk. "And I think you have missed her too! Don't you dare deny it" If Toothless were a human, he'd be blushing right now.

The cat purred, wobbled his head, and gave a look at what the ex-couple called 'A Gummy Smile.'

"Oh yeah, he has," Hiccup broke in, ruining Astrid's cute moment with Toothless. It was a reunion, and the cat hissed while Astrid threw a massive glare toward him. He glanced at Astrid and kept going, "He missed you immensely."

Astrid had a hunch Hiccup was speaking about himself because of the lovesick face he made that only belonged to her, but she kept her gaze normal at the cat. "Oh, has he now? You missed me, Toothless?" The cat's green eyes brightened, hearing his name, and shoved closer on her lap.

Hiccup kept talking, having no motive to stop anytime soon. "He hasn't been the same since."

Astrid shrugged, holding her cries in. "I think he'll be ok without me" But she wouldn't be.

Hiccup pressed himself further on the couch and locked his eyes again. "He loves you."

She groaned, running her fingers deep into Toothless's fur. "It's best if he moves on"

"You don't know how intensely he loves you," He repeated. "It's not as easy as you think" It's not easy to move on from your soulmate, first and true love.

Sometimes you never. And Hiccup will never.

They were talking about each other, they figured out, but why were they so scared? "It's not easy, I agree, but believe me" Astrid stared at her lap, and her burning hot tears fell on the cat's fur. "Toothless will find someone he loves. He'll move on and get someone he deserves. A person who doesn't leave him in the middle of the road of nowhere, someone who'll forever be there for him and stay devoted without...without any fear of abandonment."

"Astrid-" Hiccup was wide awake, in his senses, crouched in front of her with his worried-filled gaze.

She lowered her head and sealed her eyes, her chin touching her chest. "Toothless won't be lonely; he'll find someone as amazing as he is, as gorgeous as he is, as caring as he is...He'll find someone like him, believe me," She allowed more tears to drop. "A perfect person that belongs with him and deserves him."

"He already did, but due to some unknown reason, she walked away, and he's waiting for her" Pushing the head up with his index finger under her chin, he looked into Astrid's ocean sky eyes; he wanted to dive into them. "Even till the end of his life, he'll wait for her."

This time she glimpsed at him and talked about them, finally finding the guts to "Hiccup."

"Oh, to hear my name from your lips; it's a blessing from Freya" He cupped her cheek and brushed a hand over her purple-red lips that let out his name. He yearned to savor her lips.

Astrid shook her head and cleared her throat, looking vulnerable, tears rushing down her face. "You deserve a perfect person like you, even more than you, which will be hard, believe me."

"I already have, and oh trust me, she's way more perfect than I am. The most perfect girl to ever step on Earth."

She flinched in a pang. "Oh really?" So he did find somebody; of course, he did; she was gone for nine months. A person could have a baby at that time. Ashley was an example.

Hiccup could've cracked up at her absurdity; she assumed the unbelievable "Yes, and she has golden wavy smooth hair, blue eyes to die for, a cute round face, rosy cheeks, and a flawless body."

Now she knew he was talking about Astrid Hofferson herself. "Find someone else. I don't like her" Her arms intersected.

She could've turned red from head to toe if it was a typical situation where they'd be cuddling on the couch and flirting with each other "I can't; there's...there's no one like her."

"If you mean broken, filled with childhood and relationship trauma, and who has commitment issues. Then yeah, there's no one like her" She gulped and stared at him but also dared him to say anything that offended her.

Hiccup laughed, and she offered him a puzzled look that wasn't what she expected. "Nope, I mean her drop-dead beauty; she's so strong that despite all her trauma she survived, she suffered so much emotionally and...physically," Astrid noticed how much ache and outrage was over his face when he looked at her body which once was covered with bruises "But she's fucking perfect! Yes, she has commitment issues, but I totally understand who wouldn't if they had been through so much."

"Hiccup, please stop. You know I'm not all that."

"She's also a big fool, but I never say it to her face because I'm so very much scared of her" Astrid let out a tiny chuckle at his words. "The biggest idiot because she believes she's imperfect. If only she saw herself through my eyes."

Astrid flicked his forehead carefully, not wanting to disturb the asleep cat in her lap. "You are still a sap, I see."

"Only for The Astrid Hofferson"

She moaned and cried, so done with life. "What do you want from me, Haddock?" She can't live with this uncertainty.

"To be mine" The pupils dilated when he said with such sincerity.

"I can't, and you know that."

"Give me one solid reason, and as much as it hurts, I'll walk away," She was nearly to tell, but he lifted a finger. "But it better be a good reason" He knew there was no reason because she was a Goddess.

Astrid snorted sarcastically. "I've only hurt you, Hiccup. I turned you away when you tried to ask me out. For two damn years! During our courtship, I kept pushing you away, and then when you proposed...I...I ran away" She looked away, very ashamed of her doings.

He responded with frustration, "I chose to; it's not your fault."

"If you stay with me, I'll run away again. It's not fair to you that you have to suffer because of me! I am broken, alright, and I don't...I deserve to be alone."

The exact words he had said before, if only her stubborn head would comprehend them, "I chose to! And it's not your fault," He declared with more frustration. "Also, never call my Astrid broken again."

He picked up Toothless and put him on the chair. He hesitated at first but did the same for Astrid. He carried her in his arms and headed towards the couch and almost cried doing so. Holding her again was all he dreamed of. He gently placed her on the couch, and he sat far from her, an arm's length in between them.

"I am broken! I don't deserve love. I left you, and then, and then I did the same to Elsa. I don't deserve anyone. I need to be left alone. I should be alone. Always." She leaned back on the couch and deeply pressed a hand over her chest as if she was getting sick.

Hiccup went into alarm mode; he knew she was getting an anxiety attack. "Astrid-"

"Go away!"

"Astrid!" No, it was not the time to argue. "Just take deep breaths, and here hold my hand" Hiccup extended his arm, and as much as he wanted to hold her, he couldn't.

He'll wait for her and do what she wants, like ever, but instead of holding onto his hand, she draws him in a tight hug. "Make it stop. Everything's spinning Hiccup, and my chest it's...Make it stop!"

He held onto her with everything as if his own life depended on it, which at the moment did "Remember Milady deep breaths. Do we need to go to the Emergency?"

"No, no, just hold me" She hugged him tighter. "Always be happy and make sure Elsa's happy too."

"Astrid, don't say that!" Whenever she got an attack, she'd say this as if she would die, and he knew she wouldn't, but every damn time, he got frightened.

She murmured in his chest, but the words came out weirdly, and it was hard to figure out, but he did. "I'll always love you."

He pulled out his phone from his back pocket and messaged Elsa to arrive at his apartment immediately.

Hiccup - Elsa, come to my apartment right away, please. Astrid got an attack again.

Elsa - I'll be there in 5 minutes. I had to pick up something around your place. Tell her I'm coming, and DON'T leave her alone.

Hiccup - See you soon. Please hurry.

Elsa - 5 minutes.

He threw his phone away and let her clutch his shirt's collar and push herself into his chest in a fetal position. He coiled his arms around her torso and held her reminding her to take deep breaths. Toothless, noticing something was off, jumped on the couch and placed himself by her back as if giving some support. Luckily Ashley was asleep, so Hiccup only had to look after one.

Astrid rubbed her forehead and cried out piercing ears, "Thor! Hiccup stop this; it hurts!"

He pulled away from her and asked frantically, "Where, Milady? Where does it hurt, babe?" He had unknowingly called her that, and she let it pass as she was not in her senses.

"Everywhere. My back, my head, my stomach, and ouch" She punched her chest hard and was going to do it again, but he grabbed her hand. "My chest hurts a lot. It's like there's tons of weight on it, and I can feel my heartbeat in my whole body Hiccup," She screamed like a baby throwing a fit in his arms. "Make it stop, babe."

Hiccup's heart fluttered at the nickname but shattered seeing her in pain. "Come closer and take deep breaths. It'll pass" He felt so helpless; he could only watch her hurt from far away and could do nothing.

He wanted to take her away to a place where only they were, away from misery, sorrow, and trauma. He desired to kill that asshole Hunter and her parents. He imagined what Astrid would be like if she had a happy life. Not that she wasn't perfect already, she is, but she wouldn't be getting these horrible attacks.

He felt helpless. He could do nothing but only watch her in pain.

"Make it stop, babe" And there she said that word again.

Hiccup ran his hand on her back up and down, trying to soothe her. "I'm here, babe," he embraced her harder. "And this time, I'm not going away, you hear that? Don't you dare leave"

Astrid was glued to him and didn't want to leave but said, "I'll only hurt you."

"Whoever the hell told you that, I want you to throw this disgusting thought away. You've never ever hurt me before, and you never will" Taking a bold step, he kissed her on the crown of her head.

A land bang was heard, and he pulled away

Elsa was here.