When I'm only a sigh away from her, I close my eyes too. I'm not sure what I am supposed to do, but I hope I will figure it out soon. Verysoon. Also, I know that have to do it right, I mean...this changes everything.

Eh, all that overthinking doesn't really help now; I should forget about my sweaty palms and my skipping heart and let my instincts lead me. Right… Our noses touch and my lips brush hers. Her mouth feels soft and velvety, like I have always imagined, and I plant the tiniest, timidest peck on it. This is probably a good start... I don't pull back and neither does she, so my lips linger on hers and I place another, a tad bit braver and louder peck on her mouth and then another... I put more pressure on her lips and they part. I boldly stick out the tip of my tongue and caress her plump mouth and it seems that she is totally okay with it, because she doesn't pull back or push me away.

I lift my hands and put them on her slim waist and I gently bring her closer. I feel her fingers in my hair. The uneven strokes are promising and I find the courage to slowly slip my tongue past her sharp little teeth and into her mouth. And it's amazing. Yes, it's a whole new level of amazingness, intimacy and comfort. I never want to leave her mouth, I want to stay connected to her for the rest of my life. I want to feel the closeness and this curious excitement until Ragnarök comes.

I don't want to brag, but we are naturals. Not half minute after starting it, we are doing it like champs. We move our tongues in perfect harmony while our bodies melt together and the outside world fades away around us. I've never ever thought that this complete wholeness could exist, but that's what I experience now, and I hope she feels the same.

We slow down at some point and my tongue leaves her warm cradle, but I linger on her lips a little longer, leaving there a series of small pecks again until I feel her smile under my lips. She pulls away, but only to bury her face in the crook of my neck. Her cheeks are warm against my skin and my fingers are slowly stroking her back. We are quiet for awhile, evaluating.

"Erm... Do you think it could work?" I ask sheepishly a little later, desperately hoping that I've managed to rock her world a little. She is quiet, but I feel her nod and it says more than a thousand words. She stays in my embrace for a good while, but then she sits back up. I feel a bit disappointed, but then I see her face in the dying light of the fire and she seems genuinely happy and it warms my heart.

But then she frowns and punches my arm.

"That's for proposing before you properly kissed me. It should have been the other way round."

I rub my arm and I look at her expectantly; I had the pain, I'm looking for the pleasure.

"What? Do you seriously want me to kiss you for kissing me?"

I smile, she shakes her head, but I get my kiss anyway.

"We should probably go to bed, it's kind of late..." she suggests afterwards with warm arms still around my neck

"I have a blanket here."

Her eyes go wide. "Do you want to sleep here?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we spend the night sleeping on a beach together," I remind her and I stroke her cheek with my index finger. I like that I'm entitled to do it. Well, I hope I'm entitled to do it, but hey, she doesn't protest.

She hesitates, but I don't want to part with her, not tonight. "Come on, beautiful," I say before I stand up and hold a hand out for her. My compliment should sound awkward, but instead it feels normal. Natural. She takes my hand and we walk to the blanket I left nearby, she is still limping a bit and I feel sorry for her. I roll out the blanket on the warm sand, not far from the glowing embers of the camp fire. I lie on my back and she puts her head on my shoulder and her arm across my chest. I hug her and bring her a little closer.

I want to look at her just a little longer, but my eyelids are heavy and her even breathes are too calming.

"I can hear your heartbeat," she mumbles and that is the last thing that reaches my conscious mind.

§§§

The first thing I feel is a sharp poke in my left shoulder. And then another. It's not the shoulder Astrid sleeps on, because I can still feel her precious weight. We have overslept, that's for sure, because the warmth of the morning Sun strokes my skin. When the third poke comes and Astrid starts to move I sit up with my arm is still around her waist and hers around mine.

After a few blinks, I recognize Tuffnut. He is the one who is poking me with a stick. And Odin's balls, the whole gang is here...

"Well, well, well..." Ruffnut comes closer and leans down to give us the evil eye. Okay, we are officially and ungracefully busted...

"This is outrageous!" Tuffnut cries out in a theatrical way, drops the stick and throws his hands in the air.

I can feel that my cheeks are burning with shame and I'm quite sure that Astrid is in the same state, even if I can't see her face right now. Eh, we are still sort of tangled together… Not that I mind.

To make the situation worse, I spot Snotlout a few meters away standing in the shadow of a tree with arms crossed in front of his chest, shaking his head, wearing a disapproving face. Fishlegs is behind him, but he seems more frightened than how I feel.

Aaand there's nothing stopping Tuff now. "I'm very disappointed in you, little missy!" He complains and points at Astrid with an accusing finger.

"The brush clearer and the stable boy?! How pathetic," moans Ruffnut.

"Pathetic, sister? No, it's a foolish rebellion against our good deeds! We took this orphan girl..."

"Tuffnut, I'm not an orphan!" Against all odds, Astrid's voice is calm. But she scoots away from me and I'm not particularly happy about it.

"You are not, but you could be."

"I have both of my parents." Eh. She stands up and starts to dust the sand from her clothes.

"Yeah, she is right, brother, I've just met her parents this morning. They looked so innocent... unlike their hedonistic daughter!"

Okay, I think it's time to interfere. Astrid doesn't like to be teased and although she now stands a few steps away from me, I can clearly feel the tension building up in her. One more word of mockery and she jumps at the twins' throats.

So I clear my throat instead, as loud as I can to grab everyone's attention while I stand up.

"Good. I think we had enough fun for this morning and we have a ton of work to do with the..."

"E-e-e," Ruffnut cuts me off with a ridiculously squeaky sound, "I want an explanation."

I quirk an eyebrow and I step closer to Astrid. Our hands touch, but only briefly, so I'm sure no one notices it. "Explanation for what?"

"This," she says and gestures to both of us.

"Erm…" Yeah, I'm mumbling and it's awkward. I rake through my hair with my left hand and I look at Astrid, but I can't read her face. "Well… we just fell asleep here."

Snotlout comes closer with a couple of long strides. "So is that a thing now? Sleeping on the beach? I'm free tonight, babe, and I'm sure I make a better pillow than Hiccup, because of… you know…this." He lifts his arm up, triumphantly showing his muscles. He has broader shoulders and wider arms, there's no question about that, but…

"No, thanks," says Astrid.

"Aha! So you only want to sleep with Hiccup!" Tuff is pointing at her again.

"Yes! I mean no… I'm not…we aren't…" Huh? I've never seen her so insecure in my life. Okay, it's probably high time to intervene again.

I grab her hand and all jaws drop around us. "She is my girlfriend and I expect you to respect that."

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence. I sheepishly look at Astrid, but she doesn't comment.

"Aha. And what do you mean by that?" Snotlout's question is questionable, as always, but it's also kind of hard to answer... We never had the time to discuss the nature of our new relationship. I'm searching for the right words, but then I feel Astrid's grip tighten around my hand and it makes everything so much easier.

"We are together, like boyfriend and girlfriend. She is my lass."

"O-okay," says Tuffnut, "does this mean that I can't enter your hut without knocking anymore?"

"With or without Astrid, I hate when you rush into my hut and start jumping on my bed in the morning."

"Yeah, right. You've never mentioned it."

"Tuffnut, I even wrote you a note about it."

"I've never seen it."

I shake my head in disbelief. "I've nailed it to the back of your door, so this is the first thing you see before you leave your hut."

"Haha, I haven't seen it! My door is always open."

"Yeah, that's actually true," confirms Ruffnut, "he leaves it open for the tooth fairy."

"… and the less known but equally important nail clipping fairy!"

"Anyway, Hiccup, point is taken."

"Thanks, Ruffnut."

"Babe…" I raise my head when I hear Snotlout, he sounds strangely sensitive while he turns to Astrid.

"I guess, probably it's the last time I called you babe, but you know, you still can come back to me anytime. My door is open too."

I almost feel sorry for him, but suddenly Astrid shakes her head and I really love her for that.

"No. I'm afraid I'll stick with him." Okay. I want to kiss her. Right here, right now. Of course, I won't do that, but at least I know that I can claim it later…

My romantic thoughts are disturbed by Ruffnut's fake heaving . "Just don't do anything disgusting in front of us. No kissing, no touching, no glancing at each other."

I look at Astrid.

"This! I meant this! Ewwww."

"I can assure you that I've looked at her before and…"

"Yes, but now I know that you're thinking about sticking your tongue down her throat. Yuk."

"No, I'm not…" Eh, I'm a terrible liar, my ears are burning red with shame. "Anyways, probably it's time to start our day. Snotlout, you should go and check out the new fireproof..."

"Okay, so is this the part when you are sending us away to have a quote, unquote moment with each other?"

I take a deep sigh. "Yes, Tuffnut, I'm afraid it is."

"Very subtle," says Ruffnut sarcastically, but at this point, I couldn't care less, because we lock gazes with Astrid and even though she is still flushed, I can see a small smile forming in the corner of her mouth.

"I'm going rat you out to the chicken. And he won't be amused, I can promise you that. He hates romances - anything without a bloodbath in it bores him."

Astrid angrily stamps with her foot. "There's going to be a bloodbath if you don't leave us alone in a second."

The members of the gang groan and moan and mumble barely audible curses as they go away. Only the poor, confused Fishlegs mutters a weak "Congratulation, I guess." as a goodbye.

I don't answer him; my hands are already around her slim waist. "Well... It could have been worse."

"It could," she agrees and we both smile.

"C'mere," I whisper when I pull her to my chest.

"Ewwww," I hear Ruff's cry of disgust from the distance, but frankly, who cares when my lips are on my lass?