A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I might have to put this story on hold for a while because I got a lot of studying to do. I'll try to do my best to multitask, but I don't think I can.

So, enjoy the chapter :)


The next morning, Astrid woke up in her bedroom. She rubbed her eyes trying to get the dry crust out of them. She filched at the touch of the cold metal of her ring when it brushed against her face. She pulled her left hand away from her face to look at the ring. Astrid pulled her ring off and started to play with it between her thumb and pointer finger. While looking at her ring, she thought about her wedding and wedding night. She thought about how nervous she felt, but she didn't understand why. She knew he wouldn't do anything to her; he was her best friend and nothing else, but she couldn't help but think about the "what if" scenarios.

Like what if she married someone she barely knew, would he keep his distance or force himself on her? What if her father picked one of the other guys? Would any of them let her move back in with her dad to care for him? Or what if she and Hiccup didn't listen to their feelings and decided to be with each other? Would they become closer or distant from each other? Just the last thought made her stomach curl. Astrid shook her head trying to get the thought out of her mind.

She breathed out through her nose before putting her ring back on. She got up from her bed and made her way to her father's room. She hadn't told him that she had moved back in yet. She wanted to tell him last night, but she didn't want to wake him. Astrid slowly opened her father's bedroom door and saw him sleeping. Astrid shut the door quietly before walking back in her room to get dressed. After she cleaned herself up, she walked out of the house and greeted her Nadder. "Hey girl, want to stretch out your wings before we fly?"

She could tell Stormfly understood her. The blue Nadder walked out of her pen and nudged her rider. Astrid responded by patting her horn before mounting on. While they were in the sky, Astrid noticed a group of people gathering in front of the food storage. Astrid told her dragon to land to see what was going on. Once she dismounted, she saw Stoick and Gobber disputing with Mildew. Then she saw Hiccup running to where his father and Gobber were and stood in front of them to look at the crowd.

"They don't mean any harm. They're just dragons being dragons." She heard Hiccup say as she tried to get through the crowd.

Stoick put his hand on his son's shoulder and stood in front of him. "Look Mildew, if there's a problem, I'll deal with it."

"Oh, there is a problem, Stoick." Mildew growled as he put his face in front of the chief's. Then he turned to the crowd to finish his statement. "And I think I speak for everyone when I say, you better do something about it."

While Mildew was leaving, the crowd started to shout at their chief. Both Hiccup and Gobber glared at the people who were declaring that Mildew was right.

While Hiccup was looking at the crowd, he saw Astrid, and he ran to her. "What is going on?!" Astrid shouted over the crowds shouting. Hiccup grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the crowd so he could hear her. Astrid repeated her question once they were far from the riot.

"Oh some dragons were at Mildew's house last night. The dragon must have been eating his cabbages…again. " He answered.

"So pretty much nothing new," Astrid replied.

Hiccup shrugged before a thought came to him. "So, how's your dad?"

Astrid let out a sigh and hung her head down. "Pretty much the same as yesterday, not better, not worse, just the same." She muttered thinking about her father lying in bed with that blood filled rag. Hiccup looked at her and put his hand on her shoulder pad. Astrid lifted her head up, but kept her eyes on the ground.

"I'm really sorry Astrid, I really wish I could help." He saw her wrap her arms around herself as she stared at her boots.

Astrid lifted her head up giving him a weak smile. "I know you do, but I need to clear my head before I go back home."

"Do you want Toothless and me to go with you?" Hiccup asked gesturing to the Night Fury that started to make his way to the teens. Astrid looked at the two of them before nodding.

"Yeah," she answered with a whisper. Hiccup gave her a small smile before they made their way to leave the plaza. While they were walking with their dragons, Spitelout saw them. He made no thought of it until he noticed something. He smiled then he saw his son walking towards him.

"Hey dad, what are you so happy about?" Snotlout asked before opening the door to their house.

"Oh I just happen to notice something about that Hofferson girl that you've been chasing." Spitelout answered as he walked in the house.

Snotlout let out a groan as he picked up his sword. "May I have to remind you dad, she's no longer a Hofferson. As much as I hate to say it, she's a Haddock now." He grumbled looking up at his father.

"Well whatever her last name is, do you realize she's still wearing her kransen! You and I both know what that means." Spitelout said proudly crossing his arms over his chest. Snotlout looked at his dad for an explanation. Spitelout let out a groan realizing that his son didn't understand what he was saying. "She still sees herself as an unmarried woman! Wearing that kransen shows she wants out of the marriage."

Snotlout rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I doubt that dad. I mean, she's still wearing her wedding ring. If she really did want to be single again, she wouldn't be wearing that ring."

"Yes, but by law she has to wear it." Spitelout replied making his son roll his eyes.

"Dad, can we please just drop this? Even if they didn't do anything, I can't just flirt with the chief's daughter-in-law." Snotlout almost cringed saying the last part.

"So, you don't think they connected with each other?" Spitelout asked his son.

The teen shrugged. "I mean…. I don't know. Hiccup just doesn't seem to be that kind of guy to man up."

"Well, you never know. They might get a divorce once Mr. Hofferson is dead. I saw her walk out of her father's house early this morning, she may have moved back in with him."

"Or she's just visiting," Snotlout added with a groan. "Look dad, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but as much as I hate to say it, she's married. I lost my shot with her. Mr. Hofferson chose Hiccup, and Astrid agreed."

"Yes but son, she only agreed to marry him for her father," Spitelout added.

Snotlout shrugged at his father. "I guess," he mumbled. Spitelout let out a light chuckle and patted his son's shoulder.

"Just you wait, son. Give it a few months and she'll be begging to get out of that marriage."

~oOo~

Later that night, Hiccup invited Astrid to eat over at his house. As much as Astrid wanted to stay home, she thought she should come over to relieve some stress. The two teens got to the house before his father did. Hiccup made some stew, and put the pot over the fire pit so it would be warm for his father. While they were eating, the door swung open and the chief and Gobber walked in the house. "Hey dad, how's chiefing?"

Stoick let out a groan and pitched the bridge of his nose. "It was fine until Mildew stirred up the village."

"Do you want to club him upside the head?" Gobber asked as he took a seat. Stoick glared at him before he took a seat in his chair. "Hey Hiccup, can you hand me that block of wood by ya?" The teen picked the wood and handed it to the blacksmith. Gobber pulled out his knife and started to carve knowing this was going to be a long night of yelling and venting.

About an hour later, Hiccup was cleaning up from dinner as he heard his father coming up with ideas to fix the dragon problems. "We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place," Stoick said as he paced around the room. "Hey, we could put of signs." Stoick suggested seeing that Gobber was almost done with his carving.

"Signs? For dragons?"

"No, for the people."

"Signs? For Viking? You know we're not big readers Stoick."

"Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza."

"Nets? You do know they breathe fire?"

"I know very well they breathe fire, Gobber!" Stoick growled, "Maybe Mildew's right!" he shouted pushing a chair away from him at Hiccup's feet.

"No, dad, wait. What if I deal with the dragons?" Hiccup asked as he moved the chair to set it back up right.

"You?" Stoick asked his son.

"Who else? If anyone can control them, I can. I'm the best man for the job." Hiccup said as Toothless circled around his rider.

"You're not a man yet Hiccup, at least not by age and maturity." Stoick pointed out looking down at his son.

"If I may add sir," Astrid spoke out getting her chief's attention. "Hiccup is the only one who can control the dragons. I mean, before we left the island to help you and the others fight off that Queen. He taught us how to bond with the dragons we have now. If there's anyone you have to choose to help with dragon problems, it's Hiccup." Astrid saw Stoick press his lips together before letting out a sigh.

"Alright Hiccup, you deal with the dragons in the morning." Stoick announced before leaving the room to get ready for bed.

"Don't worry dad, you won't regret this!" Hiccup shouted as his father walked away.

"I hope you know what you're getting into Hiccup," Gobber said as he looked at his wooden-carved duck.

"Oh come on, how bad can it be?" Hiccup asked seeing Gobber answer with a shrug.

"If you say so Hiccup," Gobber said getting up from his seat to leave the house. After Gobber shut the door, Astrid got up from her seat to get ready to leave.

"Oh, hey Astrid," the young girl turned her head to look at her friend. "Do you want to give your dad a bowl?" Hiccup asked putting the ladder in the steaming pot.

"Sure why not, maybe he'll eat tonight." She said seeing him making a bowl of stew for her to take. Once Hiccup handed her the bowl of stew, she said her goodbyes as Hiccup lead her out the door.

~oOo~

Asmund rubbed his head as he woke up. He looked around the room and saw the open widow to only see bright stars. Then he heard the front door open and shut. "Dad? You up?" he heard his daughter's voice behind his bedroom door.

"Yeah, I'm awake." He grumbled as he tried to sit up straight. Astrid opened the door and held out her hand that was holding the steaming bowl with a spoon in it.

"I got some stew for ya," she said softly.

Asmund's eyes widened and he sunk back down to lay on his back. "Oh um…I'm not really hungry-"

"Hiccup made it," Astrid added seeing a change in her father's manner.

"Oh well, in that case, I'll take the stew." He said holding out his arms for the bowl and spoon. Astrid shook her head before handing him the bowl.

"Am I that bad of a cook?" she asked watching her father put a small spoon full in his mouth.

Asmund shook his head and swallowed. "No Astrid, you're that horrible of a cook." He said with a raspy voice giving her a weak smile.

"Hey!" she shouted with a laugh in her tone.

"Well I'm sorry baby, but you burn water. Everyone is bad at something, yours just happens to be cooking." He said hoarsely before taking another spoon full. "Wow, who knew that boy could cook? At least I'll know you will get decent food to eat and not that old stuff from The Great Hall." He put one last spoon full in his mouth before handing his daughter the bowl. Astrid set the bowl on the night stand and sat on the end of the bed.

"This is off topic, but I need to tell you something," she said. Asmund gave her a nod to continue. "Last night, Hiccup and I talked. We thought it was a good idea that I move in to take care of you." She said seeing her father's eyes grow wide.

"Astrid….you know-"

"Dad, before you say anything else. We already packed my clothes, and I slept here last night. Our decision has been made; you can't change my mind on this." Astrid looked down at her father waiting for him to start an argument. Asmund open his mouth to speak, but he let out a sigh instead and nodded.

"Okay, but I'm only agreeing with you because by law you're no longer under my authority. If this is what you and Hiccup agreed upon, then I guess I have no say about it." Asmund said hoarsely before lying his head back down on the pillow.

"Thank you dad for understanding," Astrid sighed in relief before standing up from the bed.

"I didn't say I understood, I said that I have no say about what you do anymore." He stated roughly before he let out a cough. Astrid turned to ask her father what he meant, but she saw that he was already asleep. She had never seen him fall asleep so fast. She let out a sigh before she picked up the full bowl from the night stand. She threw the rest of the stew out the window and placed the bowl on the dining table.

~oOo~

The next day, Astrid left the house that afternoon and saw the rest of her friends gathering at the watch tower. She mounted on Stormfly and they flew to the watch tower. "What are you guys doing up here?" she asked as she dismounted her Nadder.

"Hiccup's been trying to control the dragons all day. It's pretty amusing," Tuffnut said as he watched the scrawny teen struggling to catch a flaming sheep with a bucket of water in his hands.

"Wow, he could really use our help," Astrid stated as she put her hands on her hips.

"We'll get to it," Tuffnut said.

"In a minute," Ruffnut added watching Hiccup dumping the water on the sheep. The teens then saw a group of dragons flying over them.

"And it's three o'clock." Astrid announced as they saw everyone else take shelter besides Hiccup. Astrid and Fishlegs cringed as a pile of dragon dung landed on Hiccup's head. Snotlout and the twins burst out laughing watching the teen as he walked to the beach to wash his hair.

"I bet you don't want to touch that hair again, huh Astrid?" Snotlout laughed only to see the blonde teen frowning at him.

~oOo~

Later that evening, Hiccup dried his hair with a towel before sitting on his bed. He let out a groan feeling his muscles ache as he moved. "Oh, everything hurts," he whined to his dragon. "Even this," he said unstrapping his prosthetic leg.

"Hiccup?!" he heard a feminine voice call out as he heard the front door open and shut. Hiccup's eyes grew wide and he put this prosthetic back on.

"Astrid? Perfect," he groaned getting up from his bed to brush dirt off of his tunic. "I don't look too beat up do I?" he asked the Night Fury. Toothless gave him what looked like a sympathetic smile. "Oh great, dragon pity," Hiccup mumbled as he heard foot steps behind him. Once he heard the footsteps stop behind him, he turned around and smiled through his pain. "Oh hey Astrid, what a nice surprise!" he smiled feeing pain shoot in his muscles as he moved.

"So, how was your day?" she asked crossing her arms and giving a smirk.

"Uh, uneventful, hung around the plaza. You know?" he said straightening himself up trying not to fall from the aching pain shooting down his back.

"Yeah I do know," she said before picking dirt off of his vest. "We saw you out there; it's hard to believe you're still standing." Then Hiccup let out a large groan and fell on his back landing on the bed.

"I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month," he moaned feeling the muscles in his back starting to relax now that he was lying down, and then heard his father's booming voice downstairs calling for him. Hiccup got back on his feet and saw his father walking up the stairs.

"Hiccup, what's going on out there? The plaza looks like a war zone!" Stoick shouted looking down at his son.

"I know it looks bad," Hiccup said trying to defend himself to his father.

"Really bad," Astrid whispered so only Hiccup could hear.

The teenage boy ignored her and continued to talk to his father. "But this is only uh…phase one of my master plan." He stammered before seeing his father's face lighting up.

"Oh, so you do have a plan."

"I do….Of course I do!" Astrid wasn't buying what Hiccup was saying. It was obvious that he was just winging it. "It's very complex, lots of drawing, several moving parts….yeah, it's, uh, pretty wild."

"Uh-huh. Well, this better be real… because Mildew stirred up the whole island. And if you don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads." Stoick said before he left his son's bedroom.

Hiccup watched his father going down the stairs as he heard his dragon's low growl. The teenage boy walked over to the Night Fury. "Don't worry, bud. Your head's not going anywhere." He petted Toothless head making him purr.

"You do realize there are, like a bazillion dragons out there, and only one of you? I hope you really do have a plan." Astrid said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"No, I'm just saying you're a horrible liar. You need to think of something." She said brushing her bangs away from her face.

"Don't worry; I will…..Well, enough about that. How's your dad?" Hiccup asked as he rubbed Toothless' head. Astrid let out a sigh and sat on the end of bed.

"He's not doing so well, but he ate for the first time in days last night." She said leaning over to rest her arms on her knees.

"Well hey, that means something right?" Hiccup asked walking towards her. She shrugged and looked up at him.

"Not really, he only ate a few bites. I had to throw the rest of the stew out." She said before looking down at the ground. "He's pretty much the same," she mumbled seeing Hiccup sitting next to her.

"If there's anything you want me to do to help-" Hiccup started to say, but Astrid shook her head.

"No, I need to do this. He's my father, I need to do this alone." She said before getting up from the bed.

"No you don't, Astrid." Hiccup stated looking up at her. "You don't have to go through this alone. We're all here for you. If you need any help-"

"Hiccup, you handle the dragons, I'll handle my dad." She said making her way to the stairs. Hiccup got up from the bed and was hesitant to chase after her. He just froze in place watching her go down the stairs.

~oOo~

Astrid walked back home with Stormfly. The air was colder than it was when she entered the Haddock home. When they got home, Stormfly walked into her pen when Astrid opened the door. Once she was over the threshold she called for her dad. She shut the front door and made her way to his room. "Dad, you awake?" she asked as she opened his bedroom door.

"Dad?" she asked again seeing her father in bed in the dark room. She called for him again before she lit the oil lamp on his night stand. When she lit the lamp, she saw his face was pale and he wasn't moving. She shouted for him again, but this time she shook him.

She felt her heart pounding and her stomach doing flips as she shook him vigorously. Then she heard a cough, and then she saw him opening his foggy blue eyes. Astrid let out a sigh of relief tying to slow her heart-rate down. She fell on her knees and rested her head on the bed. She could feel her heart beating rapidly as she felt her stomach continue to turn. She moved her head to rest it in her hand as she heard her father's voice asking her what happened. She realized at that moment, she really couldn't do this alone.


A/N: I'm not going to lie, I thought I would be writing around episode two by now, but that's not happening.

Also, if you have no idea what a kransen is, it's that leather band Astrid wears around her forehead. It symbolizes an unmarried woman, (and that she's a virgin if I'm not mistaken).

Anyway, I'll do my best to study and write at the same time. I normally do my writing late at night anyway.

So, I'll see you guys next time. Bye!