I AM SO SORRY! SO SO SORRY! This update was meant to be sooner but life got the better of me, with summer and now a new job. Plus much writers block. If you can forgive me for the wait, I'd love that! I would like to say thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and story alerts. Makes me feel oh so special :D Now addressing a reviewer, the Nadder wasn't a future event, but I will explain now this chap. But after this, I won't be able to update until I update my other fic. I feel really bad ignoring it. So for now just enjoy this chapter, and please review. It'll be a while, and it'll motivate me to update this one after I'm done with my other fic's chapter. ^^

Her bare feet running across the cold floor of her home, Astrid skidded to a stop when she reached her mother's room. She knocked on the door loudly and was clutching her nightgown (How she got in one, she wasn't sure) and breathing heavily. The blood that stained her hands was so vivid in her mind. She continued to pound on the door until a groggy Viking woman answered.

"Astrid? Mmm...what are-" Her mother glanced out of her window. "For the love of Thor, do you realize what time it is?"

Astrid was too shell-shocked to notice her mother's annoyance. She pulled her towards the bed and sat her down. Her hands were shaking violently.

"M- Mom..."

"Astrid, are you OK?"

"W-What happened to me?"

Her mother took her hand and held it. "Do you remember what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?"

Bolsha sighed. "Astrid, a few days ago you were found in the arena covered in blood and unconscious."

Astrid's eyes widened, 'Does that mean that my dream...it really happened?'

"What was I doing there?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me. You wouldn't wake up, and we were so scared. The village healer did all she could, but you wouldn't move. She checked you for any cuts or bruises, but you were untouched. We had no idea how or why you were covered in so much blood."

The blue eyed teen put her face in her hands. It hadn't been a dream after all. The fight, the Nadder, and the blood; it was all real. The tortured cries of the wounded dragon echoed in her head. 'I caused those shrieks; I caused that dragon to writhe in pain.' She buried her face deeper in her palms and gave a pained smile. 'It doesn't feel as good as I thought it would.'

Her mother pulled her hands away and gave her a concerned look.

"Do you remember what happened?"

'Say it Astrid, say that you almost killed your first dragon. You've worked your whole life for this, just say it. Yes. Yes. Yes!'

"No." The girl gave her mother a hardened look to help convince her. "No I don't."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you ask me what happened if you do not remember a thing?"

She didn't think that one through.

"I...I just saw my bloody clothes in my room and got freaked out." She was lying through her teeth. Hopefully the older Viking would buy it.

"I thought I washed those clothes, didn't I?"

"Well apparently not, since I saw then there. Its ok mom, I'll do it tomorrow."

"Ok sweetheart. Go back to sleep."

Her mother stroked her hair and gave her a gentle smile. Though Vikings were a tough bunch, there was nothing more sacred than the love for their children.

Astrid quietly nodded and went back to her room. Walking slowly, she tried to understand why she had said no when her mother asked her if she remembered what happened. It would've made her mother so proud. She shivered as the cold wind blew in.

'So I fought a Deadly Nadder...Looks like I did well in dragon training. Still can't believe I don't remember though. It's kind of like Hiccup's short attention span...Oh my gods.'

"Hiccup." she spoke aloud.

If her dream was real, then all those hurtful things that she said really did happen. That look of hurt on his face after she called him a failure, that rage in her voice. And for what? Because of that little comment that Tuffnut made?

'Why did I freak out because of that? It's not like I care what anyone thinks about me...right?'

Astrid went back to all of the times she had spent with or near Hiccup. There weren't that many, and she could probably count em all on one hand. But recently, she noticed a change. She didn't have any animosity towards him, at least not as much. He still managed to get under her skin however.

She reached her bedroom door and got inside. Instead of climbing into her bed however, she stood up and jumped on it to reach a window that was high up. Astrid managed to grab onto the tiny ledge and hoist herself up. Struggling, she finally managed to sit down properly.

The village looked absolutely stunning at night. Her hut was along the edges of the island, but it was rare that the ocean could be heard. It was only on quiet night like this one that Astrid could hear the roar of the waves. The sky was cloudy, so no stars out tonight. She smiled a little. Astrid recalled her father taking her to the cliffs beside her home and they would listen to the waves together. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be immersed in the natural sounds of the island.

"Stupid locked door..."

Astrid snapped her eyes open at the interruption. She saw a silhouette walking along the edges of Berk. It was slouched and muttering incoherently. Jumping out of the window, (thanking Thor that she wasn't that high up) she walked over to the stranger. The light from the torches weren't as bright from far away, so Astrid couldn't identify the face.

"Hello?"

The person let out a small squeak and then tripped, falling to the ground.

"Ow..." The slightly scratchy voice was unmistakable.

"Hiccup?"

Astrid took a step forward, but got no closer. He dusted himself off and looked at her with great surprise.

"A-Astrid? You're OK?"

He tried to approach her, but stopped himself. The clouds finally cleared a bit, and the moonlight shone brightly. The look on his face showed a boy who was very ashamed. Astrid grimaced upon seeing that pained expression. She knew for a fact that she caused it. For a while, they stayed quiet. Then Hiccup broke the uncomfortable silence.

"What are you doing out here?"

Astrid looked away. "My house is like 20 feet away, what's your excuse?"

Hiccup took a look at the nearby hut and looked confused. Then it finally dawned on him. He rubbed his neck at kept his gaze towards the ground. He mumbled something Astrid couldn't quite understand.

"What was that?"

He mumbled again.

She tapped her foot impatiently. "I can't read minds, Hiccup. Can you at least speak up?"

"I got locked out..."

The blond looked flabbergasted.

"How in Odin's name did you get locked out?"

"Well, after I-" He trailed off. "I got home late, and my dad had already gotten to sleep and locked the doors. I guess he figured I was spending the night at the forge."

"Why were you out so late in the first place?"

Hiccup twiddled his thumbs. "I was uh...meeting a friend."

'Yeah, a scaly one.'

"Listen though, are you OK?" His green eyes studied hers as he frowned.

"You already asked me that..."

"I mean I found you unconscious and I didn't know what to do, and I ran over to your house, but your mom was mad so I took off, but I'm glad you're OK and-"

"Hiccup!" Astrid shook her head and let a small smile appear. It was so cute when he rambled like that. Yes, she said he was cute and she didn't have any trouble admitting that; well to herself.

"Look, don't worry about my mom. I'm glad you found me. I mean I would've been a lot worse if you hadn't right?" She stepped towards him. "Just remember this..."

Hiccup, now visibly nervous with Astrid's out of character actions, took a step back. "Remember what exactly?"

Suddenly Astrid found herself dangerously close to Hiccup. She could see Hiccup's pupils dilate and his very quick breathing. She smirked; even now she causes fear within people.

"You are a Hairy Hooligan, a Viking. Whether or not you accept that, you were born one. That means not backing down, taking what you want and proving your worth. No matter what anyone says, its what you think of you that matters."

Hiccup didn't do anything to remove himself from the spot he was in. He gulped audibly and shakily replied. "Wh-why are you telling me this?"

Astrid gripped his arm and looked intently into his eyes. "I know what I said to you back at the arena, when we were fighting that Nadder." Hiccup tried to look away, but Astrid turned his head violently to keep eye contact with him. "But I was wrong. And..and..." She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry."

Those words were not in Astrid's vocabulary. Well they were, just not the two of them together in that order. Vikings were very stubborn, and it took a hammer to the head to make them change their mind. Hiccup, like others in Berk were aware that this was a miracle. Astrid had never uttered those words before, and to have her say that to him? It was gut wrenching...or it should've been.

The blonde looked at the shell-shocked boy before her. He seemed to be processing all of this. Before he could say anything, Astrid pulled away. She gave him a light shove before running back to her home.

"Don't you dare forget that you scrawny dork!" She called out. She grinned all the way to her house.

It felt good to apologize to him. To Hiccup. To Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Surely but slowly, Astrid knew that he was no longer the enemy. He managed to save her life and even though she treated him so badly, he still tried to help her. He was a complete masochist, but it didn't matter. Astrid made a promise that night. To let herself be open to what Hiccup really is. And forget who she thought he was. And in the back of her mind, she would keep that little cute comment to herself. No need for anyone else to know right? Besides, it's not like she was falling for the kid.

The following days were business as usual. Astrid did everything she normally would, but she didn't follow Hiccup anymore. She was still embarrassed from the last time she saw him. She figured a little distance was good. Nowadays however, he was almost always at the forge. Also, dragon training was a bit different. Since her run in with the Nadder, the arena had been closed off for fear that the dragons would revolt. They now spent the training days reading the dragon manual, much to the dismay of Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut. Fishlegs was ecstatic, and Hiccup looked mainly uninterested. While Gobber left the teens to their studies in the dining hall, Astrid flipped through the pages nonchalantly.

"Agh! Why are we reading! We should be pounding the book into some dragons head, not reading it!" Snotlout frowned and slammed his forehead into the table.

"Seriously, I mean I don't see the point of this. This is so stupid." Tuffnut tried balancing his book on his head. He then looked at his sister with an evil smirk. "Hey this book is stupid and so are you! You should read it! It's probably got a lot of stuff you like!"

"Well OK!" Smiling sweetly, Ruffnut promptly threw her book at Tuffnut's face. He slammed into the floor and Ruffnut sat on his stomach, shoving the cover even harder into her flailing twin. "Ooh look! This is fun!"

"Aw man guys, are we lucky or what?" All eyes were on Fishlegs. "I mean there's so much information in here!"

Snotlout yawned and slid the manual away. "Too much, my head hurts."

Astrid rolled her eyes, "You didn't even open it!"

"So? I am a warrior, not a nerd. Does it look like I want to end up like Legs or Accident Boy over there?"

Fishlegs winced a bit at the insult and sulked away from the group. Astrid watched as he left. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment really. But like most people seemed to do, he slipped out of her mind. She didn't really know him well, so there was no point in dwelling.

Hiccup didn't seem to register that he was being talked about and continued to look intently at the book. His nose almost touched the page as he moved his finger along the page.

"Well..." Snotlout stretched and a cracking sound was heard. "I'm gonna go into the sun and train like a real man. Who's coming?"

Tuffnut threw his sister off of him and dusted himself off. "Count me in!"

Ruffnut hit the ground with a thud. She groaned as she grabbed her knee. "That hurt you bastard!"

Astrid turned her attention to the other girl and figured she'd give her a hand. As she began to get up, she stopped upon seeing Hiccup already there with his hand outstretched. He had a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Need help?"

Ruffnut just stared at his hand. She seemed to contemplate something before swatting his hand away. "Idiot." Then with a slight blush on her cheeks, she quickly pressed her body up against Hiccup's. This made him gasp and look around nervously while turning a deep crimson.

"I like idiots..." she said seductively.

Astrid's mouth hung open. She watched the entire scene play out. They were too close. Way too close. And Hiccup wasn't moving. Astrid did not like that Ruffnut was basically groping him and he didn't move away. She cleared her throat loudly. This didn't deter Ruffnut however. She gripped his hand and Astrid felt her hands ball up into fists.

'Get away. Get away now. I swear to whatever gods there are that if she does not move in the next 5 seconds I will forcibly tear her hands right off.'

Hiccup basically lost all speaking abilities and began to sputter random sounds. Ruffnut grinned even wider and intertwined their fingers. After that, Astrid slammed her book into the table. This seemed to wake Hiccup up from his little dream world. He quickly backed away and fell down. He then crawled back to where he was sitting before and covered his face with the dragon manual. Ruffnut and Astrid exchanged looks. While Astrid looked ready to draw blood, the other girl just smirked and stalked off. Astrid's eyes narrowed, but she felt relief sweep through her body.

'What the hel is wrong with her? I mean to invade his personal space like that! Plus grabbing Hiccup's hand like she owns him...ugh I need to wash that memory out of my brain.'

The table was shaking. Astrid turned to Hiccup, who was now trembling. He took his face from behind the book and he looked absolutely horrified. The girl blew her bangs out of her hair and approached him. Sitting a good foot away, she attempted to start a conversation.

"You OK there?"

Hiccup looked at Astrid and then looked away quickly.

"Never better! Why?" His voice cracked a bit.

"That was some show huh?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Ruff likes you, who knew?"

He didn't answer. Astrid decided to change the subject.

"What were you looking at?"

At the question, Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin.

"I- I wasn't staring at her chest or anything!"

Suddenly Astrid felt anger gnaw at her. 'That was suspiciously specific denial...' She didn't like that Hiccup basically confirmed that he was checking Ruffnut out. She wondered if she could interest that Night Fury in a free Viking meal...

"I meant the book."

"Oh...yeah...I was just seeing the more dangerous dragons." He paused. "Can I ask you something?"

She hesitantly slid closer to the boy. "Sure, what?"

"Did you mean what you said?"

"What did I say?"

"That you were sorry."

Astrid was taken aback. Hiccup usually wasn't this forward. Still, she had said it, and she knew there would be consequences.

"Yeah. Yes I did."

An uncomfortable silence passed between them.

"What does this mean? Are we..."

She gave him a confused look. "Are we what?"

"Friends."

Astrid thought for a bit. The word seemed harmless enough. And her disdain for the boy had nearly gone away. Friends wouldn't be that bad. Friends was fine.

"Only if you want to, Hiccup."

Hiccup was grinning from ear to ear. His eyes twinkled in excitement and he let out a happy laugh.

"Yeah! Definitely yeah!"

Suddenly he looked very somber. The mood whiplash disconcerted Astrid.

"What's wrong?"

"Can you keep a secret? As a friend? I haven't had many, so I'm not sure how this all goes."

Without hesitation, she nodded.

"Come, follow me."

He led her by the hand and took off outside the dining hall and off towards alone hut close by. Astrid hesitantly jogged, but seeing Hiccup's face light up in excitement made her feel excited too. She gripped his hand tighter and followed him.

'Ok.'

They ran past the twins and Snotlout, and Astrid gave a quick dirty look to Ruffnut as the ran by. If they noticed that the two were holding hands, they didn't say anything about it. After a few minutes of running, they reached the forge. Hiccup and Astrid stopped to catch their breath.

"Why-why are we he-here?" Astrid was having trouble getting the words out. Hiccup however was already opening to the giant door. The heat from the flames stuck Astrid head on. She rubbed her eyes and saw weapons scattered everywhere.

"Take a look!"

Shutting the door behind her, Astrid saw that in a back room, there was paper everywhere. It was on the floor, stuck to the walls, and all of them had some strange design on it. After fishing through the sea of sketches, Hiccup picked up a contraption made of what seemed to be made of metal and leather.

"Um, what exactly am I looking at?"

Bending down to take a closer look at the drawing scrawled all over the floor, her eyes widened. All the picured were of dragons. Or to be more specific, one dragon.

'Toothless!'

Now Astrid knew that the dragon had no name, but she had begun to refer to the big black scaly beast as such. It seemed appropriate enough.

"Agh where is it?"

Hiccup was now awkwardly looking through the messy room for something. The thing he was holding was making it a bit hard. Astrid held her arms out.

"Need help?"

Hiccup gave her a sheepish smile that made Astrid feel warm inside. She quickly took whatever the thing was and let Hiccup do whatever he was doing. She felt the object with her fingertips. The leather was very smooth and thick. It looked very well done. Well whatever it was.

"Astrid?"

The Viking girl looked up. "Hm?"

Hiccup grinned wildly while still looking very nervous. He has holding a giant saddle and some rope.

"I want you to meet a good friend of mine."

There was that smile again. Even wider than before, it made Astrid feel giddy herself. Still cute...no not cute. That wasn't the word. Handsome. That was the correct term. Still, it wasn't like she was falling for Hiccup, right? Right?

Well thats all you get! Astrid and Hiccup are now friends. And for those that may wonder why Hiccup is so quick to show Astrid Toothless, well I figure that Hiccup didn't have many friends before this. So once he got one, he would feel very comfortable around them. And also, who doesn't love a jealous Astrid? :D Hopefully you liked it because I wont be updating till I update my other story. PLEASE REVIEW! Lets me improve on stuffs!