Updating on time! Whoo! And I'm exhausted. I might take a nap after this.

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Chapter 24: Berk, Home Sweet Home

Stoick was tapping his foot at Arrival Gate B as Hiccup and Astrid came through, bags and an unhappy Toothless in tow.

"What is that?" Stoick barked, pointing a large finger at Toothless's carrier.

"Oh, um, Dad, this is Toothless," Hiccup motioned between them.

"A cat?"

"Yes." Hiccup nodded.

Stoick looked between the three of them. Astrid shifted, tightening her hand on the strap of her bag.

"Right, well, lets get going. There's another snow coming in." Stoick cleared his throat. He led the way out of the airport and into the frigid Augusta air.

The sky was cloudy, as usual, but the sun was bright on the other side and lit the gray dome with gold, and the entire city had an otherworldly aura. Hiccup shifted as a particularly cold wind gushed through his coat. Astrid climbed into the backseat and motioned for Toothless's carrier. Hiccup lifted it up to her and she pulled it inside. Hiccup closed the door for her and climbed into the front seat.

Stoick turned on the radio before he pulled out of the parking lot and hummed along to the country songs. The trek back to Berk began as the interstate shot them out of the city and through the snowy coast, civilization diminishing as the pine covered hills took over, as the road curved along the steely coast. Hiccup glanced back at Astrid every couple of miles. She was sitting in the back, legs folded under her, staring out the window, with a content Toothless purring on her lap.

"Interstate one?" Astrid mumbled in the backseat.

Hiccup caught her smirk as their eyes met. She winked at him.

They drove on and at last the island of Berk loomed in the distance, a gray rock in the winter water, jutting upward with violent spikes for mountains. A solitary two-lane bridge connected it to the mainland.

"Ah, there is it," Stoick said proudly as he turned onto the bridge.

Below, the rocky shores were continuously being batter by relentless waves of freezing winter water. Down Mainstreet, Hiccup could feel the eyes watching Stoick as he passed, their eager waves only a means to prolonged their stares.

"Wow," Astrid breathed against the glass.

"Aye, it's not much, but it's home," Stoick sighed as they passed the hardware store.

Berk was always decorated for every holiday, and even more vigorously for Christmas, which made it a sort of tourist stop. The storefronts were filled with fluffy fake snow, nutcrackers, reindeer, tiny Santas and sleds, tensile and glimmering sliver icicles, and stringed lights. They drove through town, which didn't take long, and wound up a snowy lane that curved to a hilltop log cabin. It was nestled into the hillside and veranda overlooked the village below.

"Here we are," Stoick said as he pushed the garage door opener on his sun visor. The door creaked up and he pulled inside. "I don't know about you two but I am starving. How does pizza sound?"

"Good,"

"That sounds fine,"

The garage door whined closed and the engine went quiet. Hiccup inhaled, braved it, and heaved his bag over his shoulder as he got out of the vehicle. Astrid opened the door and Toothless jumped out as soon as possible. He stretched and shook and meowed.

"It's okay, Toothless," Hiccup said as he bent down to pet him.

Hiccup cleared his throat and motioned into the house, "So…uh, I guess, I'll show you around."

Astrid smiled, but said nothing, as she followed him into the kitchen. Hiccup quickly pointed out the first floor, the kitchen, living room, dining room, study, his father's room, door to the basement, and led her upstairs.

"This is the guest room," Hiccup said quickly as he opened the door.

"It's adorable," Astrid said as she walked inside. She dropped her bag on the bed and ran her fingers along the quilt. Toothless ran in after her and stood between the two of them.

Hiccup shrugged, "You've got your own bathroom in there,"

"Really?" Astrid stepped toward the narrow door at the end of the room and walked inside, "Man, this place is better than a hotel! It's so cozy."

Hiccup shifted his feet.

"What is it?"

She was looking at him, her brows drawn together, eyes pinned on him.

"Nothing, it's just…I don't know. It's weird being back."

"How long have you been gone?"

"Not long enough."

"Oh, it'll be fine, just a few days, and then you're a school boy," Astrid came over to him and reached for his hands.

Hiccup tried to smile, but it wasn't helping. These few days sounded much longer and more tortuous than any exam a professor could throw at him.

"Yeah, just a few days," Hiccup swallowed.

"Oh, it'll be okay," Astrid gently nudged him in the shoulder with her knuckles.

Hiccup fiddled, and finally cleared his throat, "So…uh, I'll meet you downstairs, then, I guess."

"Sure, lunch, right?"

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded as she backed up out of the room. He waited outside in the hall as Astrid closed the door, smiling at him as it shut.

Hiccup meandered back to his room, which hadn't changed at all, and collapsed onto the bed. Pinned to the ceiling was an old Halo poster. How long had it been there? He barely remembered putting it up there, standing on his bed, his tiptoes, and jumping up to push the pins into the ceiling. Now, he could lay his hand flat on the ceiling if he just stood on his bed. If he jumped, he'd hit the ceiling.

Hiccup groaned into his hands. Having Astrid here felt so…weird. His two worlds were colliding, the one he'd tried so hard to escape from and the one that had somehow managed to engulf him, and he didn't know what was going to come from it.

X

Astrid set her bag on the dresser. The way Hiccup had talked about his family and home she'd halfway expected Berk to be a shack-town that smelled like fish and sweaty seamen, but it was not that at all. It was a fishing town, she'd saw the docks and the boats, but Berk was…adorable, and quaint, and everything a small down should be.

When Stoick drove by, everyone that saw him waved, old and young, and it was so…heartwarming. How could Hiccup dislike such a nice place? And his house! It was a log cabin mansion! It wasn't made of the plastic and dry wall of the modern era, but of sturdy logs and brick. She would love to have lived here.

Astrid washed her face and changed out of her travel sweats and into jeans. Hiccup's family was one to impress, but not too much, as to seem pompous. She rebraided her hair and went to rejoin Hiccup. The hall was empty, however, and she could hear the distant mumble downstairs. Curiosity fired in her gut and she tiptoed down the hall. She gently peeked into the doors, finding a closet, a closet, and a room that could only be Hiccup's. There was an old computer laying on the floor that looked like it had been painstakingly taken apart and examined. A halo poster was on the ceiling above the bed. Yup. Hiccup.

She shouldn't, but curiosity overtook her. She peered down the hall, both ways, and there was no sign of anyone. She tiptoed into his room, knelt by the bed and peeked underneath. It was lined with old shoeboxes. Pulling one out, she gingerly lifted the top, fully anticipating what fiendish boy-secrets were hiding inside.

What was it?

She bit her lip, holding in it, and…Pokemon cards? Astrid sighed. That wasn't was she was hoping for. She shifted through the box, but there was no hidden porn stash underneath, no shameful toys, nothing but colorful pokemon cards.

"What are you doing?"

Astrid jumped, spun around, and fell against the bedpost. Hiccup was standing in the doorway, eyebrow raised.

"I…was…" she swallowed, "Snooping."

"I can see that." Hiccup said. He stepped inside. "For what?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," Astrid shrugged, trying to keep her cool, "Porn, toys, dirty secrets you don't want me to know about,"

Hiccup smirked, shrugged, and shuffled his feet. "I don't have any of those,"

"You don't have a porn stash?"

"Not really," Hiccup shrugged.

"But you're a boy…"

"Yeah," Hiccup tensed. "But I also had the internet."

"Ah," Astrid nodded.

"So…" Hiccup knelt down and closed the lid on the shoebox and pushed it back under the bed. "I was really into Pokemon."

"I'd hope so, or all those cards won't make sense," Astrid smirked.

Hiccup was about to stand up when she pulled him back down to the floor. He fell with a hump.

"What?" Hiccup asked, looking a big confronted.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Astrid asked, wrapping her arm around his. "You seem down."

"I'm fine," Hiccup shrugged. "I mean, I would rather this entire thing be done with."

Astrid snaked her arms around his middle, leaned onto him, and rested her cheek against his. "It'll be fine, babe,"

He tentatively put his arm around her waist. She nosed him and smiled as she kissed his cheek. He looked so…sweet when he was depressed, his self-consciousness gave him a puppy face, and she wanted to keep him like that forever, but she wanted to make him happy, to fix his wrongs, to hold him until it all went away. It was a complex.

She stroked his hair and twirled her finger on a lock above his ear. She kissed him again, gently pushing his chin toward hers to kiss his lips, and they hadn't been connected but a few moments before Stoick's booming call rattled the windows.

"I'm going into town to pick up a pizza," Stoick called. "I'll be back in fifteen, don't burn the house down!"

"Okay," Hiccup called back, a little breathless.

There were heavy footsteps on the first floor, and then a door slammed, and then the roar of a truck pulling away from the house.

"Is he gone?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup stood up and went to the window. He pointed, although she couldn't see, "Yup, there he goes."

"And he gave us fifteen minutes?" Astrid asked, clawing up onto the bed, posing so that her rear was jutting into the air. "Alone?"

"I guess so," Hiccup said, still looking out the window. He glanced back to her, and his brows shot up, "What, here? Right now?"

"Why not?" Astrid stretched, purposefully pulling her shirt tight across her chest, and rolled slowly onto her bed and dangled her head off the side, so that Hiccup was upside down.

"I-I don't know," Hiccup shuffled, "I mean, it's just,"

"You've never dreamed of having sex in your bedroom?"

Hiccup blushed and reached for his elbow.

"Come on, time's wasting," Astrid smiled. She reached out for him, holding her hand open, and waited a moment before he slid his hand into hers.

He jumped onto the bed, snaked his arms around her, and muffled her laughter with his lips. She wormed her hands underneath his shirt as his teeth teased her neck. A poke in the thigh made her reach for the button of his jeans.

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Hiccup collapsed onto the bed beside her. A light sweat tickled his chest. Astrid curled into his side and placed a hand on his stomach, and even right after release, her touch sent fire through his skin. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it tight. A sigh left her lips and warmed his neck. How could this girl make him feel like this? Like everything in the world was just fine?

The garage door rumbled and Hiccup shot into a sitting position. "Dad's back,"

Hiccup jumped from his bed and raced to his discarded boxers and pulled them up over his legs.

"What?" Astrid sat up and blinked at him.

"My dad is back!" Hiccup whispered, and tossed her underwear at her.

She caught them and slowly dragged herself out of bed. They dressed quickly, and Hiccup had just pulled his shirt over his chest when Stoick called up the stairs. He glanced quickly at Astrid. She was still pantless and took her time fastening her bra.

"Hurry up," Hiccup picked her jeans up from the floor and held them out to her.

Astrid sighed, and stuffed her legs back into her jeans. "Do you think he's going to come barging in here again? You'd think he'd learned from last time."

Hiccup's face went a deep red.

"Oh, come on, it's done, we can joke about it now."

"There is nothing funny about that."

Both of them, fully dressed, meandered downstairs. Stoick was standing around the counter with three plates and an open pizza box. There was a redness in his cheeks that Hiccup hoped had everything to do with the cold.

X

That evening, the house filled gradually, with guests that were more than eager to meet Hiccup's new girlfriend. The first was a large boisterous man with a blonde beard. Upon his entrance, the entire house boomed with his own version of Deck the Halls.

"Stoick, there you are," he sang into the song, "I brought my mom's infamous potato salad, straight from the grocery store."

"Ah, thank you Gobber, you know I love you mother cooking," Stoick laughed as he took the store-bought salad and set it in the fridge until dinner.

Gobber's bright eyes turned on Hiccup and Astrid, who had been sitting at the counter, and his great arms whisked open and a warm smile spread his lips and uneven teeth poked through. He picked Hiccup up in a bear hug and set him back down on the stool.

"It's been lonely here without you, Hiccup," Gobber said as he patted him on the shoulder, each thump tilting Hiccup dangerously. "And this lovely lady must be your new friend?"

"Yes, Gobber, this is Astrid." Hiccup said quickly.

"Astrid, that is a lovely name, quite fitting," Gobber forwent the handshake that Astrid had prepared and took her into the same bear hug that had squeezed the air out of Hiccup. "It is great to meet you,"

"You too, Gobber," Astrid said, regaining her lost breath.

"It's about time someone snatched this lad up," Gobber leaned onto the counter, and winked, "He's quite the catch,"

"Thank you, Gobber," Hiccup said quickly.

Astrid moved her hand onto his knee, where his fingers were tense, and squeezed it. He gave her a pitiful smile in return.

The night came quickly and the snow blew in, gathering on the windowsills, and pit-patting on the glass. With the snow, came more dinner guests, enough to fill Stoick's large table, each consecutively covered in more snow. Among them were a few of Stoick's business friends, their spouses, and Spitlout and his son, Snotlout.

After the third person asked if Astrid was Hiccup's new girlfriend from California, she leaned in to him and whispered, "How do they all know about me?"

"It's a Berk thing. My dad probably told everyone. You probably had your own article in the paper." Hiccup shrugged.

Astrid frowned. Hiccup looked about as enthused about dinner as he did about the dentist. She nudged him, but it did very little. The empty space in front of her was quickly taken by Snotlout. His wide face was twisted in an arrogant smirk.

"So, you must be Astrid," Snotlout leaned in too close. His breath was hot and smelled like feet. Astrid flinched away, but it didn't seem to bother him. "I'm Snotlout, but I'm sure you've heard all about me."

"Uh, no." Astrid crossed her arms when his eyes did a prolonged up-down.

"What?" Snotlout looked almost hurt, but even more surprised, "Hiccup didn't tell you about me?"

"No, fortunately, Snotlout, I didn't." Hiccup grumbled.

"Snotlout?" Astrid raised a brow. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It's a family name," Snotlout said quickly. "My great, great, great grandfather Snotlout. He…conquered villages and tamed seas!"

"Yeah, I'm sure he did." Astrid said flatly.

Snotlout twiddled his fingers and shuffled, before quickly spitting out, "Did Hiccup tell you how he got his nickname?"

"Yes, yes, she knows that story," Hiccup quickly cut in, and pushed Astrid out of Snotlout's immediate range. He fumed, but was shuffled away by Gobber.

"Is there more to it?" Astrid whispered.

"No, but he thinks there is," Hiccup groaned.

Astrid glanced over her shoulder and saw Snotlout wink at her. He pointed downward.

"Oh, is he going to try and tell me it stands for your dick?" Astrid smirked.

Hiccup went red.

"Hiccup, I think we're passed that stage." Astrid nudged him.

Hiccup's red cheeks went even redder.

"Alright," Stoick boomed over the room, "Dinner is ready,"

The dinning table was full of people and food. Astrid sat beside Hiccup, and Snotlout made a point to sit on her other side. The prayer said, the food passed, and Hiccup tensed as the conversation drifted to him.

"So how is Missouri?" Spitlout, Snotlout's equally obnoxious father, asked. He had the same arrogant smirk that his son wore.

"Cold." Hiccup shrugged.

"Stoick here tells us that you're going to school," Gobber spoke over whatever was about to come out of Snotlout's mouth.

"Uh, yeah," Hiccup nodded.

"What are you going into?"

Hiccup swallowed, "Computers."

There was a resounding agreement around the table. Astrid reached for Hiccup's hand.

"So I guess that means you're leaving pretty soon then?" Gobber asked.

"Yeah, we're only staying for the holidays," Hiccup nodded.

"Wait, so you're like going to school," Snotlout laughed.

"What?" Hiccup shrugged.

"Is Missouri like your Hogwarts?" Snotlout laughed, "That makes you Harry Potter."

Hiccup sighed, and glanced at Astrid, who held a finger over her lips to hid her smile. She swallowed under his stare and quickly added, "You know that makes you Dudley."

"Who's that?" Snotlout's humor vanished.

Astrid smiled wider and gripped Hiccup's hand.

Dinner wound on, forkful at a time, and the conversation went on. The meal ended and dessert was passed around and one by one the guests left into the blizzard. Astrid tapped Hiccup on the knee and excused herself for a bathroom break.

She jogged up the stairs and took a moment of relief for the quiet of the hallway. She stretched her arms and bent down to stretch her back, and was enjoying the release in her muscles, but her peace was rudely brought to an end with a cartoon-wolf whistle. Whipping around, she saw Snotlout standing at the top of the stairs.

"So, between you and me, how much is he paying you?"

"Excuse me?" Astrid snapped.

Snotlout laughed, "Seriously, do you expect me to believe that Hiccup, Hiccup, could swig a ten like you? I mean, there is no way that an ass like that could be honestly interested in a twig like Hiccup."

Astrid scoffed.

Snotlout stepped closer, "But, come on, how much? Because I can totally double it."

"What?"

"Come on, I'll show you how a real man treats a woman,"

"Really? Because you're doing such a fine fucking job," Astrid snapped.

"Oh, I like my woman a little spicy," Snotlout brought his shoulders up to his ears and pretended to shiver.

Astrid held her fists back, clenching her fingers into her palm, ready to break his nose, when someone else climbed the stairs.

"There you are," Gobber said gladly, "Come one now, we're missing the party!"

Astrid sighed, unclenching her fist, as Snotlout retreated back down the stairs. Gobber glanced back at her and she mouthed a grateful thanks.

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