A/N - I was feeling motivated on Thursday and I was close to updating this story, however a super rude review on another story completely turned me off. Just a reminder, folks, that while I won't tell you what to think or say, if you leave me a review, or anyone a review, be diplomatic about it. What I mean by that is, watch your wording, how you say something can make a word of difference. If you don't like something, that's fine, but don't be hateful about it. I don't care how strongly you feel about it - don't be assholes. I know that I write about things that might be sensitive to some people, but just because I do doesn't mean that I am a horrible person and condone those things in my daily life, so you finger-pointing jerks needs to step back.

But, to those of you who keeps your negative thoughts to yourself, and have been super awesome readers and reviewers, rock on.

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Chapter 25: Good Morning, Sunshine

"Hey,"

Astrid heard the sound, felt the warm breath against her cheek, but sleep convinced her to roll over. It was too comfortable to get up, just five more minutes, but the voice was followed by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Hmm…" Astrid hummed, fighting to keep the sleep, but the hand moved down her shoulder, over her waist, and landed on her hip. She stirred, blinked, and turned quickly to face her visitor, a bed-head Hiccup still in his pajamas.

"Hey," Hiccup smiled.

"Good morning," Astrid smiled. Hiccup had been leaning on the bed, over her, but as she turned onto her side he scooted in next to her, hugging her close. His lips grazed her cheek. "I missed you last night,"

"Did you?"

Astrid hummed as she nodded, "Yeah, I'm used to you being there when I sleep. Would your dad be upset if I crawled into bed with you?"

"It's best to avoid that," Hiccup sighed. His hand on her hip squeezed. "But, Dad's planning this big breakfast before the pictures, hope you're hungry,"

Astrid scooted closer to him. "Yeah, I could eat."

Stoick bellowed downstairs, greeting the Jorgensons. Astrid first thought he was being loud on purpose, but she was beginning to think he was just that loud. She was glad that Hiccup did not share his father's thunderous personality.

Hiccup sighed and headed back to his room, leaving Astrid to get up. She reluctantly got out of bed and trotted to the bathroom. She nudged the door closed, but it creaked ajar as she turned on the water in the shower. She retrieved some clothes from her suitcase and returned to the steamed bathroom.

Every year Hiccup's family took an annual holiday picture, many of which lined the downstairs hallway, along with Hiccup's school pictures, which he had purposefully shooed her away from. He complained about them, but Astrid hadn't seen why. Sure, he had gone through a gawky awkward phase, but what teenager hadn't? Honestly, he'd kept his dork-charm through them all.

She could smell the bacon waffling from downstairs, warm, homely…home. This entire place felt like a real home, with family and friends, like something out of a cheesy movie, and a part of her knew that Berk couldn't possibly be a real place. This was all just a trick, like Hiccup, and it was on her by fate, because she knew that this couldn't be hers.

Astrid had just stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel from the rack when she heard the creak. She knew that creak, it was the floorboard in front of the dresser, right in front of the bathroom door. She paused, thinking quickly of Hiccup, and a wicked smile eased across her lips.

"Miss me already?" Astrid asked, tipping her voice with as much seduction as she could, loosening the towel and exposing much of her back.

She heard a short laugh. She turned on her heel and threw open the door. Hiccup was not on the other side.

"Sure, baby," Snotlout sneered.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Astrid screamed, and before he could react, her balled fist smacked into his nose. She immediately felt it crunch underneath.

"Shit!" Snotlout stumbled backward, hands on his face, tripped over the corner of the desk, and fell with a hard thud.

"What are you doing?" Astrid screamed at him, her fist still tightly clutched. She heard the commotion downstairs and as multiple footsteps thundered up the stairs, she tightened the towel.

"What happened?" Stoick was first through the door, followed by Hiccup, and a worried looking Spitelout over his shoulder.

Astrid groaned and went back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She would explain herself when she was dressed.

"Boy, what are you doing in here?" Spitelout shouted.

Snotlout mumbled something.

"What's wrong?" Stoick said.

"Bitch broke my nose!" Snotlout shouted, his words a bit curved.

"You probably deserved it!" Stoick shouted. "Not get out. This is a ladies room. I know your father taught you better than that. Right?"

Spitelout mumbled.

Astrid hesitated, waiting for the party to migrate out of the room, before she came out. She towel-dried her hair, braided it back, and opened the bathroom door carefully. It was empty, however as the door closed behind her, Hiccup appeared in the doorway, in a green dress shirt and dark jeans.

"You okay?" he said quickly.

"Yeah," Astrid shrugged. "You look nice."

Hiccup blushed, and shuffled his feet, "Thanks."

"Is jerk-lout okay?"

Hiccup laughed, "It doesn't matter. Dad approves though, he winked at me when we were downstairs. I guess you scored some points, or something. But his mom wants him to wear makeup for the picture."

Astrid smiled, "At least I'm not in trouble."

"Not at all," Hiccup laughed. "Maybe with Spitelout, but it's more because Snotlout let a girl hit him."

Hiccup and Astrid meandered downstairs where the breakfast was set. Snotlout held a bag of ice over his nose, Spitelout looked like he'd stepped in something smelly, and Mrs. Jorgenson looked like she had just survived a wind storm. Her hair was blown back in a wild mane, at least three shades too dark for her brows, and eyeliner thick as a showgirl's. She shot Astrid a glare as they sat down, but ignored her after that, which was fine with Astrid.

Astrid sat on the couch with Toothless as the pictures were taken. The photographer set up the tripod in the living room and snapped away. The entire ordeal took less than thirty minutes. She held her lips tight at the sight of Snotlout's swollen nose, and was glad when they left.

"Ah, could you two do something for me?" Stoick asked as he cleaned up the breakfast.

"Sure, Dad, what is it?"

"I need some of those little hooks to hang lights up from, you know the ones? Why don't you go into town and pick up a few packs?" Stoick motioned toward the garage, "Take the car,"

"Really?" Hiccup raised a brow.

"Sure," Stoick grinned.

Hiccup was handed a set of keys. He cupped his hands and stared at them as if they were made of gold.

"Hm?" Astrid nudged him.

"Right, well, get your coat." he smiled.

A few minutes later, with coats and boots, Hiccup was leading Astrid into the garage.

"What's the car?" Astrid asked. She looked around the garage. There was only the truck that Stoick had picked them up in.

"Oh, it's my dad's second child." Hiccup smiled. He opened a side door and took her outside, to a small shed beside the house. "I think you'll like it,"

"Oh really?"

Hiccup's grin widened. He vanished into the shed and Astrid jogged to keep up with him. Upon entry, she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Inside was two-door, shined red, beloved sports car. The walls were lined with tools, bottles, and brushes; someone spent a lot of time in here.

"Wow," Astrid couldn't contain herself.

"I know, he never lets me drive it." Hiccup bit his lip as he opened the driver's door. He slid inside and grasped the steering wheel, looking like a nerd at a convention.

Astrid climbed into the passenger's side, and she understood why Hiccup was excited. The car was more than nice, luxurious even, with leather and spotless shine. They eased out of the shed and started down the slope towards Berk.

"We could keep going, you know," Astrid smiled as the village went by.

"If I took off in this car, my dad would hunt me down." Hiccup didn't laugh.

The snowdrifts made it difficult to park, but Hiccup found a place in a lot, and purposefully parked a little crooked.

"So where are we going?" Astrid asked as they started down the sidewalk.

"Uh, right…hook things. Hofferson's Hardware would be my fist guess." Hiccup said, pointing down the street to the nonassuming building.

"Hofferson Hardware?"

"Yeah, it's…" Hiccup started, stopped, and looked at her with wide eyes. "That's your uncle's store, isn't it? You can meet him!"

"Uh…" Astrid swallowed. "You know, I'm good. You can go in. I'll…just wait outside."

Hiccup's face fell. "What? Why not?"

Astrid stopped walking as the hardware store came closer.

"Astrid?"

"It's just…I never met my uncle, and I don't feel like making a connection. He's practically a stranger to me." Astrid stuffed her hands into her coat pockets. "He and my dad weren't really that close, either."

"But, he's family,"

"Yeah…maybe later, okay?"

Hiccup sighed, "Okay,"

X

Hiccup watched Astrid vanished into the organic store across the street and then entered the hardware store. The bell rang with the door and the warm hello echoed from the back. Finn Hofferson soon appeared.

"Afternoon, Hiccup," Finn waved at him. "Anything special you need?"

"Oh, just some hook things for some lights, I got it," Hiccup meandered through the clustered isles and quickly found them, and took two boxes. Finn was waiting at the counter.

"So, Hiccup, I hear you've found yourself a girl," Finn smiled.

"Yeah,"

"Is she nice?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. Where'd you meet?"

"Library. She goes to school there."

"Ah, that's good, too." Finn nodded.

Hiccup was eager to pay and leave. Finn was watching him, like there was something he wanted to know, but didn't have the guts to ask him bluntly. Hiccup accepted his change and quickly made for the exit, but before he reached the door, Finn spoke.

"You're a good boy, Hiccup, and you should watch out for sneaky girls. There are those out there who would take advantage of your good nature." Finn said sternly.

"Thanks for the advice," Hiccup said flatly. He left and quickly jogged across the street to where he had last seen Astrid. She was walking toward the door, bag in hand, smile on her face.

"Hey," Astrid greeted him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hiccup shrugged. "What did you buy?"

"Oh, I got some of this organic bath oil and organic soap. Sandalwood and vanilla." Astrid's smile faltered. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Hiccup sighed. "I don't understand why every adult in this town acts like their my parents, like they know what's best for me, and they take it upon themselves to tell me,"

"I think it would be nice to have so many people looking out for me," Astrid shrugged. "It's like a giant family."

Hiccup harrumphed. "It sounds nice, but it's annoying as hell."

Astrid laughed and hooked her arm into his as they started back toward the car. They had walked passed the Ingerman's pizza shop, the delicious and warm aromas leaking out onto the street, when the door to the shop opened and a voice called after them, quite eagerly, "Hiccup!"

They both stopped and turned. Standing behind them was a large blonde boy with a smile too small in proportion to his head.

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup greeted him.

So that was Fishlegs, Astrid thought. Somehow, it fit. She could see Hiccup and Fishlegs, the oddballs, the dynamic duo of the village.

"I heard you were back in town, but I haven't gotten the chance to see you!" Fishlegs shook with excitement. "My parents are out of town for the day, want to come over? I've got loads of new games!"

For the first time, Astrid felt out of place, cut out of their conversation. She stood where she had been, uncertain of what to say. Fishlegs's eyes flickered to her, and she saw the similar self-consciousness as he fidgeted.

"Oh, um, you must be…" Fishlegs started.

"Astrid," Astrid said.

"Yes, Fishlegs, this is Astrid, Astrid, this is Fishlegs,"

"So…are you two dating?"

"Yes." Hiccup half-laughed. Fishlegs ogled, but only for a moment, because Hiccup interrupted. "So, your house?"

"Oh, yes, you know, like old times," Fishlegs shrugged.

"Sure, what do you think, Astrid?" Hiccup's face was priceless as he asked. He was happy and hopeful, grinning warming at her, and she couldn't say no to him.

"Sounds like fun,"

Astrid sat in the small backseat of the car as Hiccup drove to Fishlegs's modest home in town. Inside, she lounged on the couch as the two boys played their games, laughing and talking, like two friends should. When she thought about it, she had Hiccup most of the time, where as Fishlegs and Stoick only had these few days. She could share, even if she didn't want to.

The boys played, and Astrid reclined on the couch.

"Is she asleep?" Fishlegs whispered after a while.

"Looks like it."

"Have you had sex yet?"

Astrid smiled to herself. She could almost hear Hiccup's blush in his silence.

"Yeah,"

"You have? What was it like?"

"Uh…it's nice."

Nice? He thought the sex was nice? That was it?

"That's it?" Fishlegs asked.

"I mean…I like it," Hiccup said quickly. "I just…I kind of think she's not telling me things."

"Really? Like what?"

Astrid's heart squeezed.

"It's just kind of weird, like today, I went to the hardware store and Finn told me that I was a good boy and I should watch out for girls that would take advantage of me. What does that mean?"

"I don't know,"

"Finn is Astrid's uncle, I know, small world, but it's true. They've never met and I thought that she'd want to see him, but she didn't. I ask, and she just kind of froze, like she was afraid of him or something,"

"That's weird,"

"I know, but I can't just ask her about it."

"Why not? Isn't that what relationships are for? I mean, you tell each other stuff, you listen to each other, and help each other through problems?"

Hiccup sighed.

"Oh…is it not going that well?"

"It's going fine, I think, I don't really know. It's not like I've got experience to fall back on."

"Right…see, this is just another reason why someone should write a manual for dating girls. Life would be so much easier."

Astrid remained where she was, pretending to be sleep, staring into the back of the couch, her heart in her throat.

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