Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or any of its characters.

Author's Note: I probably won't be updating as often as I usually do: things are finally starting to get going. Driving school = xP

"Want to hang out at my place?" Ruffnut asked Astrid after training one day.

"No thanks," said Astrid, "I've had about enough of your brother for the rest of my life."

As a matter of fact, everyone had had enough of Ruffnut's brother for the rest of their lives: Tuffnut had driven everyone up the wall today when he had been attacked by a Terrible Terror which Hiccup had forced back into its cage by doing something funny with his shield.

The day's champion was flocked by visitors. It always took him a while to leave the arena.

Hiccup was why she couldn't hang out that night. Astrid was determined to see what he was up to.

She bid the twin goodbye and set off towards the chief's house, hoping that Stoick wasn't home. If she was going to catch Hiccup, it would be best if Stoick didn't catch her creeping around his house, which wouldn't be good with the wedding coming up.

Astrid shuddered at the thought. She had positively spat at the idea of marrying Hiccup a week before but now that he had beaten her at her only dream, she loathed him. She wanted him to be useless again. It was the only way for her to be able to do anything with her life.

Fortuitously, Stoick was not home when Astrid arrived. And even better, he had forgotten to lock the door. She pushed it open, walked in, and waited for Hiccup to return, ready to bombard him with questions which he would have to answer: Astrid had hid all the weapons upstairs and when Hiccup would come home, there would be no way for him to stand a chance. This time she had her axe. Ever since the other night with Snotlout, the black eye, the insults, compliments, and the Night Fury, Astrid never let that axe out of her sight.

Hours passed. Hiccup did not return.

He'll come back eventually, Astrid told herself, fighting the urge to yawn.

She stayed up for hours.

And Hiccup still didn't return.

(Author's Note: The following SOUNDS like something dirty happened but I assure you, this is ONLY K+! If I had wanted some of that stuff, I would have made it T.)

Astrid awoke on a soft mattress and clean sheets that did not belong to her. "Where in Valhalla-?"

Someone bumped into the doorframe and fell on the floor with a few successive "Ow!"s.

Astrid looked around and had no idea where she was, let alone her axe! "Show yourself." she said fearlessly, praying to Thor and Woden that it was not the voice it sounded like.

"Oh! Uh-ow! Uh, Astrid! Umm- ahm, uh, you're up! I, uh…"

She groaned. It was who it sounded like.

"Hic-cup?" She sighed, trying to get out of the bed, "What in Valhalla did you do to me?"

"Nothing!" said Hiccup, approaching her and doing a bad job of trying to tuck her in, "Honest!"

"It may be too dark to see you, but I can see that you are a dirty little liar!" Astrid spat at her fiancé.

Hiccup made another one of his Hiccup noises. "Ohh great," he muttered under his breath, "you try to do one nice thing for her and she thinks you're perverted. Great, Hiccup, just fantastic."

Astrid leapt from the bed in Hiccup's moment of self scorn. She found her axe and put it at his throat.

"Tell me the truth! What happened?" She demanded.

"Ohh good gods! You do one good deed and look what happens?" He muttered.

"Get to the point!" Astrid ordered.

"I didn't do ANYTHING to you!" Hiccup bellowed.

Astrid was surprised by his volume. She didn't know it was possible for him to be that loud. She was silent.

"I came home and you were asleep on my floor and I put you in bed." Hiccup said, calming down, "I swear. That's all that happened."

Astrid slowly removed the axe from his throat. She blushed. Was she really shallow enough to think that someone would want to harass her? "I shouldn't have overreacted."

"It's fine," muttered Hiccup, "I get it all the time. It's nothing unusu- Hang on, what were you doing in my house?"

"I-was looking for your father." Astrid lied, "I wanted to ask him-about the Night Fury."

"Astrid, he's away looking for the dragon's nest, remember?"

"Oh. Right." She looked at the floor. Crap! Way to look stupid in front of Hiccup! Wait- why do I-? Oh, Thor…

In a moment of silence, Hiccup whispered, "I was just trying to be a good husband."

Astrid looked up and into Hiccup's green eyes. "What?"

"I want you to realize that I'm not completely superflu-never mind. I'm sorry about what I said to you the other night… about you being a horrible wife…" He mumbled. Now he was the one staring at the floor. "I really didn't mean it. I was just frustrated. I… I wasn't thinking."

Astrid grinned at Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and embraced him.

Suddenly, the past week didn't matter. Astrid didn't care that he was better at dragon training than she was. She didn't care that he had made her feel inadequate and stupid. All that mattered was that he had apologized. Hiccup cared very much about her. Astrid was never sure how long that moment actually lasted that she held onto Hiccup and smelled a strange combination of heather, fish, and scales. She never knew if she held him in her arms for a minute or an hour, or ten seconds. Until she died, she wondered how long she felt his soft hair in her hand. But she wondered even more why she did what she did next.

She let go and punched him in the arm. "That doesn't mean I'm forgiving you for scaring me half to death and for what you said to me with the Monstrous Nightmare." She put on her façade of Viking toughness. Hiccup stared at her unfathomably. "Don't tell anyone what just happened."

Astrid picked up her axe and headed out the door. When she was all the way down the front steps she could have sworn she heard the faint voice of Hiccup say, "I will carry it to the grave."

Or maybe it was just a whistle in the wind.

Author's Note: So the plot thickens. Mwahaha!