The Confession

The next week was troubling to say the least for the princess of Dunbroch. The realization of her feelings for Hiccup suddenly made her hyper aware of him. His smile, his touch, his smell, his eyes, everything seemed to draw her attention. Unsure of what to do Merida took to avoiding him.

Which was difficult since Hiccup had been trying to spend more time with her after having neglected her. Merida only found it troubling, and very sweet at the same time. And when Hiccup would bring Fiona to the castle Merida would all but disappear. Hoping to avoid seeing them kiss or holding hands and wishing it were herself.

She didn't know what to do. Should she tell him? But then what? What if he didn't feel the same? What if he rejected her? And even then…it just felt wrong to do it when he was with Fiona. Because all in all the lass was nice.

So Merida suffered in silence.

One day she went outside to sit with Toothless and Sharpshot as they ate. She watched as they gobbled down their fish and thought about what she should do.

"Toothless," Merida said softly to get the dragon's attention. The dragon stopped eating and looked up at her with inquisitive eyes. He crooned and motioned with his head to let her know she had his attention. "Do ye like me more than Fiona?" she asked.

Toothless cocked his head to the side. While he certainly did like the new female his master had been spending so much time with lately he had a soft spot for the princess and held her dear to his heart. With a soft warble he came close and nuzzled her cheek with his. Merida smiled, feeling a little lighter.

With a chirp Sharpshot flew to her opposite shoulder and gave her a lick. She smiled wider and chuckled, feeling a light victory for no real reason.

Hik, Hik, Hik, Hik, Hik, Hik

Merida's eyes snapped open as she heard the familiar sound. "Toothless NO!" but it was too late as a slimy barfed up fish fell into her lap. An attempt from Toothless to make her feel better.

"YE HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Merida walked thought the castle on her way to the stables. She'd changed her dress after Toothless barfed up a fish onto hers. She was feeling slightly better. As she walked outside and came within sight of the stable something caught her eye that suddenly darkened her mood.

It was Fiona. And she was petting and feeding Angus.

Normally, Merida wouldn't mind someone giving Angus a light pat. He enjoyed attention and liked being given the occasional apple. But…it was this girl. Narrowing her eyes she stomped toward her and Angus.

As she got closer to them, Fiona took notice of her and smiled warmly at her. "Hello Merida, wonderful day isn't it. How are-."

"Who said you could touch my horse?" Merida said sharply. Fiona flinched at the harshness of her tone and pulled her hand away.

"My apologies Princess. I was just waiting on Hiccup and—,"

"And you just decided it was alright to touch and feed Angus without permission?"

Fiona fidgeted nervously. "I meant no harm Princess…I just…excuse me," she said as she ducked her head and scurried off.

Merida watched her go with an angry stare. Served her right. Looking back at Angus, she was met with a confused expression.

"What? Don't give me that look," she shot back at him. Then she mounted and took Angus for a ride, hoping to vent her frustrations.

For the next few days, Hiccup hadn't brought Fiona to the castle on is days off. People were a little confused by this since that was what he normally did. Merida felt a little guilty for speaking to Fiona the way she had. She contemplated apologizing.

As Merida walked around the castle she came to Toothless and Sharpshot. They chirped and huffed at her in greeting. She smiled and came over the give them a scratching when someone cut in.

"Who said you could touch my dragons?" came a familiar, albeit hard, voice. Merida turned to see Hiccup standing there, giving her a steely look with his arms crossed over his chest.

Merida raised an eyebrow at him. "Something wrong Hiccup?"

He came over to her before stepping in front of Toothless and Sharpshot. "Oh nothing, just wondering why you thought you could touch my dragon without my permission?" he said keeping his face neutral.

Merida sighed as she guessed what this was about. She opened her mouth to speak when Hiccup cut her off. "What's with you lately Merida? You avoid me, you go crazy after losing at archery, and then you snap at Fiona for touching Angus. You don't normally care if someone pets him, it's not like she was gonna steal him."

Merida narrowed her eyes at him. "What's with me lately? What's with you? You barely spend any time with me. Your always out with Fiona Ah hardly ever see ye," she shot back at him.

"Yeah, and I've been TRYING to make up for that. But, you've been avoiding me like the plague. You don't think I haven't noticed that?"

"Well you seem to be too interested in your new lass to even bother with the likes of me," Merida replied harshly.

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What do you have against Fiona?"

"Ah have nothing against her. Or on her apparently," Merida muttered bitterly as she turned away from him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah get it. She has beautiful blonde hair like golden silk. Her figure is like an hourglass and her bosoms like the rolling mountains," Merida spat. She couldn't stop herself. It was all starting to come out now. Her jealousy, her bitterness, all directed at what she couldn't help but feel Fiona had taken from her.

"Huh?" Hiccup said in utter confusion. "What the Hel are you talking about Mer?" Hiccup asked as he ran a hand though his hair.

"Nothing," Merida said as she took a step to walk away. But suddenly her arm was firmly grasped by Hiccup, keeping her from retreating. "Let go of me Hiccup!" she snarled as she tried to rip her arm free. Unfortunately, Hiccup was much stronger than her.

"Not until I get a straight answer. What do you have against Fiona?" Hiccup demanded.

"Ah can't tell ye. Now let me go!" Merida shouted as she tried clawing at his hand.

"You're lying. Did she say something to you? Did she do something to you? If she did just tell me," Hiccup insisted.

"No, it's nothing like that," Merida said in frustration as she desperately tried to get free. She felt like a trapped animal. One who would do anything to get free. She wasn't ready for this.

"You're my best friend Mer. If she did something to upset you I wanna know. Now just tell me what did she—."

"IT'S BECAUSE SHE HAS YOU OK!" Merida suddenly screamed at him. Hiccup's eyes went wide in surprise as he released her. Merida took a step away and lowered her head. She couldn't look him in the eyes as she rubbed her arm.

"What?" was all Hiccup could get out.

"Ah don't ken when it happened Hiccup. But…my feelings for you changed," Merida whispered softly. She turned around to face him and kept her gaze on the ground shyly. "Ah like ye. As something more than a friend."

It was finally out there. Now she just waited for his reaction. Awkward silence ensued for what seemed like eternity. The silence was deafening and heavy between them. Until Hiccup finally overcame his shock, and concluded that what he'd heard had not been some kind of hallucination.

"Oh," he choked out. He saw Merida flush red as she kept her gaze trained on the ground. He rubbed the back of his head as he contemplated how to respond.

"Well…uhm…oh boy…" Hiccup said fidgeting with nervousness. Taking a breath through the nose, he steeled himself for what he was about to say.

"I like you too Merida."

Merida blinked in surprise before lifting her head to look at him. Her eyes were wide in shock. She almost didn't believe him, but his eyes indicted he wasn't lying. But…

"Ye do?" she asked hesitantly. She remained motionless and held her breath until, with a nod, he confirmed what he'd said. A warm feeling spread throughout Merida's body. She blushed beet red and suddenly a smile split her face. But then it vanished as something occurred to her.

"But…if ye like me, why are you with Fiona then?" she asked.

Hiccup sighed and took a breath. "Because…well…you and I can't be together."

"What? Why not?"

"Because of what we are."

"Because I'm a scot and you're a Viking?" Merida asked as she cocked her head to the side.

"It's not because you're a Scot Merida. It that you're a Scottish princess, and I'm a Viking," he tried to explain. When he only saw her raise an eyebrow he released a sigh. He rubbed his eyes as she tried to find the right words. "I have nothing to offer you Merida. And besides, your parents have let me stay here out of the kindness of their hearts. It would be wrong for me to see you in any other way."

"But Hiccup, Ah don't care. Ah like you. For you. And ye like me…for just being me. Can't we at least try," she pleaded. Surely they could make her parents and everyone understand. Surely between the two of them…

"No Merida. We can't," Hiccup said with an air of finality. Then he turned away from her.

"I'm sorry."

Merida stood there as pain lanced through the chest. And for the first time in her life, Merida understood what it meant to have a broken heart. She'd never hated being a princess more than she did now. Because all it felt like was a pair of shackles.

Tears threatened to burst free, and she couldn't show them in front of Hiccup. So she whirled around and tore off. Keeping her head down as she ran towards the stables.

Toothless watched her run away and crooned at Hiccup with worry. He glanced over his shoulder and was hit with a wave of guilt. He wished he hadn't needed to hurt her like he did. But it was better this way.

"I did the right thing," he told himself.

"I did the right thing."

He repeated that over and over. Hoping and praying that he'd believe it himself.

New chapter. Sorry for the wait.