Chapter Three: When She Hates the Beach

He ignored her glares as he placed the bags beside the banana lounge that he'd set up for her and the beach umbrella. Ash lazily picked her up and set her on the chair. "Stop pouting."

She hit his arm. "I told you that I didn't want to come."

"And I told you that I wouldn't go with your idiot cousin and Tuff when Fish isn't there if you didn't come too!"

"And I thought I made it clear that you could shove it up your-"

He placed a hand over her mouth. "Language, missy," he looked over to a family nearby with their children, "there's kids here you know."

With a little sigh, she tilted her straw fedora to cover her eyes and rolled away from him. Ash laughed softly and sat down on the edge of the chair, patting her leg. She hit it away and he sighed, falling backwards on top of her. Hiccup started swatting at him viciously and he fended her off, eventually grabbing her by the wrists. Looking at her, fedora no longer covering her eyes, he smiled and trapped her wrists in one hand, tugging on her left braid with the other.

"Ash."

"What?"

"Go and swim or whatever; I want to get this over and done with."

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Okay."

Throwing his shirt over his head, he placed it into one of the bags, smiling at his girlfriend's watchful eyes.

"Done staring yet?"

"Nope."

With a little laugh, he stood up and took barely a few steps before he felt a hand on his arm. Looking back he found her holding up a bottle of sunscreen. "Forgetting something?"

He sat back down and heard her squirting some into her hands before he felt her hands on his back, the cool substance almost making him shiver. But he just sat and let her lather sunscreen onto his back, her carefully hands not missing a spot. It was quite enjoyable to be honest.

Her hands went over his shoulders -a spot her knew from experience that he always missed himself- and gently rubbed the sun lotion into his lightly tanned skin.

"You haven't done my lower back."

"You're doing that yourself," she patted his sunscreen lathered skin and he heard the rustle of her lying down.

He smirked. "Wouldn't be able to keep your hands off me if you did, aye?"

"So full of yourself," she muttered.

Smirk fading, he covered the rest of himself with sunscreen, struggling with his face. A little sigh sounded from Hiccup and she sat up again with a little roll of her eyes and gently spread the sunscreen evenly over his face and pushing his fringe back to rub some into his forehead.

"You're hopeless," she murmured, carefully squeezing more sunscreen into her hand and placing it on his neck, "you'd be burnt to a crisp if I wasn't here."

"Which is why it's good that you are," Ash told her softly, appreciating her gentle hands.

Hiccup pressed a quick kiss to his nose before she smiled. "Will I get to sleep this time?"

"Maybe; depends if I need any more assistance from my lovely girlfriend."

She grinned more widely and fell back into the chair. "Just go and socialise already."

"Fine by me."

He stood up and walked down the beach, the hot sand shuffling under his feet as he approached the water. Ash felt some stares, but ignored them, already used to this sort of attention.

When his toes touched the water he smiled at the coolness and started to wade into the sea until it reached his waist. Then something grabbed his foot and dragged him in. Surprised he looked at the face of whoever had dragged him down, the find Snotlout grinning like a maniac under water. He kicked him lightly before he resurfaced only to be jumped on by a nutty twin. A sound of surprise escaped him as he was tackled back underwater, pushing the idiot off of him and pushing himself above water again.

Snot and Tuff resurfaced and he hit them both on the head. "What the heck is wrong with you guys?"

"You took forever; we got bored."

Sighing, he knelt down in the water, so it brushed his shoulders. "Has anyone ever told you how dumb you are Tuff?"

"Yes on numerous occasions."

Ash and Snot stared at him strangely. "I know big words!"

"Still weird…" Snot muttered, "Anyhow… what took you so long?"

"Hiccup didn't want me to get burnt, so she made me put sunscreen on."

They exchanged looks, before they smirked. His blood ran cold.

"So that's what took you so long…"

"No wonder…" Snot had a perverted grin on his face.

His ran a hand over his burning face. "It's not like that you pervs; she just helped me with my back-"

"Ooh!" they shrilled and he grimaced.

"Sounds spicy doesn't it Tuff?"

"Oh my god," he rubbed between his eyebrows.

"Yes indeed my friend!"

"I'm leaving," he started wading away, his idiotic friends calling out absurd things that made his face burn more.

"Ash-" Snotlout stopped and he turned to find that they were staring at a couple of girls who were splashing each other nearby.

With a little sigh, he went back to them and grabbed their arms dragging them towards them.

"What are you doing?!" Tuff hissed.

"I'm being your wingman and helping you get girls; now shut up!"

When they got closer the two girls smiled at them, but Ash could already feel that their eyes were on him. This was either going to go really well or really badly.

"Hey, my friends here were wondering what your names are."

"Well I'm Julie and this is Lila," the tallest of the two said, eyeing him carefully.

Admittedly they were both beautiful. Not like Hiccup, but beautiful either way.

Certainly not his type either.

"I'm Scott," Snotlout grinned widely and offered Lila- the shorter one- his hand. She shook it, but her eyes were still drifting over to Ash.

"I'm Tom," Tuff's grin was obnoxious and stupid, but Julie was polite enough to shake his hand anyway.

"And you're name, hun?"

He felt his body stiffen slightly at the impromptu nickname. Only Hiccup got to do that.

"Ash."

"What a," she paused and stared him up and down, "nice name."

Ash took a small step back and gestured in the smallest of motions for his friends –who were glaring at him- to converse. They attempted to talk to the girls, but all they seemed to want to do was ask Ash about himself. It was frustrating.

He almost groaned, but grabbed his friends by their upper arms and offered Julia and Lila a small smile.

"Could you give us a moment?"

They nodded and he dragged them a dozen or so metres away. "This isn't working at all…"

"Says you! They're both tripping all over you!" Snotlout hissed, glancing their way for a moment.

"Like you were Channing Tatum!"

Tuffnut earnt a look for that, one of which made them question his taste in movies, but Ash bit back anyway.

"Like I want them to! I have Hiccup!" he hissed back.

They looked like they were about to say something else, but then they stopped and nodded. Anyone with eyes knew how much Ash loved Hiccup. Even someone without eyes could tell just from the way that they talk to each other. It was unquestionable.

Then he saw Tuff's eyes widen as did Snot's when he was nudged, both looking at something behind him. He frowned and turned, eyes widening at the sight.

It was Hiccup. Angrily and clumsily wading into the water towards the girls, her normal prosthetic swapped for a water proof one. And she was wearing a bikini.

It was modest of course (Hiccup wasn't one for flaunting), but still suited her to a t with the red rose pattern on black. And her short braids sat cutely on her shoulders; her fedora no longer perched on her pretty little head. He was trying not to self-combust.

And then he knew what was happening from that frown on her face and the sharp scowl that it was part of. His little Hiccup was jealous. A little smile made its way onto his face as he crossed his arms and watched.

"Excuse me," her voice was oddly calm, "but why were you bothering Ash?"

"Bothering?" Julie's laugh was far too cold for that of such a seemingly cheery person, "And who are you to say that we were 'bothering' him? Little sister maybe? Friend-zoned girl? Oh! He's patient!"

That made him snap. His patient? He saw how they glanced down at her prosthetic with such demean that it made him want to strangle something. Preferably their necks.

Even Tuff and Snot were grinding their teeth together.

Without another thought, he strode back over and wrapped her arms securely around her waist. They put on fake smiles, but he kept his face cold and distant.

"No she is not my… patient," he spat, "this is my girlfriend."

Julie and Lila's eyes widened, faces pink. "We didn't mean it offens-"

"You did!" Snotlout stood to Hiccup's other side. "That's my cousin there that you're insulting you little-"

Hiccup gently touched her cousin's arm and Ash couldn't help but admire her calmness. "It's okay."

"It's not…" Ash said softly.

She offered him a smile. "Worse has happened-"

"WHAT?!" all three of the boys yelled, earning a few worried looks from other people swimming about.

"How many times has this happened?!" Snotlout hissed before Ash could beat him to it.

Her hesitance made them all scowl and he decided it was best to pick her up and start wading back to the beach. Their friends followed and the girls called after them, asking if they still wanted to go for ice cream.

"We don't even consider going anywhere with girls who insult our friends like that! Got it?" Tuff said harshly and they nodded.

As they wandered back to the beach, Hiccup started to fidget in his arms, Tuff and Snot offered to go get ice cream.

"Sure."

"Flavours?" Tuff pretended to hold a notepad and pencil, Snotlout miming a moustache for him.

He chuckled. "Chocolate chip and strawberry."

"Okay! See you in fifteen!"

"See ya!"

Humming, he continued walking to where their stuff was.

"Put me down, Ash!"

He shook his head. "Nope! Anyway, I know for a fact that you haven't put on any sunscreen!"

She froze and he gazed down at her to find her cheeks pink. "Ash…"

"Come on, you helped me!"

When he set her down on the edge, she hit his arm. "No!"

"You can't do your back," he said bluntly, "and your back always hurts the most when you're burnt, I thought a smarty pants like you would know that."

She sighed. "Fine."

Ash felt himself grinning triumphantly as he took the sunscreen out and sat behind Hiccup, squirting some sunscreen into his hand. He placed his hand on her back and started spreading it, massaging the lotion onto her skin.

"You know… you used to love the beach. You never told me why you don't anymore…"

"Well," he spread some sunscreen around the edges of the thick band that held the bikini together, careful to not miss a spot, "for one I can't swim like I used to; it's different now."

He shook his head. "That's not the only reason."

"How do you know that it's not the only reason?"

"Because I can tell okay? We've been dating for seven months now? I've gotten pretty good at reading you."

She sighed and turned to him, making him pause in his ministrations. Cheeks a sweet pink –the sort that he wanted to kiss-, Hiccup took a deep breathe before she looked up at him.

"Because I don't like sitting back and watching girls obsess over you and your stupid abs!"

Ash's lips quirked up and he wrapped an arm around her waist tugging her closer. "Stupid?"

"That's all you get out of that?" she muttered.

"Nope," he pulled her close enough that there were only a few centimetres between their lips, "I specifically heard that you don't like sharing and that you get as jealous as I do."

Hiccup laughed, her laugh wafting over his lips due to their closeness. "No one gets as jealous as you do, Ash."

He tugged her slightly closer. "Are you one hundred percent sure, sweetheart?"

"Maybe not…" she murmured.

Moving in those last few centimetres, she pressed her lips against his and he smiled into the kiss. This was the sort of kiss that he waited on sometimes. Like when she was angry or frustrated she'd kiss him like this. Firm and the slightest bit forceful. And he lived for them. As much as he did for the other sorts that she gave him. Like the lazy butterfly kisses that she gave him when she was sleepy. Or those quick goodbye pecks. Even the ones that she gave when she missed him to bits.

He loved all of them.

They broke away for air and he chuckled slightly. "Not as jealous as me, huh?"

"Shut up," she breathed out, pressing another quick kiss to his lips.

Suddenly Hiccup buried her face into his chest and he frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

"Did anyone see that?"

He sighed. "You need to get used to PDA, Hiccup."

"I am! Just not the kissing sort…"

Ash pressed a kiss to her forehead and she curled into him. "You know Ash… you're sort of a dork."

"I'm your dork though."

"Good," she leant up slightly to press a kiss to his jaw, only for him -with all his cheek- to tilt his head down to meet her lips.

"ASH!" Hiccup pushed herself out of his arms and punched his chest.

He grabbed her hand and held it to where she had punched hm. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

"You could help it."

"Probably."

She scowled and tried to tug her hand out of his grasp.

He leant closer to her again, keeping a firm grip on her hand. "You know… you hit me a lot, but you never kiss it better."

"Why would I kiss it better?"

"Because it hurts!" he said softly, fiddling with the fingers that he had in his possession.

"B-but I p-punch you in t-the chest!"

Ash smirked. "As long as I'm not a girl I don't see the problem."

Her face reddened even more. "I'm not kissing your chest!"

"It's not that ba-"

She yanked her hand out of his grasp and pushed him away.

"I was joking you know," he murmured, gently resting his hand on her face.

"I figured… doesn't make it any easier though."

He frowned as she looked up and managed a small smile. She was always surprising him.

With a slight mischievous quirk of her lips she turned back around, so her back was facing him. "Are you going to finish or…?

Ash nodded before almost hitting himself and saying, "Yeah…"

"You nodded didn't you?"

"No…"

She laughed softly, her shoulders shaking gently. He sighed and gently grabbed her shoulders. "Stay still."

"Okay."

Sunscreen now on his hand he started at her neck, over her dorsum to the band that went around her back. His brow furrowed in a way that he knew made him look like he was doing the hardest thing in his life. Rethinking it, it probably was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. When he stopped, she turned to look at him.

"You didn't do my lower back," she teased softly.

"Dangerous territory," he muttered.

Hiccup broke into her sweet laughter and took the bottle of sunscreen from beside him. He busied himself with his phone as she covered herself in sunscreen; it was safest not to look.

"Did I miss anywhere?" she asked, standing up and checking herself.

"Back of thighs?"

"Yep."

"Behind knees?"

"Yep."

"Stomach?"

"Yep."

"Cleavage?"

"Ye- Ash!"

He chuckled. "Lower back?"

She glared at him, but nodded, sitting back down. "You're all good then, sweetheart."

Hiccup frowned to herself and looked like she got lost in thought. He cocked an eyebrow and nudged her with his knee.

"What're you thinking about?"

"When you first starting calling me 'sweetheart'… when was it again?"

Ash frowned for a second before an easy smile made its way onto his face. "It was about a month or two before I first kissed you."

"Oh yeah! And everyone used to tease us about it, because you'd always joke about it and let it slip all the time!"

"They gave us so much shit for it."

She nodded in agreement.

Gaze travelling, she was staring at his hair. Self-consciously he ran a hand through his hair and Hiccup's cheeks went the lightest shade of pink. She stood up and moved to sit behind him on the banana lounge. He turned to find her grabbing a towel from one of the bags and she started ruffling his hair with it.

"Your hair's still wet," she murmured.

He closed his eyes and let her dry off his hair, the towel massaging his scalp sweetly. She was carefully and attentive with every slight ruffle of the towel. When she was content, she ran her hands through his hair to fix it.

"Done."

Turning, Ash smiled at her. "My turn."

She frowned, lifting a hand to her hair. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her in her spot, "I just like your hair."

"You do have a hair fetish…" she admitted.

"Oi! Like you don't!"

Hiccup laughed as he took the hairbands out of her hair and undid her braids. He ran his hands through the braid induced waves and tugging at them and twirling them around his finger.

Giggling the entire time, she seemed to be trying to a keep her laughter to a minimum. But Ash couldn't stand the thought of her refraining from laughing and started tickling the back of her neck. Shrieking, she fell of the banana lounge and onto the sand. He peered over the edge to see her glaring up at him.

"You're mean."

"I'm not… I just couldn't stand you containing your beautiful laughter in that pretty little mouth of yours."

She shook her head. "Your sweet talk is getting worse."

"Damn; I'm losing my touch."

"Poor little thing," Hiccup said drily as she stood up and brushed the sand off her skin, before sitting on the lounge again.

He pouted and she pushed his face in the other direction. "You're such a five year old."

"Wouldn't that make you a paedophile?"

"… I take that back."

Laughing, Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, so her back was against his chest. She made noises of protest and tried to squirm out of his hold, but he tightened his hold on her.

"I'm not letting you go."

"I figured," he could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

With a slight grin, he grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers. They fit perfectly.

"You know… I love how our hands fit together."

"Hmm?" she hummed in interest.

"Like a puzzle piece. And your hands are all warm and petite… it's just nice you know?"

She turned her head so that he could see her smile. "Yeah… I do know."

Suddenly the sound of something like elephants thundering towards them made them lift their heads. The ground was practically quaking.

"We're back!" Snotlout yelled, running with Tuff, holding an ice cream in each hand.

He smiled at them as they halted in front of them breathing heavily. "Took you long enough."

"It was a long line…"

"And there were pretty girls everywhere," Hiccup said in a gruffer voice, trying to mimic Tuff.

Ash snickered as their faces grew slightly pink.

"Do you want your ice creams or not?"

"Yes we want them!" Ash almost shouted. He needed his chocolate chip ice cream.

His girlfriend patted his arm and lifted her hand. "Can we have them before he starts rampaging?"

"Sure," Tuff passed her the chocolate chip and the strawberry ice cream.

He almost snatched it out of her hand and immediately started scoffing it down.

"Geez… you have issues man."

When Hiccup nodded in agreement he poked her in irritation. She jumped slightly and turned to glare at him as he put on an innocent face as he ate his ice cream.

"If you get it in my hair…" she said warningly, starting to eat her own.

"I'd hit myself before that happens."

The boys all finished their ice creams within five minutes, Hiccup barely halfway through hers.

"If you don't finish it, one of us will."

She glared them down and they backed away, Tuff and Snotlout submissively sitting down in the sand. Grinning triumphantly, she settled against Ash more comfortably, slouching lazily.

"Very lady-like."

She chuckled and straightened up slightly, still lying against his chest comfortably (not that she could move; he still had his arm firmly around her waist). Once she'd finished, she licked the rest off of her fingers and sighed in content.

An idea occurred to him and he mouthed it to Tuff and Snotlout who grinned devilish. They stood up and stretched, giving each other sidewards smirks.

"You know," Snotlout said, "I reckon that it would be a nice time for a dip wouldn't you agree, Tuff?"

"Yes I do, Snot. Do you agree Ash?"

He grinned. "I couldn't agree more."

Ash grabbed her and shot up. She shrieked from his shoulder and beat at his back. People were watching; older and middle-aged couples watching or glancing over with familiar mirth, children's eyes wide, the emos and grumps ignoring them with a bitter air. His smile widened and he ran into the water as she kept hitting him, telling him to put her down.

Now waist deep in water he respected her wish and threw her into the water like a rag doll. She squealed before going under and he patiently waited for her to resurface. When he'd waited for more than five seconds he started to worry and looked to where she had been before.

"Hic- AGH!"

He was tackled into the water by his pissed off girlfriend who kept hitting him. Pushing himself above water in order to breathe, she was on her knees with the water skimming just below his shoulders, arms crossed as she glared at him.

"I deserved that."

"Damn straight," she muttered.

Hiccup's hair sat oddly on her head in its soaked state, so he reached forward and ran his fingers through it in order to fix the strangely sitting hair. She froze and slapped his hand away.

"You don't get that privilege."

"It's a privilege?" he asked slowly.

She glared at him and he backed up slightly. "I'm sorry okay? It just seemed like I good idea at the time…"

"You're not sorry."

"Stop reading into me," he muttered.

Suddenly she smiled softly and leapt forward wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. It was quick, but when she buried her face into his neck muttering, "I hate you," he laughed and nodded wrapping his arms around her with her wet hair tickling his jaw sweetly

"You need to start saying what you mean, sweetheart."

"Oh I meant it, don't doubt me."

And he laughed, as she started to tickle his neck with her nose. She was a cheeky one that, Hiccup of his.

A/N I've finally updated! And I wrote this in two days! Between watching anime and the trouble of picking up something that you haven't touched for a month I've updated! I hope you like this! I'm not sure what I'll do for the next one or if I'll do a short oneshot of the dinner with Ash's parents, but all I can say is that I going to update before the new year! So that gives me a good two weeks! Hang in there guys!

-Blue