So, due to popular demand I have decided to continue this story (which was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but I really, really enjoy writing it).I'm glad you've liked this little thing so far and thanks for all your kind words and feedback!

oOo

Chapter Two - First Impressions

Hiccup was fiddling with his sleeves. He picked up the phone, stared at the screen - and set it down again.

He had been repeating this exact same process for about half an hour now. Each time his finger moved to press the dialling button, his stomach made an impossible turn and his mind did a 180 with it.

He just couldn't. He was not able to just ... call her. What was he so afraid of?

"I've called people before," he mumbled and stared at the accusing numbers in front of him. "Just because it's her doesn't have to be any different."

He tried breathing in and out deeply.

"Okay, Haddock, get it together. You got this far. You asked her, she gave you her number … for whatever reason. You've got this. It's just a call. Just … call her."

He didn't.

Hiccup sighed and got up. She'd be done and have forgotten about him by the time he actually did have the courage to press a fucking button.

oOo

Astrid threw a glance at the clock. It was five pm already. Had she really been here this long? She remembered thinking, 'I should call him' at four as soon as she'd got home. Yet she hadn't. At least not yet.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath, turning on her back, staring at the screen of her phone. "If you don't call, I might never 'cause I'm such a coward."

She couldn't help but wonder what was different about it this time. She'd called him before - well, at least the fire station. At unholy hours like 2 am. So how was this different?

'You're not in a life-threatening situation, for one' a treacherous voice provided her with in her head. She huffed, turning back over, clutching the phone in her hands and pressing it against her forehead.

"I am an indepentant and strong woman who doesn't really need no man but really wants this man, and I can just pick up the phone and fucking call him."

She didn't.

oOo

Gobber had been watching Hiccup pace around the station for about twenty minutes now. The young man was muttering under his breath, phone in his hands and click-thumped around. After a while Gobber decided to clear his throat. Hiccup did not notice him.

"Hey, lad …"

Hiccup started so much he almost let his phone fall.

"I wasn't calling anyone!"

Gobber raised an eyebrow. "Well, it looks like you should be calling someone."

Hiccup looked at him, desperately searching for an excuse, his mouth helplessly opening and closing again.

Eventually he sighed and let his head hang.

"I … it's her. Ms Hofferson," he specified.

Oh. Gobber looked at him, incredulous. "You mean Astrid Hofferson?"

"Yes," Hiccup confirmed, his face dark.

"I thought you didn't like her?" Gobber asked, both his smirk and expression suggesting that that had been the last thing he'd thought.

"I do. That was just to throw you off," the young man admitted. "But I guess it didn't really work."

Gobber laughed, got up and gave his friend a hearty pat on the back, making Hiccup stumble slightly.

"Then what're you waiting for, just call her!"

"I can't, Gobber," Hiccup sounded miserable. "I've been trying for the past hour but i just can't do it."

Gobber paused, then grinned. "She gave you her number?"

"Yes …"

"So she wants you to call you! You don't just go around giving out your number to people who arent supposed to dial it"

"I gave her mine too." Hiccup mumbled.

"Sorry, what?"

Louder this time he said, "I gave her mine too. We sort of asked each other. Simultaneously."

"And that's a story I'll tell my grandchildren!"

"Gobber, you're not my father-"

"So you're not denying it?"

"What? I-" Hiccup groaned and slumped together. "I'm just gonna call her."

Gobber grinned. "Atta boy. Just go home altogether, your shift's over in ten minutes anyways."

Hiccup nodded, quickly collected his belongings and stripped himself of his working clothes. Gobber was right. It was silly to be this afraid. He'd just call her. And then he'd apologise for taking so long. And then he'd ask if she was free this friday evening. 'Yes,' he thought, now feeling more confident. 'That's a plan.'

It was ringing. Oh, god, it was ringing. Okay, now he started regretting it. But he couldn't just hang up now. She'd have heard it by now. Or she'd see later he had called. What if she didn't call back? What if-

"Hello?"

His pulse sky-rocketed.

"Hi- Hello Ms Hofferson, it's, ah, Henry. Hi."

She paused shortly, then she chuckled softly and replied, "I think we can agree on a first name basis. You saw me in my underwear."

Oh, right, that. Their first meeting. It had been in the middle of the night and she'd opened up her door, spatula still in her hands, only clad in a cardigan, a top and her knickers, looking rather panicked. He doubted he'd ever been more red in his entire life.

"Oh yes, sorry. So - okay, let me start over," he took a deep breath. "Hi Astrid, it's me, Henry. There, I think I got it."

She laughed. "I'm proud of you. You … don't do this very often, do you?"

"No," he admitted and after a moment of short consideration he added, "you?" (He hoped she didn't.)

"Likewise," she answered and a stone the size of a small parking lot dropped off of his shoulders. "I really don't, that's why I was so nervous to call you sooner. I've been home since four."

"That … would have been my next point," he deadpanned weakly.

He felt almost as if in a haze. She didn't take him for a stupid and inexperienced idiot because she didn't date a lot either. She wasn't annoyed because he hadn't called sooner because she was just as nervous as he was.

Through the hazy mist of his mind he heard himself say, "Are you free this friday?"

A follow-up of an apology and a quick 'or if that's too soon for you, it's okay' were already halfway tumbling over his lips but to his surprise she audibly smiled and replied, "Of course, Friday's perfect. Say, 8 PM at my flat?"

"Uh- yeah! That's perfect, I'd love - I'll pick you up. Is the Che Dragon alright with you?"

"I love that place! I have an old friend who works there."

"Perfect," he repeated, suddenly feeling very high on his luck. "See you then?"

"Sure, I can't wait. And I promise not to use my stove until then."

He laughed.

"O-okay, then … Friday"

"Friday," she echoed, still smiling. "Bye."

"Bye." Hiccup replied weakly and ended the call, feeling like singing, laughing, crying and jumping all at once.

As soon as Astrid had heard the click of the call ending, she immediately jumped up and dialled another number.

A cheery voice on the other end answered.

"Hey girl, what's-"

"Oh my fucking god, Ruff, I have a date!"

Silence. Then, "Wait, are you serious?"

"YES!"

"But …. With WHO?" Astrid didn't even hear the tone that suggested the notion that she'd have to find someone crazy enough to ask her out on a date.

"The fireman, Henry! I asked him for his number - well. He asked me, too. But that's beside the point, he's picking me up this friday!"

"Okay, can you just dial back for a second? WHO is this guy, how did you meet and how hot is he?"

"I - I mean, he's really hot but that's sort of his job, being a FIREman," Astrid acknowledged, snorting.

"If his puns are as fucking horrible as yours you're perfect for each other." Rachel "Ruff" Thorsten, her best friend of ten years commented dryly.

Again, Astrid chose to gracefully ignore her and continued, "And I think we met about one month ago, when I got my new stove and I can never get the gas right, so everything just sort of … explodes and catches fire, so I panic and call the fire station. And five minutes later I discover they must've sent their cutest fireman available, honestly," she sighed and dropped back onto her bed. "I usually don't have a type, but this guy … you should see his EYES and that hair, seriously. So he's standing there, all gorgeous and serious, and I'm in my underwear with a cardigan over it."

"That sounds like the beginning of a really bad porno - like, a really, really bad and low-budget one."

"Ruff, my fucking kitchen was on fire. It's been five times this month."

oOo

"I thought you went home."

Gobber watched his friend, collegue and former apprentice stumble back in.

"I … wanted to but then stayed in the locker room the whole time," Hiccup said as if realising this for the first time. "But I called Astrid while I was there."

Gobber did not fail to notice the big, happy grin the man had walked in with and had still plastered on his face.

"So …?"

"We have a date this friday. I'm picking her up."

Gobber laughed and once again smashed his hand on Hiccup's back.

"There you go! Knew you could do it. I never doubted you."

Hiccup just kept grinning.

"So, what are you gonna do?"

He blushed. "Well - I thought, Che Dragon is nice … and then a walk through the park? It's a good park," he defended himself. "Even at night. Or … I don't know, maybe we'll grab a drink or …"

"I thought you didn't drink?"

"Oh. Yeah, you're right, I don't," Hiccup realised and let himself fall onto his chair, groaning. "God, Gobber, I'll be dead before I even get to pick her up. I feel like I can't even think properly, how am I gonna hold up a conversation?"

"Don't if you can't," Gobber replied, shrugging. At Hiccup's confused gaze he explained, "Just let her talk until you feel comfortable. Or don't talk at all, whatever you kids do on first dates nowadays."

Hiccup blushed and started stuttering. Gobber laughed again and asked, more serious now, "Okay, lad. I'm telling you this because I'm your friend and because this is your first date since you've started working here and also because your father's hair is going grey over this issue. I know that if I asked you how serious this is to you, you'll tell me you didn't even have your first date yet, so I'll tell you this: don't overanalye and simply get to know her. Have fun. And don't spend all the time you spend with her in your head."

Hiccup exhaled, somewhat relieved this didn't resemble one of his father's 'son, we need to talk' conversations. He bowed his head and nodded.

"I will. Thanks, Gobber."

His friend grinned at him and saluted. "Always there for you, lad."

The thing about Gobber was that this was completely true. Hiccup had known him since he could think. Gobber was his father's best friend and had, after Hiccup's mother's death become his co-parent, thereby expanding his title as Godfather to Adoptive Dad and Sometimes Drunk Uncle. Hiccup knew that if anything ever happened, he could always go to Gobber. There had been times he couldn't deal with his father or just didn't want to, where he'd stayed with Gobber for a few days.

"Okay, now go home," his voice interrupted Hiccup's reveries. "Before I have to chase you out."