This is a chapter about best friends and silent and not-so-silent support. Based very, very loosely on my own best friend, who was diagnosed with a stage IV brain tumor roughly two years ago. This is a love letter of sorts and a reminder to myself to keep telling her I love her a lot even if she rarely says it back.

Chapter 26 - Crème Brûlée and Chocolate Fudge

"Is it cheesy that we're celebrating our six-month anniversary?"

Rachel paused, face mid-squint as she was applying her mascara and shrugged. "I mean, yeah. But just 'cause it's cheesy doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Sure, it's a bit weird," she paused, just to grin at Astrid's pained expression. "But I think it's cute you guys are excited to be together, you know?"

Astrid hummed quietly. "Yeah, I guess we are." The past six months had been an absolute whirlwind. She thought about the first night she'd met Hiccup – on the verge of tears, shaking, panicking, gripping onto poor Stormfly like her life depended on it. Him, the calmest anyone could have ever been, wide-eyed when he saw her as she opened the door. His voice calmly but firmly telling her to get out, now, the unspoken question of her apparent death wish on his lips. Her shivering on the street in the relentless Berkian spring. The fire engine parked halfway on the pavement. His eyes soft as he told her she could enter again.

She thought of that time she'd showed up on his front doorstep, uninvited, blushing crimson at the sight of his half-naked body. His damp hair, drops of water on the floor as he quickly took back the Tupperware box. Her falling asleep on the hard and uncomfortable plank bed at the station, startled awake by the siren. Gobber's kind eyes as she took the steaming cup of tea from his hands.

"Alright – you ready?" Ruff asked, breaking her out of her sunken reverie. Astrid looked up at her, briefly hit by the warm feeling of joy she'd felt when Ruff had told her she'd be moving to Berk with Tom.

"Yeah," she replied, picking up her jacket from her bed. "Let's go. I'm absolutely starving."

Their chatter and laughter were so easy on the way to the restaurant, as always. Astrid had never known a friend like Ruffnut – her friendship was so juxtaposed to the cold, almost debilitating loneliness she'd felt when she'd first moved to Berk and had spent half a year alone before Ruff had packed up to join her. Astrid still wasn't sure if Ruff had moved entirely for herself; it wasn't like her to want to be away from the hustle and bustle of a city. Puffin Point wasn't exactly a huge city, but it definitely had more nightlife than Berk would probably ever have. They'd never spoken about it, and Ruff had been gracious enough to pretend that she'd moved to Berk for the wildlife and a fresh start.

They ummed and aah'd about what to order and, after ten minutes of back-and-forth, decided to split the two options they wanted between themselves so neither of them ended up disappointed. Astrid spilt half of her Safe Sex On The Beach over her shirt within a minute of receiving it, which was both in-character and infuriating enough to make Rachel almost pee herself with laughter.

It was nice to spend some time together. Between both of their busy work schedules and her and Hiccup's relationship, there hadn't been loads of extended periods of time for them to properly hang out together, apart from the odd lunch meetups that rarely fully aligned.

"Are we doing the chocolate fudge cake for dessert or …?" Ruff asked her an astonishing two minutes after dinner, which was the longest she'd ever waited to bring up desserts in the entire 15 years they'd known each other.

"Who do you take me for?" Astrid replied, grinning at her over the edge of her menu. "I thought we were going big or going home. I say we get the Crème Brûlée too."

"That's the Astrid we know and love," Ruff grinned, winking and shut her menu. "In the meantime, we're gonna get more drinks."

It was 1:30 am when Astrid got home. Pretty tame, she thought. Although she did have to work the next day but she didn't really care if she got fewer hours of sleep. It had been worth it: it had been a while since she and Ruff had gone out to get food and drinks together. They'd gone dancing after, in one of the very few clubs Berk had to offer. It had been a great time, even if the music had been slightly repetitive. Recently, they'd just seen each other to run errands together or for a quick lunch, mostly consisting of rushed meal deals or fast food. Astrid pulled her phone out and texted a quick 'Home now, love you!' and then added, 'also, let's do a film night soon, it's been a while!', to take the pressure of her texting 'I love you too' back. Ruff had never been one for outright words of affection.

She dragged the makeup wipe (against Ruff's advice, smiling at her last piece of advice when she'd seen Astrid use a makeup wipe - 'you should really start using a cleansing balm, but you know, it's fine, ruin your skin.') across her face and turned on the tap to wash her face off.

As she was scrubbing her face, the running tap almost like white noise in the background, the warm glow in her chest still hadn't subsided. This evening had been something so needed, so healing, she really was wondering what had taken them so long to make the time for it.

It took her back to the countless nights they'd spent together, after Astrid had snuck out of her room, sitting on the beach, reading to each other, and watching films back at Ruff's. She remembered Ruff's comforting silence as she took Astrid in her arms the day that she left her uncle's house. The way Ruff had hidden her own tears in what she thought had been a subtle sleeve-wipe. How she'd never said a word to Astrid about her decision about moving to Berk but had packed up her own bags only six months later.

Ruff's dating life had been adventurous, to say the least, but she never did seem to mind it much. Once, she'd moved in with a guy on a whim after three months of knowing him. Of course, Astrid had never said anything, not even uttered an 'I told you so', after Ruff knocked on her door at 2 am with a rucksack of her things over her shoulder. Throughout the years, they had watched each other drift from talking stage to infatuation to another 'it's not you, it's me', to more 'I just don't feel a spark there, you know?'. This was the first time, though, that Astrid had genuinely liked someone, let alone loved them. And she knew that Ruff knew. Still, on her way back to her bedroom, she pulled out her phone again and typed, 'Hey dude, sorry I've been so MIA lately. I've missed you. Let's get that movie night into the calendars tomorrow! Night night, sleep tight x'.

With a click, the light on her nightstand turned off. In the dark, her phone lit up.

'Love you too.'

Thanks for reading! I appreciate each and every single person reading this, forever!