Alright, get ready for this one! Writing this one was a lot of fun :D Bit of a content warning for explicit sex in this one, so if that's not your thing, feel free to skip the middle part of the chapter! :D

Chapter 28 - The Mainland (Part 1)

Warm summer days on Berk were hard to come by. Hiccup, of course, had been aware of this fact his entire life. Because of this, he found Astrid's marvel at this rarity endearing. He watched her face as she beamed up at the sun, eyes squinting, a huge grin on her face, her hands gripping onto the railing of the ferry.

"Oh man, this has been a long time coming!" he heard her say and agreed, smiling to himself.

"Meeting you was a long time coming," he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and closing his eyes, breathing in the salty sea air and the scent of her shampoo. He knew she'd be rolling her eyes, but she was laughing.

They'd been spending most of their free time together outside of work, sometimes meeting up for a quick bite and a hug during a coinciding lunch break which didn't happen all too often - sometimes Gobber made an exception and let him go with a wink. He'd been pulling more night shifts again recently, much to Astrid's chagrin but she rarely complained. Really, he almost preferred spending nights working so he could spend his mornings cuddling Toothless as he slept and use his afternoons to see Astrid and bring her lunch at work. Do you ever sleep? she'd ask him when she saw him the evenings after. Would you eat any actual food if I didn't cook for you? he'd quip in return and she'd just shrug as she'd pour boiling water over the instant ramen flavour of the day. Most weeks, he'd been dragging her to the supermarket to get some more nutritious options and would sit her down at his kitchen table while he cooked, Toothless on her lap. She'd complain about not helping him cook but he knew she preferred to choose the music and watch him bend over to get out the pots and pans. He'd have called her shameless, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching her change from her work clothes into her inside clothes as she called them. Whenever he came over and tried to sit anywhere, she'd shoo him away ('Don't you dare sit on my bed with your gross outside clothes, you're gonna get soot all over the sheets!') to his space in the chest of drawers to retrieve some of said inside clothes. He gladly went along. "Astrid, I'd go into a burning building for you," he'd say solemnly, and she'd roll her eyes and grin. "Yeah, 'cause that's your job. Call me when you'd grade my history papers for me."

Hiccup had come alive in the past year in a way he hadn't thought possible. He couldn't recall ever feeling like this - it's not like he'd been miserable or purposeless before, but there was something about having her in his life that had him feeling genuine joy more often than not. His work had been keeping him grounded, given him purpopse and direction - now he realised she'd given it a whole new meaning. She was someone to come home to, beyond Toothless. Someone to keep him in check. Someone who would answer in actual sentences when he asked about their day. He had a bad habit of working more shifts than he was supposed to, and neither Snotlout nor Gobber had ever done anything to stop him. These days, he'd hesitate before pulling a double.

The streets of Berk where he'd first laid eyes on her had become a holy ground to him of sorts, where previously he had thought more about what life would be like off the island. He thought about this now as they were leaving the island's shores behind on the ferry, and how they'd keep tying new memories to old landmarks. Where there had been inklings of doubt half a year ago was complete certainty and excitement now. They had ended up pushing back the trip he'd gifted her for their six-month anniversary, having decided it would indeed be a bit silly if they celebrated every half year as well. So in the end, they'd landed on going for their actual, proper, one-year anniversary. And now here they were, leaning against the railing of the 10 am ferry on the way to the mainland.

"I'm so excited," Astrid all but shouted over the wind that had picked up in speed now as they glided across the water. "It's been ages since I've been to the mainland. Actually, I think the last time I went was when I moved her. Had to take the ferry across to Berk."

Hiccup wrapped his arms tighter around her; he knew she didn't particularly like talking about her move or the circumstances that had led to it.

"Well," he responded. "We can make some new memories then. Together." She smiled up at him, leaning her head back against his shoulder and nodded.

"When's the last time you were over there?" she asked. Hiccup looked across the sea, where in the distance, he could see the shoreline of Endcrow, the town they'd be staying in for the next couple of days. His voice sounded distant when he finally answered.

"You know, I can't actually remember." He paused, almost confused. "I actually don't think I've ever left Berk. At least that's what it feels like sometimes."

He remembered them talking about this on their first date. His longing and simultaneous reluctance to leave, go anywhere else but the island he was born on. He wouldn't consider himself a small-minded person by any means, but he'd never actually been anywhere exciting. Of course, life on Berk had its perks and attributes which, if considered by a non-islander, were probably pretty exciting, like their yearly sheep festival, the frequent storms, the many viewpoints for watching wales, dolphins, puffins and other wildlife. Still, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't longing to experience something else. He'd also be lying if he said he wasn't absolutely terrified of doing anything of the sort, considering he'd been avoiding it like the plague his entire adult life. He'd had plenty of opportunities to get off the island, take a long weekend away somewhere - he had plenty of people around him who could watch Toothless for a few days and a more than supportive working environment - and discover new places, broaden his geographical horizons, but something had always stopped him. There had always been an excuse - money that month, time, Toothless, nobody to travel with (ignoring that Fishlegs or Snotlout would have gladly gone with him and had explicitly told him multiple times)- the list went on. And now he was on his way to the mainland. For something as simple and strangely beautiful as the one-year anniversary with the love of his life. He realised he'd never actually thought about her that way. But it was something he absolutely knew to be true, he felt his love for her so deep in his bones, down to the marrow that, in this moment, his arms around her on the ferry that carried him away from his safety net that was Berk, he was surprised he hadn't considered her that before.

"Astrid", he whispered, and hoped she was close enough to hear him over the roar of the ferry's engine, the waves and the wind. "You're the love of my life."

She looked back up at him again. She was beaming from ear to ear. So she'd heard him. And with the way she looked at him now, there was no room for any doubt she felt the same.

"Mine, too," she all but mouthed and then added, "You're what I used to imagine when I was seventeen."

He laughed. That was a good way of putting it. "Yeah, me too," he said, grinning as she turned around to face him and felt her arms wrap around his neck, wrapping his arms around her middle as their lips met. Her back bumped into the railing - they bounced back and broke apart, giggling, her hands coming around to rest on his scarf now, pulling it back into place. He brushed parts of her fringe back behind her ears, leaning down to kiss her again. Her hands fisted into his jacket as she pulled him ever-closer, the wind whipping around then, tugging on their hair with its icy fingers. Astrid suddenly broke away from him, her breath forming little clouds, as she muttered, "You booked an Airbnb, right? Not a B&B?"

Hiccup nodded, smirking as he confirmed, "Yup. We have the whole place to ourselves. You can be as loud as you want." She giggled, lightly swatting his arm. "Shut up!"

"To be fair, we should probably tone it down until we're alone," Hiccup admitted and she agreed, albeit not very sheepishly.

Astrid turned back around to face the sea, and pulled his arms around her shoulders again, leaning back against him.

"I wonder what Toothless and Stormfly are up to," she said, and Hiccup chuckled.

"Probably sleeping. At least Toothless will be. Guarantee you, as soon as I get home, it's going to be zoomies o'clock. To be fair, I think Snot's glad he has a few days away from Gobber and my Dad. There's only so much of those two you can tolerate. I normally tap out after a double with Gobber - to be honest, I don't think I could even get through one shift with my dad. Our weekly meetings in his office are enough."

Astrid laughed. "That's fair. Honestly though, I think you two work better together than you might think. If you'd both be able to not be as stubborn as each other for ten minutes I feel like you could actually make a great team."

"Har, har, good one. Like my dad would be able to ever do that," Hiccup said, perhaps proving her point about his stubborness a bit.

"...Yes, honey. I'm sure you'd have zero trouble with that," Astried replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shush."

They stood in silence for a while, just watching some seagulls that flew past the ferry on their search for food. Then, Astrid piped up, "How's Snotlout doing, by the way? It's been a while since I've seen him."

"He's okay. Good and bad days. I'm glad he's got Fishlegs though. He's good for him. They seem really happy."

"Do you think they'll move in together? Probably wouldn't make much sense for Snotlout to get a place by himself once he moves out of Gobber's and Stoick's."

"If, you mean," Hiccup stressed, chuckling. "I feel like they've all gotten so comfortable living together now, especially since they moved him off the couch into the home office. Although you should have heard Gobber grumbling because he had to move his CD collection to make room for him."

She laughed. "As he should - I've seen that collection, it's magnificent. How dare Snotlout anyway?"

Hiccup laughed and checked his watch.

"We should dock fairly soon. Shore's getting quite close, too. Check-in is at 11:00, so we should be fine to go straight over there." Astrid nodded in response and turned around to face him, an excited expression on her face.

"You know what I feel like we haven't done in ages? We should get ice cream and sit by the pier!" Hiccup looked at her, his gaze soft, smiling as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"That sounds good, my darling. Let's do that after lunch. Maybe we can catch the sunset, it's not super cloudy today."

"Ooh, I like my darling," Astrid quipped, laughing lightly as he kissed her on the top of her head. He'd find new terms of endearments for her constantly, and she was still looking for one to stick. They watched Endcrow's pier come closer and closer and started making their way back down onto the main transport deck of the ferry where they stood waiting with a few others and some cars. Hiccup felt slightly strange stepping off the ferry, like setting foot on the mainland was both incredibly significant and also remarkably trivial. He looked around the pier: It was a bit damp and dingy, but most piers were, and the dampness could largely be attributed to the weather and general humidity around these parts. So far so good, he thought. I don't want to leave Berk behind forever just yet. He pulled out his phone, checking the address of the airbnb and waved for Astrid to follow him. She skipped up next to him to catch up and interlaced their arms, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked. He planted a kiss on her temple and breathed in her scent, warm and familiar, in this damp new place. His tether. Maybe she could tell he'd been feeling slightly uneasy, maybe that's why she was almost clinging on to him, as if to physically anchor him. Perhaps this was her own, quiet way of saying, 'I've got you.'

And so they strolled through the streets of Endcrow, with Astrid pointing out the coffee shop where she'd sat and waited for the ferry when she'd moved, a group of well-groomed looking pidgeons, a woman walking her cat ('Imagine Toothless wearing one of these!'), and the ice cream shop where she'd like to get ice cream later to watch the sunset before their anniversary dinner. Hiccup was smiling to himself, having long since been certain about what she was up to. Her ramblings served a nice distraction from his nerves, though, and he appreciated she didn't force him to try to explain any of the very complicated feelings that were rushing through him that she knew he'd have a hard time finding the right words for.

The small, yellow cottage he'd rented out for the weekend was a bit further into the city but still close to the sea, with seagulls crying all around as Hiccup retrieved the key from the letterbox as per the owners' instructions.

"I wonder where the owners went for the weekend," Astrid pondered as she dropped her bag on the floor in the hallway and took off her shoes.

"Maybe they don't live here," Hiccup remarked, stumbling slightly as he pulled off his shoes, and strode went into the living room to open the window. Astrid shrugged her jacket back on just as she was taking it off, pulling the fur-lined hood over her head.

"God, Hiccup, do you have to open the window first thing? Is that some kind of compulsion with you?"

"What, you mean fresh air? Yeah, actually, I think that is a bit of compulsion humans have. It's called breathing. You should look that up."

"Oh, should I, Mr I-actively-make-my-asthma-worse-with-my-career-choice?"

"Oof," he laughed and snuck a hand around her waist. "What a blow. You've got me." He leaned down to kiss her again, and she met him halfway, and before they knew it, they were stumbling into what they assumed to be the bedroom. Their suspicions were confirmed when Hiccup successfully tipped Astrid over onto a bed in white linen bedding - her hands around his neck took him down with her and they giggled as they came down onto the bouncy mattress.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Astrid chuckled, bouncing up and down on the squeaky mattress. Their eyes met.

"You know what I kind of wanna do?" Hiccup asked, voice low and husky. Astrid shook her head, her heart skipping a beat. He grinned mischievously, took her hands and pulled her to her feet on top of the bed and just started jumping up and down. Astrid was taken so by surprise that she all but shrieked, which quickly turned into breathless laughter as they jumped up and down on this excellently bouncy mattress, hand in hand. He caught her lips in a kiss mid-jump, cupping her face, pulling her close by the small of her back, their breath mingling as they were both gasping for air. Astrid's arms came around his neck, and she started pulling him down, down, down, until they laid on top of the mattress, Hiccup on top of her, still kissing her feverishly. Her hands were fisting into his hair, sighing his name as he gently bit her lower lip, and she felt the heat from their faces travelling steadily down her body. Her heart was beating up to her throat as she felt his lips travelling down from her lips to her neck, lightly nipping the skin as he went, eliciting small gasps from the back of her throat, his hands starting to pull her jacket off of her shoulders, and she shifted to enable him to take it off. His breath was hot against her skin as he kissed his way down to her chest, one hand sneaking under her shirt, caressing her hips, her ribs, reaching to the small of her back to pull her ever-closer, his other hand stroking her breasts, fumbling with the claps of her bra a second after., failing. She whispered his name again and he looked up at her, their gazes colliding, their lips following a breathless moment later, and, God, Astrid could never get enough of the way he kissed her. When his tongue started sliding against hers, she cursed under her breath and went to take off his clothes. He wasn't wearing his coat anymore and let her take off his jumper and t-shirt and she marveled at the sight of his naked upper body, still a sight for sore eyes, still her favourite part of his body. She revelled in the way his shoulder muscles worked as he leaned forward, took in his strong forearms, her hands caressing his chest now, travelling down towards his belt buckle, undoing it in one swift motion. She caught Hiccup's grin, heard him whisper "Are you enjoying yourself, my love?" and nodded.

"Very," she breathed into his lips, grinning as he pulled her own shirt over her head and cupped her face to kiss her again. And again. And again, pulling her close to open her bra now - finally - and he mapped out the freckles and birthmarks on her chest, leaving a burning trail with his lips on her skin. Astrid leaned into his touch, craving more and more as the seconds passed, and gasped as his hands - his mouth very much occupied - opened the button on her jeans and slipped inside, his calloused fingers finding her, wet, ready, throbbing, caressing her until finally she couldn't take it anymore and moaned quietly, "Hi-Hiccup, I need-" she stopped, forcing down another moan, biting into his shoulder as he dipped a finger inside of her, "I want-"

"Hmm?" he murmured against her skin, flashing her a toothy, mischievous grin. A frustrated grunt escaped her, the question on her lips, when he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a condom.

"Thank God," she whispered and gladly took it. She pulled his jeans off of him, almost feverishly, too far lost in desire to care about seeming frantic, knowing he wouldn't care anyways, and she held his gaze as she slipped down his underwear and started stroking him. Hiccup's eyes rolled back in the back of his head and a soft groan escaped him, his hands looking for something to steady them. She grinned and tore open the condom, sliding it over him, hot and hard in her hands and, God, she loved this feeling. Him, completely at her mercy. Her, entirely surrendered to his touch. Both of them completely devoted to each other.

They both gasped, their foreheads touching, as he slipped inside of her easily. It took her a moment to get used to it. He kissed her again, leaning down so their ribcages touched, both their hearts matching the others' rhythm as they started rocking with each other, slow and gentle at first, like always. Hiccup held her gaze, always, his green eyes grounding her like nothing else. She touched his face, caressing it ever so gently. He kissed her hand, then her mouth again, biting her lower lip again, swirling their tongues together as one of his hands travelled down to her clit, gently circling, massaging, until he drew breathless gasps and moans from her throat that were music to his ears.

"God, I love you," he whispered against her ear, chasing gooseflesh across her skin, her hands fisting into his hair as he thrust into her, harder this time.

"I love you, too," she breathed, and it was almos a whimper, her hips buckling as he drew circles around her clit, thrusting in again and again and again, and it was driving her mad almost, but he was taking his time, with her fingers scratching across his back lightly. Now it was Hiccup's turn to shiver, and he grinned into their kiss, interlacing their fingers as their pace increased. His eyes were always on her, relishing the way her face contorted with pleasure, the moans escaping her lips, as close to him as she could possibly be, revelling in the fact that she was his, completely, and he was hers, as his hand gently brushed her hair out of her face.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, still caressing her face, and he stopped for a second. Her blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight that came in through the window above them, her smile as radiant as the golden morning sun. She met him halfway with a kiss, driving her own hips upwards, grabbing onto his hips, and he gladly took the hint, thrusting into her again, losing himself in her completely every time.

"Harder," she gasped, her arms closing around his shoulders, holding on to him. He gladly obliged, diving back down to kiss her, breathing her air.

"Are you close?" he breathed into her ear, and grinned when she nodded, her face scrunched up, hands holding onto his back almost desperately.

"You?" she whispered, and Hiccup could only nod. When they both came, they clung onto each other for dear life, waves of pleasure crashing down around them, with Astrid muffling her moans with his shoulder, biting down hard as she was pushed over the edge.

For a few seconds, they just stayed as they were, panting, then laughing, their lips finding each other again.

"Oh my god, that was amazing," Astrid mumbled into the kiss, locking her arms around his neck again. Hiccup hummed into the kiss affirmatively. "Maybe it's that Mainland Magic," he joked and winked at her, planting a quick kiss on her cheek before he rolled to the side, pulling her towards him. Astrid settled in on his chest and chuckled.

"I think it's just us, honestly."

Once they'd relaxed and showered, they decided to grab a bite to eat, explore some of the town and get some ice cream from the shop Astrid has pointed to earlier before they got ready for dinner.

The sun was fully out now when they stepped outside and the breeze had somewhat subsided but was still cooling down the late spring air significantly. Hiccup checked his watch before he closed the door. 12:53. They had plenty of time before dinner. He grinned at Astrid and held out his hand towards her, wriggling his fingers, which she took with a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, my love," her murmured. "Onwards. Let's see what Endcrow has to offer, shall we?"

The town itself was pretty, but nothing to move home over, they both found. The townspeople had hung up some colourful bunting in the square - presumably to celebrate the warmer weather - but so far, they got the impression that Berk, strangely, seemed to have a bit more going for itself. Perhapts specifically due to the size of the island, its people had managed to squeeze so much life and vibrancy into it, they often found they had everything they needed and thus never actually needed to go the mainland. Granted, Endrow had more modern buildings and fewer cottages, and even a few highrise buildings.

They ended up at a small bakery close to the square and decided to share a couple of paninis between them. Astrid ordered herself a big hazlenut coffee, and Hiccup laughed at her as she took overly dramatic sips of the coffee as if it was the elixir of life. He was watching her over the rim of his mug, the sunlight reflecting in her blonde hair which she'd pulled into a ponytail earlier to stop the wind from endlessly whipping her hair around her face. She was looking absolutely radiant. She caught his gaze and tilted her head to the side.

"What?"

He leant his head on one of his hand, shaking his head. "Nothing," he replied, smiling at her. "I've missed this. I feel like we've not been able to do this in quite a while. Everything's so busy all the time, it's nice to just get away for a bit. You know, just the two of us."

"Yeah, me too." Their gazes sunk into one another, her waves meeting his shore, and Hiccup thought he might be able to look into her eyes for ever.

"I know what you mean, though," Astrid continued. She paused, then chuckled to herself. "I feel silly, acting like seeing you in-between work isn't enough."

Their eyes collided again with a sudden intensity. In the tingling, suddenly electric space between them, Hiccup hesitated, and then slowly, almost timidly spoke.

"Remember when you came over to mine for the first time, when we had lasagna?"

Astrid nodded, almost hypnotised by his forest-green eyes. "I think you mean the best meal of my life? Yeah, I vaguely remember."

He grinned, running a hand through his hair. "Well, remember when you asked me how long I'd been living there? I think I even still had some boxes lying around from when I moved in 6 years ago now. I told you some nonsense about being at work too much to care to decorate or something but ... I mean, I don't know, is that - is that crazy? What if it isn't enough?"

Astrid blinked. It took her a moment to register and make sense of what he was trying to say. Hiccup gently took her hands in his and asked, his face lit up with a huge smile, "Astrid, do you want to move in with me?"

[screeching]