Chocolate milk sounded nice. Dunkin Donuts had good hot chocolate. And maybe she could get an egg sandwich along with it…

Yeah, that was what she would do, as soon as she got up…

Astrid groaned. There was an uncomfortable crick in her neck, and she knew it was because last night, she had drove for three hours straight. Why, she couldn't remember quite then at the moment. The bed just felt so nice, and she was too tired to remember why.

Wait a minute.

Her bed certainly didn't feel this nice. Her bed didn't suck her inside like some sort of...mushy pillow monster that sucked you up. Her pillow didn't feel like a cloud.

And her room certainly never smelled like...lilacs?

Yeah, she should probably get up now.

This was not her room. As Astrid looked around wearily, she saw a lot of drawings, mostly of dragons. They were really nicely drawn, and - oh.

Only one dork she knew drew dragons. A dork who also had one leg that he'd lost in a freak accident, which had led to their meeting, almost five years ago. A dork who was sassy, but also very sweet. A dork who made her feel feelings and whom she'd started dating a year after they met.

A sudden purr next to her made her jump.

Oh yes, the dork also had a very adorable cat.

"Hey, Toothless!" she cooed, picking him up and setting him down on her lap, "Where's Hiccup, bud? And why do I barely remember coming here?"

For some, asking a cat these questions would seem ridiculous, but Astrid knew that this particular cat was smart, and even though he couldn't answer, he knew very well what she was asking. He was also as sassy as his owner, perhaps even more so sometimes. Speaking of his owner…

"Mornin', milady. How was your night?"

Henry Horrendous Haddock the Third, more commonly known as Hiccup, was standing there, leaning against the door frame, his eyebrows furrowed in curiosity and amusement. She felt her heart tug at the sight of him, morning appearance and all. It had been a month since they last saw each other.

"Quite well, thank you for asking," she said in a tone of mock formality, "Any idea as to why I'm in your house?"

"Coincidentally," he responded, a grin tugging on the corner of his lips, "I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I guess I just couldn't resist," Astrid said, sighing while clutching her heart, "Oh, the longing."

He smiled triumphantly. "I knew you couldn't resist all...this." He elaborated "this" by gesturing to himself. His lanky, tall, skinny, self.

Gods, she'd missed him.

"What's that? No, I was talking about seeing Toothless."

Of course, there was no fun in telling him that.

"You're mean as ever, I see," he said, making his way over to the bed, "Seriously, Ast, my heart can't take all this hate. I need someone to love me!"

Toothless jumped off the bed and went out of the room.

"Oh, that's loyalty. Thanks for nothing, you useless feline!"

Astrid laughed, and he did too, his brownish-reddish hair swaying back and forth. "So, seriously, how'd you end up here at 11 PM?"

"11 PM?" she asked in disbelief, "No way."

"Way. Imagine, poor me -"

"I will not imagine anything that you start by saying 'poor me.'"

Hiccup crossed his arms and scowled. "Fine. Very poor me - don't interrupt, don't interrupt! - is just playing Call of Duty, when my cat starts pawing my face, a sure sign of an intruder."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell this whole story like a drama queen?"

"Drama king."

"Drama queen."

He huffed, and she laughed again. "Continue, Shakespeare."

"Thank you," he sniffed, with fake animosity, "I shall. So, then, I go out and I see the guard waving at me, and at first I think, 'Oh no! He's in on it, too!' but then - why are you laughing? This is very serious!"

"What," she asked in between laughs, "did you think the guard was in on?"

"The plan to murder me!"

"The plan to murder you?"

"Yes!" he insisted, "An intruder at 11 PM, while I was playing Call of Duty? A sure sign of a master assassin!"

She clutched her stomach as she laughed. "Hic, where do you come up with these things?"

"The signs were pointing to it!" he yelled, "How can you not see the signs, Astrid?"

"Maybe it's because I'm not delusional," she suggested.

"I prefer the term 'cautious.'"

"I don't."

He opened his mouth to respond, probably to say why cautious was a much better word than delusional because a word with eight words was always better than a word with ten words, obviously, but she held up her hand. "Don't, please. Just carry on with your story."

"I would if I didn't keep getting interrupted by people who question my genius."

She was tempted to make fun of that comment, the opportunity was so neatly presented, but at this rate, they'd take all morning talking about how he found her, and she was hungry. Dunkin Donuts seemed more desirable every minute.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for questioning your genius."

"I am very much hurt," he said, wiping imaginary tears from his eyes, "However, I accept your apology, my fair maiden, in the hopes that -"

"Finish this story before I strangle you."

"Oh, okay then!" he exclaimed, "I was fooled by the apology before, I see. A fatal mistake. And, ah," he hastened, seeing her mutinous glare, "perhaps I'll continue before I make another one.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes, the security guard tells me, 'It's Miss Hofferson, sir, it's Miss Hofferson!'

"And then I tell him it can't be Miss Hofferson because she would never murder me. Or at least not in cold blood."

"Hiccup!"

"I'm serious! And then," Hiccup continued, sighing, "he just looks at me long and hard, and then he says something about sons and fathers being nothing alike. I mean, the nerve!"

"You know," Astrid mused, "I might just kill you. In cold blood, of course."

He let out a dramatic gasp. "Betrayal! Treachery! How could you, Astrid? I LOVED YOU!"

Astrid covered her mouth with her hand to prevent the bubble of giggles that were trying to make their way out of her mouth.

"Hiccup - I" - laugh - "swear - stop - making" - laugh - "me - laugh - it's early - in the morning - and" - laugh - "I'm hungry."

It was no use. This boy could make anyone laugh (intentionally or not), and the early morning feeling and the softness of the bed just made her feel more giddy. Stupid dork had broken down her walls.

Hiccup grinned, and then, to spite her, mercilessly began tickling her on the sides of her stomach.

She felt as if though she was one of the hyenas from Lion King, the way she was screaming with laughter now. Tears were pouring out of her eyes.

The girl took a few swings at her boyfriend. "Hiccup, stop - STOP!" But she kept laughing, and the idiot pretended he hadn't heard her.

"What's that, milady? I can't understand what you're saying. Maybe you should stop laughing."

"HICCUP! STOP IT!" Her leg went out and hit him straight in the gut.

He fell back, groaning. "Well, I guess I was right about you trying to murder me."

"You deserved it, git. Now finish your story before I do it again."

"You know," he began, but when she raised her foot threateningly, just daring him to go on, he took a step back and said, "Yeah. So, then I see you, wonder why you're here, and then I bring Sleeping Beauty to the guest room. And that's it, really."

"Gosh, I can't really remember...I know I left my parents' house, and then I went to visit Heather 'cause I hadn't seen her in a while either... and then everything just...I drove for three hours, and I guess I decided the extra fifteen minutes to my house must have been too long, and I must have stopped at your place and fallen asleep before getting out of the car," she finished lamely, now feeling slightly guilty. "Sorry if I was a burden."

He frowned. "Don't say that. You weren't a burden in any way. We've got so many bedrooms that I wonder how many of them we could just saw off and give to people who would actually use them."

The girl laughed yet again. "I'm sure when you have your own house, you'll give away three quarters of it to the poor."

"You would let me give away three quarters of our house?" Hiccup asked in disbelief.

"Mm, getting cocky, huh?" she asked with an eyebrow raised, "What makes you so sure it'll be our house?"

"Harsh. You wound me, milady."

"Oh, not again with the theatrics."

"What theatrics? I'm merely showing you that -"

"That you've read plays," Astrid interrupted, "Yeah, I'm quite aware."

He stuck his tongue out at her before smiling. The next thing she knew, she was enveloped in a hug.

"I really did miss you, Ast," he mumbled, burying his face into the crook of her neck. "I'm not gonna let you visit your parents anymore. Wait," he said, with his contagious I've-got-an-idea-face. "Let's ask your parents to move here!"

"Let's not!" she said back with an equal amount of enthusiasm.

"You. Are. No. Fun," he deadpanned.

"I'm here to study, Hiccup. And I'll go back when I'm done with college. You know that. There's no need for my parents to move."

"But then," Hiccup reminded her, "You'll have to move back when I propose."

"Mmhm, sure," she said skeptically.

"I will propose. Soon."

"Sure. When you grow a backbone."

"Alright, meanie pants, c'mon down and have breakfast. Dad's not here, and I've got Dunkin Donuts."

And when he asked why she was laughing again, she didn't respond.

The grand piano was not named that way for no reason. It truly was grand.

Too bad she had no idea how to play it.

After they had eaten, Hiccup had told her to wait while he got something from his room. Astrid had sat down on the piano and started pressing random keys.

In case one couldn't tell, Hiccup Haddock was rich. Filthy, stinking, rich.

That was why there were at least two security guards outside at all times. That was why the whole house was gigantic. That was why, whenever she said, "I'm dating Hiccup Haddock," she'd always be responded with a squeal of excitement or a scoff of disbelief.

That was why he had a grand piano that she didn't know how to play.

"Hey, Ast, listen, I wanna talk to you." He came into the room, changed and refreshed.

She turned around and raised her eyes. "If you were gonna change, you should've told me. I would've too. My suitcases are in the car."

"No, they are not, actually, milady," he began, stuttering only slightly, "I moved them to the guest room you were sleeping in."

"What?" Astrid's brow furrowed. "Why? I'll go back to my apartment in a bit, and-"

"We've got a couple more days of summer," Hiccup interrupted softly, "And...I think you might wanna stay over for a few days."

"Er...I wasn't planning to," she said awkwardly, "Should I - I mean, you didn't say -"

"No, no! I didn't think you would think that - oh, this is kinda weird, but Ast, before you say anything, let me explain, okay?"

"But what are you -"

"Let me explain," he said again, and sat next to her on the piano.

Slowly, the boy began to play. The tune was familiar, very familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on it. That was probably because Hiccup wasn't explaining, but instead, thought it might be nice to play the piano for her. She didn't even recognize the damn song -

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas…"

Wait.

Hiccup was singing. And she did know this song. Quite well, in fact.

"With ne'er a fear of drowning."

This was the song his parents had sung when Stoick had propo- oh god.

Oh god.

"And gladly ride...the waves of life."

He was going to - going to - she couldn't believe he was going to -

He stopped.

Her heart nearly stopped too. Was he getting cold feet? Second thoughts? Doubts?

"Ah - probably should've taken this out before I started - yeah - oops, dangit, I messed up - hang on a sec." He fumbled a bit before producing a small black box, and with a cute dark blush rising to his cheeks, he continued with the song.

The dork just forgot to take the stupid box out. Oh, he was annoying. And she wanted to punch him.

Wait, why shouldn't she punch him?

She punched him.

"DON'T RUIN THE MOMENT, ASTRID! I'M TRYING TO PROPOSE TO YOU!"

"YOU ALREADY RUINED THE MOMENT, DERPFACE!"

"HEY! AT LEAST I RUINED IT NICELY!"

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?"

They glared at each other for three more seconds before Hiccup softly went, "Ahem," and placed his fingers back on the piano.

"If you will marry me…"

Astrid loved his voice. She could fall asleep listening to it. Oh sure, he didn't have one that was all Prince-Charming and made girls swoon. But his voice was cute, in it's own way. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

He was smiling at her now, the dork, still quite red, but with a boyish grin plastered on his face nonetheless. And he had opened the box and there was a ring in it, simple and glittering and staring at her, pleading to be put on.

"So?"

This was big. Her answer would permanently alter her life. Nothing would ever be the same. Astrid's heart was pounding in her chest, thump after thump after thump.

She remembered their bickering this morning. Was that how it would be every morning? Would she be able to put up with this dork, and, more importantly, would he be able to put up with her?

Yes. Yes, a million times yes. What was she thinking, put up with him, she'd put up with him and love every second of it. She loved everything about him, from his auburn hair that absolutely refused to be tamed right down to that dorky smile he was always wearing. She loved the way he talked, she loved it when he was being a sarcastic ass, she loved his handwriting.

"Yes."

"What?' His smile was broadening dangerously.

"Yes."

"As in-"

"Don't ask for verification, that's annoying," she remarked, although her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

He leaned in almost immediately to capture her lips with his own. The closeness still sparked electricity throughout her whole body and she grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. This was what love should always feel like, in her opinion, that no matter how many times the two people kissed, there was always a jolting sensation throughout their bodies.

After they pulled away, his forehead was resting on hers' and he muttered. "Told you I would propose soon. And you didn't believe me. Meanie pants."

"I will murder you."

"Ah, well. I had a good life. With my beautiful girlfriend, Astrid. Have you met her? We recently got engaged."

"I swear, I will kill you."

"In cold blood?"

"In cold blood."

.