Writer's note: A little modern!au Hiccstrid ficlet I wrote inspired by Jay Baruchel's proposal to his real-life wife, Rebecca.

He knew from the very first date they met that she would be his wife. So, it was a good thing she agreed to a second date! Hiccup wanted to express his intentions on a daily basis, but honestly, it would probably have sounded a bit creepy and driven her away. He kept his feelings to himself and enjoyed the time they shared.

That didn't last long. Three months passed and he couldn't keep it bottled up any longer.

They were cuddled on the couch watching a Christmas comedy. Astrid's laughter drew his attention away from the screen, mesmerizing him. As her giggles faded, the words fell out of him, "Marry me."

Her eyes snapped to his, the movie completely forgotten. Hiccup kicked himself instantly. They'd only been together for 3 months. 3 MONTHS. He had no right to propose that quickly! But as the shock faded from Astrid's eyes, a new gleam alighted them.

"Not yet," she said, and Hiccup sighed in relief. That answer was a thousand times better than 'get the hell away from me, creepy stalker guy!' She was concerned about her dad killing him for proposing this soon and rightly so. Her dad was a large man compared to him, and he loved his weapons collection.

Hiccup could wait. Astrid Hofferson was worth a lifetime to wait for.

The weeks carried on as usual. Most nights, Astrid spent at his place and Hiccup couldn't think of anything better than to sleep with her cuddled against him with his cat, Toothless, curled up in the tangle of their legs.

One day while they were out, they passed by a jewelry store and Hiccup pulled her in on a spontaneous whim. Astrid looked a bit overwhelmed when he told her to pick out a ring she liked. She'd went along with it, searching for the perfect ring that caught her eye. She pointed it out to him, and Hiccup reassured her that he'd remember.

From then on, he played in his head different ideas on how to propose. They were all rather hair-brained, to say the least. He wasn't good at romantic situations. He was still in shock that he'd won over a girl. Period. But here he was, with a strong, confident bombshell of a blonde who actually liked him and showed interest in wanting to marry him. He had to come up with the perfect proposal. He just needed to keep brainstorming.

Hiccup wondered why he even bothered with brainstorming. All his ideas were so dumb. Like, one idea was to pretend to find the ring in the kitty litterbox while he was scooping it. What girl in her right mind would accept a proposal like that?

As always, he did things better when it was spontaneous; absolutely not planned, whatsoever.

They were arguing over something dumb. They were both pretty stubborn and hardheaded individuals, so that was bound to happen. Astrid could get steamed up and Hiccup had to find someway of cooling her down. At that moment, looking at her scowling and red-cheeked, he wished for nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with the angered goddess in front of him.

Hiccup walked away with the echoing of Astrid's, "Hiccup, where are you going?" behind him. He dug out the ring box from the back of his dresser drawer that had been there for weeks and then returned. Not giving Astrid a chance to go off again, he bent to one knee and popped the ring box open.

"Astrid Hofferson, I love you. Through good and not so good times, I don't want to spend a day without you. Will you be my wife?"

It was like the fight in her dissolved instead. Her mouth fell open into an 'O' and she stared at him for a good 10 seconds. He could see the thought process on her face. He'd bought the ring. He'd bought the RING!

Finally, Astrid recovered from her shock. "Yes!" With the ring box tossed aside, Hiccup slid the engagement ring on her finger. Astrid grabbed fistfuls of his t-shirt and hauled him to his feet, smashing her lips against his.

"Is it the right ring?" he asked after they'd separated for air.

Astrid shook her head, gazing at the shining ring on her finger. "No." Hiccup's heart sunk. He thought for sure this was the one! Astrid's eyes flicked up to meet his, a smile alighting her face. "But this is the one that means more to me."

Hiccup sighed in relief. No amount of brainstorming the perfect proposal could compare to this. The only bad part was, he could never use it to get out of an argument again.