Oblivious

A/N: Hola! This is my first ever fanfic… and it's romance, which I'm not super talented at writing… Anyway, read and enjoy! (and review :D)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I'm not sitting on a crescent moon holding a fishing pole.

There were many words Astrid Hofferson might use to describe her boyfriend- sweet, smart, cute, brave, funny—but she could not, in any way, imagine him being shallow.

"Snotlout, shut up." Astrid swatted the black-haired boy's beefy hand away from her shoulders. "I don't believe a word you're saying," she told him angrily.

"Listen, babe, I know this is hard on you, but you deserve to know the truth. Hiccup only likes you because you're the prettiest girl in the village. He's so shallow! He thinks 'cause he's the hero he can get whatever he wants, but Astrid, he doesn't deserve you. You need someone who appreciates you for your, uh…um… personality," he said, trying to block her path.

Thor, that idiot was so annoying… he just wouldn't give up on trying to make Hiccup look bad. Not that she believed him or anything… but then why was her stomach clenching in an emotion that could only be called doubt?

She shoved him out of the way. "Get lost, 'Lout, before I make you," she threatened, wielding her axe.

"Alright," he said, looking a bit nervously at her gleaming blade. "But don't say I didn't warn—OW! Oh, my nose," he moaned, stumbling towards the village.

Astrid slowly exhaled and dropped her fist back at her side, trying to ignore Snotlout's words as they raced around in her brain. She'd promised to meet Hiccup in the forest… well, not really promised, but it was an unspoken agreement between them to meet at the same spot in the woods every Saturday morning. She'd train, and occasionally convince him to train with her, but mostly he'd just draw. Then she would sit and watch him, just talk for a while… and if he said or did anything remotely annoying, she would punch him lightly on the shoulder… and kiss him to make up for it. She found herself smiling at the memory of such incidents, and immediately shook her head to clear her mind of such unViking-like thoughts.

Then again, she supposed, Hiccup was so unViking-like her behavior towards him could be a little different too, right?

She made her way into the small clearing, where Hiccup was already sitting cross-legged on a very large mossy boulder, notebook and charcoal pencil in hand. He was so focused on his sketch he didn't even notice her approach. She smiled at how large the rock seemed in comparison to the slight Chief's son.

She approached the boulder, trying to remain as silent as possible.

He still appeared unaware of the blonde Viking as she rested an arm against the rock and looked off into the trees.

Astrid decided to alert him of her presence.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" she said in an absent voice, trying to scare the living daylights out of him. She expected him to whirl and blurt: "What the—Astrid… uh, I, um… didn't see you there…" but instead, she was the shocked one when he replied in an even tone:

"Yeah, it's pretty nice."

Astrid dropped her axe on the forest floor. She was at a loss for words. This had certainly never happened before.

The russet-haired boy turned slightly to face her, grinning cockily. "You've tried that trick one too many times, Hofferson," he said, closing his sketchbook.

"Bu—I, er... it's n-not a trick," Astrid sputtered. "It's just… taking advantage of your, um, obliviousness," she recovered.

He raised an eyebrow and slid down from his perch on the rock. "My obliviousness? The tables are turned. It seems more like your obliviousness, to me." He crossed his arms.

Astrid rolled her sapphire eyes, getting annoyed. "I'm not oblivious! Excuse me if every time I've ever started talking to you you're the one who gets surprised!" she said, determined to maintain her dignity.

"Then why were you so oblivious to the fact that I knew you were there?" he smirked.

Astrid was seething. "I'm not oblivious, okay? Just one thing and immedi—mmf"

She closed her eyes as Hiccup kissed her.

Odin's beard, she thought vaguely, he's getting cocky…

Hiccup slipped his arms about her waist and deepened the kiss as Astrid ran her fingers through his tousled reddish-brown hair. She frantically tried to keep her mind working as he moved his lips against hers, and she dimly tried to count the number of times he had kissed her. This had to be the third, or maybe the fourth, she finally decided, just as Hiccup pulled away.

"You do kinda look oblivious now," he said mischievously, brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes.

She blinked and realized she had been smiling somewhat dopily at the dragon rider. Cursing him silently, she blushed furiously.

"You're still the prettiest girl on the island, even when you're distracted," he said gently, giving her a lopsided grin that normally made her heart melt.

But suddenly she was reminded of her conversation with Snotlout. "Hiccup only likes you because you're the prettiest girl in the village."

She frowned and slid down the rock until she sat on the damp ground. Sensing something was wrong, Hiccup sank down beside her, carefully getting his prosthetic into a somewhat comfortable position.

They sat in silence for a moment before Astrid burst out abruptly:

"Hiccup, why do you like me?"

Totally surprised by the question, Hiccup looked at Astrid carefully. Her cheeks were flushed pink and she refused to make eye contact.

"Um, why do you ask?" The moment the words were out of his mouth, he cursed himself for how dumb they sounded. Now she would think he didn't care about her!

"If you want me to go easy on you for that oblivious trick, Haddock, you better answer my question," she threatened, but Hiccup could tell she was a bit nervous. That didn't mean he wasn't sufficiently frightened by her threat, though.

"Astrid…" he said slowly. The way he said her name sent a shiver up her spine, but she ignored it. Or tried to ignore it. "I like you because of your perseverance, how you never back down from a challenge, how you're daring and smart…" he said, meeting her sapphire eyes with his jade ones. Astrid couldn't help but notice that he looked incredibly earnest and definitely—dare she say it?—cute. But she blinked those thoughts away. At the moment she just wanted reassurance that Snotlout had been totally wrong about the lad beside her.

"You mean," she interjected nervously, "You don't care how pretty I am or anything?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Of course not. As long as you're, well, you—brave and logical and stubborn—" he offered her a smile—"and tough… and you even trust me—which is probably a mistake… I don't care what you look like. Even if you start wearing your hair like Tuffnut—" he flashed her a playful smile—"You'll always be the prettiest girl on the island to me," he finished, looking a little embarrassed.

She paused. "Hiccup," she finally said, pushing him gently so his back was on the ground and she hovered above him, and making a mental reminder to punch Snotlout the next time she saw the bloody-nosed idiot, "You are by far the most adorable boy I have ever met, and for that you get this—" she leaned down and pressed her lips firmly to his. "But honestly… trusting you a mistake?" she demanded, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he protested.

"And me wearing my hair like Tuffnut? You've got to be joking!" She gave him another firm punch.

"I forgot one thing," Hiccup said sarcastically, rubbing his arm. "I just love you when you encourage me when I make a mistake."

Astrid's heart skipped a beat when he said the word "love". He was only being sarcastic, she told herself firmly. She managed a laugh. He grinned and rolled onto his side, so Astrid lay on the ground facing him.

"Someone needs to improve your self-confidence," Astrid replied teasingly, slowly inching her lips closer to his.

Suddenly he pulled back, and pushed himself up on an elbow.

"Wait!" he said. Astrid frowned. Had she done something wrong? "I-it's only fair… you asked me a question, so I get to, um, ask you a question."

"Fine," she said. A kiss would have to wait. Not that she cared… well, not really. She sighed.

"A-Astrid," he stuttered, and his voice took on a more nervous tone. "Why do you… like me?"

She froze. She should have known he would ask her that. If there was one thing Astrid was bad at, it was expressing how she felt about someone, as in, talking about her feelings. She swallowed nervously and looked into his earnest green eyes.

"Hiccup, I don't like you," she began, grasping his hand.

"Wha—" he started, looking hurt and confused.

"Because I more than like you. You're sweet, and you're funny, and incredibly brave and loyal, and kind, and smart—" The words came out in a rush, tumbling over each other as they poured out of her mouth. "You're a lot different than me, but without you… I don't know where I'd be… because I don't like you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third," she said breathlessly, "I love you."

"You—you do?" he asked, sounding incredulous.

"Of course I do!"

"A-Astrid," he said, though he still had a kind of dazed expression on his face. "I love you, too."

Astrid grinned and gave him a quick peck.

"Now who's oblivious?" she asked, giving him a punch so soft it was more of a tap.

He smiled his lopsided grin, and her heart melted.

"I think we both are," he mumbled against her lips, and she didn't bother trying to argue.

THE END

A/N: So, how was it? Horrible, mediocre, (dare I suggest it) good? I won't know unless you review!