Astrid sighed into her coffee cup.

"Oh my god," Heather said, sitting across from her. "What is the matter now?"

"Nothing," Astrid said, leaning over her mug and blowing on it. She did not trust herself to say exactly how she was feeling. Not out loud, anyway.

"Oh really? You've been absolutely depressed all week," Heather said. "And don't think I don't know the reason." When she garnered no reaction from Astrid, she said, "It's because of Hiccup."

Astrid rolled her eyes, both at Heather for being perceptive, and at herself for the pang of regret and longing his name incited in her. "I'm not depressed. Look, I'll get over it. It's just…"

"Just what? The fact that he basically told you he was falling in love with you and you walked away?" Heather asked.

Astrid groaned. "What was the matter with me? I mean, in my head I was thinking I had to catch my flight, and it was all so sudden and fast… I guess… I don't know."

"I don't know either," Heather said. "You messed up. It's not like you not to tell people what you think."

"And what do I think?" Astrid mumbled.

"That you like him? Maybe even—"

"Heather," Astrid interrupted, sending her a glare to shut her up.

"From what you've said, you had a magical time with this guy. And yeah, you guys were pretending to be into each other—but you can't deny that you were actually into each other. And I know you Astrid—you have crazy standards for guys. There's a reason you've rejected every guy your family and friends have set you up with. Now, you've found a guy you actually like. I mean, look at you, you're pathetic."

"Thanks, Heather," Astrid said drily, sending her another glare.

"All I'm saying," Heather said, "Is that I don't believe in fate, but boy does it like you."

Astrid laughed, rolling her eyes, "It's not fate, Heather. It's pure coincidence."

"Call it what you want," Heather said, smirking at her, "This whole thing is just too perfect to let disappear."

"Well, then why hasn't he called, or shown up?" Astrid asked, voicing what she had been thinking the week since leaving Berk. "I mean, if this was a movie, he would have been at my door the day I got back with a bouquet. But he's not. He's… who knows where he is."

"Because you flat out rejected him?" Heather asked, "I mean, I'm just speculating here but… there's really only one way to interpret how you responded."

"Maybe I should just go to him," Astrid said.

Heather paused, before saying, "If you like him, and you want something with him, then yeah, I think that's your only option, babe."

Astrid let out a long breath, and stood up abruptly. "Heather," she said, "Book me a red eye—I don't care how much it is—I'm getting to Berk tonight."

"You got it," Heather said, grinning as she grabbed her laptop.

Astrid walked to her bedroom to pack a bag of clothes, and as soon as she got her ticket, she hurried out to catch a cab to the airport, heart beating a mile a minute.

She heard the TV running from inside the apartment, and hesitated before she knocked. Would he be angry with her? Would he be over her? Would he turn her away? She supposed, in a way, she might deserve that—but she had to try. She knocked firmly, and waited as she heard footsteps come towards the door. There was a slight pause—was he looking through the peephole?—and she heard the door unlock and it opened, to reveal a confused Hiccup.

"Hey," she said quietly, "Can I come in?"

He stood there, unresponsive for a moment, before nodding and stepping aside to let her through. She entered his apartment, looking around, but did not have much desire to pay too much attention to their surroundings. She patted Toothless' head when the dog inspected her, and turned to face Hiccup, who had closed the door and stood a little ways away from her.

"How did you know where I live?" he asked.

"I looked up the phone number of your dad's place," she said, "And I called Gobber and he told me. Before you say or do anything else, I need to speak," she told him, putting both her bags on the floor. "I'm sorry—for pretending your photo was my boyfriend—for forcing you to be pretend to be my boyfriend—for acting inappropriately the whole time—and for dragging you into a lie that I can only imagine hurt you as much as it hurt everyone else, including me." She took a breath, and continued, "The thing you need to know about me is that I'm honest. Like, crazy honest. The gets-called-a-bitch-five-times-a-day kind of honest. You may have noticed my whole family is too, especially my sister. I'm blunt—I'm not always nice—I don't pull punches. You can always count on me to tell things how they really are. But… there is an instance in my life where I was not that way. And that was lying to my family about having a boyfriend. And at first it was completely harmless, and I didn't mean for it to go so far, but it did. And I'm sorry.

"And," she continued, looking him in the eye, "I'm sorry that I sucked you into it. But that wasn't the only time I was dishonest. Or at least, dishonest to myself. When you showed up at the airport—it took me by surprise. I thought I'd never see you again—especially after I threw you out of my parent's house the way I did. I guess… I just felt embarrassed that I couldn't tell you how wonderful the things you said made me feel—how wonderful you make me feel." She swallowed, keeping eye contact with him. "I'll admit there isn't much that scares me. But how quickly I fell for you… that scared me a little—because I kept telling myself it couldn't be real—it was too fast, it was too perfect—it was too coincidental. That I was just projecting the fact that in my head, at least somewhat, I was projecting a five year long fake relationship onto you. And maybe it is all those things. Maybe I'm going crazy. But I really like you, Hiccup. And… if you can… get over how things happened, I'd like to…"

She didn't get a chance to speak. All at once, she was gathered into his arms, his lips claiming hers desperately. Like that Snoggletog night, she let herself melt into him, letting out a soft moan as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She heard fireworks go off outside, and the reporters and crowds on the TV were loudly celebrating.

They broke apart to breathe, but stayed close enough that she could feel his heart beating against her, and could feel his lips against her own. Their breaths mingled, as all thought escaped her mind—leaving only a feeling of content—of untainted happiness.

"Happy New Year," she whispered, before he kissed her again.

The End.

Short chapter… because there wasn't much left to write ;)

So, the end to my Holiday Special. I enjoyed writing it very much, and I hope some of you enjoyed reading it. It was very fun to go through this time with you :)

Thank you for reading this exceptionally cheesy, cliché, hopelessly romcomy story! And thanks to everyone who took the time to send in a review. For some reason ffnet isn't letting me respond to last chapter's reviews, so if you don't get a response from me, know that I've read your review, and I appreciate that you sent it :)

Happy New Year!