Summary: There wasn't anything between them. He was a customer, and she was an employee—as far as relationship goes. What they had was a customer-employee relationship.

And yet, a 'customer-employee relationship' did not include walking together for a mile almost everyday on their way home and having a friendly chat—maybe even flirt for a bit. Okay, they were at least friends, weren't they?

But then again, how come she still did not have his number—OR... how come he did not ask her for her number yet?

Or ask her out yet. Seriously, how dare him.

Hiccstrid Coffee Shop AU

Shout out to Impracticable-dreamer for helping me out with the initial draft of the story.

No Beta for this story. So level down your expectations... and don't be too hard on me. Writing hasn't been easy for me recently :(

Astrid sighed as she put down the cup on the granite counter. This had to be the third time that Astrid brewed another cup of minty-mocha blend and scribbled Hiccup on it for the past 27 minutes. She wondered if anything urgent happened to him; her shift was almost done, and he had yet to come to the cafe for his daily cup of coffee which he never missed.

Astrid could definitely use his comforting, familiar presence and his pleasant company right now... the sound of his laughter and the dry wit of his sarcasm. They were oddly endearing to her, and never did she fail to appreciate his uncommon quirks—she shook her head.

This was really unbecoming of her—Astrid did not moon over some man, not even the cutest one with green eyes and disheveled hair coupled with a dorky yet mysterious vibe around him... And she was definitely not thinking too much about a certain customer named Hiccup!

She shook her head again. It was not like she had any right to be worried for him. There wasn't anything between them. He was a customer, and she was an employee—as far as relationship goes. What they had was a customer-employee relationship.

And yet, a 'customer-employee relationship' did not include walking together for a mile almost everyday on their way home and having a friendly chat—maybe even flirt for a bit. Okay, they were at least friends, weren't they?

But then again, how come she still did not have his number—OR... how come he did not ask her for her number yet?

Or ask her out yet. Seriously, how dare him.

Astrid felt the phone in her pocket vibrating; that had to be her alarm. And just like that her mood sunk, knowing that her shift was over.

Astrid sighed once again; she begrudgingly pulled her apron above her head, placing it on top of the granite counter beside the cup of minty-mocha blend. Astrid stared blankly at the name she'd already written on the cup: Hiccup. She felt a bit of heaviness in her chest, as if she had been shortchanged.

Maybe she could extend her hours—she could actually use some extra money. No, she was kidding herself. That was not the reason she was considering working longer. Besides that, she also had to study for the midterm exam.

Oh... that was it. Maybe he was just busy for midterm—that had to be it.

"I take it you missed your daily dose of your personal eye candy," a familiar, gaudy voice commented behind her. Astrid was startled from her thoughts, almost jumping in surprise. She managed not to show it as she turned around to face the owner of the voice.

"Ruff," Astrid acknowledged, rolling her eyes. "Hiccup is not my personal eye candy; he is just a custome—"

"Oh, don't give me that shit, woman. I know very well how you excitedly prepare his orders ahead of time"—she pointed to the cup with Hiccup's name—"with a little bit of Astrid special touch on it that you don't just openly serve to other customers or actually don't serve at all. "

Astrid felt her face flush hotly. She was about to open her mouth, but the bells attached to the door rang. That must be him! She grabbed the apron, and wore it hastily as she quickly returned to her station, putting on her best smile—only for her smile to falter.

It wasn't Hiccup.

Astrid let her shoulders slump, quickly restraightening her posture, not wanting to show her obvious disappointment. She wondered if Ruffnut noticed it. Hopefully not, or her friend would be so smug about it.

"Yeah sure... just another customer." Ruffnut definitely noticed. "All righty, that's the new trainee who's taking over your shift—enough daydreaming about your prince charming for the day." Ruffnut paused, eyeing her weirdly, before she continued. "You're really that disappointed? Who are you? What have you done to my friend Astrid?"

Astrid shrugged, "It's nothing... I just have a bad feeling."

"Relax, you just didn't see him for today. It's not the end of the world."

"Fine." Astrid raised her arms in acceptance. Ruffnut was right, though midterms usually felt like the end of the world for college students. The stress was just getting to her and it didn't help that she didn't get her daily dose of stress reliever: Hiccup.

Wait, what? Gods, look at her... what was wrong with her head?

Looking at her phone one last time to check the time, Astrid finally decided to head over to the worker's lounge to gather her things, waving goodbye to Ruffnut and hesitantly doing the same to the new trainee before she headed back to her dorm.

It's been a while since Astrid last walked alone on her way back to her dormitory. She'd come to genuinely enjoy Hiccup's company and all his blabbering about some dorky stuffs she didn't really fully comprehend.

Astrid tried to recall how and when exactly she first met Hiccup. Why did she feel so comfortable around him as if she'd known him for ages—

Astrid scowled at herself.

Shit. This couldn't be happening; how did she let all of this happen. She wasn't catching feelings for him now, was she?

Especially not for a boy named Hiccup.

Looking back, had it really been only a month since she met him?

—

Astrid already worked part-time at The Breadmaking Viking's Cafe during the semester prior to this one. So when Astrid was tight on her budget last month, she figured that applying again on The Breadmaking viking for a part-time job would be her best option.

MTThF for five hours a day, 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm; Everything was in order. Some regulars, familiar faces, and nothing Astrid wasn't used to dealing with. She'd already met all kinds of customers—mainly professors and students from Dragon's Edge University or DEU for short. So there shouldn't be new experiences than the ones she already learned.

2:00 pm; bells attached to the door rang very five minutes, mostly regulars who took their favorite spots ahead of time.

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; the peak hour just like the last semester. People were tired, stressed from school or work. They couldn't care less which table to sit in, as long as they get to have their daily dose of much needed caffeine and tackle their works.

4:45 pm; the tables were clearing, and people started heading home.

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm; Cafe was mostly empty save for some who were chilling, dating, studying, or simply waiting for the rush hour to pass.

All-in-all, nothing really changed for Astrid.

Until, Monday, exactly 6:07 pm happened.

A lanky young man, suspiciously carrying an oversized bag, entered the cafe. At first glance, she already pegged him as the nerdy one. Nothing new, probably a big fan of video games or other geeky stuff.

He ordered a cup of minty-mocha blend, and three servings of non-dairy plain vanilla froyo with lots of extra whipped cream on top... What a weirdo, but it was none of her business.

When she asked for a name to write in his cup, she could already see it coming from a mile away—a pick up line, clever name pun, or a ploy to get her number.

Hiccup, he said, and nothing more. He did not even spare a single sneaking glance at her, or—like what EVERY boys did—check on her ass the moment she turned around.

And that... somehow intrigued her slightly.

He came back the next day on the exact same time: 6:07 pm. He ordered a cup of minty-mocha blend, and three servings of non-dairy plain vanilla froyo with lots of whipped cream top, again. Astrid somehow remembered his name; Hiccup was it? So she didn't ask. He still mentioned his name, but didn't appear eager doing it—still no pick up lines, no clever puns. He looked at her name tag, but she didn't feel his eyes linger lecherously on her name tag—este chest.

How easier her job would be if every single customer with a dick acted like him.

He came back again on her next shift, and the next, then the next. Astrid took note that he always sat on the same table near the window. She also noticed that he liked wearing the same clothes, and still carried that oversized bag. Astrid wondered what was so important with the bag that he couldn't bother leaving it somewhere. It looked heavy and such a burden to carry around.

As usual, he ordered the same thing, and she didn't to ask for his name but he still muttered it anyway. As soon as he went to his table, Astrid found her eyes unconsciouly trailing him from the counter. 'He has a nice butt,' she observed.

And before she knew it, she'd memorized everything about him—his quirks and mannerisms—like the back of her own hand.

Astrid saw him outside the cafe for the first time when she was on her way home after her shift .

He was training a puppy in the unversity square. And it was definitely not just her who noticed, judging by the crowd that gathered(mostly female college students), watching him amusedly as he did a couple of tricks with his wolf-like puppy. He was completely oblivious to the crowd watching as he started having a debate with his puppy as if it understood him.

Seriously, he and his puppy were quite the pair and were really entertaining to watch.

Astrid forgot how long she had been watching him; she didn't really want to leave yet but she had practice tomorrow morning. She regretted leaving without even saying a word to him, but she noticed some of the people were filming him with their phones and would most likely share it in their facebook or instagram or vine and she wasn't really interested being in the spotlight.

Hiccup came back the following day, tripping as soon as he stepped inside the cafe; luckily for him, it wasn't unusual for the university cafe to be uncrowded during fridays. So no one really saw him but—goddamn it—how was it possible for someone to be so hot and adorkable at the same time?

And Astrid did not just call Hiccup hot. And she definitely did not almost jump from her station wanting to rush over his side when he tripped.

And wait a minute, was that a whimper? She must be hearing things. She didn't whimper, did she?

Hiccup ordered the same thing; minty-mocha blend and three servings of plain vanilla froyo with lots of whipped cream on top. He still muttered his name even if she didn't ask for it, and wasn't even looking at her as he handed her a ten dollar bill.

It shouldn't had bothered her—Hiccup was just a customer, and that was it.

He was just about to head to his usual spot, when Astrid remembered that she already had prepared his order ahead of time.

"Wait! I already have your order, Hiccup am I right?" she pretended not to be sure.

Hiccup eyed her weirdly then looked at the tray on the counter top then back at her. "Oh, wow that was fast... errr not that I'm complaining—I mean I'm just surprised that you actually remembered my name and all—I mean, I'm not exactly memorable..."—oh, she found plenty oh things about him very memorable, like his lips right now but she couldn't exactly tell him that—"...sorry, I'm rambling again. am I? Errr... I'll go now before I start rambling again... and oh, thanks—I guess—for remembering my horrible name, Astrid."

Astrid. He called her Astrid—and why did his voice sounded so pleasant when called her name and felt like there was a certain quality to it that made her blush.

"Yo-You're welcome," she said, scowling, trying to hide her red-tinted cheeks. Gosh, why was she acting like this!

Then she heard that whimper again. That was definitely not her; there was no way that Astrid would whimper over a boy saying her name for the first time no matter how hot and cute the said boy was.

That was when she realized that he had always been sneaking his puppy to the cafe in his oversized bag. It all made sense now—some weird things about him, how he frequently mumbled to himself. It made sense now how he always order three servings of non-dairy plain vanilla froyo with lots of extra whipped cream. It wasn't for him. It was for his puppy.

Astrid must had been staring at him because Hiccup was now looking at her with panicky and anxious eyes, rather than his usual warm, vibrant green stare. And that didn't settle right in her stomach.

Then Hiccup grabbed her hand. "Please don't report me, I swear this is only for the meantime," he begged quietly, pausing to look around him before he continued. "You see Toothless is still a pupper... erm you know puppy—"

"I know what a pupper is."

"Oh." He said, then he smiled lopsidedly—she noticed a bit of nervousness tracing his lips when he smiled—not that she started to notice the different ways he smiled, and definitely not that she was finding it all irresitible. "Anyway, you see Toothless still has a bit of separation anxiety. But we're working on it, aren't we bud?" He sneaked a spoon of vanilla froyo to the bag. She caught a glimpse of pink tongue and black fur. "And I swear, I'll never come back—"

No. NO. She didn't want him to leave yet—or ever.

"—It's fine!" Astrid interrupted, her voice a pitch higher. She felt her face flush before coughing. "I mean, don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"As long as you introduce me to the good boy and let me walk him later. My shift's almost over, if you don't mind waiting for a bit, that is."

The way his eyes brighened at her, his face breaking into a wide gap-toothed smile sent her stomach fluttering.

And Astrid was definitely not noticing too much about him or the way his warm hand was still holding on to her hand and how it perfectly fit—

He cleared his throat.

Astrid almost yelped—almost—as she quickly pulled her hand away(immediately missing the warm contact), feeling her cheeks flush hotly. She ran her fingers behind her ear, tucking a strand of hair underneath it, but then remembered she was wearing a hair net.

He let out a chuckle and she found herself doing the same.

"I can wait," he said, smiling lopsidedly.

Then he was leaning closer towards her, and she felt her heart stopping before she realized that it was only so he could whisper something in her ear.

"Are you sure that it's really okay for me and Toothless to keep our patronage here, though?" The feeling of his breath touched the skin of her neck as he spoke sent shivers running down her spine. She almost closed her eyes and bit her lip as if she was imagining him groaning—

And by the gods! What was wrong with her head?

"S-sure! I mean no problem!" Astrid stuttered. She pretended to grab something on the nearest counter to support herself, feeling her legs weak. She just hoped Hiccup didn't notice.

He definitely noticed. Luckily, Astrid was saved when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and started alarming. "Would you look at the time. I guess that's my shift!" she said, taking off her apron hastily. "I'll be right back, so don't you go anywhere yet—you still owe me a walk!"

And ever since then, Hiccup always stayed in the cafe until her shift, and they would always walk back together on their way back to their places.

—

Astrid snapped back to herself; she looked around her and realized that she had walked all the way back on auto-pilot, and that she had long arrived at her dormitory, lost in her own thoughts, standing and staring at her door for god-knew how long.

Th-that was... Astrid just hoped no one she knew tried to greet her. That would have been so mortifying, and her friends would never let her live it down. It would have been quite a sight. Astrid Hofferson spacing out on front of her doorsteps as if she was some swooning girl. But judging by how warm her chest felt and how erratically her heart palpitated right now at the mere memory of him, she wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of her making a love-struck face while she was spaced out.

Astrid shook her head to clear her mind and calm her heart. This wasn't the time for her to be distracted—it was almost midterm. She should be focusing on the upcoming exams... not Hiccup.

Astrid grabbed the keys from her bag, quickly unlocking the door. She reached out underneath her shirt to get unclasp her bra and toss it somewhere in the room as soon as she locked the door.

Being a sponsored student athlete, Astrid got a room of of her own without having to share it with some random girl, and with her record of getting along with other girls... She was very relieved to learn of that privilege. Not that she hated other girls—she got along just fine with her two bestfriends: Ruffnut and Heather. Your typical basic bitch though. Thor help her...

It was not like she spent alot of time in her room though in her everyday life. And if ever she did, it was not like she was actually alone in her room most of the time as her two bestfriends loved to randomly barge in and hang out in her room.

Deciding that she shouldn't waste any more time than necessary, Astrid grabbed her books and checked her notes for the exam coverage. She thumbed the pages needing her attention and took down notes as necessary.

Two hours of pouring over her notes quickly passed; she realized that it was all in vain. Even though she willed herself to focus on her books, his green eyes swam before her vision, and his infectious laughter kept on invading her mind.

Astrid tried clear her head by taking a hot shower, but the effects of hot water and her being naked only put some certainly interesting ideas in her head, and didn't really help with her much needed focus—though those certainly interesting ideas definitely helped her release some stress.

Hiccup was going to be the death of her.

It certainly felt like the end of the world the next time she saw him.

Hiccup wasn't alone when the bells chimed—it wasn't Toothless who accompanied him. It was a girl, a date. Hiccup brought a girl to the cafe for a date.

And even Astrid couldn't deny how perfect the girl looked: wild strawberry blonde haired, fair skinned, a bit on the short side but had curves to make up for it. And when her eyes landed on her chest... Astrid never felt utter defeat in her life before. At least she was taller than his date.

And that was not the worse; it was the smile on Hiccup's smile. It was unlike any smile from him the she ever saw before. He looked genuinely happy and she knew that she couldn't compete with someone who could make him smile that way.

Astrid felt a crushing feeling in her chest, as if she was weighed down by the whole universe's gravity.

Astrid shook herself, steeling her resolve, when she saw the girl—Hiccup's date—making her way to her station. For some reason the girl looked familiar, then she realized it was not just any girl. She was the team captain of the Bog Burglars Lacrosse team; Camicazi.

Hiccup's date was pretty much perfect, and she couldn't possibly compare to her.

So what? She could do this. She could face her head on, this girl who was more popular than her, more beautiful than her, with a straight face and an indifference of a stranger.

She was Astrid Hofferson; team captain of the Edge Spikers. She may not be as well-known as Cami, but that's because she was only on her freshman years.

She wasn't going to lose to her, Astrid resolved as she took a deep breath, gritted her jaw, straightened her back, and put on her best smile.

Astrid tried not to glare at the shorter girl as the said girl devilishly grinned at her as she made her way to her counter. Bitch.

"So you must be Astrid."

Cami eyed her, then laughed hard. Astrid frowned at her; what was so funny.

"Oh, wow—this is so funny! Gosh, you're seriously not thinking that I'm dating Hiccup, are you?"

Oh. OH.

"Don't worry; Hiccup and I aren't like that—"

"Do I look worried?" She brushed off, trying to sound indifferent, fighting her blush from surfacing.

"Believe me, you looked like you were about to eat me alive—which actually sounds nice." She winked at her.

Wait, what? Did she just...

"Are you? ... you're—you know?" Astrid said, shrugging her shoulders then gesturing to a random girl.

She nodded, "Proudly. And if Hiccup and I didn't go way back, I would've honestl—"

"Sorry, but I'm already interested in someone else," she cut her off. Her eyes betrayed her when she glanced to Hiccup's table before she could stop herself.

Cami definitely noticed judging by the grin on that split on her face. "I knew it! Hiccup's definitely going to owe big time."

"Knew what?" Her mouth asked before she could stop herself, again. So much for retaining her straight face and acting indifferent.

Cami just smiled at her then reached out her hand. "Cami."

Astrid eyed her hand with a raised brow, hesitating for a second, before she shrugged and reached out her own hand. "Astrid. But it seems like you already know that."

"Oh, believe me I do," Cami said, shaking her hand, "and I swear I will go crazy if I have to listen to him one more time go on about this girl from some coffee shop because he is too much of a pussy to act on his feelings."

Cami's grip tightened on her hand. "So I'm going to give you a hint... you know Toothless right?"

Astrid nodded, still wary of Cami's hold.

"You see, Hiccup doesn't just let anyone walk that dog, so there you go, that's as much as confession you can get out of him. So you better woman up and claim those buns you've been eyeing because its all yours AND trust me when I said that many have tried. BUT"—Cami's grip on her hand tightened even more—"Don't you dare play with his feelings you hear me? Because if you hurt him." She finally let go of her grip, to make a showing of running her thumb through her neck slowly.

Then Cami was now grinning at her again as if nothing happened. "Anyways, I'm only here for the froyos because someone here"—she pointed to Hiccup—"begged me to babysit Toothless for him because apparently he has some plans for tonight, but don't tell him I told you that." And just like that she went back to Hiccup's table, whispering something to Hiccup's ear that made him flush red before she left the cafe, raising her two-thumbs up to her and winking at her last time.

Astrid was still registering what just happened that she didn't notice Hiccup was making his way to the counter.

His eyes met hers, and why did her heart suddenly took off and went crazy. Then Astrid remembered her conversation with Cami; Hiccup likes her... and had some plans.

Astrid couldn't help but feel her insides turning into mess that she had to bite her lips to fight to prevent it from smiling too much.

Hiccup didn't seem to have any idea what Cami just told her. Astrid wondered what did Cami told him to make him blush before she left.

"Hi Astrid," He greeted, smilingly, his voice so tender from his jovial mood—

And her knees felt weak... what was wrong with her.

"H-how can I help you?" she asked, barely managing to control her voice.

Astrid noticed that Hiccup was now frowning and pouting; and gods why did he have to do that in front of her—she was not prepared. "I..."He took a deep breath, paused for a second. He appeared to be struggling with himself. "Would you—"he sighed, opening his mouth a couple of times,"—nevermind. It's nothing..."

Then Astrid remembered Cami's words again; Hiccup liked her... but was too shy too act on his feelings.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called when Hiccup was about to turn around.

He looked at her confusedly, "Is there any problem? Oh, Cami—my friend from earlier. She-She didn't forgot to pay, did she?"

"No silly, there's nothing wrong. And your friend didn't forgot to pay either."

"Oh... so why did you call me then?"

"Were you just planning on asking me out?"

His eyes widened, "I... I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make to you feel uncomfort—"

She punched him, then grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him over the counter for a kiss.

"Took you long enough. Ask me out again?"

I hope you had fun reading it, because honestly took me a while to write this one, and I was REALLY hesitant to post it. Oh, well.

So how was it? Review, Fave, Follow, Pm me or whatever.