Thank you all for the lovely comments! Here's the final installment of the story! ^^

December 31st, 2019 | Part 2

The main conclusion Astrid had drawn in 2019 was that Hiccup still lived underneath a social media-less rock. So while she now had two things to apologise for, she couldn't get in contact with him, no matter how hard she tried.

She wanted to say sorry for still not having called him. And for making him think she had moved on. Because while she had attempted to, while she had thought that simply having fun with one of her colleagues wouldn't hurt, it wasn't true. The moment she had seen Hiccup, she had wanted to run to him and apologise. But he'd cycled away, and by the time she'd convinced Eret to go after him, they couldn't find him anymore. Eret had been awfully sweet about it, had told her that she had made it clear enough that they weren't serious. And that he'd gladly help her work out some of her frustration at the gym or the shooting range instead.

Hiccup was the reason she'd taken Eret with her that night in the first place, after all. Because the closer they had gotten to the New Year's Eve of 2018, the more she had started to dread the thought of seeing Hiccup with his girlfriend again. After all, she hadn't been able to stalk his Facebook and see if they had broken up in the meantime. Bringing someone else with her was the only insurance she could give herself against being humiliated again. That, or staying home altogether. And she wasn't going to let herself be that easily defeated.

It had been uncannily desperate, given that ever since she'd lost Hiccup's number, she hadn't concerned herself with dating at all. Sure, the police academy kept her busy, although she still had time for it if she wanted to. But she found she simply lacked the interest. She didn't need it. She'd been feeling good about herself, and now that she had gotten a better idea of the downsides to becoming a police officer, she still didn't have any regrets. Because while she'd fallen out of love with medicine for exactly those mundane, "this is what you will actually be doing on a daily basis" reasons, she found herself loving this job in spite of those things.

She finally felt like she'd found her place. To the extent a 26-year old could, she supposed. She was, at the very least, no longer worried about whatever came next.

Which is why it was even stranger that she still couldn't get Hiccup out of her head. And that this year, she had headed to the centre of town with more confidence and purpose than she ever had before.

She was going to find him tonight. And no matter the circumstances, regardless of what would be thrown in her way, she would finally apologise to him.

After all, as practical as she was, she also couldn't ignore the way in which nearly every blog or Instagram page shoved this year being the last of the decade right in her face. And while she wasn't superstitious, and she believed in hard work rather than fate, she also couldn't shake the nagging feeling that if she didn't go out tonight, on the last day that belonged to the ten years in which she'd experienced so much, growing from a teenager to someone that she would sort-of call an adult… That after this decade, which had started with Hiccup, she wouldn't get the chance to see him again.

And even if that was her just reading too many self-indulgent Soulmate AU fanfics of The Witcher, she didn't really care anymore. Because that was also the agreement she'd made with herself. She was allowed to try for one more day, to finish off the decade and go full circle. And if it didn't result in anything, then that was fine. She would simply let it go, Frozen-style.

But she could still hope, right?

So she'd put on her favourite leggings and skirt, topped off by a warm sweater that was both comfortable and accentuated her figure, the front parts of her hair pulled back into a loose bun while the rest hung loose down her back. No pretence. Just her, the way she wanted to be seen.

A few hours before midnight, she parked her bicycle in the street Hiccup had spotted her in the year before. She ventured into town, intending to start in the centre squares and end up here at the end of the night.

Or perhaps not. She hoped not.

While she'd changed a lot over the past ten years, Berk still felt remarkably similar. The stalls of the winter market hadn't stopped selling the kind of items no one really used, although there were remarkably more smart phone cases. While some of the bars had changed, their spirit, many of them proud rip-offs of "Viking culture" and serving pints to match those ideas, had remained.

If someone had asked for her opinion on that rigidness when she was 16, she would have called it boring. Would have reassured anyone that she would leave Berk as soon as she could, and that she would never look back. And now she was here, noting to herself that his would likely be one of her last New Year's Eves as a civilian instead of on duty. She was looking forward to it, to be done with training and start actually serving. But it was also yet another reason for her to track Hiccup down this year.

Now if only he would show himself, that would make her life a lot easier.

She stopped by every place she had seen him at since the moment they'd met. The hot chocolate stand by the river, where people were already trying to secure the best spot to watch the fireworks show. The ice skating rink in the centre, lacking a cute lanky guy stumbling over his fake foot. The street on which Hiccup had charmingly hurled his guts into the snow. The club where she had kissed a random guy for him to see, now embarrassingly empty because it was only just past 10 PM. The corner cafe he'd been sitting at with his friends, perfectly showcasing how handsome he'd become. The bar she'd seen him sitting in behind the window, making her want to hug him because he'd looked so beaten down by the world. Gruffnut's Grunge Grotto, surprisingly still open, where she had walked away from him after he'd rejected her the year before. The site of their fateful meeting in 2016, when the stars had finally aligned, albeit only temporarily.

Until she finally reached her bike at 11 PM, coming up empty-handed.

But she refused to let that be the end of it. It was very likely that if he was indeed here, and she wanted to believe he was, that she had simply missed him. Berk was still a sizable town, after all. She had to scan the streets better, practice her surveillance and stake-out techniques, go into more bars because it was cold and most people were inside.

She had to try harder.

Because with one hour left on the clock, one hour until everyone else would celebrate the start of the new decade, she didn't care anymore about what other people thought, or how desperate and downright crazy she'd become. After all, it simply felt like the right thing to do. To find Hiccup. And finally, truly, scratch that itch that had been bugging her for so many years.

And she couldn't shake the simmering panic caused by the notion that this wasn't how it was supposed to go. That she should have seen him already, because time was running out. That if she didn't find him now, before midnight, that the spell would be broken.

So she quickened her pace as she made another round, checking her phone more often than she should.

23:07.

23:16 and a message from Heather, asking her if she'd gotten lucky yet.

23:18.

23:21, Heather telling her what bar she and Dagur were at, in case she needed a break.

23:27.

Then she glanced back up from her phone, and behind the glass window of an Irish pub, she finally caught a glimpse of a familiar face.

It wasn't Hiccup. But she supposed it qualified as the next best thing.

She rushed inside, pushing herself through the crowd until she reached him, the dark-haired over-dramatic diva who had punched Dagur three years ago, adrenaline and hope coursing through her veins.

She tapped his shoulder a little more urgently than strictly polite, and she wasn't surprised when he turned around, clearly agitated, only for his eyes to open up in surprise when he took her in.

"You!" he stammered. "I know you!"

"Yes, I'm -"

"No, don't tell me," he stopped her, putting up his hand. "I got this."

"I never introduced myself to you, so it's -"

"Oh, I'm aware." Hiccup's cousin rolled his eyes. "You're the bitch who never called Hiccup."

She clenched her jaw, exasperated. "Excuse me?"

"Look, honey -"

"It's Astrid, actually."

"Okay fine, "Astrid"," he sighed, gesturing with his fingers to put her name between quotation marks. "We can keep pretending I don't know what you did, but I do. You told him you would call, and you didn't. So obviously you think my cousin's not good enough for you, which means I -" He gestured to himself despite the fact that he was clearly smaller than her, and that she'd proven she could kick his ass before. "- have nothing more to say to you."

"My phone broke," she hissed between her teeth, counting to ten in her head and repeating all anger management techniques they'd taught her at the academy.

"Oh," Hiccup's cousin stammered.

"And that's your fault," she stressed, pointing at him. "If you hadn't started a fight with Dagur, I wouldn't have fallen, I wouldn't have lost Hiccup's number, and I actually could've called him. And since he doesn't know what the word 'social media' means, I couldn't exactly contact him in any other way."

"He has LinkedIn," Hiccup's cousin shrugged.

"Where he probably doesn't use the name 'Hiccup'. And that's the only name he gave me," she clarified.

"So now you're here talking to me because…?"

"I'd like to explain to him what happened, because I never got the chance to. Is he here too?"

"No." Hiccup's cousin shook his head. "He stayed home."

Her heart dropped.

He'd stayed home.

He'd given up.

But she couldn't.

"Do you think he'd want to come out after all…?" she tried. "If you text him?"

"I doubt it."

No, no, no.

"And if I call him? Finally?"

Hiccup's cousin pulled up his eyebrow. "I thought you didn't have his number."

"You could give it to me," she proposed. "Along with your own name, as a back-up. Because you do look like the type with an Insta profile."

"Girl, you have no idea how many followers I have. Look for Snotlout Jorgenson -" She cocked her head at him, and he rolled his eyes in response. "No, that's not a stage name or an alias, it's my actual godsdamned name. You see, my family, it -" Snotlout paused, put up both of his hands and took a deep breath, shaking his head at no one in particular. "No, this is not about me. It's already the Snotman-show every other night of the year."

"So you will give it to me?" she asked, only realising her phrasing-failure when Snotlout gave her an exaggerated wink.

"Anytime."

"Ew."

Snotlout put his hand on his chest, gasping. "So rude. I don't even know if I should help you anymore."

"Oh, come on," she groaned, getting her phone out of her shoulder bag and checking the time.

23:35.

Time's running out, Cinderella.

"What's in it for me?" Snotlout dared to ask.

"You're helping out your cousin?"

"Am I, though?" Snotlout clacked his tongue. "Only thing I know about you is that you stood him up last time. How do I know you won't do the same again?"

"Because I'm promising you I won't," she stressed, hating how begging she sounded. "And you have my name, you can track me down if I don't keep my word."

"Not enough."

"Then what else could you possibly want from me!?"

"I…" Snotlout continued, smirking as if things were finally coming together. "… will give you Hiccup's number, if you…" He got his phone out of his back pocket at the lowest speed humanly possible. "… send me the contact details of the cute redhead you were with three years ago."

"Cute redhead?" She frowned, mentally going over her female friends. She hadn't been with any of them three years ago, not yet at least. It had just been Hiccup, and… "Wait, Dagur?"

"That's his name?"

"Dagur, the one you punched in the face because he came up to you and called you, I quote, 'a snack'? That Dagur?"

Snotlout's eyes lit up. "Yes, that's the one!"

"Are you sure? The guy who broke your nose?"

Snotlout put his phone to his chest, dreamingly staring out of the window. "I can't help but think of him every time I sneeze."

"Then why did you punch him in the first place?" she groaned through gritted teeth, stuck between wanting to leave as soon as possible and getting to the bottom of this because it was just so thoroughly, completely weird.

"I just wasn't… in that place, at the time," Snotlout murmured, barely audible above the pub's crowd. He looked down at his feet, as if he were actually embarrassed. "One hundred percent convinced I was straight, lashing out against anyone who dared to suggest anything else because I happened to be into theatre and musicals, and my Chris Hemsworth posters were hanging next to my favourite characters from Glee." He rolled his eyes. "My friend Ruffnut sent me a collage of articles on toxic masculinity as a joke birthday present that year. Turns out they were actually quite useful."

"Wow."

"I know, self-insight is truly indescribable," Snotlout nodded to himself.

"Okay…" She took a deep breath. "I can't give you Dagur's number without his consent, -" Snotlout was visibly about to protest, but she put up her finger. "But I can tell you where he is right now, and you can make it up with him and ask him yourself. Deal?"

Snotlout mulled for a bit, then swiped around on his phone and showed her the screen. "Fine."

Contact details, belonging to 'Cousincup'. Accompanied by a series of vaguely familiar numbers.

She quickly copied it, double checking whether she had done it right at least three times before telling an increasingly impatient Snotlout what cafe Dagur was at. They left the pub together and she thanked him, dialling Hiccup's number as soon as Snotlout walked away, her heart beating in her throat.

It rang once…

Twice…

Another time…

Until she finally heard a light beep, and rustling on the other side. "Hello?"

It was him. The slightly nasal yet adorable voice was unmistakably, wonderfully his.

"Hiccup!"

"Yes… Who's this?"

"It's Astrid."

"Oh…" Hiccup stammered. "Oh."

"We talked three years ago, at the market, and you gave me your number," she rattled, suddenly nervous. "I fell on my phone when trying to break up the fight, and it broke, so I lost it… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Hiccup mumbled, sounding awfully distant. "But then how did you -"

"I ran into your cousin just now," she explained. "Snotlout. He gave it to me."

"I see."

"He's quite the spectacle," she joked, hoping to get a smile, anything.

"Yeah, I suppose my condolences are in order," Hiccup chuckled, finally.

"They're very much appreciated," she smiled.

A silence followed, and she cleared her throat. "Look, Hiccup, I'm really sorry about what happened three years ago… I tried to track you down on social media, but I couldn't, so I just… I just wanted to ask if you wanted to meet up tonight after all."

It took a moment for Hiccup to respond. "I can't."

She hardly registered his next words, too overwhelmed by her heart being thrown off a cliff and dropping straight into a canyon at least as deep as the Mariana Trench. "I can't leave my dog alone tonight."

"Oh…" was all she could give him, because this was not how this was supposed to go. With only twenty minutes left in the decade, her normally quick mind shut down.

Say something, Astrid, anything. Ask him to go get coffee tomorrow, or the day after, or just sometime.

"But you could come over here if you'd like to?"

She was dumbstruck for a moment, wondering if that question had just been a fragment of her imagination. But as soon as she registered it, she didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes!"

"Really?" Hiccup sounded more surprised than she was. "How much time do I have to tidy up?"

"That depends on what your address is."

"Right. Addresses. Very useful for people who want to… go to places."

She could hear the voice of Chandler from Friends in her head. Could he be any cuter?

"Chief's Drive. Number three," Hiccup completed.

She put him on speaker phone and quickly pulled up Google Maps. She didn't know the street itself, but recognised the area. Exactly on the other side of town from where she lived. No wonder they'd never run into each other.

"Maps tells me it should be like 10 minutes by bicycle." She checked the time. 23:42. Her heart jumped. "So I'll be there before midnight."

"Be careful, though. They're pretty sloppy when it comes to salting the roads over here."

She started walking, her bike only a block or two away. "I'm Berkian, I think I can handle it."

"Of course you can," Hiccup laughed.

"So I'll see you there," she smiled, not quite believing this was actually happening.

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too."

With that, she hung up, and started sprinting. Because she'd been offered a second chance, and she was holding on as tightly as she could.

"Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh. Gods."

Hiccup had not been joking entirely when he'd asked Astrid how long he had until she arrived. While he was normally quite happy with the way he maintained the house, the thought of Astrid Hofferson coming over suddenly made the whole place seem like an exploded mess and entirely dog.

Toothless watched him with big, questioning eyes as Hiccup rushed around, stuffing doggy toys and blankets in random cupboards, closets, or simply underneath the couch, but didn't seem to intend to help Hiccup out in the slightest. Pretending he wasn't the one who had made the mess in the first place. Instead, Toothless simply laid down on the couch - where he knew he wasn't allowed without Hiccup explicitly saying yes - giving Hiccup a look that clearly said 'what are you going to do about it, you desperate mess?'.

Hiccup himself was wondering exactly the same thing. He didn't know why he'd even popped the question.

You could come over here if you'd like to?

Of course he was lying to himself, because he actually did know. He knew that despite him repeating to himself time and time again that he didn't need Astrid in his life, that he was over her, that it was all just a coincidence and that they weren't meant to be, that he had been defeated the moment he'd heard her voice on the other end of the phone. He'd tried to play it cool, to make it seem like he didn't care, so he wouldn't get caught up in this again. But it'd only taken a few minutes before he'd completely crumbled.

Toothless was right to judge him for it. But it was 2019. The end of the decade in which every year had started or ended with Astrid. And with only a few minutes left on the clock, he allowed himself to be a little superstitious.

So when at 23:55, he found his living room in an acceptable state, he simply sat down on the couch and waited, ruffling Toothless' fur, his good foot tapping on the floor while the minutes crept by.

She'd said she'd be here before midnight. She'd also said she'd call him, three years ago. But he believed her excuse, tried not to beat himself up over not contacting her himself. He couldn't change that anymore. But the least he could do now was believe the new promise she'd made him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Toothless started to whimper as fireworks went off outside, marking the start of the new year.

And Astrid wasn't there.

Hiccup scoffed and sunk deeper into his seat. Of course she hadn't come. She'd just been playing with him again.

Gods, he was a fool. He was so easy. One would think that after such a long time, after an entire decade, he'd learnt something. She'd been out of his league when they'd met ten years ago, and that hadn't changed. Although he knew now that he did have value, unlike his insecure teenage self, he still shouldn't have deluded himself into thinking Astrid truly liked him.

Some girls were simply heartbreakers, after all. And not worth his time.

"At least I have you, right bud?"

Toothless responded with an affirmative bark, and Hiccup supposed that for once, it wasn't too bad that he'd have to vacuum the couch tomorrow to get rid of all the long black Labrador hairs. They could use a hug right now.

But nevertheless, they both sat up when barely five minutes, right after another salvo of fireworks, the doorbell rang.

And despite all he'd been telling himself, his heart nearly burst with excitement.

Astrid hardly looked presentable, snow stuck in her hair and on her clothes, when she finally rang the doorbell of Chief's Drive, 3. She cursed inwardly when she heard another series of fireworks go off in the distance, confirming what she already knew. She was too late.

What if the spell had been broken?

The fireworks were followed by a short bark, and several footsteps approaching the front door of a house that was very different from what she'd expected. She'd been looking for a student apartment, and had had to check Google Maps again when she'd finally skidded into a street with nothing but pairs of suburban family homes. Was Hiccup still living with his parents? But he had been talking about leaving his dog alone… Maybe they were out tonight?

She was snapped out of her thoughts by scratching, followed by a shout. "Toothless, down!"

Her stomach jumped at the sound of Hiccup's voice, and completely filled with butterflies when the door opened to reveal a sheepishly looking Hiccup, his hair sticking out to the sides of his head, and an excitedly panting black Labrador.

She cleared her throat. "Hi."

"Hey," Hiccup mumbled, rubbing the back of his head and smoothing out his hair, making her quickly comb her fingers through her own.

"Sorry I'm late." She gestured vaguely to her bike, which she'd left at the side of the street. "You weren't wrong about them not salting the roads. I almost slipped like four times and had to walk for a while."

"Are you okay?"

"I am."

"And you're here now," Hiccup smiled softly, warming her heart.

The corners of her mouth pulled up at their own volition. "Yeah. Finally."

"Do you -" Hiccup awkwardly stepped aside. "Do you want to come in?"

She nodded and crossed the doorway, only to instantly be sniffed down by Hiccup's dog.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup apologised. "He's very curious."

"Don't worry, dogs don't scare me. Is he okay with strangers petting him?"

"Oh, yeah," Hiccup laughed. "A little too much so, I'd argue. He can't get enough attention."

She knelt down, giving the Labrador some well-deserved scratches and pets. "Did I hear you call him Toothless?"

"Yep."

She laughed, squinting at Toothless' jaws. "From what I can see, he does have teeth."

"I got him from the shelter," Hiccup explained. "He pretended to be a tough guy, like he didn't need anyone to take him home. As I suspected, he was all bark, no bite. Hence, Toothless."

"Why would he end up at a shelter? He's so cute."

Hiccup crouched next to her, pointing at where Toothless' left hind leg was supposed to be. But instead, she only saw a stump.

"He lost it in an accident," Hiccup elaborated before she could ask. Like Hiccup himself, she realised. "His owners didn't want him anymore after that. Thought he'd be too much work."

"No wonder he likes to receive some extra love." She made a silly kissing face. "Don't you, Toothless?"

Toothless happily wagged his tail and licked her cheek, clearly saying yes. She rewarded him with a few more scratches underneath his red collar, a dragon-shaped pendant hanging from it.

"Let me get you a tissue for that," Hiccup chuckled, walking down the hall to what she assumed was the kitchen.

She got back up and followed him through a door into a kitchen that was more well-equipped than someone still in, or just out of college should be able to afford, connected to a horribly old-fashioned living room. Whoever did own this house was massively into timber and an embarrassing amount of tacky Viking decorations, ranging from historically inaccurate helmets to an actual longboat on display in a cabinet. The furniture was a thrown-together mix of old, Scottish-looking couches and chairs, finished off by a Scandinavian touch. From IKEA, to be precise. The seemingly only item from the 21st century was a big flat-screen TV, paused on a particularly cute shot of Baby Yoda.

"So you like Vikings, huh?" she grinned as Hiccup handed her a tissue and she wiped off her cheek.

Hiccup smiled, shrugging at his surroundings. "You should blame my dad for that, not me."

Ah, so he was indeed still living with his parents, like she'd presumed.

"According to him, if you dive really far back into our family tree, you will find us to be actual descendants from Vikings," Hiccup chuckled, gesturing to himself. "Which is why I look like such a warrior."

She cocked her head at him and squinted. "I can kind of see it, actually."

"Sure," Hiccup snorted. "You'd probably kick my ass even harder than Snotlout's."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," she teased, stepping a bit closer so he was forced to look at her. She could faintly smell him, a mixture of typical guy deodorant and something she couldn't completely place. Which was his.

It made her want to curl her arms around his neck and get even closer. She was still kind of cold and he looked so warm, so like home, so like someone she had had to miss for way too long. How had she done it all these years, been content with only seeing him for a moment instead of every single day?

She hadn't been. She'd been fine, she'd been good, but he looked like the gateway to great and she just had to kiss him, her eyes inadvertently darting down to his lips.

But she didn't completely mind it when he awkwardly cleared his throat instead, because he just looked so darn cute doing it, revealing the gap between his teeth.

"Would you like something to drink?"

She didn't comment on how he sounded slightly hoarse, and how the freckles on his cheeks now contrasted with a colour quite close to pink. She simply smiled to herself, feeling happy and so, so lucky to have gotten here after all.

"Sure. What do you have?"

"Not that much, actually," Hiccup illustrated by pulling open a relatively empty fridge. "I wasn't expecting guests." He rummaged through one of the cabinets, triumphantly pulling out a brown package and waving it at her. "But of course I do have hot chocolate powder."

"Well, it's not real hot chocolate…"

"Obviously."

"But I think it'll do."

"Oh, it will do," Hiccup reassured her. "My culinary skills shouldn't be underestimated."

He illustrated his point by pulling a pan out of one of the cabinets and twirling it around in his hand, only to almost drop it. She simply chuckled and shook her head as he put it on the stove, awkwardly shrugging at her as if nothing had gone wrong at all.

She let her gaze wander around the room as Hiccup heated up the milk, her eyes following Toothless as he jumped up on the couch, and eventually landing on a side table full of picture frames. Unable to contain her curiosity and since Hiccup didn't seem to mind, she walked over to them.

It was a collection you'd find in most family homes. They were mostly pictures of Hiccup as a child, looking a lot closer to the boy who'd spilt hot chocolate over her coat than the man currently expertly handling a ladle. Quite a few photographs featured a tall woman she assumed to be Hiccup's mother, although judging by the clothing style, they were from the 90s at the latest. The least represented family member was a tall man, wearing jeans and a lumberjack shirt in nearly every one of his pictures.

A man whose face she recognised.

"Haddock…" she mumbled.

"Hm?"

"Haddock," she repeated, looking back at Hiccup. "That's your last name."

"Yeah, Henrik Haddock, nice to meet you," Hiccup smiled. "Did Snotlout tell you?"

"No." She nodded at the photo frames. "I recognise your father's picture."

"Oh." Hiccup frowned and crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter. "How…? I mean, where…?"

"We have a wall of pictures at the police academy," she explained. "I enrolled in 2017, and his picture is on there…"

Stoick Haddock, fatally stabbed by an everyday mugger when he'd almost reached retirement age. That's what people had told her when she'd asked for the stories of brave men and women in the photographs.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," she breathed, unsure of what to do with herself when Hiccup almost visibly shrank.

"It's okay," Hiccup shrugged. "I got used to having the house to myself."

To himself…

She glanced back at the photos, realising why there were no recent images of Hiccup's mother. She didn't know if she had left, or died, and it didn't feel like the time to ask. She'd simply been assuming Hiccup was still living with his parents, while instead, this house was simply the only thing he had left of them. The decorations belonging to his father, the old-fashioned style of furniture…

It suddenly all made sense. And gods, she wanted to hug him, hoping to somehow make up for all he'd lost.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated once again, even though she knew her sympathies couldn't possibly make it any better.

"So you're with the police?" Hiccup asked, obviously trying to change the topic, his voice soft. He'd turned his back to her, focusing on the pan in front of him.

"Yeah, although I'm still in training." And you gave me the idea to begin with.

"Do you like it?"

"I do."

"That's great."

He sounded off, so off. Her voice of reason told her she didn't know him well enough to know his 'off', but she walked over to him regardless, leaning on the countertop so she could look at his face. But he pretended to be preoccupied with stirring.

"Is that okay with you?"

Hiccup scoffed lightly. "Why would it matter if I amokay with it?"

She didn't know the answer to that question either. "Because it does."

When Hiccup stayed quiet, she continued: "You gave me the idea, actually… Three years ago, when you joked about me being an undercover cop, I kept thinking about that and it just seemed… perfect. Becoming a doctor wasn't for me, but I always wanted to help people, and I actually really, really like this job." She had no idea why she was justifying herself to him, but she kept going anyways. "I wanted to tell you, to thank you, but I'd lost your number, couldn't find any Hiccups on social media, and then on New Year's Eve 2018 I didn't get to talk to you because -"

"Because you saw me with Cami," Hiccup completed. "I know."

"Are you still with her?"

He'd asked her here himself, so he couldn't be, right?

"No. We broke up over a year ago."

And a year ago she was… "And I've never dated Eret to begin with," she implored, because he still hadn't met her gaze again and it was killing her.

Hiccup simply nodded, sucking on his lower lip before he spoke up again. "To answer your question; I don't think I would've been okay with it if you had told me you'd joined the police two years ago…"

He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. "But it's been five years since he died, and it's getting easier to remember all of the reasons why my dad loved his job. Somewhat. And I'm trying to be proud that he gave his life to save that woman, because I know that if he had been given the choice, even knowing he'd die, he would save her life again." He finally looked at her, his eyes soft and watery. "And if you're like him, then you're simply another person to admire."

Hiccup wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his green sweater, and she instinctively caught his hand on the way down. His eyes flickered down, and for a brief moment she was worried he'd pull away, but instead he interlaced his fingers with hers, making her heart skip a beat.

"Five years ago…" she murmured, taking another step closer. "You were sitting in that bar, and you just looked so…" She squeezed his hand, biting her lip as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. "I get why you didn't want me to come over to you."

"I just couldn't," Hiccup told her, his voice almost a whisper. He smiled to himself. "But seeing you, even just briefly, made that absolutely dreadful year a little bit less shit. It meant the world me." He softly rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, sending shivers down her spine. "You did, somehow."

Somehow. "Those weren't my best years either," she admitted, wanting to be honest with him, finally. "I didn't know where my life was going, I was drinking and sleeping my student days away, and then I saw you at Gruffnut's and I…" I wanted to go drag you into one of the bathroom stalls. "I just realised that I wanted to be better. For guys like you." She swallowed, suddenly feeling awkward. She wanted to look away, but his green eyes only drew her in, deeper and deeper. "For you."

Hiccup's breath hitched. "So you felt it too…? Every year, every time…"

"Of course I did." Because it was so obvious, right? In hindsight, it always had been. "Especially after I'd spotted you that year on the terrace, and you'd suddenly gotten unfairly cute."

"After I'd seen you kiss another guy in the club the year before."

"I remembered seeing you that year, not him," she confessed, drawing in closer, also taking his other hand, which had stilled on the ladle. "I should have known then."

"I should have known when you smiled at me, every time, even if I stumbled over my feet or was hurling my guts into the snow…"

"… especially since I still thought you were cute in spite of that," she chuckled.

Hiccup laughed with her. "I'm such a Prince Charming." Then, softer again: "I couldn't believe my luck when you came to talk to me at the market."

"My heart broke in even more pieces than my phone when I realised I'd lost your number."

"I'd looked up all your socials, but didn't contact you because I thought you weren't interested after all."

The confessions were just pouring out of her, with no end in sight. And she didn't want it to end. "When I saw you with that girl the year after, I thought I'd missed my shot."

"I figured you'd obviously moved on when I saw you on the back of that motorcycle."

She inched in closer, looking for his warmth. "And then this year, I couldn't shake the feeling that…"

"With the end of the decade…" Hiccup nodded, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Tonight was the last chance I had to find you."

Hiccup squeezed her hands. "I'd already given up. I stayed home, thought I didn't need you, that it was fine, that if it was never right before, why would it be right now? I'm so sorry, Astrid, I -"

"But I made it here," she whispered, closing her eyes, her nose brushing against his. "I was too late, I only got here past twelve, but it still feels…"

"… right," Hiccup completed, his breath hot against her lips.

And then he kissed her.

She had missed the fireworks at 12 o'clock, but she was absolutely sure that they could never measure up against the ones currently setting her body ablaze. The feeling of his lips against hers made her skin tingle, down from her toes up to where Hiccup softly cupped her cheek, deepening their kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in even closer.

They separated after a glorious eternity, leaving the both of them panting as they gazed into each other's eyes. Hiccup's beautiful eyes, his gorgeously long fingers sliding down to her waist.

"I don't know what this is," Hiccup whispered after kissing her again. "I don't believe in soulmates, or meant to be, fate is a bitch after all, and -"

"Me neither," she cut him off, chasing after his lips because it never lasted long enough, because she wanted more.

"But - and this is going to sound really sappy -"

"You talk too much?"

Hiccup's face broke into a wide grin, and she couldn't help but smile too.

"I'd like to take this next decade to find out."

She didn't tell him she wanted that too. She simply kissed him, giving him all the confirmation they had both so sorely needed for too many years.

It was obvious to her, after all.

It had taken her a decade to find him. And she didn't want to lose him ever again.

A very late Happy New Year and I hope you all have a great new decade too! If you would like to interact with more of my content, feel free to check my page for other fics or to find me over on Tumblr at aleteia-ff