A/N: I narrate this story and I speak as if I'm talking to an actually audience. And please, don't be so critical about it. I think it gets readers to become more, let's say, 'involved' in the story. Plus, I'm still a kid.

I've had this idea for a long time now. Probably before I even started writing "Cousins". Just sayin'.

Disclaimer: I do not own "How To Train Your Dragon". But I do have the DVD! I'm still missing the videogame.

~.HTTYD~

People were wrong.

Astrid walked through town, axe tightly gripped with her right hand, an angry look on her face. And she was heading for the forge. Where Hiccup was working.

Now, you wouldn't think that it was such a big deal. It was normal for Hiccup to work in the blacksmith's shop.

It was no different this time right?

Oh, you wish.

Because this time, Hiccup wouldn't stop working in the forge. He'd stay there for days without going outside. Even Toothless was 'grounded'.

Get it? Eh? Eh?

Let's get back to the point here.

People were wrong. They thought Astrid was mad.

But no.

She wasn't mad. Of course not.

Astrid was furious.

Duh.

Villagers prayed for Hiccup to get out of the situation he put himself in alive.

All the villagers knew was that Hiccup was really in it for him this time.

But what villagers didn't know was that Astrid was, very well, holding and biting back tears.

Huge tears.

She could drop down and cry like a baby right then and there.

But you would feel this way too if your boyfriend (or girlfriend, depending on the gender) would barely talk to you. He (or she) would just work at a smithy where some random chick (or dude) would walk in every now and then.

But she was a strong girl. She could hold it in.

Right?

Of course…..*Narrator chuckles nervously*

Astrid got to the shop window, and glared in.

There he was. Hiccup.

Oblivious to the fact that his girlfriend is livid and is just watching him take something out of a press and bring it to his-little-room-in-the-back-of-the-shop.

Ohhhhh yes. Astrid was furious.

Hiccup walked out of his little room with a big smile on his face.

"I hope she likes it," He muttered. Just enough for Astrid to hear.

The girl's heart dropped.

Astrid liked Hiccup a lot. Oh, screw that. She flippin' loves the guy! After the giant battle of the Red Death, she'd been spending more time with Hiccup. During this time, she always felt a little guilty about how she had treated him he past few years. But, every time she told him that, he just smiled and said it was okay. Then, she would go against his words and put her head down in shame - sometimes she'd end up crying a little. After this, Hiccup would smile warmly, pick her face up by her chin (gently), look into her eyes, then say it was alright. That she was forgiven. That he didn't care.

That moment, he leaned in and kissed her. The first time he kissed her, instead of vice-versa. It was that moment that Astrid truly knew what she felt about him.

She loved him.

She loved his smile, his laugh, his sarcasm. She loved the way he saw the good in everything, even the most hated things by Vikings or dragons. She loved his emerald, deep green, forest eyes- the kind you could never lie to. She loved his long-ish, brown-red hair, which felt really soft when she runs her finger through his hair while they kissed.

She hated the fact that he needed to get disowned (even if it was just for a few hours) and lose half his left leg just to show people that he wasn't a complete failure and that dragons weren't that bad. She hated when she'd see him limp on that prosthetic leg if his. She hated to see him in pain.

She hated herself for treating Hiccup badly before. She hated herself for ever thinking he was a miscreant. A wimp.

She truly cared about him. Even though she never really told him before.

And now, he wouldn't talk to her in days, and he walks out of the little room probably talking about another girl?

'I hope she likes it?' She thought, 'Who is she?'

Now, Astrid is way more upset than mad. She was on the point of bawling.

'He's cheating on me?' She questioned herself, 'I mean, I've dated guys before, and they were jerks, but they never cheated on me. I think.'

She walked into the shop, ready to yell at her, she thinks, future ex-boyfriend.

Oh, Thor, if only she knew. *Narrator wipes tear at her eye while giggling*

It was this moment that Hiccup turned to her. He was still smiling.

Astrid narrowed her eyes and gripped her axe a little tighter. Deep inside, she hoped this was just a big misunderstanding.

Let's just see about that.

"Oh, hey Ast-," Hiccup started, but then Astrid stuck the "U" shaped part of her axe to his throat.

"Don't 'Hey Astrid' me," She spat out angrily, "Why have you been stuck in here a long time? Why didn't you talk to me? And, who. Is. 'SHE'?"

Toothless looked in from the shop window, unseen.

Hiccup backed away. "Astrid, listen to me-"

"No. I want answers. Now." She put the axe back on his throat.

"Ok, fine, fine. But if you want answers, get that axe off my throat first."

Astrid hesitated for a moment, then set her axe on an empty work table, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"There," She pointed out, "Talk."

"Thank you," Hiccup said, "Now, what exactly do you want to know?"

Astrid was shocked. Did he not just here her scream out the words 'Why have you been stuck in here a long time? Why didn't you talk to me? And, who. Is. 'SHE'? '?

Smooth move, Hiccup.

"What I want to know," Astrid said, poking him hard on the chest, "Is why, for the past few days, have you been stuck in here, and why you barely talked to me. And WHO. IS. SHE?" She sounded more distressed than mad. Astrid hoped Hiccup didn't notice.

Too late there, girlie.

Anyways, so Astrid is really upset and mad (and confused, you'll get it sooner or later), and Hiccup is in some deep doo doo.

So far, so good.

"Ok the answers to the first two questions have to wait," Hiccup concluded, "And the 'she' you are referring to, is you."

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"You said 'I hope she likes it'," Astrid quoted, "If she is me, what do you hope I would like?"

That second, Dylla Elgisdatter, the girl that had her eyes on Hiccup for some time now, walked in through the door of the shop.

Let's get to know Dylla right now. She, like Astrid or Ruffnut, it very pretty, but unlike Astrid or Ruffnut, she has no fighting skills whatsoever. She acts really girly, especially around boys. Especially around Hiccup.

Astrid never liked Dylla. Even before the dragon-viking peace. Astrid always thought that Dylla was a lame excuse for a viking – other than Hiccup (remember, this was before the dragon viking peace). Now, after the battle of the Red Death, Dylla is more irritating than ever.

Well, to Astrid. When Hiccup's and Astrid's relationship became known to the public, Dylla keep on flirting with Hiccup every chance she got.

This infuriated Astrid even further.

But, no matter how much Dylla flirted with him, Hiccup never paid much attention. On their dates, Hiccup's attention was always fully on Astrid, no matter what. If a campfire went rogue and flames engulfed their vicinity, it would probably take a moment until Hiccup realized there was a fire going on around them. This always made Astrid happy.

Shall we go back to the story, please?

"Hey Hiccup," Dylla twirled strands of her hair with her fingers, "Do you have that sword my dad ordered?" She smiled seductively.

"Yeah," Hiccup answered. He grabbed an amazingly made sword from the wall behind him, and gave it to the flirtatious girl.

Astrid just kept on glaring.

"Thanks." Dylla winked at him and gave him a few gold coins, then she walked out.

That was it.

Astrid was positive Hiccup was cheating on her.

When Dylla left, Hiccup turned to Astrid.

She was looking down.

And…crying.

"Astrid?" He put his hand on her shoulder but she just shrugged it off and turned around so her back was to him.

"Just how long – sniff – did you think – that you – could keep this – a secret?" Astrid said through tears.

"Uh, wow," Hiccup said, "I thought you'd be at least a little happy about this."

"What?" Astrid turned, "Why would I be happy to find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me?"

"What?" Hiccup breathed, shocked by her words, "That's why you think I've been cooped up in here for days?"

"Well, as you can see, I don't really know what's going on here!" Astrid screamed.

Hiccup sighed, then smiled warmly.

'He should stop smiling like that,' Astrid thought, 'It's too cute. Can't he see that I'm trying to be dramatic and upset?' She didn't have enough energy do hurt him physically.

But it was too much.

Astrid couldn't help but calm down (just a bit, mind you) when Hiccup smiled like that.

Can't….Handle….The.…CUTENESS…*Narrator shields eyes*

"Ok, follow me," Hiccup said. He walked into his little-room-at-the-back-of-the-shop.

Astrid stopped crying a smidge and did as Hiccup said.

The little room was unbelievable. It was amazing.

Sketches, blueprints, random pictures, you name it. There were millions of drawings – no, amazing drawings. Also, there were prototypes of different kinds of machines everywhere where drawings weren't placed.

So many things in such a little room.

Hiccup has really outdone himself.

Astrid was speechless.

I mean, you would be too if you had to take in that much awesomeness in a few moments.

Hiccup turned to the table beside the door of the room (you know, that one table with the bench in front of it?). He grabbed the thing he brought out from the press.

Astrid couldn't see it, all she knew was that it was made out of iron, and it has a few shades of different colors on it. It was glistening in the light.

Then, Hiccup reached under the table and into a basket. He pulled out a thin, silver chain.

There must've been a small metal loop on the iron thing-a-ma-what-sit, because Hiccup seemed to be able to the chain through the top of it.

He then faced Astrid.

"Turn around, please," He said, the iron thing covered by his hands, "And lift your braid up."

"Um, sure. Okay." There wasn't much the girl could do, seeming as if she was heart-broken and confused.

She turn around, and lifted her hair up. Tons of questions were unanswered and stuck in her head.

'What's he doing?' She asked mentally, 'What's that thing he's holding? What's with the chain? Is he gonna hurt me? No, I don't think so. But, still, if he – '

Her thoughts were interrupter when Hiccup put the chain, with the iron thing attached to it, around her neck, and fastened it from behind.

Astrid let go of her hair to grasp the little iron thing-a-ma-jig.

Astrid opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She thinks she would ruin the amazing moment.

The little iron watcha-ma-call-it was actually a charm for a necklace. The charm portrayed the letters:

A + H

It was beautiful.

The necklace, I mean.

I'm not saying that the moment wasn't beautiful either, it's just that –

I'm getting off topic again.

The letters on the charm were intricately made.

Definitely Hiccup's work.

No wonder he was stuck in the forge for days. The whole necklace looks like it was made by a master blacksmith (or whoever makes this kind of stuff).

It was as if written like calligraphy, then copied into metal.

Most of it was silver, but there were faint oranges and blues. There were tiny gems in a pattern – emerald, sapphire, onyx, and then ruby – that went along the sides, but they did not ever cover the letters.

Astrid turned to face Hiccup. He was smiling that signature grin at her – which made her heart melt.

"Well," He asked anxiously, "What do you think?"

"I – I don't – I'm," Astrid started, but she wasn't able to speak clearly. She looked down.

It took her a few moments, but then she started to shed a few tears.

At first, they were tears of guilt and shame. Now, there were tears of relief and joy.

While doing this, she let go of the necklace and put her arms to her sides.

Hiccup softly grabbed both of her hands.

This caused Astrid to look up.

He was still smiling.

"I – sniffle – Hic – I – sniffle –." Instead of talking (which the girl couldn't really do at the moment), Astrid rushed towards Hiccup, wrapped her arms around him, and sobbed lightly in her chest.

"Hiccup – sniffle – I'm so – sniffle – so sorry," She said through uneven sobs, "I'm so – sniffle – sorry that I – sniffle – accused you – of cheating on me."

Hiccup hugged her back and kissed her forehead.

"Astrid," He murmured, "It's ok, it's ok." He chuckled inaudibly. "It's fine, I don't blame you."

At the sound of his voice, Astrid stopped crying, but clutched Hiccup's vest tighter, and pulled him closer.

She looked up. Hiccup watched her with understanding eyes.

She chuckled, "You're too good to me. A normal boyfriend would use this against his girlfriend- sniffle."

"Well, maybe I'm not a normal boyfriend."

"You're right. You're not a normal boyfriend."

Hiccup watched her curiously (and a bit nervously, too).

Astrid's face softened (if it could soften even further) and cupped his cheek. "You're the best boyfriend ever." With that, she kissed him; it wasn't long until he kissed her back with equal force.

When the teens pulled away, only one subject was going through their minds.

'I love him so much. I should tell him,' Astrid thought.

'I think I should tell her that I love her,' Hiccup considered to himself.

Each teen took a breath (without the other noticing).

Gobber was watching them now, very curious in what was happening.

"I love you," Both teens said, putting as much emotion as they can in three, short, whispered words.

Soundlessly, Gobber smiled and chuckled to himself. "I was wonderin' when those two would figure i' out."

Then, Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, bewildered. Then, they smiled and leaned in for another kiss.

….

For the rest of the day, nobody came to the shop to get new orders, surprisingly. Hiccup finished all the things people needed him too – By Thor, even Gobber left out of boredom!

Toothless noticed that the show was over, and decided to leave the two teens alone.

Astrid and Hiccup were the only ones left in the shop – just the two of them.

At times, they would make idle chats, but most of the time, they'd just end up kissing.

Not that they had a problem with that.

"So," Astrid said, "How long did it take you to make this?"

She was fingering the "A + H" charm, while sitting on Hiccup's lap, leaning her head on his shoulder and turning so her nose touched the side of his neck, while he was sitting on the bench on front of the table.

"Honestly, I don't know," Hiccup answered, "I didn't pay much attention to that. All I was thinking about is if you would like it or not."

Astrid didn't get it at first, but then it hit her.

Hiccup knew she was a tough viking-ess, and he wasn't sure if a necklace would be the right present to her – and yet, he still gave it to her.

He was an amazing yet clueless boyfriend.

He really didn't know that she really didn't care if he gave her a necklace or not. He'd had given her enough. He had opened her eyes to see that dragons weren't bad. He showed her what kissing felt like. He showed her what it was like to be scared for another person. He showed her how to love another person.

That was enough for her. And the necklace was beautiful, too.

At least he's not some arrogant idiot who thinks that looks is all that matters.

Astrid sighed with a smile, and leaned in closer to him, while he wrapped his arms around her waist, putting his head on hers.

"Well, it's amazing. One of the best presents I've ever been given."

"Really?" He asked, astonished, "What about the axe you were given on your 10th birthday?"

Astrid looked at him. "How do you know about that?"

"Umm," Hiccup hesitated, "Let's just say that one of the first weapons Gobber had me make when I was just starting to work here was an axe." He smiled at her.

Astrid, again, was speechless.

"You-," She tried to form words," You made my axe?"

He just nodded.

"Pah – But – jus – ahh –," The girl was surprised for the second time that day.

Then, she just smiled and leaned in closer, to feel more of his warmth.

"You are truly amazing, Hiccup," Astrid sighed, "How did I end up with you?"

"Don't know, really," Hiccup said, "Fate, maybe. But the gods have always hated me."

She looked up. She never heard him say that before. When she saw his face, was full of sadness, undoubtedly the sadness he usually hid with witty jokes and clever sarcasm that would take some vikings a few moments to fully understand.

This was the side-effects to when the tribe had treated him like an outcast a few months ago. I guess with so much, well, bad luck in his past, Hiccup must've thought that the gods never cared about him and liked to torture him through the people of Berk.

Astrid felt her heart rip in two and her insides churn mournfully.

She can't stand to see Hiccup like this. She raised her hand to his cheek.

He looked at her, eyes still full of sorrow.

"I'm sorry," Astrid said quietly, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you all those years. I'm sorry that I've always pushed you away. Hiccup – I'm just sorry for everything. That's why I question how I ended up with you. After the battle of the Red Death, I thought I was going to be the person you hated most. Remember that time I shouted at you in Dragon Training? I thought you'd never forgive me for that."

He leaned in (slightly) to her hand.

"Well," He concluded, "I guess I'd say everyone deserves a second chance. If you'd let me say that without getting offended."

Astrid just smiled.

"Well," Astrid said, "You gave me one heck of a second chance." She leaned up to kiss him.

Gods, he's a good kisser. I mean, like, really good. He's isn't too pushy, and he's never seems greedy with me. Plus, his mouth is always clean. It never tastes like rotten food. Haha I love him so much, Astrid thought.

The two thought it was getting a bit late, so they exited the shop hand-in-hand, and Hiccup walked Astrid home.

When they reached the front door of the Hofferson residence, Hiccup turned to face his girlfriend.

"Ok," he said softly, "From this day on, as we continue dating, I swear to Thor that I will not, I repeat, will NOT EVER, cheat on you. Otherwise I'd probably kill myself."

"Awww," Astrid said, eyes filling with tears, "Thanks. I would say something similar, but it would probably just sound stupid compared to what you just said. So, ditto, I guess," She leaned into his face, "And I really mean it."

Hiccup closed the gap between them, and pushed his lips against hers. It was a sweet, but short, kiss. None-the-less, they both loved it. They bid each other good night, and went their separate ways.

Astrid's POV

I walked through the front door of my house. No one was home. I guess my parents were still at the Mess Hall. Not that I really cared at the moment. I was still dazed from my Hiccup-filled day.

*Sighs* Awww, man, that guy is incredible.

I walked up the stairs, and slipped into my room. I changed into my night-clothes, and got into my bed-covers. My Nadder, Athena, was in the room, too. I guess she was out hunting, then my mom let her in the house.

"He's just – just – I can't even explain it," I said, staring at the ceiling.

I turned to Athena. "What do you think?"

The multi-colored dragon just snorted, and put her head down.

"Hmm. Well, for starters, he's amazing. At almost everything. Maybe not fighting, no, but other than that, he's pretty good at everything."

"I mean, he can make practically anything out of metal or leather, he's a great strategist, he's really funny, he's good with dragons – but that's not much of a surprise –, and he really knows how to make a guilty girl happy."

"Well, I'm probably boring you out with all this lovey-dovey stuff, aren't I?"

Athena looked at her as if to say "Ya think?"

"Ah, whatever. We're going out tomorrow, anyways. I need my energy. Good night."

And with that, the teenager and her dragon drifted off into sleep.

~.HTTYD~

A/N: Well, what do you think? To be honest, most of the story came out all on its own, I didn't want to forget it, so I decided to type it. And, like I've said in the first "A/N", I thought of this before I started writing "Cousins", but I actually started typing it a few weeks ago, maybe 2 or 3. Hope you enjoyed!