Nightmare

"Hiccup!" Astrid shot up from her pillow. "Hiccup!" She screamed again. She heard foot-steps thundering up the steps and to the door.

"Hiccup!" She shouted a bit quieter.

"Astrid! Is everything alright? What happened?" Hiccup burst through the door and ran over to her.

Astrid tried to say something, but instead burst into tears. Hiccup sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Shhh. It's going to be okay. Nightmare?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid nodded her head against his chest. She tried to conceal her sobs, but utterly failed. Hiccup continued to stroke her hair as she cried against him.

"Take deep breaths, Astrid. I know it's hard." Hiccup soothed. They sat there for a few minutes. He rubbed her back slowly until she pulled her head away.

She looked at his soaked shirt. She reached out to feel it.

"Sorry." Astrid said.

"It's alright. I know what's like." Hiccup gave her a sad smile. "Let's go downstairs and get you something to drink."

"Okay." Astrid said quietly as she followed him.

After Astrid sat down on the couch downstairs, Hiccup disappeared into the kitchen. She looked across the room at Toothless, his reptilian eyes watched her with concern.

Hiccup walked back in the room with two cups. He handed one to Astrid and sat down across from her. She took a small sip of the tea, she tasted chamomile and some other herbs.

"Thanks." She said as she let the cup warm her hands.

"You're welcome." Hiccup sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was about the house. I- I heard them." Astrid tried not to cry again. "I heard them crying out in pain. I heard their screams and the explosion."

Hiccup stood and came to sit by her. He held her in his arms again as she began to shake.

"It was horrible." Astrid let out a shaky breath. "Why, Hiccup? Why did it have to happen?"

"I don't know. But I know what you're going through. We'll just have to get through it together." Hiccup said in her ear.

The day they defeated Drago and his dragon army there had been some damage to the village. But a few houses in particular were blasted to bits. One of those houses was Astrid's. With all her family and everything she owned, besides Stormfly, in it. She had lost nearly everything all in one simple dragon blast. She had nowhere to go. So, being the kind person he is, Hiccup told her she could move into his bedroom until she got back on her feet. He moved all of his belongings downstairs, and helped her get the things she needed into his room.

He also made it very clear to her and others that this was temporary, and that they were respectful of each other's boundaries. There was no funny business going on here.

This was her second night. Her first night, the crazy events of the day put her right to sleep. Tonight had been restless from the beginning. She finally succumbed to sleep and probably got a good two hours in before the nightmares hit her.

"Do you have nightmares?" Astrid asked.

"Yes. Sometimes I wake up, and I almost scream. But I don't because I don't want to wake you up or mom." Hiccup squeezed her shoulder.

"Oh, I hope I didn't wake up your mom. I already woke you up." Astrid bit her lower lip.

"It's alright. If you ever have a nightmare, you wake me up. Okay?" Hiccup turned her to look at him.

"Okay." Astrid twisted back around and leaned against him. She let the rising and falling of his chest calm her. His breath stirred her hair as he breathed.

Astrid sighed and leaned her head back so she looked at him upside-down. Hiccup smiled at her and place a gentle kiss on her fore-head.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Much. Thank you." Astrid smiled. She stood and he stood beside her.

"Anything for you." Hiccup pulled her into a hug before he let her go back up-stairs.

Astrid was able to sleep soundly the rest of that night.

A/N

HI! I have other HTTYD fan-fics, so check those out! Hope you enjoyed this!