Rule Number Two

"What the hell are you doing?"

Hiccup slips his other leg over the window sill, whips around and slams the window shut, his palms pressed flat on the window pane. His head bends against the window, breathing in and out heavily.

Astrid had been sleeping when the banging on the window started. Her head was slumped on her desk, unwritten essays tossed haphazardly all over the place serving as her pillow. She jerked out of her seat, nearly falling off her chair as she stumbled up to see her boyfriend slamming his fists against her dorm room window.

She assesses that her boyfriend is not about to die, before she grabs him by the arm and hisses "What the hell are you doing?" again.

Hiccup makes vague protests, pulling away from her and pressing his hands to his knees, muttering something about blood dripping zombie wolves, and Astrid doesn't even try to stop the groan that leaves her mouth.

Her hands rub sleep out of her eyes before raking in her hair. "Bloody hell, Hiccup, I have an exam tomorrow morning, couldn't you have picked a better time to aggravate a pack of angry undead apex predators?"

Hiccup shrugs, looking up at Astrid and fighting off a smile. "Are you coming?"

He doesn't even need to hear the answer because Astrid has already flipped herself over her bed towards her dresser, unlocked a drawer, and is now pulling out knives and slipping them into her belt.

Hiccup grins. "Knew you would."

Astrid's eyes sparkle as she flashes him a smile.

"Never a dull moment," she says, opening up the window and hopping out onto the ground below.

So there are monsters. And there are monster hunters.

Astrid and Hiccup both come from a family of them – the two of them were taught to wield weapons before they could walk. For as long as they could remember the two of them had the two golden rules drummed into them:

1) Keep it a secret.

2) Don't die.

The two had grown up accompanying their parents on monster hunting trips, but now they had to learn social experiences. So at the ripe age of sixteen, the two of them had been shipped off to boarding school, ready to learn how to mix with other kids and possibly graduate with a high school diploma.

No one told them that the school was built right next to a monster breeding ground.

"Well," their parents had said. "At least they know how to handle themselves."

The pair of them curl up on Astrid's bed, caked in dirt and blood. Astrid's hair cascades in tangles down her waist. She inwardly grumbles, knowing that she's going to have to tame it into submission ready for class tomorrow. But for now, she doesn't care – all she wants to do is lie here with Hiccup, staring up at the ceiling and re-evaluting their lives.

The clock ticks over to four o'clock in the morning and Astrid suppresses a groan, reaching over and turning off the alarm set for three hours in the future. There's no way she's getting to sleep now.

"I swear to god, I'm giving this up," Astrid says, her hands pressed over his eyes.

"Someone needs to protect the school," Hiccup points out, but his limbs are aching and he can't help but feel the same way.

Astrid presses her face into Hiccup's shoulder, not even trying to suppress her groan this time. "I hate it when you act so logical," she says, her voice muffled.

They lay there for another half an hour, before Astrid sighs. "You better go. The teachers are going to freak if they find you in here when they come for morning wake-up."

It's Hiccup's turn to grumble. "Five more minutes," he mumbles into Astrid's hair.

Astrid pushes against Hiccup's chest. "You've got to get to your own dorm, Hiccup."

He gives a long sigh, before pulling himself up off the bed and heading towards the window, tripping over the chair as he goes.

Astrid grins. "Smooth."

He turns around, his face deadpan and snarky, his hands raised in a why-do-you-do-the-things-you-do gesture. She can't help but laugh, her eyes twinkling. Hiccup's face softens as he slides open the window.

"Love you," he says before he leaves.

"Love you."

She watches him struggle down into the bushes below and run off towards his own dorm and she can't help the smile that spreads across her face. Monster hunting is so much better with him by her side.

The next morning, Astrid passes Hiccup in the school corridor, her hair perfectly coiffed and her make up covering up any trace of their activities the night before. She winks and the two of them grin.

Their school is a strict one. If Astrid had a whole day, she probably couldn't detail all the rules she's broken over her short time there. The headmistress is a stickler for well dressed, polite and diligent students, none of which were common traits for smart mouthed monster hunters.

Hiccup had more infractions for sarcastic comments than Astrid could count, and she was just considered a lost cause by most of the faculty. If the teachers knew that they frequented each other's rooms at night, they'd both be expelled for sure.

The students of the school saw Hiccup and Astrid as mythical beings. Most of them knew they were sneaking out every night, and there were frequent rumours spread around what they did. They sneak into bars with fake ID. They're both part of an underground wrestling ring. They have superhero alter-egos and go out every night to fight crime.

None of them really came quite close to the truth.

None of them would tell the teachers, of course. There was a solidarity amongst the students. It didn't matter who you were and where on the pecking order you came – it was always students versus the teachers, no matter what.

Speaking of the pecking order; Astrid and Hiccup were the only students who existed outside of it. They had their own legacy that was whispered down and down to the younger students through a rumour mill that spun and spun until the whole school had this whole idea of the two of them in their head.

Hiccup enjoys the mystery and often finds himself walking with a bit of a strut through the halls.

Astrid thinks it's hilarious.

She's seen Hiccup stumble too many times trying to get himself into her room, she's seen him fall over his own feet and she's seen him yelp when the monsters got a little too close for comfort.

"How you're the school heartthrob, I'll never know," she's said to him more times than she can count.

He always – always, without fail – makes that pouty face that he does. It's his Astrid-is-being-mean-to-me face, his snarky sad face and it always makes Astrid laugh even more.

Her phone buzzes in her algebra class and Astrid blows a sharp breath out, knowing what's about to come. She raises her hand up in the air with purpose, waving to get the teacher's attention, before making an excuse and speeding out into the hall.

"What's going on?" she says, pressing her phone to her ear and holding it there with her shoulder as she rakes through her bag.

Hiccup's voice on the other side sounds distressed and Astrid immediately tenses up, sub-consciously squaring her shoulders despite the fact that she's in no immediate danger yet.

"I can't explain right now, Astrid, you've just got to get to the back entrance of the school right now."

"I'm on my way," she says, no questions asked, turning off her phone and shoving it back in her pocket.

She's there in seconds (monster hunting gives you plenty of running practice), and she sees what Hiccup is looking at.

"Shit."

"Yeah. Shit."

The pack of monster wolves are back, slinking their way through the trees of the wooded area behind the school. They snarl and spit and even though Hiccup and Astrid are quite far away they can see the saliva dripping from their teeth.

"Remember what our parents used to say about monster saliva?" Hiccup says. "That stuff's got to be like acid."

"Yeah, I know," Astrid says through gritted teeth, pulling two pairs of leather gloves out of the bag. She shoves a pair towards Hiccup. "Better not let it touch you."

"How come they're so close to the school?" Hiccup says. "They usually stay far out in the woods."

"It's not really time to think about why. They're coming now."

She's right. The pack are slowly advancing on the school, ever so slowly.

"Hiccup, we're not going to be able to dust all of them," she says, her eyes flickering over towards him. "And we're too close to the school to run away like last time."

One of Hiccup's hands goes to the back of his head, a nervous tic of his. "Maybe if we manage to dust a few of them the rest of the pack will leave."

Astrid shakes her head slightly, mumbling "you're grasping at straws" under her breath.

She drops her bag to the floor, scrabbling through it and pulling out a crossbow, a small version – small enough to fit in her bag.

Despite himself, Hiccup grins. "I love that you just have a crossbow in your bag."

Astrid shrugs. "Essentials."

Hiccup stares at her for a moment with a half-smile on his face, watching her as she loads the crossbow and shifts it up, her eyes narrowing as she aims. Then he blinks and presses his lips together, all at once more stern.

"They're a Class Four, but they're in a pack so that makes them far more dangerous. If you hit one, we'll have to be quick. They're monster-wolves so it'll probably make them angry. Our only chance is to get as many as we can and hope that the pack scatter and retreat," he says, using his business voice that he saves for situations like this.

"And if I don't hit one?" Astrid says, not taking her eyes away from the crossbow.

"Then we're probably dead."

"No pressure."

She breathes in, closes her eyes and then opens them, focusing on what is in front of her.

She shoots.

It pierces the nearest wolf and it bursts into dust, as all monsters do.

"Go time," she hears Hiccup mumble next to her.

She nods, dropping the crossbow. The monster-wolves are close, she has no time to aim for another one. Astrid unsheathes a blade and enters her battle stance, nodding over at Hiccup before charging towards the wolves.

They are much worse up close.

They snarl and snap, saliva dripping from their mouths, spraying all that come near. Their eyes are slits and they glow bright red, something hypnotic about them. Astrid makes the mistake of looking one right in the eye and instantly feels dizzy. She takes a step back, covering her eyes and just at the moment one of the wolves jumps up and sinks its teeth into Astrid's arm.

She cries out in pain. Hiccup calls out to her but she waves out her hand at him and he freezes.

"Stop!" she yells, clutching her arm. "We've got to finish the job, Hiccup, don't worry about me."

She slams her blade into the wolf and the dust explodes over the floor. Hiccup watches her for a second, torn, but he knows she's right and goes back to dusting the wolves around him.

Astrid grits her teeth and does her best to ignore the shooting pain up her arm, her fingers clenching around the blade. The wolves have slowed a little, assessing the danger.

Come on, she thinks. I dare you.

They leap towards her; she moves quickly, stabbing and slashing with her knife until all that's left is a pile of dust on the floor.

The rest of the monster-wolves scatter, slinking back into the woods. Astrid sighs, closing her eyes and bending onto her knees on the floor, her hand gripping the wound on her arm. Hiccup is by her side in seconds.

"Let me look at it," he says, his hand reaching out towards her arm.

She shifts away from him, her head bent. "Did anyone see? Is the coast clear?" she asks, not looking up.

"That's not important right now," Hiccup says. "Astrid, just let me-"

"Hiccup, did anyone see?" she says, her teeth clenched, her head still bent.

He stands up, cranes his neck and looks around. It is silent. There is no sign of anyone.

"I don't see anyone. Now, will you please let me look?"

Astrid clasps her head in her hands, sighing and running her fingers through her hair. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Hey," Hiccup says, kneeling down beside her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "I like worrying about you."

She softens a little bit, holding out her arm for Hiccup to inspect. She lets out a hysterical laugh, somewhere between chuckling and crying.

"How did no one hear that?"

There have been close calls.

There was the time when Astrid had been surrounded by possessed boars, with nothing but her fists to protect her. She was so sure she wasn't going to get out without some serious injuries until Hiccup swooped in, swords flying.

Hiccup had thought he was done for when he fell into a pit of giant scorpions, their stingers all too close for comfort, until Astrid managed to pull him out. He still remembers how her arm wrapped around his waist and how she had pulled him close, whispering in his ear "Rule number two. Don't die."

They don't talk about the wendigo they met once. There's a lot of things they don't talk about.

Sometimes it's too much. Sometimes they skip class, just to go and sit in one of their rooms and wrap their arms around each other

"They don't even have any idea how dangerous it is outside the school," Hiccup says one time. "They don't know how close they are to death every day."

It was a dark conversation, and it ended with both of them crying and holding each other.

As cocky and smart-mouthed as the two may be, both of them can't help but fantasise about having a normal life. How nice it must be to be oblivious.

There are close calls within the school as well.

There are injuries they have to hide, weapons that they have to stash away during room inspections, days when one of them has to hide under the other's bed for fear of being caught by the dorm parents doing their rounds.

And there are good days.

They both fuel off the adrenaline; sometimes they actively choose to go into the woods, running after one another and dispatching monsters as they go. They have each other; they never have to worry about status in school or whether or not today was the day their heads were going to get pushed in the toilets. They don't have to hide it from their parents so they don't worry about the school phoning home about their weird behaviour.

They're just together all the time. And that makes it okay.

"It's alright for you, you've got Prince Charming climbing through your window every night," Zoe, a girl from her history class, says. "I wish I had a guy like that."

Astrid splutters, and fails to hold back a laugh. "Hiccup? Prince Charming?! Give me a break."

"What do you two even do when you sneak out? Everyone's curious."

She grins, looking at the other girl with a sparkle in her eye. "That would be telling."

Astrid can't help but enjoy the air of mystery she has about herself. She knows the entire school speculate about where she and Hiccup run off to all the time. Sometimes she considers spinning a story to stop them asking, but where would the fun be in that?

Zoe's not done with the questioning though. "What happened to your arm?" she asks.

Astrid fiddles with the bandage. "I was on washing up duty. Sharp knives and soapy water aren't always the best combination," she says.

Hiccup had fixed it for her in his room, cleaning the wound out and wrapping the cloth around it. (They always kept bandages in their rooms. Essentials). Astrid rested her head on Hiccup's shoulder while he did it, letting her barriers come down for a little while.

"Hey, Hiccup?" she had said after they were done.

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say that these were zombie wolves last time? Am I going to be joining the legion of the undead?"

Hiccup's fingers interlinked with Astrid's and he waved his thumb across her skin. He could always tell when Astrid was covering up genuine fear with jokes. "I don't think zombification passes between species."

"Thank God."

"Yeah. Thank God."

Astrid, of course, isn't going to mention any of that to Zoe.

In some ways, it's better to let everyone think that they crawl into each other's rooms each night to have sex than to let them know the truth.

There are arguments.

Astrid is reckless. Hiccup is also reckless. They both hate it when the other throws themselves into danger. They fight when one of them hides an injury from the other. They fight when one of them comes far too close to revealing the secret. The secret itself becomes an argument.

"Why are we doing this, Astrid?" Hiccup says, back in Astrid's room after a particularly bad monster fight. "We should just tell the school."

Astrid is trying to finish up an essay due for the next day. She pushes back on her chair and looks incredulously over at Hiccup on the bed.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah."

"Rule number one, Hiccup."

Hiccup rakes a hand through his hair and gives an exasperated sigh. "I know about the rule, Astrid!" he says, slamming his hands down onto the bed. "How many people in this school are in danger because of what's out there?"

Astrid slips off her chair, standing up and moving towards the bed. "The rule is there for a reason. Remember the code? We're there to protect people and keep them safe."

Hiccup repeats the code with her as she says it. "Yeah, I get the code. But how can we protect people when they don't know what's going on? How many people all over the world wander into monster spots? How many unexplained deaths are there every year?"

His voice rises as he speaks, and Astrid takes a step back, surprised. It's very rare for Hiccup to get this passionately angry. Something riles up in her - she hates it when people speak to her like that. And Hiccup knows that.

"What the hell are we supposed to tell them, huh, Hiccup?" she says, gritting her teeth and clenching her hands into fists. "By the way, monsters exist. Don't worry though, us sixteen year olds will protect you. There'll be mass panic, if they even believe us in this first place."

By now, she's hardly trying to keep quiet. And sure enough, less than half a minute later, there's someone outside banging against the door.

"Alright, we know that Mr. Haddock is in there, Miss Hofferson. Come out, now," the muffled voice behind the door says.

Astrid sighs, sinking down onto the bed, her hands pulling through her hair and then covering her eyes. She's far too tired for this. Hiccup looks down at her, all trace of anger seeping away from his face. He opens his mouth to speak, but Astrid cuts him off before he can.

"Just go, Hiccup," she says quietly.

Hiccup stands there for a moment as if he is about to say something, but the banging on the door gets louder, so he turns and leaves without saying anything. Astrid sighs and curls up onto her bed, pulling her duvet over her head.

Ten minutes later, she gets a text.

I'm sorry.

A few seconds after that, comes another one.

I love you.

Astrid and Hiccup have a week's worth of detentions, privileges taken away and are separated for most of the day by teachers. It sucks, and it bothers Astrid endlessly. They left on a bad note the night before, and she needs to talk to Hiccup in person, but the teachers are vigilant in keeping them apart. This isn't a conversation she wants to have over text.

Although the dorm parents have become more alert, it doesn't stop her sneaking out when she gets the monster alert text from Hiccup. When it comes to monsters, Astrid goes into battle stations mode. Nothing will stop her. She slides out of her window and down into the bushes below without making any noise.

When she gets to Hiccup, all traces of their argument has gone, they just focus on dispatching the monsters that had dared come creeping out of the woods. Once they're done, breathing heavily and clutching onto their aching limbs, they both perch on a rock just inside the trees, far out of view of the school. There's silence for a while.

Astrid is the one who breaks it. "Look, Hiccup," she says. "I know this is a shitty situation. I know that it would probably be safer to let people know what's out there. But this is an argument you should be taking up with our parents, not with me. They'd disown us if we broke the rules. You know that, Hiccup."

"Yeah. I know," he says, his voice soft. "I'm sorry."

Astrid rests her head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her head. They sit there like that for a while, comfortable and cuddled up in each other's arms. Making up after a fight always feels good.

"Okay, we've got to be more careful about this," he says, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile. "It sucks not seeing you for most of the day."

"Needy," Astrid quips, and Hiccup pushes her off the rock.

She pushes back and it turns into an all-out pushing war, until Hiccup topples to the floor and Astrid lands on top of him, the two of them unable to stop themselves from giggling. They sit up, and Hiccup reaches forward and presses a kiss to her lips.

"Come on," Hiccup says, still smiling. "We've got to get back before we're missed."

Their fingers interlock and they wander back towards school, still laughing.

"Fuck," Astrid hisses.

The two go into panic mode. They were in Astrid's room when they heard the floorboards creaking and a voice calling out "Girls! Outside, now. Time for a surprise room inspection."

If she doesn't go out now, the dorm parent is going to come in here. Here where Hiccup is and where there are weapons all over the floor. Not to mention that she's covered in blood.

She pulls away from where Hiccup is trying to bandage her wound (her second one in two weeks, much to her chagrin. She makes a note to work on her monster dodging skills), frantically shoving the weapons under the bed.

She hoicks her shirt back over her chest to cover up the wound on her side, and shoves Hiccup towards the window.

"Go," she whispers.

He makes no attempt to leave, his hand still lingering at her side. "Astrid, you're hurt, I can't just leave you here."

"If they find you here, they'll separate us for good at the very least," Astrid hisses. "You know they're looking for an excuse to expel us. I'm fine, just go."

She's not fine. Her world is spinning a little, and she can't really focus on anything. She knows the blood loss is doing funny things to her head, but she can't let Hiccup be found here.

"Look, we either deal with the teachers or that wound gets infected."

"I'd take the wound over the teachers any day!"

The footsteps down the hallway get louder – Astrid can hear someone knocking on the door of the girl in the next room over.

Right, she thinks. No time for silly squabbles.

She all but pushes him out the window and he gets the message. He clings onto the window sill and holds himself there, waiting.

The footsteps move to Astrid's room and there's a knock on the door. She stands up, blocking the window from the door.

"Good evening, Miss," she says politely, ducking her head in respect.

The woman returns the greeting and begins to poke her nose around the room, ticking things off a checklist. Astrid takes a few steps back and hopes that it looks like she's leaning against the window, instead of hiding the window sill where her boyfriend is just casually hanging on by his fingertips.

Don't look under the bed, Astrid thinks, wondering if she can think it hard enough she can will it into happening. Don't look under the bed.

The teacher glances over at Astrid and frowns. "Are you alright, Miss Hofferson? You look rather pale."

"Just tired, Miss."

The woman narrows her eyes at the girl, but makes no comment. A few agonizingly long minutes later, the woman nods and turns back towards the door. "You're good to go, Miss Hofferson."

She leaves, and Astrid hears her footsteps on the stairs. She exhales.

"Alright, you can come back up now," she says, flopping down onto the bed and screwing up her eyes.

Hiccup struggles back up into the room and is at Astrid's side in seconds. "C'mon," he says, sitting her up gently. "You've got to let me finish cleaning the wound."

It's lucky her shirt is black, otherwise that teacher would definitely have seen the blood seeping straight through it. Hiccup frowns, running a hand through his hair.

"Shit, Astrid."

"I'm fine," she asserts, but her vision is blurring and she has to clutch at Hiccup's arms to stop the room from spinning.

"Woah, woah. Stay awake, Astrid, okay?" he says, holding her still. "You've got to stay awake."

He cleans the wound methodically, wrapping it up in a bandage. When he's done, Astrid isn't even trying to pretend it doesn't hurt any more. She presses her head into Hiccup's chest and lets her eyes flutter shut.

He runs his fingers through her hair while he mumbles concerned things to her. "That was a Class Six monster, Astrid. Does it worry you that we keep running into higher and higher classed creatures?"

Astrid makes a non-committed noise at the back of her throat, pressing her head into his chest. He gets the message and lets her sleep.

That night, Hiccup stays there, holding Astrid close. He hates seeing her get hurt, and it happens all too often for his liking. He leaves just before morning wake-up, sneaking out the window and heading to his own dorm without anyone realising he was missing.

They know the secret is out when they hear the scream in the hallway.

The class instantly panics, people sitting up and trying to see what's going on outside. Astrid shoots a look towards Hiccup, who looks as equally concerned as she does.

A student rushes into the room from the corridor, slamming the door behind them and holding it shut.

"It was huge," she stammers. "Huge and it had stuff dripping from its mouth…"

"What on earth is going on?!" the teacher snaps, looking furious.

"There's something outside, something huge and horrible and-" the girl swallows, unable to continue.

That's when they hear the roaring outside.

Hiccup looks at Astrid, lifting his shoulders up and down and Astrid gets what he's trying to say.

Your call.

She nods.

"Cat's out the bag, Hiccup," she says, calmly.

Hiccup nods back. The entire class is watching them, their heads turning between the two of them. The teacher's mouth is wide open, holding his hands up to try and calm the class while simultaneously watching Hiccup and Astrid. The girl at the door is hysterical, tears dripping from her eyes, her hands shaking.

Hiccup moves over towards Astrid, who rustles through her bag. He places a hand on her arm so that she'll look up at him.

"I'll take the hallway, you take the class?"

She nods. Battle stations time.

Hiccup takes his own bag out into the hall, moving past the girl in by the door. The teacher yells at him not to leave, but he ignores the order.

"Alright," Astrid says, turning around and addressing the class. "There's something you all need to know."

The class doesn't know how to react. Some sit there and whisper to each other. Some are talking out loud, asking Astrid what's going on, what's outside, what's happening. The teacher grows steadily more furious, telling her to sit down and to be quiet.

"Listen. Everyone in this room is in serious danger right now, unless you listen to me," she says, her voice sharp.

"Nonsense," the teacher snaps. "For goodness sake, young lady, sit down or you'll be in detention."

"No. I won't sit down. You have to listen to me."

"Astrid Hofferson, if you don't sit down right now, I'm marching you straight to the headmistress' office."

Astrid looks the teacher straight in her eye and snaps "No."

More screaming outside. The class is staring at Astrid. She doesn't budge.

"Right. Move," the teacher says. "I'll find out what's happening outside."

He pushes past her despite her loud protests, and Astrid grabs her bag and follows him right out there.

What she sees almost makes her want to scream.

It's the largest monster she has ever seen; so big she wonders how it managed to get through the door into the hallway. Its skin is black and bulbous and a gaping hole for a jaw opens to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth. Saliva drips from the teeth onto the ground, burning holes into the carpet.

Astrid is almost paralysed with fear. The teacher beside her screams, darting back into the classroom.

Astrid can't move. One question blares through her mind.

Where is Hiccup?

A shivering fear creeps its way up her spine. She wills her feet to move but they won't.

"It's a Class Ten. We've got to get them out of here," he says, from behind her.

She almost cries in relief when she hears his voice and despite the horror in front of her, she throws her arms around him.

"Uh, Astrid? Giant, Class Ten monster in front of us? Maybe not the time?" Hiccup says, pushing her away gently.

She grabs his wrist, able to move her legs once more and they both hurry back into the classroom, slamming the door shut.

"Sorry," she says. "I just didn't know where you were and I thought-"

"I know what you thought," he says, running a hand down her back. "I'm here."

The class are all looking up at them both, lost for words. The teacher sits in a corner, his head in his hands.

"Right, well," Hiccup says, his turn to address the class. "So there are monsters. And there are monster hunters."

"Nice intro, Hiccup," Astrid quips. "Don't break it them gently or anything."

"It's the speech we got," he says, glaring at her.

Astrid grips on his arm, gritting her teeth. "Yeah, but we already knew about it."

Someone clears their throat.

Right, Astrid thinks. Priorities.

"Hiccup and I both come from monster hunter families," Astrid explains. "Monsters have been around since the dawn of time, and hunters are there to protect the population and keep it a secret."

The students gape up at her, their mouths wide open. Nobody speaks.

"Which is why Hiccup and I are your best chance of getting out of here alive," Astrid says, a little uncomfortable with all the attention.

They had all heard the roaring. They had seen their teacher – curled up and shaking in the corner. No one argued. Hiccup and Astrid immediately slipped back into action stations mode, dragging a table in front of the door and piling chairs on top – a makeshift barricade.

After that, they're at a loss of what to do. They'd never had to protect a class of twenty or so teenagers and fight a monster before. Astrid grabs Hiccup's arm and pulls him over to a corner, muttering in his ear.

"We're going to have to split up again. One of us has to take the class to safety and the other has to deal with the monster," she says.

"That's a Class Ten, Astrid," Hiccup says. "We've never dealt with one of those between the two of us, let alone on our own."

Astrid wipes her hand across her face and sighs. "I know, but we've got to help them. We can't just leave them here."

Astrid turns towards the teacher. "As a teacher, it's your duty to care for your students. Is there somewhere we can take them where they'll be safe?"

The teacher is still quivering in the corner, his face covered with his shaking hands. "I don't want any of this," he whimpers. "I just want to go back to reality. This is a dream, right? It has to be a dream…"

She doesn't even try to hold back her exasperated sigh. "No. With as much respect as I can possibly give you sir, this is reality. And you have twenty students here right now that you need to keep safe, so pull it together and do your job," Astrid says.

The room is silent. Nobody moves. At the back of the room, Hiccup covers up his smirk with his hand. The teacher stares up at Astrid and she doesn't look away.

His hands are still shaking, but he stands up slowly and nods. "There's the basement," he says. "The door is made of metal and can be locked from the inside."

"Good. Take everyone out the emergency exit and get them there," Astrid says.

The teacher stands up, seemingly stirred by Astrid's speech, rounding up the students and leading them out the back door. As they leave, Astrid takes Hiccup's arm and pulls him over to the side.

"You have to go with them, Hiccup," she says in his ear.

"No way. I'm not leaving you here alone."

Astrid sighs. "Don't pull the protective crap on me. If more monsters come, they're going to need someone to protect them. They're more important than me right now."

Hiccup's hand reaches up to Astrid's chin and lingers there. They both look into each other's eyes.

"You're important too," he says.

Her hands take his. "Not right now. Someone's got to get rid of that monster, and it's got to be one of us because we're the only ones who are equipped for this. Hiccup, focus."

Hiccup inhales, closing his eyes and opening them again when he exhales. He knows that she's right.

"I'll come back when they're safe," he says. "Astrid, please just be careful."

She smiles without mirth. "I'm always careful."

He leans forwards and kisses her, holding her close for a moment. They've been on so many different hunts before, but this is on a whole other level. Every part of him is telling himself not to leave her here alone, to let the class fend for themselves while he stays by Astrid's side.

But he's a hunter, and he knows the code. Not only that, but he knows it wouldn't be right to let these defenceless people go out alone. So he pulls back, resting his head on her forehead for a few moments before he lets go and backs away towards the back door.

Astrid stands by the other door, moving the barricade away. Before she leaves, she turns to look at Hiccup.

"I'll be fine. I promise," she says.

She opens the door and leaves. Hiccup stands there watching the space where she had been for a while, wondering if he's just made a very big mistake.

Astrid closes the door behind her and breathes out, trying her best to slow down her heartbeat.

You can do this, she thinks. You are Astrid Hofferson. You can do this.

The monster has disappeared from the hallway, but it doesn't take Astrid much time to find it – all she has do is follow the trail of black slime it had left in its wake. She brings out her crossbow from her bag and props it up on her shoulder, holding it out as she creeps down the corridor, still trying to regulate her heartbeat.

As she moves down the hallway, her hand pinches against her nose as a nasty stench threatens to burn the inside of her nostrils. It's like sour milk. She holds her breath, holding her crossbow up straight.

That's when she hears the snarling. It's a guttural sound, grating on the ears, sending chills down Astrid's spine. She grips hold of the crossbow even tighter. It is her shield and it is her weapon. That monster won't hurt her if she has it in her hands.

At least that's what she tells herself.

When she sees it again she's not so sure. As soon as she sees the beast again, her feet stop working, her body paralysed again. This creature is a walking fear machine, and Astrid is caught up in its spell.

She wills her legs to move again, and she figures she has less than a minute before the monster turns around and sees her. Her eyes flicker up and around the room, and as soon as she sees the rafters in the ceiling, her feet are moving before she's even fully formed a plan. She jumps up onto a table and from there she hoists herself up into the rafters, balancing herself carefully before she pulls out the crossbow. Astrid doesn't give herself time to think, she just aims and shoots, the arrow soaring through the air and piercing the monster's flesh.

It howls, letting out a horrific shriek, and Astrid forces herself not to press her hands over her ears. She aims and shoots again, hitting the beast once more. The roar is even louder this time, the monster flailing, its limbs smacking into the wall.

The whole room shakes. Astrid does her best to hold onto the wooden beam she's sitting on but her fingers slip. The monster shrieks again. The room shakes.

Astrid topples to the floor.

"So this is what you two do every night. You go out and protect us. "

Zoe sidles up to Hiccup, while he holds up the rear of the group of students. He's distracted, looking around the place, looking for possible dangers, keeping the group together and thinking about Astrid.

"Huh?" he says. "Oh. Yeah."

"You really love her don't you?"

Hiccup nods. "I've known her long time. Uh, is it really the time for this?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Zoe says, gesturing with her arms as she speaks. "I'm terrified right now. This whole thing is crazy, and I'm so scared I won't get out alive."

Hiccup stops and places his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Don't worry. Astrid and I are going to do everything in our power to make sure that everyone is safe. It's in the hunter's code."

"You're worried about her, aren't you?"

He chews on his lip and gives a small chuckle, one devoid of any actual humour. "Astrid has a tendency to throw herself into trouble."

Zoe doesn't talk after that, but she doesn't seem scared. She just looks thoughtful.

They make it to the basement, picking up other terrified classes as they go. The story and Hiccup's role in it all is whispered back and back between the pupils until everyone has some sort of an idea of what's going on. The teachers, after some persuasion, all look to Hiccup for leadership. He finds it sort of unnerving; these people have never quite trusted him fully and now they're hanging on to his every word.

The entire student body is herded into the basement (luckily it's a big one), registers are taken and everyone is accounted for. Besides Astrid.

Hiccup hovers by the door, unsure what to do. They're still all looking up to him for instruction, but he doesn't have anything more to say.

"Go," someone says.

Hiccup blinks. "What?"

Zoe moves out of the crowd and comes to stand before him. "Find her," she says.

She looks back amongst the crowd, taking in all of their faces and then looking back at him. "We'll be fine here. We've got the teachers. This is your job, Hiccup, yours and hers. Go."

There's silence in the room. Then the headmistress moves out and stands up in front of them. "I do believe it is my job to care for the students. And yours… to deal with these things. Twenty years of teaching tells me not to let a student to run into danger like this, but we are ill-equipped for this. And it appears that you are the ones prepared for this, so let us look after the student body, just as Miss Stewart says."

Hiccup waits, looking back over the crowd of people again. It begins with a few students nodding in agreement, and then clapping and soon enough the entire student body is cheering.

He smiles. "Alright," he says. "I'll be back soon."

Then he turns around and leaves, slamming the basement doors shut behind him.

"Astrid?" he calls, walking through empty halls and classrooms. "ASTRID?!"

Nothing. No sign of her or the monster anywhere, just the dripping black slime that covers every surface. He tries to follow it back to where it might have gone, but there's no clear path anywhere, it's just everywhere. He tries to keep calm in spite of the panic bubbling up in his chest.

Hiccup's hand curls around his blade, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. He was always good with a sword – but now his arm feels like jelly.

Then he hears an almighty pain-filled roar.

He runs towards the sound, all kind of thoughts running through his head. Usually in these situations, he's able to keep a level headed approach to everything, going into monster fighting mode without too much of a struggle.

Usually he knows where Astrid is.

He runs and runs and runs, the roaring getting louder as he goes, until he finds the monster and he finds Astrid on the other side of the school. He sees her, lying there on the floor. Still. Unmoving. And this Class Ten beast is moving steadily closer towards her.

Without thinking, Hiccup lets out a yell and the monster turns around. Great. He hasn't really thought of a plan further than that.

Well, at least it's not going towards Astrid anymore.

A crossbow would be a better weapon – he doesn't want to go anywhere near this gargantuan beast – but he was never as good a shot as Astrid was. Is.

So he turns and runs, getting the monster as far away from Astrid as he possibly can, until he's trapped, nowhere else to go.

Not your best plan, he says to himself.

His heart almost stops as the creature lets out an almighty scream, its jaw opening wide, those unforgiving teeth extended out into the air. Hiccup holds his blade up in his left hand, slashing sharply down across one of its limbs, using all of his strength to saw through the flesh. Black slime splatters all over the floor, and the monster screeches, its other limbs reaching out and grabbing at Hiccup. He steps back, slipping in the slime, the sword falling from his fingers and out of his reach.

Hiccup scoots away from the monster until his back is pressed against the wall. He covers up his head with his arms, squeezing his eyes shut. He can feel its breath centimetres away from his skin and he braces himself for it. This is it. This is the end. He holds himself tighter, tensing every limb. This is it. This is it. This is it.

But the blow never comes. When he tentatively moves his arms away from face, he sees nothing but dust everywhere. He brushes dust out of his eyes and standing right in front of him, holding a black slime covered blade and breathing heavily – is Astrid.

"Rule number two. Don't die," she says.

Hiccup doesn't even react to the comment, he just runs to her and throws himself into her arms. They stand like there for a while, Hiccup holding onto her for dear life, while Astrid gets her breath back.

"Hey," she says, moving out of the hug, a smile spreading across her face.

"Hey."

He pulls her in again, holding her tight once more. "I'm sorry," he mutters. "It's just that I thought that you were… you were…"

"I know what you thought," Astrid says, quietly. "I'm here, Hiccup."

"I know you are," he says.

He presses a kiss to her forehead. "I love you," he says, his mouth next to her ear.

"I love you too."

They sit on the floor for a while, just holding onto each other because after everything they just need to be around each other.

"Well," Astrid says, pressing end call on her phone, and dropping down to sit beside Hiccup. "We're not getting disowned."

Hiccup's been sitting on the front steps of the school for a while now, looking out into the car park and down the road. Every student has been ordered away from them, confined to their dorms.

After everything was over and they had let the school out of the basement, they had been ordered into the headmistress' office. She had sat them down and told them quite frankly that the pair of them were unlikely to still have a place at the school. Astrid was the first to argue, pointing out that the school would be in serious danger without them there. The elder woman had held up her hand for silence.

"Miss Hofferson, you are indeed quite right. That's why it's unlikely that there will still be a school. We shall relocate eventually, but for now, the governors feel that it is within our best interests to close the school down," she said, her voice firm.

Firm as she may be, Astrid had noticed that there had been a shift in the way the headmistress was talking to the pair of them. Before, she had been stern and disapproving, but now there was almost some warmth in her voice. Even as she told them to pack their things and get ready to leave, there was a kindness in the way that she spoke, gratitude in the way that she looked at them.

It was quite refreshing, really.

"So, I take it our parents took it alright then?" Hiccup says, wrapping his arm around Astrid's shoulder.

"They said that we didn't intentionally let the secret out and all in all they think we did the right thing," she says.

She rests her head on Hiccup's shoulder. "You never know," she says. "They might even be open to the idea of telling everyone about it."

Astrid sees the look on Hiccup's face and grins. "I said might."

"Still, it's a start," Hiccup says.

Astrid nods, stretching out her head and relaxing into Hiccup's side. The two sit quietly for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

"What do you think is going to happen now that the school's closing down?" she asks.

"I guess we'll just go somewhere else. Hey, you never know, we might get a chance at a normal school life for once."

Astrid grins. "Hiccup, I think we bring the trouble wherever we go."

"Yeah, I think we do," he laughs. "Astrid, wherever we go, it's going to be alright because we're going to be together."

There's a pause.

And then Astrid makes gagging noises.

"Jesus Christ, Hiccup. Who layered on the cheese this morning?"

She presses her face into Hiccup's shoulder while her own shake with laughter. It's infectious, and Hiccup joins in, despite the fact that he's trying to do his signature pouty face.

"What?!" he says. "I was just trying to be romantic."

She presses a kiss to his cheek, still trying to hold back a grin. "I don't think we're all that good at romance, Hiccup."

Their fingers intertwine, and Astrid smiles as his thumb brushes across her skin.

"I think we do okay."

"Yeah. We do okay."

There's another moment of silence, before Astrid looks up at him and smiles. "Love you," she says.

"Love you too."

And somehow, that's enough for the both of them. The world can throw as many things it wants at them – monsters or otherwise, it can't change that the both of them have each other.

And that's more than okay.

THE END.