A year has passed since the wrap of Romeo and Juliet. The movie was a huge success, and Astrid's been basking in the joy of all the new roles that have sprung up in the aftermath. She was in the public eye once more with more and more interviewers prying into her private life, much to her chagrin. Still, nothing much could dampen her spirits, not with her cousin smiling again.

Speaking of her cousin, Cami finally got her big break. After she'd been outed to the world, thousands and thousands of people spoke up in support for her. When she had come out, herself, speaking honestly without any gossip or rumour, she found herself being offered all kind of roles, and her confident self was back again once more. She and Heather are still going strong, and the two of them seem very happy together.

Snotlout and Hiccup are still friends. Snotlout's career had taken a little bit of a hit with a few people dragging him down for outing Cami without her permission. But with the apology that he'd made, it was picking back up again. He'd become more aware of the people around him and learned a little more about what he should and shouldn't say. Hiccup was proud of him for that.

And Hiccup and Astrid?

Hiccup and Astrid are happier than ever.

"Thank God today's over," she exhales loudly as she enters their shared apartment. "If I have to hear one more question about how I said I'd never date you, I'm going to throttle the interviewer."

Hiccup snorts. "You realise it's been a year since we finished filming?"

"That long already?"

She drops herself down onto the sofa where Hiccup's sitting and rests her feet in his lap. He mumbles something in dissent, but she can see his smile.

"It's your fault they keeping asking you those questions," he says. "You did say you were never going to date me. I suppose everyone's just relishing the fact that now you're eating your words. I mean, how many people were speculating that we having sex?"

Astrid throws a pillow at Hiccup. He squeaks in fear, which causes her to curl up with laughter.

"God, can you imagine what if it would have been like if we'd never got our heads out of our asses?" she says, once her laughter subsides.

"It would've made all the press events and interviews fun," he says.

Astrid takes her legs away from Hiccup's lap and curls up at his side, her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm glad we sorted ourselves out," she mumbles.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He twists around to kiss her.

"You do realise that they're going to be calling us star-crossed lovers for the entirety of our careers?" he says, once they break away.

Astrid crosses her eyes and gags. "I never liked Romeo and Juliet all that much. Thought Romeo was a bit of a drip, really."

Hiccup makes an indignant sound, and gives her a gentle shove.

"Hey, I said Romeo, not you," she says, grinning.

Hiccup scoffs. "Yeah, sure you did," he mutters.

"I always thought we were more like Beatrice and Benedick than anyone else," she says.

Hiccup cocks an eyebrow. "Funny you should say that."

He lifts himself up off the sofa and potters around the kitchen until he finds the envelope he's looking for.

"My agent just sent over a new script that he thinks you and I would be perfect for," he says, handing over the envelope to Astrid.

She takes it from him and pulls out a copy of Much Ado About Nothing, and breaks out into laughter again.

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope," Hiccup grins. "This is our new film, Astrid."

"Amazing," she says, dropping herself back down onto the sofa. "More Shakespeare with you."

She wrinkles her nose as she says 'you', but he knows she's joking. Secretly they're both thrilled that they get to work with each other again.

"At least it's not a rom-com," Hiccup says, sitting down beside her and letting Astrid rest her head back on his shoulder.

"Ugh. I think I'd end up killing the director," Astrid mutters.

The two of them laugh, and then silence falls as they both enjoy each other's company.

"Astrid?" Hiccup says.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I know," Astrid says, hiding a grin behind her hand.

"Hey!" Hiccup says, indignantly, and hits her with the cushion, the two of them engaging in an all-out pillow war, something that happened on a regular basis between the pair.

They both end up sprawled across the sofa, their stomachs hurting from the laughter. When their shoulders stop shaking and they begin to calm down, Astrid crawls up and curls up next to Hiccup once more.

"Hiccup?" Astrid says.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

That's how things continue with the two of them, with the playful arguments and fights that have defined their relationship from day one. The two of them are popular, successful and most importantly, happier than they've ever been.

Astrid still isn't a romantic person. She's never going to go gooey-eyed, and she's always going to gag a little when Hiccup says something a little cheesy. There are some lines in some of the scripts she has to read that she'll never be comfortable saying.

But this, this is comfortable. This is Hiccup, sweet, silly Hiccup who she was so utterly wrong about, turning out to be the one person she can't imagine her life without.

When Astrid grows old, becomes calmer but no less headstrong, when she has children of her own that will grow up to be just as strong-willed as she was, she'll look back on the whole thing and laugh. She came into the production determined to hate Hiccup; there was nothing in her mind that could change her opinion of him, nothing that could make her see him in a different light. Then, through a few weird circumstances and one or two convoluted plots, she came out loving him.

And that's really something, Astrid thinks.

THE END.