A/N: HEY! It's been a while since I've written anything. I've been so consumed in school and stuff and it's pretty hard.

HOWEVER. I have been keeping up with anything and everything HTTYD. Which means Race to the Edge. I love that show. (My uncle is a storyboard artist! Look out for his name in the credits: Peter Paul Bautista. Tell me if you see it!)

"Alright, gang," Hiccup said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We gotta get the North watchtower rebuilt today. Without it, we're completely defenseless from the front."

"But we have dragons," Snotlout complained. "We don't really need that watchtower."

Hiccup shot him a look. "Sure, we don't need the watchtower. So next time when you're on watch duty, YOU can fly around the island back and forth instead of resting comfortably in a nice tower overlooking everything."

"Fine."

"Ruff, Tuff-you're in charge of getting the materials. Snotlout and Fishlegs-I want you two patrolling the island while Astrid and I rebuild the tower."

"Are you sure you trust the twins with getting all the materials?" Fishlegs asked cautiously.

"Hey!" Tuffnut protested. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of gathering materials. Besides, not only do I have Ruffnut, but also Chicken."

Chicken squawked.

"I'm sure that'll be really helpful," Astrid muttered beneath her breath.

Tuffnut opened his mouth to say something, but Hiccup cut him off. "Uh-enough arguing, please. We really need to get this done." He hopped on Toothless. "C'mon Astrid. Ruff, Tuff-once you get the stuff, meet us at the front of the island where the old watchtower was."

Each of the riders took off into different directions.

Hiccup flew to the front of the island. Once he had landed, he got off Toothless and sat at the edge of the cliff, one leg pulled up to his chest and one swinging dangerously above the ocean. He rested his chin on his knee and stared off into the distance.

Astrid came up and settled down next to him. She glanced at him and studied his face, noticing his look of concentration. "What's up?" she asked.

"Huh?" he asked, broken from his trance. "Oh, it's nothing."

"It's not nothing. You have that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The 'Something is bothering me, and I'm trying to find a solution for it but I don't want to tell anyone' look."

"I have a specific look for that?"

Astrid raised her eyebrows.

Hiccup signed. "Fine. I'm trying to think how we can keep this tower up so we don't have to keep rebuilding it. Dagur always manages to destroy it every time he attacks. If he's able to get past this all the time, who knows what else he can do."

The sudden screech of a dragon came from above them. Hiccup looked up and shaded his eyes from the sun, expecting to see the twins. Instead, he saw a silver glint from a Razorwhip dragon and a hint of inky black hair and piercing green eyes from underneath its rider's hood.

Heather landed Windshear next to Stormfly and Toothless and hopped off, removing her hood. "Hey guys," she smiled, as she strode towards them.

Astrid stood up and welcomed her friend in a huge embrace. "Heather! What are you doing here?"

Heather dusted off her tunic and sat down next to Astrid. "Dagur wouldn't leave me alone. Once I lost him, I figured I'd lay low for a while and stay here. Of course-if that's okay with you guys?

Hiccup smiled warmly. "You know you're always welcome here, Heather."

She grinned back. "So what're you guys doing? You need help?"

"Yeah, we actually could. We're just rebuilding the North watchtower."

"Hiccup," Astrid said suddenly. "What if we used Gronckle iron?"

"Gronckle iron?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed in excitement, her eyes sparkling. "We could build the tower how we normally do, and then cover it with a layer of Gronckle iron! That way it would be stronger against Dagur."

Hiccup nodded slowly. "You know, that's not a bad idea. Actually, it's a brilliant idea!"

Astrid beamed with pride.

Just then the twins swooped in, dropping off a large amount of boulders in a net. "We'll be back with more," Tuffnut yelled. "Oh, hi Heather!"

"Do you think you could go get Fishlegs and Meatlug while I start working on the rest of this?" Hiccup asked Astrid.

She flew off on Stormfly.

Hiccup took out a hammer and started pounding away at one of the boulders, shaping it so that it would fit perfectly with the others. "That was amazing, wasn't it? Astrid's idea?"

Heather was hammering away on her own boulder, but gave Hiccup a curious side-glance when he said this. "Yeah, I, uh, guess it was."

"I can't believe I didn't think of that. That was so smart of her."

She glanced at him again. "So, what's going on between you two, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, absent-mindedly.

"You know," she said. "You guys are a thing, right?"

Hiccup froze, his hand lifted high above his head, hammer ready to come back down. His insides squirmed uncomfortably and his cheeks heated up and reddened. "Uh, no," he answered, hastily. "We're, uh, just friends."

He continued to hammer away at his boulder, hoping to appear casual and hide his flaming face.

Heather lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Oh, come on. I've seen the way you two are together."

"No, seriously," he insisted. "We're just friends."

She pursed her lips. "She's kind of cute, isn't she?"

His heart pounded nervously. "I mean, I guess. She's definitely not ugly."

In all honesty, Hiccup thought Astrid was really, really pretty. And the massive crush he'd had on her since they were fifteen hadn't died. In fact, they'd become so close over the past three years, it became harder and harder not to like her.

They'd had various moments throughout the years that Hiccup thought may have hinted towards a possible relationship, but they'd all led to nothing. He wasn't sure if Astrid felt the same way and he didn't want to ask her without confirmation, in fear of ruining their friendship.

Plus, the thought of dating Astrid Hofferson terrified him.

Sure, he could train ferocious dragons and take on villainous enemies of Berk. No problem. But Astrid Hofferson? Forget it.