Chapter 1: Marry Me

A.N. This takes place in the modern world, and I was given a prompt by one of my friends to do this. Have fun.

It had been 8 months since the last time she had heard his voice. Seen his smile. Kissed his lips. But now, she could barely stand it. It was their anniversary, after all.

As Astrid made her way to Hiccup's house on her blue motorcycle, parking it so close to Hiccup's old car you could barely tell the two metals weren't attached. Then, she walked up to their front door.

She rang the doorbell.

"Hello, Astrid." Stoick said, holding open the door for her to come in. "What brings you here today?"

Stoick asked as if he didn't already know.

Astrid sat in Hiccup's favorite spot nowadays, hoping to keep one small part of him with her. "It's our anniversary. And since the hospital says I can't see him for another year without an adult, I was wondering if you'd possibly go with me?" She said the last part quiet; she hated asking for help.

"Sure thing." Stoick said. "I don't like the twenty-one-years-or-older rule there either."

Astrid smiled at him.

"I have a question before we leave, though." Stoick said.

"What is it?" Astrid asked.

"How come you chose me to take you? Couldn't you ask Gobber or your parents?"

"Gobber was busy today, and my parents are out of town." Astrid answered.

"So I was your third choice. Good to know," chuckled Stoick, and Astrid knew immediately that he was only teasing.

As they were getting up to leave, Stoick's house phone rang for a few seconds.

"Excuse me," said Stoick, leaving the room to get the phone.

Astrid couldn't hear what was going on, and she just figured it was some family member calling to give their condolences for Hiccup as well. After all, no one had known his was in a coma until about 2 months ago.

Stoick came back into the room, his eyes looked sad, but he didn't show it.

"What's wrong, Stoick?" Astrid asked, suddenly worried.

"It was the hospital," explained Stoick. "They wanted to know if we could come right now."

"What happened?" Astrid asked as they climbed into Stoick's large car.

"They didn't say, but they way I heard whispers in the background and the way the lady talked wasn't giving me the best feeling in the world."

As they got to the hospital, the staff had apparently been expecting them.

"Mr. Haddock?" The nurse asked. "And Ms. Hofferson?"

"That is correct," answered Stoick. Astrid had learned that whenever Stoick got worried he always talked in proper English. This applied right now, too.

"Please, follow me."

They both followed the nurse down a hallway to the right, the opposite direction of the patients' rooms. They were directed into a small room at the end of the hallway, and were told to sit. The nurse left, and not a few seconds later, a doctor came in.

Astrid and Stoick sat side-by-side, while the doctor sat across for them.

"So, we've been keeping your son on life support for a while, and since we've had no response form him for almost 8 months now, we were wanting to ask you for your consent to-"

"Take him off life support." Astrid finished for him.

Stoick looked shocked, but didn't protest. He stared at the ground.

"While you're thinking, I'll go check up on him." The doctor said, standing. "I'll be back in about ten minutes to hear out your decision."

"Can I go with?" Astrid asked.

"How old are you?" The doctor asked.

"Twenty-one," Astrid lied. But it wasn't that big of a difference. She was only twenty.

"Okay, let's leave him to think." The doctor said, holding open the door for her.

Astrid walked all the way to his room in silence, then walked in without looking at the doctor. So far, she had memorized the room number, the way to get to his room, and what they did every time she was there. They'd come in, change out his life support tube, any other wires or IVs, and then leave her in there for as long as they felt necessary.

This time, however, the doctor did something different. At first it was normal, the changing of the tubes and wires with the nurses, then he turned to Astrid.

"Take as much time as you like. We'll send his father back when he's made his decision."

"Please, if he says to take him off life support," Astrid said, "can you still wait another day? Today's our anniversary. Please."

The doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. "You have my word."

He and the nurses left them in peace, Astrid staring at all the things Hiccup was connected to.

Before she could do anything, he friend, Tuffnut, walked in.

At first she was surprised, and was going to ask him why in the world he was here, when he handed her a bag. She took a bag, and before she could say thanks, he left. Astrid opened the bag carefully, seeing that her name was written in calligraphy on the front of it. It was made of paper, so she was extra careful not to accidentally rip it. As she opened it, she set its contents on the end of the bed by Hiccup's feet, careful not to touch them.

In the bag were a plush dragon, blue, with yellow stripes down the tail. 'Stormfly' was written on the tag, and she read on.

"SQUEEZE ME" was written under instructions.

So she did.

And as she did, Stoick had just opened the door of the room, but sadly, Astrid had not noticed.

"Hey, Astrid. I know that, since you're getting this instead of the real me saying this, I'm probably in trouble or dying and/or dead. Please ignore if I'm dead. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to marry a dead person. DAMN IT. I ruined it. So, I guess you know my question now. I love you, Astrid, and I've been wanting to ask, will you marry me?" Hiccup's voice came from the stuffed animal.

Astrid saw a note strapped to the bottom of the plush she didn't notice before, and took it off. It said;

Astrid,

Look for the second item in the bag.

H.H.H. III

Astrid looked in the bag again, and sure enough, there was a little box. She grabbed it, setting the stuffed animal on the bed. She opened the box.

A ring.

Astrid's heart practically stopped, and she felt tears forming quicker than she's ever known possible. She flung herself into a one-sided hug with Hiccup, crying into his shoulder.

"Yes," she said into his shoulder. "Yesyesyesyesyes," she chanted.

She heard a gasp behind her, then felt warm arms around her. She brought her face up from his shoulder to see him. And his smile. And his crazy, green eyes.

"Astrid, why are you crying?" Hiccup asked, smiling.

He had heard her answer.

Chapter 2: The Ending

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked, making himself known to Astrid and said boy.

"Oh, sorry." Astrid said, straightening. "I was just . . . uh . . ."

"I heard it," whispered Stoick, coming closer to the foot of the bed. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around Astrid's shoulders, almost crushing her. "Welcome to the family, Astrid."

Astrid smiled despite the pain she was in, and as soon as Stoick let her go, stepped back. She knew how much Stoick had wanted to talk to Hiccup now that he was awake. She stayed at the foot of his bed, though. There was no way on Earth that she was going to leave now. He was finally awake.

While Stoick was talking to Hiccup about what all he had remembered (which turned out to be everything), Astrid pulled out her phone. 2:47. She clicked on her group message between her, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, then typed:

Come to hospital ASAP. Something's happened.

Getting replies within seconds of What is it? and What happened? made her want to tell, but she loved putting her friends in suspense. Finally, she decided against that, since they were his friends too. She quickly typed: Hiccup's awake.

No response.

After she had pocketed her phone, putting it on vibrate, she turned to the reuniting father and son. They were currently sharing a hug, making her smile. Gleeful tears ran down Hiccup's face, dissolving into his father's shirt. Astrid waited until they were done hugging to speak.

"I'm going to go get the doctor. I'll be right back," she said, winking at Hiccup. She opened the door, but the doctor was already there.

"I don't think you're going to need to take him off of life support any more." Astrid said sweetly, gesturing to the boy.

The doctor dropped the clipboard he was holding in shock. This was completely unreal. Impossible, they'd say.

But here he was. Wearing a hospital gown, covered in wires and needles.

After the doctor had regained his composure, he picked up the clipboard, and headed in the opposite direction, straight towards a group of female nurses crowded around the front desk.

A group of people had crowded around the window.

The door to the hospital room opened, letting four people through.

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs.

"Are you serious?!" Fishlegs asked, squeezing through the door first.

Astrid gestured inside the room, where a smiling Hiccup sat on his bed.

As the teens gathered around the bed, Astrid stayed by Hiccup's side. She noticed Tuffnut grinning at the items on the bed, occasionally glancing between Hiccup and Astrid.

'Did you say yes?' he mouthed, earning a nod from Astrid.

"Yes!" Tuff yelled, doing a fist-pump. "Ship is cannon!"

The three confused teens standing around him were startled, making them jump.

Hiccup and Astrid laughed, knowing exactly what Tuff was talking about. Stoick chuckled, smiling.

The doctor came back in, instructing them on what they needed to do.

"We just need to run a few more tests, then your son will be ready to go," he explained.

"You might want to run home and get him a pair of clothes to wear home," said Ruffnut. "I don't think he'd want to wear that."

"Yeah, I'd better do that. Maybe they'll be done when I return. I also have to make room for our new addition." Stoick winked at Astrid, making her heart jump. Stoick walked out the door.

Was she really ready for this? Did she not think of all the consequences of this when she answered? And what were her parents going to think about all this? What if they-

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked. "You look out of it. You okay?"

Astrid sighed. "I'm better than okay."

She knew it was a cheesy line, but still. It was true.

Hiccup smiled, but winced as one of the nurses put in another needle in his arm. Astrid suddenly felt the strange need to yell at the nurse for causing him pain, but she caught herself just in time.

There was only one empty chair out of the five lining each side of the bed. They had drug in these chairs during one of their earlier visits; on his birthday. Astrid sat on the opposite side of the empty chair, holding Hiccup's hand. Ruffnut sat beside her, with Snotlout beside the empty chair, and Tuffnut beside him. No one spoke further while the nurses came in and did their job. Afterwards, the doctor came back in.

"We will need to see him back in two week's time, just to catch up on how he's doing. I only need the parent's signature, which I do not think he is here," he said, looking at the empty seat.

He walked out of the room, muttering something about "right back when he gets here," and slammed the door after him.

"So, what was that all about?" Snotlout asked, gesturing to Tuffnut.

"What?" Tuffnut said.

"The whole 'ship is cannon' and fist pump thingy, and Stoick's little remark about 'new addition'?"

Everything went silent, except for the pounding hearts of the couple. They would have to tell them this sooner or later. Thanks to Snotlout, it was sooner.

"Well, since you asked, we are now-"

Hiccup was interrupted by the door of the room swinging open. Stoick lumbered in, holding a small paper bag.

"I brought you your clothes to get changed into. I just need to sign the paper, so I'm Astrid can help you with them while I do so." Stoick laughed, earning a blush from both Hiccup and Astrid.

After Stoick had signed the papers and Hiccup had gotten changed (he didn't need Astrid's help, it turned out), they walked to the front of the hospital.

Hiccup took one step outside and was immediately smiling. He had always loved the outdoors.

As the teens got into their cars, Stoick and Astrid navigated their way through the streets. It was almost 4:00 now, and Astrid checked her phone.

They all reached the house at practically the same time, and Stoick unlocked the front door. They filtered into the living room, with a few protests from Hiccup because he didn't like the idea of going back inside. While Astrid sat down beside him, Stoick went into the kitchen. He brought back a plate full of different kinds of chips, dip, and took another trip into the kitchen. He brought in two boxes, one of Pepsi and one of Mountain Dew.

Everyone grabbed their favorites, and a small conversation began.

After a while, the conversation turned to Hiccup and Astrid again.

"You two still haven't answered my question." Snotlout said, earning all ears.

Hiccup fidgeted nervously, looking at his dad.

Stoick sighed. "You didn't tell them?"

Hiccup and Astrid shook their heads, looking at the ground.

Stoick turned to the group. "Astrid is Hiccup's fiancé."

That's one thing you might have liked about Stoick. He was very brunt about everything. He never said too much or too little. It always shocked people; the news he gave like this. Otherwise, he was just a fun, ordinary dad. But now was one of those times where the people were shocked.

Snotlout smirked. "Well, I guess I'd still be related to her."

Astrid laughed. "I guess so."

Ruffnut and Fishlegs were silent, their mouths gaping. Tuffnut was laughing at everything, earning a questioning look from Snotlout.

"What's so funny?"

"I was . . . Hiccup's wingman . . . during all . . . of this!" Tuffnut gasped between fits of laughter. "I brought her the gift!"

Stoick grabbed the paper bag the items had come it, handing it to Hiccup.

"Which reminds me," Hiccup said. "I never got to do this properly."

Hiccup stood, grabbing Astrid's hand, and let her out the back door. They had a pretty nice deck, and instead of sitting on the swing in the yard like usual, they stayed on the deck.

Astrid gasped. She had been looking back at the yard, when she turned around. Hiccup himself had taken on the task of getting down on one knee, opening the box.

"Astrid Hofferson, I have loved you since the day I first laid eyes on you, and you still amaze me every day. I hope that I can be with you throughout those days, too. So, Astrid. Will you marry me?"

Astrid flung her arms around Hiccup, chanting the exact same thing she had done before.

"Yes." She said, before breaking into the same chant. "Yesyesyesyesyes."

Hiccup smiled, giving a thumbs-up to the door, knowing that someone was watching from behind it. And if there wasn't, oh well.

Astrid let go, giving Hiccup the chance to stand. He was about five inches taller than her, which always made her feel short (A/N: I say that from experience. I am probably one of the shortest people EVER), but she didn't care. She stood on her toes, and attached her lips to his. She had probably missed this part the most throughout the eight months she was left alone. But that time was over now. He was here. With her.

And that was all that mattered.

As they made their way back into the house, everyone was hooping and hollering about what they had just seen, since they ALL were watching from behind the door. Astrid checked her phone again, and saw three new text messages from her mom. It was almost 9:00 now. She had to get home. Yes, she still lived in her mom's house, but she couldn't find anything close to Hiccup.

She quickly said her goodbyes, and lingered a little on Hiccup. She rushed home, possibly skipping a few stop signs along the way. But she still made it home at 9:28. 32 minutes before curfew. She was fine.

As she opened the door, her parents were no where to be seen. They were out, probably on another 'date'.

Astrid was dead-tired, but happy. She couldn't wait until she saw the look on her parents' faces when she told them. But oh well. That would have to wait until morning.

She got changed, and texted Hiccup's old phone. Hopefully, he'd respond.

Her hopes were right. He responded, and they texted for as long as Astrid's eyes could stay open.

After her parents had seen she was home, they locked the door and went to bed, and Astrid received her last text from Hiccup for the night.

My dad's making me go to bed. He says I'll have a big day tomorrow. I gotta go. Talk to you tomorrow, I hope. Love you. Goodnight.

Then, Astrid sent her last reply.

I love you, too. Goodnight, Hic.