"I'm going to kill them," Snotlout growled, "I'm going to take them in my bare hands and murder them."

His eyes blazed as he spoke, and Astrid wanted so badly to grab her axe and say she'd join him, but with Hiccup so badly hurt, she had to be some kind of voice of reason.

"No." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't do that. Get some rest, okay? I'll stay with him."

Snotlout glared at her for half a second, before his shoulders sagged and he nodded lightly. "Yeah. Okay. Don't leave his side, though, Astrid. Please."

After months of being without him, was she supposed to argue? Did he not think that she didn't consider this a chore, she considered it a gift to take care of Hiccup after everything he had been through. And Astrid wanted to say that, wanted to scream it at him. Scream that she loved Hiccup Haddock and it would take an army of dragons to tear her away from him once she started.

But instead, she nodded tightly. "I won't, Snotlout, go to bed."

And when he did, she turned around and stepped into Hiccup's hut. For a millisecond, Toothless growled threateningly, but when he saw her he simply cooed and pressed his snout into her hand. Hiccup was awake, watching her with a smile as though he couldn't believe she was real.

"Hey, babe." Astrid sat down on his bed, running a hand through his hair. Hiccup's chest was bare, with a white cloth wrapped around his torso. At least he was on his side and she couldn't see his back. What she had seen earlier had terrified her. "Guess who's sleeping over tonight?"

Hiccup smiled widely, leaning up just a bit to try and kiss her. She met him halfway, molding their lips together and sliding her arms around his neck.

It was then Astrid realized he had been tense, and relaxed considerable once her arms were around him. And that was just his neck. Maybe -

"Hiccup," she mumbled into his lips. When he continued to kiss her, almost desperately, she pulled back and let him lean back before holding him in her arms properly.

Hiccup let out a long content sigh, nuzzling into her side. She could feel the scars on his back - from whips, she assumed - and her heart beat a little faster. He was here. He was home. Hiccup was safe in her arms.

He looked up at her, smiling lightly, but she could tell he was sleepy, his eyes were drooping ever so slightly. "Astrid, you...you're so much better than them." As he spoke, he began to sound more and more like he was struggling to speak.

"You were what I thought of," he choked out, tears now dripping down his cheeks, "every time they beat me, o-or decided to have…f-fun with me…" Hiccup looked down in shame, but she simply held him closer and kissed his forehead.

He took a deep breath. "Every time, I just thought of you. I thought of what you would do if you were next to me, and I always heard your voice telling me to get up. Not to let them win.

"It's only fun if you get a scar out of it, right, Astrid?"

"No," she murmured, and when her voice cracked she realized she was crying too, "it's not fun. It's so not fun, I was an idiot when I said that."

Because it certainly wasn't fun when she had seen him again. It wasn't fun when Ruff had to stop her from collapsing. It wasn't fun when she was throwing up at the thoughts of what they did to her dragon boy.

Not fun at all.

"Don't call yourself an idiot, you're amazing." He kissed her collarbone, not able to reach much else from his position. "You got me through it. Gods, Astrid, I would have died if not for you." Hiccup blinked rapidly, but she kissed his tears off his cheeks, letting him know she was fine with them. "You stroked my hair when I was beaten up, you held me just like this after they threw me around, and…" Here he really seemed to break. "And you told me you loved me when they…when they…"

Raped you, Astrid thought, but she didn't say it.

"And I know you can't love me after that, a-and I'm okay with it, because -"

"I love you," Astrid said so fiercely Hiccup shivered. She had to tell him what she couldn't tell Snotlout. "I think you're the one. I love you. Every scar, every bruise, every memory. All of it. I love you so much."

Hiccup's breathing seemed to quicken, his grip tightening on her and burying his face in her chest. "I don't think I can say anything better than that, b-but...I love you too. So much."

"I know."

"I love you, Astrid," he mumbled again, pressing into her shoulder. He was going to doze off. Astrid quietly hummed and stroked his hair. She really hadn't needed to think twice about staying the whole night with him. He needed her her, she was there. What promised more than love?