"What are you doing?"

Hiccup turned towards Astrid with a sheepish look. He held up both ends of his tie and gave Astrid an adorable look that she honestly couldn't resist. "I'm having a little bit of trouble right now."

Astrid giggled. "I can see that. Do you really not know how to tie a tie?"

Hiccup actually pouted a little bit, and Astrid thought that he couldn't get any more adorable if he tried. "I always had someone else to do it for me," he admitted. "I never did it the right way, apparently." A dark look passed over Hiccup's face after that statement, but it quickly disappeared. Astrid bit her lip but didn't question it. Instead, she grabbed both ends of the loose tie and tugged Hiccup closer to her.

Astrid kept her eyes focused on knotting Hiccup's tie, instead of the way her entire body tingled at being so near to him. She quickly and expertly tied it and centered it slightly. She looked up at Hiccup and found him wearing that half smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"Thanks, Astrid," he said as she stepped back.

"You're welcome," Astrid returned. She turned to check her reflection in the mirror, making sure that her hair was behaving and the hem of her dress was straight. She could still feel Hiccup's eyes on her, and she looked over her shoulder at him.

"What? Is there something on my dress?" she asked, worried that it was in the back and she hadn't noticed it before she had put it on. It was a pretty light pink dress with thin straps that crisscrossed over her back, perfect for the warmer weather that had suddenly descended upon Berk.

Hiccup shook his head. "No. You just look beautiful, that's all."

"Oh." Astrid's cheeks flushed and she bit her lip. "Thank you."

He grinned before he offered her his arm. "Ready to go downstairs?"

With a smile, Astrid slid her hand into the crook of Hiccup's arm. Together, they made their way down the stairs and into the living room, where the party was already in full swing. Astrid pressed on Hiccup's arm in order to steer him away from all of the unknown people and into the kitchen, where her father was.

"Mom, do you need help with anything?" Astrid asked.

"The caterers have everything under control," Alexa said. "So don't worry about it. But look at the two of you! Hiccup, you have to let me take a picture of you and Astrid for your mother. She told me that she wanted to see the both of you all dressed up."

Hiccup's cheeks turned red and Astrid blanched. "Mom!" she exclaimed. "Have you been talking to Hiccup's mother?"

"She lives close, Astrid." Alexa said it easily, like it wasn't that big of a deal. Still, Astrid couldn't believe that her mother had talked about this with Hiccup's mother (but really, though, it shouldn't have surprised her. Alexa was the type to meddle). "We chat from time to time."

Astrid sent him an apologetic look, but he just smiled down at her. It was then that she realized that her hand was still tucked into Hiccup's arm. She was actually kind of pressed against Hiccup's side. If Hiccup had noticed, he hadn't made a move to pull away, so Astrid didn't either.

In Astrid's study of him, she hadn't realized that he was watching her watch him. It wasn't until she heard her daddy's phone go off that Astrid was pulled out of her Hiccup-induced trance. She turned to face Alexa and found her grinning as hrt snapped several more photos.

"Mom!" she exclaimed again.

Alexa ignored her. "Now I need one where both of you are looking at the camera. So get together and smile!"

Hiccup and Astrid did as Alexa directed. Astrid slid her hand up Hiccup's chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist as they turned towards the camera in the phone and smiled. Her mother made an excited noise when she finished but refused to let Astrid see the picture when she tried to approach her.

"I'm going to send this off to Valka!" Alexa declared as she locked her phone and slid it back into his pocket.

"Mom, let me see it," Astrid said even though Alexa's phone was already hidden.

"Don't worry, princess. It's a wonderful picture. I'm sure you'll see it at some point." Alexa pointed to several serving dishes as a distraction. "Would you two mind taking some of the appetizers out? We still have about half an hour to go before dinner and I have to go talk up some potential clients."

Astrid went to pick up one of the platters, but Hiccup beat her to it, leaving her with one of the smaller ones. She smiled at him and bumped his hip with hers as she took the small dish out into the crowd. Alexa watched them go, wondering which one of them would own up to their feelings first. Even more than that, she wondered how soon it would happen.

"I'm sorry about the thing with my mother and the pictures," Astrid said as she and Hiccup set the dishes on the coffee table in the living room.

"I didn't mind it," He told her. "I'm sure my mom would have called asking for pictures anyway."

Astrid laughed and went to say something, but one of her mother's co-workers interrupted her. He was a loud, boisterous man that was often the first one to get drunk at the holiday party, and Astrid had no doubt that that would be the case this time. In fact, she could already smell the wine coming off the guy.

"Astrid! It's been a while since I've seen you at one of these things!" he exclaimed loudly.

Astrid gave him a polite smile. "Mr. Walker, it's nice to see you again." Figuring she should be a proper daughter of the host, she turned to Hiccup and introduced, "Hiccup, this is one of my father's co-workers, Chase Walker. Mr. Walker, this is my… this is Hiccup Haddock."

Astrid didn't know why she faltered on what to call Hiccup. Actually, she did know, but she just didn't want to admit it. She didn't want Hiccup to hear her calling him her friend, because she didn't want to give him the idea that that was all she wanted. But what if Hiccup didn't want the same thing as her? What if he only wanted to be friends and didn't feel the same things she was feeling?

If Hiccup noticed how Astrid stumbled over the words, he didn't mention it. Instead, he held his hand out to Chase and said, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Walker."

Chase returned the hand shake as he gave Hiccup a curious look. "Hmmm, Hiccup Haddock? Why do I know that name? Oh, I know why! You were the starting quarterback for the Berk Titans, weren't you?"

Something happened to Hiccup then. He tensed completely, his jaw locking like it had at the dinner that Astrid had attended with his parents. Hiccup nodded his head slowly, and his voice was stiff as he spoke. He was doing his best to keep his face pleasant but otherwise expressionless. "Yeah. That was me."

Chase clearly didn't see how uncomfortable his question had made Hiccup. "Whatever happened to you, Haddock? You disappeared after the championship game your senior year! Damn, that was a great game. What a win! The Titans haven't had a team that good since then."

Hiccup's fists clenched and the vein in his jaw popped dangerously. Seeing this, Astrid grabbed his hand and stepped between Chase and Hiccup. She laced their fingers together and squeezed supportively.

"Mr. Walker, I think I hear my father calling us to help him with something," Astrid said quickly. Without giving Chase a chance to reply, Astrid tugged Hiccup from the room. She was surprised when he went with her without struggle, since he could have easily forced Astrid to change direction.

Astrid pulled Hiccup down the hallway and into the recreational room at the back of the house. Hiccup still had a stormy look on his face, and the vein in his jaw was still throbbing. Astrid took his hands in both of hers and settled in front of him.

"Hiccup, look at me," Astrid said gently. Hiccup was still glaring at the ground, so Astrid squeezed his hands. "Come on, Hiccup. Look at me."

Finally, Hiccup looked at Astrid. She smiled at him and saw the way his face relaxed just a little bit. "Do you want to tell me what got you so worked up back there?"

"Not really," Hiccup admitted. He gave her an apologetic look, and Astrid just nodded her head in understanding. She could totally get that there were some things people didn't want to talk about. She was the same way about her father. She didn't want to talk about what was happening unless she absolutely had to. She supposed that everyone had that one thing in their life that they were closed off about.

"Alright, that's fine," Astrid said gently. Her thumbs rubbed over the backs of his hands. "Do you want to just take a deep breath, then?"

That got Hiccup to crack a smile. He shook his head as his hands tightened around hers. "Really, Astrid?"

"Really!" Astrid said brightly. "It works, you know. It helps calm you down and center yourself."

"I think I'll be just fine, Astrid. But thank you for pulling me out of there before I said something stupid. I kind of have a tendency to get really angry."

"Really?" Astrid was intrigued by this information. In the two years that they had been in high school together, Astrid didn't think she had ever seen Hiccup get angry like that. But then again, this was the first time that she was getting to really know him (and despite how she didn't want to see him angry, she couldn't deny that Hiccup was very attractive when his temper spiked a little bit. Then again, Hiccup was attractive all the time).

Hiccup looked a little sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck. Astrid could see that this was something that he did when he got nervous or embarrassed. "Sometimes I don't have a very good handle on my temper. But, you know. I've been working on it a little bit. Working in a bar helps. I have to deal with some pretty obnoxious people."

Astrid smiled a little at that before she stroked her thumbs over the back of Hiccup's hands. "You'll be okay. You know that, right?"

Hiccup shook his head a little bit. "You don't even know what happened, Astrid."

"That may be true, but I really do believe that you'll be okay." Astrid smiled brightly at Hiccup. He was right. She didn't know exactly what had happened to him in the seven years since he had graduated high school. She didn't know why he was still in Lima, and she didn't know why he had the sad look in his eyes most nights. But she did know that, somehow, everything was going to work out for Hiccup Haddock.

Hiccup stared down at Astrid, his amber eyes boring into hers. Then, without a word, Hiccup hauled Astrid into his arms and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck. Astrid spread her tiny hands over his back and closed her eyes as Hiccup held her.

She didn't know how long they stood there, just holding on to each other like that. In any case, it made both Astrid and Hiccup feel so much better. They didn't need to say anything; just their shared touch was enough.

Astrid heard her mother call for them, and she jumped out of Hiccup's arms and went to head Alexa off before she could find them alone in the back room. Hiccup chuckled at her antics and Astrid made a face at him over her shoulder before she called, "We'll be right out, Mom!"

Turning around to face Hiccup once again, she walked towards him and took her hand. Looking down, she couldn't believe the size difference between them. She was holding one of Hiccup's large hands between both of hers, and her hands looked so small in comparison to his.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay, Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup smiled down at her and pulled her close again, squeezing briefly around her shoulders before he let go. Astrid found herself wishing that Hiccup would still keep her wrapped in his embrace, and she blushed at the thought.

"I think I'll be just fine," Hiccup said, pulling Astrid from her thoughts. "Thank you, Astrid."

"Of course, Hiccup," Astrid said. She was pleasantly surprised when Hiccup took her hand and led her back out into the dinner party. Both were smiling the entire time.