Hi everyone! I gots another Hiccup/Astrid story for you, 'cuz I love them so much, lol. I was a little iffy on posting this story, because it's so much different from my other stories, and I wasn't so sure about the whole Astrid...well, you'll see when/if you read it. I explained the storyline to my sister, however, and she assured me that it wasn't creepy, but cute. So, let's hope you all think so, too! Thanks for reading. :]
No, I don't own How to Train Your Dragon.
I knew I wasn't crazy. Every night for the past three days, I'd feel something-hear something-but by the time I woke up, whatever it was was always long gone. But, I was determined that something had been there. Something, or perhaps someone.
I'm sure I sounded crazy; After all, whatever it was never seemed to wake up Toothless, and he was the lightest sleeper I knew. Besides, who or what would even bother coming into my room? Especially secretively. But, whatever the case, that didn't stop me from finding out what it was.
So, by the next night, I went to bed, just like I did every night. I said goodnight to my dragon and snuggled under my light covers. But, I refused to let myself fall asleep. And, after what seemed like hours, though it could have very well been several minutes, I heard a noise coming from my window.
I didn't open my eyes. I didn't want to get caught. That would ruin everything. So, instead, I lay there, eyes shut, breathing at a steady rate, to make it seem like I was actually asleep.
The figure tiptoed across my room, doing an excellent job at avoiding every crack in the floor. As if they had it memorized or something. To someone else, it would have been complete silence, but being my room, I could easily hear the creaks they were making.
Finally, "it" made it to me, slowly lowering it's weight onto the bed. I tried to keep my breath from faltering. It was obvious it was a human now. No dragon could have been so quiet and so calm.
"Hiccup?" The voice questioned in a whisper.
My breath caught, but I managed to hide it. The mysterious figure was Astrid! That couldn't be right...could it? Her voice called my name again, softly, through the darkness.
I didn't answer. I just focused on trying to breath steadily. Satisfied, Astrid let out a nervous breath. Then her hand ran over the quilt currently covering my body. Her movement stopped at my left leg. Her fingertips gently brushed at the part where my leg ended and the peg began.
Sucking in a quiet breath, I tried to focus on keeping my heart from beating out of my chest. Her hand stayed there for a few moments, just twirling random shapes around the injury. The feeling was beyond amazing, though I couldn't figure out why.
Ever since the accident, I didn't let anything or anyone go near my bad leg. Even when it itched, I refused to scratch it. I figured it would feel too weird, though what Astrid was doing right then, made me realize I was completely wrong.
Suddenly, her hand stopped moving, freezing in place. I realized then that I had sighed during the gentle touching. Thinking quickly, I tried to cover it up, starting up more steady sleep breathing.
When her hand left the spot at my leg, I was sure I'd been found out, but instead, she brought it up to my face. Astrid brushed the bangs from my face and let her hand rest on the side of my cheek. I prayed to the Gods she wouldn't be able to see my blushing face in the moonlit darkness.
But, when her thumb brushed gently against my right cheek, I realized seeing the blush was the least of my problems. As the window was still open from Astrid sneaking inside, her hands were a bit cold, and I'm sure they didn't mix well with my newly heated face.
She didn't seem to notice, though, and soon I could feel her breath against my face. As our noses brushed against each other, I knew now we were only centimeters apart. My steady breaths quickened when her lips pressed firmly against mine.
Don't kiss back, I warned myself. People don't kiss back in their sleep! I tried to focus on my breathing again, but I was lost in the kiss. My face was beyond burning then and I almost gave up on the act entirely and tried to kiss back.
But, before I could, she ended the kiss, slowly pulling her lips off of mine. She sighed contently and sat up again. I could slowly feel the blush from my cheeks subside, but it was obvious they weren't there normal shade just yet.
"You know," Astrid started, quietly, breaking the silence in the room.
At first I thought I had been caught, and that she was actually speaking to me, but when she continued without a reply, I kept my mouth shut.
She sighed. I could hear her fussing with her skirt. "I've been feeling really strange these past few days, and I wish I could tell you what I've been trying to tell you when you're actually, you know...awake, But I guess I'm just afraid of how you might react." She laughed uncomfortably. "Imagine, me...afraid." Another sigh. "It took all the courage I had to even come here tonight and tell you that..." She trailed off. I strained my ears to listen harder, certain I had missed what she was trying to say.
Astrid breathed out as hard, yet lightly, as she could. "I love you, Hiccup."
I couldn't stop my eyes from shooting open at that. Though we'd both assumed we were basically a couple, we'd never really discussed anything relating to it. Especially not the "L" word. I managed to shut my eyes without her noticing, as her head was facing the window.
She placed her hand on my cheek again, letting her thumb gently brush against my lips. "Maybe someday I'll build up enough strength to tell you that. Maybe a time when you're actually conscious." She laughed half-heartedly and raised her body from the bed.
She walked towards the window. "Night, Toothless," She said to my dragon. I could hear her patting his head. He gave a happy purr in response. "As usual, don't tell Hiccup I was here." So, the little Night Fury was in on it. I rolled my eyes behind my eyelids. I should have known.
I could hear her getting ready to leave. I couldn't let her do that. She had just said the three words I'd been trying to say to her since the day I met her. I had to say it back. I couldn't. I had to! I sat up, opened my eyes and called to her, not caring how loud I was being, "Astrid, wait!"
She turned, and froze in place. The moonlight was accessing her facial expression, but she was still just a shadowy figure in the night. Her hand went up to brush the bangs from her eyes. "H-Hiccup?"
I cleared my throat. "Yeah, hi."
She walked over to my bed, not bothering to tiptoe this time. And with each step she took towards me, realization seemed to wash over her slowly. "Oh Gods, oh Gods! Were you awake that whole time? Did you hear everything? I should have known! You were so much more tense than you usually are and-" She stopped and gave me a death glare. "How long were you awake?"
I gulped. "Uhm, the entire time?"
She stood there.
"See, I was prepared for something, 'cuz I had guessed for the past week that someone had been sneak-" She punched me in the right arm, interrupting me completely. "Ow! What was that for?"
"For sneaking up on me! And for pretending to be asleep when you obviously weren't!"
Seeing that as hardly fair, since she was the one who had been sneaking up on me for the past few nights, I punched her back.
It didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as her punch seemed to bothered me, but she was still mad. "Did you just hit me!?"
Oh Gods, did I just hit her? "Astrid, I love you, too!" I nearly shouted. Ah, how subtle.
Neither of us spoke after that. I just stared at her, like she was staring at me. The only sound in the room was Toothless' dragon snores. That went on for about five minutes before she punched me in the same place she had before. But I held my ground, biting my lip to keep from crying out in pain.
Then, just as sudden as the punch itself, she grabbed me by the sleeves of my tunic and kissed me as hard as she could. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to kiss back, after what I had just done to her; But at the risk of being hit again, I did anyway, pressing back with just as much force.
We both seemed to melt into the kiss, not thinking about anything else. My mind was definitely swirling around in a pond of desire. Then, much too soon for my liking, the kiss was over. It took us both a few short moments to regain our breath back.
Suddenly, Astrid jabbed a finger in front of my face. "Never mention this night to anyone. Not to me, Toothless, you or anyone else. Got that?" I managed a simple nod, which seemed to make her relax a little. And just as quick as the threat, she had zipped out my window. Seconds later, however, she popped her head back in and said in a much sweeter voice, "Goodnight, Hiccup." And again, she was gone.
I took a moment, trying to piece together everything that had just happened. By then, I realized I was more tired that I had ever been, and without another word, I flopped onto my bed to sleep, landing right on my recently bruised arm. "Ow."
The last thing I heard, before I fell asleep, was a dragon sounding snort.
Tried to come up with a more clever ending, but that's the best I could do, lol. I was originally gonna have Astrid just say, "I love you" and that'd be it, but I thought it'd be better if she explained why she'd been sneaking into Hiccup's room, so ya'll didn't think she was just some creeper. :P Comments are love.