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wilderwestqueen · 7 years

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You’re Everything I Want (And Nothing I Can Keep) - Chapter Twelve

“Prove it. Bring her along this weekend, and prove it to everyone.” After a little white lie, Hiccup has to do something drastic to avoid embarrassing himself at a family reunion. Lost for any other ideas, Hiccup asks his best friend to pretend to be his girlfriend, just for a day. What could possibly go wrong?

Thank you to @strawbsnbloobs for beta reading this chapter!

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(fanfic.net) (ao3)

That Cute Couple Factor

"How did you two sleep?" Val said, smiling brightly as the two of them wandered downstairs.

There was a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen, bacon and eggs sizzling in a pan on a stove, Stoick holding a spatula.

"Wonderfully," Astrid said, shooting a sideways glance towards Hiccup. "Best I have in a while, actually."

"Lovely. Breakfast will be ready soon, I hope you're hungry."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Astrid said, politely.

"NO," Hiccup said, loudly.

Stoick and Val turned and stared at him, blinking in surprise.

"No," Hiccup said, a little quieter, putting his hands on Astrid's shoulders. "Trust me, you wouldn't want Astrid helping in the kitchen. It would be a disaster. In fact, we should probably leave right now, just in case something happens."

Astrid elbowed him.

"I'm saying this out of love, my dear," Hiccup said, clicking into fake relationship mode automatically, without having to think about it. "Love and concern that everyone might get food poisoning."

Stoick let out a loud laugh, a rumble from his belly. "Val's the same," he said. "You wouldn't want to go anywhere near her food."

"Haddock women were not born natural cooks," Val said.

"You're not even a Haddock yet, technically," Hiccup pointed out.

"Just because I haven't officially got the name Haddock doesn't mean I'm not a Haddock," Val said, poking him in the stomach. "People have been calling me Mrs. Haddock for years. I've been a Haddock longer than you have."

Hiccup laughed. "Point taken, Mum."

"I for one can't wait for you to properly be Mrs. Haddock," Stoick added, flipping the bacon with his spatula. "It's been long enough."

"That it has, Stoick. That it has," Val said, her eyes shining as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Now away with the two of you. Go set the table."

Hiccup and Astrid left the room, smiling, taking handfuls of cutlery into the dining room, putting table mats around the table and the right amount of knives and forks.

"Your parents are cute," Astrid muttered into Hiccup's ear.

"You're telling me," Hiccup said. "I think they're out-doing us in the cute couple factor."

Astrid cocked an eyebrow, and grinned. "You want to give them a show?"

This was flirting. Astrid was flirting. Right?

More than that, though, her eyes were twinkling, her face set in that same expression of cockiness and determination that he'd seen so many times before. She was offering him a challenge.

And Hiccup was never one to back down.

His lips quirked, his eyes shining as he grabbed her hand and said, "You're on."

Stoick and Val entered the room then, with plates laden with fried eggs, bacon and pancakes. As they put the plates down, Astrid darted towards Hiccup and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

It took a while for his smile to die down.

With one look from Astrid, a challenge had been set: Who Can Be The Grossest Couple was in motion, and Hiccup was never one to back down from a challenge, certainly not from Astrid, no matter how much this particular challenge made his stomach flip. The goal? Be the grossest, soppiest, most in-love couple possible.

As they made their way down to Berk's pool, Hiccup let his fingers dangle and brush with hers, and she responded with a grin, tangling their fingers together, so he pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her waist. After this, she nuzzled her head on his shoulder, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

His heart fluttered, the butterflies in his stomach kicking up a storm. Apparently, this challenge was going to be harder than he thought.

Beside them, Stoick and Val were cooing at every little move, at every little touch.

"You too are so sweet together," Val said, a permanent smile lighting up her face.

"Don't embarrass them," Stoick said gruffly, but he too was grinning. The two of them were having a field day.

Val poked him. "I'm a mother, it's my job."

Astrid smiled, her fingers still wrapped tight around Hiccup's, swinging their hands back and forth. "I'm just lucky to have him."

That was an opening if Hiccup had ever saw one. "No," he said, "I'm lucky to have you."

A glint flashed in Astrid's eyes. "No," she said, her smile twisting, "I'm lucky to have you."

"I think you'll find," he said, slinging his arm over Astrid's shoulder, "that I'm luckier."

"I'm luckiest!"

"I'm luckiest plus one!"

"I'm luckiest plus infinity!"

Stoick and Val roared with laughter.

"Now, now," Stoick said, his massive shoulders shaking. "No need to fight."

Astrid grinned, and snuggled into Hiccup's shoulder. His heart was thumping, and he was smiling so much that his cheeks hurt. Right here, right now, back on the island he grew up, with Astrid Hofferson in his arms, was the happiest he'd ever felt. And if the reminder that this wasn't real, and in a couple of weeks it'd all be over came up in his brain, well, he pushed it away and pretended the thought didn't exist. All that mattered to him was the present, and in the present, Astrid's fingers were gliding over his, her head lolling over his shoulder, blonde hair tickling his skin.

He was grounded a little, however, when they arrived at the poolside. They found a set of deckchairs close to the pool edge, tossed their towels over them and settled down. Almost as soon as they'd sat down, Astrid had whipped off her shirt and shorts, revealing a small, blue bikini.

Hiccup's mouth went dry, and immediately he had to snap his eyes forward to stop them from roaming across her bare skin.

Boundaries, he reminded himself. She's your friend. Not your girlfriend. No matter what your parents think.

He sat awkwardly on his deckchair, forcing himself to look firmly towards the pool. He kept his fingers locked together on his stomach, his whole body frozen as he tried to process this new development that once again, he really should have been prepared for.

Astrid did not seem to share his qualms, however; no sooner had they sat down was she happily rubbing her skin with sun block, humming happily to herself.

"Do my back?"

"W-what?" Hiccup gulped, broken out of his reverie.

He allowed himself to look over at her. She was holding the sun cream bottle out to him expectantly.

"Do my back?" she repeated. "I can't reach and I don't wanna get burned."

His parents were watching from the side, peeking over their sunglasses at the two of them. Hiccup still felt like he couldn't move, eyes fixed on the bottle as if it would jump out and bite him. Astrid was still looking at him, eyebrows raised quizzically.

"Sure," Hiccup squeaked, his voice much higher in pitch than usual. He swallowed, trying to make himself sound more normal. "I can do that."

She flipped over onto her stomach, and Hiccup, heart thumping hard, forced his hands to move, spraying the cream onto Astrid's back and rubbing it into the skin. He worked methodically, trying his best to do a good job and not thinking about the implications.

I am not enjoying this, he said to himself. I am not enjoying this.

He was just being a good friend. This was what good friends did. There was no reason to act like this wasn’t normal, whether or not he could feel his parents' gaze hot on his back.

"Done," he said, hating how strained his voice sounded.

He went back to lying down on the deckchair, staring back out into the pool, pretending to be very interested in the two kids splashing about at the opposite end of the pool, ducking each other's heads underwater.

Astrid was watching him, amused. She cast an eye over at Hiccup's parents, before lowering her voice and saying, “You don't need to be so polite, y'know. I wore this to look good."

Hiccup flushed bright crimson. "I wasn't- I didn't-"

"Relax, Hiccup," Astrid said, with a grin. "You're my boyfriend. You're allowed to look."

He knew that it was all for show, but something about Astrid calling him her boyfriend made his heart speed up. He twisted on the deckchair onto his side, facing her and looking at her properly.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to him by now, but it hit him like a ton of bricks anyway: Astrid Hofferson was heart stopping, earth shattering, make-your-mouth-go-dry beautiful. He was having trouble forming coherent sentences. He wanted to say something smart, anything that could break the tension, and he tried to gather up all the wit he had to say something just right, but all he could do was focus on a spot on her nose, where there was a still a smudge of sun cream.

"You - you missed a spot," he said feebly, gesturing at her face.

She rubbed her face. "Gone?"

"Here," Hiccup said, leaning forward before his brain could stop his body from moving. He cupped her cheek, and wiped his thumb across her nose.

For a moment, he froze, as if he'd only just realised what he was doing, and the world around them melted as he stared into Astrid's eyes. His fingers curled around her chin, and for a moment he was lost in a daze, struck by the idea that he could move mere inches and he would be kissing her.

Then, as if by magic, the spell was broken, and Hiccup moved away from her, his hand immediately going behind him as he nervously scratched the back of his head. Astrid appeared to be in a daze too; she kept frozen in space for a moment or two after the moment.

But she was the first to break: after a few seconds of silence, she sprang from her chair. "I'm going for a swim," she said, brightly, rocking back and forward on her feet. Then, before Hiccup could process any of this, she headed towards the deep end, flipping off the edge into the water in a feat of grace and athleticism that only Astrid Hofferson would be capable of.

Hiccup chose the safer option, shifting himself down the ladder inch by inch, wincing every time a new piece of bare skin touched the cold water. He trod carefully, his fingers gripping onto the ladder, careful not to slip on his prosthetic as he slid down into the pool, shivering with every movement. Astrid seemed not to notice the temperature, swimming about and ducking underneath like she'd born in it.

For a moment, Hiccup tread water, still feeling the tension from minutes before, and realising that he had absolutely no idea what to say her.

But then, a familiar glint flashed in Astrid's eyes, her lips curling into a smirk, before she slapped her hands hard down onto the surface, splashing him with water.

Now this was territory Hiccup knew; he responded by making an even bigger splash.

"No mercy!" Astrid said, that mischievous grin wider than ever, as she held her hands together in the water, driving it over and drenching him.

Hiccup spluttered, coughing up water. "You're in for it!" he said, and ducked down underwater, pulling her with him. She struggled and kicked at him, and they both gasped as they resurfaced, giggling hard.

"Just you wait, Haddock," she hissed, darting over the side of the pool and grabbing one of the pool noodles, brandishing it like weapon and advancing on him.

"No fair!" Hiccup said, scrambling to get to the other side of the pool. "I'm unarmed!"

This did nothing to appease Astrid, whose face had become the perfect picture of childish glee - this was a war, and one that she intended to win. Hiccup managed to retrieve his own weapon just in the nick of time, and the two engaged in deadly combat: the battle of the pool noodles.

This continued on for many minutes, until some poor, tired-looking pool attendant appeared at the scene and asked them politely to stop.

Hiccup and Astrid left the pool, both hiding giggles behind their hands. They'd managed to clear out the whole pool in their tussle - all the kids that had been playing had abandoned the water in favour of the deckchairs, watching the ensuing fight.

"Hiccup," Astrid said, her voice somewhat amused. "Did you know your leg is weeing?"

Hiccup turned at blinked at her, the nonsensical statement taking a moment to sink in, but then he looked down at his leg and laughed. Water was spilling out the back of the prosthetic onto the tiled floor.

"Yeah, it does that," he said, grinning. “There’s a hole in the back so that it doesn’t fill up with water. I always forget about that.”

Astrid tipped her head to the side and smiled. “That’s pretty cool, Hiccup.”

Hiccup shrugged. “I never really thought about it.”

They made their way back to their deckchairs where Stoick and Val were waiting for them, the same expectant smiles that they'd had on all day still plastered across their faces. Hiccup left Astrid on the deckchair, combing through her hair with wet fingers, and went to join his parents.

"What?" Hiccup said, after a few moments of them just smiling and staring.

"Nothing," Val said. "It's just - you two remind us of us when we were your age."

Hiccup smiled and his eyes flickered between his Mum and Dad. "What, you used to have pool noodle fights?"

"My boy-" Stoick uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, grinning in a similar mischievous fashion- "I was the king of pool noodle fights."

Val elbowed him. "I just meant youthful. Boisterous," she said. "It's wonderful to see you having so much fun. That girl brings out the best in you."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "She's something else."

"She certainly is."

"Come on Val," Stoick said, nudging Val's arm, "You make it sound like we don't have fun anymore."

Val smiled. "Of course we do," she said. "I just meant that we're not that young anymore."

"We still seemed pretty spry last night," Stoick said, with a wink.

"Oh my god, gross," Hiccup said. "I'm leaving now."

He turned on his heel and head back towards Astrid.

"I hope you're using those condoms we left you!" Stoick yelled at Hiccup's back, earning him a groan. "I don't want grandkids this soon!"

"Stoick!" Val chided, "We're in a public place!"

"Let me have my fun," Stoick said, laughing. "I never get to tease that boy."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching their son return to his girlfriend.

"He looks happy."

"Yeah, he does."

Meanwhile, Hiccup was hurrying back over to Astrid, disgusted face still on as he tried to erase the images in his mind.

"What was that all about?" Astird said, now wrapped in a towel.

"Nothing." Hiccup scowled. "They never miss an opportunity to embarrass me."

Astrid grinned. "I've noticed."

"You encourage them."

"I do not."

"You do."

"Well, yeah, okay, maybe a little bit..."

Back at the house that night, Hiccup could still smell the chlorine on his skin as he got ready for bed, the image of Astrid wet-haired and in a bikini still fresh in his mind, made worse by the fact that she was sleeping right beside him, blonde hair fanning across the pillows.

Good god, he was in trouble.

Hiccup took Astrid to the beach.

They were double-dating with Stoick and Val, still trying to one-up them of course, but Hiccup’s parents were way off in the distance, out of vision and ear-shot.

The sea frothed against the sandy shore, the taste of sea spray on their lips, the sound of seagulls cawing and playing across the cliff side.

They bundled up in jeans and hoodies - it might have been summer, but that didn't mean it was hot on the Isle of Berk or anywhere else in England. Astrid had her hands stuffed in her pockets, as they walked along, kicking sand and stones up with their shoes, leaving footprints behind them.

The pair of them stood close to each other, but never quite touching. They weren't on show here. For now, they were just friends, no matter how much it made Hiccup's heart ache.

"It's beautiful," Astrid mumbled, a little stunned as she stared down at the waves, rushing up and down on the sand.

Hiccup blinked at her. "Have you never been to a beach before?"

"Not for a very, very long time," Astrid said, kicking up a stone with the tip of her shoe. "I don't remember much, but it definitely wasn't as good as this."

Hiccup smiled and looked out to sea, enjoying the feeling of wind on his face, his hair flapping.

"When I was younger I was so shocked to realise that there were some people who had never been to a beach before," Hiccup said, his thumbs in his pockets, his fingers tapping on the outside of his jeans. "I didn't realise that not everyone had one within walking distance from them."

Astrid laughed. "You were lucky."

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "I don't think I realised how much until I left for university."

They kept walking in amiable silence, and kept going, just listening to the sounds of the wind and the sea, working together in harmony to lap at the sand.

Eventually they came to a stop, and sat down in the sand. Hiccup held his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on top, putting his chin on top of his hands.

"I used to come here all the time when I was feeling bad to calm down," Hiccup said, his voice softer. He didn't look at Astrid, even though she was staring at him, and kept his gaze fixed out on the sea. "Especially after the accident."

He felt Astrid suck in a breath.

"I always forget about that," Astrid said, and Hiccup did look at her then, watching the way the wind blew strands of her blonde hair out of her face in wisps. "...Is that wrong?"

Hiccup thought about it, and shook his head. "I don't want people to treat me differently because of it."

Astrid nodded. "I get that."

She stared down at her fingers, twisting and untwisting them together. She dug a little hole in the sand and smoothed it over. "Does it still hurt?"

Hiccup's eyes flickered over towards her again. "Sometimes," he said. "Not as much as when it first happened, but sometimes it aches."

She kept flipping the sand over with her finger, digging a hole and then smoothing it over. Digging a hole and smoothing it over. Her fingernails were filled with sand.

Then she asked the question he'd been expecting her to ask for years, but she never had. "How did it happen?" Her voice is low, small. She was still staring at him.

Hiccup’s arms wrapped around himself with a much tighter grip, his fingers interlacing and holding on tight to his hands.

"Car accident," Hiccup mumbled.

Don't ask anything more, he thought to himself. Don't.

She stared at him for a good long time, and for a moment he was so sure that he was going to keep asking him about it, keep prying for information in the hopes of being supportive but actually doing the opposite.

He could feel her eyes narrowing on him. Then, she looked out to sea.

“Actually, I do remember the first time I went to the beach,” Astrid said, twiddling her fingers together. She tucked her legs under her chin and wrapped her arms around them, clutching them to her chest. “It’s fuzzy, but I remember bits and pieces. I was four years old and it was a family holiday, in Cornwall. I’d never seen the sea before, and I didn’t understand how it worked.”

Hiccup stared at her, silent, just listening. Astrid tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear before continuing. “I was terrified,” Astrid said, looking back out at the sea and grinning. “The ocean was so big and it stretched for miles and miles and it just seemed like it would never end. I didn’t understand tides. I thought the waves were just going to keep coming and coming and then I’d get washed away with it.”

Hiccup gave a small smile.

“My parents have got an old picture of me and my Dad, standing at the edge of the sea, with me clutching onto his hand with both of mine so that the sea didn’t take me away,” Astrid said, her voice a little softer. She rested her chin upon her knees, staring at the waves again. “Eventually we learned about tides in geography class and I stopped being so afraid.”

“I’m glad,” Hiccup said, his voice small. “Otherwise you might never have come here.”

"It's a beautiful place. Thanks for showing me it," she said, a smile tugging at her features.

He smiled back at her, so grateful that she changed the subject. Somehow, she'd seen how much he didn’t want to talk about it. Somehow, she'd known he was uncomfortable, and she'd done something to fix it.

She’d never know how grateful he was that she knew that.

There was blue in every direction.

Their adventures that day had taken them to Berk's aquarium, and they had spent their time walking alone together through the tunnel, gazing up at all the fish and sea creatures that were on show.

"They're perfect!"

Astrid stood back, watching fondly as Hiccup pressed his nose up against the glass, the sea lion bumping its snout the other side. Hiccup's eyes were wide and shining in fascination, his hands curling up against the glass.

"I love them so much," he whispered.

Astrid cocked an eyebrow, amused. "Are you crying?"

"No," Hiccup said quickly, flicking the tear that had threatened to leak from the corner of his eye.

"You always get like this," Astrid said, her voice not at all accusatory, instead fond and sweet, "every time we see a cute animal. It's like you want to take them all home with you."

"I would if I could," Hiccup mumbled. "But I'd have nowhere to keep them. The costs of building an aquarium that big alone..."

"Also, you have a very territorial cat who constantly demands your attention."

"That too."

Astrid smiled softly, and sank down onto one of the benches, crossing her legs and gazing up at the aquarium above her. Seals swam around, gliding through the water without a care in the world.

"It's nice seeing you like this," Astrid said.

"Like what?"

"Happy. Content. You're usually so... stressed about things.”

Hiccup wrinkled his nose. "I'm not, am I?"

"You do tend to worry about things a lot, Hiccup."

"Huh." Hiccup joined her on the bench, leaning back and looking up at the blue above them. "It's something about this place. It's calming."

"Yeah. I get that."

Hiccup watched as a seal swam overhead. "Do you think they worry about things like we do?"

"How so?"

"It seems like the life, y'know, to swim around and do nothing all day?" he said. "But do they wake up and wonder what they're going to do with their day? Does it get boring? Do they have parental issues? Do they wonder why they're there?"

Astrid grinned. "Do they wonder if there's a seal-god?"

"Stop teasing me."

She smiled, shifting closer to him. "Hiccup," she said, winding her arm around his, "you have the strangest mind. Never get rid of it."

Then she moved closer still, her head drooping and nestling at his neck, her eyes fluttering shut. Her fingers slid down beside his, and slowly, their fingers intertwined. It felt, Hiccup realised with a jolt, somewhat natural. He let his head fall too, resting atop hers. His eyes slid upwards to watch the seals gently press against the glass before swimming away.

Hiccup's parents were nowhere to be seen.

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#hiccstrid #httyd #how to train your dragon #rtte #race to the edge #woo we're finally here again #fair warning the next chapters are going to be difficult to write so it's probably going to be a long stretch before there's another one #but yay this one's here!

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