Tangled Vows

Chapter 22

The sun was slowly falling towards the horizon as the day began to come to a close, and Hiccup decided that they would take a walk along the beach on their way home. It had only been a few days since the speed dating event, and things between Astrid and Hiccup had grown steadily. Although they weren't back to their high school days, back to how they had been when they were best friends, but things were slowly healing.

"So, I was thinking about something whilst we were at that speed dating event," Hiccup started, piercing through the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

"You can think? I didn't know that was possible," Astrid remarked plainly. The teasing insult fluttered between them and brought peace to Hiccup as he felt less anxious about speaking his piece.

"It's pretty easy, I know you find it difficult. After all, you seem to have incredibly bad luck when thinking. Then again, you might just be stupid."

"I would say you're stupid back, but that would just be an insult to stupid people." Astrid retorted, smirking victoriously as she watched a hint of amusement pass over Hiccup's face in response.

"Can I just say what I wanted to say?" Hiccup asked, finally conceding and attempting to put the matter to rest.

Astrid shrugged but allowed him to speak. "If you must."

"Anyway, I was thinking that you never really told me about the guy that you want to marry."

"Eret?" 

"Yeah, that guy." Hiccup confirmed through a mild chuckle that he swallowed and pretended wasn't there.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "His name isn't that funny."

"It kind of is." Hiccup replied with an amused smile, still amused by the name. "So, who is he? What does he do? What kind of person is he?"

"What's with the third degree? Are you my father or something?" Astrid asked, bewildered by Hiccup's searching questions. He seemed insistent, so she wasn't about to decline him of his curiosity.

"No. I just want to know who my wife would rather marry." Hiccup retorted with a smugness that she wished she could punch right off of his face.

"I met Eret about a year after I moved to the city. He was nice, and he was friendly. He reminded me of you." Astrid began, mentioning that last part rather hesitantly despite it falling from her mouth with little to no control.

"Wait, really? Me?" The smile on his face was evident in his voice, and it took some considerable effort within Astrid not to turn around and slap the smirk from his face. He had every right to be cocky about that, it was a compliment.

"Cool your jets, Hiccup. I liked him because he wasn't you. He just occasionally spoke to me like he was you." Astrid corrected him, trying to crawl back away from her earlier compliment. But it did little to convince Hiccup. "Trust me, when it comes to you, less is better."

Hiccup scoffed, rolling his eyes and enjoying the friendly banter between them.

"So, where did you two meet then?" Hiccup asked, wanting to get back to his original intentions with this interrogation.

"I got a promotion at work, and he became my supervisor. But we didn't start dating until a month or two later."

"Okay. Then how did you start dating?" Hiccup interrogated further, interested to know every detail of her relationship with Eret, and everything she knew about this guy.

To Hiccup, he was just another stranger and not one who deserved a divine beauty like Astrid.

"I didn't have a lot of friends when I moved to the city, I mean, I lived here all my life. I didn't know anyone. But, I did manage to make one or two friends whilst I was there, and one of my friends, Heather, set me up on a blind date." Astrid explained with a sigh, as though those words held an immense weight over her. Now that they were out in the open, those events that led to her and Eret getting together were no longer a fantasy, but something real.