Will it be forever?

Chapter 9: To A Great Night!

Hiccup's POV

The sound of light snoring filled my ears as I felt myself slowly wake up from my deep slumber. Instinctively, I rolled over to the other side of the bed to wrap my arms around Astrid, only to find it empty.

I blinked my eyes open and was a little bewildered to find Astrid's missing. I glanced over my shoulder and quickly found the cause for the snoring I had heard earlier, and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle as I watched Toothless sleep on his back, arms and legs up in the air, kicking around as his tongue dangled from his mouth.

I eventually got out of bed and began to get dressed, and as I was pulling up my pants, the question I had been pondering about ever since I woke up answered itself, Astrid was once again out with the many women that roamed Berk.

It had been two months since the first time Ruffnut awoke us in the morning, and unfortunately for everyone who slept in the Haddock residence, it hadn't ended there.

Ruffnut, my mother and a few other ladies would come up to our room in the early hours of the morning to snag away Astrid, and I wouldn't get to see her before the end of the day, and as expected, this day was no different.

As Toothless and I were finishing up our breakfast, a couple steady knocks landed on our door, making the two of us raise our brows in confusion at each other. I stood up from the table and made my way over to the door, and when I opened it, one could say I was a little surprised.

"Mornin', Chief!" Snotlout greeted with one of his snarky smiles as my eyes scanned over the crowd he had brought along with him.

My eyes landed upon Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Eret who were all grinning at me, which honestly creeped my out a bit. Behind them, growls could be heard as I realized the boys had brought their dragons along with them.

"Why are you guys at my doorstep?" I asked them, raising a brow as I looked them over, searching for anything that could answer my question for me.

"Isn't it obvious? We're taking you out to go have some fun!" Tuffnut replied, gesticulating just as wildly as his sister usually did.

"Why?" I asked in a rather monotone voice as Toothless squeezed past me and out the door to go say hello to the other dragons.

"Because it's your last day as a free man!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Sometimes I wonder why Astrid chose you"

I rolled my eyes at Snotlout as a hand landed on my shoulder. I shot Fishlegs a smile as he looked as if he was going to burst with excitement.

"And seeing as it's your last day before you get married, we wanted to help you celebrate just that!" Fishlegs squealed as he waved his hands all around.

"I don't know about this ..." I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Oh come on, Hiccup, don't be a wet blanket!" Snotlout encouraged me as the guys nearly dragged me towards Toothless.

I let out a sigh, giving in to their antics. "Fine, I'm coming with you"

I hopped on Toothless, the guys following my lead as I activated the dragon's tail fin and aimed for the skies. I couldn't help the grin that was plastered onto my face as we soared through the clouds. Gods, how I love flying.

I turned around to see how the guys were doing, and to my surprise, they weren't too far behind. Just as I was about to turn back around, my eyes landed upon something that sent fear spiraling down my spine; Snotlout and Tuffnut on Hookfang.

"Hey, Tuff" I called out. "Where's Barf and Belch?"

Tuffnut places his hands behind his head as he laid down on Hookfang. "With Ruff, she said she didn't 'trust me alone with them' or something along those lines"

I nodded my head as I felt a lump starting to form in my throat. I quickly glanced up at the sky, praying that we would make it through the day without any casualties.

After a couple of hours of flying, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to what the guys had put on our agenda for the day. "So, any idea where we're going?"

"Why, of course! " Fishlegs exclaimed. "You see, we thought it would be entertaining with a quick trip back to the Edge"

"Really?" I raised my brow at him, a little surprised by his answer.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what is this Edge we're talking about?" Eret chimed in.

"Dragons Edge is an island we spent a good portion of our teens on, don't think too much into it" Snotlout replied, not even bothering to turn around and face Eret.

"Alright then, I suppose I'll just follow you" Eret nodded awkwardly as he seemed to have tightened his grip on Skullcrusher's saddle.

Upon arrival at Dragons Edge, we took a minute to stop by the stables, where we let our dragons rest as the guys lead me to the dome, where they seemed to have arranged various activities for us.

As the dragons were busy snoring away in the stables, we did everything from axe-throwing competitions to Who Can Catch the Boar? a game Tuffnut had invented which consisted of who could catch a wild boar the fastest and bring it back in time for a reward. It's safe to say that Snotlout wasn't exactly overjoyed when Eret became champion.

Nonetheless, the day didn't end there as we had a life size game of Maces and Talons before we all thought it would be a good idea to take a dip in the chilly waters that surrounded the Edge.

As we were all walking back to the stables, dripping wet and laughing like there was no tomorrow, I began to think back to the last time I had laughed so hard my stomach physically hurt, and that's when I realized that may have been the first time I had truly and thoroughly enjoyed myself as much as I had that day, with my best friends.

"I don't think I've ever had this much fun you guys, thank you" I thanked all of them before I shot them a warm smile.

"It was nothing, we all enjoyed ourselves just as much!" Fishlegs admitted as the others nodded in agreement.

Tuffnut climbed onto Hookfang, almost kicking Snotlout in the back of the head in the process. "And it was definitely relaxing to get away from the girls for a while!"

Laughs and agreeing noises filled the night sky as we mounted our dragons and flew in the direction of Berk.

As Berk appeared on the horizon, Eret decided to speak up. "How about we end this day with a little race? Last man to land outside the forge has to clean up after the wedding!"

We all accepted the challenge, and it wasn't long before we were all soaring through the skies, racing to be the first person to land as loud laughter replaced the silence of the night. As expected, Toothless and I touched down outside the forge before the rest, but we didn't have to wait long before the others landed as well.

"Why are we here?" I asked, my eyes traveling between my friends and the forge.

"You'll see" Snotlout grinned as he placed his hands along the sides of his mouth. "Gobber!"

"Yes, yes, I am on my way" Gobber's voice came from inside the forge. The sound of scrambling and metal clinking came from inside as I wondered what came next, and before I had the chance to come up with any suggestions, Gobber came waddling out with several trays of Meade in his hands and on his arms.

Grins spread across our faces as we each grabbed a serving. I raised the mug in the air as my grin widened. "To a great night!"

The guys raised their mugs as well. "To a great night!"