✧･ﾟ: *HTTYD Oneshots✧･ﾟ:*

Braids

•Set a few weeks before Httyd 2•

—-

They were sitting still and silent, and in all honesty, it scared her badly.

To put it into the simplest of terms, Hiccup, being the headstrong viking he is, had flown off in the middle of a conversation with his father; this prompted the young Hofferson to take off after him to try and reason with her rather stubborn boyfriend.

Hiccup, to say the least, was not too pleased with Astrid taking his dad's side in said argument. So when Astrid followed him and started yelling at him to go back home once they landed, he decided he was done with her demands and yelled right back at her accusingly. Astrid was, to say the least, utterly baffled and more hurt than she expected to be in this sort of situation.

This was not the first time she feared her usually kind boyfriend would finally retaliate, but it was the first time he actually acted on it. She snapped at him, bringing his childish behaviour out into the open, which only made the argument escalate.

After their fight ended, not to be misinterpreted as resolved in any way, they sat down and said nothing, which scared Astrid, not that she would ever admit it.

Hiccup was anything but quiet, and when he was, something was always wrong. She was fearful, usually by now he would've said something, look in her direction at least. The blonde woman bit the inside of her cheek, trying to force back tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. It was embarrassing in Hofferson standards to become so worked up over something as plain as an argument, but this dispute in particular made her stomach turn and anxiety creep in her head.

After a few more minutes, Astrid could not bear the silence anymore,

"Hiccup." She hated how strained and...weak her voice came out, she hated even more how much she desperately wanted to burst into tears and apologize for what was causing him to be so angry, whether it was her own behaviour or his fathers.

Though, his only response was merely a grunt. "Hiccup," she tried again, this time with a steady voice.

"What, Astrid?" he asked rather harshly, she flinched slightly at his exasperated tone towards her. She did not dare to look him in the eyes, which wasn't difficult as she was sitting beside him with a good distance between them.

"I..." she trailed off quietly, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

They fell back into the same painful silence as before. After a few more minutes of this, feeling like she wanted to burst, Astrid cautiously shuffled her way so that she was in arms length of him. Reaching out carefully, as if he'd bite her hand off at one wrong movement, she reached for Hiccups hair, just behind his ear, and hesitantly started to braid it. Hiccup inhaled sharply, causing her to pause for a moment. "Astrid, what are you doing?"

She took a deep breath before responding softly, "I want to show you ... that even when we argue, I still love you no matter what."

He closed his eyes and inhaled, a wave of unsureness ran over her as he stayed silent.

"Hiccup?" Her voice was quiet, barely audible, weak. But he eventually exhaled and mumbled tiredly, "I love you too."

He was quiet for a moment but it was quickly cut off by a yelp of pain as she tugged hard on his hair, "Ow, Astrid! What are you doing?"

She smiled, securing the braid carefully, and placed her chin on his shoulder, mumbling into his ear, "As I said, i'm giving you a reminder."

She moved so Hiccup could reach his hand back to feel the braid, "Astrid..." he sighed, finally turning to make eye contact.

She grabbed her own braid and held it up, "We match now, see?" She spoke with almost childlike innocence, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"So... are we okay?" Astrid asked hopefully, tilting her head to see the expression on his down tilted head.

"Yeah. Astrid I'm sorry I took that all out on you. I'm just—"

Astrid raises an eyebrow, "Stressed, tired, overwhelmed?"

"Yeah," he replied, all those feelings traced in his voice.

"Hey," she said, her voice soft, "Life is difficult, Hiccup. But you don't have to go through this alone. I know you're in a tough place right now, and I'm sorry you're feeling a lot of pressure from your dad...and me..." She took his hands in hers, "But we're all so proud of you. Please just know, you never have to go through any of this by yourself, you're not alone, Hiccup."

"I know that...but I know he's going to try to hand the entirety of Berk over to me soon...and I'm just not ready for that."

"You will be, though. And if you're not, you'll have your dad and..." she paused, reaching a hand to his cheek, running a thumb over his scar thoughtfully, "You'll always have me, Hiccup. Every step of the way."

Grinning, Hiccup reached towards Astrid and in a swift movement, pulled her to his side, then promptly kissed her forehead, "I love you, Astrid. And thank you."

"It's no big deal, I love you too." She sighed, before looking up at him again. "You ready to go back and finish that conversation with your dad?"

"No," He replied, looking forwards again.

"Hiccup..."

"I want to stay here with you, at least for a little while longer."

"I think I can live with that," Astrid replied, before pulling his small braid backwards until he was laying down on the grass, with a smirk she leaned over him and placed a deep kiss on his lips.

"Every step of the way."