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Hiccup was just finishing up his dinner when he saw the first drizzle of rain. Great. It wasn’t a surprise, the sky had been overcast all day, and the Edge got rain rather frequently. But it made his lungs tighten uncomfortably with dread for no reasonable cause. And he knew that–he knew that there was no reason to suddenly get jumpy at shadows when the chances of Viggo attacking hadn’t greatened in the slightest.
In fact, the chances of Viggo’s ships appearing along the horizon were even lower, if the storm was bad enough. It’s hard to sail in a storm.
“Ugh, it’s raining?” Ruffnut complained.
“Again?” Astrid exclaimed, turning her head to look out the clubhouse door.
“I hate the rain,” Snotlout grumbled, crossing his arms.
Hiccup had a vague feeling that they all hated the rain for the same reason.
Hiccup straightened up. He was their leader. He needed to lead. “We better fortify the island. Ruff, Tuff, go get supplies, Fishlegs, gather the dragons–everyone else, make sure your huts are rain-proof.”
They nodded and ran off to do their job. Hiccup was the last one left in the clubhouse. He felt a soft pang of loneliness in his heart. Oh come on–he could not seriously miss the riders right now. They were only going to be gone for–at most–fifteen minutes! Gods, this was ridiculous.
Toothless pressed his snout into Hiccup’s hand. Right. He wasn’t alone. What was he talking about?
“Come on, Toothless, let’s go make sure our hut is waterproofed,” Hiccup said, stepping onto Toothless’s back.
The rain had gotten stronger. It soaked right through Hiccup’s clothes and chilled him to the bone.
“Hey, H! We’ve been waiting for you,” Tuff greeted.
“Are those…blankets?” Hiccup questioned, eyeing a suspicious pile of woven cotton.
“Don’t forget about the pillows!” Snotlout commented, hurtling a cushion at him.
Hiccup dodged it, and the pillow thumped against the door behind him.
Astrid got up from the floor. Her hair hung in wet strands, out of its usual braid. She twisted one of the strands, wringing the water out of it. She had a blanket draped over her shoulders.
She looked really good. Really good. Hiccup was left speechless for a moment as his eyes followed Astrid around the room, not processing what she was doing until she shoved a blanket into his chest.
“Take it,” Astrid instructed, shoving the blanket a little harder.
“Wha–oh–um. Thanks,” Hiccup stuttered. It had taken a moment to process her words. Gods, she was stunning.
Astrid smirked lovingly, slightly shaking her head. “You idiot.”
Hiccup regained his consciousness and smirked back. “M’lady.”
Snotlout pretended to gag. “Oh shut up, you lovebirds–”
“I think it’s sweet–”
“Pillowfight!” the twins announced, interrupting Fishlegs.
“Pillowfight?” Snotlout raised an eyebrow.
“Pillowfight!” Ruffnut repeated, smacking Tuff in the face with her pillow.
“Are we sure this is a good idea? We don’t want to break anythi–” Before Hiccup could finish his sentence, Astrid whacked him with a pillow.
Astrid grinned.
A small smile creeped up onto his face. Besides, what could he do? The other side of the room was already having a full-blown pillow-war. So he picked up a pillow and joined in.
***
Hiccup was laughing so hard his stomach hurt and his muscles were collapsing, and his eyes were brimmed with tears. His jaw hurt from smiling. When was the last time he had laughed like this?
His eyelids felt heavy. That was weird. It couldn’t possibly be that late–
It was dark outside. Huh. It certainly hadn’t been that dark the last time he checked.
Hiccup yawned, sitting up. “I guess we should get to sleep.”
Astrid sighed, Snotlout mumbled something Hiccup couldn’t understand, Fishlegs fiddled with his clothes, and the twins didn’t even bother hiding the disappointment on their faces.
Guilt creeped into his stomach. What was he doing? What was so wrong with staying here, with them, just a little longer?
They started to get up and head out the door.
“Wait,” Hiccup said suddenly. They looked at him hopefully. An idea dawned on him. “Give me a sec, I’ll be right back. Everyone stay here.”
Hiccup dashed off. He was back a few minutes later with six mugs of warm yak milk. He gave a lopsided grin as he set the mugs down on the table.
“Awww, Hiccup, you do care about us!” Tuff took a cup of the yak milk.
Hiccup’s smile broadened.
Tuffnut contently took a sip.
Astrid was the last to grab her mug. Hiccup waited for her by the table.
The rest of the gang was on the floor with their blankets. Ruff and Tuff’s soft bickering, Snotlout’s quiet snoring, and the rhythmic turning of pages of a book Fishlegs was reading blended with the pitter-patter of rain on the clubhouse roof. It was quite cold out, but Hiccup didn’t feel cold inside. Not with the yak milk. And not with them.
He sat next to Astrid. She shifted closer to him. She pulled his arm around her and rested her head on his shoulder.
Hiccup went still for a second. This was perfect. Everything about this moment was flawless. Hiccup settled the memory into a cozy place in his heart where he would remember it.
Hiccup had finished his yak milk. He could feel Astrid’s deep, steady breathing. The twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout were asleep, too.
It didn’t surprise him that he was the last one awake; it often took him quite a long time to fall asleep. That didn’t mean it was pleasant.
Hiccup looked down at Astrid. Hoping he wasn’t disturbing her, he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers, closing his eyes and seeing if he could find her heartbeat.
Astrid stirred a bit, moving her head up just slightly, but not so much it wasn’t still resting on Hiccup’s shoulder.
“I love you.”
It was so soft Hiccup almost thought he’d imagined it. Was he dreaming? He had to be.
But he wasn’t. And he whispered back, “I love you too.”
The words felt like a lullaby, and when he closed his eyes, he let the sound of the rain and the warmth of Astrid’s body carry him asleep.