Astrid's POV

I yawned as I stretched my arms, a cool breeze blowing past them. I furrowed my brows as I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by the sun shining straight into my eyes.

I rubbed my eyes, before squinting as I waited for them to get used to the light.

I looked around me and found that I was sitting in the exact same spot I had been sitting in after Gobber refused to let Toothless and I enter, and to my surprise, the dragon was no longer where he had been laying earlier.

I got up and stretched my back, which was aching from my nap outside the Haddock residence. Haddock residence... Hiccup!

How long had I been out there? What as happened in the time that I had been sleeping?

I threw open the front door, not caring if Gobber was going to yell at me or not as I rushed up the stairs into Hiccup's bedroom.

I felt my heart sink in my chest as I saw him laying in his bed, completely still, a bandage wrapped tightly around his bare chest and a large pillow resting beneath his neck.

I glanced over and found Valka and Toothless sitting at his bedside, both looking equally devastated.

Valka eventually noticed me and forced a smile. "I see you're finally up"

I rubbed the back of my neck as it began aching from my uncomfortable sleeping position, where I had been sitting against the wall. "Yeah, how long was I out?"

"Gobber told me you and Toothless were the first to arrive, but he couldn't let you in so you sat outside and eventually fell asleep" Valka patted Toothless' head. "So if my calculations are correct, you've been asleep for the last 11 hours"

"What?!" I exclaimed, my gaze wandering over to the lifeless man in the bed as I thought of how I could've seen him much sooner.

"Don't be distressed my dear, we weren't allowed in before 2 hours ago" Valka reassured her, brows still furrowed as she watched her unconscious son.

2 hours I could've been at his side. I felt my face drop. "Can I sit?"

Valka nodded as she gestured to a stool on the opposite side of where she and Toothless were sitting. I sat down and scooted closer to Hiccup.

I took a deep breath as I held his hand in mine, which was freezing cold. My eyes began burning.

"I'm so sorry" I whispered to him as I brought his hand up to my lips, kissing his knuckles.

I sat there, by his side, for quite a long time before I felt the need for some fresh air. I placed a kiss on his forehead before heading downstairs to stand outside the front door.

I crossed my arms and furrowed my brows as my eyes began burning once again at the thought of Hiccup, my Hiccup leaving me for good.

I took another deep breath as I closed my eyes and tried to suppress my emotions.

"Are you alright, Astrid?" A familiar voice asked me.

My head immediately shot up and I was greeted by the sight of the young Gustav Larson.

"What? Yes, of course" I cleared my throat as I stood up straight. "Why?"

The young boy shrugged. "Well, we all know what happened to the Chief and I figured you could use a friend"

I couldn't help but feel a smile tug at the corners of my lips. "Thank you, Gustav, that's very thoughtful of you"

"Can I get a hug?" Gustav asked with a lopsided smile. I narrowed my eyes at him for a second before shrugging and giving in.

"Sure" I said as he wrapped his arms around my waist. The young Viking was nearly a head shorter than me, and I prayed for his sake that he would get a growth spurt in the near future, although he didn't seem to mind that much.

"Alright, that's enough" I informed him as I pulled away from the hug. "If I remember correctly, you have a class to be in right now, don't you?"

Gustav smiled awkwardly as he shuffled his feet.

I rolled my eyes at him and sighed. "Come on, we can take Stormfly"

I whistled for my Deadly Nadder, and in a couple of seconds, she landed outside the Haddock house.

We both climbed onto Stormfly, Gustav positioning himself behind me as we took off towards the Academy.

Gustav's POV

I gazed at Astrid as she wrote on the stone tablet. Gods, she must've been the most beautiful woman on Berk.

~~~

"Gustav!" Astrid exclaimed as she ran towards me, her face lit up with a gorgeous smile.

She wrapped her arms around me, pressing my face into her chest, which I certainly did not mind.

I whistled for Fanghook, and the dragon landed at our feet within seconds, ready to take us wherever we wanted to go. I climbed on top of him first and reached my hand out to Astrid.

"You ready, my love?" I said in an unusually hunky voice.

"Oh Gustav!" Astrid fawned as her cheeks turned red. "I'm always ready for anything with you!"

Astrid accepted my hand and climbed up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist as she rested her chin on my shoulder.

"Gustav?" She asked me with her angelic voice.

"Yes?" I replied dreamily.

"What did I just say?"

~~~

"Gustav!" Astrid raised her voice, snapping her fingers.

"Hm?" I replied, completely unaware of what was happing around me, receiving a few chuckles from my classmates.

"Ugh" Astrid exclaimed as she shook her head and continued her lesson.

Astrid's POV

I let out a deep sigh as I once again found myself outside Hiccup's house, only this time I was debating whether or not I should go in.

I eventually caved in and went upstairs to find Gothi tending to Hiccup, Valka and Toothless nowhere to be found.

"Where are they...?" I asked Gothi, who glanced up at me with a warm smile.

The older woman finished cleaning Hiccup's wounds before taking a step to the side, stretching her arms out to her sides and flapping them slowly, indicating that Valka had taken Toothless out for a flight.

"Oh, thank you" I smiled at her before sitting down on the stool I had been sitting on earlier, this time only watching Hiccup, praying for any sign of life.

At dinner time, Gothi forced me out of the Haddock house to go eat dinner, which I didn't really feel up for.

Regardless I met up with the rest of my friends, and we shared a silent dinner before splitting up and going to our individual homes for sleep.

~~~

I slowly made my way up the stairs that led to Hiccup's bedroom, and the second I stepped inside, my heart fell to my stomach.

Gathered around the bed were Gothi, Gobber, Valka and Toothless, all with wet cheeks and puffy, red eyes as their eyes were glued onto the unmoving Chief.

"What happened?" I asked, furrowing my brows as my breathing grew uneven. But there was no response.

"What happened!?" I yelled at them, but they didn't even flinch.

"He..." Gobber began, eyes still on Hiccup. "He's dead"

My knees grew weak before I collapsed onto the floor.

The scene changed to the people of Berk standing at the beach, all bidding farewell to their fallen Chief as his ship burned and burned until it had sunk beneath the surface.

I rose my hand to my cheek and found it soaking wet as my throat constricted. He was really gone, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was dead.

~~~