kalopsia

(n.) the delusion of things being more beautiful than they are

"Gods..." You grumbled, burying your face in your hands and exhaling sharply. Crystal croon from underneath but you were too fixated with the vexation to even care.

You spent the following minutes nonstop blaming yourself for leaving Hiccup and Erland alone like that, maybe if you had stayed behind, things wouldn't have turned out this way. And as minutest passed by, the what if questions were piling up with each new thought.

But they abruptly stopped when you noticed something in the far distance. Everything was blue so it wasn't really difficult to spot the black dragon up ahead and the brown haired rider on his back. Crystal sped forward and in a moments time she was able to catch up with them.

Toothless looked behind and that made Hiccup follow his actions and do the same, an awkward smile crossed your face when the two of you locked eyes and you gave him a short wave.

-----

The trip back to the Edge was fairly long, considering the island you were captured was practically outside the archipelago, so after finally arriving home, you were exhausted. The dragons had to rest a couple of times on the way and you spent a few nights on random islands.

The dragons landed on the Dome where Fishlegs and Meatlug were.

"Hey! You're bac-" Fishlegs spoke with a smile which faded in a second after noticing your state and his eyes widened in shock. "Oh my Thor! What happened to you guys?!" Fishlegs exclaimed worriedly, covering his mouth with both hands.

Hiccup and you just glanced at each other and realized why Fishlegs was so surprised.

Your hair was disheveled, sticking in every direction and it looked like it hasn't brushed it in ages. Your clothes tattered, with small new cuts on the shirt and pants were sticking out like black ink on a white paper and the dirt stains were almost everywhere.

Hiccup didn't look any better though, he was covered in dust from top to bottom which was expected after rolling on the ground but worse of all was his face, streaks of dried blood layered on bruises that were becoming noticeable just now.

You looked back at Fishlegs wondering what to even tell him.

"We'll tell you later." You replied and tried to comb your hair with your hands, but that didn't make any improvement whatsoever. "Anyway, where are the others?" You asked after noticing the gang's absence.

"They're in the clubhouse." Fishlegs responded, glancing back and forth between you and Hiccup and cringing slightly. "Gods, you two look horrible."

"Well you guys go clean up a bit, I'm going to tell the others you came back." Fishlegs said and you nodded saying you'll meet them back in the clubhouse. You watched Fishlegs and Meatlug head to the stairs and after that you and Hiccup went in the opposite side.

I looked back at Hiccup and saw him touch his cheek chuckled and wince faintly. You frowned upon scanning his bruised face.

"I think I have medicine for those." You said and Hiccup turned around with a confused expression, it took Hiccup a moment to realize what you were referring to and then he nodded with a smile.

After that you parted ways and after reaching your hut, you let out a deep sigh.

It felt like months since you were last here even though in reality it was just only a few days. You rummaged for clothes in the closet and after finding decent ones, you speedily changed into them, the fresh lavender scent engulfing you almost immediately. You brushed your hair and washed your face, minutes later you found the medicine and exited the place, heading straight to Hiccup's hut.

You knocked on the door and a moment later heard thrumming steps approaching the door quickly. You knew who it was jumped out of the way just as the door slammed open and Toothless' head perked outside.

You smiled and stooped down to pet Toothless' head. You walked in with Toothless by your side and your eyes stayed on Hiccup as you walked towards him. He had his armour taken off and wore a new set of clothes, the dust was washed off his face and the bruises were more visible now.

"Those look pretty bad." You pursed your lips as you sat down next to Hiccup.

"Thanks, I didn't knew." He replied with a chuckle and you punched him in the shoulder, but still laughed nonetheless.

You opened the lid of the jar you took and applied the green cream on a cloth. "Hopefully this will help." You said. Toothless rushed over to take a sniff of the jar and when he did, he jumped back instantly with a disgusted face. Hiccup was now watching the cloth with a reluctant gaze as it was closing in to his face.

"This might sting a bit." You warned with an apologetic smile and gently dabbed the cloth on Hiccup's cheek. His whole face scrunched up in a hurt grimace as he backed away.

"Sorry love. But they will heal faster this way." You reassured. Hiccup sighed and replied with a worn out 'fine' before shifting forwards.

"Hey, do you by any chance know someone called Viggo Grimborn?" You asked and watched as Hiccup shook his head.

"Oh well, Indrix mentioned that person. She said they were trading pals and that she would, get this, give my dragon to him as a gift." Agitation slowly found its way back into your tone and you didn't realize how hard you were pressing on Hiccup's bruises until he hissed in pain and pushed away.

"Sorry!" You squeaked, widening your eyes upon realization. Your whole face twisted into an expression of guilt as you retracted your hand away from Hiccup's face. "I'm so sorry."

"Its okay." Hiccup only smiled while you gave him an contrite look. You apologized one last time before resuming back where you left off.

You gently dabbed the cloth on Hiccup's face, careful not to hurt him like before and all the while, Hiccup didn't tear his eyes away from your face. Occasionally the two of you would exchange content smiles before you go back to cleaning his bruises.

"You're so beautiful."

When Hiccup said that you stopped everything you were doingand glanced at him with parted lips, you quickly shifted your gaze away and chuckled sheepishly. The compliment was so out of the blue and you couldn't stop the blush that slowly crept to your cheeks.

"Thank you." You replied awkwardly and looked back at Hiccup who had a goofy grin. His whole face lit up for some reason and Hiccup laughed suddenly.

"Oh my gods, are you blushing?" He asked incredulously, barely holding in the laughter. You instantaneously covered your cheeks and sure enough they were burning and there was no doubt your face looked like a tomato.

"Pfft, no." You mumbled and looked away. Your hands were moved away from your face and you turned back around to face Hiccup who took your hand and kissed the back of it.

"Don't hide it. Its cute." Hiccup chuckled and took your hands into his. You rolled your eyes but still kept a faint smile. You were lost in each other's eyes until Toothless decided to peek his head between you two and stare with a goofy smile.

Both Hiccup and you burst into laughter at that and then played with silly dragon that wagged his tail excitedly. Though you stopped slowly when your stomach rumbled and thankfully nobody else heard it.

"We should probably go to the clubhouse." You said. Partly because you were famished and partly because you wanted to see the others. Hiccup managed to reply with a 'sure' before Toothless licked his face, but that only made him recoil in disgust and sputter.

Hiccup chuckled and you joined. But now Hiccup's face was wiped clean and he had to put the medicine again, you mentioned that to him but Hiccup replied he would do it later and with that the two of you walked down the stairs and then outside.

You glanced down at your arm and inspected Indrix's claw marks. Hiccup must've seen this because he gazed at you with a frown.

"What happened while you were there? Did they hurt you?" He asked worriedly and I shook my head.

"Nobody hurt me, don't worry. They just...put me in a dark cell until you came and rescued me." You said softly, but then the events that happened after that resurfaced in your mind and you bit your lip. "And then there's the whole Erland situation..."

You trailed off with a quiet tone and Hiccup's face changed in a flash, his sad expression was long gone and replaced by a bitter one.

"I'm sorry that he attacked you. I honestly didn't expect him to do that..." You said as you took Hiccup's hand and intertwined your fingers.

"Don't apologize for his actions. None of this was your fault." Hiccup responded and you heaved a sigh.

-----

The moment you two stepped in the clubhouse, the room burst with thousands of questions coming from everyone while Hiccup and you walked towards the table. Tuffnut suddenly gasped when his eyes landed on Hiccup.

"Hiccup! What happened to your face?" He asked and everyone else got surprised reactions as well. They didn't wait of you to sit down because they still kept pestering you two with the same questions.

Hiccup and you glanced at each other and you then looked back at the gang who had expectant looks as they waited for any reply. You exhaled silently, they obviously wouldn't stop asking until you told them.

"Well, uh, I sort of, somewhat, got, um kidnapped." You spoke hurriedly and tried to muffle the words as much as possible, but in the end everyone heard and their eyebrows shot up in the sky, shocked expressions crossing their faces.

"Wait, what?!" Ruff was the first one to exclaim. "How did that happen?"

I explained everything from start to finish, how everything started on Richmond island to the introduction with Indrix, what she said about trading dragons, about Viggo and the fight whole between Erland and Hiccup.

They were all stunned to hear what was happening while they were pleasantly relaxing back on the Edge without any worries. Though it seemed they were most interested in the fight because it had the most reactions from them all.

"So you and Erland fought, huh?" Astrid joked, looking completely amused at Hiccup. While everyone had a slightly shocked look Astrid had a wide grin.

"Can't you tell?" Hiccup replied sarcastically, pointing at his bruises.

Astrid laughed and shrugged her shoulders before speaking. "I don't know, you didn't really strike me as that person that would fight someone."

"Well, what did you expect? Just let him hit me?" Hiccup rose a brow at Astrid who shook her head.

"No, but I think you would've tried to solve things rationally first." Astrid replied and took a bite of her food.

"I did, but Erland didn't want to cooperate so..." Hiccup replied calmly.

"So, who won?" Tuffnut asked, surprisingly there was a hint of excitement in his tone and he glanced at you as if your judgement was the final. You rolled your eyes at his question.

"Nobody won, it wasn't a competition." You were quick to shoot down the question before this theme expands. "Anyway! Did something happen while we were gone?"

"Nope, same old." Ruff replied with a tinge of boredom in her voice, she kept rambling to Tuff how nothing exciting happens in the island and they both kept asking to go to on an adventure. They talked about how exciting it would be but at the moment you had enough adventure.

Snotlout joined in their conversation and while they were too busy talking about that, the rest of you talked about Indrix and Viggo who might be a big threat to the dragons. But things were alright as long as they didn't knew anything besides Toothless and Crystal.

Though even if you were not supposed to care, you still wondered what might happen to Erland now that Indrix knows about his whereabouts, but you shrugged off that thought, he was not worthy of your concerns.

The dinner passed with catching up with the gang, a casual conversation about dragons, which island you were planning to go, future plans and everything else. You grew tired with each passing hour and decided it was finally time to go rest, so you bid your goodbyes with everyone and left the clubhouse.

-----

The next couple of weeks passed fairly quickly and before you know it, winter has arrived.

Temperatures were dropping rapidly fast, sometimes reaching below zero and leaving you shiver most of the times. Exploring with the gang decreased because of the cold weather and all of you rarely left the island if it wasn't something important.

Days slowly passed with boredom, that is, until Snoggletog arrived. Everyone was hyped for the holiday and they all went their random ways to buy new clothes and gifts as it was the tradition.

It was noon when all of you were in the clubroom and while they were all fancied up with pretty attire, Hiccup and you were in your casual winter outfits.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Astrid asked, her face slightly scrunched in guilt. She usually never wore anything girly, but when she walked in the room wearing a lovely blue dress and hair perfectly tucked into a bun, needless to say jaws were dropping.

"Risk getting personally thrown outside by Stoick and getting embarrassed for life? No thanks." You replied and crossed your arms across your chest. Even though that scenario was least likely, it was still possible.

"You're overreacting (Y/N). Stoick probably forgot about all that Outcast heritage thing." Snotlout commented with an eye roll and then went back to fixing his gelled hair in the small hand mirror. A broad smile crossed his face after proudly examining his own reflection. 

"Yeah, you two are gonna miss out. Its Snoggletog!" Tuffnut added enthusiastically.

"I know, now you guys go otherwise you'll be late." You said waving your hands towards the door. They all slowly started walking there but not before attempting to try and change your mind once more. Even so, you still politely declined.

The moment the door opened, a swirl of cold air filled the room. The gang  hurriedly started to walk to the stables where their dragons were. 

Fishlegs was the last one to leave but he turned to Hiccup before joining the others. "Your parents are going to be so mad about this Hiccup." 

Hiccup gave him a tight smile and patted Fishlegs' shoulder. "Don't worry about that, go and have fun." He reassured, but Fishlegs still kept his uncertain look.

"You too guys." Fishlegs replied, glancing back and forth between Hiccup and you before joining the rest of the gang. You watched them saddle up and wave goodbye as they flew towards Berk. Even though it was just noon, the trip to there would take hours and they would arrive just in time the celebration would start.

After that, Hiccup and you went back inside the clubhouse and you idly walked around the room, dragging your feet on the ground as you looked around with a bored expression. You glanced back at Hiccup to see what he was doing and found him standing in front of the map placed on the board, his eyes traveling left and right as he scanned the islands.

You stopped next to the window and looked outside, expecting to see the same old scenery. But then a wide grin slowly formed on your lips once you noticed the tiny white specs vigorously falling down from the sky.

"Its snowing again!" You gasped and excitedly and ran back to Hiccup who was taken aback when you grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door. "Lets have a snowball fight!"

"(Y/N), aren't we too old for this..." Hiccup sighed as the two of you stepped outside and you rolled your eyes at his comment.

"We literally had a snowball fight last year, stop your whining." You retorted with a laugh. "Now lets go to the dome."

Beside the sound of your voice, everything else was eerily quiet. The bird chirping has gotten lesser as the days passed and now the island echoed nothing but silence. As you strolled, you watched the scenery in front with a soft smile.

Everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, looking like a soft white blanket had covered the whole landscape. Even more snow was rapidly falling down as you walked on the docks, leaving footsteps with each step you took. The show crunched beneath your feet giving out a pleasant sound. 

You scanned the floor, noticing small footprints of little dragons that had walked around recently. And while you were too busy doing that, you were unaware of Hiccup who was a few steps behind you and already shaping snow in his hands.

"Hey (Y/N)?" Hiccup said and you hummed in response. "Duck."

You were confused for a moment wondering why he would say that, but when you turned around and saw the flying snowball coming in your way, you knew exactly why. You quickly ducked down to the ground and felt the snowball whiz past your head, Hiccup's face instantly shifted in a surprised one when he saw the outcome.

"Wow, I didn't think you would dodge that." He said with an incredulous tone and his words made you smirk triumphantly. You straightened up and held your hands behind your back as you walked to Hiccup with a smug face. 

You pretended like something was happening behind him and furrowed your eyebrows at nothing. "Hey what's that?" You asked, pointing at the trees and that made Hiccup spun around and scan the surroundings. While he was busy doing that, you rose your arm and threw a snowball you had been secretly holding behind you back.

"What's what?" Hiccup asked as he turned around and the snowball collided directly with his face. You let out a gasp and then laughed in disbelief while Hiccup just stood there with an annoyed look and let the snow fall from his face.

"Oh my gods! I'm sorry, I didn't expect-" You spoke but then broke into a fit of laughter. "I didn't expect you to turn around." The words barely managed to get out of your mouth as you were laughing too much.

"You fell for this trick for the second time!" You snickered after remembering that you did the exact same thing last year.

"I'm gonna get you for that." Hiccup warned as he stooped down and took a handful of snow.

"No please." You giggled and dashed to a random direction while Hiccup was sculpting the snow in a ball. You often sneaked glances behind to see him slowly walking towards you with a mischievous smile and that made you run faster.

But the sound of wings flapping caused you to look up and look for the source of it. A Terrible Terror flew past you and you noticed the small piece of paper attached to it's leg.

The dragon stopped on Hiccup's shoulder and he let go of the snowball in order to take the message. He took the paper and patted the dragon that took off right away and flew back in the direction it came from. While Hiccup was unfolding and reading the paper, you walked back to him and examined his face for any change of emotion, but it remained calm.

"Its from dad. He wants us to come to the celebration so we can talk." Hiccup said and rolled his eyes before crumbling the paper in his hands. 

"That's new...What are gonna do?" You asked with an uncertain tone and earned a shrug in a response.

"Maybe we should go?" You suggested and watched how Hiccup's eyebrow arched up. His whole face was red due the snow that you hit him with and the cold weather, but then a smile of disbelief crossed his features.

"Are you serious? You were the one that said you don't want to go just a few minutes ago." Hiccup laughed and you shrugged your shoulders.

"Yeah but, that was different. I mean now your dad personally sent a letter to us which means he might want to apologize, so I think we should go." You explained briefly and Hiccup huffed.

"And if he doesn't apologize?" He asked and crossed his arms.

"We'll just enjoy the celebration." You grinned and walked past Hiccup. "Now go get ready." 

-----

You walked in your hut and glanced down at the table where different kinds of gifts were set, the gang and you had exchanged presents earlier and all of them were nice and considerate. Hiccup though, insisted he would give you the gift later and that left you wondering what it is all day.

You didn't dwell on that for a lot and went to the closet to pick a suitable outfit for the celebration. You didn't have many fancy clothing so there wasn't really much of a choice and you picked the first dress that caught your eye.

It was an exquisite wine red dress that draped down to your knees. The silky fabric wasn't too tight-fitting nor was it too loose, it clung to your body just perfectly. It was adorned with white lace at the collar and at the end of the sleeves and it made the simple dress look more elegant.   

The moment you took off the clothes, a shiver ran down your spine and you hurriedly slipped on the dress. After that you finished the look with a touch of make up. You were never the type of person to spend hours upon hours getting ready, so now that you were all set, you walked over to the mirror and examined your reflection.

Since it was a special occasion, you made at least a little bit of effort to look good and you were content with the way everything turned out.

With that, you were out of the door. The freezing air sliced through your skin in an instant and chilled you to the bone. You clutched your coat closer, feeling your teeth starting to chatter from the cold as you walked to the stables where Hiccup and you agreed to meet.

Crystal and Toothless were already there, chasing each other in the small space while you observed them with a smile. This carried on for a few minutes until the door opened and they stopped running, you turned around to find Hiccup walking in and looking around.

He wore a more ravishing outfit suitable for the celebration, but to you all of the boy's attire looked the same.  His hair was left untouched and still appeared fluffy as ever. When you locked eyes, a wide smile spread on his face and he looked at you top to bottom while you walked over to him.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Hiccup complimented and the blush slowly found its way to your cheeks. You thanked him and Hiccup leaned down, pecking your lips.

It left you smiling profusely and you watched as his eyes shone with happiness. The dragons both ran outside and Hiccup and you shared a look before joining them as well.

While Hiccup saddled up without any effort, you had trouble getting on Crystal due to the dress. It wasn't stretchable at all and it kept sliding up a bit no matter how much you kept pulling it down. So you decided to just sit sideways and hope that you weren't going to fall.

When the Crystal lift off and you felt yourself leaning forward and because of that you couldn't help but yelp and spring backwards. There was a snort from the side and you shot your head back to find Hiccup stifling a laugh, he looked away and tried to hide it with his hand but it was too late because you already saw him. "Stop laughing." You hissed.

-----

After countless times of you losing your balance and flailing around and Hiccup laughing each time, you finally arrived in Berk. It was night and the sun was long gone so the trip was long and excruciating. You scanned the empty village down below and it didn't took a genius to know that the celebration has started and the people were all in the Great Hall.

That's were the dragons landed and you dismounted, rubbing your hands against your arms in order to keep warm. You were shivering the whole time coming to Berk and the cold wind didn't help at all.

Hiccup was walking in front of you and he stopped next to the door.

"After you." He opened it with a bow, a bubbly chuckle spilled past your lips at the sigh. That made Hiccup look up with a broad smile and watch you as neared him.

"Why thank you." You said, feigning an enthusiastic tone and after that you entered the Great Hall. The sudden change from the cold and empty village outside to the hectic interior was drastic to say the least. But you still enjoyed the pleasant temperature that was provided from the big fire.

All the people near the door simultaneously turned their heads to see who has walked in which wasn't anything out of the usual. The large amount of penetrating gazes on you immediately made you uncomfortable in your skin. You glanced left and right and saw most of the people staring in your direction, seemingly not having any intentions of looking away. You pushed a strand of hair behind your ear and awkwardly stood there waiting for Hiccup who was closing the doors behind him.

By the time you two started walking forward, the majority of people went back to what they were previously doing while other people's gazes still followed. You were light on your step as you walked to the centre of the Great Hall where people danced to their traditional songs. The atmosphere was lively and spirited and everybody around was beaming with happiness. People were chattering, some were shouting, others were cheering but everyone was simply celebrating the holiday.

You were mainly searching for the gang, but couldn't catch a glimpse of them anywhere. While you were too busy looking for them, you heard Hiccup huff at something and you turned to follow his gaze.

He was staring at someone specific and when you looked at the person, you weren't surprised to find the chief. The two of you passed the crowd and now stood in the clearing. Stoick was standing in the far end and he was talking with men you didn't recognize. Next to him was Valka who smiled warmly at the people and laughed when everyone else did, she started looking around, perhaps out of boredom, and then her eyes landed in your direction.

Her whole face lit up when she saw the two of you approaching and she tugged Stoick's arm before pointed at you both. You looked away, not wanting to catch their gaze. But after glancing back, you saw the men leave one by one and left Stoick and Valka alone.

Even walking normally seemed to be a challenge and you found yourself moving ungainly as you approached them. You watched Hiccup who hadn't shifted his cold stare since he noticed the chief and with a nudge, you ushered him to smile, but he just rolled his eyes. 

After arriving in front of Stoick and Valka, your eyes remained at the floor since you didn't have enough courage to look at them.

"This better be worth the travel." Hiccup cut straight to the point with his monotone comment before his parents could even say anything. That made Valka rose a brow but Stoick sighed softly.

"A simple hello would've been nice Hiccup." Stoick said and Hiccup crossed his arms, he looked like he wanted to say another snappy comment, but probably decided against it at the last moment.

"You wanted to talk to us?" Hiccup said completely ignoring what his father said. 

"Yes, come, have a drink! Rest from the trip." Stoick boomed energetically and took a cup from a random servant walking past with a tray of beverages. Stoick held out the cup but Hiccup just watched it for a solid second with a bored look before looking up.

"Why weren't you this friendly the last time we were here?" Hiccup responded with a quick remark and you let out a soundless sigh at his immense stubbornness.

"I told you this wouldn't work." Stoick murmured to Valka with gritted teeth, he tried to mute it as much as possible but you still heard it and found it quite funny. "Right. Now since you want to cut straight to the chase..." Stoick added, now turning his attention back to you two.

"I called you two here to apologize." He said and the corner of your lips rose up in a small smile which you tried to conceal. You glanced at Hiccup, expecting a similar look, but his expression hasn't changed at all.

"I realized what I said and did was very disrespectful. I should've kept a more open mind about the situation and it was wrong of me to judge you like that (Y/N)." You forced yourself to look at Stoick as he spoke, from the way he was talking, it seemed like he was actually sincere about what he was saying and it wasn't forced in any way. You nodded, not knowing if this was the end.

"And it shouldn't have taken me this long to apologize. But better late then never, yes?" The chief tried to put in a joke and you laughed sheepishly.

"But as I was saying," Stoick clapped his hands together. "It was very brash from me to assume that you were a bad influence just because you were from a different place. And I should've looked more on how nice of a person you are rather than where you come from. So once more, I am truly sorry."

This apology speech would've taken days to practice to make it this good, but it sounded genuine so you took at that Stoick was speaking from the heart.

You gave him a content nod and smiled. "I accept your apology."

"See? Was it that hard." Valka joked, looking at Stoick and the two of you laughed. But Stoick was silent, his gaze remained on his son as he eyed him with a doubtful look.

"How about you Hiccup?" Stoick asked, hoping that his apology has reached Hiccup's heart as well. The auburn haired boy just stared at his dad skeptically.

You took Hiccup's hand and that caused him to glance at you from the corner of his eyes, you tilted your head in Stoick's direction and smiled reassuringly, hoping that he would get the gist and reply nicely.

"I hope you actually mean what you said dad." Hiccup responded with a serious expression. But before Stoick could reply, all of your heads turned to face two men who had arrived and greeted the chief. After seeing them Stoick laughed and patted Hiccup's back.

"Of course I do son." Stoick's pat turned more into a push after that and he looked back at the men while continuing speaking. "Now run along and enjoy the celebration you two. The grown ups have to talk."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at this and left without uttering a word, you watched him for a second before letting out a sigh and slowly going after him. You followed him to the corner of the Great Hall where a table was set and there were different kinds of food and drinks placed on it. There was hardly anyone there because most of the people were around the centre so it was the perfect spot.

"See? I told you he wanted to apologize." You smiled brightly at Hiccup who only pursed his lips. But then let out a sigh.

"Okay, you were right." He said and you chuckled. You went over to the table and took two glasses of beverage before going back to Hiccup and handing him one.

"To us." You rose your glass in a toast and Hiccup did the same.

"To us." Hiccup said and the two of you clinked glasses together before drinking. The cold liquid was refreshing enough to soothe your thirst, though you couldn't help but giggle at the small toast that just happened and you tried to conceal your smile behind the lid.

Occasionally, people passing by would turn around and watch Hiccup and you weirdly, probably wondering why the two of you were in the corner instead of in the mass, but even so, you still enjoyed Hiccup's presence rather than anyone else's.

"So then I said-" You were telling a story about a random thing that has happened but got distracted by the music that was suddenly starting to get quieter and you could speak normally instead of having to rise your voice so that Hiccup could understand what you were saying. 

The music got slower and instead of the upbeat rhythm, it had a soft tune which meant that it was a perfect song for a slow dance. Pairs of people got together and started dancing to the melody while others went back to the crowd for a drink. 

"Care for a dance?" Hiccup asked and you turned to find him holding out one hand in front of him and one behind his back. You giggled at the sight, but accepted his offer nonetheless and gladly took his hand.

Hiccup didn't let go of your hand as he guided you to the dance floor, though as it got nearer and the more people started staring, your stomach started churning and all you wanted was to crawl back in the corner. But it was too late to back away now and you forced yourself to get this over with.

Hiccup and you started swaying to the soft music and not even a minute passed until you began stumbling on your feet and accidentally stepping on Hiccup's shoes. Even though you both laughed at that, it still made you constantly stare down and watch your step.

For a moment you decided to look up and when you did, your eyes were immediately locked with Hiccup's green ones. They bore into you so lovingly, captivating your whole attention so much so that the surroundings started to blur out and it felt like the only people that were in the room were you and him. 

The softness in his smile made all the worry fade away in an instant, so now instead of pressuring yourself to see where to step, you let your movements free and followed the rhythm of the music. After a moment, Hiccup and you started swaying across the floor so perfectly synchronised it was almost as if you were one.

But then when you looked around, you were stunned to see that the two of you had somehow ended up in the middle of the Great Hall in the midst with other people. All the euphoric bliss vanished in a second when you realized just how many people were watching and your dancing got wonkier right away.  Your whole face scrunched up in embarrassment and you glanced at Hiccup with pursed lips.

You continued looking left and right at the people. But then thankfully, the ending tunes of the music were played and it stopped at last. The room instantaneously burst with clapping and although their applause wasn't centered only at you, it definitely felt like it was.

"Lets, uh, lets go in the corner." You murmured, awkwardly rubbing the back of your neck as you felt everyone's eyes on you. Hiccup agreed with a nod and the two of you started walking towards the crowd of people that were blocking the way.

You pushed past the people without any effort and arrived back at the food stand that was still empty.

"That was fun." Hiccup commented you let out a breath of disbelief.

"Fun? Did you see all those people watching?" You said exasperatedly and Hiccup rolled his eyes at that.

"You worry too much about that, (Y/N)." He chuckled and you stuck out your tongue at him. You crossed your arms and looked back at the people with an annoyed look.

-----

The night passed fairly slowly and soon it became too boring to just sit and watch other people dance. The gang was still nowhere to be found and you sighed before turning to Hiccup who looked like he wasn't having a good time here as well. But then you remembered something and nudged him to get his attention.

"Hey Hiccup, where's my present?" You questioned with a happy hum and watched as realization washed over Hiccup's face before a knowing expression replaced it.

"Back at the Edge." He replied with sly grin and his reply was enough to make excitement rush throughout your body.

"Let's go get it!" You said excitedly. Hiccup only managed say 'sure' and it was enough for you to take his hand and start tugging him towards the exit, the sudden movement made him stagger a bit but both of you laughed as you pushed past the crowd and went straight to the exit.

The dragons were waiting by the entrance along with the rest of the gang's, but they came running towards you and startling the many people they passed. But they just went back to enjoying the party like nothing happened.

Without wasting a single minute, all of you exited the Great Hall and then the dragons started the flight back to the Edge. On the way to there you kept asking what the present was, but when Hiccup wasn't providing any answers you started guessing what it was until you were out of ideas.

-----

Upon finally arriving, the sun was just beginning to rise and the excitement from earlier was long gone and replaced with the longing for sleep. You wanted nothing more than to give Hiccup his gift and hit the bed.

Toothless and Crystal parted when you reached the huts and you entered your own while Hiccup went to his to get the gift. You were about to go up to the second floor, but then took a glance at the mirror and stopped walking.

After taking a step closer to the mirror, it felt like you were staring at a completely different person because you looked so much worse than yesterday. You were a mess, your hair that was perfectly combed just a few hours ago was now all tangled up and sticking in every direction, there were dark circles forming under your eyes and not even the make up could conceal them. There were a few stains on your dress from a drink spill that happened in the party and you were fortunate enough to dodge most of the liquid before it hit your whole dress.

You touched up a bit, smoothing out your hair and and flattening the hem of the dress. And after that you trudged up the stairs, barely having any energy to lift your feet, but in the end you still managed to get to the desk and pick up a small wooden box with a red ribbon around it. The corners of your lips curved up at the thought of how excited Hiccup would be when he receives it.

A loud knock on the door echoed in the room and you instantly beamed with delight, you pushed the tiredness away as you went down the stairs with the gift in hand. You didn't knew why Hiccup was knocking in the first place when he could've just simply entered, but you took it that he was only being polite.

When you reached the main floor, you straightened your hair for the last time and sprung open the door enthusiastically, but your wide grin fell flat the second when you realized that the person in front of you wasn't your boyfriend. Instead it was someone who you didn't expected to see any time soon.

"Erland?"

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❌❌IMPORTANT❌❌

Question: Should this book have a happy or a sad ending?

Pls help me out because I have no idea which one to do 😂

Also I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Vote and comment if you did! ❤