I will save you

Chapter 22: Unprepared

Hiccup's POV

Two months. Two months had passed since I had stumbled upon my long-lost wife in the middle of the skies and convinced her to come back home with me. Though many things had changed about her, the longer she spent back home she slowly but surely began to become better.

In the beginning, she had refused to leave the house for other things than taking Stormfly out for a flight around Berk. About two weeks later, she slowly began eating dinner with the rest of us at the Meade Hall and eventually she began staying for longer than just dinner. It took her about a month to start talking again and the first time I heard her laugh, my heart soared.

It was a long process, but she was pulling through it like the strong Viking she was. I, on the other hand, had been sleeping on the couch for two months. Or rather, in the guest bedroom (also know as my parents' old bedroom). I only went upstairs whenever I needed clothes from the dresser or some parchment from my desk. Let's just say that mine and Astrid's love life ... well, it hadn't been eventful. At all. But I was willing to wait, no matter how long it took. Even if she could never stand to share a bed with me ever again, I would still love her with all of my heart.

I was flipping through some mail at the dining table, Toothless sleeping soundly by the hearth, when the door suddenly swung open. I glanced up from my papers and found none other than my wife herself standing in the doorway, hands behind her back as she avoided eye contact with me. "How was it at my mom's?"

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. Astrid and my mother have always had a close relationship, but after Astrid came back, it's only improved. She spent many evenings over at my mother's, doing whatever it is women do when they're alone. She only came home to sleep before she went out again the next day, following her new routine of flying with Stormfly, hanging with Ruffnut, eating at the Meade Hall and spending time with my mother.

Was I jealous that she spent more time with my mother than with me? Yes, but I always reminded myself that this was what she had to do to get better and perhaps one day she would become well enough to share with me what had happened and spend some time with me as well.

"It was fine. Valka was lovely, as usual." Astrid tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she began eyeing the stairs.

"Good to hear. I suppose this is goodnight then?" I asked, not bothering to take my eyes of the scroll I was reading through as I already knew the answer to my own question.

"Actually," Astrid took a step closer to me. "I was wondering if maybe ... you wanted to, Uh, come back upstairs?"

I put down the scroll I held in my hands and raised a brow. "You want me to sleep with you? In the bed?"

Astrid cleared her throat as she scratched the back of her head. "I mean ... you don't have to if you don't want to, it was just a suggestion."

"No, no! Believe me, I want to, but are you sure you want me there, with you?" I stood from my chair and took a step closer to her. Finally her eyes met mine and I could see the way she was shaking as her eyes darted from one point of the room to another before meeting mine again for a split-second, as if she couldn't stand to keep eye contact with me for a long amount of time.

But then, she shut her eyes and shook her head, stopping the slight shaking. "Yes, I am. I ... I miss you, Hiccup."

Then she did something that really surprised me; she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. For a moment, all I could do was just to stand there dumbfounded, not really knowing what was going on, but eventually I relaxed and eased into the embrace. "Are you sure you're alright?"