"It'll be okay..."

Part 60

Hiccup woke up to an empty space beside him, his chest feeling heavy. He looked up to see a Terror sat on top of him, it's head cocked to the side. Astrid was sat on the edge of his bed, already ready for the day ahead.

Hiccup slid into an upright position, grabbing the note from the Terror's leg, glancing at his girlfriend astonishingly. He shook his head as he opened and read the note.

Astrid didn't even say good morning. "What does it say?" She questioned with a curious raised eyebrow.

A smile broke out onto Hiccup's face. He looked up, throwing the letter to the side. "The ball. It's today."

"What?!" Astrid exclaimed, jumping to her feet, scaring off the Terror and startling Toothless who was sleeping nearby. Astrid started to pace furiously. "There's too much to do." Astrid stopped, groaning.

Hiccup quickly swung his legs to the floor, attaching his prosthetic and standing up, hurrying over to Astrid. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay. What are you worrying about?"

Astrid's head snapped up, her face blank. "Nothing, I'm fine." She turned to leave.

Hiccup grabbed her arms, spinning her around. "Don't lie to me milady."

Astrid sighed. "It's just ... I can't wear this!" Astrid gestured frantically at the clothes she always wore. Hiccup looked her up and down.

"Why not?"

"I ... I don't know!" Astrid shouted, throwing her arms up.

"I don't care what you wear because you'll always be beautiful to me." Astrid blushed slightly. Hiccup smiled. "I'm wearing what I normally wear so you can too. But if anyone asks, we were running a bit late."

Hiccup turned to grab his tunic while Astrid picked up the note. "Hey," Astrid said, making Hiccup pause with his tunic half off of him. "It's starts at midday ... that's in a few hours."

Hiccup pulled on his tunic the rest of the way. He grabbed his armour, walked past Astrid, nudging her gently as he passed. "We should get going then," he said with a grin.

Astrid followed him to the bottom floor. He was smirking and she didn't know why. After everything they had been through, the annual ball was going to give them a nice break.

"Shall we?" Hiccup's voice broke Astrid out of her thoughts. She nodded, jumping onto Toothless' back. Both the dragon and moronic boyfriend stared at her.

"What?" Astrid asked innocently.

"You not riding Stormfly?"

"I don't want to wake her."

Hiccup shrugged. "Fair enough." Before he mounted up, he fiddled around in the pouch bag continued to the saddle. He dug something out and changed the stirrups. Astrid didn't notice. Hiccup patted Toothless' head, getting up and behind Astrid, pushing her forward gently so he could have more room.

It was Astrid's turn to stare at Hiccup. "What are you doing?" Hiccup said nothing, nudging Astrid's foot into the stirrup. Understanding, she angled her foot, making the tail plop into place and allowing Toothless to take off.

Astrid changed the tail position again. "Steady, Toothless, steady. Head straight to Berk."

Hiccup nuzzled his face into Astrid's cheek. "You're becoming a natural," he mumbled, wrapping her waist in his arms.

Astrid grinned softly. "I have a good teacher."

Hiccup moved Astrid's head to the side so that he could kiss her. It was deep and lasted a few minutes. When Hiccup pulled away, he smiled, burying his face into Astrid's back. He fell asleep without another word.