Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A tall slender man, wearing a navy blue suit, rolled his carryon bag through the Montreal airport. He spotted his favorite coffee fix, Tim Hortons, and stood in the queue with other zombie-looking passengers.

He overheard a blonde dreadlocked man yell, “Oh man, sorry it’s my first day I didn’t realize decaf was an actually recognized form of coffee and just thought it was a joke people had been playing on me all these years...”

Great now I will have to wait even longer to get my coffee because we have someone who doesn’t know Decaf was a thing behind the counter! the man thought.

The handsome red headed man with a slightly too large nose checked his watch and saw he still had 40 minutes before he had to board his flight to London. He was on his way to England for a business meeting that had foolishly been called by his cousin, Simon Jorgensen, the other half of the family owned Haddock & Jorgensen Inc.

He supposed he had plenty of time to show a little patience to the new employee behind the counter when he spotted a sporty blonde joining the queue beside him.

This is rather more interesting, he thought as he peeked another quick glance at her. Yep! just as he thought she is gorgeous. She was wearing a long-sleeved running top the kind with holes in the thumb for maximum aerodynamics and tight black leggings with sheer material emphasizing her strong calf muscles.

The man finally got his chance to order a large soy milk latte with a box of 10 timbits. He could vaguely hear the blonde order a latte as well as he gets his timbits and realized he was given more than the allotted 10.

Hiccup straightened his suit and returned to the busy counter, Canadianism at its peak, trying to get the barista’s attention. “Hey, I am so incredibly sorry, but you gave me 11 instead of 10.”

“My dude,” replied the blonde man. “It’s totally cool. You know what? Just because of this inconvenience, I’ll let you have the extra on the house.”

Hiccup did his best to insist on rightfully paying, but was imminently turned down. Eventually he squeezed into the waiting area until his drink was called up, his eyes roaming through the crowd.

The wait for drinks allowed him to continue to glance furtively at the woman in black just for the sheer pleasure of looking.

Gosh she really is pretty. Her eyes are like the color of clear water on a perfect summer day at the lake.

He continued to dwell on her beauty and noticed occasionally, they’d make eye contact. That brought a slight flush to his cheeks.

Drinks were finally getting around to be called out and the ring of “Large Latte” was called. At that moment, he saw the lady step up to grab her coffee and lamented that the time spent admiring her was up.

Another drink was announced and Hiccup went to take it. He double-checked the order to make sure it was what he’d ordered. To his misfortune, the barista had messed it up. Of course. He called for the man behind the counter.

“This wasn’t my order,” Hiccup complained.

Ever calm amidst the chaos, the man stated to Hiccup, with a knowing glance, “That lady you were drooling at must’ve mistaken it for hers.”

Doing his best to conceal his inner cringe, he asked, “Okay, then, may I have another one.”

The barista didn’t even look up as he replied, “Sorry, my dude. That was the last of the soy milk.”

Crap.

He needed that coffee. In an act of desperation, Hiccup screwed all he consequences and began chasing after that lady.

-------------------

 “Hey Mademoiselle?” Hiccup was completely out of breath when the lady finally stopped in place after the wild chase throughout the rest of the airport. “Miss? Excuse me.”    

“Can I help you?”

He’d at last gotten her attention, but now he was speechless because she was ten times prettier up close. “I-I think our orders got mixed up.

A look of understanding dawned on her expression, simultaneously making his heart stutter. “So that’s why it tasted so weird”

He offered her the cup he had in hand awkwardly. Only now, did he feel silly for the whole scene he had caused by trying to catch up to her.

“Here’s your coffee.”

She glanced at her rightful cup in his hands and back up to his face, unsurely. Lifting the cup she had, she shrugged and took the cup from him handing back his own. She responded sheepishly, “I’m sorry, I already took a sip of this.” 

“It’s okay, I’ll take it anyway.”

He had said that way too quickly to sound sane. He mentally slapped himself. Now this woman probably believed he was some creep who spent his free time stealing peoples’ coffees and running after them. 

Fortunately, she showed no signs of offense. “You must be quite determined for coffee if you chased me halfway through the airport.” The teasing smile she gave evaporated all his worries. “What’s in it anyway?”

“Uhh… Soy milk.” It took an embarrassingly long time to conjure up an answer. “And that was the last they had, so yeah...” 

He shifted his weight from one foot to another, grinning shyly. How could everyone around them be oblivious to those bright eyes the lady he faced had and her shiny hair. Of course, everyone else was busy getting to their gates to prepare for their flights. Yes, flights…

Hiccup’s train of thought was interrupted, however, when the woman pointed to his box of tiny donut balls. 

“What are those?” she asked. “I see them around all the time.”

“Timbits?” said Hiccup, lifting the box. He saw her expression and was appalled when her face showed no signs of recognition of the national Canadian delicacy. “Wait, you’ve never tried Timbits before?”

He was answered with a confused shake of her head. An old woman sitting near them looked up in annoyance when he mock-gasped too loudly.

Motioning for the lady he had just met to come closer, he apologetically winced at the elder and whispered in a conspiring tone. “I will be dishonouring my country if I let you leave here without having tried a Timbit.”

“No, they’re yours,” she declines. “I couldn’t take one.”

Hiccup could see the curiosity shining through her eyes, though. “I insist.”

Reluctantly, she reached into the box of Timbits and picked a cinnamon one. He searched her eyes for any reaction as she took a bite. He wasn’t disappointed when she raised her eyebrows in an impressed manner and became enamoured with the little donut.

“I need to get some for myself.” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “I still have time. I’m Astrid, by the way.” She extended her hand to shake and he took it gladly. Her hand was smaller than his but she still had a firm grip.

The PA system said something irrelevant at that moment about a flight to London. Something told Hiccup that he was supposed to be paying attention but all he could think about was the beautiful Astrid’s hand in his and the temporary falter of his heartbeat.

“Hiccup Haddock.” When Astrid– her name was Astrid– released his hand, he fell back down to the earth and cleared his throat. “C-Can I take you there?”

A flash of uncertainty was there and gone before Hiccup felt her arm wrap around his and she motioned for him to escort her. He blushed again. They made easy conversation as they walked back to the Tim Hortons. Hiccup never once forgot the presence of her arm in his. 

“You want the cinnamon ones and the chocolate glazed.” He suggested as the approached the café. “Those are the best.” 

She took a glance at the menu and he smiled to himself when he realized she had to rise slightly on her tiptoes to see the options. “What about the jelly filling ones?”

“No comment on that.”

“How can you not like jelly filling?” Even being shorter, Astrid managed to stare him down. “Have you ever tried it before or is it just a picky thing?”

“Hey, I’m not going to judge your horrible taste in Timbits if you don’t go exposing me and my food habits,” he stated defensively.

She huffed dramatically, but dropped the subject.

The truth was, she was completely right. Hiccup had never tried the jelly filled Timbits. He would always offer them to his mother while he was growing up. Astrid had gone past his defences and unlocked hidden secrets and he’d only known her for five minutes. 

The blond barista with the dreadlocks called, “Next!” When he saw Hiccup and Astrid again, together this time, his smile grew largely. “Heeeeey you’re back!”

Hiccup felt uncomfortable when the barista looked between them knowingly and winked at him. 

Astrid glanced at the exchange and intervening in on the uncomfortable moment, then said, “Yeah... I’m just here for the Timbits.”

-------------

By the time they’d left Tim Hortons, Hiccup had had it with the barista’s continuous hints at the two of them. He had only just met Astrid. There was no way they could be together. He was only a friendly person interacting with another person. No feelings attached. Even if hanging out with her for the past few minutes was the most fun he’d had in a while, with their incessant banter and light nudging at each other, they were nothing more than friends.

Just friends. Life wasn’t a fanfiction.

He had followed her over to her gate where people, including them, were currently lined up to board. 

“Hiccup, you’ve got to try one of these!” Astrid was waving around one of the horrible jelly-filled Timbits she had bought specifically to shove in his face like she was doing now.

“I’ve already said, that I’m not going to like it anyway, so why waste your time,” he countered, but couldn’t help the grin that betrayed his tone spreading across his face. 

“You haven’t even tried it. How can you know?”

She was persistent, he’d give her that.

A loud, pointed cough from behind them warned Hiccup and Astrid to advance in line and walk towards the flight attendant. Had they really already made it to the front of the line? he thought.

“Sorry,” he apologized to the tired-looking man behind them. He turned back to Astrid and went ahead of her, walking backwards as he finally surrendered to her wishes. “Fine! Just so we don’t annoy everybody any longer,” he gestured to the crowd of onlookers. “I’ll try one!”

“Aha! I knew you’d give in.”

Hiccup faced the forward abruptly, boarding pass in hand, and crashed into the man at the front desk, splattering coffee all over the larger man’s uniform. The flight attendant’s higher pitched voice sounded like it was interpreting a machine short-circuiting.

“I am so incredibly sorry!” Hiccup tried his best to lessen the mess but to no avail. From his peripheral vision, he caught a glance of Astrid hiding her face behind her passport as her shoulders shuddered from suppressed giggles.

The flight attendant regained his senses and his Canadian mechanism immediately kicked in. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m sorry. Just get on board the two of you.” The flight attendant, Fishlegs (Hiccup saw from his nametag), waved them off and let them through to enter the aircraft.

Hiccup and Astrid got on the plane and burst into laughter. As he’d been doing this whole time, he followed Astrid’s lead to where her seat was. He absentmindedly took the one next to hers. He had the vague feeling he was forgetting something, but her remaining gasps for air after his embarrassing moment were enough to make him ignore the thought.

Having calmed down, Astrid raised a mini donut to him. “You promised.”

He rolled his eyes, reluctantly taking it. He hadn’t known her for long, but he’d learned already that there was no arguing with Astrid. He bit into half of the Timbit, the tangy jelly inside surprisingly contrasted well with the rest of it.

A middle-aged woman, tapping her foot impatiently, was glaring daggers at the pair from where she stood. Her passive aggressive tone confirmed his instinct to sink into himself. “Sir, this is my seat.”

Before Hiccup could even swallow the donut, Astrid cut in, “Ma’am, could we switch seats?”

Hiccup checked to where Astrid was pointing to realize that there was no specific seat she was indicating for the woman to take. Nevertheless, the woman scowled but didn’t bother them any longer. 

“That poor lady,” he said after regaining his ability of speech. “I could’ve sat somewhere else.”

Astrid completely ignored what he had said and went back to the “more important” matter. “I dare you to say that what you just ate wasn’t good.” Delight danced in her eyes. 

She was so close. He could feel the heat radiating off her. His voice lowered when he responded, “Alright, you win. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Not bad? You didn’t like it completely then.” Her eyes fell onto the leftover Timbit in his hand. “I’ll eat the half you didn’t, then.”

He yanked back his hand from her incoming grasp. There was no way he was giving her the rest of it. Suddenly, the plane began shifting. 

The crinkly pre-take-off announcements sounded. “Mes dames et messieurs, bienvenue abord le vole 45B d’Air Canada avec du service continuel de Montréal à Boston. Nous espérons que vous avez un bon voyage. Merci.” 

Hiccup’s heart dropped to his stomach as he realized his mistake. But now was too late.

“Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Air Canada, I’d like to welcome you all to flight 45B with service from Montreal to Boston. We hope you have a good flight. Thank you.”

He turned, wide-eyed to Astrid. “I’m on the wrong plane.”

Chapter Text

Hiccup’s day had started out with a plan. He’d get to the airport, get a coffee and get on his flight. Not one moment, throughout his whole day, did he even think he’d bump into a beautiful lady, among all the insanity of the airport, and be so bewitched that he’d stumble onto the wrong flight.

The muffled roar of the plane’s turbines tormented his ears as he tapped his fingers on the thin armrest of his seat. Directly behind him, a baby wailed and the mother relentlessly shushed her child, even though Hiccup knew it was a hopeless cause. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the aforementioned beautiful lady rubbing her temples for the 20th time.

Hiccup ran his hands through his now-messy hair. How could he have gotten on the plane to Boston? Only someone as stupid as him could ever get themselves into a situation like this.

“Attention passengers,” said the barely intelligible voice of the pilot, “We will be experiencing some mild turbulence in the next few minutes. We advise all passengers to stay in their seats.”

Beside him, in the middle seat, Astrid’s breathing came in quicker intervals than it had been a few seconds prior. Her knuckles were white from where her hands wrapped around both her armrests

“Are you okay?” asked Hiccup.

She offered a tight grin then nodded her head anxiously.

“I’m sorry you lost your coffee,” she attempted as a joke, but her breathing sounded tense.

He chuckled dryly.

That was it for their conversation for a long time. Her breath would catch every time the plane dropped unexpectedly and he’d check in, asking her if she was feeling okay, but that was their only interaction.

Eventually, Astrid asked if she could get something from the overhead compartment. He complied, though, just as she stood up, the plane gave a violent jerk and she landed directly on Hiccup’s lap. Instinctually, he grabbed around her waist to stabilize her. He instantly removed his hands from her but she remained sitting, laughter bubbling between them. Their faces were both aflame, but at least that thawed their cold tension.

Just then, his prosthetic shifted at his leg.

“What was that?” Astrid had lost all the colour from her face, probably thinking she broke his leg. She jumped up, sitting back to her own seat.

“No no no no no, it’s all good.” Hiccup did his best to calm her unease, mentally slapping himself for the mere thought of missing her being close to him. “I-I have a prosthetic leg.”

Astrid’s expression melted from alarmed to curious in seconds. “Oh?”

He rolled up his pant leg to reveal the metal and plastic contraption that was his left leg. “See?” he said half-heartedly, “Peg leg.”

His companion’s jaw was still agape. “How… how did you—”

“Lose it?” Hiccup completed. “Well, I was skating around, like the average Canadian, when a female hockey team skated over my leg.”

“What?!” She looked completely baffled on top of her previous shock.

“Okay, sorry, bad joke.” He took a breath before continuing. He’s had to explain this to multiple people, but he didn’t like it when people looked down on him with pity. “I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when I was 15. They had to amputate it.”

Surprisingly, she recovered from her shock and what was left of expression on her face was everything but pity.

“I apologize for freaking out like that.” She flushed lightly, averting her alluring eyes.

“Hey, it was nothing compared to the hockey players’ reaction when they found out what they’d done.”

A chortle escaped from her and she pushed him lightly by the arm.

The plane shook again, and snapped Astrid out of her mirth. He wanted to comfort her but that would be a bit weird, wouldn’t it? After all, he’d just met her.

Some noise ahead of the cabin caught his attention. From the aisle seat he could see the flight attendants had begun serving food. Technically he wasn’t supposed to eat any of the food because he did not pay for this flight, but the Timbits were all gone after he stress-ate them 20 minutes ago and the beginnings of hunger was making itself prominent in Hiccup’s stomach. He was already committing so many crimes, illegally boarding a flight; what was another?

Standing up, he mentioned to Astrid beside him that he was going to the bathroom to wash his hands. He did so, rapidly, trying to get back to his seat before the food cart blocked his way. As he opens the tiny door to leave, more force came than he’d expected and another jolt of the plane sent someone crashing onto him. The door snapped shut behind the two people and Hiccup glanced up to see that the person was none other than the gorgeous lady he’d just met.

He was blushing profusely. “I am so, so sorry.”

She was just as flushed looking away to anywhere but his face, attempting to avoid his continuous apologies, but not having many options in terms of movement. Astrid was pressed flat against his chest, his arms, again, around her.

“I-I’ll just… be going,” he stuttered, trying to swerve them around. He accidentally leaned on the flush button and sent them both jumping, causing even more of a commotion, as the sound of water going down the drain blared within the tight walls.

Astrid murmured a string of curses with her hands still clasping his forearms from the scare. Hiccup unwrapped himself from her politely and made to open the door. She was already pulling him back by the shirt before he could unlock the it.

“Don’t you dare open that door,” she threatened. Hiccup was still wide-eyed at her strength. The only thing keeping them mildly apart was the fact that he caught himself before he’d fallen onto her, his hands were planted on either side of her face. Astrid quickly released his tie she had grabbed. Her uneven breath was a whisper at his shoulder when she explained, “We’ve been in here too long for people not to assume that we weren’t doing anything suspicious. If we leave this bathroom together now, especially after all the ruckus, there is no way we’ll go unnoticed.”

“Okay,” he said quietly. She made a great point.

Astrid struggled to take off her sweater to tie around her waist in the cramped space. Hiccup couldn’t blame her. The temperature had gone up considerably since they’d been stuck. The light was completely to blame. Definitely not them pressed up against each other. Absolutely. Not.

After an eternity of struggling to concentrate on the situation, an idea came to mind. “We can stagger ourselves as we leave. People most likely aren’t paying attention anyway, right?”

Astrid nodded determinedly. “I’ll go first. You, wait a few minutes before coming.”

With the plan set, Astrid left and Hiccup released a breath that had been caught this whole time. He waited a few minutes, as instructed, then walked out. To his surprise, Astrid wasn’t even a metre away from him. To his horror, the food cart was just ahead of her, moving at a snail’s pace, conveniently blocking the way to their seats.

Oh Thor.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse, a girl’s voice sounded from a row beside him, “Papa, why were there two people in the washroom?”

Hiccup turned and saw the child’s father’s eyes widening and he deflected his daughter’s question. Astrid, in front of him, was holding back on pushing the flight attendants, seemingly hoping that the food they were serving could be distributed any faster. Hiccup wanted to shrink down in his seat four rows ahead of the food cart.

By this point, half the passengers had abandoned their inflight entertainment systems to witness what was apparently the winner of the Oscars for Most Humiliating Scene award. He nervously ran his arm around his neck, tapping his foot. Seconds became agonizing. Astrid turned to say something to him, but a wolf whistle nearby stole her attention.

A man around Hiccup’s age stage-whispered to Astrid, “You know, if that guy wasn’t good enough, you can go back there with me.” He looked so smug. That man reminded Hiccup of Simon. Though, admittedly, his cousin was better skilled at whatever this man considered to be seduction.

Hiccup felt he needed to say something to defend Astrid. Nobody should be treated that way. Funny enough, no words were exchanged. Hiccup saw the man gulp as if he were frightened and felt Astrid take his hand. It was only until they were sitting down at their row that Hiccup figured out the woman beside him had most likely stared the man down and posed as a threat, by the way her fist was still balled up. Hiccup made a mental note never to cross her.

Neither of them spoke, but decided to watch movies while they lived down their embarrassment. The sleeping man in their row’s snores, the crying baby and the looks of what remained of their audience were all drowned out by Hiccup’s whirling mind. What had just happened?

He looked over to where Astrid was watching a more interesting movie than his and couldn’t keep his eyes away because that was the only thing distracting his thoughts at that moment. His staring didn’t go unnoticed.

“Do you want to watch?” Astrid had one brow raised and was holding a headphone up to him.

“I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—” Hiccup stammered and returned to his flushed state that he had fought so hard to suppress.

“Let’s just forget that all ever happened,” she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “And I was thinking… I still feel bad about this whole plane mix-up. If you want, you can stay at my place while you’re in Boston.”

“What? No, I can stay at a hotel.”

“It’s really the least I can do.”

Hiccup thought it over. He didn’t want to give her any more trouble, but he didn’t want to seem like he didn’t like her. In fact, he was scared that he was starting to like her too much, with the way his heart sped up every time she looked his way.

“I’ll take the offer, then. Thank you,” he decided.

Unhesitatingly, he accepted her offered ear bud, and they watched movies for the rest of the trip.

Chapter Text

After the absolute unbelievable fact that Hiccup somehow managed not only to board a plane with the wrong boarding pass. Somehow, managing then to fly to a completely different country than intended, he was feeling rather like a fool. Yet, in all of this craziness Astrid was asking if he wanted to stay at her apartment OVERNIGHT. He thanked the gods for this good fortune and decided not to give the “how” of it too much thought.

As they left the Boston Airport, Hiccup had the presence of mind to consider the lack of pajamas situation and buy a Harvard tourist t-shirt. He usually had a pair of pajamas in the corporate apartment in London, along with a few clothes and other toiletries, in case his luggage didn’t make it. This might have also accounted for the reason he forgot the lack of pajama bottoms.

Astrid directed Hiccup through the airport to baggage claim after his purchase. She grabbed her bag a sleek black case that had a novelty ax luggage tag.

“I guess I should be scared not to try anything tonight with an ax like that... uh that’s not what... what I meant was... uh nice luggage tag?” Hiccup said as he blushed deeply.

Astrid just smirked and replied, “don’t worry I’m a black belt. I can handle any untoward advances from men. Anyway, thanks for the compliment. I think…” she said with mirth “It was a gift from my Uncle when he visited Norway and it made him think of me, apparently.”

Astrid led Hiccup to where her car was parked and they got into her little red Toyota Corolla.

Lifting up the trunk to her car, Hiccup commented, “It’s a good thing I didn’t have any luggage other than my carryon. I’m not sure it would have fit in here.”

“If your luggage was here I think you probably wouldn’t have to worry about fitting it in my car. Considering that would mean you actually got on the correct plane and had somewhere to stay.” She laughed back at him. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You aren’t... I mean, I’m glad. You are infinitely better looking and much more pleasant to spend time with than my cousin Simon,” he replied.

“Infinitely better looking, huh?” she teased, closing the trunk of her car and heading to the driver’s side.

Hiccup just stopped completely, mid opening of the car door, and stared at her while growing a lovely shade of scarlet.

“It’s okay, I think you are pretty cute yourself.” Astrid said as she started putting the keys in the ignition, looking expectantly at Hiccup to get in the car.

He quickly realized he had stopped moving all together and remedied the situation by sliding his tall frame gracefully into the seat. It also gave Astrid a perfect view of his butt, which she determined to be a very excellent one. She was going to have quite the challenge not touching it especially considering what close quarters they would be in at her apartment.

The rest of the car ride went by comfortably and before she knew it, Astrid was parking on the street in front of her apartment. She started to get a little bit of that butterflies in her stomach feeling about the idea of Hiccup in her personal space.

They were no longer going to be in public where she was, essentially, being chaperoned by thousands of strangers. As she grabbed the bag out of her trunk she nodded with her head in the general direction of her apartment. She considered the reality of what could possibly happen with this handsome man she had only just met that morning.

They walked up the steps to her apartment, which was in the North End of the city. She unlocked her door, declaring, “Home sweet home!”

Hiccup took in her home. It was a modestly furnished studio apartment with a bed and no couch. Hiccup gulped at the real possibility that tonight he could be sharing a bed with this beautiful woman. He quickly shook the idea out of his head, deciding he would offer to make a pallet bed on the floor and not think about Astrid in PJs a couple feet away from him.

“It’s nice! It has all that old-world charm with modern conveniences.”

“Are you trying to sell me the apartment? You know I already live here right?” She teased him.

Hiccup smiled back sheepishly.

“Yea, that totally sounded like something a real estate agent would say, but honestly it seems very you somehow.”

Not moments later, a big grey Irish Wolfhound came bounding to the door and instantly greeted Hiccup.

“Oh, sorry! I forgot to mention I have Stormfly… hope you aren’t allergic to dogs.” Astrid said apologetically.

“It’s totally fine. I love dogs!”

“It’s so strange, though. She never seems to like any guy I’ve ever brought here before. Not that there were a lot... just, she’s rather protective of me. I think she likes you, though.”

Astrid smiled in their direction as Hiccup squatted to Stormfly’s level, giving her lots of ear scratches as she returned, in kind, with loving licks to his face.

I have never been so jealous of this dog, Astrid thought.

Once they settled in for the evening, they decided to order Chinese takeout and just chatted about life and work. It was the best evening either of them could remember in a long time. It had been a while since both had felt that instant understanding from another person. Both, unknowingly to the other, were secretly hoping this wouldn’t be the last day they had together.

Finally, Astrid suggested they get ready for bed. It was only then that Hiccup realized he only had the novelty Harvard t-shirt, but no PJ bottoms.

Astrid lent him a pair of her leggings as a remedy, but he couldn’t tell if she really had no other option to offer him or if he was her own private comedy show for the night. He looked ridiculous. The waistband fit, which was lucky, but he was several inches taller than Astrid and the bottom of the leggings that were meant to hit at her ankles were now grazing his lower thighs. Not to mention, they had a rather feminine floral pattern on them, completing the look.

Hiccup stepped out of the bathroom where he had changed, to a roaring laughter coming from Astrid’s bedroom. Stormfly even seemed to be in on the fun, sporting a smile his direction.

“Ha-ha-ha laugh it up.”

“I think you look really cute! Tight leggings work on you. Really help enhance that cute butt of yours.” She circled around him appreciatively.

“Oh, so this was all a ploy to better ogle me?... I see how it is.” He replied sarcastically.

“It’s a prerequisite for all strange men I meet at Airports on the wrong flight and bring home.”

“Phew! Glad I passed that test, otherwise I’d be sleeping at the airport tonight.” He smiled widely at her.

He hadn’t realized she had gotten closer to him until she was looking up at him with this face of mirth and beauty and something else. An invitation to kiss her, perhaps?

Hiccup’s thoughts were quickly interrupted by a cold nose on his hand and Stormfly’s need for attention in that moment. It seemed to have broken Astrid’s concentration as well.

“Hi girl! Need more ear scratches before bed?” Hiccup asked in that baby voice all adults use towards pets.

Astrid took the moment to wonder what had almost happened and how much she really wished he had kissed her before Stormfly rudely stole the spotlight. She could hardly blame her she just wished she was getting a small percentage of the affection that Stormfly seemed to be getting in spades.

“So not to break you two up, but I was thinking about sleeping arrangements.”

Hiccup visibly gulped at that.

“I know earlier during dinner you offered to sleep on the floor. That seems unnecessary to me. I have a queen-sized bed, which’ll be big enough for both of us.”

“Uh... okay. If you’re sure... I mean, I know you’re sure or you wouldn’t have said… er… umm I’m just going to stop taking now.”

Astrid giggled at him with a bright smile that warmed his heart. He wished he could make her laugh like that every day.

They both got into bed staying firmly to their own sides and Stormfly decided to sneak in between them. Hiccup heard Astrid fall asleep first while his mind was churning through all the experiences of the day, seeing all the places where this could have not been the outcome to his evening. After a while, his brain seemed content to enter sleep mode and Hiccup fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Astrid woke up to the wonderful sensation of warmth and comfort. As she started to register what was providing that feeling, she grinned. Somehow, during the night Hiccup had managed to bypass the dog partition and had his arms wrapped firmly around Astrid, spooning her completely with his strong sinewy body. She in return had her hands wrapped on top of his.

Yes, this was a very nice way to be woken up, she thought to herself.

If only this was something that could happen every day. But, he lives all the way in Canada and while I travel there frequently for work, my family is in Boston. It would be crazy to consider this ever turning into anything more than a fluke meeting...right?!

She decided that this was too big of a question to ponder at this time of day. Instead, she chose to simply enjoy the now and not dwell too much on the future.

Astrid decided to stay in bed for a bit, then, she heard Hiccup let out a contented sigh, pulling her closer to his chest. She was sure he had a smile on his face because she certainly did. Astrid drifted off back to sleep.

While the humans were cute snuggling together, Stormfly decided she had waited long enough for breakfast. With a wet nose, nudging Hiccup’s arm, she stirred him awake.

Hiccup wasn’t one to wake quickly always taking a moment to reach full consciousness. When he took stock of his surroundings, he realized he didn’t recognize the place at first but he certainly recognized the beautiful blonde that was inexplicably in his arms. Her eyes were just beginning to flutter open and Hiccup wasn’t sure he had held anything in his arms better than her his whole life.

Then, the reality of his situation set in and it was a flurry of limbs and apologies all at once.

“Oh, uh good morning Astrid... I’m not sure how this… happened. So sorry about that! Can I umm... get my arm back?”

“Uh oh sure yea... don’t apologize. It was nice...erm good morning, Hiccup.”

Astrid and Hiccup were sporting matching blushes. Stormfly had enough of these silly humans and prompted them more forcefully to FEED HER. Stormfly grabbed the sheet at their feet, leaving them exposed in just their PJs.

This at least allowed them to both giggle and break some of the awkward tension of waking up in each other’s arms. Not knowing how the other felt about that.

Astrid proceeded to get up first and fill Stormfly’s food and water bowls.

“Can I help getting anything started for breakfast?” Hiccup asked.

“Yea if you want to fill the kettle and turn it on so we could have tea. You’ll find tea in that middle cupboard.” Astrid pointed.

Hiccup went through the motions of getting the water boiling and then opened the cupboard Astrid had pointed at. He was not prepared for the sheer amount of tea this woman was hoarding. The entire cupboard was just TEA!

“Is there a tea shortage I didn’t hear about?” He asked her with a grin.

“I’ll have you know that some of these teas are for different seasons and times of day. I need a variety since I drink quite a bit of it.” She pouted halfheartedly.

“So, is there a morning tea I should specifically get out?”

“Any black tea will do.”

Hiccup wasn’t even sure he would be able to tell which was a black tea if it wasn’t written on the box. Thankfully, those were all on one shelf, apparently, separate from the green and fruit tea. He spotted a white tea, not even realizing such a thing existed and was seriously starting to doubt the mental stability of someone with this much tea.

He chose a yellow and green box with the words, “Ketepa”, on it.

“Is this okay?” He questioned.

“Oh yes, that’s my favorite! It’s a Kenyan black tea. I had it all the time when I was there. They actually brew it in warmed milk. Never water. And don’t even ask for tea without milk because you will get the crazy Mzungu look.” She laughed at her own joke.

Hiccup beamed in light of her praise, even though he just liked the colors of the box. He was happy to have chosen well.

Astrid stopped a moment while gathering ingredients out of the fridge for breakfast and considered the chances. Of all the tea, he had picked her favorite. It felt comfortable, even though they had known each other a whole 24 hours.

They cooked breakfast together and drank the tea, which Hiccup had to admit, was excellent though he still preferred coffee. Seeing the smile it brought to Astrid’s face, he felt like he could get used to drinking tea on a more regular basis.

Conversation about when Hiccup was going back to Montreal stilted the flow they had created after a slightly awkward start to the day. The idea of him leaving hung between them like this big impasse. Astrid decided to make the most of the time they had left and threw out a few things they could do in Boston.

-------

After the slightly awkward breakfast, Astrid still felt bad that Hiccup ended up in the wrong country. The quickest passage back he could buy was for Monday at noon. They had a full day to spend, she had a day off and she felt she should at least take him sight-seeing. She also insisted they stop at Target to get him a pair of comfortable pants instead of making him walk around in a business suit all day.

Hiccup, with a new pair of jogger pants and his Harvard t-shirt, and Astrid, dressed just as comfortably in her leggings and blue hoodie, both chatted animatedly throughout the entire Harvard University tour. She learned that he had a great interest in architecture from the way his eyes lit up every time they passed a different red brick building. Hiccup looked like a child in a candy store.

For lunch, they passed by a local café that sold sandwiches and headed back home because it had started to rain.

“What the heck, Janice. That dress is twice your budget,” remarked Hiccup to the TV as a bride got teary eyed while trying on a wedding gown on Say Yes To The Dress.

The pitter-patter of the rain had calmed down by now, but Astrid felt so cozy bundled up in the covers of her bed beside Hiccup.

“I think the ruffles at the bottom are bit much for this dress. That cheaper one looked way better,” added Astrid. In all honesty, she had no idea how they became so invested in the show. It was the first thing that came on, but now, they were both experts on all things wedding dress.

Hiccup tossed Stormfly her chew toy off the side of the bed where Astrid’s pup dropped it for the bajillionth time. The window was open which led to Astrid unconsciously siding up close to the man beside her to preserve the heat on their upper halves that weren’t covered by the sheets.

On the TV, the bride’s mother refused to pay for her daughter’s expensive gown and she felt Hiccup nod in agreement where her head rested on his shoulder. A buzz beside her caught her attention, she lazily reached for her phone, finding a text from her mother.

[I’ll see you at the restaurant at 6:30. Love, Mommy.]

Chapter Text

[I’ll see you at the restaurant at 6:30. Love, Mommy.]

She had forgotten. Astrid checked the time and cursed under her breath She didn’t even have time to roll her eyes at her mother’s habit of signing texts. It was 6:02 and it took 20 minutes to get from her house to the pizzeria her mother had reserved a table at for a family dinner they’d planned weeks in advance.

Stormfly bounced back excitedly to Hiccup with the chew toy and Astrid snatched it out of his extended hand. The dog whined as Astrid hauled Hiccup up. It wasn’t that Astrid didn’t trust him to stay at alone at her house– although now that she thought of it, why would she? When you broke it down, he was still a random man she met at the airport– either way, she was taking him with her.

“We need to get up,” she stated to the confused man. “We’re meeting my parents at a restaurant in half an hour.”

“I’m flattered, but I think this is moving too fast.” He jokingly gestured between the two of them.

“Ha ha. Just get dressed.”

Astrid shoved Hiccup into the bathroom with his other clothes and quickly found a white knit sweater and jeans to change into. As soon as Hiccup emerged out of the bathroom, dressed in his suit, they were out the door. Astrid had no time to notice her messy, un-brushed hair or the fact that Hiccup’s dress shirt was buttoned up crookedly. They surely were a sight to behold when the pair arrived at the Italian restaurant ten minutes late because of traffic.

Astrid’s mother curiously waved them over to the table where her father, aunt and two younger cousins already sat. She introduced her companion to her surprised family. Thora and Brian, her cousins, smirked at her mischievously.

Her father was the first to attempt conversation as Astrid spotted Hiccup not-so-sneakily rebutton his shirt from the corner of her eye. “So, Hiccup, how did you and my daughter meet.”

“At the airport,” they responded in unison. Her cheeks warmed as they glanced at one another.

Her Aunt Helga grinned into her glass of water at the interaction and Astrid glared daggers at the way her and her mother looked at each other knowingly. Hiccup, on the other hand, was oblivious to what had been perceived of their relationship by her family. Him and her father were now engaged in an intense conversation about boarding ticket prices.

Hiccup answered politely to all her family’s questions, casually smoothing her hair, unaware that it was an interrogation. Astrid did her best to evade all too personal inquiries.

When the pizza finally arrived, Hiccup asked the waitress if she could bring ketchup. Aunt Helga stared at him, flabbergasted.

“One of my distant uncles was Brazilian and ate pizza with ketchup… He introduced it to me when I was little, and…  it’s become a habit, I guess.” Hiccup scratched the back of his neck, looking away. Astrid couldn’t fathom how adorable he looked in that moment.

“Mom, I want to try that,” said Brian to Aunt Helga. Her aunt’s eyes narrowed, but thankfully, she didn’t say anything.

The pizza smelled divine with its basil leaves and melted cheese. Astrid asked Hiccup to grab her a slice because it was closer to him. Everyone else, except her stern father, gazed at the gesture with admiration.

Once everyone had tasted a few bites of their food, Hiccup and Brian with their added ketchup, the conversation stirred up again.

“Astrid, darling, this is the first time you’ve brought a boy to meet us,” began her mother, nonchalantly. “Anything important you want to tell us.”

“No, mother.” Astrid didn’t like the tone of this conversation.

“An engagement, perhaps.”

Astrid turned to Hiccup who seemed to be finding the pizza extremely interesting at the moment. She also wanted to disregard the existence of her mother’s words.

“Wait, Astrid, are you pregnant?” her mother questioned further.

Hiccup choked on his bite and she would’ve too if she weren’t busy being paralyzed. “Mrs. Hofferson, I can assure you that’s not the case at all,” he managed to get out after recovering from his near death by Italian food.

Her father looked like he was going to have a heart attack and her cousins were observing the scene intently as if it was reality TV. Then, everything went crazy. The children snickered excitedly, Aunt Helga charged with reprimanding them at bad table manners. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson were arguing loudly with Astrid. She was mortified that Hiccup was there for all of this.

“Mother! I’m not pregnant and we’re not even together!” shouted Astrid above the ruckus.

An awkward pause rang, so Hiccup cleared his throat to diffuse the silence. “I’m sure your daughter is a lovely woman—”

“Is everything all right with the food?” asked the concerned waitress, clearly not implying the food at all.

Everyone at the table went back to normal, smiling at the woman as she wandered away. Astrid stood abruptly, indicating for Hiccup to follow. “We’re leaving.”

With that, she stormed out of the pizzeria, the man dumbfoundedly accompanied her.

“Wait, the guy who taught me about ketchup with Pizza knocked up my cousin? Does this make me an uncle?” Could be heard as they were exiting the restaurant by a very confused but enthusiastic Brian.

Astrid ignored that but checked over her shoulder to make sure that Hiccup was keeping up with her. She slowed her pace as they neared the door. Proceeding to open it with more force than necessary. Once out in the evening air, having walked a block from the pizzeria, Astrid turned towards him.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry for that Hiccup! I honestly don’t know what got into my family–ugh– especially my MOM!! That was so utterly embarrassing I totally understand if you never want to talk to me again…”

“Astrid.”

She looked up at him nervously waiting for the next part. The part where he would declare he’d rather stay at the airport that night than one more minute with her. It never came instead he closed the gap between them.

He gazed at her with a small smile. Slowly reaching down to her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb and kissed her lightly. His soft lips meeting hers with a tenderness she didn’t know existed. It was a rush of emotions wiping the embarrassment out of her memory, filling her head, instead, with thoughts of him. She couldn’t believe that Hiccup just kissed her!

Instead of reacting shyly Astrid took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Something that– if she was totally honest with herself– she’d wanted to do since that almost kiss last night... Actually, since he held her face just as gently in the airplane bathroom. She simply enjoyed the moment, letting him react to her kissing him back.

Slowly, he pushed her up against him as he backed into the wall behind him, cradling her body to his wrapping his arms around her waist and lightly stroking the small of her back. She. in turn, threw her hands into his beautifully shaggy auburn hair, tugging slightly. Then kissed him, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth.

The kissing became increasingly passionate as it continued. An all-out frenzy of tongues and lips, culminating with Astrid softly moaning as he gripped her closer to his firm frame. It was like they couldn’t get close enough to each other.

Sanity was restored only when the need for oxygen arose and they separated slightly from each other. Smiling, he pressed his forehead to hers, sighing in relief that his gamble paid off.

“I have been wanting to do that since Montreal.” Hiccup said, completely blissed out. He was in a state of euphoria, not only because this beautiful woman was in his arms, but that she kissed him back!

She smiled wide and without reservation back at him.

“That long huh?”

“Uh... yea. I didn’t actually mean to say that out loud.” He chuckled softly. “But yes, I have and gods it was worth the wait.”

Astrid blushed deeply, completely flattered and flustered.

“So, where do we go from here?” She asked with a little trepidation in her voice.

“I guess we could walk around for a bit and then I get on a plane in the morning...” he responded, reality hitting him. Tomorrow he had to go back to Canada and leave her in the States. Not wanting to make this any harder on both of them, when he went he didn’t try to restart the kiss.

“It’s a beautiful night. Let’s enjoy what time we have left together.”

She nodded and grabbed his hand. The feel of his hand in hers was like being home all safe and warm. Sighing, she resigned herself that regardless of what tomorrow brought she would take what she could get that night.

They walked around the city for a while, eventually, deciding to go back to her apartment to spend their last few hours with Stormfly, just talking. As they settle into bed for the night, Astrid snuggled up to Hiccup and was lulled to sleep with a contented smile on her face. Hiccup watched her as she slept, drinking in the sight of her in his arms, the small pert nose, and her adorable slightly too large ears. If only this could really be something real he, thought as he tucked her hair behind her ears...

Chapter Text

Being at the airport two hours early was usually supposed to be good, but Hiccup was dreading every second he would spend in Boston without Astrid by his side. The long line for the check-in counter was normally a nightmare to endure. Ironically, today it was deciding to go fast.

He’d decided to wear his Harvard shirt and jogger pants again for the plane ride, because there was no point in sacrificing comfort to look like he was going to a no-longer-existing business meeting.

Waiting in line with him was Astrid, who played with her braided hair. She found Hiccup staring and smiled weakly. “Guess you’re off to Canada, then,” she sighed.

That was the first thing she had said to him after their quiet breakfast that morning. 

“My home and native land,” Hiccup recited. What a joke, Hiccup. 10/10 that was exactly what everyone needed.

Before they had left Astrid’s apartment, Stormfly had given him a slobbery farewell, much to her owner’s amusement. It’d been so easy to laugh with Astrid yesterday. Now they were back to a forced tension. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge what had happened the day before. What that kiss had meant. Well, clearly it was just a thing of the moment. A wonderful dream that he was starting to doubt was even real.

Her voice snapped him out of his rabbit hole. “How are you planning on explaining this fiasco to your family in England?”

Hiccup hadn’t thought about that yet, but he didn’t want to ponder what was waiting for him outside of Boston. If he could, he’d stay there and never return to Montreal, where speaking English instead of French made people side-eye you.

“Eh, I don’t know.” He lowered his gaze to where her hands wrung the edge of her jean jacket. “I guess I can tell them the airline screwed up the flights.”

The attempt at conversation simmered down once more.

“Oh!” Astrid pulled her bag off her shoulder and rummaged around for something inside. “I almost forgot to give you this...”

Finding what she was looking for, she held up a Tupperware container with crushed leaves and herbs inside along with a strainer.

“This is tea for you. I thought you’d like it. It’s jasmine.” Hiccup accepted the gift. Even though he didn’t like tea that much, he would treasure anything she ever gave him. “And I expect the container returned. With Timbits. Jelly filling, obviously.” The last part, she’d said with an audible smirk.

He smiled teasingly. “You’re using me as your Timbit smuggler.”

“Hiccup Haddock, how dare you accuse me of such a thing,” she whispered mockingly and winked.

The pair reached their turn in line and were called up by the flight attendant with Astrid walking along and mumbling something about not spilling coffee on this one. 

They were only ten steps from the barred off security area. This was the last he would see of the beautiful woman he’d met by chance at Tim Hortons. The feeling of forgetting something he’d gotten two days ago, moments before he realized he was on the wrong flight returned. Only, that time, there was an accompanying feeling of something not feeling right. Something that resisted his advances to the security area.

Hiccup faced Astrid. If she didn’t want to mention what had happened between them last night, he wouldn’t bring it up, but he couldn’t leave with this hollow all between them muffling their friendship. “Thank you, again, Astrid for offering to let me stay at your place and showing me around the city and… for everything.” The wall seemed to grow ten times wider, but the meaning of “everything” echoed throughout, barely reaching her side. “And I apologize for any trouble that I may have caused.”

He automatically offered his hand and they shook. Astrid hadn’t said anything. She looked as though she was searching for words and he waited a few seconds before giving up, not saying anything himself. So much for not being awkward. This goodbye felt horribly formal for what they went through the past days, but what else did he expect. They weren’t together or anything.

Nodding a heavy farewell, Hiccup turned on his heels to continue his journey to the plane. He didn’t make it five steps before he felt himself being tugged off to the side, lithe arms wrapping around his neck and soft lips meeting his unexpectedly. Hiccup didn’t hesitate to reciprocate, pouring every ounce of unspoken words between them into the embrace. He desperately enveloped Astrid in his arms, not wanting to let go. Her fingers combed through his disheveled hair. He ran his hands along her back, dissolving completely into her lavender scent.

Both of them were short of breath when they pulled away. He met her mesmerizing eyes, searching for an explanation or a sign of regret. Cradling his face and caressing his jawline, Astrid searched his own.

She bit her lip when his hands impulsively tightened around her hips where they’d landed. Astrid brushed the light stubble at his jaw when she said, “I… I didn’t get your phone number.”

Hiccup buried his face into the crook of her neck, laughter escaping him at the casual tone of her statement. Astrid shuddered a laugh of her own in relief, hugging him tightly.

He reluctantly distanced himself from her to search for his phone and she did the same. They exchanged numbers. Hiccup took her hand in his, she grinned widely.

“Does this,” he raised their conjoined hands, “mean that we’re going to try long distance?”

Astrid answered him with what was supposed to be a peck, but he wouldn’t let her go that easily. Though, when Hiccup tried to wind her back in, she turned her head to the side, evading his kiss. “Of course we’re doing long-distance. I need my Timbits!”

Their gazes locked on one another and she didn’t avoid Hiccup’s kiss when he leaned in that time. They parted with twin blushes and he waved at her happily as he walked towards the doors of security.

That day, Hiccup left Boston with a container of tea, a girlfriend and the prospect of a future he’d never imagined.