"What, was that?" Astrid asks me her arms sneaking around my waist. Her arms tighten as the dragon reappears it's four small black eyes staring into my soul. 
                          
"Whiplash get us out of here." Her and Toothless grumble their own fear taking over. 
                          
"NOW!" Hiccup shouts and they spring into action being the first dragon circling to the top of the volcano and leaving through the top. 
                          
With all of us staring forward we continue back to the cove. 

                          
******** 
                          
"It all makes sense! It's like a giant bee hive. They're the workers and that's their queen," Astrid speaks jumping off Whiplash as we reached the cove. "We have to go find your father." 
                          
"No,no." Hiccup says grabbing onto her arm "no not yet. They'll kill Toothless and Whiplash; Astrid we have to think this through carefully." 
                          
"Please Astrid don't say anything." I beg. 
                          
"You guys we just discovered the dragons nest! The thing we've been after since vikings first sailed here! And you wanna keep it a secret to protect your pet dragons? Are you serious?!" She rants clearly bothered by the fact that she could change her life around with this information. 
                          
Hiccup turns from walking over to Toothless and stares her deep in the eyes and without hesitation replies, "yes." 
                          
"Okay," Astrid agrees looking between Hiccup and I and I let out a breath of relief. "Then what do we do?" She asks us.
                          
"Give me until tomorrow, I'll figure something out." Hiccup tells her probably just to get her off of his back, she nods before punching him in the arm. 
                          
"That's for kidnapping me." She scolds and Hiccup looks to me while I just shrug. She then grabs him by the vest and suddenly kisses his cheek which makes my heart drop into my stomach. "And that's for everything else." With that she runs from the cove back home. 
                          
"Well what are you looking at?" He scolds Toothless who was currently mocking him. Hiccup then turns to me walking as I de-mount Whiplash. "Where were you today?" He asks me. 
                          
The sinking feeling in my chest begins to grow unbearable as the memory of my mother's face comes to mind. Her blue lips stained with blood from her nose and her ears looking like they'd been stabbed. 
                          
"Before we left to the arena," my breath got caught in my throat. "My mom collapsed, there was blood coming out of her nose and her ears; by the time we found Gothi you had already been chosen and she was already dead." I tell him and inhale a shaky breath. 
                          
"(Y/n)." Hiccup says as old tears resurface to my eyes. I feel his arms wrap around my body his Hiccup-y scent filling my nose. The comfort that flowed through me made my body act on its own tightly gripping into the back of his shirt. 
                          
Hiccup tightens his arms around me and says nothing and not letting me separate from him. My body feels weak and even when I fall to the ground he doesn't let go. My loud sobs and pained groans fill the space as I allow myself to be weak with another person. Hiccup runs his hand up and down my back in a silent comfort just letting me grieve. 
                          
That night Hiccup walked me home in silence; neither of us saying anything as two things haunted our mind. 1: someone else now knew the secret we do desperately fought to keep, and 2: my mother was now gone from this world. My mother was always nice to Hiccup giving him sweet bread during the Snoggletog season. Having someone like this gone from the world resonates so deeply in me. 
                          
"I guess I'll see you in the morning." I say looking forward into Hiccups astonishingly green eyes. 
                          
In this moment a realization hit me, I liked Hiccup; in a romantic sort of interest way. Our friendship having bristled up getting to know each other has shown me how much I enjoy being around him. I always had this calm and warm feeling in my chest whenever he was around. I wasn't uncomfortable grabbing his hand or hugging him. I think I really, really liked him, oh thor he's in love with Astrid. I feel like my heart is shattering realizing I'll never really be able to know what it feels like for him to like me. 
                          
Hiccup's scent fills my nose once more as he wraps his arms around me and I force my body as close to his as possible. I try and memorize how he smells; the pine from the wood near the cove, metal from the endless nights of inventing and creating and finally the familial smell of dragon fire that I'm sure I too adorn. "Come to me if you or your dad need anything." He tells me and I only nod. 
                          
"Thank you," I say and he smiles lightly "for everything."
                          
Hiccup leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead in a comforting friends sort of way. There is no romance behind the action and I can tell. "Anything for my best friend." His smile is fake, half gone as he turns his back to me and walks further and further away. 
                          
"Dammit." I whisper.