The air that evening was bitingly cold and Merida's breath appeared in clouds before her as she walked along, her boots kicking a path through the fallen leaves on the ground as she walked to meet the man who she'd be spending her evening with. The man who'd stuttered through the invite but she'd been hoping for months that he might ask, hoping that somehow they held something that was more than just friendship. That man was Hiccup, her childhood best friend and date for the evening.

He was waiting where he promised he would be, by the edge of the woods, smiling at her nervously as she approached, her scarf blowing behind her and her hair sweeping about her shoulders. She grinned in reply, wondering how it was possible for him to look so damn cute all the time with his windswept fringe and his shining eyes.

"You look really nice," he finally said, once he'd managed to get his head around the fact that, yes, she had turned up and she was smiling back at him as if to say, nothing is wrong. Hanging her head, she diverted her attention to the ground, flushing not only because of the cold.

"Thanks," she mumbled under her breath. Her knees felt weak. Why? She'd been perfectly fine walking here! Why was it so difficult to produce coherent words and simply function as a human? "Shall we go?" He nodded in reply, and in a moment of daring, held out his hand.

"My lady." He grinned. Gripping onto his gloved hand tight, Merida smiled up at him before she could stop herself and he replied with that lopsided one of his, crooked teeth showing and she felt her insides melt just a little bit more.

The music in the distant fairground was growing louder and louder as they approached the bonfire, still in it's early stages of being lit. They could hear it crackling gently and then more aggressively as more and more wood caught in the heat of the orange flame. Merida's eyes widened in excitement at the sight of the Ferris wheel, the dodgems and all the other God forbidden rides which Hiccup wouldn't go near if you paid him. She caught his scowl directed at the different rides and pouted at him.

"Can't we have just a quick go on the dodgems?" He shook his head stubbornly and she whined irritably. "I thought you were taking me out this evening!"

"Yes," he replied, looking into the distance, his eyes glazing over with the need to say something that had been hanging between them, unspoken, for far too long now. "It's just that I don't think the dodgems are particularly romantic." Merida's breath caught in her throat and Hiccup knew he was one step ahead of her.

"Fair play," she replied quietly.

Turning to face him slowly, she looked up at him through her wild mass of curls. She brought her hand that wasn't entwined with his up, up to rest on his chest and there she felt his breath catch. His eyes were wide and animated, his pupils dilated, his mouth slightly open and his breathing deep and steady. Decisively, he lifted his own hand to cup her cheek. Her touch became over sensitive and positively tingly. He breathed once more, closing his eyes momentarily before making his decision and leaning in with a rush of adrenaline to kiss her. She met him halfway as she realised his intentions.

Both of their eyes were closed tight; the pair of them were incredibly inexperienced in this field but none of that mattered now. They figured they'd get better with time. More practice. After a minute or so, they drew apart, their hands still holding each other's tight.

"Was that classified as romantic?" Merida whispered after a second and Hiccup couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Most definitely," he said and her stomach seemed to lurch. She didn't need the fairground to receive her daily adrenaline dose.

"What does this mean," she murmured, her eyes focused on the leaves by her feet, "what does this mean, for us?" He sighed.

"I don't know. I just know that I want to be more than friends." His eyes were open and blazing with the light of the fully lit bonfire now. She wanted to kiss him again; she couldn't find the words to speak. It seemed that her lack of words didn't suffice for him and he exhaled slowly, his breath appearing in a wisp of vapour. "I understand if you don't want to. I mean, I kind of figured that, you know, I wasn't really your type; you like the buff rugby guys I suppose and I know that I'm just -"

Then Merida really did kiss him, one hand winding through his hair on the back of his neck and one holding his forearm and he was cut short, literally. This time she was more forceful and her lips were harder until he responded in kind and their mouths moulded to suit. They could just about hear the music playing in the background from the distant fairground, the squeals that the fireworks were about to start and the crackles above their heads that told them the shouting people were right.

After a minute, she drew apart but he rested his forehead on hers, his eyes still closed and his mouth still open.

"I've wanted this," she whispered, "for so long. You don't even want to know. Ever since I saw how Astrid was treating you, after the accident..." She trailed off, unsure whether she should continue. Merida took his silence as a 'yes'. "I've just, I felt differently about you. I didn't want anyone else to be allowed to have you who I knew didn't deserve you."

"And the same for you," Hiccup replied softly, his hand lacing with hers. She smiled, her brilliant shining smile.

The fireworks blazed above them in showers of green and red sparks, trails of golden fire and explosions of blue stars, lighting the pair of them up and casting silhouettes into the dewy ground. But the fireworks weren't noticed much by them. They were too busy noticing each other, more than they'd been allowed in a lifetime and they certainly decided it was best that way.

A/N Sorry I haven't been writing more recently, it's been a combination of school work increasing, interests changing and fandoms dying. Seriously. I already know that this story will barely scrape 100 reads, probably 8 votes and next to no comments. Why? Because the fandom is dying out.

I don't know how or why. There's just no one left there creating new content for the RotBTD fandom anymore and I think that's depressing. In light of this, I've decided to take a hiatus into the Marvel fandom for a while because A) it's got some amazingly creative people B) IT'S ACTIVE and C) I absolutely love it there.

It's been great over here and I've made some amazing friends, but at the same time, I never talk to any of them anymore. I feel like I've lost all my connections and everyone's just moved on without me. I don't know how many people want me to continue writing for this fandom; depending on that I will either leave or change this account.

I will still be writing for this fandom, just a lot slower as I have lots of other ideas for new pairings now. I hope you understand that.

See you soon (if you're still there) -

MericcupIsMyLife