God, my head hurts. Why did I drink so much last night? Doesn't matter. I should wake up. What the actual, is this my bed? No, it's much softer than I remember - so why am I... Where actually am I?

His head throbbed and bells rang as he rubbed his eyes, blinking hard to try and wake himself up. The hangover hurt badly and he barely remembered anything besides a party on New Year's and having far too many drinks with all his friends from school who'd got together for a reunion. Merida had been there, he realised as he struggled to open his eyes, she'd been there in a blue silk dress that cut mid thigh and her hair was plaited and twisted into a bun. He'd known her since she moved next door from Scotland when she was five and from the minute she took his toy dragon and pushed him in the sandpit he knew it.

He'd watched her date other guys; he himself had been out with another girl, Astrid, for a while but when she treated him like crap he ended it swiftly. Merida was always there for him. They'd grown up together as their families were incredibly close and they knew each other like siblings but he always saw her as something else. He'd loved her for so long but there was no way she'd fall for him.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned widely. Consciousness dawned upon him slowly and he stretched, his back cracking a little. The moment he opened his eyes was when he realised he was naked beneath the sheets.

Instinctively drawing the bedclothes around him tighter, he looked around the unfamiliar room, but it wasn't too unfamiliar. There were posters and scribbles covering the walls in messy handwriting and, oh god, he was in Merida's room. Naked. Wait a second, if he was in Merida's room then where was ...

Oh my gods.

The redhead was sleeping soundly beside him, the sheets covering everything, thankfully, but her freckled shoulders were exposed enough to make his breath hitch a little. Hiccup was confused and very scared. He glanced at the floor and there was a blue dress lying in a heap along with the shirt and jeans he'd been wearing last night. Her bra, black and lacy, along with his boxers, were strewn on the floor, crumpled. Hang on, that meant, that meant -

"Hiccup?" Her eyelashes fluttered as she woke and her eyes widened as she caught sight of his bare chest. She went through the same realisation as he had and gathered the sheets around her to keep her modesty as she flushed bright scarlet. He looked at her with his head hanging and biting his lip. It was Merida; who knew what she was going to say? "Did we-?" He could only nod slowly.

She wrung her hands and she looked utterly ashamed of herself. Taking her by the hand he gently held her whilst she looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"I wanted to, to save myself for someone, someone who loved me. I know it sounds pathetic and stupid and you're going to think me crazy but -"

"No," Hiccup whispered, "you're not." He swallowed. "Merida, I can't believe you didn't realise before now but I, I - god - I've loved you for so long it hurts and all I wanted was for you to like me even only a little bit because you're beautiful and funny and smart and so crazy but you're the good crazy that everyone loves but there was no way someone like you would even consider a loser like me because I'm the person that's always there but isn't noticed and dear Gods it was horrible but now this happened and ruined everything and any chance in hell that I might have had and Merida I'm so sorry..."

He broke off, looking down and letting her hand go. His head was hanging but she watched him intently, shining blue and vibrant. For a second it was silent until she placed a hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. Slowly and cautiously, she leant in, preparing herself to receive the memory of the first kiss she hadn't obtained due to the throbbing hangover.

"Merida," he whispered, his eyes half closed and his heartbeat going crazy.

"Ssh," she murmured gently as she pressed her lips to his. It wasn't a usual kiss. It wasn't anything they'd ever experienced before. It was the most tender and human and natural experience the pair of them had shared but it was also bizarre and terrifying and neither knew quite how to function.

As they drew away slowly Merida opened her eyes first. Her hand was still resting on his cheek, tracing his jawline carefully. Hiccup still had his eyes closed. She drew further away, worried she'd done something wrong.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. Her face was red and her eyes leaked tears. "I shouldn't have, it's just I liked you too, for so long, and I thought, maybe, we could be something more than friends but -"

"Yes," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers and holding her hand tight, "oh god, please don't let what we did ruin what we had. Please, because damnit I love you and I want to stay with you -"

"You're serious?" Merida replied, eyes wide and terrified of the unsureness of it all. He nodded slowly and took her face in his palms gently, leaning in to kiss her once more.

"It's always been you," he said, his breath ragged and heavy, "always. I've never wanted anyone else so much in my life and you're everything I could ever, ever, wish for."

"I love you too," she replied in a whisper, and with that he kissed her again, hard fast and desperate. They forgot for a moment that they were totally naked, that they'd already had this heated moment last night; they took back their lost memories in full and held each other like it was the end of the world.

Well, it kind of felt like that when Jack walked in.

"You two finally hooked up then?" Apparently he'd been filming a bit of it too judging by the phone in his hand. "I have got to tell Rapunzel later."

A/N Happy New Year! I hadn't written in a little while so I thought you deserved a little mericcup fluffy/angsty/nsfw kind of niceness. It didn't flow very well but when I saw the prompt on Tumblr I couldn't resist. Also - I'm utter Star Wars trash after seeing The Force Awakens so if you see some fanfiction crop up don't be surprised.