(start music)

"This is so unfair!"

"Unfair now is it? Suddenly it's my fault?"

"Well - yes! You were the one kissing her!"

"Merida! Just listen to me! I didn't kiss he-"

"I'm not listening to you!"

"You know, this isn't helping. At all."

"Just listen!"

"To you? For once in your life will you just listen to me? You don't know what I have to say -"

"SHUT IT!"

Merida slammed the door right in his face. Hiccup fell to the ground as the rain started to fall outside her house. Merida didn't have a porch either; nothing offered him protection from the bitter cold and biting winds. Hiccup let himself sink inside his own mind and replay the previous events of that day.

All had been well. They had come back from their first, pretty nerve wracking date and they had decided to go to Starbucks. A blonde girl with a fringe, a plait and a badge that said - Hello, I'm Astrid served them and all the while was eyeing Hiccup who clearly wasn't interested. Merida went to the loo for a minute while Hiccup paid the bill and when she came back she saw this blonde girl with her lips locked on Hiccup's.

What Merida hadn't seen was when Hiccup was trying to put his pin number into the card machine this girl Astrid started whispering flirtatiously in Hiccup's ear. He'd tried to push her away but she'd pulled him to her in an instant. Their lips were locked in an uncomfortable kiss that he didn't return, but Astrid wouldn't let him go. Merida had run out before anyone saw her and Hiccup had tried to follow but it was difficult on his prosthetic leg. In the end he had walked back to her house and that was where the row had begun.

And on their first date! Hiccup had been plucking up the courage to ask Merida out for so long it felt like all his hard work had been wasted, all because of some girl at a coffee shop. He'd stared across their desks at work for so long and soon Merida had noticed his attention. She'd enquired, and it had been awkward but they'd become firm friends over the months. Hiccup thought she was stunning and finally asked her out for a meal.

He hadn't even kissed Merida yet. He'd been planning to, to wrap his arms round her neck and connect them in an embrace that neither would forget. But a stupid blonde got there first.

Hiccup felt his hair flatten against his face as the rain splattered over his head. His hoodie was soaked, but he still didn't move. He hadn't got the heart to move. Merida now hated him. What was the point in moving anyway? Talking to her? Pft. She wouldn't listen to him. Maybe he should go back to that coffee shop.

Another five minutes passed and Hiccup was shivering like crazy. His teeth were chattering and he fell against Merida's door accidently, knocking on it. He tried to get up and walk away, but Merida opened the door before he could move. His frozen bones prevented him from doing so anyway.

"Hiccup?"

He didn't answer, just stood there with his teeth chattering like crazy. He didn't think he could answer anyway.

"You were out there, the whole time?" Hiccup nodded, looking into her eyes pleadingly.

"I m-missed you," he stuttered. "C-can you give me another ch-chance?"

Merida didn't speak, just looked down.

"Look," she gestured for him to come inside, "You must be freezing. You'll get pneumonia if you stay out there! Come on. I have a fire."

Sure enough, in her living room there was a log fire burning steadily in the grate, filling the room with the delicious smell of woodsmoke. Merida and Hiccup sat close by the fire and Hiccup gradually grew warmer. He hung his hoodie over the fire guard to make it dry as fast as possible and they sat in silence as his teeth began to chatter less and less.

Merida couldn't stop looking at him. His hair went a deeper shade of auburn and his eyes flickered with shining light in the wake of the fire. In this light he seemed to be - pure. Innocent.

Finally Hiccup turned to her when he was virtually dry.

"I'm going to speak now. And I don't want you getting angry, or shouting, or getting upset. I just need you to hear what I have to say. You won't interrupt me?" Merida paused before saying:

"I promise."

Hiccup took a deep breath.

"I don't know what it looked like from where you were, but I didn't kiss that girl. She pounced on me the second you were gone and when she kissed me it was horrible. I hated every second and I tried to pull away but she had a pretty firm grip. Then I heard you slam the door and my leg decided to play up which meant you were too fast for me. I tried to follow you, I really did. But when I eventually got to you you slammed the door in my face and the rain started."

"Oh God," Merida whispered, not meeting his gaze. "I didn't realise; I didn't realise; oh God! What have I done? I ruined everything!"

"No," Hiccup jumped in, moving closer to her and accidentally brushing against her hand gently, "Merida, listen to me -"

"Don't bother with me," Merida pushed him away, clutching her face in her hands, "you deserve so much better than me. Go find someone who deserves you."

"I thought you promised not to interrupt me." Hiccup pulled her hand away from her face. "I hadn't finished."

Merida looked into his eyes and said nothing. He took that as a sign to continue. He sat on her sofa and she followed.

"I'm bothering with you because you were the one I stared at for months across the desk, just waiting and hoping I'd get a date with you. Because I realised over spending time with you - I, I really like you Merida. Every time I was alone you'd be on my mind, I'd keep wishing you were with me. Every day. Every day."

Merida remained silent as she let it sink in. The silence was killing Hiccup.

"Well - say something." Hiccup wrung his hands as he felt his heart aching. He needed Merida to speak.

"I'm not good at saying something."

"Then come here," Hiccup pleaded with his eyes. "Please."

Merida placed her head against his chest and she felt Hiccup's drawn breath and the beat of his heart. Hiccup had needed her touch for so long, and now she was here.

"Why me?" Merida said quietly, running her fingers over his chest.

"You saw me when I was invisible." Hiccup sat up and looked into her eyes, flickering with the light of the fire. "I'll never forget that."

"I still don't understand why you'd choose me. I'm not worth someone like you."

Hiccup took her hand and pulled her gently towards him. He ran his fingers through her hair and felt her quickened breath on his chin. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. So this is love, he thought as she kissed him back, I understand why it's so sought after now. It's amazing. 

"No Merida," he whispered, "you're not worth someone like me. You're worth someone ten times better than me. But I don't care. I'm just going to love you as much as I can now."

"Love me?"

"Yes. I love you Merida Dunbroch."

"It's - it's only our first date, this is crazy -"

"Crazy's good. I like crazy."

"So do I."

"That's good then." Hiccup pulled her close again and whispered, "Because I think the pair of us make a mental couple."

"Couple?!"

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"The idea's crazy. So I love it."

"Is that a yes?"

"You could say so."