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The light breeze made her bare, porcelain legs shiver a little, tiny goosebumps forming atop of her skin. She wore nothing but an oversized sweatshirt that hid the pyjama shorts she had on her legs. Her feet were shielded by some fluffy socks, and her crazed red hair was tied into a messy bun, wispy curls falling down her forehead and the sides of her emotionless face. It was late, very late. Merida knew she should've been curled up in bed, sleeping so that she could have the energy to wake up at god knows what hour of the morning to hop on her tour bus with the girls and head off for their world tour... without the boys. They were to leave with One Direction later the same day— how convenient.

The red head couldn't stop tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep as her mind raced with many thoughts. She had found her way out to the back garden, now sitting on the decking of the patio and staring into the late night sky, her lightning blue eyes almost seeming to fade with despair.

Mer clicked from her daze, her head turning slighting to the right. She huffed, "You just gonna stand there like a stalker all night?" She asked. She heard someone chuckle from behind her, the person finally approaching her and sitting down next to her.

"Looks like we're in one of these situations again, huh?" Hiccup remarked, holding out a bottle of beer in her direction, another one for him in his other hand.

Merida glanced at it, "You know a beer isn't gonna be able to fix this problem, right?" She replied, taking it from him anyways and downing some of it immediately.

"Beer always helps!" He exclaimed jokingly, putting a very small grin on her face. Once it fell again, Hiccup frowned and hung his head to the ground as silence took over the atmosphere. He saw her shivering with the cold, and wanted desperately to pull her close and keep her warm, but he knew he couldn't. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked softly.

She scoffed quietly, "Yes, Hiccup. All I wanna talk about is the fact that you, my boyfriend, are ditching me to go on tour with a different band. Of course I wanna talk about it!" She sarcastically scolded. She took another gulp of the beer while the brown haired boy stared at her with saddened eyes. Silence, again. "Can I ask you something?" She suddenly asked.

"Sure." He replied with a timid tone.

"What does your family mean to you?"

Hiccup was caught off guard by the question at first. It was very random of her to ask him something so formal. "Um, well... it's important to me, I guess..." He shrugged, looking over to her. "I wouldn't trade my family for the world."

She nodded her head, Hiccup taking note of her slow movements. "What're they like?" She wondered, which made him smile a little. He hadn't seen his family for awhile due to moving in with the girls, so the thought of them made him happy.

"Well, my mom's a cook— oh! She makes the most amazing apple pie," he began. "And as for my dad, he's a builder. When I was 12, he helped me build a wooden race car." Beaming at the memory, he continued. "The boys and I would ride it around the garden while my dog, Toothless, would chase us."

"You have a dog?" Mer didn't want to smile, but she couldn't help it.

"He's a Black Labrador. I've had him since I was a kid, he's my best friend. The boys and I were actually thinking of bringing him on the tour with us—" he trailed off, immediately regretting bringing up the tour. Merida quietly sighed, looking glum again.

"My dad's in prison." She stated with no emotion on her face as she stared out into the dark garden. The brunette turned his head abruptly towards her. "My mom left after he went away. And now she's too fucking unstable to see me without being reminded of all the things he did, so I haven't seen or talked to her in the last 6 years."

Hiccup didn't know what to say. He could see the pain in her eyes, he could tell she was trying to hide it. "What about your brothers?" He asked cautiously, remembering how she mentioned them once.

"They live in Australia. They moved there when they turned 18 to get away from Scotland... I guess it just reminded them of my dad too much... I mean, we talk sometimes but— well, they have their lives and I have mine. I know they're proud of me and love me, and I feel the same for them, we're just all so busy that we don't get much time to talk." A single tear rolled down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away.

The drummer watched her with sorrow. She didn't dare make eye contact with him, but she knew he was gazing at her. "Mer..." he gaped out. "I'm so sorry, I—"

"Oh for the love of god, save the pity for someone else, Hiccup." She cut him off, rolling her eyes. In all honesty, he was that surprised by the red head's attitude. He knew she hated getting sympathy, how she hated letting her tough exterior down. "Just because I had a bad family doesn't mean I didn't have one at all. I had Rapunzel as a best friend since I was a kid, and then after a couple years we met Anna and Elsa. We grew up together, we got all this together. They became my family." She bit the inside of her lip before going on. "And then you boys came along, and I was so afraid that you were all gonna mess up our family— my family. Turns out you were just new additions to it." She laughed with tearful eyes.

Hiccup shook his head to hold back his tears, closing his eyes for a moment as he heard her sniffle sadly. He opened them after a few seconds, and felt as she placed her hand on his.

"And you—" she took a deep breath, trying hard not to sob her heart out. "You made me feel a type of way that I've never felt before. From the moment on the balcony on the night of the pool party, the moment you held me back in that fight, when you were the only person to be there for me through the times that I didn't want anyone to be there... I knew that you were different, I knew that you cared." He squeezed her hand tightly, and hung his head once again as he cried a little more. She wiped her eyes, "I guess I was wrong, huh?"

She stood up, letting go of his hand while he lifted his head quickly after what she had said. "No," he got up after her. "Don't say that." He shook his head, following her as she paced down the garden. "Please don't say that." She spun around to look at him again, her stained red face showing in the moonlight. Tears streamed from his eyes too.

"I never thought I would find someone who made me feel the way Josh did. Even after everything he did, I waited for so damn long... because I thought that maybe, just maybe, he might've come back. Deep down I knew he wasn't going to, but I was so scared that I'd never feel the way I did with him again, so I spent years waiting and waiting for something that was never gonna come around. But then you came around... and I felt that way again." Hiccup had never seen her cry so much. "And now here you are walking out on me, just like he did."

His heart welled with even more guilt as he strode closer to her, his hands being placed on either side of her face. Their teary eyes didn’t leave each other for what felt like forever, as he mumbled pleads to her. Soon enough, their foreheads rested on each other's.

"I won't wait for you like I waited for Josh—" she whispered to him. "I can't do it. I'm sorry."

Hiccup sucked in his breath, "Please, Mer..." was all he could get out. She leaned in and pecked his lips with hers, knowing it was for the last time.

"Have fun on your tour, Hiccup." She said softly before backing away and going inside, trying not to let out her sobs until she got to her room.

The brunette was left in the cool night air of the garden, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach as he longed to run after her. Hiccup sat back on the decking and buried his face in his hands, crying for what felt like hours. After hearing the birds beginning to chirp in the trees, he realised it must be getting close to the sunrise. He stood up, and remembered her miserable eyes staring back at his. He had made a mistake, and he realised that there was only one thing he could do to make things right again. He gathered himself, and ran inside towards the boys' rooms.

Hiccup knew what he had to do.