Summary: But darling, 'destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice'.

1

After traveling for nearly forty-eight hours, all Elsa wanted was a glass of ice-cold chocolate drink and twelve hours of undisturbed sleep.

Her family and friends had other plans.

The crowd was filled with old high school friends she hadn't bothered to keep up with, aside from the occasional texts and e-mail, and people she was sure she'd never even met before— just that her family knew them. It wasn't that she'd wanted to cut all ties with this place when she moved out for college, she'd just never been good at long-distance communication. Hell, outside of her family, the only person she'd talked to regularly these days was Hime, and her best friend hadn't been able to make it tonight.

"I get that from the entire time seeing you sit here in the corner, only bothering to say a one word reply to anyone who tries to talk to you, you're not really enjoying yourself."

Elsa's cousin perched on the chair next to her, effectively blocking any chance of escape.

"Don't be rude."

She took a sip from her wine and sighed. If it weren't for the efforts her sister went through for the party, she would've left the moment she stepped off the microphone to give thanks to all the people who came. If she had been asked, she would have found a way out of it. She's not really being an ungrateful brat, although she wasn't expecting a resort full of people for a welcome home party the very night after she got off the plane, either.

"Sorry, Merida. I'm just tired, I think."

"Nah. I'd completely lose it if I were you. Ha! The last thing I need is an over-energetic sister to top off with my three trouble-brothers!"

She turned her head to her cousin, who's hair was just as wild as she'd last seen them. You could still hear her thick Scottish accent on every word she said but had gotten better concealing it. And as much as Elsa would love catching up with her, having a conversation was the last thing she needed right now.

Here, with the music twanging, clash of too many people in one place, and less an hour of sleep, her nerves were shot, and she had a nasty headache starting. Even the sound of a glass shattering somewhere in the farthest corner startled her half out of her skin despite the fact that the music was almost making it hard to hear anything else.

It took her a while to notice that Merida was saying something to her."Excuse me, what?"

"I said make your escape. I'm pretty sure I can handle a few cover ups for you and—"

Anna chose that moment to jump to her feet, looking brighter than the sun, what with her neon dress and hair pulled up. "Mer! Come here! I want you to meet someone."

Their cousin zeroed in on her like a shark scenting blood. "Not one of your match-making moves—"

"Come on." Anna hustled around the table, grabbed their cousin's hand, and practically dragged her out of her seat. Merida paused long enough to give Elsa the "Now is your chance" look, and then they were gone.

She finished her... Honestly, she wasn't sure how many glasses of wine she have had. Not enough to dull the pressure that was building on her sternum. Her cousin was right, this was her chance to make her escape before she lost her composure completely. Saying a silent thank you to Merida, she slipped out of her seat. Only a few "Thank you's", "Glad to see you back" and "You look great!" on the way and she was inside the safety confines of the elevator.

Not really.

She really needed to get to somewhere peaceful to rid off the painful throbbing.

So much for being composed. Elsa stopped trying to hold herself in check and started walking faster out, when her phone chimed from her pouch. It distracted her enough that she didn't see the man ahead.

"Oomph."

Time Check: 8:45 PM

He was certain that his sister told him the party started at nine.

Phone check: 12 missed calls, 21 new messages

Or maybe not.

Jackson Overland never liked being late at parties. But it didn't mean he was always on time either.

Getting out of the car, he more or less jogged inside the resort, silently praying that Emma had now been occupied by her friends at the party so he could make an unnoticed entrance and be spared from a five-minute lecture.

As he was about to turn right, he felt a vice-like pull on his arm followed by a body pressing to his side.

"Oh, babe! I-uh-what took you so long?"

Jack blinked, head turning to look at the face of his attacker whose arm was now firmly linked to his. A pair of blue orbs and a very sweet smile, but very close to the one his sister makes whenever she had done something she says she was innocent of doing met him. Either he was involved in some petty accident on his way to the elevator and had gone to heaven or was still dreaming because he was pretty fucking sure that whoever was clinging to him was a descendant of Aphrodite. He was about to ask who she was or if he knew her when a man in front of him spoke, "Babe?"

Jack tensed. Already running late, the last thing he needed was to get involved in something he clearly had no idea about. He had half the mind to yank his arm away from whoever the woman was (regardless how gorgeous she was) when she turned and smiled at him, her eyes with that oh-so familiar pleading look (courtesy of Emma, of course) and her grip tightening. The man cleared his throat, clearly calling for their attention, or rather hers, a frown gracing his features. "You're dating?"

"Obviously and it's none of your business." The girl snapped, prompting Jack to give the man (who seemed to completely disregard his presence) a once over.

"Elsa," the man seemed to have struggled with words for a moment before holding the girl's gaze, "I meant what I said to you before you left. I'm sorry. You don't have to do this."

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, clearly you're not dating this guy." For the first time, he acknowledge Jack by nodding at his direction, a somewhat distaste coating his tone. "You just want to make a point, and I get it. It won't change my opinion of you. But you're better than this."

Elsa, or at least that was the name the guy called her, was rendered speechless and by the subtle tremble and loosening of her grip (in defeat or anger or maybe a mixture of both, jack wasn't sure), was about to surrender her case. By the tone and words already exchanged, he had now a very vague idea what was going on. Time to step up and save the maiden in distress.

"Elsie, this is the bastard you told me about ages ago?"

Seconds passed and Jack was starting to regret opening his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Didn't you hear the lady? I'm her boyfriend. And you Mr…" Jack clicked his tongue as though trying to remember the man's name.

"Tadashi," Elsa supplied, seeming to have gotten her head back from space (thankfully).

"Ah, yes, Tadashi", Jack turned his attention to her, gaze softening and said in the sweetest and most apologizing voice he could muster, "—sorry Els, you know I'm bad at names, more so insignificant ones" and turned to face the man again, "doesn't know how to keep his nose where it belongs. The next time you try to disrespectfully question our relationship, you wouldn't even get to finish a sentence without a broken bone. I believe my girlfriend has already told you this and in case you're slow, deaf or at least pretending to be deaf... you have no business with us."

"Come on, babe." He tugged on Elsa's hand and lead her back the way he came in, leaving a rather very shocked guy standing in the lobby.

The two of them stood in silence once outside. Now that he was wasn't too distracted, he finally got a good look of her, noting how troubled she seemed to be.

After a few more breaths, she turned to face him. "Thank you. I-I'm really, really sorry for dragging you into the situation." she paused, giving him an embarrassed smile. "I owe you."

There were a few questions running around Jack's mind but he didn't want to pry, even though she couldn't blame him if he did. "No problem. Are you okay?"

She paused for a brief moment then nodded. "I guess so. Yes. I'm just… I can't believe that actually happened." She looked at him straight in the eyes and apologized for the second time.

"It's fine. It was nothing." He reassured her with a smile.

"I really am sorry for holding you up. You must be needed somewhere? I hope I didn't get you in any more trouble."

For a second, he was reminded by his sister (oh, boy) and the party he was supposed to attend to.

"No. Not really. I'm supposed to meet my sister but I think she's having fun with her friends now, she wouldn't notice my absence. What about you?"

She took a moment to survey the area then said, "Oh. Well, I was planning on going home but I don't have any keys with me so I guess… Do you happen to know any bar here? I mean, somewhere not too crazy but enough to unwind maybe?"

Guess he was in for a long night. He didn't mind at all.

author's note:

unbeta'd. taking some advice from a friend to start uploading fanfictions no matter how shitty I think they are.

i'm not gonna use the same shitty writing style on my young gods au tho. welp. yeah, i have that au for jelsa sitting with my other trash. i wonder when I'll upload them. hahaha. i hope you're all doing well!

reviews would be highly appreciated.