"Kristoff?"

The door into the house had opened - a brief burst of sound and light from the party, still in full swing - then shut again. Heels tapped on the path, accompanied by the voice of the one person he least wanted to see. The person he most wanted to see.

"I'm fine, Anna. Go back inside."

"You're not fine." She walked round in front of him and put her hands on her hips. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Not really a party person, I guess."

"I know that. But I'm not an idiot, Kris. I saw your face."

"It's just - harder than I thought it would be."

"What is?"

"Being your friend."

He was worried he was going to have to explain, but he could see from her face that she understood. Anna looked at her hands. The diamond on her left ring finger caught the light and glittered for a second.

"I shouldn't even be here," he said. "I should go. I don't know why I came. I just - wanted to see you, I suppose."

"I'm glad you came," she replied. "I am. But - I know what you mean. I thought we could be friends, I thought...I thought it had been long enough, you know? Four years. Nearly five. We were so young."

"We were adults."

"Just about."

Not too young to fall in love, he thought. Just too young to realise what they had, that it was worth fighting for.

Anna looked away, back at the house. She was twisting her hands together, fingers catching on her ring, lost in thought.

"Go back inside," Kristoff said. "He'll be wondering where you are. Don't worry about me."

She ignored him. "I think…." she said, her voice shaking slightly, "I think your first love is so intense, you know, and I think - I don't think those feelings ever really go away." She looked back up at him. "And I do worry about you. I think about you - all the time." Anna twisted the ring on her finger again. "John said yesterday, that I mention you a lot. I'm trying to stop."

Kristoff realised he must have pulled a face, because Anna said "You'd like him if you got to know him."

"Would I?"

"He's not a bad man…"

"Is that all you can say?"

"What?"

"You're going to marry him! And is that all you can say about him, he's not a bad man?"

"I don't know, Kristoff!" She threw up her hands. "I don't know! When I said yes, I meant it, I was sure, or I thought I was - then we move back here and I see you again and the more I see you, the less sure I am, and the more I think that maybe four years ago when I left Arundel I made the biggest mistake of my life -"

She was right in front of him now, tears in her eyes, face almost pleading.

"I know I did," he said softly, "When I didn't go with you."

"You know I would never have asked you to do that."

"You shouldn't have had to. Anna….all this time, and I've just thought, well, everyone has regrets, everyone has things they wish they'd done differently, but then when I first saw you - first saw you again, last month - and you smiled at me, and all I could think was…."

"Was what?" Anna said after a minute.

"Was - oh, fuck. Because I knew you were engaged and I knew it was too late. And I knew. I knew I still loved you."

He hadn't meant to say that last sentence out loud. He already felt he was being unfair to her. This was her birthday party, for goodness sake, and he was upsetting her and confusing her. But Anna didn't look shocked at his words; mostly she looked sad, and tired.

"So what now?" she said.

"Now - I go home. And you go back inside. And - I don't come round here again, and you don't ring me again, and…"

"And you go off by yourself and be miserable?"

"That's not your problem."

Anna started to say something, then stopped. Behind them, the back door of the house was flung open. "Anna! There you are! Come on, we need to do your cake!"

By the time she turned back round to Kristoff, he was gone.