Tap. Tap. Tap.

Kristoff lifted his head up off of the desk, feeling the resistance of his humid skin peeling off of the cool surface. Drearily, he forced his eyes to slowly open and look at the flushed cheeks of his best friend.

"Yes?" he inquired, wanting nothing more than to lay his head back down on the desk. God, he was tired.

Anna darted her eyes up to the teacher to make sure she was still droning on, then brought them back to him, practically bouncing in her seat.

"Can you keep a secret?" she whispered, voice shaking with excitement.

"I don't know," he teased, the corner of his lips tugging upwards. "Are the events of your eighth grade birthday party common knowledge?"

Her face burned bright with embarrassment. "Shut up!" she screeched, forgetting about where they were.

The quiet murmur of the classroom dropped as students turned to stare at Anna. Kristoff tried so hard not to laugh at her struggle, but as Ms. Deville turned to reprimand her, he couldn't help it. Anna glared at him and shot her leg out under the table to connect hard with his knee. His laugh was cut short as he yelped, jumping up in his seat.

"Arendelle! Bjorgman! What is going on here?" the instructor snapped, one of her eyebrows raising to disappear into her horrendously blunt bangs. Anna and Kristoff shared a quick nervous look. Ms. Deville was one of the strictest teachers in school, and he couldn't think of anything he could say to get them out of this.

Anna tucked her hair behind her ear nervously, and Kristoff could practically see the gears turning in her head. Bet they're getting a little jammed, as always. He chuckled at his own joke. He loved his best friend- more than she'd ever know- but she wasn't the sharpest tack in the box. Unfortunately for him, his moment of humor was short lived, as Ms. Deville immediately pointed her glare at him.

"Something funny, Mr. Bjorgman?" She smirked. "Certainly, it can't be as funny as the joke I'm coming up with. Punchline: Disney High hockey champion suspended for disrupting class, can't play in the championships, and causes Dreamworks to win for the 78th year in a row. Then maybe the school would hate you as much as I do."

Kristoff could feel his jaw dropping to the ground. No, no, she can't do that, can she? Oh, trolls, what if it was his fault the team lost? They were counting on him. The school was counting on him. Anna was counting on him…

He glanced at his best friend for comfort, only to find her turning reddier and redder by the second. She looked she would blow her top at any second. Oh trolls, no. Anna was normally a bubble of happiness, but when she got angry, that bubble boiled scalding hot. She slammed her hands down on the desk and wrenched herself up out of her chair.

"Now you listen here, you psychotic old bat-!" she started, but Kristoff reached up and grabbed her arm, bringing her rant to a halt.

"Anna, please. Don't. You don't have to do this. It's okay," he tried to smile at her, but he still hadn't recovered from Ms. Deville's comment, and she could tell. He tried to silently plea with her, looking deep into her clear blue eyes. Please, he begged, don't get yourself dragged into this. It isn't worth it. He knew what would happen if she was punished, and he could not let her face that.

Her face softened, and her anger gave way to worry. "Kris…" she covered his hand with her own, lacing their fingers together. He could feel the tingles spreading through him, but he shoved those thoughts away. Stop, Kristoff. She's your best friend. We've been through this.

Kristoff stood up, gently pushing her back into her seat as he faced Ms. Deville.

He sighed. "I apologize, Ms. Deville. It was all my fault. Would you like me to go to the office?"

"You idiot!" Anna exclaimed, shoving him the lockers with a strength she didn't know she had. "Why would you do that? Hockey is your life, Kristoff! How could you risk that?!" She tried to breathe deeply, hiding her face from him as she furiously scrubbed the tears from her ears. Stop it, Anna. You're being ridiculous. Why are you so emotional all the time? You're such a freak. She tried to calm herself down and make the thoughts go away. Breathe in. 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold for twelve. Out for eight. Repeat. 1, 2, 3, 4…

While she was in her head, Kristoff had walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Hey, hey. Annie. I'm here. I'm safe. Do we need to go somewhere? The nurse's office? I'm here for you, birdie. I got you."

Anna shook her head furiously. "N-n-no. No. Y-You need to go to c-class, Kris. We need to go to class. N-no. I can't g-go somewhere. I h-have to c-calm down. C-calm d-down. Calm down. God dammit, why can't you just CALM down?!" she screamed at herself, fighting to get out of his arms. Anna sobbed, wheezing and gasping every breath in and out. She broke free of his hold, trying to run down the hallway, tripping in the process. She felt herself slip, and the air rushing around her as she fell. She had barely brace herself for impact when Kristoff swooped down and lifted her into his arms.

"I got you, birdie," he whispered softly. "I'm taking you to the nurse, okay, birdie? Your medication is there. You'll feel better after you take it. It'll hurt less, okay, birdie?" Anna nodded in response, and he kissed the top of her head. "Good. I'll take care of you, birdie." Kristoff seemed to pause for a second, and Anna looked up at him, her best friend since before she had known what a best friend was, and he smiled down at her; a sad, sweet smile, full of caring, worry, and… something else.

"I'll always take care of you, birdie."

Yo, my dudes! This is brennbaum. As you can probably tell, this is going to be a Disney High School AU. Through it, though, I'm going to be tackling REAL high school problems. Anxiety, depression, alcohol, drugs, the scary parts of romance and first love, friendships falling apart for little to no reasons, sexual identity, and other things. Early warning: updating for this fic is probably going to be crazy sporadic, and I apologize for that in advance. This is my first story, and I'm really excited for it!

I really appreciate any and all commentary, so please don't be afraid to review, and I'll take you guys along on this ride with me!

Brennbaum, out.