A/N: This isn't the Pitch/Elsa story the fandom deserves. It's not even the Pitch/Elsa story the fandom needs. But's it's the Pitch/Elsa story you're gonna get. Sorry about that...

I wanted to do my own take on the dreaded 'Highschool!AU'. As ever, reviews are hugely appreciated and I shall reply to them all.

Elsa took a deep breath and got out of her car.

"This is it. Final year of university..." She swung her bag onto her shoulder and after making sure the doors were locked (it never hurts to double check), Elsa started off towards her one and only lecture of the day.

It had been a funny sort of summer break, the young women mused as she left the concrete car park and turned towards the humanities building. Her sister Anna had been accepted into the same university as her current boyfriend and so Elsa had spent the summer helping her sister find all the items she needed to take with her. Elsa smiled to herself as she thought about how excited Anna had been.

"And I'll need a garlic crusher, obviously."

"Why? What for?"

"For crushing garlic, duh."

"Ah, of course. Don't you think it might be more sensible to get a slightly more useful tool? After all, you can't juice fruit with a garlic crusher."

"You're right! Elsa, go find a lemon juicer!"

She was a wild one, that was for certain, but Elsa loved her little sister more than anything else in the world. Anna lived for every single moment that life was going to give her and in some ways Elsa envied that carefree attitude. The number of times Anna had gone out with her friends while Elsa was busy balancing utility bills and rent fees, she honestly couldn't remember, but it was worth it to watch her sister grinning in her shared kitchen after they had moved endless boxes out of the car.

And so Anna had headed off to Corona University, garlic crusher in tow, and Elsa had started her final year at the University of Arendelle. It was close to home but Elsa had never really had much of a desire to move far away, she was comfortable and happy enough where she was. That, and she couldn't have left Anna to go anywhere else.

Sighing, Elsa pushed the door to the lecture theatre. Being one of the first to arrive she picked a spot on the edge of the row and settled down, pulling out a notebook and pen.

"Miss Talvi, good to see you! How were your summer holidays?"

Professor North was at the front of the room, looking as amiable and vast as ever and despite the beard Elsa could tell he was smiling by the crinkle of skin at the corner of his eyes.

"As pleasant as it always is. My younger sister left for university a couple of weeks earlier than me so I was happy for the peace and quiet!" Professor North laughed heartily at this as he arranged his Over Head Projector slides. "But to tell you the truth, I'm much more of a fan of the cold."

"Ah, you and me also Miss Talvi." He looked as though he might have continued talking, if not for a loud clatter by the lecture theatre doors. Elsa didn't need to look up to know exactly who it was who had just crashed their way into the room.

"Mornin' Nicholas! Fine day for a dull as dishwater lecture, don't you think?"

Professor North grumbled something in Russian at his notes before looking up and smiling again.

"Good morning Mr Frost. If you aren't keen I'm sure I can transfer you to the biology department."

"Yes" Elsa chimed in, still not bothering to look up to the newcomer. "I hear they're doing some testing on primates. Maybe you could volunteer?"

Elsa's vision was quite suddenly full of messy white hair and blue eyes.

"You break my heart, sweetheart."

"I've done no such thing. You're more resilient than that, Jack." She grinned and pushed the boys' face away from hers. In a display of fake hurt and mocking tears, Jack clasped his hand to his chest.

"What did I ever do to gain such scorn from the Ice Queen? Me, but an 'umble country lad!"

"Jack Frost, you are a fool!" Elsa giggled and shuffled her chair forward so Jack could slip down the row and sit down. They spoke about their respective summers and Elsa wondered again why she never took Jack up on his many offers of a night out? Sometimes she didn't understand herself.

He was a very cute looking guy, that was for sure, and they got on like a house on fire. It wasn't as though he wasn't interested either. The first time was probably as a joke between friends, a silly comment that wasn't intended as anything serious, but after Elsa had rejected his offer the third or fourth time, she wasn't so sure. The rest of their friends thought it was a running joke, and Jack was happy for that belief to continue. However, Elsa saw that flicker of hope every time he made his dramatic proclamations of love and sweeping gestures and she knew there was some truth in it. It was only a little crush, she was sure, but it was enough to make sure that she never said yes. Jack was a dear friend and she didn't want to do anything to hurt him. Besides, as she always said to him, she just wasn't ready for a relationship. She'd only just managed to get her sister to university and now she needed to concentrate on graduating and getting a decent job.

"Elsa, you look tired." Jack changed the subject yet again, "You're not worrying about Anna are you?"

"Ha, when am I ever not worrying about Anna?"

His eyes filled with concern and he rested his fingers lightly on top of the back of her hand. His fingertips were still cold from the early morning chill and while it didn't bother Elsa, she took no comfort from his touch.

"You've got to look after yourself now Elsa. Anna's a big girl, she can manage on her own."

She pulled her hand away from his, smiling gratefully, and thankfully that was when Professor North decided to start the lecture.

Creative writing was one of those strange subjects that most people didn't take very seriously, Elsa included, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed taking it as an extra module on top of her English literature degree. She found it incredibly relaxing to take time out of her day to pen a poem or experiment with a paragraph. True, there were always times when she was hit with the dreaded writers block but Professor North was talented teacher and always managed to inspire some sort of wonder or passion in Elsa. She would channel that into something and the words would flow, almost like magic, on the page.

About ten minutes into the lecture there was another clang at the top of the stair where the door to the theatre was. Professor North stopped talking about the syllabus and looked up confused, only to change to his trademark smile after a second or two.

"Ah, and here I was beginning to think you would never come!"

"I was held up at the office."

Elsa turned in her seat to see who had interrupted their lecture but she needn't have bothered as he was already striding down the steps to stand at the front. A tall, almost gaunt man with dark hair and bright eyes stood next to Professor North and surveyed the classroom. Elsa felt as though he was sizing each of them up. Despite the large room they used they were only a small class and as he scanned each their faces Elsa knew he was making decisions on just how worthy of his time they were. When he reached hers she smiled as she always did but he didn't stop for a beat before moving onto Jack, where she swore there was a smirk of recognition. She didn't have time to linger on it as Professor North was soon speaking again, this time to the entire class.

"Everyone, this is Mr Black. He will be taking the Thursday afternoon seminar session for me." He turned to the pale young man and slapped him heartily on the back. "He was one of my students two years ago and has gone on to be a very successful writer and publisher, have you not?"

"Yes. And don't call me 'Mr', I would much rather everyone used my first name, Pitch." He words were kind but Elsa noticed there was little emotion beyond contempt behind them. "I have been lucky enough to have my work printed, yes, and I work for a popular publishing company." He stepped forward, away from Professor North as though his next words might earn him another back pat. "But it was hard work, and that is why I am here. The next while weeks I will be learning what you are all capable of and then we will see how you can be made better." The last words were spoken with a sneer.

Professor North laughed again.

"Oh Pitch. Ever the serious one!"

The class broke out into nervous laughter, but Elsa knew that every single one of them felt the same way as she did;

This year was going to be very different from the last two.

The rest of the two hour long lecture consisted of the Professor talking about how the year was going to work and Pitch Black's involvement in it. At the end he asked Pitch to set a small writing task to be emailed to him at some point on Wednesday in order for him to get a feel for each persons' ability and style.

"Two hundred words or 20 lines, use an emotion you felt this summer as your starting point."

That was it. No hint on what sort of style he wanted it in. No writer to keep in mind whilst we wrote. No nothing. Well tonight would be an interesting brain storm, that was for sure.

When they got out of the lecture theatre Jack was storming ahead and Elsa had to jog to catch up with him. When she managed to she was rather shocked to see the normally cheerful boys' face filled with anger.

"Jack, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

Else didn't know what to do. She had never known Jack to be short with her and if she was honest it worried her a little.

"Erm, okay. What you like to go get a coffee or something?"

Jack stopped a little ahead of her and sighed. Turning around he let a weak smile come to his face and nodded.

"Actually, that would be great. Thanks Elsa."

Together they walked in relatively easy silence, but there was an undercurrent of tension still lying just under the surface. Elsa hoped it wouldn't last for long.

Once they had their drinks they sat in a quiet corner of the campus coffee shop. Elsa liked having her classes early in the morning because she could enjoy places this this without the busy hustle and bustle of crowds. She was happy to be around her tight knit group of friends but large crowds still bothered her.

Finally, after what felt to her like hours of silence, Jack spoke up.

"I'm sorry about back there. I just…" His hands tightened around his mug, "I hate that guy."

"Who, Pitch? You know him?"

"'Know' isn't really the right word. I 'suffered through' him." Jack wasn't looking Elsa in the eye and she knew better than to try to catch it. It was an action she knew all too well so she sat quietly, waiting for Jack to talk in his own time.

"Remember in first year when I tried out for the ice hockey squad?" Yes, she did. It was a gruelling set of trials that she had come to watch for an hour or so before leaving for a guest seminar on Keats. She had been beyond impressed with Jack and how swift he was on the ice, almost as though he had been made for skating. She had done figure skating when she was younger, before her parents- before she had to look after Anna, and she knew that what he was doing out there wasn't easy. She nodded, half to Jack and half to herself. She didn't want to start thinking about the past.

"And do you remember that one guy on the squad, the one that took me out and broke my arm?" Well, she hadn't been there to see it but Toothiana had recounted the moment quite vividly once Jack had been taken to hospital. Elsa nodded again.

"Well, that was Pitch. He was vice team captain, though he might as well have been captain because his word was law on that team. And no wonder, he was a scary mother fucker."

"Okay, Jack. I know he broke your arm but I'm sure that was an accident. He didn't even know you!"

"Elsa, that's just the beginning. I got on the team, despite my injury, and that wasn't even the half of it. He'd never pull his strikes, even when I first got back on the ice, and every training session he'd have something to say. Initiations were the worse though. Me and the other new squad members did all sorts in order to gain the favour of the team, but he liked to pick on me the most. He'd call me in the middle of the night, before deadlines, asking for coffee or pizza. And on team nights out he called all the shots, literally. One night he made one guy drink until he needed to get his stomach pumped. And so much more I don't want to go into right now." His face darkened. "It was a nightmare, Elsa."

"Why didn't you just say no? Seriously Jack, what was the worse he could do?"

"He threatened to kick me out of the team and to get me banned from the rink."

This may have sounded petty to most people but Elsa knew how much skating and just being near to the ice mattered to Jack. Besides, he worked as a skating instructor on the weekends and losing that job could quite literally spell the end of his university career. Jack wasn't rich and working part time was sometimes the difference between eating and going hungry.

"I see." She reached across the table and put a hand on top of his, not unlike how he had earlier that morning. It was risky but she wanted to draw him out of his thoughts. Luckily it worked, and he smiled warmly at her.

"It's okay though. It's been a few years. Who knows, maybe the arsehole has grown up a bit?"

"Look who's talking!"

And just like that, the tension was gone and he was back to being the Jack whom Elsa knew by heart.

That evening she sat down with a bowl of pasta and her creative scribbles notebook. She would eventually write it down on the computer but she felt that writing things by hand was so much easier to edit.

"Almost like a lost art" she mused internally, tomato sauce dripping down her chin. Just then the phone began to ring and Elsa nearly knocked the bowl from her lap in her rush to get to the phone. It was almost definitely-

"Anna!"

"Yup, that's right! You're big grown up little sis!"

Elsa grinned. It was a relief to hear the cheerful voice of her sister. She caught the escaped sauce with the back of her hand and after looking around to check no one had seen her (though who would, what with her being in her own house) licked the back of her hand clean. Well, she was a student after all. No harm in being a little messy!

"So," she started after settling back down with her dinner, "how's it been so far?"

"It's in-credible! I live with these really awesome people who are all really nice and one of them has a breaded dragon called Toothless but I assure you he definitely has teeth, and then my lectures are all really exciting and fun and today I burnt my toast so instead I went to the store to get a breakfast bar and a coffee and I felt so awesome and cool with my coffee, in my lecture!"

Elsa laughed. She wondered if she was ever this excitable when she had gone to university. A small wave of sadness over came her when she realised that no, she hadn't. She had been far too busy making sure Anna had her braces removed that day and dealing with the electricity bill to worry about coffee. But she pushed that aside, now was not the time to think about that.

A long part of the conversation revolved around Hans and how 'sweet' and 'kind' he was, and Anna reassuring Elsa that she didn't need any more lectures about sexual health.

"Besides it's not like you'd know, Ice Queen…"

"Hey, I know enough!" Elsa retorted, her face flaring red. Just because she didn't actively know about it doesn't mean she doesn't read… "Besides, I'll have you know-"

"Eww, I don't want to know anything, thank you very much! This is way too weird, even for me!"

"I'm just trying to help, Anna. I don't want you getting in a situation."

"Yeah yeah, sure. Yucky babies and screaming pregnancies, or something like that. Anyway, I've got to go! There's a freshers' party tonight and the whole flat is going!"

"No worries." Elsa wanted to tell her to be safe, to not drink too much and to call her if she has every problems, but she knew it would all fall on deaf ears. Instead she just finished with "I love you, Anna."

"I love you too, sis. Speak later, okay?"

"Ok-"

But Anna had already hung up. Elsa looked at the phone in her hands and for the first time since she had left Anna in that communal kitchen, she felt just how far away her sister was.

Elsa looked at the notebook they lay discarded on the floor. She knew exactly what she was going to write about.

It wasn't until I was looking through the rear view mirror
Until I was on the motorway
Until I was stood at the sink,
Up to my elbows in bubbles
With no one to dry whilst I washed
Until that first phone call
That I felt the distance between us.

And I knew you'd never really come back home.