A/N: This one-shot takes place approximately three weeks after the events of "Through Windows". Thanks for your patience, returning readers. Shout-out to TRR and OL for much encouragement while this was still unedited and yucky. No, you don't know who they are, but they do.
Disclaimer: Frozen is copyright to Disney.
Elsa knew trouble lay ahead the moment Anna barked "race ya!" as they mounted their bikes outside of "Thrifty Things". Three weeks of casually meeting for lunch (and on one occasion, breakfast) had taught her that the girl had a knack for being rather gauche. In layman's terms: she was kind of a klutz. Add that to the fact that she had a penchant for posturing ("showing-off," Elsa called it blatantly)...
"Anna!" Elsa had tried to stop her, but the redhead was already jettisoning her way across the street.
To Annas credit, she actually made it across the road before pulling a typically clumsy maneuver, turning to look over her shoulder for a second too long. Then she hit the curb. Hard.
The young woman let out a squawk of sheer surprise when she began to topple forward over the front of the bicycle. The bikes momentum and the force of Annas flailing effectively caused her to swing the handlebars sideways, whipping the front wheel out from under her and sending her tumbling to the pavement.
As the redhead was sitting up, watery-eyed and baring scrapes on her chin, elbow, and knee, Elsa caught up to her, only a few seconds behind. She dropped her bike unceremoniously on the sidewalk, and quickly closed the gap between them, kneeling next to Anna. Suddenly, embarrassment outweighed pain. The younger girls cheeks and ears flushed a healthy shade of pink as she reached up and gingerly touched the scrape on her chin. She tried not to flinch as she bowed her head.
"Be a big girl, Anna. Don't cry. Oh, God, don't cry."
"Christ, Anna, you scared the Hell out of me. Are you okay?" Elsa was carefully moving the girls bicycle away from the tangle of Annas legs when the redhead gave the blonde a sidelong glance.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She had meant for her voice to come off as self-assured, but instead, it was more of a whimper. To cover up a sniffle, she folded her arm and pretended to examine the shallow cuts on her elbow.
Elsa frowned slightly, hands raising for one to brush the locks of copper hair jarred loose by Annas fall away from her forehead. With her other hand, she gingerly turned the redhead to face her, fingertips grazing the girls jaw just so. The younger girl felt the blush scorching at her neck intensify under the close scrutiny of the blonde checking her over for any other injuries.
At least, that's what Elsa was doing at first. After assuring herself that the scrape hardly warranted worry, she realized that Annas lashes were wet. She took in the rosy blossoms on the redheads cheeks, and her glassy aqua eyes and suddenly, couldn't help herself.
A grin momentarily flashed across her features, and she snorted, hand flying to her mouth to hide the fact that she was repressing jubilant laughter. Or partially jubilant. The other half of it was nerves.
It only took a split second for Anna to shoot her the most indignant look she had ever seen, rushing to wrestle the grin off of her face.
"Ohmyfreakin'God. Stop. Stop. Don't laugh."
"It's not funny!" the redheads voice cracked as she buried her face in her palms, head bowed in prostration to her humiliation.
The struggle to fight away that horribly inappropriate grin only became more difficult.
"She is so freakin' adorbz."
The platinum blonde decided she couldn't win this battle, and opted to cover up the overwhelming admiration that had swelled in her chest by wrapping an arm behind Annas slim shoulders, hooking the other behind her knees.
The redhead began to uncover her face at the feeling of Elsa bracing her back and legs, and when the woman made to stand, she squealed, throwing her arms frantically around the back of her neck.
The taller woman wobbled as Anna squeaked out a shocked, "Wh-what are you doing!?" She was looking up into the blondes oceanic oculars like a deer in headlights.
Elsa smirked down at her, craning back a bit to get a better look at the girl currently cradled in her arms against the sidewalk, "You wanna walk back across the street?" Anna thought her face couldn't have been burning any hotter, but she was wrong. So wrong. There were rare moments when the aloof confidence hidden under Elsas awkward outward personality peeked through.
She liked to tease the redhead. And the redhead found herself liking it too.
When Anna shook her head in the negative, pressing her face to Elsas shoulder, Elsa had to bite down on a chuckle, "Okay, hold on."
The girls arms squeezed a little tighter around her neck, and the blonde stood with ease. The way the older woman had told her to "hold on", she'd expected at least a little struggle, but there had apparently been none.
"Note to self: get into a precarious position so that you can squeeze her arms, because she has got to be fit."
Anna couldn't see the red flush over Elsas own cheeks and ears with her face hidden.
"Be cool. Be cool. Be cool." The blonde chanted like a mantra in her head.
Further astonishment fell over the younger woman when she realized they'd already passed through the door to "Thrifty Things", and that she was being set on the checkout counter. The blonde hadn't jostled her in the slightest over the curbs, or entering the shop. "And," her mind added, was Elsa really fast, or had she just completely spaced?
"Oh. Nevermind."
Elsa was incredibly close to her right now, standing just out past the redheads knees, hands gently perched on Annas sides, above her hips. She realized the blonde had her own very faint dusting of freckles over her pale complexion; made aware of them only by the fact that they were made more pronounced by the pink hue in the taller womans face.
The platinum blonde stepped back, arms dropping to her flanks, "I'll get the bikes. Wait here a sec."
Only once Elsa strode back out through the door did Anna let herself lose her composure, gasping deeply and slapping a hand against her heart that pumped with all the force of a speeding train. As she slowly released the breath, she gathered her thoughts. She was seriously having a love-hate relationship with this date. She couldn't remember a time she had felt more mortified, or elated. Her eyes watered again.
"Fuck!" Annas pride was still bleeding out. She felt like she needed to be confident to encourage and coax Elsa out of her shell, but she was acting like a complete spaz.
Before she could continue to wallow in her self-pity, the tall blonde returned with a bicycle gripped in each hand, awkwardly stacking them against the wall just inside the front entrance. She turned to face the redhead, resting her hands on her sides, hip cocked as she leaned heavily on her right leg, "Alright. First aid kit?"
There it was again. That blithe conviction. Annas stomach did a nervous, happy flip-flop. With her chin to her chest, she peered at the platinum blonde through her lashes and murmured, "Bathroom. Upstairs."
Elsa only nodded, her high ponytail whipping around her neck as she turned and strutted ("Oh, gosh. Her legs.") for the stairs at the back of the store. The redheads mouth fell slightly agape as she oggled the shapely, firm curvature of the blondes hips, and the lean muscles that flexed under her formfitting jeans as she climbed the steps.
The woman disappeared through the door to her flat, and Annas rational conscience chastised her as if from very far away, "Are you a twelve year old boy? Because that's what you're acting like."
All over again, her disappointment in herself washed over her. The redhead snapped her mouth shut, teeth clicking together as fresh tears stung at blue-green pools. She averted her gaze to the floor and was swept away in her thoughts.
Up until today, she had managed to avoid any extenuating incidents around Elsa. Sure, she bumbled a little here and there, but nothing major enough to really wound her pride. But she had crashed so gracelessly, whined so pitifully about a few little scratches, that she just couldn't shake off the embarrassment. To add to the cocktail of emotions swirling through her, Elsa was being cool and in charge. It was sort of "mindbogglingly hot!" and making it difficult to focus.
She was brought out of her reverie by the sight of the blondes sneakers stepping into her line of sight. Anna felt her face scorch again as she glanced up to Elsa, who had the small first aid kit in her hands. The taller woman set the box on the checkout next to Anna and opened it, removing a few q-tips and a bottle of peroxide. She noticed the redhead recoil at the sight of the disinfectant, and had to swallow a smirk.
Pouring a bit of peroxide into the bottles cap, she dipped the end of a q-tip into the liquid, using her free hand to gingerly tilt Annas head up. They locked gazes for a moment and the expression of uncertainty that glimmered in the redheads eyes was not lost on the blonde. Elsa quietly cleared her throat and, with great care, began to clean the scrape on her chin, murmuring warmly, "It's okay, Anna. It's not that bad."
Swallowing hard, the younger woman tried to put on a brave face and ignore the tingling, stinging itch of the bubbling peroxide. After a moment, Elsa dried the little cuts with the other end of the q-tip, applied ointment, and even added a band aid (at the girls request; which, in turn, drew out an affectionate smile from her elder).
Anna made it through the treatment of her elbow without squirming or wincing, and Elsa gave an encouraging pat to the girls uninjured knee, "Almost done."
As the platinum blonde began working on her wounded knee, the redhead realized that the older woman was actually... kind of, sort of... coddling her. She may have laughed at her misfortune a little earlier, but the entire time, Elsas warm hands had been cautious not to sting or hurt the scratches she was so tenderly seeing to. Anna lifted curled fingers to press her center knuckles against her mouth, hiding the shy smile that tugged at her lips. Her cheeks and ears were still pink, but no longer felt like an unbearable inferno. Warmth blossomed through her chest, heart swelling with adoration.
All was quiet for a few seconds until Elsa brushed a deep spot in the cut, to which Anna flinched. The barest hint of a whimper escaped her throat and she held her eyes shut for a moment.
When she opened them again, Elsa continued to lightly dab the wound, "Shh, don't be a baby." The redhead almost felt more mortification root it's way into her gut before she noticed the womans countenance betrayed her words. She wore a softhearted, lopsided smile that made her eyes positively lambent. The blonde glanced up into her aqua pools, "Does it sting?"
From behind her loosely balled fist, Anna nodded near imperceptibly.
So the redhead found long, elegant fingers wrapping around the calf of her injured leg, lifting it from the counter slightly as Elsa bent forward. As she absently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, the blonde blew a stream of slow, cool air against the uncomfortably foaming peroxide. Anna locked her grip tightly around the edge of the counter, staying stiff and quiet as the dead. Elsa stopped when the younger girl finally relaxed, dried the moisture, and placed ointment and a band aid over it. It had taken slightly more time to treat her leg, as they had to work around the tear in the girls pants.
Just as the redhead thought she would get to breathe, the blonde leaned in again and pressed a feather light kiss over the wounds protective dressing. "There. All better," Elsa gently squeezed her ankle before stepping back and moving to return the first aid supplies to their kit.
Anna watched absentmindedly, drinking in the blonde bombshell who had just cared for her so graciously.
"Did I die when I crashed my bike? Because, there's no way this is real life, and it's way too good to be a dream."
Her heart was beating so hard. Elsa was so kind. Elsa was so understanding. Anna had totally wrecked their outing together, and yet as she sat there, staring at Elsa with wanton endearment, she found herself thinking...
"Best. Date. Ever."
The blonde must have felt the younger womans gaze on her, because she turned and tilted her head slightly, cocking a brow with curiosity, "What?"
A nervous giggle escaped from Annas lips, and she pressed her knuckles a bit more firmly against her mouth. The girl worried her lower lip as she turned her shoulders away from Elsa just a bit, playing coy, peeking at her past heavy lids and long lashes. The look was ardent, and Elsa felt her previously cool facade beginning to crumble. Heat crept up her neck and into her ears when she noticed that Anna had slid over on the counter so that she was precariously close to the blonde.
The redhead clearly felt the balance of power shift back into her favor. "Thanks, Elsa." It was a sultry whisper that sent shivers down the blondes spine.
Before the elder girl could question the redhead further, her younger leaned in and placed a quick, chaste peck on her burning cheek before sweeping up the first aid kit. She all but skipped her way to the stairs.
Elsa stood stupidly in front of the counter, glazed eyes boring off into space. She only came around in time to see Anna disappearing into her flat; though, not before she turned just enough to sing song, "Call me!"
The blonde was left standing there until she could gather enough wits to spark the neurons that would allow her to leave the shop, floundering and stammering for coherent thought. Things were back to normal.