A/N: I don't know why, but I wake up in the middle of the night with this song ringing in my head and I go "What the heck, write a fic about it."
P.S. the H in Hans is for heartbreaker
As he walks down the high-end streets of Brentwood, girls literally turn their heads and squeal brave ones even try to get his attention (e.g. bumping into him "accidentally", tripping right in front of him, etc.).
But some turn their heads for another reason.
"He's that manwhore who broke up with Amanda through a text!"
"You see that guy over there, Patricia? I kid you not when I say that he's hooked up with almost every girl from Diamond Bar!"
Oh, he knows that they're talking about him. And what does he do about it? He walks right by them and picks up another girl.
Rule number 1 is that you gotta have fun
Hans has a new girl. How did he get this one? Well, let's just say that he needed some tutoring and luckily, the best in his class, heck, the best in the University of Southern California was assigned to him. It wasn't easy to get her but in all honesty, she's the best catch up to date. But Hans knows that this one isn't completely wrapped around his finger. Her name is Elsa. The fact that he actually remembers her name is already a big surprise.
You see, the whole point of being some notorious serial dater is that you have to break their heart, when their heart is completely yours.
Because if it isn't, then what's the point?
So Hans has devised a simple plan: He'll be a faux gentleman. He'll make her cling on to him with his sweet words and his amazing plans for their dates.
He's never done this before (maybe because most of the girls he's hooked up with or dated like him because of the fact that he's an infamous Casanova, after all, people do like bad boys) but he's rest assured that he can pull this off.
"Hans! Oh my God, thank you!" the sunlight drowns her skin with brightness as the lake in front of them swishes slowly.
"I know you've always wanted to go to Lake Balboa, it's pretty far from campus but hey," he smiled softly at the beaming lady beside him.
"Wow, I mean, look at this place," she says as her hand intertwines with Hans'.
It's working all right.
It looked like they some dream couple, sitting on a checkered cloth on the soft green grass with a picnic basket loaded with sandwiches. The sun was about to set and the sky was that gorgeous mixture of pink, orange and yellow. Everything was perfect.
"What's with you and sandwiches, Westergard?" she laughs, Elsa was a sight to behold, with soft pale skin and wide blue eyes. And not to mention the fact that the sky blue sundress she's wearing is a bit too short and revealing (which makes the eyes of Hans close in frustration and his hands clench).
"I don't know, is it too much for you to handle?" He says as he dramatically holds a grilled cheese sandwich to his chest.
She laughs once more and they keep quiet for awhile.
She leans in slowly. Hans smirks, he knows exactly what to do.
But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first torun
"Well, Elsa, I think it's time for us to head back to campus."
Elsa's eyes open in snap, disappointment etched on her face. He looks at the sky, pretending to not see the dismay on her face.
"It's a long drive back." He explains as he stands up and gives her his hand to help her up.
She dusts herself off and gives him a weak smile, "Yeah, it is."
Thankfully, the drive back to campus wasn't dreadful. She regained both her composure and her jolliness.
It's all part of Hans' plan. He needs to pretend that he isn't what they say he is—a manwhore. Hans needs to be a little bit hard-to-get. But as they drove along the freeway, Elsa humming softly to 'Blank Space', he had this sinking feeling, some sort of anger at himself. He was quick to push this away.
Rule number two, just don't get attached to
A study date. It may sound to some like one of the worst ideas for a date but Hans and Elsa decided to give it a shot. Studying is the reason they started dating anyway.
"So," Elsa said as she slowly huffed towards their table which was at the right-most corner of the library, "we have to do some light studying on these."
Hans turned around from his seat when he heard her voice and quickly got up to help her.
She was carrying, let's say, 20-25 gigantic business books. Hans carefully put them on top of their table.
"Elsa," he breathed, "when you said you were going to get a 'few' books and bring them over here, I was expecting, I don't know, a normal and human amount of books?"
She gave him a stern look as she sat down across him.
"Right now, I am not Elsa Elsa, I am tutor Elsa. So when I say this is a decent amount of books, this is a decent amount of books." she said as she folded the sleeves of her sweater.
He didn't say a word. But he did play footsie with her. She ended up laughing out loud, attracting some attention from the other library-goers, "shush!" they said in unison.
Hans looked at her as she scrunched her forehead in both concentration and frustration at her book. Hans looked at the messy blonde braid cascading down her shoulder. Hans looked at the way she bit her lip in agitation. Hans looked at her.
Hans had to admit, she was very, very beautiful.
somebody you could lose
But he couldn't love her. Wait, could he? He didn't want to stick around and find out. But maybe he did. He let out a loud sigh and Elsa looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Anything wrong?"
"No, it's just that..this topic..it's really, really complicated."
"You know what I think?" Elsa smiled kindly as her hand reached across the table to caress his hand, "I think you can handle it."
Rule number three, wear your heart on your cheek
As they rode a ferris wheel in some amusement park near town, Elsa was covering her face in fear.
Hans wrapped an arm around her and she swiftly sunk her face in his chest.
"Hans, you know I'm afraid of heights!" her voice was muffled because of the wooly fabric of his sweater.
"C'mon Elsa, I know you can do it, just look at the clouds…look at me."
She kept quiet for a minute or two and then she started to sit up straight slowly.
"See..I knew you could do it." He said as he pushed a stray hair behind her ear.
She closed her eyes at his touch.
He involuntarily took his hand back very quickly.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so afraid of heights?"
She looked at him for a second, her eyes were searching him for some sort of reason to be interested in her.
She sucked in a breath.
"My…my sister got into an accident while we were playing on this play set we had as kids. It was really high. In the eyes of a kid, it reached the sky. Then..she..she." Her eyes were starting to tear up heavily.
"You don't have to go on," Hans reassured her as he rubbed her arm (he honestly didn't know how to comfort people, anyway).
"It was my fault, okay? I…I didn't want her to get hurt, I didn't even know, I just, we were just playing and then she fell." A tear streamed down her angelic face and she swallowed thickly, "It was my fault."
"No, Elsa, no! It isn't you fault. It is nobody's fault." He said as he cupped her cheeks and made her face him.
"You are such a lovely person and people like you don't deserve to feel guilt." There was something scratching his conscience with excessively sharp nails, maybe it was his own words, "Especially if you didn't do it."
Around 10 minutes later, she calmed down and for the first time while they were on the ride, she smiled.
She leaned on Hans' shoulder and wrapped her hand around Hans' arm.
"What about you?" She said as she looked up to the sky dreamily. The charming blue that painted the sky entranced the young Elsa.
"What about me?" He asked, chuckling at how Elsa was fascinated with the fluffly cumulus clouds.
"What are you afraid of?" She said, tearing her gaze away from the sky to the handsome young man beside her.
He laughed. Nervously, to note.
"I guess I am afraid of some things."
"And what are they?"
He wanted to list them.
going back home for spring break
being picked on by his 12 older brothers
his 12 older brothers
being loved
falling in love (particularly with Elsa)
"Uhm," he laughed, "failing a class." Well, at least he wasn't lying. That is the reason he signed himself up for the tutor program.
"Oooh, tough guy, that can't be the only thing you're afraid of."
They laughed and Hans, with all his power, changed the topic.
Despite the fact that they were now talking about that snooty professor (he likes to call himself "The Duke") that made every lesson hard, Hans couldn't forget the question.
When they got off the ferris wheel, he bought her some blue cotton candy from this odd-looking man named Oaken.
But never on your sleeve, unless you wanna taste defeat
"My 12 older brothers." He said as he stared down the street filled with stalls with tents, selling all sorts of teddy bears and candy.
"Excuse me?" She turned to face him, nibbling on the fluffy treat.
"I'm scared of my 12 older brothers." He said blankly.
Elsa finished the last of the cotton candy and threw the stick away. She then cupped his cheeks and made him face her.
"You don't have to go on."
He hugged her tightly, fighting his tears. To forget about what happened, he decided that they play games at booths and ride a few attractions.
And as he drove back to USC, drunk on joy, he felt a sudden rush of frustration, 'What have I done?'
Rule number four, gotta be looking pure
When they got to campus, he decided to do everything he could to fix the mess he made. He couldn't let her in. He couldn't let anyone in.
So he slicked his hair back and fixed the collar of his sky blue polo.
He was at the door of her dorm building,
"I just want to thank you for the amazing day." She blurted out.
He grinned, "It was that good, huh?"
The two burst into laughter.
kiss her goodbye at the door
"Well, good night." She said as she stroked her braid. She didn't turn around. She was expecting it.
He took a step forward as he pocketed his hands, "I think I can make it an even better night."
"Oh really?" Elsa was really starting to become more confident since the time they met for their first study session.
He leaned in and he met her cold yet inviting lips. He removed his hands from his pockets and tangled them in her hair. She wrapped her arms around him, making a little sound of approval at the back of her throat. The stars that shined from above illuminated the gorgeous scene. She tasted like mint. Tingly, cold, refreshing, delicious.
When they broke apart, they looked at each other, surprised.
"Not so bad." he joked, pocketing his hands once more.
"Shut up."
"Good night, Elsa."
"Good night, Hans."
And leave her wanting more
Hans smiled to himself as he walked to his own dormitory. It was of course, all a show. Or was it? Hans abandoned the train of thoughts as he threw himself on to his bed. At least, he thought, I redeemed myself. As a heartbreaker or as a gentleman? Even he didn't know.
Boys, we do, whatever it will take
"You never fail to surprise me Mr. Westergard," She comments with a smirk.
"Since when did you start smirking?" He laughed, as he laid a checkered cloth on the lush grass of the Grand Park. The stars in the sky and the gorgeous park made it look like they came straight out of a romantic movie.
"Since I kissed you."
"Don't get too smitten, sweeite."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
Cause boys don't want, we don't want our hearts to break in two
They lay down on the cloth and looked up at the sky, pointing out their favorite stars.
"That one, that one is my favorite." She pointed at the smallest yet extremely bright star.
He wasn't looking at the stars. He was looking at her. Because in his opinion, she was the brightest star there could be.
But it couldn't be this way. It couldn't. As mentioned previously, he was going to wait until she was completely wrapped around his finger. And now that she was, he couldn't bring himself to do it. To smash her heart into a million of pieces, to find a new hook-up, and continue the cycle until the day he graduates. Because now, he was wrapped around her finger.
But he can't live with the fact that he isn't breaking her heart. That he hasn't sent that text or that e-mail or that note under her door. He's just so attached to the idea of being a heartbreaker. To the idea, that for once, he was in control.
So it's better to be fake, can't risk losing
In love again
He knows why he's like this. Because his heart has been broken 14 times, by the people he trusted the most, the people he loved the most. His parents let him down, made him feel unwanted and unloved. His 12 older brother molded him into some psycho who took advantage of others. He can't change, because people don't change. People don't change. Oh, Elsa deserved so much better.
"Elsa, I love you."
Her eyes slowly turned from the stars to the man lying beside her.
Tears formed in her eyes and a smile grew on her face.
He moved to kiss her, his hand cupped her cheek. Their faces were a centimeter apart.
She waited for his lips to come to her. But instead, his lips moved to her ear and she could hear the smirk in his whisper: "At least I think I do."
Elsa's heart wasn't the only one that broke that night.
A/N: I didn't want to make Hans a psycho heartbreaker again but I saw that as the only option to end the fic, to give justice to his character and to the plot I initially wrote. BUT, I do want to write a sequel to this. If I get enough people to say that it's worth writing, then I'll do it. And maybe, just maybe, there'd be a happy ending. Anyway, thanks for reading. xoxo, gabbie