Author's Notes: I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I need to have my hope and faith in humanity and in the male population restored. And one of the ways I do that is by writing fictional cuties. So I hope you enjoy it, and have a good time reading it (this one was a hard one to finish, not gonna lie; I just had no idea how to do it!). As always, have a magnificent week, you all!
Oh, and none of the character belong to me!
One of the reasons why Elsa hated spring so much was the unexpected rain falls.
She was usually prepared for this season, but today she had woken up late, which prompted her to storm out of the house without looking back. It was only when she was already in school, on the second period, that she remembered that her umbrella was in the laundry; she had put it there so it would get dry after yesterday's rain. So she looked up at the relatively clear sky and prayed that it didn't rain.
But with her luck, she left school and walked home, as she always did, and when she was in the middle of the way, the huge, gray cloud that had formed during her last period gave way for a thunderous rain, a storm with lightnings and bolts. Great, she thought as she hugged her backpack against her chest. Better to get her head wet—and probably pneumonia—than to ruin her textbooks and notebooks. Her whole academical life and iminent future depended on them.
Elsa was running up a ladder, cursing all the gods of luck for hating her, when a car stopped in the hard shoulder beside her. She knew that car. It was big and red, and still seemed brand new, despite being at least 3 years old. It belonged to the Westergaards. She recognized Hans, a boy from her grade, in the driver's seat. He got something in the passenger's seat and left the car, immediately opening a huge blue umbrella and shrinking under it.
The girl didn't noticed she'd stopped, and that she was staring, but he was running towards her anyway. Hans got close enough so that the umbrella covered them both, and looked down at her—she was short, compared to him.
"Do you want a ride?" He asked in a loud voice—so she could hear him over the rain—with a gentle, warm smile that reached his eyes. Elsa stared at him for a moment, surprised at the kindness of this boy who rarely talked to her. She'd only see him around his friends, so she only knew the too loud and joker side of him. The polite and kind facet was completely new for her.
"Thank you, but my house is not far from here." She said. No matter how gentle, intentions were never clear when it came to strangers.
Hans frowned, clearly not convinced. "Are you sure?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Okay, then. But at least take my umbrella. You can give it back to me tomorrow."
It was Elsa's turn to be surprised. She raised her eyebrows. "It's not needed, really. I'm already drowning." She chuckled, but he didn't accompany her.
"Yeah, you won't laugh like that when you have pneumonia. Here, take it." He took hold of her hand and forcefully put the umbrella staff there, closing her fingers around it. His fingers were freezing, shaking a little due to the cold.
She opened her mouth to refuse the whole thing, but he cut her by raising a hand. "I won't need it, Elsa, I promise." He affirmed. "Okay, see you tomorrow, alright?" He gave her a quick smile and ran back to his car before she could protest. She yelled his name, but he didn't respond. He either hadn't heard it, or was ignoring her on purpose.
Elsa watched the car come to life and slowly get out of place for a moment, but then resumed her walking, now safe from the rain because of the huge umbrella. She was already wet, but the comfort of not having a storm fall down over her head made a smile appear on her face, and she almost forgot it was raining for a while.
The next day was Thursday. She had English Literature with Hans in the third period, but she'd rather give his umbrella back before that. However, she didn't find him in the corridors, so she'd have to wait for the class.
He got into the classroom with a huge grin while he stared at something in his phone, his hair and dark shirt wet, and Elsa felt a pang of guilt for him not having his umbrella with him before. She stood up and walked towards him; he hadn't seen her yet.
"Hm, Hans?" He looked up at the sound of his name, and saw her. His smile grew a little.
"Hey! Good to see you're alive, dry and well." He chuckled, which made his cheeks blush a little, and Elsa smiled.
"All thanks to you, man. Anyway, I just, you know, wanted to give you this, so..." She handed him his umbrella. "Thank you so very much."
He got his umbrella, also smiling. "Why, milady, you're always welcome." He bowed a little, which made Elsa laugh.
"Thanks again, good sir." She gave him a last smile and went back to her chair, her chest effervescing with the joy derived from a good social interaction.
In lunch, she sit alone in her usual table. Anna was somewhere with Kristoff, probably; Elsa didn't bother to text her sister anymore. Having lunch alone wasn't bad, anyway; she'd just open an ebook on her phone and continue her reading while she ate her sandwich—earphones on, of course. See? Not bad, huh.
It was all fine, until her reading was interrupted when someone pulled the chair beside hers—Hans. Without meaning to, she shot him an ice cold stare. It was just for a milisecond, but he saw it anyway.
"Hi—Oh, huh." He frowned his lips, his eyes wide in surprise and a little fear. "Do you mind if I sit?" Hans asked. Elsa laughed at the thinness of his voice.
"Sit down. Sorry, it's just that you interrupted my reading."
"Oh, sorry. I can go—"
"No, stay. I've read this fic a million times already, anyway." She put an elbow over the table and set her head over her palm, staring at him.
"...Fic?" He raised an eyebrow, confusion clear in his green eyes at the unknown word.
After an imperceptible—or so she hoped—sigh, she got to explain to him about fanfiction, leaving out the sordid, unnecessary details. His eyes lit up with comprehension.
"How cool!" He said, sounding honest. Elsa's eyes widened slightly at this; she had expected that he thought she was weird or something.
"Really?"
"Yeah." He raised one eyebrow. "I had never heard of it, but it sounds cool." Hans smiled at her, showing that he meant what he said. "But anyway, I came by to ask you if you'd be interested in attending a party, tomorrow night? In my place. It's totally safe and all. I mean, there is beer, but my brothers and I are going to be there the entire time to make sure nothing... Illegal, and gross, to be honest, is going on, so." He wrinkled his nose at the thought, and she mirrored his expression.
"I can't. I'm not a party person, but thanks for inviting me." Elsa shrugged, a resigned half-smile on her lips. What did people do in parties anyway? What did they wear? How did they dance—or did they dance? She wasn't prone to trying alcohol or playing those kissing games or whatever. She'd rather stay inside the familiar safety of her bedroom.
"Oh, I'm not a party person either. My brothers are organizing the whole thing up. I'm sure you've heard about them."
Well, she had. The Westergaard brothers were famous for their success in almost everything, from good looks to grades and college acceptances to parties on Friday nights. The rumors on how a family achieved such a great reputation without showing any despicable flaws were constant in her school. The most accepted theory was that they were actually the Cullens, the vampire family of Twilight, and that they had found a cure for the, huh, unwelcome vampire shine.
"We can just hide in the kitchen and read fanfiction." He pronounced it wrong, stressing the fan far more than it was necessary, but she didn't correct him; it was pretty cute to see him trying to speak it. "And eat pizza."
"Pizza? Don't tempt me, boy, you've never seen me near pizza." She grimaced, and he laughed.
"I'm counting on that. So, what do you say? Pleeease?" He tilted his head and pouted, trying to look like a sad puppy. Elsa laughed.
"I'll think about it and, hum, give you the reply tonight." He seemed satisfied with that answer, so he nodded.
"Lend me your phone, I'll give you my number." He nodded towards the object in her hands. She hummed a "sure" and unlocked the phone, then gave it to him without looking at the screen.
He got the phone and a small smile formed on his lips as he skimmed the text. As quick as it had appeared, though, the grin vanished completely, being substituted by a deep crease on his forehead.
"What?" Elsa frowned and tried to get her phone back, but he turned aside before she did. "Is something wrong?" She asked, confused, until Hans began reading, aloud, what was on the screen.
"His hands tore the clothes of his lover apart, both of them lost in a passionate kiss that had them gasping for oxygen afterwards. Elias—" He laughed, diverting again from Elsa's desperate hands as she tried to get her phone back. Her face was almost the exact color of a ripe tomato. "Elias kissed Thomas' jaw, neck, while caressing the man's naked chest, and they both—" Here, Elsa finally, finally, took hold of her phone and got it away from Hans, not looking at him. She turned off her device without paying attention to what she was doing. Her only thought was the embarassment and the dread of having to look at Hans sooner or later.
"Now I get why you read fanfiction." He teased her, his voice light with amused joy, and laughed. Elsa rolled her eyes. "But tell me what happens after that, I want to know." He fake-frowned, pretending to be frustrated. Elsa smacked his arm.
"Shut up." She hissed. Her previous good mood was nowhere to be found; the embarrassment was slowly turning to an irrational fury, directed—unfairly, she knew it; it was kind of funny—at Hans.
The boy raised his hands in the air, as if to show he was not guilty. "Sorry, the talk is over. But tell me one thing," He straightened himself on the chair and held his hands together in front of him, looking very serious. "Do you also write fanfiction?"
Elsa opened her mouth to assure that, no, nananinabibidibopityfuckinghell no, she didn't, but the words didn't leave her mouth that easily. She stuttered a weak no, and her hesitation was enough for him to have his answer.
She hid her face with her hands while every head in the cafeteria turned in their direction, attracted by Hans' thunderous laugh.
Elsa thought she wouldn't feel nervous about Friday night, but she did. First, she would go alone to a party full of teenagers who could get really mean. Second, what if she did something really wrong and got bullied until she went away for college? And lastly, what if the whole party disappointed her? What if she just ended up being alone the entire evening?
Loud pop music blasted through speakphones on the living room, and there were many people dancing or engaged in various social activities around the house. A group of seven teens were exchanging personal stories and laughing out loud. Many people were dancing. Fortunately, no one seemed to pay much attention to her, so her nervousism somewhat decreased.
Someone grabbed her pulse, which made her jump in surprise. "Elsa! You're here!" Hans said, a wide smile on his face. He let go of her, and she felt calmer, until she realized that his eyes darted to what she was wearing and he raised his eyebrows. Instinctively, Elsa looked down to make sure she was all dressed.
"Elsa, you look..." Hans starts, gesturing at her entire figure. "Freaking gorgeous, to be honest." He shrugged, his cheeks getting slightly rosed. "Do you always dress like this when you wanna eat pizza with a friend? At a party full of drunk people?"
She giggled. "Anna—my sister—didn't let me leave with jeans and a T-shirt. I tried to warn her, but she can be very persistent."
Anna had lent her a black dress—sleeveless and knee-size, nothing that would call too much attention. Her sister practically yelled at her for wearing an old T-shirt and jeans, so Elsa complied to the orders she received and wore the dress, but she fought for her right of wearing her black pair of Converse. Overall, Elsa felt pretty cute. She was relieved to notice that many girls were wearing dresses like hers, though.
"Well, she was not wrong." Hans grinned at the blush appearing on Elsa's cheeks. "So, I was thinking I could introduce you to some friends of mine, and then we eat that pizza I told you about."
Elsa agreed, so Hans lead her to a group of five people—three girls and two boys—she recognized from school. None of them looked at all surprised to see Elsa accompanied by Hans, but they did seem happy to meet her, and were all gentle and welcoming, for her delight.
The rest of the night went by quickly. Elsa met two of Hans' brothers, attempted to dance, due to Hans' insistence—he actually started moving in a ridiculous way in the middle of the dance floor just to make her laugh and convince her to do it—and, finally, the two of them ate pizza.
Elsa didn't feel nervous anymore. The jokes told during the evening, Hans' loud and funny friends, their stupid dancing... She felt welcome now, felt like Hans actually liked her—her insecurity on things like that had been a problem for her before.
By one o' clock, she was already sleepy and tired, and Hans noticed. He took her back to the kitchen—they had been talking to Gerda, one of Hans' friends. There, in the relative quietness, she called her father.
"He said he'll be here in ten minutes." She informed her friend after she had ended the call, and he nodded. Elsa yawned, then, covering her mouth with her hand, and Hans chuckled.
"Sorry to leave you so tired. If you hadn't already called your father, I could take you home." He smiled gently, looking at her tired face. "So you'll come to our next party, right?"
Elsa grimaced. "Good Lord, you throw a party already thinking about the next one? Chill, man." Hans laughed.
"But you will, right? You seemed to have fun." He held her right hand and intertwined their fingers. Elsa's head was spinning a little due to sleepiness, although it was barely perceptible.
"I did, it was—" Another yawn. "It was great. I thought parties were stressing, but they can be pretty fun with the right people."
Hans grinned widely when she said that. "We never got to read fanfiction."
"It's not fanfiction. It's fanfiction, you dork." She corrected him with a lazy smile.
"Sorry, my lady. I'll try to get better at saying it." He joined his eyebrows, pretending to be serious. "But really, we should do more stuff together. Maybe, eat pizza in an actual pizza place, at, I don't know, seven, tomorrow?"
It took Elsa many long seconds to absorb the proposal, but, eventually, her brain connected the information that he was still holding her hand, and that he was blushing adorably and looking at their feet instead of at her.
"Are you... Are you asking me out?" She said, sounding more awake and alert. Her tone was the epitome of honest surprise, along with her wide eyes.
"Y-Yeah. I mean, yes, I am." Hans answered, still staring too intensely at his feet. "And it doesn't have to be pizza... What do you think?"
Elsa had no reaction for a second, but then an own escaped her lips and she smiled, her eyes twinkling. He finally looked up, and gave her a half-smile, looking a little confused at the lack of an actual response. But then she kissed his cheek, and said, "I'd love to go out with you."
For her immense delight, he blushed even more and his lips twitched upwards.
Hans only felt that his face was returning to its usual color after she had left with her father. He was supposed to play it cool and not to get too affected by whatever she answered.
Yeah, you totally succeeded at that. Idiot. He cursed himself mentally. Well, at least her answer had been yes! He grinned at the memory of her happy eyes looking up at him so adorably. Why had she called him a dork when she was clearly the dorkest person in the entire planet?
It was okay, though. They could both be dorks. Together. He felt strangely giggly at the thought, and quite stupid too. Now he understood romantic comedies and love songs, and he couldn't be more excited, nor more terrified.
"Text me once ur home k? Gd night yo, c u tmrrw XD". He texted her. For his surprise, she answered a minute later.
"Already home haha. Thx for the worry tho. Gd night 4 u too, c u tomorrow. :D". It was her reply. He grinned ear-to-ear once he read it, and put his phone aside with a happy feeling on his chest. After all, it wasn't every day that one got a date with their long-time crush.