The Prince Between Us
Chapter 1
A/N: Hi guys! I got started on a multi-chapter fic and figured it fit pretty nicely with the Frozen characters. It's AU, obviously, but I hope you enjoy reading it and please review!
"I'm so cold I could freeze literally right now!" Elsa yelled from her room.
Anna emerged from under her blankets to reveal the chill her roommate was talking about. She put down her book and braved the temperature to check the thermostat. Yeah. It was cold.
"I thought the cold never bothered you?" Anna yelled back.
"When the hell did I say that? I'm freezing."
"I'm sorry, I don't know what to do, I'm not a HVAC mechanic."
"Do you know anyone who is?"
"How about your boyfriend?" Anna asked, walking into her room and holding back a chuckle as she took in the sight of her sister wearing the bulkiest sweater of all-time.
"LOL." Elsa said out loud, "First of all, Brad isn't my boyfriend...he's good company every so often."
Anna eye-rolled as Elsa continued, "And second of all, do you think Brad could fix a heating unit. No way in hell. Which is where I wish I was right now because at least it'd be a little bit warmer-"
"Okay, well if we call a mechanic it's gonna cost-"
"I don't care, do it!" Elsa pleaded.
Surprised, that's all Anna needed. She walked back in her room and flipped through the phone book. "Adam's Heating and Air-Conditioning Service, help available 24 hours."
"Sounds fabulous." Elsa yelled from her personal tundra.'
She dialed the number and a man answered the phone after a few rings, that was a good sign, right?"
"Hello?" he sounded exasperated.
"Oh thank goodness someone answered."
"Well that's what phones are for so-"
She frowned, was the HVAC guy already getting unprofessional? Shaking it off, she continued,
"Hi, Adam, I just need to have my heater fixed, it hasn't been working in like a week and we've finally succumb to the pressure of needing a professional."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not a professional. Well I am, but not a professional HVAC mechanic."
"What?" Anna was so confused, "Your ad in the phone book….who the heck are you?" she was getting frustrated.
"I'm Adam's friend, Kristoff."
Anna could feel him grinning on the other side of the phone, "Well thank you for mentioning that, Kristoff."
"Adam's on vacation and I'm at his place watching his dog. But your problem seems serious so why don't I come over and take a look at it." he offered.
"That sounds the complete opposite of legit." she murmured back to Kristoff.
He laughed, "Perhaps. But I've been giving you a hard time and I feel bad so please, it's the least I can do."
She considered, "I want a reduced fee."
"I'll do it for free." he said, "Kris's pricing is much better than Adam's pricing."
"Well he's the professional so…."
"I'll fix it, I promise."
Something about his voice made Anna trust him. Sure he was being a jerk, but it was light-hearted and if she had to admit it, kinda fun.
"I'll be there in five minutes."
Right on time, the doorbell rang. "That was quick!" Elsa exclaimed, escaping from her igloo to open the door.
"Hello." a tall, built man smiled.
"You're the HVAC guy." Elsa was in awe. This guy was hot.
"Something like that." he invited himself in, "Don't wanna let all this cool air in."
"It's already freezing in here it doesn't really matter." she rushed through the sentence suddenly feeling very, very warm. She wished she wasn't wearing this completely unflattering sweater right now, "So what's your name?"
"I'm Kristoff." he shook her hand but eyes went elsewhere instantly, "You're not the person I spoke with on the phone…"
"That'd be my sister, Anna. She's a little...different." Elsa affectionately described her younger sibling, "Anna, Kristoff is here!"
Anna came out a minute later and Kristoff was blown away. If Elsa was the glamorous super model, Anna was the completely gorgeous, natural beauty.
"Hi." he said, unable to take his eyes off her.
Shit. Anna thought in her head, he was hot. He was an adorable, flirty, caring guy who was hot. He wore a Navy ¾ zip hoodie with a white button-down shirt, dark-washed jeans, and boots, "Hey." she softened her mean eyes that invetiably were showing through.
Elsa stood in the middle of the interaction awkwardly. What was going on? "So…." she coughed.
"Right!" Anna said, "The heater."
"Take me to it." he said, running his hands through his long-ish blonde hair.
Sensing what was going on, Elsa decided to intervene, "It's right near your room, Anna, you can take him."
Anna hoped her sister read the death glare she was giving her right now, "Fine."
Walking him down the hallway she decided to give conversation with this guy another shot, "So you're in the Navy?"
Kristoff looked down at his hoodie and laughed, "How observant!"
She immediately rolled her eyes, "You're impossible to talk to."
"I'm only kidding, I'm sorry." he let out a wide grin that even Anna admitted was adorable, "I am a Naval Officer...well I'm a Naval engineer. So I design tanks and boats."
Anna was genuinely intrigued, "That's literally the coolest thing I've ever heard."
"How punny." he said, opening the flap to her hot-air heater.
She laughed, "So when you said you weren't a professional you meant you're actually over qualified to fix a crappy heater in an apartment building."
He shrugged, "You said it, not me."
God he was adorable.
Two clicks and literally three seconds later Anna felt heat hit her toes, "Oh my god!"
"It's a miracle!" Kristoff exclaimed after her and she shot him a glare.
"Ahhhhhh!" they heard Elsa scream from downstairs to which they both laughed.
"I just need to check a radiator in one of your rooms to make sure the stopper is outputting the right pressure gauge and then I'll never bother you again."
"Righhht." Anna said, suddenly getting nervous. Why was she nervous?! This was some random guy who just wanted to fix the heater for her, "My room is right over here."
She put her hand on the door knob. Should she just explain now? Did she have to preface anything? Should she just walk in and hope he didn't notice or care?
Right...this was just some guy. She opted for the third option and opened the door.
Anna immediately went to the closet where the radiator was until she realized Kristoff wasn't following.
Of course he noticed and cared.
"Holy shit." his mouth was agape.
"Can you just stop looking at all of my stuff and come check the heater." she said.
But he couldn't take his eyes off of it. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall, the 26 year old's room was covered in posters, pictures, articles, and sayings of a brunette man.
"Who is this?" Kristoff asked, completely checked out of the job. He walked closer to one of the pictures, "Prince Hands?"
"Hans."
"Right." he grinned.
She rolled her eyes, "He's the prince of the Southern Isles, next in line to the throne. I'm a big fan." she delivered, deadpan.
"I can see that, Anna." his eyes were wide and she managed to let out a chuckle.
"I can feel the heat from here, everything is fine, you can go now." Anna murmured aside as Kristoff inspected the room. She realized what a weird obsession she had, and normally it didn't bother her what people thought. But here was this incredibly handsome engineer who talked to her more than any other man in the last 5 years and he was probably thinking she was some sort of child. To cover her breaking facade she spoke again, "I know it's childish, okay, but I'm the president of the fan club and it's just a fun hobby and a lot of my friends...you know what, I don't care what you-"
"I think it's incredible." he said, looking right into her eyes.
"What?"
"I don't think it's childish." Kristoff told her honestly, "Is it weird? Hell yeah! We're all into weird stuff. I design boats for fun. But you totally own this... I like that about you."
"Thanks." she didn't know how to respond. What was going on?
Kristoff could tell she was confused so he smiled, god was she pretty, "I kind of lied about the price of fixing your heater."
She snapped out of whatever trance she was in, "What?"
Stringing her along was just too fun, "Yeah...it was a pretty tough job and I did it with incredible precision, stealth, and speed so it's gonna cost... dinner with me."
Anna immediately bit her lip, he was unbelievable, "Are you serious."
"Yeah, see, and just for comparison the alternative is valued at around seven point three million dollars so….."
"Dinner with you is worth seven point three million dollars?"
"You'll have to try it to find out." Kristoff smiled.
"Fine." she grinned. He wasn't growing on her, at all. She promised.
"That's perfect." Kristoff genuinely replied, "How about I pick you up next Wednesday at like 7:30?"
"That's perfect." she echoed and it was his turn to roll his eyes.
"Bye, Anna." why did the way he said her name give her a weird, butterfly feeling?
"Bye, Kris."
Kristoff exited and said his goodbyes to Elsa. As soon as her sister shut the door a horror, excited, girl shriek was released. "AHIAHIEAUHLJKHEFLH!"
Anna was dreading this.
"Anna." Elsa screamed, bursting into her room, "I HEARD THE WHOLE THING."
"I imagine."
"You just scored a date with literally the hottest man I've ever laid eyes on."
"It's not a date, Els, he just thinks I'm a werido."
"Who cares! You're hot, he's hot, it's too perfect oh my god!"
"I don't even want a date, okay!"
"If you use this fantasy with Hans as an excuse one more time I swear-"
"I'm going in my warm room." Anna said through clenched teeth, shutting her door.
"Have three outfits ready to go, this is not a drill!"