Disclaimer: I don't own Disney, the Mouse does, he owns everything.
"Ugh, my fucking head." Rapunzel groaned as she popped some Ibuprofen. She didn't know who was drilling a jack hammer into her skull, but they sure as hell didn't pay rent and needed to leave.
"What did we learn?" Elsa casually turned the page of her book, an amused smile on her face.
"To never trust Flynn as far as I can throw him!"
Elsa laughed. "Sure. Let's go with that."
"I swear when I get my hands on him I'll... I'll-!"
"Speaking of, he wanted me to tell you he wishes you a speedy recovery."
"Really?!" she squealed, instantly regretting it as a new pain erupted in her head. "Owwww!" She rubbed at her temples while Elsa chuckled at her suffering.
"He seems very nice, he even walked us back to the car."
"Didn't I tell you? He's perfect! Owww!" Rinse and repeat.
"Maybe just stop talking since it's physically impossible for you to keep your voice down."
Rapunzel groaned, exasperated. "So," she started, careful to keep her voice at preferred levels. "What did you think? You seemed like you had fun, from what little I saw, anyways."
A flip of paper. "To be honest, we weren't there long enough for me to experience it properly." Rapunzel scrunched her face; after finally getting Elsa out with her she managed to screw it up big time. She opened her mouth to apologize but Elsa cut her off, "I suppose we'll just have to go another night so I can answer your question."
Rapunzel squealed as she threw her arms around Elsa. "Owwww~" she said, laughing. "So, tonight?"
"You're not even recovered from your hangover and you wanna go drinking again?!" Elsa shook her head, incredulous. "Let's get through this first week first."
"Deal!"
"..."
"...Owww~"
"You should have seen her, Kristoff! She was gorgeous!" Anna gushed, collapsing on her bed and swinging her feet wildly. She sighed happily as she thought of the platinum blonde beauty she'd encountered the previous night. She'd been walking back toward the stage when she first saw her. She'd been standing there alone, a drink in her hand; her soft blonde hair tied up in a single braid, draped over the front of her shoulder. Her icy blue eyes looking around, soaking up everything around her. Anna hadn't noticed her feet had re-directed their destination.
Not until the same drink splashed over both of them.
"She was." Her friend, Kristoff, noted, having seen the two conversing when he called for Anna. "Too bad you botched that chance, she was gone by the end of the first song."
"Ugh!" Anna covered her face with a pillow. "Don't remind me." Despite her terrible first impression, Anna thought she'd had a chance with her. They'd agreed to talk after Anna's performance, but she watched, sadly, as the woman left with her blonde companion after the first song. "I wouldn't wanna talk to me, either." she mumbled.
"Oh, cut the dramatics." Kristoff yanked her off the bed by her feet. "You've had enough girls fawn over you to know that isn't true."
"T-That's not the point!" Anna sputtered, pulling herself off the floor, face as red as her hair. "I just don't want someone to hate me before they get to know me!"
Kristoff rolled his eyes. "I really doubt she hates you, feisty. And if she does who cares? There's millions of pretty girls in this world, I would know, I notice all of them." He laughed as he dodged a pillow coming his way. "Hey, now that you're done moping how about you use those bubbling feelings to come up with another song?"
"You know I will!" Anna jumped up, all trace of negativity wiped clean.
"That's the spirit!" Kristoff clapped her shoulder. "Sven and I are off to class, we'll see you later."
"Later!"
"Ahhh~! Caffeine is the cure all to hangovers." Rapunzel hummed happily as she sipped her Starbucks. She and Elsa were currently walking across campus, having arrived early so Rapunzel could get her coffee fix before class started.
"Feel better now?" Elsa laughed, nursing her own frappe.
"Much!" Rapunzel beamed. "So, what classes do you have today?"
"Just Law & Ethics of Business Practice."
"Well that.. sounds... exciting?" Rapunzel hitched her shoulders with a sheepish smile, doing her best to seem supportive.
"It sounds very boring." Elsa laughed. "But thank you for trying."
"Yeah, well, what are best friends fo- Oh my God! Elsa!" Rapunzel grabbed the other girl's bicep and pressed their faces together. "Do you see that?!"
"Uhhh... I see other students?"
"No! Well, yes, but those two!" Rapunzel pointed with her arm at two students, who were now staring at them, disturbed. "Big blonde guy and bigger brown haired guy!"
"Hey!" The blonde cried, offended for his friend, who crossed his own arms over his body. "If you're gonna talk about someone at least do it when they can't hear or see you!"
"Oops, I think they heard me." Rapunzel whispered.
Elsa shoved her cousin away. "Of course they heard you screaming about them, you idiot." She laughed, only to immediately tense when she noticed the two big men stalking towards them. "Rapz!" she hissed.
"Can we help you?" The blonde man asked.
Elsa felt herself start to shake. "I, uh, well.."
"I'm sorry!" Rapunzel stepped in, taking the attention off Elsa. "It's just, aren't you two the ones that played at Oaken's last night?" Elsa's eyes widened, finally connecting the pieces of the familiar blonde man Rapunzel pointed out before.
"Oh!" His eyes lit up with recognition. "You're the two ladies that came by last night! I'm Kristoff, and the 'bigger guy' here is my brother Sven." Sven pouted at the reminder.
"I-I am so sorry! I didn't mean bigger as in, you know. I just meant you're built much bigger. Like bulkier! No, not that way! Like more husky? Uhhhh.." Rapunzel realized she was just digging a bigger hole. "Elsa, help?" Elsa just shook her head.
Kristoff laughed. "Relax, we know what you meant. Sven's not upset, right, pal?" Sven stuck his lip out, looking between his brother and the two girls. After a tense moment, he shook his head. Kristoff patted him. "You big baby." He turned back toward the two girls. "Did you guys enjoy the show last night? I noticed you didn't really stay to watch."
"Sorry, again. I got too drunk and Elsa had to take me home." Rapunzel tucked her hair behind her ear. "But I come and watch you guys all the time! I really love your music."
"I'm really glad to hear it. Feel free to come back and see us, anytime."
"We will! We're gonna go back this weekend. We'll stay for your whole performance this time, I promise!"
The boys laughed. "Well we gotta get to class, but it was really nice meeting you, uh.."
Rapunzel smacked her forehead. "Oh! I'm Rapunzel, and this is my cousin Elsa." Elsa gave a small wave.
"Well it was nice to meet you, and we look forward to seeing you this weekend. Maybe come by a little early and we can hang out before the show." Sven nodded his head vigorously. Kristoff waved. "Later!"
"Wow." Rapunzel said, watching them leave. "They're so nice!"
"Yeah." Elsa cleared her throat. "Their singer was nice, too."
Rapunzel looked at her. "Singer?"
"Remember the girl that spilled my drink, Anna?" A nod. "Turns out she was their singer. We talked, kinda, before they went on." It hit Elsa in that moment that Anna had asked to talk after their show, but they'd left soon after.
"Oh yeah." Her cousin mumbled, the memories coming back. "You two seemed to hit things off pretty well."
"I said like... three words to her."
"And that's three words more than you say to literally anyone else!" Elsa just shook her head, not knowing what to say. Her cousin wasn't wrong, after all. "And you'll get your chance to say even more words this weekend."
"I don't know.." Elsa mumbled. She wasn't good with new people. She didn't say one (actual) word to Kristoff or Sven just now because they terrified her.
So... why didn't Anna?
Shortly after walking away from the two girls, Kristoff whipped out his phone. He nudged Sven with his elbow. "Oh just wait til I tell Anna." The boy beside him laughed.
Hey, you'll never guess who I ran into.
Who?
The two girls from last night.
Immediately his phone started buzzing, Anna was calling.
"You're lying!" She shouted as soon as he answered.
"No, no." He laughed. "I guess they go to my school."
"No, you are lying to me. And I can't believe you'd lie to your bestest friend like this." Anna sounded frantic, and Kristoff just smiled, amused.
"I guess the blonde that Flynn is always gushing about recognized us, she was screaming about us from like 20 feet away. It was... really weird." Beside him, Sven was nodding.
"Oh yeah, she does come by a lot doesn't she? But about the girl that was with her?"
He rolled his eyes. "Your 'platinum blonde beauty' is her cousin."
Anna gasped. "I said that part out loud?"
"Yes, yes you did."
A groan came from the other end. "Wait, you said her cousin? Oh thank God, I thought maybe they were a couple. I might still have a shot!"
"Well try not to blow it, they're coming again this weekend."
A strangled noise screeched in his ear. "What?! That's so soon! I need more time, I can't just-! ... I gotta go, Kristoff! I have work to do!" With that, the call was ended.
Kristoff tucked his phone away, shaking his head. "She's got it bad, buddy." Sven shot him a look. "Relax, we'll keep an eye on her. I'm not about to let Anna jump into the shark's tank." Sven nodded his head.
Elsa settled into her desk. She pulled out her over-sized notebooks that she knew she'd need for all the notes to be taken. She took a deep breath to steady herself. One more year, one more year and I don't have to put up with these classes anymore.
"-that's the only reason she got the spot." Elsa perked up as she heard the last end of her classmates sentence. She glanced over at the group; none of which she recognized to the point of knowing their name.
"No way, there has to be more integrity than that." One of them chimed in.
"Come on, Snow, everyone knows how sleazy bands are."
"I mean, of course I've heard, but that doesn't mean it's true." The one named Snow defended.
"Well, sorry to shatter your illusion of the innocent world, but that's just how it is. I mean remember that whole scandal with Ursula and her band?"
"Well, one person doesn't-"
"It's not just her, though. Like groupies are a thing, Snow. People in a band will sleep with literally anything that moves. And any band that has a single female is most likely being banged by all of them. It's just gross."
"Can we not talk about this anymore?" Snow asked, quietly. She seemed like she was about to throw up.
Elsa found herself absorbing the words of her fellow classmates. She'd seen plenty of movies of bands who, when not performing, were hooking up as if it was the only thing that kept them alive. I mean, yeah, it's kinda common knowledge the kind of life that some musicians live. But who cares? It doesn't bother anyone.
"It gave me the perfect excuse to buy a beautiful woman a drink."
Elsa's stomach dropped so fast it actually hurt.
"Maybe I'll see you later tonight?"
She swallowed; hard. Anna had been openly flirting with them last night. Was she...?
"Maybe come hang out with us before the show?"
Why would these random musicians ask for their company? Was it because they were the only females that were there? No, that can't be right. Rapunzel's been there a bunch of times and nothing like that has happened...right? She would tell me if it did. Besides she's interested in Flynn, she only likes their music. That's all.
Think about this rationally. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, right? I don't even know them.
What are the chances you would get to know them? You're just a stranger you really think they wanna be your friend?
Elsa's mind was flying a thousand miles a minute; she was getting dizzy. She shot up from her desk and ran to get some water.
The weekend was here, and the moment that Elsa had once been excited for now filled her with dread. She couldn't get the rumors from her classmates out of her head. She couldn't voice her thoughts to her cousin, after all what if she was wrong? She'd die of embarrassment if Rapunzel knew. No, she needed to see how things played out. If worst comes to worst, she'd protect her cousin.
Right?
As they found themselves outside the alleyway, Elsa couldn't help but say something. "Rapz?"
"Hm?"
"I know you've been here a lot, so I was just curious, did any of the band members talk to you before?"
"Not at all, why?"
Elsa wasn't sure how she felt about that. "It's just so.. unbelievable, I suppose. Like why would they talk to us, of all people?"
"Oh Elsa." Rapunzel waved her off. "It's not like they're a big name or anything, no need to hold them to any high regard. And even if they were, they're just regular people like you and me." Elsa looked at her, unsure. She understood what Rapunzel was saying, but that didn't do anything to quell the concerns in her head. Rapunzel grabbed her arm. "Come on, relax, I'm not here for them. I'm here to have fun with my best friend."
Elsa smiled. "And Flynn."
"Guilty, but you." Rapunzel linked their arms. "are my top priority. We don't need guys to have a good time."
Her cousin's words helped her relax, as they always did. Elsa let herself be led inside. The bar looked just as it had almost a week ago. Almost empty save for a few fellows at the pool tables. She hadn't paid enough attention the first time to tell if they were the same ones. As they approached the bar, Elsa steeled herself, almost as if she was preparing for battle.
She just might have been.