No one could sleep that one tried really,how would they?
Anna resigned from the idea,to take cab home,and instead slowly walked home,her gaze fixed on the ground,watching as the cracks between the stone tiles were widening like the void in the back of her wasn't used to conflict,living a life of wealth and happiness,she never truly saw how bad things outside of her little ideal world could , having stepped outside,felling how the pain and fear,she had inflicted, were tearing at someone else,seeing that little boy,marvel at an act of kindness,he'd probably never even seen was one of the things Anna had only thought she felt,but now it felt more real than the air she was breathing.
The redhead stormed somewhat halfheartedly into her own house and immediately started looking through the list of guests that were supposed to be at the shifting through the lines,hoping to find the name and address of the girl from last night,she came to a realization,she didn't know her guilt,that had fallen victim to Anna's determination,miraculously came back from the dead and took her mind In its dark and desperate she went through every single name searching for the one she didn't hours of the night ticked away slowly.
After Hans humbly exited the now empty hall,where the party took place, he just stood there,in front of the building staring blankly into space. His thoughts refused to let him go,there was never a quiet moment in his to after a few seconds, he pulled out a pack of cheap cigarettes from his pocket and lit just walked away lost in his thoughts,unsure of where exactly he was going,anywhere but there.
The shadows creeping around the chain link fences and concrete colossi coupled with the rumbling of trains on the nearby track were little distraction from the civil war inside his howling wind tearing apart the gentle puffs of smoke as the escaped his lungs,was creeping up his bare arms when he removed his jacket,only his t-shirt protecting him from freezing to didn't even try lying to himself that the cold didn't bother ,he was very cold,but he liked it that way,because when it got so cold it was hurting,it was never going to hurt worse than the truth the voice inside his head was repeating over and over. Just listen for once in your life.Self-loathing was slowly turning into self-pity.You can't live like this will you be satisfied with the pain you've caused?How much is enough?If you ever want to call yourself human again,go to her and let all of this you won't do that, will you?
Hans was indeed tired of himself,so much so that it was driving him long he was hiding his disgust from he had become,deep inside he was still that little boy,trying to survive in the world that pushed him away and shut him out.
The arrogant sun was now steadily climbing over the horizon,its rays gently illuminating the snowflakes as they danced through the air and reflecting off frozen puddles on the just sighed at the sight and headed in front of the building his numb shaky hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a key-chain, involuntarily rattling it as he climbed the steps to the front found himself on the third floor of the building in front of an old wooden door riddled with scratches,dents and a single lonely bullet-hole. Such dear memories. He slid the rusty key in the lock,it took a few jerks,but it finally nervously locked the door behind him took to the living caught a quick glance at his brother through the open door of his room snoring on the bed,probably crushed by the 12-hour night shift it took to pay the on the couch,where he usually slept,in front of the running TV,he contemplated whether or not to play Metal Gear Solid for the next twelve hours,before discarding the idea in favor of taking a much needed nap.
Elsa however was motionless the entire night,powerless to get up and move to her she could do was let all her bottled up emotions pour out,leaving her before had she laid bare so much of herself, she was just thankful no one was there to see her like eyes did nothing to hold the cold tears back,each tear dancing down her pale features,reflecting the lights of the city,somehow complementing her just kept on pouring out,overflowing and it was gradually giving the poor girl more and more space for thoughts in her her sobs died out,replaced by hiccups,who were themselves replaced by dead silence.
Shimmering blue eyes shot open to witness the morning sun creeping over the horizon as the lights of the skyline dimmed and faded away, leaving the gentle rays of sunlight to glisten in Elsa's wet closed her eyes once more to lose herself in the silence.
Having spent all night shifting through the names of boring rich people,Anna was ecstatic when she finally found what she was looking for, letting out a small,victorious squeak. Elsa? That's a pretty name. After confirming the name belonged to the girl from last night,Anna punched the address,to which the invite was sent,in her phone and let the small device guide her.
Hans awoke from his slumber to the lifeless mess,that was his brother's loud snoring was still filling the hallway,forcing him to go over to his brother's room and gently slam the door didn't stop the snoring,but at least it was now somewhat remembered the promise, but quickly realized, he was not fit to step out of the apartment. One cold shower later and he was thoroughly brushing his teeth,trying to get rid of the stench of alcohol and smoke in his pulled out a pair of old worn jeans and a plain t-shirt from his drawer,deciding to throw away the pretense of sophistication for the real halfheartedly looked at his watch and realized it was almost eleven,grabbing a hoodie from the coat hanger near the door and headed out.
An inch of snow had already covered the city in its soft wind had died down,no longer was the aggressive howling echoing through the streets,instead a cold messenger was slowly prowling,gently guiding the snowflakes to their was leaving behind small footprints in the snow on her way to the old building where Elsa she reached to open the door,it creaked open,to reveal Hans standing on the other side.
"Hey." Anna didn't recognize him,the tuxedo swapped out for formal jeans and sneakers,the humble hoodie paling in comparison to the elegant jacket,blood-shot eyes hidden behind sunglasses. What kind of douchebag wears sunglasses in winter.
"Hans?" The girl mumbled in disbelief. "What are you doing here?" Somehow she found it hard to believe that the casually dressed man was the same person,who talked her ear off about pretentious bullshit, spilling lie after lie the whole time.
"Well,I kind of live here." He paused,rubbing the back of his neck. "So,what happened last night?Did I say something wrong?I'm sorry if I did! Smooth.
"No,no,I didn't mean to leave you alone at the party. "She didn't fell particularly sorry about it last night,but looking at him now,she began second guessing herself again. "There was an accident in the back alley and I had to leave."
"What?!Did someone hurt you?" Fires lit in his eyes,but Anna couldn't see past the dark shaded glasses. "What happened?"
"No." She blushed at the concern she was shown. "If anything,I hurt someone." Her eyes fell to the snow-covered ground. "I'm here to make amends."
"Oh." The fire in Hans' eyes died suddenly as his face grew cold. "What did you do?" His voice was thick with disbelief and disappointment. Looks like you were made for each-other.
"I would rather not get into it,it's a sore subject." Still fixated on the ground she failed to prevent a sigh from escaping her throat. "For what it's worth,I hurt you too and I'm sorry." She finally lifted her eyes to meet his,discovering that he had taken off his sunglasses,exposing red eyes to the cold wind.
"Well you consider making it up to,by having lunch with me?" A wishful smile carved its way through his face.
"I don't know." She uttered with had to admit to herself that it would be cold of her to just leave him a second time and that his new found honesty and actual human emotion was kind of charming. "I guess I could. Here's my number." The girl said while scribbling some numbers on a piece of paper,she pulled out of her pocket. "We can arrange something" She shoved the little piece in the confused boy's hand. "See you later." She threw a halfhearted smile his way,as she passed him by,entering the building.
Hans made a futile attempt at speaking out how much he appreciated the second chance he was given,but his mouth would only go as far as "Bye." Are you sure it's a second chance, sounded more like a combination of pity and guilt to me.
With his mission accomplished Hans,decided to take a walk in the local park instead of returning to his oppressing,small he was afraid that if he went back inside with Anna,he would screw up,and partially he just wanted to be alone for a bit,relishing in his small victory over his own repulsive nature.
Anna on the other side was a bit repulsed by what she saw dirty floors riddled with unidentifiable stains and particularly sticky spots,the cracked walls,leaving the impression that the building was going to collapse on its self and the faint smell of something,she couldn't quite tell what,but it was making her uneasy,everything was making her want to run out of the building,but she held her ground and walked to the disappointed as she was,to find it nonoperational,she was also somewhat relieved that she didn't have to enter the presumably horrifically damaged took off, desperately avoiding the more suspicious stains on the floor as she made her way to the stairwell.
Suddenly Anna felt unsure of what to do,as she was standing right in front of the sturdy iron door that bore Elsa's name on fist stopped inches away from the door,while guilt and fear were taking their toll on the just closed her eyes and shook her head, discarding her insecurities with admirable determination.
The knock against the cold metal sent a sudden burst of adrenaline through Elsa's system,it made her jump up from the still red, hair messy,face still glistening wet,had she worn makeup it would have also been legs managed to get her to the door and a trembling voice called out to the other side.
"W-Who is it?" A soft hand pressed against the metal,awaiting a response.
Anna was thankful to just hear the girl's voice,ensuring that she is alright. "I'm Anna. We met last night, remember?" She secretly hoped the door would stay shut,excusing her from facing her wasn't so lucky.
The lock clicked and the door creaked open.A pair of curious blue eyes appeared in the void of the seemingly empty corridor,looking at Anna. After a few seconds Elsa realized who she was looking at and let out a silent gasp,before shutting the door and leaning her back on it. Breathing heavily she waited for anything,a voice,another knock,the sound of footsteps.
Anna's heart nearly stopped,as she leaned on the cringed,when she heard a soft whine from the other forced herself to say something. "Listen." A brief pause followed,as Anna tried to think of what to say. "All I want to do is apologize. I never meant to yell at you, you never did anything wrong.I am so,so open the ." She just held her breath,awaiting a response.
Nearly falling,when she felt the cold metal give way,and jumped desperate pleads had been answered and she was now facing the shy blonde heart skipped a beat at the sight of the glistening face and sad,red-tinted eyes looking back at her.
"Come in." Elsa made a noncommittal gesture in the direction of the living was following the stranger with her eyes,while she was crossing nervously through the dark gently closing the door and locking it,the blonde followed in the darkness,wiping away nearly dry tears and fixing up her hair.
"Wow,this place is really gorgeous." Anna failed to contain her amazement at the beautiful decoration and interior design of the apartment. She found herself wondering why this seemingly fragile girl was living in a crumbling old train of thought crashed in the wet couch cushion that had caught her attention. Was it that bad?
Feeling Elsa's presence at the door,Anna quickly turned around to meet the pleading gaze of the sat down around the coffee table and Anna proceeded to pour her soul out in one apology.
"Please forgive me.I'm usually a really nice person,but I had just spent the last three weeks organizing every single detail of that party and I was felling on edge last night so I blew up at you for no good reason.I'm really sorry.I promise I can….." She felt she was overdoing it,when she noticed the smile on Elsa's face,so sincere and no one had talked to her like that in a long time.
"It's okay.I forgive you.I didn't mean to make you angry,I just get very nervous in crowds and am generally awkward in social situations." Elsa had no idea where this confidence was coming from,but she was unimaginably grateful for it. "I appreciate you coming here to apologize,most people would have forgotten me and moved on."
With a heavy sigh of relief Anna leaned back, sinking in the seconds passed in awkward silence before she found the words to express herself. "You don't look so good." Concern was weaved into her tone "What kind of sore spot did I hit last night?"
"It's nothing,I'm alright really." Elsa was always a bad didn't even come close to deceiving the redhead.
"You're a terrible liar,really bad. Just tell me, it's okay." This time demand was mixed in with the concern,but it was met with sadness swirling in Elsa's eyes as she hung her head. "If you don't want to." Anna added in a fit of panic,trying to comfort the poor girl.
Elsa's lips molded into a grateful smile, looking at her companion, she felt compelled to say something,anything,but she couldn' broke the silence by standing up and heading for the door. "I guess I'll be leaving then." She shot a reassuring smile her way and passed her by.
"No, please don't go." Elsa let her thoughts slip,whispering in her breath.
"What?" Anna turned around surprised,looking at the nervous knew all too well, what she had heard,but she pretended she didn't.
"Um, do you want some coffee?" Elsa uttered the first thing that came to mind,with no time to think.
"Yeah,sure." Anna met the invitation with a smile. "I would love a cup."
Over the steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee the discussed books,music,films,art and whatever else came to was so happy to finally have someone to talk to and Anna was happy to be that seemed to go on and on forever.