A/N: Hey, everyone.
Sorry that I haven't written anything since September. My life has been crazy, and it's just getting crazier.
That being said, I decided to post what I have written so far for the second part of this story. This will make the fic more than three parts, since this is only the first section of them as teenagers, but I really want to put up what I have so far.
I'm so sorry for the wait, and I'm just letting you know that it's going to be a long time before I update again.
Nine Years Later
The crisp October breeze swept through Anna's hair as she played with a mini bouncy ball she got from the mall the other day. It wasn't often that she, Kristoff, or Elsa went there, since it was a good half hour away on the highway, but she made the most of it when they did. To her, that meant buying everything that caught her eye.
Including a bouncy ball.
It made satisfying thump sounds as she let it slip through her fingers and onto the wooden floor of the old treehouse. Bouncing this cheap little ball of rubber could entertain Anna for hours, if she were honest with herself. There was something soothing about the fluid motion, plus she could feel like a little kid. Not that she didn't feel that quite often, but still.
"Hey."
Anna caught the ball in her palm and looked up to see Kristoff climbing awkwardly through the latch door. She smiled. "Hey, yourself."
A grunt came from Kristoff as he pulled himself up, squeezing his shoulders in to fit. Anna almost got up to help him, worried that he'd someone how fall down the ladder, but he made it through the door all right, kicking it closed more forcefully than necessary. "I swear," he said as he sat down next to her, "that thing is getting smaller."
"Sure, blame it on the door," Anna laughed. "It has nothing to do with you becoming a giant."
He smirked at her, folding his arms over his chest. "Exactly."
"Maybe you shouldn't work out as much." She placed her hand on his upper arm, squeezing her fingers into his skin. "It feels like rock," she said, shaking her head. "Can't be healthy."
His smirk turned into a scowl, and he shrugged her off.
Noticing the light blush that colored his cheeks, Anna pressed her lips together, trying to hide her grin. She embarrassed him. The complete dork. "You know I'm kidding," she said lightly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a giant mountain man."
"Mountain man?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Yep."
"You do know that we live in Michigan, right?"
"No one ever said there had to be mountains for someone to be a mountain man."
Kristoff stared at her. "It's . . . kind of in the name."
"It's not the mountain that's important." She let the bouncy ball drop onto the floor, catching it as it bounced into the air. "It's the look and personality."
"Yeah, okay." Kristoff rolled his eyes, grinning to himself, before focusing his attention on the object in her palm. "Why do you have that?"
Anna, unamused, stared at him with her eyebrows raised. "That wasn't very subtle, you know."
Kristoff looked confused. "What?"
"You, trying to change the subject. It wasn't subtle." Looking at the bouncy ball, she bit her lip, trying to decide if Kristoff's annoyance would be worth it. . . .
"I was not," he said, consequently making up Anna's mind for her. With a little shrug, she threw the ball at his face, giggling when it bounced off his head and into his lap. "Hey!" he shouted, surprised. "What was that for?"
"Lying. I don't appreciate liars." Anna reached over and plucked the ball from his lap, trying and failing to keep a smile from her face. She went to throw it at him again when he caught her wrist in his hand, trapping her.
"I'm not a liar," he said, grabbing her other wrist as she tried to unclamp his hand.
Anna squirmed in his grasp, twisting her arms in an attempt to get him to let go. "Not always," she countered, "but you are right now." She lifted her arms into the air, waving them back and forth, folding them over each other, doing her best to beat Kristoff. To her utter frustration, though, he didn't even look phased, just sat there like they were enjoying a civilized conversation.
Smirking a bit, Kristoff lowered her arms, holding her wrists firmly between the two of them. "I was not and will never lie to you, Anna, okay? Even over something this stupid."
As he spoke, she huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "You don't look very sincere right now."
Kristoff groaned. "Dear God, we're messing around. It's not like I'm not confessing my love for you or anything." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened, and he stared at her a moment before dropping her wrists and coughing.
Anna thought this mood change was really weird—it wasn't like what he said was that embarrassing or anything—and she wanted to question him about it. The way his eyes dropped and became harder told her not to, though, so she threw the ball lightly at his chest. "I win," she said.
Kristoff closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. "Yes, fine. You win." He opened his eyes again and tossed the ball back at her, which she tried to catch, but it slipped through her fingers and landed on the floor, rolling to the other side of the treehouse.
She stretched out her leg and got it with her toe, bringing it back to her and holding it in her palm once more. "This thing just really wants to run away," she laughed.
"It does." Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck, not looking at her. "So, there were play auditions today, right? That's why you're home late?"
Anna's eyes widened in excitement. "Oh! Yeah!" she exclaimed, crossing her legs and turning to fully face him. "It's a musical this year, so I had to sing and dance and act for the auditions, but I think I did pretty good. The director seemed to like me, and everyone else there was really, really nice. Especially this one guy. He told me stuff about the school's theater program that sophomores wouldn't know, which doubles for me since I've never auditioned before." She paused, eyes glazing over and a dorky smile coming to her lips. "He's pretty cute, actually. Okay, no, he's really cute."
There was a moment of silence where Kristoff stayed unusually still before he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Doubt it."
"C'mon, you don't even know him." Anna suddenly shook Kristoff's shoulder, her smile widening. "Wait, wait, wait, maybe you do! He's your age!"
Kristoff flicked his eyes to her wearily, his jaw clenched. "'Course he is. What's the name?"
"Hans Westerguard?"
Beneath her fingers still on his shoulder, Kristoff stiffened, completely contradicting the indifferent expression he wore on his face. "That guy?" he asked. "Dude's a prick. You shouldn't waste your time."
For some reason, Anna had a really hard time believing that. Not only was Hans nice to her and everyone at the audition, but Kristoff didn't really talk to anyone. How would he know Hans well enough to determine that?
"Have you ever talked to him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kristoff pursed his lips, slumping forward a bit and averting his gaze. ". . . Well, no. But I know enough about him to say that he wouldn't be good for you."
"And why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because."
Anna scrutinized him, noticing that he was becoming a little grumpy, which he only did when she was getting to something he didn't want to talk about. To ease the tension, she smirked, deciding to tease him. "If I didn't know any better," she said, nudging his shoulder with hers, "I'd say you were jealous."
A blush colored Kristoff's cheeks, and when he opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out.
"Wait . . . are you?" Anna asked slowly, not waiting for him to be able to speak, his behavior making her suspicious.
He stayed quiet for a while, staring down at his hands until he took a deep breath and looked up at her wide, curious eyes. "Anna, I . . ." He stopped, clearing his throat. "I'm not."
Yeah, that was total BS. "Kris," she said as her heart beat hard in her chest, "we've already established that I don't like liars."
Kristoff stared at her, something about the look on his face making Anna feel very aware of their proximity. "What if I said I was?" he asked in such a quiet voice that she could barely hear him.
But she did, and it was enough for her heart to race and confusion to overcome her. "Wait, what?"
The corner of his mouth twitched upward. "I think you heard me, Anna."
"Oh, yeah, I definitely did," she said quickly, gesturing with her hands. "Definitely, definitely did. I'm just trying to process what exactly you said, because it doesn't really make sense, and . . . It was a rhetorical question, right? Because if it wasn't, then I'd really feel dumb right now, especially sin—"
Anna jumped as Kristoff's hand cupped the back of her head, holding her still as his lips met with hers, cutting off her rambling, which was for the better. Her eyes widened, her body motionless for a moment until she melted into him, hands resting on his chest and eyes falling shut.
The kiss was simple, short, leaving her breathless and wanting more when he pulled away with flushed cheeks. "I . . . You . . . Was that okay?" he stammered, looking embarrassed even as he held her in his arms.
Anna smiled sweetly, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on his lips. "It was perfect."
A lopsided grin stretched across Kristoff's face, and he placed his forehead against hers, giving her the opportunity to see the way his eyes shined in a joy she hadn't seen in him before.
She giggled, a sudden thought occurring to her as she wrapped her arms around his torso.
"What is it?" he asked.
Her smile widened.
"Our parents will never let us live this down."
