Thank you for being patient while I flip-flopped ideas!

So, now that I have a little group of followers, I want to change the name of this but all I can think of is Tickle Bumps, in reference to how they feel towards each other? I don't know, I think it's cute... Suggestions?

Based on the fact that you all noticed the rating (if you didn't, please note it) and decided to read this anyway, let me just say that I promise you smut. XD I'm not going to melt your eyeballs, but there will be some sexual content in the later chapters. Not for a little bit, though. I'm building myself a cozy little cloud of Kristanna fluff first.

Note: I'm drawing a cover for this fic, and I wanted to have it up by the time I finished chapter three, but one does not simply draw Kristoff's nose.. it's like Disney had to make it as difficult as possible. Anywho, it should be up soon~

Kristoff didn't have a lot to invest in, nor much to be proud of. His physical devotion was solely for ice harvesting, and the only mental investment he had was his friendship with Sven. His knowledge of family was limited and his social skills needed serious attention, but he understood "special moments." Sharing carrots with Sven, for example, was something that he did not because they had to, but because it showed how close they were. He cared enough about the reindeer to share valuable food with him, even if they were in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to eat; which they had been, a couple times.

Then there was being out on the ice under the velvet sky, when the colours of the northern lights reflected off the surface of the frozen lakes and saw blades. The cool air in his lungs made the hours worth it. Even in the frosty bite of winter, ice cutting was enough to make him sweat, but it felt good in his legs and shoulders. There was something about harvesting that put him at ease. Maybe it was that it was so real and definite. Ice was a solid force, and no matter how long the heat lasted, it came back year after year.

So he did have a few things to take pride in.

He thought of that while he was sitting with Anna on the docks, feet bare and dangling in the water. He felt similarly special around her as he did in those situations, and he had to admit, having her as a friend did make him proud. He was proud of her, more than anything, for putting up with him. She was stubborn and strong, and he admired that about her. He admired a lot of things about her.

"Look, Kristoff!" Anna had mumbled around the braid she was chewing on. She was pointing out over the fjord at the setting sun, little legs kicking and spraying water around their ankles. "It looks like the inside of an egg, doesn't it?" It did, a little, but that didn't stop the burly teen from laughing. "You're so weird, Anna," he shook his head, pulling her braid out of her mouth.

"What are we gonna do tomorrow, Kristoff?" Anna looked up at him innocently, setting her hand on top of his in a friendly gesture. "Well," Kristoff scratched the back of his neck, "I don't know. You ever been fishing? I could teach you to fish."

"Ooh, yes!" Anna clapped happily and threw her arms and his bicep, nuzzling his shoulder. Kristoff chuckled, patting her on the head. "We should get you to bed, though," he sighed internally, looking up at the clear sky. Clear for now, anyway. He could feel as well as see the darker clouds gathering not too far off. He wanted her to be inside somewhere when it hit.

"What about you?" she'd inquired, looking up at him with wide, concerned eyes. She wasn't a fool, she knew what rain clouds looked like, and she didn't want him in the middle of a storm anymore than he did her. But he shook his head dismissively, "I'll be fine. Sven and I have been through worse." Anna didn't seem satisfied with this answer. She stood and smoothed her dress out, propping her hands on her hips before declaring, "I'm not leaving you out here by yourself, Kristoff. Let me stay with you awhile."

"Anna-" he stood with her.

"Please?"

She'd stuck her bottom lip out and dipped her head, blinking up at him through her bangs. "Damn it, Anna," Kristoff had growled, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, "Okay, okay. Just for a little while, but I'm taking you home before the storm gets here."

Well, so much for before the storm, was all he could think now. It had begun to pour just as they reached his little camping sight, so now they were stuck until the rain let up. Anna didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, she looked pretty happy sitting in the back of his sled, soaked shoes on the ground beneath it and her dress hanging over the side to dry. He'd loaned her one of his smaller outfits, but she still had to roll the waist and bottoms of the pants up several times for them to fit her teeny frame.

She was leaning her back against Sven, a fur wrapped around her shoulders as she watched Kristoff slosh through the mud looking for dry twigs they could maybe make a fire with. He'd already stretched another fur out farther around the tree, protecting some ground from the watery onslaught. It wasn't exactly dry but it would do. "Kristoff," Anna whispered when he was close enough, though he wasn't sure why she was whispering. He looked up and she patted the spot next to her, "Sit down. We don't need a fire."

Kristoff was reluctant. Her hair was still damp, her feet bare and curled up to her body, and he didn't like the shiver that occasionally broke over her. After a moment of chewing on his lip, he nodded and braced his weight against the sled so he could slide his boots and socks off with his toes. Hauling himself up, he took another fur and wrapped it over her legs, making sure she was completely covered. "Are you warm enough?" he mumbled, easing down on the other side of Sven and putting his arm around the reindeer's neck. He grunted softly, shifting his bulk to lean more into Kristoff while still supporting Anna.

Anna giggled, "I'm just fine. Don't worry so much." Okay, maybe he was a bit worried, but he had a right to be so. "What about your parents?" he huffed, fussing with the strings on his shirt to try and keep himself busy. Anna giggled, "They're out of town until the end of next week. I could stay here all night, if I wanted." Her face lit up at the same time Kristoff's gaze whipped over to meet her. Sven snorted in laughter at their expressions. They were almost exactly the same with one major difference: Kristoff was frowning and Anna had the biggest smile ever.

"No," he said, pointing at her. She pushed his hand down, leaning over Sven to press her nose to his, "Why not? I won't be missed! Please, Kristoff, I don't want to go home yet! I want to stay here with you!" She was making that face again. Lip pushed out, eyes wide, batting those damn eyelashes. He shook his head feebly, "Please don't do that. Anna, you can't stay here! What if you were missed? Someone would come looking and then I'd be in big trouble."

"Nobody's home to miss me!" Anna whined, "Elsa never pays attention to me, she won't even notice that I'm gone.." She slumped back down in the sled, arms crossed high over her little chest. Kristoff was going to ask who Elsa was, but he thought better of it. Instead, he relented, sighing heavily and taking one of the furs from her to pull over himself. "Fine," he mumbled, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

There was a scuffling, a snort from Sven, and then a weight dropped on top of him. Anna giggled in his ear, "Thank you." He mumbled something under his breath, pulling the fur up more around his face and gently pushing her off of him. She moved back around the reindeer buck and settled in against his belly fur. It wasn't her luxurious four-poster with fluffy pillows and silk sheets, but it was somehow better; warm and comfortable. And close, she liked close. Close to something living and breathing. Close to Kristoff.

It soon grew chillier than either of them thought it would. Eventually, Anna was roused by her incessant shivering and Kristoff by her chattering teeth. "K-Kristoff," she muttered, half raising her head, "Are there more b-blankets?" Her words were met with a soft grunt and large hands tucking more fur around her. "Just take mine," Kristoff murmured, laying heavily back down beside Sven.

For a moment, Anna was sated enough to sleep again, but a frown pulled at her lips at the thought of Kristoff lying just on the other side of Sven, freezing. He always made sure she was taken care of and she wanted to do the same for him. Well, maybe freezing was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, he did live out here during the winter storms, and he probably worked in them, too. He was still human, though, and he most likely made use of the furs covering her now during those situations.

Very quietly, Anna shuffled around Sven, nudging him with her toe so he would scoot over. And he did, after some hoarse-whispered explaining above the pitter-patter of the rain. Kristoff didn't think anything of the animals movement, laying with his back to Sven. His eyes fluttered when Anna draped both furs over them and she laid beside him. He didn't move, didn't utter a sound, and only breathed when she finally spoke: "Kristoff.. You're my best friend."

Her little arms did their best to wrap around his waist as she nuzzled between his shoulder blades. This was much warmer than their previous arrangement, and closer, too. Kristoff glanced down at her hands on his belly and smiled in spite of himself. "And you're mine, Anna," he breathed just barely loud enough for her to hear over the water droplets above them and Sven's snoring.

No, Kristoff didn't have too much to his name, but this was enough. This was so much more than enough.

Anna had been partially right. Elsa didn't notice she was missing until she decided to go check on her. Now, this wasn't something that she usually did, but since that day they talked Elsa had been wanting to spend more time with her little sister. When Anna wasn't in her room, she padded around everywhere she thought she would be. No luck, and Elsa began to panic. She fell asleep somewhere, she repeated to herself, she's perfectly fine. But after hours of worried searching, she began to doubt.

She didn't tell anyone, afraid of upsetting the staff and causing unnecessary panic in the kingdom. If she's not back by tomorrow afternoon, I'll tell, Elsa promised herself, curling up in a chair that she'd propped by the front doors. Her head fell in her crossed arms after a short while, barely able to keep her eyes open as she stared out the window into the oblique rain.

Kristoff rolled over, awakened by the harsh rays of the sun through the tree's leaves. He squinted one eye open, noticing that both Sven and Anna were missing. Having mistrusted people so long, his first thought was that she stole him, but that didn't make any sense. What would Anna do with a reindeer? How would she get him away from here, anyway? Sven was by no means stupid, he could take care of himself. Kristoff grunted, about to sit up when something landed on him. "Good, you're awake!" Anna chimed in his ear, nuzzling the side of his face. He blushed horribly, setting his hands on her waist and pushing her up so she wasn't so close to him. "Hi," he mumbled questioningly, "I thought you'd be gone by now. Where's Sven?"

A bray answered him and he raised his head to see his friend panting at the end of the sled. "I wanted to say goodbye, but you looked so peaceful that I couldn't bring myself to wake you," the redhead giggled on top of him, "By the way, you sort of talk in your sleep."

"I do?" Kristoff blinked, licking his lips nervously, "What did I say?" Anna leaned against his hands, pushing her small nose up against his big one, "Something about 'my Anna' That was all I could make out of it." If he was red before, Kristoff was crimson now. He could feel the heat in his face and on his neck. To make it worse, Anna was still wearing his clothes. He didn't have anything to say. There really was nothing he needed to say, he thought, though Anna didn't seem to understand why he changed colours. "Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head, "you look flustered. Something the matter?"

"N-No, just.." he was suddenly very aware of her thigh pressed between his legs, "You should probably go home." He sat up and pushed her unceremoniously off of him, to which she yelped and glared at him, hurt. He did is best to avoid her gaze, but she punched him in the arm and turned her back to him. Kristoff winced. "Anna," he started apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shove you that hard. You make me nervous, okay?"

"I make you nervous?" she seemed much more shocked than he expected her to be. Then again, she had said she was a shut in her entire life up until this point. Maybe she really couldn't tell. And I thought I was bad at reading body language, Kristoff chuckled silently to himself. "Why in the world would I make you nervous? I'm not exactly threatening," Anna turned and set her hands on his knees, causing him to gently brush them away and cross his legs. "It's a different kind of nervous, Anna," he muttered slowly, again refusing to meet her eyes with his own, and you threaten my sanity.

After a moment, she giggled, "Oh, Kristoff, I like you, too." She planted a light kiss on his cheek that made his eyes bug out of his head and his blood stop cold. He couldn't move or breathe, let alone think, and he was only vaguely aware of her still talking, "I really should get back before breakfast, though. Gerda and Kai will notice if I'm not there to eat." Kristoff nodded faintly, watching her wave and hop off his sled to jog back to Arendelle. Her dress was slung over her shoulder, her shoes on the wrong feet, and he could only smile. He looked at Sven after a moment, cheeks bright and eyes matching them, "Did that just happen?"

Anna wished the front doors wouldn't creak so much. She noticed Elsa right away and she wondered what on earth she was doing sleeping in an armchair in front of the door. However, she wouldn't have time to find out. She had to get upstairs and change, get rid of her dirty boots and dress, before anyone saw her.

She had no trouble sneaking past Elsa, but her dress dragged the floor because she was hunched over in the typical tip-toeing pose. She stepped on the hem and tumbled forward with a yelp, making Elsa jolt awake and look around wildly. "Anna!" she exclaimed, hopping up and hugging her sister as she got up off the floor, "Where have you been? What are you wearing?" Anna's face turned slightly pink as she explained that she got caught in the storm last night, "I had to beg Kristoff to let me stay with him, he wanted to bring me home right away-"

"As he should have! Anna, what were you thinking? Didn't you say he lives in a tent? You would have been better off coming home!" Elsa was shaking with worry and agitation, her hands balled into fists at her sides and brow knitted together in a glare. Frost began to sneak out in tendrils from her feet and a chill bit the air. Anna hid half her face in her sodden dress, tears beginning to leak from her eyes and roll down her now-puffy cheeks, "I'm sorry, Elsa.. I didn't think you would notice.. You don't usually.."

Elsa was shocked and plenty guilty. That's true, she cringed, I wouldn't have known had I not decided to leave my room last night. "Anna, I'm sorry, but you still know better than to stay out all night. Especially with a boy." Somehow that little detail hadn't hit her until now. Anna was wearing his clothes. At least, she assumed they were his clothes. He must be huge, they sag on her even with them rolled and tied up like that.

Elsa was momentarily distracted with her thoughts and Anna cleared her throat awkwardly to bring her back. "Are those kristoff's clothes you have one?" Elsa pointed accusingly at the pants her little sister was barely wearing. Anna gave a tiny shrug, looking up at the high ceiling and shifting her feet, "Maybe.. But I had to wear something after my dress had been soaked. Kristoff said I'd freeze in wet clothing."

"I'll bet he did," Elsa narrowed her eyes in suspicion. The last thing she needed was some miscreant taking advantage of her sister's naivety. Anna frowned, catching her deeper meaning, "It's not like that, Elsa. He was just taking care of me. Kristoff would never do anything like that without my consent. I really, really had to beg him to let me stay with him last night."

"Did you at least sleep separately?"

"Well, we slept on either side of Sven-"

"Good."

"For the first half of the night.."

Elsa blinked, then brought her hands up to rub her aching temples, "Anna," she groaned, "Nevermind. Just don't ever do that again, okay? Please? I was worried sick about you." Anna nodded, hanging her head and looking up at her through her bangs. She turned to head up the stairs to change, and Elsa watched her silently.

Elsa wasn't a shut in, she chose to be alone most of the time, but she still wondered what it would be like to have a friend like Anna apparently had in Kristoff. So, before her sister reached the top of the stairs, she did as any curious, giggly, teenage girl would do: she whispered curiously, "Was he warm?"

Anna smirked with her back still turned, "Yes, he was."