Making a garden is...unexpectedly hard. Perhaps it's just because Anna isn't known for her fantastic upper body strength, but she quickly learns that yardwork is not her thing. At all.
What makes it even worse is Elsa. Not like she's actively making anything difficult—actually, it's the exact opposite; she's digging with a sort of single-minded determination, making almost twice as much progress as Anna. It's starting to make her feel inadequate, to be perfectly honest.
At least she gets to see what Elsa looks like in shorts and a tanktop, and it is really, really nice.
She has surprisingly toned legs, the muscles of which tense under her alabaster skin every time she hefts a dirt-laden shovel out of the ground. Her cheekbones are an adorable rosy red and she exhales softly with each effort. The tops of her shoulders are lightly freckled, and her collarbone...Anna never thought she had a particular interest in that body part, but Elsa's look absolutely gorgeous. Anna's eyes track a rivulet of sweat dipping into the hollow of her neck before it meanders further south, disappearing under her shirt—
"I didn't ask you here so you could stand around," Elsa's annoyed voice breaks her reverie
Anna quickly averts her gaze, glad her cheeks are already flushed from exertion and not from completely checking out Elsa Anders. Well, whatever. She's a healthy teenage girl with eyes, of course she's going occasionally ogle an attractive person.
"So sue me, I'm not cut out for manual labor," she retorts after regaining her bearings. She takes off her hat and lets her hair fall around her shoulders so she could make a quick ponytail. She notices Elsa following the motion, but ignores it. "This shit is hard."
"Yes, which is why I wanted you to help me," Elsa says irritably. Her own hair is twirled into a bun, though a few strands have come loose to frame her face. "Can you remind me who exactly is responsible for ruining my previous garden?"
"Alright, alright," Anna hold her hands up in surrender. "No need to be so sassy."
Elsa simply glowers at her, and Anna responds with a sunny smile before returning to digging just to annoy Elsa a little more. At least they were almost done for the day—Elsa had plotted out the area and they had spent most of the morning pulling up the grass and digging out rocks, roots, and other debris. The last step would be to sprinkle yesterday's coffee grounds over the area.
After ten more minutes of digging, Anna leans on her shovel and points towards the house. "Could I bother you for a drink?"
Elsa lifts one last pile of dirt out of the ground, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm. "You're already bothering me, but I want a drink too."
Anna follows her lead towards the house, taking off her sneakers before entering the gloriously-cool space; even she can be civilized if she really wants to. She scans the place with interest and a little envy; the floors are all dark wood and thick rugs, and the kitchen Elsa is heading towards has granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Anna—with her denim cut-offs and frayed band shirt—feels painfully out of place, and for a moment she wished she and her mom lived in a place as nice as this.
She silently slides into a stool opposite of Elsa, who had busied herself with getting a couple of glass out of a cabinet. "Do you take ice with your water?"
Anna just shrugs, leaving it up to Elsa. As long as it was cold and liquid, she'd take anything. The freezer whirs as it dispenses ice, and a few moments later Elsa place a cup in front of her—one that's almost entirely composed of ice cubes, with only an inch of water at the bottom.
"Seriously?" Anna asks, exasperated. For whatever reason, Elsa is still hot-and-cold around her, though today she's definitely sliding more towards the 'freezing' side of the scale. It seems like every step forward they take, Elsa moonwalks back to where they started. Anna's at a loss of what to do—she hasn't acted any different since first meeting Elsa the other night, so she doesn't know what exactly is bothering the blonde.
But whatever, two can play that game.
Anna plucks one of the ice cubes out of the glass and pops it into her mouth, crunching on it as loudly as she can. She hides a smirk when one of Elsa's eyebrows twitches in agitation.
"So," she says between crunches, "what's your old man up to?" The cursory look she had given the place didn't reveal any principals lurking around the corners, but perhaps he was upstairs, just waiting to get the jump on her...
"Why, are you worried?" Elsa asks, taking her place on the other side of the table. Her glass has the perfect ice-to-water ratio, which is just rude.
"Of course I'm worried!" Anna freely admits, waving away the question with a lazy hand. "He's likely to kill me if he realizes I'm in his kitchen, drinking his water, corrupting his pride and joy."
Elsa chokes on her water. "You're not corrupting me—"
Anna shoots her an impulsive smirk. "Not yet, I'm not." Though she can't deny how fun it'd be to see Elsa loosen up, to hear her laugh again, to feel that smooth skin under her lips—
Ah, well. She probably shouldn't wander too far down that road, even if she thinks it would be quite an enjoyable trip.
Elsa doesn't seem to notice how Anna's smirk has turned just a little softer. "He's out of town for some conference," she eventually mutters, staring down at her glass. "He won't be back until this weekend."
Something about the way she says the words sucks the fun out of Anna, and her smile fades. Elsa's holding herself differently than she has before—her shoulders are stiff with unhappiness, a contemplative frown settles on her face, and her eyes refuse to leave her glass. She just looks sad, and frankly it's bothering Anna.
Whatever's caused Elsa's mood today, Anna would bet good money her dad is behind it. "Hey," she says, leaning across the table towards her, wanting to inexplicably cheer her up. Elsa finally looks up, eyes widening at the sudden lack of distance between them. "You have a smudge of dirt on your face…"
She reaches her arm out, hand coming slowly towards the smudge so Elsa can have time to smack her away. But Elsa stays perfectly still except for the bobbing motion her throat makes when she swallows hard. Anna's hand reaches its destination, brushing aside a lock of hair and rubbing at the dirt on her temple in an attempt to make it fade away.
Maybe it's just Anna's imagination, but Elsa's eyes seem to flutter shut for a moment before she jerks away, nearly toppling over in her chair. "I can clean my own face," she snaps, but her quickly reddening cheeks betray her real feelings about Anna's action.
Anna simply grins as she leans back, one of her hands victoriously clutching Elsa's glass. She pointedly takes a sip from it, enjoying both the taste of actual, liquid water and the total surprise on Elsa's face. "You're right, my bad."
Elsa stands up and crosses her hands over her chest, glaring at Anna. "Let's get back to work," she tells Anna before she stomps towards the backyard.
Anna trails behind her, satisfied that she was able to distract her from whatever was making her unhappy. But somehow, she feels like her work isn't done yet. As she grabs her shovel and resigns herself to sore muscles and smelly clothes, she plans on how she can get Elsa to smile again.
888
Elsa collapses on her bed, exhausted. The first part of the garden was complete, though at the cost of her skin burning under the sun despite all the sunblock she applied throughout the day. Even Anna's skin, which was a few shades darker than her own, wasn't spared the sun's wrath; Elsa swears she saw at least fifteen new freckles spring up across her arms and face. Not that they were a bad additions, just...noticeable.
She grabs a pillow and puts it over her face, stifling a groan. Alright, so she noticed how good the delinquent looked in those cut-offs and raggedy shirt. She'd like to blame it on sunstroke, but even she's not in that much denial. Everyone at school knows Anna Kicklighter is good looking despite—or perhaps because—her beauty is unconventional.
Her freckles would look like a mottled mess on anyone else, but Anna owns them, has never once tried to cover them up. That auburn hair of hers is usually an unruly mess, even if it's occasionally held back in a ponytail or twin braids. Her smile is crooked, tilting more towards the right than maybe it should, and one of her front teeth is just the slightest bit chipped.
But those bright teal eyes are undeniably gorgeous, and are probably responsible for getting her out of trouble countless times. And of course the rest of her body is equally nice—
Elsa tosses the pillow at the ceiling and catches it when it falls back towards her. Stupid. This is so stupid. The last thing she needs is a hopeless crush on a troublemaker who's only helping her as a way to buy her silence.
The thought sobers her, and she wonders if there was some truth to her dad's words about Anna. Surely she can't be so...so fun and charming and interesting without a catch. Not that Elsa really wants to accept that he might be right about something now.
She scowls deeply, relieved he's currently out of the house. Over dinner last night, he held yet another one-sided 'discussion' with her about what her college major would be. Engineering or architecture were her only two options, at least as far as he was concerned. He refused to hear her arguments about degrees in environmental science or forest resources conservation, had actually pounded his fist on the table to silence her.
"Those are the only two degrees I will pay for," he had said firmly, unclenching his fist, "and I'm tired of you pushing this 'save the forest' nonsense." Elsa retired to her room shortly after that, her dinner left untouched on the table.
Even now, she couldn't stop fuming over his words. It was her future, wasn't it? How dare he just blow off what she wanted to do with it. She wouldn't be pigeonholed into some degree and occupation just to make him happy. There were scholarships she could apply for, or maybe she would work her way through her degree instead of accepting her dad's money—
A crash, followed by the sound of broken glass echoing down the hall, jolts her from her thoughts. She's out of her bed in an instant, heart beating fast. Was there an intruder in the house? Did someone from school come to vandalize the house again?
As quietly as she can, she opens her closet door and takes out her old field hockey stick, prepared to defend herself should anyone come through her door.
Unexpectedly, a light tapping sound rattles her window. Whatever is making the sound is repeated, this time with a little more force. Lowering her hockey stick, Elsa side-eyes the window suspiciously. After only a moment of hesitation and against her better judgement, she brushes aside her curtains and looks outside.
The glow of the full moon illuminates Anna, who's about to throw an item in her hand before spotting Elsa. She drops what looks to be a rock to wave both of her hands over her head.
I should have known.
A sigh of relief passes through Elsa, but she's still angry from being startled. "What the hell, Anna?" she hisses when she opens her window.
Anna shrugs like the situation was out of her hands. "I was trying to get your attention! I didn't know which window was yours, so—"
"So, what? You were just going to break all of them?" Elsa pinches the bridge of her nose and peers over to the damaged window. "I think that was the one in my dad's room."
There's no mistaking Anna's surprised laugh for anything else. "Ha, oops," she says, not sounding the least bit remorseful. "Can I come up?" she asks after a moment, grin still firmly in place.
Elsa gives her a critical once-over. The other girl is wearing a pair of dark jeans and a gray tanktop, and a longsleeved plaid shirt is tied around her waist. Her arms fold over her chest as she waits for Elsa's response.
"Why?" Elsa questions her. There's a zero-percent chance Anna just wants to talk with her; whatever has her coming over here at this time of night is bound to lead to trouble one way or another.
"Okay, then you can come down," Anna says, unperturbed. "I have a surprise for you, but you'll need to drive us there."
"First you break a window and now you want me to drive you somewhere?" The gall of this girl is simply unbelievable. Still, Elsa's only human and the word 'surprise' does pique her interest.
Anna's hands fall to her sides, and she looks like she's a second away from stomping her foot against the ground in impatience. "Oh, come on. Just trust me for once, this will be really fun."
Despite her feelings about the other girl, Elsa still has absolutely no reason to trust her. Which is why it's something of a surprise to hear herself saying, "I'll be down in a few minutes."
But perhaps she shouldn't be too surprised; the very idea of spending more time with Anna is a tantalizing one. Then there's the fact Anna came here just to see her—not for gardening or causing trouble.
Elsa quickly changes into a nice shirt and a pair of shorts she just bought. Going over to her vanity, she touches up her lips with some lip gloss and makes sure her hair looks alright. Giving herself one last re-affirming glance, she heads out to meet Anna in the backyard.
She's made herself comfortable on the patio steps, stretching out her long legs in front of her. She lolls her neck towards Elsa when she makes her appearance known. "Ready?" Anna asks, looking like an excited puppy.
"Sure," Elsa sighs, because she can control herself enough to not be totally obvious about her crush.
They walk around the outside of the house, and Elsa looks around in curiosity. "Did you walk here?" she asks, noting the lack of Anna's blue bike in the vicinity.
"I ran, actually," Anna replies breezily. "The chain snapped on my way home earlier. But it's not a big deal," she quickly adds when Elsa's eyes widen, "it's a nice night and I prefer running anyways."
Elsa's mind flashes back to their coffee shop meeting, where Anna had said she biked five miles to get there. Her house was a couple miles beyond that, and Anna didn't even look winded, though her cheeks were flushed an adorable red and there's a light sheen of sweat covering her body .
"Have you ever thought about trying out for cross country?" Elsa asks, half-serious, "Since you're already so good at running from the law."
Anna turns and gawks at her, clearly not expecting her to crack a joke. She's silent as Elsa unlocks the car doors and they slide into their seats. It isn't until Elsa starts backing out of the driveway that Anna speaks up. "I know you meant that as a joke, but that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea."
Elsa's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. Was Anna Kicklighter actually taking her advice on something? She distracts herself from this startling revelation by asking an important question. "Where exactly am I taking us? Because I don't feel comfortable knocking over mailboxes or lighting anything on fire."
"What kind of delinquent do you think I am?" Anna says, sounding scandalized. "I'll give you the directions, but this is a surprise, so I'm not gonna tell you anything else."
Elsa keeps her eyes on the road, but her smile is directed towards Anna. "You know," she muses after Anna tells her to take a right turn out of the neighborhood, "you could have just texted me earlier. There wasn't a need to knock on my window with rocks."
That action could be misconstrued as romantic, which Anna certainly didn't seem to be. Besides, it wasn't as if Anna liked her that way anyways, but she did like her enough to surprise her in the middle of the night, so that was something to hold onto.
Anna shifts in her seat to better face Elsa. "This was kind of a last minute idea. And actually," Elsa glances over at Anna and sees her frown, "I don't know why I decided to pelt your house with rocks. That was weird of me."
Elsa rolls her eyes, because 'weird' and 'Anna' were becoming synonymous to her. But she is enjoying how easily words flow between them. Even earlier—when she was in a bad mood—they knew just what to say to one another to keep the conversation going. Or at least they did until Anna went and touched her face. What had that been about? The sensation of Anna's fingers against her forehead made her want to lean forward and kiss that lopsided grin right off the troublemaker's face—
"We're here!" Anna chirps next to her, causing her to come back to the present. "Just park wherever there's a space."
Elsa must have been unconsciously following Anna's directions, and she takes in their surroundings; they're still in a residential area, though the houses are even more extravagant than the ones in her neighborhood. On one side of the road, there's a giant, wrought-iron fence spreading the length of the entire street and beyond. Behind the fence, the ground is heavy with trees and shrubs growing freely.
Elsa carefully parallel parks and steps out of her car, eyes narrowing in thought. "Are we…"
With the fence behind her, Anna dramatically spreads her arms out. "Welcome to the Arendelle Arboretum and Botanical Garden, after dark edition!"
Slowly, Elsa walks over and touches one of the fence posts. Anna...she really brought her here? She hadn't visited the gardens in years, even though it used to be one of her favorite places when she was little. One of the only things Anna knew about Elsa was that she liked plants—what better place to bring her than here? Anna Kicklighter is much more thoughtful than Elsa could have ever imagined.
"Well?" Anna asks anxiously, lowering her arms at Elsa's lack of reaction. "Do you wanna go inside?"
"I'd love to," Elsa says softly. But reality crashes through her haze of elation. "Wait, isn't it closed?"
Anna waves her concern. "It's no big deal. I have a friend who works here; he said we'd be fine."
That's not a real answer. Elsa casts her gaze between Anna and the fence. "We're already here, so I guess—"
"Great!" Anna exclaims before Elsa can change her mind. "This fence looks super easy to climb, so just follow my lead and we'll be over in no time."
With that, she latches onto the fence and scales it so quickly even Spider-Man would be impressed. She's on the other side in no time, ushering Elsa forward. "Okay, so step here," she points at a potential foothold, "and put your hand up there…"
In a much more hesitant and wobbly fashion, Elsa makes it over the fence and turns to face Anna, almost bumping into her. Anna beams at her with something close to pride in her eyes and reaches for her hand, tugging her along as she begins to walk into the trees.
It's only after a few steps that Anna suddenly drops her hand with a muttered 'sorry', though her pace doesn't slow. Elsa stares down at her hand, the flash of warmth from Anna's palm hadn't been unwelcome, but perhaps Anna remembered her reaction in the kitchen earlier and didn't want to agitate her. Elsa curses her past self; if she had hadn't snapped at Anna earlier for wiping the dirt off her face, they'd still be holding hands.
That (frankly ridiculous) thought is whisked away after the two of the clear the underbrush and emerge into the botanical garden. The moon's glow has painted everything silver, from the winding brick path she and Anna are now on, to the wildflowers and plants surrounding them.
"Wow," Elsa breathes, surging ahead to see everything the garden contained. At one moment, she's crouching down to identify a flower, and in the next she's nearly skipping steps, hopping off the path and onto the manicured lawn just because there's no one to stop her from doing otherwise.
This is amazing. There's no one else around, no bumbling tourists or giant, mob-like tour groups. The grounds are hers and she can see whatever she wants, when she wants. She leads Anna through the swampy aquatic gardens, the small bamboo forest, and even the tropical greenhouse.
For her part, Anna seems to be content with staying in the background. Elsa sneaks a few glances at her; Anna alternates between looking around herself in mild interest, her hands stuffed in her pockets, or staring at Elsa, gauging her reactions to each new area. It almost seems like Anna is making sure she's enjoying herself and there's even a small, almost wistful smile on her face instead of her usual broad grin.
"Are you having a good time?" Anna asks her the next time their eyes meet. "This is pretty cool, right?"
Elsa feels compelled to drift closer to her. "It really is," she assures Anna when there's only a few feet separating them. "This is so...so nice." Just a few days ago, 'nice' was the last word she'd used to describe Anna. But this surprise, this seemingly selfless present, is possibly the nicest thing anyone's ever done for her.
Anna swallows, uncharacteristically timid. "Ah, that's good. You seemed like you were in a bad mood earlier and I...I don't know," she directs her gaze towards the ground as she mutters her next words, "I wanted you to feel better."
Something warm swells in Elsa's chest and she reaches out towards Anna. She doesn't know for what end—to embrace her, to kiss her?—but she's interrupted by a beam of light flashing towards them, followed by the unmistakable sound of footsteps.
Anna stiffens at the sight, and without a second's thought she pushes Elsa into the nearest bushes before jumping in after her. They land with matching grunts, and Elsa's about to complain when Anna pushes a finger against her lips, looking out towards the garden.
"Don't speak yet," she whispers, "I think that's a security guard."
Elsa shoves Anna's hand away from her face, causing the other girl to lose her balance and topple closer to her. She ends up with her hips bracketed between Elsa's legs, their chests pressed together in a way that elicits a shiver from Elsa. Their faces are so close that she can make out all the individual freckles dotting the bridge of her nose, and she can smell the bubblegum Anna must have been chewing earlier.
Elsa feels heat emanating from her face but does her best to speak. "I—you...you said your friend let us in!" she nearly hisses back, turning her face to the side so she won't accidentally brush her lips against Anna's.
Anna pushes herself back up so there's at least a little more space between them, but she doesn't get off of Elsa. "I might have over-exaggerated when I said 'friend'," she admits, not looking the slightest bit bothered by their positioning. "What I meant was that I actually don't know anyone who works here."
Elsa bites back a retort when the flashlight and footsteps come closer to them, until the person is practically right next to their little hideout. After a few tense moments, the person moves on, heading off in the direction of the greenhouse.
Anna sighs in relief, and again the smell of bubblegum wafts over Elsa. She tilts her head back towards Anna, looking straight into her eyes. "You're nothing but trouble, aren't you?" she murmurs, impulsively tucking a loose strand of hair behind one of Anna's ears.
"I told you I'd corrupt you," she says softly, a teasing grin on her face. "How does it feel to be a rule breaker?"
Elsa expels a laugh that shakes through her body. "How much trouble would we have gotten in?"
Anna considers the question thoughtfully. "I mean, I'd try to shorten my time by telling them it was all your idea. So you'd probably be looking at like, ten years in supermax."
"What a harsh punishment," Elsa plays along, an easy smile coming across her lips. "Would you come and visit me?"
Unexpectedly, the question causes Anna to blush. She stills, finally, becoming aware of the fact that she's completely on top of Elsa. "Well, I umm…" she starts, biting at her lip. "I think they only allow conjugal visits, so…"
So that's what caused such a reaction. Seeing the normally cocky Anna so flustered is unspeakably cute, but Anna is quick to get off her after the words leave her mouth. She offers Elsa a hand and helps haul her up, absentmindedly brushing leaves off the back of her shirt.
"Ready to go home?" she asks, checking her phone for the time. "It's starting to get pretty late."
"Sure," Elsa responds and they start to walk towards her car. She can't help but be a little disappointed in leaving, even if they've been here for a few hours. Perhaps she could come back some other night, really be thorough with her exploration of the garden. "Thank you for taking me here."
And in the boldest move she's made in her life, she takes ahold of Anna's hand, brushing her fingers against Anna's. The other girl looks down at their interlaced hands in surprise, but then smiles, giving Elsa's hand a light squeeze in return.
I'm falling for Anna Kicklighter, Elsa realizes dazedly. But for once, the feeling doesn't cause her to panic. Instead, warmth once again fills her chest and it's all she can do to keep holding onto Anna's hand as she leads them through silver-dappled trees.
A/N: The arboretum and Botanical Garden is inspired by the one in Los Angeles. Arendelle is based off the city, as it's one that has rich and poor living quite close together in some places, as well as having hot (but usually not overwhelming) summers.