Notes: Yeah, I know, this is a really short chapter, but I promise the next one will make up for it.
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own Frozen.
Dusk was just falling over the campsite when they made it back.
Anna wasn't sure about Kristoff, but she was as eager to get away from him as possible. Not that she was angry with him or anything like that (how could she be after what they had shared today?). It was more that if she didn't distance herself from him soon, she might just jump his bones and not care who saw them. Having had her body pressed up against him for over an hour, feeling the way his muscles bunched and moved with every step he took, it was difficult to imagine how she could possibly feel any more aroused than she already did. So, when they reached camp, it was a relief to finally be set on her feet and away from him. Her ankle may have twinged painfully as she set her weight on it, but it wasn't nearly as painful as the lust curling in her belly, so she welcomed it.
"You should probably sit down," he said brusquely, but his hand on her shoulder was gentle. "Do you need help getting to the picnic table?"
"I could probably make it, but I wouldn't mind having your arm to lean on either," she admitted. His arm she could handle… she hoped.
He stepped closer and wrapped his arm around her waist, letting her lean her weight on him. It took a minute or two, but they managed to cross the campsite and get her set down at the picnic table. "I think I might have an ice pack in my first aid kit," he told her once he had gotten her comfortably settled. "Wait here while I go and grab it. I'll see if Elsa's awake, too."
"Thanks," she said earnestly, giving him a wide, but exhausted smile. She may not have walked back herself, but she had been struggling with a painful ankle for the last hour with no relief. The thought that Kristoff might have an ice pack made he want to weep with gratitude.
"Anna? Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"
Anna's head snapped around at the sound of Hans's voice. He was unzipping his tent and trying to climb out, but his balance was off and his foot caught on the edge of the canvas, causing him to stumble to the ground. She threw a hand to her mouth to cover the burst of laughter that escaped her. He was just so out of his element that it was ridiculous.
"Sorry, it's a ten mile hike up," she explained. "We took the shortcut back but…"
"She sprained her ankle and it delayed us," Kristoff cut in. He was carrying his first aid kit and jogging back over to her side. He had taken the time to throw his shirt back on (neither of them had after their swim) and Anna couldn't help but feel a little let down. She had been deprived of the view on the walk back and now she was still being kept from fully enjoying it because Hans was there and Kristoff had developed some modesty.
She was touched by the way Kristoff knelt at her feet, took her foot in his hands and, after finding what he needed in the first aid kit, began to wrap an ace bandage around her ankle. His fingers were so gentle with her, never holding her too hard or moving her around unnecessarily. It brought another sweep of desire washing through her.
After he was done, he grabbed a Ready Pac from the kit and applied it to her ankle. "Now, just keep your foot up, okay? I don't want you getting any worse, so be careful," he insisted, his brown eyes meeting hers. Between the careful way he ministered to her ankle and the look they shared, she was practically shaking with want.
"I'll be careful," she promised him, her voice small and squeaky.
"What happened? How did you hurt yourself?" Hans asked, taking a seat next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She supposed that he was trying to be comforting, but it felt awkward instead.
"I tripped over a tree root," she admitted, feeling the blush crawl up her cheeks. "I tend to do that a lot. I'm kind of clumsy."
"Kind of?" Elsa chuckled as she walked across the camp toward them. "Like the Titanic 'kind of' sunk?"
Even though she was being teased, Anna threw her sister a grateful smile. "Not as bad as all that," she said, giving mock offense. "I didn't break my ankle. I'm pretty sure it's just a sprain."
Elsa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, if that's all, I'm about to start making dinner. Did you want anyth..."
"You aren't the only one who had a rough day," Hans interrupted, before Elsa could finish her thought. "I was eaten alive by all the bugs up here. How do you guys deal with that?"
Anna felt he was being melodramatic, she hadn't noticed any more bugs than usual. But, she had spent the afternoon in Kristoff's arms instead of his, so she felt he deserved a little of her attention now. "Oh, you didn't bring any bug spray? I thought I wrote that down on the list I gave you last week," she said with what she hoped sounded like concern.
Hans waved away her concern. "I used some, but it didn't seem to help. I'm covered in bug bites and I can't stop itching." He scratched a spot on his arm as if to demonstrate. Anna didn't believe him for a moment. He hadn't been scratching at himself the way he would have been if he had actually been covered in bug bites.
"That's too bad," Anna said, "but at least we have some cortisone cream for the itching. It'll help."
He looked surprised, as though he had expected an entirely different reaction from her. When she didn't make a move to change her response, he quickly tried another tactic. "There was nothing to do while you were gone," he said in a voice that very softly berated her for not being a better host. "You did invite me as your guest, remember?"
"Of course I remember," Anna said stiffly, keeping her eyes very purposefully away from Kristoff's face. All she wanted to do was have him take over this for her, but that was the cowards way out. "That doesn't mean I'm going to feel guilty for having fun. We invited you on the hike and you didn't want to go. I'm not sure why that's suddenly my fault."
Hans looked taken aback, but Kristoff began to snicker. At first she thought it was what she had said, but then she caught a glimpse of Sven and had to stifle her own laughter.
"Sounds like you've had a rough day," Kristoff told Hans in that easy way of his. "I'm afraid it isn't over yet."
"Oh?" Hans looked annoyed, as though anything Kristoff had to say was of no importance. "And why is that?"
"Sven's relieving himself on your tent," Elsa said with a smirk, gesturing to the Lab, who was shaking his back leg in the direction of Hans's tent.
"He what?!" Hans cried and shot to his feet.
"Bad dog," Kristoff admonished Sven, but everyone could tell his heart wasn't in it.
Anna tensed, bracing herself for a confrontation between the two men. If it came down to choosing sides, she was behind Kristoff, but she didn't want it to come down to that. She already felt bad enough about going behind Hans's back with Kristoff that afternoon. Even if they weren't really dating, she knew that Hans thought they were headed in that direction. She was about to just blurt it out and relieve the tension filling the camp, but Hans forced a smile and sat down next to her again.
"He's just a dog, I'm sure he doesn't know any better," he said smoothly, though his eyes were still hard and cold.
"It'll rain tonight anyway," Kristoff said, gesturing to the clouds rolling in over the mountains. "So don't worry, the smell will wash right out."
A tic appeared in Hans's cheek, but it was the only outward reaction he gave to Kristoff's "advice." Anna jumped in, trying to diffuse the tension once again. "So, Elsa, what can I help you make for dinner?"
"Oh no," Elsa said, wagging her finger at her little sister, "I'm not going to let you stand on that ankle tonight. I'm making dinner, you can just sit here and keep the guys out of trouble."
Anna sighed, setting her chin in her palm. That was what she had been afraid Elsa would say.
The rain started just as they were finishing dinner clean up. It looked like Kristoff had been right with his weather prediction.
Despite the downpour, Hans pulled her aside once Elsa had said her goodnights and had disappeared inside her tent. Kristoff watched them with interested eyes, but he had given them privacy and gone to bed as well. So it was just them, underneath the overhang of the tree, feeling drips of water on their heads as the rain passed through the leaves.
"Anna, is everything okay?" Hans asked her, his hand on her shoulder and his fingers pressing with a gentle force.
She bit her lip, wondering if she should just tell him about Kristoff. A big part of her said no, that it wasn't the kind of thing she should say tonight. She rationalized that it would be easier in the morning, when he could make an escape if he wanted. Tonight, with the rain and the pitch black roads, it would almost cruel to tell him that he didn't have any kind of chance with her.
"My ankle just really hurts," she said with a shrug, but she couldn't help but wince as the lie crossed her lips. She wasn't good at lying, she had been reminded of that since she was very young. Hopefully Hans didn't know her well enough yet that he would pick up on that.
"I wish I had gone on the hike," he said with a sigh, glancing down at her ace bandage wrapped ankle. "Maybe you wouldn't still seem so distant toward me if I had been the one to carry you back down. I'm sorry I acted like I did. It was very childish of me. Can you forgive me?"
Guilt washed over her, and she was very grateful for the darkness surrounding them, because he couldn't see the flush that covered her face. "I shouldn't have invited you," she admitted, needing to be honest about something, even if it wasn't her relationship with Kristoff. "You aren't comfortable here and I should have thought about that before I invited you to come with us. I know how miserable you are up here."
"Anna," he said again, his voice soft, "I wanted to spend time with you. Neither of us did a very good job of that today, but we have tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," she said with a nervous laugh, "tomorrow."
An awkward silence fell between them and Anna felt like she was going to burst with the truth any second if she didn't head to her own tent, but Hans tightened his hold on her shoulder and pulled her against him. His lips came down on hers with a gentle touch, but there was something demanding just behind it, underneath the pleasant demeanor. She pulled away as quickly, and gently, as she could, but she still felt wrong. She hoped that Kristoff hadn't seen the awkward kiss, she wasn't sure how she would have explained it to him.
"Goodnight," he said with a brush of his fingers against her cheek.
"Night," she said firmly and escaped from his grasp. She hobbled as quickly as she could to the safety of her tent. When she finally made it, she threw on her pajamas and buried her face in the cool embrace of her pillow. In her wildest dreams she could never have imagined a day like this. Her camping trip wasn't going at all the way she had planned and she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or miserable about the turn of events. If only she hadn't invited Hans…
That's when the tears started.
