"Anna, Ruben, please meet my two sons Hans and Kristoff," Sylvia said nervously.

Kristoff stiffly kept his arms at his sides while Hans went and eagerly shook Ruben's hands. "Nice to finally meet you sir. You're house is amazing. Thank you for graciously bringing us into your new home." Hans looked around Ruben and Anna's living room, pretending to admire its size. He went on. "I've heard so much about you from mother. And you too Anna," as he shook her hand lightly. "I look forward to being your new stepbrother. I didn't really get a chance to meet you at the wedding, but I hope we can make up for that soon." Hans looked at his mother for approval. Her slight nod seemed to be accepting of his behavior.

"It is absolutely imperative that you impress Ruben. We must prove that we are not some ill mannered, lower class peasants like your father. We're different people now, you understand? And his daughter, Anna. I hear she's quite the intellectual. Do you know how embarrassing it would be for both my sons to be illiterate and dumb while she's the bright one? I already have one failed son, don't disappoint me too Hans. Don't make a fool of yourself."

Hans felt some relief from his mother's nod of approval.

Sylvia turned around to look at Kristoff, who remained behind both of them staring at the floor. "You'll have to excuse Kristoff here, he's always been recluse and shy. Come now Kristoff, at least show them your face." Sylvia took his arm to bring him closer to Ruben and Anna, pinching him hard on the back of his arm while doing so.

"Ow!"

Kristoff was pushed in front of Hans and Sylvia, where he stood in front of Anna and Ruben awkwardly. His arms remained firmly at his sides.

"Kristoff, it's nice to meet you," Ruben said kindly as he put his hand on his shoulder. "I hope you'll find our home comfortable to your liking. You're family now."

Anna jutted out her arm in anxious excitement. "Hi I'm Anna. And if you need anything, just let me know. I've always wanted some siblings."

Kristoff ignored Anna's hand and coldly shook Ruben's arm off his shoulder. He looked towards his right where the stairs were and without saying a word made his way towards the second floor where he assumed his new room would be.

"Little shit," Sylvia said under her breath. "Ah I'm sorry he's…there's something wrong with him, he needs a lot of disciplining and-"

"Oh it's fine. I'm sure he's just nervous is all," Ruben said as he looked at Kristoff stomping up the stairs.

As Kristoff reached the second floor, he huffed out in frustration. He hated all the fake politeness, all the pretending to be courteous and nice. Nobody is genuinely that nice. People are intrinsically selfish. There's always a selfish reason for people being nice, and Kristoff saw right through it. In this case, Kristoff knew Sylvia wanted to leave the lower class, crudely mannered lifestyle behind and enter the new middle-upper class of well-mannered and groomed people. She had warned both him and Hans to be on their best behavior so she could make a good impression of her sons so that she wouldn't be embarrassed in front of her new and fancy husband and daughter. Ruben and Anna probably wanted to show off just how regal and classy they were.

She's probably super spoiled and privileged.

He passed by what seemed like Anna's room, full of sunshine and color, and cringed. He saw an empty room across from hers but kept walking. The hallway was medium length and took Kristoff a while to get to the end. He found an empty room at the end of the hall, put his belongings and guitar down on the bed, then swung the door shut.

"This'll be your room Hans," Ruben said as the new family made their way towards the room in the middle of the hall. "It's right across from Anna's, so if you need anything you can just easily knock on her door."

"That's right!" Anna said excitedly. "Remind me to give you some extra towels. We just got new ones that should go really nicely with the colors in your bathroom," Anna gave a hopeful smile at Hans, looking for one in return.

Hans smiled back. "Thanks Anna. I'll come visit you in your room right after I put my belongings down." Hans was sick of smiling at the girl. She smiled too much. She was pretty all right, but nothing special. The girl she'd been hanging out with at his mother's wedding was so much hotter. Hans wondered when Ruben and his mother would leave.

"Gee Ruben, this room is great. Again, thanks for having us. I promise Kristoff and I won't be a burden to you. We'll make sure to take care of Anna too," Hans said spiritedly.

Anna chuckled. "Oh don't worry, I can take care of myself. In fact I-"

"And we'll help out with chores if you need us to. I'm especially good at cooking Italian food," Hans interrupted. He looked at his mother for approval, but she was looking down at her ring.

"Why, thanks Hans. I look forward to it," Ruben replied.

They reached the empty room.

"Well, here it is. I hope it's big enough. Why don't you put your belongings in this closet here, and here's your own bathroom. Once you get settled, come on down for some dinner. I requested some seafood tonight, I hope you don't mind."

Ruben patted Hans on the back, kissed Anna on the top of her head, and headed downstairs with Sylvia. Hans now looked at Anna, who was timidly standing by the door. "So I'll be in my room, right across the hall. You know-"

"No I'll go with you now. I want to see your room. One second," Hans interrupted again.

"Oh…alright then." Anna waited for him to unload his things onto the bed, and together they made their way towards her room.

In the hallway, Anna's stomach was still churning. She was excited about having new people in the house, new friends and brothers to mingle with, but she was also very nervous about it. She wanted to make sure they felt comfortable and at home as possible, but she didn't quite know how she should go about it. She made up her mind to be as open and amicable as possible. "Here it is! It's not too far see?"

They both entered her room, which was amazingly feminine but also featured some masculine characteristics, making an interesting and stark contrasts. Most of her room was shades of pink, red and ruby but her bathroom was shades of white and blue. They somehow faded into and complemented each other, the two clashing colors creating a kind of lively luminosity. This color scheme pattern was apparent all throughout her bedroom.

Hans was floored by the grandiosity of everything she had. Her bed was flourished with drapes and the bedpost was decorated with intricate designs and patterns. All her furniture seemed to be the best quality of wood, and she had a white mini grand piano in her room. She even had her own balcony.

"Dang, your room is…pretty damn nice," Hans said slowly, as he was still soaking it all in. He tried not to sound jealous, but his jealous was growing by the minute. What did this annoying girl ever do to deserve a room like this?

"Aha…thanks. I guess it's nice having a dad in the wine business. People sure love their wine…" Anna shyly rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh! Your towels! Let me get them for you."

As she shuffled to her bathroom, Hans noticed something glinting from the sunlight in the corner of his eye and he turned his head to find himself looking at her makeup desk. On it, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a small display case full of expensive looking watches. There must have been ten of them. He went over to them and opened to case, finding them all to be handsome unisex watches. He picked up one. It was heavy and felt expensive. He looked closer and saw the brand.

Shit. These were half a year's worth of his family's old rent.

"Here are your towels, they're the best from Neupette's right now, I'm sure of it." Hans heard Anna approaching behind him.

"Oh that's my watch collection! I love watches, I don't wear much of anything else for jewelry besides those. Feel free to borrow them whenever you want! You're my brother now, so we can share things."

Hans put the watch back in the display case and turned around. "Eh, they're alright." He took the towels from girl. "What kind of towels do you have?" He started walking towards her bathroom.

"Oh…they're from Neupette's too. They're blue."

Hans stepped into her bathroom and saw her towels. They were just towels, but he immediately wanted hers. They were blue and they looked thicker and just overall better. "I want those ones," Hans said to Anna, who was behind him warily peering in from the bathroom doorway.

"Oh uhmm…those are used, don't you want new ones? And these grey ones, they're the newest from Neupette's. They have this new technology where it absorbs the water right off your skin. They're much more expensive and better qua-"

"So I get the ugly grey ones and you get these nice blue ones?" Hans gave her a criticizing look. "They look thicker and better. So you'll always get the nicer things between us? Nope." He shoved the grey towels in Anna's arms and started taking her towels.

"Ohh uhhmm… but Hans…. these grey ones match your room though, and these blue ones match mine, we ordered the specific colors, and-"

"Anna they're just towels, and I like blue too. If these grey ones are supposed to be so nice, why don't you take 'em? You just want the better ones for yourself huh." And with all of the towels in his arms he stepped out of the bathroom and started walking to his own room.

"No….of-of course you can have them Hans, I didn't mean it like that! Whatever is mine is yours now. We're siblings. We can share everything alright?" Anna hurriedly replied to Hans as she followed him out of the bathroom.

Hans scoffed as he took a look back at Anna. "Hah, don't think for a second you're getting any special treatment because you're the only girl or anything. Look Anna..." Now at his own doorway, he dropped the towels onto the floor besides his door and turned to face Anna outside the doorway.

"I know you've been used to being treated like the only child, the princess, whatever. You have competition now, and you probably don't know what that's like. But don't expect anything from me, got that? It's every child for himself or herself or whatever."

Anna's eyes were wide with confusion. She didn't know what to say.

"Uh…I…alright…"

"Buh-bye now."

Hans gave a little wave and closed the door in her face.

Anna stared at the door surprised and utterly baffled.

Competition? What did he mean?

She didn't know what to expect, but she didn't know it would be something like this. She just wanted everything to go smoothly with this new family. She wanted to be close with her new brothers. Making her father happy was her first priority so making him worry with any complaints was the last thing she wanted to do. She didn't want to interrupt this newfound happiness he had with Sylvia.

Maybe they were both just cranky today?

Hands still clammy from nervousness, she slowly backed away from the door and silently went to her own room.