Chapter Five

The knock at the door made Elsa jump, her heart fluttering nervously for reasons she couldn't understand. It was true that she hadn't really been out on anything like a date since high school, not that this outing with Jack was a date. It might have resembled one but she refused to see it as such, though Lily didn't seem as convinced. Her best friend had calmly taken Elsa under her wing like a mother hen, fixing the mess that was flying around their dorm room frantically and turning it into the girl that was now staring back at her from the mirror.

"I-is he here already?" She sputtered, her blue eyes widening in the mirror as she frantically scrambled to grab the things she would need, "L-lily!" She didn't even have to speak her name before Lily was up and heading toward the door, a comment thrown over her shoulder as slipped out of the room. It gave Elsa at least a couple minutes more to collect her things before she paused in front of the mirror. She looked fine, her hair curled in ringlets as the draped around her shoulders and the soft floral dress she wore loosely clinging to her body. It she hadn't had Lily she imagined that the outcome of her efforts would have been much worse, especially since Elsa had originally planned to leave her hair in the same braid that it was always in. Lily, whom seemed to be the only one able to tame her wild hair, had done an excellent job this time; it made Elsa almost blush at the stranger that was her own reflection. Reaching up, she ran her fingers over the small golden locket that hung around her neck before slipping her arm through her purse and heading for the door. She could hear her heart thumping as she exited the room to stand with a smiling Lily, though it was the surprised look on Jack's face that made Elsa uneasy. Did she look weird? She hoped not and tried to hold back the desire to go change into jeans.

"Ready?" She questioned giving Jack a small, yet worrisome, smile, "Bye, Lil." Reaching out she squeezed Lily's hand before turning to Jack, whose face had fallen back into it's normal teasing smile. She could feel his eyes wandering over her appearance before he swept his hand out in a gesture for her to go first. She did, though she peeked back at the smiling Lily who gave her an encouraging thumbs up before taking a deep breath and heading out with Jack. She couldn't believe she was doing something with Jack Frost of all people, the odds of this happening had been slim at the best. Still here she was, walking with Jack out of her dorm building like it was as normal a thing as spending time with Lily. She was nervous to say the least, her mind scrambling to figure out what they were going to do as Jack pulled out a pair of keys and jingled them. It seemed, though Elsa never would have guessed it, that Jack had a rather flashy red car that was already parked in a spot very close to the entrance. The lights flashed and a pert beep signaled that he had unlocked it as he hastened his pace to open the door for Elsa.

"I hope you don't mind a road trip." He said with a smile as he closed the door and circled the car to get into the driver's seat, "It shouldn't take long to get there." She wasn't sure what she expected, but this hadn't been it. She had no idea Jack could even drive, though as she thought about it more it seemed logical that he could. Most people had their drivers license those days but for some reason she had concluded in her head that Jack hadn't because of his chauffeur.

"I didn't know you could drive," She said stumbling for a topic as they pulled out of the parking lot, "I mean... it's not like you shouldn't, just... it's surprising." She cursed herself and blushed, averting her eyes so that she couldn't see Jack's reaction to her stupid comment. He, however, gave a soft laugh that surprised her into peeking over at him. His eyes were on the road ahead so she didn't have to fear meeting his eyes, but still she felt uneasy watching him.

"I learned when I was fifteen," He noted, "Just like everyone else. Though it was more impressive to have a person driving me around so I mostly took that up to meet girls." Elsa pursed her lips, unsurprised but the reasoning behind his decisions. It was just like Jack to think in such a way, though it was more surprising that they didn't have a driver today. Perhaps this was just a regular gathering, he clearly didn't have a plan to impress her since he had so openly admitted that he usually had a chauffeur to show off to girls. What was this then? Elsa had refused to call it a date to simply keep her sanity but now that she had made this conclusion she wondered if Jack really just wanted to be friends. She blushed at her disappointment, what had she been expecting?

"W-why no driver today?" She asked softly, "N-not that I wanted a chauffeur or anything! It's good that you're driving us but... but..." She didn't finish her sentence as she let her voice trail off, her eyes flying away from the curious look on Jack's face. She could feel her face growing hotter as his eyes searched her from the corner of her vision. He then turned back to the front.

"Well... I guess I thought you wouldn't want to stand out to much," He mumbled softly, "I mean, you never struck me as the type of girl that like to flaunt so I thought... that maybe it would make you uncomfortable." Elsa's eyes widened a bit as her turned her gaze back to Jack, he was a light shade of pink as he stared nervously out the window. "I-I mean. Not that I really care or anything." He grumbled after spotting her gaze, "It's just I'm going to be stuck with you until I drop you off so I didn't want you to be in a bad mood." She couldn't suppress the small laugh as she looked over Jack's flustered expression. So Jack had been worried about her being uncomfortable. It made her happy to think that but also a bit nervous. She was used to the Jack that teased and flirted with everyone, this Jack that was careful of what he did was someone completely new to her. It was nice to see a new side of him, making her feel bad for jumping to conclusions of him so quickly in their friendship. It seemed that he had more surprises up his sleeve as they pulled into a small parking lot in a neighboring city. Though she was confused Elsa allowed Jack to get out of the car as he circled it and popped open her door so that they could head down the busy street.

"To be honest," He said suddenly, "I wasn't exactly sure what to do with you today, since I can't do the usual thing..." She lifted an eyebrow at him, suspecting that his usual outing with girls consisted of ice skating and some flirtatious lessons, "I didn't know what movie you would like either, so that was out of the question. I finally decided with this," He gestured around them at the Main Street, "Thought you might like to just stroll around and... I don't know... go where the wind take us?" Elsa let out an amused laugh, surprised that he had put so much thought into their outing. He was right though, she wouldn't have been happy if they had gone to the Ice Rink or a movie that she had no desire to see. Walking, though a bit boring to most, seemed like a really good idea to her. It might give her enough time to fully consider the idea of forgiving Jack for his stupidity. She still wanted to have some fun though so with a little smile she pointed at the large building along one of the side streets and flashed him a smile.

"Bet you I'll kick your butt at air hockey," She teased causing Jack to lift a quizzical brow, "Scared Frost?" His questioning look turned into a devious one in seconds as he flashed her a grin that noted he had fully accepted her challenge.

"You wish, Arendalle." He stated, grabbing hold of her hand as he led the way toward the arcade. If Elsa could say one thing it was that Jack Frost was horrible at Air Hockey, whether he was trying or not. It gave Elsa a cause to laugh at him as he stubbornly demanded they play yet another game after his fifth loss. It was fun though, she hadn't laughed so hard in ages. By the time one of the employees came to kick them out Elsa felt as though he stomach was about to cave in on itself. Giving a sarcastic comment to the employee Jack led the way out of the arcade, pausing outside with a little laugh toward the blue sky.

"You suck at games," Elsa pointed out bluntly as she pointed over her shoulder, "You seemed so cocky as we were walking over here and everything." His face flushed as he gave her an look, his lips drawing together in a sour line. He then let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"No need to brag." He commented as they headed off toward Main Street again, "Want lunch? Mind if I spot by somewhere first?" She shook her head, wondering what he needed to do. It took about three minutes to walk from the arcade to where Jack needed to go, though Elsa was a bit confused then they stepped into the Safeway and pulled out a cart. She couldn't imagine that Jack normally when on grocery runs on a date but at this point it might be one of his 'where the wind takes us' moments. Without a word Jack began down one of the closest isles, collecting things from the shelf quickly and leading them to the checkout within ten minutes time. Elsa followed along, answering various questioned that Jack shot at her until it came time to exit the store.

"Are you sure you don't want help," She questioned looking down at the various bags Jack held, "I could carry some, it might make it lighter on you." Jack shook his head.

"No way," He stated, "I just needed to drop by the store because there is no food at the house." It was logical, though Elsa wasn't sure why he had to do it just then. It didn't fully make sense to Elsa but she still went along with it, figuring that Jack was just an odd person despite masking it with trickery. It's seem his odd choice in activities had a cause though, one that Elsa discovered when they pulled up to a rather large house twenty minutes after leaving the Down Town area. Elsa blinked in amazement at the large two story building in front of her. She had guess that Jack would have a nice house but this was over the top. It was a pressed gray, modern building with large stone pillar around the oak door and gleaming windows stretching up the length of the building on either side. Around it lay a cluster of green plants that formed a pretty garden of flowers, adding color to the otherwise gray appearance. When they entered, Jack letting them in with his key, Elsa found herself inside a large entrance hall with a doubt staircase looking at her. Marble flooring, bright paint, and a chandelier that lit when Jack flicked on the lights made this room more dazzling then anything she had seen, as it they could greet a King or Queen there.

"I hope you like pasta." Jack called from the kitchen as Elsa wandered after him more slowly, "It's my specialty."

"You can cook?" Elsa asked appearing in his state of the art kitchen, "I didn't know that." Jack let out a laugh as he tied on a cooking apron and struck a pose for Elsa. She shook her head with a chuckle and took a seat at one of the bar stools.

"Don't be so surprised, Arendalle." He said pulling various ingredients from the grocery bags, "There's a lot you don't know about me; like that I'm I like to cook and read. I'm a romantic at heart." Elsa snorted at his hesitant yet unbelievable tone.

"A romantic?" She questioned, "Yeah, sure. And I'm the Queen of a fictional country."

"Hey, it's true!" he complained, "I'm very passionate." The look he gave her said that he was teasing now, though she could somehow see where that statement was true. He had taken the time to plan out today with the best of his abilities given that they knew so little about each other and it had turned out really nice. A sudden thought flickered across her mind that caused her smile to falter slightly as she leaned back in her chair.

"You remind me a lot of my dad." She said with a sad smile in his direct, "You remind me of him a lot." There was a thick silence in the room that the sound of cooking food only broke.

"Where is he now?" Jack asked after a minute. Probably sensing that it was a tender subject he continued, "No that you have to tell me." Elsa sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Jack probably though it was just a normal case of the father leaving home, not that she blamed him for thinking that way. Her situation was a bit different then other people, having her parents both die at such a young age wasn't normal. Divorce, now that was normal.

"He and my mom died," She said gently, "Four years ago."

"Elsa, I'm so-"

"Don't be." She said cutting across him, "It was awhile ago so I'm mostly over it. Just hard sometimes." There was a hesitation, one that allowed Elsa to look up and smile at Jack.

"How?"

"Car crash," placing her hand on the counter she fidgeted with her bracelet as she spoke, "They were on their way to see me perform in my first competition."

"Competition?" Jack's voice was questioned yet held back, like he didn't want to pry into anything that would make her uncomfortable. It wasn't like it bothered her talking about it, it just stung.

"Ice Skating."

"Oh." It was clear that Jack was struggling with something in his head. Though as Elsa watched him she found that his hesitance to say anything that would hurt her as slightly sweet. She had met people in the past that had openly questioned her about the incident involving her parents. Some so bluntly cruel in that she had sheltered away from the topic for the first few years. It wasn't until just recently that she had come to terms that people would ask her about her parents and that she would have to tell them. Still, she refrained from telling anyone that she didn't feel she could trust.

"Your vegetables are burning." Elsa stated pointing at the frying pan.

"Huh?"

"Vegetables, Jack." He looked down at where she was pointing, staring at the burning food for a minute before jumping and tugging the pan from the flames.

"Crap!" he grumbled poking at them with the wooden spoon, "Well, these are done. Should we eat?" Elsa nodded, smiling as they headed out onto his patio to eat. It was a nice meal, better then she had expected it to be despite the burned food. Jack was sweet about the situation too, kindly letting the subject of her parents drop for now. She knew that, if they were going to be friends, the topic of her parents would come up again. She was somehow reluctant to say any more though, fearing that he may become repulsed by her situation when he had so much. Still her attitude toward Jack frost had changed by the time they arrived back at her dorm building.

"Thanks for today," She said once they reached her door, "I had a good time."

"Yeah, we should do it again sometime..." He gave her a shy smile as his hand tapped his side. Then, rather suddenly, he reach down and took hold of her hand. His eyes meeting hers' as she swallowed back the lump in her throat, her eyes drooping as his eyes watched her lips. Then slowly he began to lean in. She panicked slightly, wondering if she should accept the kiss or brush it away and act like nothing happened. Was she ready for something like this? Did she like Jack in that way? So many questions flickered through her mind as her eyes closed, the feeling of Jack's soft breath brushing against her lips as he neared.

"WOAH!" Her eyes shot open as Lily's voice shocked her, "I... oh my god... I didn't see anything!" Spinning around, the mud soaked Lily let her hands fly to her eyes as she made an attempt to give Elsa and Jack a bit of privacy. A bit to late though, Elsa had parted with Jack in a flash when her best friend's voice broke her from the trance. She still couldn't believe what she had been about to do as she cleared her throat and looked toward the new arrivals. Lily still had her hands over her eyes with her back turned but next to her, equally covered in a thick brown sludge, was Jamie who gave Jack a look before tapping Lily on the shoulder.

"W-what happened to you two?" Elsa questioned heading over to Lily, "Why are you all muddy?"

"Mud run." Jamie supplied.

"Mud what?" Jack asked, mirroring Elsa's confusion.

"Mud run." Lily stated, "But that doesn't matter. Goodbye, come on Elsa." Elsa felt the muddy hand of Lily clasping her and thanked her best friend silently for dragging her out of this awkward situation. Giving a little laugh she waved to Jack before the door was closed. Lily was in a fit, hurrying around the room as she said things Elsa didn't quite pick up over the pounding of her heart.

WOW! So I was supposed to post this yesterday but things came up *cough* Essay *cough*... But It's up now and I'm sorry for the wait. I'm glad everyone is very enthusiastic about my story, can't tell you how excited I am when I see that everyone has posted a comment for me to read!

I truly love hearing from everyone! You all make me want to write when I hear how you feel about my work! It's truly a beautiful thing to read so please keep the comments coming!

Notes about the Date:

I had intended for it to be longer, more detail on what happened but this was the only way that I could make it work and still have a complete story - that didn't bounce around so much. I also didn't want to take the traditional route, the 'yay first date, lets go to a theme park and kiss on the Farris wheel! woo!'. I considered it, but decided against it because I didn't think it fit either of their characters very well. I might add in another outing - in the future if the story takes that direction - of them going to a theme park but probably not!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and see you all next post!

ALSO! I just want to take a quick poll on how interested people would be if I wrote a side story about Lily's point of view and her (possible) romance with Jamie? Any interest at all?