Marionette
Chapter 7 - Loveless
Warnings: None
He could not understand her at all. Absolutely not.
Just a few days ago, there she was, professing that she considered him an "important person" to her. It was almost to the point where Jack thought it was a love confession, but then the next minute, right after he hands her his jacket to wear, she takes off. Then the next day, she just shoves the jacket into his arms and mumbles a quick 'thank you' before briskly walking away.
Ever since then, she was avoiding him constantly - making up excuses to not see him, turning away whenever he tried to look at her face, and keeping her responses to one word answers whenever he asked her a question. He did not want to press her for details or an explanation for her odd behavior, but he had to admit, it was getting pretty damn frustrating.
A forlorn sigh escaped him as he laid there on a sofa in the lounge. He held a hand over his forehead, staring up at the intricately decorated ceiling. There was no much to do for this day. Elsa was home, barricaded in her study since she was still avoiding him, and none of the Guardians asked for his presence at HQ. It was quiet and relaxing, although this did make Jack restless.
He had to constantly be moving or doing something. Lazing around and taking naps during the day was not his thing.
Stuck in a dazed trance, Jack blankly continued to stare at the ceiling until he was interrupted by a certain red head.
"Jack!" Anna exclaimed, popping her head into his line of vision. She snickered, pulling away from the sofa as he quickly shot up, clearly startled by her. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
"Anna..." he said warningly, shooting her a slight glare. When all she did was laugh again, he sighed and went back to lying down. "Did you need something?" he mumbled, closing his eyes and pretending that he was trying to sleep so that Anna could leave him alone. While normally he enjoyed her company, he was not up for her quirkiness at this time.
"Mmm," she circled the sofa that he was lying down on and idly paced the area around him. "Not really!" Anna plopped herself down on the sofa opposite of him. She smiled, staring at him trying to sleep.
Jack wrinkled his brow as he kept his eyes shut. "Stop staring at me, Anna. I know you want something."
"Fiiine." Anna pouted her lips a little. "I just need a little favor."
"What?"
"Do you think you can come with me on my date with Hans?"
Jack opened his eyes and looked at her as if she was growing a second head. "Are you serious?"
Anna sheepishly laughed, twiddling her thumbs. "I-I know it sounds crazy, but-!"
"It's ridiculous."
"Stop sounding like Elsa, Jack!" She angrily puffed up her cheeks. "I only came to you about this because I know Elsa would be upset if she found out I was going to go on a date with Hans tomorrow! She just - highly disapproves of him."
"I'm kinda on the same boat, Anna -"
"Jack! Pleeeeeeease?" she asked, dragging out the word pleadingly. She widened her ocean blue eyes in desperation as she clasped her hands together in prayer.
She was relentless, but Jack did not budge. "I need to stay here to protect Elsa."
"She's been home for the past few days! I think she'd be home tomorrow as well! What's the worst that could happen while she's home in her study? Get a papercut?"
"A lot of things."
"Pleeeeeeeease -?"
Jack let out a tired sigh and sat up. He held his head, moving his hand to run through his hair in a fluid motion. "Only way that I'm going with you is if Elsa allows it. And that means you have to tell her about your date."
Anna froze up in fear. "Is there...any way to avoid telling her about it?" she mumbled languidly.
"You know I can't lie to Elsa."
The red head's lips went into a sort of annoyed frown as she retorted, "but you lie to her all the time!"
"About what?"
"Whenever you say things like -" Anna lowered her voice, mimicking Jack, much to his displeasure. "-"oh, I don't like anyone." - "I only like you as a little sister, Elsa." - or, "I'm happy with being your bodygua-"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Jack let out a wry chuckle, "I never said any of those things. And those weren't lies!"
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're lucky my sister's inexperienced with love because it's really obvious to me."
"What's obvious-?"
"You like her." Anna smirked at Jack's sudden change in disposition. He looked away from the young girl, shyly and blushing. She cackled in response, proud of herself for hitting it right on the nail. "I knew it! I'm never wrong about these things!"
"Keep it down," Jack hissed, still clearly embarrassed. He hid his face in his hands for several minutes and eventually he muttered, "how long have you known...?"
"Long enough." Anna haughtily crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her legs. She snickered again. "I knew you had feelings for her. It was written all over your face since Elsa started high school. You'd always be staring at her or sneaking peeks whenever she wasn't looking -"
"I was just keeping an eye on her!" he retorted. He was going to fight this until the end. There was no way that he was going to validate his feelings for Elsa, especially not in front of Anna.
"Right and you would do that with such a loving look in your eyes? You're just in denial, Jack and every time you think Elsa's catching on, you deflect it as if it's a joke."
Jack shot her a look of irritation, only because what she was saying was unfortunately - the truth. However, he was not sure of it himself. He let out a frustrated sigh and muttered, "I only deflect it as a joke because...I'm not sure of what I feel."
Not expecting such a sullen admittance, Anna dropped her haughty attitude and furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
He shook his head, staring at the luxurious carpet rug beneath the soles of his black dress shoes. "I don't know," he muttered softly, "I can't tell if I care about her because we've been together all this time and because I serve her, or if I...actually love her." Jack mumbled the last part, feeling embarrassed to admit it out loud.
Anna pursed her lips slightly, staring at the white haired man for a bit before she stood up. She did care about them, both Jack and her sister, but it was hard being a matchmaker when she had her own relationship to deal with. "Well then! I have a little proposal for you, Jack!"
Quizzically, Jack looked up at her.
"Either you find a way to chaperon my date or I'll just tell Elsa about your secret," Anna grinned devilishly, prompting Jack to scoff in disbelief.
"Are you serious-?"
"The time on this offer will last only for a few hours, Jack," she said warningly.
He was absolutely floored and flabbergasted. Was Anna really threatening him at this point? Was she seriously threatening to go to Elsa about his supposed "feelings" when he was not even sure he possessed them?
"This is stupid, Anna." Jack let out an exasperated groan. "Elsa won't let me go no matter how much I try to beg! Why can't you understand that?"
"You can go."
Jack narrowed his eyes down at Elsa, annoyed with either of the Winters sisters for being so unpredictable. He felt the bottom of his eye twitch.
"Didn't you hear what I said?"
"Yeah - Anna just needs someone to accompany her to a school function. I'm fine with that."
He cringed inwardly at having to lie to Elsa about Anna actually going on a date, but he knew that she would never let him do such a thing. Not to mention, it would ultimately jeopardize his relationship with the blond if Anna decided to tell her all about Jack's feelings in retaliation.
"No, not that," Jack said, surprised at how calmly Elsa was with this. "I mean - I'm actually going to be leaving you alone - like...alone alone."
Elsa finished scribbling something down in her notebook and replied, "you leave me alone whenever you go meet with North. It's not like this time is any different. Besides, I'm going to be home all day."
"Are you serious?"
"Why would I be lying?"
Jack stared down at her skeptically. Even throughout this entire conversation, he noticed that Elsa had not taken the time to look at him - not even once. He was confused to the point where he was almost about to lose it. However, Jack kept his cool and simply resorted to clenching and unclenching his fists, this action going unnoticed by Elsa.
"Fine," he answered stoically, keeping his temper in check, "I'll accompany Anna to her school function tomorrow."
"Good."
Elsa pursed her lips, trying to ignore the fact that Jack was not leaving. She kept her head down, focusing on her schoolwork. Inside, she was a nervous wreck. Her heart was anxiously beating about at the possibility that he found out about her secret date.
This indeed was a perfect opportunity for her to go out on her date with Edwin without getting Jack involved, since Anna suddenly had a school function that she demanded Jack take her to. It was absolutely perfect. However, Elsa knew that if Jack found out about her date, he would drop all plans with Anna and choose to go with her as protection.
Elsa continued to feel Jack's eyes on her. She chose to ignore him further, keeping her focus solely on her textbook. When the tension finally came to be too much, Elsa asked in a stern tone, "did you need something, Jack?"
She flinched when he slammed his hand down in the middle of the textbook that she was reading. Still, she kept her head down.
Jack was extremely frustrated at this point. He was receiving mixed signals from the young heiress and he wanted answers. How could she say something so endearing just a couple of days ago and then the next she was acting like he did not even exist?
"Why won't you look at me, Elsa?" he questioned. Jack set his blue eyes into a sharp glare, angered when she continued to keep her head down and remain silent. "I don't know what you're trying to do," he whispered, his voice shaking slightly, "what kind of game you're playing."
It was Elsa's turn to fire back. She clenched her fist tightly around her ink pen. "What kind of game I'm playing?" She finally looked up to face him. Defiantly, she stared directly into his eyes with her trademark icy cold glare. "What about you!?" Her voice gathered strength and volume as she slowly got up from her chair. "All you do is make jokes and think everything I say or do is a game!"
"Where the hell are you getting these kind of ideas!?"
"From your own damn mouth!"
Jack knew that whenever Elsa started cursing, she was extremely angry. Normally, he would back off, but this situation called for more fire. He wanted answers and now he was going to get them.
Leaning over her desk more, Jack yelled at her. "I'm not the one purposely going out of my way to ignore someone and avoid them! You haven't even looked at me properly since you claimed that I was your 'important person'!"
"I've been busy!"
"Busy doing nothing! You've just been locking yourself up in this study just as an excuse to avoid me! Admit it!" He subconsciously raised his voice, causing Elsa to back off a little. He realized that he was starting to scare her and he drew back as well. Jack ground his teeth together and ran his fingers through his messy white hair, cursing under his breath. "Damn it, Elsa..." He let out a trembling sigh as he closed his eyes. "I don't know anymore."
Elsa gently held her arm, looking away from him. She did not know what to say either because she did not have the answers to her behavior the past few days. She knew she was angry and annoyed at Jack, but she did not know exactly why. He had teased and pranked her plenty of times in the past when they were children, so why was this time any different?
Suddenly, Elsa's phone rang, breaking the silence between the two.
She quickly picked it up and answered it without seeing who it was first. Her heart raced at the sound of Edwin's voice.
"Hey Elsa! I was just making sure that you're still up for our date tomorrow?"
Elsa nervously turned away, but locked eyes with Jack for a brief second. She turned her back towards him and whispered into the speaker, "yes, that's fine."
"What's wrong? Why are you whispering? Did I catch you at a bad time?"
Not wanting to divulge her problems to him, Elsa lied. "No, no, of course not. I'm just - at the library."
"Oh okay then. Well, I'll leave you to your studies! See you tomorrow!"
"Okay, see you." Elsa hung up the phone and let out a soft sigh, hoping Jack did not hear the conversation. However, her hopes were quickly shattered when he spoke up.
"So - when were you planning to tell me about this 'date'?" he questioned, feeling anger stir up inside of him again.
The blond tightly held her phone and turned around to face him. She kept a steady gaze on him as she answered, "it's personal. There was no need to tell you."
"Oh so, now we're allowed to keep secrets from each other?" Jack scoffed, giving her a look of contempt. "First the silent treatment and now you're keeping things from me. Now what were you saying about me playing games?"
"Why are you taking this so seriously, Jack - when you never took anything else seriously before?" Elsa glared at him as she moved right up to him.
"I do take things seriously!
"Yeah, sure," Elsa scoffed, feeling more and more irate with each passing second. She wanted to hurl one of her notebooks at him, but she held back. "You still don't have any reason to probe into my private life!"
"Yes - I do! I need to in order to protect you properly. In case you forgot, Elsa, I'm your bodyguard!"
"And that's all you are and will ever be!"
Jack widened his blue eyes, staring at her. The air around them seemed to still and the silence thickened immediately. He parted his lips a little, bearing the look of shock over his face. The words that came out of her mouth, he could not believe them and from Elsa's expression, she could not believe it either. She stared back at him, dumbfounded with what she had just told him. Her heart beat brutally against her chest - to the point that it physically hurt. Elsa had no idea where those words came from and what part of her blurted it out.
When his expression of shock slowly started to turn into that of pained hurt, she bit down on her lower lip and in a stuttering whisper, "J-Jack...I-I didn't mean to-"
He sharply exhaled through his nose, shutting his eyes as he turned his head away from her. "Whatever," he said in a sullen muttered, "have fun on your date tomorrow."
Elsa stopped him just as he began walking away. She took hold of the sleeve of his black blazer. "Jack -" She felt a part of her shatter when the young man looked back at her briefly and gave her a fleeting glance. Reflected in his blue eyes was just pure pain. Elsa felt every nerve in her body freeze up at this and she slowly let go of Jack. She watched him as he exited the study and as soon as the door clicked shut, she dropped her head. It was obvious - she had hurt him a lot, probably the worst since they had been together.
Her knees failed her as they buckled underneath her weight and she fell to the floor. She held her head and cried, letting the tears flow freely out of her closed eyes. Her shoulders shook and her body trembled. It was a sadness that Elsa could not really explain. She had not felt this way even during her parent's funeral or even after fighting with Anna. She felt confused, hurt, and guilty. The look - the pain in Jack's eyes was something she could not forget. He had never given her such a look before.
Her breath came out in uneven gasps as she tried to regain her composure, but her body would not let her. Elsa squeezed her eyes shut again and she let the tears continuously drop to the hardwood floors.
"I'm sorry" - that was all she had to say to him, but Elsa hated herself for not being able to say it at the right times. Her pride and inability to express herself held her back. And she hated that so much.
Jack was not really sure where he was going in the beginning, but somehow, he found himself at the beach.
The cool ocean breeze innervated him as he sat there at the water's edge. The waves barely rolled up to his feet, receding as soon as they got close. Jack watched the waters with a dismal, impassive gaze. Normally the sound of waves and the ocean in itself would calm him down and help him relax, but today that was not the case.
Despite the ocean's inability to relax him, Jack took it as a welcoming atmosphere from that of the mansion. It was a nice change of pace.
Jack tilted his head back to look at the darkening skies. It was starting to become nighttime and the ocean breeze was starting to become chilly, amplified by the winter season. Of course, Jack welcomed this chilly night air. He inhaled deeply, letting a sharp icy wind blow over him.
"That's all you are and will ever be!"
Elsa's words echoed in his head whenever Jack closed his eyes. His brow furrowed as he replayed the scene over and over again in his head.
Confused - was the only word that could accurately describe his current state of mind. He was no longer angry with Elsa, but all he felt was a pain in his chest at the very thought of her. Elsa always told him about how she could fully trust him and leave her heart open for him, knowing that he would never harm her. What she failed to realize was that Jack was doing the same. He left his heart open for her as well, but...
Jack held his head as he leaned his elbow against his knee. He let out a harsh sigh, hoping that it would relieve some of the pain, but it did nothing.
He looked up at the full moon, shining down on him. Jack parted his pale lips slightly, hesitant in saying anything at first. "Tell me...what I'm doing wrong," he whispered, talking to himself. Jack exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "I just want some answers. I'm so confused...tired...and sick of feeling this way. I am Elsa's bodyguard. So why am I always upset whenever she tells me that? It's who I am. Why can't I accept that?"
Jack gave the moon one last look before biting down on his lower lip and standing up. He brushed himself free of any excess sand and let out one last sigh. "What does it matter," he muttered under his breath. A cold breeze blew past him, gently rustling his snow white hair across his brow. "She's right...that's all I'll ever be."
"Hey, want to hear something crazy?"
"I love crazy," Hans responded, taking a sip of red wine as he sat across from Anna at the dining table. He gave her a handsome smile and set the delicate glass down on the table. He leaned in closer, showing interest in what Anna had to say.
The red head giggled delightfully and brought her voice down to a whisper. "This is actually the first time I've really enjoyed a date."
"Really?" Hans chuckled in response. "Well, wait until you see what I have in store for next time. If you think tonight is great."
Anna widened her eyes and formed a 'o' with her mouth in excitement. "What is it?" she asked curiously.
"You'll see."
She puffed up her cheeks in irritation and whined. "That's not fair!"
"We still have to get through this night, Anna!" Hans seemed amused with the young girl's energetic responses. She was very animated - producing a variety of facial expressions and using her hands a lot more when talking. He supposed that this was just one of the things he liked about Anna.
"What did you have planned after this?" she asked, shoving some food into her mouth.
Proudly, Hans sat up straighter and said, "well, my father had a client that was grateful for winning his case a while back and that client just so happened to get some VIP tickets to go see that broadway musical you've been talking about recently."
Immediately, Anna's stopped chewing. She widened her blue eyes to the point where they looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Anna swallowed all the food in her mouth with some degree of difficulty before she exclaimed, "no way!? They were all sold out for the next few weeks!"
"My family's law firm helps a lot of people," he chuckled, apparently proud of this fact. "Many people owe my father and brothers favors or give them gifts."
"Wow," Anna breathed out, completely mesmerized by how influential Hans' family was. "That's amazing, Hans," she gushed.
"It's really nothing," he replied with a slight chuckle.
Anna giggled, taking a chance to peer out the window they were sitting next to, to look out across the street. She spotted Jack leaned up against his own parked car, idly checking his phone and occasionally looking up at her. Seeing him out there alone, Anna felt somewhat bad, but surprisingly, Jack was insistent on going with her on her date. She did not know what was the cause of his sudden change in heart, but she decided to leave it be.
"What are you looking out there for? Him?" Hans asked, pointing his thumb out towards Jack, who was paying them no attention.
"O-Oh, uhm, yeah!" Realizing that Hans had never actually met Jack yet and that it would be odd to say that her older sister's bodyguard was following them around, Anna quickly conjured up a lie. "I just think...his hair looks cool! Don't you think?" Anna laughed nervously as Hans took another look out at Jack.
"You think I should get my hair bleached like that?" Hans asked, sounding genuinely worried that Anna would say 'yes.' "It would kill my hair, wouldn't it?"
"It would, but I don't think white hair would suit you. Don't worry," Anna laughed, reassuring him, "I think you look perfect just the way you are."
The green eyed man chuckled in agreement. "You're right." Hans took another sip of his wine and paid no more attention to Jack as Anna diverted his attention away by asking him more about his prestigious family.
Although Jack said he did not mind, he was starting to mind just a little.
He let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his temples. He hated - despised musicals to the very core of his being. Jack pretended to look interested whenever the rambunctious elderly couple beside him expressed their joy by excitedly clapping their hands together at a song's climax. He would laugh along with them, but roll his eyes and let his fake smile turn into a scowl as soon as the couple turned their attention back to the stage.
Although he did not have a ticket, he managed to sneak into the theater under the guise that he was an extra chorus member. Luckily this musical was about a group of deadbeat businessmen and their unlucky tribulations with finding love in the workplace - so Jack managed to convince security in the back to let him in. Apparently, he looked like a deadbeat businessman.
In any case, Jack sat just a few rows behind Hans and Anna. Luckily managing to find a vacant seat in an otherwise, full house. He kept his eyes on the two lovebirds for the entire time, finding the back of their heads much more interesting than whatever was going on, on stage.
As the musical reached its intermission, Jack was the first one to get up. He strode outside the theater and let out a sigh of relief once he was out in the main lobby. Some of the audience began trickling outside, stretching their legs and discussing the musical so far. Everyone seemed to be so enthusiastic while talking about it, to which Jack let out an inaudible scoff to. He decided to take a step outside the lobby just to get some fresh air. It felt stuffy in the entire building.
Jack rolled his head back, loosening up the tension in his neck as soon as he stepped outside. He let out an audible sigh of relief, relishing the feeling of the cold winter air. Feeling rather constricted by his dress shirt, he loosened his tie slightly and popped off the first two buttons. He felt better physically. It was only because of his duties as a bodyguard that he wore a suit constantly, but he did not like it too much. He still preferred a comfortable hoodie over a shirt and tie any day.
A cloud of vapor flowed out past his light pink lips as he looked up at the full moon. It looked no different from yesterday. He felt a slight sinking feeling inside, knowing that Elsa was probably on her date right now as well, having fun. Jack tore his eyes away from the moon for a brief moment, giving off an annoyed aura. He soon realized what he was doing and what he was feeling, and he quickly caught himself.
'Why are you jealous, Frost? She's free to date whoever she wants.'
The little voice in his head was right, but he hated to admit that freely. Although he knew that Elsa was at the age where she could start dating, Jack secretly did not want her to. He hated feeling jealous over nothing, over something that he had no control over.
'It's not like you're anything more to her than her bodyguard. You have no right to feel jealous.'
Jack let out an exasperated sigh. He relaxed his face and stared at the ground before him. He was right - he had no right. He was just Elsa's bodyguard, nothing more. He only existed to serve her. Jack knew that he had to crush these romantic feelings that her harbored for her, but that was easier said than done -
He caught movement in the corner of eye - a couple, strolling out from the theater to grab some fresh air. Jack turned his head slightly at the sound of a familiar female voice, giggling softly.
It all seemed to happen slowly, but he turned and locked eyes with a familiar pair of crystal blues. Jack's breath hitched in his throat when he saw that it was Elsa. She widened her eyes at him, surprised that he was there. The platinum blond stared at him, her eyes lingering on him for a brief moment, before she looked away, looking rather sullen. The young man beside her, her date, seemed to ask her what was wrong. Elsa simply smiled, laughing lightly as she brushed it off.
She glanced at Jack briefly once more, her lips pursed in a slight frown. She looked sad.
Jack felt jealousy bubbling up inside of him when he saw the man next to Elsa plant a soft kiss on her cheek. He turned away sharply, not wishing to witness this any further. His breath came out unevenly, slowly turning ragged as he heard them behind him, just a few feet away.
"Are you enjoying yourself so far, Elsa?"
"Y-Yes." She gave him a slight smile, nervously shooting glances at Jack, who began walking away back inside the theater. Elsa flinched uncomfortably when Edwin placed another kiss on her cheek.
"What's wrong?" he asked, kissing her cheek again, edging closer to her mouth.
Elsa shivered, feeling uncomfortable with how touchy he was being. "U-Uhm - ! Edwin!" she gasped, turning her head away just as he tried to kiss her on the lips.
Jack turned back at the sound of panic in Elsa's voice, motioning to make a move if the case she felt threatened. However, it seemed as though she had the situation under control, silently pushing Edwin gently away as she deflected his physical advances with words.
"I-It's just the first date...and we're out in public," she nervously laughed. "I...want to take things slow, okay?" Elsa gave him an innocently sweet smile, to which Edwin replied with a soft chuckle.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I-I suppose I moved too fast without permission -"
"It's fine!" She reassured him light-heartedly. Elsa seemed to hurry him, guiding him towards the theater again. "Let's just go back to watch the musical?"
The two shared a smile and headed back inside. Elsa glanced at Jack one last time, looking away somberly as soon as she entered the theater.
He was left outside by himself once more. Jack kept his eyes on them until they disappeared from view. He could tell that Elsa was trying to leave quickly, not wanting Jack to witness them any further. He knew that she did not want to inflict any more pain on him. However, it was not pain that lingered in Jack's heart anymore - rather it was concern. He set his eyes into a narrowed glare in the direction to where he saw Elsa and Edwin disappear into the theater.
"Oh good," Anna breathed out a sigh of relief when she and Hans approached the estate. "My sister's still in her study probably. I thought she would be outside for some reason."
"This late at night?" Hans chuckled. "You're just paranoid, Anna." His face dropped a little as he asked, "are you...going to tell her about us soon?"
Anna twiddled her thumbs together as she replied in a soft, befallen tone, "you know that I would love for my sister to approve of us, Hans, but...I need to give her time. I promise, I'll get her to approve because - I honestly don't think I'll ever fall in love with another guy other than you."
She gave him a goodnight kiss on the cheek, much to his initial shock. Anna giggled at his soft blush.
"I mean it. Well then, goodnight!" She gave him a quick hug and slid out of the backseat. "I'll call you, okay?" Anna happily shut the car door and stood at the front steps, watching and waving off Hans' car as it rolled out of the circular driveway. She giggled blissfully, happy with a successful first date.
As she moved to go inside, she saw an unfamiliar car roll into the driveway. A black sports car pulled up in front of her and much to Anna's surprise, she saw Elsa coming out from the passenger's side of the car.
"Elsa?" Anna asked, surprise apparent on her face. She drew back a little at the sight of an unfamiliar face coming out from the driver's side. He smiled at her briefly, waving his hand and Anna waved back nervously, unsure of how to deal with a sudden situation such as this. She had thought that Elsa was home the entire night.
"How about another date soon, hm?" Edwin asked, smiling handsomely as he took Elsa's delicate hand and kissed the soft knuckles. "I think you'll enjoy it much more than tonight."
"Of course," Elsa answered in her soft, elegant voice. She smiled back at him. "What day did you have in mind?"
"What about Christmas? It's only a couple of days away. There's a Christmas party I've been invited to by a couple of my colleagues from my university. I'd love to introduce you to them."
"That sounds great."
Anna stood there, her mouth gaping in shock as Edwin placed a soft kiss on Elsa's cheek, whispering to her 'goodnight' before leaving. She kept her eyes on Elsa as the young woman came up beside her, seeing Edwin off until he got back into his car and drove off.
"Woah - Elsa..." The red head looked at her sister, her mouth still agape. "You didn't tell me you had a date tonight!"
Elsa nervously laughed, tucking a piece of blond hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to keep it a secret. We're not even officially dating. It was just a small outing - that's all."
"He asked you out on another date!" Anna exclaimed, apparently excited for the blond. "He totally wants to be an item with you!"
"Please, Anna...it's just another date." She coolly brushed it off, although Anna was insisting that he was Elsa's boyfriend now. "Say, why are you out here?"
Nervously, Anna clammed up and began stuttering. "We-Well, you see...I uhm, I just got dropped off! Yeah, by my friend! The school function ended just a while ago so now I'm here!"
"And Jack?"
"He got caught in some traffic on the way back. He should be here soon-"
As if right on cue, the familiar dark blue sedan rolled up into the driveway, drawing the attention of both sisters. As soon as the bright headlights dimmed down and the car was turned off, Jack stepped out from the driver's seat. He briefly glanced at Elsa, but turned away when she awkwardly tried to hide her face by pretending to play with a loose strand on hair. Anna immediately began to pick up on the awkward atmosphere between the two and she tried to alleviate it by speaking to Jack.
"Oh, Jack! Thanks again for taking me to the event at school." Anna's laughter trailed off a little when she saw Jack's rather stoic expression as he came up to them.
"It's no problem," he muttered, looking at Elsa again, who avoided his gaze.
Anna furrowed her brow as Jack quietly excused himself first and headed inside the house. She turned to Elsa, who continued to play nervously with her hair. "Elsa...? Did...something happen between you two? I've noticed the past few days too - you guys haven't been really talking to each other like normal."
"Everything's fine," Elsa lied, her voice dropping. "...We'll talk more tomorrow, Anna, okay? I just need some rest right now."
"O-Okay, sure thing." Not wanting to start another argument, Anna simply let Elsa step inside the house first. She looked on after her worriedly, following her silently. The state of mind that her sister was in, was worrying her greatly, not to mention Jack as well. She knew there was a unspoken tension between them and she wished that she could help. Jack was like family to her and Elsa was her family, so she hated to see them like this. However, Anna knew that if she forced herself into the middle of their quarrel, it would only heighten the problem and possibly make it worse.
Elsa gently released her hair bun, letting the thick braid of hair fall over her shoulder. She stared at herself in the mirror for a while, the dim lighting of her room warming up her face with a soft glow. Her eyes lowered, looking away from her reflection as she thought back to earlier when she had run into Jack at the theater.
She had not expected to run into anyone, much less him. Elsa drew the conclusion that Anna had lied to her about the school function - which would explain why Jack was there in the first place, but she had too much on her mind right now to be policing Anna. Scolding her for lying would have to be put off for another day.
Elsa's expression visibly changed to that of discontent as she remembered the moment their eyes met. Once they got over the initial shock, Elsa could see the hidden pain in Jack's normally bright blue eyes. That look remained imprinted in her head for the rest of the night. She hated that he had to witness her and Edwin, especially when he tried to get more physical with her. She did not want Jack to see them being intimate. It would have been awkward.
Her attention was diverted to the door when she heard a soft knock.
"Who is it?" she asked, waiting for an answer. When one was not provided to her, she curiously walked over to the door. Elsa slowly opened up the door and felt her heart speed up in anxiety when she saw that it was Jack.
He simply stared down at her with an impassive gaze.
Elsa began to feel a slight uneasiness with his silence and staring. She wanted to say something, but felt as if something was "off" with him. She backed away a little fearfully, gasping when Jack took a step closer to her.
"Wh-What do you want?" she stuttered, her uneasiness growing as he closed and locked the door behind him. "Jack -"
"Why didn't you tell me you had a date?"
"...I told you before - it's my own personal busin-!"
"Like hell it was!" Jack hissed, growing irate. This was past the point of him getting jealous. He saw how the brunette man was starting to get forceful with Elsa, even though she was visibly uncomfortable with his physical touch. "Do you know what would have happened if that guy continued and you two were in a secluded location?"
"His name's Edwin! And I stopped him! He backed right off after that." Elsa crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed and her anger mounting.
"His eyes were all over you!" Jack wanted Elsa to see that Edwin's intentions for her were impure, but his words were falling on deaf ears.
"Because he likes me! Of course he'd look at me!"
"You think that guy actually likes you?" He scoffed loudly, mimicking her by crossing his arms over his chest. "Elsa, I know you're inexperienced with relationships, but you can't be this dense." Jack was starting to feel jealousy rear its ugly head when he heard just how far Elsa was willing to defend Edwin. Spite and anger mixed together inside of him. He gave her a roll of his eyes as he stated, "there's not a single thing this guy would like about you. It's obvious that he's only using you to satisfy his own physical cravings-!"
The sound of a sharp slap permeated the air around them.
Elsa shook out of anger. Her right hand twitched slightly as she panted. She glared at Jack, whose cheek was a bright red from the slap. He kept his head turned away as Elsa spoke slowly. Her voice trembled as she fought to keep her own emotions under control, although she was well past that point.
"Edwin likes me, Jack. At least he's straightforward with his feelings, unlike you."
Jack looked at her in confusion.
"Don't act like you don't know, Jack," Elsa shot out. "All you've been doing the past few weeks is send me mixed signals. All you do is tease me, tell me things..." Her breath came out in a harsh gasp as she tore her eyes away from him. "...tell me things that makes me fall in love with you -"
The white haired man stared at her in shock. His cheek throbbed in pain from her hitting him, but he ignored it as he quietly questioned her. "You...? Fall in love...?" He felt a sharp pain in his heart when he saw her crying.
"- you always...trick me and think everything's a joke. But my feelings aren't a joke and something that can be played around with! You're horrible!" Elsa hiccuped softly and quickly tried to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand. Her eyeliner was running, but she did not care. She was too upset to care how she looked.
At her words, Jack remembered what Anna told him yesterday -
"You're just in denial, Jack and every time you think Elsa's catching on, you deflect it as if it's a joke."
He hated hearing that, but only because he knew that it was the plain truth. Jack knew it himself. However -
"Aren't you just as equally horrible, Elsa?" he whispered.
Elsa looked up at him in disbelief. "Wh-?"
"Accusing someone that their feelings aren't genuine, when they are." Jack looked at her with the look of betrayal in his eyes, pain written all over his blue eyes. He saw how shocked she looked and he hated that this was how Elsa was to find out about his feelings for her.
"J...ack..." Elsa had no idea. She had always thought - believed - that Jack was simply tricking her whenever he did anything remotely romantic towards her. The feeling of guilt grew inside of her as she saw him look away sullenly. She was foolish. She always told him that she left her heart open for him because she knew that he would not hurt her and he did not. However, she hurt him greatly, numerous times, but he did not utter a word of complaint. And that was what hurt her the most. Jack was always there for her and was always by her side ready to make her laugh and smile, but she was not there for him - to make him laugh and smile. All she did was bring him pain - pain that he hid cleverly from her just so that her smile would not disappear.
Elsa took a step towards him, trembling. "Jack...I'm - so sorry. I didn't know -" She touched his arm, only to have him pull away.
Jack avoided her eyes as he muttered, "please don't play with my feelings either, Elsa." He closed his eyes and said softly, "you have Edwin now...I'm sure you're right. He does love you and you can love him back." The mood was somber as Jack turned and walked away, exiting her bedroom.
"Wait! Jack -!" The young woman stopped him once more, desperately clutching onto his arm, silently begging that he does not leave. She froze when she saw Jack turn his head back to look at her. The pained smile and the hurt in his eyes was absolutely heartbreaking to look at.
He tried to give her his usual heart-warming smiles, but there was no way he could hide that much pain. "Don't worry about me, Ice Queen. I'll still protect that smile of yours...I'm your bodyguard, aren't I? If Edwin makes you happy...then don't worry about me. I live to see you smile." He paused for a bit, looking at her with a befallen gaze. "Goodnight," he whispered almost inaudibly.
She slowly let him go, standing there as Jack exited the room. This seemed to become a common routine to Elsa - watching Jack leave her because she hurt him. Sniffling, Elsa wiped away her loose tears. She had cried so much recently that she felt like her eyes would dry up from all the water loss.
Elsa bowed her head, exhaling - trembling.
"Stupid...how can you say all that with such a sad look on your face?"
