Elsa threw herself upon her bed, glad to finally be able to rest and relax. It had been a long day at the hospital and the last thing she had wanted was another guy hitting on her, her parents pestering her or helping Anna with her homework. Still, she had gone through all that just fine and (mostly) unscathed. Everything could be worse. She could lose a patient. The guy hitting on her could be a stalker. For the most part, she was ready to face another day.

She closed her eyes and sleep came easily with the sound of the rain lulling her into deep slumber. Trouble was, the day—or rather the night—wasn't done with her yet.

She dreamt. In her dream, she moved back to half a year ago. In her dream, she was still with Hans, sitting inside his car. In her dream, she was the hapless observer watching their last conversation repeat itself.

They were watching the sun rolled under the horizon to mark the end of their date. They had lunch at a very nice restaurant earlier and walked by the beach after. Elsa was content and happy, but Hans had been fidgeting nervously all day. What smile he gave had been weak and forced, and what attention he gave her seemed to be drawn from the deepest part of him with great effort. Elsa had thought not to mention it. She had never been someone who pry into other's business. Even if the question was at the tip of her tongue, she kept it to herself.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Hans too had had enough of keeping it bottled in, so he spoke. "Can I be honest with you?" His voice was trembling and full of resignation.

"After all these years you still have to ask?" Elsa chuckled.

He took a deep breath in and let it out dramatically, scratched his hair and shook his head. Elsa began to feel uncomfortable but kept her silence. "Look, there's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it. Elsa, I don't think this…us…will ever going to work."

Elsa sat stupefied. It was a bolt out of the blue. There hadn't been any rough patches during their relationship. What fight they had, they always settled peacefully like adults. He had been very sweet and she had responded in kind. And even though she had never said it, she loved him. She never thought he would end it and so abruptly too at that.

"You want to break up?" Elsa spoke with a calm composure belying her wrecked state of mind. She tried to find whatever did go wrong and couldn't find anything.

"If you're alright with it." She couldn't believe that he sounded slightly hopeful.

"Can I ask why?"

"Don't get me wrong, Elsa. You're beautiful and great and—"

"God, I hope this isn't one of those 'It's not you, it's me' kind of break-up."

"It's not. I promise. What I meant to say is… Gosh, why is this so hard? What I meant to say, we both know we got into this relationship in the first place to appease our parents. We thought we could grow to love each other with time so we gave it a shot." He sighed again. "I tried…but I just… I can't see you in that light."

"I…I see…"

"You…understand?" he asked carefully.

"I do." No, I don't. "What makes up your mind?"

Hans gulped once and spoke the next sentence deliberately softly. "I met a girl…"

"Ah, I see now…" Her sarcasm couldn't sound thicker. "Are you dating her now?"

"What? No! I respect you too much to do that!" Hans blurted out. He scratched his head in frustration. "I know how it sounds, but there's nothing going on with me and her. It's just that we talked and I couldn't explain it…but I felt a connection that I have never felt before with anyone ever..." Hans stopped himself knowing his words could be considered offensive. He turned to her, ready to face whatever fury she wanted to unleash. Instead, Elsa was regarding him coolly. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and she didn't betray any emotion at all.

An uncomfortable silence settled. Hans was frozen under her stare. It was as if she was searching him, dissecting the words he had said and peering through his mind. Finally, she nodded. "I can understand that."

"Elsa, I'm sorry."

She shook her head as if refusing his apology. "There's nothing to forgive. Things didn't work out. That's all there is to it." She was lying though. She was enraged. She was heartbroken. She let none of it show.

Hans let out a sigh of relief as if a great burden had been lifted off his back. "What do we tell our parents? This won't look good at all… We might just ruin their friendship."

"Well, that's simple enough. We tell them nothing. It's a clean break. Things didn't work out. That's all there is to it." She realized she was repeating her previous words, but her mind was a jumble and she couldn't think of anything else.

Hans reached for her hand then. Elsa flinched but let him took it. "Thank you… for understanding… for everything…"

"Of course…"

"I'll drive you home."

"Of course…"


So... Yeah... I went MIA again. I could tell you all the reason but it's going to be long so I won't bother.

If anyone wondered if Hans is lying or hiding anything, let me save you all the trouble. No, he wasn't. He's an average genuine guy who's trying to do what's best. For once I just want to put him in a good light. So... yeah...

heartonfire: well hope that answers that. It wasnt all Hans, actually, I think

Silence in Winter: Not really not good per se... Things just didn't work out... She loved him, he didn't love her back. That's all there is to it.

AFineMess101: well, nothing to deep. the plot should be as straight as an arrow. we'll see tho

MaravillaKatan47: no one is going full Arturo Gatti on anyone. calm your horses or in this case... boxers... lol XD