″It's just that things are really complicated with Kristoff and everything and I feel like I need to get to know you more before we do anything about this. I just… don't know what to do. I have feelings for you, I really do, but I just don't know what to do about them.″
″Go out with me, be my girlfriend, that's what you do about them.″
″It's not that simple, I've never done this before.″
″Sure it is, just take a chance. I promise I won't disappoint.″
Three months. It's been three fucking months and we're still not actually dating. This casually making out shit is getting old. At least give me something more than just kissing.
Elsa and Anna were lying in Elsa's bed. Anna had her nose in some book based off The Wizard of Oz and Elsa had her arm draped around the smaller girl's shoulder, playing with her hair. Through the open door, Olaf could be seen drawing in one of his many coloring books. Stacks of coloring books were strewn around the apartment, all over the couch in the living room and the table in the conjoined dining room/kitchen. The entire apartment was conjoined, actually. The only barriers were the walls closing off the kids' rooms and the guest bathroom and the island separating the dining room/kitchen and the living room. It was a small apartment, but Elsa and Olaf were grateful for it.
″What're you thinking 'bout, Els?″ Anna set her book down on her chest and looked up at the platinum haired girl. Elsa dropped the braided pigtail she had been playing with, meeting the bright blue eyes of the girl in her arms. She didn't realize that she had been staring into space for so long.
″Nothing…″ Liar. ″Just stuff.″
Anna reached up and tapped one of the metal gauges in Elsa's ear, proceeding to tug on her lobe. ″Tell me what you're thinking.″ Elsa chuckled, pulling her ear away from the girl and pulled her closer, resting her head on top of hers. She contemplated whether or not to bring up what she had been thinking. She refrained from it when she figured it was probably for the best that they didn't start a relationship. Not yet, at least. I know so much about her and she knows next to nothing about me. It's not fair. I shouldn't be keeping all this from her. But I've never told anyone before, what if she gets weirded out? No, I should tell her. She wants me to tell her…
″Elsa?″ Anna pushed away from her, situating herself so that she was facing her. Worry shrouded her eyes. ″What's wrong? Are you okay?″
″Anna… can I trust you with something?″ Way to sound dramatic. Elsa averted her eyes and took a sudden interest in the fabric of her sheets. She felt slender fingers slip under her chin, lifting her head up so that she was at eye-level with the big blue eyes. Anna nodded, looking concerned. ″You said that before we start dating, you wanted to know more about me, and I guess I haven't really given you that chance, so here it goes…″ She took a deep breath. ″You know how a while ago, I kind of told you that my parents were really abusive?″ She nodded again, the look of concern growing. Elsa's cheeks burned, feeling a single droplet of water roll down her face. She couldn't tell what came over her; she threw her arms around Anna's waist and hid her face in the crook of her neck. All at once, she got flooded with the painful memories of her relationship with her parents. Sobs racked her body. Anna gently put her arms around the girl, confused, and rubbed her back, whispering soothing words into her ear.
When Elsa was calmed down enough, she told Anna everything. She told her about what her dad had done to her however many times and how her parents would disappear for weeks at a time without warning, leaving Elsa to take care of Olaf. She told her about all the bad things her parents would do to her and Olaf while they were under the influence of some drug or another- though she tried to keep Olaf out of the situations as often as she could. She just let everything out. She told Anna about things that she was afraid to admit to herself were even real and actually ever happened. Elsa hated herself for showing weakness but she knew it had to happen.
″You're going to be okay, you're not with them anymore. I… I've got you.″ Anna ran a hand through Elsa's hair. A feeling of guilt washed over her but she couldn't tell why. ″Elsa, why did you decide to tell me about this right now?″
A sniffling Elsa pulled her face away from the redhead. The pain of her past was visible on her face. ″Sh-should I not have? I'm sorry, it's ju—'
″No! Don't apologize, I'm glad you finally opened up to me; this is such a relief! Well, no, not a relief exactly, but…″ Anna thought over her words carefully. ″I'm just glad you finally let me in.″ She pulled Elsa back closer to her and held her there.
Elsa forced herself to stop crying. She was done, it was over, everything is in her past. She needed to get over it. Pulling away from Anna again, she wiped her eyes. She gave Anna a sheepish look, feeling her small hand rubbing against her back. It was as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders; Elsa never realized how much of a strain keeping her past bottled up was putting on her. Anna was right, it was a relief.
For the next few days, Elsa felt like Anna was treating her like a ticking time bomb. Though she couldn't blame her, having Anna hover over her at all times wasn't always the best thing. Especially not when she could tell that whenever Anna was trying to have a conversation with her, she was obviously choosing her words and her tones carefully. Elsa assured her multiple times that she didn't have to, but she never listened to her.
Anna went so far as to check up on her during work one day. She claimed it was to do some grocery shopping, but no one goes into a store for ″grocery shopping″ and only buys a pack of gum.
″You need to get a life.″ Elsa joked as she rang up Anna's single item. ″That'd be one dollar and seventy-five cents.″ Bagging the gum and handing it to Anna, she felt soft fingers dance over her hand at the exchange.
″Oh, what, I don't get the girlfriend discount?″ She said with a wink.
Elsa flushed at the realization of the term. ″G-girlfriend?″ She tried to hide her face from the smaller girl as a stupid smile tugged at her lips. A lady standing behind Anna in line with a cart full of groceries gave them a small cough, letting them know that she was there and had been waiting. Anna scooted out of line and let Elsa get on with her work, but not before muttering a ″Let's talk later.″ just loud enough for her to hear.
Elsa clocked out at around eight o'clock and said her goodbyes to her co-workers. The words Anna had spoken earlier rang around in her head. Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend. Was it that easy? Elsa has dated girls plenty of times before, but she never just waltzed up to them and called them her girlfriend. Not that she was complaining, she was happy that Anna finally got around to it. But was it because I told her? I know that that was the circumstance; but was it really that easy?
″Hey, Olaf, I'm home!″ She announced upon entrance into her tiny apartment.
″Hush! He's sleeping!″ Elsa jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. Anna was sitting at the dining room table with a cup of coffee in her hands and a smirk on her face. She brought the cup up to her lips and took a sip, keeping eye contact with Elsa. Elsa took her jacket off and threw it on the couch. She approached the table and took a seat across from the redhead.
″Hey there, creep.″ Elsa hid her hands under the table, wringing them out of what she thought seemed to be nervousness. ″So what did you want to talk about?″ You're so stupid, you know what she wants to talk about.
″I finally know what I want to do about the feelings I have for you now.″ Anna sunk down in her chair, a tint of pink covering her freckled cheeks.
″You said things were difficult with Kristoff. I don't get what you mean by that, how are things difficult?″ Elsa asked, gripping her hands together so tight she thought she might accidentally break the bones there. ″It's not like you guys are dating. I mean, I know you used to but that was forever ago.″
″Well, first off, two years isn't exactly forever ago. And second, that's not it.″ Anna took a deep breath. ″He's been warming up to you over the past few months, but he still doesn't completely like you. It's going to be difficult to have my best friend not like my girlfriend, but… can we just forget about Kristoff for right now? I just want to talk abo—'
A loud banging on the front door interrupted Anna midsentence. Both of the girls' heads whipped around to look at the door. Warily, Elsa stood up from the table. Olaf's bedroom door cracked open, revealing the drowsy little boy in his Superman pajamas rubbing his eyes. The banging continued, more furious this time, making both Elsa and her little brother jump. Walking up to the door, Elsa gripped the knob tight in her hand. Olaf came up behind her and held on to one of her legs. Wishing there was a peep hole she could look through, she turned the knob and opened the door slowly. The person on the other side shoved the door open the rest of the way, making the two siblings stumble backwards. Anna darted up from the table to assist the two. In the doorway stood a woman who strangely resembled Elsa, with a few wrinkles here and there. Elsa's eyes widened at the realization of who was standing in her threshold.
″Get out!″ She shouted in a voice that Anna had never heard come from her before. ″How did you find us? Get out!″
Olaf clambered to his feet and ran for safety behind Anna. She felt the little boy grip the fabric of her jeans, hiding his face in the back of her legs. Reaching behind her, she placed a soothing hand on the boys back and tried to guide him away from the situation. The lady in the doorway pushed passed Elsa and set her sights on Anna and the boy.
″Who the fuck is this!?″ She spat and gripped the girl's face in her worn hands. Taking a tighter grip, she pushed her face away from her and whipped around to face Elsa again. ″Not important. She probably won't stay in your life too long anyway. Knowing you, you'll be ruin something.″ Elsa gritted her teeth, obviously fighting back the urge to either cry or beat the lady up.
″GET OUT!″ She yelled one more time, furiously pointing towards the door.
″What? Don't you care that your father is dead?″ Elsa's face dropped. ″Yeah, dumb bastard overdosed. You know, it was probably because of the heartbreak brought upon him by the abandonment of his beloved children.″ A whimper and a sniffle came from Olaf. Anna picked the boy up with intentions of bringing him back to his room. Before she even took a step towards the door, the lady snatched Olaf from her, making him whimper again. ″Shut up, boy!″ She hissed, holding him under his arms away from her and shaking him. ″Shut up!″
Anna swooped in and gently took him back. ″Stop that!″ She shouted, holding Olaf in a motherly manner, gripping him close to her body and holding a hand on the back of his head, hiding his face in her neck. Once again, she made her way to the boy's room and shooed him in there.
″Keep her away from me and my sister, Anna.″ He whined, rubbing tears away from his eyes before darting towards his bed.
″You and Olaf are expected at the funeral.″ The lady spat, shoving a piece of paper at Elsa. ″That one can come if she wants.″ She looked Anna up and down, giving her a nasty look. Turning around, she stomped out the still open front door and slammed it shut behind her.
″I'm sorry, Anna.″ Elsa muttered, tears flowing from her eyes and down her face as she looked at the crumpled piece of paper in her hands. ″I-I don't know what to say. I don't know how to explain her…″
″It's okay, it's okay.″ Anna approached her carefully, afraid the she would scare her, and draped her arms around the taller girl. She offered calming words as she felt Elsa's tears drench her neck.
