Chapter ten
Anna tapped on her steering wheel, nerves humming in her stomach and skin. All her things were packed in the back, all her underwear and bras and bathing suits, her mind attempting to focus on what she could miss from packing instead of her. Or more like the lack of her.
Deodorant. Sunscreen. It was ten thirteen already. . . If she didn't show up soon Anna would have to go without her. Her tapping increased as her thoughts raced about the last two weeks. Elsa wasn't the same since the last meet, but Anna couldn't put her finger on it. She still talked to her, yet her eyes were so far away or flint around the room, and the distance made Anna's stomach tighten and sink. She didn't even know if Elsa was still coming with her. . .
It was ten twenty. Anna closed her eyes as tears bundled in her eyes and she had to tell herself that it was okay. Everything would be okay. . . She put the car in reverse with her chest becoming a hot volcano, tight and hurtful, her face flushing warm with her hurt.
THUD! Anna jerked her head back around, her neck joints popping like bb bullets as her watery eyes locked on a hand pounding on the window. She quickly blinked her tears away as she rolled the windows down.
"Hey," Elsa's face was flushed, her mouth open and her beautiful white hair rumbled around her face, softening the hardening lava in Anna's stomach. "I said I'd come." She softly said, her bright blue eyes not so distant anymore, the edges not dark like a fresh bruise but instead rolling like an ocean on the brightest morning.
"Then get in." Anna's voice wavered, butterflies breaking from the hardened lava and was sweet like the pinkest cotton candy. She bit the inside of her cheek as Elsa threw her suitcase in the back and slid in quickly, locking the doors before Anna could put the car in drive.
"So how long is the plane ride?" Elsa grinned, her fingers gently moving the radio dial.
"About three and a half hours." Anna admitted as she glued her eyes on the road, trying to not think of Else's slim and pale fingers changing the radio stations like she was touching something fragile like glass. It made her heart leap, pushing down her sudden sexual thoughts. Elsa was her friend, and clearly something had been bothering her for these few weeks. . .
"Ugh, what am I going to do that whole time?" Elsa complained lightly and almost playfully, which was such a contrast to her somber tones lately, making Anna's heart flutter with hope.
"Play on your phone? Make me look beautiful in selfies?" Anna joked back as the bass hummed in the air, her long earring tickling her neck as she took a turn.
"I threw my phone away about a week ago." Elsa spoke after a pause, letting Beyonce sing 11 without interruption, which was hard for Anna, words pressing like bees against the back of her teeth with her chatterbox nature.
"Oh." Anna peered at her bestfriend/crush, the best she could considering she was driving on the freeway. Else's eyes had bags big enough to hide a national treasure but other than that Anna couldn't pick up on a physical sign.
"Well that explains it," Anna waved her hand, her nude colored nails catching the yellow light she drove though. "I was concerned, you know, after all those missed calls and texts." All 67 of those calls and texts Anna sent her in just two days. . . She lost count after that. . . Her cheeks burned a bit.
The radio bounced in between them, smothering the feeling swirling between them, Anna lost in her own thoughts and she snuck glances at Elsa. As they came closer to the airport Anna's phone rang through the Bluetooth on her radio, and she motioned for Elsa to answer and put it on speaker.
"Anna, love! I was thinking that by the time you'll get here with your gi--" Anna's mum's voice came loudly from the speakers and panic tugged through her veins.
"MUM I'M ON SPEAKER!" Aka, please please don't call Elsa my girlfriend.
"Oh! Well hello Elsa dear, it's so good to finally talk to you." Anna's mum paused for barely a second, as if nothing happened.
"Hello. . ." Elsa rose an eyebrow at Anna, which she quickly looked away from.
"So as I was saying dear, you'll be here for dinner, so I was thinking about making pizza, a pineapple salad and then ice cream floats for dessert. Sound good love--"
"-- is that Anna on the phone?" Papa's voice blared through the speaker, as if he was trying to take the phone.
"Hey, we got to go, we have a plane to catch!" Anna yelled and frantically hit the end button- her dad wasn't as subtle as mum.
Elsa laughed softly, her fingers covering her mouth, and the sound make Anna melt a bit with relief and sweetness. "Your parents sound lovely, I can't wait to meet them."
"You'll love them, they're gonna treat you like you're their own daughter." Anna answered without a thought, because of course they would. They already made team Elsan tee shirts and were bugging her to date already, or worse asking when they were going to get married.
"Really. . ." Elsa replied, her voice fading delicately. Anna's shoulders drooped a bit as she parked in the rental spot and turned to look at the taller girl.
"Elsa," Anna took a deep breath as she looked into her dark and haunted eyes, Anna's tanned fingers grapping onto Elsa's cold ones, rubbing her thumb in a circle. "I want you to know that I care about you, you're my best friend. . . And I know that you are going through a hard time right now. I'm here for you. I'll listen, I promise." Else's haunted and tired eyes slid away from her gaze and became a bit distant as tears pooled there, her mouth pulled in on itself as her bottom lip trembled.
"Oh Anna, I know you're here for me, it's just. . .I don't want you to get hurt." Else's strong shoulders shook a bit, and broke a small part of Anna's heart. She pulled the taller girl into herself and wrapped her small arms around Else's shaking shoulders. She pressed one of her hands into a comforting circle on her quaking back as Else's face rested in the crook of her neck, her messy white hair tickling Anna's nose.
"I won't get hurt! I'll be here for you always, you could tell me that you killed someone and I'd still love you." Anna's voice caught a second, but it was too late. Elsa wouldn't know what love she meant, but Anna did. And that was okay. Elsa gave a soft hiccuping laugh and drew back a bit until they could see eye to eye.
"I've never killed anybody. . . But my ex boyfriend killed my father and made it look like an overdose and now he's after me and I'm so scared. He-he's insane Anna and I can't go to the police." Elsa gushed, her words coming out faster than bullets leaving Anna in the deep end of a never ending ocean, waves and riptides pulling at her ankles.
"Okay," Anna took a deep breath and nodded her head a bit. "Okay. Okay, why can't you go to the police?" Anna rubbed Else's trembling and clammy hands as she mulled through the information.
"Because his uncle is the head of justice and what ever I would say would go unheard." Elsa looked down at their jointed hands, her face hidden.
"Mon Dieu. . ." Anna whispered under her breath as she blinked at her unraveling friend before she pulled herself together. "Its going to be okay, we're going hundreds of miles away where he can't reach you where we will figure this out. He can't know where you're going, he won't find you. You'll be safe, okay." Anna peered deep into Else's eyes that she tried to hide, and could see the moment where the storm settled in them, the tears slowly stopping. Anna wiped them away from Else's flushed cheeks without a thought, the skin smooth against her palm.
"Its going to be okay now." Anna told her with fake confidence until Elsa nodded her head, her hair wavering against her face like angel hairs.
They both got out of the car, a comfortable silence between them. Anna reached out her hand after she paid for her rental car, her fingers curling around Elsa's long ones, and in that moment for her it felt like they were one.
She let Elsa nap against her shoulder as they checked in, the plane was not coming in for two hours, which left her there forever. She played with Elsa's white hair as her mind rushed through what she said. . . And the fire in her heart that told her she would do anything to keep her safe.
A/N: tried to keep this one lighter in the shadow of that last one. Thanks for those still reading and your patience! I just graduated so I should *crosses fingers* update more when I'm not at the beach or at college orientation.