Anna raised her fist and with a calming breath, pounded on the door. She rarely came to Hans's apartment, only once or twice since they had started dating, he usually came to pick her up or they just met up with each other somewhere, but after she had called him the day before, he had suggested they meet at his place.
After a few agonizing moments of waiting, she heard the door unlatch and it opened. There was something about him today. He normally was perfectly groomed and dressed, but now something about the way his shirt was unbuttoned nearly halfway down so his chest was just barely visible, and his uncombed hair hanging over his forehead, Anna felt her stomach flip-flop. As usual, he was smiling down at her with his perfect pearly whites. She just took a moment to bask in his perfection. This was going to be harder than she thought.
"Hey," he greeted her.
"Hmm..." Anna sighed, still staring, "Oh, hi!"
"Did you want to come in?" he asked.
"Yeah, uh, sure," Anna said
He opened the door wider to admit her. She moved past him and inside. He had a pretty high class apartment, especially for a college student. She sometimes wondered if his family was rich like hers. She knew his father was a foreign diplomat, but did that mean he was rich? She never asked, she felt like that was prying. She just waited until the subject came up, which it had not yet.
After she was inside, Hans closed the door behind her and moved around so he stood in front of her. "So what's up?" he asked, "You sounded pretty concerned on the phone yesterday. Is it serious?"
Anna cleared her throat. Do it. Just do it. If he accepts you for it, great! If not then he's not worth your time... right? Ugh, she had forgotten how distracting those green eyes could be! Now with that open shirt and the hair, it was almost impossible to think. Just don't look directly at him... like the sun, or whatever!
"Look, Hans," she began. OK, good start, keep going. "I came here to tell you..."
She looked into his face. Why did she do that? She couldn't go right to the point like she originally planned with him looking down at her like that. Now she had to start off on a more casual topic. "I was just over at Elsa's before I came here and..."
"Did you tell her you were coming over here?" he interrupted.
"No," Anna replied, slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question, "I just left my usual plate of cookies. I don't really do a lot of talking anymore."
"Why? You don't think she cares?"
Anna sighed and nodded.
Hans nodded as well. "You're probably right," he said, "Anybody who refuses to even open a door for their own sister cannot be too good with the whole love thing."
Anna felt her heart drop. "Well, I-I don't know," she said, "I mean, it seems a little harsh to say she doesn't love..."
"Look, Anna, you've been trying for months to reach out to her. If she had any semblance of a heart, don't you think she would have acknowledged you by now?"
"She takes my cookies..."
"They're cookies. Who wouldn't take them?"
Anna felt as though she had been slapped in the face. She felt her eyes begin to sting and she looked down at the ground. In a moment, she felt an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you," Hans said, "But I just don't want to see you keep putting yourself out there like that, only to keep getting knocked down each time."
Anna wiped away a tear that had forced its way out and down her cheek. "I know. You do care, don't you?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," he answered.
Anna sniffled slightly, pushing back her pain. "OK," she said, "I came here... to tell you something."
"Alright," Hans said, pulling away from her and sticking his hands in his pockets, staring at her attentively.
"Now... we've been dating for a while," Anna said.
"Yeah, couple months," Hans said.
"Yeah," Anna said, "And it's been great. That's is uh... mostly."
"Mostly?"
"Yeah, er... well, you know, umm... I love kissing! I mean, kissing's great, especially kissing you. It's like kissing a marshmallow. No! Not that you're fat, because you're not! You're by no means puffy in any way! Er, what I mean is... your lips! They're soft... like... a marshmallow. Ugh, that sounded better in my head. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I do like kissing... you. But it's just that... well, I don't really know how to say this."
Hans raised his eyebrows. "Just say it."
Anna took a breath. "Well..."
Suddenly the sound of a phone ringing split the air. Hans looked down and pulled one of his hands out of his pockets, pulling his phone with it. It was buzzing and ringing in his hand. He looked at the ID, frowning. "It's my mom," he said, sounding confused, "She never calls unless it's urgent. I'm sorry, I need to take this."
"Oh yeah, sure," Anna said, trying to mask her disappointment with nonchalance, "Take your time."
Hans answered the phone and stepped into the other room. "Hello?"
Anna sighed. Fate was against her it seemed. She had been so close to finally telling him. And just when her courage was at its peak, his phone had to ring.
He was not gone long. However, he returned with his eyes downcast, looking almost on the verge of tears. Something was not right. Anna moved closer to him. "Hans? Is everything alright?"
"That... that was my mom," he said heavily, "She told me that... my grandmother just passed on."
"What?" Anna said.
"She'd been in the hospital for five months with a brain tumor. We were surprise she even lasted this long," Hans said, sitting down on the sofa and putting a hand to his forehead. Was he... crying?
Anna rushed to his side. She gingerly rested her hand on his. "Were you close to her?" she asked gently.
It took him a moment before he answered. "She was the best grandma anyone could ask for," he said, "You know, she did all the usual stuff like make you cookies and brownies and whatever when you visited. And she had the most awesome house with the best tire swing on this giant oak tree in the backyard. I always remember her sitting in her green rocking chair knitting hats and scarves and stuff. And whenever my brothers and I would stay over, she would always make up bedtime stories right there on the spot and they were the best stories I had ever heard in my life."
Anna smiled. "That sounds nice," she said softly.
"It was," Hans said. He began to get choked up again slightly, but he fought it back. Anna held his hand. "Now she's gone," he said through deep breaths, "Why does everyone always have to leave? First my grandpa, then Penny... I never thought I'd ever get over her. I told you about her, right? In high school... my first girlfriend?"
Anna nodded, then clung tightly to his hand and pulled it close to her. "Not everyone leaves," she said, "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
Hans cracked a smile and he squeezed her hand. "I know. That's why I love you."
Anna's eyes widened. "What?"
Hans's melancholy atmosphere disappeared slightly. "Oh..." he said, realizing, "I had planned on telling you under less gloomy circumstances."
"You... you love me?" Anna repeated, shocked.
"Yeah," Hans answered, slightly sheepish.
Anna processed this information for a moment. No one had ever loved her before, at least not romantically. There was always her parents's love, and she had once thought Elsa loved her, but who even knew about that anymore. But Hans loved her? It seemed too good to be true! She slowly smiled at him. "I love you too," she said.
He leaned closer to her. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," she said.
And he closed the gap between them. Plan? What plan?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Do you think she actually went through with it?" Olaf wondered.
"I certainly hope so, for her sake," Sven answered.
"Kristoff, you did say she was going to do it today, right?" Olaf asked.
Kristoff just nodded, staring at his binder in his lap as the three of them sat on the steps in front of the Castle Building. He was still trying to process the feelings he had been experiencing ever since his tutoring session with Anna the previous day.
"Hey, are you OK? You've been acting all weird since yesterday," Sven said.
"I'm fine," Kristoff said, "I've just had a bit of a headache, that's all."
"Alright, suit yourself," Sven said, shrugging, "But if you want to talk, I'm right here for you."
"I do not need to talk, Sven," Kristoff snapped, "It's a headache."
"OK, fine," Sven said, holding up his hands in surrender.
"Hey look, Anna's coming this way!" Olaf announced, pointing.
Kristoff's head snapped up in the direction that Olaf was pointing. Sure enough, Anna's petite figure was moving towards them in the distance. Kristoff could feel his heart rate suddenly speed up and he could even feel a blush rise to his cheeks. What in the world? That was just not okay! He took long steady breaths in attempt to slow his racing heart and he prayed that his face was not too noticeably red.
Anna approached. She was not smiling. Olaf spoke up first. "So?"
"So what?" Anna asked.
"So what happened?" Olaf asked.
Anna adjusted her collar. "I don't see why that's any of your business."
Olaf's face dropped slightly. "Didn't you tell Hans about your problem?"
"I might have or maybe not," Anna said, "I still don't see why it's any of your business."
"Anna, are you okay?" Sven wondered, "You're acting a little strange."
"I'm fine!" Anna said sharply, "And if you must know, I am still with Hans and everything's been resolved."
"So you told him?" Olaf asked.
"No. But everything worked out for the best," Anna said.
""Worked out for the best"?" Sven repeated, "Anna, if you didn't tell him your problem, how can everything work out for the best?"
"You wouldn't understand," Anna said, "None of you have been in a relationship, so how can you know what's best?"
Everyone just stared at her, dumbfounded. Anna inhaled sharply. "Now excuse me, I have a class that starts in five minutes."
With that she marched up the steps and disappeared into the Castle Building.
