13. That Damn Date
"Me too. – Jack"
He had typed and sent the message before he even thought about it. To be fair, he was being honest. He was looking forward to the meeting, in a sense. He was just convinced that was all it was.
The repayment of a debt, and nothing more.
In his mind, there was nothing more to talk about. He wasn't going to stand her up, given that in two texts she had specifically stated she was looking forward to today. He may be a cold, aloof asshole but he still knew right from wrong, and avoiding a meeting such as this was definitely a candidate for the 'wrong' box.
And once the meeting was over, he could get back to living in solitude and being safe from the world. Maybe fix his icy heart. She would go back to doing whatever she was doing, and he would just be content to shut everyone out, and experience the occasional mild anxiety attack.
Yet his mind went back to the day someone slashed her tyres and how, without hesitation, he stepped up to help her out and would do it again. Something about her, perhaps. Something about the light, simmering butterflies in his stomach when her delicate face, her warm smile would pop into his mind's eye without so much as a warning or apology.
Something about how the two sisters swapped places in Mental Health so Elsa could sit next to Jack – as though it was fucking high school – and the calming feeling it brought. Mr Graham had asked Jack a couple of questions, and while he responded in his usual clipped, terse manner, he actuallyresponded rather than stormed out.
The strangest feeling of being okay with it.
Maybe it was just a meeting. Maybe, after this, everything would go back to the way it was. If that was the case, it would be the death of Jack the Thawing, and the return of Jack the Cold.
And seeing that smile once more would mean Jack the Thawing died a glorious death, worthy of a Klingon.
So, at three-fifteen on Monday afternoon, a full forty-five minutes before the arranged time, Jack found himself nestled in the far corner of The Orient Espresso, nursing a cold Americano and ignoring flirtatious looks from the waitress behind the counter. She was cute, sure, with her red hair in a bob and wearing something resembling a French maid's outfit – though far less revealing, to Jack's relief – but the constant smiles and winks annoyed him more than anything else.
That was probably the reason he was burying himself in his already completed college work, and primarily focused on drawing a new type of snowflake. It was more angular and defined than the ones on his neck or his pendant, and quite a bit more complicated to draw. Featuring a straight-edged, six petalled flower in the centre, with various isosceles and scalene triangles spreading out from fixed points at the tip of each 'petal' to constitute the arms, tipped by a diamond right at the end, it was the hardest one he had ever done.
Why? Because it had to be perfect. Symmetrically, aesthetically infallible.
He was just finishing the last of the little arms between the larger, triangular ones when a voice reached his ears from somewhere to the side of him. He hoped that it wasn't the waitress. Again.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
"Reserved." he answered tersely, not even looking up.
"Oh? For whom?"
"Someone important."
"Aww, that's so sweet of you." He could practically feel the smile in the owner's voice. He looked up, readying a snappy comment about not being able to understand the word 'reserved', then found the comment disappear inside his mind, never to be seen again.
Elsa was standing by the side of him, greeting him with one of her famous, butterfly inducing smiles. She was wearing one inch heeled black boots, black yoga pants with a breezy blue cotton sweater under a light grey pea-coat.
"You're early…" was all he could manage. He didn't miss the flash of light pink in her cheeks as she took the seat 'reserved' for her.
"Yeah, well…I couldn't wait. My afternoon Business lecture was about something I already know so…yeah." she said in a half-truth. It was true that the lecture was familiar to her, but she had plenty other things that she could have done.
"Fair enough. What are you having?" he asked, regarding her in a manner that could loosely be defined as suspicious, but not quite. Studying her.
"Mocha, and I'm paying, remember? I owe you for saving me. I mean…stopping me from falling."
Jack let out a quiet snort, and the smallest of Harrison Ford smiles crept up on his lips. He gestured to the waitress in an indifferent manner, and she promptly bolted upright and hurried over, notepad and pencil in hand. Jack requested another Americano while Elsa chose her mocha, and she felt the flash of irritation when the waitress gave Jack a little wink before she left. Jack merely rolled his eyes and scratched the side of his head in mild exasperation.
"I wish she wouldn't do that. Pretty sure I made it clear she isn't my type." he grumbled.
"Oh, and what is your type, Mr Overland?" Elsa teased, but couldn't deny the piquing of her interest.
"Not her, for a start." he said dryly, with a dash of disdain.
Hmm. Strike three for her, maybe I'm the next batter up?
While the waitress busied herself with the order, Elsa took the time to study the tiny, independent coffee house in its entirety. Designed to resemble a famous continental train, the two windows next to the door were framed in rich, velvety red curtains, with a mahogany table under each one and old-fashioned lamps perched on each table.
Those same tables were also dotted untidily around the rest of the coffee house, all sporting similar lamps in the middle, surrounded by slightly flimsy looking mahogany chairs. Elsa's eyes traced up the walls, and amusement bounced in her chest when the character of the shop shone through. The wallpaper was a darker shade of red than the curtains, with pictures or paintings of the famous fictional detective Hercule Poirot dotted here and there, and promotional pictures of thereal Orient Express filling up other spaces. In a twisted sense of humour, though, the owner had also put up several pictures ofMurder on the Orient Express.
If she had to be honest, it looked a little busy. Hell of a place to pick for a first date. She couldn't deny the personal, human touch to it though, there was no regimental, head-office dictated decoration to it. Customers could stay as long as they pleased, and not feel rushed to finish their drinks by loud conversation and fast music.
"What made you pick this place, Jack?" Elsa asked, her eyes now tracing over the selection of cakes available on the counter.
"I live nearby. Shorter walk." he shrugged non-committally.
The waitress returned with their coffees, both in ridiculously large mugs. Shooting Elsa a glare as she placed the mug slightly roughly in front of her – Elsa returning the glare with a raised eyebrow – she tried to brush against Jack with her arm as she, much more gently, placed his mug in front of him. Jack mercilessly vetoed the motion by becoming as stiff as a board, darting his hands into his pockets and minimising any possible physical contact. Elsa couldn't deny it; his reaction sent a rush of pride through her heart.
Hah. Seems I'm the only one that gets to touch him. In your face, nameless waitress!
"So," Elsa asked, removing her pea coat and twisting to drape it over the back of her chair, "how was your weekend?"
Yay for small-talk. Baby steps.
Jack took a moment to answer, working out the shortest possible response without leaving in any details. Elsa tried a sip of her mocha, and let slip a little moan when she found out how delicious it really was. Jack didn't know whether it was the moan or her expression of pleasure, but he felt his ears begin to get really, really warm.
"Um, it was…eye-opening. Yours? Did Disney Infinity agree with you?"
"Hah! Yeah, after a few hours. I enjoyed it, actually, when I finally stopped Iron Man from making out with a brick wall." she said, self-deprecating sarcasm floating in her voice.
"Heh. Never pegged you for a gamer." he said in the lightest of teases, the half-smile appearing once again.
"Oh really? You know, neither did I. Anna had banned me from trying to sort out a problem with the company, so she made me try it out." she shrugged.
"The problem being Black Advertising, I guess?" Jack said in a surprising moment of laser-guided deduction. He narrowed his eyes slightly at her, waiting for her reaction. He was right. Elsa cocked her head to the side and frowned, wondering how he was so accurate.
"Yeah, actually. How did you know?" she asked, slowly. Jack studied her for a few seconds more, making her shuffle a little under his gaze. Finally, he leaned back, resumed his non-committal expression and shrugged.
"I saw Richard Black leave your building. There's only one reason that asshole ever visits other companies, and it's never good. Hence my understanding of your anger in the car." he said, simply, unaware that the last sentence came out in a little bit of a dig. Elsa's frown dropped to a guilty expression, and she lowered her eyes to the table, wringing her hands a little.
"I never got to tell you I was sorry for snapping at you…" she muttered, biting her lip as she did so. Jack just waved it off.
"Don't be. Like I said, I understood. Let's just say it's not the first time I've seen Richard Black." he said in an almost soothing tone, creasing his eyes slightly. Elsa felt her guilt fall away as she looked up into his cobalt orbs, and smiled in appreciation. She leaned forward and rested her chin on her left hand, gazing at him thoughtfully.
"You know, when I first saw you in Mental Health, I thought you were an obnoxious idiot." she said, teasingly. Jack's eyebrows rose in mock-offense and he leaned forward.
"Oh? And now?" he asked, noting the sneaky eagerness for her answer.
"You're a puzzle. A very handsome but strange puzzle. And I love to solve puzzles." she declared bluntly. Jack wasn't ready for that reply, the wild grin trying desperately to appear and the sudden pink in his ears and cheeks being self-evident.
Jeez, she's confident. And forward. Eep.
"Yeah? Well," he replied, searching for a way to counter her answer, "I thought you were just another bratty rich kid."
Elsa smiled wickedly, opening her hand in a gesture as if to say 'and now?', and for the first time, Jack was unable to prepare a snappy follow-up. He looked away in a rare show of shyness and mumbled something indiscernible.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?" Elsa raised her eyebrows, keeping the wicked smile attached.
"Well, you're definitely not a kid." he said wryly, finding it difficult to say what he actually meant. Elsa stuck her tongue in her cheek but said nothing. The way Jack's mouth started opening and closing told her that there was something else he wanted to say, but couldn't find the words. Jack sighed, and the pink tinge to his cheeks became a whole lot more red.
"You're probably one of the most beautiful, confident women I have ever seen in my life." he mumbled, trying desperately not to become a human tomato. He needn't have worried, Elsa's cheeks stole his thunder and went a raging crimson, forcing her to try and suppress a wild grin and look away, only able to utter a shy "shush!".
With the ice broken, and Elsa successful in her goal to get Jack to relax a little, the date-slash-meeting went well from there. Topics changed like channels on a television when a toddler has the remote control; ranging from favourite songs to hobbies, Jack's cooking skills, Elsa's love of Italian food, to their respective companies, dreams and aspirations, and on occasion their childhood. Naturally, Jack omitted some details, choosing instead to be quite vague with some things.
Elsa did most of the talking, with Jack playing the role of listener, and when he did speak it was in fairly short sentences. Never giving more away than he wanted to, which mildly frustrated Elsa. She had snippets from Rapunzel, Eugene and Pabbie, but not much else to go on. Three pieces of the jigsaw that was Jackson Overland.
What she did get, though, was far more gratifying. Jack was unable to hide the occasional chuckle or wider half-smile. He thought his face would crack; such was his level of unfamiliarity with the facial expression. And yet, he liked it.
Whether by fate or happen-stance, however, the conversation turned toward family – something Jack wanted to avoid by any means necessary…yet inexplicably, the topic that most wanted to be released from inside him. He just wouldn't let it out.
Not yet...maybe never. Maybe soon. Who knows?
"How is your family?" was her inevitable question. Jack shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, and took a moment to answer. Could he trust her? It was just a 'meeting' after all.
Probably better to go for the safer answer.
"My godparents? They're fine. Probably wrapped up in toy production for Christmas. Yours?" he deflected with another truth. North and Thiana were well as far as he knew, but it wasn't them that Elsa was asking about…and he knew it.
Elsa leaned back, a mixture of nostalgic amusement on her face but a little pain in her eyes as she looked to the side.
"Anna's fine, she's her typical stubborn, bouncy self. She's pretty much my only family; we lost our parents five years ago. My uncle Kai looked after us until I was eighteen, and it's been me and her ever since."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Jack muttered faintly, wondering precisely how to remove his foot from his mouth.
"Don't be, it was five years ago. I already went through the grieving process." she smiled and waved it off, though she knew the last part was a half-truth. Yesterday still held a sore topic for her.
An awkward blanket of silence fell around them. Talking about family had strayed a little too close to home for Jack's liking, and Elsa was starting to get that impression, too. Throats were cleared and the occasional locked gaze was averted, but when Elsa's eyes fell upon the drawing that poked out from under his college work, she cocked her head to the left and leaned in for a better view.
"What's that?"
Jack turned his head at her question, and followed her gaze down to the thin stack of papers under his right arm.
"Oh, that's…just a drawing…" he said awkwardly, sliding the sheet out and handing it to her. She made a point of taking the paper from the same edge that Jack's fingers were grasping, brushing lightly against his skin.
It felt so cold, like brushing against ice itself.
And he didn't jerk his hand away.
Progress.
"Wow, that's…beautiful." was all Elsa could manage. Her eyes traced over each of the snowflake's lines, along the angular flower itself all the way to the diamond tips at the ends of the arm.
"Did you draw this from your own imagination?" she asked, turning her head slightly towards him but keeping her eyes fixed on the design.
Jack didn't answer straight away. His face became a frown and his eyes went to an invisible point on the wall, while tapping his fingers on the table in uncertainty. He couldn't deny it; the anxiety within him was becoming increasingly difficult to control especially when, in his mind, the most stunning woman in the world was sat across from him appreciating one of his drawings.
"Are you okay, Jack?" Her eyes now shifted from the drawing and stared directly into his.
"Yeah, I'm…just trying to work out how to say this without sounding creepy or weird. Um…I actually got the idea for it in Mental Health…from you." he muttered, flushing a deeper red.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now at Awkwardness Level Four. Please avert your eyes and place your faces in your palms. President Overland has made a complete moron of himself, and forgotten that he's SUPPOSED TO KEEP PEOPLE AT ARM'S LENGTH. NOT. DRAW. SNOWFLAKES. BASED. ON. THEM.
His mind was practically screaming at him now, so he looked away and tried to hide the rising self-reproach. Had his eyes stayed where they were, he would have seen her cheeks go a deeper shade of red and a grin spread across her cheeks, showing off her snow-white teeth.
He didn't need his eyes, though, to feel the hand delicately rest upon his tapping fingers, instantly silencing them. What surprised him was the rush of contradictory sensations shooting from the contact. Her skin felt as cold as the morning frost, but a strange sense of warmth existed at the touch.
It was like a flame, encased in ice. For a second, it stopped his heart.
"It's only a little bit weird, but ninety nine percent flattering. Points for you." she smiled, letting an edge of teasing humour dance across her words. Jack exhaled an uncomfortably loud breath of relief, as though her answer would dictate whether or not he would be swallowed by the earth.
He would live, this time, albeit tormented by embarrassment.
The real problem was his anxiety levels. They were approaching critical levels, and more than once during the 'meeting' he had to mentally stop his legs from automatically carrying him out of the coffee house. The walls were beginning to close in on him, his breathing was becoming too rapid and his eyes would not stop darting to the door.
Get a hold of yourself, Overland. Having an attack is the LAST thing you want to be doing right now.
Elsa noticed his change in demeanour, from indifferent to slightly goofy, and finally on outright nervous. She leaned forward slightly and narrowed her eyes, in the way people do when they're pretending to let out a secret.
"Let's go for a walk. That mocha was delicious, but if that waitress keeps shooting me any more filthy looks, this place is going to be renamedMurder in the Orient Espresso." she whispered, unable to stop the final few words from coming out in a threatening hiss.
Whether it was his nerves or the dry comment, neither of them could tell. All Elsa knew was that Jack threw his head back a little and snorted a loud chuckle, and not one but both sides of his mouth curled up into a wide, toothy smile. It hitched Elsa's breath, and if she was honest, sent a rush of renewed attraction through her body. It seemed to light up the room and bring out an entirely new facet to his personality. There was definitely something hidden inside, and she was now determined to find out what that was.
Oh my fucking GOD that was a gorgeous smile. Aaaaand I was the one to bring it out. Elsa: 1, World: 0.
Jack rose to his feet, his smile having fallen almost as soon as it came, though the ends of his lips were still curled up in slight mirth.
"Actually, a walk would be perfect right now." he agreed, feeling his anxiety levels instantly start to lower at the prospect of being outside. They both rose at the same time, Jack hastily stuffed his college papers into his dark blue backpack while Elsa slipped back into her pea-coat. Noticing the snowflake design was still on the table; she deftly picked it up and offered it to him.
"Keep it. Technically, it's yours." he replied, shrugging like it was nothing. Both of them had the sneaking suspicion it was more than nothing, especially when Elsa let slip a pleased smile. Draining the last of his coffee, he was about to replace the mug when he noticed something scrawled haphazardly on the paper napkin it came with. It was a name and number, evidently left by the flirtatious waitress. He just rolled his eyes and replaced the cup, before walking out into the snowy street while Elsa remained behind to settle the bill.
Fishing out a ten-dollar note from her purse, her eyes fell upon the offending napkin and a thought of mischievous vengeance danced through her mind like a particularly cheeky imp. Sliding the napkin out from under Jack's cup, she walked over to the waitress behind the counter and fixed her with a knowing look as she handed over the dollar bill and the napkin together.
"The mocha was delicious, thank you. However, I would have tipped you more…but it's considered rude to flirt with someone's date." she said sternly, before she turned on her heels and strode victoriously out of the coffee house, the waitress' stunned expression depriving her of a comeback.
Jack raised his eyebrows at Elsa's expression of victorious pride as she approached.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing," she smiled wickedly as she started to walk off, "just…giving the waitress, erm...a tip."
Jack narrowed his eyes slightly and did that half-smile again, before striding to catch up with her. The crunch crunch of snow under their footsteps, and the occasional car driving by was all they heard for a minute or two, before Elsa fired off another question.
"You know, I meant to ask…what are you studying in college? I'm guessing Business, but do you have a minor?"
Jack couldn't resist it. He had no idea why, but there was an opening there and he had to take it. Something to do with the bubbling mirth and the anticipation of hearing laughter.
"Two, actually, they're hiding under my bed." he said dryly, fully aware that he might just be going to hell for that joke. Elsa frowned, not quite understanding before it clicked – and a most unladylike snort preceded a loud, long giggle.
Worth it. One ticket to hell, please.
"Jack, did you just crack a joke?" she stared at him with mildly incredulous eyes, creased by the giggles still wracking her lungs. She didn't know whether it was the tastelessness of the joke or the fact that he actually had a capacity for humour, but either way it intensified her attraction to him from simmering to bubbling.
"I guess I did." he half-smiled, with a hint of pride.
"Wow, in that case I'm going to buy a lottery ticket." she said with faux-determination. Jack gave her an odd look.
"Why? Not like you need the money…" he asked quizzically.
"Well I've just seen the impassive Jackson Overland crack a smile and a joke in the same date with me. I consider myself lucky." she said proudly. However, she soon realised after a few steps that he was no longer alongside her. Confusion dancing on her features, she turned to find Jack had frozen a couple of yards behind her, a look of complete surprise on his face. His skin had started to pale a little – if it was possible – and his eyes even showed a little bit of fear.
"Did you just say a date? I thought it was…just the clearing of a debt…" he quietly asked, feeling the anxiety within him start to simmer once more.
"Um…yeah? I…is that bad? I mean, originally…" Elsa began, but found herself trailing off as Jack's reaction seemed to pull the rug from under her. Taking a deep breath, she reasserted her confidence and reorganised her thoughts. She couldn't help the disappointment and slightly stung feeling in her heart at the idea that they had met in the coffee house for different reasons.
"Originally it was to thank you, but the more I thought about it, and the more I looked forward to it, I realised it was a date. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression." she explained, wondering what his next reaction would be – which was a guilty sigh.
"No…it's not your fault, it's just…" he sighed, then gave up trying to organise his words, "thinking back on it, kinda obvious it was a date. Well, to everyone but me. I haven't been on a date in a long time and…I'm sorry, I'm just…not good around people…." he finished shyly and apologetically, but found himself blurting out something else before he even thought about it, while his eyes were still firmly fixed on the snowy ground.
"…especially people I like."
Elsa hitched her breath a little and the spark of attraction in her heart turned into a full-blown flame.
So he does like me.
She walked back towards him and, without thinking, took his hand in hers. For a second she panicked and cursed her involuntary gesture, thinking that he was going to freak out and run, but to her relieved surprise, he didn't.
He actually squeezed back, even if only lightly.
"Look," she began, letting the words flow freely as though they were the most important thing in the world, "I hope I'm not being too forward with this, but I want to kind of clear the air a little."
Jack's body stiffened slightly as he looked up at her, preparing for the onslaught. She was being forward, no doubt about that. He was too used to people being tentative around him, but this girl? No, she was less than two feet away from him, gazing with those cerulean eyes into his. Those eyes that would not leave his mind, that stopped him from having his nightmares every night and always seemed to temper the anxiety within him. Those eyes that, if he was honest, he couldn't get enough of.
Whether he could admit that was another matter entirely.
"I like you, Jack. A lot. I really enjoyed our date, even if it wasn't what you thought it was and for you to say that you like me too? Well, let's just say I've been hoping for that, and maybe, if you're up for it, a second date sometime soon?" she declared, the hope rising in her chest.
That did it. Jack's body was no longer possessed of a semi-controlled chaos, it was full-blown disorder. His anxiety levels had shot up to near critical, his heart was thumping in his ears and his chest, and his breathing was uncomfortably loud and rapid. Words crashed into each other like a particularly vicious highway pileup, and his mind was too far gone. He was, in that moment, no longer the cool, collected Jackson Overland, but the other extreme, and he was scared.
Not scared of her, not at all. More like the fleeting apprehension when someone debates boarding a notoriously terrifying roller-coaster. Knowing that, in the end, they're going to enjoy it – but scared of the actual ride itself. His mouth felt as dry as a desert, so he swallowed in an attempt to wet his mouth.
Elsa noticed the long silence, and couldn't help but feel the flicker of hope begin to die down as her smile started to fall. Watching his expression was confusing, it seemed to flicker between pleasure, fear, anger, worry, and outright terror. She couldn't read him.
"Can I…can I get back to you on that?" he murmured weakly. Elsa felt herself deflate inside, the last time he said that, she had to almost corner him into the date. She wasn't sure if she could be bothered to once more.
"Of course…" she tried to sound soothing, hiding the disappointment. Feeling the need to do something to avert the awkwardness, she fished out her phone from her pea-coat pocket and gasped at the time.
"Fuck, it's six-fifteen! We've been talking for three hours!"
"Time flies, having fun, and all that jazz I guess." Jack replied lamely, inwardly kicking himself for his cowardice.
"I'd better get home, Anna's probably going nuts waiting to hear about our date!" she said, hurriedly pocketing her phone and searching for her keys. Pausing briefly, she frowned a little and looked back into Jack's pained eyes.
"Whatever happens, thank you for the date. It was lovely." she smiled, and without thinking, moved her lips to his cheek, planting a chaste, delicate kiss.
Jack's cheek threatened to explode and short out any nearby electronic devices; such was the ferocity of the tingles in his face. Three years had turned his skin into an over-sensitive mess, so the split second feeling of warm breath followed by the softest lips known to man sent his senses into overdrive…and his anxiety.
Shitshitshitshitshit. She kissed you. On the cheek. And you let her. What are you doing, bro? You're supposed to keep people AWAY not let them KISS YOU!
Elsa flashed him another smile before she said goodbye, and when she turned in what he assumed was the direction of her car, she hitched up the pea-coat so it sat more comfortably on her shoulders, at the same time as his eyes involuntarily traced lower down her body, coming to rest on what many considered to be the holy grail of yoga pants.
He found himself a sudden convert to that particular item of clothing, the way it hugged her legs and cheeks and accentuated her curves, especially in that place.
Fuck me, she's hot. Sweet gods of whisky, I just went on a date with probably the hottest woman on the entire planet.
Noticing his blood rushing in a direction other than where it was supposed to go, he shook himself out of his slightly perverted reverie and wiped a hand across his face.
"Welp, I need a cold shower. Possibly an anxiety attack, but definitely a cold shower." he announced quietly to himself, having to re-arrange a certain part of the male anatomy as it impeded his leg movements back to his apartment.
It happened almost as soon as Jack arrived.
"No, no no no no no…don't take this away from me…" he whispered weakly, but pointlessly.
Ignoring his protests, the attack happened swiftly and without mercy. First his legs went from under him and he collapsed to the floor, feeling his heartbeat thunder in his ears, head and chest. Then came the shakes, his arms and legs jerking rapidly and sharply. His breathing came in short, quick gasps, and his head threatened to give out as the oxygen failed to get to his brain.
"N-not..now…f-f-fuck, not n-now…" was all he could muster, screwing his eyes shut as he waited for, in his experience, the mother of all anxiety attacks to pass.
And after about ten agonising minutes, it did. His mind beginning to clear, he awkwardly rose to his knees, using the shelving unit nearest the door to assist his vertical ascent and also to keep him upright. Staggering toward the kitchen, he ruffled through each of the drawers in a scramble to find what he was looking for…
…the blister-pack of anti-anxiety medication he had so far stubbornly refused to take.
It's my own stupid fault. I have these problems, I have the medication. I really should take it.
He just never really had a reason to take them, until now. And he would be damned if he would let it happen again. Remembering to start easy, he resisted the urge to empty the entire pack, electing instead to just take one tablet. Retrieving a bottle of day-old water from the fridge, he shoved the tablet in his mouth and nearly emptied the bottle to make sure the fucker stayed down.
His mind hearkened back to the final few minutes of the date, where Elsa had made it clear she hoped for a second one. He did too, in all honesty, he was just in the throes of an internal battle to not collapse into a shaking mess in front of her. Last thing he wanted to do was scare her off, and the sight of him having a public freak out would probably do just that.
He had to rectify that mistake.
Fishing out his phone from his military jacket, he rapidly fired off one of the longest and hardest messages he ever sent. He hoped she would receive it in time, before the damage was irreparable.
Fucking hell, Elsa. What are you doing to me?
His heart's answer came almost immediately.
She's thawing you, idiot.
Elsa slid the keys into the door of Snowfield House with a feeling of enjoyment tinged with a hint of dejectedness. Sure, she loved the time she spent with Jack, but his reaction to her suggestion of a second date was not one that she hoped for. In fact, it almosthurt.
Anna, Rapunzel and Eugene were all waiting at the breakfast bar for her arrival, and as soon as the door opened Anna rushed forward to meet her elder sister, midway through a sentence.
"…and Kristoff just did the most amazing thing after dinner-"
She stopped short, when she saw the conflicted expression in her sister's features. Biting her lip, she put aside the big news that she had been waiting for almost the entire day to tell her elder sister. It could wait, there was no point blurting out the happy revelation if her sister wasn't in a great mood to receive it.
"-and I'm going to tell you about it after you tell me what's up. Rapunzel, coffee. Eugene, headphones and Disney Infinity."
Rapunzel hurried off to grab the pods from the cupboard, while Eugene began to protest.
"But-"
"No buts. Girl talk." Anna reinforced sternly. Eugene would ordinarily have whined, but something in Anna's eyes told him that this was serious. He nodded affirmatively, walking off toward the flat-screen television in obedience of Anna's order, promptly switching Iron Man with Captain America as soon as he reached the console.
"So, what happened? Did it not go well?" she asked, leading her sister over to the breakfast bar.
"It was lovely, actually. I really enjoyed myself. I even managed to get a smile and a joke out of him." she answered, grinning awkwardly at the memory. Rapunzel's eyes went wide, and in her surprise her fingers kept missing the dispenser's button. After about three or four pitiful attempts, she successfully found it, and the familiar gurgling began.
"So? Why so serious?" Anna frowned, cocking her head to the side.
"I told him I hoped for a second date, and he seemed to be really scared of the idea. Said he'd get back to me on it. I don't think he's interested." she answered glumly.
"Did he say he likes you?" Rapunzel queried.
"Yes…"
"Then he's interested." Anna finished simply, sharing knowing glances with Rapunzel.
"Do you think so?" Elsa looked up apprehensively.
"Duh! I mean, you've got this superpower to wake up in the morning looking gorgeous, you're next in line to be CEO, and you've got the most awesome friends in existence. Who wouldn't be interested?" Anna gushed, squeezing her sister's hands.
"Maybe…" Elsa answered weakly. She wasn't sure if she could believe them. Gorgeous? Yes. CEO? Probably. Friends? Definitely.
Interested? Possibly not.
Music from Elsa's pea-coat reached their ears, and she instinctively reached into her pocket to find her phone. She recognised the ringtone asStockholm Syndrome by Muse, which told her that a text had arrived…sparking a little hope inside her. Pressing the standby button, a message was indeed waiting expectantly for the touch of her slender finger.
From Jack.
New message (1): From Jack
"Hey. Sorry about earlier, it's just that I've got really annoying anxiety problems. I want you to know that I enjoyed the date too, and I would really like a second one. – Jack
P.S. There aren't enough cold showers in the world for those yoga pants, FYI."
Elsa's mouth instantly went from a deflated frown to a blushing, wild grin. Anna noticed the immediate change, and snatched the phone from Elsa's frozen hands. Upon reading the message, she smirked proudly while passing the phone to Rapunzel, who echoed the expression when she had finished reading.
"See? What did I tell you?" Anna teased.
Elsa didn't hear a word, she was too busy burning inside with glee. She couldn't help jumping out of her skin, though, much like the other two when Eugene's dismayed cries echoed through the open-plan rooms.
"Oh for fuck's sake! You're fucking Captain America! Of course you can swim!" he shouted at the screen, as Steve Rogers showed him that, contrary to popular belief, he could not.
Who knew?
A/N: It's kind of a double bill, because there was a LOT I wanted to get down. Sorry about that. It's also taken me longer to upload because I kinda wanted to be perfect. Alas, nothing ever is, so as before, criticisms and comments are welcome.
Also, eagle-eyed readers may recognise the specific configuration of the snowflake Jack has been drawing - and it's going to crop up later in a big way. I think you'll all love it.
Thank you all for your kind comments so far, they never fail to bring a smile to my face and encourage me to keep writing. I hope I can continue to do you all proud.
Keep your eyes out though, because something wicked their way comes.