"This dress costs more than everything I've ever had in my life… combined."

Anna lifts a brow and walks toward Elsa, leaning to get a view of the price tag. "Well, you have me now, and I'm worth a lot more than that dress if it makes you feel any better."

Elsa drops the tag from her hand with a sigh. Being able to be a couple in public was starting to highlight a few of the discrepancies in her and Anna's relationship. The novelty of the relationship is starting to wear off, and they no longer have the added distraction of having to sneak around. Now, Elsa can look to Anna without being blinded by how attracted she is to the younger girl.

The feeling is both good, and bad. She is able to take a more objective perspective when responding to certain things, but the shocking part, she finds, is that lately some things about Anna are just coming off as… well, annoying.

Right now, the strawberry-blonde's willingness to toss insane amounts of money at the most unnecessary things, is really getting under Elsa's skin. "I would feel better if you just didn't get anything from this store," Elsa whispers. She closes her eyes briefly at how passive aggressive that sounded, but with her dislike for confrontations she doesn't know any other way to get her point across.

"Why not?" Anna asks, distracted by an extravagant green dress. "I can afford it, so it's really not an issue."

"That's not the point," Elsa breathes. Great, now I just sound whiny. "I mean that… well no one is going to even see this dress. You're going to be wearing a gown for the entire ceremony, and I doubt you'll have any other use for this… so, maybe you should get one that isn't so expensive."

Anna turns to Elsa, her face twisting in confusion. "What part of 'I can afford it' did you not understand?"

Elsa fingers the collar of her shirt, willing herself to remain calm, unsure of why everything Anna says seems to bother her today. "I understood you perfectly Anna. Just because you can…" She takes in a breath, looking around the store. "Look, maybe we can come to some sort of compromise here."

Anna runs a hand through her hair, obviously frustrated. "I compromise so much for you Elsa. I don't say certain things, or ask certain questions, because I know it would bother you. I risked my Dad skinning me alive by telling him about our relationship, because you kept me in the dark… shit, I couldn't even be mad about you cheating on me, because you were freaking out when you admitted it. I give up so much for you. Just let me buy a damn dress."

Elsa takes a step back, her breathing increasing as she folds her hands and brings them up to her chest. I gave up my life for you, she thinks. But she doesn't say it. Part of her feels like it's inappropriate, and the other part feels like it's not even a true statement. Her life wasn't really much until she met Anna.

She decides to focus on something else that the younger girl said. "You told me your Father was okay with this. He said he's okay with this, so why even bring it up?"

Anna holds up a hand, taking a tentative step toward Elsa. "He is okay with this… sort of." She pauses and draws in a shaky breath. "I guess I forced his hand a little bit, but it doesn't really matter now. What matters is that he's on boar-"

"What are you talking about?" Elsa cuts in, her voice cold. It's becoming harder for her to think. She can't process what Anna is trying to say.

"I just embellished the truth a little bit. I told him that I pursued you… relentlessly. I said I told you that I talked to him about us, and said he was okay with it. I said I kept deterring you from talking to him yourself. I told him that day in his office completely caught you off guard, but by that time you were in love with me. I told him not letting me see you would be like adding salt to your wounds, and that I if he kept us apart I'd never talk to him again. When I told him you wanted him to know it wasn't his fault, I made it seem like it still was, but you wanted him to think it wasn't."

"Anna you can't-"

Anna starts to nervously twist her hands around each other. "I know, Elsa… but now he's not mad at you. He's a little mad at me, but he'll get over that because I'm his daughter."

Elsa runs a hand over her face as she releases a deep sigh. "You didn't just lie to him, though. You also lied to me. You can't control people with lies, Anna… I should have known from the first day I met you..." Elsa trails off, wishing she had never started that sentence.

"Okay," Anna whispers. "I guess I deserved that… but I don't deserve the way you've been treating me the past couple of days, and I need you to know that I'm trying. But sometimes keeping everyone happy gets hard, so I lie. It's just that… no one ever seems to be trying to make me happy. Everyone just tries to control my life without consulting me about it… saying they're making sure that I'm safe. Like I can't make decisions for myself."

"Well, obviously you can't," Elsa nearly shouts.

"Why are you angry?"

Elsa shrugs, shaking her head. "Because… I just." She takes in a breath. "You don't get to ask me that, Anna."

Anna closes her eyes and lets out a sigh before reopening them. "When did you stop?"

"Stop what?"

"When did you stop taking your meds?"

Elsa's eyes widen in shock, as a small smile crosses her lips. "Wow, Anna. Okay. Just call me crazy. Make this about my meds, because I-"

"No. No, no, no," Anna interrupts. "It's just… you've been taking them for more than a month and a half so stopping abruptly can sometimes cause you to feel upset or confused and not know why. I think you're going through withdrawal. And I think it's perfectly fine if you don't want to take them, but you have to do this the right way, and let Dr. Gothel help wean you off… because I can't continue to be in this relationship if you're going to act like this. I'm not your punching bag."

Elsa nods, her face softening. She did stop taking her medication, and it had started to become harder for her to control her outbursts, but she didn't want to tie those two things together. She doesn't want to believe that she can't live a normal life without taking medication.

"I stopped a few days ago," she admits. "I thought, you know, I was feeling better so I didn't need them anymore. I thought I just needed them until I felt okay… and then I could take it from there myself. I'm not crazy, Anna. I don't think I'm crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy either, Els... but I also don't think you can just quit something like this."

Elsa shakes her head before looking down at the floor. "I mean… I wasn't always like this. I was a happy kid. I was really really happy," Elsa says, seemingly more to herself than to Anna. She looks up. "She was my Mother," she starts, shakily, "-and I saw… I saw him. I saw him do it, Anna. My Papa... I-"

Elsa closes her mouth and shuts her eyes. Those weren't the words she meant to say, but she said them. They had come out, and she had finally told someone other than Alexander. The truth is, she doesn't know how she didn't recognize him, how she didn't notice the boy that she would confide in late at night when she was a kid.

And maybe that was it.

Maybe he wanted to kill her because she didn't remember him. Maybe that was her chance in the hospital and she missed it. But now he's dead, and she'll never get the chance to ask. People she cares about seem to have a funny way of getting hurt around her, and she doesn't want to have to add Anna to that list.

Elsa opens her eyes and a tear falls down her cheek. She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. She then wipes away the tear and shrugs. "And now sometimes I panic when a store doesn't have my favorite brand of toothpaste. And it's hard for me to trust anything or anyone, but most importantly it's hard to trust myself... and that's not fair to you. I can't keep being the person that you have to exhaust all of your energy on."

"Elsa…"

"I used to be so happy and carefree," Elsa continues. "So, I know that it's possible. I just have to work hard enough. I didn't need any pills or therapy. I just enjoyed life… and for a moment I felt like that again. Just being with you and enjoying life. I thought I didn't need the pills, so I stopped… and then it went away. The happiness went away. It wasn't real."

Anna walks to Elsa, putting her hands on either one of her cheeks and staring to her icy blue eyes. "It was real, Elsa. Even if you were taking pills. I know it's hard to believe, and I don't know how to describe it, but what you felt was real happiness."

Elsa leans her forehead against Anna's and closes her eyes. "How do you know?"

"I just know, Els. And…" Anna takes in a deep breath and releases it. "-as hard as is to accept it… the girl you used to be is gone."

Elsa lets out a small whimper and Anna moves her hands down, wrapping them around the older woman's waist. "You can still have happiness," Anna assures, "-but you have to figure out some other way to achieve it. Everything isn't the same. You're a different person." She pauses for a moment. "I know exactly how you feel. Trying to figure out how to get back to the way you were after a tragedy like that. I haven't quite figured it out myself, but being with you helps... I hope that being with me helps."

Elsa sniffs and lets out a small laugh, pulling her head up. "Of course it does. More than you know." She gives Anna a reassuring smile. "You get a lot of shit for being the person that makes sure everyone else is happy… but you can't let that build up to the point where you're taking out innocent tennis coaches," she adds, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Oh my God," Anna groans, "-just drop it already. I'm trying to do a thing here."

"I'm just saying," Elsa chuckles, "-I don't want any calls from college." She pauses and her smile fades away. "We're gonna be okay, right?"

She isn't sure anymore and she needs Anna to say it. If Anna says it, she can believe it.

"Yeah," Anna nods, "I think we'll be just fine. We need… you need to talk to Dr. Gothel, and then look into finding a different type of therapy, if the pills don't do it for you. Therapy seems to work for you, so you should stick with it instead of fighting against it. Maybe it'd be cool if I tagged along sometime."

"I think that sounds nice," Elsa smiles.

"Do you ladies need any help?" Both women turn at the same time, startled by the small sales representative dressed in all black. She gives the her best fake smile as she waits for them to answer.

Anna shakes her head. "No we don't need any help. We're just looking."

The lady continues to stare at them, not showing any intent to move on.

Elsa reaches behind her back and grabs Anna's hand, pulling it from around her waist, before turning for the exit. "And now we're leaving," she chirps, as they start to walk away.

Anna laughs, struggling to keep up with the older woman's pace. "What was that?"

"She was judging us," Elsa states, her voice clipped.

"I think you'll say anything to get me to not shop here."

Elsa stops walking and she turns to Anna, giving the shorter girl's hand a gentle squeeze. "You don't really want to shop in a place that has employees like that, do you?"

"I don't really mind," Anna shrugs. "I come here for the clothes, not the employees' winning smiles and gracious hospitality."

"There are places where you can get all three."

"Like what?"

"Sears."

Anna blinks a few times before slightly tilting her head in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."