Disclaimer: I own nothing.
As soon as I came through the door, I immediately tossed my bag down on the table and followed the sound of a scarily familiar cry until I saw my frazzled cousin trying to calm her poor baby down.
"Maybe we should come back some other time?" Kristoff whispered once he caught up to me and took in the scene as well. I honestly had no idea why Amber and Hayley were seated in our living room, but when a particular noise erupted from the little one, I found myself right in front of them without a second to spare. That whimpering mixed with a wail broke my heart.
"Hey, now. What's the big idea?" I raised my voice a just enough for the small one to hear and as I carefully scooped her out of Amber's arms, I heard my cousin sniffle. Oh man. I snapped my head around to signal the guys and they ended up putting their bags down so they could help out while I tried to calm Hayley down. In truth, I was terrified that I would somehow drop the little bundle, but I knew I would rather drop myself on the down the stairs before that happened and thankfully, that wasn't the case. She was safe in my arms. "Aw, what happened to the baby?" I drawled while instantly holding her to me and swaying her around as gently as I could.
Those cries of hers were still making my ears ring, but I wasn't about to stop and eventually started to bounce her in my arms. "Oh, tell me about it." I couldn't help but chuckle when more of a squeak left that tiny mouth of hers. "How can something so small make such a ruckus?" I asked, slowly spinning us around while keeping up the movement in my arms. "Who did it? Was it mommy?" Smirking over my shoulder, I caught Kristoff and Olaf sitting on either side of my cousin who scoffed at me. At least SHE'S not crying anymore. We just needed Hayley now.
The guys continued to calm her down and I was thankful because it gave me time to focus on the little thing in my arms. "Shhh." I calmly cooed, pressing a small kiss to her full head of hair. Thanks to daddy, she'd gotten a mop of dark hair with her mother's pale blue eyes. Very beautiful pint-sized child. "It's okay, pretty girl." I adjusted the tiny body until her cheek was resting on my collarbone and once she was settled, I began patting her back. Her crying reduced substantially, yet residual strong doses of shrieks lingered, causing me to rub her back for a minute before lightly swaying us around once more.
"'So long, I've been looking too hard I've been waiting too long.'"
My voice went as soft and low as could be until I hit a soothing note as I softly sang against the teeny head beside my chin. I couldn't get over the way she smelt. So new, it's insane. Like ivory soap and lavender even though she was a already a few weeks old.
"'Sometimes I don't know what I will find, I only know it's a matter of time when you love someone. When you love someone.'"
The crying simmered down a bit more, letting me turn us again without having to steady her head. I got lost in the way she felt in my arms and when a short squeal left her, I couldn't help the grin that broke out across my lips. She was so smooth and soft and cute that I feared my heart would burst.
"'It feels so right, so warm, and true. I need to know if you feel it too.'"
A strong burp sounded that caused her whole body to tense and then she let out a soft sigh, making me bite back a chuckle. So precious! From the couch, I saw the other three watching us with curious eyes and only when I heard the door open, did I lead us through another slow sway.
"'Maybe I'm wrong. Won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong? This heart of mine has been hurt before. This time I wanna be sure.'"
By then, the wailing had stopped and since I figured she only needed to burp, she would most likely fall back to sleep. I was fine with that. When daughter slept, so did mom. Or so my grandma told me one time.
"'I've been waiting, for a girl like you, to come in to my life.'"
When I completed the circle, I saw none other than Elsa, Sen, and Kida standing there with a few boxes of pizza. Instinctively, my eyes zoomed in on the love of my life as I sang the next verse.
"'I've been waiting, for a girl like you and a love that will survive. I've been waiting for someone new, to make me feel alive.'"
Sen suddenly fanned herself off to the side like a dork, earning a playful slap by Kida and I tried so hard not to pay attention to them, lest I lose it. As soon as the little one shifted in my arms some, I placed my lips closer to her head while maintaining eye-contact with Elsa.
"'Yeah, waiting, for a girl like you, to come in to my life.'"
Hayley twitched, but that was about it. No more crying or whimpering. I then turned back around to gesture for Kristoff to have Amber follow me. My poor cousin wiped her nose with tissue Olaf had given her before letting Kristoff help her up. Again, I wasn't entirely sure why Amber was there, but I wasn't about to stop and question while the pair looked like they needed sleep. Maybe Malcolm's overseas again? That wouldn't have been hard to believe seeing as he was a very busy man.
When we got to my room, Amber was sure enough to extract her baby from me so I could close the blinds and clear off my bed like it wasn't already clear besides my red panda. "Thank you." She whispered, placing her daughter's head on the tip of my pillow while she positioned herself right beside her. Instead of saying anything, I reached down to run my fingers through her long locks and then turned my stereo on.
After quietly closing the door behind me, I sauntered down the hall to the stairs with an extra ear out to listen for Hayley in case I didn't put her to sleep like I thought. When nothing else happened in there, my steps adorned a light hop and I practically skipped the rest of the way until I found myself at the bottom of the staircase.
"All hail the Baby Slayer." Kristoff chuckled, raising his hand to gain a high-five from me. I rolled my eyes, but didn't deny him and even reared back to make the slap count.
"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off before going to the kitchen for drinks while Olaf and Kida finished setting up the game. Apparently, Kristoff had gotten a new one and he couldn't wait to share it with Olaf, so we all agreed to hang out after school since none of us had any homework. Or so we liked to think. And if I had known Amber was going to be in the living room, I would have suggested we go to Olaf's. Oh well.
"You know, I don't ever recall hearing you sing before." Sen's voice sounded from beside me, causing me to glance curiously at her. Straightening back up from the fridge, I handed her half the cans of soda before raising a brow.
"No?" I asked. Thinking over all the times we'd hung out with her, I actually couldn't remember singing anything and if I missed something, it was a little too late to worry now.
"I would have remembered that sultry, smooth voice." She nudged me playfully with her elbow. You should hear Elsa's voice, then. My mind snickered. "You must drive Miss Mariani wild with it." Sen added remark that ended with a meaningful wink. I shot her a lopsided smirk.
"Sono d'accordo con te." Elsa was standing in the doorway and when I saw those deep hypnotizing cerulean pools, I felt a wider grin split my face. I wasn't quite sure what the love of my life said, but I was willing to guess it had something to do with what Sen had just pointed out. The main thing was that it was in the language that made my knees just as weak as the beholder did. "She puts me to sleep too." Elsa's sudden tease had me duck my head with a chuckle along with Sen.
"I see how it is now, Snow Paw." As I passed by her, I didn't hesitate to bump my hip against hers, sharing a secretive smile. "We'll see about that the next time you get insomnia." I growled. She actually didn't have that unfortunate curse, but if I wasn't careful, we would end up staying in the kitchen longer than we should have been. Elsa and I hadn't had any time to ourselves all day so that was understandable to the both of us. Them, not so much.
When we came back in to the living room, the guys were already immersed in the new game while Kida was busy helping herself to the boxes of pizza. "Hey, what's this one?" She asked as I settled next to her after placing the soda down on the coffee table.
"Something I tried at Elsa's and I liked it right off the bat. Oven. Whatever, it was a special request from yours truly." I replied, taking two cold cans and pressing one against Olaf's ankle and the other right on the sliver of skin Kristoff had left open on his back. They both yelped at the same time and paused the game so they could glare at me. "Have time to eat?" I gave them an innocent smile.
"Okay. But what exactly is it?" Kida's blue eyes narrowed to carefully scrutinize the pizza like it would jump out and attack her if she wasn't prepared.
"It's called Margherita ." I clarified as I took a slice out and dove right into it. Elsa was quick to follow my lead, but instead of going to town like me, she was classy enough to at least grab a plate first.
"You're so whipped." Kristoff snickered. "The woman's got you all turnt around with foreign pizza and whatnot." That got a snicker out of everyone besides me.
"Say what you want," Olaf pushed himself between Kristoff and I to get a slice for himself. "Because I wanna try it."
I stopped mid-bite to give Kristoff a strained look once Olaf sat back. Instead of answering with my mouth full, I held up a finger to hold him there and after I safely swallowed, I pointed at him. "First: don't ever say turnt again." A short laugh left me before I turned to give the girl who stole my heart an earnest smile. "Secondly: you're right." My free hand placed itself on hers. Elsa Mariani and all that made her Elsa weaved a spell around me.
A spell like silk ribbons that held me right where I wanted to be and where she wanted me to be whether she knew it or not.
"Get a room already!" Kida groaned, making us break our gazes from each other so we could laugh to ourselves.
"Luckily, her room's already occupied." Olaf whispered not so quietly. I felt my face heat up while everyone else erupted in laughter too and I didn't stop myself from hitting his shoulder, forcing a pained cry fused with giggles from him.
The next day.
I was busy closely scrutinizing the perfect Valentine surprise/gift and enjoying the various pleasant scents that filled my nose, messing my mind up with everything love-infused, but when a stronger smell presented itself beside me, I sighed heavily. "Kristoff, you've had that body spray since eighth grade." Leaning away from the promising petals, I fixed him with a crooked grin. "I think it's time you change it."
"Yeah? Maybe I should switch to..." He squinted to the very things I was looking at. "Jasmine?"
"Sen might like it if you smelled like flowers rather than an old man." I snickered, jumping away when he threatened to wrap his arms around me for a noogie.
"It's- I don't smell like an old man." He defended with an arrogant puff of his chest.
"Yes, you do." Kida popped out of nowhere and even had the gall to bury her nose in his shoulder for a deeper whiff before tearing away while pinching her nose. "Ugh, what is that?!"
"It's called C-"
"Hey, don't tell her!" My eyes widened and I wasted no time in jamming my finger to his lips to silence his wide mouth. When they both looked skeptically at me, I leaned closer to whisper, "Tell her and she'll be teasing you until the end of time."
Kristoff then nodded like I'd told him the world's most intimate secret while Kida rolled her eyes with a scoff. "I would never." She waved us off before looking over the selection of flowers I surrounded myself in earlier when I suddenly ditched them. We weren't doing anything besides walking around anyway. "Are you thinking about getting some of these for Elsa?"
"No, I was thinking about giving them to Mr. Kwalski." I grinned, making them groan at me in exasperation.
"Are you looking for another teacher to get fired because of a forbidden relationship?" Kristoff asked a little too loudly and ended up yelping when Kida and I hit him numerous times to try to keep him quiet. "Wh-what? Rivera isn't in here!" Came his protest as his hands raised to protect himself.
"But there are people in here." A voice we all hadn't heard in awhile sounded from behind us. Turning around, I came face to...chest with Esmeralda and didn't stop myself from jumping back because the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself around the other two by accidentally burying myself in the busty chest of my taller friend.
"Ah!" I pointed at her before spreading my arms for a hug. "I know you."
"Hi, Annalicious." Emerald eyes beamed at me as she stepped forward to claim her hug. "It's been too long." Her arms squeezed like it'd been decades and not weeks. Even her perfume was enough to almost drown out the smell of the shop, but it wasn't a bad thing. She smelt really nice.
"Toffy, is that Elsa over there?" Kida's smug voice made me snap my head around guiltily, but when she only snorted out a chuckle, I let go of Esmeralda in order to smack her in the shoulder to no avail. Kida just laughed harder, leaning on Kristoff who was trying to conceal his own budding grin too. Great.
"Don't mind them." I scoffed and then turned back to find Esmeralda picking at a batch of white roses.
"Will do." She smirked over her shoulder at me before picking a single one out. "So, what's this I hear about Rivera? She's one of the newer teachers isn't she?"
"It was all over the news." I slapped Kida's hand away when she pointedly reached over to pull my necklace out of my shirt like I forgot who my heart belonged to. "I thought you would have already known about it." Seeing as your fiance is the Detective and whatnot. Esmeralda brought the rose to her lips and I quickly diverted my eyes because I was sure she was merely smelling it and I was only starting to make an idiot out of myself. The woman had a way of making me forget that she was older than I was.
"I know what the news said," She began, letting me feel the cool plushness of her rose since she'd deliberately slid it down cheek at a snail's pace. I fought the urge to run. Maybe it was a good thing Kida had pulled my necklace out when she did. "But what do you guys know?" Esmeralda mercifully moved away to address us as a whole and not only focusing on me. Whew!
"We know the guy's name, but we'd rather not give it out either." Kida answered first, easily switching to her mock-serious mode. "Karen E. Rivera was arrested some time ago and charged with ten accounts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Her bond was set at $75,000 and as of today she is no longer an employee of the district."
"Thank you, Kida Nedakh." Kristoff stepped next to her. "Next up on weather: scattered showers of Jasmine petals followed by winds of slight jealousy that are soon to turn into a high of making up at seventy degrees."
There was an awkward pause that followed, making all of us look from one to another in confusion before breaking out in a laugh. One that was still confused, but he'd been so serious about it that we had no other choice but to humor him. Winds of jealousy?
"Speaking of-" Esmeralda was the first to recover as she brought those green orbs to my level. "How is your pretty lady-friend?"
"Amazing." I smiled widely at her.
"Oh. And how did your match go? I've been dying to ask." Her face brightened while mine heated up substantially at the memory of those smoky, Indigo-colored eyes hovering over me as she declared herself the victor in that sexy voice of hers.
"U-um. It went p-pretty good." I cleared my throat with a cough. Calm down. "Elsa won." I added, carefully avoiding eye-contact with all of them lest they see something in my eyes that was only meant for Elsa to see.
"Huh." Esmeralda's voice held a knowing drawl. "Didn't think you'd be one to be on the bottom so easily."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Kida thankfully stepped in before I ended up choking on my tongue.
"You and Mariani had a match and you didn't tell us?" Kristoff growled.
"Hey, I wasn't- i-it just happened!" I held my hands up, already feeling my face turn fire engine red. Emmie! Glaring at the woman did nothing but heap coals on my head because she was giving me a particular smirk that said she meant exactly what she'd said and that I wasn't fooling anyone.
Instead of taking anymore of her teasing, I quickly left them there to look for someone that could help me with the flowers I wanted to buy. That darn woman!
Back at school.
Gray.
Her world was immersed in not only black and white, but even the ones between. Shades. The girl had been taught how to shade since before she could talk. She'd been taught that in order to separate colors evenly throughout her canvas, she needed to adjust the pressure in her fingertips. Her forearm with every stroke. Her concentration needed to be focused, lest she make a subtle mistake. It would have been such an unpretentious mistake that may have been invisible to the viewer's eye, but to her, she would forever remember and lament making it in the first place.
Her only remedy was to not make a mistake.
Those fingers of hers were used to differentiating the tones to made even the red appear as red, the shaded blacks look gorgeous enough to be separated from dark to even darker. Her world consisted of meaningless hues. Of shades. Black and white like a chess board. Rain and clouds were almost always present, thus shielding her skin from ever being touched or kissed by the glorious sun. Her life resembled her canvas.
Boxed in and unable to move from the monotonicity of it.
She hadn't anticipated the flash. It was as subtle as the slightest overenthusiastic flicker from her fingertips that caused that mistake that would forever haunt her. It was a flash of blue. Dazzling blue. Something she'd never witnessed before and to say it was unsettling would have been an understatement. More so because the color was in someone's eyes. Or was it because they seemed unreal? Maybe it was a figment of her imagination.
No, that couldn't be it. Not entirely. She knew it wasn't in her head because those eyes...she would dream of those eyes. She would remember them forever. They belonged to someone she never expected. Another woman. Those eyes had been disconcerting before, but now that she got to see them with the rest of the woman...they suddenly were a thousand times worse.
Or a thousand times better...
"Hey whatcha writing?" Olaf peered over my shoulder to get a glimpse and just like that, my concentration was broken. Leaning back with a chuckle, I slid my paper over to him. As he eagerly read what I gave him, my hand snuck into my jacket to fish out a few gummies that I split with him.
That morning, Elsa had been the one to come find me before the bell rang and when she took me to her locker, I swear I could have fainted right then and there. The timid look she'd had on her face when she handed me the bag of Sweet Tart heart-shaped gummies was unlike anything I'd seen and I all but tackled her in gratitude for it. Mine consisted of a small nicely decorated circular vase that contained a card in it, which would fill up without the card, (I hadn't told her that part yet) and instead, I told her to keep it on her desk in the boardroom until later. Naturally she was thankful for the vase and the card since it contained hand-written tickets for kisses, hugs, cuddles, massages and other sappy stuff I'd thought up the night before.
She'd used one of the 'hug me like I'm yours' tickets right away.
"Ah, just a little something for Creative Writing." I stretched my arms over my head. "And since my dad's paying seventeen extra dollars for me to take the next ACT with writing test next month, I thought I'd brush up on my writing skills." Like I have any. My mind cackled at me. Looking at the scribbles on the paper Olaf was reading helped that argument a little more considering it looked like a toddler wrote it.
"This is pretty good." Olaf handed the paper back to me with a barely restrained look which instantly tore into a wide grin. "Okay, it was fabulous! Are you going to college for a teaching position?" Gray eyes prodded mine excitedly. We all knew where his heart was set, but as for Kida, Kristoff, and I, we had no real idea what we were going to do after graduation. Well, I was sure Kida was spoken for thanks to all her secrecy about her home life, but that was only a passing thought in my mind.
"I don't know, O." I shrugged, ready to close my notebook before a creamy, soft hand stopped me from doing so. "Maybe I'll go in as undecided for now." Bringing my eyes up, I shot Elsa a smile as I made room for her to sit down beside me. It was all I could do to not kiss her right then.
"Well, you got another year to think on it." He huffed and then turned his attention away from me. "What about you, Elsa? Where are you going to college?"
Enticing blue eyes were carefully reading over my words and she barely managed to murmur, "I got my acceptance letter to Corona last month." While she was occupied, I stealthily turned to grab the next of a few more presents out of my bag.
"Wh- seriously?!" Olaf squeaked. "That's awesome! What are you majoring in?"
"Chemistry." Elsa replied distractedly before turning the page, seemingly looking more. "Where's the rest, Gattina?" Those eyes slid back to me in question and then widened a bit when she saw the single Jasmine flower I held there.
"It's rolling around in the back of my head somewhere." I chuckled and instead of waiting for her to take it, I reached up to place it in her glorious thick locks just above the ear on her right. "Happy Valentines Day." I whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. When I pulled back, I got to witness the adorable flush that captured her cheeks as she hesitantly reached up to touch the pretty flower. If she's that irresistible now, I can't wait until later.
"I-I have your other one in the boardroom, if you want-" She began, only stopping when my hand grasped hers.
"I can wait. Besides, I'm still enjoying the one from this morning." I whispered, emphasizing the bulge in my jacket pocket, before turning to Olaf. "So, how's it going with Felicity?"
"They're not." He replied defeatedly, making me frown in confusion at him.
"What do you mean?" I tried to peer into his eyes, but he sighed heavily and looked away altogether.
"I mean: it wasn't working out. There was some sort of beef between her step-dad and my dad and so she had to break it off with me." His longer response landed his head in his arms.
Elsa and I exchanged looks of worry. "But..." I hesitated, still unable to wrap my head around his bit of stunning information. "Oaken doesn't mind you being together." It was a lame attempt, but I couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment.
"Yeah, but Felicity doesn't live with Oaken." His gray eyes swept over mine dejectedly. "It's okay, though. Wouldn't wanna cause friction in that household."
"That's ridiculous." I snorted, crossing my arms on the table in front of me. "What did she have to say about it?" Inwardly wincing at the nearly bitter way I'd asked that. Felicity was a sweet girl and there was no way she would willingly break Olaf's heart unless...Stop. You don't even know her side yet. My mind hissed at me, making me bite my tongue to keep from saying anything else.
"She didn't like it, of course. But when her mom stepped in on it too, she couldn't do anything about it." He grumbled. That pissed me off like no other because I didn't like the look Olaf had and I was about to go off on a rampage when someone else beat me to the punch.
"Then do the whole Romeo and Juliet thing!" Kida appeared next with an arm draped around his shoulders. "You're both theater nerds and that's the best love story out there! Granted, it ends in tragedy, but this isn't the dark ages where poison is just laying around for a weird priest to give you." She grinned. That- how does that make any sense?! I thought, giving her the same look my mind was trying to piece together to no avail. She ignored it.
"Elsa's a chemistry major, though." Olaf suddenly pointed out, making said girl straighten a little at hearing her name. "Maybe she can make me the same things."
"But, she's lacking in the priest department." I countered.
Kida, Olaf and Elsa all snickered at that comment. "That's so besides the point." Kida then reached over to try to smack me in the head.
"Come see me in a few years and I might be able to give you something." Elsa took my hand again and slid them off the table to give us some privacy.
"Until then, just keep texting her." I shrugged a shoulder at him. "Simply change each others' names." Our suggestions seemed to get through to him and in no time, he was all smiles once again.
"Hey, where's Frankenteen?" Kida asked after patting Olaf's head sympathetically. "I only noticed because I'm hungry and I need him to get me a Churro."
"He went to steal Sen away for lunch." I answered on an incredulous snicker. Really, Kida? "How romantic." Batting my eyes at Elsa who shook her head and squeezed my hand pointedly. I had no problem stealing the love of my life away, but what good was that when I didn't even have my own ride? And I wasn't about to have her drive when she was the one getting treated out. Doubt she'd let me drive too.
"Then I'll follow his lead." Kida turned to Olaf with an infectious smile that made him raise a suspicious brow at her. "Olaf Ramsey? Even though we're pretty much both spoken for, would you do me the honor of being my Valentine today so we don't have to join the singles crowd?"
With almost no hesitation, I saw his mood brighten even further and it had me relaxing more. "Sure, Kida." Olaf held his hand out for her to take and when she did, she pulled him up like he weighed nothing.
"Good. Now let's go so you can buy me lunch."
"W-wait, what?!"
"I think Salt Grass is the ideal place for romantic lunches, right?" Kida thought aloud and was already leading him away from the table.
"No! Do I look like Bill Gates to you?" Olaf yelped, spinning back around to give us a 'help me!' look.
Elsa and I could only wave at the poor guy with sheepish smiles.
After school.
On my way to the boardroom, I didn't check to see if the place was empty before I closed the door and once I turned around, I found Gerda and Hans leaning over Elsa at her desk. Six pairs of eyes snapped up while I nearly froze on the spot. Way to go, Anna. But at least I wasn't professing my undying love to her that time.
"Why'd you close the door?" Gerda decided to ask first.
"So the chemistry doesn't get out." I couldn't stop the snicker from leaving me as I began sauntering toward the tables so I could put my bag down. Gerda and Elsa shook their heads with soft giggles and Hans just had a blank look on his face. "'Sup Hans?" I nodded at him. Try as I may, I had no choice but to see him with his delivery boy hat on and that had me biting my lip to keep from laughing.
"Hey, Anna." He had the decency to reply and then fervently kept his gaze away like he knew exactly what I was thinking. Only, I wouldn't go teasing him. Not while the other two were in the same room. "So, Elsa, if you'll just sign off on these budget forms, we'll be out of your hair." From the way he said that made a grin curl onto my lips regardless.
"Got a hot date tonight, Han Solo?" Came my question that made blue eyes flicker warningly to me before she pulled his stack of papers in front of her. That's a better question than the one I really wanted to ask. I brought out my bag of candy and popped a few in my mouth as I awaited his answer.
"Actually, yeah." Hans finally had the courage to look at me. Sternly, at that. "Her name's Violet."
Before I could respond, Gerda cut in. "Yeah, you two should come out to the Surf Shack tonight." She smiled hopefully at me. "I hear Ariel Simmons' parents rented the whole place out just for her and she's been giving out invitations all day."
"I'd rather have a root canal." I muttered, yelping when a waded up piece of paper was thrown directly at my face by Elsa.
"Comportati bene." Came her warning tone that had me coughing awkwardly.
"I-I meant, 'no thank you, Gerda. But we already have plans for tonight. '" I fixed an unconvincing grin on my face for Gerda and then waved them away so I could eat more of my candy. Whoops.
"Did you understand that?" Hans looked from me to her. "Because I've been trying to learn for the last three years."
I let the reasons behind that statement slide and answered his question. "No. But I get the gist." Sitting back on the table after tossing the paper in the trash. "What about you, Gerda? Got a Valentine?" I decided to change the topic lest I get more paper thrown at me. Or I got another sliver of possessive jealousy.
On the other hand, I knew Gerda had no ill-will and that she probably genuinely wanted me to try to make amends with Ariel Simmons, but there was no way I was going to be the first one to cave. She started it, so SHE can apologize first.
"Unless you count my extra set of hands, Kai, a date. Then, yes." She giggled, bringing me out of my thoughts. It was a good thing too because I suddenly felt like I was all over the place. Sheesh!
"I would say that Kai's better than nothing." I returned her laugh. "Wouldn't want you joining the 'Too Young to be Bitter Club now." I'd meant that as a joke, but when her attitude changed slightly, I knew something else was going to stem from it. Again. Whoops!
"You realize that Michelle Hackford only started that club because of you, right?" Gerda took a step away from the desk to stand next to me with a Cheshire grin on her face. My own dropped in confusion, but when she put a hand on my shoulder, I felt the urge to face-palm. No way. "You're the one that took Elsa off the market and don't pretend that you didn't know about the trail of broken hearts left all over the school because of it."
Say what now? My hand came up to push through my fringe."And who authorized that club to be made? Doesn't something like that require at least five people?" Like there wasn't five that were dramatic enough to step up. I still asked on a snicker because I so wasn't sorry about that and it was ridiculous! One time I had the pleasure of walking by the particular classroom said club met in, only to see two lone girls that were eating donuts and I kind of had to feel bad for them then. But now that I knew the real reason why they looked how they did...I didn't quite have the same opinion. Still though, they didn't have to give up after Elsa and I started dating. Maybe I should have a word with them.
"When I approved the club, she said it was for something completely different." Elsa's smooth voice brought our attention to her desk. "I had no idea they would change the name."
"Oh, wow." I buried my face in my hands, unable to stop the short burst of laughter from escaping.
"I wouldn't be surprised if some of Elsa's fangirls converted to you once she leaves." Hans snorted as he gathered the papers Elsa was done with before turning to give me one of those charming smiles that probably made an angel cry somewhere up there.
"How fun!" Gerda's enthusiasm about that situation made me cringe both inwardly and physically.
"No. Not fun." I barked. "I don't know how Elsa does it, but I'm not willing to put up with all those poor things."
"Shall we place a bet?" Gerda asked. "I'll be in touch with Elsa at Corona and I'm wagering that you'll be running away from them in no time at all."
"Save it and get outta here." I chuckled, hopping off the table to playfully push at her shoulder.
"I'll take you up on that bet." Hans passed by me to offer his arm to Gerda and the two grinned deviously at me while on their way out.
"Oh, whatever!" I scoffed.
Once the door closed again, I let out an exasperated groan that had Elsa giggling softly behind me. Stepping forward, it was my turn to lean over her desk to see what she was up to. Nothing. She was simply sitting there with her hands folded neatly together.
"Looking for something?" Was her question as her eyes caught mine. We exchanged a small laugh before I rounded the desk to stand beside her.
"Nice to see that you actually went to all your afternoon classes." I grinned, gesturing to the vase that was now filled with water and six other Jasmine flowers on the corner of her desk. Next to it was a very pretty decorated box that hadn't been opened yet.
"You kind of told me to." Her hand reached out to prod at mine until I captured it as I leaned against her desk.
"I have no memory of that." I evaded, making her smirk knowingly at me. "Okay, I did not show up late to every single one of my classes late to have someone else walking around with your flowers." Keeping her hand with my other hand, I brought my free one up to brush at the first one I'd given her. "I had to make sure you got them all.
"You were even sweet enough to ask where I sat in each class."
"They were all more than willing." I gently lead my fingers down her smooth cheek. "Said something about you resembling a blue moon?" Blue eyes snapped up to mine. "You know, extremely rare, but once it shows up, it's a very big deal?"
"Sta zitta." Elsa partly growled and stood to cover my mouth. "I'm not that bad."
Taking her hand away from my mouth, I blew raspberries before fixing her with a skeptical look. "You're so very bad, Elsa Mariani. You just don't know it yet." Without warning, I pulled her to me and buried my face in her neck with a snarl. "And where do you get off telling me to 'shut up,' huh?"
Elsa's hands came up to grasp at my shoulders as a awkward giggle left her mouth. "A-Anna, stop!" She pleaded helplessly through her laughs while her hands tried to back me off to no avail.
I didn't stop. It was too delicious. Instead, I continued my assault on her tempting neck for a few more seconds until I knowingly nipped at a particular sensitive spot that had her body stiffening in a flash. A devilish grin coveted my lips as I brought my lips down on it, only to open my mouth at the last second to place a hot kiss there. Now the hands on my shoulders twitched and a soft sigh escaped.
"Still want me to stop?" I murmured against her flesh, letting the tip of my tongue lave along the same patch of skin.
"Yes...no..." She breathed.
"Which is it, my lovely?" I fought the urge to chuckle at her adorableness and lead my hands around her back to her shoulders so I could pull her even closer.
"Baciami." She whispered instead, making me lean back to gaze into those endless pools of cerulean. I swear I could have drowned in them without even knowing it. What's more? I was completely fine with that.
With a soft sigh, I leaned in to press a lingering kiss to her lips. It was long enough for my hands to slip down her shoulder blades, around to her ribs to her hips, and back around to her lower back. These stupid blazers. I inwardly cursed, but when Elsa captured my lower lip between hers and began to suck on it, I barely remembered what I was peeved about. A low groan left my mouth and when I decided to try to turn us, I found out too late that the desk was closer than I thought.
"Ow." Elsa let go of my lip to look down at the desk since it seemingly attacked her.
"Everything's too big here." I growled, picking at my blazer. "These things, your desk-" Plush lips cut me off for another short second before she reached over to grab the box beside her flowers.
"It's okay, Gattina." She giggled. "I would rather be somewhere a little more private anyways."
"Oh, so you were just waiting for an opening?" I crossed my arms, but swallowed thickly when she sent me a heated look. One that suggested that my question had a double-meaning. Mercy. I cleared my throat and instead of letting my head run away with itself, I leaned in to brush my fingers against the flower in her hair. "Legend says that a Tuscan gardener received a Jasmine plant from Persian traders and he planted it in his private garden." While I spoke, Elsa's attention wavered from opening the box.
"Go on." She set it down and I plucked another flower out of the water so I could hold it between us.
"He refused to let anyone cut the beautiful flowers from his garden." I slowly let the petals brush along her nose and then to caress her full lips. "One day, he presented a branch of the Jasmine flowers to his beloved and she was so taken with the fragrance that she agreed to marry him." Leaning in, I left the flower there to be squeezed between our lips before pulling it lower. "Thus began the Tuscan tradition of including Jasmine in the bridal bouquet." My lips captured hers once again.
Elsa then tilted her head to deepen the kiss and I felt her tongue slip between my teeth. In no way would I deny that, so I let my arms wrap around her neck as my tongue instantly met hers in a firey dance. They teased, stroked, slid along each other and my mind exploded all over again. At her addicting taste, the intense warmth of her body, the insane softness of her hair and the maddening way her own hands held me, pressed into me, just plain wanted me...Freyja!
My knees nearly gave out when she suddenly moaned into my mouth. I swear, I felt it like warm caramel oozing through my veins, drowning me in sugary desire, in the heady power of our attraction. All too soon, she pulled away and I found that our breathing was as hard as ever and in the freezer burn that was her gorgeous eyes, I could see her concern about still being somewhere not-so-private.
"I should," A breathless chuckle escaped me. "I-I should talk about flowers more often."
Smack!
"Ow!" I yelped, holding onto my shoulder with wide eyes. "What was that for?"
"You know why." Elsa smirked, ignoring my hurt look as she returned to opening her box of chocolate-covered fruit.
"Yeah, yeah. Just go on opening your present while I bruise up over here." I was about to pout dramatically when she placed a pineapple between her perfect teeth and cupped my face. My eyes widened as she leaned in to press the treat to my lips and as soon as I tasted and felt the sweet juices flowing from the bitten fruit, I hastily opened my mouth to receive the other half. "Mmm." Although, before Elsa could lean away, I instantly cupped her face too and had the pleasure of feeling her body stiffen again when my tongue darted out to clean part of her chin and her lower lip from residual sweetness.
"Anna." Elsa practically groaned, but in no way was it anywhere near annoyed. Quite the opposite and it released a new bout of butterflies in my stomach.
"Elsa!" I mocked after smacking my lips on hers once more. "Those are seriously delicious!" My taste buds were dancing with joy and the fact that Elsa had shared it with me like she did? I wouldn't ever look at chocolate-covered pineapples the same way again.
"I should give this to you before anything else happens." Said girl brought her bag up and didn't hesitate to hand me a wrapped gift with a tasty kiss to my cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day." She smells sooo good! Her already intoxicating scent mixed with chocolate was simply addictive to me and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her until the sun came up.
But. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you said you had another one for me." Taking the package from her hands, I didn't deny a slightly sticky chaste kiss to her lips. Now, I wasn't even really sure how this day was supposed to work, considering I never gave it a second thought before. Like, are gifts like this one appropriate? I wasn't sure, but I knew our relationship was pretty much against the norm, so why not just be against the norm on some other things?
It all didn't matter when I saw the red and black mask that appeared out of the wrapping.
"You didn't." I gaped at Elsa before ripping the rest of the wrapping off.
"I did." She self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and a cute blush presented itself on her cheeks.
"You got me a game?" I had to ask since it wasn't registering in my brain. "And Deadpool to boot?"
"I just really wasn't sure what to get you."
"I would have been fine with a hug and kiss."
Elsa actually snorted and then slowly turned me to face her. "What do you take me for?"
"Thank you." I blurted, making her chuckle because I was all over the place again. If anything, I wouldn't be for a while.
"You're welcome, Gattina." She stepped in front of me so she could slide her arms around my neck and I didn't hesitate to squeeze her up in a grateful hug.
"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" I asked on another breathless chuckle.
She pulled back to whisper with a playful glint in those eyes. "Tell me again."
"I love you." I stated dreamily, closing the distance between our lips without a second thought.
A/N: Whew! Wasn't sure if I would get this chapter done or not. Life is wild sometimes! Well, either way it's here now and I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading/reviewing and whatnot.
Fun fact: Anna's little excerpt titled 'Gray' was an actual story I tried writing some time ago^^ (It was some sort of soulmate prompt I skimmed over in tumblr.) Anyway. Until next time.
Tootles~