Chapter 18

Anna threw her date shirt into her laundry basket, placed her date pants back on the rack, and slipped into her non-date pair of shorts and t-shirt. She wiped off her date makeup, brushed her non-date teeth, and drank some non-date water. And then she flopped back onto her non-date bed, thinking date thoughts.

It was a good date.

A couple of hours later and she couldn't believe it even happened, she was still wondering whether it was all a dream. And that kiss! It was so quick and sudden, it definitely felt like that never happened.

But then Anna thinks about the way Honeymaren stepped back while biting her lip, smiling like even she was surprised she did that, and...well, that just gets her thinking about the whole date again.

It was a wonderful date.

Anna put a couple of fingers to her lips as if they had somehow changed from the beginning of the day. They didn't, obviously, the only thing that had changed was that someone else's lips were on them. She'd been kissed before, obviously. Her first kiss was like three years ago, but it was still a surreal feeling. Getting kissed always is.

She heard tiny feet trotting down the hallway, even though she didn't own a horse. Elsa came into her room, tongue out and looking just as happy as Anna felt. She jumped up, got her front paws on Anna's sheets, and started slowly slipping down before falling back onto the floor. Anna sat up and lifted the motivated puppy on her bed. "You finished with your dinner?" she asked, scratching her behind the ears.

"And you drank your water?"

Elsa responded by sneezing and stepping back, looking at her owner that, unbeknownst to her, was about to burst from excitement.

"And you did your, you know, your business?" Anna flicked two fingers back and forth to make it look like her hand was walking, which was the most nonsensical way to describe peeing. When Elsa tilted her head, as if to ask what was wrong with her, Anna continued, "I'll take that as a yes."

And she scooped her puppy into her arms, lay back onto her bed, rolled around with Elsa, and squealed with joy.

"Ahhh! I'm so freaking happy! The date was amazing!" Anna exclaimed. Elsa, sensing that she was in mortal danger, squirmed around in the redhead's arms and tried gnawing at her fingers to no avail. Ironic, considering the husky was typically the one with excitable bursts of energy. "It was amaaaaaazing!"

Anna stopped her rolling and gasped, giving the husky a moment of respite before lifting Elsa up so that her hind legs were on her stomach, but her front legs were in the air with the rest of her body. "And she kissed me, Elsa!" Anna said, "Honeymaren kissed me! On the lips!"

Elsa was too busy continuing to bite at her hand to respond. When Anna finally let her go, she retreated back to the foot of the bed, giving her owner the best dog equivalent of a pout.

Anna giggled, "I'm sorry girlie, I'm just really happy right now and I needed to tell someone about it."

If the husky could speak, she'd probably tell Anna to call Belle. Which is exactly what Anna did. As she waited for her sister-in-law to pick up the phone, Elsa flopped over and began to chew on her legs.

After four rings, Belle answered. "Anna! How'd the date go?"

"She kissed me!" Anna replied, not wanting to put the best news off until later.

"What?!" There's a lot of commotion on the other end after Belle's reaction. Anna hears a sink turn off, shuffling noises, a muffled conversation with a voice that sounds like Kristoff's when he used to stuff his mouth full of marshmallows, and then more steps and shuffling. Finally, the reception clears up again and Belle continues, "Alright, tell me everything. Everything!"

"What was all that noise?"

"Oh pssh, that was just me putting your brother on dish duty. Now give me the details, Muenster."

"Alright fine," Anna giggled, "Gosh it was...amazing! Wonderful! I'm still trying to process the whole thing, especially at the end with the kiss." How many times had she said "amazing" already?

"Were you expecting it?"

"Of course not. I-I was still expecting her to, I don't know, think it wasn't a date or anything. I was nervous, you know? Maybe she didn't actually like me, maybe it was just a pity date."

"Was it?"

"No, I...she likes me. Honeymaren actually likes me."

Belle gasped, "You learned her first name!"

Anna laughed, "Yeah, and I didn't even need to ask for it. Honeymaren...her name is so pretty. It sounds like a flower, or a bird or something. But like a pretty bird."

"How was the pizza?"

"It was good. Oh, and I was so overdressed, by the way. I felt like such a dork."

Belle hissed, "Yikes, sorry about that. But hey, at least now you know! You'll dress differently for the second date. I mean...there is gonna be a second date, right?"

Anna opened her mouth but hesitated to speak.

"You hesitated."

Anna squeaked out a noncommittal noise.

"And you just made a noncommittal noise."

"Well…"

"You didn't talk about a second date?!"

"She was late for something! And I needed to feed Elsa! We didn't have time to talk about it when we got to the end of the date."

"And how long, exactly, were you with her?"

"Uh…" Anna bit her lip and looked to her puppy for some sort of help, who was still busy chewing on her leg. "Ah, you know. The right amount of time?"

"And you didn't find time to talk to her about it at all."

"Look, I'm gonna see her tomorrow anyway," Anna argued. "Besides, I know she likes me or else she wouldn't have k-kissed me. And obviously I like her, so isn't it obvious that we'll see each other again?"

"Well of course, but it still doesn't hurt to ask."

Anna grumbled, "I knooooow. I'll ask her tomorrow."

"Good. You better. And I'm assuming you two will play it safe at work too. No secret meetings in the custodial closet, hopefully?"

"Pssh! I- erm, why would...I would never do that! That's silly, super duper silly. And I wouldn't do a silly thing like that. Ever. It smells like bleach in there."

"Mmhmm. Well I am very happy for you, Anna Muenster. And I'm glad you told me about it, I mean I was gonna call you after I did the dishes anyway but still."

"Thanks Belle." Elsa had scooted up to her at some point and was now nuzzling into her leg. Anna scratched her underbelly and smiled even wider. A wonderful date to start the day, and a talk with her best friend to end the day while the cutest puppy in the world fell asleep next to her. It filled Anna with that contentment she'd been wanting for so long, and had been getting much more of recently.

"Always. But I need to get back to doing mom business and get the boys ready for bed. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Mmkay. Tell Kristoff I said hi. He'll know what it means."

Belle snorted, "Gotcha. Goodnight, Anna. I love you."

"I love you too," Anna replied cheerfully as she hung up and flopped back onto her bed for like the third time. Today was eventful, and today was the best day she'd had in a very long time. And tomorrow felt like it was going to be an extension of it. She would see the girl she liked again at the job that she was, well, growing to tolerate. Could it get any better than that?

Elsa peeked her head up from her curled-up position, curious at her owner's sudden movement. Anna giggled and booped her nose. "Don't worry girlie," she said to the husky, "I still love you more."

A/N: Happy Pride Month to all of my LGBTQ+ readers. I'm straight, but heavily support all of y'all regardless.