A/N: You know the problem with trying to make each chapter better than the last, every time? You put yourself under a lot of stress.

I had to take a step back for a few days haha.

Anyway, I'm back! And I am quite happy with this chapter, and I thank you so much for your readership! Please enjoy :)

Ding!

Elsa looked at her phone. She smiled. That's funny, she mused, I was just about to text her. Olaf seemed to notice his mama's eagerness because his head perked up from his pot perched right next to her on the bed. He was starting to shed, so the air around her looked… crowded. Tuffs of white fur jumped from his back, shining in the light and floating lazily around in the mild draft of the room. No matter, this just meant Elsa would need to clean more often.

Another ding.

She turned her attention to the texts from Anna.

"And the winner of the Most Criminally Cute Contest is… dun dun dun! YOU!"

Attached was- It was- wha-

A picture.

Of her.

Eating a pretzel.

A salted pretzel.

She was only slightly mortified.

She looked absolutely un-becoming in the photo. Mouth agape, a stupid grin on her face as she gracelessly managed the snack into her watering maw. But that was beside the point! Her head spun with so many questions! Like: why? What? When? Well, okay, stupid question, she knew when. But- but-

"Anna," she typed, thumbs feeling a little clutzy in the midst of her bewilderment. "How did you get that photo?" She sent it. Then, quickly added another, eyebrows furrowing with realization. Anna was in the picture, too. "I was with you every minute on New Year's. Literally. Every. Minute." Send.

"I can't reveal my sources" was followed with a coy winky face emoji, and although Elsa was a little jarred from receiving a stalker photo of herself, she found it hard to suppress a giggle. Which she did by chewing her lip and squeaking a little, by the way.

"It was Rapunzel, wasn't it?"

"I'll never tell!"

Elsa laughed aloud at this; her cheeks warmed. "You are genuinely the creepiest person ever."

There was a short pause in the conversation, then a blip notification. Elsa's heart skipped a beat at Anna's reply, having to blink and re-read it several times. Her tummy felt funny, and it wouldn't stop wiggling. But, like, in a good way. "Only for you." That's not the part that made Elsa feel all woozy. What did do that, however, was the big, red heart that followed the text.

Cheeks probably akin to said emoticon, the platinum blonde clutched the phone tightly to her chest, as if letting it go would pop the heart. Olaf meowed from his spot on her luxuriously cushioned, fluffy mattress, and Elsa likened the feeling in her heart to the purring coming from the cat. She bit her lip, sticking her tongue out a little bit at the corner. "I suppose I'll take what I can get." Send.

Then she paused, staring blankly at the screen.

Her thumb came to the keyboard, then retracted. Again, it jolted forward only to cower away. Finally, she stole herself and, closing her eyes and squeaking a little as she did so, pressed on the kissy face emoji- the one blowing the heart out of its mouth- and sent that as well.

She only had a moment to wonder why, even though they'd kissed several times- heck, Anna had, well she'd pleasured Elsa, albeit all by stimulation above the waist- why the kissy face via text of all things might be overstepping.

Her worrying was rudely interrupted by another incoming message from Anna. Elsa giggled and felt warmth spread from her ears to the tip of her nose as she examined the ten- yeah probably ten- kissy faces that Anna had sent back.

"Elsa!" her father's voice pulled her attention, muffled from the long journey up stairs and through her door. She made her way downstairs, still vibrating a little bit with the glowing buzz spawned of Anna's affectionate texts.

"Yes?"

Agnarr was flipping through a stack of mail, and the girl noted, much to her amusement, that he was simply tossing out the bills. "You've got mail," he said, plucking one from the bottom of the stack.

"Snail mail?" She furrowed her brow. "Do they know what year it is?"

"Am I supposed to know what that means?"

Elsa laughed. "I suppose not. I'm not sure that I actually do-" but then, she looked at the envelope. Her eyes widened with surprise, having to blink and re-read the sender several times. And her dad was smirking. Stop smirking like that! It's creepy! "From…"

"Corona."

"But-" she peered up at him, tapping her hand on her envelope with light clicks. It seemed to calm her sundry nerves. "How- this- I mean that's quick, don't you think? Shouldn't it take a little longer?" And while she likely knew the answer to her own question, she felt the need to verbalize it, no matter how foreign her own voice sounded. Because, wouldn't it be nice to shirk this? At least for a little?

With a playful raise of the eyebrow, her father pointed out "well, you know rolling acceptance. Hearing back this early is either really bad or really good."

She bit her lip. "You're not helping."

He shrugged, placing a strong hand on her lithe shoulder. "I imagine it's good news."

A grin crept its way onto her lips, faint dimples forming in her cheeks. Her hands, of their own accord, creased and uncreased one corner of the envelope now, ruining its perfect presentation, if only slightly. Corona University, she thought, perhaps out loud. She felt a familiar sensation of butterflies in her stomach, lightly pushing her heart to go faster. She took a breath and made to open her mail, noticing now that her hands were shaking.

"I…" her widened eyes stared at the first line of the letter, reading it over and over again. For clarity purposes. To make sure her quite active imagination wasn't interfering. "I- I got in! Dad! I got in!" She nearly squealed, much like she imagined Anna would do. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she looked at her elder, face alight with the most gorgeous smile, brightness befalling her grinning eyes and shoulders dancing to her ears. The room felt a little spinny. "I'm in! I can't believe it! I- I made it!"

"Congratulations, kiddo," Agnarr patted her on the back.

Olaf came down to see what all the commotion was. Elsa's heartbeat was loud. It felt like it was shaking the room. Like her ears would pop. Maybe they already had, because she was having a hard time hearing much of anything else. She smiled and bit her lip. "I- I need to call Anna!"

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

"So…" Anna said, voice hushed and slightly obscured by the movie in the background. Really, the only reason that Elsa heard it was because a warm, freckled cheek was resting peacefully on her chest: Anna's spot. The elder hummed in acknowledgement, peering down at two large eyes. The room was dark, everyone else was watching the film intently and munching on something or other, while the two young women were snuggled together on their place on Anna's couch.

Elsa had taken plenty of time in the past to marvel at the depth of beauty maintained within Anna's eyes. The subtle flakes of cobalt blue, interspersed with hundreds of shades and varieties of greens, from aquamarine to forest green, all nestled sweetly in the undulating texture of her irises. The tiny strips of hazel, expanding like pedals of a flower from her pupil, lost to the rich swath of colors that made the cutie's eyes so… stunning. All this, the impossible complexity of the intermingling colors which was rivaled in intricacy only by perhaps the crystalline structure of snowflakes, blended together to make that familiar, beatific teal that everyone knew and loved.

But not everyone had the pleasure of peering so deeply into those eyes, to memorize every little detail that made them them, like Elsa had.

That's probably why Elsa noticed the subtle hesitation so easily. She tensed, her hand halting its idle tracing of the contour of Anna's shoulder, and she knew Anna could feel that she went stiff, because she bit her lip.

"How far away is it?" the younger asked, her words less spoken and more murmured, no more than a vibration in the blonde's chest.

But she felt them. Oh, she felt them, alright. "Is what?" she questioned, very aware that she was side-stepping the question that Anna wanted to ask.

Anna sighed, just barely. Her eyes peered down from Elsa's and she sat up a little, removing the warmth of her head. Immediately, the elder felt the loss. In the same beat, she felt Anna's thumb start tracing over her knuckles. Not softly, not peacefully, and it wasn't soothing. Nervously. Her movements were rough, and her grip was tightening. "You know," their eyes met again. "Corona."

In the background, Rapunzel glanced over with concern, but neither Elsa nor Anna noticed.

"Anna, I…" It was Elsa's turn to look away. She slumped her head to examine their interlaced fingers. She'd never exactly minded the cold, but this- this cold throbbing of her heart coupled with the anxious churning of her stomach was making her feel almost nauseas. Her mind flickered back to her rumination of the subject before Christmas. When I leave for college, I will hurt Anna. It echoed in her mind, and never felt any better. Her palm was clammy, and she could tell Anna's was, too. The connection shared between their hands felt unsettlingly fragile. Like a snowflake.

Her revelation made her feel rather… hopeless. Was that the word she was looking for? Elsa wasn't sure. Fearful? She tightened her grip on Anna's hand, as if to send a silent message. The younger responded in kind by bringing her free hand to sooth small circles on her girlfriend's leg. The warmth was back, a little, but the wedge had been rested between them.

Elsa spoke again, her voice hoarse, and still unable to meet Anna's gaze, for she feared what she might uncover. "I don't really want to talk about it right now."

Silence befell them then, and Elsa wished, she longed to know what the other was thinking. But she was yet to cowardly to meet whatever gaze was haunting her. She could feel it, burning on the side of her head. "That far, huh?" Came the response, and the dry way it was chuckled sent an icy shiver down the elder's spine.

"Anna please," she sniffled, her breath unsteady and eyes beginning to sting. She closed her them then, taking a long, rather unsatisfying exhale. She, mostly by reflex, withdrew her hands to clutch the end of her braid. As if it was the light in her life, not the girl sitting inches from her.

What a damn mistake that was.

Speaking of, those teal eyes Elsa was describing in such detail earlier? Well, they instantly flickered down to where their fingers used to be tangled together, only to fall. In fact, Anna's entire body seemed to deflate.

Elsa winced, reaching her hand out as if to remedy the severed connection, but her hand hovered, shaking mildly, dumbly hesitating. Her heart clenched, and she put her hand down. Something she quickly grew to regret. Anna's own hands were now folded in her lap. Her eyes were shining and jaw trembling, her body turned slightly to face the blonde. God the pregnant silence between them was deafening.

"I'm- I- I can't- not here," Elsa breathed, squeezing her eyes shut so tightly that she saw stars behind her lids.

"Right," Anna said through a sniffle, sitting up completely and leaving Elsa with a cold, harsh loneliness befitting of the dark room around her but antithetical to the upbeat movie. "Later. We'll talk about it later." Her voice was shaking, almost as much as Elsa's upper lip. It sounded so… hopeless.

Elsa looked away.

Her heart sank when the cushion she occupied rose a couple inches. Anna had silently excused herself. Distanced herself from the conversation, much like the other had done. Albeit physically, rather than emotionally.

How long she was gone didn't really matter all that much. It gave Elsa plenty of time to ruminate, in any case. To wish she had the words that Anna wanted to hear.

But she didn't.

And when Anna came back, she sat down just a little farther from Elsa. She didn't lean on her. She sat upright. Alone.

Leaving Elsa alone.

Distance, the blonde mulled the word about in her head, tossing it about like a ball, but it felt about as pleasant as tossing a wet rag. Physically, she was not far from Anna right now, but emotionally? Well, that's the stressful part, isn't it? She had no idea how far they were apart. It felt like miles, but could it have been just around the corner? Were they just missing each other? A step only a few words could make? Or was there a deeper problem?

Really, Elsa suddenly realized, that was the frightening part. The unknown, the question Anna had really been asking earlier. What are we going to do when it's time for college?

How would physical distance affect them, their relationship? Would it matter about as much as it mattered right then, in that moment, functionally irrelevant?

Or would it be everything?

She kept coming back to the one thing she knew for sure. I will hurt Anna when I leave for college.

So then, she determined the next logical question. How can I minimize that hurt for Anna? Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply. Her stomach dropped farther, if at all possible. She had a lot to unpack.

Kristoff and Rapunzel shared a look.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Anna understood. She really did. It was okay! She was fine.

For real.

Fine.

Honestly, movie night while all their friends were over wasn't really the time or place to bring that up anyway. It was stupid and selfish, she'd decided while perched next to a rather conflicted seeming Elsa.

So really, it was fine. She'd needed some time to compose herself, hence excusing herself to the rest room, but she could wait. She could wait for a better time for them to talk. For Elsa to be ready. Sure, Anna was scared. That was putting it lightly. She was terrified. She needed to talk about it.

But she could wait a little while, she could accommodate Elsa.

That's what relationships were, right?

Compromise.

She just didn't expect to be shut out for nearly two months.