Hi, everyone! Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, but I had several papers due and a lot of books to read for classes (life of a Lit major). Hopefully this chapter kind of makes up for it with some new/familiar characters being introduced. Thanks for reading!

~Isabelle

I could hurt someone like me

Out of spite or jealousy

I don't steal and I don't lie

But I can feel and I can cry

A fact I'll bet you never knew

But to cry in front of you

That's the worst thing I could do

-There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Grease

Chapter Five: There Are Worse Things I Could Do

Over the years, Elsa had forgotten what it was like to skate with another person. She was a solo skater, in part because her coach thought it was best that way and in part because Elsa couldn't stand the thought of constantly being touched: hands in hers, hands around her waist, being tossed about and trusting other people. Skating was her safe space, and she did not want to share it with anyone else. But skating with Anna was more fun than she could remember.

Anna was a horrible skater. She stumbled constantly and had nearly fallen more times than Elsa could count. She held Elsa in a death grip, their hands locked together. It didn't bother Elsa, though, to hold her sister. In fact, it was nice. As the two skated around the rink, they talked and laughed like normal sister relationships. Elsa felt like there was this giant breath that she had been holding, and being with Anna meant that she could let it out.

Of course, meeting all of Anna's friends was somewhat stressful for Elsa. She had always been a solitary person, even when they were children, while Anna was a social butterfly. Elsa struggled to remember names and faces, though seeing her cousin Rapunzel was a welcome reprieve. The last time that Elsa had seen her, Rapunzel had been seven years old, missing a front tooth and sporting golden hair that fell to her knees. Now, her cousin was nineteen and a brunette, with a gleaming smile and a cute pixie cut.

"Did you dye your hair, Rapunzel?" Elsa asked after they'd hugged.

"No, it just darkened. Like, a lot. Weird, I know," Rapunzel said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I mean, where did the blonde even come from?" Anna said.

"Who knows?" Rapunzel laughed. "So, Elsa, how long will you be staying?"

"For the foreseeable future. My coach moved here as well, so I'll still be practicing and everything. But it will be nice to get to be around family again," Elsa said. Anna squeezed the arm that she was wrapped around.

"We should totally have a girls' night. A sleepover. Like we did when we were little and Rapunzel came to visit for a week," Anna said.

"That would be so much fun!" Rapunzel squealed.

"Yay!" Anna did a little jump—a bad move on her part. Her feet slid out from under her, and she collapsed on the ice, dragging her sister down with her. Elsa did her best to not fall on top of Anna, but both women hit the ground hard.

"Well, I think that might be the first time you've hit the ice since my mam started coaching you," a voice said, thick with a Scottish brogue. Elsa rolled her eyes and looked up to see Merida grinning down at her.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious, Mer," Elsa said as she got to her feet. She reached down to help Anna up, who was babbling apologies like her life depended on it. "It's fine, Anna. Everyone falls. Even me, contrary to what Red over here thinks."

Merida scoffed. "You fall about as much as I miss a bullseye." Elsa laughed, shaking her head at her friend.

"Anna, Rapunzel, this is Merida, my friend from Arendelle Academy and the daughter of my skating coach. Merida, this is my sister, Anna, and my cousin, Rapunzel," Elsa said, pointing at the person as she said their name.

"Your hair is really big!" Anna blurted out.

"Anna!" Rapunzel admonished. She turned to Merida, her cheeks pink. "Ignore her. She has no filter. It's really nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you both," Merida said. The group moved over to the side of the rink to stay out of the way of skaters. Jack passed by, giving a sarcastic hat tip. Anna flipped him off.

"How has the move been?" Elsa asked. "Do you need help unpacking? I'd be more than happy to help."

"Mam would go mad if she saw you lifting anything heavier than those workout weights you use. I appreciate the offer, Elsa, but we're good." Merida gave her a knowing look, and Elsa sighed. She glanced at Anna and Rapunzel, who were listening curiously.

"I'm thirsty. I think I'm going to go to the concessions. Merida, will you come with me?" Elsa raised her eyebrows.

"Aye, lass. Do you lot want anything?" Merida asked, turning to Anna and Rapunzel.

"Well, why don't we just come with?" Anna said.

"No!" Elsa froze, then cleared her throat and smiled. "Sorry. I just mean, it took you so long to get your skates on the first time. You and Rapunzel should skate and have fun. Mer and I will be right back."

Anna blinked. "Oh. Okay. Well, um, if you could get me a water, that would be great." Elsa smiled, perhaps a bit too widely, and made her way off of the ice.

"What was that?" Merida asked as the two girls quickly untied their skates and put on their civilian shoes.

"I just… needed to talk to you about certain things, and my mother and father don't want Anna to know about them," Elsa said, fishing in her bag for her wallet. The two got up from the bleachers and nodded at Marshall as they walked past him out to the concessions area.

"What's happened?" Merida asked, worry evident in her tone.

"Marshall said that there was another threat sent to my school address. And I received one in my email today as well." Elsa moved to an empty table, fairly secluded from the other patrons. If they talked quietly enough, no one should be able to overhear them.

"Have you told Marshall yet? Maybe they can trace the IP address," Merida said.

"I just got it. I'll tell him later," Elsa said, staring down at her wallet in her hands. She fiddled with the gold zipper, twisting it between her fingers.

"Spit it out, Elsa. I imagine we only have a certain amount of time before your sister and your cousin come looking for us."

"Marshall said that… that there was a threat sent to my house. Here, in Burgess."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

"But how… you just got here yesterday! The only ones who knew about the move were you, Marshall, and my family!"

"Whoever is doing this is probably watching me, obviously. Marshall found some way to keep my move hidden, but no-one did the same for your family. They probably put two and two together."

"So… what now?"

Elsa sighed. "Marshall thinks that I should move again. But just me this time."

"Mam won't be happy about that."

"Well, I can't exactly skate if I'm dead, can I?"

"Jesus, Elsa, don't say that," Merida said. Her face had gone pale. Her hands were fists on the table, clenched so tight that the knuckles were white.

"It's just… I don't want to leave," Elsa said. "I uprooted my life in Arendelle to come here, to my family. And now I have to leave my family too? After I've gotten Anna's hopes up? Now that there's a chance that I could have my sister back?"

"Elsa…" Merida began.

"And you and your family, and Marshall and his husband. You've all moved here, for me, and now I'm just gonna leave? I feel horrible about it!" Elsa put her head in her hands, fingers pulling at the strands of her hair.

"Hey, we made the choice to come with you. Because we all care about you. Dad or I or the boys could've told Mam that we didn't want to come here, but none of us did. Marshall could've fixed you up with a different bodyguard, but he didn't. We came with you, so that you could be safe. If you have to leave again to be safe, then we'll let you. Mam might be a little pissed, but she'll get over it."

"Mer… when does this end?"

"What?"

"This, this person. When do they stop threatening me? How many times do I have to run away before they give up? Or before they get me?"

"They won't get you," Merida said firmly. "You've got a best friend who's deadly with a bow and arrow and unafraid to use it."

"They're just threatening me," Elsa continued, ignoring her friend's statement. "If they were threatening Anna or my parents, that would be a different story. But it's just me. So, why should I run? Why can't we catch this person here? Let's make me bait."

"Marshall will never go for that," Merida said. "And I'm not so sure that I'm for that plan, either. This is your life, Elsa. It's not something to gamble with."

"Yes, it is my life. And I don't want to waste it running and hiding." Elsa shook her head. "God, I'm sorry that I told you this. I think my mind was made up to stay here, I just… needed to air out my thoughts." Merida reached out and gripped her friend's hand.

"No worries, Elsa. I'm glad that you told me. That's what friends are for." Merida smiled, and Elsa let out a small laugh.

"Now I'm going to have to tell Marshall. God, security measures are going to get even worse." She groaned.

"You better believe it. And you can consider me an honorary bodyguard as well."

"What? No. Mer, this is your time to do what you want, not follow me around like a puppy."

"First of all, don't compare me to a puppy. I'm not cutesy and excitable. Second of all, I was obviously going to hang out with you this summer. Now I'm just prepared to beat the crap out of anyone who threatens you."

"Merida—"

"This is what friends are for. Now, come on, we need to get those waters and get back out on the ice."

Anna sighed as Elsa and her friend walked over to their shoes. She knew that Elsa wanted to talk to Merida about something, and Anna was hurt that she couldn't know as well. The past hour had been a blast, skating around with Elsa again and introducing her to people. She felt like they were really making progress, forming that tight sister bond that they had had when they were children. But Elsa obviously didn't feel the same.

"Do you want to sit down, Anna?" Rapunzel asked, snapping Anna out of her reverie. Anna physically shook her head and smiled at her cousin.

"No, that's okay. Just, uh, hold on tight to me, and we can try to stay upright." Anna looped her arm through Rapunzel's, and the two began to slowly make their way around the rink.

"So, uh, Merida seems nice, doesn't she?" Rapunzel said, breaking the silence. Anna looked at Rapunzel to see her staring at the woman in question, her bright red hair bent as she took off the skates. Anna smirked as she recognized her cousin's pattern.

"Shut up, Rapunzel. You do not," Anna said. Rapunzel's eyes widened as her face turned red.

"W-what?"

"You have a crush!" Anna sang. "Oh my God! What about Flynn?" Anna motioned over to Flynn Rider, another member of the Guardians, who was messing around with Jack and Kristoff on the opposite side of the ice. Rapunzel had had a crush on the self-proclaimed "King of the Smoulder" for nearly a year for some reason that Anna still had yet to identify.

"What about him?" Rapunzel asked.

"You've finally gotten over that stupid crush on him?"

"You can like more than one person at a time. And besides, I don't know Merida enough to have a crush. I just think that she's pretty."

"You're such a player, Punzie," Anna teased. Rapunzel groaned.

"Shut up, Anna. Really, please, I'm serious," she said.

"How ever will you choose? On the one hand, there's the devilishly handsome, debonair 'bad boy,' but on the other hand, you've got the mysterious new girl who makes you feel alive?" Anna clasped her hands together and laid her head on them, sighing dreamily.

"You're the worst," Rapunzel said, laughing and glancing around to make sure that no one was listening. Anna continued gushing about the "two options." She wrapped her arms around Rapunzel, becoming more and more animated. Rapunzel shoved her cousin off of her, a little harder than she intended. Anna yelped as she flew backwards, trying to gain traction on the ice. The back of her skates caught on the lip of the rink's exit, and she flung her hands out, hoping to catch something. Instead, she felt arms catch her before she could hit the cement. Her eyes flew open—when had she closed them?—to look into her savior's face. It wasn't one she recognized.

"Are you okay?" the man holding her asked. Anna could only nod, her voice failing her as she took in his handsome features: auburn hair that fell slightly onto his forehead, green eyes filled with concern, a furrowed brow. She held back a gasp as he lifted her upright, his arms were really nice, and lead her to the bottom bleacher. "Miss?"

"Thank you," Anna finally managed to breathe out. She vaguely heard Rapunzel coming up to them, apologizing profusely to Anna. "I'm Anna."

The kind smile that spread across his features made her heart stop. "Nice to meet you, Anna. I'm Hans."

I was writing this, and then I thought about how cute it would be for Rapunzel to have a crush on Merida. Rapunzel with crushes is just adorable to me. And Hans has been introduced! And those threats that Elsa is getting... who knows?

Sorry there's not a lot of Jelsa in this chapter, and sorry it's not super long. Hopefully, I'll have a longer one for you guys by the end of this week (cause I don't have as much school work to do... hopefully...)

I really hope that you're enjoying this! Let me know what you think in the reviews :) Please favorite, follow, etc. I appreciate you all so much!

~Isabelle