Thanks for reading!

I'm willing to wait for it…

Life doesn't discriminate

Between the sinners and the saints

It takes and it takes and it takes

And we keep living anyway

We rise and we fall and we break

And we make our mistakes

~Wait For It, Hamilton

Chapter Seven: Wait For It

Oaken's Diner. 7 pm. Left corner booth in the back. That was the text that Jack had sent to Elsa that morning. It was vague and a little creepy. Marshall insisted on accompanying her to whatever it was that Jack wanted her for, and Elsa had no objections. Yes, she wanted to appear normal to Anna's friends and the people of Burgess, but the strange text message set her on edge. Elsa was objectively pretty, she knew that. Some judge always commented on it at one of her competitions without fail, usually a man. And being a pretty woman in this world wasn't always a good thing.

Elsa let out a breath as Marshall parked the car in Oaken's parking lot. She didn't have a driver's license, so she had to rely on other people taking her places. Elsa hated being a burden, but she had never had the time nor the use for driving lessons. Maybe she could convince Marshall to teach her since they had nothing better to do aside from her skating practice.

"I've heard that this place has great food," Eli said, glancing back at Elsa from the passenger seat and smiling widely. Elsa grinned at his excitement. Eli was Marshall's husband of five years, and he treated Elsa like a daughter, which was nice when her biological father was on another continent.

"We're not here to taste the cuisine, Eli," Marshall said, sighing. He was all seriousness while Eli was always cracking jokes. They were complete opposites, but they complimented each other so well. Elsa didn't think that she'd ever seen two people so in love. The guilt at making them move began to creep up on her.

"No, yes, you are," Elsa said. Marshall twisted around in his seat and gave her a look.

"I'm on duty, Elsa," he told her. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"You're always on duty. But look, Jack is Anna's friend, so I seriously doubt he's a creep. You two can get a separate table in the restaurant and have a date. I'll be fine. If I start to get nervous, I'll let you know, okay?" Elsa said. Marshall opened his mouth as if to argue, but Elsa cut him off. "You deserve a nice night with your husband, without worrying about me. Please. I'll be fine." She held his gaze as he glared at her, chin tilting up in defiance. Finally, he relented.

"Alright," Marshall said, turning off the ignition. "But the second something suspicious happens, we're leaving. Even if I have to carry you out of there kicking and screaming." Elsa gave a wry smile as Eli cheered, leaning over to kiss his husband on the cheek.

"I have way too much decorum to be carried out of a restaurant, Marshall," Elsa informed him. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, heading into the restaurant ahead of the couple. The bell jingled as she pushed the door open, signalling her arrival to Oaken's patrons. Elsa took a deep breath as she ignored the nervous flutter in her stomach and looked around the room for Jack: Left corner booth in the back. She spotted the unmistakable head of silver hair and made her way to him.

"Hi," Elsa said as she approached the booth. Jack turned around and smiled, opening his mouth to say something, but Rapunzel popped up behind him and let out a squeal before he could.

"Hey, Els!" The brunette greeted. She leaned over Jack to grab Elsa's arm and pull her into the opposite side of the booth. Elsa blinked in surprise as Rapunzel gave her a conspiratorial wink. "Isn't this so exciting?"

"What's exciting?" Elsa asked slowly.

"Planning a surprise party!" Rapunzel said. Elsa didn't understand. It must have shown on her face as Rapunzel acknowledged Jack for the first time since Elsa had arrived. "Did you not tell her what we were doing here?"

"I didn't want Anna to find out! I was worried she might see the text message," Jack said.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, still confused. Then, it hit her. "Oh my God. It's June. Anna's birthday."

"Exactly!" Rapunzel agreed.

"But her birthday isn't for another three weeks?" Elsa said.

"It's a surprise party. We kind of need to plan it," Jack pointed out.

"Oh. Right. Planning." Elsa leaned back into the booth, the tension that she had been carrying with her ever since she'd seen the vague text message released.

"What did you think I texted you about?" Jack asked.

"I had no idea. It kind of freaked me out, to be honest," she said.

"And you still came? Your bodyguard let you do that?"

"My bodyguard is across the restaurant having a nice dinner with his husband. At least, he will now that I can tell him everything's 'on the level'."

The trio looked around the restaurant and found the hulking man in question, sitting at a small table with his small husband. Eli looked up then, almost as if he could sense there were eyes on him, and raised a brow at Elsa. She gave a thumbs up and mouthed It's fine, pointing to Marshall so that he would tell him. Marshall turned to look then too, just watching. Eli waved cheerfully, then brought Marshall's attention back to him. The contrast between the couple truly was adorable.

"Does he really not trust me that much?" Jack asked, feigning hurt.

"He doesn't trust any men around me," Elsa said. She froze as soon as the words left her mouth, wincing internally. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of a way to explain what she'd just said when a large shadow fell across the table. Elsa looked up to see a man with broad shoulders, sandy blond hair, and a friendly face.

"Hey, Kristoff, glad you could make it," Jack said, leaning his head back on his arms so that he was lounging in his seat. Rapunzel scooted away from where his spread out form and closer towards Elsa. The man, Kristoff, snorted.

"I work here, Frost," he said, bringing attention to the apron tied around his waist, resplendent in its green and blue Scandinavian pattern with Oaken's Diner written across it in bright orange. Jack's eyes glittered with mirth.

"What? Ugh, God, I always forgot that." He hit himself on the head, smirking.

"Ha ha," Kristoff deadpanned. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you get my text?" Jack asked.

"Yes."

"So, come on, sit down. It's party planning time!"

"I'm at work."

"So?"

"So?" Kristoff groaned. "Jack, I have to work."

"Take a break. Oaken won't care. You're with me, his favorite customer." Jack gave a winning smile. Kristoff glared. Elsa sensed that he was reaching his limit for Jack's shenanigans.

"How about this?" Rapunzel cut in. Apparently, she could sense it, too. "You're our waiter, right? So we'll order some stuff and you can hang around when you're not too busy."

Kristoff sighed. "Rapunzel…"

"Don't you wanna help surprise Anna?" she asked.

"Yes, but…"

"Then just do it. I'd like a lemonade, please, kind waiter." Rapunzel ended her sentence with a cheery smile. Kristoff sighed again as he pulled a notebook out of his apron pocket.

"Alright, and you…?" He turned to Elsa and looked at her for the first time. He stopped, eyes wide.

"This is Elsa, Anna's sister," Jack said after a moment. Kristoff blinked, shaking his head.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I was just… surprised," Kristoff said sheepishly.

"Surprised?" Elsa asked.

"At how much you looked like Anna. Or, I guess, how much she looks like you. Or how much you both look like your mother," Kristoff said rapidly. Elsa smiled at his ramblings. Hadn't Anna mentioned Kristoff before?

"That's alright. I get those looks alot. It's almost like I came back from the dead and not from another country," she said, letting out an awkward laugh.

Kristoff coughed. "So, um, what can I get you to drink?"

"Water, please. Thank you."

"No problem. I'll be right back." Kristoff flipped his notebook closed and left their table.

"Hey, you didn't take my order!" Jack called. Kristoff pretended not to hear him. Rapunzel laughed.

"Anna's mentioned Kristoff before to me, right?" Elsa asked.

"I don't know, maybe? I tease her a lot about him." Jack shrugged.

"Why?"

"Well, Kristoff has been in love with her for, like, two years, and I thought that Anna felt the same way. But I guess with her new boyfriend she must not have."

"He likes Anna?" Elsa asked.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I'm not surprised… not that someone couldn't love Anna. It's just… Kristoff seems so…." Elsa trailed off, looking for the right words.

"Serious?" Rapunzel supplied. Elsa nodded thoughtfully.

"Something like that," she agreed.

"Opposites attract," Jack said, pulling a napkin out of the dispenser and tearing into it.

Rapunzel sighed. "I hate that saying. But enough about this, let's start planning Anna's party."

"I'll be right back," Elsa said, scooting out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked, giving her a look.

"Marshall still looks as if he's going to come over here and give you the third degree. I figured I should go ease his mind if we're going to be here for a while. Poor Eli deserves his husband's full attention," Elsa said pointedly. She headed for the couple's table, but her eyes were scanning the restaurant for a large head topped with a mop of sandy blond hair. She found him hunched over something in a corner near the kitchen and changed her path.

"Hey," Elsa said as she approached, "Kristoff, right?" The man jumped when he heard her voice, the two cups in his hands nearly spilling their contents. He saw that it was the platinum blonde and let out a sigh.

"Hi, yes, that's me. And you're Elsa, Anna's mysterious older sister," he said, placing the drinks onto the top of the machine.

"Um, yes, I suppose that would be me," Elsa said, heart twinging at the thought of Anna describing her as a stranger. She shook her head and moved on to the more pressing matter in her head. "I have a question for you, Kristoff."

"Okay, what is it?" Kristoff asked slowly, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Have you… met… Anna's new boyfriend yet? Hans?" Elsa asked, choosing her words carefully. At the mention of Hans, something in Kristoff's face shifted. Where before it had been somewhat amicable behind the waiter-friendly mask, now there was something somber and a little heart-broken. Elsa could relate.

"Not really," Kristoff told her. "I mean, I met him that day that Anna met him. After he caught her or whatever and they were leaving, I ran into them. Anna was giggling like crazy. As Hans went to get his shoes, she told me that she was in love."

"Love?" Elsa practically choked on the word.

"I know. But Anna's always been like that, you know her…" Kristoff stopped himself, wincing. Elsa looked down at her feet. Had Anna truly been this unhappy? That she shared every painful detail about a nonexistent sisterly relationship with every friend?

Elsa cleared her throat. "Um, so what did you think? Of Hans, I mean?"

Kristoff straightened his shoulders and looked anywhere but at Elsa. "I mean, he makes Anna happy, right?"

"I don't know that he does," Elsa said. "Something seems off about him." Kristoff met her gaze then, surprise apparent in his eyes.

"You think so too?"

"Yeah. Do you?"

"I don't know… maybe it's just me being…" Kristoff blushed and turned back around to mess with the drinks.

"Jealous?" Elsa said softly.

He sighed. "Yeah."

"Do you think I'm being jealous as well?" Elsa asked thoughtfully. She supposed that it would make sense. After all, she had just returned from a decade long stay in another country, expecting her baby sister to spend all of her time with like they did as children. Perhaps she was unconsciously upset that Anna had a new relationship to think about when it felt like the sisters were beginning one themselves.

"I think that there is something off about Hans," Kristoff said. Elsa nodded.

"Well, it's just…. The other day…. He— I don't know. I wouldn't say he necessarily threatened me, but it certainly felt like he was. He most definitely was not polite," Elsa told Kristoff. "I'm just worried, I guess."

"Well, what do we do?" Kristoff asked.

Elsa sighed. "I don't know. It's very apparent that I don't know Anna as well as I used to. And I have no idea about your relationship with her."

Kristoff blushed again. "It's not much. But what about Jack? What does he think?"

"You expect me to talk to Jack about my sister's love life?" Elsa asked.

"You asked me," Kristoff pointed out.

"Well, yes, but—" But you don't make me feel the way Jack does.

"I think we should see what Jack thinks. He knows Anna the best. And until then, I think that you should know that you have a friend in me," Kristoff said. Elsa was about to splutter some more about Jack, but she paused at Kristoff's words.

"Friend?"

"Yeah. You seem like you could use one."

Elsa smiled. "I think I could." She held out her hand to Kristoff and jiggled it. "Friends?" Kristoff smiled back, placing his hand in hers.

"Friends."

Yikes, so I am so super sorry for the long wait for the update. College is crazy, and I am ready for it to be over!

But, aww, a cute Elsa/Kristoff friendship! And Marshall has a husband who is adorable! Please let me know what you think-review, favorite, follow, etc!

Again, so sorry for taking so long, but thank you for sticking with me. Finals is this week, and then I'm free for the summer!

~Isabelle

P.S. The title is so fitting, but I promise it was not planned. I have this whole story planned out with chap titles and everything, and this was supposed to be published like 2-3 weeks ago, so whoops. Talk about ironic.