Yikes, so I know this is super late... sorry?

It's longer than usual, at least? Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.

Please review, follow, favorite, etc. I really do appreciate it! And I'll try to be better about updating now that I'm back on a schedule!

Again, super super super sorry. But enjoy!

~Isabelle

How 'bout a dance?

Let's make a start

Music like this can really throw ya

You'll lose the blues

And you may lose your heart

~How 'Bout A Dance?, Bonnie and Clyde: A New Musical

Chapter Eight: How 'Bout A Dance?

Marshall sighed as he looked over the latest threat that had been sent Elsa's way. The coward had apparently decided to move to email, though Marshall couldn't understand why. His computer people were tracking the IP address down as he sat there; surely they had to find something.

He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his hands over his face. These death threats were getting monotonous. The sender didn't appear to have any plan to attack Elsa, whether that be to kidnap her or kill her. Of course, Marshall took every threat to Elsa Winters seriously, but this one was just obnoxious. Generic threats, no signature—it was textbook stalker tendencies. And that's what set Marshall off. This person was holding back.

They were feigning casual, attempting to not show how badly they wanted Elsa. But Marshall knew how to read between the lines. He was an expert at it. That's why the Winters' had hired him, specifically. Marshall would keep away the creeps, the psychopaths, the wolves in sheep's clothing. None would get near their beloved elder daughter. Never again.

Jack slung his hockey bag over his shoulder as he knocked on the thick double doors of the Winters' household. Sure, it was seven thirty in the morning, but Anna should know better than to try to sleep in on Best Friend Friday Breakfast. It was tradition.

"Jack?" For the second time in a week, Elsa answered the door instead of Anna, in a long-sleeved thermal shirt and leggings. Jack was just glad that this time he was on even footing with her, both literally and figuratively.

"Hey, Elsa. Is Anna up?" Jack asked, taking in the tiredness of the young woman across from him. He watched as she folded in on herself, as if she could become less noticeable despite them being the only two people in the doorway.

"You do know that it's seven am, right?" Elsa asked.

"Actually, it's seven thirty." Jack pointed held his bare wrist out towards her to show her his imaginary watch. Elsa pursed her lips to hide a smile.

"Yes, well, I don't think Anna plans on waking up anytime soon. I could hear her on the phone with Hans all night," she said.

"Then I guess she's just gonna be really tired at breakfast," Jack said cheerfully. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure?" Elsa said, stepping aside as Jack made his way into the foyer. She trailed after him as he jogged up the stairs, his bag slapping against his back with every step. He really should have left it by the door.

"Um, Jack, I really don't think waking her up is a good idea," Elsa said, stepping in front of him as he moved towards Anna's room.

"Don't worry about it. Anna knows the drill. It's BFFB!"

Elsa put a hand out to stop him, tilting her head quizzically. "BFFB?"

"Best Friend Friday Breakfast," Jack said.

"Nice alliteration." She dropped her hand. "But I don't know that that matters to Anna right now."

Jack stopped. "Doesn't matter?"

Elsa winced. "Wrong choice of words. I just mean that, Anna's been… different… since she met Hans."

Jack fought the urge to laugh in her face. Elsa hadn't seen Anna in over a decade. What did she know about Anna being 'different?' Elsa didn't know Anna's normal. In this irrational burst of anger, Jack couldn't help the rant that spewed out of him: "Listen, Snow Queen, I know you're Anna's sister, but I'm her best friend. You knew her as a cutesy five year old who worshiped her big sister. I know her as the klutzy, loyal, loving, and confident woman that she's become. I know that she has horrible bedhead when she wakes up no matter what she does to her hair the night before. I know her top ten favorite chocolate brands in descending order. I know that she can't skate to save her skin, but there's a part of her that still loves it because of memories she made with you. So, Anna might be acting different than how you knew her, but that doesn't mean she's acting different to the people who know her."

Jack took a deep breath, the realization of everything that he'd just said to Elsa sinking in. He watched as she stilled, her hands clutching at the sleeves of her shirt. He could see the wall of ice fall behind her eyes, the blue freezing over into something cold and dangerous.

"You're absolutely right, Jack Frost," Elsa said, her voice so polite and so, so dead. "I apologize for my presumptuousness. How silly of me to worry about my sister. Clearly, you have things handled. I'll just excuse myself then." She didn't give him a chance to answer, simply stepped around him to head downstairs, posture so straight it looked painful. He sighed as her footsteps faded away, then shook his head to focus on the task at hand. He hadn't meant to snap at Elsa, but he could apologize later; right now, he needed to see Anna. It had been almost a week since he'd last seen her, the longest time that the two best friends had gone without hanging out for years, and truth be told, he was starting to worry about her.

Jack pushed open Anna's door, entering her room as quietly as possible. If Anna had been up late into the night, a loud wake-up call would piss her off more than usual. But as he walked over to her bed, ready to shake his best friend awake, Jack realized that she wasn't in it. Yes, there was a lump under the covers, a million pillows piled on top, but it was not an Anna-shaped lump. Which meant that she wasn't here; which meant that she had probably snuck out to see Hans.

Jack took a step back, hand automatically reaching for his phone as if a text from Anna would be there, explaining that she was already at Oaken's with chocolate chip pancakes on the way. But then he remembered that he'd left his phone on the charger at his house, and that even if he had it, he knew there wouldn't be any notifications. And try as he might, the hurt that his best friend had ditched him continued to rise up in his throat even as he went off in search of her older sister with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

Elsa sat at the kitchen island, a cup of cooling peppermint tea in her hands. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting on a stool, staring at nothing and thinking about everything, but she did know that the mug had originally been intended to keep her hands warm more than a soothing beverage. Elsa sighed and took a sip. It tasted like lukewarm water and leaves.

"Hey, um, Elsa?" a voice said behind her. Elsa didn't bother to turn around; she knew it was Jack. Aside from the fact that he was currently the only young male in her house, he was also pretty much the only young male that she knew in Burgess, and one of the first new voices that she had heard when she arrived a week ago. God, had it really only been a week? It felt like a lifetime; Elsa felt a hundred years old.

"Waiting for Anna to get ready?" Elsa asked, staring down at the brown liquid. Her voice caused little ripples throughout the surface.

"Not exactly…" Jack hedged. At this, Elsa did turn to look at him. He looked sheepish, perhaps for his earlier words to her despite the truth that they held. She was grateful, though, to see that he seemed to regret his quick tongue. However, worry featured more prominently on his face. As the self-proclaimed 'Guardian of Fun,' distress did not suit him.

"What's wrong?" Elsa asked.

"Anna's not here."

"What?"

"Relax! Look, it's probably not a big deal. She's probably with Hans, you know?"

"And that's not a big deal?" Elsa demanded, getting up from her stool. Her heart had begun to race, worry for her little sister racing through her veins. On one hand, Elsa knew that Anna was most likely safe and blissfully happy off in the arms of her new beau, but there was a part of her that could only see the shadowy hands, reaching for her baby sister as they'd once reached for her.

"Oh please, teenagers sneak out all of the time," Jack said. If Elsa had been paying closer attention, she would have seen the strain behind Jack's tone. While he might not have been worried about Anna, he was certainly upset at her. Elsa, however, was firmly entrenched in panic mode.

"I don't sneak out! My friends never snuck out! Have you ever snuck out? Has Anna?" Elsa asked.

Jack paused. "Well, no, but there's never been any need to. Our parents trust us and each other, and we've never wanted to do anything they wouldn't agree with."

Elsa was too busy trying not to hyperventilate to register what Jack was saying. Her mug was long-forgotten on the counter as she paced back and forth in front of it. Her fingers twisted around the hem of her sleeves, turning red and white from the sudden lack and gain of blood flow. Elsa tried to focus.

"Okay," she muttered, releasing her grip on her sweater, "we need to call people. Marshall. Our parents. Rapunzel. Anna's friends, your friends, too, I suppose. Kristoff? Who else?" Jack cut Elsa off before she could continue her ramblings.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's fine. We don't need to call anyone, okay? Anna's perfectly fine."

"She is off with a stranger whom any of us barely know, someone that she only met a few days ago and doesn't seem to respect the people close to her. I don't trust Hans as far as I can throw him," Elsa snapped. Jack blinked.

"Man, you really don't like this guy."

"No, no, I don't." Elsa sighed, closing her eyes. "I just… have a bad feeling. People are allowed to have those, aren't they?"

Jack sighed as well. "I get it. Look, why don't you call her and see what's happening. She can set your mind at ease."

"Anna won't answer me." Elsa was sure of it. "Why don't you call her?"

"I can't. My phone's at home," Jack said.

"Then let's go get it," Elsa said.

"Let's?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "As in 'let us'? As in both of us?"

"Yes," Elsa answered. "Anna's my sister and your best friend. We both want to know where she's at. We'll go get your phone, she'll talk to you, and that'll be that."

"Elsa, I don't know…"

"Jack, please. I know we don't know each other that well. I know that I pissed you off upstairs and that you said some hurtful things to me, no matter how accurate they were, but I need this. I can tell myself that Anna's safe, but that doesn't mean I'm going to believe it. Please, just… ease my mind?"

Jack blinked. "Um, okay."

Elsa sighed in relief. "Thank you. Shall we?"

"Would you like to change out of your pajamas?" Jack asked, motioning to her attire. Elsa felt her cheeks warm as she looked down at her state of dress. It wasn't like it was immodest, but sleeping was one of her only moments of vulnerability. She hadn't even thought of it before, but now she felt as if she'd lifted up her shirt and bared her chest to Jack.

"Er, right, yes. Yes, I'll go... do that." Elsa hurried up the stairs, cursing under her breath and trying to get her heart rate under control.

Elsa didn't say a word the entire car ride to his house. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw her typing on her phone, probably letting her bodyguard know what was going on or trying to get in contact with Anna. At the thought of Anna, Jack felt his temper flare but kept it under control. He could be pissed at her when they were face to face. You don't skip out on Best Friend Friday Breakfast; it was a punishable offense.

Jack parked on the road in front of his house and motioned for Elsa to get out as he undid his seatbelt. He tried not to stare at the fluid grace in her movements as she stepped out of the car, gently flipping her platinum blonde braid over her shoulder. He reminded himself that she and Anna weren't on the best of terms currently, and as Anna's best friend, that meant he wasn't on the best of terms with Elsa either. But… then again, he wasn't sure that he and Anna were all good right now. Ditching him without warning? That warranted some slight anger and—

"Um, Jack?" Elsa's uncertain voice broke through his thoughts. He grimaced slightly as he slid out of his seat.

"Sorry," he said. "Uh, my seatbelt got stuck." Elsa gave him a look but said nothing as she followed him up the walkway.

"Your house looks very nice," she commented. He tried to imagine it through her eyes, compared to the no-doubt-spectacularly-fancy boarding school she'd lived at for the past decade and the mansion that her family owned here in Burgess. 'Nice' was probably more like 'frumpy' in her vocabulary, but he thought it was nice all the same. A simple, two-story white house with blue shutters and simple landscaping courtesy of his father. There was a pond out back that froze solid in the winter where Jack had first learned how to skate, and Emma's garden that she tended to all year long even when it died in the colder months. She loved plants more than anyone Jack knew.

"Thanks," Jack said. "I'll just run inside real quick and grab my phone, and then we can be on our way." Elsa nodded her assent just as the front door crashed open and a large, leafy fern toddled through the doorway. Jack sighed as his sister poked her head around the plant, eyes widening at the sight of Elsa.

"Jack, what are you doing back so early?" she asked, setting the fern down on the ground. "Who's this? And where's Anna?"

"We don't know, actually," Jack said, stepping up onto the porch. "That's why we're here. This is Anna's sister, Elsa."

"The figure skater?" Emma asked. He could practically see the stars in her eyes as she looked at Elsa again. Elsa, however, was beginning to look vaguely uncomfortable as the younger girl continued to stare at her.

"Um, yes," she said.

"Elsa, this is my sister, Emma." Jack continued the introductions. "Flee, stop staring. It's rude. I'm going to run inside. I'll be right back." Emma scrunched up her face at the nickname, but Jack pushed past her before she could yell at him for treating her like a baby. He ran up to his room and unplugged his phone from where it was charging. No missed calls or texts. Anna hadn't even bothered to let him know she was ditching.

Jack's younger sister, Emma, was really quite sweet. But she was also a lot to handle, particularly at eight in the morning when Elsa was ill-prepared to deal with a highly excitable tween.

Elsa struggled to keep up with the girl as she flitted from one topic to the next, talking about Elsa's figure skating, then her own, then Jack's hockey playing, then her own figure skating costumes and would Elsa like to see them because they were super pretty. Elsa was beginning to get a headache.

"Um, do you like plants?" Elsa finally cut in, motioning to the green monstrosity currently at their feet. Emma paused, looked at the plant, and grinned.

"Oh, yeah! I garden! In the back. Do you wanna come see it?"

"Actually, Flee," Jack said, walking onto the front porch before his younger sister could spirit away their guest, "we're going to go get Anna. Maybe some other time?"

Emma pouted. "But you never bring your girlfriends over!" Elsa's mouth dropped open as Jack audibly choked. She felt her cheeks burning and brushed a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, no! No, no, no, we're not dating," Elsa said.

"We just met," Jack added.

"Yes! We barely know each other," Elsa agreed. She couldn't quite bear to look Jack in the eye at the moment, so she kept her gaze firmly on Emma who was eyeing them suspiciously.

"But you got in his car?" she pointed out.

"Well, yes, but that's because Anna knows him, and we want to find her, so…" Elsa trailed off awkwardly.

"Come on, Emma," Jack said, his voice full of exasperation. "Anna and I are best friends, remember? Why would I be dating her sister?" Elsa wasn't quite sure that she followed his logic but didn't contradict him.

"Did you get ahold of Anna?" Elsa asked instead, bringing the attention back to why she was even at his house in the first place. He glanced at her and shook his head.

"I sent her a text. She hasn't responded yet, but I figured we could call her in the car and find out where she is." He turned back to Emma. "We're leaving now. I'll be back later, okay?"

Emma huffed but said nothing else as the pair walked down the lawn to Jack's car.

"Sorry about her," Jack said under his breath once they got to the street. "She's… something else." Elsa let out a small laugh.

"It's okay. She's sweet. She reminds me of Anna." The two girls were certainly similar. Elsa wondered if Emma had picked up those habits from Anna. The thought made her heart twinge. What sort of habits might Anna have picked up from Elsa if she had been around? A low voice spoke behind her before she could put any more thought into the idea.

"Frost." Elsa whipped around to see a tall, extremely pale man standing right behind her. He was deathly-looking, his skin taking on an almost grayish tone and dressed in black from head to toe. The only source of light came from his eyes, which were an unearthly shade of gold. Elsa's breath caught in her throat as she stumbled back against the car.

"Pitch, hey," Jack said, his voice strangely neutral. He made his way to Elsa, setting a hand on her arm before glaring at the man. "Way to make a person piss themselves. You know most people say 'hello' as a greeting." The man, Pitch, rolled his eyes and glanced at Elsa.

"I apologize, miss," he said formally, eyes trained on her face. Elsa almost expected him to bow at the waist to her. Or perhaps the formal tone was due to the British accent he had. Either way, it was unsettling. He was unsettling.

"I-It's alright," Elsa said. She lightly shrugged Jack's hand off and stood up straight, arms folding across her chest and hands gripping at her elbows.

"So, can I help you? We saw each other an hour ago," Jack said.

"I just wanted to let you know that your uncle called for a group meeting tonight. It was last minute," Pitch said.

"Yeah, I saw. I have my phone." Jack waved the device in the air. Pitch grimaced.

"Of course. But you never responded. And as team manager, it's my job to make sure that all of the team members are in the know," Pitch said.

"Whatever, thanks." Jack rolled his eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have things to do." He opened Elsa's car door and motioned for her to climb in.

"You're Elsa Winters, right?" Pitch said. Elsa paused and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Um, yes. Yes, I am." She looked nervously at Jack who was watching Pitch carefully. "And you are?" Elsa was nothing if not polite.

"Kozmotis Pitchiner. But everyone calls me Pitch. I'm a fan," he introduced himself. Elsa fought the shiver that crawled down her back.

"I'm flattered," she said and slid into the car. Jack closed the door behind her, and she could hear the muffled sound of the two men talking. Elsa dug her nails into her jean-clad knees. Why were her hands shaking so badly? Nothing happened. She managed to suck in a breath as Jack got into the car, watching as Pitch walked away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked. She whipped her head around to see his concerned face, a hand hovering awkwardly in the space between him as if he didn't know how to comfort her.

"I'm fine, thanks." She reached for her seat belt and strapped it across her, silently begging him to go ahead and start the damn car. Her prayers were answered as he put the key in the ignition and the vehicle rumbled to life underneath them.

"So, Anna got back to me," he said. Jack held his phone out to Elsa, screen lit up on their conversation.

Anna: I'm fine! W/ Hans!

Elsa sighed. "We knew that." A message came in before Jack could respond. Elsa read it. Her heart dropped.

Keep Elsa distracted for me? I'm so sick of her big sister act.

Elsa stared straight ahead out of the windshield as Jack read the message. She could feel his eyes on her as he shut the screen off and set it in the console. He coughed awkwardly.

"So… what do you want to do today?"

So a little cliffhanger? A couple actually...

Let me know what you all think!

Thanks for reading!