Tell Me How To Fix You
By: The Duchess of Arendelle
"Anna, what the hell did you just do?"
Anna stood, stock still, in the spot Elsa had recently fled. She blinked twice and started to run in the direction she last saw Elsa. There were at least 3 other doors on each side of the corridor but the one Elsa ran into was at the very end of the long, dark hallway. Anna was a bit frightened. "Oh God, this is just like The Skeleton Key." She whispered to herself as she slowly made her way to the door at the end of the hall. This door looked just like the front door, except this one was an even lighter shade of blue and the huge snowflake engraved in the middle was much more detailed than the other door. She took in a deep breath and did her 'Anna Knock' as she liked to call it.
*Knock knock kn- knock knock*
"Elsa?" Anna called out in a whisper. "Please, I know you're in there. Pretty please come back out, I'm sorry." She put her ear against the door and waited for an answer. She never got one. After 10 minutes of no response her feet were beginning to hurt from standing in the fashionable but uncomfortable heels; she was still adorned in her work attire. Anna sighed and called to Elsa again.
"Elsa? I'm going home, jus- just for a second, to change into something a little more comfortable. I'll be right back, okay?" No response. Anna sighed again and made her way out the door and to her own apartment.
***FROZEN***
Elsa heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Good job genius, you scared her away! No wonder Olaf's the only one who can stand being around you." Elsa berated herself. "It was just a hug! A stupid hug! Why can't I control myself?" she yelled into her pillow. She was currently sitting on the imaculetly clean floor of her bedroom, leaning against the door, clutching a perfect white pillow. She was still freaking out over the body contact. "What was it that Dr. Wesalton use to make me say?" She thought to herself. "Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel." She repeated the mantra until she felt her heart slow and her breathing even out.
The sound of the front door opening and closing had her jumping. She held her breath as she heard footsteps coming back down the hall, getting closer and closer to her bedroom. Then the knock. That perfect knock and the beautiful voice to accompany it.
"Elsa?" Anna sounded hesitant. Elsa didn't respond. "I'm back, um, I don't know what I did… but I'm really sorry whatever it was. I promise I'll never do it again if you'd just come out. Please?" Still no response. "Say something dummy!" Elsa's mind screamed at her. "She's begging for your forgiveness and she didn't even do anything!" Elsa sighed but stayed put. "Was- was it the hug?" Elsa froze. Did she know about Elsa's condition? Did she think Elsa was a freak?
"Because if it was, again I'm sorry. It's just I'm a naturally touchy person, and the first time I met Olaf I was tackled in a bear hug, and all my new friends at work are always hugging. I forgot not everyone is as touchy feely as me and the people I hang around." She finished her ramblings, letting out a sad sigh. Elsa felt her heart constrict. For some reason, the thought of this girl feeling sad or hurt, or anything but happy, crushed Elsa and made her sick to the stomach.
"Well just so you know, I'm going to stay right out here. Right outside your door." Anna was determined. She had promised Olaf she'd stay for at least 30 minutes a day and that's what she was going to do. Elsa was touched and she tried to build up the courage to open the door. Anna heard the slight sounds of shuffling on the other side of the door and held her breath. She waited for the door to swing open but the action never came. She sighed and sat back against the wall, closing her eyes.
Elsa tried. She really did. Her hand was on the door knob and everything, but she just could not summon up the courage to open it. That's always as far as she got. So she stood there. She stood there until she could hear the soft sounds of snoring. "Did she fall asleep outside my door?" Elsa thought, then she started to panic. "Is she going to be here all night? I- I can't handle that. I've never even allowed Olaf to spend the night here." Even as she began to panic, she felt a warm tingle in her chest at the thought of Anna spending the night in her home. "What would it fell like to wake up beside her every morning?" Just thinking about the redhead tangled up in her sheets made the butterflies in her stomach flutter like crazy. But it also made her panic. "I can't even touch her without having a panic attack, let alone sleep in the same bed as her."
Elsa looked around her room. It was creepy how clean it was, she knew that. The built in white bookshelf on the right wall was incredibly clean. Not a book was out of place. They were all alphabetized and organized by color. The bed looked like no one had ever slept in it. The sheets were pressed and the corners tucked tightly. The windows were sparkling and the closet. The closet. Elsa was the most anal about the closet and the bathroom. All her clothes were color coordinated. Folded neatly in draws, or hanging on plastic white hangers. Her shoes were all stacked in nice rows. Also color coordinated. She didn't even know why she color coordinated anything. Most of her items were either various shades of blue or white. Even the colors of her walls were a light shade of blue. She sighed and winced as she heard a particularly loud snore come from outside her door. She looked at her snowflake watch. 7:37 p.m. "Wow, time really flies when you're having a panic attack." She dryly thought to herself. She jumped again when she heard the sound of a loud yawn and a head banging against her door.
"Ouch, shit that hurt." Anna quietly exclaimed. She looked at her watch. "Crap, 7:38. I should probably get going." She stood and brushed herself off.
*Knock Knock*
This time she didn't do her 'Anna Knock' and Elsa was a bit disappointed. "Elsa? It's 7:38, so I'm heading home now. I'll be back tomorrow same time as today. Soooo…. Uh… yeah. I hope you'll feel up to, you know, spending some time together, getting to know each other… and God I feel a rambling session coming on. So anyway, see you tomorrow. And I'm bringing chocolate. So, yeah, bye!" Anna made her way back down the hall and out the apartment. She stood outside said apartment and just stared at the door.
"Okay. Game on Miss Elsa. I'm going to break you out of that shell if it's the last thing I do."
***FROZEN***
"….and I hugged her and she just totally freaked! I mean really freaked, she snatched away from me and looked like a cornered animal! Then she ran into what I'm assuming is her bedroom and locked the door! She didn't come out and wouldn't speak to me the rest of the time I was there." Anna was finishing her story, taking another bite of her sandwich.
True to her word as soon as she got back from Elsa's she called Kristoff and told him to come over. They were both currently seated on the high stools at the small eating counter space in her kitchen. Kristoff was thoughtfully chewing his sandwich. He swallowed then looked at Anna. "I could have told you she doesn't like to be touched." He said taking another bite of his sandwich. Anna made great sandwiches. Anna stopped chewing and stared at him. "What?" She asked around a mouth full of food. She swallowed and asked again. "What did you just say?"
"I said, I could have told you that Elsa doesn't like being touched. Olaf's guardians, Kai and Gerda, were Elsa's too at one point. They told me about it. She has a super severe case of OCD brought on by childhood tragedy or something like that. They never told me what happened but I think it has something to do with the way Olaf is how he is." Anna stared at him in complete shock. "She has severe OCD? No wonder she ran like the wind when I hugged her. But wait." She stopped for a moment. "What do you mean, 'The way Olaf is how he is?'" Kristoff stared at her in disbelief. "No offense to Olaf, he's a sweet kid really, but you seriously haven't noticed that he, isn't like other teens his age? He acts like an 8 year old Anna, you seriously haven't noticed?" Anna was even more shocked and confused. "Of course I've noticed. I just thought he was, you know, really really nice, and hyper." All of this seemed so unbelievable. "But wait, how do you know that Olaf wasn't… born that way?"
Kristoff looked down. "Olaf has his moments of… lucidity. He stares off into space like he's remembering something. Sometimes I'll let him stay over at my place and he occasionally gets these terrible night terrors. He'll thrash and scream and cry, calling out for his parents and Elsa. When I wake him up and ask him about it he just smiles and ask me what I'm talking about. He says he only dreams of snowmen in the summer." Kristoff looked a little distressed. Anna was still silent, soaking all the information in. Kristoff stood from his chair and brushed the crumbs from his hands away on his jeans. "Well, thanks for the sandwich Anna, it was delicious. I gotta split though, early day tomorrow." He finished off the beer he was drinking as Anna snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. "Sure, yeah, me too. I'll see you tomorrow?" Kristoff smiled back.
"You know it."
AN: Just a quickie. I wanted to start to divulge a ity bity bit of Elsa's past and personality. I have to write a chapter for my other story then I'll start on the next chapter for this. I must say, I'm really liking this story and I have so many ideas for it. Any whoser, my Frozen Blu Ray combo pack comes tomorrow, I'm excited about that! And I just had a brilliant idea for my next story. I hope you love creepy 1960s asylums as much as I do! I'm talking American Horror Stories Season2 creepy. But I'm not going to start on that one until I finish either this story or my other one, unless enough people want me to. So, yeah. Bye kittens! Peace. :)