Tell Me How To Fix You
Chapter 45
By: The Duchess of Arendelle
AN: Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always it's just lil ol' me reading over this, so I'm sorry for any and all mistakes!
Also, I don't know jack shit about chess. I've never been able to wrap the concept of that game around my brain. So nothing I say involving the moves of the game is accurate. I just wrote it because it sounded right. The origin of chess is the only true thing I've written involving chess!
SO, without further adou!
"Okay Elsa, I really don't get this game." Anna whined as she moved her black chess piece across the board.
"Which is why I'm trying to teach you, if you'd just pay a little attention." Elsa giggled as she captured Anna's knight. Anna groaned.
"Who even invented this game?" Anna grumbled, moving another piece without rhyme or reason.
"There is no clear founder of chess. It is believed that the earliest predecessor of the game originated in India, before the 6th century AD. From India, the game spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Southern Europe where it evolved into the game we know today." Elsa answered automatically, all the while carefully scanning the board before moving her bishop. It sounded as if she was reciting something she'd heard a million times before.
"Wow. You're really smart Elsa." Anna replied, impressed with the blonde's knowledge. Elsa smiled but shook her head.
"I'm just a big fan of chess. I… My father and I use to play often. It was one of the few things we did together…" Elsa trailed off, lost in a memory. Anna stared at the blonde. When she'd gotten back from the lunch conference, she'd came straight to Elsa apartment. The blonde was busy in her office so Anna chose to wait for her to come out, not wanting to disturb her while she was working. An hour later had Elsa walking out into the kitchen, only to be scared half to death by the expectant redhead sitting on her couch, watching t.v.
"Oh my goodness. Anna, you frightened me. When did you return?" she asked, going into the fridge and pouring herself a glass of water. Anna smiled and turned around in the chair.
"Not long. I saw that you were in your office and i didn't want to disturb you."
"You didn't have to wait out here. You could have sat in the office with me. You wouldn't have disturbed me, I swear." Elsa replied shyly. Anna's smile widened.
"Good to know."
Silence feel over them as Elsa made her way over to the redhead. Taking a seat beside her, Anna moved closer to close in the gap. Elsa smiled at that and slowly grabbed the redhead's hand. Anna's heart always fluttered when Elsa did that. The blonde CEO hardly ever made first contact, and when she did, it always made the redhead's heart feel like it was trying to escape her chest.
"So how did your meeting go?" she asked quietly. Anna sighed and smiled lightly.
"It went great. I got the job, hurray." Anna said the last part sarcastically. Elsa giggled and squeezed Anna's hand in sympathy.
"Not looking forward to working for 'the enemy'?" she asked, now playing with the fingers tangled with hers. It felt so good to be this close with Anna again.
"Ugh! No! He's such a jerk Elsa, you were right. The only plus side is that he treats Hans like shit too." Anna laughed, remembering Hans' sulking face.
Elsa laughed too. "Yeah, he always did treat Hans the worst. But I guess when you have 13 sons-" Anna cut the blonde off with a loud gasp.
"13 sons? Are you serious?" Anna asked in astonishment. Elsa nodded.
"And Hans is the youngest."
"Wow, I had no idea." Anna spoke, amazed. "Are they all assholes like Hans and his father?" Anna asked in legit curiosity. Elsa couldn't help but laugh.
"Most of them are actually pretty decent people, at least, they were the last time I met them. I have no idea how they are now." Elsa answered in a contemplative tone. Anna just made a hmm noise and turned back to the t.v. Some reality show about skydiving L.A. dog walkers or something was on. Anna pulled a face and turned back to look at Elsa.
"All we do is watch t.v. And there's never anything good on." she pouted. Elsa laughed again and placed a chaste kiss on Anna's cheek.
"I know what we can do instead." Elsa smiled mischievously, arching an eyebrow. Anna sat up straighter.
"Really?" she asked, trying to play it cool. Elsa nodded her head and got up from the couch.
"Stay right there. I'll be right back." she prompted, disappearing down the hall.
Anna smoothed down her hair and brought her hand to her face, blowing her breath on it to smell. Mints. Definitely need mints. Just as she reached in her pocket to retrieve some, Elsa walked back into the room, a large chess set in her arms.
"Do you know how to play chess?"
Anna was just slightly, okay, immensely disappointed but she hid it well, shaking her head no.
And here they were. Anna completely confused and Elsa owning her in their 7th game. But as she stared at Elsa's concentrated face, she found herself not caring that Elsa was whooping her butt like crazy.
"Anna… Anna… ANNA." Elsa called out to the distracted redhead. Anna quickly shook her head, coming back down to earth.
"Is the game really so boring? If so, I don't have a problem with stopping. I just thought maybe you'd like to learn to play…" Elsa trailed off, moving a lock of hair behind her ear. Anna smiled and grabbed the hand, holding it tightly.
"Who me? Bored? No way! I was just contemplating my next move." she said with a smile and a wink. Elsa smiled back.
"Really? And what is your next move?" she asked in a mocking tone. Anna smirked and brought Elsa's hand to her mouth, placing a light kiss on the back. Elsa blushed brightly, looking away for only a second before staring back into Anna's eyes.
"This is. Me distracting you long enough to take your bishop." Anna told the blonde, moving her piece so that it knocked Elsa's out of the way. The blonde snapped out of her trance and laughed, taking her hand back.
"Oh goodness. A very sneaky move. But what's this? Moving your knight has left your king completely defenseless. Looks like somebody fell into my trap. I believe that is a check. Mate." Elsa said slowly, capturing Anna's king and holding it between her fingers in front of the redhead's face.
"Damn it." Anna cursed under her breath. She really wasn't upset though. With the happiness and confidence Elsa was exuding, she'd gladly lose to the blonde a million times if she had to.
Anna pretended to pout at her loss. Elsa smiled and leaned across the chessboard to kiss away the pout on the redhead's soft lips. She pulled away after a few seconds, leaving Anna in a complete daze.
"Best 8 out of 10?"
Somewhere else…
"Hey, you made it." Eugene said with a grin, greeting the brunette with a hug. "How did you get past the warden?" he joked. Rapunzel punched him in the arm and he flinched.
"Owww."
"The warden as you put it, is kinda busy with her own stuff, so it wasn't that hard." she told Eugene as he held the door open for her, the music from the live band drifting out from the pub.
"Right, right. Well anyway, thanks for agreeing to see me again. You're gonna love this band I just know it." He told the brunette, excitement dripping from his voice. Rapunzel couldn't help the smile that began to stretch across her face but she soon hid it behind a cough.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't really doing much else. Another day of ignoring my stepmother's frantic pleas for me to hurry and come back home." she said nonchalantly. Eugene just smiled at her like she was the most beautiful and interesting thing he'd ever seen. If Rapunzel was being honest with herself, which she always tried to be, Eugene was actually starting to grow on her. After their 'not a date' yesterday, he'd asked her if she'd meet with him at the Snuggly Duckling Pub. She looked dumbfounded by the name, but agreed. She'd made sure to shoot Anna a quick text saying she would be out at the movies tonight.
As the two took a seat at the bar, Eugene motioned for the bartender, a scary looking man with one long nasty scar going down his face. He tried not to make direct eye contact as he ordered himself a beer and turned to Rapunzel, "Coke?" he asked. She nodded and he ordered the brunette a coke.
As soon as they're drinks arrived, he snatched them up, motioning towards the stage.
"How about we move closer to the band?" he asked, getting up from his stool.
"Okay." was Rapunzel's simple response as they moved toward the stage. The band, some new age punk indie one that Eugene liked, were playing a fast paced song and Rapunzel found that she was enjoying it.
"Who are they?" the brunette motioned towards the stage, slightly bobbing her head to the music. Eugene smiled brightly.
"They're good right? They're called Fall of Man. Just hitting the scene. I heard them play here last week and I really like them." he spoke loudly over the pounding music.
The two stood there, sipping their drinks and enjoying the music. Eugene was the first one to speak again.
"So how are things? I never got to ask you if you were enjoying your stay in our big ol city." Eugene teased, taking another swig of his beer.
"It sure beats Arendelle that's for sure." Rapunzel responded, looking away.
"There's a story there, I can sense it. Tell me." Eugene urged, bumping shoulders with the short brunette. Rapunzel smiled tightly.
"Yeah, but it's not mine to tell." she mumbled, staring into her drink. The atmosphere became heavy and Eugene was itching to break it. A waitress came around with a tray and Eugene sat his bottle and Rapunzel's cup on top of it. He then held out his hand towards the confused brunette.
"Come on blondie, let's make some good memories." he said, hand still stretched out and a sweet smile on his face, "Why did I ever tell you I was a natural blonde?" she mumbled but took his hand anyway, allowing him to pull her close as the band started a slow song.
AN: So this was a little fluffy kind filler chapter. I thought you guys may enjoy a short little break from drama. But we're heading back in so be ready! Also, we haven't heard from Rapunzel in a while so I decided to give her some shine in this chapter. I hope you guys don't mind. Anyway, Elsa is letting down her walls more and more around Anna. But this complete dependency they have for each other, is it healthy? Hmmmmmmmm….
Anyway, I'll see you guys later on this week! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And remember, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns PM or review and I'll answer them for ya! :)