Tell Me How To Fix You

Chapter 46

By: The Duchess of Arendelle

AN: Damn. It. This semester is proving to be NO JOKE. I'm piled down with assignment after assignment. My goodness! Anyway, sorry I didn't get a chapter out last week, but dang have I been busy, busy, busy.

I'm sorry for any and all mistakes, I KNOW there are probably a few. But I'm exhausted, and I haven't done a stellar job reading over this. So, let's just pretend I'm a good author that formats and checks over their shit right!

1 Week Later

"Are you nervous?" Elsa asked Anna as the redhead paced in her living room.

"Me? Nervous? What? No. What?" she rambled, wringing her hands together. Today was the first day Anna was to start her 'new job' at SII. She had been preparing herself for this all week; going over information and plans, and learning the names and background of some of the higher ups at the Southern Isles headquarters.

True to his word, Fiske had his secretary email her, telling her when she was to start and the basics of what was expected of her. She'd been informed that an intern would escort her around the company when she'd arrive, showing her the offices and introducing her to fellow staff.

"Anna." Elsa called out to the redhead, effectively pulling her from her anxious thoughts. She turned to see the blonde smiling lightly at her.

"You're going to do great." she finished slowly moving closer to Anna, putting her arms around the redhead's neck. Anna instantly smiled and brought her arms to caress Elsa's mid section. She stuck her head in the crock of the blonde's neck, breathing in her scent.

"Thank you." she whispered into her shoulder. Elsa smiled but didn't say anything. She didn't have to.

After a long moment of the two women just standing in the middle of Elsa's living room, hugging, they finally reluctantly broke the embrace.

"You have to leave soon, right?" Elsa asked quietly, eyes downcast. It's not like she wasn't use to Anna leaving. It's just, fairly recently, she found herself wanting to follow the redhead out the door. It was an impulse she hadn't felt in quite some time, not since she'd first began locking herself away in this quiet little apartment building.

When Anna wasn't with her, the blonde would sit in her window seat, staring out at the people milling around below, living their lives, being free. It filled her with anxiety, sadness, and wonder.

Anxiety because of all the people. So many people. Elsa tried to imagine herself down there with them, walking amongst the masses, but she couldn't. Not without the fear of having an anxiety attack just from the thought of it.

And then came the sadness. Sadness over not being strong enough, or brave enough to even step foot out into the real world. Sadness over keeping herself imprisoned in this small space day in and day out. Sadness that she was now putting Anna through this too.

But then, then came the wonder. The wonder came when she'd close her eyes, listening to the busy street below. She heard laughter. She heard chaos. She heard happiness. She heard life. And then she'd allow herself to imagine. For just one fleeting moment, she'd imagine herself down there with Anna. Walking down the sidewalk, her hand in Anna's. Laughing at something the redhead said. No longer just existing, but actually living. And those thoughts were the hardest to bere. Because those thoughts were the ones that kept her up at night.

It was now Anna's turn to pull Elsa out of her thoughts. She squeezed the blonde's hand to gain her attention. Elsa looked up into Anna's worried gaze. The redhead brought her other hand to her cheek and smiled slightly.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Anna half joked. Elsa frowned slightly.

"Nothing, I just…" she trailed off, blushing brightly. She felt the pad of Anna's thumb gently rubbing her cheek, encouraging her to go on, so she continued.

"I just… miss you when you're gone is all." she finished, extremely embarrassed. Anna smiled widely.

"I miss you too, but you know I'll always come back." Anna told the blonde sincerely.

"Y-yes, but lately I… I- I've been wanting to, to maybe, if it was with you I mean, to try going out- out-" Elsa was having trouble even getting the word out.

"Outside?" Anna supplied, both surprised, happy, and excited.

Elsa just simply nodded, looking down again.

"Elsa, that's fantastic! What brought this on?" Anna asked excitedly. Elsa's light blush darkened as she quietly whispered,

"You…"

Anna's heart grew warm and she couldn't wipe the smile from her face.

"Elsa, that makes me so happy to hear." she told the blonde sincerely, holding her hand a bit tighter. The moment was semi-broken when Anna's phone began beeping.

"Oh shoot, that's my alarm. I need to leave now if I want to make it there on time." she reluctantly informed the blonde. Elsa nodded and released the redhead's hand. Anna could see the disappointment on the blonde's face.

"Hey." she quietly called out to the blonde. Elsa looked up, staring into smiling eyes. Anna motioned her head towards the door.

"Walk me to the door?" she asked. Elsa smiled and nodded. Anna returned the smile and the two took off towards the entrance. As they reached their short destination, Anna picked up the brown leather satchel she'd left by the door and turned the knob, stepping just outside of the opening.

"You're forgetting something." Elsa informed the redhead.

"Oh right!" Anna said brightly, leaning in and placing a kiss on Elsa's lips. They kissed for several long seconds before Anna finally pulled back. Elsa was flustered but not at all upset as she began to laugh.

"Um, not that I didn't enjoy that, but I was actually talking about this." Reaching behind the door, she pulled out the forest green trench coat Anna had left in the foyer closet when she'd stopped in early that morning.

"Oh…" It was Anna's turn to blush brightly, as she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry…" she trailed off with an awkward laugh. Elsa smiled and lightly pulled the redhead close by the collar of her white button up blouse. She placed a quick peck on the redhead's lips before letting her go.

"Don't be."

Anna smiled goofily and cleared her throat.

"Well, um, okay then. I- I have to go." she paused in contemplations for a second. "Any chance of you stepping out here with me?"

Elsa's smile waivered as she actually considered it. She hadn't even stepped foot in her hallway in years. She could feel her chest tighten as she tried to will her body to step even one foot outside of the threshold. She swallow down the nauseous feeling as her body began to shake a bit. She didn't even notice the silent tears falling from her eyes until she felt gentle fingers wiping them away. She focused on the redhead who had pulled her into her arms, soothing away the tears as she spoke.

"Elsa, don't you ever try to force yourself to do something you're not ready to do. Just tell me no if you're not ready. I'd never pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with. Remember what we said in the beginning?" she whispered into the blonde's ear. Elsa nodded.

"Baby steps."

"Yeah, baby steps." Anna slowly back away and threw Elsa a bright smile.

"I'll talk to you soon, okay? I promise." she assured the blonde as she turned and walked away. She suddenly paused for a second and turned back around to face Elsa.

"I just want you to know… you're the bravest person I know Elsa. And I love you." she told the blonde. Elsa looked away and then back towards the redhead as her eyes began to mist.

"I love you too."

AN: Office time next chapter! I'm going to be introducing some new characters and such, so be ready for that. So finally we're moving on along in this story, gaining friction, growing and such. Yada yada yada!

Anyways, as always, if you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns, PM or review and I'll try to answer them ASAP!

See ya!