Great thanks to Aria, Darra and Flyafar for beta-reading.
Carved
Chapter 2: Cognitive dissonance
"... And this is the bathroom. The whole set of shelves on the right would be yours, and when it comes to things like toilet paper or hand soap I think we could either have a joint fund for that, or just buy them in turns."
The man only gazed into the bathroom briefly. "I would be fine with having a joint fund."
Elsa looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Maybe you'd like to go inside? There's a washing machine and a shower behind the half-wall–"
"I will most probably take showers at work. All I really need is a sink."
She wanted to say something more, but decided it would be wiser not to. So far, the man seemed to be the least invasive–or talkative, for that matter–person in the world. He worked from dawn till dusk and mostly ate his meals outside. He would only need to use his own bedroom, and maybe one shelf in the fridge. All this essentially meant Elsa would get the flatmate she was required to, but still live alone.
Which sounded perfect, but she'd lived long enough to know that perfect situations just didn't happen.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you interested in this apartment?" she asked as they made it over to the kitchen, where the tea she'd made ten minutes ago waited for them. "You could probably find a cheaper room, if this is all you need."
The man smiled. "Not in this location, no." He took a sip of the tea and grimaced, then added a teaspoon of sugar from the jar on the table. "Besides, just because I won't be spending much time in the apartment itself doesn't mean I don't want it to look decent, miss Rivers."
She nodded, holding her cup in both hands. It was a cold, rainy morning again today–not that it bothered her in any particular way, but the warmth seeping through the porcelain was a nice distraction. A very much needed distraction. The man sitting across the table looked as innocent as she'd ever seen a grown man look, but there was something about him that just didn't sit well with her.
"Do you work nearby?" she asked, not really sure how to lead the conversation. As weird as it was, she never needed to hold a flatmate interview before.
"Yes, two stations away from here." He smiled briefly again. "And as I said, I spend a lot of time at my workplace, so we probably would only pass each other every now and then." Elsa opened her mouth to ask, but he was quicker. "For weekends I usually leave to see my family out of city."
Elsa clasped her mouth shut. The prospect of living with this man painted itself just marvellous. But still, she couldn't shake that uncomfortable feeling.
"Are there any other rooms in the area you're considering?"
He seemed to ponder the question for a short while. "I have a few appointments this week for both rooms and individual flats," he started, while placing the now empty cup on the table. Elsa forced herself not to make too much of a surprised expression. She had no idea when he'd gulped down all of the tea. "But if we're being honest, I'm most interested in yours."
Elsa nodded in understanding. "I have a few other people coming to see it this week too," she admitted. If it made any impact on the man, he didn't let it show. "I'll try to give you an answer as soon as possible, though."
"Thank you."
He stood up and put his cup near the sink, then made his way into the corridor. Elsa followed him silently.
"Have a good day, miss Rivers," he said, bowing his head while Elsa passed him his coat from the hanger.
"You too," she answered simply, watching him leave. Once he was out of the flat and his footsteps echoed on the staircase below, she locked the door and let out a long, tired sigh.
She'd woken up in the morning loathing the idea of sharing this flat even more than yesterday. Six appointments for this day alone, one of them last minute. And on top of all that, she couldn't fall asleep last night again and she slept through the alarm on her phone. She ended up with half an hour less time to prepare than she'd initially intended.
She barely made it in time to meet with Mr Roberts and she had to sacrifice her breakfast to apply at least some make-up. Now that he was out, her stomach seemed to suddenly remember about food and rumbled loudly.
Fighting with herself not to curse under her breath the entire time, she made it back to the kitchen and took a long sip of her now lukewarm tea. She glanced at her phone to check the hour; the meeting with Mr Roberts took almost twenty minutes less than she'd expected, so there was still some time left before the next appointment. More than enough to cook something small for herself or go out to grab something from a nearby café.
The second option was easy and her tired brain yearned for something quick and tasty, but the responsible part of her went to all the food she'd bought yesterday. Besides, it was rainy outside. It all boiled down to walk and no cook vs stay and cook.
Before she could decide, though, her phone buzzed. She reached out to read the message, with anxiety gripping at her throat.
Hi im seeing ur apartment today n im in ur area now is it ok if i come sooner?
She scowled. The girl was supposed to come in a little over an hour, she made sure to give herself some time to prepare after the first meeting. If she was really somewhere close, she could be here any second. There went Elsa's breakfast plans.
Then again, telling her to wait would be rude, even if it was the girl who was inconsiderate in the first place. That, and if she came over sooner, Elsa would be done with it sooner and she could go out to grab lunch somewhere nice before the appointments in the afternoon.
She texted her back saying she was home and not busy now, and once again reminded her the address.
Almost exactly fifteen minutes later–Elsa was counting every second, sitting in the kitchen and doing nothing–there was a knock on the door. She got up from the chair quickly, cracked her sore backbone and tried to reason with her stomach to keep quiet.
She went into the corridor and opened the door. Once she looked at the girl outside, her heart stopped.
She considered just shutting the door and going back to her room to sit in silence.
It was her again.
It couldn't have been, there was no way in the whole universe, Elsa was certainly making all of this up but there, right in front of her, soaking wet from the rain stood the girl she saw yesterday at the Metro. The girl who looked so much like her long-dead sister that even with her eyes dashing all across her face she couldn't spot a single difference. She looked just like Anna was taken right out of her dreams and pasted onto this plane of reality.
"Hi, I'm–" she stopped and looked at Elsa, then recognition and surprise took over her face. She took a deep breath, then stepped a bit closer to Elsa. "Oh my god, it's you!"
Elsa tried to say something, but she couldn't do anything except stare at the ghost in front of her with mouth hanging slightly open.
The girl then took a step back again. She was blushing and obviously a bit uncomfortable. "I mean, uhh– sorry. I think we've met yesterday?" she half-asked, tilting her head. "At the Metro station?"
"Yeah," Elsa managed out through clenched throat.
The girl let out a short, nervous laughter. "What a coincidence, right?"
Elsa nodded. She was trying to figure out if she was projecting Anna's face onto the girl or if the girl's face just overtook Anna's image in her mind. After all, it had been a long time since she'd actually seen Anna, maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her now.
Or maybe she lost the last bit of her sanity and was now talking to an empty staircase.
"I'm sorry about that," she said, though it didn't feel like she was actually speaking. She was in a haze. "Yesterday, I mean. I mistook you for someone else."
The girl shrugged in a very Anna-like manner. "It's okay, nothing to be sorry about. To be honest I thought you knew me from somewhere and I didn't recognize you, so I was feeling a little bad about it actually."
They stood like this for a moment, looking at each other, Elsa frozen in the doorframe and the girl still a few feet from her outside the apartment. She didn't notice it before, transfixed on her beautiful and impossible to exist face, but now that Elsa's eyes wandered lower she saw the girl was holding a wet paper bag and a cardboard tray with two paper cups.
The girl seemed to notice what she was looking at, too. "Oh, that–" she started, then sort of lagged, as if not sure what to say. "I umm, I figured out that I was supposed to come later and it's like… an apology." She shifted the tray a bit in her hand to show some café's logo on the cups. "By the way, my name's Annabeth Carter."
Elsa felt herself go paler.
"Elsa Rivers," she answered weakly. Annabeth. Either somebody was pulling a terrible prank on her or she was dreaming a sad little dream. "Please, come in."
She moved aside to let the girl–Annabeth, of all the names she could have–pass, then closed the door behind her. She considered telling her to go away, for the sake of her own sanity, but it was too late at this point.
She spent a little more time than necessary looking at the dark wood, scared to turn around and see her visitor again.
"Your place looks really nice," Annabeth said and Elsa finally turned around. She was down on one knee facing away from her, untying her sneakers as far as Elsa could tell. Her paper bag and cup tray were standing on the floor beside her. "From what I can already see. It's very spacey and tidy, much better than the ones I've see– aaand I shouldn't probably say that, damn it."
Elsa smiled at her flushed face, before she reminded herself just why she was smiling. "Have you seen many apartments in the city already?"
She moved in to snatch the cups from the floor while Annabeth stood up, unzipped her wet, red hoodie and hanged it by the hood near Elsa's coat. "About uhh– five, I think. This will be sixth. You know, beginning of the year and stuff."
Elsa nodded, though most of what Annabeth said was going in one ear and out the other.
"So… where's the kitchen?"
Elsa blinked. "Excuse me?"
"The kitchen," Annabeth repeated. She picked up the bag and turned to show it to Elsa. "I have cheesecake in here." She then sent her an unsure look. "You uh– do like cheesecake? I picked it out 'cause I figured that's like... a staple thing people like."
Elsa blinked in surprise. "Yes, I do." But she would never figure out that a total stranger would come to her house and offer her some. Dumbstruck, she pointed at the door right next to Annabeth. "The kitchen is there."
Annabeth beamed. "Great, we can eat it right away." She started in the direction of the kitchen in a bounce, but then abruptly turned around again. "Or maybe I should put it in the fridge and you'll show me around first?"
"Sure." Elsa gave her a stiff nod. She's so cheerful. Every second Elsa had her in this house only felt more surreal. She should have just closed the damned door the very moment she saw her. Instead, she was about to give a home tour to this girl.
Like she'd ever be able to even consider living with her.
She followed her into the kitchen and placed the cups on the table, while Annabeth looked for some space to put the cheesecake in the fridge.
"So, this is the kitchen," Elsa started mechanically once Annabeth closed the door and looked at her. She still had no idea why she was doing it, but it was out of her mouth already and there was no turning back. "You've already seen the inside of the fridge. I think that the fair thing would be to split the space fifty-fifty, but I'm willing to give up more if you need it."
Mr Roberts was a nice, non-intrusive person who maybe gave her a little bit of an odd vibe, but he certainly didn't remind her of her over-an-age-long-dead sister.
"I'm not much of a cook to be honest." Annabeth scrunched her nose. "I'd probably need like a shelf or two to keep some toast and cheese and bac–" she stopped and gave her an uncertain look again. "You're not vegetarian or anything?"
Elsa shook her head. "Why?"
"I don't have anything against them, honestly, but my friend used to live with a vegetarian roommate for a while and he would be so pissed whenever she bought bacon or… you know, meat stuff. He would claim it contaminated his things." She shrugged. "And I love bacon. I couldn't live without it."
"I won't have anything against your bacon in the fridge."
Elsa mentally slapped herself. She was not going to have anything against the bacon because there wouldn't be any of Annabeth Carter's bacon in that fridge ever.
Annabeth smiled brightly. "Cool." They stood awkwardly looking at each other again for a moment. "So uh… the rest?"
"Yeah, umm–" Elsa's brain took a second to reboot, caught up in trying to picture Annabeth in one of Anna's favorite dresses for comparison. "That's the sink," she said the first thing that came to her mind, pointing at the sink in question. Then she noticed Annabeth's goofy smile out the corner of her eye, realized what she'd just said and blushed. "W-Which you probably figured out already. There's a dishwasher here, too." She moved aside to reveal the dishwasher lodged between two cupboards. "As for the dishes and cups, they're all in those two cupboards over the sink, and the cutlery and utensils are in this drawer." She patted the drawer closest to the fridge. "There's still a lot of space if you want to bring any of your own, but I've bought more than enough for two people."
Annabeth shrugged. "I only have like one favorite mug that I need to bring."
"Great." Elsa quickly went through a mental list of things-to-tell. "Oh, as for the dish soap and all of that, we can either agree to buy it in turns once it runs out or have a household fund."
Annabeth nodded in understanding, before her eyes widened as if she just remembered about something important.
"Speaking of that, is the price you've stated in the ad only rent or rent and utilities?" Before Elsa could answer, she quickly added, "sorry if that's a stupid question."
"No, it's not," Elsa assured her quickly. "And it's just the rent."
Annabeth's face fell a bit. "And how much on average are the utilities per month?"
"I have no idea." Elsa furrowed her brows. "I only just moved in here. But in any case, I must have forgotten to put that in the ad, but you would only pay the rent for the room. I'll take care of the utilities myself."
"Are you sure?" Annabeth asked with an uncertain look.
"My parents are paying for everything, and I'm only getting a flatmate because I have no use for the additional room," Elsa lied smoothly. She'd prepared answers for this kind of questions beforehand and rehearsed them countless times in the night. Not even the shock of seeing Annabeth on her doorstep was enough to make her forget them.
It seemed like Annabeth wanted to say something, but she stopped herself.
Elsa realized what it looked like; it painted her as a typical rich kid with too much money and time on her hands. She didn't care about that, though. From a certain point of view her life right now was exactly that, safe maybe for the kid part. The Hounds paid for the flats, they gave her the money she needed to survive, and overall in the time she'd spent under their protection she had only heard the word 'no' maybe twice.
She led Annabeth out of the kitchen and into the living room, to the accompaniment of oohs and aahs from the girl.
"These windows are huge!" she exclaimed, getting so close to one she almost pressed her nose against the glass. "The view is nice, too."
Elsa got closer to her, but still kept a safe, two feet distance. "If you like looking at streets, yeah."
"I do, actually."
Annabeth turned to look at her and Elsa's heart sank for the umpteenth time this day. There was the same sort of childish curiosity in her eyes that she'd so often seen in Anna's. She quickly pretended to look past her and out the window, hoping her face didn't betray just how hurt she was feeling inside.
"I don't want to make overly complicated rules when it comes to the living room," she forced herself to speak, but she still couldn't bear to look her in the eyes. "You'd be free to use it whenever you want, and I wouldn't mind it if you had guests over here, just as long as it's not past 11 p.m., unless we agree on that beforehand."
"Roger that."
"And as for cleaning of the common spaces, I'd say we should put up a schedule," she continued, finally making herself look at the other girl. Annabeth nodded vigorously. "Except for things like spilled coffee and such. And no making mess on purpose."
Annabeth laughed. "Aww, and I thought I could prank you by waltzing all around in dirty shoes when you're on cleaning duty."
Elsa smiled, too, though mostly out of courtesy. While Annabeth's laughter was infectious and her already friendly tone warm and inviting, the eeriness of the whole situation was more than enough to keep her from getting humored.
"I'll show you the room," she said quickly to change the topic.
Annabeth seemed to visibly fire up at that. She was practically bouncing all the way through the living room and into the corridor, where Elsa stopped in front of a large, darkwood door with a frosted glass pane.
"This is the bathroom." She pointed at the door. "The room next to it is mine, and this one," she turned around to face the last door in the corridor, "is gonna be yours."
She almost bit her tongue. This was certainly not going to be Annabeth's room. Even if a large, but completely irrational part of Elsa wanted her to move in right this instant just so she could stare at her indefinitely.
And probably creep the hell out of both her and herself.
Annabeth opened the door and peeked in. "Oh, wow."
The room was just a tiny bit smaller than Elsa's, but where Elsa's room only had one window overlooking a back alley, there were two large windows on the opposite wall in this one. Aside from a double bed, a wardrobe and a writing desk, there was no furniture yet. Elsa had figured it might be better to leave it to the future tenant to decide.
"I ordered a rug and curtains to be delivered on Thursday, but the rest would be up to you," she said while she watched Annabeth skip across the room. "Beige, to match the walls."
"Wouldn't blinds be more practical?" Annabeth asked, turning from the window to face Elsa.
"I– maybe." Elsa shrugged. "But I saw some curtains that would look good in the living room and went ahead and ordered the same for the bedrooms. I'm a bit, uh… old-fashioned with those things."
"Just wait for when you want to watch a movie during the day and block the sunlight with light-colored curtains." Annabeth snorted. "But yeah, I admit they will look better."
She went on to check and touch everything in the room–from furniture to walls, Elsa was surprised she didn't kneel to knock on the wooden floor–while Elsa just stood there in the doorway, looking at her. To say she felt odd would be the understatement of the century, and she was in a good place to make that assumption. It was as if somebody took the pictures of teenage to mid-twenties Anna from her memories, molded them into a breathing person and placed her in a modern apartment dressed in skinny jeans and a gray NASA t-shirt.
Aside from her clothing–and hair that she still kept in a ponytail, just like yesterday–there were really no differences Elsa could pin down. Everything, from the exact color of her eyes to each freckle on her nose was just like how she remembered from over a hundred and fifty years ago. There was only one rational–and only one possible at all–answer to this. The saddest, but the simplest.
She was dreaming so vividly it almost felt like the reality. It wouldn't be the first time this happened, too.
Suddenly she was very aware of the fact that Annabeth asked her a question.
"Sorry, what?" she asked back, somewhat harshly. This whole situation was beginning to wear her out.
Annabeth made an uncertain face. "I asked if you want to eat the cheesecake now."
There was something in her voice that instantly made Elsa feel stupid for how she'd just acted. "I still haven't shown you the bathroom–"
"I know, I know," Annabeth cut in quickly. A smile was back on her face, but it did nothing to ease the lump down Elsa's throat. "But the coffee is probably not terribly cold yet, so I'd like to drink it soon."
"Oh." Elsa moved aside to let her pass again. "Alright, then."
Annabeth made a beeline right across the corridor and back to the kitchen. Before Elsa caught up with her, the cheesecake was already out of the fridge, currently lying in its bag on the counter.
"Plates in this cupboard, right?" she asked, and stood on her toes to reach it once Elsa gave her a short nod. She took two saucers out, hummed in approval and placed them on the small kitchen table behind her.
Elsa just stood there awkwardly. She couldn't offer to help–she probably should, but Annabeth seemed to be more than happy to prepare things by herself–but she couldn't just sit down and wait either. That would be highly improper.
"Ready," Annabeth announced once both–much larger than Elsa expected–pieces of the cheesecake were on the plates, complete with cake forks that Elsa didn't even know were in the drawer. She sat down on the chair under the kitchen window, and Elsa thought it proper to take the one on the other side of the table.
She reached for one of the paper cups still standing in the middle of the table and briefly brushed the top of her hand against Annabeth's wrist. The tiny amount of sudden friction was enough to almost physically burn her and instinctively she yanked the hand back, eyes wide.
"Oh damn, I'm sorry," Annabeth blurted out hurriedly, sending her a shocked look. "I didn't realize it was still this hot, are you–"
She full-on grasped Elsa's hand and unfolded it to look at her fingers. Elsa's mind completely blanked out.
This was an actual, corporeal human being. This was an actual, corporeal human being sitting in her kitchen looking like her sister, not a dream, not a spectre, this was a touch so real her brain could never just make up even when she wished for it the most.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded, sliding her hand out from between Annabeth's fingers. Her heart was racing and she was pretty sure she gasped when Annabeth caught her. "Just thermal shock, that's all", she lied. "It's cold here."
Annabeth didn't look very convinced, but she didn't press on. She sat back down–she jumped up from her seat for her–and relaxed, taking a sip from her own cup.
"This is a very nice flat, you know," she started softly, looking into the coffee. "And good location, too. Near enough downtown and the train station, and still a perfect commute to my Uni."
Elsa shook off the haze from her mind. She should say something.
"What do you study, Miss Carter?"
Annabeth blushed. "Marine biology. This is one of the only reasons I came here and not somewhere else." She lifted her gaze to look Elsa straight into her eyes, that something fiery glistening in hers again. "And just Beth is fine."
Elsa gulped. Beth was… still better than the alternative. She couldn't even think about calling her her sister's name. The very idea left a foul taste in her mouth, like every letter was a slimy, squirming mass that covered her tongue.
Yes, Beth was safe. Beth she could do.
She tried not to focus on the particular wording her thoughts chose. "Beth, then," she echoed, trying to focus her eyes somewhere on Annabeth's shoulder. "I heard the aquarium here is quite the sight."
"It's one of the best in the entire country." She perked up. "Certainly the best on the East Coast, not to mention it fully collaborates with the Bio department of the University. I hear that students get a special discount and access to additional perks, and there are four guaranteed field classes per term… what do you study?"
The question was so sudden Elsa just blinked in surprise.
"I uh, I assumed you study something." Annabeth flustered. "Sorry if– but you don't look old enough to be out of uni yet and– I mean that's totally fine if you're just not studying out of choice and also I mean if you are older then like that's great too you just look very good– I-I mean not old–"
"Physics," she interrupted quickly before Annabeth could choke on air. "At UMD."
Annabeth sat back in her chair again, visibly content with Elsa not mentioning any of her rambling. "Physics, huh… That sounds like one of my worst nightmares," she said begrudgingly, and Elsa snorted. Annabeth quickly shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, sorry. I admire anyone who understands… any of it, honestly. And same uni! That's great, right?"
"Right."
Elsa had experienced a fair deal of uncomfortable silence in her life, but never this heavy. They sat quietly in the cold, lifeless kitchen, sipping on their coffees and picking at their cakes.
Every now and then, Elsa would send her a glance. She still couldn't believe what was happening. Annabeth looked like her, she sounded like her, she acted like how Elsa would expect her to act. She had the same laugh, the same spark in her eyes.
But she didn't seem to recognize Elsa. It was like she was a genuine stranger to her.
"This is some good cheesecake," she chirped suddenly, making Elsa jump and drop her fork. "Sorry."
"Not your fault," Elsa muttered, mentally scolding herself for showing just how much on edge she was. She bent down for the fork and chipped off another, big bite, then put the whole thing in her mouth. "If iff."
Annabeth looked at her dumbly for a second. "I bought it in a small café just around the corner. I had no expectations at all, but it certainly exceeded those I could have."
Elsa smiled. This was exactly what she meant.
"And there's basically everything you need in a walking distance," Annabeth sighed. "When I read the ad I thought to myself, it will either be a literal middle of nowhere or the apartment looks worse than the pics."
Elsa cocked an eyebrow.
"Because both good location and decent interior is just unreal for this price."
There was something suspicious in her stare.
"Like I said, I'm looking for a tenant because I have nothing to do with the other room," Elsa said indifferently, shrugging, but inside her heart was hammering. The reasoning didn't make much sense, but she didn't even want it to. She was only doing this because that was part of the deal.
Annabeth was still looking at her with doubt.
"I take it you are interested?"
"Of course I am!" she answered a little too quickly and too loudly. "Sorry if I made it sound like I'm… ungrateful? For a lack of better word?"
Elsa nodded.
"But I really am. Just trying to figure out why you'd be interested in a roommate." She made a sour face, then pointed at herself. "Especially one like me."
It was Elsa's turn to send her a look. "What do you mean by that?"
Beth sighed. "Just…" she faltered, looking for the right words. "I mean, you– I'm not the kind of person that somebody could expect to live with you."
She looked down at the table, and from her expression Elsa could tell she just said something she instantly regretted.
This girl… this beautiful, cheerful girl, whom Elsa had known for what, twenty minutes? and who already made her smile in spite of the obviously unfortunate circumstances was just putting herself down in front of her.
And there wasn't a whole lot Elsa could do about it.
"I still have no idea what you mean by that," she feigned ignorance, "I think you'd make a wonderful roommate. Certainly better than any of the ones I interviewed already."
This was not true. Having her here would make every second of Elsa's life a living hell– especially if there was a chance they would see each other at uni as well. But when Beth's smile slowly lit up her face again, Elsa could only look at her and see Anna after she told her something she thought she did wrong was not actually wrong.
It hurt. It hurt like a boulder crushing her entire body.
But that smile was beautiful.
"Thanks," Annabeth almost whispered, taking another sip of her coffee. "It'd be cool to live here. The apartment is better than the ones I've seen before," she said candidly, "but I've already told you that, by accident." She lifted her eyes to Elsa again, and that stare was enough to make Elsa's heart stop. "You seem cool, too."
It wasn't often that Elsa felt hot. Suddenly, the room was stuffy, and her mind reeled in delirium.
Beth's phone pinged on the table, and she looked back down at it, releasing Elsa from under the spell. "Damn, I'll have to go," she said quickly, already standing up. "I have a job interview at a campus café and they just asked me to be earlier, and I haven't yet checked how to get there exactly."
Elsa wanted to say something about the bathroom that Annabeth hasn't seen yet, but she bit her tongue. She was obviously in a hurry. There was no point in keeping her here and making her miss her interview to see a bathroom she wasn't going to use, anyway.
She followed Annabeth to the corridor, where she was already on the floor, pulling on her shoes.
"Thanks for having me earlier," she said, springing back up for her, still noticeably wet, hoodie. She put it on with a grimace, then pulled her hand out. Elsa took it almost naturally, marvelling at how real it was once again. "Hope my bribe worked?"
Elsa blinked in shock.
"The cheesecake." Beth laughed at her expression. "Just kidding. Call me, okay?"
"I still have to decide." She let go of her hand and let her own fall stiffly to her side. "Two days tops, probably. I won't leave you hanging."
Annabeth smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate that." She turned towards the door and opened it swiftly, then almost ran down the first flight of stairs, before she stopped and looked back at Elsa. "See you around."
Elsa waved until she could no longer see her red hair down the stairs.
She went back in the apartment and locked the door before she allowed herself to let out the pitiful cry that threatened to burst out her chest. This was impossible. It simply couldn't have just happened, but it did, and now she promised to call her to tell her she can't live here. If she really was just like Anna, Elsa could already imagine the hurt voice in which she'd answer. That's fine, probably. Maybe just okay. And thanks for the call.
She made her way to the couch and all but collapsed on top of it, unable to keep her body up anymore. The empty living room was suddenly deathly quiet without Annabeth talking and touching everything. She had been out the door for a whole of two minutes and Elsa's heart was already yearning for the next time she saw her.
On campus, probably. She'd have to make sure to never go into any of the campus cafés, just to be safe.
"What the fuck," she whispered out loud just to hear something.
She was losing her mind. Served her kinda well for almost two hundred years.