Hello! Yes I am back - and not dead! First off, I would like to apologise for my long absence.
Where I was; I was busy finishing my last ever semester of university (I am graduating soon, yay!) and I really had to concentrate on that so writing had to take a backseat. I had a lot of work that needed to be done. Also I had massive writer's block on a particular scene in this chapter so that took a lot of time. Sorry guys! Will update as soon as I can.
Anyway, I am back and hopefully chapters will come out at a steadyish rate. I've had people wondering if I am not going to continue this, this story will not be discontinued. I will finish this story, promise!
Note; This chapter contains sex scenes.
Dedicated to Blind Red Dragon - thanks so much for your help in this chapter.
Chapter 16: The Scars of The Past
Two months later
"But what on earth does your mother want with me?" Elsa asked, nervously, as she clasped her bag shut.
It was a late summer's evening and Elsa was about to head out to her usual therapy session. Jack sitting next to her and he just told her something troubling – well to her anyway. Jack seemed unnaturally calm about the whole thing. That just stressed out Elsa even more. She was starting to sweet a little.
They were sitting in one of the computer labs at the university. It was her, Tooth, Bunnymund and Jack. Tooth and Bunnymund had come back from Australia the week before. They were currently in the middle of registering for their classes for the year. Elsa's exam results had been what she had hoped for. She had worked hard in order to pass for the year. She didn't exactly what to repeat any classes or have to return home a failure – well she wouldn't go home, she would try another university. She could never return home. She didn't want to go back to that life.
Elsa's computer had her proposed timetable – what her timetable would be if she enrolled in the classes she had currently picked – up on her screen. Elsa had been halfway in deciding what psychology classes she had wanted – she was trying to decide between two classes – when Jack had showed up. Tooth and Bunnymund had already been with her. Tooth had wanted to get her class enrolment done early and Bunnymund had ended up following her lead. Tooth had already finished her enrolment. Since Tooth was planning on becoming a dentist, she pretty much had predetermined classes picked out for her, so it wasn't that hard for her to get it done. Bunnymund was just scrolling through classes. Elsa wasn't even sure if he was looking at classes that he had the prerequisite for.
Jack had that look on his face that clearly told Elsa that he had been looking for her for a while. Elsa didn't know why he had been running about the university when she had her phone not a few feet away from her but then again, sometimes the obvious doesn't always apply to people. Jack had sat down and stared at her screen for a few minutes. Elsa could tell that he was excited to tell her something and wasn't really looking at what she was up to. She sighed and then asked him what he was so amped up about. When he told her the news, her heart stopped. She had wanted to meet his family, she was just nervous about what they would think of her.
"She wants to meet you," Jack said. "We've been dating for a while now and mum and Pippa want to get to know you."
"Pippa too?" Elsa had heard a lot about Pippa already from Jack. She could tell that Pippa will be a tough customer – well that was what she was afraid of anyway.
"Relax," Jack gave her a small kiss on her cheek, "Pippa and my mum will love you. How can they not?"
Elsa felt a small flutter in her stomach. It was nice that Jack thought that his family would end up liking her but she doubted it – she wasn't sure if she was the 'family will like me' type. This was like the big test in their relationship. She loved Jack. If his family didn't like her, then it would be it for her relationship with Jack. Jack wouldn't want to date someone his family hated. Jack grinned at the dismantled expression on her face.
"Relax," he said again, "so I've gotta go. I'll see you tonight!"
He gave her another small kiss before running out of the labs. The lab supervisor gave him a disgruntled look as Jack raced by. Tooth pushed her chair towards Elsa the moment that Jack left the room. She had a small smirk playing around the corners of her mouth. Elsa didn't think she had seen her like this before. Tooth was clearly enjoying the situation. Elsa gave her a sideways scowl before going back to her classes. However, Tooth wasn't going to give up that easily. She popped her head into Elsa's field of vison as soon as Jack exited the room.
"May I help you?" Elsa said in a rather stern voice.
"So," Tooth really drew out the word, "you've got a date with the Frost family."
"It looks like it," Elsa said after a slight hesitation. Tooth was still giving her the smirk. Elsa debated whether or not to ask for her help. As a person who was in a serious relationship, she would have undoubtedly have meet Bunnymund's parents and would know how to handle this kind of thing. So maybe it would be worth it to ask for her help. "Um, Tooth…" she didn't know exactly how she was going to phase this, "could you…would you…."
"You need help impressing Caroline and Pippa right?"
"Well…yeah," Elsa admitted.
Tooth beamed at her. "Meeting parents are my speciality. Bunnymund's mother adores me."
"Oh thank god," Elsa's face split into two.
"Just find me before the date," Tooth quickly logged out of her computer and picked up her things, "it's tomorrow night right?"
"Yeah," Elsa nodded. "Thanks so much for your help."
"Don't worry about it," Tooth said. "I'm sure that Honey, Gogo and Astrid will all come to your aid."
Elsa smiled at her friend one last time before Tooth scurried away but Bunnymund stayed behind.
"Don't worry about meeting Caroline and Pippa," Bunnymund said. "They are really nice people and I'm sure they will warm up to you in no time. Besides, they have been practically begging to meet you – and that was before you and Jack started to date."
"Really?" Elsa giggled.
"Oh yeah," Bunnymund said. "Jack wouldn't shut up about you so Pippa has been asking to meet the girl who Jack can't stop jabbering about."
Elsa laughed. "Oh god, that's not good. Now they will have high expectations about me. I won't be able to live up to them."
It was now Bunnymund's turn to laugh. "I doubt that will be the case. Jack has only told them the truth about you."
"Yeah – an embellished truth."
Bunnymund laughed again. "Don't sweet it! You'll do great."
Elsa wasn't so sure about that. Bunnymund quickly raced off to find Tooth whom he hoped hadn't gone too far thus leaving Elsa to deal with her class problem all to herself.
Anna was out with Zoë as they lapped up the last of the Arendelle sun. They weren't exactly looking forward to going back to school in a couple of weeks but Anna guessed that they can't be on holiday forever despite wishing they could. At that moment, they were walking down the main streets of Arendelle, each was holding a cup of coffee. They were both bored out of their minds. Neither of them had done anything over their summer break and both of them wished they had.
Little did they realise their lives were about to get a little more exciting.
"I'm so bored," Anna said as she flopped down on bench in the middle of Arendelle Park, near the fountain.
"Well if you hadn't shot down every idea I came up with, we could have been at the roller park, ice rink or maybe the movies."
"The roller park is closed, too hot for the ice rink – seriously, the kind of clothes that you need to wear for that would have given us a stroke – and it's not like we haven't been to the movies a dozen times already."
"Just trying to come up with ideas."
Anna rolled her eyes. "Maybe we should just go catch a flick."
"Great! What one do you want to see? I saw the trailer of Bridget Jones's Baby. That looks good. Gotta love Bridget Jones."
"Yeah, why not?" Anna shrugged her shoulders.
Zoë quickly checked the times of the movie.
"Oh," she sighed. "We've missed the last session."
"Ah well," Anna sighed too. "Did you just wanna go back to my place and marathon Netflix?"
"Sure," Zoë said.
They both got up from the bench and started their way back towards the main streets of Arendelle.
"Anna?" a familiar voice sounded from behind them. Anna quickly turned around and saw that the familiar voice belonged to a familiar person – Kristoff. Anna slightly blushed when she saw him. She hadn't seen him in a while. If truth be told, she had missed seeing him. Kristoff had been busy with his job – delivering ice – so he hadn't had a lot of time spare. Kristoff beamed at Anna while Zoë said hello to him.
"Hello Kristoff," Anna matched his smile. "I haven't seen you around for ages. You're working way too hard."
Kristoff laughed. "Yeah, maybe. It's summer, so everyone wants ice for their businesses, clubs and bars. Of course Bjorgman Ice offers the lowest prices in town."
Anna laughed too. Trust Kristoff to endorse himself while in a random conversation. Kristoff's ice business was his passion. He worked it around his university timetable which wasn't an easy task. Thankfully, his older brother helped him from time to time so that Kristoff wasn't swamped with work. In the background, while they were talking, Anna noticed Kristoff's van. The van had Kristoff's logo – a workman carrying ice – painted on it. Anna guessed that Kristoff was halfway in delivering some ice for the day. For a split second, Anna considered asking if Kristoff would allow them to come with them. Would be quite interesting to see Kristoff at work plus it would give Anna some time to catch up with Kristoff.
"So what are you lovely ladies doing on a fine day like this?" Kristoff asked the pair of them.
"Gonna go back to Anna's for a Netflix marathon," Zoë said.
"Sounds fun but why aren't you enjoying the sun?" Kristoff asked them.
"Because it's like thirty degrees and way too hot," Anna explained.
"Ah, so true," Kristoff laughed again. "Actually, Anna I was glad I caught you. I wanted to talk to you."
"About?" Anna prompted.
"Well um," Kristoff seemed a little bit nervous to say what he wanted to say. Anna waited, patiently for Kristoff to find the words he wanted to say. "Are you free this Saturday?" The words burst from his mouth before he had a chance to figure out the best way to say those words.
"Free?" Anna repeated. "Saturday?" Anna's mind was boggled. Was Kristoff doing what she thought he was doing?
"Yeah," Kristoff started to play with the zipper of his jacket. He started to blush a deep scarlet and he was avoiding eye contact.
"Um," Anna didn't know what she should say. On one hand, maybe going out with Kristoff would be fun but she didn't know if she wanted to go down that path. She didn't know if it was because of what happened with Hans, whether she just wanted to remain friends with Kristoff or because she was nervous about dating Kristoff. What should she do? She was adamantly ignoring Zoë's smirking face. She knew what Zoë would want her to do. Zoë would say to go on the date but that didn't matter to her.
"So?" Kristoff pressed. He seemed eager to know Anna's answer. He wasn't the only one. Zoë was also looking at Anna to see what her answer will be.
"I'm sorry," the words were out of Anna's mouth before she had even considered all the options. "I'm helping my aunt with errands that day. Maybe next time."
"Oh," Kristoff looked disappointed as did Zoë. Zoë knew that the words coming out of Anna's mouth was a lie but Anna didn't know what to say without being mean.
"Sorry," Anna said again.
"So am I," Kristoff whispered before giving Anna one last smile. "Maybe next time, like you said."
"Yeah," Anna put a smile on her face. "Maybe next time."
Kristoff quickly hurried off back to his van while Anna turned on her heel and walked back towards the main streets with Zoë at her heels. Zoë had a bemused expression on her face the entire time it took them to get back to Anna's house. Anna knew that she was desperate to discuss what had happened with Kristoff. Right on cue, Zoë burst the moment they walked through the doors to Anna's aunt and uncle's house.
"What the hell was that?" Zoë demanded.
"What do ya mean?" Anna said before flopping down on the couch. She picked up the remote and started to flick through the shows that were available. As Anna did this, Zoë stared at her with slack jaw amazement at her attitude. It was a few minutes before Zoë's brain managed to communicate with her mouth.
"Kristoff is a perfectly normal, amazing, cute guy and you turn him down?"
Anna struggled to convey what she was trying to feel.
"I just don't like Kristoff in that way," Anna lied – well maybe not completely, her heart said yes but her head kept wondering if she really did.
Zoë's mouth opened and closed several times. She seemed to have trouble accepting this answer – especially after Anna had practically confirmed that she potentially did earlier in the year.
"I don't believe it," Zoë said. "You do like him. In fact, I know you do."
It was Anna's turn to be a little stunned. She had hoped that Zoë had forgotten about that little moment but Zoë rarely forgets stuff like that. In order to play for more time, Anna flicked through episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt.
"I guess I just don't want to date," she finally said in a small whisper after a few seconds passed. What Anna had said, was true. She didn't know if she was ready after the whole fiasco with Hans despite wanting to date. She would have liked to gone out with Kristoff but she didn't think it was quite the time to.
Zoë didn't say anything. She seemed to have accepted this answer. Instead, Zoë grabbed the remote from Anna and choose an episode for them to watch before she laid back into the couch cushions to get comfy. Anna smiled at her friend while she wasn't looking. Anna was glad that Zoë wasn't going to push this any further. She didn't know if she particularly wanted to get into this.
The time passed with Anna and Zoë just hanging out on the couch watching one random episode from one random show to another. Anna didn't know how much time had passed when the door entered and her aunt and cousin entered the house. They were both carrying groceries.
"What's up?" Anna's cousin said as she flopped down on the couch behind them.
"The sky," Anna said without moving her eyes off the TV.
"Ha ha ha," Astrid said highly sarcastically.
"Well we were bored so we went down to the main streets of Arendelle to shop but bought nothing," Zoë explained, "then we went for coffee, debated on what to do next, oh and then Anna rejected a date from Kristoff then we decided to-"
"Hold up," Astrid said. She turned to her cousin who was slowly sinking into the couch. "Anna said no to Kristoff?"
"Yeah she did," Zoë turned around to look at Astrid.
"Why?" Astrid said. "Kristoff would be perfect for you."
"Look," Anna said. She was about to go into some big rant about why she didn't want to date but no words came out of her mouth. Both her friend and cousin were looking at her expectantly. "Just drop it," Anna said after a while.
"Kristoff is a sweet boy," Anna's aunt said from the kitchen where she was making dinner for them all. "I'm sure Anna will accept his date in due course."
Anna turned bright red which caused Zoë and Astrid to snigger.
Jack was busy preparing dinner for him and Elsa. Elsa was going to come over and together they were going to stay in for their date. Over the last couple of months, he and Elsa had begun to date. So far, Jack would say it was going really well – well at least he hoped it was. He couldn't exactly read minds but from what Elsa said and did around him, while they were on dates, seemed positive.
Jack quickly lit a couple of candles on the table. He had already set the table – two plates, some cutlery, a couple of napkins and a single red rose in a clear vase. Jack looked quite pleased at his handy work. To him, it screamed romance.
"So, trying to seduce Elsa, I see," Jack turned around to see Bunnymund straightening a tie. Jack blushed a little.
"I'm just trying to be a good boyfriend," he stammered.
"Okay, okay," Bunnymund laughed. "Anyway, I'm taking Tooth out to dinner and then the theatre tonight which will finish late so you will have the whole place to yourself in case you wanna…." He let his voice trail off and gave Jack a smug look and a small nudge. Jack turned bright red. He knew what Bunnymund was insinuating.
"Oh shut up," Jack finally said as he went back to stirring the curry he had made. That just made Bunnymund laugh harder. Jack scowled at him as he left the dorm, still laughing.
However, as Jack stirred the dinner he had prepared, Bunnymund did have a point. He would like to take that step with Elsa but so far, he hadn't made any move to suggest that he would like to go down that road. Who knows, tonight may be that night.
A small knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Jack quickly straightened up his shirt and checked his hair before opening the door. Elsa was wearing a simple but elegant blue shirt that was tucked into black jeans. Her hair was out of its usual braid but instead it was done up in a graceful bun. She also wore simple blue flat shoes that matched her shirt and had gold stubs in her ears and small diamond necklace around her neck. Jack's mouth, as usual, dropped whenever he saw Elsa all dressed up.
"Hey," Jack said after a little while.
"Hey," Elsa said in return. She gave Jack a small smile which Jack returned.
Jack welcomed her inside with a small kiss to the lips and then invited her to sit down. Elsa did so as Jack poured her a small glass of wine.
"So how did your registration go?" Jack asked as he sat down opposite her, a wine glass was also in his hand.
"Okay," Elsa shrugged. "It took me a while to determine what class I wanted but in the end I went with my gut."
"That's always a good choice," Jack beamed at her.
"So what about you?" Elsa said after taking a small sip of wine.
"What about me?" Jack sounded confused.
"Well, when are you going to enrol?"
"Uh," truth be told, Jack hadn't exactly given it much thought. He wasn't even sure what classes he wanted to take this year.
"I would get onto it as soon as possible," Elsa said. "Classes will fill up soon and you could miss out or you could end up in a crummy stream at like eight in the morning or like five in the evening."
"Good point," Jack said. He made a mental note to look at his classes the following day. Maybe this year, he would end up with a half decent timetable.
"So what's for dinner?" Elsa asked, staring longlining at the pot on the stove.
"Surprise," Jack wagged his finger at her which made her giggle. Jack got up from the table and headed over to the pot where he stirred it one last time. After making sure it was cooked, Jack laid it out on the table where he served it up to the pair of them.
"Mmm," Elsa said. "Smells good."
"Here's helping it will taste good," Jack said.
Elsa picked up her spoon and used it to scoop up some of Jack's curry. She placed it in her mouth. There was a tense moment for Jack as Elsa tasted the dish. A warm smile erupted over her face which made Jack feel so relieved.
"Oh that's good," Elsa said as she ladled a larger amount into her mouth.
"Why thank you," Jack said as he tried he own dish. It tasted okay to him so he was glad that he hadn't cooked something that wasn't nice.
Dinner soon passed. They had some light pleasant conversation as they ate but nothing too deep. They talked a little bit more about the kinds of classes both of them wished to take that year – Elsa in fact gave him a few good ideas for what he should take that year. Then they moved onto what was the plan for the next day. Jack could tell that Elsa was nervous about meeting his mother and sister. If it was the other way around, Jack would be just as nervous to meet Elsa's family. Although, the only family that Elsa had – disregarding anyone that wasn't immediate – was her sister and they weren't exactly on speaking terms, from what he had gathered. So he doubted that Elsa was going to introduce him to her anytime soon. Well for now, he just had to make sure that Elsa felt welcomed in his house. His mother could be quite a tough person when it comes to the person he dated. Well, he understood this. His mother didn't want Jack to end up the way she did – divorced and with a restraining order against the person who she was supposed to trust more than anything in this world.
"You okay Jack?" Elsa asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah," Jack smiled at her. "I'm fine."
"Okay," Elsa smiled even wider at him.
After dinner, they spent the time watching a movie. Elsa rested her head against Jack's chest as they watched. It felt quite nice. It was one of Jack's favourites that he had insisted on showing her which only made her laugh. She had agreed as she had wanted to watch the movie at some point so she was glad that she had gotten around to it – finally, Jack had been thinking. Even though it was like Jack's hundredth time watching the movie, he still enjoyed it like it was his first.
Jack turned off the TV after their movie had ended while Elsa stared at him. Elsa had ended up snuggling up to Jack which he didn't seem to mind.
"So what do you think?" Jack asked.
"I liked it," Elsa smiled. "Although it was funny to see Luke kiss what would be soon to be revealed to be his twin sister."
"A bit yeah," Jack matched Elsa's smile. "You wanna watch the next one?"
Elsa laughed. "Maybe next time."
Jack grinned.
Anna, Astrid and Zoë were flopped in front of the TV after eating dinner. Zoë had ended up staying over and was now in a pair of Anna's pyjamas. It was lucky that all three of them were similar sizes. Zoë wasn't the only one who was sporting pyjamas – Anna and Astrid were too. It had kind of turned into a slumber party. Anna was lying on her front with her legs sprawled upwards and over the back of the couch; a lime green blanket was thrown across her back. Zoë was lying in front of the couch with her body covered by a multi-coloured blanket and had her hand in a bowl of popcorn. Astrid was sitting on her feet with a pink blanket wrapped around her shoulders. A sprawl of magazines could be found next to her.
Anna had the remote in her hand. She was aimlessly flicking through channels on the TV. She was waiting until their standards were low enough so that any trash on TV was good enough for them to watch.
"Just pick something," Zoë said suddenly as they passed the same channel for the tenth time.
"But nothing is picking up my interest," Anna argued back. It was true. The only things on were the same old boring trashy stuff that wasn't at all remotely interesting.
"Fine then!" Astrid grabbed the remote off her cousin and flicked through a random channel. It landed on the channel E as it was half way through the local gossip show that discussed everything and anything about celebrities. At that moment, it was currently finishing up a story about an upcoming awards show. Anna decided that gossip about celebrities was better than nothing.
The three of them laid back into the couch. Anna wasn't really paying much attention to the show – she had sort of zoned out. It wasn't until she heard Hans' name being said did she snap to it. She quickly sat up and stared at the screen and focused on the story that was being told.
"In other news," the woman on the screen, "Hans, son of Frans and Elina Westergaard – owners of the mega company Westergaard Industries – was recently spotted with his girlfriend, Gabriella Hartvigsen who had recently topped the charts with her hit song 'Schooled'. Together they were seen entering a local hot spot in Milan. Photos seen caught the couple dancing and kissing." The screen flicked to show these photos as well as other photos of the night. The woman continued to talk about the rest of what was apparently their one month holiday together. "We look forward to see super cute adorable pictures of the couple!" The woman continued. "If you guys ship Hanbriella as much as we do here at, feel free to go to our website to check out more fantastic photos and stories about the fabulous couple!"
After the story on Hans, the woman turned to her co-worker – a male colleague – who took over discussing the next story. It was something to do with a local celebrity in the States who was caught up with some scandal about lyrics in his song. However, Anna didn't hear any of this. Her hands were clenched against her knees as she tried to keep her rage and jealousy within her. So Hans was flaunting his new relationship all over the gossip channels was he? Meanwhile, Anna was scared that she may not be ready to date and ended up turning down a date from a guy who she actually liked and cared about. Anna had decided that enough was enough. If Hans didn't show any regard for their relationship then neither would she.
"You okay Anna?" Anna had only noticed that her friend and cousin were staring at her.
"Yeah, fine," she snapped.
"Woah," Astrid said. "I'm sensing some tension over here. Is it because of the news article? Is this to do with Hans?"
"You could say that," Anna let out a snarl. "This is just unbelievable. I am trying to move on and Hans is just flaunting one relationship after another."
"Well Hans does have a reputation for being a jerk," Astrid said.
"And a womaniser," added Zoë.
"Not helping guys," Anna said to the pair of them.
"So whatcha gonna do about it?" Zoë said in a gangster voice.
Anna didn't respond to her friend who was still looking at her expectantly for Anna's response. She wasn't the only one – her cousin was also looking like she was wondering what Anna's next move was. They both knew that Anna felt so hurt by Hans' actions. It was time for Anna to finally strike back. For an answer to her friend's question, Anna grabbed her phone. She found Kristoff's contact details and started to text him.
"Hey Kristoff, found out that I am actually free on Saturday. How about grabbing coffee at the usual place at one?" Anna stared the text for a few more seconds before she hit the send button. That should do it, she thought to herself. It was a few minutes before Kristoff messaged her back.
"Sounds good," the text message said. "I'll see ya there. Looking forward to it."
"So what did you text?" Astrid asked her.
"It's not like we don't know who you texted," Zoë said with a sly smile. "So what did he text back?"
"Oh shut up," Anna threw one of the couch cushions at her friend. The cushion hit her friend squarely in the face. Anna smirked as her cousin roared with laughter.
Elsa could feel Jack's longing eyes flickering in her direction. She resisted giving a small smile. She had a good idea what was playing around in his mind. She moved a little closer to him and placed her hand, slowly, on his knee to tease Jack a little. Jack's hand twitched as if he wanted to grab her hand. He seemed to be trying to focus on the TV – a little too hard in Elsa's opinion.
A small glance in Jack's direction granted Elsa the knowledge of seeing Jack glance in her direction again. Their eyes met for a small moment. Both of them smiled in that split second their eyes met. Their moment was only interrupted them by the sound of a gunshot on the TV which drew their attention back to it. Elsa's attention moved from thinking about her boyfriend to wondering who got shot on the show. Even though Jack had introduced her to the TV show only one episode ago, she was starting to see the appeal of it.
The episode ended there on a cliff hanger – without revealing who was shot. Elsa groaned a little but it was starting to get late. She knew that if they didn't end it there, they would never end it. Elsa yawned and stood up to stretch her arms and legs. She caught Jack's twinkling eyes as she did so. He held out his arm to her in order to entice her back to him. A giggle escaped Elsa's lips. She took his hand and Jack pulled her onto him. She fell on top of him and they both started to laugh.
"How did you get so cute?" Jack smiled at her.
"It's in the genes," Elsa said. "These jeans in fact."
Elsa ran her hand up and down her jeans when she spoke. Jack laughed at the joke that his girlfriend made. Jack's soft lips made his way to hers. Elsa let Jack's smooth lips find their way around her checks, neck and finally back to her lips. Jack got to her feet and took her hand and pulled her towards the bedroom. Elsa knew what Jack was wanting – it's not like they haven't done stuff before but was Jack going to ask her to go further?
Once they crossed the threshold into Jack's room, Jack's lips were on hers again. Elsa felt the whole world leaving her as her love for the man in front of her consumed every fibre of her being. Elsa pushed Jack onto the bed where he grinned at the view in front of him. Jack quickly pulled off his t-shirt and Elsa got a goofy expression on her face as she admired the body of her boyfriend. Elsa's expression only made Jack grin even more. Elsa collapsed onto the bed next to him and they resumed their make out session. Elsa's hands ran up and down Jack's body while Jack's found his slipping down Elsa's shirt to caress her breasts.
Elsa realised that Jack's hands were fiddling with her buttons. She quickly backed away – so much so that she nearly hit her head against Jack's headboard. The look on Jack's face was a mixed of horror and the look of someone who thought they did something wrong.
"What's wrong?" Jack said quickly. "Was I going too quickly for you? Did you not want to do this?"
"It's not that," Elsa bit her lip. How was she going to explain this to him? On one hand, she did want to go down this route with Jack. This was kind of the intimacy she had been longing for, for a while now. However, she didn't really know to be this intimate with a guy – or really with anyone to be truthful. Besides, if Jack continued the way he was going, he would see her scars and that was a secret she was planning on taking with her to her grave despite the fact that would be an unlikely situation.
"If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to," Jack said, interrupting her thoughts and giving her a soothing smile.
"No," Elsa had decided what she wanted to say. If she could avoid the whole situation entirely would be nice. "I just uh, don't know how to do this."
"Don't worry," Jack gave her a reassuring smile. "We can take it slow, do what comes naturally and at any time, you can stay stop."
He seemed to misunderstand her meaning although Elsa couldn't blame him – her meaning was ambiguous. However, Elsa was glad that Jack was so sweet about this whole thing.
"Any chance we could do this with my shirt on?" Elsa bit her lip. Would Jack go for it?
"If you're worried about your body, you have a smoking hot one," Jack said which earned him a small smack from Elsa.
"It's not that," Elsa bit her lip again. Should she tell him? He knew about the cause of it. But what would he say if he saw the result? "It's easier if I show you."
Elsa carefully took off her shirt and unclipped her bar so it hung loose around her breasts. Jack would find out sooner or later. Elsa was very nervous. She had never ever shown these to anyone before. They had been her little secret for around fifteen years. What would Jack say when he saw them? What would he do? Would he be repulsed by them? He probably would. They were ugly and nothing to be proud of. Shaking slightly, she turned around to show Jack her scars. She heard a gasp as Jack saw what was on her back.
Jack watched as Elsa slowly took off her shirt. He wondered what could be going through her mind. Why wouldn't she want to take off her shirt? She had told him that it wasn't a body issue and he believed her when she said that but still…there was something strange going on. So what could it be? Jack could see the pain and nervousness in her eyes. In that one moment, Jack knew that she was going to reveal something big to him. Jack felt his palms start to sweat. It was clearly something of great importance. Elsa slowly turned around and finally showed him what was on her back. Jack gasped when he saw it.
Scars upon scars were etched deeply into her back. Harsh burn marks could also been seen. They both were in various stages of healing which told Jack that this had been going on for a while. No wonder Elsa didn't want to take her shirt off. She was scared to think what people would think of them – maybe even see her as a victim which Jack had come to the conclusion that Elsa didn't liked to be labelled as. Jack's finger had reached out and traced one of the scars. These were the evidence of the horribleness that Elsa had to endure for years and years. When she had told him about it, he had hoped it hadn't been as horrible as what he was seeing.
Jack's fingers stretched out, almost on their own, to try and touch one of them. His mouth didn't stop hitting the floor as his fingers moved closer and closer towards those scars. Elsa shuddered and moved, instinctively away.
"Sorry," Jack quickly whispered. "I didn't mean too."
Elsa didn't say anything. Elsa quickly placed her shirt back on as Jack continued to gap at her. So many things were going through his head. What was he going to say to her? He didn't know what to say or do. She was looking at him rather expectantly. Jack quickly focused his thoughts and decided on what he was going to say.
"Elsa," Jack said in a small voice, "were you ashamed to show me these?"
For an answer, Elsa simply nodded. It looked as if her tongue was frozen.
"Why?"
Elsa sighed. "I don't like people knowing. It gives people a view on me that I don't like them to have. They see me as a victim and these scars prove it."
"Elsa," Jack gave her a warm smile. "These scars don't show that you're just a victim. They show that you are a survivor of a terrible thing. Sure, being a victim is never easy but you become stronger because of it. It's a mark of your strength. It doesn't make me think of you any less; in fact it's the opposite. It shows me just how strong you are. If it's even possible, I love you even more for it."
"Really?" Elsa's eyes glistened a little.
"Really," Jack nodded.
Suddenly Elsa's lips were on his. Jack collapsed backwards with Elsa on top of him. Elsa rolled over on Jack's bed and now Jack was on top. His lips were made their way from Elsa's mouth, neck and then onto her breast. Meanwhile, Elsa's fingers found their way down to Jack's belt and started on it. The pants were torn off in a second before Jack's own fingers managed to do the same to Elsa's own pants.
Jack pushed Elsa onto the bed and climbed on top of her. His fingers quickly opened up a drawer next to his bed. A small silver square item was extracted from it. He seemed to struggle with opening it for a bit. Elsa couldn't help but let out a small giggle which made Jack look a little sheepish. He quickly slipped on the device and that's when it hit Elsa; this was going to be her first time. What was it going to be like? Quick? Fun? Painful? She could have stopped right then and there at that because she didn't think she could handle any more pain but somehow she couldn't stop herself and she didn't know why. Somehow, it didn't seem to matter.
His lips attached themselves to hers. His kisses came in quick succession and the passion kept climbing with each one. One of Jack's hands clasped around his bed's headboard. He thrusted gently at first but then he got into a rhythm. Each one came faster and harder. There was some pain after the first thrust but for some reason, Elsa didn't mind it. It wasn't horrible or upsetting, it was somehow amazing. It felt right. It felt so good – in a way that Elsa had never experienced before. The pain just seemed to fade away as she concentrated on the incredible feeling that came with it. Elsa started to moan, softly to begin with, and then a long one escaped her lips. Elsa let out another long moan that had Jack's name within it. A large grin appeared on Jack's face.
Elsa felt herself reaching climax and she could see that Jack was going to as well. His thrusting had gotten slower as Jack was trying to slow down and enjoy the ride. The grin never ceased to disappear. Elsa's own face spilt into two as well.
"Harder," was all that Elsa could muster.
Jack responded by thrusting even harder. More moans of pleasure escaped both of their lips as Jack continued. A gasp escaped Jack as he reached climax. He wasn't the only one – Elsa too was fast approaching climax. Jack rolled off her and lay down beside her. He was panting hard as was Elsa. Their breaths came in low sounds before laughs escaped.
"Oh my God," Elsa said.
That had been the first time she had done that – with anyone. She almost couldn't believe it. People kept telling her how great it was and she had been afraid to try it herself, mainly because she was afraid to get intimate with someone and the scars on her back had always been a point of fear for her. That had always been a sticking point in her attempt to get intimate with someone. She always wondered what people would say if they saw them. Would they freak? Would they run? Attack her? Ridicule her? Go on some crazy rant that Elsa did not need to hear? However, Jack hadn't been afraid of them though. He had embraced them. He had called them evidence of her survival and she had never thought to look at them like that before. But Elsa was glad she had gone through it – she had finally connected with someone on not only an emotional level but a physical one too. She had loved Jack for so long and now she could finally be her complete and full self with him. That was someone she have never shown anyone, Now that she had, she felt actually kind of relieved that she had.
"You know it," laughed Jack.
Anna woke up the next day with the sun shining in her face. In her room, she could see Zoë sleeping peacefully on a spare mattress next to her. She looked so peaceful unlike Anna whose brain was going into overdrive. She had woken up with morning regret. She shouldn't have sent that text to Kristoff confirming their date for the upcoming Saturday – well not for the reasons she did it anyway. She only did it to make Hans jealous and to show him that she had moved on. She hadn't done it for any of the right reasons like for the fact that she actually liked the guy and would like to hang out with him further.
Anna sighed. She didn't know what she was going to do about this. On one hand, she could go on the date and enjoy it or she could find Kristoff and cancel it – doing it in person would be better than just blowing him on in a simple text message. That would be douche move. So which should she do? Anna sighed once again and turned on her side. She gazed at the pictures of her friends on their various trips around the world. After a long, hard think, she finally came to a conclusion on what she should do.
Carefully, without waking Zoë up, she headed over to her closet to decide on what she should get changed into. A simple white t-shirt with a picture of Empire State Building was chosen to go along with some three-quarter blue denim jeans and some black sandals. Anna paused for a moment before she threw on purple hoodie. She doubled checked her hair, cleaned her teeth, left a note for Zoë (and her aunt and uncle) and grabbed her stuff before she headed out the door – she didn't even stop and have breakfast.
It didn't take Anna too long to find Kristoff. She knew he would be out and about delivering his ice – also she had texted his brother to find his location. Kristoff wasn't always the best at answering his phone. Anna soon found him at his van unloading a few bags of ice to a man outside a club. He looked pleased to see that Kristoff had arrived with his ice. Anna quickly headed over to him. Kristoff looked up when he heard the sound of running feet heading in his direction. He smiled when he saw her and Anna couldn't help but smile back at him when he did that.
"Hey Anna," Kristoff said as he took off his gloves and wiped his forehead of sweat. "What brings you here so early?"
"I, uh, need to talk to you," Anna said. "Could I have a minute?"
"Sure," Kristoff turned to his brother who had suddenly appeared from around the other side of the van. "Hey man, could you finish this up for me?"
"Sure," Kristoff's brother gave him a smirk which made Kristoff blush.
Kristoff followed Anna a few metres away from the van. When they came to a halt, Anna turned to look at him. Was she really going to do this? Well even though the end result was something she did actually desire, her motives and reasons weren't exactly pure. Kristoff gazed at her expectantly as Anna breathed in deeply.
"Kristoff, I got to confess something to you," Anna said.
"Confess?" he looked confused.
"I shouldn't have accepted your date," the words came tumbling out of her mouth without Anna coming up with a plan to say it nicely.
"What do you mean?" Kristoff looked even more confused than ever.
"You're a nice guy Kristoff," Anna said, choosing her words carefully. "A guy who I really do like – you're like the first decent guy I've come across. But I don't know that I'm ready to date. The whole thing with Hans has really tainted my view of dating – well for the moment anyway. I only said yes because I was jealous of Hans dating some singer celebrity girl. I wanted to show him that I was over him just as much as he was over me."
"But you're not over him are you?" Kristoff looked a little upset.
"Oh that fucker can go die in hell. I don't give a tiny rat's ass about him anymore. I just don't know if I'm ready to put myself out there."
"You know, someone who lives in fear, will never experience life."
"What do you mean?" now it was Anna's turn to look confused.
"What I mean is that if you always live in constant fear, you will never get out there and live life. A beautiful woman like yourself should get out there. You have to some energy to beat down a thousand suitors."
Anna let out a small laugh. "Stop it."
Kristoff smiled. "I got to get back to work but I'll see you Saturday."
"Wait, what?"
"For our date," Kristoff said as he retreated. "It will be fun, you'll see."
Anna opened her mouth to protest but Kristoff had raced off. Anna's mouth curled into a smile. She couldn't help but being happy about the fact that she had a date with Kristoff. Who cares about Hans? She found someone so much better.
"Where have you been?" Astrid asked Anna when she walked through the door, her mouth was full of cereal when she spoke.
Astrid, Zoë and Anna's aunt and uncle were sitting at the kitchen table. They were all eating breakfast when Anna walked up to them. Anna didn't answer her cousin's question but instead grabbed a bowl of porridge that been left out for her.
"Please tell me you didn't go see Kristoff to cancel the date," Zoë said as she looked up from her cereal.
Anna paused for a moment but then spoke. "No, I didn't cancel our date."
"Good," Anna's friend and cousin said at the same time.
"You have date with Kristoff?" Anna's Aunt Greta said looking up from a magazine. "When did this happen?"
"Last night," Anna said.
"Oh good," Aunt Greta said. "Kristoff is a sweet boy."
Anna had to hide her rolling eyes.
They say that time flies when you are dreading something. It wasn't as if she was dreading the dinner date with Jack's family – she was just fearful of it. This whole dinner could determine her future relationship with Jack. If his family hated her, who knows if he would want to continue to date her.
The time to get ready soon arrived and Elsa opened her closet to look at her various clothes. Thirty minutes later Elsa was on her bed, surrounded by her clothes – her closet was now empty. Elsa was nearly on the verge of tears. She had no idea what she was going to wear. Everything she pulled out seemed to be the wrong choice. She needed to make a good impression and nothing in her closet screamed that. Elsa let out a groan. What was she going to do?
"I could hear you screaming for our help from miles away," the voice of her friend Tooth said from the door of her bedroom. She wasn't alone. With her, Honey was standing a few steps behind her and looking a little concerned.
"I need help so badly!" Elsa said through her tears.
"Come now," Tooth resisted the urge to laugh. "We shall help you."
Tooth and Honey walked towards the pile of clothes and started to look through them. They started to sort them into different piles. Elsa thought that maybe they were ranking the clothes. Nobody said anything as Tooth and Honey collaborated on what outfit Elsa should wear. Eventually, both Tooth and Honey nodded to each other.
"Here," Tooth threw the outfit at Elsa. "Get changed into these."
"Okay," Elsa decided that she should just go with it. She doubted that her two friends would just mislead her in anyway. Elsa stepped into the bathroom and started to get changed. Tooth and Honey had picked out a cyan coloured dress with some small ruffles at the very bottom and a sash that went around her middle. For shoes, she was wearing matching high heels. Elsa headed back into her room where Tooth and Honey, now joined by Gogo, all nodded in agreement.
"Hair and makeup!" cried Tooth.
Elsa was shoved into a chair in front of her dresser and mirror. Tooth paused for a moment before she put it into the braid that Elsa always wore her hair in but then used that braid as a base for bun. While she was doing that, Honey picked out a silver bracelet to go on her wrist, some silver earrings to match and a sapphire necklace to go around her neck. Afterwards, Honey applied some light foundation and blush before adding some red lipstick and some purple eyeshadow to Elsa's face. They all stood back to admire their handiwork.
"Great," they all said together.
Elsa looked at herself in the mirror. Well at least she looked presentable. She actually kind of liked what her friends had accomplished. She doubted she would have come up with something better or similar. Maybe she could actually pull this thing off after all. Besides, it's what Rapunzel said – if you look good, you feel good and if you feel good, you feel confident. Here's hoping she's right.
"Oh, you will need some kind of gift," Gogo said. "Wine?"
"Why?" Elsa asked.
"Cause it's a guarantee way to get the mum to like you!" Gogo said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Fine," Elsa said, rolling her eyes. "I'll pick something up on the way there."
Jack's reaction to when he saw Elsa was the one she wanted – his jaw has dropped when he saw her. He had come over to pick her up for their dinner date at his parents. Jack was dressed in a suit and blue tie. He looked quite handsome. Elsa took Jack's offered arm and he escorted her down towards the car. The car ride was done in silent. Elsa's mind was too preoccupied on the night ahead. She was already going through several dozen different scenarios.
"You okay?" Jack said.
"Yeah, I think so," Elsa replied. It was a lie. She wasn't sure how she felt at this point. Butterflies were going haywire in her stomach. Elsa's eyes caught the sight of a flower shop. Gogo had told her to get something for the family. "Stop!"
"Why?" asked Jack.
"I want to get your mum something," Elsa said.
"Oh you don't have to," Jack said.
"But I want to," Elsa said. "Let's go there." She pointed to the flower shop. Jack shrugged his shoulders and turned the car around. Elsa quickly darted into the shop carrying her debit card while Jack waited in the car. Elsa had insisted on doing this herself.
The doorbell rang when she went into the store. A woman with short black hair done up in a bandana and wearing a store uniform was behind the counter. She had briefly looked up when Elsa had walked in but when back to texting on her phone. Elsa didn't know if she was simply a bad employee or just didn't care. Elsa shrugged and carried on with what she was doing.
She walked up and down the rows of flowers as she decided on what she liked. After the fifth time of walking up the same row, she had come to the conclusion that she did not know what to get. There were just too many choices. What should she get? Roses? Lilies? Tulips? Daisies? She started to get a little nervous. What if she chose something like lilies when she was a daisy woman. Or this could be a complete waste of time and the mother was allergic to flowers. Elsa sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea and she should just get something safe like wine…unless Jack's mother wasn't a drinker. Well every idea did have its merits and its downsides.
"You need some help there?" the woman behind the counter wasn't even looking at her. Well it didn't take a genius to know that Elsa was in need of help. She had been aimlessly wandering around the empty store for about ten minutes now and hadn't decided on something.
"What would be a good gift for a boyfriend's mother?" Elsa asked. She was no longer sure that she could do this herself.
"Depends on the boyfriend's mother's interests," the woman said, still not looking Elsa. She had now filing her nails. Elsa had come to a conclusion about her. She didn't care nor was she a good employee.
Very helpful, Elsa thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Elsa looked up and down the flowers before checking out the specials. Maybe she should just go ask Jack what she liked. It may not be the way she had wanted to do this but it would save her time and stress.
"About time," Jack said when she headed back out to the car.
"Oh I'm not done," Elsa gave him an apologetic smile. "What kind does your mum like?"
"Lilies," Jack said and Elsa rushed off to purchase a dozen lilies. She should have just asked him from the get go.
It wasn't long before Elsa found herself walking towards the door of Jack's house. She was feeling very nervous. She had never met the parents of a boyfriend before. The closet she got to meeting parents was when Merida moved to Arendelle and Elsa had dinner with them and Merida one night. That night went sort of okay – she didn't get kicked out after all. However, this was going to be more than a step up – it was more like a few staircases, an elevator ride and an escalator up. How on earth was she going to do this? She wanted Jack's family to like her but she was sure that she was going to say or do something stupid that would cause them to hate her. She was also foreign and wasn't exactly up to scratch with American traditions.
Well, Elsa would just have to do her best – whatever that may be. So far, she knew her best bet would be to bond with Pippa. Pippa and her – from what Jack had told her – had some stuff in common. They shared some movies and music in common so she was sure that they had something to talk about.
But Jack's mother? She may be a different story. She hoped not. Well Elsa would just have to make sure that she liked her. Elsa looked down at the bunch of flowers she had picked out. She hoped that they will be just what she needs.
"Don't worry," Jack said as he rang the doorbell. He clearly had noticed the worried expression all over her face. "They'll love you."
The door quickly opened and a girl – who looked like she was in her late teens – was behind it. She had long brown hair that went to the small of her back. Elsa could see the same blue eyes that Jack had. She was wearing dressy black jeans and a red blouse that went over her belt. Instead of wearing shoes, she was barefoot.
"Jackie!" the girl, who Elsa had quickly figured out must be his sister Pippa, pulled Jack into a big hug. "You must be Elsa," Pippa's eyes looked Elsa up and down. She beamed at her which Elsa took as a good sign. "Come on it." Pippa grabbed Elsa and pulled her into the house.
The room that they had come into was a small longue area. Elsa could see a TV in front of a sofa and a few other chairs. Pictures of Jack, and what Elsa assumed, Jack's friends and family were scattered around the room. A small hallway led to what Elsa could see was kitchen area. Stairs next to the door led to an upstairs floor. Pippa took Jack's suit jacket and placed it a closet next to the door.
"Is that Jack?" a voice came from the kitchen.
A woman in her late forties came from the kitchen. Like her children, she had shining blue eyes. She had short brown hair that matched the colour of Pippa's hair. Over a sliming black dress, she had an apron on.
"Welcome Elsa, I am Caroline," she said. "Welcome to our home."
"Thanks," Elsa said. She quickly pushed the flowers she was carrying in her direction. "These are for you."
"Oh lilies!" Caroline beamed. She took the flowers from Elsa. "Pippa be a darling and put these in water."
Pippa took the flowers as Caroline took the apron off and placed it on the bench.
"Dinner will be in a little while," Caroline said. "Can I offer you both a drink?"
A few minutes later, the three Frosts and the one Winters was sitting in the longue sipping some wine together. Elsa was still feeling a little nervous. So far so good, she hadn't done anything stupid – well at least not yet. The flowers were a hit so that was a good start for her. Here's hoping that she can continue with it.
"So Elsa," Caroline said. "Jack says that you are not from around here."
"I knew that wasn't an American accent," Pippa quickly said.
"Yeah," Elsa said. "I come from a town called Arendelle. It's located in Norway."
"Norway?" Caroline looked quite impressed. "That's a long way from here. What made you come over here?"
"University," Elsa explained. "I wanted to do law and the University of Burgess is one of the best law schools around."
"Ah I see," Caroline nodded. "The University of Burgess has attracted many foreigners over the years. Jack's friend Bunnymund for starters."
"Oh yeah," Elsa smiled. Bunnymund was more like her than she had first realised when she had met him. Both had come from different lands and from over the oceans. Although she had first thought he had exaggerated on how many things were dangerous over there until she watched a documentary on Australia with him.
"So tell us a bit about yourself," Pippa asked.
"I'm sure Jack has already told you all you need to know," Elsa said. She glanced sideways at her boyfriend. She was hoping that he hadn't told them too much about her.
"Well yeah he has but I wanna hear it from you!" Pippa seemed exited.
"There isn't really much to tell."
"Come on," whined Pippa. "Let's start with family. Siblings?"
"One, a sister," Elsa said.
"Oh and what's she like?" Pippa asked.
What was Anna like? Elsa didn't really know the answer to that question. She had spent all of about a few hours every time Anna would come home from boarding school with her. Anna spent most of her time with their father. Plus they had also grown up apart from each other and from young age. So what could Elsa say?
"She's great," Elsa said. She was sure it was true even though Anna hated her guts. She had made that quite clear at the courthouse. "I don't get to see her much because she goes to boarding school."
"Ooo where?" Pippa genuinely seemed excited by all of this. Elsa didn't know why. It wasn't exactly riveting stuff.
"Switzerland."
"Did you go there too?" Caroline asked.
"Um, no," Elsa was starting to get nervous. They were heading into dangerous waters. This wasn't the time or the place to be discussing her abuse but then again, Jack's family also had suffered at the hands of abuse. They may understand.
"Why?" Pippa asked.
Elsa wasn't really sure on what to say. She could just give a simplified answer. That would allow them to move on from the conversation and into something that was less stress inducing on her. However, Elsa was saved from answering when they heard the oven timer go off.
"That means dinner's ready," Caroline said.
Elsa was glad for the distraction. Not only did it steer the conversation away from a sensitive topic but she was also hungry. The smells coming from the kitchen were quite enticing. Elsa smiled at her hosts and followed Jack to the table in the other room. Next to the kitchen was a small dining room. A mahogany table was in the centre of the room. On the green wallpapered were photos of people that were obviously related to the three Frosts in the room. Jack pulled out a seat next to him for Elsa. Elsa blushed as he did this.
"What a gentleman," she said which made Jack give her a small wink.
Opposite them, sat Pippa. She was giving the couple a curious look. Caroline came back and forth into the room carrying bowls of food. Elsa thought it all looked delicious.
"Guests first," Caroline said giving Pippa a stern expression when she reached for the food.
"Thank you," Elsa felt a bit embarrassed. She would have been perfectly fine with going after but she still felt a little honoured.
Caroline had made a chicken curry dish. Elsa placed some of the rice onto her plate before ladling some of the curry on top of it. Elsa placed a large mouthful into her mouth. Apart from it being slightly hot (both temperature and spicy wise), it was really good.
"All good?" Caroline looked slightly nervous. Elsa grinned at her which made her beam with joy.
A small silence came over them as they dug into their meals. Elsa had been hoping that they may have moved on from interrogating her but it was just a pipe dream. Pippa had a determined look on her face which told her that this was going to be trouble. Well then again, she was her brother's girlfriend. Even though they had only been dating a small while, their relationship had turned serious. Neither one of them had ever made a connection on this level before. Elsa knew that Jack's previous relationships hadn't come close to what they had. Maybe that is why Pippa was so keen to delve into the waters of Elsa's life.
"So Elsa," Caroline put down her fork, "what do you study at university?"
Elsa swallowed what she was eating and replied to Caroline's question. This question led to a conversation about a local news trial that was happening about a man who was on trial for the murder of his wife and sister-in-law. The conversation was pretty interesting as both Elsa and Caroline had different ideas on his guilt. However the pleasant conversation only lasted so far. It wasn't long before the topic of her family was back in the limelight and it partially Elsa's fault.
"This reminded me of a trial back home that took place when I was just a kid," Elsa said. "This guy was thought to have murdered his whole family but he had an alibi but he was still convicted of the crime."
"That was in Arendelle right?" Pippa asked.
"Yeah," nodded Elsa.
"Norway is so far away," Caroline said. "Your family must miss you a lot."
"I guess," Elsa shrugged.
If the truth is to be told, she had no idea whether or not her family missed her. All that had happened between her and her family, threw that into doubt. She knew that Anna wasn't missing her but she did hope that the rest might – her grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousin. That would be that her family wasn't all bad.
"Your sister would be," Pippa said. "I remember when Jack went on a trip to New York for a school trip and I missed him like crazy. Even though the guy drove me crazy."
"I doubt that," Elsa said. "Anna and I have never gotten along."
"Why?" Pippa sounded curious. "Sibling rivalry?"
"More like different upbringings," Elsa muttered.
"What?"
"Oh never mind," Elsa forced a smile.
"So, what about your parents?" somehow Elsa knew that Caroline knew Anna was a sore spot.
"Um, they're both dead," Elsa managed to say.
"What happened?" Caroline said.
"Car accident," Elsa said. "My dad got shot."
"I am so sorry," Caroline said. "Was it recent?"
"My mother died when I was five and my dad only died last year," Elsa explained.
"Oh dear," Caroline gave her a sympathetic look. "Sorry."
"Don't be," Elsa said without realising the words coming out of her mouth. "It's no big loss."
"Why?" Pippa and Caroline exchanged looks. Elsa quickly reddened.
"We don't have to talk about this," Jack quickly said.
"It's okay," Elsa had just realised something. Jack's family were also victims like her. They would understand. She had debated this before but she didn't have to hide it from them. Anna wouldn't have believed her and why would she? She like the rest of her family grew up thinking that Adgar Winters was a decent, hardworking man. Jack's family didn't have that blindfold on. They wouldn't think any less of her, think it somehow weakened her. They knew what she had gone through and would sympathise with her – help her. She knew it would be quite a strange thing to discuss on their first meeting (maybe a bit TMI) but it was something that Elsa needed to get off her chest and better it be with people who would understand and wouldn't judge her. "My father wasn't exactly the best of all people."
Pippa's face had the look of someone who was in an exam who had just realised what the question was asking them – the click. Caroline was looking a little confused. It was as if she was following but at the same time, didn't want to.
"So he…?" Pippa let her words trail off. Elsa knew exactly what she was asking.
"Yes," Elsa nodded.
"I gather Jack has mentioned our lousy father too?" Pippa's face went from a sad and understanding expression to a darkened look.
"That did get brought up," Elsa looked over at her boyfriend. "Jack and I have gone through the same trials in our pasts. I think that is one of the reasons why we have such a strong relationship. We understand each other on a different level that no one in our pasts have ever been able to do."
"That is true," Caroline suddenly spoke up. "When I first met Vincent – Jack and Pippa's father – I thought I was in some kind of dream, little did I knew that dream was going to turn into a nightmare. When it started, he was apologetic, he was kind, he tried to make it up to me." Her voice almost broke at this last bit. Elsa was thinking that this was all starting to sound really familiar. "I told myself all kinds of things to justify it 'it's my fault', 'I made him mad', 'it's punishment', all were things that I kept repeating to myself and if you tell yourself something for long and hard enough, it becomes true in your head. Snapping out of that is probably the hardest thing I've ever done to this day. I don't know where I would be without the Bennetts. I'm sure Jack has told you the story of Jamie Bennett?" Caroline paused as Elsa nodded. She remembered the story; Jamie, Jack's friend, had once came over unexpectedly and saw everything. He then told his parents who got the police involved. "Well Mrs Bennett, bless that woman, was the person who saved me. She was the one who got me out of that relationship. It was hard; I was a battered woman – still am too this day, that doesn't really go away but it does get easier over time – and a woman who was suffering from PTSD of the trauma that the relationship brought upon me. As a battered woman, we believe so many things that just aren't true; we think we are the only ones, we think that we are too blame, we think that we deserve it – that it's our fault. But these are simply not true. There is simply no excuse for hitting anyone and if anyone does, they are the ones who are sick in the head. Our fault? We are trained to think that so we think it's the norm. I know what you're thinking Elsa, you're thinking that this is all hard to swallow. Trust me, I know it's hard to believe it. I took years myself to start even coming remotely near understanding it. I still have trouble to this day but at the end of the day, my kids were saved and I was saved from an abusive man who has no business being in any family. This kind of thing is not often spoken about and it should be. Domestic violence – any violence really – needs to be addressed. Looking back at my relationship with my ex-husband, I sometimes can't believe I survived it. We can now put it in the past where it belongs. It doesn't define us anymore. You just gotta get to the end of the tunnel, it's hard but it's doable. So can one survive? One can indeed survive – I did and I don't even know how."
"We all did mum," Pippa rested her hand on her mother's. Pippa turned her attention back to Elsa. "Elsa did too." She grinned at her and Elsa sheepishly grinned back.
Elsa was grateful to Jack's family. They really did understand her, they really did. She had longed for someone to and now she had. They had gone through the same thing she did and they had come out stronger. It gave her hope that maybe, one day, she too could come out stronger.
"So Elsa –" Caroline only got two words out before there was a knock at the door.
"Are we expecting anyone mum?" Pippa looked as confused as her brother and mother.
"Only Elsa," Caroline got to her feet but she didn't get far. The sound of the door opening could soon be heard. Elsa thought that this was quite brash of whoever it was. You don't just open the door randomly without an invination – well unless it was someone who the Frosts knew very well, like a neighbour or a good friend. Elsa supposed it could have been one of them; this could just be something that they do.
The shuffling of feet was soon heard outside the room and a man appeared into the room. He was tall – probably around the six foot mark – with scruffy clothes (a brown jacket over a grey sweatshirt with dark grey pants with black shoes) on that looked like they haven't been washed in weeks. The same could be said about his hair. His scraggly blonde hair looked quite unkempt. It hung loose around his eyes and ears. He had stubble around his face and looked like it hadn't been shaved in days. In Elsa's opinion, he looked like a homeless man or a man who doesn't know what a mirror is. The only thing that stood out was his shining blue eyes that looked oddly familiar.
Elsa looked at the other three in the room. The look of horror on their faces told Elsa all that she needed to know. She looked back at the man in the room. She knew exactly who this man was.
It was Jack's father.
A/N: I hope that everyone enjoyed this update. Sorry again it took so long. Apologies if there are any mistakes. I had a bit of trouble with the sex scene so I hope I did it justice. Anyway, please review!
Reviews;
Guest: Haha I hope that was a happy 'I hate this story'.
Guest: Anna gets better, I promise.
Guest: Oh wow, I am so flattered. Yeah I know there are some mistakes, I am sorry, I do my best to catch them all but some do slip through the net. Oh I did finish Thirst - there will be a prequel coming up soon. Anyway, nope haven't left this story. Thanks for the lovely words, don't worry, your grammar is fine.
Banana: Haha, sorry but I gotta have some chapters like that.
Lishi-La-La: Yeah sorry about the mistakes. I do try and get them all but I'm not the best with my own stories. Actually no, Anna does have green eyes. I did look it up to double check.
Kimchee2222: Yep, Jelsa is all go in this chapter. I know it was fast but I gotta get the story to move along. Also, the scene you wanted is in this chapter. Hoped you liked it. I know you wanted the Jelsa relationship to progress before the dad comes into the picture, hope it did enough for you, otherwise, sorrrrrry. Haha, sorry for leaving you out on that cliff for so long. Okay, on the Astrid thing, there are two, I know it's confusing, I didn't plan it that way and was stupid about it. So there's Astrid Winters - Klaus and Greta's daughter (Klaus is Adgar's brother) and Elsa and Anna's cousin. Then there is Astrid Hofferman - Hiccup's girlfriend and from HTTYD. Thanks. Glad you've been enjoying the story.
Charllote64: Thanks so much. Sorry for the long breaks, I had a busy year.
A Shadow Away: Thanks. So glad that you have been enjoying. Sorry for not a lot of Jelsa bonding times, I gotta get the story to move along.
Faithambr: Thanks!
Blind Red Dragon: Haha awesome. I've been Pokémon Go hunting recently due to the Starter event. Glad you've enjoyed it. Also, did you like my little surprise for you?
Niresda123: Me too. You're gonna find out what Vincent is up to in the next chapter. Yeah he will, we need more Kristanna.
AFallenAngel1221: Haha, that is so awesome. Thanks so much. Don't worry, this story won't be discontinued.
sanaa11: Thanks. Yeah, I like that scene too. Haha, Jack's father is gonna cause some trouble.
ElsaTheSnowQueen2: Yeah me too, they needed to. Haha, she may have - and again in this chapter, maybe subtlety though. Yeah, your bad feeling may be proven to be true.