CHAPTER TWO: 'TIS THE SEASON!

As they made their way through town, they ran into a few people which they greeted happily and continued on. When they reached their destination, Elsa gave a knock on the door. They were greeted by a woman who appeared to be in her mid-30's, with dark brown hair in a messy bun, dark brown eyes and wore an apron over her clothes; or should I say dress. [whatever, you get the idea]

"Oh, Princess Elsa, it's nice to see you. Please come in"

"Have a seat" she said as she closed the door behind them. Before they sat down, she introduced Anna.

"So, Aunt Rosaline, where's Jack?" she asked, noticing his absence since, well when they got there.

"Jack? He's still in school. He should be back in about an hour."

"Awww man, an hour? Elsa I can't wait that long-" a complaining Anna was cut-off by Elsa.

"How 'bout we build a snowman while we wait? Sound good to you?"

Anna's eyes lit up and a huge grin formed on her face. She nodded excitedly at her sister.

Elsa looked up to Rosaline and nodded. Rosaline only smiled back.

"Come on" she led Anna to the backyard. There, they built their snowman with Elsa's ice magic.

Jack came bursting through the door with a HUGE grin on his face. He walked up to his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which he rarely did might I add, walked this very bouncy walk and was humming a very happy tune. Knowing her son, Rosaline noticed his very peculiar behavior today. Hoping she might find out the answer as to why, she said out loud,

"Looks like someone is in an awfully good mood today, I wonder why…" just before Jack could leave the kitchen.

Jack felt his face heat up as he turned around and said, "Oh nothing" and continued to the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom where he put down his backpack and changed his clothes.

"Where are you going?"

"Uh-uhm…nowhere" smiling sheepishly. His mother isn't buying it, though.

"Is it a girl?" she said while raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms. His mother looked really intimidating, as if he was to say the wrong answer he would be grounded for a month or so. He chose to tell the truth incase lying would make it into a year. He crossed his fingers.

"uh-h y-yeah" he said while closing his eyes. He was expecting harsh words being thrown at him but none came. Slowly opening his eyes one by one, he looked up to his mother to see if there was any explanation to this. Instead of seeing her face red with anger, he saw that she was smiling at him, much to his surprise.

"Awww my little boy's growing up" she bent down and pulled him into an embrace. Still slightly shocked of his mother's reaction, he let it slowly sink in and patted her back.

Only when she remembered about the princesses did she pull away from her son.

"I forgot to tell you, the princesses have arrived. They're in the backyard. Why don't you go greet them before you go?". Jack nodded in response and excitement.

This was turning out to be a pretty good day for him.

"Hi Jack! We were waiting for you" Elsa says as soon as she notices Jack. She pulls Anna and they walk closer to Jack.

"This is my sister Anna. Anna, this is Jack.

"Hello Jack. Elsa talked so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you" Anna said as they shake hands.

"Nice to finally meet you too."

It sounded as if they were the only people Elsa talked about all day.

"Anyway, I came out here to tell you I won't be able join you. I'm sorry. I gotta go somewhere"

"But you just got here." Elsa complained. Anna could see her face sadden. Jack just rubbed the back of his neck guiltily.

Elsa let out her infamous puppy eyes look that Jack found irresistible. Jack sighed in defeat. He never learned how to say no to her, yet.

"Fine, you can come with me."

This wasn't the answer Elsa was expecting but nonetheless, she accepted the offer. Should something come between her and Jack, she'd probably already freeze it to death. Literally.

"Yes! Can Anna come along?" she said with glee. Her eyes were sparkling in the snow.

"No." Jack said firmly. Elsa saw Anna's heart sink and her heart almost did the same the moment she saw it. That was before an idea popped into her mind.

"Anna, you can play with Jack's sister in the meantime. You're about the same age". And with that, Anna's whole face lit up in joy and excitement. Her sister never failed to entertain her.

They were standing on the front doorstep in front of a house that was grander than the average, but still nothing in comparison to the manor.

Right after pushing the doorbell, one of the servants came at the door. He stared intently at the two before deciding to whisk them away. But right before he could shut the door completely, Jack caught a glimpse of the girl headed straight for the door. The moment she saw Jack, she ran to the door and told the servant that he was her guest in which the servant asked for her apology. Accepting the apology, she opened the door widely only to see that Jack had a companion with him. Furrowing her eyebrows at Elsa, as she eyed her closely from head to toe, she finally let them in. Elsa, on the other hand, was feeling uneasy from the girl's weird stares and unconsciously grabbed Jack's hand and held it tight.

When they reached the parlor, the girl offered some tea and cookies, to which both accepted and excused herself to go fetch them. Elsa was staring at her wild, orange-red hair that were in tiny curls as she was walking away from them.

"So uh, why are we here again?" Elsa asked Jack in almost whispers. Jack blushed faintly but enough for Elsa to notice and soon understood why. This made her stomach churn in disgust. She thought of the possible outcomes of this and ended up imagining that eventually Jack would leave her for his true love and she would no longer have a best friend aside from Anna. She just shook it off, though. If her best friend would leave her for someone else, then so be it. As long as he would be happy.

"Well, someone's deep in thought" Jack uttered out loud. Loud enough to snap Elsa out of her trance.

"Oh i-it's nothing" she denied. Jack chuckled lightly and the red head came back with a tray of tea and cookies.

"I haven't caught your name yet" the girl glanced over to Elsa, who was fiddling with her gloves.

"Oh right. I'm sorry. I am Princess Elsa of Arendelle, but please call me Elsa" she held her hand out and the girl took it while saying,

"My name's Merida".

"So how exactly are you two related?" Merida asked the two. She was fully aware that Elsa and Jack looked nothing alike, except maybe for the color of their eyes and hair. But that was it.

"We're best friends" Jack simply stated with a smile and Elsa followed. Merida smiled back but only to Jack. Elsa felt left out the entire conversation and unconsciously fell back to gripping Jack's hand tightly again, which caused Merida to question their relationship in the first place. She became unusually quiet, talking whenever she needed to and frankly, Jack was starting to get worried.

Upon sipping the last drop of her tea, Jack stood up, bringing her with him, since of course their hands were attached. He asked Merida's permission to leave which Merida reluctantly granted and they headed out. He noticed his best friend wasn't feeling as comfortable as he was and he only wanted the best for her; even if that meant sacrificing his love life. Only when Jack complained that his hands were getting sweaty, did Elsa realize that she was gripping it the whole time they were there; well almost. They both laughed together and continued walking down the streets back to Jack's house. It was getting dark when they arrived. She retrieved Anna and told them they would be back tomorrow. They each exchanged goodbyes and reluctantly headed home. They both found that their parents had already left and continued to their bedroom.

Right before falling asleep, Elsa recalled the events in the past hour. She silently blushed, causing her to smile from ear to ear, and complained to herself that her cheeks were hurting. She began drifting away into the wonders of her dreams, with Jack as the last thing on her mind.

Did I tell you that I'm going to be interrupting the story? The words in the brackets are what I mean. I hope it doesn't get too bothersome. I find it fun :) If anyone is reading this story and actually likes it, reviews are highly appreciated ^_^V