"Elsa?" Anna knocked on the door timidly. She didn't even bother trying the knob—it would for sure be locked. "Elsa have you had dinner yet?" The question was a courtesy.
Silence. Some scuffling. "No."
"Well Olaf had some leftovers and he insisted I take them home. It's fish and potatoes. He also gave me a huge slice of chocolate cake—your favorite!" Olaf was the head chef at what once was the Hotel Arendelle. He was kept on when the Eriksens took over not only because they promised no lay-offs, but also because he made the best chocolate cake in the entire county.
Elsa opened the door. Anna was hit with the slight lingering odor of unwashed bedsheets but wisely did not comment.
Her older sister was so much thinner than she used to be. Sometimes Anna swore that if she looked at Elsa from the side, she was only a shadow. Her once luscious platinum blonde hair was matted and darker now due to poor care. Underneath her blue eyes were dark circles—almost bruise-like in color.
Anna swept her into a hug, nestling her nose into Elsa's neck. Although her sister probably hadn't bathed in the past two days, she still smelled familiar.
Elsa let out a light chuckle. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, attempting to quirk her lips up into something resembling a smile. She was trying so hard.
Anna giggled breathlessly, happy that Elsa was having one of her good days. "Oh, nothing, I'm just happy to see you." Grabbing Elsa's thin hand, Anna dragged her into the kitchen where she had already set the plates. Elsa's portion was noticeably larger than Anna's. They sat down, but before Elsa could insist that Anna take some of hers, the ginger launched into nonstop chatter.
"I had such a good day today, besides the crazy homeless man who came in earlier—"
Elsa frowned. "Be nice, Anna."
The younger girl continued on, "But Kristoff came and showed him out and handed him that bag of carrots he always carries around with him. Can you believe someone could be so obsessed with carrots? I swear sometimes I think he'll turn positively orange from eating so many. Also he snuck his dog in today to work. Remember Sven? I let him stay with me at reception while Kristoff was working and he is just the cutest."
"The dog or the boy?" Elsa teased, although her tone was a bit flat. She was picking at the fish, eating slowly.
Anna snorted. "The dog! Don't be silly, Elsa, you know the only man I think is cute is—"
"Hans," Elsa interjected, rolling her eyes. Her little sister's reverence for the youngest son of the Eriksens was absolutely ridiculous. Sure, he was attractive and smart, but, he had always rubbed Elsa the wrong way.
Anna put her fork down and smiled up at the ceiling dreamily. "Hans came by my desk today and do you know what he said?"
"Illuminate me."
"Well, first he said good morning and then he asked where Mr. Eriksen was."
There was a pregnant pause as Elsa waited for more of the story. "Is that it?" She noted that the fish was delicious.
"Well, no. And then he said he'd see me around later," Anna ended with a full grin on her face. "Do you think that means, like, a date?" In between sentences she shoveled food into her mouth, ravenous as always.
Elsa laughed, feeling a genuine smile come to her face. She polished off her potatoes. "I don't know, Anna. Why don't you ask him out and see what happens?"
The younger girl blushed the color of raspberries. "D-don't be ridiculous!"
The sisters shared a precious moment of laughter together that then led to a serious note.
Elsa patted her mouth daintily. The juxtaposition of her unkempt look and impeccable manners always jarred Anna. It just showed how not okay her sister was.
"I'm thinking of getting a part-time job."
"What?!" Anna exclaimed, partially chewed food spraying across the table in her surprise.
Elsa took a deep breath and let it out with control, closing her eyes. "I know how hard you've been working, Anna, and I appreciate it so much. I know I've…" Her throat clenched. "…I know I've been difficult to live with since Mom and Dad, and I want to make it up to you."
"Elsa, you don't have to make up anything to me. That's what family is for." Anna could hardly believe her ears. "I don't want you needlessly pushing yourself because you feel guilty. You should just concentrate on getting better. How about trying therapy again?"
Elsa was gripping her fork so tightly she thought it would snap in two. "I don't want to go to therapy," she enunciated slowly. "It's too much money and I hated all the meds they put me on—you know that!"
Anna chewed the inside of her cheek. "I just don't want you to get a job and then get stressed and…go back to how you were again."
All the food Elsa had just ate seemed to sit heavily in her stomach like a lump of clay. Anna had been so good to her all these years and she was just the shitty older sister who didn't do anything but stay in her room and cry all day. She was so useless.
"I think the job will be good for me," she said firmly. "I hate feeling like you have to take care of me, and I think this will be a good step. Maybe if this helps I can start looking into taking my SATs, too."
Anna twisted her fingers tightly in her lap, feeling completely absurd that she was scared of the change she had been praying for. "Just promise me that if things get tough you'll quit, okay? We still have Mom and Dad's money and that should help us out for a few years."
"I promise, and I know." Elsa looked into her sister's green eyes. "Thanks."
Anna returned a watery smile. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
They ate the chocolate cake in silence.
"Do you see her, Sven?" Kristoff asked the overweight Bernese Mountain Dog who sat thumping his tail loudly on the floor.
"Yeah she's right there, go say hi!" Kristoff answered himself in a dopey voice, mimicking what he thought his dog would sound like. It was a childish habit, and he only did it when no one was around.
Kristoff peered around the corner again, looking straight at the reception desk. Anna was sitting there, her copper hair parted just so and her freckles looking as cute as ever. He strolled over to her, Sven in tow, whistling in a way he hoped was nonchalant.
"Hey Anna!" he greeted when he got to the desk.
Anna yelped and looked up, panicked. "Oh my God, Kristoff you scared me!"
The large man smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"You're so big I can't believe I completely missed you," Anna teased, noticing that he had indeed filled out in the shoulders some since last summer. "Oh and hi Sven!" She surreptitiously handed the dog a carrot. Anna always kept a supply in her desk drawer for the canine. Reason number 508 why he was completely in love with her. God she was so perfect.
"How've you been?" he ventured. Wow what a stupid thing to say, he mentally wailed.
"Good!" she said warmly. "Elsa might be coming here to work, you know." Kristoff noticed that her eyes were shining brightly in excitement but also anxiousness.
"Is that, err, good?" he asked. It was so easy to carry on a conversation with Anna. She did all the talking for you. Reason number 374.
Anna lowered her voice conspiratorially and Kristoff didn't hesitate to lean in. He could count the freckles on her nose at this proximity. He swallowed hard.
"I think so. It'll be good that she's around people, but I just don't want anyone giving her a hard time."
"Oh don't you worry about that," he said with more conviction than he felt. "If anyone bothers her, Sven and I will bother them."
"Oh, Kristoff," Anna breathed, a wide smile lighting up her entire face. She wrapped her arms around him as much as she could with a desk in between. "You're the best!"
Kristoff could swear his heart had stopped beating. When she let go he refused to make eye contact with her. "It's really no problem," he assured, his eyes fixated on a particularly interesting spot on the floor. "Elsa's your sister and you're one of my best, uh…" don't say the damning word, you idiot, don't say it— "friends and so therefore she's a friend of mine." Goddammit. He had basically just sealed his own sentence.
"I didn't know you had friends besides that dog," a smooth voice interjected.
Double goddammit.
Kristoff straightened up and faced the lanky boy next to him. "Hans," he said coolly.
Hans' eyes fell to Kristoff's nametag, making a big show of reading it although Kristoff knew for a fact the slimeball knew his name.
"Christopher, could you leave me alone with Anna for a minute?" What a dick.
"Sure," Kristoff grunted, walking stiffly away. Sven followed, after whining for another carrot, which Anna promptly gave him along with a quick parting pat on the furry head.
"Hey Hans!"
The note of excitement in Anna's voice carried all the way to Kristoff's ears, causing his heart to plummet to his feet. This is the worst.