When Elsa woke up next morning, she had to take a few seconds before she remembered what she had done yesterday. Yawning, she went through the previous day in her mind. There was a girl with unbelievably long hair. Had it really been that long? No way … But it had, hadn't it? That was certainly the weirdest thing she had ever seen. Except for her own powers, of course. Rapunzel. That was her name. Quite a peculiar name, for quite a peculiar girl.
Then there was Merida. Rapunzel had the weirdest hair, no question there, but Merida certainly made the second place. Her hair was nothing less than wild. It was actually kind of adorable, that mane, if she might say so. And the girls was really nice as well, although she seemed a little … raw. If that made any sense.
In the end, there was Hiccup and Astrid. They had seemed like lovely people as well. As Elsa had understood it, Hiccup's father had a suspicion that he was gay, though Hiccup said he was not. Astrid seemed like a good friend of his, even if they seemed like complete different people. Hiccup was calm, while Astrid, judging by what Elsa had heard, had had multiple "play fights" that looked like real fights, with Merida.
They were a bunch of characteristic people, Elsa thought. A bit eccentric, too. But not so much that Elsa felt uncomfortable around them. At least not so that she couldn't get used to it, after a while.
And Anna had seemed to get along with them too.
A knock on the door brought the blonde out of her thoughts. She slid out of her bed and waggled over to the door to unlock it. When she opened up, her father was looking back at her.
"I wasn't able to talk to you yesterday," he said. "How did it go? Are you ready to go back?"
Elsa suppressed a sigh. She was happy that her father cared so much, but the fact that he put so little trust in her was more than a little annoying. Even if it was for her own good, and everyone else's.
"It went fine," Elsa said. "I even met some people."
Her father frowned. "People you can be friends with?" he asked.
She nodded. At least she hoped that they could be friends.
He smiled, and nodded back. "Alright," he said. "Just be careful."
"Of course." the blonde said. "I always am."
Downstairs at the breakfast table, Anna was sitting half asleep while eating her cereal. Their mother was standing by the kitchen counter brewing coffee. Their father had already gone, to an important meeting or something. Elsa hadn't really paid attention.
The blonde had never been a light sleeper, and since she had never gone to school, it wasn't often she got up this early, and she definitely couldn't remember last time she had participated in these lazy morning activities, if she had at all.
"Good morning, Elsa." their mother said. "I'm honestly surprised you got up this early."
"Yeah, me too." Elsa mumbled, as she sat down.
Anna looked up, and smiled lazily at her. "Good morning." she murmured.
She couldn't help but smile back. "Good morning, Anna."
Their mother put her coffee mug at the table as she too sat down. "Well, girls," she said, looking at them both expectantly. "How did it go yesterday?"
Both she and their father had been away due to something at work, and hadn't gotten home until really late, and Anna and Elsa had already gone to bed by that time.
Elsa shifted in her seat, and she started pouring herself some cereal. "I met some people." she said carefully, not looking up. She knew how surprised her mother would look.
"Really? Who?" she asked excitedly.
Elsa shrugged. "The first girl, Rapunzel, invited me to eat lunch with them. So I said yes."
Her mother was quiet for a few seconds. "Rapunzel?" she repeated, her voice thoughtful. Elsa glanced at her. Then suddenly she gasped. "That Rapunzel? The one with the ridiculously long hair?"
"Yeah!" Anna shot in. "That's her! What's with that hair?"
"I think she holds the world record for longest hair." their mother said. "But she isn't in any record books or anything. I don't think her guardians want her to have anything to do with the media. The rumors come and go, you know, about her. How funny that you met her."
"She's in my class." Elsa said, not particularly liking how their mother was speaking of her, like she was some entertaining freak. "And she's really nice."
"There's this other girl called Merida, too. She's from Scotland!" Anna said. "And there's Hiccup and Astrid. They're really cool too."
"Hiccup?" their mother asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, it's an unusual name." Anna giggled, before she got a thoughtful look in her face. "I don't really know, but … I think he plays for the other team."
Elsa gave her a look. Hiccup had clearly said he wasn't gay.
Their mother raised an eyebrow. "You mean … He's gay?" she asked slowly. Elsa didn't like the tone in the voice.
"No," the blonde said, a little sterner than she had planned. "He told us he wasn't."
Her mother looked mildly surprised. "Alright, but I mean … If he has to confirm it like that, don't you think there's a possibility-"
"Mom," Elsa felt a little bad for interrupting like that, but she continued anyway. "If he says he's not gay, he's not gay. You can't just presume someone's sexuality like that."
"Maybe he hasn't figured it out yet?" her mother suggested, shrugging.
The blonde shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said. "If he finds someone one day of the same gender and he decides his sexuality is something else than what he says now, then that will be for that day. But now, he is hetero, and that's just the way it is."
Her mother smiled. "You certainly have a strong opinion about this, Elsa."
Elsa looked at her for a second, before adverting her gaze. "Well, I have to, don't I? About everything, I mean. If I'm going to be a lawyer."
Their mother laughed lightly. "You're right," she beamed. They sat for a little while in silence as they ate their breakfast, letting the guys on the radio do the talking. Then, their mother stood up. "Well, I think it's time for you two to get going."
Anna groaned loudly as she got up from her seat. She downed the rest of her juice, before she hobbled over to get her bag. Elsa got up as well, grabbing an apple from the kitchen counter, and stifled a laugh. Anna had always been slightly grumpy in the mornings. Not that Elsa was much different, but few people knew that.
"Have a good day at school!" their mother said. "And Elsa,"
Elsa turned to her, though she knew what was coming.
"Call me if anything happens, ok?"
"Of course, mom." she said. "But it's ok. It's going to be ok." She smiled and turned to Anna, who was looking confused, but Elsa ignored that.
"There she is!" Rapunzel whined as Elsa stepped into the classroom, making the latter look up in surprise. Merida and Rapunzel were sitting opposite of each other on a pair of tables, both grinning at her like they knew something she didn't.
"Good morning …" Elsa said cautiously. "What's going on?"
"Weeeell," Rapunzel started melodiously. "We thought that maybe, since you and Anna doesn't have many … relations-" Merida scoffed, and sent her a look, in which Rapunzel shrugged. "… We thought that we could have a little gathering or something! With everyone!"
"We haven't asked yet, but we thought of asking Astrid if we could come to her." Merida added.
"It would be so fun! We could have like a picnic in the garden, and play card games, or video games, and watch loads of movies-"
"I don't think we will have time to do all of that, though."
"Oh, you're right …" Rapunzel suddenly gasped. "We could make it a sleepover!"
"Is that a little too soon? I mean, I don't have anything against it, but I don't want to scare them away either." Merida laughed.
"It'll be fine!" Rapunzel said and waved her hand. "That way we have time to do all the things! We can stay up all night and tell ghost stories or watch scary movies! Maybe Astrid has a scary game we can play! And we can bake brownies or something! What do you think, Elsa?" She beamed.
Elsa blinked once before she found her voice. "I…" she started, but trailed off. Folding her hands nervously, she looked down at the floor, desperately searching for a way to cancel those plans. Rapunzel seemed so excited … It was a shame that Elsa was the way she was, she just couldn't risk it. Maybe if she knew them better, much, much better, she might have come, but she had only known them a day after all. These guys really were outgoing, maybe a little too outgoing for Elsa. But on the other hand, that might be just what she needed.
The question was, would she risk it? What if she lost control? What if they asked her to take of her gloves? Or worse, what if they really weren't those nice people they seemed to be?
"Elsa."
She glanced up at Merida, who had said her name.
The redhead was looking back at her with clear concern in her blue eyes. Her head tilted slightly to the side, brows fused in both confusion and worry. "We understand if you don't wanna. It is kinda scary with new people, I agree." she said softly.
Elsa smiled warmly back at her, a little surprised that Merida was the one who said this. She guess she had misjudged her for being "raw" or wild or whatever. "Thank you, Merida." she said, averting her eyes. "I … I guess I could try."
Rapunzel gasped happily.
"But!" Elsa said sharply, before she sighed. "I don't think I can stay the night."
"Oh," Rapunzel said, and pouted. However, she was smiling again just half a second after. "Well! We'll just make the best of it!"
Elsa smiled back, though her insides were aching with anxiety already.
"So, a sleepover at my place?" Astrid said, sipping her juice. They were sitting at the lunch table again, in the same spots as yesterday. Elsa guessed they had subconsciously chosen their own respective seats at the lunch table. Anna had yet to join them.
"Yes." Rapunzel nodded, leaning across the table. She was looking at Astrid with what could be described as a puppy-dog stare, and it seemed to be working.
"I, ah…" Astrid scratched her cheek, and looked to the side. "I can ask, but I don't know anything yet. Don't get your hopes up."
Rapunzel shrugged. "Alright," she sing-songed, and sat down again. "It's always fun to be at your place, Astrid. There's more things to do."
"Well, it's more things to do at Hiccup's. It's just you who have a vivid imagination. Astrid countered. "Not saying it's a bad thing though. It's a part of your charm."
Rapunzel giggled, and waved her hand. "Oh, you flatter me." she joked, but Elsa swore she could see a slight dust of red on her cheeks.
Astrid smiled at the other girl, no, she smirked at the other girl, in which Rapunzel laughed and mumbled "don't look at me like that". Hiccup and Merida shared a deadpan look. Elsa didn't quite know what was going on, but she had already started to get used to that, being with this group.
"But, Elsa, you're not going to sleep over?" Hiccup asked, silencing the two blondes.
Elsa shook her head. "Rather not. I … prefer sleeping in my own bed, if you understand." she said quietly, not looking him directly in the eyes.
"Oh, I see." he simply said.
Seconds later, Anna appeared, smiling like always. "Hey, guys." she said, and her smile turned a little bit shy. Elsa smiled back at her, trying to look encouraging.
"Hello, Anna." she answered, followed by greetings from the others. "What took you so long?"
Anna blinked at her once, before she adverted her eyes. "Aah … I just got held up." she said, clearly lying. Elsa arched an eyebrow.
"By who?" she said. If it had been a teacher that had held her back after class, she wouldn't have reacted the way that she did.
"No one." she mumbled innocently, and sat down. Her cheeks were slightly red.
"A boy, then?" the older sister guessed. Her voice wasn't exactly happy.
Anna just giggled.
"You in love, Anna?" Merida said mockingly. Elsa had understood that Merida wasn't a big fan of love. Well, at least she seemed pretty tired of the topic.
"Noo…" Anna murmured, before she sighed. "I just ran into this guy, y'know? And I tripped and he caught me before I hit the ground, and well … He didn't get angry or anything. So we had a little chat, and …" She made a dramatic pause. "… He asked for my number."
Rapunzel gasped. Elsa did too, although a little quieter, and not in the manner of which Rapunzel did it. "Who is he?" they said in unison, Rapunzel excitedly, Elsa worriedly.
Call her overprotective, but no one was wearier of people than Elsa was.
Anna shrugged, completely missing Elsa's tone. "I don't know … yet." she said, dramatically pausing again. "All I know is that his name is Hans."
The whole table exploded. Rapunzel almost got up from her seat, Hiccup screeched "what?", Merida let out a surprised bark and Astrid seemed like she got juice up her nose. Both of the sisters looked at the group with the same surprised expression.
"Hans? That schmuck?" Merida yelled, before she laughed loudly. They got a few odd looks from the passing students.
"I would have been careful with him, if I were you…" Hiccup said uncertainly.
Astrid was getting tears in her eyes from the coughing.
Anna blinked. "Wh- What do you mean?" she stuttered.
The group got awfully quiet, until Rapunzel interrupted. "Hm… Anna, I haven't really spoken to that guy before, but you know how the rumors spread." she said carefully.
Anna looked kind of hurt, kind of offended. "You can't judge a person based on rumors!" she countered, crossing her arms. "He seemed like a very nice guy!"
"What does the rumors say?" Elsa asked.
"That he's a douche." Merida answered.
"And a player." Astrid added.
"And that he's gay." Hiccup said, before waving his hands slightly. "Not that it's a bad thing, just that if he really is gay, then he wouldn't want to be with a girl."
"I haven't heard that, but I guess you have this gaydar, eh, Hiccup?" Merida mocked, earning a slap from Rapunzel.
"Merida, haven't you heard that? I've heard that." Astrid said.
Merida snorted. "Well, you're kinda gay as well, aren't you?"
"Jesus, Merida, if we follow your logic, everyone in this group is a fucking homosexual." Astrid complained, rolling her eyes.
"Guys, can we, like, for once keep focused." Rapunzel said, and put a hand to her forehead.
"Right. Hans." Merida said, and looked at Anna. "I don't mean to be a partypooper, Anna, but be careful around that guy."
"Anna," Elsa said, and turned to her sister. "If anything happens, don't hesitate to contact me, ok?"
"Any of us, for that matter." Rapunzel added, and the others nodded approvingly,
Elsa turned to the others. She got more and more impressed with their friendliness for each day, it seemed. Anna, however, seemed conflicted. Should she be angry or should she be grateful? Either way, she didn't say anything.
Merida smiled at Elsa. "Don't worry," she said. "We got both of your backs."
The sisters were just about to leave the school grounds when Merida caught up with them.
"Merida?" Elsa asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. The redhead was out of breath when she walked up to them.
"Hey, guys." she breathed. "I don't really know where you live, but I did run into you yesterday so I guess we live in the same direction." She pointed in the general direction of Elsa's house.
"Oh, we live in Eastpond." Anna said and grinned. No hard feelings apparently. Anna wasn't the type to be angry for too long.
"Oh, I live a little further than that." Merida said, and grinned back. "On Rae Road. But it's still in the same direction."
"Do you want to walk home with us?" Anna asked excitedly. Elsa stifled a laugh. Her sister was like a puppy. A very stubborn, though excited, puppy. She had told her that once, that she reminded her of a dog, in which she said "Well, you're like a cat". Elsa had never gotten an explanation of why she thought that.
"Sure! I was going to ask anyway." Merida said.
The three of them started walking. Elsa glanced over at Merida. "Doesn't most people know where the mayor lives? At least when you live so close?" she asked curiously.
Merida gave a half-hearted laugh and pushed a red lock out of her face. "I'm not very orientated that way. I have gone to a lot of places, and I've probably passed your house loads of times, without knowing that the mayor lives there," she explained. "It's typical. I've been to many places, but I don't know the names of those places, or anything about them."
"Why, do you travel a lot?" Elsa asked. She noticed that Merida gestured a lot with her hands while she spoke, and that her curls bounced everywhere when she did that.
"Yeah! I ride Angus a lot, and I love to find new places with beautiful nature and stuff." Merida said. "And at the same time, places where I can practice archery."
"Archery?" Anna exclaimed, before Elsa got her chance. "You do archery? And you have a horse?"
"Yes!" Merida replied, sounding proud. "You should come to my house once and play with Angus!"
The girls kept on walking while Merida and Anna led most of the conversation. Elsa, naturally not being too familiar with socialization, only shot in a few questions here and there, but she enjoyed listening to them. It was nice to look at her sister warming up to both herself and Elsa's new friends, especially after so many years where she only had only seen her once or twice a week, much less spoken to her. Anna had kept many of the traits that she had before the accident, and before Elsa shut herself away, like the way she absolutely couldn't hide away any emotions, or the way she folded her arms when she got slightly nervous or uncomfortable (they had that in common). But she could now see the things she had missed before; the way she slid away her bangs even when they weren't in the way, the way it seemed like she was constantly skipping when she walked, and the way her head fell slightly backwards every time she laughed, no matter the intensity of it.
At the same time, she found herself watching, no actually, ogling, at Merida. Sure, Elsa hadn't met many people in her life, but she was sure that the Scot was one of a kind: First of all it was her hair. She had thought about this many, many times already, but her hair was really one of the most amazing things she had seen. Sure, Rapunzel's hair was a little bit more impressive, but Merida's was incredible as well. How could she even control all those curls? Did she even control them? And how could hair be that vibrant naturally? It was like fixed fire, and physical sunrays in the evening. Elsa couldn't help but wanting to touch it, though of course, that would have been really strange.
There was also her voice. Her accent was of course Scottish, and clearly so. It was very strong, and it grew even stronger when she got aggravated or excited. The way she talked, now overlooking that brilliant accent, made her sound strong and independent, even when she was just casually talking. She sounded secure. She was in almost every way the complete opposite of Elsa herself.
Merida finally glanced over at her, and the blonde adverted her eyes. It wasn't nice to stare. Though, it was hard not to, when it came to this girl.
"What is it?" she asked.
Elsa looked over at them again. "Nothing. I'm sorry," She smiled awkwardly at Merida. "I was just looking at your hair. It's very pretty."
Merida blinked once, clearly surprised. "Oh," She grinned, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Thanks! You have really pretty hair as well, though."
"Really?" She looked at her braid. "It's … It's nearly white. I always think that it makes me look old, at least from behind." She laughed half-heartedly.
Both Merida and Anna gave her a weird look. "It really doesn't," Merida said.
"Nope!" Anna agreed.
"In fact, it looks sort of … I don't know, fairytale-like?" Merida suggested, and tilted her head to the side. "You know, like a snow queen or something."
Elsa raised her eyebrows in surprise. "A snow queen?" she repeated, and something between laughter and fright filled her voice. That was beyond appropriate.
"Yeah! Because it's so white, it almost looks like-"
Anna's phone started ringing.
"Oh! Sorry," Anna said, smiling apologetically to Merida. She picked up her phone. "Hello? Oh, hey mom!"
The younger sister slowed down her pace so that she walked behind the two other girls while she spoke on the phone. Elsa smiled slightly at Merida and shrugged.
"As I was saying," Merida continued. "It almost looks like snow, you know? It's really cool!"
"Well, thank you, Merida." Elsa said. "However, your hair is way more extraordinary."
"I think we are both beaten by Rapunzel, though." the Scot pointed out. They both laughed.
"About that …" Elsa started carefully, and adverted her eyes slightly.
"'Why is Punzes' hair so long'?" Merida finished.
The blonde chuckled quietly. "Yes," she said. "Is it okay to ask about that now?"
"Yeah, sure, but I don't really know any more than you do." Merida shrugged. "Just don't ask Punz about it. She hasn't talked about it before, and she probably never will, at least not in a while. If you ask her about it, she either gets kind of … passive aggressive, or she simply ignores it. I mean, if you ask about it, she'll probably just explain that she doesn't like to talk about it, but I think she assumes that one of us has already told you that. Which we have."
Elsa nodded. "I see," she muttered. "So she hasn't said anything at all?"
"Nope. Only that it's personal. It's quite mysterious, all in all."
Elsa looked up. Mysterious, eh? What if … What if Rapunzel had something special. Like Elsa, maybe she too had some kind of power? Elsa had many times wondered if there was someone else out in the world like her, and of course, she already knew a boy who was, but more like a next to normal person, and not practically the personification of winter. The chances that she would meet someone like her was slim, but… What if?
She mentally shook her head. She couldn't think like that. The chance was slim, and even if Rapunzel's hair was way too long to be normal, she couldn't let herself get her hopes up like that. And if Rapunzel was anything like Elsa, she could imagine that that secret was something she wanted to keep secret.
"It's okay to be curious about it." Merida said, and nudged Elsa a little bit. She must have been giving off a gloomy vibe. "We all have our secrets anyway, but it doesn't stop people from wondering."
"Yeah, I know." Elsa said, and smiled.
Merida smiled back.
"Elsa!" Anna suddenly exclaimed, making both the other girls jump. "Mom's out visiting some friends, so we're gonna be home alone for a while!"
Elsa looked at her. "Okay …?" she said slowly. It wasn't infrequent that the two of them were home alone.
"And ..." Anna looked from Elsa to Merida expectantly. "I was wondering if maybe Merida wanted to come visit, now that you're here already! If you want to, of course." She grinned at the other redhead.
Elsa felt like her head exploded.
"Sure, my mum probably won't mind." Merida answered, and grinned back.
No. No, no, no, no, no!
What if Merida wanted to see her room? What if there were ice stains on the window or something? What if she found her diary? Elsa didn't take Merida as the type to read other people diaries without permission, but she would never know. She barely knew the girl!
"Amazing!" Anna said, and clapped her hands together. "I think we have hot chocolate, if you like that."
"I love hot chocolate!" Merida cheered.
Elsa's heart pounded. She didn't really have anything to be afraid of, did she? But she was. She was very afraid. She was, annoyingly enough, always afraid of the smallest things. And even if she knew that her fear was irrational, it didn't go away!
Merida interrupted her thoughts. "Elsa? Are you alright?"
She glanced carefully at the Scot, before adverting her eyes again. "I …" she started, but didn't know how to continue. Her lips quivered. "I … I'm sorry, I just haven't really had anyone visiting before …" she finished lamely.
A silence settled between them. Then, Merida actually giggled.
"It's okay." she said. "I won't go anywhere I'm not supposed to go, and I promise I won't break anything."
"Besides, Merida seems like the most harmless person ever, so she can be a good start, you know!" Anna added cheerfully.
"Harmless?" Merida exclaimed. "I take offense! You should see me with my bow!" She laughed merrily. Then, she looked softly at Elsa. "But, sure. I'm not the villain of this fairytale."
Elsa blinked at her. Had she just referenced to their earlier conversation?
"It'll be fiiiiiiine!" Anna sing-songed. "It'll be fun!"
Elsa hesitated a few seconds, before she sighed. A small smile tugged at her lips. "I guess you're right," she said, willing her fear away the best she could.
"Awesome." Merida said. "Let's go, then."
When the three made it to their house, Merida's first comment was an astonished gasp. "This house is huge!" she exclaimed just as they made it inside the gate. "I mean, I expected it to, being the mayor's home and all, but still!"
"It's not that big, is it?" Elsa asked quietly, and gave Anna a glance. There were many big houses around this neighborhood, and since Elsa wasn't so familiar with other places than this, she thought her house was quite the average size.
"Well, my house is kind of big as well, but that's because it's surrounded by fields it might seem a little smaller than it actually is." Merida rambled. "But this house is still definitely bigger."
Anna walked them through the front door, which led them to the kitchen. Down a small staircase, you could see part of the living room, and over the living room was a small loft for watching television, linked to the living room with a slim staircase leading up to it.
"There's a second and third floor as well, though the third floor is more like an attic," Anna explained. "That's where Elsa's room is. My room is on the second floor. There's a basement too, but that's more like our parents' territory, kind of."
"So you two kind of have the top two floors for yourselves?" Merida asked.
"Well, more like the second floor for me and third floor for Elsa." Anna tried to shrug nonchalantly, but Elsa could clearly see that there was some kind of awkwardness, or hurt, hidden in that sentence. She felt a knot of guilt form in her gut.
Apparently, Merida could not see this.
"Huh, why is that? Are you guys just sitting by yourself at home or something?" she said, and smiled jokingly.
The two sisters became awfully quiet. Elsa could practically feel an invisible wall appear between them, and the air in the room suddenly became much heavier. For once, it was she who broke the silence, though she didn't really know what to say. "It's … uh, it's because I am studying a lot, while Anna is out more or doing her own thing." she explained, but even as the spoke those words, the lump in her gut became bigger. She knew that she had shut Anna out, and Anna knew it just as well, and to hide that with such a simple reason like that felt like pouring salt into the wound that she had surely put on her sister.
"Oh, I see. That makes sense." Merida said.
"Okaaay, so you want hot chocolate?" Anna said, and bounced away. Elsa wasn't sure if Merida had noticed the little pause in the conversation at all, but the way her little sister had jumped from one topic to the other, it was pretty obvious that she was avoiding something. Elsa gave Merida a small smile, trying, but failing, to make the situation a little less awkward.
"We also have tea and coffee, and if you're hungry we can …" Anna stopped to open the fridge. "… Uh, well, I'm sure we figure something out. I'm not very good at making food." She grinned sheepishly.
Merida made a pained expression. "We also have homework we need to do." she said flatly.
Anna groaned. "Me too," she murmured.
"We can eat first," Elsa said, and smiled a little bit. "Then we'll do it. There isn't that much to do today anyway. We can manage."
"Yes, good idea." Anna said while nodding. She started rummaging around in the cabinet. "Well, we can make waffles."
Merida's face lit up. "Yes!" she said loudly, before laughing awkwardly. "Sorry. I love waffles!"
"Then we'll make that, and hope we don't screw up!" Anna said, and snorted. "Hopefully we won't screw up … that would be kind of embarrassing. This should be easy."
"Are you good at making food, Merida?" Elsa asked, shooting her a worried look. She didn't have any idea herself.
"Not really …" Merida answered. "But it'll be cool! You know Hiccup should've been here, he's great at making food."
The two of them joined Anna in the kitchen.
"Really?" Anna asked, as she opened the package. "Are you sure he's not queer in any way?"
"Anna!" Elsa scolded. Merida just laughed.
"I don't really know, but we all like to tease him about it," she said. "Wouldn't say anything for sure, though. He and Astrid seems to have some chemistry, but they've been friends for so long without anything changing. So either they've been secretly dating without anyone knowing, or they're too afraid of ruining their friendship by being more than friends, or they're not interested. We just don't know."
Anna nodded. "What about Rapunzel?"
"Rapunzel?" Merida asked confusedly. "She doesn't seem very gay to me."
Anna laughed, and shook her head. "No, I mean, does she have any, y'know, love interests?"
Merida frowned. "… I don't think so." she said slowly. "Maybe. She's a romantic, but surprisingly she hasn't had any boyfriends before. People find her a little bit unreachable, I think. Our clique as a whole are sort of known as "those weirdoes", so … Sorry to drag you two into that." She smiled smugly, not sorry at all.
"Why is that?" Elsa asked carefully.
"Why we're weird?" the redhead arched an eyebrow. "Well, you have Punz, with her crazy long hair. Seriously, her hair sometimes keeps me up at night. Even after all these years, I'm still like 'what the hell' sometimes. But you somehow get used to it. Then you have Astrid and Hiccup, who are actually the most normal of us, yet they are still seen as weird by the rest of their class. Hiccup is by the way known for his ultimate puberty transformation. You should have seen him like two years ago." She stopped to laugh a little bit. "He was this weak little boy whose voice kept cracking. It was hilarious. And then there's Astrid, who just gives of this intimidating aura, as you probably have already noticed." She looked at Anna and Elsa questioningly.
"I don't … think she's intimidating." Elsa tried timidly, but it only gave Merida another reason to laugh.
"Yeah, Elsa, you're … not very good at lying." she said, and smiled apologetically. "Well, I thought she was going to be this huge asshole when I first met her, but she turned out to be really great. She is also so amazingly strong, both physically and mentally. In other words, a great friend, and a great ally. You wouldn't want to be her enemy, to put it simple."
Elsa gave her a disbelieving stare. Merida ignored that.
"So people just kind of avoids her. And then you have me. The crazy Scot who has no style whatsoever." She pointed at her hair. "They might have a point there; I am not very picky with my appearance. But at least I am myself, you know?" She grinned stupidly, and Elsa couldn't help but smile warmly at her.
"Plus, I am also known as a prude, since I haven't dated any guys, because believe it or not, guys have asked me out before." She made a mock shocked expression. "Other people just think I'm a closeted lesbian."
Elsa looked questioningly at her. "Well …" She frowned nervously. "What are you, then?"
The Scot turned to look at Elsa. Her gaze was thoughtful, yet it still managed to look somewhat mischievous. Elsa couldn't help but to be reminded of her icy friend. "I, ah …" Merida started. "I haven't thought much about it, actually. But I do like to keep all my doors open, so I'm up for whatever."
Elsa returned the stare, though she weren't completely sure what she should say to this.
"That's a nice way to look at it." Anna commented. "I wish I could think of it that way as well, but I'm afraid I exclusively like dic-"
"Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, her cheeks flaming. "Don't be so vulgar!"
Both the redheads laughed, making her cheeks redden even more.
"Anyway," Merida said, smiling amused. "Let's make those waffles, shall we?"
Elsa looked helplessly at her, still blushing furiously, but sighed and smiled lightly. "Sure." she murmured.
Anna's room was full of posters of her favorite actors and artists, and other celebrities. Her walls were pink and white, and her door was painted with a beautiful flower pattern. She had a red canopied, and her sheets were absolutely not made. Apart from that, her room was basically clean, with an exception for a few books lying around. You wouldn't take Elsa's whimsical little sister for a clean freak, which she wasn't either, but she definitely didn't like mess.
"Oh, cool bed." Merida commented. "I had one like that before too, only smaller. It's a long time ago though."
"This is actually kinda old too." Anna said. "Got it when I was little sometime. I've had it for as long as I can remember."
Elsa smiled at that, a little too sadly maybe. She had gotten that bed before the accident.
"So, Elsa." Merida said, kicking her out of the sad thoughts that was slowly forming in her head. "Are you gonna show me your room?"
Elsa blinked, her mouth falling slightly open. "I…" she started weakly. "I haven't cleaned up."
"I don't really care about that." Merida said, and giggled. "You should see my room."
"Oh, well …" She started fidgeting with her hands. "I don't know, it's …" She looked up at Anna, who were looking back at her just as expectantly. She hadn't seen Elsa room in forever either.
Elsa took a deep breath. "Sure …" she breathed, trying not to sound like she was close to having an anxiety attack.
The three girls walked out of Anna's room and started climbing the stairs to the third floor, which was just Elsa's room, a bathroom, and a small cupboard that they didn't really use for anything. When they were standing outside of Elsa's room, Elsa had to force her slowly building anxiety away. She was 99 percent sure there were ice stains or something else in that style somewhere in the room. Merida and Anna were going to start asking questions. What should she say? She could just play along, being just as confused as they were. But Merida had said she was a bad liar.
She closed her eyes, and opened the door.
The seconds of silence that passed felt like minutes.
"There isn't even any mess here." Merida said, sounding almost disappointed.
Elsa opened her eyes. A little too loud sigh escaped her, before she shut her mouth.
"Except for over there, by the window." Anna pointed out, and Elsa gave her a look.
"It's just books, though." Merida said. "Please don't tell me all those books are school books." She looked at Elsa. Elsa shrugged helplessly.
The Scot sighed heavily. "You really are a nerd." she said, but waved her hands apologetically at Elsa's hurt expression. "In the best of ways, of course!"
The blonde smiled tightly, but she wasn't too happy with that comment.
The phone starting ringing downstairs. "I'll get it!" Anna said quickly, and waltzed out of the room.
Merida walked over to the window, gasping a little bit. "What a view!" she said amazed. "You can see the whole town!"
Elsa followed her, stopping awkwardly beside her. "Yes," she said, the wheels turning in her head while she searched for something to say. Socialization was much easier when Anna did all the, well, socialization. "It sort of … calms me down, you know? It's a convenient place to study and be alone, and to collect my thoughts."
"Why were you so afraid of showing me your room?" Merida asked. She sounded just a little bit curious, but Elsa was sure that she was actually way more confused of this than she wanted to admit. Which was, of course, understandable. God, Elsa had to seem like such a weirdo. "It's very pretty."
"Thank you," Elsa said. She definitely didn't know how to explain it though. "I …" Her voice sounded hoarse. Why did she have to be so anxious all the time? She didn't even have much to be anxious about right now, but her heart had been in her throat ever since Merida had stepped through their door. Slowly, she lifted her hand to the window, carefully touching the glass carefully. She could only shrug. "I don't know."
Merida looked at her. "You seem to not know a lot," she said quietly, as if she was afraid of hurting the other girl.
Elsa just smiled weakly. "I guess I do," she replied. She adverted her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Having to walk out into this … society and high school life after being for myself for many, many years has been …" She balled her hand into a fist as she struggled to find the words. Her heart pounded. "Well, it's not as bad as I have often feared it would be, but it's still been quite a shock. I guess over the years I have become somewhat nervous of social interactions, and even opening up about this makes my gut complain in disapproval, and I don't think that that will change any time soon. So even if my room didn't have any-" Her voice hoarsened, and she cleared her throat. "I apologize. So even if my room didn't have any … any faults, my mind might have overreacted and-"
A hand was on her shoulder. She looked over to the other girl.
"It's fine, Elsa." she said. Her face, though smiling, was serious. "I understand."
The blonde stared at her for a couple of seconds, before she smiled back. "Thank you, Merida." she breathed, and let her hand fall from the glass.
Merida smiled at her for a few more short moments, before something else caught her attention. "Is that-" She frowned and stared out the window. Elsa followed her gaze before she realized the Scot wasn't looking out the window; she was looking at it. This time, Elsa was sure her heart would finally leap out of her throat. "Is that frost?"
The blonde stood still like a statue, just looking at that small pattern of ice that had formed on the window. She had done that. She had done it while opening up to Merida, she just knew it, and she hadn't even noticed! "It can't be," she almost whispered, silent fear sneaking into her voice. She hoped Merida didn't notice.
"I know, right? It's not that cold outside! Or is it?" the redhead speculated. "Maybe the temperature dropped while we were inside. Let's open the window!"
The Scot reached over to open the lock, but as soon as her hands touched the glass, she snapped her hand back, a small, surprised yelp escaping her. "That's cold! What the fuck?" she swore, and gave Elsa a look that was so mystified, Elsa would have laughed if she wasn't completely frozen. No pun intended.
Merida gave her a weird look. "Aren't you gonna touch it? It's literally freezing!" She looked at the window again. "This doesn't make any sen-"
"Merida!" Anna called, and pushed the door open. "Mom just said that it's a storm coming on so you better get home before that!"
"Oh, that's right." Elsa said, a little too fatly. "I forgot about that. You should get home before it starts raining."
Merida just looked at her. Her eyes uttered nothing but confusion.
"Well, if you want to, you can wait until mom gets home, then maybe she can dri-"
"No, it's fine." the Scot interrupted. She turned to Anna and smiled. "I don't live that far away, and it's good for the health to walk. Either way, it would probably be awkward to ask for something like that." She laughed lightly.
"Aha, yeah, I guess." Anna agreed, and laughed as well.
Elsa smiled tightly, yet she was astonished that Merida had just left the topic like that.
"Well, then I'll see you guys tomorrow." Merida said, and started walking out of the room. The sisters followed to see her out the door.
"And by the way, Elsa," she added, and looked at her. "I know we don't know each other that well, but don't hesitate to ask me for help if you ever need anything."
Elsa blinked two times before she managed to collect the words for an answer. "A- Alright. I'll …" She chuckled airily, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "I'll remember that."
Merida nodded, grinned, before heading down the stairs.
When they made it to the front door, Elsa let Anna and Merida talk, mainly because she was still relatively paralyzed by the panic that had just hit her, but also because Anna was simply better at socializing than she was. They said their goodbyes, and soon later, the bubbly redhead was out the door.
Just as soon, Anna turned to Elsa. "What is up with you?" she asked worriedly.
Elsa felt bad for being surprised. She had thought Anna would be so much of an airhead that she wouldn't notice.
"Nothing, Anna." she said half-heartedly. "I just got a little nervous."
"What happened?"
"As I said, nothing did."
"But something had to trigger it! And what was that Merida said about?"
"It's not anything important. I'm fine."
"You look like a statue!"
"Anna!" Elsa snapped. "I said: I am fine. Don't worry about me."
The blonde instantly felt bad for raising her voice upon seeing her sister's hurt expression.
"W- Well … I do." she stuttered weakly.
"Anna," Elsa said, lifting her hand a little bit, but letting it fall again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get angry. You can worry about me all you want, but I have everything under control. I won't … I won't hide again, at least not yet, if that's what you're afraid of."
"For how long, though?"
Those words struck a little too painfully. It was as if Anna, her ever so optimistic little sister, had begun doubting her, even if that wasn't the intended meaning. "I don't know," she whispered honestly. "We'll just have to see."
"Then please hold on as long as you can manage." Anna begged. "Please."
Elsa took a shuddering breath. "I'll try," she said, feeling a lump form in her throat. "I'm sorry. I need to be alone for a while."
She didn't wait for Anna to answer, neither did she meet her eyes, before she was off, heading up the stairs. She locked the door in her room and headed right for the window. Sitting down on the windowsill, she let her head lean onto the glass. Merida would still probably be wondering about that, especially after going outside and feeling the air. Why couldn't it just be winter? Everything was just easier then. Elsa pressed her lips together, willing away the tears that both came from her former panic and her little argument with her sister. She was so weak, crying over such small things.
She just wanted to stay here until winter came. Until she could be the closest to herself that she would ever be. Until he came back.
She felt stupid for missing someone who might as well could just be a figment of her of own lonely mind, but at this point she didn't really care.
She definitely wished he would come back, as soon as possible.