Chapter V

The next few days were some of the best of Anna's and Elsa's short lives. Though neither had admitted anything to the other, they were pretty sure it was obvious by way of expression and how neither of them could keep a smile off their face when in each other's presence. Anna had started hanging out with Elsa more often than her gang members and she could only pray they wouldn't ask why. Elsa could tell Anna was nervous about ignoring them, but whenever she brought it up, Anna would refuse to talk about it and immediately change the subject.

A few days following their lunch at Arendelle University, the duo had met up at Starbucks—the only difference this time was that Elsa had been expecting Anna to show up and that Elsa was actually off the clock. Anna had let it leak the day before that she had never had coffee before and—as she had been hoping—Elsa was anxious to change that.

"Yuck!" Anna exclaimed, forcing herself to refrain from spitting the beverage out. "This stuff is disgusting!"

"It does seem to be an acquired taste to some," Elsa responded with a chuckle, finding amusement in Anna's disgusted face as she stared down into her cup like the liquid was suddenly going to fly out and attack her.

"How are you on your second cup?" the redhead balked, watching as Elsa calmly took a sip from her own drink.

"You learn to depend on the stuff as a college student," was her only reply.

Anna just looked back at her cup and grimaced. "It smells so much better than it tastes."

Elsa took the cup from her and pulled it to her side of the table.

"That's because I started you out on straight-up, black coffee," Elsa explained. "Most people don't like coffee that way, but I was just curious to see if you would."

"You wanted to see me writhe around in discomfort, didn't you?" Anna questioned. "You planned that!"

Elsa laughed again as she poured a packet of sugar in Anna's coffee. "No, I didn't," she said. "Although your face was absolutely hilarious."

Anna was working to keep her blushing under control when in Elsa's presence, but having only a couple days pass, she wasn't that good at it yet. Although she was pleased they didn't light up in such a brilliant red as they were constantly doing yesterday, a pink tint was still found creeping to her cheeks today.

"There," the blonde said, pushing the cup back to Anna. "Try it now; it shouldn't be as bitter."

This time when Anna tried it, she managed to almost comfortably swallow the beverage; however it still left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.

"Better?"

Anna shook her head after a minute, the aftertaste getting to her. "A little." She pulled the container holding the sweeteners over to her. "Let me try this time."

Elsa watched, eyes wide, as Anna continued to pour five more packets of sugar into her coffee.

"Sweet tooth much?" she joked.

Anna just smiled sheepishly as she continued her work. Once she deemed it sugary enough, she tried tasting it again. This time Elsa was presented with a smile from her speckled friend.

"Much better," Anna sighed. "Nothing a little sugar couldn't fix."

"A little?"

"Shut it."

The pair shared a laugh as they continued sipping their drinks.

"I still think you're weird for liking it completely devoid of sugar," Anna muttered after a comfortable silence while staring out the window.

Thunk.

Anna looked over to Elsa briefly before she glanced at the sugar packet lying on the table in front of her.

"Did you really just throw a sugar packet at me?"

Elsa just looked away, grinning.

"Real mature," Anna laughed. "And you're supposed to be older than me?"

This time Anna saw the sugar packet flying her way and managed to catch it.

"Hah! Too slow!"

Thunk.

"Ow! That one hit me in my eye!"

By the time Elsa led Anna out of Starbucks, the elder girl was surprised Kai hadn't kicked them out for being too loud. Elsa had never laughed that much in her entire life. She found Anna's awkwardness an adorable quirk, and almost every word out of the younger's mouth made Elsa laugh or come very close to doing so.

She was a different kind of funny than Kristoff was. While he shared a more sarcastic—and sometimes perverted or rude—sense of humor with Elsa, Anna's sense of humor was just downright silly. While Elsa kept trying to assure her that her awkwardness wasn't annoying, but in fact incredibly amusing, Elsa noticed that her words gave Anna a kind of confidence she had never seen in the girl before. It was like after that, Anna was trying to be awkward just to get Elsa to laugh.

The redhead would never tell her that she had been doing exactly that.

"So, now what?" Elsa asked, as they stood on the sidewalk.

"Now what?" Anna repeated, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Elsa had started saying something, but when she saw Anna's tense form in front of her, a flash of fear in her eyes, she halted.

"Anna?"

"Shit!" the redhead cursed, staring at something behind Elsa.

"What is-?"

Before Elsa could finish, she found herself being pulled the opposite way down the sidewalk until they turned the corner into the parking lot where Elsa always parked for work. Now Anna looked visibly shaken.

"What is it, Anna?" Elsa was finally able to ask. "What's wrong?"

"The Royals," she breathed. "They were coming up behind us."

Elsa unintentionally tensed herself. "Did they see you?"

Anna shook her head, though she looked slightly uneasy.

"I don't think so," she answered. "Although I'm sure the way we darted off wasn't suspicious at all…"

Elsa suddenly became incredibly serious as she looked Anna in the eyes.

"Will they hurt you if they find out you've been with me?" she asked, her stomach beginning to roll with nerves.

Anna's answer of "I don't think so" didn't do much to qualm Elsa's rising fears.

Anna twisted a braid in her hand as she looked back and forth between Elsa and the corner.

"I…I should go catch up with them," she said, regretting the words the moment they came out. "I-I'm not choosing them over you or anything, Elsa—okay, maybe I am, but I don't mean it like the way it sounds! I just… I-!"

"Anna," Elsa cut her off, smiling softly yet still looking uncomfortable. "I get it; I understand."

"You do?" Anna asked, her voice sounding as meek as it did the night they met.

When Elsa only nodded, Anna grabbed her in a fierce hug. Elsa released a chuckle as she hugged the girl back.

"I'll come find you soon, okay?" Anna told her. "I just need to make sure they're not suspicious of anything."

"I know; I get it," Elsa repeated.

Pulling back, Anna's face was beet-red. Elsa was about to call her out on it, but before she had the chance, Anna had leaned in to give her a peck on the corner of her mouth before darting around the corner. Elsa just watched her go, the color of her face matching the girl's hair and a strange fluttering picking up in the pit of her stomach.

XxXxX

"Hah! That's the second match in a row!" Kristoff cried triumphantly as he yet again beat Elsa in a game of NBA 2K14.

When his friend didn't give him a smart retort back, Kristoff looked over.

"You're thinking," he said.

Elsa blinked and suddenly remembered where she was. "Oh! Sorry," she apologized. "I'm just distracted."

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Obviously," he huffed. "By what?"

He noticed how Elsa didn't meet his eyes as she replied. "Just this paper I have due tomorrow."

Kristoff chose to not call her out on her obvious bluff. She was apparently so distracted that she didn't realize she shared all but one class with Kristoff, and he was highly doubtful she would have a paper due in her music performance class. He took the PS3 controller from its spot on the couch beside her and turned off two-player mode, opting to play by himself instead.

"Fine, be all secretive," he said, nonchalantly. "I'll just be sitting here obliterating my opponents."

He smiled when he heard the snicker come from Elsa, but when he turned to look at her she was back off with her thoughts.

Elsa's eyes were on the TV and she was acutely aware of the fact that she was at Kristoff's playing some silly sports game, but her mind had been elsewhere ever since separating from Anna earlier that day.

Had Anna really kissed her? Sure it was in a fleeting moment and was merely just a feather-tip brush against her skin, but still… Elsa blushed; had she meant it? Had she been aware of what she was doing, or was she just freaking out over the possibility of being seen by the Royals? Elsa squeezed her eyes shut as she forced her blush to fade, irritated she had been giving so much thought to such a simple action.

Even if Anna had meant it…

Stop it, she chided herself. We're not thinking about this. It didn't mean anything. You're the one turning it in to a bigger deal than it really is. I'm surprised Kristoff hasn't noticed how red you are.

Looking to see if her friend was oblivious to her internal struggle, Elsa looked down at his form on floor. He was blissfully unaware, choosing to yell at the television screen about some flagrant foul or whatever instead of picking up on his friend's odd behavior. For once, Elsa was happy he was lost in his video games.

XxXxX

Anna found herself fiddling with a loose string on her shirt as she followed Daniel down a hallway. After separating from Elsa earlier, Anna had rounded the corner just in time as she was met by Daniel and two other boys, Nick and Bryce.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked, hoping her blush from interacting with Elsa—and the kiss...shit, had she really done that?—was gone by now.

"We're the ones that should be asking the questions," Bryce glowered at her, his hazel eyes glinting.

"O-Okay," Anna mumbled, all of a sudden feeling uneasy. "Have I done something?"

"More like what you haven't done," Bryce mumbled.

"Bryce, shut up," Daniel shot at him.

He smiled at Anna, though she could tell he was silently questioning her as well.

"He's always high strung," the brunette said. "But seriously, Anna, where have you been? You missed the raid yesterday."

Shit, we were supposed to go burglarize some house or something.

"I got lost," Anna lied.

She heard Bryce snort from behind Daniel, the latter just choosing to chuckle, although he gave her a look that said to stop fooling around.

"Typical, carrot-top," Daniel replied with a sigh. "Are you going to at least tag along with us tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Anna replied almost too fast.

Bryce just snorted again before nudging Nick to follow him, leaving Daniel and Anna alone. Daniel spoke up once they were out of earshot and Anna shivered as she picked up on the underlying force in the boy's voice.

"What is going on, Anna?" he asked. "The King's not too happy with your absence."

"Why should I care what he thinks? It's not like he owns me or anything," she grumbled.

She was actually quite unnerved at the mention of the "King," but she was also tired of being looked down upon just because she was a girl. It was like they expected her to be clingy and weak without the gang. She had never been one for clingy—she fought back a thought of Elsa—and she sure as hell was anything but weak.

"That's where you're wrong, Anna," Daniel sighed. "I get that you're still new, but you have to learn how we operate eventually. You can't just ask to join and then skirt around on the sidelines. You made a commitment to us; in ink and in blood."

Anna cringed. Don't remind me.

"Look," she said with her own sigh. "I come home every night, right? Why can't I just have time to myself?"

"Because apparently this 'time to yourself' includes more than just yourself."

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Anna inwardly began to panic.

"You know?" she asked, scuffing her shoe on the sidewalk.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Of your little crush? Yeah," he retorted. "You should be lucky the King doesn't."

"Was I really that obvious?"

"Seriously, Anna, does it matter? Look," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I won't tell King. No one knows except me. I saw you looking at her that day I tried to get you to smoke that cig. I don't know who she is, but she's obviously more interesting than us. Just…watch yourself. I can't promise this won't come back to bite you in the ass later."

Anna looked up at the boy and managed a smile. "Thanks, Daniel. I'll…try to keep my distance."

A beat.

"Wait…crush?!"

Daniel broke into laughter as Anna reached up to flick his forehead, her fight to keep a blush off her cheeks futile.

As the pair started to walk home together, they passed a small alleyway only feet from where they had been standing. Hazel eyes glinted in the shadows as a snort was heard, quickly followed by a laugh.

"This will be good…"