It had taken the better part of half an hour for her to dislodge her bike from the packed depths of the storage shed, after she'd found the correct one; that had been a chore in and of itself. Now she was coasting leisurely down the road to town. As she made her way towards the small town, she realized how much she actually missed her home. She still knew the fastest path to the Chinese place, and a wistful smile pulled at her lips.

How naive she'd been, thinking that her life was going to change for the better when she met Hans. He'd been charming and all around the perfect boyfriend. Being trapped, or so she felt like, in this small town, she thought her life was passing her by and she took the first chance she could to get out of here. Even if that chance involved marrying Hans.

She knew that it had been talked about, rumors of her being pregnant spurred by the talk of the quick plans to marry. Thankfully, she felt like she'd dodged a bullet by leaving. While Hans wasn't completely demeaning to her, he still treated her no better than a servant. She recalled the night it started.

Anna walked into the house, only to find Hans reclining on his chair and was browsing some sort of website featuring cars. Her blue eyes looked over the living room, finding it an utter mess. Dishes and trash littered the glass coffee table, and random bits of clothes were strewn on the ground.

"Would it hurt you to pick up after yourself?" Anna chastised, hanging her coat in the closet.

"That's what I have you for." He said sweetly.

"No, I've had a long day at work and I'm not coming home to clean up after you." She said, crossing her arms, "Especially when you don't even go to work."

In truth, they both didn't have to work as they both had received a large inheritance. However, Anna still liked to be active and meet people and feel like she was making a difference.

An irritated look flashed across Hans' face and her eyes narrowed at him.

"Please, Anna. It's not like I sit around all day doing nothing. I do own the largest shipping company in the state." He said, rolling his eyes and shutting the computer. "Managing a business is a very demanding task. One that your job as a little publicist isn't even comparable to."

He stood up and walked to the kitchen, leaving the mess in the living room untouched. Anger sparked in her and she stomped after him.

"Anna, stop stomping around like a toddler who didn't get her way." He said, reaching for a bottle of wine and a couple glasses. "You write about products and events, how is that even comparable?"

"Excuse me, sir, it's very demanding." She stated, glaring at him..

"I'm sure." He mused, pouring them both some wine and offering her one.

"I'm not cleaning your mess." She said, refusing the glass.

"Neither am I, so why don't you just save us some time and arguing and just do it like a good girl." He said, setting her glass back down before adding. "Just think of it as practice for when you become my wife."

He smiled gently and reached out to cup her chin. As he leaned in for a kiss, she abruptly pulled away.

"No. You're an adult and you need to pick up after yourself." She persisted.

Anger flashed in his eyes and his grip on her face tightened.

"Ow, Hans, you're hurting me." She said.

She shuddered at the memory, reminding herself that he wasn't here and she was safe.

— — — — — — — — — —

The restaurant hadn't change on bit in the past three years she'd been gone. Other than the fact that for the middle of the day, it wasn't busy at all. She frowned at it, hoping that their sales were doing alright, as she hopped off her bike and pushed the kickstand down with her foot before going inside.

"Is that who I think it is?" A portly female from behind the counter piped up. "Kai! Look! Anna's here!"

"Well, as I live and breathe, do my eyes deceive me Gerda?" Kai said coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. "It's good to see you."

"It's just me, guys." She said with a smile, stepping up to embrace them both before sitting down at the counter.

"I'll get your order up right away." Gerda said.

"But I haven't or—" Anna started, but Gerda waved her words off.

"You came in here every weekend for three years before you left. I still remember." She said with a smile. "Elsa orders just about every weekend now."

Anna smiled, glad that her sister didn't shut herself away after she left; as she thought she might do.

A slowly growing noise started building up behind her, and she turned to look out the windows behind her. A couple firetrucks had pulled up into the parking lot, along with a few police cars. Briefly, her head whipped back around to the kitchen, wondering if something was on fire. However, when her eyes and nose didn't see or smell anything off, she looked back outside, watching the people exit their vehicles. Her eyes widened as she noticed a blonde individual climb out of the closest firetruck. A couple of the men clapped him on the back and they looked happy with him.

Kristoff.

Her head immediately whipped around and she attempted to block her face from the door, and people, as they entered and made their way to the back corner of the room and sat down. For the longest time she'd had a massive crush on Kristoff, but it hadn't ever gone anywhere except for casual flirting. Then Hans came along and Kristoff had distanced himself from her and their friendship had fallen apart. It hurt to think about, since he was the person she had leaned on when her parents died and Elsa had seemed to shut her out as well.

She focused diligently on the counter in front of her, intently avoiding her want to look sideways and see Kristoff. At first she attempted to listen to their conversation, which involved them coming from a fire that they put out, but soon their words got quieter and she found herself wondering why. She wished her order was done already.

Don't look Anna, don't look… She thought to herself, trying very hard.

But she couldn't stop herself and she turned her head slightly and peeked over at the corner. Most of the people over there were looking between her and Kristoff, whom she had made eye contact with. She can feel her face heat up and she whips her head back around, glaring down at the counter.

Stupid, stupid. She thought.

She then heard Kristoff excuse himself from the table and she felt her heart rate increase.

No, please don't come over here, this is too embarrassing. She prayed hard.

"Hey, Anna. It's good to see you." Kristoff said, leaning against the counter to her right. She startled slightly at his voice, but covered it with a smile.

"H-hey, yeah." She stammered, "You too."

"What brings you back here?" He asked, "I thought you moved upstate and got married?"

"Well, I'm back." She said, her voice tight at the reminder of why she'd returned.

Kristoff seemed to realized that he hit a nerve and he attempts to reach out in an apologetic manner. Anna recoils as if he'd burned her. She mentally cursed Hans for making her recoil from Kristoff. She knew he'd never hurt her, or at least she thought the same of Hans and here she was… could she actually trust him?

"Whoa, sorry…" He said, pulling back sadly, "I just… it's good to see you."

He gave her a sad smile, and she mentally sighed at being unable to be upset with him before giving him a smile in return.

"It's good to see you too, Kristoff." She said, just as Gerda returned from the kitchen with Anna's order all bagged up.

She smiled at the woman and picked up her food, before returning her gaze back to Kristoff.

"I should go…" She said gently.

He looks a little disheartened, but nods and steps away from her.

"Maybe I'll see you around more?" He asked.

"Maybe, bye Kristoff."

"Bye… Anna."