Alright, here's Chapter 3. Happy reading!

Kristoff sank into a cushioned chair with a heavy sigh as the night air hit his face. They'd been there for over two hours now, with the party still in full swing, and Kristoff slowly felt himself relaxing into the atmosphere and genuinely enjoying himself. Almost. It'd be a lot easier to let loose if he wasn't constantly worried about having to close Anna's open mouth every time she stole a glimpse of the Queen… or having to apologize for Anna bumping into people whenever she was distracted by the Queen… or anytime he had to hurry and quickly wipe up some of Anna's drool from the floor so nobody would slip and fall all because Anna had been, yet again, distracted by the Queen.

He loved Anna, honestly, she was like a sister to him, but this was getting out of hand. This is why he'd ended up dragging the girl out into an adjacent garden where a few other guests were scattered about on the provided furniture; so he could just get her to focus for more than two seconds on something other than Her Majesty the Queen.

"Kristoff, what are we doing out here? The party is inside the castle, remember?" He could hear the poorly-masked aggravation in Anna's voice when she spoke, and even with his eyes shut he could practically see the scowl she was giving him. Sneaking a peek from between his eyelashes proved him right about the scowl; Anna was standing not that far away from him, arms crossed in front of her chest, trying to maintain a menacing glower while casting fervent glances at the ballroom doors.

"Calm down will, you?" He yawned as he stretched, unaffected by his friend's evil eye, "It's not like she's gonna disappear in the three minutes we've been out here." The red hue on Anna's cheeks spread like wildfire across her body.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a strangely aloof demeanor, eyes everywhere but on Kristoff. Anna was bad at a lot of things, but one of her absolute worst abilities was lying. Her partner could read her like a book; the way she'd tuck invisible strands of hair behind her ear, or the awkward shuffle of her feet that was sure to leave a mark on even the hardest of surface, and avoiding eye contact like she was then were just a few of her tells, (she hated card night at the pub). When she finally forced herself to meet his disbelieving stare she couldn't hold it together anymore. She gave an exasperated huff and plopped herself down next to him, slumping forward to rest her elbows on her knees, "We can sit outside for five minutes. That's it. Understand?"

Kristoff brought a hand up to his chin pretending to consider her demands, he let out a strangled cry as she poked him hard in the ribs, "GAH! Jeez, you're feeling awfully violent tonight, aren't you?"

"I mean it Kristoff!" she put on her best serious face that more closely resembled a constipated reindeer, (it's an ugly sight).

"Why?" he asked simply, "What's in there that's so important?"

"Well t-the buffet is in there for one, isn't that the whole reason we came here?"

The man gently pushed Anna's face to the right, letting her eyes roam over a series of smaller tables dotting the area piled high with an assortment of foods and drinks, "There's food out here, too, Anna. And far less people to be suspicious about us. Everything we had inside is out here, too." He pretended not to notice the way Anna's face fell, and he could practically hear her thinking, everything except the Queen.

It hurt him to do this to his best friend, really, it did, but it was for her own good. The look in her eyes wasn't foreign to him, he wasn't so dense as to not recognize the typical effects the common crush has on the body; flushed cheeks, a goofy grin, a dreamy expression that just won't go away, he knew what Anna was feeling, even if she wouldn't admit it, and he pitied her. 'It's the QUEEN!' he screamed internally, 'She couldn't have at least noticed one of the servant girls?' He was doing this, whatever he was doing, (distancing them?) for her. Nothing good would come out of Anna falling for the Queen of Arendelle, especially when there was absolutely zero chance of anything ever occurring between them.

A few awkward minutes of silence transpired between the two as Anna tried to come up with some reason, anything really, that would convince Kristoff to go back inside with her. She couldn't explain why she had to be in there, except for this overwhelming desire to just be able to see that platinum hair amidst the crowd, to catch a glimpse of that piercing blue gaze. She must seem like a fool. Of course you're a fool, who else but a fool would stare at her Queen like she was something actually attainable?

Unable to bear the silence anymore, Kristoff cleared his throat, playing with his hands awkwardly when he saw the crestfallen demeanor of the girl next to him. "Hey, Anna," said girl turned to face him with a hopeful smile, and he almost gave in right then and there, willing to send her inside to continue her 'observing', but instead he chuckled awkwardly, "Would you, mind getting us some punch? I'm- I'm parched."

She nodded, her grin falling into some halfhearted upward-twist of the lips, standing silently and swiftly making her way to the nearest table. Once she was far enough away, Kristoff buried his face in his hands. This was a horrible idea in the first place. They didn't belong here. They were like fish out of water, ice on the beach, and looking up at Anna he only felt worse about the fact that he'd let her talk him into this.

Anna took the ladle from the punch bowl that contained what she hoped was something stronger than plain old juice. Stupid Kristoff… She set to work filling a glass with the red liquid, reaching back into the bowl for more without hesitation. She didn't understand what was so great about being outside anyway. They were outside every day of their lives, even at night when they should be tucked into a bed, but when were they ever able to be in a castle? A castle full of riches and fun and… y'know… royalty. Normally on an evening like this they'd be searching for a suitable spot to park the sleigh and curl up on its hard wooden bench for another restless night, most likely skipping dinner and breakfast the next day. But not tonight. Tonight was the one night where she didn't have to worry about having to scrounge enough of their savings together to procure a hot meal, and her big lunk of a best friend wanted to keep her away from the life of the party.

In her daze she'd barely noticed the fact that she'd continue to ladle scoop after scoop of punch into the same cup, just as the presence of a second person by her side went unregistered until she heard a polite clearing of a throat from her right.

Her eyes flicked down to the puddle of punch running down the white cloth covering the table, grimacing at the realization of how big a stain was going to be left on the previously unblemished surface.

"Having fun there?" a quiet voice asked, but Anna didn't look up. She was far too busy glimpsing around frantically in search of something to clean this mess. There was nothing; no napkins, moist cloths, nothing, and the puddle was spreading further across the table.

"Oh gods help me!" Anna whimpered. She grabbed the skirt of her dress, planning to use that in a last ditch effort to mop up the mess when a gloved hand shot out and landed on hers, stopping her actions altogether.

"That won't be necessary," the person said, a melodic chuckle ringing next to Anna's ear.

"B-but it'll stain, and people will get angry, and tell the Queen- the Queen! What if there's a law against spilling things? What if I'm charged with treason? What if…" all words died off her tongue when she finally turned and found herself staring right into those same blue eyes that had entranced her for the majority of the night.

There, standing in front of her, like right in front of Anna was Queen Elsa. Gods, she's even more breathtaking up close. The Queen raised her free hand to try and suppress the giggle that wanted to escape when she saw the color drain from the poor girl's face, "Something tells me that there aren't any laws against overfilling a glass," she gave the girl's hand a reassuring squeeze, "At least not in this kingdom, anyway."

Anna nearly squeaked when she felt the added pressure on her hand, but dared not take it away. She couldn't move, and she didn't want to, she would have been fine with never moving again as long as it meant that hand stayed where it was. Her eyes roamed all over the Queen's face, from her eyes to the light dusting of freckles that you could probably only see from such a close proximity, to her lips, so soft looking, the way they moved so fluidly… oh she was talking. To her. Anna. Who wasn't listening.

"W-what?" she asked.

"I asked if you did this often?" the Queen repeated with a smile, oblivious to the embarrassment of the redhead.

"Y-you mean spill things?" of course she was stammering like an idiot, good job mouth, "W-well I suppose not. I mean there was that one time when I spilled water all over Kristoff's feet and he froze to the floor… and that time that we were waxing his sled and I slipped and…" all at once she remembered that she was in fact in the presence of royalty. Embarrassed, the girl shut her mouth and stepped forward as if to curtsy, except she didn't get that far. Her outstretched heel touched down on the slippery grass and was up in the air within a second as she felt herself lose her footing. What happened next was a blur. Time seemed to stop; the embarrassment she felt before was nothing compared to what she was going to feel when her rump landed in the ground at the Queen's feet, so she closed her eyes, awaiting the pain and shame that was to come.

But it never did. She waited with baited breath until she couldn't bear it anymore and opened her eyes one after the other. Looking around led her to realize that she was mere inches from the ground, her body being supported by an oddly angled Queen, one hand on the small of her back and the other still grasping one of Anna's in an attempt to steady the younger girl.

"I'm so sorry Your Highness," she gushed and jumped to her feet, only to stumble face first into the other girl's chest, knocking them both back a few steps before the blonde managed to keep them both upright.

"How much of that punch have you already had?" the sovereign asked with a smirk that she couldn't keep off her face even though she was probably just as flustered as the girl in her arms.

"None! None, I swear," Anna separated herself from the blonde hurriedly, missing the feel of the other's body so close to hers, "Gods, this is so awkward. Not that you're awkward, but just because we're- I'm awkward. You're gorgeous. Wait, what?"

The Queen laughed, actually laughed, not a giggle hidden by a gloved hand, but a full mirthful laugh, and it lit something within Anna stronger than anything she'd ever felt before. A similar feeling spread throughout the Queen; a peculiar warmth that seemed to spread to every part of her body, because of this person, this clutz of a girl before her.

"What's your name?" she asked, and this time the other girl was already listening intently.

"Anna," said, her voice barely above a whisper, "My name is Anna."

"Anna," the Queen said, smiling slightly at the ease with which name rolled off her tongue, she straightened and offered a hand to the girl, "Would you care to dance?"

To Be Continued

The next chapter has a lot more interaction between our two favorite girls, I'm just sayin'. I also want to apologize for any and all errors, for they are entirely mine. Oh, and one more thing, I want to thank everyone who's favorited or followed or reviewed this story, since all of those make me feel warm and fuzzy. Okay, I'm done now. :)