"Y-yeah. Punz….I mean, Rapunzel, helped me out. I wasn't sure what to wear. If anything, that is. N-Not like that! I meant like wear anything else other than my normal clothes!" Elsa watched and listened as Anna tried to recover from the unintentional meaning behind the words she spoke. She found it oddly adorable whenever Anna seemed to get flustered. The way her cheeks flared red and her hands began to fidget with anything they could grab ahold of. Every part of it was….entrancing. It wasn't until Elsa couldn't hold back a few small giggles that she had realized Anna had still been talking, she was just too preoccupied. She's adorable and I want to see more of it. Maybe I can tease her a bit. That should do the trick, right?
"Well, Anna, shall we get going on our tour date?" She finally spoke, seeming to understand that even the smallest mention of a possible date seemed to stir something in the woman standing in front of her. I know it was only meant to tease, but I can't help but feel like this may be a date. And we just don't know it yet.
"I guess so?"
Slowly, Elsa rose from her seat, placing her light blue notebook beneath her arm as she began leading Anna towards the doors of the dorm building. As they left the building, the sun berated down upon them, leading Elsa to don a pair of sunglasses while Anna was left to try and shield her eyes using her arm. Nonetheless, the pair continued walking, Anna even having to speed up slightly to keep pace with her platinum blonde tour guide until they began to slow down and neared Elsa's vehicle. Sunlight beamed off of the soft blue of the Toyota Prius, seeming to make it even more difficult than usual to try and see anything around.
"Jeez. Could the sun be any brighter? I mean, I feel like I've already been blinded….twice!" Elsa listened as her copper-haired companion groaned in annoyance at the beautiful weather they were experiencing.
"It's not that bad. I think you are just overreacting."
"That's easy for you to say. You've got sunglasses on. And they're one of the expensive brands too! They must be blocking out everything, right? I mean, come on! The best I've got is a 5 dollar pair from the dollar store."
Elsa knew that Anna was joking around-it was easy to tell from the chuckles-but she didn't realize it was that blatantly obvious that she came from a richer household. Of course, she didn't ultimately try to hide it completely. Instead, she hoped that people's opinions of her and her personality would be more present than if someone saw that she came from a family who had money.
"Sometimes, even the cheapest and most overlooked things can withstand the test of time. They do not need to do everything, only what they were meant to do. In the end, it won't matter how stylish or expensive something is. What matters is how long it lasts, just like the most important things in the world." Where did that come from? It seemed to come out of the blue, but Elsa knew where it truly originated. She knew the strain and the anguish of the realization of how her parents truly felt about her. Yet, for years she had bottled it up and never let anyone else see it. Until Anna. The redhead made her heart skip a beat and allow her true self to shine, but there were consequences with that. And it was apparent.
Silence enveloped the occupants of the vehicle, only to be broken as a soft sniffle emanated from the woman in the passenger's seat. Oh no. What have I done? This was not supposed to happen. Today was supposed to be a nice date and tour, but I went ahead and fucked that right up. Conceal, don't feel dammit! Sadly, Elsa turned her head to glance at Anna, ready to apologize until she was stopped by the sight she saw. Anna lifted the silver necklace that draped around her neck, cupping the opened snowflake pendant and smiling.
"Yeah, you're right Elsa. It's about withstanding everything that comes to beat you and tear you down. Thank you." Turquoise eyes locked with cerulean as Anna turned to face Elsa, neither speaking, yet communicating everything that needed to be spoken during the pregnant silence. "Sorry for already ruining our tour. Guess with everything I have been through in the past few weeks, I needed to hear that."
"No, Anna. I should be the one sorry. Listen, I know I may not be the most talkative or social person on campus, but if you ever want to talk about what's going on, I'll be there to listen." As Elsa finished, the silence grew, encapsulating the two women. "Now then, why don't we go ahead and start our tour? I know a really good shop that we could both use right now." A soft purr echoed and rustled the vehicle as Elsa started the ignition, preparing to begin their tour.
"Yeah, that sounds….really nice. I mean, I guess it was the goal from the start." Anna chirped, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill before turning to watch Elsa. "So, what is this shop you are taking us to?"
"Nope. Not gonna tell you."
"Why not? Is it somewhere super fun? Oh! Is it a lingerie store?" Instantly, Elsa felt the blood rush to her cheeks, flustering her. Where did that come from?! Does she want to go to a lingerie store? No, Elsa. You are taking her on a tour of the town. You can't take her to get super sexy, revealing clothes. No matter how good she may….NO! Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel. Conceal…. "I'm joking, Elsa. Ooh. Is this the place? I didn't know we had a shop like this on Campus."
Without even realizing it, Elsa had driven into the parking lot of a candy shop. Its sign read 'Northuldra Sweets'. Right. I was driving us to the candy shop. I mean, who doesn't love some concentrated sugar every once in a while?
"Y-Yes. This is it. Northuldra Sweets. Where it's easy to get lost in our assortment of flavors. Not the best tagline I've ever heard, but it is pretty truthful." Slowly, the pair opened their respective doors and stepped out of the vehicle, walking underneath the terrace of the shop as they neared the entrance. Reaching the door simultaneously, the two women also planned to open the door for the other, which led to Elsa's smooth and cool hand to overlap on top of Anna's warmer, and equally as smooth hand.
The two gasped as their hands collided, yet neither seemed to immediately pull away. Rather, almost subconsciously, they held their hands in place for a while and seemed to enjoy the feeling of each other. Her hands are soft and warm, much warmer than I imagined them. Is that a bad thing? I'll be sure to note that in my journal. Why hasn't she moved her hand? Is she expecting me to move my hand first? Or does she relish the feeling of my cold fingers just as much as I enjoy her warmer ones? No. Stupid, wishful thinking. You two are here on a tour, this isn't supposed to be an actual date. But would that truly be so terrible?
As Elsa continued to ramble and question everything in her mind, she missed the feeling of her hand seeming to intertwine with Anna's as the redhead pulled open the door. She also didn't even seem to realize that the same redhead whom she was supposed to be giving the tour to was now dragging her around the candy store. It wasn't actually until Anna spoke up that Elsa was freed from her self-constructed mental questioning.
"WOW! Elsa, look at that!" The fiery, free-spirited woman pointed at a shelf with her free hand, singling out a massive gummy bear that appeared to have a bowl-shaped portion missing from its stomach. "It's massive. Just imagine how much candy we could fit in there! We could bring it to a party or something and have an edible, gummy, snack bowl to share or we could just keep it between us, and only me and you use it. That would be so cool."
"That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? Although, I don't think either of us could handle 26 pounds of gummy, alongside whatever else we add inside its stomach. Plus, I'd rather not spend over one hundred dollars on just one singular gummy item." Elsa giggled as she spoke, slowly and absentmindedly stroking her thumb across Anna's hand. This continued for some time before Anna had to release Elsa's hand to properly hold the items she was planning to purchase. The woman was actually in the middle of reaching out for another item before she stopped and smelt the air as a new, more fragrant smell permeated throughout the shop. Elsa, smelling the fragrant aroma as well, also stopped what she was doing and lifted her nose to the air.
"Hey, Elsa? Do you know what that smell is?"
"Of course I do."
"Fresh chocolate." The two spoke in unison and Anna, who was actually looking away from Elsa, determined to find the source, spun back around and met face to face with her silver-haired tour guide and crush. No further words were uttered as the pair looked at each other, their faces so close to one another that each could feel the bodily heat emanating from the other. Their lips were mere inches apart, so close, yet seemingly miles apart.
Our lips are so close, I could almost just…. Elsa inched closer, her glossy lips parting as they begged for the feeling of the redhead's lips upon her own. Everything seemed to move very slowly for Elsa at that moment, her brain traveling on autopilot before she very quickly regained control. NO! NO NO NO! Conceal, don't feel dammit! You aren't even completely sure that she likes you yet. So bringing your lips together could have terrible consequences on any potential romance or friendship. At this point, Elsa's heart was racing and she felt her body seemingly chill even colder than it normally is. She was so close to Anna, lips mere centimeters apart, yet restraint held them back.
Anna, who hadn't been fully paying attention to what was going on rather, focusing on attempting not to kiss Elsa as well and staring at the beautiful eyes of the woman in front of her suddenly felt something press against her back, pushing her forward. That push was everything the pair wanted and feared. In an instant, the two women pressed and locked their lips together for what felt like an eternity, yet it was only a mere couple of seconds before Elsa pulled back.
Oh my God. This isn't happening. Nononononono. That kid that bumped into her may have just cost me any chances with her. But, though those chances may have been obliterated, I can take solace in the fact that her lips were so soft. And the kiss, though very brief, was tender.
"I am so sorry Anna. That wasn't supposed to happen."
"I-It's alright, Elsa. No harm, no foul. Right?"
"Yeah." Elsa seemed to gaze off, trying to collect her thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Emanating from the depths of her body, a warmth spread. It was like a wildfire, blazing and burning throughout her, sending her thoughts into a frenzy and her body into near shock.
"W-We should probably go ahead and pay. And, um, don't worry about the cost. I'll pay for you."
"Thanks."
It wasn't long before the line at the register dwindled and the two women, both of whom were flushed red in the face, made it to the counter. Carefully, Anna lowered her decent-sized stack of candies and assorted goods onto the sleek countertop and waited for the items to be rung up and totaled.
"It's so nice to see the younger generation embrace who they are and who they love. You two are adorable together. Anyway, your total will be fifty-six dollars and fourteen cents. Will you be paying with cash, card, or check?" The clerk appeared to be an older woman, probably in her early sixties, with a thin frame and dirty blonde hair that was very obviously dyed to hide the grey hairs.
"Card, please." Elsa was doing her best to keep a professional face and not seemingly break down in front of Anna, but it was easy to tell that she was still super flustered as her cheeks were still dusted pink. Slowly, she drew out her card and paid for the items, paying no more attention to the kind old lady as she led her companion outside underneath the terrace.
The two women lowered themselves onto the cool steel of one of the open tables, Elsa doing her best to think of something else to occupy her thoughts. Meanwhile, Anna was humming a soft, happy tune as she divided up the candy she had gotten between the two of them. Neither one of them spoke throughout the duration of the division of candy. But as soon as Anna finished, she slid over the half she made for Elsa and spoke softly.
"Hey, I was, uh, wondering if we could talk about what happened back there?" Her voice was timid, yet seemingly happy while retaining caution. "Listen, I didn't mi—"
"Could we possibly, um, forget that ever happened? It was an accident on both of our parts. So, best not to dwell upon it." Elsa's voice was harsh, and though she didn't realize it as she spoke the words, her response hurt Anna. Glancing up at the normally cheerful and bubbly face of the redhead, she could see that it was replaced by a frown caused by hurt, only to quickly shift into the regular cheery face everyone knew. But now that she had seen the pained face of the woman before her shift into her regular one, it was easy to see how much pain Anna held back and hid behind a false face. Dear God, what have I done? Anna, no. I promise I didn't mean it like that. I want a future for us, yet I said those words. All because I was afraid of what you would say. Damn it!
"Y-Yeah. Let's just forget it. Uh, I divided up the candy between us, I hope you enjoy it."
"Oh….Thanks." The two remained in silence as they snacked on a few pieces of candy, the once close and almost romantic aura between them shattered and now replaced with sorrow and guilt.