Chapter 17: Black Friday

And just then, in the midst of all the confusion and thought, Elsa heard her phone ring, and looked over to see her phone vibrating on the small end table by the couch where some folded clothes lay ready to be put into a closet. Elsa ran a hand through her hair as she made her way to her phone, and took a deep sigh before answering.

"Hello, this is Elsa Valentine." Elsa said, not recognizing the number that was calling.

The responding voice was a female, and she recognized her voice. "Hello Miss Valentine, this is Carol Sweetwater from Sweetwater Funeral Services."

Elsa looked down with a saddened face, remembering that tomorrow was the funeral for her dad. She had forgotten about everything since… events had ensued with her sister.

"Oh, hello Mrs. Sweetwater, how're you doing today?" Elsa asked, trying all she could to sound happy.

"I'm fine, thank you Miss Valentine. This is just a complementary call that the funeral will be tomorrow at ten, and the weather reports have stated that the snow should cooperate for us." Carol's voice was warm and comforting, and had a sweet tone that made the situation seem less saddening than it should have been.

Elsa forced a half smile. "I appreciate it Mrs. Sweetwater, thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Valentine. Take care."

Elsa sighed. "Take care."

She pushed the end call button, a feeling of grief falling back over her entire being. It had been awhile since Elsa had felt any kind of sorrow.

Anna had made sure of that.

Either way, neither Anna nor Elsa had any kind of warm funeral clothes, so that meant that they had to go shopping. As exciting as shopping sounded to her, Elsa dreaded the thought. Not because she had to drive around in bad weather, not because she knew she would have to walk outside and get cold again.

But because she would have to confront Anna the same day that they kissed.

Elsa shuddered at the thought. An awkward confrontation with her sister is something Elsa did not want to put herself, or Anna, into, especially not after that phone call. Either way, Elsa was going to have to face her sister whether she liked it or not. The blonde girl sighed, and looked up to the staircase leading to her and Anna's rooms, sporting a strong face.

I have to go see her. We definitely have some things to work out.


Anna pulled her shirt on over her head, making sure that there were no creases or any other kind of imperfections to the tidiness of her garb. She stood in front of her mirror, now bland and bare with the absence of her photos that captivated moments in life that Anna knew as only a memory now.

Just go down and talk to her. Do everything you can to make things right. And this time, try not to kiss your sister.

Anna nodded to her reflection and was about to head out of her room when she heard a series of knocks at her door.

"Anna?" Elsa's voice emitted from behind the slab of wood. "Can I talk to you?"

The red head tensed and felt her throat become dry.

Oh boy.

"Sure thing, sis," Anna said, opening the door wide to see her older sister standing somewhat further back than usual from the normal distance one would stand from an entrance way. "Come on in."

Elsa smiled, but shook her head and crossed her arms. "Actually, I came to tell you that we're going on a shopping trip. More specifically, we need some coats for tomorrow."

Elsa's voice was plain and to the point initially, but livened up with every word spoken.

"Plus it's my treat, so you don't have a choice." Elsa turned and walked away, a smile on her face.

Anna stood in her doorway, unable to move or speak. She drew a heavy breath, releasing it with a sense of bewilderment. How could Elsa have been so nice and sweet when Anna had deliberately planted a kiss on her a little over fifteen minutes ago; a kiss that they both well knew wasn't just a normal kiss? Sure, it looked like she was keeping her distance, but the way she acted towards Anna didn't strike the younger girl as being offsetting. Plus, she walked away with a smile. A legitimate, one hundred percent real smile that Anna had seen and loved many times when she was with her older sister before.

Well, she doesn't hate me, that's for sure. Anna sighed, breaking from her standstill to sit on the edge of her bed and pull the socks that she had laid out prior to getting into the shower. But I do know one thing. I'm willing to do anything to keep that smile on her face.

Anna sniffled.

Even if that means letting go of all these feelings towards her.


Elsa pulled on her faux-fur lined parka and checked her phone to see the time. It was only 2:15, but Elsa was exhausted. She could feel her body ache and beg for sleep as she received none the night before due to her nightmares. Elsa unlocked her phone, and went to her photo-messaging app, turning on the front camera to check hr hair and make-up.

"Jeez," Elsa whispered out loud, reaching to fix her messy, singular braid. "So this is the reason I'm single."

"Are we ready to go?"

Elsa, recognizing the sweet voice, turned around to see Anna standing atop the flight of stairs dressed in black leggings, a red Christmas-looking sweater that was just slightly too big for her, her hair down, but a few strands braided on the right side of her long, hanging tresses, and a white beanie with a red pom on top.

Anna could feel her sister gazing at her, and she pulled a hand to her face to hide her smile and flourished cheeks; her mouth covered by a dangling sleeve.

Elsa's eyebrows shot up. Woah. Evaluation: Cute.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Elsa said, smiling at her sister, gesturing towards the front door. "C'mon, slowpoke. We're not getting there any faster if you just stand there and be cute."

Anna's cheeks were on fire. Did… Did she say cute?

The redhead snapped back to reality. "I'm coming, stinker," Anna called out as she saw Elsa waving at her and walking towards the door. "I'm coming!"

Anna stepped quickly down the staircase, eager to join her sister. Though, she felt something inside of her that made her grow warm. Sure, the physical excursion put forth to move down the stairs quickly was actually quite tasking for a girl as uncoordinated as Anna, it wasn't what made her glow on the inside. Her cheeks were red, her smile stayed as true as could be, and, after no other possible explanation, it was because of her sister. Elsa had called her cute, and although the older girl had said the same thing time and time again prior to today, Anna knew that how she said it today was… Different.

Elsa couldn't take her eyes off of her. Anna felt Elsa's gaze atop the stairs and saw the smile that she had caused. Anna was good at making her older sister smile, and loved to do it. Anything to keep her older sister happy.

But the way she smiled at me then…

Anna closed the front door to her house behind her, watching the light snow fall to the cold ground as she walked over to the car that Elsa had already hopped into, attempting to blast the heater.

It was different. A good kind of different. The kind of different I could get used to.

Anna felt herself clench her fist in the pocket of her sweater hard.

No. You are going to make this right today. No more of your sick, perverted thoughts towards your sister, got it?

Anna hopped into the car as she shivered slightly, putting her hands in front of the vents that spewed warm air out.

"Hey rabbit, wanna do me a favor?"

Anna heard Elsa's voice and turned to see Elsa undoing her messy braid, letting her gold-white locks fall past her shoulders as she shook out any tangles that might have been present.

Elsa looked at her sister and smiled. "Will you fix my hair like yours?"

The older sister gave a slight pouty lip, lowering the tone of her voice. "Please?"

Anna stared at her sister, unable to speak. Finally, after bringing herself back down to earth, Anna nodded excitedly, reaching over to run her hands through Elsa's soft, luscious hair.

Oh dear God, I've missed this hair… It's been way too long since I've gotten to do this.

Anna caught started letting her mind wander as she skillfully braided a portion of Elsa's hair as she drove, straightening out the rest. Each stroke that Anna made through Elsa's gold-white lake of hair gave her a fuzzy feeling inside, and it wasn't long before Anna was smiling like a schoolgirl.

The redhead glanced up at her sister, who was focused on the road, and saw a smile manifest across her sister's lips. Anna stared in amazement at how genuine her sister's smile was, and was completely unaware that Elsa had noticed her sister's staring.

Elsa bit her lower lip, letting her teeth rub over it as she slowly let it slide back to its original place as she noticed the younger girl staring at her so intently. The blonde saw Anna's eyes widen, and she slowly drew her attention back to Elsa's hair.

Elsa was unaware at what she had done until she had done it, and immediately knew that she had accidentally tease her sister.

Aw shit, I didn't mean to tease her like that… That was totally unintentional! Elsa let out a long breath from her nose, tickling her upper lip. I think it was, anyway... Oh God, I wonder what she's thinking right now…

Anna thought to herself as she strained to keep her attention on Elsa's hair, almost completing the hairstyle Elsa had requested.

For fuck's sake, how am I not supposed to think sick, perverted thoughts about her when she's so darn irresistible?!


Hours later, Elsa sat down at a table to reserve it for her and her sister in the food court of the mall. As the blonde sat, she scanned the rest of the food lines for her redheaded sister, finally spotting Anna in the line at Zaxby's Chicken. Elsa took a bite out of her noodles that she had gotten at the Crouching Dragon, handling the chopsticks with a sense of flawlessness that came only with lots of practice. And half off the price of food at her favorite Chinese restaurant with her military ID. That always helped.

But Elsa was nervous, shaking in her skin as she ate. She knew the main reason that she had wanted Anna to come with her, but would Anna like the news that Elsa was going to give her? What if everything changes again?

Elsa scoffed at the thought as she watched Anna approach the table Elsa sat at. Everything changed when I locked lips with my sister.

"Chinese again?" Anna asked as she sat down, her carry-out box already open. "I never could work those stupid chopsticks."

Elsa looked down at how immaculately she worked the little wooden sticks, and smiled back up at her sister. "Well, they take a while to get used to, but after you eat Chinese for a while you pick the skill up pretty quick!"

Anna laughed, although it was muffled by her mouth being full of chicken tender. "At leasht you get food half off," the younger girl said, trying to cover her mouth. Finally, Anna gulped down the mouthful of deliciousness. "Plus you don't need to spend any more money after today. Those coats were expensive! We might have to start selling meth or something just to make our money back on them!"

Elsa laughed, watching her sister grow more enthusiastic with each passing word. But with each second Elsa spent with her, Elsa felt sick to her stomach with worry.

I need to talk to her.

Elsa pushed away the rest of her food, and reached over to tap Anna's hand in an attempt to stop the girl's rambling on about some major international drug ring scandal to make money.

Anna snapped to attention at Elsa's touch.

"What do you need, sis?" Anna asked, blue eyes meeting each other.

Elsa sighed, and looked down towards Anna's hands. "I think we need to… Talk about what happened today."

Anna shoulders went limp, catching Elsa's attention. "Oh. Yeah, I've been needing to talk to you about that too…"

Elsa looked back up to Anna, whose eyes were averted from the older sisters' "You have?"

Anna nodded, and held in a sniffle. "Loo Elsa, I love you. More than you'll ever know! You've always been there for me when no one else has, picked me up when I'm down, you've always looked after me, and I've always looked up to you. You're the only person in my life that I would not hesitate to kill or die for right now, and I would do anything to keep you safe. That's why… I want to apologize…"

Anna looked like she was close to tears, causing Elsa to feel her pain as well as her own.

"I know that I have a thing for girls," Anna continued, "and I really thought what I had with Andayla was special. But, forgive me for saying so, I've never felt anything like your touch. And I never wanted to turn to a wrong way of telling you, but I panicked and kissed you. I did this horrible thing and you still treat me with just the same amount of care. You made me forget that my dad's funeral was tomorrow, and you made me forget in the best possible way. With your love. And… And I don't want to lose that…"

Anna blinked, dropping a tear down her face.

Elsa scooped up Anna's hands, looking directly into her eyes as she got ready to say what she had needed to get off her chest from the second that Anna had expressed how she truly felt.

"Anna, I can't tell you how much I love you, and you know I would kill or die for you too! You can say all these things about what you did; saying it was wrong, or that it was horrible. But I don't think that it was as bad as you think it was…" Elsa rubbed Anna's hand as she held it, noticing that Anna was listening intently, although she never made eye contact with the blonde. "It made me realize that even though my world was slowly crashing down around me, I can still smile and get through it. I can still feel like I'm worth something. Your kiss did everything for me. It-it made me realize…"

Anna looked up to meet Elsa gaze as she struggled to finish her sentence.

"It made me realize that I need you, Anna. And if that's wrong…"

Elsa squeezed Anna's hand tighter, and the younger girl saw a tear fall from Elsa's face to the table.

"Then I don't wanna be right."


Anna was still in shock as she walked through the door of her house, her sister's warm hand intertwined with her own. The car ride home had been somewhat silent, but not even two seconds later after the door had shut, Elsa wrapped her arms around her younger sister, pulling her close into her own embrace.

"I love you, Anna," Elsa said, putting her head onto Anna's shoulders. "I really do."

Anna held Elsa tight, not letting go for the world. "I love you too, Elsa. I love you too."

Elsa pulled away, looking her sister dead in the eyes, but keeping both hands on Anna's shoulders. "I don't want to force you into anything. I told you how I felt, and I don't care what anyone would say, as long as I'm with you, I'll be the happiest girl in the world. We don't have to be this way if you are uncomfortable with it at all."

Anna smiled, pulling Elsa's hand up to her face. "You're not forcing me into anything. I kissed you, remember?"

Elsa smiled, and leaned in to place her mouth onto Anna's soft, pink lips, holding the kiss for just a second before pulling away. Anna's cheeks were a bright red, and Elsa felt the younger girl breathe a shallow breath at the disconnection of their lips.

"Well, looks like we're even then," Elsa huffed, still tasting Anna's lips on her own. "I need to, uh, take a shower. We can watch a movie or something when I get done if you want?"

Anna nodded quickly. "I'd like that a lot."

Elsa smiled and went up the staircase in a hurry, leaving Anna alone as she licked her lips. She still felt her cheeks radiate heat, but she didn't care. That kiss was just as good as the first, if not better, even though it lasted just a fraction of the time.

Anna prepared the couch with a series of blankets and pillows, and put in Secondhand Lions, one of Elsa's favorites. Anna finished what she was doing and looked back, admiring her handiwork.

I might mess a lot of things up, but I won't let anything happen to this.

Anna smiled as images of Elsa dance around her mind like they were in the Nutcracker.

She needs me. And I need her just as much.


AN: Yeah, there's some more fluff for you guys. Next chapter won't be so happy, so best get your fill of happiness from here! Thanks for reading! -FHDB