Elsa groaned. She had been looking forward to a day without the insufferable Jack Frost, only it seems fate really had it out for her. What had started as a boring day at work had soon been disrupted when she'd turned to notice Jack and his friends sitting in a booth with menus in hand.

She had gone to question Jack on his sudden appearance, only for him to beg her to talk to him privately. Initially she had refused, but a hint of sincerity had filled his voice and she had soon found herself giving in. He'd stood before her and had appeared somewhat flustered. She had to admit that there was a small part of her that found it enjoyable to see the cocky young man from the day before suddenly appear nervous. He had only just started to speak and had claimed that he wished to apologise to her when they had been interrupted.

Her father had entered the store at that moment. He had seen her talking and had approached her to scold her for disappointing him. However, his anger had shifted once he had noticed Jack.

He had taken one look at Jack and demanded that the boy and his friends left. Jack had tried to speak up, but had been cut off and had backed down. Instead, he had turned to leave. She had watched from the corner of her eye as they had left. She knew that the instant Jack and his friends left, that her father's wrath would be directed at her.

She hadn't been wrong. No sooner had the door closed behind Jack, had her father turned to her. "Elsa, what the hell was that…that..boy doing in my store?" he'd spat, his face flushed with anger.

"I'm not sure, Dad, I was as surprised as you were to see him here," she had admitted, not daring to look at her father.

He had then grabbed her and had pulled her into the kitchen away from the view of customers. "More to the point, Elsa, why the hell were you even talking to him? You know better than to allow someone like him into our store. I would not put it past him to go back and report on our store to that...that uncle of his," he had hissed.

Elsa had shut up and had continued to apologise until he had calmed down. She knew better than to try and argue with him. He had already let her know that she had disappointed him.

Fortunately he hadn't stuck around much longer. He had raced into the office to grab a book before he'd left to return to the head office. She had waited for a few minutes until he had left to excuse herself. Luckily, her colleague Collette had been happy to watch over the store.

She had run to the bathroom and locked herself into a stall. She had allowed herself a few minutes to cry while she sorted through her emotions. Everything that had had happened had been over in a matter of minutes and yet she had been left shaken. Her insecurities plagued her. A part of her had wondered if Jack had been telling the truth about wanting to apologise. He had sounded sincere, but then again she never could tell with him.

Elsa sat, anxiously wringing her hands as Professor Lawrence described the group assignment he'd set. While she wasn't opposed to group projects, she had found throughout her education that they had their flaws. Most of the issues, she had found, came down to students who failed to pull their weight or who relied too heavily on the more studious members. There was also the added concern of actually finding a group. Something that was made harder by the fact that she wasn't known for socialising with her fellow students. As it was, she could only name two of her fellow students in the class with one being Jack Frost and the other, his friend Jamie.

"As I was saying, I shall be assigning your groups. As this class is on international business management, it is crucial that you get experience in working with people you may not normally associate with," the Professor stated, fumbling for some papers on his lectern.

She heard the sound of groans coming from her classmate and rolled her eyes. They were all adults and this was third year university, not high school. Surely people could handle not working with their friends. She scanned the room and noticed the cocky smile of Jack Frost as he leaned back in his chair. Frowning, she dropped her head. She couldn't risk him catching her staring. The last thing she wanted to do was to risk inflating his already large ego.

"And finally, our last group shall comprise of Allison Lee, Elsa Blanchard, Eric Williams and Jackson Frost," the smooth voice of her professor called. "I shall now give you time to meet with your groups and organise study times."

Groaning, she gathered her belongings and made her way towards the two students who had raised their hand to identify themselves as Allison and Eric. She watched with annoyance as Jack sauntered up to them and came to stand beside her

"Looks like you can't escape me," he teased, brushing a hand through his tousled hair.

"You better pull your weight in this assignment," she warned, shooting him a glare.

She dug her hand into her bag and pulled out her timetable to exchange details with the group. After comparing notes, they realised that all four of them had a free period at midday and decided to meet in the library for 12:30pm. Her eyes glanced over at Allison and Eric who appeared to be mature. She could only hope that they were as studious as she was. She had a bad feeling that Jack would prove to be challenging.

A few hours later, Elsa found herself hunched over a table in the library with Allison and Eric. Jack, to her annoyance, was nowhere to be found. She let out a small huff as she checked her watch. He was already fifteen minutes late. Sighing, she pulled her textbook towards her and flicked through the pages.

She heard a whistle and looked up, rolling her eyes as Jack sauntered towards them. He flashed his usual cocky smirk and dumped his bag on the table causing it to shake slightly.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, fixing his blue eyes on her as he took the seat next to Eric.

Furrowing her brows, she stared at him. She could scarcely believe the nerve of him. It was bad enough that he had been late, but to saunter in so casually without even bothering to give them an explanation - that was just rude. "Do we get the honour of an explanation?" she probed.

"Nope, personal," he muttered, turning to flash Eric and Allison a smile.

She glared at him. She could feel herself growing angry and wanted to scold him, but she pushed it aside. They only had a short period of time to work as a group. Fighting with Jack would do little to help their grade. Instead, she focused her attention on her work. It was early days, but Allison and Eric appeared to be good workers. She figured that so long as Eric and Allison continued to pull their weight, they may just have a chance at a passing grade.

She made her way through the book, noting down pieces of information that would help. She paused for a split second to stare at Jack and groaned. Whereas the rest of them were hard at work, he seemed happy to simply stare at his book while rubbing his hand over the back of his head. Frowning, she excused herself and made her way to the non-fiction books. She allowed her fingers to graze the spines of the books as she read the titles and gathered books that could help.

"Need some help?" a voice asked. Turning, she found Jack as he reached out to take a few of the books from her pile.

"What you mean like team members who actually show up on time?" she shot back and moved to pass him.

He stepped to the side, and blocked her exit. "I had a reason, you know, for being late," he said.

"So you've said, but you also had a commitment, to three other people, all of whom had the decency to show up at the agreed time," she pointed out. "Now if you'll kindly let me past, I need to work on our project, seeing as it appears that it means so little to you."

For a moment she could have sworn he looked taken aback by her comments. She felt a slight tinge of guilt and sighed. Whether she liked it or not, she had to work with Jack on this assignment. The other two members of their group were counting on them all to work together. She couldn't allow her personal issues with him get the better of her. Opening her mouth, she was about to apologise for her harshness, but was cut off.

"You know what, I'm done here. Nothing I can do is right by you. I don't even know why the fuck I try anymore. All I do is try and be friendly to you and get shot down. So, I then go to apologise to you, you know, for pissing you off and get kicked out of your store like a criminal instead," he ranted

She glared at him. "Oh, so making unwanted sexual innuendos, disrupting my private study time, humiliating me in the cafeteria and then proceeding to stalk me at my workplace are all your ideas of being 'friendly' are they?" she snapped.

Jack turned glare at her. "Do you ever stop and think about how you make people feel?" he snarled. "For eight years I've known you and watched you. You let no one in, you avoid people unless absolutely necessary. I swear on the life of me that I've not once seen you smile - at least not a genuine one. You walk around as if you are better than anyone else and then you dare wonder why people call you a fucking ice queen."

She gasped. Taking a step back, she willed herself to not let the tears fall. She would not let him see her cry. No, he would not have that pleasure.

She heard him let out a breath. "Elsa...I…" he began.

"Save it, Jack," she said, shaking her head. "You really think I don't know what people think of? You think I don't hear the whispers or see the looks I get? I know it must be hard for you to contemplate in that blissful bubble you live in where everything you want is just handed to you, but life isn't all fun and games. I'll tell you this though, you and your slacker friends know NOTHING about me. So don't you dare tell me that you do."

She brushed past him to return to the table where Eric and Allison were seated. Clearing her throat, she told them that something had come up and she had to leave. To her relief, they accepted her excuse and waved her off. She hastily packed her belongings in her bag and fled before Jack thought to try and follow her.

Once outside the library, she felt the tears fall. She tightened her grip on her bag and ran through the halls. She knew that people were staring at her, but she didn't care.

With her head down and her vision blurred by tears, she didn't notice the large frame that had stepped out in front of her until she fell.

"Oomph," she groaned as she landed with a thud on her backside.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to run in the halls?" a gruff voice question.

Glancing up, she was about to snap when she noticed the young man she had met the other day. Blinking back tears, she watched as he extended his hand to help her to her feet. "K...Kristoff, h...hi," she stammered. "I didn't see you there."

She felt herself being pulled to her feet before a pair of strong hands clamped onto her shoulders, steadying her. "I noticed that," he said. "Hey what's wrong?"

"N..nothing, I just need to get to my car and go home," she sniffed, dabbing her eyes with the corner of her sleeves.

"Oh no you don't," he chuckled, taking her bag from her. "I'm sorry, but you just ran into me because you couldn't see through your tears. You are in no state to drive. Is there somewhere I can take you? Maybe a friend on campus or somewhere to calm down"

Elsa snorted "Haven't you heard? I'm the 'Ice Queen' I don't have friends. My sister and cousin are over in the art department though."

He paused for a minute and looked at her. "Okay then. Lets go find this sister of yours," he said, swinging her bag onto his shoulder.

They walked in a comfortable silence. To her relief he didn't bother asking why she was crying. He simply whistled to himself and carried her bag while she dabbed at her eyes.

Pushing open the door to the studio where Anna was, he poked his head in. "Uh hi, I'm looking for Anna Blanchard," he announced and gently guided her into the room.

She watched as Anna put the paint she was holding down and turned to face her. "Elsa?" she called

Anna was by her side in an instant. She felt herself being pulled into her sister's arms as she stroked at her hair. The warmth of the hug caused a fresh stream of tears to fall from her eyes. A few seconds later another pair of arms joined in as Rapunzel wrapped her arms around her.

She stole a glance at Kristoff and smiled at him. She watched the way he nodded at her before stealing one last look at Anna before he turned and walked away.

She felt herself being led towards a chair in an isolated part of the room. They sat in silence for a while until her tears had subsided. Clearing her throat, she told her sister and cousin about being forced to work in a group with Jack and how he had been disrespectful before he'd snapped at her. She let out a small snort as she mentioned how he had caused her to feel humiliated for having fled her group responsibility. No doubt Allison and Eric likely thought her an emotional mess by now.

As expected, her sister and cousin were furious with Jack's behaviour.

"Just you wait until I see that arrogant bastard. First I'm going to yell at him and then his mouth is going on a date with my right fist," Anna declared, balling her hand into a fist.

"Not until my saucepan has a chance to kiss that smug face of his," Punzie stated. "Flynn plays hockey with him. You never know, I might be able to convince him to send Jack flying into the wall."

They sat together for a few minutes, each putting forward various scenarios in which Jack received a suitable payback for his harsh words. Finally, Anna decided that she could take the rest of the afternoon off. Elsa felt herself being led towards her car before being bundled into the passenger seat. Biting her lip, she watched as Anna settled herself behind the steering wheel.

"You know. I can always tell when you're truly upset. It's the only time when you'll ever let me drive your car," she joked as she slid the keys into the ignition.

She felt a small smile grace her lips as she turned to look at her sister. "Just don't crash it or else Jack won't be the only one in trouble," she warned.

The remainder of the afternoon had been spent curled on the couch with blankets piled high as they made their way through chocolate and a comedy movie. Their mum had been surprised to see them home early, but had soon joined them on the couch as they filled her in on the mornings events. Frowning, she had agreed that a bit of relaxation was in order, especially with the knowledge that the days events would likely enrage the family patriarch.

The sound of a text had interrupted their bonding and caused Anna to leap to her feet. Apparently Hans had enjoyed the date they had been on and had sent her a text to ask if she wanted to catch up later that evening. All thoughts of men being jerks had flown out the window and Anna had torn through the house in preparation for the date. Elsa had shot her mum a glance. She still felt uncomfortable with the idea of Hans, but had been shot down with her mum telling her that they had to let Anna live her own life.

Elsa had felt her wariness growing when Hans had failed to approach the door prior to collecting Anna. She had heard a horn being honked and had glanced out the window to see a redheaded man sitting in the drivers seat of a black BMW. Anna, however, had not seemed to have an issue with his behaviour and had raced out the front door, briefly stopping to wave goodbye to Walt Blanchard as he pulled his car up the driveway.

As expected, Walt Blanchard was furious when he'd heard of Elsa's interaction with Jack. "I have half a mind to ring Nicholas right now and give him a piece of my mind," he fumed as he paced around the living room. "That boy is nothing but a no-good, arrogant slacker riding on the coattails of his rich uncle.

"Walt, can we just remember that this about Elsa," Lillian interjected, placing a hand on her angered husband's arm.

"Damn right this is about Elsa," he ranted. "I've watched that boy at business functions. He's no good. All he does is sit on his backside and play on his phone, or make wisecracks. Yet he's bound to eventually take over that wretched business. Which means, he's going to continue to be a threat to our family."

He paused slightly and turned to look at his wife before softening. "It's obvious that he lacks the work ethic of Elsa. I know from experience that Nicholas is not afraid to use dirty-handed tactics in business and it's obvious that his filth of a nephew has learned from him."

Elsa sighed and shook her head. She knew her father would be angry. She just wished that she knew what to say to please him. She couldn't back out of the group assignment because it would reflect poorly on her and that would not go down well. Looking up, she watched as her mum crossed the divide to pull her into a hug.

"Just leave it for now, Walt. We can finish this conversation in private. Right now our daughter needs to relax, to feel comforted, Lillian coaxed. Leaning down, she placed a kiss to Elsa's forehead.

Sucking in a breath, Elsa watched as her father paused to consider the suggestion. To her relief, he agreed and stalked over to place a kiss to her forehead before excusing himself to deal with paperwork in his study.

Across town, Jack paced anxiously. He'd chosen to avoid going home that evening and had opted to unwind at Jamie's house. Together, they had ordered a pizza for dinner and had finished it in a matter of minutes.

"I'm in too deep, Jamie. I can't win with her. She's just too stubborn, too disconnected. Nothing I can do is good enough for her. I need to just let her go," he ranted and shook his head. "I don't even know why I bother anymore."

Jamie paused and stared at him for a few minutes before speaking. "You bother because you've been in love with her for eight years and because you're equally as stubborn," he offered.

"Yeah, but why am I so in love with her? It's clear that she's never going to feel the same way, especially not after today. Maybe the guys on the team are right. Maybe I do need to just get over her and go out and have some fun," he whined and buried his head in his hands.

"So let her go then," Jamie suggested. "Forget about her. Besides, I heard Chad from our hockey team wants to ask her out - let her be his problem."

Snapping his head up, he glared at his friend. "What?! Are you fucking kidding me? No, Chad only goes out with girls long enough to sleep with them and then ditches them. There is no fucking way he's getting anywhere near Elsa," he fumed, slamming his fist on the nearby desk.

Jamie smirked. "There's your answer. Like it or not, you care too deeply for her to just let her go. Besides, don't think I didn't see you yesterday and the look you had when her dad was talking to her."

"What look?" Jack asked, taking a seat on the corner of the desk.

"The look that said you wanted to run in and save the damsel in distress. You know, be her hero, her knight in shining armour," Jamie sang, throwing his hand over his chest, mockingly.

Scrunching up a blank sheet of paper, Jack tossed it at his friend. "I hate it when you do this to me, you know? Call my bluff," he groaned.

"What can I say? Elsa's not the only stubborn one, " Jamie smirked.

"Yeah, but, Jamie, I really hurt her this time," Jack cried. "You didn't see her face when I called her an ice queen. She was crying and it was all because of me."

"She'll recover. You just need to give her time, and space. You're not a bad guy and you do genuinely care for her. Just let her see that," Jamie suggested.

Jack sighed. "I need a miracle."

A/N- Whew. This chapter took me the longest so far to write. Getting all the angst of their fight out. Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I love getting some really well thought out reviews, and that you take the time to respond. Keep calm and ship Jelsa :).