The weight of an extra body climbing onto her bed was enough to wake Elsa from her slumber. She'd had a restless night with her mind replaying the fight with Jack while she slept. Rolling over, she glanced at the alarm and she noticed it was early, far too early for her liking. She groaned and turned to glare at the intruder.
"Anna, it's five am. What are you doing up at this hour?" she murmured, settling her head back on her pillow.
"Elsa," Anna cried softly. "I screwed up big time. Can I sleep in here?"
She sat up. The tone of Anna's voice alarmed her. Looking at her sister she could see the remnants of tear stains on her face. Sighing, she shuffled over and pulled the covers back so that Anna could slide in.
They lay in silence for a few seconds. She could hear Anna sniffling a few times before she buried herself further under the covers. She heard her take a few breaths before she spoke.
"I hate him," she said trembling. "I hate Hans."
Elsa gulped. She could feel a lump forming in her throat. "What happened?" she whispered, reaching out to stroke a strand of hair from her sister's face.
"He..he.." Anna stammered, avoiding eye contact. "I can't tell you if you're looking at me like that," she mumbled.
Elsa settled herself on her back. She could feel the worry rising within her. She knew that Anna only asked her to avoid eye contact when she was feeling really worried about something. Whatever she had to tell her, it wasn't good. "Okay, Anna. I'm not looking at you," she whispered.
She heard Anna take a deep breath beside her. "Last night on my date with Hans," she began. "He asked me if I wanted to watch a movie at his house. I said yes, so we went to his house. No one else was home and so we just put the movie on. At first it was fine, but then..then… Elsa, I'm such an idiot."
Reaching out, she found Anna's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "No, you're not an idiot," she said reassuringly.
"No, I am. We were watching the movie and Hans, he put his arm around me which was fine," Anna continued. "Then he started to get more forceful. He pushed me down and started to put his hands under my top...and he tried to pull my pants down," she cried. "I told him to stop and that I wasn't ready."
"What?!" Elsa hissed, rolling over to look Anna." What happened? He didn't...you know..hurt you?"
"No, he didn't hurt me. Nothing happened. He tried, but I punched him in the face before he could do anything else. That was when he called me a cock-tease and kicked me out. He accused me of wasting his time and his money," she said, sniffing back tears.
Sighing, she pulled her sister into a hug and stroked at her hair. "Wait, how did you get home?" she asked.
"I called a taxi," Anna admitted. "I didn't want to bother you or Mum and Dad. Not after the Jack thing."
Elsa shook her head. "Anna, you're my sister. You could never bother me. I'm always here for you, you know that," she pointed out.
"Elsa…" Anna whimpered. "It gets worse. I got a text from my friend, Chelsea. Hans, he uh posted on the university burn book page on Facebook. Do you know about that page?"
She nodded. She had heard rumours of the 'burn book' page. It was a page on Facebook where students could post vile stories about fellow students. She had never bothered to look at it. The very thought of the page existing made her feel sick to the stomach.
"Elsa...you didn't answer?" Anna prodded.
"Yes, Anna, I have heard about the burn book page. What about it?"
Anna sighed. "Hans, he posted on it. He's telling people that we slept together and that I'm bad in bed. I had a look earlier."
She let out a deep breath and pulled her sister closer to her. She could feel her heart breaking for her. She'd had a bad feeling about Hans all along, but had held off because Anna seemed to be so keen on him. Now, her bad vibe had turned out to be justified and her sweet, caring baby sister had been hurt in the process. She couldn't believe it could be so bad though. Breaking her heart and trying to force himself on her was one thing, but to then try and publicly humiliate her - that was just despicable.
The drive to their university had been sombre. Anna had been busy answering calls, text messages and private facebook messages from her concerned friends. To her disappointment, Anna had decided to withhold the information from their parents for the time being. She claimed that she wanted to try and deal with it on her own without troubling their parents. Elsa had reluctantly agreed, although had made a point to tell her sister to take screenshots of Hans' post in case it came in useful later. She had remained quiet for most of the ride in order to prevent her emotions from adding to her younger sister's woes.
Upon arriving at uni, Elsa insisted on walking Anna to her first class. Draping a protective arm around her sister, they began making their way through the campus. Taking care to ignore the curious stares of other students.
"Hey, Elsa, Anna," a voice called from behind them.
Automatically she tightened her grip on Anna before turning around. She felt herself relaxing as Kristoff came into view, his face lighting up as he he approached them.
"Hi, I just wanted to see you were after yester." he paused as his eyes flicked over Anna's reddened face. "Wait, Anna are you okay?" he asked.
"Never better," Anna replied. "Best day of my life so far."
Frowning, Elsa mouthed 'Boy troubles,' to Kristoff. She watched as he made a step forward as if he wanted to say something before stepping back and shaking his head.
"Kristoff, are you okay?" she asked
"Oh, yeah," he mumbled, blushing. "I was just… I just...I was going to ask if Anna wanted me to walk her to class."
Pausing, she turned to look at Anna and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "Anna?" she probed. "I do have to get going. What do you say?"
She heard Anna let out a sniff. "I guess. Wait aren't you the guy with the photo's of the dog on his folders?"
Kristoff nodded. "Yeah, that's my dog, Sven."
"What sort of dog is he?" Anna asked as she broke out from Elsa's grip.
"He's a mutt," Kristoff stated.
"Does he do any tricks?" Anna probed. "Like cool tricks"
"I guess. He can talk does that count?" Kristoff shrugged.
"No way can he talk," Anna scoffed.
"Well he doesn't 'talk' as in human talk, but he can bark on command," Kristoff explained. "Anyway, can we walk and talk? I have to get to my own class in a few minutes."
"Oh, sure," Anna blushed. "See you, Elsa," she said, waving.
Elsa watched as Kristoff kindly took Anna's backpack and swung it over his shoulders as they walked in the direction of Anna's class. She noticed the way they appeared to talk animatedly, no doubt still talking about his dog and smiled. She couldn't help liking Kristoff. He seemed like a bit of a loner, but kind and genuine. The fact that he was clearly very smitten with her sister was a bonus.
Turning on her heels, she headed in the direction of the library with the intent on getting some study done. However, the loud rumble coming from her stomach reminded her that she hadn't had a chance to grab breakfast that morning. She decided to head towards the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat.
Entering the cafeteria, she was relieved to find it practically empty with only a few other students scattered around the tables. Walking up to the counter, she selected a coffee and a croissant and settled herself down to enjoy her meal. After she had finished, she stood up and piled the trash onto a tray before moving towards the nearest bin.
"Yeah, the little slut was pretty easy. It's just a pity that she wasn't as good as I had hoped she would be," boasted a male voice.
Elsa shuddered and shot a look of disgust in the direction of the voice. Her eye fell on a group of young men gathered around a table. She could hardly believe the nerve of some people, talking with such disrespect about another person and about a private act as well. Tightening her grip on her bag, she trained her eyes on the exit.
"I'm just warning you guys, don't even bother with that Anna chick," the boastful male continued, snorting derisively. "If I'd have known she would be so bad, I'd have not bothered wasting the money to take her out the night before."
Elsa could feel her blood boiling as the group of boys began to laugh. Turning her head, she focused her attention on the group and recognised the ringleader from Anna's Facebook. Angrily she stormed over to the table to stand in front of the disgusting man
"Let me guess, you're Hans," she spat.
The auburn haired male looked at her in amusement. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure," he purred. "I'm sure I'd remember a beautiful young woman like yourself," he winked.
Elsa shuddered. The nerve of this guy was unbelievable. "Oh it's no pleasure," she snapped. "The name is Elsa, Elsa Blanchard. I believe you were just spreading complete and utter lies about my sister, Anna."
Hans leaned back in his chair and clasped his arms behind his head. "Elsa," he drawled, smirking at his friends. "I'm afraid if you want to ask me out on a date that my schedule is all booked out for this week. Although, I could probably fit you in some time next week."
The men surrounding Hans burst out into loutish laughter. Elsa felt her face flushing with anger. "Listen here, Hans," she snarled. "You and I both know that nothing happened other than you attempted to force yourself upon my sister. However, I swear on my life if you continue to spread your vile lies about Anna you, will regret it."
She spun around and stormed out of the cafeteria. Behind her, she could hear the group snorting with laughter as Hans opened his mouth and muttered something. She shuddered, making a mental note to encourage Anna to report Hans behaviour to the guidance counsellor. The thought of other women being subjected to his behaviour made her sick to her stomach.
Elsa sighed and switched off the last of the lights in the flagship store. After a long and tiring day, she was looking forward to heading home. Aside from the early start and the unpleasant interaction with Hans, her day hadn't been too bad. For one, Jack had failed to appear at university which had been a welcome relief after the previous days. The other positive had been that work had been pleasant. They had seen a steady stream of customers up until the last hour when it had slowed down, enabling her to send her colleague home a few minutes earlier than rostered.
After double checking that she had locked the store, she set off. The cool night breeze was a welcome relief after spending most of the day indoors. She huddled against the walls of the buildings as she placed the store keys in her handbag. Around her she could hear the sounds of couples laughing as they wandered in and out of the cafeteria's and nearby cinema complex. Picking up the pace, she headed towards the deserted parking bay. She could see a few cars, but not as many as when she had arrived for her shift. Shivering, she reached into her handbag and fumbled for her car keys.
She had just pulled her car keys out when she felt herself being grabbed from behind. A second later and a hand had covered her mouth, silencing her. She felt her heart racing with fear. The perpetrator moved her roughly towards her car before spinning her around and pushing her forcefully to rest against her own car. She looked up and found herself staring into the eyes of her attacker as he removed his hand from her mouth.
."Hans!" she gasped, watching as he grabbed her handbag and tossed it to rest out of her reach.
"Oh, Elsa," he sneered, placing a hand around her throat. "You never should have involved yourself in this little drama between me and your sister. You embarrassed me, Elsa, in front of my friends."
Elsa flinched under his touch. She tried to remember the self defence lessons her father had made her take as a child, but failed. She'd never been very good at them. Anna was always the one who excelled in self defence.
"It's okay though, I've figured out a way that you can make it up to me. One simple thing. You do it for me and all this trouble between us will go away," he sneered, running his knuckles over her cheek.
Elsa trembled, she didn't want to think about what was going to happen. Closing her eyes, she refused to look at him.
"Hey, get your dirty hands off of her," a voice shouted.
Elsa felt her heart rate steadying as Hans grip on her loosened. She felt a body step in front of her. Slowly she opened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes landing on Jack and his friend Jamie, who had placed themselves in between her and Hans. She watched as Jack zeroed in on Hans, pushing him in the chest and yelling at him, warning him to stay away from her. Nervously, she wrung her hands. She could feel the tears rolling down her face. She felt a hand on her arm and turned to spot Jamie standing beside her with her discarded handbag in his hands. Blinking, she took the bag.
She heard a loud curse word and looked up to see Hans picking himself up from the ground while Jack glared at him. She felt her breath hitch as Hans brought himself to his full height and for a minute she thought that he might react, but he didn't.
"This isn't over, Frost," he spat as he moved away.
"If you go near her again it will be over," Jack threatened. "Asshole."
She let out a loud exhale as Hans scurried away, leaving her with Jack and Jamie. She watched as Jack turned to face her.
"Elsa, are you okay?" he asked and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged his hand off. "Why is it whenever you are near me there's always trouble?" she snapped. "If you're expecting me to thank you for showing up again then you're wrong. For the last week you've done nothing but cause me trouble. Here's a newsflash for you, Jack, I didn't need your help, I could have handled it."
Jack's eyes widened as he took a step back to look at her. "Elsa, I.. forget it," he murmured, shaking his head. "Just forget it."
She groaned. She grabbed her keys and unlocked her car. She could feel the curious stares of Jack and Jamie as they watched her, but said nothing. Instead, she jumped in her car and put it in reverse before driving off.
She felt like she was on autopilot as she made the short drive to her home. Once home, she parked the car in the garage and slunk inside. She could hear the sound of her parents watching TV in the lounge room, but didn't bother to greet them. The last thing she wanted to do was see another person. She raced up the stairs to the safety of her room.
Stepping inside her room, she bent down to slip her shoes off and flung herself onto her bed. Only then did she allow herself to burst into tears. She grabbed at her pillow and pulled it to her chest. Her mind kept replaying the attack. She felt awful for snapping at Jack. After all, if he and Jamie had not been there then she may have found herself in an even worse state. Even worse was the look on his face when she had snapped at him. It was a look that she'd not seen from him before, he was hurt. Sighing, she resigned herself to apologising to him when she next saw him.
Jack stormed into his room, slamming the door shut before he flung himself onto his bed. He could scarcely believe the turn of events. Once again, he had managed to screw things up with Elsa. Only this time it hadn't even been his fault to begin with.
He had taken the day off from uni to take Emily to the orthodontist. He'd not long been home when Jamie had texted to invite him to go see a movie. As it turned out, the movie had been held at the cinema near Kingdom's flagship store. Jack had parked his car in the nearby parking lot and had spied Elsa hard at work when he'd passed by her store.
Jamie had filled him in on the situation with Anna Blanchard and Hans while they had waited for the movie to start. Unsurprisingly, the news had travelled fast around the students at university. Jamie had then told him of the rumours that Elsa had confronted Hans in the cafeteria Apparently Hans had then made a few smart assed remarks and had claimed that Elsa was clearly 'hot for him'. Jack had scoffed. He'd not had a lot to do with Hans, but from what he had seen, he didn't like. His behaviour of Elsa and her sister had only served to convince Jack that he'd been right in thinking the guy was an asshole.
The movie had finished later than anticipated and Jack had walked with Jamie back to the parking lot. They had been eagerly discussing their favourite parts of the movie when they had rounded the corner. He had been deep in conversation when he had felt Jamie grab his arm. He had looked up to see what Jamie was looking at and had felt himself go numb.
His eyes had settled on Hans pressing Elsa against her car while he leaned in. The fear that was written all over Elsa's face told him that it was definitely not a welcomed action. He had felt the anger rising in him as he leapt into action. He'd grabbed hold of Hans and had pushed him to the ground. He had been ready to beat Hans to a bloody pulp when something had stopped him. The sound of Elsa sobbing had caused him to reconsider. He didn't want to risk causing her further distress. Instead, he had settled for letting Hans go with a warning.
He had no idea what he'd expected to happen once Hans ran off. He had known that Elsa would likely be in a state of shock and had turned to face her in order to ask how she was. Instead of thanking him for helping her and protecting her, she had snapped at him. She'd then dismissed him and had driven off.
Her reaction had hurt him. Jamie had tried to reason with him and had told him that she was in shock and that she probably didn't even realise what she had said, but it had been useless. All Jack knew was that he had officially managed to piss off the woman of his dreams for four days in a row. The worst part was that of all the nights he wanted to be with her and to hold her close, it was tonight.