The ride home from the charity event had been tense. Elsa's father had spent the majority of the ride muttering about the altercation with Nicholas North and Jack. Her mother had tried to reason with him and had pointed out that his own behaviour was equally as bad, but he'd brushed her off.
Once home, she had watched as her parents had stood facing each other and had seen the stony expression on her mother's face. It had been obvious that the discussion about the charity event was far from over and she had no intention on sticking around to see it. She had retreated to her room after claiming that she had assignments which required her attention. To her relief, her parents had been only too happy to excuse her.
In the privacy of her room, she had booted up her laptop with the intention of studying. However, her mind had been too distracted and she had soon found that it strayed back to the events of the afternoon. She had kept replaying the way Jack had looked into her eyes when he had accepted her apology and the softness that had been in his voice when he had said he wanted to make sure she was safe. Then there was the way he had spoken to her father. His voice had been strong and full of determination when he'd stated that he had got the black eye by defending someone he cared about. She could have sworn that he had purposely looked at her when he had said it.
She had put the clues together and had soon realised that Jack had been the one who had fought with Hans. He had been quick to confirm it when she had mouthed it. What she couldn't figure out was why he had been in a position where he had been forced to resort to physical violence with Hans. She had found herself wondering whether the fight had been in any way related to what had happened to her and Anna, but had brushed it off and had told herself that she was being silly.
The only thing that had been certain was that she was no longer able to figure out Jack Frost. She was so used to his normal lazy, cocky and infuriating self. At least when he acted like that, she knew where she stood with him. Her last two interactions with him had left her confused. He had suddenly displayed a kinder, more caring side to himself
By the time Monday had rolled around, Elsa had been ready for the fresh start to the week. Her previous week had been a rollercoaster of emotions and she had been looking forward to getting back to class and putting the events of the last week behind her.
Her morning class with Weselton had gone by without a hitch. To her surprise, Jack had not only managed to arrive on time for class, but he had also left her alone. She had been worried that he would approach her and try to talk to her about the business event, or the Hans situation, but he hadn't. Instead, he had simply offered her a small smile, which she had reciprocated.
After her morning class had finished, she had made her way to the library. She had been plagued with guilt ever since the fight with Jack when she had fled from the group project and had decided to try and make amends by working on some notes.
To her relief, the library had been quiet when she had entered. She had set herself down at a table in the corner and had pulled her books and note-paper out. She had thumbed through the books and had stopped every so often to take notes. The peace of the library proved useful and she had been able to get a few pages of notes down within the first hour.
She was so engrossed in her reading, that the firm hand gripping at her shoulder startled her. Gasping, she felt herself being pushed roughly against her chair. Glancing up, she found herself facing a bruised Hans, who was flanked by two large men. She felt her eyes widening as he settled himself in the chair opposite her and leaned in.
"Hello, Elsie," he drawled
She felt her heart rate pick up as he stared at her. His eyes appeared cold and unblinking.
"H...H..Hans," she sputtered.
"Oh, Elsa," he sneered. "I do apologise for the way we were so rudely interrupted the other night. That Frost boy is nothing but a menace."
Gulping, she looked at him. She could feel the panic rising in her as she wrapped her arms around her waist. "Normally, I would agree that Jack is an annoyance. However, in this situation I find myself rather grateful that he was around," she stated.
She heard Hans let out a derisive scoff before he leaned in closer to her. Shuddering, she leaned back, trying to create as much distance between herself and the threatening male as possible. "Ah, but, Elsa. Now we have a problem," he growled. "You see, if Frost had just left me alone that night then all this...tension between us would have disappeared. However, he didn't. He was quite rude in the way he interrupted our little 'chat.' If that in itself wasn't bad, he then had to go one further."
"H...he did?" she stammered.
Hans chuckled before turning to shoot an amused look at the two men beside him. "Why yes, he did. You see, I was out for a lovely stroll on Saturday afternoon. I was just enjoying the day until I happened to run into Jack Frost," he spat.
"Y..you did?" she asked as she ran a finger through her hair.
"Elsa, don't interrupt people, it's rude," Hans scolded. "Yes I ran into him. That is where the trouble started. You see, it seems that Mr Frost took offense to the conversation that you and I were having. He seemed to have the idea that I was 'scaring you' and that you were at risk of being hurt. So, I exchanged a few words with him and then he just went crazy."
"Crazy?" she repeated, biting her lip. She had no idea what he was playing at, or what he was building up to, but she could sense that it wasn't good. Silently, she prayed that by playing naive he would give up and leave her alone.
"Absolutely insane, my friend," Hans went on. "He then struck me. You can probably see the evidence of his punches on my poor face. He also kicked me in the ribs a few time."
"I'm sure that your injuries will heal in no time," she muttered, before lowering her head.
Hans snorted. Reaching over, he placed his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. "Trouble is, Elsa, that what should have been a simple issue between your sister and I, has grown to include you and Mr Frost."
She pulled her chin out of his grasp and glared at him. "It has?"
"Indeed," he drawled. "Apparently Mr Frost feels the need to protect you and your sister. I don't know why he feels that way, I mean it's well known that your families are less than friendly. Anyway, the point is Elsa, that I do not like the way that I have been treated by your sister, yourself and now, Mr Frost."
She cocked an eyebrow as she stared at him. "You, don't like the way that we have treated you?" she repeated sarcastically.
"Absolutely not," Hans snarled. "I don't like being humiliated or assaulted, Elsa. Let this be a warning to you. Any more trouble from you or your sister and the next time I get to you, I'll make sure that your pathetic little guardian isn't around to protect you."
Tightening the grip on her waist, she stared at him. She watched as he rose to his feet and pushed his chair out the way. Turning to the guys behind him, he snapped his finger. He shifted his attention to glare at her before dismissing her with a wave.
She waited for Hans and his friends to leave the library before letting out a deep breath. Hastily she packed her bag. She couldn't remember ever feeling this scared or conflicted before. Common sense told her that she should tell someone and make a formal report about his behaviour. However, his parting threat had left her fearful for her and Anna's safety.
Exiting the library, she found herself on autopilot as she headed in the direction of the cafeteria. She needed to speak to her sister, to warn her to be careful, but in doing so it would mean telling her about the events of Thursday night.
Entering the cafeteria, she scanned the room. To her relief, she couldn't see Hans or his friends. However, she did notice a familiar head of silver-white hair sitting at a table with a few other students. Suddenly, she recalled Hans' words and remembered that he had not only made a threat to her and Anna, but he'd also threatened Jack.
Tightening her grip on her bag, she strode through the tables to stand behind Jack. She waited as Jamie nodded his head to alert Jack to her presence.
"Elsa, hey," he greeted as he tilted his head to look at her. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
Biting her lip, she looked at him. "We need to talk," she said.
"We do?" he asked as he jumped to his feet and slung his bag over the shoulder.
Reaching down, she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her as she led him through the tables. "We do," she repeated.
She didn't stop moving until she had come across a less populated area of the cafeteria. Turning to face him, she couldn't help noticing his lopsided grin as he looked down at their hands. Frowning, she looked down and realised that she had not bothered to release his hand. She had been far too engrossed in her thoughts to realise that they had been holding hands. Blushing, she dropped his hand.
"Elsa, if you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do is ask," Jack teased.
She let out a groan before rolling her eyes. "Shut it, Frost. I'm not in the mood for your jokes," she said.
Jack furrowed his brows and looked at her. "Hey, hey. I'll be serious, what's up?" he whispered, lowering his gaze to meet hers.
Sighing, she wrapped her arms around her body. "Hans," she whispered. "He came to see me in the library with two guys. He..uh...he..he - "
"Elsa, did he hurt you?" he asked gently, placing his hand on her arm.
She shook her head. "No he didn't. He just made a threat," she admitted.
"He what?" Jack shrieked, recoiling his hand from her arm.
She nodded. "He basically said that if there was anymore trouble from Anna or I, that he would make sure that you weren't around to protect us next time," she shivered.
Jack took a deep breath. Looking at him, she could see the scowl on his face. "Elsa, I...I -"
Jack, I need to know what exactly happened between you and Hans on Saturday," she demanded. "Because he has just taken what was already a bad situation and made it worse."
Jack paused for a moment before moving his hand to rub at his neck. "Ok," he agreed. "I'll tell you. Though, we should probably sit down first."
She nodded. Looking around, she found a small table and pointed him towards it. She was just about to head towards the table when the sound of his phone ringing cut through the silence. Instead, she waited patiently while he fumbled with his phone and answered it. She watched as his face frowned and he let out a few comments of agreement before ending the call and sliding the phone back into his jeans pocket.
He let out a loud sigh and looked at her. "Elsa, that was my sister's school. She's not well and there's no one home. I have to go collect her and take care of her," he explained. "We do need to talk about this situation though."
She nodded and gave him a small smile.
"Can we meet up later this evening?" he asked. "There's a nice little cafe in Kensington. Mariposa Cafe is the name. I can meet you there at 7:30pm," he dug into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper and pen and scribbled down the time and address before handing the paper to her.
Blushing, she took the paper and read the address. "I'll be there," she said.
"Okay, well in that case, see you later, Elsa. Remember that if you stand me up, I do know where you go to school," he said with a wink.
She nodded and watched as he rushed off. She turned to study the paper that he'd given her. To his credit, he'd been smart enough to choose a cafe a few suburbs away from her home. She let out a loud sigh and slipped the paper into her pocket.
Authors Note- Thank you all once again for the lovely and thoughtful reviews. I'm going to try and have the next chapter out by the end of Monday Australian time. I'm heading to Melbourne next Thursday to see Wicked so my week is going to busy, although I still hope to have at least another 2 chapters out for you by the time I leave.
Until then Keep Calm and ship Jelsa.