Anna had not been kidding when she'd warned Elsa that their Dad was ranting about her.
Having let herself in, she had found her father pacing around the lounge room in his pyjamas with a stony expression on his face.
He'd pulled Elsa aside to rant about how she had behaved irresponsibly all day and claimed her behaviour was not appropriate for a future CEO. The last straw it, it seemed, had been her failure to alert them of how long she'd intended to stay out. She had not bothered to defend herself and had simply nodded in appeasement while she vowed to show more respect in the future. To her relief, her father had agreed and had let her go.
Once in room, she had quickly changed out of her clothes and into her pyjamas. She'd settled herself under the covers of her bed and had pulled her laptop onto her lap and booted it up.
Logging onto her secret Facebook account, she couldn't help smiling as she read through the posts of her friends. To her surprise, Lana had been quick to tag her in the photo's that she had taken at the party. There were also a few sneaky shots that had been taken without her knowledge while they were at Jack's store.
Her eyes fell on Jack's name and she smiled. Clicking onto the message box, she typed a quick message to Jack:
'Surprisingly not in too much trouble. Don't know whether to be scared or relieved. I think Dad's tired from a long day of reminding me how much of a disappointment I am. He only wanted to remind me of how irresponsible I've been and to show some respect. Thanks again for a great night~ Elsa'
To her surprise, Jack responded almost immediately with a simple, yet supportive message:
'Don't let him get you down. You're not a disappointment, nor are you irresponsible. You're allowed to have fun, Elsa. You're also allowed to want for different things. It's your life, you have to be happy with it, not him. I'm going to bed now. I had a great night with you. Text or call me if you need, I'm always here for you.'
Sighing, she closed the laptop and placed it back on her bedside table. Switching her bedside lamp off, she burrowed herself under the covers. Closing her eyes, she couldn't help but think back to her day. Everything about the day felt different. From the argument she'd had with her father to her act of rebellion and her exchange with Jack
She could hardly believe the way things had happened with Jack. He had been the perfect gentleman towards her all night. Shivering, she thought back to the way his hand had felt on the small of her back when he'd gently guided her towards the house where the party was held. He had been so resolute in saying that he would happily take her anywhere else if she felt uncomfortable. When Hans had turned up, Jack had been so quick to leap in front of her.
She had been fearful that a scuffle might break out between Jack, Jamie, Fred and Hans, but it hadn't. Instead, Jack had acted like the bigger man and had simply left the party while Hans and his goons had been left speechless in their wake.
Shaking her head, she smiled. She could no longer deny that Jack Frost was quickly becoming a friend. However, more surprising was the fact that she found herself wanting more. Suddenly, the things that used to bug her about him seemed endearing. His lopsided grin, the way his hair never sat straight, or the way that she would catch him looking at her when he thought she couldn't see him.
Then there was the kindness he'd displayed to her in his car. He'd been so genuine in what he had said to her and the way his husky voice had sounded as he'd leaned in close had sent shivers down her spine. He had been going to kiss her and she had wanted it. She would be lying to herself if she said that she hadn't wanted to kiss him and to feel his lips on hers as she gave him her first kiss.
Gasping, she opened her eyes as the realisation hit her. She liked Jack. She could no longer deny that she had romantic feelings for the annoyingly frustrating and surprisingly sweet, Jack Frost.
Lazily, Jack opened his eyes and reached for his phone. His eyes widening as he realised that he'd managed to wake before the alarm. Grinning, he settled back against the bed as his mind went over the events of the weekend.
After dropping Elsa home, he had spent the rest of the evening and almost all of Sunday going over the moment they had shared in his car. Every time he closed his eyes, he could picture her as she had leaned in close to him. The way her head had tilted and her hand had gripped his. He had been so close to kissing her and he believed that she had been aware of his intentions. While he had been upset that their kiss had been thwarted, he couldn't deny that it had given him hope that she would have accepted him.
He had spent most of Sunday evening on a Skype conversation with Lana and Fred as he relayed his last few minutes with Elsa. Lana had squealed when he had told her how he'd been so close to kissing her. Bashfully, he had asked if it was a good sign and Lana had nodded. She had gone on to tell him that it was clearly evident that Elsa had been open and receptive to the kiss. She had ended the call by telling him that he had no choice. He had to ask Elsa on a date.
The sound of his alarm sounding jolted Jack from his thoughts. Groaning, he rolled over and grabbed the phone to silence the alarm. Once the alarm had been silenced, he stood up and fumbled towards his bedroom door.
Making his way across the hall, he rapped on the door of his sister's room. "Em, get up," he called.
He heard a loud groan. "Go away, Jack," she cried from the other side of the door.
Shaking his head, he laughed. From inside the room he could hear the sound of the bed creaking and knew that all likelihood pointed to his sister having burrowed further under her covers in an attempt to claim more sleep.
"Not going anywhere until you get your ass out of bed and start moving," he shot back. "I have to start getting to uni on time, Em, I can't continue to be late. "You have two choices here. You either get up early and have me drive to school, or get up a few minutes later and catch the bus. Either way, I am leaving the house at exactly 8am. The choice is yours."
He heard the sound of shuffling before the door flung open and his sister turned to glare at him from behind her tangled brown hair. "Don't make me catch the bus. The driver has even worse taste in music than you do," she muttered as she pushed past him to claim the bathroom.
Chuckling, he made his way back to his room. Pulling open the wardrobe, he grabbed a clean pair of jeans, t-shirt and his favourite hoodie and chucked them on. Leaning down, he grabbed his cologne and sprayed it on before dragging a brush through his hair. He cast one last look at his appearance before he left the room.
Jack grinned as he caught sight of the surprised look on Professor Weselton's face. Glancing at the clock, he saw that he had managed to arrive to class with ten minutes to spare. Any other day and he would be tempted to toy with the Professor, but not today.
Fortunately for the aging professor, Jack's attention had been focused on Elsa. He'd noticed upon arrival that she was not in her normal front row seat. Instead, she had moved to sit with Lana, Fred and Jamie in their row. Smirking, he made his way towards their row. He shot a hard stare at Jamie and watched as he shuffled over to leave a space for him next to Elsa.
"Hi," he greeted as he lowered himself into the empty chair next to Elsa.
Taking a deep breath, he watched as she turned to face him.
"Hi, I stole your spot," she pointed out as a tight-lipped smile crossed her face. "I hope you don't mind."
Raising his eyebrow, he looked at her. He watched as she settled back against her chair and turned to face him with a twinkle in her eyes and a smirk on her face. Chuckling, he brushed a hand through his tousled hair. He knew damn well that she already knew he'd not mind.
Leaning forward, he caught her gaze. "And if I did mind?" he quipped.
He watched as her eyes widened. Slowly, she turned to cross her arms over her chest while she stared at him. "In that case, I'd tell you to arrive even earlier next time," she smirked and moved to push a stray strand of hair from her face.
"You're lucky that I'm so nice," he grumbled before poking his tongue out at her.
Beside him, Elsa scoffed. She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the rough voice of their professor as he called the class to attention. Instead, he watched as she crinkled her nose and poked her tongue out at him before focusing her attention on the whiteboard in front of her.
Groaning, he turned to face the whiteboard. Furrowing his brows, he tried to focus on the words that the professor was saying. However, the sight of Elsa with her head bent down as she furiously scribbled notes was proving to be too distracting. Smirking, he leaned forward and gently flicked at her ponytail. His impulsive behaviour caused Elsa to raise her head and turn to stare at him.
Gulping, he watched as she rolled her eyes. Inwardly, he scolded himself. The last few days of progress have all been for nothing. Thanks to his immaturity, he's just pissed her off and is no doubt back to square one. Suddenly, he felt a soft kick to his ankles. Biting his lip, he looked down just in time to see Elsa's foot move back to its earlier resting place. He glanced at Elsa and grins upon seeing the cheeky smile that had settled on her face.
Taking a deep breath, he buried his head down and scribbled a note to ask Elsa if she would meet with him in private after class. He ripped the paper from his note pad and folded it before reaching over and dropping it on Elsa's desk. Blushing, he stole a glance at her as she read the note. He could feel his palms starting to sweat as she bit her lip and bent her head down to write her response. A few seconds later, he felt her hand brushing his as she passed the note back to him under the table.
Unwrapping the note, he couldn't help smiling as he realised how ironic it was that his 13-year-old sister had recently been in trouble for note-passing in class while he was currently engaging in the same behaviour as a 21-year-old university student. Glancing down at the note, he could feel his heart skip a beat as he read Elsa's response. It was a simple, one-word reply with a smiley face at the end of it, but it was enough to cause him to break out into a goofy smile. His eyes darted to his left and he noticed that Elsa's hand was still dangling between them. A part of him was tempted to reach down and take her hand in his, but he didn't.
Finally, the class had finished and Weselton had stopped talking and had dismissed them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Jack packed his books back into his bag and slid out of the seat to wait for Elsa. A few seconds later and she had joined him by his side while they waited for their friends to join them. Together, they decided to head to the library to do some work.
Leaving the classroom, he slowed his pace and lightly tugged on Elsa's elbow so that she was walking with him. He watched as Lana, Fred and Jamie turned to face them before telling them to go on ahead. Blushing, he watched as Lana mouthed 'Good luck' to him before promising to save them a seat.
He waited until their friends were out of sight to start walking again.
"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Elsa asked, narrowing her eyes as she turned to face him.
Nodding, he grabbed her hand and led her around the corner towards a quieter part of the university. He watched as her blue eyes focused on his face and felt himself losing his nerve. "I...errr...I..ahh," he stammered. He brushed a hand through his hair as the familiar heat settled on his cheeks.
Frowning, Elsa leaned in to look at him. "Are you okay?" she asked softly and placed a hand on his arm. "Jack, you know that you can ask me anything."
Gulping, he looked at her. Her blue eyes were studying his face as she looked over him. It was now or never, he had to ask her. Taking a deep breath, he looked at her. "I want to know if you want to go out on a date with me?" he squeaked before shifting his attention to the floor.
He heard Elsa take a deep breath and steeled himself. By now, he knew that his cheeks were a dark red colour. Mentally, he prepared himself for the rejection that was about to come. After all, Lana's not known Elsa that long and it is entirely possible that she has got it all wrong and Elsa hadn't wanted to kiss him.
"Yes, I'd like that," Elsa's soft voice broke through his thoughts.
He shot his head up. Blinking, he looked at her as a wide grin crossed his face. "Y...you would?" he stuttered. "You do realise that I mean a date. Just you and I spending the day and possibly part of the evening together."
He watched as Elsa chuckled before reaching down to smooth a crease on her jacket. "I'm aware of what a date normally entails, Jack. I would love to go on a date with you."
He could feel his grin widening and shook his head. He's certain that he looks like a complete fool by now, but he didn't care. Instead, he fights back the urge to grab Elsa in his arms and twirl her around. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself.
"Great, well I how is Friday for you? I figured that seeing as neither of us have university on that day it would be the best day," he reasoned.
"Friday is good for me," Elsa smiled and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "You'll have to let me know the details, but Friday works out fine."
Elsa could feel the blush rising to her cheeks as she followed Jack into the library. She could scarcely believe the giddiness that she felt. At this current moment, her cheeks felt like they could burst from the smile that had crept over her face.
Shaking her head, she told herself to snap out of it. This behaviour, the rush of happiness was not normal behaviour for her. Anna and Punzie were the ones who got all dizzy over males and romance, not her. Yet, here she was barely managing to contain her grin and it was all thanks to an upcoming date with Jack Frost.
She placed her bag on a chair and was about to sit down when a hand gripped hers. Blushing, she turned to face Lana, who tugged her over to stand in the corner.
"Well," Lana demanded and placed her hands on her hips. "Are you going to tell me what you said?"
Turning her head to her side, she tried in vain to hide the wide smile that graced her face. "You knew?" she whispered before burying her head behind her hands.
Lana scoffed and reached to pull Elsa's hands from her face. "Of course, I knew. Who do you think told Jack to bite the bullet and finally ask you out? The poor guy is such a nervous, lovesick puppy when it comes to you," she laughed. "So when is the date?"
"Friday," she replied and cocked her head to smirk at Lana. "Jack's a 'Lovesick puppy' with me?"
Lana let out an exasperated groan and shook her head. "Honestly, the two of you are as bad as each other. I mean, just look at him over there."
Blushing, she followed Lana's gaze to where Jack was sitting. His attention was fixed on her and his lopsided grin had appeared on his face. She watched as his eyes met hers before he blushed bowed his head. Diverting her gaze, she watched as Jamie caught sight of her and leaned in to poke Jack.
Stifling a yawn, Elsa made her way inside her family home. The long working day had left her feeling exhausted. Her father had left her in charge of handling the orders as well as dealing with customers. The work on it's own wasn't so bad, but she had been left to call on Punzie to help out after her colleague, Collette, had failed to turn up.
Stepping into the entranceway, the sound of raised voices coming from her father's study could be heard. Shrugging, she moved to pass the opened door.
"Elsa, get in here," her father's voice boomed.
Sighing, she turned on her heels and made her way into the office. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the angered look on her father's face. Frowning, she glanced at her mum in the hopes of gaining some insight into her father's behaviour, but the older woman simply shrugged and looked away.
She felt her father's hands grip her shoulder as he turned her to face him. "Did you know?" he demanded. "Did you know that Collette was going to do this?"
Blinking, she turned to stare at him. "Know what? What are you talking about?" she asked.
Her father sighed and released his grip on her shoulders. "That Collette was going to leave us," he muttered. "She was poached by bloody North and his damned Guardian's chain."
"N..n..what?" she stammered and put her hand out to steady herself against the bookshelf.
She watched as her father turned to look at her. "Collette handed in her letter of resignation this morning and then called in sick for the rest of the day. That was why she wasn't at work. It turns out she's got a job as the manager of a new Guardian's store that has sprung up near her home."
She felt herself stumble slightly as she moved to perch herself against the corner of her father's solid desk. Sighing, she felt the pang of guilt hit her as she realised that it was yet another roadblock that stood between her and Jack's blossoming friendship. "I...I'm sorry. I had no idea," she murmured. "Was Collette actually poached, or did she apply?"
"She said that she applied," Walt grumbled. "She said that the 45 minute drive for her to get to work was getting harder to deal with. Apparently this new store is only a 10 minute drive from her house."
Biting her lip, Elsa looked at her father. "So, does this mean that all we have to do is look through the job applications that we already have and organise interviews?" she asked. "I mean, we've already got Steven managing the store and he's not leaving us. How much notice did Collette give you?"
Her father sighed and pinched the tip of his nose before looking out the window. "We have two more weeks with Collette working for us. She'll keep her normal shifts until then."
Jack raced through the halls of the university. He'd agreed to another early morning meet up with Elsa, Allison and Eric in order to finalise their group project for Professor Lawrence's class.
Rounding the corner, he caught sight of the library and slowed to a walk. He pushed open the door and made his way towards the table where the group was sitting. Catching Eric's gaze, he drew his finger to his mouth and motioned for him to remain silent. To his relief, he agreed and showed no sign of having seen Jack.
Slowly, Jack crept up behind Elsa. Her head was bent over her work as she concentrated on re-reading the work she had written. He stood for a few seconds and watched as she remained completely oblivious to his presence. Smirking, he reached his hands down and placed them on her shoulders.
"Boo," he whispered.
He chuckled as Elsa let out a small shriek before lashing her arm out to whack him in the stomach. Yelping, he clutched at the spot where she had hit him.
"Bit harsh, Elsa," he pouted. "Didn't take you for the violent type."
Turning to face him, she poked her tongue out. "You deserve that hit, Jackson. You know that I'm tired," she chided.
Smirking, he turned to face the centre of the group. "You're the one who decided to keep me up all night, Elsa," he teased.
He watched as a blush covered Elsa's cheeks as she turned to face their fellow group members. Raising her hands defensively, she looked at them. "Oh no, it wasn't how it sounds. We were chatting to each other over Facebook message," she protested. "We were going over some of our work for this project. Alone..I mean, he was at his house and I was at mine."
Smirking, he turned to watch as Eric and Allison simply nodded before turning their attention back to their work. Shaking his head, he shifted his gaze to Elsa. The deep blush had disappeared from her cheeks. However, he couldn't help noticing the bags under her eyes and sighed.
She hadn't been lying when she had said that they had been up all night chatting. He'd spent most of the evening on the computer talking to her. They had spent a few minutes discussing their group project, but the majority of the conversation had been spent going over plans for their date. They had also gone over the latest development in the saga that was their families rivalry. He knew that she was stressed. She'd had a long day at work and had expressed to him how she felt that things were starting to pick up in terms of their own relationship when something had cropped up and reminded her of the challenges they were facing.
Sighing, he reached his hand out to grip hers and he gave it a light squeeze. Her eyes widened at the contact before relaxing as she entwined her fingers with his and returned the squeeze. Leaning over, he hovered his lips by her ear. "Hey," he whispered. "It will be okay."
She nodded. Turning to face him, she gave him a weak smile before removing her hand from his.
Grinning, he redirected his attention to his work. He pulled out his papers and sorted them carefully before slipping his contribution inside the presentation folder that Allison had organised. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat back and watched as the other three members added their part to the folder.
"We have to get to class," Allison said and indicated to her watch.
Nodding, Jack stood to his feet. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and waited for Elsa to pack her belongings up. Leaning in, he gently nudged her shoulder as they followed Eric and Allison out of the library.
Elsa raced around the corner. She could feel her bag flapping against her back as she rushed towards her car.
Her mind was distracted as she thought back to the conversation she'd had with Jack earlier in the day. After handing in their project, they had headed to the cafeteria where they had sat down with a coffee and a bite to eat. They had briefly joked about being tired from their long conversation the night before and the early morning start before the topic had returned to the news of Collette leaving Kingdom's and the ongoing rivalry.
Once again, Jack had proven to be supportive and had told her not to let it stress her. It was his opinion that they needed to focus on their developing relationship and see where it was going before they let their families mysterious and troubled past intervene.
Still, despite his best effort and the lopsided grin that he'd flash at her when he wanted her to cheer up, she couldn't help feeling stressed. The more she got to know Jack and his friends, the more she wanted to know the real reason behind their families rivalry. Suddenly, the excuses that her father made when he wrote it off as being 'in the past' weren't enough for her. While it may have been her father's past, it was starting to impact greatly on her future and she found herself becoming increasingly unwilling to accept it.
Since getting to know Jack and his friends, she had found herself starting to question her life and the way that she had been raised. Aside from providing her with friendship and broadening her social life, she had been forced to examine her decisions. She had started to realise that she was capable of balancing a social life with her study and working life. They had also reminded her that she was her own person and not just Walt Blanchard's daughter and the future CEO of Kingdom Ice Creamery. Jack and his friends were helping her to see that she was Elsa Blanchard and she had her own identity.
Raising her head, she pushed the thoughts from her head and focused on her car as it came into sight. She felt her face heating up as her eyes landed on Anna, who was pressed against the passenger side of the car with her arms wrapped tightly around Kristoff's neck as she kissed him.
Grinning, she reached out and pointed the keyless entry remote at the car. She pressed the button and watched as Anna and Kristoff sprung apart. "I really did not need to see that," she smirked.
She watched as Anna turned to look at her sheepishly. "Elsa, hi," she greeted. "You remember Kristoff right? He was just keeping me company while I waited for you."
Smirking, she turned to face Kristoff. His cheeks had turned a dark pink and he gave her a brief nod before lowering his gaze. "I can see that," she teased. "I think that I arrived at the right time."
She pulled open the boot of her car and tossed her bag in before moving to climb into the driver's seat. She waited patiently while Anna placed her own bag in the boot before proceeding to give Kristoff one last kiss and promising to call him later that evening.
Glancing in the rear-view mirror, she waited for her path to be clear before starting the ignition and pulling out of her park. Slowly, she navigated the car towards the road.
"So, I take it that you're going to go on a few more dates with Kristoff then?" she questioned.
"Yep!" Anna replied as she leaned down to turn the radio on. "We're going out on Thursday night and then again on Saturday. On Sunday I'm going to his house to play with Sven. He's a really, really great guy. I really think that he could be the one."
Chuckling, she reached over to take Anna's hand before giving it a light squeeze. "He is a nice guy. I really think that you've found a good one here," she added.
"He is a good one," Anna sighed dreamily. "Oh, Elsa. I just hope that one day you can find a guy who makes you feel the same way that I feel about Kristoff. You deserve to be happy."
A/N- Thank you guys for your continued support, comments, thoughtful reviews. I know a few of you felt sorry for poor Jack from the last chapter. He was so close, but so far. Don't worry, he'll get there eventually.
I'm hoping to have the next chapter out by the end of this week. Until then, Keep calm and ship Jelsa.