Two weeks had passed since Elsa had spent the night at Jack's. The night they had shared with each other had only sought to bring them even closer. Ever since that night, they had found that their kisses became more passionate and their hands travelled to more intimate places. While their relationship was continuing to strengthen, the relationship between Elsa and her sister was starting to crack.
Tension between Elsa and Anna had continued to be at an all-time high. Walt Blanchard had started to give Elsa more shifts in Kingdom headquarters in order to prepare her for her eventual role as CEO. In order to cover for Elsa, Anna had been assigned more shifts in the flagship store, much to her dismay. The added workload, combined with her uni work and unresolved jealousy over Lana and Elsa's friendship, had seen the youngest Blanchard becoming increasingly short-tempered and snappy.
Elsa had turned to her mother in order to try and figure out how to cope with Anna's attitude towards her. Her mother had patiently sat her down and had reminded her that the behaviour was not unexpected. She had claimed that Anna had grown accustomed to her sister being there. Whether she was at work, school or, uni, Elsa had always been easily accessible. However, Elsa's slight social life, coupled with her changing work responsibilities meant that the dynamic had changed. Lillian's advice had been for Elsa to try and make time to devote purely to her relationship with Anna.
In order to try and mend the cracks, Elsa had started to take a mug of hot chocolate to her sister at the end of the night. She had hoped that it would help prove to Anna that she would always be an important person in her life. However, despite her good intentions, Elsa had found their chats to be strained. Most of the time, their talks were dominated by Anna talking about the latest development in her and Kristoff's relationship. Each time their talk turned to relationships, Elsa had found her mind wandering to Jack. A few times she had felt close to telling Anna about her relationship, only to lose her nerve at the last minute.
The morning had started like any other. After waking, Elsa had popped into the shower and had prepared for her day at university. Once dressed, she had headed downstairs and had found her mother hurrying around while she prepared for work. She had explained that Walt's secretary had called in sick, which meant that she had to fill in at Kingdom headquarters. As usual, Anna had been running late. She had raced around the house and had tried to tame her hair all the while she shovelled a piece of toast in her mouth.
Biting her lip, Elsa had checked the time on her phone. After finishing her toast, Anna had raced upstairs and hadn't been seen since. Groaning, she'd made her way to the staircase. "Anna," she'd called. "You have exactly five minutes to get in the car, or I'm leaving without you."
Elsa had heard a loud thud, followed by a door being pulled shut. Moments later, her sister had appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Anna had panted, brushing past Elsa as she raced down the stairs and out the front door.
Rolling her eyes, Elsa had followed her sister out the door. She'd pulled the front door closed behind her and locked it. After tossing her bag into the boot, she had climbed behind the steering wheel and had slipped the key into the ignition.
They had driven in silence for a while. Elsa had been focused on the road and Anna had been distracted by Facebook on her phone.
"Elsa," Anna whispered. "Why do you sit with Jack Frost in the cafeteria?"
Elsa gulped. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she turned the car onto the road that led to their university. "He's a good friend of Lana's boyfriend, Fred. Fred, Jack and Jamie, the other boy who sits with us, are all good friends." she replied.
"Us, Elsa? I thought that you were only friends with Lana," Anna said, shifting in her seat to stare at Elsa. "Flynn told Punzie that he has seen you sitting at their table. He said that you're always sitting next to Jack."
Biting her lip, Elsa glanced at her sister. "I am friends with Lana. The guys are all great as well," she said. "It just happens that I normally end up sitting next to Jack."
"So move," Anna said, shifting her attention back to her phone. "It's not like you have to sit next to him, or even talk to him. You are friends with Lana, not him. It's not your fault that her boyfriend is dumb enough to be friends with Jack.
"That's enough, Anna," she sighed. "You barely know Lana and you don't know the guys. Fred, Lana's boyfriend, is lovely. Jamie, the other guy, is really nice and Jack...Jack is, he's -"
"Jack is what, Elsa?" Anna interrupted, tilting her head as she fixed her gaze on Elsa. "Jack is the nephew of the guy who betrayed Dad. He beat up Hans for no good reason and he's been a complete asshole to you. Jack Frost is nothing but an arrogant, lazy, rich boy. You really need to consider your friendship with Lana if it means that you have to associate with people like Jack. Do you not remember Dad saying that Jack and his family can't be trusted?"
She let out a loud sigh and pulled the car into an empty park. Switching off the motor, she turned to face Anna. "Jack really isn't who you think he is, Anna. I know how he comes across, but I've got to know him a bit more and he isn't who I thought him to be. He's actually a really nice guy. True, he was a jerk earlier, but he apologised and we've moved past that. He has been really friendly towards me - "
"Friendly? Elsa, Dad was friends with Jack's uncle - best friends in fact and look what happened there. His uncle did the dirty on Dad. Jack is probably only being nice to you in order to get company information. You've heard what Dad has said. Their stores are closing in on us and they poached Collette from us," Anna snapped.
Swallowing the lump that had formed, Elsa exited the car and grabbed her bag from the boot. "Anna," she warned, following her across the yard. "Please."
She watched as her sister spun on her heels and turned to grip her arm. "Elsa, just listen to me. All I am saying is, watch your back and watch what you say," Anna hissed. "I don't want to see our company falter or for Dad to lose the business again."
Looking up, Elsa spotted Jack waiting for her. He was perched against the entrance of the business studies campus with his backpack slung low over his shoulder. Shaking her head, she broke out of her sister's grip. "Anna, I have to go," she whispered.
Anna nodded. Sighing, she looked at her. "Just be careful, Elsa. You are too nice a girl. I just don't want you to get hurt," she said, shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other. "I have to go anyway, Kristoff is waiting for me."
She watched as Anna turned and raced off in the direction of the art studies campus. Blinking back the tears, she turned and caught Jack's gaze. Shaking her head, she started moving towards the business studies campus. She had wanted to tell Anna, to let her know the truth, but she just couldn't. Every time Jack came up in conversation, her sister would shoot her down.
Jack frowned. He'd watched as Elsa had stood deep in conversation with her younger sister. He had sensed that she wasn't happy. Her arms had been wrapped around her tiny frame while her sister had continued to talk. He'd seen the stony look on Anna's face and the way Elsa had avoided eye contact and had appeared defeated and had come to the conclusion that he was the topic of conversation.
He had expected that her sister would start to ask questions. He had spied Flynn Rider staring at him and Elsa in the cafeteria a few times. He knew of Flynn from their hockey team and knew that he dated Elsa and Anna's cousin, Rapunzel. He also knew that Anna was best friends with Rapunzel and from what Elsa said, the two girls told each other everything.
Glancing up, he watched as Elsa slowly approached him. "El" he called.
Elsa looked up to face him, but said nothing. He frowned as he noticed the way her eyes were lined with tears. Sighing, he moved to close the gap between them. His arms reached out as he pulled her into a tight hug.
"Babe, what's wrong?" he asked as he stroked a hand through her hair.
For a moment, no one spoke. He heard Elsa let out a few sniffs as she curled her fingers around his t-shirt before releasing the material. Pulling back, she tilted her head to face him. "I can't take it anymore, Jack," she cried. "I can't handle holding back on her. I want to tell her, I really do. It's just, everytime I think I can tell her, something happens."
Sighing, he pulled her back into his arms and tightened his grip on her. He knew that hiding their relationship from Anna, as well as their families, was becoming increasingly hard on Elsa. She had always enjoyed a close bond with her sister. Not being able to talk with Anna about their romance was proving to be stressful. However, it appeared that Anna continued to share the same negative opinion of him which only added to Elsa's stress.
"She'll come around, El. It's all going to work out," he murmured. "We just need to give her time."
Elsa's grip on his neck tightened and she let out another sob. "I don't to be here, Jack. My mind is a mess. I just can't cope," she wept.
He paused for a minute before tilting her head to face him. "Then we'll go," he stated, chuckling softly when he saw the horrified expression on her face. "One day off is not going to affect your grade, El. Besides, if your mind is too distracted by this thing with Anna then you are hardly going to be able to concentrate. We can drop your car off at your house and then go for a drive."
"My house," Elsa whispered. "We can go to my house. Mum is working with Dad today and won't be home until at least 6pm. Anna doesn't finish uni until 2:30pm, so we will have the place to ourselves."
He nodded. "I have to leave to pick Em up from school for 3:10pm anyway, so it works out well. Come on, lets get out of here," he stated, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
Thirty minutes later, they had arrived at the Blanchard home. Jack had parked his car on the street while Elsa had pulled into the driveway. He had felt his heart pounding as he'd entered the large home.
Once inside the grand home, he had stopped to examine the expensive furniture and the professionally styled family portraits.
"If you're looking for the embarrassing toddler photo's then you're out of luck," Elsa murmured, coming to stand behind him. "I'm afraid the only photo's displayed in public areas of the home are these boring styled photo's. It is all about presenting the best image, as you know."
Smirking, he turned to slip an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "I'm willing to bet that the 'best image' does not include sneaking your devilishly handsome boyfriend into your home when your parents are out," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"I'm willing to bet you're right about that," Elsa teased as she pulled out of his grip and beckoned him to follow her.
Elsa sighed as she leaned in to Jack's embrace.
Once again, she had been surprised by how easily Jack had read her emotions. He had quickly picked up on her mood and had listened to her while she had sobbed about the fight with Anna. He had then suggested they ditch class for the day.
They had arrived at her home and she had grabbed a drink for the two of them before she had led him to her bedroom. She had slipped a movie onto her blu ray player and had settled onto the bed. She had pressed play and Jack had pulled her close to him. She had tried to be strong, but had ended up in tears once again. Jack had reacted instantly and had paused the movie before tightening his grip on her.
He had waited for her tears to stop before he'd spoken. Brushing a hand through her hair, he had suggested that they organised to tell Anna about their relationship. He'd put forward the idea that they met with Anna at a cafe on neutral ground where they could fill her in on some of the information that she was not privy to. As always, he had stated that the choice was hers and he would go along with whatever she wanted.
She had found herself unsure about the idea. On the one hand, it had sounded like a great idea. Jack had said that he was happy for Anna to ask him anything she wanted, he had nothing to hide. She'd realised that if the talk went well, it would mean that Anna could spend time with her and Jack away from the home and it could help secure Anna's support for when the time came to tell their parents. However, she had also pointed out that in order to be honest with Anna, it would require her to relive some painful memories.
Jack had then reached over to grab the remote and hit play on the movie, telling her that she didn't have to come up with a decision right away.
The movie had been playing for a little over twenty minutes when Jack had lost focus and had rested his head on her shoulder. She had sighed and moved her head to the side, allowing him better access as he proceeded to trail a series of kisses along her shoulder towards her neck.
.
"Jack," she moaned, trying to ignore the growing passion in his kisses. "I'm trying to watch the movie."
"Then watch," he murmured, placing a kiss on her jawline. "I won't stop you."
She felt her resolve weakening as he redirected his lips to the crook of her neck, her weak spot. Sighing, she shuffled out of his grip and turned to face him. Her eyes locked onto his before she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"I hate it when you use that against me," she muttered, resting her forehead against his. "It's like you can't keep your hands off me."
Jack smirked. Reaching his arms out, he gently flipped her so that she was lying on her back before positioning himself between her legs. "If you want me to go, I'll go," he teased, leaning down to steal a kiss.
She shook her head. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. She moved one hand to cup the back of her head. Tilting her head, she pressed a kiss to his lips. Arching her back, she waited for Jack to wrap his arms around her waist as he pressed her closer to him. Falling back against the mattress, she moved her hands down to tug at the hem of his shirt, pulling it upwards so that she had access to his bare chest.
Grinning, Jack broke the kiss. Sitting up, he quickly ripped his t-shirt off and tossed it to lie on her floor. "Look who can't keep their hands off me," he teased.
She ignored him. Her hands wrapped around his neck as she pulled him back to her and kissed him. She could feel his body relax as he pulled her thigh up and ran his hand up along it. His other hand cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Slowly, she trailed her hands up and down his bare back.
Elsa didn't know how long they had been lying there, kissing. She had felt things were started to get heated. Their kisses had grown more passionate and Jack's hands had made their way under her shirt.
With the movie playing in the background and their attention on each other, they had not heard the sound of the front door being opened and closed downstairs. They had not even heard the sound of footsteps as they had made their way up the stairs and towards her bedroom. The soft tap on the bedroom had gone ignored, as had the sound of the door being pushed open.
.
"Oh my god!" shrieked a loud voice.
Elsa's eyes widened. She pulled her hands off Jack. He reacted instantly, pulling his hands out from their spot on her chest and climbing off her. Sitting up, she found herself staring into the horrified face of Anna. Gulping, she turned to face Jack as he bent down to retrieve his shirt, his face a deep shade of red. Hastily, she ran a hand through her hair before smoothing down her shirt. She could feel her cheeks heating up and said a silent prayer that asides from Jack's shirt being off, things hadn't had a chance to go any further.
"Well, this certainly explains a lot," Anna said, taking a step back.
"Anna, wait. I can explain," she squeaked, throwing a nervous look at Jack. "It's not what you think."
After straightening his outfit, Jack raced down the stairs. The sound of raised voices told him that the sisters were in the kitchen. He paused at the foot of the stairs before taking a deep breath and entering the room.
"Elsa, are you out of your mind?" Anna shouted, her arms reaching to grip Elsa's hand. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Anna, please. Just take a seat and I'll...we'll explain everything, but you need to calm down and listen to me," Elsa pleaded, shaking her arm free of Anna's grasp.
Anna spun on her heels. "What is there to explain, Elsa? That you've been lying to me. Stupid me, here I was feeling guilty for how I spoke to you this morning. I felt so bad that I came home early to plan a way to apologise to you, to make things better. Only, it appears I was too late. You already had someone making you feel better," she spat, shooting a harsh glare at Jack.
"Anna, please - " Elsa began.
"No, Elsa," Anna cut in. "I'm not finished. Now I know why you said Jack had been friendly to you. It appears he's been very friendly. At least now I know why you didn't bother to invite me to hang out with you and Lana. I thought it was because you wanted it to be just you and her, but were you even with her? Or were you using the time to fool around with that jackass," she hissed beckoning at Jack.
"Anna," Elsa cautioned, taking a step back. "That's enough, please just let me explain-"
"You've had your time to explain, Elsa," Anna began. "Clearly you've used that time to make some bad decisions. You know, I never thought that you could be the sort of person who could go behind her own family's back. I would not have thought you were capable, but then I also would not have thought you would be dumb enough to let him crawl between your legs."
Jack watched in horror as Elsa let out a strangled cry before wrapping her arms around her tiny waist. He'd tried to refrain from interfering, but now he could see that Elsa was feeling defeated and was losing her nerve as Anna continued to rant.
"That's enough!" he yelled, stepping forward as he wrapped his arms around Elsa's waist.
He watched as Anna fell silent and turned to glare at him. Strengthening his grip on Elsa, he lowered his voice.
"Anna, please. We're not asking you to understand, but we do ask that you can at least keep quiet for a few minutes while your sister and I try and talk with you," he stated calmly. "We want to be honest with you. We were only discussing earlier how we wanted to talk with you. I promise you that if you can allow us a chance to speak, we will answer all your questions. When we've finished, I promise that you can call me every name under the sun and rant at me for as long as you want to. However, you have to let us talk. I know you won't do it for me, but please, do it for Elsa. Regardless of what you think of me, you and I have one thing in common. We both love Elsa."
Holding his breath, he watched as Anna looked between him and Elsa. He could feel Elsa trembling slightly and reached down to press a kiss to her forehead.
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll listen."
He breathed out a sigh of relief and led Elsa to the table, pulling out a seat for her. Sitting down, he shifted his chair closer to Elsa and draped his arm around her waist while Anna grabbed three cans of drink from the fridge.
"Spill," Anna ordered.
Taking a deep breath, he nodded. Starting at the beginning, he confessed how he had been head-over-heels in love with Elsa since they were 13 and how his nerves had always got the better of him, causing him to lose his nerve and act like an idiot.
Elsa watched as Jack and Anna sat deep in conversation around their kitchen table as they came clean about their relationship.
Anna had remained quiet while she filled her in on how she had come to see Jack in a different light and how they had moved past their previous run-ins. As expected, the toughest part had been telling Anna about the Hans situation and the extent of his cruelty. She had found herself unable to continue and had allowed Jack to take over to explain the way Hans had tried to harm her and had threatened them.
"You mean Hans wanted to...to…" Anna stammered, tears forming in her eyes. "Elsa, I… I-"
"We don't know for sure what he wanted to do, but it's safe to assume that it wasn't nice," Jack interrupted, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
"That is why Hans got in a fight with Jack," she explained. "Jack ran into him and he made a threat against you and I, Anna. Jack warned him, but he didn't listen and he attacked him when his back was turned. It wasn't because Jack is violent, or a jerk."
"Wait, so you actually beat him up for us?" Anna exclaimed, blinking at Jack. "As in both of us?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, well to be fair, I did try and walk away. It's just when he attacked, he also said some disgusting things about you and Elsa. What he said was not acceptable. I know that I'd be furious if a guy treated my sister like that. The fact that he dared insult the girl of my dreams and her sister didn't exactly go down well either," he said, turning to wink at her.
She frowned. "Anna, I never wanted for you to be hurt by Hans. I know that I should have at least told you about the situation, but I was scared. I didn't want to scare you or make you feel worse. I honestly thought that I was protecting you. I'm sorry," she whispered.
She watched as her sister fell silent. She could see the tears that had formed in Anna's eyes as she took in the new information. Reaching over, she moved to grip her sister's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"I'm so sorry, Elsa," Anna whispered. "I'm sorry to you too, Jack. Hans, he...he uh said that Jack was a major player who used his money to get girls to sleep with him. He said that Jack only stayed with girls long enough to get them into bed before he dumped them."
Beside her, Jack snorted. "I should have known that Hans was spreading some bullshit about me. Anna, I can tell you this and I don't even care who knows. I didn't even bother to date other girls because I was too caught up with my feelings for El, no other girl can come close to her. Hell, I was a virgin until recently. I've only ever dated, kissed and been with one girl," he admitted. "The guy who Hans was talking about, is him."
Anna nodded. "Yeah, I realise that now. Luckily, I didn't give him what he wanted," she admitted.
She watched as the room fell silent before Anna's head jerked up and she looked between Elsa and Jack. "Wait, if you were a virgin until recently, Jack," she began, smirking. "You also said that you've only ever been with the one person...so that means -"
"That's enough, Anna," she chided, blushing as she buried her head in her arms.
She heard Jack let out a small cough. Getting up, she grabbed the empty cans and moved to place them in the recycling bin. Turning around, she found herself face to face with a crying Anna. "Oh, Elsa, I'm so sorry," she cried. "I really should not have said what I did. I was a bitch to you."
"It's okay," she smiled. "I should have been honest with you from the start. We've always been honest in the past. It was just that I wanted to see how the relationship with Jack progressed before letting people know."
Anna nodded. She stumbled slightly as Anna flung her arms around her neck. She let out a sniff as the tears started streaming down her face. Gingerly, she wrapped her arms around her sister and returned her hug. Raising her head, she watched as Jack crossed the room to stand behind her. She felt Anna's grip on her loosen as she made room to bring Jack in, making for an awkward group hug.
A few seconds later, Anna pulled out of the hug to point a finger in Jack's face. "You do realise that if you dare hurt my sister, I will kick your ass don't you?" she threatened, failing to hold back the wide grin on her face.
She felt Jack move to stand behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist as he let out a chuckle. Extending his hand, he reached to shake Anna's hand. "You've got yourself a deal, Anna," he said. "Just don't plan on following through on it. I'd kick my own ass if I ever hurt El."
Three hours later, Elsa and Anna had gathered in her bedroom with a block of chocolate between them while they caught up on the latest gossip.
Jack had left an hour earlier after successfully answering all of Anna's questions, including the most important question in regards to his opinion on chocolate. He had stared Anna in the eye while he'd told her that yes, chocolate was the most important of treats before he'd excused himself to go collect his sister from her school.
She had left Anna inside the house while she had walked with Jack to his car. Naturally, by the time they had reached Jack's car, Anna had already found her spot at the window to spy on them. She had just thrown her arms around his neck when he had leaned in to inform her of the strawberry-blonde who had failed in her bid to find a good hiding spot. Shaking his head, he had leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips. Anna had then broken from her hiding spot to let out a loud 'Aww.' Blushing, Elsa had sent him on his way and had promised that they would continue when they were safe from her sister's nosy gaze.
Anna had pounced on her the second that she had re-entered the house. She had dragged her to the kitchen to grab a block of chocolate before she'd led her upstairs. She had wasted no time in asking for more information and had begged for more details of their romantic first date and their three-month anniversary date. Elsa had felt her cheeks heating up when Anna had picked up on how momentous the night had been for her.
"Do you love him?" Anna asked, breaking off a piece of chocolate and popping it in her mouth.
Elsa blushed as she turned to face her sister. "Yes," she replied honestly. "I love him. I love him more and more each day."
"And you're happy?" Anna quizzed.
"Happier than I've ever been," she said. "Well, asides from the rivalry and secretiveness, but he makes me happy, yes."
Anna beamed and reached over to give her a hug. "I'm happy for you," she said. "You know, I think you should let me take a few nice couple photo's of you and Jack. I mean, you've shown me the ones on your phone, but let me take some with a real camera."
Reaching over, she gripped her sister's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "That would be nice."
"Elsa," Anna whispered. "You know that when you and Jack decide to tell our parents, I will be there. I'll support you and so will Kristoff.".
Hitting the end call button, Jack smiled.
It had come as a huge relief to him to hear Elsa's voice down the phone. She had sounded a lot happier than she had when he had first seen her in the morning. She had let him know how her and Anna had continued to talk after he had left. Apparently, he had passed all of Anna's tests and their relationship now had Anna's seal of approval. She had then gone on to tell him how Anna had vowed to support them when needed.
Lying back against his bed, he pulled the blanket over him and breathed out a sigh of relief. Knowing that Elsa had finally been able to open up to her sister had left him feeling like all was right in the world.