Elsa awoke to a flash of brilliant green eyes to her left- a mop of frosty white hair to her right- the ramble of a high pitched voice and then two sets of tall arms picking her up. Elsa steadied herself against one of the figures- looking up to see a friendly-faced boy with dark brown hair and broad shoulders- she peered to her left, a boy with electric blue locks and gauges looked at her with a stiff face.

"Ey- princess, you okay?" The one with the gauges spoke in an Australian accent. Elsa struggled to stand- leaning against both the boys for support- she nodded, the tears still streaming off her face.

"Jesus Bunny can you leave it be the girlie is obviously not okay." The dark haired one spoke with a deep voice that rattled the air around them, the kind that reminded Elsa of bass on a really bad rap song. The voice behind her that was rambling on belonged to a very short, curvy girl that popped up in front of her.

The girl had huge blue eyes and her hair was dyed every color Elsa could think of.

"Oh are you hurt? You have a bump on your head, aw poor thing but you sure are pretty. Oh let me see- oh no is your tooth alright?" Elsa gave her a strange look and brought her hand up to her lips, her mouth was numb and she felt blood drizzling off from were she had hit her face on the tile of the hallway.

She looked up at Marco, her lungs constricting- he looked so worried. Elsa stepped away from the three strangers and buried her face in Marco's chest, she started sobbing hysterically.

"Oh no was it something I said?" She could hear the tiny girl behind her peep.

"Give her some space guys!" She heard Jack shout at all of the strangers harshly. They all waited, and Elsa cried for a few more- long moments. Slowly catching her breath and letting herself breathe. The anxiety clouded in her chest came to a stop at the feeling of Marco's hand on the back of her head. She turned out of Marco's grip, his hand linking with hers easily. Elsa studied the group of misfits that seemed to linger with Jack.

The curvy girl was tiny, she couldn't have been taller then 4'9 or 4'10. She had a worried expression and seemed to always have a huge energy presence with her. The boy with gauges was tall, but not as tall as his dark haired friend who loomed at a good 6'6 or 6'7. With Jack stood one more character. The boy had sunny blonde hair and big, brown eyes. His skin was covered in freckles, he stood at Jack and Marco's height.

Jack looked at Elsa apologetically, "I'm sorry I never got to introduce you to my friends and my siblings." Siblings, Elsa bit her lip, the word all to fresh in her mind. "This is my sister Tooth." The curvy girl scoffed- her one canine tooth was turned sideways in her mouth awkwardly- way too noticeable. "And my brother North, because you know - he's so high up." Jack smiled kiddish-ly and pointed up at the brown haired boy. North face-palmed and shook his head. "This is Benny- but you can call him Bunny, he replies to that."

"Aye! Not cool!" The boy with blue hair and the gauges replied with a sharp sock to Jack's head.

"And this is Sandy." The boy with the intense amount of freckles smiled and waved. Elsa stared at the group with a funny expression, they were all so... real. It seemed so off in a world full of fake- this group wasn't afraid of anything. They all looked at her awkwardly and she stared but.

"Oh! Oh- uhm... I'm Elsa, and this is Marco. " Elsa stuttered nervously and the group went on with rambling. Tooth insisted on making sure Elsa was okay and fluttered around them nervously.

Elsa smiled, even though on the inside- the pressure of a secret weighed down on her heart like a bullet she was balancing in between her teeth.

.:*:.

Elsa couldn't gather the strength to step into the apartment doors, even with Marco at her side she her shaking hands wouldn't allow the key to make it into the doorknob. She and Marco made a break for his place, a place that Elsa rarely came to- but had felt like a second home over the years.

Marco lived with several other foster kids, she knew each of them- but had always stopped at surface level, to make sure so wouldn't open herself up to anyone, or possibly give Hans more people to hurt. His only 'real' sibling was Miza, a second grader- who had the most adorable speech impediment ever, and was completely in love with Elsa.

As soon as Marco opened the door- Miza was there, stuck to his legs like glue. Elsa couldn't contain a giggle as Marco walked up the stairs with the tiny girl latched onto his calf yelling 'WHEE!' and laughing so loudly it would have woken anything that was sleeping within a 20 mile radius. Elsa stared at the two with a certain envy, the tiny girl only refreshing the memories of Anna, Elsa bit her lip to keep from sobbing.

Once they settled themselves in Marco's room, which he shared with three foster brothers, Miza scrambled off his leg- once she realized Elsa was there her eyes went wide and gazed at her. It had become a routine for Elsa to sweep up the tiny girl and throw her up into the air, sit back on the bed and have the tiny girl settling on her knees. Elsa's heart thundered with that forgein feeling, Miza was the brightest thing she knew. The purest thing she knew.

"E-sa!" The tiny girl giggled and tried to say Elsa's name, her speech impediment not allowing her to pronounce her 'L's. "I U-ve you E-sa!" The girl tried her best to welcome Elsa in her usual way- and hugged Elsa around the neck, her tiny head resting on Elsa's shoulder. Elsa smiled- again the tears started clouding at her eyes. Why couldn't everything be this easy? She hugged Miza back, and when Miza released her, Elsa smirked.

"I bet I love you more!" And with this, Elsa picked the tiny girl up and threw her back on the bed, tickling her stomach until the girl laughed so hard she lost her voice. The eight year old jumped off the bed and sat on the floor in front of Elsa.

"Brai my hair, E-sa, brai my hair!" Miza wiggled with joy, 'D' was another weak point in Miza's speech. Elsa laughed again at the girl - on the outside, she was so happy, happy to have this tiny girl that was yet another small being she had a strong relationship with, and at the same time, she was slowly being destroyed. She wanted this with Anna, but Anna was growing into an adult, she was become more of a grown up- and that meant the threat of accidentally telling- having her secret accidentally creep up on her.

Elsa gulped down her sobs and turned her attention to Miza, who was wiggling on the floor and practically begging for Elsa's attention.

"Well you have to sit still silly!" Elsa smiled and ran her finger's through the girls hair, beginning a braid.

While she braided the child's silky black hair, she felt Marco beside her, his hand tracing circled on her back. She was in the happiest place she had ever known. Right in between the love of her life and the light of her life. Right in between the boy she could never tell anything, and the toddler that she never needed to tell anything. Once Elsa finished the braid, Miza stood up and turned to look at her with huge- green eyes. The difference between Marco and Miza was close to none.

"Miza, did you do your homework yet?" Marco questioned the little girl with a grin.

"No..." Miza smiled and swayed on her feet.

"Did you feed the cats?"

"No..."

"Did you make your bed?"

"No..." By that Miza was smiling and giggling happily. She grinned at her 'rebelliousness', a mirror image of what Marco would have been.

Elsa chimed in on the familiar conversation, one that the three had almost every time Elsa was at Marco's house.

"You know what that means?" Elsa smiled again and raised a brow to the tiny girl.

Miza looked up at her- her green eyes sparkling with excitement.

"It means the tickle monster is going to have to get you." Elsa said in very plainly but sprung up from the bed and Miza ran out of the room screaming.

"No! No no tick-i monster!" Miza ran laughing out of the room- and they heard the door to her room close shortly after.

Elsa sat back on the bed, she could feel Marco begin to wrap his arms around her. She leaned into his touch- resting her head against his chest.

"You know, you don't have to love her, just because she's my sister." Sister. Elsa shivered. She couldn't even fix the relationship with her own sister, and here she was loving all over Marco's like she had the day she met her, the girl was still tiny, and bright- filled with an uncontrollable energy.

"But I already do," Elsa sniffled against his shoulder- feeling the tears of her insides rattle all over her. Slowly they began to free themselves from her eyelids, soaking Marco's shirt. "I wish I could tell you." The words left her mouth before she could stop them, and her hand flew to her mouth. The wall in between what she knew was right and what she thought was right was beginning to crumble. She began to shake again against Marco's shoulder.

You don't deserve to die... but I know some people who will... if you ever tell.

The memory replayed in her mind- over and over until she was sobbing hysterically into Marco's side.

"Tell me what Elsa?" That I was raped. Marco held her close to him tightly, she felt herself melt into his shoulder.

"I can't tell you Marco- Oh god I want to tell you- I want to tell everybody but he'll hurt you, he'll hurt everybody." Elsa sobbed into his shoulder rapidly. Her mind was a buzz- the fear rose in her throat until it began to strangle her like a noose, Elsa took a ball of Marco's shirt in her shaking hands. The images flooding into her memory freely- every time he had ever touched her, every day that he had backed her into a hallway, or an alley way or a bathroom.

"Who is he?" Marco murmured gently, but the question remained unanswered over Elsa's heart and she shook her head. "What if he never knew you told me Elsa, it can be our secret just you and me." The words ran through Elsa's mind like a drug- a painkiller and she pulled away- her sore blue orbs searing into his emerald ones desperately.

"Promise?" Elsa bite her lip to prevent the shaking of her voice and stared into Marco.

"I promise." One of Marco's hands met hers and he linked it perfectly. His eyes were true- his voice ringing over her like a beacon of light- a symbol of hope. Elsa felt the sobs return- and tried to choke them down- she leaned into his ear, her heart thudding a million miles per second. The blood rushed through her ears in panic, her lungs refused to let her breathe.

It took her well over thirty minutes, but she finally found her voice, and with it she whispered quietly into his ears the words that had haunted her for three years.

"He raped me."

.:*:.

Elsa sat upright in her bed, her legs were crossed and she stared at the black and blue sheets. Her hands picked at a loose string- heart pulsating, mind tangled in thought, arms bare of sleeves. Marco sat next to her- lost in the question of what to do next. They came back to Elsa's apartment in silence- it was late and Anna was already in bed. Elsa tried to tell Marco to go to sleep but he refused- staying up with her despite the thick air in between them.

"What do u want me to do Elsa?" the question broke the air and Elsa's stomach flipped. She cold come up with a thousand things she didn't want Marco to do- but when she thought of what he could do to help her, her mind went blank.

"Kiss me." Elsa whimpered and the tears fell rhythmically from her eyes. "just stay here, please. Don't leave me Marco please." She felt Marco stir beside her, and they crawled into the sheets. Marco sat up and leaned again the bedpost, Elsa placed her head on his shoulder. He kept kissing her forehead- stroking her hair and her back but never going farther. She couldn't explain to him how much it hurt- how all she wanted was for him to take her. All she wanted was to be able to replace all her terrifying memories with his glorious ones. Sex was a fear to her- before that night with Marco. She needed him, she wanted to know that he loved her, She wanted him to understand that despite her experiences she loved him too.

Elsa cradled his jaw softly, looking up into his eyes. his orbs never stopped moving, never stopped changing. They were angry- yet soft, sad yet relieved, anxious- yet completely humbled. She brought his lips to hers- for a slow, heartbroken kiss. His lips locking with hers for what seemed like forever. The salty tears that rolled down her face were no longer fearful, they held the burden of guilt. The guilt of placing her secret on Marco's shoulders. He broke the kiss, running a hand through her un-done hair and whispering softly in Elsa's ear.

"I love you so much Elsa, I would never leave you," Marco found her hand again and linked it. Elsa curled into him - letting more tears and fretful 'I'm sorry's escape her. She cried until she felt the emptiness consume her- and when there were no tears left, she closed her eyes.

"I love you" Elsa whispered into the dense air in between her and Marco.

Marco kissed her forehead.

"I love you Frostbite." And with a kiss lingering on her forehead, and her eyes swollen from sobs, she fell asleep in her proctor's arms.