Chapter 2

Elsa, already dressed, waited in the living room. She wanted to not care what she looked like, yet she'd checked her reflection in the mirror too many times to count. She wasn't sure how to dress, so she wore high-waisted jean shorts, black ballet flats, and a cropped grey sweatshirt that was so loose it fell off of one shoulder by accident. Anna came out of her bedroom door and stood at the top of the staircase, looking down at Elsa.

"How do I look?" Anna asked, tusseling her long, red hair so it'd be freed and fall onto her shoulders nicely. "I think red is both subtle and sexy, right?" She looked down at her red sundress and gold gladiator sandals. Anna was right. Red wasn't subtle, but the outfit was simple and cute all on its own.

"You look great," Elsa said in a monotone voice. It occured to her that she might look less impressive compared to her little sister's outfit. Elsa wasn't the jealous type, but her feelings came from a place of not wanting to stand out in the wrong way. Elsa fears being too casual might cause a spotlight effect on her, and Elsa never knew how to handle others giving her attention. The idea of getting even positive attention made her feel uncomfortable. She tried to console herself into thinking Anna was the ex, and even Hans wouldn't notice Elsa tonight most likely. The only thing Elsa was more proud of was her own makeup. Elsa's makeup made her face look like it came from an instagram tutorial. Anna has a harder time do anything beyond natural looks because her freckles either oddly poked through makeup or disapeared in certain spots.

"Let's go. I can't wait to see the look on his stupid face," Anna grinned as she bounced down the stairs.

"Be good, rat," Elsa baby-talked to a sleeping Olaf on the carpet.

"I think he's a dog, Els," Anna said between sliding her purse over her shoulder. Elsa just smirked, and the two headed out the front door. They locked the door and slowly strolled towards Hans' house. The idea made both of them nervous for different reasons. It was getting dark outside, and the sound of crickets was loud in the air. Lines of cars parked around their neighborhood for Hans' party made them realize this wouldn't be a small event. The moment they made it to the door, it swung open and loud music was blarring.

"Wow, and who invited these two goregous girls?" A tall, dark haired man said at the door. He looked similar to Hans, but his eyes were brown and his nose had a bump in the middle. Anna giggled while looking at Elsa, and Elsa just gave him a questioning look.

"Right... So is Hans here?" Elsa sighed.

Anna scolded, "Elsa don't be rude!" The red headed sister turned towards the man and flirted, "Thanks. I like you attitude. Do you live around here too?"

"I'm Jostein Westerguard. I live here. This housewarming party is hosted by my family, Beautiful," He laughed. "Come in." Elsa rolled her eyes and her and Anna walked inside. The lighting was dark, except for the use of Christmas lights all around the corners where the walls met the tall ceilings and railing of the staircase. There were a lot of young people who Elsa doubted belonged to the neighborhood because she'd only seen mostly rich, elderly people in her neighnorhood. There were young women dressed in leather jackets and round glasses. She young men carrying glasses of mixed drinks and vaping while wearing beards. Their backdoor was open to see a view of a sparkling, blue pool with more young adults talking and huddling around tables of food. Elsa and Anna studied different parts of the atmosphere. In the livingroom were couches filled with people, and in the center was a long coffee table with a man sitting on the table playing an acoustic gutair. Another man sang while also sitting on the table. The gutair was covered with bumper stickers.

"Live music?" Elsa raised her eyebrows.

"God, I bet Hans had them sing this song on purpose. He knew it was one of my favorites. What a creep."

"I never heard this song before. I just assumed this guy wrote it," Elsa tugged on her blonde braid.

"How have you never heard of this! It's 'Under The Bridge' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, duh! He's just doing this to get to me," Anna grunted. Quickly Hans tapped them both on the shoulder, and Elsa spun around so fast that Hans questioned if he over stepped her boundary by tapping her shoulder.

"Hey, glad you both made it!" Hans smiled. Anna smiled back, but her smile was clearly masking a rage inside of her.

"Hans," Anna greeted coldly. She gave Elsa a look, signaling she wanted to be alone with Hans.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Elsa blurted, not knowing how to excuse herself in a way that Anna wanted. Hans pointed her in the direction, and Elsa disappeared into the kitchen, pouring herself a drink. Although she was legally able to drink, she hadn't drank alcohol often. She never enjoyed the taste, but the drinks here looked great. Elsa picked up a pre-made magarita in a glass from a tray filled with matching magaritas.

Anna turned to Hans, "So you wanted to see me again, Hans?"

"No. I mean, yes. Not particularly I don't know what you want me to say to that."

"I'm dating Kristoff," Anna chastised. "I don't know what your intentions were to try to get me near you, but-"

"I know I treated you badly, Anna. I know I never said that," Hans spat in a matter-of-fact voice. It quieted Anna. "And I guess something is messed up with me that I never said sorry for it."

Anna's cheeks turned red, "I didn't mean to say it like that. But... thank you."

"I really loved you, Anna. Back then, I did," he sighed. "But I didn't invite you here to win you back. I changed since then." He looked into her eyes curious if she doubted him. He wondered if she was still as easy to convince as she used to be.

"Hans, how you treated me was horribly cruel. It changed me. I can't forgive that."

"Then don't. But I bet Kristoff will make the same mistakes. Besides, now that we're neighbors, I just want to be able to be friendly with you and Elsa. That's all."

"Kristoff isn't you. Don't ever say that about him," Anna gasped. Hans put his hand on Anna's lower back, and whispered into her ear.

"Anna, I don't hate the guy. He's done me some favors. Like remember when we had our first fight over Kristoff? And then we had the roughest sex we'd ever had during it? I definetly owe him for that." Anna's face turned red and she pulled away and hit his shoulder with her purse. Wanting to be mad, she couldn't help but burst laughing with him.

"You're gross," Anna snorted. Elsa, still in the kitchen, peaked to see that Anna and Hans were still talking. She hated that she was dragged to this party where she knew no one and had nobody to introduce her. She felt like everyone at this party was too cool for her to relate to. Not having had done anything productive or exciting since her depression, she lacked having anything to talk about and she lacked social experience. Her anxiety rose. Having nothing else to do to make herself not look weird and alone, she drank a few more glasses of alcoholic mixed drinks hoping Anna would come back to her. After some time, most people left the kitchen. Elsa had been in there alone for maybe an hour. She sat on a stool by the kitchen counter near the trays of drinks.

"Elsa? I was wondering where you went!" Hans cheered.

"Where's Anna?" Elsa mumbled. Hans looked at her funny before laughing. "What?" Elsa asked.

"Anna told me you never drink. I guess she was wrong," he bite his lip, trying not to laugh at her.

"She left me alone for like 4 hours, and I got a little thirsty," Elsa rambled, embarassed. She hopped off of the bar stool and wobbled on the floor. Hans grabbed her under her arms to make sure she wouldn't fall. "Hans, I'm n-not that bad. You can let go," she laughed. He looked left and right, looking for somewhere to put her.

"Elsa, I think you need to stop drinking for tonight. Is this your first time?"

"I've had alcohol before."

"No, like your first time being drunk."

"I'm not drunk! Wait, am I? I think I'd know if I was drunk," she corrected.

"No, I would know if you were drunk. And I really think you are."

She gasped, "Don't tell Anna. Please? I think she'd be kind of mad if she knew because she wanted tonight to be perfect."

"Really?" Hans puzzled. "Why?"

"I don't know. You're her ex. I don't know everything. Don't tell her I said that either."

"I think you need to lay down. I'm taking you to my room, okay?" Before Elsa could answer, he picked her up in his arms. Elsa had never been picked up by a man before, and she worried she'd be too heavy to too tall for it. She was suprised neither of those things seemed to be an issue. It made her feel feminine and protected while carried. She'd never known this feeling before. She hated to admit it, but she adored it. She felt like a girl. She was this dainty, small thing, delicate and shielded in his arms from harm. It was the sensation she'd lost very quickly from growing up too soon. The safety robbed of her once she begain to hate her own body, think of herself as a bad person, and lost forever with her parents' death. She didn't want him to ever put her down. She drank in as much of the warmth and security she could get from the few minutes of being in his arms. she could feel his heartbeat, and it pacified her so much she felt an odd tingle in her body. Part of her wanted to blame it on the intoxication, but she knew it was him who caused these feelings. A strong man's presence was missing from her life, and tasteing it made her confused at how much she liked it. one of her arms went around his neck and the other rested on his chest, feeling how sturdy his chest was sent another tingled feeling down her body. He quickly snuck her upstairs, each step she bounced in her arms, while no one paid notice. One upstairs, he carried her down a hallway with lots of doors, each one a bedroom for his many brothers. All of the doors looked the same pale white, and it impressed her that he could tell which was which. He reached his own bedroom, which was slightly opened. He lightly kicked it open and stepped inside. The bedroom's furniture was mostly dark red and white. There were hints of gold as accent pieces around some of the furniture. He rested her body onto his red bed. She didn't want to let go of him, but she had to. She inhaled one last breathe of his cologne, hoping he wouldn't notice. Laying down, it surprised Elsa that there were decorative pillows on his bed. His bedroom and home was in such prestine shape, one would think it was for sale. There were no traces of living in the house: no left over cups needing to be washed, no family pictures, no unfolded blankets or childhood drawings. It looked beautiful yet hollow. He went to close the door to reduce the sound of the music then returned to the bed and sat next to Elsa.

"How long do I have to sit here until I become sober?" Elsa begged.

"I think it'll take a few hours, but I think if you just napped you'd feel better. I didn't want to leave you down there like that."

"That's really thoughtful of you," she hummed, closing her eyes.

"Besides, alcohol is like truth serum. Now I can ask you anything I want to know." He layed down next to her and rested his hand on his stomach.

She giggled, "What did you want to know? I'm guessing Anna's secrets?"

"No," he smiled. "I'd like to know more about you. You're really myserious, you know."

"Oh, ok," Elsa teased. "I'll play along. What great mystery did you want me to reveal?"

"Well, do you believe in aliens or ghosts?"

"I actually am an alien."

"Wow, I didn't realize aliens were so good looking," he raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up," she laughed. She punched his thigh. Normally, she wouldn't be touchy, but the alcohol and the moment made her felt like she could treat him like a friend.

"So are you... a single alien?"

"Are you asking me if I'm single?" She raised on eyebrow, mimicing his past behavior, and turned on her side to face him.

"You're just really beautiful. It'd be suprising to me if you were single."

"I... yeah, I guess. Are you?" She stammered.

"I'm not seeing anybody." He paused. They both looked at each other. Elsa never realized how smooth, and velvety his voice was. His voice was as soft as honey. It made her feel safe and calm any time he spoke. She wondered if he'd always talked like this. He turned more of his body to face hers. The sound of faded music was in the background.

"You have a nice voice," she noted, without thinking. He let out a deep, minty breath that she could feel on her face. It sent a shiver down her spine feeling it.

"You do? Well if I could confess, I always liked your voice also. I always wondered if you knew how to sing too." The compliment made her smile, wishing she was able to be as charming as he was. His energy felt so friendly and warm that she couldn't understand how she used to hate him when she first met him. He took her hand off of her hip in both of his. He looked at her palm.

"What are you doing, Hans?"

"I'm just reading your future," he said casually. He pointed at the line in the center of her palm. "This line means you'll become famous one day." He pointed to the line above it. "This line says you'll have a sky diving accident but live."

"No it doesn't!" Elsa protested.

"Woah, don't interupt. This is serious stuff," he laughed at himself. The both started laughing hard. "Elsa, this one says you'll grow bald."

"Stop!" She chuckled so hard, tears started to form in her eyes. "What if it happens because you said that!?"

"If you sing for me, I'll take it back."

"I'd rather grow bald." She took her hand back and rested it on her hip. She closed her eyes, a drousiness swept over her body. He turned towards the ceiling, smiling at the thought of her losing her hair. She opened her eyes, and her eyes hit the sight of a leather bound book on his desk laying face down. "Hans, do you keep a diary?" She pointed. Still drunk, her hand waivered left and right.

"No?" He squinted at the direction her finger was in. "That on my desk? That's just this thing I'm writing," he dismissed.

"Like a novel?"

"No, it's nothing serious. Just songs and poems. It's something on the side-"

"Read it to me," she yawned.

"I think I should go and let you sleep." He sat up. "You can stay in here."

"Wait, when will I get to see what's inside of it?"

"How about next time we hangout, remind me to bring it."

"Ok," she closed her eyes. And with that, she fell asleep.