The Chance to Fly, Chapter Six
A.N: Hi everyone, just a quick note to say two things: Firstly, several of you seem to think you have cracked what's going on with Hans and Elsa, I hope this chapter clears that up a bit for you... (I'm not always messing with you!) And secondly, one reviewer in particular cannot get past Elsa's crying incident. It will be explained at some stage. I promise! Patience is a virtue and all that...
Now, on with the story! Let me know if you're enjoying it still.
The morning following Kristoff's return, Anna slept until noon. Kristoff had been up hours earlier unpacking his luggage and reacquainting himself with the apartment. He opened various cupboards in the kitchen and braved a glance into the fridge. He found, unsurprisingly, that there was not a huge amount to eat anywhere. The freezer, of course, contained a bounty of ice cream, and atop one of the cupboards was an array of cereal boxes, most already opened and half-consumed. Kristoff smiled to himself. His sister, for all her attempts, was not overly comfortable in the kitchen. She often visited the shops and stocked up on all the necessary items and then ate her way through them until there was barely anything left before considering that she may need to make another grocery list.
With that thought in mind, Kristoff pulled a chair from the table and sat down, he began to scribble down a long list of everything that the two of them would need for the following week. Once satisfied that he had covered all the bases, he stood once more, had a quick look into Anna's room where the bundled shape beneath her duvet, and the quiet snores, suggested that she was still sleeping soundly. Kristoff slipped out of the front door, closing it quietly behind him. Out in the hallway, he whistled happily as he made his way along the hall and down the stairs. It really was nice to be home.
In apartment number seven, Elsa and Hans were having breakfast. They were seated at the same counter where Elsa and Anna had been the day before. Elsa, yet another cup of tea before her, read the paper quietly, whilst Hans slathered a piece of toast with butter and considered the blonde before him.
"Did you see Anna yesterday?" He asked, a note of interest in his voice.
"I did." Elsa confirmed, not looking up from her paper.
"She's awesome. Don't you think?" Hans continued eagerly.
"She seems nice enough." Elsa agreed, still not looking at Hans, though her eyes stopped scanning the pages of the paper.
"I think we should have her over for dinner. What do you reckon?" Hans pushed.
Elsa made no verbal response this time. Hans waited a couple of seconds.
"Babe?" He prompted.
"OK." Elsa replied finally.
"Great! I'll cook. You should go ask her after breakfast." Hans directed. Now, Elsa put the paper down on the counter and looked up at the smiling man across from her.
"Or you could." She suggested.
"I have to go shopping for ingredients." Hans countered, as if he had the response prepared before Elsa even spoke. "You just said you like Anna. You should go invite her over for dinner. I reckon you guys could be good friends." Hans continued.
"Hans…" Elsa said, a level of warning permeating her soft voice.
"What? I'm just saying, I think she'd be good company for you, babe. She's funny, she's very easy-going. I just think you need—" Hans was interrupted.
"I don't need anything. I'm fine, Hans." Elsa snapped. The enthusiastic gleam in Hans' eyes vanished immediately.
"You're right. I'm sorry." Hans conceded. His eyes darting across Elsa's features. "You know I just care you, Elsa. I love you. You know that, right?" Hans murmured apologetically, his voice rising in hopefulness at the end of his sentence.
"I know. I… I'm sorry." Elsa sighed. She rose from her seat and rounded the counter to where Hans was seated. She wrapped an arm around his waist from behind and rested her cheek against his shoulder blade. "I'll go and ask Anna after breakfast." She said softly. He could feel her jaw moving against his back.
Hans twisted in his seat, and reached out for Elsa. She stepped back.
"Do you want more toast?" Elsa asked, busying herself with collecting plates from the counter and making her way into the kitchen, not looking at Hans.
"I… No thanks, babe." Hans said.
A short time later, Elsa had loaded the breakfast things into the dishwasher, wiped down the counter and was standing before the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She studied her own form critically. She was wearing a well-worn fitted denim shirt and a pair of black tight trousers that just brushed her ankles. Elsa threaded her slender fingers through her platinum blonde hair. Currently it was loose, hanging low down her back. She pulled it up into a messy-bun and considered it in the mirror. She sighed, frustrated, and ripped her hair down once more.
I wonder if Anna prefers it up or down… She queried internally.
After several minutes, Elsa had grown tired of her own reflection and settled on a simple ponytail. She turned and left her room, closing the door behind her. She made her way through the apartment, noting the sound of the shower running in the bathroom where Hans currently was. She slipped on a pair of flat shoes, and opened the front door. She was just about to close it behind her when she heard a noise further down the hall, where Anna's apartment was. She stopped in her tracks, and stepped back into her own doorway, peering around the corner towards the noise she heard.
From the door of Anna's apartment, a tall, well built, man appeared. He had shaggy blond hair and was wearing a warm looking shearing jacket. Elsa froze, her heart clutching in her chest.
The blond guy pulled Anna's door closed quietly behind him, and sauntered off towards the stairs, whistling as he went. He was clearly pleased with himself.
Elsa hurried back into her apartment and shut the door behind it. She leant back against the closed door, and threw her head back, hitting the wood with a dull thump. Suddenly Elsa's stomach was twisting into a knot with an alien sensation, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It did not feel good.
At that moment Hans appeared from the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around his waist, drops of water falling from his wet hair and streaming down his bare chest. Elsa hadn't noticed the noise of the water shutting off in the bathroom. She pushed herself off from the door quickly, her movement catching Hans' eye.
"So?" He said to Elsa, spotting her making her way in from the front door, "Is she coming?" he asked, shaking some of the water from his hair.
"She… There was no answer." Elsa lied. Hans nodded. He ventured towards Elsa and pulled her into himself. She allowed herself to be crushed against his chest.
"Not a problem. Just try again later, yeah?" He asked, fiddling with the end of Elsa's ponytail. She nodded against him. Hans brought a second hand up under her chin and lifted her face towards him. She allowed herself to be forced to look up at him.
"I'll cook something nice, it'll be a fun evening. I promise." He said, staring down into Elsa's eyes. She didn't reply. Hans leant down and planted a sweet kiss on Elsa's lips. When she didn't immediately respond, he pulled back slightly before moving back in and taking her bottom lip gently between his own. Elsa slipped away and offered Hans an apologetic smile. He reciprocated with a warm look of his own and tugged playfully on her ponytail before letting it go again, allowing it to swing against her back.
"I'm going to get dressed," he said, "Then I'll head to grocery store. Try Anna again in a while, OK? She's probably sleeping off her shift last night." He added, smiling encouragingly at Elsa.
Elsa nodded, though she suspected something other than her shift may have tired out the redhead down the hall. The knot in Elsa's stomach twisted tighter. She watched as Hans retreated to the bedroom. Once he was out of sight, Elsa glanced down at her shirt where there were now dark patches caused by the shower water from Hans. She smoothed down her shirt, and then wrung her hands together nervously.
Almost as if he had sensed his owner's distress, Kai stood from where he had been contentedly curled on the couch. He stretched and yawned, arching his back with a shudder before jumping delicately to the floor and sidling over to Elsa. He wound himself around her legs a couple of times and looked up at her, his green eyes wide.
Elsa stooped and picked up the cat, holding him close in her arms. She buried her face into the cat's warm black fur.
Anna awoke. Her head felt slightly fuzzy as she released a long yawn and shook it slightly. She sat up slowly and looked at the clock on her bedside table. Midday was definitely late enough. It was time to get up. Anna swung her legs over the side of the bed and let out a groan at the ache she felt in her muscles. Then, a thought occurred to the redhead, Kristoff's home! With that, her hangover began to dissipate rapidly, it was no longer important. She leapt from her bed and scurried into her bathroom, brushing her hair through but leaving it down to save time, and shoving her toothbrush into her mouth.
Minutes later, Anna exited her room with a flurry, all but running towards the kitchen and skidding to a halt on the wooden floor. She looked around excitedly. There was no sign of Kristoff.
"Kristoff?" Anna called, turning back towards the living room, as if somehow she may have run straight past her brother without noticing him. There was no answer.
Anna felt a bit deflated. She had wanted to have breakfast – lunch? – with her brother and hear more about his latest trip. She wanted to talk about everything they had missed in each other's lives. She wanted to tell him about Elsa. Well, not everything about Elsa. She wasn't, for example, intending to tell her brother that she had developed an all-consuming crush on the woman next door. Sure, Kristoff knew that Anna wasn't strictly into guys. He supported Anna in that sense, as did their mother. What Anna suspected that Kristoff would not be in favour of, however, was his little sister crushing on someone else's girlfriend.
Anna grabbed a bowl from a cupboard and filled it with the most chocolate infused cereal she had in her collection. She added some milk and then traipsed through the living room, slumping down on the couch.
The minute her ass hit the cushions, there was a brisk knock at the door. Anna sighed. With the lack of Kristoff, her hangover was creeping back. She now realised that simply brushing her hair had not completely rid it of bedhead, and whilst she had freshened her breath, she remained in the clothes she had slept in – one of Kristoff's old shirts and last night's underwear. Anna looked down at herself and shrugged. It was too late to do anything now. She lifted herself from the couch and went to answer the door.
On the other side of Anna's door, Elsa waited uncomfortably. She shifted from one foot to the other and twisted her hands together. She wished she hadn't promised Hans that she would do this. She wished that she hadn't seen that guy coming out of Anna's apartment earlier. She wished her reaction to the sight hadn't been so… troubling. But most of all she wished that Anna wouldn't answer the door.
This morning, it seemed, the gods were not on Elsa's side. None of her wishes were due to be granted as the door in front of her swung open. Elsa felt the air leave her lungs.
Before her, Anna stood like some sort of guilty fantasy. Her hair was messy, and yet remained adorable. She looked sleepy and a little confused. She wore an oversized shirt that almost, but not quite, disguised the fact that her lower half was covered only by a pair of light blue underwear. Her legs were bare, from her thighs right down to her ankles, where her feet were covered by a pair of thick grey socks that had slunk down slightly.
The knot in Elsa's stomach loosened. It was replaced by a sensation that could only be described as fluttering.
No, Elsa. Why do you think she looks like that? She looks dishevelled and… sexy. Everything you're not. And it's a direct result of that guy you saw. That tall, bulky, man. Again, everything you're not. Elsa chastised herself. It was something she was very used to doing.
At the memory of Anna's visitor, the flutters in Elsa's tummy froze and fell to the very pit of her tummy, forming a solid mass of ice, and remaining there.
Get this over with, Elsa.
"Hans wants to invite you to dinner tonight." Elsa said robotically, averting her eyes from Anna, and instead looking just past her left ear.
When Anna had opened her door and seen Elsa standing the other side, she had immediately regretted her morning look. She ran a hand through her hair in some useless attempt to regain control of it, and then gave up. Elsa looked perfect as always. There was just no way to disguise that Anna herself was the vision of a hung-over disaster.
Anna was just about to greet her blonde neighbour when Elsa spoke.
"Hans wants to invite you to dinner tonight." She had said abruptly.
Anna was slightly taken aback, firstly by the emotionless way that Elsa had spoken and secondly by the curious way that Elsa was avoiding making eye contact with her. Anna's face was clouded by a look of confusion. She considered the proposition briefly before voicing her concern.
"Just Hans? You mean, you don't want to invite me to dinner tonight?" Anna said, punctuating a tone of humour into her words in an attempt to alleviate the obvious tension that Elsa was experiencing.
Finally, Elsa's eyes flashed a glance at Anna's face.
"No, I… Of course, I think you should come to dinner." Elsa stuttered before returning her gaze to where had been moments before.
"OK then…" Anna said slowly, the situation here was hurting her already throbbing head. She opened her mouth to speak again.
"See you at seven then." Elsa let out cutting Anna off before she had time to respond. Elsa had turned on her heel and was striding back down the hallway to her own apartment. Anna watched her leave. She was too confused to even appreciate the sight.
Anna went back to her now soggy mess of cereal. She dug her spoon in anyway and shovelled some of the gloop into her mouth.
What the hell was that? Elsa seemed… upset. Upset with me. What have I done? Anna mulled over the exchange that had just taken place, wracking her brain for something that could have caused Elsa to take offense.
We had a good time yesterday. We got on well. I made her laugh. It was easy and comfortable. I haven't even seen her since then… Anna struggled with her thoughts. She looked down again at her 'outfit'. Maybe that was the problem. Elsa was always perfectly put together, her clothes always looked as though they had been picked with a level of deliberation. Anna's look this morning was… haphazard at best. Perhaps Elsa just felt uncomfortable with Anna's state of undress. That must be it. Anna could think of no other reason for Elsa's behaviour.
The woman is an enigma, Anna thought, a beautiful, gorgeous enigma…
Just as Anna was throwing her spoon back into the cereal bowl, giving up on trying to consume its now icky contents, she heard voices in the hallway and a key in the lock. She hopped up from the couch immediately, recognising Kristoff's voice.
Before Kristoff had a chance to turn the key and open the door, Anna threw it open from the inside. Outside, Kristoff was poised with his key still in the air. At his shoulder stood Hans.
"Hey!" Anna beamed, forgetting her appearance yet again.
"Wow Anna," Kristoff stated, smirking, "Your sense of style really has gone downhill. And it wasn't even that great to begin with." He nodded to her outfit. Behind him Hans chuckled.
"Shut up, Kristoff." Anna said grumpily, before smiling again, "Hey Hans, I see you've met my lump of a brother." She added.
"Hey!" Kristoff started, but Hans cut him off.
"I have. I was just inviting him to dinner tonight." Hans stated holding up a grocery bag, as if to prove that dinner was on the cards. "Has Elsa stopped by?" He asked.
"Uh… Yeah. She was here a minute ago." Anna said, choosing not to mention that Elsa was hardly being a ray of sunshine when she had knocked on the door.
"Great! So you're coming?" Hans questioned, hopefully.
"I said I would, yeah." Anna replied.
"Me too!" Said Kristoff.
"Fantastic!" Hans cried.
This guy's enthusiasm knows no bounds… Anna noted.
"I better go get started then, or we'll be ordering take-out." Hans laughed. He waved at Anna and clapped Kristoff on the shoulder before heading down the hall.
Kristoff pushed past Anna and into their apartment, plonking grocery bags of his own down on the kitchen counter.
"Hans is cool." Kristoff noted, pulling items from the bags and depositing them in their rightful cupboards. "Dinner should be fun. It'll be nice to actually have friends in the building at last." He continued.
Kristoff knew his littler sister was, despite her dependence on sugary foods and her penchant for late nights, perfectly capable of looking after herself. But still, whenever he was away for extended periods, his big brother sense often kicked in. It would be great to know that there was someone around to keep an eye on his baby sister while he was away. Hans seemed like the perfect candidate for that job. And maybe this Elsa woman would be a good friend for Anna too. Kristoff was all too aware that his sister had almost exclusively male friends. He had never been too sure of the reason behind that, but he had in the past thought that a good girl friend might prompt Anna to be a tad more responsible and… ladylike. Kristoff knew that voicing that particular thought out loud would result in a hefty thwack around the head from Anna. It wasn't that his sister wasn't feminine. She definitely was, there was no doubt about it, but she wasn't exactly graceful. And Kristoff couldn't shake the concern that, left to her devices, Anna's lifestyle tended to be a bit… alternative. He had no doubt that the influence of someone more together, someone who didn't spend their evenings rollicking about in bars, someone more womanly, could be good for Anna. He knew that Anna in fact was often drawn to women, in a… romantic way. But Elsa was Hans' girlfriend, she could have a platonic friendship with Anna that could be just what Anna needed.
It was Anna herself that shook Kristoff from the plan that was forming in his mind.
"Yeah… tonight should be… fun." Anna agreed somewhat tentatively. To be honest, when she had told Elsa she would come to dinner, she had actually completely forgotten that Kristoff was back. It was a stroke of luck that Hans had clocked him in the hall and invited him along too. If Anna were truly, completely, honest, she would admit that when she had seen Elsa the other side of the door earlier, it was not only thoughts of Kristoff, but all semblance of rational thought that had vanished.
Along the hall, Hans too was depositing his grocery bags on the counter. He had spotted Elsa curled up on the couch on his way past, her glasses on and a book in her hands. On her lap, Kai was purring softly.
"Guess who I just met?" Hans called over his shoulder. Elsa placed a bookmark in her book and put it on the couch beside her. She stroked Kai.
"Who?" Elsa asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't like they knew anybody in this part of town really.
"Anna's brother!" Hans exclaimed. "He was out in the hall, just back from the store. We must have been there at the same time!" Hans continued.
"Her brother?" Elsa shot back, sitting up straighter on the couch and dislodging the cat slightly.
"Yeah, Kristoff. Nice guy. He got back last night apparently. Wanted to surprise Anna. She had no idea!" Hans rattled on, letting out a laugh at the idea of how shocked Anna must have been.
"Got back last night…" Elsa murmured to herself. Realisation dawning on her and bringing with it a sense of complete relief, tinged only slightly with guilt at her previous feelings.
"Yeah. He'd been away, climbing. Did Anna not tell you she lived with her brother?" Hans asked, turning around to see an unreadable expression on his girlfriend's face.
"No. She didn't." Elsa admitted. Her mind was whirring. She knew now what that feeling in her stomach had been when she saw that guy – Kristoff apparently – leaving Anna's apartment that morning.
Well, it's not Anna's apartment exactly, is it? It's Anna and Kristoff's place.
Elsa had been jealous. Her heart lurched at the thought. It wasn't an emotion she had experienced before. And it certainly shouldn't be one she was experiencing now.
That is highly inappropriate, Elsa. You have a boyfriend who loves you, who cares for you, who stuck with you when… No. You have to stop this.
"Anyway, I invited Kristoff to join us tonight. I hope that's alright, babe." Hans finished, smiling a little nervously over at Elsa.
Elsa looked directly at Hans and returned his smile. She put all her effort into making it seem genuine, and if the bright look on her boyfriend's face was anything to go by, then it had worked.
"That's fine, Hans. It'll be lovely, I'm sure." Elsa nodded, holding the smile on her lips with all her might.
Inside, the knot had returned to Elsa's stomach.