I can't believe I signed up for this.

It was only in rare occasions that nervousness got the best of her. She ran her fingers through her hair. This was one of those occasions. Not knowing what could happen in the future, or in certain circumstances, made her terribly nervous. Taking risks had never been her strong suit; everything had to be calculated, down to the smallest detail. But that fear of uncertainty and unpredictability was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. Spending five days at the Aldridge residence was everything she'd hoped for, everything she'd wanted. Obviously, she never expected to be Anna's "girlfriend" for a week until the redhead's parents put the offer on the table and she impulsively accepted. Sure, she didn't mind, she loved it in fact but she never thought it would come to this.

She continued to mess with her hair. She'd never had that much trouble with it before, why did it decide to start acting up today? The braid everyone was accustomed to seeing was far from perfect today. Her hands were beginning to sweat and she finally decided to leave it down.

It doesn't matter, it just thanksgiving dinner, after all.

"Has anyone ever told you you have the most beautiful hair?" Elsa hadn't notice the girl standing behind her until now. She turned around to find Anna looking at her amusingly. She was wearing a green dress which made her freckles and her red hair stand out, revealing a big portion of her shoulders and, she assumed, a big portion of her back as well. Elsa knew then and there, it would be Anna's night. Part of her hair was perfectly made into a braid, running around her head and then made into a bun. She loved the way her silver stripe of hair become more noticeable that way, she really did. She looked at Anna, diverting her eyes quickly at the realization that she had yet to answer her question.

"Umm... Thanks but it's actually just a mess today." She chuckled.

"Nonsense, you should let it down more often." She didn't notice the moment Anna lifted her arm and used her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind the blonde's ear. Nor the moment it ran down the length of her arm. The short amount of contact between Anna's hand and her arm made her shiver, she knew Anna noticed.

The redhead pulled her hand back after the realization. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

She thought about an excuse but nothing came up. "Honestly, I don't know." Elsa blushed.

"Oh, man... Elsa, are you nervous?" Anna asked with a smirk on her face.

"Maybe..."

But not for the reason that you think...

Nervous was an understatement, and now it was even worse. She recalled the night that Anna, or rather the image of Anna, had brought her so much pleasure. She tried to force out the thoughts that followed, how she desperately fantasized about her and how difficult it had been to hold herself back after her parents came back and they had to go back to sleeping in the same room. Having her that close and not doing anything about it had been one of the most difficult things she'd ever have to do.

"What are you so nervous about? You rarely get nervous, Ms. I'm-All-That." Anna laughed.

"Oh, please. I'm not that cocky, am I?" Elsa actually wanted to know.

"No, no. You're just confident and it's sexy as hell." Anna wished she could take her words back as soon as she said them. She mentally slapped the top of her head.

Ugh, this is why you think of what you're going to say before you say it!

Elsa only smiled and succeeded on pulling off an arrogant look on her face.

"Did you just..." Anna looked at the girl in front of her with admiration. Elsa was confident and she knew it.

"You're really gullible, Anna." Elsa said as she turned back around to face the mirror, Anna still behind her.

"Aren't we all though?" She shrugged. "Now tell me what had you so nervous, or is that all an act too?"

Elsa's expression changed at the reminder. "This dinner," she quickly blurted out.

"Elsa, it's just dinner. I bet you've been to thousands of them before." She put her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"None of the dinners I've been too involve your extended family—"

"—right... And you're also not pretending to be my girlfriend in most of them." Anna finished her sentence. She pouted. After thinking for a few seconds, she spoke again. "Maybe your idea wouldn't be such a bad idea right now. I mean, maybe it'll just make you feel better."

Elsa turned around to face Anna again. "Anna, what are you talking about?" She didn't have the slightest clue.

"Maybe we should just confess that this is all a ruse. We're just doing it because of my parents right? There's no other use." That completely caught Elsa by surprise, and it definitely got her thinking. Anna was right, there was no reason to continue the lie, even if it wasn't a lie on her part but surely Anna was sick of pretending, and doing so in a bigger crowd would be even more tiring.

"Okay." That was Elsa's only response, much to Anna's disappointment. "But we shouldn't just come out and say it," she continued after some thought. "Maybe later throughout the night, when all attention is on us... Then, we'll tell them."

Anna nodded, clearly not the answer she was expecting. It didn't take long before she walked out of the room.

Well, that was strange.

She had yet to put on her outfit for tonight, definitely behind schedule. Today was not her day, she was sure about it.

"Ready for tonight?" Kristoff almost yelled as he exited his house, spotting Anna on her porch. She looked his way and waved.

"I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages." Anna said as he walked to her from across the yard.

"Right? We live right next to each other and we don't even talk that much anymore. Of course I'm busy with Ygrette and you... You're busy with Elsa." That quickly caught Anna's attention. "Why do you look like that after I mention her name?" He noticed Anna's pout immediately. "I thought you two were better than okay, I mean sure, you're just pretending but at least it's what you wanted right?" He sat by her.

"Yes, you're right, except we're telling my entire family it's all an act." She sighed.

"Your decision or hers?" He looked at her attentively.

"Well... I asked her and she said yes so I guess it's a decision that we both made."

"Cheer up, Anna. At least you'll still be friends." He rubbed her arm.

"That's better than nothing, although it looks like I've got competition." She leaned on his shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"This guy at work. His name is Hans, apparently he wants to date her." She sank deeper into his shoulder.

"Maybe you're just over thinking things and he's just being friendly." He said reassuringly.

"No. She told me."

"Oh." That 'oh' lingered longer than necessary and Anna knew that Kristoff also understood there was no hope for her.

"But tell me, how's Ygrette?" She tried to change the conversation into something more uplifting.

"Ah! She's great. My family loves her. I love her. She loves me. Everything is going well."

Anna wondered whether Ygrette kept anything from Kristoff just like Elsa had kept so much from her. Maybe Ygrette had so much bottled inside as well, of course she had a different way of showing it but she was sure neither of them knew what a family really was, or what it stood for.

They both looked around as a phone vibrated, it was Anna's. "That's great Kristoff. It's good to finally see you get settled." She looked at the phone screen.

"Yeah. I guess she's the one I was looking for this whole time. She's changed me in some way." Kristoff seemed much more enthusiastic than before.

"It must be nice having her over for dinner, especially during thanksgiving." Her phone vibrated again.

"Oh yeah definitely, you kn-" Kristoff was interrupted before he could finish that sentence.

"Sorry, Kris! I should go inside, it's getting late. Talk to you later okay? And have fun tonight!" She stood up quickly, unable to stop staring at her phone. Kristoff only laughed as she walked into her house.

"Honey, our guests will be here soon!" Elsa heard Idunn's clear yelling even though she was in the bathroom. She had finally made a decision on what to wear: a blue and white striped blouse accompanied by a gray blazer and a white pair of skinny jeans. It was too cold to wear anything else. Idunn kept screaming, Elsa decided to exit the bathroom and make sure Anna was paying attention.

She found the redhead sitting at the edge of her bed, too entertained on her phone to make out the distant voice of her mother.

"Anna." The girl didn't hear her, she continued to type on her phone. "Hey, Anna." She tried a bit louder and this time the red heard lifted her gaze to see her.

"Oh, hey Els. Wow, you look good!" Anna looked surprised.

"Thanks. Listen, have you been here all along? I think your mom's been calling you." Elsa asked with a rather confused look on her face. Anna was acting weird.

"Oh, has she? I guess I better go check on her." Anna stood up and walked towards the door but was stopped from twisting the door handle when Elsa spoke again.

"Actually, she just said that the guests will be here soon."

Anna put on a straight face, thinking. "I guess we better go down there, huh?"

"You don't seem too happy..."

"Well, it's not every thanksgiving that you tell your whole family you've been lying." Elsa remained silent, Anna was right but she had been the one to suggest it in the first place. Isn't that what Anna wanted? To stop lying? "Anyway, let's not dwell on it. Let's just go down there and get it over with. What needs to happen will happen." She looked down at her phone then nodded her head towards the door, gesturing their exit.

"So then I tell him, "No! Once you get it, you take it!"" Everyone around the room started laughing. There was a countless number of people in the kitchen and even more in the living room. Elsa didn't understand how so many people could fit in one house, much less how all of them were somehow related; talk about big families. It was two hours since the girls made their way downstairs, people started arriving in no time at all and soon enough the house was filled. Everyone had a story to tell, long ones at that. "Remember when" and "that one time" were recurring sentences.

Dinner started a bit later than usual as well, it was difficult to get everyone settled all at once but eventually everyone found a place to sit and have dinner. Many conversations went around the house but it was usually the loudest person that would gain everyone's attention. The number of memories this family had were countless and quite entertaining, to Elsa at least. It had been a while since she felt that she was actually enjoying herself. People talked to her as if she was part of the family, as if they'd known her for years. They asked about school and work. Eventually they also asked about Anna and herself, which she managed to reply to without giving their plan away. The more that went on, the more she regretted their decision, but she had to keep her word.

"Isn't she a crazy one?" One of Anna's cousins asked her as she placed her plate on the table and sat next to Elsa.

"Crazy? Not at all, she's way more than crazy." Elsa answered, eyed the rest of the table and unable to find Anna. Maybe she was still getting herself a plate.

"Consider yourself lucky for not dealing with her as a child! You have no idea how much trouble she used to get us into."

Elsa smiled, "trust me, I believe you. I'm her roommate after all," she said it matter-of-factly.

"Oh, and from what I hear you're also more than that?" The girl winked.

Here we go again.

"Is it too late to deny that?" Elsa asked jokingly, there was no way Anna's family could take that comment seriously.

"There's no backing out with Anna! We've all tried." She laughed. "Right, Anna?" They both looked again to find Anna, she was finally sitting across the table from them, a few seats away. The dinning room was definitely packed. Anna looked up momentarily to look at them, she was caught by surprise. Elsa stared at her, why was she so distant all of the sudden? She was never on her phone that much.

"What was that Rapunzel? Sorry, I didn't hear." Anna asked again.

"Leave your phone alone, Anna. It's thanksgiving." She flipped her blonde hair dramatically.

"Oh please, look who's talking. You're on your phone all the time." She continued to talk as she typed on her phone screen.

"Not on a holiday!" Rapunzel almost screamed, regardless no one else seemed to mind, chatter filled the room.

"Shh." Was all Anna said before looking back down at her phone again. Elsa made it her mission to find out what was going on with her, but not now. There was no way she could do it now, people would find it weird. Plus everyone decided to talk to her all of the sudden, leaving her no time to even eat her food. She loved it though.

By the time dessert came around, the table had finally managed to clear up a bit. Everyone decided to move to the living room or to the backyard. Elsa found it the best time to go and sit next to Anna.

"You've been silent tonight." She leaned on the table, using her hands to support the weight of her head.

"Have I? Really?" Anna smiled shyly.

"What you haven't noticed? Look you've barely eaten." Anna looked down at her plate and then at Elsa. She tried to come up with a good reason but she really couldn't.

"We'll have a lot of leftovers. I'm not missing anything, don't worry," was all she could say.

"Don't mind me but what's gotten into you all of the sudden?" Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"You won't belie-" Anna started but was suddenly interrupted.

"Ah, here are my favorite girls." Anna's father grabbed each of the girls' shoulders. "Come, your mom has been telling the whole family about you two and they want to know more. So who better than you two, right?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Dad... seriously?"

"Come on, Anna. Don't tell me you don't love the attention, you always do," her father said playfully. Both girls stood up before eyeing each other. Elsa shrugged and opened her arms, would this be the time they would tell them? Anna shook her head. That was a no.

"Yes, yes. I even took a picture of the two. Remind me to show you later, they were adorable!" Elsa turned red as they entered the living room and everyone turned to stare. Why did everyone decide to stop talking all of the sudden? Was this really necessary? "Oh, there they are!" Elsa smiled courteously and Anna acted indifferent, she knew her family too well.

"We finally get to meet the lucky lady, huh?" Someone screamed from the other end of the room.

"Believe me, the only lucky person in here is me." Anna laughed as she said it. A lot of 'aww's' were heard throughout the room. "What? It's true."

"What'd it take so long for us to meet her? I mean she's perfect." Rapunzel asked, a few others nodded in agreement.

"What is this, a family intervention? Why is everyone so interested all of the sudden?" Anna asked.

"Cause she's been a mystery for the longest time, Anna," her mother said. Elsa realized they were getting deeper into their lie, didn't they plan to do the opposite?

"Well, here she is." Anna grabbed Elsa's hand and led her into one of the empty couches. It was going to be a hell of a night.

After a few more of their made up stories, everyone who had been enthusiastically paying attention, decided to either join the other people outside in the backyard or in the kitchen. A lot of them seemed to have had too much to drink, Elsa included. As hard as she tried to deny a drink from anyone, it was impossible. Anna had managed to evade her many times, and after finishing her last glass of red wine, she spotted a certain redhead exiting the front door.

Well, now that's strange.

She followed her instinctively. She tried to rush; Anna needed to explain not only what they had planned but also her behavior. Many people got in the way, but she finally made it out the door.

"Can I finally talk to you?" Elsa sat on the porch, next to Anna. She was staring nowhere in particular, phone in her hands. Elsa looked down and noticed.

"Sure, what's up? It's crazy in there, huh?" She smiled.

"You know what's even more crazy?" Elsa asked. "You acting different." She said before Anna had a chance to acknowledge her question.

"I know, I'm sorry. I've just... I didn't expect th-"

"I understand, this seems like too much to handle. Maybe that's why telling the truth will be a good idea." Elsa sighed.

"No. That's not what I'm talking about. Well... Yes, we should tell them the truth, and we will later tonight but- that's not what I was referring to."

"Oh?" Now Elsa was really surprised.

Anna looked down at her phone, was that happiness in her eyes? "I received-" She paused, looking for the right words to say. "Sam contacted me today." She smiled gladly. Elsa did not know what to say.

"Oh." She said again.

"I know, isn't that unbelievable? I can't believe it myself. This is really great, you have no idea how much I've waited for this." She was excited.

"Wait a minute. I'm confused. Isn't this the girl who rejected you and hurt you? Now she wants to talk to you and you're letting her back into your life?" Elsa seemed annoyed.

"Elsa it's not the way you think. She explained everything to me. I've been talking to her all day." Anna tried to calm her down but Elsa was clearly infuriated.

"But Anna..." She pleaded.

"Don't worry, it's all going to be fine."

There was nothing Elsa could say to change her mind, like Anna said. She had waited for this for a long time. There was nothing she could do, at least not at the moment. She had to play her cards right to get what she wanted, even if it brought her world down.

"You know what this means, don't you?" She said it quietly.

"Ah... yes. We can't tell my parents anything."

"At least this break's almost over." She faked a smile. "Don't let them know."

Anna was overjoyed; she shared many more stories with Elsa about Samantha. She told her how the girl reached out to her, how she apologized, and how there was hope for them again. Elsa did nothing but listen the whole time. Was this what Anna really wanted?

AN:

You didn't think it'd be that easy, right? The happy ending will come eventually... just not know.

I bet you thought I had abandoned you, huh? Sorry for the super late update guys! June had been/will be a busy month for me, but don't worry the next chapter is half way done. I feel bad though :( Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter or how you think the story line will develop? Criticism is always welcome!

As always, shoutout and many thanks to Bijnaam (formerly Reflectedd.)