How did so many things change in the course of a week? Thanksgiving break had been full of surprises. First and perhaps the most surprising, she agreed to pretend to be Anna's girlfriend, she didn't think about it before she agreed on it in front of her parents. Second, she saw Anna in a different light, a mixture of love and desire, but somehow something was holding her back. She was scared, but of what? She didn't know. Third, Samantha pushed herself back into Anna's life and unfortunately Anna was willing to let her in. Fourth, she was jealous. Absolutely jealous. She had had just gotten to a level of comfort with Anna that she didn't have with anyone else.

Ever since they got back to campus, Elsa contemplated on confessing. She didn't know what Anna's reaction would be but, as usual, she couldn't help but over think things. Though, there was one thing she knew for sure: she desperately wanted to be with Anna. No one made her feel as happy as she did. She couldn't resist her. During the various nights she stayed up she would weigh the pros and cons. The pros outweighed the cons significantly, yet she still couldn't make up her mind. She had been in relationships before, but never with a girl. That would be a first.

As she sat in class again, her mind kept running back to Anna. Sure they were closer than ever, but not as close as she'd like them to be. Why did Samantha have to pop into her life out of nowhere? She wondered if that made her a selfish person for wanting Anna to herself, not that she'd do anything about it anyway. She'd just let Anna do what she felt right. She had to stop thinking about that, that much was for sure. Class was only making it worse so she pulled out her phone.

Two messages and quite a lot of emails...

A text from Hans? Really?

Hans: I know I won't see you till tomorrow but I couldn't wait to ask; are you free this weekend?

Elsa re-read the text several times, shaking her head and dismissing it. What was Hans thinking? A smile spread across her face immediately after as she read the next message, she didn't even see it coming. It was Anna.

Anna: So my parents just called asking for you...

Well this just made my morning, she thought.

Elsa: Maybe we should have exchanged numbers.

Anna: Are you kidding? They'd check up on you every hour instead of me.

Elsa had to stop herself from giggling in the middle of lecture. She never dreaded class as much as she did just then. She was the type to enjoy herself in any situation that would keep her occupied, but nowadays that only thing that seemed to occupy her mind was Anna.

She put her pen down and typed another quick message.

Elsa: Are you free later? I'm not in the mood to go back into the dorm after this.

Anna's response took longer than usual; Elsa reminded herself that Anna was also in class, probably struggling with calculus that early in the morning. She found herself smiling again.

God, what is up with me today?

Her phone buzzed once again.

Anna: Elsa... Are you asking me out? :o

For that, Elsa was thankful the redhead wasn't around. She wouldn't want her to see the immense blush on her face.

Anna: I'm kidding, by the way! What do you have in mind?

Elsa felt relieved.

Elsa: Very funny -_- well, I don't know. I do need to go Christmas shopping.

Anna: Oh god... You're one of those people, aren't you?

Elsa had completely stopped paying attention to whatever the professor was rambling about. It was the first day after thanksgiving break, what did he expect?

Elsa: What do you mean? What kind of people?

Anna: People that start getting gifts immediately after thanksgiving. You still have some weeks left, you know?

Elsa: Three, maybe four weeks.

Anna: That's more than enough. I usually get them the day before. Don't be one of them.

Elsa: Remind me not to get you a present ;)

Anna: Fine, fine. I'll go with you.

Elsa: Great! That doesn't mean I'm getting your present today though, just an FYI.

Anna: ):

"You know? I never understood why people buy those family stickers and put them on the back of the car," Anna exclaimed as the sat in traffic. Lines were longer than usual, but that was expected considering a lot of people were coming back from vacation.

"Hey that's true. I always see theM around but now I wonder where people even get them," Elsa replied, thoughtful.

"Or what goes through their mind when they finally decide 'oh let's go get one made and put it in our car'. It just seems really random to me."

"Maybe they have nothing better to do," Elsa laughed.

"You mean besides a family to raise?" Anna responded sarcastically.

"That's actually sort of unsafe."

"You're analyze face is showing. So tell me miss-i-know-it-all, why is it unsafe?"Anna said jokingly.

"Well, have you seen some of these stickers? Look at this one for instance, a mother and two daughters. I'm not saying that they're completely defenseless but it makes them more prone to being a victim of robbery or assault."

"I never really thought about it that way, it makes sense though," she looked at Elsa, who nodded, "so have you thought about what you're going to buy?"

If she had to be completely honest, she had absolutely no clue; she never got gifts for anyone, but now it seemed like she had to. What she really wanted was to just spend time with Anna. She found herself more drawn to her than ever and she couldn't just make that attraction go away.

"I have no idea," she said sincerely, "I'll probably end up getting nothing but it beats going back home, right?"

Anna grabbed the blonde's hand to gain her attention. Elsa looked at the steering wheel and finally at Anna. Maybe it was the week they had just spent together, or the amount of time they had waited in traffic, there was no knowing but the moment her eyes met Anna's, she knew she wanted Anna, she knew she needed her.

Several things ran through her mind, they all came to her in high speed, like an avalanche on a mountain top. So many thoughts she did not know where to start. Sad thoughts, disappointing thoughts, happy thoughts, she wasn't proud of all of them but she didn't care. She liked them, they were beautiful; they all involved Anna. A sudden guilt overtook her. An image of a screaming, crying Anna popped into her head; the memory of the fight they had after Anna had confessed. She felt unworthy, how could she love a person she had hurt? Or rather, how could she hurt the person she loved? That was an impossible question to answer because that was the thing about love, it was one of the most abstract concepts in life and Elsa knew nothing of it. It was so abstract that sometimes she even doubted its existence. Was there even such a thing as love or was it pure attraction?

Love always happened at the wrong time. Anna had loved her at the wrong time, confessed at the wrong time. Was Elsa reciprocating at the wrong time? Did Anna even feel the same way about her anymore? They never really did talk about that subject. Elsa felt it wasn't a memory they would both want to revisit. She had hurt Anna and then she had wanted her to go away, maybe she had even hated her but in the end she ended up loving her. What she felt was more than a sisterly love, more than a friendship, not that they weren't friends. Now that she thought about it, what she felt for Anna was more than that of just friends, she felt it within her and around her, it made her a better person. Anna made her want to be a better person. But she hated herself for it; she hated herself for feeling that way about Anna. She hated it and she loved it at the same time. She was truly underserving of Anna's love after what she had done. Anna was too good for her; she had stayed, even accepted her into her life again. Elsa wouldn't have done something like that, would she? But at the same time, she couldn't stay away from her, she was a magnet.

"Ugh, this traffic," Anna broke the silence, or rather Elsa's thoughts.

"Hm?" Elsa made it clear she wasn't paying attention. Anna leaned in towards her with a grin on her face.

"You know, Elsa? Lately you haven't been paying much attention."

"Tell me about it, I couldn't even pay attention in class today," Elsa blew away the bangs on her forehead.

"Ah, let me guess? Something's getting you distracted?" Anna leaned in closer, causing Elsa to finally turn her head completely to the redhead.

"Yes. Actually, something or rather... someone is," Elsa leaned in now as well, was Anna aware of the effect she had on her? Was she doing this on purpose? She couldn't be, could she?

"Mind telling me about it?" Elsa could have sworn Anna was flirting now, why was she so close? So close she could literally feel the girl's breath on her skin, close enough that if she stared long enough she could count each and every one of her freckles. She decided she had to go for it; she couldn't deprive herself of Anna's lips. She leaned in closer, slowly. She knew Anna noticed the change in tempo, the attraction, her face had gone from a smirk to a straight face. Anna's breathing had also changed, was she expecting the kiss? The kiss that would have happened if the car behind them hadn't honked, forcing Elsa to step on the gas. She was really losing her mind.

The rest of the ride was awkward, but once at the mall, being surrounded by people made it quite nice. For the first time in forever, Elsa enjoyed the chatter of people, the loud noises of machines, music and the crying of chaotic children, it beat the need of having to talk to Anna, even if she wanted to. They both new they'd both needed to discuss what had almost happened, but each one of them also knew themselves too much to admit that they would just try to forget about the subject and not speak of it again.

"If you don't know what you want to buy we can just go store by store until you find something," Anna smiled. Her excitement had her skipping alongside Elsa, she was just like a child.

"That would just end up giving me a headache. I think we should go into some stores, if I can't find anything I'll just go home, think about it and come back another day. By the way, have you eaten?" She eyed Anna carefully. The girl shook her head, "good, we can eat first."

They walked to the food court, pushed together by the amount of people walking around. It was unusual to see a packed mall on a weekday.

"What are you in the mood for?" Anna asked as the eyed the name of each restaurant.

"Anything really," was all Elsa said, when in reality she wanted to say you.

"TGI Friday's?" She lifted an eyebrow to the blonde.

Elsa smiled and walked forward. "Let's do it, I'm starving," Anna followed behind, skipping faster than usual as Elsa had gotten quite the lead on her, grabbing her hand to help keep pace.

"Gosh you walk fast," Elsa had barely heard that, her head was instead trying to process the fact that Anna was holding her hand. She didn't mind, she just found it surprising but she couldn't deny the other girl the pleasure of holding her hand. Elsa lifted both their hands, examining the exchange.

"What's this for?" Her face was full of curiosity and nervousness. She wouldn't have asked, but she really needed an explanation.

"Sorry... Didn't think you'd mind..." Elsa intertwined her fingers with Anna's hand again, holding tighter. That was a sufficient response for Anna, who had another one of her victory smiles on her face as they made their way into the restaurant.

"I can't believe you ordered a salad," Anna pouted as Elsa carefully placed her fork and knife on the opposite side of her drink. Elsa lifted her eyes to look at her.

"I can't either but your parents did feed me a lot this past week," she broke out a laugh.

"Oh please, is that why you've been running more than usual?" Anna took a bite of one of her fries, not before dipping it in ketchup.

"That and because I feel like I haven't done it in a while."

"That's true. You refused to come running with me after I insisted," Anna challenged.

"Well look at you. You're a changed woman. Not long ago you dreaded waking up for breakfast and now..." Elsa started eating.

"Give yourself a pat on then back, you've accomplished the impossible," Anna gave her a thumbs up.

"I like to think you've changed me as well," she stopped, placed her fork on the table, expecting Anna's response.

The redhead's reply was playful, after giving it some thought, "I've noticed... You've become meaner." She stuck out her tongue.

Elsa couldn't help but laugh, "Did you just insult yourself?" The look of confusion on Anna's face made her laugh even more.

"Pfft, fine. You've become nicer!" She smirked.

"That I have," Elsa commented, "hey so, listen. Thanks for coming with today. You probably had other things to do but I appreciate it, even though I'm probably not going to buy anything by the looks of it."

Anna extended her palm and waved it, "Oh, no, no. Don't worry about it I'm actually glad you asked. I need to talk to you about something, or rather ask for advice."

Elsa's face was filled with excitement, yet at the same time with anticipation. She raised both eyebrows; Anna could have sworn the blonde's eyes had become wider, "Sure, what is it?"

There was a silence. Did Anna suddenly forget that she was about to ask for something? Her mouth opened several times, as if she wanted to say so much but every time she tried, she couldn't, "Well... As you know, I've been talking to Sam..."

Elsa pouted after a few seconds passed, "Of course," She was cold, colder than she had been when they first met and Anna knew it.

"Okay," she made a pause, maybe talking about this was a bad idea but Elsa was smart and calculating, who better to give advice? "I know you're probably going to disagree with me completely because let's face it, you're very logical and I'm usually not. And I probably shouldn't be talking to her but I can't stop myself, I've tried. It's like one of those things that you really like and you crave and no matter how many times you tell yourself you can't have it, you end up giving in eventually. That tends to happen to me with chocolates, well, sweets in general-"

"Anna..." Elsa stared at her.

"Oh, sorry! I digress. Anyway," Anna did not know whether she was actually describing what she felt for Samantha or what she felt for Elsa. She obviously wanted Elsa, there was no denying that but she had already tried her luck with her before and that didn't go too well, there was no way she'd do it again. Her hope was that Samantha could make her happy, as selfish as that sounded; maybe Elsa was right, love is a selfish thing. "She was scared, she wanted us to continue being together but she was also afraid of what her parents would do..." She lowered her head shyly, afraid of what Elsa's response might be. "She didn't know what decision to make, which is totally understandable."

"Look, Anna. Sure that's a good excuse, even if it's valid. But," she paused to stare more intently. "Can I be blunt?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Whatever excuse or reason she gave you doesn't justify that she treated you like shit when you went to visit her; the night I had to pick you up, not that I mind or anything."

Anna blew away her bangs, "but you don't know her parents, Els. They can sure be a pain in the ass."

"I'm sure they can, but try to see this situation from another perspective. How do you think I feel about Samantha?"

Anna though about it a while and then, out of nowhere, a smile spread across her face. "Ah, that's it!" Everyone sitting nearby turned their attention to the redhead.

"What's it?" Elsa asked, confused.

"You need to meet her, and spend time with her... And me obviously. I'm sure you'll change your opinion about her." Her grin became wider.

"Anna, no. I don't think that-" Elsa extended both her hands, refusing the invitation.

"There's no way you're getting out of this one Elsa. Do it for me, you should know how much your opinion means to me."

Is she pouting on purpose?

Elsa looked away, her eyes diverted to the right then the left, until she finally met Anna's.

"Ugh, fuck it. Fine."

"Yes! Yes!" Anna practically jumped out of her seat.

"But I must warn you... I'm good at reading people and if I don't like her and she has bad intentions, I'll be the one pushing her away... I swear, Anna." Elsa couldn't be any more serious.

"Fine, fine. You'll love her, you just wait."

More than you? Impossible.

AN: What? An update on time? Hahaha, here you go guys. I received a lot of reviews on the last chapter, thanks so much! I can see you're enjoying this and I try to respond to all of you guys! (Also, noticed a lot of anger towards some of the characters, I guess I'm doing a good job writing them hehe.)

I decided to add a little more drama, I'm not ready to finish this story quite yet...

Let me know what you think!

Beta: Bijnaam