"Another problem with Anna?" Kristoff took a gulp of his drink and then looked up to stare at Elsa. They were both sitting across each other. Not many people were around, it was late in the evening, a weekday and the service was terrible, which was better for her. At least Anna wouldn't know she met with him.

"Not a problem per se..." She finished the statement with emphasis.

"Right, and here I thought you wanted to catch up on how I was doing." He crossed his arms. That caught Elsa by surprise, she felt bad for coming to him with her problems. She didn't even bother to ask how he was doing, but then again, they rarely spoke. "I'm kidding! We barely know each other. I'm just messing with you." He laughed and waited for Elsa's reaction. The blonde failed to react and so he continued, "okay, okay. What's up?"

"Apparently Anna has decided to let Samantha back into her life." She was serious and Kristoff sensed she was also mad. "Look, I wouldn't come to you with this but I don't think it's right and she won't listen. Plus, you probably know Samantha better than I do."

"I didn't like her enough to get to know her," he stated.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us. And that's part of the problem." Elsa made a face of discomfort.

"Then don't get to know her, simple as that." Kristoff shrugged, not fully understanding the situation.

"Anna wants me to get to know her..." She said, unsurely.

Kristoff, remained silent, confused. "Well, okay. Get to know her, maybe she won't be so bad."

Elsa couldn't find another way to explain herself, how could she get her point across?

Kristoff interrupted her, "oh! By the way, I forgot to compliment you two on your acting last week. Anna's parents definitely bought it. Hell! Even I bought it."

Elsa smiled shyly, "ha! Thanks Kristoff." She still seemed distant, troubled and definitely worried about the situation at hand.

"Look Elsa, I understand you're worried about Anna but... She's a big girl now and..." He stopped. How could he say the next words? "-and she's already suffered enough rejection," Elsa knew what he was referring to, she winced at the indirect remark, "she knows what she's doing."

"I fear- what if Samantha has bad intentions?" Elsa struggled to come up with the words.

"What kind of intentions would those be? Maybe she actually wants to be with Anna." Kristoff said as he leaned back on the chair and looked around.

"I don't know Kristoff, I don't like her one bit."

"Okay, here's the thing. If you don't like her, if you sense that she might be up to something then that's a good reason to actually get to know her. Figure out what she's up to." He smiled, content with his response.

"You might actually be right..." The blonde stared into space as she said those words.

"May I ask?" He looked at Elsa. The girl lifted her head, encouraging him to keep going. "Since when do you care about Anna so much?"

"I- I- well, how can I answer that question? She's my roommate, I guess it was inevitable." Her face was full of doubt.

"She told me about you, you know? A few months ago... She told me how much she cared. You hurt her and I'm not- I'm not here to blame you or get some kind of payback or anything but I'm telling you this because Anna deserves happiness and if she can have that with Samantha then who are we to intervene?" Elsa wanted to respond back, to defend her side. But she couldn't, he was right and he was sincere.

"I understand. Look, if Samantha really wants to be with her I'll stop my pursuit. I promise."

Kristoff nodded in agreement.

"You know what's worse than having to go to school after a break? Having to go to work." Anna yawned, stretching as she unconsciously allowed Elsa to stare at some of the skin showing.

"It could be worse." Elsa yawned.

God, that is contagious. I'm not even sleepy.

"How exactly?" Anna asked as she blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eyes to the light.

"Well, you could have a coworker asking you out?" Elsa rolled her eyes.

"Why can't you just say no to him? I'm sure you're used to that."

"Saying no has been something I'm not good at lately. He texted me yesterday, I forgot to tell you," she sat up and looked for something to wear.

Anna was paralyzed, Hans was proving to be more persistent than imagined, "what did he say?"

"He asked if I was free this weekend. Now that I think about it, I haven't even replied. I have to see him at work, ugh!" She covered her face with both hands then ran them over her hair, exasperated.

"Is there a reason why you don't like him?" Anna tried to understand.

"Not really. I know he's handsome, who doesn't know that? He's considerate and gentle but I... I don't know."

"So if that's not the reason then I'm assuming you're not ready to date?"

"Umm... No that's not it either." Elsa placed her hands on her hips, giving it some thought.

"Well, I don't see any other reason why," Anna paused as something else crossed her mind, "unless..." She stood up and approached Elsa, who sensed Anna's body behind her and turned around to look at her.

"Unless?" Elsa asked with a smirk on her face.

"Unless you're interested in someone else." The smirk went away and she felt the blush appearing on her face, Anna continued."That's it, isn't it?" Anna had finally stopped moving and was now standing only a few feet away from her.

"Maybe," Elsa said. The blonde rarely showed signs of weakness or nervousness, until that very moment.

The redhead crossed her arms, all of the sudden interested or jealous, she didn't know. "I'm all ears."

"Wha- What?" Elsa was taken by surprise, did Anna actually expect her to keep talking?

"C'mon, tell me about him." She seemed impatient but Elsa didn't know what to say.

"Anna, look at the time. If I tell you about he- him, I mean him, we'll be late to work." She grabbed a towel and made her way halfway to the bathroom.

"Fine!" Anna looked at the clock, "but you have to tell me sooner or later." She smiled and Elsa knew what the smile meant. Anna was going to get it out of her eventually.

After an hour of looking for outfits, fixing their hair, looking through bags and grabbing breakfast, the girls finally made it into the car. They drove together in Elsa's car, after much insisting from the blonde. "You don't trust me enough to drive?" Anna had said jokingly. Elsa being the perfectionist that she was, only looked at her, smiled and got in the car.

They made it into the parking lot fifteen minutes earlier than usual, which was good news for Elsa, considering she wanted to avoid Hans at all costs, at least for a day.

"Ugh, this torture again," Anna whined as they both entered the archive room.

"Welcome to the mess," Elsa replied. "I wish I could go back to last week."

"Don't worry, winter is coming." Elsa couldn't help but laugh and Anna stared at her with confusion. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Anna asked.

"Well, winter is already here if you can't tell by the snow and "winter is coming" means that something bad's about to happen, according to the show at least," Elsa pointed out.

"Well, look at you! Didn't know you were a fan."

"There are still a lot of things you don't know about me, I suppose." Elsa winked at her and regretted it a few second later.

"That's right! Speaking of... Tell me about your crush?" She asked hoping she wouldn't step on any boundaries.

"I was hoping I'd have to do this later rather than sooner but okay," Elsa had given it some thought on what she would say, decided that she would need to be vague about it. "And I wouldn't call it a crush," she raised her index finger to clarify.

"A fling?" Anna started to make assumptions.

"More than that but... I don't know where it's headed yet, that's why I would rather not talk about it. I don't want to get my hopes up, you know?" Elsa tried a different approach.

"Completely understandable but if anything happens, let me know!" Anna walked around the room, carefully looking down at the floor to make sure she wouldn't step on anything or accidentally kick down any stack they had managed to make two weeks prior.

"I'll keep you posted. Now, where did we leave off?" She looked over some papers as if to refresh her memory. Anna pointed to some cabinets she had not been able to reach yet and Elsa made her way to her.

It would be a slow day, and they both knew it but the quicker they got the job done, the quicker they could move to something else. The girls took the same approach as the last time they'd been in that room. They divided the work load, made separate stacks and, in the end, combined their efforts.

"What are you smiling about?" Elsa asked as she caught Anna staring at her while she dug into one of the cabinets.

Anna's smile became wider after having caught Elsa's attention. "I was just thinking," she started and shook her head in disbelief. "The last time we were in this room we weren't speaking to each other and now- well, look at us."

"It's amazing how quickly things change. Think about it, we went from not speaking to each other, then back to friends and then practically each other's "girlfriends" in the course of two days, but I'm glad you're talking to me again." Elsa wondered whether this would be the time when they would talk about what happened, maybe it was the time to finally confront each other.

Anna sensed the change of direction in the conversation. "Yeah..." She said it almost silently, "I'm sorry about that-"

Elsa interrupted before she could finish. "No, no. It's fine, I don't blame you. You acted in such a way because I was a bitch, I should have been more understanding and I'm the one who should apologize," she stopped going through the files to look at Anna. "You kissed me and I didn't know how to act. You have to understand I'm not very good when it comes to feelings and relationships but still that's no excuse." Anna listened attentively, she couldn't believe they were talking about this but at least Elsa was being considerate. "And you... You were acting based on your feelings. I didn't understand that then but I understand it now that I'm in the same situation that you were and I'm truly, really sorry about the way I treated you. I guess it was also my fault for kissing you in front of Ian."

Did Elsa just say she was in the same situation I had been, or still am?

"It's okay, Els. There really is no need to revisit the past, but I accept your apology and I think you should know that this friendship, or whatever this is, is the best thing that could be happening to us."

Elsa shrugged. It was the kind of shrug that released tension bottled up inside for many weeks. Anna could tell she was relieved by the soft smile on the blonde's face, yet there was a hint of apprehension, maybe fear. Fear of losing Anna, but Anna didn't need to know that.

"So," Anna continued, walking a bit farther from Elsa.

"So?" Elsa asked.

"Are you doing anything after work today?" Elsa sensed nervousness on the redhead's tone of voice.

"Why? Are you asking me out?" Elsa joked but continued after noticing the lack of response on Anna's part. "But no, why?"

"Eh... Coffee- date- Samantha." She was incapable of forming a coherent sentence but Elsa knew what she had meant as soon as she said Samantha.

"Oh," she thought about it for a second; she could refuse to go, in fact she desperately wanted to. Of course she was also dying to meet Samantha face to face, eventually that part won out. "Yeah, definitely. What time?"

Anna seemed much more relieved, thinking that Elsa would have put up a fight. "Initially we agreed on lunch, but just after work will be just fine."

"Okay great, just let me know the details later." Elsa went back to the documents, thinking her decision through even though it was probably too late to change her mind. "Does she know I'm coming?" She had to ask.

"Nope, it's all a surprise. Well, except for you." Anna replied excitedly. Elsa hid her smile, but she was definitely happy despite the circumstances. Samantha didn't know what she was in for, did she really think it'd be too easy to get Anna back?

"I still think this isn't a good idea." The weather was worse than usual, but that wasn't the reason why Elsa believed joining Anna and Samantha would be a bad idea.

"C'mon Elsa, it'll be fine." The redhead bumped into Elsa's shoulder playfully, as if cheering her on.

Elsa rubbed her hand over her shoulder, not expecting the bump. "You know how I was a bitch to you when I first met you? I'm like that with everyone." Despite her efforts to change Anna's mind, she knew that Anna was stubborn. If she set her mind on it, she'd get away with it; regardless, she had to try.

"And look at us now. I'm sure you'll like her," Anna couldn't stop smiling. "And I'm sure you'll be nice to her," she warned and Elsa had to look her straight in the eye, she sounded too serious.

"I can't promise anything." The blonde declared.

Anna crossed her arms, "Elsa... for me."

A few seconds passed, Elsa was determined on her 'no' but there was no way to refuse Anna, especially when she was pouting.

"You have to stop doing that." Elsa shrugged, giving up on her resolve.

"Doing what?" Anna asked with a devilish grin on her face.

"Getting what you want."

"Oh please, I'm cute and you know it." The redhead squinted her eyes, she was having too much fun.

"Very," Elsa said it before she could even think it. A particular shade of red started creeping on Anna's face. "Shall we go, then?"

Might as well get this over with, Elsa thought.

"It doesn't take much to convince you, does it?" Anna continued.

"Please wipe that smirk off your face or I'm refusing to go." Elsa joked lightly.

"Fine, fine." Anna had to suppress her laugh.

They walked to the car again, covered with thick coats and scarves. The strong, cold wind forced them to cover the burning sensation on their cheeks and walk faster than usual, almost running. Elsa's beanie almost flew away, a few strands of hair willing to attach themselves along with it. Anna always loved how it looked on her, giving her a few glances as the finally made it into the car.

"Well, that was something," Anna said as she hugged herself together, shivering.

"Can't we postpone?" Elsa hoped Anna would say yes.

"Oh no, no. This date is happening." Anna blurted out as Elsa froze, stared into nothing and then back at her. Anna noticed the blonde's annoyance but decided not to make much of it.

"Wait a minute... This is a date?" Her tone was cold.

Anna tried to smile innocently, "Elsa, please... Can we just go?"

"Fuck, Anna. You could have this "date" on any other day but you choose to go on it today and bring me along."

Anna was about to insist they'd stay instead if that would be the way Elsa was going to act. Sure, maybe it was a bad idea bringing her along but Elsa was part of her life, she couldn't just exclude her. Elsa started the engine before Anna said a word and so she drove. Not a single word was said during the long, slow drive. Elsa was too angry to say anything that could hurt Anna, she was already regretting what she had said not too long ago and Anna was too scared to make the situation even worse.

"Looks like we got here a little late," Elsa said as she parked. Her tone was chilled, but Anna knew better.

"She won't mind." They both unbuckled their seatbelts and proceeded on getting out of the car.

Anna attempted to run but almost slipped as she made her way. She grabbed on to the door and held it open for Elsa. They both walked inside, not saying anything. Elsa wasn't feeling herself today, the feeling she got when she was meeting new people was coming back to her. She didn't understand why, it had not happened with Anna's parents, or her whole family for that matter. Why was it any different today?

Anna nudged her. "Look! There she is." The redhead excitedly waved at a girl sitting in one of the tables by the window.

The blonde, green-eyed girl waved back, a smile on her face. Obviously she was happy to see Anna, who wouldn't be? Elsa thought. She noticed how quickly Samantha's smile disappeared after seeing Elsa with Anna. Elsa couldn't hide her smile.

"Sorry we took long," Anna said as they approached.

"I understand, terrible weather we're having." Samantha replied and stood up to greet the girls.

"At least we made it, right?" The redhead replied. "This is Elsa by the way, my roommate. Elsa this is Samantha my-" She hesitated.

"Your?" Samantha said, encouraging her to finish the sentence. Elsa hated her arrogance.

"My? What are you really Sam?"

Samantha smiled, "Hmm. Not sure, I guess we'll see." She sat again, motioning for the girls to do likewise. They both sat across from Samantha, Anna scooted her chair closer to Elsa's. The blonde had to smile again.

Samantha: 0, Elsa: 2

The waitress came by to take their order. "What can I serve you ladies today?" She eyed the three girls.

"Two hot chocolates, a blueberry scone and a brownie for us, please." Elsa ordered confidently but she knew she had to test the waters so she continued. "And for you Sam?" She turned to look at the girl in front of her.

"I prefer Samantha actually," she said in an unfriendly tone then ordered politely.

Elsa crossed her arms, maybe Samantha knew what she was up to.

"So you two know each other well, I take it?" Samantha asked, looking at Anna and Elsa.

"More than we care to admit," Anna replied, unaware of the confrontation between the blondes. Elsa just smiled, another point for her.

"Oh, how long have you known each other? I've never met her before," she stared only at Anna.

The only thing Elsa wanted to do was confront her about what she'd done to the redhead a few months back, but she had promised Anna that she would be nice. "We've known each other almost for a semester," she replied, beating Anna to it.

Samantha finally acknowledged her, although for a short time. "So Anna, tell me in detail, how have you been?"

Besides suffering a heartbreak? Elsa thought, but again, she couldn't say anything. Not just because of her promise but also because she had also been part of Anna's heartbreak.

"I've been fine, busy like I mentioned before." The redhead tried hard to engage in conversation, but ever since they'd arrived and ever since the drive, she had been distracted by Elsa's mood. She felt it was her fault that Elsa was annoyed and out of it, so no matter how hard she tried to pay attention she couldn't stop staring at Elsa every few second; she wanted to know how she'd act to everything and so far she didn't seem very pleased.

"Oh yeah, you mentioned work. I bet you're doing extremely well there," Samantha insisted.

She caught Anna by surprise, she had to think about her response. She stared at Elsa, who was looking out the window, before she replied back. "Well, you know, I can't complain. I'm not the best but this one here," she elbowed Elsa, she needed her attention, "-she's the one who's great at work." Elsa turned to look at the expression on Samantha's face, she had not liked Anna's comment.

"And how about school? Everything good?" Samantha tried to get Anna's attention again.

"Yes!" Samantha smiled, she seemed pleased to finally get a reaction out of her. "But the only reason I'm doing good is because of Elsa. You have no idea how much she's helped me with course work." She smiled and jumped excitedly on her seat.

Elsa was definitely not expecting that Anna would involve her in the response again, but she was glad she did because Samantha had to know that she was part of Anna's life and she wouldn't get away with shit easily. She also wasn't expecting the kiss Anna planted on her cheek as a form of gratitude. The display made Elsa blush but she didn't care, the look on Samantha's face was priceless. At that point, she was glad Anna had forced her to come along.

Elsa's mood changed as the minutes ticked by, Anna noticed which made her more comfortable around both girls. Samantha's mood had also changed. It was as if Elsa and her had switched attitudes. They talked about seemingly less important things than work and school, but no matter the answer, Elsa became proud. She knew her presence there would intervene with Samantha and Anna's relationship somehow.

After countless sips of hot chocolate, vanilla latte and bites of pastries, the conversation seemed to die down. The time had passed without anyone's notice and many customers left the building as the sky appeared to darken. "I've had too much to drink, be right back," Anna excused herself.

Elsa knew it would be time to leave soon, so she gathered her things while she waited for Anna to return. She didn't want to waste more time, the quicker they left, the better.

"I know what you're doing here," Samantha said, antagonizing and taking advantage of Anna's lack of presence.

Elsa looked up and stopped going through her bag, a confused look on her face.

Oh no, is this actually happening?

"What is that, exactly?" She attempted to sound intimidating, and she succeeded.

"You don't like me and Anna together, I can see that." Sam smiled; she hoped she could attack Elsa verbally in some way.

Elsa didn't respond immediately. "I'm sure you understand my position, after what happened between you too." She had to let Samantha know that she'd be there for Anna this time; that Anna wouldn't go through anything alone. She could not play with her feelings again.

"Oh, see. That's the thing. I know that's not the reason for your- hatred, for lack of a better word, towards-"

Elsa interrupted her, " oh really? What is the reason then?" She couldn't believe the way Samantha was acting.

Samantha scooted her chair in, and placed her hands on the table, she seemed very sure of herself. In fact, she smiled as she said the next words, "You don't like Anna and me together because you want her all to yourself."

What?! How does she know?

Elsa did not reply; she remained sitting, speechless. What could she say? Was that even true? Did she want Anna all to herself? Did she care more about her relationship with Anna than Anna's happiness with someone else?

Seconds passed by, perhaps minutes and still no words came out of the blonde's mouth.

"Are you ready to go?" Anna asked as she stood by the table, between both girls, sensing the commotion between the two.

AN: Well, well, well... what do we have here? Chapter 24, it looks like!

I'm going on vacation soon, probably Monday of next week so I decided to update before then to give you something to think about ;) I'll try to upload at least another chapter before I leave, but don't kill me if I don't.

Let me know what you think will happen next.

Thanks to Bijnaam for beta-ing!