I look down at my glass of water uncomfortably, my hand cupping around its cool glass. "Honestly. He's been staring at you for at least ten minutes! It's creepy. Do all guys stare at you?" Jack is saying as I wait for my meal to come. I had ordered a large plate, seeing as it would look odd to order two meals for myself. Jack and I agreed it would be easier to just share a meal.
I glance up at the guy who is our waiter for the night, and he quickly averts his gaze. He taps his pen on the countertop, and looks absentmindedly around the room, his cheeks going pink. For some reason, I highly doubt that he's looking at me because he's interested in me. Honestly, not all guys are interested in me! Even if they are... It's only because I'm the queen.
The guy is skinny, with wild curly red hair and dark brown eyes. He has bad acne around his face, and I notice that his hands are always trembling. I know him though. We had played hopscotch outside, which we had made ourselves as our parents talked. My father was great friends with his dad. His name is Louis Cooke and he's only eighteen and isn't much older than Anna.
"Or, perhaps he sees me talking, and reckons I've gone crazy," I suggest.
"You know, maybe that's it," Jack agrees. He makes a face. "Although, I have to say, I reckon that that Joseph guy is only interested in you because you're the queen."
"Probably." I try not to let it bother me, but I realise my answer sounds bitter.
Jack's eye widen. "No– not that he... It could be your looks– I mean... No. Okay, shut up talking, Jack," he tells himself. He laughs nervously, and I laugh too. His cheeks go rosy and he looks so embarrassed.
"My looks?" I quirk a brow up. "You think I'm pretty?" I ask him playfully.
"Yes. Wait. What? I mean.." He hesitates, cringing. "You are quite... Something, I suppose." He pulls a face at me and I chuckle. "Stop trying to humiliate me. I'm new to all of this. It's rude."
"It's fun," I disagree with him. "I think I'm going to make it my new hobby." I stick my tongue out at him, and realising how childish that is, I quickly pull it back in.
"Cute," he says, flicking my forehead. I blink in surprise and he laughs at my reaction. I roll my eyes, and decide it best not to answer as Louis is coming over with my large meal for 'one'.
He leaves it down on my plate, and opens his mouth to say something, but quickly changes his mind, shaking his head. "Enjoy your meal, ma'am." I smile at him and he leaves us– well, in his eyes, me– alone.
Besides Jack and I there isn't many other people around in here. An old woman sits on her own at the far side of the room, drinking what I guess to be tea. She looks so sad and lonely that my heart melts just looking at her. I wonder about her. Does she, or did she have a husband? Does she have family who visit her and keep her company?
As queen, I'm supposed to know the people, but I barely know anyone. It makes me feel like a terrible queen, so I try to know just names at least. I think through names of elderly people and for some reason, I can't help but feel that her name is Maggie. I could be wrong though... As I said: I barely know anyone.
Nearer to us, sitting at the bar is a young man and a woman. They're sitting closely together, hands held under the counter, and are giggling with one another. Again, my heart melts. Love is truly exciting in many ways, and I silently wish them the best for the future.
I focus my attention back to Jack, and then back to my meal, my mind spinning. Young love is exciting when you know that it can happen. I'm still confused about everything. What's drawing me so much to Jack? I guess it's just our powers... Maybe. He's far more interesting than any other guy I know. That's not saying much though, seeing as I hardly know anyone else.
I find it strange how easily I found it to trust him. I think back. The fact that I can feel the cold off him caught my attention first. Then that warm feeling he also makes me feel. I guess sometimes there's no real explanation to why you're draw to someone; it just happens that way sometimes.
I'm not in love with him, though, despite what Anna thinks. I don't know him that well, and I'll admit that I am attracted to him in someway. I guess some people just connect quickly, and that's what has happened us. We just click.
"Let's dig in!" Jack picks up a fork, and nods down to the meal before us. It's a mixed fish meal, with a lot of variety. I catch a whiff of the meal and my stomach growls. I am a tad bit hungry.
While eating, I glance at Jack a few times. More than once our eyes meet and we both look away quickly, blushing. This is both our very first date, and I can tell he's nervous too. It's actually kind of adorable, the way he'll tap his finger on the table, or the way he'll play with the end of his sleeves when he's talking to me. I'm glad he's not all confidence all the time. It makes him more interesting.
"... Bunnymund hates me so much," Jack is telling me. By now we're nearly finished our meal, and also the first part of our date. "It's fun to annoy him, though. He's especially sensitive when you mention the cottontail. He's a softie though, despite how he tries to act."
I have a hard time imagining the Easter bunny as this large, kangaroo sized bunny, with an Australian accent. It's just strange. Or also that Santa Claus has tattoos on his arms, and has a Russian accent and has yetis help him make the toys. Jack says he hasn't been able to get into the workshop yet, but strongly believes he'll bust in there someday.
It's an entirely different world to mine, yet it's always been there. I just didn't have the ability to see the wonders around me. I smile, because now I'll be able to see them.
"Have you ever met trolls?" I ask him. He shakes his head, looking curiously at me. "That's Kristoff's family. They helped save Anna when we were kids. They're kind of a big deal to me."
"Huh. Trolls...? That's cool," he replies. "I think yetis are probably cooler. You know, more fluffy too. And I've become really good friends with one called Phill."
"Really?"
"Nah," he says. "Phill wants to kill me." He says this like it's not big deal that I can't help but laugh. He looks at me and begins laughing too. I look up and see that Louis is staring at me as if I have two heads and I put my hand up to my mouth and pretend that I'm coughing. Gosh, that's embarrassing. He probably thinks I'm a complete nutter!
Yet, I find I'm not that bothered as I'm having a great time with Jack. "You ready to go?" he asks me.
I nod my head and we both stand up. Louis stands a little straighter as I approach him to pay for my meal. He bows his head.
"Thank you, Louis," I say softly to him as I hand him the money. His eyes snap up and he looks shocked.
"Y- you know my name?" His voice is slightly high, and I can tell he's edgy. He probably does think I'm crazy. I smile at the thought. Oh, well. I suppose it's not the end of the world.
"Duh," I reply. "I mean, yes." I grin at him and he gives me a small smile. His ears are turning bright red. "Goodbye."
When I walk out, I see that it's snowing again. I look to Jack and he smiles. "I like the snow," he simply says as I arch an eyebrow at him. "It's quite romantic, wouldn't you say?" He winks at me and I roll my eyes. He walks ahead of me and begins to freeze the ground by touching the staff to the ground.
"You should know that that won't work on me, Frost," I reply, quickening my paste to catch up with him. "I'm- whoa!"
I slip back and land on my back. I stare dazed at the sky. No one's around the restaurant to notice, except for Jack. He turns around as I sit myself up, narrowing my eyes at him. I slipped on one of his ice patches.
"Oh, whoops." He doesn't sound like he's going to apologise, and bursts out laughing. He begins walking towards me, so I throw out my hands and make ice appear under his feet. He wobbles, but then pushes himself off of the ground so that he's floating. I huff and cross my arms over my chest.
"Cheater," I grunt. I try to pick myself up, but my hands slip from under me and I'm sitting back on the ground, snow falling all around me. Jack's still laughing at me, but he comes over and holds out his hands. I take them in mine, grip them tightly, and pull him down so that he's on the ground too. He grins mischievously at me.
"You'll regret that," he says jokingly, pulling himself and me off of the ground. "That's just playing dirty."
"I don't think I'll regret it. You made me fall," I remind him.
"I don't know what's funnier: you falling on the ice, or Joseph."
He looks at me for a few seconds. "Joseph," we both say in unison, then laugh. "Come on! Let's go for a walk through the forest. We need to pass the time until it's dark!"
"Okay. Okay, let's go," I say.
The forest is on the other side of the town, so Jack and I stay on the outskirts of the town so we can avoid people. The town is larger than I remember, so it takes us about half an hour to get to the forest. It's only about quarter to four, but already the sun is setting. Winter days are so short.
The leaves wave in the breeze, and the dark shadows creep me out as I peer into the forest. It's densely packed with trees, making it look impossible to venture through. I hear birds singing from somewhere inside the forest, and the branches creek and groan quietly from the weight of the snow and the breeze that pushes them around.
Jack leads me to a clearly man made path in the forest. A sign at the entrance says: Arendelle Forest. I know from looking out the windows in the castle that the forest is large, and ends miles from where we stand. The clouds obscure the light from the sun making the forest look more eerie than it is.
"Come on!"
Jack sound excited and I wonder why. He walks into the forest in front of me and I grin. While he's facing away from me I begin to create a snowball with my powers I throw it, but Jack seems prepared for this. He swings around, and with his staff, hits the snowball leaving it to just fall in crumbled pieces upon the ground.
"Seriously, El?" he asks me. I blink in surprise. No one has ever called me anything other than Elsa– nicknames aren't fitting for a queen, apparently. "You have to be quicker than that."
I smile sheepishly at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I thrust out my hand and ice shoots up from the ground under Jack like a platform. He's not expecting this, so his legs crumble from under him and as he rises meters off of the ground in complete shock. "Quick enough?" I ask him with a grin.
He smiles mischievously at me, and casts his staff out, so quick that I have no time to move. The ground under me shoots up, and I get a weird sensation in my stomach as I rise higher and higher towards the tops of the trees.
"Not quick enough," he replies. He's sitting on the edge of the platform and he's laughing at my expression of surprise.
"I'm never going to get you back, am I?" I ask with a chuckle, picking myself up so that I'm now standing.
There's a shriek above my head and without thinking, I jump away from the noise, my heart hammering against my chest. I swore as my leg slips off of the edge of the platform. I lose my balance and fall. As I'm falling I see three blackbirds diving off of the branch I had hit with the top of my head.
I was probably four or five meters off of the ground, and my stomach twists, until something hits against me hard, taking the breath out of me. My eyes are closed and I assume I've hit the ground, but then I feel the coldness and I realise that Jack has caught me. I let out a shaky breath and cling on to him, thankful.
We land on the ground. Jack's carrying me bridal style and doesn't let me down when we land. "Are you alright?" he asks.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I reply, but my heart is hammering against my chest and I feel as though every nerve in my body is on fire. "I just... The birds gave me a fright."
"You're shaking," he points out.
With a pang in my chest I realise I'm still holding onto Jack, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. I stare at him for a few seconds until it feels as though my heart is going to explode from my chest, and until the warmth begins to flow through me.
"Well, that was exciting." I let out a nervous laugh and push myself out of his hands. My mind is buzzing. He lets out a relieved laugh. "Let's not ever do that again."
We're still standing close to one another and Jack seems to realise this at the same time I do as we both take a small step back, averting our gazes and looking embarrassed.
We continue on our walk, side by side.
The sky has turned dark, and it's getting harder to see as we travel through the forest. I can hear owls, and other creatures as we walk around. Eventually, it's too dark to see my own hand in front of my face, as the moon is hidden from view by breaking clouds and the branches of the forest.
Jack decided that the walk is a good way to get to know one another. I notice how little I can ask Jack as he seems to not know a lot about himself. For some reason, that concerns me.
But he asks me a lot of questions. He asks me mostly about my life, and I realise how little I can tell him. I tell him about my coronation day, and the day Hans held a sword up to kill me, and days Anna and I spent together when we were younger. I end up telling him about my nightmares and my fears. He listens with great interest, and I'm surprised. I didn't think he'd be someone who listens to others. Guys aren't normally like that. But he seems genuinely interested in my life.
He tells me stories of messing with Bunnymund, and trying to get into the workshop. He tells me the day he woke up after being chosen by the Man in the Moon, and I become more curious about this man.
"What's he like?" I ask him.
Jack shrugs. "He hasn't said a word to me since that day," he tells me. He sounds bothered, but quickly shrugs it off with a grin. "I think it's time for the surprise," he says, and grins feeling excited. I'm also disappointed that our date is nearly over.
He holds out his hands and I take them. He pulls me onto his back, and he leaps off of the ground. My stomach flips as we go higher than the trees, and we fly further away from Arendelle.
"Where are we going?" I ask as Arendelle becomes a distant dot behind us. The smell of the sea fades away, and eventually we're just flying over fields of snow with just the light of the moon overhead to allow us to see.
"Finland. But that's all I'm saying," he replies. "And don't worry, we won't be gone that long. I can fly pretty quickly."
Finland!? Why on earth would he be taking me there? I can't help but feel anxious. What awaited us up there? Surely nothing.. I shake my head.
I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
REVIEW REPLIES FIRST:
Quillstrike: oakwdjkladj oh, god. I'm literally smiling so much right now! :D I love your story so much and you like mine kajsdfnhksjfk I can't- sorry. Fangirled a little there... I'll stop :L Aha. I went off of too for a while, until the holidays began :L I just got bored for awhile, tried writing some stories and then thought of this, and said, eh, why not? :P So am I tbh :) I love Jelsa :D Thank you so much :)
DaffodilChains: Jealous Jack is the best Jack :P Hope this was okay.. I'm not sure, because no one in Ireland actually goes on dates so I'm not sure how romance actually happens O.o We don't even have first kisses... But I'll explain that another time :L Aha. Glad you liked it :)
Bilbisaurus: My love for this review :D Aha. Same here... xD I should read other ones though :L I want to, but I'm reading real books and I'm just like kajsdfhksajs :L Ohh.. Thank you! I'm always doubting myself and cringe when I write something that seems OOC, but I'm glad you think they are :) Yeah... I just want to build up to that and I'm so hoping no one loses patience with me :L Thank you :)
Guest: Aha, that would be class :D PART 8 IS HERE I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT I GOT TIRED LAST NIGHT AJDHAKSDJ Same here D: It would honestly be so cute because I just ship them so much :') Agh. Thank you so much :D That means a lot to me, honestly :)
ELLE555: It does, doesn't it? O.O Thanks :) Hmm... I never really considered to make him like Hans, tbh. But that's a good thought :O Well, ya. He is because she's queen, but I don't think I'm going to make him out to be evil, just mildly... crazy :P I have ideas to do with her nightmares... Which will happen in a few chapters time, but I'm just going to leave it nice and peaceful for the time being :)
livelaughloveNarnia: Thanks :) Aha. Yeah I do... Yeah, she's alright sometimes but then other days I'm just like SHUT UP AKDJASKD xD She tries to beat me up sometimes too and I'm three years older than her O.O THEY ARE :O
Wholock's Worlock: Thank you :D Updated ;D
The-unnamed-artist: I love you for loving me :D xD Thanks :D And isn't he? :P
FireHippie: IKR? :D
Miki Fubuki: Aw, thank you :) I was hoping people would like it :P
VeryBerry96: I KNOW? I can't sleep at night though, so I write instead :D And then stay up for hours after planning the next chapter because I'm weird like that :P Ah. How I'd love to sleep that early. I probably get to sleep at, like, four? :P I'm not entirely sure yet O.o Still working on his character- i mostly just added him for fun, but now I'm starting to think more about his character :P Hope you like the start of it... Sorry if it's not good D:
AlyssPotter: Whew, long review! I LOVE IT :D
...ANyway, to respond to it... :P I know! IT's such an amazing crossover idea :D at first I didn't really consider them, but then I saw Frozen and was like NO THEY MUST BE TOGETHER AKEJAKSJDR. Oh gosh! Thank you for thinking it's fantastic (I read that in Doctor 9's voice O.O ). Really? I can't imagine anyone liking my story so much :P I did? :O Aw, yay :D I wasn't sure :) I LOVE THAT SONG SO MUCH I SING IT LIKE EVERYDAY AND I ALSO LOVE 'Do You Want To Build a Snowman?' The songs in the movie are absolutely amazing! asjdhaksjdhask SHTAAPP.. I'm dying here. You seriously liked it that much? I just can't omg :O Aha. My writing's not that good :O But thank you so much! Yeah. But after the holidays are over I'll find it harder to update because it's my final year in school ever (YAY), and I have important mock exams in three and a half weeks :'( ... We shall see what happens in the story... STUFF HAPPENS, YA KNOW? Man, I need to chill with capslock xD I'm overexcited :P Aw, jeez... I'm seriously smiling! Thank you so much! You're awesome :'D
Guest: Thank you :) There's more now xD Sorry for the wait :P Yeah.. omg, that'd be unreal, tbh :D
Rebekka: IT'S HERE SORRY FOR THE WAIT! :L Ah, man. Seriously? Thank you so much :')
Guest: Ahhh. Sorry! It's here. xD Thank you :P
RedRoses92: Thank you! They are, though :D I love Jelsa so much :)
GreaserGirl2013: Hey! :D Thank you! :) I will, thanks. Sometimes writers block can be horrible! I'll be sure to message you when that day comes :) No bother :) Thanks for reading it. :)
Whoa O.O A lot more comments than I thought possible... O.O 17 YOU GUYS OMG that's seriously the most I've ever gotten for one chapter. I just can't.. I'M SERIOUSLY DYING RIGHT NOW I REALLY LOVE YE AND APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH. It makes writing more enjoyable than it is to have reviewers like you guys. So, bless you and thank you :D
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR :)