A/N: Another really late update. Sorry. I've just been so busy with college and everything. Calculus is the devil and I'm just going to leave it at that.

I got the sudden urge to write and busted this out in about 2-3 hours. It hasn't been proofread, I just wanted to get it out to you guys asap! So, I'm sorry for any grammatical or continuity errors.

TRIGGER WARNING!: This chapter is REALLY bad for those sensitive to self harm. I've bracketed what I believe to be the worse parts, and they aren't TOO crucial to the story. So, I don't think there'll be any real issue with skipping over them.

Also, mention of child abuse near the end.

I'm sorry in advance.

To say Anna was nervous would be a horrible understatement. There she was in the hall, right outside of her dorm room. She had been there for a good half hour unwilling to move. Although she didn't know why she felt the way she did, why the butterflies in her stomach had been in unrest ever since she left her cousins dorm. She had crossed her arms around her stomach a while ago, hoping that it would alleviate the riot of fluttering wings to no avail. It's just Elsa. She repeated this to herself more times than she could count, but if anything it just made it worse. SHE kissed ME the second time. Anna clutched at the fabric of her shirt, and closed her eyes. Rapunzel and Jasmine make total sense! There HAS to be something there between us, obviously. She opened her eyes and took in a deep breath, the air that filled her lungs helped to slow the fluttering in her stomach just a little. I'll open the door, plop down on the couch next to her all cool and suave, and ask her out. To a movie. It's just a movie.

Summoning all the courage she could, and before she could think herself out of it, put her full weight into both the door and the handle hoping to burst into the room. The cold thunk of her forehead on the door was a painful reminder that it was still locked. Wincing and rubbing the heel of her palm on the sore spot on her forehead, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her student ID from her wallet. Before she could stick it into the slot on the handle to unlock the door, her trembling hand just reminded her of the nerves that had overtaken her body once again.

"Anna?"

The voice was enough to bring Anna back to her sense as she whipped around, causing one of her braids to slap herself in the eye. The stinging in her eye was a wonderful compliment to her sore forehead. As she rubbed her eye, she looked up to find Pocahontas looking at her with concern painted on her face.

"Are you alright?" She asked calmly, making Anna feel even more like a klutz compared to her calm demeanor.

"Y-yeah, I'm uh…" Anna brushed back a strand of hair behind her ear before meeting Pocahontas' eyes. "I'm alright."

"Are you sure? You've been staring at that door for quite some time." She noted as she raised an eyebrow. Embarrassment flooded Anna's veins as she realized Pocahontas was watching her the entire time.

"Yeah, I'm sure. A little creeped out you were watching me, not going to lie though." Anna blabbed, trying to cover her embarrassment. "I must look pretty silly, huh?"

"Not at all. You look more concerned than silly."

"Butterflies are pretty when they're not tearing up your stomach." Anna gave a nervous chuckle, and couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself with that line.

Pocahontas nodded, a silent reassurance that surprisingly calmed Anna. "All living creatures are beautiful, but may I ask why some of the Earth's beauty has taken residence in your stomach?"

"I-It's nothing." Anna broke the eye contact to focus on a blank spot on the wall beside Pocahontas, trying to ignore the woman's brown eyed gaze as it seemed to do nothing more but bore a hole straight through her. "I'm just afraid of what might – or might not happen." A tender touch on her shoulder caused Anna to meet the woman's gaze again, the smile she had was slightly contagious.

"Think of life as a river, Anna."

"A river?"

"My favorite thing about rivers is that you can't step in the river twice." Pocahontas commented, but it did nothing to lessen Anna's confusion. "The water is always changing, always flowing. You have to look just around the riverbend." She smiled again, and even though Anna still couldn't understand the reference, she couldn't hide the fact she felt a little better. "What I'm trying to say Anna, is that you never know what's going to come next. But you can't dwell in nervousness. Like a river, life will go on."

"What do you-"

"Are you going to let the river rush on by as you stand on the bank? Always wondering where it leads?" She grip on Anna's shoulder tightened as Pocahontas suddenly grew much more intense. "Or are you going to jump in and take the journey with the river?" Something clicked with the redhead as Anna's eyed widened as her chest swelled with a newfound confidence. Pocahontas noticed this as her face softened and she let go of Anna's shoulder.

"It's an odd way to put it. But, you're right. I don't want to watch life just pass me by." There was a newfound excitement in Anna's voice as she whipped back around, and ran straight into the door again.

"You do that often, don't you?" Pocahontas asked completely deadpanned.

After Anna opened her eyes back up from wincing the pain, she gave a quick nod. "It's pretty much a daily thing." In a rush of confidence, Anna unlocked the door and swung it open. With an adrenalized fervor, she slammed the door behind her and strode towards the couch only to find it empty. What? Anna checked the time on her phone. Elsa definitely should have been back by now. The blonde was a creature of schedule and habit if nothing else, and she should be looking over the days notes on the couch by this time. Maybe she's in the bathroom? The fire that was lit in Anna's chest slowly died down to a low flicker as she let out a deep breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Rubbing the sore spot on her forehead, she winced at the pain as she began to make her way to the bathroom. It's already starting to swell; I'll have a nice knot there for sure. Before she reached the hallway, a large package next to the sink caught her attention. She turned on her heel and instead made her way towards it. She found the return address and recognized the address as Eugene's. Another frying pan? I wasn't expecting anything from him. She pulled out and retrieved the small box cutter that she had relocated a couple days prior from a drawer near the sink. When she opened the box, she was greeted with a smaller box with a note attached to it. The horrible handwriting immediately told Anna who it was from. Sticking the box cutter in her pocket, she ripped off the note and read it.

'Hey, Anna. We both know Rapunzel's birthday is next week. I tried to get off work at the Duckling, but I can't. Instead, I'm going to surprise her the day after by showing up and taking her out to dinner. But can you give this to her on her birthday, please? Thanks. I owe you one.' Anna finished reading the note which was concluded with a barely legible signature. She crumpled the note and tossed it into a small trash can on the threshold between the kitchen and the rest of the dorm. Say what you will about the guy, but he certainly tries his best for Rapunzel. Anna smiled to herself as she picked up the smaller box and made her way back towards the bathroom. She knocked on the door and waited expectedly for any kind of response.

There was none.

Anna raised an eyebrow as she knocked on the door again, placing her ear on the cool wooden door. There was still no response. She grew slightly worried as she found the door to be unlocked. Nudging the door open slightly and poking her head through the crack, she found the bathroom to empty. With a heart beating twice it's normal tempo, she rushed down the hall and nearly slid on the hardwood as she found herself in front of Elsa's door. Remembering Elsa scolding her about privacy, and didn't barge into the room. Instead she placed her ear against the door like she had with the bathroom.

A gentle, high pitched whimper followed by a short sniffle was all she heard.

A wave of relief came over her as she found Elsa, shortly replaced with worry as she realized her roommate was crying. Once it actually hit her, she found herself wanting to bust open the door and save her from whatever she was crying about. Anna wanted to protect her and find out why she was crying. She pursed her lips as she closed her eyes and gently knocked on the door. Silence was all she heard. This didn't help her worrying. She raised her hand to knock on the door again, but froze when a reply finally came.

"Go away, Anna!" Elsa shouted from the other side of the door, desperate and strained. It struck a string on Anna's heart as she realized this was worse than she originally thought.

"What's wrong, Elsa? You can tell-"

"I would appreciate if you respected my wishes and left!" Elsa shouted again, this time louder. This time filled with anger.

Anna's heart dropped as she stood with her mouth slightly opened. Her chest began to feel constricted despite her loose clothing. "Please, Elsa?" The redhead asked, voice slightly cracked with desperation.

"I told you to leave!"

Anna's vision began to cloud as a small pool of tears began to form just under her eyes. Why is she acting like this? It isn't the Elsa I know. "I came to ask you something!" She said softly, trying to hide the slight hurt she felt.

"I don't care!" Elsa shouted in response. Anna wasn't used to Elsa raising her voice, and it both worried her even worse and terrified her as if it were her fault.

"What about last night!?" Anna shouted back in a final act of desperation to get Elsa to open the door. The kiss HAD to mean something, and if it meant anything to Elsa then she would open the door. Anna would talk to her and calm her down and she would ask her out. Elsa would agree and they would spend the rest of the evening enjoying each other's company. But, nothing could have prepared Anna for what came next.

"It was a mistake!"

Mistake.

At that moment, Anna felt the butterflies die. Crushed by her falling heart. As the tears were released and fell down her face, she opened her mouth to speak but sound wouldn't come out. She couldn't find the willpower to say anything. All she felt after the initial shock was nothing but a crushing hurt.

"Go away, Anna! I will NOT ask you again!"

When Anna finally felt feeling return to her, she was greeted with a bitter cold on her feet. She looked down to find frost skittering from under the door and under her bare feet. She looked back up at the door, and then back down to her feet. When a tear finally fell off of her chin, she noticed that it froze almost instantly as it hit the wooden floor. She gritted her teeth and nearly slipped as she made it to her room and onto her bed in only two large strides. Practically throwing herself onto her bed, it took a moment for her pain to return to her.

Elsa didn't want to go out with her.

Elsa didn't want to speak to her.

Elsa didn't want anything to do with her.

Mistake. Anna repeated to herself over and over. Each time hurting worse than the last, and that was all she felt. An uneasy pressure across her entire body, the epicenter being her chest. She didn't even realize how hard she was crying when she noticed that her face was lying in a pool of her sorrow in the crook of her elbow. She shut her eyelids as hard as she could to try and get it to stop, but only succeeded in straining her muscles too hard and hurting herself. Gripping at the sheets, she managed to muster the willpower and sit up on the side of her bed. Through the blur of tears, she only saw herself staring right back at herself through the mirror. Eyes puffed up, face almost as red as her hair. The stream of tears not letting up.

She didn't know why she was taking it as hard as she was. She knew, in the back of her mind that this is what would happen. And it wasn't any different than back at home. Never excelling at anything, trying her hardest but never really succeeding. Anna felt as if she had finally won something for once in her life with Elsa. She felt like she had not only made a friend, but more than that. Somebody who would accept her for who she was, despite her constant failures and annoying quirks. Sure, she had Rapunzel. And even Eugene. But at the end of the day, Anna was just a third wheel for them. An unneeded button on a coat, kept around but nobody really knows why. It was just there. She was just… there. The pressure across her body was becoming too much to bear. It hurt to breathe, and she felt as if her very skin was threatening to burst away from her bones.

And that's when she saw them.

Malevolent shadows slowly slithering their way up her limbs. They laughed at her. Taunted her. They served as a reminder that Anna had absolutely no control over the failure that she was. Her eyes shifted from the mirror to her body, but found no such shadows on her skin. Looking back at the mirror, they were beginning to constrict and she felt it. They were threatening to consume her and squeeze the life from her. Just as they had made their way up to her chest, she found it increasingly difficult to breathe.

[She wasn't going to let them win. She wasn't going to be constricted like this. Anna was going to kill them. Pulling the small box cutter from her pocket, she extended the blade and the glint caused a sharp pain in her eye. Reminded of a little more than a week prior when she was in this same position. But this time was different. Aleks didn't make the shadows come back. Anna had rid herself of the insufferable, choking shadows some time ago. But they were back. They were back and they were threatening to ruin her again. She was not going to let them win. Anna bent over and clutched at the fabric of her jeans around her ankle. She cast a quick glance at the mirror in front of her, confirming the shadows that had found their place around her body, hidden under her pants. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the leg of her pants halfway up her thigh. The shadows were there. Pulsating, squeezing, relentless in their mocking presence. When she looked down at her thigh, she only saw what remained of them. A collection of scars was all she found. Although they were faded, she was still able to tell which ones were more recent than others. They were all across her leg in every direction varying in different shades. The worse the discoloration was, the deeper the cut was. Reminders of how weak she is. She looked back up at the mirror and Anna was not going to let them continue.]

[With a shaky hand, she placed the tip of the blade about halfway up her thigh. She gritted her teeth as she made eye contact with herself in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she drug the blade across her skin and cut the shadow in half. Wispy smoke was all the remnants of the shadow as Anna looked back down at her leg. The deep crimson of her blood beginning to collect on the cut. Looking back at the mirror, she saw that the shadow had reformed. Taunting her. Placing the blade back on her skin, she winced as she cut another shadow only to have it reform moments later.]

[She lost track of how many times she tried in vain to save herself from the all-consuming shadows. When she broke her gaze from the mirror again, she found scores of cuts across her leg. Varying depths of blood depending on how the deep the cut was. Some of the cuts were deep enough that blood trickled off of her leg, staining the blanket. Anna didn't care. She didn't care how much blood was lost. She wasn't going to lose. I will NOT be weak. I'm NOT weak. By this point, her thigh was numb and she hardly felt every new cut. They were only a temporary respite from the shadows that reformed quicker than she could cut. I'm not a mistake. I'm not worthless! She wasn't going to let herself be suffocated. Gritting her teeth, she yelped with a tear fell and hit one of the deeper cuts. The stinging pain brought back the feeling in her leg.]

When she looked back up at the mirror, the shadows were gone. She was able to breathe again. She had won, casting the shadows back. But she was disappointed in herself when she looked back down at the scores and blood that were spread on her leg from her knee halfway up her thigh. Anna was able to breathe again, despite the heavy crying. Clutching the handle of the box cutter, she brought let go of her pants and they fell back down her leg. Standing up, she felt a rush followed by severe lightheadedness.

The only thing she saw before hitting the ground were the shadows cocooned around her in the mirror.

To say Elsa was having a bad time would be a horrible understatement. It's been hours since she locked herself in her room. Her chin propped up on her knees as she held herself was the only warmth she felt in the chill of the room. Snowflakes suspended in midair, slowly rotating as they reflected what little light they could from the dying daylight behind her. She looked up only to find her reflection staring back at her from the thick layer of ice on the ceiling. Icicles nearly descending low enough that Elsa could probably touch them with little effort.

She sighed as she shook her head and wiped the cracked, frozen tears from her face and eyelids. She had spent much too long wallowing in her self-pity. She looked towards the door, and it hit her.

Anna!

She had been much too aggressive to the poor girl earlier who wanted nothing more to talk to her. All she wanted was to talk, and Elsa turned her away in borderline rage. Undeservingly, so. Elsa had to apologize. Closing her eyes, she concentrated at her heart beat. Slowing it down and collecting herself as much as she could, she sighed again. She opened her eyes to find the room covered in a cool mist as the ice began to dissipate. Running her hand back through her hair, she tried to fix any strays and make herself at least somewhat presentable. Regret was the only thing she felt as she opened her door and shut it behind her.

Looking across the hallway and into Anna's door she left ajar, she saw her body laid out on the floor.

Elsa panicked. Newly formed ice trailed her as she dashed into her room and dropped to her knees in front of Anna. "Anna! No, no, no, no, no, Anna no!" Elsa stammered as she placed her ear gently onto her chest. She was much colder than Elsa was used to, but the light beating of her heart brought great relief to Elsa. She lifted herself back up and almost immediately noticed the discoloration on her roommate's jeans. On her thigh was a dark red stain that seemed to have bled through the fabric. Elsa gingerly placed her trembling hand over the stains on Anna's jeans. Her leg was much warmer than her chest, and she felt a steady pulse underneath the fabric. When she pulled her hand back and inspected her palm, it too was slightly red. Elsa closed her hand and opened it up a few times before she noticed what it was.

This is blood! What? Why? Anna! Elsa didn't notice the light snowfall around her as she pulled Anna's pant leg up barely past her knee. The deep red marks confirmed Elsa's fear, and as she pulled the fabric of her pants back further she felt her heart skip a beat as she revealed more marks. More cuts. The shallower ones had already began to form scabs, but the deepest ones were still slowly trickling blood. Elsa noticed the box cutter still on the bed, the tip of which had a light caking of dried blood. Her leg looked much worse from the fabric of her jeans smearing the blood, causing her entire leg to be covered in a shade of red. Though clouded vision, Elsa placed both of her hands on Anna's thigh to try and cover as much area as she could. She gritted her teeth and looked away as she felt Anna's thigh cool under her hands. Finally looking back, she was relieved to find that she didn't freeze her leg. Instead, she had managed to stop the bleeding.

Elsa blinked as the tears made their way down her face. "Why, Anna?" She said to herself weakly. She sniffled as she wiped her nose and focused on the shallow breathing from her roommate. "Did I cause you to do this?" Ice began to skitter out from under Elsa, unable to stop it even if she tried. She felt at fault, and beat herself up from casting Anna away the way she did. "I should have opened the door for you." Elsa felt weak. Her muscles were sore, and it was a relief when she slumped her shoulders and cradled her face in her hands.

With a deep sigh, Elsa struggled to lift Anna's limp body. She adjusted herself so that she was sitting relatively comfortable on the floor and pulled Anna towards her by her stomach. Elsa placed the side of her face onto Anna's back and noticed it's growing warmth as she pulled her closer.

Everyone around Elsa eventually ended up hurt. First her mother then her father. Edgar and even Aleks. Everyone got hurt, some even died. She felt a new wave of tears collect in her eyes, and as they fell she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Anna." She managed to get out, voice filled with regret and hurt. Elsa was shaken from her daze when she felt Anna's hands lay over her own which were still across the redhead's stomach.

"I-It's…okay." Anna whispered weakly, obviously still waking up.

Elsa's eyes shot open as she lifted her head, causing Anna's to slump over onto her chest. Elsa looked down to see Anna slowly look up towards her, eyes that were normally filled with life were bloodshot and were lacking the normal glimmer. Elsa clutched at the fabric of Anna's shirt as she began to cry again. She had been the cause of this.

"Why are you crying, Elsa? They're gone now. I defeated them." Anna said, never moving her eyes from Elsa's face.

"W-what? Defeated whom, Anna?" Elsa sniffled and shook her head, causing a light dusting of snow to fall from her hair. "Tell me, Anna! I'll listen, I promise." She said in desperation.

"The shadows. Please stop crying, Elsa. Everything is okay now." Anna said as she struggled to rotate herself so that her shoulders were perpendicular to Elsa's chest and she laid her head on her.

"What are the shadows, Anna? Please tell me." Elsa asked again in desperation as she wrapped her shaking arms around the redhead and rested her chin on her head.

"I'll tell you, if you tell me."

"Tell you what, Anna?"

"Everything. About your powers, and your sister, and… everything."

Elsa sat there in silence as she slowly rubbed Anna's arm. She hadn't spoken about that to anyone except for Aleks. She was afraid to speak of it to anyone else. But with Anna, she felt like she didn't have to hide any part of herself or her past. The position that she found the redhead in obviously shows that what she says means a great deal to Anna. Finally, Elsa shut her eyes again and tried to slow her heartbeat. The cool breeze across her face was all she needed to know that the ice and snow around her were dissipating. "Okay."

"I won't tell anybody. I promise." Anna whispered, and Elsa believed her. Anna's gentle breathing was all the reassurance Elsa needed.

"I don't know where the powers came from. As far as I know, neither to my parents. All I know is that soon after returning from the hospital, my mother would often find me and Aleks covered in a light layer of snow." Elsa said softly, still rubbing the redhead's arm.

"It didn't harm either one of you?" Anna groggily asked, voice still low.

"No. Aleks and I seem to be immune to the effects of cold. We can still feel cold, but it doesn't bother us." Elsa replied, trying to remember the farthest back she could. "We lived in luxury as children. I don't know what specifically our parents did, we were too young to understand. All I know is that father was involved in politics and that mother worked in a hospital." She took a deep breath as it to reassure herself as what was to come next. "Relatively speaking, our childhood wasn't that different. Mother and father worked a lot, so we were taken care of by our butler, Edgar a lot."

"Did he know you had powers?"

"No, he didn't. Aleks and I had to keep it hidden around him, he was a trusted family friend but even mother and father couldn't tell how he would react if he found out." Anna took a deep breath, and Elsa felt the girl's chest rise and fall around her arms. It brought a small smile to the blonde. "One day, our parents were to take a week long European cruise-"

"Fancy." Anna remarked.

"-Quite. But, it didn't quite go as…planned. I still don't know specifics, but I know that the ship encountered problems with ice. It… it promptly sank." Elsa said, somewhat strained. Bringing all of this up without breaking down was a chore in itself, but she had other things to worry about. "It was weeks before we found out anything about who survived and who didn't. Aleks and I thought both of our parents perished until father appeared out of the blue one day." Elsa closed her eyes and adjusted herself so that her cheek was resting on the top of Anna's head. Her hair tickled Elsa's nose a little, but she didn't mind. "Without mother. He…changed, from that moment. Started drinking a lot. And some nights when he would drink too much, he would beat us."

"What?" Anna asked in surprise, which jolted Elsa slightly. "Did you do anything about it?"

"I would try. But it never worked. He threatened that if we dared to use our powers, he'd do worse. I lived in constant fear every night. Aleks would try to make me feel better, but even she couldn't do anything. We were both scared." Elsa never realized that she was crying. She was too engrossed in her story to notice. "I think he blamed Aleks and I for the ship sinking, somehow. I don't know. But I do know that one night, it was particularly bad and I was defenseless. I didn't know what happened next, but he had fallen off the balcony. The fall… killed him."

"I'm sorry, Elsa…"

"Edgar got blamed. I remember an officer threatening to send him to Timbuktu. The closest relative we had was our Grandmother Gothel, who treated us like glorified prisoners."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, shifting herself again so that one of her arms found it's way behind Elsa and was slowly rubbing her back.

"When she found out about our powers, we weren't allowed to leave the house. We'd go to school, but that was it. She'd claim that people would try to use us if they found out." Elsa sighed, taking a moment to herself before continuing. She had never been this open to anyone, and although it hurt to a degree, it was much easier to talk about it than she originally thought. "Soon after our twenty-first birthday, Grandmother Gothel was admitted to a retirement home after assaulting a mailman. I don't know how that worked out, but it did."

"Can you forcibly admit someone to a retirement home?" Anna asked. "That doesn't really seem right."

"Regardless, Aleks and I didn't know what to do. Grandmother Gothel had allowed us to get our licenses, and even gave us a car. Couldn't ever use either one up until she left. It took her awhile to convince me… but we decided college was our best bet. And here we are." Elsa concluded, and it seemed as if she instantly felt a large weight on her shoulders disappear.

"I'm glad she convinced you."

"Why do you say that, Anna?" Elsa asked with genuine curiosity. Even now, she wasn't sure if college was the best idea after seeing what she did to Anna.

"I never would have met you otherwise." Anna said softly, barely above a whisper. Just enough for Elsa to hear and cause a growing warmth to build up inside of her. "I've always known I wanted to go to college. I couldn't stand living with my parents anymore, and I'm way too clumsy for the military."

"Why couldn't you live with your parents, Anna?"

"I understand they always wanted me to do my best, but my best was never good enough. I would stay up some nights studying, and still bring back a C. That wasn't up to their standards, and I was often punished because of it. Until I brought back a higher grade, I couldn't leave the house or have friends over. All I would have to occupy time was my school books." Anna started, gradually growing louder as she went. "Sometimes I would bring home a good enough grade and I would be able to spend some time with Rapunzel."

"Your cousin?" Elsa asked as she continued to rub Anna's shoulder, glad to be with her in this moment. The sun had set by this point, and they were together in relative darkness.

"Yup. And school life wasn't exactly the best either. I would get on a lot of peoples nerves because of how much I like to talk. The few times I actually had a boyfriend, it turned out that they were just trying to use me for sex. Never worked of course, but that didn't stop them from spreading rumors." Anna continued, but the previous volume of her voice was replaced by a much more somber one. "I didn't know how to handle that… and between all that and the constant failures in the eyes of my parents, I took out my frustration on…myself."

"Why did you feel as if that was the only way? That's horrible, Anna…" Elsa added, and she couldn't help but sound worried. Despite all of the events of her childhood, Elsa couldn't bring herself to harm herself.

"It's a pain I could control. It made me feel like I had some… control. It did stop though, after my parents disowned me."

"What happened?"

"I got into a fight at school over one of the rumors, and I got suspended for a while. My parents wanted nothing to do with me then, and I lived with Rapunzel for the rest of our senior year." Despite what she was saying, Anna seemed to be completely calm about all of this. She was speaking as if she was waiting to share it with Elsa, or anyone for that matter.

"I was happy, Rapunzel's parents were much more lenient and I actually felt like I was worth something to them. Then Rapunzel started dating Eugene and hanging out with him more than me. I was happy for her, don't get me wrong-"Anna yawned, and shook a little when she finished. "But I always felt like a third wheel with them. But I was still close with both of them. This turned out for the best, because despite my less than stellar grades, Eugene was able to pull some strings and get me in one of these awesome dorms when the regular ones filled up."

"But what about tonight, Anna?" Elsa asked, although a little wary to bring it up. She was still worried and curious.

"I spent some time with Rapunzel, and I told her about what happened last night. I told her that I-"

"You can tell me anything, Anna." Elsa reassured, and she felt the flexing of Anna's face against her chest when she smiled.

"I told her that I really liked you. And that you kissed me. She told me to ask you out on an actual date, and I was nervous. I mean, I was so nervous that I ran into the door. Twice." Anna tried to lighten the mood with a small chuckle which warmed Elsa's heart a bit. "You weren't on the couch like normal. You weren't in the bathroom. So I checked your room, and I wanted to ask you out to the movies while I still felt confident…but-"

"I'm sorry, Anna. Please know that. I was having a moment when you knocked on my door, and-"

"When you said it was… a 'mistake', it reminded me of everything with my parents. And I just felt like I had no control, that I was losing myself… and so I relapsed." Anna admitted. "But you're here, so everything is okay now."

Elsa still only felt regret, for it was what she said in the spur of the moment that caused Anna to do that to herself. Despite the new tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, Elsa had to try and make Anna feel better. Elsa brought her hand under Anna's chin and lifted her head up. Without a second thought, she placed her lips on the redheads. Although slightly salty from tears, they were still as soft as she remembered from the night before. Elsa didn't care though, all she cared about was Anna's well-being. It was Anna who broke the kiss.

With a deep breath, she squirmed her way closer to Elsa and placed her head back on her chest. "What are you trying to say?" She asked, unsure.

Elsa shrugged, it was hard for her to find the words to explain. "I'm trying to say that you're the first person I've met that I didn't think was out to hurt me." Elsa placed her lips on Anna's warm forehead, which caused the redhead to snuggle up a little closer to her. "You somehow manage to be understanding, funny, exciting, kind, and charming all in one package." Elsa kissed her forehead again. "It helps that you're so pretty."

"But wha-"

"What I'm trying to say, Anna, is that I'm not afraid around you. Kissing you last night was not a mistake. I… I do want to be with you. Even though we haven't known each other for that long, I feel like we have a bond that I can't describe. You're not even afraid of me. And it makes me happy." Elsa finished by placing one last kiss on Anna's forehead.

"Does this make us, like, girlfriends?" Anna asked, voice laced with uncertain hope. It sort of caught Elsa off guard, putting it so bluntly was surprising to her. But the more she thought about it, the more she warmed up the idea.

"I guess it does, Anna."

"So, you wanna maybe catch a movie sometime, orrr…"

Elsa smiled to herself, and nodded. "I'd love to."

A/N: It hurt me just as bad to write that as it probably hurt some of you to read it. But, it was important.

I'm planning the next chapter to be filled with healing fluff to compensate for this. Thank you all for your continued support!