A/N: Okay, this note may be a little longer than most. I have some announcements that I feel like I have to share.

First off, I'm not sure how many of you know about the few Elsanna fics that have been removed from ffnet. A Date With the Drum Major was one of the three, and it kind of set Tumblr on fire. I know there has been a couple projects going on to collect as many completed fics and put them in a single dropbox to preserve them. A few authors have moved their fics to AO3. Now, I DO have an AO3 account and all of the original documents of Burning Low. Should this fic end up getting pulled, I'll link my AO3 on my profile and announce it on my Tumblr. For those who don't know; apparently there's some group going around getting all of these fics reported and removed for 'violating' the terms of service or whatever. Honestly, if you come across any of these people, it's best to ignore them.

Secondly, HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THE STILLS FROM THE UPCOMING FROZEN FEVER SHORT!? I'VE BEEN FREAKING OUT OVER THEM EVER SINCE I SAW THEM ON MY DASH.

And thirdly, I have a new cover image for the fic! I'm not going to be putting it up right now, though. It does contain spoilers for the plans I have for the rest of the fic. Once the story has moved past those spoilers, I'll change the cover. For completely new readers to the fic, it isn't a real spoiler. But at this point in the story, it is. Which brings me to my last topic, Burning Low is kind of getting real close to it's final act. There are still a few questions that need to be answered, and I have some really neat stuff planned (like the possible explanation to the twin's powers) and some really heavy stuff. Honestly, knowing the fic won't last forever makes me kind of sad. Is it narcissistic that I've grown emotionally attached to these characters? Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter than the last, because I wanted to get these announcements out to y'all. Chances are, I'm writing chapter 21 the moment I post this one lol.

TRIGGER WARNING!: One/two sentences pertaining to self harm relatively early on. A paragraph or so on child abuse shortly after that.

I think that's all I wanted to say.

Constructive criticism is always welcomed.

Enjoy!

p.s Next chapter will be really fun. ;)

"You're telling me you shared a bed with her, but didn't do anything?"

Anna shrugged and chased a meatball around her plate with her fork. The campus cafeteria wasn't anything to brag about, although the large windows did give a gorgeous view of the campus. She tried to avoid the cafeteria at all costs, though. Choosing rather to take home any leftovers from Tony's or to just cook better food herself. But for convenience sake, she asked Rapunzel to meet her here this morning before her afternoon classes. It was still a little early for the lunch crowd, so the large room was fairly empty. "You didn't do anything with Eugene every single time he spent the night, right?"

"Of course not." Rapunzel chuckled. "You and I shared a room. If Eugene and I were going to do anything, we'd go to his place."

"Every single time?" Anna looked up from her plate and raised an eyebrow. "You'd spend entire weekends over there at times."

"That didn't always mean we had sex, Anna." She clarified and took a bite of what the school called spaghetti. Although it reminded Anna of cardboard with ketchup drizzled on top.

Anna placed her arm on the table as she propped her head on the back of her hand, looking back down at her plate as she continued to chase around the meatball for what felt like the hundredth time. Probably wouldn't be so bad if the school knew what spices were. Even if it was just as simple as salt, pepper, and garlic. She eventually caught the meatball with her fork and tentatively placed it in between her teeth. It was cold by this point and completely undesirable.

Rapunzel looked up from her own plate and scrunched her eyebrows. "What's wrong, Anna? I've never known you to be this quiet your entire life." She stated plainly as she placed her fork down and slid her plate to the side.

With the meatball still attached to the fork, she took it out from in between her teeth and dropped it onto the plate, causing a small amount of sauce to splatter on the edges of her plate. She looked down at her shirt to be sure none of it landed on her before looking up toward her cousin. Rapunzel's large green eyes tended to have a piercing effect to them, they always have. Even if Anna didn't want to talk, she would have little choice. "I'm just worried about Elsa, Punzpunz."

A soft smile tugged at the corner of Rapunzel's lips as she crossed her legs and rested her head in her hands. "How far have you two gone?" She asked with the smile.

"Nothing under the waist, or under the shoulders for that matter. But one time at the movie theater she wore this low cut shirt and she bent over and I saw the tops of her boobs and that was pretty hot, I mean I won't lie." Anna admitted without realizing her lopsided smile. Despite the dim lighting in the theater, she still remembered every visible detail fairly well. The very thought was enough to make Anna shuffle awkwardly in her seat.

"Her hair is pretty gorgeous if you ask me." Rapunzel commented with a small nod of the head.

"You should see it in the morning. It's-" Sexy as hell "cute." Anna mentioned as she crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward. "And she has a damn good fashion sense! She always goes back to wearing that hoodie though, and you can't really tell." With a shrug, she seemed to knock herself out of the funk she was in. "Which isn't a bad look for her, she looks good in red. But my favorite part is when you hug her while she's wearing the hoodie, because she has some major curves going on."

"I'm really glad to see you so happy with someone, Anna." Rapunzel commented with a chuckle, breaking Anna's thought process before she started getting really into it. "You never got this excited about the guys you dated in high school."

"Some of them were really great guys. Like Eric, he had such a fun personality! And great hair, too." And abs of pure adamantium. She shrugged again and gazed over toward the plate of cold spaghetti. "I just saw him more of a friend than a boyfriend."

"Turns out, the problem was the boy part." Rapunzel commented nonchalantly with a grin.

"I'm not sure what it is, Punz. Elsa is just different." She shook her head and waved her hands. "Apart from having a vagina, of course." She stared intently at the plate of spaghetti with a silly grin on her face. Even though it was still days away, the thought of leaving the blonde for the few weeks caused her stomach to twist and churn. Or maybe it was the spaghetti. But, she was fairly certain it was the thought of leaving Elsa. "Please watch over her while I'm gone." Anna said under her breath, not even completely aware of the words leaving her mouth.

"Anna, I will. Promise. I'll even camp out on the couch if you want me to." Rapunzel stated as she reached over and turned Anna's head toward her and away from the spaghetti. "Why are you so worried about her?"

Anna knew she couldn't answer that question truthfully. It took slicing her thighs open to even have Elsa open up to her enough to explain her childhood. She regretted her actions that night, but it warmed her heart knowing that Elsa did care about her enough to make sure she was alright and to open up like she did. But, she couldn't relay the information to Rapunzel with a clear conscious. "She's…" Anna started and immediately seemed to forget how to use words to form a coherent sentence. Although her head was turned toward Rapunzel, her eyes were aimed towards a random spot on the floor under her, trying to avoid Rapunzel's eyes. It would feel like betraying her. "Oh hey, Punzie, my girlfriend was abused as a child and has really awesome ice powers." No, I couldn't do that to Elsa. Or Rapunzel. "Sensitive." Anna finally said and exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Sometimes her emotions end up getting the best of her, and I didn't want her to be alone last night. So, I offered to share my bed with her." Anna softly concluded as she grabbed Rapunzel's hand off the side of her chin and placed it on the table. The spooning was nice too. Although that's a funny name for it. We aren't spoons.

With a softened expression, Rapunzel pulled her hand back and brushed her hair behind her ears. "You've changed, Anna."

With a raised eyebrow, Anna gave her cousin a quizzical look. "What do you mean? I'm still Anna."

"Yes, you're still Anna. But, you're a changed Anna." Rapunzel started with a large grin that wrinkled the corners of her eyes. "You've been much calmer ever since you started dating her. She grounds you, Anna-banana. Don't you see it?"

Anna pursed her lips and shrugged. She still felt like the same old Anna. But she could definitely see where her cousin was coming from. Maybe Elsa was rubbing off of her in little ways she couldn't really notice. She brushed back a few loose strands of hair when they tickled the side of her face, and her hand lingered behind her ear. "I just care about her, Punz. A lot." She admitted with a slight chuckle.

"Do you love her?"

Anna's eyes widened in surprise, blindsided by the question. She had feelings for Elsa. Strong feelings. But did they go as far as love? Would it be too early to call it love? Anna didn't know. But she did know that what she felt around the blonde was something she couldn't describe. Both excitement and fear at the same time, and she enjoyed it. "I-"

"Do you, Anna? Do you love my sister?"

Aleks exited the double glass door and groaned when the sun shone straight into her eyes. She held up her notebook to shield her face as she started across the campus in a brisk pace. If it were up to her, midterms wouldn't be held so early in the morning. Especially if they were midterms on something like morals and ethics. And they certainly shouldn't be as difficult as they were. If there was any redeeming factor to the morning she was having, it was that the weather has been cooling off as of late. No longer did she feel like she was swimming in a pool of her own sweat after a five minute walk between classes. Finally reaching a shaded area, she lowered her notebook and pulled out her phone from her back pocket.

'It's the transmission. It's completely given out, and I'm down about three grand on it.' Well, maybe if you didn't ignore the check engine light, you wouldn't be having the problem. Aleks groaned again as she typed out her response and stuck her phone back in her pocket. She knew Elsa had her own life, and would obviously require their shared car from time to time. This didn't bother Aleks, Hans was happy enough to drive her anywhere she needed to go in his own car. But it seemed like that would be changing soon. I'll have to talk to Elsa about the car. Communicate more about when we'll need it. She decided she'd worry about it later, her rumbling stomach reminded her that it was lunchtime and she wasn't about to skip it.

Reaching her destination, she opened the glass door and shook her head when the air conditioning came blasting onto her face. She swept her hair out of her eyes and rounded a corner toward the cafeteria. When she entered the large room, she immediately halted and took a sharp breath when she recognized one of the few figures in the room. Anna was the only one she knew to wear braided pigtails, and what she was doing in the cafeteria was a mystery. Aleks didn't recognize the short haired brunette across from Anna. Her hands felt clammy and her heart sped up at the thought of coming into contact with Anna again. The last time she did was the day her and Elsa had fought and Aleks revealed the secret she thought she'd take to the grave; the murder of their father. Tell her that I'm not sorry for what I've done, but I'm sorry I kept it from her. The memory was fresh in her mind again, and if Anna had punched her square in the face the moment she showed up at her door, she wouldn't have blamed her. She would have deserved it. She still deserved it. She really did not want to confront Anna, but she would have to eventually due to her relationship with Elsa.

She clenched her fists and steeled herself as she did her best to stride confidently to the table. Honestly, she was terrified. She tried to time her footsteps with her rapidly beating heart, as if to calm herself but to no avail.

"-you love her?"

Aleks made it to the pair and placed her notebook on the table. She was eerily calm when she heard the last part of that question, her nerves didn't bother her. "Do you, Anna? Do you love my sister?" She asked with a false bravado, not even sure if Elsa is what they were talking about.

Anna immediately jolted her head around and met Aleks' eyes. The moment she realized who she was looking at, she dropped her hands into her lap and turned back to the woman in front of her. "W-what's up, Aleks?" She asked weakly and seemed to curl into herself a little more.

"Aleks?" The woman across from Anna stated and turned her head to meet her gaze, much like Anna did. She didn't make eye contact for long as she looked Aleks up and down, sizing her up before firmly planting her hands on the edge of the table. "You're her?" She asked, sounding slightly in disbelief.

"Rapunzel-"

"No, Anna, it's not right!" Rapunzel snapped back as she launched herself from the seat and took a large stride so that she was right in front of Aleks.

"Oh!" Aleks muttered as she took a step back and nervously coughed. "Rapunzel, Elsa has told me about you. You're Anna's cousin or something like that right?" She asked with a nervous chuckle. Would it have been anyone else, there's no doubt in her mind that she'd be on the floor right now. But because of her relation with Anna, Aleks didn't want to make her situation any worse. The bright green eyes boring into her made it clear enough that the situation was already on edge.

"Did she also tell you that I won't take your bullshit?" She spat as she shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms. "I won't walk away like Jasmine, and I won't be pushed around like Merida."

Aleks barely even knew who the people Rapunzel mentioned were. But if she was talking about them like she was, it was fairly obvious that they were close to her. "Look-" Aleks started in the calmest tone she could muster, despite every muscle in her body telling her to lay Rapunzel out on the floor. "I didn't come here to argue or to cause any more problems. Quite the opposite, actually-"

"What could you possibly have come here for, then?"

Looking over toward the redhead still seated at the table, Aleks felt a twinge of guilt when she saw her looking at Rapunzel and herself with a worried expression on her face. She looked back toward the volatile brunette in front of her and took a deep breath. "I've already apologized to Anna for what I did, and I'll apologize to Jasmine and Merida too if that's what you want from me."

"What I want from you-" Rapunzel began, her voice growing more defensive with every word she spoke. "Is for you to not bother us. That was already three strikes. There will NOT be a fourth." She shook her head and sighed before brushing her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear. "What kind of monster are you?"

Monster

The word stung Aleks more than anything else could. It was one of the insults her father loved to throw around in his many drunken rants. And was he wrong? He couldn't have been. That's what she was. She was the monster that murdered her father. She couldn't stand it anymore. The verbal abuse, the beatings, watching her sister needlessly cry. It happened too many times for her to count, too many times for her to want to count. She'd cry herself to sleep, only to be woken up by the same man she loved as her father on his knees in tears, apologizing for everything he's done. Every time, he would say that it was the last time. And she'd believe him. She'd believe things would be better for her and Elsa. But they never were. As soon as he returned from work, he'd start the drinking. And then she knew. She knew to find Elsa and to avoid him the best they could. She remembered it all. One night was too much, and she couldn't handle it. Her defenseless sister being needlessly abused by the man she once called her father. So, she ended it. It was only when her father fell off the balcony did she truly believe things would change. She could still see the shocked expression on a dead man's face, and his scream as he fell. Then the thud. Then all was silent.

She killed him.

She was a monster.

Rapunzel was still going on and yelling at her when she snapped back to reality. She couldn't hear a word she was saying though, but the pressure behind her eyes was all she needed to know that she still had to face reality. When she felt tears begin to pool in her eyelids, she did her best to wipe them away. When she brought up her hand to wipe her eyes, she stared at her hands. The slight dampness on them glinted slightly from the sun pouring through the windows. She clenched her hands as she rubbed the mixture of her tears and sweat into her palms.

"I'm sorry." Aleks weakly muttered, her voice cracked. She looked over toward Anna who still had the same expression and back at Rapunzel who had finally stopped yelling and simply glared at her. She wiped her eyes again and shook her head. "I'll try again later." She admitted to herself as she turned on her heel and walked out of the cafeteria before Rapunzel or Anna could say anything. She wasn't going to give up, though. She'll never give up on Elsa. She'll catch back up with Anna and her cousin later, hopefully after Rapunzel had calmed down.

It wouldn't change the fact that she's a monster. But at least Elsa wouldn't have to be in the middle of some nonsense feud between her sister and her friends.

"Hey, thanks for picking me up." Aleks mumbled as she stepped into the car. Shutting the door, she buckled her seatbelt before turning her head to the man beside her and raising her eyebrows. "Three grand for the transmission, huh?"

"Yeah." Hans said with a hint of distaste. "They were cool enough to let me have a rental until they get it taken care of, though." He leaned forward and patted the dash before shaking his head. "It's not a bad car for a Ford, but I'll miss my Chevy until she's all fixed up."

"I'm not going to sociology, I didn't get lunch. Let's find a bite to eat, I'll pay."

"You didn't get lunch? That's… not like you, Aleks." Hans mentioned, sounding slightly worried as he leaned back and pulled out of the parking spot. "What happened?"

Aleks held onto the seatbelt and rubbed the material between her index finger and thumb. "Just some bullshit with Anna and Rapunzel. I want to be their friend, but Rapunzel is still a little sore about…well, everything."

"Isn't that Anna's sister or some shit?"

"Cousin."

"Whatever. What did she say to you?" He asked in a slightly commanding tone as he pulled out of the campus and onto the road.

Leaning her head against the window, Aleks lifted her knees toward her chest and tried to focus on the slight vibration of the glass against her head. "She just went off on me about shit I've done." She shook her head when she felt new tears starting to gather on the corners of her eyelids. "She called me a monster, Hans." She admitted in a gravely tone.

"Oh, Aleks." Hans muttered as he looked over toward the curled up woman beside her, shaking as she failed to hold back the tears. "You are a monster." He took one of his hands off of the wheel and reassuringly rubbed Aleks' shoulder. "You think after all you've done, they would accept you? Love you?"

Aleks did her best to wipe the falling tears off of her face as she took a few short breaths to try and calm herself. "But I'm willing to put forth the effort to actually be their friends. For Elsa's sake, I-"

"Your sister cast you out. Ostracized you. She's already chosen them over you." Hans sounded condescending as he pulled his hand back, looked over at Aleks, and smirked. "But I didn't. Nobody would accept a monster, but I do." He chuckled to himself and looked back toward the road. "Even your sister believes you a monster for the murder of your father."

"Hans, I-"

"But it was all to protect her, wasn't it? Oh, that's painfully clichéd don't you think?" He chuckled again and a devilish smirk graced his lips. "They'll never love you. Your sister will never love you. The only one who loves you, Aleks-" He caught Aleks' eyes and shrugged. "Is me."

"Elsa!" Anna yelled as she threw back to the dorm in a fluster, causing the handle on the other side to slam into the wall with a loud thud.

"Anna!" Elsa shrieked in response, causing her textbook and notes to fall off of the couch.

"Oh, sorry." The redhead apologized as she shut the door behind her and skipped to the couch and plopped down on the empty cushion beside her girlfriend as she helped her pick up the fallen notes. "I'm just pumped because I was in economics an hour ago and we had this midterm and going into it I was nervous, I mean so nervous. Feel my hands!" She frantically reached for one of Elsa's hands the moment she finished picking up what had fallen. "Still sort of clammy, right? Anyway, but when the professor handed out the test, it was totally easy!"

Elsa squeezed Anna's hand before pulling it back with a smile as she straightened the papers they had picked up. "So, if I asked you about the broken window fallacy, or the ideals of Keynes or Hayek, you could answer me right?"

"Well, I could, but I'd rather sit here on the couc-" Anna took a moment to gather her thoughts before realizing something was different. "I didn't know you wore glasses." Anna commented with a slight giggle.

Elsa was taken back as a rosy blush immediately overtook her cheeks as she frantically took the glasses off of her face and stuffed them in her hoodie pocket. "I don't know what you're talking about." She nervously coughed and darted her eyes between Anna and the papers in front of her.

Anna shot her a knowing look and grinned as she leaned forward, bracing herself against the arm of the couch beside Elsa. She couldn't help but smile to herself when she remembered the first kiss they shared. Granted, it was a lot darker at the time. But with their faces so close and sitting on the couch, she couldn't help but remember. Elsa's eyes were still darting back and forth, trying to not catch Anna's gaze. Anna slithered her free hand into the hoodie pocket, and she felt Elsa's stomach tense when her knuckles grazed against her. She grabbed the glasses and placed them back on the blonde's face, much to her embarrassment. Goddamn she looks like a dorky nerd. She bit her bottom lip and winked before leaning in a little closer and placing a kiss on her lips. But in the best way! My cute nerd.

"They're uh…" Elsa muttered under her breath as she adjusted the glasses so that they fit comfortably. "They're just for reading. I think they're silly, so-"

"You're embarrassed because you wear reading glasses?" Anna asked with a half-smile. The growing blush across her girlfriend's face was all the confirmation she needed. "You look so cute though!" She explained as she tilted her head forward, connecting her own forehead with Elsa's. And actually kind of sexy. Anna could see it now. She'd walk into the dorm to find Elsa splayed out completely naked on the couch wearing nothing but the glasses. Her hair spread out under her, hanging off the side of the couch like a golden waterfall. She would slowly remove the glasses and place the end of an arm in between her ruby lips and wink, inviting Anna to join her on the couch. Anna like. Anna like a lot.

"I like how your blushing cheeks contrast against your freckles." Elsa commented with a teasing tone and a sweet smile. "What are you thinking about?" She tilted her head as she teased.

Anna lifted herself off of the couch and straightened her shirt. You naked on the couch, of course. "I'm thinking about the lavish dinner I'm about to cook us, I'm thinking some kind of scampi." Anna played off as she turned on her heel toward the kitchen. "Whatever the school calls spaghetti has not been sitting right in my stomach, and I'd be glad to have something identifiable in my stomach."

"You actually ate at the cafeteria today?" Elsa asked as she placed her notes on the coffee table and stood up from the couch to join her girlfriend in the kitchen.

Filling a pot with water and placing it on one of the burners, Anna leaned against the counter and shrugged. "I wanted to meet with Rapunzel, and it just seemed like the most convenient option. She thinks I've changed." She finished as she crossed her arms and shrugged again.

"You have, I think." Elsa began as she leaned against the counter opposite the redhead. "You're not as spastic. But you're still the same Anna." The blonde explained as she extended her arms, inviting Anna to join her.

Anna pursed her lips as she interlocked her fingers with Elsa's and rested her face in the crook of her neck. She never got tired of the way Elsa felt and smelled. She doesn't recall ever seeing her sweat, and she always smells sweet and inviting. Feeling Elsa's hands work their way behind her back and run her fingers along her braids, Anna hummed contently. "Aleks came into the cafeteria today." She muttered hesitantly and felt Elsa's neck tense against the bridge of her nose.

"Really? Did she cause any trouble?" Elsa asked quietly.

"No, but Rapunzel got defensive… and I thought I saw Aleks cry when she left. But, Rapunzel kind of felt bad afterward and she's going to meet up with her and talk it out the next chance she gets." Anna explained, doing her best to calm her girlfriend's nerves.

"They're both kind of hard headed, though."

"Yeah. But, I think they could be really good friends if they can actually talk to each other." Anna hoped despite not knowing a whole lot about Aleks. But from what she knew of her cousin, and what Elsa has told her about her sister, she really did believe that they could be friends.

Elsa sighed and leaned her head against Anna's. "I hope you're right."