Elsa's POV

I didn't want to let her go, my beloved cousin, who I held tightly as I cried into the crook of her neck. I'm probably hurting her since I'm holding onto her so tight, but she hasn't said anything so I kept my arms around her, absorbing her warmth to ease my sudden coldness.

I knew Anna would be upset, but to side with my attacker? Someone who caused me harm and who could have possibly raped, murdered, or kidnapped me? I thought she...Why can't she see that Hans is no Prince Charming? How could she leave me like that?

You deserve this, says my inner voice, This is the real moment where you've lost her for good. All those moments where you thought you lost her before was just practice that was leading up to this, the real moment.

"It'll be okay," Rapunzel says as she rubs my back, her voice cracking with emotion. God if she cried then I'm definitely not going to stop. "I promise, Elsa." She gently pulls me away from her so we could look at each other face to face and when we do, she wipes away my tears and says once more: "I promise."

I held back my tears and nodded, not daring to speak for I knew my voice would crack like hers did, and there's just something about hearing the emotion in your own voice that can really break someone.

"Stoick!" Says my uncle into his phone from the doorway, his back facing Rapunzel and I. "I need you to stop whatever you're doing and—" But I blocked the rest of his words out, terrified of the following events that are to come, all of which played out in my mind.

And not one of the possibilities were good. Not a single one.

Rapunzel gets her phone out too and sends a quick text to someone who I don't even bother asking about. I let her do her thing and wait, and that's what sucks the most. The waiting. When she's done though, she grabs my hand, squeezes it, and smiles at me reassuringly. "Are you thirsty? Whatever you want, I'll get it."

Thirsty? I'm dehydrated! My throat has never been so dry before. But I don't want her to go anywhere by herself, and if she takes her dad with her then I'll be left alone, and I certainly don't want that either. "Can you just...stay? I-I don't want you going anywhere by yourself. Hans could be...he could be…watching us somewhere or—"

I felt my heart start to race again and the monitor picked up on it, which caught both hers and my uncle's attention. "Elsa," says my uncle before my cousin could, "you need to calm down before you have a panic attack." He made his way back towards my bed, his phone back in his pocket, telling me that his task is done.

The police are on their way.

Which did not help my heart.

"Yeah," says his daughter as she takes both of my hands to hold in hers, "focus on your breathing, okay? Deep breath in, deep breath out. Do what Peter Pan does and think happy thoughts." She gestured to show me how, and I mimic her, thinking of happy thoughts.

I thought of her, of Anna, my parents, aunt and uncle, my new friends, my new life, and...Jack. Oh Jack. Wait...Jack?!

I saw him from the corner of my eye, which caused me to quickly snap my head over to fully see with both eyes, and sure enough, there he was, standing in the doorway with white roses in his hand, panting heavily (did he just get done running?) and looking shyly into the room at me. "Jack?!" I blurt out, wondering if I was seeing things at first.

Rapunzel and Frederick turn and their reactions told me that this is reality. "Oh my god," Rapunzel says, shocked. "You got here fast! I just texted you like not even five minutes ago. I know you were nearby, but dang. Did you run?"

Jack smiles through his heavy breaths and says, "Only a lot. Did my panting give it away? You know I'm a skater, not a runner." He walks inside the room, eyes locked with mine, and suddenly my very sore body stiffens with every step he takes.

"Hey, snowflake," he says, and those two little words sent my heart into a frenzy. And of course, the heart monitor exposed me, making Jack grin with pride. "It sounds like you're excited to see me."

The monitor sped up some more and I wanted to die. I chuckle, nervously and awkwardly, and avert my gaze as I tried to think of a response. Luckily, my uncle takes over before I could reply, which I am grateful for since I can't think of any words to say, my focus purely on the heat that is rushing to my face and the sound of my embarrassing heartbeat.

"Jack," says my uncle, "What a surprise." But he's eyeing my cousin, who nervously laughs under his stare.

"What?" She says, innocently. "Elsa is allowed to have visitors dad. Jack was nearby so I told him to come visit now that she's awake. And now that he's here, we can go get Elsa something to eat and drink from the vending machines. Cheaper than the cafeteria and less of a walk too. Come on." She links her arm through her father's and leads him out the room.

And I hate her for it. I don't want to be alone with Jack looking like this. And is getting me food and drink her real reason for leaving with her dad, or...does she suspect that—

"This is not how I imagined I'd see you with your hair down," Jack says as he takes a seat in the chair next to my bed. "You still look beautiful though."

I roll my eyes at his flirting and say, "Even when I'm—"

"Yes," he interrupts, smiling. "Even now."

"You didn't let me finish," I playfully scold and he chuckles.

I eye the flowers that were still in his hands and say, "So are those for me or did you buy them for yourself?"

Jack smirks as he lifts the bouquet of white roses to his nose and inhales deeply. "Of course I bought them for myself. I treat myself like a Queen should be treated. If you're nice enough, I might treat you the same."

"How so?"

"It's a surprise."

"You are ever the mystery."

Jack chuckles again and extends the roses for me to take. Take them I do and just as he did before I inhaled their scent deeply. White roses are my favorite, it's one of the few things I had told him during the beginning of our friendship not too long ago. Look at us now. Dating. Well...somewhat. We're definitely not friends anymore though.

"They're beautiful, Jack," I tell him, the butterflies in my stomach hurting.

I was still looking at the flowers when he said, "Not as beautiful as you though."

I tried to hold back a grin, but was failing miserably. "That's the second time you've called me beautiful." I say, keeping my gaze on the roses and trying to control my heart. "Are you going for a third?"

"And a fourth," Jack adds, his hand sliding into one of mine, startling me a little bit. "And a fifth, and sixth, and seventh, and—"

"Okay, okay," I cut him off, laughing a little too hard and wincing. "I get the picture." My other hand went to my side, where it hurt, and pressed down to relieve some pain.

Jack squeezes my hand and I hear him inhale sharply. "God, Elsa. Whoever did this to you...I'm going to kill him. Hans said—"

"He lied," I interrupt, not wanting to talk about it again, but knowing I need to. "Hans is the one who…" I couldn't bring myself to say that he's the one who assaulted me, it makes my skin crawl, and my stomach sick. "He's the one who did this."

Jack's eyes are wide when he says, "What?!"

The hand he was holding hurt since his shock caused him to squeeze a bit too tightly, but I accepted the pain and covered our entwined fingers with my other hand, resting it on top of his. "It's being taken care of. Please don't do anything that will get you involved—"

"He hurt you, Elsa! You! My girl. I already am involved," he snaps, not angry with me I knew, but when he realized the sharpness of his tone, guilt flashes in his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just—"

"Your girl?" I interrupt, more attentive to the two little words he had said and how the painful butterflies in my stomach turned into a warm, tickling sensation.

A blush paints itself on his face and he awkwardly avoids eye contact. "S-Sorry, is it too soon to call you that? I understand, I mean...yeah we kissed but...but I guess that's not really enough to say that you're...mine? I mean, you're not a possession, so you're not literally mine, I just meant it like an endearment, ya know?"

"Jack—"

"Geez we haven't even went on an official first date yet, so if you don't want me saying that then I totally get it. Unless you count us skating as a first date? But if so, it's only been one date. So it's still too soon, right?"

"Jack—"

"When do people even start calling their partners mine anyway? Is it after date two? Date three? Is it hot in here? Do you want me to open a window?" He stands up quickly, but I gripped his hand tightly and pulled him back down into his seat.

"JACK!" I exclaim, ignoring the pain in my ribs, "Can you just breath for a second?" My cheeks hurt more than the rest of my body due to smiling so hard during Jack's rambling, and they still hurt when I spoke. It was pleasant though.

Jack chuckles as he runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I lost my cool there, didn't I?"

I giggle, lightly so it wouldn't hurt. "Indeed you did, but it was cute. Very cute, in fact. If your heart was hooked up like mine is, it would probably beat mine at being the fastest."

Jack releases a full laugh this time. "It really would. Anyway, about what I said—"

"Don't worry about it," I assure him, blushing at the thought of him calling me his girl forever. He's been crushing on me for so long that really, I guess you could say, that I am his girl. But to me, at this level that we're at, it's all so new. He is new. I don't see him like I did before and I don't want to rush it so…

He's not my boy.

For now.

But if time permits it, he will be.

We gotta take things slow first.

"Just know," I go one, blushing before I even said the words, "that I like it. A lot."

Jack smirks and shrugs, as if it's no big deal. "I knew you would. I'm smart like that," but his face is blushing, telling me that it's a very big deal for him indeed. "You want me to set those with the others?" He was talking about the flowers and gestured to the table underneath the tv that was covered with all sorts of colorful bouquets.

How had I not noticed them before? The colors are so vibrant and there's so many. "Yeah, thank you," I say, handing him the roses and ignoring how cold my hand felt when it was no longer holding his. The cold really doesn't bother me, but this kind of cold, the absence of his warmth, did.

"Damn, Snowflake," he says as he scans all the flowers. "Not only do I see the flowers that all our friends got you, but I'm also seeing some flowers from classmates you barely even talk to."

"Really?" I ask. "Like who?" Friends I can expect the flowers from, but not from classmates I rarely speak to. Their concern is really touching.

"Mavis, Eep, Elena, Honey Lemon...Jesus, there's so many. How the hell is this table not breaking under the weight?" He picks up another card, but instead of reading it off right away, he is silent for far too long.

"Jack? What is it?"

He turns around, still looking down at the card, drowning in confusion. He walks back over to me and sits down in the chair, flipping the card back and forth, looking for something I don't know of. "This is weird." He finally says. "Like really, really weird." He hands the card to me and I take it with much uncertainty.

My dearest Elsa, the card read, please do not be alarmed at my anonymity for you do in fact know me in real life. I just think it is for the best if I remain a stranger. Your recent attack has left me quite disturbed and afraid for your safety. I am terribly sorry that you had to endure such a violent act of immorality and I promise that justice will be served. Your attacker will not get away for his foul act. He WILL pay for hurting you. I'll make sure of it. Get well soon and worry not. Sincerely, your Guardian.

P.S. I hope you like the white roses I got you. I know they're your favorite.

The message, though it was intended to be positive, left a bitter taste in my mouth and caused chills to erupt all over my body. Was this written by my savior? Is this a threat on Hans's life? Do I tell the police? Hans deserves to slowly rot in prison, not...die. There wouldn't be any justice if he were to just die. Even if it were a slow death. Whether he deserves death or not, it is not something for me or anyone else to decide. Is death what my savior meant? Or just harm?

And most importantly...how did he know that white roses are my favorite? How did he know what hospital I'm at? How did he know my room number? Did he sneak the flowers into my room himself or did he have a nurse send them? Because surely if it was him, and if he didn't sneak in, then my family would have told me. Now that I think about it...if he's the same person as my savior how did he even know I was getting attacked? Did he hear us from the hallway? Surely my cousin or anyone else awake would have heard first and came to my aid. The whole floor was reserved for Mavis's classmates. Is he a classmate of mine? He says I know him in real life. And while I don't want to think illy of the person who saved my life, reading his message leaves me thinking that...that…

"He's been watching me," I breathe out, my voice barely above a whisper, but Jack heard it perfectly.

"What makes you say that? And who?"

"I don't know who," I say, frustrated, "but-"

But before I could elaborate any more, Rapunzel returns, multiple snacks and drinks in her arms. "Hey, guys," she says when she enters the room, "Dad, went to a different vending machine on the floor below us since only one of the two on this floor worked. I told him to get one of everything like I did." She stops in her tracks when she sees Jack sitting in the chair next to my bed.

The chair sits really close to the bed, a chair meant for a loved one to be seated so they can be close to their hospitalized loved one, and her eyes dart back and forth between Jack and I and lastly land on the card in my hands.

"Uh...did I miss something?" She sets the products in her arms on the spare bed, eyeing us carefully. "Is that a...love note, by any chance?" Her eyes light up, full of hope, and it made me feel good knowing that she already approved of us being together. I knew she would, honestly I don't see anyone having a problem with it, not even Tooth, who loves Jack. Anna, however, might. She might get jealous, angry even. Because it really is not fair that her boyfriend is a psycho and that mine...isn't.

But...she loves love and...and despite how she reacted earlier, surely she wouldn't oppose to Jack and I? I'm hoping, praying, that she'll be the most supportive. That she'll set any jealousy aside. That...that she still loves me and would want me to be happy.

"Maybe through his perspective it is," Jack mutters, looking bothered. "To me it's plain creepy."

Rapunzel's face falls, and her hopeful eyes turned into confused. "Wait, what? What the heck are you talking about? Is that not from you?"

Jack shakes his head. "Nope," he pops the p, "When Elsa gets my love note the setting will be way more romantic. Right, babe?" He sends me a wink, telling me he's serious but also putting on a show for Rapunzel.

Rapunzel rolls her eyes. "Keep that up and she's never going to date you."

I bite the inside of my lip to stop myself from laughing and smiling too hard. Think again, dear cousin of mine. Jack, however, does laugh and he says, "Never say never, Rapunzel. Soon enough I'll have Elsa wrapped around my finger." And once again he sends me a wink.

I shake my head and say, "We're getting off track. Here," I extend the note outward, and say nothing more, too freaked out about it to say anything else.

My cousin takes it and Jack and I watch her as she reads it, her eyes changing from confused to shock to scared. "Elsa," she breathes out and I see her shudder, "You need to tell the police about this when they come to get your statement. This has creepy stalker all over it."

"If that's from your savior," Jack wonders out loud, "then there's no doubt in my mind that he only saved you for his sick purposes. It also explains how he was there so quickly to...help, I guess you can say. Because he was watching you. But for how long? Is he watching us now?"

"Jack!" Rapunzel snaps, more freaked out than annoyed. "You're scaring us. Stop it."

"Sorry."

"Then why leave Hans and I behind?" I ask, indeed scared and feeling my head start to hurt at the confusion. "If my so called savior is another...predator...then why didn't he take me with him when he had the chance? Or Hans? Why leave us be?"

I must have looked very disturbed because Jack grabs my hand, squeezes it tight, and smiles sympathetically at me. "How about we drop the topic, okay? Let's talk about something else. Like Anna. Did you tell her it was Hans? How did she take it? Is that why she's not here right now."

"Wow, Jack," Rapunzel sarcastically says as she crosses her arms and gives my boy who is a friend a stern look, "so much for dropping the topic. You didn't drop it at all." Her eyes glance down at Jack and mine's conjoined hands and I instantly remove it from his and awkwardly clear my throat.

"She...uh...didn't take it well," I answer before Jack could say something snarky back, not liking this topic either and avoiding Rapunzel's stare. "She thinks I'm lying."

Jack's jaw drops and I would have laughed had it not have been for the reason that it is. "No way! How could she do that? She's your sister."

Tears spring to my eyes at the reminder. "Yeah," I sniff, blinking my tears back. "She is...or was. I...I don't know if she wants to be anymore. We've come so far since coming to Burgess, we grew closer after our first fight over Hans at Eret's stupid party and now once again we're fighting over him. Only this time...this time she...she won't..."

She won't be as forgiving.

Jack's hand landed on my shoulder this time. "Hey," he says, "everything's going to be okay. I bet my money that I spent on all those ridiculously expensive roses that she'll be back later on apologizing. If there's one thing I know about the girl my dad saved, it's that she loves you more than you'll ever know."

I almost panicked when he mentioned his dad saving Anna in front of Rapunzel until I remembered that she knows that he knows she and I were there. It's the first thing Jack talked with her about after he and I finally came clean to each other. The three of us officially met on that day. Look at us now.

"Yeah," Rapunzel agrees as she sits on the bed and places her hand onto my covered leg, patting it gently, "Jack's right. Anna loves you, she's never stopped even when you shut us out for years. What's happening right now is just another storm that will later reveal a rainbow. Let's stay positive okay? Don't want you acting like Jack did when you were brought in. All down and whatnot." She looks over at her friend and asks, "Do you want to tell her yesterday's events?"

Yesterday. Yesterday was the 1st of November. Today is the 2nd. I have no idea what time it is, but it's got to be somewhere in the afternoon. I've been in a minor comatose for 24 hours. Time I'm never going to get back.

Jack groans, his face blushing in embarrassment. "Ugh I might as well. Otherwise you're going to exaggerate it."

Rapunzel scoffs. "Pah-lease! You exaggerate more than anyone else on the planet."

Jack points at her and looks at me, whispering loudly. "See? She's doing it now. Such an exaggerator."

Rapunzel scoffs again and opens her mouth, but Jack was quick to begin his tale. He told me how he and the boys left when all the girls fell asleep in the room after watching only two movies, how he took a bunch of pictures of the girls and I as blackmail, how the next morning he's being woken up by Hans shouting for help in the hallway, bloody and carrying a bloody and unconscious me in his arms, how Anna and Rapunzel were going batshit crazy and had to be held back by Kristoff and Flynn, how Jack is yelling for someone to call 911, how he takes me out of Hans's arms and has Maui help Hans, who says he was attacked by a masked man who was hurting me, how the wait for the ambulance was pure torture for him and the others, but how leaving the hospital hours later was the worst part.

It was a lot to take in, but what really overwhelmed me was when Jack was tearing up and his voice became thick with emotion. It broke my heart seeing him so...so emotional. He was holding back a lot too because of Rapunzel being present, so if seeing him merely tearing up is enough to break my heart then when/if I ever see him fully break down...well that's going to completely destroy me. I was going to ask if he was okay, but held my tongue in case Rapunzel didn't know he was tearing up. From where she's sitting, she can't see his face as well as I can, and if she sees him almost crying then her suspicion about us, which I know she has, will increase. I wonder what must have gone through her head when she heard the emotion in his voice.

"Wow," I say instead when he's done, clearing my dry and tight throat afterwards. "Sounds like you two went through a lot."

He and Rapunzel both laugh. "Yeah, sure, we went through so much," Rapunzel says, sarcastically. "It's not like we, oh I don't know, got attacked or anything!"

I roll my eyes, smiling, and turning my head when I hear someone knock on the wall by the door. "Hey there," says my aunt, my uncle standing right next to her with his arms full of snacks that could feed Anna, Rapunzel, and I for a whole month at school. "Does anyone want to tell me why my husband has all these snacks?"

Jack laughs and points to my aunt's daughter. "This was all her idea, Arianna."

"I second that," says my uncle, who sets the vending machine products next to Rapunzel's on the spare bed.

Rapunzel giggles. "Wasn't it a splendid one? Now we have snacks to stress eat on."

Stress indeed. "Where's Anna?" I find myself saying when I realize she's not with our aunt.

Aunt Arianna looks upset for a moment, but she's quick to flash a reassuring smile. "She's with Kristoff. I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"Kristoff is here?" I ask.

"Yeah," Jack answers. "He's my ride since I had no money for gas or Uber. Those flowers made me go bankrupt. I practically begged him to bring me here. He wanted to say hi to his grandpa anyway. Dr. Stone," he gives me a look that says Yeah you know him. You've met him twice. This time makes a third. "He's one of your doctors, along with Dr. Lake."

Dr. Lake was the doctor that treated Flynn when Rapunzel hit him with a frying pan. But wow, how weird; first, Dr. Stone was treating Anna way back when, and now he's treating me. Is Rapunzel going to be treated by him next? Jack? His own grandson?

"He begged everyone, by the way," Rapunzel informs, sending Jack a playful smile with mischief in her eyes. "Kristoff was the only one who agreed. He's a good friend."

"And so are you, Jack," says my aunt, smiling happily at him from where she and my uncle stood near the spare bed. "I told you before that my daughter is very lucky to have you in her life, and now I can say the same for my nieces. You truly are a good soul."

Uncle Frederick shrugs. "Eh," he says, playfulness coating his tone while he wraps an arm around his wife, "he's alright."

And while I know my uncle was just teasing, I completely disagreed with him in my mind. Because Jack is way more than just alright. Jack goes beyond just alright. Jack is...Jack is..

Jack is pretty damn great.

And while I'm still scared beyond belief at the events that are to follow, looking at him now as he laughs with my family truly makes me believe that everything is going to be okay.

I just hope it's not a lie.