#hey I write lots of stuff other than Kristanna

[ravenwritesstuff]

Best Laid Plans (4/?)

Fandom: Frozen (modern AU, no magic) Pairings: Helsa, established Kristanna, lotsa frohana Rating: T for now, M later almost for sure A/N: Oh hey I realized I had like 20k words of this story written just nothing in sequence so I was like yeah okay I should maybe actually work on this?

[ part one ] [ part two ] [ part three ]

Also on FF.net

He leaves her alone after that and somehow that is worse. Somehow the fact that he never catches her glances or the way she can hear him laugh when she passes by but never so much as acknowledges her sets her off balance even more.

She has to convince herself that this is not some ploy, some sort of reverse psychology to get her to chase him instead.

He probably just realized that she is not worth the trouble, that there are plenty of other eligible young women who can actually give him what he wants, or might want, or - whatever

She has a headache.

For most humans the only thing that means is that they should drink some more water, take a pain reliever, and wait for the pain subside. She, however, is not most humans. Tonight though she will chalk it up to the late hour (it is three in the morning, after all) and the fact that on top of all of her other duties she has been battling with keeping her focus anywhere but where he lingers in her periphery. Her headache could just be from working twenty hours straight with four more to go.

It could.

It is what she chooses to believe. She does not have the space or strength to acknowledge her other option.

She focused beyond all that, needing every fiber of will power to stay on task for this final push.

Tiana and her crew are long gone as are the band that has been replaced by a mellow DJ. The bride and groom exited at midnight beneath a Technicolor display of fireworks  The bar had been replaced with a boozy smoothie and doughnuts truck for those party goers who were still going strong but even that has packed up and left. The last of the guests mill about the tent, sit scattered between tables, as Elsa and crew finish tying up the final details.

Rentals have been organized for pickup.

The crew hired to dismantle the tent and get it offsite would arrive at six AM to make way for the next day's event.

Gifts and cards had already been catalogued, packed up, and shuttled to the specified location courtesy of Rapunzel and Eugene along with sentimental items including Ariel's dress.

Final checks had been provided to all vendors for their services.

The videographer and photographers left when the bride and groom had.

The leftover cake had been boxed and sent home with guests along with bottles of Dom Pérignon.

The florals are being donated to a local hospital and all but the centerpieces have been dismantled accordingly.

The list continues and Elsa's mind mechanically checks and rechecks the boxes. She has done this so many times it is like clockwork. She hardly has to think anymore when it comes to the operations side of things. At least she normally does not, but tonight she runs through the list again and again until she is dizzy from it. She allowed her focus to slip and now she pays the price.

He is among the chosen few that still huddle in groups, laughing and chatting. He has lost his tie and suit jacket, his hair is not quite as perfectly placed as it had been as he relaxes back in his chair across the way. He seems happy, fully engaged in whatever the giggly brunette next to him was saying, and she isn't jealous. She is glad, relieved in many ways, but there is a strange twinge of sadness that twists in unbidden in her chest. It is a funny kind of mourning for something that died before it has a chance to live and it is a feeling she knows all too well and she hates it.

She will not pity herself.

She will not give into grief for all the things she will never have.

She looks away and goes over her list again.

….

The last of the guests finally throw in the towel half an hour before the tent crew shows up. They have rooms here in the winery where they stumble to, laughing and smiling, and that is all Elsa needs. These days are long, grueling, and relentless but to see smiles on the faces of the guests is enough to let the stresses fall away to nothing.

That feeling is just enough of a boost to finish the last few tasks before she goes home and falls into bed for the next few hours.

The men start the process of unstringing lights as the women dismantle the centerpieces. They blow out the few candles left burning and start separating out the flowers into respective types for the donation. It is a large tent and there are so many tables that they spread out into sections, all exhausted and ready to be done, but working dutifully. She moves robotically just trying to get this all done as quickly as possible and does not hear him approach.

“Let me help you.”

His voice catches her off guard and she squeaks. A thorn in the bunch of roses she is bundling stabs the soft skin of her palm and she drops the flowers to the table.

She had thought he had gone up with the others and maybe he had. Her head whips to the side to see him standing there, rumpled but eyes still bright, as she rubs the stinging place on her hand.

“I don’t need help.”

It is quick, a knee jerk response, and he tilts his head to look at where she is tending her sore spot.

“Looks like you might.”

She forces her hands down and chin up. “Is there something you need, Mister Westergaard? Problems with your room?”

He looks at her like he hasn’t quite figured her out but cannot wait to.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were offering to come up with me,” They both get the implication. “But I have the feeling that any kind of proposal of the sort would mortify you.”

He is right. Her ears heat even at the thought, at the idea that anything she said could have been construed in a way that could give him an inch. He lets it go, however, and nods towards the hand she has clenched at her side.

“That okay? I could find a bandaid or something.”

He is so sincere and she almost buys it.

“It’s nothing,” and it is. She is used to being poked and prodded. This is nothing new. “If there is nothing I can do to assist you -”

“I want to help you.”

He cuts her off and she looks for the lie. She looks for the bravado, for the arrogance she knew came with this class. She looks for the price, but she doesn’t find it. All she sees is the same earnest expression he gave when he helped her straighten the chair covers all those many hours before.

“I really don’t -”

“Please.”

And she wants to refuse. She wants to turn her back and return to her work and forget she had ever seen him before but she knows that is impossible. She knows that he will not relent until she gives in and what scares her more than anything is that she wants to. She wants to let him help. She wants to let him in, and that cannot happen.

She must keep her distance, but she knows he won’t let her go far.

There is only a few hours longer, and then he will be gone for good and she won't have to worry about this again.

She can do this.

“Sort the flowers by type. If they are too wilted we trash them. Greenery gets sorted, too. Leave the piles on the table and we’ll get them where they need to go.” She keeps it simple, direct. “You can finish this table and I’ll move to another. Feel free to stop at any time.”

She doesn't mean that last sentence as much as she wants to, her heart beating into her ears till she can hardly hear.

“Sounds good, boss.” He smiles and she hates how bright and wide it cuts across his face. He smiles like he doesn’t have a care in the world, and she wonders what that is like.

She doesn’t trust her voice, trust the words that might trip out of her mouth, so she gives a terse nod and turns on an aching heel. With trembling hands she begins to dismantle another centerpiece. She isn't sure if she can feel him staring or if that is just her exhausted paranoia. She can hardly get her mind to focus on the task at hand and she takes a deep breath.

Just a few more hours, maybe less, and he will be gone.

She doesn't know why that makes her feel so sad, but she chalks it up to exhaustion. It is easy to confuse feelings or feel things that you normally wouldn't when you are overwrought. She has seen this many times, felt it too, in all aspects of life.

You don't spend collective years of your life waiting on tests and scans and results, uncertainty ringing like an alarm in your head at all times, without knowing a thing or two about emotions creeping in where logic would better serve. She will sleep soon and the world will make more sense then. She will shower and wash every trace of his touch against her neck, his breath on her cheek, his scalding palm on her waist down the drain and forget she ever felt a thing.

She has done it before, and she will do it again.

She does not have time to feel sad for an impossibility. That road has never helped her before and she refuses to take it now, but she cannot ignore how close he is. She cannot pretend she does not notice him working in the periphery, and maintain her focus.

She grabs and armful of peonies and marches behind the bar. There are dozens of buckets set up waiting for the florals and she starts the unloading process. The rest of the crew have been creating piles on the bar according to type as instructed and this is the perfect place for her: secluded and protected behind the solid wood and marble of the outdoor bar.

She is busy assigning buckets to their floral counterparts when he approaches with an arm full of greens.

He drops them on the bar top across from her and shifts his weight. She nods in acknowledgement, hoping to keep him at a safe distance. He does not approach but he does not retreat either.

Not yet.

Not until: “I'm sorry if I came on too strong.”

Her hands falter just for a moment. Of all the things she had expected - an apology is not one of them.

She shakes her head, not looking at him as she reaches for another pile. “Let's just forget it and move on.”

He pauses before stepping away, not pressing the issue, and again that is unexpected. She does not try to deduce anything from it. Her mind too exhausted from running in circles to go any further down this spiral. Whatever game he may or may not be playing - she is done trying to determine the rules.

He is back before she has too much time to decide she isn't going to spend any more time thinking about him. This time he brings arms full of white roses and she remembers swans.That feels like a lifetime ago already.

“What if I don't want to forget it?”

Her mind blanks at his question, already moved on from her flippant statement and stuck firmly sixteen hours before.

“Excuse me?”

“You said we should just forget it, but what if I don't want to?” He shakes his head, looking the closest thing to flustered she has seen on him yet. Her heart skips when he brings her eyes back to hers. “I mean, I don't want to forget you or any part of this the time I spent with you. So what should I do about that?”

There is something deep, secret, and hidden in the way he asks - the way he looks at her. It strikes a familiar chord within her that she cannot place, does not want to try. She is too exhausted.

“I thought you were sorry for coming on too strong.” She can only recycle his words, cannot dare come up with ones of her own, cannot begin to tell the truth and bare the look of pity or disgust that comes with it.

He huffs a smile.

“You're right. I am sorry. It is something I apologize for a lot - and not just where beautiful women are concerned.”

She hums under her breath, a non-committal half answer in hopes to hide the fact that his flattery irks her. She is aware of her appearance. She knows that in many ways she is objectively beautiful which is why she takes measures to downplay it. She does not want to be noticed or appreciated and his attention only serves to show she has failed. She hates failure.

He leans into the bar, elbows resting dangerously close to the gardenias she is grabbing when he says:

“I may come on too strong, competitive nature - I guess, but I have to say you are possibly the most cagey and confusing and honestly the most frustrating human I have ever met.”

And she can't ignore him then. Blue eyes flash to green to find them watching her with that locksmith precision that leaves her breathless.

“And despite all that I swear I have never wanted to get to know someone more than you.”

His voice deepens to a whispered rush of air as if he is just as affected by her gaze as she is his.

She sucks in as much air as she can, chest rattling with effort, and she lies: “There is nothing to know. I’m just like any other girl.”

He laughs out loud at that, a deep chuckle that brightens his eyes and softens his face an errant thought wonders what it would be like to rest in that expression, in his presence, instead of fighting.

“Not any girl I’ve met.” He meets her blow for blow.

She fights back, is always fighting, is never allowed to stop fighting. “My work is my focus.” The flowers she grabs are her punctuation. “Girls like me don't have time for distractions which is probably why you don’t meet us.”

He studies her a moment, head cocked to the side just so.

She pulls her focus, uncertain if she had just been too hard. He may have apologized but she won’t. She drops a bunch of baby's breath into a bucket and reaches for more, trying to do anything but look at him. She already knows what she will see if she does: that seeking, searching human gaze that let's her in as much as it asks to be let in.

She sees him shift back off the bar and stand up straight.

“Okay,” he says.

It catches her off guard. Everything about him catches her off guard.

“Okay?” She cannot stop the question in her voice, not sure what exactly she is agreeing to.

“Okay,” he says. “I won’t distract you.”

She waits a breath for the catch, for the other shoe to drop, but it doesn’t come.

“Okay,” she replies before she can stop herself.

He looks back over his shoulder and shoves hands into his tux pants pockets. “My table is done. Anything else you want me to do, boss?”

The way he says 'boss’ really makes her feel like he means it, like he takes this seriously - her seriously, and she appreciates that. She wishes she didn't appreciate that.

She straightens and meets his eyes. His hair is a mess, shirt and pants wrinkled. His vest, jacket, and bow tie are long gone. There is something young, hopeful in the way he looks at her. He looks like someone who has time to live his life and while she envies him she also respects that her journey is hers alone. In a day’s time he will have forgotten her and go on without a second thought. She will go back to her work as long as she is able. It will all be as it should be.

So she gives him a soft smile of understanding, nods her head, and says, “That will be all, Mister Westergaard.”

He gives her a cocked smile in return, kicking his shoe against the dance floor Kristoff and Sven are dismantling for pick up. “It’s Hans.”

He doesn’t give her a chance to respond as he walks away, whistling as he goes.

It is only a few moments later she realizes the tune he chose.

What a Wonderful World sticks in her mind for the rest of the job.

[ previous ] [ next ]

[loonysama]

I am wondering... for the writer ask game...

😅 🤗

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

I have definitely written some stuff that makes me cringe. Some stuff because of the actual writing (chapters made entirely of dialogue and internal monologue that doesn't add to the story). And there's stuff that I don't feel I handled well (a sex scene, cultural sensitivity, etc.), and would probably do better now that I have more experience as a writer. But I don't want to name specifics because these kinds of things are entirely subjective and I don't want anyone to feel bad about liking something I wrote, even if I'm not that proud of it.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Write. Read. Then write some more. Then write again. The more you write, the better you get. You can't magic that skill, you can only get it from practice. Lots of patient practice.

But also spend some quality time editing. There's a rush to posting something, then checking the stats and watching the numbers go up. But if you can give yourself a week or 24 hours after "finishing" and come back to it with fresh eyes, you'll be able to get something you feel more proud of. I promise, if you wait just a little bit, you'll thank yourself later.

Try to ignore the stats and social media. I know. Next to impossible. But hey, hits and kudos and all that doesn't tell you how good of a writer you are, or even how popular you or your stories are. They don't even tell you how many people read your story or read it more than once. But if you are going to worry about your stats, just know that hits and kudos will never go down, they will only go up.

Join a multi-fandom server for writers. Getting exposure to other fandoms can make your writing experience richer. There are things you'll pick up that you'd never pick up by just sticking to your fandom and writers in your fandom. Plus you can exchange writing snippets (this is the best way to learn how to edit your stuff), get writing help, and just talk about writing and fandom stuff. (SHOUT OUT TO THE 30+ SERVER)

Participate in exchanges and fandom events! Like the upcoming Kristanna Halloween Days and the Frozen Yuletide Gift Exchange, for example... Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. [Message me if you're interested and want more info]

And also write some more!

[thecassadilla]

Bump in the Night

Pairing: Kristanna (+ a minor appearance by Elsamaren)

Word Count: 2,988/AO3

Summary: To kick off the start of “spooky season,” Anna plans a scary movie night with Kristoff, but things go awry later that night when their real life begins to imitate conventions of a horror film. 

Author’s Note: Happy October! While I absolutely hate Fall (cold weather + less daylight, yuck), Halloween is my favorite holiday. I planned to write a couple of fics this month to help me “embrace” this season and this is the first. Enjoy!!!

“Are you almost here?”

“I’m pulling up to your house now,” Kristoff chuckled, reversing into the empty spot behind her car.

“Oh, okay! I’ll open the front door!”

Suddenly the line went dead, and he couldn’t help but smile. He cut the engine, grabbed his overnight bag from where it rested on the front seat, and climbed out of the car.

“Hi, sweetie!” Anna called from the doorway.

“Hey, baby,” he called back with a grin.

When he finally made it into the house, she pulled him into a tight embrace before leaning up onto her toes and pressing a soft but brief kiss to his lips. “How are you? How was work?”

“It was crazy busy and I had to stay a little late,which is why I got here so late, but I’m doing a lot better now that I’m here. How about you?”

“Today was great, I’m great. Here, do you want me to bring your bag upstairs?”

“Nah, I’ll just bring it up later,” he answered, sliding the strap off of his shoulder and placing the bag on the bottom step of the staircase. “Just don’t trip over it.”

“I won’t,” she laughed, walking towards the kitchen. “I ordered us a pizza and it should be here any minute.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve picked it up on the way.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she said, turning around to make sure that he was following her. “Elsa is staying at Honeymaren’s this weekend.” 

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. “I see?”

“Do you...maybe wanna have a scary movie night?”

“Uh...sure,” he answered.

Her face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I just don’t understand the correlation between Elsa being away and us watching a scary movie.”

“Oh!” Anna giggled. “Well, we’ll have the living room to ourselves and we can put on whatever we want without Elsa butting in. I’ve never been able to watch anything scary because she hates horror.”

“I’m not too fond of it, myself,” Kristoff admitted.

“Ooh, is the big, tough guy afraid of scary movies?” she teased, poking her finger into his ribcage.

“No,” he huffed, swatting her hand away. “I’ve watched a whole bunch and to be honest, I think they’re stupid and predictable.”

She opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out two plates. “Well, it’s officially ‘spooky season’ and I think it would be fun.” 

“We can watch whatever you want,” he promised.

“Yay!” she squealed, bouncing up to press a kiss to his cheek. 

“Did you have a specific movie in mind?” “I found one called The Summoning. It’s basically about a young married couple that moves into a new house, only to find out that the house is haunted by a demon.”

“Sounds exactly like every other horror movie that came out in the last decade or so,” he remarked. 

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“No,” he shrugged. “Just an observation. A lot of old horror movies had masked murderers; Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Michael Myers from Halloween, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Now it’s all about the invisible villain; Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and now I guess The Summoning.”

“I’m impressed! You really know your stuff, huh?” she proclaimed enthusiastically, but before he could respond, the doorbell rang. “Ooh pizza’s here!”

“Do you want money?” he offered.

She thrust the plates in his direction and he accepted them. “Nope! It’s on me. The only thing I need you to do is sit your butt on the couch.”

He obeyed her command and made his way to the living room, setting the plates on the coffee table and plopping down in the corner of the couch. A few short moments later she joined him, placing the pizza box next to the plates.

“Help yourself. I’m going to put the movie on,” she stated, grabbing the remote.

He reached over and flipped the lid to the box open. “You want to eat and watch at the same time?” 

“Yeah, I figured we could multitask.”

He shrugged, and handed her a plate with a slice on it and then took one for himself before sitting back. 

“Thanks,” she smiled, leaning into his side and pressing the play button. “I hope it’s good.”

“We shall see.”

The movie opened up to upbeat music, and an attractive young couple moving boxes out of a moving truck and into their new, yet clearly antiquated house. Less than ten minutes in, the tone changed and elements of horror started creeping in.

While Anna was completely engrossed with what was happening, it was abundantly clear to Kristoff that the movie was the opposite of good; between the cheap jump scares, the poor acting, and the lack of any real action, it seemed more like a comedy than a horror movie. Though he tried to focus on what was happening in front of him in order to keep his promise to Anna, he was growing more bored by the second. Eventually it became close to unbearable.

“How about…” he started, pressing a slow, ardent kiss to her neck, “We turn this off and put something else on?”

“No, I want to watch,” she giggled, shying away from his touch. “You promised that we could watch whatever I wanted.”

“I know, but it’s so bad,” he whined.

“It’s half over and it’s not that bad.”

“It’s terrible.”

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at the television screen. “The demon just pushed her down the stairs.”

“Demons aren’t real.”

“Please watch it,” she begged.

“I’d rather kiss your neck.”

“You have all night to kiss my neck, and I’m going to hold you to that,” she teased, wiggling away from him. “But the only thing I’m paying attention to for the next forty-five minutes is this movie.”

“Fine,” he huffed, resting his chin on her shoulder. “What about Hocus Pocus? You love that movie.”

She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “I will only turn this movie off if you admit that you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” he insisted. “I’d actually enjoy it more if it was scaring me.”

“Too bad.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We should see a horror movie in a theater soon,” she remarked as they laid in bed later that night. “I wonder if there are any good ones coming out this year.”

“I don’t trust your judgment on what a ‘good’ horror movie is,” he chuckled.

“Well, we could always just sit in the back and make out like high schoolers if it’s really bad.”

“We could do that here, for free,” he noted.

“Yeah, but it’s about the thrill of the chase. It’s more exciting when you’re in a room full of people who aren’t paying attention to what you’re doing.”

“You are truly something else. And I love you for that.”

“Aww, I love you too,” she smiled, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Did you really hate the movie?”

“No offense, Anna, but it was beyond bad.”

“Can I just say that I still can’t believe the guy in that movie let his wife become possessed like that?! Newly married, new house, seemingly perfect life and then bam! He chooses to save himself instead of fighting for her.”

“Good thing it’s just a movie,” he reminded her.

“I know, but it’s still so terrible,” she said, shaking her head. “Would you abandon me if a demon was trying to possess me?”

“No, because it literally would not happen.”

“But if it did happen?”

He sighed. “No, I wouldn’t abandon you.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t abandon you, either.”

“Great, it’s all settled then. Do you think that can be incorporated into our wedding vows?”

She playful swatted his arm. “Can you stop mocking me please?”

“Only when you stop worrying about real people in fictional scenarios.”

She glared at him. “It was a hypothetical question.”

“That I answered honestly,” he added. “I’ll save you from all the bad guys - and if that includes demons or ghosts or werewolves, I still won’t abandon you.”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

“I’m gonna crash, so…” he leaned over to peck her on the lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Within moments, he was asleep, while she found herself tossing and turning. As the clock ticked forward, she tried to convince herself that she wasn’t anxious; every thought that popped into her head was clouded with scariest scenes from the movie. Though her mind was racing, she tried to focus on Kristoff instead, watching as his chest rose and fell with each breath. 

Until she swore that she heard a noise and nearly jumped out of her skin. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, and though Kristoff looked completely at peace, she needed someone to ease her racing mind.

“Kristoff,” she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder. “Kristoff!”

“Huh?” he mumbled, his eyes slowly blinking open.

“I heard a noise,” she responded, her voice slightly louder. “What if someone is in the house?”

“A person or a demon?” he teased.

“Kristoff, I’m not kidding.”

“No one is in the house,” he assured her. “You probably just heard a car door close.”

“It didn’t sound like a car door,” she rebutted.

“I think that movie made you paranoid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Would you please make sure the front door is locked?”

He groaned in response, before scrubbing at his face with the palms of his hands a few times. He tossed the blankets aside and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before shuffling out of the room. 

Anna anxiously awaited his return, wringing her hands over and over again. After what felt like an eternity, he reappeared.

“All the doors are locked,” he announced as he collapsed back onto the bed. “Front door, back door, door to the garage.”

“I feel a lot better now,” Anna breathed. “Thank you for checking.”

He motioned for her to slide closer to him. She laid her head on his chest, and he placed a hand on her shoulder before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Anything to make you feel better. Try to get some sleep.”

She nodded against him, feeling safe in his arms, and after a few moments, she felt her eyelids start to grow heavy. Until a loud crash from downstairs snapped her out of it.

Her eyes widened and she tensed up. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” Kristoff answered hesitantly.

As if on cue, another crash sounded from beneath them. They both sprang into action, jumping out of the bed.

“What should we do?”

“Do you have any weapons?”

“No!” Anna exclaimed. “Only the kitchen knives.” “Tomorrow I’m buying you a bat,” Kristoff remarked before charging out of the room. Anna followed swiftly behind him.

“What exactly are you planning on doing?” she whispered as she chased him down the stairs, trying to stay as light on her feet as she could.

“I want to see where the noise came from.”

“And then…?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Maybe we should call the police?” she suggested in a panicked whisper.

“And do what in the meantime? Get killed?”

For a moment, they stood quietly in the dark, and it quickly became apparent that the noises had come from the garage, though the sounds had morphed from crashes to voices. 

Kristoff and Anna slowly crept toward the kitchen. He pulled each knife out of the knife block until he determined which one would be the most effective. Anna, on the other hand, went for the cast iron skillet that was resting on the stovetop.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Throw it?” she shrugged. 

They approached the door to the garage, and Kristoff held out his left arm in an attempt to keep Anna safely behind him. When they finally reached the door, Kristoff slowly reached out for the doorknob, before twisting it and forcefully pushing the door open, immediately resulting in two girlish shrieks from the perpetrators.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kristoff snorted.

“Elsa?!” Anna exclaimed, gently pushing Kristoff’s arm down. “What are you doing?”

It was quite the scene. Elsa and Honeymaren were crouched on the floor of the garage; Elsa was sweeping a pile of dirt into the garbage bag that Honey was holding open. Gardening tools and pieces of broken ceramic were scattered behind them, in addition to the plant that Elsa had mentioned buying the day before. 

Elsa cringed, clearly mortified. “It’s a long story.”

“It’s really not,” Honeymaren corrected, looking rather amused. “She forgot to take out the garbage and it was bothering her. I suggested that she text you, and ask you to take it out, but she wanted to handle it herself. You wanna tell the rest of the story, Elsa?”

Elsa hung her head in shame, understandably embarrassed by the entire situation. “I tripped and knocked over the bin of gardening tools. Then while I was trying to pick them up, I knocked over the plant and the pot shattered.”

“Which is why we’re crouched on the floor, cleaning up dirt,” Honey stated, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Elsa’s shoulder. “It’s really not a big deal though.”

“Accidents happen,” Anna sympathized. “But you guys kind of scared the crap out of us. We thought someone was breaking in.” 

“So you decided to handle it yourselves?” Elsa asked incredulously, her eyes widening.

“The alternative was calling the police. You could’ve been arrested for breaking into your own house,” Kristoff pointed out.

Honey smirked. “I don’t know what would’ve been worse; going to jail or being stabbed,” she remarked, her eyes bouncing from Kristoff to Anna. “Or whatever you were planning to do with a frying pan.”

“Have you ever picked one of these up?” Anna asked, moving her arm up and down to demonstrate the heftiness of the skillet. “They weigh a ton. One swing of this pan could knock a person unconscious.”

“Good thing neither of you had to use your weapons of choice,” Elsa cringed. “I’m sorry that we scared you.”

“Next time, just let me know if you plan on coming home in the middle of the night to take out garbage,” Anna pleaded with her older sister. “Or, you know, just ask me to do it.”

“Or,” Kristoff interjected, draping his arm around Anna’s shoulders. “Ask me to do it, because someone is too paranoid from the scary movie we watched to go downstairs by herself.”

“Am not!” Anna rebuked, looking up at him. “You’re just...a lot bigger and more intimidating than I am.”

He smiled smugly. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” 

She stuck her tongue out at him, before turning back to her sister. “Do you need our help cleaning up?”

Elsa shook her head. “No, I think we got it. You two should go back to sleep.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

The group exchanged goodnights, and Anna and Kristoff returned their weapons back to the kitchen before heading back upstairs. 

“That was, uh...interesting,” Kristoff commented when they finally made it back to the bedroom.

Anna closed the door behind them and climbed back into the bed. “I know, right?! It’s just garbage, it’s not a big deal!”

“Maybe she was worried that she was going to stink up the garage,” he suggested, laying down next to her.

“She could’ve just moved it outside when she got home tomorrow if she didn’t want to bother us,” she countered. “And I bet she’ll never spend another night away again after this. We may be spending weekends with Elsa and Honeymaren from now on unless we stay at your place.”

“I have no issues with that and honestly, I feel like you would do the same if the situation was reversed -  you know, to avoid inconveniencing her.”

“Oh, I totally would. But I’d at least give her a heads up first, so if I made a ton of noise in the middle of the night she wouldn’t think I was a murderer or a burglar. Maybe we should consider getting an alarm installed. Do you think Elsa will go for that?”

“Alarm or no alarm, I’m going to buy you a bat, just in case there’s a ‘next time.’”

“If there’s ever a ‘next time,’ we will call the cops and avoid running into the line of fire,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Ahem.”

“I know it was risky and stupid, but at least your sister and Honeymaren didn’t get hauled away in handcuffs. And I promised I would protect you.”

“From fictional bad guys. And jerks, of course. If that had been a real murderer or robber, we could’ve been killed.”

“You were fine with sending me downstairs when you heard a noise,” he stated.

She scoffed. “That’s different.”

“How is that different?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It just is.”

He hesitated for a moment, before reaching out and caressing her cheek. “Anna, did that movie scare you?”

“A little,” she confessed. “Obviously I know that it’s just a movie, but I lost control of my imagination. I really did hear a noise and before you say it - no, I didn’t think the noise was a demon.”

“Look, I’m sorry for teasing you,” he sighed. “It was wrong of me, and it probably seemed like I was less than thrilled to make sure the doors were locked but -”

She cut him off mid-sentence. “Kristoff, I woke you up out of a dead sleep because I heard a noise. Cut yourself a little slack here.”

“And I immediately accused you of being paranoid - the point is, I don’t want you to hesitate to wake me up if you hear a noise, okay?”

“Fine,” she agreed. “But as a compromise, I’ll probably be skipping horror movies from now on.”

He smirked. “I have no issues with that.”

“And if you want...we can watch Hocus Pocus tomorrow.”

[feistypaants-archived]

False Positive [Chapter 1]

Rating: T+/M Words: 1,555 Pairing: Kristanna Summary: When things don't go according to plan and Anna finds herself alone and pregnant, she looks to her sister's best friend, Kristoff, and almost makes a huge mistake.

[Chapter Index]

Where To Read: [AO3] | [FFN]

Notes: Ummmm... should I be starting a new multi chap? Probably not. But here we are. It’s... idk. It’s still vague! Hopefully I don’t... mess up or write myself into a hole lmao!!!!

Title from @faerytold who is a blessing thank u

Enjoy!

Anna took a deep breath.

The room was cold and quiet except for the dull echo of children screaming in the lobby or other rooms or maybe even somewhere else in the building, and she could feel her heart pounding hard enough to break her ribs. Her fingers twisted together around the tissue she had been holding since she walked through the waiting room doors. Tears had started days ago and had yet to stop.

Maybe she had jumped to conclusions. Maybe she was mistaken. Hans was stressed with work, and brought that stress home, and that caused Anna to be stressed… and when she was stressed she was late! She was late all the time. Maybe not three weeks, but…

She sighed, dabbing at her lower lashes again, willing her eyes to just stop watering for a few minutes. 

A part of her had been ecstatic when she took the first test. She’s always wanted a big family, and an engagement had to be just around the corner, so what was the harm in starting early? But then another part of her thought about their plan. They had a plan, and having a baby right now was definitely not a part of it.

Hans was always very uptight about following plans.

So she took three more tests. Waited a few days and took four more.

Positive, positive, positive…. And more positives.

When she told Hans, he froze. 

He was at work, texting her about how rough his day was and how he couldn’t wait to get home and see her (and do other things to her). So she thought maybe he would like a little surprise! So she stopped at the store, got a little balloon and a card that had a dumb little joke on it - You’re One Cool POP, with a popsicle drawn in the O - and then went right to his office. 

He smiled when he saw her, ushered her into his office with a sly smile, and kissed her silly before she had a chance to hand him the card and balloon. 

And then he saw it, and his whole demeanor changed. 

“What is this?” He asked.

“I… I’m pregnant,” she smiled, her eyebrows slanting down with worry. “I… thought you’d like a pick me up —“

“Pick me up?” He dropped the card to the desk. “Anna, we’re not even engaged. How stupid are you?”

“I…” 

“Aren’t you on the pill?”

Anna nodded, tears starting in her eyes. “Yes but—“

“Did you forget to take it? You’re always forgetting!”

“No!”

“This isn’t the plan, Anna,” he sneered, sitting down hard into his desk chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“But,” her voice was quiet, as she stood still, attempting to make herself as small as possible. “We want kids, don’t we?”

Hans sighed, pressing his hand against his forehead. “Not unplanned.”

They argued more, his face growing red and hers getting paler as his voice rose and hers fell to barely a whisper, until he told her either she got rid of it or he was gone, and she cried and left and went right home and packed up her stuff and went to her sisters’ apartment. 

And then she ignored his calls until he left her a voicemail saying he was done with this childish behavior, that she was stupid if she thought she could raise a baby, especially alone, and he’d send the rest of her stuff over as soon as he could make the time for it.

But those little sticks could be wrong, right? What really was in your pee to make them so damn accurate? They could pull up false results… right? So Anna decided it was better to go to a doctor and get it all sorted out professionally. She hoped she could go back to his home and show him that it was all a big mistake! That he could take her back now! That —

There was a knock on the door and Anna at up straighter before telling the doctor to come in. She opened the door with a smile, and Anna’s stomach dropped. “Well, congratulations, Anna. You’re indeed pregnant.”

Her eyes welled up with tears and she couldn’t bite back the smile that stretched across her face before she jumped down from the table and wrapped her arms around the doctor. “Thank you,” she cried, happy crying mixing with sad sobs as the other woman hesitantly hugged Anna back.

“I can’t tell if these are happy or sad tears,” she chuckled, leaning backwards from Anna. 

“A bit of both, I think,” she admitted, wiping at her nose with the heel of her hand. “It’s complicated.” 

“Well,” the doctor nodded, handing her another box of tissues. “Take all the time you need. All your paperwork is upfront at the desk. I’ve also given them a bunch of resources for you, for whichever direction you choose to take.” She smiled sadly, shrugging. “I’m here if you have any questions, or want to talk, okay? I know it can all be overwhelming.”

Anna nodded, accepting the tissues gratefully, and was more than thankful she had been relatively honest with the doctor from the get-go. She seemed kind and sweet, like someone Anna could trust, and she was sure she made the right decision when she saw all sorts of pamphlets and recommendations for all the options she could possibly think of.

By the time she got back to Elsa’s apartment, she was completely worn out. She had sat in the parking lot and cried, drove home with her most emotional playlist blasting, and now she wondered if she finally had gotten all of the tears out of her body as she looked at her red and puffy face in the mirror. 

Looking around, she didn’t see Elsa’s car anywhere and sighed with relief. At least she wouldn’t have to face her sister just yet. 

But then she noticed her sisters’ best friends’ beat up truck in the lot and tensed. Why was he here when Elsa wasn’t? 

Wiping at her face again, Anna decided that her bed was all that she wanted, and she could probably just breeze by Kristoff. He was probably out on the balcony or fixing something in the apartment anyway. He probably wouldn’t even notice her.

She took a deep breath and sighed, pushed herself out of her tiny two door coupe, and made her way up to the apartment. She unlocked the door slowly, and tensed when she heard his familiar, deep voice, shouting at the television. 

“Oh, come on, you idiots! That was clearly roughing!”

A loud bark followed his shouts, and she opened the door to him laughing as his dog jumped up on his lap. 

“Geddoff!” He hollered, pushing his mutt off his legs. “You’re not a lap dog and you know it!”

Anna froze when his brown eyes turned up to her, and willed the tears to stay in her eyeballs until she made it to the back bedroom. “Oh, hey!” He started, smiling up at her. But his grin dropped when he looked at her face for a moment too long. “... You okay?”

Her eyes widened and she laughed, waving a hand in front of her face. “Oh, you know,” she mumbled, stepping into the room and closing the door while kicking off her shoes. “Typical female after a breakup. Cry, cry, cry.” Forcing a chuckle from her mouth, Anna pushed her hair back from her face before noticing he wasn’t laughing along with her.

“Do…” Kristoff shifted uncomfortably on the couch before muting the television. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Anna smiled affectionately. There was always a little awkwardness between them - she was just his best friend’s annoying little sister ever since they were in middle school - but she appreciated the effort. He always tried to include her. In fact, he was probably one of her favorite people in the world. But she still didn’t want to burden him.

“Oh, god no,” she laughed, hanging up her coat. “Enjoy your game.”

Kristoff stood up abruptly, almost knocking over the beer he had clearly let sit until it was too warm to be enjoyable. “I can change it… If you want to — I mean,” he stammered, his cheeks flushing. “If you want some company we can watch something else or…” he ruffled his hair between his fingers. “Just… I know you don’t really like to be alone.”

Feeling her whole face soften, Anna nodded after only a moment of hesitation and sat down beside him on the couch. She didn’t even mind that he took up so much space, especially when he draped his arm over the back of it, behind her shoulders, wordlessly offering her some physical comfort if she needed it. He picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels, finding something she might enjoy. 

He found a movie he knew she loved, and sat the remote down with satisfaction.

Anna looked up at him, her heart feeling full, and scooted just an inch closer, tapping the back of his hand with her fingers. His arm lowered over her shoulders, and pulled her a fraction tighter. Her feet rose up to curl under her on the couch, and before she knew it, Anna had started to doze off on his shoulder, pushing closer into the warmth of him.

And then a stupid, stupid idea started to bloom in her head.

[scjacka]

Royal Trepidations (1/1)

Hello. I have written a thing I have been wanting to write for a month. I am v. nervous about this because I haven’t published anything for any fandom in a long ass time but screw it, here we are. Enjoy the fluff! Kristanna   ||   Rated T (innuendo)    ||    ao3 link

Across the room, the dress mannequin stood there, mocking her. Anna sat down on the chest at the end of the bed staring at the elegant black, teal and purple fabric that there was no way was meant fo her. She wasn’t ready.

______________________

Anna hated waking up alone. Try as she might, it was something she couldn’t seem to get over even after the gates had opened. Her half-awake brain would feel the emptiness beside her first and then suddenly be flooded with years of sadness and emptiness and loneliness and her heart would start to race, her breathing turning heavy. Anna would sit up suddenly trying to steady herself, trying to remind herself that she wasn’t in fact alone despite what her foggy brain was telling her. She had friends, she had family, she had open gates and open doors and love all around her. It was still hard even after all this time.

This morning was no exception and as she sat there, the panic finally ebbing, a tiny voice in her head reminded her that today there were more important things to be stressing out about. This particular voice wasn’t ever very helpful.

Anna swung her legs off the bed taking a deep breath before her feet hit the cold wooden floor. She shrugged out of her nightgown and pulled on the dressing robe laid out at the foot of her bed. Anna closed her eyes and ran tired hands up her face and into the mess that was her hair, tangled in knots from a night of fretful and inadequate sleep. When she opened her eyes, all she could manage was another sigh.

Across the room, the dress mannequin stood there, mocking her. Anna sat down on the chest at the end of the bed staring at the elegant black, teal and purple fabric that there was no way was meant for her. She wasn’t ready. She was never going to be ready. The voice told her to just hide in her room for the rest of the day, for the rest of her life even, and everyone else would forget about her and move on and it’d be fine.

Anna stood up suddenly, her stubborn streak finally rearing against the voice. No, this was going to be fine. It was the next right thing. The thing she needed to do next. All she had to do was stand on a stage and follow a few prompts and then it’d be over. She could relax and spend her night dancing with Kristoff and Elsa and stuffing her face with chocolate. Were queens allowed to stuff their faces? Would that end up being the first faux pas of her reign? She’d be known as the impulsive queen of Arendelle for the rest of time. No, she told herself again. That wasn’t going to happen. All she had to do was put on the dress. She knew how to put on a dress. Why was she still not putting on the dress?!

Before she could berate herself further, there was a knock at the door. Anna stood still; her arm wrapped across her chest. Her heart was starting to race again. Between the constant drumming and the voices in her head yelling at each other, she barely heard the door open and barely heard Kristoff call out her name.

“Anna?” he said a second time from just a few inches behind her. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

She jumped slightly at the sudden contact and shook her head trying to rid the thoughts before turning toward him. “Hi,” she said, quietly as if everything was normal.

“Hi, yourself,” Kristoff said, his brow furrowing, “Is everything ok?”

“Of course.“ She lied, kicking herself internally. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

He glowered even further, “Well, I came back from getting Sven ready and Gerda said she’d tried coming by several times but you hadn’t answered.”

“Oh. I must have just missed her.”

“Anna.”

“Kristoff.”

He sighed, “Come on. Something’s up with you?”

Anna looked down, “Is it that obvious?”

Kristoff took a step forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Anna’s arms were still crossed in front of her, but she leaned her head heavily against his chest. They stood there for a moment in silence before Kristoff pulled away enough to look at her. “What can I help you with?”

Anna looked up at him trying not to just let herself get lost in those deep brown eyes. The ones that were currently searching hers for answers. She sighed and lifted her hand and tapped her forehead with her finger.

As soon as she’d lowered her hand, Kristoff pressed a kiss to the spot on her forehead she had touched. A small smile threatened Anna’s lip. “That’s not what I meant.”

He continued to look at her imploringly and Anna pulled away from his arms. It almost physically hurt to give up that comfort but if she didn’t, she was liable to never get through this day. “I just can’t get out of my head."

“I’ll do what I can, but I’m not sure if I can help with that,” he smiled trying to reassure her.

“I know, I just, I don’t know!” She walked back over to the chest and sat down in a huff.

Kristoff followed her but gave her enough space for the thoughts that were clearly surrounding her. “You know you can tell me.”

“I know.”

“And I know you’ve been stressed about today but whatever’s going on now is something more.”

“I know”

“Plus, you know that if you keep whatever this is in, you’re going to explode.”

“I know.”

“So, what’s up?” He asked again, placing a reassuring hand on her knee.

“It’s just…” Anna paused for a second before her brain finally decided to vomit its way out of her mouth. “A few months ago, I feel like everything was so perfect! We were all together and happy… well, I guess Elsa wasn’t completely happy and I don’t blame her at all for that and I know things were bound to change eventually. But-” she stood up again starting to pace in front of him. Each step dislodging another worry from her head. “the next minute we’ve met an entirely new group of people and then my sister and my friend are gone and then I have to sacrifice my home. But wait, no, not actually because Elsa’s alive. Olaf’s alive. Arendelle’s saved! AND THEN, you’re on one knee proposing to me, which obviously isn’t an issue.” She managed to stop for a second and look at him sincerely. “Please don’t ever think that was a problem!” Anna started pacing again “But then Elsa wants me to be queen. Me! Ordinary, spare, second child me. And it’s fine. I love this place I love these people and Elsa’s been here to help get me ready. But I feel like I can’t keep up! I feel like my head is always spinning and everything’s going to come crumbling down at any minute. And then I start to wonder if maybe it would have been better to never open the doors in the first place.”

For his part, Kristoff let her babble on uninterrupted but when she finally stopped, he felt just a little exhausted. “You don’t mean that,” he said gently. “Especially that last part.”

“No! I don’t! I don’t know!” she yelled throwing her hands up in exasperation before sitting back down on the chest again. “I’m just SO tired and I haven’t even really started this yet!”

“You’re tired,” he teased.

“Oh hush, I mean it.”

“I know! I’m agreeing with you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re making fun of my inability to do anything but babble.”

“I’m not… well, maybe a little.”

“Kristoff!”

“What?” he said, but she was back to sullenly looking at the ground again. Kristoff reached over and took her hands in his. “Look, I get it. This is all crazy and new and, frankly, weird. But hey,” he said, tilting her head up so she’d look at her. “You’re the one who brags about climbing the north mountain, surviving a frozen heart and saving your sister. How can this be any harder than all that?!”

“I say a lot of things. Why is that the one you decide to take to heart?”

“Hey! I take everything you say to heart. And I know this is a lot but you’ve got this! Literally, all you have to do today is stand on a stage and smile and hold a scepter and a ball thingy and then you’re done. We can work out everything else that comes up next together.”

She knew he was right. Knowing he was going to be by her side and working with her through all of this was one of her only comforts. “But what if-“ she paused for a second not wanting to say her biggest fear out loud, “What if I can’t live up to what they did”

“Who?”

“Elsa, my mother, my father… I guess not my grandfather, but you know what I mean. What if I can’t live up to everything that’s come before? What if I can’t be as great and benevolent and just as they all were.”

Anna tried to look away again but he followed her gaze making her look back up at him. “Anna, you’re the most kind, wonderful, thoughtful person I’ve ever met. You don’t have to live up to anything anyone else has ever been because you’re insanely uniquely you and you’re going to be the most amazing queen Arendelle could ever hope to have. You know more about these people and this place than anyone else has or will. You care SO much about everyone and everything that there’s no way you can fail.”

Anna bit her lip still managing to hold eye contact with him despite wanting to look away. “When did you get so good at pep talks?”

“I learned it from watching you.” He smiled at her. “That’s another reason you’ll make such a good queen.”

Anna finally allowed herself to smile just a little bit but it dropped again when she looked over again at the dress form still staring at her. “I guess all I have to do is get dressed.” Wordlessly, Kristoff helped her get to her feet. They walked back to the other side of the room, his hand on the small of her back as both a reassurance and a way to stop her from escaping. When they reached the offending garment, Anna let out another sigh, “Why is that dress so terrifying?”

“Anna, I know you believe that, but it’s really not. It’s made for you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and leaning down closer to her ear, “It’s not your mother’s. It’s not Elsa’s. It’s yours. And you’re going to wear it, it’s not going to wear you.”

Anna felt her chest tighten slightly. Sometimes she wondered what she had ever done to deserve him. She leaned her head back against his chest. “That’s easy for you to say.”

Kristoff pulled away suddenly almost causing her to fall backward. When she looked over her shoulder there was a playful smile on his face. “Prove it! Go put it on. Unless you’re chicken.”

“Really?”

“I mean, it sounds to me like you’re being a big chicken. You’re gonna let a dumb fancy dress be the boss of you.”

Anna smirked. She deserved every second she got with this dork. Taking another deep breath, she started to walk past him toward the dress, “Promise me you’ll stay here?”

“Always,” he said catching her hand as she passed and pressing a kiss to the top of it. Anna steeled herself and pulled the dress up over the form. She ignored the tiny voice this time and just tried to concentrate on what Kristoff had said. She could do this.

Behind the dressing screen, she managed to change out of her robe, into her undergarments, and, with only slightly shaking hands, step into the dress. The process felt like it took forever and like she was moving in slow motion, but finally, she had everything in place. Readjusting the neckline and smoothing out her skirt, she took another deep breath.

“I’m coming out,” she finally declared.

“I’m waiting,” he called back in a sing-song voice.

“Kristoff.”

“Anna.”

“Fine!” She huffed. Slowly and carefully, mostly for fear of tripping on her own cape, she made her way out past the partition. After a few more steps, she finally looked up and met Kristoff’s gaze. He was just staring at her, mouth partially open but no words coming out. Anna suddenly felt far more self-conscious than before. “Please say something.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper and her eyes fell back down to her hands that had started rubbing nervously against each other.

Suddenly, Kristoff had closed the distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her in that firm comforting embrace that made her melt. She stood strong though, despite wanting to crumple to the ground. He leaned closer to her ear again and simply whispered, “Wow!”

Anna felt a tingle go through her as he leaned down and place a firm but sweet kiss against her lips. “Are you sure we can’t just stay here?” she asked as he pulled away.

“As much as it pains me, no,” he sighed. “You need to finish getting ready.”

Anna suddenly remembered the disastrous state of every other part of her that wasn’t clothed.

“Come’er,” he said sensing her starting to panic again and pulling her over toward the vanity. He led her over to the bench seat and gently sat her down. Anna stared at her reflection in the mirror. She fiddled again with the neck of the dress her fingers resting on the gold leaf pattern embroidered on the bodice. The pattern that was on all of her clothing. The pattern that was hers.

Kristoff was right. She wasn’t Elsa. She wasn’t her mother. She was her normal bed-headed mess of a self, but this time in a much nicer dress. She was a woman who loved her home and her people and her family more than anything. She was Anna of Arendelle. And, finally, for once that was enough.

Kristoff reached past her and grabbed a silver brush from the top of the vanity. He slowly and carefully brushed it through her tangled locks matting them down smoothly. Anna closed her eyes relaxing into his touch. Breathing for maybe the first time in the last few months.

During a wine-fueled late-night chat when they had first started dating, Kristoff had sheepishly admitted that Bulda had taught him how to style hair when he was growing up. After a few failed attempts, Kristoff blaming it on troll foliage being different than actual human hair, he had become quite adept at styling even Anna’s most complicated hair-dos. He had taken his role as secret royal hairdresser very seriously from then on.

Anna’s breathing continued to slow and finally calm as he started weaving the intricate crown braid across her head. Kristoff finished around the back, pulling the rest of her hair up into a tight knot of a bun. She opened her eyes for a moment, reaching down to hand him the hairpins in front of her.

He pinned the whole thing in place making sure it would keep secure but not be too tight. He stood back for a second looking over his work before nodding his approval and looking up to meet her eyes in the mirror. Anna was smiling. Finally, really smiling and Kristoff couldn’t help but beam back at her. “There’s my girl,” He said leaning down and kissing the exposed skin on her shoulder. Anna leaned her head against his sighing contently. “Or I guess I should say, my queen” he whispered into her ear.

Anna immediately pulled away from him, but she was still smiling. “That’s never not going to sound so weird!!!”

“Well you’re going to have to get used to it,” he said, picking her up off the bench in one smooth motion and spinning her around.

“My queen. My queen. My queen!!!” he said over and over punctuating each proclamation with a kiss to her face, her head, her shoulder and any other bit of her he could catch. A melody of giggles spilled out of her as she feigned trying to escape but enjoyed every second. She finally caught his lips with hers and made him devote the kisses to just one target.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The couple nearly jumped apart having all but forgotten the more pressing matters of the day. Anna cleared her throat before responding with a “yes?”

The door opened slightly revealing Gerda’s face. She smiled when she saw the two, probably more relieved that Anna was actually ready for the day than anything else. “Princess Anna, the Queen… I mean Elsa… Your sister has arrived.”

“Thank you,” Anna said, “Please send her up.”

Gerda nodded again and closed the door behind her. Anna spun on her heels back toward Kristoff. “I should probably go get ready,” he said. “Gotta make sure Olaf hasn’t destroyed anything yet. Plus, it’s time for you to get your ultimate Elsa pep talk.”

Anna furrowed her brow at him “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

It was her turn to close the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. “I just got the ‘ultimate pep talk’!”

“Yeah, but I know Elsa…”

She pulled apart enough to move her hand up and put a finger to her lips to silence him, “I know what you’re going to say and stop it. Your reassurance means just as much to me as hers, maybe more sometimes.”

Kristoff took her hand in his and wrapped her in that warm embrace again. “I’m just sorry I can’t be up there by your side.”

“It’s fine. I know it has to just be me and Elsa. But I also know you’re there and that’s all I need. When I think about that, I know I’m not alone, even when I’m by myself.” She reached up and kissed him, “And you’ll be stuck with me all night anyway. You’re the only person on my dance card”

“Speaking of things we have to get through,” Kristoff said, gulping nervously.

Anna laughed again, “Look, stand by my side, dance with me, sneak me chocolate and then we’ll figure out what to do for the after-party.”

“Afterparty?”

“I mean, I’ve already convinced Elsa to watch Olaf tonight and Ryder to look after Sven so it’ll just be the two of us. I should really repay you for the confidence boost,“ she said snaking her arm up around her neck with a sly smile. “I’m sure I can come up with something,”

Kristoff turned an interesting shade of red and started to stammer before Anna pulled him down and kissed him in a way that let him know exactly what she had in mind.

[kristannarubbish]

The Comic and the Bartender

.[A/N] Hey peeps! I decided to write a 1950scomedian!anna au because I was inspired by this post from @awesomemaple and I’ve been wanting to write a 1950s Kristanna au for awhile. I also love The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel  I hope you all enjoy!!!

[A/N 2] I know I can do better with titles but it’s 1 AM and I have class tomorrow

Rated: M? (There’s cursing and lots of innuendo, along with some violence/blood)

WC: 2.8k

Pairing: Kristanna (as always)

Anna wiped her pale hands down the full skirt of her green dress as she sat in the back corner of the bar. Her hands were clammy as she always were before a set. Even though she plays at her favorite dingy downtown bar at least once a week and is well loved there, those stage fright nerves still come and bite a good half hour before she goes on. Pulling her magenta leather notebook from her purse, Anna took a deep breath as an attempt to center herself. She opened it up and caught a glimpse of the first page where she had scribbled out the word COMEDY in bold black letters. 

Kristoff ducked behind the bar and got to work. Before he knew it, there were people asking left and right for different concoctions of alcohol. Sven had the shift before him and he was a real slacker, always telling people he would “get to them in a minute,” but never actually did. It was a small venue but damn, did people downtown like to drink. But when he got a free moment, he glanced over at Anna, a comedian who claimed this as her home club, and give her a thumbs up when she eventually caught him looking at her. She would flash him a million dollar smile and he would blush. He felt like a school boy.  

Kristoff loved helping Anna with her sets. Some days, he would look forward to coming to work just so she could test a few new jokes out on him, even if they needed work at first. There was nothing he loved more than when they would be alone before the club opened, while she had worked on some new jokes on the stage with him as her only audience member. 

“And that is how I got kicked out of my first- and last- Debutante ball!” Anna announced with a smile to her single-person audience earlier that day. Her ending was a tad shaky, but she always got a little nervous around Kristoff. She didn’t know why but she could get in front of hundreds of people no problem but he always shook her up like a snow globe.

“A-Anna…” Kristoff said coming off of a big laugh. She was hilarious. He calmed down and looked at her nervously, “Anna that joke will get you arrested.”

“I know,” she said with an alarmingly light air, “but it’ll be worth it.”

He sighed while shaking his head. A chuckle escaped his lips as he pushed down the warm feeling in his chest. He just didn’t want to see her get hurt. 

Kristoff had seen comics from all over New York, but he knew she had something special. Knowing this, he had tried not to get too hung up on her. She was going to make it big, and everyone who saw her knew that.

After exchanging smiles with Kristoff, her favorite bartender, Anna directed her attention back to her leather bound notebook. She carefully reviewed her set as she had a time or two before this moment, she liked to keep herself fresh, and tried desperately not to dwell too much on exactly what she was going to say. Overthinking usually equated bombing to her, which was not convenient for a worrier like herself. The feisty redhead liked to have the words just flow out of her, most of the time that worked in favor, and other times it certainly did not. The walls of the 8th Precinct’s holding cell were only slightly familiar to her.

In 1957, a comic’s use of free speech was not exactly favored by the law, much less a woman comic’s use of free speech. Just the fact that Anna Arendelle was a woman on a stage that wasn’t singing and doing a little dance already had the police ready at the door, eyeing her, just waiting for her to say one small obscene thing. 

It drove her mad.

In that moment, while lost in thought, Anna felt a tap on her shoulder. “Anna?” The club’s runner, Mattias snapped her out of her own little world with a slight smile. He was like a father figure to her, considering he was the one to get her to start doing comedy in the first place, and her real father was stuck in the haze of New York’s finest socialites. “Anna, you’re up after this guy,” He pointed to a man on stage doing some somber slam poetry that somehow involved a slide whistle and a set of bongos. She chuckled and gave him a nod. 

To get her mind off of overthinking her set, she touched up her nude pink lipstick and straightened out the skirt of her dress. For a woman comic, being pretty was a part of the job. If you didn’t look presentable that day, you automatically weren’t funny.

Before she knew it, time was up and Mattias was on the stage smiling at her, “Without further ado, the funny lady we all know and love here at The North Mountain, Anna Arendelle everybody!” The crowd erupted the applause and whistles as she climbed up onto the small stage at the intimate venue. Kristoff had let out a “Go Anna!” from behind the bar. She smiled at him and waved at him shyly with flushed cheeks. He turned as red as a beet.

Anna hid her slight nervousness behind a smile as she took the microphone in her hand. “Good evening downtown!” The crowd let out their last few cheers as Anna began her set.

“So believe it or not I used to be a debutante,” she paused, “yeah, let’s say I’m not surprised that doesn’t get a response downtown.” People giggled, and she beamed. It got her started. “My father is some- well I don’t know what my father actually does. Do any of us know what our father’s actually do? I mean everyone has probably asked what their fathers do for a living and they’ll usually just go,” Anna put on a deep, gruff voice, ‘You wouldn’t understand’.” She put a confused look on, switching back to her normal voice, “I see some of the people in the audience have never experienced this, well that my friend, is because you are men. And work is men to men talk. But do you know what isn’t men to men talk? A debutante ball. All the men have to do with that is hand the checkbook to their wives. Which is an unfortunate societal standard for women, but I did not come here tonight to lecture you all the sexism that is pervasive in our society.”

There were always people rushing to the bar for a drink on Saturday nights, but all of that stopped when Anna got on stage. She captivated everyone’s attention with a single smile. Including Kristoff’s. With no one bugging him for an extra dry martini or another pint of beer, he could put all his undivided attention on her. She looked gorgeous up there with her fiery red hair and eyes as blue and vibrant as the sky on a warm spring day. Sometimes, she would look over at him for reassurance and his stomach would suddenly be home to hundreds of butterflies. He always tried his best to give her a thumbs up and a smile. She would press on and he would continue to be captivated by her. 

“So the whole thing with a Debutante Ball is everyone has to seem as perfect as possible even though we know all know everyone’s families are utter messes, like how Rachel was definitely sleeping with her dog sitter and her husband didn’t know. Or how my best friend Olaf single handedly spent over a thousand dollars of his daddy’s money in one day. Or how I was the most obscene Debutante in the history of New York City.” the crowd laughed along with her.

“Or at least I was in comparison to my sister, Elsa. You see my sister is the most… hmm, what's a good word… stoic! Yes, that’s a good word, the most stoic person I have ever met. She just does what she is supposed to and moves on. Like a normal person. I am incapable of that, however. I would constantly be making quote unquote ‘inappropriate jokes’ about people I shouldn’t have been. Well, jokes on them, that’s what I do for a living now!” Everyone laughed along with her, which was no surprise. In that moment, officers arrived at the door. Anna didn’t notice at first, but Kristoff did, he automatically was braced himself for the worst. His happy disposition switched to one of a gruff bartender.

“Officers!” Anna said, making the audience whistle, “You arrived just in time, I’m getting to the good stuff!” They took a step towards the stage, “Ah ah ah! I haven’t said anything obscene yet.” They grumbled and waited, handcuffs at the ready. Kristoff kept his eyes locked on them. She wouldn’t purposefully be more obscene, would she?

“Anyway! Before I was rudely interrupted,” the crowd laughs in response. They weren’t the ones about to get arrested, so it wasn’t their problem. Anna looked over at Kristoff as he mouthed the words “be careful” with pleading eyes. A flame shot up in her chest. Why did he make her feel this way? She couldn’t decide what to do, but she went with her gut. She kept going. It was almost too late now anyway.

“Let’s make a long story short, I had a fling with the man of the Military Academy escorting me,” the crowd ooo-ed and aah-ed at a woman being so upfront with her sexuality. The officers warmed up their handcuffs in the doorway. Kristoff had heard this joke before, but it was still a little shocking. I mean, he had sex with other people too, so it wouldn’t be a problem if they decided- what was he thinking?! She is going to be a star, not… getting together with me, he thought. There are more important things to worry about right now.

“I’m still not sure how it happened, we were at the rehearsal ball and he said to me: ‘You look gorgeous in white’ and I said ‘I think you’d be gorgeous with your clothes off’.” The crowd gasped and laughed. The officers approached the stage and Anna braced herself, starting to skirt away from them a bit. “My mouth has always been great at moving faster than my mind, if you couldn’t tell. And in case you’re wondering, he thought so too.” Kristoff laughed but watched nervously from behind the bar.

Anna made her way around the club, mic still in hand as the officers gave her slight chase, “If it makes anyone feel any better, he then continued to screw me over for a year afterwards! In more ways than one! Neither of them good! I’m Anna Arendelle, goodnight!” The crowd stood up and erupted with cheers for her, which she had to admit, still felt good despite the circumstances.

The cops finally grabbed her by the arms as she slowed down, and they put her in handcuffs, causing her to drop the mic on the floor without warning. The audience continued to cheer despite them roughing her up, her updo coming undone. She screamed as they tugged at her hair by “accident.”

How are the cheering? Kristoff thought as he ducked from behind the bar. “Anna!” He called out from the other side of the dim club. Without thinking, he ran over to the situation, ripping the officer off Anna. “Don’t touch her like that!” He shouted in his face as he punched the officer in the nose. Anna gasped along with the rest of the bar.

“Kristoff!” Mattias shouted from behind the podium, “Damnit!” Mattias ran to the fallen microphone, over all the commotion, “Give us one moment for technical difficulties!” Before he could do anything, Kristoff was already in handcuffs next to Anna. Mattias couldn’t help but facepalm.

“I see you want to take a trip down to the station with your little chickadee here!” The officer shouted in his face.

“I am not a chickadee!” Anna struggled to get the words out as she was a bit out of breath. Kristoff was a bit taken aback that she didn’t say he wasn’t his chickadee. Kristoff, more important things to worry about, and she’s not your chickadee anyway! He thought to himself.

Before they knew it, Anna and Kristoff were in the back of a cop car together, in uncomfortable silence. The car smelled like cheap fake leather seats and marijuna. He really stood up for me, Anna smiled at the thought, then over at him. She couldn’t say she was surprised, Kristoff was the kindest, most caring man she had ever met.  

“Thank you,” Anna mouthed at him, softening the harshness of the shared silence. 

“Anytime, feisty pants,” He mouthed then smiled back. Little did they know, both of their hearts were bursting and their stomachs full of butterflies. She didn’t know someone standing up for her for her could feel so... nice. She had always been defending herself as a woman comic. 

When they got to the fluorescent lit 8th Precinct, the two officers- one with a dried bloody nose, had made the mistake of putting the two of them in holding cells next to each other. The two of them sat next to each other on cold, metal benches with only a cold set of bars separating them. 

They talked the night away, Anna rambling on, cracking joke after joke, while Kristoff played along and would even joke with her. Both of them were suddenly more nervous around the other- well more than normal anyway. 

Anna could not stop thinking about how handsome he looked in this light, well in every light actually. Along with that, her mind would not stop racing with how amazing he was to her. Oh my God, do I like him? She thought. Jesus, of course I do! Oh God, oh fuck. What if he doesn’t like me back? For once, her mind was moving faster than her mouth.

Kristoff could not get over how gorgeous her hair looked down. He didn’t think he had ever seen it down. He was imagining seeing in down every morning waking up by her side, but then soon chased the thought away with the same reminder he had been giving himself for months that she was going to be big one day, and didn’t have time for someone like him.

As the two of them snickered and kept having instances of longing eye contact, or their hands brushing through the bars, a new officer came in to unlock their cells. “Your bail has been posted,” he sighed.

Anna smiled at him, “Thank you Daniel.” Kristoff didn’t know if he should chuckle or be concerned at the fact that she had been here enough times to know the guards name.

The two of them walked down the stairs, giggling and joking just as they had all night, just to stop dead in their tracks at the sight of Mattias. After a moment of silence, both of them started profoundly apologizing at the same time. 

Before either of you say anything,” he stopped them from speaking further, “I’m not mad, I think both of you did the right thing. But just know that this came out of both of your paychecks. I’ll see you both tonight. On time.” He softened his face and smiled, “I’m proud.” And without another word, Mattias left. That was probably for the best.

They glanced at each other. Anna looked up at the light pouring through the windows. It was already morning. 

“Hey, are you hungry by any chance? Do you want to get breakfast?” Anna played with her fingers and looked up at him with a soft face, “like… not as friends?” She paused, reading his face. “W-wait! Not like, we’re not friends but like… we’re more than friends? I didn’t mean to-”

“Anna, that sounds amazing,” Kristoff felt his stomach do a happy backflip, “I would love nothing more.” He held out his hand for her at the exit. “Are you ready?”

Anna nodded eagerly and took his hand, “Yeah, I’m ready.” They both had a feeling she was talking about more than breakfast. “I told you getting arrested was worth it.”

[kristoffsloveisntfragile]

Snow Day Spent Shoveling Away. Part 1

Rating: T (some swears, kissing scenes, mostly fluff)

Pairing: Kristoff/Anna

Summary: Modern AU; Anna calls Kristoff in desperation, as she needs to shovel her apartment complex’s front and back steps, along with the sidewalks in the front of the building. It was a promise she made to her sister that the landlord needed help with the incoming storm, but she went away for the weekend for her job. Her being the procrastinator she is, its the last day she has to do it and the snow is piled up. Will they be able to do it in time?

Notes: If you saw my tumblr post (a while back-sorry about that) when I shoveled the snow on the first snow day in my state, it read that I had a fanfiction idea brewing in my head the whole time I was shoveling. This is my first real time that I’m writing Kristanna fanfiction, I’ve written little stuff in the past, but it never made it past my notebooks/laptop. So this is the real first published piece. I hope you enjoy! (also i really tried with the title, idk if I like it still but there you go lol.)

~~~

*Vvv* *Vvv*…*Vvv* *Vvv*

Kristoff’s phone would not stop going off. He would answer it in a heartbeat too, if he wasn’t in a deep nap.

Soon enough though, his phone kept buzzing to the point it didn’t stop, and that woke him up. Being confused as to where the noise was coming from, he rubbed his eyes and face to shake the sleep out of his body. He found his phone slowly moving on the coffee table next to the couch he was on, being annoyed, thinking it was work trying to call him in. But it wasn’t, he looked at who was texting him and who were the missed calls from. All 43 messages and 4 missed called, all were from Anna.

Now 44 messages.

“Krisssss!!!!!!! WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING?!?!?!?!”

He chuckled, what could he possibly be dragged into now?

He sat up and dialed her up and put the phone to his ear. “Hey Anna, what do yo-”

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, I NEED YOUR HELP BADLY IM GONNA DIE I’M IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!!-”

“Woah, woah, woah, relax...and what? What’s going on why are you in trouble?” Kristoff said with genuine concern, even though he knew Anna is probably just being overdramatic and she’ll be fine with his help.

“Oh my God, so basically this weekend Elsa told me that I needed to shovel the front and back stairs because our landlord is off on vacation for something this weekend, and Elsa would’ve helped too but she also has to go away too for her job or whatever, so she left just me in charge, but I completely forgot about it until right now and she gets back in the morning and she’s gonna KILL ME if she finds out I didn’t do anything this weekend!!!!” Anna rambled on.

Kristoff was still trying to process everything she said, you know, seeing how he just came out of a nap. He took his free hand and ran it through his hair, knowing what she was going to ask of him to do, but still curious how much a job it was going to be.

“So anyway….can you come over and help me shovel the front and back stairs?” Anna asked, but held back a little, thinking that he was going to say no and she’ll just have to suffer and do it herself.

He sighed a little, hopefully not too loud or too long for her to hear, and said “Yeah, give me 5-10 mins and I’ll be over.” He started to get up to put on his jacket and boots, when he heard a squeal through the phone and a resounding “THANK YOU SO MUCH KRISTOFF I LOVE Y-..SEE YOU SOON!!!” And she hung up. He smiled as he put the phone in his pocket and continued putting on his shoes.

His smile grew bigger as he realized that she started to say “I love you.” He was sure that it was just in a friendly way, because he was also sure that Anna didn’t feel the same way as he did. That thought made him go sour so he decided to stop thinking about it.

Oh well.. at least he still gets to spend time with her, right?

~~~

Kristoff drove to Anna’s apartment and took a space in the parking lot. Anna was patiently waiting in the hall inside the apartment to get started, and saw that he was pulling in and ran out the door to see him.

He got out of the truck and was instantly met with a leaping Anna, somehow managing to get through the snow that was up to her calf, jumping into him and hugging him and saying “Thank you so much again for doing this with me!” Anna let go of Kristoff, even though he barely had time to give back the hug. “I was literally going to breakdown and cry if I had to do this by myself.” Anna looked into Kristoff’s eye with grateful eyes.

“Well, you know me, always here to help.” He shrugged and then laughed, she joined the laugh, and quickly turned around to go back to the front hall and get the shovels, and he followed.

“So is it just these steps and the back?” Kristoff asked over the wind as it started to pick up.“Yeah, and maybe just a little bit of the sidewalk, so there can be a path for the people so they can get to the parking lot.” She said with a little uncertainty in her voice, still hoping Kristoff wouldn’t back out of it this early into it. But he still was going with it, like he said, he was there to help.

Anna went back into the hall and got the two heavy duty shovels “We’ll get different ones when we have to do the stairs, seeming how they’ll be smaller.” Anna turned to Kristoff and handed him a shovel. Kristoff looked at what they had to do and back to Anna. It was just flurrying out, and some snowflakes were gently placed on her hair, and scattered all across her hat. And you couldn’t tell from a quick glance, but since Kristoff was already looking, he could see the flakes that landed on her eyelashes and some on her cheeks, but some had melted, probably because of her warmth, Kristoff assumed.

Anna was gazing out at what they had to get done, and suddenly got a boost of confidence and said, “We can do this, it won’t be that long!” Anna jumped down the stairs. Kristoff was more worried if she was going to hurt herself with all this snow and possible black ice underneath.

“What area should I focus on?” Kristoff asked.

“Uh, from here to here,” she pointed to a section of the snow to the street, “That’s the sidewalk, and of course right here, so you know, you don’t have to jump from the stairs to the sidewalk. And a little pathway over there,” pointing to where they trudged through earlier, “So people can get  to the parking lot.” She finished with a worry look creeping up on her free. Kristoff knew to her it looked like it was more than she can chew.

“Hey, it’s gonna be fine. I’ll start the sidewalk, why don’t you do the stairs here.” Kristoff suggested as he went down the stairs.

“Oh the easier work, huh?” Anna pouted but still had a hint of a smirk, and came close to Kristoff, like she was trying to intimidate him.

“Well do you wanna be sore doing all the more tough work?” Kristoff smirked back.

“...No.” Anna scrunched up her face and went to the stairs.

They started their section and were pretty quiet as they were just trying to get all this work over with. Up until Anna came across a bump in the ...snow

“Ugh I hate it when this happens…” Anna kept at it trying to do it up. Kristoff looked over and admired the hard work she put into the stairs so far.

Anna started chipping away the block with her shovel until she decided to use her hands. Dropping the shovel, crouching, she began pawing at it like a dog. Kristoff chuckled and came over to help, dropping his shovel in the snow too.

“Here, try this…” Kristoff lined the block, dogging at the edges to separate it from the ground. Anna decided to let him have it. Almost thinking, ‘Less work for me though, right?’ And then she caught glimpse of Kristoff face. They’d been out there for sometime so his cheeks and nose were a rosy pink. Anna admired it, it looked like he was constantly blushing, and she thought it was cute. She didn’t realize she was staring for so long until finally got the block separated from the stair.

“Ah, there we go.” Kristoff gasped, then lifted the snow block. It was as big as Kristoff’s chest.

“Well no wonder I couldn’t get it, it’s as big as you!” Anna exclaimed. Kristoff rolled his eyes, “Thanks.” then laughed and tossed the block to the pile that both him and Anna started.

“I mean that in a good way. Why do you think I asked for your help? You’re the strongest man I know. And look.. You’ve got most of it done! I say that’s a job well done. “ Anna rambled on, probably saying more than needed.

“...Thanks Anna.” Anna couldn’t tell if he was actually blushing now, but it definitely put a smile on his face. He retrieved his shovel and went back to it.

Anna smiled too, but then realized that she made it sound like she was using him...she hoped he actually got the compliment she was trying to give. She turned to see him work, bit her lip, but turned to get back to the stairs.

Another while passed and both of them were at a point where they couldn’t stop sniffing from the sold and they were fatigued so much they were breathing heavily.

For her, Anna took one big sniff and breath and got the last piece off the stairs to the other big pile.

“Agh, yes I finished the steps!” Anna didn’t have the energy to jump around and be happy, she was breathing heavily, but very relieved. Kristoff was looking at her and did have a smile, but it was an exhausted one from the work he had done. He got the sidewalk to be visible but he had barely started on the pile in front of the stairs.

“Oh right, well let’s get this part, I guess.” the excitement dying in her voice. But then she looked to Kristoff where he was stretching his lower back, and then his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Anna asked with concern in her voice and face.

“Hm? Oh yeah, it just gets a little tiring after a while.” He was still stretching his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel it too.” Anna stretched her back and the sound of cracking went all down her back. “Damn…And my hands are like, stiff from the shovel.” She stretched out her fingers too.

Kristoff sympathized and then really looked at Anna. She was pretty bundled up, but he could tell she was starting to freeze. He was thinking about just taking a rest, but he knew Anna would flip and say they have to get it done before the night is over. It was already starting to get dark out, and they still had the back stairs to do. They were both starting to get a little worried.

Then all of a sudden, an idea he wish he thought of earlier, came to him.

“Oh my God,” He started to laugh at himself as he was patting his jacket for his phone.

“What?” Anna asked.

He found his phone and headed to the hall in the building, and found the person he needed and called them. Anna was confused as ever, but a hint of worry as she hoped nothing bad was happening and he had to leave her to the rest.

“Hello?” A voice came through the phone.

“Hey, Sven!” Kristoff happily replied. “Hey, are you still at work?”

“About to clock out, what’s up?” Sven asked.

“Well, I’m here with Anna helping shovel her apartment building and stairs and such. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming by with one of your plow trucks and help us out?” Anna’s face changed to pure happiness as she realized he was getting help.

“Yeah! That’s no problem at all! I have to take one home anyway to do my own driveway.” Sven replied an Kristoff was relieved he could help.

“Oh man, thank you so much, I owe you one!” Kristoff said.

“Awe, no you don’t… or maybe, I haven’t decided yet.” Sven laughed. “Just give me the address and I’ll be there 5-10 minutes.”

Kristoff was giving the address as Anna was bouncing next to him, being so happy that he did this.

“Alright I’ll be there soon, bye!” Sven said and hung up, and Kristoff put the phone away from his ear but immediately got attacked by Anna’s hug.

She jumped and hugged him and wrapped her legs around his waist and tightly squeezed. “Thank you Kristoff Bjorgman! I am in you debt!” She basically screamed into his ear. Kristoff returned the hug, mostly just to keep her from falling, but he was blessed with this hug, he felt like.

God only knows how long they hugged for. After a minute or two it wasn’t in excitement of getting help, it was just them wanting to hold each other. They soon realized it could get awkward any minute so they let go of each other, Kristoff putting Anna to the floor, but both of their hands still on each other. Anna’s on his shoulders, still sliding slowly to his chest, Kristoff’s on Anna’s waist. They looked at each other, both smiling and both looking deep into each other’s eyes.

‘Is this really happening?’ Kristoff and Anna thought, probably at the same time.

Anna cleared her throat as another thought entered her mind, deterring them from anymore thoughts of Kristoff.

Kristoff was concerned about why she looked away so fast, but it was probably for the best that they stopped what they were doing.

“Uh, how long do you expect until Sven gets here?” Anna asked, refocused on the task both of them were there for.

“Uh, let’s see…” He checked his phone and saw the call time was about 3 minutes ago. “It’s only been 3 minutes, he said about 5-10, so probably not that much longer.” He said

“Hm, well we still have to do the backstairs, but these shovels are too big for them, there’s more shovels in the basement. I’ll be right back.” She went to the door that leads to the basement.

Kristoff looked out the window to see if Sven would arrive soon. But he got lost in his own thoughts about how Anna’s mood totally shifted, like something in her head just switched. But that would’ve been a perfect moment for him to kiss her. God how he wanted to kiss her. They were practically close enough that a swift movement would close the space and seal the deal. But it didn’t happen. Would it ever happen? He wouldn’t know and don't know when he will.

Anna came back with two smaller shovels, definitely made for stair shoveling and waited with Kristoff by the window. It wasn’t long until Sven came, he parked by the sidewalk as Kristoff and Anna were coming out of the hall, met by the even colder wind than before.

“Hey guys!” Sven had a big bright smile on his face that you couldn’t help but smile too.

“Hey!” they said in almost unison.

“So where exactly do you need the snow to go?” Sven asked them.

“Well, I need this pile and pathway clear, and a path to get to the parking lot end to the back stairs.” Anna gestured with each place she needed plowed.

“Easy work! It’ll be done in no time!” Sven got out of park and went to work, and Anna and Kristoff went back on the stairs to get out of the way.

Usually plowing in a pretty small and enclosed space like Anna’s apartment is hard, but Sven made it look easy.They marveled at the job and were happy to see the black/grayish stone ground again.

Anna was beaming, but that didn’t stop her from being cold. Her teeth started to chatter and soon the cold air slipped into her jacket. She shivered for a bit.

Kristoff noticed her shiver, and asked “Are you cold?”

She looked up at him, “A little…” and then back at Sven’s works. Kristoff debated it it would be weird if he hugged her so she would be warm. But she seemed a little distant ever since earlier. He decided against it.

Sven stopped and called out to Anna through the passenger window. “Hey Anna, how much of a path you want?”

Anna walked over and looked down where the parking lot and the side of the building was. “Just do your best to get it all the way down, but make sure to put the snow in that corner. It’s a parking spot, but no one uses it.” She said to Sven.

“Gotcha!” Sven started up again, and Kristoff came over to observe.

Sven and his truck worked like magic, he got the parking lot done in no time. He drove up to Anna and Kristoff and said, “All done!”

Anna jumped in happiness. “Yay! Thank you so much Sven, you shaved off a couple hours for us!” Anna exclaimed.

“It was no problem at all. Well, I gotta do my own home now, see you guys later.” He stuck his hand out to shake Kristoff’s hand, which he reached out to meet it.

“See you soon and thanks again.” And with that, Sven drove off.

“Well we still have the back stairs. That won’t take long, let’s go!” She said with enthusiasm in her voice.

“I see your excited again.” Kristoff followed her where she was getting the shovels.

“Yeah, because when we’re done, we can have hot chocolate! Now, I can’t wait!” Anna bounced her way to the back of the building.

Kristoff chuckled, then realized, ‘..We?..’

[thecassadilla]

Written in the Stars - Chapter 1

Word Count: 3,328/AO3

Pairing: Kristanna

Love During Lockdown Series: Serendipity (Prologue) 

Summary: Figuring out how to go on an in-person date during a time of social distancing would be a challenge for anyone. Luckily, it comes easy to Anna and Kristoff, who find a creative way to spend some time with each other amidst a pandemic.

Author’s Note: Well, I’m back again. If you remember, a few weeks back, I wrote a one-shot about Anna and Kristoff meeting during the pandemic because their deliveries got sent to each other’s addresses by mistake. I added that it had the possibility of being expanded, and ta-da! I’ve linked that fic above. I highly recommend reading that fic before this one, but you do you. I can’t believe I followed through, for the first time ever. This was interesting to write because, well, I had to imagine what an appropriate, in-person date would be like right now. This is going to be three or so chapters, but again, has the possibility of being expanded upon! I hope you enjoy it!

In the days immediately following their initial conversation, Anna found herself carrying her phone everywhere with her. She didn’t want to miss out on a single text from Kristoff. They hadn’t had much contact in the week since their chat - from what she had gathered about him, he definitely seemed to be on the shyer side; despite this, and the pandemic that was practically prohibiting them from meeting in person, she was hopeful that everything would work out and they would have a real opportunity to talk. There was just something about him and their interaction that was different, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. 

Suffice to say, when he called her out of the blue on Saturday afternoon, just over a week since they’d met for the first time, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

“Hello?” She answered, breathlessly.

“Hey,” he responded, and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was smiling. “How are you?”

“I’m great, how are you?”

“I’m doing alright, thanks for asking. Uh, so I know this is going to sound kind of weird, but I haven’t started my car in almost a month and I’m kind of worried that the battery is going to die,” he explained. “I was wondering if you wanted to go for a car ride in a little while? I know it’s short notice and it would be bad social distancing, but -”

“Absolutely,” she cut him off, sounding a little too eager. “I can wear a mask if you’re uncomfortable.”

“No - I mean, you can bring it. I’m going to bring one, too, but you said you haven’t left your apartment in a while, right?”

“I haven’t left in almost two months,” she answered.

“Same here, so I think it would be safe? As long as we’re in the car, and you’re okay with it?”

“I’m totally fine with that,” she said, again fearing that she was going to come off as desperate.

“And...if you want, we can get take-out or stop by a drive-through or something? I know it’s kind of inappropriate, and ideally we’d be going to a sit-down restaurant, but...you know.”

“That would be wonderful,” she assured him. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was worried about not impressing her, because it sure sounded like he was asking her on a first date. The situation they were in was certainly not his fault, though, and the fact that he was still trying regardless of that made her weak in the knees. “What time were you thinking?”

“Um, an hour or so? Or we can meet up later if that’s too soon?”

“No, that’s perfect. I’m dying to get out of this apartment and see a person other than my sister,” she giggled.

“Oh!” He said, sounding a little surprised. “Me too, except with my roommate.”

“I can’t wait,” she said, smiling. “Where should we meet?”

“By the entrance to the building?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll see you in an hour!”

“See you then,” he said, before hanging up the phone.

She was so excited that she wanted to scream. She immediately jumped off the bed and began to tear her room to shreds - she wanted to wear something that was cute but appropriate. She also didn’t want to have to explain why she was wearing a fancy dress to Elsa. After way too much time deliberating, she finally settled on a light blue romper with spaghetti straps and a pair of sandals. She didn't have enough time for a full face of makeup, so she settled on mascara and lipstick, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. Her hair hung down in loose waves cascading down her back, and she mentally applauded herself for taking a shower that morning. When the hour was about to draw to a close, she placed the mask over her face, grabbed her purse and cell phone, and excitedly bounded out of her bedroom.

She paused in front of Elsa’s door, knocking a few times with no answer. She peeked inside, and was thrilled to see that her sister was taking a nap and could not protest her departure. She decided that a text message would be appropriate, and gently closed the door to her room before practically skipping out of the apartment. As soon as she opened the door, a blast of hot air hit her in the face and she was immensely grateful that they were going to be sitting in an air conditioned car instead of going on a walk. Before she walked downstairs, she sent the text message to Elsa and shoved her phone into her purse - if she could help it, she wanted to keep it there the entire time they were together.

When she finally reached the entrance to their building, she could hardly contain her excitement. So much so that when Kristoff emerged from inside, she found herself approaching him with her arms wide open before she realized what she was doing.

“Oops, sorry,” she said, lowering her arms. “I always hug people after when I haven’t seen them for a while, but I guess we don’t live in that world anymore. Hi, by the way.”

Although she couldn’t see his mouth, she could tell from his eyes that he was smiling. She couldn’t help but notice how good he looked; he was dressed casually like her, wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt, but it suited him so well that she nearly found herself drooling. 

“Hi,” he said back, his eyes still sparkling. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been doing as well as I can,” she answered. “I feel like I’m starting to lose my mind, though.”

“I feel the same way,” he chuckled, slowly starting to walk toward the parking lot. “I’m glad to be getting out for a little while. You look great, though; quarantine must be treating you well.”

“Thank you!” She exclaimed, walking alongside him. “You look great, too. And I feel the same way; my sister is starting to drive me up a wall.”

“It’s just you and her up there?”

“So it’s a little complicated, actually. She doesn’t actually live here,” she explained. “I had two roommates.”

“What happened with that?”

“One of them broke his lease, because his internship ended abruptly due to the pandemic, so he had to go back to live with his parents. And my other roommate has been quarantining with her boyfriend, but she took almost all of her stuff with her and she’s not answering my messages, so I actually don’t know if she’s coming back.”

“I don’t mean to cut you off, but this is me,” he said, motioning to a grey SUV. He unlocked it, and they each went to their respective sides. It was blazingly hot inside, as expected, and he put his keys in the ignition. “I’m honestly relieved that it started and I’m really sorry that it’s so hot in here, but it should cool off in a few minutes. You were saying?”

She pulled off her mask and he followed shortly after. “Yeah, so, my sister came to visit, like, a week before everything shut down and then she just refused to leave. It worked out since my other roommate moved out, but she’s driving me crazy.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking over at her. 

She slid the seatbelt over her shoulder and buckled it in. Cool air started seeping out of the vents, offering relief from the suffocating heat. “It’s not the worst thing in the world, but her anxiety is basically out of control. She’s a touch agoraphobic in general, and this is just making it worse.”

“That has to be really rough,” he responded, shifting the car into drive and slowly pulling out of the spot. “I mean, my roommate just sits around and plays video games all day, so I kind of lucked out in that regard.”

“I would do literally anything for her, but I definitely miss having a little freedom; she doesn’t even want me to go on walks, or anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Luckily, she hates Florida, so I think she’ll try to go home as soon as it’s safe.”

“Are you from Florida?”

She glanced out the window, admiring the clear blue sky and the palm trees. She had almost forgotten what the outside world looked like. “No, I’m actually from upstate New York.”

“Get out of here, so am I,” he said, excitedly. “What part are you from?”

Her face lit up. “Arendelle, it’s a small town near Saratoga Springs.”

“I grew up, like, half an hour from there. Near Broadalbin, in Fulton County.”

“No way! It’s such a small world,” she laughed. “What brought you here?”

“I’ve lived in Florida for a few years now,” he explained, focusing on the road. “I came down here for school. I’m becoming an architect, and I needed an internship, and that led me to this part of the state a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, it kind of got put on hold due to the pandemic.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she frowned. “I don’t know much about architecture, but it seems really cool.”

“It is,” he grinned. “But it’s a lot to talk about and I don’t want to bore you. What about you?”

“I doubt you would bore me, but to answer your question, I needed a change. I came out here for school, too, and loved it so much that I dreaded going home during breaks. So I got a job and found an apartment, and now I live here.”

“What did you major in?”

“I’m still working on my Bachelor’s, but elementary education. One semester to go.”

“You must love kids,” he assumed.

She nodded. “I do, I really do. I had a lot of amazing teachers, and I hope that one day I can leave an impact on someone in the same way my teachers left one on me.”

“Wow, that’s really thoughtful of you.”

“Thank you,” she blushed. “I’m really looking forward to having my own classroom, someday.”

He found himself smiling at the sincerity of her response, but before he could say anything, she had already moved onto the next topic.

“What do you do for work?”

“Well, the internship was my job, for the time being. I quit my job as a waiter for the internship, so I’m currently unemployed.”

She nodded fervently. “Same here - I had a part-time front desk job, and the office had to close, so I got laid off.”

“This whole situation is just awful,” he responded, shaking his head. “To get back onto a happier subject - what do you love most about living here?”

“The weather,” she cooed. “I love the warmth and the sunshine. No snow or shoveling to worry about in this state.”

“That’s the one thing that I dislike about living here,” he remarked. “I kind of miss having four seasons. Oh, and I never want to be referred to as ‘Florida Man.’”

She burst out laughing, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. “Oh my god, stop.”

“I’m serious! There are so many negative connotations,” he laughed.

“Yeah, but you’d have to do something dumb, like, stick your foot in a gator’s mouth to earn that title.”

“I don’t know, I feel like they’re handing it out willy nilly these days; any man who lives in Florida is officially a Florida Man,” he smiled, shaking his head. “In all seriousness, though, I do hope to move back to New York, someday.”

“I think I do, too. The distance has helped my sister and I grow as individuals, but I’d like to live closer to her. Not anytime soon, though.”

“I get that,” he nodded. 

“So, what’ve you been doing to pass the time?”

He sighed. “I’ve been doing school stuff, mostly, but now that the semester is over, I’ve been watching stuff on Netflix.”

“Ooh, what have you been watching?” She asked, turning her body so she was facing him.

“Whatever gets recommended to me, honestly. I watched Tiger King -”

“Oh my god, me too! What a train wreck!” She exclaimed, before bringing both of her hands up to cover her mouth. “I’m so sorry, I totally cut you off just then.”

“It’s fine,” he said, glancing over at her. “I kept expecting it to get better, but it just kept getting worse and worse. Other than that, I’ve been watching a mixed bag of stuff. The Office, Parks and Rec, et cetera.”

“Literally, same,” she laughed. “I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube, too, because it’s interesting to see what other people are doing during quarantine.”

“Good point,” he agreed. “I haven’t even thought about how other people have been coping.”

“Almost everyone I watch has been doing the same stuff I see everyone on social media doing. Baking bread, renovating their houses, watching television. I appreciate people who are putting out unique content.”

“I’ll have to get on YouTube one of these days,” he stated. “What are you looking forward to most when all of this is over?”

“Gosh, I don’t even know,” she gushed. “Everything - I want to eat in a restaurant, again. And go back to Disney World, and to the beach.”

“You know, I’ve never been to Disney World.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope,” he smirked.

“No way! We’ll have to go when it opens!” She declared, and then quickly backtracked a step, worrying that she was too forward. “Only if you want to, though.”

“I’m not opposed to going,” he chuckled. “It was just never high enough on my priorities list. I was actually supposed to go back in March, but then they closed. I’d love to go with you when they reopen.”

“Stop, I’m literally so excited now,” she said, unable to control her smile. “I’m not in a crazy rush to run there as soon as they reopen, but I literally cannot wait now.”

His lips curved upwards as well. “Me too.”

“How about you? What are you looking forward to?”

“Well, aside from going to Disney World, probably just things going back to normal. I miss simple things like going to the grocery store.”

“Do you like cooking?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, I do. That’s another thing that I’ve been doing - practicing my cooking skills. You?”

“God, no. I love eating but I’m an awful cook,” she laughed. “I know how to make some really basic stuff, but I have a knack for burning everything. I’d say that I’m a better baker, but I don't think boxed mixes count.”

“At least you try. I’m pretty sure my roommate would live on microwaveable food and take-out if I didn’t live with him.”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “My sister is no better, but we get by.”

“I’ll have to send some food up to you sometime; can’t have you two starving,” he winked.

“Stop, you’re too sweet,” she gushed. “I would love that, though. My sister on the other hand…”

He glanced over at her. “I notice that you talk about her a lot. Is it just the two of you?”

She paused for a moment before answering. “Yeah, it’s just me and her. Our parents passed away a few years ago, and we don’t have any other family.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that,” he frowned. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, it’s okay; I’m actually kind of glad you asked,” she said quietly, twirling a piece of hair between her fingers. “My sister and I don’t talk about them, really.”

He raised his eyebrows. “How come? If you don’t mind me asking.”

She shook her head. “Well, my sister had a lot of anxiety issues as a kid, and she became very closed off. They were concerned, but they didn’t really do anything to address it and we both suffered as a result. They got into the accident when I was fifteen, and she was eighteen so she became my guardian, but it was like I was living with a stranger at first. We got better, eventually, but she was a little overbearing and I needed my own space and that was when I moved down here for school. We just don’t bring them up, now. They weren’t bad people or anything, it’s just hard to talk about.”

He nodded along with her as she spoke, acknowledging what she was saying. “I get that. I’m really sorry that that happened, but I have to say - you’re incredibly brave.”

“Thank you,” she looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. “What about your family?”

“I was a foster kid who got bounced around, so I don’t really have a family. I’m still in touch with the family I was with the longest, but it took two other families to get to them.”

She gasped. “I’m sorry, that must’ve been so hard.”

“Well, a lot of good came out of it. It made me want to work harder, for one, but it also made me realize what type of person I want to be and what type of life I want to live.”

“And what is that, exactly?”

“Well, I want to have a family of my own someday. I just...want to be present for the people in my life.”

“That’s really amazing. You’re also incredibly brave,” she remarked, repeating what he’d just said to her.

“I guess we have a lot in common, then.”

She nodded, suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge to reach out and touch his arm. She hesitated, though. “You can say that again. But it’s a good thing, I think. Not to wax poetic, but we wouldn’t be here right now if all of those horrible things didn’t happen to us.”

“Very true,” he agreed. He pulled into a gas station, stopping the car at one of the pumps and turning off the engine. “Sorry, I just want to fill up my tank so we don’t break down somewhere.”

“No need to apologize,” she insisted, as he climbed out of the car and started fiddling with the pump. She was completely overwhelmed, but in the best way possible. This was easily the best date she’d ever been on, and she was hopeful that he felt the same way and that there would be many more dates in the future. Though it was a bit of an annoyance at the time, she was eternally grateful for the delivery drivers who’d messed up their deliveries. 

“Alright, we’re good,” he announced, as he climbed back in and started the ignition again. 

“Do you want money for gas?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” he insisted. “Where to next?”

She shrugged. “You’re the driver.”

“Are you hungry? We could stop somewhere and eat,” he offered. 

“Yeah, that would be great.”

“What’re you in the mood for? I know there aren’t too many practical options for eating in a car.”

“We could stop at that McDonald’s that was just down the street.”

“Alright,” he said, pulling away from the gas station. “I have nothing against McDonald’s, but if the circumstances were different, I would’ve preferred to take you somewhere much nicer.”

“I know,” she smiled. “But I’m not, like, disappointed or anything. I’m honestly having a great time.”

“Me too,” he responded softly. “I’ve really been enjoying talking to you.”

“I’m really glad that we’re on the same page. Also, I haven’t had McDonald’s in at least a year, so I’m super excited about that.”

“Is that why you suggested it?”

“Maybe,” she smirked. “But also because it’s close by and we don’t have to get out of the car.”

“If that's what you want, then I’m happy to take you there, but don’t worry about the distance. I don’t mind going somewhere else if -”

She interjected before he could finish his thought. “Nope, McDonald’s is great.”

“Alright,” he laughed. “Then to McDonald’s we go.”

[thecassadilla]

Written in the Stars - Chapter 3

Word Count: 3,755/AO3

Pairing: Kristanna

Love During Lockdown Series: Serendipity (Prologue) | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Summary: Figuring out how to go on an in-person date during a time of social distancing would be a challenge for anyone. Luckily, it comes easy to Anna and Kristoff, who find a creative way to spend some time with each other amidst a pandemic.

Author’s Note: Hi everyone, I’m back at it again. After a long week of feeling like I couldn’t see or think straight, I’ve somehow managed to write another chapter of this. It’s trash, just like me, so don’t read it lol. As a random side note that nobody even cares about - I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s or a Dairy Queen in so long. Like, years - and not because of the pandemic, or because I’m a health nut, but just because XD. I don’t even know what this chapter is tbh. I hope you like it! (Also, I hope you like my little joke about Kristoff’s taste in music :P)

Kristoff turned around and looked through the rear windshield as he reversed out of the spot. As soon as they were back in drive, he asked “So, what are your friends like?”

“They’re really great,” Anna answered, simply. “We balance each other out.”

“What does that mean?”

“You called me brave, earlier - they’d call me bold. Let’s just say I’ve made some...questionable decisions in the past, and they’ve always been there to help me get through it.”

“They sound like good friends.”

She raised one of her hands up to cover her mouth as she realized what she’d just said. “Oh god, I just realized how terrible that sounded. I haven’t, like, gone to jail or murdered anyone. College is the prime time for making mistakes, and I’m not exempt from that. Just a lot of drinking and partying.”

“I just want you to know that I wasn’t assuming that you murdered someone,” he laughed. 

“Well, I don’t know! I phrased it so horribly, a lot of assumptions could be made.”

“Don’t worry, you’re totally fine,” he insisted.

“Anyway, I met my best friend, Diana, in freshman year English and we had a lot of fun together. I haven’t spoken to her in awhile, though.”

“Because of quarantine?”

“No,” she sighed. “We had a falling out. I don’t know. I mean, I know, but it’s complicated and neither of us want to suck it up and talk about it.”

“I totally get that. I’ve never really had a best friend, but there’s always been some type of drama within my friend groups. I’m just the guy who tries not to take sides or get involved.”

“The problem is that Diana and I are both equally guilty in this case. I hurt her, and she hurt me, and we’re both being babies about it.”

“Maybe you should be the bigger person, then? If she’s really your best friend, then you want her in your life, right?”

“I know, it’s just hard,” she whined. “I know that it would be the right thing to do, but I’m just not ready to have that talk yet. My friend Amanda - she’s the one who I mentioned you to - is the mediator right now. Diana isn’t ready, yet, either, according to her.”

“I’m not really qualified to give you advice here, but hopefully it all works out for both of you.”

“Something that you’ll come to learn about me, if we continue to see each other, is that I’m very stubborn and very strong-willed. Diana has a similar personality, so we tend to clash.”

“Strong-willed, huh? I guess that sounds like you - I am driving to Dairy Queen, after all.”

She reached over and playfully shoved his arm. “Shut up!”

He momentarily took both of his hands off of the steering wheel to raise them in surrender. “Sorry, I was just teasing.”

“I know,” she smirked. “I was, too. Anyway, I trust my instincts, and I know that we’ll make up someday.”

“That’s good. Friends are important.”

“What are your friends like?”

“They’re just...very relaxed. Easy to hang out with - just meet up at the bar and talk for a while. I don’t really have a best friend, like I said, but I hang out with Ryder the most, probably because I live with him. And I’m pretty good friends with his sister, too. They’re good people.”

“We could always use good people in our lives. Your roommate seems to look after you, from what you’ve told me.”

“Usually I’m the one looking after him,” he corrected. “He’s only nineteen, but he’s a good kid. He was working his ass off when all of this started - two jobs and in school full time.”

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive. I could barely manage one job and school.”

“I give him a lot of credit. Just don’t tell him that I told you that.”

“Hey, if it wasn’t for him we probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” she pointed out. “Give credit where it’s due.”

“You’ll have to remind me to thank him.”

“I’d also like to thank him, someday.”

“You can come over whenever you want; he literally doesn’t care. I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said he was chill. I mean, he’s been taking this very seriously, but he always preferred to hang out with his friends while playing video games, so it’s a win-win situation for him.”

“I wish I had that type of freedom in my own apartment,” she practically growled, crossing her arms over her chest. “But, I will definitely take you up on that offer.”

“And I can fulfill my promise to cook you dinner. You can even invite your sister, if you wanted to.”

“Ha, you’re cute, but she isn’t stepping foot outside of that apartment until the coast is totally clear. If she doesn’t want me to leave, she definitely isn’t leaving.”

“I thought you said the only reason you were able to come today was because she was sleeping and couldn’t stop you. She isn’t always going to be asleep.”

“Yeah, but I can sneak out,” she shrugged. “I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”

“Are you talking about rappelling down the side of the building or something?”

“I’m not a superhero,” she laughed. “My sister has a very strict weekday routine. She works all day in her room and doesn’t come out until it’s time for us to start dinner.”

“Wouldn’t she hear the front door close?”

“She also happens to wear noise-cancelling headphones so she can go to her zoom meetings without distractions. I just have to leave before she finishes her work for the day.”

“You really weren’t joking about being strong-willed, huh?”

“Nope,” she shook her head. “I’m very determined. So, what type of music do you like to listen to?”

“Hmm,” he hummed, trying to think of an answer. “I listen to a bunch of different stuff. I guess I really like rock music, but a lot of rock music is also considered pop music? I listen to a lot of older stuff, too, like Queen.”

“I guess that was kind of an unfair question, because I don’t have a straight answer for it, either. I like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. I mostly listen to pop, but I also have an affinity for music from the ‘80s. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is my jam.”

He laughed. “That’s a good one.”

“Can’t take life too seriously, you know?” She giggled. “Anyway, next question.”

“Is this a test?”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “No. I just want to know more about you, and the only way to do that is if we keep asking each other questions.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “Um...favorite color?”

“Ooh, I really like jewel tones!” 

He glanced over at her. “....am I supposed to know what that is?”

“Really rich colors, like emerald green and sapphire blue - named after different jewels.”

“Aha,” he remarked triumphantly. “See, I wasn’t expecting an answer like that.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“I’m fond of blue. And gray. Kind of boring compared to your favorite colors, but those are the colors I wear the most.” He took one hand off the wheel, and motioned to his gray t-shirt as proof of his statement.

“It’s not boring,” she assured him. “I don’t know why I expected you to know what jewel tones were. And I guess I made a good decision when I chose to wear blue today.”

“I guess you’re a mind reader.”

“Alright, so,” she started, clapping her hands together. “What is your favorite food?”

“Easy, pizza.”

“Mine is chocolate.”

“Does that count as a food?”

“I don’t see why not,” she shrugged. “I like chocolate everything. Chocolate bars, chocolate cake, hot chocolate. Ooh, and I’m definitely going to get some type of chocolate ice cream at Dairy Queen.”

“That’s why I asked if it counted as a food,” he laughed. “There are so many different chocolate things that it seems more like a flavor than a food.”

“Fine,” she groaned. “You win. Uhh...I’ll pick pizza, too, I guess. Or sandwiches. Or sushi - see, you should’ve just left it at chocolate. I love food too much.”

“You don’t have to listen to me. What do I know?”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault that I like everything.”

“Do you have any foods that you dislike?”

“I’m not a fan of brussels sprouts,” she shrugged. “But I’m willing to try anything once.”

“Even something like escargot or sardines?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“How about liver?”

“Okay,” she answered, scrunching up her nose. “Probably not liver.”

“I figured, liver just seems gross. But, you’re definitely more adventurous with food than I am. I’m not picky, but I don’t think I’d be willing to try sardines or anything.”

“To each his own,” she responded, simply. 

“Once we pass this light we’re going to be at Dairy Queen,” he pointed out. “How about instead of eating in the car, we drive over to the park we just passed? So we can stretch our legs for a bit?”

“What a great idea!” She exclaimed. “What are you going to get?”

“I have no idea. I haven’t been to a Dairy Queen in forever. Probably one of those things they turn upside down to show you how cold it is or something?”

“Blizzards!” She yelled. “I love those! I’m going to get one, too.”

“I feel like that’s the whole point of going,” he chuckled. “You can’t go there and not get a Blizzard. It’s like going to Burger King and then not getting a Whopper.”

“You make an excellent point,” she said, as the car pulled into the strip mall parking lot. The lot was mostly empty, save for a few cars, and so Kristoff was able to park right in front of the entrance. 

“I guess we have to put the masks back on, right?” He asked, as he cut the engine and pulled his keys out of the ignition.

“Yeah,” she sighed, picking her mask up from where it rested and looping it over her ears. “I don’t mind wearing a mask, but I really can’t wait until we don’t have to wear them anymore.”

“We’ll get there, someday,” he stated, putting his own mask on, but for good measure, he added, “Hopefully.” 

“I feel really awful for the people who have to wear these all day, everyday with no breaks. I’ve seen so many pictures online and I can’t even imagine what all of those essential workers are going through.”

“Tell me about it,” he remarked, reaching for the door handle and pulling it open. He motioned for her to go inside and then quickly followed behind her. The restaurant was completely deserted, with the exception of the two employees standing behind the counter.

“Can I help you?” One of the employees spoke up, as they approached; they kept a considerable distance in spite of the tape marks on the floor.

“Just a second,” Anna answered, squinting up at the menu. Her eyes darted around the illuminated sign for a moment before she looked over at Kristoff. “I know what I want, are you ready?”

“Yeah,” he responded, and they stepped up to the line.

“May I have a small Choco Brownie Extreme Blizzard?”

The cashier nodded and pushed a few buttons on the register before looking expectantly at Kristoff.

“Uh, may I please have a Royal Rocky Road Trip Blizzard? Also small.”

The cashier nodded once again before gruffly asking, “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Anna said, digging through her purse to find her wallet. The cashier read her the total, while the other employee began making the frozen concoctions.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pay?”

“Don’t be silly!” She insisted, sticking her credit card into the chip reader. “You paid for dinner, I’m paying for dessert.”

The cashier muttered something under her breath, and Anna glanced up and was met with narrowed eyes. She pulled her card out, and as soon as the receipt printed, the cashier hastily thrust it at her before stepping away. She glanced back at Kristoff, who was reading a sign taped to the wall, and most likely hadn’t noticed the odd exchange. 

A moment later, the other employee returned with a white paper bag. Anna took it, and thanked her before walking over to Kristoff.

“Ready?”

“Yup,” he answered. “Do you want me to carry that?”

“No, I got it.”

He reached out and held the door open for her again, and they stepped out into the hot, humid air. 

“It kind of feels nice out there after sitting in the car for so long,” he remarked, as they climbed into the car. “You still wanna go to the park, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, simply, staring out the window as he backed out of the spot and drove away. Her mind was in another place; she was replaying the moment with the cashier over and over again.

“You know, I was thinking,” he started, glancing over at her. “What a crazy name Royal Rocky Road is. It’s a tongue twister - try saying that three times fast.”

She let out a small laugh in response, but continued to look at the passing cars and trees. The rest of the short drive was quiet, and they arrived at the park within a few minutes. Just like Dairy Queen, it was practically deserted, with the exception of one other car in the entire lot.

“Do you want to walk around or do you want me to pop open the trunk so we can sit outside but not have to worry about finding a bench?”

“We could just sit outside for a while,” she answered, finally looking over at him. She hadn’t even realized that she left her mask on until she saw that he had taken his off. She quickly reached back behind her ears to pull the loops free, and placed the mask on the center console. 

She opened the door and stepped out of the SUV, clutching the bag in her hands. She walked around to the rear of the car, where Kristoff was opening the trunk. She placed the bag onto the flat surface and started to open it.

“Should we sanitize our hands again?”

“Oh. Yeah.” She dropped her hands away and walked back to the front of the car and retrieved her purse, before returning to him.

“Sorry, I wouldn’t have brought it up if I had realized your bag was in the front.”

“No, it’s fine, it just slipped my mind. Can’t be too safe, right?”

She dug through her purse in search of the tiny bottle, and when she found it, she squeezed a dollop into his waiting hands before taking some for herself and placing the bottle on the floor of the trunk, next to the bag.

“Thank you, again,” he said, as he rubbed his hands together. “I’ll have to get a couple of bottles to keep in the car. Normally they smell like alcohol, but yours smells really nice.”

“I got this one from Bath and Body Works - they have tons of different scents. You can keep it if you want, I have a bunch at home.”

“Thank you, but that’s okay. I’m sure stuff like that is in short supply right now, and I never really go anywhere.”

She nodded, deciding that she was going to leave it in his cup holder anyway; it would make her feel better knowing that he had some if he needed it. She reached back and opened the bag, taking out the two identical cups. The employee was kind enough to write the initials of the flavors they got, so they were easily distinguishable. She handed him his ice cream and spoon before taking her own.

“This is going to sound so ridiculous, but I wish they could’ve turned them upside down,” he remarked as he took the lid off of his cup. “Obviously they couldn’t, but it’s part of the experience. Or, it used to be.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, staring at the cup in her hands. The interaction with the cashier was still heavy on her mind; there was an insurmountable feeling of guilt that was bubbling up inside of her, threatening to spill over at the slightest provocation. 

For a few moments, they quietly ate their ice cream, partly because it was sure to melt quickly in the blazing heat. 

“Hey, Anna?” He asked, finally breaking the silence.

She blinked and looked up at him. “Hmm?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! Not at all! You’re great.”

“You’ve been awfully quiet since we left Dairy Queen, and if I said or did something -”

“No, you didn’t,” she cut him off mid-sentence. “I swear.”

“Is something bothering you?”

It seemed unavoidable now; she wished that she wasn’t so obvious with her emotions, but it was better to let it out than hold it in, right? “It’s just...that girl who helped us at Dairy Queen seemed upset or angry or something. She said something under her breath and gave me the dirtiest look and practically threw the receipt at me. I don’t know why, but I’m assuming because she’s working at an ice cream parlor, serving people like me, during a crisis.”

He looked slightly bewildered at her revelation. “You can’t make that assumption,” he assured her. “She could be angry for a million reasons.”

“I know, but that’s the assumption that my brain keeps going back to. In what world is ice cream essential?”

“It’s not, but you’re not the one making those calls.”

“It doesn’t help that she’s probably only making ten dollars an hour while everyone on unemployment is getting an extra six hundred dollars a week,” she pointed out, her eyebrows furrowing together.

“I agree, it’s not fair to anyone working right now. You didn’t implement that rule, though.”

“This whole situation isn’t fair. People had to cancel their weddings - that’s absolutely insane to me. Could you imagine spending months or years planning the happiest day of your life only for a virus to come and ruin it?”

He shook his head. “I can’t. But I guess if the love is there then the date doesn’t really matter? I don’t know.”

“Or what about the people who have kids? Could you imagine living with a kid, right now? I hated being home as a kid - I needed to go to school and see people, or go to my activities, or I would’ve gone crazy. How are people coping?”

“They have technology on their side, at least. We didn’t have tablets or anything when we were kids, you know?”

“I keep wondering - and this has nothing to do with you - if it’s bad or wrong to feel happy right now. Like, so much of the world is suffering, and I’m privileged enough to not be suffering, and feeling content with my own life makes me feel so…” she trailed off, her eyes downcast.

“Guilty?” He guessed.

“Yeah, exactly. Whatever this is could be a really good thing, and I want that - I want good things. We’re both healthy, but we’re breaking the rules to spend time together, and as great and wonderful as this has been, I can’t help but think about the people who haven’t been so lucky in this situation.”

“I don’t think you should think like that,” he said, simply. “I completely understand where you’re coming from, but you can’t blame yourself for what happens to other people. Some parts of life can’t be stopped or controlled no matter how hard we try.”

“I know,” she frowned.

“Besides, it isn’t like you’re one of those people who’s pretending that it’s over, or didn’t even exist to begin with. We’ve been following the rules - wearing masks, and cleaning our hands. There isn’t much else we can do; we can’t completely stop living. This pandemic is messing with everyone, even if we don’t realize it.”

“I guess it scares me more than I thought it did,” she admitted, biting her lip. “I have a lot of hope that this will all end, someday, but at the same time, I just don’t know.”

“I feel the same way.”

“And then, in all of this mess, I can’t help but think that we might not have met each other if it weren’t for this stupid pandemic - and despite my ranting, I’m happy that we did. I know we were joking about it before, but I keep thinking back to when I promised to shake your hand - or even when I tried to hug you, earlier. The only reason why I’m scared of doing those things is because of what’s happening,” she explained. “Everything feels wrong.”

“It may be socially unacceptable at the moment, but I’m personally okay with it because it’s such a small, calculated risk. We each live with one other person, and neither of us has even been in public in so long, you know?”

She didn’t answer. He seemed so rational and level-headed and calm, and quite frankly, she felt like a mess. There was a considerable amount of undeniable tension building up between the two of them, and although they were still standing side-by-side, she found herself staring at him. How easy it would be to wrap her arms around him, lean up, and press a kiss to his lips.

And even though he just expressly said that he was okay with being touched, she pushed the thought back down. It was absurd, almost - how natural it felt to be around someone she hardly knew, and yet be wracked with an asinine amount of guilt over the state of the world.

She shook her head, snapping herself out of the trance that she was in. “Sorry for rambling, I do that a lot. But I really appreciate that you were willing to listen to my rant and I hope you don’t think that I regret coming out with you, or something.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he looked down at her and gave her a small smile. “We’re all bound to...feel things after being trapped inside for two months.” 

“Thanks for understanding,” she smiled back, appreciative of his sincerity. She quickly realized that continually pushing her thoughts away was certainly going to be a struggle, especially when he looked at her with such kindness. And for some reason she didn’t quite understand, she tore her focus away from him and placed it back on the cup in her hands.