Chapter 26

Running. The act so exhilarating yet soothing. Breathing deep, strong exhales. Heart pounding at a rhythmic tempo, matching the steady beat of footsteps. The brisk morning air tussled at loose platinum blonde locks, adding a bit of movement to an ever-flowing braid. As equivalent to her strokes in the water, Elsa's steps were quick, swift, and powerful; riding upon the damp morning breeze drifting from the river's waves, yet sadly still feeling heavy with the matters that had played forth over the previous days.

Her internship; still bearing the weight of the Arendelle T.C. and Winters Management fall out. Oh, how that weary feeling resentment slowly continued to boil.

Hans; knowing what the man had been up to. She harbored a fiery hate which she had never been aware of, nor thought capable of conceiving.

Anna; everything about their dynamic having shifted, fast. There was that absolutely dizzyingly happy yet somewhat bittersweet longing that clenched at her heart.

Last were her parents; to whom she would never be enough no matter how hard she tried. Yet, for them, along with guilt weighing her shoulders down, she still preserved a tiny hope. Hope that maybe she could make them proud of her, despite not meeting all of their expectations. Maybe. Someday.

That may have been the most painful of matters.

The sensation of this emotional weight, a proverbial chains pulling at her, restraining, just made her push her body harder. Fighting to break away from the shackles of worry. She pressed herself, legs quickening and feet pounding into the muddy dirt path along the river's bank; their noise amplifying as the crumbling frost covered dirt gave way to resistive concrete sidewalks. Finally, for a physical moment as the ground beneath her shifted, she felt a release from the mental constraints.

She closed her eyes, hearing nothing but the rolling slosh of the water's edge, feeling weightless amidst the frosty dawn air, wishing she could float away into the breeze and dance across the languid morning water. It was a moment of tranquil solace. Just one moment.

Just.. free.

Reverently, Elsa eventually slowed her sprint to that barely demonstrating a faint jog, body poised upright as her feet mimicked a slight vertical bounce; blue eyes reopening and gathering the view of the sparkling river which she had been running parallel to. Her crowding thoughts had dissipated for now as the lapping of cold waves caressed the still lightly snow covered banks; residual ice still hanging on to their place along the coast as the strong water slowly overtook the frost's inevitably doomed winter reign.

Elsa was never quite sure why, but lazy Sunday's always seemed to have the calmest of waters here in Arendelle. Whether it be actually true or just conjured up in her mind. There was just something about Sundays. It was as if everything reset itself. Everything was new. Even in the worst of weeks, reaching Sunday meant a turning point. Elsa embraced the notion probably more often than she should.

With one more deep lasting breath, pulling her gaze from the waves, she picked up her pace, returning to the run that she had set out upon four miles ago; before the purples and pinks had begun to steadily paint the dawning sky.

It was nearly a half hour later when Elsa re-entered her apartment building, making a quick stop at her mailbox, before finishing with a brisk jog up the stairwell. Bills, coupons, and a subscription to her typical rowing magazine.. Said items immediately found their way onto the granite countertop of the kitchen island as Elsa tossed them over upon her arrival.

She slid off her white sneakers, one a time, lining them up with her tall leather boots inside the apartment entrance. A light breath, hand brushing through her loose and damp bangs in a moment of self-recollection. Immediately, she went about completing her post-workout routine.

Re-entering the living area in her relaxed home attire, she opened her usual daily planner, looking over her day's responsibilities outlined each hour. She gathered her textbooks and laptop, placing them on her coffee table. Elsa flipped open one book, laid out a scrap sheet of paper, and turned on the slim silver computer. A sticky note with assignments jotted down on it, written in beautiful script, adhered right beside the mouse touchpad. She was back to her typical Sunday schedule.

A tiny ping rang from her laptop and she looked at the corner where an alert was presented. Her eyes shined at the email notification. In a burst of energy, she hurriedly stepped over to her book covered shelves, removing a slim magazine that was tightly hidden between her Encyclopedias. With its well worn, once glossy paper cover, Elsa opened to the page after the centerfold. A small yellow post-it note also resided there, dotted with a brief list and eight small boxes; three contained perfect checks marked through them.

Elsa sat down at her computer, clicking open her email and reading through a few recent messages; scrutiny etched in her brows, eventually released with a soft sigh. The slight tilt of a smile tugged at her lips and she grabbed a pen, checking off two more items on her tiny list. Three boxes remained. In moments the note was back inside the closed flimsy pages, and the magazine was being nestled back into the bottom-most shelf of her bookcase.

Now, just as she was preparing to dig into her coursework, a small buzz vibrated through her sweatshirt pocket. She rerouted, instead, turning and heading back toward the kitchen area. While leaning her back against the center island separating her living space from the kitchen, she pulled out the device and swiped with her thumb.

'you at your place?'

Elsa cocked a brow at the text, not surprised to find that it was from the only person who ever really messaged her. She simply replied, 'Yes, I am. Why do you ask?'

'i'm comin over, just a heads up!'

She really should not have felt such a large wave of giddiness at the note. Anna sure had her way of inviting herself into Elsa's space, honestly, beginning ever since their first meeting.

She texted a quick notification, 'I'm doing schoolwork.' She thought to herself, feeling slightly snarky as she imitated Anna's previous response. 'Just a heads up.'

Again, there was little hesitation between messages. 'yeah yeah i know. i got stuff too'

Elsa's lip quirked upward before she continued programming in a response. ':)' It was a smiley face in text form only, of course. Elsa needn't be bothered by those colorful emotion icons- Emotioncons? i-Comotions? Whatever the erroneous things were called. She was sure Anna would say it again at some point in time, despite knowing the young woman's flip-phone did not actually have the capability of producing such pictures.. nor reading them. Didn't they show up like tiny boxes?

Less than 15 seconds later, she could only laugh cheerfully at Anna's immediate and downright proud response. 'Yayayay! You used the smiley face right!' Point validated. Else had no need for those Emote-photos after all.

She was slowly getting used to Anna's increased frequency of visits. The keyword: slowly. Though, the increase was actually quite rapid, growing exponentially in the last weeks.

Elsa glanced at the textbooks, stacked high upon the coffee table with a myriad of other books, papers, and a mix of pencils and pens, which she had previously set aside before her run. She shook her head. Further prep could wait. She had company coming over, and, although she still felt a mild annoyance at admitting how easily Anna's company excited her, she was truly more interested in spending time with the little firecracker.

As she made a move into the kitchen, readying some snacks for the redhead (since Anna always seemed to be famished at all times of the day), she glanced at her wall calendar. It had only been a little over a week since the duo had entered into these 'new waters'. But oh was she enjoying exploring it! So much so. More than she'd ever imagined, or again, cared to admit.

Being with the younger woman left Elsa with such a freeing feeling. She could barely remember why she had chosen to isolate herself, instead of enjoying herself or experiencing feelings. Why had she been so against 'feeling' again? It all felt so petty at this time. As if she just had to open her eyes to the wonders around her. It was like she was experiencing something brand new. Certainly, she had never felt this way before.

Now expecting company, she poured a bowl of unsalted popcorn in preparation. When she felt a light scratching against her slipper covered feet, she picked out a piece of popcorn and knelt to give it to the snowball bird that now made himself known. Maximus ignored the offer but kept scratching with a determined need. Elsa laughed.

"Fine fine. Let me go get your apples, silly bird." Elsa had barely finished her sentence when there came a knock from her door. She walked over, smiling while peaking through the peephole. Although knowing exactly who was on the other side even without looking, Elsa was still mildly surprised at just how quickly the redhead had gotten there. She must have already been outside the building when she texted..

The door was unlocked and opened to reveal the spunky, and slightly disheveled, redhead. "Tada!" Anna cheered happily, cheeks red and breath a bit ragged.

Elsa gestured with her hand to enter, eyes curious. "What happened to you?" She paused for a second, then choosing to voice her thought. "And how did you get here so fast?"

Taking off her backpack and usual white puffy coat, hanging the garment on the wall coat rack, Anna laughed. "Well, I was almost at your building when I texted you since I assumed you'd be here."

"You really shouldn't assume.." Elsa chided softly while stepping back toward her counter, hand grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.

Anna shrugged while sliding off her boots. "Hasn't killed me yet! But, yeah. I managed to slip in behind another tenant and, I don't know if you've realized, but your elevator? Yeah, it's broken."

At the exasperated tone, Elsa laughed in understanding. "Oh, that's right. I briefly saw that sign hanging up this morning." She sent Anna an apologetic look before looking around the apartment. "I'm sorry. Had you given me more than a minute's notice I could have at least prepared you." At Anna's dismissive wave she smiled, turning back to her task. She pulled a knife from the drawer and began cutting up tiny pieces of her quail's favorite snack.

Anna called from across the area, stumbling to remove her boots and dropping her backpack on the floor. "Oh, by the way, I was serious about the smiley face. Next stop, emoticons! I'll check in with Flynn if you are using them more."

Emoticons! That was it. Oh, modern day youth. Elsa tsked, equally playing along with Anna's energetic words, adding a flare of uncharacteristic mock excitement her tone. "Oh goodness! And then what after that? I'll learn the Chat Snap?"

"Snapchat. Just 'Snapchat'. And let's not get too crazy!" jested the younger girl. "Wait until I can at least afford a smartphone and be able to have my own account. Then we'll talk." Elsa tilted her head over her shoulder, catching as Anna smiled widely with a playful wink.

Elsa just rolled her eyes with a sigh, foregoing her usual leer at the snarky remark for acceptance of her mild lack of modern college-student social customs. Her voice deadpanned more naturally, turning her attention back to peeling the fruit. "Seriously, there is no rush for that lesson."

And there really wasn't, especially to the fact she would have no one to communicate with on such an application, except maybe Flynn. She was pretty sure she had caught Flynn posing for self-photos with obnoxious facial expressions over the years; certainly, that was not something worth her time. But maybe she would try it one day if Anna could join in. I'm not ever opposed to her sending me photos.. She had saved a couple of dorky faces that the girl had sent over the months. Sometimes pulling them up for reference of the cute face that she was becoming more and more preoccupied with..

Probably something I shouldn't be preoccupying myself with while holding a knife, she thought as she finished the final slices.

The fruit pieces were being collected into her pale hands when Elsa saw two tan hands appear around her midsection, quickly entrapping her in a hug from behind. She chewed her lower lip at the swell of warmth that erupted inside her; this particular caring act truly capable of stirring up butterflies. Every. Single. Time. She momentarily faltered and froze with the apple slices in hand and had to consciously catch herself.

She could feel the small nose rest on top of her shoulder, Anna's head not high enough to adequately rest her chin in a typical manner. Even through her thick sweatshirt fabric, Elsa was sure Anna could feel the reverberation of her chuckle where the freshman had her lips pressed against Elsa's shoulder blade. The whole sensation was positively intimate, leaving Elsa tucking a smile.

"Hi there," the blonde said lightly, realizing that she hadn't exactly greeted her guest in a traditional manner. The verbal greeting was returned, although muffled against Elsa's shirt. "Pardon me, but I need to bend down to give Maximus his apples, or he will get angry."

Both girls looked to the floor where two dark, beady eyes watched and waited expectantly beside the tiniest of silver bowls. It was platinum, actually. And engraved. Elsa wasted no expense when she was handed responsibility of another creature. It was probably why Maximus expected to be treated like royalty. Or perhaps Elsa just needed to stop personifying her pet.

Anna gave slack to her hug, making a face at the button quail. "I think he has a bit of an obsession with apples, don't you?"

The blonde knelt by the ground-dwelling bird, plopping the slices into his bowl and petting his petite head lightly. "He's quirky, and that's why I like him," she said fondly. "Lucky for me that Flynn just could not handle a pet back then."

Anna giggled at the story of Flynn and Maximus not getting along back before Elsa took the little quail under her wing (pun certainly intended)."Their strange animal-person tiff sounds like something Disney would come up with."

Elsa sighed heavily, raising a brow up at the redhead. "Must you? Always with the Disney references."

"Yes, I must. It's a curse," Anna goofily sighed, draping the back of her hand over her forehead before hopping to attention again. She knelt down to both Elsa and the button quail's level. "Hey little guy." She reached out to Maximus who seemed to grow much happier with the new company ever since the apple slice was shared. His affection and comfort with the exuberant redhead had certainly developed since their first meeting where he boinked and frightened them both so bad. It must have helped that Anna was making her presence known at the studio. "Ya know, I think it's nice that you and Flynn met in crew and became friends," Anna said while continuing to pet the puffball.

Elsa scoffed an amused laugh, looking at the younger rower. "Is that what he said?" At Anna's confused nod, Elsa shook her head with a tender smile. "Of course he omitted the part about his tutoring."

"You were his tutor too?!" Anna gasped in shock, which Elsa nodded kindly at.

The blonde stood, walking into the kitchen and grabbing two glasses from the cabinet and proceeding to fill them with water.

"My parents made me do this peer leadership activity where high schoolers tutor middle schoolers. They wanted to promote my lack of socialization through a functional task which would also keep me on my studies and enhance my resume. So when I was in 9th grade, I was his pre-algebra tutor."

Anna's look of shock only slightly lifted to that of amusement. "But he's a finance major. Math's kinda important.." There was a nod. Anna left the bird to his meal, standing up again and facing the taller woman. "Boy, he got so lucky having you as a tutor then."

A small, but prideful smirk grew across Elsa's cherry colored lips. "Very. He was a good tutee and, I guess, we got along well." She waved her hand, tiny 'tsk' leaving her lips as she paused only a moment before actually opting to fill in the last details. "One day I had crew practice before our session so I told him to wait at the docks for my parents to drive us home. I guess when I docked, he found it 'so cool looking' that he chose to try out for the team." Elsa took a sip of her drink, offering the other glass to her Doubles partner. "Rest is history."

Anna smiled at the story, always a sucker for warm friendship memories, reaching out for the cup of water. "Sounds a lot like Kristoff and my relationship.. though I'd have taken meeting through tutoring over him tackling me in ultimate frisbee." Navy blue eyes widened briefly at Anna's unconcerned side comment, apparently appreciating the history for what it was.

"You and Rapunzel were friends before crew too, right?" Elsa asked after a moment's pause, already sure of the answer but covertly trying to open up the discussion on Anna's end. Red pigtails swished with the woman's happy head nod.

"In the 2nd grade, we were cubby buddies and, well, like you said, the rest is history!" She smiled, shrugging her shoulders quickly, ready to leave it at that.

With a raise of a brow, Elsa tossed the girl a look. "Kind of.. an unclimactic meeting.."

Anna offered only another casual shrug, hopping up on the island countertop. "It's not really the beginning that means something. Our adventures are more memorable.. climbing up abandoned castle ruins, re-enacting fairytale stories, convincing our teachers that we were cousins for the next 4 years.." She wriggled her lips, trying her absolute hardest to rein in a goofy smile, just make her joyous face look even more adorable to the older woman. "Bringing her pet chameleon to school and putting it in our Algebra teacher's hair.."

Elsa couldn't help the snicker that made its way to her lips. The image of the two eccentric girls growing up as troublesome children was just too much. Then she realized what scholastic subject Anna had specified. They were high schoolers and playing these pranks? Oh dear goodness. She wouldn't be surprised to hear if the two still pulled these sort of actions in their current college courses.

While sitting on the counter, Anna looked to her side, sliding her hand over the mail previously abandoned on the granite. She grabbed the colorful magazine from the bottom of the stack, ignoring Elsa's usual comment on Anna's comfort with treating this apartment like her own home. She really just does as she pleases.. Anna looked surprised, glancing at the pile, and then embarrassed, muttering an apology. Elsa raised a brow. ..Or maybe she just doesn't think things all the way through.

"If you want to pay that electricity bill, by all means," Elsa said with a small smirk, feeling comfortable to let a playful jibe come out, and quite happy to receive the stuck out tongue in response. Looking back at her piled up books on her coffee table, she sighed and began to move back into the living room area. "Alright, well I hope you brought something to work on, because it-"

"-it's Sunday and Sunday's your study day." The blonde caught herself mid-step, turning to look at the beaming redhead who had both interrupted and literally finished her near-exact phrase. "Go ahead and get to it, lady!" With a small encouraging wave of her hand, Anna continued to grin. Elsa could only stare. Did Anna really know her that well, or was she just that boringly predictable? The answers to those questions both seemed to fill her with a rare sense of embarrassment, though it was squelched quickly, replaced with a more comfortable nonchalance. Wriggling her lips, she let out the faintest of scoffs, unable to attach any detectable sense of emotion to the sound.

Once she was seated in front of her laptop, it took only 10 seconds before there was a body flopping into the white seat cushion beside her.

She noticed sock covered feet extend lazily on top of her thick wooden coffee table; a habitual action that was far from respectable, but one which she also found herself doing all the same. In her favorite slippers usually. So she couldn't, with good conscience, admonish Anna for doing the same either. There was a flipping of pages; slick peeling of paper audible. Just that information alone alerted Elsa to Anna reading a magazine, and more than likely it was her monthly subscription to World National's Rowing.

At least it would keep the rather chatty teenager busy since Elsa had a feeling Anna's assignments would be stashed in her backpack for as long as possible before the girl actually mustered enough energy to work on them. But, Elsa knew her work needed to be started. She was already a few minutes past her scheduled start time due to her unexpected arrival. No problem. She was a fast reader anyway.

Her eyes skipped past her report header and to the paragraphs blocked out below. 'In the setting of the Fair Trade Act (FTA), the rates of which consumers have increased their annual expendi-'

"Wow, did you know you can buy discount spandex and outerwear with your subscription?" asked the teenager, pointing to a sales page in the front of the book.

Elsa shrugged casually, nodding. She chose to forgo the "obviously" remark hanging on her tongue. Come on, of course she would be aware of that. She was currently waiting on a shipment of a new navy training top. She shook her head, trying to forget about the arrival date of the garment and continue her review. '-increased their annual expenditure, with most growth seen in the online market. What-'

"Just making sure," Anna chirped loudly, turning the page. "Wow, SportsGraphics will be doing the photos of all of Norway's collegiate races this spring. I bet they'll take ours this Saturday!"

With a tight pull of her lips, Elsa mustered a distracted and disinterested sounding 'mhm'. She continued to read through some sentences in her word document, finding it almost difficult to refocus, catching herself rereading lines.

This time there was about a 30-second pause of blissful silence, fingers flipping through the pages the only soft noise in the apartment. She'd just begun reading the third paragraph, stopping at the words 'See Figure 1'.

"I still can't believe that Boston, US had won the Olympic bid," Anna said, once again breaking the quiet of the room, unfolding the magazine to read a centerfold extendable. Based on previous issues, which talk non-stop about the event basically starting right after the closing of the Winter Games, the middle article kept up with each country's preparing teams.

The blonde, pulling up her Excel document just offered a short 'mmm' in acknowledgment, deciding to shift her attention to her pre-made graphs, and somewhat hopeful that the other occupant would take a hint.

As nothing more followed the somewhat grunt of a response, Anna just plowed on. "Just figuring a bigger city would hold the summer games. Like.. London! Or, or.." She hummed. "Or Rio! That'd be pretty hot though.."

As the girl rambled with a few more musings (the word "Tokyo" being thrown in there even), Elsa finally tipped her head in a slow almost mechanical manner, an expectant look on her face. The redhead caught it, blinking. "Anna.." Her tone was a mixture of authoritative exasperation and almost tiredness.

"Fine, I'll be quiet," the girl grumbled with a pout and crease in her brow, flipping a few more pages in the magazine, nose now burrowed inside of it; the object acting like a barrier to contain her excitable nature. Despite the disruptive talking, the older woman still couldn't help but feel an ounce of amusement at the reaction.

Cute.. The blonde blinked firmly, turning her sights back to her homework. Finally, some peace a quiet. She comfortably entered in some more data, fingers dancing quickly over her silver keypad. A few clicks. Google Scholar was now up with a great primary article-

"Whoah there's an exclusive with Merida, the Great Eight's coxswain!"

"Anna..!"

…

The clanging of porcelain cups, sloshing of liquids, and tiny clinks of spoons entered Elsa's ears in the once quiet apartment. The rowing magazine was splayed on the floor diagonally from the couch, dismissed once and for all after Elsa physically took the item from Anna's distractible grasp (after she proved unable to keep her comments to herself), literally tossing it aside and asking the woman to do something quiet and productive.

That was nearly two hours ago.

Anna struggled to keep attention long enough to any activity, let alone something boring like school work, eventually growing so fidgety that her notes began to take the form of scribbled stars, vines, and spirals along the margins. It was quite distracting for Elsa to glance over at, and she almost reached the point to comment on Anna's lack of productivity.

But before she could, the redhead had jumped up with a swing of her arms to loosen her shoulders. She was then marching into the kitchen, the words "I'm making us hot chocolate" coming out as a definite intention. Far be it from Elsa to deny such an act. She had finished her outline and made fair gains on her powerpoint slides anyway. She had her Economy Seminar paper to proofread next before submission. A short break wouldn't be so bad right now.

Elsa just nestled her knees beneath herself as she leaned her lower back against the sofa's armrest, letting her eyes drift shut as the smell of chocolate began to trace her nose. She inhaled the delicious scent, secretly much more eager to taste her favorite dessert indulgence than she would ever willingly let on to. She hadn't let chocolate grace her lips since.. well, actually she had to admit that she had been indulging on the sweet treat much more often during her time with Anna than she ever had before!

Most recently, it was with Anna's absolutely abhorrent yet delicious bacon drizzled bacon on Friday. Before that, a small treat at the festival which Anna had practically forced her to consume. And before that, it was the night that she and Anna got the chocolate fondue dip when they went out on the town.

And there was even a time before that when I dared to try a bite of that strange chocolate brownie Luna Bar, she thought in secret disbelief, something she barely admitted to herself.

She had seen how Anna gorged herself on the organic treat, and Elsa would have been lying that the idea of organic, marketed as healthy, chocolate did not immediately have her walking down the aisles of the nearby grocery store and picking up a few. Upon the first bite, however, the taste had been too much of an onslaught of bitter and sweet cacao for her liking; an insult to her favorite indulgence, really. But she figured she may as well keep a stash tucked away in her crew locker to serve another purpose; feeding her Double's partner. Anna seemed receptive to incentives after all. Positive reinforcement.

It certainly helped her be more amenable to all of our long second practices, she remembered fondly.

Chocolate really held so many memories. And, oh, how she bubbled with excitement to have these more frequent respites from her usual healthy greens and protein shakes once more-

Her eyes suddenly shot open as her ears alerted her to a loud ruckus. There was the sound of repeated pounding on the floorboards. Running? No. More like someone trying to catch their balance. And the momentarily startled voice accompanying the sound brought her eyes to the kitchen as she realized the situation occurring before it climaxed.

Anna had gone sliding on the floor in a pair of fleece socks, dropping the cups of hot chocolate with a loud clatter, soon followed by Anna's own collision with the floor.

Everything made Elsa jump up and spin around from her spot on the couch, blue eyes wide with alarm as she assessed the damage of the aftermath. Feet carrying her around to the downed girl, she knelt down and watched as the redhead groaned, successfully sitting up from her supine position and rubbing her butt. The freshman cursed at the action, muttering something about 'damn slippery socks.' Looking at the mess of a girl slowly recovering, Elsa couldn't help but let out a breath she hadn't noticed that she was holding, thankful that Anna hadn't knocked herself unconscious, either from a mug hitting her skull or the floorboards on which she fell! Some good reflexes must have been in play.

After confirming Anna was at least well enough to begin her string of usual side comments, Elsa was already up and going to the kitchen for something to amend the situation, a small smile painted on her previously worried lips.

"Your middle name surely must be Clumsy," she said lightly, kneeling down on the floor with a dish rag to soak up the frothy liquid; chocolate scent even more prominent as she drew closer to it. What a disappointing waste. She couldn't help the thought. Anna was safe and fine, but the chocolate had paid the ultimate price.

The younger girl frowned in response to the remark, standing up with the (somehow still intact) porcelain mugs. "Actually, it's Grace."

Elsa's eyes glanced up at hearing this information, catching Anna's indignant expression with a glint in sapphire orbs. "Huh. That's terribly ironic."

Anna rolled her eyes, hands on her hips as she let out a pout. "If I had chocolate truffle for every time I heard that one-"

"-Your dentist would be swimming in a pool full of gold?"

Anna's eyes darted to the floor while Elsa gave a smirk up. Her finely arched eyebrows rose playfully at Anna's exasperated face.

"Your humor is going to be the death of me, I swear!" groaned the redhead as she moved into the kitchen, obviously intent on remaking a new batch of drinks for the two. She was quickly tearing open a few packets of the powdered mixture. Elsa noted that Anna had extracted her sock-cozies at the last second before stepping into the kitchen; bare feet stomping with a little more force than necessary to glue her to the earth.

"I think your parents had good humor, or high expectations," she said as she stood from the floor.

Following her offhanded comment, Elsa looked at the carefree girl who was smiling lucidly, eyes closed; dark-lashed feathering those freckle stormed cheeks. She looked so relaxed as she seemed to drift momentarily into whatever memories swirled through that free-spirited mind. It was moments like these where Elsa realized that she really knew so little about the younger woman; her past. It made the older woman wonder.

"Anna, what were your parents like?" She found herself asking the curious question before her brain caught onto how personal of a question it actually was. Honestly, she hadn't meant to voice her thought at all. When those teal eyes lazily looked at her, relaxation flashing into some sort of muted surprise, Elsa bit her lip and tucked her chin in the slightest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry.." she trailed off softly, beginning to kick herself for asking such a thing of her dear partner.

But Anna left barely a moment to hesitate before she gave a nod; reverie returning to those sea-green orbs. "No, don't worry. Um. They were.. free spirits. I think I'm kinda like them. More so my dad," she rambled slightly, eyes thoughtfully looking up at the pallid ceiling.

"Not your mom?" Elsa asked, curiosity piqued in hearing more about Anna's history given that she knew so little. Or at least she felt like she did.

The younger woman shook her head. "I mean, she was pretty excitable too, but not nearly like my dad. He was where I got my energy, no doubt; always ready for the next big discovery of where the waves would go." Both shared a smile at Anna's corniness. "He was on his boat so much you'd have thought it was his job!"

Finishing in the kitchen, the blonde made her way back to the living room, eyes still watching while Anna finished up with the second batch of their drinks. Elsa curled her knees underneath herself, elbow resting on the back of the couch as she settled herself in. "What did they do for a living?" she asked before realizing how invested she had become in this conversation after just a few short questions.

Anna sent her a somewhat bemused smirk over her shoulder as she scooped up the refilled cups. "What's with the sudden interest in my family history?"

A blush quickly formed across Elsa's naturally pale face and she looked away again. It was really nice hearing Anna open up like this, not like it was very difficult for the girl to do, however Elsa just never.. asked. She had never expected to find it so interesting either. Or maybe she never let herself consider that a possibility. Anna's surprise at her even asking in the first place said enough that Elsa did not seek out this information nearly as much as she probably should have. She internally kicked herself for her terrible aloofness and distance. But the redhead continued forward with a happy grin, setting the drinks on the table and tucking herself up on the couch to mirror the blonde.

"I'm kidding Elsa. It's nice to talk about them." She looked back toward the ceiling as Elsa tried to cool her burning cheeks. "Mom was a florist. She loved flowers more than anything. Always put my favorite in the front window, too. She said a sunflower has the greatest ability to brighten someone's day, and if you can do that for even one person, that's really special."

"That's.. very sweet," Elsa said softly, tenderly, touched by the sentiment yet unsure of just how to properly word it. And she did not miss the additional note of information; another fact quickly stored in her mind. Anna's favorite flowers are sunflowers. That's really cute to know.

Anna grinned. "Yeah.. Dad did some door-to-door sales thing. Contract job. He did a lot of traveling down the coast, so during those trips he'd actually take his sailboat instead of the car. I loved going to 'work' with him," she laughed happily at her joke, the little ring of happiness causing Elsa to snicker along. "We'd go out to sea at night, lay on the bow deck and count the stars." Anna's eyes drifted to her hands sitting peacefully in her lap, cupping the warm beverage, unable to help a smile from growing on her lips. "Sometimes I get flashbacks of those memories when we're at practice, just sitting on the water.. feeling it lap against the boat.. the rocking of the waves."

The blonde found herself glued to Anna's expression, consciously unaware of just how entranced she was while learning all of this; seeing how happy it was making the girl in front of her. A few long seconds passed, making Elsa lightly chew her lip. "What did your parents look like?" she pressed on, finding herself trying her best to visualize all of Anna's early stories like a movie in her mind; purposefully ignoring the tragic information Anna had first shared with her.

There was an immediate brilliant smile that lit up Anna's features as she reached into her pocket, extracting her tiny phone. "Here, let me show ya." Anna clicked through the photos. After a few presses of her thumb, she muttered a quiet apology as she clicked her fastest through the photo icons, scroll action taking virtually forever in comparison to technology's advancements since that phone was first manufactured. Elsa even distantly thought how she was on the list for a new i-phone 7, not even on the radar of the market yet. She looked down when Anna handed the device over with a family photo on it.

Elsa smirked when she saw a digital time stamp in the corner of the picture, joke too good to pass up. "Gee, I know your phone is old, but 2004?"

Anna made a face, huffing. "It's a photo that I took of a real photograph. Gawd. I wasn't even 10 yet, let alone owning a cellphone!"

Blue eyes tossed a knowing wink at the now flushed redhead. Elsa scanned the image, taking in the two, albeit young, adult figures crouching behind a child version of Anna. She took in the man's appearance. His piercing ice eyes and fair blonde hair falling toward the side of his head; undoubtedly Finnish, just as Anna had shared about her heritage. And the auburn-haired woman with her green eyes looked strikingly like Anna herself, more so now that the child had matured into adulthood.

"They're young," Elsa made note of. Honestly, they looked in their late 20's. So young. Her own parents had waited well into their late 30's prior to expecting any heirs to the family fortune.

"My mom was a baby bride, married right outta high school and had me three months later." Wow, that math was certainly unable to be ignored. "Yours were older I assume?"

Elsa had to laugh. "Much.. my mother turned 39 a little after I was born."

"39!?" Anna's eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

While the redhead took a few moments to process the difference in their families, Elsa looked at the picture again, specifically at the older woman. Perfect heart shaped face, emerald eyes, fair auburn-almost red locks framing her tanned and freckled face. The relation was undeniable. Anna looked just like her. "Your mother was very beautiful, Anna."

Anna's head snuck over Elsa's shoulder to glance fondly at one of her most cherished photos, chin resting and head tilted against Elsa's own. "She was."

Elsa felt a warmth at the contact, as well as that coming from a sense of familial wonder which she had such little experience with herself. "You two share a striking resemblance in that respect." There was a long silence, spanning several peaceful seconds, prior to Elsa's words catching up with her brain. Her side-glance at the newly flushed redhead, who literally seemed to sizzle in redness at the comment, made Elsa sputter slightly. "No, I-I meant.. well, that.. that was what I.. meant. Yeah." Goodness. She was always so articulate. It was one of her most commendable assets to her scholastic achievements and in her business performance.

Except in front of Anna.

Equally flustered, she shoved the phone back to the redhead, uncurling her body and running a hand through her bangs while she tried to extract herself from that conversation. In the deeper recesses of her mind, she knew that it wasn't like they hadn't expressed more intimate information between each other. It's just.. something about the level of connection and the overwhelming sense of closeness paired with a completely unhindered admittance rattled her nerves a bit unexpectedly. The look of shy admiration and care that came over Anna's face was also something that dug into her heart in a way that made all other expressions feel superficial.

The redhead let out a hefty breath and flopped her shoulders forward slightly as she too unfolded her body, mimicking the older girl. Elsa couldn't be sure what was running through the girl's mind, but she hoped it wasn't a negative response to her own reaction. "Okay, I've talked way too much." Elsa tilted her head before shaking it, but Anna totted her hand. "I always talk about myself."

Again, Elsa just shook her head. "Honestly, you don't. Maybe in daily things, but then again, you have always been the better conversationalist.." She shrugged her lip as freckled cheeks rose up in a grin. A happy Anna smile. That was a safe appearance which Elsa knew and appreciated. "But I find that there's so much more about you that I still don't know a thing about.." And it is completely my fault for that, she berated herself.

The auburn haired girl chuckled bashfully. "I've always felt the same about you."

At that, Elsa wished she could argue that she had revealed such large things already about her life; family, rowing, Nationals.. Well, at least the literal of all things. She still was not one to reveal too much in regards to her feelings, despite the trickles she had let slip forth to Anna's knowledge whilst the dam continued to overflow.

"Sorry," she finally supplemented, not sure how else to proceed. She wished Anna would continue to talk more about her childhood. What was her home town like? What did she do for fun outside of crew? Why those God awful ugly neon green Crocs? It was quite flustering actually, once she realized how much she wanted to know now paired with how little she did know. How would Anna react if she just blatantly asked the girl to share her entire life story? Probably not well. Although she wouldn't put it past the young girl to comply to some degree..

"Well how about we promise to share more about ourselves," Anna suggested with that ever honest smile. "Organically, obviously." She tossed her hand. "I don't want anything forced because.. Yeesh. That wouldn't be pretty."

Why was this woman so perfect? It was as if she had this sixth sense to just get her. With a nod, able to hold eye-contact for very brief seconds at a time, Elsa agreed to the proposal.

…

The afternoon wore on. Soon it was almost five o'clock. Frustratingly, Elsa creased her brows as she looked at her assignment pad in her daily planner. She should have been on to general studying by this hour. But here she was, still finishing the last of her scheduled assignments. One that did have a deadline.

She was trying her hardest to concentrate on finishing in at least a decent timeliness, but out of the corner of her eye, she kept catching Anna doing those.. Anna-like things. It was, for a lack of better words, annoying.

Of course she had noticed during their study group times. They had spent so much time together. Anna had little idiosyncrasies. When a problem called for more complex responses, she'd crinkle her brow as she wrote out her answer. If she was stumped on how to word a response, she'd wriggling her lips side-to-side in quick succession. When she didn't know the answer at all, she would lightly tap her pencil eraser against her nose. And, when she didn't even understand what a question was asking in the first place, she would frown, rub her thumb over her temple, and mutter of colorful choice words whispered beneath her breath.

And along with those traits and habits, then there was just Anna being so.. Anna.

But, Elsa was well-versed in these traits. So, what made it so enthralling right now? Maybe because of how light-hearted and laid back this Sunday had felt, compared to her usual ones, it had her craving more of the pleasantness instead of the stresses of scholastic work.

Currently, her Anna studies led her to deduce that the girl did not know the answer to the current question, light tapping of pencil eraser thumping against her button-shaped nose. Dark blue eyes eventually scanned down the draped auburn braids, laying perfectly over Anna's collar. I wish she'd let her hair down more often, she thought in memory of the Festival of Lights. It's really long and pretty.

"Elsa?"

Blue eyes blinked, focusing on teal eyes which were boring into her own. Her head sprung up, distantly noticing her head had been comfortably rested in her palm as she lazily and apparently unabashedly gazed at the teenager.

Heat crawling up her neck, Elsa stuttered out an excusal. "S-sorry.. I was just.." She cleared her throat, sitting up and turning back toward her laptop. "Thinking… about.. my paper."

"Oh.." As she turned, she had not missed the sudden appearance of a mischievous twinkle in the eyes across from her. "Wait. Am I.. distracting you?"

Oh.

W-wow. Why did she have to say that with such a low tone in her voice? It was almost.. sultry. A shudder rose up her shoulders in response. The rebuttal that usually found its way to her mouth with ease chose to hang back, choked at the suddenness. In the stillness following the words, she could feel her company's presence increase by her side in the slowest manner. Seconds pressed on and she couldn't help the rough swallow as she finally turned her face toward where she knew Anna to be. There. Kneeling on the couch seat. Face in front of her. Tiny impish smile squished on her lips.

The proximity brought back flashes of last night. Excitement rose in her chest.

A heated hand came to cup her cheek, and she was nothing but weak to settle into it, her own hands delicately rising up around Anna's back and resting on her taut shoulders. The ease which she fell into this moment was shockingly apparent.

As opposite as their cool and warm personalities, the draw of their faces was softly magnetic.

It was careful, and much more cautious than the searing memory from the night prior, but Elsa found her eyes closing just as the soft pressure of carnation pink lips connected on her own. The familiar scent of flower fields in the heat of summer overpowered her as she let herself dance for an extended beat in its mingling essence before she let out a long exhale; a sigh exiting her lips into parting flower at her breath.

As the kiss continued, deepening within its reaches, Elsa felt her hands twitch; itching for motion and touch, yet unsure of how to begin it. The safe place which she kept on Anna's shoulders suddenly felt.. inadequate.

Elsa had very, very limited experience in this entire area of life if her previous actions were anything to show for it. Even with a known history of her long-term girlfriend, it did not mean said ex-girlfriend ever initiated personal contact in the same way, or to the magnitude, which Anna did. It left Elsa in a discouraging place akin to the purgatory of romance.

What should she do? What was too much? Too little? Damn, where was that liquid courage when she needed it..

Finally, somehow grounding herself enough, her hands drifted from their secure and comfortable hold at Anna's shoulder blades, both hands mirroring the other's trajectory in slow synchrony. The curve of the younger athlete's back was gentle and small, but firm muscles could be lightly discerned beneath the cotton fabric of her t-shirt. Finally, her hands came to rest at the girl's low back, one arm now comfortably bent as she tentatively massaged the muscle beneath her finger pads, the other awkwardly stretching across and around the sideways kneeling girl. It shouldn't feel this awkward, should it? Elsa found herself thinking behind closed eyes, relying souly on kinesthetic input for her body's decisions.

It was then that the girl somehow managed to interpret the motion and Elsa's hesitance. Maybe even sense the heavy thought she was putting into this. In a surprisingly swift move, Anna pulled herself closer, sliding her leg over to sit atop Elsa's lap, body twisted to face her. Freckled arms locked around her shoulders with a hand coming to support the back of her head.

Elsa let herself lean into it and finally loosened her 'awkward' arm, letting it rein back in toward her side, dragging her hand as she went. As the instant relief hit her muscles, she was met with a surprised gasp against her lips.

Mind reeling at the pleasant noise, Elsa could only find herself kissing the girl back with an increased fervor. It took a few moments while lost in that heated moment before she felt the urge to move her hands again.. so soon? One still lightly supporting Anna's curved back and the other-

Oh, I get it.. She felt the warmth against her cool fingertips and the soft fabric on top of her hand. Oh boy.. Her fingers had slipped up the bottommost hem of Anna's shirt. Barely caressing the same location as lightly as a butterfly's kiss, Elsa tried to focus on her ministrations. Oh sweet glory goodness, are those her abs?

Her hand trailed mere centimeters at a time, trying to envision the glorious carving of muscle that her hand was just beginning to explore. She would be lying if she denied only visually appreciating the site of Anna's fit body, and not wishing to know just exactly how it felt to touch such a masterpiece of a sculpture.

What even was time? Well, Elsa could easily explain that it was a construct established in ancient society for all of humankind to maintain some abstract conceptualized grasp of the physicality of a passing space-time continuum, yes. But in these moments, with Anna pressed so close to her, it did not feel to even exist. Elsa found herself relishing this effect; cares and worries of the future lost in a pleasant bliss. Kissing Anna was apparently just as effective at clearing her mind as the exhilaration of running. Potentially, maybe, even on par with rowing.

Why had she even been so worried this morning, again?

Her hand stilled over a particular spot close to Anna's belly button and the whine traveling up Anna's throat should have been the only thing to cause the rising flutter of butterflies in her stomach. But that contact elicited more. It was small, barely perceivable. Had their bodies not been pressed flush, Elsa probably would not have even felt it. That was far from the case. The new pressure of rolling hips down upon her own did something shocking to her system, the previously fluttering butterflies suddenly swarming together and plummeting down, deep, heavy.. good.

Intense.

Where was her control? She was losing it. Again. She.. didn't want to.

This.. it's too much! Her mind screamed over the tsunami of heat, brakes slamming as realization and fear hit her. I can't.. Not yet..

"A-Anna," she started in a breathless gasp, unable to stop the small breath of a nervous chuckle still feeling the girl's breath tickling her cheeks. She swallowed hard, taking in a deep breath as she pushed herself back slightly. This is so hard to stop, but it needs to. "S.. sorry," she muttered. The dark teal eyes in front of her cleared as a haze was lifted; a whisper of 'Don't be' soon fell from swollen lips as the freckled woman cautiously searched Elsa's expression. Oh, did the blonde pray that her face concealed the nervousness. She was quick to change subjects. "As lovely as this is.. I um.. I still need to email my report."

It wasn't a non-truth. Breaking the news of her school obligations to this exquisite and downright intoxicating girl was more painful than Elsa could have imagined. In an instant, the heat shared between them began to evaporate.

Anna's worried expression fell at the excuse. With a large pout, the redhead sat back on her haunches, purposely making a dramatic effect of extracting herself from Elsa's rapidly cooling body. Kicking up her feet, she landed them on the coffee table, arms crossing across her torso. She continued her theatrical display, sulking at Elsa's side. Elsa did not mind the sulky reaction to her weak explanation. Interrupting something like that for school was not a pleasant thing. However, it was a better excuse than having to address.. well, other things now coursing through her mind.

During this transition, the blonde found herself taking a large gulp of air, absently brushing her hand through her bangs as she collected her thoughts. Wow. She had really let her inhibitions go with that. It was absolutely disorienting. More so, it was the fact she had been itching for it to continue and her body almost took over her failing restraint.

But she took back control. She still had control. Even when things escalated to that level of passion. As long as she had that ability, she could manage these emotions. She could balance them with everything else. Anna. Rowing. Studies. Her future.

She blinked, reality settling in, leaning forward and opening up her document. She scrolled through it, checking for any ungrammatical marks, before opening up her college email account.

From over her shoulder, she heard Anna ask, "When's it due?"

Her navy eyes darted to the corner of her computer, reading the time stamp. She groaned, fingers picking up their clicking speed. "10 minutes from now.."

"Look at that," Anna said with a cocky laugh. "It seems the student has become the teacher."

Elsa took a second to glare over her shoulder, not surprised to see the shit-eating grin splashed over her features. The true personification of procrastination sat at her side, and Elsa honestly considered Anna's words to be true. That was a frightening concept. She shook her head as she returned to compiling her email and attachment. "Do not say such horrid things.. Now, let me finish."

She took the last of her ticking minutes to ensure she had the margin sizes correct, subject lines complete, graphs in order and citation page attached last. She tapped the pad, sending the message to her professor with 1 minute to spare.

Those silent minutes passed her fast, but once she was done with her task, Anna seemed compelled to break her composure and fill the space in conversion once again. "All done?" Elsa shut her laptop with a nod. There was a quiet 'yippee' from her side as the redhead fell into Elsa's side, catching her in an awkward sideways hug. The cuddly contact was welcome, though, and Elsa found herself shifting in to it once more. So easy. "Man, I can't believe Kristoff was so right.." mumbled Anna against Elsa's shoulder as she slid her feet off of Elsa's coffee table, further pasting herself at the blonde's side.

The older student tossed a furrowed brow her way. "In what regards?" Had he called that Anna's bad habits of procrastination and disregard to schoolwork would rub off on her? If so, she needed to have a word with the surprisingly insightful blond Sophomore.

Anna hummed thoughtfully, sitting herself back up but staying pressed close to Elsa's side. "Well, it's funny. With Hans, I jumped right into being his girlfriend, and then we didn't kiss for a whole month!" Elsa blinked in surprise at that new information, truly surprised at that particular reveal. Anna had never shared that tidbit before. She now actually wondered why it took them so long, not that she would be one to complain. There was a personal urge to ask more about that, however Anna's next words froze the Senior in her tracks. "Looks like I did it backwards this time!"

Had Elsa been drinking anything at that moment, she certainly would have fallen victim to a stereotypical expectoration of liquid. Her head snapped in the opposite direction, unable to literally face the cause of the problem. Her skin paled to a ghastly ashen shade. Sure, the two women had been growing closer and closer, but their kiss is what finally made them cross that dangerous line into.. into.. into what? Anna was literally contrasting yet simultaneously comparing them, in their current situation, their precious first kiss, to when she and Hans had became.. when those two started…

Oh goodness, now Elsa's palms felt clammy.

Somehow, she stammered a weak question in feigned ignorance, already knowing the answer. "Wh-what do you, um.. mean?"

Then, it was Anna's turn to face the gravity of her words implications; peachy skin whitewashing in a remarkably similar way as Elsa's own. She let out a tight breath, catching herself stupidly. "Wh-what?" Her rhetorical word seemed to do its job, buying her time for mere seconds to collect herself. Elsa did not seem to mind Anna's automatic attempt to prolong the conversation's inevitability. She seemed to appreciate the elongation to bide her own time.

Anna's brows furrowed as her eyes slid shut, head lowering between the crux of her collar. A heavy moment held thick silence before Anna slowly pushed herself to her feet, scuffing around the couch with tentative steps akin to walking on eggshells.

"I mean, after everything that's happened this week and last, I kinda thought we were.." She shook her head as if trying to make sense of the situation as well as admonishing her presumptuous behavior. "Isn't it.. like, the normal progression to start dat-"

"-Anna," Elsa sighed stiffly over the words, stopping the girl, chin turning back over her shoulder. "We aren't.. We're not.." Why is this so hard to say? Those regretful aqua eyes stared back at her and, slowly, she seemed to realize what Elsa was going to answer. Tearing her gaze aside, Elsa bit out the statement, both finishing and confirming Anna's previous thought. "Dating."

The smaller form seemed to shrink out of the corner of her eye, despite standing to the side of the couch. "Then, what are we then?" Her voice was bordering sorrowful and it made Elsa's heart sink at being the cause of such angst.

The blonde frowned. She always had an answer. She always had a definite plan. Always. But this.. thing, wasn't part of it.

"I.. I.. don't know," she answered honestly while turning her head back in the other direction, hating her defensive nature so much during that moment. She really had no better answer. Unfortunately, the disapproving glare focusing in aquamarine pools indicated that Anna would not be taking that poor justification easily.

"You don't know?" Her voice wavered near incredulous while remaining veiled in uncertainty, eyes lingering on the taller woman's side profile. A pause, and an effortful laugh came through her lips. "I mean, I know you don't have a Facebook, but there are a number of things can label a relationship status.."

"Well, then, there is no 'relationship' by that regard." Elsa's shoulders rose uncomfortably, respiratory rate increasing as they persevered through this murky muck of a discussion. She did not want to be having this conversation. Just like she had told Flynn. She thought she'd have more time. She wasn't ready for it yet. "Look, I told you before, I don't do.." She tossed an erratic flick of her wrist. "..that sort of thing anymore.."

There was a snort before Anna cocked her hip and folded her arms over her chest. She deadpanned, "Well surely we've been doing something this week… today?"

That sarcastic bite finally encouraged the blonde to stand up and turn to face down the red-haired rower. "Exactly. 'Something.' But that's all. Nothing else needs to come of what's been going on right now."

Auburn brows lowered again, this time out of dampening enthusiasm. "Wait.. you really don't expect anything else to happen? There's no plan for.. us?"

And there it was. It was finally out. Elsa felt her breath catch and, as she stared at the increasingly disappointed figure before her, there was a fleeting second in which she was sure that she'd never take a breath again.

Was there a feasible plan for them? Did Elsa really see something coming from this silly escapade that she had let herself delve into? Recently, she had been so focused on just living in the moment, purposefully ignoring the topic for this very reason; this discussion. Could she really find a way to incorporate Anna into all of the other things planned for her future? This thing transpiring with Anna was brought about all thanks to a whim, taking a chance on opening up her feelings. A risk. An uncertainty. Elsa could not bring in an uncertainty to her set-in-stone plans. A negative multiplied by a positive always equaled a negative. Mathematically, it didn't make sense.. but she knew emotions could not be summed by simple calculations.

The terrible words of indecision hung behind her trembling lips again, but she knew anything that she uttered would hold no strength in this fight. Her body language gave it away all too easily; anxiety, tension, debate and desire clouding her features. At least she assumed her face had to be screaming out these feelings given Anna's sudden change in appearance.

With a brave foot forward, the redhead approached her Doubles partner, eyes growing firm."If we're not moving forward with whatever this is, then we are just moving backwards." The cheesiness of the line nearly brought a laugh to the Senior's lips, but concern held back all other emotional releases at that time.

Was there a sense of fear? Would this be the moment she lost Anna? That.. that was not an option. She wouldn't let that be an option.

"No!" she barked immediately before calming. "No, we are not." Elsa tried to counter firmly, trying to stop any nervous waver from entering her voice as her throat tightened. However, the statement was given with weak resolve. "We would simply be.." Her mind flitted back to the happy, blissful encounter they had been sharing so briefly ago where she needn't think about what everything meant for them in the future. That moment of pleasant timelessness lost in that physics-defying kiss. "..in stasis."

She clawed at her logic, hiding behind factual information which was so typically her friend. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be holding up as well as it had in the past. That was confirmed by each passing second in which Anna stared her down. Elsa's fingertips began to worry together in front of her, elbows flexing forearms upwards in steadily growing tension under the scrutiny, body folding in on itself subconsciously.

She pressed on though. "And.. wh-what's wrong with that, anyway?" Elsa tried again, knowing her voice was sounding much meeker the longer this confrontation went on. "Besides, weren't you the one who wanted us to focus on just the present? Telling me not to focus on the future?" she conjured up defensively. Pulling up receipts was low, but Elsa was floundering, and flounder was something she absolutely did not do.

The redhead held her gaze strong, despite Elsa's continuing retreat into herself. Elsa briefly wondered if Anna would equally sink to her level, calling out the Senior for always having a plan devised to the 'T' in explicit detail. Elsa knew better, though. Anna was better than, and way beyond that sort of low-balling. Better than herself. The heavy silence stretched the seconds out until time's clock nearly reset its continuous minute markings. But at that, Anna limply raised her arms up before letting them flop down again; the act one of inconclusive defeat.

Elsa could read by the look projected in fiery eyes that Anna was not ready to lose the war, but perhaps she'd be okay conceding this one battle.

"Okay," she said quietly, bringing her chin down for a pause before nodding to herself. "'Stasis'. For now." She lifted her head up again, the level of seriousness almost uncharacteristic on her always jovial features. "But, we will talk about this again."

Swallowing the tightness in her throat, Elsa accepted the compromise with an understanding nod. She knew Anna was completely right. Hell, she knew Flynn was right when he had originally told her to discuss this, sooner rather than later. But, at least now she had some extended time to think everything through just a bit more thoroughly. It's all she needed. This is what she specialized in. Compartmentalizing everything about her life. Now that Anna provided this alarmingly uncomfortable wakeup call, she should be able to figure this situation out, therefore causing as little drama, frustration, or pain as possible.

As if reading the emotions pouring over Elsa's downcast face, the redhead stepped closer, taking Elsa's hand in her own, pulling it away from the compressed spot against Elsa's chest. The blonde felt her stomach tightening at the contact. She wanted this conversation to be over. She was feeling too many things. Too many unpleasant things.

She was feeling.. but this time, brutally reminded why she never had before, and why she had refused to act.

"Hey," Anna prodded softly, peeking her head under Elsa's trying to catch her eyes. When she finally did, and Elsa looked back into the freckled face she adored so much, Anna gave her a soft, innocent smile. "Do you still have that chocolate syrup up in the top shelf?"

Brows rising, Elsa blinked and brought her shoulders back at the abrupt question.

Collecting herself after a moment's hesitation, her first inclination was to say "no", glancing to where she knew her chocolate stash was kept, hidden away from the world. It was her special treat after all. But she knew she was too late as Anna caught her eyes' movement toward the cabinet.

In a colorful blur, the teenager was dashing away and into the kitchen.

The entire situation changed in an almost near literal blink of an eye. Anna was good at redirection, in a completely different way than Elsa who tended to rely on deflection and evasiveness. Anna moved them along; safely brought them back from any ledges they stood too close to. Elsa appreciated it immensely. It wasn't over, no. Not by a longshot. But they could put it aside. They could continue to simply.. be.

"I'm making chocolate covered bacon," called the girl, the sound of sizzling already crackling in the air. Elsa stared at the woman's back, unblinkingly, until Anna turned around. She caught those aquamarine eyes, so similar and just as reflective as that of a beautiful blue sea.

So kind. So forgiving. So understanding. So Anna.

"Thank you, Anna." Unsaid were the sheer multitude of subjects Elsa wanted to express her gratitude for, but somehow, she knew Anna could hear them all.

…

The clock on the wall ticked along as Elsa's 3 hour mid-day lecture reached its end. But the class felt longer than ever. The professor, a middle-aged, fatherly gentleman with thick red hair and beard, walked around returning their mid-term reports which had been assigned over spring break. The blonde rower, seated front and center as she did with all of her classes, watched as the other students in her class received their graded reports, each one doing a similar means of glancing at the top corner before packing up their belongings and leaving the lecture hall.

Anxiously, she drummed her fingers over the tiny wooden flip-desk. She already had her satchel packed, ready to bolt from the room the second she had the report in hand. Her eyes glanced down at her phone screen, rereading through her most populated text chain and the recent conversation.

'it'll probs be done around 3.. pick us up?' had been the message that she received as her class was concluding.

Earlier that morning, Anna had mentioned that she would be at the court hearing. Today. All of a sudden. As if it were a simple off-hand comment. Sure Elsa knew it was coming, and maybe Anna wanted to downplay the severity of her situation to not make it worse than it already was, but it still made Elsa sad to know so late. And that the case was so soon? Hadn't Anna gotten her letter Saturday? Had she gotten notice of it previously and this was merely a reminder? It was going on for so much longer than Elsa had been aware of after all..

Although all of her seminar courses were jammed into this day, the blonde still asked if the young rower needed someone to accompany her. It almost felt along the lines of insistent pestering, at least, in her upbringing knowledge; such imposing behavior was not looked upon approvingly as a professional. Elsa had never missed a class in her life either, but, by her word, if Anna needed the support..

But the younger woman's response had been quick, letting her know that Kristoff would tag along so she would not be alone. It made Elsa feel somewhat better that Anna would not be left feeling alone in that crowded room with Hans so nearby. Though, honestly, she really wished it could be her being there for Anna instead. Not that she felt the obligation or anything. She just really wanted to be there. She chalked it up to the recent events which still had her secretly wanting to smash the Junior boy's face in.

Elsa couldn't stop the thought of the entire ordeal from occupying her thoughts for the rest of the day, checking her phone every 10-15 minutes during her classes for updates from Anna as they slowly rolled in. But it appeared that finally things had been wrapping up.

The seated blonde quickly sent a response now that she could actually take out her phone without needing to sneakily hide it beneath the desk like some delinquent student.

'Of course. I am finishing now.'

"Elsa?"

Her head popped up just as she was sending the text. Her professor stood over her desk, handing over the mid-semester report the same way he did to everyone: that annoying upside down, rolled up way. With a quick thank you, she grabbed her paper and bag, flipped up her little desk table, and began heading out of the room with intent in her step.

She turned her paper as she was exiting the doorway but suddenly stopped in her tracks, audibly scuffing the heel of her boot against the dividing weather strip of the room and hallway. Her brows knitted together as her eyes landed on the circled grade in the top right-hand corner. She let out a little breath, turning herself around and hurriedly stalking back into the room. All previous motives abandoned.

"Professor Mufasa?" she called as the last student received their paper. The older man turned around and motioned Elsa to follow him as he went to his podium to also pack up his teaching books.

"What may I help you with Ms. Winters?"

Elsa caught her words in her throat, before looking down at her score again. It was rare that she lost her ability to articulate, no matter how stressful a situation. Honestly, only Anna had been the one to stir such nervousness lately. Was.. was she getting soft? She frowned shaking her head, trying to rid her wandering mind and recover her usual confidence when in the face of trouble. "Um.. I just.. Can I ask about my grade?"

The gentleman looked up with a steady expression, almost expectant. "I was hoping you would."

That made her swallow uncomfortably. Looking back down at the multipage report, she flipped through the pages, hoping to find some coherency to her words. "This.. it.." She huffed, closing her eyes in frustration before looking back at the calm man. "I couldn't have gotten a C+!"

"You are as surprised as I am," he said. "This is my second semester having you and you have never received anything lower than an A. I almost didn't recognize the prose or product as yours." He frowned. At that moment he rustled through his bag, pulling out another marked up report. Elsa recognized it as the most recent assignment she sent in Sunday afternoon. "But you handed this in the other day. Citation errors, miscalculations, sophomore spelling errors.."

There was no grade visible on that one just yet, but at the moment, hearing the verbal comments and marring red streaks, she was thankful for that.

His voice grew softer in tone; genuinely sympathetic. "Tell me. Has something had you.. distracted recently?"

Something sank in her gut. Fast. Heavy. Sharply. Not good. She nearly lost her breath, as if a physical blow had struck her. Yes, was her immediate and honest first thought. She sighed, head dropping slightly, unable to disguise her feeling of inadequacy and even a bit of embarrassment at falling victim to her own weak resolve.

He rubbed his thick red beard, eyeing his top-of-the-class pupil looking at a complete loss. He folded the flap of his own bag closed, gripping the worn brown leather. "How about, since this is a first-time occurrence, I'll let you re-do both of these assignments." Elsa's eyes shot up in shock at the generous offer. "I won't score this latest assignment. But I'll average the other two scores, so it won't be a large improvement, but.. "

The blonde let out a relieved and hugely appreciative sigh. Anything to bring up her grade would be helpful. More than just that.

She was going to take over at Winters Management one day. No matter what. The spot for CEO had an unofficial reservation with her name. Her parents had made that clear her entire life as she was bred for the elite and prestigious requirements. But, in fear for staff retaliation of favoritism and good old nepotism, she had to graduate with top grades. She needed to prove her worth or else her next internship in the 'real' world would be a living Hell on Earth, with the two worst bosses pressing down on her; expectations suddenly through the roof to compensate for any shortcomings once she finished with school.

"I would be so grateful for that chance, professor!"

"Have both in by Friday at 5."

She bowed her head, clutching the rolled up pages of her unworthy assignments tightly. "Thank you, Professor."

…

Elsa stared at the white papers in front of her; black text marked up with a disgusting amount of vibrant red. She held it in her right hand, flipping page after page, slowly, with her left, resting the packet against her steering wheel. Once reaching her graphs, she leaned her left elbow against her car window, temple weakly resting against her knuckles as she felt her body slump.

She ran the equations in her head, calculating the sums easily and quickly, eventually shaking her head. How did I miss that? Each line, she felt her brows deepen in disappointment. Where did I get..? That total's in the wrong column!

Finally, her eyes grew lazy, head beleaguered by what she had just read through. The paper became blurred and out of focus as she let her thoughts drift. She should have concentrated more.

"..Distracted.."

Hearing the word coming from her professor's mouth resonated in her mind; the tenor timbre stirring up the same word as it came from her father's own mouth, and even Anna saying it day's earlier, though the inflections were completely different each time. But it always had the exact same implication.

Her studies. Performance. This was not good. It was certainly something she had worried over. Studies and crew. So far, nothing was alarming her on the rowing front, thankfully, but she could absolutely not ignore this recent development. Nor afford to. Not with graduation two months away.

More time needed to be directed to work. She could not let Anna continue to monopolize her time and mental resources. She frowned at the wording, mentally slapping herself. No. I won't allow myself to let that happen. It's not her fault. I need to fix this.

Anna would understand if she tucked herself away in the library again. If she had to turn off her phone. If she had to refuse visitors or book a study room in secret. Anna would get it. Elsa swallowed in remorse. She almost hated that she knew Anna would understand. Because they.. talked about where they stood, to some degree at least. Elsa had responsibilities and obligations, but none of those which belonged to a relationship.

Because they weren't in one. There should be no emotional obligations to uphold.

So why couldn't she shake the gnawing feeling of guilt?

A dulled knock nearly made the woman jump out of her skin.

Startled, she frantically looked at the passenger side window, seeing the smiling face of her favorite ginger as she rapped against the glass. Elsa shoved the packet of paper into the side pocket of her door, before hitting the automatic unlock button. In seconds, Anna was climbing into the front seat and Kristoff was spilling into the back; both making an unnecessary amount of effortful noise for such a mundane and simple act.

As they pulled away and began driving along the road, Elsa's eyes remained trained on the street in front, ignoring the conversation exchange occurring between the other seats; a tension present in her body that she barely recognized. Then a familiar warm hand connected with her free one, lacing calloused fingers together on the median. There was no lull of the background mumbles of chatter, but it did cause her to finally glance to the side. Of course, that soft smile was in place beneath happy aqua eyes. The very ones looking up at her, before turning around to face the back seat again.

Elsa felt herself melt into the contact, tension lessening, trying to concentrate on the present moment for right now. She had to.. for Anna's sake. The girl who had just suffered through the court system, but was somehow keeping a large smile on her face. Elsa needed to know what had transpired today under the rule of law. Her own worries could wait. Tuning her ears, suddenly the jumbled background noise became clear discussion.

"..the jerk," Kristoff had just finished saying, with a smirk to his tone. "But it'll be good not seeing him on the crew team anymore." There was an emphatic nod from the youngest passenger.

Elsa waited, itching to ask questions, but feeling uncertain about prying. It wasn't that she had to wait long though. In seconds, Anna turned square to the car's driver, explanation pouring from her lips.

"Anyway," Anna says turning to Elsa as if she knew what the other woman was holding back asking out of politeness. "So I guess word of mouth was not sufficient evidence to hold up against a case, especially when Hans was able to spin his own side of the story-"

"-The asshole got off with a slap on the wrist," angrily interrupted the Sophomore, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Elsa turned in surprise, silent question evident on her features.

The redhead jumped in then. "At that level, yeah, but the University administration thankfully took it more seriously. He's banned from participating in all intramural clubs, activities, sports, and events for the rest of his school career." She pleasantly smirked when Kristoff tried to scoff at her positivity. "He was bragging about becoming a school record setter, but all that training has now been for nothing. Plus it'll be on his school transcript records." Anna finished her sentence with a bit a smug 'hmmf' sound.

Both blondes could not help their dual eyebrow raise. It was the boy who broke the surprised silence.

"Wow, look at you feisty pants, getting all vindictive." Teal eyes widened, embarrassed guilt washing over her features as she frowned.

"Wha-I'm not.. I would never.." Hesitating with her hands flying up defensively, torso turned as she looked between her two teammates, she eventually relented. "Okay, yeah.." She narrowed her eyes at the boy in the backseat. "I blame you for rubbing off on me."

Before Kristoff had a chance to put in his two cents with their usual back-and-forth, another quiet voice piped up. "I'm glad to see you like this," Elsa offered, albeit calm and somewhat murmured. Her dark eyes flitted toward the teenager, noting that Anna's attention was trained on her. It was nothing new, Anna directed her attention at 100 percent every time Elsa spoke, but it still made the blonde bashful. She sucked in a breath, figuring she ought to continue with her thought. "Hans deserves no sympathy. Especially from you. I've told you that you are strong and brave. It's nice to see you stand up."

There was quiet in the car, and the driver began to nibble the inside of her lip as a few seconds passed. Was that too much? Anna wasn't giving a response; verbal at least. Elsa could almost feel the stunned timid aura radiating off of the girl beside her though. Well, at the very least she was not alone in feeling this vulnerability. Then her eyes looked up to the rearview, out of driving habit, and immediately felt a cold sweat break out down her neck. She caught the smuggest eyebrow raise and shit eating grin that she had ever seen, looking in the direction of Anna's seat. At her own reflection, Elsa saw a flare of red began to crawl over her ever pale cheeks.

Oh. Right. Anna's friends had never seen this side of her.. of their relat-interactions.. And equally so, she didn't know Anna's friends well. Or at all, actually. She had no idea what the boy was thinking. Oh dear, this is so awkward..

After what felt like an eternity of uncomfortable and cringe-worthy silence, like that akin to watching a movie where someone makes an absolute fool of themselves without realizing it, a voice broke it. The flare on Elsa's cheeks erupted into a massive forest fire of heat.

"Hah, gayyyy!" came Kristoff's boisterous playful call, hands cupped around his mouth as he leaned in Anna's direction. Elsa could only catch the peripheral motion of an equally crimson tinged Anna reaching back and smothering her best friend's face with her palm; his laughs coming out muffled while his lips were smushed up to his nose.

As the kid-like behavior continued beside her, Elsa fought to slow down her beating heart, calm her respiratory rate, and somehow school her wide-eyed stare down the road into one of mere concentration. It would also have been nice to have her white knuckled clutch of the wheel evenly blend with her flushed cheeks, but, hey, she'd take what she could get.

By the time they had rolled up along the curbside bottom of North Street, Elsa's bodily systems had somehow been re-regulated to be within an acceptable limit. She heard the doors open and soon shut, Kristoff hopping out with the same unnecessary grunt of effort as earlier.

However, before Anna shut the door, she poked her head back inside, making sure Elsa was looking right at her. "Ignore his sense of humor. He likes memes," she said, that ruby hue still blushed over her round cheeks; voice somewhere between irate and apologetic. "It's an acquired taste." The platinum blonde offered a weak smile, still reeling from the strange conversation detour. She never would understand pop culture.

A beat passed, just looking at her partner, and Elsa felt a strange swirl of things twist in her chest. Different things than just days before. Yet, somehow, familiar all the same.. Tight and heavy, bubbly, but anxious. What-

She found soft lips landing on her own, brief, but sweet. Those feelings in her heart, closed behind a door at the contact alone, allowing only lightness to stay in its stead. The same lightness that she slowly found dissipating into thin air as those lips left hers and time began to tick onwards. Heaviness and anxieties trying to push through her internal barricade as the sound of her car door reverberated in her senses.

Ocean blue eyes watched the two figures walk up the steps to Kristoff's (sort of rundown looking) apartment building. While the Sophomore pulled out his keys, the young woman turned and waved happily toward the car. The Senior rower responded in same, but in a more subdued mannerism. Eventually, her rowing teammates disappeared inside. Elsa let out a breath, sucking in her lips and licking them lightly in thought.

Her optional obligation was done; the last one for a while. She had to cement that in the forefront of her mind.

Now she had to go back to campus and prepare for her nightly Economic Statistic seminar with her oh so charming stickler of a professor, wanting to take another look at her homework before passing it in now. She was sure it was sufficient, but the seed of doubt was planted in her mind; the red line, scratched up report tucked at her side having become a physically glaring reminder of her potential shortcomings if she did not fully dedicate herself to her work. This late on a Tuesday afternoon, the library should be empty and quiet. Perfect for some review time.

She put her foot on the brake and switching her car back into drive.

A rattle.

Metallic marbles rolling.

A tremor.

And the car shut off.

She sat there, staring momentarily in disbelief, before hurriedly shaking her head, a small curse gracing her ever polite lips in unfamiliar taste. In a blink, she was reaching for the key in the ignition; off, and back on. Off… on. Off, on. Off, on! Off! On! Not even a turnover. Not again.. She had just gotten the blasted thing back from the mechanic! What the Hell?!

Since Sunday, somehow the Senior already had every sort of problem starting to pile up and making this an unbearably stressful week.. and it had practically just begun!

With a soft thud, her head fell back against the plush headrest pillow, eyes sliding closed with a tired feeling of oncoming defeat. She knew she couldn't let that feeling linger. Elsa Winters never gave in to such a pitiful thought of desperation; not without fighting tooth and nail to overcome her issues, and she certainly would not start embracing defeat now. She had to push through the rest of this week first.

I just have to make it through Saturday's race, she decided with a pursed lip exhale, calming and quelling the previous rising of anxiety. Then her week would reset on Sunday. She could start clean. Her study schedule and focus would be rewired, her assignments corrected to their mandatory perfection, she would have completed the last first race of her AU Crew era, and somewhere in there, she would finally find some time to reconcile with her and Anna's relationship standing. She was a Winters for goodness sake. She's handled far worse. She could handle this.

Fishing her phone out of her pocket and dialing the annoyingly familiar number of the Auto Mechanic shop, Elsa nodded to herself. Yes, she could most definitely handle this situation. Besides, Sunday was only 4 and a half days away. It's not like her week could possibly get worse.

-End Chapter 26-

A.N.

Wow, I fell asleep in 2015 and just woke up. WTF has happened to the world!? Alright. Time to acknowledge the awkward elephant in the room. I want to apologize for my absence and the long unannounced hiatus. I know I had many loyal followers who were super invested in the story, and I always appreciated your support. Even those of you who reached out and encouraged me to continue the story over the last 2 years, I want to thank you.

I'm returning to Backwards (SLOWLY, let's not get ahead of ourselves).

I'm not a writer. This is totally the opposite of what my profession calls for, thus a good outlet for creativity. I just want to tell my story and enjoy the scenes without feeling overly pressured to meet demands (with chapters ranging from 24-28 pages in length, and 12 outlined chapters until completion, this story is a behemoth that I was not expecting but still aspire to finish). I hope those of you who are still interested in the journey will continue to enjoy.

P.S. - Yes, this is a Set-up chapter. Next one.. is kind of a doozy.