For the rest of the week, Anna couldn't exactly think.

It was more like she moved on autopilot, her mind consumed by only one thing—this strange realization.

Anna had no other way to describe it.

She had never felt this way before, and spent many hours trying to logically talk herself out of it. There had to be some other reason to explain it; some other answer for her strange attraction besides the one that had so suddenly dawned on her.

But there just…wasn't.

She liked Elsa.

And eventually she just accepted it.

She had never been in any relationships in the past. Actually, Hans had been her first official date (minus the prom date her high school friends had found for her; he was definitely not someone that Anna would have found on her own). And she had thrown herself at the chance to go on a date with Hans without even really considering…anything.

"My life is complicated enough already," Anna sighed, putting her head in her hands.

Even the pre-calculus problem that she was currently attempting to solve seemed simpler when it took her half an hour to get the right answer.

And the one thought that plagued her mind the most was that if she herself had just realized this now, did anyone else know?

Did Elsa know?

And did she…could she…feel the same way?

No, Anna thought, almost immediately. How could you even think like that? She just barely started to have normal conversations with you. And you don't even know anything about her…in that regard, anyway.

And Anna apparently barely knew anything about herself, so how could she jump to conclusions about someone else?

Anna took in a sharp breath and let it out slowly.

She could deal with this.

She could live with this.

She just…wasn't quite sure how.

Maybe what Anna had overlooked most in her careful deliberation on the matter was just how natural talking to Elsa and getting to know her better really seemed to be.

Anna had worried that, after this, she would let her thoughts get the better of her; making her even more self-conscious in the presence of the senior with her newfound realization. But everything just seemed to remain, well, normal, the next time Anna showed up for work.

And maybe…that was what mattered most.

No, it was definitely what mattered most.

It wasn't something that she had to deal with.

Because if it was normal, then it was something that just was.

And Anna wasn't going to ignore it.

Or apologize for it.

Or make excuses for it.

She liked Elsa.

And while she wasn't certain that the senior felt the same way, Anna was almost positive that she was single.

But of course, there you go again, jumping to conclusions, Anna reminded herself as she worked her way down the rows of stalls. If there was one thing that was good about being assigned to stall work, it was that it gave her plenty of time to think. And she spent a good portion of the next Sunday's shift wondering if the idea was too good to be true.

She had never seen Elsa with anyone; had never heard her mention anything about anyone. So it was a fair assumption.

Just not one that can be proven entirely true.

Such complications.

Anna sighed, deciding that she had thought about it enough for one night. She finished with the stalls and went to feed the horses, and when she did so, she made sure to double check the list to make sure that none of the horses' feed requirements had changed. But when she looked at the paper, while there were no notes about dietary adjustments, Anna noticed something on her list of assignments that she had missed. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't really read the list; just assumed that everything was the same as it always was. Because not once yet had she actually been asked to do anything different written on the piece of paper.

But there, in Elsa's handwriting next to the normal typed list of jobs, was 'finish unloading hay delivery'.

My favorite thing in the world, Anna groaned.

She checked her phone, seeing that it was nearly seven fifteen. Had Anna paid attention, it would have been the first thing that she would have done. But…at least it said 'finish'. So, that had to mean it had to be at least half done, right?

Guess you'll just have to go and check.

Anna knew that, at her old barn, unloading hay was quite a tedious job. It came stacked on the truck about four or five bales high, and however many bales deep…and each one weighed about fifty pounds. The bales would all have to be taken off of the truck, and then stacked once more in the hay barn, which needed to be done very carefully and precisely because if one was out of place or slightly off balance, the entire stack could topple over within a few seconds.

And when Anna walked outside, she saw the pile of hay bales still sitting in the back of a black truck that she had just so happened to miss while bringing horses in and turning them out.

There were still about thirty or so left.

Great. And she expects me to do all of this by myself?

Thankfully, because it had indeed been started before she had arrived, the hay bales were only stacked three high on the truck. So while she would have to actually climb up onto the truck and toss the top ones down, she would be able to reach the rest of them from the ground afterwards.

Why? Anna groaned again, tossing her head all the way back and staring up at the sky, in a single moment of allowing herself to feel bad for her current predicament.

But when she did that, she noticed that even though it was nighttime and everything was growing darker, the clouds seemed to have lost their white hue and turned gray…

Dammit.

Well, now she had royally screwed up.

Now it was going to rain, and all these hay bales couldn't get wet because being soaked by rain, and then stacked in a humid environment to dry could cause them to catch fire very easily.

And I can't do it all by myself that quickly!

So she had two options.

She could try to get it all done before it started to rain. Or…she could go admit to Elsa that she hadn't been paying attention (although she didn't need to know why) and ask her for help. But if she tried to get it all done, she knew that whatever she didn't get inside would be wasted, essentially. And she knew that Elsa would probably be more upset with her if that happened, because hay wasn't cheap. So quickly she hurried to the office and knocked, hoping that Elsa wasn't busy or on the phone. And luckily, she wasn't.

"What's up?" Elsa asked.

"So…I kind of didn't completely read the list of what I had to do. And I just saw that note about unloading the hay now. And it looks like it's going to rain, and I know that they can't stay out there. But I don't think I can do it all by myself. I mean, I could do it by myself if I had more time, but I don't think I do have that much time because of the rain. And I didn't exactly know what to do and I'm sorry because I should have paid more attention, but I was just so used to the normal routine and I know it's no excuse but—"

"Anna, calm down."

Anna felt her face burn slightly when she realized she'd been rambling, "Sorry," she apologized again.

"I should have told you before you started," Elsa said.

And that was the last thing Anna had expected to hear from the senior. Elsa wasn't blaming Anna for being unaware (well, more like being insanely lost in certain thoughts). She was….saying that it wasn't entirely Anna's fault.

"You shouldn't have to tell me. It was written there. I should have seen it," Anna said.

"Well, what's done is done. So why don't we stop talking and go finish as much of it as we can, okay?"

We?

Did that mean…

Elsa typed something else on her computer, and then stood from the desk, "Come on. Let's not waste any more time."

Yes!

Anna grinned. Now she wouldn't have to do it all by herself.

She turned and followed the senior back to where she had left the untouched stack of hay bales.

"So if I toss down the hay bales from the top can you just bring them inside and we'll stack them all later?" Elsa asked.

"That's fine with me," Anna said, perfectly happy to stay on the ground.

And the view's not too bad either, Anna thought, as she watched the senior effortlessly climbed into the back of the truck and started lifting those hay bales like they were five pounds instead of fifty.

But don't get distracted, Anna reprimanded herself, that's the whole reason that you're in this predicament to begin with.

But somehow…the word 'predicament' didn't seem to fit the situation any more.

Because she really enjoyed working with Elsa.

In a way, it was almost like working without anyone else; the senior didn't really talk at all. She was completely focused on the task at hand.

And that was what Anna like the most. She could be in Elsa's presence without feeling the need to actually say anything at all.

With the two of them working together, the hay bales were under cover just before the rain began. And it wasn't just a light rain either—it was a downpour. The pastures were definitely going to turn to mud and…

Oh crap.

"The horses are still out," Anna said, and followed it with a sigh.

She looked to the ground in the hay barn, where the bales of hay were tossed here and there, in an extremely unorganized disarray around her feet, and remembered that she still had to feed the horses, and sweep the whole barn, and now she would have to bring in all of the horses in turnout…

"I'll get them."

"What? No, you don't have to do that," Anna said. Elsa had already helped her with the hay bales, after all.

"You need to finish stacking these," Elsa was already turning to go.

"But it's pouring and you don't even have a jacket."

"It's just rain," Elsa said, and before Anna could say anything more, she stepped outside.

You could have given her your jacket, Anna thought only seconds later.

But she didn't dwell on it.

In the words of the senior, what was done, was done.

And so, Anna began stacking the hay bales one by one. But because she was starting a new pile, most of the hay bales just needed to be moved around to make a stable base, which left only a few remaining hay bales to actually be lifted on top of the others. So while it felt like it had taken her forever, Anna found that it had only taken her about ten minutes.

And now all she needed to do was finish feeding the horses and sweep without her arms falling off.

She pulled her hood all the way over her head and ran to the main barn, attempting to avoid the massive puddles that had pooled in various spots along the path, but inevitably ended up misjudging most of them.

When she was once again inside, she unzipped her jacket, and while attempting to shake off as much of the excess rain water as possible, made her way to the feed room. On her way there, she saw Elsa walking back from the opposite end of the barn; no doubt having just brought in the last of the horses. But what Anna noticed as Elsa came closer was that, because of the senior's lack of a jacket, her entire shirt was soaked through, making the material cling to her in such a way that Anna had to force herself to look away from it. And when she had managed to do that, she noticed something else. Elsa had her hair all the way over to one side, completely wringing it out. And when she let go of it, Anna saw that it wasn't in a braid; instead it fell loosely around the senior's face, slightly wavy, and…

Really pretty.

"I think there's something that I definitely need to look into," Elsa said, and it took Anna a moment to realize that the blonde was now only a few feet away from her and actually talking to her.

Like wearing your hair down more often?

"And…what would that be?" Anna managed to string together a response.

"Getting run-in sheds for the pastures. Then we could actually leave the horses out there because they'd have somewhere to go."

Anna nodded slowly, "Yeah. That…would be a good idea."

And it would be a good idea to stop staring…

"Well I think I'm going to change," Elsa said, after a few moments, when Anna couldn't exactly seem to pull herself together, "And with everything you have left to do, I'm sure I'll be back by the time you're finished and I can drive you back to campus."

Seriously. Anna. Focus.

"Right," Anna said, "Yeah. I have to finish. Feeding. And sweeping. And a ride back would be great."

Anna's face burned again as soon as the senior had left.

I'm a mess.

But the thought that refused to leave Anna's mind was the fact that…Elsa didn't seem to mind.

The chill in the air was definitely present when Anna biked to the barn the following Sunday, and she instantly regretted not wearing something warmer. But there was nothing she was going to be able to do about it now. Instead of focusing on how cold she was, she left her bike leaning against the barn doors and walked to the office to sign in. But when she rounded the corner, she was met with a sight that made her eyes grow wide.

The office door was…open.

But why?

Maybe she's expecting someone else, Anna thought.

But that couldn't be right. Because it was only Anna who worked on Sundays, and by now, she knew that the lesson schedule on Sundays both began and ended early, meaning that all of the Sunday lessons ended before Anna's shift.

Anna didn't know what to think.

Except for one thought that came briefly to her mind, however twisted and obnoxious and annoying the person who had spoken those words to her was…

Love is an open door.

And her face burned slightly when she recalled that phrase in this particular scenario.

God, stop thinking so much about this! She just left the freaking door open, that's all. Now go walk in there like a normal person and sign in.

Forcing her legs to work once more, Anna walked the rest of the distance from where she was standing to the door, and, since it was open, she didn't bother knocking. Instead, she just walked inside, and Elsa didn't even look up from her computer.

This was just too weird.

And when she put the pen down from signing her name and headed back to the door to leave, no annoyed, sarcastic, or amused request to shut the door followed, and Anna actually had to remind herself to leave the door open.

It was definitely strange.

But in a way, it was kind of pleasant.

I could get used to this, Anna thought, smiling as she went to work. Every time she walked in and out of the barn with the horses, she could turn her head towards the office and glance inside. Sometimes all she would be able to see was the top of platinum blonde hair over the computer. Other times, she saw two blue eyes staring back at her, which would make Anna slightly self-conscious—enough to cause her to blush slightly and look away. But not before she could catch the senior's small smile out of the corner of her eye. And it wasn't just a genuine smile—it was the one Elsa had when she was none other than amused at the redhead, which only made Anna's blush deepen.

She was kind of thankful that when she moved on to stall work, she would be all the way down the aisle, which would keep her both out of Elsa's sight, and from having to resist the urge to look at the senior. If she was being honest with herself, she rather enjoyed watching Elsa work as much as she enjoyed working with Elsa. When the senior was focused and in her element, it seemed as though nothing could keep her from completing the task at hand.

Except when she catches you looking at her, Anna blushed again at the thought.

These feelings of hers…they were really going to get the better of her, weren't they?

Anna sighed, shaking her head, and willing her thoughts to stop flying frantically through her mind. And it worked for a while, as she allowed herself to be distracted by all of the horses and their unique personalities.

Dee was always her favorite. She had taken a clear liking to the mare from te start, and it seemed as though Dee had done the same with Anna. She was the only horse who would not only let Anna come into her stall, but—as this had become one of Anna's bad habits at her old barn—encroach upon her personal space; running her fingers through Dee's copper mane, ducking under Dee's neck if she had to get to something on the other side, throwing her arms around her when she needed a hug.

Dee had really become like a best friend. Anna felt almost as close to this mare as she had felt to Chip, and in a way, it was comforting. While she knew that Chip would always have a special place in her heart, this headstrong yet sweet little mare was a close second, if not vying for first.

Giving Dee one final pat, Anna worked her way down the rest of the stalls.

The only other horse who tolerated Anna's clinginess almost as much as Dee was, surprisingly, Legacy. The fleabitten Arabian mare, while Anna had first expected her to be somewhat unfriendly or even aggressive, seemed to fit none of the 'mare-ish' stereotypes. With the exception of being insanely possessive of her food.

It didn't matter how long Legacy had known Anna; it didn't matter how much Legacy associated Anna with brining the mare her food every Thursday and Sunday; if Anna was physically in the stall with that mare when she was eating, she would be given the honor of receiving a death glare, complete with pinned back ears, and a snapping of teeth that would come within inches of Anna's own personal space.

Whether actually biting her, or just threatening her, was the intention, Anna vowed that she would never find out. So instead of going into the stall to give the Legacy her food, she would stand outside and pour it through the bars of the stall and into the feed bucket.

But she took advantage of the mare's calm demeanor whenever food wasn't present, twisting the mare's the white mane and forelock around her fingers, patting her on the shoulder, or scratching her behind the ears—which was something, Anna had discovered recently, that the mare enjoyed quite a bit. The way Legacy would sigh contently, lowering her head slightly, tail swishing idly, her eyes sometimes closing, never failed to bring a smile to Anna's face. And it made Anna wonder how much quality time Elsa ever spent with her horses.

If Legacy was even hers.

When Anna had leased Chip, she was at the barn every single day, even if it wasn't to ride. She was content hand walking him, grooming him, standing in the stall with him, turning him loose in the arena, taking him on trail rides, watching him graze and play in the field with the other horses…

And Elsa was either in that office, or riding. And she wasn't even riding for fun, either. She was riding to work.

Work. Work. Work.

That was all it ever was.

But she already told you that she doesn't enjoy it, Anna remembered. So maybe it's not that she doesn't want to. It's that she can't. She doesn't have the time.

And while Anna felt another pang of sympathy for the senior, she knew that, at the moment, there was nothing that she herself, or even Elsa, could really do about it. Sighing, Anna went to the supply room to grab a broom and finish her work for the night.

But of course, on her way back to return the broom, before she could enter the supply room that was so conveniently located right across from the office, Anna couldn't help but let her attention stray as the senior, who had obviously just finished something that had to have taken her a long time to complete, closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and stretched her arms over her head.

And it wasn't even the actual movement that had caught Anna's attention.

It was what that green polo shirt did.

Why had Elsa picked today of all days to leave that shirt untucked?

And Anna's attention was solely on the hem of that shirt, her eyes unblinking as it moved upwards, ever so slightly, revealing the top of that tattoo. But not even the tattoo was her main focus. With a mind of their own, her eyes seem to have an ulterior motive, hijacking what was probably her one and only chance to find out what in the world that tattoo said by continuing to follow the path of that shirt hem until they were focused on the sight of abs the likes of which Anna swore she had never seen in her life.

Or just the likes of which you have never been so drawn to in your life, Anna thought as her face burned.

And Anna had thought that maybe her brain had processed her awkward gawking reaction in enough time…but oh, if she could have only been so fortunate.

In the time it took for Anna to realize the implications of her behavior, the senior had already opened her eyes, and Anna was once again met with a look that wasn't too far from the one she had been given the last time she had been caught staring.

Quickly, Anna turned and busied herself with putting the broom away, knowing that she couldn't walk herself into the office and sign out until she could keep herself from blushing furiously.

Okay, just chill. You can do this. Pretend it never even happened, Anna instructed herself.

She walked past the blonde without looking at her, signed out faster than she ever had before, and almost celebrated the fact that Elsa had chosen to ignore her until…

"If I had known it was going to be such a distraction, I would have just told you to close the door."

Okay, well. It was pretty hard to pretend that it had never happened when Elsa insisted on teasing her about it.

Anna turned around, positive she had turned a shade of red that matched her hair, "I…um…about that. Yeah. Sorry. It, uh…it won't happen again."

When she saw the senior smirk, Anna could have face-palmed right then and there. She had just screwed up even more embarrassingly than before—she hadn't denied that 'it' had been a distraction! Of course, Anna would only have been denying it because she didn't necessarily want Elsa to know. But then again, how much more obvious could she be? She had totally messed this up. And Elsa was in no way going to let this one slide.

"So you no longer feel the need to stare as I slave away at the computer. I don't know whether to be relieved or deeply offended."

And although Anna knew the senior was only joking, she felt the need to attempt to explain herself, which, of course, really did her in. Because while her mouth thought it could fix things, it only had this unfailing tendency to make everything worse, "No, it's not that at all! I mean, I won't, if you don't want me to. Because I could. But that'd be weird. Because I'm just insanely awkward…and you're gorgeous. Wait, what!?"

Anna's hand, instead of face-palming, slapped itself over her mouth.

She knew that her mouth had a mind of its own, but really? Even she hadn't been expecting to say something that crazy! It wasn't like it wasn't true—God, it was definitely true. But she didn't have to actually say it!

And apparently, she wasn't the only one who was unprepared for such a comment—Elsa herself now looked a little flushed, which was a sight that Anna had never seen before. While she stood there dumbfounded, all she could do was stare back at the senior who had, for once, been effectively rendered speechless. And that was perhaps the scariest realization of all.

Elsa always had a response.

But she didn't have time to think about it further, because a knock from behind her startled both of them. Elsa's eyes snapped from Anna's own to somewhere above Anna's shoulder (by the senior's immediate reaction, Anna had no doubt that Elsa was grateful for the excuse to do so), and Anna turned her head. But dread filled her at the sight of the person who had been standing there for who knew how long as the whole awkward moment had transpired.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this very enlightening moment, but I have paperwork to drop off for the team," Hans' words were said in such a way that Anna couldn't decode the hidden meaning she was certain they held. Because while his words were meant for Elsa, his attention had been directed towards Anna.

She glared at his back as he brushed past her and dropped a folder onto the desk in front of Elsa. He couldn't just come in here and talk to Elsa in such a berating manner—even if he was speaking in Anna's direction.

"You don't have to be so rude about it," Anna said angrily, before Elsa could even speak.

Hans feigned complete innocence, "Like I said. I didn't want to interrupt. And it seems like you two have plenty to discuss, so I'll be on my way."

With that, he gave a small shrug, a horrible smile, and left.

"I hate him," Anna seethed, not really caring whether he had gone far enough to be out of earshot or not.

"I'm not exactly a fan of his, either," Elsa said, speaking for the first time since Hans' arrival (and, quite frankly, the first time since Anna's awkward outburst).

"What'd he do to you?" Anna joked, in an attempt to change the topic and put her previous awkwardness behind them.

Elsa shrugged, "Nothing really. But he doesn't really strike me as someone nice. I mean, half the time he doesn't even treat the horses with any respect. And...he didn't treat you very nicely. My opinion of him kind of went downhill after that."

The senior left it at that, but Anna was slightly shocked. Did it really bother Elsa that much that Hans had been so nasty to her?

"Well in a way it was kind of my fault, for seeing him for something he wasn't," Anna mused aloud, "I didn't listen to Kristoff's warnings. I should have."

"Hey," Elsa said, and the fact that her tone was so serious caught Anna slightly off guard, "You can't blame yourself for anything. He was wrong. Wrong to treat you that way. No one deserves that. You didn't deserve that."

Now Anna was even more shocked at Elsa's words. She sounded almost…defensive. And when Elsa herself realized this, she looked down at the desk, obviously somewhat uncomfortable, but said, "It's true, though."

"Thanks," Anna said, and she smiled.

Elsa gave her a somewhat quizzical look, "For what?"

"Sometimes I just need to be reminded, that's all. About what's reality and what's not. I let myself get carried away too much with what I'm thinking. I twist the truth around. Make it something it's not. Because I worry about everything," Anna finished with a shrug.

Elsa was silent for a moment, but then she said, "It's okay to worry. I know it sounds kind of contradictory, but it can be a good thing sometimes. It puts everything into perspective—shows you what's most important to you."

Well, Anna knew that Elsa was certainly book-smart. But she found these words of wisdom to hold far more meaning than anything Elsa had ever said to her before. Maybe it was because the senior had said it so seriously. Maybe it was because it was Elsa, and Elsa just didn't say things like that—to anyone.

Or maybe…it was because it was true.

Because there was one thing that Anna had done an awful lot of worrying over lately.

Elsa.

And Anna was almost entirely positive that she knew what was most important to her.

A/n: Well, you know you're an avid Elsanna shipper and fanfic writer when you're trying to write the word 'else' in your final paper for class and end up typing 'Elsa' (with the capital and all) about five times before noticing that something's not quite right…Finals were just a wonderful experience this semester.

But they're over now, which means that you all finally have chapter 11!

I hope you all liked it, because there's not much else that I have to say about it (which could definitely be due to the fact that my brain has absorbed so much chemistry that it has left room for nothing else).

If I missed any horse terms that you want me to explain, feel free to let me know, but I don't think I saw any that were in dire need of extra explanations.

And thanks for reading!