NOTE: I'll keep this brief; I thought about not posting a new chapter today. But that's how terror and hate works, isn't it? Their goal is to destroy us and silence our voices. Odds are I wouldn't have been able to write today because I'm upset, but since this chapter had already been written, I'm posting it in honour of Pulse and the fabulous individuals who had every right to be there and be who they were. It's a very special chapter and oddly fitting that it's being posted after this tragedy, and you'll probably see why.

~ Chapter Twelve ~

"I can't believe it," Anna breathed, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars and crescent moons on her ceiling. "This time tomorrow, we'll be in Ibiza."

"Well, probably," Elsa snorted from her spot on the trundle bed, a little further down and to Anna's left. "If there aren't any delays. It is a ten-hour flight, you know."

"Ten hours?! I can't fly anywhere that long, ugh!" But she was laughing as she asked, "What do we do on the plane? Like, do you normally sleep, or just read your book, or what?"

"My book. Then a nap, and then more of my book. At some point, there's eating to take care of."

Anna rolled over to look down at her. "And do you? Eat, I mean." The glare she got in return was not kind, so she pouted. "Don't forget, you said I could ask."

"I did say that, you're right. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"ELSA!"

"I do eat," she finally grumbled. "Not that I'm a big fan of the airline food, but I try to get enough of it down to tide me over until I land."

A little muttered "Good" told her she approved. Then she cleared her throat and asked, "Hey, Elsa… did you really mean it? You haven't had a sleepover since you were little?"

"I did," she laughed. "Well, I've roomed with the SEEK girls, but… we're really more like coworkers. Something about how they act…" Seeing Anna's surprised expression, she leaned up on her elbows with a mildly embarrassed smile. "Hey, it's not that I don't like them, or that they don't like me. I'm just… not very personable, I guess. I try, and I can be polite, obviously, but something… I never…" She fought for words, eyes flicking back and forth. Finally, she just took a breath, letting it out slowly. "Friendship. I'm not good at it on an ongoing basis. I'd just about given up on trying anymore until you forced me to eat my weight in waffles."

During most of that, Anna had been watching her, worried. The last comment, however, made her grin and roll her eyes. "Come on, you didn't even finish yours. Don't exaggerate."

"I know, I know," she laughed. "But… something about you worrying about me, dragging me off… it felt like how friends are really supposed to act. Plus, I liked how you talked, and laughed, and… I dunno. Just seemed like a great person I wanted in my life, if that doesn't sound too much like a Disney Parks commercial."

"It does. But I'm glad. You seemed like you needed somebody to really be there for you, and not just pretend they were, or do it because you're bankable. I didn'tmean to do that, to be that person, but I tried, and I guess I did okay, because… well, here we are."

"Yep." She grinned and added, "I love your room. It's so… YOU."

Laughing, Anna clasped her wrist with the opposite hand and leaned her chin against the little perch they provided. "What's that supposed to mean? Like, most people's rooms are pretty 'them'."

"All these comic book posters, and the fun zig-zag sheets, and… oh, I don't know, I just love it all! I wish I could stay here for weeks and weeks, discovering all the little Anna-artefacts in here."

"Even…" Might as well acknowledge the elephant in the room. "The Elsa poster?"

That did take the wind out of the pop star's sails. "I… am a little unnerved by it being on the ceiling. Lucky for me, I'm a stomach sleeper."

"Me too!" They both grinned at each other. "But… yeah, my walls were already full of Harry Potter and Avengers and stuff. And Twilight, before I, uh, grew up and realised they're kind of… messed up books and movies."

"They are? How so?" When Anna blinked at her, she bit her lip for a moment. "Well… I've only seen the first movie, don't judge me."

"I thought you read a lot, though."

"I don't read many romances. Mostly, I like autobiographies, or historical fiction… I had a lot of fun with 'The Art of War' and 'The Red Tent', things like that. I'm always looking for something new to read that will hold my interest."

"Wow, so… you're like, wicked smart. Just not about pop culture?"

"I'm terrible with pop culture," she confessed. "And isn't that just about the worst thing for a pop star?"

Grinning again, Anna just gazed down at the woman. Appreciated her for who she was, Breathe Right strip across her nose and all; it was getting easier, not being starstruck by her the way she had been at first. Her fondest, most secret wish was that, by the time they returned from Europe, she would be able to just look at her and think, "There's my friend, Elsa," without worrying about any other celebrity-related details.

"What? What, is it that bad?"

"No, no. Just… it's really awesome this happened. I feel bad your stay in Ibiza will be shorter, but…"

"This is just as good. Honestly, I'd rather be bunking with you on this rickety bed than spend that long alone on the island."

Anna decided to focus on humour, rather than the pang she felt about the last statement. "Rickety?! You should have said something, we could switch!"

"Or I could crawl up there with you," she giggled easily. "But that little twin bed looks like it might be crowded."

The redhead was silent. Just the idea of sleeping in the same bed as Elsa… it would have pushed her dedication to being "platonic buddies" to their limits. Better not let that happen. "Y-yeah, too crowded," she finally forced herself to breathe.

"Anna?" she asked in some concern.

"N-nah, I'm just agreeing with you. This bed felt a lot bigger when I was ten and first started sleeping in it."

Elsa blinked, glancing up and down the frame. "You've had the same bed since you were ten?! And the mattress isn't lumpy by now?"

"No, I mean, we replaced the mattress a few years ago, and I rotated it in the Spring. It's a Serta, I'm good." Then she laughed, "Do you just get a new bed every Christmas?"

"Well… my father does. He gets restless about interior design, wants to have everything overhauled every couple of years, yes. I don't understand it, but… now that I'm out on my own, I don't have to put up with that anymore." Then she shrugged one shoulder. "Though that's only been for a year, so… yeah. Call me in a few years, see if I'm following in his footsteps and tossing all my furniture."

"Maybe I can take your old bed when I move out," Anna offered. "Or your dad's, or something."

Grinning widely, Elsa flopped back to fluff up her pillow more. "Yeah! Because you want an old bed that smells like Eternity For Men and paperwork!"

They both giggled, and began to talk more about how different their dads were - and how similar they were in that they were both workaholics. The biggest difference seemed to be in how they behaved when they came home: Anna's was warm and engaging, glad to be back with his family. Meanwhile, Elsa's just seemed to run his household like another branch of the office, and Elsa as his employee. Though she tried to reassure Anna that he did love her, in his own way, it didn't completely erase the younger woman's frown of uncertainty.

"God, I can't sleep," Anna finally breathed. "Not with you here - I mean, you not being Kristoff, who's the only person who really sleeps over on a regular basis."

"Really? You don't have any girlfriends?"

"God, I wish," Anna snorted inelegantly, and Elsa laughed along, even though she looked vaguely confused. "But… nah, I started not getting along with the girls when we got into high school. I was into different stuff, and… at first, that wasn't so big a deal? But then, I don't know… life changes, and whatever. Everybody avoided me. But you know what? Too bad for them; now I'm an awesome artist, and I have you and Kristoff, who are way better friends than any of them ever were."

"You act like everybody thought you were contagious," Elsa said, her voice softer, a little more worried.

"Yeah, they did. But you can't catch gay, and you can't catch nerdiness, either." Then her brow wrinkled in thought. "Okay, maybe you can catch nerdiness; it was Kristoff who got me into Doctor Who. Before that, I'd never even heard of-"

"Wait, wait. You can't catch 'gay'? Was that why they started avoiding you, they thought you were a lesbian?"

Anna sighed, feeling less at ease with their conversation now. "Yeah. Because I never said boys were cute, and used to play softball. Stupid shit. I mean, I hope that's not the kind of person you are, though."

"Oh, not at all," Elsa reassured her, waving a hand as if batting aside such a pesky and obviously untrue notion. "I donate to The Trevor Project. But God, children can be so cruel. You were… what, fourteen? And they made that judgment about you, and shunned you because of it? Unbelievable."

"Yep," she muttered. Then she raised a triumphant fist in the air. "Well, joke's on them, right? All that gay-shaming didn't stop me from being gay, and probably made it happen a lot faster. Like, who knows how long it would have taken me to think about that stuff without their-"

"OH."

"Without… yeah," Anna wound up lamely, having heard Elsa's quiet word. "What?"

"Nothing," she reassured Anna, then cleared her throat and looked up at her again, eyelashes fluttering a lot more rapidly than Anna was used to seeing them. "But, um, I thought it didn't work that way."

The now-suspicious redhead asked, "What didn't?"

"That… you weren't 'made' gay by circumstances. Like, you always were. Right? Is that wrong?"

"Oh, no, no," Anna laughed in some relief. "I meant like, their dumb commentary and accusations helped me figure it out faster, not flipped a magic switch. You know. Sorry, I guess that did sound kinda like I was saying it's their fault, or that they had any real power over my sexuality."

"Right, that makes more sense." Her hands began twisting up the bedsheets draped over her stomach. "Um… I could tell you something, but again, you have to promise to keep it to yourself."

"Go for it."

"One of the other SEEK girls has been with a woman before." When Anna gasped, eyes round as dinner plates, she held up a hand. "Shhh! You don't know this!"

"No, no way, never heard it! Now tell me more!"

The blonde leaned up a little bit. "Well, I won't even specify which one; I feel bad enough saying this at all! But yes, she, um… it was a few years ago, before the group really took off. She looked very different then, and it was just a drunken hookup at a party, but… she says it was fantastic. And that, even though she prefers men, if she did find a woman whom she connected with like that again…" Instead of finishing, Elsa merely gave a very suggestive shrug.

"That's incredible! Oh, wow!" Anna sighed, mouth hanging open in a perpetual smile of surprise. "I love hearing about celebrities coming out. It's just so satisfying… makes me feel less alone, I guess."

"You're never alone. From what I hear, there's a whole parade in San Francisco of your brethren and sistren every year, isn't there?"

"True, true. Not that I'll ever get to go." Elsa pursed her lips, gazing across at Anna. Before she could speak, Anna grunted, "And no, that's not me asking for you to fly me there."

"Okay, okay, I won't," Elsa couldn't help but chuckle, finally seeming more at ease… even though Anna wasn't sure why she looked so unsure of herself for a minute there. "You caught me plotting this time."

Smiling to herself, Anna lay back on her pillow, finally beginning to feel fatigue creeping in at the corners. "You're pretty sneaky, but not that sneaky, Elsa Valentine."

~ To Be Continued ~