This is quite possibly the vaguest road trip ever. And more cliches! Cliches everywhere! One for you, and you, and you! Cliches for eeeeeveryoooonnne!!!

elsanna-week: Day 5 - Road Trip AU.

Cross The Road

[T, Humor/Fluff, Non-incest]

“Woohoo! Road trip!” Anna threw her arms in the air in a triumphant vee.



Elsa dodged the limb as if flew perilously close to her face, rolling her eyes and stepping around the excited redhead to sling her bag into the trunk. “Yes. As you’ve exclaimed, over and over again, every day, for the last week.”

Anna twisted her torso to keep Elsa within her line of sight, arms still held aloft.

“…”



The trunk slammed shut, and Elsa gave it an extra push just in case, dusting off her palms when she was satisfied it was locked. Anna let her eyes linger over her best friend’s body. The blonde was dressed for comfort, in crisp white linen shorts and a short-sleeved plaid blue button down, open just low enough to hint at the enticing upper swell of her breasts. Light blond hair coifed in an artful mess back away from her face into a thick, shining braid, a pair of dark-tinted blues brothers sunglasses hiding stunning blue eyes.

It was the saddest cliche ever, but Anna was head over heels in love with her childhood best friend.

They had been next door neighbors back when they were kids, and were inseparable until Elsa’s family moved away overseas. And then Elsa came back to the States for college and they had reconnected, Elsa often spending weekends at Anna’s home since the university she attended was only a few hours away.

Anna’s parents had joked that they were Elsa’s surrogate family since Elsa’s own had remained in Norway, and Elsa needed a place to come home to so she could wash her clothes and eat for free.

But that was two years ago, and now Anna was enrolled in the same college as Elsa, and with much begging and cajoling and promises of responsibility Anna had convinced her parents to let her and Elsa go on a road trip the summer before the semester started.

So now it was a matter of simultaneously looking forward to and dreading being trapped in close quarters with the object of her affections. Her gorgeous, smart, kind, endearingly-social-disaster object of her affections.

Who was staring at her from over the rim of her sunglasses, eyebrow arched, waiting for a response.

“…Road trip, woohoo?”

Elsa shook her head at her, wry grin curling her lips. Her perfect, pink lips. She walked around Anna, nudging an elbow into her stomach as she passed, heading towards the driver side door. “C’mon ‘woohoo,’” She teased. “Everything’s packed and ready to go if you’re done disturbing the neighbors.”

Anna finally dropped her arms, smoothing out her tank top and absently rubbing at her stomach where Elsa had poked her. Even innocent, innocuous touches like that made her skin tingle.

“Right!” She paused. “Are you sure we have enough snacks?”

Another eye roll answered her.

“Hey, you can never have enough car snacks!”



“I agree.”



Both women whirled at the new voice, smiles breaking out.

“Mom! Ooohhh, is that what I think it is?” Anna bounced excitedly to her mother, eyes honed in on the bag in her hand.



The older woman chuckled. “Yes, Anna. Idunn’s homemade trail mix.”

Anna snatched it up gleefully. “Awesome! Thanks!” She bussed a quick kiss to her cheek, protesting only mildly when her mother took advantage of her closeness to drag her into a tight hug.

“You be safe, okay? Listen to Elsa, and do what she says.”



This time it was who Anna rolled her eyes. “Sure, when she’s not being a total buzzkill,” she muttered under her breath.

Idunn pinched her arm reproachfully, then turned to gather Elsa into a hug. “Don’t let Anna boss you around. If she gets too uppity–”

“Uppity!” Anna screeched in indignation. The other women ignored her.



“–Just withhold the snacks.”



Anna clutched the bag of goodies protectively to her chest.

Elsa smiled softly. “I’m sure it won’t come to that. Thanks for everything Mrs. Anders.”

“Okay girls, be on your way. Else Agdar come barreling in from work changing his mind about letting you go.”



A few more hugs and kisses and then they were off, waving goodbye to Anna’s mother as they drove away in Elsa’s sky blue Honda Fit. They made it to the end of the block when Anna’s hands flew up again. “Woohoo! Road trip!”

Elsa groaned. “If you’re gonna do that the whole way, I’m leaving you at the curb.”

Anna lowered her arms gently, sunny smile plastered all over her face. She leaned forward to plug in her phone, quickly scrolling through her playlists until she hit the one she wanted.

Titled “Road trip WOOHOO!”

Anna could be terribly predictable at times.

They made their way swiftly west, not bothering with any unnecessary stops until they left the state, both well traveled locally. They cruised along, singing along to musicals and belting out lyrics to pop songs and playing every possible car game.

They good-naturedly bickered over the sights to see in the big cities - Elsa insisting on all things cultured and architectural and historic, Anna more concerned with the best local cuisine and popular local hangs.

At night they bunked in the cheapest, cleanest motels they could find, often squeezing onto a tiny double bed in a cramped little room.

It was blissful torture for Anna.

Elsa, fresh from the shower, the scent of honeysuckle and rain clinging to her skin, scantily clad in little boy shorts and a thin, filmy tee. Hair slicked back and curling at the ends, draping loose over her shoulder.

And oh God, she liked to cuddle.

So Anna would wake up in the morning with silken limbs wrapped around her, enveloped in all things Elsa, and Anna didn’t know whether to praise her good fortune or damn her luck.

What was worse was that sometimes, sometimes, Anna thought maybe Elsa felt the same way.

She thought maybe she caught Elsa staring as she stretched out of the corner of her eye. Or that cerulean gaze would drop ever so slightly to her lips as they talked over breakfast. Sometimes fair skin would flush even when it wasn’t terribly hot and Anna would lean in close to point something out.

Actually, one reason Anna had been so determined on this road trip becoming a reality was to gauge her relationship with Elsa. To see if maybe there could be a chance of something more. But theory was so much easier than action, and as each day passed Anna put off any overt romantic advances, courage failing.

By the time they reached the West Coast Anna had half convinced herself to give up. She was moping in that frame of mind when Elsa had dragged her to an outdoor concert, excitedly jabbering.

“It’s the Hollywood Bowl, Anna! We can grab some food, have a picnic and listen to some great music!”



And it wasn’t even a musical or a rock band or anything. No, the night Elsa chose was some jazz affair. It’s not that Anna didn’t like jazz, but she wasn’t sure she understood it. Certainly not to any level satisfactory to any music snobs out there. Anna conveniently ignored the fact that Elsa was one of those “snobs.”

But Elsa did love it, and Anna loved Elsa, so instead of insisting on hiking up to the Observatory Anna scoured the web for the best, most pretentious foodie finger foods to buy and splurged on it.

They’d have to ration their car snacks a little more frugally on the way back, but it would be worth it.

Plus the concert was pretty good, even to her unsophisticated ears. The food was great, the atmosphere was amazing, and the heavens had smiled upon them, a storm up north bringing a cooling breeze to the normally burning summer temperatures in Los Angeles.

And Elsa sat beside her, face aglow and eyes shining, bopping and swaying to the music, brushing their arms together and smiling.

The night began to wind down, much to Anna’s dismay. Halfway through Elsa had taken Anna’s hand in hers, fingers entwining as she leaned to whisper in her ear. They never parted, and Anna was loathe to do so.

She was glaring at the band onstage, mentally demanding they play longer and stayed for many, many encores when a soft palm cupped her cheek, turning her head. Elsa’s blue eyes gazed tenderly at her, dark and intent, and Anna felt her breath stutter hard in her chest.

And then Elsa was kissing her, soft and chaste, lips light to her own.

The music played on, the crowd continued to sway, and Anna’s world stopped and started in the space of a heartbeat.

Elsa pulled away, flushed cheeks and shy eyes. Her fingers stroked softly at Anna’s jaw. “Was that…was that okay?” She whispered shyly, almost lost in the crescendo of the music.

Anna nodded dumbly, internally screaming at herself to do something, you moron!

“Uhhh…”

Elsa began to pull away.

No!

Anna finally kicked herself into gear, practically launching herself at the other woman. They crashed to the ground (Anna spared a self congratulatory thought at her foresight to acquire a blanket), Anna pressing her forehead to Elsa’s.

“Are you…are you…” Anna struggled to find her words, but Elsa seemed to understand, eyes carefully scanning her face. The blonde nodded once, minutely, and Anna felt tears pool behind her eyes. A pale hand raised, gently brushing a loose curl of auburn hair behind her ear before coming back to her cheek, thumb smoothing along the smatter of freckles on her cheekbone.



Anna sniffed, and Elsa smiled, big and beaming. Anna pressed down, finding soft lips. When they parted, flushed and smiling, Anna tilted their foreheads together again.

“Road trip, woohoo.” She whispered. Elsa burst out laughing, and the sound warmed Anna’s heart.



“Woohoo.” The blonde agreed, tugging teasingly on Anna’s ear.



Anna hauled them upright, and they shyly shared a glance until Elsa drew her in, cuddling close. Anna thanked her lucky stars.

Then Elsa reached into her bag, pulling out a small plastic take-out container full of…

“Chocolate?” She felt a kiss press into her temple.



“Opera cake. It’s supposed to be excellent.”



Anna grinned. She couldn’t wait for the ride back.