Updates might be a little sporadic, life has gotten a little hectic with various and sundry things and I'm squeezing in my writing time whenever I have time available. I'm so glad to hear that so many of you are liking the story and the idea that I have with it, so please bear with me as I fit in the story updates as often as I am able.

Please let me know what you think! Love! Aria

They walked slowly next to each other outside, Elsa leading the way to the cafe she'd suggested, neither one speaking as their footsteps filled the silence. She'd procrastinated in her room as long as she could, changing her outfit and then gathering her things until Anna had come up to check on her. Anna had practically shoved her elder sibling out of the room and out of the house.

And now, they walked along the path together, while each waited for the other to speak, to begin conversation from the awkward silence they were in.

"So," Jack drawled out, moving his hands forward in his jacket pockets. "I heard you two liked the chocolates."

Elsa grinned, looking down at the path as they walked along.

"Anna told you about that then?" she said, glancing up at him.

"Oh yeah," he said, giving her a wide grin. "Yeah, she told me about your, oh how did she describe it, "epic movie day", sounded like a good time."

Elsa laughed softly. "Yeah. Yeah, that was fun."

The difficult silence fell back between them, a car honking in the distance causing them both to look up at it.

"Anna seems like she is a lot of fun to be around," he continued. "I like talking to her."

"Anna is quite the character," she agreed, pointing right for them to turn down a sidewalk and continue their walk. "Gets her into trouble a lot of the time."

He chuckled. "She told me. A menace in primary school she said."

Elsa nodded, adding softly. "At home too."

"She told me about her, her thing too. The epilepsy."

Elsa shook her head, grinning a little. "I don't know how she does it, she's so nonchalant with it. Almost like it's a badge of honor, a mark of how unique she is while I'm forever trying to protect her from the world."

He didn't say anything, just watched her as she looked at the path ahead.

"I mean, I suppose it's not that severe. She controls it with medications, they've gotten better over the years, and we're careful about what we watch on television. Eurovision is getting worse, which upsets her," she continued, laughing softly at the end as she remembered her sister's pouting as the couch pillow would be pulled up over her eyes at the glimpse of a strobe light warning on the screen.

After a long moment of silence while they walked together, Elsa lost in a moment of remembrance, Jack broke the thought.

"She, she said that it had something to do with what happened last weekend, but wouldn't tell me what. She said, said I should hear it from you," he said, looking curiously at her.

"She would do that," Elsa replied softly, looking back down at the ground.

She stayed silent for another long moment after that, looking up at the path ahead of them and causing Jack to wonder if she would refuse to speak any more on the matter. Finally, she sighed, glancing over warily at him and kicked at a landscaping stone that had made it's way onto the footpath.

"Anna and I were always outside playing when we were kids. Didn't matter what season or the weather, we loved to be outside and doing things. We'd make our own worlds, imaginations being what they were," she said. "This was partly because Anna was gone a lot of the time, always seeing doctors and going to hospitals while I stayed home with babysitters and relatives, being told to sit down, be quiet and just watch TV until they got back."

"She was trying to get treated?" he guessed.

She nodded. "Yeah. Treatment, diagnoses and whatnot. But, she didn't know what was going on, not really. She was only around five or six during this time. And they didn't tell me either, just that she had to go to the doctor, and they would be back."

She fell silent again, replaying the memories in her head.

"There used to be this tree in the backyard, a big old oak tree with massive branches that were great for climbing on. We used to climb all over it whenever we could. And one day that's what we were doing, I don't remember what it was we were acting out; could have been pirates, or Robin Hood for all I remember. What I know I'll never forget is," she paused, swallowing and taking a breath. "I'll never forget looking up a branch and seeing her start to shake with a seizure, then fall from that tree onto the ground."

"I screamed for my parents, jumping down to her and I just remember this sickening feeling of guilt and of terror from seeing her, unconscious, on the ground with blood on her head from where she'd fallen."

She shook her head, as if trying to shake the image out of her head.

"They yelled at me as they ran out to her, yelled at me for not keeping her safe. Said it was my responsibility to look after her."

He spoke up at that, sounding affronted and slightly offended for her. "But it was the seizure, that wasn't your fault."

She looked over at him then, giving him a small smile. "She'd never had one that big before then. But they took her to the hospital, left me at home again and didn't tell me until nearly a week after the incident that it wasn't my fault. So, I was nearly ten before I learned that she was epileptic."

He whistled.

"Why didn't they tell you?"

She shrugged. "I guess they were doing what they thought was best. But it made me want to make sure Anna was safe more, I'm always making sure she's taking her medicine on time and checking to make sure anything we do is safe, like movies or Eurovision and whatnot."

He nodded, their shoes scuffing along the sidewalk as they continued down the path. She gestured up ahead at the cafe, the sign swinging in the wind showing the name "Lysverket". He tried to pronounce it, failing as she smiled beside him.

"You say too many of the letters," she said. "Lies-Fer-Ga."

He tilted his head, studying the sign. "If you say so."

She laughed. "I think I know how to speak Norsk, as I AM Norwegian."

He grinned at her, stepping forward to hold the door open, bowing slightly as she stepped inside. They were greeted by the uniformed waitress, shown to a small table next to a window that overlooked the harbor.

"Didn't realize we were so close to the water," he commented, looking out the window as he held the menu in both hands.

She gave him a curious look. "You're in Norway, you are always close either mountains or the North Sea."

Silence fell again as they looked over the menus, a waitress coming to collect drink orders before leaving them alone again.

"Now," he started, looking a little nervous. "I understand that whole bit with Anna and your parents not telling you about the epilepsy, I mean that would be really traumatic, but surely that wouldn't put you off not trusting people forever?"

She nodded. "You're right," she admitted. "It wasn't just that."

She paused, leaning back as the waitress returned with their drink orders and a basket of bread.

"After the tree-falling incident, I wanted to spend even more time with Anna," she said, picking up a slice of warm brown bread and carefully buttering it. "I'd do what I needed to do at school and then immediately come home to be with her. So, my parents, particularly my father, started arranging like playdates for me with the children of some of the people that worked for him."

Jack nodded.

"Bergen is a large city, but not so large in other respects," she continued. "So, I made some friends this way. Some girls that I thought were really good friends of mine. I mean we'd have sleepovers, and pass notes in class and everything."

She sighed. "Until I overheard them talking about how they were going to have to put up with me again that weekend because their parents were hoping to get a promotion from my father."

Jack frowned. "What?"

She nodded, finishing off her slice of bread. "Turned out that they didn't like me at all, thought I was weird. But their parents made them stay friends with me because they thought being friends with the boss' daughter would help their chances at work. They lied to me, they had been lying to me. And when I asked them about it, it all came out."

She gave a bitter smile. "And I went from thinking I had these wonderful, caring friends to having no friends at all. So, I swore after that, that I wouldn't trust anyone that lied to me, or have anything to do with them."

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Until me."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're still on thin ice," she said. "You've just gotten a second chance from your sheer, sheer annoyance."

"I like to think of it as persistence."

She scoffed. "It's something alright."

He grinned at her.

"Well, I will make you a promise, right here, right now."

Her brow quirked against at him in curiosity.

"A promise?"

"Yes, a promise. A promise, an oath, a vow, whatever you want to call. Ye olde pact," he said, that wry smile and mischievous look in his eyes as he listed off the options.

"Yeah, that part I got," she said, looking amused.

"Alright, I promise right here, right now at this fancy little table, no more lies, ever," he said, putting a hand over his heart.

She studied him for a long moment. "You have got to be the most stubborn man I've ever met."

"I'll take a little pride in that," he said, hand still on his chest. "I'm serious though! No more lies, ever."

She looked at him for a long moment, studying him before she nodded.

"Alright," she said. "But you break your promise, and not all the stuffed animals and giant boxes of chocolates in the world can save you."

He grinned at that, leaning forward and looking at his menu again.

"Fair enough," he allowed. "So, what's good here? I can't even say anything that I'd like to eat."

She laughed, leaning forward to point at a few items and explain what they were to him as he listened along, grinning.

After their meal was over, they'd walked back the same few blocks back to her house with much more laughter and much less tension this time. They'd spent the meal talking about his career thus far, including a moment where he'd sheepishly brought out one of the magazines he'd bought when they'd first met each other; he'd been featured on one of the pages. She'd told him about her time at University thus far and laughed when he'd reacted to her telling of her studying Mathematics.

"What on earth are you going to do with that?" he'd asked her.

She'd shrugged. "I'm barely out of my first year, I haven't decided yet. Maybe teach, maybe try to get something with the government, I'm not sure yet."

He'd shaken his head.

"Oh, don't give me that," she'd said, smiling at him. "You use math all the time with your tricks and flips. And Physics. Knowing how much force to apply to a jump, what angles to hit."

"NOW you're starting to sound like Edmund, stop that," he'd told her, pointing his finger at her.

They had then started talking about his two teammates, Nida and Edmund, and their coach, Nick. All three did something different in the winter sports scene, something rare and usual for their coach to handle but Jack seemed to shrug it off.

"We get along great," he said, popping a bit of vegetable into his mouth. "Most of the time."

He was still talking about some of their antics as they were walking back to her house.

"You should, you should come out to the slopes again," he told her, looking at her sideways as they walked and smiling. "I have a lot of fun on the snow."

She smiled, opening to mouth to answer when she heard the humming vibrations of a mobile phone going off and paused. She stopped mid stride, reaching down to pat at her pockets and pulling out the device to check the screen, frowning as she saw that she had no missed calls or messages.

"Is that your phone?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yep," he said, not moving to reach for it.

She stared at him for a long moment, confused.

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

Her confusion deepened.

He sighed. "I kinda skipped practice today. So, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that's Nick blowing up my phone waiting to yell at me, and I'd just as soon wait for him to roll out the punishment."

She continued to stare at him.

"Dollars to doughnuts?" she asked.

He grinned at her. "American expression."

"And, you skipped practice because you wanted to come see me?"

"Yep."

"And, try to make further amends."

"Right again," he said, still grinning at her. "I'll be fine, he won't stay mad for long."

"He might if you don't answer his call."

He paused at that, considering. "Well-"

She smirked at that, both of them looking down at his pocket as the mobile phone started to vibrate again with an incoming call. He sighed, pulling it out and tapped the button to answer the call.

"Hey," he said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

He immediately pulled the phone several inches away from his ear, tilting his head in the opposite direction as an angry man shouted from the other end of the phone. Elsa looked down at the ground, fighting back a smile as Jack tried desperately to get more than a half syllable word into the conversation.

"Yeah, I got it Nick," Jack finished finally, tapping the end call button and sliding the phone back into his pocket before looking back over at her. "Well, I think that went well."

She grinned at him as they continued to walk, turning the corner of the building.

"I heard," she said.

"I think half of Bergen heard," he muttered sullenly.

She chuckled.

"Soo," he drawled out. "I'm not going to be able to leave the center any time soon."

She shook her head. "I got that impression."

He chuckled. "Would you maybe come up there one day this weekend for the day?"

"Which one?"

"Hemsedel."

She looked up at him, giving him a pointed look.

"What?"

"You knew how to get there that day, you didn't need the silly GPS."

"Yes I did! I don't know the road names around here! I don't know much of anything around here direction wise," he protested, gesturing defensively with his hands. "You are giving me FAR too much credit."

She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. That was mean."

He scowled. "I have trouble getting around at home, where I grew up, let alone here."

She grinned up at him.

"Well, if we go some place together, I'll do the directions and you can do the driving."

"I'll hold you to that," he said, giving her a grin.

"But, yes, we could probably come up there one day this weekend. A do over from last weekend, if you will."

He nodded, stopping on the path as they reached the front of her house and held out his hand for her.

"It's a date then."

She rolled her eyes, holding her hand out to shake his. He took it, turning it slightly in his hand and brought it to the back of his lips for a kiss, giving her a quick wink as she stared at him.

"Until then," he said, releasing it and turning to unlock the SUV that was sitting behind him on the curb.

She stared at him, watching as he sat in the car for several moments before turning around to fish out her keys from her purse, unlock the front door to the house and step inside. She closed the door, hearing him pull away as the door clicked closed behind her, and leaned against it, letting out a sigh. A strange smile spread across her lips.

Anna bounded into the room, excited and eager to hear about what happened.

"So?" she asked. "How did it go? Tell me! Details, I need details!"

Elsa laughed, leaning off the door and letting Anna drag her into the living room and to the couch where they could sit together.

"Good," she said, unable to stop smiling. "It went good."