and fools rush in

by: zulka

notes: Jelsa. AU. Oneshot.

now, this story is part of a collection of one-shots. all of which are standalone, and can be read separately.

.

She opened the door to the sheriff and felt a rush of trepidation run through her at the thought that something could have happened to—

"Good Afternoon Ma'am. I'm looking for a Mrs. Elsa Queen."

"That-I-I'm her." She answered, brows furrowed and eyes slightly narrowed in confusion, unsure about what was happening and why the sheriff was standing on her doorstep.

He nodded and giving her a sympathetic look, that she found completely strange, handed her some documents. Whatever he may have said after was completely lost to her, whether it was have a good day or goodbye or even I'm sorry. She stared at the documents, at the names printed on the top left corner.

"Umm…thank you Sheriff…" she muttered distractedly before shutting the door, unaware and not caring if he was still there or not.

She exhaled and the hand holding on to the papers turned into a fist, crushing them, leaving the documents creased and wrinkled. She took a deep breath and sat down, a mixture of shock, hurt, and finally anger swirling inside her.

.

"Umm Jack?"

Looking up from his computer he gave the intern a raised eyebrow before looking back to his screen as he continued to type furiously.

"Umm, there's a sheriff asking for you?"

"Sheriff?" His fingers stopped moving and hovered above the keys as he turned to the intern again.

She nodded giving him a look that stated she was just as confused as him. "I have no idea." She murmured.

"Huh," he muttered, before standing up and walking to the front door. The intern remained in his office for a few moments before walking back to the filing room, but not before casting a quick look toward the front door.

"Are you Mr. Overland Frost?"

"That would be me. How can I help you Sheriff?"

Jack wondered briefly if one of his clients had gotten in serious trouble or worse yet, had been killed, though he imagined he would have received the news already. He stiffened when the Sheriff produced some documents. As soon as he caught a glimpse of what they were his initial reaction was to laugh in disbelief and he actually let out a few chuckles.

The Sheriff gave him a look before staring at this tattooed arms, as he handed them over. Jack accepted them gracefully, his eyes roving all over the document. "I can't believe—she actually did this."

It was only then that the Sheriff gave him a sympathetic look.

But Jack ignored him as he shook his head and tried not to laugh. "I can't believe this." He kept muttering under his breath. "Have a nice day Sheriff." He said stiffly before walking away, leaving the front door wide open.

"You didn't close the door!" the intern called after him but his answer was the slamming of his door. She frowned before walking to the front and after making sure the Sheriff was gone, she shut it and sighed as she rested her forehead on the dark smooth surface.

"That Overland? What happened?" a voice asked.

"I have no clue." She answered as she turned to look at Aster E. Bunnymund. She shrugged as she returned to the filing room once more.

.

Anna watched as her sister viciously cut some vegetables, the knife slamming into the cutting board. She winced slightly.

"Elsa you need to calm down. You might hurt yourself."

Elsa's response was only a withering glare. "Anna, he served me divorce papers. How can I be calm?"

Anna shifted uncomfortably, from one foot to the other before shrugging. "Elsa, last I remember you sent the same documents to him. You're just mad you got them first."

"I'm not that petty."

"Sure you're not." Anna mumbled. She had been aware that things were not going right and when Elsa told her that she had finally gone to file for divorce, her heart had sunk.

Elsa's chuckling made her frown and she regarded her sister with slight suspicion. "What?" She asked.

But Elsa simply shook her head, and Anna felt her heart wrench at the defeated look in Elsa's eyes. "It's just—I mean…look at us Anna. The one thing we both seem to agree on is that a divorce is the best option."

Anna bit her lip. "I don't think so. I can't believe that you can't work through this. Don't you want to work through this?"

"There's nothing to save!" Brief tense silence followed Elsa's outburt, the knife resting on the cutting board.

"I don't believe that." Anna whispered.

"That's because you're idealistic! But I'm not and whatever Jack and I had appears to be dead." She followed her statement by wrapping her arms around her middle.

"We don't talk anymore. He's always so busy working, writing his motions, taking on new cases and where do I fit into all that?"

Anna walked around the counter and placed her hands on her sister's shoulders and turned her to look at her. "You once told me that you loved how devoted he was to his job. The way his eyes lit up when he told you the stories of the cases he was working on. Or whenever he would get sad when a case wasn't going the way he hoped. Are you saying you hate that now?"

Elsa shook her head. "No, I don't. But I don't feel like I'm a priority anymore Anna. Somewhere along the way I was pushed to the bottom of his To-Do list."

Anna hummed and smiled slightly. "That is distressing, considering you're so sexy, how can he forget to do you?"

"Anna! This is serious."

Anna chuckled. "See? It doesn't have to end now. Elsa, unless you've exhausted every possibility of fixing this, I don't think you should follow through with the divorce."

Elsa turned away from her. "I don't know anymore. It hurts."

.

In the last three hours since the appearance of the Sheriff, Jack found himself staring lifelessly into his computer screen. The words he had typed before made no sense and he felt like he was trying to read alphabet soup.

He ran his hand through his hair for the hundredth time and pinched the bridge of his nose. He exhaled shakily. It hit him harder than he imagined it would. Though part of him wondered if it was due more to the fact that she agreed with him. He would not deny that another part of him wished that this were not the case.

He stared at the documents again, at the printed names on the left side corner. The absence of her handwriting made it a bit easier, he thought.

He read the names again. There was no mistaking this for another couple.

Petitioner: Elsa Queen

Respondent: Jackson Overland Frost

And to the x declaring that it was a dissolution of a marriage, of their marriage. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. To think, that the years spent together accumulated to nothing but the papers he now held in his hands.

There was a brief knock on his door, but before he could tell whoever it was to go away, it opened to reveal his colorful cousin. Currently her hair color had changed from the cool tones of blue and green to a bright hot pink. Closing the door behind her, she took a seat in front of him and placed a bag on his desk.

"What do you want?" he asked, annoyance clearly etched in his tone.

"Gosh. I thought we were going to have lunch today. I brought delicious Thai food. Why are you trying to bite my head off? It's not on the menu by the way, you cannibal."

"I'm surprised the judges take you seriously with that kind of hair." He told her offhandedly as he pretended to work once more.

"Whatever, I make good arguments. I'm not just a pretty face."

"Could have fooled me."

"Plus, Judge White likes me, unlike Judge Frollo who hates everyone even the government attorneys. Except for Esmeralda, which if you ask me is very creepy." At that she shuddered.

Jack cracked a smile then.

"See there we go, the boy is smiling now. So what happened? Heard from Aster that the Sheriff came a-knocking. Everything okay?"

At that his smile faded. He did not want to discuss the marital issues he appeared to be having. Though he knew that Tooth, was extremely nosy and would find out either way.

"Oh. I'd recognize those papers anywhere." She told him as she snatched them away from him.

"Hey!" he hissed angrily.

"I thought you and Elsa were good. When did this happen? Do you want an attorney? Because I'm sure Killian wouldn't mind representing you."

Jack frowned at the mention of Killian P. Black. He never understood how his cousin could date him. "No. I don't need an attorney and I served her the divorce papers too."

"Wait what?!"

"I did it a few days ago. She should have gotten them by now and probably hasn't told me, like everything else that she keeps hidden." Tooth winced at the bitterness in his tone.

"Jack," she began but he shook his head.

"I mean I was hoping that I was wrong. But this just proves that she feels the same way." He gave her a shrug. "This is it I guess, now we just have to divide the community property."

"Is there a lot?"

"She can keep her things. She can keep everything for all I care. Even the fucking house." Tooth grimaced at the anger Jack was displaying.

"Why are you so mad? I thought you wanted this?"

Jack pursed his lips and gave her no response. She sighed dejectedly. "You two are so good together you know. Well, at least I thought so. I didn't know you were having these kind of issues."

Her words were met with a stony silence, and she placed the papers on his desk. "So you wanna reschedule lunch then?"

He shook his head. The food smelled delicious and his stomach was beginning to complain. Tooth gave him a thin smile before she began taking out the boxes of noodles and curry. "I got some appetizers as well."

His chuckle was hollow and it made her heart ache. "You always buy so much food."

There was another knock on his door and he uttered a brief, "Come in,"

"Sorry!" the intern mumbled as she walked in, "But you have a call. It's DA Jane Moors."

Jack groaned before nodding and taking his own phone answered, "This is Jack."

Tooth turned to look at the intern and whispered, "The one that wears the victory rolls?"

The intern nodded before doing quotations in the air and whispering, "Maleficent".

Tooth opened her mouth in wonder before nodding. The intern shook her head and left the office.

Tooth remained silent as she began opening the take-out boxes. Catching phrases here and there and trying to piece together the information of whatever new case Jack appeared to be working on.

The call was brief and as soon as it was over, she decided to grill him on it. "So what was that about?"

Jack shot her a disapproving frown before opening a box of noodles. "Child abuse case, we're trying to see if there is enough evidence to press charges against the parents."

"You're representing the child?"

Jack nodded as he parted his chopsticks and began eating. For the moment he would not think about the papers lying on his desk.

.

Once Anna left, Elsa decided to abandon the dinner preparations. She didn't see a point to it at all. Jack would probably arrive home late anyway. Instead she walked to his study, to the mountains of files and case notes scattered on his desk. This was the place where she often found him asleep. His head using some file as a pillow.

She couldn't help the sadness that seemed to overcome her whole being, and she found it difficult to think about her life without Jack, without his silly jokes and desperate hopes for life.

She held back a sob that was threatening to escape. She turned away from the study and walked into their bedroom. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to start packing. But even the thought of doing such a thing overwhelmed her. This was their home, with the cloud motif of Greene and Greene on the banister that she fought so hard to get. The one Jack liked to remind her was not child safe and that when they had children would need to be remodeled, something she completely opposed. We'll just have to be more careful, she told him once.

She sniffed as she tried to stop the flow of tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes and seeing their small Pomeranian sleeping on their bed, she made her way and sat beside him.

The dog shifted and whined as he opened his eyes. "Oh Olaf." she said as she took him into her arms and held him close. Eventually burying her face into his fur and allowing her sobs to finally be free.

.

Jack stared at his computer clock, it read 5:15 PM. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go home, if he could even call it that. The office was closed, the intern bidding good-bye around four and Aster, having left for court around one, was not going to return.

Sighing, he packed up his belongings and debated going to his godfather's house or to Tooth's and crashing on her couch. But since he disliked Killian, he decided against it. The black-haired man would probably mock him and Jack was capable of representing himself if the need arose, which he doubted it would. As he had said, Elsa could keep everything. He wasn't about to contest the petition for dissolution.

He locked the office behind him and thought once more about the divorce papers hidden in his briefcase as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove home. He had seen many of those before and for a brief moment was glad they hadn't had children yet. He would hate to take her to court for custody if it came to that.

When he arrived the house was quiet. The kitchen was in disarray with half cut vegetables which he assumed were discarded dinner plans.

He made his way up the stairs, his hand gliding along the cloud motif that he knew Elsa loved. The one he often teased about remodeling. He didn't think he wold actually do it. Not that it mattered anymore. If she found someone else, and he found himself upset at the possibility of them keeping the house.

He found her deeply asleep on their bed. He had as stark realization that it was slowly becoming her bed, with how little he slept in it. She was curled into a ball, her bangs falling over her face.

"A little early to be sleeping isn't it?' he whispered as he swept her bangs away, tucking them behind her ear.

He left the room then and went into his study. He left his briefcase, unopened and returned to the kitchen to either clean up or finish dinner. He wasn't sure which option he would choose.

The thought of leaving the house was strange to him. The more he thought about it, the less willing he was in parting with it, though he wondered if it had more to do with the memories than the actual building.

The house was quiet, and it unnerved him. Wherever he ended going, silence would probably be his new constant. He wasn't a stranger to silence or loneliness but he disliked the idea of returning to such an environment. Elsa's laughter and loving embrace had often pulled him away from his darker thoughts.

The sharp bark made him jump as it echoed and bounced around the house. "Shhh! Olaf!" he scolded as he turned around.

The dog stared at him with big joyful eyes. His tail waggin excitedly. Another thought occurred to him then, who would keep the dog?

Olaf barked again and began yipping at him. "Nice to see you too." He mumbled as he began cleaning the kitchen. He checked that Olaf's food dish was full, and it was and so was the water bowl.

Having put away the vegetables in a container and inside the refrigerator he leaned against the counter. The evening sun shone in through the windows, casting everything in a golden light. He made his way upstairs again and settling into his study, he opened his briefcase and began to work.

.

Elsa woke close to midnight, the room was dark and she could sense Jack sleeping next to her. She was surprised Jack had fallen asleep early. He often worked past midnight, not going to sleep until two in the morning on most nights. She shifted slightly and turned her head to look at him. He was facing away from her, and in a brief moment of spitefulness she felt like shoving him off the bed. Instead what she did was pull the blankets, which he always stole, toward her side of the bed and burrowed beneath them. She closed her eyes but sleep was not forthcoming and after a few minutes she decided to get up instead.

Olaf was asleep on his bed, at the foot of their bed, and the thoughts of all the things she shared with Jack was beginning to make her queasy.

When she arrived in the kitchen she noticed all the vegetables she had left out had been put away. She gave a wry smile.

She set out to make some tea, to calm her nerves or anger, she wasn't sure.

"Elsa?"

Startled she almost dropped the small ceramic cup. She sighed, "What?" she snapped turning to face Jack, who leaned on the kitchen counter.

He furrowed his brows as he looked away from her and crossed his arms across his chest. "I got served divorce papers today."

She kept silent for a moment, the tea all but forgotten.

"What a coincidence, the sheriff stopped by today to serve me with the same thing." She gave him a defiant look, her chin raised slightly.

He gave a snort of derision. "Is that what you want?"

"Isn't it what you want too?" She shook her head and turned away from him. "It seems it's the only thing we can agree on nowadays."

"So after a few years, are you telling me the value of our relationship has come to this? Is that it? Is this it?"

Slamming the kettle in a fit of anger, taking him aback, she turned to face him again and hissed, "It's midnight. I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You never want to talk about anything Elsa." He muttered quietly.

"It doesn't seem like it matters anyway. I haven't felt like a priority in your life for a while. You're so busy with your pro bono cases."

"So now you hate my job?"

"That's not what I said." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "I think maybe we should just be apart for a few days."

Jack shook his head. "Whatever." He mumbled before walking upstairs and leaving her alone.

In the hollow silence that followed, she allowed her tears to stream freely.

In his study, Jack covered his face with his hands. He had once told her how much his work meant to him and why he did what he did. It stung to hear her say it was the root of their problems.

.

The next few days passed in extreme discomfort, with bitter words aimed to cut their already wounded hearts.

She locked him out of their bedroom one Wednesday night, claiming that he would be more comfortable with his cases and that he always slept there anyway. He ended up in the living room couch.

"It's not that bad," he told her with fake cheer on Thursday morning.

"You're not cold?" she asked quietly. The remorse was clear in her eyes.

"No." was his response before shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.

"Well, at least I didn't have you stealing the blanket last night." She countered, wanting perhaps to have the last word.

"I don't steal blankets."

A corner of her lip lifted in half a smile, "Yeah you do. I always wake up and have to wrestle them from you."

"You always tickle me." Was his response before drinking his coffee, "That's unfair."

It was a full smile then and it was beautiful, "I get cold."

"We'll need to buy extra blankets." He whispered softly, hopeful, because the night before as he sat on the couch clutching Olaf to him and crying into the poor dog's fur, he came to the stark realization that he did not want to get divorced.

His heart felt lighter with her response.

"I'll have to have my own. But…I…I like tickling you." She offered him a smile, small and sheepish.

He stared at her over the rim of the cup and finally placing it down he said, "I can tell. You're merciless."

She chuckled. She couldn't help but think that it was a strange Thursday morning. The way they were sharing the space, talking, like they used to.

"When did we stop?" she asked quietly, eyes drawn to her cup of tea, now lukewarm. She shook her head, "Nevermind."

The truth was that she didn't want to hear the answer.

"No, no, no." Jack begun as he placed his hands on the table.

"You don't get to blame this on me. Because as much as you say I spend too much time on my cases, I would like to remind you that you were so caught up in the restoration of downtown Arendelle to pay attention to us. So yeah, I went back to my cases." He wasn't yelling, his voice was not raised. It was even and she knew that she did prioritize the restoration project. That she cancelled dinner plans, movie nights, time that they would usually spend together.

"I said fine. I know how much you like to preserve old buildings. I knew how much this meant to you if it was a success. But you don't get to put this on me. Not all of it." His eyes were reproachful and he noticed the flash of hurt that crossed hers.

"And now what?" She asked as she stood up. She stared at his tattoos, the stylized 'guardians' that meant so much to him.

"I don't want to do this, this separation." He murmured and she had to strain to hear it.

"And you think I do? You think I want to divide what we have?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I think about it, about how maybe you can keep the house—"

"I don't care about the community property. You can keep everything. I'm not gonna file the divorce. Are you?" And somehow, it feels like everything has gone wrong again. Like she didn't listen to him.

"I—I—don't know." And she doesn't know because a few moments earlier it had been the way it always was, before she was consumed by the restoration project, by the want to keep the old buildings of Arendelle and make them relevant to the new age.

"Oh for fuck's sake." He muttered clearly annoyed. He had a small inkling to throw the chair for good measure.

She wrung her hands in nervousness. "I don't want…"

"Besides," he added as he caught sight of Olaf, "Who's gonna keep the dog? You wanna go to court for him? Set up visitation hours and what-not?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Next thing you know, we'll be going to court fighting over a fish tank."

He laughed and she realized how much she missed it. She knew Jack's dark past, the shadows that haunted his dreams and she looked at the tattoos again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, half ashamed. "I shouldn't have said that."

He frowned. "What?"

"About your job. I know what it means. Why you do it. I'm just overwhelmed. I didn't think you'd send me divorce papers too." And her laugh was full of tears. It made his heart break.

He took a seat in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I…I was shocked. Remember how we yelled that night? And how you said you would and I thought, she's lying, but then…the sheriff showed up."

She wanted to laugh at the easy going manner he said it. "You said you would too."

"I did." He nodded in agreement.

After a brief moment of silence she asked, full of curiosity, "Would you really leave me everything?"

He looked her over with pretend suspicion. "Yeah…"

"I'd leave you the Picasso you know. I mean its not an original but—"

Jack shook his head and stood up. "I hate Picasso. Don't leave me the Picasso."

"What?!" she stood up looking at him in confusion. "What do you mean you hate Picasso?"

"Exactly what it means. I hate Picasso. I don't like him. That whole cubism thing? Not for me. I know you like his blue period, and the old guitarist is your favorite but—"

"You hate Picasso?!"

"What? Yeah, yes." He said as he rubbed his temples and once more it seemed like things were moving in a downward spiral.

"I thought you liked Picasso!" and Elsa felt upset and confused. "I took you to a Picasso exhibit! And you said it was great! You lied to me?"

Jack sighed exasperatedly, "Look, I don't like Picasso. But you like Picasso, so I like Picasso. And the exhibit," he paused to walk and stand right in front of her, and placing his hands on her shoulders he said, "I like hearing your voice, I like hearing you talk about the things you love. So yeah, the exhibit was great. You made it great. Not Picasso. Besides I prefer Frank Lloyd Wright."

"He's not a painter. He's an architect." Elsa deadpanned, still frowning. But her heart beat a little bit faster.

"Yeah. I love him. I'd marry his Kaufmann Residence if I could."

"You like Fallingwater?" and once more she looked at him in bewilderment, as if the person standing before her was a stranger and not her husband.

"I love Fallingwater." Jack agreed as he sat down once more. "It's beautiful."

"You never told me that." She said as she followed his lead and sat down too. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. I mean, when I met you I wanted to ask you to build me a house, since you were an architect and all."

His goofy grin was contagious and she felt herself smiling along with him. "You wouldn't be able to afford me."

He laughed. "Really now." And because he always put his foot in his mouth he continued, "You know, Hollyhock House is reopening. I was thinking maybe we could go sometime."

He waited for her response with bated breath.

"When?"

"I don't know. Today, tomorrow, right now…"

"It's eight in the morning. I don't think they are open."

"Well…in a few hours. We can camp outside."

"I'm not camping outside."

"Okay, well, we can leave in two hours."

And perhaps it was all about rediscovery, he thought as he watched her look at her cold tea with disgust. Looking up at him she smiled.

"What about work?" and it was a tentative whisper, a remembrance of the past spats, hurtful words, and hidden dissolution petitions.

"Work can wait. This is about us. I don't want to take you to court for the dog."

She laughed, "Can you imagine the judge's face?"

Grimacing, Jack nodded and then continued, "Stranger things have happened."

There was time to fix it, and the thought made her heart soar, though it still hurt a bit as did his no doubt. But they were okay and for the moment it was enough.

"We should plan a trip to see Fallingwater."

And his smile was brilliant.

.

.

.

notes2: okay so i might have messed up the tenses. i tried looking them over but i might have missed a few. feel free to tell me. also the idea of Attorney Jack is something I developed for another story that turned into this collection of oneshots. Elsa works at a preservation architecture firm in this, and the use of DA Jane Moors aka Maleficent was done with permission from Furiyan. If you read his Cold to the Touch, that is where she appears. I tried to keep it light-hearted, i didn't want too much angst. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.