A warmth began to spread slowly across my face. It feels good; especially compared to the way the rest of my head feels; heavy, cold, and wet. I could lay here like this forever, really. I try my best to ignore the tickling running across my face every time a streak of water runs down my scalp and across my cheeks. Why is my hair wet anyway? Thinking feels like an impossible task right now, but I try to recall anyway, never bothering to open my eyes but feeling my eyebrows pinching.

Just when I start to feel an inkling of a memory, one of those pesky little droplets finds its way to my nostril just in time to get sucked in and damn near choke me! I bolt up to a sitting position, coughing and hacking and maybe being altogether too dramatic but it was shocking okay!

"Anna?" I hear her call my name just a short distance away. Her normally smooth and soothing voice sounds… raw. Was she… Is she... crying? Why?

I didn't really think to ask it out loud right away. Before I know it, I'm crawling over to her side and throwing my arms around her shoulders. I don't have a clue what's happening right now, but calming Elsa down is my current priority. As I sit just behind her and pull her against my torso, she curls in more on herself, hugging her shoulders tighter as her back sputters. Her face is screwed up so tight… like she's in real pain, and there seems to be an endless stream of silent tears. I hate that I don't know what to do…

"I'm so sorry." She manages to hiss out. "I'm so, so, so sorry Anna."

"Why are you apologizing?" I try to sound as pacifying as possible. I just don't understand.

"I almost… I can't believe I… Anna…" She lets out a frustrated sob and she seems to just be getting irritated with herself, if the way she's furiously wiping her eyes with the back of her fist means anything. Suddenly she stops, her face still looking painful, but her puffy eyes now resolute. "You shouldn't see me anymore."

I feel my throat go dry. It feels unbelievably tight. I want to tell her how ridiculous that is and that I am definitely not going to stop seeing her before I leave but my mouth just doesn't seem to be working. So instead, I just hold her tighter. I try to make her understand that I don't plan to let her go that easy. I feel her try to pull away, but I only hold on tighter. She needs to understand this.

"A-Anna, please-"

"What happened?" I have no idea how the words managed to claw their way out of my throat but they seemed to leave the way open. "That's what this is about right?" My brain feels like it's stuck on go-slow mode. It's harder than usual to think. Is this because… what happened earlier? That wasn't normal right? No matter how I think about it, people don't just pass out like that after... "Just tell me please, and I promise I won't go anywhere. I'm not leaving you any sooner than I have to." I don't even want to leave then.

"You're saying that now-" I squeeze her tighter to get my point across and whisper "I promise," into her ear. Everything is quiet. I continue to hold her as tight as I can manage. So tight, I feel the way her chest moves as she takes in a deep breath and then sighs. Her hand comes up to stroke my arm gently and I feel the tension in her shoulders begin to release. I barely hear her when she finally breathes out an "okay".

Quiet. Again. My brain finally begins to process the things around me. The feel of the rug beneath me. The warm glow from an artificial fireplace. The chill of the air conditioner. These are Elsa's walls. Her rug. Her fireplace. Her hotel room. In the quiet, I finally become conscious of the drips of water still rolling down my face. She pats my arm, a silent request to be released, and I hesitantly oblige.

Elsa wordlessly walks over to the kitchen and I hear her shuffling around in the cupboard. Then I hear the faucet cut on for a bit and within moments it was back off and she returns with a glass of water. She sits on the floor to face me this time, her face showing of absolute uncertainty. Her eyes blink close and her brows furrow.

I look from the glass, to her, back to the glass, her hands shaking and sloshing the water slightly. I try my best not to rush her and I can tell she appreciates it. She takes a few calming breaths and her hands slowly steady. As the shaking subsides, fog begins to gather around her fingers.

Wait, that's not right.

Frost?

The water stills and stiffens in the glass. It hisses and cracks, like angry ice cubes. When the sounds stop, Elsa looks over to me, eyes pleading, as if she's expecting me to bolt at any time.

"You're actually a goddess!? Holy shit that is so cool!" The words tumble out my mouth before I could stop them but really, she's an actual goddess! All this time I was just using it like, I don't know, a metaphor or something or whatever. Her mouth starts to open, obviously about to say something, but my word vomit kinda beat her to the punch. "Wait wait wait, is that what happened?"

She visibly stiffens. Elsa stands, nearly shattering the glass as it drops, her hand moving up to her head and running through her hair. "I can't believe I fucked up that bad. Anna I almost..." her breath shudders. "I haven't lost control like that in years and never in a situation like this. I didn't think… I th-thought I killed you…" Elsa's voice shrank into nothing more than a broken sob and the tears start to return. I hop up as quickly as I can manage and pull her back into my arms, hoping it would work as well as the first time. She grips the sleeve of my shirt and presses her face into my chest.

"I'm fine Elsa, really. I'm not hurt." Her head shakes against my shirt and I finally notice the wetness in that spot. "I'm not going anywhere."

To that, she raises her head with a sniff. I almost forgot she's taller than me. "Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you again? Or…" Accidentally kill me for real? That's… huh, that should be a legitimate concern. For some reason, I don't even care though.

Her voice breaks into a sob again. "You're hesitating…"

This time I did let go of her and I took the time to really take in her form. Her eyes are red and heavy and... glassy. The corners of her eyes and nose are shining but she moves a knuckle up to wipe away the stream coming down her nose. Her shoulders are still way too tense. This is the first time Elsa has looked anything but perfect. And I don't like it.

I bring my hand up to touch her face but she flinches. I definitely don't like that, but I try not to dwell on the implications. Not right now. Instead, I focus on the warmth of her cheek and on wiping the tears from her eyes with my thumb. Once I finish with that, I slide my hand up, finally noticing something out of place. "Your earrings are gone." I pinch at her lobe as if that would make them suddenly reappear.

Her hands slide up to follow mine, as if she never even realized it herself. She probably didn't. "I bet you forgot them up on the roof."

Her eyebrows furrow. "Probably… Anna?"

Holding the hand that had moved just over mine, I bring it to my lips, carefully placing a kiss on each knuckle before flexing her fingers with my own and leaving one more lingering kiss in her palm. And then another one.

And for some reason I can't stop myself from laughing. This situation is too crazy right? "How are you so fucking beautiful," I asked against her palm before turning my head to look her in the eyes, resting her hand against my cheek. "And I don't mean the obvious 'just look in a mirror and see how gorgeous you are', but like you are really, really beautiful. And I don't think you know that. I don't know what this water-freezing, ice-blasting thing is, and I don't care. I don't care if it's some mutant super-power. I don't care if it's some divine gift. I don't care if you sacrificed a fucking baby for it. You, regardless of whatever you think you are or however you got here, are the most beautiful person I have ever met."

A few sniffles, but she manages to choke out a laugh. "You're one to talk." She's right.

"I'll work on that if you will. You're going to have to get me used to hearing it though. And you're probably going to have to tell me to cool it 'cause I'll be reminding you that you're beautiful like, all the time. 'Cause seriously, you are."

Elsa laughs a bit harder now and forget about what I've said about all the other times because this is by far the best smile I've ever gotten from her. This is the first time it's felt like a pure, genuine, unadulterated smile. "You're such a cheeseball," her nose wrinkled as she teased me.

"I try."

She looks at me, scanning me, the smile on her face not faltering in the slightest. And then she tackles me to the ground with a bear-hug that could challenge Kristoff's and despite what is probably now a bruised shoulder and/or rib, her head nuzzling into my shoulder as we landed slightly rougher to the floor than I was prepared for makes everything worth it. She laughs and so do I.

"I love you."

The admission makes me go completely stiff and I know she can feel it but she doesn't look up or move, just hugs me tighter. It takes me a second or two to realize that those words didn't actually come from me this time.

"El-"

"I get it. I know it's stupid. I know… I know you're leaving soon." Her voice speeds up and slowly starts to grow more and more desperate. Like she's trying to get it all out before I run away, but also remain calm. "I don't expect this to change anything, I'm not trying… I just really wanted to tell you just now and that's… none of this is normal for me. But I love it. I love that I love you."

"I love you too." My answer came automatically. It feels as though I can't breathe. I've been trying so desperately not to say that and she just… I can't help the laughter that falls out. It probably sounds a little like madness.

Elsa shudders but made no move to detach from the hug. "You don't have to say it back."

"I want to." I try my best to sound reassuring. "I've been thinking it for awhile now, but I was afraid to say it… all things considered." She snuggles closer to me. "Soo, what now?" She blows a gentle breath through her nose.

I feel myself smile and we just lay in silence for a while. Whether "a while" was a few seconds or a few minutes, or maybe an hour or two, I can't say for sure. Okay, so it probably wasn't an hour, but I am so not against staying that long. It's weird how her skin is so cold but Elsa still feels so warm against me. I turn my head and blink against the dim glow from the electric fireplace.

"Wait, what time is it?"

…

This wouldn't be the first time I've snuck in. Not even the first time for this trip. But this time I'm not sneaking. When I open the door, I don't even try to keep it from creaking and I don't bother peeping around the corner of the wood and scanning the room. There's no point. I knew mom would be waiting. I texted her after all. And as expected there she was, sitting at the end of the dining table. Just waiting. Probably thinking.

When I close the door she doesn't turn to acknowledge me. Her elbows are on the table and she almost looks like she had just finished praying. But now her head is resting against her clasped fists and she looks… tired.

I walk up to the table and slide a chair out to take a seat. That was when she finally turned her head to look at me as I sat on her left side. The green light from the oven's clock teased me as it blinked a reminder of the time: 4:18am.

I expected that as soon as I came inside mom would start railroading me about staying out so late… but she was silent. She just watches me. As if she's waiting. I only came up with defensive answers. I didn't really think about what I wanted to say, but more so what I would be forced to say. I wasn't prepared for this but it seems the ball is in my court.

But what do I say? How do I say everything I want to say? What do I even want to say?

"Love sucks." It wasn't poetic.

Her facial expression changes. Her eyebrows knit and her lips press tightly together and she just… blinks. "It does," she agrees slowly. "It has me up at 4 in the morning."

I snort. She cracks the tiniest smile if only for a moment.

I get up and walk behind her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders but she doesn't budge at first. "I'm sorry for being such a disappointment these last few days."

She puffs out a sigh. "You're not a disappointment Anna." Well that's surprising. I think she read my thoughts as she puts a hand over one of mine and continues, "You're not. I just… wasn't prepared for this. I should have been. You're growing up." She lets a tight smile linger this time and in a rare moment, I actually see the age in the corners of my mother's eyes. Weird. "Every other stage of your life has been so easy - well, minus the Terrible Twos phase, which lasted until you were about eight. But you always picked good friends, and you followed the rules well enough, you do well in school, you don't get into serious trouble... I guess I kept thinking I'd never have to worry about you."

"O-oh." My voice cracked a bit and I'm not sure why. I feel a tear betray me as it rolls down the tip of my nose. She pulls herself out of my hold and slides out of her chair soundlessly. Next thing I feel is her wrapping me in her arms, her hand guiding me to a familiar shoulder.

"I'm sorry things happened like this. I wish there was something I could do to make this easier for you."

My hands barely responded to me as I tried to bring them up to return the embrace. She doesn't know how deep those words reach. She doesn't know how much I need this. She couldn't know.

She squeezed me for two seconds and I really feel like she might actually know, but for some reason I'm not scared for her to know anymore. Actually, I want to tell her everything. Break down and spill it all. But… maybe not now.

She pulls away but never actually lets me go. She only pulls back enough to look me in the eyes while her hands stroked gently down my shoulders. She was giving me a real smile this time. One of the bright ones I'm used to from her. Well not quite as bright, she's clearly very tired. Whether that's physically, mentally, emotionally, or some combination of the three is yet to be determined.

"Of course you had to go and have a Romeo and Juliet style first love."

I snicker despite myself. "It is the greatest love story of all time."

"I don't know if I agree with that," she scrunched her nose up playfully. "I hope yours will be better."

This is definitely not how I expected this to go. I expected a lot more yelling and crying and I don't know, maybe some plates flying. So far, there's just been an embarrassing amount of crying. To be fair, I feel like any amount of crying in front of my mother is an embarrassing amount really but that's neither here nor there. "Sometimes you're a pretty okay mom," I tease, obviously.

"Good." She nods. "Remember that when your father's head explodes after I get him caught up."

I freeze. "You can't tell him."

She sighs and I pull away, not allowing her to avoid my gaze. Not that she was trying. "You have two choices, you can sit with him and tell him in person, or I can wait until you no doubt head out tomorrow and talk with him while you're out the shout zone." She brought a hand to her chest in mock offense. "I have you know I'm offering to sacrifice myself for you here."

Mom knowing is tough; like I've said before, Iduna Sommers is not a woman of subtlety. But Agnarr Sommers? Subtlety is not a word in his language. He never handles this kind of news well right away. He will explode. Not out of anger, moreso confusion. He gets very loud when he's trying to understand something. He's normally a really quiet guy and he's not aggressive. Literally just loud and just when he's shocked.

Mom looks at me and laughs, obviously reading whatever weird expression my face was making to say 'yea, that first part is a definite nope, no way'. She pats my shoulder and treats me to a reassuring smile. "It's been a long night. Bed is calling."

…

All in all these past few days have been the craziest of my life. True to her word, mom waited till I went out to tell dad everything. I don't know the exact details of everything he was told, but mom gave me a free pass to stay out two hours later that night so I imagine that was one hell of a talk.

Elsa and I just talked in her room and watched some series she loved. I couldn't really get too into it. It was a little too sci-fi for my tastes. But listening to her try to explain things to me and watching her nerd out was probably the cutest thing I had ever witnessed in my entire life. And Olaf was back home too. He was almost too happy to see me. I was a little scared he might get so excited that he would accidentally pee on me or something - Thank God he didn't - but he behaved for the most part. Obviously there was some kissing between Elsa and I, but not a lot. It was comfortable and felt so… domestic. I found myself missing it in the moment, even though I was still there lying next to her. I swear I sensed the same thing from her, and I know I saw it in the way she looked at me. Is preemptive yearning a thing?

When I got home that night, my parents were waiting for me in the tv room. I barely walked into the room before dad got up and just hugged me. He didn't ask any questions. He didn't really say anything. He let me go and gave me a pat on the shoulder. I nodded and that was it. Everyone just went to bed.

The next day, everything was back to normal. Mom was smiling and teasing me about Elsa, pestering me to invite her for over at least once before we leave. Dad pretty much did his own thing, chiming in whenever mom made him but otherwise being unconcerned as he watched tv or read a newspaper.

Three days, that's all I had left here and I vowed to make the most of it.

Well, actually it was four days but I promised my parents I would give them at least one day that was exclusively family. I at least owed them that much.

So, three days. Three days to explore each other. Three days to irresponsibly fall incurably in love with each other. I fell in love with the way she squints around the room in the mornings before putting in her contacts. She apparently fell in love with the way my hair magically transforms into a bird's nest after a few hours of sleep if I don't braid it. I fell in love with the fact that she usually sings in the shower - or hums if she's feeling self-conscious. She apparently fell in love with the fact that I'm sometimes prone to perform entire rock concerts at random - air guitar and stage diving and all. I did not fall in love with her massive ugly sneezes that unapologetically tend to come in threes with the occasional blast of snow if they're particularly brutal. She definitely did not fall in love with my ogrish snoring and seemingly endless fountain of drool when I sleep.

I learned that she is an exceptional cook, and by exceptional I mean except for anything that involves a stove, or microwave, or really anything that involves actual cooking. She makes boss sandwiches though! Is that sexist? Won't think about it. She loves my cooking, and now I'm going to cook a lot more often. And apparently she has a deceptively huge appetite. It's actually scary how much she can really eat in one sitting. I suppose I can cook for her everyday… or every other day, though the vision in my head of our future will need adjusting. I can live with that.

I worry about Elsa's other seemingly insatiable appetite. I know it's unfair to not want her to be with anyone else when I leave. I admitted that when I held onto her a bit too tightly after one of our times together. She gave me a sad smile. I selfishly asked her to promise me that she wouldn't be with anyone else until we figured something out. Who knows when that would be. If that would be. Selfish. She hesitated. "I can't promise that Anna, I'm sorry. I wish I could… and I-I want to, but-" I had cut her off with a kiss then. It was painful to hear, but I understood.

"It's okay, I'm fine with that." I lied. She knew. We let that topic die.

Three days.

Three days and it was all over.

The last night here, after convincing dad to convince mom, I got permission to sleep out. I fully intended to sleep, honestly I did, but walking into Elsa's room is like walking into a lion's den. This time, she had a little surprise. About 5 inches of pure surprise. But the biggest surprise was what she said.

"A-are you sure? I've never used one before ya know," I chuckled nervously.

She nodded only slightly hesitantly. "I trust you. Besides, I don't really have much practice with it either. I just got it."

It was purple, which made it significantly less intimidating for me than it could have been, and she had a harness to go with it. She also insisted that we go to the bedroom and so we did. I waited in the bedroom while she went into the bathroom, and I used that time to throw off my clothes and adjust the harness to myself. There was no need to rush, but I still didn't want to waste any time. Her heavy curtains were drawn, giving the distinct illusion that it was night when I knew for a fact it was still an hour or two till noon.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, I was still fiddling with the contraption but when I saw her I almost dropped everything to the ground. Her french braid was loose and a sea of platinum blond cascaded over her shoulders. A see-through powder-blue chemise hugged her curves while white stockings ran up her legs, a simple garter belt pulling them up as it came around and framed her ass in a way that simply wasn't even fair. Her breasts strained against the fragile fabric, like they would rip through at any moment. Her naturally bright lips were glossed and I don't know what she did with her eyes, if anything at all, but they were more stunning than I could ever remember in that moment. One look at me and the confidence she was pretending to exude when she walked out became all too real, an extra swing in her hips and a sharper tug at her lips.

It was so not fair.

…

And that was it. Just like that, my three days are up. Thinking that should be filling me with dread right now, but waking up with her arms holding me tight against the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathes quietly… I've never felt a more profound peace. My scalp tickles, which is what woke me in the first place, as she takes in each small breath through the nose resting atop my head. We're wrapped up together in a thick blanket, lying on the floor in front of the artificial fireplace. I barely remember why we chose to come down here until some blurry half memories of thick layers of frost running across the bedsheets as Elsa bit down into my collar, hands strangling the sheets and legs wrapped around my waist as she rode me to orgasm invaded my brain. With the bed rendered a cold and wet ruin, when we were finally able to move Elsa grabbed a blanket from a closet. She also grabbed my tee - honestly the only piece of clothing either of us had on that could still be found - and a clean pair of panties. Apparently Elsa doesn't sleep nude. She shrugged cutely and apologized, and so did I when I told her that I was definitely not putting any clothes back on right now.

"I want to say don't go," she whispers against my ear. I didn't even realize when she woke up. "Is that too selfish," she rasped. God, her waking voice is sexy.

I wiggle and she relaxes her hold to allow me to move. I turn in her arms to face her as best I could in our sleeping position. She looks a little cross-eyed as she attempts to make eye-contact looking down at me. "I guess that makes us both selfish," I grab her nose and give it a light tug. If only she could see how goofy she looks right now. I guess it really is contagious and I'm proud to say she caught it from me.

Elsa smiles and leans forward and like clockwork I lean in to meet her at least halfway. A kiss with no urgency despite it being one of our last.

Slowly, she pulls away a gentle but slightly anxious smile on her face. "Can I at least keep the t-shirt?"

I snort. "Of course, but why?"

"It smells like you." She shrugs nonchalantly. "It'll remind me of you and I don't have anything like it. It'll be my piece of you."

"Aww," I coo, but it honestly does melt my heart. "Don't go bacon my heart," I quote the offensively cheesy text from my shirt. Elsa's shirt now. It's okay though, she loves me, so she must love cheese. And she does, so she just laughs.

"I won't." She pinches my nose back and her smile grows and I almost believe her. "In fact," she gently nudges me out of her arms as she stands, shrugging the blanket from her shoulders and I can't help but admire the image before me. Elsa, with her slightly messy bedhead, stretching her deliciously bare legs while her breasts strain desperately against the fabric of one of my t-shirts and the only thing covering her ass is a pair of silky pink panties. Perfect! Absolutely perfect!

She walks upstairs and I follow after I finally gather enough of my sense to do so. When I get to her room, she's pulling a box out of the drawer and shuffling through its contents. She pauses suddenly and her expression shifts if only for a quick second before mumbling something to herself and pulling out a small ring. My heart skips for a moment. Even from my place at the door I can tell it's very ornate and intricate and probably very expensive. That's why I breathe a sigh of relief when she rests it down on top of the dresser and pulls out something else. I don't think I can handle that level of pressure.

She grips whatever it was in her fist and turns to me, sucking in a deep breath as she walks towards me mechanically. She stops just in front of me and holds out her fist, still clenched tightly.

She looks as though she is struggling to talk but I just wait for her.

"Th-things were...are very complicated in my life. This is the first thing I've ever bought for myself. It encourages me and reminds me that I'm better than I used to be…" she trails off, lingering on that particularly heavy sentiment until the air around us becomes thick enough to choke on. Slowly, she unclenches and reveals-

"A-a ring?" My voice cracks. Pressure.

Her hands shoot up immediately. "It's not! I mean, it is… but I don't mean for it to be like…" Elsa begins struggling to find her words. Then she takes a deep breath through her nose. "It was a long time until I could control this… ice.. thing-" she hissed out the words like a curse, "But even after I managed to figure it out I still couldn't always control it. It's intune with my emotions and I… well I couldn't always c-control myself. But I tried - God I tried - but every time something happens, it becomes harder to not think about and the more I think about it the more I panic an-"

I grab her hand. I'm not about to let her get in her own head. She stops herself and I can see her pretty much recalibrating her brain before she smiles. She's grateful, and I'm happy I can have this effect on her. She pushes a lock of hair behind her ear - a nervous habit - and she seems a little embarrassed at herself.

"All that to say," she continues while holding my hand with hers, the ring resting between our fingers. "This ring was a promise to myself, that no matter what happened I would stay in control of myself. I bought it after something particularly… bad happened, to promise myself that I'd never let something like that happen again. And I didn't." The look of pride on Elsa's face as she spoke that last sentence sends a tingle down my spine. A good tingle. She then looks down at our hands and her smile grows even more but she doesn't say anything.

"A-and you're giving this to me? It seems like a really big deal for you." I'm seriously not sure how okay I am with accepting this. I mean, I'm glad she wants to share something so important to her with me but holy shrimp this is huge.

Elsa nods as she folds my fingers over the ring and then clasps her hand over the fist she made. "It is. That's why you're not going to keep it." Her smile kinda morphs into a bit of a smirk. She's clearly reveling in the confusion she just caused which, as usual, is probably written all over my face. "I'm coming back for it. You can just hold it for me until then."

One second. Five seconds. Ten seconds. And then realization hits me like a bus on a highway. I feel the corners of my mouth tugging up to my ears. Neither of us has to say it. "Promise?"

"That's why you have the ring." She teases me with a flick to the nose before covering the spot with her lips.

I have Elsa's ring.

…

"Are you sure we're not forgetting anything? I feel like we're forgetting something."

"Well, it's too late at this point anyway. Let's hope anything we forgot stays forgotten, otherwise we'll feel bad."

Dad makes a face at mom and I try not to roll my eyes too hard at them as we speedwalk into the airport lobby trying not to miss our flight. It may have possibly been partly kinda sorta my fault that we're rushing in the first place. I may have forgotten that packing is a thing. I also may have snuck in one or two goodbye rounds with Elsa after she gave me the ring. Nobody needs to know that though. The story is I overslept. Got it? Got it.

"Maybe if Anna wasn't 'sleeping in' with her new girlfriend…" mom hummed while dad tried not to blanch too noticeably.

"Mom, please don't be weird and gross, I already told you that's not what happened." And even though that's exactly what happened you're supposed to believe me when I say it's not! Or at least drop it, dammit!

Just as we reach the counter to get our luggage checked I feel a hand on my shoulder. Thankfully her voice comes before my fight reaction otherwise this could have been a very unfortunate last impression. "Hey you."

"I didn't know you were coming to see me off." It's only slightly clingy considering I just spent the night at her place and it's only been about an hour since I left but I'll allow it. It's our last sure moments together. I catch myself subconsciously playing with the ring in my pocket.

Elsa just shrugs. "It felt like I should? I can't really explain it myself." She nods in acknowledgement to my parents and she looks like she's about to open her mouth to greet them but then furrows her brow and clams up. Wait, does Elsa even know our last name? Huh.

I can feel mom and dad watching but I pointedly avoid looking their way. If I know my mother as well as I think I do (which I'm sure of), if even just the slightest bit of eye-contact is made, if she sees just the tiniest room to do so, she will embarrass me.

"I'm glad you did." I try to force the blush back because I refuse to do that with my parents here! It's a bit hard to do while I'm staring at Elsa though, so I look pretty much anywhere else.

Big mistake.

I end up spotting a couple doing one of those long soap-opera airport goodbyes and as someone who is practically made of cheese, that hits fucking deep. There's a part of me that wants that but also there's another part of me that wishes a goodbye wasn't even necessary in the first place.

Sigh.

I realize I've been staring at that couple for longer than appropriate and figure that I must be capable of facing Elsa without spazzing out by now but just as I turn my head, I feel a pair of lips barely land against my own and I know I've gone full red. In front of my parents! Elsa, why!?

It wasn't a lingering kiss and thankfully nothing more than a peck really. When she pulled back, she looked embarrassed herself. "I was aiming for your cheek," she explains, only causing me to blush harder for a slightly different reason because dammit, I embarrassed myself with this one! "I didn't expect you to turn when you did."

I can't find the words so for once in my life, I make the smart decision to say nothing at all. Instead, I hug her. As tightly as I can. To hell with it! Mom already has enough fuel to tease me with until I'm old enough to move out, this won't make much of a difference. Her squeezing me back only allows the dread of what was to come even more real.

"Alright, tick-tock, break it up you lovebirds, we have a plane to catch and they're not going to wait for you two to finish your moment."

Thanks mom. Thanks a lot.

We pull apart begrudgingly and she breathes out, "Later".

I smile a little to myself despite it all. "See you."

And I walk away. Still I don't break eye contact with her until the wall separating the lobby from the security checkpoint comes between us. Even as I board and I take my beloved window seat, I can't help but stare out the window, as if I'll magically manage to catch a glimpse of her as the plane scales. Another subconscious rub over the ring.

God, I miss her already.

Author's Note: Hey guys, so as a few of you have asked about or commented on, this is a crazy place to end this story, so how was is this marked completed? Well guys, let me just apologize, I'm so very sorry! This is not the end of this story, just the end of this part of the story! This is more of a preamble into the next part which will be the main story of what is planned to be a 3 part series. I mentioned this on my AO3 uploads (their tagging system has truly spoiled me) but I never said it here. I hope you guys will rejoin me (hopefully in May) with the next part to this story when it is released! Thank you for all the support! Also once you've read thi, you can ignore the next page which is the same announcement. I'll delete it after a few days.