This Love is Difficult, but it's Real

Chapter 9

Hey, guys! Nothing except the plot belongs to me. Happy reading!

He needs to know. I have to tell him.

Elsa quickly scanned her surroundings and started off. For the second time that day, she had snuck out. But instead of the dazzling sunshine on her, she was enveloped in a mask of darkness as she rode away from the castle.

Where did he say he was staying at? she wondered. She remembered that before departing, he had told her where he could be found if she ever needed him. All she could remember was that it was an inn.

Aksel Inn? No, that's not right. Hemming Inn? No. Jorrun Inn? No, he told me that he got kicked out of there after he pranked the owner.

Wait! she perked up. It's on the tip of my tongue. Kay? Kasper...?

Katja! she remembered. He's staying at the Katja Inn!

Now at ease and with a sense of direction of where she was headed, she rode towards the way where the Katja Inn was located.

 ..~..

"May I help you?"

"Erm, yes," Elsa began. Clearly the owner of the inn was tired, for he did not recognize who she was. Even though she was in a dark cloak, if anyone saw her up close, they would recognize her immediately. She was relieved that that wasn't the case now. "I'm looking for a Jack Overland. He said that he was staying here?"

"I'll fetch him for you, miss," the inn owner said groggily. He went up a flight of stairs. While he was gone, Elsa looked inside. The inn was quaint, with only two tables and six chairs. In the front of the room was a crackling fireplace. To the left of her was a counter for checking in and out. She stepped back outside when she heard two pairs of footsteps.

"I found who you were asking for, miss," the inn owner said, trying to keep himself awake by slapping one side of his face. Beside him, Jack looked like he had been enjoying a nice slumber. That all changed when he saw Elsa by the door.

"Thanks, Lars," Jack nodded. Elsa quickly gave her thanks as well before she gestured for Jack to come outside.

When Jack had closed the door behind them, he looked at Elsa in worry and concern. "Elsa? What's wrong? You're not supposed to be wandering the streets at night! And alone!"

Elsa shushed him. "It's okay. I'm fine. I came here because I needed to tell you something."

"That your parents don't hate me anymore and we can get together now?" Jack teased. His mischievous smile dropped when he saw Elsa starting to cry. "Elsa? Elsa, what's wrong? What's happened?"

"I'm-I'm-," she began before falling into Jack's arms and sobbing into his chest. Jack instantly started hugging her and stroking her hair comfortingly.

"Shhh, shhh. Don't cry," he said gently. He led her to a secluded gazebo so that they could talk privately. They sat down.

"Now tell me what's troubling you, Elsa," Jack said.

She looked up at him through her tears. "Jack...my father...he's-he's chosen a husband for me."

Jack stared at her. He shook his head. "You-You can't be serious."

"But I am," Elsa said. "He's told me that since I seem to make very poor decisions when it comes to choosing a husband, he chose one for me." she sniffled. "He's coming over tomorrow afternoon."

Jack remained silent, taking in the numbing news. He couldn't look her in the eye. It took all of Elsa to not scream at him and tell him to say something, anything. Finally, for what seemed like hours when it was only minutes, he looked at her.

"Elsa," he said. "I-I don't know what to say to all this."

"Just say that you'll run away with me," she pleaded. "Let's leave this place and start a new life elsewhere. It'll be just you and me, with no one telling us what to do."

"Now, Elsa," Jack said, holding up both of his hands. "You're acting too rash. Even though I'm not too pleased with the news like you, I don't think that will solve anything. What will your parents say when they find out what we've done?"

"They won't have a say in anything because we'll be too far away from them for them to do anything about it," Elsa countered.

"But you can never be too far away from them for them not to feel sad, worried, miserable about you," Jack said. "And didn't you say that you had a younger sister? How is she going to take all of this when she finds out that you're gone?"

Elsa remained silent.

"Look, Elsa," he said, tilting her chin to make her look at him. "I want us to be together, I really do. You don't know how much I want that. But...running away isn't going to make anything better.

"We'll figure a way to get through this," he smiled gently at her. "Don't worry, I'll make sure of that."

Elsa could only look at him, unable to find any words to come out. 

"It's okay, Elsa," he smiled at her. "You'll be fine. We'll be fine"

She couldn't stop herself from crying into his chest again, sobbing hard. She couldn't believe that this was all happening, and in just a few days. Her luck had seemed to have gotten worse with each passing hour. But when she looked up at his loving, bright blue eyes looking down at her in silent support, she realized that her luck hadn't taken a turn for that worse. She had met Jack. And that was the best thing that she could ever hope for. He was so kindhearted and brave even after she told him the news. While he was staying strong and fearless, here she was, crying and being a big baby. Seeing him being so supportive and encouraging made her love him even more.

She wiped off her tears. "I'm sorry," she chuckled softly. "You probably don't want to see me like this."

"It's fine," he said gently. "You needed that."

"Thank you for being so kind and supportive tonight," she said.

"Anything for you, Elsa," he said, lightly kissing her on her head. "Besides, who else is going to be your knight in shining armor?" he teased.

Elsa laughed softly. She looked up at the dark sky. "I should head home," she said, reluctantly getting up.

Jack got up as well. "You sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

"I'll be alright," Elsa smiled at him.

"You sure?" he said.

Elsa nodded. "Even though these past few days have been quite miserable, I've got one thing that keeps me afloat."

"And what's that?" he said.

"You."

AN: I attempted to put some Norwegian names for the inn names and for the inn owner, so hopefully that turned out well. Anyways, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!