This Love is Difficult, but it's Real

Chapter 11

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

"So how did it go?"

"It was wonderful. He was so nice and so easy to talk to. And quite charming, I have to admit."

"Now you're making me jealous," Jack pouted.

Elsa laughed. "Of course, he can never replace you, Jack." she kissed him on his cheek.

It had been a week since Elsa was introduced to Prince Alexander. Although they harbored no romantic feelings for each other, they still found each other's company enjoyable. They had gone horseback riding, went to the library together, wandered around the marketplace, Elsa even watched him practice his archery lessons.

"You sure no one will be going out of their minds if they notice that you're gone?" Jack asked. Elsa had snuck out once again to meet him at The Lonesome Tree. It was now midafternoon.

Elsa grunted. "Father is in a really heated conference with other dignitaries, Mother is out with her friends, and Anna is with Prince Hans. I'm sure no one will notice that I'm even gone."

"Just making sure, snowflake," he kissed her on her cheek. "You know that I worry about you sometimes."

Elsa waved a hand. "You don't have to worry about me, Jack. I'm fine."

"I know. It's just that there have been weird things happening around here," Jack said. "People have been disappearing without a trace, horses and cows have been stolen, and not to mention some strange markings on nearby trees and buildings."

"Thank you, Jack, for thinking about my safety," Elsa smiled lovingly at him, "But I'm fine. Really. If anything's wrong, you know I'll tell you."

Jack sighed. "Okay, Elsa. I believe you."

She raised a brow. "I should hope so, seeing as how I had snuck out of my overprotective home to come see you."

Jack chuckled. "Okay, okay, snowflake, I see your point."

Elsa looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. "I should be going now." she said reluctantly. She stood up and wiped off some stray grass and leaves off her dress. She looked back at Jack and she caught him wearing a lopsided grin. "What's so funny?"

"You look cute when you do that, that's all," he grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Mr. Flatterer, while I'd love to stay for more of your compliments, but I have to go now." She hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you when I can, okay?"

"Anytime's a good time, my snowflake," he kissed her on her forehead. "Take care of yourself."

Elsa smiled. "I will."

And with that, she clucked to her horse and rode back home.

 ..~..

When Elsa came back, she quickly and quietly went up to her room. Shutting the door softly behind her, she sat on her bed and started to read. It hadn't even been five minutes later when a frantic series of knocks came from her door.

Elsa chuckled. She knew perfectly well who it was. "Come in, Anna."

Anna burst in the room, a disheveled mess. Her hair which was in a braided bun before had come undone, her dress had mud all over it, and her left shoe was missing.

"Anna, what on earth happened?" Elsa gasped.

"Kristoff happened!" Anna huffed, stomping her foot down, sending some mud to splatter on Elsa's clean walls. Elsa sighed and chuckled in at the same time. She went to her bathroom to get a towel to soak it in warm water to clean off the mud. When she came back, Anna was pacing the room, muttering angrily to herself.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or are you just going to make more messes for the maids to clean up?" Elsa said, unable to not tease her sister at the moment. 

Anna stopped mid-stomp. "Oh, right!" She threw her hands up in the air and gestured to herself. "Does anything seem different to you with me?" 

"Well, your hair's a mess, you look like you were in a mud-throwing contest, and you lost your left shoe," Elsa smiled.

"And you know who's the reason for all this?" Anna said.

"Well-"

"Kristoff! That's who!" Anna shouted. "The nerve of that guy!"

"What did he do exactly?" Elsa said. Even though Anna was the sweetest person in the world, she had quite a bit of a quick temper.

"Well, today, Hans and I went out riding again. He brought Kristoff, of course because he's the stable boy and he might need some assistance with something," Anna began. "Hans said that he could bring Sven to ride on, in case Kristoff got tired.

"I thought Sven was a horse until I saw him. He's a reindeer! A reindeer, Elsa! A reindeer," Anna said. "Out of all the animals he could ride on, it had to be a reindeer!"

"It could have been worse," Elsa pointed out. "He could have ridden a pig."

"Oh you're not helping!" Anna waved a hand in the air. "Anyways, while we were riding, Sven rammed into my horse!"

"He must have smelled the carrots I had in my bag," Anna muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Those carrots were for my horse! Not him!

"So when my horse got hit by Sven, he became surprised and threw me off in a mud puddle!" Anna exclaimed. "It was so humiliating, looking like that in front of Hans!" she buried her head in her hands. "I can't ever show my face again to him."

Elsa patted her sister comfortingly. "There, there. It's okay. I bet Hans knows that the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. I mean, I would expect that from him."

"Well, he did help me back home," Anna said quietly.

"See?" Elsa smiled. "There's nothing to be anxious about. You don't have to avoid him."

"Yeah," Anna perked up. "You're right! I don't have to avoid him! This is awesome! I still get to do everything I had done with him! Nothing has to change between us!"

"That's the spirit," Elsa smiled.

"And you know what's the best part to all of this?" Anna said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"What?" Elsa said.

"I get to get revenge on Kristoff!" Anna shouted, already running out of the room.

Elsa stood there a moment in utter disbelief before chuckling to herself. "Poor Kristoff. He's got a wild Anna biting at his heels now."

AN: Yep, mostly an Anna-centric chapter in this one! I wanted to get in a chapter that will develop her relationship between her, Hans, and Kristoff. Poor Sven! All he wanted was carrots! Anyways, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!