Day One

Knock, knock.

'Elsa?'

*pause*

'I know you're in there.'

'Just give me a minute, would you?' Elsa called from the bathroom, rolling her eyes at the reflective surface of the mirror.

Sweet Snowflakes, this girl is so impatient, she thought to herself, lazily twirling a strand of pale blond hair between two fingers.

'It's kinda late,' she heard Anna say from the other side of the door.

'I'll only take a second,' she replied, leaning in towards the mirror to inspect her teeth.

'Elsaaa!'

'Honestly woman, stop whining,' the blond groaned, tugging her hair in to a haphazard braid and rubbing some of the extra gloss off her lips.

'ICAN'THOLDITIN,' was the rushed reply.

Sighing dramatically, Elsa slipped a bang of hair that had loosened behind her ear and yanked open the bathroom door.

'Finallyyy!' Anna squealed, rushing past her sister in a blur of movement; ginger hair whacking the other full in the face.

'Careful!' Elsa nearly shrieked. 'Beauty this perfect doesn't happen on its own!'

Anna smirked. 'I'm sorry Your Highness,' she said humbly. 'Now may I suggest you take your leave? I really need to pee.'

Laughing sardonically the elder girl shut the door as she left and headed straight for the kitchens.

Warm smells of baking wafted across the endless corridors, attacking her senses and leaving her salivating with hunger. Last night's dinner had been more than satisfying, but the smells of today morning promised so much more. Elsa followed her nose down into the kitchens, where she found a very angry Gerda bustling around- her gown and apron were covered almost completely in flour. She was mumbling crossly, her usually welcoming features drawn into a frown. There was only one person in the castle who could make poor old Gerda this irritable.

'Fancy seeing you here Kristoff,' Elsa said jovially, entering the kitchens and promptly stealing two warm buns from a nearby basket.

Gerda didn't miss this of course and snatched them back before she could hide them away. She waddled off towards the ovens, mumbling to herself about the 'atrocity of children these days'.

Elsa shook her head at her antics and smiled at Kristoff who'd just appeared by her side.

'Hi Els,' he grinned. 'I was in the neighborhood.. just thought I'd pop in and say hello.'

'And do some baking?' she smirked, playfully punching his shoulder.

'Yeah um… yeah,' Kristoff mumbled lamely, ruffling his overgrown mop of blond hair with a large square shaped hand.

He reminded Elsa of Wreck-it-Ralph from that animated movie.

He shot her a curious glance and held my eyes for a few seconds before looking away.

'I –uh- I didn't know you were…. back from… from there,' he half-whispered, half-muttered.

The other sucked in a sharp breath.

'Yeah.'

There was an uncomfortable pause.

'I'm baack!' she said, injecting her voice with false enthusiasm. 'Yay.'

She even added a little fist-pump.

Kristoff jumped to help clear the air of the awkwardness that had started to settle.

'That's great welcome back we missed you how are you wow you've grown so tall.'

His sentences jumbled into one long string of senseless words as he wrapped the blond in his arms and hugged me so tight she nearly ruptured her spleen.

'Kristoff is that you?' a voice floated down to the kitchen.

The large blond immediately let go of Elsa's wiry frame and raced out in search of his favorite redhead.

Elsa stumbled, trying to catch her breath as the claustrophobia clouded her mind, constricting her airways. It wasn't Kristoff's bear-hug that had her wheezing as she stumbled to her room- it was the memories.

Squeezing her eyes shut she tried her utmost to think of anything but that. Gosh, she'd tried so hard, so damn hard to pretend like it hadn't happened, but she was a fool for thinking all her problems would just disappear if she pretended they didn't exist. Tears crept through her lashes and stained her pale cheeks as she made a wild dash for her bedroom. Hide, I need to hide, she thought frantically.

Not this again, a little part of her brain sighed. Elsa was tired. Tired of running away from all of this- from the people she loved, from her life… from herself. But there was nothing else she could do. She was a monster.

Sobs threatened to wrack her body as she raced for her bedroom door. She could hear joyful voices echoing around the corner of the hallway.

She made it to her room and slipped in just in time to see Anna and Kristoff appear at the other end of the corridor.

'Elsa-,' she cut Anna off with a slam of the door, unwilling to see the worrisome look on her face or the traces of pity in her large doe-eyes.

Snorting, Elsa kicked harshly at her bedpost and the entire frame rattled. She didn't need their pity; especially not hers. She didn't know her. She was just her sister- someone Elsa was related to by blood. It didn't mean anything.

She didn't need her pity.

She didn't need ANYONE.

Tears flowed freely from her face, distorting the mascara she had so painstakingly put on not even an hour ago.

She heard Anna and her lumberjack-of-a-boyfriend stop by her door, their shadows pacing nervously as they whispered about her predicament.

Anna knocked on the door gently- her trademark four-knock tap.

After a few minutes of tense silence from Elsa's part, they left. The blond let out a sigh she didn't even know she had held and let herself relax slightly. Before she knew it there was a whooshing sensation in her fingertips and a sharp tug in her chest. Tendrils of ice lashed out at the floor and spread themselves across the walls at breakneck speed. More tendrils of a similar kind emanated from where her feet touched the carpet and froze the floor of her room in an instant. Seconds later the temperature had dropped and tiny flecks of snow were twisting about lazily in the air inside the room. Despair clawed at her heart as another sob wracked her frail body, causing her knees to give way. She fell gracelessly to the now icy floor and crushed the heels of her hands to her eyes to stem the tears. I can't crumble. I can't.

Conceal.. don't feel.

Conceal. Don't – what was it?

Elsa roared inwardly in anguish as she sobbed tearlessly into the palms of her hands. How could she have forgotten? It was father's mantra.

She choked out a few more silent cries until her throat was so sore it felt like she had inhaled a handful of snow.

She couldn't keep doing this. She couldn't break down every time she felt insecure. Father would never have tolerated it.

But oh how it felt so much easier. Problems felt THAT much less troublesome when you didn't have to face them.

So, allowing her shoulders to sag in defeat, Elsa gave in to her despair and crawled back into her ice cold bed.

And without bothering to thaw the room, she proceeded to let sleep delude her into thinking her problems were all gone.

Sure she was tired physically, but even mentally she needed a break. Her mind had been so caught up with everything lately, it felt good to push it all away and just… sleep.

She stayed this way for the rest of the day, ignoring breakfast, lunch and eventually dinner as well.

'Where IS she?!' Anna cried, slamming the end of her fork on the table with as much ferocity she could muster.

Kristoff choked on his soup and clapped himself on the chest a few times to help regain his breath.

'Anna calm down,' he said once he was finished coughing his life away. 'Your sister is a big girl she can handle herself.'

The redhead eyed the empty seat at the dinner table warily. She frowned at it, almost half-wishing that a certain pale blond would appear in its chair. Alas her efforts were in vain.

'Anna,' Kristoff tried again, pleadingly. 'Let Elsa be.'

His girlfriend's stormy eyes turned on him, flashing an angry shade of green.

'She's my sister I can't just ignore her existence just because she does it to me,' she snapped wildly. 'She can't go on like this.'

Kristoff hung his head in defeat.

'Maybe she needs someone to talk to!' Anna said perkily, flying from the table in a flurry.

But before she reached the stairs a strong arm caught her waist and brought he body sharply against another.

'Kristoff please,' she groaned. 'Let me go to her.'

'You know Els would have already called for you if she wanted any company,' the blond reasoned, stroking her shoulder.

'But, but, but… I'll just knock-,' Anna tried, still struggling against his hold.

'You know she wouldn't like it,' Kristoff warned,

'Let go now or I'll throw you out of the house!'

'And I'll stay outside till you let me back in,' he teased, nibbling on her ear.

Sighing, Anna twisted herself in his embrace and returned the hug. 'What do I do about her?' she mused out loud.

Kristoff could only hug back, knowing deep down that he could never come up for an answer for her question.

a/n: heeeyyy :P so this is my first serious fanfic. i got my inspiration from a How It Should Have Ended video on YouTube... you guys should check it out. I'd really like it if you guys would leave some reviews :3 it'll help me so so much i'll love you for ever. just a heads up but Elsa and Anna miiight get a little OC but it had to happen cause they're in the modern world now so they cant exactly be as naive as they usually are.

soo that's it.. read and review pleaase :P and i'll put up the next chapter :3