Chapter Text
Despite the late night she had had, Elsa found herself brewing a pot of coffee very early in the morning. She thought back on the conversation she had shared with her mother and sister and felt immensely grateful for having such a lovely family.
Anna’s initial surprise was quickly replaced by genuine enthusiasm, while their mother had not looked surprised at all, her response was full of love. Anna immediately bombarded Elsa with questions about who and what and when, but Elsa was reluctant to share any details.
It wasn’t as though she worried her family would disapprove of Maren – the opposite would be true if anything, but the idea of sharing the way Maren had made her feel in the short time she had known her made her feel vulnerable in a way Elsa didn’t like.
After her mother and sister had gone to bed, Elsa came up with a plan. She wasn’t going to just go for it, that would be madness, but she would just get to know Maren a little better during the rest of her visit, perhaps visit Anna at some point in the future and talk to Maren a bit more then and if these feelings persisted, she could get Anna to help her with the next step.
In the light of day, figuratively speaking – the sun wouldn’t come up for several hours, they were in Northern Norway after all, this plan seemed like the best course of action. Elsa continued to believe that for a good half hour as she sat enjoying her coffee and the Christmas tree, but then she heard someone coming down the stairs and the moment she saw Maren’s sleepy smile, Elsa knew her plan would never work.
‘Good morning,’ Maren said.
‘Good morning,’ Elsa replied, wondering if she should offer Maren coffee.
‘Can I grab some coffee?’
‘Yes,’ Elsa said, rushing into the kitchen to help her. ‘I’ll do it. I was going to pour myself another cup anyway.’
‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Yeah,’ Elsa said. She didn’t know what she could say without giving away she had been thinking about Maren for most of the night. Talking to Maren had been a lot easier before she had been aware of these feelings. I suppose she could always ask Maren how she slept. ‘And you?’
‘It was absolutely awful,’ Maren said, taking the mug from Elsa’s hands. ‘My brother snores so loudly sometimes even the ear plugs don’t help.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘He woke me up about five times and after the last time about an hour ago I couldn’t get back to sleep,’ Maren said, sitting down on the sofa next to the spot where Elsa had been sitting, so she assumed that meant she should sit there again. ‘I just gave up and came downstairs.’
Just as Maren was about to take a sip, Elsa put her hand on Maren’s arm to stop her.
‘You could sleep in my room for a bit if you want,’ Elsa said.
‘You’re sweet, but that’s okay,’ Maren said. ‘I am too awake now.’
‘Okay, we could pull your mattress into my room tonight though,’ Elsa said. ‘I don’t think I snore so you should be able to get some rest.’
Panic immediately flooded Elsa’s system. This was the opposite of the slow approach she was planning and what would Maren think? Why would Maren even want to? What if she did snore?
‘Seriously?’ Maren asked. ‘That would be amazing! I was thinking of just kipping on the couch but that sounds much better.’
‘Of course,’ Elsa said, her voice coming out higher than she was intending.
‘You’re really nice,’ Maren said.
The two women enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes during which Elsa was racking her brain on ways to restart the conversation and belatedly realised she should have told Maren she was nice too. She wondered if it was too late to say something now. Unfortunately her mouth kicked in before her brain had landed on anything solid.
‘You’re lovely too,’ Elsa said, immediately realising that’s not what Maren had said and she felt herself start to blush.
There was no need for concern though, since Maren simple thanked her and didn’t comment on the blush. People pointing out that other people were blushing was something Elsa hated deeply.
‘Does your offer to show me your artwork still stand?’ Maren asked.
‘Yes, of course,’ Elsa said, jumping up from the sofa a little too quickly. ‘I’ll go get it.’
Elsa was grateful for the activity. In general it was much easier to talk to people if there was something specific to talk about. When Elsa came back downstairs Maren was in the kitchen putting her mug away.
‘I’ve got it here,’ Elsa said. ‘Or did you want to have some breakfast first?’
‘No, that’s alright,’ Maren said. ‘I think your mother said something about making breakfast for everyone.’
Sitting down at the table, Elsa opened her notebook and Maren’s response was instantaneous.
‘Wow, this is so much more intricate than the ones in your room.’
Elsa told Maren about her drawings and the things that inspired her and Maren asked her questions and made her feel much more at ease.
‘Let me show you something,’ Elsa said. ‘Can I take your hand?’
Instead of responding Maren held out her hand which Elsa turned over and she pushed back all but the index finger and put her hand on top.
‘I started here,’ Elsa said, guiding Maren’s hand to the top of the page, ‘and then I drew an uninterrupted line all along here.’
Elsa continued tracing the line until she got to the end, but when she put Maren’s hand back down on the table, Elsa didn’t remove her own. The feel of Maren’s skin against hers was intoxicating and Elsa wasn’t ready for that feeling to be over.
‘How did you know where to go?’ Maren said. ‘Did you trace it with a pencil first?’
‘No, I could just see it in my head and then I just drew it.’
Maren then told Elsa of her own forays into the arts and its disastrous results. According to Maren her skills got stuck at the level of a five-year old’s.
‘When I was studying to be a counsellor I had to do an internship with very young kids and it’s a good idea to get them to draw their feelings,’ Maren said. ‘And it works really well if you join in, but that really derailed the conversations sometimes because they’d be laughing so hard at my attempts at drawing.’
‘I’m quite curious now,’ Elsa said.
‘Not happening,’ Maren said. ‘I’d rather not embarrass myself in front of you.’
Maren locked eyes with Elsa as she said this and Elsa was sure they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. The amber spots mixed with the deep brown made it seem like they were sparkling.
Is this a moment? Elsa wasn’t sure but never in her life had the desire to kiss anyone been this strong. Did she just look at my lips? The moment Elsa thought that her eyes drifted to Maren’s lips. They looked soft, welcoming and entirely kissable.
The sounds of people coming down the stairs, broke the moment and Elsa looked away and placed both her hands in her lap before her parents came in.
‘Good morning, girls,’ Agnarr said.
Iduna repeated the sentiment but Elsa could see her mother had noticed something was going on. Next to Elsa, Maren had already offered her services to help with breakfast and Elsa snuck back upstairs under the guise of returning her notebook.
Instead, Elsa sat on her bed trying to make sense of the morning. Maren had seemed happy to see her, they had a nice conversation and Elsa was pretty sure they had shared a moment. But now what?
‘Hej elskling,’ Iduna said slipping into her room again, ‘I’m so sorry if we interrupted something.’
‘You didn’t,’ Elsa rushed to say. ‘We were just talking. She wanted to see my art. That’s all. There was absolutely nothing going on. I don’t even know what you mean.’ After a slight pause Elsa added, ‘I didn’t make that sound very believable, did I?’
‘No, not really.’
‘I don’t know what’s going on, mamma,’ Elsa said. ‘I like her, like a lot, but it all feels a bit much. I only met her yesterday.’
‘So what?’ Iduna said. ‘I’m not saying you have to marry her but just lean into the feelings and see where that takes you.’
‘Lean into? What does that mean?’
‘It just means you allow things to happen.’
‘Things? Thanks for clearing it up.’
‘Like standing a little closer, putting a hand somewhere, encouraging a laugh. Little things like that.’
Since those were things Elsa was already doing, she felt a little more confident. Although not a lot.
‘Okay,’ Elsa said. ‘But I don’t even know if she’s interested in women.’
‘I don’t mean to stereotype, but her shoes suggest she is,’ Iduna said. ‘But why don’t you ask Anna?’
‘Anna will go mental if she knows I like Maren,’ Elsa said.
‘I doubt Anna will fail the notice the chemistry between you and Maren now that she knows you’re a lesbian but it’s your decision.’
‘Yes, it is,’ Elsa said. ‘Now please help me decide what to wear.’
‘Wear your Christmas jumper like you always do and just be yourself.’
Be yourself. Absolutely ludicrous advice as far as Elsa was concerned but she wasn’t going to get better advice from a mother who thinks her daughters are the best people in the world. As for wearing the jumper, Elsa knew there would be lots of questions she wouldn’t want to answer if she didn’t wear it so she reluctantly put it on.
When she got back downstairs, Maren made a beeline for her, took hold of her hands and made her twirl.
‘That’s an amazing jumper, Elsa,’ Maren said. ‘I love the penguins in Christmas hats.’
‘Thanks,’ Elsa hated that she was blushing again. ‘I love penguins.’
‘How could you not with the way they waddle,’ Agnarr said giving his best impression of a penguin walk.
‘Do you have a Christmas jumper?’ Iduna asked.
‘No,’ Maren said. ‘Unfortunately not.’
‘We’ve got several we won’t wear,’ Iduna said. ‘Come upstairs with me and I’ll show you. You might like to wear one and I think Anna and the boys need a second reminder that breakfast is almost ready because I don’t hear anyone moving upstairs.’
Elsa stayed behind with her father and finished helping him get the breakfast table ready. All that was left to do was to wait for the eggs to be done.
‘Are you okay?’ Agnarr asked. ‘I know yesterday was a bit much for you. Mamma and I only realised after you’d gone to bed that neither of us had told you about the guests.’
‘I’m fine,’ Elsa said honestly. ‘I was a little shocked at first but they’re very nice so it’s cool.’
‘Good, I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.’
As her father turned his attention back to the eggs, Elsa decided this was as good a time as any to complete the set and tell her father about her revelation.
‘Pappa,’ Elsa started. ‘Can I tell you something?’
‘Anything, kjære, absolutely anything.’
No point in beating around the bush so Elsa just came out and said, ‘I’m a lesbian.’
Her father stopped moving completely and turned to face Elsa. He grabbed her by the upper arms and looked at her very seriously.
‘Elsa,’ he said with a grave voice, ‘please tell me you have not been carrying this secret around for years. Please tell me I haven’t done anything to make you feel like I would care in any way who you love. Please tell me you know how loved you are and always will be. Please.’
‘Oh, no,’ Elsa said. ‘Don’t worry about that. I only realised it yesterday.’
‘Yesterday?’
‘Yeah, mamma and Anna came to my room and while we were talking it just hit me. I told them right away so I wanted to tell you as well.’
‘Well, thank you very much for that,’ Agnarr said, while wrapping her into a big hug. ‘I love you so much and look forward to meeting anyone you deem worthy of you.’
‘Takk, pappa,’ Elsa said, ‘but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Who knows when that will be?’
‘Nonsense, any woman would be lucky to have you,’ he said. ‘What about Maren? You seem to be getting along.’
‘I think she’s a little out of my league,’ Elsa said, cursing her annoying blush response which she knew her father would notice.
‘She isn’t, but I won’t say anything,’ Agnarr said with raised eyebrows and a look at her red cheeks.
Elsa was spared more of this as her mother and Maren returned, Maren now wearing one of Elsa’s favourite Christmas jumpers, followed by Anna, Ryder and Kristoff soon after. The kitchen filled itself with chatter again but Elsa didn’t mind this time as she could quietly chat with Maren who had taken the seat next to her.
After breakfast Ryder and Kristoff jumped up to help clear the table and when Elsa looked at Anna who she was expecting to offer her help too, she found her sister looking at her with an odd expression.
‘I need Elsa to help me decide what to wear,’ Anna said, dragging a confused Elsa upstairs – they all wore their Christmas jumpers during the day of julaften.
Once in Anna’s room, her sister rounded on her instantly, ‘Maren!’
‘What?’ Elsa said.
‘Maren,’ Anna said again. ‘That’s who caused you to have this epiphany, right?’
‘I mean,’ Elsa said, ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
‘Oh my word,’ Anna said. ‘I mean it’s totally obvious the way you were staring at her, hanging on her every word.’
‘Wait, what?’ Elsa said, sitting down on the bed. ‘I was being obvious?’
‘Yes, absolutely, ridiculously obvious.’
‘Well, that’s not good news.’
‘Why not?’ Anna said. ‘Maren is awesome. And if I am being honest, a much better fit for you than Ryder.’
‘That’s not exactly difficult though,’ Elsa said. ‘And I don’t even know if she’s interested in women so I don’t want to get ahead of myself.’
‘Have you ever met a lesbian?’ Anna asked. ‘Because I think Maren being gay is pretty obvious.’
‘Mamma said something about her shoes.’
‘Yeah, that’s the least of it though and she is totally into you.’
‘Come on,’ Elsa said, ‘don’t say that. That’ll only make me more nervous.’
‘This is excellent,’ Anna said. ‘All my plans can go head. First the walk, then the hot chocolate, the dinner, the games, the dancing – all of it will be perfect.’
‘Yeah, you need to calm down,’ Elsa said. ‘I met her yesterday and unlike someone I know I don’t jump in with both feet right away.’
‘You and mamma should really learn to let the past be the past.’
‘And you should learn to let me do my own thing, my own way and trust that it’ll work out.’
‘I’m just trying to help.’
‘I know you are.’
Elsa got up and moved towards her sister who was still pretending to choose an outfit – although it was completely unclear for whose benefit – and took her hands in her own and looked her in the eyes.
‘You’re a great little sister,’ Elsa said. ‘You’re so sweet and kind and generous and I know and feel how much you love me and I know you worry about me but you really don’t need to. I’m very happy with my life and while this new realisation could be the start of a fun new chapter in my life, it might not be, but either way, I’m doing well.’
‘I just worry about you being on your own.’
‘I like being on my own though,’ Elsa said. ‘And I’d much rather be alone than be with the wrong person.’
‘Okay, I’ll back off, but you will tell me if you need help, right?’
‘Of course,’ Elsa said, pulling her sister into a hug. ‘Now, do you actually need help picking an outfit or can I go?’
Back downstairs, Elsa joined her parents and Maren who were chatting in the living room while Anna and the boys got ready upstairs. Maren was sharing a few Northuldra memories to her mother’s great delight.
Once everyone was dressed and ready, they took a short cut through the woods next to the house and walked down to the fjord. On a clear day you could see across the water for miles but the low mist made that impossible on the cold winter’s day.
The group walked along the fjord together, some of them occasionally gliding on the fjord, until they reached an incline. Most of the group decided not to climb up and turn back instead but Maren was curious about the view from the top, even though it was misty, and trying very hard to ignore her family’s knowing looks, Elsa offered to join her.
A short trek later the top of the incline was in sight. It was by no means the highest point in the area but it did provide a gorgeous view of the fjord.
‘Worth it?’ Elsa asked once they were stood on the edge of the cliff.
‘Yeah,’ Maren said. ‘It’s amazing and the mist gives it an eery vibe I quite like.’
‘When I was little, I would picture Viking ships breaking through the mist as they returned home.’
‘I bet that happened at some point and it must have been quite a sight,’ Maren said before adding, ‘can you see the island your mother was talking about from here?’
‘Ehm,’ Elsa said. ‘Seeing is a stretch but the outline is there.’
Maren tried to follow Elsa’s finger, but failed to see anything. So she moved behind Elsa and put her head on Elsa’s shoulder so it would be in line with the arm that was pointing.
‘Oh, I think I see it now,’ Maren said. ‘That’s a pretty long way to swim.’
‘Anna was exaggerating a little,’ Elsa said, her heart racing as Maren still hadn’t moved. ‘While we have swum there a few times, we mostly took the boat.’
‘Mmm,’ Maren said, moving her arms down and around Elsa. ‘Is this okay?’
All Elsa could do was nod as she let Maren hold her. Lean into it is what her mother had said. Taking the literal approach, Elsa leaned her head back and gave into the moment.
‘As nice as this is,’ Maren said after several long minutes, ‘I’m starting to lose feeling in my face. Perhaps we should head back.’
‘Okay,’ Elsa said, turning to face Maren. ‘But let me try this first.’
Elsa took of the gloves that had warmed up her usually cold hands quite nicely and she put her hands on Maren’s cheeks. Moving her thumbs along Maren’s cheeks, Elsa lost herself in Maren’s eyes again and she was sure this was another moment. Nerves getting the better of her, Elsa put her gloves back on and suggested they head back.
After a quiet walk, they entered a kitchen that smelled of the hot chocolate Anna was preparing on the stove. While Maren filled them in on the view from the top of the incline, Elsa tried to find her footing. Noticing her mother rearranging some ornaments in the Christmas tree, Elsa walked over to her.
‘Anna keeps eating the chocolates that are prominently placed in the tree,’ Iduna said, ‘even though there is a bowl of chocolates right there.’
‘You know she thinks they taste better from the tree,’ Elsa said.
‘Hogwash, but anyway, did you have a nice walk?’
‘Yeah,’ Elsa said, drawing out the word.
‘But?’
‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. We keep having these moments and I think I should kiss her and I get nervous and don’t and what if I’m losing my chance or worse, what if I’m wrong about these being kissy moments?’
‘Elskling, relax,’ Iduna said. ‘You’re overthinking things. You had a nice walk and a nice moment, so don’t put that in such a negative light. Also since you’ve come over here I’ve caught her looking at you about five times.’
‘Really?’ Elsa said looking back and it did seem like Maren had just looked away when she did.
‘Yes, so please enjoy it and there will be plenty of moments. There is no rush.’
Feeling more relaxed, Elsa enjoyed the hot chocolate her sister had made and let herself be swept up in the excitement of making Christmas dinner. Everyone had their own dishes to prepare and Elsa was in charge of the riskrem, but since the risgrøt it’s made from is made for lunch, Elsa usually has to jump in wherever help is needed.
When the table was set and all the food was ready for Christmas eve dinner, everyone went upstairs to dress up. Elsa put on her favourite blue dress and put her hair up in a lose bun before heading back downstairs. Maren was talking to her brother but seemed to leave him mid-sentence to walk over to her.
‘Wow, Elsa,’ Maren said. ‘You look exquisite.’
‘Thank you, Maren, you look quite stunning yourself.’
And she did. Maren was wearing a dark suit, tailored to fit her perfectly, with a white, slightly unbuttoned shirt and a lose bow around her neck. Her hair was hanging around her shoulders in lose curls and Elsa could not resist the temptation to twirl a stray lock of it around her finger.
Christmas dinner was as delicious as it always was so before the riskrem was served, everyone needed a little break during which Anna speculated wildly about what marzipan figure would be awarded to the person who found the almond. Iduna prided herself on finding the most unusual marzipan figures possible to add to the excitement of finding the almond.
‘That has to be the only downside to having the three of you here,’ Anna said. ‘It lowers my chances of finding the almond considerably.’
‘Anna,’ Agnarr said, ‘be nice.’
‘I don’t really like marzipan,’ Kristoff said, ‘so you can have it if I win.’
‘Sweet, but that’s not a victory I can rub in Elsa’s face so it won’t be the same.’
‘Do you remember what it’s like to be victorious, Anna?’ Elsa asked with faked innocence. ‘Weren’t you too young to form memories the last time you got the almond?’
‘Haha,’ Anna said. ‘You are hilarious, but it doesn’t matter because I have a good feeling about this year.’
‘Is it the same good feeling as last year?’ Elsa asked. ‘When I got the almond? Or the year before when it was pappa?’
‘I think we should serve the riskrem before this gets out of hand,’ Iduna said.
‘But dish it up at the table, mamma,’ Anna said. ‘I want to make sure it’s all above board.’
Under Anna’s careful supervision, Iduna scooped the riskrem into seven bowls. So far there was no almond to be seen and everyone tucked in carefully. Anna was too busy watching everyone eat theirs to eat her own so after a few minutes she was the only one with any riskrem left.
‘It looks like it is your year after all,’ Ryder said.
‘You weren’t here for the tongue debacle three years ago,’ Anna said.
‘I wouldn’t do that twice,’ Elsa said, ‘and you’re free to inspect but I don’t have it.’
Elsa could see her sister become a little more excited as it really might be in her bowl when she felt a tap against her leg. Looking up Maren caught her eye and stuck out her tongue. Elsa tried to focus on what was on the tongue rather than the tongue itself, because there it was: one perfect almond.
‘Elsa,’ Anna said, ‘are you sure you put one in? Because it’s not here.’
‘Yeah, Elsa,’ Maren said, talking the almond out of her mouth and taping herself on the nose with it. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Damn it!’ Anna yelled. ‘I knew it! This is why you don’t make friends!’
‘Congratulations, Maren,’ Iduna said, getting up to get the prize. ‘Well done.’
Presenting Maren with a marzipan figure of a bear and fox eating a cupcake, everyone but Anna joined in on congratulating her.
With everyone in desperate need of a sit down on a soft surface, Anna suggested playing a game in the living room.
‘And since I am the loser again,’ Anna said with an exaggerated pout, ‘I should get to choose the game.’
‘I didn’t win either,’ Elsa said.
‘Fine, then you can pick the next game.’
Once everyone was seated in the living room, Anna pulled out a box from somewhere and announced with great glee that they would be playing charades. Elsa groaned and knew she would make a complete ass of herself.
They made teams and Elsa crossed her fingers so she wouldn’t be on Maren’s team – that would at least save her some embarrassment – but of course, Maren immediately joined her side. Her father took pity on her and joined them too and Anna ordered Kristoff to do the same.
‘Isn’t it a bit unfair that they’ve got four people and we’ve only got three?’ Ryder asked.
‘No,’ Anna said. ‘Because they’ve got Elsa.’
‘Is that bad?’
‘Let’s put it this way; playing charades with Elsa is like playing tennis with a croissant instead of a racket, or golf with a jellyfish and football with a raison instead of a ball, or …’
‘Enough Anna,’ Iduna said.
Elsa would have been insulted if it hadn’t been true. In all the rounds they played Elsa only managed to guess one of the others’ cards – and it was ludicrously easy – and no-one guessed any of hers. Maren’s opinion of her can’t have remained at the same level so when it was her turn to pick a game Elsa reminded herself of that morning’s conversation and decided to level the playing field a little.
‘Pictionary,’ Elsa said. ‘I choose Pictionary.’
Now it was everyone else’s turn to groan but turnabout is fair play after all. Now everyone was scrambling to be on her team but in the interest of fairness the teams stayed the same.
Elsa ran through her clues with ease and her team guessed every single one of them. Anna was not much pleased and threw sweets at Elsa from behind the couch. Grabbing the bowl of M&Ms, and of course only throwing the brown and orange ones, Elsa returned the favour.
When it was Maren turn to draw, she turned to Elsa and whispered, ‘please don’t judge me on this.’
‘I won’t if you won’t judge me on the charades.’
A sly smile appeared on Maren’s face as it appeared to dawn on her that Elsa had chosen the game not just to show of her drawing skills but to expose Maren’s lack of them as well. She gave Elsa a small smile before saying, ‘deal’.
It turned out Maren had not been exaggerating. When trying to show Turner & Hooch her dog looked more like a dinosaur but no matter how many Jurassic Park films were listed, the correct answer was not among them.
In the end the scores of both games were added and while Anna’s team still won, the margin wasn’t big enough for proper gloating. Instead, Anna ran to attach her phone to the stereo since she had the perfect playlist for their dance party.
‘Explain it to me again,’ Maren said to Elsa.
‘You know how traditionally people dance around the Christmas tree?’
‘Sure.’
‘Well, in this family, it has happened one too many times that an ornament was broken during such a dance,’ Elsa said, ‘which is why mamma introduced a no-dance zone near the Christmas tree but since we still like to dance, we dance on the other side of the room.’
‘Of course,’ Maren said.
‘It’s entire optional,’ Elsa said. ‘You’re free to sit it out if you want.’
‘I suppose it depends.’
‘On what?’
‘On whether or not you’ll dance with me.’
Elsa’s parents were already dancing together and Anna, her darling sister, had convinced Kristoff and Ryder to dance with her, so Maren and Elsa were the only ones left so them dancing together made perfect sense.
‘Of course,’ Elsa said, taking the hand Maren had extended to her.
Just as they moved to the makeshift dance area, the music changed into a slow Christmas song. Elsa let Maren pull her close and they started swaying to the music. Elsa’s muscles tensed under Maren’s touch and she wasn’t sure what to do with her hands.
Lean into it.
She could do this. Lowering her head onto Maren’s shoulder, Elsa snuck her hand under Maren’s jacked and unto her lower back. Caressing her slightly through the shirt, Elsa heard Maren sigh and Elsa felt her muscles relax.
Luckily the next song was slow too and Elsa got to enjoy the feeling of being in Maren’s arm a little longer. When a more upbeat song started, the look in Maren’s eyes told her they would definitely do that again.
For the rest of the evening, they all danced to slow and fast songs together. Jumping up and down and swaying side to side and as everyone was belting along with the last song of the night, Elsa hoped it wouldn’t be the last time they were together like this.
‘Shouldn’t we help tidy a bit?’ Maren asked as they were being ushered upstairs by Iduna.
‘No,’ Anna said. ‘We do that in the morning because mamma and pappa like a bit of alone time on Christmas Eve.’
‘Oh,’ Ryder said, ‘alone time. Understood.’
‘OK, ew,’ Anna said, ‘now keep moving.’
As they were making their way upstairs and just as the door was closing the last thing they heard was, ‘why is there all this candy behind the couch?’
On the landing, Maren leaned in and asked, ‘can I still…?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Elsa said. ‘Of course, I’ll help you.’
A bit of rearranging and some minor conflicts over who could use the bathroom first later Elsa and Maren found themselves in Elsa’s room. Elsa was in her bed and Maren was on a mattress on the opposite site of the room.
‘So what do you think of classic Christmas so far?’ Elsa asked.
‘Can I be honest?’
‘Please.’
‘I’m afraid I haven’t really been able to focus on it.’
‘Oh, why not?’
‘Well, when Anna first invited me she mentioned many of the activities, but neglected to mention – to me at least – how completely captivating her sister is.’
‘Right,’ Elsa said, her heart racing, ‘that’s tricky. It sounds like she rather ruined the experience for you.’
‘On the contrary, she has made it a million times better.’
‘Really?’
Instead of answering, Maren got up from her mattress on the floor and sat down the edge of Elsa’s bed. Elsa sat up to face her and was once again struck by Maren’s beauty. She had looked gorgeous all done up but there was something so disarming about seeing her without any make-up and in pyjamas with reindeer on them.
‘Elsa,’ Maren said. ‘I really don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, and feel free to tell me to go sleep elsewhere if I do make you uncomfortable, but I feel like there is something here.’
Maren gestured between them before reaching down and taking Elsa’s hands in her own.
‘So I’m going to be really honest,’ Maren continued. ‘I like you, I think you’re interesting and funny, you’re talented and sweet and so, so beautiful and as much as you looked breath-taking in your blue dress, my heart just skipped a beat when I saw you in these pyjamas and ever since I first saw you I’ve really wanted to kiss you so I was wondering if I could. Kiss you, I mean.’
A billion thoughts were flying through Elsa’s head but there really was just one thing to say, ‘yes.’
Maren smiled before lowering her lips to Elsa’s. Maren’s lips were every bit as soft as Elsa was expecting and the touch sent a wave of excitement through her body. It was nothing like Elsa had experienced before and when Maren started moving her lips Elsa could do little else but respond in kind.
Letting go of Maren’s hands, Elsa snaked her arms around Maren’s back and pulled her closer. A quiet moan rumbled deep inside Elsa and when Maren deepened the kiss it bubbled to the surface. Elsa allowed her tongue to twirl around Maren’s while Maren’s hands were caressing her sides with increasing pressure.
A need was settling low in Elsa’s belly and it was beginning to overwhelm her. Pushing Maren slightly, they stopped kissing. Maren grinned widely and gave Elsa a few short kisses as she caught her breath.
‘I like you too,’ Elsa said finally. ‘A lot.’
‘Good,’ Maren said, moving towards Elsa for another kiss.
When they came back up for air a few minutes later, Elsa pressed her forehead into Maren’s shoulder to try and clear her mind.
‘Are you okay?’ Maren asked, while rubbing her back.
‘Yes,’ Elsa said. ‘I’m great, it’s just a little overwhelming.’
‘Yeah,’ Maren said. ‘It is. But in a good way?’
‘Absolutely,’ Elsa said. ‘But maybe we should go to sleep for now.’
‘Of course,’ Maren said, getting ready to move of the bed and onto her mattress, before Elsa stopped her.
‘But maybe you could sleep here,’ Elsa said. ‘With me.’
Maren smiled again and moved to lie down next to Elsa who immediately crawled into her arms. Feeling utterly content, Elsa moved to turn of the light and gave Maren a few more kisses before settling back into her arms.
‘Maren,’ Elsa said. ‘I’m really happy my sister brought you home for Christmas.’
‘Me too, Elsa, me too.’
‘And Maren?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Happy Christmas.’
‘Happy Christmas, Elsa.’