Chapter Text
It’s Boxing Day and Anna has just arrived at her parents’ house for the annual Arundel Boxing Day buffet and already she wants to leave.
She can’t have been here for more than 3 minutes and already she’s been cornered by her mother’s friends asking if she has a boyfriend yet, cornered by her father’s business partners asking when she’s going to date one of them and cornered by her childhood friends telling her to hurry up and have a baby.
Yep; she just loved these buffets.
She looks around the room and softens when she catches her mother’s eye. Iduna smiles and makes her way over and Anna feels her stomach drop. There is an unusual glimmer in her eye and Anna knows her mother well enough to know its one of two things: her mother has local gossip or her mother is trying to set her up.
God, she’s hoping it’s the former.
“Hello darling, how are you?” Iduna kisses her daughter on both cheeks before taking her in a quick but tight hug. Anna feels herself relax ever so slightly (the butterflies are still fluttering within her stomach) and returns her mothers hug.
“I’m okay thanks mum, how are you? There are so many people here!”
“Oh you’re telling me. I’m certain there is more every year. Your father just keeps inviting more and more people and soon enough we won’t have the room. But anyway, that’s the least exciting part. Guess who is here?” Iduna can barely keep the smirk off of her face and Anna knows she was wrong: her mum is trying to set her up. She shrugs her shoulders, praying to God it isn’t going to be one of the Weselton boys from school. “It’s the Bjorgman’s! They bought their son, Kristoff, with them. He’s very handsome and charming. Let me introduce you.”
Anna doesn’t even have a chance to get a word in before Iduna is steering her towards a group of 3 people and wow. There is an extremely tall man with golden, blonde hair and when he turns around it’s like the world has slowed down. Anna has to pinch herself to remind herself to breathe and take in every detail before he inevitably turns away from her. He has mahogany eyes, a large nose which is complimented by his strong jaw line and there are freckles peppered across his cheeks.
“Anna, this is Kristoff Bjorgman and his parents: Cliff and Brenda Bjorgman.” Iduna is ever the host, smiling as her daughter shakes the hands of Bjorgman’s. “Cliff, Brenda: did I tell you about mine and Agnarr’s holiday to Norway earlier this year? No? Oh I must, come...” And just as quickly as she met them, they’ve gone. Leaving her with quite possibly the most attractive man she has ever laid eyes on.
“Hello, I’m Anna. Which you know already, because my mum just told you! So I don’t really know why I’m reintroducing myself but I’m gonna do it again, hi. I’m Anna.” She holds out her hand again for him to shake and feels her smile falter as he ignores it. “Okay, we’ve already shaken. So Kristoff, did you have a nice Christmas? Receive anything lovely?”
“It was fine, thank you. And not much, I got a reindeer jumper from my mum and some homemade jams from my dad.” He doesn’t ask her the same question and takes a sip from his drink. Anna can feel her cheeks burning but she is used to trying to fill the silence so she does what she does best: talk.
“Well I had a lovely Christmas. I spent it with my sister, Elsa, who unfortunately couldn’t make it today as she’s got a very important case on at the moment; she’s a lawyer. But we had a nice one, we played charades and she is just awful. Do you play? She got this one card and just could not act it out! It was hilarious! And then we just ate chocolate for the rest of day so I have to put myself on a chocolate ban for the rest of season otherwise I will go into a coma!” She laughs and pokes his arm, trying to garner a reaction but he remains impassive. “What do you do for a living Kristoff?”
She is looking at him sweetly and she can see how uncomfortable he looks and it takes him a moment or two to decide whether to answer or not but she doesn’t get his answer as she’s interrupted by her aunt Gerda, who is gripping her cheeks and cuddling her like she hasn’t seen her niece in 6 years, let alone 6 days. Once Gerda has had her full and is satisfied that Anna has been eating enough, she returns her attention back to Kristoff; who is no longer there.
She looks around the room and can’t see him anywhere, so she awkwardly makes her way over the buffet table, determined to grab a mince pie (or two. No one said she couldn’t have mince pies) before they all vanish. And that’s when she see’s Kristoff again, who is in a heated discussion with his mum. And not watching the volume of his voice at all.
“Mum, I have told you before I do not need you to set me up with anyone! Particularly not someone who loves the sound of her own voice, has a clear sugar addiction and got engaged to a man who she met that day!” Ouch. His voice is harsh and bitter and she can feel the tears building in the corner of her eyes. She goes to leave and stumbles into someone else causing them to drop their glass and she’s aware Kristoff is staring at her so she giggles and raises her glass.
“Here’s to Christmas! Brings out the very best in people doesn’t it?”
She turns away before she can make more of a fool of herself and blinks away the tears before they can burn at her eyes.
She hates this bloody buffet.
It’s been a week since the buffet and Anna is starting to feel like herself again.
She’s stuck to her chocolate ban (however she has now replaced it with crisps and its beginning to become a problem), she’s up to date on all her work commitments and chores and she hasn’t thought of Kristoff-bloody-Bjorgman once.
Okay, she thought of him a couple of times immediately after hearing him be mean about her but she hasn’t thought about him in 4 days and that’s better than nothing, right?
Anyway it doesn’t matter, her new boss is starting today and Anna is determined to make a good impression. She’s hoping to make her short story section in the paper a bi-weekly thing and she has a good feeling she can convince the guy to give her a chance. She’s just sat down at her desk when the doors to the lift open and there’s a flurry of people and her new boss strides in and... oh no, it can’t be. There is absolutely no way in hell it can be him.
Hans Westergaard.
Her heart falls out of her chest and the office begins to spin and wow, when did it get hot in here? Anna is pretty certain her brain has melted to mush and she is determined to make an escape and is just calculating how much it would hurt if she was to fling herself out of the window when a shadow is cast over her desk and she just knows he’s stood in front of her.
“Hello Anna. What an absolute pleasure it is to see you.” His voice is dripping with sincerity and charm and almost immediately Anna knows she is captured in his spell.
“Oh, hello Hans. Wow, I didn’t see you there, how funny that we should run into each other in a place like this.” She is flustered and she hates that he still has this effect on her even after all these years but she knows she can’t give too much away otherwise she will never hear the end of it. “How have you been?”
“Oh you know Anna; I’ve been all over the place. Flying from one continent to the next, determined to make my name matter somewhere. And yet all this travelling round has done nothing but made me realise my home is here, right here, with you.” He is looking at her now and Anna’s eyes go wide in shock and she has about 3 seconds to process his words when his lips are on hers and he’s kissing her like nothing ever happened.
After what feels like an eternity (and not in good way) he releases her and she knows the entire office is staring at her and she wishes the ground would eat her up but he looks so handsome and charming and she almost forgets the reason why they didn’t work out the first time round.
Almost.
But maybe he’s changed and maybe this time things could be normal and the travelling does seem to have mellowed him... and besides, she wants to make a name here at this company, and so maybe Hans Westergaard is the way forward?
It’s been 3 weeks since Hans came back into her life and things have been... good.
Yes, good is the word she would describe their relationship. And well she can’t really call it a relationship, its less exclusive than that. They spent time together in and outside of work, they would go for dinner and they would have lots of sex and she means a lot. But he rarely stays over and she’s only been to his apartment once or twice but she’s fine with it. He wants to take things slow and isn’t that the reason they didn’t work out last time; because she was desperate to rush things and put labels onto everything and she just isn’t going to do that this time round.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t think about it though.
She doesn’t think about how nice it would be to go home and see him cooking dinner for her, she doesn’t think about how wonderful it would be to introduce him to people as ‘her boyfriend’ and she definitely doesn’t think about how great it would be to rub it in the faces of those who doubted her before.
Of course there was always going to be people who had their doubts; Elsa being the main one. She was less than enthused once Anna had told her that Hans was back in her life and they were revisiting where things had left off. Elsa had had a few uncomplimentary words to say about him and Anna was pretty certain she had never heard her sister use the c-word before.
Anyway it didn’t really matter what Elsa thought because Anna was happy and that was all that mattered. Well, happy was probably quite a strong word to use but she was... glad. Yes, glad would suffice.
She would have been happier if she wasn’t currently stood in a crowded dinner hall on her own, waiting for Elsa to return and waiting for Hans to actually show his face. She could feel herself growing more and more bored as each second ticked by. She wasn’t even sure why she was here... oh wait, it was for Elsa. Who had abandoned her. For a girl. Which was fine, obviously, Elsa never liked people; let alone a girl so she wasn’t going to complain or interrupt.
But Anna was bored and lonely and all she wanted to do was go home and have a hot chocolate and sleep but instead, she was in a too tight green dress (which was being severely underappreciated by everyone), her hair piled upon her head busy dreaming about what movie she was going to watch later.
And then she saw him.
Kristoff Bjorgman.
It had been a couple of months since the Arundel buffet and she hadn’t spared him a second thought. Okay, that was a slight lie. She had thought about him at least twice. Or maybe 3 times but no more than that.
What on earth was he doing here? Why would he be at a private function like this?
As if he could sense her presence, Kristoff looked up and made eye contact with her. She flashed him a quick smile, which was met with a look of disdain and he turned away from her.
Cool. Yeah that was cool. Wasn’t rude at all and she was fine with him not wanting to look at her because she didn’t want to look at him either. So it worked out tremendously.
Until Elsa came back and insisted that Anna meet some people who just so happened to be in Kristoff’s group and that’s how she found herself, stood shoulder to shoulder with the man who could not bare to look at her for longer than a minute.
“Kristoff, this is Honeymaren Naturra and I believe you know my sister, Anna Arundel. Honeymaren is a trainee zoologist and Anna is a journalist... well a storyteller really. You may have seen her short stories featured in the local newspaper?” Elsa is brilliant at introducing people, even when they don’t want to be introduced. She had a way of grasping everyone’s attention and so Anna could feel everyone’s eyes on her, including Kristoff’s. She refused to make eye contact with him though for fear she would say something incredibly embarrassing.
“Oh, was it that delightful story about the girl who managed to crash into a horse and then fall into the pond? That was delightful!” A young woman is trying not to giggle and thrusts her hand at Anna. “Sofia Delcourt. Please to make your acquaintance. Where do you get your inspiration from?”
Anna smiles weakly and starts to kick the floor with her shoes. She hates this question because she has to admit that most of her stories are in fact, inspired by her own pathetic and clumsy life, and more often than not she is then met with stares of pity and its all kinds of horrendous. Thankfully someone talks before she has a chance to answer and she grabs a drink from a passing waiter and gulps it in one and decides a second drink won’t go amiss.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed by her that Kristoff hasn’t taken his eyes off of her since she joined the group and her stomach is doing flips and she isn’t entirely sure why. She wants to leave and goes to ask Elsa if she can when she realises that Elsa and Honeymaren have gone and abandoned her once again.
Elsa better marry this girl otherwise Anna will kill her.
“So Anna, where do you get your inspiration from?” Kristoff is still staring at her and she knows she can’t avoid this question forever, so without addressing him directly she answers.
“Well this may surprise you, but actually my own life is often my inspiration. I’m quite a unique individual and many of my life decisions are quite hilarious so it would be a shame to not share them with the entirety of London.” She glances at him and is ever-so- slightly pleased to see a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Well thank goodness for your incapability to function like a normal grown woman.” Kristoff is trying to hide his smile behind his glass and Anna can’t tell if he’s joking with her or whether he is suffering from second hand embarrassment. Anna feels like she is quite a good judge of character but she cannot read him in the slightest.
“Unfortunately not all of us are lucky enough to be blessed with your incredible social skills, Mr Bjorgman.” Anna quirks a smile his way and takes a sip from her own glass. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to bless my charm and wit on many others in this room. Nice to see you again.”
She walks away before he has a chance to say another word and although she knows she has absolutely no one to talk to at this party, she couldn’t stand there and make pleasantries with a man who confuses her in ways she didn’t realise she could be confused.
She’s stood by the bar, watching Elsa make conversation with a variety of people and whilst she’s keeping herself busy by drinking the bar dry, her eyes can’t help but wander over to where Kristoff is stood with Sofia and other people whose names she couldn’t be bothered to remember. He is looking rather lovely tonight, in a dark blue suit, with his blonde hair gelled back. It’s a look she couldn’t have ever imagined him sporting but it oddly suits him and those stomach flips have returned and she isn’t quite sure what they mean.
He glances around the room a couple of times, and Anna senses he’s a little uncomfortable in this environment, which surprises her seeing as he’s an architect and so she assumed he would be used to such parties as this. He catches her eye every now and then and each time he does, he quickly looks away and focuses on a new subject. It’s quite cute to watch and she enjoys seeing him blush, it highlights all of his features perfectly. On the last time he catches her eye, she’s certain he’s going to come over and talk to her but before she can prep herself, she feels a hand on her waist and she’s ready to smack someone but to her relief its only Hans.
“Hans! Oh thank goodness, where have you been?” She throws herself into his arms and he gives her a small pat on the back.
“Sorry doll, I was caught up with work. Papers changed their mind about what they want to publish next week so it’s been a massive shit show.” Anna isn’t convinced by his story and she wants to question him but then his right hand is curling around her backside and his left is coming to caress her cheek and her breath hitches and he’s in her ear, mumbling all the things he wants to do to her and asking if she wants to leave and she almost knocks a waiter over in her rush to get out of there.
She forgets all about Kristoff and his sideways glances.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Hans turns out to be a cheating arsehole again but the wounds feel just as raw and new as they did the first time around.
And she knows she was an idiot to give him a second chance and she just knows Elsa is going to lecture her about it again but right now, she really doesn't need any of that.
Right now she just needs her mum.
And so when Iduna opens the door to their family home, Anna can't help but collapse in her arms and cling onto her mother like she's a newborn. She smells like lemon and home and Anna regrets the fact she hasn't been back since Boxing Day and makes a mental note to be a better daughter and she's only been home 10 minutes and already she feels so much better.
"Come in my darling and you can tell me everything." Iduna's voice is soft and comforting and Anna knows she is going to spend the majority of the weekend in tears.
Once she’s settled into her jammies, her dad has given her a kiss on the forehead and a hot chocolate she launches into the story. She tells her mum how she had had a couple of doubts about Hans ever since the last time and how she was nervous it was happening again and when she had confronted him about it, he told her off for being a paranoid and nervous wreck. How she needed to grow up and start trusting him again if this was ever going to work. And of course she wanted it to work so she pushed everything down to the bottom of her heart and ignored all the warning signs and carried on like normal.
And normal seemed to be working until she decided to surprise him one night and take him out for dinner and how when she arrived at his flat, a young woman had opened the door (“she was practically naked mum, it was awful!”) and Anna knew then that Hans was never going to change, despite what she had convinced herself into believing. She tells her mum how she had stormed up the stairs and caught Hans in bed with another woman and she realised that Hans was only ever going to be happy when he was chasing something he couldn’t have. She had yelled a couple of insults at him, but when that didn’t work and she didn’t automatically feel better she punched him square in the nose and told him to never contact her again.
And she admits to her mum that although she can’t stop crying and is nervous about returning to work (she’s hoping Hans will do the decent thing and quit but she can’t imagine that happening so she’s tempted to quit herself; Iduna quickly scolds her for saying such a ridiculous thing), that she doesn’t actually feel sad about it ending with Hans. If anything she feels... relieved.
“Well it’s obvious why my darling. Because you didn’t love him and he wasn’t your true love.”
“I don’t think I believe in true love.” Anna scoffs and rolls her eyes, sipping her now cold chocolate.
“You’re only saying that because you’ve had your heartbroken sweetheart. But believe me, true love finds everyone eventually. And when you find yours the world will start making sense.” Iduna smiles knowingly at her daughter and Anna begins to wonder whether her mum can see into the future and knows something she doesn’t.
“Do I necessarily need it Mum? ‘Cos I honestly think I might be fine. Every man I’ve met or re-met over the last couple of months has turned out to be toe rags.”
“You don’t need it now my darling, focus on yourself for a little while and when you’re ready; your true love will show themselves. And who knows, you may already be aware of them?” There’s another smirk on her face and Anna is pretty certain she knows who her mother may be eluding too.
“Mother, if you’re hinting towards a certain young gentleman who happens to be related to your best friend, I suggest you remove that idea from your brain. That will and is never going to happen, so please stop getting your hopes up. He doesn’t even like me.”
“If you say so, my lovely, if you say so.”
It’s Elsa’s birthday and she’s been invited over for dinner and Anna, for once, is excited to celebrate and be sociable. Normally at events like this, she becomes a bit introverted and is usually clinging to Elsa’s side but for the first time in forever, she is feeling good and the best she has in weeks.
It doesn’t even faze her that Hans turned out to be a complete and utter bastard again and whilst she spent the first week crying over him, she hasn’t shed a tear since and she refuses to cry over him again. Or any other man for that matter.
So she’s at Elsa’s apartment and she feels positive and wonderful and she’s baked a chocolate cake (hers and Elsa’s favourite) and she’s ready to interact and be human again. So imagine her surprise when she sees not one, not two but 5 different couples sat around a dinner table and they’re all looking at her expectantly and her mouth has dried and she just wants to crawl into a hole and die and she is certain she knows no one here but Elsa and Honeymaren and oh god, why has Elsa invited me here?
“Everyone this is my younger sister, Anna. Anna, you obviously know Honeymaren. But this is her younger brother Ryder and his boyfriend, Hunter. Then we have Sven and Rachel, Leonie and Cleo, Mattias and Halima and I believe you’re already acquainted with Kristoff and Sofia.” Elsa finishes with a smile and it’s just so bloody perfect that he would be here and Anna is honestly praying that she receives a phone call telling her that her pet goldfish has died so she has a valid excuse to leave. She can barely bring herself to look at anyone, let alone Kristoff, so she busies herself with the cake in her hand and then excuses herself from the room. Elsa quickly follows suit to serve dinner and Anna rounds on her immediately.
“Elsa, why on earth have you invited me to a couples dinner party?!” Anna hisses, barely keeping the anger from escaping. She’s aware the walls are thin so she doesn’t want to be too loud to make things anymore awkward.
“Oh Anna.” Elsa laughs wholeheartedly and rolls her eyes. “I haven’t invited you to a couple’s dinner party! It’s my birthday dinner and all of my friends just happen to be...” she trails off and a horrified look slowly creeps onto her face. “Oh no... I’ve invited you to a couple’s dinner! Oh my God Anna! I am so sorry, I didn’t realise! I just wanted to have some of my favourite people here and oh God, have I become the type of person where my only friends are couples? Oh gross.” She groans inwardly and Anna knows it isn’t really Elsa’s fault but she feels so awkward and embarrassed and she wants Elsa to give her an out but she knows she never will (and even if she did, she won’t leave. It is her sister’s birthday after all.) “Look, the dinner won’t take long and then I’ll make it into a more relaxed atmosphere so you won’t feel too weird. Is that okay? I just don’t want you to leave and I really think you’ll get on with everyone.”
Anna sighs and agrees, earning a delighted squeal from her sister and she hopes there is enough wine to get her through this evening.
*
It turns out there isn’t enough wine and so she has to endure all the chit chat about dating and marriage proposals and engagement parties and babies and she is contemplating the quickest way to kill herself with a dessert spoon when Lucy? Lora? Leonie! Asks her about her love life.
“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight Anna. Are you dating anyone? Any wedding bells on the horizon for you?”
And Anna knows its a genuine question and she knows this woman will have no idea about the last few months but she can feel the lump clogging up her throat and she has no wine left and so she’s just staring at the group and her head is spinning and why isn’t Elsa helping her?
“You’re dating the elusive Hans Westergaard, aren’t you?” Kristoff’s voice breaks the silence and she stares at him. It’s the first proper thing he’s said all evening and whilst she’s grateful for the save she knows now she’s going to have to explain that situation and she attempts too but she just can’t seem to break away from Kristoff’s stare.
“Actually Anna and Hans have gone their separate ways; which is why Anna is being unusually quiet. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for her.” Elsa finally comes to her rescue and Anna gives her a small smile as a thank you and returns her gaze to Kristoff, whose eyes seem to have softened and there is a new emotion there, one that Anna can’t put her finger on.
Once dinner is cleared and they move into the living room, Anna asks Elsa if she can leave, feigning a headache. She knows it’s mean and rude but she can’t bear to stay another second with all these couples and she can’t get Kristoff’s face out of her mind and she just needs to lie down and clear her mind. Elsa relents and lets her go and Anna can’t escape quickly enough. She’s just putting her coat on and adjusting her hood when she’s acutely aware someone is standing behind her.
“I enjoyed your most recent short story by the way. Very entertaining.” Kristoff’s voice comes from behind her and it’s all she can do not to roll her eyes. But he can’t see her face and so where is the enjoyment in that?
“Thank you. I’m here to entertain... clearly.” She turns to face him and is surprised to see him at the bottom of the stairs. He takes a couple of steps closer to her so they’re standing mere inches apart and she’s trying her very best not to stare at him but he looks particularly handsome tonight and the lighting is just right, so the gold in his hair is blinding and the copper in his irises are just stunning.
She really needs to get a grip.
“So, things didn’t work out with Hans Westergaard then?” There’s a slight smugness in his tone and all her original feelings towards him come crashing back and she remembers why she doesn’t like Kristoff Bjorgman: he’s an arse.
“No, they did not. I really don’t need to hear the words ‘I told you so’ either Kristoff, so if we could just move on from that.” She can feel her eyes begin to well up and she will not cry in front of Kristoff, she will not. “Anyway, I must be going. If I stay here another second I may murder Hunter in cold blood and you will have to provide me with an alibi. Goodnight.”
She turns away from him and heads towards the door when she feels his fingers brush against her hand. She stops and looks down, just to see him drawing his hand back. He looks awkward and is rubbing the back of his neck, a small blush creeping across his cheeks.
“Look, I’m sorry. That was unnecessarily rude of me. I’m just not the biggest fan of Hans and so to hear your relationship had ended, well it delighted me. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about the way I spoke about you at the annual Arundel buffet. It was obnoxious and rude of me. I made a snap judgement on 2 minutes worth of conversation.” He looks at her then and there is such intensity behind his eyes that Anna feels lost. She certainly wasn’t expecting him to apologise and so she’s stuck on what to say back.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate the delayed apology.” She manages to stutter and she needs to leave, but she is also desperate to know the reason behind his intense look. She is the first to break however and goes to leave once more, when a question strikes her. “Why were you so horrible to me?”
He swallows loudly and looks away, the blush returns to his cheeks and it feels like years before he speaks again. “I don’t know why really. I don’t like it when my mum tries to push me into dating women who I don’t know and so I took offense when I really shouldn’t have. As it turns out, my mum knows who I should date because I do like you, Anna.”
She laughs and shakes her head, refusing to acknowledge the words he’s just said. “Oh yeah, you like me? The ordinary girl who writes funny short stories and doesn’t know when to stop talking! Yeah, okay Kristoff.”
“No, I mean I like you, a lot. The truth is Anna, despite the fact that you do ramble on ever so slightly, you’re way too obsessed with chocolate and you insist on characterising every inanimate object you come in contact with, I happen to think you’re the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.”
There’s a beat of silence as Kristoff’s words wash over her. Anna stares at him blankly, her mouth popping open and she is desperate to stop but her brain won’t let her. He manages a weak smile at her and goes to speak again when Sofia appears at the top of the stairs and ruins the moment.
“Kristoff? Are you coming back? Ryder is telling the most hilarious story.”
He’s still staring at Anna and her heart is in her mouth and so many words are on the tip of her tongue but that’s where they’ll have to stay as Kristoff is breaking eye contact and addressing Sofia.
“Yeah, course. I was just saying goodbye to Anna. I’m on my way.” It’s enough and she’s gone and he’s smiling his cute, lopsided smile (albeit sadder than usual) at her and muttering his goodbyes.
I happen to think you’re the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.