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Anna adored Christmas. The whole holly jolly season made her spirits high. The twinkling lights, the cold nipping at her nose, snuggling by the fireplace, bundling up in sweaters… It was wonderful.
But despite her love for the season… her boyfriend, Kristoff, didn’t have the same holiday cheer. It wasn’t that he grew up without Christmas being celebrated. She knew he had. But the expectations of giving the perfect gifts, being around people, and the crowded stores… those weren’t his forte. Kristoff wasn’t exactly a “people person.” Her boyfriend was rather shy and reserved. The holidays seemed to make him antsy, and he seemed relieved when they were finally over.
Anna left her room to see Kristoff waiting on the couch of her living room. He had a key to her townhouse, so he tended to show up whenever he felt like it. Not that she minded. When she emerged, he cocked a brow at her. A lopsided smile etched along his lips as he started at the sweater she was wearing.
“How many Christmas sweaters do you own, Anna?” he teased.
With a fond roll of her eyes, she walked over to the island in her kitchen. “Enough, thank you.” The sweater was totally cute. Red with white Christmas trees etched into the stitching with candy cane like stripes on the sleeves. In her defense, it was a lot more subtle than a lot of her holiday sweaters.
There was a teasing glint in his honey brown eyes. “Let me guess, a new one every year?”
“Maybe,” she murmured as she poured a cup of coffee. She always took the time to spoil herself during Christmas season. Peppermint and cinnamon coffee with a splash of vanilla? Yes. Sign her up every morning.
Snorting at her, he shook his head as she made her way over towards him. “Unbelievable… Buying into the commercialized traditions of our society.”
Anna pursed her lips, squinting her eyes as she sat down on the couch next to him. “You know, there are things to enjoy about Christmas, believe it or not.”
“I don’t,” he bantered back quickly as he went to change the channel from the Christmas film she’d put on earlier.
Sighing, she gave him a once over. “When are you going to stop all this…” she gestured to all of him with her free hand that wasn’t holding her coffee, “bah humbug bullarky.”
“Did you just say ‘bullarky’?”
“Kristoff!” she groaned, setting her cup on the coffee table and flopping her back against the couch. “C’mon… Isn’t there anything you like about Christmas? Like, who doesn’t like getting presents, at least?”
He seemed to give it a thought, but shrugged and glanced away from her. “You know my parents well, Anna, and you know they’re the best parents and the sweetest people ever. But uhhh, gift giving isn’t exactly their area of expertise. It was always the same thing every year: socks, a tie, a few dollars. It wasn’t that I was ungrateful, trust me, I was glad I was privileged enough to even have gifts on Christmas. But--I dunno--it just got old getting the same thing and getting used to being disappointed.”
Anna tilted her head, folding her hands in her lap. She couldn’t relate. She and her sister, Elsa, were admittedly very spoiled as children when their parents were alive.. Anything on their Christmas list was given to them. Not a single thing was left off. Granted, for Anna, getting presents wasn’t as exciting since she knew she’d get everything on her list, rather she loved to give gifts. Although the sisters often helped their parents pick out gifts for one another, Anna always wanted to give more. She always made her sister homemade cards to go along with the presents. Drawings of snowmen and ice skates with words written about how much she loved her.
“What about giving presents?”
Another shrug. “It’s okay, I guess. We always thanked one another but there was never like… a huge reaction,” he shook his head. “Anyway, we’ve talked about some of this before. I don’t know why we’re talking about it so much now.”
“Because I want to change your mind about Christmas,” she said earnestly.
Anna thought his eyes were going to bulge from his skull. “Um, what?”
Giving a determined nod, she smiled. “I bet I can make you enjoy Christmas by the twenty-fifth.”
Kristoff gave her a flat look. “Anna, seriously?”
She stood. “I’m completely serious! This is a serious face, Kristoff Bjorgman!” she retorted, pointing to her face as she put on her best impression of his infamous scowl.
Groaned, his head dropped onto the back of the sofa. “Okay, fine. What’s your wager?”
Smirking, Anna picked up her coffee cup. “You let me take you out on ‘Christmas dates’ to make you love the holiday by Christmas day. If I win, you and I get to wear matching sweaters… and you’re done being a scrooge,” she explained, taking a swig from her mug.
The frown on his face could make a gremlin jealous, but Kristoff’s pinched brows relaxed as he seemed to consider her bet. “Fine, but if I win and I still hate this stupid season in ten days then you have to throw out your Christmas sweaters.”
Anna gaped. “What?”
“Hey! If you’re putting me through this then I need retribution when you lose.”
She licked her teeth before clicking her tongue. “Okay, okay, fine. But not all of them.”
“I get to choose which ones,” he replied quickly.
“Deal,” she said, holding out a hand.
His larger palm enveloped her own--God, she loved that--as he shook her hand. “Deal.”
Humming, she gave him a grin as she sipped her coffee and headed back to the kitchen. He cocked a brow when she happily walked over to the tiled floor.
“You seem rather cheery for someone who is going to lose her prized possessions.”
Chuffing, she smirked at him. “Oh, please. Even the Grinch loved Christmas in the end. And he wore a Christmas sweater.”
Kristoff didn’t look convinced.
o~o~o~o
For their first date Anna wanted to make sure she looked super cute. Her coat was red velvet and her beanie was striped red and white to match. She wore dark leggings lined with fleece to keep warm. When she checked over her ensemble in the mirror, she added red lipstick that she knew he loved. That way… he wouldn’t be able to resist her charms.
Anna’s plan for the dates was starting simple. Taking him to the small cafe that served the best hot cocoa she’d ever tasted. And that was saying a lot… Anna may or may not have had an addiction to chocolate. She knew amazing cocoa when the taste hit her tongue.
Kristoff followed her down the sidewalk, hands stuffed in his puffy coat pockets. He was hunched with a frown plastered on his lips. Anna was fully aware that her boyfriend’s posture had nothing to do with the cold outside. He actually enjoyed this weather a lot despite pretending he didn’t. Main street of Arendelle was illuminated with ropes of twinkling lights hanging from every street pole.
Gazing up, Anna admired the dazzling display before her. The lights flickered between different colors. It was beautiful… As she ooed and awed over the decorations, she paused in her steps. “Kris! Isn’t this so pretty?”
“It’s bright,” he murmured.
With an exaggerated huff, she spun to face him. “You promised that you’d give this a chance.”
The lights glinted against his cheeks. Kristoff paused in his steps, eyes widening as he gazed at her. His jaw went slack completely. She wasn’t quite used to seeing her boyfriend so gobsmacked.
Anna gave a confused tilt of her head as he seemed stunned still. Blinking, she glanced at him and away. “Uh, Kristoff?”
He shook his head, blinking. “Oh, uh, sorry. You just--uh,” he swallowed, cheeks seeming to pink a little. But it could have been the lights if she were honest with herself. “You look really pretty in the lights,” he admitted.
Despite that they’d been together a little over two years, Kristoff could still make her blush with sweet compliments like that. Her heart pattered along her ribcage for a moment, chest a bit tight. Giggling, she turned away with a small “thank you” as she swished her wavy, auburn locks over her shoulders once again (since it seemed to get his attention the first time).
When they reached the small cafe, the bell dinged over her head when she opened the door. Kristoff followed closely behind, holding the door as she walked in. Anna smiled at the whimsical decor. Snowflakes were littered along the walls, tiny Christmas trees sat as center pieces of each small table, lights aligned the countertop where the barista stood.
Kristoff hummed behind her. “Ah, Christmas threw up in here, huh?”
Anna rolled her eyes fondly. “A little holiday spirit hasn’t killed anyone.”
“Not that you know of yet.”
Snorting at him, she walked up to the counter. Anna had arrived here with a purpose. She spouted off the order of two peppermint cocoas before Kristoff could tell her no. She also requested whipped cream with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top. The brunette barista seemed to have no problem fulfilling the order (and if Anna’s memories were correct, she probably remembered Anna purchasing the same drink from her only two days prior).
“Go take a seat,” Anna told her boyfriend with a smile. “You can pick.”
Pursing his lips, Kristoff gave her a once over. “Okay… but um--Anna, you know that I don’t like peppermint that much, right?”
“I know.”
“But you--”
“Trust me, okay? Elsa doesn’t like peppermint much either, and she loves these. Remember: you have to give everything a chance, right?”
Kristoff relented and slumped with a grumble as he took a seat at the small table in the corner. Anna was so excited for him to try the sweet drink. It took some convincing from Elsa and her girlfriend, Honeymaren, for Anna to give in and try it despite her hesitation for trying new things. She supposed if this works and Kristoff does see that Christmas isn’t just a stupid holiday about possessions then she’d owed Honeymaren and Elsa big time.
Anna received two large mugs whipped with topping and straws with candy cane stripes. Her boyfriend's eyes grew wide when she stalked over to him with mugs in hand and a grin on her face.
"Ta-daaa," she sang as she sat at the table with him.
"Babe, these are huge. You're actually able to finish this?"
She gave him a flat look. "Are you really questioning my ability to down a chocolate drink?"
Snorting, he nodded. "You're right."
Anna slid the mug to him, smiling wide with anticipation. "Try it."
Kristoff seemed hesitant as he glanced between her and the mug. His stubbornness faded; however, when he brought the straw up to his lips and took a sip. He blinked in surprise and drank again.
"Wow, this is really good. You were right."
Anna hummed teasingly. "You want to say that again?"
"Don't push it," he warned, despite the smile on his lips.
The pair chatted about their day a bit as they each took swigs of the hot cocoa. Anna knew the peppermint would be subtle enough for Kristoff's liking, but he was quite the picky eater at times.
Finally, Anna wanted to discuss the topic at hand. "Kris… I know we've vaguely talked about why you don't like Christmas, but is there more to it that you're not telling me?"
He seemed taken aback by that. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you hate how it's all about making money for corporations these days, right? And you said that your family just didn't do much for it. Like you guys celebrated but did the bare minimum?"
Nodding, he took another sip of his cocoa. "Yeah, that's right."
"I don't know… That just doesn't seem like enough to hate a holiday," she said thoughtfully. Pausing, she waved a hand. "Not that you're not entitled to your opinion, of course. I-I didn't mean to--"
"Anna," he smiled, "it's okay."
Her mouth snapped shut. His honey brown eyes were soft as he gazed at her. With a sigh, he shook his head.
"I should've known you'd be able to figure it out," he mused. Anna kept quiet, silently urging him to continue. "After my birth parents died, I was in the system for a while. And every year at Christmas, we were given toys from all those toy drives and stuff. For a while, I enjoyed it. But…" he shrugged, slumping down in his seat a little. "After a while, I got angry. I've never been ungrateful for things, don't get me wrong, but I started to think about how unfair it was that how much people enjoyed Christmas was based on how much money they had. Meanwhile, all the Christmas gifts I had were from people who gave poor homeless kids gifts to make themselves feel better."
Anna felt her chest ache. She and Kristoff's Christmas celebrations could not have been more different growing up. He wasn't trying to guilt her, she knew, but there was still a lump in her throat anyway.
"You know that's not always the case. Some people really give things out of generosity."
He flashed a sad smile. "I know there are people like you out there… I just haven't seen much of it."
"Christmas is about more than that… It's about the feelings it gives you when you're with people you care about."
He shrugged. "I guess Thanksgiving is more family oriented for us."
"That's true, but that doesn't mean we can't make Christmas special for you too," she smiled and swirled the cream in her mug. "I remember that my parents, Elsa, and I used to make ornaments together. We'd sing songs together… Papa had a bell that he'd hang up December first and we'd ring in the season. We really went all out."
Kristoff smiled fondly, leaning onto his palm. "There is one thing I like about Christmas."
"Oh?"
"Listening to you talk about it."
Anna beamed. Maybe, she really could get him to come around.
o~o~o~o
On the second date, Anna was a bit nervous. Mostly because she was a total klutz. No matter how many times she and Elsa went ice skating as kids, Anna could never get the hang of it.
When they approached the outdoor rink in the center of Arendelle Square, Kristoff gave her a look.
"Ice skating? But you don't skate."
She smiled. "But it's festive!"
"It's cliche."
Anna rolled her eyes as she trailed off to buy them tickets, giving him a tiny wave with her fingers as she left him behind.
Afterwards when she returned and began putting on her skates, she noticed him eyeing her. Sighing, Anna looked at him in a huff. "What is it?"
"Those will fall off if you don't tie them a little tighter."
Anna crossed her arms. "Oh? What are you? Some type of skate expert?"
Kristoff smirked at her as he took her skate into his hand. "I played hockey, remember?"
Her cheeks burned. "Oh, uh. Right. I knew that."
He chuckled at her, tightening her skates before standing and holding a hand out for her to take. When she clasped his hand, he helped her to a stand. Kristoff guided her to the opening of the rink.
Anna felt like a newborn calf when her skates hit the ice on her wobbly legs. Chuckling, the blond held her arm to keep her steady.
"You got it?" he asked in a teasing tone.
Scoffing, she brushed him off. "Of course."
Anna glided along the ice for two steps before the blades slipped out from beneath her. Hitting the ice with a smack, she yelped. She skidded along the cold on her butt until she slid to a stop.
Kristoff was chuckling over her before crossing his arms. "That was graceful."
Anna pouted, crossing her arms. "Don't patronize me," she muttered.
Still tickled, the blond looped his hands beneath her armpits and pulled her upright to her feet. Her ankles nearly buckled as she tried to get her balance. Kristoff seemed to take pity on her and placed his hands over her own, wrapping her palm over hers. "I got you."
Anna knew he did.
Kristoff skated backwards, tugging Anna along gently as she tried not to bend too much at the waist and fall over. He was smiling so softly at her as they slid along the ice. Anna could feel her heart singing in her chest. She felt so safe and stable as he guided her. Despite their different interests, she just knew she and Kristoff were a perfect pair. No one had ever made Anna feel so special.
Smiling up at him, she squeezed his fingers. "Thank you."
He chuckled, pulling her into his arms as he pulled her along. Kristoff pressed his forehead to hers, his nose was cold when it brushed her skin. "I love you," he murmured.
"I love you, too," she breathed.
o~o~o~o
"Anna… how is this a date?"
She only beamed at him as she dragged him through the Christmas tree farm. "C'mon, I'm just trying to relive my childhood through you," Anna said with a laugh.
Snorting, he held out his arm. She looped her arms around his. He hummed giving a half shrug. "I'll admit… I like the smell of pine."
"It's ‘cause you're a mountain man."
"Probably so."
Anna took in the fresh smell of snow and pine. The scent really took her back to her childhood. She and Elsa each held Agnarr's hands as he guided them through the trees.
"Papa taught us that the best trees didn't lose needles when you stroked the branch or when you tapped it on the trunk. That meant it was healthier and would last longer," she explained.
"Wow, didn't know you were a Christmas tree connoisseur."
She tapped him lightly on the arm. "Did you expect anything less of me?"
He barked a laugh. "I suppose not."
After picking the tree she was satisfied with (a Fraser fir--her father's favorite), Kristoff tied it down in the back of his truck. The ride home was quiet, aside from the holiday music she'd turned on and hummed along to. Kristoff made a face, but made no effort to turn off the tunes.
Anna took that as another small victory.
o~o~o~o
Kristoff seemed to be warming up to their "holidates" as Anna had started fondly calling them. She took him to a performance of the Nutcracker, which he had surprisingly enjoyed, made ornaments together like she did as a kid and hung them on the tree. But unfortunately, her plans were shattered for the evening when the roads froze over in the cold temperatures. Totally unsafe to drive on. The couple was officially snowed in.
That was fine. She could make this work.
Anna dashed from the window and sprung into Kristoff's lap on the couch. He easily caught her despite his surprise.
"Kris! Do you want to build a snowman!?"
He cocked a brow. "Isn't that like… yours and Elsa's thing?"
She waved him off. "Well, yeah, but you and I have been together almost three years now. You're family enough to be allowed to build a snowman with me."
"Fine…"
Anna cheered with glee.
The pair bundled up in their winter coats to go outside. Anna was quite impressed with Kristoff's snowman building abilities. He was great at smoothing down the snow and making each ball proportioned.
Anna spoke as she patted down the snow. "Elsa and I used to build a snowman named Olaf every year."
"Olaf?"
"Mmhmm. We pretended he could talk and that he liked warm hugs."
He laughed as he placed the smallest ball of snow on top for the head. "Pretty redundant for a snowman."
"I'm sure snowmen don't understand the concept of heat," she retorted as she went to find sticks for the arms.
"Frosty did!" he chimed back.
Anna barked a sarcastic "ha ha" before returning with two small branches. Kristoff picked the access twigs off the arms to give the illusion of hands. She was actually impressed with his attention to detail.
As Kristoff finished smoothing out the snow one last time, Anna added the accessories. A hat, scarf, coal eyes and mouth, and the carrot nose, of course.
They both stepped back and admired their handiwork. Anna whistled and held out her fist. "Nice job."
He bumped his knuckle to hers. "You too."
Anna was so thrilled that Kristoff was giving all of this a chance for her. That he was willing to go through all of this for her sake. She loved him so much. Loved how much he cared for her. How willing he was to go the extra mile for her.
She just loved that they were having fun together.
And wanted to keep it that way.
While Kristoff looked over for any possible flaws, Anna snuck away for just a moment and gathered up the plush powder of snow. She balled the snow up and compressed it. Just as she was about to launch, he turned to look at her. He flinched immediately, holding up a hand and pointing at her.
“Anna… You throw that snowball and it’s a declaration of war.”
“I can live with that,” she teased before chucking the snowball at him.
The puff of snow hit Kristoff on the shoulder, and he shouted in offense. Quickly, they were both gathering as much snow as they could and forming snowballs quickly as they tossed them at one another. Anna couldn’t help but giggle the entire time as Kristoff laughed along.
...Until she accidentally smacked him in the face.
Kristoff stared at her stunned, gaping at her.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Kristoff, I didn’t mean--eeep!”
He grabbed her by the waist before spinning her around. Anna flailed in his arms, knocking him off balance and toppling them both over into the snow. She was unable to stop her fit of giggles as he laid in the snow beneath her. Turning over, she straddled his lap. He was smiling up at her adoringly, making her heart tighten in her chest. How could someone so structured and strong be so cute and sweet at the same time? He was so kind to her. Spoiled her. Made her laugh and smile.
His nose was red from the cold. Slowly, she leaned in and brushed the tip of her nose against his own, feeling the chill. Anna pressed her lips to his, kissing him soundly against the snow. Kristoff’s fingers buried into her auburn locks as he returned the gentle pressure.
The moment ended as quickly as it began as Kristoff moved to sit them both up. Pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, he smirked. “You know… I think you won the bet.”
Anna blinked. “W-Wait, what?”
“I may not enjoy Christmas in general… but I enjoy Christmas with you. And that makes it special.”
“Kristoff… You don’t have to bend the rules of our bet for me.”
He gave her a gift kiss. “Yes, I do.”
Needless to say, Bulda Bjorgman was stunned to see her son sporting a matching Christmas sweater with her girlfriend at their first annual Christmas dinner with Anna and Elsa.