#offering to help freddy out with garage stuff the second he hears the guy is having trouble with some things despite not knowing him

[ruvviks]

thinking about yancey and his people pleaser attitude

[thecassadilla]

Bump in the Night

Pairing: Kristanna (+ a minor appearance by Elsamaren)

Word Count: 2,988/AO3

Summary: To kick off the start of “spooky season,” Anna plans a scary movie night with Kristoff, but things go awry later that night when their real life begins to imitate conventions of a horror film. 

Author’s Note: Happy October! While I absolutely hate Fall (cold weather + less daylight, yuck), Halloween is my favorite holiday. I planned to write a couple of fics this month to help me “embrace” this season and this is the first. Enjoy!!!

��Are you almost here?”

“I’m pulling up to your house now,” Kristoff chuckled, reversing into the empty spot behind her car.

“Oh, okay! I’ll open the front door!”

Suddenly the line went dead, and he couldn’t help but smile. He cut the engine, grabbed his overnight bag from where it rested on the front seat, and climbed out of the car.

“Hi, sweetie!” Anna called from the doorway.

“Hey, baby,” he called back with a grin.

When he finally made it into the house, she pulled him into a tight embrace before leaning up onto her toes and pressing a soft but brief kiss to his lips. “How are you? How was work?”

“It was crazy busy and I had to stay a little late,which is why I got here so late, but I’m doing a lot better now that I’m here. How about you?”

“Today was great, I’m great. Here, do you want me to bring your bag upstairs?”

“Nah, I’ll just bring it up later,” he answered, sliding the strap off of his shoulder and placing the bag on the bottom step of the staircase. “Just don’t trip over it.”

“I won’t,” she laughed, walking towards the kitchen. “I ordered us a pizza and it should be here any minute.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve picked it up on the way.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she said, turning around to make sure that he was following her. “Elsa is staying at Honeymaren’s this weekend.” 

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. “I see?”

“Do you...maybe wanna have a scary movie night?”

“Uh...sure,” he answered.

Her face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I just don’t understand the correlation between Elsa being away and us watching a scary movie.”

“Oh!” Anna giggled. “Well, we’ll have the living room to ourselves and we can put on whatever we want without Elsa butting in. I’ve never been able to watch anything scary because she hates horror.”

“I’m not too fond of it, myself,” Kristoff admitted.

“Ooh, is the big, tough guy afraid of scary movies?” she teased, poking her finger into his ribcage.

“No,” he huffed, swatting her hand away. “I’ve watched a whole bunch and to be honest, I think they’re stupid and predictable.”

She opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out two plates. “Well, it’s officially ‘spooky season’ and I think it would be fun.” 

“We can watch whatever you want,” he promised.

“Yay!” she squealed, bouncing up to press a kiss to his cheek. 

“Did you have a specific movie in mind?” “I found one called The Summoning. It’s basically about a young married couple that moves into a new house, only to find out that the house is haunted by a demon.”

“Sounds exactly like every other horror movie that came out in the last decade or so,” he remarked. 

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“No,” he shrugged. “Just an observation. A lot of old horror movies had masked murderers; Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Michael Myers from Halloween, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. Now it’s all about the invisible villain; Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and now I guess The Summoning.”

“I’m impressed! You really know your stuff, huh?” she proclaimed enthusiastically, but before he could respond, the doorbell rang. “Ooh pizza’s here!”

“Do you want money?” he offered.

She thrust the plates in his direction and he accepted them. “Nope! It’s on me. The only thing I need you to do is sit your butt on the couch.”

He obeyed her command and made his way to the living room, setting the plates on the coffee table and plopping down in the corner of the couch. A few short moments later she joined him, placing the pizza box next to the plates.

“Help yourself. I’m going to put the movie on,” she stated, grabbing the remote.

He reached over and flipped the lid to the box open. “You want to eat and watch at the same time?” 

“Yeah, I figured we could multitask.”

He shrugged, and handed her a plate with a slice on it and then took one for himself before sitting back. 

“Thanks,” she smiled, leaning into his side and pressing the play button. “I hope it’s good.”

“We shall see.”

The movie opened up to upbeat music, and an attractive young couple moving boxes out of a moving truck and into their new, yet clearly antiquated house. Less than ten minutes in, the tone changed and elements of horror started creeping in.

While Anna was completely engrossed with what was happening, it was abundantly clear to Kristoff that the movie was the opposite of good; between the cheap jump scares, the poor acting, and the lack of any real action, it seemed more like a comedy than a horror movie. Though he tried to focus on what was happening in front of him in order to keep his promise to Anna, he was growing more bored by the second. Eventually it became close to unbearable.

“How about…” he started, pressing a slow, ardent kiss to her neck, “We turn this off and put something else on?”

“No, I want to watch,” she giggled, shying away from his touch. “You promised that we could watch whatever I wanted.”

“I know, but it’s so bad,” he whined.

“It’s half over and it’s not that bad.”

“It’s terrible.”

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at the television screen. “The demon just pushed her down the stairs.”

“Demons aren’t real.”

“Please watch it,” she begged.

“I’d rather kiss your neck.”

“You have all night to kiss my neck, and I’m going to hold you to that,” she teased, wiggling away from him. “But the only thing I’m paying attention to for the next forty-five minutes is this movie.”

“Fine,” he huffed, resting his chin on her shoulder. “What about Hocus Pocus? You love that movie.”

She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “I will only turn this movie off if you admit that you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” he insisted. “I’d actually enjoy it more if it was scaring me.”

“Too bad.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We should see a horror movie in a theater soon,” she remarked as they laid in bed later that night. “I wonder if there are any good ones coming out this year.”

“I don’t trust your judgment on what a ‘good’ horror movie is,” he chuckled.

“Well, we could always just sit in the back and make out like high schoolers if it’s really bad.”

“We could do that here, for free,” he noted.

“Yeah, but it’s about the thrill of the chase. It’s more exciting when you’re in a room full of people who aren’t paying attention to what you’re doing.”

“You are truly something else. And I love you for that.”

“Aww, I love you too,” she smiled, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Did you really hate the movie?”

“No offense, Anna, but it was beyond bad.”

“Can I just say that I still can’t believe the guy in that movie let his wife become possessed like that?! Newly married, new house, seemingly perfect life and then bam! He chooses to save himself instead of fighting for her.”

“Good thing it’s just a movie,” he reminded her.

“I know, but it’s still so terrible,” she said, shaking her head. “Would you abandon me if a demon was trying to possess me?”

“No, because it literally would not happen.”

“But if it did happen?”

He sighed. “No, I wouldn’t abandon you.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t abandon you, either.”

“Great, it’s all settled then. Do you think that can be incorporated into our wedding vows?”

She playful swatted his arm. “Can you stop mocking me please?”

“Only when you stop worrying about real people in fictional scenarios.”

She glared at him. “It was a hypothetical question.”

“That I answered honestly,” he added. “I’ll save you from all the bad guys - and if that includes demons or ghosts or werewolves, I still won’t abandon you.”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

“I’m gonna crash, so…” he leaned over to peck her on the lips. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Within moments, he was asleep, while she found herself tossing and turning. As the clock ticked forward, she tried to convince herself that she wasn’t anxious; every thought that popped into her head was clouded with scariest scenes from the movie. Though her mind was racing, she tried to focus on Kristoff instead, watching as his chest rose and fell with each breath. 

Until she swore that she heard a noise and nearly jumped out of her skin. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, and though Kristoff looked completely at peace, she needed someone to ease her racing mind.

“Kristoff,” she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder. “Kristoff!”

“Huh?” he mumbled, his eyes slowly blinking open.

“I heard a noise,” she responded, her voice slightly louder. “What if someone is in the house?”

“A person or a demon?” he teased.

“Kristoff, I’m not kidding.”

“No one is in the house,” he assured her. “You probably just heard a car door close.”

“It didn’t sound like a car door,” she rebutted.

“I think that movie made you paranoid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Would you please make sure the front door is locked?”

He groaned in response, before scrubbing at his face with the palms of his hands a few times. He tossed the blankets aside and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before shuffling out of the room. 

Anna anxiously awaited his return, wringing her hands over and over again. After what felt like an eternity, he reappeared.

“All the doors are locked,” he announced as he collapsed back onto the bed. “Front door, back door, door to the garage.”

“I feel a lot better now,” Anna breathed. “Thank you for checking.”

He motioned for her to slide closer to him. She laid her head on his chest, and he placed a hand on her shoulder before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Anything to make you feel better. Try to get some sleep.”

She nodded against him, feeling safe in his arms, and after a few moments, she felt her eyelids start to grow heavy. Until a loud crash from downstairs snapped her out of it.

Her eyes widened and she tensed up. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” Kristoff answered hesitantly.

As if on cue, another crash sounded from beneath them. They both sprang into action, jumping out of the bed.

“What should we do?”

“Do you have any weapons?”

“No!” Anna exclaimed. “Only the kitchen knives.” “Tomorrow I’m buying you a bat,” Kristoff remarked before charging out of the room. Anna followed swiftly behind him.

“What exactly are you planning on doing?” she whispered as she chased him down the stairs, trying to stay as light on her feet as she could.

“I want to see where the noise came from.”

“And then…?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Maybe we should call the police?” she suggested in a panicked whisper.

“And do what in the meantime? Get killed?”

For a moment, they stood quietly in the dark, and it quickly became apparent that the noises had come from the garage, though the sounds had morphed from crashes to voices. 

Kristoff and Anna slowly crept toward the kitchen. He pulled each knife out of the knife block until he determined which one would be the most effective. Anna, on the other hand, went for the cast iron skillet that was resting on the stovetop.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Throw it?” she shrugged. 

They approached the door to the garage, and Kristoff held out his left arm in an attempt to keep Anna safely behind him. When they finally reached the door, Kristoff slowly reached out for the doorknob, before twisting it and forcefully pushing the door open, immediately resulting in two girlish shrieks from the perpetrators.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kristoff snorted.

“Elsa?!” Anna exclaimed, gently pushing Kristoff’s arm down. “What are you doing?”

It was quite the scene. Elsa and Honeymaren were crouched on the floor of the garage; Elsa was sweeping a pile of dirt into the garbage bag that Honey was holding open. Gardening tools and pieces of broken ceramic were scattered behind them, in addition to the plant that Elsa had mentioned buying the day before. 

Elsa cringed, clearly mortified. “It’s a long story.”

“It’s really not,” Honeymaren corrected, looking rather amused. “She forgot to take out the garbage and it was bothering her. I suggested that she text you, and ask you to take it out, but she wanted to handle it herself. You wanna tell the rest of the story, Elsa?”

Elsa hung her head in shame, understandably embarrassed by the entire situation. “I tripped and knocked over the bin of gardening tools. Then while I was trying to pick them up, I knocked over the plant and the pot shattered.”

“Which is why we’re crouched on the floor, cleaning up dirt,” Honey stated, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Elsa’s shoulder. “It’s really not a big deal though.”

“Accidents happen,” Anna sympathized. “But you guys kind of scared the crap out of us. We thought someone was breaking in.” 

“So you decided to handle it yourselves?” Elsa asked incredulously, her eyes widening.

“The alternative was calling the police. You could’ve been arrested for breaking into your own house,” Kristoff pointed out.

Honey smirked. “I don’t know what would’ve been worse; going to jail or being stabbed,” she remarked, her eyes bouncing from Kristoff to Anna. “Or whatever you were planning to do with a frying pan.”

“Have you ever picked one of these up?” Anna asked, moving her arm up and down to demonstrate the heftiness of the skillet. “They weigh a ton. One swing of this pan could knock a person unconscious.”

“Good thing neither of you had to use your weapons of choice,” Elsa cringed. “I’m sorry that we scared you.”

“Next time, just let me know if you plan on coming home in the middle of the night to take out garbage,” Anna pleaded with her older sister. “Or, you know, just ask me to do it.”

“Or,” Kristoff interjected, draping his arm around Anna’s shoulders. “Ask me to do it, because someone is too paranoid from the scary movie we watched to go downstairs by herself.”

“Am not!” Anna rebuked, looking up at him. “You’re just...a lot bigger and more intimidating than I am.”

He smiled smugly. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” 

She stuck her tongue out at him, before turning back to her sister. “Do you need our help cleaning up?”

Elsa shook her head. “No, I think we got it. You two should go back to sleep.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

The group exchanged goodnights, and Anna and Kristoff returned their weapons back to the kitchen before heading back upstairs. 

“That was, uh...interesting,” Kristoff commented when they finally made it back to the bedroom.

Anna closed the door behind them and climbed back into the bed. “I know, right?! It’s just garbage, it’s not a big deal!”

“Maybe she was worried that she was going to stink up the garage,” he suggested, laying down next to her.

“She could’ve just moved it outside when she got home tomorrow if she didn’t want to bother us,” she countered. “And I bet she’ll never spend another night away again after this. We may be spending weekends with Elsa and Honeymaren from now on unless we stay at your place.”

“I have no issues with that and honestly, I feel like you would do the same if the situation was reversed -  you know, to avoid inconveniencing her.”

“Oh, I totally would. But I’d at least give her a heads up first, so if I made a ton of noise in the middle of the night she wouldn’t think I was a murderer or a burglar. Maybe we should consider getting an alarm installed. Do you think Elsa will go for that?”

“Alarm or no alarm, I’m going to buy you a bat, just in case there’s a ‘next time.’”

“If there’s ever a ‘next time,’ we will call the cops and avoid running into the line of fire,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Ahem.”

“I know it was risky and stupid, but at least your sister and Honeymaren didn’t get hauled away in handcuffs. And I promised I would protect you.”

“From fictional bad guys. And jerks, of course. If that had been a real murderer or robber, we could’ve been killed.”

“You were fine with sending me downstairs when you heard a noise,” he stated.

She scoffed. “That’s different.”

“How is that different?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It just is.”

He hesitated for a moment, before reaching out and caressing her cheek. “Anna, did that movie scare you?”

“A little,” she confessed. “Obviously I know that it’s just a movie, but I lost control of my imagination. I really did hear a noise and before you say it - no, I didn’t think the noise was a demon.”

“Look, I’m sorry for teasing you,” he sighed. “It was wrong of me, and it probably seemed like I was less than thrilled to make sure the doors were locked but -”

She cut him off mid-sentence. “Kristoff, I woke you up out of a dead sleep because I heard a noise. Cut yourself a little slack here.”

“And I immediately accused you of being paranoid - the point is, I don’t want you to hesitate to wake me up if you hear a noise, okay?”

“Fine,” she agreed. “But as a compromise, I’ll probably be skipping horror movies from now on.”

He smirked. “I have no issues with that.”

“And if you want...we can watch Hocus Pocus tomorrow.”