Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. Gregory McGuire does.
A/N: This is my first Wicked fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it! And thanks to Kayla and Auriana for being the first people to read this, and thanks to Hannah, who answered a few of my questions regarding this fic.
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Nessarose Thropp sat in the parlor, attempting to read a book, but not with much success. She was pondering if she was overdoing it as governess…it's not like the Munchkins were suffering too much, was it? His enslavement (even though Nessa tried not to think of it that way) couldn't be all that bad and surely he would grow to truly love her as she loved him.
Back in her days at Shiz University, he did seem to really like her. Sure, he seemed to be a bit attracted to Glinda as well, but most of the boys there were, and she just brushed it off. Besides, it was she that he asked to the dance, not Glinda.
But now he didn't seem like he liked Nessa at all. Sometimes his smiles towards her seemed fake, and sometimes when they spent time together, he looked like he'd rather be doing something else. She would have to have a talk with him.
Nessa then rolled her way to Boq's room, and knocked on the door.
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Boq heard the knock on his door, and put his book down. He almost groaned. Couldn't he spend any time of the time not with Nessa? And he had spent all morning and all afternoon with her. Plus, he had eaten dinner with her. Then he felt a bit guilty for this thought.
He got up and opened the door, and tried to put an expression on his face that didn't look like he was slightly annoyed and slightly guilty for being annoyed at the same time. Because really, he did care about Nessa. He just didn't want to spend every minute of the day with her.
"Yes, Madame Governor?" he asked.
"Boq, you know I like you to call me Nessa, or Nessarose. But the reason I came was to ask if you could come with me to the parlor? I would like to talk to you," she said. She sounded serious, yet not too angry.
He wheeled her to the parlor, and then he sat down. "Yes, Nessa?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure how to word this but…it seems like you don't like me anymore," Nessa stated, and she blushed a little. "And I mean in the way more than a friend. In the romantic way, if you want to be specific." Each word made her blush a tiny bit more, and the last sentence she said a bit more quietly than the other ones.
"Nessa…" Boq began, but he didn't finish. He liked her a little bit in the romantic way, but definitely more in the friend way. But he couldn't stop himself from being protective over Nessa, even though now he liked her as a friend more than anything else.
Nessa looked at him, and her eyes watered a bit, but she refused to cry. It broke Boq's heart to see his Nessa like this, but he didn't want to lie to her. So he thought saying nothing might be better than saying something to hurt her.
After what seemed like an eternity, Nessa said, "Boq, what does she have that I don't?"
"Who's this she that you're talking about?" Boq asked, but he knew who this she was: Glinda Upland.
"Glinda Upland," Nessa answered, and there seemed to be a bit of pain in her voice as she spoke the name. "I guess it's an obvious answer…she's popular…prettier than me…almost everything about her is better than me, isn't it?"
"Nessa…no," Boq said, and in his opinion, this was a little bit of a lie. "You can't compare yourself to Glinda. You and she are two very different people."
"But, Boq, you only answered half of my question. What does she have that I don't?" Nessa said to him.
Boq got up and sat in a chair that was closer to her's, and then he took her hand. "Nessa, there are things that Glinda has that you don't, such as her blonde hair," Boq told her. At this Nessa looked sad, but Boq continued talking. "However, there are things you have that she doesn't, such as your personality. There are so many parts of your personality; it's like rose petals. Beautiful and delicate."
At this Nessa smiled, but she had another question. "Boq, who do you like better?"
"I like both of you for different reasons," Boq told her. This was true. But a little voice inside of him was saying that he liked Glinda better, but he couldn't bear to hurt Nessa. And he did like them both. So was it really a lie?
"I meant in the romantic way," Nessa added.
At this Boq nearly cringed, but he didn't. He knew the answer to this, but didn't want to say it. "I like you best in that way, Madame Governor, and you know that," he told her, and that he knew was a lie.