In hindsight, Glinda thinks, she should have seen it coming. The faraway looks and barely-contained frustration were clear enough, although perhaps Glinda herself had pretended not to notice them. She had hoped, admittedly foolishly, that once they're back at Crage Hall, Elphie's newfound anger would go away, or that it would be dealt with somehow. Things would be alright again.

Now, standing on the side of the cobbled street, Glinda thinks about how wrong she had been. She thinks about Crage Hall and the blasted carriage that Elphaba refuses to get into. She thinks about holding out.

Her chest tightens painfully at the thought. Glinda trains her gaze upon Elphaba, who stands across from her, the brim of her hat casting a shadow on her face.

"Elphie, please," she pleads, her voice trembling. Elphaba seems to always have her begging on her knees. "Don't go."

"I'm sorry, my sweet, but I must."

"But—" she scrambles for words. When her frantic mind fails her, she settles upon the first thing she could think of. "But I love you."

"And I, you." But not enough. Never enough. "But I cannot go back to Shiz."

Elphaba's voice is tinged with sadness, but there is no uncertainty in the way she speaks. Elphaba, made of fire and sharp words and revolution, is leaving her. Glinda realizes it may have been an inevitability all along.

Nothing would stop Elphaba, not even Glinda with her blue eyes and her breaking heart on her sleeve.

It leaves her little choice. "Then let me come with you."

Elphaba appears taken aback but doesn't miss a beat. "No."

"I cannot go back without you, Elphie!" Her hands are shaking and she can't get them to stop. "Don't you see? I cannot return to Shiz and sleep in Crage Hall and attend lectures, praying for your return and wondering for your safety. I cannot hold out. Please, Elphie, please. I'll follow you anywhere, if you'd only let me."

"Enough, Glinda," says Elphaba, shaking her head. "Be reasonable."

"Reasonable! I am not the one running off to become an underground rebel!"

Elphaba grabs her by the wrists and lowers her flailing arms, mumbling for Glinda to lower her voice. Glinda glances down briefly and realizes how badly her hands are shaking.

"No more of this," Elphaba says, her firm gaze fixed on the blonde. The steady tone of Elphaba's voice unnerves Glinda, makes her feel so brittle she might break. "Get on the coach, Glinda. You must go."

"Must I?" It comes out as a choked whisper, laced with fear. Suddenly, Glinda feels like a little girl, a small child about to lose something so much bigger than herself. "Tell me, Elphie, why can't I come with you?"

Elphaba takes in the sight of her and seems to falter for a moment. "Glinda, my sweet," she wraps her fingers around Glinda's hands and sighs sadly. "You have too far to fall."

Once upon a time, there is a girl, green as a cabbage. Glinda meets her, hates her, then loves her until her heart explodes into a million stars.

Glinda swallows thickly. She closes her eyes and tries to regain herself. She cannot let Elphaba win this one. She refuses to be abandoned.

She opens her mouth to speak again, this time with a steady voice. Her hands are no longer shaking.

"I'm not afraid of falling, Elphie," she says. "As long as you'll catch me."

In the end, Elphaba isn't inclined to say no.

It's the beginning of a new chapter, scratched onto the pages of their twisted fairytale. Their palace is a ratty attic room with mold on the shower tiles and barely enough room for two people. Glinda thinks it's the greatest love story of their age.

"So, this is it, huh?" Glinda says as she takes in the sight of their new home. Elphaba follows, closing and locking the door behind her.

"I'm afraid so," says Elphaba, frowning as she assesses the room. "It's not too late to change your mind about staying."

"Oh, hush, Elphie." Glinda spins around, hooking her arms around Elphaba's neck. "There is nowhere else I'd rather be."

It's a little strange, she thinks, standing in this room with Elphaba. The day is still surreal to her even now. The thought is quickly dismissed when Elphaba pulls her closer and plants a kiss on her forehead. Glinda reaches up and takes Elphaba's face in her hands, kissing her fully on the lips.

"I could get a job," Glinda murmurs as she pulls back.

"You? Working?" Elphaba seems to imagine this then immediately breaks out into laughter. "Oz, I must be losing it."

"I'm serious, Elphie!" Glinda huffs. "We do need to pay the rent."

"Considering the state of this place, I believe it would be more fair if they were the ones paying us."

"I suspect our new landlord would disagree."

"So many disagreeable Gillikins to deal with. And it's barely midday."

"Did you just compare me to a fifty years old woman who tried to trick us into taking the room without running water?"

"Do not take offense, Miss Glinda. She seems a rather nice lady, not accounting her pitiable attempt to dupe us."

Glinda rolls her eyes. "You are insufferable."

"It's merely a part of my grand plan to annoy you all the way back to Shiz."

"Were I to be driven away, Miss Elphie, I assure you it would take more than your barbed wit."

"How much more?"

"A lot more. Perhaps a holy intervention, staged by Lurline personally."

It was Elphaba's turn to look indignant. Glinda laughs.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, Elphie," says Glinda, her eyes twinkling. "Even that won't do."

They don't talk about Nessarose or Glinda's parents. Elphaba feels guilty and Glinda feels scared and it's not like either of them is ready for that conversation anyway. Instead, they talk about the pros and cons of hardwood floor, Glinda's terrible co-workers and what a miracle it is that she has learned how to do the laundry.

It's early in the morning. Elphaba is sitting at the rickety table next to the door, when Glinda bursts out of the bathroom, half-dressed and possibly late for work.

"You'd best hurry, my sweet," Elphaba calls from the table. "I fear the newspapers aren't going to publish themselves."

"Oh, save it, Elphie," replies Glinda distractedly as she shimmies into her skirt. "I'm going to be late!"

"I'm afraid so. How will they manage without your crucial role of making coffee and running errands?"

"Elphie!"

"You'll have to forgive me, my dear," Elphaba relents. "It is rather difficult for me to take the establishment seriously, considering all the rubbish they put out in print." She glances at her own copy of the paper, a black-and-white photo of a Bull being detained by two Gale Force officers spreads on the table. The headline reads, War Against Brutes Continues.

Glinda halts her movement and watches as Elphaba begins to drift away, dark eyes looking right past Glinda. Silence takes over. She's suddenly reminded of the day Elphaba almost left her but doesn't have time to contemplate on it before Elphaba speaks up again.

"I met some people."

Glinda swallows. "People?"

"Animals."

There's another beat of silence. In her mind, Glinda goes over the things she might say and wonders if any of them will make any difference at all.

She settles with, "Be careful, Elphie. Please."

Elphaba responds with a silent nod. With that, Glinda finishes getting dressed and slips out of the room.

Some days are better than others.

Some days, the weather is sunny but not too hot, the food isn't under-seasoned, and her boss is tolerable. Some days Elphaba comes home before nightfall and Glinda doesn't stay up until dawn, waiting and worried out of her mind.

The sun will come up in a few hours, Glinda notes as she glances at the clock. It's not one of the good days.

She doesn't know what Elphaba is doing most of the time. Elphaba generally keeps the nature of her work to herself, despite Glinda's constant prodding. So Glinda sits at the table, clutching at her cup of tea and wondering where Elphaba may be and what she might be doing. The scenarios that come to mind make her stomach sink.

Then, the sound of the door unlocking breaks Glinda from her thoughts. A few seconds later, Elphaba emerges, appearing worn from running but perfectly calm. She looks at Glinda and doesn't say anything about her being awake. Glinda stares back and doesn't comment on Elphaba coming home when it's almost morning.

They go to bed. It could be worse.

There is a sorcery textbook that has found a way into her luggage somehow. Glinda reasons that she may have accidentally thrown it in there in the panicked rush during which she had packed.

Glinda isn't sure what to do with the book. She could keep it, she supposes, as a sort of token from Shiz. In the end, however, she decides to sell it for some money and treat herself to a nice meal.

The past is overrated, anyhow.

a/n: title from Runaways by The Killers