Chapter 2

3 Years Later
"Boq?" asked Milla as they were lying in bed, cooling down.
"Yes?" He asked, running his hands through her hair absentmindedly.
"Nessarose is the Eminent Thropp now." Boq froze. "Her grandfather died. D'you suppose Miss Elphaba will come back to Munchkinland to reclaim her title?"
After the mind-boggling week of trying to put their lives back together after Elphaba's departure, he had severed all ties with Nessarose and become exceedingly distant from Glinda, the memories of Elphaba too painful to bear.
"No." He replied wistfully. "Elphie's gone."
Boq finally realized why it had hurt him so badly that she had left. Somewhere along the line, he had fallen in love with Elphaba Thropp. He really had changed after Doctor Dillamond's death. To fall out of love with popular, bubbly blonde Galinda and fall in love with witty, sarcastic green Elphaba was a shock to him.
But after waiting two years for some sign of her, he gave up hope. He finally started paying attention to Milla's advances and married her three months after graduating from Shiz.
Now, however, hearing that Nessa had ascended the throne confirmed it in his heart of hearts that Elphaba was dead. Tears trickled down his cheeks and he turned away from Milla, ignoring everything but the pain consuming his heart.
Why, oh why hadn't he figured it out before Elphie left? Maybe then he could have told her the truth.
"Boq?" whispered Milla again. He pretended to be asleep. "I just wanted to tell you that we're going to have a baby shortly." Boq stiffened. How could he have gotten into such a mess?
'I don't love you, Milla. Someone else is on my mind every hour of the day and I'm sorry.' he thought, then closed his eyes and dreamt of raven-black hair, emerald green skin, and dry, sarcastic laughter, which sounded better than any other laugh he had ever heard.
"I love you, Fabala." He whispered. Little did he know, his pregnant, impressionable wife was still awake and heard what he had said to a not-there Elphaba.