DISCLAIMER: Wicked is not my property or creation. Until I get a time machine, and then I might make a claim for it.
AN. Thank you to everyone who reviewed so far! I have been so nervous about posting this. The main theme of reviews so far seems to be "this is different" to which my answer is- you have no idea. Lol. This fic has been planned for 2 years and was inspired by a Gilmore Girls scene, of all things; and I think this has been the hardest fic to write. Ever.
I forgot some very important Thank You's last chapter- to Julia, for nagging me to write this for the past 2 years since I told her the idea, and for her creation of the most… unique OC I've ever written.
To Kelly, for encouraging me and talking me through every plot point and writer's block I had.
And to Maddy, for proofreading this for me after I found some very embarrassing typos; and likewise giving me feedback on any plot point I was unsure of.
The best review for ch 1 had to be an anonymous review- "Dear Brainless Vinkun Prince, You really shouldn't marry someone you're not in love with. Sincerely, Everyone Reading This"
And to my other Guest reviewer- Happy Birthday!
2
The next part of Glinda's plan was the most important; it was what every part of her great plan had been leading up to until now- marriage. And once she and Fiyero passed their two year anniversary, and with graduation nearing; Glinda was sure that this greatest phase of her life was about to begin. In her mind, Fiyero proposing was the next and only logical step.
And after having planned and dreamed about this moment for so long, Glinda was more than ready for it.
No-one but Elphaba knew that the popular blonde had a scrapbook under her bed with every idea she'd had over the course of her and Fiyero's relationship for their future wedding. And Glinda was sure that the time for that scrapbook was quickly nearing.
When Glinda had received the letter from Fiyero's parents, officially inviting her to spend the summer in the Vinkus after they graduated; Glinda had interpreted this invitation as a sign that this was the moment- this was a definite sign that Fiyero's parents approved of their relationship and they would be engaged by the fall. Elphaba had been hearing for a month about how sure Glinda was that Fiyero would propose over the summer. It was exactly why Elphaba had hesitated when Fiyero had invited them to come along.
"I really don't think we should come," she said to Glinda when the girls were alone in their room that evening.
Glinda sighed. "Elphie, I've told you. Yes, I was... surprised when Yero mentioned it, but the more I think about it... he's right. You guys should come. Elphie, you're my best friend! I can't get engaged without you there!"
Elphaba wasn't so sure. "Glin, I'm pretty sure that a proposal is supposed to be a private thing."
"Not my proposal," Glinda retorted.
Elphaba didn't know why she was surprised by that. "You've planned your own proposal?! Does Fiyero know this?"
"Well, not yet," Glinda admitted. "But I have a plan for that."
Elphaba didn't even want to ask.
"I've always gone back and forth about it," Glinda admitted. "But I've decided that it's going to be much more exciting if the people I love most are there when it happens. This is going to be the biggest moment of my life, Elphie. You have to be there."
Elphaba busied herself packing away some books. "I said I'd come, didn't I? But my father may not let me... you know what he's like."
"Yes, but he'll let Nessa, and then he'll have to let you go too, won't he?" Glinda asked hopefully. "Nessa would insist on it."
She sighed sadly. "I wish you had something to look forward to, Elphie. I hate the thought of you spending the rest of your life..."
Elphaba smiled faintly. "It's nothing I haven't known my entire life, Glin."
"But it's so depressing! And just because you've known it, doesn't mean you like it. I know you, Elphaba," Glinda scolded gently.
"Every time in the past two years you get that sad look in your eyes and think you're hiding it, you're not. Why do you think I hate your father so much?"
Elphaba chuckled faintly. "Because you've met him?" she suggested half-heartedly.
She stepped over and hugged her friend tightly. "Thanks, Glin. Are you staying here tonight, or in Fiyero's room?"
"Here," Glinda smiled. "I want to make the most of the time we have left as roommates. I don't know what I'll do when we're not sharing a room anymore."
"This from the girl who wanted her own private suite," Elphaba teased and Glinda giggled.
Excusing herself to the bathroom to shower, Elphaba let out a long sigh as she shut the door behind her.
She didn't really want to spend the summer at the Vinkus, but she couldn't say no to Glinda. Or Fiyero. But honestly, she couldn't imagine anything worse than witnessing Fiyero proposing to Glinda. Actually, that wasn't true. She could- watching Fiyero marry Glinda. And Elphaba felt awful about that.
For over two years, Elphaba had hidden her feelings for Fiyero. Evidently, she hadn't done as good a job at that as she'd thought. At least Glinda had, thankfully, attributed her "sad look in her eyes" to her father; which wasn't entirely false. Elphaba's relationship with her father had always been... tense, to say the least; but it had been worse since Elphaba had come to Shiz.
Nessarose had mentioned to their father in a letter home that Elphaba was excelling at Sorcery, and that the Wizard of Oz himself had expressed an interest in meeting her. Frex had immediately contacted his eldest daughter, and told her in no uncertain terms that she was to "drop this nonsense" and "not waste the Wizard's time", or he'd remove her from Shiz. Despite protests from both his daughters and Madame Morrible herself, Frex would not budge on the matter. He argued that the idea of Elphaba working for the Wizard was ludicrous, and reminded Elphaba pointedly that her place was in Munchkinland, running the household and helping her sister.
And finally, Elphaba had given in and conceded defeat. She had dropped Morrible's Sorcery seminar, and resigned herself to a meaningless, limited life after Shiz.
Then there was Fiyero.
Elphaba knew it was completely ridiculous to have feelings for a boy who clearly would never reciprocate them; let alone when said boy is your best friend's boyfriend, and definitely after two years. But every time Fiyero smiled at her, her heart began to thud in her chest and she got butterflies in her stomach. And she'd watched him over the past two years as he shed his former "scandalacious" reputation, and began to settle down. For Glinda.
There had been a brief, horrendible time after that day with the Lion Cub; a few weeks when Glinda- Galinda as she had still been then- had begun to sob that Fiyero was distant and moodified and maybe he didn't love her anymore. And Elphaba had feared... even worse, she had begun to hope... that it was because of her. The pretty blonde had gone so far as to change her name in order to impress Fiyero, to no avail.
But then Fiyero had become attentive again, and Glinda's tears dried up, and all was well again. And Elphaba, coupled with these feelings she didn't want and shouldn't be having, and the situation with her father; had begun to sink into a spiral of depression. She had become quieter and listless, burying herself in her studies.
Nessa and Glinda had both been worried, but Elphaba had ignored them. It wasn't until she and Nessa were back in Munchkinland for the summer that Elphaba had shaken herself off and become somewhat herself again. She accepted the fact that she couldn't escape her future, as long as her father was alive, at least. And Elphaba refused to let herself be ruled by her hidden feelings for Fiyero.
"It's a crush. It'll pass. It means nothing."
It had become her mantra, and although her feelings lingered, she clung to that hope. However, she was thankful that in the meantime, she and Fiyero had become friends. There was no possible way to avoid him, and well... Elphaba had never had friends before Shiz. She was going to be at least grateful to have him in her life as a friend. It wasn't always easy, but she hoped seeing him less after they graduated would help that.
Elphaba was genuinely happy that Glinda was loved, and getting the life she always wanted; and she couldn't deny that Glinda and Fiyero were the perfect couple. But that didn't mean she was thrillified about the idea of watching them get engaged.
Their last week at Shiz was a flurry of inactivity. All exams and finals had been completed for the seniors, and there were no more classes to attend. So the soon-to-be graduates milled around campus, procrastinated the packing and cleaning of their dorm rooms, and waited nervously for their final exam results to be released. If they didn't pass, they couldn't graduate.
None of their group had anything to worry about, thanks to Elphaba, who had pushed them all mercilessly to study for their finals, this year beyond any other. Nessa and Boq hadn't complained; although Glinda and Fiyero had protested half-heartedly.
They were all feeling a little nostalgic the closer graduation day neared, and one day over lunch, they began to reminisce.
"There's been a lot of changes in the three years," Glinda said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. Three years ago, you didn't know Boq's name and here you are, close friends," Nessa laughed lightly.
"I knew his name!" Glinda protested.
"Glin, you called him 'Bick' for the first semester and a half," Elphaba retorted.
Glinda cringed at the memory. "Yeah..."
Boq shrugged. "I answered to it. That was the problem."
Nessa smiled at her ex-boyfriend. They had only dated for a few months, and Boq's infatuation with Glinda had been a factor in their breakup at the time; but now it was something they all laughed over. Including the fact that it was no secret Boq still considered Glinda perfect, and most of them suspected- still a little in love with her, although Boq always denied it.
"You couldn't even talk to Glinda for months," she giggled. "And you were afraid to go within three feet of Elphaba, remember?"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Who wasn't?" she asked rhetorically.
Boq rolled his eyes. "OK, ok. Can we mock someone else now please?"
"You're just such an easy target," Fiyero teased him.
"Who do you think has changed the most?" Nessa asked thoughtfully.
"Well, Glinda had a whole different name," Fiyero pointed out.
"She took out an 'a'," Elphaba retorted. "It wasn't that big of a change."
"Which removed a whole syllable," Fiyero argued. "I'd say that's big."
"I still don't understand why you changed it at all," Boq said.
Glinda's cheeks flushed slightly. "To honour Dr Dillamond's memory of course," she said, which was the official story. Only Elphaba knew the truth.
"I wonder whatever happened to him," Nessa mused sadly.
"Me too," Elphaba said quietly.
Fiyero caught her eye, and they both looked away. Thinking of the old Goat instinctively made him thinking of the other big event of that day, and judging by the faint blush staining her cheeks as she pointedly avoided looking anywhere in his direction, Elphaba was thinking of it too.
Clearing his throat, he pushed away his empty plate. "I've got to go to the library."
Elphaba looked at the others. "Two years and I'm still surprised he actually knows where the library is."
"You're checking out books a few days before graduation when we have no classes?" Boq asked in disbelief.
Fiyero looked sheepish. "Actually, I have to go charm the librarian and convince her I actually did return a book she says I haven't."
"Where is the book?" Nessa asked.
"I lost it," Fiyero admitted. "I can't find it anywhere, and if it's not returned, I can't graduate."
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Just pay for the book."
"That's Plan B," he reassured her, and got up from his seat.
"Kiss," Glinda ordered, tilting her face up.
Fiyero obediently pecked her lips lightly and left hurriedly.
Walking over to the library, Fiyero let out a sigh. Every time something came up that made him flash back to that day with the Lion Cub when Glinda was in the room; Fiyero tried to make a hasty escape, as though remembering that moment when he wasn't around Glinda was somehow less sinful than when she was around.
Two years he had been in love with Elphaba, and Fiyero still had no solution. In the beginning, it had seemed simpler. Either break up with Glinda, or hopefully, his feelings for Elphaba would go away. But the more time that passed and still Fiyero did nothing, it got more and more complicated.
The thing was... he did care for Glinda. He did. He loved her even. Genuinely, and he didn't want to hurt her. But he wasn't in love with her. And he could never see a way that he could break up with Glinda and be with Elphaba without hurting her.
And then there was Elphaba. What Fiyero felt for her was nothing like he had ever felt for anyone before. And it was terrifying. Even if he wasn't with Glinda, Fiyero wasn't sure if he'd have the guts to make a move on Elphaba. It had taken them six months before he was sure they were friends, and it had been almost a year and a half before he knew that he and Elphaba were close friends. Of course, it wasn't as close as he'd like... and they weren't really close considering the awkwardness of him secretly being in love with her while dating her best friend, but still... they were close.
There was the odd moment when Fiyero wondered if Elphaba could possibly return his feelings. A blush, or avoiding his gaze, or moments where she'd go really quiet and tune out of their conversations. There were times where it seemed she was avoiding being alone with him. But if Elphaba was good at anything (besides Sorcery. And cooking... and being super smart... ok Elphaba was good at a lot of things) it was hiding what she was feeling.
Until Glinda had told him at the beginning of their second year, Fiyero hadn't realised how much Elphaba had struggled with what her father had done in making her drop Sorcery. It had taken him another month to learn exactly what Elphaba's future was once she finished Shiz and how limited it was. There were many things Elphaba kept close to her chest.
Which Fiyero could relate to.
By this point, Fiyero didn't think he had any other option. He and Glinda had been together so long, simply because Fiyero didn't see a way out of it without hurting her. He wasn't stupid enough to know if he hurt Glinda, he'd probably lose Elphaba, even if Glinda never knew he was in love with her. Elphaba would take her best friend's side.
But marrying Glinda, even if he did love her... it didn't seem fair to Glinda. Surely Glinda deserved to be with someone who adored her. It was a catch 22 situation, and Fiyero couldn't think of a loophole.
But maybe having the others come to the Vinkus for the summer would buy him some time. He had thought briefly once of discussing the matter with his father, but he and his father weren't exactly close enough for that kind of discussion.
Fiyero just knew he'd have to make a decision soon. He just wished he knew what the right thing to do was.
