I rewrote this about six times... hope you like the end result!

"Avaric, wake up!"

A voice, far too loud, accompanied by lights far too bright caused him to stir. The scent of stale vomit assaulted him, the taste still lingering in his mouth. "No," he muttered.

This time there was a little kick, more aggravating than normal as he had spent the night on the hardwood floor. "Get up, man. There aren't any options here. You fell asleep in the hallway outside the girls' room. We have to go!"

He blinked a few times as he watched Boq hover over him. He pulled himself up, nearly slipping on the previous contents of his own stomach. He didn't address his friend, instead kicking the blasted door he knew wouldn't open. "Elphaba!" he yelled, even though he knew she wouldn't answer him.

Boq smacked him, "Shut up! Do you want to wake up the entire floor? We'll get kicked out if Morrible finds out you spent the night here, or that I came up here to look for you."

He turned to him, pretending he had no idea why she wouldn't address him. He knew, but had to hear someone else say it. "Where is she?"

Boq finally succeeded in getting him to walk away from the door. "Why do you care so much?"

A glare. "I just do, alright?"

Boq looked downward, unhappily. "Elphaba and Glinda's room was unlocked when I came up to check on you- I meant to ask them for towels to help clean you up. When I realized it was unlocked-I knocked first- I went in. Neither of the beds were slept in and most of their belongings were gone- just about all of Elphaba's, it looked like." He frowned, searching Avaric's face for some sort of explanation. "It looks like they were only home for a very short time before leaving again. And I ask again: why do you care so much?"

"That's none of your bussiness."

"Well then why the hell did you decide to spend the night in front of this particular dorm room? Can you answer me that one?"

"I..." he took a breath as he gathered his thoughts. He wanted to give honest, steady Boq some sort of answer, some kernel of the truth. But how could he explain the... relationship he had with Elphaba Thropp? The fact that he was both attracted to and repulsed by her, the intimacy? The fact that she was more woman than any of the girls he had ever been with, and also something stronger. As if she were Female, the others merely female.

No, he could never hope to explain it to Boq.

Boq was so honest and steadfast. He would never dream of being intimate with a girl he didn't love. And Avaric did not love Elphaba, that wasn't even an option. But Boq wouldn't be able to understand that. Then again, Avaric himself didn't understand why he had decided to spend the night outside that dorm room, hoping that Elphaba would return.

He knew it wasn't the truth, but he decided to blame the alcohol. It hadn't sated him, the girls hadn't distracted him. Over and over again she returned to his mind, intense and frightening and focused. He'd known she wasn't going to simply go home; he'd known she wasn't inside her dorm. He just didn't know where she would be or what she was doing, or better yet, why he cared.

By that point they had reached the front door, the safety of the outside where no one could accuse him of having passed out on the floor of the girls' dorm at some ungodly hour of the night. A thin light peeked out through clouds and Avaric slunk back to his own dorm without telling Boq a thing.

Glinda came back, a little less than three weeks later, tired and hurting. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was gaunt, as if she hadn't been able to eat much since she'd left. She was still beautiful, but for once it seemed like she had finally had to put work into it. They had all crowded around her, doubtlessly overwhelming her. Boq stood on one side, one of the other girls (Pfannee, maybe?) on her other, asking her questions. They had gone to the Emerald City and met the Wizard, something none of the rest of them had dreamed of doing.

And Elphaba had refused to come home, sending Glinda on her way like a young child to be bid where you pleased.

Later, after everyone had had their fill of the gossip, he followed her back to their dorm. "Glinda!"

She turned around slowly, tiredly. "I'm sorry Avaric, but I really just want to go back to my... to our... to my room."

"I know, and I'll walk you there. I just wanted to talk." She nodded, waiting for him to catch up to her and then walking with him. "What happened?"

She looked frustrated, as annoyed as she was capable of looking. "I told you. We went to the City, we met the Wizard. She stayed and I left. She made me leave her."

He glanced down, almost wanting to let her be; he couldn't though, he had to know. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"

She shook her head, the blonde curls limply framing her face. "No. She said she didn't even know where she was going. She's gone, Avaric, no one's going to be able to find her."

"So you've just given up then?"

She ran a hand over her hair. It seemed thinner, not as bright. Frankly, that was an accurate description for all of her, as if the world had chewed her up and spat her out. Or as if Elphaba had rejected her. "You don't think I wish I knew where she was? You don't think I want to find her?" She looked into his eyes, searching for something she couldn't quite make out. "Since when do you care what happens to her? You never did before, no one ever did, not when it counted."

He didn't answer her, mostly because he didn't know the answer himself.