Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Wicked but am grateful for those who do.

A/N: I had some trouble with uploading this story in an easier way to be read when it switches points of view. I'll keep working on it but something is a little screwy on the site.

A brief look at the clock made the decision of what do easier for Elphaba as it read five past eight. "I…I have to go!" Elphaba shot up from her chair and ran across the room out the door. She ran as fast as her long legs could carry her down the hall and out the building.

Galinda sat stunned on the bed. What had she done?

Elphaba raced through campus, tears stinging her face as they ran down her cheek. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"She finally stopped when she reached the steps of the library. She looked back behind her to make sure Galinda hadn't tried to follow her. She pulled up the collar of her shirt to blotch the black lines the tears made down her face. She knew tending to these would have to wait until later. Until then she was going to have to put up with the fiery sensation. She couldn't keep her thoughts straight. Had Galinda really meant to do that? Maybe she was dreaming of Fiyero? She shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and gather herself. The moment she shut her eyes the vision of Galinda kissing her hand flashed before her. The tears started flowing from her eyes again. How could she let this happen? She practically took advantage of Galinda. There was no way she had willed it to happen right? She couldn't be powerful enough yet to where she could control people's actions. She held her head and rested her forehead on her knees. What made the situation worse were the feelings she felt when Galinda was doing those things to her. For the first time she could identify what she had been feelings little doses of for a while when she was with the girl. Want.

"I thought we were meeting inside? I guess I was confused," Fiyero said coming down the steps. He had been waiting in the hidden area he had been in with Elphaba earlier that day. When it got to be twenty after, he started to worry and went to find the girl. When he started down the steps he saw a girl huddled on the bottom steps. Even in the dark it wasn't hard to pick out the green girl.

Elphaba leaned up trying to discreetly wipe the new tears away. She knew if Fiyero saw her face there would be no way to hide the fact she had been crying. "Oh Fiyero, I'm sorry. I got tied up and I was on my way up…"

Fiyero made his way to the girl and saw what looked like black tracks down her face. It looked like it could have been mascara streaks but these were longer and darker. Plus, he was fairly certain Elphaba did not wear make up. "Elphaba, what happened? Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse?" Fiyero asked a little afraid something had happened to the girl on the way to the library in the dark. He started looking around for someone that might have attacked her.

"No Fiyero, I'm fine really. I mean, I know it looks bad but it will go away eventually. It's…" Elphaba even felt silly saying it, "It's my tears."

"Your water allergy," Fiyero nodded knowingly. "Galinda told me about that but I never would have imagined your own tears could do…that," Fiyero said gently pushing Elphaba's hands away that she was using to block her face from him. He looked at the marks and traced one with his finger. Elphaba flinched at the contact so he pulled his hand away.

"Does it hurt?"

"It does sting right now, yes. But it'll be fine," Elphaba said trying to pull herself together and pushing the thoughts of Galinda out of her mind for just a little bit. She had to figure out what to do about Fiyero. "Well, the library is closing soon so it would be pointless to try and make our way up there. We wouldn't accomplishment much anyway. Maybe we should reschedule?"

"Well, I mean we're both here. Unless you'd rather not, you still look a little shaken up. Wait a minute, what happened anyway?" Fiyero asked Elphaba realizing she had dodged his question earlier.

"It was nothing, just stressed about school and stuff. Regular stuff, you know," Elphaba said trying to drop the subject. This was definitely not the person to share the situation with. Fiyero and Galinda, she thought, that in itself was a whole other matter.

"If you say so," Fiyero eyed Elphaba but realized she obviously didn't want to discuss it now. "You shouldn't get so worked up about that stuff anyway, you'll ruin that pretty face of yours with stress lines," Fiyero said giving Elphaba a wink.

"Save it for someone who believes your cheap lines Princey," Elphaba laughed at his attempt at being debonair. "These streaks are so much better anyway," Elphaba said sarcastically, pointing to the lines on her face again which hadn't lightened very much yet.

"But it got you laughing which, in my opinion, helps any situation. Now, Miss Elphaba, what do you want to do about our lessons. As I stated, we will work around your schedule. If you have something else you need to attend to, please do not let me keep you from it," Fiyero said earnestly.

Elphaba thought about it. She didn't really want to go back to the room yet and face her roommate and this would maybe help keep her mind off of what had happened in her room. "Why don't we go to that gazebo in the south side of the courtyard? We will be able to use some of the lights around there to see."

"The gazebo it is. And just so you know I'm fighting back saying something along the lines of 'You're not the first girl to want to take me there at night' for your sake. I hope you appreciate the effort on my part," Fiyero said offering his arm to Elphaba.

"I do appreciate the effort, thank you," Elphaba said as she smirked and took his arm. The two made their way along the few paths to the gazebo.

Galinda sat frozen on the bed for a few more minutes. Could she maybe play it off that she was still dreaming? People act out all sorts of crazy things from their dreams all the time! Of course she would have a great time admitting she had been having a sexual dream of some kind. She let out a sigh and got up off Elphaba's bed. She couldn't believe how fast Elphaba had made it out of the room. It was like a snake had just bitten her. 'One did,' she thought to herself. How could she take advantage of Elphaba that way? She knew the girl didn't have any experience in the world of dating or being 'physical' with anyone. It could have only been one person moving her hair but it didn't matter to her subconsciously. Actually, it did matter. A part of her wanted it to be the green girl for real, not just in dream form. The poor girl could have just been trying to wake her up for dinner! Galinda thought about the look she received from Elphaba when she opened her eyes. There wasn't a look of hurt or hatred so that was a step in the right direction. But she had fled as quickly as she could, so that's not a good sign. As Galinda paced back and forth trying to decide what to do a thought struck her. Elphaba had plenty of hiding spots throughout Shiz. What if she didn't come back to the room? What if she wouldn't let Galinda explain at all? She could avoid Galinda all she wanted; she had most of the time when school first started! Galinda had to accept she had made this step and she could either keep going with it and attempt to explain her feelings to Elphaba or play it off as a dream and keep Elphaba as a friend even though she would have to suffer seeing her and wanting more from her. Either way she was going to have to find the girl and find her fast.

Galinda slipped her shoes on, grabbed a cloak and ran out the room in the direction she saw Elphaba head. She realized she didn't know where the girl went to once she got out of the hall. She remembered Elphaba saying she had to study because she had a meeting at the library. She glanced at her watch which showed the library was closing very soon. It was a long shot but it was a place to start. The girl ran over to the library and skidded to a stop as she saw Fiyero taking Elphaba's arm leading her away from the library. "What the hell?"

The couple made their way to the gazebo and Elphaba let go of Fiyero's arm. "Now first we're going to learn the basics of a waltz. There are many adaptations to this for each land so it is usually up to the band or organizer to say which version will be done. I am going to show you the Giliken one so you and Galinda will at least know one of the same versions. First you hold one arm up like this," Elphaba said as she directed Fiyero's arms, "and the other goes here," as she put his hand on her waist.

Naturally Fiyero wanted to step into Elphaba to close the distance between them as he always had in his previous dance experiences.

"Hold on there lover boy, this is a proper dance, with proper stances" Elphaba said pushing Fiyero back to their original distance from each other. "Now for demonstration purposes I will take the lead to show you the steps. When I lead I will put pressure on your waist the direction I need you to go. Try and get a feel for how to do this because this will be your role. We will start by taking the steps very slowly and one by one. Don't get frustrated if you can't remember the steps the first couple times we do this because it is going to take some time and practice. Hopefully we will have enough of both by Friday. Ready?" Elphaba said looking up into Fiyero's eyes.

"Yes Professor Thropp, lead the way…literally," Fiyero smiled ready to watch Elphaba's feet and feel her lead him.

Galinda squatted by the closest set of bushes she could once she saw the couple was staying at the gazebo. She watched as Elphaba took Fiyero and posed him into what looked like a store mannequin. Then she placed herself in a similar position. They were going to be dancing! Galinda watched intently as Fiyero drew Elphaba to him. Galinda fought herself not to pop up and yell at them that very instant but she didn't know who she would be angrier with right now. Then she released both her clenched fists and breath she didn't realize she had been holding when Elphaba pushed him back to how she had them formed. The couple talked a bit then she saw Elphaba moving Fiyero along in what appeared to be a very sad, slow attempt at a waltz. Fiyero's eyes were plastered to Elphaba's feet and instead of stepping he shuffled his feet along in an attempt to mirror Elphaba's actions. Oh Oz, he wasn't kidding about not being able to dance at all. Galinda smiled as she watched them. For the first time she was glad she hadn't pushed Fiyero more to dance with her.

Galinda continued to watch as it looked like Elphaba feared for her feet and took a different approach teaching him the steps. The two stood side by side as Elphaba made a step, Fiyero tried to copy it. This seemed to be working better for both as after a few tries he got the first few movements of the feet down.

Galinda turned away from the gazebo and sat in the grass. What were these two up to? This wasn't making much sense to her but Galinda was getting used to that lately. It didn't seem harmful like anything for her to get in a huff about. She took this moment to think about what she was going to say to Elphaba when she got the chance. She knew she had intense feelings for the girl. Fiyero at one time had sent sparks through Galinda's body but it didn't compare to the inferno Elphaba was starting in her which seemed outrageous considering how little physical contact they have had up to this point. Galinda blushed thinking about the dream she had earlier.

"OW! Owowow.." Elphaba shouted as she hopped to the side of the gazebo and sat on one of the benches inside. Galinda sat back up and turned around to see Elphaba with her eyes winced in pain and her fingers trying to quickly work her bootlaces. Because Elphaba had moved closer, Galinda could see the dark lines down her face. Tears sprang to Galinda's eyes and her hand flew up to her mouth to keep herself from audibly crying. She was sure she had caused those. Through her bleary eyes she watched as Fiyero followed Elphaba over and sat down by where she set her when she finally got her boot off.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot it was left then right. I got the whole foot, didn't I? Here, let me take a look at it," Fiyero said setting her foot on his thigh. "Do you mind if I remove your stockings for a closer look? I'll be able to see if there's swelling or anything."

"Really Fiyero, it's fine, it'll be fine. I would like to stay dressed, thank you." Elphaba started to pull her foot away, wincing but Fiyero held onto it.

"Elphaba it is obviously hurting you, just let me look at it. I promise I will be a gentleman. I won't touch or looking higher than your ankle, okay? I would feel horrible knowing I hurt you and didn't do anything about it," he said looking up at Elphaba. He saw her giving him a partly frustrated and partly suspicious look. "Now, about the stockings, would you like to remove them or shall I do the honors?" Fiyero wiggled his eyebrows and smirked up at Elphaba trying to get her to lighten up again.

Elphaba tried to lift her foot to kick Fiyero but he just laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "I was joking with you, trying to make you feel more comfortable. You look you're ready to attack."

"You are such a dog! I hope no one ever takes you seriously when you put on that smooth act!" Elphaba said trying to swat Fiyero's hands away from her foot. She felt her foot throbbing and decided that she did need to at least look at before she tried walking on it and it was obvious Fiyero wouldn't leave her as she did this. She conceded and leaned forward to slide her stocking off from her foot.

"I kind of like that people don't take me seriously. It makes my life easier. I'd rather be the life of the party than the chaperone all the time," Fiyero said as he looked at Elphaba's foot. He could swear he could almost make out the print of his shoe. He winced and drew in a breath. "I don't suppose rubbing this would help right? More contact probably doesn't help a bruise," Fiyero asked looking up at Elphaba.

"Probably not. This may mean our lesson for this evening has come to an end. You can practice those steps I taught you though. Also, I would recommend borrowing a record of the waltz to practice with in your free time. You can work on your rhythm with the music as well," Elphaba said as she replaced her stocking on her sore foot.

"Yes m'am. I will and for injuring you, I will come back with them perfected, or as perfect as my feet can get them. Sometimes I think they have a mind of their own," Fiyero stood and put his hands out to help lift Elphaba up to her feet. "C'mon, I'll walk you back to your hall. I want to thank you again Elphaba. I can't imagine anyone wanting to help me out like this and not giving me a hard time about it. And let's not forget the fact you're willing putting yourself at risk of a serious injury." Fiyero chuckled holding her hands.

"Oh please, you'd have a gaggle of screaming women at your door the second you asked them for help, injury or no injury," Elphaba said as she steadied herself on her sore foot. "I'm just…lucky?" she answered with a questioning look.

"I am the lucky one Elphie. Let's get you home and take care of that so you like to dance another day."

Fiyero put his arm around Elphaba's waist supporting her weight. She wrapped her arm over his shoulder and started to slowly put weight on her foot. Fiyero watched her face attentively looking for further signs of pain. He felt a little better when it appeared she was going to be able to walk with little assistance. He kept his arm around her just in case.

Galinda listened to the couple talking. She was surprised to find out Fiyero had asked Elphaba to show him how to dance. Why wouldn't he have asked her? What surprised her more was didn't feel all that jealous. She really was getting over the enchantment that Fiyero always brought around with him. She continued to listen to Fiyero argue with Elphaba about checking her foot. He wanted to remove her stocking but she wouldn't let him. Of course she wouldn't Galinda thought and smiled, she's a proper lady. Then she watched in disbelief as Elphaba slipped her stocking off and brought her foot back up to Fiyero. 'That tramp!' Galinda huffed. 'He better not lay a hand on her.' She felt as though flames were shooting out her eyes as she watched Fiyero run his hand over Elphaba's foot, inspecting the area he had trampled. What made it worse was to look up and see Elphaba laughing at his stupid jokes. 'How in Oz does he fit her type. He's the exact opposite!' As she thought those words, she remembered her earlier conversation with Elphaba, "…sometimes the best couples are two very different people together". She had been meaning her and Elphaba, not Fiyero and Elphaba!

'That's it!' Galinda thought. Confused or not confused, she had to at least approach Elphaba about what she was feeling towards her. She walked quickly from behind the bush she was hiding from and started to make her way back to their room before Fiyero and Elphaba.