Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.

A/N: lifelover88 and I Dont Walk I Glide, thank you so much for the reviews! You guys are awesome.

A/N 2: Sorry it's taking so long to get to the part where the first chapter of the story is explained and where you see what happens next. But I thought it'd be important to see into the girls' relationship first. We'll be moving forward soon though, I promise.

Chapter 10

And so the days passed. Galinda decided she didn't want to think about how much everything hurt, how she had just ruined the one good thing in her life and how Elphaba had left because she had pushed her away. She decided she would block her feelings, thoughts, everything. Because feeling numb was better than the pain that came from not blocking everything and everyone out.

She ended up staying in her room at all times. No one was allowed to go in, except for Nanny who had a key and who would come once in a while to check on her.

The first time Nanny had come, she had let Phanne and Shensen in with her, thinking that would help the blonde. But she decided not to do that anymore after seeing how those girls reacted (they had barely talked to Galinda and had left fast to start spreading the news about the state in which Shiz's queen was at). So Nanny decided not to let anyone in anymore, except Fiyero. He did come in a couple of times. Galinda wasn't sure about how many though because really everything was like a blurry picture to her and she only drifted in and out of sleep during the day.

One of the times she opened her eyes coming out of one of her naps she could see a nurse talking to nanny next to her bed.

"I'm really worried now" Nanny was saying "I already contacted her parents and they're on their way, but it's like she's not even here anymore. She doesn't leave that bed and she barely eats. She doesn't speak at all… what's wrong?"

"Well, for what you told me… and considering how you found her the day all of this started, I'd say she had an emotional break-down. Having her parents here will help her through that, and also they could confirm if this has happened to her before. Anyway, just having them here, with her will help her a lot; when this things happen, being with the people you love and feeling cared about is the key. So clearly their parents are the key"

And then Galinda uttered a word without even realizing "Elphieee"

The nurse having stopped in mid sentence at hearing something from the blonde stood up quickly coming to her side. "Did you hear that?" she asked turning to look at Nanny.

"Yes, I think she said Elphie"

"Is that a friend of hers?" the nurse asked curious

"Actually, she's her roommate. She left a few days ago to the Emerald City under Madame Morrible's request"

"Would she be coming back soon?"

"I don't know… I haven't told her about Galinda in the letters I sent because I don't want her to worry. Especially not if there might not be anything she can do to help… I really don't know if she'll be back"

At that Galinda felt an involuntary whimper leave her mouth.

The nurse clearly seeing the signs turned again to look at Nanny. "Maybe, maybe if they were close you should tell her about what's going on here. She might be able to help; at this point we should try anything"

Nanny just nodded and Galinda saw her heading out before closing her eyes once again.

The next thing Galinda knew was that she was feeling a light touch on her cheek, a touch that seemed to be bringing her back to life. Then, while keeping her eyes closed, she realized she could smell her… she felt Elphaba's scent around her. She was terrified it was only a dream, but she had to make sure, so she opened her eyes slowly and felt her heart beat fast at seeing green skin and sharp but beautiful features close to her.

Elphaba didn't seem to realize she had woken up (maybe because her eyes had barely opened before they closed again). And Galinda decided not to move, enjoying the way Elphaba was caressing her cheek delicately.

"What have I done Glin… I shouldn't have left like that. This is… it's my fault"

Nooo, the blonde felt herself scream.

"Elphieee, don't" she barely whispered instead

"Glinda? Glin? Wake up, please open your eyes"

And Galinda did just that, looking lovingly at the girl before her. "It's Galinda, with a Ga" she said, wanting to cheer the girl in front of her up; not bearing to see Elphaba so distressed because of her.

At that Elphaba just burst out laughing and held the blonde close to her.

"Oz Galinda, you scared me to death. You scared everyone to death, what happened?"

Galinda felt so overwhelmed at the moment… Why was Elphaba being so caring, did that mean she didn't hate her anymore?

"I… I thought you hated me. I thought you had left me" she said whispering and then she remembered all the horrible things she had done to this amazing girl in front of her and continued "I'm so sorry Elphie, So, so, sorry. I don't deserve you, but I can't live without you, please stay, stay with me. If you don't want to be my friend again, that's… that's okay" she added sobbing "but please, don't go"

"I'm not going anywhere my sweet" Elphaba said. "I know we have to resolve some things between us, but right now is not the time. I need to go get the nurse to tell her you woke up. They might want to check you up right away now that you are conscious. I´ll be right back, okay?" she finished stroking the blonde's cheek.

Galinda only nodded, hoping Elphaba would be coming back fast.

"Ok then" the green girl whispered and left quickly to get the nurse. Galinda just stayed there, looking at the ceiling, waiting for her Elphie to come back.

"How are you feeling Miss Upland" the nurse asked while pointing a flashlight to Galinda's eyes.

"Much better, thank you" the blonde answered glancing at the door.

The nurse noted this and with a small smile said "don't worry, she'll be back soon. The cafeteria is pretty busy at this time of the day, that's why it might take her longer than usual".

"Yeah, I know that" the blonde answered with a shy smile.

At that moment, the room's door opened and Elphaba came in.

"How's she doing?" she asked the nurse, handing her a sandwich.

"Very well. Thank you for the food Miss Throop"

"You're welcome" Elphaba answered with a smile "I heard that you still have to go back to a long shift and we can't have you passing out on top of a pacient because of the lack of nutrients now, can we?"

The nurse laughed along with Galinda. "Guess not" she said, then handed Elphaba a jar of pills. "Give her these vitamins every day and make sure she eats properly. That's all she needs to get a full recovery".

"Thanks" Elphaba said putting the vitamins on her own nightstand.

"Ok girls, take care. I'll see you tomorrow Miss Upland. I heard your parents we'll be arriving then, it'd be good for you to see them. Good night"

After closing the door behind her, Elphaba turned to look at Galinda. "Did you hear that? Full recovery… I guess you won't be needing me to…"

"You are not leaving again, are you?" Galinda asked terrified, not letting the other girl finish what she was saying.

The reaction the blonde was having clearly worried Elphaba. She moved towards Galinda and kneeled next to her bed, looking at her. "You didn't let me finish Glin. I was about to say that you won't be needing me to babysit you anymore. Look, I know these past days have been rough on you, but you can't be so afraid that I might be leave"

"But I am! I need you, haven't you realized that yet?"

"That's what scares me the most Glin. I can't stay by your side all the time. Fearing that if I leave for a moment, you might end up getting sick"

"I know Elphie, I know" Galinda said sounding almost defeated "But at least I need to know I have you with me here" she said pointing at her heart "I need to know we'll always be… friends" she finished. She wasn't sure where she and Elphaba were standing right now regarding their relationship. She just knew that she needed some form of Elphie's love.

"When you left, I thought… I thought you hated me" Galinda said.

Elphaba just nodded. "You hurt me Glin"

"I know! And that's what killed me, I thought that I had lost you forever"

"You won't lose me" Elphaba said almost whispering.

At that Galinda couldn't contain herself and leaned in to kiss Elphaba. But her friend just pulled away quickly

"What are you doing?" she asked confused.

"I… I'm sorry"

Galinda noticed Elphaba struggling to say something, so she decided to give her some time. When her friend didn't say anything and instead got up quietly to put the food she had bought for both of them on some dishes, she decided that they needed to talk about some things first.

"Elphaba, why did you come back? I mean, after what I did to you?"

"Well" Elphaba started heading towards her friend. "I received a letter from Nanny. She told me how you were and why she hadn't let me know earlier. She also said that they were having a hard time contacting your parents and that you needed someone you could trust next to you, and according to Nanny, that was me. So I came because you were ill Glin, and I was really worried about you"

"But, after what I did to you…"

"Before all of that happened and before our fight, you had been my friend Glin. No one had ever given me that chance before. You were able to see pass my skin. You cared for me, you were my best friend. So a couple of days after I reached the Emerald City, I realized that maybe I had overreacted. Don't get me wrong, what you did was wrong and hurtful, and we still have to solve some of the issues that were left hanging between us. But I knew that being more than friends was going to be difficult, mainly for you. That's why I had offered you the chance to leave that behind and stay friends. When I remembered that, I also noticed that it didn't make sense for me to tell you it was okay to pretend nothing happened one day and then yell at you the next day for doing just that. As I said, what you did still hurts Glin, and I don't feel like I can trust you completely right now, not as much as I used to"

"But we can work on that, can we?" the blonde asked with fear in her voice. "I`ll do anything Elphie, anything to make it up to you, to win your trust again".

"I know my sweet, I know. I know you care about me"

"I love you" the blonde said loud and clear, earning a smile from Elphie.

"I love you too, that's why I'm here. And I know that eventually we'll resolve all of those issues I was telling you about. We'll be okay Glin"

Galinda felt so much relieve and happiness, she felt she was going to explode.

"Maybe we weren't ever ready to become something more than friends anyway" Elphaba then said.

Wait, what? Was she…

"Do you regret what happened?"

"No, absolutely not. All I'm saying is that maybe we weren't ready to take that step…"

"Yeah, maybe…" the blond replied, although she knew that wasn't the problem. But she wasn't going to push it right now After all, she had just gotten her Elphie back. This was all she needed, at least for now.

During the last hours, she had been thinking about everything that had happened earlier. And she realized that it was clear as water that she needed Elphie by her side. And for the way she felt butterflies in her stomach, along with the need to kiss her senseless every time she saw her, she knew that she needed to have Elphaba as something more than a friend. But this time, she would make things right. Specially because she knew she couldn't just start kissing Elphie and expect her to kiss back acting like nothing ever happened.

She knew she had hurt her friend, and she was going to make it up to her for the rest of her life. At the same time she was going to prepare herself to let everything else besides the green girl go.

Maybe she had left the pressure from her circle of "friends" and from herself force her to believe she had to let Elphie go. But clearly it was the other way around. Now she was going to get stronger and, like she said, prepare to leave everything behind for the girl she loved. She only hoped she could win her love's trust again and that she would wait for her, because on her part, she knew she could only feel happy and complete with Elphaba. There would never be anyone else, never.