Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Question: Does each chapter switch speakers, in the same chapter? Like can both Avaric and Fiyero be narrating within the same one? Or is the one speaker for each chapter?

Answer: Each chapter does switch speakers. Yes, two of the boys can be narrating within the same chapter.

Thanks to lizziemagic, ShortieJMW, and Hedwig466 for reviewing the ninth chapter.

The dance lasted long into the night, but for Elphaba and Fiyero, it had already ended.

"We walked back to Shiz together, and wandered through the woods surrounding the school. After a while, she stops and asks, 'Why me?' I thought a moment, and then said, 'I love you.' Her eyes widened, and she pulled away. She seemed scared. She acted like I'd hit her. Then tossed her head and said, 'You can't love me.' I just remember moving closer to her. 'And why can't I?' I asked. She blinked back tears. 'Because the only person that truly loves me is dead.'

It was then that I realized that she was talking about her mother. I just remember moving towards her, and taking her in my arms, and that was when she broke down. And suddenly it all made sense. Wearing her mother's clothes, acting like her, speaking like her, it was all so Elphaba wouldn't feel like Mrs. Thropp had abandoned her. All I could do was hold her close and calm her down. When she seemed to calm down, she pulled away and wiped her eyes.

'Thank you.' I just nodded, and took her hand. We left the woods, and continued through campus. I walked her to her dorm, and when I turned to go she tugged me back to her. 'Come with me. Please?' I don't know why I didn't say no, that I couldn't, that I wasn't going to be the cause of her being removed from school, but I didn't say anything. Nothing. I just... let her lead the way to her room."

At first, Fiyero didn't say anything about what happened that night- only that he'd comforted her in the woods. It wasn't until that interview years later, when Elphaba was nothing but a distant memory to those at Shiz, that Fiyero admitted to taking her that night.

"I didn't want to. Mainly, we just sat on her bed kissing. I remember when we first entered her dorm.... the room was absolute chaos. It was... two girls growing up the best they could under their parents watchful but distant eyes. Clothing was everywhere- I remember seeing a black braissere draped haphazardly over the desk light.... and a.... a stuffed raven laying on the floor next to Elphaba's bed. The whole room smelled like perfume- lilies and roses- and there were perfume bottles on the desk, and then it clicked that Elphaba smelled like roses. She caught me staring at the mess, and whispered, 'You don't mind, do you? Milla and I kind of like the mess.'"

Fiyero said that he didn't mind, and the remembered how she reached behind her and unzipped the back of the dress. As the straps fell, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pulled him to her. They spent the majority of the time kissing, before she moved his hand to her breast.

"It was then that I pulled away. I couldn't do that too her, I loved her, but... there's a huge difference between loving someone and taking their virginity. I tried to tell Elphaba that we were making a mistake, but she wouldn't hear of it. 'Please Fiyero. Please. This is something I can control, something my dad has no say in. Please. You said you'd help me live. Please, Fiyero, help me live.'"

And she kissed him, pulling him towards her. They tumbled back on the bed, undressing and touching, caring only about each other. Fiyero made love to her that night in the girls' dorm, and when they lay together after, she asked, "Did you take me to the dance because you think I'm a kook? Or did you feel sorry for me? For both me and Milla?"

"I don't feel sorry for you. I love you. You and Milla deserve to live normal lives, not to be trapped in some cage like animals. I love you. I don't feel sorry for you. I love you." He kissed her softly, and the two curled up under the covers, amid the mess and security that was the girls' lives.

As for Milla, her virginity lasted two hours longer than Elphaba's but in the end, it too was taken. Drunk and relaxed, Milla pulled Crope outside and proceeded to try to get him to undress her in the light of the moon.

"She was drunk, completely and absolultely drunk. She didn't know where Elphaba had disappeared to, and had no desire whatsoever to hunt for her. Instead, she spent most of her time with her lips glued to mine. Then, she grabbed my hands and tugged me back to Shiz, to her dorm, and into her room. Of course, as soon as she saw Elphaba and Fiyero, she burst into excited giggles. 'I guess we know where Fabala went!' She found it hilarious, and then when she went to wake them up, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the door, and took her to the dorm Fiyero and I shared."

According to Crope, she got even worse. As soon as she set foot in the boys' dorm, she shoved him against the bed and began to undress both of them.

"I wasn't going to take advantage of her- especially considering the state she was in. I even managed to get her out the door and halfway across campus before she bit me. She didn't want to wake Elphaba, and didn't want to stay in their dorm, and begged to stay in mine. In the end, I agreed, and she was so excited she pulled me back to the dorm, and locked the door. You can guess about what went on from there."

Afterwards, Crope lay awake with her in his arms, beating himself up over what he'd done. The next morning, he took her back to her dorm early, and dragged Fiyero back to theirs. If the boys had paid closer attention, they would have realized that they were being watched.