AN: Virtual cupcakes for Mother yackel for being the 100th reviewer of this story :).
10. Rich Little Boy
Fiyero skidded to a halt in the doorway so suddenly that Paro bumped into him from behind. The prince just stared at the girl standing in the formal sitting room for a moment until she turned around from where she had been looking out of the window.
She smiled a little shyly. "Hey, Yero."
"Fae," he breathed, a smile spreading across his own face as well. "Hi. It's... it's good to see you."
She nodded and hesitated for a moment; then she stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
Fiyero chuckled almost nervously. "What was that for?"
"For what you did for me," she said simply. "I wouldn't be at Shiz right now if it weren't for you, Yero, and I also wouldn't be in touch with my sister again. Thank you."
"You're... you're welcome," he stammered, still a little taken aback by everything – mainly the fact that she was here right now.
Her gaze drifted to Paro. Realising he was being rude, Fiyero pulled his friend into the room and opened his mouth to introduce him, but Paro himself beat him to it.
"Hi," he said, taking Elphaba's hand and graciously kissing it. "My name is Paro Tiggular. I'm Fiyero's cousin and friend and I'm next in line for the Vinkun throne after Fiyero, in case this idiot should prematurely party himself to death."
Fiyero glared at his cousin, but Elphaba just sniggered. "Nice to meet you, Paro."
"What are you doing here?" Fiyero asked. It came out a little less friendly than he had intended it and he winced slightly. "I mean, um, I just... didn't expect to see you here."
"Well," she said sarcastically, "I didn't expect to hear from a fellow student at Shiz that she saw you and had to say that you are "happy for me", either."
He felt like crawling under the couch.
"I want to know what that was about," she said, crossing her arms. "You stopped writing me and though I didn't like that, I could understand it. What happened last spring was nice, but I get that you went back to your own life and didn't want to stay in touch with me. What I don't understand, however, is why in Oz you came to Shiz and took the effort of finding a fellow student of mine to give me a message, that you even went through the trouble of talking my father into letting Nessa be in touch with me, but that you never talked directly to me."
He coloured. "Well, I..."
She raised one eyebrow.
"He went to Pertha Hills to see you," Paro informed her, "but you weren't there, so then he went to Shiz; but he saw you there and you looked like you were happy, and Fiyero is an idiot who is scared of everything he has no experience with, so he left again with the lame excuse that he didn't want to mess up your life by barging into it again. The real reason is that's he's just a little bit of a brainless coward."
"Hey!" Fiyero exclaimed. "Could you stay out of this, please?"
Paro raised his hands in self-proclaimed innocence and slipped out of the room. Elphaba, meanwhile, was staring at the prince.
"Is that true?" she asked.
He sighed. "Look, Fae..." He sat down on the couch. She sat down across from him and he took her hands in his, looking down at them instead of at her face.
"I've never had a real relationship before," he began. "And when I realised what I felt for you, back in Gillikin... it frightened me. I guess Paro is right – I am a bit of a coward. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to see you again, but I was sure I'd mess things up if we were going to be serious... which I didn't even know for sure, because I'm not certain how you feel about me... I was just confused," he admitted. "I was an idiot. I mean, I am an idiot. I'm sorry."
She pulled her hands out of his grip. "Fiyero, I have no experience with this, either," she said, shaking her head. "I told you that. I've never been in love before and I've certainly never had a relationship. I can make it by myself. I've been getting by on my own since I was little and I can keep doing that if I need to. I just need you to be honest with me. I can deal with it if you don't want to see me again. It wouldn't be easy, but I could. And I was just starting to do that when you suddenly showed up again."
He bit his lip. "I know."
"So I need you to give me an answer," she said, "and I promise that no matter what it is, I will accept it and act accordingly."
He frowned at her. "You make it sound like a business agreement."
She had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry. Galinda said the same thing when we became friends, but that's just how I've basically been going through life since I was young."
He wanted to take her hands again, but resisted the urge. "I know. It's okay. I understand, I just..." He sighed. "You wanted me to be honest, so I will be. I like you, Fae. A lot." He looked at her. "But I'm scared," he said. "And I'm confused. I'm afraid I will mess this up, or that I will hurt you."
"Yero, if anyone is going to mess it up, it would be me," said Elphaba wryly. "I always mess up everything in my life."
"That's not true!"
She shrugged. "Isn't it? My father hates me. I've embarrassed my entire family by being born the way I was. Not to mention my mother is dead and my sister crippled because of -" She cut herself off suddenly, her eyes growing wide, and she shook her head violently. "Never mind, forget I said that."
Fiyero was curious. He knew he shouldn't push – not now, anyway – but he'd never been good at letting things go. "What do you mean?" He stared at her in horror. "Are you saying you think your mother is dead and your sister crippled because of you?"
"Let it go, Fiyero!" she cried, but he shook his head and leant forward, looking at her intently. She tried to look away, but he caught her chin to keep her from doing so.
"Hey," he said softly. "You can trust me."
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I know that, Yero, but I don't want to talk about it."
"In that case, just know that whatever happened with your mother and sister was most definitely not your fault."
She snorted. "You don't even know what happened!"
"Did you purposefully do anything to cause your mother's death and your sister's disability?"
"Not purposefully," she muttered, wincing. Without thinking, Fiyero moved to sit next to her and pulled her into his arms. For the first time since she'd come into the room, it felt like they were back to the way they'd been before.
"Will you tell me what happened?" he asked her quietly.
She was quiet for a moment. Then she shrugged. "There's not much to tell, really. My mother chewed milk flowers whilst pregnant with Nessa because she and Father didn't want my brother or sister to be green as well, and because of that, Nessa was born too early and without use of her legs and Mother died. That's all." She tried to make light of it, but Fiyero could see how much this pained her.
"Oh, Fae..." He held her and rested his chin on the top of her head. "That was not your fault."
"If I hadn't been born –"
"Hey! It was not your fault, okay? For Oz's sake, Elphaba, did you choose to be born the way you were? It wasn't your fault and that's the end of it. And your father is stupid for not seeing how beautiful you are." He cupped her face and looked into her eyes for a moment before pressing a kiss to her forehead.
She nodded, even though he could tell that she didn't believe him. "Yero?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not asking you to marry me, you know. And I'm not going to resent you if you end up breaking up with me after all because of... well, because of whatever reason. My status, my skin, my temper – it's not like I'm such an easy person to be with," she admitted. "I just don't want to keep doubting myself, and you, and whatever there is between us."
"I don't care about your status, your skin, or your temper, you know that," he said immediately. "Fae? Can you answer a question for me?"
She nodded and he took a deep breath. "Do you... do you love me?"
Again, she fell silent for just a moment, clearly at war with herself. Then she admitted, so softly that he could barely even hear it, "Yes."
He had expected to feel that panic again, squeezing his throat shut like icy fingers, but it didn't come. He just felt relieved, for some reason, and he had this weird feeling that his heart was fluttering in his chest. She loved him.
He was so dumbstruck that he didn't say anything for a long time and she pulled away from him, rising to her feet and hugging herself.
"I'm sorry about all this," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I came and I'm sorry I pressured you... I shouldn't have. I guess... I mean, I'll just go now."
"Wait, what?" he said, startled. "Why?"
She gave him a sad smile. "I don't think you're ready for this, Yero. And neither am I. Fairy-tales aren't real and wishes don't come true, and it was silly of us to believe otherwise."
She kissed his cheek and rushed out of the door before he could say anything else.
To Elphaba, it was clear as day – perhaps Fiyero had been confused about his feelings at some point because they'd spent so much time together, but he didn't really want her in the end. He didn't love her back and this could never work. She'd always suspected as much. If he ever were to commit to a girl, it would be a beautiful girl from a wealthy and influential family, not a green charity case working at a café. And that was if he ever were to commit to a girl, because from what he'd told her, she wasn't sure he would. He valued his freedom too much.
Fiyero stared at the door, not understanding what exactly had just happened. He was shaken from his thoughts when the door opened and Paro poked his head in. "How did it go? Because it looked suspiciously like she was leaving just now," he informed the prince, "and if she is, then you do realise I have no other choice then to whack you across the head until you see stars."
"She did leave," Fiyero confirmed, dazed, "but... but I don't know why. I mean, I didn't even say anything... I don't know!"
"What happened?" Paro asked, sitting down on the couch. Fiyero sat down beside his cousin and told him everything that had transpired.
Paro chewed his cheek. "Yes, well... she's right about the two of you. She hasn't had an easy life and we all know that you are a little brainless. You'd both have to overcome some fears if you want to be together, but I think you'd be fine." He looked at Fiyero. "What happened right before she left?"
Fiyero thought about that. "I... I asked her if she loves me," he said, recalling the conversation. "She said yes." He had to smile again at that, but his smile faded when he realised where it had gone wrong. "Oh my Oz... I didn't say it back."
"Huh?" Paro asked, confused.
"She admitted she loves me and I didn't say anything." Fiyero felt like kicking himself. "I mean, I told her before that I like her, but I didn't say... I do love her, but I didn't want to admit that to her, only to have her tell me she didn't love me back. And now she said it and I just sat there like an idiot. I know how sensitive she is when it comes to those things. She's always afraid of being rejected and now she opened up to me and I didn't even say it back! I just let her go!"
"You were surprised," said Paro. "But yes, maybe that was a little stupid."
Fiyero buried his face in his hands. "I am such an idiot!" he moaned. "What should I do now?"
"Go after her, of course," Paro said.
The prince looked up. "What?"
"Yero," his cousin said, meeting Fiyero's gaze. "If you don't fix this now, you're going to lose her forever."
And somehow, that prospect seemed worse than any horror scenario about commitment Fiyero had ever conjured up in his head.
He bit his lip and then leapt to his feet. "I'll see you later, okay?" With that, he ran from the room.
Don't be mean to him, guys, he's just a little slower at figuring things out than most of us are :P. Only two more chapters to go!