AN: Last time I checked I still didn't own Wicked. So, yeah.
Chapter 11
Dancing and Dancing Until We Dance
Fredrick had happened to glance over as Glinda tore herself from a slobbering gorilla's hairy arms mid song. He watched her slip out of the room with only a telling glare at the guard who moved to follow. Alright, so the truth was he hadn't 'happened to glance' her way; he'd been staring. For the past hour and a half Glinda had danced with twenty-seven men (not that he was counting or anything) of different stature, attractiveness, and importance. Because of the fact that number sixteen looked like he could work as prince charming Mondays through Fridays, Fredrick had seriously contemplated finding him after the ball and beating him in an alley, just for kicks and giggles. That's when he'd admitted to himself that he might be a smidge jealous. When the next song had ended he'd tried to ask her to dance himself, but had been beaten to it. Then after that song, he tried again and once again failed. After the pattern had been repeated multiple times (eight), he'd finally retired to stewing in his seat while watching her twirl in circles in her elegant ball gown.
As she escaped from the room he felt an unknown force pull him to his feet and, without a conscious thought, had followed, making a mental note of the face of the man she'd been dancing with, just in case something needed to be dealt with. When he entered the hallway, Glinda was already out of sight. He glanced around the hall unsure but that instinctive force that had brought him out there turned him left and then right into a side hallway that was barely visible. He spotted a mound of pink curled up on the floor, but as he came closer, he could barley recognize the woman. Every barrier she kept up in the face of her people had fled. Tears tracked down her face and sobs racked her body. There was pain in her eyes, pain he could not even begin to fathom. The smile was none existent. She was so absorbed by her pain that the usually quick girl had not even realized he was in the hallway until he was standing next to her.
"Glinda?" he questioned gently. She startled, jumping up at record speed. He registered something akin to fear in her eyes as she hurriedly scrambled to mentally collect herself.
"It's alright," he murmured gently taking her hand. She blinked up at him as though she hadn't yet registered who was interrupting her.
"Fredrick, what are you doing here?" she asked in a controlled voice. The only clues that she had just been sobbing openly were the tear tracks marring her cheek.
"I saw you leave and you looked disconcerted," he told her. "Glinda, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she replied stubbornly. Obviously. His eyes narrowed on her.
"Pardon my Qua'ati, but screw that, Glinda." She blinked at him surprised, but not exactly horrified at his language. "What happened? Did that man do something or say something to you?"
"No, not intentionally," she said quietly, "it's just," tears started to well up in her eyes once again. He pulled her to his chest and gently patted the back of her head. "sometimes I can't stand it all. People say things that aren't meant to hurt are meant to be complements, but they tear me to pieces."
"What did he say, Glinda?" he asked quietly, but she just shook her head against his chest and continued to cry. He wanted to push her. He wanted to make her spill all of her secrets and all her problems and then he wanted to do everything in his power to fix them. Yet, something told him not to. Her barriers were thin at the moment and if he shoved too hard, he was afraid he might break her. So, he just held her to his chest for a few moment.
A new song set began playing in the ball room and an idea popped into his head. "You know," he murmured in her ear, "I've wanted to dance with you all night." He drew her back from him just a bit and took one of her hands in his and placed his other one on her waist. With a gentle touch he began moving in a leisurely dance.
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Glinda's head dropped to Fredrick's chest as she allowed him to lead her around the hallway in tight, little circles. He didn't fling her around showily or try to dislocate her shoulder in a fancy twirl, and his hands didn't wander inappropriately. Although, she was more disappointed in that last one than she had anticipated. She let all of the tension in her muscles leak out of her. He smelled decidedly different than the last man she had danced with. She took a deep breath in, apples, she decided, he smelled like apples. His arms drew her as close as humanly possible. 'I usually have a five inch rule' Glinda mused to herself, 'but apparently that has gone out of the window.' With absolute confidence, he picked up the pace and spun her out away from him. When her body came back into contact with his, the sides of her lips involuntarily tilted up in an almost smile. He reached up and touched her lips.
"I like this expression better," he told her in a rumbling voice, a flirtatious smile on his lips, but then his expression became serious as he traced her lips. "My memory is still a little fuzzy from the night we had dinner together, so I want to ask you something."
"What?" she asked, felling spellbound.
"Did I kiss you that night?" he asked softly.
"Yes," she admitted breathlessly.
"That was a mistake," he said abruptly.
"Oh."
"No one should do anything of importance when they're drunk," before she'd even registered the implications of that statement his lips were on hers.
It was even better than the last time. His arms were holding her tightly, her entire body pressed up against his. Her eyes drifted closed and she permitted him to back her up to the nearest wall. There would be no writing this off as a misinterpretation. He broke away after a few seconds and started kissing down her neck.
"Fredrick," she said breathlessly.
"Hump," he replied continuing down to her shoulder.
"We should probably get back to the party," she told him chuckling slightly.
"In a moment…."
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Glinda reentered the ball room with a feeling that she vaguely recognized from her days at Shiz as giddiness. Though the smile that she put on was still fake, she had an easier time summoning it to her face. The pain from earlier had dimmed if not gone away totally. In fact, she felt better than she had since before her first trip to the Emerald City. It was amazing; he'd almost made her smile a real smile using only a few words and a dance…
She spotted Fredrick slipping through another door. Her face heated when he looked at her and winked. Oh, and a kiss; he'd also used a kiss.
"Miss Glinda," one of her Guards addressed her.
"Yes," she asked turning towards him reluctantly.
"It's time to say goodnight to the guests," he told her, not even blinking at the fact that she had left in the middle of the party and come back with her dress just a tad wrinkled.
"Yes, very well," she told him walking over to the podium on the stage and ascending the steps to end this very interesting day.
