"You're avoiding me," Fiyero stated as he plopped down next to Elphaba on the bench.

She pulled back in surprise. "Oh, it's just you."

"Ouch," he teased. "Way to build up a guy's ego." He let his arm drop across the back of the bench as his hand found her shoulders, and some of the tension she had been desperately trying to hide shifted away a bit.

With a smirk, she tilted her head to quip, "I thought we established this already. Your ego is far beyond the need for help."

He leaned into her, "As I recall, that was right before you ditched me. My pride has been deeply wounded." He adopted a dramatic pose and covered his heart with mock injury.

Her chuckle was weak, but she kept up the façade with a shrug. "I wouldn't have believed it possible as your ego is surely invincible. Well I hope you don't look to me for help. I'm afraid I'm a very poor surgeon of others' self-esteem."

"Aw, won't you at least kiss it and make it better?" he taunted back, and her cheeks colored, no doubt at the memory of the near kiss and her hasty retreat. His voice turned serious, "Why'd you leave?"

She shifted away. "I'm surprised you missed me."

"No you're not," he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You know I would."

She didn't answer at first, so he waited, fingertips busying themselves in her hair as if they could unweave the mysteries of her mind as easily as the tangled locks. It was at least a full minute later when she asked, "Are you mad?"

He smiled softly. "Not if you tell me why you're avoiding me."

"I'm not av…"

"Sh," he stilled her lips. "Can we forgo the denial this once and skip to the part where you just tell me the reason? We both know I'll keep after you until you admit it anyway."

She finally met his eyes, and for a shocked moment, she just stared at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left."

He nodded. When she didn't continue, he said, "You know I looked for you, right?" She gave a guilty nod. "Galinda tell you how long?"

"Three hours," she winced.

"I ever broke into your room, did she tell you that?"

Elphaba smirked. "Yes, she was quite upset about that part."

Flashes of the interrupted pair floated to the forefront of his mind, and he shuddered. "Trust me, not any more than I was. I think I'll have to scrub my eyeballs to get rid of that image." She laughed, and he couldn't help but smile at her. The moment passed, and he took her hand with renewed purpose. "I was worried, Fae. I thought you were mad at me."

She leaned her head closer. "Not mad," her voice barely audible.

He leaned in symmetry. "Then what?"

Even softer still, he barely caught her words. "Afraid."

The word propelled him back. "What? Why?"

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I thought you'd be upset with me. For embarrassing you."

"Elphie, no." He pulled her against him in a tight hug, his chin resting on her head. "You couldn't if you tried. Believe me." He dropped a kiss on the soft hair there and buried his face in it. For a long moment, he just held her. Far longer than he should have, in fact, until he felt her tense in his arms. He fought a sigh as he released her. "Come on. I believe you can make it up to me with a cup of coffee."

Her eyes thanked him for the outlet. "Oh, can I? How generous of you."

"Of course. It's the least you can do for standing me up in such a dangerous situation." He pulled her to her feet, and she arched an eyebrow.

"Dangerous?"

"Oh yes," he teased. "I could have been eaten alive by all those girls. Luckily, I escaped to search for you."

"Luck indeed."

They walked toward the coffee shop, and Fiyero tried not to be disappointed by their return to normalcy. She had let him in, really and truly, if only for a moment. He would have to content himself with that. "You know what tomorrow is?"

She glanced up at him. "No, what?"

"Another lesson day." He grinned, and she laughed at his smug expression.

"Let me guess, another reward?"

He gestured with hand on heart in mock melodrama. "For all my hard work chasing Cinderella."

"And rescuing her at the ball, let's not forget."

Elphaba laughed as he beamed, "That's right! Why, I'd completely forgotten about that." He winked and bumped his shoulder into her lightly.

She slid her hand into his. "I hadn't."

Perhaps he had made more progress than he'd thought.

For a moment, they shared a long look, and then he swung her wildly in a makeshift dance, whirling through the dark streets and dipping her under the streetlight. She shook her head, giggling at his absurdity all the way to the shop.

"So, I thought today, since I won an extra lesson, I'd spend it teaching you how to cook my favorite dish." Fiyero tossed her an apron and chuckled at her mock-offended scoff. "That way you can cook it for me whenever I want. Isn't that lovely?"

He dangled a strawberry in front of her enticingly. "Ooh, just peachy," Elphaba cooed back with a feisty smirk. He grinned down at her and pulled back to check the stove. "So what are we making anyway?"

"Chocolate fondue with strawberries."

She blinked at him. "Sounds sweet."

"You sound surprised." He leaned over her shoulder from behind to whisper in her ear, "Admit it."

She blushed. "Admit what?"

"You didn't think I could cook." She let out a breath with a huge sigh. "Have you ever had fondue before?"

"First time," she said, shaking her head as she followed him to the kitchen.

"Oh, really? You're in for a treat." He rubbed butter around the fondue pot and pulled out the ingredients. "First, the chocolate and the marshmallows." He added them with some milk, stirring and covering the pot.

She tried to watch over his shoulder, but he pulled her in front of him.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of doing this." He wrapped his arms around her to reach the pot, and she leaned into him ever so subtly. "You have to stir it, you see, so it melts evenly." She nodded, and he handed her the spoon without moving away. "It takes a little while," his eyes drifted down to her neck, her bare shoulder, his apron draped across her collarbone.

"Couldn't you turn the temperature up?" It did feel suddenly hotter in here.

"No," he whispered, his fingers wandering from the spoon to her fingers. "You have to give it time, take it slow. It's worth it in the end."

She nodded, and he swallowed. He traced the fine lines in her hands, worked up her wrists, her forearms and back to settle against her waist. He struggled to remember to breathe as she shifted against him. "It's done," her voice husky, "all melted."

"Good," his lips near her ear. He reached past her for the cream and deliberately leaned closer. "You add the cream gradually," he said as he did just that. His other hand, flat against her waist, held her in place as she stirred the chocolate mixture. Her eyes half-closed, and he saw her lick her lips.

"Is it done?" her eyes flicked to him, and he speared a strawberry to dip in the warm liquid.

"Let's see." He pulled it out, dripping with chocolate and fed it to her from behind.

She took a bite gingerly and mumbled, "Mmm, this is good!"

A drip of chocolate landed on her hand, and without thinking, he pulled it to his mouth. She sucked in a breath as his lips and tongue moved over the spilt chocolate, and he barely managed to pull himself away. "Yes, it is."

She shivered, and that was all it took for a thousand fantasies to erupt in his brain of a much better way to use the melted chocolate.

She turned around with such fear in her eyes. Oh, this was a bad idea, and yet, he couldn't get the thought out of his head of her legs wrapped around him, her body pressed against him from on top the counter, her collarbone speckled with chocolate as he kissed it off.

He took a step back to when the oxygen wasn't so thin. "So," he panted. "Do you like it?"

She bit her lip again, and he was mesmerized. "It's amazing. Thank you. For teaching how."

He nodded mutely.

"You're a good teacher." She smiled shyly, and he yanked his eyes back to hers. "And a good cook."

"Thanks. Only because you're such a good pupil. And don't say that before you've had my roasted wild turkey. It's to die for." They stared at each other for a long moment until the fondue started bubbling. "I'd better…" He took a step toward it, and she scooted away.

"Yeah, I'll just…" She pointed toward the other room and vanished to set the table.

By the time he brought the chocolate in, they had both had a chance to calm down. "So, what else do you like dipped in chocolate?" he asked, and her face drained of all color. "I mean, um, marshmallows? Bananas?"

"Oh, right, yeah, um, sure." She turned her back in the pretense of some meaningless activity, and Fiyero rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Him and his big mouth.

"So did Galinda ever stop bothering you about Mystery Man?"

He gestured toward an empty chair, which she took with a sigh. "Ugh, no. I don't think she'll ever let that go. Every guy who get anywhere near me, she interrogates." He bristled irrationally at the thought of other guys going near her.

"I still think you should tell her that I'm the guy." Her eyes grew wide again, and he rushed in with, "I mean, so she can know it was just a lesson. Nothing else." Her face deflated slightly, and Fiyero kicked himself again. "I mean, um, have another strawberry."

She shot him a confused look at his odd transition, and then laughed at his apologetic face. "Sure."