AN: Here's the next chapter. With fluff. Because I can never keep Elphie and Fiyero apart for long :).
Ooh, 97 reviews... who will give me the 100th review? I'll give you virtual homemade brownies!
I'm currently debating whether I want to end this in a chapter or two, while they're still at Shiz, or whether I want to take this further, Elphaba getting invited to meet the Wizard, etc. etc.. What do you guys think?
Chapter 13. That girl
Her eyes widened in horror – and it was not because of the storm. 'I did not just say that. Please tell me I did not just say that!' she almost begged him.
Fiyero looked at her. Quite frankly, he wasn't sure what to think anymore. 'I can't,' he said. 'You did say it.'
She buried her face in her hands.
'But if you want to take it back,' he said tiredly, 'then fine. I know you don't want anything to do with me anymore and I'm going to stop trying, because I'm only torturing myself by not giving up. Let's just leave it at this: I appreciate and accept your apology. Let's just be civil to one another. And now I'm going inside.' He rose to his feet and moved over to the door…
…only to find it locked.
He cursed under his breath.
'It's locked?!' Elphaba's voice rose a little in pitch. She ran over to the door and pushed against it, then started pulling. 'It's locked! What did you do?'
'I didn't do anything!' he protested. 'Maybe it just automatically locks when you close it!'
'Didn't you know that?!'
'How should I?'
She was about to retort, but then she caught a flash of something lilac and silver inside, and her jaw dropped. 'Oh, no.'
Fiyero followed her gaze. There, on the other side of the glass door, was Galinda, smiling wickedly and holding up a key.
'She locked us out?!' Elphaba burst out. She started banging on the door. 'Galinda!' she yelled. 'Let us in!'
The blonde shook her head, then pursed her lips and pretended to kiss someone.
Elphaba growled. 'Really?'
Galinda waved sweetly, then left.
Elphaba huffed and crossed her arms, then retreated to the rocking bench again. Fiyero sat back down on the other bench across from her.
'So…' he began, but she held up one hand.
'Not a word.'
'But –'
'Not. A. Word,' Elphaba grunted. Fiyero closed his mouth and didn't say anything else.
Elphaba shivered in her wet clothes. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm, but that didn't help much. She grumbled. If I get pneumonia, it's going to be Galinda's fault.
She looked at Fiyero. He, too, had wrapped his arms around himself. He was staring at his feet and he looked miserable.
Suddenly she felt very guilty.
'I'm doing it again, aren't I?' she said in a small voice that was so unlike her, it startled her. 'I… I'm sorry.'
'For what?' He sounded weary.
She bit her lip. 'Everything,' she admitted. 'For avoiding you, and ignoring you, and yelling at you, and unleashing my magic at you… avoiding you again, then yelling at you again…'
He chuckled slightly, and she felt sheepish. 'You were right.,' she said. 'You didn't deserve that.'
He was silent for a moment. Then he said, 'What about kissing me? Are you sorry for that, too?'
Her teeth pierced her lip now. She tasted blood. She closed her eyes.
Be honest.
She whispered, 'No.'
He looked at her. 'And… and what you just said…'
He trailed off, but of course she knew very well what he was talking about. Now she felt guilty, sheepish and stupid at the same time. She hung her head. Her voice was even softer than before as she said, 'That was true.'
Now he sounded hopeful. 'Really?'
Thunder rumbled again, closer this time. Elphaba dug her nails into her waist.
'Yes, really,' she snapped. She pulled her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest.
Fiyero's voice was a lot gentler when he said, 'It's okay to be scared, you know.'
She started chewing her lip again.
'I thought we went over this last time,' he said with a small laugh. 'Storms, spiders… love. In the end, it doesn't make much difference what it is that you're afraid of. All that matter is that you learn to face your fears.' He was quiet for a moment, then added softly, 'Alone, or together.'
She remembered the library. She remembered the kiss. The storm. How good it had felt to have someone there with her, someone whom she could admit to that she was afraid. Someone who hadn't laughed at her. Someone to comfort her.
And just for a moment, she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to have someone like that with her for the rest of her life. To have him with her for the rest of her life.
And then she started crying.
Quite frankly, Fiyero was completely baffled. He didn't think he'd ever seen Elphaba cry. Ever. If he had ever taken the time to imagine what it would be like, he would have thought it would be unnerving, to say the least; but the truth was that it was so much worse than that. It broke his heart just looking at it.
Without really thinking about what he was doing – something not uncommon for him – he moved to sit next to her on the rocking bench and wrapped her in his arms.
For a moment, she tensed a little, and he thought she would pull away; but then she buried her face in his shoulder and leaned against him, her entire body shaking as she cried.
'I'm so sorry,' she hiccupped between sobs, her face still hidden in his tux. 'F-for being m-mean to you… And for r-running away, and…' She looked up, the rain mingling with the tears on her face. 'And for your ribs,' she sniffled. 'I can't believe I actually gave you bruised ribs!'
He had to chuckle slightly at that and he pulled her back into his arms again – where she belonged, he couldn't help but add in his mind. 'It's okay, Fae.'
She shook her head frantically. 'No, it's not!' she insisted. 'None of it is okay!'
He gently stroked her hair. 'Yes, it is.'
A flash of lightning lit up the sky, closely followed by the roaring thunder. Elphaba let out a very un-Elphaba-like squeak.
When Fiyero shifted a little, she gripped his shirt with both hands to the point where her knuckles went white. 'Don't go!'
'I'm not going anywhere. I would never leave you alone in a storm, you know that.' He repositioned himself on the bench so that she was tucked against his side, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.
'Besides,' he continued, 'where could I go? Galinda still hasn't unlocked the door.'
Elphaba sighed. He could feel her trembling, but whether that was because of the storm, the cold or the emotions she was feeling, he couldn't tell.
'What are you thinking?' he asked her quietly.
She sighed again, heavier this time. 'That I'm an awful person and I don't deserve you.'
He pulled away to look at her, startled. 'What?' he demanded. 'Why would you say that?'
'I bruised your ribs, Fiyero,' she stressed. 'I flung you against a tree. I've been nothing but awful to you lately, yet here you are.'
'Like I said, I would never leave you alone, Fae. Especially not in a storm.'
'You should,' she said. 'You shouldn't be comforting me. You should be yelling at me and slapping me in the face and then leaving me alone to rot.'
His grip around her tightened. 'Don't say that.'
'Well, why are you still here, then?' she asked him softly.
He shrugged. 'Because I already forgave you for all that,' he said. 'That's what you do when you love someone. You forgive them, no matter what they've done to you.'
She looked up at him, her chocolate eyes wide and doe-like. 'Are you saying you still love me?' she asked incredulously.
He actually laughed out loud. 'What, just because you bruised my ribs and yelled at me, you thought I wouldn't love you anymore?' He shook his head with a smile. 'If you want me to stop loving you, you're going to have to try harder than that.'
She snorted. 'What? Throw you off a building? Cause you to end up in a hospital?' she asked sarcastically.
He grinned at her. 'That would be a start, yes.'
They were both silent for a moment. The rain was still pouring down on them, and when there was a rumble of thunder once more, Elphaba flinched, unable to stop a soft whimper from escaping her lips.
Fiyero softly rubbed her upper arms. 'It's okay,' he whispered in her ear. 'It's moving away from us now.'
She didn't say anything, just burrowed into his chest as he held her tightly.
Fiyero was the one to break the silence. 'Do you…' He cleared his throat and tried again. 'Do you want me to?'
She looked up at him.
'Stop loving you,' he clarified.
Her eyes widened for a moment. Then she lowered them, biting her lip.
'No.'
He ran his fingers through her hair. 'Really?' He paused, uncertain. 'What do you want, then?'
She didn't look at him, stared off into the distance instead, as she thought about that. What did she want?
Her first instinct was to push him away again, but there came that annoying voice in her head once more. Be honest, Elphaba. You know what you want, you're just too scared to admit it. But he's right – it's okay to be scared. Just tell him. Just let him in.
'I want…' She closed her eyes.
'I want to forget everything that happened,' she whispered. 'I want to go back in time, to the library, or right afterwards, and… and do it right this time. No running, no yelling, no magic outbursts. I… I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want you to tell me you love me again, and this time, I want to say it back. Because I do. Love you, I mean.'
He didn't think he had ever heard more wonderful words from anyone's lips in his entire life.
She looked up at him again. 'Is it too late for that?' she asked him softly.
He paused, threading his fingers through her hair, lost in thought. 'Well,' he said finally. 'I can't turn back time.'
Her heart sank.
But then he smiled and kissed the top of her head. 'But it's never too late to start over, is it?'
She held her breath. He pulled her closer…
…and then he kissed her.
And it just felt right. She couldn't believe she'd shut him out like that. How could she ever have denied her feelings for him?
She melted into the kiss, and when he finally pulled away to rest his forehead against hers, they were both a little breathless. 'Did you mean that?' he asked her quietly.
She didn't have to ask what he meant. Instead, she just smiled. 'Try me.'
'Okay.' He traced her jaw line with his index finger. 'I love you.'
Part of him expected her to bolt again, but she kept to her word. Her smile widened and she kissed him softly.
'I love you, too, Yero.'
A goofy grin spread across his face and he cupped her face, kissing her deeply again. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, even the storm forgotten now.
Suddenly, a new voice called, 'Finally. Took you long enough.'
They broke apart to stare at Galinda, who had opened the door and was smirking at them. 'You can come back in now.'
Elphaba jumped to her feet and stomped over towards the blonde, dark eyes flickering dangerously. 'Galinda Upland,' she hissed, 'you are one dead little blonde!'
Galinda gulped, then bolted, disappearing back into the ballroom.
Fiyero chuckled and moved back over to Elphaba, leading her inside. Once they were back in the hallway, they both leaned against a wall, slightly out of breath and dripping wet.
Elphaba touched her hair, which had been perfect only a few hours ago, but was now dripping with rain water. She sighed. 'So far for my one night being beautiful.'
Fiyero smiled and cupped her cheek. 'You're always beautiful,' he whispered, before softly kissing her again. He pressed her against a wall, tangling his fingers in her ebony hair.
'Let me go!' she protested weakly between kisses. 'I have a bouncy cupcake to murder first!'
He laughed, but didn't let go. 'Well,' he murmured as he kissed her temple. 'You could go and murder Galinda right now…' His lips drifted down her cheek and back to her own lips. 'Or you could stay here and kiss me.'
She smiled against his lips and slipped her arms around his neck again, making up her mind. 'Galinda will still be there in the morning.'
He smiled, too, and kissed her again.
'I was hoping you'd say that.'