Chapter 25

Such is my life at the moment that I just forget about ff. I haven't read any stories here in so long...I miss it :)

To make up for my lack of updates, I glued two chapters together. I hope that helps. The next one will here as soon as possible. If it starts to take too long, PM me. It might help! It has before.

To those kind enough to review: Thank you. It means the world.

She didn't have a chance to move, to hide. Not that she would have tried. Probably. As much as she dreaded this, she needed it just as much. She needed to have this conversation, needed to have it done and over with. It wasn't about knowing, about figuring things out. Not anymore. She knew all she needed to know. It was about...it was about closure, and...making things clear...and ending what really ended already anyway, the moment she found out about the engagement. The moment she hid behind the door to avoid him, not just this conversation but him. The moment he left, went back to Glinda without solving anything. Or the moment it all started because it had never been about just the two of them, not really. Not ever.

Oz, she couldn't think, Fiyero's footsteps loud and clear on the wooden floors. His shoes were loud. They almost echoed down the hallway, the sound reaching her ears. They rang with it, throbbing painfully. Though that could just as well be the hangover she had imagined was fading. It was back now. Or it had never left.

She had trouble breathing, which had never happened before. She breathed, usually. Knew how to very well but now...it seemed reluctant to come, gasps struggling through her throat...for Oz's sake. He was almost at the door, he would see her. It was coming and it was coming too fast, only it was agonizingly slow as well. Oz, those shoes, they were coming closer, clunking down the hall. Had they always been this loud?

She was mid-movement, or so it seemed. She'd been in this position since she'd heard the key turn in the lock. Standing up, one leg resting on the sofa still, the fabric itching against sensitive skin all of a sudden, her hair over one shoulder (it was wet and sticky. Why wasn't it dry yet?), coffee mug in hand.

She stared at the door and felt her body, miraculously, both tense up and sag with relief the moment he walked through the door. Her leg was stiff and nearly asleep, she could feel the familiar tingle settling in. She was grateful for it, though. It drew her attention, forced her to move.

Fiyero.

"Fiyero."

She said his name without thinking but went with it. The first sound in the room in what felt like hours, days, unlimited, endless time. It broke the quiet, it broke her quiet, and it felt better that way. Offence was the best defence, wasn't it, and she had never been good at quiet.

His eyes flew to her face without hesitation, zoomed in, sharpened focus. He saw nothing else in the room, ignored Avaric at the bar, eyeing the pair of them with undisguised curiosity.

"Elphaba.." He made a beeline for her, his steps unwavering. He knew what he wanted this time.

"I never asked her. I never proposed! I.."

She smiled. She had to. It was so...Fiyero. He was nervous, panicked. He shouldn't be. She held up a hand to stop his rushed words.

"I know."

"I never..."

The smile struggled. This hurt. This was going to hurt.

"Fiyero, stop. I know."

"I...wait. What? How do you know?"

He was mid-argument still, his head full of words and plans, of excuses and apologies. He shook his head as if to regain clarity.

"I..."

And suddenly it dawned on him. Elphaba could actually see the realization unfold, could see his expressions change, the colour of his eyes, as the truth set in for landing and came down with a crash.

"You were here. Yesterday."

There was no question. He didn't doubt the truth of his words. He looked at Avaric.

"You said she'd left.."

His voice trailed off, like he was too incredulous to form thoughts.

Elphaba could tell the exact moment Fiyero really processed the situation. His head swerved from left to right, the look on his face turning from confused to anger as he took in Avaric's relaxed stance and Elphaba's bathrobe and wet hair. His gaze went back to where Avaric was, a furious look settling on his features.

"Tiggular, don't start with me."

Elphaba threw a dirty look in Avaric's direction, reminding Fiyero of the strangeness of it all.

"Why are you even here?"

His tone was calm, confused. He wasn't angry, or was too tired to pull off anger. Either way, he simply looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"Fiyero."

He shook his head, working through the puzzle out loud, but more to himself than anyone else.

"You're wearing his robe. Why..." He seemed to sense the strangeness of that sentence, of where that question was headed and changed direction, his face surprisingly neutral all of a sudden, his voice calm, inquiring.

"What is going on?"

Not once had she considered the option that, in her lifetime, she would ever find herself in a room with two good looking men, actually saying the words, but here she was.

"Fiyero. This is not what it looks like."

He took a few steps in her direction, then seemingly changed his mind and retraced his steps almost exactly. She wondered briefly if it was a conscious thing. Was he just pacing, or deliberately stepping away from her? The thought hurt, more than it should at this particular moment.

"I know that."

He looked at her again, confused and ...and hurt. He didn't understand and she supposed he was right not to. She didn't even understand why she was here. How it had gotten to the point that she was nursing a hangover on Avaric Tenmeadows' sofa.

"Elphaba." His voice was warm as it always was, but cooler, more cautious, than it had been in a very, very long time.

"I would really like to know what it is though. Why are you here? Did you ...spend the night here?"

She didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

He blinked, but otherwise gave no response.

"With Avaric?"

"Not with Avaric. But by his invitation, in his house, yes."

"Why? You hate him."

It wasn't accusing. It was questioning, surprised. Again, it only seemed right.

"I don't hate him." She couldn't fight the frown, the pull at the corner of her mouth, a nervous tick she got ran out of adequate words. It didn't happen to her often and she hated intensely the moments it did. She bit her lip.

"Not anymore, at least...And..."

"And what?"

He was pleading for an answer he could understand. Something he could work with. Something that made her someone other than the stranger he was encountering now. She knew, because she had felt that way last night, felt that way still.

"And I needed a place to stay."

They were all silent as the truth of those words rang through the room, filling the empty corners with its implications.

"I needed a place to stay, Fiyero. I needed...someone."

That got a response.

"And you picked Avaric?"

She was glad to see it. She much preferred his anger, his indignation, to his numb questions. This, at least, was a Fiyero she knew.

"I didn't pick anyone! He was here."

"So he's nice for once and suddenly you're having a slumber party?"

Yes, this was a Fiyero she could deal with.

"It wasn't once..."

"What?"

"He...he knew. Before. He was here when I came to meet you. He promised not to tell anyone. And he didn't."

"You never told me."

"I know. I'm sorry. I should have, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Fiyero. Stop. I don't even...yes, I should have told you. It slipped my mind. I don't know why. We're not hiding anything. And we should focus on the issue at hand."

"Fine. Tell me what you want to do."

"Okay...well..I believe that you didn't propose. I know you care for me."

"Care for you?"

"Fiyero, let me finish. I know you feel something for me. It might even be love. But it's not going to change anything. You're engaged now."

"But I didn't even.."

"Propose. No. But you didn't say no either."

She gave him a sad smile.

"You didn't, Fiyero. And I can't blame you for that. I don't. You love her, of course you do. But we can not keep this up. You made a choice at that moment, whether you meant to or not. We have to end this."

"No."

"Yes. Fiyero. It's over."

She stepped forward then, and reached towards him but withdrew again. It was better on all accounts not to touch him.

"It's over, Fiyero. It's done."

Fiyero felt as if he had stepped outside of his body as he watched the scene unfold. He'd come here to explain to Elphaba how they'd gotten here, what he was going to do. He was going to wait here for as long as he had to, until she showed up. He'd convince her to run with him. Anything to keep her. Anything to hold onto what they had. He loved her so much he'd risk it all. Everything. For her.

But he'd stepped into a room where the woman he loved sat, dressed in a bathrobe, holding a cup of coffee, talking to man she'd never even considered worth her time. A man she used to look at with contempt. A man who used to look at her that same way.

She was sitting in this man's kitchen, wearing this man's clothes, telling him, the man she'd spent her nights with willingly, the man whose shirts she should be wearing, that their relationship was over.

Of course, his mind jumped to the wrong conclusions. He knew, rationally, that there was absolutely nothing between Avaric and Elphaba. There wasn't. He knew that. He trusted that. Under no other circumstance would it have entered his mind.

But there was not nothing either. There was a strange sort of camaraderie between the two of them. The way Elphaba wore that bathrobe, with the sleeves rolled up, without hiding her face behind her hair. The way Avaric stood a little behind her, eyes trained on the people before him.

I needed someone...

He wanted to be that someone. But, of course, he couldn't be. He had friends. He had Glinda. And though, of course, he had never been able to talk about his relationship with Elphaba, he had at least had other people to talk to. She didn't. There was no one. And then Avaric showed up. And had apparently been willing to let her in.

"Fiyero."

She was in front of him, her eyes soft but sad.

"We need to be over, Fiyero. It had to end some day, we both knew that. And it is, if not better, for the best."

He took a step back.

"No."

How many times had he said 'no' now? How many more times would he need to say it?

Avaric stepped forward.

"Fiyero. Maybe you should leave."

He felt the other man grab his arm, gently but firm at the same time. Kind, but determined. He'd never seen Avaric this way, but he'd known he could be. That's why they'd been friends. They were opposites, in a way. Fiyero seemed kind, nice, goodhearted, but he could be inconsiderate, a flirt, careless. Tough and uncompromising The first made him popular with men and women alike. The latter made him Captain of the Guard and respected among his men. Avaric, though...Avaric seemed careless, indifferent, flirty and mean. And he could be. He was, most of the time. But he was also kind, honest and strikingly moral.

He felt himself being directed to the hallway of the building and suddenly Avaric was in front of him, the door closed. Elphaba still on the other side.

Elphaba.

Elphaba...

Oz, no. He couldn't say goodbye. He needed her.

"Elphaba."

Did he say that out loud? He needed to get back in there.

"Fiyero."

He ignored Avaric and reached for the door, but the other man pulled him back, demanding his focus.

"Fiyero, listen. Listen."

He listened. Avaric's eyes were boring into him, pleading with him.

"Let go of me. She belongs with me. She's with me."

"Dude, I know. I get that you love her. I'm not competing or anything...but.."

"But what?"

He nearly growled the words, his muscles tensing, poised for a fight. But Avaric seemed to be telling the truth.

"But...you got engaged to another girl, mate. That doesn't tend to do well with the women that love you. Try again tomorrow."

"Oz, since when do you even care? Since when are you involved in anyone's love life?"

"Actually, I've been involved in many people's love lives."

Fiyero snorted at the other man's smirk. This guy was unbelievable. And Elphaba chose him as a friend?

But Avaric demanded his attention again, a serious tone to his voice this time.

"Come back later, okay? Go home. Go home for now. I know you need to talk to her. I know you want her, okay? I know. But you need to go home now, talk to Glinda. End it."

He looked at him, his hands on Fiyero's arms again.

"End it, Fiyero. Okay? Then come back. She'll listen, then, perhaps. But she won't now. Not as long as you have a fiancé back at that palace. She was right. You made a choice. But it's not set in stone. You can still change your mind."

Fiyero stared at him, Avaric's words hitting target, somehow, better than Elphaba's had. Elphaba's words had been finite, but not based on the truth. Her truth was, had always been, that they were doomed. That they didn't belong together, were never supposed to be together. His own world had revolved around her, but that had been too much to ask. He knew that now, because the world he lived in, the one outside his heart, revolved around so many more things. But Avaric's words...they reflected the truth, the reality, much better than he or Elphaba ever could have. Yes, he'd made choices, wrong ones. But none of them were final. He could change his mind. He could change his life. All he had to do was choose. People would get hurt, yes. But they would get hurt either way. That was what he would have to live with. What he would live with, gladly.

Yes, he would go. He had already chosen. He couldn't make things right, but he could right some wrongs, at least. At least that.

He gave in to Avaric's force, felt his friend's hand slacken at his submittal, walked to the door but turned around, his hand on the doorknob.

"Avaric. Why do you care? Really?"

Avaric stepped back, his eyes finding Fiyero's, his eyes dark and serious.

"Really?"

Half a grin made to pull at his lips before it sank back down. He shrugged, sad and with a tad of disillusionment.

"Hell if I know, mate. Hell if I know."

I have a week off at the end of the month. If I don't update around that time, yell at me via review or PM!