This is it, boys, this is war
What are we waiting for?
Why don't we break the rules already?
fun., "Some Nights"
Glinda got ready slowly on Monday morning, still soaking up the last of the weekend. Rain hit gently against her window, and she wondered how much trouble she would get in if she just stayed in bed and drew all day instead of going to school.
She repeated the question to Elphaba, followed by also hi, good morning 3. When Elphaba immediately started typing back, Glinda just sat on her bed and smiled. Getting ready could wait.
Good morning. Skipping school is irresponsible, Elphaba replied. Glinda rolled her eyes.
even if i'm skipping to be productive? she asked.
You're skipping so you can be all cozy in bed.
Glinda smiled and wrote, you could skip and be all cozy in bed with me. just an idea.
Elphaba didn't reply quickly. Glinda checked a few different apps while she waited, then decided she really should finish getting ready. She set her phone on the nightstand and wandered into the bathroom. She had barely picked up her mascara when her phone started ringing.
Glinda hurried back into the room to answer. "Are you calling to say yes?" she asked, amused.
"Depends." Elphaba's voice was low and still a little rough with sleep. "Will I have to climb through the window or something?"
"No need. My parents already left for work."
Elphaba chuckled. "Well, as tempting as that sounds, no. I'm not skipping school, and you shouldn't either."
"You're no fun."
"That's not what you said last night."
"True," said Glinda. "Last night I said I love you."
"Multiple times."
"I just wanted to make sure I got my point across."
"You did." She could hear Elphaba's smile. "Does that mean you're saying it again this morning?"
"Was there ever any doubt?" asked Glinda. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
"And I suppose I can manage going to school today."
Elphaba laughed. "Don't worry. Spring break isn't that far away."
"I know," Glinda sighed. "It would just be way more fun hanging out here with you."
Safer, too, she thought. Because as amazing as yesterday had been, it had settled in sometime overnight that saying fuck prom and I love you probably wasn't going to magically fix everything.
But Glinda didn't say that. She didn't want to bring it to Elphaba's attention—even though Glinda was sure that she already knew. Mostly, she didn't want to doubt them. Not so soon after everything seemed to have fallen in place.
"Hey now," said Elphaba. "Are you saying we can't have just as much fun in bio lab?"
That made her laugh. "Yes, actually, I am."
"Rude."
"Watch us not even be in the lab today."
"Morrible's class, then."
"Oz. Definitely not."
"Lunch?"
Glinda smiled. "That's closer, at least."
"Study hall."
"Perhaps."
"What if we, like, combined all of the above? Do you think we could achieve an equal amount of fun then?" Elphaba asked. "See, I'm even throwing math in, to make it even better."
"You're so weird," Glinda told her, giggling.
"But you love me."
Something warm filled her chest. "I do."
She heard a muffled but content hum, and for a while, they were quiet. Glinda put the phone on speaker and shuffled back into the bathroom to do her makeup. Over the line, she heard the various rustles and creaks of Elphaba starting her own day.
"So why did you call me?" she asked eventually.
"Oh. Right." There was a tiny pause before Elphaba went on. Glinda stopped what she was doing and frowned at her phone. "I was gonna ask you a favor, actually."
Glinda picked up the phone. She took it off speaker and hopped up onto the counter, facing away from the mirror.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering if I could get a ride to school." Elphaba hesitated again. Then, "I know it's kind of dumb, since Boq lives closer. But I just—"
"Is your truck…I mean, it seemed okay when I was there and—"
"No, the truck's fine. Frex got it out just fine."
Glinda looked back into her bedroom, through the window at the rain. "Are the windows still stuck down?"
"No, Frex fixed that, too. I just…"
Maybe it was just her imagination, or some static over the phone, but Glinda thought she heard Elphaba's voice catch.
"Of course I'll come get you," she said. Then, lighter, "It'll make it easier to kidnap you and convince you to skip school with me."
"Very funny," said Elphaba, and Glinda was sure the relief she heard wasn't her imagination.
"I have to finish getting ready," she told Elphaba. "I'll text you when I'm on my way?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"Okay. See you soon."
"Glinda? Thank you."
Glinda smiled. "Anytime, Elphie."
They hung up, and suddenly Glinda couldn't get ready fast enough. She hopped off the counter and spun around to look herself over in the mirror. Putting on the rest of her makeup didn't really seem worth it now. But she did it quickly, then cleaned up and hurried back into her room to grab a jacket and shoes.
She texted Elphaba as she made her way downstairs, but she stopped before actually walking out the door and dashed instead toward the closet near the garage. Somewhere in here, buried behind her parents' coats and a shelf of tiny gloves and hats she hadn't seen since she was a child, was—
"Gotcha," Glinda said, pulling the umbrella out and holding it up triumphantly. She shut the closet again and hurried out to her car.
It was a gray, drizzly morning, and Glinda really did want to just stay home with Elphaba all day. But she settled for driving over to the Thropp house and smiling as Elphaba ran to the car to meet her.
"Okay?" she asked. Elphaba pulled down the hood of her sweatshirt and grinned over at her.
"I'm great."
"You worry me."
"Aw, come on. It's not raining that bad."
"Still." Glinda pointed over her shoulder to the umbrella in the backseat. "You're using that when we get to school."
"Yes ma'am."
Glinda narrowed her eyes at Elphaba. "Is Frex home?"
"He's at the church. Why?"
"Because."
Glinda reached out and cupped her face, bringing her just close enough to kiss her. Elphaba's eyes were closed when they parted. Glinda brushed her hair back.
"Good morning," she said, kissing her quickly again.
"Good morning," said Elphaba. She opened her eyes, then frowned at the clock on Glinda's dashboard. "We're going to be late."
"Maybe that's part of my master plan."
"Glinda."
Glinda let her go. "Alright, fine. But one of these days, Elphaba. One of these days."
"Maybe when we're seniors," Elphaba said. "Isn't that a tradition?"
Glinda reached for her hand. "It is. Although we'd probably have to drag the boys along for senior skip day."
"We can always ditch them. Or not make any plans until the afternoon."
"Have you thought about this?"
"About skipping school to hang out with you?" Elphaba smirked. "Maybe."
"Tell me more."
Elphaba pointed at the clock. "Only if you start driving."
"Ugh, fine." But Glinda was smiling as she pulled out of the driveway, and she grabbed Elphaba's hand again as soon as they were on the road.
They were one of the last cars to pull into the parking lot, and by the time Glinda had worked up the energy to leave the car—and successfully convinced Elphaba to use her umbrella—there was no one left outside to see them. So Glinda took Elphaba's hand again and huddled beneath the umbrella with her.
"Are you just using me as an excuse to get someone to hold this for you?" Elphaba said, spinning it around in her hand.
"Absolutely not." Glinda poked her hip. "It's called multitasking."
"Ah. I see."
Once they were inside, Glinda took the umbrella from Elphaba and walked away to shake it out. When she had folded it back up, Elphaba joined her again, and together they made their way to the junior hallway. A few students were still scattered up and down the hall, leaning against lockers and biding time until they had to get to class. Elphaba followed Glinda to her locker, where she put up the umbrella and switched out her books, and then they went to Elphaba's. There was no one around that they cared about, and no one at all close enough to hear their conversation.
Just before they parted ways for first hour, Glinda grabbed Elphaba's hand and squeezed her fingers quickly. Elphaba gave her a smile, and then they were leaving, heading opposite ways down the hall. But, Glinda thought as she looked once more over her shoulder at Elphaba, this was the kind of morning she could get used to.
/
Boq was glaring at them when they arrived at their lunch table that day.
"What's with you?" Crope asked, sitting down beside him.
Boq ignored him and looked at Elphaba. "So you want to tell me what the hell happened Saturday?"
"What was Saturday?" asked Fiyero. He looked at Tibbett, who shrugged. Glinda looked at Elphaba, but she was doing an amazing job of keeping her face blank.
"I said it was nothing," she said, but she didn't quite look at Boq as she said it.
"You also said you'd text me back, which you didn't."
Underneath the table, Glinda found Elphaba's hand and squeezed. Elphaba shrugged.
"I forgot."
"Oh bullshit, Elphie."
"Easy," said Crope. "Geez. What the hell happened on Saturday?"
"Nothing," Elphaba said, but Boq crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Elphie wrecked her truck."
"What?"
"It was nothing," she insisted. None of the others bought it. "Seriously, I'm here now, aren't I? It's fine."
"She spun off the road and down into a field," said Boq. "My mom drove by and nearly had a heart attack when she recognized the truck."
"I'm fine," Elphaba said. "The truck's fine, too. No harm done."
Glinda wrinkled her nose, not quite sure she agreed. Boq must have seen her, because he turned toward her. She flinched a little, wondering if she could manage hiding behind Elphaba.
"Let me guess. You knew about it all along?"
Glinda gave a tiny nod. "She called me."
"Her knight in shining armor," Crope whispered. Tibbett started giggling, and Boq turned to glare at them instead.
"It's not funny, you two."
"Sweet Oz, Boq, chill out." Elphaba scowled at him. "You're making this into a much bigger deal than—"
"You drove off the side of the road!" Boq nearly shouted. They all fell quiet. He blushed a little, but his gaze didn't leave Elphaba's. "And you didn't give me a single explanation. You just said 'later' and didn't talk to me again all weekend!"
"That might be partly my fault," Glinda said quickly. "We were out all day yesterday."
"She still could've texted me."
"You're right," said Elphaba. "I should have, but I didn't. And I'm sorry."
"Whatever," Boq mumbled, glaring down at his tray.
Elphaba let go of Glinda's hand and leaned forward. "Boq. I'm sorry."
"Okay."
"I was going to call you," she said. "If Glinda didn't answer, I would've called you."
Boq looked up, and something passed between them that Glinda couldn't quite name. She looked down at the table, suddenly sure that she was intruding on something.
"Okay," Boq said, softer this time. "You're really okay?"
Elphaba nodded. "I barely even got burned."
"You got burned?"
"Oops," said Elphaba, but Boq just narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"You know," he said, "it's a good thing you've got all of us to take care of you. Otherwise you'd really be screwed."
Elphaba grinned. Her hand found Glinda's again. "Don't I know it."
/
That afternoon in study hall, Glinda walked in to find their usual table empty except for Fiyero. He looked up and smiled at her.
"Just us today?" she asked, sitting across from him.
"For now, at least," he said. "Elphaba went with Boq to the band room. I think they needed a moment."
"You think? I've never seen Boq angry. Like, at all. And I used to bully him."
"That's still so weird to me," said Fiyero. "But yeah, me neither."
"Not that I blame him," whispered Glinda. "Especially if he saw her truck. It was scary."
Fiyero studied her. "Are you okay?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. I mean, you went and got her, right? That must have been…"
"She was fine," Glinda said quickly. "Well. Physically. But it was raining."
"Oz."
"It was fine," said Glinda. "Really. Just—getting her call, and hearing the storm outside, and then driving to find her seemed to last forever and—"
Fiyero reached across the table and took her hand. Glinda swallowed, then gave him a weak smile.
"Thanks, Fiyero."
"Hey, Boq and Elphie aren't the only ones allowed to have a moment."
"I had no idea he texted her," said Glinda. "If I did, I would've answered him myself."
"Geez, guys, it was an accident," Elphaba said behind them. Glinda jumped and looked up, and there she was, walking into the library with Boq, a smirk on her face.
"Just don't do it again," Boq said, elbowing her as he passed. They sat down, and Glinda let go of Fiyero's hand to scoot closer to Elphaba, who was already pulling out a book.
"I'll do my best."
"Yeah, because that's reassuring."
"Hey!"
The door opened again, and Crope and Tibbett swooped in.
"Are you picking on Elphie again?" Tibbett asked Boq.
"She deserves it."
"Oh, undoubtedly."
"Jerks," Elphaba mumbled, flipping her book open and trying, unsuccessfully, to bury herself in it.
Fiyero looked at Glinda. "Looks like our moment is over."
"It did get crowded again really fast, didn't it?"
"You were having a moment?" Crope asked. "We're so sorry. Should we leave again?"
"Yes," said Elphaba.
"You know what? Just for that, we're staying."
"Do you two ever actually stay in rehearsal?" asked Boq.
"We're not in the scene they're running," Tibbett said. "Or the next one."
"We could stay in the auditorium and do homework or run lines," said Crope. "But that's boring."
"And we're already off-book."
"Yeah, that too. So you get to enjoy the presence of our company. Lucky you!"
"Yeah, lucky us," Elphaba muttered.
Crope stuck his tongue out at her. "Just for that, you're not invited."
"Oh, thank Oz."
"Invited to what?" Glinda asked.
Crope looked at Tibbett, who shrugged. He turned back to Glinda.
"You know what? For once, we don't know."
"What about spring break?" Fiyero said suddenly. They all looked at him.
"What about it?"
"Well, we don't have anything planned. But it's spring break. We should do something."
"Road trip!" Crope cried.
Tibbett touched his arm. "Babe. We're all broke."
"Yeah, the less expensive, the better," said Boq.
"Another sleepover?" Fiyero asked hopefully.
Glinda slumped in her chair. "I bet my parents won't let me, now that they know about me and Elphie."
Elphaba made a face.
"Do we have to figure this out now?" asked Boq.
"Aw, did you want to do your homework instead?"
"Actually, yes."
Tibbett pouted. "We come all this way, skip part of rehearsal just for you, and you want to do your homework?"
"Yes."
"That's our Boq," said Crope. "And that's why we love him."
"You're all a bunch of nerds," Elphaba said into her book.
"Don't worry, Elphie. We love you, too."
Glinda looked up just in time to catch Elphaba's eyes flickering away from her. Her cheeks darkened, too. Glinda bit back a smile and pressed her leg against Elphaba's. I love you, she thought. Elphaba pressed back, and Glinda thought she just might've gotten the message.
/
The next couple of days were quiet. It kept raining, and even when it didn't, the clouds stayed thick and dark overhead, making everything a little more somber, but a little cozier, too.
Elphaba was driving to school again, and Glinda was glad when the rain washed off the worst of the mud on her car before her parents noticed.
Morrible gave back their poetry tests and their grades on their recitations. They all did well, although Elphaba was docked a few points.
"'Work on volume,'" she read out loud to them in study hall. "Bullshit. She's probably just mad because it was about a girl."
"Hag," Fiyero muttered. "How'd you do, Glinda?"
Glinda shrugged and mumbled something about her perfect score.
Elphaba grinned. "You should've seen her, Fiyero. She was brilliant."
"Hush, Elphie."
"What did you read, anyway?" Fiyero asked. Glinda dug out her copy—still, somehow, tucked into her bag—and handed it over. He legitimately gasped when he saw the title at the top. "Oh my god, I love her."
"Of course you do," said Glinda, but she was smiling.
As the week went on, more and more people started talking about spring break or the art festival, both coming up in a couple of weeks. Even the prom committee seemed to focus on their vacation plans more than prom. Glinda was relieved, but she knew it wouldn't last. As soon as the next girl got asked, it would be all they talked about again.
She was proven correct that afternoon when, halfway through their meeting, a trio of football players swaggered into Morrible's classroom.
"You just had to think about it," Glinda muttered to herself. She set her pencil down, ignoring Shenshen nudging her excitedly, and turned in her chair to face the guys.
They were friends with Avaric. Glinda remembered hanging out with them, or listening to them laugh while Avaric bragged about her. She had made out with one of them—Diran, the one in the middle—at a party last year, right after she and Avaric broke up.
"Hey girls," Diran said. He hopped up to sit on a desk. "How's it going? You don't mind if we drop in, right? We just had a couple questions for you."
Glinda swallowed, but next to her Shenshen was giggling. One of the boys stepped forward and went up to a girl who had been working on invitations. Glinda noticed the rose he held behind his back and thanked Oz it wasn't her he was approaching.
"Go to prom with me?" he asked, barely loud enough for the rest of them to hear. She took the rose and hugged him.
The second boy nodded to himself and pulled out his own rose—real creative, Glinda thought—and then he was walking toward her.
No, not toward her, she realized, almost sagging with relief. His eyes were on Shenshen, who grabbed Glinda's hand and squeezed so hard it hurt.
"Shenshen," he said. "Will you go to prom with me?"
"Yes!" she squealed, pushing away from Glinda to hug him. The boy beamed over her shoulder, looking as surprised as he was pleased. Glinda hoped he was nice.
"My turn," said Diran. He was holding a rose now, too. Or maybe Glinda just hadn't paid enough attention to notice before. And this time, there was no mistaking it. He was looking right at Glinda.
No, she thought, even as he jumped to his feet and moved toward her. Don't. Don't you dare. Please—
"Glinda Upland," he said, holding the rose out. "Will you go to prom with me?"
Everyone was staring at her. Glinda gripped the edge of her chair and said the first thing that came to mind.
"I already have a date." She blushed as it came out, but she didn't back down. His face fell, just for a moment, and then he was glaring. He tossed the rose onto the desk next to her.
"Whatever," he muttered. "Avaric was right—you're not worth it, anyway."
He turned and left, leaving his friends to linger awkwardly with their newfound dates before eventually giving up and hurrying after him.
For a long moment, no one said anything. They were all still staring at Glinda. She let go of the chair to run a hand through her hair.
"Not worth it," she scoffed. "Clearly. That must be why he put so much effort into it."
She smiled at the end of it, and the tension started to lift away. Some of the girls chuckled with her. Glinda turned and picked up the discarded rose, then held it out to Shenshen.
"Here, you want two?" she said. "Congrats, by the way. He's cute."
"I'm just glad I didn't get the jerk," said Shenshen.
More laughs. Someone nudged the other girl who just got asked, and she brightened and immediately started talking about her dress and shoes and what kind of pictures she wanted to take.
People started packing up—they all knew they wouldn't be getting anything done after that—but Pfannee dropped whatever she was working on to round on Glinda.
"You have a date?" she demanded.
Glinda did her best not to shrink under Pfannee's gaze. She had been thinking of Elphaba, and it had just come out. Now, though, she had no idea what to say.
"I—"
"And you haven't told us about it?"
"It just happened—"
"What, like in the last three hours?" Pfannee asked.
"Who is it?" said Shenshen.
For a moment—one horrifying, thrilling fraction of a second—she almost said Elphaba's name. Her mouth opened, but her voice couldn't catch up. She choked on it, closed her mouth, then once again said the first thing she could think of.
"Fiyero." Oh god. Oh no. She wanted to smack herself. What had she done?
"Fiyero?" Pfannee asked, leaning back. She looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Seriously?"
"No, I think it makes sense," Shenshen mused. Glinda suddenly wanted to hug her. "He's on the football team, so he'll get along with everyone from our group."
"But he's a—"
"Don't," Glinda snapped. Pfannee rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Okay. I guess he's not, if he asked you to prom." Pfannee shrugged. "At least he's hot. You could do worse, I guess."
"Gee, thanks, Pfan."
Shenshen reached over to hit Pfannee with one of her roses. "So when's Avaric gonna ask you?"
Pfannee turned smug. "He asked if I wanted to hang out this weekend. Don't worry, I'll actually keep you guys updated."
"Wow, can't wait," Glinda muttered. Pfannee scowled.
"Hey, you said you were cool with it."
She hadn't really meant to be heard, so she just shrugged. "I am, but I don't need all the details, you know?"
"Well…" Pfannee huffed. "Whatever. I'm excited, so I'm gonna talk about it."
"Okay," said Glinda. She looked at the clock on the wall. School hadn't been out for that long, and she remembered Fiyero saying something about staying after with Crope and Tibbett. Maybe, if they were still here, she could catch him…
She pushed herself to her feet and started gathering her things. "I should go. I told my parents I'd have my room cleaned before they got home."
Shenshen giggled. "It can't be that bad. Your room is always perfect."
"I just aim to impress," Glinda said, giving her a smile. Pfannee rolled her eyes, still looking annoyed, so Glinda gave her a quick, one-armed hug. "Text me when Avaric asks you. And give him a hard time if he buys a cheap bouquet—he can totally do better."
Pfannee brightened. "Will do. See you later."
"Bye." Glinda waved over her shoulder and hurried out the door. She pulled out her phone as soon as she was in the hallway and texted Fiyero.
are you guys still here?
He replied quickly, and she breathed out in relief.
yep. rehearsal just ended, but c&t are talking to a bunch of people I don't know. why?
I need to talk to you, Glinda wrote. im on my way to the auditorium now
Fiyero was sitting in the back near the doors when she got there. He was slumped in his seat, his feet up on the chair in front of him, but he sat up when he saw her.
"Hey, what's up?" He started to stand, but she waved him back down. "You look—"
"I'm fine," she said. Actually, she wasn't. She was annoyed and embarrassed and, as she looked at Fiyero, she felt suddenly, horribly guilty. "I have a huge favor to ask you."
Fiyero frowned, but he didn't say anything. He just sat and watched her, listening. Glinda sat carefully beside him. She closed her eyes and took a breath, counting in and holding it before she exhaled again.
"I just got asked to prom," she said. "These football guys came into the prom committee meeting and asked three of us. You remember Diran?"
"Yeah, he's an asshole," said Fiyero. "Oh my god, Glinda, you didn't—"
Glinda shook her head, still not looking at him. "No. I said no. But—that's the problem. I said I already had a date. I don't know why, but I said it. And then, when those guys left, Pfannee and Shenshen were asking who it was and I didn't know what to do so I…kind of…said your name?"
She opened one eye, peeking nervously at him, but to her surprise, Fiyero burst out laughing.
"Oh my god," he said. "Glinda. You did not."
Slowly, she nodded. Fiyero laughed again.
"Oh Oz. You did. You totally did. What did Pfannee say? Was she horrified?"
"A little," Glinda said. "At first. But she warmed up to it."
"Well aren't I flattered." Fiyero paused and tilted his head. "Wait. Does this mean I'm doing dinner and pictures with all of them, too?"
Glinda winced. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said it. I'm an idiot."
"Hey—"
"Look, you can say no, okay? Really. I'll figure something out. I can pretend I'm sick the day of, or—"
"Glinda." Fiyero grabbed her hands and held her still. "Really, it's okay. I'll go."
She stared up at him. "You will?"
"Of course. If you need me, I'll be there."
Glinda swallowed hard. "Are you sure? Because, like, Avaric's going to be there. Pfannee and Shenshen and a bunch of football guys will be there and—"
"Hey, I do happen to like my teammates, you know. Most of the time."
"You wanted to go with Crope and Tibbett and Boq," she said.
Fiyero shrugged. "So did you."
"But I'm choosing not to, you—"
"I'm choosing, too. You just said I could say no, and I'm saying yes. That's choosing."
"I'm so sorry," Glinda whispered.
Fiyero sighed. "Look. You're going to prom with your formal evil minions and your asshole ex-boyfriend. Come on, Glinda. You're going to need some moral support."
"But…" At the front of the room, someone shouted. Glinda looked up and saw Crope and Tibbett. She shook her head and looked back at Fiyero. "I don't want to ruin your prom just because I'm an idiot."
Fiyero frowned. He looked up at the stage, too, but then he shook his head. "We'll figure something out. And even if we don't, you can bet Crope and Tibbett will be dragging us to some sort of after-party thing."
"I guess."
"And besides. I mean, once we get there, it doesn't matter, right? We can do whatever we want. It's just dinner and pictures to suffer through." He leaned in closer and whispered, "And you gotta admit, you and I are going to be the best looking couple there is."
Glinda laughed, coughed, then wiped at her eyes. "You're the best. You know that? The absolute best."
"Stop flirting with me, Glinda. It's just prom." Fiyero looked at her. "It is just prom, right? We're not going to start fake dating or anything?"
"No. Oz, no, that would be exhausting."
Fiyero laughed again. "I'm not sure if I should be relieved or hurt."
"Just think about all the time you'd have to spend around those people if we were fake dating."
"Okay. Definitely relieved." He rolled his eyes. "Can you imagine if I came back to that lunch table?"
"Crope and Tibbs would be devastated."
"True. Very true." Fiyero looked up. "Hey, speaking of."
Crope and Tibbett were making their way back from the stage, their backpacks in hand. They grinned and waved when they saw Glinda.
"Did you ditch prom committee just to see us?" Crope asked when they got close enough.
"Technically it was to see Fiyero," she said. His face fell, and she reached out to grab his hand. "You're just a wonderful perk."
"I'll take it," said Crope, smiling again.
"Why'd you want to see Fiyero, though?" Tibbett asked.
Glinda hesitated, and they looked at Fiyero for an answer. Glinda looked at him, too, silently begging him not to say anything. She'd have to tell Elphaba first—oh, god, Elphaba. What was she going to say?
Fiyero gave them all his most charming smile. "That's classified."
"Oh really?" Crope was more than intrigued now. "Sounds like fun."
"All in due time, boys," Glinda said, finding her voice again. She grabbed Fiyero's hand. "By the way, you don't mind if I drive Fiyero home today, do you?"
Crope narrowed his eyes. "Tibbs, something fishy is going on here."
"Oh, definitely. Very suspicious. Very exciting."
Glinda and Fiyero just smiled up at them.
"Fine," said Crope. "But we get to know eventually, right?"
"Of course," Glinda said.
"I suppose we can suffer until then." Tibbett weaved his arm through Crope's. "Come on, love. Dinner at my place?"
"Okay! Bye, you two."
Glinda blew them a kiss goodbye, then turned back to Fiyero. "Sorry. I guess I should've asked before kidnapping you."
Fiyero was still grinning. "I don't mind."
"I think I was afraid they'd break you on the way home."
"I would never. At least, not until you told Elphaba."
Glinda's smile softened. "You're perfect, you know that?"
"You keep saying that. Just wait until you see me in my tux."
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. "Come on, Fiyero."
"So when do we get to coordinate outfits?" he asked, getting up and following her. "Do you have your dress yet?"
She elbowed him in the ribs. He laughed and nudged her back. They bickered and giggled and swatted at each other the entire way to her car, and Glinda thought that maybe, maybe, this just might work.
