Thank you all for your reviews so far! And now… something we've all been waiting for.

Galinda didn't remember her suitcase being this heavy before the break. And if anything, she was returning with less stuff. Grunting, she pulled the suitcase up the stairs, regretting not learning any levitation spells. She finally reached her room and fished out her key. She wondered if Elphaba would still be there. She opened the door and her eyes immediately fell on her roommate, who was sitting on her bed with her notebook, seemingly in the same position she left her in.

"You're in the exact same position I left you in," was the blonde's greeting.

Elphaba glanced up at her. "Hello to you, too, Miss Galinda."

"I mean… hi, Miss Elphaba. How was your break?"

"Uneventful. I suppose I should ask how yours was."

"It was fine. Lots of parties and boys flirting with me. You know, the usual."

"And you'll be pleased to know I didn't touch any of your belongings. And if you don't believe me, feel free to DNA test them."

"You could have been wearing gloves," Galinda pointed out.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You know what –"

"Wait. I'm sorry. This isn't how I wanted to start off the new semester."

"I thought you wanted to start it off by moving into your private room."

"Unfortunately, there isn't one available, so we are stuck together for the rest of the year."

"What joy."

"Did you really stay in here the entire break?"

"No, I went out." She didn't plan on telling Galinda the whole truth. After all, nothing happened and it was none of her business.

"Where?"

"To get food."

"And that's it?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I'm just curious. I'm trying to make conversation."

"How good of you."

"You know, maybe if you spent less time being sarcastic and stand-offish, you would see that I'm actually trying to be genuinely and sincerely nice to you."

"The last time I trust you, you tricked me into believing that you had changed and then you told the whole school my secret."

"I didn't tell the whole school!"

"You told your three gossiping goons, which is pretty much the same thing."

"They're not goons. And I already told you that was an accident."

"And it was an accident that won't happen against because I will not make the same, dumb mistake."

"Either way, they transferred. Pfannee's going to Mt. Runcible College and ShenShen's going to Grand Marsar University. They said their major programs are better there. Milla's still here, though."

Elphaba brightened up, but didn't let her face show it. Those were two fewer problems she had to worry about.

Galinda shifted her weight. "We can still be civil to each other."

"But that does not, nor will it ever, make us friends."

So that's how it was gonna be? Galinda could live with that. She was the most popular girl in their year. Surely she could befriend whoever she wanted. There was a waitlist of people who would sell their left lung for the chance to sit with her at lunch. She didn't need her roommate to befriend her.

The two didn't say another word to each other for the rest of the day.

The next morning, classes resumed. When Galinda awoke at eight AM, her roommate was already gone. The blonde was more than happy to have the entire room to herself as she got ready for her first day back. She didn't have her first class until 10:45, so she had a long breakfast in the dining hall. The food didn't taste as good after she had three weeks of Jaynie's delicious cooking. But she was really hungry, so she made it work.

She didn't know Fiyero was gonna be in her first class, so she got a great treat when she saw him sitting in the front row. She slid into the seat next to him, but before she could open her mouth, the prince turned and pressed his lips against hers. The surprising gesture caught Galinda off-guard, but quickly melted.

"Hi," Fiyero whispered.

"Hi. Uh… wow. Hi. How was um… your break?"

"Great. Yours?"

"Yeah. Great." Were they the perfect couple again? Would everything go back to the way it was at the beginning of the school year? "I'm sorry I didn't write. I was so busy with the parties and celebrations and… everything."

"I understand. I was busy, too."

"What did you do?"

Fiyero didn't get a chance to answer because their physics professor entered the room and started class.

The only other class they had together for the rest of the week was philosophy, a class neither of them was overly excited about. It was a graduation requirement, and was taught by the toughest professor at the school, Dr. Targeious. She was known around campus as "Tough-As-Nails Targeious", and apparently, she really lived up to that name.

Fiyero was already in the classroom as everyone entered. The seats in the back filled up quickly; clearly everyone had heard the rumors. By the time the last student entered the room, there were only vacant seats in the front row.

Fiyero's eyes silently followed Elphaba as she took a seat in the front row by the window. He didn't know she was going to be in this class. He hadn't talked to her since they returned to campus. She was clearly avoiding him, and he didn't want to push her. She could forget about their vacation together, but he would never forget. He just wouldn't mention it. He watched as she took out her materials without a second glance around the room before returning his attention to Galinda.

As soon as Dr. Targeious entered the room, all sounds stopped. Everyone seemingly held their breath. The middle-aged professor looked around the room and narrowed her eyes. "At least five of you will not make it to the end of the semester," she said before taking out her attendance book and calling roll. Fiyero glanced around the room and his eyes landed on Elphaba. She was the only one who didn't seem fazed. If she was as terrified as everyone else, she had a perfect poker face.

"She's terrifying!" Fiyero gasped once he and Galinda were out of earshot of the classroom. "Why was the first thing she said a prophecy that at least five of us would either drop out of the class or flunk?"

"Did you hear Raylyn and Kyleon? They're both going to the registrar's office to drop the course right now."

"Two down, three to go."

"Are you going to?"

"No. This is a graduation requirement, and I'd rather get it over with now. I just need a passing grade."

"Same, though she sounds like she's gonna make this class very hard to pass. Did you hear her say that if she asks for a seven-page essay, and our essay doesn't go to the bottom of the seventh page, she's taking off half a letter grade? Just for that!"

"She's not messing around. I have this theory that she probably used to be a nice teacher, but people took advantage of her and that's why she's such a hard-ass."

"It's hard to imagine her as anyone else other than 'Tough-as-Nails' Targeious."

The couple soon reached the café for their lunch date. Everything continued as normal for the rest of the month. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn't.

Even though they seemed to be the perfect couple, Galinda knew that something was up. Fiyero didn't seem the same. Their relationship was already strained before the break, but now she was beginning to not even recognize him. His mind seemed to be somewhere else whenever they were together. At first, she didn't ask him about it, brushing it off because they were perfect together, but she couldn't ignore it any longer.

"What's going on, Fiyero?" she asked as they walked back to Shiz from Dyanna's Diner.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been distant and moodified this past month. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine."

"There's something you're not telling me."

Fiyero shoved his hands into his pocket.

"Fiyero, talk to me, please."

The prince knew his behavior was unfair to Galinda, but he really wanted their coupleship to work. He wanted to be the power couple with her. He liked the pedestal people had put them on because of how perfect they looked together. He really liked Galinda. She was beautiful, smart, and funny. He loved being around her. But he didn't feel that special spark with her. He felt it with Elphaba.

"Fiyero."

So he told her everything. It all came out like a waterfall. He didn't mean for it to sound like a rant, but his words were so rushed and didn't leave him time to take breaths.

"That's why she doesn't let anyone get close to her. She's afraid they'll hurt her or that she'll hurt them," he ended. He bit his lip, trying to gage Galinda's reaction.

She didn't look mad, which was (hopefully) a good sign. She looked down at her shoes, her gloved hands clasped tightly behind her back. "I didn't know any of that," she whispered, almost remorsefully.

"No one did."

"I feel awful. I was horrendible to her from day one." The blonde took a deep breath before meeting the prince's eyes. "And you love her?"

No matter how easy and gentle Fiyero said this next word, it would probably only backfire on him. "Yes."

"For how long?"

He knew that question was coming. And he should have been more prepared for it. "Glin, I…"

"I'm not a little girl, Fiyero. I'm a mature adult. You can tell me the truth. How long have you two been seeing each other behind my back?"

"It wasn't like that. She needed a friend, Glin. Anyone could have seen that. But she's nice once you get to know her."

"Fiyero. How. Long?"

"Not long. She kept using the fact that I'm dating you as an excuse to why we shouldn't even be friends. But then I saw her face when we were at 'The Nutcracker'. She looked so… happy. It was so simple, but she really looked happy."

"Okay."

He didn't know what to make of that answer. She didn't sound angry or upset, but she didn't sound okay, either. "Galinda, I'm so sorry."

"I know. I am, too. I knew this conversation was coming for a while. I didn't want to talk about it, but… I knew it wouldn't be fair to either of us. Maybe we just weren't as perfect together as we thought. I understand that you don't get to control who you love."

"I really am sorry, Glin. I wanted us to work out."

"I did, too. And no one can say we didn't try. Some things just don't work out the way we want."

If he was honest with himself, part of Fiyero really expected Galinda to explode at him any second. He expected her to yell at him, hit him, curse him out, anything to show him how angry she was at him. But she didn't. She was calm. The other part of him was thanking Oz for that.

"Can I still walk you back to your room?" Fiyero asked as they approached Crage Hall.

"I'd like that," Galinda said softly.

Fiyero nodded and walked with the blonde up the stairs.

"Can we still be friends?" they blurted out in unison, followed by an awkward chuckle.

"I'd like that," Fiyero smiled.

"I'd like that, too," Galinda smiled back, getting out her room key. She rose to her toes and gave Fiyero one final kiss. "I'll uh… see you later?"

"Yeah. Good night, Glin."

"Good night, Fifi."

Fiyero had to smile at the nickname. He slowly walked away feeling like that weight was lifted off his shoulders only to be replaced by another one. He didn't mean to hurt Galinda, but knew it couldn't have been avoided. He was happy that their breakup had been clean without any arguments or harsh words, but for some reason, Galinda's calmness made it worse for him. He felt like their whole relationship was just for show, but it wasn't. At least, he didn't feel like it was.

Galinda waited until he was out of sight before unlocking the door. Her roommate was out, which she was grateful for. As soon as the door closed, the waterworks flowed. She hurried over to her bed and grabbed her pillows, ripping them in half and sending feathers flying everywhere. She then ran to her desk, threw open the drawer and pulled out all her wedding magazines. She tore them apart, page-by-page, loud sobs escaping her lips. She threw the remains aside and marched over to her bed, but froze when she saw the picture on her nightstand.

It was of her and Fiyero dancing together at the Ozdust. She was smiling as she looked up at him, and he was smiling down at her, with his arms wrapped around her waist. Grunting, she pulled the photo out of its frame and tore it in half before tossing it into the waste bin.

She threw herself onto her bed, burying her face in the sad remains of her pillows, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed her heart out.