A/N: Kinda put my own spin to this one to make it more interesting. Rating changed to T, but mainly for safety. Happy reading!

Day 2 - Grumpy morning heads

The inn where they met this time was even shabbier than the last one. Elphaba hadn't noticed last night, with all the adrenaline of getting in unseen and the excitement to finally see Glinda again, but the slowly breaking dawn sneaking through the grey curtains in front of the small window made it all too obvious. Spider's webs were all too prominent in every corner of the tiny room in the attic and the small adjoining bathroom looked like it hadn't seen a cleaner in years.

Elphaba was used to it, after years of hiding from the rest of the world one actually learned to appreciate these places. People rarely asked question and let her be as long as she payed her debt, and a few coins more always ensured their silence, should they see a glimpse of something they weren't meant to see. A flash of green on her skin, for example. Or the shadow of a petite woman with golden curls, her cloak a little too expensive to belong in a place like this, with delicate hands which looked like they hadn't seen a day of hard work in their life.

Glinda really didn't belong here, and yet she always came whenever she could, if only to spend a few precious hours with the green witch she still called her best friend. After all these years, that was still what they called themselves, though even Elphaba knew that friends, even best friends, didn't touch and kiss each other like they did every time they got the chance. What they had, or rather what they still had left, didn't fit into any label.

If they had been brave enough at Shiz University half a lifetime ago, they might have called themselves girlfriends. But the word seemed too silly, too meaningless compared to the bond they shared. Besides, the golden ring on Glinda's finger was a constant reminder that such devotion to one another and only to them had been long lost. Shiz' beauty queen Galinda Upland didn't exist anymore – she had been replaced by Her Goodness Lady Glinda Chuffrey years ago.

Of course, even with that new name and the life that came with it, Glinda hadn't lost her beauty. Maybe she wasn't as young and energetic as she once was, but her bold mindlessness had been replaced by courage and her lively chatter with wisdom. Elphaba still couldn't decide if she wanted to turn back time for her even if she could, she would gladly give her life to shield young Galinda Upland from all the pain and heartbreak that shaped her into the woman she was today, and yet she loved the Glinda next to her more than anything.

Her blonde curls were as untamed as they always had been in the morning, much to Glinda's dismay, and the lines marking her face only added to her beauty.

"Elphie, go back to sleep", Glinda mumbled into the crook of the green woman's neck as she felt her stir. Little did the blonde know that Elphaba hadn't closed her eyes since they became too exhausted to continue with their lovemaking in the wee hours of the morning. She never did. Not only did she feel it was her obligation to protect Glinda in this place that would do Oz knows what if they knew that they were housing Her Goodness herself, but also because she couldn't stand the thought of missing a single second with her.

"You do that, my sweet", she whispered while beginning to stroke Glinda's hair, desperately trying to imprint the feeling into her brain to last her for the next few months they would spend apart. "We have a couple more hours."

Glinda didn't reply, nor did she move for a few minutes, so Elphaba assumed that she had gone back to sleep. Only when she felt a familiar sting on her chest where the blonde's face was pressed into her skin, did she realize that Glinda was crying.

"I don't want to leave, Elphie", she sobbed into her shoulder, her voice still heavy with sleep but the heartbreak still evident enough. Hearing the crack in her voice and feeling the sobs shaking her tiny body stung a thousand times more than the water burns on her skin.

Not every one of their encounters ended like this, sometimes both of them managed to keep their composure long enough not to break down in front of the other, but now it only seemed to get harder every time. One of the reasons Elphaba didn't reach out to Glinda's maid, who arranged the meetings between them, as often anymore, even though it broke her heart.

Glinda hadn't called her out on it yet, but the green witch already feared the day she would.

"Shh, my love, don't think about that yet. We're still here. Everything's alright." As the years went by, and Elphaba had learned more and more about the world and its cruelty, about magic, about the Animal resistance and about herself, she had also learned what it took to calm Glinda down. Gone was the awkward girl who patted her irritating roommate on the head during a thunderstorm or who didn't find the right words after a particular bad dream. A deep comfort had settled between them, one that was shaped by years of neglecting their feelings and lying about everything in their lives until their fragile safety net crumbled under the weight.

It took almost two years for Elphaba to swallow her pride and reach out to Glinda after the meeting that had ended in an enormous fight and the following radio silence. Elphaba had found out about her marriage to Sir Chuffrey through a torn and dirty newspaper she picked up from the ground and confronted her in a mad rush of stupidity and carelessness in her own home. The one she still shared with Fiyero at that point. Naturally, he had walked in on them screaming at each other, which only resulted in more screaming, tears and a mindless confession of her own feelings towards the blonde.

Glinda had left, and so had Fiyero, leaving her alone for a long time. Those were the darkest years of her life, and she barely remembered any of it.

She wouldn't let it come to that again.

"Promise me", Glinda said with a hiccup, peaking up at her under tear-wetted lashes.

She didn't have to specify what she meant. Promise me, that we will meet again.

"I promise."

They were silent for a while after that. Glinda's sobs slowly subsided, as they always did after Elphaba made that promise to her. The world had taught her that most promises were empty, easily given and just as easily broken, but she still trusted in Elphaba's promises. They were the one constant in her world.

Elphaba felt her eyelids grow heavy. She hadn't really slept in days, always on high alert that someone would find or recognize her. Fleeing was simple but staying hidden was so much more difficult. After a few badly stifled yawns, Glinda couldn't help but giggle at her attempt to stay awake. The sound was like music to the green witch's ears.

"Why don't you sleep a little, Elphie? I'll keep you safe." She placed a little kiss on her neck, sweet and innocent, as if they were still in their dorm room in Shiz, sleeping in until noon and refusing to leave the bed even for necessary tasks like eating or using the bathroom.

"I don't know", Elphaba replied, but another yawn only added to Glinda's argument. "We don't have much time left."

"I'll still be here when you wake up, I promise." Soft fingers found their way into long dark tresses and gently played with them, as she knew how much Elphaba secretly enjoyed that. "My speech isn't until evening. No one will miss me before noon."

"Your speech?" Elphaba asked with a sigh and shifted deeper under the covers. They were scratchy against her naked skin and who knew when they had been washed for the last time, but thanks to Glinda's soft and warm body on top of her, she didn't mind at all.

"Yeah." She didn't say any more, but her silence told Elphaba all she needed to know in order to do the math herself.

"Has it really been another year?"

Elphaba hated to think back to that day. The heartbreak of seeing Glinda for what was meant to be the last time. Fiyero's harsh words of how they could never tell her best friend about the fact that her death was fake. She never really managed to forgive him for that, even though it had still resulted in them laying here side by side.

But the worst that had come out of all this was the act that Glinda had to put on every year, with big smiles and celebrations and orotund speeches, all to commemorate the Wicked Witch's passing.

"Yes. Elphie, I wish-"

"No. No, Glinda, no." Elphaba cut her off because she already knew what she would say, and she couldn't stand to hear it anymore. "It's much too late. It's been a decade, and it wouldn't change anything aside from making you a target. People aren't being open-minded. They never were and they never will be."

She placed a kiss on top of her golden curls, where a few silver streaks began to shine through. "Just because you are too good for this world, doesn't mean that everyone else is too."

Glinda sighed deeply, and Elphaba knew she had won the argument. She always did, even though part of her cursed herself for it, because it broke Glinda a little more each passing year.

"It just breaks my heart to call you wicked in front of all these people. The Elphie I know is the farthest thing from the Wicked Witch they tell these gruesome stories about."

"They're just stories", Elphaba said, desperately trying to make herself believe it too. "Let them have their villainous figure to scare their children into good behavior. It doesn't change anything."

"You really believe that?"

No. Maybe.

But Glinda's small and hopeful voice didn't leave room for the cruel and devastating truth.

"Yes."

The tiny smile apparent on Glinda's beautiful face made the lie more than worthwhile. It always did.

Eventually, Elphaba dozed off to sleep for the first time in days, her best friend, lover and so much more still securely in her arms. Even if the world couldn't know about them, as long as they still had one another, they would be okay. Day for day, week for week, until maybe, the world would be ready for them to be together again.

And if not, Elphaba thought somewhere between dream and reality, this would always be enough.