A/N: I barely had any time to write this today, let alone proofread it, so I'm sorry if it's crap or I made some mistakes. But, anyway, happy reading!

"Will you still not tell me where we're going?" Elphaba asked as they turned into yet another street she didn't recognize. It was already dark out and this street not as well-lit than the previous ones, but Galinda confidently lead the way, gripping the green girl's hand tight and striding forward with the biggest steps her short legs could take.

Her high heels created a fast, steady rhythm on the pavement and as always Elphaba could only wonder how she managed to walk in them without falling over. She herself was wearing the same old black boots she always wore, even though it had earned her a disdaining look from Galinda.

She hadn't commented on it, though, as she knew that Elphaba's mood was already sour enough on days like these. One night a month – that was what she had promised Galinda. One night in which her girlfriend had full power to make the decision where they would go and what they would do, with as little complaining from Elphaba as possible.

This arrangement usually worked rather well and if it made her girlfriend happy, Elphaba could live with one night of stuffy clubs with deafening music and too much alcohol. For Galinda's sake she even pretended to have something remotely close to fun and agreed to a dance or two and a drink. They both knew that it was far out of her comfort zone, and ever since they had started spending more time together and eventually began dating even Galinda seemed to lose interest in these kinds of parties. Sometimes she didn't even use the opportunity of free choosing anymore and instead asked Elphaba what they could do for a date night instead.

Today, however, was not one of those days and while Elphaba honored their arrangement with every fiber of her being that still didn't mean she was looking forward to it.

"I told you, it's a surprise!" Galinda replied and giggled as she saw the green girl rolling her eyes. "But we're almost there."

"Good. I'm freezing", Elphaba said while pulling her girlfriend a little closer to steal some of her body warmth. If she had known that they had to walk this far, she would have put on a jacket before they left. While this year's spring was considerably warmer and sunnier than the last one, the temperature during the night still dropped more than she had anticipated.

Galinda shot her a look that explicitly said I told you so, before pointing at a small sign at the end of the street. At first, Elphaba could not read the letters due to her poor eyesight, but as they came closer, she could finally decipher them.

She turned to her girlfriend, a confused look on her face. "A Karaoke bar? Seriously?"

"Yes!" Galinda squealed, rather bouncing than walking the last few meters. As they came even closer, they could hear muffled drums, as well as someone very confidently and very out of tune singing a song Elphaba recognized from the radio.

"You have to be kidding me."

"Why? I happen to know you have a great singing voice!"

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at her, in the hope that it would conceal the dark green blush on her cheeks. "And how would you know that?"

"Sometimes you're humming to yourself when you're listening to music-"

"That hardly counts as singing", the green girl interrupted.

"Of course it does! Besides, one day class ended early and when I came into our room, you were in the bathroom, loudly singing along to Beyoncé."

Elphaba's eyes widened, her cheeks growing even darker. "You heard that?"

"Remember those walls I built? Well, baby, they're tumbling down", Galinda sang in her high-soprano instead of answering, a grin from ear to ear while Elphaba buried her face in her hands. She couldn't believe her girlfriend had listened to that, especially since it was such a corny love song. She remembered that day, they had only been officially together for a few days and her heart felt like it was bursting from happiness – something she had never known before. Therefore, she hadn't known where to put all that energy and had randomly started singing while cleaning herself with her oils.

Even though she had thought that her little performance in the bathroom had remained undetected, she had been more than embarrassed at herself barely an hour later. Elphaba Thropp did not sing sappy love songs to herself, no matter how happy a certain blonde made her.

"Relax, Elphie." Her girlfriend giggled after she had stopped singing and tugged at Elphaba's hands covering her face. "I thought it was cute. And as I said before, you do have a great voice."

"Thanks?" Elphaba said self-consciously because she didn't know what else to do.

Galinda playfully smacked her arm. "See? That's the right attitude. Now come on, before you freeze to death."

Once they were inside and had chosen a table with two barstools in the far corner of the club, Elphaba curiously looked around. She had never been to one of these places before. Most people were sitting around their tables just like them and the microphones seemed to be handed to them rather than having a small stage at the front. From what they sounded like, she guessed that most had already had a few drinks and the whole thing really seemed to be about fun rather than talent. That caused the tension in her muscles to subside a little, her cheeks beginning to change back to their normal color despite the stuffy heat.

When she turned around to Galinda, the blonde had gotten rid of her jacket, leaving her in the dark blue dress she had chosen for the evening. Her usually curly hair had been straightened, and now reached well below her collarbones. Her make-up was simple, or at least that's what she had said when Elphaba had commented on her putting some on at all.

As always, she was the epitome of beauty, especially if her pink lips were drawn into a smile like they were right now.

"What are you thinking about?" Galinda asked and reached for Elphaba's hand on the table.

Elphaba squeezed her fingers. "You're beautiful."

Her smile became even wider, revealing a set of immaculate white teeth. While she had heard that particular compliment quite a few times throughout her life, it only meant something to her coming from Elphaba.

"Thank you, Elphie. So are you."

Elphaba did her best to smile a little. She knew Galinda didn't lie to her, but that didn't mean she could believe her. It wasn't about the fact that she hadn't dressed up for the occasion, wearing the same plain black jeans and t-shirt as always. During the last eighteen years of life she had accepted that while she might be intelligent or well-read, that was all she ever would be. Galinda had been the first to teach her that there might be more lying behind the surface and she had been the first to call her attractive or even beautiful. Now, whenever the blonde made such comments, she tried to take them as what they were – honest and meant to make her smile, even if she could not believe them yet.

Thankfully Elphaba wasn't forced to think of an answer, since a waiter approached their table. He took their orders without so much as looking at the green girl, though Elphaba couldn't tell if that was due to her skin color or if he was too absorbed openly gaping at Galinda to even notice her. The blonde ended up ordering for them both, throwing her an apologetic look as soon as he finally turned away.

Before she could open her mouth, however, Elphaba cut her off. "It's alright. Seriously. Besides, who can blame him?"

This hadn't been the first time this had happened, not even close. She had never been the center of attention, or at least positive attention, and she had gotten used to her life in the shadows. Especially since she and Galinda had started dating. People either ignored her presence and shamelessly flirted with her girlfriend, or they threw disdaining glances her way and wrinkled their nose whenever the blonde wasn't looking. Galinda did her best to include her in conversations and make it clear that she was not available, and Elphaba didn't blame her for the times she couldn't.

She trusted her more than anyone else in the world, and while it was hard sometimes, seeing all these attractive men and occasionally women flirting with her girlfriend, she knew that at the end of the day, Galinda came back to her and her alone.

"I love you", the blonde said with another smile, before pointing to the microphone another guest had just placed on a small table in the middle of the bar where everyone could fetch one of the six microphones. "You wanna sing a little?"

Elphaba vehemently shook her head, which only caused her girlfriend to giggle. "Fine. Didn't think so."

Soon enough a new song started, and another girl grabbed the microphone. Galinda excitedly clapped her hands as she recognized the song, bouncing in her seat.

"Elphie! It's Let it go!" the blonde squealed, while Elphaba dramatically rolled her eyes, earning herself a kick under the table.

"I know. Why do they even have that as an option? That movie is for children."

Galinda formed her lips in a pout that would make any toddler jealous. "I happen to love that movie."

"Why am I not surprised?" Elphaba smirked, already bracing herself for another kick that surely came soon after.

"You know, the girl who sings that song actually reminds me of you, so you should learn to appreciate this movie."

"That ice queen?" Elphaba asked incredulously and pointed towards the screen in the front showing the music video. "Hardly. Look at her hair and her blue eyes, she basically looks like an animated version of you."

"I wasn't talking about her appearance!" Galinda was quick to protest. "She's also finally learning how to accept herself and show the world what she can do and- nevermind, we'll just have to watch it when we get home."

Elphaba cackled. "Do I get a say in that?"

Sticking her tongue out, Galinda shook her head. "Absolutely not."

Their drinks arrived soon after that, and the blonde barely graced the waiter with a smile before turning back to Elphaba, not even giving him a chance to say anything more.

"Wow, that was rude", Elphaba said but couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's attempt to show her who was more important to her.

Galinda huffed. "As long as he doesn't even look at you, he doesn't get a thank you. Let alone a tip."

"You're impossible."

For a second Galinda's gaze fell behind her, then she began to smirk with a dangerous twinkle in her eyes. "Watch me being even more impossible."

Before giving Elphaba the time to respond, she got up from her stool, grabbed a microphone from the table and tackled her from behind. The green girl jumped at the sudden contact of soft hands on her hips and looked over her shoulder to Galinda, who smiled victoriously.

"What are you-" She stopped the second she realized that she was holding the microphone, which Galinda must have somehow sneaked into her hand. "No, Glin. No."

"Yes!" the blonde squealed in response, quickly taking a few steps back as Elphaba tried to give it back to her. "Come on, Elphie, one song. If you don't like it, I'm not making you do it again. But one song, please."

Somewhere in the background other guests belted out the last high note, or tried to do so at least, but Elphaba barely heard it. All she could do was stare at that microphone in her hand and then back at her girlfriend who sat down opposite her once again.

When the song was over and the next began, her mind was blank. Other people started singing, but she stayed silent. Her eyes followed the first lyrics projected on the screen at the front, barely reading a word. After a few verses she realized that she actually knew the song, she even liked it, but her ears felt like they had been stuffed with cotton, barely any sound coming through.

Suddenly she felt a hand grabbing her own and she looked up to Galinda, whose features showed something between anticipation and worry.

But somehow, looking at her girlfriend made it easier. She started to hear something again, and only when it stopped, did she realize that the entire room had been spinning around her.

"Lovers in the night." Elphaba started so quiet that even she could barely hear herself, but another squeeze of her fingers encouraged her to go on.

By the time she reached the chorus, her voice was just as audible as those of the others singing, and the wide smile on Galinda's face made it all worthwhile. Now she didn't have to look at the lyrics anymore, looking at the stunning blonde's face was enough to make her remember them as if she had written them herself.

"When you look at me", she sang, believing every word, barely noticing that all the others had stopped singing to listen to her. "And the whole world fades."

Tears glistened in Galinda's eyes while she waited for her to sing the last verse.

"I'll always remember us this way."

A/N: The songs mentioned are Halo by Beyoncé, Let it Go by Idina Menzel and Always remember us this way by Lady Gaga. Thank you for reading!