Spring came and went and the summer fever that students got began to creep into even the most studious at Shiz, including Elphaba. She spent less time studying and more time with Fiyero, who was as close to being her lover as he could get without actually being her lover.

They'd implied several times that the time for them to make love would come soon. Fiyero occasionally whispered hints in Elphaba's ear and she'd blush and tell him they'd "talk about it later". It was late one night when Fiyero had walked her back to her dorm and she'd just kissed him goodnight when she decided she wasn't quite ready to be alone that night. "Do you want to come up?"

"What about Glinda?" He asked calmly, having been prepared for this moment for some weeks.

"She's asleep. She'll barely even notice a thing. She's quite a sound sleeper." Elphaba grinned suggestively.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He tugged her up the stairs, picking her up, laughing.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, making him stumble towards the door. "Careful, don't drop me!"

"Calm down. I won't. Got your key?" He set her down gently at the doorway.

She fumbled in her purse, "Yeah, one minute." After a minute of searching, she brought out the key and turned it in the doorknob. Grabbing Fiyero's hand, she whispered, "Come in."

He followed her into the room and sat down on the bed. She turned to him and the look in her eyes worried him. "Are you sure you want to do this now? We can wait. We can always wait, Elphie."

"I know." She said softly. "And I'm sure."

"Then stop pacing around the room." He held out a hand and she took it, sitting next to him. When she leaned into him, he held her in his arms for a long minute. "If you're nervous, you can tell me."

"I'll always be nervous, Yero. That doesn't stop me from wanting what I want." Her lips met his and the kiss began mild, growing in longing as their hands began to wander. "I'm very sure."

He tilted her chin, looking straight at her eyes. "I have to say something before we do this."

"I know, I know, I'll tell you if you hurt me and so on."

"That's not it."

She cocked her head. "What?"

"I love you, Elphaba."

She blinked slowly, and then motioned him to lie back with her on the bed. Laughing quietly, she kissed him. "Mmmm. And I love you."

"Then this is right."

"Yes. It is. Because I love you." She pulled his shirt over his head, running her hands over his chest, admiring his beauty again.

Watching her eyes for any sign of discomfort, he unzipped the back of her dress, tracing her spine as he did so. "If you have a second thought…"

"I know. But I don't think we need to worry about that."

Tentatively, Fiyero pressed his lips to her ear and sighed. "You even feel beautiful, Elphaba."

"Not beautiful like you." She replied. When they made eye contact again, she began to finish removing his trousers.

"No, you're right. Much more beautiful." He helped her get her dress over her head and in a moment, they were lying next to each other, bare and unprotected. "I'll be safe," he told her, "don't worry."

When he turned to her, both of them ready, her smile was genuine and she let her mouth join with his before any other part of them touched. It was slow but sure as the edged closer to one another that this would be the time. His hands came between them, helping him into her tenderly. There was no pain, but the sudden realization of the way they were bonded to one another made her cry out, a soft whimper against his deep breaths.

From across the room, Glinda stirred and mumbled, "Elphie, are you all right?"

Her arms keeping her body close to Fiyero, needing the warmth of his body in this moment of union, she gasped and then muttered, "I'm fine, Glinda. I was just having a very, very vivid dream."

"Whatever." Glinda's back was still turned to them.

Fiyero smiled and kissed Elphaba lovingly. "What can I do to make this feel good for you?"

"Oh, Fiyero," she murmured, "don't you worry about that. Just make love to me. Make sweet, sweet love to me."

He pressed his lips to her forehead, "But I do worry. I love your body. I cherish every moment that I am in any way touching you. Whatever can make you feel loved, feel adored, I want to do. I'll shower you with warm, careful kisses; I'll bathe you in my words, sweet things echoing against your body. Elphie, my Elphie, what can I do?"

"Exactly what you're doing now. You couldn't possibly do anything wrong, Yero."

At last allowing himself to take her hint, he began thrusting softly, the reverberations of her pleasure moans soaring through his ears. He felt her lips fasten onto his neck; he felt the gentle press of her teeth against his skin. It seemed that the heat of their passion, their lack of restriction, was building between them and something even sweeter, shining and glimmering, had linked their bodies together, but not just their bodies, their minds, their emotions.

Elphaba's love words lowered in volume and soon her only words were soft whispers, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…"

Fearing that she'd cry out, he took her face and pressed it into his shoulder, keeping her presence against him for as long as he could bear. When she bit into his skin, his eyes widened and he knew it was ending, knew it was over. "Elphie…"

She threw her head back, unable to control herself anymore, and cried out words, though the exact sentence was indistinguishable. He'd made her his, now, he knew. There was no holding her back. When he was able to trap her mouth in his, he wrapped his arms around her tight.

Once more, Glinda tossed and rolled over in her bed. "Elphaba, are you having a nightmare?"

"No. I'm sorry for screaming, Glinda. I won't do it again. I must have been having some crazy dream." Elphaba answered. When she'd made sure that Glinda was falling back to sleep, she let Fiyero cover her with the kisses he'd been threatening to and then he pulled her against him, burying his head in the pillow and falling asleep.

"Oh my god… what is he doing in here!" Glinda's shrill shrieking was the first noise to greet both Fiyero and Elphaba's ears the next morning.

Elphaba groaned, light hitting her eyes, accosting them as Glinda pulled up the blinds rudely.

"What have you two been…? Elphaba!"

She buried her face in Fiyero's chest. When he lightly pushed her away, reminding her that she needed to face her best friend, she muttered, "Turn away so we can at least have this conversation with more decency."

Glinda obeyed and both Fiyero and Elphaba scrambled for their clothes. Fiyero headed for the door the moment he was dressed. "I'll see you at dinner tonight, Elphaba." With that, he was out the door.

Elphaba stared at the closed door openmouthed. How could he have just left? Anger boiled in her face, but she felt it drain away as details of the night before ambushed her. Staring helplessly at Glinda, she asked, "What do you want?"

"I can't believe you! I never thought I'd wake up to find you in bed with him!"

"Surprise, surprise." Elphaba shrugged.

"I thought I'd heard his voice… sweet Oz, I can't understand what you were thinking. Do you understand what you've done? You've given up your virginity, Elphie. I thought it was more important to you than that."

"It was important to me! But, Glinda, we'd waited long enough."

"Long enough? How long have you two been dating, now? Six… seven months? You haven't even been dating for a year and you think it's been long enough for you to have sex?"

"We couldn't wait any longer." Elphaba was suddenly regretting that she'd asked Fiyero up the previous night. Well, not much, but at least she felt some regret.

"You could've. There's no using that as an excuse. I thought you were saving yourself for marriage."

"I don't recall saying that, exactly." She began to remember that she'd said something along the same lines, though she only realized it now. Elphaba looked down, ashamed. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of the pillow. Droplets of blood had spotted the white cloth. It must've been from when she'd bitten his shoulder, or when she'd sucked on his neck, though she wasn't sure which.

"Well, I remember your exact words. You said, 'I don't see why anyone would want sex before marriage'."

True, she had said that. "Well, now I do see. Would you leave it alone?"

"Leave it alone? Are you kidding me? No way. You invited him upstairs to our dorm without even telling me. Then, while I was sleeping, you two did Oz-only-knows what and had sex, spending the entire night doing it! Do you think I didn't hear you? I may have been too sleepy to comprehend what you were doing, Elphie, but that gives you no right to bring him in here and just… Ew! I mean, we share this dorm. This is not your private sex lounge, Elphie!"

"I know that!" Elphaba spat. "I knew you wouldn't understand. Glinda, I love him."

"I don't care if you're going to marry him, for Oz's sake! If you love him so much, why didn't you make love, something that's supposed to be special between two people, in private?"

Fiyero did have his own dorm, didn't he? "Well, I don't know."

"And he didn't exactly stay to face the consequences by your side, did he?"

"He had to go…"

"Sure." Glinda was enraged. "Well, I never!" After a long pause, Glinda sat down on the bed next to Elphie and whispered eagerly, "So what was it like?"

Elphaba was shocked. "You scream at me about all of this and now you want details? I don't think so!"

"Elphie, I'm sorry. I just want to know."

"Why do you care?"

"A girl can be curious!" Glinda huffed.

"Curiosity killed the cat. Why don't you go ask Boq to help you find out for yourself?" Elphaba snapped haughtily.

"How dare you!"

Elphaba shook her head, half holding back laughter, half restraining herself from attacking the blonde girl. "How dare you reprimand me for having sex and then ask me for detail! You are way out of line, Glinda."

"Well, bringing a boy into the room is way out of line, too, Elphaba!"

Elphaba took a deep breath. "Well, at least you saved me from any awkward 'morning after' sort of thing."

"I did, didn't I? This is why I deserve to know something."

"Maybe later." Elphaba glanced at the clock. "We have to get to class in less than an hour or Doctor Nikidik is going to kill us."

"Do you think Fiyero will remember to go to class?"

"I'm not concerned about him right now."

An hour later, Fiyero walked into the lecture hall, very late indeed, receiving more than the usual stare. As he snuck into a seat next to Elphaba, Dr. Nikidik commented, "How kind of you to join us, Master Fiyero."

"Sorry that I'm late, sir. I uh… was, um…" He gave Elphaba a questioning look. She was staring at him, her expression horrified.

Trying to be subtle, she brushed at her neck lightly with her hand. "Have you looked in a mirror this morning?"

Loudly, Dr. Nikidik said, "I think what Ms. Thropp is trying to say is that you look like you've had a disagreement with something that bites."

Fiyero brought his hand to his neck. The skin felt raw and tender. "Shit." He muttered.

"Or perhaps there's a better explanation for it. Care to tell us?"

Avaric, who was sitting behind them, hissed, "He's got a hickey, Doctor Nikidik!"

Elphaba rested her arms on her desk and buried her head in her arms. "Oops."

"Looks like our friend Fiyero here was having an adventure last night. Why don't you have him tell us about it? I'm sure it explains the life sciences. And when I say that, I mean: the facts of life." Avaric laughed.

Fiyero tried to catch a glimpse of Elphaba's face, but she'd hidden herself quite well. She'd sunk down lower in her desk than he imagined possible.

Avaric leaned forward and whispered to Fiyero, "So, tell me, are green people better at having sex?"

Fiyero turned around and glared at Avaric, ready to snap.

Dr. Nikidik cleared his throat. "Master Fiyero, would you please keep your and Ms. Thropp's sex life out of my classroom?"

That was it for Elphaba. She grabbed her books and ran out of the classroom, barely a blur of green in the doorway and then she'd disappeared.

Fiyero got up and went after her. "Elphie!" He caught her in the middle of the campus, headed back to her dorm. Forcefully, he grabbed her wrist. "Wait. Elphie, I'm sorry. I didn't know. This is my fault."

"Leave me alone!" She pulled away from him and began to run towards her dorm.

He followed her still and grabbed her by the waist just before she'd reached her building. "No, Elphaba. Don't run from me this way."

She struggled pathetically for a moment and then let herself fall into his arms in tears. "I can't go back. I can never face that class again." She sobbed.

"Let's go somewhere to talk." He suggested.

"Where? We can't go to my dorm. I feel bad enough about letting you in last night."

"Then you'll just have to sneak into mine."

AN: I'm going on a cruise, so I'll update with a few chapters now. I'll be back December 26th.