6 Across: The absence of mental stress or anxiety (8)

Since first meeting Elphaba, Fiyero had always thought it was ridiculous how much she stressed over the exams that faced them at the end of each semester. After all, she was one of the smartest people he knew (he'd say the smartest, but he had to include his father there); she worked harder than anyone else on campus (as least, he was pretty sure of that); and after the time she'd gotten ninety-three on a test she'd taken while she had the flu and a fever of a hundred and one, Fiyero really didn't think she had anything to worry about. But he knew better to say any of that to Elphaba. Especially now, when even he could tell she was stressing about their finals more than usual.

The morning of their first exam, Fiyero wandered over to Elphaba's dorm building as per usual, newspaper already in hand and mentally tossing up whether he was going to order pancakes or eggs for breakfast. Or both. His mom had always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day, hadn't she? Fiyero was sure that was even more true on exam days.

For once he felt remarkably confident that he was going to do well on his exams, even before sitting them. It was an odd feeling, but not a bad one.

Elphaba wasn't out the front yet, but he didn't expect she'd be long. She never was. But when the dorm building door opened next, it wasn't Elphaba that emerged but a very disgruntled looking Galinda.

"Uh, morning Glin," Fiyero greeted her, even as his gaze went past her towards the door. "Is Fae coming?"

"You need to go up and talk to your girlfriend," Galinda said bluntly. "She was up studying until Oz knows when this morning. I have no idea if she slept at all, and I cannot deal with it. I had to do my makeup in Milla's room this morning, because she said I was making too much noise."

Fiyero blinked. "Were you?"

"I knocked over one eyeshadow palette!" Galinda exclaimed. "Honestly, she hasn't been this painful since before you showed up."

Fiyero shot a wary glance towards the building. "So you want me to do what exactly?"

"Deal with her. Because I don't know why she's acting so insane about these exams, and she won't tell me when I ask," Galinda exclaimed frustratedly. "So make her talk to you. Or at least distract her with a make out session or something before I do something rash."

Fiyero just had to ask. "Something rash like what?" he asked, entertaining visions of Galinda replacing all of Elphaba's wardrobe with pink or something like that.

"Like lock her in the closet or kill her," Galinda replied matter-of-factly. "Because some of us don't have exams until tomorrow and were looking forward to sleeping in."

Honestly, it was a very Elphaba-ish threat, and Fiyero wasn't sure if Galinda had always had a dark side or if she'd been friends with Elphaba for too long now. Either way, Fiyero obediently headed upstairs and knocked lightly on the door to the suite.

The moment the door opened, he knew what Galinda meant. Elphaba's hair was piled haphazardly atop her head, like she'd slept with it that way and hadn't yet bothered to brush her hair. Yet the dark shadows under her eyes beneath her glasses suggested that she hadn't actually been to sleep at all yet.

"Hey," he said lightly, aiming for being gentle without being condescending. Because that was a good way to get a door shut in his face.

"Hi," Elphaba replied bewilderedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Breakfast?"

Elphaba's face turned green- well, Fiyero was sure it would have if she wasn't already green- and she shook her head.

"I can't eat anything," she said, turning away from the door.

Fiyero accepted the unspoken invitation, stepping in after her and closing the door. "Fae, the exam isn't until two," he reminded her. "You're going to give yourself a stroke before then. Come get some breakfast. Or even just a tea- take a break."

Elphaba shook her head again, taking off her glasses and rubbing at her eyes. "I can't. I need to go over my notes again on Colla vs-"

"Nope," Fiyero interrupted in the firmest tone he could muster, stepping over to her and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Elphaba, what is going on?"

Elphaba looked up at him incredulously. "We have exams."

Fiyero rolled his eyes. "I know that. But we've had a ridiculous amount of exams since I've known you, and you've never stressed this much. What's so different about these ones?"

Elphaba averted her eyes from his, shifting uncomfortably.

"Elphaba?" Fiyero pressed, his stomach sinking slightly.

"I hadn't told my father that we're dating," Elphaba blurted out.

Fiyero blinked. From everything Elphaba had told him about her father, he wasn't surprised by this news. But he had no idea how Elphaba's father had any relation to their exams.

"Okay…"

Elphaba still wouldn't look at him. "When Nessa and I went home a few months ago, she mentioned something."

"Sure," Fiyero said distantly, trying to figure out her train of thought.

Elphaba sighed, pulling away from Fiyero's grasp and sinking onto her desk chair, lightly tossing her glasses atop the mass of books, notes and pens that littered the top of it.

"He wrote me a letter a few weeks ago," Elphaba admitted. "Reminding me that I'm only here to care for Nessa, and that he hopes I haven't been letting you distract me from my duties or my schoolwork."

Fiyero perched himself on the side of Elphaba's bed, his face grim as things began to connect.

"I'm worried he's going to try and keep me from coming back in the fall if there's even the slightest dip in my grades. And I- I can't let that happen. I can't. Not when we only have a year left."

Fiyero reached forward to grasp her hand, tugging her gently until she moved to sit beside him.

"Fae, you've been studying for weeks," he reminded her. "Trust me, you know everything you need to do. And if the exam tips that my mom used to tell me are true, I think you're kind of getting in your own way at this point."

Elphaba's brow furrowed slightly, and Fiyero ticked items off on his fingers. "A good night's sleep, breakfast and plenty of water," he recited. "I'm guessing you've done none of that."

Elphaba grimaced. "No," she acknowledged.

Fiyero nodded, kicking off his shoes. "Okay. So, no more studying before the exam this afternoon," he ordered, picking up the newspaper he'd left sitting beside him on the bed. "We're going to do the crossword, get some food, and then you're going to take a nap."

"I can't nap," Elphaba protested. "I can't sleep during the day."

"I'm great at it," Fiyero grinned at her. "I'll teach you."

Elphaba faltered, eyeing him warily as Fiyero moved so that he was sitting against the pillows.

"Come on, Fae," Fiyero wheedled. "Just come sit and enjoy the serenity."

Elphaba snorted, reluctantly moving to sit next to him. "The serenity?"

"Well as close as I can get without planning anything," Fiyero amended. "But just you wait. Once all our exams are done, I'm going to make it as serene as hell," he vowed.

"You're going to come with me to the bookstore?" Elphaba asked, her lips twitching as Fiyero stifled an instinctive grimace.

"Okay, you know what, fine," he agreed. "If you promise to relax a bit on the studying thing, I will go with you to the bookstore after our last exam. I'll even buy you all the books."

"Okay, that's not necessary-"

"Nope, it's happening," Fiyero said decidedly.

Elphaba scrunched her face up briefly and Fiyero grinned, waiting for her to argue with him. But instead she merely grabbed the newspaper from his hand and began to flick through the pages to find the crossword.

"I'll get one book that you may purchase for me," she said, finding the page and picking up a stray pen that lay on her nightstand.

Fiyero scoffed. Elphaba buying one book. That was likely.

Elphaba's head was bent over the paper and Fiyero watched her brow furrow in thought, her shoulders much more relaxed than when she'd first opened the door.

"Fae?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the letter?"

Elphaba's pen paused then, and she sighed, sinking back against the pillows before she looked over at him.

"If I told you, then it was real," she said quietly. "And you would all just tell me I have nothing to worry about, and I couldn't handle that."

Fiyero had to admit that she was right. He didn't think she had anything to worry about, and dismissing her fear would not have been helpful.

He turned his head and pressed his lips to her temple, his chest warming as she sank against him easily. He wanted to offer her some kind of reassurance or comfort, but he wasn't quite sure what to say. He stared at the newspaper, as though the right words would jump out from the puzzle.

"Steeple."

Elphaba blinked. "What?"

Fiyero nodded to towards the paper. "Eight down. Wouldn't that be steeple?"

Elphaba frowned at the paper and then smiled faintly. "It fits," she agreed, jotting it down.

All the books, Fiyero vowed. After the exams, he was going to buy her all the books.