A/N: ShizStudent; I know! Only been waiting... Twelve chapters for him to come face to face with the man who hurt his girlfriend... But yes, finally justice for Elphie! I've waited so long to write it.
I'm sorry my updates are not as regular as they once were. A change in jobs and not feeling too great and also not receiving as many reviews as before has had an effect on my muse... But not to worry! I aim to get back on track soon, I still have so many things planned.
Sadness and Secrets
It was rare for Glinda to wake up before her roommate. Apparently snow days were an exception to the rule as the blonde rifled through her closet for warmer clothes just before breakfast time and lit the fire in the fireplace in their room.
The sounds of movement in the room stirred the green witch, causing her to lift up out of bed ever so slightly and she shivered, pulling the blankets tighter around her body. "Lin... What are you doing?"
"Looking for something to wear," Glinda stated as though it were obvious.
"Glinda, it's too cold." She complained.
"The fire will soon warm. Come on, Elphie, there's more snow outside now!"
Elphaba shook her head. "No. Too cold."
Glinda ignored her and hummed to herself, picking out a pair of woollen tights, and a large, thick, puffy blue dress and she changed her clothes. "Elphie? Could you zip me up?" she asked ten minutes later.
Elphaba refused to move until the fire had indeed warmed the room, and she nodded, sitting up in bed. "Fine, come here." She smiled and zipped up her dress.
"Are you going to tell me what you got Fiyero now?"
"Nope." She smirked, already knowing she'd tell her after breakfast. "You'll have to wait." She jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. "I hate being cold. I hate the snow. I hate the winter."
Glinda giggled. "It's not that bad."
"Munchkinlanders don't take to cold very well..."
Glinda dragged her friend to the window. "See? It must have snowed quite heavily in the night."
Elphaba shivered again at the thought of having to go outside. "Why did Fiyero have to be born in the middle of winter."
Her friend laughed and they both left the dorm and headed to the canteen for breakfast.
"You never told me what the nurse said?" Glinda prodded, still trying to get further information from her friend even two weeks on. They sat with their breakfast.
"I never told him everything either." She smirked. "Fine... She asked me if I was allergic to anything. Now, I know I'm not as far as I'm aware, but I told her I couldn't take pinlobble leaves or milk flower weeds."
"Why would- oh..." She remembered their first conversation as friends.
"Exactly. I know they're used widely as methods to help with those things, but I'd rather not risk anything."
"So what did she suggest?"
"I have to take some sort of tonic every night for three weeks and then I don't take it for a week..." She grimaced. "Honestly it tastes awful."
"Well if it's gonna stop you both from a little accident if and when you do it... You'll need all the help you can get." Glinda smirked.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." She laughed quietly and ate her eggs and toast.
After breakfast, they both left the canteen.
"We can go for a walk off-campus if you wanted?" Glinda suggested. "I may have... Forgotten Fifi's presents when Lurlinemas shopping..."
"Glinda..." Elphaba groaned and shook her head with a laugh. "Fine, come on. It's already too cold and I already hate you for this. And who's to say you'll find anything?"
"This is why you're going to help me. And you can tell me what you got him so I don't get the same thing."
She rolled her eyes. "It's nothing too much. Just a watch with an engraving on the back." She shrugged.
"What does it say?"
"If he wants to tell you, he can."
"Elphie." She pouted.
"No. You won't understand it anyway," she smirked and they both walked out into the snow. "I really hate the snow." She complained.
"Yes, so you keep saying." Glinda giggled and linked her arm through her friend's and they left the university. She pouted when they found a notice saying there would be no carriages that day due to the snow. "Looks like we'll have to walk... And these boots are not great for winter walks... Ooh! I could get some new shoes while we're there!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes with a smile and shook her head. "At least we'll be getting a train to your home." She commented. Both girls then walked the twenty-minute walk precariously into the town.
The girls were not surprised to find people in the town already rushing around for their shopping. Glinda dragged Elphaba into the first shoe shop she found. It wasn't long before Glinda was taken with the sparkles and colours.
"Ahem."
Glinda pouted at her friend and her shoulders dropped. "Fine..." She huffed and the pair looked for a pair of boots suitable for the snow. This time Elphaba made no objections when her blonde friend found a pair of bright pink snow boots. They were paid for and they left the shop within half an hour.
"Do you have any idea what I could get?"
Elphaba shrugged as they walked the snow-covered cobbled streets. "It took me a while to think about the watch."
Glinda pouted again, clinging to Elphaba's arm as the town started to get busier. Eventually, she spotted a menswear shop and dragged her into it. "Ooh, I bet I could find something in here."
The green girl rolled her eyes and bit back a snark when she heard a yelp from a passing woman. Yes, she was green, did she have to be so obvious in her shock?! She levelled the woman with a glare instead until she tripped over her own shoes to get out of the way.
"Oh, Elphie!" Glinda tutted and shook her head before walking away.
"She started it," Elphaba grumbled, following her friend.
Ten minutes of scouring the clothing racks, Glinda gasped happily, reaching for a deep red, crushed velvet suit jacket. "What about this? Elphie, wouldn't he just look wonderful?"
She raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips and her lips curved into a smirk at the blonde gushing over an article of clothing.
"Elphie! Hello?"
"Mhm. Sure. If you think so."
"Oh, you're no help! Now... To get the correct fit..." Glinda dug through the rails until she found the one she was looking for.
Elphaba tuned her out and leaned against the wall, waiting for her to finish, watching as the blonde flounced around the shop and went to pay for the jacket. "Perfect, can we leave now?"
"Are you done with your Lurlinemas shopping?"
"Glinda, I'm cold. It's been snowing. I want to go home. And it's been snowing."
The blonde rolled her eyes and dragged Elphaba out of the shop into the crowds again, the green girl growling as more people leapt aside at the sight of her, and didn't have the chance to react because Glinda had already started pulling her along the street.
A few hours later, the girls returned to the school armed with many bags, Glinda had either forced Elphaba to buy or had paid for the items she held, but for once, both girls enjoyed the trip. Even with Elphaba being avoided at all costs, something she'd started to take full advantage of and even smirk and do things purposefully to make them move.
"What the hell?" Boq raised an eyebrow at the two as he crossed the courtyard to them.
Elphaba smiled. "Hello to you too, Boq. Blame Glinda."
"Oh, please. You hadn't done any Lurlinemas shopping, so I had to change it."
"I had!"
"Elphie, getting Nessa's presents because you knew you wouldn't see her doesn't count."
Elphaba rolled her eyes at that. "Yes, fine, whatever." she waved a hand in the air.
Boq shook his head at them both with a small smile. "We did wonder where you'd got to. Chistery pointed toward the school gates so Fiyero figured you'd be out somewhere." He walked with them.
"Not by choice."
"Elphie doesn't like the snow," Glinda smirked.
"It's cold!"
Glinda giggled at the complaint and relieved Elphaba of all but one of her bags.
"That one's got yours in. You're not allowed to see."
"Oh." the blonde pouted. "Fine." she headed up to their dorm.
"I'll just hide it in Nessa's room until she goes to sl-" she stopped mid-sentence when she felt something cold and wet hit the back of her head, followed by a laugh she recognised. She turned, glaring at the source of the laughter, and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.
Fiyero headed over to her, a cocky grin on his face, completely unperturbed by the withering glare she was giving him.
"Did you know he was there?" The glare turned on the Munchkin.
Boq paled and shook his head. "N-no!"
Fiyero laughed again, growing a little more nervous. "Hey, Fae. Come on... It wasn't that bad."
Frightened, Boq took the bag she held out to him, looking up at them both. Still, he didn't make a sound and he retreated inside the girls' dorm building.
"You'd better run." The glare faded, and ruby lips curved into a devious smirk.
"Uh oh." Fiyero gulped and ran, but he didn't get far before she hit her target and a snowball hit him square on the back of the head. It wasn't long before there was laughter in the air between the two of them as they attacked each other in the snow. He ran after her and dragged her to the ground, hovering over her with a smirk on his face.
"That wasn't fair!" she laughed, looking up at him as she tried to get her breath back. "Yero, let me up, it's cold."
"I can change that," he smirked and kissed her quick before falling to his side beside her.
She laughed and rolled her eyes, turning her head to look at him for a moment. "Happy birthday." she smiled and kissed him lightly. "Unfair advantage. You're stronger than me." she added.
"Thank you." He shrugged with a grin. "Got you didn't I?"
"Whatever." she slowly got to her feet, brushing off the snow from her clothes, shivering a little. "Are you gonna stay there and catch your death or are you going to get up?"
"Fifi, why are you on the floor?"
"Snowball fight, and he tackled me," Elphaba smirked, shaking her head when he held his arm out to her. "I'm not falling for that. Get up."
Glinda giggled. "Oh, I miss all the fun," she complained as Fiyero got to his feet.
"Worth a try." He shrugged, still grinning.
"I'm sure he'll try again later," Elphaba commented, rolling her eyes at his nod. "See?"
"Oh, Elphie, your hair is all wet."
"Yes, Glinda, that's what usually happens when somebody pins you to the ground and it's been snowing." Elphaba snarked with a smirk and walked inside. She wasn't surprised to hear both of them behind her as she ascended the stairs. "Must you both follow me?"
"Yes." Glinda giggled.
Elphaba rolled her eyes as the three of them went to her room and she shed her coat quickly by the still open fire.
Glinda quickly grabbed a towel and proceeded to dry her friend's hair with it, and Fiyero lounged on the end of Elphaba's bed, observing the bags beside the desk between the two beds.
"Glinda's idea," Elphaba commented. "She forgot a few things and then insisted we finished Lurlinemas shopping."
Glinda scoffed. "Finished? You hadn't even started."
"Why on earth would I bother? Just hurry up so I can change."
Fiyero rolled his eyes with a laugh and shook his head at them both as they bickered. "Sometimes it's nice to indulge in the festivities once in a while, Miss Fae."
She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed again and he stood up, walking over to take Glinda's place and took over with towel drying her hair.
Glinda then walked over to the multitude of bags and started to sort them out.
"I think the fire may well have dried your clothes now." He pointed out after a minute. "Anyway, we don't have to go anywhere else right now."
"No, I guess not." Elphaba shrugged with a small smile and turned herself around to look up at him. "I believe I missed something."
"Oh, really?" he smiled, gently placing his hands on her hips.
"Mhm." She nodded and whispered softly against his lips before she kissed him; "Joyeux anniversaire, mon amour."
He grinned and returned her kiss. "Merci." He held her close against him as they both warmed by the fire, and he whispered sweet words into her ear.
Glinda took her moment to quietly sneak out of the room undetected, stealing one last glance at them with a big smile on her face.
"Dance with me, Fae."
"What?"
He bit back a laugh at her incredulous expression. "Dance with me." he repeated, his blue eyes shining with amusement.
"Two issues there, Fiyero. I can't dance. And there's no music."
"Yes you can, and we don't need it."
She scoffed and shook her head.
"Fine, you want music, surely Glinda has-" He stopped when he looked around and saw no sign of the blonde. "-has disappeared without trace." he finished.
Elphaba blinked and looked over her shoulder, bewildered. "Lin?" she called out and shook her head when met with silence. Slowly she looked up at him again. Why did she feel nervous? She'd been alone with him before... "She... Uhm, she has a gramophone under her bed." She hurried over to Glinda's side of the room to locate it.
He nodded, remaining quiet. He watched her busy herself, knowing full well what had caused the change in her.
"Hm... It's not here." She muttered and stood up again.
He sighed and crossed the room to her. "So we'll make our own. It's just a dance, I promise." He smiled, holding a hand out to her. "I won't do anything you don't want me to."
She nodded. "I know." She smiled and took his hand, allowing him to lead her to the middle of the room. The butterflies in her stomach sprung to life when he wrapped his arms around her waist and she nervously placed hers around his neck and he started a very simple, slow dance with her.
"You're not as bad as you think you are." He told her with a grin, and he wasn't surprised to be met with an eye roll.
After a while, their dance was over and Elphaba forced herself out of his arms rather reluctantly and she headed to her closet, picking out a small wrapped up box and she walked back to him, holding it out to him.
"What is this?"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" she smirked.
He scoffed and laughed. "Fine." Slowly, he unwrapped it and opened it, his eyes wide at the watch inside. "Fae..." he breathed. He knew it must have cost her a lot.
"Is it too much...?"
"What? No, it's perfect. Thank you." He grinned and kissed her lightly.
She smiled. "Look at the back."
He took the watch out and flipped it over, seeing the inscription on the back; tu as mon coeur pour toujours - Fae x. He looked over at her and wordlessly pulled her into his arms and he felt all of her tension disappear.
To say she felt relieved was an understatement. She wrapped her arms around him instantly and she closed her eyes, shivering a little as he whispered his love for her into her ear, against her neck, words that were followed by featherlight kisses to her skin, and she softly caressed his neck.
Five minutes later, he lifted his head to look into her face once more and he smiled. "We should probably get going."
"We should..." She nodded, although neither of them moved to separate. She smiled softly and kissed him after a moment and gently tugged him forward as she walked back.
He returned her kiss eagerly and only broke it when he realised where she was leading him. "Are you sure?"
She nodded, her heart fluttering madly in her chest. "I'm sure." She told him with a smile and they fell on to her small bed and she kissed him again.
He let the watch be forgotten somewhere on the bed where he landed and he turned his attention to the woman beneath him. He smirked slightly when she tilted her head to the side as he gently kissed her neck, and she allowed him greater access. Her sighing and gasps spurred him on as he marked her neck. Mine. He thought with another smirk on his face and his hands roamed every inch of her he could find.
Elphaba lay beneath him, her eyes closed as she revelled in the new sensations, that warm feeling spreading from her gut to the tips of her hair and to her toes as she sighed his name, one of her hands getting lost in his hair, and the other gently grazed her nails up and down his back, and almost instinctively, she curled a leg around his as he pressed himself against her. She bit her lip when she felt him, she had no idea how to react, but her body seemed to know what to do. She tried not to dwell on anything else.
He froze at the ever so slight raise of her hips against his, and he slowly raised his head to look at her again, barely moving at the friction neither of them had meant to cause. "Fae?" he waited until she looked up at him with her dark, trusting eyes and she nodded at his unasked question. "I love you." He smiled and he lowered his head again as one of his hands worked on the top buttons of her dress, covering the exposed skin with his lips which caused another whimper from her. With each kiss, he told her he loved her, and she whispered it back to him.
Eventually, he pulled himself away from her, but he stayed laying on top of her, he reached up and softly caressed her cheek. "We need to stop, mon amour." he told her gently.
"Yero... I told you... It's okay. I want this." She smiled softly as she gazed up at him, her eyes heavily clouded with her heightened emotions.
He kissed her forehead. "I know. Oz, I know... And I do too. But now isn't the right time. With Glinda coming back at any minute... I want to do this with you, and I want to do it right. There is only once for you, and I want it to be as special as it should be."
She blushed and she bit her lip again. She knew there was no denying he wanted her as much as she did him. That evidence was pressed firmly against her right thigh. "Yero... I can always lock the door." She smiled.
He chuckled softly and shook his head. "I thought I was supposed to be the bad influence."
"I learned it from you." She smirked and kissed him again. She knew his mind was made up, and although she could admit to herself she was feeling a little bit sexually frustrated, she understood his reasons and knew that when their moment came, it would be worth it.
Glinda returned to the room an hour later, finding them both asleep on Elphaba's bed, Fiyero with his head on her chest, his arms wrapped securely around her.